Category: General

A 22-year-old shop attendant, who stole GHS39,385.00 from a Tele-Communication shop has been fined of 100 penalty units (GH?1,200) by an Accra Circuit Court.

The convict is also to serve a day in prison.

Charged with stealing, Paulina Boateng pleaded guilty and was convicted on her own plea.

The Court presided over by Mr Isaac Addoh, said the convict in default of the fine served 12 months’ imprisonment.

It ordered the convict to pay the remaining balance of the money to the complainant.

Earlier, a lawyer acting as a friend of the court, Mr Lord Delvin Essandoh prayed to the Court for lenience, saying the convict was a first-time offender and that per the facts it was obvious that she was remorseful for having paid part of the amount of money.

Mr Essandoh also said the convict did not waste the time of the court and had her whole life ahead of her.

He prayed the Court to consider all the factors and meted out the minimum sentence possible concerning the said offence.

The prosecution led by Police Chie
f Inspector Jonas Lawer confirmed to the Court that the convict was not known.

The facts initially narrated by the prosecution were that the complainant Mr Daniel Nana Amaning was an electrical engineer and doubled as shop supervisor for Glorious Bost Ventures.

The prosecution said both the complainant and the convict resided at Nii Boi Town, Accra.

It said in January 2023, the convict was employed as a shop attendant by the owner of the shop to manage the affairs of the company which dealt with selling electrical prepaid and mobile money of all kinds of telecommunication networks.

However, the prosecution said in February 2023, one Fati Sulemana, a witness in the case, was also employed as a salesperson to assist the convict in managing the affairs of the company.

It said, ‘recently, an internal auditor was engaged to audit the activities in the shop, and it was detected that an amount of GH?39, 385.00 had been misappropriated by the convict.’

The prosecution said she was confronted with the misappropr
iation of funds, she admitted and promised to refund the money when she received her salary.

It said on February 13, 2024, the complainant filed a complaint with the Police and the convict was arrested with suspect Sulemana for questioning.

The prosecution said during the investigation the convict admitted to the offence in her caution statement and stated that she took an amount of GH?15,000.00 and GH?20,000.00 which was recorded as bad debt.

It said the convict refunded an amount of GH?9,000.00 as part of the payment of the money she misappropriated from the shop.

Source: Ghana News Agency

The Centre for Climate Change and Food Security (CCCFS) is calling for urgent steps to tackle plastic pollution on the environment as the world marks World Earth Day.

According to the Centre, Ghana produces around 0.84 million tons of plastic waste each year, a number that is increasing by 5.4% annually.

‘As the population grows, so does plastic waste, with a 2.2% increase, each year.

The amount of plastic consumed per person is also increasing by 3.4% each year.

Despite efforts by the government, industry, and civil society, plastic waste in water bodies is expected to increase by 190% between 2020 and 2040,’ part of a statement released by the Centre to commemorate the day read.

The statement signed by its Executive Director, Mr Mahmud Mohammed Nurudeen, and copied to the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in Kumasi, said plastic waste has severe environmental impacts, including pollution of oceans and waterways, harmful to marine life, and contribution to climate change.

‘Moreover, some of this plastic waste ev
entually enters the food chain, posing a significant risk to human health.

When plastic debris breaks down into smaller pieces, known as microplastics, they can be ingested by small marine animals, which are then consumed by larger animals, and potentially even humans,’ the statement pointed out

It said the CCCFS was drawing inspiration from India’s successful adoption of ceramic materials for drinking water, particularly in states like Rajasthan, emphasising the need for a return to traditional and sustainable practices.

The Centre believes the use of ceramics in Ghana in the past which was common in the northern part of the country should be revisited to reduce Ghana’s reliance on plastics.

It is also worried that many Ghanaians are unaware of the harmful effects of plastic waste, which was why drastic reductions in plastic production by petrochemical companies are urgently needed.

