Joy News Today || Gyakye Quayson Trial: Trades Minister risks prison term; Court gives him up to 31st August to justify comments
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NewsTranscript
00:00 Hello, good afternoon. Welcome to join you today. We're coming to you live from our studios in Cocoa
00:04 Mimmi Ruan DTT because we're free to own DS TV channel 4 to 1 and go TV channel 1 to 5
00:10 We are a home of independent fearless and credible journalism coming up this afternoon trades minister
00:16 It's a Hamon risk freezing term as high court hunting up till August 31 to justify
00:23 Comments he made concerning the outcome of the James actually quays in trial with details as a court sets October 19
00:30 to deliver its ruling
00:32 Also this afternoon you could spend five years in jail should you accuse someone of
00:38 Witchcraft more as MPs and the Christian Council applaud the passage of anti witchcraft bill
00:45 Waiting to be accepted into law by the president
00:52 We're job by G as direct supervisors and invigilators of the upcoming basic education certificate
00:58 Examination BCE to thoroughly fetch all candidates including their private parts before they are allowed to enter the examination hall
01:08 Plus ECG clamps down on toggle meters
01:16 illegally installed in some communities in the K2 South municipality of the Volta region how that the customers come by these meters and
01:23 For how long have they been using them the ECG will tell us
01:27 My name is I see Brian will survive on YouTube Instagram
01:35 Facebook and Twitter on journeys on TV. My personal handle is at banana. I shall please pay for details
01:43 Many
01:45 Thanks for choosing a straight minister Katie Hammond risk freezing time as he has been handed up until August 31 to justify
01:53 Comments he made regarding the outcome of the James judge equation trial lawyers for mr
01:59 Quasen also has the same period to put a case in court
02:03 So he has been handed up until August 31 to justify
02:06 The outcome of the James judge equation trial lawyers for mr. Quasen also has the same period to put across the case against the minister
02:14 They are asking the high court to punish. Mr
02:17 Hammond for saying James statue quiescent may as well leave Parliament since he would end up in jail
02:23 The court presided over by justice Mary Ansel has opted not to hear oral arguments
02:29 But once the lawyers to address her through Britain arguments after which she will deliver her ruling
02:35 Well, Katie Hammond arrived in court late legal affairs correspondent
02:39 Just a fact like a blade caught up with him few minutes after proceedings and that and at this chat with him
02:46 NBC side and they say that as far as we are concerned you have committed contempt of court
02:52 But ultimately it's not for them to decide the Abita these matters is the deciding judge so no, but I was missing for
03:02 I was told that the year was at
03:04 1130
03:07 At
03:09 1130
03:12 So my my lawyers were there yes, my understanding is that when I came to October something 19 so first
03:20 You know
03:24 We question a Malibu why we pick you because I'm gonna work at what was the attack that you do know that good afternoon
03:31 Actually, good morning
03:34 We're gonna go live to legal affairs correspondent Joseph a couple a for more a couple a tell us more about the case against the minister
03:52 And so I just to do with some comments that the minister made
03:56 Specifically on or your party where he talked about the fact that he couldn't parallels between the case that has been filed against
04:05 agent
04:08 That
04:11 Musa can be ended up in jail and so that will be the facedown before
04:15 James that equation that you are actually advised in through his colleagues in Parliament on the NDC side that is better for them to agent to
04:23 simply leave Parliament than the rest of these orders will
04:26 according to lawyers for
04:28 Agenda, which the who they view that those comments amounts to content in that it puts on you pressure on the court to arrive at
04:34 That particular conclusion. So that is the case that we put across against tonight
04:38 I'm on site
04:43 As
04:45 Much as the lawyers are concerned they are prepared to file their process as they've been directed by the court
04:51 So the court says and they should follow their processes by August 31 then from there. They have the option of also
04:57 Coming to go back to the court in October 19 to listen to the ruling of the courts
05:03 But in heading that deep is actually KPM on saying that as far as his concern is up to the court to determine whether he's guilty
05:09 Or not and not the comment that I've been made by the other lawyers in this past woman's eyes
05:13 We can now listen. So the lawyer
05:17 Don't forget that we had already come to court on this matter and the courts ordered that
05:24 If we have to file any process
05:28 We need to do that before 25th of July
05:32 And so we file our supplementary affidavit on the 25th of July today. We are back in court
05:38 And the court has stated that we should file written addresses. He doesn't want oral
05:44 Submissions, but you file our written addresses on the 19th of
05:50 31st of August the first of August by return to court on the 19th of
05:57 October for the ruling
06:03 Although the minister made comments he made comments and those are the comments that we have brought to court those comments we think
06:11 Affects the trial of James J.J. Quayson and that's why we brought him to court
06:16 I mean, we've seen the content of that comment. We've seen others make such similar comments. I mean, is there any reason why?
