Day: January 19, 2024

The United States Government, through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), is partnering with UNICEF and the Ministry of Education to provide $500,000 worth of school supplies to children in the flood communities.

This was revealed by the US Ambassador to Ghana, Madam Virginia Evelyn Palmer at Battor in the North Tongu District of the Volta Region, when she visited some of the impacted towns to gain first-hand knowledge of the situation.

The Ambassador interacted with flood survivors, including teachers, parents, students, the chiefs and queens of the areas, and was impressed by their deep bravery and resilience in the face of the adversity.

She also met with government officials and the Member of Parliament (MP) of the area to discuss sustainable ways of supporting these communities and expressed solidarity with the affected people, and the country.

The Ambassador was accompanied by Mr Fiachra McAsey, the UNICEF Deputy Country Representative, Barbara Clemens, the World Food Pr
ogramme, Country Director, and other officials.

Madam Palmer stated that in the face of adversity collective dedication would light the way to recovery.

‘We must stand together, united in our resolve to support you to rebuild and recover,’ she said, adding that the assistance would aid in the restoration of education and learning in the impacted towns.

The Ambassador disclosed that the US donated $100,000 in October 2023, to help save lives, lessen suffering and facilitate the recovery of flood victims.

She said USAID also worked with the World Food Programme and the National Disaster Management Organisation, to set up temporary shelters, water, sanitation and hygiene services to the victims and send one-time cash donations to 700 affected families.

‘Today we are scaling up that support with $500,000 of additional support, with the focus specifically, to help schools return to normalcy and for students to continue to

learn. This will help restore teaching and learning in communities affected by the floo
ds,’ she said.

The Ambassador said through the Akosombo Safe Activity the USAID and UNICEF were supplying temporary school tents and necessary supplies like recreational kits and ‘schools-in-a-box,’ which included teaching and learning materials.

Madam Palmer said the US was Ghana’s biggest bilateral development partner and the decades of collaboration had saved thousands of lives and pledged its dedication to helping the people of Ghana, particularly in times of humanitarian need.

She used the visit to donate some educational materials to the affected communities.

Barbara Clemens, the World Food Programme Country Director praised the US and the Government of Ghana for the successful collaboration and support from others in handling the crisis.

Dr Yaw Osei Adutwum, the Minister for Education, said to prevent the truncation of children’s education in the affected areas, they redistributed some of them to other schools and provided them with guidance and counseling.

He said they had also carried out schoo
l health awareness campaigns aimed at ensuring that the children remained healthy to continue with their education and commended the children for their determination so far.

Dr Archibald Yao Letsa, in an address delivered on his behalf by Mr Divine Osborn Fenu, the District Chief Executive for North Tongu, thanked the US Ambassador for the visit.

He expressed his gratitude for the ongoing support and collaboration between Ghana and the USA, saying the Ambassador’s visit highlighted the strong and enduring friendship between the two nations.

Mr Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, the MP of North Tongu, also commended the Ambassador for her visit and for the US’s ongoing assistance to the flood affected areas.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Dr Anin Kwapong, a former Executive Director of Cocoa Research Institute of Ghana (CRIG), says he trusted the professionalism and integrity of the Committee for Testing Chemicals and Machines, which tested the lithovit fertilizer.

He said because of that trust, he signed the certificate issued by the Committee without seeing the report prepared by them.

Dr Kwapong, who is a defence witness in a cross examination in the trial involving Dr Stephen Kwabena Opuni, a former Chief Executive of COCOBOD and Seidu Agongo, a businessman, said all he needed to do was to call for the letter that granted the permission for the certificate to be issued.

Dr Opuni and Mr Agongo, a Businessman and CEO of Agricult Ghana Limited, are facing 27 charges, including defrauding by false pretences, wailfully causing financial loss to the State, money laundering, and corruption by a public officer in contravention of the Public Procurement Act.

They have both pleaded not guilty to the charges and are on a GHS300,000.00 self-recog
nizance bail, each.

