Newly sworn-in Ghanaian President John Mahama made a hilarious gaffe in his inauguration speech when he referred to Nigeria’s President Bola Ahmed Tinubu as the “President of Ghana.”

In his address to dignitaries, Mahama said, “Your Excellency, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, President of the Federal Republic of Ghana.”

John Mahama was sworn in as President of Ghana, with world leaders present, including President Tinubu, to grace the occasion. The swearing-in, which took place at Independence Square, Accra on Tuesday, sealed his return as President of the West African nation for the second time, having first led Ghana from 2012 to 2017.

During the event, Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang was also sworn in as Ghana’s first woman vice president. She took the oath of office administered by Chief Justice Gertrude Torkornoo of Ghana.

In winning the election in December, Mahama had polled 6.3 million votes, 50% of the total, beating his nearest challenger, Mahamudu Bawumia of the ruling New Patriotic Party, by 1.7 million votes. “The people of Ghana have spoken. The people have voted for change at this time, and we respect it with all humility,” Bawumia said while conceding defeat.

The post President Mahama mistakenly calls Tinubu ‘President of Ghana’ during inauguration speech appeared first on NEWS PICKS — WITHIN NIGERIA.

John Dramani Mahama has officially been sworn in as the 6th President of Ghana’s Fourth Republic in a grand ceremony held at the Independence Square on January 7, 2025.

The historic event marked Mahama’s return to the presidency after a previous term ended in 2017, making him the first leader in Ghana’s history to reclaim the presidency after a re-election loss.

His swearing-in follows a decisive victory in the 2024 general elections.

In his inaugural speech, President Mahama pledged to uphold the trust of the Ghanaian people and steer the nation toward economic recovery, unity, and inclusive development.

He also emphasized a renewed commitment to good governance, transparency, and addressing the pressing needs of Ghanaians.

The ceremony was attended by 21 heads of state, former leaders, and dignitaries, including Nigeria’s President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, South Africa’s Cyril Ramaphosa, and Liberia’s George Weah.

Former Ghanaian leaders John Agyekum Kufuor and Nana Konadu Agyeman Rawlings were also present, alongside immediate former Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia and his wife, Samira Bawumia.

The post John Mahama sworn-in as Ghana President appeared first on NEWS PICKS — WITHIN NIGERIA.

The Seventh-Day Adventist (SDA) Church in the Wenchi West District of the Mid-West Ghana Conference, Bono Region, celebrated 20 young girls over the weekend for preserving their virginity. The girls, aged 13 to 16, received undisclosed financial support during a special Thanksgiving service.

As reported by GhanaWeb, the ceremony was led by the Young Adventist Women Ministries and aimed to promote moral integrity, rooted in Christian and cultural values.

The Coordinator of the Young Adventist Women Ministries, Mrs. Nana Amponsah Poku, highlighted the initiative’s focus on nurturing the holistic development of young women.

She emphasized the importance of self-confidence and wise decision-making, urging the girls to maintain their purity and remain cautious in choosing friends in the coming year.

“God created you uniquely beautiful and you must not allow anybody to lure and break your virginity until you marry”, she urged the girls and asked them to be cautious about the friends they picked in 2025.

“The ancient Bragoro or Dipo rite was very essential in preserving girls’ virginity and controlling teenage pregnancies inimical to the growth and development of young girls and women”, she stated.

Associate Pastor Andrews Dua Bour Kyereh praised the honorees for their discipline and purity. He encouraged them to prioritize education and faith, urging other young girls in the church and community to follow their example.

Pastor Kyereh also called on parents to take an active role in guiding their children toward virtuous living and instilling strong moral values.

The post Ghanaian church honours 20 girls for keeping their virginity appeared first on NEWS PICKS — WITHIN NIGERIA.

President of Ghana, Nana Akufo-Addo has announced visa-free travel for all African passport holders, three days to the end of his term.

Akufo-Addo made the announcement in his final State of the Nation address to parliament.

President-elect John Dramani Mahama will take over from Akufo-Addo on January 7.

With Friday’s announcement, Ghana becomes the fifth African country to offer visa-free travel to Africans, joining Rwanda, Seychelles, Gambia and Benin Republic.

“I am proud to have approved visa-free travel to Ghana for all African passport holders, with effect from the beginning of this year.

