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Oxford Africa Women Leadership Institute (OAWLI), an Enterprise Support Organisation, has urged government to improve the export readiness of women-led Small Medium Enterprises (SMEs) to promote Ghana’s exports.

This would deliberately promote exports in Ghana to improve the balance of payment and the country’s over reliance on oil revenue, and to find clearly the businesses which are export ready, what they require to export and deliver support to the country.

In a statement copied to the Ghana News Agency in Accra said 92 per cent of women businesses in Ghana had never exported.

From the report, 31 out of 368 respondents has exported, 13 out of the 31 had no export certificates, nine has certificates from the Ghana Export Promotion Authority, indicating that , close to 50 per cent of those who had exported before sent their items through family and friends, while 92 per cent have no export experience.

The statement said, only 20 per cent were aware, while 78 per cent were not remotely aware of the requi
red certifications with 6 per cent unsure if they knew about the required certificates or not.

Through the data collected, it was proven that 58 per cent with no export experience were aware of African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), 39 per cent had no idea about it with roughly 3 per cent being unsure of what AfCFTA actually is.

The statement said there would be the need for some level of stratification to find clearly who is export ready, what they require to actually export and deliver support from there as part of efforts to generate revenue for the State.

‘Looking at the fact that the SME sector of the economy contributed majorly to economic activities and women forming more than 44 per cent of the population, women owned businesses will require the needed support,’ it said.

It said though there were government efforts, it would take the female-led businesses to personally seek the required information to be export ready.

There would be the need to support with export certification from Ghana
Export Promotion Authority (GEPA), Plant Protection and Regulatory Services Directorate (PPRSD), Food and Drug Authority (FDA) and Ghana Standards Authority (GSA) since more than 90 per cent of the respondents had no export certification.

It advised government to support women-led businesses with technology to understand the need for digital marketing, recommending social media as the best platform for digital advertising.

Source: Ghana News Agency

The two men standing accused for the murder of a 25-year-old lady, Georgina Asor Botchwey, have been remanded into prison custody by the Cape Coast High Court Two.

Christopher Ekow Clark Quansah and Michael Darko, a pastor, were until Tuesday, February 13, in the custody of the police.

But the two have been remanded in the Ankaful Prison Annex by the Court presided over by Mr Justice John Mark Nuku Alifo following the completion of police investigations into the matter.

The Court has set Tuesday, February 20, to commence an accelerated full trial in earnest with an assurance to complete same by the end of July given the heightened public interest in the case.

Consequently, the accused persons will appear before court three times every week.

Meanwhile, Justice Alifo has cautioned journalists against publishing false and misleading stories on the case, mindful of the fact that he could not prevent them from carrying out their duties.

The fact of the case is that the deceased, Georgina Asor Botchwey, a res
ident of Yeji in the Bono East Region and an applicant seeking admission at the Ankaful Psychiatric Nursing School in the Central Region, arrived in Cape Coast on Thursday, September 8, 2022, for an interview at the school.

Upon arrival, Botchwey called Darko who was her senior sister’s fiancé and informed him about her presence in the region and her mission there.

Darko then offered to pick her up after her interview at the Nursing School and later arrived in a taxi as had been arranged and sent her to Pedu Junction in Cape Coast, where Clark Quansah had parked his Benz Car with registration number GT 8686-C, which she joined.

Quansah then drove them to Akwaakrom near Mankessim, seized the deceased’s iPhone and locked her in a room.

The accused persons then went to Asikafo Ambantem, a suburb of Mankessim, where they allegedly dug a hole in an uncompleted storey building belonging to Quansah and went back for the lady and sent her to Asikafo Ambantem.

On September 9, 2022, around mid-day, Quansah and Dar
ko allegedly killed Georgina by hitting her head with a club and when she fell Darko held her neck till she died.

The two allegedly took away some pubic hair of the deceased and left the uncompleted storey building around 0200hours the next day.

A complaint was lodged by the brother of the deceased, Mr Alfred Duodu, with the police after frantic efforts to reach his sister proved futile.

The police later picked up an intelligence that it was Darko who picked Georgina at Ankaful.

