Asantehene has urged the youth in Ghana to choose the nursing profession because they have the heart for it and not because of its relative job assurance and other benefits that come with being in nursing training institutions.
Otumfuo Osei Tutu II said that most people go into nursing and teaching not because of the love they have for these professions and they end up becoming frustrated.
The Asantehene, who made these remarks when a team from the Nursing and Midwifery Council of Ghana paid him a courtesy call, reiterated that only people who have the calling can become good nurses.
“If you don’t have the heart for the nursing profession don’t go into it because you will not be able to do the work effectively.
“People who go into nursing because it is a reliable source of employment are mostly not happy. People who are called, who love taking care of people are those who become better nurses.
“If you want to become a good nurse it must come from your heart. You must have patience. Dealing with sick people is very stressful but you are the person who will be taking care of them. You have to help bedridden people ease themselves, you must bathe them and so on. In all these, it is the empathy that you have that can make you an excellent nurse,” he said in Twi.
The first female from Dagbon to bag a PhD in Applied Statistics, Dr. Mumuni Napari Hanifatu continues to receive plaudits from prominent persons from the Northern Region.
Ghana’s Deputy Chief of Staff Hon Alhaji Aliu Fawaz is the latest to have lauded her for making the region proud after years of study.
He revealed that Dr. Mumuni Napari Hanifatu undertook the studies through a GETFund scholarship and presented to her a MacBook laptop to assist her in her work.
“I received in my office today, Dr. Mumuni Napari Hanifatu, a recent PhD graduate in Applied Statistics. Dr. Napari is one of the young ladies from Tamale who took the courageous step to undertake a science program to this high level and deserves our commendation and encouragement. We had a good conversation on STEM education in Ghana, and how to encourage girls to study the sciences. I was, particularly, happy to hear from her that her PhD program was fully funded through the GETFund Scholarship Scheme.
“Hopefully, her achievement will encourage and spur others to follow her example. I presented her with a MacBook laptop to assist her in her work. May we continue to get more of her kind from our beautiful city, Tamale and Ghana as a whole,” he disclosed.
The National Communications Officer of the NDC, Sammy Gyamfi, has said that there is no hope for Ghanaians under the current President Akufo-Addo and Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia government.
He explained that there is no hope because President Akufo-Addo robbed the 2020 elections, and he is now being punished by God, which is why he has been embarrassing himself since the inception of his second term.
Sammy Gyamfi, who was speaking in an XYZ TV interview monitored by GhanaWeb, added that the only way the current hardship in the country can be reverted is when this current government is booted out of power.
“There is no hope. President Akufo-Addo and Bawumia are under judgement. Only people with no spiritual discernment are unable to see this.
“Have you ever seen a Ghanaian president being booed in his own country? He is under judgement. His cup is full. God’s anger is on him. This is what happens when you take something that does not belong to you.
“You have killed 8 people because of power, and you think you will go scot-free. Nothing in the country is working. They don’t know what to do now. They have given up on the country,” he said in Twi.
He added that what the country is currently going through is because of the judgement of God on Akufo-Addo.
“We are suffering because when a country has bad leaders, its citizens suffer just like the cases in the Bible,” he added.
The effort paid off. I’m A Honky Tonk Girl reached number 14 on the country charts, and Lynn relocated to Nashville, where she was quickly snapped up by Decca Records.
She released her first Decca record, Success, in 1962, beginning an impressive stretch of hits that continued into the 1990s.
Lynn earned her first number one with Don’t Come Home a Drinkin’ (With Lovin’ on Your Mind) in 1966, and topped the US country charts another 15 times.
She recorded 60 albums in total, and was nominated for 18 Grammy Awards, winning three.
An ex-US marine has been sentenced to four and a half years in Russian prison for kicking a police officer while drunk.
Police removed Robert Gilman from a train after complaints from fellow passengers in January.
He was then arrested for kicking an officer while in custody.
Gilman told the court in Voronezh, south-western Russia, that he did not remember the incident but “apologised to Russia” and to the officer.
After being found guilty, Gilman – 28 and from Massachusetts – said the sentence requested by the prosecution was too strict.
The lawyers told TASS, the Russian state news agency, that Gilman was in Russia to study and obtain citizenship.
Gilman was reportedly staying in Sochi, but headed by train to Moscow to replace his damaged passport at the US Embassy.
His lawyers said they would appeal against the court’s decision and contact US officials to seek a prisoner exchange.
There have been several high-profile cases of Americans being sentenced to lengthy prison terms in Russia recently.
This could lead to prisoner swaps, a process often seen as “hostage diplomacy”, where countries try to use people as bargaining chips.
Another ex-marine, Trevor Reed, was freed in April in a prisoner swap after being found guilty of violence against a police officer on a night out in Russia.
And another former US marine, Paul Whelan, is serving 16 years for spying charges after a short trial was conducted entirely behind closed doors.
He maintains his innocence, and describes himself the victim of “greasy, slimy Russian politics”.
US basketball star Brittney Griner was sentenced to nine years in prison on drug charges by a Russian court in August.
The double Olympic winner admitted possessing cannabis oil, but told the court she had made an “honest mistake”.
The US claims she’s being wrongfully detained. It is unclear how long she will spend behind bars, as the US and Russia have reportedly discussed a prisoner swap involving Russian arms trafficker, Viktor Bout.
Loretta Lynn, whose songs of strength and independence made her a standard-bearer for women in country music, has died at the age of 90.
Known as the Queen of Country, her songs were rooted in real-life experience, most notably on the autobiographical Coal Miner‘s Daughter.
Other hits included Don’t Come Home A-Drinkin’, Honky Tonk Girl and the feminist anthem, The Pill.
Lynn’s family said she died on Tuesday at her home in Tennessee.
“Our precious mom, Loretta Lynn, passed away peacefully this morning, October 4th, in her sleep at home in her beloved ranch in Hurricane Mills,” the family said in a statement.
They asked for privacy as they grieve and said a memorial would be announced later.
The singer was born Loretta Webb in a one-room log cabin in Butcher Hollow, Kentucky in 1932. She was the second of eight children.
Just as she would later sing in Coal Miner’s Daughter, her family eked out a living during the Depression, with her father earning a “poor man’s dollar” by working all night in the coal mines, and all day in the fields “a-hoein’ corn”.
The family made its own entertainment – her mother played guitar, with her father accompanying on banjo – and she grew up on the songs of the Carter Family.
“I was singing when I was born, I think,” she told the Associated Press in 2016. “Daddy used to come out on the porch where I would be singing and rocking the babies to sleep.
“He’d say, ‘Loretta, shut that big mouth. People all over this holler can hear you.’ And I said, ‘Daddy, what difference does it make? They are all my cousins.’”
At the age of 15, she attended a “pie social” – where local girls would bake a pie, and men would bid to win both the food and a meeting with the cook.
Loretta’s pie, baked with salt instead of sugar, was won by Oliver Lynn, a 21-year-old solider, who swept her off her feet. A month later, they married and moved to Custer, Washington, where they raised four children.
Her husband, whom she called “Doo” or “Doolittle,” urged her to sing professionally and bought her a $17 (£14.80) Sears guitar, with which she started a band, Loretta and the Trailblazers, that also featured her brother Jay Lee Webb.
By 1960, she had signed a contract with Zero Records and released her debut single, I’m a Honky Tonk Girl.
The song was inspired by a woman Lynn befriended in Washington, whose husband had left her for another woman. Lynn said she wrote the song while leaning up against an old toilet in her house, the words pouring out of her in a 10-minute burst of inspiration.
She and her husband promoted the song relentlessly, driving to radio stations around the country to pester DJs into playing it, and sending out hundreds of free discs.
A Senior Communications Officer at Zoomlion Ghana Limited (ZGL), a subsidiary of the Jospong Group of Companies (JGC), Ms. Patricia Ofori-Atta, has received an honouring award in Environmental Communications.
The award ceremony, which was held on Saturday, October 1, 2022, in Accra, was meant to recognise persons who have distinguished themselves in the environmental and sanitation space.
Ms. Ofori Atta was recognised for her instrumental role in environmental communication ensuring that the environment was given due respect.
Being the maiden edition of the award scheme organised by the Ghana Environmental Sanitation-Award (GESA), sponsored by Zoomlion Ghana Limited, it formed part of the numerous measures to champion and encourage players in the sanitation management space to ensure the sustainability of the environment.
Ms. Ofori-Atta’s award was a unique recognition of her relentless effort in the sanitation sector as monitored by individuals, the organisers, and groups in making sure there was always a healthy environment across the country.
As an experienced multimedia practitioner with an extensive background in waste management, results, and performance-driven professional with over eighteen years of communication experience in journalism and marketing, Ms. Ofori-Atta is committed to providing adequate information on the protection of the environment.
She holds a Master of Arts in Media Management, Ghana Institute of Journalism (GIJ) and was adjudged the overall best student and a BSc Administration (Human Resources Management, GIMPA, with a Diploma in Communications Studies in Journalism from the Manifold Information Technology (MIT).
Before joining Zoomlion, Patricia worked with media houses including The Public Agenda Newspaper, Choice FM and also had a one-year national service at the Graphic Communications Group (Junior Graphic) as the Administrative Assistant.
At her current employment with Zoomlion, she works at the Communication set up with other positions within the Jospong Group of Companies holding in trust the oversight responsibility of ensuring that the team of media personnel engaged provide media coverage for the subsidiary companies of the JGC.
In an interview with journalists after receiving the award, Ms. Ofori-Atta was positive the award will impact immensely on her job.
“This award simply tells me that whatever I was doing, there were people observing. I, therefore, entreat everyone to do whatever entrusted into his or her hand with a sense of urgency,” she advised.
Meanwhile, on the night Zoomlion bagged seven awards in total. These were Environmental and Sanitation Man of the Decade, which award went to the Executive Chairman of the JGC, Dr. Joseph Siaw Agyepong; Distinguished Service in Environmental and Sanitation Communications, Ms. Patricia Ofori Atta, a Senior Communications Officer, and; Distinguished Service and Environmental Sanitation Management, Mr. Ernest Morgan Acquah, General Manager of Metropolitan Waste and Allied Services).
The rest were Most influential Blogger/Vlogger in Environmental and Sanitation Promotion 2022, Edmond Otu Yeboah, Assistant Communications Officer; Sewage System Ghana Limited, Most Impactful Waste Management Organisation of the Year; Most committed Borla Woman in Ghana, Madam Philomena Dzogbo, Borla Police, and; Most Impactful Clean Ghana Campaign Project. 1 Million Bin.
Ten youth entrepreneurs from Zongo communities across Ghana have been awarded prizes in the first season of a business reality programme for young people in Zongo communities dubbed Zongo Shark Tank.
Zongo Shark Tank, which is being spearheaded by ZongoVation Hub and ZongoVation Capital, seeks to encourage business development among the Zongo youth as part of efforts to help resolve the growing unemployment rate in the country.
Under the initiative, three brilliant and sustainable ideas will be selected to receive a cash grant of GH¢10,000 and other business support opportunities, including mentorship from some of the top business experts and entrepreneurs in Ghana.
The winners are to be selected from Zongo youth across the country with the best business pitches on how they can expand their businesses.
Jibril Yakubu, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Tanko’s Enterprise in Attakrom, a small community in the Oti Region, was adjudged the winner of the first season of Zongo Shark Tank.
Jibril Yakubu, while receiving the award, could not hold back his happiness and shed some tears of joy.
In an interview with GhanaWeb, Yakubu said that he shed tears because of the magnitude of responsibility that had been bestowed on him.
He added that he will be using the GH¢10,000 he has won to expand his business, which will help him save more money for his education.
Aside from the CEO of Tanko’s Enterprise, the other top three winners were the representatives of Eco Period and Oskhalim Food Processing.
The seven remaining finalists were given GH¢5,000 each, a certificate plus other items.
The Ranking Member on the Defense and Interior Committee of Parliament, James Agalga, is worried over the establishment of an anti-galamsey taskforce set up by Osagyefo Amoatia Ofori Panin II, the overlord of the Akyem Abuakwa State.
