Known botanically as Cyperus esculentus and in some communities as ‘body charge’, tiger nuts also serve as a powerful aphrodisiac and they help to prevent rectum deformation and prolapse.

These are only a tip of the iceberg of the usefulness of tiger nuts, given the fact that the tuber crop that is sometimes confused as weed has enormous nutritional and medicinal value that many people do not know.

In some countries, particularly Spain, the tiger nuts industry is a big one, with regulatory authorities set up to ensure the quality production of the tuber.

But in Ghana, everything about tiger nut is left in the hands of poor farmers and traders and small-scale industrialists, without government support.

According to Ms Rebecca Fanyima Ahun, a Ghanaian nutritionist, paying attention to tiger nuts production can help address many of the country’s nutritional and health needs.

“The development of a beverage from tiger nuts would have a great potential in a developing country such as Ghana, where most of its milk and milk products are imported,” she notes in an academic research on the “Suspension Stability, Texture and Colour of Tiger Nuts (Cyperus esculentus) Beverage” submitted to the Department of Biochemistry of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology in July 1996 for the award of a Master of Science degree.

Many people in Ghana have vague knowledge about the nutritional, medicinal and other values of atadwe; at best, they know it only as an aphrodisiac.

Even ‘atadwe’ farmers and sellers do not have a full grasp of the nutritional and medicinal value of tiger nuts, except to say they cleanse the blood and strengthen the waist.

“They strengthen every vein in the body; that is why they are called ‘body charge’,” Philo, an atadwe seller at Nkawkaw, remarks.

Some people hide to chew tiger nuts because they want to avoid taunts by friends that they are charging their ‘system’ for an upcoming ‘match.’

But tiger nuts hold enormous economic prospects that could change the fortunes of poor ‘atadwe’ farmers and sellers.

They also offer immense nutritional value that could impact positively on the health of many people.

Unfortunately, whereas the usefulness of tiger nuts is many and varied, the real value is largely untapped in Ghana.

Tiger nuts are considered as healthy because they can help prevent many health conditions such as heart disease and thrombosis, apart from activating blood circulation and reducing the risk of colon cancer.

Information sourced from the web search engine, Wikipedia, indicates that tiger nut is also rich in energy content such as starch, fat, sugar and protein, as well as minerals such as phosphorus and potassium.

According to a Nigerian nutritionist at the Wuse General Hospital in Abuja, Hajiya Jummai Abdul, tiger nut also contains a good quantity of vitamins such as vitamin B1 “which assists in balancing the central nervous system and helps to encourage the body to adapt to stress.”

"It supplies the body with enough quantity of Vitamin E, essential for fertility in both men and women,” she is quoted by Vanguardngr.com.

Furthermore, the oil content of the tuber is said to be good for human health, given the fact that tiger nut contains 18 per cent saturated (palmitic acid and stearic acid) and 82 per cent unsaturated (oleic acid and linoleic acid) fatty acids.

Oleic acid, according to Hajiya Jummai Abdul, helps to reduce cholesterol and triglyceride and also prevents the hardening of the arteries.

One thing about atadwe that may interest many people is fact that it can be consumed in any form - raw, roasted, dried, baked or as tiger nut milk or oil, and there is no worry about constipation because it enhances proper digestion.

The flour of roasted tiger nut could be added to biscuits and other bakery products, as well as used in making oil, soap and starch extracts.

It is also used for the production of nougat, jam, beer and as a flavouring agent in the preparation of ice cream and non-alcoholic beverages.

Tiger nuts are not only good for consumption as food; they are also useful for medicinal and cosmetic purposes.

In some countries, they are used in the treatment of flatulence, diarrhoea, dysentery, debility and indigestion.

According to Hajiya Jummai Abdul, tiger nut milk can be used to treat stomach pain, aid normal menstruation, heal mouth and gum ulcers and as a powerful aphrodisiac.

“Tiger nuts help in stress management by helping the body to stay balanced and also help to prevent fibrosis, as well as the blockage of the tip of the fallopian tube.

“The black specie of the tiger nuts is an excellent medicine for breast lumps and cancer,” she adds.

The oil produced from tiger nut is also said to help slow down the ageing of the body cells, enhances the elasticity of the skin and reduces skin wrinkles.

The value of tiger nut goes beyond food; it is also a potential source of fuel, considerd the fact that it is said to contain between 20 and 36 per cent of oil that could be used for the production of biodiesel.

But that may not be the interest of Ghana, considering the lack of priority given to the cultivation and processing of the tuber.

The nutritional potential of tiger nut may be heart-warming, but Mr Wise Chukudi Letsa, also a nutritionist, sounds a note of caution against such claim.

In his opinion, there is no good scientific research to back the claim of the health benefit of tiger nut.

He, therefore, advises people to be cautious in the consumption of atadwe because “taking too much of it can be bad.”

