Day: April 25, 2024

The Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) has announced power outages, which have become known as dumsor, in more than 50 communities in the nation’s capital, Accra.

In a statement cited by GhanaWeb, the ECG explained that the dumsor in the affected areas is as a result of a reduction in the supply of power by the Ghana Grid Company Limited (GRIDCo).

The company said that GRIDCo reduced the supply of electricity to its (ECG’s) supply points on Thursday, April 25, 2024.

‘The Electricity Company of Ghana, Accra East and West Regions, wish to inform our cherished customers and the general public that the Ghana Grid Company Limited (GRIDCo) has reduced power supply to our Bulk Supply Points since 6:00 am resulting in outages,’ parts of the statement, which was issued on Thursday, read.

The ECG went on to list the affected communities, including parts of Airport Residential Area, Adabraka, Dans Bar, part of Asylum Down, part of West Ridge, Haatso Ecomog, part of Dome Pillar, Mallam Abease, part of McCarthy Hill,
Gbawe Zero, Top Base, part of Gonse, and Salaga Market.

Other affected areas include part of James Town, La Beach Road, Teshie Maami, Flower Pot, part of Airport Hills, Bubuashie Cable and Wireless, Ayigbe Town, Abeka Market, part of New Fadama, Achimota School, Shikpontele, Toman, part of Pokuase Township, and part of Pobiman,

Agya Appiah, Ecoblock, part of John Teye, Franko Estates, Chorkor, Agege Lorry Park, Chemuanaa, Sempe, Korle Gonno, Mile 7, Maple Leaf, part of New Achimota, Petroleum, Kinsby, part of Nii Boi Town, New Achimota, Chantan, Shiabu, and the Dansoman Beach Road, would also be affected.

The remaining communities are Gbegbeyisee, Tesano, part of Alajo, Santana Market, part of South Industrial Area, Timber Market, Palladium, Kantamanto Market, Kotobabi Down, Abavana Down, part of Dzorwulu, Abelemkpe, part of Alajo, Nsawam Market, Nsumia, Akramaman, Sakyikrom, Teiman Township, Burgar Town and surrounding communities.

Read the statement issued by the ECG below:

Source: Ghana Web

A total of 10.75 million Ghanaians do not use the internet as at the beginning of last year, the 2023 LONDA Report on the digital rights and inclusion in Africa, published by the Paradigm Initiative (PIN), a Pan African organisation, has revealed.

Thus, at least 31.8 per cent of the national population (33.80 million) were offline at that time.

However, the country’s internet penetration rate, which stood at 53 percent in the previous year increased to 68.2 percent in 2023.

The LONDA 2023 report features 26 African country reports, authored by digital rights experts from across Africa, and is published annually and monitors the environment, documents violations, and reports on the state of digital rights and inclusion in the continent.

As an advocacy tool of engagement with different stakeholders in the reported countries, LONDA serves as a yardstick for measuring their annual performance and provides critical recommendations to improve the digital space.

Thobekile Matimbe, Senior Manager, Partnerships a
nd Engagement, PIN, launched the report at the closing session of the 11th edition of the Digital Rights and Inclusive Forum 2024 (DRIF24) in Accra on the theme: ‘Fostering Rights and Inclusion in the Digital Age’.

PIN and other partners organised the three-day conference, attended by hundreds of delegates, civil society organisations and actors, NGOs and the academia drawn from 61 countries across the world.

Other partner organisations in Ghana included E-Governance and Internet Governance Foundation for Africa (EGIGFA), University of Media, Arts and Communication, Media Foundation for West Africa, Inclusive Tech Group, Internet Society (ISOC) Ghana Chapter, and Human Security Research Centre (HSRC).

Event sponsors included Wikimedia, African Digital Rights Network, Ford Foundation, Luminate, Google, Kingdom of The Netherlands, Mott Foundation, Open Technology Fund (OTF), Internews, Small Media, among others.

According to the report, digital technologies, especially mobile phones, and the internet had be
come indispensable tools for participation in society and the economy and urged the government to do more to improve internet penetration in the country.

In 2022, the World Bank approved US$200 million for the government’s Digital Acceleration Project, aimed at enhancing internet access in rural areas and promoting digital inclusion.

However, despite these efforts, a persistent digital divide exists, particularly affecting women and persons with disabilities (PwDs), hindering their access to and utilisation of digital technologies in Ghana, it explained.

