Day: January 23, 2022

Accra,- The Civil and Local Government Staff Association of Ghana (CLOGSAG) has kicked against the appointment of Mrs Henrietta Lamptey as Registrar of the Births and Deaths Registry, Ghana.

Ms Henrietta Lamptey, a Research and Development practitioner, was appointed by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo as the Registrar of the Birth and Deaths Registry.

Prior to her appointment, Mrs Lamptey worked with the Ministry of Local Government, Decentralisation and Rural Development and ActionAid Ghana, a Non-Government Organisation.

Her appointment was in accordance with article 195 of the 1992 Constitution, and Section two of Registration of Birth and Death ACT 2020 (Act 1027), which requires that the President appoints a Registrar of Births and Deaths.

As part of her function, the Registrar would be responsible for the day-to-day administration of the affairs of the Registry and shall keep and maintain the national register of births, foetal deaths, and deaths.

However, CLOGSAG, in a letter dated January 20, 2022, signed by its Executive Secretary, Mr Isaac Bampoe Addo, addressed to the Minister of Local Government, Decentralisation and Rural Development, said the appointment process was at variance with normal practice.

It said: “Madam Henrietta Lamptey was a Personal Assistant to the immediate past Minister of Local Government, Decentralisation and Rural Development, Hajia Alima Mahama, and currently Ghana’s Ambassador to the United States of America,” and that her appointment was inappropriate because “she has overtly shown her political colours and cannot be part of the Civil Service.”

The Association said it believed the appointment of Madam Henrietta Lamptey violated the mode of appointment in the Civil Service and should be deemed to be “null and void.”

Referencing a Supreme Court ruling, the Association said: “…No Civil Servant must owe or be seen to owe appointment or promotion to partisan activities since visible partisanship by Civil Servants would severely impair if not destroy the public perception of neutrality.”

“The letter of appointment ought to be withdrawn with immediate effect and Mr Seth Bosompen Kissi, the acting Registrar of the Births and Deaths, be retained at post without further coercion,” CLOGSAG said.

It said just as its members were sanctioned to the extent that their appointments were terminated when they violated the neutrality principle, it was unfair for politicians to meddle in the day-to-day administration of the Civil Service or the Local Government Service.

It asked Mr Bosompem Kissi not to hand over to Madam Lamptey because “her appointment as Registrar, is illegal,” stressing that handing over procedures were determined by the Office of the Head of Civil Service (OHCS) and not the Minister.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Tarkwa (W/R),- Some victims of Thursday’s tragic explosion at Appiatse receiving treatment at the Tarkwa Municipal hospital are reluctant to be discharged.

This, the hospital authorities have described the patients’ posture as challenging, as their continuous stay burdened the facility.

“The challenge however, is that because their homes have been destroyed and they have nowhere to go, some of the patients who are due to be discharged still want to stay at the hospital”.

Mr. Chris Asher, a Physician Assistant at the hospital told the Ghana News Agency (GNA) that one more person has died.

The victim, a male, who sustained critical injuries and was receiving treatment at the Tarkwa Municipal Hospital died on Friday afternoon, when hospital authorities were making arrangements to transfer him to a higher health facility.

His death brings to 14, the number of people who have died from the unfortunate incident leaving dozens homeless and several others injured.

Mr Asher said about 60 of the victims were receiving treatment at the facility and some of the victims who sustained life threatening injuries including 11-year-old girl were airlifted to Korle Bu Teaching Hospital, 37 Military Hospital, Effia Nkwata and other higher Medical facilities for treatment.

He said almost half of those who were sent to the Tarkwa Municipal hospital with minor injuries were treated and discharged and was optimistic that more would be discharged in the coming days.

Madam Grace Morgan who is three months pregnant was among the victims receiving treatment at the Apinto Hospital, where one of the five who were sent there for treatment had been discharged.

She has successfully undergone a surgery to extract a metal that was stuck in her thigh as a result of the incident.

Madam Morgan was in a stable condition and responding to treatment when the GNA visited her at the hospital.

Also among the victims was a four-year-old boy who sustained bruises on the belly, hand, leg as well as the mouth.

All the others, according to Madam Emelia Nyani, a nurse on duty were responding to treatment.

She said a medical team went to the scene and provided first aid to the victims before they were transported to the various health facilities.

