Category: Key Issues

MTN Ghana, as part of its 25th Anniversary celebration, has committed an amount of GHc10 million to the Ministry of Communication and Digitization in support of the Girls in ICT project. Girls in ICT program is an international initiative adopted in 2012 by all ITU Member States including Ghana.

The program is aimed at exposing young girls to opportunities in the ICT sector through mentorship workshops and open day programs to prepare them for ICT-related professions in the future.

The first part of the funds was presented to the Minister of Communications and Digitalisation Hon. Ursula Owusu-Ekuful at a presentation ceremony in Accra.

The funding is to cover the cost of the project over a three-year period to support the government’s efforts to empower and encourage girls to consider studies and careers in ICT.

Speaking at the presentation ceremony, Chief Corporate Service Officer of MTN Ghana, Samuel Koranteng, said “The MTN Group is a signatory to the United Nations Women Empowerment Principles and by this, the company has pledged its commitment to the advancement of Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women. It is part of the company’s core beliefs that everyone deserves the benefits of modern, connected life and therefore strives to ensure that men and women benefit equally from ICT.”

“Gender Empowerment is a key strategic component of MTN’s Corporate Social Investment and over the years we have made significant contributions in this regard and because of that, we do not wait until precocious young girls become seasoned women professionals before taking an interest in them. Our contributions start from the grassroots level,” Mr. Koranteng added.

The Chief Capital Projects officer, William Tetteh speaking on behalf of the CEO of MTN Ghana said “MTN Ghana remains committed to supporting government development agenda and this presentation is a demonstration of that commitment”.

Receiving the cheque on behalf of the government, Minister of Communications and Digitalization, Hon. Ursula Owusu-Ekuful thanked MTN Ghana for joining other corporate organizations to support the government’s initiative to empower girls in ICT.

She said “The ICT world provides great career opportunities for girls if they are given the needed support and mentorship. The initiative for this year includes a boot camp for girls from rural communities in the Western North region who are already undergoing programming and coding training. The Ministry will consider expanding the program to reach more girls in other regions.”

The initiative falls in line with MTN’s vision to lead the delivery of a bold new digital world and its core beliefs that everyone deserves the benefits of a modern, connected life. In view of that, MTN Ghana has supported the program since its inception with mentorship programs as well as cash and kind donations.

Source: Ghana Web

Leading culinary brand, Onga has launched the 2021 edition of Ghana’s Premier cooking reality show Ongalicious Ghana Cooks. The launch took place at the Fiesta Royale Hotel in the presence of invited media houses, representatives from the National Commission on Culture, past winners of the show, Traditional leaders, among others.

Speaking at the launch under the theme “Developing Ghanaian Food Entrepreneurs Through Innovation and Culture”, Commercial Director for Promasidor Ghana (Producers of Onga), Mr. Samir Sadaoui, said the brand Onga is looking to promote the food culture in the country as well as identify culinary talents who can be nurtured to become Industry Chefs, Food Critics, Restaurateurs to name a few.

“The show is driven with a primary objective of empowering aspiring chefs as well as promoting indigenous and modern Ghanaian cuisine to Ghanaians and the world at large. It is therefore not surprising that we chose the theme “Developing Ghanaian Food Entrepreneurs Through Innovation & Culture” as the core message for this honorable gathering. The Food business is a multibillion-dollar industry and has great career opportunities that can be tapped into. Identifying great culinary talents through this initiative and grooming them to become great industry leaders, such as I believe this will create jobs and add value to the Ghanaian economy” he said.

Addressing the gathering on behalf of the Executive Director of the National Commission on Culture, Madam Harriet Boateng expressed her delight about the show and called for more of such competition to enable the promotion of food tourism in the country. She further encouraged the families who will take part in the competition to put in their best in exhibiting their culinary skills as they showcase the food culture of the country.

This year’s edition of the competition will mark the 4th season of the show and is dubbed the “Family Battle Edition”. The show will feature 12 families as they battle it out for an ultimate prize, from a mouthwatering prize pool of GHS 100,000.00. The show is opened to the general public, further details and instructions can be found on the Onga social media pages @OngaGhana.

Source: Ghana Web

Accra,- President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo says Ghana is determined to deepen its ties with Ethiopia to enhance mutually beneficial cooperation.

He said this on Wednesday when the Ethiopian Prime Minister, Ebiy Ahmed, who is in Ghana on a three-day working visit, called on him at the Jubilee House, Accra.

