Daily Heritage December 5

02 

CONTENT 

DAILY HERITAGE TUESDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2017 

DAILY QUOTE 

"Great minds discuss ideas; 

average minds discuss events; 

small minds discuss people." 

— Eleanor Roosevelt 

ANNIVERSARIES 

25 Dec, Christmas Day 

26 Dec, Boxing Day 

01 Jan 2018 New Year 

Published by: EIB 

Network / Heritage 

Communications Ltd. 

Managing Editor: 

William Asiedu: 

0208156974 

Ag.Editor: 

Kweku Gyasi Essel: 

0244744973 

ISSN: 0855-52307 

VOL 7 

Location: Kasapa FM 

building, Adabraka. 

Box AD 676, Adabraka, 

Accra, Ghana. 

Telephone: +233-0302- 

236051, 020-8156974 

026-5653335 

Adverts/Mktg: Paul 

Ampong-Mensah 

024-4360782 

Fax: +233-0302-237156 

Email: 

news@dailyheritagegh.com.gh 

heritagenewspaper@yahoo.co.uk 

www.dailyheritage.com.gh 

WORLD 

BUSINESS 

Former Egyptian 

PM denies kidnapping 

PG.04 

Govt to acquire 

25% shares in 

AirtelTigo 

POLITICS 

SPORTS 

We know those 

who scrap pro-poor 

policies – President 

Akufo-Addo 

PG.11 

Decker Engineering 

to begin earthworks 

on GOC 

OlympAfrica site 

PG.10 

PG.15 

Choose right programmes 

BY BENJAMIN TANDOH 

THE CHANCELLOR 

of Baldwin University 

College, Dr Akwasi 

Acheampong, 

has urged students to 

pursue programmes which will 

enable them to be self-employed, 

a development he believes would 

reduce the level of graduate unemployment 

in the country. 

According to him, there are 

numerous job opportunities in the 

country and urged graduates to be 

innovative and start something on 

their own rather than waiting for 

the government and other institutions 

to employ them. 

Addressing the press during 

the second matriculation of the 

school, Dr Acheampong pleaded 

with universities to train the students 

to be self-motivated to start 

up a business. 

“It is the teachings and the beginning 

of their tertiary education 

because it is what we teach them 

that sticks in their minds. If we 

keep telling or training them to 

work for the government, then 

when they are done they will sit 

and wait for the government to 

employ them,” he said. 

He continued that, “when we 

tell them at the beginning to start 

something on their own, then 

they will graduate and start something 

on their own.” 

Dr Acheampong further urged 

• University Chancellor urges students 

• Dr Akwasi Acheampong, Chancellor, Baldwin University College 

graduates to seize every opportunity 

they get to start their businesses 

irrespective of how small it 

is. 

“Most of our graduates want 

to work in the public sector or 

wait for somebody to employ 

them but they should know that 

we have a lot of job opportunities, 

especially in our rural areas, 

“Our core mandate 

is to train 

students who 

can actually 

think for themselves, 

and 

analyse issues 

to come out 

with solutions 

to some problems 

in the society. 

We want 

to push them to 

be innovators 

because that is 

how the world 

is going now” 

where they can start their career,” 

he said. 

In order to train the students 

to be innovative, Dr Acheampong 

added that his school is determined 

to give their students 

the right training to be different 

from their counterparts elsewhere. 

“Our core mandate is to train 

students who can actually think 

for themselves, and analyse issues 

to come out with solutions 

to some problems in the society. 

We want to push them to be innovators 

because that is how the 

world is going now,” he said. 

He continued that, “We believe 

that science and technology 

provide the key to our development 

as a nation.” 

In an interview with the 

DAILY HERITAGE during 

the event, Dr Daniel Amaning 

Danquah, Acting Deputy Registrar, 

Operations of the Pharmacy 

Council, reiterated the 

need for academia to focus on 

the possibility of being innovative. 

He expressed the view that 

students have a lot of confidence 

in academia, hence the 

need to be empowered. 

“If the people training you 

• CONTINUE ON PAGE 3

WWW.DAILYHERITAGE.COM.GH 


Choose right programmes 

• READ FROM PAGE 2 • University Chancellor urges students “During those days, 

there were a lot of 

job opportunities 

without the requisite 

manpower ...” 

are not encouraging and empowering you 

or giving you hope, then it will take a few 

or bold students to go out of the shell to 

do something on their own,” he told the 

paper. 

Dr Danquah further called for a paradigm 

shift in the education and training 

in our tertiary institutions, saying, “Looking 

at the challenges of the country today 

as against the days of Kwame Nkrumah, 

then there must be a change in the system.” 

“During those days, there were a lot of 

job opportunities without the requisite 

manpower and so during those days our 

universities were training to fill up those 

vacancies; now that is not the situation. 

“That paradigm must now change to a 

case where universities will be in the 

frontline of directing, encouraging, mentoring, 

and empowering their students to 

look at opportunities in the society,” he 

stated. 

More fire disaster looms 

BY PHILIP ANTOH 

philip.antoh@dailyheritage.com.gh 

• Filling station owners, workers and 

customers ignorant of safety measures 

• Govt urged to sit up 

• Mr Philip Nana Asante, Director of PB Protection Centre, addressing the media while Apostle 

Peter Agyemang-Kuragu (R) and another pastor at the press conference 

According to him, 

government institutions 

mandated to 

enforce safety measures 

in various petrol 

and gas filling stations 

have failed the 

country, hence rampant 

fire disasters. 

