On December 7, 2022, the Deputy Minister expressed concern and disappointment over the cedi’s severe depreciation against the dollar during an appearance on Ekosisen, a political program on Asempa FM.
The Finance Minister last month presented the nkabom budget for the year 2023, which has caused discussions across the length and breadth of the country. As part of the recovery of the Ghanaian economy, the Finance Minister launched the Debt Exchange Program on December 5, 2022, which has raised some concerns among domestic investors.
Touching on these issues, the Deputy Finance Minister said the Debt Exchange Programme is in place to restore confidence in the economy and bring it back to its feet. She also added that the halt of the one million Ghana Cedis per constituency, the fifty percent reduction of fuel allocation to government appointees, and salary cuts are all among other projects that the Finance Ministry, in collaboration with the government, wants to roll out to reform the economic structure.
Madam Osei-Asare pleaded with domestic investors to support the government in putting the economy back on its feet.
The One-District-One-Factory, the greenhouse technology villages, and planting and rearing for food and jobs are some of the programs aimed at enhancing food security and economic growth.
He added that those already involved in the industry were reaping the benefits and that the Assembly was prepared to offer the technical and material support to young people who came to it for help in starting their own farms and animal-rearing businesses.
Mr Sekyim was speaking with the Ghana News Agency after the Ga North Municipal Farmers Day celebration on the general theme: “Accelerating Agriculture through Value Addition”.
“With a minimal start-up capital and technical support from the Assembly they were good to go,” he said.
“It is always better for the youth to explore other income generation options than to be fixated on only formal employment”.
Mr Sekyim commended all award winners and urged them to work harder for bigger awards and recognition in subsequent celebrations.
Mr Solomon Bawah won the Municipal Best Farmer and received a refrigerator, TV set, and variety of farm implements.
He called on the local authorities to support farmers with irrigation equipment as the irregular rainfall pattern affected the growth and harvesting periods of crops.
Mr Bawah urged all citizens to start some backyard farming to ensure food security in addition to maximising income.
Prince William and Kate Middleton posted a number of private images of themselves gazing passionately at one another during their recent trip to Boston,
The Prince and Princess of Wales, both 40, were seen in the behind-the-scenes photos shared on their social media pages on Tuesday. They were attending the Earthshot Prize ceremony at Fenway Park on Friday night as part of their three-day trip of the United States.
In one PDA-packed photo, William held Middleton close with one arm as the two longingly locked eyes and smiled at each other.
Another snap featured Middleton laughing with her husband, whose back was to the camera, as he also smiled and held a folder with his signature W and a crown embroidered on the front.
Two other photos zoned in on the lovebirds as they enjoyed the award ceremony with fellow attendees. And one last snap showed Middleton and William, who had their backs to the camera, watching a video of Sir David Attenborough talking.
The pictures come just one day after Prince Harry and his wife, Meghan Markle, were photographed arriving in New York City ahead of the release of their highly anticipated Netflix docuseries, “Harry & Meghan.”
At the same time that William and Middleton landed in Boston for their first American trip since 2014, Netflix dropped a teaser for the “global event.”
One source told Page Six that the trailer was a “coordinated campaign” to “disrupt and clash” William and Middleton’s tour.
The preview insinuates that the couple is ready to tell their story — and several sources recently told Page Six that’s just what they intend to do.
“Harry and Meghan will discuss how they felt their best interests were not being represented by the palace, and they’ll talk about being victims of the palace media machine,” one insider told us, with another adding they’ll “claim they were bullied by the palace.”
In an interview with the GNA, Mr. Doho stated that farming was profitable and that young people should get involved in it in order to earn a livelihood rather than waiting for nonexistent white-collar jobs.
I want to cultivate to generate enough food for the nation and for export, he declared.
I decided to go into farming because the cost of food is increasing because our nation doesn’t produce enough.
Mr Doho who spoke to the Ghana News Agency (GNA) during a visit to his 625 acres of maize and a hundred soya field located in the Duu East about three hours’ drive from Tumu said: “Just see how this year, how every country is panicky over food and that’s the reason I think we support ourselves to produce enough food.
Mr Doho said the size of his farm would be for three or four communities saying, “If one person can farm this big, then it means with the right support, we can have a lesser number of people who can feed the country and develop others to produce to export, so in effect, fewer regions could take care of the country`s food needs”.
On challenges confronting him, Mr Doho stressed the need for banks to lower their interest rates and keep staff who understand farming to deal with farmers’ needs. “I have banked with over two banks and none of them is ready to give me any facility, what they tell me is that farming is risky and therefore getting equity is a problem and this is not good for agribusiness”.
“If I have a combine harvester, a hectare of a planting distance of 48,655 plants will give you four to five metric tonnes per hectare could easily be harvested in real-time and reduce too many hands and also encourage large fields’ cultivation and quick harvest”.
He also expressed concern about the poor roads leading to food producing centres saying, “Most roads to farming centres have remained deplorable with weak bridges and in most cases non-existing culverts over streams that hinder the transport of machinery, inputs and foodstuff to homes and market centres”.
Mr Doho stressed the need for the government to create a portfolio for agriculture, where a dedicated fund must be earmarked for agricultural production for the youth to be encouraged to the sector and said he was expecting to harvest about 1,250 metric tonnes of maize and reiterated the need for a fund for commercial farmers to partner smallholder farmers to make Ghana’s food secure.
Mr Doho Sumaila, who is also the Presiding Member of the Sissala East Municipal Assembly, called on the government to encourage communities to allocate lands for agricultural purposes across the country.
Mr Doho’s company `Farmer Pride` has plans to expand the farm size, construct a dam, rear animals and procure a combine harvester and other machinery to mechanize agriculture to feed the country, export and provide job avenues for the youth.
According to the Association, “millions of young people will lose their jobs” and “it will elicit behaviors that will undermine the cash light system and the move toward digitalization of the economy.”
Read full story below
The Mobile Money Agents Association of Ghana has warned that maintaining and implementing the proposed 1.75% E-levy contained in the 2022 budget will lead to a raft of adverse consequences including a spike in robberies.
At a press conference on Tuesday, 7 December 2021, the secretary to the group, Mr Evans Otumfuo, said: “As a union that directly relates to mobile money, we have identified 12 consequences that we’ll be facing if the government still pursues the e-levy”.
“It will elicit behaviors that will undermine the cash lite system and digitalization drive of the economy”; and also “millions of young people will lose their jobs”, he noted.
Additionally, he said there will be an 80 per cent chance of going back to the cash system and innovative businesses that try to leverage mobile money may lose their investment.
Furthermore, Mr Otumfuo said “investors in the sector will begin to draw back, which, of course, we are also part of”, and “it will slow down a tall of economic activities”.
“Robberies and criminal activities will be on the ascendency”, he warned, and “long hours of doing business will greet us again” with the cost of doing business “skyrocketing”.
“For these clear consequences, we also advocate that the electronic levy should be scrapped for more consultation”, he proposed.
According to him, “even before the above-listed implications slam the economy, the proposed levy, since its presentation, has resulted in a downward trend, which is highly critical to the mobile money business”.
Prior to the debut of their Netflix docuseries, “Harry & Meghan,” on Thursday, the Duchess of Sussex and Prince Harry walked on the red carpet for the Ripple of Hope Award Gala 2022 together.
Markle, 41, harkened back to the couple’s 2018 nuptials by wearing Princess Diana’s aquamarine ring, which she last wore as her “something blue” at the reception.
The ring is notable, as Diana is rumored to have commissioned it in 1996 as a replacement for her engagement ring following her divorce from King Charles III. While Markle’s engagement ring is made from diamonds once owned by Diana, Kate Middleton wears the late royal’s original sapphire-and-diamond sparkler.
Even Markle’s white Louis Vuitton dress conjured memories of the Sussexes’ wedding with its sharp tailoring and off-the-shoulder neckline, which was reminiscent of the bateau style by then-Givenchy designer Clare Waight Keller she wore to walk down the aisle.
Markle accessorized with black pumps, a matching clutch and dangling Carolina Herrera earrings ($190), with her hair pulled back in a neat bun.
As for Harry, he looked dapper in a navy blue suit, matching the event’s blue carpet.
The Sussexes arrived in NYC on Monday and will be honored by the non-partisan, non-profit organization Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights with an award “in recognition of their work on racial justice, mental health, and other social impact initiatives through their Archewell Foundation.”
Also being honored alongside the Sussexes are President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky and the late NBA star Bill Russell.
The award comes as in-laws Prince William and Kate Middleton made appearances alongside Caroline Kennedy, the daughter of President John F. Kennedy, during their royal tour of Boston, which culminated in the Earthshot Prize Awards.
Middleton, 40, similarly wore some of the late Princess Diana’s jewels for the occasion, pairing her rented green Solace London gown with her late mother-in-law’s emerald choker for the sustainability-focused event.
Joe Jackson, a financial analyst at Dalex Finance, claimed that the government’s financial crisis made the E-Levy crucial.
Ghana remains insolvent! 50% of our revenue is used to pay interest, and 55% goes toward salaries.
The government must raise taxes if it wants to continue borrowing money. The suggested E-levy is the result.
He tweeted, “#TaxTheWealthy #HardDecisions #BrokeGhana.
Mr Jackson said the introduction of the E-levy is meant to generate revenue for government expenditure as part of the move to widen the tax net.
“Ghana is still broke! We spend 50% of revenue on interest payments and 55 % on Salaries. Govt needs to increase tax revenue else we may not be able to even borrow more. Hence the proposed E-levy. #TaxTheWealthy #HardDecisions #BrokeGhana,” he tweeted.
Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta announced a new levy to be charged by the government in 2022 on all electronic transactions to widen the tax net and rope in the informal sector.
“After considerable deliberations, government has decided to place a levy on all electronic transactions to widen the tax net and rope in the informal sector. This shall be known as the ‘Electronic Transaction Levy or E-Levy’.”
He explained that the new E-levy will be a 1.75 per cent charge on all electronic transactions covering mobile money payments, bank transfers, merchant payments and inward remittances to be borne by the sender except inward remittances, which will be borne by the recipient.
This will, however, not affect transactions that add up to GH¢100 pr less per day.
“A portion of the proceeds from the E-Levy will be used to support entrepreneurship, youth employment, cyber security, digital and road infrastructure among others.”
This new levy is scheduled to start Saturday, January 1, 2022.
In 2020, the total value of transactions was estimated to be over GH¢500 million with mobile money subscribers and users growing by 16 percent in 2019.
According to a Bank of Ghana report, Ghana saw an increase of over 120 percent in the value of digital transactions between February 2020 and February 2021 compared to 44 percent for the period February 2019 to February 2020 due to the convenience they offer.
This was definitely heightened by the advent of Covid-19, especially during the lockdown.
But the proposal has met resistance from the Minority in Parliament.
Their leader, Leader Haruna Iddrisu said the E-levy is a disincentive to the growth of the digital economy. To that end, he said, the Minority will not support it.
Speaking at a post-budget workshop in Ho on Saturday, November 20, he said “Mr Speaker, understandably, we see that the Minister of Finance seeks to introduce some measures including the now popularly declared e-levy or digital levy as some have quite named it.
“Mr Speaker, our concern is whether the e-levy itself is not and will not be a disincentive to the growth of the digital economy in our country. We are convinced that the e-levy may as well even be a disincentive to investment and a disincentive to private sector development in our country. We in the minority may not and will not support the government with the introduction of that particular e-levy. We are unable to build a national consensus on that particular matter.”
