Category: General

The Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority (GPHA) has commissioned and christened four new marine crafts in honour of two former captains and two former managers.

The marine crafts, made up of two pilot boats and two security patrol boats, are to be used at both the Tema and Takoradi ports.

Two of the pilot boats were named after Captain Edmund Deri Ziem and Mr. Kumi Adjei-Sam, former harbour masters for the Port of Tema and the former General Manager for the Fishing Harbour, respectively.

The two security patrol boats were also named after Captain Joseph Eric-Quansah and Mr. Jacob Kwabla Adorkor, respectively, the first substantive Ghanaian Harbour Master of the Takoradi Port and the former Director of Tema Port.

Mr. Isaac Osei, the Board Chairman of GPHA, stated that the marine crafts would help to ensure the Tema and Takoradi ports’ efficiency as well as their safety.

Mr. Osei added that it would also enhance the marine capability and commitment of the GPHA to have modern ports to serve clients’ needs.

H
e said maritime security was essential to safeguard against maritime threats such as piracy and illegal fishing, among others, adding that the crafts reaffirm their effort and commitment to maritime security.

He called on stakeholders to continue to work together to ensure that the corridor remained safe and secure for business.

Mr. Michael Luguje, the Director General of the GPHA, stated in a welcome address, that the GPHA had already commissioned four tug boats between 2020 and 2023, indicating that this is within their vision of positioning the ports as leading ones in West and Central Africa.

Mr. Luguje noted that pilot boats would be used to transport maritime pilots between the shore and their vessels, while the security patrol boats would be used to enhance security within the anchorage, among others.

He said GPHA remained a family and therefore saw their past staff as part of them, hence their resolve to reward and remember their dedication and commitment to the growth of Ghana’s sea ports.

Mr. F
rederick Obeng Adom, the Deputy Minister for Transport, stated that the government was committed to making Ghana’s harbours the ports of choice and resolve to put in policies that would promote port operation efficiency. ?

He said the government was convinced that the investment in infrastructure would serve as a catalyst to attract clients, especially shipping lines, to do business with the ports.

Mr. Joseph Kwabla Adorkor, the former Director of Tema Port, thanked the GPHA for recognising their commitment and hard work when they were in active service at the GPHA.

Mr. Adorkor urged the current management and staff of the company to provide dedicated and selfless service to their customers to make the port a preferred destination for them.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Preparations for the 2024 annual conference of the ECOWAS Court scheduled for Freetown, Sierra Leone, was given a boost on Monday, 15th April 2024 after President Julius Maada Bio accepted an invitation to declare the four-day conference open on Monday, 13th May 2024 in Freetown.

‘This is our Court and we need to give it the necessary support,’ the President said while responding to the invitation by the President of the Court, Justice Edward Amoako Asante, who is leading a delegation of the Court to engage with officials of the host government on preparations for the conference.

The President assured that the country would provide the necessary support for the success of the conference consistent with the national character of Sierra Leoneans as a ‘welcoming people.’

Justice Asante had said that by honouring the invitation, the President had affirmed the stature of the conference as a high profile event of the Court, which brings together lawyers, academics, jurists and Chief Justices of Member States to
discuss a subject of contemporary relevance to the Community.

He expressed the gratitude of the Court to the government of Sierra Leone for the quality of preparations and the inclusiveness of the membership of the local organizing committee.

This years’ conference is on the theme: ‘Enhancing the role, relevance and effectiveness of the ECOWAS Court of Justice through the strengthening of synergies between the Court and national stakeholders.’

The delegation of the Court was accompanied on the visit by the country’s acting Chief Justice, Honorable Justice N Browne-Marke and the Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Mohamed Lamin Tarawalley, Esq

The 12-member delegation had earlier met with the Chief Justice and members of the judicial organizing committee during which it was briefed on arrangements for the conference.

Justice Browne-Mark used the opportunity to assure the delegation that arrangements were advanced for the conference.

The five-day pre-event visit will also enable the delegation to re
view preparations for all aspects of the conference.

Justice Asante had earlier explained that the conference is designed to generate constructive discussions around the strengths and weaknesses of the Court’s relationship with various national stakeholders and propose practical solutions for the enhancement of the role, relevance and effectiveness of the Court.

This is the first time an international conference of the Court will be hosted by Sierra Leone since the inaugural edition in 2004 was held in Dakar, Senegal.

Source: Ghana News Agency

The Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH) has diagnosed more than 500 patients with Hemophilia, Dr Yaa Gyamfua Oppong Mensah, Specialist Pediatrician, Department of Child Health, KATH has said.

Hemophilia is a bleeding disorder where an individual’s blood does not clot properly due to lack of sufficient blood-clotting proteins (clotting factor) which help to stop bleeding.

