Day: March 20, 2024

The Fair Wages and Salaries Commission has asked the three-striking Teacher Unions to return to the negotiation table for swift conclusion on conditions of service.

That, the Commission said, was to ensure that the four concerns out of the 16 raised by the Unions were resolved.

This comes on the back of the announcement of an industrial action by three Teacher Unions.

The Unions – Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT), National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT), and Coalition of Concerned Teachers-Ghana (CCT-Ghana) – declared an indefinite strike on Wednesday, March 20.

However, at a press briefing on the same day in Accra, Mr Benjamin Arthur, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Commission, said the call by the Unions ‘is in bad faith’.

He said the best intervention was for the two parties to engage because both parties needed each other.

‘We’re committed, willing and open to engage, and we’ve demonstrated that by inviting them. So, we’ll be waiting to see how best we’ll continue wi
th our engagement [on Thursday, March 20],’ Mr Arthur said.

‘If what they [the Teacher Unions] have cited as delays is anything to go by, then the strike is really what’s going to cause the delay, because we’ve made tremendous progress,’ he stated.

‘We were expectant that Thursday by 1400 hours [2:00pm] at least, we should be able to conclude the negotiation,’ he stated.

The Unions cited delays on the part of the government in negotiations on their Collective Agreement, which addressed issues such as allowances for teachers in underserved areas, entertainment allowance, and housing/rent allowance, following the expiration of the existing one Agreement in 2023.

They said the agreement should have been completed on or before February 29, 2024.

They also cited delay in the distribution of laptops to some members, and failure on the part of the Ghana Education Service (GES) to institute a functional Scheme of Service for teachers as reasons for the industrial action.

The Fair Wages and Salaries Commission’s
CEO called on the leadership of the three pre-tertiary teacher unions to call off the strike for engagement to continue.

He urged parents and pupils across the country to keep calm as the Commission worked relentlessly to have a lasting solution to the impasse.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Cardinal Namdini Mining Limited, subsidiary of Shandong Gold, a Chinese mining firm, has refurbished the Upper East Regional Office of the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in Bolgatanga at a cost of GH?204,000.00.

The renovation works comprised changing of the roofing, ceiling, washroom facilities, lighting systems, burglar proof, fixing of cracks, repainting of the building, and plumbing works.

The gesture was part of the company’s corporate social responsibility to help rebrand the Agency to befit its status as Ghana’s industrial news hub and a preferred source for local and international news.

The Cardinal Namdini Mining Ltd has secured mining lease to venture into large scale gold mining activities in the Talensi District for the next 15 years and is currently investing about one billion dollars in the construction phase.

It is expected to officially start mining in August, 2024.

Handing over the facility to the Management of GNA, Mr Feng Baoli, the Vice President of the Mine, said the company was pleased to
be associated with the success story of the Agency and the gesture was to consolidate that relation.

The role of the media in the successful operations of the company and the mining sector in general could not be overemphasized, he noted, and expressed the belief that strengthened working cooperation and relations, particularly with the GNA, was the way to go.

‘This is just the beginning because we have not started mining operations yet, we are only in the construction phase but the key thing is to keep this good relationship and we are open to supporting you in any way we can,’ he added.

Mr Albert Kofi Owusu, the General Manager, GNA, expressed gratitude to the Management of Cardinal Namdini Mining Ltd for swiftly responding to the Agency’s request to renovate the office.

He expressed optimism that the gesture would help improve news production.

Over the years, the Agency had had good relations with the Chinese Embassy in Ghana, he said, and that the current partnership with the Mine would further conso
lidate that cooperation.

Mr Owusu noted that inspite of the negative stories that surrounded mining activities by foreigners, particularly at the time the company was venturing into the sector, it had been able to approach its mining activities differently through engagements, community resettlement, and other corporate social responsibilities.

He pledged the Agency’s commitment to supporting interventions and activities that would bring improvement in the lives of Ghanaians while assuring the Mine’s management of balanced news stories towards strengthening the partnership and impacting the country positively.

‘We are a responsible Agency that covers the entire country with our reporters and stringers all over the country and one thing people trust GNA for is our credibility,’ the General Manager said.

‘This is because we have inbuilt system for fact-checking stories before disseminating them to the rest of the world.’

Mrs Hannah Zemp-Tapang, the Upper East Regional Manager of the Agency, commended Cardi
nal Namdini Mining Ltd for the support and reiterated the office’s open-door policy for continued collaborations to meet the interests of the two parties.

Source: Ghana News Agency

A group of residents in the Ahafo Region has raised concerns about food quality from mining communities and the need for adequate research to determine the level of food contamination from minining activities in such communities.