Meanwhile, Mr Ofori Atta indicated at a press conference on Monday December 6 said that consultations were still going on regarding the proposal in order to reach a consensus.
“On the matter of the E-levy, having regard to its serious fiscal implications, we will continue our consultations with the Minority Caucus in Parliament and other relevant stakeholders, with a view to achieving consensus and reverting to the House in the shortest possible time,” he said.
Twenty-five people have been arrested in raids across Germany on suspicion of plotting to overthrow the government.
The group of far-right and ex-military figures are said to have prepared for a “Day X” to storm the Reichstag parliament building and seize power.
A man named as Heinrich XIII, from an old aristocratic family, is alleged to have been central to their plans.
According to federal prosecutors, he is one of two alleged ringleaders among those arrested across 11 German states.
The plotters are said to include members of the extremist Reichsbürger [Citizens of the Reich] movement, which has long been in the sights of German police over violent attacks and racist and antisemitic conspiracy theories.
They also refuse to recognise the modern German state.
Other suspects came from the QAnon movement who believe their country is in the hands of a mythical “deep state” involving secret powers pulling the political strings.
Interior Minister Nancy Faeser assured Germans that authorities would respond with the full force of the law “against the enemies of democracy”.
An estimated 50 men and women are said to have been part of the group, which allegedly plotted to overthrow the republic and replace it with a new state modelled on the Germany of 1871 – an empire called the Second Reich.
“We don’t yet have a name for this group,” said a spokeswoman for the federal prosecutor’s office. The interior minister said it was apparently made up of an organisation “council” and a military arm.
Wednesday’s dawn raids are being described as one of the biggest anti-extremism operations in modern German history.
Three thousand officers took part in 150 operations in 11 of Germany’s 16 states, with two people arrested in Austria and Italy.
Almost half of arrests took place in southern states of Baden-Württemberg and Bavaria. More than one in five Reichsbürger are thought to be based in the south-western state of Baden-Württemberg alone.
Justice Minister Marco Buschmann tweeted that a suspected “armed attack on constitutional bodies was planned”. Ms Faeser said later that the investigation would peer into the “abyss of a terrorist threat from the Reichsbürger scene”.
Who are the Reichsbürger?
So-called Citizens of the Reich reject Germany’s modern democracy and refuse to pay taxes
Once seen as harmless cranks, they are very active and pose a high level of danger, says BfV intelligence chief Thomas Haldenwang
Last year they numbered some 21,000, but they have since grown significantly
10% are thought to be violent, and antisemitism and conspiracy theories are widespread
The federal prosecutor’s office said the group had been plotting a violent coup since November 2021 and members of its central “Rat” (council) had since held regular meetings.
They had already established plans to rule Germany with departments covering health, justice and foreign affairs, the prosecutor said. Members understood they could only realise their goals by “military means and violence against state representatives”, which included carrying out killings.
Investigators are thought to have got wind of the group when they uncovered a kidnap plot last April involving a gang who called themselves United Patriots.
They too were part of the Reichsbürger scene and had allegedly planned to abduct Health Minister Karl Lauterbach while also creating “civil war conditions” to bring about an end to Germany’s democracy.
A former far-right AfD member of the lower house of parliament, the Bundestag, is suspected of being part of the plot, and of being lined up as the group’s justice minister.
Birgit Malsack-Winkemann, who was among the 25 people arrested, returned to her role as judge last year and a court has since turned down attempts to dislodge her.
A prominent lawyer was pencilled in to handle the group’s foreign affairs, with 71-year-old Heinrich XIII as leader.
Public Prosecutor General Peter Frank said Heinrich was among the suspects whom investigating judges had asked to be held in custody.
Heinrich XIII styles himself as a prince and comes from an old noble family known as the House of Reuss, which ruled over parts of the modern eastern state of Thuringia until 1918.
Descendants still own a few castles and Heinrich himself is said to have a hunting lodge at Bad Lobenstein in Thuringia.
The rest of the family have long distanced themselves from the minor aristocrat, with one spokesman telling local broadcaster MDR during the summer that Heinrich was an “at times confused” man who had fallen for “misconceptions fuelled by conspiracy theories”.
As well as a shadow government, the plotters allegedly had plans for a military arm run by a second ringleader identified as Rüdiger von P.
They were made up of active and former members of the military, officials believe, and included ex-elite soldiers from special units. The aim of the military arm was to eliminate democratic bodies at local level, prosecutors said.
Rüdiger von P is suspected of trying to recruit police officers in northern Germany and of having an eye on army barracks too. Bases in the states of Hesse, Baden-Württemberg and Bavaria were all inspected for possible use after the government was overthrown, officials said.
One of those under investigation had been a member of the Special Commando Forces, and police searched his home and his room at the Graf-Zeppelin military base in Calw, south-west of Stuttgart.
Another suspect has been identified as Vitalia B, a Russian woman who was asked to approach Moscow on Heinrich’s behalf. The Russian embassy in Berlin said in a statement that it did not “maintain contacts with representatives of terrorist groups and other illegal entities”.
Several violent attacks have been linked to Germany’s far-right in recent years. In 2020, a 43-year-old man shot dead nine people of foreign origin in the western town of Hanau, and a Reichsbürger member was jailed for killing a policeman in 2016.
The Reichsbürger movement is estimated to have as many as 21,000 followers, of whom around 5% are considered to belong to the extreme right.
Dr. Iddrisu asserts that the government may find it difficult to make on-time payments in the future months as a result of the economic crisis.
He stated that as a result, Ghanaians, particularly those working in the public sector, must exercise caution when making purchases over the holiday season.
He stated that people need to save the little they have for the near future because it is highly possible that the financial difficulties in the country might worsen.
“I am therefore cautioning you to be mindful of your spending this Christmas and New Year season. Do not be a spendthrift during the holidays as times may become harder next year.
“The government’s hope is on the $3 billion IMF loan facility which doesn’t seem feasible at the moment until the government debt restructuring program is able to bring down the country’s debt to GDP ratio to the range of 25% to 55%. Currently, the total public debt of the country is more than 460 billion cedis, and more than 76% debt to GDP ratio,” he said in a zoom lecture on the state of the economy.
Dr. Sa-ad Iddrisu also urged public workers not to put their hopes on attracting salary increments in the coming year, or on the payment of arrears because the government does not have the financial muscles to make such commitments.
“The more you come to the realization that the NPP government has mismanaged the economy, the better it will be for you to cut back on your individual spending as citizens during this yuletide, so as to have some savings to fall back on when payment of salaries starts to delay,” Dr. Iddrisu concluded.
Avatars, the customizable characters that are already available across Meta services like Facebook and Instagram, are officially launching on WhatsApp.
Meta has announced that they can be used as a profile picture on the messaging service or sent in the form of one of 36 custom stickers.
The feature “will be rolling out to users everywhere from today,” according to Meta’s press release.
WhatsApp’s avatars feature has been steadily rolling out to beta testers for a couple of months now. They’ve been available to some (but not all) beta users on both Android and iOS since at least October, according to WABetaInfo, but they’re expected to become available for all users on mobile over the coming weeks.
Meta’s avatars are one of a number of virtual customizable characters available across different platforms and messaging apps. Perhaps the most well known are Bitmoji, the 2D characters now owned by Snap, and both Apple and Samsung also offer system-level avatars in the form of Memoji and AR Emoji, respectively. But the feature could end up being the most significant for Meta, which is pitching its take on the feature as the thing that will one day represent its users in the so-called metaverse.
The Ghana Armed Forces (GAF) reported the capture of a man posing as a senior military official at Burma Camp in Accra.
The suspect according to a release signed by GAF, was arrested after making an attempt to access a military installation using forged credentials.
After the arrest of Rufai Abubakar, a search conducted at his two residences led to the discovery of among others, military accoutrements, fatigues and other forged documents purporting to help recruit people into the army.
Whereas he has since been handed over to the Criminal Investigation Department of the Ghana Police Service for further investigation and prosecution, the story is different on social media where people are mocking the suspect for his daring attitude.
Users of social media platforms – especially Facebook and Twitter – have weighed in on the incident making funny takes of the daring nature of the fake soldier.
For a number of them, they were enthused that of all places, he chose Burma Camp to conduct his illegal affairs whiles for others, it was the fact that he had clearly bitten more than he could chew.
Burma Camp, one of the major military installations in the country was also in the trends since the Armed Forces issued the statement concerning the arrest.
See some reactions below:
Parts of the GAF statement on the arrest
“Military Police personnel have arrested one Rufai Abubakar for posing as a Senior Military Officer and trying to access a military installation inside Burma Camp. The suspect who was dressed in a military camouflage uniform, decorated with fake Lieutenant Colonel ranks, claimed he was stationed at Northern Command Headquarters and was proceeding to the Air Force Base to book a flight to Tamale.
“The suspect who entered Burma Camp in a commercial vehicle was closely monitored as he alighted at a bus stop and headed to the Air Force Base. The guards on duty noted his suspicious behaviour, questioned him and after some incoherent answers, he confessed he was not a service Personnel,” the statement said.
The suspect according to GAF admitted to using his assumed identity to defraud several persons seeking to be recruited into the military.
He is alleged to have defrauded one Mr Abdallah Abdul Fatahu of Three Thousand Ghana Cedis (GHS3,000.00) “under the pretext of recruiting him into the Ghana Armed Forces,” the statement added.
At the time of his arrest, Rufai had in his possession fake military identification and business cards and other documents bearing his name.
The Military Police followed up to his two residences at Ablekuma Fan Milk and Olebu where documents including several certificates and fake Ghana Armed Forces recruitment application summary reports, “military uniforms and accoutrements and a toy pistol,” were retrieved.
However, GAF noted that more people may have fallen victim to his fraud considering the fact that his two wives lived under the assumption that their husband is a real military officer.
“Such persons are entreated to contact the Police CID to help in investigations and to support GAF and the Security Services in weeding out the miscreants within the service,” the statement added.
Ten years after finishing fourth in the 800m final at the 2012 Olympic Games in London, Kenya’s Pamela Jelimo has received a bronze medal.
Jelimo, popularly known as Eldoret Express, was given the medal following the International Olympic Committee’s (IOC) disqualification of Russia’s Mariya Savinova due to a doping violation in 2015.
Savinova won the 800m gold medal in 2012.
Speaking to the BBC, Jelimo condemned doping in sports, saying it was “a menace for an athlete to progress career-wise”,
“This is like a dream. I initially didn’t believe it when I heard the good news. It’s truly a dream of every athlete to win a medal in the Olympics and I’m honoured to have my parents accompany me and share this joy.”
The reallocation ceremony comes at a time when Kenya is in the spotlight due to high cases of doping and has recently escaped an international ban.
Huawei has signed a global commitment to join the International Telecommunication Union’s Partner2Connect digital alliance, which will bring connectivity to about 120 million people in remote areas in more than 80 countries by 2025.
Liang Hua, Chairman of Huawei, announced the decision at the company’s 2022 Sustainability Forum, Connectivity+: Innovate for Impact. The forum explored how ICT innovation could unleash the business and social value of connectivity and drive sustainability in the digital economy era.
Speakers at the event included senior leaders from the ITU and United Nations, telecom ministers and regulators in Cambodia, Nigeria, Bangladesh, and Pakistan, and business leaders, partners, experts, and customers from China, South Africa, Belgium, and Germany.