The President, in a short interaction with the media, said his administration would expand exchanges with the East African nation to enhance the bonds of friendship that existed between the two countries.

“He has come to talk to us about the progress of bilateral relations between Ethiopia and Ghana and then off course, necessarily, regional and continental issues will also be part of our meeting,”

President Akufo-Addo said before retiring to a closed door session with his guest.

Ghana and Ethiopia have enjoyed cordial relations since the time of Ghana’s first President, Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah and Emperor Haile Selassie.

Their political history has been at the core of the relationship that exist between them.

More recently, both nations have sought to expand economic ties, and revitalize trade relations. The two countries are yet to conclude and sign a proposed agreement for joint declaration of strategic partnership that would offer the framework required to increase cooperation between the two.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Accra,- Guineans prefer democracy to any other regime, but want two-term limit for presidents, Afrobarometer survey, has revealed.

The Afrobarometer findings, which was made available to the Ghana News Agency, indicated that despite widespread dissatisfaction with the government’s performance, Guineans strongly prefered democracy to any alternative form of governance, the most recent Afrobarometer survey showed.

Barely a year after claiming a third term in office amidst widespread opposition, President Alpha Condé has been detained following a coup d’état last Sunday.

The Coup leader Lieutenant Colonel Mamady Doumbouya had cited pervasive poverty and corruption as reasons for the takeover.

The Afrobarometer findings from late 2019 showed majority of Guineans believed that the country was heading in the wrong direction, that the level of corruption had increased, and that the government was doing a poor job of fighting corruption.

It noted that dissatisfaction with the country’s economic conditions and citizens’ personal living conditions had increased, as had negative ratings of the government’s economic performance and provision of essential public services.

The findings indicated that only three in 10 citizens were satisfied with the way the democracy was “working”.

However, the study also showed that most Guineans endorsed elections as the best way to choose leaders and that citizens’ preference for democracy had remained consistently high over the years.

Key findings were that more than three-fourths (77 per cent l) of Guineans preferred democracy to any other form of government and that support for democracy had remained high since Afrobarometer began its surveys in Guinea in 2013.

It said eight in 10 Guineans (82 per cent) endorsed free, fair, and honest elections as the best way to choose leaders, including 57 per cent who “strongly agree” with that view.

The findings pointed out that similar majority (76 per cent) wanted the president to serve a maximum of two terms in office, and only four in 10 Guineans (40 per cent) described the country as “a full democracy” or “a democracy with minor problems”.

The study said only three in 10 (29 per cent) said they were “fairly satisfied” or “very satisfied” with the way democracy worked, a sharp decline from 2017 (56 per cent) after consistent improvement from 2013 (39 per cent).

It said almost two-thirds of Guineans (64 per cent) said the country was heading in “the wrong direction,” and that the perception that “most” or “all” officials at the Presidency were corrupt had increased from 26 per cent in 2013 to 47 per cent.

The findings said almost two-thirds (63 per cent) of citizens said the level of corruption in the country increased during the year preceding the survey, a 25-percentage-point increased compared to 2015 (38 per cent).

It said eight in 10 citizens (81 per cent) said the government was performing “fairly badly” or “very badly” in fighting corruption, a 27-percentage-point increase compared to 2013 (54 per cent).

The findings said almost seven in 10 citizens (68 per cent) described the country’s economic conditions as “fairly bad” or “very bad,” a significant increase compared to 2013 (59 per cent).

It said the proportion who said their personal living conditions were “fairly bad” or “very bad” had also increased to 64 per cent.

The findings noted that about nine in 10 Guineans said the government was doing “fairly badly” or “very badly” at narrowing income gaps (90 per cent), creating jobs (89 per cent), and improving living standards of the poor (85 per cent).

It showed that seven in 10 (72 per cent) rated the government poorly on its performance in managing the economy.

The findings revealed that overwhelming majorities also said the government was doing a poor job of maintaining roads and bridges (92 per cent), providing water and sanitation services (85 per cent), providing a reliable supply of electricity (83 per cent), addressing educational needs (73 per cent), and improving basic health services (72 per cent).

Source: Ghana News Agency

Accra,- Dr. Kaderi Noagah Bukari, a research fellow in the Department of Peace Studies, at the University of Cape Coast, has urged African countries to take a second look at the ” Western Majoritarian Democracy” towards ending military takeovers of governments.

