a:3:{s:4:"time";i:1766776775;s:3:"ttl";i:600;s:4:"data";a:4:{i:0;O:8:"stdClass":45:{s:2:"id";s:1:"4";s:7:"lang_id";s:1:"1";s:5:"title";s:75:"Gov’t Targets 99.9% Electricity Access by 2030 – Deputy Energy Minister";s:4:"slug";s:66:"govt-targets-999-electricity-access-by-2030-deputy-energy-minister";s:10:"title_hash";N;s:8:"keywords";s:11:"Electricity";s:7:"summary";s:1446:"The government has reaffirmed its commitment to achieving near-universal access to electricity, pledging to increase the national access rate from the current 89.03 per cent to about 99.9 per cent by 2030.
Deputy Minister for Energy and Green Transition, Richard Gyan Mensah, said the target is critical to accelerating socio-economic development, especially in underserved and rural communities across the country.
“Government remains resolute in achieving universal access to electricity, moving beyond the current 89.03 per cent access rate to about 99.9 per cent by 2030,” he stated.
Mr Mensah made the remarks during the commissioning of two rural electrification projects at Awurahae and Sapor in the Asuogyaman Constituency of the Eastern Region. The two communities, despite being only a few kilometres from the Akosombo Hydropower Dam, had lived without electricity for decades.
Project details and cost
Awurahae, a fishing and aquaculture community with an estimated population of 200 to 300 people, was connected to the national grid through a 2.4-kilometre network extension from Kudi Junction. The project was initiated in 2024 and completed in 2025, despite challenges posed by difficult terrain.
According to the Deputy Minister, the works included the installation of a 100 kVA distribution transformer, a medium-voltage network using 120 sqmm aluminium conductors, and a low-voltage network constructed with ABC cables.";s:7:"content";s:104:"<p><img src="https://news.xgentgroup.com/uploads/images/202512/image_870x_694e848a67ee3.jpg" alt=""></p>";s:11:"category_id";s:1:"1";s:8:"image_id";s:1:"6";s:12:"optional_url";N;s:9:"pageviews";s:1:"2";s:13:"comment_count";s:1:"0";s:9:"need_auth";s:1:"0";s:12:"slider_order";s:1:"1";s:14:"featured_order";s:1:"1";s:12:"is_scheduled";s:1:"0";s:10:"visibility";s:1:"1";s:17:"show_right_column";s:1:"1";s:9:"post_type";s:7:"article";s:10:"video_path";N;s:13:"video_storage";s:5:"local";s:9:"image_url";N;s:9:"video_url";N;s:16:"video_embed_code";N;s:7:"user_id";s:1:"4";s:6:"status";s:1:"1";s:7:"feed_id";N;s:8:"post_url";N;s:13:"show_post_url";s:1:"0";s:17:"image_description";s:22:"Deputy Energy Minister";s:17:"show_item_numbers";s:1:"0";s:14:"is_poll_public";s:1:"1";s:15:"link_list_style";s:156:"a:3:{i:1;a:2:{s:5:"style";s:4:"none";s:6:"status";i:0;}i:2;a:2:{s:5:"style";s:4:"none";s:6:"status";i:0;}i:3;a:2:{s:5:"style";s:4:"none";s:6:"status";i:0;}}";s:11:"recipe_info";N;s:9:"post_data";N;s:10:"updated_at";N;s:10:"created_at";s:19:"2025-12-26 13:00:25";s:10:"image_data";s:337:"img_bg::uploads/images/202512/image_870x580_694e848a5dd3f.jpg||img_df::uploads/images/202512/image_870x_694e848a67ee3.jpg||img_sl::uploads/images/202512/image_694x532_694e848a75636.jpg||img_md::uploads/images/202512/image_430x256_694e848a7c720.jpg||img_sm::uploads/images/202512/image_140x98_694e848a81577.jpg||img_mi::jpg||img_st::local";s:13:"category_name";s:11:"Top Stories";s:13:"category_slug";s:11:"top-stories";s:14:"category_color";s:7:"#c62727";s:15:"author_username";s:10:"Mary Adofo";s:11:"author_slug";s:10:"mary-adofo";s:15:"lang_short_form";s:2:"en";}i:1;O:8:"stdClass":45:{s:2:"id";s:1:"3";s:7:"lang_id";s:1:"1";s:5:"title";s:84:"Selective Justice Undermining Ghana’s Anti-Corruption Fight – Prof Kwasi Prempeh";s:4:"slug";s:77:"selective-justice-undermining-ghanas-anti-corruption-fight-prof-kwasi-prempeh";s:10:"title_hash";N;s:8:"keywords";N;s:7:"summary";N;s:7:"content";s:2343:"<p>Chairman of the Constitution Review Committee, Prof. Henry Kwasi Prempeh, says selective justice is destroying public trust in Ghana’s anti-corruption system and weakening confidence in key state institutions.