Tiger nuts are cultivated in many parts of the world, including Egypt, where they are consumed as an important food during the pre-dynastic times about 6000 years ago, and Spain, where it has been developed into a prized industry.

In Ghana, tiger nuts are cultivated in many parts of the country such as Bodweasae, Techiman and Kwahu.

Among all those areas, Kwahu has gained prominence as the production hub of atadwe, and, indeed, Kwahus pride themselves as being the producers of the sweetest and best atadwe in the country.

That is why, perhaps, it has become a custom for visitors to Kwahu, especially men, to carry large quantities of atadwe on their return.

But even in Kwahu, the large-scale cultivation of tiger nut can be traced to only one town – Aduamoa.

And according to Madam Akosua Boa, a tiger nuts farmer at Aduamoa, the cultivation of atadwe is an occupation bequeathed to them by their forebears.

Interestingly, although tiger nuts are known to be consumed more by males than females, the cultivation of the tuber is mostly done by females.

That is because it is a very challenging occupation and so the men, who are very lazy, are not attracted to it, according to another atadwe farmer, Madam Faustina Efua Yeboah.

Tiger nuts farmers at Kwahu cultivate the crop twice every year – during the second and third quarters.

When the Daily Graphic Team visited some of the farms at Aduamoa during the Easter period last month, the crop was at its infant stage of growth.

Akosua Boa and Efua Yeboah are concerned about the high cost of production in respect of clearing the land for planting, weeding, harvesting and washing the tubers after harvesting.

“By the time we finish and sell them, we don’t get anything out of it,” Madam Efua Yeboah notes.

Sometimes, the difficulty has to do with raising capital to pre-finance the preparation of the land for planting, for which reason the farmers are appealing to the government to assist them financially to sustain their occupation.

Even after overcoming the financial challenge, the farmers still have to battle with some insects that sometimes invade the farms and attack the growth of the crop and/or dissipate the yield.

Based on the advice of agriculture extension officers, the farmers spray insecticides on the crops to control the invasion of the insects, but according to Akosua Boa and Efua Yeboah, the cost of the insecticides is too high.

Unlike Spain, Ghana does not have a big tiger nut industry, with only a few people involved in the commercial processing of atadwe on small-scale levels.

Years after undertaking an academic research into the processing of tiger nuts, Ms Ahun and her brother, Richard Ahun, have since 2005 engaged in a small-scale commercial production of tiger nut milk.

Located at Tema Community 18, their company, Empirag, produces 2000 bottles of tiger nut milk twice a week, although it has the capacity to produce 4000 bottles in a week.

According to Richard Ahun, with increased patronage and financial support for expansion, the company can increase its production capacity.

He says the short shelf life of the tiger nut milk (two weeks) and low patronage make it imperative to produce below capacity at the moment.

Mr Ahun says Empirag purchases tiger nuts from northern Ghana and Niger because they are well-dried and high-yielding, and as such most suitable for the production of tiger nut milk.

Like the atadwe farmers, the major challenges in the processing of tiger nut milk are marketing of the beverage and inadequate capital to expand and increase production capacity.

It is obvious that tiger nuts hold enormous economic and nutritional value for the nation, and with the needed national attention and support for its production and processing, atadwe could make a lot of difference in the fortunes and health of many people in the country.

Writer’s Email: kofi.yeboah@graphic.com.gh

The one year relationship with the Black Stars involves US$100,000 cash and products from Huawei.

The agreement was signed in Accra Monday as part of a ceremony to announce a programme line-up for the Black Stars for Brazil 2014.

Huawei, which is a company involved in information and technology by the new agreement joins the list of sponsors for the Black Stars as the Information and Technology partner.

The President of the Ghana Football Association,  Mr Kwesi Nyantakyi thanked Huawei for the sponsorship.

The NEF, according to the Government, aims at developing a comprehensive blueprint to accelerate the nation’s economic growth. It will be held on the theme, “Changing the narrative: building a national consensus for economic and social transformation.” But the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) has described it as a public relations gimmick, calculated to keep Ghanaians in the dark about the real state of the economy.

The Party has, therefore, announced that it would stay away from the Forum.

“The supposed national economic forum is really intended to be a PR gimmick calculated to keep the people of Ghana in the dark about the real state of the economy”, the party noted in a statement Monday. It is not immediately clear if the decision will bar the Minority in Parliament from attending.

However, Prof. Prempeh - who is based in the US - believes the Minority must not boycott the NEF.

“If the Minority is planning to boycott this so-called National Economic Forum (NEF), it must think again,” he said, adding: “A boycott would be politically bad for the Minority. In fact, they should not contemplate it at all.”

The Prof. made this known in a Facebook post Monday.

Prof. Prempeh said though the NEF was a “partisan ruse”, which was not “convened in good faith”, the Minority still ought to attend.

