Okyeame Kwame screening for Hepatitis B at Mantse Agbonaa

Okyeame Kwame Foundation, organizers of the recently held Hepatitis B Screening and Vaccination at James Town Mantse Agbonaa, with support from Theobald Hepatitis B Foundation, MDS Lancet Laboratories, Roche, Ridge Hospital OPD and MTN Ghana Foundation, organized the second phase of vaccination process at the Adabraka Ridge Hospital OPD on August 23, 2014.

One hundred and Twenty Eight participants in the first phase were available and vaccinated as other participants are expected to make it for the vaccination until Tuesday, August 26, during which time the first vaccination had expired.

The Foundation explains that all participants of the first vaccination “were constantly reminded about this second vaccination but not all of them attended so we are expecting them to come before Tuesday.”

The vaccination started at 9 am and ended at 5 pm as broadcasted earlier during the week.

The third vaccination is expected to take place on the “24^th of January, 2015”; participants were informed.

There is currently a cholera outbreak in Ghana with increasing cases as the days go by. Cholera is an infection of the small intestine caused by a bacterium known as vibrio cholerae.

Symptoms of this condition include watery diarrhoea, vomiting and weakness. Transmission occurs primarily by drinking water or eating food that has been contaminated by the faeces of an infected person including those infected but with no apparent symptoms.

As the spreading of cholera is primarily a sanitation problem, a campaign has been launched to get as many children as possible some free hand sanitizers to augment the hand washing with soap and general cleanliness messages. The campaign is also seeking to work as a preventive measure for the looming Ebola virus and disease of which no case has been reported in Ghana yet, despite its prevalence in some other West African Countries.

The campaign, known as the #NoChoBo Campaign is a crowd funded social campaign. The idea behind it is to get individuals to buy and donate hand sanitizers to some random children in their neighbourhood or a school and to share pictures of their gesture on social media.

As part of the campaign, such persons who have taken up the challenge must then nominate three to five or more people to also take up the challenge to which they must also share pictures and nominate some more people to take it up. All updates and pictures of the campaign on social media must have the hash tag, #NoChoBo.

The #NoChoBo is an abbreviation for No CHOlera no eBOla and it is a drive started by Sakyiwaa Mensah, a Communicator and social change activist and the person behind “The SexTalk Forum”, the reproductive health forum that seeks to demystify issues regarding sex and sex education. The campaign is supported by Blogging Ghana.

The #NoChoBo campaign, started barely a week ago has had some individuals join and donate sanitizers to some random children with some opting to give sanitizers to any blind beggars they meet in traffic. The public is being advised to help and support this campaign in their own small ways, even if they are not active on social media so together, we can curb the current incidence of choler in Ghana. Help us in your own small way to reach as many children as possible with sanitizers.

By GhanaGist.Com

Can’t a person or a movie star decide to stay away from the public domain without people necessarily finding reasons for such a decision? Must we speculate all the time?

Award winning Ghanaian Lydia Forson is back with a new project, not only as an actress in “A Letter From Adam” but as the writer as well as the producer.

The movie which hits the cinemas on September 19 and 20 features Nigeria’s Wale Ojo, Naa Ashorkor Mensah-Doku, Akorja Ejeani-Asiedu and others. 

Read the story behind the movie:

I’ve been trying to write this post for a while now, but I just cant seem to find the right words.

For someone who loves to write and talk as much as I do,this is rare. So I’m going to put down whatever comes into my mind and I hope it makes some kind of sense.

In 2010, I went through a series of challenges in my life that left me struggling to find the will to live. I wasn’t suicidal, far from it, but I just didn’t have the will or desire to do anything. I didn’t go out, cut off friends and turned down jobs. Basically a light had gone off inside of me and I didn’t know how to turn it back on.

I’ve always been a private person and so I didn’t know who to confide in. The few people I did talk to I couldn’t bring myself to tell them everything I was going through.

The solution for me was to get as far away from anyone or anything that reminded me of what I was going through. I began to take jobs outside Ghana, mostly because I enjoyed the idea of being somewhere I didn’t have to deal with my issues. One job after the other and I found myself practically living out of my suitcase. I began to get excited again, but they weren’t kidding when they said ” You cant run away from your problems”

Although the trips were exciting and I was enjoying working in other countries, I always had to come home, and home meant coming face to face the real me.

During this period a lot of people speculated about my absence and even though some of the reports hurt me, nothing could hurt more than the issues I was dealing with, and so I let the speculations go on and I didn’t care much.

But in this dark phase of my life, I still had people who were interested enough to check up on me, and although they didn’t push for too much information they said enough to let me know they were there,and not going anywhere.

I needed to find a solution to heal my pain, I needed to figure out how to move on with my life again, but I really just didn’t know how.

I prayed and did the routine bible read. But the truth is, I didn’t even believe in the prayers I said, I only prayed because I thought it was the right thing to do.