<br>Questioning the effectiveness of the current structure, Prof Prempeh asked why the system has failed if it was ever meant to work. “It’s obvious that if it was going to work, why hasn’t it worked?” he asked, noting that Ghana has experimented with different models, including career attorneys general, yet the flaws persist.<br>He pointed out that Ghana’s current arrangement is inherently political. “Our current attorney general setup is not a career attorney general setup. It is a politician, Attorney General, setup,” he said.</p>
<p><img src="https://news.xgentgroup.com/uploads/images/202512/image_870x_694e6e15975d6.jpg" alt=""></p>
<p><br>Prof Prempeh stressed that constitutions are designed for real people, not ideal actors. “We are human beings. Constitutions are made for human beings, right?” he said, adding that it is unrealistic to ignore the political nature of the office.<br>According to him, the conflict becomes even more pronounced when the Attorney General is an active politician. “This is going to be run by a human being. He is a politician,” he said, noting that in some cases the Attorney General is also a sitting Member of Parliament.<br>He explained that this reality fuels public suspicion and erodes confidence in prosecutions. “If you came and said, look, I’m going after this target genuinely, because evidence is leading me this way, Ghanaians will doubt you,” he said.<br>Political labels, he added, often overshadow facts. “Oh, you are going after this person because you are NDC and he’s NPP,” he said, stressing that no explanation can fully repair such mistrust.<br>Prof Prempeh said many systems have drawn lessons from experience and moved away from granting prosecutorial power to political actors. “They’ve concluded that this attorney general is not doing the prosecution matters well,” he said.<br>Ghana’s own evidence, he noted, points in the same direction. “When you give prosecutorial power to a politician, Attorney General, this is how it works,” he said, while acknowledging rare exceptions such as the United States.</p>";s:11:"category_id";s:2:"11";s:8:"image_id";s:1:"4";s:12:"optional_url";N;s:9:"pageviews";s:1:"3";s:13:"comment_count";s:1:"0";s:9:"need_auth";s:1:"0";s:12:"slider_order";s:1:"1";s:14:"featured_order";s:1:"1";s:12:"is_scheduled";s:1:"0";s:10:"visibility";s:1:"1";s:17:"show_right_column";s:1:"1";s:9:"post_type";s:7:"article";s:10:"video_path";N;s:13:"video_storage";s:5:"local";s:9:"image_url";N;s:9:"video_url";N;s:16:"video_embed_code";N;s:7:"user_id";s:1:"4";s:6:"status";s:1:"1";s:7:"feed_id";N;s:8:"post_url";N;s:13:"show_post_url";s:1:"0";s:17:"image_description";s:72:"Chairman of the Constitution Review Committee, Prof. Henry Kwasi Prempeh";s:17:"show_item_numbers";s:1:"0";s:14:"is_poll_public";s:1:"1";s:15:"link_list_style";s:156:"a:3:{i:1;a:2:{s:5:"style";s:4:"none";s:6:"status";i:0;}i:2;a:2:{s:5:"style";s:4:"none";s:6:"status";i:0;}i:3;a:2:{s:5:"style";s:4:"none";s:6:"status";i:0;}}";s:11:"recipe_info";N;s:9:"post_data";N;s:10:"updated_at";s:19:"2025-12-26 18:27:36";s:10:"created_at";s:19:"2025-12-26 11:19:47";s:10:"image_data";s:337:"img_bg::uploads/images/202512/image_870x580_694e6e158c03d.jpg||img_df::uploads/images/202512/image_870x_694e6e15975d6.jpg||img_sl::uploads/images/202512/image_694x532_694e6e159fc8e.jpg||img_md::uploads/images/202512/image_430x256_694e6e15a3f43.jpg||img_sm::uploads/images/202512/image_140x98_694e6e15a6485.jpg||img_mi::jpg||img_st::local";s:13:"category_name";s:6:"Social";s:13:"category_slug";s:6:"social";s:14:"category_color";s:7:"#2e7d32";s:15:"author_username";s:10:"Mary Adofo";s:11:"author_slug";s:10:"mary-adofo";s:15:"lang_short_form";s:2:"en";}i:2;O:8:"stdClass":45:{s:2:"id";s:1:"2";s:7:"lang_id";s:1:"1";s:5:"title";s:71:"Africa’s Reparations Case Shifts From Morality to Measurable Evidence";s:4:"slug";s:68:"africas-reparations-case-shifts-from-morality-to-measurable-evidence";s:10:"title_hash";N;s:8:"keywords";s:29:"Pan African Progressive Front";s:7:"summary";N;s:7:"content";s:1759:"<p>The campaign for reparations for Africa is moving beyond moral arguments into an evidence-driven phase, as new research by the Pan-African Progressive Front (PPF) quantifies the economic and human damage caused by slavery, colonialism, and their lasting effects.