THE DIRECTOR of 

Public Protection Centre, 

also known as PB 

Protection Centre, Mr 

Philip Nana Asante, is 

predicting more fire disasters in the 

country, if institutions do not include 

safety measures in their day-today 

administration. 

According to him, government 

institutions mandated to enforce 

safety measures in various petrol and 

gas filling stations have failed the 

country, hence rampant fire disasters. 

Mr Asante said the failure had resulted 

in some manufacturing and 

processing companies not having any 

direct policy to “guard them to adopt 

safety, health and environmental issues 

seriously to help protect employers, 

employees, and road users 

among others.” 

He said regulatory bodies, owners 

and workers of filling station, as well 

as customers, are ignorant about 

some safety measures that have to be 

present before granting permit to 

operate or being allowed to operate 

in an environment. 

The director of the PB Protection 

Centre said most workers at both gas 

and petrol filling stations have no 

idea what the caution stickers mean 

or what is called assembling point 

where workers converge in an emergency 

situation, which makes them 

powerless against individuals who 

perpetrate any wrongdoing at workplaces. 

“The government should put systems 

in place in most risk-prone 

areas to monitor the level of precautionary 

measures and law enforcement 

agencies should punish anybody 

who flouts the rules put in 

place to reduce risks,” he stated. 

Sharing a personal experience, Mr 

Asante said on his way to Newtown 

a few weeks ago, he encountered a 

man who was making a phone call at 

a filling station, so “I decided to confront 

one worker if he won’t approach 

the man to stop him. The 

worker said to me the man would ignore 

him and I was so amazed by the 

worker’s answer because I knew he 

does not cherish his life.” 

He continued to advise that the 

owners of filling stations should take 

it upon themselves to educate their 

workers because some body’s mistake 

could cost them their lives. 

“How many individuals have even 

been cleared to operate filling stations 

in the city?” he asked rhetorically. 

Speaking to the DAILY HER- 

ITAGE yesterday after a press conference 

to introduce the organisation 

to the media, Mr Asante said elimination 

of every risk from any activity 

may be impossible but can be reduced. 

Negative concern 

Asked whether the issue of filling 

stations being put up in residential 

areas or close to houses and market 

places was due to ignorance of the 

system, he said sometimes the filling 

stations are put up before the area 

develops and what needs to be done 

is sensitisation. 

He said a certain percentage of 

the Ghanaian population are working 

at places where they are exposed to 

harmful chemicals in uncontrolled 

limits daily as most of these companies 

do not have risk reduction control 

measures, including control 

officers, to forecast the dangers. 

Mr Asante advised Ghanaian road 

users to be aware that leaves are not 

caution triangles if they encounter 

any problems on the roads and even 

for the sake of risk reduction, if it is 

used as such they must be collected 

and discarded after the problem has 

been fixed. 

He also encouraged journalists to 

take safety measures wherever they 

find themselves. 

He emphasised the issue of journalists 

going to different places and 

said their shoes and dresses should 

fit the kind of terrain and environment 

they would encounter. 

Mr Asante stated that the PB Protection 

Centre is a newly-formed and 

registered safety, health and environment 

consultancy firm aimed at sensitising 

the public to regular public 

education. 

He added that the organisation is 

to see greater number of Ghanaians 

population enlightened on issues of 

safety, preventive health, environment 

and human rights, in that incidents 

of accidents and fire outbreaks 

on the road and at home and workplaces 

and injuries are reduced. 

Mr Asante called on journalists to 

psych themselves up at any point in 

time and have the ability to take the 

necessary measures to keep themselves 

safe even in an uncondusive 

environment.

Inside Dec 5.qxp_Layout 1 12/4/17 10:22 PM Page 3 

• European Parliament figures have been updated on progress 

Brexit: 50-50 chance of breakthrough –Brexit Secretary 

THERE IS a 50-50 chance of 

a deal on Monday allowing 

the next phase of Brexit talks 

to begin, the European Parliament's 

negotiator has said. 

Guy Verhofstadt said 

agreement on the Irish border, 

the UK "divorce bill" 

and citizens rights' was "possible". 

Theresa May will meet 

key EU figures later in an attempt 

to hammer out a deal 

ahead of summit in 10 days 

time. 

Brexit Secretary David 

Davis said it was an "important" 

moment and progress 

to the next phase was "vital". 

As the Brexit process enters 

a crunch phase, the 

prime minister will meet European 

Commission president 

Jean-Claude Juncker and 

Donald Tusk, the president 

of the European Council. 

The UK voted for Brexit 

last year and is due to leave in 

March 2019, but negotiations 

have been deadlocked over 

three so-called separation issues. 

BBC 



World news in 5 stories 

Arab opposition mounts against Trump’s 

Jerusalem announcement 

Former Egyptian PM 

denies kidnapping 

OPPOSITION IS growing in the 

Arab world to an expected announcement 

by Donald Trump 

that the US will recognise 

Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. 

Reports say the president will 

make the statement this week but 

will further delay acting on a campaign 

pledge to move the US embassy 

to the city. 

The head of the Arab League, 

Jordan and the Palestinian president 

have warned of the consequences 

of a declaration. 

The city's fate is one of the 

thorniest issues between Israel and 

the Arabs. 

A deadline for Donald Trump 

to sign a waiver delaying the relocation 

of the US embassy from Tel 

Aviv to Jerusalem expires on Monday. 

