Day: July 26, 2021

Nsawam (E/R), – The Community Police Assistants at Nsawam in the Eastern Region, have appealed to the government to regularize their engagement into the Ghana Police Service in the ongoing recruitment exercise.

Mr Padi Emmanuel, one of the Police Assistant made the appeal in an interview with the Ghana News Agency during their meeting at Nsawam to express gratitude to the government for their appointment into the Service.

He said they were about 15,000 personnel within the Nsawam-Adoagyiri Municipality and that their confirmation into the Service would motivate them to do more to protect the lives of the citizenry.

He said they have served as Community Police Officers for more than four years in various police stations and that they have acquired the requisite skills in policing, which would go a long way in making their recruitment less difficult.

Mr Padi Emmanuel said they could also be recruited into other security services like the Fire Service, Immigration, and the Prisons Services.

He thanked the government for giving them the opportunity to serve the nation and expressed the hope that this would pave way for other future generation.

Source: Ghana News Agency

The largest tomato mix brand in Ghana, Tasty Tom, has donated bags and sachets of its products to the esteemed office of the National Chief Imam, his Eminence Sheikh Nuhu Sharabutu in support of the Salah festivities.

The donation was done on Saturday, the 24th of July, 2021 during Happy98.9FM’s Salah Fest cooking competition which was held at the Fadama taxi station just opposite the Chief Imam’s residence. According to

Loretta Aryee, Marketing Assistant for Tasty Tom, presented the gift items on behalf of the team and said, “We are here with these food items which have been specially produced by us to gift to our dear Muslim families. In view of the Salah festivities, we thought it would be best to support our brothers and sisters in the littlest way we can and that is why we are here with these boxes of Tasty Tom tomato mix in various sizes to donate to the Muslim community. With Tasty Tom tomato paste, you’re assured of the tastiest and most nutritious meals this festive”.

His Eminence Sheikh Osmanu Nuhu Sharabutu thanked Tasty Tom for their thoughtfulness and generosity and prayed for Allah’s blessings upon them.

“On behalf of the whole Islam community, I must say we are very grateful for these gifts. Just as you have thought to bless us with these gifts today, may Allah also bless your pockets, and grant you a favor and good luck in all your endeavors”.

Tasty Tom is an enriched tomato mix fortified with extra Fibre to improve digestion and Vitamins A, D, E, and K for ensuring good eyesight, immunity, muscular growth, and building strong bones. Tasty Tom is essential for making traditional recipes such as Jollof rice, light soup, gravy, etc.

Source: Ghana Web

Accra, – Stakeholders at the Annual Pension Industry Conference, have called on government to place pensions at the forefront of national issues devoid of political interferences.

They further advised the Government to ensure that funds meant for the National Pensions Regulatory Authority (NPRA), were applied solely for what they were earmarked for, to enable the regulator to effectively execute its mandate.

There were also recommendations from a panel discussion, requesting the government to give maximum tax holidays to informal sector workers; redefine pensionable salaries of formal sector contributors to include some allowances, and to consider the development of regulations and guidelines for the informal sector to enhance their enrollment onto the new pension scheme,.

They further called for the provision of adequate resources to enable the NPRA to undertake awareness creation on pensions and their benefits, to enhance the enrollment of more informal sector workers onto the Third Tier Pension Scheme.

The virtual Conference, which was on the theme: “Achieving Adequacy through Effective Management and Development of Pensions,” was organised by Penguard Business Solutions and Consulting, a pensions consulting and business solutions firm, in collaboration with Ghana Talks Business, an online business content platform.

Over 100 participants including private and public sector players from financial services, the NPRA, Securities and Exchange Commission, Government representatives, Corporate Trustees of various pension schemes, Administrators, Contributors, Sponsors, Fund Managers, Custodians, Board of Trustee representatives, and Labour Unions, joined the conference to discuss topics such as: Adequacy of pensions for the Ghanaian workforce-10 years into the 3-Tier Scheme, Developing the Economy through pensions, Riding on Technology to drive pension in Ghana, and cracking the code for Informal sector penetration.

Mr Ignatius Baffour-Awuah, Minister of Employment and Labour Relations, in his keynote address, said despite the initial implementation challenges, the 3-Tier Pension Scheme had seen an overall positive growth, especially for the private pensions industry, while the regulatory activities initiated by the government had also ensured real time monitoring and strengthened security of pension funds and investments.

He said the rationale was to ensure equity, fairness, and enhance pension benefits, as well as the retirement income security of workers both in the formal and informal sectors, and it was expected that a system of prudential supervision and regulation was always in place to protect scheme members’ interests and also safeguard the stability of the pension system.