“This is the logical next step to the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) and the workings of the largest trading bloc in the world,” the 13th president said.

Akufo-Addo noted that these were essential elements to the realisation of the AU’s Agenda 2063, which envisages an integrated and connected Africa by 2063.

Ghana placed fifth last year in an annual African ranking of visa-openness, having already offered visa-free travel to citizens of 26 countries on the continent.

The post Ghana announces visa-free access for all African nations appeared first on NEWS PICKS — WITHIN NIGERIA.

A Zambian police officer, Detective Inspector Titus Phiri, has been arrested after releasing 13 suspects from custody to celebrate the New Year. The suspects, accused of crimes such as assault, robbery, and burglary, are now on the run, and a manhunt has been launched.

Police spokesperson Rae Hamoonga confirmed that Phiri, while intoxicated on New Year’s Eve, forcibly took the cell keys from Constable Serah Banda and unlocked both male and female cells.

He instructed the detainees to leave, telling them they were free to enter the new year.

Phiri fled the scene after the release of the 13 suspects, while two detainees remained in custody.

Former presidential spokesperson Dickson Jere likened the incident to a similar one in 1997, when High Court Judge Kabazo Chanda ordered the release of 53 suspects, frustrated by the delays in their court appearances.

The post Drunken Zambian Police Officer Frees 13 Suspects for New Year Celebration appeared first on NEWS PICKS — WITHIN NIGERIA.

The Federal Government of Nigeria has expressed deep concern over escalating violence in Mozambique following the country’s presidential election, which has claimed at least 121 lives and injured more than 380 people.

The unrest, particularly severe in Maputo, Beira, and Nampula, erupted after the announcement of election results that declared Daniel Chapo of the Mozambique Liberation Front the winner with 65% of the vote.

Opposition leaders rejected the outcome, sparking widespread protests and violent clashes.

In a statement on Friday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson, Kimiebi Ebienfa, urged calm and called on Mozambique’s political actors to pursue lawful avenues for resolving disputes.

“The Federal Government of Nigeria calls for calm and advises the aggrieved political players to explore appropriate legal means to seek redress,” the statement read. “Our thoughts are with the Government of the Republic of Mozambique and the families of all those affected by the dreadful crisis.”

Nigeria’s appeal comes amid growing international concern over the escalating violence, which has disrupted daily life and heightened tensions in the southern African nation.

The Federal Government reiterated its commitment to peace and stability in Africa, urging Mozambique’s political leaders to prioritise dialogue and peaceful resolution.

The post Nigeria Calls for Calm Amid Escalating Post-Election Violence in Mozambique appeared first on NEWS PICKS — WITHIN NIGERIA.

Ghana has announced visa-free travel for citizens of all African nations, fulfilling President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo’s pledge to promote continental integration.

The policy, approved on 18 December 2024, will take effect before the end of Akufo-Addo’s term on 6 January 2025. It aligns with the African Union’s vision of economic integration under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). Ghana joins Rwanda, Seychelles, The Gambia, and Benin in offering visa-free entry to all African passport holders.

President Akufo-Addo had reaffirmed this commitment during the Africa Prosperity Dialogues in January, noting the challenges restrictive immigration policies pose to African entrepreneurs. Business mogul Aliko Dangote, for example, highlighted frustrations over navigating visa requirements, saying, “I have to apply for 35 different visas.”

Preparations are underway, with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of the Interior, and the Ghana Immigration Service coordinating efforts. The policy is expected to commence on 1 January 2025, solidifying Ghana’s role as a leader in African unity and integration.

The post Ghana Introduces Visa-Free Travel for All African Nations appeared first on NEWS PICKS — WITHIN NIGERIA.

Ghana’s Supreme Court on Wednesday rejected two bids to overturn a contested piece of legislation severely curtailing LGBTQ rights which was adopted by MPs earlier this year.

Lawmakers approved the Sexual Rights and Family Values Bill in February, drawing international condemnation despite gaining wide public support in the conservative west African country.

The proposed legislation stipulates jail terms of six months to three years for engaging in LGBTQ sex.

The bill only enters into law after being ratified by the outgoing president Nana Akufo-Addo, who has not yet announced his decision.

