Day: January 12, 2024

An Adentan Circuit Court has sentenced a mobile banker to six years imprisonment for embezzling GHC162,700 belonging to customers of a Rural Bank.

This was after the Rural Bank (name withheld) is said to have audited her accounts.

Grace Addy, 29, is said to have collected the money and channeled the money through other mobile money accounts for her personal use and to facilitate her travelling abroad.

Charged with forgery of documents, and two counts of stealing, Grace pleaded guilty.

Grace was sentenced to two years imprisonment on the charge of forgery of documents, three years on the charge of stealing GHC20,000, belonging to customer and six years for stealing GHC142,700.

Sentences are to run concurrently, the court presided over by Mrs Sedinam Awo Balokah said.

Prosecution led by Chief Inspector A. Fosu told the relieving Judge that the complainant was the Manager of the Rural Bank name withheld at Madina.

Prosecution said the accused person was an employee of the bank who collects the bank’s cus
tomers money directly at their various places of abode and workplaces.

The court heard that the complainant reported that on December 27, 2023, an audit was conducted on the activities of the accused.

It said the audit revealed that the accused person had stolen an amount of GHC142,700, belonging to the bank’s customer which she had collected from customers but failed to account for the money to the bank.

Prosecution said during investigations, it was realised that the accused person between the month of January 2023 to December 21, 2023, collected money from the bank’s customers but failed to deposit the money with the bank.

According to prosecution, the accused person, rather transferred the money to other mobile money numbers for her personal use.

The accused forged receipts of payment to customer known as Salifu Alhassan which she interpolated GHC20,000 issued from the bank to GHC40,000 before handing over same to the customer, creating the false belief that she had paid GHC40,000 to the bank, the Pr
osecutor said.

Prosecution said the accused person voluntarily informed the Police that she indeed stole a total of GHC162,700 and that she had given same to some three men who had charged her $16,000 to facilitate her travelling abroad but failed to lead the Police to those three men.

In her charged statement, the accused person mentioned that she gave the entire money to one Hamisu at Libya Quarters, Madina to process the travelling documents for her and not the three men.

Prosecution said accused indicated that she had in mind to pay the customers after her arrival abroad.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Professor Seidu Alidu, a political scientist, says ongoing investigations into the five-year consolidated contract between the Strategic Mobilisation Limited (SML) and Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) must serve the national interest.

He said the investigations into the contract must be extended to unravel corporate and individual interests if any wrongdoing in the award and execution of the contract was established.

In an interview with the Ghana News Agency, Prof. Alidu , who is the Head of the Political Science Department, University of Ghana, commended President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo for ordering an immediate audit of the contract.

Professor Seidu Alidu

The GRA contracted SML in 2019 to undertake revenue assurances services.

The agreement between the two entities was to boost revenue assurances in the downstream petroleum sector, upstream petroleum production, and the value chain for minerals and metals resources.

Following an investigative report into the operations of the SML by the Fourth Est
ate, some organisations, including the Minority in Parliament, have since questioned the deal, claiming that it was riddled with flaws in its execution.

President Akufo-Addo has since appointed KPMG, the reputable Audit, Tax and Advisory Services firm, to undertake an audit of the contract to ensure transparency and accountability in the execution of the contractual arrangement.

Prof. Alidu said he was confident that both the opponents of the contract and SML all had the interest of the nation at heart, adding that full-scale investigations of the issue would help to arrive at a conclusion that would lead to the protection of the public purse.

‘We are not sure who is telling the right story. I think we should applaud the President for taking keen interest in the issue and ordering KPMG audit.

‘But I believe that to be able to properly understand this issue, we need to first of all find the actors that are involved; both corporate and individual actors and the interests that they have in that particular pr
oject,’ he said.

Prof. Alidu cautioned that ‘we are going to protect the interests of individuals if we are not careful.’

‘If care is not taken, we may end up not being able to protect the public purse and be able to get accountability and fight corruption,’ he added.

The President has given the KPMG two weeks to submit a report on its findings, along with suitable recommendations, and has directed the Ministry of Finance and the GRA to provide KPMG with all help needed to undertake the audit.

He has also directed the Ministry of Finance and the GRA to suspend the performance of the contract, pending the submission of the audit report, including payments presently envisaged under its terms.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Mr Yahaya Abdul-Walliu, the newly-elected Assembly Member for Kperisi Electoral Area in the Wa Municipality, has expressed commitment to working towards ensuring that the major development needs of the electoral area are met.

He explained that the electoral area was plagued with many challenges and that his focus would be to tackle them.

He cited timely access to primary healthcare services in some communities in the electoral area, access to potable water and extension of electricity across the electoral area, among some key issues he would tackle.

Mr Abdul-Walliu said this in an interaction with the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in Kperisi on his plan for the area for the next four years.

