Author: Persis

The Kwabena Nketia Centre for Africana Studies of the University College of Communications and the GaDamgme Council will on August 9, organise the Annual Lecture and Cultural Festival, to celebrate the life and achievements of King Tackie Tawiah I, of the Ga State.

The event, which will be held on the theme: “Sharing Knowledge with the People”, will witness a medley of activities, including music, dance and exhibition, as well as funfair and fundraising at the Accra Sports Stadium.

The organising committee planned the activities to coincide with the Ga Homowo Festival, which forms part of the activities marking “The Year of Return”.

The function is open to the public and will start from 0930 to 2030 hours, with President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, as the Special Guest of Honour.

Other dignitaries expected to grace the occasion include Mrs Barbara Oteng-Gyasi, the Minister of Tourism, Culture and Creative Arts, as the Guest of Honour, Mrs Bella Ayayee-Ahu, the President of the Ghana Tourism Federation and Mr Akwasi Agyeman, the Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Tourism Authority.

The Ghana Tourism Authority, which is organising “The Year of Return” activities, is one of the collaborators of the programme to promote it to a wider audience.

Source: ghananewsagency.org

Mr. Ken Ofori-Atta, Minister of Finance, on Friday, June 28, 2019, conditionally, approved a multi-year funding commitment of GH¢ 1,560,551,812.33, for the commencement of fourteen(14) road projects over the medium term.

The move to approve the projects, would see reconstruction, rehabilitation and upgrading of road networks, spanning 381.3 Kilometres (km) across the Ashanti, Brong Ahafo, Eastern and Northern Regions of Ghana.

A release issued by the Public Relations Unit of the Ministry of Finance and copied to the Ghana News Agency said the approval of the funding commitment for the 14 projects, was subject to section 33(1) of Ghana’s Public Financial Management (PFM), (Act 921), which required a yearly breakdown of each project, and detailed information on all on-going road projects.

It said the PFM Act 921 also required a complete assessment of all projects for efficiency.

The multi-year commitment for the Ministry of Roads and High Ways, would be funded through the medium term budgetary allocation 2019 and 2023, the release said, adding, “according to the Office of the Minister of Finance, the concerned Ministry is expected to provide required information, as stipulated by the PFM Act, by 15 July, 2019”.

It said apart from insisting on strict adherence to procurement processes, as enshrined in the Public Procurement (Amendment) Act 2016(Act 914), the Ministry of Finance had also requested the Ministry of Roads and Highways, to submit all projects contracts for inclusion, in the medium term Expenditure Framework.

The release mentioned the projects as the reconstruction of the Osiem-Begoro road – 24.80 kilometers(km), Kwabeng-Abomosu-Asuom road, 41.40km, the up-grading of the Anwiankwanta-Obuasi road-30km and the Mampong Kofiase road-14km.

The rests are the reconstruction of the Kwabeng Akropong road and the Akropong Town roads-23.3km, upgrading of the Nsuta-Beposo road-7km, upgrading of Kwadaso-Trabuom road-30km, rehabilitation of Adankrono-Kade-New Abremm road (Lot1)-21km, and the rehabilitation of Adankrono-Kade-New Abremm road (Lot2)-22.4km.

Others are the upgrading of the Atronie-Mim road-17km, the reconstruction of the Asuom-Subi-Kade road-22km, and the reconstruction of the Akropong-Pramkese-Adankrono road-27.2km, as well as the upgrading of the Odumasi-Adenta-Badu road-30.2km.

Source: ghananewsagency.org

Mr Emmanuel Atta Ofori, the Kwahu South District Chief Executive (DCE) has handed over 41 motorbikes to Assembly Members to serve as an incentive for their hard work and dedication.

The motorbikes were presented to the Assembly by the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development.

Presenting the motorbikes on behalf of the Ministry, the DCE said the gesture was also to support members of the local Assembly in the discharge of their work.

He explained that it was the government’s priority to take development to the doorstep of all citizens no matter where they reside, hence, the donation.

Mr Atta-Ofori said, the district had a lot of deprived communities with bad road networks and said with the help of the motorbikes, the assembly members would be able to carry out their duty effectively and efficiently.

He, therefore, urged the Assembly Members to use the bikes for its intended purpose to help reach out to a large number of the citizens.

