Day: March 1, 2024

Benjamin Obeng Antwi, Public Relations lead for the Electricity Company of Ghana in the Volta Region, has been honoured by the Ghana Journalist Association (GJA).

The honour comes as he exits the Region on transfer to the Ashanti Region, and was extolled for exceptional delivery of his role.

Mr. Antwi took charge in the Region in February 2019, and worked to enhance public engagements of the Company.

The citation was presented on the behalf of the Association by Mr. Lambert Atsivor the Administrator, and in the presence of Madam Christiana Jatoe-Kaleo, the General Manager of the ECG in charge of Volta and Oti Regions.

‘The Volta/Oti Regional Chapter of the Ghana Journalists Association presents to you this citation in recognition of your exemplary and dedicated service as the Public Relations Officer of the ECG in the Volta Region.

‘The Association and the entire media fraternity in both Volta and Oti Regions acknowledge and appreciate your professionalism and collaboration, which has significantly enha
nced the relationship between the media and the ECG-Volta,’ the citation, signed by Emmanuel Agbaxode, the GJA-Volta Chairman, said.

Mr Antwi, receiving the honour, greatly appreciated the role of the media in Volta in shaping the growth of the Region.

He thanked the journalists association for the spirited support to the Company, especially in promoting its outlook as the hub of excellence.

‘When you come to the Volta Region as a PR person, before you excel, you need the media fraternity – the GJA. I’ve never seen media supporting the ECG like the way you do in the Volta Region, such that there are times that for some of the issues, I even stay back and they go ahead and communicate it for me because they understand the issues.

‘And so if we don’t face much negative press in the Region, it’s because of the support they have offered to me and I am very grateful,’ the PRO said.

The PRO further attested to extra efforts by the media in the Region to project the company, and commended the General Manager fo
r the Region for making ‘a conscious effort’ to improve media relations further.

The General Manager, on her part, was hopeful the relationship would continue, and that the successor would build more upon the relationship and the successes.

Ms. Eunice Tweneboah-Kodua takes over as the new PRO.

Source: Ghana News Agency

The Bible Society of Ghana (BSG) will on Sunday, March 10, launch a new version of the Bible in Ho.

The Bible, known as Diglot Bible (bilingual), comprises both the Ewe and English languages.

Mr Joseph Ireland, the Regional Manager of BSG, who disclosed this to the Ghana News Agency in Ho, said the launch would take place at the Evangelical Presbyterian Church (EPCG) Dela Cathedral at Ho Kpodzi.

Right Rev. Dr. Lt. Col. Bliss Divine Agbeko (Rtd), Moderator of the General Assembly of the EPCG, would be the main speaker at the event whilst Dr Archibald Letsa, the Volta Regional Minister, is the Special Guest.

Mr Ireland said the BSG was mandated to make the Bible available, accessible and affordable to all manner of people irrespective of language.

He noted that the Diglot Bible was easy for cross referencing and would also ease the inconvenience of carrying both English and Ewe Bibles at the same time.

The Bible was easy to use as the Ewe version of every chapter followed immediately the English one.

He
expressed the hope that the new Bible would attract a large patronage.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Mr Philip Tengzu, a Chief Reporter with the Wa office of the Ghana News Agency is among 30 journalists and media practitioners selected from five West African countries to participate in the sixth edition of the Kwame Karikari Fact-Checking Fellowship.

The 30 participating journalists and media practitioners of the fellowship, which spanned from March to August 2024, were drawn from Nigeria, Ghana, Sierra Leone, Liberia, and The Gambia.

DUBAWA, a West African independent verification and fact-checking project, an initiative of the Centre for Journalism Innovation and Development (CJID), is organising the fellowship with support from the National Endowment for Democracy (NED).

It sought to amplify media literacy and empower journalists and media practitioners to champion information verification at the grassroots communities, which were targeted constituencies for political, social, and cultural misinformation and disinformation.