The report further recommended a multi-stakeholder approach to tackling the digital rights situation in the country, saying the approach would address issues such as internet and mobile phone affordability through subsidies, special pricing, financing schemes, and other innovations.

Stakeholders, including government bodies, non-profit organisations, and research institutions, should work collaboratively towards reporting on the myriad barriers confrontin
g PwDs.

Additionally, collective action was required to ensure Ghana leveraged connectivity for empowerment and prosperity for all and calls on the nation to establish protections, reporting mechanisms, and accountability for violence against citizens.

The National Media Commission ought to be reformed and strengthened to safeguard press freedom, the statement suggested and called for the protection of vulnerable and marginalised groups such as women PwDs and LGBTIQ+ by refraining from enacting legislation that would enable their censorship, surveillance, or arrests.

It also called for the development, reviewed, and updated comprehensive legislation that addressed digital rights, including privacy protection, freedom of expression, and access to information.

The Parliament of Ghana must also strengthen legal protections for media freedom, censorship, data privacy, digital security and safety of journalists, the statement recommended.

Source: Ghana News Agency

On Monday, the Ghanaian Times published a story about the dismissal of a 14-year-old Junior High School (JHS) student of Southlane Lake View School, a private institution at Kasoa-Hideout in the Ga South Municipality of the Greater Accra Region, for being pregnant.

Here was a girl who had initially been denied registration for the upcoming Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) but registered following persistent persuasion, yet refused school attendance.

How was she going to learn without a teacher’s guidance to pass the BECE?

The Ghanaian Times commends the Girl Education Coordinator of the Ga South Municipality, Ms. Florence Antwi-Boasiako, for taking up the matter after this paper made her aware of the issue.

Today, the pregnant girl is back in school, much to the joy of all those who were worried about her situation, particularly her grandmother.

The Ghanaian Times considers a letter of apology addressed to the pregnant child, signed by the headmaster of the school, Bortei Shadrach Borketey,
as an afterthought and preposterous in view of the earlier stance of the school that the pregnant girl could not be allowed to study in the same classroom as her mates for some reasons.

Such reasons are flimsy because the very move of dismissing her violates Ghana Education Service (GES) policy on such a matter.

According to the GES, girls who mistakenly get pregnant (such as in the case of the 14-year-old girl in question who is alleged to have been defiled by a 50-year-old man) are allowed to attend school, unless doctors have advised that they stay out of school due to medical reasons.

It appears the authorities of Southlane Lake View School either do not know the GES policies regulating certain matters in basic education cycles or decided to do their own thing, damning the consequences.

The latter reason cannot be dismissed, looking at the peremptory stance of the proprietress of the school, Kate Otchere, shown in her refusal to accept any pleadings, all because a friend of the pregnant girl’s grandmo
ther had warned her against her decision to deny the girl the chance to continue her education, especially when the BECE was a few months away.

It is clear that the authorities of Southlane Lake View School are nativists, who believe that important elements of understanding the world are innate and do not necessarily need to be learned from experience.

Such a mentality can impute even young people, including basic school children, with the wisdom to know better in all situations.

It is good to hear that the girl and her family are happy now that the girl is back in school, but this paper thinks that is not enough.

The girl’s family and the Ga South Municipal Education Directorate should monitor how the poor girl is treated in the school.

Some people’s futures have been jeopardised because of the negative attitude of certain teachers and schools.

For instance, some students could not complete school because of unjustifiable treatments like dismissals and embarrassing slow learners instead of receiving re
gular teaching.

GES officials should be concerned with such matters once they come to their attention, and that is to say, the public must not ignore the ill-treatment of vulnerable schoolchildren but report them for the appropriate action to be taken.

Source: Ghana Web

Participants at a day’s stakeholders’ workshop on phase two of the Planting for Food and Jobs (PFJ 2.0) programme, have called on the government to suspend its implementation for this year to prevent poor results.

They said the government should use the year for thorough preparation towards smooth implementation of the programme next year instead.

The workshop, held in Tamale, was organised by the Peasant Farmers Association of Ghana (PFAG) with support from OXFAM and had participants including selected members of PFAG and Heads of District Department of Agriculture drawn from

Tamale, Saboba, Yendi, Gushegu, and Chereponi in the Northern and North East Regions.