The Minister said the NPRA undertook a holistic assessment of the pensions industry, and had trained Pension Trustees, and enhanced stakeholder engagements among other things to improve coverage across sectors, and government would continue to leverage on all technologies to enable the regulator to bring its services closer to the people.

He however, called for maximum collaboration from all industry players to support government’s efforts at providing effective guidance for the management of pensions, and commended also the NPRA for working hard to ensure that the 3-Tier Pension Scheme lived up to its bearing, by skillfully handling issues of the informal sector pensioners.

Mr Daniel Aidoo-Mensah, the Lead Consultant, NPRA, said contributors could now use their first and second pension Tiers as collateral for building loans or housing mortgages, but he encouraged the government to improve the low salary levels of workers for positive impacts on their pensions.

Ms Elizabeth Brago-Yeboah, the Co-Chair of the Conference, said the 3-Tier Pension Scheme, emanating from Ghana’s first pension reforms, chalked its 10th years in 2020, and the platform presented an opportunity for assessing its performance, educate the public to better connect to the industry, and to identify strategies and solutions to address key industry challenges and concerns to ensure sustainability.

It further sought to bridge the gap between major industry players such as the Regulators, trustees, fund managers, custodians and consultants, with the real sector, capital markets, the broader investment community, contributors, retirees, other pension plan beneficiaries and the public.

The delegates would collaboratively identify potential opportunities available to drive economic growth and support national economic development for the attainment of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Mr Hayford Amankwah, a Senior Manager, Standards and Compliant Directorate, NPRA, said a range of stakeholders had been trained for the smooth transition and enrollment of contributors, and the Authority was currently focused on the informal sector whose total coverage was as low as just three per cent as at the close of 2019.

He said the performance of Ghana’s pension fund managers would be crucial to the system’s success, because their judgments for high yield investments to ensure adequate profits for contributors at their retirement was very key.

Mr Seth Ansah Obiri, the Managing Director, United Pension Trustees Limited, a pensions Fund Company, described the informal sector as very slippery and difficult to handle because of the numerous bitter experiences that had created so much mistrust, but said cracking the code for effective industry penetration, would require intensified education and awareness creation.

Mr Romeo Bugyei, the Chief Executive Officer, of IT Consortium, suggested the expansion of innovative technology platforms such as Mobile Money (MoMo) applications, which had proven to be an effective way to rope-in informal sector workers onto the pension scheme and to improve their culture of savings, but said selling the idea had remained a challenge.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Koforidua, – Stakeholders in Nutrition intervention have called for tight supervision on the Ghana School Feeding Programme to ensure food served to school children are done in a safe environment and also address the nutritional needs of the children.

The call followed complaints by stakeholders at a meeting in Koforidua that food served to school children in many instances didn’t meet the four-star diet critical for the nutritional requirements of school-going children.

The four-star diet as recommended by UNICEF for children includes staples like cereals, starchy roots and tubers; legumes; fruits and vegetable sources as well as animal protection sources like milk and eggs.

The participants made the call at the Eastern Regional Stakeholders’ meeting on the school-aged Nutrition Interventions programme implemented by the Ghana Health Service in collaboration with the Ghana Education Service.

It was aimed at helping stakeholders to deepen their understanding of the nutrition programme and to agree on its operational steps at all levels.

The participants noted that the environment in which food was prepared and distributed to school children needed to be enhanced for optimal benefits.

Mrs Mary Osei Asamoah, Eastern Regional Director of Education noted that caterers were told to pre-finance and be paid later and should therefore have no excuse for not providing the right nutritional food requirement.

She said caterers were doing pure business and had been contracted based on criteria and so should not “hide behind non-payment to breach the agreement.”

She called on the Parent-Teacher Associations, School Management Committees, opinion and community leaders to report caterers who provided substandard foods to the respective Municipal and District Assemblies for action.

Earlier, Mrs Rhoda Kyei-Yamoah, Eastern Regional Nutrition officer indicated that the School-aged health and Nutrition Interventions were to improve the nutrition of children and adolescents for better health outcomes in the future.

She said Ghana was confronted with the triple burden of malnutrition, overweight/obesity and micronutrients deficiencies in children resulting in stunted growth, anaemia and the development of many diseases.

The Nutrition Interventions scale-up of the Girls Iron Folate Tablets (GIFT) given to schoolchildren, dewormed, vitamin A supplements and a proposal of an egg for each school child a week and improvement of the school feeding program to include the four-star diet.

Mrs Kyei-Yamoah said the Nutrition Interventions programme would be piloted in 60 schools in 12 districts in the Eastern Region and called on all stakeholders to support its implementation.

