Day: December 21, 2023

This year’s Ghana Food Festival (GFF) is scheduled for Christmas Day, Monday, December 25, 2023.

The event, organised by Pen it Multimedia Limited, a digital media and events management company in Accra, is a carnival that seeks to bring food, arts, and entertainment lovers together.

It will take place at the Atlantic Mall, Atomic Junction Roundabout, North Legon, near the University of Ghana, from 8 am till evening.

The 2023 edition is supported by the Ghana Tourism Authority (GTA), Beyond the Return (BTR) Secretariat, Fidelity Bank Ghana and the Atlantic Mall.

The Founder and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Pen it Multimedia Limited, Mr. Emmanuel Forson, said the event was geared towards celebrating Ghana’s tourism, arts and culture.

The event is part of the ‘December in GH’ Programme instituted by the BTR to promote tourism in Africa.

‘Ghana is blessed with healthy delicacies like banku, tuo-zaafi, and akple, and I encourage citizens to patronise them,’ he said.

Mr Forson said the festival would sh
owcase continental and local cuisines from all 16 regions and foster economic relations and investments from the diaspora in Ghana and across the continent.

The GFF 2023 is expected to serve as a platform for entrepreneurs and businesses in the food and non-food production chain, made-in-Ghana products to network, form partnerships, trade, and sell their wares.

‘Food and tourism are one area that can attract foreigners to Ghana besides the tourist centres and the country’s peaceful atmosphere. Our event is to provide an avenue to attract foreigners into the country,’ he said.

He added that an opportunity would be given to foreign food and non-food vendors to exhibit their products to the audience to diversify the event.

The GFF will present its prestigious attendees with a variety of local cuisines to choose from – fufu, tuo-zaafi, akple, banku, tubani, and Ghana’s irresistible and world-acclaimed rice meal, Ghana Jollof.

Others will be waakye, kenkey and beans otherwise known as red red, omotuo, ampesi,
and fried yam.

Ghanaian beverages and snacks, including hausa koko, tom brown, roasted corn and plantain, sobolo, asaana and pito will also be available at the festival.

Mr Forson said the event was free to attend for all and called on Ghanaians and other nationals to take advantage of the event to have a feel of the country through its meals.

He said there would also be an eating competition, bouncy castle and a gaming arena for kids, as well as other outdoor and fun games.

‘Ghana Food Festival will generally provide business and networking opportunities, partnerships between sponsors, vendors, exhibitors, and attendees,’ he added.

He encouraged food vendors and businesses in the manufacturing of made-in-Ghana products and services, as well as those involved in continental dishes to book their stands via [email protected].
Source: Ghana News Agency

Wisdom Aditsey, Director of Sanitation at the Tema Metropolitan Assembly, says poor sanitation is still the Assembly’s biggest challenge.

He told the Ghana News Agency (GNA) that despite regular clean-ups, the littering and dumping of waste everywhere made it hard to keep the harbour city clean.

‘People just throw trash everywhere, making it tough to control. We clean up, but the next morning, there’s more garbage left behind, and we have to struggle to pick it up again. It’s frustrating.’

He said the Assembly was struggling with resources to keep the City clean and called for support from stakeholders.

‘We need to monitor specific areas 24/7 to maintain cleanliness, but it’s expensive to hire people for constant surveillance, and the Assembly can’t afford it.’

He said despite regular public education on how to dispose waste properly, the situation was getting out of hand.
Source: Ghana News Agency

The Northern Regional office of the Food and Drugs Authority (FDA), as part of its routine market surveillance, has embarked on an exercise to safely dispose of unwholesome and contaminated food products and drugs.

The 7.5-tonne worth of products disposed of through burning at the Landfill Site at Gbalahi, a periphery of Tamale, included drugs, especially tramadol, herbal products, and food products that had expired on the market.

They were seized from shops, markets and individuals in the region within a period of six months.

Mr Zakaria Braimah, the Head, FDA, Northern Region, speaking to journalists after the exercise at Gbalahi, cautioned the public to be vigilant and critically examine the expiry dates of products before purchase, especially in this festive season.

He advised the public against buying drugs from just any source, apart from pharmacies and chemical shops.

‘In this festive season don’t just enter the market and buy anything; be watchful and look at the expiry dates of the items. Consume
rs should be mindful of what they consume and what they buy in the market; and be mindful of their expiry dates,’ he said.

Mr Briamah gave the assurance that the FDA would continue its surveillance activities to ensure that only approved and wholesome products were sold in the region.

He said people who sold unapproved and expired products would be sanctioned when caught, through the payment of some administrative charges.
Source: Ghana News Agency

The Ghana Immigration Service (GIS) says it has repatriated Shalimar Abbuisi, Spokesperson of the New Force political group.

This is because her residence permit had been revoked by the Comptroller-General.

A statement issued by the GIS said the action of the service was pursuant to Section 20 (2) (a) of Immigration Act, 2000, Act 573.

According to the GIS, Shalimar, the Belgian Spokesperson of the political group, had obtained her student permit by fraudulent misrepresentation.