But God didn’t give up on me, in fact he wasn’t done with me just yet, even though a part of me was done with him.

And so one day after a trip, I just took my laptop and began to write.
I didn’t even know what I was writing, just that It felt good to write again.

It gave me an escape and every time I wrote I felt a weight being lifted off me. I didn’t write anything religious or overly deep. I just started writing a story and before I knew it I couldn’t wait to get up and write each day.

In about two weeks I had finished a screenplay. I didn’t know what I was going to do with it. But it had become my go to for comfort. Whenever I was down I wrote,whenever I was happy I wrote. Everyday I had something new to add or remove. The story was my baby and I wasn’t going to let it go.

This was my little secret and I wasn’t too comfortable with people even knowing it existed. Except a few who I trusted enough to let them read it.

Years later I still would go back to this story whenever I felt like I was losing it again.

Early this year, In an insane twist of events, I found myself being forced to produce a movie much earlier than I had planned to. I didn’t have the resources and I just didn’t think I was ready to take on such a challenge. But again God had other plans for me, and when the time came to pick a story, I felt myself drawn to my little secret.

But I wasn’t sure if I was ready to share it with the world. I didn’t think people would even get it. But I figured, why not, if I’m going to take on this scary project why not with something that has seen me through some of the worst times of my life.

And so the production of ” A Letter From Adam” began.

It has been one long journey, filled with several moments of ” What the Heck I’m I doing”.
But at every turn God has been there to direct my path.

And I’m proud to say, it is all almost over.

Thanks to everyone who has been a part of my story, knowingly and unknowingly.

If you do get a chance to see this movie, remember that it is about the story and the amazing team of people who made it possible, and not in anyway about Lydia Forson the Producer…

Written by Lydia Forson

The President, Leadership and Members of the Musicians Union of Ghana across the

Country wishes to congratulate the Honorable Minister of Tourism, Culture and Creative Arts Mrs. Elizabeth Ofosu Agyare and her able Deputy Minister. Honorabe Dzifa Abla Gomashie for their hard work exhibited so far in steering their Sector ministry.

This goes to underscore the fact that the duo is a clear example of a success story on affirmative action initiatives which calls for inclusion of women in our system of governance at all levels of our society.  Since assuming office in 2013, the two have gradually warmed themselves into the Tourism, Culture and Creative Arts Structure.  An alignment fairly new in the governance Structure and system due to the inclusion of the Creative Arts industry.

The Hon. Minister indeed has availed herself and participated in all major events under the sector. In a recent VGMA car award presentation for example she surprised everyone present by the way she virtually sang the entire song by Samini. Her demeanor and leadership style continues to amaze even her critics when one get closer to her.  Her success comes with a dutiful assistance from her very affable Deputy and supported by dedicated working team.

As we share in some of their key strengths in the Creative Arts sector, a draft legal regulatory framework for the creative Arts sector is ready awaiting stakeholder validation.  This is in view of the fact that, the alignment of the creative Arts Sector to Tourism and culture is new and requires such regulations to guide the smooth operations of the new linkages that have been created under the entire Ministry.

As we speak efforts are underway to build an ultra modern performance theatre in Kumasi to serve the Northern sector under her leadership.

In the area of Culture Mrs. Ofosu Agyare and her team have worked to resume the celebration of the National festival of Arts and Cultre (NAFAC) for which this years’ celebration will be held in November at Sunyani.

In the area of Film, a draft Cinematography and film bill has reached a validation stage by stakeholders.

The Boards for the National Commission on Culture and the National Theater have been constituted for which they have started their work.

The Ghana Tourism Federation has also inaugurated Board a new under her able leadership.  Though the three main sectors under the ministry continue to suffer from inadequate public and private funding, efforts so far made are worth commending.  This is why we will salute and congratulate the Honorable Minister on her leadership style and wish all her working team very well.

We will continue to look up to them for some positive surprises towards a progressive development of Creative Arts Industry currently under her supervision.  We need more investment to drive the much needed change for growth and stability in our sector.

Efya

Songstress Efya on Friday 29, August 2014 will perform at the British Council’s Young Creative Entrepreneur (YCE) Fashion and Design Award comes at the British Council auditorium.

Her management outfit One Nation Entertainment is a sponsor of the event.

In previous weeks, there were calls for interested young Ghanaians talents to send in their application for consideration. The awards panel went through numerous applications and will showcase the top 5 nominees at the finals on Friday.

The final five who have gone through rigorous selection processes with the awards panel will then be presented to the audience and acknowledged but the final spotlight will be on the one person who picks the ultimate award – YCE Fashion and Design 2014 Award winner.

In attendance will be the British Council Country Director, Minister of Tourism as well as other dignitaries and industry players.

The event is strictly by invitation. Event runs from 18:00 – 20:00 GMT.

To attend, send your name(s) to 0244638254 for an invitation.

