Day: October 11, 2023

The Komenda-Edina-Eguafo-Abrem (KEEA) Municipal Assembly has registered a steady increase in all revenue sources within 32 months. Rising from GHS 9,023,770.46 of the budgeted GHS11,417,021.00 in 2021, revenue sharply increased to GHS11,533,403.60 from the expected GHS12,576,523.90 in 2022. The Assembly has, however, mobilised GHS7,432,913.32, representing 52.03 per cent of the anticipated GHS14,286,280.51 in 2023 from Monday, January 2, to Thursday, August 31. Mr John Mensah, the Municipal Budget Analyst, attributed the feat to some remodelled fee registration measures the Assembly initiated to enhance revenue. Additionally, an all-encompassing market toll mobilisation drive had been fruitful, with intervention by the Ghana Revenue Authority prosecuting property rate defaulters also yielding positive results for revenue mobilisation, he said. ‘I am highly optimistic that given the foregoing measures, among others being adopted by the Assembly, it is likely that we will achieve our IGF target for the year.’ Mr Mensah was speaking at the Draft Composite Budget Hearings in Cape Coast for Metropolitan, Municipal, and District Assemblies (MMDAs) in the Central Region. The hearing was the final stage of the budget preparation process to solicit inputs from experts and key stakeholders. Similar forums would be carried out in all 261 MMDAs across the 16 regions from Sunday, October 8, to Saturday, October 21. He said of the total revenue, the Internally Generated Fund (IGF) also grew significantly from GHS1,182,311.82 out of the budgeted GHS1,298,911.52 in 2021 and further increased to GHS1,217,679.13 from the expected GHS1,414,822.49 in 2022. The Assembly also mobilised GHS 797,251.42 of the expected GHS1,739,193.43 for 2023, representing 45.84 percent in eight months of the year. He said for IGF expenditure performance by all departments in 2023, the Assembly had spent GHS 823,608.87 out of the expected GHS1,739,193.43, making 47.36 per cent. Meanwhile, it used GHS 8,352,083.15 as against GHS14,286,280.51 budgeted expenditure by all revenue funding sources representing 58.46 per cent. In 2021 it budgeted for GHS11,417,020.56 with an estimated expenditure of GHS 7,714,908.94 but spent GHS 9,987,934.44 from the GHS 12,576,524.00 budgeted for 2022. For budget programme performance as of August 2023, the Assembly had spent GHS 8,352,083.15 from the GHS 14,285,759.37 earmarked. The programmes include management and administration, social services delivery, infrastructure delivery and management, economic development, and environment, and sanitation management. Mr Mensah said of the GHS 968,022.78 received as the District Assembly Common Fund (DACF), the Member of Parliament’s component was GHS 351,475.49 whilst the remaining GHS 614,253.70 was for people with disability. Touching on some key achievements, he mentioned clean-up exercises, pothole patching, resealing works of selected roads, community engagement and sensitization on child protection, gender-based violence, teenage pregnancy, reproductive rights, and responsible parenting. The Assembly disbursed LEAP social cash grants to 885 people in 51 communities, managed 98 children and family welfare with direct assistance and linkages with other stakeholders, including family tracing and reunification. It registered 13 additional people with disability and provided financial assistance to 40 PWDs for education and health. It also distributed hybrid seeds to farmers, trained farmers on neem seed oil extract, and supported in crop production and animal rearing. Mr Ebo Appiah, the Municipal Chief Executive (MCE), in an interview with the Ghana News Agency on the sidelines of the forum, reiterated the Assembly’s resolve to increasing revenue to augment development. In collaboration with the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA), the Assembly had planned to engage stakeholders on the payment of fees to avoid prosecution. He said the Assembly had collaborated effectively with the GRA to collect property rates, in view of some concerns by key stakeholders regarding the astronomical surge in rates and the dire consequences on businesses. ‘How can someone who was paying GHS1,000 as property rate now be paying GHS 20,000? This is too much.’ ‘So we want to engage to see how best to remedy the situation because we need the hotels to be in business for us to also get revenue for development. It’s a mutual gain,’ Mr Appiah explained.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Authorities of the Garden City Special School at Asokore-Mampong, near Kumasi, have appealed to the government to consider increasing the feeding grant for children of the school. This, according to the authorities, has become necessary because of the high cost of food items needed for the proper care and upkeep of the children in the school. Currently, the government provides a grant of GHc5.30 per head for the children at the facility. Mrs. Roseline Adjepong, Headmistress of the school, told GNA that, the authorities were finding it difficult to rely on the GHc 5.30 grant, since it had become woefully inadequate to use it to provide three square meals a day, for the children. The Ghana News Agency (GNA) on Tuesday October 10, 2023, visited the facility to interact with the children and staff, as the World celebrated ‘Mental Health Day.’ World Mental Health Day, which falls on October 10 every year, is used to create awareness on mental health and show everyone that mental health matters. This year’s theme ‘mental health is a universal human rights’, focuses on inequalities in mental health and how countries can work towards good mental health for all. According to Mrs. Adjepong, currently the school relied so much on credit facilities for food stuffs to feed the inmates due to the delay in the release of the feeding grant allocated to the school for the keep of the children. Currently the school has 192 children with a staff strength of 49. Mrs. Adjepong, said inadequate classrooms, hostels and residential accommodation for teachers was making it difficult to admit more children who needed special education. The school also lacked a vehicle for both administrative work and educational trips, due to the breakdown of the school’s old vehicle. This is making it difficult to transport sick children to health facilities for treatment. The school is the only government institution, which provides special education and training in occupational and social skills such as greetings, brushing of teeth, leather works, wood work and others to children with special needs. It admits children from Ashanti, Brong, Ahafo and other regions. Mrs. Adjepong highlighted the need to scale up public education on the fundamental human rights of children with disabilities, especially on their education and training.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Mrs Thywill Eyra Kpe, Volta Regional Director for the Department of Gender, says effective collaboration is required to deal with the challenges affecting the progress of the girl child. She said girls were endowed with incredible potential, however, challenges confronting them far outweighed their strength thereby hindering them from achieving their dreams. Mrs Kpe was speaking at a short ceremony to commemorate this year’s International Day of the Girl Child at Mawuli Senior High School in Ho in the Volta Region with support from the United Nations Population Fund. This year’s celebration was on the theme: ‘Invest in Girls’ Rights: Our Leadership, Our Well- Being.’ The Director said investing in the girl child was paramount in securing their future and called on various stakeholders to collaborate in removing all barriers to development of the girl child. She said the Day aimed to identify problems confronting girls, amplify their voice and provide them, the necessary support to actualise their potential. Mrs Kpe mentioned defilement, rape, sexual and gender-based violence and parental neglect as issues that were still persistent, affecting girls and must be dealt with. The Director stressed the need for the old generation to provide proper mentorship to young people, especially girls, to create opportunities and an environment conducive for them to thrive. Madam Victoria Fato, Focal Person for the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) at the Volta Regional Coordinating Council, charged the girls to aspire for greater heights in life. Madam Millicent Dakeh, Volta Regional Girl Child Education Officer, said all effort must be made to promote girls’ empowerment, gender equality and access to education for all girls around the world. She said the celebration of the Day reminded the world that girls deserve equal opportunities and resources to thrive in education and personal growth. You have power to break barriers and stereotypes, she encouraged girls, and that their dreams were also achievable, hence they must not allow anything to restrain them from pursuing their desire. Madam Patricia Awo Kodjo, Assistant Headmistress, in charge of Domestic at Mawuli School, entreated the participants to cultivate reading habits and endeavour to read a page of a book a day to broaden their horizons.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Four farming communities in the Tano North Municipality, Ahafo Region have been connected to the national electricity grid. Dr. Freda Prempeh, the Minister of Sanitation and Water Resources and the Member of Parliament (MP) for Tano North Constituency, facilitated the extension of the grid to the four deprived communities. The communities comprised Mamponteng, Adagyamamu, Asantesua and Domeabra in the Bomaa enclave of the municipality. Already, through the support of the MP, about 12 other communities in the Bomaa enclave had been connected to the national grid. Addressing the beneficiary communities at separate durbars, Dr. Prempeh told the residents the government remained committed to sharing the national cake equally, devoid of political considerations. The MP said she had personally funded the provision of solar power to some of the hard-to-reach cocoa growing communities in the area. That notwithstanding, Dr. Prempeh said the only way the residents could appreciate the government was to rally solidly behind, and vote to retain the New Patriotic Party (NPP) in political power in the Election 2024 for the purpose of development. She said power extension to the rural communities remained relevant to facilitate and enhance security, job and wealth creation and poverty reduction. Dr. Prempeh advised the young people in the area to take advantage of the power extension, engage in artisanal work such as hairdressing, dressmaking, tailoring and other viable economic activities to better their lives. She assured the people of her passion and desire to provide them with potable drinking water as well as health and education infrastructure to make life better for them. Mr Simon Kofi Frimpong, a Senior Maintenance Officer of the National Electricity Distribution Company (NEDCo), cautioned the people against illegal connections which could endanger their lives. He expressed worry that illegal power connections were very common in many rural communities and advised the residents to report those who might connect power to their homes illegally in their own interest. Mr Frimpong also advised the people to switch-off all electrical appliances before leaving for their farms and also entreated them to protect the transformers against theft and destruction. Residents in the beneficiary communities expressed their gratitude to the MP and President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo for the power supply. At Asantesua, Mr Jonas Gyamfi, the Assemblyman for the area, noted that power supply was an immediate need of the people, saying the people would forever remember and remain grateful to the MP and the government. ‘Sleeping in darkness for this long period was like a hell’, Maltilda Kombat, a resident stated, and appealed to the MP to further facilitate other adjoining communities to also get power supply.