‘Per the law, Ms Shalimar Abbuisi could not remain in Ghana and the Comptroller General ordered her removal from the country.’

Consequently, the statement said Shalimar was repatriated on December 19, 2023, on board Air Brussels Flight Number SN 319 back to her home country.

‘The GIS will like to caution all foreign nationals in the country to strictly adhere to the country’s immigration laws. Any infringement will lead to prosecution,’ the statement said.

The GIS assured the public that it would continue to rigorously enforce
immigration laws of the country to repatriate all undocumented persons whose activities in the country ‘is a threat to our national security’.

The GIS re-arrested and repatriated the Abbuisi following her activities on social media.

According to the GIS: ‘She was seen in a video introducing herself as the Spokesperson of the ‘The new force’- a new political group’.

The statement said her immigration status was investigated and it was established that she was on a student permit tenable with a private university.

‘Further inquiries from the school indicated that she was not a student at the school. The University wrote to the GIS to confirm that fact. It was then suspected that she had obtained the permit by fraudulent misrepresentation and arrested for investigations.

‘She was arraigned before the Kaneshie District Court and remanded on December 7, 2023,’ the statement added.

Abbuisi was detained lawfully by the court on the charge of obtaining a student permit by false declaration.

She pleaded not gui
lty and was admitted to GHC20,000 bail with two sureties to reappear on December 19,2023.
Source: Ghana News Agency

The Ghana Federation of Disability Organisations (GFD) is demanding concrete actions to address the real needs of Persons with Disability (PWDs) who continue to suffer societal injustice.

The organisation believes that its members have been neglected in policy making and even those formulated to safeguard their rights have become mere rhetoric.

Mr Andrew Minkah Gyimah, the Ashanti Regional President of the Federation, said PWDs continued to struggle to access most public facilities, 17 years after the passage of the Disability Act (Act 715), which made it mandatory for public facilities to be disability-friendly.

He said this at a ceremony in Kumasi to mark the 2023 edition of the International Day of Persons with Disability, on the theme: ‘United in Action to Rescue and Achieve SDGs for, with and by Persons with Disabilities.’

Mr Gyimah did not mince words on the widespread discrimination against PWDs in all societal endeavours, despite having rights just like any other Ghanaian.

‘The treatment being me
ted out to our members leaves much to be desired, but we are also humans with the ability to contribute to national development and must not be treated as outcasts,’ he said.

The time had come for stakeholders, especially duty bearers, to make conscious effort to tackle issues militating against the welfare and development of PWDs across the country, he said.

‘They give assurances of their commitment towards addressing our needs in public, but fail to attend to our concerns in reality as we suffer their negligence.’

Mr Gyimah alleged that some officers of the Department of Social Welfare had been keeping funds meant for PWDs and called on the relevant authorities to check the misappropriation of such funds.

Mr Joseph Atsu, the National President, GFD, underlined the need for State institutions responsible for the welfare of PWDs to work in line with the requirements of the Sustainable Development Goals to improve the lives of the vulnerable.

The crux of all the 17 SDGs being championed by the United Nati
ons was to ensure that no one was left behind in global programmes and policies aimed at human development.

That, he said, should be the guiding principle of people entrusted with the responsibility to protect the rights of the vulnerable in society.

Mr Simon Osei Mensah, the Ashanti Regional Minister, in a speech read on his behalf, said achieving the SDGs was the collective responsibility of all stakeholders desirous of making life comfortable for PWDs.

He charged metropolitan, municipal and district assemblies to ensure the effective utilisation of the disability component of the District Assemblies Common Fund to improve the livelihoods of the beneficiaries.
Source: Ghana News Agency

Voting has commenced in the 16 electoral areas in the Ajumako-Enyan-Essiam District where the District Level Elections were put on hold on Tuesday, December 19, owing to some ‘technical hitches and errors’ as stated by the Electoral Commission (EC).

The challenges included the misnaming of aspirants and the inability to print some ballot papers.

The affected areas are Brofoyedur/Babinso, Essaman, Anyinasu, Twafo, Odumase/Bantoma, Esiam Nkodwo, Bekoso/Obrawogum, Mando/Tayido, Eshiem Tweikukrom and Denkyira South.

The rest are Enyanmaim, Baa/Amia, Osedze, Brofo (Abaasa), Abaka/Bewora/Ekukrom and Omanso.

As assured by the District Electoral Office, the challenges have been successfully resolved, making way for the exercise, which started at the Baa/Amia Electoral Area around 0715 hours with an appreciable level of turnout.

A visit by the Ghana News Agency to the Methodist JHS polling centres 1 and 2, and the Methodist Primary polling centre at Baa saw eager electorates waiting in queues to cast their ballot
s.

A total of 44 people had voted as of 0952 hours at the Baa Methodist School polling centre.

The situation was similar in other electoral areas visited by the Agency.

On Tuesday 31 of the 47 electoral areas were able to hold their elections.
Source: Ghana News Agency