Akufo-Addo, who officially steps down on January 7 after two terms in office, had said he would first await the Supreme Court’s ruling on the bill’s constitutionality.

“It will be premature for this court to exercise its interpretive and enforcement jurisdiction to intervene. Consequently, the action fails,” judge Avril Lovelace-Johnson, head of the court’s seven-member panel said, reading its judgement.

“Until there is presidential assent to the bill, there is no act of which the Supreme Court will use its supervisory jurisdiction to overturn,” she added.

The court’s ruling followed cases filed by Ghanaian broadcaster Richard Dela-Sky, who challenged the constitutionality of the bill, and university researcher Amanda Odoi.

The bill sparked criticism from several countries, including the United States, as well as concern from Ghana’s finance ministry, which warned of a risk of losing billions of dollars in World Bank funding.

The post Ghana Supreme Court upholds anti-LGBTQ bill appeared first on NEWS PICKS — WITHIN NIGERIA.

After months of diplomatic standoff, Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger Republic will cease being members of the Economic Community of West African States, ECOWAS, from 2025.

President of ECOWAS commission, Alieu Touray, disclosed this on Sunday at the 66th ordinary session of heads of states and governments in Abuja.

Recall that the juntas in Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger had in January this year withdrew from and sever ties with the regional economic body.

Prior to the withdrawal, the trio were suspended from ECOWAS, with Niger and Mali facing heavy sanctions.

However, Touray said ECOWAS has now set the countries’ exit at January 29, 2025 – July 29, 2025.

The ECOWAS president said the timeframe would allow for last mediations and any diplomatic interventions.

The development comes after the military-led governments of Niger, Mali, and Burkina Faso announced their decision to withdraw from the Economic Community of West African States, ECOWAS, describing the move as “irreversible.”

The three countries, in a joint statement, accused ECOWAS of serving the interests of France, their former colonial power and pledged to chart a new path for their citizens.

The announcement precedes a key ECOWAS summit scheduled for Sunday, where regional leaders had hoped to negotiate a resolution to retain the three nations within the bloc

The post Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger to leave ECOWAS permanently in 2025 appeared first on NEWS PICKS — WITHIN NIGERIA.

Burkina Faso’s ruling military leader dismissed the country’s prime minister on Friday and dissolved the government, according to a presidential decree transmitted to AFP.

The sacked premier was the head of three successive governments, surviving each reshuffle.

No reason was given for the dismissal of Apollinaire Joachim Kyelem de Tambela, who was named as premier in October 2022 after the coup that brought Captain Ibrahim Traore to power.

“The prime minister’s official functions are terminated,” said the decree, adding that members of the dissolved government would “carry out ongoing business until the formation of a new government”.

The West African country was plunged into instability by a January 2022 coup in which Lieutenant-Colonel Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba seized power.

Little more than eight months later, Damiba himself was overthrown by Traore, 36, who now heads the junta regime.

Damiba, who ousted elected president Roch Marc Christian Kabore, is currently in exile in neighbouring Togo.

The junta has made the return of national sovereignty one of its priorities and regularly hits out against Western powers.

Burkina Faso has allied with fellow Sahel nations Mali and Niger, which are also led by military juntas following a string of coups since 2020.

The three nations joined together last September under the Alliance of Sahel States (AES), after severing ties with former colonial ruler France and pivoting towards Russia.

Burkina Faso was a French colony for the first half of the 20th century, and relations have soured with Paris following the 2022 coup.

Foreign Minister Karamoko Jean-Marie Traore last month said Burkina Faso’s cooperation with Russia “better suited” his country than its historic ties with France.

Along with Mali and Niger, Burkina Faso announced in January they were turning their backs on the Economic Community of West African States — ECOWAS — an organisation they accused of being manipulated by Paris.

The three neighbours are all battling jihadist violence that erupted in northern Mali in 2012 and spread to Niger and Burkina Faso in 2015.

In Burkina Faso, about two million people have been forced to flee their homes by the conflict, which has killed more than 26,000 people since 2015, including soldiers and civilians, according to monitoring group ACLED.

Moscow has sent military instructors there — as well as to several other African countries — to help in the fight against Islamist violence.

The post Burkina Faso junta chief dissolves government appeared first on NEWS PICKS — WITHIN NIGERIA.