Every president, including Mr 

Trump, has signed the waiver every 

six months since US Congress 

passed an act in 1995 calling for 

THE FORMER 

Egyptian Prime 

Minister Ahmed 

Shafiq has given a 

phone interview 

on live TV, denying 

reports that he was kidnapped. 

Mr Shafiq's family had voiced 

fears of foul play, saying they were 

unable to contact him after he 

landed in Egypt. 

He was deported from the UAE 

on Saturday after five years in exile. 

The deportation came after Mr 

Shafiq stated his intention to run for 

the presidency of Egypt in 2018. He 

said on TV he was now reconsidering 

the plan. 

Mr Shafiq's family issued a statement 

on Saturday saying they had 

been unable to contact him after his 

arrival in Egypt. 

Then on Sunday his lawyer, Dina 

Adly, released a short statement saying 

she had met Mr Shafiq in a hotel 

in Cairo. 

"I had a meeting with Shafik an 

hour ago at one of the hotels in 

New Cairo and confirmed his 

health," Ms Adly, wrote on Facebook. 

"He confirmed that his health 

was good and that he was not subjected 

to any investigations," she 

added. 

Mr Shafiq fled to the UAE after 

losing the 2012 presidential election 

the embassy to be moved. 

Mr Trump repeatedly pledged 

during his election campaign to 

move the embassy, and while he 

has said it was still his intention, he 

has not yet done so. 

There are signs however he will 

make a statement on Wednesday 

announcing Washington's recognition 

of Jerusalem as the capital of 

Israel while holding off moving 

the embassy. BBC 

•Ahmed Shafiq's family said they were concerned over his wherabouts. 

to Mohammed Morsi, who issued 

an arrest warrant for him on corruption 

charges. 

Mr Morsi was later ousted by the 

military, and replaced by Abdul Fattah 

al-Sisi in 2014, while Mr Shafiq 

was acquitted of the charges. BBC 

• David Ndii official Kenya's opposition coalition - Nasa 

Top Kenyan opposition 

official arrested 

KENYA'S OPPOSITION 

coalition - Nasa - has 

protested against the arrest 

of one of its top officials 

after a police raid last night. 

The Daily Nation newspaper 

reported that David 

Ndii was picked up at his 

hotel in the coastal county 

of Kwale. His room was 

also searched. 

He is a renowned economist 

and an influential 

strategist in the coalition and 

has been a critical voice 

against President Uhuru 

Kenyatta's government. 

But the newspaper says 

he was arrested for his role 

in an opposition initiative 

called the People's Assembly, 

which plans to discuss challenges 

experienced in the 

past election. 

Some media reports have 

also said that the coalition is 

planning to use the People's 

Assembly to support opposition 

leader Raila Odinga's 

push to form a parallel government. 

Mr Odinga has said that 

he does not recognise Mr 

Kenyatta as president. He 

told his supporters recently 

that he plans to be sworn in 

as president on 12 December. 

BBC 

UK foreign aid money 'diverted 

to extremists' in Syria 

THE GOVERNMENT has 

suspended a foreign aid project 

after a BBC Panorama investigation 

found taxpayers' 

cash was being diverted to extremists 

in Syria. 

Officers from a UK-backed 

police force in Syria have also 

been working with courts carrying 

out brutal sentences. 

A UK government 

spokesman said it takes allegations 

of co-operation with terrorist 

groups "extremely 

seriously". 

Adam Smith International, 

the British company running 

the project, said it strongly denies 

the allegations. 

The Free Syrian Police 

(FSP) was set up following the 

uprising in Syria, to bring law 

and order to parts of the country 

that were controlled by opposition 

forces. 

Adam Smith International 

(ASI) has been running the 

project since October 2014. 

Britain was one of six 

donor countries paying for the 

project, which provides community 

policing to the rebelheld 

areas of Aleppo, Idlib and 

Daraa provinces. 

It is intended to be an unarmed 

civilian police force, 

and not co-operate with extremist 

groups, but Panorama 

has found examples where that 

was not the case. BBC



Wake up, regulatory bodies! 

WITH JUST about three weeks to the 

end of the year 2017, it appears the 

country’s fear of being hit with fire disasters 

still lingers around following reports 

that regulatory bodies, filling 

station owners and some customers are 

completely ignorant about safety measure. 

This is indeed worrying because we 

are in a country where disasters are rampant 

and almost every now and then the 

issue of fire disasters are being recorded. 

Some experts are predicting doom 

should proper and appropriate measures 

are not adopted with immediate effect to 

arrest this worrisome development. 

The Director of Public Protection 

Centre, Mr Philip Nana Asante, is predicting 

more fire disasters in the country, 

if institutions do not include safety measures 

in their day-to-day administration. 

He says the failure has led to both 

manufacturing and processing companies 

not having any direct policy to 

“guard them to adopt safety, health and 

environmental issues seriously to help 

protect employers, employees, and road 

users among others.” 

What is so devastating about his presentation 

is that regulatory bodies, owners 

and workers of filling stations as well as 

customers are ignorant about some 

safety measures that have to be present 

before granting permit to operate or 

being allowed to operate in an environment. 

The director of PB Protection Centre 

went on to say that most workers at both 

gas and petrol filling stations have no 

idea what the caution stickers on their 

stations actually mean let alone knowing 

what is called assembling point where 

workers converge during an emergency 

situation. 

Following recent events such as the 

Atomic Junction fire disaster in which 

lives were lost, it is only appropriate that 

government institutions mandated to enforce 

safety measures in public places, including 

various petrol and gas filling 

stations, are reminded and put on their 

toes. 

