Loan shark declares defaulters dead, distributes obituaries to relatives, friends
A micro loan company has been accused of declaring defaulters dead, designing and circulating the obituaries of such persons to family and friends. A customer, Azuwuike Chinedu Achiever recently shared his experience with the loan company on social media. He said he had defaulted in his repayment plan for five days and the next thing he saw was his obituary. On a public group on Facebook, another customer of a loan app, Victoria Eyo Ekpo revealed she was also a victim and vowed not to repay the loan. She said, “This is what Deloan (app) sent to me oooo. I will never pay. They called my mum and insulted her. May God help us.” (sic). Ekpo added that she borrowed the sum of N15,000. When PUNCH Online spoke with one of the contact persons of Deloans, who the Truecaller app identified as ‘Scammer,’ he denied ever doing that. The contact person, who simply identified himself as Somto “How can I do something like that? Am I not a human being Pressed further, he said he doesn’t have the authority to speak on the matter and that our reporter would need to speak to his bosses before abruptly ending the call. Further calls to his line went unanswered. Meanwhile, the Executive Vice Chairman/Chief Executive Officer, Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission, Babatunde Irukera, has said that the regulators in the financial system are collaborating to address what is fast becoming a dominant and abusive practice targeting some of the most vulnerable in the society. Irukera said, “In November (2021), the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission hosted a meeting attended by the chief executive officer of the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission, and representatives of the National Information Technology Development Agency and the Central Bank of Nigeria; in leading an effort to address multiple potentially dubious conduct of certain money lenders, otherwise known as loan sharks. “Continuing complaints about questionable repayment enforcement practices including public shaming and violations of privacy, arbitrary, unjust, unreasonable, or exploitative interest rates and or loan balances calculations, harassment, and failure of consumer feedback mechanisms among others have led to significant and understandable consumer aggravation and dissatisfaction.” —Punchonline Please contact Apexnewsgh.com on email apexnewsgh@gmail.com for your credible news publications. Contact: 05555568093
God strike me if I accept NDC appointment – FixTheCountry convenor
Oliver Barker-Vormawor, the convener for the FixTheCountry Movement, a pressure group in Ghana that is seeking better governance has said the gods of the country should deal with him if he turned his back from the group to pursue an NDC agenda. According to Mr. Vormawor who was speaking on Obuasi-based Aseda FM on Tuesday monitored by Apexnewsgh.com, 11 January 2022, he said his decision to demand good governance stems from the fact that Ghanaians mostly suffer from the hands of politicians. However, responding to a question that some pressure groups that charted a similar path in the past ceased to exist after there was a change in government, Mr. Vormawor said his interest and intention is to see Ghanaians enjoy a better life. “FixTheCountry Movement is here to compel all governments to do what’s right and not only NPP”, he stressed. Please contact Apexnewsgh.com on email apexnewsgh@gmail.com for your credible news publications. Contact: 05555568093
The amount of money we are receiving in terms of Market Premium has reduced drastically–UTAG
The University Teachers Association – Ghana (UTAG) has said their employer has maintained its position on meeting their demands. Speaking to GHOneTV monitored by Apexnewsgh.com, President of University Teachers Association – Ghana (UTAG), Prof Solomon Nunoo revealed that Market Premium is to be implemented and reviewed every five years. “It means that since Single Spine started in 2009 there should have been a review of the Market Premium in 2014 and another in 2019 and all of these review periods have not taken place,” he added. “So basically, it has to do with our Market Premium which unfortunately for us in 2013 there was a freeze on the Market Premium which use to be 114% of the basic salary. So presently what is happening is that we are having a Market Premium which is 50% because of the freeze on our basic salary,” he said. “So you will notice that the amount of money we are receiving in terms of Market Premium has reduced drastically. We are unable to meet a lot of the needs that we want to actually work on. That is the main reason why we issued the communique for us to embark on the strike action because it seems time and again our employer is just buying time and not ready to implement what will inure to the benefit of our members.” “What I expect my employer to do is to make sure we get the 114% of the basic salary as our Market Premium and we urge the employer to get that done. They can take all the time they have so that they can use that time to put in all the necessary measures to get things done well,” he added. UTAG embarked on a nationwide strike from Monday, January 10 2022 until further notice. In a statement dated January 8, 2022, the Association cataloged a number of reasons they want to lay down their tools. According to the Association, the members have decried the pittance agreed to be paid as an annual research allowance and would want to have the government reconsider the payment of a more realistic research allowance. They also disclosed the worsening Conditions of Service (CoS) of the University Teacher and the failure of the Employer in addressing the plight of UTAG members within the agreed timelines among others. Meanwhile, the Association is scheduled to meet the Employer by the 15th of January 2022 on the negotiations.