“It is clear connectivity alone is not enough. It must be affordable, the content must be relevant and in the local language, and users must have the skills to make best use of it,” said ITU Deputy Secretary-General Malcolm Johnson. “Thank you to Huawei for their support of the Partner2Connect (P2C) Digital Coalition, and for their announced P2C pledges in the key areas of rural connectivity and digital skills.”
Siddharth Chatterjee, United Nations Resident Coordinator in China, called for “multi-stakeholder partnerships” of policymakers, the private sector, academia, and civil society to close “the sobering reality” of a digital divide which excluded a third of the global population.
“Our dynamic world urgently needs improved digital cooperation to capitalize on the transformational potential of technology to create new jobs, boost financial inclusion, close the gender gap, spur a green recovery and redesign our world to be more prosperous and inclusive,” he said. “Now is the time to act”.
In his keynote address, Dr Liang stressed that access to a stable network was a basic requirement and right in the digital age. For many who remain unconnected, access to reliable connectivity would mark the first step towards transforming their lives.
“Connectivity will be more than just a tool for convenient communications,” he said. “Together with digital technologies like cloud and AI, connectivity will help bring everyone into the digital world, and provide them with access to more information and skills, better services, and wider business opportunities. This will, in turn, drive further social and economic development.”
Cao Ming, President of Huawei Wireless Solution, said: “As an enterprise with the most complete ICT capabilities, Huawei integrates the full-technology innovation potential of equipment, sites, energy, transmission, and antennas to address the difficulties faced by traditional site deployment, such as high costs, restricted transportation, lack of power, and maintenance challenges. We have continuously upgraded the RuralStar and RuralLink solutions to extend quality coverage to remote areas, enabling more people, community hospitals, schools, local governments, and small- and medium-sized enterprises to enjoy the same high-speed broadband connectivity experiences as those in cities”.
The RuralStar series solutions have provided connections for more than 60 million people in remote areas in more than 70 countries.
The construction of optical broadband networks offers another important route to realizing a universal service. Huawei has proposed an innovative AirPON solution for areas with low population density, including remote areas. This solution continuously reduces the footprint of equipment rooms, optical fiber installation costs, and network power consumption, while ensuring the rapid deployment of local communication networks.
In Africa alone, Huawei has laid more than 250,000 kilometers of optical fibers, enabling 30 million households to access high-speed broadband. User experience has seen constant improvement. The average speed of home broadband already exceeds 30 Mbit/s, bringing smarter, faster, and smoother home network experience.
As ICT infrastructure continues to evolve, innovative technologies like cloud and AI are allowing those in rural and remote areas to enjoy the convenience of a digital world. Huawei Cloud has proposed the Everything as a Service strategy and made Huawei’s more than 30 years of technical expertise and digital transformation experience available through cloud services. This means that access to Huawei’s digital infrastructure capabilities on the cloud is now just as easy, affordable, and sustainable as water and electricity.
Digital transformation, digital talent, and new business models are all essential for balanced development in remote regions. Huawei previously announced that by 2025, with the improved ICT infrastructure, the company will work with partners to enable 500 million people to enjoy digital financial services and 500,000 people to enjoy inclusive education.
In Cambodia, the ITU’s first P2C partner country, Huawei will work with government departments through the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications and universities to provide 10,000 training opportunities for ICT professionals in the next five years.
Huawei is committed to inclusive development. Through its ongoing technological innovation, Huawei is contributing to a higher level of digitalization in remote regions, enabling everyone to enjoy the convenience of a digital life, and promoting the balanced development of the global digital economy.
He claims that the Bretton Woods institution forces fundamental changes and policies upon African nations, like Ghana, who require assistance from it to sustain their faltering economies.
He went on to say that these African nations experience hardship as a result of the IMF’s strict regulations and also pay back the loans with high interest.
Speaking in an exclusive interview with GhanaWeb on the sidelines of the Bitcoin conference held in Accra on Wednesday, December 7, 2022, Mr Gladstein asserted that Ghana will export more of its gold, cotton, among other resources as part of its debt exchange programme with the International Monetary Fund.
He said, “The way that the international financial system works is that rich countries deposits funds and the IMF and World bank are creditors to those institutions and poor countries borrow money. They borrow money for industrial projects, dams,… that all comes from the world bank and they also borrow large chunks of money to address the balance of payment issues so basically when they go broke or run out of money, they get a bailout from the IMF.”
“Those two institutions give out enormous sums of money and we are talking between more than a trillion dollars that they have in terms of lending capacity…The problem is, this debt is not a gift so anyone that owns a credit card understands that when you borrow, you have to pay back more; you pay back the principal and interest,” Mr Gladstein pointed out.
He continued that, “Ghana is about to get its 17th bailout from IMF. That means currency devaluation, shrinking bank credit, removal of state investment, education, healthcare…they want to do that so that the country produces more for the outside world.”
Ghana is targeting an amount of $3 billion over a three-year period from the IMF once an agreement on a programme is reached.
The new amount requested as a loan is double the government’s initial target of $1.5 billion.
The IMF programme is aimed at restoring macroeconomic stability and safeguarding debt sustainability among many others.
IMF team that arrived in Ghana was led by their Mission Chief for Ghana at the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Stéphane Roudet.
Ahead of their visit to Ghana, Mr Roudet noted that the Bretton Woods institution has in the past months had productive discussions with the Government of Ghana and was looking for a more progressive one towards the reaching of an agreement on policies and reforms tabled before the IMF.
He stressed that the IMF remains committed to help Ghana restore its macroeconomic stability for Ghanaians to heave a sigh of relief.
According to The Athletic, the Filipino national died after collapsing while performing maintenance at a resort that served as a base of operations for the Saudi Arabian team.
The organization that governs football worldwide stated that it had been informed of an accident but withheld further information.
It stated that it was speaking with the local authorities to get additional information.
“Fifa is deeply saddened by this tragedy and our thoughts and sympathies are with the worker’s family,” it said.
“Fifa will be in a position to comment further once the relevant processes in relation to the worker’s passing have been completed.”
Qatar’s treatment of migrant workers has been one of the main controversies overshadowing the build up to the World Cup.
A report by the Guardian newspaper last year said 6,500 migrant workers had died in Qatar since the country was awarded the World Cup in 2010.
That figure has been rejected by the Qatari authorities, who say there have been three work-related deaths in construction related directly to the tournament and a further 37 non work-related deaths.
World Cup officials say a number of reforms to improve the health and safety standards for migrant workers have been implemented in recent years, and that they are “committed” to making more improvements as a legacy of the tournament.
Human rights organisations and a number of football associations whose countries are involved in the tournament say they will “continue to press” Qatar and Fifa to establish a compensation fund for migrant workers and their families, as well as the establishment of a migrant worker centre in Doha.
Iran has announced the first execution of a protester convicted over the recent anti-government unrest.
Mohsen Shekari was hanged on Thursday morning after being found guilty by a Revolutionary Court of “enmity against God”, state media reported.
He was accused of being a “rioter” who blocked a main road in Tehran on 25 September and wounded a member of the paramilitary Basij force with a knife.
An activist said he was convicted after a “show trial without any due process”.
Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam, director of Norway-based Iran Human Rights, tweeted that executions of protesters would start to take place daily unless Iranian authorities faced “rapid practical consequences internationally”.
Over 130 civilians in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo have been killed.
According to a UN assessment, the M23 rebel group was responsible for at least 131 deaths at the end of November this year.
Investigations, according to the report, have established that there were fatalities among civilians in two villages, Kishishe and Bambo, in the Rutsuhuru district of North Kivu province.
According to the UN, the victims were put to death in what seemed to be retaliation for the current government offensive.
In retaliation for the battles between the M23 and other groups, it claims that “this brutality was carried out as part of a campaign of killings, rapes, kidnappings, and looting against two villages in the Rutshuru region.”
South Africa’s Tourism Minister Lindiwe Sisulu has called on the president to resign.
Cyril Ramaphosa is facing allegations that he covered up the theft of a huge sum of money from his farm.
The controversy comes ahead of next month’s ANC conference with the president seeking a second term in office.
Ms Sisulu – who says she wants the top job herself – told the BBC’s Newshour programme that Mr Ramaphosa should step down, as he was holding the whole party to ransom.
Next week parliament is due to discuss the issue and the president, who denies any wrongdoing, could potentially face impeachment.
While putting together an offer for the World Cup hero, the Bundesliga’s juggernauts have begun talks with the player’s camp.
Dortmund are set to break the bank and pay around 20 million Euros for the Ajax attacking midfielder.
The Black Stars midfielder has been on the radar of several clubs including Liverpool, who sent scouts to Qatar to watch the player.
Kudus was Ghana’s brightest spot at the World Cup, contributing three goals for the Black Stars as the West African nation exited the tournament at the group stage. He scored two goals and provided an assist.
Barcelona have also been tracking the 22-year-old for sometime now while Everton came close to signing the player in the summer transfer window.
With Jude Bellingham in high demand, the German outfit see the Ghanaian as their next marquee signing.
Iran has announced the first execution of a protester convicted over the recent anti-governmentunrest.
Mohsen Shekari was hanged on Thursday morning after being found guilty by a Revolutionary Court of “enmity against God”, state media reported.
He was accused of being a “rioter” who blocked a main road in Tehran on 25 September and wounded a member of the paramilitary Basij force with a knife.
An activist said he was convicted after a “show trial without any due process”.
Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam, director of Norway-based Iran Human Rights, tweeted that executions of protesters would start to take place daily unless Iranian authorities faced “rapid practical consequences internationally”.
Iran’s judiciary has so far announced that 11 people have been sentenced to death in connection with the protests that began in mid-September after the death in custody of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old woman who was detained by morality police for allegedly wearing her hijab, or headscarf, “improperly”.
The women-led protests have spread to 160 cities in all 31 of the country’s provinces and are seen as one of the most serious challenges to the Islamic Republic since the 1979 revolution.
Iran’s leaders have portrayed them as “riots” instigated by the country’s foreign enemies and ordered security forces to “deal decisively” with them.
So far, at least 475 protesters have been killed and 18,240 have been detained, according to the Human Rights Activists’ News Agency (HRANA). It has also reported the deaths of 61 security personnel.
Basketball scout Sarah Chan’s career has taken her all over the world, from Sudan to Kenya, Europe and the US – but she’s had to face war, racism and gender-based violence along the way.
“I have been spat in the face for the colour of my skin,” says the former professional basketball player.
“I’ve experienced racism in more ways than I would like.”
Now the first woman to manage African scouting for a team in the NBA – the world’s top professional basketball league – Ms Chan is inspiring a new generation of young people to seek out opportunity in the sport.
“Basketball illuminated my way to where I am today. It is everything,” says Ms Chan, who is featured in the BBC 100 Women list of inspiring and influential women this year.
She and her family lived in Khartoum during the second Sudanese Civil War. There were several attempts to arrest her father and she recalls often being woken in the night by noises outside their house.
Eventually they fled, hoping to find a safer life and better education in Kenya.
“It was the first place that we could actually enjoy the right of playing sports, because in Sudan [playing] sports and seeing a girl or woman in shorts was a taboo,” says Ms Chan.
It was here that her passion for basketball would emerge. She remembers a conversation that led to her and her sister playing the sport for the first time.
“I remember being one of the tallest kids in school in Kenya and our principal approached us and asked if we could play.
“And at the time, honestly, my mind wasn’t there. And so I said, with all respect I didn’t want to join – and because of that, he immediately made sports mandatory.”