The Bulsa North legislator argued that no civil group, whether associated with a traditional authority or not, should be allowed to wield guns.
He further explained that the seemingly organized anti-galamsey group could threaten the county’s stability.
It would be recalled that the Okyeman Environmental Taskforce assisted the Kibi Divisional Police in a special galamsey operation at Asaman Tamfoe on Thursday, September 29, 2022, that turned violent.
Reacting to the operation, the Ranking Member described the actions of the task force as a breach of the law.
“What happened was very unfortunate. You find people who are supposed to belong to a taskforce – it doesn’t matter whose taskforce they were, wielding fire arms and engaging in gun fights openly in the street of the town is not the best. It doesn’t also matter that the same taskforce may have been cooperating with the police.
“What we saw was a breach of the vigilantism and offences act that parliament passed not too long ago. And you know what is even frightening is the fact that they were organized. There’s the possibility that once they are organized and if care is not taken, they can easily metamorphose into a very terror organization and that is why it is not proper for a civil group, whether they are a taskforce associated with a traditional group or not, to openly wield firearms and use them in a gun fight,” he told the morning show host of Kumasi-based Oyerepa TV, Kwesi Parker-Wilson, and monitored by GhanaWeb.
The MP further explained that the taskforce could rather play other significant roles in situations like these, rather than be seen wielding firearms that could endanger lives.
“They could act as informants to the police and allow the police to carry out the operations and flush out whoever was perceived to be engaged in galamsey or landgaurdism,” he added.
However, James Agalga, however, called on the Inspector General of Police, COP Dr. George Akufo Dampare, to order the arrest and prosecution of members of the task force.
He said this would establish whether the guns used by the men are licensed or not.
“Those who engaged in the open gunfight need to be arrested and investigated so that it will be established whether the guns they used are licensed or registered with the police. If you watch the video carefully, you would think that these are combatants in a war zone country.
“The imagery was very bad and should be condemned in no uncertain terms and it should never happen again. I charge the IGP to ensure that arrests are effected and the vigilantism and offences acts are applied,” he added.
There is often this rift between persons belonging to the Akan and the Ewe ethnic groups, with each group accusing the other of some disrespect.
But this was not the case at the celebration of the 7th Akwasidae in the Asante calendar at the Manhyia Palace in Kumasi, on Monday, October 4, 2022, which was attended by many dignitaries, including an Ewe chief, the chief of staff of the Forum for Kings and Traditional Leaders of Africa, Torgbui Gobah Tengey.
During a speech at the event, Torgbui Gobah Tengey, who is also an International Peace Ambassador, described the Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, as the greatest monarch in the world.
He also praised the Ashantehene for his role in the maintenance of world peace.
“His Majesty, my great brother, the greatest monarch of the world today by your deeds. Otumfuo Osei Tutu II is a King of Peace. He has performed creditably, to the admiration of the whole world.
“We call each other brothers. As an Ewe man, he loves me to the narrow. So, when we see each other, we are always smiling at each other. Otumfuo is a great King, a peacemaker, a loving father. Your peaceful overturns are unparalleled. A few years ago, you were at the United Nations, (and) you surprised the whole world with your oratory, ‘The African is a Great Son of the World’.
“You have proved beyond reasonable doubt that Africans can remake the world. And I rely on you, we rely on you to have that union of fellowship among the rest of Africa so that we can conquer the world,” he said.
Torgbui Gobah even went on to dedicate his “Development Chief of Africa” award which was conferred on him by the President of Congo, Félix Antoine Tshisekedi Tshilombo, to the Asantehene.
“As a peace ambassador, I’ve been honoured by the President of the Democratic Republic of Congo through the All Africa Conference of Churches because of my peace overtures in the world.
“It is through your (the Asantehene’s) prayers and blessings that I have reached that level in the world. And I’m showing this honour, for the first time, to you, my mentor, before it goes any were. But I would like you to keep this in your kingdom,” he said.
Council Chairman of the Wisconsin University International College of Ghana, Justice Isaac D. Duose has cautioned the 3749 freshers who have gained admission to study various programs by the University to avoid cheating in Examinations.
According to him, Wisconsin University International Collage of Ghana does not tolerate examination malpractices in any form and anyone caught in the act will be dealt with.
Addressing matriculants at the University’s nineteenth matriculation ceremony held on Saturday, 1st October 2022 at the institution’s main campus at North Legon in Accra, Justice Duose explained that the University does not tolerate Examination malpractices in any form or shape because the University does not intend to give half-baked degrees to any student who passes through its walls.
“We take strong exception to examination malpractices, since we do not and will not go to encourage you to use short-cut to get your degrees. Because if you get a degree here and you go out there to show incompetence, it will be a disgrace to the board, management, and staff of the University”, the Council Chairman of the Wisconsin University International Collage of Ghana reiterated.
”We want each and every one of you sitting here today to be our good ambassadors of excellence anywhere you will find yourself now or in the future”, Justice Duose added.
“One thing I will like to leave with you is the importance of timeliness so that as you go on in life, you will respect time. Because respect for time is respect for everybody else you come into contact with,” he noted.
The Council Chairman admonished freshers and continuing students to understand that there is no known magic formula for success. Saying what we do know is that those who have achieved true success have consistently displayed a couple of characteristics: Integrity, transparency, accountability, teamwork, and excellence in service delivery.
These characteristics according to Justice Duose represent the core values of Wisconsin University International Collage of Ghana which the students should believe in and uphold.
An Accra Circuit Court has convicted a 25-year-old fisherman Emmanuel Laryea after pleading guilty to unlawful possession of some stolen goats.
He was found in possession of goats stolen by some persons alleged to have embarked on goats stealing spree at Teshie in Accra.
Laryea will face sentencing on October 18, 2022.
Another accused person Samuel Tetteh however pleaded not guilty to two counts of conspiracy and stealing and remanded.
Two other persons are on the run, while the last accused is said to be deceased.
Prosecuting, Inspector Dzigbordi Nego told the Court that last September 11, at about 11pm, Tetteh who resides at Teshie together with the other accused persons on board a mini bus embarked on goat stealing within the Teshie township.
Inspector Nego said on their return after a successful operation, the road was blocked by a mob who attacked them.
She said the alleged thieves managed to escape, but luck eluded one of them who was lynched on the spot.
The Prosecutor said the mob also caused damage to the vehicle. She said investigations led to the arrest of Tetteh from his hideout.
He allegedly admitted the offence and mentioned names of his accomplices.
A decision taken by the traditional authority during Akwasidae stated that ” all corpse should not be conveyed from the mortuary before 6:00pm”.
The statement issued by Maxwell Asante , Registrar on behalf of the Omanhene Daasebre Kwaku Boateng III further stated that “no corpse should pass around the Omanhene’s palace at Srodae, Koforidua when taken from mortuary”.
The traditional council also took a decision reducing time for observation of one-week funeral from 6:00 am to 12:00noon instead of 6:00 am to 6:00 pm.
The statement entreated all subjects to comply with the directives to avoid serious sanctions.
Like the floods of Accra that have become a perennial occurrence, residents of Weija have once again had to wake up to the devastating effects of the spillage of the Weija Dam by the Ghana Water Company Limited.
The annual spillage of the dam is meant to release excess water from the dam.
The maximum level of water the dam is built to hold is about 46 feet, but the level came up to 48 feet, thereby threatening its safety, hence the decision to spill.
Residents have been forced to move around in canoes, as many houses have been completely submerged under the water.
GhanaWeb has been to the area and has captured videos of the extent of damage caused after the spillage of the dam on Monday, October 3, 2022.
Meanwhile, the management of the GWCL has assured the public that despite the challenges, it is in control and has put in measures to ameliorate the situation to minimize the impact on consumers.
The management explained further, “the Weija dam is currently at a level of 49.5ft as against the maximum operating level of 48ft. Spillage normally begins when the level gets to 46.5ft. As a result, four (4) spill gates have been opened to safeguard the integrity of the dam, save the dam from collapse, and save lives and properties.”
Watch the latest episode of The Lowdown below:
The Lowdown: Role of the diaspora in the development of Africa
CEO of the Aaron Manvel Foundation Millie Lorene Tucker and Gary Hope, the CEO of FLCC – Bring Back Hope Foundation underscore the need for the African diaspora to help develop the continent in this episode of The Lowdown on GhanaWeb TV. According to the women trying to make and create a change in Ghana, our forefathers were sold away and made to develop strange lands. Thus, coming back home and developing their home country is the best thing to do especially when resources are available.
Ghana’s parliament has been urged to fast-track processes towards the ratification of some ILO Conventions currently before it, to enhance decent working conditions among fishers and other stakeholders in the marine fisheries sector.
Ghana has been a member of the ILO since 1957 and has ratified eight Fundamental Conventions, with two others; C155 (Occupational Safety and Health Convention) and C. 187 (Promotional Framework for Occupational Safety and Health Convention), yet to be ratified.
Aside these Fundamental Conventions, the ILO has developed technical Conventions for specific areas including construction, plantations and marine fisheries, among others.
Under marine fisheries, the ILO has established a Convention to ensure that fishers have decent conditions of work on board fishing vessels, considering the hazardous nature of the occupation.
The convention – C. 188 which looks at Work in fishing, if ratified, will ensure fishers have the minimum requirements including accommodation and food; health protection, occupational safety, social security and medical care among others while on board a vessel.
While the Ghana Maritime Authority has confirmed that the Convention – C.188 has been assented and laid before Parliament for consideration, processes to facilitate speedy ratification are yet to be done.
Touching on the need for the Convention which is currently before Parliament to be ratified for implementation, National Project Officer of the International Labour Office (ILO), Emmanuel Kwame Mensah told GhanaWeb that it will advance efforts to deal with issues of forced labour among fishers.
“When the convention is ratified then it can be translated into a framework for implementation and we encourage that no hindrances or impediments are put in this part so that all the parties supposed to help implement this convention when its ratified will be given the necessary support in terms of logistics.
“The expectation is that after the ratification, now you have a national law that contextualizes the ratification because the context of countries differ from one country to the other. The conventions are very general although they provide some international standards,” he noted.
Mr. Mensah further added that authorization of the Convention will provide the necessary logistics for various stakeholders to work and ultimately lead to measurable results.
“Although we know that ratification is not the final bit, ratification provides an impetus, for actual work to be done to deal with issues of forced labour and provide a decent working environment for our fishers.
“For example, in the fishing sector, there are a number of players; the fisheries ministry, labour ministry, you have the maritime authority who in the context of the country should have the leading mandate to do this inspection,” he said.
Adding,
“You need to talk about the kind of logistics, resources they need to carry out their work, do they have it? Are the personnel available? Are they well-trained? Properly distributed in the areas where work is needed to be done,” he added.
Mr. Mensah spoke on the sidelines of a 2-day training held in Accra, in partnership with the Fisheries Committee for the West Central Gulf of Guinea (FCWC) for journalists nationwide.
The workshop, among other things, focused on target 8.7 of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) 8 which calls on countries to take immediate action against decent work deficits that are an affront to the fundamental principles and rights at work.
Background:
Ghana has ratified the Labour Inspection Convention, 1947 (no 81), the Tripartite Consultation (International Labour Standards) Convention, 1976 (no 144) as well as a number of technical Conventions.
Two fundamental Conventions; C155 (Occupational Safety and Health Convention, 1981) and C187 (Promotional Framework for Occupational Safety and Health Convention, 2006) remain unratified.
While these are undeniably central to the achievement of the ILO’s goals to promote decent work and protect individuals, specific Conventions which focus on forced labour in the marine fisheries sector also need to be ratified.
Following some media reports that Vice President, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia’s recent tour in the Northern Region is a subtle campaign move, his spokesperson has emerged with some clarification.
Dr. Bawumia began a three-day tour of the Northern Region on Sunday, October 2, 2022, to visit some constituencies as well as inspect some ongoing projects in the region.
He also took the opportunity to interact with the chiefs and people of the Northern Region.
There have however been suggestions that the Vice President has intentions of killing two birds with one stone – touring while introducing himself to the people.
His spokesperson has however emerged to debunk the suggestions, providing clarifications to the issue.
