Ghana Newspaper Headlines for Wednesday, 17th of November, 2021.
1) Ghana govt has abolished road tolls across the country
Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, has announced government’s decision to abolish road tolls. He said inasmuch as money is needed for the fixing of deplorable roads in the country, the establishment of toll booths has led to congestions at various toll points.
It would be recalled that some Ghanaians including politicians have over the years called on government to rethink its decision on tolls. They explained that the toll booths cause traffic congestion and also pose health risks to commuters. Ofori-Atta further said that the congestion has affected productivity negatively.
2) Man nabbed after stealing ¢18k worth of GWCL water
A resident of Agormanya, a suburb of Odumase-Krobo in the Lower Manya Krobo Municipality of the Eastern Region, is in court for stealing GHS18,000 worth of water from the Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL).
The GWCL cross-checked his two separate meters and found out that a meter with a serial number of 090412100162 had a debt of GHS8,749.14 and the second meter with a serial number of 0904121001676 also had a GHS9,614.30, totalling GHS18,363.44. Mr Kumasa was arraigned on Tuesday, 16 November 2021. He pleaded not guilty and has since been granted bail. The case has been adjourned to December 21.
3) Five people bunt beyond redemption in tragic explosion on Nigeria’s Lagos-Ibadan expressway
Five people have been killed in a petrol tanker explosion that occurred along the Lagos-Ibadan expressway in the early hours of Wednesday, November 17. In a statement released, the state sector command of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) Ogun command, Ahmed Umar, said the accident happened at 4:46 am near Tunji Alegi filling station, Kwakyama area, Ogere.
According to Umar, the cause of the accident could be wrong overtaking and dangerous driving on the part of the petrol tanker driver. He said the petrol tanker collided with a moving truck resulting in the fire which affected at least five vehicles. He said the bodies of the dead persons were recovered from one of the crashed trucks and were burnt beyond recognition. He added that the corpses have been deposited at a mortuary in Ipara.
4) Nokia to launch cloud-based software subscription service
Nokia said on Wednesday it plans to launch a cloud-based software subscription service targeting telecom companies for providing software around analytics, security and data management.
While some of Nokia’s software portfolio will be offered under subscription from this year, more will be commercially available in early 2022. Nokia, which has been in discussions with potential customers, said it is targeting an addressable market of $3.1 billion for the 2021-2025 period, with an annual growth rate of about 25-30%.
5) Tennis Roger Federer to miss Australian Open, eyes mid-2022 return
Roger Federer will miss the Australian Open in January and is unlikely to return to competition until mid-2022 as he recovers from multiple knee surgeries, the former world number one told Swiss media.
Federer, 40, also said he would be “extremely surprised” if he was able to play at Wimbledon, a Grand Slam he has won a record eight times with his last title coming in 2017. The 20-times Grand Slam champion said he would be able to resume running in January and return to training on the court in March or April.