‘The impact of plastic pollution on our environment, our health, and our economy cannot be overstated and we must take imm
ediate action to reduce plastic pollution and adopt sustainable practices,’ the statement concluded.

The CCCFS in a Ghanaian-based Non-Governmental Organisation committed to research, advocacy, and knowledge-sharing with the aim of influencing policy, while supporting farmers and communities in Africa to be climate-resilient, and food secured.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Madam Gloria Ofori-Boadu, a women and children’s rights advocate has called for the mass involvement of the voting public in the demand for an affirmative action to increase women’s participation and representation in governance.

‘There is the need for a massive public education so that the masses would understand what the affirmative action means and its benefits to our national development and social cohesion so that together they will lead the campaign’.

She said giving the fact that issues with gender and women empowerment did not look too good in our part of the world due to stereotypes and some cultural underpinnings, any move such as an affirmative action must not be championed by few groups in the society.

Speaking in an interview with the GNA Gender desk on how to increase women’s participation in governance and representation, Madam Ofori-Boadu also a managing legal person observed that backing of the populace was critical in ensuring the bill was passed.

Citing the Domestic Violence Act for ins
tance, she noted that it had massive involvement and support of the public, where there was a prominent level of public awareness.

‘We must adopt the same approach used for the Domestic Violence Act to ensure that such an important tool like the affirmative action becomes a reality’ she added.

She said unfortunately, there were no efforts to bring the people along and get involved to understand its impact on national development.

According to her the fact that the Affirmative Action bill had traversed about eight Ministers of Gender, Children and Social Protection over a period of about nine-years supported the call for a massive education and involvement of the public.

Affirmative Action is an active remedial mechanism or policy aimed at removing discrimination, improve rights and socio-political progress of non-dominant groups in this case women who are historically disadvantaged.

It can also be described as a deliberate temporary act to facilitate equality in representation for national cohesion and d
evelopment.

Ghana has made attempts since 1998 starting with affirmative action policy guidelines to promulgate an Affirmative Action Law without concrete results.

Women groups and Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) through coalition building, collective and solidarity actions have pushed for the adoption of affirmative action mechanisms and placed the prime issue of parity in women’s participation as a core demand in the last nine years.

Source: Ghana News Agency

The Ghana Publishers Association on the occasion of the commemoration of the World Book and Copyright Day has raised concerns on the structure of the school curriculum, saying it does not encourage reading outside the curriculum.

‘The structure of the school curriculum does not encourage the use of books outside the school. Children and students are not encouraged to read books.’

‘The children are not supplied with basic reading materials by the schools and parents are expecting the State to provide books for their children,’ the Association said in a statement copied to the Ghana News Agency.

It called for conscious efforts to improve the quality of life of the citizens by providing direct support for the development of creative and analytical skills through early childhood reading programmes.

The statement noted that books and reading had played key role in the promotion of literacy as a concept for economic, social, and scientific progress, adding that, early reading and quality education were the most
important tools that could alleviate the circumstance that contribute to inequality.

It, therefore, called for the formulation of policy initiatives that would anchor the country’s cultural, social, and economic growth on books and other literary activities.

The policy initiatives, it said, should facilitate the process of creating opportunities for literacy to be a measure of either reducing or eradicating inequalities that were threatening the stability of the country.

The statement said the country’s development could not be achieved without reducing the inequalities that existed among the citizens and communities.

The statement added that countries that had advanced in development had all anchored their enhancements on a literate population.

‘Investments in education, beginning with early childhood reading programmes could translate into viable economic mobility, contribute to increased productivity, and decrease inequality,’ the statement said.

The World Book and Copyright Day is marked on every Ap
ril 23. This year is the 29th year of the celebration of the World Book and Copyright Day.

The Day, set aside by UNESCO, is celebrated to promote the reading of books and other literatures, as well as pay tributes to books and authors and encourage everyone to access books.

Source: Ghana News Agency

A delegation of Journalists in Social Protection (JISOP) has called on key institutions to focus on issues of social protection.

