June 10, 2023 – L' Observateur Burundi

June 10, 2023

Kwabre East NCCE nurtures basic school pupils to sustain democratic governance

The Kwabre East Municipal Directorate of the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE), as part of the annual Citizenship Week celebration, has taken education on democratic governance to selected basic schools in the Municipality.

With the approach of ‘Catching them young’, the Directorate has been engaging the children on the importance of embracing democratic governance and discharging their civic responsibilities as future leaders.

The goal is to inculcate a sense of nationalism and Ghanaian values in them as they transitioned into adulthood as a way of strengthening the country’s constitutional rule which has been practiced for the last three decades.

The annual Citizenship Week is celebrated by the NCCE to highlight the successes of the Ghana’s democratic governance while reminding the citizenry of their role in sustaining the gains.

This year’s celebration is focusing on sensitising basic school pupils on their responsibilities as children and the role they could play in building a strong, vibrant and sustainable democracy as a country.

It is being celebrated on the theme : ’30 Years of Consolidating Constitutional Democracy and Building National Cohesion: Role of the Ghanaian Child.’

In all, the Directorate has visited 40 basic schools to sensitise them on their civic responsibilities with emphasis on core Ghanaian values that could shape their lives.

Resource persons made up of technocrats and other prominent personalities mentored the pupils on good citizenship.

Mr. Nazif Mohammed Sadisu, the Municipal Director of NCCE, said children had critical role to play in building national cohesion as potential leaders.

He said it was important to instil values such as discipline, respect, love, kindness, compassion, honesty, tolerance, and kindness among others to nurture them into responsible citizens.

He advised them to stay away from all forms of social vices both at the school and community levels in order not to derail their future ambitions.

Achieving their future ambitions, he said, depended on what they did today and stressed the need for them to concentrate on their education and also observe their civic duties as children.

Source: Ghana News Agency

June 10, 2023

Fifth Ghana Events Industry Conference to be held in Takoradi

The fifth Ghana Events Industry Conference is set to take place in Takoradi, in the Western Region, in November.

The conference organised by the Event Vendors Association, Ghana (EVAG) would be on the theme: ‘A year of adaptability and implementation.’

Mrs Kate Hassan, President EVAG, said the theme for the conference was carefully chosen because event vendors played a very critical role in the event industry and the hospitality industry in general.

‘Adaptability often includes skills such as problem solving, communication, creativity, interpersonal skills, flexibility, self awareness, open mindedness, and organizational abilities as well as the ability to quickly learn new skills, process of technologies, and the willingness to change or grow your business and its objectives.’

She said the key to successful implementation of any idea was to create a plan that identified the specific needs of your business, including timelines, objectives, roles and responsibilities and implementation strategy.

‘Once the plan has been created, and approved, it is then important to execute it in a timely and effective manner, through the provision of adequate training, support, and resources to ensure the growth of your business.’

Mrs Hassan indicated that happenings in society were based on events, be it social or corporate, and there were lots of individuals who play critical roles in the value chain and contribute largely to the economic growth of the country.

She said the idea for the initiation of the conference was to build a formidable team to work together, build their capacity and encourage each other to learn new skills to become better in their field of work and impact the industry, for it to grow more stronger.

‘Currently there about 600 EVAG members across the country, so we decided to hold this year’s conference outside Accra for other members to also feel part of the fraternity, hence Takoradi was chosen.’

Mrs Hassan said the Conference would be preceded with the nominations for awards from July 3 to August 3, after which voting would start from September 4 to 30.

‘Vetting for final winners will be from October 4 to 10, and the conference itself will start from November 6 to 8.’

Some activities lined up for the conference include a welcome party, the conference sessions, and after party.

‘The awards night will be held in Accra on November 15.’

Mr Caleb Kofie, National Secretary, Ghana Tourism Federation, said event forms one of the biggest contributors under the hospitality sector and had a critical role to play in all aspects in all settings.

