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NEWS |
+ 23.04.2009 +
NCC
Promotes Development Through Culture
The Director, Finance and Administration
of the National Commission on Culture (NCC) in Bolgatanga,
Mr. Michael Attipoe, has stated that in the era of
globalisation and contemporary technological challenges, the
people of Ghana must recognise that their culture forms the
basis and most important factor in the nation's human and
material development.
He said Ghana's history, cultural
values and institutions must continue to exercise a deep
influence on the nation's destiny, and play a key role in
governance and national life, saying, "any development
agenda cannot refuse to see manifestations of our culture."
The manifestations of Ghanaian culture, he mentioned,
include ideals and ideas, beliefs and values, folklore,
environment, science and technology, social, political and
economic set up.
Others include aesthetic quality and the humanistic
dimension of Ghanaian literature, music, dance, drama,
architecture, carvings, paintings, and other artistic forms.
According to him, programme intervention in communities
would not succeed without a careful look at cultural
sensitive issues such as marriage and betrothal,
inheritance, family structure, community linkages, belief
systems, political structure and issues of sexuality and
reproduction among others.
Mr. Attipoe was speaking at a three-day workshop on
"Culture and Development Planning", held for development
stakeholders in Bolgatanga last week. It was aimed at
investigating the parameters that guide the formulation,
promotion and execution of programmes and projects that are
culture sensitive, and reflect the aspirations of the
people.
He continued that stakeholders have to operationalise the
development and promotion of culture, to sustain and
encourage positive cultural values such as truthfulness,
hard work, integrity, tolerance and respect for human life,
in the fabric of natural life.
These, he said, could be achieved through music, dance
drama, exhibitions, durbars, radio discussions, religious
rallies, seminars and talk shows, in collaboration with
district assemblies, religious bodies, social groups, chiefs
and traditional leaders, and the Ministry of Education,
among others.
The youth, basic education pupils, secondary and tertiary
students, school dropouts, parents, guardians and
identifiable communities, are all to be targeted in this
effort at culture promotion and development.
Others include market women, nursing mothers, farmers,
religious groups, and various associations and vocational
groups. In Mr. Attipoe's view, this demands appropriate
planning, which he described as an activity whose primary
concern is to visualise future possibilities, and
intentionally choose, guide, and create current behaviours,
structures and tools to achieve results towards a desirable
future state.
"Planning is a decision-making process by which an
organisation, individual decides what it wants to achieve,
how it intends to achieve it, and in what manner," he
stressed.
He noted that planning was a major component of the
management process, which is also concerned with defining
ends, means and conduct at every level of organisational
life, saying, "the activity itself requires organisation and
sub-units to make a thorough assessment of external
environments and their internal structure, processes and
resources."
He pointed out that the promotion and development of
culture must be carried out through these processes, in
order for major interventions to succeed, and also improve
on them, emphasising, "it will be catastrophic not to build
upon the structures in our communities."
He expressed the NCC's appreciation to the Konrad
Adenauer Stiftung (KAS) for supporting them in organising
such workshops over the years, and appealed for further
support to help promote cultural development in Ghana.
On his part, the Senior Programmes Manager of KAS, Mr.
Isaac Owusu-Mensah, said development stakeholders have to
seek development of the people that would meet the needs and
aspirations of the current generation, without compromising
the ability to meet those of future generations.
According to him, "this can only be achieved, if all
sectors of the economy contribute to this vision."
In this regard, he said, the district assemblies should
make it a policy to buy foodstuffs from the indigenous
businesses for the school feeding programme, as a means of
supporting the industry.
This, he said, would also create employment and wealth in
the districts.
He noted that a close correlation exists between culture
and development, which indicates that development processes
are not solely related to economic and social factors, but
basically an issue of human development of history and
values, self-understanding and social interaction.
Furthermore, he stated, the absence of cultural relevance
and the need for cultural adaptation of external inputs into
the Ghanaian development planning, constituted the major
obstacle to success in development planning and
implementation.
In view of this, he said, "development cannot be achieved
in circumstances where the cultures of the masses are
steadily abandoned in favour of cultures which are totally
foreign to the masses, and familiar to only small sections
of the elite."
He, therefore, urged all stakeholders to hold Ghanaian
culture in high esteem, and help in the planning process to
accelerate Ghana's development through culture.
Also, he pledged his organisation's support to Ghana's
democratic development, and the NCC in particular, for
Ghanaians to appreciate the value of cherished cultural
norms.
