Ghana Telecom is now 100% State Owned
...Telekom Malaysia completes sale
Telekom Malaysia(TM) has completed the sale of its 30 percent interest in Ghana Telecom.
Ghana Cedi set to join League of Nations
The New Ghana Cedi and the Ghana Pesewa which will start circulating in July will, according to the Managing Director of Stanbic Ghana Alhassan Andani enable “Ghana join the League of Nations whose currencies are well recognized and highly valued in the world.”
Mr. Andani whose bank organized an educational session on the new currencies says the expected recognition “which will be our new store value needs to be protected and guarded very jealously” adding that it will be the responsibility of all Ghanaians to protect it.
The Stanbic boss said as a financial institution it forms part of their social responsibility to be part of the public education exercise on and about the new currency. He assured the public and the bank’s customers that all the required logistics to operate smoothly as a bank after the redenomination have been met.
Stanbic’s “Currency Re-denomination Impact Analysis Workshop” was aimed among others at educating their customers on the changes that will take place after the exercise has been carried out.
Mr. Alhassan Andani urged participants to accept the new system which has been undertaken in so many other countries because the new currency will represent the country’s integrity of wealth system as a nation.
Mr Ryan Cedar of Standard Bank Group in South Africa and who has been involved in re-denomination exercises in other parts of Africa said there will be much more coins than notes after re-denomination and wondered whether the country as a whole is prepared to use coins for transactions.
He also noted that there will be problems with storage because of the volumes.
Mr. Cedar said, as a bank they have outlined a number of processes to make way for the new currency with a currency distribution strategy to the branches in the week leading to the conversion and the actual conversion between Saturday 30th June 2007 and Monday 1st July.
Source:
dailyexpress
Papa Owusu-Ankomah To Resign
Minister for Education, Science & Sports, Papa Owusu-Ankomah is all set to leave President Kufuor’s cabinet early next month. The resignation is intended to allow him enough time to embark on a sustained campaign ahead of the December 2007 presidential primaries.
A relaiable source close to the Minister has also told the dailyExpress that as a lawyer, taking that decisive step will be in conformity with the New Patriotic Party’s constitution which mandates minister-aspirants to resign.
Currently suffering on the ground because of the late declaration of interest, and a tactful act not to go contrary to the president’s caution against aspirants peaking before time, close aides say an early resignation will help his campaign efforts.
Unlike other minister-aspirants, Papa Owusu Ankomah has been unable to effectively campaign. Having been left on the mark by fellow contestants and unable to campaign effectively, his backers and aides believe that dropping out of government will allow him enough time to try a catch up game.
The resignation decision and his ability to carry it through will according to a close aide also embolden him to articulate his personal plans, vision and programs to the party delegates. The expected resignation of Papa Owusu-Ankomah who is also MP for Sekondi will make him the first to resign among the seven cabinet ministers struggling it out to lead the NPP to the polls.
Though rumoured for along time, the Education Minister who is heading a record 6th ministry, since joining the government in 2001, officially made public his interest late month. He has since then visited a few constituencies where dailyExpress has learnt he told his audience that he is a great team player and has garnered enough governmental experience over the last six years, during which period the president has put him in charge of six different ministries.
But critics have been quick to point out that the Sekondi lawyer & legislator must not count his reshuffle to six different ministries as a plus because according to one such critic, “it is rather the case that he is unable to perform that’s why the president keeps moving him around… more like a management trainee yet to graduate to the next level.”
Over the last few weeks, there has been debates among legal personalities in the NPP about the party constitutional provision that requires that minister aspirants resign from government.
While some are advocating that the constitution is respected to the letter, others are calling for a second look at the provision. The NDC in joining the debate of a purely internal NPP matter brought in fears of an abuse of incumbency, insisting that the minister-aspirants are likely to use state resources for their campaigns.
Source:
dailyExpress
Canada-based Ghanaian advises youth against Western culture
Baano (B/A), April 23, GNA-
A Canada-based Ghanaian, Madam Margaret Takyiwaa Amponsah, has advised the youth to shun "unwholesome" Western culture, which could affect their development.
