Category: General

Takoradi, March 25, GNA – Formal and informal sector employees have been advised to take advantage of the tax incentives to increase their contribution to the pension scheme.

Mr. Stanley Ogoe, the Western Regional Director of the National Pensions Regulatory Authority (NPRA), who gave the advice, noted that the informal sector, contributions were more voluntary.

However, he said, there was a tax incentive aspect which employees could take advantage of to make their contributions.

Mr Ogoe, who was speaking at a stakeholder’s engagement in Takoradi, said the NPRA was focused on getting more people from the informal sector on the pension scheme.

He said some employers had been taken to court for non-compliance with pension contributions for their employees.

He noted that many employers had genuine issues, which the NPRA could help to resolve.

“We get them to sign payment agreement with the schedule in their payment after the roundtable to resolve issues. Moreover, the NPRA supports them not only in the financial aspect but encourages them to know that they can pay,” he added.

He said many pension contributors had misconceptions about their pensions but insisted that the supervisory regime was robust enough to safeguard their contributions.

According to Mr. Ogoe, there were three institutions checking on each other with the main interest of protecting contributors’ money.

He said the Authority was monitoring the three institutions and assured clients of full security concerning their contributions with keen investment guidelines to ensure that returns from clients’ contributions were secured.

He, however, called on the media to help educate employers and employees on the contributions to the pension scheme.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Accra, March 25, GNA- President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo is eventually set to deliver the State of the Nation Address in Parliament on Wednesday, March 30 2022.

This was announced on the floor of Parliament on Friday by Mr Frank Annor Dompreh, Majority Chief Whip.

The President was scheduled to appear before the House three weeks ago but that constitutional obligation was postponed indefinitely, a situation the Minority has described as unconstitutional.

Presenting the Business Statement of the House for the Tenth Week of the First Meeting of the Second Session of the Eighth Parliament of the Fourth Republic of Ghana, Mr Annoh Dompreh said pursuant to the convention of the House, members were urged to be punctual and accordingly be seated in the Chamber latest by 0915 hours as it would not be courteous for members to enter or exit the house after the President had taken his seat in the Chamber to deliver the address.

“Mr Speaker indeed it would amount to breach of protocol. The Business Committee takes this opportunity to advise Hon. Members not to enter the Chamber with their guest,” he said.

According to the Majority Chief Whip, a Motion to Thank the President for the message on the State of the Nation would be moved to Thursday, March 31 2022.

“Mr Speaker, by the practice of the House, the Business Committee recommends some time allotments for Hon. Members to make their contributions. The time allotments are as follows; Mover and Seconder of Motion, 25 minutes; Chairpersons and Ranking Members, 15 minutes; other Hon Members, 10 minutes and winding up by Leadership, 30 minutes,” he said.

Mr Annoh Drompeh explained that the allotment of time was to ensure that many members would be availing the opportunity to contribute to the debate on the message by the President, adding that the Committee would however urge members to endeavour to be as brief as possible and avoid repetitions.

He said given this, during the period of the debate on Thursday, March 31 2022 to April 2 2022, eight members from each side of the House would contribute to the Motion.

He said the two Leaders together with two members one from each side of the house would wind up on the debate on Saturday, April 2 2022.

“Mr Speaker, the debate on the message of the State of the Nation is proposed to be concluded on Saturday 2nd April 2022,” Mr Annoh Dompreh said.

The State of the Nation Address sets out the Government’s key policy objectives and deliverables for the year ahead, highlights achievements, flags challenges and outlines interventions to unlock development interventions for the coming financial year.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Accra, March 25, GNA – Stakeholders in the tomato value chain in Ghana have for the first time met to strategise to revitalise the sector to reduce the importation of the commodity.

Under the auspices of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA), the stakeholders, drawn from the production, processing, trading, marketing and transport sectors, held their maiden tomato dialogue in Accra.

The engagement gave the stakeholders the opportunity to discuss the challenges confronting players in the tomato value chain, its impact, and offered suggestions for policy considerations.

The participants expressed concern about the volume of importation of tomatoes and its impact on the economy.