She said the emergency centre of the hospital could only admit five people due to its small capacity and called for an expansion of the emergency ward.

On Thursday January 20, a truck carrying mining explosives exploded in the Appiatse community after colliding with a motorcycle. The explosion spread quickly to the whole community, leaving many dead and injured.

Dozens of residents have been displaced as a result.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Anloga (VR), – The Volta Regional Coordinating Council (VRCC) has lauded the Anloga District Assembly for being one of the best performing District Assemblies in the region.

The infant District carved out of a larger Keta Municipality and established in 2019 had, per the national and regional rankings, performed creditably and had the potential to do even better in subsequent rankings to benefit the people.

The Assembly got the commendation when the Regional Minister and his team from the VRCC met with the staff there as part of his tour of all 18 MDAs in the region.

Rev Isaac Adja Tettey, Volta Regional Economic Planning Officer described Anloga as one of “the shining Assemblies” in the region and its performance, “magic”.

He said since its establishment, the District had placed third in the region on three occasions and fourth, once and noted that with little push, it could top the list of districts in the region.

“Keep up the good work and I see Anloga coming up and displacing Hohoe and Ho,” Rev Tettey encouraged.

Dr Archibald Yao Letsa, the Regional Minister, who expressed satisfaction at the Assembly’s performance urged the staff to work even harder, display good work ethics by not reporting late to work, leaving before time and absenting themselves from work.

He asked the staff to remain disciplined to improve on revenue collection, which must be used for development projects to motivate residents so that they would be more willing to honour their tax obligations to the Assembly stressing, “We should all do the right thing.”

Mr Seth Yormewu, District Chief Executive (DCE) of Anloga thanked the Minister and his team for the visit, which he believed would motivate staff of the Assembly to put in more for the common good of all.

The DCE explained their good performance stemmed from “team work” and assured that “the next assessment, we’re going to be the first in the region.”

He noted that while the Assembly had made some strides in development projects, there were still some challenges—bad road networks restricting access to some parts of the district, tidal waves destruction and absence of fertilizers under government’s Planting for Food and Jobs programme.

Mr Yormewu appealed to the Regional Minister to use his good offices to facilitate responses to the problems to make lives better for the people in the district.

The visit to Anloga ended with the DCE leading Dr Letsa and his team to some ongoing projects in the area like the District Assembly Complex, DCE’s residency and the site for the proposed Anloga District Hospital under the Agenda 111 project.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Accra,– Dr Yaw Osei Adutwum, Minister of Education has called on Old Student Associations to initiate projects that will enhance effective teaching and learning for their Alma Mater.

He said for a nation to be developed, there was the need for the people to support the government in its efforts of providing quality education for all Ghanaians.

Dr Adutwum, who is also a Member of Parliament for Bosomtwe, made the call in an address on his behalf at the 25th Anniversary celebration of the 1996 A-Level Year Group of the Labone Senior High School (LOSA 96 A-Level) in Accra on Sunday.

It was on the theme ‘Harmonious Relationship with Old Students Association—A Critical Factor in the Provision of Quality Education in Ghana’’.

Dr Adutwum said in the technological age, a fundamental function of quality education was important to produce a knowledge-based work-force for national development.

He said if the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) Four on quality education was to be achieved, availability of quality human and material resources for increased productivity was critical.

‘It is with this background that the Nana Akufo-Addo led government has greatly prioritized education in his regime’, Dr Adutwum said.

He said with the introduction of Free SHS and the inventive curriculum in Literacy, Numeracy, Information Technology, and an enhancement of E-Learning and the introduction of Science, Technology, English and Mathematics (STEM) Academies to boost STEM education in Ghana, it had become clear that government alone could not meet the demands for supply of education materials hence the need for stakeholder participation.

‘I strongly believe that it is never out of place for past students of senior high schools who were privileged to have been educated and groomed by such institutions and are now in the position to support their alma mater to endeavour to do in a bid to complement government’s efforts at providing infrastructure in our senior high schools’’, the Minister said.

Dr Adutwum said the contributions of old students association was crucial inn Ghana’s educational system in the development of infrastructure, provision of books and other items and the organization of events that would improve the institutions.

He said old students equally served as role models through visitation to the school and school events to interact with the students and encourage them to take their studies seriously.

‘At any point in time, projects selected by Old Students to be executed should feed into the overall projects and programmes endorsed by School managements.