It was part of PFAG’s efforts to update members and stakeholders on the commencement of the PFJ 2.0, reveal the identified bottlenecks and seek redress for them.

It was also to relook at the implementation design of the PFJ 2.0 and propose reforms that would respond to the needs of farmers.

During the workshop, it was revealed that there were cha
llenges confronting the ongoing registration of farmers for the PFJ 2.0 as most of the Agricultural Extension Agents did not receive the tablets to facilitate the exercise coupled with network challenges making it difficult to take coordinates of farms on time.

It was also revealed that so far, less than 10 per cent of farmers in the various districts had been registered, and input providers were also yet to import their products despite the farming season being just about to start.

The participants also suggested that politicians should minimise their influence in the implementation of the PFJ 2.0 and allow technical staff of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA) and Department of Agriculture at the decentralised levels to handle the programme.

They argued that in this way, no new Minister or government would be in a rush to review the programme because the frequent reviews of the programme and other agricultural policies were affecting smooth implementation.

The PFJ 2.0 was launched in August last
year to allow farmers to take farm inputs from sellers on credit and pay after harvest.

Madam Hawa Musah, the Director, Northern Regional Department of Agriculture, urged the District Departmental Heads to visit farmers, especially the chiefs to explain the PFJ 2.0 and the processes of getting registered onto the programme to them to enable them to join the programme.

She further expressed the need for them to be quick in resolving the registration challenges to ensure that more farmers were registered on time.

Mr Bismark Owusu Nortey, the Acting Executive Director, PFAG said the discussions at the workshop showed that there was a consensus that the PFJ 2.0 should rather be piloted this year instead of full implementation.

He said PFAG would hold similar workshops in other parts of the country and added that input collated would be put into a policy brief document to engage MoFA.

Source: Ghana News Agency

A former Chairman of the People’s National Convention (PNC), Bernard Mornah, has dismissed calls for the Minister of Energy to release a load-shedding timetable.

According to the maverick politician, the calls on Dr Matthew Opoku Prempeh, the energy minister, are misplaced and borne out of a certain dislike for the minister for various reasons.

‘Clearly, the likes of Osafo-Maafo want to shift the blame on Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh just because he is in contention in the NPP running mate agenda. For me, there is a higher authority and that higher authority is not Matthew Opoku Prempeh,” he said.

Mornah’s response comes on the back of calls by Senior Advisor to the President, Yaw Osafo-Maafo, on the energy minister to publish a load-shedding timetable.

The same call was made by the Executive Director of IES, Nana Amoasi, further calling for the minister to be removed.

Speaking on TV3’s New Day with Berla Mundi, Bernard Mornah further rubbished the blame that has been put on the energy minister, stating tha
t they are not in good faith.

Source: Ghana Web

Residents of Tema community 11 have demonstrated against the construction of a filling station in the midst of the residential area.

The project, which began a few months ago, has been progressing despite attempts to halt it through several petitions to stakeholders including the Tema Development Corporation.

The developer is alleged to have altered the engineering of the community’s main storm drain for the project, which shares common walls with two residences, one of which is the permanent abode of the Assembly Member, who is also Presiding Member of the Tema Metropolitan Assembly.

Mr Kofi Gantor Logah, a member of the community, who convened the protest, said the action became necessary following attempts by the developer to ignore the appeal of the community over safety concerns.

According to the convener, the developer had ‘used dubious means’ to acquire signatures from community members to secure approval from regulators such as the Environmental Protection Agency.

He said the community remained o
ne of the most endowed with public amenities in the metropolis and therefore had no dire need for a filling station in a densely populated neighbourhood.

‘We should not wait for another disaster to happen for ministers and public officials to go round hospitals and homes in the name of sympathising with the victims,’ Mr. Logah asserted.

The siting of filling stations continue to attract public interest amidst news of explosions that consume entire neighbourhoods, and the community members in mourning attire marched through the neighbourhood wielding placards with various inscriptions calling on the National Petroleum Authority (NPA) and other regulatory bodies to halt the construction.

The protest was under the watch of a heavy deployment of Police personnel.

Mr Felix Sobreh, the Assembly Member, said lives were being threatened with the realisation of the hazardous service, and that all avenues available were being exploited in addressing the canker.

He recounted how the NPA had served the developer not
ice to desist from the project as it affected the community’s main storm drainage causing flooding in the area.

