Day: February 25, 2024

The Ministry of National Security has extended sensitisation on its flagship campaign, ‘See Something, Say Something’ to schools to widen the scope of security awareness amongst citizens.

The sensitisation started in November 2023 with visits to over 100 schools and engagements with about 70,000 pupils and students so far.

The schools are located within the Tema?Metropolitan Assembly, La Nkwantanang, and Ablekuma West Municipal Assemblies, amongst others.

On Friday, February 23, 2024, the team visited some selected basic and Senior High schools within the Ablekuma West and Adentan Municipality.

Schools visited were the New Century Technical Institute; Mercy Islamic Primary, Junior and Senior High School; Icodeks Islamic Basic School?and St. Francis Catholic Basic School.

Mr Kester Osei, a member of the sensitisation team, said the heightened rate of terrorist attacks in neighbouring countries was enough reason for Ghana to put preventive measures in place.

He said it was, therefore, necessary to equip s
chool children with requisite knowledge to make them security conscious.

‘By this approach of catching them young, we are instilling in them the culture of being vigilant and observing suspicious activities,’ he said.

In May 2022, the Ministry of National Security launched its flagship programme ‘See Something, Say Something’ campaign to encourage the citizenry to play active roles in the protection of the peace and stability of the State.

The campaign aims to empower Ghanaians to be more conscious about their own security and enhance their relationship with State security authorities.

Citizens are to dial ‘999’ to report any suspicious or unusual activity happening within their communities. Callers are not obliged to disclose their identity.

Mr Osei made his presentation using the acronym ‘S.A.L.U.T.E’where ‘S’ means size of the item or specific features of the item/person involved in a suspicious activity. ?

‘A’ stands for suspicious or criminal activity being carried out. ‘L’ for Location of the acti
vity. ?

‘U’ stands for uniform being worn by the suspect. ‘T’ for time or period of the day the incident happened and ‘E’ for equipment being used to carry out the criminal act.

He said the acronym would help informants to give vivid and more detailed descriptions of incidents to help security agencies to easily crack the case.

Mr Osei urged them to report any suspicious behaviour to their teachers, parents or guardians to call the toll free number 999 to lodge a complaint to the Ministry of National Security.

He advised them to maintain anonymity after making reports to keep themselves and families out of danger.

Mr Osei, however, assured that the Ministry would protect informants and their families should their reports land them in danger.

He cautioned against prank calls and urged citizens not to abuse the toll free line.

‘What you do not realise is that anytime you make such prank calls, you engage the lines and deny someone the opportunity to call and report a suspicious activity or an emergency,’
he said.

Mr Osei encouraged the school children to help the Ministry to spread the message by sharing the information with their family and friends, especially through social media.

Source: Ghana News Agency

The Community Water and Sanitation Agency (CWSA) in the Volta Region has celebrated its 25th anniversary at Adidome in the Central Tongu district.

The anniversary was to reflect on the achievements in the years past and tackle the challenges confronting the Agency.

Mr Kofi Mensah Sebuabe, the Regional Director of the CWSA stated that since the establishment of the Agency in 1998, they have made quick progress in water provision, basic sanitation services, hygiene promotion and practice in many communities.

He indicated that water infrastructure stands at 31,388 boreholes fitted with hand pumps, 383 boreholes fitted with solar powered hand pumps, 3,997 hand-dug wells and 1924 pipe systems across the region.

Mr. Sebuabe mentioned that the agency would continue to carry its services to all communities and villages. He urged residents to use water responsibly.

Mr Augustus Awity, the Chief Director of the Volta Regional Coordinating Council said that he would ensure that the necessary support was offered to t
he CWSA to deliver clean water to all communities, especially the rural areas.

He said that the government was fully prepared to ensure that the necessary investment was made to promote the services and objectives of the CWSA.

Mr Awitti called on the management of the CWSA to also ensure that water shortage crisis in some parts of the regional capital, Ho were resolved.

Mr. Thomas Zonyrah, the District Chief Executive of Central Tongu District lauded the efforts of the CWSA.

He implored them to always ensure that water reaches every vicinity in the region.

Mr. Zonyrah pledged that his office would endeavor to provide the needed support to the Agency’s office in the district to foster their services.

Togbe Ayensu Kokotako III, Chief of Mafi-Wume, who chaired the anniversary reiterated that the CWSA worked tirelessly to ensure that the residents across the region have good water to drink and use for domestic and commercial purposes.

Source: Ghana News Agency

The National Communications Authority (NCA) has shut down four radio stations in Bawku for national security reasons.?

In a statement, the NCA said: ‘The National Communications Authority (NCA) wishes to inform the public that four (4) FM Radio Stations in Bawku, Upper East Region, have been shut down today.’?

