The Pan- African Organisation for Research and Protection of Violence on Women and Children (PAORP- VWC), has launched a project titled, “FM Radio for Strengthening Peace Building and Violence Prevention Mechanisms (RASP- VPM)” in Gushegu.
The Peace Project was organised by PAORP-VWC with funding from the European Union through Coginta-Ghana, a non-government organisation (NGO) working in the area of judicial, security, governance, social cohesion, conflict management and prevention, resilience, and peace building.
The purpose of the launch is to involve Community members in the project activities, solicit their views and other necessary information to enable the project to meet its target.
It is also to ensure that they listen to peace building messages over FM 94.7MHz radio at Gushegu, to achieve sustainable peace and violence prevention in Northern Ghana.
It will also collaborate with the Municipal Assembly in the area to set up “listening points mounted with loudspeakers for public consumption of peace programmes,” at vantage points in the Gushegu Municipality.
Mr Yaja Robert Dawuni, the Municipal Chief Executive for the area, commended the organisation for the great role it was playing in a bid to ending early Child marriage, child trafficking, violence against women and the use of the radio to promote peace in the Municipality.
He expressed the hope that the radio station would be used to also promote economic activities and educate the people on issues relating to violence against women which had characterized most households in recent times.
“Violence against women is gradually reducing daily in most communities in the area,” he added.
He said the Gushegu Municipal Assembly was committed to supporting the organization in all its activities and called on Traditional Authorities to do the same to enable the Municipality to grow and develop.
He warned the youth, husbands, wives, and the public to shun meaningless violence, considering its negative effects on society and developments at large.
Dr Ndonwie Peter, the Director of PAORP-VWC urged the Chiefs and people to own the project and stressed the readiness of the organization to welcome constructive suggestions, input, and advice regarding the Radio Station.
He commended stakeholders for their unflinching support to making the Peace Project a reality, adding that his outfit was poised to move Gushegu Municipal to the next level by way of developmental projects.
He thanked the European Union and Congita for their endless support towards the project.
He said considering the closeness of the Municipality to the border, the Radio could be of utmost support to educate and inform the people to be wary of insurgents and to report any suspicious character found around the communities to the security agencies.
Dr Ndonwie said the organization would undergo expansion works by putting up infrastructure to cater for children, who might be rescued from being trafficked and introduce them to some income generating activities and skills building.
“With this, they will be able to fend for themselves later in life and will not be liabilities to the family and Community at large,” he added.
He said when the youth does not have skills to create self-help employment, they are at risk of being recruited by extremist groups.
The Director hinted that the organization would commence a new project that involves the exchange of best practices in Child Parenting between the Municipality and neighbouring countries like Cameroon, Togo, Mali, and Benin.
Dr Muma Centia Bili, the Radio Station Manager called for the cooperation of stakeholders and Chiefs to sustain the project.
“If we really want to be at peace then we must work towards it now by preventing all forms of violence and radicalization,” she said.
Ms Millicent Duet, Coginta – Ghana Representative, said Coginta was an NGO that had expertise in security and governance, conflict management and resolution and Community development.
She said her outfit was currently implementing the NORPREVSEC programme in partnership with the Government and strengthening the judiciary services to meet International Standard.
She said Coginta- Ghana was also into the promotion of peaceful co – existence among ourselves as community members, Community participation and the readiness of Coginta Ghana to support PAORP- VWC to prevent violence extremisms in Northern Ghana.
She said her organization was working in collaboration with department of Community development to preach peace and development and appealed to the Chiefs and stakeholders to support the fight against violence extremisms and child marriage.
The Regent of Gushegu, Abdulai Mahamudu, called on Traditional Authorities in the area, stakeholders, and the public to support PAORP-VWC in its quest to minimize child trafficking, early marriage, violence against women and their efforts to promote peace in the municipality.
Ghana and four other ECOWAS member countries have benefited from a USD 250 million fund from the ECOWAS Bank for Investment and Development (EBID).
The other beneficiary countries are Burkina Faso, Nigeria, Senegal, and Sierra Leone.
A copy of its release to the Ghana News Agency said the Board of Directors of EBID approved the fund to boost the oil and gas, energy, road infrastructure and agriculture sectors of member states.
The approvals are part of the intensified efforts by EBID to invest in key sectors to spur up post-COVID pandemic recovery and mitigate the impact of the Russian – Ukraine war on the Member States of ECOWAS.
The disclosure was made by Dr George Agyekum Donkor, the President and Chairman of the Board of Directors of EBID, at the just-ended 79th session of the Board of Directors of the bank.
Dr Donkor observed that the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the ongoing Russian – Ukraine war has left many economies in tatters.
He said the current market conditions had compelled investors to seek premiums on investments in sub-Saharan Africa thereby increasing the cost of capital.
According to the President of EBID, this had resulted in dampening economic growth, the wide-spread balance of payments deficits, unfavourable terms of trade, depletion of central bank international reserves, fiscal deficits, and debt distress.
Dr Donkor stressed the need for EBID, as the financial arm of ECOWAS, to deepen its financial inter-mediation in all the critical sectors of the Member States to assist them to recover from the economic challenges.
Present at the session was Damtien L. Tchintchibidja, the Vice-President of the ECOWAS Commission, who lauded the tremendous impact of EBID’s interventions in the sub-region and assured the Bank of the commitment of the new administration of the ECOWAS Commission to collaborate and support EBID in its multifarious activities especially in the area of resource mobilisation to transform the ECOWAS Communities.
The EBID is a leading regional investment and development bank, owned by the 15 ECOWAS Member States, namely, Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, Côte d’Ivoire, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, and Togo.
Based in Lomé, Togolese Republic, the Bank is committed to financing developmental projects and programs covering diverse initiatives from infrastructure and basic amenities, rural development and environment, industry, and social services sectors, through its private and public sector windows.
EBID intervenes through a long, medium, and short-term loans, equity participation, lines of credit, refinancing, financial engineering operations and related services.
Former GHALCA chairman JY Appiah has narrated how he rejected an attempt by Anas Tiger Eye PI to give him money to take to the Ghana football association.
He added that the people who came to him talked about a sponsorship deal but he informed them that this is not the way to go about it.
Appiah also said he was shocked when he heard Kwesi Nyantakyi’s name mentioned in the expose.
“The last two years the distance wasn’t like the previous because if it were to be as the first one like I would have stopped him (Kwesi Nyantakyi) from travelling to Saudi and the rest. He would have told me and I would have stopped him from going,” he said on Peace FM as monitored by footballghana.com
“When someone is bringing a sponsorship he has to come to you and Anas people two or three came to me saying we are bringing you sponsorship and money. Sometimes I ask are you out of your mind, you are bringing me money you want to bribe me. He said he is bringing sponsorship so he wants to see Kwesi I told him my friend what you are saying does it sound well in your ears,”
“You are bringing GFA money and you want to give me money to go and see Kwesi do you think you are normal. I remember the boy that died when I saw his picture check it well he came to me trying to talk to me but I also didn’t like the answers I gave him but I think it was the work of God,”
“Suale he came to me twice trying to bring me something I told him my friend tell the truth if you bringing money to the FA you are bringing sponsorship and you tell me get this and go and see Kwesi that it sound well in your ears, it doesn’t so please get up and go. If he (Kwesi Nyantakyi had discussed all these with me I would have stop him from travelling. It was a planned it people sat down and planned it…everything. Kwesi is not money conscious. Kwesi I know him is not money conscious,”
Traders at Adum on Friday, reopened their shops following the intervention of the Asantehemaa, Nana Yaa Konadu.
The traders, most of whom deal in fast-moving consumer goods closed their shops on Monday, October 10, 2022, in protest of what they described as an unfavourable taxregime and the free fall of the Ghana cedis.
The closures left the Pampaso and PZ areas, considered as the busiest enclave in the Kumasi central business district empty while many traders who had come from near and far from Kumasi to buy some of these items were left stranded.
Mr Charles Kusi, Executive Secretary to the Kumasi Business Community told the Ghana News Agency in an interview on Friday that, they were opening the shops out of respect for the Asantehemaa.
He said the Asantehemaa sent a delegation to meet the executives of the Community to rescind their decision as they engaged the government to address their concerns.
“We are reopening our shops out of respect for the revered queen-mother, but we may be compelled to close the shops again if nothing good comes out of our engagement with the government”, he stated.
Mr Kusi said the Ashanti regional Minister had also invited their leadership to discuss their concerns and that he was looking forward to a fruitful deliberation.
Ghana is to commence the use of the ECOWAS Regional Network for Transit Trade (SIGMAT) in the first quarter of 2023, the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) has announced.
Mr Peter Antobre Ofori, Assistant Commissioner in charge of Transit at the Customs Division of GRA, said Ghana’s Customs administration has taken advanced steps to enrol in the SIGMAT system.
Mr Ofori speaking on the new system in Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority (GPHA) forum said ECOWAS required all customs administrations to automate their systems adding that some countries such as Liberia, Sierra Leone, and the Gambia were yet to automate theirs.
According to him, Ghana and Nigeria have done the automation but changed their systems, which required that they restart their networks.
“Presently, we haven’t been able to roll unto the SIGMAT, but we are in the process; We have established limited communication with Togo and designed a road map with Cote D’Ivoire and we are constantly meeting to ensure we roll on,” he said.
Mr Felix Kwakye, the Principal Programme Officer and Head of the Division of Tariff and Customs Procedures, at the ECOWAS Commission, said the SIGMAT system was an improvement over the Interstate Road Transit System which was a paper-based, manual system used in ECOWAS countries.
Mr Kwakye indicated that for quite a while, ECOWAS had been looking at leveraging information, communication, and technology to reform the transit regime within West Africa, as a measure to improve and make it more efficient.
“It will improve the exchange of messages between customs administrations based on the interconnectivity of the national customs IT systems; ECOWAS wants all 15 member states to roll unto the system.”
He said the transit trade had led to a lot of apprehension and a sense of insecurity for many countries, making them put in place measures to secure revenue and maintain security thereby incurring a lot of cost and delay in the transit trade for which the ordinary consumer at the country of destination bore.
He said to ensure that international conventions for trade were followed, and trade facilitated as efficiently as possible, SIGMAT was one of the interventions introduced to generate confidence in the transit trade and secure revenue.
Mr Kwakye revealed that feedback on revenue generation and trade facilitation has been encouraging from countries that have begun the use of the system.
He disclosed that processes have been undertaken for a “community guarantee mechanism” under the SIGMAT system, explaining that the bonds issued to cover cargoes on transit would have to be valid in every country throughout the entire transit corridor.
He added that the selected guarantor would have to be represented in all of those countries, stating that this measure and others were taken under the new ECOWAS regime were all geared towards checking cargo diversion.
The SIGMAT system according to customs would come at no extra cost to importers and exporters in the sub-region.
The system began pilotage in 2019, and in December 2021, the various heads of state within ECOWAS adopted a supplementary act on ECOWAS Community Transit which binds all member countries to implement the system.
The SIGMAT system which is already being operated in some Francophone countries is expected to enhance custom-to-custom communication, improve data collection, facilitate trade and secure revenue.
Traders at Adum on Friday, reopened their shops following the intervention of the Asantehemaa, Nana Yaa Konadu.
The traders, most of whom deal in fast-moving consumer goods closed their shops on Monday, October 10, 2022, in protest of what they described as an unfavourable tax regime and the free fall of the Ghana cedis.
The closures left the Pampaso and PZ areas, considered as the busiest enclave in the Kumasi central business district empty while many traders who had come from near and far from Kumasi to buy some of these items were left stranded.
Mr Charles Kusi, Executive Secretary to the Kumasi Business Community told the Ghana News Agency in an interview on Friday that, they were opening the shops out of respect for the Asantehemaa.
He said the Asantehemaa sent a delegation to meet the executives of the Community to rescind their decision as they engaged the government to address their concerns.
“We are reopening our shops out of respect for the revered queen-mother, but we may be compelled to close the shops again if nothing good comes out of our engagement with the government”, he stated.
Mr Kusi said the Ashanti regional Minister had also invited their leadership to discuss their concerns and that he was looking forward to a fruitful deliberation.
The talented youngster enjoyed a fantastic campaign with his Bristol City club during the 2021/22 football season in England.
As a result, he became a transfer target of a number of clubs in the English top-flight league at the end of last season.
Crystal Palace is one of the many clubs that expressed interest in his services. Although the club will make some advances to engage Bristol City, no agreement was reached.
As a result, Antoine Semenyo continued his stint with Bristol City in the English Championship.
As the new season takes shape, sources have confirmed that Crystal Palace are still interested to sign Antoine Semenyo.
The English top-flight club has been keeping tabs on the talented forward and remains interested in his services.
The club per information gathered are working in the background to sign the player either in the January window or the summer transfer window.
Besides Antoine Semenyo, Crystal Palace also wants to sign Tommy Conway from Bristol City:
The Coalition of Northern Ghana Civil Society Organisations has commended the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) for conducting investigations into suspected corruption and corruption-related offences in the Northern Development Authority (NDA).
The investigation was in respect of a contract awarded to A & B Consortium Services under the infrastructure for Poverty Eradication Programme.