Explaining further, he described the NEF as unnecessary, saying Parliament, with all its bi-partisan economy-related committees, could serve the purpose of the forum.

Parliament “can hold a joint public hearing and invite experts and those who think they have views and perspectives to offer on our current economic and fiscal situation to appear before the joint committees and share their views and perspectives publicly,” he pointed out.

Prof. Prempeh said, since the government and the Minority were competing for the votes of the electorate, the latter was not obliged to support the former in times of self-inflicted economic hardship.

He said: “We have a robust two-party tradition. When we choose one or the other party to govern, we expect it to govern. And govern it must.

“The Minority has no obligation whatsoever to throw its rivals a lifeline of any sort when the latter is drowning in an economic mess of its own making.”

Moreover, according to the Prof., “voters must be allowed to experience and internalize the economic cost of their political choices and preferences.”

The astute legal brain said the government, by organising the NEF, might be setting a political “trap” for the Minority.

“It [the government]simply wants to be able to say, after the fact, when the Minority takes it to task for its poor management of the economy, that if the Minority had better ideas and ways to get us out of the tight corner we are in it could have presented those ideas at the NEF,” he said.

Prof. Prempeh concluded that in order not to be “politically upstaged and outfoxed”, the Minority must attend the NEF and “make its contribution at the forum by raising critical” questions.

An Assistant Professor at Asheshi University, Dr. Ogya Esi, echoed prof. Prempeh’s call on the Minority to attend the event.

Posting on Facebook, Dr. Esi said the Minority should participate in NEF “even if it is for the purpose of making your views clear and putting out a counter-offer.”

Making reference to the Minority’s boycott of vetting for Ministers and Deputy Ministers in 2013, she said the NPP’s “boycott habit” often left the country with “crazy policies and crazy people leading us”.

Dr Esi said whatever the Minority’s presumption of the NEF was, it was still important that they attended the event in the interest of their constituents.

The Assistant Professor urged the Minority to “be there and make your position known, use the opportunity to mainstream your alternate ideas.”

She said even if the Minority’s ideas were rejected, they (the ideas) should be put “onto the table, and in one reportage or the other” to enable Ghanaians to become “better-informed”.

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The coach made the announcement after a second round of meeting with other key stakeholders of the game, the Executive Committee of the Ghana Football Association, Monday morning. 

According to the coach, the 26-man provisional squad would be leaving for Holland and would later be pruned to a 23-man squad.

Coach Kwasi Appiah thanked the Ghana Football Association (GFA), Ministry of Youth and Sports, sponsors, technical team and all Ghanaians for the support.

"We will go out there and make sure that we don’t disappoint Ghana", he said.

Below is the full list

Goalkeepers
Adam Kwarasey (Strømsgodset, Norway); Fatawu Dauda (Orlando Pirates, South Africa); Stephen Adams (Aduana Stars - Ghana)

Defence
Samuel Inkoom (Platanias, Greece); Daniel Opare (Standard Liège, Belgian); Harrison Afful (Esperance, Tunisian); Jeffery Schlupp (Leicester City); John Boye (Stade Rennes, France); Jonathan Mensah (Evian TG, France); Rashid Sumaila (Mamelodi Sundowns, France); Jerry Akaminko (Eskişehirspor, Turkey)

Midfield
Michael Essien (AC Milan, Italy); Sulley Muntari (AC Milan, Italy); Rabiu Mohammed (FC Kuban Krasnodar, Russia); Kwadwo Asamoah (Juventus, Italy); Agyeman Badu (Udinese, Italy); Afriyie Acquah (Parma, Italy); Christian Atsu (Vitesse Arnhem, Dutch); Albert Adomah (Middlesbrough, England); Andre Dede Ayew (Marseille, France); Wakasu Mubarak (Rubin Kazan, Russia); David Accam (Helsingborg, Sweden)

Strikers
Asamoah Gyan (Al-Ain, UAE); Kevin Prince-Boateng (Schalke 04, Germany); Majid Waris (Valenciennes, France); Jordan Ayew (Sochaux, France)

The support, which is expected to come in the form of equipment delivery and technical support, would empower Ghana to address the issue of illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing in its waters.

The Japanese Ambassador, Mr Naoto Nikai, made this known when he paid a courtesy call on the Minister of Fisheries and Aquaculture, Mr Nayon Bilijo, in Accra.

The rationale behind the meeting was for the two countries to discuss possible ways of teaming up to address problems threatening the growth of the fisheries sector in Ghana.

Japan, Ghana  relationship

Mr Nikai said over the years, the mutual relationship between Japan and Ghana had strengthened the two countries to work together to support their development.

According to him, Japan will continue to extend its support and assistance to ensure that Ghana attains its development goals.

Mr Nikai, therefore, called on Mr Bilijo to approach the Japanese Embassy for any support the Ministry of Fisheries and Aquaculture might need in their quest to enhance the sector.