Benefits to Winner

YCE Fashion and Design 2014 Award winner will participate in a shared tour of the UK’s fashion and design sector which runs from 13 – 19 September 2014 while London plays host to London Fashion week and London Design week.

The programme will include, a curated tour of the Fashion and Design industry in London, access to London Design Festival, attendance at 100% Design, curated group meetings to give an overview of what’s happening in the UK Fashion and Design industry, peer networking with the international participants and UK young Fashion and Design entrepreneurs.

The winner also gets access to a master class with UK industry players, time for individual business meetings as well as opportunities to network and make business contacts.

For more information, please contact:
Maxwell Annor-Williams, Project Coordinator on Tel: 0244638254

We count on your customary cooperation.

Thank you.

Cwesi Oteng

Award-winning Ghanaian gospel music icon, Cwesi Oteng, over the weekend bagged the Artiste of the Year (Male), the topmost award at the 5th edition of the 2014 Africa Gospel Music Awards (AGMA).The event, held at the lush Concert Hall of the Fairfields Halls in Cryodon, in London, also saw Cwesi picking up West African Artiste of the Year to raise Ghana’s flag high at the event.

The two new awards make a total of four awards Cwesi Oteng has received from the Africa Gospel Music Awards since its inception in 2009. Cwesi has previously received the Video of the Year award with his ground breaking ‘God Dey Bless Me’ video in 2012 and then West African Artiste of the Year in 2013.

This means Cwesi Oteng becomes the first artiste to win the West African Artiste of the Year award for two consecutive years.

Cwesi had this to say when contacted: “I am humbled by the honour done me. The joy in seeing that my music impact people positively especially young people who are the future keeps me going. I am grateful for recognition. I want to thank everyone who voted for me, lovers of my gift all over the world, all who keep supporting my music and ministry, the media, colleague artistes, friends, BBnZ Live my management and most importantly to God for the privilege to serve Him.”

The event had in attendance many African gospel artistes from all over the world, music industry experts, business people, clergy and many music lovers. Other notable Ghanaian winners on the night include Sonnie Badu (Event of the Year), Diana Hamilton (Female Artiste of the Year), Kofi DuaAnto (KODA) (Producer of the Year), Akesse Brempong (Discovery of the Year) and Kwame Idan of Adom FM (Radio Programme and DJ of the Year).

The profile of Nollywood actress and producer, Omoni Oboli has been on the rise since she featured in Anchor Baby and Figurine. It wasn’t just Omoni’s profile that received a boost, a rumour that won’t go away also surfaced. A rumoured ‘beef’ (animosity) with star actress, Genevieve Nnaji, that has persisted for years and which they are not willing to address.

In a recent visit to the corporate office of iCampus Newspaper, Omoni opened up “I can’t place my fingers on when the supposed “beef “started but one thing I know is that, there is no problem between Genevieve and I . We did not have any issue or problem whatsoever.We are not enemies, neither are we friends. We are colleagues, a senior one at that, we greet each other when we see; it is not like we visit each other at home.”

Speaking on the real cause of the rumoured animosity, Omoni who recently became a director and producer said “ I acted a movie , Anchor Baby, the director (Lonzo Nzekwe) of the movie granted an interview and said Omoni Oboli is the best actress in Nigeria. Some bloggers lashed on it and said Omoni Oboli is better than Genevieve and Omotola. The next thing was that people started writing about a supposed ‘beef ‘with her. I cannot get the reason they didn’t write about beef with Omotola. In my opinion, someone somewhere was just being mischievous. I have absolutely no problem with her, and I believe she has no problem with me.” 

The full story of the beef between Omoni and Genevieve is in the current edition of icampus newspaper which will hit the stands soon.

Meanwhile Omoni Oboli’s movie, ‘Being Mrs. Elliott’ will be in cinemas across the country from Friday, September 5^th 2014. ‘Being Mrs Elliott’ (BME) is the story of a successfully married woman, who was torn between two worlds after a life changing incident. She found out that the best life has to offer are not things but moments.

‘Being Mrs. Elliott’ (BME) was privately screened at the Presidential villa on Friday, 15^th August 2014. The presidential screening which was sponsored by MRS, Access Bank, and Keystone Bank had eminent dignitaries in attendance. Those in attendance include President Goodluck Jonathan, Vice-President, Arch. Namadi Sambo, Minister of Petroleum, Mrs Diezani Alison-Madueke, Chief Edwin Clark, Minister of Information, Chief Labaran Maku, Minister of Culture, Tourism and National Orientation, Chief Edem Duke, Mr Ben Bruce, Governor-Elect, Ekiti state, Mr Ayodele Fayose, Governor of Ondo state, Chief. Olusegun Mimiko, Film Maker, Alli Balogun, CEO of AFRIFF, Chioma Udeh, Director, Mildred Okwo, casts of ‘Being Mrs. Elliott’, AY, Lepacious Bose, Chika Chukwu, Tomi Adeoye and Samuel Olatunji , CEO Bigsam Media /Publisher,www.icampusng.com.  

