Day: December 7, 2023

Mr Oswald Essuah Mensah, Director of Corporate Affairs at the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA), has called on the staff to educate the public on the importance of ‘MYNHIS APP,’ a mobile application.

‘MYNHIS APP’ is a mobile application for registration and renewal of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) free from the stress of joining queue at any NHIA office.

He said the ‘MYNHIS APP Storm’ was to help staff reach out to various departments, homes, shops and markets to sensitise the large populace on the need to be enrolled on the scheme and the use of the App.

Mr Mensah was speaking at a float organised by the Eastern Regional Office of the National Health Insurance Authority to mark the 20th anniversary celebration of the NHIS on the theme: ‘Health Heroes: 20 years strong’.

NHIS package provides coverage for approximately 95 per cent of the most common causes of illness in Ghana, and includes in-patient and out-patient care, comprehensive maternity care, diagnostic testing, generic med
icines and emergency care.

The Director of Corporate Affairs said about 17.2 million people were active on the insurance scheme out of the expected number of 25 million.

He said it was the desire of the Authority to achieve universal health coverage explaining that ‘NHIA will ensure it doesn’t leave anyone behind in the scheme.’

Mr Harry Thompson Baffour, the Eastern Regional Operations Manager of the National Health Insurance Authority, urged the public to get themselves enrolled onto the NHIS to reduce financial barriers towards accessing health care in Ghana.

Source: Ghana News Agency

The Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, Mr Samuel Abu Jinapor, Thursday assured Ghanaians that government will not allow the export of lithium in its raw state.

For that reason, he said, the Government had infused in the lithium agreement between it and Barari DV Ghana Limited a clause that ensure the retention of a significant part of the mining value chain locally.

Addressing a new briefing on Ghana’s first lithium contract, terms, benefits and the wayforward, Mr Jinapor insisted that the Lithium Mining Lease included a requirement for the establishment of a mining refinery to process lithium locally.

That, he said, would ensure the provision of the Lithium by-products to the local industries, therefore, the decision to process the mineral was in the best interest of the State.

The Minister listed some benefits the country would get from the implementation of the Lithium deal, noting that, the execution of the contract would give Ghana 10% royalties, which is highest in the country’s mineral explo
itation history.

The government, he said, also negotiated 19 percent state participation in Barari DV Limited, and projected to scale up to 30 percent by the end of the contract.

‘We have already secured 19 percent state participation in this mining company with the requirement to scale it up to a minimum of Ghanaian participation through listing on the Ghana Stock Exchange for shares to be made available to Ghanaians and Ghanaian entities’.

The Minister re-affirmed that the lithium contract was in the ultimate interest of all Ghanaians.

Mr Martin Kwaku Ayisi, the Chief Executive Officer, Minerals Commission pointed out that the criticisms coming from some individuals and CSOs on the deal were borne out of ignorance and failing to thoroughly read the agreement.

He noted that many of the concerns raised were based on inaccurate assumptions and unsupported assertions.

Mr. Ayisi explained that the $250 million project, located in Ewoyaa.in the Mfantseman Municipality of the Central Region is set to commenc
e production by 2025.

The Agreement includes a 10% royalty and 13% free carried interest by the state, surpassing the existing 5% and 10%, respectively, for other mining agreements.

He noted that the Barari DV Ghana Limited was also required to contribute 1% of its revenue to a community development fund for the upliftment of the mining area.

Mr. Edward NanaYaw Koranteng, Chief Executive for Minerals Income Investment Fund (MIIF), spelt out some financial benefits to Ghanaians saying MIIF identified opportunities of undervalued share at the time of closing the transaction with the locked in price of usd per share, and intrinsic value ranging of US$1.25 to US$1.9 per share.

‘MIIF has already made a 31% gain in its planned investment in the lithium deal’, he added.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Officials of the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA) in the Upper East Region have embarked on a sensitisation campaign to educate people on the use and importance of the ‘MyNHIS’ software application.