The group emphasized the importance of conducting thorough checks on food items from such communities due to the contamination of water bodies and soil with chemicals from mining activities.

They believe it poses a significant health risk to residents in mining areas and the general population.

They expressed the concern at a Centre for Public Interest Law (CEPIL) stakeholder engagement on policy brief, which was to address gaps and human rights violations in Ghana’s mining sector.

The participants thought regulatory agencies must implement stricter measures to address this pressing health issue.

The stakeholder engagement was organised by the Centre for Public Interest Law, a non-government organisation, Wassa Association of Communities Affected by Mining, OXFAM, is a British-f
ounded confederation of some non-government organisation, to review the existing mining policy.

It was also to identify and bridge gaps in the policy through the policy brief which would enable policymakers to develop effective strategies to protect the country’s natural resources.

In an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA,) Mr Adusa Yakubu, a participant from Kenyasi, emphasized the importance of regulatory institutions in monitoring the mining companies to prevent environmental pollution.

He expressed concern about the presence of contaminated food and fishes from the mining communities in the local markets, posing serious threat to human health.

Mr Yakubu emphasized the importance of prioritizing the health of citizens in the country’s quest for development saying the impact of consuming contaminated food extended beyond mining communities to the entire nation putting everyone at risk of consuming those foodstuffs and fishes sold at the market.

Dr Samuel Obiri, Executive Director of the Centre f
or Environmental Impact Analysis also in a separate interview observed that most mining communities in the country were farming communities and their activities contaminate the soil, leading to soil pollution and food contamination for consumers.

To mitigate the effects of the activities, Dr. Obiri stressed the significance of strengthening mining communities to reduce pollution levels to the barest minimum.

He recommended that the Ministry of Health and other relevant agencies should conduct random sampling of food crops in the mining communities to monitor contamination levels, saying studies have shown that crops were absorbing these contaminants from the environment.

Dr. Obiri also expressed concern about water bodies being contaminated by heavy metals, with the sea serving as a repository for these pollutants adding that fishes living in such waters also absorb chemicals consumed by man.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Mr. Daniel Kabu Narteh, a veteran Ga language teacher, has advised people of Ga-Dangme descent to keep their unique naming patterns for their children to protect their identity.

Mr. Narteh, who has been teaching Ga for over 40 years, speaking to the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in an interview, said adopting fashionable and trendy names over traditional names has become a norm that needs to be looked at.

The interview, which sought to find out how the adoption trendy names is affecting the identity of Ghanaians was a step of the Tema Office of the Ghana News Agency (GNA) as Ghana celebrates Ghana Heritage Month 2024.

Heritage month takes place in the month of March, which happens to be Ghana’s independence month. It is filled with tours, events and activities highlighting Ghana’s rich heritage. The period is also sometimes referred to as Ghana Month.

The Month is designated to celebrate and portray Ghana’s rich cultural heritage, diversity and all the cords that unit the citizens as a nation.

Mr Narteh said h
aving names such as dromo (grace), dzormor/jormor (blessing), and yijiemor (praise), among others, sounds trendy, but it was not enough and did not depict the traditions and origins of the children.

He stated that after choosing these names and religious ones, parents must add the original name the baby was born into to their names, as that makes them true Ga-Dangmes.

He explained that the naming patterns that were put in place many centuries ago by the forebears make it easy to identify the town, quarter, and family a person hails from the moment the name is mentioned.

Mr Narteh said that no matter where the child finds himself, he could always trace his ancestry by using his or her given name.

He explained that irrespective of the day a child is born among the Ga-Dangmes, they already carry their name with them, as before they were born, the elders already knew the name they would bear, be it a girl or a boy, as the pattern is well structured with every family and quarter having their own unique names f
or their children based on their order of birth.

He said another worrying trend was naming children several weeks after birth, explaining that under the Ga culture, babies are named exactly eight days after their birth on the day they were born.

He expressed worry that due to the cosmopolitan nature of the Greater Accra Region now and the proliferation of churches whose leadership is often non-indigenous, Ga-Dangme children are now being named months after their birth and on Saturdays and Sundays, even though they might have been born on other days.

Mr Narteh said even though the traditions of the people of the Greater Accra region allow for the postponement of naming if the baby is sick, the current trend is unacceptable and therefore calls on parents and churches not to see the traditions of their host as fetish.

He stated, for instance, that during a traditional naming ceremony, people of prominence are invited to pray good omens for the baby to grow up into a respectable adult, adding that the special
prayers are also said for the parents while the community is encouraged to help shape the character of the child as they grow.