Data provided by the Ghana National Tomato Producers’ Federation, showed that the country produced 510,000 metric tonnes of tomato per year.

The country imported 7,000 tonnes of per month from its neighbours (84,000 metric tonnes annually), and imported 27,000 tonnes of processed tomato from Europe.

Against this background, stakeholders have noted the need for a system to support the value chain to reduce tomato imports from Burkina Faso and the attendant risks, including highway robbery and extortion of money.

In an interview with the Ghana News Agency on the sidelines of the event, Mr Eric Osei Tuffuor, the Chairman of Ghana National Tomatoes Traders and Transporters Association (GNTTTA), called for a mechanism to curb the over CFA 57 billion imports.

He noted that as a leading consumer of fresh tomato in Africa, Ghana, could not continue to depend on other countries for its tomato needs, therefore, the need to address the challenges in the value chain. He was hopeful that the meeting would be instrumental in finding lasting solutions to challenges in the value chain.

Mr Adusei Mensah, Chairman, Federation of Tomato Growers Association of Ghana, said with the right education to farmers, the country would produce the quality and quantity to meet the demands of consumers.

He said: “If we the producers and buyers agree to what they’re telling us and offer us good education, whereby the farmers will be able to produce the quality and quantity needed, they’ll stop going to Burkina Faso.”

Dr Benedict Bonaventure Aligebam, the Managing Director of the Irrigation Company of Upper East Region (ICOUR) indicated that the meeting was a breakthrough for the industry.

He said: “The outcome of this meeting will be a good strategic plan for us to see the way forward in having to bring back tomato production vigorously in the country.”

Mr Seth Osei-Akoto, the Director of Crop Services at MoFA, said, “As a country, we realise that tomato as a commodity needs a paradigm shift in terms of its production up to the time that it will be processed.”

“Therefore, in the short term, we are going to support farmers and all the actors among the value chain so that in the long term, we stop going to Burkina Faso and become self-sufficient in tomato production in the country.”

At the State level, the agriculture component of the Ghana COVID-19 Alleviation and Revitalisation of Enterprises Support (Ghana CARES) programme would provide a well-structured system for increased production.

He said: “There would be varieties of improved seedlings, extension of support services, and support to traders and market queens, as well as processors to mop-up their operations.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Kumasi, March 25, GNA – The Minerals Income Investment Fund (MIIF) will focus its investment this year on industrial salt production.

The move is to help boost the supply of industrial salt to feed the booming oil and gas industry.

Mr Edward Nana Yaw Koranteng, MIIF Chief Executive Officer, who announced this, said Ghana had the potential to produce all the industrial salt for oil industry.

“This year, one of the minerals MIIF wants to focus its interest on is the industrial salt, the salt that we need for oil and gas.

We know Ghana and Senegal are the only countries in West Africa producing this industrial salt.

We want to venture into that area to boost production to feed our oil and gas wells,” the CEO said.

Mr Koranteng announced this during interaction with some journalists in Kumasi to begin a tour to some mining communities in the Ashanti region.

According to the CEO, the tour in the region was to help identify some of the challenges facing mining companies, especially in the payment of royalties.

It will also afford the MIIF an opportunity to interact with the non-gold players in the sector like the quarries, to know their challenges with regards to royalty payment.

Some of the places to be visited are Obuasi, Bibiani, Amansie, among others.

The Minerals Income Investment Act was passed in 2018 to, among other things, monetise the country’s mineral resources for the government’s infrastructural development projects.

It is also to monetise the mineral’s income accruing to the country, develop and implement measures to reduce the budgetary exposure of Ghana to minerals income fluctuations.

Mr. Koranteng also said this year MIIF would roll out a $500-million investment in the small-scale mining sector.

The six-year investment, which would be rolled out in September this year, would help deal with key issues affecting the sector, such as environmental pollution, under-reporting and lack of capital investment.

According to him, the investment package, which would be spearheaded through a special purpose initiative, dubbed ‘MIIF Small-Scale Incubation’ is designed to help formalise the small-scale mining sector, not only to promote environmental sustainable mining, but also to create local mining champions.