The commendation was in a statement signed by Mr Bismark Adongo Ayorogo, the National Coordinator of the Coalition of Northern Ghana Civil Society Organisations in collaboration with the Northern Patriots in Research and Advocacy (NORPRA).
It said: “The directive of the OSP to the Accountant and Controller General to freeze payment arising from the alleged fraudulent contract of Ten Million Ghana cedis and the arrest of the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of NDA, his deputies and an official from the Jubilee House are particularly commendable.
“As a Coalition working not only to influence increased public investment in Northern Ghana for an accelerated socio-economic transformation of the area for shared prosperity of all Ghanaians, but also working to promote transparency and accountability in public resource management, it has keen interest in the matter.
“We therefore wish to call on government particularly his Excellency, the President of the Republic of Ghana and his Vice President to reassure the Ghanaian people of their determination and commitment to fight corruption by immediately giving a directive to the affected officials particularly the CEO of NDA, the two deputy CEOs of the NDA and any other suspect including those at the presidency to step aside for unimpeded investigations into the matter,” the statement said.
It stated that in the view of the Coalition, the continuous stay of the accused officials has the potential of obstructing or impeding the smooth conduct of the investigations into their alleged corrupt acts and of course compromising the quality of the outcome of the investigations.
“As a matter of fact, Northern Ghana is home to extreme poverty, food insecurity and limited employment opportunities. This situation certainly, without doubt, poses a serious threat to the country’s efforts made towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. (SDGs).
“The Coalition therefore finds it regrettable that the northerner with the finest privileged opportunity to serve and lead his people out of poverty and general underdevelopment through public service would turn round to rob his own people of the much-needed poverty eradication programme,” the statement said.
It stated that it is an undeniable fact that the quantum of money involved in this suspected corruption scandal was significant enough to provide poor and deprived communities with potable drinking water, farm inputs, health facilities and many more life-transforming facilities in line with the NDA’s mandate of accelerating economic and social development in Northern Ghana.
“Against this backdrop, it will only take a person with no sense of patriotism and love for humanity especially the poor, vulnerable and marginalized groups to consciously engage in acts that seek to deepen poverty and vulnerability in a poverty-stricken area like Northern Ghana,” it stated.
The statement said it was important that the Coalition was currently compiling a lot of information on many more suspected corruption related issues in NDA and would share with the public through a press conference as soon as practicable.
“While using this opportunity to also commend the former CEO of NDA, Dr Sulemana Anamzoya and Martin Kpebu for their bold decisions to petition the Presidency and OSP respectively on this matter, the Coalition, in view of the sad reality that, corruption has become so pervasive, endemic and cancerous in public service and the generality of the Ghanaian society, wishes to call on every Ghanaian especially anti-corruption agencies and crusaders to show much more interest in the issue and speak up to end the sustained efforts made by heartless individuals to promote corruption and deny the state of her effort to provide social and economic development to curb widespread poverty and deprivation in the country.
The Nubuke Foundation Centre for Clay and Textiles has organised five-day market access and exhibition for textile products (smocks), as part of activities of the foundation to mark the celebration of Dumba Festival.
The market exhibition, dubbed: “Woori Market”, (Weaving Market), showed the display of traditional fabrics (smock materials) and other items for sight attraction.
Speaking in an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA) at the festival grounds in Wa, Mr Emmanuel W. Wullingdool, the Programmes Manager of the Foundation Centre for Clay and Textiles, noted that Woori Market was to create an avenue for craftswomen to sell their fabrics and smocks products.
He said the cultural and creative arts industries were among the fastest-growing sectors of the economy in the world and had become essential for inclusive economic growth, reducing inequalities, and achieving the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals.
He explained that the three-year project was made possible with the financial support of the Arts for West Africa (AWA): Africa Caribbean Pacific countries (ACP) – European Union (EU) (AWA: ACP-EU) Culture programme to, among other things, provide a market for women weavers in Wa, Nandom and Nadowli.
Mr Wullingdool said the foundation, through the programme, was also promoting tourism in the Wa and Nandom Municipalities and Nadowli-Kaleo district with the profiling of tourist attractions.
“According to the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), the cultural and creative industries are among the fastest-growing sectors in the world.
“With an estimated global worth of US$4.3 trillion per year, the culture sector now accounts for 6.1 per cent of the global economy,” he indicated.
The Programmes Manager said the Foundation currently worked with over 400 weavers and had carried out a series of activities including engaging with the community members in the project towns.
He said in addition to creating market access for the weavers, the Foundation was to develop an ‘Art town’ concept in Ghana with pillars based on weaving, which was the creative production of the towns.
“The ‘Art town’ concept also lends itself to explorations of the effects of weaving on other economic activities such as tourism, capacity development, and research applications,” he intimated.
Mr Wullingdool explained that data from the 2010 Ghana Population and Housing Census indicated that 10 per cent of people employed (15 years above) in the Upper West Region were involved in the craft and related trade industries.
He added that almost one-fifth of the working population in Wa was in the creative art industry with women (14.7%) occupying a greater proportion of the actors in that industry than men (5.6%).
Mr Wullingdool said the Woori Market was the maiden edition and would be made a quarterly tradition to be replicated every year to support attempts at creating market access for the weavers in Wa and beyond.
A 63-page novella, “New Currency”, which chronicles events of the infamous 1979 demonetisation of the cedi was launched in Accra yesterday.
Authored by distinguished media personality and novelist, Ajoa Yeboah-Afari, the book uses fiction to present the realities of the historic exercise while reviving a sense of Ghanaian cultural values among its readers.
Serving as a reminder to adults who lived through the turbulence of the time, the book, provides insight to present and future generations of the happenings then.
In a keynote address read on his behalf, veteran journalist, Mr Cameron Duodu, praised the path of fiction chosen by the author to present aspects of Ghana’s historical facts which he believed was largely lost on the present generation.
“Fiction is one of the most rewarding pursuits the human mind can engage in”, he said, recounting many of such tales he read growing up, which helped shape his life course.
“Well over seventy years after I read the books I have mentioned, I have not needed to look up any of their titles before venturing to reveal my opinions about them. Can I say the same about the books in our schools today? The answer is a firm No,”
Mr Duodu while encouraging Ghanaian novelist’s to use more fictional methods to excite reading among the populace, implored successive government to tread cautiously in implementing major policies of the kind in the “New Currency.”
“Like the demonetisation of the cedi, an otherwise good policy which rather put the populace in difficulties, governments should draw lessons from the book to tread carefully whenever they are contemplating taking actions that affect a lot of people,” he added.
In a review of the book, Dr Anthony K. BonnahKoomson,a media consultant and former Editor of the Catholic Standard, said despite the time of the theme of the story it was relevant to awaken a sense of history and cultural renaissance in present-day.
“The book is worth commending for celebrating Akan social norms and values, particularly, the wonderful feeling of togetherness, communal living uniquely associated with the extended family system,” he said.
Dr Koomson lauded MsYeboah-Afari for her great writing skills which he said compelled self-introspection adding; “she is without doubt a writer and journalist of high esteem; passionate as a writer and inquisitive as a journalist.”
The president of the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA), Mr Albert Dwumfour eulogized the author for her outstanding contributions towards press freedom and literature across the country.
In view of that, he hinted of plans to name the new GJA library after the author to promote research work among professionals.
Ms Yeboah-Afari called on the University of Ghana to re-institute a training course on creative writing, of which she was a beneficiary in 1973, to hone the skills of budding writers.
The first copy of the novella, launched by the General Manager of the Ghana News Agency (GNA), Mr Albert Kofi Owusu, was auctioned at GHc 10,000.
Dr Josephine Nsaful, a General Surgeon at the Breast Surgical Unit, Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital (KBTH), has encouraged women to regularly undertake breast screening by visiting health facilities for check-ups and scans.
She also advised them to regularly conduct self-breast examinations to detect signs and symptoms of the disease, adding that, early detection and effective treatment enhanced the chances of survival for patients.
She said often, patients lost their lives due to late detection of the disease.
Dr Nsaful said these on the sidelines of a donation to the Breast Surgical Unit of the KBTH by WillieMays Industries Limited, producers of Mays Crystals Purified Water.
Mrs Barbara Dedjoe, Managing Director of WillieMays Industries Limited, said breast cancer had become a public health challenge, especially among women, with about 2,900 cases occurring annually and one-eighth of the number dying from complications.
She noted that after diagnosis many breast cancer patients went through a lot of psychological issues, and needed support, hence the donation to the Unit.
Mrs Dedjoe said: “We are here this morning to carry out two main activities, the first is the provision of personal protection equipment, including face masks, gloves, as well as toilet rolls, paper towels, detergents and disinfectants.”
“In addition, we are also donating one hundred packs of Mays Crystal purified drinking water and a cheque of Ten Thousand Ghana Cedis to purchase aprons, gowns, goggles, face shields and bleach, to enhance treatment of patients and protect the health personnel in the facility,” she added.
Mrs Dedjoe said another form of support was the donation of One Ghana Pesewa (GH 1p) of every bottle of Mays Crystal Water purchased by consumers to the Breast Cancer Unit at the KBTH to mitigate the cost of treatment of the disease.
She said the support was the Organisation’s contribution to the fight against breast cancer disease.
The world observes Breast Cancer Awareness Month in October every year.
The Paramount Chief of the Sirigu Traditional area in the Kassena-Nankana West District of the Upper East Region, Naba Roland Atogumdeya Akwara III,has appealed to factions of the Doba-Kandiga land dispute to bury their differences and allow peace to prevail.
The Paramount Chief who made the appeal during the annual health walk which brought together a lot of community members and the nearby communities including Doba and Kandiga said they were all one family since they intermarry.
He lamented that anytime he drew the attention of the Municipal Assembly to pressing needs of the people, the excuse they often gave was they spent such development project money on the Doba-Kandiga conflict.
He said that many of the bridges in the area particularly Kandiga–Sirigubridge, Zorkor–Sirigubridge, Paga-Sirigu bridge, Bolga-Sirigu had all collapsed, cutting most of the communities off.
He appealed to the factions to consider the development of the area, see themselves as one people, and use dialogue instead of violence that often lead to the Assembly spending huge sums of money for peace keeping instead of spending it on developmental projects.
He told the factions to be mindful that future generations would not be happy with them if they continued to engage in such acts that stifled the development of area.
Speaking on the annualSirigu health walk, the Paramount Chiefindicated that health was very key to development and pointed out that this prompted his outfit to buy into that idea when a representative of the Sustainable Medical Missions (SMM), an international medical training and empowering organisation based in the United States, Mr Thomas Lerewanu, sold the idea to the traditional council.
He said apart from the annual health walk which began four years ago, the NGO had partnered with the traditional council to end open defecation through sensitisation and putting up sanitation facilities.
MrLerewanu explained that the mission of SMM over the years had been training and supporting indigenous healthcare and faith-based leaders in underdeveloped communities to treat Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs) and other endemic conditions affecting the poorest community members.
He mentioned various tropical diseases including Trachoma, Onchocerciasis, Leprosy, Trypanosomiasis, Dracunculiasis, Buruli Ulcer, Hookworm, Schistosomiasis, Lymphatic Filariasis, Ascariasis, Trichuriasis and leishmaniasis; as some of the tropic diseases SMM targets through its initiatives.
The occasion which attracted other stakeholders including NGOs, teachers and students from the Sirigu Senior High School, Assembly Members and opinion leaders was also used for clean-up exercise and football matches.
Ghana will reaffirms its commitment to promoting international cooperation, global peace and security as it marks the 77th anniversary of the United Nations(UN) on October 25.
Ghanawill use the platform to highlight the need for evidence-based solutions that are rooted in science for decision making to promote sustainable development.
At the sideline, will be the signing of the New Cooperation Framework between Ghana and the UN for the period 2023-2025.
The new framework is developed by the UN to support Ghana’s development agenda and aims to ensure that women, youth and persons with disability and those furthest behind will enjoy an inclusive and transformed economy that creates decent jobs and sustainable livelihoods, reducing inequalities.
Ghana will mark the UN Day on the theme: “Building on the 3Ss- Solidarity, Sustainable and Science –towards a more resilient Ghana” in line with the 77Th session of the UN General Assembly theme: “Solutions Through Solidarity, Sustainability and Science.”
The UN has put the spotlight on science, given the fact that science played a pivotal role in finding solutions to the global COVID-19 pandemic that wreaked havoc on humanity.
October 24 is marked every year as UN Day in commemoration of the adoption of the UN Charter that came into force on October 24, 1945.
But, Ghana, as a member of the 193 member states, will observe the day on October 25 with a solemn flag-raising at the forecourt of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integrity (MFA&RI), to be addressed by the sector Minister, Shirley AyorkorBotchwey, and UN Resident Coordinator, Charles Abani.
As part of the preparation, the Inter-Ministerial Ad-Hoc Planning Committee, chaired by Mrs. Joyce Asamoah –Koranteng, Director II of the Multilateral Relations Bureau of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, Wednesday held its fourth meeting at the MFA&RI to deliberate on the number of activities to commemorate the event.
They include health walk, media engagement and Model UN conference by LifeLink Friendship Schools.
Ghana runs a risk of having a sick population in future and a food security challenge due to the increasing rate of harmful chemical residue found on food produce.