06:22 We've not brought any such action against those other individuals. Oh, we choose our victims
06:29 Everybody chooses his victim. So we've decided that we are bringing Ketiamo
06:33 Maybe another day to be somebody else. So today we have chosen our victim to be Ketiamo
06:39 So Joseph what should we expect next as far as this matter is concerned
06:50 So the court presiding over by Justice Mary-Anne will deliver a ruling on October 19
06:57 And that will be to answer the question of whether the comment that was made by Ketiamon
07:01 Amounts to consent or not. In a couple of minutes time the High Court will be hearing the trial of James J.J. Quayson
07:07 That's not to allegory, I saw some of his lawyers come over to the court. You must not see James J.J. Quayson yet
07:13 But the case was fixed for 12 and so we ran check just before we came on air
07:17 And that case closed yesterday morning. So it's a criminal trial and the business for the day is the expectation that
07:24 Lawyers will complete the cross examination of the state's first witness, Rachel Stachelman
07:29 Joseph Akable is our legal affairs correspondent
07:34 Let's stay a bit more longer on legal matters because accusing someone of witchcraft could land you in jail for five years
07:42 That's the punishment contained in the amended criminal offenses act on the anti witchcraft bill
07:48 Parliament passed a bill to criminalize the accusation naming or labeling of another person as a witch on Thursday
07:55 The amendment also prohibits the practice by any person as a witch doctor or witch finder
08:00 This comes as victory for persons like 90 year old Ikuya Dente who was lynched in the Savannah region
08:08 2020 after she was accused of witchcraft a few of such incidents have since occurred
08:14 Prompting the bill is a recap of how it all went down in Parliament yesterday
08:19 Yes, I move that the criminal offenses amendment bill 2022 be now read the third time I so move
08:28 Seconder just pick up a to second the motion
08:31 motion for the criminal offenses amendment bill to be read it 10th time
08:37 Move down second that those in favor say aye
08:41 Those against say no the ayes have it
08:45 Honorable members
08:47 An act to amend the criminal offenses act
08:49 1960 act 2 9 to prohibit the practice by any person as a witch doctor or a witch finder
08:57 to prescribe the declaration
08:59 accusation naming or labeling of another person as a witch and for related matters
09:06 Honorable members
09:09 criminal offenses amendment bill to a to
09:12 Is read the third time and passed I
09:23 Cannot hide my joy now. The reason is that for all the
09:30 539
09:33 locked up in which comes
09:35 Across the country. They are looking for us to take some decisive step to dealing with this situation
09:42 This problem has lived with us over hundred years
09:45 We'll be struggling as to how to do it and to the extent that
09:49 This 8th Parliament has found it needful to pass this
09:54 For me
09:57 Bring about a very serious mind shift
10:01 It's going to correct a lot of deals in our society and I am confident that we are just building a better society for ourselves
10:08 Well the law
10:10 simply says that
10:13 Henceforth nobody can practice as a witch doctor or a witch finder
10:18 And it will be also unlawful to accuse another person of witchcraft
10:26 And if you are a community leader who supervises either
10:31 the labeling of another person as a witch or
10:34 Beating of the person or lynching the pencil as we have always been seen all of you will be in breach of this law
10:41 NGO working towards the welfare of alleged witches in the northern region song tava also described the bill as a great
10:53 Development lam not so Adam as executive director listen. We are so excited with this progress that has been made
11:00 For me, I think that Parliament did well
11:04 Honorable Francis so sweat the team did well and our
11:09 our our
11:11 Entire Parliament. I mean we are so happy. We are glad that this this has been passed
11:17 We are hoping that the president soon ascends the signature and then it makes it all
11:22 And I'm a credentious case adapts to a lot of issues a lot of other cases that we we had here
11:29 And it's very dangerous, you know, I'll ask it to towards
11:33 More injustice
11:37 Serious whether it's about witchcraft whether it's about theft or any other thing the moment people just say this is a witch
11:45 This is a thief, you know
11:47 People do not even ask what she has done or what the person has stolen
11:51 We just pounce on the person and so for me, I think that this is a great step
11:56 You know to to let people to stop labeling naming and denouncing
12:02 Sorry, no, I know some people that switches. It's serious
12:08 And if you look within our context where believe in witchcraft is so deep seated
12:14 The moment somebody says look I saw you in a dream you are attacking me that alone is enough to either
12:22 Let you be banished that is if you are even healthy with being banished or even
12:27 Completely being lynched or your property being you know destroyed
12:32 So it's a serious matter and so if Parliament passes that bill that criminalizes it
12:38 It is great for us
12:41 Well, I've been joined by the Christian Council's
12:44 General secretary
12:46 Reverend dr. Cyril file C is also an advocate for an end to this menace
12:53 Do you think the prescribed sanctions are deterrent enough to check the practice and branding of people as witches and wizards?
