Day: December 9, 2023

Dr Edward Ampratwum, Head of Governance and Growth at the United Nations Development Programme, (UNDP) has said the passage of the Disability Act 715 will positively impact the lives of the over 2,098,138 Ghanaians with functional difficulties.

He therefore urged the Government and Parliament to expedite action to pass the Re-Enacted Act of the Act 715 and any associated instrument.

‘The UN Country Team is excited to support the re-enactment of Act 715, (Persons with Disabilities Act). It is our hope that by the end of 2024, the Act 715 and its accompanying legislative instrument addressing the preconditions for disability inclusion, would have been reviewed to be in line with the CRPD standards, and passed.’

Dr Ampratwum made the remarks during a training organised by the Ghana Federation of Disability Organisations (GFD) for Members of Parliament on the rights of persons with disabilities and inclusive development.

The training was attended by about 24 members of parliament who have interest in promoti
ng disability rights in parliament.

Dr Ampratwum said, ‘the Ghana we want should be disability-inclusive, tackle injustice and discrimination, provide accessible infrastructure and create opportunities that increase access to technology that result in strengthened institutions and creating sustainable jobs and access to markets for persons with disabilities as well.’

Mr Abdul-Wahab Adam, Programmes Officer at the GFD urged the members of parliament to fast-track the process of re-enacting the disability act and called on the government to ensure the implementation of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in Ghana.

Dr Clement Apaak, Member of Parliament for Builsa South Constituency and Chairman of the Disability caucus in Parliament said more Members of Parliament were recognising the need to mainstream disability issues in Ghana.

He said the caucus would canvass for members of parliament to push for the re-enactment of the disability bill pointing out that Ghana should
not lag in the disability mainstreaming issues.

Dr Emmanuel Marfo, Member of Parliament for Oforikrom Constituency and Vice Chairman of the disability caucus said there was the need to move beyond the talk in terms of disability issues and take practical steps to ensure disability inclusion and mainstreaming.

Mr Joseph Atsu Homadzi, President of the GFD, who also emphasized the urgency to pass the disability bill said disability was everybody’s lot and called on parliament to put measures in place to include persons with disabilities.

Source: Ghana News Agency

The Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) has held a media sensitisation on the implementation and evaluation of Ghana’s National Anti-Corruption Plan (NACAP)

NACAP, a 10-year plan (2015-2024), is a strategic action plan consultatively developed by stakeholders to help fight corruption and promote national development in the country.

It also provides a framework for mobilising public support and resources for anti-corruption activities and promoting integrity, transparency, and accountability in all areas.

The occasion was used to commemorate this year’s International Anti- Corruption Day (IACD), which is marked annually on December 9 to promote collective action against corruption.

Speaking at the event, Charles Abani, United Nations Resident Coordinator in Ghana, said United Nations estimated that corruption cost the global economy around 3.6 trillion dollars annually adding: ‘It is estimated that Africa lost 50 billion to illicit financial flows.’

Mr Abani said United Nations
Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) recently produced a report on Sahel countries and estimated illicit financial flows from illegal mining at 12 billion dollars per annum.

‘We talk about corruption as if it is a moral issue that needs to be dealt with by the Church, but it is not only an immoral issue, a crime…’

He noted that corruption was organised, and it crossed borders and called for collaboration among institutions.

Touching on the theme: ‘Uniting the world against corruption,’ Mr Abani said it was extremely important the Ghana Statistical Service, CHRAJ other stakeholders worked assiduously in achieving the objectives and goals of NACAP.

He said a Public Service Survey Report indicated that Ghana loses GHC5 billion through corruption and illicit financial flows.

‘If we don’t stem corruption, it would be stemming the plan that we want to achieve. The nature of corruption is diverse, that is, it exists in public procurement.’

Mr Abani urged stakeholders to connect with international institutions suc
h as the Global Operations Network of Anti-Corruption Enforcement Authority to fight the canker.

Prof Samuel Kobina Anim, Government Statistician, said the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) together with CHRAJ and its stakeholders would be evaluating NACAP within a six-month period and the evaluation launched in June 2024.

Prof Anim said the evaluation would complete the cycle between laws, policies, and statistics in the anti-corruption campaign in Ghana.