He indicated he came to build on his predecessor’s successes to help mitigate the challenges the people in the area were facing.

He said with support from the Unit Committee Members of the area, he would seek support from development agencies and lobby the municipal assembly to achieve the needed development for the area.

O
n health, Mr Abdul-Walliu said the Kperisi Health Centre needed support in terms of infrastructure development and logistics to enable it to provide the needed healthcare services to the people in the area.

He added that the Sagu and Chegli communities in the area needed a Community-based Health Planning and Services (CHPS) compound each to help bring primary healthcare services closer to their doorsteps.

Mr Abdul-Walliu indicated that the two communities were currently providing some of those services from temporal structures and needed befitting facilities for quality and effective service delivery.

‘We are appealing to the NGOs, Ghana Health Service and the Municipal Assembly, if there is any support, they can offer any of the two communities (Chegli and Sagu), you are most welcome,’ the Assemblyman-elect appealed.

Other challenges in the community, he mentioned, included poor educational infrastructure, inadequate furniture, and inadequate teachers, among others.

Mr Abdul-Walliu indicated that he had
written to the management of Nusrat Jahan Ahmadiyya College of Education to send some of its teacher trainees to schools in the Kperisi Electoral Area to undertake their teaching practice as part of measures to help solve the issue of teacher deficit.

He also appealed to the leadership of the Ghana Education Service (GES) to post more teachers to schools in the electoral area to help improve the quality of academic activities.

Mr Abdul-Walliu also identified incomplete electrification of communities in the Kperisi Electoral Area and inadequate sources of potable water in the communities as other challenges confronting the people.

Source: Ghana News Agency

The Deutsche Gesellschaft fr Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), and Bayer AG have commenced a campaign to create awareness on early detection of prostate cancer for care.

The campaign called ‘Real Men ACT,’ is seeking to improve, the knowledge on prostate cancer among men, key stakeholders including Pharmacists, traditional healers, primary healthcare centres, and the public.

The term ‘ACT’ is an acronym that stands for Awareness of Signs, symptoms, and Risk Factors of Prostate Cancer; Check for Prostate Cancer; and Receive Treatment.

A statement copied to the Ghana News Agency said the campaign had set out to facilitate early detection and treatment of prostate cancer in the country by encouraging men, 40 years and above, to get screened regularly for prostate cancer.

It said the campaign was operating in eight districts in Accra including Accra Metropolitan, Ayawaso East, Weija-Gbawe, Ga West, Shai Osudoku, Ashiaman, Kpone Katamanso, and Lekma.

The statement noted that the activities undertaken free
pop-up screenings, workshops, and health discussions on some media platforms.

‘A urologist participates in these discussions, dismissing myths and misinformation about the disease while encouraging early screening and testing at clinics or hospitals,’ it said.

The statement stated that in Ayawaso East, Weija-Gbawe, and Ga West 430 people participated in the earlier edition and over 100,000 people through social media had been engaged on major platforms.

GIZ is an international cooperation that provides services for sustainable development and international educational work worldwide.

Bayer AG is a pharmaceutical company in Germany committed to promoting healthcare and sustainable development.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Odeneho Akosua Fima Dwaben II, the Paramount Queen-mother of the Dormaa Traditional Area in the Bono Region, has cautioned queen-mothers against indecent dressing and ostentatious lifestyle.

The institution, she emphasised, was not the wearing of beads, necklaces and extravagant lifestyle, rather, an institution that cherished, promoted and preserved moral values, civility and discipline in society.

The Paramount Queen-mother, therefore, advised all queen-mothers to shun or desist from behaviours and attitudes that tend to be undignified and dragged the image of the noble queenship institution to public ridicule and disrepute.

Odeneho Dwaben II gave the advice when she sealed and finally accepted Nana Konama Biyaa II, the newly-enstooled queen-mother of Abesim as the Kyidomhemaa (queen in-charge of crowd), of the Traditional Area.

Barima Kumi Acheaw III, the Chief of Abesim and Kyidomhene (Chief in-charge of crowd) of the Dormaa Traditional Area led a delegation of sub-chiefs and sub-queens to the Odeneh
o Dwaben II’s palace at Dormaa-Ahenkro to perform traditional rites for her acceptance.

Odeneho Dwaben II stressed that queen-mothers, who dressed indecently did not only tempt men, but also undignified and soiled the nobility and reputation associated with queenship, hence the need for them to remain moderate and earn public respect and honour.

She advised the chiefs and people of Abesim to revere and support the new queen-mother, in her leadership of mobilizing the women and providing counseling to the Abesim chief to push the holistic development of the area.

Barima Acheaw III earlier introduced Nana Biyaa and expressed appreciation to Odeneho Dwaben II and the entire people of the Dormaa Traditional Area for the enstoolment of the queen mother and promised to work in unison with her and all the sub-chiefs and queens to facilitate the development of the area.

