We Saw It Coming..Agbeko is IBF Champion!

In the co-feature championship bout to Dawson/Mendoza between IBF Bantamweight titlist Luis "El Demoledor" Perez and Joseph "King Kong" Agbeko the action was plentiful from bell one as the challenger Agbeko from Ghana showed why Ghanaian fighters are some of the toughest the world has ever seen.

Knowing full well the Champion had trouble making weight (Perez missed by a half pound and had to run it off) "King Kong" went to the body early and often. A series of straight rights followed by a left hook rocked Perez but he came right back and both men traded all around the ring. Agbeko seemed to get the better of the action through out however showing superior defense and a better jab.

There were no knockdowns, but, before the start of the eighth round, ringside physician Smith Ketchum, in his second visit to Pérez's corner, looked into the ex-champion's eyes with a flashlight and decided he could no longer continue.
"He was neurologically deteriorating from multiple head blows," Ketchum said.
The stoppage drew an immediate protest from the ex-champion, but he was taken to a local hospital for observation.

"It was my destiny to become world champion, and he wasn't going to stop me from my dream," said an ecstatic Agbeko, who entered the ring as the IBF's No. 15 contender and won every round on the judges' scorecards.
Pérez's manager, Kendrick Garcia, said he will ask for a rematch. If so, his fighter, who was making his first title defense, might want to do a better job monitoring his training habits.
Pérez came close to forfeiting the title twice on the scales. At Friday's weigh-in, he came in a half-pound over the 118-pound limit. Seventy-five minutes later, after a long jog, he finally made the weight as Agbeko, 116 3/4, stood smiling nearby.

Under IBF rules, boxers in Pérez's weight class can't be more than 10 pounds over 118 the day of the fight. Pérez, though, was over a fraction over 118 pounds again at a Saturday morning weigh-in and had to take that excess off as well.
The ordeal might have taken its toll. By the second round, a backpedaling Pérez already appeared to be tiring against the aggressive Agbeko.
Meanwhile, King said that despite a smaller crowd than he had envisioned, he plans to return to Sacramento for more shows.
"It isn't a question of if I'm coming back. I am," he said. "
Source:GHP

Ghana----Load shedding is over

The public is to enjoy twenty-four hours of electric supply starting October 1st, 2007 as the national load shedding programme, which commenced in August 2006 has been terminated. A statement issued in Accra on Saturday by the Energy Minister, Mr Joseph Kofi Adda, said the decision was taken following a review of the power supply situation between government and the power utilities.

The statement said the deployment of the Compact Fluorescent Lamps was now in full force and encouraged all power consumers to cooperate with the implementation teams to ensure that incandescent bulbs were replaced with energy saving lamps.It reminded the public on the need to continue to conserve energy and asked all Ministries, Departments and Agencies as well as other public institutions to continue to comply with directives issued by the government on the use of air conditioning and lighting systems in buildings and offices.

The statement expressed appreciation to the public for its support and fortitude during the implementation of the load management programme and assured the public that measures being undertaken would ensure reliable and sustainable supply of power in the future.
Source:GNA

MoFA Declares--No More Bird Flu In Ghana

The Minister of Food and Agriculture (MOFA) has announced that Ghana is now an Avian Influenza-free country.

The ministry has therefore lifted all the quarantine measures and restrictions imposed on the movement of live poultry and poultry products in and out of the Tema and Sunyani municipalities as well as the Keta District of the Volta Region. Deputy Sector Minister in-charge of Livestock, Hon. Anna Nyamekye made this known at the weekly Meet-The-Press series in Accra yesterday.However, the ban on the importation of live birds and all poultry products from affected countries, she said, is still in force, stressing, “all security agencies along the country’s borders should continue to be vigilant and ensure that live birds and poultry products do not enter the country”.

According to Hon. Nyamekye, since Avian Influenza, also known as Bird Flu, is still present on the globe and in the West African sub-region, poultry farmers should endeavour to continue to ensure maximum bio-security on their farms so as to prevent the entry of the virus onto their farms.She noted that as part of efforts by the ministry and its related bodies to prevent the recurrence of the virus, MOFA and the various Veterinary Services Directorates would continue to educate the public on the disease as well as start the training of poultry farmers on the importance of bio-security on their farms.She indicated that the ministry in consultation with the Ghana Poultry Development Board has so far disbursed over ¢1.5 billion as compensation to farmers who had their birds destroyed as a result of the Bird Flu outbreak in May this year.“As at the time of the resolution of all the cases, 13.371 birds had died whilst a total of 27,356 birds were destroyed as part of our control measures.