However, Dr Mensah said from the estimated prevalence based on the nation’s population, there could be more than 3000 people living with hemophilia in the country, an indication that ‘we are yet to identify over 2000 potential patients to be diagnosed and offered comprehensive care.’.

In an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA), as Ghana joins the rest of the globe to mark the World Hemophilia Day (WHD), Dr Oppong said about 400,000 people were living with the disease, saying disease occurred one in every 10,000 births.

The WHD is an international observance day held annually on April 17 by the World Federation of Hemophilia (WFH)
and its affiliate National Member Organizations (NMOs).

This year’s theme: ‘Equitable access for all’, calls to help increase awareness of the inherited bleeding disorders including hemophilia and to make adequate care accessible to every patient who needs it in the various communities.

With WFH shouldering a bigger portion of the responsibility involved in management of hemophilia, Dr Mensah called on the government to also consider adding hemophilia to the diseases under NHIS to not only lighten the burden of affected families but also to help close the gap in the care of these patients.

According to her, patients commonly present with bleeds in joints and muscle, causing swellings, pain and tightness.

They have easy bruising, nose bleeds, gum bleeds and are difficult to control after losing a tooth, they may even present with blood in their stools and urine, post vaccination bleeds as well as life threatening bleeding in the head, chest or abdomen.

Dr Mensah said the earliest symptom that could point
to diagnosis could be cord bleed, scalp bleeds and most importantly post circumcision bleed.

Post circumcision bleed has been the bane of most marriages as couples lose their sons from excessive bleeding after the procedure, she added.

Dr Mensah said gene therapy, which was supposed to be the panacea to the treatment of the disorder, had reached advanced stages and yet to be rolled out worldwide, indicating that the best way to treat hemophilia was to replace the missing clotting factor so that the blood could clot properly.

Currently in Ghana, she said two comprehensive Hemophilia treatment centers had been established in KATH and the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital where patients were offered comprehensive care to improve their overall quality of life.

These centers were established with the support of the Ghana Hemophilia Society (GHS), a non-profit organization founded by a parent, Mr. Martin Boakye in 2009.

The GHS educates, trains health workers and advocates for people living with hemophilia and the so
ciety and this had gained recognition and membership from the WFH, Canada, Dr Mensah stated.

She said through the support of the WFH, the GHS also benefited from the humanitarian aid programme where the society received expensive clotting factors for Ghanaian patients.

?’So, living with hemophilia is at no cost to the patients. On the average, over US$3 million dollars of donations are received every year from the world body to the society on behalf of the patients’ she stated.

?Majority of the patients, however, cannot afford the laboratory investigations required in the diagnosis and management of this disease, she said.

Like most chronic diseases, mothers of children with hemophilia are left to shoulder the burden of all the required laboratory investigations by themselves and the peculiarities in the mode of inheritance even worsens this situation as fathers blame the mothers for the condition with some shirking their responsibilities towards their affected children.

She said the society had stepped
up efforts to get the government to give the patients of hemophilia equal attention in medical care and expressed satisfaction that the advocacy had reached an advanced stage to get the hemophilia care into the National health insurance scheme.

When it is done these patients will benefit from laboratory diagnosis: screening and coagulation (assays) analysis and the procurement of essential drugs to augment the existing inflow of donations.

These, Dr Mensah added remained the bane of many potential patients who, for lack of funds, refused even to get screened and therefore, did not get factor treatment.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Mr Christopher Baasongti Baayere, the Techiman South Parliamentary candidate of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), has assured the public of the next NDC administration’s commitment to making travelling to Hajj affordable to enable more Muslims to renew their faith with Allah.

The Hajj Pilgrimage was the pillar of Islam, he said, and that it was necessary for all Muslims to access the Pilgrimage regardless of their status in life, to connect with their creator.

Mr Baayere gave the assurance in an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA) at Techiman in the Bono East Region when he joined Muslim worshipers to pray for peace during and after the general election in December.

He said Islam was for peace and would continue to stand for it to project the socio-economic development of the country.

Mr Baayere noted that the continuous peace being enjoyed in the country was a result of effective prayers being offered by Muslims and other religious bodies.

‘Indeed it will be prudent to make such journeys af
fordable to pilgrims to go and offer prayers for the goodwill of the country,’ he said.

Touching on lesbianism and gayism, the presidential candidate said the NDC frowned on such practices since they were contrary to the Ghanaian family laws, which did not augur well for family and society development.

He called on the President to sign the bill into law so as to protect the interest of the Ghanaian community against immorality.

Mr Baayere expressed regret over the unfortunate incident that took some lives in the Techiman South constituency during the 2020 general election and urged the youth and political party supporters to remain responsible in this year’s polls to avert such disturbances.

