L' Observateur Burundi

The National Ambulance Service at Keta in the Volta region has urged the public to avoid transporting sick persons in public transport.

This, according to them, would help curb the spread of any communicable diseases and avoid the reckless manner patients are handled before arriving at the hospitals.

Mr Emmanuel Korbla Tordzro, the Senior Emergency Medical Technician, at the Keta Municipal Ambulance Service, who disclosed these in an interview with the Ghana News Agency, urged the public to always rely on their services.

He stated, ‘We always render our services since it is our mandatory duty to provide per-hospital emergency medical care to the injured and the sick during the process of conveying them safely for further medical attention.’

He further explained that their medical vehicle contained different medical equipment to cater to patients in critical conditions.

He said the Ambulance Service aimed to provide immediate and timely health care to all injured and sick to ensure they received adequate
attention.

‘The public is free to call or report to us any emergency issues which include all forms of injuries, pregnant women, children, burnt, accident among others for attention.’

Mr Tordzro also said the public should not entertain any fear or panic since the ambulances do not carry dead bodies and urged the public to cooperate with the Service.

Mr Tordzro however, cautioned the public against prank calls during accidents and emergencies.

He said the act remained an offense against the rules and regulations of the country, and that culprits would be punished when apprehended.

He charged the public to rely on their services since they operate freely within 24 hours without demanding anything from the public.

Source: Ghana News Agency

The Onion Sellers Association of Ghana has allayed concerns about a rise in onion prices because of Niger’s withdrawal from the Economic Community of West African States.

Onion prices have remained unchanged, despite concerns of a price increase and shortages.

In an exclusive interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA), Mr Ali Umar, Public Relations Officer for the association, said that onions are still being sold at prior market prices at various sales outlets in Accra and throughout the country.

‘We want to assure Ghanaians that there has not been any blockade in Niger to necessitate a price increment or shortage. Right now, everything is going smoothly, and all is well.

‘We have enough onions to supply the country right now, so there is no problem. We are fully aware of Niger’s exit from ECOWAS, but it has not affected onion supply in any way,’ he said.?

Niger, Mali, and Burkina Faso announced their withdrawal from the sub-regional body in a joint communiqué on January 28, 2024, citing several reasons
, including the bloc’s abandonment of its fundamental objective and bowing to foreign powers.

Experts have warned of a potential food crisis in countries that rely on exports from the three countries.

Mr. Umar assured Ghanaians that onion prices will remain stable despite misleading allegations of an imminent blockade.

ECOWAS initially sanctioned Niger in July of last year, causing a price increase in onions and other agricultural products imported from the country.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Out of the 11.39 million Ghanaians employed by the third quarter of 2023, 6.44 million were females as against 5.52 million males, data from the Ghana Statistical Services (GSS) has revealed.

According to the GSS’s 2023 Annual Household Income and Expenditure Survey (AHIES), consistently, more females than males have been employed, with the difference averaging about 600,000 and 900,000 for 2022 and 2023 respectively.

Despite the increase in employment for females, the unemployment rate among females has increased from 17.5 in the second quarter of 2023 to 17.7 in the third quarter of 2023.

Meanwhile, the unemployment rate for males remained stable at 10.9 per cent between the second quarter of 2023 and the third quarter of 2023.

The survey also indicated that the average unemployment rate for the first three quarters of 2023 was 14.7 per cent.

‘The sharp increase in the unemployment rate of females between the fourth quarter of 2022 and the first quarter of 2023 has culminated in a wider unemployment ge
nder gap in 2023 relative to 2022,’ the report noted.

The study also revealed that the most dominant sector of employed females by the end of the third quarter was the services and sales sector (41.7%) while that of employed males was the skilled agriculture forestry and fisheries sector at a rate of 39.8 per cent.

‘Females had a much lower share of jobs as plant and machine operators or assemblers (averaging 0.3% across the first three quarters of 2023) than males (averaging 11.0% for the same period), the study highlighted,’ the study highlighted.

It was also disclosed that there were more females engaged in vulnerable employment, a rate which has

been consistently higher for females than males by about 20 percentage points across all seven quarters.

By the end of the third quarter of 2023, 77.8 per cent of employed females were in vulnerable employment as against 57.7 per cent of employed males.

People engaged in vulnerable employment are less likely to have formal work arrangements, lack decent work
ing conditions, adequate social security and ‘voice’ through effective representation by trade unions and similar organisations.

Such employment is often characterised by inadequate earnings, low productivity and difficult conditions of work that undermine workers’ fundamental rights.

AHIES is the first nationally representative high-frequency panel that provides quarterly data on the labour force.