“It is not responding to the needs of the people, and, I think a better option could be ‘Consensus-based Democracy,’ where the majority and minority agree on issues for the common good of society,” he said.

Dr Bukari, also a lecturer at the School for Development Studies of the UCC, was commenting on the Sunday, September 5, military takeover in Guinea, in an interview with the Ghana News Agency.

He said the coup d’état in Guinea was unacceptable, though expected.

This is because the governance system was not addressing the needs of the people.

The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), African Union, the United Nations Secretary-general, and some Western countries have condemned the coup and asked for immediate restoration to democratic rule.

Dr. Bukari, however, said a “Consensus-Based-Democracy” would promote a win-win situation and present a bipartisan approach to addressing issues of unemployment and corruption.

“The worse democracy is better than the best coup; but if our leaders and politicians refuse to work together to solve the needs of the people, we will have more coups because the signs are all over and the whole place will become a fertile ground for terrorists,” he emphasised.

“Our people must be involved and must benefit from the democracy we choose,” he said.

Professor Emmanuel Kwasi Aning, the Director of the Faculty of Academic Affairs at the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre (KAIPTC) has also said the Guinean coup was predictable because of the issues of “corruption, exclusive use of state money” and the amendment of the Constitution against the will of the people.

Prof Aning said the Military had between six and 12 months to demonstrate it could use state resources to promote social welfare to change the negative narrative.

The soldiers, led by a former French Legionnaire, Lieutenant Colonel Mamady Doumbouya, announced that they had seized power, arrested the 83-year-old President Conde and suspended the Constitution of the West African nation.

They appeared on national television, with some draped in the red, gold and green flag of Guinea, to announce that the Government had been dissolved because of unbridled corruption.

He stated: “Guineans, dear Compatriots. The socio economic and political situation, malfunctioning of state institutions, the curtailment of citizens’ rights, disrespect for democratic principles, political maladministration by government have compelled the National Committee of Reconciliation and Development to respond, and the entire nation to respond to the responsibilities to the sovereign people of Guinea.

“We have decided to dissolve the Constitution, institutions, and the Government, after taking hold of the President. Land and aerial borders are closed. We entreat you to remain calm and ask all security personnel to remain at post.”

Those behind the coup said that all land and air borders had been closed for a week.

However, according to a BBC report, the Defence Ministry said forces loyal to the president had “contained the threat and repelled the group of assailants”.

Earlier, the only bridge connecting the mainland to the Kaloum peninsular, which houses most ministries and the presidential palace, was sealed off while many soldiers, some heavily armed, were posted around the palace, a military source told Reuters news agency.

There are unconfirmed reports that three soldiers have been killed.

The Military is said to have replaced all Ministers with Military Commanders and asked civil servants to report to work last Monday.

President Condé was re-elected for a controversial third term in office amid violent protests last year.

The veteran opposition leader was first elected in 2010 in the country’s first democratic transfer of power.

Despite overseeing some economic progress, he had been accused of presiding over numerous human rights abuses and harassment of his critics, the BBC said.

Source: Ghana News Agency

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has returned GH¢237,974, being the salary increment granted to him from January to August, this year.

The funds, paid into the Pensions and Salaries Account of the Controller and Accountant – General’s Department, is in fulfilment of his pledge during this year’s May Day celebration, not to raise his salary, that of the Vice President, ministers and their deputies, and other government appointments.

The measure is to minimise the negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Ghana’s public finance.

This was disclosed, in Accra, on Tuesday by Mr Eugene Arhin, Director of Communications at Presidency, at the weekly Jubilee House Press briefing

Mr Arhin explained that when the President received his accrued salary for the period, he noticed that the directive to freeze increments on his pay for 2021 had not been enforced, thus, “leading by example” he wrote a check on September 2, 2021, to cover the increments on his salary to reflect the decision he took to reduce the stress on the public purse.

The salary increments were those proposed by the Professor Yaa Ntiamoah-Baidu led Presidential Committee on Emoluments.

But the President had pledged to freeze salary increments for the Executive well before the Committee approved salary adjustments for Article 71 officeholders.

Mr Arhin said other appointees of State, including the Vice President, were all to refund the difference that they have received.

He said the Chief of Staff, Madam Akosua Frema Osei-Opare had communicated that directive to all ministers, deputy ministers and Staff at the Presidency.

Source: Ghana News Agency