Viasat1 has announced Samuel Gyabah as the winner of the maiden edition of Game Changers competition, a project aimed at bringing a change to children’s education in Ghana.

The project, which is a Viasat1 Corporate Responsibility initiative with partnership from Reach for Change, was announced in May 2014. From almost 300 entries, the project coordinators pruned down to 25, and eventually to the five finalists. The objective was to identify the best individuals running initiatives to improve education in their community. The expectation was to identify passionate individuals who were already doing something even on a small scale but with the ambition to grow.

Samuel is providing clean micro-flush toilets for schools around the country with a focus on sanitation and health education in order to curb absenteeism especially among female students. The toilets are built to breakdown the waste into fertilizer. These toilets are placed with water, which promotes hand washing among school children. He has successfully run a pilot constructing units in schools in Koforidua and now also in Pokuase.

The five successful applicants were provided a platform on Viasat1 to showcase themselves and exhibit their initiatives to the viewing public over a period of six weeks. After the exhibition period, the public then voted through SMS for the most convincing and effective education changing social entrepreneur from Aug 1^st through the 23rd.

The ultimate winner was declared LIVE on Viasat1’s morning show This Morning on Monday, August 25, 2014. Samuel received a cheque of GHC50,000 and will also receive professional coaching to grow his project into a sustainable organisation through an Incubator program by Reach for Change over the course of three years. Each contestant: Serwah, Samuel, Anthony and Florence, received GHC3,000 grant prize and support to develop their initiatives.

CEO of Viasat1 Broadcasting Limited, Maame Ama Asare-Konadu, says: “Viasat1, as a media platform, recognizes our unique role in society. As an entity, it is our responsibility to support social development. For our maiden Corporate Responsibility project, we chose to partner with Reach for Change with the primary focus on educational reform. Our five finalists have shown tremendous foresight and dedication in their various projects and Viasat1 is delighted to have contributed to such a worthy course. Congratulations to Samuel Gyabah on taking first place and to all the finalist who participated.”

Maame also added that Viasat1 is committed to ensuring that projects such as Game Changers garner the most exposure for success.

The Game Changers campaign in Ghana is part of a broader search for Game Changers around the world, in an international collaboration between Modern Times Group and Reach for Change.

Ghana’s leading music website, formerly bigxgh.com has rebranded and re-launched its new streaming service bigx.com.gh.

Lovers of authentic Ghanaian music from around the world can now enjoy the hottest Ghanaian songs on demand and connect with their favorite artists at the click of a button. Similar to gold, oil, and diamonds, the dancing rhythms and creative rhymes make Ghanaian music an important part of Ghana’s heritage and culture.

Fans and freshers are sure to be wowed with all the brand spanking new features,

• Create Personalized Playlists - Easily listen to all your favorite songs, take them with you wherever you go.

• Real-time Chat – We have fused in a real time chat based on the number of streams/downloads of a song since there is nothing of that sort in Ghana.

• Uninterrupted song playing – uninterrupted music play no matter where you click or what your doing on the website. So you can enjoy the latest gossip, watch videos, read the news and more whilst your best jams continue playing.

• Curated Playlists – We have recommended playlists, based on unique algorithms and human power to help users discover the hottest and latest Ghanaian music.

• Steaming Capabilities – We have built the first music-streaming platform for Ghanaian music. So just click PLAY to start listening to your favorite Ghanaian tunes without hassle. Anytime, anywhere.

• Lyrics – Learning the lyrics of your favorite tunes is made easy. Lyrics submitted by the artist and users, so you can get involved and contribute.

• Artistes Profiles – Connect with your favorite artist. With detailed information of every Ghanaian musician, users can follow for updates on their new songs, news, videos, next show and more.

• Purchase – Users can purchase their best songs and albums easily via phone credit for Ghanaian users and PayPal/Credit card for users outside Ghana.  Musicians can also monetize their songs by selling to their fans directly on bigx.com.gh

Miss Malaika 2013 Naa Oyoe Quartey (middle) with her runner ups Nana Adwoa Twumwaa Baafi (right) and Aisha Kaleem (left)

After witnessing the auditioning session for this year’s edition of the Miss Malaika beauty reality series, one is left in no doubt that beauty pageants and the Miss Malaika Ghana pageant by extension has come to stay and the exciting sessions will start airing on Sunday August 31^st at 8 pm on GhOne TV^.

The turn out for the Accra auditions which was held at GhOne Studios  a couple of weeks ago was not only phenomenal but hugely impressive as the caliber of contestants that turned up to be auditioned by the three judges – William Asiedu, Rodney  and Ama Nettey ( Winner, Miss Malaika Ghana 2010) was very high.

The Judges had their job cut out for them as they had the duty of vetting each of the contestants in turn and trim the initial number of about 500 to about a hundred beautiful young women.