Speaking in a Citinews interview, Gideon Boako said that the Vice President was merely engaging with people in his community.
“Some of them are technically not party people, but the fact that he lives within their community, he has a property within their community, and he comes back home after work, they want to visit him and talk to him, and it is quite normal
“It is time for him to avail himself to the community for people to come and interact with him,” Mr. Boako said.
In a rather bizarre turn of events, a 37-year-old man, Kwaku Yayente, has met his untimely death after excessive drinking of alcohol at Kansakrom, a suburb of Atwima Mponua District in the Ashanti region of Ghana.
The deceased reportedly had his stomach exploding after drinking excessively.
Mr. Aguuri, an eyewitness who spoke to GhanaWeb’s correspondent in an interview revealed that, the late Yayente had been an alcohol addict for many years.
According to him, the family of the deceased had tried all the necessary means to stop him from drunkenness but all efforts proved futile.
A senior mortuary attendant, Mr. Kwame Nyamekye aka Last Doctor, also told GhanaWeb, that he was at the mortuary when a family member and three(3) policemen brought the body.
According to him, the family revealed to him that their late relative’s stomach was bloated due to excessive drinking.
“Unfortunately for them, they heard a blast inside his room, and upon checks on him, they found out that his stomach had exploded with the intestines gushing out.
“He did not die on the spot, so they rushed him to the Bibiani hospital here, but unfortunately, he was pronounced dead upon arrival,” he said.
According to him, the family further told him that their relative had been sick for some days due to drunkenness. “I’m reliably informed he drinks every day, and even before his demise this morning, he drunk,” he concluded.
The Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL) has assured customers in the Greater Accra, Northern and Upper West regions of regular service despite flooding incidents at its treatment plants in parts of the country.
Transformers powering the Nawuni-Dalun treatment plant have been damaged while rain waters have flooded the pump house at the Jambusi plant.
The Communications Head for the Company, Stanley Martey, gave this assurance in an interview with Joy FM on Monday.
“Affected areas will have low pressures but will still have water because you have to do water demand management within the metropolis so that you can share the water equitably, so that is under control,” he said.
Touching the Weija dam, Mr Martey said GWCL had to open four spill gates of the Weija treatment to save the integrity of the dam.
The Northern Regional Minister, Shani Alhassan Shaibu, has charged metropolitan, municipal and district assemblies (MMDAs) to put in place effective security measures to help deal with possible violent extremist activities and other crimes in the region.
“The threat of terrorism is real and those of us at the realm of affairs should intensify efforts to create awareness in our communities on the need for vigilance and support to our security agencies who are well poised to deal with any situation” he said.
Alhaji Shaibu made the call while addressing a meeting of members of the Northern Regional Coordinating Council (NRCC) in Tamale last Friday.
The meeting brought together various heads of institution, metropolitan, municipal and district chief executives(MMDCEs) and development partners among others to review activities, projects and programmes in the region.
It was also to create opportunity for collaboration between the council and development partners.
Work hard
Alhaji Shaibu, who is the chairman of the council, charged the MMDCEs not to allow power to take away their responsibilities but rather work hard to develop their areas.
“It is also important that we continue to remind ourselves of the enormous responsibility reposed in us, as members of this august body and also I urge all to demonstrate selfless commitment and dedication to work so that we can accelerate the pace of development in this region,” he said.
He indicated that eight districts had so far benefited from the agenda 111 hospitals policy by the government to help make the provision of quality health care available and accessible to the people.
He added that a number of road projects had been completed, while others were ongoing in the region, saying “the government of the Akufo-Addo-Bawumia administration has given a major facelift to many roads in the region, particularly the Tamale Metropolis through asphalting and upgrading of major roads.”
For his part, the Chief Director of the Northern Regional Coordinating Council, Alhassan Issahaku, lauded the MMDCEs for their commitment to work and urged them to do more.
After almost two decades of the discovery of the Goat Serum in the fight against HIV and AIDS, funders of the test in the country are calling on the Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research (NMIMR) to make public the findings of the research.
The funders, the Grace Eureka Bio-Medical Research Product International based in Accra, on August 5, 2022 wrote to the institute to make available for publication the results of the test with the World Health Organisation (WHO) seal of certification.
The letter, signed by the President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Grace Eureka, Dr Edward Siaw Sefa, a copy of which the Daily Graphic has sighted, had the topic: “Preparation and In Vitro Testing of Goat Anti-Serum to Human Immunodeficiency Virus types One and Two”.
It requested the NMIMR to make available certified results and attach the requisite contact details of scientists involved in the study to a member of the Council of State, Richard K. Atikpo.
The letter said the discovery of the serum was Ghana’s opportunity to save the world from the scourge of HIV and AIDS.
A serum is a protein-rich liquid of an animal used to provide immunity to a pathogen or toxin by inoculation or as a diagnostic agent.
Positive test
However, in a sharp rebuttal, a former Deputy Director of the institute, Prof. Michael Wilson, who was at post at the time of the test, said it was not the place of the institute to publish the findings.
He said the contract between the institute and the researcher of the goat serum, Dr Gary Davis (now deceased), then a Director at Grace Eureka, was for the NMIMR to do a test tube research to ascertain whether the serum was potent in the fight against HIV and AIDS.
In an interview with the Daily Graphic in Accra, Prof. Wilson said in 2005, Dr Davis and his team from Grace Eureka contracted the services of the NMIMR to run the test on the goat serum.
According to him, the test came out positive, meaning that the serum in its test tube form was found to be potent.
He added that the institute then gave copies of the results to Grace Eureka and Dr Davis, who by then had fallen out with each other.
Prof. Wilson said that was all that was required of the institute and, therefore, he was surprised that almost 20 years later, a letter had surfaced claiming that the institute did not publish the results and should, therefore, make them available to the funders again.
Asked what should have been the next steps after the results had been made available to the parties involved, Prof. Wilson said there should have been further tests or experiments on animals to determine whether the serum was safe and not toxic and then move on to do clinical trials, which should be preceded by a safety trial.
Ghana’s opportunity
However, Dr Sefa said he was alarmed at a recent Daily Graphic report which said 23,495 people had tested positive for HIV in the first half of 2022.
The figure is two per cent of the 948,094 people who undertook HIV testing from January to June 2022.
The figure is said to be from different segments of the population, namely: men, pregnant women, non-pregnant women, homosexuals and female sex workers.
Dr Sefa said the situation of HIV and AIDS in the country was still scary and needed a quick intervention.
According to him, the goat serum had been used on different occasions in some parts of the world and Ghana where it had been proved to be efficacious.
He said the scientist, Dr Davies, had already done the test tube test in the USA, which had also proved that the serum was viable.
He said the goat serum had to be tested in Ghana upon a request by the National Institute of Health (NIH) of the USA to enable Grace Eureka to undertake further work for clinical trials to begin.
Dr Sefa said the clinical trial could not be done because a lot of impediments were put in the way of Grace Eureka internationally and locally, after which Dr Davies died after he returned to the USA.
NMIMR test
In 2005 when the NMIMR did the test and it was published by the Daily Graphic, some HIV and AIDS champions rubbished it as not being the answer to the cure.
Prof. Nana Kofi Ayisi, who performed the laboratory experiment on the goat serum, however, insisted that the work was significant and “gives cause for hope”.
Prof. Ayisi, in an interview with the Daily Graphic at that time, explained that “the essence of the laboratory test was to confirm earlier tests that had proved that HIV antibodies could be produced in goats for clinical trails to be undertaken”.
The South Birim Rural Bank has donated GH¢10,000 to the Oda Senior High School (ODASCO) for the rehabilitation of the school’s girls’ dormitory block which was destroyed by rainstorm recently.
The Chairperson of the Board of Directors of the bank, Mrs Benedicta Addo-Danquah, made the presentation, saying the gesture was in response to an appeal by the Headmaster of the school, Mr Evans Boafo, to the bank for financial assistance to repair the damaged building.
She said the appeal fell within the confines of the bank’s corporate social responsibility and, therefore, obliged to assist in the development of its catchment area.
Mrs Addo-Danquah advised the school authorities to utilise the money for the intended purpose in order to receive more assistance from the bank.
She also urged the students to study hard to become responsible future leaders to assist in the development of their communities and the nation at large.
The legal adviser of the bank, Augustus Anim Attafuah, enjoined the students to be disciplined, obedient, submissive and studious in order to achieve their objective of becoming great academicians in future.
Appreciation
Mr Boafo, who received the sum in cheque, said the donation had come at an opportune time for the students to get a decent dormitory block.
He said the students had been sleeping in the school’s library since the rainstorm struck on May 17 this year.
He appealed to the government, well-to-do individuals and non-governmental organisations to help to rehabilitate the Danquah boys’ dormitory block and the school’s pantry which were also damaged by the rainstorm.
Roche Products Ghana Limited, a biotechnology company, is contributing $400,000 to support ongoing efforts to improve cervical and breast cancer outcomes for women in the country.
The company, in collaboration with the Johns Hopkins Programme for International Education in Gynecology and Obstetrics (JHPIEGO) and the Government of Ghana, is supporting the Ghana National Strategy for Cancer Control.
It is geared towards increased access to quality screening, early detection, diagnostics and treatment to help prevent or reduce the morbidity and mortality of women with breast or cervical cancer.
The Country Manager of Roche Ghana, Dr Philip Anderson, who revealed this in an interview with the Daily Graphic, said Ghana was the first to benefit from the global partnership, which prioritised low and middle income countries in Africa and Asia, where the burden of breast and cervical cancers was highest.
He said cancer was one of the most significant public health challenges in Ghana, and of all cancers, breast cancer was the most pervasive, accounting for more than 32 per cent of all new cancer cases among Ghanaian women in 2020.
“Women in Ghana face multiple challenges in accessing quality breast and cervical health care during their patient journey including health, mental, social and financial hurdles. Once symptomatic women encounter the health system, the disease is often already in an advanced stage.
“We estimate that one in every eight persons would be diagnosed with breast cancer in a year, so within a year, we are estimating in excess of 10,000 new cases of breast cancer.
“Breast cancer is the leading cancer in women, however, cervical cancer turns out to be the one with the leading mortality equally close to the same incidence in a year,” he said.
Dr Anderson called on the government to incentivise cervical and breast cancer screening to enable more women to utilise screening opportunities.
That, he said, would boost screening rates, especially in deprived areas, and help improve the outcome of the two diseases affecting women.
“Government or institutions should make this practice go beyond the October conversation by making vaccination a part of our immunisation programme for women.
“We must institutionalise and incentivise breast and cervical cancer screening and have them embedded in antenatal care for women to be screened and be tracked whenever they miss their appointments,” he said.
Sustainability
The year-long project, he said will design a sustainable model for early detection and treatment of breast and cervical cancer which would be adopted and owned by the Ghana Health Service (GHS).
He said his outfit launched a pilot in the Bekwai District of the Ashanti Region, adding that “we want it to be sustainable because such programmes are best implemented when the community accepts it.
“Many a time, we see such projects mentioned at the national level, but then they end up being alien to the communities, where the projects are supposed to happen.
“We will bring our expertise in diagnostics and build the regional and district health administration’s capacity to support the health system in the region,” Dr Anderson said.
He said following the implementation and outcome, the project would be extended to other parts of the country.
The Director-General of the Internal Audit Agency (IAA), Dr Eric Oduro Osae, has tasked internal auditors to monitor the accounting systems used to prepare financial statements of State Owned Enterprises (SOEs) to ensure accuracy.
According to him, the government had been questioning the amount of money paid by most SOEs as dividends over the suspicion that some SOEs might not be paying the precise dividends.
“Internal Auditors, you are within these institutions, you are expected to ensure that accurate profits are declared and dividends declared are duly paid to the government,” he said.
Dr Osae was speaking in Accra yesterday when he opened a two day training for internal auditors on the preparation of the 2023 Risk-Based Internal Audit (RBIA).
RBIA is an audit methodology that links internal audit to an institution’s overall risk management framework with focus on the institution’s limited resources, high risk and high probability of weak controls.