It is also alleged that the developer already buried storage tanks and filled them with fuel, and the Assembly Member spoke of the likelihood of fuel leaks in the event of heavy rains.

‘The community petitioned the NPA and the Authority in their response stated clearly that the developer should halt the construction. They stated a lot of reasons why he should comply with the order. There is a storm drain here and when it rains there is the risk of flooding. Let’s remember what happened at Nkrumah Circle. When it rains the same thing could happen here.

‘NPA has written to this man (the developer) but he remains so adamant,’ Mr. Sobreh stated, adding that National Security, National Investigations Bureau, and the Fire Service among other stakeholders had been petitioned.

Mr Richard Akomaning, co-convenor, told the GNA the construction compromised service lines resulting in a two-week water shortag
e, and that stakeholders in the community would not relent on necessary actions to save the area.

Source: Ghana News Agency

The European Union (EU) has indicated that the Human Sexual Rights and Family Values Act, commonly known as the Anti-gay Bill, which was passed by the Parliament of Ghana recently, would not become a law, graphic.com.gh reports.

For the bill to become a law, the President of Ghana, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, must assent to it or parliament must approve it by two-thirds majority.

Speaking at the European Parliament on April 24, 2024, Virginijus Sinkevicius, the European Union Commissioner for Environment, Oceans and Fisheries, representing the Union’s Vice-President, Josep Borrell, addressed the parliament on issues surrounding Ghana’s Anti-gay Bill.

While touting Ghana’s position as a stable democracy and a stabilising force in the West Africa sub-region, Sinkevicius said that the country (Ghana) has made positive strides in human rights protection, citing the effort by parliament to abolish the death penalty.

He, however, noted that there remain some challenges, particularly when it comes to safeguardi
ng the rights of sexual minorities.

The Commissioner for Environment said that the EU has been closely monitoring the developments surrounding the bill since its introduction in 2021.

He said that he remains confident in Ghana’s commitment to human rights, citing statements by President Akufo-Addo and other top officials of the government of Ghana on potential setbacks to human rights and the financial implications should the bill become a law.

About the passage of the anti-gay bill:

The Parliament of Ghana, on Wednesday, February 28, 2024, passed the Promotion of Human Sexual Rights and Family Values Bill, widely known as the Anti-LGBT+ Bill.

The bill, currently awaiting presidential assent, proscribes Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) activities and criminalizes their promotion, advocacy, and funding.

Persons caught in these acts will be subjected to a six-month to three-year jail term, with promoters and sponsors facing a three to five-year jail term.

The bill will now require president
ial assent to come into force within 7 days. However, if President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo refuses to assent to the bill, parliament, by a two-third majority vote, can approve it into law.

The Office of the President has ordered the Parliament of Ghana not to attempt to transmit the Anti-gay Bill till two legal actions against it in the Supreme Court are determined.

Source: Ghana Web

Mr Bright Kwadwo Owusu Nyasemhwe, the Chief Executive Officer of ‘Beyond the Word Ministries,’ has paid a courtesy call to the new Municipal Chief Executive, Mr. Felix Owusu Gyimah in his office.

Beyond the Word Ministries is a private organisation based in the Nkwanta South Municipality of the Oti Region.

Mr Owusu Nyasemhwe, and his management team comprises of the General Manager, Operations Manager and the Marketing Manager said their visit was to familiarise with the new MCE and to strengthen the relationship between the Assembly and the organisation.

Mr Owusu Nyasemhwe said the importance of the organisation in the Municipality and the region at large hence it was imperative for them to ensure that there was a good relationship between the company and the local authorities.

‘We appreciate the importance of the continuous harmonious relationship between Beyond the Word Ministries and the local authorities. Therefore, we want to deepen this relationship to the benefit of the residents and the company a
s well’ he said.

Mr Felix Owusu Gyimah, the Municipal Chief Executive of Nkwanta South Municipality in his welcome address commended the CEO of Beyond The Word Ministries and his management team for their visit and stressed the importance of the company in the municipality.

He also stated the participation and contribution of the company to the Municipal Assembly and pledged the Assembly’s commitment in ensuring that there is maximum peace and stability in the area for the company’s continued operation.

‘We are ready to partner with your organisation to bring changes in the lives of the people in the Nkwanta South Municipality and I also assured you of the Assembly’s commitment in restoring peace in the area to safeguard your workers and the company itself ‘ he said.

Source: Ghana News Agency