 Fisheries college

Mr Bilijo said as part of the government’s commitment to develop the fisheries sector, plans were far advanced for the establishment of a fisheries college at Anomabo in the Central Region.

“The college, which will be under the University of Cape Coast, will focus on training and educating students on the effective ways of protecting the country’s fisheries sector,” he said.

According to Mr Bilijo, his ministry is planning to acquire the necessary equipment that will facilitate the training of the students. 

“We will, therefore, need the experience and support of the Japanese government in terms of equipment to enhance teaching and learning at the college,” he added.

Impact of the fisheries sector

Mr Bilijo said since 10 per cent of the country’s population was engaged in the fisheries sector, there was the need for stakeholders to come on board to partner the ministry in addressing the challenges confronting the sector.

He mentioned that IUU fishing in Ghana’s waters was a major challenge that hindered the growth of the fisheries sector.

The minister stressed that  the problem of IUU, if not properly dealt with, could spell doom for the country.

The patient, 17-year-old final-year student, Master Richard Kusi Yeboah, was initially scheduled for the transplant in May but it had to be rescheduled to June due to unavailability of funds and other factors. 

The mother of Master Yeboah is the donor of the kidney. 

Mr Dodoo, together with the  UK branch of the Accra Academy Old Boys Association (UK), is leading a fund-raising campaign to generate the GH¢40,000 needed for the kidney transplant operation  for 17-year-old final-year student.

So far, the association had raised £2,257 and was targeting to raise £10,000, said Mr Dodoo.

Speaking with the Daily Graphic while on a visit to Ghana, Mr Dodoo said it was urgent that the amount for the transplant was raised as the international team of doctors who were supposed to perform the operation would be in Ghana in June.

Regular haemodialysis

Currently, Master Yeboah undergoes haemodialysis twice a week at the Renal Dialysis Unit of the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital where the transplant will be done.

Mr Dodoo said he was notified of Master Yeboah’s situation by an old student of Accra Academy who knew his involvement in similar campaigns to help people who needed help in various ways. 

According to him, he was touched by Master Yeboah’s condition and that was why he decided to champion the campaign to ensure that the required amount of money was raised for the transplant.

While in Ghana, he said he had discussions with  Master Yeboah, his mother and the doctor handling his case.

He appealed to benevolent persons and institutions who were ready to donate to visit www.payitsqure.richardkusiyeboah.com, a website established for the fund-raising effort  for all necessary information and the procedure through which payments could be made.

Writer’s email-doreen.andoh@graphic.com.gh

The workshop was organised by the Land Services and Citizenship Project of the Institute of Local Government Studies.

The participants were drawn from the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development, metropolitan and municipal assemblies in the Greater Accra Region, traditional authorities, civil society organisations and service providers. 

Service providers of the local authorities include private toilet operators, waste management services organisations, medical and utility services providers.

Standards 

The Project Coordinator of the Land Services and Citizenship Project, Mr Edward Aboagye, indicated that the weakness was because policy makers “in many cases have not established standards for service provision.”

He stated that improving the delivery of public services continued to be the key objective that had occupied the agenda of politicians and public administrators for years.

However, he observed that the local authorities often lacked the capacity and information to oversee and enforce its compact with service providers.

“They also often lack fundamental information about the performance of service providers with which to adequately manage them or the capacity to sanction underperformance.”

Poor local assemblies 

Local authorities, he further said, especially the poorer ones, often had little power over service providers and were unable to sanction them for misdeeds and underperformance. 

According to him, part of the problem could be blamed on the fact that citizens were often unable to access enough information to monitor the performance of service providers.

Citizen’s engagement 

A Programme Manager of SNV Ghana, Mrs Sarah Agbey, who spoke on institutionalising social accountability at the local level in Ghana, said such a move would enhance the knowledge of citizens on policies, programmes and projects.

“It will also make mechanisms transparent, open and improve access to reliable information, thus reducing speculation in the system,” she said.

Institutionalising social accountability, she said, would also enhance efforts to improve cooperation among civil society, community groups, citizen’s associations and assemblies.

According to him, there cannot be a clear separation between the government and the ruling party, especially as the President was elected on the ticket of the ruling party and the government was supposed to be implementing the party’s manifesto.

The Centre for Democratic Development (CDD) had proposed that governments must cease from the practice of allowing party officials to sit in Cabinet meetings, since according to it, there ought to be a clear distinction between serious government business and party matters.

Under the NPP administration, the party’s National Chairman and General Secretary regularly attended cabinet meetings.

The practice is continuing under the current government and the Executive Director of the CDD, Professor Emmanuel Gyimah-Boadi thinks the practice is wrong.

The debate over whether executives of the ruling political parties should attend cabinet meetings was ignited last week after Mr Asiedu Nketia proposed that government should consider using the money being saved in the Heritage Fund for future generations.

