Day: December 15, 2023

Yendi Municipal Assembly is benefiting from Strengthening Accountability in Ghana Education System (SAGES).

Other beneficiary districts include Gushegu Municipal, Naton, Sagnarigu Municipal, Mion and Karaga Districts all of Northern Region.

Three other beneficiary regions are North East, Upper East and Upper West Regions.

Out of 16 Municipal and District Assemblies in Northern Region, six from the region are benefiting from the USAID/Ghana project for five years starting from April 2023 to 31st March 2028.

The consortium is led by CARE Ghana with support of five partners School For Life, AfriKids, Grown Agents, GNECC among others.

Mr. Issah Mohammed School Community Engagement and Coordinator for School For Life announced this at a meeting organized by School For Life for School Management Committee (SMC) members, Assembly members, teachers, school pupils of primary school, traditional authorities in the Yendi Municipal Assembly of Northern Region.

He said the Ministry of Education had made a significa
nt gain in increasing accountability in primary schools but quality of education was a challenge, especially from 2018 to 2030.

He said 50 percent of grade 4 children were below basic level in English and 62 percent in Mathematics. According to him absenteeism and lateness had been identified as one of the factors that affecting learning and care in schools.

He said Ministry of Education had identified addressing weakness in accountability system as key reform priority for improving learning outcomes in schools.

He said Ministry of education had developed education accountability frame work but implementation was not yet fully operational and the purpose of the project was for USAID/Ghana SAGES system strengthening activity was to improve primary education since delivering through institutionalizing accountability in the Ghanaian primary education system.

Mr. Issah said the scope of the project included Ministries and Agencies, four regions, Northern, North East, Upper East and Upper West regions, 17 dist
ricts, 1,254 schools and communities and 508,269 students.

Mr. Amin Abubakari Deputy Director, Supervision of Yendi Education Office reiterated that SAGES was to improve on learning aspect of the primary schools and reminded them that after the meeting there should be awareness creation for the beneficiary schools.

He said there would be monitoring with School For Life in the primary schools for the project to be effective with quality.

Out of the 116 primary schools in Yendi Municipality, six schools that attended the meeting included Abatey primary, Seventh Day Adventist (SDA) primary, Presby Primary, Balogu Primary, Nashir-deen Islamic Primary schools with their School Management Committees, Teachers, Assembly Members, and some traditional authorities.
Source: Ghana News Agency

Mr Kojo Duncan Kojo-Enumi, a development activist, says a strong Information and Communication Technology (ICT) fundamentals would be crucial for the successful implementation of the 24-hour economy being proposed by the National Democratic Congress (NDC).

He said the proponents of the policy should envision and factor in formidable digital infrastructure to help open more opportunities for the youth for sustainable socio-economic growth.

Mr Kojo-Enumi, in a statement copied to the Ghana News Agency in Takoradi on Friday, said: ‘Formidable ICT fundamentals would play a pivotal role in driving the 24-hour economy, especially in fostering youth entrepreneurship within the IT ecosystem’.

He believed that the policy should draw inspiration from the days of ‘free night calls,’ and put in place efficient measures to motivate the youth to stay during the nights and work to help develop the economy.

‘Historically, the NDC has been recognised for its substantial contributions to ICT infrastructure development, wh
ich include the establishment of the largest Tier-3 National Data Centre in West Africa and laying an extensive 800-kilometer Eastern Corridor Fiber optic cable,’ he said.

‘This is something that can enormously drive the 24-hour economy agenda if it is being implemented.’

Mr Kojo-Enumi indicated that in an era of the emergence of Artificial Intelligence and data science management for electronic commerce, agriculture, education, governance, and health, providing a 24-hour economy would put the youth to work.

He said it had the potential to attract IT enthusiasts, both existing and new, to sharpen their knowledge and skills to undertake various useful initiatives needed for socio-economic transformation.
Source: Ghana News Agency

A Circuit Court at Gbetsile, near Tema, has sentenced crane operator Rudy Agyemang to 15 years imprisonment in hard labour for robbing, contrary to Section 149 of the Criminal Offences Act 1960.

The court, presided over by Mrs. Eleanor Kakra Banes Botchway, sentenced the accused after a full trial of which the court found him guilty and convicted.

Inspector Maxwell Ayeh, prosecuting, said the complainants are Emmanuel Frimpong is a teacher, Bright Mensah Akpese is a building contractor, and Richard Jojo Wilson and Sunday Okafor are entrepreneurs, all residents at Castle Gate Estate, Mataheko/Afienya.

According to the Prosecution, the accused, Agyemang is a crane operator and lives at Valco Flats, Ashaiman.

