Kofi Kinaata (R) receiving his award

Award-winning Ghanaian musician Kofi Kinaata has been honoured with the prestigious Youth in Entertainment Award by the Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, at a ceremony held on Friday, May 9, 2025, at the Manhyia Palace in Kumasi.

The event, part of the Otumfuo Millennium Excellence Awards, recognized Kinaata’s exceptional contributions to Ghanaian music, particularly his use of socially conscious and thought-provoking lyrics to address critical societal issues.

Known as a “voice for the people,” Kinaata’s music has earned widespread acclaim for its wisdom and relevance, resonating deeply with audiences across the country.

Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, who had previously praised Kinaata’s hit song Susuka for being “full of wisdom” during the 2024 Ghana Bar Association General Conference, commended the musician for using his platform to inspire positive change, especially among the youth.

The recognition comes just a day ahead of the 2025 Telecel Ghana Music Awards, where Kinaata is a leading nominee in several top categories, including Best Highlife Artiste of the Year, Best Highlife Song of the Year, Best Music Video of the Year, Songwriter of the Year, Record of the Year, and Album/EP of the Year.

The Otumfuo Millennium Excellence Awards, an initiative of the Manhyia Palace, honours individuals who have made significant contributions to national development across diverse sectors.

The awards place particular emphasis on individuals whose work uplifts underprivileged communities, including the poor, widows, and orphans.

Other recipients of the Lifetime Africa Achievement Prize at the event included Dr. Osei Kwame Despite, CEO of Despite Group of Companies; Dr. Ernest Ofori Sarpong, CEO of Special Ice Water; and Dr. Nick Danso, CEO of Ghana Link Network Services.

The exclusive, invitation-only event featured President John Dramani Mahama as the Special Guest of Honour.

AM/KA

#TheAdutwumFactor! Watch as Yaw Osei Adutwum declares intent to contest NPP flagbearership for 2028

Ghanaian broadcaster and media entrepreneur MzGee

“If you grab the top without the process, you will fall.” That was the hard-hitting message from Ghanaian broadcaster and media entrepreneur MzGee in the latest episode of her show, Gee O’clock, where she stripped away the glamour of success to highlight the often-ignored truth: process is everything.

In a no-holds-barred reflection, MzGee warned against the modern obsession with results while neglecting the discipline, sacrifice, and time it takes to get there. Her episode, titled Process Matters, is a timely wake-up call for young people chasing fame, influence, or leadership positions without enduring the grit that builds staying power.

“The process of becoming anything—overcoming, championing, or winning—matters more than the end result,” she said. “If you don’t go through the process, you’re merely going through the motions.”

Drawing from her own journey, MzGee recounted the grueling early days of her media career—working five days a week, hosting a Saturday show, sleeping in her car because she lived far from the studio, and juggling both radio and TV without rest. She described those days not as a badge of suffering but as the foundation that shaped her into a resilient and unbreakable force in the industry.

“The process drained me, but it also built me. Today, if you ask me to work a 24-hour production without sleep, I’m ready—I’ve done it before.”

To illustrate that lasting growth is often invisible and slow, she referenced the rise of NSPPD, now the world’s largest online prayer platform, which began during the pandemic with just 13 viewers. She also cited gospel artist Mercy Chinwo, who waited five years after winning Nigerian Idol before releasing a breakout hit.

“Even if you start with just 20, 30, or 100 people, don’t complain. Growth takes time,” she emphasized, echoing a lyric from rapper King Paluta: “Sometimes, just give time some time.”

MzGee’s message is a stark contrast to the fast-tracked, results-driven culture many have come to idolize. Her argument is simple but profound: without the process, you may reach the top—but you won’t last there.

Now leading her own production brand, Jazz Venus, she remains rooted in the values forged in her toughest days.

“I’ve been a producer, presenter, and creator. You cannot break me—I have a resilient spirit.”

She also admitted to past regrets, including giving up on YouTube because it felt too hard at the time. Today, she’s back on the platform, inspired by those who stayed the course. Her lesson: persistence pays, and quitting too soon is self-sabotage.

MzGee closed the episode with a clear call to action:

“The beginning may seem small, but the end matters—and the process determines that end.”

#TheAdutwumFactor! Watch as Yaw Osei Adutwum declares intent to contest NPP flagbearership for 2028

AM/KA

A Georgia college student faces deportation after she ran a red light, and authorities discovered her entire family has been illegally living in the US for nearly 15 years.

Mexican-national Ximena Arias-Cristobal, 19, was pulled over by police in Dalton, Ga. on May 5 when she failed to adhere to a “no turn on red” sign.

Ximena Arias-Cristobal, a Dalton State Community College student, was driving without a driver’s license but told officers she had an international driver’s license, according to WTVC, citing the arrest report.

She admitted that she didn’t have the foreign document when Dalton police officers asked her to show it, claiming that her mother had taken it away from her and said she was not supposed to be driving.

In 2010, Arias-Cristobal was brought into the US illegally by her parents when she was only 4 years old during the family’s move from Mexico City to the Dalton area — over 30 miles from the Tennessee and Georgia border.

Because of her non-citizen status, Arias-Cristobal was paying out-of-state tuition for school despite living in the area.

The officer who pulled her over attempted to speak to the teen’s mom and the owner of the car, but neither of them spoke English, according to the report.