As it stands now, they have failed the 

country , hence the rampant fire disasters 

and so the government needs to act by 

way of ensuring that risk-prone areas are 

monitored and precautionary measures 

in place with the law enforcement agencies 

or regulatory bodies upping their efforts. 

The DAILY HERITAGE is of 

the view that state institution, especially 

the Ghana National Fire Service, the police 

and other agencies that are to ensure 

that safety measure are complied with act 

quickly. 

We are in a country where we wait 

until something terrible happens before 

we act or rush to act and in haste, shed 

some crocodile tears and soon after let 

everything down again. 

For us to make things work the way 

we want it, our institutions need to be 

strong and the public also educated 

enough on all matters of public interest. 

uniBank voted 6th Most 

Prestigious Company in Ghana 

ONE OF the 

most alluring 

brands and leading 

indigenous 

enterprises, uni- 

Bank (Ghana) Limited has been 

voted as the sixth best-performing 

company in the country at 

the 16th edition of the Ghana 

Club 100 awards organised by 

the Ghana Investment Promotion 

Centre (GIPC) in Accra. 

The surging financial performance 

of uniBank in maintaining 

best practices enabled the 

bank to maintain an impressive 

sixth position in the listing of 

most enterprising companies in 

Ghana. 

Speaking on the theme: ‘Industrialisation: 

A tool for Job 

Creation and Accelerated Economic 

Development’, Mr Yaw 

Osafo Maafo, the Senior Minister, 

indicated that "Once you are 

in this top 100, you cannot do 

business as usual; each of you 

must try and bring improvement 

in your respective business operations”, 

and commended elected 

• Apiagyei Frempong, Head of Personal Banking, uniBank recieving a plaque 

from Mr Ken Ofori-Attah, Finance Minister 

companies for excelling in their 

respective disciplines. 

The event this year also witnessed 

special awards for outstanding 

business performers in 

selected categories, including 

Corporate Social Responsibility, a 

category won by uniBank. 

Dedicating the awards to the 

shareholders and cherished customers, 

Felix Dontoh, Head, 

Marketing and Communications 

at uniBank, indicated the bank’s 

resolve to maintain its position 

The event this year 

also witnessed 

special awards for 

outstanding business 

performers in 

selected categories, 

including 

Corporate Social 

Responsibility, a 

category won by 

uniBank. 

as a vital player in the highly 

competitive industry while being 

consistently socially responsive. 

The Ghana Club 100 (GC 

100) is an annual compilation of 

the top 100 companies in Ghana 

to give due recognition to successful 

enterprise building. 

The GC 100 is about corporate 

excellence and companies 

making it into GC 100 are to 

serve as role models for the private 

sector and provide a forum 

for corporate Ghana to interact 

with the government at a high 

level.



06 

View 


President must engage 

architects to transform Ghana 

BY ARC. C.Y. DAWSON 

THIS YEAR 2017, is 

60 years since President 

Osagyefo Dr 

Kwame Nkrumah declared 

on the day of 

Ghana’s Independence 

that Ghana is now ready to ‘manage 

and mismanage’ its own affair. 

This year also is the 25th year of 

the 1992 Constitution. As to if the 

constitutional experts would be able to 

tell us if the constitution is transforming 

Ghana is another issue but never, 

in our political history has the vision 

of one government given so many opportunities 

to architects to lead in any 

infrastructural transformational drive 

than under the Presidency of Nana 

Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo of the 

New Patriotic Party (NPP). 

MMDA Administrative 

Structure 

In fact, if we should face realities 

than not less than 6 Ministries in the 

current governance dispensation 

would need the direct engagement of 

about 1,000 architects under a Civil 

Service urgency protocol portfolio 

which incidentally cannot be possible 

because in the 1992 Constitution, the 

role of architects in the MMDA Administrative 

Structure was completely 

left out and even currently no single 

ministry has establishment that engages 

a large number of Architect 

some of whom could be transferred to 

other establishments under the Decentralization 

System of Governance. 

Surprisingly, all Architects engaged 

by some Districts must be designated 

Engineers and not Architects with specific 

infrastructural documentation and 

design responsibilities. For this reason, 

every developmental strategy under 

the Decentralization system of Administration 

since 1992 ends at the 

Planning stage as the Architect who 

should pick these planning proposals 

and transform them into quantifiable 

structures for project cost quantification 

for Budgeting purpose is simply 

not there. Every Plan must originate 

from a Ministry in Accra. 

Civil Service 

To accelerate development in the 

light of the political promises we have 

encountered since 1992, no government 

had really put emphasis on ‘rural 

development’ but rather on the consolidation 

of the Civil Service structures 

of ‘Local Government’. 

What perhaps the Framers of the 

1992 Constitution failed to realize is 

that the Civil Service system can never 

operate as a construction entity and 

should have had a Department of Architectural 

and Rural Development 

under the Ministry of Works and 

Housing and Water Resources to be 

headed by an architect with fully established 

offices established in every district 

to be responsible for approval of 

all building plans, sanitation issues in 

the entire district for both public and 

private households, the design and rehabilitation 

of all public structures for 

every ministry. 

The construction of staff houses, 

maintenance of all existing and the supervision 

of the rehabilitation of all 

traditional building structures are their 

responsibility. Inadvertently, it is this 

department which would see to preparation 

of Bill of Quantities of all projects 

approved by the District 

Assembly for periodization and approval 

for implementation. 