He said on August 28, 2023, at about 1000 hours, the Afienya District Police Rovers received a distress call from the complainants of a robbery attack on them at their residence.

The Police Rovers responded swiftly to the scene and saw four men, some carrying back packs and others with travelling bags
, in the compound of the house, as described on the phone to the Police.

He said the men included the accused who upon seeing the police took to their heels, but was pursued, and arrested at a distance in an old foundation trench.

The three who escaped abandoned their bags whilst an immediate search conducted on the bags revealed nine assorted laptop computers and one MP3 player.

Inspector Ayeh said one Sunday Okafor, later identified the items as his and that they were the things the accused and his accomplices robbed them of.

He said on that same day Agyemang led the police to the house of Bright Mensah Akpese, where he and his accomplices scaled a fenced wall into the compound.

Inspector Ayeh said he used cement blocks to cause damage to the backdoor to the kitchen and the one leading to the living room. He also identified the

accused as the one who fired a gun through his kitchen window and caused damage to it.

The accused again took the Police to the residence of complainants Emmanuel Frimpong, Ri
chard Jojo Wilson, and Sunday Okafor and demonstrated how he and his accomplices, now at large, broke into their rooms and robbed them of their computers, laptops, and Samsung mobile phones.

Two spent AAA cartridges, which the accused and his accomplices fired at the scene, were found at the compound and retrieved. A blue face mask and a knife were found in the bathroom of the complainants.

After the investigation, the accused was charged with the offences and arraigned.
Source: Ghana News Agency

Parliament on Thursday granted Mr Ambrose Dery, Minister for the Interior, the authority to grant licenses and permit the cultivation of cannabis, a drug obtained from the hemp plant (cannabis sativo), for medicinal and industrial purposes.

However, the cultivation would not exceed more than 0.3 per cent tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) content (the active ingredient) on a dry weight basis for industrial and medicinal purposes.

Consequently, the regulation would license the cultivation, processing, distribution, sale, export and importation of cultivars, grains, seeds and biomass of cannabis with not more than 0.3 per cent THC content.

The approval was a result of the maturity of the regulation after being laid before the House on Thursday, November 9, 2023, by Mr Dery, under Article 11(7) (a) of the Constitution and Order 77 of the Standing Orders of Parliament.

Mr Alban Bagbin, the Speaker, therefore referred the Instrument to the Subsidiary Legislation Committee for consideration and report to the House sub
sequently.

The Legislative Instrument (LI) will also provide for a strict licensing regime throughout the value chain, that is from production and processing to transportation and distribution.

The LI’s pursuit would be to operationalise paragraph (b) of subsection (3) Section 112 of the Narcotics Control Commission Act, 2020 (Act 1019).

Section 13 provides that the Minister of the Interior shall cause to be laid in Parliament regulations to ‘restrict or prohibit the export or import of any goods.’

Dr Dominic Akuritinga Ayine, the Chairman of the Subsidiary Legislation Committee, who moved the motion for the adoption of the Committee’s report on the floor of Parliament on Thursday, December 14, said there had been a global shift and the increasing realisation of the benefits of cannabis cultivation.

The benefits, including being used for industry and medicine, were reflected in the passage of the Narcotics Control Commission Act 2020 (Act 1019).

He said Parliament, after deep consideration and deliberat
ion, voted to pass the Act with a provision to legalise the cultivation and use of cannabis for industrial and medicinal purposes.

The Act mandated the Interior Minister, on the recommendation of the Board, to make regulations by legislative instrument to give effect to or enable effect to be given to the Act within 12 months after its coming into force.

‘This regulatory milestone is expected to pave the way for the development of a well-regulated cannabis industry in Ghana, ensuring that its cultivation and usage adhere to strict guidelines and quality standards,’ he said.

The smooth passage of the L.I. into law was truncated due to the declaration of the Supreme Court in the case of Ezuame Mannan vs The Attorney-General and The Speaker of Parliament (Ezuame case), which declared section 43 of the Law as unconstitutional.

To resolve the case, the Narcotics Control Commission (Amendment) Bill, 2023 was passed into law by Parliament to empower the minister to grant licenses for cannabis cultivation withi
n the country.

According to Dr Ayine, also a National Democratic Congress (NDC) Member of Parliament (MP) for Bolgatanga East, the Committee noted the significant benefits Ghana would derive from the cultivation of the plant in a regulated manner.

‘…So Mr Speaker, I want to make it abundantly clear that this is not for the legalisation of the recreational use of cannabis,’ Dr Ayine said.

Contributing to the debate on the motion, Mr Kwame Governs Agbodza, an NDC MP for Adaklu, inquired about how effective control measures could be put in place to stop the potential hazards associated with the cultivation of cannabis in the country.