This is because of the contamination of soil and water beds with harmful chemicals through illegal mining activities-Galamsey and the wrong use of pesticides.
“If you should do an analysis, either microbial or physiochemical analysis on the produce on our farms, a lot of it is being contaminated,” said Mr Nlaliban Wujangi in an interview with the Ghana News Agency.
The Director for Food and Agriculture at the Chamber of Agribusiness who is also an African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Focal Person, warned that the country’s Cocoa which is a major export earner also risked being rejected on the market if major interventions are not carried out to end the Galamsey menace.
He observed that, even though there was a withdrawal period to take away chemical residue on food stuff especially when fertilizer had been applied, the non-adherence with the period and the heavy concentration of harmful mining chemicals highly contaminated the food produce.
“Even when the rain falls it is not able to take out all the chemicals because of the high concentration of chemicals used for galamsey
He said the ongoing tests had suggested that the contamination of food produce which was thought of to be a problem predominated in mining areas has taken a national character due to the impact of illegal mining on the water bodies.
“It is a national issue as water finds its way, anywhere water originates and goes to, we have a risk there.
“We thought Galamseywas happening down south in the Western and Eastern region however, there is even some part of the Northern regions where there is some form of Galamsey,” he said.
He said the Chamber had made efforts to notify the Government through its representatives on various joint committees with the Ministry of Food and Agriculture and participation in donor-funded programmes.
“One other thing we might end up doing very soon is calling an entire press conference purposely to address that issue,” he said.
He advocated a holistic approach to addressing the issue which would require the implementation of sustainable alternative livelihood programmes for persons involved in the practice.
The United Nations (UN) General Assembly on Wednesday condemned Russia’s “illegal annexations” of Ukrainian territory after Moscow vetoed a similar text in the Security Council in late September.
Twenty-six African countries voted in favour of the resolution, rejecting Moscow’s controversial referenda in four Ukrainian regions. Nineteen others abstained.
Mali, the Central African Republic, Ethiopia, the Republic of Congo, South Africa, Sudan, Uganda, and Zimbabwe were among the African countries that abstained. Eritrea, which had previously voted to reject a UN resolution condemning the Russian invasion of Ukraine, also abstained.
Three of these countries hosted Russian diplomatic chief, Sergei Lavrov, during his tour of the region in July.
Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, and Sao Tome were absent from the assembly.
The General Assembly of the 193 member states had met in an emergency meeting. It adopted the resolution with 143 votes in favour, with five countries against and 35 abstaining, including China, India, Pakistan, and South Africa, despite diplomatic efforts by the United States.
The five states that voted against were Russia, Belarus, Syria, North Korea, and Nicaragua.
Earlier this month, Ukrainian Foreign Minister,DmytroKuleba, toured Africa in an effort to counter Russia’s apparent hold on the continent. The goal was to persuade leaders to support Kyiv.
He was forced to cut his visit short after Moscow intensified its bombing of Ukraine.
Mr Samuel Dentu, a Deputy Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Export Promotion Authority(GEPA), has appealed to men to keenly participate in the picking and gathering of shea nuts during the harvesting seasons.
He said it had come to the notice of the GEPA that the picking and gathering of the shea nuts, which was needed internationally, was left under the care of women alone, resulting in the loss of huge quantities in the bush.
He explained that even though the picking of shea nuts was a traditional practice for women alone in the past, once it was not a taboo, men should change their mindset and participate in the collection of the nuts to boost the export of the commodity.
“We are looking for how to increase the quantities and volumes of the commodity to get our balance of trade in a good shape, as well as help, improve our export earners and the strengthening of the Cedi against the dollar to help sustain the economy for development,” he added.
Mr Dentu was responding to questions from the media during an interview session, after a workshop on the National Export Development Strategy (NEDS) and the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA) organised in Wa.
He said the GEPA, together with other government institutions were in the process of persuading and encouraging private business entities that were into importing goods and services to consider investing in the processing of nontraditional commodities to add more value to them for export rather than importing them.
He called on the Upper West Regional Coordinating Council and other relevant organisations to start a conversation against the felling of valuable trees, especially the shea for charcoal and fuel wood purposes.
Alhaji Tahiru Issahaku Moomin, the Wa Municipal Chief Executive, in a speech read on his behalf, said the Wa Municipal Assembly was to support at least two women groups in the municipality to establish agro-processing businesses under its “one area, one product” project.
“The assembly would also make funds available for the training of weavers, shea butter processors and rice millers on the product value addition to meet international standards,” he said.
He said the assembly’s initiative was to get the municipality on the path of prosperity through the expansion of the export commodities base and the enhancement of industrialisation development.
Mr Moomin said the assembly’s plan will fit well into the government’s policy to enable value addition, business expansion and create jobs as well as promote entrepreneurial development of the youth across the country.
This, he said, would also help to accelerate the industrial transformation agenda by building substitution and export diversification to earn more foreign exchange for development.
The 40 potential exporters who were into shea butter and soybean processing were drawn from the Wa Municipal, Wa East and Wa Districts and introduced to the NEDS, and the AfCFTA implementation in Ghana: Status and way forward.
The workshop aimed to expand the supply base and ensure the promotion of vigorous value addition of products and regulate the business environment, as well as build the capacity of processors and producers involved in nontraditional export transactions.
The ultimate objective of the NEDS was to support the government’s initiative of revitalising the economy through a transformation from a raw material-based economy into an industrialized export-led one.
The Director-General of the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO), Eric Nana Agyemang-Prempeh, has called on the public to desist from politicising moves to demolish unauthorised structures along waterways.
According to him, the country was sitting on a time bomb with the continuous encroachment and illegal activities around ecological sites and the worst could happen if ‘harsh’ decisions were not taken.
Speaking to journalists at an event to commemorate this year’s International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction in Accra yesterday, Mr Agyeman-Prempeh said a case in point was the recent flooding of communities in the Weija-Gbawe and Ga South constituencies due to the Weija Dam spillage.
“Had it not been for the level of encroachment around the dam and its passageway we wouldn’t have seen this extent of damage. A lot of the buildings there do not have permit yet you go in to demolish and it turns into NPP, NDC.
“Ghana will move forward, we will reduce the flooding’s if we stop politicising everything and allow the District Assemblies to do their work and go all out to demolish all unauthorised structures in our waterways causing floods.”
Touching on the local theme for the commemoration; “Earthquake disaster risk reduction through effective early warning,” the Director-General although Ghana was far away from major earthquake zones in the world, it was prone to earthquake and earth tremor disasters.
He recalled incidences as far back as 1981 and recent earth tremor in 2019 prompting the establishment of a technical committee to propose interventions that would improve Ghana’s earthquake preparedness and response.
Following the adoption of the committee’s report, Mr Agyeman-Prempeh said, eight earthquakes early warning equipment has been installed at vantage locations within the capital including the Weija-Gbawe Municipal Assembly, NADMO Headquarters, Parliament and the Jubilee House.
“The government considers earthquake to be a most serious occurrence that can set us back on our development journey and more importantly militate against safety of our citizens and we are committed to taking all needed measures to avert future disasters,” he said.
The Chief Director of the Ministry for the Interior, Mrs. Adelaide Anno-Kumi, delivering a speech on behalf of the sector minister, underscored the importance of early warning systems to reducing disasters significantly.
While expressing sympathy to recently affected persons of the Weija Dam spillage, Mrs Anno-Kumi stressed the need for the populace to be well-informed on evacuation and disaster management methods to reduce extent of destruction.
The Country Director of United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), Mr Abdourahamane Diallo, gave highlights of a newly produced documentary and educational materials to sensitise the public particularly students, on disasters.
“There is still a lot more that we need to do collectively to ensure that Ghana gets the holistic capacity development that it needs to prepare adequately for an earthquake disaster or any other disaster.”
He thus invited all key stakeholders to explore additional ideas that “can be brought on board to design effective interventions towards disaster risk reduction.”
The Ghana Federation of Labour (GFL) has called on labour unions in Ghana to turn their attention to the government and policymakers whose actions are affecting the economy negatively.
Mr Abraham Koomson, GFL Secretary General making the call at a two-day International Labour Organization’s (ILO) sponsored workshop in Tema, said the energy the labour unions direct to their employers should now be channelled towards the government as companies were collapsing due to unfavourable policies.
The theme for the workshop was: “Innovative Strategies for Organizing Workers in the New World of Work.”
Mr Koomson said, “the labour movement has a responsibility to compel the government to do the needful to create a congenial business environment for industries to thrive to be able to retain employees and expand.”
He said companies were faced with clear and pressing threats both globally and internally as a result of bad government economic policies and a lack of commitment to promoting the growth of local industries.
He added, that, painfully, Ghana witnessed redundancies in many companies which used the negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic as an excuse to lay off workers.
Mr Koomson said eight years ago, the power crisis that hit the country virtually crippled the expansion of businesses, adding that the shocks, high cost of production, unfair competition from cheaper imports and smuggling slowed down expansion and, in some cases, led to abuse of some workers.
He said though that was resolved by the close of 2016 with assurances of excess capacity to attract investments for growth and its associated guarantees for more jobs, Ghana was slapped again with another disturbing crisis.
“Trade Unions have made their stance clear against any IMF policy, but it is now obvious we have no alternative especially because of the alarming debt to GDP ratio which Bloomberg has projected to hit 84.6 per cent by the end of this year, with total national debt surpassing GH¢400 billion even before December 2022,” he said.
He added that “the state of the country’s economy today is even worse than anticipated following the junk status rating by Fitch amidst concerns about debt sustainability as the government negotiates with IMF.”
The Secretary-General said the GFL’s membership has declined by 45 per cent representing affiliates from both the formal and informal economy, particularly the Textile and manufacturing industries.
He explained that there was a direct correlation between happenings in the country to industry, access to capital, cost of production, purchasing power, profit, job sustainability, the possibility for expansion, and new opportunities for the unemployed youth.
Madam Inviolata Chinyangarara, the Senior Technical Specialist, ILO ACTRAV (Bureau for Worker Activities), in a goodwill message said the workshop was important and timely due to many reasons facing union activities.
Madam Chinyangarara said in many African countries, trade unions were losing members, strength, and influence as they were faced with challenges including declining trade union density.
She said weakening networks of trade union representatives, weakening links between workers and trade union structures, lack of young and women trade union activists, declining mobilising capacity and weakening social and political influence.
She added that the world of work is changing at a rapid pace, as there was the decline of jobs in manufacturing, the rise of non-standard and flexible work, persistence and growth of the informal economy, changes in employment regulations and the limitation and violation of trade union rights have caused unionization rates to fall in most countries worldwide.
She said increased precarious work and other forms of non-standard employment, as declining solidarity with vulnerable groups of workers such as migrants and workers in the informal economy were some of the factors to reckon with.
She said the digital economy and the way it was transforming jobs and employment relationships, and the social divide between workers with stable, paying jobs and workers with unstable, poorly paid, or precarious jobs, or no job at all has its effect on trade unionization.
She observed that the COVID-19 pandemic has added a new sense of urgency to the challenges facing workers’ organizations to respond to transformations in the world of work driven by globalization and by demographic, environmental and technological changes, as well as to play a crucial role in crisis mitigation, response, and recovery.
Madam Chinyangarara said for unions to contribute to building stronger, more sustainable, and equal economies and societies, workers’ organizations must continue to exercise leadership, demonstrate relevance, and provide quality services to their current and new members.
She stated that workers’ organizations also need to work with governments and employers’ organizations to develop a conducive environment for qualitative and meaningful social dialogue based on trust and respect for their rights and independence.
He indicated that the second phase of the programme which is part of the government’s effort to “create jobs, boost agricultural production, industrial growth and to strengthen safety net system to address the needs of the poor and vulnerable in the society” is expected to cover 100 districts across the country from 2022 to 2025.
The Deputy of MLGRD was speaking at a sensitisation programme for some selected MDCEs, district planning officers, coordinators, and financials officers in Koforidua on Friday (October 7, 2022) on the implementation of the GPSNP.
On the objectives and difference between GPSNP phase I and phase II, he stated that “the objective of the second phase of GPSNP 2 is to expand and enhance social safety nets that improve the incomes and productivity of the poor in rural and urban areas in Ghana. The key difference between the current GPSNP and GPSNP 2 is the conscious commitment to scale-up to cover urban areas and to expand the scope of the productive inclusion to cover almost all potential beneficiaries.
“Therefore, amongst the 100 participating districts, 21 are municipalities. The Ministry will continue to lead the implementation of Labour-Intensive Public Works Programme (LIPW) and Productive Inclusion (PI) components, and the Ministry of Gender Children and Social will also continue to focus on Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty (LEAP); Cash Transfers Program and Social Protection System Strengthening”.
He added that the project will directly benefit the poorest households in all administrative regions of Ghana over a four-year period; while it is envisaged that about “100,000 individuals would benefit from the project under the productive inclusion and labor intensive public works and in addition 350,000 households will benefit from the direct cash transfer program that will be implemented by the MoGCSP”.
The beneficiaries according to the Deputy Minister of MLGRD would be selected from the poorest districts and communities using the most updated Ghana Living Standards Survey (GLSS) data available from the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS).