The courtesy calls were to formally introduce JISOP to the institutions and establish a working relation towards a direct line of communication on social protection.

JISOP, within five days, called on the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection (MoGCSP), Deutsche Welle (DW), Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty (LEAP) Programmes Secretariat and the Ghana School Feeding Programme Secretariat.

It also called on United Nations (UN) institutions such as the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), World Bank, World Health Organisation (WHO), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), World Food Programme (WFP) as well as the International Labour Organistion (ILO).

There were dialogues among the representatives of the institutions and the journalists to solicit collaborations, which underscored the essence of the meetings.

Madam Emma Anaman, Head of Social Protection a
t WFP, during the engagement, said the gesture was commendable given the influence of news reports on social protection issues.

She reiterated the importance of JISOP as a team that delved into the issues of social protection, adding it was a step to give the subject the needed attention.

Mr Achaligabe Colson Akanbasiam, Head of Communication, LEAP Secretariat, expressed the Secretariat’s readiness to work with JISOP towards an enhanced social protection conversation in the interest of the public.

He noted that there was misinformation about the LEAP programme contrary to its activities, adding that liaising with JISOP would facilitate effective communication between the programme and members of the public.

JISOP, launched last year, is an independent network of journalists from various media houses trained to report on social protection.

It is a stakeholder in the Right Based Approach (RBA) to the social protection agenda of Ghana under the UNICEF’s social protection strategy and coordinated by the Just
ice Baidoo Consulting Limited (JBCL).

The members were drawn across all regions in the country and grouped into the Northern, Middle, and Southern zones.

Source: Ghana News Agency

A 22-year-old shop attendant, who stole GHS39,385.00 from a Tele-Communication shop has been fined of 100 penalty units (GH?1,200) by an Accra Circuit Court.

The convict is also to serve a day in prison.

Charged with stealing, Paulina Boateng pleaded guilty and was convicted on her own plea.

The Court presided over by Mr Isaac Addoh, said the convict in default of the fine served 12 months’ imprisonment.

It ordered the convict to pay the remaining balance of the money to the complainant.

Earlier, a lawyer acting as a friend of the court, Mr Lord Delvin Essandoh prayed to the Court for lenience, saying the convict was a first-time offender and that per the facts it was obvious that she was remorseful for having paid part of the amount of money.

Mr Essandoh also said the convict did not waste the time of the court and had her whole life ahead of her.

He prayed the Court to consider all the factors and meted out the minimum sentence possible concerning the said offence.

The prosecution led by Police Chie
f Inspector Jonas Lawer confirmed to the Court that the convict was not known.

The facts initially narrated by the prosecution were that the complainant Mr Daniel Nana Amaning was an electrical engineer and doubled as shop supervisor for Glorious Bost Ventures.

The prosecution said both the complainant and the convict resided at Nii Boi Town, Accra.

It said in January 2023, the convict was employed as a shop attendant by the owner of the shop to manage the affairs of the company which dealt with selling electrical prepaid and mobile money of all kinds of telecommunication networks.

However, the prosecution said in February 2023, one Fati Sulemana, a witness in the case, was also employed as a salesperson to assist the convict in managing the affairs of the company.

It said, ‘recently, an internal auditor was engaged to audit the activities in the shop, and it was detected that an amount of GH?39, 385.00 had been misappropriated by the convict.’

The prosecution said she was confronted with the misappropr
iation of funds, she admitted and promised to refund the money when she received her salary.

It said on February 13, 2024, the complainant filed a complaint with the Police and the convict was arrested with suspect Sulemana for questioning.

The prosecution said during the investigation the convict admitted to the offence in her caution statement and stated that she took an amount of GH?15,000.00 and GH?20,000.00 which was recorded as bad debt.

It said the convict refunded an amount of GH?9,000.00 as part of the payment of the money she misappropriated from the shop.

Source: Ghana News Agency