It said the shut down followed ‘the recommendations of the Upper East Regional Security Council, and on the advice of the Ministry of National Security that the operations of the said FM Stations and the incendiary utterances of their panelists/presenters have contributed to the escalation of the Bawku conflict, leading to loss of lives and property in Bawku and its environs.’?

The stations are the Bawku FM, Source FM, Zahra FM and Gumah FM.?

The NCA closed down the stations in accordance with Section 13(1)(e) of the Electronic Communications Act, 2008 (Act 775), which provides that ‘the Authority may suspend or revoke a licence or a frequency authorisation where; the suspension or revocation is nec
essary because of national security or is in the public interest’.?

The Authority said it would continue to work with all relevant stakeholders to execute its mandate as set out by law and called on stakeholders to adhere to the tenets and regulations governing the communications industry.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Discussants at a forum in Bolgatanga have underscored the urgent need for Ghana to address internal threats to the prevailing peace ahead of the 2024 general elections.

Chieftaincy and land disputes, unemployment, unequal development, discrimination and marginalisation among others were identified as internal factors that could destabilise the country’s peace, particularly during electioneering years, if not addressed properly.

The discussants drawn from the National Peace Council, security agencies, National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE), traditional and religious leaders, among others were at a regional level stakeholder engagement on peacebuilding.

It was organised by the Navrongo-Bolgatanga Catholic Diocesan Development Organisation (NABOCADO), as part of the Integrated Peacebuilding for Improved Food and Nutrition Support (INPEACE) project, funded by MISEREOR, aimed at contributing to building peace structures at the community, district and regional levels in the Upper East and North East Regi
ons.

The forum was to afford the stakeholders opportunity to build network and brainstorm strategies to improve regional security, prevent conflict in election 2024 and threats from the Sahel region to promote peace and protect livelihoods.

Mr Mawuli Agbenu, the Upper East Regional Director of the NCCE, indicated that Ghana needed to take lessons from factors that triggered the instabilities in some countries in the Sahel region and work to address such issues to prevent any unforeseen conflict.

‘We carried out research and we have found out that those factors present in the Sahelian countries that have given rise to violent extremism are equally present here in Ghana. We are talking about social, economic, political, religious and ethnic problems and all these things have been with us all these years,’ he said.

He attributed the challenges to uneven development pattern, high rate unemployment and neglect among others in the country and called for inclusive policies that would ensure participation and rec
ognition.

Mr Ali Anankpieng, the Executive Secretary of the Upper East Regional Peace Council, indicated that serious attention needed to be paid towards resolving the Bawku Chieftaincy conflict in order to prevent unscrupulous people from taking advantage of the situation to promote violence in this election year.

Apart from the need for stakeholders to work to increase tolerance and social cohesion, the Executive Secretary underscored the urgent need for improved steps to check the proliferation of arms in the country.

Naba Yelzoya Kosom Asaga II, Paramount Chief of the Nangodi Traditional Area, said those seeking political positions had critical role to play in preventing violence during election periods, adding that politicians needed to be decorous in their utterances to promote peaceful atmosphere.

Dr Joseph Bangu, the Director of Good Governance, Justice and Peace Directorate, NABOCADO, explained that NABOCADO had been working in the last seven years, building community and district level structure
s to help prevent conflict, adding that the regional level engagement would help consolidate the gains made so far.

He indicated that there was the need for stakeholders to intensify education to calm nerves among the citizens and promote internal peace, particularly before, during and after the 2024 elections.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Ghana has the cleanest fuel in the West African sub-region, Dr Mustapha Abdul-Hamid, Chief Executive of the National Petroleum Authority (NPA), has said.

He said Ghana’s fuel specifications, which are set at Sulphur content of 50 parts per million (ppm) in fuel was the cleanest in the West African sub-region.

Dr. Abdul-Hamid was speaking as a panellist on ‘Downstream Decarbonisation and Circularity – Going Full Circle’ at the Egypt Energy Show in Cairo, Egypt.

He said that calls on government by civil society organizations and the public to adhere to the decarbonisation objectives and the protection of the environment caused the policy change in Ghana to reduce the Sulphur content in fuel to 50 ppm.

The NPA Chief Executive, who is also the President of the African Refiners and Distributors Association (ARDA), said Ghana was changing the LPG distribution model to improve clean cooking across the country.

He said series of accidents at LPG refilling stations in the past, which created a need to improve the
environment, prevent deforestation and improve the lives of rural women especially had made the new LPG distribution model called the Cylinder Recirculation Model (CRM) more imperative.

He emphasized that the CRM would enhance access to LPG, as exchange points are being constructed across the country.