The political parties without Members of Parliament (MPs) have called on the National Democratic Congress (NDC) to rescind its decision to not consent to the new Constitutional Instrument (CI) which seeks to introduce the Ghana Card as the document to verify new voters.
They have also urged the Inspector General Police (IGP) to investigate an allegation by the leader of the Ghana Union Movement (GUM) to the effect that the Electoral Commission (EC) has recruited electoral officers affiliated to the New Patriotic Party (NPP).
The parties include Power Unity Party (PUP), People’s National Convention (PNC), Great Consolidated Popular Party (GCPP), National Democratic Party (NDP), Liberal Party of Ghana (LPG), United Progressive Party(UPP), Democratic People’s Party (DPP) and United Renaissance Party (URP).
Alhaji Mohammed Frimpong, Secretary General of NDP, at a press conference in Accra on Wednesday, said the fair and transparent conduct of elections, prevention of fraud and certainty of legal remedy processes were important duties of the EC.
“That is why we thoroughly discussed the new CI which seeks to introduce the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Card issued by the National Identification Authority as the document to verify new voter registrants as Ghanaians and also having attained the age of 18 years and above,” he added.
Alhaji Frimpong asked the NDC to resume meetings at the Inter-Party Advisory Committee (IPAC) for deliberations to continue on the CI to add their contribution to building a strong and enviable democracy that would continue to be worthy of emulation across the continent.
“As Parliament resumes sitting on October 25 this year, we want to entreat MPsto lay the new CI before the House so that we can carry on with the modalities in ensuring smooth continuous registration processes to enable new voters to register,” he indicated.
Concerning the allegations made against the EC, Alhaji Frimpong explained that all political parties were given the names of the electoral officers and were also granted the opportunity to provide feedback on each of them for which reason such an accusation was unacceptable.
Ato Dadzie, General Secretary of GCPP, cautioned that Election 2024 would be another watershed for the country, hence ensuring voter confidence was paramount in electoral processes and “we all have a part to play in this endeavour to strengthen our democratic dispensation through the EC.
“We appeal to the citizenry topray for the EC, join forces with them, lend our unflinching support and assistance, provide constructive criticisms, work with them, especially we the political actors, to enable them to carry out their constitutional mandate,” he intimated.
Ghana and four other ECOWASmember countries have benefited from a USD 250 million fund from the ECOWAS Bank for Investment and Development (EBID).
The other beneficiary countries are Burkina Faso, Nigeria, Senegal, and Sierra Leone.
A copy of its release to the Ghana News Agency said the Board of Directors of EBID approved the fund to boost the oil and gas, energy, road infrastructure and agriculture sectors of member states.
The approvals are part of the intensified efforts by EBID to invest in key sectors to spur up post-COVID pandemic recovery and mitigate the impact of the Russian – Ukraine war on the Member States of ECOWAS.
The disclosure was made by Dr George Agyekum Donkor, the President and Chairman of the Board of Directors of EBID, at the just-ended 79th session of the Board of Directors of the bank.
Dr Donkor observed that the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the ongoing Russian – Ukraine war has left many economies in tatters.
He said the current market conditions had compelled investors to seek premiums on investments in sub-Saharan Africa thereby increasing the cost of capital.
According to the President of EBID, this had resulted in dampening economic growth, the wide-spread balance of payments deficits, unfavourable terms of trade, depletion of central bank international reserves, fiscal deficits, and debt distress.
Dr Donkor stressed the need for EBID, as the financial arm of ECOWAS, to deepen its financial inter-mediation in all the critical sectors of the Member States to assist them to recover from the economic challenges.
Present at the session was Damtien L. Tchintchibidja, the Vice-President of the ECOWAS Commission, who lauded the tremendous impact of EBID’s interventions in the sub-region and assured the Bank of the commitment of the new administration of the ECOWAS Commission to collaborate and support EBID in its multifarious activities especially in the area of resource mobilisation to transform the ECOWAS Communities.
The EBID is a leading regional investment and development bank, owned by the 15 ECOWAS Member States, namely, Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, Côte d’Ivoire, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, and Togo.
Based in Lomé, Togolese Republic, the Bank is committed to financing developmental projects and programs covering diverse initiatives from infrastructure and basic amenities, rural development and environment, industry, and social services sectors, through its private and public sector windows.
EBID intervenes through a long, medium, and short-term loans, equity participation, lines of credit, refinancing, financial engineering operations and related services.
The 77th session of the annual United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) took place in New York, USA from September 19 to 23, 2022. Notably missing were two “Presidents” – “Kibarkingmad” and “Olushambles” of BBC fame!
BBC World Service’s “Focus on Africa” programme on Friday afternoons during news-time at 3 p.m. and 5 p.m. presents a short satirical skit/comedy of less than five minutes titled “The Resident Presidents”.
The two “presidents” of two imaginary African countries are Kibarkingmad and Olushambles.
While Olushambles has surrounded himself with yes-men who prevent him from hearing/seeing reality, and believes everything good must come to him/family and friends, Kibarkingmad represents the positive voice of reasoning and moderation and draws Olushambles’ mind to reality.
Kibarkingmad & Olushambles
On Friday, September 2, 2022’s comedy, an exasperated Olushambles shouted at Kibarkingmad for disagreeing with him, saying “you idiooot (idiot)”. Perhaps, asked to use another word for idiot, Olushambles would angrily have used “stupid!”.
Indeed, in George Orwell’s Animal Farm style, the duo use satire to expose, ridicule and criticise vices in politics/leadership.
The word “idiot” reminded me of a book launch I attended in August 2022. The guest of honour told the story of the ancient Greeks’ classification of human beings, where “idiot” meant differently from what it does today.
What was the classification?
Classifications
The ancient Greeks believed that humanity was made up of three types or kinds of human beings. The first group they called the “Idiots,” the second the “Tribesmen” and the third the “Citizens!”
The “Idiots” – Unlike the modern-day usage of the word “idiot” being synonymous with the word stupid, the idiot in ancient Greek usage did not necessarily connote stupidity. The idiots were those who did not care about the society and, therefore, only selfishly did things for themselves while complaining/blaming others about everything, except themselves. In pidgin English today, the idiot would say “country broke or no broke, we dey inside”. He couldn’t be bothered.
The “Tribesmen” – Tribe used here did not mean ethnicity only. It included religion and other groups with parochial interests. The tribesman was only interested in members of his “tribe” as a group. The current term “family and friends” could exemplify the “tribesman” of the ancient Greeks.
The “Citizen” – The “Citizen” comprised human beings who did the right thing by obeying the law to the letter. They believed in the saying “for God and country” and served their nation positively.
The Greeks did not restrict the classifications to any particular social stratum. So while the rich and the learned could by their negative behaviour be classified as “idiots” or “tribesmen,” the poor and the illiterate could be “citizens” because they did what society expected of them by obeying the law.
The guest of honour at the end of his address asked the audience to do a self-introspection and categorise themselves as either Ghanaian “idiots, tribesmen or citizens!”
Resident-Presidents
In their conversation in the satirical skit on Friday, September 2, 2022, Olushambles angrily raved and ranted over the results of a poll conducted by an international foundation among youth in Africa.
Questioning how many youth would like to stay in their African countries or leave overseas for greener pasture, Olushambles was upset because the youth in only two of the 54 countries said they would remain in their countries. He accused them of disloyalty.
Asked by Kibarkingmad how his own country had fared in the polls, Olushambles said, to avoid hearing any “nonsense”, he had stopped the pollsters from entering his country at the airport!
Newsfile
As I listened to the discussion by a very high-powered panel of experts on the Auditor-General’s report on Joy FM’s Newsfile programme on Saturday, September 3, 2022, I asked myself what I would have thought of the managers of our economy if I qualified as youth.
As one of the panellists asked, what sense does it make to go to the IMF cap in hand to borrow the equivalent of GH¢16 billion when a bigger figure has been syphoned/stolen from the public purse into private pockets in one year?
In an era of daily price increases blamed on COVID-19/Russia-Ukraine when some civil servants cannot drive their cars to work five days a week and wives return from the market every Saturday morning virtually in tears because of rocketing prices, for some, their buildings are springing up at alarming rates.
Once again, I will quote what my Ugandan colleague told me when I served as former President Chissano of Mozambique’s Senior UN Military Adviser in Uganda in 2008-2009. Answering my question on the daily screaming newspaper headlines on murder/corruption, he said:
“When human beings know they can get away with murder (corruption), they will murder (steal) with impunity. But if they know they will also be killed for murder, they will not murder!”
An ace broadcaster’s favourite quote is “…and some/others were shot for less…” anytime he discusses the execution of the Generals in 1979 ostensibly to stop corruption.
When “President” Kibarkingmad tried reasoning with Olushambles to take decisive action on the high levels of corruption in his country to encourage the youth to stay in his country, he angrily shot back, “Idiooooot! Let them cross the Sahara and drown in the Mediterranean!”
Callous, isn’t?
After their beautiful speeches in impeccable English/French/Portuguese/Spanish at the September 2022, 77th UNGA in New York, African leaders, one hopes, have returned home to address unemployment, environmental degradation, astronomical inflation, human trafficking/illegal and perilous migration across the Sahara and Mediterranean, etc.
US President JF Kennedy famously said, “If a civilised society cannot help the many who are poor, it cannot save the few who are rich!”
Doesn’t the Good Book say that “to everything there is a season, and a time for every purpose under the sun”?
Leadership, lead! Fellow Ghanaians, wake up!
The writer is former CEO, African Peace Support Trainers Association, Nairobi, Kenya & Council Chairman, Family Health University College, Accra. E-mail: dkfrimpong@yahoo.com
The government has relaunched Operation Halt II to reinforce the war on illegal mining activities (galamsey).
In addition, the granting of mining licences by the Minerals Commission and other relevant bodies will now involve the inputs of chiefs, regional ministers and metropolitan, municipal and district chief executives (MMDCEs).
The Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, Samuel Abu Jinapor, made this known when he took his turn at the Ministers’ Press Briefing in Accra yesterday[October 13, 2022] to update the media on the fight against galamsey.
Operation Halt II
Originally launched in April 2021, Operation Halt II, made up of personnel from the Ghana Armed Forces, sought to remove all persons and mining equipment from water bodies and forest reserves in the country, including decommissioning and demobilising equipment where necessary.
Over the period, the team worked on major rivers, such as, Pra, Offin, Ankobra, Birim and Ayensu, as well as forest reserves in the country.
As a temporary measure, the team relaxed its operations when some of the rivers started showing signs of clearing up.
Resurgence
However, with the resurgence of galamsey activities across the country, the minister said the Operation Halt II was relaunched on October 11, this year, following a review of the earlier operation.
Giving more details, he said Operation Halt II would run alongside other measures being implemented by the ministry, such as the declaration of river bodies as red zones for mining, the suspension of reconnaissance and prospecting activities in forest reserves except in exceptional cases, and the ban on the manufacture, sale and use of changfan.
Others are the procurement of speed boats to patrol the rivers, the recruitment of river guards to support the protection of the rivers, the introduction of mercury-free gold Katchas, the establishment of 83 Small Scale Mining Committees in all mining districts in the country, the revamping of Community Mining Schemes, and the introduction of the National Alternative Employment and Livelihood Programme which now engages about 80,000 people in alternative livelihood projects.
Sustainability
Mr Jinapor said the new Operation Halt II was well thought-through, and was ready to take care of the current resurgence of the galamsey menace, with funding secured to ensure its sustainability.
He said the operation was concurrently taking place in the Southern, Central and Northern Commands, and already, 20 excavators and scores of changfans and other mining equipment had been decommissioned.
According to the minister, the Operation Halt II team had been instructed to use their discretion whether to decommission or seize equipment, assuring that, that would be done without interference from any quarters.
He stated that the team would be held accountable for any lapses in their operation and, therefore, they were not supposed to take instructions from anyone, including him.
Mr Jinapor said the ministry had submitted to the Military High Command details of all licensed mining operations in the country to guide them in their operations, adding that the team would be assisted by mine inspectors and personnel from the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) of the Ghana Police Service to gather evidence for prosecution.
He said the government was committed to ensuring that anyone found culpable was made to face the full rigours of the law.
Throwing more light on the new licensing regime, Mr Jinapor said the decision followed a directive given by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo after he had met with members of the National House of Chiefs on October 5, 2022, during which it became evident that for the government to win the fight against galamsey, chiefs must play a central role, particularly, in the granting of mining concessions and licences.
He said the decision was also taken with the conviction that because every galamsey site fell within the jurisdiction of a traditional authority, chiefs must play a key role in the granting of mining licences to help rid their respective jurisdictions of illegal small-scale mining.
Mr Jinapor said following the meeting with the members of the National House of Chiefs, “a lot of streamlining was being done”.
“Hence, the processes involving the Minerals Commission making recommendations in the granting of licences have been altered dramatically and that will mean the chiefs will now play a central role in the processes,” he stated.
Mr Jinapor, however, revealed that there were many stories making the rounds to suggest that there was a “disconnect among chiefs, the political leadership and security operatives”, observing that the development did not augur well for the efforts being made to halt galamsey.
The minister reiterated the fact that the war against illegal mining was a collective fight and not only for the government.
Constitution
While stressing that the Constitution vested mineral resources in the country in their natural state in the President to be held in trust for the people, he added that the President had delegated power to the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources to manage such resources.