His argument was that there was no point saving the money for future use which earns little interest on the investments when the funds were badly needed to fix the economy now.

Speaking to Radio Ghana, Mr Asiedu Nketia said the argument on stopping party executives from sitting in cabinet was flawed.

“There are a lot of country experiences that we can look at. In fact in some countries the General Secretary of the party is also the President of the Republic. So you cannot even talk about division between party and the government at all,” he said.

“In other countries the leader of the party when he is removed as the leader of the party loses his position as Prime Minister and it happens in the UK, South Africa and other places.”

“I think the issue has to be whether we should have a separate party business from government business.”

Mr Nketia who is popularly known as General Mosquito argued that the Supreme Court even dealt substantially with the issue when three members of the NPP decided to take President Mahama to court over election 2012 and the NDC sought to join the case on the basis that, they produced the presidential candidate and supported him.

The NDC argued then that it was the party’s programme and manifesto that the president was going to implement, so they had a vested interest in the presidency and hence needed to join the case.

The Supreme Court agreed and ruled for the NDC to join the case. 

Mr Nketia explained that to that extent, “if anybody thinks that there could be government totally separate from the party in power, I don’t want to share in that idea at all, because the government would be implementing the programme of the party in power.” 

Listen to Mr Asiedu Nketia

{mp3}cabinetmeetings{/mp3}

The NEF, according to the Government, aims at developing a comprehensive blueprint to accelerate the nation’s economic growth, and will be held on the theme, “Changing the narrative: building a national consensus for economic and social transformation.” 

Posting Monday on Facebook, President Mahama expressed hope that the eminent economists, policy makers, business leaders, representatives of traders associations, development and social partners, and members of academia, who will be gathering at Akosombo over a four-day period, would forge a final policy document and an action plan for confronting the "imbalances" confronting the Ghanaian economy.

"I am confident that, at the end of this first ever Forum of such dimensions, we will achieve consensus on a national economic strategy and we will have a final policy document and an action plan.

"I wish success, wisdom and patience to all stakeholders that will contribute to this national debate and I hope this event will bring us more unity and trust one for each other," he said.

In a statement he issued Monday praying, in the name of Allah, for the return of the school girls forcibly taken and conscripted into Islam by Boko Haram back to their families, Rawlings said it was wrong for Boko Haram to make its point that way.

 He also welcomed international intervention to rescue the children but cautioned “it is equally important to look into the root causes that give rise to these developments.”

“The ease with which various local activists perpetrated acts of piracy and kidnapping on the oil coast of Nigeria was the first sign of our vulnerability.
 
“Military might and force is not enough to overcome terrorists with conviction,” he said.

He says the NPP is so obsessed with the desire to come to power and are trivializing every issue just to achieve that end, but that portends bad news as it pushes Ghanaians into the in danger of not taking themselves seriously should that attitude persist.

Twum Boafo who made the comments while speaking on Radio Gold’s Alhaji and Alhaji programme at the weekend, wondered why the NPP would attack President John Mahama over his comments that no matter what the government does, there are some who would never appreciate it.

He said the President’s comment represents the truth, which truism is borne out by history, arguing that except their own government, the NPP has never appreciated the works of any other government.

“What is it that has been done by a government that is not a government that they behold that they like? Akosombo Dam, did they like it? Tema Motorway, did Busia not go to a Senate hearing in the US to tell the US Government that they should not give us money to build the Akosombo Dam because Nkrumah was a communist? Is it not on record?… What is it that anybody has done in this country that the NPP have not been involved in that they have been appreciative of? What is it? Somebody should tell me. Somebody should text me one!” He queried.

He observed that the recent attempt to pin blame on the president is only a sequel to earlier ones, including the failed attempt to condemn him for speaking against galamsey at Kyebi in the Eastern Region, adding “As fortunate as we are, one of the most unfortunate things that has happened to Ghana is the Danquah-Busia tradition.”

Twum Boafo said when it comes to a government that is sensitive to the plight of the Ghanaian, the National Democratic Congress does far better than the NPP, for it was during the administration of the Kufuor-led NPP government that Ghanaians were told they were lazy for demanding job.

Again when that administration supervised about a year-and-a-half long power crisis, it was then President Kufuor who at a political rally told Ghanaians there was nothing they could do to the government.

According to Twum Boafo, it was unbelievable that the NPP would today turn to complain about songs composed by their own favourite Daddy Lumba, whose latest hit Yentie Obiaa has also become political bone of contention.

According to the NPP, the song, which was played at a forum attended by President Mahama when he recently visited Kumasi as part of a three-day Ashanti regional tour, was played ostensibly to spite the party.

Twum Boafo however disagreed, saying the President was not a disc jockey to have selected what song plays at places he visits.
“We have challenges in this country for which reason we need to focus and resolve those challenges. The noisemaking and the theatrics are too much, too much, too much.”

