Day: April 18, 2024

Some drivers plying the Bolgatanga-Tamale Road have increased fares in contravention to directives from the Ghana Road Transport Coordinating Council (GRTCC) and the Ghana Private Road Transport Union (GPRTU) not to charge new fares until they are asked to do so.

Previously, the fare from Bolga to Tamale was GHC70 on the about 160 kilometre journey but was increased to GHC80 on Monday in disregard to the directives.

The GPRTU and GRTCC last week in a statement urged commuters not to pay any proposed new transport fares yet to receive official approval.

The announcement was passed in response to the Transport Operators Union and the Concerned Drivers Association of Ghana, declaring a 30 percent increase in transport fares effective April 13, 2024.

The joint press release by the GPRTU and the GRTCC noted that the agitations to raise fares arose from government’s inability to address the drivers’ grievances.

However, the two bodies emphasized in their statement that any fare hike outside the parameters set
by the Administrative Instrument governing the review of public transport fares is deemed illegal and should be disregarded.

The Bolga-Tamale stations, also known as Total 3 and Nasona run by Needle and Tread Transport and V3 Transport, are the only stations that have increased the fares.

The Station Manager of Needle and Thread (N and T) Transport at Total 3, Mr Joe Zoogah, who spoke to the Ghana News Agency, indicated that the cost of running the fleet was increasingly unbearable as fuel prices kept soaring while prices of other vehicular compliments such as spare parts and DVLA consistently affected the transport business, not to mention the bad roads.

He said the Ghc10 cedis added to the fare was less than 20 percent against the earlier proposed 30 percent, indicating that after weighing the choice of parking their vehicles, management took into consideration the inconvenience to the traveling public, hence fixing the fare at GHc80.

He added that the GHC10 cedis added was a review of previous incremen
ts, on which the two stations maintained their old prices for purposes of convenience to travellers and not necessarily increment as alleged by sections of the travelling public.

A passenger, Karimu Abanga, told the GNA that even though the GPRTU secretariat had not officially approved the new fares, he was compelled to cooperate with the drivers, because their vehicles were good and comfortable.

Source: Ghana News Agency

The US Embassy and Emerging Public Leaders, an organization that strengthens public institutions to create change, have collaborated to train public officials in Ghana’s public safety sector on conflict management.

The one-year training program, dubbed ‘the Professionals Engaged Against Conflict and Endangerment (PEACE) programme,’ is being implemented by Ghana-based Emerging Public Leaders and seeks to provide professional development and leadership training to 25 public servants.

The initiative, part of the US Strategy to Prevent Conflict and Promote Stability, aims to improve the delivery of government services in Northern Ghana.

A statement issued in Accra and copied to the Ghana News Agency by the U.S Embassy in Ghana said the Foundation for Security and Development in Africa (FOSDA) and the Ministry of Interior are partners in the programme.

‘One of the best ways to prevent conflict and support peace is to improve the delivery and reach of public services.

‘That’s one reason why we’re investing i
n our partnership with Ghana’s public servants,’ the statement quoted U.S. Embassy Press Attaché Kevin Brosnahan as saying at the launch of the programme.

It said the programme began in March 2024 with online professional development and training for more than 100 public safety professionals from various ministries and government agencies.

It said 25 high-performing public servants have been chosen for the year-long PEACE fellowship, the statement noted.

According to the statement, the fellows would learn best practices for security-civilian relations to promote public safety and security, build trust and confidence with local people, and help prevent conflict in Ghana’s Upper East, North East, and Northern regions.

The 25 participants include employees of the Ghana Police Service, Ghana Ambulance Service, Ghana Immigration Service, and Ghana Fire Service drawn from the Upper East, North East, and Northern Regions of Ghana.

The statement said the US government is working with at-risk communities in Coast
al West Africa to promote social cohesion, inclusive economic growth, and accountable governance as part of the multi-year implementation of the US Strategy to Prevent Conflict and Promote Stability.

Source: Ghana News Agency

By Charity Nginyu

Two bike riders cheated death today April 18 in Mvog-Mbi market, Yaounde, as a truck carrying cartons of raw eggs overturned at the market entrance.

Eyewitnesses recounted that the truck, while attempting to ascend a small hill leading to the market, suffered a malfunction, careening into an electronic shop nearby and crushing two bikes in its path.

According to reports, the truck toppled over, trapping the bikes and their riders beneath its weight. Miraculously, the two bikers managed to escape the threat of death by leaping from their bikes just moments before the truck collapsed onto them.

Police officers worked swiftly to establish the sequence of events, while efforts to extract the trapped bikes from beneath the truck commenced.

Meanwhile, the driver of the truck was rushed to the hospital in critical condition.

Source: Cameroon News Agency

The Ministry of Interior, on the advice by the Bono Regional Security Council (REGSEC), has imposed a curfew on Sampa Township, a Ghana-Cote D’Ivoire border town in the Jaman North District of the Bono Region, effective Thursday April 18, 2024.