He said a critical look at the process in simple terms regarding which entity was permitted to have a final say in terms of granting mining licences or concessions showed that it was the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources.
“But here we are talking about the involvement of traditional rulers in the fight against galamsey, yet we don’t seem to give them any active direct central role to play in the processes leading to the granting of concessions in many cases,” he intimated.
Mr Jinapor revealed that part of the concerns raised by chiefs at the meeting with the President was that they were usually not consulted on matters of the granting of licences, only to find people with licences to mine in their respective jurisdictions.
“They are not consulted or involved in the granting of licences, yet we are asking them to support us in our efforts to fight illegal mining,” the minister pointed out.
Education campaign
Touching on the public campaign against illegal mining and its negative impact on communities, he said his ministry was rolling out a national public campaign against illegal mining and its adverse effects on the environment and the health of the people.
“We have also rolled out advertisements on television and radio to educate the public on the dire consequences of illegal mining,” the minister said.
The Chief Executive Officer of Intellas, Professor Godfried Williamshas warned against excessive posting of personal data on social media.
He explained that lack of protection of personal data leaves internet users vulnerable to cyber threats and bullying.
He added that downloads of files especially from unknown sources is another means by which uninformed internet users accounts are hacked and taken over by cyber bullies.
Professor Williams, who is a cyber security expert and artificial intelligence expert was speaking at a forum organised for children and young adults in Koforidua on Wednesday (October 5, 2022) on cyber security.
It was part of an activity to commemorate the celebration of the International Day of the Girl Child in collaboration with Plan Ghana.
The forum which was attended by over 100 young adults was on cyber security, attacks, vulnerabilities, and opportunities available in ICT and cyber space.
Prof Williams urged young adults to be very circumspect about what they post on social media and limit what they post as well.
Filling up the O2 Arena in London is a huge feat, and Dennis Tawiah has contended that no Ghanaian artiste can, presently, reach this milestone.
Lexis Bill asked him on Personality Profile on Joy FM, Thursday evening, “do you think any Ghanaian artiste can sell out the O2 Arena’s 20,000 space?” The CEO of Akwaaba UK Group kept it simple, “at present, No!”
“Which Ghanaian artiste, on record, as we speak, has even sold a 5,000 capacity venue in the UK?” he wondered. The closest, he recalls, is Reggie Rockstone or Sarkodie who might have drawn about 4,000 audiences to their shows some years ago.
Dennis is an experienced UK-based event organizer, with a rich record of hosting some of the biggest African entertainment shows in his territory. He further revealed that the biggest crowd a Ghanaian event has ever registered was at the O2 Academy, Brixton, with more than 4,000 music lovers in attendance. “That was Lumba, Kojo Antwi and Amakye Dede, altogether, in 1994”, he quickly underscored.
In an attempt to defend his assertion, Dennis Tawiah explained that music must be appealing to people from all walks of life in a particular radius, in order to attract huge numbers to a show of 20,000 capacity.
The experienced event organizer, however, believes that Ghana’s biggest shot at filling the O2 Arena in London, currently, could possibly result from assembling some of the biggest names in our music space for a night of thrills. If Sarkodie, Stonebwoy, Samini, Shatta Wale, Kidi, Kuami Eugene and Black Sherif headline a concert, “we can try” to fill up the O2, Dennis believes, adding that, “it’s going to be difficult”.
“Now we’ve got Black Sherif. There’s a lot of pressure on him to make it but it shouldn’t be only Blacko. There should be other artistes joining him, making sure we get that global attention”, he advised. Dennis believes everything is possible, however, Ghanaian artistes need to build a united front in order to reach milestones of single-handedly selling out huge arenas.
Dennis Tawiah recently picked up the Diasporan Award at the 7th EMY Africa Awards, held in Accra and powered by Joy Entertainment. He is mostly celebrated for his relentless efforts in promoting the African culture in the diaspora through entertainment. His company, The Akwaaba Group, has been the force behind Miss Ghana-UK, Ghana Independence celebrations as well as Party in the Park in the United Kingdom.
We ought to have same sets of measuring standards to assess performances of each passing government and or political parties.
A Yardstick isn’t just a stick a yard long, commonly marked with subdivisions, used for measuring but also any standard of measurement or judgement, even as it could also mean a benchmark, criterion, guideline, norm, barometer, scale or standard.
It is also a basis used for comparison, as in ‘what kind of yardstick is he basing his criticism?’ or better still, a graduated stick like one yard long used for measurement.
Indeed, over the last sixty plus years of our nationhood since our Independence Declaration of 6th March 1957, or more specifically within the last thirty years of our Fourth Republican Dispensation, we have had the fortune or misfortune of experiencing the varying administration and leadership styles of six (6) personalities, namely late Flight Lt. Jerry John Rawlings, John Agyekum Kufuor, late Prof. John Events Atta Mills, John Dramani Mahama and the current President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo.
The act of measuring performances for comparison as to which one of them has been best executed with such extreme passions and viciousness only within the last six years (2017-2022), with these inter-plays showcased extensively on radio, television, social media and any available platforms.
It is also only within this period that we have witnessed the employment and daily deployment of mass communication officers, extensively by the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) and to a lesser extent, the National Democratic Congress (NDC) from unit levels, through town / village to constituency to district, region and nation as well as segregated by the mode of media platform, including radio and television with specialists – specific for Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Telegram, WhatsApp and TikTok.
There are also the deployment of another number of specialists for such specific areas as the Economy, Galamsey, President’s Travels, IMF Bailout, Jubilee House Affairs, Banking Sector Reforms, 1D1F (one District, one Factory), 1V1D (one village, one dam), 1C1M$ (one constituency, one million dollars), Free SHS, NACOB, ‘Breaking The Eight’ mantra and Government ‘Promises’ – campaign and or general.
For the political party in government, it is estimated that there is a workforce of about five (5) thousand persons working 24-hour basis on defending as well as propagating the achievements and workings of both the government and its political party, who are remunerated in terms of allowances, be it monthly or per assignment and sometimes provided with some of the confiscated vehicles from the Tema Harbour (plus constant supply of free fuel per week drawn from the Osu Castle Depot).
These daily banters or appearances on the various media platforms between the two major political parties, make the exchanges light, playful and sometimes laced with teasing remarks and or good-natured railleries; and other times quite insulting with some issues discussed in most provocative manner or in joking language or repartee.
I have always marveled at the extent of propaganda – yes, propaganda these party apparatchiks have espoused and thereby calling into question ‘THE TYPE OF TRUTHS LACING THE CONDUCT OF THEIR DISCUSSIONS’ or by what ‘yardstick’ do they conduct all these discussions, no matter the platform? The worse conduct of any man is when he knows he is lying through the teeth and yet uses shouts, threats, mimicking, facial contortions and swearing to want to lend some semblance of ‘truth’ to the arguments and yet knowing that he was only lying to the TV viewers, radio listeners and rally attendances; and worse still not caring the effect or impacts on the people by the lies he or she has ‘spewed’ unto innocent Ghanaian audience – all in the quest for a higher national office?
They do not even have the decency of an apology with their own dictum: “The foreign exchange rate will expose you”, when what goes round comes back to haunt them, laughing at the boldness of the faces they make thereafter when they meet us as if our minds have been wiped clean of any remembrance.
And yet, they look at the current exchange rate of 10.80 Ghanaian Cedis to a US$1.00 and tell us that if it was rather the opposition party, NDC that was in power / government now, the exchange rate would rather have been 16.00 (sixteen Ghanaian Cedis) ghc to a United States Dollar ($), that obviously is a Kwaku Ananse joke. Please senior, take Ghanaians serious for once and not insult our intelligence, we honestly do not deserve this!
This is by the side…
You see, propaganda has been defined as ‘information, ideas, or rumors deliberately spread widely to help or harm a person, group, movement, institution or nation; the deliberate spreading of such information or rumors; the particular doctrines or principles propagated by an organization or movement of political party; the organized dissemination of information or allegations like ‘Family & Friends’ or ‘Papa No’, to assist or damage the cause of a government or political party; and such information and or allegations. Yet when worse scandals now happen, we are ‘hypnotized’ into believing that nothing has happened.
Propaganda could also be the official government communications to the public that are designed to influence opinion – the information may be true or laced or absolutely false but it is always carefully selected for its political effect.
You know, this phenomenon is more associated with communist – inferior tactics, employed by such governments and their players to make us believe even what does not exist as if it does, or when its sunny weather they are able with their propagandists to make us believe and accept that it is raining dogs and cats, or when eating gari without sauce to believe we are eating a sumptuous meal from the restaurant of a 10-star hotel.
That is the core work of the propagandists that they unleash on us each day on various media platforms, be it print, electronic or social. Indeed, the heights these have reached in our current dispensation are most unprecedented
Truth be told, this kind of propaganda was sort of alien to some limited extent to our Fourth Republican political dispensation till a new breed of politicians ‘emerged’ after the government of former President John Agyekum Kufuor in 2008, when our politics became an ‘ARAB SPRING’ affair with no retreat, no surrender; to the extent that former President Kufuor was ‘interrogated’ as to why he did not ensure his Party candidate did succeed him?
This inquisition in the vilest manner, seemingly, is what is currently driving the mantle of ‘BREAKING THE EIGHT’.
When one judges a person by a designed set of standards, norms, benchmarks, criteria, indicators, basis, rule, scale, guideline or tape measure in a certain dispensation and turns round within the same environment or breath, on mounting the same stage to now be in the limelight and cry to the high heavens desiring a different set of measurements for his or her performances, is the highest form of ‘HYPOCRISY’.
But then also ‘HYPOCRITES’ we all are under the Fourth Republican Dispensation because as they say ‘MAN MUST EAT & SURVIVE’ – so when you hear an otherwise vociferous person, suddenly become quiet in the face of all the provocations, then know this is new norm most of our people face as part of their survival instincts.
In my small life here on earth, almost at my three scores and ten, I have come to appreciate that not all of us have the courage to decide that for the principles we hold dear, we should endure than the pretense of having a virtuous character, moral or religious beliefs or principles that we do not really possess.
It seems that we have chosen to live the pretense of having some desirable or publicly approved attitudes in order that we may survive a certain dispensation; imbibing the practice of professing beliefs and acts, contrary to one’s real character or actual behaviour, especially the pretense of virtue and piety. You see, you are not deceiving anybody than yourself as the real damage is the character traits you are showcasing for your own children to imbibe like a ‘CRAB DOES NOT BEGAT A BIRD’.
By the way, when will our politicians learn to apologize for the things they say and get them wrong later like ‘when the fundamentals are wrong, the forex rate will expose you’ – so what has changed now?
Why do you still insult the intelligences of the electorate, thinking that we are DAFT – senseless, stupid, insane, crazy, giddy or foolish and not capable of reasoning for ourselves? Why do our leaders continue to take us for granted as ‘simpletons?’
Is that why our political class are implementing the ‘FREE SHS’ programme as we are witnessing by the day and especially because their own children have access to a different education channel so that our children will grow to serve their children as we are serving them now?
We should learn or be humble to be measured in the way we insult when in opposition, when desiring the high offices of state, the insults, the innuendoes, the insinuations and aspersions of disparaging or derogatory natures because all these things come back to haunt us; making us now pretend to be students on excursion throughout the countryside than to stay in office and face the music of our previous lives. I also worry over the impact of these on our youth, especially as by our acts, we make them accept and believe that ‘POLITICS IS ONLY ABOUT INSULTS AND WAITING FOR ONE’S TURN TO LOOT FROM THE STATE’ as the new rich class.
Do you recall all that was said about previous government about their fights against the then state of our rivers and their fight against the GALAMSEY MENACE; and then fast-forward to now and wonder what ought to be said now – same ‘yardstick’?
This is not how to build a nation, like GHANA?
But trust me, A CHANGE IS GONNA COME, sooner than later because as for the measurements men face here on earth, there can be only one YARDSTICK and never ever forget that because the foreign exchange rate will expose you for who you really are!
The writer, Magnus Naabe RexDanquah is is a Land Economist & Appraiser, Events Architect & Planner, Sport Business Consultant, Social Commentator and an Author
The dollar has hit the 11 cedi mark, with industry players predicting a further downgrade of the Ghanaian currency.
Members of GUTA lament that the situation is affecting their capital for businesses as well as the purchasing power of consumers.
In an interview with Citi News, the National President of GUTA, Dr. Joseph Obeng, said the action is to compel government to find innovative ways to deal with the free fall of the cedi.
”The rate at which the cedi is deprecating is depressing. We the traders are suffering. The situation is affecting our businesses.”
”We will be compelled to close our shops on 19th October if nothing changes.”
Renowned traditional musician, King Ayisoba, is preparing to tour the United States of America (USA) in March 2023 to promote Ghanaian food.
In collaboration with First Page Promotion, an entertainment and events organization, King Ayisoba and his Kologo Spirit band, would perform at the launch of a special event dubbed, Ghana Food Festival, to be held at the E Hotel Banquet & Conference, Woodbridge Avenue, Edison, in New Jersey on March 6, 2023, to promote the consumption and export of Ghanaian food and products among Ghanaians and Americans.