The Small-Scale Incubation Programme, he explained, evolved from President Akufo-Addo’s plan to sanitise and bring value to the small-scale mining sector through mining community development, creating champions and adding value to their produce.

“We intend to introduce what we call the Small-scale Mining Incubation Programme with the objective to see how we can help develop the small-scale mining sector, turning it into mid-tier fully owned Ghanaian company which will impact the entire mining value chain to create jobs and transform the community.”

Mr Koranteng added that MIIF had acquired a 3.5 per cent stake in the Asante Gold Corporation in line with its vision to hold stakes in high performing mining companies.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Accra, March 25, GNA—Churches in Ghana have been advised to preach the Gospel of Christ, rather than materialism. Reverend F.

Reverend F.B Dadson, Vice President of the Ghana Evangelical Society, during a press briefing in Accra, said the Church in recent times, had taken on “another gospel, the gospel of materialism and not the Cross. Many preach gain. Many seek gain and think that gain is godliness.”

A person who is into materialism is someone markedly more concerned with material things than with spiritual, intellectual, or cultural values.

Rev. Dadson quoted from1 Timothy 6:3-10, saying: “If anyone teaches otherwise and does not agree to the sound instruction of our Lord Jesus Christ and to godly teaching, they are conceited and understand nothing. They have an unhealthy interest in controversies and quarrels about words that result in envy, strife, malicious talk, evil suspicions, and constant friction between people of corrupt mind, who have been robbed of the truth and who think that godliness is a means to financial gain.

“But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.”

He explained that the Church was a group of people taken out of the political economy and power of sin, darkness and death, and translated into the power and marvelous light of the Kingdom of God through faith in the Only Begotten Son of the Living God, Jesus Christ the Saviour.

As such, he said all who had believed in Jesus Christ by accepting Him as their Lord and personal Saviour and had been baptized had received the mark and power of sonship.

“These are washed, cleansed, sanctified, and separated unto God by the Blood of the Lamb, Jesus Christ and placed into the Family of God, the Church, called the Body of Christ. The Church is God’s family, God’s heritage. Its foundation is Jesus Christ her Lord.”

“In this regard, the Church is very important, and an integral part of Jehovah God’s vision for the working out of the vision of a new man, a new human society, a new world with a new spiritual and socio-cultural order,” he said.

Rev Dadson also urged the Church to remain united and love one another so that there would be no dissimulation amongst His people.

“The Church should return to Him Jehovah God, the Church should embrace the Cross and preach the Cross, for the Church is God’s inheritance, the Church should lift high the Cross and exalt it in the land, the Church should speak with one voice and the people of the nation shall hear,” he said.

Source: Ghana News Agency

– The Global Media Foundation (GLOMeF), a media advocacy non-governmental organization, has called on the government to scale up national Tuberculosis (TB) interventions programmes.

It said the country could join the globe to end the TB epidemic by 2035 only if the government invested heavily in TB control programmes.

A statement issued and signed by Mr. Raphael Godlove Ahenu, its founder and Chief Executive Officer, reiterated the need for improved TB/HIV coordination monitoring and evaluation as well as research to support treatment and screening strategies.

A copy of the statement made available to the Ghana News Agency (GNA) to commemorate the 2021 World TB Day called on the government to increase investment in TB interventions.

World TB Day is observed on March 24, every year to raise public awareness and understanding about TB, one of the world’s deadliest infectious killers and this year’s day is celebrated on the theme “Invest to End TB, Save Lives”.

“Scaling up towards accelerated universal access to TB control requires a comprehensive strategic plan to serve as a national response to the ravaging epidemic,” it said.

The statement expressed regret that over the years the marginalised and vulnerable people’s involvement in the preparation of TB strategic plans had been limited.

It said the vulnerable population must be actively involved in TB programmes to help support community mobilization.

This would greatly help to reduce high TB/HIV stigma in local communities, the statement said and announced GLOMeF in its new strategic plan on TB/HIV control focused on Community Level Behaviour Change Communication and Prevention.