Nana Oppong Owusu, Chief of Jumapo, who was a participant noted that the caterers under the school feeding always used delayed payments as an excuse in not providing standard food to children.

He, therefore, called on the management of the school feeding programme to find ways of addressing issues contributing to the poor implementation of the programme.

Source: Ghana News Agency

John Terry has left his role as Aston Villa assistant head coach to pursue his “objective of becoming a manager”.

The former Chelsea and England defender joined Villa boss Dean Smith’s coaching staff in October 2018.

Terry helped Smith guide Villa to Premier League promotion in 2019.

“It has always been my ambition to move into football management and, providing the right opportunity presents itself, I feel ready to take up such a challenge,” said the 40-year-old.

Terry said it was “an extremely difficult decision to move on” and added: “I want to be as respectful to the manager and everyone at Aston Villa as I can. Having given my future serious consideration over the summer, I don’t feel it is fair to move into a new season without being certain of seeing that through.

“My immediate plan is to spend some quality time with my family and, thereafter, hopefully, take up some invitations to visit clubs and managers around Europe to develop my aim and objective of becoming a manager.”

Terry was linked with the vacant positions – both now filled – at Bournemouth and Celtic in February.

Following promotion to the Premier League, Villa reached the Carabao Cup final in 2019-20 and, after surviving on the final day of their first season back in the top flight, finished 11th last term.

Smith said: “I’m disappointed to lose John as part of my coaching staff but fully understand and respect his decision.

“John has played a huge role in the success the club has enjoyed over the past few years and has been very supportive of myself throughout that period.

“I have no doubts he will go on to be a first-class manager in his own right and wish him well for the future.”

Source: Modern Ghana

Accra, July 25, GNA – President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has pressed Ghanaians to respect COVID-19 protocols before the country witnesses an exponential growth in the number of new infections of the disease.

In a nationally televised address Sunday to keep the country abreast of the coronavirus situation and measures being employed by the Government to mitigate the situation, he said Ghanaians needed to “remain steadfast in our adherence to the protocols, so we can overcome this third-wave of infections.”

The President, who last addressed the nation on the matter some ten weeks ago, said the country, per data from the Ghana Health Service, was experiencing a third wave of COVID-19 infection driven by the Delta Variant, which had led to, in recent weeks, a rise in hospitalisation and Intensive Care Unit bed uptakes and deaths.

As at Saturday, July 22, 2021, 021, the total number of active cases stood at 4,094. Some 101,170 persons have since March 2020 been infected with the virus, and 96,255 persons have recovered from the disease. The country lost 823 persons since the onset of the pandemic, with 40 of those deaths over the last ten weeks.

Greater Accra and Greater Kumasi Metropolitan areas remain the hotspots of infections.

“This entire development is very alarming, especially as we are being told by officials of the Ghana Health Service, that the recovery rate is on the decline… it is obvious from the data that we have let our guard down, with many going about their daily duties in clear breach and disregard for the protocols,” said the President.

“At a time when the economy is on the rebound, and business activities picking up, we must do everything possible to contain this outbreak. We cannot afford to return to the days of partial lockdowns, which brought considerable hardships and difficulties for all of us,” he stressed.

President Akufo-Addo bemoaned the low compliance to mask wearing, saying the happening was extremely troubling, and warned that henceforth, persons who flouted the directive on masking in public would face the full rigors of the law.

“The wearing of masks in public places, fellow Ghanaians, continues to be mandatory. There are no exceptions to this rule, and strict conformity with this protocol will be enforced. Anyone found to be flouting this directive will have him or herself to blame. We cannot afford to allow the recklessness of a few to endanger the lives of the majority of persons in the country.”

The President said the set COVID-19 protocols implemented since March 2020 had kept the country in good stead, “and we have no choice but to return to the strict implementation of some of them.”

Thus, henceforth, until the entire adult population are vaccinated against the disease, there shall be strict observance of all safety protocols, especially places of worship, at funerals, market places, lorry stations, workplaces, as well as all other place likely to have people congregate.

The President stated that as part of enhanced measures to curb the spread of the disease, all events associated with funerals must be held in open air spaces and should not go beyond two hours, with strict observance of the one metre social distancing rule by sympathizers.

Henceforth, all post event receptions are banned, and handshakes are to be avoided. Also the enhanced hygience protocol and wearing of mask is mandatory.

One-week funeral celebrations are restricted solely to family members, and should not exceed a duration of two hours, the President stressed, and urged businesses, workplaces and their owners and management to implement strict staff management and workplace protocols to curb the spread of the COVID-19.