‘Ghana is currently beginning to take and invest in events and has also now taking the centre stage in the Christmas festivities. Hence much more attention must be paid to the event vendors.’

Mr Kofie said in order to really make an impact in the industry and be appreciated we must push the powers that be to put a spotlight on entities and brands such as EVAG, to maintain a particular standard for event organisation in the country while promoting the industry.

‘We have got a whole package as industry players but there are a lot of gabs in the system so we must work hard to complement efforts by other stakeholders in order to drive tourism excellence using the event brand.’

He assured EVAG of the continued support of GHATOF, saying ‘we are with you, you have our support. Whatever is required to ensure that we push EVAG to the highest level we are prepared to do it.’

Source: Ghana News Agency

June 10, 2023

Obuasi Municipal Assembly launches Obuasi Green City Agenda

The Obuasi Municipal Assembly has launched a bold and aggressive policy targeted at converting all gray areas in the Municipality to Greenery environment to mitigate the effects of climate change.

The launch of the programme dubbed ‘Obuasi Green City Agenda’, coincided with the Municipality’s celebration of Green Ghana Day.

As part of the initiative, a 17-member committee has been put together to identify and establish an institutional framework for the implementation of resilience and climate adaptation activities in the Municipality.

The committee is also mandated to identify and report on all potential areas for intervention, to increase the knowledge and practice among the inhabitants on resilience and climate adaptation and to improve and embark on tree planting exercise in the Municipality.

Mr. Elijah Adansi-Bonah, the Municipal Chief Executive (MCE), speaking at the launch of the programme in Obuasi, said the initiative involved bringing on board a cross section of people with the relevant expertise to ensure a well-developed urban space without compromising on the protection of the vegetation.

He said the Assembly had already earmarked some roads within the Municipality for beautification as part of the programme.

The MCE mentioned the road linking the Old DVLA office and the Obuasi Government Hospital as well as the SDA Church road at Estate to the Obuasi Post office as some of the roads selected for the initial phase of the programme.

‘We will do some landscaping, construct pavements and grow trees on these selected roads,’ Mr. Adansi-Bonnah emphasised.

The Obuasi Green City Agenda will be funded solely from the Capacity Support Grant Component of the Ghana Secondary Cities Support Programme (GSCSP), which the Obuasi Municipal is a beneficiary among 35 other Municipalities.

Mr. Henry Yeboah, the Obuasi Station Supervisor of the Forestry Commission, said the department was well positioned to assist the Municipality to implement the programme.

He said the Obuasi Municipality had been allocated 7,500 seedlings, including Mahogany, mango, and orange, among other seedlings to be planted this year.

Source: Ghana News Agency

June 10, 2023

Local Assemblies charged to make Green Ghana Day a daily routine

Mr Osei Bonsu Amoah, Minister of State, Local Government, Decentralisation and Rural Development (MLGDRD), has charged local assemblies to be at the forefront of the Green Ghana Day and make it a daily routine.

He said the most critical concern of the populace over the last three years of the Green Ghana Day’s existence had been how sustainable the project had fared in terms of the survival rate.

‘The Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources and the Forestry Commission have confirmed that over 70 percent of the trees are still thriving. The MMDAs are tasked to ensure that what we plant is sustained year after year and not only for a day,’ Mr Amoah said.

He made the call during the 2023 Green Ghana Day when he led the Local Government and National Security Ministries and the Korle Klottey Municipal Assembly to plant trees at the Nationalism Park, about 200 metres away from the Accra Sports Stadium.

Speaking on the significance of the Green Ghana Project, the Minister of State said, ‘as a people we knew the importance of protecting our lands, water bodies and environment, adding that it was imperative we gave our fullest support.’

He said: ‘When we plant the trees and let them die then it means we are also dying. For us at the Local Government Ministry, Parks and Gardens, it is our everyday job.’

‘It is not just a yearly affair that we commemorate and wait for a long time before people will hear of us,’ Mr Amoah added.

He said the Assemblies had a mandate to develop all districts and they could not take development to any level if their environment was degraded, water systems were polluted and forest was dying.