+ 23.04.2009 +
Death threats for police over destroyed marijuana farms
The police in Hohoe in the Volta Region are living in
fear following death threats after they destroyed an 85-acre
farm of Indian hemp. Owners of the farm, obviously unhappy
about the destruction of their crops, issued death threats
to the police. Speaking to Joy News’ Sammy Darko, the Hohoe
District Police Commander, ACP Adjei Acheampong said some
arrests have been made. “They want to deal with us
physically, not me alone, all the policemen who are taking
part in the operation,” he said. Marijuana, he said, is
cultivated on a large scale in many parts of the Volta
Region. Confirming the statement, Joy FM’s Volta Regional
Correspondent, Agbeko Ben Kofie said the cultivation of
Indian Hemp was a lucrative business in the region. Dealing
with the crime, according to him, is difficult if not
impossible. That is because the farms are mostly
inaccessible to security personnel. Many of the farms are
located along the Volta Lake and to be able to access them
and destroy the crops, security men have to cross the lake –
a risk they might not consider worthwhile. Even though
officials of the Customs Excise and Preventive Service are
doing their best, they are simply overwhelmed by the sheer
magnitude of the problem. Ben Kofie indicated the marijuana
(‘wee’) farmers have systems that processes the leaves and
package them into neat pellets or parcels which are stashed
in vehicle compartments for transportation. It therefore
becomes a Herculean task for CEPS officials to detect and
confiscate the contraband goods. When they manage to evade
CEPS officials, the leaves are sent to Accra. According to
Ben Kofie the actual owners of the large tracts of ‘wee’
farms in the region live in Accra and engage young boys,
some as young as 9, to work on the farms. The boys, in many
cases do not even know their employers, but have no qualms
as they make good money from their toil.
Source: GRi
+ 23.04.2009 +
Some members of the National
Democratic Congress (NDC) in the Sunyani East constituency
have demonstrated against President John Atta Mill's
nomination of Mr. Akwasi Oppong Ababio as the Municipal
Chief Executive for Sunyani.
They claimed that it was unfair and unjust to deny Mr.
Justice Samuel Adjei, the people's preferred choice for the
position, because he had done so much for the party in the
constituency over the last eight years.
The group marched through some principal streets of Sunyani
holding placards some of which read, "We Want Justice", No
Justice No MCE", "Justice is our Man", and "God has
appointed Justice already". The demonstrators led by one
Hudu Moro, their spokesperson, presented the petition to Mr.
Eric Opoku, the Deputy Regional Minister. The petition
appealed to President Mills to give the MCE slot to Justice
Adjei, who stood on the ticket of the party during last
year's parliamentary election, and lost.
It said all loosing parliamentary candidates of the party
had been appointed as Metropolitan, Municipal and District
Chief executives and even those who had contested once had
received "their fair share in President Mills's
appointments."
The petition said since the nomination of Mr. Ababio, the
municipality had become silent "because everyone is sad and
disappointed."
"This development has already discouraged party foot
soldiers, the various youth wings, ward coordinators, branch
executives and party agents because if Justice Agyei, a
gentleman who had spent all his time in the last eight years
of opposition cannot be recognized , then how much we the
ordinary members", the petition added.
Mr. Opoku who received the petition on behalf of the
Regional Minister, said it would be forwarded to the
President but appealed to them to remain calm whilst waiting
for an appropriate response. In another development, Wenchi
constituency office of the party was on Friday set ablaze by
some supporters in protest against the nomination of Nana
Yaw Osei Agyei as the MCE for the area. An eyewitness said
but for the timely intervention of the Ghana National Fire
Service the blaze would have been worse, adding it took the
personnel of the fire station at Wenchi about an hour to
bring the fire under control.
The supporters claimed that the President's nominee who
stood as the candidate for the party in the December 2008
parliamentary election "is not a dedicated member", hence
"Mr. Hakibu Dauda, the constituency secretary should be
considered for the position." The demonstrators vowed to
reject Osei Agyei, saying committed people were needed by
the party to manage the affairs of the municipality. 22
April 09
Source: GNA
+ 21.04.2009 +
Childs Rights International fights for BECE students
Child Rights International is heading to the courts to
compel the West African examination Council (WAEC) to
organize exams for the 106 students who missed this year’s
Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE).
The organization is
also suing the Ghana Education Service (GES) for negligence.
Child Rights
International says the negligence of the GES has denied the
candidates of “Christ the King International School” the
opportunity to write the exams.
There was a valiant
effort to register the students after the head master and
proprietor of the school misappropriated their registration
fees.
WAEC however said it
was impossible to include the children in this year’s exams,
which started on Monday April 20.
The names of the
pupils from the school were not on the system.
Executive Director
of Child Rights International, Bright Appiah tells Citi
News in an interview that the children cannot suffer
from the actions or inactions of public officials; hence the
courts must have the final say on the issue.