He also cautioned members of the National Democratic Congress to arise and defend their record vigorously as though their very lives depended on it because the NPP mean business. He also called on President Mahama to be wary of so-called senior journalists friends who would castigate him publicly and turn round to profess love for him.

“Let’s get serious because some people have decided to declare a republic of Kumasi because they did t to President Nkrumah.”

{mp3}twum_boafo_yetie_obiaaa{/3}

The full squad:

Goalkeepers: Brad Guzan (Aston Villa), Tim Howard (Everton), Nick Rimando (Real Salt Lake)

Defenders: DaMarcus Beasley (Puebla), Matt Besler (Sporting Kansas City), John Brooks (Hertha Berlin), Geoff Cameron (Stoke City), Timmy Chandler (Nürnberg), Brad Evans (Seattle Sounders), Omar Gonzalez (LA Galaxy), Clarence Goodson (San Jose Earthquakes), Fabian Johnson (Hoffenheim), Michael Parkhurst (Columbus Crew), DeAndre Yedlin (Seattle Sounders)

Midfielders: Kyle Beckerman (Real Salt Lake), Alejandro Bedoya (Nantes), Michael Bradley (Toronto FC), Joe Corona (Club Tijuana), Brad Davis (Houston Dynamo), Mix Diskerud (Rosenborg), Maurice Edu (Philadelphia Union), Julian Green (Bayern Munich), Jermaine Jones (Besiktas), Graham Zusi (Sporting Kansas City)

Forwards: Jozy Altidore (Sunderland), Terrence Boyd (Rapid Vienna), Clint Dempsey (Seattle Sounders), Landon Donovan (LA Galaxy), Aron Johannsson (AZ Alkmaar), Chris Wondolowski (San Jose Earthquakes)

Tottenham have sacked manager Tim Sherwood after just five months in charge.

The former midfielder was handed an 18-month deal when he took over from Andre Villas-Boas in December, but Spurs have exercised a break clause in that contract.

Sherwood was not afraid to criticise his players in public and he has faced questions about his future ever since it emerged that Spurs chairman Daniel Levy had met with Netherlands boss Louis van Gaal in January.

Levy said in a statement: “We appointed Tim mid-season as someone who knew both the players and the Club.

“We agreed an 18-month contract with a break clause at the end of the season and we have now exercised that option.

“Since appointing Tim as Assistant First Team Coach in 2008 and then as Technical Co-ordinator in 2010 and Head of Football Development in 2012, we have been supportive of him during football management changes throughout that period. On behalf of the Club, I should like to state our thanks for all his efforts during his years with us. We wish him great success in his managerial career.

“Moving forward, now the season is over, we shall embark on the process of finding a new Head Coach. We have a talented squad and exciting young players coming through. We need to build on this season, develop our potential and inspire the kind of performances that we associate with our great Club."

Sherwood's final few weeks in charge at White Hart Lane were undermined by rumours surrounding who would replace him in the manager's seat.

A meeting between Levy and Van Gaal early in his reign created speculation that Sherwood would not survive the summer, while Ajax boss Frank de Boer has recently spoken openly about the possibility of taking the job.

Goal understands that Southampton boss Mauricio Pochettino is also in the running to take over, while reports elsewhere indicate an approach for Napoli boss Rafael Benitez could be on the cards.

Sherwood often criticised his players, most notably following a 4-0 defeat at Chelsea when he blamed the "capitulation" on a "lack of character" among the squad.

His touchline antics were also called into question during his short spell in charge. During derby defeat against Arsenal he hurled his famed gilet to the ground, and was later involved in a spat with Benfica boss Jorge Jesus during a Europa League clash.

He elected to sit in the stands for several matches following the incident, but later return to the technical area. On the final match of the season against Aston Villa on Sunday, he invited a supporter to sit in his seat and wear his gilet, but said he had no chance of succeeding him because the fan was English.

Credit: Goal.com

According to millsmusicent.com, Bob-Manuel revealed his new role via a Blackberry message. “The governor of Anambra State, Chief Willie Obiano has appointed me Bob-Manuel Udokwu (FCAI) his Senior Special Assistant (SSA) on the Movie/Entertainment Industry with immediate effect.” he said.

He continues: “With this appointment, the creative industry now has a clear representation in the government of Anambra State.

"I therefore call on all movie/entertainment professionals in Nigeria, across Africa and all over the world to feel free to berth in Anambra State to ply their creative and talent driven enterprises!

"The State is highly welcoming and conducive to do business in. Please feel free to contact me with views on how best to make the most out of this golden opportunity for the advancement of creativity.I am here to serve you, Anambra State, Nigeria and beyond.”

