The three daughters (names withheld) aged between 13 and 19 years, according to information, had allegedly been subjected to numerous sexual encounters by their own father for close to three years.

Sources in the area indicated that the youngest of the three daughters, who is about 13 years old, reported the alleged incest being perpetrated by Kwasi Aborle.

“The last daughter was haunted by the abominable act and reported the appalling deeds to her close friend who also informed the chief of the area about the matter,” a resident asserted.

Asked whether the case had been reported to the police, the resident answered in the negative.

DAILY GUIDE learnt that when Kwasi Aborle was summoned before the chief and elders in the area, he admitted having sexual intercourse with his own daughters and remorsefully told them, “I don’t know what came over me.”

A source told DAILY GUIDE, “Aborle pleaded guilty to the charges of defilement and incest at the chief’s palace and the chief, Nana Kwasi Sompre II, who presided over the case, pronounced the fines accordingly.”

The paper gathered that the chiefs and elders of Bogoso, the district capital, fined the father an amount of GH¢3,000 and some items, including sheep, one crate of soft drinks, one bottle of Club Beer and a bottle of Schnapps.

“Kwasi Aborle was ordered to pay the fine and also provide the above-listed items to be used for purification rites to avert any punishment that might befall the town due to his action,” a resident told DAILY GUIDE.

Speaking to journalists, the chief linguist for Bogoso, Nana Kwaku Ampoma, disclosed that Kwasi Aborle was reprimanded by the local chief for a similar offence in 2016.

“Hence the severe punishment this time is to serve as deterrent to other citizens who may want to perpetrate same offense,” he indicated.
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By: Daily Guide/Ghana

The post Man sleeps with 3 daughters in Prestea appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

Mr. John Enimil, a 35-year-old, who was adjudged as the district’s Overall Best Farmer on Friday, December 1, 2017, went home with four knapsack sprayers, a bicycle, five wellington boots, nine cutlasses, 2 radio sets, a flat-screen TV and a table-top fridge.

Mr. Enimil owns 120 acres of rubber plantation, 52 acres of cocoa farm, 10 acres of sugarcane farm, 10 acres of palm nut plantation, 2 acres of rice farm, 2 acres of cocoyam, 2 fish ponds, 150 of local fowls, 150 of poultry fowls, 85 trees of pea and 360 coconut trees.

Currently, he has a total staff of 15 workers.

Barely a week after receiving his award from the government, Mr. Enimil has returned all his items to the Agriculture Department in the District.

Confirming the news to Ghanaweb, Mr. Enimil explained that the package given to him as the Overall Best Farmer was a disgrace to him and Prestea-Huni Valley.

According to him, “In 2016 the Overall Best Farmer received a brand new tricycle (Aboboya) so I was expecting the same or very important items than this bicycle”, he lamented.

“The District has embarrassed me and there is no way I will take the items again, they should take their items”, he added.

“What pains me a lot is a common certificate they didn’t give me some, and these people think I’m not a human being, they take us the farmers for granted”, he told Ghanaweb.

He also revealed that the Member of Parliament for the area has called him, and pleaded with him to exercise patience as the District is trying to resolve the issue. He, however, says he is unconvinced despite the MP’s call.

Meanwhile, the District Director of Agriculture of the District, Gabriel Adjargo, has declined comment on the matter.
The situation has generated a lot of hullabaloo in the District.

This year’s celebration was under the theme, “Farming for Food and Jobs”.
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By: Ghanaweb

The post Angry District Best Farmer returns award package to gov’t appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

This move according to the company is after series of rehabilitation works and integrity tests at the mine.

At a media interaction in Takoradi by the communications department of Golden Star Resources Limited, Corporate Affairs Manager of the company Gerard Osei Boakye noted that “in the last three years, we have moved from the care and maintenance stage where we were only pumping water out of the mine to a stage where now we are clearing the shaft, and putting the mines in shape. Our workers underground at least know that we are ready to start blasting. On the outside, areas have been cleared. Mine shaft color is repainted, winders, new operators, new operator’s room, new winders program and others are in place. The safety place and workers changing room are also in place indicating a successful takeoff in the next three months”.

Employment

Mr. Gerard noted that the new technology adopted to enhance efficiency and reduce cost of the revamping of the mine which was last mined in 2001.