The Public Finance Management Act, 2016(Act921) mandates Internal Audit Units of covered entities to, within 30 days after the beginning of the financial year, submit an annual audit work plan to the principals spending officer and the audit committee of the entities as well as the IAA.
The workshop, held three months ahead of the next due date( January 30, 2023) for the submission of the plan, is aimed at equipping participants with the requisite skills and tools to enable them prepare and submit their RBIA work plans and reports as well as appreciate contemporary practices.
Dr Osae said amongst other key mandatory areas internal auditors should focus on its 2023 risk assessments as a follow up of recommendations from the Auditor-General Report.
He said they should also mainstream and conduct performance audits of operations of their institutions to get value for money, while they audit borrowing, outstanding recoverables and debts.
That, he said, was important because the Auditor-General had made several comments on that issue and it was critical for the internal auditors to get the exact figures before the Auditor-General’s next report.
Dr Osae said the participants would be guided to prepare their RBIA plans on areas such as protection of public assets, titling of assets, and ownership because the asset ownership of many institutions were questionable.
“We need you, internal auditors, to plan and make sure that you guide and support these institutions to be able to report on a fair basis. Let us work together to provide the advisory and assurance services our institutions need,” he said.
Judges in the country have been admonished to guard against being corrupted by the power they wield.
According to the Most Reverend Dr Robert Allotey Okine, Archbishop Emeritus of the Church of Province of West Africa, judges must be guided by the aphorism “power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely“ in their dispensation of justice.
He was speaking at the special church service held last Saturday at the Cathedral Church of the Most Holy Trinity in Accra to open the new legal year which commenced yesterday.
“As representatives of the third arm of government, you wield tremendous power, power that can determine an individual or a family’s fate in life. Power that can build or destroy,” he said.
Quoting the late professor William Chadwick, a former professor of history at the Cambridge University, Rev Dr Okine added: “the possession of unlimited power corrupts the conscience, hardens the heart and confounds the understanding” contending that such a position ended in tyranny.
In contrast. he entreated them to be the salt and light of their practice to stay on the right path.
The annual service ushering in the 65th legal year was attended by judges, lawyers, traditional leaders, the clergy and other stakeholders in the justice system who gathered to seek God’s strength and guidance for the new legal year.
Chief Justice, Justice Anin Yeboah, Attorney-General Godfred Yeboah Dame, President of the Ghana Bar Association, Yaw Acheampong Boafo and Director at the Ghana School of law, Yaw Oppong were also accounted for.
Speaking on the theme “Improving Legal Access to Justice in a pandemic through the use of technology” the retired Bishop of the Koforidua Diocese of the Anglican Church, indicated that technology was one of the ways God wanted mankind to solve problems and this had been made manifest by the coronavirus pandemic.
He exhorted the judges on ten tenets to guide their practice which included admonition on not sacrificing integrity to expediency, being careful about people they associated with and being consistent in their utterances and actions.
In a message, the Chief Justice, Justice Anin Yeboah, revealed that training in ICT and other related programmes have been planned to make the justice system more robust, dependable and acceptable.
Prayers were also offered for departed judges and lawyers who passed on during the last legal year.
Some Economists have advised the government to protect financial institutions and households as it works towards restructuring the country’s debt with the help of the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
The Economists, Dr Patrick Asuming and Dr Priscilla Twumasi-Baffuor, said the government must ensure that the debt restructuring was done in a way that would protect financial institutions, including banks and savings and loans institutions, as well as households.
In the debt restructuring process, the government will either negotiate with the financial institutions to either reduce the debt or extend the payment duration.
The Economists explained that the country’s current economic and financial position would force the government to negotiate with financial institutions to cut down on debt interest rates, which would affect their profit.
The government has announced that it will soon name a five-member committee of prominent financial services professionals to lead extensive stakeholder engagements across all the key segments of the financial sector.
Mr Ken Ofori-Atta at a press briefing in Accra said the engagement with stakeholders in the banking, asset, management, pensions, and insurance sector was to fast-track the IMF negotiation process in a clear and transparent manner.
In an interview with the Ghana News Agency, Dr Asuming, who is a Development Economist, said debt restructuring would occur, and advised the government to protect financial institutions in the process.
He noted that the government had over borrowed with rising interest costs making it expensive to repay the debt, noting that “the government is really between a rock and hard place, but it’s more likely to have a domestic debt restructuring.”
The Senior Lecturer at the University of Ghana Business School (UGBS), however, said: “the government must ensure that the domestic debt restructuring as part of the IMF programme does not lead to the collapse of banks.”
“The restructuring should not lead to the collapse of any financial institution. We spent so much money to just recently clean them up, so it will be shocking to see any collapse,” Dr Asuming said.
In a media discussion monitored by GNA on a local radio station in Accra, Dr Twumasi-Baffuor also said debt restructuring was inevitable and may lead to losses and called for the protection of households from possible adverse effects.
She said: “The restructuring should be done in such a way that households are insulated from the adverse possible effects that will happen. As we go through all these, we need to be careful that households’ incomes are protected particularly given that in Ghana we struggle with a lot of Ponzi schemes in the financial sector,” she said.
Some residents of Weija and its environs in the Weija/Gbawe Constituency are displaced following the spillage of the Weija Dam by the Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL).
Some videos and photos available to GhanaWeb show that most homes within the catchment area have been flooded.
Some residents who spoke to GhanaWeb on the condition of anonymity say they were not informed by GWCL of the spillage that occurred early Monday, October 3, 2022.
The annual spillage of the dam by Ghana Water Company Limited is meant to release excess water from the dam.
The maximum level of water the dam is built to hold is about 46 feet, but the level came up to 48 feet, thereby threatening its safety, hence the decision to spill.
Meanwhile, the GWCL has indicated that the recent spillage was brought about following the recent heavy rains but “it is in control”.
GWCL said, the situation has gravely affected its operations leading to “considerable havoc to some water treatment plants” across the country.
The management of the GWCL assured the public that despite the challenges, it is in control and has put in measures to ameliorate the situation to minimize the impact on consumers.
The management explained further, “the Weija dam is currently at a level of 49.5ft as against the maximum operating level of 48ft. Spillage normally begins when the level gets to 46.5ft. As a result, four (4) spill gates have been opened to safeguard the integrity of the dam, save the dam from collapse, and save lives and properties.”
The first Deputy Speaker, Joseph Osei-Owusu has said the government should strengthen regulations in the mining sector to prevent those engaging in it wrongly.
Speaking in an exclusive interview on GHOne TV with Serwaa Amihere, the deputy speaker indicated that the government must not incur cost in an area he is not getting anything from.
According to him, mining per se is not the challenge but mining irresponsibly is the issue, adding that they are not protecting the water bodies.
“Mining has gone on but in a very irresponsible and so regulations should be harder. But the point is that with all the people making the money the government does not even get a portion. So why should the government continue to hire more people and spend it there?
“Already you are overburdened and the people who are destroying the environment are not putting it back. If there is a way you can get some revenue from them that’s fine. But, one, he is stealing and he doesn’t have a license either. No account for anything revenue he gets and yet you are to add to your cost?” the MP quizzed.
He has however absorbed the government from the responsibility of creating jobs.
According to him, the government’s responsibility is to create an enabling environment for businesses to strive.
The lawmaker also described as outmoded the expectation from people blaming the responsibility of job creation solely on the government.
“The time that the government took the responsibility for creating jobs is long gone. The government’s position is that I will provide the enabling environment for you to create the job for yourselves.
“So we should stop placing responsibility where you should not. A lot of the time we make people feel that it is the government’s duty to do this and that and people don’t do what they can do for themselves,” he explained.
Mr. Osei-Owusu added that he is leaving politics and therefore can voice out, “I will speak boldly on what matters. If we want to move forward people must take responsibility for their lives.”
Flood waters from River Densu and other tributaries in the Eastern Region have displaced over 2,000 residents of Nsawam with the Zongo community being the worst affected.
Other affected areas include Gyankrom, Lanteh, Adoagyiri, Okobeyeyie, Owireku, and the lorry station among others.
The rains which started on Saturday through to Sunday caused the River Densu to overflow its banks, forcing residents in the area to abandon their houses, livestock, and other properties.
The Member of Parliament (MP) for Nsawam-Adoagyiri, Hon. Frank Annoh-Dompreh who was in Accra at the time of the incident quickly rushed to the scene to solidarize with the victims and see how best he can help them.
Award-winning musician, KiDi has disclosed how embarrassed he felt when tweets he shared when he was in his teens resurfaced online somewhere last week.
Speaking on Daybreak Hitz on Hitz FM, the artiste revealed that he was going through so much the day his old posts resurfaced on social media.
“So, I was already dealing with a lot…I didn’t even have time to breathe and reset…I remember when it happened I was having my EP listening session. I actually had to leave in the middle of it,” he disclosed.
According to the artiste, he broke into tears in public.
“I broke down in the middle of people, it was just a lot for me, so I had to leave and go home. I felt really embarrassed about all of it,” he said.
The ‘Touch it’ vocalist distinguished that although he felt terrible, it was no excuse for some of the things he had said in his old tweets.
He added that he couldn’t believe some of the posts that were shared came from him.
“I tweeted things that were inappropriate and unkind. As I mature, I came to be extremely regretful of these actions and how they affected the parties involved,” the ‘Gyal Dem Sugar’ hitmaker noted.
Opening up on how he has become a better person with time, he added that “a lot of the things and values we hold now, we had to go through certain things in life to arrive at this place that we are, we had to unlearn a lot of things we grew up with and relearn certain things to also know that this is not okay.”
The singer added that he trusts the public figures whom he rubbished would understand he was a stupid young boy with little sense who said all those things and they find it in them to forgive him.
“I am guessing and hoping that they know that this was a young foolish boy. I wasn’t even KiDi was Nana Dwamena who just had a phone and was misbehaving so I am hoping they can see through all of that and know that I wasn’t the person I was at the time,” he said.
The GNAT Hall’s Bediako Hall was filled with joy and laughter last Saturday as a cross-section of Ghanaians were thrilled with the captivating Nii Commey Handwriting Play dubbed: “SKIRTS & SUITS.”
The play which MTN Ghana sponsored and helped stage was performed to honour this year’s International Customer Service Week.
A night of immersive corporate stage dramedy was presented to thousands of theater enthusiasts by the storytelling hub Handwriting Communications.
The story of angels and demons, of customer experience, interlaced with spicy corporate nonsense, knee-slapping, untamed characters a touch of the feminine spirit and masculine ego.
The play focused primarily on what happens in an organization in regard to customer service.
The play is a standard depiction of the comings and goings in a conventional corporate setting, with strong customer service underpinnings.
In Skirts and Suits, the contemporary corporate office was the point of action of all the drama that happens daily, with an urban fusion of exciting characters occupying the roles of customers, employers, customer service people, and the entire workforce who interface with the organization.
The story clearly exposes the good, the bad, and the ugly that happen in a typical office. What is more thrilling is the chronicling of the contemporary corporate woman and the vicissitudes that stare at them: the opportunities, and the temptations, power, position, and romance.
It was a night for service providers, corporate Ghana, and all who are customers in one way or the other. Patrons are being entreated to be expectant of something unusual.
Nii Commey Handwriting has, over the years, plopped the seats of theatre lovers with his timeless plays such as “Romantic Nonsense”, “My Name is Romance,” and “Where Two or More Women are Gathered.”
Handwriting Communications is an indigenous storytelling hub based in Accra, dedicated to using experiential storytelling tools for communication, education, and entertainment.
Pressure group, OccupyGhana has asked President Akufo-Addo to declare a state of emergency in the various mining areas across the country.
OccupyGhana last week wrote to the president asking him to show more commitment towards the fight against galamsey which the group noted had failed abysmally.
In the letter dated September 28, 2022, OccupyGhana said it would write a reminder to the president every Monday until it sees firm actions being taken by the government to stop illegal mining.
In the first of its reminder dated October 3, 2022, OccupyGhana said the current situation of illegal mining impact satisfies the requirements of 31(9) of the 1992 Constitution.
The group thus charged the president to declare a state of emergency.
“In our open letter to you dated 28 September 2022, we promised to send you a Galamsey reminder every Monday morning until your government takes drastic steps to control the situation. This is the first reminder.”