The six-month fellowship was preceded by a four-day intensive fellowship tra
ining to enable the participants appreciate the concept of fact-checking and information literacy before the commencement of the fellowship.

Some local language media practitioners and journalists also participated in the training.

Speaking at the opening of the four-day virtual training, Mr Dapo Olorunyomi, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of CJID, indicated that journalists played a crucial role in promoting democracy, good governance and development in West Africa.

He advised the participants not to allow themselves to be used as agents for spreading misinformation and disinformation.

Mr Akintunde Babatunde, the Programme Director of CJID, explained that the fellowship started in 2019 with five fellows but had since churned out many fact-checkers through the fellowship over the past five years.

Aside from training journalists and media practitioners on fact-checking through the fellowship, DUBAWA also trained journalists and media practitioners in Nigeria and some other West African countries includi
ng Ghana to introduce them to the business of fact-checking and information verification.

Experienced fact-checkers and researchers took the participants through series of presentations during the four-day training.

Mr Idris Akinbajo, the Managing Editor of the Premium Times in Nigeria, who took the participants through ‘Accountability Journalism and the Role of the Media in West Africa’, explained that West African journalists ought to be concerned about the unstable democracy in the sub-region.

‘Journalism and democracy have a symbiotic relationship,’ he observed, indicating that independent and good journalism could only thrive in a state of democracy and good governance and vice versa.

The participants were also taken through topics including: ‘Understanding the Information Disorder Ecosystem’; ‘Media and Information Literacy (MIL) as a Response to Information Disorder’; ‘Fact-checking: Practice and Methodology’; ‘Claim Discovery’; and ‘Google Fact-checking Tools’ among others.

Source: Ghana News Ag
ency

At least 13 people died in a road accident that occurred on Thursday February 29 at a location known as Yonkélé in Maroua, Cameroon, L’Oeil du Sahel reported.

The victims were passengers aboard a minibus, according to witnesses present at the scene.

The accident, which resulted in the loss of multiple lives, has shocked the local community. Reports indicate that the minibus lost control, leading to the devastating crash.

Rescue operations were immediately deployed to assist any survivors and recover the bodies of those who lost their lives.

Authorities are currently investigating the circumstances surrounding the accident to determine the exact cause.

This incident serves as a grim reminder of the dangers of poorly maintained roads and the importance of adhering to safety measures while on the road.

Source: Cameroon News Agency

The Ghana Wheelchair Tennis Federation (GWTF) in collaboration with Zion Management Africa Limited (ZMAL Sports Agency) has began a three-day Bowl Ghana wheelchair tennis championship at the Accra Sports Stadium Tennis Court.

The event scheduled for 9:30 am to 4:30pm each day, is made up of 25 wheelchair tennis players with seventeen males and eight females.

The male includes; Ebenezer Nti, Ibrahim Omaa Sadick, Isaac Tagoe, Daniel Laryea, Razak Nuhu, Emmanuel Amorbire, Richmond Essel, Samuel Buabi, John Afadzi, Maclean Dzidzienyo, Martin Essuman, Emmanuel Okyere, Bernard Yawson, Sheriff Dini, Evans Allotey, Samadu Sofo, and Yaw Boateng.

The female players were; Stacy Konadu Mensah, Bridget Nartey, Fatimatu Moro (Accra), Wasila Baba, Patricia Nyamekye, Fati Umar, Agnes Chebam, Zinabu Issah.

In an interview with the GNA Sports, Dr. Henry Larbi, Coordinator of the GWTF said winners of this competition would be supported by the GWTF to participate in one of the international (ITF) tournaments this year.

He
urged participants to be disciplined and focus on the game as it would bring changes to some lives.

Mr. David Derhnick Kofi Chief Executive Officer, (Zamack) said the aim was to bridge the gap between the abled and the disabled in the sport.

He said, ‘our aim is to promote the physical challenged people interested in the game of and we want to assist the federation to do that’.