It is designed to provide disaggregated labour

statistics to support policy and planning, in line with the national development agendas for the labour force.

Source: Ghana News Agency

An unidentified man, believed to be in his 30’s has been found dead by the Nsawam District Police.

The decomposing body was found under a high tension pole in the bush at ‘Combined Farm’ at Dobro, near Nsawam in the Eastern Region.

The deceased is believed to have been electrocuted while attempting to steal a copper cable connecting lightening arrestors.

A plier was found close to the body of the deceased.

The Police was alerted of a decomposing body by a security man, and moved to the scene to take custody of it.

The body of the man has since been deposited at the Police Hospital for preservation and autopsy.

Mr Emmanuel Akinie, Accra West Regional General Manager of the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG), in a mews brief cautioned customers to desist from interfering with electricity installations without the requisite authority from the Company.

‘In recent times, we have recorded incidents of theft and vandalism of some of our equipment. Beyond the huge cost the Company bears to replace such stolen
or vandalised equipment, it also poses danger to properties, and lives of these criminals,’ he said.

Mr Akinie advised all to be vigilant and report any unusual activity around ECG’s installations to the nearest ECG office or to the Police.

Source: Ghana News Agency

The National Executive of the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) has set up an 11-member committee to plan activities for the 75th anniversary of the Association this year.

The GJA 75th Anniversary Planning Committee is chaired by Godwin Avenorgbo, a former Director of Radio at the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation (GBC).

Other members of the committee are Marian Kyei, a media consultant and private legal practitioner; Kobby Asmah, a member of the National Media Commission and former Editor of Daily Graphic; Peter Agbeko, former Head of Public Affairs, Ghana Standards Authority; Ellen Avorgbedor, former Central Regional Director of the GBC, and Maxwell Kudekor, Eastern Regional Chairman of the GJA.

The rest of the members are Boahene Asamoah, Editor of Graphic Business; Zambaga Rufai, former Western Regional Secretary of the GJA; Alice Tettey, Central Regional Manager of the Ghana News Agency and former Central Regional Chairperson of the GJA; Dr Etse Sikanku, lecturer at the University of Media, Arts and Co
mmunication, and Mathias Tibu, former Vice President of the GJA.

This is contained in a press release from the GJA signed by Kofi Yeboah, its Secretary, and copied to the Ghana News Agency.

According to the statement, the GJA 75th Anniversary Planning Committee would be inaugurated on Friday, February 23, 2024, at the Ghana International Press Centre in Accra, at 1100 hours.

The statement said the Committee was expected to plan activities for the 75th anniversary across the country, beginning from March to the climax in September at this year’s GJA Media Awards.

The activities, it added, would include a major event on August 15, which would mark the 75th birthday of the GJA.

‘The National Executive is profoundly grateful to the chairman and members of the Committee for accepting to serve the GJA in that capacity,’ the statement noted.

Meanwhile, the National Executive of the GJA called on Corporate Ghana and individuals to lend financial support to the activities of the 75th anniversary across the count
ry.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Mr Roger Apulonge Abagre, the Assemblyman elect for the Apuwongo/Yikene Electoral Area in the Bongo district of the Upper East Region has reiterated his readiness to foster unity and push for development in the area.

According to him, the area was bedevilled with many development challenges including inadequate access to potable water, school infrastructure challenges, especially in basic schools and a poor road network which affected progress.

Mr Abagre who was a member of the recently dissolved Assembly, pledged to foster unity among the electorates and community, to ensure the development of the area.

He stressed the need for unity and said, ‘If we work hand in hand, we will be able to do something for the development of the area.’

He made the pledge in an interview with the Ghana News Agency in Bongo after the inauguration of Assembly members.

According to him, Assemblies over relied on the central government for development projects and sometimes were unable to obtain the needed support to carry out
the projects in their areas because of the limited resources and added that with unity and commitment, they could turn their fortunes around.

He indicated that some of the planned activities to draw the community together included organising durbars to raise funds for the implementation of projects.

He appealed to well-meaning Ghanaians, philanthropists, and Civil Society Organizations to channel some of their development projects to the area.

As part of the mandate of assembly members under Article 35 clause six,(6 ) d. of the constitution on the decentralization agenda, it provides grassroots citizens participation in local governance and section 16(1) of the Local Government Act 936 required assembly members to maintain close contact with their Electoral area, consult the people on issues to be discussed in the assembly, collate their views, opinions and proposals for same.

Mr Abagre said the people of his Electoral area in the past, had mobilized resources both cash and kind to reconstruct broken culv
erts linking the Apuwongo and Yikene communities for easy movement.

Source: Ghana News Agency