She cautioned them against dressing obscenely that according to her was synonymous to indecent exposure, alien to Ghana's culture and flouted the country's criminal code.
Madam Amponsah gave the advice when she presented 40 pairs of uniform to Crusaders of the Catholic Youth Organisation (CYO) of St John's Catholic Church, at Baano in Jaman South District of the Brong-Ahafo Region.
She expressed regret that many youth perceived every foreign culture exhibited on the television or on video clips as real and a new fashion that should be imitated.
Madam Takyiwaa said, "Many boys and girls think any kind of dressing seen in foreign films and on video clips, or any immoral activity was the acceptable norm".
She cautioned the youth that they would live to regret such misconduct as the repercussions would bring untold hardship to them, their families and the nation as a whole."
Madam Takyiwaa explained that there were decent and chaste youth in Canada, Europe and the United States of America, thus the indecent dressing, armed robbery, thefts, drug addiction and prostitution seen in foreign films and video clips only portrayed unwholesome and unacceptable practices in those places.
In a sermon Reverend Father Paul Ameyaw, parish priest of Saint Peter and Saint Paul Parish at Kwasibuorkrom, admonished the congregation to remain faithful and protect the creed and doctrine of the Catholic Church.
Senior Crusader Apraku Simon, organizing secretary of the CYO at Kwasibuorkrom, expressed the organisation's appreciation to Madam Amponsah for the gesture.
Source:
GNA
Volta Region leads in child labour cases
Accra, April 23, GNA - A survey by the International Labour Organization (ILO) has revealed that the Volta Region has the highest percentage of child labour cases in the country.
The region, which recorded 33.2 per cent of the over 1.2 million children engaged in child labour, was due to the prevalent fishing activities along the Volta Lake, the report found.
Western, Eastern and the Northern regions followed with 27.1, 25.4 and 24.2 per cent. The Brong Ahafo, Upper West, Greater Accra and the Ashanti regions recorded 11.6, 13.1, 13.9 and 14.8 per cent.
Mrs Stella Ofori, Senior Labour Officer, who presented a paper on the current child labour situation in Ghana at a workshop in Accra, said out of the 20 per cent of children engaged in child labour, 88 per cent of them were in unpaid family labour.
She mentioned blind beggars' guides, hawkers, child domestic servitude, head porters (kayaye), as examples. Those in commercial sex, the Trokosi system, and child trafficking were identified as the worse forms of child labour.
Mrs Ofori explained that child labour, which was any activity that affected the health, education and development needs of children, should not be confused with child work, which children often did to assist their parents so far as it did not deprive them of such needs.
According to her, Section 89 of Act 560 of the Child Act states that children above 13 years are old enough to assist their parents with light work as far as it does not expose them to any harm.
"Under the ILO Recommendation 190, children are not supposed to work at hotels, bars or any place of entertainment, or any industry that will expose them to hazardous activities that are affect their health." Mrs Ofori called for the adoption of appropriate strategies and programmes to tackle the issue holistically and advised parents to be also responsible to the needs of children.
Mr Mawutor Ablo, Deputy Director for Policy, Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation at the Ministry of Manpower, Youth and Employment said the Ministry had instituted a time bound project to rapidly respond to recent child labour issues.
He said the Child Labour Unit within the Ministry had instituted a pilot project in 20 districts to fully integrate District Assemblies into the development of action programmes to minimize the menace. Mr Ablo, who is also the Focal Person for ILO issues, said the Ministry, with support from the ILO would engage in more capacity building projects at the national level in terms of policy advocacy, especially against the worst forms of child labour.
He reiterated Government's commitment to ensure that the rights of children were also respected in order to ensure that children were given the necessary support to take up future roles.
The workshop which was attended by children from Curious Minds, a child's right advocacy club and the Ghana NGO Coalition for the Rights of the Child, was aimed at sensitizing the children on the issues of child labour.
The workshop provided a platform for children to actively participate in mobilizing society against child labour and its worst forms, since children are key mobilization partners against child labour.