Receiving the Motorbikes on behalf of the Assembly Members, Mr S.W.K. Ampadu, Presiding Member, expressed his gratitude to the President and assured the DCE of using the motorbikes to enhance grass root participation in governance.

Source: ghananewsagency.org

An alternative livelihood empowerment support program has been inaugurated at Kyebi in the eastern region.

The economic support program, according to government officials will go a long way to provide employment opportunities for the youth of Kyebi, especially persons whose livelihood depended mainly on illegal mining.

Inaugurating the ultramodern dressmaking centre, Kojo Ofori Sarfo, MCE for Abuakwa South municipal said the intervention was part of strategies to re-orient the youth.

The initiative which is also aimed at minimising poverty was instituted in honour of Sussana Adwoa Frempomaa Appiah-Pippim, a renowned dressmaker from Kyebi.

Beneficiaries would be trained by master dressmakers and would undergo several months of intensive training to gain in-depth practical experience.

Dr. James Acquah Appiah-Pippim, son of the late renowned dressmaker who spoke on behalf of the Appiah-Pippim family says the rationale behind the dressmaking centre is to honour the memory of their late mother and offer opportunities for young adults to learn a trade.

The Abuakwa South municipal Chief executive, Kojo Ofori Sarfo pledged government’s support for the memorial centre.

According to him, the assembly will facilitate and ensure the sustainability of the centre by providing adequate human resource support for their programs.

Source: www.ghanaweb.com

Operation Vanguard Personnel in the Eastern Region in an operation conducted between 3:00 am and 6:00 am on Saturday has resulted in the arrest of 85 suspected illegal miners.

This was contained in a statement issued to the Ghana News Agency by Captain Andy Sowatey, Public Relations Officer of Operation Vanguard.

The statement said, the galamseyers, who were operating within the general area of Abomosu in the Atiwa West District were made up of 83 locals, a Nigerien and an Ivorian.

It added that the suspects were currently in the custody of civil police.

The statement said in other operations conducted within the past week, the Taskforce arrested two locals suspected of galamsey in the Amansie West District.

“Additionally, five excavators, two motorbikes and four Water pumping machines were also seized and some 22 Changfans were also destroyed”, the statement added.

Source: ghananewsagency.org

The family of the late former Vice-President, Mr Kwesi Bekoe Amissah-Arthur, has announced a $1-million initiative to help retain top professors at the Economics Department of the University of Ghana.

The ‘K. B. Amissah-Arthur Chair in Economics’ initiative will ensure the naming of a chair at the university to fund research activities and the training of a new crop of economists at the department.

Additionally, the family announced an annual award scheme for a doctor of philosophy (PhD) studies at the Economics Department to train a new generation of economists with practical solutions to national challenges.

Announcing those initiatives at the maiden economic forum held in honour of the late former Vice-President in Accra yesterday, one of his children, Mr Kwesi Nyan Amissah-Arthur, said the initiative was a major move to immortalize the economic ideologies the accomplished economist stood for in life.

Forum

The forum, which was held on the theme: “K.B Amissah-Arthur Economic Forum: Making Sense of Economics,” was attended by a galaxy of prominent persons that comprised politicians, academics, economists and members of the public.

Notable personalities at the inaugural forum were the former President, Mr John Mahama; the Minister of Finance, Mr Ken Ofori-Atta; the Special Representative of the United Nations (UN)?Secretary-General and Head of UN Office in West Africa and the Sahel, Dr Mohammed Ibn Chambas, and a former Governor of the Bank of Ghana, Dr Paul Acquah.

Other prominent personalities who attended the forum were the Chairman of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Mr Samuel Ofosu-Ampofo; a former Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ghana, Professor Ernest Aryeetey; a former Minister of Education, Professor Naana Jane Opoku Agyeman; former and current government officials and other stalwarts of the NDC.

The lecture was delivered by Prof. Charles Soludo, a former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria.

Legacy

Mr Amissah-Arthur explained that the K.B. Amissah-Arthur Foundation that had been set up to sustain the legacy of the former Ghanaian leader had received support and pledges towards realising the $1-million fund.

“I am pleased to say that our family is at an advanced stage with the Department of Economics of the University of Ghana to perpetuate this Chair of Economics initiative.