“The law that we are
using to govern children in this country says that in any
decision that we take, the interest of the children must be
paramount… so we want to do our best to see if it is not
possible so that we know that this is how they value
children in our country”, he said.
He added that though
the campaign for the children looks “unrealistic”, the
planned to pursue the matter to its conceivable end.
WAEC has already
stated that it is practically impossible to include the
disillusioned students in the examinations.
Mr. Bright Appiah
however describes the excuses as understandable.
Meanwhile the Ghana
Education Service in the Ashanti Region would soon clamp
down on private schools that are illegally operating in the
region.
The Christ the king
international incident has exposed the loop holes within the
monitoring system of the GES and the poor supervision given
schools that operate in the country, a fact admitted by the
coordinator of basic and second cycle institutions in the
Ashanti Region, Mr J.B. Danquah.
According to him,
the latest incident is an eye opener to the service to weed
out illegal schools.
Source: citifmonline.com
Blame gov’t for decline in investor confidence -
Osafo Maafo
Government has
been blamed for the seeming decline in investor confidence
in the country which is threatening to affect her economic
growth.
Though the Finance
Minister said three days ago that a host of foreign
investors have decided against withdrawing their investments
in Ghana, some believe that investor confidence in the
country is waning.
A former Finance
Minister in the New Patriotic Party government, Mr. Yaw
Osafo Maafo says the current government is to blame for the
situation.
In page 14 of the
2009 budget, the government quoted the budget deficit as
14.9% of the gross domestic product excluding divestiture
proceeds.
However, speaking to
Citi Business, Mr. Maafo says stating the budget
deficit minus divestiture proceeds is a move that has put
the country in a bad light.
He says Ghana’s
budget deficit is 11.5% of GDP including divestiture
proceeds, insisting that for the NDC government to quote the
budget deficit minus divestiture is wrong and has caused a
loss of confidence in the country.
Mr. Maafo also
emphasised that the growth rate for 2008 could hit 7.2% with
the inclusion of the services sector.
The statistical
service says the actual growth rate for 2008 will be
announced by the end of this month after the services sector
has been included.
Mr. Maafo says the
current 6.2% figure could shoot up to 7.2% when the other
sectors are added to it.
Source:
citifmonline.com
Ghana
is second in press freedom in Africa
Namibia has been ranked the best in Africa
on the World Press Freedom Index at the 25th position
worldwide. She was followed by Ghana at 29th and South
Africa at 43rd. Cameroon has performed poorly again on the
Index ranking 111 out of 169 countries classified.
Cameroon falls behind several African countries such as
Togo, Mali, Benin, Kenya, Niger, Cote d’Ivoire, Uganda,
Botswana, Tanzania, Madagascar, Zambia, and Senegal among
others.
Eritrea replaced North Korea in the last place. Of the 20
countries at the bottom of the index, seven are Asian
(Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Laos, Vietnam, China, Burma, and North
Korea), five are African (Ethiopia, Equatorial Guinea,
Libya, Somalia and Eritrea), four are in the Middle East
(Syria, Iraq. Palestinian Territories and Iran) three are
former Soviet republics) Belarus, Uzbekistan and
Turkmenistan) and one is in the Americas (Cuba).
G8 Countries Improve
Slightly
After falling steadily in the index for the past three
years, the G8 members have improve by a few places. France
(31st) for example, has climbed six places.
All European country members made it into the top except
Bulgaria (51st) and Poland (56th). Some non-European
countries made their first appearance in the top 50. They
are Mauritania, which has climbed 88 places since 2004,
Uruguay (37th0 and Nicaragua (47th). Other countries that
traditionally held a good position have also fallen
noticeably. This is the case of Benin (53rd) and Mali
(52nd).
Source: Africanews
+ 20.04.2009 +
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Ghana is set to be the first country in the West Africa
sub-region to have the Right to Information (RTI) Law as
Government holds final consultations with civil society,
Mrs. Betty Mould-Iddrisu, Minister for Justice and Attorney
General, said in Accra on Friday.
"The most critical of the outstanding issues are the
appointment of the Independent Regulator, the numerous
exemption clauses, inclusion of the Chieftaincy institution
and private bodies, and the fee regime," she said at a
ministerial meet-the-press encounter.
"These are not major issues that should hinder us further
in our quest to pass the law. We have made some progress
within the reasonable time; it will be presented to
Cabinet," she added.
The encounter involving the Ministries of Finance and
Economic Planning, Education, Energy, Trade and Industry,
Justice and Attorney-General and Environment, Science and
Technology was facilitated by the Ministry of Information to
offer the sector Ministers the opportunity to account for
the 100 days stewardship of the Mills Administration.