Arias-Cristobal was arrested and charged with driving without a valid license and failure to obey traffic control devices.

She was transported to the Whitfield County Jail, a partner of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s 287(G) program, used to identify illegal aliens in the country.

“This program operates based on a series of reviews and background checks completed only after an inmate is already arrested for an Offense under Georgia Law,” the jail’s operation guide said.

Arias-Cristobal was processed through the federal database, which confirmed she wasn’t a US citizen.

She was brought to ICE’s Stewart Detention Center in Lumpkin, Ga., where her father, Jose Francisco Arias-Tovar, is also being held.

Arias-Tovar was arrested last month when he was pulled over for driving 19 miles over the speed limit, the outlet reported.

The father, who owns his own company, was denied proper paperwork to remain in the US. It was not known if he ever applied for citizenship.

“My dad has his own company, and they called a lawyer to see if they could get a job permit or a visa, and they said that they hadn’t hit that status to get one yet,” Arias-Cristobal’s younger sister told WTVC.

Arias-Cristobal was not eligible for the DACA program, having been brought into the country a year after the program ended, according to Hannah Jones, the woman the teen babysat for in the past.

Jones created a GoFundMe to raise money for an immigration attorney and bond for the teen.

Chattanooga, Tennessee-based immigration attorney Terry Olsen called out the family’s detention.

“We do see that ICE is really trying to find any and all methods to say that an international has some way violated the process and their status. What’s concerning is that when they are being checked at these checkpoints or at the stops, ICE does not have their entire immigration file in front of them, they’re not looking at all of it, and they’re just relying on one item. This is a civil rights issue,” Olsen told the outlet.

Olsen said Arias-Cristobal’s mother will be arrested and deported within a month and her daughters will be taken with her to keep the family together.

Blakk Rasta [L] and A Plus

Popular radio presenter Abubakar Ahmed, popularly known as Blakk Rasta, has called for the impeachment of the Member of Parliament for Gomoa Central, Kwame Asare Obeng, widely known as A Plus, after the lawmaker publicly admitted to accepting money to halt a campaign advocating for the decentralization of waste management in Ghana.

The controversial musician-turned-politician revealed in a media interview that the founder of Zoomlion Ghana Limited, Joseph Siaw Agyapong, compensated him financially to stop the campaign, which would have directly impacted the company’s operations.

A Plus disclosed that his campaign was launched in retaliation after Paul Adom-Otchere, host of Good Evening Ghana, allegedly defamed him on Metro TV—a media outlet also owned by Siaw Agyapong.

“So this man puts my photo on TV and says, ‘A Plus, you have taken GHC250,000…’ He said a lot. If you say you are NPP, and this money is being given to NPP parliamentarians, why aren’t you talking about that? I didn’t respond; I just let it go. But then, on Monday, I started the campaign ‘Waste Management Must Be Decentralised’ because Zoomlion owns Metro TV. If you use Metro TV to attack me, Paul, you don’t have anything of value for me to attack—except your wife,” A Plus stated during an appearance on Channel 1 TV’s Upside Down program.

“I launched the campaign to attack his boss, Zoomlion. I invested time in it. You see what’s happening with the Youth Employment issues? I had time, and I was going to deal with them. Zoomlion called me several times, but I wasn’t answering. Everyone in the country was calling, saying Zoomlion wanted to speak with me, but I ignored them. Paul, ask your boss what happened when he finally met me. I didn’t sue you for defamation. Have you noticed that I stopped the waste management campaign? That’s because his boss paid me to stop, in response to your misconduct on Metro TV,” he added.

According to A Plus, Siaw Agyapong paid him “good money” to stop writing about him on social media.

Commenting on the matter during his show on 3FM, Blakk Rasta strongly condemned A Plus’ conduct, labeling him a blackmailer unfit to serve as a Member of Parliament.

“I am truly disappointment. A Plus is a brother of mine, I don’t know how to handle this but I will handle it. This guy is nothing but a dirty blackmailer. So you are no longer fighting for the people, you are fighting your own battles blackmailing people. So the decentralization of the waste management thing he was talking about, he did not mean it. He was doing it to blackmail a certain guy who he knew would run to him and pay him money which he will selfishly put in his pocket and forget. You are blackmailing people so that you get a certain attention. This guy does not deserve to be an MP. Nobody deserve to be an MP when their penchant is blackmailing.

“Paul Adom-Otchere hurt you and you got angry. As a lawmaker, what should you do? You’re in Parliament to make laws, yet you chose to act unlawfully and pursue personal vengeance by targeting someone’s business. And now, you’re not even ashamed to admit that you took money. That’s bribery. He should be impeached immediately. I’m disappointed in A Plus. We cannot allow this. If an MP confesses that his campaign had nothing to do with the public good, but only his personal grievances, then maybe I need to write to the Speaker of Parliament to draw attention to this serious matter.”

Black Rasta calls for the impeachment of the member of parliament for Gomoa Central, Kwame Asare Obeng (A Plus) for blackmailing Jospong group owner Mr. Joseph Siaw for a huge sum of money

A law maker is supposed to know better and not to sit on live tv propagating corruption‼️ pic.twitter.com/KZSSbyQwB3

— Onipa nua 🇬🇭💰❤️ (@mylo_melo) May 9, 2025

KA

Meanwhile, watch why #SaveTheJudiciaryDemo is trending on GhanaWeb TV below