Source: Ghana News Agency

About 150 polling station women executives of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) in the Tano North Constituency, Ahafo Region have been offered employable skills training to create self-sustaining jobs. Selected from the polling stations in the constituency, the executives went through a day’s training in soap and washing powder making, body and hair cream, as well as shower gel and parazone production. Dr. Freda Prempeh, the Member of Parliament (MP) for Tano North and the Minister of Sanitation and Water Resources, funded the programme to empower them to set their own businesses to make them financially independent. It was on the side-lines of the 2023 Tano North Women Conference of the NPP, organised by the Constituency’s women wing on the theme: ‘Empowering Women in Skill Development’. According to Ms. Stella Serwaa, an executive member, the conference was an annual event, instituted by the women wing and the MP to bring the women together, identify and tackle the diverse emerging problems confronting the Party in the constituency. ‘We also hold the conference to strengthen our front and the existing bond of peace’, she told the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in an interview on the side-lines of the conference. Ms. Serwaa expressed appreciation to the MP for her sense and spirit of togetherness, which had made the wing vibrant in the constituency. Dr. Prempeh advised the women to utilise the knowledge they had acquired from the training, not only to positively impact their respective communities, but also better their livelihoods and the general well-being of their families. The MP said her office was in touch with the office of the Micro-Finance and Loan Centre (MASLOC), and was currently processing details to enable them to access some financial assistance to either set up or expand their economic activities. As part of the conference, the beneficiaries were also offered free breast cancer screening sponsored by the MP. Madam Abena Konadu Gyimah, a Public Health Nurse at the Duayaw-Nkwanta St John of God Catholic Hospital, who led the exercise, advised women to endeavour to attend health facilities and report any unusual sign they experienced in their breast for proper diagnosis and treatment.