16 ladies will eventually emerge out of the process to compete in the nearly 13 weeks of intensive competition. Watching the ladies eagerly join the auditions train, one wonders why so many young ladies find the Miss Malaika pageant an excellent avenue to explore their potentials.

It has been observed that Malaika acts like a finishing school for many of these young ladies who enter the competition. The weekly tasks and the activities planned around the pageant especially the international tourism opportunity has certainly acted as a pull factor for many a beautiful young woman. The Miss Malaika pageant is still the only pageant in Ghana that sends the ten finalists on an exciting international trip.

Malaika as a pageant of choice might also stem from the fact that the competition is one of the longest running pageants in the country and certainly one of the most reputable. The pageant, in its 12^th year, has seen the crowning of some of the most brilliant ladies as queens including Hamamat Montia, Melissa Baba, Laurie Naa Lamle Lawson, Dr.Tamara Aku Dzormeku, Ama Nettey, Jeraldine Parttinton and the current reigning queen, Naa Oyo Quartey.

Charterhouse producers of the pageant have presented it as a beauty reality series that starts airing  the interesting audition episode on GhOne TV from Sunday 31^st  August and every other Sunday at 8PM.

This pageant has no doubt, blazed the trail for other beauty pageants to follow. The culture of “First” has always made the pageant stand out at a time when patrons have become weary of beauty pageants in general.

Myjoyonline.com reports that, nine passengers from Ebola stricken Sierra Leone Friday, claim they were not screened on arrival at the Kotoka International Airport.

According to one of them, they handed over their passports to Immigration officials at the counter and after going through the necessary checks, and were allowed to go without any screening.

They had returned from Sierra Leone where they work for a mining company.

“And after checking; we ended up collecting our luggage and then left the airport. No one screened us; nothing of that sort happened; there was no screening at all,” he told Joy News’ Joseph Opoku Gakpo.

He said even though they told the Immigration officers they were coming from Sierra Leone, the officers did not deem it necessary to have them screened and allowed them entry into Ghana.

“I was even expecting screening for the nine of us considering the Ebola situation in that country but there was nothing of that sort,” he said.

They transited through Senegal to Accra in one day.

Head of Health and Safety Department of the mining company, which has operations in Liberia and Sierra Leone, said he was alarmed when his colleagues told him they were not screened at the airport.

Tawiah Agyei said he was told it is only passengers of direct flights from the Ebola hit countries, who are screened.

He, however, urged the port authorities to update whatever systems are being used to have every passenger go through the process of screening.

Ghana’s legendary boxer Professor Azumah Nelson leaves Ghana this Friday 29th August for Australia ahead of the launch of his biography titled “The Professor: the Life of Azumah Nelson”.

The 278 paged book authored by Australian journalist Ashley Morrison chronicles the life of Africa’s greatest boxer of all time and Hall of Famer: thes best and worst moments, wins and losses and the secrets to his enviable career record.

The book was to be launched first in Ghana in July but was postponed due to the death of the Board Chairman of the Azumah Nelson Foundation, P.V Obeng. The Azumah Nelson Foundation is a non-profit founded by Azumah Nelson to support deprived children through sports and education. However, per the schedue, the book is expected to be launched in Australia from September 3-14 in Melbourne, Sydney and Perth so coincidentally becomes the first place to witness the unveiling of the book.

The Ghana launched, which is expected to sit distinguished personalities like ex-Presidents Rawlings and Kuffour, President John Mahama, politicians, corporate Ghana, sporting personalities both local and international, Reps from the WBC, etc wil take place in October this year. Similar launches are planned for Europe, America and other parts of Africa.

The Azumah Nelson Foundation with support from Building Bridges, USA is currently constructing a 6classroom block for an adopted school in Anum Apapam in the Eastern region and plans to do similar in other parts of the country. The key project of the Foundation is the construction of the Foundation Complex, a multi-purpose sports academy at Akuse where the Foundation has vast plots of lands.

Proceeds from the book launches will go to support the construction of the first phase of the project which will include dormitories, classrooms and offices.

Signed,
Yaw Sakyi Afari
Azumah’s Manager

Africa Magic, in association with MultiChoice and proud sponsors Amstel Malta, is announcing the call to entry for the 2015 edition of the AfricaMagic Viewers’ Choice Awards (AMVCAs), the prestigious initiative that honours film and TV talent across the continent. A special announcement will be screened on all Africa Magic channels on Wednesday 3 September at 20:00 CAT, when entry for the awards will be officially opened.

The AMVCAs were created to celebrate the contribution of African filmmakers, actors and technicians in the success of the continent’s film and television industry and with the success of the 2013 and 2014 editions, preparations are in top gear for the 2015 edition.