The veteran Ga-Dangme language teacher further said that the traditional naming ceremony also allows the elders to speak into the babies’ minds that hardwork is what they have to do and that they must not engage in lies, as well as be observant and speak only when it matters.

He, therefore, advised Ga-Dangme descendants to name their children traditionally on the eighth day and then go for the church baptism when the churches were ready, as there was the need to preserve their identity irrespective of the religion they belong.

‘People are born into families before joining religious organisations,’ Mr Narteh emphasised.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Professor Ivan Addae-Mensah, a former Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ghana, has apologised to Mr William Edem Fugar, a legal practitioner, for relying on a Daily Graphic report to write his autobiography, with portions said to be inaccurate and defamatory.

After the publication of Prof Addae-Mensah’s (defendant) autobiography titled: ‘My Life: A Historical Narrative’, Mr Fugar (plaintiff) in a demand notice dated December 21, 2023, accused the former Vice-Chancellor of defaming him, a claim the former Vice-Chancellor vehemently denied.

Per the court document available to the Ghana News Agency, after the settlement, Prof Addae-Mensah would delete the offending words from the next print/edition of the autobiography.

The former Vice-Chancellor rendered the apology after the parties reached an agreement to settle the matter amicably, which was adopted by the High Court presided over by Justice John Bosco Nabarase.

He said while conducting research prior to writing his biography of Hilla Limann, he came
across information in the Daily Graphic of April 12, 1979, with reference to the court case of Pennie and Datsomor versus Egala and Limann.

He said the headline of the story indicated that the Counsel for the plaintiff, Mr Fugar had ‘abandoned’ his clients during trial.

‘I was misled by that statement and, therefore, relied upon it in the Limann book, which l published in 2016.’

He said in writing his autobiography in 2023 titled: ‘ My Life, A Historical Narrative’, he again relied on the same statement, though Mr Fugar had continued to represent his clients until the successful determination of the substantive matter.

‘ l am able, therefore, without any hesitation to say that had l been aware that the headline in the Daily Graphic in 1979 was not an accurate reflection of what had transpired in court, l will not have repeated it in 2016 and again 2023,’ he said.

Prof Addae-Mensah said he acknowledged the integrity of Mr Fugar, and aware that he was a luminary in the practice of law, who had been respect
ed in his field by his clients, his peers and generally for more than 50 years and continued to this day to be so respected.

Per the settlement the defendant will publish a quarter page advertisement of the apology in the Daily Graphic within 10 days.

In consideration of the defendant’s compliance with the terms of the settlement, the plaintiff will release the defendant from the claims in the suit and waive any cause of action from the statements published by the defendant in his book.

Madam Marietta Agyeiwaa Brew, one of the Counsels for Mr Fugar, said they did not ask for cost during the period because the focus was on protecting the reputation of their client.

The plaintiff initially sought an order of perpetual injunction restraining the defendant from further publicising the offending passage and an order of mandatory injunction requiring defendant to cause to be withdrawn from circulation the copies of the book containing the offending passages.

They also sought damages for libel, including aggrav
ated damages.

Source: Ghana News Agency

The Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI) Africa Office has opened a four-day training programme to increase the capacity of its staff and partners’ knowledge and skills needed to effectively provide legal assistance services to vulnerable and marginalized communities.

It also sought to encourage partners to volunteer to visit police stations to support vulnerable and marginalized people’s access to justice.

The four-day training, with over 30 participants, is intended to equip legal assistants with the necessary knowledge and skills to help increase access to justice for people who may not be able to afford a lawyer.

Ms Mina Mensah, Director of CHRI Africa Office, speaking at the event, said most women and children, whose rights were violated found it difficult to access justice because they were unable to employ the services of a lawyer.

She said the presence of paralegals in communities would ensure that justice was freely brought to the doorsteps of citizens, especially the vulnerable and margin
alized.

Ms Mensah said State actors in the paralegal training sessions and network helped in the rapid responses to cases reported.

The participants, numbering 30, included officials from the Legal Aid Commission, Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ), representatives from community-based organisations, staff of CHRI and other volunteers.

Mrs Esther Ahulu, Programmes Manager of the CHRI Africa Office, said to complement the government’s efforts in providing legal aid services to, especially the poor and vulnerable, CHRI carried out several intervention programmes, where paralegals among others visit designated Police Stations to offer legal assistance to indigent arrested persons.

She encouraged stakeholders to visit designated Police stations to offer legal assistance to indigent arrested persons in need.

Source: Ghana News Agency