Day: June 18, 2024

Mrs Genevieve Ofosuhemaa Mantey, Head of the Material Science Department of the Ghana Standards Authority (GSA), says the Authority’s laboratories are accredited, hence its results are accepted worldwide. 

She said because their laboratories were accredited it had a better rating than that of the Cocoa Research Institute of Ghana (CRIG).  

Mrs Mantey, a subpoenaed witness for Mr Seidu Agongo, was answering questions in a cross-examination in the trial, involving Dr Stephen Opuni, a former Chief Executive of COCOBOD, led by Mr Samuel Codjoe, counsel for Dr Opuni. 

Dr Opuni and Mr Agongo are facing 27 charges, including defrauding by false pretences, willfully 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-recognizance bail each. 

The witness agreed that it was because of the high acceptability rate of their laboratory results that made
EOCO submit lithovit for testing.

She confirmed that the Drug, Cosmetic and Forensic laboratory was not responsible for the testing of fertiliser.

Mrs Mantey said she was not sure the Drug, Cosmetic and Forensic laboratory was informed about the testing of lithovit fertiliser.

Source: Ghana News Agency

 Over 300 young individuals from the Bono Region have been mentored and empowered to develop entrepreneurial mindset through the Barcamp Sunyani 2024 event.

The Barcamps programme is a series of free networking forums designed to provide young people with a platform for learning, idea sharing, networking and mentorship.

This initiative provided a unique platform for these young people to engage in learning, sharing, networking, and cultivating an entrepreneurial mindset through a series of informative sessions led by industry professionals.

The Barcamp Sunyani 2024 organized by the GhanaThink Foundation in collaboration with key partners held at the Sunyani Technical University was on the theme: ”Culture, Finance and Quality.’

Speaking in an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in Sunyani, Mr. Ato Ulzen-Appiah, the Director of Ghana Think Foundation, emphasized the significant impact of the Sunyani Barcamp event on youth empowerment and positive change within the Bono region.

He noted that providi
ng participants with valuable knowledge, mentorship, and a robust network indicated the event had laid foundation for a promising future for the youth in the region.

Mr. Ulzen-Appiah highlighted that the Barcamp Sunyani aimed to empower young people to enhance their mindset, develop themselves, and improve their livelihoods.

He said the Sunyani Barcamp served as a catalyst for fostering growth and progress among the youth in the Bono Region, setting them on a path towards success and prosperity.

In a related interview, Mr. Charles Oduro Owurani, project assistant at the Sunyani Young and Wise Centre of the Planned Parenthood Association of Ghana, emphasized the critical role of Sexual and Reproductive Health in enhancing the quality life of the youth.

He underscored the significance of fostering open communication about sexual and reproductive health matters to empower young individuals in making informed decisions about their health, as well as financial security.

The interactive sessions of the Barcamp
event generated discussions on various pressing issues and relevant topics, such as ensuring clean air in Ghana and promoting a healthier environment.

Other sections included ‘Health for Quality Life,’ which highlighted the importance of open communication and access to reliable reproductive and health resources, as well as strategies for building successful businesses, sustainable development, and literacy on insurance and investments.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Vivo Energy Ghana, the Shell Licensee, has successfully launched Safety Day 2024 at its head office in Cantonment, Accra.

Safety Day, a cherished tradition of the business, underscores the company’s commitment to Health, Safety, Security, Environment and Quality (HSSEQ) practices while celebrating its safety achievements and milestones.

‘With a vision of becoming the leading and most respected energy business in Africa, we remain committed to ensuring the safety and security of our employees, partners, customers and communities. The focus for this year’s Safety Day is on our HSSEQ Management System (MS), an integral part of our commitment to achieving Goal Zero- no harm to people and minimising our impact on the environment’.

Speaking at the launch, the Managing Director of Vivo Energy Ghana, Kader Maiga, emphasised the company’s collaboration with regulatory bodies like the National Petroleum Authority (NPA), Ghana Standard Authority (GSA), Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and the Association of Oil
Marketing Companies (AOMC) to ensure compliance with procedures, standards, environmental sustainability, and industry best practices.

‘I wish to throw more light on our Goal Zero Days (4,900 days/over 13 years) – the number of days without a recordable incident in our operations as a company. We could only achieve this with the help of our employees, third-party contractors, site attendants, customers and regulatory bodies by complying with our safety procedures, standards, and regulations’, he said.

The CEO/Industry coordinator of the Association of Oil Marketing Companies (AOMC), Dr Riverson Oppong, commended Vivo Energy Ghana for its proactive approach to safety, noting, ‘It is heartening to see a company that prioritises the well-being of its employees and partners.

AOMC is proud to partner with Vivo Energy Ghana and all its members in the relentless pursuit of Goal Zero through collaborative efforts to achieve a future where safety and sustainability are the cornerstones of every operation within the
downstream petroleum industry.’