Ms Chan – here on the left, with shirt number 33 – discovered her passion for basketball in Kenya
After years of training, she went on to secure a four-year undergraduate basketball scholarship at Union University, in Jackson, Tennessee, in the US. Over a 14-year playing career, she competed professionally in Europe and across Africa.
“Through basketball you touch so many hearts. Basketball changes lives,” she says.
But Ms Chan also encountered racism in the sport – including an incident she says happened when she travelled to Algiers, with her team mates and was spat at on the face by a man.
“Without the foundation of what my family instilled in me, I wouldn’t have been able to withstand all of that,” she says.
“Right before I left home, my dad and my mum said, ‘You’re beautiful just the way you are.’”
When she took her first trip back to South Sudan in 2012, Ms Chan witnessed injustices against women, including early and forced marriages.
“At the age of 18 you’re expected to start looking for a mate,” she says.
Girls are forced to choose whether to stay in school “or to get financial relief from the man that the family might choose for you”, she explains.
“I cried for way too long.
It got to a point where I was done crying and I needed to find out what I could do to contribute towards making some things right.”
Sarah (second from right) attributes her success to a strong support system from her family
And so Ms Chan started the Home At Home/Apediet Foundation, a mentoring charity to combat child marriage and advocate for education and sport.
She remembers a time she was watching a game when a girl came to sit next to her on the bench.
“She wasn’t even a basketball player, she was just a random kid that came to the court and started opening up to me and told me a gut-wrenching story of how she had got raped the night before,” she says.
“And it really took me apart because I have had my own traumatic experiences with rape. And it took a long time to heal.
“In the beginning I was in denial – [I thought] that such trauma and rape didn’t happen to six-foot-two girls. Then anger, then grief, and it makes you feel just worthless and helpless and bitter.”
For her, healing has come from doing “one of the hardest things” and forgiving the perpetrator – and also from her work with the foundation.
“I came from poverty and we figured it out,” she says.
“These kids only need an opportunity because they’re very gifted, smart and able.
“Somebody helped me to start playing sports, and without them doing that, I wouldn’t be where I am today.”
Despite being a male-dominated sport, Ms Chan thinks that the potential for women’s basketball on the continent is bright.
“Sports is the future of Africa. It’s the weapon of Africa, especially for the girls,” she says.
She takes her mentoring work seriously, she says, “because people saw things in me that I hadn’t already seen”.
Sarah Chan takes mentoring seriously to help girls achieve their dreams
It was through coaching that she landed her role with the Toronto Raptors, after an NBA executive spotted her working at a basketball camp in Kenya.
Now employed by the team, which was founded in 1995 as part of the NBA’s expansion into Canada, it’s Ms Chan’s job to spot emerging talent – both male and female – to support the players’ development and create a pipeline to open up basketball opportunities for them in North America.
She recently travelled to Uganda and Tanzania to pick players for a major tournament in Rwanda next year.
“It’s my hope that ‘ball gets to the point where there’s a WBAL, a Women Basketball African League,” she says.
“That is my dream for these girls, that they’re not limited by culture, they’re not limited by any thinking.
“They’re free and liberated truly in their minds, and can chase their dreams as human beings, not restrained or limited by being this or that gender.”
South Africa’s Tourism Minister Lindiwe Sisulu has called on the president to resign.
Cyril Ramaphosa is facing allegations that he covered up the theft of a huge sum of money from his farm.
The controversy comes ahead of next month’s ANC conference with the president seeking a second term in office.
Ms Sisulu – who says she wants the top job herself – told the BBC’s Newshour programme that Mr Ramaphosa should step down, as he was holding the whole party to ransom.
Next week parliament is due to discuss the issue and the president, who denies any wrongdoing, could potentially face impeachment.
When the demand decreases the value goes down as well. However, when the demand of a currency outweighs its supply it puts pressure on the local currency thereby reducing its value
Read full story below
For us Ghanaians, the exchange rate is simply the amount of Ghana Cedis we have to give up to acquire a unit of a foreign currency.
So, for example, if you have to give up GH¢6 to get $1, the exchange rate of the Ghana cedis (GH¢) to the dollar ($) is GH¢6.
On the other hand, for a traveller coming to Ghana, the exchange rate would be the amount of the currency of his country of origin that he would have to give up to get GH¢1.
For instance, with $1, a traveller from the US can get GH¢6, so the exchange rate of the GH¢ to the $ is approximately $0.17 – to get GH¢1, and traveller must give up $0.17.
You should be worried because the exchange determines the price of the majority, if not all, of goods and services in Ghana because most items are either imported or manufactured using imported inputs.
If you want to buy a phone made in the US which cost $1000 and the exchange rate of the GH¢ to the $ is GH¢6, the cost of the phone in GH¢ would be GH¢ 6000 (GH¢6 × 1000).
Should the exchange rate increase (the cedis depreciate) to GH¢ 8 for a dollar, then the new price of the phone would be GH¢ 8000 (GH¢8 × 1000).
When the rate decreases (the cedis appreciate) to GH¢4, the phone would cost GH¢4000 (GH¢4 × 1000).
Now, what causes the exchange rate to either increase or decrease? The demand and supply of the foreign currency, the dollar as an example.
The demand of the dollar is determined by the quantity of the goods and services imported to Ghana while the supply is by the quantity of goods and services Ghana exports.
For instance, a study by Konfidants Ghana showed that 82 percent of items in Ghanaian supermarkets are foreign brands.
Successive government have put in measures to ensure that the gap between our export and import is bridged including the setting up of the Free Trade Area where companies enjoy various incentives provided, they would export at least 70 percent of their products.
But this is not enough for Ghana to properly stabilize the price, there has to be a concerted effort by all, the government, private sector and households to patronise made in Ghana goods.
Russia has banned Prime Minister Boris Johnson and other senior ministers from entering Russia over the UK’s “hostile” stance on the war in Ukraine.
Foreign Secretary Liz Truss, Defence Secretary Ben Wallace and 10 other senior politicians – mostly members of the Cabinet – have also been barred.
Moscow said the decision had been made in retaliation to the UK’s sanctions against it since it invaded Ukraine.
In March, Moscow imposed a similar ban against US President Joe Biden.
The full list is:
Prime Minister Boris Johnson
Foreign Secretary Liz Truss
Defence Secretary Ben Wallace
Deputy Prime Minister, Lord Chancellor, and Secretary of State for Justice Dominic Raab
Secretary of State for Transport Grant Shapps
Home Secretary Priti Patel
The Chancellor Rishi Sunak
Minister of Entrepreneurship, Energy and Industrial Strategy Kwasi Kwarteng
Minister of Digitalization, Culture, Media and Sport Nadine Dorries
Minister for the Armed Forces James Heappey
First Minister of Scotland Nicola Sturgeon
Attorney General for England and Wales and advocate general for Northern Ireland Suella Braverman
Conservative MP and former British Prime Minister Theresa May
In a statement, Russia’s foreign ministry said: “London’s unbridled information and political campaign aimed at isolating Russia internationally, creating conditions for containing our country and strangling the domestic economy” were responsible for its decision.
It added: “In essence, the British leadership is deliberately aggravating the situation around Ukraine, pumping the Kyiv regime with lethal weapons and coordinating similar efforts on the part of Nato.”
Earlier this week, the UK and US governments announced further sanctions on Russia.
The sanctions included financial measures designed to damage Russia’s economy and penalise President Putin, high-ranking officials, and people who have benefited from his regime.
After a scoreless draw, the Atlas Lions shocked Spain with a 3-0 victory on penalties to advance to the round of eight and face Portugal.
Morocco first grabbed attention at the global showpiece with a goalless draw against Croatia, the runners-up four years ago before beating Belgium 2-0 in their second group game. They concluded their group stage game with a convincing win over Canada.
“I told (my players) we should be proud of ourselves,” Regragui said.
“It is an opportunity that may not be repeated. Unfortunately, I did not play in the World Cup. God has now given me an opportunity to make history as a coach. I am the happiest person in the world.”
“I think Africans can go far, why not dream of winning the cup? We want the next generation to dare to dream.”
He claims that those government initiatives that have not been abandoned have demonstrated that the government is only concerned with reducing expenses that directly impact the people and not itself.
“From all that we have heard this evening, even the cathedral, Evans, tell me what is it about the cathedral that we cannot decide that we have to do away with it for the meantime. What is it about it? What is it about the size of government that we can’t do anything about it?
“My own Ministry, which is the Ministry of Health, as we speak, three ministers, that is a substantive Minister and two deputies. Is there no way we can cut? So essentially government has not shown that we are in crisis,” he is quoted by myjoyonline.com.
“It is business as usual, and if you look at the budget as you indicated, everything else is increasing except the fact that the things that are supposed to affect workers and other citizens of Ghana they’re very happy to cut those things. Government flagship programmes, none of it has been affected.
“So essentially, we don’t think that this is the time to use pensions as leverage. Pensions at this time when clearly the government has not demonstrated the fact that we’re in trouble. Clearly, we are not in trouble as far as we’re concerned so why come and touch pensions,” he stated.
He also added that the Chamber of Corporate Trustees must not make a U-turn on their earlier position to negotiate with the government.
He said: “And so, I beg to differ from the position held by the Chamber of Corporate Trustees at the moment as you’re announcing to me that they’re willing to negotiate, I think the position should be clear. In fact, we should not be calling for negotiations.
“Ideally it should have been the finance minister and I have said on several platforms that he doesn’t respect anyone that is the reason why he’s done what he has done. Otherwise, how can you take this decision without involving the stakeholders and actually sitting at the table with them to at least pick their brains and find out how best we can resolve this issue and at least help this country? he asked.
“So, I don’t subscribe to that, I think that Ghana Medical Association stands by its position that we don’t accept this and I’m sure that the other labour unions would hold the same view as I am holding this evening,” he added.
Basketball scout Sarah Chan’s career has taken her all over the world, from Sudan to Kenya, Europe and the US – but she’s had to face war, racism and gender-based violence along the way.
“I have been spat in the face for the colour of my skin,” says the former professional basketball player.
“I’ve experienced racism in more ways than I would like.”
Now the first woman to manage African scouting for a team in the NBA – the world’s top professional basketball league – Ms Chan is inspiring a new generation of young people to seek out opportunity in the sport.
“Basketball illuminated my way to where I am today. It is everything,” says Ms Chan, who is featured in the BBC 100 Women list of inspiring and influential women this year.
She and her family lived in Khartoum during the second Sudanese Civil War. There were several attempts to arrest her father and she recalls often being woken in the night by noises outside their house.
Eventually they fled, hoping to find a safer life and better education in Kenya.
“It was the first place that we could actually enjoy the right of playing sports, because in Sudan [playing] sports and seeing a girl or woman in shorts was a taboo,” says Ms Chan.
It was here that her passion for basketball would emerge. She remembers a conversation that led to her and her sister playing the sport for the first time.
“I remember being one of the tallest kids in school in Kenya and our principal approached us and asked if we could play.
“And at the time, honestly, my mind wasn’t there. And so I said, with all respect I didn’t want to join – and because of that, he immediately made sports mandatory.”
Ms Chan – here on the left, with shirt number 33 – discovered her passion for basketball in Kenya
After years of training, she went on to secure a four-year undergraduate basketball scholarship at Union University, in Jackson, Tennessee, in the US. Over a 14-year playing career, she competed professionally in Europe and across Africa.
“Through basketball you touch so many hearts. Basketball changes lives,” she says.
But Ms Chan also encountered racism in the sport – including an incident she says happened when she travelled to Algiers, with her team mates and was spat at on the face by a man.