Mrs. Mould-Iddrisu, who gave an account of the Ministry
of Justice and Attorney General, said Government is
committed to passing the RTI Bill, but noted that the
appointment of the Independent Regulator will be expensive
to operate under the current economic austerity regime.
She suggested that the law should operate under the
Ministry of Justice for an initial two years before the
appointment of the independent regulator.
Mrs. Mould-Iddrisu stressed, "We should all know the
implication of what we are getting ourselves into, including
you the media, especially those working with public
institutions."
She said since assuming office, the Ministry has also
initiated measures to review the Whistleblower's Act to plug
loopholes identified in it, and measures to revamp the
Serious Fraud Office.
Mrs. Mould-Iddrisu reaffirmed Government's commitment to
separate the Ministry of Justice from the Attorney General
and stated that she has started dialoguing with legal
experts on the issue.
Mr. Alex Tettey-Enyo, Minister for Education, said,
Government has increased the Capitation Grant from GH¢3.00
per child per year to GH¢4.50 per child per year.
On the provision of school uniforms for pupils, the
Minister said the exercise will start from the next academic
year as the necessary groundwork - tender procedure,
production of the uniforms, distribution and other
administrative operations are on-going.
He said the proposed Forum on Education Reform will be
held before the Education Sector Review meeting in June and
assured the public of broad-based consultation on the
reforms.
The Ministerial Meet-the-Press encounter was chaired by
Mr. Harruna Iddrisu, Minister for Communication, and was
attended by Deputy Chief of Staff, Mr. Alex Segbefia,
Ministers of State, and other government officials.
Source: GNA
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+ 20.04.2009 +
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President John Evans Atta Mills
has in consultation with the Council of State
appointed the under listed to the Armed Forces
Council.
They are Brigadier-General Wallace Agbi Gbedemah (Rtd)
and Colonel Leticia Kwapong (Rtd) The President also
appointed Mr William Kwasi Aboa and Ms Johanna
Awotwi to the Police Council.
A statement in Accra signed by Mr Mahama Ayariga,
the Presidential Spokesperson said President Mills
has by the powers vested in him appointed Mr Francis
Baah and Inspector Paul Nabinkon Fori also to the
Police Council.
It said the Vice President Mr John Dramani Mahama
shall be the Chairman of both the Armed Forces
Council and the Police Council.
Source: GNA
+ 20.04.2009 +
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Ghana to
conduct census in March 2010
Accra, GNA - Ghana, will in March next
year conduct
a population and housing census to determine her
population to inform development decision making.
The exercise, estimated to cost about
48.9 million dollars, would
provide demographic and socio-economic data on all the
districts to
enhance planning at all levels.
It is also expected to provide basic
data for indicators on
education, national income and health, among others, to
enable policy
makers to efficiently design appropriate remedies for
each sector.
Speaking at a meeting with Ghana's
development partners in Accra
on Thursday to solicit support for the exercise, Mr
Fiifi Fiavi Kwetey,
Deputy Minister in-charge of Economic Planning at the
Ministry of Finance
and Economic Planning, said the availability of quality
statistical data
was a prerequisite for development planning for quality
growth.
Mr Kwetey said it was with this
conviction that the government was committed to ensuring
that all logistics needed for the 2010 exercise
would be made available for the Ghana Statistical
Service (GSS) to
conduct the exercise successfully.
He said government would bear half of
the cost of the census to
send signals that it was serious about the exercise and
appealed to her development partners to support and
commit funds towards it.
Dr Grace Bediako, Government
Statistician, said improved technology
and software would be used for the exercise to ensure
that the results
were accurate.
Dr Bediako said the GSS would engage
45,000 field personnel to help
it to conduct the exercise.
The country's development partners at
the meeting pledged their
support for the exercise.
GNA
+ 20.04.2009 +
British Minister for Women and Gender inspect
projects at Bawjiase
Awutu Bawjiase (C/R), GNA — The British Minister for
Women and Gender, Harriet Harman has inspected projects
being supported by Plan Ghana, a non-governmental
organisation (NGO), in the Awutu Bawjiase Area, as part
of her visit to Ghana.
MS. Staunton Marie, UK National Office
Director of Plan International, an international NGO,
based in UK, its country Director officials, Mr Samuel
Paulos and some officials of NGOs in Ghana accompanied
the Minister on the visit.
They interacted with members of Rights
of the Children's Club and other groups at Awutu
Mangoase, visited Awutu Obrachire-village and paid a
courtesy call on the chief and elders of the town.