“This is to enhance community members’ awareness and knowledge of TB/HIV and TB/HIV stigma reduction issues in rural communities, thereby rallying community support mobilization to enhance uptake of active case finding in rural communities”, it added.

It said the Foundation would also develop and distribute information, education and communication (IEC) materials and pamphlets on TB/HIV to the most-at-risk population in rural communities.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Kwabena Ampomah, a 52-year-old farmer, who allegedly murdered his cousin Madam Adwoa Badu, aged 63 was on Thursday granted GHC100,000 bail with two sureties to be justified by Sunyani High Court Two.

The incident occurred on Thursday, April 1, 2021, at Mim in the Asunafo North Municipality of the Ahafo Region but Madam Badu died on Sunday, April 4, 2021.

According to the court, initially suspect Ampomah was arrested by the Mim Police and charged with assault but following Madam Badu’s death, her husband, Nana Kwadwo Prempeh who is the complainant in the case informed the Police and the suspect was therefore charged with alleged murder and had since been on prison remand. 

The court presided over by Justice Gabriel Mate-Teye, ordered the suspect to report to the Goaso Municipal Police station every Wednesday to aid Police investigations till his re-appearance before the court on Thursday, April 7, 2022.

Recounting the incident, the defense Counsel, Mr Rowland Boadi-Gyan told the Court the suspect visited his father and met the deceased who was at that time drying cocoa beans and assisted her.

But the deceased also requested the suspect to help her in sieving the cocoa beans which the latter refused, Mr Boadi-Gyan added.

A misunderstanding thus ensued between the two and in the process, the suspect pushed the deceased who fell to the ground and became unconscious.

The deceased was rushed to the Mim Ahmadiyya Hospital and subsequently referred to the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital, Kumasi but was pronounced dead on arrival.

A District Magistrate Court at Goaso that was earlier handling the case referred it to Sunyani High Court Two.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Cape Coast, March 25, GNA – The new Central Regional Police Commander, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCOP) Alexander Kwami Amenyo, has resolved to clamp down criminal activities in the region to maintain its peaceful atmosphere.

He has assured that his administration would be tough on miscreants, criminals and undesirable characters to safeguard the security of the region, particularly in the face of potential extremist attacks on the country.

Citing the recent disarray in Bawku, he said it was dangerous to compromise on security given the country’s porous borders, which was providing easy access to infiltrators.

“…We all know about the Bawku crisis. These are things that Jihadists will take advantage of and so if we are down south here and we find people committing crime and we continue to compromise and fail to deal with them drastically, it will not augur well for our country,” he said.

DCOP Mr Amenyo, who succeeds DCOP Kwadwo Antwi Tabi, said this at his maiden official meeting with the media as part of stakeholder engagements to outline his vision for the region.

As part of the strategy, he said the police would enhance its community patrols to increase visibility and reinstate defunct checkpoints to ward off criminals.

The Regional Commander said the police would work closely with citizens and the media to maintain peace and order, adding: “We will rely on informants because we can’t do it alone.”

To that end, DCOP Mr Amenyo urged communities to form watchdog committees, assuring them of adequate professional training for such bodies.

He said consistent and comprehensive education would be provided to the public through the electronic media and community engagements on how to prevent crime in the spirit of shared responsibility.

He bemoaned the high rate of road crashes in the region and the country as a whole, attributing it basically to human error, while declaring war on the canker.

On police professionalism, DCOP Amenyo said his outfit was working hard to cleanse the dented image of the police as part of efforts to give the Service a world class status.

He said the Police Administration was very determined in its re-orientation programmes and offering refresher courses for personnel to update their skills to enable them to act professionally within globally accepted standards.

“We have resolved to ensure that our men on the ground will be very professional and will be apt in performance without infringing on the rights of innocent persons.”

DCOP Amenyo appealed to journalists to be objective in their reportage to avert setting the public on a collision with the police.

He called for a strong collaboration between the media and the police administration adding; “What is important is for all responsible media houses to adhere to the ethical standards of the profession and present the news to the public in a decent way.”

“Sometimes people exaggerate things for the police to look very bad. So, we will plead with you to always crosscheck your information,” he added.

Source: Ghana News Agency