Source: Ghana News Agency

The Majority Shareholders of Accra Hearts of Oak has approved the extension of the mandate of the Board of Directors of the club. This was at the 2023 Annual General Meeting (AGM) was held on Wednesday, October 11, 2023. The ordinary resolution proposed to extend the mandate of the current board to February 2024 received massive backing from the shareholders. This decision was to allow the board to complete major projects at the clubs including the ongoing works at Pobiman Training Facility, the new ultra-modern secretariat, among others. According to the Executive Board Chairman of the club, Togbe Afede XIV, the aforementioned projects would be completed ahead of its 112th anniversary celebrations on November 11, 2023. He noted that new board members would be elected at their next AGM, which would hopefully be held next February upon completion of audits of the club’s accounts. Members of the board whose mandates have been extended include Frank Nelson Nwokolo, Dr. Nyaho-Tamakloe, Vicent Sowah Odotei, Alhaji Imoro Briamah (Akambi), and Professor Kofi Kumado. Others include Alhaji Alhassan Adani, Thomas Kwesi Esso, and Madam Ivy Heward Mills. The current Hearts of Oak board who have been in place for the past 12 years have chalked various success at the club including winning league and FA Cup laurels.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Togbe Afede XIV, Executive Board Chairman of Accra Hearts of Oak, says the board has decided to float additional shares to help raise funds to deal with the club’s debt. He said this at the club’s 5th Annual General Meeting, which was held on Wednesday, October 11, 2023, at the Civil Service Auditorium in Accra. According to Togbe Afede XIV, the generation of additional revenue would help clean the club’s books, which was highly indebted due to ongoing infrastructure works. ‘The construction of the Pobiman project, in addition to the huge operational cost of running the club, have had a negative impact on the club’s finances. ‘The traditional source of revenue to the club (gate proceeds) has been very negligible compared to the huge running cost. ‘Other revenue sources, including sponsorships, have not been as expected. The above factors have worsened the club’s reliance on SAS for survival,’ he said. Togbe Afede noted that the intention to undertake the additional floatation of shares process was done in 2017, but the unfortunate development in the football sector disrupted its plans. ‘We shall soon come up with a roadmap for the exercise and, therefore, urge you to prepare to patronise the issue. The proceeds from the share issue will be used to fund, among other things, loans and new investments in infrastructure,’ he said. Togbe Afede was hopeful that the ‘issue of rights’ would be done before the club’s Annual General Meeting which is expected to take place in February 2024. He stated that this strategy would help the club meet the financial fair play requirements and also enhance its revenue sources.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Strategic Communication Africa Limited (Stratcomm Africa), has completed a learning programme for101 staff of the Public Relations Division of the Information Services Department (ISD) working in Ministries, Departments and Agencies across the country. The programme, delivered in three cohorts, involved comprehensive and interactive professional learning designed to equip PR professionals of the public service with principles and tools for playing their roles effectively in public policy formulation and delivery. A statement issued in Accra and copied to the Ghana News Agency said the sessions were led by its Chief Executive Officer, Ms. Esther Amba Numaba Cobbah and Mrs. Sharon Anim, Stratcomm Africa Marketing Communication Manager. The sessions were on policy communication focused on strategy development, communication research methods and digital communication Ms. Cobbah encouraged government public relations officers to work harmoniously and cohesively when carrying out their duties. She emphasized the importance of maintaining consistency in messaging, especially when disseminating government policies. She urged participants to dispel the misconception that PR officers lacked technical expertise, emphasizing their unique ability to break down ‘technical work’ of other professionals for public understanding. She said networking opportunities offered during the training sessions were highlighted as crucial for forging strong bonds and ensuring a shared understanding of government policies among officers. Ms. Cobbah said, ‘The need for information flow between Governments and the citizenry to achieve development and improved livelihoods is vital in a country like ours with the challenges in sanitation, water supply, meeting health and education needs as well as in job creation for young people especially.’ She said policy making for addressing all these and other issues required constant and honest communication between Government and the citizens, as we have established. ‘More so in the light of the national commitment to democracy which we have entrenched in our Constitution,’ she added. Mrs. Ethel Cudjoe Amissah, Head of the Public Relations Coordinating Division (PRCD) of the ISD said the determination of the Division to continue to undertake programmes that ensure that the country’s public sector communicators remained well equipped for their work. She said the programme with Stratcomm Africa was part of a series planned for the staff of the division and thanked Stratcomm Africa for the support. She said, ‘The Division considered it an honour to have an organisation such as Stratcomm Africa, which is well acknowledged for its expertise and excellence in the communication industry, to work with the Division on this important programme.’ Mrs. Charlotte Morgan Asiedu, Chief Director at the Ministry of Information, commended participants for their dedication to the learning programme. She also commended Stratcomm Africa for facilitating the learning programme at no cost and emphasized that the commitment of the participants reflected their determination as government public relations officers to ensure that national development goals were achieved through the public’s clear understanding of government policies. Ms. Solace Amankwa, a participant described the programme design and delivery as unique and extremely impactful. She said ‘My colleagues and I consider this programme as one of a kind. We learnt without a classroom feel. We networked, shared knowledge, and reinforced our sense of common purpose. Above all, we were exposed to such rich knowledge which we quickly internalised and owned. We are sincerely grateful to Stratcomm Africa.’