The Minister and her entourage also
interacted with female students of Obrachire Senior High
School where scholarship package for some students were
discussed to promote education in the area.
GNA
+ 20.04.2009 +
Evelyn Ankumah's diplomatic status withdrawn
The Mills administration has
withdrawn a controversial diplomatic status granted Ms
Evelyn Ankumah, Executive Director of the Africa Legal
Aid, an NGO, and Managing Director of the Labone-based
Working Girls Fitness Centre under the previous NPP
administration, which made her a diplomat even in her
own home country.
Consequently, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has
written to inform Ms Ankumah of the decision to strip
her of her diplomatic status.
The Minister for Foreign Affairs, Alhaji Mohammed
Mummuni, told the Gye Nyame Concorde in a chat before he
flew out of Accra last week that the decision was taken
in the best interest of the nation during efforts by
this paper to find out the diplomatic status of Ms
Ankumah.
He confirmed that he had issued directives for the CD
number used by the lady and a diplomatic passport issued
to her by the last administration to be withdrawn.
Efforts to reach Ms Ankumah by press time on the
withdrawal of her diplomatic status have proven futile
but sources at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs say the
letter was delivered to her in the absence of the
Foreign Minister last Wednesday.
Ms Ankumah is presently in court with the New Crusading
Guide newspaper over the paper's report that her Working
Girls Fitness Centre, which sells itself off as a health
centre, allegedly serve as a front for sordid carnal
pleasures.
Sources at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs suggest that
the Ministry presently has two petitions before it on
cases involving the stripped diplomat in which
allegations that she may have waved her diplomatic
immunity to escape the clutches of two Ghanaian courts
feature prominently.
The Ministry is also said to have begun an internal
probe to find out. the circumstances that led to the
controversial agreement granting the lady a diplomatic
status, making her immune to the court of even her own
country.
The agreement between her and the Ministry, sources say,
did not have the name of the official of the Ministry
who approved the diplomatic immunity. The name of the
witness who countersigned is also not on the agreement,
making it highly irregular, sources say.
In order not to wash its dirty linen in public, the
Ministry quietly sent off a letter to the stripped
diplomat last Wednesday, informing her of the withdrawal
of her diplomatic status.
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+ 23.04.2009 +
Power outages in Accra
and Tema
The Ghana Grid
Company Limited (GRIDCo) on Tuesday explained that the loss of
electricity supply experienced countrywide on Monday night was a
result of the failure of critical sub-station equipment at the
Volta sub-station in Tema. The incident, which happened at about
19.49 hours, followed an explosion in equipment used for
measuring power flows and a resultant fire outbreak, which
affected other nearby equipment. This led to the loss of all
generating units and some transmission lines within the National
Power System, a statement from GRIDCo issued in Accra said.
It said the explosion affected one of three lines supplying
power to the Achimota sub-station, the bulk supply point in
Accra. "GRIDCo is working around the clock to restore the line
to service within the shortest possible time," it said.
Meanwhile, GRIDCo has requested the Electricity Company of Ghana
(ECG) to reduce supply to consumers in Accra by 50 MW in order
to prevent overloading on he two operating lines to the Achimota
substation.
Ghana and Uganda to pilot new model for rural water
The IRC International Water and Sanitation Centre has launched a
six-year initiative to improve sustainability of rural water
supply for some of the world’s poorest people, by reshaping the
way that these services are provided. Through the Sustainable
Services at Scale (or Triple-S) initiative, IRC seeks to
contribute to ending the cycle of failure that causes well s,
pumps and piped systems in rural areas to require replacement
every few years because they have not been maintained. Triple-S
aims to end this cycle of despair by developing scalable
business models that will ensure ongoing maintenance and repair
of water systems. For these models to be effective Triple-S will
work with government, planners, donors and water service
providers and promote joint development, joint funding and joint
implementation of the models. Backed by a US $22 million (€16.1
million) grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation,
Triple-S will apply these models in rural districts and small
towns in Ghana and Uganda . Rural water supply continues to be a
significant problem Of the one billion people globally who live
without reliable access to safe water, nine out of ten live in
rural areas. While the UN Millennium Development Goals aim to
halve that number by 2015, there is a growing concern that the
drive to increase the number of new taps and pumps neglects the
need to maintain water systems and to raise finances for
replacement costs. In the last 20 years between 600-800,000 hand
pumps have been installed in sub-Saharan Africa , of which some
30% are known to fail prematurely, representing a total
investment of between $1.2 and $1.5 billion. Because different
donors and government agencies promote different systems, there
is no comprehensive approach to water supply coverage or
equipment and no economies of scale for follow up to ensure that
boreholes, pumps and well s survive for their designed life
spans. In Ghana this new project will cooperate with the
WASHCost project, also run by IRC with financial support from
the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. WASHCost is seeking to
disaggregate the full life cycle costs of water and sanitation
schemes including all the support and maintenance costs.