Nii Adjei Tawiah, Chief Executive, Korle Klottey Municipal Assembly, who also planted a tree at the Nationalism Park, said the Assembly had been collaborating with officers from Parks and Gardens to green the Municipality.

He said Ghana Tourism Authority (GTA), Korle Klottey Municipal Assembly and National Security had collaborated with a private investor to invest $500, 000 to redevelop the Nationalism Park into an iconic facility that would drive tourism traffic and generate revenue.

‘All arrangements have been done. Part of the revenue generated for the Park if completed would pay for the cost of the project whilst some percentages would go to GTA and the Korle Klottey Assembly but the investor would be taken off after recouping his capital injection,’ the Chief Executive said.

The investor company is said to have come from South Korea and is expected to raise the facility to the standards of the likes of New York Central Park or the High Park of the UK in London.

The target for this year’s Green Ghana project is to plant about 10 million trees nationwide. In 2022, about 7 million trees were said to have been planted.

Source: Ghana News Agency

June 10, 2023

Protect trees you plant- DCE

Madam Aisha Batong Hor, the Sissala West District Chief Executive, has challenged residents to protect and nurture seedlings allocated to them for planting to mark the Greening Ghana Day.

She said this during the district’s Green Ghana Day (GGD) commemoration which took place in Gwollu where some tree seedlings were distributed to individuals, groups, and institutions by the Forestry Commission (FC).

‘When it comes to degrading the forest, sadly Sissala West is a noted area as mentioned because of the charcoal produced, the chiefs and other stakeholders are concerned and continuously ‘, she explained.

She appealed to people to help protect the fragile degraded forest by joining in the call by the President to green Ghana to reduce the negative effect of desertification currently being experienced in the area with the delay in the coming of the rains for farmers to plant.

She expressed commitment to working to help change the perception of the district as notorious for charcoal burning and called on all to come on board.

Mr Samuel Badu Dwomo, the Manager of the Forestry Department of the Forestry, said the project was aimed to re-vegetate the degraded forest landscape through vigorous tree planting.

He added that the Sissala West and East districts were planting 150,000, the majority of which would go into the Kulpawn headwaters forest reserve in the Sissala West

Me Dwomo encouraged all to embrace the Green Ghana initiative and plant trees in open spaces like their compound, churches, school premises, and the mosque and any available space.

He noted that: ‘ You, myself, and everybody should see ourselves as ambassadors of the project, let’s not plant and leave it to the mercy of the weather but nurture it to grow.’

Source: Ghana News Agency

June 10, 2023

Angola women basketball team in group A

Angola senior women’s basketball team are in group A of the “Afrobasket’2023” FIBA Africa Women’s Championship Cup to be held from July 28 to August 8 in Kigali, Rwanda, after an invitation from FIBA-Africa.

According to the draw held Friday night in Mozambique, Angola were paired with hosts Rwanda and another member of zone two or three yet to be defined.

The two-time African champions failed to qualify for the tournament after losing to Mozambique 82-90, in Bulawayo (Zimbabwe) in the final of Zone VI in February.

The team benefited from the “Will Card” (Invitation from FIBA-Africa) to play in the 26th edition of the event, since there are zones of the continent that did not hold the respective qualifying competitions.

Angola won the competition in 2011 and 2013 under the lead of the Angolan Aníbal Moreira.

The draw for Afrobasket “Rwanda 2023” has placed in group B Cameroon, Mozambique and a participant to be known soon.

Mali, Senegal and Uganda are in Group C, while Nigeria, Egypt and Congo are in Group D.

AFROCAN’2023 to be held from July 8-16 in Angola was drawn in the previous evening, with the host nation in Group B along with Mali and other teams yet to be announced.

In group A are Kenya, Gambia and a representative from zone two or three. In group C are Morocco and a representative from zone one or five, while in D are DRC, Mozambique and Cameroon

Source: Angola Press News Agency (APNA)