13:00 in Ghana doc
13:02 Good afternoon to you and your service
13:07 Yes, I think
13:10 it's a good day for
13:13 The preservation of the human rights of all of us
13:18 Here in Ghana
13:21 because any of us who operate
13:23 the accusation of witchcraft
13:26 so I
13:28 Think it's something that should be celebrated and I think
13:31 the
13:34 the experts have done their work and I believe that the
13:38 the
13:40 the law is
13:42 deterrent enough and
13:44 It should be enough to test the menace of which that activation. I
13:50 know you've had cause in the past to
13:54 condemn such acts of branding people as witches and
13:58 Wizards and definitely this is coming as good news to you
14:02 but one other thing we should not forget is because we're going to be
14:07 taking all these people if we have to close the witch camps and
14:11 integrate them into our societies, how do we get the people to actually accept them as
14:18 You know one of them to live peacefully in such societies
14:23 Well, it's a lot of
14:26 Education
14:30 A lot of
14:33 Community work
14:36 Take a lot of changing the minds of people
14:38 In this community for that to happen, but we don't necessarily have to send them directly
14:44 This community we can send them to what I will call halfway community to like first
14:50 then eventually transition to their own communities after it has been totally accepted by
14:57 The those communities so that is what I would say is we take a lot of work
15:02 on the side of
15:05 many many sectors of our society
15:09 That will happen the role of the church
15:12 What was the role of the church in in in achieving this
15:23 the church
15:26 Every Sunday has
15:28 an audience that they talk to so I think it's an opportunity to educate
15:34 This community on the matter and I believe that the churches involve this community
15:39 So they will do the most of education
15:43 Of course, it must be backed by the traditional leaders as well. And I believe that if we do our work, right?
15:51 the community eventually
15:53 come to accept the fact that
15:56 These people are just like that and the man's me accepted into our community
16:01 I'm grateful for your time reverend serial file say is general secretary of the Christian Council
16:09 The Ghana Education Service has directors supervisors and invigilators of the upcoming basic education
16:15 Certificates examination to thoroughly search all candidates including their private parts
16:22 Before they allowed to enter the examination hall the candidates are also to be disallowed from wearing socks to the examination
16:29 Hall a directive issued and signed by the wage about a director of
16:34 Education said it is part of measures to ensure
16:37 free fair and transparent conduct of the examinations
16:41 Let me share extracts of that directive with you. It's coming shortly on your screens and
16:47 It says that the BC
16:53 2023 is scheduled for Monday 7th of Friday 11th
16:57 August candidates are to come to the examination center with only flat open sandals without socks
17:03 Candidates who arrive after the other to start work will not be permitted to write a paper
17:09 The directive goes ahead to instruct
17:13 supervisors and invigilators and says candidates who
17:20 Examination results have been cancelled for resulting to dishonest means may be refused re-entry to future examination
17:27 Candidates are allowed to use only transparent blue pens
17:31 Candidates should not come to the examination hall with mobile phones earphones wristwatch or any electronic devices
17:39 and it goes ahead to instruct that candidates are thoroughly searched and
17:44 including their private parts and
17:49 It says these are all
17:51 Measures to ensure this free fair examination devoid of malpractice
18:15 The Volta Region Office of the Electricity Company of Ghana says it has identified and started removing some illegal meters
18:22 Believed to have been acquired from Togo
18:24 The foreign electricity meters according to the ECG were installed in a number of communities within Kitsosa municipality
18:32 These include Agbogbo, Mekologa
18:34 Gakli among others. The customers using the said Togo meters have since been
18:40 Disconnected. The clampdown is part of the Operation Zero Exercise being embarked on by the ECG
18:46 But the question is how did such meters get into the system and for how long as a practice existed?
