Connect with us

Culture

(VIDEO) Congo President Narrowly Escapes Embarrassing Fall After $2.2m Bridge Collapses During Opening Ceremony

Published

on

Screenshot from the video. Insert: President Félix Tshisekedi

A video circulating widely on X and other platforms has pushed President Félix Tshisekedi of the Democratic Republic of Congo into an unwelcome global spotlight.

A newly built $2.2 million footbridge collapsed during its inauguration, just moments after he stepped on it.

The stunning footage shows a man walking across the bridge without incident, followed by the President and a crowd of supporters.

As Tshisekedi approached the far end, the bridge suddenly gave way. An aide pulled him back to safety, while several people behind him tumbled into the stream below.

No serious injuries were reported, but the political fallout has been swift.

Online outrage escalated after claims surfaced that the construction company behind the project is linked to one of the president’s relatives. The allegation—shared in countless reposts, memes, and commentary threads—has put scrutiny on procurement standards and rekindled long-standing criticism over government transparency.

The Congolese government has not issued an official response or denial since the clip went viral.

Social media users across Africa and beyond have framed the incident as symbolic of deeper governance challenges.

For many, the collapse was more than an engineering failure—it was a metaphor for public frustration over accountability and alleged conflicts of interest within political leadership.

Festivals & Events

Beyond the Hype – Next Level Is Bringing Ghana’s AI Future to Life at Google Accra

Published

on

By

On 11 September 2026, one of Accra’s most exciting gathering spaces will trade ordinary conversations for bold ideas as professionals, entrepreneurs, students and creators come together for Beyond the Hype – Next Level at the Google Accra AI Community Centre.

Rather than another conference built around speeches, this event promises something more practical: learning by doing.

The return of Beyond the Hype reflects a shift taking place across Ghana’s creative and professional landscape.

Artificial intelligence has moved beyond being a buzzword and is becoming part of everyday work, from marketing campaigns and classroom lessons to financial analysis and business planning.

After a successful first edition that brought together 30 professionals for hands-on training and networking, the event returns with a stronger focus on helping participants use AI with greater confidence and purpose.

Visitors can expect five hours packed with interactive experiences rather than passive listening. Live demonstrations will showcase some of today’s most powerful AI tools, while advanced productivity sessions will explore faster ways to research, write, organise and create.

Industry-specific breakout sessions will allow professionals from fields such as HR, finance, consulting, technology and education to tackle real workplace challenges.

Networking moments and AI use-case pitching sessions add another layer, creating opportunities for fresh collaborations long after the event ends.

For international visitors interested in Ghana’s growing innovation scene, the gathering offers a window into a country where technology and entrepreneurship increasingly go hand in hand.

The Google Accra AI Community Centre has become part of a wider movement nurturing digital talent across Africa, making it an intriguing stop alongside the city’s galleries, cafés and creative districts.

For Ghanaians, the event is equally meaningful. It celebrates curiosity, practical problem-solving and a willingness to embrace new skills in a rapidly changing world.

When the doors open at 12:00 PM GMT, attendees won’t simply hear about the future of work—they’ll spend an afternoon building it.

Continue Reading

Reels & Social Media Highlights

Bawumia’s 2028 Play, Abena Korkor’s Return, and a Security Alarm

Published

on

By

If you scrolled through Ghanaian social media on Tuesday, 25th August, 2026, you would have found a digital ecosystem buzzing with equal parts political ambition, celebrity drama, and genuine national concern.

It was a day where the serious and the absurd competed for attention, perfectly capturing the nation’s current mood.

The political sphere was immediately energized by a bold declaration from Dennis Miracles Aboagye, an aide to Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia.

In a post on X that quickly went viral, he pledged a “completely different approach” to the 2028 campaign, stating definitively: “WE WILL COMMAND THE NARRATIVE.

They won’t see it coming”. This wasn’t just standard political rhetoric; it was a signal to the grassroots and a direct challenge to the opposition, sparking intense debates about strategy and the upcoming election cycle.

However, the lighter side of politics also trended. A video of Minority MPs enthusiastically joining the viral “Mahama Ayariga Wakyi Gu Hɔ” trend offered a rare moment of bipartisan humor, with netizens praising the lawmakers for embracing a playful moment despite the often-tense parliamentary atmosphere.

@the1957news

Majority Leader Mahama Ayariga, "Wakyi Gu! Hɔ!" — Minority

♬ original sound – The1957News

It was a reminder that even in the serious business of politics, Ghanaians appreciate a good meme.

But it wasn’t all fun and games. A stark warning from the National Security Coordinator, COP Osman Abdul Razak, cut through the noise. He revealed that political vigilante groups are rebranding and moving their operations to “social media and encrypted chats”.

This alarming development, announced at a policy dialogue on the implementation of the Vigilantism and Related Offences Act (Act 999), shifted the conversation to a more somber tone. It highlighted a significant national security concern just as the country gears up for future elections.

Topping the entertainment charts was the return of mental health advocate Abena Korkor after a period of absence.

Her video addressing a recent relapse and her subsequent clapback at critics sparked a massive wave of support and debate, highlighting the ongoing discourse around mental health in Ghana.

From a political power play to a national security alarm and a celebrity comeback, Tuesday’s trends showed a Ghanaian digital culture that is as politically aware as it is deeply invested in the personal stories of its public figures.

Continue Reading

Arts and GH Heritage

The Architecture of Grief: Gabriel Selassie Tsagli Paints a Portrait of Home and Loss

Published

on

By

There is a particular quality of light in Accra that never fully leaves you. For Gabriel Selassie Tsagli, a Ghanaian artist living between Accra and Berlin, it is this light—alongside the memory of a specific mother and a specific city—that anchors his first solo exhibition in his birthplace.

Son of Kafui at Gallery 1957 is a homecoming in the truest sense. The title itself is an intimacy: Kafui, meaning “love” or “son of God’s own,” was the name of Tsagli’s late mother.

Following his return to Accra in 2025, Tsagli has created a body of work that doesn’t merely depict grief but gives it form, movement, and colour.

The exhibition begins where all loss begins—in the body’s remembrance of place. Tsagli’s paintings emerge from lived experience rather than pre-imagined form.

He builds surfaces through accumulation, layering, pressing, and scraping paint until figures appear “as though remembered rather than constructed”.

This is not figurative painting in the traditional sense; here, figuration and abstraction overlap, allowing bodies and faces to emerge and recede like recollections themselves.

Colour serves as a generative force. Orange suggests action and vitality, while blue becomes a space for reflection and articulation. Held in tension, these chromatic forces create an emotional architecture that resists closure, sustaining ambiguity across the works.

The figure of his mother recurs throughout, not as a portrait or a likeness, but as atmosphere, material trace, and presence suspended in the space between what is here and what is gone.

Curated by Marina Paulenka, the exhibition considers return not as resolution but as an ongoing negotiation.

Accra itself becomes a living presence, a shifting organism that evolves alongside the artist’s understanding of home—an understanding complicated by a life shaped by movement between Ghana and Germany.

What makes Son of Kafui remarkable is its refusal to resolve grief. Instead, Tsagli invites us to remain with what resists closure, to encounter meaning as it unfolds.

In doing so, he transforms personal loss into a broader reflection on how we carry people, places, and histories within us. The exhibition runs at Gallery 1957 until 12 September 2026.

Continue Reading

Trending