Committee asked to ensure foreigners comply with trade rules
Accra- Mr Carlos Ahenkorah, the Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry, has charged members of the Foreign Retail Trade Committee to ensure that foreigners comply with rules governing trading in Ghana.
He urged the Committee to sensitise the public on the effects of foreigners engaged in retail trade and regularly engage executives of Foreign Trading Association to ensure a successful compliance.
Mr Ahenkorah said this in Accra on Friday at the inauguration of the 20-member Foreign Retail Trade Committee to ensure strict compliance of the law relating to foreign trade.
He said the Ministry had noticed that foreigners engaged in retail trade contrary to section 27(1a) of the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre Act 865, 2013, hence the need for the Committee to enforce the laws.
The Deputy Minister said the Act stated that a person who is not a citizen or an enterprise, which is not wholly owned by citizen shall not invest or participate in the sale of goods or services in a market, petty trading or hawking or selling of goods in a stall at any place.
Mr Ahenkorah appealed to the Committee not to harass the foreigners or prosecute them but ensure that they comply with the dictates of the law for peaceful coexistence.
Mr Julius Kofi Gbogla, the Assistance Commissioner of Immigration, Ghana Immigration Service, and Chairman of the Committee, accepted the responsibilities and assured government that the team would abide by the terms of assignment.
The Deputy Minister also inaugurated a 10-member Vetting Committee on Textiles to subject all seized goods to thorough scrutiny to ascertain the real ownership of the goods under reference and take the necessary decisions deem fit.
The Committee is expected to educate the public on the adverse effects of patronising pirated Ghanaian textile designs.
Members are to collaborate with the taskforce to check that all importers seek approval prior to importation and enforce the guidelines on importation of textiles.
Mr Kwasi Owusu, the Chairman of the Committee, pledged the resolute support of members to protect the interest of the nation and ensure that the right thing was done accordingly.
Source: Ghana News Agency
Farmer to spend 17 years in jail for robbery
Cape Coast- A farmer, accused of snatching a taxi from its driver at gun point has been sentenced to 25 years imprisonment in hard labour by a Cape Coast Circuit Court.
Ransford Eghan had engaged the services of the victim to carry him in his cab from Mankessim to the Kotoka International Airport in Accra but ended up seizing and attempting to flee with the vehicle.
The incident happened on January 16, last year, at about 1030 hours and Eghan pleaded not guilty.
A State Attorney, Mrs. Bettey Dankwa Smith told the court, presided over by Mrs. Afia Nyarko Adu-Amankwah, that quick thinking by a young man, who had gone to draw water from a stream and chanced upon the robbery attack, thwarted his escape with the cab.
He called to alert private security guards at the Pozzolina Company Limited and together with the police, blocked the road to prevent him from running away with the vehicle.
The prosecution said Eghan had convinced the driver, John Amoah, to pick a lady at Gyankrom to join them to Accra, so he branched off the Cape Coast-Accra highway and after driving for about 10 minutes, he asked that the driver stopped so that he could ease himself in the bush.
In no time, he emerged from the bush, wearing dark spectacles, pulled a gun and threatened to shoot him dead if he did not surrender the ignition key and the money on him.
Fearing for his life, Amoah did as he was told and Eghan sat behind the steering wheel and sped off.
Unknown to him a young man from Gyankrom, Ebenezer Ansah, saw everything from a safe distance and used his phone to alert the private security guards, who also informed the police and a road block was hurriedly mounted.
Eghan on seeing the road block, pulled up, abandoned the taxi cab and fled into the bush but he was arrested with the assistance of the youth of Gyankrom.
The police seized from him a locally manufactured pistol and a pair of handcuffs.
Source: Ghana News Agency
Hours of heavy rains expose bad drainage systems in Takoradi
Takoradi� The almost 12-hours of heavy rains within the Sekondi/Takoradi Metropolis and the environs on Friday exposed the bad drainage systems and yawning potholes on some stretches of the roads.
