Daily Heritage June 23:17

More documents

Recommendations

Info

Quake Edition FEB 98.qxp_Layout 1 6/22/17 8:46 PM Page 3 • The UN mission in CAR has been plagued by allegations of sexual abuse Congo peacekeepers to leave CAR amid sex abuse allegations CONGO-BRAZZAVILLE is to withdraw more than 600 troops serving as peacekeepers in the Central African Republic (CAR) following claims of sexual abuse, the UN says. A review of the Congolese deployment pointed to "systemic problems", a statement said. The UN peacekeeping force in the CAR has faced scores of allegations of sexual abuse and exploitation. Almost 13,000 people are serving as part of the mission, known as Minusca. French troops have also been accused of sex abuse in CAR. Charges were dropped against six French soldiers earlier this year, however another investigation remains open. UN peacekeepers were deployed in 2014, with the CAR in turmoil after mainly Muslim rebels ousted President Francois Bozize, sparking a backlash from largely Christian militias. Thousands have been killed in the violence that followed, with hundreds of thousands fleeing to neighbouring countries. BBC DAILY HERITAGE FRIDAY, JUNE 23, 2017 WWW.DAILYHERITAGE.COM.GH World news in 4 stories South Africa court allows secret Zuma no-confidence vote SOUTH AFRICA'S highest court has ruled that a vote of no-confidence against President Jacob Zuma can be held in secret. The constitutional court said that the Speaker of parliament had the right to order such a move. She had previously stated • Zuma has been implicated in corruption scandals but has survived previous votes of no-confidence she did not have the power. Opposition parties believe that under a secret ballot, MPs from Mr Zuma's ANC party would vote against him. He has survived several previous votes of no-confidence. Mr Zuma has been under constant pressure over everything from corruption allegations to a controversial cabinet reshuffle that saw his widely respected finance minister fired. Delivering his verdict, Chief Justice Mgoeng Mgoeng said that under South Africa's separation of powers, it was up to the Speaker of parliament to decide how the vote was conducted. BBC • All Kenyan schoolgirls are to get free sanitary pads Kenya's schoolgirls to get free sanitary pads from govt ALL KENYAN schoolgirls are to get free sanitary pads, the government has said. It is hoped the move will improve access to education in a country where many cannot afford sanitary products like pads and tampons. The high cost has led to an estimated one million girls missing six weeks of school every year, according to the ZanaAfrica Foundation. But now the onus has been put on the Kenyan government to provide free sanitary towels to every schoolgirl. The amendment to the education act, signed into law by President Uhuru Kenyatta this week, states "free, sufficient and quality sanitary towels" must be provided to every girl registered at school, as well as providing "a safe and environmental sound mechanism for disposal". It comes more than a decade after Kenya scrapped taxes on sanitary products in an effort to make them more affordable. Despite this, some 65% of women and girls still find them to expensive, according to figures cited in a 2016 report by non-profit consulting firm FSG. As a result, charities like the ZanaAfrica Foundation have been providing sanitary pads for girls around the country. BBC Egypt to extend state of emergency for three months EGYPT WILL extend a national state of emergency for three months after the government approved President Abdel Fattah al- Sisi's proposal to do so, the cabinet said on Thursday, amid an ongoing militant campaign against a Christian minority. Parliament unanimously approved a three-month state of emergency in April, broadening the power of authorities to crack down on what they call enemies of the state after two church bombings killed at least 45. The state of emergency, which would have expired at the end of June, has been extended by three months, cabinet statement showed, meaning it will now last at least until the end of September. Egypt faces an Islamic State insurgency in the restive Sinai Peninsula, where hundreds of soldiers and police have been killed since 2013. The group has increasingly carried out attacks in the mainland against Coptic Christian civilians in recent months, killing around 100 Copts since December. Police killed seven people in connection with the violence against Christians on Thursday. Security forces found militants hiding in a desert training camp, the Interior Ministry said. They attempted to arrest the men, who opened fire. Police returned fire and have so far found seven bodies as well as weapons, a motorcycle, and military uniforms, the ministry said in a statement. Reuters • Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi
WWW.DAILYHERITAGE.COM.GH DAILY HERITAGE FRIDAY, JUNE 23, 2017 Making poultry farming attractive to the youth A COUNTRY that aspires to attain a competitive and decent per capita income having crawled from 320 USD in 1983 to 775 USD in 2014, a major sector worth prioritising to turn the tide is Agriculture. Agriculture remains the backbone of every economy and Ghana is no exception. The country is well-endowed with natural resources, with agriculture accounting for nearly one-quarter of GDP and serving as employment avenue for thousands of Ghanaians. With a graduate unemployment rate of over 220,000, one key area that can be made very attractive to absolve the teeming youth is poultry farming. Currently, the few youth who are into poultry farming are making significant gains in spite of the many challenges confronting the industry. Some of the farms are able to produce 2,000 crates of eggs per day and have in stock some 20,000 birds. As we hope to meet 90% of our poultry needs, efforts ought to be made to ensure that the many challenges confronting the poultry farmer are tackled. For instance, access to credit remains a big problem to the farmers. This