“Without the foundation of what my family instilled in me, I wouldn’t have been able to withstand all of that,” she says.
“Right before I left home, my dad and my mum said, ‘You’re beautiful just the way you are.’”
When she took her first trip back to South Sudan in 2012, Ms Chan witnessed injustices against women, including early and forced marriages.
“At the age of 18 you’re expected to start looking for a mate,” she says.
Girls are forced to choose whether to stay in school “or to get financial relief from the man that the family might choose for you”, she explains.
“I cried for way too long.
It got to a point where I was done crying and I needed to find out what I could do to contribute towards making some things right.”
Sarah (second from right) attributes her success to a strong support system from her family
And so Ms Chan started the Home At Home/Apediet Foundation, a mentoring charity to combat child marriage and advocate for education and sport.
She remembers a time she was watching a game when a girl came to sit next to her on the bench.
“She wasn’t even a basketball player, she was just a random kid that came to the court and started opening up to me and told me a gut-wrenching story of how she had got raped the night before,” she says.
“And it really took me apart because I have had my own traumatic experiences with rape. And it took a long time to heal.
“Somebody helped me to start playing sports, and without them doing that, I wouldn’t be where I am today.”
Despite being a male-dominated sport, Ms Chan thinks that the potential for women’s basketball on the continent is bright.
“Sports is the future of Africa. It’s the weapon of Africa, especially for the girls,” she says.
She takes her mentoring work seriously, she says, “because people saw things in me that I hadn’t already seen”.
Sarah Chan takes mentoring seriously to help girls achieve their dreams
It was through coaching that she landed her role with the Toronto Raptors, after an NBA executive spotted her working at a basketball camp in Kenya.
Now employed by the team, which was founded in 1995 as part of the NBA’s expansion into Canada, it’s Ms Chan’s job to spot emerging talent – both male and female – to support the players’ development and create a pipeline to open up basketball opportunities for them in North America.
She recently travelled to Uganda and Tanzania to pick players for a major tournament in Rwanda next year.
“It’s my hope that ‘ball gets to the point where there’s a WBAL, a Women Basketball African League,” she says.
“That is my dream for these girls, that they’re not limited by culture, they’re not limited by any thinking.
“They’re free and liberated truly in their minds, and can chase their dreams as human beings, not restrained or limited by being this or that gender.”
Farming improves on food security and also stimulates economic growth.
However, lack of time and resource to go to the farm site to monitor the conditions of the farm and motivation to manually irrigate the farm deter many from partaking in this venture.
Fortunately, two computer science students at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Isaac Junior Ampah and Blaise Ayindingo have developed a smart farming system to curtail these problems.
The smart farming system uses sensors to determine the moisture content in the soil and activates the irrigation system when the soil moisture is very low.
It checks for the amount of water left in the reserve tank and tops up if the tank is low on water.
Live Monitoring: This system provides the climatic and soil conditions of the farm to the farmer through a mobile app.
Intelligent Fire Prevention System: This system uses sensors to determine if smoke is present on the farm and automatically activates the irrigation system till the smoke dissipates from the farm.
To learn more about the App and join the waitlist for its release, partners, stakeholders, or investors can visit https://csapps.knust.edu.gh.
A member of the special committee that looked into the Minority‘s motion of censure against the Finance Minister has refuted claims that his party utilized sitting expenses.
Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa said the claims are untrue and should be dismissed.
According to him, they served the nation for free.
Ablakwa’s tweet
The North Tongu MP in a social media post on Thursday said the desire to save the nation was their aim and not monetary considerations.
“It’s been a patriotic duty. Ignore baseless claims that our side took sitting allowances; we served pro bono,” he tweeted.
The Ranking on Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee however said his side is ready to debate the report of the committee and vote on same in plenary today.
“Parliament is expected later today to consider the report of the Ken Ofori-Atta Vote of Censure Committee. We anticipate a full-blown debate and the long-awaited vote.”
Already, the Minority Chief Whip, Muntaka Mubarak has expressed confidence that the Finance Minister will be voted out of office after the vote on the censure motion.
He said the Minority caucus is determined to vote Ken Ofori-Atta out of office.
“I can assure you some people [Members of Parliament] are on their way back, others are in the US. They are on their way back, others are in their constituencies. Everybody is on his way back.
“I can assure you that we are keeping our cards close to our chest and we believe that tomorrow by the Grace of God, by the time we are done with the secret balloting, Finance Minister will be out,” he said.
To ensure the aspiration to the caucus is achieved, the Minority Leader, Haruna Iddrisu issued a three-line whip for Ken Ofori-Atta’s dismissal.
A three-line whip is an instruction given to Members of Parliament by their leader telling them they must vote in a particular way.
In order to support the government’s efforts to address the current economic issues, he urged that the Nana Addo-led administration should at the very least host a forum.
Adding that, “there must be a platform for an objective national conversation on how we can solve the economic issues”.
Former General Secretary of the Christian Council of Ghana, Rev. Dr. Kwabena Opuni-Frimpong has asked President Akufo-Addo to use the Senchi Consensus approach used by former President John Dramani Mahama when the country was struck by ‘dumsor’ to turn around the current economic problems facing the country.
He spoke in an interview after delivering a sermon at the 10th Anniversary celebration of the God’s Love Presbyterian Church at Satellite, Kutunse in the Greater Accra region on Sunday, December 4, 2022.
Deputy Director of Operations for the Nursingand Midwifery Council, Ampem Oklodu-Abbey has said that the Council’s duty is more focused on the preventive measures of medical negligence rather than being reactive about it.
In an interview on Prime Morning, Wednesday, Mr. Oklodu-Abbey said that it’s not deliberate that nurses and midwives and other health professionals would harm patients or be careless with their work, but sometimes in the line of duty, some mishaps may happen which can cause injury to patients.
He, however, indicated that if a patient feels something is wrong, he/she can report to the Council and once the complaint is received, they analyse it and begin investigation.
According to him, the complaint is then referred to the Council’s disciplinary committee and both parties (patient and facility) are listened to for actions to be taken.
Mr. Abbey also mentioned some of the punishments that are meted out to guilty professionals depending on the magnitude of the offense which include; reprimand, suspension, cancelling of name from their books for a period of time and outright dismissal or revocation of license as a nurse or midwife.
“Sometimes there’s a cost component to it,” he added.
He also mentioned that previously, nurses and midwives were required to renew their license every 3 years, but currently it’s done annually and prior to that, nurses and midwives are required to bring evidence of continuous professional development.
Mr. Abbey continued that this initiative is to ensure that nurses and midwives undergo some form of professional training over the period before their license would be renewed for them to improve safety and effectiveness.
“Nurses and midwives are always expected to update their knowledge so your professional development as a nurse or midwife is your personal responsibility, the regulator creates the enabling environment for you to be able to meet the minimum standards required for you to function as a safe nurse or midwife”, he stated.
The Deputy Director also advised that before victims of medical negligence decide to go to court, they must first engage the facility to investigate what actually happened.
From there, they could also go to the regulatory body for better understanding and advice before they proceed to court if they’re still not convinced.
“Because if you’re going to make a complaint to a lawyer, you need to get the facts right to be able to brief them appropriately to advise you on what to do”, he mentioned.
He also shared that sometimes the fault isn’t solely from the professionals, the necessary equipment to help them are also unavailable and these are the challenges they’re facing.
The BBC has been given photos of Twitter office space that has been converted into bedrooms, which San Francisco authorities are probing as a possible building code violation.
One image shows a room with a double bed, including a wardrobe and slippers.
An ex-worker said new Twitter boss Elon Musk has been staying at the headquarters since he bought the firm.
He last month emailed all Twitter staff saying they “will need to be extremely hardcore” to succeed.
San Francisco’s Department of Building Inspection has confirmed it is investigating potential violations following a complaint.
Mr Musk said the city was attacking companies for providing beds to “tired employees”.
In a now-deleted tweet, Mr Musk posted that he would work and sleep in the office “until the org is fixed”.
The BBC has also been given pictures of sofas at Twitter being used as beds.
Another conference room has an alarm clock, and a picture placed over a made-up bed.
Former staff say wardrobes have been moved into Twitter’s HQ
“It looks like a hotel room,” said one former worker. They went on to say that Mr Musk regularly sleeps at the Twitter HQ in San Francisco.
Twitter did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the BBC.
Last month Mr Musk – who completed his Twitter takeover in October – emailed all staff at the company saying they would need to work “long hours at high intensity”.
“Only exceptional performance will constitute a passing grade,” he wrote.
California state senator Scott Wiener told the BBC on Wednesday: “He’s now making them [workers] sleep at Twitter.
“It’s clear that he doesn’t really care about people. He doesn’t care about the people who work for him.”
A Department of Building Inspection official told the BBC’s US partner CBS News: ‘We need to make sure the building is being used as intended.”
Two sofas with bedding on them
In a reply to a journalist on Twitter, Mr Musk posted that the city should prioritise protecting children from the consequences of opioid drug misuse.
‘Office armchairs’
Forbes broke the story of “sad little conference-room sleeping quarters at the company’s recently depopulated headquarters”, noting it was an apparent improvement on the improvised sleeping-bag-on-the-floor arrangement posted on Twitter by one employee.
The bedrooms, Bloomberg reported, are also said to accommodate staff from Tesla and other Musk-owned businesses brought in to work at Twitter, “some of whom travel to Twitter for work meetings”, sources told the publication.
Department of Building Inspection official Patrick Hannan told the San Francisco Chronicle it investigated all complaints and there were different rules for residential buildings, even those used for short-term stays.
In May 2020, before Mr Musk’s takeover, Twitter told employees they could work from home “forever” if they so wished because its remote-working measures during Covid lockdowns had been a success.
John Mahama criticized President Akufo Addo in a speech at the 13th Congregation of the Accra Business School for not reducing the size of the government in order to save operating costs.
Though government has announced some austerity measures including cut back in salaries of appointees by 30%, limited use of V8 vehicles and cut back on fuel coupons, cut back on FX support for the importation of some items amongst other measures, the 2020 National Democratic Congress flagbearer noted that such measures are insignificant in addressing the challenges facing the economy.
“Expenditure has increased significantly by almost 80 billion cedis. There is no significant expenditure cut that mirror the gravity of the situation we have found ourselves in. It appears that we are set to live with the excessively bloated government especially in the Presidency.
“One would have thought that the size of government will be reduced to cut down expenditure. This administration is not willing to make any sacrifices, all the sacrifices are to be borne by the Ghanaian people,” he said.
He stated further that the 2023 budget is riddled with more frivolous expenditure that could have been avoided to save resources for more productive adventures.
Parliament on November 24 approved the 2023 budget despite opposition from the minority group.
The budget contains a debt exchange programme and increased VAT which have been described by Mr Mahama as sacrifices being slapped on the citizenry.
Franklin Cudjoe criticized the administration in a message that was published on Facebook on Wednesday for the way it was handling the economy.
He asked Ghanaians to carefully consider the candidates they choose to govern the nation.
“Based on Marked to Market value, I received a haircut in my EDC investment of slightly more than 100,000 cedis throughout the years.
In a somewhat harsh addition, my fund manager says that investors who decide to hold onto their investments until Ghana’s macroeconomic situation and bond prices improve are unlikely to collect these losses.
“Folks, based on IMANI’s analysis of government handling of finances from 2010 to 2022, leading to the publication of IMANI’s Fiscal Recklessness Index, this means waiting for at least 8 years for governments not to be so reckless in pretending to manage the economy.