He added that government’s LPG for Development Programme aims at achieving a 50 percent penetration of LPG in households across the country by 2030.

Dr. Abdul-Hamid disclosed that government provided free LPG cylinders to poor households in rural areas under the programme adding that some people could not afford cylinders and Cookstoves in the first place, and that informed their reliance on wood fuels.

He added that the government had ordered 100 electric-powered buses for the Metro Mass Transit Limited (MMT) as a way of showing an example in the energy transition agenda.

Dr. Abdul-Hamid also highlighted government’s policy for state institutions to be powered by solar indicating that an incentive was give
n to private individuals who wanted to power their institutions and houses on solar.

Dr. Abdul-Hamid lauded the freedom of speech in Ghana which encouraged civil society organizations and the public to the agenda towards cleaner energy in the

Source: Ghana News Agency

he late President Hage Geingob was laid to rest at the Heroes’ Acre outside Windhoek on Sunday.

Geingob was accorded a 21-gun salute before being laid to rest, in one of four mausoleums at the national shrine.

Namibia’s third Head of State died at a hospital in Windhoek on February 4, 2024, shortly after being diagnosed with cancer.

Speaking at the burial, chief mourner President Nangolo Mbumba said Geingob, had joined fellow heroes and heroines, who resisted colonialism.

Source: Ghana News Agency

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has eulogised the late former Chairman of the Church of Pentecost, Apostle Dr Michael Kwabena Ntumy, describing him as an outstanding servant of the Church.

In a tribute read on his behalf by Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia, the President said, Apostle Ntumy dedicated his life to the cause of God’s work at the peril of his life and contributed immensely to the country’s democratic growth.

‘He was well known for his honesty, integrity and discipline. He was an outstanding servant of the Church, the Ghanaian people, and the public interest,’ the President said.

‘It is not often that it can be said of someone that he or she has finished his or her life’s work and with distinction. But we can certainly say that about the man for which we have gathered here to celebrate.’

This was in a State tribute to the late former Chairman of the Church of Pentecost during a burial and memorial service held at the forecourt of the State House in Accra on Saturday.

‘His objective was a
lways the advancement of Ghana and even in his days of ill health, he continued to make critical interventions in our nation’s discourse,’ the President recalled.

‘He leaves a big void not only in the Church of Pentecost, but in the wider Christian space as he was a constant source of good, rich Christian counsel,’ President Akufo-Addo stated.

The President, on behalf of the State and his family, expressed heartfelt condolences to the bereaved family.

In a sermon, Apostle Dr Eric Nyamekye, the current Chairman of the COP, said Apostle Ntumy was greatly loved by God.

He said the late Chairman, in spite of all the challenges he went through, dedicated his entire life to the service of God.

For him, Apostle Ntumy remained the most loved leader of the Church.

Speaking on the title: ‘A man greatly loved’, Apostle Nyamekye compared the life of Daniel with that of Apostle Ntumy, saying that it was God who had called him to give him rest after his labour.

In all the tributes read by the widow, the children, th
e Church and the State, Apostle Ntumy was eulogised for his exemplary leadership, fortitude, wisdom, discerning counsel and enduring spirit to serve God.

Apostle Dr Ntumy was the fourth Chairman of the Church of Pentecost from 1998 to 2008.

He died on Wednesday, December 27, 2023. He was 65 years.

He was born on September 22, 1958, in Dadieso in the Oti Region.

He left behind a widow and six adult children.

Apostle Dr. Michael Kwabena Ntumy was a teacher in Yendi in the 1980s before becoming a Deacon and Elder of the Church.

He got married to his wife, Martha, at age 24.

He began full-time ministry at age 26. He was called to the office of an Apostle at age 33 and six years later, elected the fourth Chairperson of the COP.

After serving for two terms,10 years, he handed over to Apostle Professor Opoku Onyinah.

Apostle Ntumy is known to have survived many trials in life, including being held hostage in rebel camp during the Liberian Civil War in the 1990s.

He also faced other attacks on his life rang
ing from physical assaults to poisoning and paralysis, which led to his confinement to a wheelchair.

The revered man of God served the Church in Liberia, Côte d’lvoire, France and Germany.

The burial and memorial service was attended by Former President John Dramani Mahama, Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, Mrs Frema Osei Opare, Chief of Staff, among a host of other dignitaries, who paid their last respects to the Former COP Chairman.

Members of the clergy, including Apostle Professor Opoku Onyinah, a former Chairman of COP, Apostle Eric Nyamekye, current Chairman of COP, and Archbishop Charles Agyinasare, leader of Perez Chapel International, were present.

Source: Ghana News Agency