18:52 Benjamin Obing-Enchi is a Volta Regional PRO of ECG
18:56 Identify these meters we engage these customers and
19:02 Most of them what do I say when they obtain the meters from our neighbors Togo
19:08 Will these communities are border towns and moving in and out of Togo has become quite simple for them
19:13 So they said the obtain these meters from Togo and when we asked them some of them six months others one year
19:19 But somewhere last three years we started an operation within the same enclave around Aflao
19:26 Bit 9 via Petoko where these meters were rampant over there
19:30 Together with the national security the military and then the police were able to retrieve a thousand of such meters and then search out the customers
19:37 to be somewhere last year as well the national security together with the
19:41 Border Patrol team intercepted around 92 of such meters heading towards Kumasi. This week as part of our operation exercise
19:49 Because these customers are not in our system. We were unable to identify them. So they have been consuming their power illegally
19:55 So once we decided to do house-to-house sweeping, when we got to that community as I think from Gakli, Kologa, Udoba
20:02 They were identified these meters. Some of them have been in existence for six months others a year
20:07 Others more than a year as we speak. So one next for us is that you know as part of the operation exercise
20:13 We are doing a regularization. When we charge upon these meters, we disconnect and give you a 48 hour
20:20 ultimatum to visit our ICG office. So customers who have visited our ICG office
20:24 What we have done is that we have regularized their supply. That's one. Two, we've taken consumption
20:29 of the meter which we are going to build for them to pay the power. Then again the meter is not going back into the system
20:36 So we are going to give them a bill to apply for a new service. Some of them need one pole, others need two poles
20:43 So they'll be paying for that service because the issue over there, if you look at the network very well
20:47 You will see that the poles over there are quite thin, very lean. These poles are more like a time bomb waiting to happen
20:54 Should there be any heavy rainfall in the area, the poles are likely to come down
20:59 Well if you look at someone consuming power for more than a year and not pay, it's quite huge
21:05 Because if you look at, if you take into consideration the recent tariff adjustments and all that within the last two quarters
21:13 All these things will go back. Even if you look at it in terms of the service policy that they are going to pay
21:18 Others might even be paying one pole extension, another two poles. So like Riley said, it's a source of one of our losses
21:25 But this exercise, that is why I am backing on this exercise to clam down on this exercise
21:29 Because we took it as a zero. Everybody consuming power, whether you are in our system or not, you are supposed to pay for electricity bill
21:36 We'll take a break on Joy News today. We'll be back with more
21:43 [Music]
21:56 Welcome back to Joy News today to the rest of our stories
21:59 And on August 26th, a crucial superdelegates congress of the NPP will witness 961 delegates determining the fate of 10 aspirants
22:09 Aiming to reduce the flag-bearer contestants to five for the main congress in November
22:14 The Ashanti region dominates with the highest number of delegates, closely followed by the Greater Accra region
22:20 The delegates consist of elected officials, founding members and other significant figures as per the party's constitution
22:27 This event marks a pivotal moment in the NPP's political landscape
22:32 Samuel Mbura of Apolical Desk joins us for a breakdown of that list
22:37 Mbura, the NPP constitution is clear on those who are eligible to participate in this election
22:43 Give us a breakdown of that
22:45 Aisha, the register has a total of 961 delegates as you indicated
22:50 And the elections will be conducted in all 16 regions and the party's headquarters
22:55 204 are expected to vote at the national headquarters comprising ministers, national executives, national council committee chair
23:03 Special organs, external branches, national council of elders, past officers and directors of the party
23:10 The delegates at the regional level will include regional representatives of national council, founding members, regional executives, constituency chairmen, MPs and regional ministers
23:21 Now to the breakdown of the figures per region
23:24 Ashanti region leads with 119, followed by the Greater Accra region with 72, Eastern 81, Central 55, Northern Region 51, Western 46, Bota Region 41, Bono 38, Upper East 36, Western North 33, Bono East 33, Upper West 32, Oti Region 30, Savannah 30, North East 30 and Australia 30
23:53 And the region 30, making a total of 961 delegates
23:59 That's Mbura of our political desk who's been monitoring events at the NPP
24:04 For us, we can now also speak with the director of elections
24:09 Before that, let me ask you this
24:11 Mbura, you hold on, let me bring in Evans Nnemako
24:15 I'm grateful for your time