Representing Vivo Energy Ghana Transporters, the CEO of S. O. Frimpong Transport Limited, Randy Frimpong, in his goodwill message applauded the leadership and management of Vivo Energy Ghana for their dedication to a proper way of doing business which is a safer alternative.

‘We are happy to say that all transporters of Vivo Energy Ghana, through the adaptation of its HSSEQ Management System (MS), are now professional companies and we are also able to share knowledge and best practices with others in the industry,’ he said.

‘Vivo Energy Ghana pledges to integrate safety into every aspect of its operations and commits to staying informed and adhering to safety protocols to safeguard its colleagues, families and communities. Together we will achieve Goal Zero and set a benchmark for others to follow’.

Source: Ghana News Agency

The United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) in collaboration with the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA) has trained 83 national experts on energy modeling tools.

The gathering was to build efficient energy systems as Africa accelerates its transition to low-carbon and climate-resilient development.

Co-convened by the ECA and the Climate Compatible Growth (CCG), the Energy Modelling Platform for Africa (EMP-A) is a capacity building initiative designed to create optimized investments for the energy transition in Africa and to meet its growing demand for low-carbon development.

Mekalia Paulos, Research Officer, Energy Transition and Climate Finance in the Climate Change, Food Security and Natural Resources Division of ECA, stated that the EMP-A was held as African countries find themselves at a critical juncture, where global decarbonization efforts were gaining pace, demanding a holistic, system-wide shift towards low carbon development pathways.

‘As Africa striv
es to meet the considerable energy requirements of its rising population, attain the SDGs as well as realize its industrialization ambitions enshrined in Agenda 2063, the urgent need for strategic long term energy planning cannot be more essential,’ said Ms. Mekalia.

‘Harnessing open-source modelling tools, the EMP-A can support African governments analyze policies and challenges specific to their respective countries in such a way as to ensure their energy resources meet national imperatives towards sustainability and climate-resilient growth.’

The CCG programme is funded by the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) to support investment in sustainable energy and transport systems to meet development priorities in the Global South and brought together energy planning and modeling community in Africa to share experiences, models, and data in climate, land, energy, and water systems.

The training culminated in a high-level meeting on May 31, where in collaboration with World Resources Ins
titute (WRI) Africa, Sustainable Energy for All (SEforALL), the African Union Commission, and the African Energy Commission (AFREC).

ECA organized a panel session on the Africa Energy Dialogues and launched recently, the dialogues aim to stimulate open, evidence-based discourse across the African continent among public and private sector stakeholders, research institutions, civil society, and development partners on issues related to the design and implementation of African countries’ energy pathways.

Titled ‘Data-Driven Policymaking in Africa’s Energy Transitions’, and moderated by Mekalia Paulos of the ECA, the panel brought together experts from Ghana, Kenya, Mozambique and South Africa to delve deeper into the challenges and opportunities the energy transition presents as well as share perspectives on how data and the modelling tools provided by the EMP-A can inform their respective transition plans.

There was consensus on the urgent need for African voices to converge in the development of nuanced ene
rgy transition and crucially, the urgent need for strengthened international cooperation, increasing concessional finance and de-risking facilities which will be pivotal for amplifying private investment on the continent.

Mercy Kimwa, from the Ministry of Energy and Petroleum, Kenya stated, ‘the training will greatly contribute to my work as we embark on implementing the Kenya Energy Transition and Implementation Plan (ETIP). Considering the priorities for the current government, we will be able to run scenarios that relate to the BETA agenda and see how best to adopt the strategy to meet the current government priorities.’

For her part, Alison Hughes, a researcher from the University of Cape Town, said, ‘The training sessions placed firm deliverables on the various teams, and it was an opportunity to interrogate and present model results.’

Improving energy access in Africa in the context of SDG7 goals requires game-changing policies and investment. The goal should be pursued within the context of a transi
tioning energy system that leverages the continent’s immense clean energy potential while phasing out carbon-intensive technologies and resources.

The EMP-A continues to gain interest and momentum, growing year on year in participant numbers.  The first EMP-A training took place in 2018 in Addis Ababa.

The 2024 iteration is the fifth, during which national experts were trained on an expanded set of 8 tracks, namely OsEMosys, OnSET, CLEWs, FinPlan, ETP, MAED, Microgrids and Energy Access Explorer.

The course attracted participants from Cameroon, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone, South Africa, South Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Three social protection groups have urged the government to expeditiously pay the Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty (LEAP) grants to beneficiaries to alleviate their suffering.

The groups are the Civil Society Platform on the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 10, the Social Accountability Forum, and the Civil Society Platform for Social Protection.

They made the call at a joint press conference in Accra on Tuesday 18th June 2024.

According to the groups, the beneficiaries had suffered four months of delay in receiving the grants, exacerbating the hardships those vulnerable Ghanaians were facing.

