"And, as you know by now, when Akufo-Addo makes a promise, he keeps it." - Nana Akufo-Addo, 2020, at the sod-cutting for the Yendi Water Project. Six years later, the only water The Fourth Estate found in some Yendi communities looked like chocolate milk and was full of sand.

“We don’t want any interchange. We just need a bridge to make people’s lives better.” Four years after the Navio bridge collapsed, the Chief of Navio is appealing for a simple solution: a safe bridge for his people.

The Assembly member for Navio, Roland Apugido, said, “For the school pupils, anytime it rains, it is a week-long holiday for them because if this river gets full, it will take about five days before anyone can cross it. So, imagine it rains on Sunday; the following day, pupils will not go to school.” Full video here: piped.video/qo1Vp-4lucs

𝐏𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐚𝐜𝐜𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐚𝐛𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚 𝟑𝟖-𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫-𝐨𝐥𝐝 𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐚 𝐓𝐢𝐤 𝐓𝐨𝐤 𝐯𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐨 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐒𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐈𝐜𝐞 𝐖𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐫 On the morning of December 8, 2025, Michael Owusu received a life-changing call. He says the caller lured him to give out his location under the pretext of delivering a birthday gift. But to his shock, instead of a present, he was shown a gun. Confused, he asked: “Who sends a gun as a birthday gift?” Moments later, the gun-toting man identified himself as a police officer and told Michael that he had been ordered to arrest him, allegedly by the Director-General of the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) of the Ghana Police Service. He was arrested and transported by road to Accra. Upon arrival at the Police Headquarters at about 2 am, on December 9, he was handcuffed to the chair he sat on for nearly four hours. Then, he alleges, that seven anti-robbery police officers beat him on the neck, back, the soles of his feet and buttocks with the flat sides of machetes. Read more here: thefourthestategh.com/2026/0…

Sachet water is the primary source of drinking water for millions of Ghanaians, and many rely on it to prepare food because of unreliable tap water. But an investigation found 144 sachet water brands in Greater Accra operating without FDA licences. At the time, the Vice President of the National Association of Sachet and Packaged Water Producers estimated that more than 2,000 unregistered sachet water producers were operating openly in the capital, largely beyond the FDA’s oversight. How safe is the water we drink every day? Read more here: thefourthestategh.com/2023/0…

𝐅𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬 𝐚𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐜𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐩𝐬𝐞, 𝐍𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐨 𝐛𝐫𝐢𝐝𝐠𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐜𝐥𝐚𝐢𝐦𝐬 𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐬 The steel bridge collapsed in March 2022. And as it remains unfixed, it continues to cut off thousands of residents from schools, farms, markets, health facilities, and emergency services. Full story here: tinyurl.com/4armzca2

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐎𝐂𝐎 𝐝𝐨𝐜𝐮𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐬𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐊𝐚𝐦𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐠𝐮 𝐦𝐞𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐟𝐮𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐩𝐚𝐢𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐝. 𝐒𝐨, 𝐰𝐞 𝐯𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐞. Full video here: tinyurl.com/3d6auwjw @WorldBankGroup

The SOCO documents say a mechanised borehole was completed at Kpatua. Our visit to the site found an over 100-year-old well instead. Full video here: tinyurl.com/3d6auwjw @WorldBankGroup @WorldBankAfrica

𝐏𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐲 𝐚𝐭 𝐍𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐨𝐧 𝐃𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐭 𝐀𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐥𝐲: 𝐃𝐂𝐄 𝐚𝐜𝐜𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐮𝐧𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐳𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐝𝐮𝐩𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐞𝐱𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐫𝐨𝐥𝐞𝐬 Ninety-four staff of the Nanton District Assembly have petitioned the Ministry of Local Government, Chieftaincy and Religious Affairs over appointments they say have duplicated existing roles and disrupted the assembly’s operations. Full story here: tinyurl.com/3f4w6m9u

Coming up shortly

“𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐧𝐨 𝐯𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐲𝐛𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐲𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐁𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐨.” So why was a 𝐆𝐇𝐒𝟐𝟏𝟑,𝟎𝟎𝟎 volleyball court constructed there under the World Bank-funded SOCO Project? Two years on, the court remains unused. Full story here: tinyurl.com/rznwp9kd

"Because of The Fourth Estate, critical journalism will not die," says Samson Lardy ANYENINI, Lawyer & Host - NewsFile. We launched our membership programme for people like Samson who value impactful public interest journalism and would like to join us to do more. Sign up here: membership.thefourthestategh…

We spoke with the NPP Yendi Constituency Chairman, who was the contractor in charge of the Ghost Boreholes. Take a listen. #socoghana @WorldBankGroup

𝐁𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐡 𝐫𝐞𝐣𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐆𝐇𝐒𝟐𝟏𝟑,𝟎𝟎𝟎 𝐒𝐎𝐂𝐎 𝐯𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐲𝐛𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐭, 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐭 𝐮𝐧𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐝. The facility was constructed in 2024 under the World Bank-funded Gulf of Guinea Northern Regions Social Cohesion (SOCO) Project, which supports infrastructure and social cohesion initiatives in northern Ghana. Full story here: tinyurl.com/rznwp9kd

Who is behind the Ghost Boreholes? A Yendi Constituency Chairman of a political party. Watch the full documentary here: tinyurl.com/3d6auwjw