George Opare Addo is the Minister of Youth Development and Empowerment

The Minister of Youth Development and Empowerment, George Opare Addo, has assured the public that the betting tax will be abolished during the 2025 budget reading.

He stated that the National Democratic Congress (NDC) government is committed to fulfilling the promises made during the campaign and will not disappoint Ghanaians.

The minister noted that the Minister of Finance, Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson, is working on removing nuisance taxes, including the betting tax, to alleviate the financial burden on bettors in the country.

Speaking in an interview with JoyNews, Opare Addo said that President Mahama’s appointees are working diligently to ensure the president’s ambitions are attained.

“Everybody is committed to meeting the target of His Excellency President Mahama. When the budget is read in March 2025, all the promises we made regarding tax cancellations will be implemented, and young people should look forward to the cancellation of the betting tax,” he said.

The comments align with recent reports that Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson is working to ensure the betting tax is removed during the 2025 budget reading.

The finance minister is engaging the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to scrap nuisance taxes, including the betting tax.

Watch Opare Addo’s interview below:

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In President Mahama’s 120-day social contract, which tasks several ministers with fulfilling specific responsibilities, the Minister for Youth Development, George Opare Addo, has assured the youth that nuisance taxes, including the Betting Tax, will be scrapped. pic.twitter.com/f8F5BRqFBA

— SIKAOFFICIAL🦍 (@SIKAOFFICIAL1) February 12, 2025

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Minister of Climate Change and Sustainability, Issifu Seidu

The issue of climate change is gradually becoming a canker that has reared its head in the country, and the government is taking measures to tackle this menace head-on

The Minister of Climate Change and Sustainability, Issifu Seidu, has emphasized that sensitizing Ghanaians about climate change in local languages is critical to the country’s fight against climate change.

He explained that addressing the behavioral patterns of locals and ensuring they understand the issue, including the impact of their actions on the environment, is an essential step in the right direction.

Additionally, the destruction of the country’s biodiversity is causing significant harm and must be halted in order to protect it for future generations.

Issifu Seidu noted that approximately 60% of Ghana’s population lives in rural areas. Therefore, presenting information in local dialects will help these communities grasp the seriousness of the issue and understand that their actions could endanger future generations.

He made these remarks during a courtesy call by David Antwi, the Chief Executive Officer of GhanaWeb, on Monday, February 17, 2025, at his office in the Office of the President Annex in Accra.

During the engagement, Mr. Seidu stated, “People must understand that certain actions can endanger future generations. It has to do with lifestyle changes and some sort of responsibility towards our environment. We need to understand that anything we do today endangers future generations…let the rural people know that climate change exists.”

“How do we let them know there are imminent threats related to climate change? Through the media…We cannot succeed without the media, except that we have to localize the communication. The conversation must be localized. People must understand that climate change is not a monster; it is real and affects our lives,” the Minister of Climate Change and Sustainability added.

On the subject of climate change financing, Seidu mentioned that investors are ready to invest in projects aimed at combating climate change, which could also contribute to the country’s development.

It’s worth recalling that during his vetting by Parliament’s Appointments Committee on January 31, 2025, Issifu Seidu expressed his commitment to introducing climate-resilient initiatives that would safeguard vulnerable communities and sectors in Ghana.

He stressed the urgent need for strategic interventions to address the escalating impacts of climate change on Ghana’s economy and environment.

According to a report by The Climate Reality Project, the country experienced a direct economic loss of an estimated US$95 million from droughts in 2020.

Furthermore, rainfall could decline by an additional 12% from 2020 levels by 2050, causing an average economic loss of US$325 million per year by that time.

Intense rainfall will also lead to flooding, which will have a significant impact on agriculture.

As of 2021, agriculture employs approximately 45% of the labor force and contributes about 21% of Ghana’s national GDP.

Most of these workers are engaged in small, rain-fed farms, which are particularly vulnerable to erratic rainfall patterns caused by climate change.

Higher temperatures may also affect crops, leading to lower yields and an increase in pests and diseases.

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Below are some photos from the stakeholder engagement:

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Perpetual Ofori Ampofo, President of the Ghana Registered Nurses and Midwives Association (GRNMA)

Perpetual Ofori Ampofo, President of the Ghana Registered Nurses and Midwives Association (GRNMA), has refuted claims that her husband’s political affiliation is influencing her stance on the nurses’ protest against the government.

Perpetual Ofori Ampofo has come under criticism because of her husband’s political party the New Patriotic Party (NPP) after announcing that nurses would initiate a series of industrial actions in solidarity with colleagues who may be affected by a directive of the president to lay off staff recruited during the transition period.