Dr Adutwum appealed to Management of Senior High Schools not to see Old Students as rivals or competitors, but consider them as key partners and collaborators in the Schools administration.

Mrs Cynthia Ntim, Headmistress of the school, commended the association for their efforts at providing the school with infrastructural developments.

She appealed to other Year Groups to follow the shining examples of LOSA 1996 by contributing meaningfully to the enhancement of quality education in the school.

Mr Mighty Gbeve President of LOSA 1996 said the Year Group had renovated the Girls Dormitory, washrooms and had also donated 50 pieces of ceiling fans and two polytanks to the school at the cost of Ghc65,000 to enhance effective teaching and learning.

He charged the students to take their studies seriously to achieve their future aspirations.

Mr Joshua Akrong, President of the Labone Senior High School Old Students Association commended the year groups for their contributions to the development of the school and pledged the association’s commitment to support in the infrastructural development in coming years.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Tarkwa (W/R) – The directive by Minerals Commission to halt operations at Maxam Ghana Limited as a result of the explosion that occurred at Appiatse in the Western Region will affect the mining industry.

Mr Stephen Asante Yamoah, Mine Manager of AngloGold Ashanti Iduapriem Mine revealed this to journalists when Mr Isaac Mwinbelle, Western Regional Manager of Minerals Commission led a team to shut down the firm.

He explained that Maxam Ghana Limited supplied about 40 percent of the large scale operations in Ghana, and were currently working through the Minerals Commission and other explosive suppliers in the country to see how best they could close the gap during this period.

“As industry players, the enforcement of the regulation is necessary, though the order would have a far reaching consequence on the industry as far as production is concerned; we support it, we will work closely with the regulator and service providers to make sure that we reduce the impact of this directive to the barest minimum”.

Explaining more on Maxam Ghana Limited operations, Mr Yamoah said “we have kept them, on our mines for almost 30 years. We started this business together and we have been in partnership for all this while, so I have no reservations in terms of their performance”.

He stressed that “being a firm that aspires for excellence, we sometimes identify some shortcomings and fix them within the shortest possible time.

“That shows how as a service provider, they respond quickly to the issue of safety and compliance to the regulations so I have no reservations that they are good service providers” Mr Yamoah said.

He said the incident, which razed down the Appiatse community was quite unfortunate, but they will wait for the final outcome of the investigations and work on their shortcomings.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Ghanaian creative content producer and writer, Ekow Barnes, whose latest work is a campaign for global sportswear brand New Balance, is launching a new production company.

The company, called WB Group, brings together creatives across the African continent to meet the growing demand for high-quality production work.
Ekow Barnes, with years of production experience, has worked for many global brands including Mercedes Benz, Johnnie Walker, Away, Birkenstock and Facebook. Launching this new company with his co-partner, William Annoh is part of their vision to create a high-value team on the continent that can serve the global demand for creative production and services.

“Having so much creative talent on the continent, the launch of WB Group simply seeks to harness the wealth of African creativity through creative collaborations to produce for brands – data-backed
and strategy-led visual stories that are nuanced with African values and exuberance” he says.

“WB Group is a leading next-gen production studio that specializes in still and moving images and exists to champion the creative arts agenda by sharing relevant stories and brands that matter.

We work in tandem with brands to create, produce, and distribute thought-provoking, purpose-driven content for ad editorial, cultural and other media projects. Working with teams of artsy photographers, artists, producers and crew, WB Group brings partner brand’s visions to life while averting stereotypes and re-representing marginalized communities through visuals and data-driven storytelling,” reads the newly formed company’s profile.

Setting the tone for the company’s excellence, the debuting campaign produced by WB Group for global streetwear brand: New Balance, features striking visuals of the New Balance ‘The Lion Roars’ boots designed for the Senegalese football player, Sadio Mané. Being an African focused production company, the visuals take a step from New Balance’s regular style and introduce new sceneries with African overtones that elevate the campaign and tell a compelling
story.

Source: Ghana Web

Ghana’s largest privately-owned indigenous bank and the Ghanaian pioneer of agency banking, Fidelity Bank Ghana, has held a series of engagement forums for its Agents nationwide on the theme “Mitigating Risks in the Agent Banking Business”.