He said it does not have room  to employ as many people as residents of Prestea and its environs might have envisaged.

It will be recalled that residents of Prestea have embarked on series of protest calling for the operationalization of the Prestea underground mine with the hope creating jobs for the youth in the area.

But Mr. Gerard said “we are engaging, but you will also appreciate that mining is a highly specialized area so we may not engage many hands as fast as we would engage haulers. For haulers if you have the ability to buy your truck and register your company, you can easily be engaged. But directly employing the youth into the mine may not be the case. It’s the ancillary jobs as a result of our operations that many people can be engaged.

Managing expectations

“In this direction, we have been able to manage expectations even ahead of commercial declaration. For the people of Prestea, the operationalization of the underground mine should come with thousands of jobs. But, it’s a business which has to be profitable. We are going to engage what will help the business running”.

Expanding CSR

Mr. Gerard noted that, even though the company is not going to employ many youth as they might have thought, the company is focusing on giving enough back to communities in its operational areas.

“So rather than spreading ourselves thinly on the ground, we will rather use a highly mechanized most profitable strategy to mine Prestea Underground such that we will be profitable enough to be able to say we can afford an international school here, we can assist government in bringing railway back to Prestea.”

The Prestea Underground Mine

Over 9 million ounces mined in the Prestea area since 1877, including 6million ounces from Prestea Underground. The mine was acquired by GSR in 2002–previously owned by Government of Ghana and Ghana Mine workers Union. The underground pit was last mined in 2001.

Total cost of rehabilitation work was estimated to be US$63 million in Feasibility Study. Rehabilitation work commenced in September 2015 with focus on rehabilitation of the 1935 old  Shaft, Winder to hoist people, equipment and ore up and down the shaft, ventilation, electrical services, underground radio as well as rail haulage to transport ore and people from the mining area to the shaft.

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By: Obrempong Yaw Ampofo/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post Prestea Underground Mine to reopen after 15 years appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

When you hear the name Prestea, how does it sound in your ears? A beautiful golden city with shining lights and good roads? Well, in the town’s current state, that’s a big illusion! Prestea and its adjourning communities are home to one of the most terrible roads in the country. What a wow!

As I said earlier, the district at large is rich in gold. In 2016 alone, Golden Star Resources produced and sold 23,893 ounces of gold from the belly of the soil. That comes with some pretty cool taxes to the Ghanaian government for development. The usual direct and indirect taxes from the inhabitants in the districts, added to taxes paid to the state by registered small scale miners and all other monies, puts the district ahead of many districts financially across the country.

But apart from the only trunk road from Tarkwa – Bogoso to Ayamfuri, which construction completed in the last quarter of 2016, no other road in this supposed rich district is tarred.

Let’s start from Bogoso. Bogoso, another ‘golden City’, is the capital of the Prestea Huni-Valley District. Until recently when the Tarkwa-Bogoso Ayamfuri trunk road was completed, the capital itself had its main high streets slapped with potholes of different sizes.

When it rains slightly, all that is seen is mud. That construction has sort of elevated the image of Bogoso. But, it is from this portion that the beginning of a sad story is told of Prestea.

Less than 50 meters away from the Bogoso High street towards Prestea, are many unfriendly potholes on the road. The 23.4km stretch will take you some 50 minutes to an hour to travel amidst ‘dancing’.

This bad road network certainly comes at a cost to both drivers and passengers. For the drivers, mostly Taxis, you would have to change your car almost every year, if you really want to stay in business. Ask anybody from Prestea and its environs the number of 2014 to 2016 registered taxis that are still in operation in 2017; and how many of the passengers are willing to board those cars. Many of those cars have broken down and have been parked.

Those in operation are just too uncomfortable for use on that rickety road from Bogoso to Prestea. As a result, majority of the cars you see on that 23km distance are 2017 registered taxis.

That is for the road from Bogoso to Prestea. Let’s now come to the roads in Prestea Township.

In fact, it’s a shame and an indictment on central and local government authorities in this area. That a town that sits on plenty wealth has terrible high streets roads with intertwining potholes. It’s just a paradox of plenty, no matter how one looks at it. Here too, it gets worse with the slightest rainfall. Brothers and sisters, it’s an unpleasant and a disgraceful moment to be in Prestea when it rains. Mud is found everywhere, including the main high street to their lorry terminal. In fact, Prestea roads cannot be described by words, in view of what leaves that soil annually.

