Day: December 18, 2023

The Community of Alogboshie, a suburb in the Okaikwei North Municipal Assembly, will be the first to benefit from infrastructural projects under Greater Accra Resilient and Integrated Development (GARID) project.

The GARID project, worth $200 million and funded by the World Bank, is to support communities along the Odaw river with construction of access roads, primary and secondary drains, extension of street lights and water network.

The goal is to improve public services, reduce perennial flooding challenges and enhance the living conditions of low-income communities in the Greater Accra Region, a category Alogboshie falls into.

This was revealed during a sod cutting ceremony at the Alogboshie durbar grounds by Mr Francis Asenso – Boakye, Minister for Works and Housing, officials of State Agencies, together with the Chief of Alogboshie after undertaking scoping, preparation of community upgrading plan, environmental and social impact assessment and engineering designs, amongst others.

Mr Asenso-Boakye
said the project was the beginning of a transformative journey of Alogboshie and the interventions were a testament of the government’s commitment to enhancing basic social infrastructure and reducing the vulnerability of low-income communities.

He said the preparation and implementation of the resettlement action plan for Alogboshie had been carried out, adding the interventions alone cannot eradicate floods in Accra and parts of the country unless they were driven by positive attitudinal change.

‘Governments have invested significant resources in the national flood control. These investments have been undermined by inappropriate behaviours of some Ghanaians, including communities along the Odaw channel.

Some citizens build in water ways, others dump waste into drains,’ the Minister said.

He urged the Assemblies to work and strictly enforce building and sanitation regulations to nip any indiscipline in the bud with support from the media through their platforms.

Mr Asenso-Boakye said the Ministry of Wor
ks and Housing in collaboration with the Ghana Hydrological Authority, Water Resource Commission, Ghana Meteorological Agency and NADMO were establishing flood early warning systems under the GARID project for the Greater Accra Region.

The systems would provide advance notifications to flood prone communities so they could take the necessary steps to protect lives and properties and a variety of equipment had been handed over to the institutions.

Dr Ohene Sarfo, the GARID Project Coordinator, said construction works were beginning immediately to ensure the interventions were delivered as scheduled.

‘We are strengthening the Assemblies through training and giving grants for routine dredging. We have procured drones to enable the Assemblies to improve the management of the buffer (land closer to water bodies).

Madam Madhu Raghunath, Practice Manager, The World Bank, said risks to perennial flooding had often been occasioned by insufficient drainage infrastructure and solid waste management, however, the int
erventions would reduce these risks and improve the quality of environment for the Alogboshie community.

‘It is our hope that this project could be replicated in other parts of Accra. We call for continuous engagement between the project facilitators and the community for a smooth execution of the project,’ she said.
Source: Ghana News Agency

Mrs Georgina Aberese-Ako, Acting Upper East Regional Director, Department of Children, has advised parents and major stakeholders to create an equal and conducive environment for children, particularly those with special needs to develop and thrive.

She observed that often, parents with disabled children or children with special needs tend to confine them away from the public and deny them access to opportunities like all other children.

Such a practice, she underscored, was unacceptable and an infringement on the rights of those children and denying them the opportunity to unearth their immense potential.

‘Mostly, we hide children with special needs in rooms thinking they are spirit children, and they should not be treated like the other children but no matter the condition, every child should be treated like human beings and those children have rights,’ he said.

In an interview with the Ghana News Agency, the Acting Regional Director encouraged parents, especially those with children with special needs
to enrol them in schools and give them the platform to explore the world to develop their potential and contribute significantly to the development of society.

‘The education policy says that at age four every child should be in kindergarten one and kindergarten two when the child is five years old, preparing them for formal education. So let every child enjoy his or her rights no matter the condition of that child,’ she stressed.

Mrs Abereseke-Ako said as part of activities to mark this year’s World Children’s Day on the theme: ‘For Every Child, Every Right,’ the Department undertook community sensitisation in the Nabdam District as well as collaborated with the National Commission for Civic Education to educate some school children in Garu on the rights and responsibilities of a child.