According to the pressure group, the threats of illegal mining to the country require immediate actions such as the declaration of a state of emergency.
“We risk losing our very essence as a nation unless immediate and radical action is taken, first to STOP all unregulated and illegal mining, and then put a process in place to REGULATE artisanal mining, going forward.
“We therefore request that you take immediate steps towards declaring a state of emergency in every mining area in Ghana. In accordance with article 31(1) of the Constitution, these steps would be, first, seeking and obtaining the advice of the Council of State and, second, publishing a Proclamation of the declaration in the Gazette,” the group said.
As stipulated by Article 31(1) of the Constitution, OccupyGhana said it also expects parliament to be recalled from its break after the declaration by the president.
“We expect Parliament to be recalled from its vacation, for the government to place before it ‘the facts and circumstances leading to the declaration of the state of emergency under article 31(2). Considering the gravity of the situation, we fully expect Parliament to agree with the government and provide that the state of emergency should remain for such period as Parliament may determine, so that the government can get a grasp of the situation.
“For our part, we have, and are willing to offer, suggestions and proposals on how to establish a properly regulated artisanal mining industry in Ghana that would benefit the wider interest of all Ghanaians,” it added.
There is a renewed public conversation about the impact of illegal mining on Ghana’s water and forest reserves.
Currently, several water bodies are under threat from the galamsey activities while forest covers are being depleted by the day.
The Old People’s Association of Ghana, a non-governmental organisation, has celebrated the International Day for Older Persons (UNIDOP), calling on the state to establish care centres across the country where old people can go and socialise.
The Founder of the association, Nathaniel Botchway, explained that many old people were suffering from loneliness, and as such the establishment of such centres would offer them the opportunity to meet their age mates, interact with them and have fun.
“The way the nation takes care of older people is not the best. We have a long way to go. If you go to the homes of many old people, you see them sitting at a corner, and lack company,” he said.
Mr Botchway made the call last Saturday at a gathering of members of the association, mainly old persons above 60 years, to celebrate UNIDOP.
They also went on a float through some streets of Bubuashie in Accra to raise awareness about the association.
What is UNIDOP?
On December 14, 1990, the United Nations General Assembly — by Resolution 45/106 — designated October 1 as the International Day of Older Persons.
Globally, according to the United Nations, there were 703 million persons aged 65 or over in 2019.
The region of Eastern and South-Eastern Asia was home to the largest number of older persons estimated to be around 261 million, followed by Europe and Northern America — of over 200 million.
The umbrella theme for UNIDOP in 2022 is “2022 UNIDOP: Resilience of Older Persons in a Changing World”.
Citing the practice as existed elsewhere, Mr Botchway said in those countries, once a person turned 50 years, they started to enjoy free medical care and there were homes and day care centres for older people to go and have fun.
Highlighting the challenges they faced as old people, he said even though the country had a universal pension scheme, because it required the beneficiaries to contribute before benefitting, many pensioners were left out and as a result were suffering financially.
He said the most difficult challenge they also faced had to do with the fact that many of them who purchased landed property in their hey day went ahead to put structures on them without acquiring the necessary documents, and as a result, they were facing litigation problems on those lands.
He said older persons had rights and responsibilities and as an association, they would assist them to know those rights.
UNFPA concern
In a message to older persons on the celebration, the Programme Manager, Youth Leaders Fellowship Programme of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), Michael Ige, said the organisation was always concerned about inclusion and not leaving anyone behind, whether girls or boys, and that older people were an integral part of their work system.
He called for continual engagement with older persons, stressing that the theme for this year’s celebration was to enable them to get feedback on how the United Nations could come in to provide the kind of assistance older persons needed.
CHRAJ
Meanwhile, the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) has advocated that ageing issues must be mainstreamed into national development policies to ensure their active participation in society.
It said the active participation of older persons in society and development would provide them with the opportunity to continue contributing to society.
“The commission further recommends to the government to pay attention to, and challenge negative stereotypes and misconceptions about older persons and the aged, pursue age-friendly environments free of physical and social barriers, and enable older persons to realise their potentials, while promoting policy dialogues to enhance the protection of older persons’ human rights, and recognise their contributions to sustainable development,” the CHRAJ said in a statement signed by its Commissioner, Joseph Whittal, to commemorate this year’s International Day of Older Persons.
The statement said in spite of the National Ageing Policy (NAP) which sought to address several ageing issues, there were instances where older persons, especially older women, were abused, violently assaulted and tortured to death by family and community members.
The statement added that the NAP, promulgated in 2010 to achieve the overall social, economic and cultural re-integration of older persons into mainstream society, was yet to be fully implemented.
The National Pension Scheme, the statement said, had a limiting scope, as majority of older persons in the country who worked in the informal sector were unable to contribute to the scheme and were excluded from any pension benefits or any other income support in their old age.
“Also, the National Ageing Bill, which is to integrate the rights and needs of older persons into national policies, is yet to be finalised and passed into law.
“In addition, Ghana is yet to ratify the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights on the Rights of Older Persons,” the statement said.
Statistics
The Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) has also revealed that the elderly population (60 years and older) has increased almost 10 times in the past six decades — from a little over 200,000 (213,477) in 1960 to almost two million (1,991,736) in 2021.
The elderly population comprises 861,830 (43.3 per cent) males and 1,129,906 (56.7 per cent) females.
“The report further indicates that 341,960 elderly persons are living alone with 62,480 out of that number being 80 years and older.
“The findings also indicate that one out of every four (25.7 per cent) elderly persons is multidimensionally poor, slightly lower than prevails in the total population (29.9 per cent),” a statement issued by the GSS on the occasion of the day of the aged said last Saturday.
The Chancellor of the Kumasi Technical University (KsTU), Dr Kwame Addo Kufuor, has entreated lecturers of the university to support artisans at the Suame industrial enclave to develop technologies to support the industrialisation of the country.
In doing so, he asked them to drop their academic degrees and big vocabularies and come to the level of the artisans in order to get their collaboration.
He said experience had shown that it was easier to get the collaboration of people when they had a sense of belonging, hence the need for the lecturers to rather make the approach.
“If you speak all the big English, there is no way they will be willing to collaborate. However, if you go to them speaking the local language and explain things to them, they will listen to appreciate what you are telling them,” he said.
This is because discussing mechanical problems in the local languages with the artisans will lead to finding solutions and enhancing performance.
Dr Kufuor made the call during his investiture as the first Chancellor of KsTU in Kumasi last Friday (September 30).
Ceremony
First of its kind, the ceremony was quite a colourful one and attracted a host of dignitaries as well as the family of the chancellor.
The dignitaries included the Guest of Honour, Vice-President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, former president John Agyekum Kufuor, who is an elder brother of the Chancellor, former Speaker of Parliament, Prof Mike Oquaye, Chancellor of the University of Cape Coast, Sir Sam Jonah, the Ashanti Regional Minister, Simeon Osei-Mensah, and Apagyahene Oheneba Owusu Afriyie IV, the family head of the new Chancellor.
Also present were Mrs Addo Kufuor and their two sons, as well as some senior lecturers of the KsTU.
Investment
In his address, Vice-President Bawumia paid glowing tribute to the chancellor, who he said had paid his dues to the nation through his service in the public sector.
“The university could not have picked a worthier leader than you.
“Your worth of experience as Board Chairman of Suame Magazine Industrial Development Organisation (SMIDO) indicate your in-depth knowledge and already established interest in Vocational and Technical Education,” he said.
He said it was apt that the first chancellor of the university was a son of the land of Ashanti Kingdom who has been put in good stead to help propel the university onto greater heights to achieve world-class university status.”
Role
Dr Kufuor said the call to be a Chancellor was an opportunity to help develop the young university students into world class talents in order to serve Ghana and raise the image of Africa on the world stage.
He also acknowledged that his new role would require him to lead the university and provide the necessary support and assistance to the council, faculties and administration to transform KsTU to one of the “topmost institutions for information and communication development and training in Ghana and beyond.
“I have confidence in the ability, creativity and ingenuity of the Ghanaian youth.
“It is my firm belief that with the right type of education and training, our young people can create and achieve whatever their counterparts have attained anywhere in the world,” he said.
Collaboration
To achieve this, the KsTU Chancellor called for more collaboration among the academia, industry and agriculture to drive industry and practical work experience for students.
He thus advised KsTU to reach out to share knowledge of mutual value with local senior institutions like the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology and also other universities in the country.
Such collaboration, he explained, would also ensure that “graduating students come out of the university with considerable exposure to the workplace and the confidence to work in such an environment.”
Appreciation
He was grateful to the university governing council for selecting him as a chancellor and pledged to bring his experience and expertise in academia and administration to bear during his reign.
The Managing Director of the Electricity Company of Ghana, Samuel Dubik Mahama has said he can not deny nor confirm that the company’s prepaid vending system was hacked.
He said the inability of some customers to load credit onto prepaid meters last week was an IT related challenge that was being resolved.
Addressing a press conference today, he said the challenges would be fully resolved by the close of the day.
“Yes we do know exactly what the problem is and clearly we’ve solved the problem. We can clearly say that over 95 percent of our customers are back. So we are still working on the challenges that we have and by close of day, we will solve it”, the MD said in response to a question on what exactly the problem was.
Asked if it was a hack that caused the challenges, the ECG MD said, “to be very honest, I cannot confirm or deny. All I can is that it is left with the necessary investigations for us to do the right thing and to make sure that the right things are established, for the good people of Ghana.”
The Executive Director of the Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA), Sulemana Braimah, has taken a swipe at President Akufo-Addo for his government’s handling of illegal small-scale mining (‘galamsey’).
In a tweet shared on Monday, Braimah, who was reacting to a picture of multicoloured water samples from rivers in Ghana, said that the state of the water bodies shows how successful the Akufo-Addo administration has been in the fight against ‘galamsey’.
He intimated that in spite of all the investments the government has made in the fight against ‘galamsey’ and the many government agencies that are supposed to be fighting the menace, the situation seems to be getting worse, which shows the kind of leader Akufo-Addo is.
“This is how successful President Akufo-Addo’s fight against galamsey has been. These are samples from Ghana’s rivers & streams.
“Despite this, all ministers, DCEs, CEOs of all the relevant sectors, regions and districts are all at post. Akufo-Addo’s leadership is a strange one,” parts of the tweet read.
The executive director was reacting to a news report by Joy News which showed discoloured and muddy samples of water from nine water bodies in the country.
The water bodies included the River Ankobra, River Ofin, Afu Afu Stream, River Bonsa, Totoa Stream, NWUI, Tano River and River Bia.
A 16-year-old class six pupil, name withheld, allegedly was raped by a 50-year-old Opanin Kwame Nkrumah.
Maame Pokua and Mr Kwaku Osei, aka Dwen Wo Daakye, mother and father of the victim, narrating the incident to Class 91.3 FM’s correspondent said upon seeing the signs of rape, they interrogated their daughter and she disclosed that she had indeed been raped by the suspect.
The case was forwarded to the chief’s palace for the necessary actions to be taken, while he, Nana Abredu Somuah II, the chief of town, had travelled.
Nana Osei Wiafe, one of the chief’s elders who stood in his stead, settled the rape case and awarded a GHS 1,000 cost for the suspect to pay for allegedly raping the class 6 pupil.
Nana Somuah Abredu upon hearing this after returning from his journey was very angry with his elders for mishandling the case.
He has therefore called on the police to intervene and make the necessary arrests to deter others in the area from such actions.
The suspect has taken to heels upon hearing of the recent decision by the chief.
The Gas Tanker drivers alleged that there has not been any accountability or elections over the past 10 years since the establishment of the association.
Members of the Gas Tanker Drivers Association have accused its leadership of alleged corruption and abuse of power and have, therefore, threatened to demonstrate against them to register their displeasure.
At a press conference held in Tema, Monday, 3 October 2022, the Gas Tanker drivers alleged that there has not been any accountability or elections over the past 10 years since the establishment of the association.
The members noted that this is in contravention of the Association’s Constitution referring to Article 3 of the Gas Tankers Association By-laws which states
“there shall be an election every four years to elect its executives and eligible leaders.”