He said: ‘The young man abusing wee in Ghana would not take such substance to the laboratory to test the 0.3 per cent THC content before he smoked it.’

‘And none of you is even talking about the potential abuse and how that can degenerate into mental problems we all have in this country.’

‘Even though the sources of electricity produced in Ghana are known, the authorities are
unable to police the amount of electricity produced… and you are now talking about giving licence to people to produce Cannabis (wee)?.’

He, therefore, expressed worry over clauses to be contained in the Instrument to regulate effectively the cultivation of wee and also urged the House to be cautious in the LI.
Source: Ghana News Agency

The Ghana Heritage Commission has launched the multi-stakeholder heritage strategic framework for Ghana to promote its diverse heritages.

The framework will also serve as an implementation plan to streamline policy actions of agencies and stakeholders towards a common national agenda.

Dr. Ibrahim Mohammed Awal, the minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture in a speech read on his behalf by his deputy Mark Okraku Mantey said the framework had put forward a sustainable pathway to address the challenges facing the heritage resources management.

He said the framework was timely as he expected the various stakeholders in the sector to leverage it to develop Ghana’s heritage centres.

‘This unique multi-dimensional approach could not have come at a better time than this, and I am convinced that the culture and heritage sectors will draw synergies to strengthen collective efforts towards harnessing the diverse heritage of Ghana for sustainable development,” he said.

He urged the development partners interested in
the culture and heritage of Ghana to come on board and support the implementation of the plan.

The launch was attended by government officials, actors, musicians and heads of the various art groups including MUSIGA and Actors Guild.

Professor Kodzo Gavua Chairman of the Ghana Heritage Committee in an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA) on the sidelines of the event said the plan was to enable various stakeholders in the heritage sector to work in a cooperative manner to promote various aspects of Ghana’s culture.

‘The cooperation we need from stakeholders is for them to work together for everybody to study the document into details and then apply the aspect that will benefit their various establishments. The framework is not for the consumption of Ministries, departments and agencies, it is for Ghana at large, ‘he said.

Kingsley Ofosu Ntiamoah, Executive Director, Ghana Museums and Monuments Board in an address said the plan would provide strategic guidance and approaches to complement the efforts
of the Board in addressing the challenges facing Ghana’s heritage, in particular, monuments and sites.

The Implementation Plan outlines Strategic Actions that agencies under the Ministry of Tourism, Arts, and Culture and other sister Ministries, such as the Ministry of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation.

Other institutions: Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources would address the Priority areas and their related objectives and goals as outlined in the MSHSF.
Source: Ghana News Agency

Some stakeholders have called for stronger partnership between industry, academia, and policymakers to use entrepreneurship to transform the country’s economy.

They expressed confidence that with the right government policies, entrepreneurial education, affordable financing schemes for businesses, the country stood the chance of becoming a major economic force, the world over.

At the opening of a two-day Financial Innovation and Enterprise Conference in Accra on Thursday, December 14, the stakeholders encouraged enhanced public-private partnerships to achieve that goal.

The conference was organised by the University of Professional Studies, Accra (UPSA) in collaboration with Birmingham City University, University of Sunderland, Institute for Small Businesses and Entrepreneurship, and the Accreditation Council for Business Schools and Programmes (ACBSP.

Speaking at the event, Ms Abena Osei-Asare, a Deputy Minister of Finance, stated that: ‘By exploring the interconnections between entrepreneurial educatio
n, the business environment, and financing today, we open the gateway to transformative change.’

She referred to a World Bank data to highlight the importance of entrepreneurship in economic development, noting that, Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) for example, represented more than 95 per cent of registered firms worldwide.

Also, SMEs account for more than 50 per cent of jobs and contribute more than 35 per cent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in emerging economies.

Ms Osei-Asare explained that the government, recognising the key role of entrepreneurs and private businesses, made regulatory and legislative reforms, including registration, insolvency and tax arbitrations to support them.

That, she said would reposition businesses to leverage opportunities and mitigate risks.

Dr Richard Ampofo Boadu, Administrator, Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFund), said it was important to acknowledge the unique challenges and opportunities in the economy and adopt educational programmes to solve them.

He called
for strategic collaborations between government, academia and industry, to provide tailored entrepreneurial education, alternative financial modules and the right policy framework, which he noted would contribute to making Ghana a robust economy.

Javed Hussain, a professor of Entrepreneurial Finance, Birmingham City University, explained that by bringing academia closer to businesses that provided bread and butter to people, the Ghanaian economy would transform.

‘We need to promote policies that will enable financial institutions to collect information for the betterment of everyone, especially, in lending to SMEs,’ Prof Hussain said.
Source: Ghana News Agency