‘Sometime when I pass through the traffic light, I see some of the physical challenged on the streets, I see a lot of talents in them, but they lacked the needed support,’ he added.

He said he would be touring Ghana for after the competition to form a sports academy for the physically challenged.

The competition is sponsored by Special Ice Mineral Water, Multi Pro Ghana (Indomie Ghana), Malcom Group of Companies, Delay Food, EYEL (Eau De Parfum), The Siblings Project, Nhyikaesi Wellness Hospital, Quality Assurance, Devina Herbal Clinic, Kpogas Furniture, Tennis Foundation Ghana and Japan Motors Trading Company Limited.

Source: G
hana News Agency

The Judicial Service of Ghana, has since 2005, successfully settled 36,191 cases representing 47 percent of the 77,264 mediated cases through its Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) system.

The Central Regional Office of the ADR handled a total of 1,665 cases in 2023 with 534 of the cases, representing 32 percent, settled.

In all, the region has 17 ADR connected courts consisting of two circuit courts, and 15 district courts.

Justice Angelina Mensah-Homiah, Justice of the Court of Appeal, announced this at an ADR sensitisation durbar at the Jubilee Park in Cape Coast.

The durbar is a prelude to the ADR Week’s mass mediation exercise slated from Monday, March 18 to Friday, March 22 across the country.

It is being held on the theme: ‘Building the Pillars of Justice through Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR).’

The ADR Week sensitization train took off from Accra on Monday, February 26 and made the first stop at Kasoa, continued to Ofankor, Awutu, Winneba, Apam, Ajumako, Mankessim, Saltpond, Elmina and
now Cape Coast.

Generally, the celebration affords the ADR Directorate of the Judicial Service, the opportunity to announce to the public, the presence of ADR within the court system and communities for them to take advantage of it.

The ADR process had created space and the necessary environment for people, particularly the poor and vulnerable to meaningfully access justice.

Justice Mensah-Homiah, said the ADR concept had served as a complement to the traditional courts, substantially due to the mass mediation exercise.

During ADR Week, parties who have cases pending in courts connected to the ADR programme would be provided the opportunity to have their cases settled through mediation.

‘Mediators are assigned to each court to help parties resolve cases that have been referred to ADR by Judges and Magistrates.’

Justice Mensah-Homiah urged court users to take advantage of these process to ensure expeditious disposal of cases pending in courts across the country.

‘After 19 years of implementing the conne
cted ADR programme, it has demonstrated verifiable success.

‘It’s our expectation that ADR becomes not just a complement to the justice delivery architecture, but a major plank, which would be the go-to option for those seeking justice as long as the nature of the cases admit ADR,’ Justice Mensah-Homiah assured.

However, she cautioned some few bad nuts in the justice delivery system who sometimes sidestep their ethical and legal mandates to engage in misdeeds for their personal interest to stop it.

She encouraged all disputants and the public to report such unprincipled mediators to the ADR Directorate or Complaints Units of the Judicial Service for the appropriate action to be taken.

She revealed that mediators were paid allowances by the Judicial Service from the public purse, consequently, they were not to receive any payments, whether in cash or in kind from disputants.

‘Mediators are precluded from going for ‘locus Inspection,’ they cannot also write rulings on the merits of a case. These are the pr
eserve of trial Judges and Magistrates.’

A mediator, she indicated, lacked any power to re-examine a decision upon the execution of the terms of settlement.

‘It is not the duty of mediators to police parties to a dispute to ensure compliance. I’m bringing this out so that unsuspecting disputants do not fall to any unscrupulous mediator,’ Justice Mensah-Homiah said.

Justice Kofi Akrowia, a Supervising High Court Judge, attributed the challenges with delivery of justice in Ghana to inadequate number of courts, Judges and Magistrates and automation in courts.

He urged the Government to facilitate the work of the Judiciary by providing more funds and on time to ease justice delivery in the country.

Source: Ghana News Agency