A statement issued and signed by Mr Henry Quartey, the Sector Minister, said the 1600 hours to 0700 hours curfew was imposed following some chieftaincy disputes in the area.

The government, therefore, urged chiefs, opinion leaders, youth and people of the area to exercise restraint in the face of the challenges confronting them and to use non-violent means to channel their grievances into ensuring peace in the area.

It said there was also a total ban on all persons in Sampa Township from carrying arms, ammunition, or any offensive weapon, warning that any person found with any arms or ammunition would be arrested and prosecuted.

Source: Ghana News Agency

The Tarkwa circuit court has sentenced a 56-year-old farmer to 24 years imprisonment in hard labour for defiling a 10-year-old pupil.

The convict, Kwaku Sarfo, who is popularly known as Kantanka was convicted on his own plea when he appeared before the court presided over by Mrs Hathia Ama Manu.

Although, Sarfo pleaded for mercy, the court rejected his plea and imposed the sentence on him to deter men of his calibre from committing such offences against innocent girls in Tarkwa and its environs.

Superintendent of Police, Juliana Essel-Dadzie, prosecuting told the court that the complainant was a farmer and father to the victim, a primary four pupil, and both resided at Anokwa in the Prestea Huni-Valley Municipality with Sarfo.

She said on Thursday, March 28, 2024, around 1300 hours, the victim was sent by her parents to fetch water from a nearby stream for domestic use.

Prosecution said while on the way, Sarfo who was the complainant’s neighbour, called the victim and gave her a white margarine container
to fetch water for him.

Superintendent Essel-Dadzie said when the victim returned with the water, Sarfo asked her to take it to his room, and she did, and he followed her, locked the door and forcibly had sexual intercourse with her.

Sarfo, after satisfying his sexual desire, threatened the victim not to disclose it to anyone, and asked her to go home.

Prosecution said the following day, the complainant noticed the victim was bleeding from her vagina and he interrogated her, but she kept quiet, and the complainant together with the wife took her to the Prestea Government Hospital for treatment.

Superintendent Essel-Dadzie said the victim informed the medical officer who examined her at the facility about her ordeal in the hands of Sarfo.

The complainant was immediately informed and he lodged a case with the Prestea police, and he was issued a medical report form in respect of victim to be taken to the hospital for endorsement.

Prosecution said after the act Sarfo went into hiding, but on Saturday, March
30, 2024, he was picked up in Prestea by the police.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Madam Charity Akortia, Ghana’s 2023 national best farmer, has observed that there is the need for a targeted strategy aimed at supporting women farmers to strengthen their role in agriculture.

‘There is the need to give women in farming some kind of leverage to take farming to the level where it becomes a business venture and not the usual peasant and smallholder farming category, which always make it difficult for women to enter into farming at all,’ she said.

Madam Akortia said farming required funding to ensure all the inputs, logistics and ingredients needed for production were strictly adhered to, for improved yield, which gave farmers encouragement to stay in the business.

She said often women in farming were faced with the challenge of purchasing farm inputs such as fertilizers among others for lack of funding, coupled with the difficulty to access loans due to the high-risk nature of their farms which unfortunately were not insured.

Speaking in an interview with the Ghana News Agency at the side-l
ines of a five-day training workshop for the national farmers day women award winners, Madam Akotia, called for an intentional support targeted at women farmers to impact on the agriculture landscape in Ghana.

The training which is the second of its kind to build the capacities of 25 women, including the national best farmer for 2023, was organised by Policy LINK as part of a project to improve the lot of women in the agriculture sector.

The Feed the Future (FTF) Ghana Policy LINK activity is a five-year project supporting the Government of Ghana and policy actors to implement evidence-based and inclusive development processes to transform the agriculture sector and food security system.

Madam Akortia, who shared her journey of 31 years in farming culminating into the ultimate award winner, said she started as a farm help while in school, to support her education and decided to go into farming to support her meagre salary after she was posted to the central region as a teacher.

From a humble beginning of
farming in vegetables on a hired plot, she now boasts of 855 acres of assorted plantations and animal husbandry with over 85,000 birds which began with an initial 50 birds.

‘From my own experience it has not been easy, I recall how my colleagues used to discourage me from farming just because they thought I was stressing for nothing and that is why I think we must be intentional in supporting women to go into farming.’

She was optimistic that the institution of building the capacities of women farmer awardees, which went beyond just training would be the platform to churn out many women national best farmers as well as encourage the youth to go into farming and commended policy LINK for showing interest in women in the agriculture sector.

The training of women national best farmers day award winners has led to the formation of an all women farm-based association known as Ghana Association of Female Agricultural and Fish Farming Award Winners (GAFAFAW) to champion the cause of women in the sector.

Source:
Ghana News Agency