<br>According to the PPF, generations of Africans were denied education, healthcare, and economic opportunity, creating intergenerational harm that continues to drive global wealth gaps. Even after the end of enslavement, colonial and post-colonial systems, the Front argues, sustained structural exclusion across the continent.<br>“We are no longer guessing what we are owed. The task now is to consolidate verifiable evidence to demand what we know is true,” said Sumaila Mohammed, the PPF’s Head of Economics. Following its Accra conference, the Front has sharpened its focus on what it calls the “damages of reparations,” including the “African Premium” — the higher cost Africans pay to borrow money internationally.</p>
<p></p>
<p><img src="https://news.xgentgroup.com/uploads/images/202512/image_870x_694e66c344715.jpg" alt=""></p>
<p><br>PPF research treats reparations as owed restitution, not charity, and aims to establish a credible reference point for Africa’s global claim. Estimates cited by the Front suggest economic harms from slavery and post-enslavement discrimination range between $100 trillion and $131 trillion, with human life losses valued at about $75 trillion. Broader assessments place total damages near $100 trillion.<br>Venezuela’s Ambassador to Benin, Togo, and Ghana, Jesús Alberto García, also underscored reparations as a matter of global justice, pointing to “intellectual extractivism” as another unaccounted colonial harm.</p>";s:11:"category_id";s:1:"3";s:8:"image_id";s:1:"3";s:12:"optional_url";N;s:9:"pageviews";s:1:"8";s:13:"comment_count";s:1:"0";s:9:"need_auth";s:1:"0";s:12:"slider_order";s:1:"1";s:14:"featured_order";s:1:"1";s:12:"is_scheduled";s:1:"0";s:10:"visibility";s:1:"1";s:17:"show_right_column";s:1:"1";s:9:"post_type";s:7:"article";s:10:"video_path";N;s:13:"video_storage";s:5:"local";s:9:"image_url";N;s:9:"video_url";N;s:16:"video_embed_code";N;s:7:"user_id";s:1:"4";s:6:"status";s:1:"1";s:7:"feed_id";N;s:8:"post_url";N;s:13:"show_post_url";s:1:"0";s:17:"image_description";N;s:17:"show_item_numbers";s:1:"0";s:14:"is_poll_public";s:1:"1";s:15:"link_list_style";s:156:"a:3:{i:1;a:2:{s:5:"style";s:4:"none";s:6:"status";i:0;}i:2;a:2:{s:5:"style";s:4:"none";s:6:"status";i:0;}i:3;a:2:{s:5:"style";s:4:"none";s:6:"status";i:0;}}";s:11:"recipe_info";N;s:9:"post_data";N;s:10:"updated_at";s:19:"2025-12-26 18:25:00";s:10:"created_at";s:19:"2025-12-26 10:44:59";s:10:"image_data";s:337:"img_bg::uploads/images/202512/image_870x580_694e66c33a777.jpg||img_df::uploads/images/202512/image_870x_694e66c344715.jpg||img_sl::uploads/images/202512/image_694x532_694e66c34e5a3.jpg||img_md::uploads/images/202512/image_430x256_694e66c3542c3.jpg||img_sm::uploads/images/202512/image_140x98_694e66c35796a.jpg||img_mi::jpg||img_st::local";s:13:"category_name";s:10:"World News";s:13:"category_slug";s:10:"world-news";s:14:"category_color";s:7:"#1565c0";s:15:"author_username";s:10:"Mary Adofo";s:11:"author_slug";s:10:"mary-adofo";s:15:"lang_short_form";s:2:"en";}i:3;O:8:"stdClass":45:{s:2:"id";s:1:"1";s:7:"lang_id";s:1:"1";s:5:"title";s:87:"US Air Strikes ISIL Targets in Northwest Nigeria, Abuja Pushes Back on Trump’s Claims";s:4:"slug";s:83:"us-air-strikes-isil-targets-in-northwest-nigeria-abuja-pushes-back-on-trumps-claims";s:10:"title_hash";N;s:8:"keywords";s:34:"Strikes against northwest, Nigeria";s:7:"summary";N;s:7:"content";s:2237:"<p>Nigeria has confirmed that the United States carried out air strikes against suspected ISIL (ISIS) fighters in the country’s northwest, but the federal government has rejected claims by former US President Donald Trump that the attacks were aimed at protecting Christians from persecution.