Day: March 13, 2023

A wooden retail shop at the Tema Station in Accra was on Sunday gutted by fire, causing damage to items worth about GHC 20, 000. The fire, which started around 1400 hours, would have razed other shops, but for the intervention of some ‘street boys’, who doused the blaze. Kennedy Oppong, a sachet water vendor and one of the boys, who broke into the shop to put out the fire, told the Ghana News Agency that he suspected that an electrical fault might have caused it. ‘When we broke into the shop, I realised that the socket with electrical cables was burning together with the bags,’ he said. The Ministry Fire Service arrived 30 minutes after the fire had been put out. A fire officer, who spoke on anonymity, said they had gathered some information and would investigate it to find out the actual cause of the fire. Madam Comfort Obiyaa, whose shop and bags got burnt, ran to the scene in tears and told the Agency that aside a GHC20, 000 lost, she had loan commitments and school fees to pay. ‘I am doomed, this is the only source of livelihood for my two children and I..,’ Madam Obiyaa groaned.

Source: Ghana News Agency

The Builsa North Municipal Assembly in the Upper East Region has disbursed GH28,236.00 to Persons with Disabilities (PWDs) from the area, who are in educational institutions, to assist in their upkeep. Out of the total amount, the Assembly disbursed an amount of GH14,936.00 to PWDs in tertiary institutions including Universities in the country, while GH13,300.00 went to PWDs at the Bolgatanga Rehabilitation Centre. Apart from a cheque for GH12,600.00 that was presented to management of the Centre for the upkeep of the PWDs, all seven PWDs from the area each received GH100.00 to assist them buy some basic items. Madam Vida Akantagriwen Anaab, the Builsa North Municipal Chief Executive (MCE), who presented the cheque and cash to Management and trainees at the Centre, said the Assembly was concerned about the welfare of PWDs in the Municipality. She said PWDs should not be relegated to the background but should be supported to achieve their God-given talents and not be liabilities to their families and society. The MCE, in the company of Mr Godfred Bamba, the Municipal Coordinating Director, after the presentation, toured the various classrooms and encouraged the trainees not to despair, but take their training seriously and forge to become responsible citizens in the country. ‘Disability is not inability, take your training here seriously so that your stay here will not be in vain,’ Madam Anaab told the trainees. The Manager of the Centre, Mr Ben Arabogo Azumah, who received the cheque, thanked the MCE and the Assembly on behalf of Reverend Dr Comfort Asare, the National Director of the Department of Social Welfare, management, and staff of the Centre for the support. ‘We really appreciate the support and your visit to this Centre. In fact the Builsa North Municipal Assembly is one of the Assemblies we rely on for the survival of this Centre. The Assembly has never disappointed us,’ Mr Azumah said. He said management of the Centre would ensure that the support would be put to clever use to benefit the trainees and appealed to other Assemblies in the Region to emulate the gesture by the Builsa North Municipal Assembly. The Manager said the Centre was closed about 10 years ago for lack of feeding grants and learning materials but started operations in August 2011 with six courses including fashion design, rural craft, leather work, smock weaving, hairdressing, Information and Communications Technology (ICT). He said the Centre had a total trainee population of 38, and used the opportunity to appeal to stakeholders for support to achieve its mandate of training PWDs to boost the productive sector.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Afro beat, Afro-pop artiste Eric Wilson popularly known in the music industry as Iyce Bee has said he gets his motivation from the challenges he goes through when composing a song. In an interview with Ghana News Agency Tema Entertainment Desk, the Afrobeat artiste disclosed his intention to produce more singles this year. ‘My first track for this year was released earlier in January which was titled Sugar Daddy which talked about love and has got many people streaming it on audiomack,’ he stated. Iyce Bee explained that his ambition for the next five years was to become one of the world’s biggest artists and be recognized in the music industry. He commended his family and close friends for the massive support they had given him throughout his music journey. He said he would embark on a collaboration with Nii Funny which would be dropping soon on all streaming platforms titled ‘Chitchat’. The Afro beat and Afro-pop artist promised his fans of producing more tracks through hard work and determination this year.

Source: Ghana News Agency

This year’s edition of the Ambassador for a Day initiative focused on gender equality. The three winners of the competition – Esperansa Naydenova from Vulchedrum, Ipek Kyoseibish [name might be misspelled] from Ruse, and Niya Georgieva from Pernik – got to experience a day in the life of an ambassador after submitting a short essay on how they would promote equality between men and women in Bulgaria. The winners took part in the everyday work of British Ambassador Rob Dixon and Vice President Iliana Iotova. They met with Deputy Foreign Minister Velislava Petrova, representatives of UNICEF and Animus Association, and the Ambassadors of Ireland, Albania, Finland, and Pakistan. They took a course in leadership skills. Welcoming the three winners at the President’s Administration building, Vice President Iotova told them to not be afraid of defending their positions even when faced with resistance and disapproval. ‘Be more confident in yourselves, only in that way will you achieve the change for the better that we are all striving towards,’ Iotova said, as quoted by the President’s press secretariat. Education is at the basis of the road to development, she added. The Ambassador for a Day campaign is a flagship initiative of the British Embassy in Sofia, launched in 2018 to encourage young girls to develop their potential and share their views on current issues. Ambassador for a Day is a national essay competition for girls between the ages of 14 and 18. The participants in the competition come from all over Bulgaria and have the opportunity to spend a day with leaders from around the world who represent their countries at the highest level.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Staff of the Kadjebi District Directorate of the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE), together with some schools in the area have embarked on an educational tour to Mountain Afadjato and Wli Waterfalls. The students numbering about 100, were from the Kadjebi Roman Catholic, Evangelical Presbyterian Central Junior High School, and Victory Preparatory Schools respectively in Asato, who were members of the Civic Education Clubs (CECs), a voluntary study group on the 1992 Constitution. Mr Daniel Agbesi Latsu, the Kadjebi District Director of the NCCE in an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA), said the tour formed part of their CECs activities. He said the idea of the Club formation in 1996 was conceived as a strategy to reach out to people, especially the youth, with an understanding of the principles and objectives of the 1992 Constitution as the fundamental law of the land. Mr Latsu said the students needed to visit the sites personally since ‘seeing is believing’ and that as they were at the sites, they would be able to write on them perfectly in an examination compared to those who had not visited those scenes. He said it was believed that the human brain stored visuals faster than audiovisuals, hence the participants would not forget about the experience they had. He appealed to the students to share their experiences and information from NCCE Officials with their peers, parents and the public as civic education was a shared responsibility. Mr Latsu said the country’s desire to have a well-informed and critical-minded youth capable of promoting and sustaining its democracy could only be achieved if the youth were civically conscious and conversant, with their civic and moral responsibilities. He said a similar educational tour would be organised for the remaining 34 CECs in the district. Mr George Attara, Kadjebi R.C JHS CEC Patron told GNA that the excursion would make their work in the classroom easier, as the learners had gone to see for themselves things about the sites they learnt in books. Miss Justine Zigah, a student of Kadjebi R.C JHS, said they had learnt a lot and were going to share the knowledge with their colleagues who could not take part in the tour. While mountain Afadjato is 885 meters (2,903.54 feet) above sea level, the Wli Waterfalls (locally known as Agumatsa waterfalls) is 80 meters high and the highest waterfall in West Africa.