Mrs Aberese-Ako explained that parents had the responsibility to ensure that they provided for the needs of their children and urged them to prioritise the welfare of their children by investing in their education.

She id
entified superstitions surrounding children with special needs, harmful cultural practices such as child marriage, female genital mutilation, sexual abuse, and child exploitation among others as major challenges facing the development of children in the region.

She, therefore, called on stakeholders including government, non-governmental organisations, traditional authorities, and parents to view child protection as a collective responsibility and work to remove all barriers that would create an equal environment for the empowerment of all children.
Source: Ghana News Agency

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo says the Bank of Ghana (BoG) has proven to be a sound banker to the government and a safe custodian of the country’s money.

He said the Central Bank had distinguished itself to the admiration of all well-meaning people and had also been an efficient currency manager, a reliable source of liquidity and a dependable lender of last resort.

The President made the commendation during the Bank’s end-of-year cocktail event in Accra.

He said one of the challenges his government met when they came into power in 2017 was the state of the banking industry, where many of the Banks and financial institutions were in distress and kept on unsustainable life support by the then central bank.

‘The supervisory agencies of the BoG were not performing their duties, which allowed weak governance management structures in Banks to fester,’ he added.

He said when COVID-19 struck with dire consequences for the country, the BoG with the support of the Commercial Banks, instituted the GH?3 bi
llion credit and stimulus package to help revitalize industries, especially the pharmaceutical, hospitality and manufacturing sectors.

‘We have all seen the effects of this intervention, evidenced by the growth of the economy,’ he said.

He said the banks were in a desperate situation and radical measures had to be taken to prevent the collapse of the financial sector.

 The President said the BoG under the new leadership intervened and restored sanity in the sector and the process saved the funds of 4.6 million depositors.

Government funds of GH?21 billion were used for the clean-up exercise which has enabled a more robust financial sector to emerge to better finance the rapid development of the country.

The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, whose effects were exacerbated by the Russia-Ukraine conflict called for some corrective measures to address the imbalances and restore

stability and with the support of the BoG, macro-economic stability was restored.

‘The BoG has supported the government by providing
a sound platform to underpin the government’s economic diversification and transformation process,’ the President said.

He said there was clear evidence that inflation was being contained and from 54 per cent in December 2022 to 26.4 per cent in November 2023, we are also witnessing sustained stability of the exchange rate.’

The President said the effective partnership between the BoG and the International Monetary Fund under the terms of the government’s programme with the fund is yielding the right results.

He said he was encouraged by the many corporate governance measures put in place by the BoG to mitigate future bank failures and ensure a strong banking sector to drive the agenda of transformation.

He said the recent policy measures introduced by the BoG were commendable and in line with efforts to move Ghana to a situation beyond aid.

‘I have also taken a keen interest in the Bank’s role in the digitisation of the economy. The architecture of our payment system has been transformed completely and
financial

inclusion has been deepened to ensure shared growth for all Ghanaians,’ he added.

The BOG has won the Central Bank of the Year awards two times with the governor, Dr Ernest Addison, on one occasion being adjudged the Central Bank Governor of the Year.

He said this year had been challenging for the Bank but with the excellent leadership and the dedicated staff of the BoG, the Bank was able to surmount the difficulties and emerged even stronger.

He said the current economic challenges confronting the country required that every hand should be on deck, calling for stronger partnerships and a greater degree of policy coordination between the BoG and the Ministry of Finance.

This call is for the Bank within its remit of operational independence to play a pivotal role in helping to formulate and implement policies that will help usher in the desired economic transformation.

He urged the Management of the Bank to ignore the mischief of misguided elements and maintain its focus on executing its mandat
e.
Source: Ghana News Agency

Mr N.A. Da Wood, newly- elected Chairman of the Achimota Main Branch of the Ghana Private Road Transport Union (GPRTU) of the Trades Union Congress (TUC) has called on the government to help revive the Achimota New Station from dying a natural death.

He said the Achimota Transport Terminal popularly known as the Achimota New Station was under-utilised by both drivers and passengers, thereby rendering the facility ‘dead’.