The engagement forums were held in Tamale, Kumasi, and Takoradi with the final forum being held in Accra for both Accra and Eastern territories at Atinka Village. Among the activities that characterized the forum was the recognition given to Agents for their sterling performance in 2021.

The forum also served as a platform for representatives of the various departments of the bank to train the Agents on best practices in their operations.

To climax the annual Fidelity Agent Engagement Forum, S-Duah Enterprise from the Ashanti Region was crowned the 2021 Overall Best Agent and was presented with a motor bicycle and a certificate of recognition.

The best Agents from each of the five territories were also presented with certificates and Samsung 32” smart TVs. The first runners-up received Nasco double-door fridges, while the most improved agents were awarded LG sound systems and the best Agent Attendants went home with microwaves.

Speaking at the event, Nana Esi Idun-Arkhurst, the Divisional Director, Retail Banking of Fidelity Bank Ghana, pledged the bank’s unflinching support to Agents and commended them for their significant contribution to the successes chalked by the bank; most notably their contribution to Fidelity’s financial inclusion drive.

“We appreciate the milestones our Agents have achieved as they have boosted financial inclusion in many communities. To ensure that this trend continues, Fidelity Bank is committed to improving our agency banking operations so that we can better serve even more customers,” she stated.

Nana Esi added that Fidelity Bank will keep expanding its Agent network to bring banking closer to the doorsteps of Ghanaians and she noted that the bank also intends to create employment for more Ghanaians across the country.

Addressing the Agents, Fidelity Bank’s Head of Agency Banking, Dr. David Okyere, stated that, “Key amongst our 2022 initiatives will be our Agent Promotion campaign as well as the introduction of our Agent locator feature; a tool on the Fidelity Mobile App that will show the locations of all Fidelity Agent Points across the country.”

Dr. Okyere also noted that after a successful pilot programme, the bank will this year begin to offer liquidity support to Agents.

Fidelity Agency Banking was introduced as an alternative distribution channel after Fidelity Bank became the first bank to receive approval from the Bank of Ghana to fully operate the agency banking model in Ghana in 2014. Today, Fidelity Bank has about five thousand (5000) Agents across all the regions of Ghana.

Fidelity Bank was adjudged the 2021 Agency Banking Bank of the Year at the 2021 Instinct Business Finance Innovation Awards and is currently the market leader in agency banking in Ghana.

About Fidelity Bank Ghana

In a little over a decade, Fidelity Bank Ghana has grown from a discount house to a Tier-1 Bank and is now the largest privately-owned Ghanaian Bank in Ghana. The bank currently serves its approximately 2 million customers in 75 branches across Ghana and is a leader in the digital banking space.

The bank has two subsidiaries, Fidelity Asia Bank Limited, which is a wholly-owned subsidiary in Malaysia, and Fidelity Securities Limited, an asset management firm. In a short period of time, Fidelity Bank has become a household name in Ghana by adopting a customer-centric culture and delivering consistently on the promise of making a difference in the lives of all stakeholders.

Source: Ghana Web

Tarkwa (W/R), – Minerals Commission has ordered Maxam Ghana Limited, a mines support service company in Tarkwa to cease operations following the explosion at Appiatse in the Prestea Huni-Valley Municipality.

Mr Isaac Mwinbelle, the Western Regional Manager of Minerals Commission, who issued a prohibition notice to the company through the manager of the site, added that “you are not to carry out any other operations till further notice”

He pointed out that “even though the accident did not happen at Maxam Ghana Limited site it was from here that the materials were transported before the accident occurred. So we think that it is better to stop the source so that once we put everything in place, then operations will commence”.

The Regional Manager hinted that “The Legislative Instrument (L.I 2177) which is the explosion regulation, indicates that if an inspector has any reason to suspect that some kind of harm or accident can occur from operating any site, we have the mandate to ask them to halt its activities, while we carry out further investigations”.

He added that to ensure Maxam Ghana Limited complied solely to the directives of the Commission, the District officer in Tarkwa had been assigned to the site to monitor closely and ensure all the directives were adhered to.

“So the Manager of the site should remain here and do other remedial work to ensure the safety of whatever you have here and the safety of the public” Mr Mwinbelle said.

He also mentioned that since investigations had just commenced, it would be premature to indicate when Maxam Ghana Limited would begin operations, stressing that, “depending on our investigations, our superiors will decide when the company will resume”.

Source: Ghana News Agency