Day: November 24, 2023

Dr. Mrs Theresah Baah-Ennumh, a Senior Lecturer, Department of Planning, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, says compensations and resettlement packages offered to communities affected by mining should not make them ‘victims’.

‘Beneficiaries of resettlements should not be victims. People should be compensated with packages that are better than what they had, or they should be given a similar package to what they had previously.

‘Mining firms should compensate or resettle communities, so they become better.’

Dr Mrs Baah- Ennumh was speaking at the National Dialogue on resettlement and compensation in mining communities in Accra.

The programme held by Centre for Social Impact Studies CeSIS in collaboration with Third World Network, Africa (TWN-Africa) brought together experts, opinion leaders, policy makers and community leaders.

The occasion was used to outdoor research conducted by CeSIS in three communities in the Ashanti Region, which are facingchallenges in relation to settlement and
compensation.

The communities are: Dokyiwa, Anwiam and New Bediem.

Dr Mrs Baah-Ennumh, noted that challenges facing Anwiam such as destruction of properties during blasting by Anglo Gold Ashanti and inability for school children to attend school when it rained, called for investigations by State agencies.

Among other challenges faced by the people of Anwiam were restrictions on free movement, blockade of easy access routes to township, and frequent invasion of community by security agencies on the request of AngloGold Ashanti.

In the case of Dokyiwa and New Bediem, the inhabitants are having cracks in their buildings, lack of potable water, and poor compensation packages.

She noted that some communities were deprived of their settlements as a result of improper negotiations by some experts and urged the communities to hold those experts responsible.

The Senior Lecturer urged communities to also take a critical look at the long-term effects of compensation offered to them by mining companies.

On alterna
tive livelihood, she said jobs offered to the youth should be sustainable and appealing.

Mr Robert Tanti Ali, Executive Director, CeSis, said despite the contribution of the mining to Ghana’s economy, it came with some challenges that could not be overlooked.

Mr Benjamin Aryee, an Advisor on Mining to the Minister of Lands Natural Resources, Mr Samuel Abu Jinapor, said it was important for communities to be involved in negotiations and said it was unethical for compensations and resettlements to make community dwellers victims of circumstances.

Mr Eric Anaane Ndebugri, Programmes Officer, CeSIS, who presented the research report, noted that communities were underserved because they lacked or had limited bargaining power when dealing with transnational corporations.

The research was carried out in 2022.

Mr Ndebugri said to address some of the issues relating to compensation and resettlements, communities should be educated on the Minerals and Minig Act, 2006 Act 703 and the 2012, LI 2175.

According to hi
m, the report showed that mining companies, government bodies and traditional authorities had more influence in such negotiations while communities’ interests were less.

He urged Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) to continue to build the capacities of communities on relevant laws on resettlement and compensation.

Mr Stephen Agbo, Deputy Manager and a Social Scientists at the Minerals Commission, said issues raised by the communities would be investigated and addressed by the Commission.

Source: Ghana News Agency

The National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA) has debunked reports in a section of the media that the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) was on the verge of collapse.

It assured that the Scheme was financially stable and remained committed to providing uninterrupted and quality healthcare services to the millions of Ghanaians who depended on it.

It also called on the media to exercise diligence when reporting on matters related to the NHIS, ‘to avoid propagating inaccurate or misleading information that could undermine public confidence in the Scheme.’

In a statement released Thursday, November 23 and copied Ghana News Agency, the NHIA said it had taken notice of a story attributed to the Dormaahene, Oseadeeyo Agyeman Badu II, in a section of the media, which created the impression that the Scheme was collapsing.

The NHIA said although it appreciated the call for the government to allocate the full revenue from the National Health Insurance Levy (NHIL) to the Scheme, ‘it was not comfortable with th
e media narrative suggesting that the NHIS was facing impending collapse due to the government’s failure to provide the full NHIL.’

The Authority also reiterated its commitment to working closely with the government to ensure that the NHIL is adequately funded to meet the healthcare needs of Ghanaians.

The NHIA assured that it had been consistent with the payment of claims to healthcare facilities, an average of GHS150 million every 30 days, particularly over the past two years.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Stakeholders in the road safety ecosystem have expressed worry over how theft and vandalism of traffic and streetlights by thieves and road users are hampering efforts to promote road safety in the country.

The stakeholders, which comprise individuals, organisations, State agencies, security services, and academia, have called for stringent measures to stop the occurrences, especially in the capital and major cities.

According to the Department of Urban Roads, 29 per cent of traffic lights in the country were non-functioning.