“The intention is that this chair will be able to attract and retain top talent of professorial rank to give the occupant of that chair the ability to work towards solving economic challenges,” he said.

On the PhD award scheme, he explained that the idea was to fully fund the studies of deserving students at the Economics Department to obtain knowledge on modern ways of dealing with emerging economic challenges.

“We have already invested a certain amount of money and the proceeds will fund the award every year,” he said.

Diligence

Dr Ibn Chambas described the late Amissah-Arthur as a man of integrity who stood tall in his contribution to national development in the areas of politics, academia, banking and the private sector.

He called on leaders to reflect on the life of Mr Amissah-Arthur and take sound economic policies to develop the country.

He observed that it was important for all persons to strive to leave a lasting legacy for the next generation to build on.

Department

The Head of the Economics Department, Professor Samuel Agyei Mensah, lauded the Amissah-Arthur family for the initiatives meant to retain top professors at the department and also promote doctoral studies.

He said the time had come for more attention to be paid to initiatives that would make economists more relevant in national development.

Source: Graphic.com.gh

The National Youth Authority (NYA) has inaugurated Jirapa Municipal Youth Parliament to offer young men and women the needed platform to engage with duty-bearers in ensuring speedy growth and development of their communities.

The Youth Parliament will serve as a common voice in tackling key development issues and promote accountability and transparency in the implementation of programmes and projects with stakeholders.

It seeks to build a sustainable relationship between youth groups and governance structures in the decision-making process and influence development outcomes.

It looks especially into those issues that affect the development of youth directly such as; falling standards of education, drug abuse, teenage pregnancy and security.

The Upper West Regional Acting Director of NYA, Mr Archibald Donkoh, told the Ghana News Agency that the platform would ensure that the youth contributed meaningfully to economic development.

He said it was imperative that an enabling environment was created and the youth empowered to effectively participate in the decision making process. The youth participation in the governance process, he said, especially at the local level would enable them to have direct and open access to discussions with duty-bearers.

Mr Donkoh refuted claims that the youth parliament was “political, pressure and vigilante group”, saying, “The youth parliament is purely a development focused group”.

He urged stakeholders to support the youth to enable them properly contribute their quota to the development of the Jirapa Municipality.

Mr Abass Caesar, the Acting Jirapa Municipal Director of NYA, added that the parliament was a tool for empowering the youth in the decision-making process in the Municipality.

He noted said the parliament was a tangible interface between the youth and duty-bearers on matters foundering young persons and the society.

The youth parliament would also be used as a legal tool in fighting against teenage pregnancy in the Jirapa area, he said.

Mr Arnold Bayor was elected as the speaker of the Jirapa youth parliament.

Source: GNA

Professor Kwesi Yankah, the Minister in Charge of Tertiary Education has urged supporters of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) to unite to enable the party to win the 2020 elections.

He said the Agona East NPP needed a united front to snatch the parliamentary seat, which was held by the National Democratic Congress (NDC) for two terms.

Prof. Yankah gave the advice when he addressed constituency delegates and supporters of the NPP at separate meetings with them at Nsaba, Agona Duakwa and Agona Kwanyako in the Agona East District of the Central Region.

Read: 35-year-old teacher commits suicide at Agona Nkwanta

He declared his intention to contest the Agona East parliamentary primary when the party opens nominations in September 2019.

The National Executive Committee (NEC) of the NPP has fixed September to open nominations, but the specific date is yet to be announced to elect candidates to context 2020 parliamentary primaries in all orphan constituencies throughout the country.

Prof Yankah said the Agona East, which is one of the orphan constituencies needed marketable, credible, capable and respectable candidate who can deliver and win the confidence of the electorate to wrestle the parliamentary seat from the NDC.

He said the constituency needed rebranding by electing a candidate who would be able to unify supporters, adding that without unity, selflessness, hard work and mutual understanding it would be difficult for the party to win the seat.

The Minister stated: “This is the time for Agona East to be rescued from abject poverty. The people have wallowed in poverty for far too long and needed somebody to take them out of it.”

Prof Yankah appealed to the delegates to give him the nod to enable him to win the seat and transform the constituency by bringing freedom and development to the people.