Many communities in the area experienced flooding that normally characterized long or even short hours of rain due to the poor drainage systems.
At Nkenya-Agric, the un-tarred road was covered with water aside the gutters being overflowed with water impeding human and vehicular movement.
At Sekondi, the Komfoase area leading to the main lorry station was flooded, with the Prisons Round-About also receiving its fair share of the floods.
The Apollo Traffic Light, one of the major intersections, was flooded whilst the Market Circle was not spared either.
Most of the gutters, which had become dumping sites for household refuse, also gave their debris to the flowing waters, thereby littering the roads.
Meanwhile, Mr Christopher Okine, the Western Regional Metrological Officer, said the raining season had begun and cautioned residents to take note and take precautionary measures accordingly.
Mr Lan Kwame Tugbenu, the Metropolitan Officer of the National Commission on Civic Education, told the Ghana News Agency that the Commission had started education on cholera with the onset of the rains to prevent any outbreak.
He said within the Metro Area; Kojokrom, Adekope, New Takoradi, and European Town had been identified as cholera prone areas and advised residents to practice good hygiene to prevent them from contracting the disease.
Mr Tugbenu said market women were also being educated to ensure they sold in clean environments, especially those who sold food items.
Source: Ghana News Agency
Hours of heavy rains expose bad drainage systems in Takoradi
Takoradi� The almost 12-hours of heavy rains within the Sekondi/Takoradi Metropolis and the environs on Friday exposed the bad drainage systems and yawning potholes on some stretches of the roads.
Many communities in the area experienced flooding that normally characterized long or even short hours of rain due to the poor drainage systems.
At Nkenya-Agric, the un-tarred road was covered with water aside the gutters being overflowed with water impeding human and vehicular movement.
At Sekondi, the Komfoase area leading to the main lorry station was flooded, with the Prisons Round-About also receiving its fair share of the floods.
The Apollo Traffic Light, one of the major intersections, was flooded whilst the Market Circle was not spared either.
Most of the gutters, which had become dumping sites for household refuse, also gave their debris to the flowing waters, thereby littering the roads.
Meanwhile, Mr Christopher Okine, the Western Regional Metrological Officer, said the raining season had begun and cautioned residents to take note and take precautionary measures accordingly.
Mr Lan Kwame Tugbenu, the Metropolitan Officer of the National Commission on Civic Education, told the Ghana News Agency that the Commission had started education on cholera with the onset of the rains to prevent any outbreak.
He said within the Metro Area; Kojokrom, Adekope, New Takoradi, and European Town had been identified as cholera prone areas and advised residents to practice good hygiene to prevent them from contracting the disease.
Mr Tugbenu said market women were also being educated to ensure they sold in clean environments, especially those who sold food items.
Source: Ghana News Agency
Kwahu West NADMO records seven disaster cases
Nkawkaw (E/R)- The Kwahu West Municipal Office of the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO) has, so far, recorded seven disaster cases this year.
Most of the disasters were caused by wind and rain storms, which ripped off the roofs of some buildings in the Municipality.
This was disclosed by the Kwahu West Municipal Director of NADMO, Mr Mohammed Amidu, in an interview with the Ghana News Agency at Nkawkaw.
He said last year, his office recorded 17 disaster cases in the Municipality.
Mr Amidu said the office had been organising public education on disaster prevention and clean-up exercises to desilt the gutters to avoid flooding.
The major challenge facing the office was lack of resources to execute its mandate and this sometimes results in attacks on staff due to suspicion, he said.
Mr Aminu said the last time a disaster occurred the office was given only 20 bags of rice to share to the victims, which was not enough.
Victims who did not get the rice attacked the NADMO staff on suspicion that they had hidden part of the rice for their own use, he said.
Mr Andrews Ansong, a Senior Staff at the NADMO, said the office was poorly funded and staff had to use their own money for transportation when they had to go round to educate the public on disaster prevention.
He said the only computer at the office had broken down and appealed for support to enable the office to fulfill its mandate.
Source: Ghana News Agency