Mr. Appiah Adomako Baafi, Executive Director of CUTS International West Africa, said the situation had contributed immensely to road crashes.

He said some road signs were vandalised by miscreants who later sold them to scrap dealers and said street cameras should be fixed to track such people and drivers who hit them.

Sharing the academia’s perspective on how to curb stealing and vandalism of streets and traffic lights, Mr Lylord Thompson, a lecturer at the Academy City University,
advised the incorporation of technology.

He said the incorporation of technologies, including sensors would enable the Agencies to monitor the location of traffic and streetlights in real time and the location of the individuals who stole them.

He advised the Agencies to build a smart system for citizens to make input and report incidents of theft to the control centre.

Chief Superintendent Alexander Kwaku Obeng, Director of Public Affairs, Motor Traffic and Transportation Department, Ghana Police Service, said the absence of traffic lights made traffic direction difficult.

The multistakeholder engagement was organised by the NRSA ahead of the Christmas festivities.

Source: Ghana News Agency

The Ghana Chamber of Telecommunications says telecommunication companies have paid taxes and other remittances worth GHC6.07 billion to the government in 2022.

Speaking at the launch of the 2022 Mobile Industry Transparency Initiative Report in Accra, Dr Kenneth Ashigbey, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Ghana Chamber of Telecommunications, said the total taxes and other remittances paid by the industry to government and its agencies resulted in total payments of GHC 6.07 billion, forming approximately 8.02 per cent of government’s 2022 tax and other revenues.

He said out of the GHC 6.07 billion, 1.7 billion went to Corporate Income Tax; 922.9 million went to Value Added Tax, 679.4 million went to Withholding tax; 482.8 million went to electronic levy; 768 million went to NHIL, GETF levy and COVID-19; 511.6 million went to Communications Service Tax; 175.18 million went to PAYE and 560.7 million went to other remittances.

Launching the report, Dr Ashigbey called on government to grant tax holidays to
the industry, saying it was overburdened with huge taxes.

He also indicated that beyond the taxes and remittances, the industry had created over 202,600 direct jobs and about 3.1 million indirect jobs in the mobile financial services sector.

He said considering the fact that telecommunications was foundational to ensuring real growth, it was important for the government to see the industry as a ‘cash cow rather than the work horse’ that would drive other businesses.

Source: Ghana News Agency

The Centre for Public Interest Law (CEPIL), a Non- Profit Organisation, has presented a manual on Human Rights for Human Rights Defenders in braille format to the Ghana Blind Union (GBU) in Accra.

The Human Rights Defenders include Civil Society Organisations (CSOs), Non-Governmental Organisations, the Media and Journalists, Faith Based Organisations and Human Rights Activists, who protect and promote human rights, and strengthen the rule of law.

The Manual titled: ‘Human Rights and Legal Protection Protocols for Civil Society

Organisations (CSOs) Partners, Staff and Human Rights Defenders Facing Risks as a Result of Their Influencing Work in Ghana’, seeks to provide a practical guide on prevention and mitigation measures when faced with situation of risk.

It was developed in collaboration with OXFAM Ghana.

Mr Alhassan Iddrissu, a Lawyer and Legal Advocate at CEPIL, said Human Rights Defenders often focused more on the protection of others whilst neglecting theirs amidst threats and its associated risks
.

He said though Ghana had signed on many international treaties and charters to promote human rights, inequalities and discriminations still existed in the country.

The Legal Advocate said such had adverse effects on the vulnerable, including People living With Disabilities, hence must be addressed.

Mr Iddrissu said according to the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) and other credible sources, at least 281 human rights defenders were killed in 2019 and since 2015, a total of 1,323 had been killed.

He noted that the deaths of the defenders were often preceded by direct and indirect threats, which were intended to intimidate, silence and prevent them from executing their work.

The Lawyer said Ghana enjoyed a vibrant and pluralist media environment, yet the establishment of media outlets by politicians had given rise to politicised and biased media content.

”It is reported that, most recently, journalists have faced a spate of violent attacks throughout the country, many from major
political party supporters. Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has recorded 14 cases of abuse of journalists, including five arrests, since the beginning of 2022 alone,” Mr Iddrissu stated.

Mr Peter Obeng-Asamoah, the Executive Director of the GBU, said United Nations Convention for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities talked about their right to and access to information as well as the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) on the rights to information for all persons.

He said, however, the Union, did not have access to manuals and reports that were published and released to the public since they were not in formats they could access.

