Category: General

The Accra Circuit Court Nine has remanded a 56-year-old mechanic for allegedly possessing forged land documents.

Atta Alhassan was denied bail because he was arraigned on a bench warrant.

Alhassan denied possessing forged documents and would be brought back before the Court on May 9, 2024.

Police Chief Inspector Daniel Danku informed the Court, presided over by Mr Samuel Bright Acquah, that the complainant in the case is a private Legal practitioner living in Accra.

The accused is a vehicle mechanic and a resident of Aworshie, a suburb of Accra.

He said that in 2002, the complainant applied to the Ghana Railways Company Limited, now the Ghana Railway Development Authority, for a 50-year lease on a piece of land in Avenor, Accra.

Chief Inspector Danku said the application was approved and an Engineers’ plan No. CE 2613/L dated 05/08/2022 showed the area of 0.15 acres of the land the company leased to him.

He said the complainant, who could not immediately start development on the land, placed his broth
ers on the land as care takers and visited the land regularly to ensure that no physical development took place on it by mechanics who had their shops and vehicles littered on it.

The prosecution said in December 2019, the complainant secured a building permit from the Okaikoi South Sub-Metro District Council of the Accra Metropolitan Assembly to begin construction on the land.

It said in May 2023, the complainant went to the land and requested that Alhassan remove his vehicles parked on it so that he could start development.

Alhassan refused to quit the site, instead bringing in more heavy-duty vehicles and buses to flood it, preventing the complaint from developing it.

The Court heard that after numerous attempts to get the accused to vacate the land, the complainant reported the matter to the Accra Metropolitan Assembly, which removed the vehicles.

Chief Inspector Danku said the accused who was offended by the action, threatened to hire thugs to destroy whatever project the complainant built on the la
nd.

The court was told that the complainant reported the case to police, prompting Alhassan’s invitation to assist with the investigation.

During the investigation, Alhassan claimed the land and presented a lease agreement purported to be issued by Ghana Railway Company Limited on May 21, 2001, with Engineers Plan No. CE 1998/1/L.

The prosecution noted that a search done at the Ghana Railways Development Authority proved the complainants’ lease with them and that the document supplied by the accused did not originate from them.

Chief Inspector Danku said the accused could not mention who issued the lease document to him and had since refused to cooperate with police investigations.

He was therefore served with accused summons to appear before court.

Source: Ghana News Agency

The Ghana Tourism Authority (GTA) has organised the ‘Feast Ghana’ to commemorate this year’s May Day celebration in Accra.

The event, which was to give Ghanaian workers a treat of authentic Ghanaian food and entertainment, was organised in partnership with the Public Service Workers Union (PSWU) of the Trade Union Congress, the Queen Mothers Foundation and the Ministry of Food and Agriculture Feast Ghana, part of Ghana Cares Obaatanpa project, aimed at promoting Ghana’s local food and showcasing Ghana’s cultural diversity, and resuscitating the tourism and hospitality sector.

It was on the theme: ‘Flavours of Ghana, Celebrating Ghana’s Cultural Diversity through Food.’

Mr Akwasi Agyemang, Chief Executive Officer, GTA said ‘Feast Ghana’ was to display indigenous Ghanaian dishes and elevate Ghana’s special culinary, culture and tradition.

The initiative, he said, would help tourists appreciate Ghana’s cultural dimension by virtue of food, adding that it was also aligned to the ‘May day’ celebration in reco
gnition of the hard work of all sector players.

Mr Agyemang appealed to Ghanaians to embrace and support the ‘Feast Ghana’ campaign to promote Ghana’s locally made food, cultural heritage and tradition.

Mr Jones Aruna Nelson, Director, Corporate Affairs, GTA, indicated that ‘Feast Ghana’ was a unique opportunity to promote Ghanaian foods, traditional dressing, dance and language.

He said the event plays a significant role in educating Ghanaians to patronise locally made foods.

‘We will continue to elevate ‘Feast Ghana’ to promote culinary diversity for Ghanaians to understand the health benefits of eating locally made foods because it contains good nutrients for the body,’ he added.

The event showcased Ghana’s local foods, emphasising unity, diversity and the vibrant spirit of Ghanaians.

Source: Ghana News Agency

The UK Government through its Animal Health System Strengthening (AHSS) project, has donated fifteen thousand (15,000) doses of rabies vaccines, laboratory equipment and consumables to the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA).

The donation coincided with the World Veterinary Day commemoration and was in fulfilment of a pledge made last September during the celebration of the World Rabies Day, to support Ghana’s vision to eliminate human deaths from dog- mediated rabies by the year 2030.

At a brief ceremony to hand over the vaccines and laboratory equipment, the Development Director of the British High Commission in Accra, Richard Sandall, commended MoFA for their crucial role in preventing and controlling known and emerging animal diseases and largely protecting public health in the country.

He said Ghana was one of UK’s longest standing and strongest partners in Africa and the AHSS project was a shining example of the strong partnership between the two countries around development and science.

The do
nation, as he revealed, formed part of UK’s comprehensive package to strengthening strong animal health system.