The digital application system, which was launched in November 2022, by the Vice President, Mahamudu Bawumia for the Authority, could be downloaded from Apple or Play Store for use by members of the public with their Ghana cards.

The Application would eliminate long queues often seen at National Health Insurance offices across the country.

The sensitisation, which preceded a recent blood donation exercise conducted by the Authority, was part of activities to climax the NHIA’s 20th Anniversary celebration.

In an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA) at the sensitisation exercise, Mr Shei Fuseini, the Regional Manager in charge of Monitoring and Evaluation, said the App was simple to use, convenient and devoid of stress.

‘With this App, you can conveniently sit in your home and access any servic
es of the NHIA without your physical presence at our various offices,’ he said.

He said new National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) registrants could register onto the Scheme through the App, while members with expired NHIS cards could also renew them using the App and be able to access medications covered under the Scheme.

Mr Fuseini added that the App also displayed the list of health conditions covered by the NHIS and encouraged members of the public to take an interest and download the App to derive the desired benefits.

‘The App will save cost, and prevent inconveniences and stress associated with travelling to our various offices. It is not a difficult task.

‘Once you have a smartphone, you download the App and follow the prompt. The basic thing is that you must have a Ghana card, and you are good to go,’ he said.

A trader, Madam Fati Awuni, in an interview with the GNA, said the introduction of the NHIS for the past years, had helped a lot of citizens, noting that the App would save them time and
the stress of spending hours at offices of the NHIA to register or renew invalid cards.

She said the fear of spending days at offices of the NHIA to the neglect of their businesses, resulted in a lot of them having invalid NHIS cards.

‘We market women do not have the time to move to NHIA offices for their services, if we must move, unless we get people to watch over our stores.

‘And even when you get to their offices, you can spend up to three days there just to be attended to, because of the long queues. With this App, we can access their services anytime, anywhere,’ she said.

Mr Timothy Solomon, also a trader, said the App was an addition to the existing services of the Authority, ‘With the existing short code *929#, we can renew our NHIS cards from wherever we are.

He said looking at the inclusion of the App which made it possible to access services, was a big plus and positive move to what the NHIS was doing for its clients.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Ghana and Korea have agreed to develop a strategic partnership to curb the growing menace of misinformation and disinformation in both countries.

This came to light when Minister of Information, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, received the Secretary General of the Korean National Commission for UNESCO, Kyung-Koo Han in his office in Accra, on Wednesday.

During the meeting, both parties agreed to work collaboratively towards tackling the rising tide of misinformation and disinformation that are increasingly becoming one of the major threats to security and development within the two nations.

This comes on the back of a recent National Conference on Disinformation and Misinformation, where a seven-point communique was collectively agreed upon by political parties, civil society organizations, media representatives, and the development partners.

The plan, currently in development, is expected to be finalised by the end of this year, which will incorporate a variety of strategies, including maintaining ethical standard
s in media landscape, encouraging fact-checking in public conversations, supporting high-quality journalism, and promoting civic education.

Expressing delight over the longstanding diplomatic ties between Korea and Ghana, Mr. Han cited the Bridge Projects, one of the youth-centered Korean programmes, which aims to help young people develop insights and skills needed to ‘bridge’ the gaps between people of divergent cultural heritages by fostering greater intercultural awareness and understanding.

There are discussions ongoing for Ghana to host the Documentary Heritage Workshop in a move to further strengthen Ghana’s efforts to archive its heritage materials.

In that regard, the Minister of Information Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, thus, assured the Korean delegation of a strong collaboration to ensure that both countries reap the benefits of this enduring relationship, particularly in areas of education and culture.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Precious Minerals Marketing Company Limited (PMMC) has invested in machinery to be able to produce sophisticated jewellery as part of measures to promote made in Ghana products.

Nana Akwasi Awuah, Managing Director of PMMC, said the Company had a 3D printer and software that designs, prints, and used to create sophisticated jewellery for the Ghanaian market.