On her part, Nana Biyaa II said she was highly elated and expressed her heartfelt gratitude to the Abesim kingmakers, royal gates, people of Abes
im and the entire Dormaa Traditional Area for her successful installation and promised to serve the people in humility and respect.

Known in private life as Mrs. Yvonne Konama Damoah Ayisi, a Manageress of the Accra-based Agricultural Materials Limited, the new Kyidomhemaa occupied the stool left vacant by her late grandmother, Nana Yaa Pomaa.

The late Nana Pomaa, who ascended the Abesim queen’s stool in 1978, reigned for 43 years and died in 2021, after a short illness. She was 66 years old.

Source: Ghana News Agency

TerraFund for AFR100, a fund for locally-led landscape restoration projects operating in Africa, has awarded a USD 2.7 million grant to the Ghana Cocoa Belt, a consortium of organisations, to undertake a remediation exercise. ?

The award is projected to grow 1.9?million trees, restore 14,000 hectares of land, create 4,500?temporary and full-time jobs, and benefit?29,000 people living in these regions. ??

The USD 2.7 million support to the Ghanaian consortium is part of a total fund of $17.8 million that will benefit other organisations in Rwanda, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of Congo to undertake restoration.

Fifteen different organizations and enterprises would be working as a consortium under the Ghana Cocoa Belt, a statement issued by Ms Amanda Obuobi?Amoako, Ghana Portfolio Specialist, TerraFund?for AFR100, World Resources Institute Africa, and copied to the Ghana News Agency, said.

It said aside from Ghana, Kenya’s 36 champions would receive USD 7.5 million, Rwanda, 20 champions would receive
?USD 3.6 million, in Burundi, 11 organizations will receive USD 2.1 million; in the DRC, 10 projects will be awarded USD 1.9 million. ?

The statement said the decision to support landscape restoration was due to the valuable services – food and water provided for millions of people, yet human activities continue to degrade them.

It quoted Ms Wanjira Mathai, the Managing Director for Africa and Global Partnerships at World Resources Institute, as saying, ‘In the final analysis, climate action is local. I am delighted TerraFund?for AFR100 and partners are mobilizing finance and capacity?for restoration champions’.

‘We need both scale and speed for the restoration movement in Africa to improve the lives and livelihoods of smallholder farmers, their families?and communities.’

She said the ‘restoration champions’ were selected after TerraFund?screened 601 applications gathered through an open call for proposals.??

Mr Andrew Steer, the President?and CEO of the Bezos Earth Fund, said local groups were at the he
art of Africa’s restoration movement but historically had been viewed as too small or risky for investment.

He noted that the TerraFund?champions would achieve incredible results with the use of new monitoring technologies, to track work progress.

‘One Tree Planted is proud of our continued partnership with the World Resources Institute, Realize Impact, Barka Fund, and others to implement the TerraFund for AFR100 initiative. The initiative works to restore landscapes in Africa, including the Cocoa belt in Ghana,’ said Peace Grace Muhizi, Regional Director of Africa Projects at One Tree Planted.

‘At One Tree Planted, we are deeply committed to reforestation, and we believe that together with our partners and Restoration Champions, restoring degraded landscapes in Africa can have a powerful positive impact on local communities and biodiversity.’

TerraFund?was established?in September 2021 when it announced applications for its first cohort, the?Top 100, which financed one hundred community organizations and
businesses across 27 countries in Africa.

Since May 2022, the?Top 100?cohort has begun to grow 12.5 million trees, provided?paid work to 36,000 people, and improved the livelihoods of 202,000 people. ??

Goshen Global Vision, a TerraFund?recipient in Ghana’s cocoa belt, has used its funding to grow 200,000 native and fruit trees in a region that has progressively lost tree cover due to agricultural expansion, illegal mining, and logging.? Now, it’s?expanding that project. ?

‘These trees have been seamlessly integrated into cocoa farms and forest reserves, effectively bolstering tree cover. Through TerraFund, we have impacted?over 8,012 cocoa families,’ said?Mary Perpetua Kwakuyi, Executive Director of Goshen Global Vision.

‘Beyond tree planting, we transferred restoration and technological skills to 1,065 individuals, while providing short-term employment opportunities that benefited 1,456 women and youth.’ ?

To date, TerraFund?for AFR100 has received 3,800 applications and has deployed $33 million in gra
nts, loans, and equity investment to 192 landscape restoration projects in 27 African countries. ??

The impact of this investment is tracked through the TerraMatch?platform, which uses cutting-edge?monitoring, reporting, and verification techniques from?Land and Carbon Lab?that combine field-collected data with insights from satellite imagery.

By directly measuring the impact of their work, TerraFund?is giving credit to these champions on the ground who are reversing the trend of degradation and building lasting resilience across Africa.? ?

Source: Ghana News Agency