This follows the resignation of former Deputy Minister for Agriculture, William Quaitoo, for what many have described as ethnocentric comments he made about farmers from the three regions of the North, in the heat of the fall armyworm invasion several weeks ago.

[contextly_sidebar id=”lAaQF6erTgj6rLc6B4bI7qxSnvXJgiOL”]The Speaker of Parliament, Prof. Mike Ocquaye, who announced the approval on the floor of parliament on Friday, said he was hopeful that the appointee will  help address the challenges at the Ministry.

He said he was expectant that the substantive minister, Dr. Afriyie Akoto, will support the appointee to serve to the best of his ability.

“I congratulate you on your appointment, and trust that you will meet the challenges of that ministry where we have Dr. Afriyie Akoto [as minister]. We expect that he will support you so that your era will be added to those very successful ones in the annals of Ghana’s history,” he said.

Prof. Aaron Mike Oquaye, however, advised the Deputy Minister to be mindful of his utterances while serving at the ministry.

“Your colleagues have reiterated; watch your tongue, the book of Proverbs is full of such admonishments. Speak less, work hard,” he said.

Mr. Nyarko, who is also the Member of Parliament for Akim Swedru, was nominated by President Akufo-Addo in October 2017 to fill the vacant position.

Why did William Quaitoo resign?

Mr. Quaitoo’s exit from the Ministry was triggered by the following comments he made:

Our brothers [in northern Ghana], it is so difficult to deal with them. I lived there for 27 years, I speak Dagbani like a Dagomba and all that. They are very difficult people. Nobody can substantiate. If anybody says that his farm was destroyed by armyworm, the person would have to come and prove it. We have no records of that. It’s just a way of taking money from the government; that’s what they do all the time.

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By: Jonas Nyabor/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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According to them, several pleas to the Ministry have fallen on deaf ears hence the picketing.

Some of the students told Citi News that they won’t hold back until they have an assurance from the Ministry.

“We are here over the issue of our allowances because the Ministry has kept quiet for a long. Government has released the allowances of teacher and nursing trainees, but we have been neglected. Our population is less than 3,000, but that of the teachers and nurses are over 58,000, yet government has refused to release our allowances.  This is the second time we have been here,” one of the students lamented.

This comes on the back of the restoration of allowances of trainee nurses by the New Patriotic Party government.

Allowances of the agric students were scrapped together with that of trainee nurses and teacher trainees by the Mahama government.

President Akufo-Addo has also promised to restore the allowances of teacher trainees.

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By: Anass Seidu/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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The 19-year-old wildcard’s huge serve helped him to a 7-6 (7-5) 5-7 7-6 (7-5) 6-3 victory on his Centre Court debut, and he will play Milos Raonic next.

Ranked 144, Kyrgios is the first man outside the top 100 to beat a world number one at a Grand Slam since 1992.

Nadal, 27, has failed to make the last eight at Wimbledon since 2011.

He lost in the second round two years ago, the first round last year, and now experiences the kind of defeat not suffered by someone at the top of the rankings since Jim Courier’s loss to world number 193 Andrei Olhovskiy at Wimbledon 22 years ago.

The Spaniard had lost the first set in each of his first three matches before recovering to win in four, but could not repeat the effort against a rampant Kyrgios.

Despite being tipped for greatness by the likes of Andy Murray and Pat Cash in recent weeks, Kyrgios had only claimed his first top-50 win last week when he saved nine match points to beat Richard Gasquet in the second round.

But firing down aces, racing between points and leaping in celebration, the young Australian took Centre Court by storm.

“I was in a bit of a zone out there and didn’t really notice the crowd,” Kyrgios told BBC Sport. “I was struggling a little on return but I worked my way into it and I served really well throughout, so am very happy.

“You have to believe that you can win the match from the start and I definitely did. I am playing really well on grass.”

Nadal pressed as best he could in the face of a barrage, lining up a forehand at 30-30 in game six only to see a backhand rocket back past him, and his opponent leap and punch the air in celebration.
John McEnroe on Kyrgios

Kyrgios saw his opponent save two set points on serve before calmly hammering an ace out wide to clinch it.

When Kyrgios hit an outrageous winner between his legs in the second set, it appeared he could do no wrong, and Nadal had failed to win a point on the Australian’s first serve as they headed towards a second tie-break.

That run came to an end when Kyrgios fell 30-40 down at 6-5, and after saving a set point – and first break point – with another ace, he could only find the net as Nadal leapt on his opportunity.

A huge fist pump illustrated the relief felt by the two-time champion, but the rhythm of the match did not alter.

The third set followed a similar pattern, with Nadal looking marginally more likely to break, but again Kyrgios grabbed his chance as the tie-break sped by.

When a set point arrived, the teenager stepped in on a second serve and blasted a forehand return that a scrambling Nadal failed to recover.

Kyrgios stood, arms raised in celebration, and Nadal trooped back to his chair knowing he was facing an early exit for the third year running despite having not yet dropped serve.

Two heavy backhands helped the wildcard finally make the breakthrough to move 3-1 ahead in the fourth set, and he powered through to the finish line, sealing the win of his life with ace number 37.

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Source: BBC Sport

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The Serb’s 4-6 6-3 6-3 victory was his fourth successive victory over Nadal but only his fourth on clay in their 41-match head-to-head series dating back to 2006.

After a slow start in which he twice dropped serve, Djokovic took control of the baseline rallies and finished the match with a flurry of precision groundstrokes that had Nadal reeling.

“Beating Rafa on clay is definitely a confidence booster,” Djokovic, who claimed his third Rome title and the 44th of his career, told reporters.

“Let’s hope it’s something I can take into Roland Garros.” Beating Nadal in the French capital is a different proposition altogether but the way Djokovic managed to dominate the Spanish world No.1 augurs well for his chances of completing his career grand slam next month.

He has won eight of the last nine sets they have contested. “It’s been a great week considering where I was a few weeks ago with the wrist injury,” said an emotional Djokovic, who was making his comeback in Rome after injuring himself in the Monte Carlo Masters last month and missing the Madrid Masters.

“I tried to be aggressive from the beginning to the end. It didn’t work at the start but I didn’t change the game plan and I found the right rhythm and everything started going in.”

Seven-times Rome champion Nadal had spent 10 hours on court reaching the final, including gruelling late-night wins over Gilles Simon and Andy Murray, and he looked powerless to stop Djokovic’s charge, although he did threaten a comeback in the decider when he broke back to 3-3.

Defeat for Nadal was his third on clay in a season for the first time in a decade and raised further questions about his form ahead of the French Open which starts next Sunday.

Source: Reuters

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