24:16 We know this register went through cleaning and validation before arriving at the number of eligible voters for the super delegates congress
24:24 Tell us what's happened to the names of those that are deceased or abandoned their positions
24:31 Thank you for having me
24:33 Let me set the record straight
24:36 I think there's no confusion
24:38 The situation where the party is under seeking verification of the register has to do with the constituency register that was used for the constituency delegate conference for the selection of the constituency offices
25:00 In the case of the presidential primaries and the case of the special electoral college
25:09 The party constitution is clear as it is stated in article 131 sub clause 9 that these are national council members, national executive committee members, regional executive committee members, members of parliament, external branch submitting three delegates each
25:34 Wings of the party, i.e. youth, women and NASDAQ submitting three delegates each
25:42 And foundation members, our elders who signed party documents that were submitted to the electoral commission before the party was issued with their specificities
25:56 Our council of elders, all of them
25:59 So for the purpose of this special electoral college, the register has been given to the prospective candidates, i.e. our principals who are contesting for this primary
26:12 For them to look through it and if they have any concerns, they submit them to the presidential election committee for consideration
26:21 So this is not a register like the polling station register, electoral coordinators and constituency executive register that is being verified across constituencies
26:33 I hope I'm clear
26:34 Yes you are
26:35 You also issued a statement on the application for proxy voting, what is the latest on that?
26:43 Yes, in view of the fact that this is an election and all features of elections are applied, the party extended opportunity for those who want their votes to be cast by their proxies to do the application, submitted latest by 2nd of August
27:04 When these applications are received, the electoral committee will compile them and give copies to the presidential candidates
27:14 So they are placed themselves on the list which will not make any additions to the total 961 delegates we have
27:25 It's also clear that the person to be appointed as a proxy must be a delegate to this special electoral college
27:35 And in addition, one person will not be allowed to have more than one proxy
27:41 Ms. Animako, earlier there were suspicions from the Allan camp and other aspirants of some suspected machinations to favour candidate Dr. Baomiya, has all of that been addressed?
27:55 My sister, as long as it remains a suspicion, we will leave it as it is. The presidential aspirants met with the election committee and they are confident that the process that has been initiated or commenced is free, is fair and is very transparent
28:18 When we met last Wednesday, they went through balancing by themselves, except three of them who were represented by their agents
28:28 I would at this point urge all to rather look at the positives in the process rather than to look at the hearsay, the allegations that do not have basis
28:40 Director of elections and research at the NPP, where to stay on August 26th is your election headquarters on the JOYNEWS channel
28:50 We are live on JOYNEWS today from our studios in Kokomlemle. Let's take a break, when we return we'll bring you business
28:59 [Music]
29:12 Hello, good afternoon, welcome to the business segment on JOYNEWS today with me Pius Kojo Baka. Now the Director General of the West African Monetary Institute is calling for infrastructure development in the country. We can now take a listen to him
29:28 Capacity building is in all sectors. If you look at all the 46 sectors we have in all the various economies, people lack, they don't have enough skills to be able to develop those sectors
29:45 If you look at the financial area now, we are building capacity in the debt market, we are building capacity in UBI, that's the United Bank of Identification, we are building capacity in the area of bank and non-bank initiatives
30:02 We are building capacity in capital markets and domestic debt markets. Because some of the stakeholders, about two weeks ago we met in Ghana here and it was capacity building, sensitization on security trading
30:18 You talk about listing, you talk about transaction, you talk about trading and you need to build the capacity of all the stakeholders, all the relevant stakeholders so that this exercise can go on seamlessly
30:38 Senior Finance Lecturer at the University of Ghana Business School, Dr. Benjamin Amwa is asking banks to support other sectors of the economy as they gradually bounce back. According to him, profitability of local banks should complement the efforts of other sectors to drive economic growth. Dr. Amwa spoke to JOYNE Business
30:56 The banks returning to profitability is simply from the DDEP, but for the DDEP, banks in Ghana have been one of the most comfortable entities when it comes to reporting in terms of profit. It is just for this DDEP.