Source: Ghanareview
+ 21.04.2009 +
Two robbers
die in gun battle with police
A police patrol team last night shot and killed two suspected
armed robbers on the Tema Motorway. The robbers, who attempted
to snatch a taxi from its driver, engaged the police in a gun
battle when the patrol team stumbled on the scene. Those who
escaped death and arrest, however, did not escape from injuries.
Police Public Affairs Director, DSP Kwesi Ofori told Joy News
the robbers used such force that the police were left with no
choice but to employ appropriate force to subdue them resulting
in the two deaths. He said the armed robbers were believed to be
more than five. According to him, since some of them escaped
arrest, they could pose potential danger to unsuspecting
drivers. DSP Ofori therefore advised that drivers to drive
protectively and avoid dangerous street corners.
Source: Ghanareview
+ 21.04.2009 +
Former President Kufuor leaves for U.S and Germany
Former President John Agyekum Kufuor left Accra Monday
April 20 night for the United States and Germany where he will
attend separate high-level meetings on reform of the World Bank
and improvement in land administration in Africa.
A statement signed by Mr Frank
Agyekum, Spokesperson of the former President, said Mr Kufuor’s
first stop will be in Washington DC where he will attend the
first meeting of a 12-member high-level Commission set up this
year for the modernization of the World Bank.
The Commission, headed by Mexican
President Ernesto Zedillo, is charged with making
recommendations to the Bank’s President Robert Zoellick on how
the institution is governed so that it can better fulfill its
mission of overcoming global poverty.
Other members are Mrs. Sadata Ogata,
President of Japanese International Cooperation and former UN
High Commissioner for Refugees, Dr Zhou Xiaochuan, Governor of
the People’s Bank of China and Mr Pascal Lamay, Director-General
of the World Trade Organization.
Former President Kufuor will continue
to Berlin, Germany on April 26 for the 2009 African Presidential
Roundtable which will focus on ‘Leadership Challenges of Land
Reform in Africa.’
The forum is being organized by the
African Presidential Archives and Research Centre at Boston
University, USA. It is an initiative for former democratically
elected leaders of Africa to share their ideas and experiences
with a global audience.
Former President Kufuor will be
hosted to a luncheon by German President Horst Kohler during the
visit.
He will be away for about 10 days.
Source: GNA
+ 21.04.2009 +
27 million
people in slavery worldwide
It is estimated that there are over 27 million people engaged in
modern day slavery across the globe.
These include fishing, stone quarrying, sexual exploitation,
domestic and ritual servitude, among others.
In Ghana, over 2.4 million children aged between 5-13 years are
economically active with over 1.27 million of them engaged in
child labour and over 242,000 of this figure engaged in its
worst forms such as child prostitution, quarrying and domestic
servitude.
Mr James Kofi Annan, founder of Challenging Heights, a child
oriented NGO, presenting the "Frederick Douglass Award" he won
to the media on Tuesday, entreated the government to become
actively involved in how to combat child labour.
"We must conduct research to ascertain the true picture of the
problem and also stop playing politics with issues that concern
the welfare of children. This admission will lead to greater and
innovative action to address the problem," he said.
The Mr Annan, who is a former banker with Barclays Bank,
commended the government for the introduction of capitation
grant and the LEAP program since they would help minimise the
causes of child labour.
He said the Frederick Douglass Freedom Award was given to a
survivor of the worst forms of slavery and now engaged in
activities aimed at liberating people in slavery.
"The award honours the tremendous resilience of the human spirit
and emphasizes that many of the survivors of modern day slavery
go on to help others to freedom."
The award, which was sponsored by Free the Slaves, an
international anti-slavery organisation, was held in the US
about two months ago. As part of the award, he was given 20,000
US dollars and a plaque.
Mr Emmanuel Otoo, West African Coordinator of Free the Slaves,
thanked Mr Annan for the initiative and urged all to come on
board to fight against anything which militated against the
well-being of children.
Source: GNA
+ 23.04.2009 +
Ghanaian wins international communications award
Nana Kwodwo Duah, Chief Executive Officer
of OXYGEN, a branding and designing organization who won the
maiden International Young Communications Entrepreneur (IYCE)
Award, on Tuesday presented his award to the Ghanaian populace
in Accra. For his prize Nana Duah took home an emerald glass
bowl designed by the acclaimed British glass designer, Gilles
Jones, and 7,500 pounds sterling to support his business.
