It said areas such as Alajo, Kwame Nkrumah Circle, Kaneshie, Mataheko, Nima and Dzorwulu were at risk of flooding.

“A thunderstorm and rain-bearing cloud system located over the coast and middle sectors, is expected to persist and further affect places in the central, western and Brong Ahafo regions till noon. Places to take caution due to flood include: Alajo, Circle, Kaneshie, Mataheko, Nima, Dzorwulu, South Odorkor, Osu,” a public weather warning form the Agency on Friday said.

Many parts of Accra and Kumasi have been submerged in flood waters, curtailing vehicular movement after few hours of rain on Friday morning.

Most drivers have been forced to make a detour, while others have parked their vehicles due to the pool of flood waters on major highways.

Areas such as Teshie-Nungua, Lapaz, Shiashie, Darkuman and Kaneshie in Accra and Kumasi Ahensan have been badly affected.

The flooding situation resulted in a gridlock in areas such as Tetteh Quarshie, Kaneshie and Lapaz.

The situation according to the Works and Housing Minister, Samuel Atta Akyea, may not improve until the country makes a $700 million investment to permanently fix it.

–

By: Jonas Nyabor/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post Rains to continue till noon – Meteo Agency appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

The Nima Divisional Police Commander, Chief Superintendent Abraham Acquaye confirmed the arrests to Citi News, revealing that several used condoms were retrieved, following a search of some of the rooms.

“Yesterday we conducted the exercise between the hours of 10 and 12 pm. They are being screened for the necessary offences. Meanwhile we are holding them for the offences of prostitution.

“We monitored the [suspects]; they were soliciting for prostitution, the way they were dressed, their demeanor – they themselves have admitted it. Some of the women, when they saw us, fled. The men also fled. We inspected some of the rooms and we seized condoms including used ones from them.”

Nine men were also arrested in the sting after they attacked the police officers who were rounding up the suspected prostitutes.

“When we were effecting the arrests, they attempted to attack us so we had to fight back by firing about two warning shots to scare them. In the process, we were able to bring them under control,” Chief Superintendent Abraham Acquaye said.

–

By: Edwin Kwakofi and Franklin Badu Jnr/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post 17 suspected prostitutes arrested at Circle appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

According to the Director of Public Relations of the AMA, Numo Blafo III, recent attacks and threats by traders at the Kwame Nkrumah Circle interchange will not deter the assembly from sanitizing the city through the implementation of its bye-laws.

[contextly_sidebar id=”Yw3FdofFTUznBWH5Bw1g1JoMZVifQO1Z”]His comment comes on the back of reports of physical attacks carried out by some hawkers on officials of the AMA task-force in the area.

“We are resolute that they [the hawkers] will never come back on the pavements; after all the pavements are meant for the pedestrians and that is what we will make sure it is used for. It is not a trading post meant for trading activities. And we are going to make sure that the pavements in the metropolis are not turned into markets,” he said.

Four officials of the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) working at the Kwame Nkrumah Circle interchange in Accra, were earlier this week attacked by some angry traders at the Kwame Nkrumah circle.

The traders unleashed their physical aggression on the officials when they tried to evict them from the pavement on Tuesday evening

Numo Blafo III said such attacks must be condemned, and called on the media to support the assembly to fight such happenings.

He reiterated the assembly’s commitment to rid the city of human and vehicular congestion caused by trading activities conducted on pavements.

–
By: Jonas Nyabor/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post We’ll evict hawkers despite attacks on task-force members appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

The accompanying structures belonging to the Accra Metropolitan Assembly, the Fire service and Ambulance service, were also affected by the acts of vandalism.

By the time Citi News got to the scene, Police armed with tear gas grenade guns, had arrived to take control of the situation

An eyewitness, Philip Gyetu, who witnessed the incident, explained that the hawkers were angered by the beating of their colleague by five UCS personnel tasked to guard the lawns at Circle.

Narrating the incident to Citi News, the eyewitness, Philip Gyetu, said :”This is very terrible. The guy is a colleague. He flouted the regulations of the UCS by placing his table at an unauthorised area. When the hawker was asked why he placed his table at the said area, he became angry and started exchanging blows with one of the personnel which resulted in a fierce fight. They later had to rush the hawker to the hospital after they realized he was in a critical condition but his wife came to tell us afterwards that her husband had passed on so out of anger the hawkers at Circle decided to vandalize the UCS structure by pelting stones and sticks.