”…I understand that this report is already out there, but we couldn’t access it, so by giving us this manual in accessible format, that is what we call inclusion,” the Executive Director stated.

Mr Obeng-Asamoah called for the society to be totally inclusive for all for the attainment of the SDGs.

”For example, if I know what the human rights are and the things that this
report contains, I will educate my family, children and my friends, so it does not stop with the blind person,” he added.

The Executive Director commended CEPIL for the initiative, its support and the provision of the manual in the braille format for the Union.

Source: Ghana News Agency

The Institute of Statistical Social and Economic Research (ISSER) says achieving economic targets next year is a test case for government to break the ‘political business cycle’ characterised by high spending in election years.

ISSER observed that for many years, governments during election years, even under International Monetary Fund (IMF) programme, tended to overrun their budgets causing high inflation and high budget deficits leading to excessive borrowing.

‘If we don’t have fiscal rules and we don’t respect some of the rules, we will still be under an IMF programme and once we get into the last quarter of the year, that is where we will be showing our true colours,’ said Professor Peter Quartey, the Director of ISSER.

He was Speaking at the 2024 Budget Statement Review programme and noted that achieving the end period inflation target of 15 per cent in 2024, though ambitious, was achievable if the government remained resolute in pursuing prudent fiscal and monetary policies respectively.

He urged c
itizens to manage their expectations of the government during the period as government may have to overspend to fulfil promises made to the electorate.

Such actions, he noted, would further worsen the economic predicament of the country in the 2025 economic year.

To ensure prudent fiscal measures, he recommended the re-introduction of public road tolls, linking the tax exemptions granted local producers of sanitary pads to capacity to increase production, monitor the implementation and effect of tax reliefs on private sector and conduct regular procurement audits.

He also advised that the second tranche of the IMF Fund be invested in the completion of existing infrastructure projects to avoid cost overruns due to delay in completion.

Prof Quartey also noted that though reliefs for electric vehicles were important, there was the need for investment in complementary infrastructure such as electricity, charging ports to help the country optimise the benefit.

‘There is the need to broaden the tax base to rop
e in the informal sector, which is estimated to make up 60 to 70 per cent of Ghana’s economy,’ he added.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Professor Kofi Amegah, an Associate Professor of Epidemiology at the University of Cape Coast (UCC) says the government must invest in air quality monitors to detect and regulate air pollution. That, he said, would enable accurate data generation on the impacts and health implications of air pollution in the country.

‘In Africa we are bereft of data, because we do not have ground monitors to monitor air quality, once you know the level of air pollution, you will know if the population is breathing quality or hazardous air,’ he said.

Speaking at a workshop for environmental health officers in Accra on the health effects of air pollution, Professor Amegah stated that about 10 monitors were required in Accra alone to track the air pollution levels. He said the meeting was to increase national capacity for air quality monitoring, management, and surveillance for diseases linked to air pollution.

It was organised by the Clean Air Fund as part of the Breath Accra Project.

The meeting brought together actors in
the health sector to discuss air pollution related diseases, the risk factors of air pollution and identify strategies for promoting stronger action gainst air pollution while also protecting public health.

Professor Amegah noted that there was a significant lack of data on air pollution in the country.

To fill that gap, the Breath Accra Project aims to make hyperlocal air quality data in the Greater Accra Metropolis publicly available.

He encouraged the public to eat well and stop burning garbage in their homes and street hawkers to wear nose masks to protect themselves from polluted air.

Dr Pier Nudu, a Professor from the Environment and Health Center, World Health Organization (WHO) called for the formation of a network of air monitors to help improve the availability of health data.

Air pollution occurs when harmful particles, such as harmful gases, dust and smoke invade the atmosphere and modify the air’s natural characteristics to make it toxic and dangerous to all living creatures.

Good air quali
ty means that the air is clean and safe to breathe, with low levels of pollution, poor air quality will contain excessive amounts of pollutants, which are often dangerous and potentially fatal to all living creatures.

Air quality can be measured by the levels of pollution present in both outdoor and indoor air through sensors and other monitoring systems that detect specific pollutants in the atmosphere.

Sources of air pollution in Accra are vehicular emissions, continual importation of over- aged vehicles, polluting fleet of minibuses, cooking with charcoal and wood and burning of waste.

Source: Ghana News Agency

The Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC) has reduced electricity tariff by 1.52 per cent, the only downward review for consumers for 2023.

All previous adjustment since the beginning of the year, saw electricity tariff increased, considering the prevailing conditions at the time.