Source: GNA

Members of the Coalition of Aggrieved Customers of Menzgold (CACM) Ghana have decided to join a planned demonstration by the Coalition for Social Justice (CSJ) dubbed “KUM Y3N PR3KO Demo” slated for Tuesday, 9 July 2019 in Accra.

A statement signed by Fred Forson, a leader of CACM, said: “The Coalition of Aggrieved Customers of Menzgold (CACM) fully associates itself with the objects of the intended demonstration and will seize the occasion to register our protest against the insensitivity of the Akufo-Addo government to address our concerns in the matter of locked-up funds of customers of Menzgold.

“We are, by this statement, serving notice to the Akufo-Addo government and the general public that the leadership and entire membership of the Coalition of Aggrieved Customers of Menzgold (CACM) across the length and breadth of Ghana, will fully participate in the impending “KUM YEN PREKO” Demonstration of the Coalition of Social Justice (CSJ) on 9 July 2019.”

The customers of the defunct gold dealership firm have had their principal investments and accrued interests locked up since August 2018 after the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ordered the firm to cease operations over regulatory infractions.

The regulators indicated that the company did not have the licence to trade in gold, hence the closure.

Source: classfmonline.com

The National Council for Curriculum Assessment (NaCCA) says it has not mandated any individual or groups of individuals to train teachers for the implementation of the new education curriculum.

Executive Secretary of the Council, Dr Prince Armah says his outfit has a “clear roadmap for effective implementation of the reform” and has cautioned private schools to only deal with the leadership of their various associations for any training programme on the new reforms.

His caution follows reports suggesting some miscreants are taking money from private schools with the promise of training their teachers for the new education reforms.

“We developed this novel curriculum and we want to have a uniformed training programme for both private and public school teachers,” he said in an interview, adding any attempt by people to dilute and disrupt the training process will not be tolerated.

Dr Armah debunked assertions that NaCCA and its allied agencies are unnecessarily delaying in the training of private school teachers.

According to him, the plan is to train all teachers both public and private before the academic year begins in September.

Training Schedule

Providing details of the training programme so far, the NaCCA Executive Secretary said they started by training 36 public school teachers under a simulation exercise which helped in refining the whole programme to be used as a training guide.

This simulation group then helped in training a total of 186 teachers master trainers at a workshop.

The next phase is the regional training programme which will be done by the simulation group and the master trainers would have a good number of the teachers trained for the new curriculum.

He said by August, a total of 152,000 teachers will be trained from KG to primary on assessment and pedagogy, lesson planning and all other skill needed for effective implementation of the policy.

Private School Teachers

On steps taken to train the private school teachers, Dr Armah said, NaCCA has already met with the leaders of the private school associations and in July, the training for the master trainers will begin.

“Once that is done they will train their members at the District and regional levels,” he said.

He reiterated that with this new education reform, no child will be left behind and teachers will be equipped with the necessary logistics to implement the curriculum effectively.

“We have learnt from the lessons of previous reforms and how they have failed and we have meticulously attempted to address all of these.

“The resources to go with the curriculum are almost ready and will be distributed across the country in July, two clear months before September when the schools reopen,” he stated.

Source: Myjoyonline.com

Mr Jacob Osei Yeboah, Consultant for Coalition of Economic Association (CEA), Ghana, has debunked reports of the association’s planned, ‘KUM YEN PREKO’ demonstration as politically motivated.

He said the main objective of the demonstration is to address the huge luxurious tax by the government which is affecting businesses.

The demonstration which is set to be embarked on July 9, 2019, is in collaboration with the Coalition for Social Justice.

He made this statement at a press conference, at the Longterm Hotel, Accra.

The former independent presidential aspirant said “ours is a Coalition of Economic Associations and our main objective is looking at Economics issues without any political lenses. This Luxury tax is affecting businesses of people and government can only get a Tax when there is a business but if you bring a policy that is destroying and killing peoples business, they have every right to demonstrate and government is for the people and by the people and we are expecting the government to listen to the people.”

He added that almost everybody in Ghana is aware of the collapse of business; hence a reason for the planned demonstration.

According to the Coalition of Economic Association, a written petition which has been sent to the various government agencies such as the office of the Chief of Staff at the Presidency, the Speaker of Parliament, The Minister of Transport, The Minister of Finance as well as Parliamentary Committees on Finance, Roads and Transport has not been attended to.

Source: Ghanaweb.com