Mr Samuel Oppong, Agona West Municipal Chief Executive (MCE) made this known when he addressed the first ordinary meeting of the  Assembly at Agona Swedru.

According to the MCE,  available statistics indicate that out of 2,182 candidates who sat for the examinations, only 848 candidates passed, representing 38.8 percent.

He attributed the poor results to teacher-absenteeism, and said this constituted  a major drawback on education delivery in the Municipality, and said the Municipal Educational Oversight Committee had put in place measures to reverse the situation.

Mr Oppong who is also the chairman of the Educational Oversight Committee,  said the measures include teacher promotion, Best Teacher Award, institution of welfare services and sanctions on recalcitrant teachers.

He charged the Agona West Municipal Directorate of Education to work hard to promote education at the Junior High Schools (JHS).

The MCE said government was sinking millions of Ghana Cedis into education, and asked the teachers to work hard to reciprocate the gesture.

Mr Oppong said the Assembly in collaboration with the Agona West Municipal Health Directorate,  had put in place plans to educate the public against the spread of  communicable diseases.

On revenue, the MCE said the Assembly has put in place measures to improve revenue mobilization to improve the financial position of the Assembly.

There were, however, places in the squad for Franck Ribery, Karim Benzema, Patrice Evra, Paul Pogba and Monaco's Yohan Cabaye.

The full squad below:

He said the ability of the government to adopt an innovative approach and work with the banks would bring down the cost of borrowing as a means of improving employment creation.

"We are not suggesting that the government control the banks", he said.

Speaking at the beginning of the national economic forum at Akosombo Monday, Mr Asamoah stated that  financial institutions in the country were making huge profits due to the high cost of borrowing.

He said the TUC had drawn attention to the high interest rates regime, which had offered the banks considerable profits while the business community was suffocated and unable to balance their books.

Weak economy

He said the country's economy was weak and not working for the majority of Ghanaians as evidenced by high incidence of poverty among the people.

"At the macro level, there are projections that growth is slowing, the current account deficit is widening as imports saturate our markets and our exports remain raw materials, inflation is surging and the cedi is falling by the day", he said.

He said that the national debt was trending towards unsustainable levels.

"The times are hard for most Ghanaians and the hardship is intense and spreading quickly. Prices are rising faster than incomes; jobs are difficult to find as the majority of our young people remain jobless.

"Public services and utilities, including water and electricity, are poorly delivered at exorbitant prices and it is becoming too difficult and costly to obtain services", Mr Asamoah stated.

Pursuing poor economic policies

The TUC Secretary General attributed the challenges facing the country to the nature of economic policies pursued in the last three decades.

"We have made reference to the hands-off neoclassical economic policies and the failure of those policies.

"We have expressed grave reservation about the over-liberalisation of international trade and  the way it has destroyed the domestic manufacturing base.

He added that, "we have also raised concern about foreign currency out of our country sometimes beyond the legal limits set by the Bank of Ghana.

Weak state institutions

Mr Asamoah further indicated that inherent in those economic policies had been a continuous weakening of the state and the institutions of state.

"The state has retreated into the comfort zone of politics, leaving economic governance to market forces and the extreme polarisation has made it difficult for us to agree on common solutions to our problems.

"We are defending and projecting the narrow interest of parties", he said, adding that the low and high profile cases of corruption cases witnessed each day and the inability to successfully prosecute offenders were a manifestation of the weakness of state institutions.

"In such situation no citizen will want to hear the word sacrifice", he added.

The full squad below:

Defenders : Jerome Boateng (Bayern Munich), Erik Durm (Borussia Dortmund), Kevin Grosskreutz (Borussia Dortmund), Benedikt Howedes (Schalke), Mats Hummels (Borussia Dortmund), Marcell Jansen (Hamburg), Philipp Lahm (Bayern Munich), Per Mertesacker (Arsenal), Shkodran Mustafi (Sampdoria), Marcel Schmelzer (Borussia Dortmund)                     

Midfielders : Lars Bender (Bayer Leverkusen), Julian Draxler (Schalke), Matthias Ginter (Freiburg), Leon Goretzka (Schalke), Mario Gotze (Bayern Munich), Andre Hahn (Augsburg), Sami Khedira (Real Madrid), Toni Kroos (Bayern Munich), Max Meyer (Schalke), Mesut Ozil (Arsenal), Bastian Schweinsteiger (Bayern Munich)    

Attackers : Miroslav Klose (Lazio), Kevin Volland (Hoffenheim), Lukas Podolski (Arsenal), Marco Reus (Borussia Dortmund), Andre Schurrle (Chelsea), Thomas Muller (Bayern Munich)

Germany have been paired in Group G with Ghana, Portugal and the USA.

The accused, Kojo Affram, alias Osofo Kojo Abraham, is in the dock with his apprentice, Yaw Nkansah. They pleaded guilty with explanation.