The Entities in question are, Ministry 

of Local Government and Rural 

Development, Ministry of City and 

Zongo Development and the Ministry 

for New Regions. The others are Ministry 

of Interior, Ministry of Tourism 

and Creative Art, Ministry of Industries, 

Ministry of Education and the 

Ministry responsible for the extension 

of Railways. 

Employed Architects 

Invariably, if this paradigm shift in 

the establishment of Government 

Employed Architects (GEA) forum is 

debated and carefully planned it would 

shift the focus of establishing and sustaining 

the governance machinery for 

a Ministry of Local Government and 

begin infrastructural development on a 

massive scale never experience in this 

country. 

The MMDS (216) would need 

about 3 Architects each to take care of 

policy planning, the daily supervision 

of all on-going government financed 

•Photo file: Architects at work 

projects. Other responsibilities would 

include the design of localize structures 

like KG Schools, Pre-tertiary institutions, 

public toilet, markets and 

accommodation for public servants to 

raise funds for the districts. 

They also have to document all 

public buildings and prepared dilapidation 

reports for the allocation of funds 

for maintenance. The Architects would 

take care of all issues involving sanitation, 

environmental protection and 

constantly monitor all developments 

to advice the appropriate solutions. 

It would also become the responsibility 

of the MMDS Architects to supervise 

every public projects and 

submit regular report on the development 

to the appropriate ministries 

through the Regional Coordinating 

Council. These Architects must also 

vet and endorse all building projects 

and given the power to prosecute any 

developer without permit. 

Local Government and Rural 

Development 

In all the Ministry of Local Government 

and Rural Development 

would need about 400 Architects if an 

impact would be made in the acceleration 

of rural development. 

The Ministry of Inner City and 

Zongos Development will need about 

20 fully engaged Architects in Accra 

alone to undertake the massive ‘urban 

renewal drive’ then about to be executed 

by Dr Kwame Nkrumah from 

1967 when he zoned out James Town 

to start with but was overthrown in 

1966. 

Fifty years down the line the deplorable 

situation in Accra as a result 

of disrespect for planning laws, building 

regulations and uncontrollable 

kiosk settlements due to urban-rural 

migration, the over-population and the 

infrastructural decay in traditional settlements 

like Teshie, La, Nungua, and 

Nima. 

As a matter of fact, the ministry, 

whiles waiting for the LI should have 

been working on a pilot scheme with 

some funds. Interestingly, every Regional 

Capital must also be given some 

attention. Engaging five architects for 

every regional capital giving a total of 

70. In this situation, the Architects 

would work with Physical Planners, 

Sociologists, Quantity Surveyors and 

Civil Engineers. 

Social Surveys 

Their duties would be to conduct 

Social Surveys to target the neediest in 

the selected areas and what to provide 

immediately in terms of social and infrastructural 

needs. 

They would be concerned with 

long term projections like renewal 

plans for very deplorable and highly 

deteriorated settlement areas. Their 

most important duty would be to present 

cost projections to the sector Minister 

for onward presentation to 

government for budgetary allocations. 

The Ministry for New Regions 

would become the most challenging 

for Ghanaian architects as the six new 

regions being planned for would each 

need not less than 20 Architects with a 

supporting staff to turn rural settlements 

to urbanized cities, create new 

life style for the development of the 

new regions that would need universities, 

polytechnics, technical schools, 

hospitals, new schools, accommodation 

for all shades of professionals to 

be attracted to the regions sports stadia 

and new markets, industries, and 

lorry parks. 

About 100 architects with their 

support staff must be planned for. 

They would all have to stay in the new 

regions and supervise all construction 

works. 

The Ministry of Interior needs 

about 100 Architects, ten for each region 

to audit the infrastructures needs 

of the personnel and administration. It 

is most unacceptable that our personnel 

should still be using pre-colonial 

buildings totally unsuitable for current 

operational and social functions. They 

should come out with policy proposals 

for maintenance and expansion of existing 

structures and develop prototype 

Police Stations and Barracks for 

the new regions and the new districts 

to be formed. In fact, accommodation 

for the police, prisons, and the fire 

services staffs must be given the greatest 

priority ever. 

Ministry of Tourism and the 

Creative Arts 

The Ministry of Tourism and the 

Creative Arts is the key to the development 

of domestic tourism if only they 

can engage the services of Architects 

to manage State owned projects like 

cultural museums, curiosity parks, 

slave trade route legacies packaging 

and colonial architecture in industry, 

commerce and trade since about 1472. 

Indeed, every traditional settlement 

has history and they must be conserved. 

This would mean architects documenting 

about 1,000 traditional settlements, 

preserving portions of towns, 

colonial buildings, routes and monuments 

of our heritage to promote domestic 

tourism. About 50 architects 

would work with historians, anthropologists, 

journalists, archeologists, sociologists 

and the traditional leaders if 

Ghana should champion cultural 

tourism. 

The Ministry of Trade and Industry 

would need not less than 30 architects; 

two would be responsible for 

each region to develop the Industrial 

villages in line with the needs of the 

people. This team would also have to 

develop prototypes ‘magazines’ to be 

adaptable for every District in the 

country. 

The Ministry of Education would 

have to prepare a program to prepare 

infrastructure Audit for all public KG, 

primary, JHS, SHS and technical 

schools to do a facility performance 

evaluation. It is an understatement to 

say that design, sanitation and user 

comfort had been delegated to the 

back a being compared with the private 

facilities. The objective would be 

to make the Public Sector become 

more attractive. This Ministry would 

need about 20 Architects in each Region 

giving 200.