Armed with the information, the police searched for Darko, who was arrested on Friday, September 19, at Anomabo and he admitted to the offence and led the police to where the deceased had been buried and the body was exhumed.

Further police intelligence later led to the arrest of Quansah from his hideout at Ekumfi Akwaakrom and he also admitted the crime, stating that they did it for money rituals.

The accused persons were first put before the Cape Coast District Court Two, presided over by Madam Bernice Mensima Ackon, and were
charged with conspiracy to commit crime to wit murder and murder.

Meanwhile, the accused persons had admitted to ritual murder during their appearances in court.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Preparations are underway for the Central Region to own an Integrated Recycling and Compost Plant (IRECOP) for effective waste management.

The IRECOP, a medical waste treatment plant and landfill for residual waste management sited at Mankessim in the Mfantseman Municipality, when completed, would receive solid, liquid and medical waste and have the capacity to create direct and indirect employment opportunities for the people.

Mr Thomas Korley, the Executive Director of Zoomlion Foundation, made this known at the launch of the fourth child sanitation diplomat’s campaign and project for improved sanitation in the country.

Ms Adwoa Gyakoa Appiah-Kubi, the child sanitation diplomat, said the project would be supported by World Vision Ghana, Ministry of Sanitation, Water and Natural Resources, Zoomlion Foundation, Ghana Education Service, GAMA SWP, and Kings Hall Media Limited.

The solid waste to be received across the region would also be processed into reusable materials such as compost for agriculture and
its related purposes.

Mr Korley said Zoomlion was committed to ensuring good sanitation practices to enhance the wellbeing of the citizenry, hence the establisment of the plant to reduce waste to the barest minimum.

This will contribute to Ghana’s commitment to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals through the adoption of environmentally sustainable practices.

The project, he noted, would also create job opportunities, generate revenue and serve as recycling centre for communities and learning centre for students.

Enhancing good sanitation practices was a collective effort by all stakeholders, Mr Korley said, and called on relevant departments and agencies to join hands in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.

He appealed to Ghanaians to embrace good sanitation practices for the health and wellbeing of all.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Mr Dela Gadzanku, Eastern, Volta and Oti President of the Association of Ghana Industries (AGI), has indicated progress in plans towards establishing a chocolate factory in the Volta Region.

Feasibility studies are underway to identify potential locations for the factory, while talks with some investors on the African Continent to invest in the project.

Mr Gadzanku said this when the AGI and its partners presented chocolates to some pupils in the Ho Municipality.

The partners included the Volta Regional Coordinating Council and the Volta Chapter of the Ghana Journalists Association.

They also gave some exercise books to the pupils of the Avee R.C. Primary and Junior High Schools and Klefe-Dome E. P. Basic School.

Mr Gadzanku said the region deserved a chocolate factory as a cocoa producer to add value to the product and enhance its competitiveness on the market.

When built it would fall under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), he said.

Touching on the presentation of the chocolates, Mr G
adzanku said it was a decision taken after the Volta Fair to sustain the consumption of cocoa products among the pupils.

Dr Archibald Yao Letsa, the Volta Regional Minister, who led the team, highlighted the importance of consuming products made in Ghana.

‘The gesture is to show the pupils affection as the nation celebrates this year’s Chocolate Day and to inspire them to concentrate on their studies,’ he said.

The Minister emphasised the importance of the day in promoting development and exporting the nation’s premium chocolate to other countries.

He advised the youth to avoid hard drugs, which would wreck their future and impede their development.

Source: Ghana News Agency

A woman who threw boiling palm nut soup on her boyfriend’s wife has been ordered by the Amasaman Circuit Court to pay a fine of 100 penalty units (GHC1,200.00).

Afia Agyeiwaa simply admitted to inflicting harm to Madam Vida Ntiamoah when she was arraigned in November 2023, but her sentencing was deferred until February 15, 2024.

Agyeiwaa, who was pregnant at the time and is now a two-month-old nursing mother, asked the Court presided over by Madam Enid Marfo-Sau for leniency.

In pronouncing the sentence, the court considered her status as a nursing mother, as well as the fact that Madam Vida, the complainant, had notified the prosecution that the situation had been settled amicably at home.