<br>In a statement, the Nigerian authorities acknowledged the strikes but stressed that the country’s security challenges are far more complex than being framed as religiously motivated violence. According to the government, armed groups operating across Nigeria target both Muslim and Christian communities, and suggestions that Christians are uniquely persecuted misrepresent the situation on the ground and overlook efforts by Nigerian authorities to safeguard religious freedom.</p>
<p><img src="https://news.xgentgroup.com/uploads/images/202512/image_870x_694e6226002f6.jpg" alt=""></p>
<p><br>Trump had announced that the US military struck ISIL fighters in northwest Nigeria, claiming the group had “targeted and viciously” killed “primarily, innocent Christians, at levels not seen for many years, and even centuries.” His remarks have sparked debate, with Nigerian officials insisting that terrorism and banditry in the country cut across religious lines.<br>Nigeria, Africa’s most populous nation, is battling multiple armed groups, including at least two with links to ISIL. These include the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), an offshoot of Boko Haram operating mainly in the northeast, and the lesser-known Islamic State Sahel Province (ISSP), locally referred to as Lakurawa, which is active in the northwest.<br>While US and Nigerian officials did not specify which group was targeted in the air strikes, security analysts believe the operation likely focused on Lakurawa fighters. The group has grown increasingly lethal over the past year, particularly in border states such as Sokoto and Kebbi, where it has carried out attacks on remote communities and security forces.<br>The Nigerian government maintains that it continues to work with international partners to address the security threat, while also pursuing a balanced approach that protects all citizens regardless of religious affiliation.</p>";s:11:"category_id";s:1:"3";s:8:"image_id";s:1:"1";s:12:"optional_url";N;s:9:"pageviews";s:1:"3";s:13:"comment_count";s:1:"0";s:9:"need_auth";s:1:"0";s:12:"slider_order";s:1:"1";s:14:"featured_order";s:1:"1";s:12:"is_scheduled";s:1:"0";s:10:"visibility";s:1:"1";s:17:"show_right_column";s:1:"1";s:9:"post_type";s:7:"article";s:10:"video_path";N;s:13:"video_storage";s:5:"local";s:9:"image_url";N;s:9:"video_url";N;s:16:"video_embed_code";N;s:7:"user_id";s:1:"4";s:6:"status";s:1:"1";s:7:"feed_id";N;s:8:"post_url";N;s:13:"show_post_url";s:1:"0";s:17:"image_description";s:33:"Strikes against northwest Nigeria";s:17:"show_item_numbers";s:1:"0";s:14:"is_poll_public";s:1:"1";s:15:"link_list_style";s:156:"a:3:{i:1;a:2:{s:5:"style";s:4:"none";s:6:"status";i:0;}i:2;a:2:{s:5:"style";s:4:"none";s:6:"status";i:0;}i:3;a:2:{s:5:"style";s:4:"none";s:6:"status";i:0;}}";s:11:"recipe_info";N;s:9:"post_data";N;s:10:"updated_at";s:19:"2025-12-26 18:23:20";s:10:"created_at";s:19:"2025-12-26 10:26:34";s:10:"image_data";s:337:"img_bg::uploads/images/202512/image_870x580_694e6225e7ac0.jpg||img_df::uploads/images/202512/image_870x_694e6226002f6.jpg||img_sl::uploads/images/202512/image_694x532_694e6226105e3.jpg||img_md::uploads/images/202512/image_430x256_694e62261b464.jpg||img_sm::uploads/images/202512/image_140x98_694e62261ee61.jpg||img_mi::jpg||img_st::local";s:13:"category_name";s:10:"World News";s:13:"category_slug";s:10:"world-news";s:14:"category_color";s:7:"#1565c0";s:15:"author_username";s:10:"Mary Adofo";s:11:"author_slug";s:10:"mary-adofo";s:15:"lang_short_form";s:2:"en";}}}