Potential causes of red eye 

Dry eyes 

Dry eye syndrome occurs when 

one’s tear glands produce either an 

insufficient quantity or quality of 

tears to properly lubricate and 

nourish your eyes. Chronic dry eye 

can cause the surface of the eye to 

become inflamed and irritated, 

making your eyes look red. 

Allergy 

Red eyes often are referred to as 

"allergy eyes," given that eye redness 

is a common indicator of an 

allergic reaction. 

Contact lenses 

One of the main culprits of red 

eye is over-wearing or not properly 

caring for your contact lenses, 

which can cause a build-up of irritating 

surface deposits and microbes 

on your eye. 

Computer vision syndrome 

Red, burning and tired eyes go 

hand-in-hand with staring at a 

computer screen for too long, 

which can cause computer vision 

syndrome. One reason is that you 

blink less when working at a computer, 

which dries out the surface 

of your eye. 



&Env. 

Increase funding to heath sector 

to avert collapse – Coalition 

BY KOJO ANSAH 

GHANA COALI- 

TION of nongovernment 

organisations 

(NGOs) in 

Health has called 

on the government to increase 

funding to the health sector to 

avert collapse of the health system. 

The Ghana Coalition of 

NGOs in Health has warned of a 

near collapse of the health sector 

if the government fails to increase 

funding in the sector. 

The Coalition says it believes 

that the governments have failed 

to inject the needed investment 

into the health sector despite the 

Abuja Declaration which enjoins 

states to increase funding in the 

sector by 15% of GDP, creating 

compounded challenges and crippling 

quality healthcare delivery in 

the country. 

• Dr Gabriel Gbiel Benarkuu, 

Chairman of the Ghana Coalition 

of NGOs in Health 

Speaking to the DAILY 

HERITAGE at the 11th Civil 

Society Oganisations (CSO) Annual 

General Health Forum and 

Annual General Meeting for 2017 

at Koforidua in the Eastern Region, 

the National Chairman of 

Ghana Coalition of NGOs in 

Health, Dr Gabriel Gbiel Benarkuu, 

said the coalition would 

come with facts to draw attention 

to the government on the shortfalls 

of the 2018 budget, which is 

likely to stress the health system 

and drag it to a near collapse. 

“We want to draw the attention 

of the government to the shortcomings 

of the 2018 budget that 

can affect and stress the health 

system to a near collapse,” Mr 

Gbiel Benarkuu stated 

"Currently Ghana has over 

40,000-doctor deficit but we already 

have over 200 doctors 

trained but who are not engaged 

and so it is part of the Coalition’s 

activity to draw the government’s 

attention to reorganise its programmes 

and priority to get these 

doctors employed so that “we can 

reduce the deficit.” 

The Programmes Manager of 

the Expanded Programme of Immunisation 

of the Ghana Health 

Service, Dr George Bonsu, said 

Ghana had reached the Global 

Vaccine Action Plan target of 

90% coverage for the third dose 

of the diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis 

vaccine (DTP3) in protection of 

children against killer diseases. 

He said since 2008, no wild 

polio virus has been recorded and 

no death for measles recorded 

since 2003. 

He called for increase in domestic 

funding and human resource 

to help sustain the gains. 

Dr John Koku Awoonor - 

Williams, the officer in charge of 

Planning, Policy and Evaluation at 

GHS, praised by the Coalition for 

his immense contribution to 

healthcare delivery in Ghana, emphasised 

the crucial role CSOs 

play in healthcare delivery in 

Ghana, and reechoed the need to 

strategise for financial resources to 

continue to support healthcare delivery 

in the country. 

The Coalition says it 

believes that the 

governments have 

failed to inject the 

needed investment 

into the health sector 

despite the 

Abuja Declaration 

which enjoins states 

to increase funding 

in the sector by 15% 

of GDP, creating 

compounded challenges 

and crippling 

quality healthcare 

delivery in the country. 

Measles cases fall 

BY KOJO ANSAH 

THE GHANA Health Service 

says 20 measles cases were 

recorded in Ghana as of November 

2017, a reduction in 

cases compared with the 32 

recorded last year. 

In a presentation at the 11th 

Civil Society Oganisations 

(CSOs) Annual General Health 

Forum and Annual General 

Meeting 2017 at Koforidua in 

the Eastern Region, the 

Pogrammes Manager of the Expanded 

Programme of Immunisation 

(EPI) of the Ghana 

Health Service, Dr George 

Bonsu, said in 2013, cases totalling 

316 were recorded but 

reduced to 122 in 2014 and 

23 in 2015 but slightly rose to 

32 in 2016. 

Measles, also known as 

rubella, is a viral infection disease 

which is contagious and 

one of the leading causes of 

deaths among children 

though vaccine preventable. 

The cases pose a threat to 

Ghana’s quest to eradicate the 

disease by 2020 to help reduce 

millions of deaths in 

line with World Health Organisation’s 

global target because 

a single case can 

generate about 15 new cases. 

Dr Bonsu said Ghana 

has reached the Global 

Vaccine Action Plan target 

of 90% coverage for 

the third dose of the 

diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis 

vaccine (DTP3) in 

protection of children 

against killer diseases 

since 2008. 

Dr Bonsu said Ghana has 

reached the Global Vaccine Action 

Plan target of 90% coverage 

for the third dose of the 

diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis vaccine 

(DTP3) in protection of 

children against killer diseases 

since 2008. 

He said no wild polio virus 

has been recorded and no death 

for measles recorded since 2003 

in Ghana. Meanwhile the EPI 

programme has been expanded 

for immunisation to cover 13 

vaccine-preventable diseases. 