Mrs Evelyn Keelson, Chief State Attorney, suggested to the witness that the certificate he signed could not be an original certificate for the lithovit fertilizer, but Dr Kwapong said it was not correct, insisting that the Counsel did not understand how certificates were issued.

The prosecution said the certificate was signed by the witness without recourse to any test report issued by CRIG and approved by COCOBOD, but the witness disagreed.

The witness explained that the certificates were issued by the Committee, which he signed, and that the test report used was shown to him in open court.

Mrs Keelson said because the certificate was not based on the test conducted on the original sample of lithovit, which was submitted for testing by Dr Opuni, that was why the certificate signed had five per cent Urea, a chemical which was not found in the test conducted by CRIG, but the witness disagreed.

The prosecution said the certificate the witness signed was only an afterthought aimed at jus
tifying the procurement of the lithovit liquid fertilizer by COCOBOD, which was not tested by CRIG and approved by the Board, but the witness disagreed.

Mrs Keelson suggested that he had no capacity to question the Material Safety Data Sheet and the report because the witness had not conducted any test on lithovit, but Dr Kwapong disagreed.

He told the court presided over by Justice Aboagye Tandoh that he had been trained as a research scientist with a terminal degree of PhD.

‘l have led several research and have capacity to understand each one of them. l have reviewed research papers, which were published in international journals.’

Source: Ghana News Agency

An Accra Circuit Court has sentenced a 37-year-old mason apprentice to three years imprisonment for stealing GHC15,000 cedis from his boss and spending it on eight prostitutes.

Police investigations revealed that Boame spent between GHC350 and GHC550 on the eight prostitutes after having fun with them.

Richard Boame is said to have also used part of the money to purchase some personal effects.

Charged with stealing, Boame pleaded guilty before the court presided over by Mrs Kizita Koowa Quashie.

Inspector Ansah DaCosta said the complainant, Daniel Hafia Komla, was a resident of Osu, while the accused person was an apprentice undergoing training under the complainant.

Inspector DaCosta said on January 9, 2024, the complainant kept cash in the sum of GHC15,000 which was brought to him by a client for some work.

According to the prosecutor, the money was put in a bag and placed in the complainant’s room.

The prosecution told the court that the accused person, now convict, sneaked into the complainant’s r
oom and took the money.

According to the prosecutor, the complainant went to his room to pick up the money, but he did not find it.

The accused person was called by the complainant several times, but he did not pick up his calls.

A report was made to the police and intelligence revealed that he was in Kumasi in the Ashanti Region.

The prosecution said on January 13, 2024, the Police arrested Boame.

He rented a hotel in Kumasi and engaged prostitutes and after fun with them, paid them cash between GHC350 and GHC550.

According to the prosecution, it was revealed that he engaged eight of the prostitutes between January 10 and13, 2024.

The prosecution said Boame also bought a backpack, Bluetooth Speaker, five boxer shorts, a pair of trousers, three shirts, a spectacle, perfume, a pair of sneakers, a pair of sandals and mobile phone from the stolen money.

The prosecutor said the Police only retrieved GHC380 from him.

Source: Ghana News Agency

The Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Friday, January 19, approved Ghana’s US$600 million second tranche for the implementation of the country’s Post COVID-19 Programme for Economic Growth (PC-PEG).

This comes following a successful completion of the first review of the US$3 billion three-month Extended Credit Facility (ECF) arrangement, and a week after the country reached an agreement with its Official Creditors.

‘The completion of the first ECF review allows for an immediate disbursement of Special Drawing Right (SDR) 451.4 million (about US$600 million), bringing Ghana’s total disbursements under the arrangement to about US$1.2 billion,’ the Fund said in a statement issued on Friday evening.

The Fund observed that Ghana’s performance under the programme has been strong, with all quantitative performance criteria for the first review and almost all indicative targets and structural benchmarks been met.

‘Continued efforts to protect the vulnerable and to create space for highe
r social and development spending are also key,’ Mr Bo Li, Deputy Managing Director and Acting Chair, IMF, said in the statement.