Mr Dawood made the call after he had been elected as the new Chairman of the union at an election held in Accra on Sunday.

He polled 21 votes against 10 by Mr Nti Boahen, his contestant, to be elected as chairman to steer the affairs of the union for a four-year term.

Other officers elected were Mr Kwaku Sarfo, Vice Chairman, Mr Norbert Yao De Souza, Secretary, Mr Amadu Zakaria, First Trustee and Mr Rahim Abdallah, Second Trustee.

Mr Dawood said that built with the intent of reducing road carnages on the Achimota-Nsawam highway, the 800-vehicle capacity station constructed at the cost o
f GHc 4.5 million had not been utilised as was initially expected.

‘Majority of drivers and passengers prefer using the shoulders of the Accra-Nsawam Road than to use the terminal,’ he said adding that some of the drivers cited examples as they were not making much money when they operated at the terminal as compared to the old station.

Some passengers GNA interviewed indicated that they had difficulty in accessing the terminal adding that it took close to two hours for a bus to get the full set of passengers instead of the 20 minutes they were used to.

The terminal set to be one of the biggest in the West Africa Sub Region has a clinic, a Police Station, a passenger hall, passengers’ sheds, five canteens, toilet facilities and an administrative block.
Source: Ghana News Agency

The Ada Foah Detachment of the Riverine Command of the Ghana Navy on 16th of December 2023 intercepted a canoe suspected to be carrying narcotics at the Agorkpo general area.

According to a press release signed by Lieutenant Colonel Alfred Marteye on behalf of Brigadier-General Eric Aggrey-Quashie, the Director General, Public Relations Department of the Ghana Armed Forces, the operation to intercept the vessel was undertaken in the morning between 3am and 8am.

The detachment task with the operation acted on intelligence gathered during night foot patrols on Friday, 15th December 2023.

‘The Detachment laid ambush at two locations from 3am waiting for the movement of the canoes. At about 4am, the first Ambush Team sighted 3 canoes involved in the illegality proceeding at high speed past their location.

Unfortunately, the suspects did not proceed toward the direction of the main Ambush Team as anticipated, so the first team of three men chased and intercepted the third canoe. The three suspects on the thir
d canoe dived into the river and escaped, abandoning the canoe and its contents after a scuffle with the naval personnel.

The other two canoes escaped towards the estuary and could not be apprehended by the main Ambush team after a follow-up up chase,’ the statement explained.

The Detachment, according to the statement, confiscated 45 sacks of suspected marijuana which have been conveyed to Naval Base in Tema for further investigations.
Source: Ghana News Agency

Mr Samuel Koku Anyidoho, Founder and CEO of the Atta-Mills Institute has been inducted into the Ghana Psychology Council (GPC).

The event which took place in Accra, saw over 100 licensed professionals receiving their certificates of induction and the swearing of their professional oath to practise as professional counsellors in Ghana.

Speaking on the theme ‘Ethics Excellence and Leadership in Psychological Practice in Ghana’, Professor Angela Ofori-Atta, Chairperson for the GPC Board admonished the inductees not to take their calling for granted.

She said the maintenance of high professional standards should not be compromised at any point in time since GPC would not accept any form of professional misconduct.

According to her, ‘continuous education’ was key to their practice ‘because the renewal of their licenses will be highly dependent on concrete proof of building capacity at all times.’

Prof. Ofori-Atta, therefore asked all inductees to refrain from all acts of indiscipline and collusion with other
s for personal favour or financial gain against the interests of their clients or the profession.

In an interview with the media, Mr Samuel Koku Anyidoho said, ‘I am very grateful to God for this great opportunity, and I pledge to do my possible best to work in the supreme interest of the GPC.’

‘I have no doubt that my association with the GPC and other affiliated professional counselling organisations will go a long way to help the advocacy and transformational agenda of the Atta-Mills Institute,’ he added.