However, the interim leadership, since 2013, has refused to conduct new elections and also account to members of the association on whether or not their monies are being saved.
According to the Gas Tanker drivers, they are made to pay daily tickets of GHS10.
They stressed that the practice has been ongoing since the establishment of the association though there has been no accountability to the members.
They members have, therefore, called on the Industrial and Commercial Workers’ Union (ICU) to intervene.
The Managing Director of the power distributing company, noted that the ECG acknowledges its fault of failing to distribute power to customers.
The Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) has apologised to customers for the inconvenience caused by the challenges it experienced with its prepaid vending system.
The company has also disclosed that its vending stations are currently working so customers can purchase their prepaid credit.
Speaking at a press conference held on Monday, 3 October 2022, in Accra, the Managing Director of the power distributing company, Samuel Mahama noted that the ECG acknowledges its fault of failing to distribute power to customers and apologised for the interruption in service delivery.
Mr Mahama said: “That was our fault that we were not on top of our game to deliver a service. Let us not forget that in such a business the customer is the one that always gets hurt when you don’t deliver on your promise. So when I said I admit my fault, I admit my fault in not being able to deliver the service that we promised to deliver.
“I will like to apologise to all customers of the Electricity Company of Ghana who attempted to purchase power and they were not able to purchase power, the company admits its fault, the company admits that it was not able to deliver on the service.”
He however, hinted that, the company is still experiencing some challenges in the Ashanti Region.
“But the company will like all its customers to also know that most vending stations are up and running.
“I used most because we still have some few challenges in the Ashanti region that we are working on. Hopefully, by close of day today, it will be resolved.”
Meanwhile, the MD, is optimistic, that challenges with the power distributing company’s prepaid vending system will be fully resolved by Tuesday, 4 October 2022.
According to the ECG MD, customers will be able to purchase prepaid credits without challenges.
Power consumers across certain parts of the country have, for the past six days, been unable to purchase power on their prepaid meters because of a technical challenge that affected ECG’s prepaid metering systems.
Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia has called on the private sector to support the public sector in creating awareness on the relevance of cybersecurity in the country.
Speaking at the official launch of the National Cyber Security Awareness Month (NCSAM) 2022, today, Monday, 3 October 2022 at the cedi conference centre, University of Ghana, Accra, on the theme: “Regulating Cybersecurity: A Public-Private Sector Collaborative Approach,” Dr Bawumia, said creating greater awareness of the Cybersecurity Act, 2020 (Act 1038) and building synergies among all relevant stakeholders to ensure compliance with them is absolutely critical.
He noted that the law and the relevance of cybersecurity regulations among children, the public, businesses and government, whilst highlighting the need for public-private sector cooperation must be paramount.
The awareness month, therefore, he noted was important to ensure that everyone is involved in cybersecurity activities to ensure a safer digital Ghana.
Dr Bawumia noted that the government is not relenting in its efforts to crack down on cyber-criminal activities, “however, we all have a part to play for our collective security to ensure mutual benefits of the digital space to all users.”
He appealed to the public to relay relevant information to the appropriate authorities for cybercrime prevention and investigations. This he said includes issues that affect children.
“I am reliably informed that victims of child online abuses do not open-up to authorities for investigations and assistance, leaving abusers on the streets to continue their anti-social deeds. The National Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT) and the established sectoral CERTs are available for incident response and coordination, and I encourage businesses and government organisations to take advantage of them,” he noted.
The vice president added that “the Cybercrime/ Cybersecurity Incident Reporting Points of Contact is also available to the general public to report cybercrimes and to seek guidance.”
Ghanaians can call 292 freely and seek real time assistance on cybersecurity incidents and report same to the National CERT which operates within the Cyber Security Authority.
Dr Bawumia encouraged the public to utilise this contact as “we seek to promote preventive and cyber hygienic practices to protect our citizens and our digital assets.”
Read Dr Bawumia’s full speech below:
KEYNOTE ADDRESS BY THE VICE PRESIDENT, HIS EXCELLENCY DR. ALHAJI MAHAMUDU BAWUMIA, AT THE OFFICIAL LAUNCH OF THE NATIONAL CYBER SECURITY AWARENESS MONTH (NCSAM) 2022 ON OCTOBER 03, 2022 AT THE CEDI CONFERENCE CENTRE, UNIVERSITY OF GHANA, ACCRA
Hon. Minister for Communications and Digitalisation, Mrs. Ursula Owusu-Ekuful,
Hon., Minister for National Security, Mr Albert Kan Dapaah,
Hon. Minister for Information, Mr Kojo Oppong Nkrumah,
Members of the Parliamentary Select Committee on Communications and other Members of Parliament,
Members of the Governing Board of the Cyber Security Authority,
Ag. Director-General of the Cyber Security Authority, Dr. Albert Antwi-Boasiako,
Members of the Joint Cybersecurity Committee (JCC),
Vice Chancellor of the University of Ghana, Professor Nana Aba Appiah Amfo,
Members of the Diplomatic Corps,
Media personnel,
Distinguished Guests,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
It is my pleasure to join you again to launch one of the most important national events in Ghana’s cybersecurity development, the National Cyber Security Awareness Month (NCSAM). In October 2018, I opened the National Cyber Security Awareness Month and launched the 5-year cybersecurity awareness programme dubbed “A Safer Digital Ghana,” an initiative of the then Ministry of Communications, which underpins Ghana’s cybersecurity awareness initiatives. Four years on, I must say that I am impressed with our achievements in cybersecurity development, leading to our progress on the Global Cybersecurity Index rating from 32.6% in 2017 to 86.69% in 2020 with respect to cybersecurity readiness.
I thank the Minister for Communications and Digitalisation and her team, the Governing Board of the Cyber Security Authority, the Ag. Director-General and staff of the Cyber Security Authority, Members of the Joint Cybersecurity Committee, and all relevant stakeholders; including the private sector and international partners, for the commitment in achieving this feat. We, however, need to do more towards cybersecurity development as we step up our efforts to transform the economy through digitalisation.
Ladies and gentlemen, I note that the theme for this month-long event, is “Regulating Cybersecurity: A Public-Private Sector Collaborative Approach.” Cybersecurity development everywhere is a shared responsibility, and enhancing understanding of the provisions of the Cybersecurity Act, 2020 (Act 1038) and building synergies among all relevant stakeholders to ensure compliance with them is absolutely critical. Creating greater awareness of the law and the relevance of cybersecurity regulations among Children, the Public, Businesses and Government, whilst highlighting the need for public-private sector cooperation must be paramount. This awareness month is therefore important to ensure that everyone is involved in cybersecurity activities to ensure a safer digital Ghana.
Distinguished guests, in the era of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, new and emerging digital technologies and trends, such as Fifth Generation (5G) networks, Quantum Computing, Artificial Intelligence (AI), Cloud Computing, Mobile Web Services, Internet of Things (IoT) and Social Media, are radically changing the business landscape and reshaping the nature of work and business operations. Building a resilient digital ecosystem is therefore vital for national development. We need robust systems with relevant laws, directives, and guidelines to secure our digital ecosystem and we took a major step in this direction with the passage of Act 1038.
Ladies and gentlemen, the growing desire to accelerate inclusive growth through greater efficiency, transparency, and accountability in the delivery of public services has led to the implementation of national flagship digitialisation projects including Mobile Money Interoperability, the Digital Property Addressing System, Universal QR Code Payment System (GhQR), National Identification System, the Ghana.gov payment infrastructure, the Paperless Port System, e-Justice System, e-Procurement among others. The unique identification number for each citizen provides Ghana with a linked national database as the Ghana card is currently linked to Tax Identification Number, National Health Insurance Cards, Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT), Passports, and Sim Cards to provide seamless identification of all individuals and promote secure transactions. The Digital Property Addressing System has also solved the problem of lack of functional address systems in the country by leveraging on GPS technology to implement a digital address system which captures every square inch of our land. We can now identify every person and every property in this country and very soon, it will be difficult for criminals to hide behind the anonymity of technology to defraud anyone.
Ladies and gentlemen, notwithstanding these strides, we are keenly aware that the dependence on digitalisation to transform our economy comes with increased risk of cyber threats and attacks. According to the World Economic Forum, cybercrime cost the world at least $6 trillion in 2021 and could lead to over $10 trillion in annual damages by 2025. Research by IBM also indicates that, it takes 280 days to find and contain the average cyberattack, while the average attack costs $3.86 million. There have been a number of attacks on critical infrastructures around the world; recently the Holiday Inn was hit by cyberattacks which disrupted its “booking channels and other applications”. Earlier in the year, SpiceJet reportedly faced ransomware attacks causing several flights to be either delayed or cancelled. Toyota Motor supplier, Denso, was also hacked and sensitive data stolen. These incidents are increasing and affect all sectors of society. These attacks do not only affect the named institutions; they have effects on employment, company finances, national investments and on individuals who interact or do business with affected institutions. These are just a few examples to emphasise the point that in our current digitalised and interconnected environment, a single cybersecurity incident can affect an entire organisation, a whole nation or the world at large. Therefore, it is critical to build a strong shield against cyber threats and incidents that could undermine our capacity to act and develop.
Ladies and gentlemen, the Government of Ghana is committed to putting in place the needed structures to deal with cybercrimes that keep arising as a result of increasing digital connectivity. That is why in 2017, we set up the National Cyber Security Secretariat, which, in three short years, has now evolved into the Cyber Security Authority following the passage of the Cybersecurity Act, 2020 (Act 1038). I am delighted that the Authority has continued in efforts to develop cybersecurity in the country, and also, enhanced its awareness creation activities. As businesses and individuals, we must develop the needed cybersecurity consciousness to help mitigate cybercrimes, which according to statistics are caused by human actions in about 90% of the cases.
Ladies and gentlemen, Critical Information Infrastructure (CII) constitutes assets (real or virtual), networks, systems, processes, information, and functions that are so vital to the nation that their incapacity or destruction would have a devastating impact on national security, the economy, public health and/or safety. Thirteen (13) sectors of our economy have so far been designated as CII and these include: National Security and Intelligence, Banking and Finance, Information and Communication Technology (ICT), Energy, Transport, Water, Health, Government, Emergency Services, Food and Agriculture, Manufacturing, Mining and Education. A Directive for the Protection of Critical Information Infrastructures (CIIs) was launched by the Authority on October 1, 2021 to assist CII owners in registering with the Authority and guide them to protect their critical systems. I will urge all operators to familiarise themselves with the Directives and comply. I am reliably informed that from January 2023, all Critical Information Infrastructure Owners, whether in the private sector or public institutions, will be required to undergo mandatory compliance checks and audits to ensure the protection of Ghana’s critical systems. This audit and compliance actions will be in line with regulations aimed at reinforcing the resilience and response capacities of these institutions against cyber threats and incidents, as well as to ensuring a resilient, secure economy. This will help protect our critical systems from rising malicious cyber activities in the global landscape. They are also important to assess the adequacy and effectiveness of controls/measures put in place to meet the requirements of the law. Designated CII owners who fail to comply with the regulatory measures to protect our critical databases and systems will be sanctioned in accordance with the Cybersecurity Act.
The Ministry of Communications and Digitalisation is committed to the full enforcement of the Cybersecurity Act and from January 2023, no firm will operate a cybersecurity service in the country without a license granted by the Authority. We can no longer take chances to allow access to sensitive and critical data without the necessary legal and technical due process. There must be a way to ensure that the institutions and the people we engage to provide cybersecurity services meet the fit-for-purpose tests and can be held accountable for the services they provide.
Distinguished guests, cooperation is one of the strategic imperatives in our National Cybersecurity Policy and Strategy. The Joint Cybersecurity Committee is enshrined in our law and has been duly inaugurated, I’m told. It comprises representatives from all sectors and agencies, both public and private, involved in cyber defence. As cyberspace is borderless and interdependencies keep widening, Ghana is committed to improving collaboration not only at the domestic level but internationally in the fight against cybercrimes. I commend all international and local partners who have been instrumental in Ghana’s cybersecurity development so far. Our modest strides in cybersecurity development have been acknowledged and Ghana is increasingly being noted as a hub for training and capacity building for our sub region by the European Commission, World Bank and ECOWAS.