The Court was also informed on the day of judgment that the complainant wanted to discontinue the trial, but the Court ruled it was too late and committed to take that into account in sentence.

Police Chief Inspector Frederick Awuah-Ansah had previously informed the Court that Madam Vida, the complainant, is a trader
residing in Mayera Dunyo.

Afia Agyeiwaa was a seven-month-old pregnant woman who was unemployed and resided at Mayera Dunyo.

Chief Inspector Awuah-Ansah stated that the complainant’s spouse, Kwadwo Dwuma, is a fetish priest who has four children.

He stated that Agyeiwaa was the complainant’s husband’s girlfriend and that the complainant and her spouse had previously managed his shrine but had stopped owing to circumstances.

The prosecution claimed that in 2022, the complainant’s husband advised her that if she did not assist him with his work again, he would seek help from someone else, to which the complainant agreed.

The Court heard that in the same year, the complainant’s husband went to Asante Akyem Agogo and brought Agyeiwaa into the house where he lived with the complainant.

Chief Inspector Awuah-Ansah said they all lived in the same compound but in different apartments.

He said that since the Agyeiwaa entered the house, she had been insulting the complaint, but she ignored her.

On September 19,
2023, the complainant was making a meal in front of her room when she went to retrieve something from the kitchen.

According to Chief Inspector Awuah-Ansah, Agyeiwaa, who was making food behind the kitchen, confronted the complainant after noticing her standing in one of the rooms and watching her through a window.

Agyeiwaa then insulted the complainant, calling her a stupid woman and a village woman, among other abusive words.

The complainant responded that if she were a village woman, Agyeiwaa’s mother was also a villager, and she left, the prosecution told the court.

Chief Inspector Awuah-Ansah said when the complainant returned to the kitchen to pick something, the convict saw her and took the hot palm nut soup she was preparing from the fire and poured it on her back and neck in front of her husband.

The complainant then lodged a complaint with the police, who issued her a medical report form to go to the hospital for treatment and then report back.

This resulted in Agyeiwaa’s arrest, and following
an investigation, she was prosecuted and brought to court, police said.

Source: Ghana News Agency

A 26-year-old taxi driver has appeared before a Circuit Court in Accra for allegedly stealing a Hyundai 110 vehicle valued at GHC75,000.

Kofi Sakyi, also known as Isaac or Mosquito, pleaded not guilty to the charge of stealing.

The court presided over by Mr Isaac Addo remanded Sakyi into Police custody to reappear on February 27, 2024.

The prosecution, led by Chief Inspector Jonas Lawer, said the complainant, Fatima Zara Ali, is a businesswoman residing in Accra New Town.

Chief Inspector Lawer said Sakyi also resides in the same area as the complainant.

In September 2023, Sakyi approached the complainant who owns a Hyundai 110 taxi with registration number GS 5447-22 valued at GHc75,000.

The prosecution said Sakyi told the complainant that he wanted to work because he was unemployed.

According to the prosecutor, the complainant took pity on Sakyi and gave him the keys to the vehicle so he could begin working.

The prosecution said the complainant assigned Sakyi the task of sending and collecting her ch
ild from school in Haatso.

On January 21, 2024, the complainant was expecting Sakyi to take her daughter to school, but he did not show up.

When the complainant contacted Sakyi, he told her that the vehicle had developed a mechanical fault, and he was fixing it.

The prosecution said that because Sakyi’s phone was turned off, the complainant found another way to collect her child from school.

The prosecutor said Sakyi never showed up, and the complainant had no idea where he or the vehicle was.

The complainant and her brothers searched for Sakyi without success, therefore a report was filed with the police on January 225, 2024.

The prosecution said the police obtained intelligence that Sakyi was hiding in Agona Kwanyako, Central Region.

On January 31, 2024, investigations were extended to Agona Kwanyako. However, it was discovered that the accused had a hint of the police and went to Takoradi.

On February 5, 2024, Sakyi was arrested at Agona Swedru based on intelligence.

Sakyi denied the offence in hi
s caution statement, claiming he was attacked at Kwame Nkrumah Circle by two unknown individuals who requested him to take them to North Kaneshie.

Sakyi led the Police to the scene but could not identify the exact location of the alleged incident.

Source: Ghana News Agency