Mr Auberon Jeleel Odoom, Convenor, SDG Sub platform Goal 10, said the delay had increased the cost of living of beneficiaries by 15 per cent over the past year, including a 20 per cent rise in food prices.

‘This issue transcends political and economic debates; it touches on the core of human dignity and the right to a basic standard of living. The elderly, orphans and vulnerable children, and persons with s
evere disabilities deserve better,’ she said.

‘They deserve a government that honours its commitments and places their needs first. Anything less is a betrayal of trust and a failure of leadership,’ he added.

Mr Odoom said the timeliness of LEAP payments was also critical to achieving the programme’s positive social and economic objectives.

The Convenor said the government must take immediate and decisive action to rectify the delays in the payments to alleviate the suffering of the vulnerable and to restore confidence in social protection initiatives.

He said despite the government’s commitment to prompt payment of the grants as a condition of the recent International Monetary Fund (IMF) bailout negotiations, the process remained ‘disappointingly sluggish’.

Mr Odoom said for many beneficiaries, particularly the elderly, the LEAP grants were a lifeline and often their only source of income to purchase food, medication, and other essential items.

‘The delays, which have stretched to as long as four month
s, mean that many elderly individuals are forced to make impossible choices between eating and buying medicine. This is not just a financial issue; it is a matter of dignity and survival,’ the Convenor stressed.

The LEAP initiative is recognised as one of the five primary social intervention programmes to assist the poor and vulnerable populations.

By the end of 2023, the programme had extended its reach to approximately 350,580 households, benefiting around 1.5 million individuals nationwide.

As part of its efforts to mitigate the impact of rising living costs on the poor and vulnerable, the Government of Ghana, through the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection (MoGCSP) and the Ministry of Finance (MoF), increased the monthly LEAP benefit levels by 100 per cent in the 2023 National Budget.

Additionally, in September 2023, the Cabinet approved a structural benchmark developed by the MoGCSP in collaboration with MoF.

The benchmark introduced an inflation-based indexation mechanism to adjust L
EAP benefits annually, ensuring that the real value of the benefits is preserved against inflation.

Source: Ghana News Agency

The Minister of the Interior Mr Henry Quartey, has been summoned to brief Parliament on Wednesday, June 26, on measures being taken by the Government to address recent serial killings of private security personnel in Bole and Wa in the Upper West Region.

Mr Andrew Amoako Asiamah, the Second Deputy Speaker, Tuesday, gave the directive, when he presided over the House, during which Mr Yusif Sulemana, the National Democratic Congress (NDC) Member of Parliament (MP) for Bole Bamboi raised the issue on the floor of the House.

‘Mr Speaker, I want to report to you that the people of Bole are living in fear, between May and June, three people lost their lives through serial killings. And this morning I also read or watched TV and also heard that two people have been murdered in a very similar manner in Wa,’ Mr Sulemana said.

He said the Minister of Interior last week sent some men and women to Bole to help curb this situation, however, he thought that much more was needed to be able to address the situation.

‘Mr
Speaker, the murderers are targeting watchmen, and so there is a watchman lying, taking care of whatever he is supposed to take care of, and then a stone or block is used in hitting his head and killing the person instantly,’ he stated.

Mr Sulemana said within this short period, three people had been killed and even before that, there were serial killings taking different forms and that he thought that this was an important matter; saying ‘and I want to draw your attention to it, so that the Interior Minister can come to this House and brief us, and give some hope to those areas that are affected’.

Mr Sulemana said last month for instance, he decided to take a walk in the Bole township and by 2030 hours, everybody was asleep; adding that ‘self-imposed curfew. Mr Speaker, we cannot continue in this manner’.

He, through the Speaker, appealed to the Minister of Interior to do more to help address the situation.

He said three days ago, former President John Dramani Mahama while in Bole had to go to the Police
Station to encourage the Police men and women to do their best.

Mr Sulemana said, he (Mr Sulemana) interacted with the Police, and they told him that in 2021, the Police men were 71, but currently the number had reduced to about 50, and that many more were waiting to go because they had received some transfer approvals.

He appealed to the Interior Minister to update the House on the number of permanent Police officers currently at post in Bole.

On his part, Dr Rashid Hassan Pelpuo, NDC MP for Wa Central, said a dubious trend was taking place, which had resulted in the deaths of innocent people, security guards who were on duty at nights, who were fathers and heads of families, trying to earn something for their lives.

He recalled that last year, nine people were killed in this manner in Wa Central.

He noted that the Police, since last year, had indicated that there were some investigations going on, but before they even got the results of the investigations, some other killings happened again in Bole.

H
e said the return to Wa just happened today with two people killed at a stretch.

‘Mr Speaker, I think that the Police must sit up, and I also think that some further and quality investigations have to happen into this matter. We are worried about the situation; we are worried that lives are lost…’ Dr Pelpuo said.

He urged the Police to be up and doing to bring the perpetrators of crimes to book.

Source: Ghana News Agency