Recently, Mr Anyidoho graduated from the Trinity Theological Seminary at the University of Ghana, Legon in Accra.
Source: Ghana News Agency

Mr Cassiel Eghan Asiedu, the Upper West Regional Manager of the Public Utility Regulatory Commission (PURC), said the Commission recorded 781 complaints from utility consumers, out of which 771 were successfully resolved.

Most of the complaints bordered on quality of services with power outages being the highest concerning the Electricity Company, while the complaints of the Ghana Water Company included cuts in water flow and bust pipelines.

Mr Asiedu disclosed this in Wa at the weekend during the end-of-year get-together of the PURC, which brought together representatives from the Northern Electricity Distribution Company (NEDCo), Ghana Water Company Ltd, staff of PURC and some stakeholders.

The Consumer Service Committee members in Tumu in the Sissala East Municipality also attended the event.

He said the Commission described 2023 as a ‘Year of Operational Efficiency’ where it engaged many stakeholders on the operations of the PURC.

Mr Asiedu attributed the successes of the PURC within the year under
review to the collaboration and support it enjoyed from the stakeholders, including the utility service providers and the consumers.

‘If the utilities hadn’t given us this collaboration, we wouldn’t have chalked this success,’ he said, and commended them for their collaboration.

He said for 2024, the commission was strategically positioning itself in its service delivery and termed the year as a ‘Year of Strategic Impact’ with a focus on four key areas.

The four key areas, christened ‘STEP’ – Self-improvement, Transparency, Enforcement and Proactiveness, will focus on staff capacity building, engagement with stakeholders, enforcement of laws and proactiveness in service delivery through the use of technology to receive complaints.

Mr Daniel Awortwe, the Upper West Regional Area Engineer of the NEDCo, commended the PURC for being a ‘great stakeholder’ in the operations of the Company and expressed the hope that the collaboration would continue in the years ahead.

He said NEDCo would leverage technology to
improve on its operations for optimum service delivery by ensuring reliable and quality power supply to consumers.

Mr Kwasi Abebrese, the Upper West Regional Chief Manager of the Ghana Water Company Ltd, assured its consumers of quality service.

He, however, appealed to them to bear with his outfit in responding to complaints and challenges due to the workload on the staff.
Source: Ghana News Agency

The Street Academy, a Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) has held its annual dinner for street, needy, deprived and less-fortunate children in Accra.

It was organised to show love to the children as part of activities to mark the Christmas festivity.

Food, drinks, water, and snacks, among others, were provided for over 500 street children to make merry.

Speaking to the Ghana News Agency (GNA), Mr Ataa Lartey, the Executive Director of the Academy, said it was an annual programme during which children were fed and supported to have fun.

Mr Lartey said the Academy’s objective was to empower the less privileged and vulnerable within the Communities to be able to live normal and professional lives.

He noted ‘It’s not the fault of these children, just bad parenting that has brought these children on the street. If people come in to support us, they will not be on the street. They are our future leaders.’

According to him the purpose of the party was to allow the less-privileged children to interact with pr
ominent people and share the season’s love with them.

Mr Lartey said showing care to the children would make them feel part of the society, adding that Street Academy provided the necessities of shelter, food and clothing to the children gave them formal education and provided healthcare for them.

‘Ghana was among the first countries to rectify the Convention on the Rights of Children, so this should not only be on paper, but it should also be a reality. We do a lot of Conventions and Treaties, but implementation is the problem. We are implementing all the Rights of Children. We want them to have Basic Education, Education is the key to success,’ he added.

He said, next year the children the academy would provide an ultramodern playing ground for the children and the community

Mr Emmanuel Frimpong, a Board Member of Street Academy, said it was a joy to give back to society and care for the children as well.

He said most of the children do not have parents to support them with the necessary items they nee
d as some also were homeless and survived on the streets.

Mr Frimpng who is also the President of Africa Tourism Research Network, added that ‘as part of the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ, it will be a great opportunity to educate the children to draw closer to God and not give up in life as well’ saying through hope, determination, hardworking and prayer the children would great in the future.