The court, presided over by Ms Eva Bannerman Williams, however, deferred sentence to May 28, 2014.

Facts of case

Briefing the court, Chief Inspector Christiana Sampoma said the complainant, Stephen Nyame, lives with his son, Kweku Nyame, the victim, in Mankessim.

She said Osofo Abraham and Nkansah live in the same vicinity with the complainant.

According to Chief Inspector Sampoma, about three months ago, Kweku left home unceremoniously and could not be found for two days.

She said knowing Osofo Abraham as a friend and prophet of God, Mr Nyame approached him and asked for prayers for the return of his son.

 She said fortunately enough for Mr Nyame, his son returned home that very day and Osofo Abraham, who happened to visit his friend at that time, saw Kweku Nyame.

She said Osofo Abraham ordered Mr Nyame to send his son to his (Osofo Abraham’s) prayer camp for spiritual deliverance because he believed Kweku Nyame was possessed by a demonic spirit.

She said out of fear of losing his son, Mr Nyame sent his son to Osofo Abraham to cleanse him of the demonic spirit.

Chief Inspector Sampoma said Osofo Abraham kept Kweku Nyame at his prayer camp, where the boy was taken through a series of spiritual deliverance to deal critically with the demonic spirit.

She said Mr Nyame visited the camp one day to see his son with three big hot stones placed in front of him and covered with a mat and cloth, while the boy was firmly held on the ground.

She told the court that that very act of using hot stones to cast the demonic spirit out had been done twice on the victim already and on both occasions the boy had screamed for help before he was allowed to come out with burns all over his body because of the heat from the stones.

She said Kweku Nyame was consequently kept in the prayer camp to undergo herbal treatment for the burns.

Chief Inspector Sampoma said Kweku Nyame could no longer walk properly as a result of the burns.

She said realising the deformity caused to his son, Mr Nyame lodged a complaint at the police station, leading to the arrest of Osofo Abraham and Nkansah.

Explanation

In his explanation, Osofo Abraham told the court that the complainant had approached him to cast out a spirit which he (Mr Nyame) believed had been tormenting his son.

He said Mr Nyame had told him that the boy had started crawling just a month after he was born and that, he (the father) believed, was not normal.

Osofo Abraham said he travelled and was called that Kweku Nyame was sick and so he directed his apprentice to use the heated stones and herbs to treat the boy.

He said it was not his first time of using that method, pointing out that the victim had told him that the burns were as a result of his spiritual team members who found him to be stubborn for allowing a pastor to cast out the demonic spirit from him.

He said the burns were as a result of hot water poured on him by his spiritual team members.

The plan is part of a string of reforms to restructure the economy rolled out by the Finance Minister, Mr Seth Terkper, for consideration by discussants at the ongoing National Economic Forum at Senchi in the Eastern Region.

Other measures include a continuation of the net freeze on employment in sectors of the public service for consideration and the restructuring of the District Assemblies Common Fund (DACF) and other statutory funds to reduce rigidities in the budget and align them to priority programmes.

The measures will also move to shift the focus of expenditure from low priority public spending for all metropolitan, municipal and district assemblies.

In 2013, the country experienced volatile prices for its major export commodities such as cocoa and gold, a development which resulted in a high deficit.

The fiscal performance also recorded an overall budget deficit estimated at 10.8 per cent, against a budget target of 9.0 per cent, following a deficit of 11.8 per cent in 2012.

The fiscal slippage was underpinned by shortfalls in revenue and grants, higher spending on wages and salaries, as well as interest costs.

The government had, in 2013, imposed new taxes, limited the award of new contracts, the contraction of new loans and the regular adjustment of petroleum and utility prices.

Domestic mobilisation

But in bid to correct the economic imbalances, Mr Terkper announced plans to enhance domestic revenue mobilisation, implement tax reforms and improve revenue administration to increase revenue in relation to GDP to levels consistent with peers in the lower middle-income country category. 

 He proposed that there would be a change in the upfront exemptions regime to a credit and refund system to minimise abuse, tax evasion and tax avoidance.

The government also intended to review the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre (GIPC) Act to ensure that exemptions granted by the GIPC were consistent with the government exemption policy, he said.

On the public sector, the minister said reforms were underway to right-size the public service by upgrading the payroll and installing a new Human Resource Management Systems (HRMS) programme for the Office of the Head of the Civil Service (OHCS) and the Public Services Commission (PSC).

Payroll management measures, such as payroll audits and Electronic System Payment Voucher (E-SPV), were to reduce the incidence of ‘ghost’ workers on government payroll and empower managers with ready and timely information to manage more efficiently their payroll costs, he said.

He said among the series of measures to put the economy into the higher bracket of the middle-income status were the reclassification of the public debt and improvement in the public debt.

Mr Terkper said the government would encourage the private sector to participate in the accelerated growth agenda through public-private partnerships (PPPs).