The intervention, he said would help integrate animal health systems into Ghana’s overall health security framework.

He was particularly pleased to know that the vaccinations would target rural areas, where households were most exposed to bites from unvaccinated dogs.

Mr Sandall assured the government of Ghana of continuous support to with UK assistance to build a resilient animal health system.

Receiving the donation on behalf of the Minister of Agriculture, the Chief Director of the Ministry, Mr Paul Siameh, thanked the UK Government for the kind gesture.

He said the UK Defra AHSS project had come at an opportune time to strengthen Ghana’s animal health system adding that the ministry, through the Veterinary Services (VSD) had started reaping its positive benefits.

Mr Siameh gave an assurance of the productive utilisation of the resources, to enable the country to eliminate human deaths from
dog-mediated rabies by 2030.

The UK Defra AHSS Ghana National Lead, Dr William Kuma Adu, said in Ghana, between 2021 and 2023, seventy-two (72) people unfortunately lost their lives due to rabies.

He said Veterinarians played a critical role in safeguarding animal health, which directly translated to human well-being, and it was in that vein that the project intervened to ensure the Veterinary Services Directorate is well positioned to strengthened Ghana’s animal health system.

Also in attendance were Dr Emmanuel Allegye-Cudjoe, the Chief Veterinary Officer of the Veterinary Services Directorate; Enyonam Azumah, the Human Development Team Lead of the British High Commission in Accra, and Mr. Victus Sabutey, the Senior Animal Health Senior Project Officer, Defra AHSS Project at the British High Commission, Accra.

The Animal Health Systems Strengthening (AHSS) project in Ghana, is part of a flagship Official Development Assistance (ODA) funded bilateral technical partnership between the United Kingdom’s Dep
artment for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) and countries in Africa, including Ghana, Nigeria, Zambia and The Gambia.

It complements efforts made by national government and other key stakeholders to achieve SD Goals 1, 2 and 3 (Zero Poverty, Zero Hunger, Good Health and Wellbeing) and other high level strategic objectives including the African Union (AU) Agenda 2063, and zero by 2030: The global strategic plan to end human deaths from dog-mediated rabies by 2030.

In Ghana, AHSS is focused on seven key strategic pillars, guided by the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) Performance of Veterinary Services (PVS) framework, and informed by the country needs.

This includes strengthening animal health laboratory systems; improving surveillance and early detection of diseases; broadening the application of disease control measures; improving knowledge of bee health and honey; strengthening inter-sectoral coordination and collaboration; enhancing emergency preparedness; and strengthening aqua
tic animal health.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Ghana was on of March 14, 2024, hit by a sudden internet blackout, plunging the country into chaos, and bringing it home forcefully to everybody, the nation’s dependence on fragile undersea cables. The outage, caused by damaged undersea cables near Côte d’Ivoire, left in excess of 70% of the population without internet service for days. Daily life ground to a halt as essential services like banking, transportation, and communication became simply inaccessible.

This incident exposed the vulnerability of Ghana’s internet infrastructure and the effects of the disruption were far-reaching, enormous and telling. The economic impact was huge, given the telecommunication sector’s substantial contribution to the government’s revenue.

What happened raised serious concerns about national security, and this underlines the urgent need to get our acts right and do everything to protect the submarine cable network. Collaborative efforts and strategic investments are required to ensure the resilience and security of this
vital infrastructure, to prevent future outages that could cripple the nation.

Vital Submarine Cable Network Underpins Global Connectivity

These submarine cables carry 97% of global internet traffic, connecting continents and enabling communication, commerce, and innovation. Often overlooked, their importance is undeniable – a single cable disruption can cripple entire nations, as Ghana recently experienced.

The construction of these submarine cables is primarily financed by telecom firms and tech giants like Google with governments playing a less active role due to the high costs and private ownership. The global submarine cable network, which began in the late 19th century, has evolved significantly, with fibre-optic cables becoming dominant since the late 1980s.

West Africa boasts of several submarine cable networks, which enable internet connectivity. The main ones serving Ghana include the West Africa Cable System (WACS), the South Atlantic-3/West Africa Submarine Cable (SAT-3/WASC), which links Sout
h Africa to Europe via West Africa, the MainOne network, connecting Nigeria, Ghana, Cote D’ Ivoire and the African Coast to Europe (ACE) cable network. ACE links Portugal to the West African coast, encompassing countries like Morocco, Mauritania, and Senegal. These cables are part of those that got affected and resulted in the recent internet disruption.

Safety and Security of Submarine Cables

Submarine cables face various threats to their safety and security. These include accidental damage, resulting from fishing trawlers dragging nets along the seafloor, anchor drops from large vessels, construction or repair work near landing sites, and underwater natural disasters like earthquakes and turbidity currents. Deliberate acts of sabotage, terrorism and extortion are the other threats.

The threat profile is summarized below:

Accidental damage – This could result from fishing vessels, shipping, oil and gas activities, seabed mining or close coast activities such as construction.

Criminal negligence – Will
ful failure to read navigational charts resulting in damages to cables.

Corporate sabotage – Attempting to undermine a company with an interest in a cable system.