The launch will coincide with the celebration of Ghana’s Independence Day and would attract Ghanaians living in the USA to a festive carnival.
“Ghana Food Festival I a carnival that celebrates Ghana’s traditions and brings together folks interested in food, arts, and entertainment,” a close source to King Ayisoba hinted.
He said the event would come off annually, bringing together country folks and foreigners to enjoy the various delicious delicacies of the country, adding that, “it is to also help increase food trade, exhibit the good food of Ghana to the world.
Prior to the programme, King Ayisoba will undertake a tour of some areas in New Jersey to raise awareness and boost participation in the Festival.
Known for his traditional songs sung with special local guitar, King Ayisoba is noted for engaging in promotional projects, including the Kente and Batakari Day.
The Ghana Food Festival will feature Kente and Batakari stands, where unique designs of locally manufactured fabric would be widely exhibited.
King Ayisoba is renowned for making an appeal to the Parliament of Ghana to declare May 12 every year as Kente and Batakari Day, to draw attention to the fabrics and promote their patronage among Ghanaians.
The launch of the Ghana Food Festival is expected to be graced by prominent Ghanaians living in the US.
Over 70 per cent of breast cancer cases diagnosed are in advanced stages, resulting in limited treatment success and high death rates, Dr Winfred Ofosu, Eastern Regional Director, Ghana Health Service, has said.
Dr Ofosu said it was disheartening that many women lost their lives through breast cancer, though they could be saved when detected early.
The Eastern Regional Director of Health Services was speaking at a ceremony to commission a mammogram machine at the Volta River Authority (VRA) Hospital at Akosombo in the Easter region.
It was on the theme: “Early detection of breast cancer saves lives-get screened with a mammogram.”
The commissioning is part of efforts to increase breast cancer awareness as Ghana joins the world this month to create awareness of breast cancer for early detection and treatment.
The mammogram machine will serve the staff of the Authority and all women within the catchment area.
Dr Ofosu said Non-Communicable Diseases (NCD) such as breast cancer, cervical cancer, hypertension and diabetes were now pervasive and a hidden epidemic killing women one at a time, adding that the VRA’s decision to support a mammogram machine was in the right direction.
According to the 2020 Globocan report of the World Health Organisation (WHO), breast cancer is the commonest cancer among all sexes and obviously the commonest among female cancers in Ghana. And every year, over 4,000 cases of breast cancer are diagnosed, out of which almost half die from the disease.
Dr Kwabena Omari Yeboah, Medical Director, VRA Health Service Limited, said statistics indicated that six people died every day in Ghana from breast cancer.
He, therefore, called for the need for self-breast examination and medical screening regularly.
Dr Joyce Aryee, VRA Board Member, described breast cancer as debilitating, hence the acquisition of the mammogram machine to save lives and called on women above the age of 40 to patronise the services.
Dr Joyce Aryee, VRA Board Member
Mr Emmanuel Antwi-Darkwa, Chief Executive, VRA, said the Authority’s decision to acquire the equipment was an affirmation of the resolve to prioritise the health of women and bring the needed changes to communities.
He said: “It is unfortunate that some people are so heavily driven by superstition that they attribute medical conditions like breast cancer to spiritual attacks without seeking medical attention.
“We need all hands on deck to educate our daughters, wives, mothers, sisters and friends to take advantage of the facility to know their status.”
Nana Boafo Ansah Prem IV, Chief of Akosombo, encouraged the locals to make good use of the facility and charged religious bodies to educate their followers on breast cancer.
The United Kingdom has appointed Ghana’s Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, Mr Samuel Abu Jinapor, as Co-Chair of the Forests and Climate Leaders’ Partnership (FCLP), the flagship programme on climate change mitigation.
He will Co-Chair the programme with Mr John Kerry, the United States’ Special Presidential Envoy for Climate and former Secretary of State.
Ms Harriet Thompson, the British High Commissioner to Ghana, announced this on Thursday when she paid a working visit to the Minister, in Accra, to formally present the letter to him to Co-Chair the programme.
The FCLP is a new political forum, established by the United Kingdom, to enable governments and partners to work together to implement solutions that would help reduce forest loss and land degradation as well as promote sustainable development.
It seeks to mobilise high-level political leadership on forests, land-use and climate to increase restoration and ensure accountability for the pledges made by stakeholders.
She said Mr Jinapor had shown continued support to forests and other nature-based climate actions since his appointment as Minster.
Ms Thompson acknowledged Ghana’s active involvement in the Forest Agriculture and Climate Trade (FACT) Dialogue at COP 26, noting that the appointment of a Ghanaian Minister provides an opportunity for the country to maintain a high-level recognition on climate action and re-galvanise the international community to scale-up climate action.
Mr Jinapor accepted the appointment and commended the UK Government through the High Commissioner for the honour and confidence reposed in him, the Ministry, and Ghana as a whole.
He said President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo was passionate about climate change, which he demonstrated when he joined world leaders to sign the Glasgow Leaders’ Declaration on Forests and Land Use on the sidelines of COP26 in Scotland.
Mr Jinapor said it was in the same spirit that the Ministry had been implementing many initiatives to contribute to nature-based climate action.
These include the Green Ghana Project, the FACT Dialogue, REDD+ programme, the Cocoa and Forest Initiative, and the Forest Investment Programme.
He pledged his commitment to the new role by working with Mr Kerry to achieve the programme objectives.
On June 1, 2022, Mr Jinapor attended the High-level Ministerial meeting on Political Action for Climate, Forests and Land Use in Stockholm, Sweden, where he had side meetings and engagements with John Kerry, the Right Honourable Alok Sharma, 26th President of the United Nations Climate Change Conference, and Lord Goldsmith, the UK’s Minister for Asia, Energy, Climate and Environment.
His appointment comes as a follow up to this Ministerial Meeting.
Mr Jinapor took the opportunity to call for collective action by all countries to provide a unique space for intergovernmental collaboration and coordinated action with partners and stakeholders to contribute towards the global fight against the adverse effects of climate change.
Former Asante Kotoko captain Felix Annan feels he was good enough to command starting role at the club but is of the opinion the then coach, Maxwell Konadu, did not give him much playing time.
The shot stopper who had been Kotoko’s safest pair of hands for four seasons was dropped to the bench under Maxwell Konadu.
Annan had asked for permission to marry his longtime girlfriend, which saw him losing his role to the former Inter Allies goalkeeper Kwame Baah.
In an interview with Nhyira FM, Felix Annan, who now plies his trade in the USA said he lost his position in the national team because of Maxwell Konadu who limited his game time at Kotoko at the time.
“I felt I was too good enough but the coach at (Kotoko), (Maxwell Konadu) didn’t give me much playing time and that’s why I lost my position in the Black Stars.
Since his debut, Felix Annan has made three appearances for the Black Stars and was part of Ghana’s team at the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations.
The 27-year-old currently plies his trade for American side Maryland Bobcats FC.
Popular Ghanaian actress, Beverly Afaglo Baahhas called out African hospitals, particularly the private ones, for negligence which often leads to the death of patrons, especially celebrities.
According to Beverly, it is a dent on a hospital’s image to record the death of a celebrity adding that it goes to prove their incompetence.
She made this statement in reaction to the recent death of some of her colleagues including Ghanaian actors Ekow Blankson, Prince Yawson popularly known as ‘Waakye’, and more recently death of former Big Brother Naija star, Rico among others.
In a long post to highlight her sentiments, Beverly attributed the ‘worrying’ situation to what she described as cruelty by health workers who are not passionate about their jobs.
“The rate at which our celebrities are dying in hospitals is alarming. All these negligence and cruelty by our nurses must be discussed. All these can only happen in Africa where most of our health workers do not care about saving lives but just earning a living. Dear Hospital owner, when a celebrity dies in your hospital it’s not good for your brand, it makes your hospital inadequate and incompetent,” parts of her social media post read.
Beverly also described as inhumane, the trend where nurses record celebrities for clout instead of keeping their phones away and doing their jobs.
“These nurses are busy recording the celebrities for content and gossip and others are busy on their phones on social media, following trending news or talking and chatting with their boyfriends instead of saving lives. We have lost too many celebrities this year too sudden. How do u feel when that celebrity dies and u know u could hv saved him/her? U live and die with that guilt.”
She however made some suggestions to these concerns.
“I suggest our nurses drop their phones in lockers and on silent when they get to work and can only have them when they get a 30mins break during their shift.
“When videos of celebrities on hospital beds surfaces on the internet, every nurse in that ward must be arrested, investigated and the culprit dismissed and his/her license revoked. It is sad and humiliating to see our celebrities in such state so stop it,” she added.
The striking workers of Metro Mass Transithave suspended the industrial action after meeting the National Labour Commission.
The workers who have been on a sit-down strike since October 12 agreed to return to work on the advice of the NLC to allow the disagreeing parties to come to the table and find lasting solutions.
The employees laid down their tools because of the delay in the payment of their two months’ salaries.
Patrons of Metro Mass Transit were left stranded across the country, eventually prompting the intervention of the NLC.
Aspirants vying for various positions in the upcoming National Democratic Congress Regional elections have begun filling their nominations across the country.
The elections are expected to be held on the 12th and 13th of November 2022.
In the Western Region, over 50 persons are enthusiastically vying for about 20 positions.
In Greater Accra Region, three people will be challenging the incumbent Chairman of the Party, Ade Coker.
The three include a former Member of Parliament for Adentan, Nii Ashie Moore, a former parliamentary aspirant for Ningo Prampram, Michael Kwetey Tetteh and Greater Accra Regional Youth Organizer Thomas Mustapha Ashong.
Also, in the Northern Region, several incumbent executives are seeking re-election.
The Regional Secretary, Mohammed Abdul Salam, Youth Organizer Karim Abdul Mumin and Regional Organizer Abubakari Abdallah Baba have all submitted the forms to contest the elections.
The NDC has slated the 22nd and 23rd of October 2022 for its constituency-level elections, the regional-level election will be held on the 12th and 13th of November 2022 and the national congress will be on December 17.
Former manager of Shatta Waleand the Head of A&R at Zylofon Music, Bullgod, has proposed that a giant statue should be erected in honour of Nana Appiah Mensah.
According to Bullgod, no businessman past or present has made as much impact in the Ghanaian music industry as Nana Appiah Mensah, aka NAM1.
In an interview on Hitz FM’s ‘U Sey Weytin,’ Bullgod praised Nana Appiah Mensah for investing huge sums of money into the creative industry.
“No record label had come like Zylofon. He bought cars, and houses and gave them money. Nana Appiah Mensah deserves a statue in Ghana for what he did for the entertainment space.”
According to the artiste manager, Nana Appiah Mensah had great plans and was keenly working to put Ghana music at the top until the MenzGold saga set in.
“All these numbers these boys are running would have been done way before. Here we are, we had to cut our trees down and let foreign ones grow.”
He added that “Zylofon was responsible for those international plugs… I was head of Zylofon as the CEO of Zylofon Music, there was a deliberate attempt to push every Zylofon act.”
The Zylofon Music record label which signed Shatta Wale, Becca, Joyce Blessing, Stonebwoy, and Kumi Guitar, among others, collapsed when its CEO, Nana Appiah Mensah went down over the Menzgold scandal which rocked the nation back in 2018.
Orbis International, a Non-Governmental Organisation focusing on eye health, has held free eye screening in three communities of the Ahafo Ano South-West District in the Ashanti Region to commemorate World Sight Day.
The exercise was organised at Mankranso, Kunsu and Beposo, in collaboration with the Ghana Health Service, to mark the day, observed on October 13, each year.
World Sight Day is to focus attention on the global issue of eye health by the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness (IAPB).
“Love Your Health,” is the theme for this year’s celebration.
Prior to the day, Orbis had organised screening for three special schools in the region; the Garden City Special School, Ashanti School for the Deaf, and Community Vocational Special School at Deduako.
Madam Juanita Aryeh, the Programme Manager of Orbis International-Ghana, said beneficiaries of the exercise were given free treatment and eyeglasses where necessary.
She said the team would refer those who needed further treatment to the appropriate facilities to save their sight, adding that Orbis would make follow up to ensure such persons were taken good care of.
The organisation chose to attend to students in the special schools ahead of the celebration because it believed in inclusion and diversity.
“The goal is to make sure that nobody is needlessly blind by identifying cases as early as possible,” Madam Aryeh said.
“We are also educating the people to prevent avoidable blindness as much as possible.”
She said Orbis had been working closely with the Ghana Health Service and Ghana Education Service among others in the Ashanti Region to provide eye care services to the public.
President and Founder of Breast Care International (BCI), Dr Mrs Beatrice Wiafe Addai, says family history does not prevent one from contracting breast cancer.
She explained that about 90 per cent of breast cancer patients did not have any family member affected by the disease, yet they contracted it.
Dr Wiafe was addressing pupils and students at the Accra College of Education Demonstration School to commemorate Breast Cancer awareness creation month (October), which coincides with “World no bra day”.
It was organised by BCI and Peace and Love Hospitals, with support from Provident Insurance and on the theme: “Breast cancer won’t rest, so why should we?”
The Day was also used to remember those who died of breast cancer.
Dr Wiafe said excessive intake of alcohol-exposed people, especially women to breast cancer, adding that smoking made women vulnerable to the disease.