is because many of the banks and other financial institutions perceive poultry farming as a high-risk business, hence the dragging of feet to give loans. With the recent Bird Flu scare and increasing cost of poultry feed, the case of the poultry farmer has become even more difficult. Another challenge that the government must look at urgently is the huge import of cheap poultry and poultry products. Though we have signed on to trade policies that open up the economy, the government could assist the local poultry producer to be more competitive through various tax regimes to protect the local farmer. Advanced economies such as Germany employed this technique in the automobile industry until the local producers were strong enough to compete with foreign imports. The DAILY HERITAGE urges the government to provide more resources to all Agricultural Investment Funds to support the youth to go into poultry and other farming activities. Cocoa farmers threaten demo BY BENJAMIN TANDOH AGROUP calling itself Youth in Cocoa Production has threatened to embark on a massive demonstration to express its grievance over what it describe as “cheating” by the government in the sale of fertiliser to cocoa farmers. According to them, they have been deceived by the Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo- Addo-led government and argued that the government had no interest in protecting cocoa farmers in the country. The government has indicated that it will replace the free fertilisation programme which was introduced by the erstwhile government with a programme under which farmers pay GH¢80.00 for a bag of fertiliser. The initiative, according to the government, is meant to halt or bring to an end the smuggling of subsidised fertilizers to neighbouring countries. Speaking on Kasapa FM’s‘Si Mi So’ hosted by Akwasi Nsiah, the chairman of the group, Ishmael Kwabena Asare, said the government was trying to discourage the youth from farming by introducing the initiative. “We supported the government’s fight against illegal farmers and we even advised our peers to join us in cocoa farming. By this initiative we are not sure they will be encouraged to join. “If the economy is bad, why won’t they [government] reduce the salaries of teachers, • Over sale of fertiliser by Govt soldiers, and nurses but to use this dubious means to milk money from us,” he stated. Mr Asare bemoaned the absence of an organised body to fight for cocoa farmers, arguing that, “no one knows the hardship we go through as young farmers.” Minority blasts Govt The minority caucus in Parliament accused the government of cheating cocoa farmers by asking them to buy fertilisers which have already been paid for by the previous National Democratic Congress NDC government. According to them, the Mahama administration, prior to the determination of the producer price of cocoa, made provision for the purchase of 2.2 million bags of granular fertiliser and 1.6 million litres of liquid fertiliser to fertilise over 1 million hectares of cocoa farms free of charge to the farmer in the 2016/2017 cocoa season. Addressing journalists at a news conference in Accra, the Ranking Member on Food, Agriculture and Cocoa Affairs, Mr Eric Opoku, said it baffled their imagination why the government will turn around to sell the already paid-for fertilisers to the cocoa farmer. This the Minority NDC, considers a slap in the face of the cocoa farmers. “We want to emphasise that cocoa farmers have indirectly, through the producer price determination formulae used for the 2016/17 cocoa season, paid for the fertiliser. Selling the same fertiliser to the same farmer is a broad day robbery. “We are therefore urging the New Patriotic Party government to be sensitive to the plight of the Ghanaian cocoa farmer by halting the sale of the fertiliser and reverting to the NDC’s free fertilisation programme for the 2016/17 cocoa season,” noted Mr Opoku. COCOBOD responds The Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) accused the NDC Minority in Parliament of being economical with the truth, over the purchase of 2.2 million bags of granular fertiliser and 1.6 million litres of liquid for cocoa farmers by the Mahama led-government. According to COCOBOD, though the previous administration factored the purchase of fertilisers, it spent a whopping GH¢ 750 million on the construction of cocoa roads when it had budgeted for only GH¢ 150 million, a situation that has resulted in debt with no provision made to settle it. According to them, the Mahama administration, prior to the determination of the producer price of cocoa made provision for the purchase of 2.2 million bags of granular fertiliser and 1.6 million litres of liquid fertiliser to fertilise over 1 million hectares of cocoa farms free of charge to the farmer in the 2016/2017 cocoa season. Speaking on Kasapa News, a representative from the COCOBOD explained that his outfit’s decision to sell fertilisers to farmers at reduced price is partly to enable it to offset debt accrued by the previous administration. He noted that this initiative is meant to bring to an end the smuggling of subsidised fertilisers to neighbouring West African countries, including Ivory Coast and Cameroun. “Now, the Licensed Buying Companies sell the fertilisers and they’ll later come back and render accounts to COCOBOD as to whom they sold the fertilisers to.” “This is a clear departure from the earlier way of doing things. By this measure, fertilisers will no longer get into the hands of constituency chairmen and also be smuggled to other countries as has been the case in the past years,” he said. • A F
Page 2 and 3: 02 CONTENT DAILY HERITAGE FRIDAY, J
Page 6 and 7: Quake Edition June 23.qxp_Layout 1
Page 8: spread_98.qxp_SHOWBIZ TEMP 6/22/17
Page 11 and 12: Quake Edition FEB 98.qxp_Layout 1 6
Page 13 and 14: 13 WWW.DAILYHERITAGE.COM.GH DAILY H
Page 15: DAILYHERITAGE.COM.GH Sports Beach S

Daily Heritage June 23:17

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?