Ghana Tourism Authority deputy boss Abeiku Santana announced that the annual December in Ghana is getting spread across every region instead of just camping out in Accra like usual. The expanded format runs on seven different themes covering food, books, fashion, culture, movies, and music to pump up the country's creative scene nationwide.
Activities kicked off early with stuff already happening in Greater Accra, Sekondi, and Cape Coast. One highlight is Taste 68, which showcases 68 traditional dishes made by local cooks, featuring wild innovations like a layered cake made from eto.
The tourism board locked down partnerships with creative industry players and is planning an African Film Festival with over 21 countries participating...
Burkina Faso just brought back the death penalty after ditching it back in 2018, and the military government claims they need it to deal with jihadist violence and terrorism. Captain Ibrahim Traore's junta pushed through a new penal code that makes capital punishment legal again for stuff like treason and espionage, though parliament still has to approve it before it becomes official.
The justice minister argued that getting rid of executions basically made the country less safe because armed groups could tell recruits they wouldn't face serious consequences if caught. The updated laws also hit harder on corruption cases over 7.6 million euros, with life sentences, and made promoting homosexuality a crime.
Civil liberties keep...
Madagascar's military leader wants former president Andry Rajoelina put on trial for ordering troops to shoot protesters during unrest that forced him to bail back in October. Colonel Michael Randrianirina told French media he's still planning to hold elections within two years, and he's going after Rajoelina's rich business buddy Maminiaina Ravatomanga for allegedly looting the country's resources.
The whole situation blew up when youth-led demonstrations against constant blackouts and water problems turned into massive protests that got violently crushed. French forces secretly helped Rajoelina escape after the CAPSAT army unit backed the protesters, and nobody knows where he ended up. Randrianirina got sworn in as president after...
Nicholas Aklorbortu died after his motorbike crashed head-on with another rider near Adaklu on the Ho-Sogakope road. The NDC communications guy for South Tongu was heading back from a farming event when the collision happened, and both bikes caught fire because the other rider was carrying fuel in a gallon. Aklorbortu worked as a regional monitoring officer for the National Health Insurance Scheme.
The other motorcycle operator got banged up pretty bad with injuries to his face and limbs, but survived, while his passenger, Mawuli, burned to death at the scene. Doctors at a nearby clinic couldn't save Aklorbortu either, and his body ended up at Ho Teaching Hospital morgue. The whole political scene in South Tongu is mourning the loss of...
Senyo Hosi from the One Ghana Movement warned lawmakers not to kill off the Special Prosecutor's office, saying Ghanaians would absolutely reject that move. The whole thing kicked off after Majority Leader Mahama Ayariga wanted to scrap the OSP and hand everything to the Attorney General, plus lawyer Martin Kpebu filed to get current Special Prosecutor Kissi Agyebeng removed.
Hosi basically said people need to stop confusing whether the current guy is doing well with whether the actual office itself matters. He pushed back hard on scrapping it without having something better ready, arguing the core mission of independent accountability can't just disappear because some politician finds it inconvenient. Any legal problems should get...
Some democracy watchdog director went after lawyer Martin Kpebu for wanting the Special Prosecutor fired, calling the whole thing peak hypocrisy since Kpebu usually champions anti-corruption work. Kojo Asante from CDD-Ghana told a television program that politicians in the current government demanding the office get scrapped while simultaneously talking about fighting graft makes zero sense.
Asante said the real issue is that nobody in the political class actually wants independent oversight when it might apply to their own people, and tearing down the agency would wreck accountability frameworks. Kpebu has been pushing for Kissi Agyebeng to get removed over corruption claims and supposedly botched investigations into a former finance...
A policy guy from the Ghana Centre for Democratic Development told critics to back off the Special Prosecutor office because the agency barely had a real budget or workspace until recently. Kojo Pumpuni Asante said the first boss ran things out of some random townhouse for years before they even got a proper building and serious funding, with actual operations starting last year.
Asante called out both major political parties for trying to kneecap the office since day one and warned the incoming government that axing it would be a total betrayal of voters who wanted better accountability. He pointed out that other anti-corruption agencies have been around forever without getting petition bombed despite stalled cases piling up...
The former parliament speaker, who was around when the Special Prosecutor's office got created, is calling for the whole thing to get nuked because he thinks it turned into a power-tripping mess that breaks basic legal rules. Aaron Mike Oquaye went off about how the agency arrested activist Martin Kpebu for accusing them of being corrupt, which is basically investigating yourself when you are the one getting called out.
The ex-speaker said Ghana keeps spinning up new enforcement agencies with jobs that overlap instead of just beefing up the Attorney General's department and existing prosecutors. He trashed the bail requirements the office slaps on people, pointing out that demanding suspects have land ownership is ridiculous since poor...
Some anti-corruption activists are telling lawmakers to chill out after a bunch of MPs started pushing to kill off the Special Prosecutor's Office and hand everything back to the Attorney General. Edem Senanu from the Citizens Movement Against Corruption said scrapping the agency would be straight-up dumb since the thing is still getting built up and could actually help fight graft if people would just let it work.
The guy pointed out that some of the same politicians demanding the office get axed were the ones who voted to create it in the first place, which is pretty wild. He wants reforms to make the OSP stronger instead of trashing the whole setup.
This is all going down while three separate groups have filed complaints trying to...