31:13 So now that we are gradually getting out of the DDEP, banks are going to go back to their pre-DDEP performance, which has been profit, profit, profit. Look, you can look at a bank's performance and for almost 15-20 years, there has not been a loss. That is what the banks normally report.
31:32 So the DDEP was just a one-off event, what we call low-frequency, high-impact event that affected the banking sector. But the banks will recover and very soon, we are going to see profit level.
31:47 So the issue is how does it translate into the other sectors of the economy. If the banks are the ones making all the profits, but then the other sectors of the economy are not making good returns on their investment, then you also have to say disconnect.
32:04 Because the banks do business with the other sectors of the economy, so how come the banks are reporting good profits and the other sectors of the economy are complaining? That is a disconnect that we need to look at and see how best we can address that. So it's not only the banks, but the banks together with the other sectors of the economy also report good profits going forward.
32:22 And that's it for business for now. I am Pius Kujoba. Kandara will be here at 1pm with The Marketplace.
32:30 [Music]
32:49 Good afternoon, welcome to Showbiz here on Joy News. Today, our musician, KD, has revealed that he was tempted to sue bloggers who posted fake news about him, alleging he suffered from a stroke while he was battling ill health.
33:03 Speaking on Daybreak Hits on his firm, he noted that dealing with rumours was an uncomfortable experience for him, his family, his friends and the brands he works with.
33:15 It was a very uncomfortable time, you know, for me, my family, everybody involved.
33:20 When the news broke, when first did you hear it?
33:24 Kobe sent it to me.
33:26 What were you doing?
33:27 I was at home, you know, I was at home and then he just said, "Have you seen this?" And he said it so casually, like, "Have you seen this?"
33:34 Kobe is what, your manager?
33:35 My road manager.
33:36 Okay.
33:37 He said, "Have you seen this?" I was like, "Oh no, I haven't." So I read it, I was like, "Ee!" I sat up, I was like, "Ee! What is going on?"
33:43 And in the span of like two minutes, three minutes, my phone started like ringing, different people were calling everywhere.
33:50 I was like, "Ee!" Like, you know that thing, it told me, so I was like, "What is going on?" I went on social and I was like, "Is everything okay?"
33:57 And then it was everywhere, I realised that everybody was, I had to turn off my phone. My mum called, I spoke to my mum that morning, but she called again because she wanted to be sure that I...
34:06 She had also heard it.
34:07 Yeah, she had also heard it. It was everywhere, like, she wanted to be sure that she spoke to me in the morning, was I hiding something?
34:12 I was like, "Mum, I'm actually okay, like, there's nothing like that's going on, it's what we know, but not this, you know?"
34:18 So, it was just a very worry for the brands I work with, my family, friends from school, you know, it was tough.
34:25 But like I said, it's a part of my life I'm trying to live, I don't want us to revisit the topic.
34:30 That's when it happened, I called Richie, I was like, "Richie, how many times or for how long would these things happen?" And he said, "And yes, you know, Ghanians, we like peace."
34:39 Maybe he said, "Oh, and yes, you know, how long we have to keep doing this?" You know, because people are taking advantage of this, as you can see, there needs to be some course of action, you know.
34:48 But upon a lot of conversations and stuff, we decided to not feed our energy into it too much, let's move on from it, you know.
34:55 But were you, were you indisposed?
34:59 Yeah.
35:00 Okay. But how did people know?
35:03 How did people know what?
35:04 That you were indisposed, because, yeah, we are, yeah, we are. I mean, you are human, everyone can get sick.
35:10 No, but it came from the fact that I cancelled my North American tour and I put out a statement that, you know, I was dealing with a few health issues and I'll be back, you know, this is my life, I'll be back to doing music.
35:20 And that post was out like two, three weeks before that rumor started. So I don't know who decided to go and take that statement.
35:28 "Rida, oh, Akili has a health issue, what could it be?"
35:32 Okay, it's not malaria, it's not this, it's not this, it's this. Let's put it out, let's go with it and then boom, it's everywhere.
35:40 Now, one day more to the third edition of Showbiz Roundtable, which will take place this weekend at the Labadi Beach Hotel.
