THE PARROTS

The Commander-in-Chief of the Ghana Armed Forces and President of Ghana, John Mahama, has for the first time since he assumed the Presidency, been seen in a military outfit. The president donned the military camouflage during the ongoing commissioning of the Navy headquarters in Accra Thursday. This is the first time, since the days of former president Jerry Rawlings, that a democratically elected President of the country is seen publicly wearing the uniform of the armed forces. The newly constructed Navy headquarters The constitution of Ghana, by default, makes the President of the republic the Commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces. President John Mahama (middle) in Military uniform

The world has so many incredible buildings that it can be hard to know which are truly above the rest. For those who want to brush up on their architecture knowledge, we've compiled a ranking of the 100 coolest buildings and structures on the planet. These include old and new pieces of architecture all over the world, including museums, wineries, religious spaces, skyscrapers, transportation hubs, hotels, and more. From a grand, intricately designed historic palace in Spain to a tiny chapel that blends into the Arizona desert, click through the slides above to see our top 100: click here for more

There is proof that Saudi Arabia is more interested in trying to kill competition in the oil industry at the expense of cratering oil prices — its oil production just hit a record high. The country said output increased by 123,000 barrels per day, which pushed overall production for July to 10.67 million barrels per day. This surpasses the previous record of 10.56 million per day from June last year. While Saudi does pump out more oil usually in the summer months to sate domestic demand, the record production level is likely to be scrutinised because oil prices are still around 55% lower than they were since June 201 Currently, oil prices are just above $40 per barrel. At the moment, there is too much oil on the market. Supply is high and demand is low, meaning oil prices are dampened from triple digit levels of the summer of 2014. The market, at one point, was so flooded with oil, prices threatened to fall as low as $20 per barrel at the beginning of this year. The situat

The Bank of Ghana will at the end of 2016 give approval for the payment of interest on mobile money deposits in the country. The deputy Head of Payment Systems at the Bank of Ghana Carissa Kudowor dropped the hint at the MTN Mobile Money Stakeholder Conference in Accra. It was themed: “Let go cashless with MTN Mobile Money, supported by an enabling regulatory environment.” It means customers will be earning between 1.5 and 7 percent on the amount in their wallet with the four Telcos namely MTN, Vodafone, Tigo and Airtel from next year. Latest statistics from The Consultative Group to Assist the Poor – GCAP – reveals mobile money transactions in Ghana have reached a total of Gh¢679.17 million. The figure represents a 20% growth for the mid-year figure, compared to the Gh¢547.96 million recorded for the end of 2015. Participants at the conference The General Manager for Mobile Financial Services at MTN Eli Hini said in an interview that measures are already in place to

Resurfacing of the 51.4 Kilometre road from Oda to Akyem Chia, which forms part of the Oda-Nkwakaw main road, is progressing steadily.  The project, which is being financed with part of the cocoa syndicate loan, is being undertaken by two Accra-based contractors: Hardwork Company Limited and Archwork Company Limited. Hardwork Company, which is working on the 34.6 kilometre portion of the road from Ofoase to Chia, is applying the second coating of bitumen; while Archwork Company, which is undertaking the Ofoase-Oda portion of the road, has completed about 50 per cent of the project. The District Chief Executive (MCE) for Akyemansa, Mr Tom Budu, who led newsmen to inspect the project last Wednesday, said the two contractors were expected to complete the project by the end of November, 2016. He stressed that the President Mahama-led government took a bold decision to undertake the project, which had been neglected by successive governments, in order to bring lasting r

Enstooled as the Paramount Queenmother of the Alavanyo Traditional Area in the Hohoe Municipality at the tender age of 23, Mamaga Ametor II has executed a number of development projects for the area and other parts of the Volta Region.  These include the organisation of entrepreneurship programmes, sourcing and distribution of textbooks to schools in the Alavanyo community and parts of the region, presentation of delivery beds to some clinics in the Hohoe District and the distribution of desktop computers to some deprived schools. The recent one, being initiated to mark the 10th anniversary of her enstoolment, is the construction of a maternity ward for the Community Health and Planning Services (CHPS) compound at Alavanyo-Dzogbedze. Addressing a colourful durbar on the theme: “Tolerance: Key to Peace and Development,” at Alavanyo-Kpeme to mark her anniversary, Mamaga Ametor II said she was inspired to initiate the construction of the maternity block to offer antenatal