‘We hope to deepen the collective interest and mobilise national efforts in fighting corruption.’

Prof. Anim said in a nationally representative survey of people’s experience of corruption in Ghana, ‘26.7 per cent of adult population paid a bribe to a public official in 2021?.

According to him ‘a total of GHC5 billion was paid in cash bribes to public officials in 2021.’

Mr Richard Quayson, a Deputy Commissioner of CHRAJ, said one of the main objectives of NACAP was to build capacity to condemn and fight corruption and make its practice a high risk and
low gain activity.

Mr Emmanuel Adumua- Bossman, Deputy Chief of Staff, said the government was committed to the fight against corruption.

NACAP has led to the automation and digitalisation of the Law courts, revision of code of conduct for Judges and Magistrates, unification of allowances of boards, councils and Committees of Public Service, among others.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Newmont Ghana Gold Limited (Ahafo South Mine), has been crowned the best company in the country at the 20th Ghana Club 100 awards, held in Accra.

The mining firm, which placed second in the 2022 edition, topped 99 other companies, including Scancom Plc Ghana (MTN Ghana), who took the second spot, and Amanex Company Limited, which clinched the third position.

Held at the Accra International Conference Centre (AICC) on Friday, December 8, the event was laced with strategic networking sessions, as well as music and dance.

The event was organised by the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre (GIPC), in collaboration with the MIE Group – organisers of the China Trade Week.

The GIPC flagship event honours top performing entities in the Ghanaian business landscape whose contributions continue to propel the country’s economic growth, and have positive impact on their serving communities.

The top 100 companies that were celebrated were from the agriculture and agribusiness, financial services, ICT, infrastructure, pe
troleum, mining services, manufacturing, tourism, health, and education sectors.

The financial sector dominated the night as the sector with most numbers enlisted in the 20th Ghana Club 100 awards.

However, none of its two predominant subsectors at the ceremony – microfinance and insurance made it to the top 10.

GoldFields Ghana (Tarkwa Mine) placed fourth, Newmont Golden Ridge Ltd (Akyem Mine) – fifth, Anglogold Ashanti Ltd – sixth, and Dansworld International Services – seventh.

The Abosso Goldfields Ltd, Benso Oil Palm Plantation Ltd, and FBNBank Ghana, placed eighth, ninth and 10th positions, respectively.

This year’s Ghana Club 100 awards is held on the theme: ‘Accelerating Economic Growth: Amplifying Ghana’s Global Market Footprint through AfCFTA (African Continental Free Trade Area).’

The theme was crafted to engender significant promotion of investment, trade, and knowledge exchange, leading to the stimulation of national economic growth.

AfCFTA, which took effect in early 2021, is the world’s
largest free trade area by membership, embracing 54 African countries with 1.3 billion population, Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of US$2.4 trillion.

Its implementation reflects the collective vision of African leaders to create a unified market, by removing all forms of trade barriers to stimulate economic growth and shared prosperity.

Speaking at the ceremony, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, Vice President, stated that: ‘Ghana thrives when the private sector thrives.’

He said it was, therefore, important to strengthen companies in the private sector to enable them to compete effectively in the global market, especially by making them transition into a formalised economy.

The Vice President said the government was doing its part with various initiatives, including the digitalisation of systems, advancement in technology and innovation, and improving infrastructural development.

He stated that the country’s digitalisation programme had been anchored on the Ghana Card – a biometric-technology national identity card, w
hich had so far enrolled about 17 million people.

‘Today, we’ve linked all bank accounts and SIM cards to the Ghana Card. Your tax identification number and National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) number is your Ghana Card number,’ Dr Bawumia said.

He also said that: ‘Today, we’ve linked the Ghana Card number to the Controller and Accountant General Department’s payroll, and we’re seeing increase in formalisation of the economy as a result of digitalisation.’

He encouraged Ghana’s private sector to see AfCFTA as a catalyst for economic expansion, as the implementation of the free trade agreement provided an opportunity to explore opportunities for the continent’s economic prosperity.

‘The African Continental Free Trade Area, our compass for this journey is not merely an agreement; it is a beacon guiding us towards a future where Ghana stands tall in the global market place,’ Dr Bawumia said.