Wangi Mba-Uzoukwu, Regional Director for M-Net (West), said: “We are pleased to announce the call to entry for the 2015 Africa Magic Viewers’ Choice Awards. The African movie and television industry is brimming with exciting talent, and at Africa Magic we contribute to the industry by not only giving these talents the platform to showcase their art and celebrating their achievements, we also encourage them to keep honing their craft.”

This year, a number of awards in different categories will be presented ranging from acting and directing to scriptwriting and cinematography. Other categories will include: editing, make-up, sound, and lighting amongst others.

John Ugbe, Managing Director, MultiChoice Nigeria, expressed his delight at the growing success of the Africa Magic Viewers’ Choice Awards, saying: “There have been two editions of the AMVCAs and so far, the improvement that this award has brought to African film production cannot be ignored. For us as MultiChoice, the success of these awards further showcases our commitment to recognising the amazing skills that exist in this ever-growing industry. Furthermore, our continued investment demonstrates our dedication in helping unearth and celebrate talent in the whole continent. I have much confidence that the next edition in 2015 will leave an even bigger impact on the African film production industry than the previous two.”

Also expressing her excitement for being part of the AMVCAs, Brand Manager, Amstel Malta, Miss Hannatu Ageni-Yusuf said: “As the number one premium Malt brand inNigeria, Amstel Malta is again pleased to be part of this year’s Africa Magic Viewer’s Choice Awards. It is truly a unique platform which aligns perfectly with the brand’s essence, encouraging and also rewarding young ambitious Africans. Last year on this platform, Amstel Malta launched its new campaign, tagged ‘the journey’. This year, the brand is set to allow consumers to witness the joys of being focused on their goals and even beating their best, while on their journey to success.”

The first edition of the AfricaMagic Viewers’ Choice Awards ceremony took place in Lagos in March, 2013, and was broadcast live to DStv and GOtv audiences across the continent. The event drew big names from across the continent’s TV and film industryand saw the Best Actor and Best Actress in a Drama awards going to Nigerian OC Ukeje and Ghanaian Jackie Appiah, in the respective categories.

In the 2014 edition, multi-award winning actress, Nse Ikpe-Etim, took home the award for best while Ghanaian film producer/director, Shirley Frimpong-Manso’s movie The Contract won in several categories. The 2014 AMVCAs also saw renowned film and TV veteran, Pete Edochie, clinching the prestigious lifetime achievement award.

Entry for the AMVCAs is free and the closing date for submissions is the 31 October, 2014. Entries should be sent t to: AfricaMagic Viewers’ Choice Awards, PO Box 2963, Pinegowrie, 2123, South Africa, with attention to the Manager, Local Productions Africa. They can also log on to www.africamagic.tv for more details on the submission procedure and requirements.

The Ama K. Abebrese Foundation is to partner the Ghana Girl Guides Association.

A formal, meet-and-greet event to concretise the relationship was held at the latter’s offices in Accra on Tuesday, where the actress had a rare interaction with members of the association.

Important in many ways, the relationship will see the Girls act as ambassadors of the I Love My Natural Skin Tone campaign against skin bleaching, which is spearheaded by Ama.

Officials of the institution say they agreed to be part of the campaign because they saw in it, a useful social cause that must be supported.

They also added that it largely blended in well with their “Free Being Me” campaign.

Several promotional efforts aimed at whipping up excitement and support for the campaign will go live in December, Ama K said.

“It’s a self-love campaign and not a judgmental one to point fingers,” she says.

“The aim is to inform as many girls as possible so partnering with GGGA which is already a big girls guide will give the campaign more ambassadors apart from the celebs we have now to give it a bigger voice and reach across the country.”

She adds: “The rule to avoiding skin bleaching or toning is simple, when in doubt about the content of the cream, use natural shea butter or other products you are certain will not bleach your skin.

“And one thing many of the girls believe is that, when they are two or three shades lighter, they will be beautiful or look better in front of a camera but that is not true.”

“The celebs ambassadors of the ‘I Love My Natural Skin Tone’ campaign will be supporting these girls from time to time whenever the need arise at their events to give it the prominence it deserves.”

Talking more on the partnership, Mrs Alberta Mensah, of the Girl Guides Association said:

“We are happy with this partnership and will put in all the efforts we can to project the message of not toning or bleaching their skins.

“And since it conforms with our own program “Free Being Me” we will use her and her ambassadors as mentors to create awareness.

“We will have a big walk, a talk and we are still planning more activities that will factor in this message of the girls being themselves in pursuing their goals without toning or bleaching.”

A successful campaign thus far, the I love My Natural Skin Tone campaign has received great support nationwide.

In a sound and silent war against bleaching, it continues to push for women to embrace their natural skin tones.

MORE INFO:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ilovemynaturalskintone

You can also visit the Ghana Girl Guide Association @ www.ghanagirlguides.com

The Accra Film School AFS has announced that admissions are open for the 2014/2015 academic year.

The school is currently considering applications for certificate courses in the various disciplines in film and theatre. The results of the application will be communicated to applicants as soon as they are available towards the end September.