“Farmers whose birds had to be destroyed have been paid reasonable compensation at rates agreed upon by the Ministry of Food and Agriculture and the Ghana Poultry Development Board,” emphasised the deputy Minister. Hon. Nyamekye, flanked by officials from the Veterinary Services Department, reminded the general public that though there had been no reported human infections during the outbreaks, they should continue to wash hands thoroughly with soap and water and ensure that all poultry products were well cooked before eating.

It would be recalled that on Wednesday, May 2 this year, Ghana reported its first case of the Avian Influenza virus. The virus was first detected on a small-scale poultry farm on April 24, 2007 within the Tema Municipality. The disease was later detected on another farm at Asuokwa in the Sunyani Municipality and on a small-scale poultry farm at Aflao in the Ketu District of the Volta Region. These detections prompted the sector ministry and the Veterinary Services Department to adopt prevention measures including the destruction of affected birds to avoid further spread of the virus.
Source:Daily Graphic

Ghana Makes Marginal Gain On CPI Scale

Ghana ranked 69th among 180 countries on the 2007 Corruption Perception Index (CPI) with a total score of 3.7 points, showing a slight improvement over last year's 70th position with a score of 3.3 points.This was contained in the CPI annual report compiled by Transparency International (TI) and launched across the world on Wednesday.

Ghana Integrity Initiative (GII), the local affiliate of TI, which compiles the CPI on an annual basis, did the Accra launch.Mr Vitus Azeem, Executive Secretary of GII, told journalists that Ghana's current position showed a meagre improvement in the fight against corruption, and there was no cause for celebration."The fact is that Ghana is still stagnating between the score of 3 and 4 and has yet to attain the half way score of 5," he said. Globally only 46 (25.5 per cent) out of 180 countries scored five and above, and these were mostly developed countries.The criteria for awarding scores include grand political corruption, likelihood of encountering corrupt officials, misuse of public office for private or political party gain, level of achievement of anti-corruption efforts and country policy and industrial assessments.At the 69th position, Ghana fell behind only six 49 African countries named in the report. The six are Botswana (38), South Africa (43), Cape Verde (49), Mauritius (53), Namibia (57) and Tunisia (61). They scored between 4.2 and 5.4 points.Ghana scored the highest among all the West African countries, with Togo placing as low as 143 with a score of 2.3 points and Nigeria placing 147 with 2.2 points.Somalia, which is described as a failed state without a properly installed government, placed last on the rankings with 1.4 points. Iraq ranked 178 with 1.5 points.Mr Azeem advised government to introduce anti-money laundering measures to stop Ghana being a safe haven for stolen assets, stressing that multi-national companies must be made to implement effective anti-bribery codes to ensure that they were adhered to by subsidiaries and foreign officers.He also urged politicians involved in campaigning ahead of the 2008 elections to exercise their rights in a manner that would ensure the practicality of a free and fair election, which is necessary to prevent political corruption.The ninth position occupied by Norway with 8.7 points raised concerns at the launch, given the recent scandal involving the Norwegian-based Scancem, the mother company of GHACEM in Ghana. Mr Bede Zieden, Acting General Secretary of the Democratic Freedom Party (DFP), noted that it was worrying that though it had been made sufficiently clear that a Norwegian company schemed a plan to corrupt the governments of developing countries, Norway scored high to place ninth on the CPI."I think they should have scored lower on grounds of exporting corruption to developing countries," he said.Dr Audrey Gadzekpo, a Director at GII, noted that no country could be accused of exporting corruption when developing countries themselves had weaker integrity systems and institutions.She said developing countries needed to strengthen their integrity systems and laws to make corruption less attractive and expensive for foreign multi-nationals.Dr Gadzekpo noted that though corruption was used based on perception, it did not mean corruption was non-existent and government actors should be seen to pursue the perception to establish the reality instead of demanding proof before taking action."The meeting point between the perception and the reality is in the commitment of government to work with civil society following leads to stem corruption," she said.
Source:GNA