Source: Ghana News Agency

The CODESULT Network, a Non-governmental Organization (NGO), has trained 20 community observers from 10 communities on mechanisms to eradicate child labour in the various cocoa growing and mining communities in the Bibiani Municipality of the Western North Region. The training, organized in collaboration with Rainforest Alliance and other partners, and funded by the Norwegian Government through NORAD, sought to ensure companies and government’s commitment to prevent child and forced labour in cocoa and mining communities. Participants were drawn from government agencies such as Ghana Education Service, Social Welfare, Ghana Health Service, Labour Department, National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) and Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ). The training also brought together representatives from cocoa buying and mining companies as well as traditional authorities among others. They were taken through advocacy, detection and prevention of child labour. Mr Robert Obiri Yeboah, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of CODESULT Network, in an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA) after the training, described child labour as the participation of children in economic and non-economic activities that were harmful to their health, education and physical development. ‘The line is crossed when children perform hazardous work, that is likely to harm their health or limit their education,’ he said. He said the fight against child labour was a shared responsibility and urged the citizenry to support all efforts to eradicate the menace in the various cocoa growing and mining communities. Meanwhile, Mr Yeboah noted his outfit had been frequently dialoguing with some cocoa buying and mining companies, which he added, had helped communities to benefit from various infrastructural development such as potable drinking water, markets, classroom blocks and other training skills for the youth to address unemployment challenges. He, therefore, appealed to other cocoa buying and mining companies operating within the Bibiani Municipality to also institute some development initiatives for the people to help reduce unemployment.

Source: Ghana News Agency

The 10th Global Landscape Forum 2023 (GLF 2023) has opened in Nairobi to discuss ways to transform food systems, secure land rights and restore landscapes through African-led solutions. The conference, which brought together leading African changemakers, scientists, practitioners and community leaders of all ages from 130 countries, will discuss issues, including ways to build resilience to the climate crisis and other ecological challenges. Ms Éliane Ubalijoro, Chief Executive Officer of the Center for International Forestry Research and World Agroforestry (CIFOR-ICRAF) and Director General of ICRAF, speaking at the opening, said Africa had existing solutions and tools to develop new ones that the world truly needed. ‘… And when we come together, we can go beyond surviving – to thriving. We are living in a digital age, characterised by interconnectedness and interdependence,’ she said. She underscored the need to employ tools, including artificial intelligence and cutting-edge research to address global challenges in an inclusive and responsible way. ‘It’s time to ensure that knowledge and wisdom from around the world are shared with those who need it most. Our work, in collaboration with our partners, provides tangible solutions to some of the most pressing challenges of our time,’ she said. Mr Jochen Flasbarth, the State Secretary of the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), said human’s resilience was related to the way landscape was protected and managed Landscape, he explained, offered man with a wide array of ecosystem services and was the backbone of agriculture. ‘Restoration projects, ranging from soil restoration, and rehabilitation over peatland rebuilding to restoration of forest landscapes offer a remarkable opportunity to create new and green jobs. They are a good example of the synergies that can exist between environmental stewardship and economic prosperity,’ he said. Mr Daniel M’Mailutha, Chief Executive Officer of the Kenya National Farmers’ Federation, stated that the issues bordering food systems transforming in Africa especially in Kenya could not be discussed without putting farmers at the centre. ‘We need to make sure that farmers understand that it is in their self-interest to do what is right as far as the landscape is concerned,’ he said. Mr Ibrahim Thiaw, Executive Secretary of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification, said up to 40 per cent of the world’s land had been degraded and that was affecting half of the world’s population. ‘By degrading land, we degrade our ability to produce sufficient and nutritious food, quality water and quality air. Africa has suffered 44 per cent of the world’s major droughts over the last 100 years. In the last 50 years, the continent has suffered economic damage of more than USD 70 billion, not to mention immense human hardship. ‘Africa, which is very rich in ecosystems, traditions and knowledge, holds the key. The continent has long practiced sustainable agriculture from the terraced fields of Rwanda to the agroforestry traditions of West Africa. It’s time to amplify these African led solutions, scaling them up and out.’ ‘The GLF Nairobi 2023 Hybrid Conference: A New Vision for Earth’ is taking place in Nairobi and online on 11 and 12 October, gathering leading scientists, activists, indigenous leaders, financiers, women, youth, policymakers, the private sector and more. Day one focused on African sovereign solutions. Day two will gather a global audience in crafting a survival guide for a planet in crisis and set the stage for a fairer world ahead of the 2023 UN Climate Change Conference (COP28).

Source: Ghana News Agency