Extortion – Threatening cable interruption, damage or severing just to extort money from either the government or an interested private stakeholder.

Precursor Attacks – To cause chaos and take down communication capabilities in advance of a further attack.

Terrorism – Destruction of cables for terrorist motivations.

Statistically, fishing vessels pose the greatest threat to submarine cables because of their trawl operations. About 50-100 incidents of disruptions are associated with fishing vessels. This is particularly a major threat in West Africa, given the prevalence of fishing vessels in the region and trawling activities. Also high in the threat profile of the region are offshore oil and gas seismic activities. Proper monitoring and repair capabilities are therefore needed to effectively deal with them.

Legal and Regulatory Framework

The
recent uncomfortable experience of internet connectivity outage in West Africa proves how critical the legal and regulatory framework governing submarine cables is. Submarine cables traverse both international waters and national maritime zones and therefore a complex set of global and local laws apply.

The 1884 Telegraph Convention and UNCLOS provide the overarching legal regime. UNCLOS grants states the freedom to lay cables in international waters, the high seas, and exclusive economic zones, though there may be requirements for coastal state’s consent. In territorial waters, states have sovereignty and can require authorization for cable laying.

However, UNCLOS focuses more on rights than protection, so the 1884 Convention and bodies like the ITU, ICPC, and ISO play important roles in establishing technical standards and best practices. In Ghana, the NCA and Ministry of Communications regulate submarine cables, though national laws provide limited guidance on their security and safety.

Protecting Ghana
‘s Internet Lifeline: A Call to Action

The March 14 experience – the discomfort and disruption of the lives of many by the internet outage should be a wake-up call to Ghana and other West African countries to prioritise the protection of submarine cables. It cannot be business as usual. There needs to be comprehensive legislation, regular inspections, coastal surveillance, and regional collaboration. Proactive measures, including mapping infrastructure, diversifying routes, and sustained education of stakeholders, are vital to build resilience and safeguard internet connectivity across the region. Ghana’s Ministry of Communication and NCA must lead in developing a robust protection and resilience framework, both nationally and regionally.

Source: Ghana News Agency

The Ghana Grid Company (GRIDCo) Ladies Association (GRIDLASS) has donated some essential medical supplies to the Novati Catholic Hospital in Sogakope, in the Volta Region.

The items were medical consumables, clothing, bedding, sanitary pads, and other relevant supplies for the Maternal and Children’s wards.

Madam Azara Amadu, the President of the Association said that the donation was to support the health facility following the devastating flooding of GRIDCo’s 161kV substation and surrounding areas due to the spillage of the Akosombo Dam, last year.

She mentioned that the Association members, with support from GRIDCo’s Management, Staff, GRIDLASS Executive, were able to raise funds to procure the items.

Madam Amadu indicated that ‘the initiative did not only exemplify GRIDLASS’s commitment to GRIDCo’s core value of ‘CARE’ but also underscores their dedication to professionalism and societal well-being.’

Dr. Kwesi Djesi, the Clinical Coordinator of the Novati Catholic Hospital received the items and exp
ressed heartfelt gratitude on behalf of the entire hospital staff.

‘We’re very grateful for the donation we had from GRIDLASS. This showed that they’ve been thinking about the welfare of the people. The flood situations really had negative impacts on the facility and these items we received today would also help us to continue our work,’ he explained.

Dr. Djesi shared poignant accounts of the facility’s struggles in the aftermath of the floods, revealing that the hospital would have generated a little over GHC 1.3 million revenue in two months if the floods had not ravaged the facility.

He however appealed for continued support from corporate Ghana.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Madam Mavis Hawa Koomson, the Minister of Fisheries and Aquaculture, has announced that the Ministry has completed all 50 automated premix fuel vending machines at various landing beaches across the country.

The Ministry informed Parliament in June 2022 of the government’s plans to install automated premix fuel vending machines along some beaches to combat fuel smuggling.

Madam Koomson, also the New Patriotic Party (NPP) Member of Parliament (MP) for Awutu Senya East, announced the completion of the automation machines during a public hearing by Parliament’s Government Assurance Committee, held at Parliament House, in Accra.

She cited Elimina, Chorkor, and Nungua as some of the landing beaches, where the machines had been placed.

Meanwhile, Mr Ken Ofori Atta, a former Minister of Finance announced when he delivered the 2023 Mid-Year Budget Statement and Policy Review to Parliament that the government would install 13 more machines at various landing beaches across the country before the end of the year.

‘
Mr Speaker, the government has built 37 of a target of 50 automated premix fuel vending machines to stop the diversion and hoarding of the product, which has resulted in widespread shortages,’ the Financed Minister had said.

The Committee is tasked with carrying out all assurances, promises, and undertakings made by all ministers on the floor of the House in response to questions from MPs under Section 174 (2) of the Standing Orders of Parliament.

Mr Umar Farouk Aliu Mahama, the Committee’s Chairman and NPP MP for Yendi stated that the Committee would conduct a visibility verification tour to ascertain all work done as reported by the Minister.

Source: Ghana News Agency