Nii Tettey Obroni Onamonsro ll, Kokomlemle Mantse, said it was important to invest in children to become better people in the country.

According to him ‘effort should be put in place to push children on the street to become great leaders and not rebellion children.’

He pleaded with institutions, corporate organisations, stakeholders, and other entities to assist in any form of support to the children.
Source: Ghana News Agency

Madam Elizabeth Sackey, the Mayor of Accra, says the Accra metropolis owes its social and economy vibrancy to migration.

She said Accra owed much of its vibrancy to the dynamic cultures of individuals who had chosen to make the metropolis their home.

Migrants, she noted, particularly the youth, brought perspective, innovative ideas and determination to succeed against all odds.

She said this in an address at an event to commemorate the International Migration Day which was held at the GaMashie Development Agency in Jamestown, Accra.

‘Migrants are not just recipients of our hospitality but active contributors of our economic, social and cultural development. By fostering an environment that nurtures their skills and talents, we unlock their transformative potential for our communities,” she said.

The International Migration Day was proclaimed by the United Nations General Assembly in December 2000 to recognize the important contribution of migrants while highlighting the challenges they face.

This year
‘s edition was marked at the Jamestown Basketball Court as a community event with a focus on youth empowerment.

The youth of Jamestown and neighbouring communities gathered at the playground with the objective to empower young people to create variable alternatives to irregular migration and to leverage the educational power of basketball to equip the youth with life skills and self-resilience.

The Mayor underscored the role the youth played in the migration discourse, saying it was the collective responsibility of the society to empower them since it acknowledged them as torchbearers of change.

She said the youth could be empowered to play a role in the migration discourse by investing in their skills to shape the future.

The event was attended by diplomats, youth activists and officials of Non-governmental Organization (NGO) and state agencies.

Fatou Diallo Ndiaye, Chief of Mission, International Organization for Migration (IOM), said historically, migration had been considered as a coping mechanism in
Ghana.

She said the launch of the National Coordinating Mechanism (NCM) this year was timely as it would help coordinate effective management of migration in Ghana.

This, she said, will ensure migrants especially the youth were part of the solution and not considered as a problem in the attempts to stifle migration.

Anna Lixi, Delegation of the European Union to Ghana, in her address, said ‘safe, legal and well managed migration is key to unlock the potential of human mobility.’

She said, ‘as part of the effort to unlock the potential of human mobility, the EU reiterate its commitment in ensuring that migration becomes a force for sustainable development.’
Source: Ghana News Agency

The Keta and Anloga Youth Parliaments under the National Youth Authority in the Volta Region, have cautioned fisher folks to stop indulging in illegal fishing methods in the Keta Lagoon.

They said the practice caused irreparable damage to fish stocks, as well as posing health risks to humans.

Mr Emmanuel Gameli Dovia, Chairman of the Publicity Committee in a statement, indicated that their attention had been drawn to the illegal activities of some fishermen using poisonous chemicals and other bad methods to trap new species of fish in the lagoon.

‘The Keta Lagoon fishing has been plagued with illegal activities in recent weeks, destructive fishing practices by the fishers with light, dynamites and chemicals.’

The statement said the acts remained quick fixes for desperate fishers that were causing irreparable damages to the fish stock and risking human health.’

The statement identified areas such as Azizadzi, Kedzi, Vodza, Adzido and Vui as areas around the southern part of the lagoon, which were within
the Keta Municipality where the illegal activities remained rampant.

‘We are, therefore, calling on those engaging in these illegal activities to stop with immediate effect,’ the statement said.

The statement also appealed to assembly members, officials of the Fisheries Commission, the Environmental Protection Agency, and other relevant authorities to investigate and put the situation under control.

The Ghana News Agency (GNA) also observed that the recent opening of the sluice bridges and sandbar at Kedzi-Havedzi, which allowed the sea to flow into the lagoon, causes sea species such as crab, shrimps, sardines, and others to breed in the lagoon.

The situation had forced fishermen on the lagoon to be in desperate need to catch the new species using some bad methods to harvest them.
Source: Ghana News Agency