Nana Awuah was speaking at the Company’s three-day Lobby Sales in Accra meant to appreciate its customers and to bring products to the doorstep of Ghanaians.

The initiative was also to give back to its customers by way of discounting prices on the jewellery products.

The Managing Director said the Company had also improved on its finishing and wanted to get people to understand the culture of owning jewellery and as part of their grand agenda and strategy for them to appreciate the value.

‘We want to embark on social re-engineering, where Ghanaians will come to accept and take jewellery as a store of value,’ he added.

The Managing Director said the
whole idea was to be able to encourage value addition and drive it well to turn round the narrative of exporting gold without value.

He said the Company wanted to maximize the potential or benefit of the natural resources, adding that they were in talks with the Ghana Export Promotion Authority for assistance in leveraging the AfCFTA to drive value addition.

He said the whole idea was to be able to get a jewellery market, where people could walk in anytime to purchase for use or as a gift, while encouraging Ghanaians to invest in jewelry for the future.

Mr Daniel Bugyei, General Manager, PMMC Jewellery said the event was also to appreciate the Company’s loyal customers.

He said they intended to make the event an annual Lobby Sales, where they would interact with customers and appreciate them.

He said that this year they embarked on an expansion drive, where they added two new branches to the existing five branches

Source: Ghana News Agency

The German government on Thursday handed over a newly constructed mechanical and electronics training facility to the Ghana Armed Forces’ (GAF) Electrical and Mechanical Engineers Technical Training School (EMETTS).

The Centre is equipped with modern electric vehicle repair and maintenance machinery. Its construction was supervised by the German Armed Forces Technical Advisory Group (GAFTAG).

The Thomas Muller Mechatronics Training Centre, located in the EMETTS premises in Burma Camp, Accra, was named after German Warrant Officer class II Thomas Muller for his role and contribution to the project’s success.

Brigadier General Kenneth Kwaku Kwaah Kumi, Deputy Chief of Staff in Charge of Logistics, said the facility would be used to train military artisans of EMETTS in cutting-edge techniques to repair and maintain modern vehicles and accoutrements of the GAF.

‘The establishment of this Mechatronics Training Centre is timely because it will bridge the training gap in equipping our technicians with the requi
site knowledge in the repair of modern-day equipment in the face of global technological advancement’, he said.

Brig. Gen. Kumi mentioned the school’s expansion drive and pledged the Military High Command’s support to see it through.

‘Command is aware of the expansion drive of the school which includes building more classrooms, workshops and offices, a one-story block comprising a 200-seat auditorium on the ground floor and a library and research lab on the first floor.

‘This expansion of facilities will come with the need for retooling of the school. Command will continue to work with GAFTAG and other partners to realise the vision of EMETTS’, he said.

The Commanding Officer of EMETTS, Lieutenant Colonel Emmanuel Essilfie Odoom, stated that the establishment of the training facility was timely.

It would address training gaps and position trainees to offer affordable and environmentally friendly engineering services and solutions to a variety of technical challenges.

‘This Centre is equipped with the st
ate-of-the-art training aids that will offer modern and cost-effective engineering solutions for our vehicle mechanics, automotive electricians, refrigeration and air condition technicians among a few trade courses offered in the school,’ he said.

The Thomas Muller Mechatronics Centre was established when Brig. Gen. Kumi was the Commanding officer and later the Director Electrical and Mechanical Engineers Corp (EME).

He travelled to Nigeria on a fact-finding mission with Colonel Busy Boglo, a former Commanding Officer of the School, to assist GAFTAG to develop an ideal concept, in the pursuit of establishing a state-of-the-art Mechatronics Centre of international repute.

Their efforts were given a final push by Major General Richard Addo Gyane who was then the Director General at the Department of Plans, Research and Development and his staff, who saw the project begin 3 years ago.

Source: Ghana News Agency