Prospective candidates for admission must be 16 years and older; and hold at least a WASSCE, its equivalent or higher to pursue courses such as Film Editing, Acting, Directing, Script writing, photography and television presentation; at the school.

Executive Director of the School, Rex-Anthony Annan has high hopes for the next session. He says, “The time to raise the pertaining standards in Ghana’s film industry is overdue hence the Accra Film School’s unique mandate to churn out next generation of fantastic film makers.” He added that AFS courses are sure to substantially create deeper passions for telling the African and Ghanaian stories excellently.

The Accra Film School opened in 2012 and has since graduated 50 professional film makers and is expected to quadruple this number in 5 years.

Admission details can be found at www.accrafilmschool.com.

Kay Elliott

Ghanaian born actor K Elliott in Yvonne Nelson’s “Single and Married” has penned the director cum scriptwriter as the possible bearer of his breakthrough to Hollywood in his budding life in the Ghanaian Movie Industry.

Elliott also named Leila Djansi as his dream director “She has it, she is very professional, her movies go far, she is just the director I would love to work with.” He added however that his ultimate dream is to be in Hollywood.

Apart from Leila Djansi, Kay expressed his gratitude to his brother Mallon Kwabena Bartels of Barco Studios and Yvonne Nelson for unearthing his acting skills.

“Yvonne Nelson was my breakthrough. Giving all that people are saying and the rumours, she has made up her mind to do one thing and she has remained focused on it, and I believe that will take her and her talents very far.”

The actor went on to express his gratitude to the producer stating that his role in the movie really made people recognize his talent “My friends and family have always been on my case to be an actor, but I didn’t have any interest in it, until 3 years ago when I had a call from my friend Yvonne Nelson.

She asked that I audition for a role in her movie Single and Married, I did, got picked and now I am booked till January 2015, and I tell you her Single, Married and Complicated is going to be a big thing” he revealed.

Speaking in an interview with The General Telegraph on the issues pertaining to Ghana’s movie industry, the artiste added his voice to the numerous calls for a well-structured Ghanaian Movie Industry. He opined that, “the government of the nation should be aware of and interested in what filmmakers are putting out there because it is a way of marketing the nation, and it should be well regulated and coordinated.

The Graphic Designer/Entrepreneur/Model/Actor entered the Ghanaian movie industry about two years ago and has since rubbed shoulders with the likes of Chris Attoh, Nadia Buari and Anita Erskine, a situation he described as very challenging.

“My debut role was challenging because there were the big shots, but once I was there I felt I also had something to offer and had to join them so I worked hard behind the scenes to be at par with them and I enjoyed it.”

Elliot is up for challenges but loves to focus on one thing at a time. As such, the actor has currently put on hold, MK Solutions; his ad consultancy firm, to enable him give all his attention to the movies he is currently shooting. He is also taking up radio hosting lessons from Caroline Sampson of YFM.

He however revealed to The General Telegraph that he is yet to act his challenging role “a serial killer”. “My most challenging role so far has been playing Elvis in “Heartbreak Hotel” on TV3. Elvis is a James Brown fanatic so he incorporates his dance moves whenever he gets the chanceto entertain an audience. At the same time Elvis is in a love triangle.

Speaking about the mostchallenging role he would love to play, Kay says I would love to play a serial killer sometime. I wonder what goes on in their minds and how they manage not to be spotted. I wonder how they juggle being a psychopath and being normal.

Unfortunately, he has always been typecast as the player or married man in most of his movies, but yet to be challenged into other characters than that, “I think it’s just because I look the type but I would love to do some other roles, like a psychopath to know how they think and conceive their ideas, a doctor or someone with a life threatening disease like cancer just to inspire them to hold on and others around them”.

After starring in Single and Married, K has featured in five more movies, (Purple Rose, Devil In a Dress, Love Regardless, If You Were Mine, Cheaters) 4 movie series and still counting more to his credit. I am very picky when it comes to roles and scripts, I read, know my character and I look at the production crew. I believe that because I started with the top notch, I should maintain myself there, so am very picky which accounts for the fewer movies I have done so far.”

On settling down as a celebrity, and the perception on the subject? “Whoever you are, there is always someone out there for you but people think actors are very peculiar, they are unstable, always out, having affairs on set. Acting is just the person’s job and we are really done after the set. Most of us have wives and girlfriends. Partners who understand that we are and what we do on set its just business.”

He added that rumors will always go around but do not need to be responded to. “I heard rumors of me dating Yvonne Nelson and my naked pictures being on Ghana Celebrities and I didn’t react to in anyway because I believe I believe any publicity is good publicity”. In the not too distant future, K Elliot would want to integrate his acting career with that of his ad consultancy.