She said smoking was dangerous and cautioned against it, especially shisha.
Dr Wiafe also warned against eating junk foods, saying they contained a lot of fats, which were not healthy.
She debunked suggestions that sucking or playing with the breast could prevent anyone from contracting breast cancer and said what was needed was monthly self-examination and regular screening.
Mr Michael Justice Ashong, Chief Executive Officer of Provident Insurance, said the event coincided with its year-long 40th-anniversary celebration, which included supporting health programmes.
Breast cancer survivors – Benita Ogbonna and Joyce Aidoo, both mothers, who shared their experiences, appealed to the public to stop stigmatising people living with breast cancer.
The demise of Ghanaian banker and philanthropist, Dr Ophelia Akosua Brantuo, who was the founder of the Brants Care Foundation, has been described as a shock.
News of Dr. Brantuo’s passing was announced on Monday, October 10. The cause of her death is unknown.
This was followed by several messages from her loved ones who could not believe the unfortunate news.
Ghanaian television presenter, Gifty Anti, in a Facebook post, shared memories of the bubbly personality who was an inspiration to women and young girls due to her height in education.
“I am not ok!! I can’t pretend anymore!!! I am broken!! So what was the PHD for? Was it to prepare you for heaven? My eyes are heavy and my heart!!! My heart Akosua!! I have been trying to be strong since Monday!! But my daughter, my mentee, my friend…today!!! Today is not good Akosua!! Today I am angry, I am sad, I am weak. Lord please comfort her mother, siblings and loved ones!!,” Gifty wrote.
Also, actress Afia Schwarzenegger, who never had an encounter with the late entrepreneur, also shared a video collage of Dr. Brantuo expressing pain over the death of the young Ghanaian achiever.
“Don’t know you, can’t stop thinking about you…can’t stop feeling sad and sorry for your family. I don’t even understand the connection and my emotions towards your transition. Rest in the Lord, Queen, and kindly hug my dad if you see him. May God keep your soul. Rest in perfect peace,” she wrote.
Dr Brantuo’s last Instagram post three weeks ago was a quote from Kalu Ndukwe, which reads: “The things you do for yourself are gone when you’re gone, but the things you do for others remain as your legacy.”
She had announced to her fans and social media friends of her nomination in this year’s African Achiever’s Awards.
Social media users across all platforms have described her death as a huge blow to her family and close friends.
An Accra Circuit Court has sentenced a 39-year-old petty trader to ten years imprisonment in hard labour for unlawful possession of narcotics.
Samuel Hagan, alias “Tuga,” denied the offence but he was found culpable after trial.
Police Chief Inspector Benson Benneh told the Court presided over by Mrs Evelyn Asamoah that
complainants, in this case, were Police Officers stationed at Mamprobi and Hagan was a petty trader who lived at Dansoman Beach Road.
On February 4, 2022, at about 1800 hours, Mamprobi Police command embarked on an operation to arrest suspected drug peddlers and users within its jurisdiction, he told the Court.
Chief Inspector Benneh said the team, acting on a tip-off, went to a ghetto at Dansoman Beach where undercover men were placed among the people present, adding that whilst there, Hagan, the convict, was spotted with a multi-coloured polythene bag containing wrappers of dried plant materials suspected to be narcotic drugs which he was selling out.
The prosecution said the team was called in and the convict was arrested with 42 wrappers of dried plant materials suspected to be narcotic drugs.
He said the convict together with the exhibits were sent to the station for investigation.
Chief Inspector Benneh said Hagan claimed ownership of the 42 dried plant materials suspected to be narcotic drugs and that he was selling them.
He said cautioned statement was obtained from the convict and the exhibit was forwarded to Police Forensic Science Laboratory for examination.
The Court heard that Hagan was charged with the offence and put before the court as the laboratory result came out positive.
A man, 40, identified by a search team as Kwesi Alhaji, has been found dead in front of an uncompleted building at Kasoa Opeikuma High-tension in the Awutu Senya East Municipality of the Central Region.
He was in a shirt and boxer shorts.
He was found by a young man who went hunting for game in the bush.
A resident, Mr Okyere Boateng, told the media that a young man informed him about a pungent smell in the area whilst hunting for bush meat.
Mr Okyere said he organised some people and moved to the scene only to discover the almost decomposed body lying near the uncompleted building in the bush.
He said he then informed his landlord, who reported the matter to the police.
The National Disaster Management Organization (NADMO) together with Ghana Police have conveyed the decomposed body to the mortuary.
Mr Kwame Amoah, the Awutu Senya East Municipal NADMO Director, in an interview, said a mobile phone and a financial saving book with the name Kwesi Alhaji were found on him.
He said the cause of the death was currently unknown and urged the public to help the Ofaakor Police Command to look for the dead man’s relatives.
The overall best student in the 2021 West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) and second best in West Africa, Mr Kwame Brako Asante, has donated some items to the Akropong School of the Blind in the Eastern Region.
The items, made up of two sound systems, four microphones, five pen drives and geometrical shapes, were to facilitate learning.
Mr Kwame Brako Asante, speaking at the short ceremony, expressed his excitement seeing the kids appreciate the donated items.
He expressed happiness about the students commitment to study and give off their best to society.
“One thing I believe in is if somebody who is disadvantaged is trying his best to achieve something good, that person deserves support, so I believe they have what it takes but they just need the support,” he added.
The Computer Science Student of Ashesi University further stated that he had plans of helping others through his field of study, as a way of impacting the various societies in Ghana.
He finally urged various stakeholders to join hands to support young individuals in their education as a way of making them prominent in society.
Mr Gideon Doyi, the Assistant Headmaster of the school, expressed his delight having received the items and said it had come at the right time to help them with their audio lessons.
He thanked Mr Brako Asante for choosing no other institution than theirs to donate the items and encouraged him to continue to support the school in years to come.
“We rely on sound, and these electronic items are going to help us in both teaching and entertainment,” He added.
The Assistant Headmaster further stated that the visit would serve as a motivation to the students to also achieve greater heights in society.
He appealed to individuals, organisations and corporate bodies to emulate the kind gesture by Mr Asante Brako.
Some students also shared their excitement as the items donated were going to make learning easier and better.
Some irate youth who vandalised the Neoplan Police Station have been remanded into custody by an Accra Circuit Court.
The prosecution has also alleged that the accused persons stole two AK 47 rifles from the police station.
The accused persons are Nasarah Isaac, Forever Adomose, Kweku Kyei, Lamber Akurabilla, Maxwell Ayugi, Faisal Gadafi, Kofi Deri, Abanyoro Nana Yaw, Kofi Samsam, Tawiah Maxwell and Samuel Mbah.
The others are Kwaku Boateng, Henry Collins, Thomas Adorgle, Mustapha Kofi, Gabriel Danso, Prince Anim, Awene Adoko, Awene Oluashegu and Fuseini Adams.
The rest are Conrad Kunle, Mubarak Haruna, Mohammed Ayamga and Daniel Ofori.
They all pleaded not guilty to four counts of conspiracy to commit crime, stealing and causing unlawful damage when they appeared before the court, presided over by Afia Owusua Appiah.
They are to reappear on October 26 this year.
Facts
The fact of the case as presented by the prosecutor, Chief Inspector Samuel Ahiabor, were that on October 9 this year, one Isobah stole a mobile phone belonging to a young man.
He stated that when Isobah was being chased, he jumped into the Odaw River to escape.
“The young man also jumped into the river to retrieve his mobile phone from the said Isobah. In the ensuing struggle over the mobile phone, Isobah got drowned,” he said.
He added that a friend of Isobah jumped into the river and he also got drowned.
“On the same day, the accused persons who have their respective occupations at Kwame Nkrumah Circle organised themselves, marched to the Neoplan Police Station, attacked and vandalised the Charge Office and Station Officer’s office,” Chief Inspector Ahiaboh said.
He further explained that after they had vandalised the Police Station, the accused persons stole two AK 47 rifles kept at the Charge Office.
On October 10, this year, the Police, the prosecutor said, gathered intelligence, arrested the accused persons and retrieved the rifles.
The Prosecutor however stated that they were yet to ascertain the reason the young men attacked the police station, adding that the case was still under investigations.
They were remanded to reappear on October 26, 2022.
The Lagos State Government has said it will probe all the medical practitioners who were behind the 30-second video clip showcasing the final moments of a former reality TV star, Patrick Fakoya, aka Rico Swavey, while on admission at a hospital.
This was made known by the state Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Gbenga Omotoso, who stated that the government had commenced an investigation into the matter.
He said, “That hospital is not a government hospital; we have started an investigation into the unprofessional conduct of those who appeared in that video.”
The nurses were attempting to lift him onto a bed when one of them pulled out a phone and began recording him.
Another nurse was overheard warning her colleague not to do so.
“You people should stop making the video; somebody is dying, you people are making video,” the nurse said.
The viral video has attracted condemnation from members of the public.
Reacting to the video, a Twitter user, Alexander Peters, condemned the action of the nurses.
He said, “The license of these nurses should be immediately withdrawn and they should be arrested.”
Another user, Stanjhae De Werey General wrote, “Health attendants were just making videos and laughing while someone was dying Sorry rico #ricoswavey”
Meanwhile, according to Peter Felix, the poor health sector in the country influenced the negligence displayed by the nurses.
“It’s not about the nurses… This same nurse will perform well in a better system. Nurses are suffering in this part of the world,” Peter said.
Douchess of Nkwerre said, “I think a lot of them put there just choose to study medicine or nursing cause they believe it’s lucrative. No passion for HUMAN LIFE at all.
“May God accept your soul Rico,” another user, Douchess of Nkwerre added.
Rico died in the early hours of Wednesday, October 12, 2022.
The BB Naija reality TV starwas said to have sustained injuries following a tragic road accident around Lekki/Ajah in Lagos.
Before his death, another former Brother Naija Housemate, Tobi Bakre had championed a campaign to raise funds for Rico Swavey’s medical treatment. Bakre said Rico Swavey had been placed on life support and was in need of funds.
Bakre had tweeted, “Please help save Rico. He had a really bad car accident.
“We have to keep him on life support and continue to pay the rising medical bills while we pray for God’s miracle.
“(We) can’t do it alone. Please click on the link to donate at ricoswavey.com.”
President of the Ghana Pentecostal and Charismatic Council (GPCC), Rev. Prof. Paul Frimpong Manso has indicated the churches’ readiness to contribute to the fight against illegal mining.
Prof. Frimpong Manso in an interview with JoyNews said the church will protest in their numbers to drum home their displeasure over the devastation caused by illegal mining.
These actions, he said are necessary because galamsey activities are “wrong”.
“We are leading the fight; the fight is in four phases. First, accepting our challenges and weaknesses, pledging that we won’t be part of it, telling the people that it is wrong [to engage in galamsey].
“The church is also telling the people in authority that they should do the right thing. Finally, [we are] coming out to protest in our numbers to tell the world that galamsey is destroying our river bodies,” he said on Thursday, October 13.
Also, President of the Trinity Theological Seminary, Very Rev. Prof. Asamoah Gyedu implored the church to rise up as the fight cannot be won due to political interferences.
“People profit from ‘galamsey’ physically and I mean all political parties so the politicians must be blamed. The Christian church must maintain strict stewardship of the embodiment of its message.”
Meanwhile, leaders of the Council are expected to visit some ‘galamsey’ sites to see for themselves the level of destruction of water bodies and forests.
Operation Halt II
Government has handed a “comprehensive list” of all licensed small-scale mining companies across the country to the Military High Command.
This forms part of new measures instituted as part of Operation Halt IIto ensure illegal mining ceases in forest reserves and water bodies.
At a press briefing to provide updates on the fight against the menace on Thursday, October 13, Mr Jinapor stressed that this new operation will be sustainable and shall continue “until we get to a satisfactory situation with respect to illegal small-scale mining.”
“We have provided the Military High Command a comprehensive list of all licensed, lawful small-scale mining operations across the country. So even before they moved, we formally lodged it with the Minister of Defence for onward submission to the Military High Command.
“As they [soldiers] are in the field, they have the records of licensed small-scale miners and they are able to tell that this particular operation is not licensed, is not lawful and therefore it’s a ‘galamsey’,” he stated.
There are chief inspectors of mines and criminal investigation operatives to ensure that evidence is collected as the operation unfolds for purposes of prosecution, the Minister disclosed.
He stated unequivocally that no politician or person in high authority would be allowed to interfere with the work of the Operation Halt IIteams.
“Nobody is allowed to intervene. I, as the Minister, am not allowed to call the military to say ‘please don’t go to this concession’. That discretion is not given to anybody; they are to use their own professional security expert judgement take on this matter.
“They will be responsible and accountable to the Minister of Defence, the President and ultimately the Ghanaian people. So if things go wrong in the course of operation, the Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, to a large extent, will not be held accountable; it is the Military High Command which would be held accountable,” he clarified.
The President of the ECOWAS Court of Justice, Justice Edward Amoako Asante, was on Thursday, 13th October 2022 re-elected by his peers for an initial two years following an election by the Court’s five-member college of judges.