Mr Yofi Grant, Chief Executive Officer (CEO), GIPC noted that investors were aggressively pursuing opportunities i
n Accra.

That, he said, called for the formation of stronger alliances with Ghanaian companies to create a win-win situation for investors and the country, reiterating that the private sector remained the engine of growth of the Ghanaian economy.

He pledged the Centre’s support to create more avenues for enhanced private sector interaction with government.

This will help businesses to thrive, and generate Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) to support Ghana’s economic growth and stability.

This year’s celebration, preceded with a three-day Ghana Investment Week in October, which brought together, investors, industry leaders, policymakers, and other stakeholders.

The summit served as a platform to unlock infrastructural bottlenecks, including in roads, railways, airlines, Information and Communication Technology (ICT), and energy to make intra-trade on the continent easier and faster.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Cocoa farmers in the Western North Region said the Government and stakeholders must initiate steps to amend the Concession Act 1962 (Act 124) to give farmers reasonable benefits from proceeds accrued from the commercialization of off-reserve timber resources.

The planting or nurturing of trees and timber resources forms part of a major climate change mitigation strategies for most farmers, but existing tree tenure and benefits sharing arrangements for off-reserve timber resources had been a great disincentive to the farmers.

With support from TROPENBOS Ghana, they called on the Forestry Commission to take urgent steps to address the situation to improve tree cover in off-reserve areas, and help combat climate change, while enhancing sustainability.

Mr Boakye Twumasi Ankra, the Project Manager, TROPENBOS Ghana, on behalf of the farmers, explained that the Concession Act 1962 (Act 124) gave the state authority over all naturally occurring trees, which was not motivative enough for farmers to genuinely nurtu
re the trees on their farms.

In an interview with the Ghana News Agency after a sensitisation programme for more than 300 farmers in region, he said the Act took away tree ownership rights from farmers.

‘The only right the farmer has is to give written consent to the harvesting of specified trees on their farms with no direct financial benefit from revenue accrued from such trees.’

Mr Ankra, therefore, urged stakeholders to initiate steps to amend the law to help farmers benefit directly from trees on their farms.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Ghanaian women, especially women in leadership positions, have been urged to exert their competences in their fields of endeavour and collectively work together towards gender parity.

Women Networks and Leaders who made the call during a breakfast meeting said very astute women in leadership positions in the society have not been too vocal in championing women’s growth and development and are working in silos.

The breakfast meeting, first of its kind by the African Women Leaders Network (AWLN) Ghana Chapter, seeks to create a platform for women leaders to collaborate and pull resources together towards attaining gender parity and supporting women’s growth and development.

This is in line with the Beijing Platform for Action which talks about one of the 12 key areas being women and poverty where it states that when women are poor, their rights are not protected and they face double discrimination on account of their gender and economic situation.

Madam Angela Asante, Presidential Advisor, Gender and Devel
opment, said, the change that women needed to see would come from they themselves when more united in their approach.

‘If women are still not in solidarity with one another we might not be able to achieve our common goal. As women let’s be genuinely interested in our affairs, let’s help ourselves to move forward, let’s advocate for opportunities for women,’ she said

Madam Asante said they must collectively put their voices together and operate in a way to scale up gender equality and empowerment.

Dr Charity Binka, Chairperson, African Women Leaders Network (AWLN), Ghana Chapter, said 28 years after the Beijing declaration, most women including Ghanaian women, had still been saddled with challenges in areas of human rights, social, financial and economic spheres of life.

‘We are still talking about pertinent issues confronting women 28 years after Beijing. There’s something we are not doing right. So the women in the financial sector, political space and all sectors of the economy need to work together,’ s
he said.

Dr Binka said women participation at the district level elections (DLE) had been very low but called for support from women groups for those candidates as they pursue the progress of women and society at large.

She said the culture and tradition had affected women’s development over the years and they needed to team up with academia to conduct research to find out what has changed.

Madam Brigitte Dzogbenuku, Executive Director, Mentoring Women Ghana, and 2020 PPP Presidential Candidate, said, she faced being alienated from most Women groups and activities because of her involvement in politics.

A situation she deemed as a hindrance to women’s progress in the era where politics had become part of human life even in our home, families and society.

Source: Ghana News Agency