The friendly, well spoken, opinionated gentleman is the last of two children and is known by close friends as a “Mama Bee”. He schooled at Tema SOS, did Junior High at the AkosomboInternational School and continued at Mfantsipim, but left in the second year to the UK. There he studied HND Graphic Designing in college and continued to the University where he gained a degree in Graphic Designing and Digital Media, worked with Sky News for a year as well asSaachi and Saachi in East London.

The Denzel Washington inspired actor has an Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) for neatness, is a fetish for neat female feet but hates his own toes. “Am ‘always’ in socks because I don’t like my toes. When asked if he was in a relationship Elliot stated “Am very single, not married and not complicated. He closes his interview saying my future Mrs. Kay Elliot should just be able to stimulate him mentally.

For fans of Kay, he can be reached on the following social media handles:

Submitted by: Martha Teiko Daitey and Eyra Doe/The General Telegraph 

Some members of MUSIGA AMWEF Fund (P.K. YAMOAH sitting 2nd from R-L)

The Musicians Union of Ghana announces with heavy heart, the demise of Veteran musician Peter Kwabena Yamoah aka P.K. Yamoah of Serwah Akoto fame.

The 86 year old veteran died on August 26, 2014 after a short illness at the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital in Accra.

P.K. Yamoah nurtured many musicians in Ghana and gave Nana Kwame Ampadu his break in the early 60s prior to Nana’s formation of the African Brothers band. P.K .Yamoah is also credited with grooming the likes of Agyarku and Smart Nkansah who went on to form the Sunsum Band and Lee Duodu of Bisa Goma and Akoote Brofo fame.

P.K. Yamoah who was based in Kumasi after an initial sojourn in Accra is one of the most influential musicians whose imprint on the Ghanaian music scene was widely recognized. In 2008 as part of the ninth edition of the MTN Ghana Music Awards, Yamoah was celebrated with a Certificate of Merit for his immense contribution to the Ghanaian music scene.

Yamoah’s repertoire of hits included songs like Fa Asem Kye, Onantefo and Obido Me, Sika Mpe Rough and Nya Asem Hwe.

In a statement, MUSIGA President Bice Osei Kuffour noted that PK Yamoah  who was a member and a beneficiary of  the Unions Ageing Musician Welfare Fund (AMWEF)  was a real pillar of the  music industry and very supportive of the Union.

He is survived by four children.

Jim Iyke (James Ikechukwu Esomugha) is a Nigerian actor and singer-songwriter. He is one of the highest paid Nollywood actors and has featured in over 150 films.

• Have you listened to Jim Iyke talk in movies? He sounds as if he makes his own lines and completely ignores his scripts. He is so intense! Lol, but I love it.

• Pay attention to some of his infamous poses during interviews. Jim’s legs are always crossed on top of the other, as well as his fingers between each other a majority of the time when he is trying to make a point. As well, how dare I forget “the shades never come off”. I can’t tell you the last time I noticed eye contact during one of his interviews.

• He has a show called ‘Jim Iyke Unscripted’ that “clearly” is partially scripted! How ironic?! It’s just not authentic enough. Even his ex-fiancee Keturah Hamilton said she had to act as a “crazy jealous lover” to draw attention for the show.

• Jimmy released an album in 2010 titled ‘Who am I?’. Myself and many others couldn’t tell the head or tail behind the reasoning of this. In his first single also titled ‘Who am I?’ with TuFace, I couldn’t even identify his voice. Its funny how a lot of Nigerian actors branch from one extreme field to another in any kind of way. It unfortunately didn’t work out for him as planned.

• We are all happy for his relationship with Ghanaian actress, Nadia Buari. I just think its hilarious how couples give each other shoutouts on social media. He confirmed their relationship on Twitter with this comment “She calls me Skittles. I named her Space. D gift of laughter, companionship n trust is incomparable. BFF. Love is a f***ing beautiful thang!”.

Culled from Nigeriafilms.com

On Thursday August 21, 2014 Miss Giuseppina Nana Akua Baafi celebrated her birthday with the children of the Royal Seed Home (RSH), a residential children’s home based in Ofaakor, Central Region of Ghana.

Supported by her family and friends, Miss Baafi took the opportunity to make some donations worth 10.000 Ghana Cedis to the orphanage. Some of the items donated were bags of rice, stationary, gallons of cooking oil, biscuits, drinks etc.

Founder of the Home, Naomi Esi Amoah thanked the beauty queen for her kind gesture and her entourage.

“From the staff, kids, we are giving this [certificate] to our big family [Giuseppina Baafi and her entourage] and we say a big thanks to the whole family. God bless you”, she said after presenting a certificate of their visit to the Home.

The children joined hands to sings the ‘Happy Birthday’ song to her and wished her well in her endeavours. They helped to slice her birthday cake.

Miss Baafi said “God bless you too. Thank you very much for receiving us. And this beautiful kids, they are like our brothers and sisters, we will do anything to support them. They are our future leaders and thanks for having us.

The donation and the party were supported by ICA Ghana, YOKS Car Rental and others.

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