There was shortage of the 

vaccines this year for some period, 

which had fatal impact on 

some new-born babies but according 

to GHS, there is enough 

stock at the moment. 

Dr Bonsu said there is the 

need for increase in domestic 

vaccines-related funding, 

strengthening vaccine supply 

chains and delivery systems, and 

improving human resource and 

logistics to sustain the gain to 

achieve the 2020 target. 

The re-elected National 

Chairman of Ghana Coalition of 

NGOs in Health, Dr Gabriel 

Gbiel Benarkuu, said despite the 

challenges, Ghana would be able 

to meet the eradication target, 

which includes polio and 

measles.

spread_Dec 5.qxp_SHOWBIZ TEMP 12/4/17 10:23 PM Page 1 

News 

Galamsey sites are not 

safe for farming until 

after 10 years - Research 

BY KOJO ANSAH 

A STUDY conducted on some 

abandoned illegal mining sites in parts 

of the Eastern Region has revealed 

alarming concentration of mercury and 

arsenic chemicals in the soil, making 

the land unsuitable for crop farming. 

According to the researchers, food 

crops cultivated on these galamsey sites 

have the potential of accumulating 

high amount of mercury and arsenic 

concentrations from the soil, which 

will be toxic for consumers. 

They have therefore recommended 

that farming must be prohibited on 

galamsey sites until after 10 years of 

reclamation and restoration processes. 

The research, titled ‘Feasibility Study 

for Restoration Project’, was conducted 

by Form International Ghana, a 

subsidiary of Form International, a 

Sustainable Forestry Investment firm in 

Netherland, in collaboration with Soil 

Research Institute of Centre for 

Scientific and industrial Research 

(CSIR)-Ghana on mapping of mining 

and abandoned mining areas of 6500 

hectares, 1800 hectare bare soil and 

300 hectare mining pits. 

Mr Rutger De Wolf, the senior 

consultant with Form International 

(Netherlands), who presented the key 

highlights of the research at a 

validation workshop on ‘Landscape 

Restoration Potential and Business 

Case Feasibility Assessment for Atiwa’ 

at Kibi, explained that the soil quality 

test performed during the research 

showed that mercury content in the 

abandoned galamsey sites is as high as 

58 ppm, more than the safe threshold 

of less than 1ppm. 

He also indicated that the arsenic 

content was between 36 – 117 ppm, 

higher than the safe threshold of less 

than 20 ppm. 

Mr Rutger De Wolf concluded that 

due to the alarming mercury and 

arsenic contamination, none of the 

visited and tested sites are currently 

safe for food production, adding that 

it is only good for non-food 

production such us planting economic 

trees, nitrogen fixing plants, and shrubs 

whose leafs or backs must be tested 

before used for herbal medicine to 

avoid endangering lives. 

Also, recorded in during the 

research is chemical contamination of 

the Birim River, which was noted to 

contain high levels of mercury and 

arsenic, with variable level of lead and 

moderate to high turbidity. 

However, despite this level of 

contamination, some farmers have 

cultivated crops on the mercury- and 

arsenic-contaminated mined lands 

which experts have raised health alert 

over. 

The Chief Basin Officer of the 

Water Resources Commission, Eastern 

Region, Dr Ronald Abrahams, told the 

DAILY HERITAGE that crops that 

have already been grown on galamsey 

sites must be destroyed immediately 

before it is smuggled to markets. 

"The results that have been 

obtained from the soil and water tests 

[suggest] it is just advisable that if 

somebody has grown food crops on 

the land areas under consideration, 

they have to hive it up, they will have 

to destroy the crops and they should 

not think about what they are going to 

get because research has proven that it 

is good health-wise,” Dr Abrahams 

said. 

• Rutger De Wolf - 

Senior Consultant with 

Form International 

BY KOJO ANSAH 

FORMER PRESIDENT 

Jerry John Rawlings has 

advised young girls not to 

value self-consciousness 

and physical attractiveness 

at the expense of their 

education. 

According to the ex-President, 

many young girls of teen age forget 

to develop their mental 

consciousness during such period 

and rather get carried away by their 

physical looks to the detriment of 

their education. 

The former President said this 

when speaking as the Guest of 

Honour at the fourth Speech and 

Prize-giving Day organized by 

Mamfe Methodist Girls Senior High 

School in the Eastern Region on the 

theme: ‘Discipline; a Pre-requisite for 

Academic Excellence, Stakeholders 

Take’. 

The former President, inspired by 

the high level of environmental 

discipline exhibited by the school, 

STEEL AND iron rod 

manufacturing giant, B5 Plus 

Ghana Limited, has donated GH¢ 

5,000.00 worth of iron rods and 

other building materials to the 

Ghana Police Service. 

The donation, made at Oyibi in 

the Greater Accra Region, is in 

support of the proposed Ghana 

Police Music School project. 

In a brief remark, during the 

presentation, Managing Director 

of B5 Plus Ghana Limited, 

Bhavesh Kumar Tailor, announced 

that the gesture formed part of 

the company's Corporate Social 

Responsibility. 

According to him, B5 Plus 

deemed it necessary to support the 

Ghana Police Service because it 

believed that the project would 

impact positively on the larger 

society. 

“When we heard that the 

which makes its environment 

attractive and conducive for academic 

exercise, expressed wonder why as a 

nation, despite all the laws and law 

enforcement agencies in existence, 

the country continues to grapple with 

serious sanitation challenges. 