Source: Ghana News Agency

The Chief Justice Gertrude Araba Esaaba Sackey Torkornoo says there is an urgent need to build a modern archive centre to store all records.

She said that would ensure easy retrievals whenever citizens and court users needed them.

The Chief Justice was speaking at the launch of an initiative dubbed ‘LEADing Justice’, a strategic framework for increasing Legality, Ethics, Assets, Digitalisation, and due process in justice delivery.

The new reforms form part of her vision for improved capacity of all workers within the justice delivery system and a continuous drive towards efficiency.

She said as the documents were being stored, they must be digitised for electronic storage and easy retrieval.

‘Again, it is only after digitisation that we can even remotely anticipate effective e-justice. Because virtual trials cannot be conducted without electronic dockets,’ she added.

The Chief Justice said it was a strong goal of the vision statement to move registries into paperless modes as soon as possible.

She said
the LEADing Justice vision was anchored on the high use of technology to increase speed and transparency in the justice delivery process.

Justice Torkornoo said goals had been set for digital libraries so that all staff and judges would have access to learning, notwithstanding, which part of the country they were.

‘Goals have also been set to obtain centrally managed transcription rooms for the early processing of court proceedings so that requests for court processes cannot be affected by localised interests within the courtroom,’ she added.

She said that would remove the burden of court users paying courtroom recorders to produce transcripts of proceedings.

The Chief Justice said it would also ensure that records were made available to stakeholders without unnecessary waste of time and costs through travelling to a registry, queuing to pay for a record, and being told to go and come back.

The Chief Justice said land mapping, verification of property details from records on property rates with District
Assemblies, verification of details of vehicles from DVLA, and verification of account holding in banks during execution processes, could all be easily done via dedicated and authenticated e-processes between the courts and the relevant institution.

‘This can save staff from institutions spending productive time in court just to relay information,’ she added.

She said many of those electronic verification processes would cut out the horrible spectre of forgeries that the courts sometimes experienced.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Mrs Evelyn Keelson, Chief State Attorney (CSA), the prosecution in the ongoing trial of the former Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the defunct Beige-Bank, has challenged Mr Hafisdeen M. Dawda, former Chief Financial Officer of the Bank’s defense witness that the Beige Bank disobeyed the Bank of Ghana (BoG).

The CSA in cross-examination, said Beige Bank was afraid that writing off its investments would expose the true state of the Bank due to the depletion of investments.

‘As of July 2018, the BoG directed you to write off the investment. You knew you had lost the value of those investments, yet you sought to deceive BoG by giving a false picture of the Bank in your witness statement,’ the prosecution put it to the defense witness.

The defense witness denied it and said it was not meant to deceive the BoG because when it came for examination, the issue was laid bare to the receiver hence the recommendation that it should be written off.

Mrs Keelson, the CSA said ‘ from exhibit AB, GHC66m was transferred o
n approval of the accused person – Nyinaku, to Beige Group from Essien Swiss, Express Savings and Loans, Royal Bank New Life, Stanbic Bank, Unibank, among others’.

The witness debunked it and said it did not mean more money to the Beige Group.

She said the transfer of its investments to some financial institutions led to the total loss of investments, but the witness disagreed.

The prosecution said there were conflicting reports presented to BoG and the Attorney General, adding that BoG’s reviewed report in July 2018 all showed that the Bank was insolvent and had reached a stage where it could not honour depositors’ withdrawals.

The Chief State Attorney explained that it got to a stage that the Bank had no assets of liabilities and could not honour depositors’ withdrawals, however, the former Chief Financial Officer disagreed and said the Bank had a lot of assets and liabilities, stressing that BoG’s report indicated that liabilities had exceeded the assets and that it had a negative net asset.

He insist
ed that BoG’s report was its observation after it had conducted examination and from 2012 to 2016, reiterating that BoG did not give Beige Bank the opportunity to respond and the report rendered it insolvent before it responded.

Mrs Keelson said before the Bank’s revocation on July 30, 2018, it had made an emergency call on BoG to rescue it from the situation.

Responding to that, Mr Dawda said the clearing support given by BoG was not insolvency by liquidity, noting that the banking laws allowed banks in situations they had liquidity challenges to fall on the BoG for support and that was different from being considered as insolvent because insolvency went to the long term survival of the business and may mean that the institution had persistently recorded negative net worth.

Nyinaku has been charged with theft and money laundering, but he has denied.

The High Court presided over by Justice Mrs Afia Serwaa Asare-Botwe, a Court of Appeal Judge with additional responsibility at the High Court, granted him ba
il.

Source: Ghana News Agency