The Regulator increased water tariff by 0.34 per cent for the fourth quarter of 2023.

The new tariffs would be effective December 01, 2023, to February 29, 2024.

Per the approved electricity rates payable by consumers for fourth quarter 2023, residential lifeline customers, would be paying 0.6348 GHS/kWh, compared with the 0.6446 GHS/kWh, effective December 1.

All other residential customers would be paying between 1.4057 GHS/kWh and 2.0271 GHS/kWh, with a service charge of 10.7309 GHS/kWh.

Non-residential customers would pay between 1.2691 GHS/kWh and 2.0161 GHS/kWh, with a service charge of 12.4282 GHS/kWh.

For special load tariff customers, low voltage users would pay an Energy Charge of 2.0088 GHS/kWh, medium vol
tage users – 1.5252 GHS/kWh, high voltage users, 1.6007 GHS/kWh.

High voltage steel companies would be paying an energy charge of 1.1290 GHS/kWh, effective December 1, while high voltage mines would pay 3.998573 GHS/kWh.

For water, residential customers would pay 4.7401 GHS/m3, from December 1, from the existing 4.7239 GHS/m3.

Non-Residential would pay 14.19 GHS/m3 from the existing 14.1394 GHS/m3 while Commercial customers would pay 25.38 GHS/m3 from the existing 25.2962 25.38 GHS/m3.

The tariff for sachet water producers, bottled water and drinks, industrial, public institutions/government departments, public standpipes, ports and harbours, and bulk supply, have al increased, effective December 1.

The review incorporated movement in key uncontrollable factors – exchange rate between the US dollar and the Ghana Cedi, domestic inflation rate, the electricity generation mix, and the cost of fuel, mainly natural gas.

Dr Ishmael Ackah, Executive Secretary, PURC, explained that the review was done to keep t
he utility service providers financially viable and make them deliver on their services to consumers

‘In addition, the Commission considered the competitiveness of industries and the general living conditions of the Ghanaian,’ Dr Ackah said in the fourth quarter review.

A Weighted Average Ghana Cedi-US Dollar Exchange Rate of GHS11.9264 was used for the fourth quarter of 2023, including an under recovery of Ghs0.3792.

The Commission also used an average three-month projected inflation rate of 40.43 per cent for the fourth quarter of 2023 to arrive at the new tariffs for electricity and water.

Again, an applicable weighted average cost of gas – US$7.6426/MMBtu, and projected hydro-thermal generation mix for the fourth quarter – 31.91 per cent for hydro and 68.09 per cent for thermal were considered for the adjustment.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Mr Kokro Amankwah, General Secretary, National Association of Local Authorities Ghana (NALAG), has asked the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection (MoGCSP) to offer financial support to women participating in the district level elections.

He said the aspirants needed assistance to take care of the printing of posters, campaigns and other election related activities.

‘As a nation, the Ministry of Gender, I believe should be of assistance to these women…They are printing their own posters; they are going out campaigning; what support have we given to them?’ Mr Amankwah asked.

He said this at a programme organised by the Alliance for Women in Media Africa (AWMA) in Accra.

It was on: ‘Enhancing inclusive participation in Local Governance: Gender Sensitive reporting for Journalists and Communications Skills for Women Aspirants in the 2023 District Level Elections’.

It was to increase visibility for the women aspirants and ensure that more of them emerged winners in the December 19 District Level
Elections.

The project, with support from the Canadian High Commission in Ghana, is also to enable journalists build their capacity in gender sensitive reporting to increase the quality of coverage for women aspirants in the upcoming and subsequent national elections and marginalised groups.

Explaining why the government through the MoGCSP must support the women aspirants in the upcoming elections, Mr Amankwah said despite the enactment of local and international laws, protocols, and treaties on women’s participation in politics, many were still shying away due to the financial burden and others.

He said it was time the Government took steps to ensure that women were represented in decision making and charged the Ministry to respond to the needs of the aspirants.

‘When we are talking about democracy and we decide to leave women or not to support women the way we should, it becomes a democratic deficit and we cannot pride ourselves as a nation and think that we are the gateway to Africa in terms of democra
cy and other things without paying attention to our women,’ he said.

Dr Abena Yeboah-Banin, Head, Department of Communication Studies, University of Ghana, who also bemoaned the low participation of women in politics, said findings from a 2020 Global Media Monitoring Report indicated that it would take Ghana 67 years to balance the equation of women and men’s representation in politics.

She said that should be a worry to any government that ascribed to the tenets of democracy.

Source: Ghana News Agency