“And this will be hoping against hope. Until we fix our broken political system that rewards cheap sloganeering with limitless tax and borrowed funds to be splurged at will, we are going nowhere,” he said.
He stated in a four-minute address that the announcement was in line with government’s Debt Sustainability Analysis as contained in the 2023 budget he presented to parliament on November 24.
The minister laid out, among others, the exchange of existing domestic bonds with four new ones as well as their maturity dates and terms of coupon payments.
He also addressed the overarching goal of the government relative to its engagements with the International Monetary Fund as well as measures to minimize impact of domestic bond exchange on different stakeholders.
“The Government of Ghana has been working hard to minimize the impact of the domestic debt exchange on investors holding government bonds, particularly small investors, individuals, and other vulnerable groups,” he said before outlining three main measures:
• Treasury Bills are completely exempted and all holders will be paid the full value of their investments on maturity.
• There will be NO haircut on the principal of bonds.
• Individual holders of bonds will not be affected.
Moscow has charged 92 members of the Ukrainian armed forces with crimes against humanity, the head of Russia’s investigative committee has said.
Alexander Bastrykin told government news site Rossiiskaya Gazeta over 1,300 criminal investigations had begun
He also proposed an international tribunal backed by countries including Iran, Syria and Bolivia – traditional allies of Russia.
Ukraine is also conducting its own war crimes investigations.
As well as the 92 who have already been charged by Russia, some 96 people, including 51 armed forces commanders, are wanted, Mr Bastrykin said.
The Ukrainians were involved in “crimes against the peace and security of humanity”, he told the newspaper.
The BBC has been unable to verify claims made in the interview and Kyiv has not commented.
But this month, Ukraine said it was examining more than 21,000 war crimes and crimes of aggression allegedly committed by Russian forces since the start of the invasion in February.
And in May, the first war crimes trial since the invasion began took place in Ukraine, where a court jailed a Russian tank commander for life for killing a civilian.
The International Criminal Court (ICC), which has described Ukraine as a “crime scene”, has also sent a team of investigators and forensics experts to Ukraine.
The Kremlin denies all war crimes, or that it has been targeting civilians. It has regularly blamed Ukraine for shelling its own infrastructure and killing its own civilians – accusations which have been widely dismissed by international leaders.
When asked in the interview whether a UN-backed trial could take place, Mr Bastrykin accused the West of openly sponsoring “Ukrainian nationalism” and said such a thing “is extremely doubtful”.
Moscow has repeatedly made the false claim that Ukraine is overrun by neo-Nazis as justification for what it calls a “special military operation”.
Mr Bastrykin instead proposed that an international tribunal should be set up with countries that have “an independent position on the Ukrainian issue” – in particular Syria, Iran and Bolivia.
Syria and Iran both voted against a UN resolution in March condemning Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, while Bolivia abstained.
Along with hundreds of Ukrainian military and political targets, Mr Bastrykin said investigations are under way into Ukrainian health ministry employees who he accused, without providing evidence, of developing weapons of mass destruction.
Suspected mercenaries from the UK, the US, Canada, the Netherlands and Georgia are under investigation, he told the newspaper.
In June, two Britons and a Moroccan who were captured while fighting for Ukraine were sentenced to death by a Russian proxy court in eastern Ukraine.
Aiden Aslin, Shaun Pinner and Brahim Saaudun are accused of being mercenaries, but the Britons’ families have insisted they are long-serving members of the Ukrainian military.
Many Ghanaian women have expressed interest in getting married to the Ajax star and are gushing about Mohammed Kudus.
The Ajax midfielder contributed to three goals throughout the World Cup in Qatar tournament, helping the Black Stars advance out of the group stage by scoring two goals and setting up one.
The 23-year-old made a huge impact in his first major tournament for the Ghana national team, and also send signals to top European clubs with his performances ahead of the January transfer window.
Kudus has gotten the attention of the ladies being the star player for the Ghana national team at the tournament.
Just like Junior Agogo during the 2008 Africa Cup of Nations hosted in Ghana, Kudus is the most sought after gentleman in the country.
Kudus images and videos has gone viral mainly because of marriage proposal from some Ghanaian ladies on social media.
One lady on her post shared a wedding invitation which had Mohammed Kudus as the groom to be.
Very hilarious but the former Nordsjaelland midfielder is the hottest and most wanted boy in the country.
The Russia-Ukraine war began with the deployment of Russian troops to a shared Russian-Ukrainian border towards the end of 2021. On February 24, 2022, Russia’s President, Vladimir Putin, ordered military operations in Ukraine, arguing that the invasion was to “de-militarize” and “de-Nazify” the Republic of Ukraine.
Nine months have passed since the conflict began and in this period, excessive havoc has been wreaked on Ukraine. Despite widespread condemnation by the international community, there appears to be no end in sight.
While it may seem as though this war only concerns these two nations, it has had an immense impact on the global economic climate. Since the inception of the war, worldwide prices of essential commodities such as oil, wheat, agricultural inputs, etc, have skyrocketed. This is because Russia and Ukraine are among the world’s leading breadbaskets. Approximately 30 percent of the world’s wheat and barley, a fifth of the world’s maize supply, and over a half of the world’s sunflower oil are exported by these two states alone. Russia is the leading exporter of nitrogen fertilizer and the second-highest exporter of both potassium and phosphorous fertilizers. Russia is also the world’s largest exporter of natural gas and the second-largest producer of the commodity. Furthermore, Russia is the world’s third leading producer of crude oil; producing roughly 13 per cent of the world’s crude oil. Ukraine, on the other hand, is a hub for the production of vehicle parts mostly used by automakers.
With the two warring states being key producers of some of the world’s primary commodities, the destruction occasioned by the war and the sanctions that have consequently been imposed on Russia, have limited the availability of these commodities on the world market, accounting for the global price hikes. In July 2022, the two states reached an agreement to free up Ukrainian grain exports which have been held up since the inception of the war. Russia, however, refused to uphold her part of the deal until recently, blaming a drone attack in Crimea’s Bay of Sevastopol by Ukraine.
In view of the fact that most African economies are import-driven; depending largely on the importation of the essential commodities mentioned above, the war has had colossal socio-economic impacts on the continent. Countries such as Ghana, Senegal, Cameroon and Kenya which are heavily reliant on chemical fertilizers imported from Russia, have been faced with fertilizer shortages which have adversely affected their ability to produce food crops in high volumes. The cost of producing food crops, has increased, thereby escalating the price of food items on the market. In Kenya for instance, corn and cabbage farmers have had to cut down on production due to their inability to afford chemical fertilizers. Farmers across the continent may be pushed to dispense with fertilizing their crops altogether, which will ultimately lower the quality and quantity of food crops. In addition, the energy sector in Cameroon, Nigeria and Equatorial Guinea has also been affected. Russian oil companies, which were very active in these countries, have curtailed their operations. Lukoil, a Russian oil company, has ceased its operations in Equatorial Guinea, while Libya, Congo and Egypt have had to limit oil and gas production due to delays at the loading terminals in their respective ports.
Despite the immense socio-economic ramifications, the Russia-Ukraine war has had on the African continent, the conflict presents Africa with a silver lining.
Food security
Africa is endowed with approximately 60 percent of the world’s arable land, yet Africa continues to rely heavily on produce from overseas farms. In 2020, Africa imported $4 billion worth of agricultural produce from Russia and $2.9 billion worth of same from Ukraine. The current economic crisis however makes it imprudent for African countries to continue to rely on imports of agricultural and related products. Zimbabwe has set a good example by boosting the production of wheat in excess of 250 000 tonnes to cater for her domestic demand, saving over a $100 million, which would have otherwise been lost through importation. Other African countries must follow suit. Ethiopia is currently the leading producer of wheat in Africa, producing about 5.1 million tonnes of wheat annually. Ethiopia can take practical steps to supplement its production efforts, to establish its place as a principal supplier of wheat on the global market. African countries must also look to biotechnology to help combat the effects of climate change and to develop drought-resistant strains of crops such as maize, wheat, cocoa and cashew to increase crop production and in effect, promote food security.
Oil and gas exploration and production
The existence of oil and gas reserves on the continent provides vast opportunities for sustained economic growth. Nigeria, Senegal and Tanzania have approximately 206 trillion cubic feet, 40 trillion cubic feet and 57 trillion cubic feet of natural gas, respectively, in their reserves. African countries must invest in new refineries and petrochemical complexes, adopt the use of artificial intelligence, machine learning and hands-on specialized training to better equip themselves to present alternative sources of energy to meet the world’s demand. By doing so, not only will they strengthen their economies through large-scale exports, but cost of living stands to be reduced considerably due to a decrease in regional fuel prices.
Agricultural inputs
Oil-refining has the added effect of generating secondary products; ammonia and urea ammonium nitrate which are needed in the production of nitrogen fertilizers. African countries can, therefore, look to locally produced chemical fertilizers to boost food production. Increased production will reduce prices of food supplies such that they are accessible to even the most vulnerable groups among the populace.
Geopolitics
While African countries have largely trodden the path of neutrality with regards to their support or condemnation of the war, the impact their economies have suffered as a result are grave. Donor countries are channeling significant amounts of their resources into de-escalation efforts such that there is little support available to combat the threats of political instability in Africa. The response of the international community to the war has also revealed to Africa, the contrast in the readiness of international co-operations to go to the aid of Western states that have come under fire and ultimately threaten their national interests, against the readiness with which they respond to calls for support in fighting security threats on the African continent. This ought to push African countries to be more strategic in their international alliances and prioritize their national interest in their international relations.
Conclusion
For a developing continent, the least hike in prices of basic commodities escalates the cost of living, thus posing threats of popular uprisings that imperil the relative political stability enjoyed across parts of the continent. African leaders must embrace the shifts that the Russia-Ukraine war have brought to the global economy, by restructuring their economies to be more dependent on homegrown products and judiciously manage state resources. Once they have adopted this strategy, the likelihood of experiencing uprisings similar to those experienced in the 2010 Arab Spring and the 2022 Sri Lankan protests can be diminished. While the Russia-Ukraine war is unjustified and unfortunate, the varied avenues for growth that it presents to Africa must not be underestimated.
************
The author, Maame Ekua Otenewa Oduro is a Democracy and Governance (D&G) intern at the Ghana Center for Democratic Development (CDD-Ghana), and a law student at the University of Ghana.
Every time the government budget and economic strategy are presented to Parliament, Bawumia always goes with the minister of finance.
Without Bawumia present, Ken Ofori-Atta presented the budget for this year on November 24.
Some NDC (National Democratic Congress) members began to speculate that Bawumia didn’t want to be identified with the document as a result of his absence.
Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu explaining the absence on December 6, 2022 during his final address on the budget debate explained that by law, the president causes to be prepared and laid before parliament the budget with a month to end of year.
“The president causes the budget to be prepared, he doesn’t do the preparation himself and again, the president causes it to be laid in the House, he doesn’t do it himself,” he submitted.
On Bawumia’s absence, he explained that the Vice President was as at November 24 acting as the president because Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo was outside of the country and had duly transferred presidential powers.
“Mr. Speaker, in the lead up to the presentation, the president was outside this country, the vice president had assumed the office of the president as the acting president and he couldn’t therefore have accompanied the Finance Minister to this chamber.”
He then took a swipe at the Minority stating: “Mr. Speaker, this really is fundamental and I thought our colleagues will appreciate this. But as usual, they wouldn’t understand and they would inflict their own ignorance on Ghanaians.”