The children would also be expected to act as peer educators to enlighten the society on the menace. 23 April 07
Source:
GNA
- NEWS 22.04.2007 -
Ghana To Celebrate 50th Jubilee with Washington Gala
Ghana , which last month celebrated its 50th anniversary of independence, is bringing the festivities to Washington, D.C., where its ambassador, His Excellency Dr. Kwame Edusei, will host a Golden Jubilee Dinner on Tuesday, April 24, 2007.
In recognition of its hard-won freedom, Ghana, the first nation in Sub-Saharan Africa to win its independence, hosted moving and joyful celebrations in March 1957 that attracted dignitaries from around the globe. Among the celebrants was an official US delegation led by Vice President Richard Nixon and which included the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., Congressmen Charles Diggs and Adam Clayton Powell III, Ambassador Ralph Bunche, civil rights activist A. Phillip Randolph, education leader, Horace Mann Bond, and publishing magnate John Johnson.
As part of the Washington celebration, Ghana will honor the original members of the US delegation by presenting posthumous awards to their descendents. Among those accepting the awards will be Bernice King; Del. Adam Clayton Powell IV; Linda Johnson Rice; Ralph Bunche Jr.; Michael Julian Bond; and a representative from the A. Philip Randolph Institute.
Ambassador Edusei is pleased and honored to invite Ghana's many Washington-based friends and supporters to the gala event including the African diplomatic corps, members of Congress, members of the Administration, business leaders, advocates for Africa, and celebrities, and many members of the public-at-large. Senior government ministers from Ghana will also attend.
The Jubilee celebrations on March 6th in Ghana were attended by the heads of state of a now fully independent Africa, leaders and royalty from a host of nations from around the world, members of the Congressional Black Caucus, US civil rights leaders, government officials, and the heads of international development agencies.
The Washington Jubilee Dinner, to be held at the Omni Shoreham Hotel, will also showcase Ghana's renowned culture and music. We hope you will join us for a truly unique opportunity to reflect and confirm linkages between a great African country and those who support Africa in the United States.
New media: Please contact Ms. Karen Bryant at 301.358.1597 or at GhanaJubilee@hotmail.com or the Embassy of Ghana at 202-686-4520 (attention Ms. Irene Addo, Deputy Chief of Mission) to request a Press Pass.
Source:
Embassy of Ghana (Washington, DC)
- NEWS 21.04.2007 -
Expansion of Tamale Water Project on schedule
Dalun, (N/R), April 21, GNA- The Tamale Water Supply Expansion Project which was commenced in August last year is on course and is expected to be completed in August 2008.
Mr. Hackman Owusu Agyeman, Minister of Works and Housing performed the sod-cutting ceremony for work on the project in August last year. The project was made possible by a loan agreement of 45 million euros between the government of Ghana and the Netherlands.
Mr. Russell Bryce, Senior Project Engineer of Biwater Company, the British Construction Company undertaking the project said this when some members of the Board of Directors of the Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL) led by Alhaji Abdul-Rahaman Musah, the Board Chairman on Friday visited some of the project sites at Nawuni and Dalun in the Tolon/Kumbungu District to see the progress of work.
The water treatment plant at Dalun currently pumps 4.4 million gallons of water a day and it is expected that when the expansion project was completed it would add an additional 4.6 million gallons making it a total of 10 million gallons per day. Messers. Kwabena Oppon, Obiri Yeboah, Moses Pecku, Board Members were among the team including Mr. David Bansah the Northern Regional Chief Manager of GWCL.
They were led to inspect the progress of work by Mr. Edawrd Kweku Agyekum,
Supervising Engineer of the GWCL. Alhaji Musah expressed satisfaction on the progress of work so far done by Biwater
but appealed to the company on the need to work faster so that the work could be
completed ahead of schedule. He said the government was anxious that the work be completed early to bring relief
to the people of the Tamale Metropolis and its environs in the quest for potable
drinking water. He also appealed to the Company to provide the Supervising Engineer with the
necessary tools and equipment to facilitate his work. 21 April 07
Source:
GNA