Reminding Ghanaians of the socio-economic impact of pandemic, President Akufo-Addo said “we must remember that the virus continues to jeopardise our lives and livelihoods. Without doubt, God has been gracious to us. Nonetheless, I ask this evening that we remain steadfast in our adherence to the protocols, so we can overcome this third-wave of infections.”

“If we do so, we will soon be able to return to our normal way of life,” he said, adding, “Zero active cases must remain the overarching goal, and I have no doubt that, together, and with the help of God, this too shall pass, for the Battle is still the Lord’s.”

Source: Ghana News Agency

Tokyo,- World number one Novak Djokovic made light work of Jan-Lennard Struff on Monday to continue his progress at the Olympic Games, and he revealed he is thriving off the energy in Tokyo as he copes with the weight of expectation.

Djokovic is aiming to complete a Golden Slam this year, having already swept up the Australian Open, French Open and Wimbledon titles.

Olympic gold is next on his list, before the Serbian will head to the US Open.

Struff was no match for the 34-year-old on Monday, as he teed up a round-of-16 tie with Alejandro Davidovich Fokina by beating the German 6-4, 6-3.

Djokovic will be joined by fellow favourites Alexander Zverev and Daniil Medvedev, as the singles competition begins to hot up.

Djokovic is aiming to become the first man in the Open Era to complete a Golden Slam, though even if he did not have such a feat in his sights, he would still have the expectation of clinching gold, given Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal chose not to compete.

“I think that once you reach the top spots of the rankings and start winning slams, you’re going to experience different kinds of expectations and pressure from yourself and from people around,” Djokovic said.

“It’s kind of a normal thing that a lot of athletes from our sport have been experiencing in the past and it’s going to happen in the future.”

The 20-time grand slam champion also revealed he is splitting his time between a hotel and the Olympic athletes’ village, as he looks to soak up the atmosphere in Tokyo, despite the ongoing coronavirus restrictions.

“I only stayed in the Olympic village the first few days in Rio, then I moved when the competition started to the hotel,” he explained.

“Here, I’m between the hotel and the village but I’m spending every single day in the village mostly and the hotel is mostly for sleeping over, basically, and having my own routine in the morning.

“Other than that, I’m always in the village because it’s just so special. Most of the tournaments I’m in a hotel anyway and this [Olympic Games] happens once in four years. Of course, I try to balance things out with keeping my own routines and things that make me feel good, but I’m thriving also on that wonderful energy in the village.”

Zverev moved confidently into the round of 16, defeating Colombia’s Daniel Elahi Galan Riveros 6-2, 6-2 in just 71 minutes.

In fact, his greatest nemesis was the spidercam, which came a little too close for the German’s comfort.

Zverev clipped a ball at the camera suspended above his head as he prepared to serve – the world number five claiming he almost hit the wire holding the device in place when he threw the ball.

“It was three meters above me, I almost hit the wire rope when I was throwing the ball. It just hung too low,” he said, though the chair umpire disagreed.

There was ultimately no negative impact on Zverev’s performance, and the 24-year-old will face Georgia’s Nikoloz Basilashvili for a place in the last eight.

Basilashvili got the better of Italian world number 26 Lorenzo Sonego 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 to secure his progression.

The gulf in quality between Daniil Medvedev and Sumit Nagal of India was clear to see, as the world number two – who is representing the Russian Olympic Committee – cruised through in just 66 minutes.

Nagal, ranked 160th in the world, dropped serve in the first game of the match and never looked likely to recover, and the Australian Open runner-up breezed into the next round 6-2, 6-1.

Medvedev will next go up against Italy’s Fabio Fognini. The Russian has faced the world number 31 on four occasions, winning three times.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Real Tamale United has staged a return to the Ghana Premier League after beating Unity FC 2 – 0 at the Aliu Mahama Sports Stadium on Sunday, 25th July, 2021.

They won the Division One League (Zone 1) with 65 points ahead of Bofoakwa Tano with 63 points.

The Sunyani-based club drew 0 – 0 against rivals Breakum Arsenal at the Golden City Park.

RTU, one of the elder clubs was relegated to Division One League 10-years ago after 33-years in the Ghanaian elite football competition.

The club after one year in the second tie league made a quick come back to the GPL but suffered another demotion to the Division after the 2012/13 season.

RTU will now prepare for the 2021/22 Ghana Premier League season which is expected to commence possibly in September 2021.

Meanwhile, Bibiani Gold Stars and Accra Lions from Zone II and III have also earned promotion to the Ghana Premier League next season.

Source: Modern Ghana