Currently, some works are being done on the town roads, but wait, what the hell is wrong with this country? What is the use of the training we have given engineering students at Legon and KNUST all these years, if we still construct such shameful 5th class roads in a strategic area like Prestea?

It’s shockingly terrifying! No! Help me here, what determines the type or quality of road for a particular area? The load that plies it? The profitability of the road, the intelligence of the road users, colour or race of users or what?

See, a certified popular contractor is engaged to bring some sanity to the roads in Prestea. It started somewhere in the latter part of 2015. It will interest you to know that 8 months after some snail pace work was done on some roads in parts of the town, potholes are everywhere. It’s appalling, so the contractor and the person who sat in his comfortable office to prescribe this 5th class road to be done in Prestea, ‘how be market’? God bless you!

Friends, I will not talk about the roads to Huni Valley, Oppong Valley, Nsuta where the recent collapsed Galamsey pit disaster occurred. Just see below this picture for yourself.

Before I rest my case; let me say thank you for reading, but share it with the contractor and the highways person responsible for Prestea roads. Tell him his good plans have stuck in his head for far too long.

Tell him the comfort in his air-conditioned car and office are from the monthly sweat of a Ghanaian, who believed in him to turn things around.

Tell him to act immediately, for previous directors behaved same until their retirement with questionable conscience. Tell him this old ways of doing things is uncharacteristic of people who want results. God is watching us all!

Lest I forget, Prestea is not in this alone; many of Ghana’s mining towns suffer same fate from Tarkwa to Obuasi, to Akwatia and others.

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By: Obrempong Yaw Ampofo/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post Obrempong writes: Prestea; a town of gold with ugly roads appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

Speaking in the aftermath of the death of about 14 persons when a pit they were mining in collapsed on Monday, Mr. Owu stated that, the area where the incident happened, had been surveyed two weeks ago as part of a crackdown against illegal miners.

[contextly_sidebar id=”MofiGTb2196WwOEEn3EbBxyDLJeG2Nmd”]According to him, there was no indication that there had been any galamsey activity in the vicinity prior to the incident.

“We were never aware of it, I’m even surprised there was something like that. We had an exercise just two weeks ago on these illegal mining issues,” he told Citi News.

“And we combed the site and so I’m surprised about that place. It’s a very critical issue and it’s unfortunate this happened. But everything is under control.”

‘DISEC in control’

Following the deaths of the miners, the police in the Western Region have declared the owners of the pit wanted.

17 people were believed to have been trapped in the pit, while five others, who managed to escape unhurt, are assisting the Police with investigations.

Mr. Owu insisted that, despite not being aware of the activities, the District Security Committee had taken control of the matter and were proceeding with their investigations.

“I’ve instructed my District Coordinating Director as well as the District Police Commander to take charge of investigations. The District Coordinating Director, the Divisional Police Commander, the District Police Commander, the District BNI Commander are there. In short, DISEC is in control of the situation and I coordinate with them from here.”

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By: Edwin Kwakofi/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post I wasn’t aware of Galamsey activities – Prestea DCE appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

In 2015, Prestea and eight adjoining communities – Heman, Bondai, Nsuta, Kpoviaji, Kwameniampa, Obuoho, Brumase and Ayinam, were hooked onto the national grid.

A total of 15,500 customers were added to the region’s customer base as a result.

In the past, Prestea had enjoyed virtually free power under the erstwhile Urban Electrification Project financed by the mining firms in the area.

Speaking at the event, Mr. George Amoah, the District Manager, praised the people of Prestea for their patience in the face of some initial implementation challenges.

He expressed hope that such engagements will be frequent to address concerns of customers in the area.

Present at the meeting were Assembly members, religious leaders, traditional rulers, small scale miners, retired mine workers among others.

The Western Regional Public Relations Officer for ECG, Philip Osei Bonsu, underscored the need to continuously create such opportunities for performance review and feedback.

He noted that through such engagements, public confidence in the operations of the company will hopefully improve.

Issues raised at the meeting ranged from billing, power supply quality and reliability, customer service to new service application.

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By: citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post ECG holds Town Hall meeting in Prestea appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.