After his address, the budget dubbed ‘Nkabom budget’ was passed by a voice vote whiles MPs continue to debate the nitty gritty as related to estimates for the various Ministries, Departments and Agencies.
Appropriation is expected to be passed before the end of year as that would help government’s efforts at securing an International Monetary Fund support programme. The IMF conditionality has led to an increasingly unpopular domestic debt restructuring programme.
He claims that the government is wasting a ton of money on some deputy ministers who are doing almost nothing to stop the nation’s economic decline.
Using the Food and Agriculture Ministry’s deputy ministers as an illustration, Dr. Fokuo stated he does not understand why President Akufo-Addo would allow them to continue buying and selling plantains like other market women.
The senior lecturer believes non-performance by some appointees and ministers serving under the incumbent administration has rendered them redundant.
Speaking on the Kumasi-based OTEC 102.9 FM’s breakfast show “Nyansapo”, on Wednesday, December 6, 2022, Dr. Forkuo said it was highly unnecessary for the government to keep many ministers, at the time the country is dealing with debt restructuring and haircuts on bonds.
“Many sector ministers and their deputies whose performance in the past year is nothing good to write home about should not be entertained by the President”
The senior lecturer believes non-performance by some appointees and ministers serving under the incumbent administration has rendered them redundant.
Speaking on the Kumasi-based OTEC 102.9 FM’s breakfast show “Nyansapo”, on Wednesday, December 6, 2022, Dr. Forkuo said it was highly unnecessary for the government to keep many ministers, at the time the country is dealing with debt restructuring and haircuts on bonds.
Governance is serious business, therefore, any minister or appointee who fails to focus in their respective fields of endeavor to bring the government’s vision to fruition must be sacked without delay,” he told the host, Captain Koda.
“Many sector ministers and their deputies whose performance in the past year is nothing good to write home about should not be entertained by the President”
The National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA) is on the verge of opening new offices across Ghana to make the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) accessible to people regardless of their geographical locations.
It is against this backdrop that two new NHIS district offices have been inaugurated in Kumbungu and Nanton districts in the Northern Region.
The projects were duly inaugurated by the NHIA Chief Executive, Dr. Bernard Okoe Boye on December 5, 2022, in Kumbungu and Nanton respectively.
Some members of the NHIA Governing Board, Executive Management and staff witnessed the inaugural ceremonies.
Kumbungu
At Kumbungu, Alaafe Bonzali Naa, Dr. Okoe Boye said the NHIA offices were established because health is a right of every resident of Ghana.
He added that the NHIA was duty-bound to ensure that all people have equitable access to effective healthcare services at all levels.
Dr. Okoe Boye thanked the Minister for Tourism, Dr. Mohammed Awal for donating the building to the NHIA.
He urged the skeletal staff to put up their best and promised to augment the staff numerical strength.
The chiefs and residents of Kumbungu were elated since they would no longer travel to Tolon for enrolment onto the NHIS.
Nanton office
The Member of Parliament (MP) for the Nanton constituency, Alhaji Mohammed Hardi Tuferu masterminded the construction of the NHIS office complex.
Alaafe Bonzali Naa, Dr. Okoe Boye commended the MP for his tireless efforts in ensuring that the NHIS office was set up.
He said the newly established offices would be fully furnished to serve the people.
Dr. Okoe Boye who is on a working visit to the Northern belt earlier inaugurated the Mion NHIS district office.
Salis Abdul Samed wants the Black Stars‘ new coach to stick with the present lineup despite the team’s World Cup group stage elimination.
After falling to Uruguay 2-0 on Friday, the four-time African champions were eliminated from the competition.
Ghana finished bottom of Group H with three points after losing to Portugal and Uruguay, having beaten South Korea in between.
“It was a good experience for us. We learnt many things from it [World Cup].”
“We don’t know one another much but if we continue to keep this group we will get better,” Samed told Daily Graphic.
“We need to work together and be more compact when we’re defending and help each other as we did against Portugal – the first half they got zero chance, but scored in the second half through counter-attacks when we had more spaces between us.”
Otto Addo will leave his post as Ghana coach at the end of December 2022.
Associate Professor of Finance at the University of Ghana Business School, Professor Godfred Bokpin, says the pushback against government’s debt exchange programme is due to the fact that government has failed to internalize its austerity measures.
Describing the debt exchange programme as being too drastic and steep, he stated that government’s failure to do enough on its part has made its request for the financial system instruments to bear the brunt a bit disproportionate.
“I can’t imagine that people sat down and conceptualized something like this and say that we’re going to implement it. This is the NPP that believes in the private sector. This is a country that says that the private sector is the engine of growth. I mean, it’s worrying,” he said on JoyNews’ PM Express.
According to Prof. Bokpin, the prevailing economic situation has become a matter of grave concern, especially for banks, as they are at risk of becoming insolvent due to their eroding capital.
He has projected that banks may have to recapitalize in the next three years to remain robust.
“I’m saying it’s worrying because without even applying debt operation, if you mark to market, government financial instruments in the books of banks today are translating to income losses. For some of them in under basel ii risk based capital prescription they may have to bring additional capital.
“If you look at the exchange rate losses, look, a couple of years ago we said ‘let’s increase the minimum capital requirement to 400million cedis. If you look at that in today’s exchange rate that’s worth very little in dollar terms.
“If you want to make the banking sector robust to support economic growth then we should be looking at the next three years or so recapitalizing banks all over again,” he said.
Meanwhile, he has urged the Financial Stability Council to rather give the 15billion cedis they intend to use to set up a financial stability fund for banks, to the government.
He said, “Why do you want to weaken the balance sheet of banks and later go and set up 15billion to help them? If they could mobilise the 15billion let them give it to government. It is the government’s balance sheet that has deteriorated. Why are we doing this to ourselves? It would have been easier to manage the pain if government had internalized the austerity. Leadership by example.”
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA)has provided justification for its order prohibiting celebrities from promoting alcoholic beverages within the nation.
Some celebrities have filed a lawsuit against the FDA, saying that the agency’s order has prevented them from earning money from another source.
However, in response, Dr. Olivia Boateng, Head of the FDA’s Tobacco and Substance Abuse Department, said that their guidance is a part of attempts to safeguard children from being lurred into alcoholism.
She continued by saying that celebrities should consider the health effects on young people who look up to them rather than just their financial rewards.
“Evidence has it that when celebrities advertised these brands, the young ones are lured or motivated into using these things. Celebrities are only thinking about the financial gains but on a larger scale, our public health issues should rise above that.”
Many people involved in the creative sector, including Wendy Shay, Shatta Wale, Brother Sammy, Kuami Eugene, and Camidoh, had spoken out against the law before this lawsuit and urged decision-makers to abolish it.
Mark Darlington Osae, the plaintiff and a music publisher at Perfect Note Publishing, submitted a writ of summons on November 11, 2022, alleging that the FDA’s 2015 regulations discriminate against the creative arts sector.
The FDA regulation that said “no well-known personality or professional shall be employed in alcoholic beverage promotion” is in conflict with and in violation of sections 17(1) and 17(2) of the 1992 Constitution, according to Mark, who is the Chairman and Co-Founder of Ghana Music Alliance.
The 1992 Constitution’s Articles 17(1) and 17(2) ensure equality before the law and forbid discrimination against people based on their social or economic position or occupation, among other things. These provisions are thus invalid and unenforceable.
Pressure group, OccupyGhana, has outlined some ten measures which can potentially put the country’s economy on track should they be implemented by government.
According to the group, government cannot continue to blame the Covid-19 pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine war for its current situation since the country’s “debt was unsustainable even before these external factors kicked in and compounded an already precarious situation.”
In a statement sighted by JoyNews, OccupyGhana argued that the recent debt restructuring programme announced by government through the Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta is not in the best interest of Ghanaians or investors, hence the ten recommendations listed.
First, the pressure group is reiterating earlier calls for the President to cut down on the size of his government.
This, they claim, will send “a powerful message in these tough and painful times that the Government is serious about its commitment to do better while requesting sacrifices from the general public.”
Again, OccupyGhana is urging the President, Nana Akufo-Addo to start paying his income tax. They believe the President paying his income taxes will compel other citizens to do same.
“We should remove the tax exemption granted to the President under article 68(5) of the Constitution. While the actual savings from this might not be much, it is hugely significant and relevantly symbolic. The President must lead by example,” the group stressed.
While asking the President to revise all tax exemptions given out, OccupyGhana is also calling for the scrapping of ex-gratia payments to all Article 71 Officeholders.
Find the rest of the recommendations below:
GHANA’S CURRENT ECONOMIC SITUATION – OUR FURTHER THOUGHTS AND PROPOSALS
OccupyGhana has noted, with considerable concern, the Finance Minister’s announcements on restructuring portfolio investments. While IMF support depends on the proposed ‘haircuts,’ they are extremely painful to the many Ghanaians who have participated in these investments. Simply, under this Government’s watch, Ghana has become broke under circumstances that were avoidable and are inexcusable and unpardonable.
As we stated in our Press Release dated 28 October 2022 (Our ref: OG/2022/050) and titled GHANA’S CURRENT ECONOMIC SITUATION – OUR THOUGHTS AND PROPOSALS, the nation would not be in this situation but for the Government’s failed, risky economic strategy that borrowed heavily from the international market to fund expenditure, pay maturing debt, support the cedi and possibly control the effect of the depreciation on inflation. This risky strategy effectively relied on good fortune and extremely astute economic management, both of which failed. Thus, although the Government would seek to blame the pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine war for this disaster, it cannot evade or avoid the fact that our debt was unsustainable even before these external factors kicked in and compounded an already precarious situation.
TWO BROAD COMMENTS
We have two broad comments on the announcements that request Ghanaians to forego legitimately earned funds to help the Government out of the disaster it has created.
First, we consider the Finance Minister’s announcements as nothing more than an offer from the Government to institutional portfolio investors to accept new terms that vary the terms under which the latter acquired the Government’s securities. We think that the Government has no power under the law and the Constitution to unilaterally impose fresh terms on portfolio investors; negotiation and the mutual consent of all parties will be required.
Second, notwithstanding the claims that individual investors are insulated from the proposed ‘haircuts,’ the millions of Ghanaians whose funds (pension or otherwise) have been invested by institutional fund managers in Government securities, will be the ultimate losers in this new offer. That is because those fund managers will simply pass the cuts on to their clients and customers.
There is simply no way to understate the terrible consequences that this state of affairs has caused and will cause to Ghanaians. That is why we believe that any offer to the citizens, who are already hit with the multiple effects of inflation and cedi depreciation, to essentially bail the Government out of its self-afflicted disaster, must come with an acceptance of failures and a firm commitment to do better.
TEN RECOMMENDATIONS
We therefore recommend 10 things that the government may act upon.
First, reduce number of Government appointees by at least fifty percent. This may be achieved by consolidating several ministries and slashing the number of political appointees (ministerial and otherwise), such as all deputies and the like, and entrusting public servant-technocrats with the responsibility of supporting substantive heads. This will send a powerful message in these tough and painful times that the Government is serious about its commitment to do better while requesting sacrifices from the general public.
Second, let the President pay income taxes too. We should remove the tax exemption granted to the President under article 68(5) of the Constitution. While the actual savings from this might not be much, it is hugely significant and relevantly symbolic. The President must lead by example. When he pays his taxes, then he can demand that the rest of us pay taxes too.