Several African countries have shown a commitment to work with Ghana as part of efforts to improve cybersecurity in our respective countries and on the continent at large and I am informed that, we have had teams from Sierra Leone, the Gambia and Niger amongst others, visiting us to learn from our modest but significant achievements in cybersecurity. In Ghana, we believe that we will go far when we walk together, and are committed to walking with you all. We believe that international cooperation is an indispensable tool in countering cybercrime.
Today, representatives from Rwanda and Mozambique are here to support the event and sign Memorandums of Understanding for cooperation with Ghana on cybersecurity matters. I welcome you all to Ghana. The MoUs will provide for joint capacity building exercises and training in the relevant areas through the sharing of expertise. It also entails exchange programmes for staff to promote capacity building and talent development in both countries and conduct of joint cybersecurity exercises. The countries involved will learn, share, and promote effective cybersecurity practices to ensure resilience and cyber readiness on both ends.
Distinguished guests, indeed no country can tackle the world’s current challenges alone: from wars and other conflicts, climate change, poverty, inequality, lack of respect for human rights, food insecurity, unemployment – the list is endless and cybercrime ranks high up there. International cooperation is vital if we are to overcome these challenges.
Hon. Ministers, ladies and gentlemen, Government is not relenting in its efforts to crack down on cyber-criminal activities, however we all have a part to play for our collective security to ensure mutual benefits of the digital space to all users. I appeal to the public to relay relevant information to the appropriate authorities for cybercrime prevention and investigations. This includes issues that affect children. I am reliably informed that victims of child online abuses do not open-up to authorities for investigations and assistance, leaving abusers on the streets to continue their anti-social deeds. The National Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT) and the established sectoral CERTs are available for incident response and coordination, and I encourage businesses and government organisations to take advantage of them. The Cybercrime/ Cybersecurity Incident Reporting Points of Contact is also available to the general public to report cybercrimes and to seek guidance. I am reliably informed that, our citizens can call 292 freely and seek real time assistance on cybersecurity incidents and report same to the National CERT which operates within the Cyber Security Authority. I encourage the public to utilise this contact as we seek to promote preventive and cyber hygienic practices to protect our citizens and our digital assets.
Distinguished guests, in order to gain the full benefits of our digitalisation efforts, we must create a risk-aware cybersecurity culture. I have a lot of confidence in the work of the Cyber Security Authority in implementing its regulatory mandate and the government will ensure that the Authority is provided with the necessary resources to do its work. I urge all corporate bodies, faith based and civil society organisations and the media to collaborate with the Cyber Security Authority and get involved in the awareness creation and capacity building exercises in the month of October as we promote cybersecurity at the national level.
I hereby declare the 2022 National Cyber Security Awareness Month launched.
The Office of the President of Ghana has refused a Right to Information request filed by pressure group #FIxTheCountry.
The pressure group, several weeks ago, wrote to the presidency demanding disclosure of the salaries, allowances, facilities, and privileges enjoyed by some individuals in the president’s office.
The list of individuals included the Director of Communications at the Office of the President, Eugene Arhin; Church Relations Manager, Rev. Ebenezer Saaka Ameyaw; and the president’s appointee responsible for Diaspora Church Mobilization, Fr. Nana K. Ellis.
However, according to a lead convener of #FixTheCountry, Oliver Barker-Vormawor, the presidency has refused to grant the request because it “constitutes unreasonable disclosure of the personal affairs of the individuals concerned.”
While taking exception to the position of the presidency on the request, the convener disclosed the resolve of #FixTheCountry to challenge the refusal of their request.
“We disagree with the president’s assessment that salaries, allowances, facilities and privileges charged on the consolidated fund and paid to public office holders constitute personal information exempt from disclosure. If this logic is allowed to stand, it will become a basis for denying the public access to information on the salaries, allowances, facilities and privileges of the Article 71 office holders contained in the reports of the various Committees.
“In this regard, we have initiated a review process under the relevant legislation towards overturning the President’s decision,” the convener wrote in a Facebook post.
Aimed at promoting public sector transparency and accountability, the Right to Information ACT, 2019 (Act 989) empowers citizens to request information from government institutions and agencies funded by the government.
“We consider that the ability to assess public information relating to expenditure of public funds, without any contrived encumbrances is crucial to the duty of citizens to hold government to account,” Mr Barker-Vormawor added to his Facebook post.
Watch the latest episode of The Lowdown below:
The Lowdown: Role of the diaspora in the development of Africa
CEO of the Aaron Manvel Foundation Millie Lorene Tucker and Gary Hope, the CEO of FLCC – Bring Back Hope Foundation underscore the need for the African diaspora to help develop the continent in this episode of The Lowdown on GhanaWeb TV. According to the women trying to make and create a change in Ghana, our forefathers were sold away and made to develop strange lands. Thus, coming back home and developing their home country is the best thing to do especially when resources are available.
Ya-Naa Abubakari Mahama II says he is always proud to notice that the Vice President of Ghana, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia continues to stick to the training he got from his elders.
He observes the vice president, regardless of his position, has stuck with his principles and values imbibed in him by his elders, which is commendable.
The Overlord of Dagbon made this known when the Vice President paid a courtesy call on him at the Gbewaa Palace in Yendi as part of his two-day working visit to the Northern Region.
“Your exceptional humility is worth emulating and makes us proud of you for that. You have not departed from the training your elders gave you.” He said.
He used the opportunity to acknowledge the hard work Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia is doing to ensure that Ghana develops.
“Again, since your occupation of the second most important political seat in Ghana, you have shown sterling performance with your sacrifice and hard work, which has achieved so much for mother Ghana,” he said.
The Manager of Poly Changda Engineering Company, Xue Hui, has been denied bail by the Sekondi District Court.
The Chinese national was arrested last week for allegedly slashing the throat of his employee with a flip knife.
Appearing at the court on Monday, October 3, 2022, the suspect charged with attempted murder had his bail application denied by the presiding judge, Her Worship Nana Abena Asoh Owusu Omenyo.
According to the presiding judge, it behoves only a trial court to grant the accused person bail.
The prosecution, led by Superintendent Steve Addom, told the court that the complainant, Isaac Boateng, is a concrete mixer and an employee of Changda Engineering Company based in Takoradi and managed by the accused.
The prosecution said the complainant, on September 27, 2022, turned up to work at 7:00 in the morning and closed at 3:00 pm instead of 5:00 pm.
The complainant was confronted the following day by the accused person during lunch for closing earlier than usual the previous day.
This led to an exchange between the accused and the complainant causing Xue Hui to inform Isaac Boateng that he had been fired from the job.
The complainant packed his working attire and went to the accused person to pay him off.
Another exchange ensued between the two, and the accused person, without provocation, came out of his office wielding a flip knife with which he slashed the complainant’s throat.
Meanwhile, a lawyer for the accused person, Akpene Darko Cobbinah, according to a report by Onuaonline.com, has said that her client has since the incident shown remorse.
She stated that her client did not intend to cause harm to the victim while adding that the company, through the instrumentation of his client, is paying for all medical expenses.
However, according to the victim, he has been left traumatised by the incident.
“All that I was demanding was for my salary to be paid since he told me he had sacked me. Since the incident, my family members, especially my wife and kids, have always been crying. But I’m trusting that justice will be served”.
Meanwhile, the case has been adjourned to October 11, 2022, for committal proceedings.
Ghana has been re-elected to the Council of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) for the 2023 to 2026 term. The elections for the Council membership were held Monday October 3, 2022 at the ongoing ITU Plenipotentiary Conference 2022 in Bucharest, Romania.
The ITU Council acts as the Union’s governing body in the interval between Plenipotentiary Conferences, held every four years. Its role is to consider broad telecommunication policy issues to ensure that the Union’s activities, policies and strategies fully respond to today’s dynamic, rapidly changing telecommunications environment. The Council is also responsible for ensuring the smooth day-to-day running of the Union, coordinating work programmes, approving budgets, controlling finances and expenditure.
Ghana has been serving as a member of the Executive Council since 2002 and has also played various leadership roles in Study Groups as well as actively taking part in other ITU activities.
According to the Minister for Communications and Digitalisation, Hon. Ursula Owusu-Ekuful, who led Ghana’s electoral campaign, the Republic of Ghana will keep up with her sterling contribution to the ITU Council while ensuring that it carries its service to the telecommunication world in a resourceful, transparent and forward-looking manner.
The Hon. Minister reiterated Government’s commitment to ensuring that its citizens across the country get connected. She explained that Government has already done a lot through initiatives such as the innovative Rural Telephony project and Sectoral Computer Emergency Response Teams (CERTS) to secure our cyber space amongst others.
Ghana secured 145 votes and ranked 2nd among the 13 countries elected to the Council from Region D (Africa). This is the highest number of votes that Ghana has secured at an ITU Council election.
Each of ITU’s five administrative regions is entitled to a specific number of Council seats. In total, forty-eight (48) ITU Member States were elected to the Council.
ITU Radio Regulations Board (RRB)
In a related development, Rev. Ing. Edmund Yirenkyi Fianko, the Acting Director of Engineering at the National Communications Authority (NCA) was elected to ITU’s Radio Regulations Board (RRB) for the 2023-2026 term. Rev. Ing. Fianko is one of the three RRB members representing Africa on the twelve member Board with the responsibility to approve the Rules of Procedure for the application of the Radio and Regulations and to adjudicate on matters brought before the Board.
Rev. Ing. Fianko is an electronic communications engineer with in-depth experience in radio frequency spectrum management, telecom and broadcasting regulation as well as policy formulation at the national, regional and international levels.
About RRB
The twelve members of the Radio Regulations Board (RRB) are elected at the Plenipotentiary Conference. They perform their duties independently and on a part-time basis, normally meeting up to four times a year, in Geneva. The Board approves Rules of Procedure, used by the Radio communication Bureau in applying the provisions of the Radio Regulations and registering frequency assignments made by the Member States.
About ITU
The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) is the United Nations specialized agency for information and communication technologies – ICTs. Founded in 1865 to facilitate international connectivity in communications networks, the ITU allocates global radio spectrum and satellite orbits, develop the technical standards that ensure networks and technologies seamlessly interconnect, and strive to improve access to ICTs to underserved communities worldwide. Every time you make a phone call via the mobile, access the Internet or send an email, you are benefitting from the work of ITU. ITU is committed to connecting the entire world’s people – wherever they live and whatever their means.
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Lecturer at the Department of Dance Studies, School of Performing Arts, University of Ghana, Dr. Terry Kweku Ofosu, says colonization has led to Africans appreciating their culture less.
“Unfortunately for us, I say very passionately we were damaged by the colonialists so they actually made us repudiate our traditional dance performances. So, in fact even within Christianity you were not allowed to wear cloth and Ephraim Amu was sacked from the church premises for wearing cloth. Imagine if the church was disgusted by the wearing of cloth then how much our traditional dance and all that.”
Dr. Terry Kweku Ofosu made this revelation in an interview with e.tv Ghana’s Fati Shaibu Ali on a special Made In Ghana discussion on the topic; “Passing on the Ghanaian Heritage through Dance”.
As a lecturer, Dr. Ofosu more often than not experiences first hand mockery of students of performing arts who are labeled ‘dondologists’. “These people although Ghanaians have been damaged and that has been transferred from one person to another and it is just sad. Most Ghanaians will prefer for their children to learn ballet dance as they assign prestige to it but these same people will frown on their children learning our traditional dance.”
Citing China as a country which cherishes tradition and has imbued that in its citizens, he shared the country’s dragon dance has been instituted and treated with passion.
“Our psyche is so damaged that we don’t want or like what belongs to us. But what does not belong to us we rush in for that sadly,” he reiterated.
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Registered Ghanaian dietician, Benedicta Kessewah Addo, has revealed too much fried plantain and beans (gob3) cause undue weight gain.
She explained too much oil found in the gob3 and fried plantain has a lot of calories which contributes to excessive weight gain.