Personnel from AMA were present at the scene, and the Assembly’s Rapid Response Unit head, Moses Abor, told the press that “the guy [ the victim] was not bleeding. You could not seek any evidence of a beating on him after the confusion and then he was rushed to [the 37 Mmilitary] hospital.”

This incident follows a recent demolition exercise at the interchange area, which saw the destruction of hawkers’ wares and temporary structures, and the disdain for the AMA was evident on the ground.

Some of the protesting hawkers and traders also expressed fears the incident would become “a foolish case” with no commitment from the police to thoroughly investigate the incident.

The police are reported to have in custody the five UCS personnel alleged to have beaten up the hawker.

–

By: citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post Hawkers vandalize UCS facility at Nkrumah Circle Interchange [Photos] appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

The incident happened at about 5:00pm Wednesday evening.

Citi FM’s Philip Nii Lartey reported that, the container fell on two empty 207 sprinter buses parked close to the Royal VVIP bus station.

The trailer, which appears to be carrying bags of sugar, was moving from the Ringroad side of the stretch toward Kaneshie when the incident happened.

According to eyewitnesses, the driver appeared to have lost control of the vehicle whose container had lost balance as it drove on the overpass.

Officials of the Ghana Police Service, Ghana Ambulance Service and the National Road Safety, are currently at the scene to maintain order.

Meanwhile, the badly mangled 207 buses have been towed from the scene. Efforts were also underway to move the trailer off the road.

–

By: Jonas Nyabor/citifmonline.com/Ghana
Follow @jnyabor

The post 40-footer container falls off Circle interchange [Photos] appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

This follows the construction company’s decision to construct pavement blocks in front of the VIP station at the Kwame Nkrumah Circle in Accra.

Managers of VIP Jeoung Transport Company have therefore asked Messrs Queiroz Galvao Construction Limited to as a matter of urgency stop the on-going construction to avoid legal action.

The order was contained in a notice to seek redress in court filed by Nana Obiri Boahen of Enso Nyameye Chambers, a legal firm in Sunyani, and made available to the Ghana News Agency (GNA).

Copies of the notice were addressed to the Ministries of Transport, Justice and Attorney General, Chief of Staff, and the Speaker of Parliament.

It stated: “Not long ago, a sizeable portion of our client’s terminal was unlawfully taken over and same used to expand the circle – Kaneshie road in Accra.

“Before our client could put in demand for the payment of compensation, subtle attempts had been made to block the entire entrance to our client’s bus terminal.”

The notice also said; “Our instructions hold that, in an attempt to undermine our client’s transport business, an undue and an unfair advantage is being given to the revived State Transport Company, thus the intentional conduct on your part and officialdom to block the entrance to our client’s bus terminal.”

“Basically, the gravamen of our client’s complaint is that your contracting firm has in recent times been busily constructing pavement blocks in front of the VIP station thus preventing passengers from getting ready access to the VIP terminal.”

According to the notice, such conduct by the construction firm is unarguably adversely affecting the patronage of the company.

“We consider this as not only unfair and improper but also a very dangerous precedent which must be bemoaned.”

–

Source: GNA

The post VIP transport to sue Queiroz Galvao over Nkrumah Circle construction appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

A statement issued by the organisation, which is also a centre for information gathering said although the matter is in court it is expedient for government to aid in the legal processes to exonerate itself from the bad press.

The statement issued by BIA Coordinator Cynthia Essandoh, was reacting to allegations that some  government officials are aiding some traditional authorities in the Greater Accra Region in their illegal land guard activities as well as contract killings.  “This is denting the image of the government and the nation,” the statement said.

It said contracting killing is a serious criminal offence and must therefore not be taken for granted, and  “government should aid the courts to pursue the case to its logical conclusion”

“BIA also wishes to condemn the culture of impunity which is gaining grounds in Ghana. This trend, if not curtailed will breed social unrest and  cripple development.”

The statement said BIA would rally behind government to fight any group that rises to undermine the peace and security of the region, and the country as a whole.

BIA aims at bridging the communication gap between the public and the authorities on issues negatively affecting the nation.

Source: GNA

The post Gov’t must investigate contract killing claims – Bureau for Internal Affairs appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.