Third, it is time to rationalise the so-called ‘article 71 benefits.’ Ghana needs to end the three-decade-old grand conspiracy among the political class that milks Ghana under the false argument that article 71 authorises so-called ‘ex-gratia payments.’ We must eradicate the multiple claims of ex-gratia; the multiple claims over different administrative/government terms do not make sense and are difficult to sustain. We must also immediately end the false scheme by which successive governments deliberately delay the setting up of the emoluments committee till the end of their terms, so that salaries and emoluments are agreed upon and calculated literally at the ‘midnight’ of the outgoing government, considered and adopted in secrecy to precious little debate, and then applied retrospectively. Ghanaians only get to find out the huge pay-outs to the executive and legislators after-the-fact. We demand that the committees are established at the start of each government so that we know what and how much the political actors are entitled to when they assume office. The current government must establish the committees NOW.
Fourth, revise all tax exemptions, especially those granted to incomes and gains from portfolio investments. The Government must as a matter of urgency, amend section 7(1)(p) to (v) of the Income Tax Act, 2015 (Act 896) to remove all or some of the exemptions on incomes and gains from portfolio investments. These are not normal times, and we propose imposing a specific, time-bound withholding income tax regime on such earnings. Ghana may consider re-granting the exemptions when we have recovered.
Fifth, intensify and institutionalise GRA’s invigilation activities. In addition, the legal sanctions for under-reporting and tax evasion must be drastically applied.
Sixth, explain the source of funding of the proposed Financial Stability Fund (FSF). Extreme transparency of the proposed programme and its implementation is required. If the Government is broke and requires an IMF bailout, where will the monies for the FSF come from?
Seventh, pursue the Auditor-General’s Disallowances and Surcharges. The Government must show some seriousness in pursuing those the Auditor-General has found to have caused loss to Ghana. To the best of our knowledge, the Government is doing nothing to enforce the Auditor-General’s disallowances and surcharges. The President issued a terribly belated instruction to heads of institutions to provide to him the names of all persons identified to have caused losses to the state in the Auditor-General’s Reports. The President’s deadline has come and gone with no communication or indication on whether the names were indeed supplied to the President, and what the President is going to do with them.
Eighth, end Galamsey. The Government has to address the Galamsey menace as a matter of urgency, as our natural resources are plundered and ecosystem destroyed. The much-publicised Kumasi meetings do not appear to have borne fruit. We have written to the President at least 9 times in the past six weeks, in addition to several other previous statements on this, challenging the Government to properly regulate artisanal mining in a way that benefits the nation. They have all been ignored. Our current efforts will come to nothing if this canker is allowed to overcome any future economic recovery.
Ninth, slash all non-critical government expenditure. Implement a ruthless focus on prioritising government projects and expenditure, and ensure a strict relationship to GDP growth going forward. And, the Government must provide monthly reports on the how much money all announced cost-saving measures have delivered. We specifically recommend the suspension of all fees and allowances paid to persons appointed by the Government to serve on various boards. We also recommend suspending all expenditure on the proposed National Cathedral. Whatever arguments there might have been to support spending now non-existent money on the proposed National Cathedral, have been eroded by the dire straits that the nation faces. Our current situation makes the continued commitment in the budget to spend GHS80M on the cathedral, look like a vanity project. We lose nothing by suspending expenditure on that project until the economy recovers.
Tenth, rationalise the President’s Flagship programmes. This includes the Free SHS scheme. Every Ghanaian who can pay fees should pay. Limit the scheme to only those who can prove that they are not capable of paying fees.
In conclusion, a Government that is pleading with Ghanaians to bail it out of a self-afflicted disaster, must ‘bear fruits worthy of repentance.’
The Deputy Director of Operations for the Nursing and Midwifery Council, Ampem Oklodu-Abbey, has stated that the Council’s responsibility is more focused on the preventative measures of medical negligence than it is on being reactive to it.
Mr. Oklodu-Abbey stated in a Prime Morning interview on Wednesday that it isn’t on purpose for nurses, midwives, or other healthcare personnel to hurt patients or be reckless with their job, but that mistakes can occasionally occur in the course of duty and damage people.
He did, however, say that if a patient thinks something is incorrect, he or she may report it to the Council, and once the complaint is received, they analyze it and start an inquiry.
He claims that the Council’s disciplinary committee then receives the complaint and consults with both the patient and the institution to determine the appropriate course of action.
According to the severity of the violation, Mr. Abbey also stated some of the penalties meted out to guilty professionals, including reprimand, suspension, temporary removal from their records, outright dismissal, or loss of a nurse or midwife license.
“Sometimes there’s a cost component to it,” he added.
Additionally, he highlighted that nurses and midwives now just need to renew their licenses yearly, as opposed to the former requirement that they provide documentation of ongoing professional growth.
Mr. Abbey went on to say that the goal of this project is to make sure that nurses and midwives receive some kind of professional training prior to having their licenses renewed in order to increase their safety and efficacy.
“Nurses and midwives are always expected to update their knowledge so your professional development as a nurse or midwife is your personal responsibility, the regulator creates the enabling environment for you to be able to meet the minimum standards required for you to function as a safe nurse or midwife”, he stated.
The Deputy Director further recommended that patients who had experienced medical malpractice contact the hospital to conduct an investigation before making a decision to file a lawsuit.
If they’re still not satisfied, they might next turn to the regulating authority for clarification and guidance before going to court.
“Because if you’re going to make a complaint to a lawyer, you need to get the facts right to be able to brief them appropriately to advise you on what to do”, he mentioned.
He also mentioned that sometimes it’s not only the experts who are at fault; they occasionally have difficulties since the tools they need to assist them are also not available.
President Akufo-Addo’s list of candidates for appointment as Justices of the Supreme Court has been reported by the Appointments Committee of Parliament to the House.
Mr Andrew Amoako Asiamah, the Second Deputy Speaker, Presiding as Speaker, subsequently referred the report to the House for consideration.
It would be recalled that on Tuesday, July 26, 2022, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, in accordance with Article 144(2) of the 1992 Constitution, communicated to Parliament the nominations of four Justices for appointment to the Supreme Court.
The Speaker, in accordance with Standing Order 172, referred the nominations to the Appointment Commitment of the House for consideration and report.
The nominees include Justice Barbara Frances Ackah-Yensu, Justice of the Court of Appeal; Mr Justice Samuel Kwame Adibu Asiedu, Justice of the Court of Appeal; Mr Justice George Kingsley Koomson, Justice of the Court of Appeal; and Mr Justice Ernest Yao Gaewu, Justice of the High Court.
The Committee after its deliberations recommended to the House by consensus the approval of the nominations of Justice Ackah-Yensu and Justice Asiedu for appointment as Justices of the Supreme Court.
It also requests the House to adopt its report and approve the nominees as Justices to the Supreme Court.
After making an impression in the Ghana Premier League this year, Sheriff Mohammed of Asante Kotoko has been called up to the Black Galaxies for the forthcoming competition.
Since moving from lower-tier club EurAfrica FC to the Porcupine Warriors in August, Mohammed has excelled as the center of the back four.
The 20-year-old tough tackling defender has appeared in all eight league games for the reigning Ghana Premier League champions.
Sheriff Mohammed signed a three-year contract with Asante Kotoko from EurAfrica FC for an unknown amount.
Black Galaxies head coach Annor Walker has announced a 40-man preliminary squad for the team to begin training at the Ghanaman Soccer of Excellence, Prampram in preparation for the 2023 African Nations Championship. The tournament begins in a few months.
Group C includes Ghana, Morocco, Sudan, and Madagascar.
Due to the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, the CHAN was postponed until 2023 and is now set to begin on January 13, 2023, in Algeria.
The Black Galaxies will take on MTN FA Cup holders Accra Hearts of Oak in a friendly game.
UTAG joins those opposing the debt exchange program in saying, “Don’t touch our money.”
The debt exchange program that the government launched on December 5, 2022 has drawn the attention of the University Teachers Association of Ghana (UTAG).
As they have spent years saving for their retirement, the Union claims that the government shouldn’t in any manner affect their pension savings.
“Our opinion is that our money should not be touched, pensions of our members and Ghanaians should not be affected as a result of the debt exchange programme because these are monies that they have legitimately contributed for their entire working lives, and they should be allowed to enjoy it while they are in pension,” Dr. Asare Asante-Annor, National Secretary of UTAG was quoted by myjoyonline.com.
He also noted that members of the association should not be made to bear the brunt of the government’s “irresponsibility” while urging the president to reduce the size of government.
“We also ask the government to go ahead with measures which will also control their expenditure. We have a lot of local resources that we believe we should make use of it efficiently.
“We have also talked about the size of government to be reduced significantly so that we know that we all share the burden. Also, some of the flagship programmes will have to be looked at critically,” he said.
The debt exchange programme announced by the government has come under heavy opposition from various Associations and Unions including the Trades Union Congress (TUC), the Ghana Medical Association (GMA), and the Chamber of Trustees.
These unions have argued that the programme will not serve their best interest as their investments will be greatly affected.
Yeboah was observed during a competition that RD Sports management organized at Mac Dan Park in Accra last month.
Mr. Roland said RD sports management organize a competition for young talented footballers as they invited chief scout and sporting director of FC Lens.
“It was not easy, but we were able to bring scout from FC Lens and as well as the club’s sporting director to Ghana,” Mr Roland Nunoo told kickoffghana.com.
“After the competition we were lucky Joshua was picked and this competition will not end now.
“I will make sure every year we organize it to bring out the best talents from Ghana and next time we will try our best and bring more scout on board to help us fish out the best talented footballers from Ghana.”
The 18-year-old started his football career with Division two side Bec Tero Sasana FC in Sunyani.
He is expected to have a successful trials and sign a permanent deal with the French Ligue 1 side.
The Academic City University College on Monday held a medical technology fair to provide updates to stakeholders on the progress of a local ventilator developed by the school.
The development of the ventilator is being funded by the German Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development.
The fair, which was attended by medical device manufacturers, researchers, academia, students, health practitioners, policymakers, health service providers, regulators, and vendors, was supported by iSTEAM Academy Limited and the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ).
It was on the theme “Building Local Capacity in Medical Technology,” and provided a platform for the exhibition of products and services offered by the healthcare industry while highlighting Ghana’s innovation in medical technology.
Prof. Fred McBagonluri, Founding President of Academic City University College and Co-Founder of iSTEAM, said ventilators became an essential commodity when the COVID-19 pandemic ravaged the world.
“Ventilators became an essential commodity that saved many lives. Unfortunately, Ghana did not have enough of these lifesavers because, while some were available, they were prohibitively expensive,” he said.
Prof McBagonluri said the situation necessitated him to collaborate with GIZ and to secure funding to develop a low-cost ventilator in Ghana.
“The plan was for Ghana and Africa to develop their own version of low-cost ventilators tailored to its terrain, using off-the-shelf and locally available material under a project dubbed Locovent4Africa,” he said.
The project, he said, aims to develop, manufacture, and distribute low-cost ventilators using locally available and off-the-shelf materials in developing countries to assist healthcare professionals in treating patients suffering from acute respiratory diseases because of COVID-19, as well as other respiratory infections.
Prof McBagonluri said iSTEAM, an innovative STEAM-based education enterprise undertook the task to establish local production capabilities for the low-cost, locally adaptive, and non-invasive medical ventilator to serve, treat and save patients’ lives.
Stakeholders who attended the fair stressed the need to scale up local inventions to meet the healthcare needs of the public.