“Ghanaian dishes are really healthy but the mode of preparation is where the issue lies. If it is gob3 you are eating, especially if you’re buying from outside then the plantain is obviously going to be fried with oil. The other day I counted about 5 teaspoons of oil the woman used to mix my food. After mixing it she added an extra teaspoon and that was a lot of calories,” she told Samuel Eshun on a special ‘Made in Ghana’ discussion on the topic, ‘Heath Benefits of Local Ghanaian Cuisines’.
Describing gob3 as a healthy meal, Benedicta advised patrons of the delicacy to cut down on the oil and amounts of fried plantain so prevent excessive weight gain.
The dietician reiterated local foods are rich in nutrients, urging all to consume local dishes, prioritizing a balanced diet comprising of proportional amounts of protein, carbohydrates, fats and oil and minerals from fruits and vegetables.
Registered Ghanaian dietician, Benedicta Kessewah Addo, has addressed concerns Ghanaian foods are full of starch, hence unhealthy as compared to foods from other countries.
She described this claim as falsehood, saying every country has foods with starch.
“What do you mean by something is starchy? When someone is educating an audience which is not highly educated in Ghana, one may refer to carbohydrates as foods with starch and not necessarily mean starch or sticky foods.
So, if you say Ghanaian foods are starchy but still like to eat other carbohydrates from elsewhere, then there is a misunderstanding for starters,” she told Samuel Eshun in a special ‘Made in Ghana’ discussion on the topic, ‘Health Benefits of Local Ghanaian Cuisine.’
According to the dietician carbohydrates are a required source of nutrients for a balanced diet. “We need to take that starch thing out of our minds. The issue has to do with whether the carbohydrate is a whole or refined carbohydrate and that’s where the debate lies.”
Whole carbs are minimally processed and contain the fiber found naturally in the food, while refined carbs have been processed more and have had the natural fiber removed or changed.
On the other hand, refined carbs include: sugar-sweetened beverages, white bread, pastries and other items made with white flour
She advised Ghanaians on the importance of eating well balanced diets containing carbohydrates, proteins, fats and oils with the required nutrients from fruits and vegetables.
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One major social force influencing the future of public relations is Globalisation.
Money, products, materials, information and people flow swiftly across national boundaries today than ever.
Advances in technology have enabled and accelerated this flow and the resulting international interactions and dependencies.
These technological advances have been especially pronounced in transportation and telecommunications. Improvements in transportation have made it possible for you, in mere hours, to travel distances that took your parents and grandparents months and weeks to cover.
For Public Relations practioners as previously inaccessible audiences have become more reachable, and the internet penetrates all corners of the globe, many more brands and businesses are developing and implementing global strategies, so has it caused public relations practitioners to face serious challenges and make difficult choices.
Thanks to the global reach of digital communications, crises can now spread easily. The Internet has made it possible for anyone with a cause to become a ‘Citizen Journalist”. It is becoming increasingly difficult for organisations to identify potential threats.
Simply put, advances in communications allow us to know what is occurring in a country half-way around the world instantaneously.
2020 has been a year of lessons for PR practitioners. we continue to see our roles and responsibility evolving. No longer just relationship builders and media relations, we’re molding our clients’ legacies with every picture, placement, and caption.
So many brands have for example found success incorporating TikTok’s unique video meets text storytelling, there is one area of TikTok no brand wants to be. This is where tech-savvy teens and activist millennials share the “receipts,” screenshots, tweets, news articles, and other evidence that points to the need to “cancel” an individual, business, or other entity.
Bad press is nothing new to the PR industry, but there is a key element to this situation. First, TikTok videos travel quickly. They can be downloaded easily and shared across social media. Additionally, TikTok “duet” and split-screen reactions allow for more people to join the conversation not to mention the ability to embed these reaction videos over on Instagram for cross-channel conversation.
As trade expands globally, the most notable audiences drawing attention of public relations practitioners are in places such as Russia, China, India, Latin America, Europe and America. PR practitioners must overcome language barriers and social differences to practice culturally appropriate and locally acceptable public relations. This brings to mind the drink called ‘TruMoo’ chocolate this may just be a drink for many people but those of us in Ghana won’t patronise it because the name of the drink means excuse my language (asshole) in the Twi language. Same way Brazilian men will have a challenge buying a car named ‘pinto’ because its a slang for the male reproductive organ. This situation forced Ford to rebrand its Pinto car brand to Corcel meaning horse. If ‘TruMoo’ or Ford Pinto was made for only people living in their countries of origin, there wouldn’t be a need to rebrand. Differences in lifestyles, customs, values and cultures are not the only unique challenges. Unique aspects of local political, economic, and industrial structural also are challenges.
Working in combination, these forces have given us a sense of interconnectedness and created a world of opportunities for public relations professionals.
In our current digital communication space, bad press is not announced as a newspaper headline, but rather directly among users and consumers. Television, radio and digital articles are often late to the game, eventually “catch up” to many of the trends we see originating on TikTok and even reporting on these new trends as news.
The government of South Sudan said on Friday that it is working to double the collection of non-oil revenue by 380 percent in the next five years.
Addressing journalists after the cabinet meeting, Martin Elia Lomuro, the Minister of Cabinet Affairs, said the National Revenue Authority had developed a strategic document that will improve the collection of non-oil revenues.
“The revenue authority is faced with many challenges; it is not able to collect enough money for us to be able to run the government, so we have had that strategic plan for five years, 2022 to 2027,” he said.
“The plan has a number of key strategic objectives, eleven of them. It has 42 implementation metrics, and the aim is to increase collection from the 80 billion that we are collecting now to 367 billion over five years; that is a 380 percent increase,” Lomuro stated.
The cabinet also said the government is working to develop close economic and development ties with the United Arab Emirates to spur economic prosperity.
Lomuro said the two countries signed several bilateral agreements that will allow companies from UAE to South Sudan to invest in a number of areas.
“Bilateral relationship that was reached between the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on a number of development issues, on agriculture, mining, roads, which affects different entities. Traders, business communities, and some of the business communities have signed an agreement on mining, and there are agricultural companies the president has already met with chiefs to allocate land for agriculture,” Elia said.
Lomuro reiterated that the ministry of justice is developing a document that will help in limiting tax avoidance by the investing companies.
Let’s face it, Absa Bank has got it right. The Bank’s business in Ghana is based on a very simple strategy, which includes a strong focus on supporting the local SME sector.
The bank is sentient enough to know that these local businesses underpin Ghana’s economic growth, so it has laid out a clear strategy to become the bank of choice for the sector.
The strategy is working well and has contributed to making Absa a consistently high performing bank in Ghana.
Last year, for example, the bank also became the first in the history of Ghana’s banking sector, to cross the GHS1 billion mark in profitability and revenues in the country.
Absa’s unique understanding of the needs of the SME market has led to several innovative products and solutions for this specific sector.
One such innovation is the bank’s collateral-free loan which has flourished consistently for many years. Through a partnership with the Mastercard Foundation and the Ghana Union of Traders Association (GUTA), Absa has increased the facility grant up to GHS1 million for small businesses and startups in Ghana.
Absa also understands that to speedily drive large and positive change, it must strike strategic partnerships as it has done with the Mastercard Foundation and the Ghana Union of Traders Association (GUTA.
The bank is, therefore, currently a leading partner of the Ghana government’s new entrepreneurial initiative – YouStart commercial programme – which is supported bythe Ghana Association of Banks (GAB).
The YouStart programme will mobilise GHS10 billion to support young entrepreneurs, startups and local businesses in a sustainable way. These businesses can access standardized loans between GHS100,000 to GHS500,000 from the participating financial institutions, including Absa bank, at subsidized interest rates.
For Absa, this is the latest addition to its suite of products and services that support and empower the local business sector to grow sustainably.
Commenting after the signing ceremony of YouStart at the Ministry of Finance, Managing Director of Absa Bank, Abena Osei-Poku said:
“The purpose of a bank like ours is to identify the real and present problems confronting our clients, customers and society, and to creatively devise plans to respond to these difficulties with the right products and services. That is the ultimate business of banks, and we will not renege on our mandate to ensure our clients and customers find us useful and responsive all the time. We are always excited about our role in empowering the local economy. We feel a great sense of accomplishment when we see how SMEs, startups and other local businesses are making an impact because of our support.”
Absa Bank is not about to rest on its laurels as it seeks to maintain its leadership in a sector that is central to moving the country into a higher middle-income level. Programmes like YouStart, the Mastercard foundation partnership and other related initiatives, are reasons why the bank has struck a strong chord with its key stakeholders, clients and customers. It reflects the bank’s brand promise of bringing possibilities to life.
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Member of Parliament(MP) for Tamale North Alhassan Suhuyini believes that the fight against galamsey in Ghana must be beyond the usual rhetorics.
He argues that several measures need to be put in place to fight the canker which is destroying water bodies and forest reserves in the country.
Suhuyini who made this known in a post shared via social media called on the Lands Minister to decisively deal with his party’s Ashanti Regional Chairman whose company has been in the news for engaging in illegal mining in recent times.
He believes that dealing decisively with Wontumi will better place the Ministry and other stakeholders in the fight against the menace.
Read His Statement Below
I agree with the Hon Minister for Lands and Natural Resources.
The (no) fight against Galamsay must not be partisan. As in the words of Prof Kwesi Anning, it must be beyond flowery political rhetoric, such as the ones we have been regularly dished from the Presidency and Ministry. The fight must be waged and seen in deed, not words.
Yes, Aisha Huang is temporarily caged, what about some of her enablers, some of whom include but definitely not limited to a notorious political kingpin, Wontumi?
His company is referenced lately in news reports to be responsible for brazen illegal mining of Water bodies and forest reserves.
Hon Minister please,
1. Deal with Wontumi, his Companies, and others; that’s how your flowery political rhetoric will reflect indeed.
2. Like all destructive substances and machines, lead a policy position on the importation, deployment, and use of Excavators and Chamfine Machines in Ghana. Like guns etc, their unbridled use has become a threat to life.
3. Adequately resource and restructure the Minerals Commission, the Inspectorate Division especially, to professionally recruit and train guards in every mining District, like the Forestry Commission’s Forestry Guards.
4. Convince your Cabinet to institute a non-political interference, house cleaning of all Security Agencies. Disarm and strip the uniforms of the crooks and thugs in the Services.
5. Like Cocoa, pre-finance gold purchases and restructure licensing to ensure purchases are made only from licensed small-scale miners, operating legally.
The United States (US) Ambassador to Ghana, Virginia Palmer, has urged the government of Ghana to put in more effort in the fight against the menace of illegal small-scale mining (‘galamsey’) in the country.
According to her, Ghana was not making any significant strides in the fight against the menace because only the illegal miners (‘galamseyers’) are arrested while the powerful forces behind them are not touched.
Virginia Palmer, who made these remarks when she paid a courtesy call on the Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, added that if the government fails to take urgent steps to stop ‘galamsey’, the country will be in some serious crisis soon.
“We had a congressional delegation from our House of Representatives, Natural Resources Committee, that was here two weeks ago. And they were looking into water pollution, the impact on fisheries from illegal mining.
“This (galamsey) is something, I think Ghanaians must be aggressive in fighting and enforcing regulations that you do have.
“The galamseyers themselves are people who need to make a living. I think the galamseyers are not active in doing it but the powers behind them are the ones truly responsible for the evils. Indeed, they are wreaking real environmental havoc on your rivers which is having an impact on your cocoa crops. All of these things are going to have really negative consequences on the economy of Ghana,” she said.
On his part, the Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, questioned why Ghana as a country has failed to stop the menace of ‘galamsey’ even after the President Akufo-Addo, has put his political career on the line to stop it.
Asantehene also questioned why the security apparatus in these ‘galamsey’ areas and the taskforce set up by the government have failed to stop the menace.
He intimated that small-scale mining was something that had been done for serveral years but never to the detriment of the environment.
“It (‘galamsey’) has gotten to a point where people are now using equipment and all that. They do not care about the environment.
“But the question is who is in control of the security around the area. From the district level to the highest level. We are all talking about ‘galamsey’. The government set up this military cum police to stop galamsey. Why have we not been able to stop it? Why?” he asked.
