Day: June 28, 2024

The United States Ambassador to Ghana, Ms Virginia Palmer, has called on the Overlord of Dagbon, Ya-Na Abukari II at his residence in Accra.

The Ambassador was accompanied by the Mission Director of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and other staff of the Embassy.

The two discussed issues of mutual concern and importance such as human rights, inter-ethnic co-existence, the maltreatment of alleged witchcraft suspects and peacebuilding in Dagbon, and Northern Ghana at large.

The Ya-Na expressed appreciation to the Ambassador for the work of the U.S. Government agencies in Ghana especially, the USAID and Millennium Development Authority (MiDA) among others.

He commended USAID for supporting the Dagbon Constitutional Review process, which the Overlord described as a new lease of life for the people of Dagbon.

He indicated that peacebuilding among all people in Dagbon, including minority tribes in the Kingdom was a top priority of his agenda as the Ruler of the ancient Kingdom.

H
e therefore underscored the need for all and sundry to support his vision of United Dagbon at its peace with itself and its neighbors, in prosperity.

Ambassador Virginia Palmer praised the Overlord for his sterling leadership and efforts, describing him as an example of leadership for African traditional rulers.

She mentioned the need for women and young people to receive greater attention in the Overlord’s development priorities.

Ambassador Palmer was happy that the Ya-Na placed more emphasis on eliminating the banishment of women on alleged witchcraft and maltreatment of poor and vulnerable people on similar allegations.

She mentioned the readiness of the U.S. Embassy to work with the Office of the Ya-Na to undertake projects and programmes that will enhance the capacity of the people of Dagbon and also increase information flow to all people in the area to increase development.

Dalun Lana, Tapha Mahamadu III on behalf of the Ya-Na presented the 10-year Dagbon Strategic Development Plan to the Ambassad
or during the meeting.

Source: Ghana News Agency

The youth from the 12 communities affected by the proposed lithium mining project in the Mfantseman Municipality and Abura-Asebu-Kwamankese District have bared their teeth at the mining company, Atlantic Lithium, over suspicions of deceit and exploitation.

They have vowed to obstruct the project if the promises of development made by the company were not fulfilled and their demands for employment and adequate compensations not met.

Pointing to the tattered state of some mining communities like Tarkwa in the Western Region and Obuasi in the Ashanti Region, the young men and women passionately insisted on their demands, stressing that they will not allow themselves to be taken for granted.

They made the demands when the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Atlantic Lithium and its subsidiary, Barari DV Ghana Limited, met them at one of the affected communities, Krofu to present a draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) on the Ewoyaa Lithium Mining and Processing Project to solicit their feedback.

Thurs
day’s meeting was the second one with them this year after the EPA and the mining company first met them on Tuesday, February 13 at Ewoyaa to brief them on the project and solicit their concerns.

Demonstrating utmost interest in the project, the meeting was heavily attended by all 12 chiefs and people from the affected communities and three paramount chiefs from the two districts.

The mining project is expected to comprise construction and operation of mine pits, waste rock dumps, processing plant, tailing storage facility, workshops, and ancillary facilities.

Despite being their second forum, majority of the people the Ghana News Agency (GNA) spoke to did not understand the issues, including the benefits and impact of the project on them.

The GNA gleaned from separate conversations the erroneous impression that everybody in the communities will be employed when the project fully took off.

Some of them also complained about being reduced to menial workers at the preparatory stage of the project while non
-residents worked in the offices.

When the time came for them to speak after presentations by EPA, Atlantic Lithium and Barari DV Ghana Limited, tempers flared as they exacted answers and assurances from the regulator and the company.

They reiterated their concerns on employment, land and crop compensations, resettlement, pollution of waterbodies and air with its attendant mining diseases and the promise of a hospital, security, among others.

‘You said you will reclaim the lands and return them back to their original owners. We think you are deceiving us. Often, the land is given to the government, and it never gets back to the owners,’ one of them said.

‘My farm has been earmarked for destruction. How will I feed my family,’ an old woman asked.

A broadcast journalist, Captain Smart, who hails from one of the affected towns, entreated the company and the EPA to be transparent and frank with the people about the implications of the mining project on them.

‘Do not deceive us; it has serious health implica
tions such as cancer, liver problems and miscarriages. Do you have health facilities to take care of the sick. Are you building a hospital for us and when?’ he queried.

‘What tests have been done about the air quality and what will be done to correct it when it is polluted?’ he further asked.

He appealed to the chiefs to reject all forms of inducements and ensure they put the interest of their people first.

Meanwhile, Barari DV Ghana Limited, presenting portions of the EIS, assured the people that robust measures had been taken to reduce the negative impacts of the project including dust, noise, blasts, and water and air pollution.

Mr. Adam Ahmed-Salim, the General Manager of the company, promised to protect their cultural heritage and undertake the resettlement with dignity and respect.

He said the lands would be reclaimed at the project proceeded and the offices and warehouse might be handed over to the communities and assemblies.

He also reassured them of various developmental projects including scho
ols, hospitals, and roads.

Mr. Ahmed-Salim pledged that the company would train some locals for the job and ask contractors to employ them but the minimum qualification for the training will be a Senior High School Certificate.

The Chiefs also allayed the fears of their people and assured them that they will not let their guards down.

Osagyefo Amanfo Edu IV, the Paramount Chief of Mankessim Traditional Area, indicated that they had read the report and found that all their concerns had been captured.