Bolgatanga hotspot for HIV in Upper East Region
According to the Regional HIV Coordinator, Bolgatanga Municipality in the Upper East Region remains a hotshot for HIV infection in the Region. Sulemana Majeed, Regional HIV Coordinator, who disclosed this at a media briefing, said, “Bolgatanga has always been above the national figure, which calls for an increase sensitization and education.” The media engagement was part of a series of activities by the Ghana Health Service (GHS) and the Ghana AIDS Commission to solicit the support of journalists to increase public awareness on HIV and help prevent, control and manage the spread of the virus among the public. Majeed said the Regional figure for HIV infection was 1.9% and noted that the disease was gradually becoming more urbanised with lots of population influx with activities, including commercial sex activities at certain areas within the Bolgatanga township. He emphasised that the HIV hotspot was not static and peculiar to certain areas in the Region but had over the years swung among the Districts, adding that Navrongo in the Kassena-Nankana Municipality used to be a hotspot. “It moved to Sandema in the Builsa North Municipality for about five years and to the Bolgatanga Municipality. So if you go by the HIV Sentinel Survey (HSS) data, Bolgatanga will be considered as our hotspot,” the HIV coordinator said. He said per the HSS sites of HIV prevalence, the Bolgatanga Municipality recorded increases from 2.8% in 2018 to 3.6% in 2019, and indicated that though there was a decrease to 2.6% in 2020, the prevalence rate was still high in the Bolgatanga Municipality. He said Navrongo recorded a constant figure of 1.6% in 2017 and 2018 respectively, with increases to 2.0% in 2019, and 2.2% in 2020, while the Builsa North Municipality saw a consistent increase from 1.0% in 2017 to 1.1% in 2018 and from 1.2% in 2019 to 1.3% in 2020. The situation, he noted, was not different in the Bawku Municipality as it equally recorded increases from 0.4% in 2017, to 0.6% in 2018, 1.2% in 2019 and 1.3% in 2020. On the number of positive HIV cases per population, Majeed said the first five hotspot Districts were Nabdam, Bolgatanga East, Builsa North, Bongo and Bolgatanga Municipality. Nabdam District, he said recorded 214 HIV cases per population, “So per every 100,000 population in Nabdam, 214 of them would be HIV positive, Bolgatanga East is 175, Builsa North is 152, Bongo 149 and Bolgatanga Municipality is 112 per 100,000 population.” Dr Josephat Nyuzaghl, the deputy regional director of the GHS in charge of Public Health, called on journalists, especially broadcast journalists at various radio stations across the Region, to support the Health Directorate to educate and increase awareness of HIV among members of the public to curtail the spread.
I don’t understand why every 4 years we have to replace John Mahama vehicle–Pius Hadzide
Chief Executive Officer of the National Youth Authority (NYA) Pius Hadzide has said, another area government can look at as far as slashing expenditure is concerned is by putting a stop to the replacement of vehicles belonging to the former President John Mahama and John Kufuor every 4 years. Apexnewsgh.com report The former Deputy Information Minister who now occupy the National Youth Authority (NYA) Chief Executive Officer Position made the pronouncement on Tv3 monitored by Apexnewsgh.com Responding to the call by NPP Member of Parliament for Okaikwei Central, Mr. Patrick Yaw Boamah, who holds the view that the government of Ghana has a responsibility to cut down on its expenditure and be transparent to the people if they want the people to pay more taxes. Mr. Hadzide Said: “The MP is an NPP MP and that is our attitude. We mean well for this country, we are not the NDC MPs who will say that Party first before Ghanaians”. “I agree, there many areas we can look at because I don’t understand why every 4 years we have to replace John Mahama vehicle, I don’t understand why we should do that for Mr. Kufuor and Mr. Mahama I don’t understand why we should don’t that every 4 years. So, is an area we can look at”. He stressed Apexnewsgh.com/Ghana/Ngamegbulam Chidozie Stephen Please contact Apexnewsgh.com on email apexnewsgh@gmail.com for your credible news publications. Contact: 05555568093