35:48 The event will explore the dynamics of sponsorship in the creative space.
35:53 On the panel will be Babasah Dick, founder of 3Music TV and World Alarm Fest, Latif Abubakar, playwright and CEO of Globe Production,
36:03 Gina Ofori, brand director and consummate marketer, Ivan Kwashiga, filmmaker, creative director and founder of Farmhouse Production,
36:11 and Kobe Atatbedu, procurement expert and management consultant.
36:16 The keynote speakers are Ankle Bo White, playwright, author and Bright Lajepo, CEO of PhD Media Ghana Limited.
36:25 Guest speakers is Deputy Minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture, Honorable Mark Okrekumante.
36:31 This forum will be live on Joy 99.7 FM at 2pm and hosted by Kwame Daze.
36:38 Showbiz Roundtable is brought to you by Showbiz A to Z and powered by Joy Entertainment.
36:46 You don't want to miss out on this conversation tomorrow at Labadi Beach Hotel.
36:57 On that note, we end Showbiz here on Joy News Today. The news continues.
37:03 The multimedia group through Joy Sports and Ensura Sports presents a half year thought leadership event under the theme,
37:11 "Fill GPL Centers, the Challenge and the Solutions." Date, Monday, July 31, 2023. Venue, Labadi Beach Hotel.
37:19 [Music]
37:23 [Applause]
37:29 That's your sports now on Joy News Today with me, Muftau Nabila Abla.
37:36 The Ghana Football Association has received about $9.5 million from FIFA for participating in the FIFA World Cup in Qatar last year.
37:46 They have written to the Ministry of Youth and Sport and EAMAS what they want the money to be used for.
37:52 The Minister of Youth and Sport, Muftafa Hussein, says that he's also forwarded a letter to the presidency
37:59 and is awaiting advice from the chief of staff of the presidency.
38:05 I had a conversation with the Ghana Athletic Federation led by Bawa Fuseni and they are putting the team together
38:13 and I'm very confident that the team will go to Budapest and do us a honor again just like they did in Oregon in the USA
38:22 where they did so well, especially the Quartet team was, they performed a splendid performance
38:29 and I have confidence that even going to Budapest they will even do better.
38:34 As a country we are giving them all the necessary support to ensure that their participation becomes very successful.
38:43 One of the things that I remember speaking to Bawa was the fact that they needed to be able to count the athletes.
38:48 Have you had such a conversation and the ministry put...
38:51 The FA have written and indicated to us that they've received the prize money
38:58 and I've mentioned it that the prize money has arrived but they have no control of how it is being utilized.
39:04 They would have wished that they have all the money to invest in sports development
39:09 but we should understand that the country invested heavily in our preparation in the qualification period
39:16 to be even qualified aside that and also the participation.
39:20 So what we have requested, we have requested to the chief of staff to give us direction
39:25 and we have given various options aside that there is also precedence that we have to follow.
39:31 2006 the state took 50% of the prize money, in 2010 the state took 100% of the prize money,
39:39 in 2014 the state took 50% and gave some 50% for the GFA and the ministry to use it for AFCON in 2015
39:50 and in 2020 we are yet to get approval from the presidency on how it is going to be utilized
39:58 and once we get the confirmation we'll make it public.
40:01 It's been 40 years since Ghana last won the African Cup of Nations.
40:08 Legendary commentator, Joe Lattes Sr. who commented on Ghana's success in all the four AFCON titles the country won
40:17 says that Ghana's failure to win the competition is not just disappointing but also painful.
40:24 Yes it's painful, not disappointed alone, it's painful that we haven't.
40:29 And I think, as I said, if we do a few things right, just a few things right, I think we can.
40:40 Because football appears to be in our blood, it's part of us.
40:46 So let's see what can be done.
40:49 I've told you I want to meet the President, Clay Cook, and then we'll talk.
40:56 And I hope sincerely, I pray, that when you are cutting the path, when it's crooked, you don't see it.
41:07 It's a man sitting elsewhere who, so I hope he may take some of the things I tell him to heart.
41:15 And Prime Tech will be coming your way at 7.30pm on this channel on Saturday.
41:21 This is our wrap up sports here, I want to join you today with me, Mufti Awenebila Abdoulaye.
41:26 Up Next is Marketplace with Darrell Quall. Do enjoy the rest of our program.
41:32 [Music]