Speaking at the presentation Miss Juliet Amoah, Business
Director of the British Council, Ghana, noted the awards
ceremony held in London attracted representatives from nine
countries where British Council has their outfits. She said the
competition launched in the country last October attracted
thousands of young entrepreneurs in the communications field and
that Nana Duah was chosen to represent Ghana after a vigorous
selection. She mentioned entrepreneurship, originality of ideas,
leadership ability and the ability to network globally
especially with the United Kingdom as some of the qualities that
motivated the panel’s choice of the winner. The 30-year-old
entrepreneur praised the British Council for the competition
that culminated in his award as a laudable initiative that
sought to reward young practitioners in the communications
sector. He cited his presentation on how Ghana could break free
from the generic African brand of corruption, wars, poverty and
underdevelopment to become a more viable economic country
interspersed with rich cultural values as his main reason for
clinching the topmost award. “I sincerely believe that a good
national identity can profoundly shape the economic, the beliefs
and the political destiny of a country hence my choice of
presentation”, he added. He expressed his gratitude to Ms Esther
Cobbah, the Chief Executive Officer of Strategic Communications
Africa, an event management organization, for sharpening his
communications skills prior to his departure for London. Mr.
Tony Dadzie, Chief Executive Officer of iBURST Africa, an
internet service providing firm, expressed his outfit’s delight
in partnering the British Council to undertake the venture and
appealed to Nana Duah to work harder in his career for more
laurels.
Source: GRi
+ 20.04.2009 +
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With cross-border
price-undercutting, mounting debt and a lack of
buyers, many tomato farmers in Ghana's Upper
East Region are turning to suicide.
Three tomato farmers in the region committed
suicide in 2008 and many others attempted to,
according to the General Agriculture Workers
Union.
Women who control produce, suppliers and
prices throughout the country, buy tomatoes
across the border in Burkina Faso at cheaper
prices, leaving local farmers to watch their
crops rot in the sun, farmers told IRIN.
The women - known as 'queens' - priced a
crate of Ghanaian tomatoes at US$150 at the
beginning of 2008 and at just $10 by the end of
the year. Prices in the volatile industry are
now up again - to $120 a crate - but tomato
farmer Martin Pwayidi based in Upper East Region
told IRIN this price is not likely to stick.
Pwayidi lost the $2,000 he had secured from a
bank and invested into his four-acre tomato farm
in 2008 because no one would buy from him. "Last
year was very terrible for me; I lost
everything. There was absolutely no reason to
live. I am just lucky to still be alive today
[and not to have committed suicide]," Pwayidi,
told IRIN.
Five of Pwayidi's friends attempted suicide
in 2008. "Some tried to hang themselves; others
drank insecticides and disinfectants." Ninety
percent of the two million people in the Upper
East region and its neighbours are involved in
tomato cultivation.
Ghana produces 510,000 metric tons of
tomatoes each year, while it imports up to
7,000mt per month from its neighbours, along
with 27,000mt of processed tomatoes from Europe
each year, according to the Ghana National
Tomato Producers Federation.
Region-wide problem
"All over the sub-region there is serious
price-undercutting and price fluctuations from
country to country for agricultural products,"
said Ibrahim Akalbila, coordinator of local NGO
Ghana Trade and Livelihood Coalition.
West African trade laws impose no duties on
agricultural products crossing borders, making
it cheap for buyers to purchase abroad.
With European Union Economic Partnership
Agreements (EPAs) currently being negotiated,
West African markets are about to be flooded
with heavily subsidised EU products, says
Akalbila, meaning buyers will abandon African
products in favour of European ones.
"Unless ECOWAS introduces a common pricing
policy [before the EPA is signed], more farmers
will commit suicide," he said. "Sub-regional
poverty reduction strategies will be
compromised, and more and more families will
slide into poverty. The result will be a crisis
of unimaginable proportions."
Most of Ghana's population, estimated by the
UN to be "extremely poor" - living on less than
$1 a day - live in Upper East and neighbouring
regions in the north.
"Most of these [those affected] are poor
peasant farmers," Akalbila said. "They need the
market to survive."
Better tomatoes
Maame Dufie, vendor at Abeka Market in the
capital Accra, told IRIN Burkina tomatoes are of
higher quality and sell more quickly than local
varieties.
"Burkina tomatoes are bigger, harder, far
superior in taste and last longer in storage,"
she said. "We are business women, not charity
organisations, so we will only buy the best that
will guarantee our profits."
Foreign investors, including Taiwan, built up
the Burkina Faso tomato industry, providing
training and seeds and setting up irrigation
schemes.