The election, which followed the assumption of duty of the two new judges of the Court who were sworn in last week in Bissau, Justices Claudio Monteiro Goncalves from Cape Verde and Sengu Mohammed Koroma from Sierra Leone, also saw the re-election of Justice Gberi be-Ouattara as the Vice President of the Court.
The two new Justices of the Court were sworn in on Thursday 6th October 2022 for the ECOWAS Court of Justice by the Chairman of the Authority of Heads of State and Government of the Community, President Umaro Sissoco Embalo of Guinea Bissau.
Justice Asante, who was among three judges of the Court whose tenure were extended by the Heads of State and Government of the Community, said his re-election showed the confidence his colleagues reposed in him.
He added that the re-election will afford him the opportunity to improve on the performance of the previous college in order to strengthen the court’s role in the delivery of justice and deepen its enviable jurisprudence which has made it a global brand, particularly in the areas of human rights that has become its signature mandate.
He welcomed the two new judges to the Court’s family and expressed confidence that with their pedigree, they would contribute immensely to furthering the work of the Court and assured them of the Court’s determination to provide the necessary tools to ensure that they functioned optimally.
Justice Asante also praised the outgoing judges of the Court- Justices Keikura Bangura from Sierra Leone and Januaria Tavares Silva Moreira Costa from Cape Verde- who just completed their tenure and assured them that they will continue to be a valuable resource for the Court.
The new judges, who were appointed for a four –year term, were later taken through some administrative issues related to their tenure as statutory appointees of the Community.
They were later introduced to the staff during a meeting attended by the new college of judges and their outgoing colleagues.
Among the three judges whose tenure was renewed by the Heads of State and Government of the Community, was Justice Dupe Atoki from Nigeria.
Trinidadian-American-based rap artiste, Nicki Minajon Thursday took to Instagram live to register her displeasure over her song ‘Super Freaky Girl’ being removed from the Grammys Rap category.
During her interactions with fans, Nicki, also hinted at plans to visit West African state, Ghana, for the first time.
The award-winning act announced that she may work on “something major” with a Ghanaian artiste, whose identity was kept secrete.
“When am I coming to Ghana? I would love to come to Ghana. I actually may be doing something major, a business type of situation with an artiste from Ghana really soon,” said Nicki in a lengthy video shared with her 202 million Instagram followers.
The 10-times Grammy-nominated artiste who is yet to receive an award from the Recording Academy has protested their move of nominating her song ‘Super Freaky Girl’ which debuted at Number 1 on Billboard’s Hot 100 chart in August, in the pop category instead of the rap category.
“If you can’t tell by now that there is a concerted effort to give newer artists things that they really don’t deserve over people who have been deserving for many years, then you’re not paying attention,” she said.
Some fish farmersand institutions in the Upper East Region are sustainably increasing fish production and contributing to the national fish stock for food and nutritional security.
The government, under its Aquaculture for Food and Jobs programme, has empowered some youth groups and institutions in the region including the Navrongo Central Prison and the Navrongo Youth Farmers Brigade in the Kassena-Nankana Municipality to venture into pond and cage fish farming.
Apart from providing them with technical knowledge and expertise, the government, through the Ministry of Fisheries and Aquaculture, also supported them with fish feed, fingerlings and holding facilities.
This aimed to sustainably increase fish production in the region, created employment and helped reduce poverty among the youth and contributed to the country’s drive to achieve food and nutritional security.
Mr Francis Adjei, the Upper East Regional Director of Fisheries Commission, who said this in an interview with the Ghana News Agency in Bolgatanga noted that catfish and tilapia were being cultivated.
At the Navrongo Central Prison, under the pond fish farming, two cages were provided with 24,000 fingerlings and 274 bags of fish feed were supplied and they recorded two harvests and restocked the cages with new fingerlings.
“They have harvested two times and were yet to harvest the third time, although the first-time stocking was high, that is, 12,000 per cage which resulted in mortalities, the harvest was over 600 kilogrammes while the second harvest was 1,460 kilogrammes.
Mr Adjei noted that the Navrongo Youth Farmers Brigade, were also supported with 11,000 tilapia fingerlings and 274 bags of fish feed were supplied to them, which provided jobs to them and increased their income levels.
Apart from that, the Commission had also restocked the capture fisheries including the dams and other water bodies in the region and collaborated with stakeholders including the Irrigation Company of Upper Region, Ghana Police Service, chiefs, and farmers to ensure safety.
The Regional Director explained that the Directorate had a demonstration fishpond for providing technical and practical training on fish farming to students and youth and the move had motivated about 20 people to venture into backyard fishing farming.
“Over 50,000 catfish have been stocked in these backyard fish farming which is tank and tarpaulin fish farming and some people have harvested already, with the first one having about 500 kilogrammes and the second one 250 kilogrammes,” he added.
Mr Adjei explained that the excessive cost of fingerlings and fish feed had been identified as two critical challenges confronting fish production in the region and the government was working to address them to encourage more youth into the sector through the setting up of hatcheries in the Northern enclave.
He said currently the government was renovating the fish hatcheries at Gowrie, near the Vea Dam in the Bongo District, adding “when that is finished, we will be able to supply over one million fingerlings annually to fish farmers in the Northern enclave.
“Because currently the farmers travel down south to purchase the fingerlings and by the time, they get here about 70 to 80 per cent are dead and so before the hatchery is ready for use the Commission uses its vehicle to transport the fingerlings from the South to the farmers which have reduced the mortality rate to about two per cent,”.
Mr Adjei encouraged the youth to venture into backyard fish farming and noted that the Commission had been able to identify a private entrepreneur who had established a fish feed production company in Bolgatanga and would soon begin to supply feed to the Northern sector.
The European Union (EU) has pledged an additional 10 million euro to Ghana to support the most vulnerable populations facing escalating global food security crisis exacerbated by Russia’s unprovoked and unjustified invasion of Ukraine.
Mr. Pieter Smidt Van Gelder, the Deputy Head of the European Union Mission to Ghana, announcing the new Special Measure in Accra said, “These new funds will support families to grow crops, generate income and improve food availability on local markets.”
Mr Gelder, who presented the dummy cheque to the Ministries of Finance and Food and Agriculture said the EU support would also make Ghanaian farmers more resilient to crisis by promoting sustainable food production and strengthening integration into national and regional food value chains.
He said the allocation would support the sustainable development of a number of agribusiness value chains, including shea, soybean, beekeeping, and vegetables.
The Deputy Head of the EU Mission said this would complement efforts by the Ghanaian government to mitigate further increases in poverty, hunger, and malnutrition in vulnerable areas affected by high prices of food, fertilizer, and fuel.
He said the current 10 million euro allocation to Ghana represented the commitment of the EU and Member States Team Europe approach to mobilizing political, policy and financial means to safeguard food security, while transitioning to more resilient food systems.
He said the food security situation was a very serious concern and that was why the EU had allocated 600 million euro to countries mainly in Africa to finance humanitarian food aid and food production and to strengthen local food production systems.
He said the support would help 19 countries to cope with the consequences of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, notably the current food security and related economic shock.
“Of this envelope, the EU is allocating the 10 million euro to Ghana,” he added.
He said the new funding comes on top of the EU’s 203 million euro joint programming support already dedicated to Ghana for 2021-2024.
THE Deputy Head of EU Mission said the extra funding announced today would strengthen the ongoing programme as well as the EU’s upcoming support to the agriculture sector in Ghana.
Mrs Abena Osei-Asare, a Deputy Minister for Finance, said “We as a country have been faced with a number of challenges in recent times. The COVID-19 pandemic and lately Russia – Ukraine war have particularly had worrying effects on Ghana’s economy.”
She said the conflict had resulted in rapid increase in the prices of food, fuel and fertilizer, with its attendant consequences on the country’s foreign exchange reserves used to purchase commodities imported for public consumption as well as inputs for industries.
She said food inflation continued to contribute highly to overall inflation with Ghana’s inflation for September 2022 at 37.2 per cent with food inflation contributing largely at 37.8 per cent.
She said the support would focus on the Northern part of Ghana as a more economically sustainable and inclusive food systems, reinforced environmental sustainability of food systems, enhanced social sustainability and gender responsiveness of food systems (incl. Food and nutrition security) and improved governance and institutional sustainability of food systems.
She said the EU had been a strategic partner of Ghana over the years and had supported the country in the areas of infrastructure development, good governance, agriculture, and public financial management.
“The flexibility exhibited in the provision of €86.5 million to Ghana as Emergency Budget Support during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic is one that cannot be forgotten,” she added.
Mrs Osei Asare said the support to food security would complement an action for agribusiness foreseen under the Annual Action Programme for 2023.
He said the action was part of a larger support aimed at mitigating the effects of food crisis in
vulnerable Member States and regions of the Organisation of African, Caribbean and Pacific States (OACPS), occasioned by the Russia Ukraine war.
“This singular decision by the EU, together with its Member States, to mobilise €600 million from the reserves of the European Development Fund (EDF) to support ACP countries and regions is particularly commendable,” she said.
Mr Mohammed Hardi Tufeiru, a Deputy Minister of Food and Agriculture, said the EU-Ghana Agriculture programme, sought to modernize agricultural production processes.
This will address binding constraints to agricultural productivity through the development of selected value chains including rice, soybean, groundnut, cashew, mango, and vegetables, building resilience against climate change and investment in infrastructural development such as roads and irrigation facilities.
The programme is consistent with Sector’s flagships- Planting for Food and Jobs and Planting for Export and Rural Development.
He said it would go a long way to improve the livelihoods of communities in the beneficiary regions and the country at large.
He said the 10 million euro pledge by the EU had come at an opportune time to support the most vulnerable populations to cope with the ramifications of the Russia invasion of Ukraine and the resultant impact on food security.
He said the proposed support had been earmarked for the sustainable development of a selected number of agribusiness value chains, including shea, soybean, beekeeping, and vegetables, which are all priority areas for the sector.
He contended that since mining activities take place in almost all the regions, government cannot just announce such directive without careful considerations.
Pressure group, OccupyGhana, petitioned President Akufo-Addo to immediately declare a state of emergency in all mining areas to help government streamline mining activities in the country.
There have been suggestions that it is a sure way of dealing with the menace. But Mr. Jinapor says there is more to it, which demands that further discussions are held.
“If we say state of emergency, I don’t understand what the import is. So, state of emergency [at] where? So in the mining areas you declare state of emergency, it means that people can be arrested and kept for more than 48 hours? It means that martial law would then operate in those places?
“We need to consider all that. I am not making a decision on this, I’m not taking a position on this, but I think it requires more interrogation before making a conclusion that a state of emergency be announced or be imposed in mining areas of our country,” he explained.
“Always remember that 13 or so out of the 16 regions in Ghana are mining regions. So, you are going to impose state of emergency on almost all of the regions.”
Meanwhile, the Media Coalition Against Galamsey (MCAG) is among many stakeholders demanding that government stops all small-scale and surface mining activities immediately as a means of restoring our water bodies.
Its convenor, Ken Ashigbey, says the environmental implications far outweigh the economic benefits.
The Coalition also wants the sacking of MCE, DCE and sector ministers who have failed the country in this fight.
Finance Minister, Mr Ken Ofori-Atta, will on Sunday, chair the G20 Ministers of Finance annual dialogue in Washington DC.
The meeting, aimed at tackling climate change issues affecting vulnerable economies, is part of the ongoing IMF-World Bank annual meetings.
It will be attended by Finance Ministers from Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, Latin America, the Middle East, and the Pacific.
The dialogue comes on the background of the Climate Vulnerable Economies Loss report, which noted that V20 economies lost about $525 billion in two decades.
Therefore, the V20 Finance Ministers’ dialogue will discuss debt repayments to finance climate action and climate prosperity plans.
This is to support ongoing initiatives between G7 and G20 countries to tackle global climate finance, loss and damage issues.
The dialogue will also tackle issues of V20 as an official group within the IMF and World Bank as well as IMF’s newly created resilience and sustainability trust.
In a press statement on the chairmanship of the dialogue, Mr Ofori-Atta, said: “Ghana welcomes the challenge of leading the world’s biggest grouping of climate-vulnerable economies to find ways to protect economic growth amidst growing risks posed by climate change.”
“We aim to keep our economies thriving, provide jobs for our people and protect our industries, while advocating for solutions to the climate crisis.”
Formed in 2015, the V20 Group of Finance Ministers is a dedicated cooperation of economies systematically vulnerable to climate change.
V20 Group members are also states of the Climate Vulnerable Forum (CVF). V20 Group membership stands at 58 economies, representing some 1.5 billion people, including Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Barbados, Benin, Bhutan, Burkina Faso, Cambodia, Chad, Colombia, Comoros, Costa Rica, Côte d’ivore, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Dominican Republic, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Fil.
Others are: The Gambia, Ghana, Grenada, Guatemala Guinea, Guyana, Hat, Honduras, Kenya, Kiribati, Kyrgyzstan, Lebanon, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Maldives, and Marshall Islands.
The rest are: Mongolia, Morocco, Nepal, Nicaragua, Niger, Palau Palestine, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Rwanda, Saint Lucia, Samoa, Senegal, South Sudan, Sri Lanka Sudan, Tanzania, Timor-Leste, Tunisia, Tuvalu, Uganda, Vanuatu Viet Nam and Yemen as a UN non-member observer State.