However, he called for the creation of a monitoring committee to keep track of the company’s activities to ensure they did not default.

For his part, Ing Ransford Sakyi, Deputy Executive Director of Operations, EPA, the communities to report any issue of noncompliance to the EPA to take appropriate actions against the company.

‘In the unlikely event that there are some shortcomings, we will also intervene so that overall, this project will come off successfully and the benefit will be accrued to the Central
Region, Mother Ghana and to the people within this project of influence,’ he assured.

He assured that a baseline data including air and water quality in the area had been gathered to monitor the impact of the mining activities, adding that mitigation measures against such impacts had been documented in the environmental impact statement.

‘For example, before they commence operation, we will do a health impact assessment and in any event that as the project goes on, there are foreign health issues that may be attributed to the project, then there will be the need to resolve and mitigate that,’ he said.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Managers and employees are encouraged to pay attention to personal health and well-being as they strive to meet various demands at the workplace.

Failure to maintain a positive balance between professional tasks and other commitments outside of work, could be counterproductive, said Human Resource Expert, Iris Owusu-Manu.

In a presentation on the topic ‘Achieving Excellent Work-Life Balance in Competitive Business Environment’, she charged employers to explore options to effectively ‘take care of the well-being of employees’ and address ‘workplace burnout’.

‘Flexible work is linked to high productivity…No matter the policies and principles you [employers] put in place, employees, at any point in time, will think that you are not doing enough for them…So as managers and leaders, we need to start thinking about other activities to let people [employers] know that we care about their wellbeing,’ she said.

With competition at the workplace, Mrs Owusu-Manu observed that some employees tended to ‘challenge them
selves so much’ to the detriment of their physical or emotional well-being.

She said managers should occasionally find out issues ‘weighing down’ employees as ‘conflicting demands’ at the workplace and home could cause stress and affect productivity.

The HR practitioner at Telecel Ghana urged employees to ‘check themselves’ when experiencing signs of work stress, such as lack of energy, loss of interest in activities, and difficulty in concentrating on tasks.

Mrs Owusu-Manu advised superiors to create a ‘supportive environment’ for employees, highlighting lack of resources at work, inadequate training, poor time management, and unclear expectations from job performance, as factors likely to cause work stress.

Underlining the importance of good work-life balance, she said managers should ‘set clear expectations, apply effective communication, and establish transparent growth and success criteria’ to ensure employees were aligned with company objectives.

‘We must make everybody feel part of the team when i
t [the company] is successful…We need to monitor and address the minor issues that happen at the workplace because it may pile up and affect productivity,’ she noted.

Mr Carlis Arko, Country Director, Horizons Offices, conveners of the forum, stressed the benefit of employee well-being to business productivity.

He said the company, which provides furnished and serviced office spaces, would continue to maintain ‘an excellent working environment while providing world-class’ services to clients.

‘We are always consumed in our working environment whilst we pay little attention to our health…We need a healthy workforce to be in business. Without a healthy workforce we cannot offer our services to our business partners,’ he noted.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Mrs Ursula Owusu-Ekuful, Minister for Communications and Digitalization, has expressed satisfaction at the turnout of huge women’s participation in the Digital Transformation Center (DTC) Project.

The project, which began in 2020, had so far trained over 22,000 people, exceeding the normal target of 17,200 persons across the country.

Out of this number, more than 14,000 (68 percent) of them are women.

It is being implemented by the Ghana Investment Fund for Electronic Communication (GIFEC), together with International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and Cisco, to train many Ghanaians in basic and intermediate digital skills.

‘I am happy that digital technology has benefited a lot of people across the country and the target beneficiaries including non-literate persons, women entrepreneurs, persons with disability, out of school youth, students, and school teachers, have all gained digital essential skills required for success in today’s unfolding digital world.’

Mrs. Owusu-Ekuful, who was speaking at the cl
oseout ceremony of the DTC Project in Kumasi, noted that, last year the project partners extended it to the visually impaired persons, and it was heartwarming and gave credence to the desire not to leave anyone behind.

Digital transformation, according to the Minister, transcended challenges we faced as people adding that ‘I am glad that having trained trainers who can assist the visually impaired as part of GIFEC’s normal programming, will extend our assistance to them as well.’

She said under the project, many schools for persons with disabilities were provided with assisted devices and now can teach them to utilize those devices optimally.

The Minister said under the Ghana Digital Acceleration Project, which had just been introduced with funding from the World Bank, there was a key component targeted at assisting persons with disability working through their national associations, ‘and this comes to add another layer of support to our differently abled citizens.’

This could enhance their independence,
employability, and social inclusion.

Mrs. Owusu-Ekuful said the DTC had benefited communities and families and the nation as a whole, by way of advancing digital transformation.

She said the training would be part of GIFEC’s programmes to ensure its sustainability after the end of the project and called on stakeholders to assist in building upon the legacies.

Mrs. Eva Andoh-Poku, the Administrator, GIFEC, indicated that digital skills were no longer a convenience but a necessity in a society where technology permeated our daily lives.

She said GIFEC, since its establishment in 2004, had provided solutions to achieving universal access and digital inclusion in the remotest parts of the country and to all unserved and underserved communities.

The DTC Project was therefore essential to bridge the digital skills gap which became more pronounced during the COVID-19 pandemic and its aftermath.

Source: Ghana News Agency