Source: Ghana News Agency

A High Court in Accra Monday dismissed an application filed by Goldfields Ghana seeking to stay execution, pending an appeal, of its judgement delivered on February 6, this year. The High Court on February 6, 2023, ordered Goldfields Ghana to pay Raphael Setorwofia, an ex-employer, 72 months basic salary following his retirement on occupational health grounds in June 2018. The Court presided over by Justice William Boampong held that the order was in accordance with the Staff Collective Agreement, which was regulated by the plaintiff’s employer. The Court said its judgement on February 6, 2023, ‘was based on admissions made by the defendant in a response to a request to admit facts as well as its statement of defence’. The Court, therefore, awarded cost ofGH2,000 against Goldfields Ghana. Mr Tsatsu Tsikata represented the plaintiff. Mr Danso Amoah appeared with Mr Bentsi-Enchill, who held the brief of Mr Kimathi Kuenyehia, for the defendant.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Stakeholders at a forum to mark this year’s International Women’s Day (IWD) in Tamale have expressed the need for all to invest in technology and innovation to increase women’s interest, access, and participation in the digital world. They argued that ensuring digital literacy for women would improve their economic empowerment, which would spill over to families, societies, and the national economy. The participants included representatives from civil society organisations, public institutions, youth groups, and selected students amongst others. It was organised by the Savannah Women Integrated Development Agency-Ghana (SWIDA-GH), an NGO, in partnership with Plan International Ghana, the World Food Programme, the African Women Development Fund, the Global Fund for Women, and the Department of Gender. The global theme for this year’s event was, ‘DigitALL Innovation and Technology for Gender Equality’, while the local theme chosen by SWIDA-GH was, ‘It is Possible Building Supportive Systems and Opportunities for Women and Girls in a DigitALL World’. Miss Gyamila Abdulwahabi, Head of the World Food Programme Ghana Sub-Office in Tamale, speaking during the forum, called for a gender approach to innovation, technology, and digital education. She said this could increase awareness among womengirls and menboys on their rights, roles and responsibilities and ensure no-one was left behind. Hajia Alimah Sagito-Saeed, Executive Director of SWIDA-GH said despite the volume of technology-related ventures, few women were engaged in the field compared to men. She called on the government to make the internet accessible, improve inclusiveness and implement policies to close gender gaps in all sectors. Dr Hanifa Mumuni Napari, Lecturer at the Tamale Technical University said the full potential of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) education could not be explored without technological tools hence need to make them accessible to young girls. She urged parents to introduce girls to information technology programmes at tender ages, and called on the public to mobilise support for women entrepreneurs. Mr Prosper Amuquandoh, President of the World Energy Council’s Future Energy expressed the need for a positive attitude and mindset to increase women’s access to technology saying no course or job was designed for only men. He encouraged young ladies to take up STEM courses urging women in the informal sector to undergo literacy training on the use of technology.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Dr Kwasi Senanu Djokoto, the Acting Volta Regional Director of Health, on Monday, said the Ketu South Municipality has recorded 10 cases of Measles. He however disclosed to the Ghana News Agency, that the arrival of the vaccines was ‘timely, appropriate and God sent,’ towards reducing the effect of an escalation of the outbreak of the disease’. Dr Djokoto however said the region’s exercise to immunise the babies would hopefully start on Tuesday, March 14, 2023, as consignments were being distributed to the Municipal and District Health Directorates for onward transportation to the various facilities. He appealed to parents especially nursing mothers to avail their babies to the hospitals for vaccination, to make up for the missed opportunities. Dr Djokoto commended the media for bringing the shortage of vaccines onto the front burner, which resulted in expedited action to prevent a national calamity. There was a shortage of vaccines for three childhood killer diseases, Measles, Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) and Polio, which threatened the country’s effort with the Expanded Programme on Immunisation (EPI). The Ministry of Health and the Ghana Health Service on Saturday received the first consignment of vaccines for the three childhood illnesses, and an announcement by the Ministry of Information, through a press statement said distribution to various regions and facilities was underway. The statement indicated that more of the vaccines were expected in the country in the coming weeks from multiple sources.

Source: Ghana News Agency