He also encouraged government to improve tax administration, strengthen expenditure control and management of arrears, enhance fiscal rules and institutions.

Mr Li also stated that it was important for government to improve State-Owned Enterprises (SEOs) management to ensure lasting adjustment.

Ghana’s three-year US$3bn PC-PEG with the IMF is aimed at restoring macroeconomic stability and debt sustainability, including wide-ranging reforms to build resilience and lay the foundation for stronger and more inclusive growth.

In the statement, the Fund observed that Ghanaian Authorities took decisive steps to rein in inflation and rebuild foreign reserve buffers.

It also maintained an appropriately tight monetary stance and enhanced exchange rate flexibility are key to achieving the programme’s objectives.

Also, the Bank of Ghana (BoG) deployed its regulatory and supervisory tools
to mitigate the impact of the domestic debt restructuring on financial institutions.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Dr George Kwame Prah, Director of Trauma and Specialist Hospital, Winneba, has expressed appreciation to Blessed Home Ghana-Holland, for supporting the Hospital with some medical supplies and equipment.

The Blessed Home Ghana-Holland, a Non-governmental Organisation based in Ghana, with Mr Michael Kojo Arhin as its founder and the Chief Executive Officer, donated the items including wheelchairs, drip stands, foetal doppler, stethoscopes, spurges, thermometers and pulse oxymetres.

Later in an interview with the GNA, Dr Prah enumerated issues confronting the facility and the support given by their collaborators, friends, organisation, the Effutu Traditional Council, the Winneba-Charlottesville Sister City, UEW Co-Operative Credit Union and others.

He also applauded all and sundry who in diverse ways had extended helping hands to the Hospital and prayed to the Almighty God to bless and guide them in their endeavours.

He stated that the hospital served as the last referral point for other hospitals, health c
entres and clinics in the municipality and beyond with the mission of providing quality, accessible restorative, promotive and rehabilitative health services by skilled, highly motivated and client focus staff in collaboration with all stakeholders.

He said for the past years Blessed Home Ghana-Holland deployed Medical Students from Holland, to undertake their internship, and clinical management at the hospital.

He thanked them for their kind gesture and expressed the hope that they would continue to with the collaborate the hospital and mobilise for more of such items to aid them in rendering health care service to all.

He also applauded the Winneba-Charlottesville Sister City Programme, for their continuous support to the facility, since signing of the Memorandum of Understanding between the two institutions some 12 years ago.

He cited the recent donation by Charlottesville-Albemarle Rescue Squad (CARS), as some of the many gestures the facility had received and expressed appreciation to the donors.

He
appealed for the replacement of old equipment and tools at the various wards and mentioned difficulty in payment of utilities due to insufficient tariffs received, staff attitude and inadequate staff, particularly nurses as some of their challenges.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Mr Ousmane Diagana, World Bank Vice President for Western and Central Africa has announced that the Bank’s Executive Directors will meet next week to consider some US$300 million for Ghana.

This development comes after Ghana reached an agreement with the Official Creditors’ Committee over debt treatment, necessary for a second tranche US$60m from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

In a statement issued to the Ghana News Agency on Thursday, January 18, Mr Diagana explained that the US$300 million is a budget support operation supported by the Bank’s International Development Association (IDA).

The Bank welcomed the agreement reached between Ghana and the Official Creditors’ Committee in principle, indicating that it was consistent with the World Bank-IMF Debt Sustainability Framework.

The statement described the development as ‘critical milestone, adding that it would help Ghana in its economic recovery, attract investments and restore the country on a sustainable growth path.

It also noted that the
US$300 million was the first in a series of three operations totalling US$900 million and part of a broad World Bank engagement in support of crisis response and resilience in Ghana.

‘The country implements US$ 4.3 billion in commitments from the World Bank through national and regional projects focused on private sector development and jobs, inclusive service delivery and sustainable resilient development,’ the statement said.

Source: Ghana News Agency