Speaking in an interview on Oyerepa TV on February 17, 2025, she stated that, despite her husband, Bright Ofori Ampofo, being the constituency chairman of the NPP in Bortianor Ngleshie Amanfrom, he has no influence on her decisions.

She described the accusations as an insult, rejecting claims that she is colluding with her husband to make professional decisions.

“You can check my track record; I don’t engage in partisan politics. It doesn’t matter which government is in power; we will always work in the interest of nurses.

“So, you can’t tell me that because the National Democratic Congress (NDC) is in power, I should remain silent on issues affecting nurses.

“If someone claims my husband is behind my decisions, it is an insult to both me and my husband. Even though he is my husband, I am also a professional who makes my own decisions. The National Council consists of about 29 members, so does that mean all of them are NPP members just because we make decisions together?” she said.

Her comments follow a directive from the Chief of Staff at Jubilee House, dated February 10, 2025, which revoked appointments and recruitments made after December 7, 2024.

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Alhaji Sheikh Shehu, popularly known as Ex-Regimental Sergeant Major (RSM) Jack (Paul) Bebli, was reportedly one of the most feared people in Ghana in the 1980s and 1990s.

Jack Bebli, who was a Regimental Sergeant Major (RSM) of the defunct Commando (Panther) Unit of the Ghana Police Service, allegedly subjected residents of Accra to inhumane and cruel treatment.

At the peak of his unpopular prowess, Jack Bebli earned a reputation as the man whose name and presence invoked fear among Accra residents.

Reports indicate that Jack Bebli was so powerful that he could organise a group of his police and military colleagues who would block the stretch from Kinbu School to the Fire Service traffic light just to fleece persons plying the road of their belongings.

Due to the fear and power of Jack Bebli and his weapon-wielding servicemen, no man or car ever dared to pass or challenge him and his team.

His stature and demeanour alone are said to have sent shivers down the spines of his victims, leaving them in constant fear, disarray, and even trauma.

The late former President, Flight Lieutenant Jerry John Rawlings, mentioned Jack Bebli during the public hearing of the National Reconciliation Commission (NRC) on the interrogation and killing of Cpl. Halidu Giwa and L/Cpl. Sarkodie Addo in 1984.

Rawlings is heard saying, in a video from the public hearing sighted by GhanaWeb, that Jack Bebli was one of the officers in a video of the interrogation and killings in March 1984, which he was being questioned about.

The late former president said that he saw Jack Bebli carrying Cpl. Halidu Giwa, one of the soldiers who was killed.

“An aircraft landed… there was somebody else lying on the floor who was picked up by the beach during that dissident activity. And then the interrogation of this gentleman for about three, five minutes, talking about all these things… I think I remember, I did tell WO Tettey, I think that’s enough, please send it back to wherever.

“When the aircraft arrived, there were some security personnel on board. And I remember, what’s his name? Jack Bebli was the one who was carrying Giwa, off the aircraft. And as he got down from the aircraft, there was another one who had been captured, I believe, around the Kpong area,” the late former president narrated.

How Jack Bebli conducted the biggest road robbery in Ghana:

Suspicions that ex-RSM Jack Bebli was running an armed robbery cartel were confirmed in 1999 when he and his gang of robbers were arrested for robbing a vehicle transporting 240 million old cedis worth of gold bars.

Details of the incident indicate that Jack Bebli and his seven accomplices were driving in a Peugeot Estate vehicle and a Nissan Urvan bus, waiting at the Yamoransa Junction in the Central Region for the bullion van that was transporting the gold bars.

When the bullion van, driven by one Asamoah, passed by, the accused persons, armed with AK-47 rifles and dressed in military uniforms, followed it until they reached Abotsia, near Apam Junction, on the Cape Coast-Accra Road.

At Abotsia, the Peugeot Estate intercepted the convoy, assaulted those in the convoy, and fired shots into the bullion van.

This scared those in the bullion van, forcing them to flee as if they knew nothing about the attack. The accused persons then entered the bullion van and made away with the gold bars.

They also seized two other vehicles belonging to GHACEM and Ashanti Goldfields Company and carried the gold bars in the one driven by Mprah to Accra.

They shared the booty among themselves, and one Frimpong, who was fleeing with his share to Abidjan, was arrested at the Elubo border. Upon interrogation, Frimpong mentioned the others as his accomplices, who were later picked up by officers.

After months of prosecution, Jack Bebli and five others were, in July 2001, sentenced to 15 years in prison for armed robbery offences.

How Jack Bebli died

In May 2009, reports emerged that Jack Bebli suffered a heart attack and died at the Nsawam Prison, where he was serving his sentence.

Watch his remarks in the video below:

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