Edward Karewe of the agriculture workers
union agrees Ghanaian tomatoes are of lesser
quality.
But farmer Pwayidi said vendors favour
importing tomatoes from Burkina Faso because
"they can use the tomatoes as a cover to smuggle
in contraband goods." He did not specify what
goods.
In response to such allegations Dufie said
simply: "I will continue to import tomatoes so
far as local farmers refuse to cultivate the
Burkina Faso variety."
Government plea
The union has been pushing the government to
research a high-yield, high-quality tomato
variety, suitable for the local and export
market. Karewe is urging the government to
guarantee low-interest loans to farmers and to
train farmers in identifying the best seeds.
The Agriculture Ministry's northern programme
coordinator, Roy Ayariga, told IRIN the ministry
is researching local tomato varieties, as well
as trying to push business people and farmers to
sign agreements to secure tomato buyers before
planting.
The tomato-growers federation has called on
the government to temporarily ban tomato imports
from neighbouring countries but this would
transgress ECOWAS trade policy.
The ministry has said it will provide more
support to tomato farmers, but has not given
details of how.
Source: IRIN
+ 20.04.2009 +
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Ghana Media Advocacy Programme (G-MAP), a child
rights Non Governmental Organization (NGO), has
urged government to as matter of urgency enact a
law to prevent children from using cyber or
computer to commit fraud, prostitution and other
sexual offences in the country.
The NGO observed that whilst organisations,
development partners and government invested in
information communication technology (ICT), to
facilitate education and development, some
children were using the facility to engage in
theft and immoral activities. A statement signed
by Mr Abdul Malik Jeleel, Executive Director of
G-MAP, drew the attention of parents and
guardians saying: "Apart from the computer, some
adventurous children are currently using
sophisticated mobile phones and other
communication gadgets to commit fraud and source
pornographic materials."
It called for adequate supervision of children's
usage of mobile phones and ICT facilities,
especially online services and monitoring of
their activities even at the earliest ages. The
statement noted that the involvement of
children, especially those in the urban areas,
could bring them in conflict with the law,
thereby retarding their progress.
It cited Nima, Mamobi, North Kaneshie and Madina
all suburbs of Accra with ICT concentration, as
cyber crime prone areas and indicated that
"children of school going age abandon school to
engage in computer-generated fraud to get rich
quick or to manipulate the equipment for
pleasure." The statement said children were
vulnerable and needed protection from adults
against activities that could affect their
mental and physical wellbeing.
It said cyber fraud among children if not
eliminated could dent the country's image
locally and internationally. The statement urged
the Ministry of Women and Children's Affairs and
its partners in development to intensify action
on the National Children Vulnerability
Assessment and Advocacy Campaign. It indicated
that the campaign aimed at sensitizing
vulnerable children as well as instituting a
legislation that would empower cyber operators
to regulate or monitor children's activities on
the internet and to prohibit them for using the
facility during school hours. The statement also
appealed to the media, civil society groups,
religious organizations, and politicians to
support the fight against cyber fraud among
children.
It advised children to avoid computer-generated
fraud and social vices and take advantage of the
availability of ICT and the huge investment
being made by their parents and government in
their education, to acquire knowledge and skills
required for national development.
GNA
+ 20.04.2009 +
Metso has signed a multi-year service agreement with
the AngloGold Ashanti Iduapriem Mine in Tarkwa in Ghana.
The contract includes the supply of maintenance
management services and spare and wear parts for
AngloGold Ashanti's new crushing and screening plant
delivered by Metso. The agreement was signed in Q2 of
2009 and its value exceeds EUR 5 million.
In addition to maintenance management and technical
support, Metso will supply hands-on training for staff
at the Iduapriem Mine. Backed up by the company's global
service functions, an on-site team of six Metso service
technicians will support operations at the crushing and
screening plant, which has an annual output of 4.3
million tons. Metso is also committed to converting the
agreement into a cost per ton-based service over time.
AngloGold Ashanti is the world's third largest gold
producer and is listed on the Johannesburg Stock
Exchange (ANG). In addition to Iduapriem, the company
operates five other mines in Western Africa. In 2008,
gold production at the Iduapriem Mine totaled 200,000
ounces.
Metso has cooperated closely with AngloGold Ashanti
in Ghana for 10 years. "This agreement is a vindication
of our strategy of expanding the range of services we
offer in this region," said Seth Quaye, Regional
Manager, Western Africa, Mining business line, Metso.
"It will leverage new services business by serving as a
reference for our capabilities as a total solution
provider."
Metso is a global supplier of sustainable technology
and services for mining, construction, power generation,
automation, recycling and the pulp and paper industries.
SOURCE: Metso Corporation
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