The former President expressed 

optimism that the government’s 

move to deal with the menace 

through law enforcement would 

bring sanity to the environment. 

The Minister of Gender ,Children 

and Social Protection ,Otiko Afisa 

Djaba, who represented the 

President, charged the students to 

develop resilient mentality 

and believe in themselves despite the 

challenges that may come their way 

in order to persevere to build a 

career. 

According to the Minister, young 

women must be self-motivated and 

not to give in to any sexual 

exchanges for favours because hard 

work and determination are the only 

keys to success. 

She said the Gender Ministry is 

making sure that no Ghanaian child 

Ghana Police Service wanted to 

put up a music school, we quickly 

decided to contribute to it as part 

of our Corporate Social 

Responsibility,” Kumar Tailor said. 

Director of Bands, Ghana 

Police Central Band, 

Superintendent Dr Frank K. 

Hukporti, who received the 

donation on behalf of the service, 

lauded the B5 Plus Company for 

the exceptional support and 

prayed that other corporate bodies 

would emulate same. 

The idea behind the 

construction of the musical 

school, he said, was part of the 

overall agenda to transform the 

Ghana Police Service as it turns a 

century next year. 

The school, he indicated, shall 

benefit not just the Police Service 

but the entire Ghanaian society. 

is 


Don’t value physical 

attractiveness over education 

•Rawlings entreats young girls 

•Former Jerry John Rawlings 

left out or behind in getting access to 

quality education. 

She said the free SHS policy is to 

provide equal opportunity for all to 

have access to education. 

The Headmistress of the Mamfe 

Methodist Girls SHS, Ms Sylvia 

Isabella Laryea, mentioned the 

introduction of special teachers for 

students with disability, monitoring 

and teaching trackers, and academic 

exchange programmes with foreign 

institutions as some of the initiatives 

that had improved academic 

performance of the school. 

She said the improved academic 

performance is evident in the feat 

chalked up in WASCE 2017 for 

which the school received Eastern 

Region Best School Awards and 

international recognitions. 

Ms Laryea told the DAILY 

HERITAGE that despite the feats, 

the school was facing infrastructural 

challenges and in dire need of dining 

and assembly halls, and a kitchen. 

She also called for the tarring of 

roads in the school as dust from 

them causes health problems, 

especially for asthmatic students. 

B5 Plus donates towards police music school construction 

• The Managing Director of B5 Plus Ghana Limited, Bhavesh Kumar Tailor, announced that the gesture 

formed part of his company's Corporate Social Responsibility 


Forestry 

Commission 

arrests illegal 

chainsaw kingpin 

BY KOJO ANSAH 

A MAN believed to be the kingpin 

behind illegal chainsaw business in 

the Atiwa Forest Reserve is being 

trailed by the Forestry 

Commission. 

He is reported to have recruited 

chainsaw operators in Kibi and its 

environs and sponsoring them to 

invade the Atiwa Forest to illegally 

harvest economic trees. 

Seven of the illegal chainsaw 

operators have been arrested in the 

Atiwa Forest Reserve this week. 

The suspects are Addo Godwin, 

30; Kwasi Kwakye, 20; Okyere 

Patrick, 25; Solomon Megah, 30; 

Anim Boateng, 20; Yaw Ofori, 25; 

and Addo Norbert, 25. 

The seven were arrested last 

Tuesday by forest guards under the 

Anyinam Range of the Forest 

Services Division of the Forestry 

Commission after excruciating 

trailing of the suspects, who were 

operating in the forest in Akyem 

Apapam section. 

Three chainsaw machines have 

been confiscated while the suspects 

are handed over to the Kibi Police 

Command for further action. 

The Anyinam Range Manager 

of the Forestry Services, Mr 

Palmer Aikins Amponsah, told the 

DAILY HERITAGE at Kibi 

that the illegal chainsaw business is 

on the increase following the fight 

against galamsey. 

He said most of the 

perpetrators, as well as illegal 

miners caught mining in the forest 

reserve, had been arrested and 

prosecuted. 

"I am even surprised that 

despite continuous arrest they 

continue to invade the forest to 

mine and illegally cut down trees 

with impunity. If you will 

remember, about two months ago, 

29 were arrested and prosecuted, 

so my advice to the youth is that 

they should find other livelihoods 

like farming to do because we are 

leaving no stone unturned; we will 

continue to arrest and prosecute 

them,” Mr Amponsah. 

•Some of the arrested illegal chainsaw kingpin


4TH 

DECEMBER 

2017 

TUESDAY 

CURRENCY PARIS CODE BUYING SELLING 

US Dollar USDGHS 4.4050 4.6100 

RATES Pound Sterling GBPGHS 

5.8000 

5.9500 

Euro 

GBPGHS 

5.2000 

5.3500 

10 

DAILY HERITAGE TUESDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2017 WWW.DAILYHERITAGE.COM.GH 

•Mrs Ursula Owusu-Ekuful, Minister of Communications 

Govt to acquire 25% 

shares in AirtelTigo 

BY ROSEMOND BOATENG ADDAI 

Rosemond.adjetey@dailyheritage.com.gh 

THE MINISTER of 

Communications, Mrs 

Ursula Owusu-Ekuful, 

has said that the 

government is yet to 

decide which tool to 

use to acquire 25% shares in 

AirtelTigo. 

According to the Minister, the 

government has an embedded option 

to purchase up to 25% of the 

shares of the merged entity within 

two years and so the opportunity is 

there for them to take up that opportunity. 

She added, “We think that there 

should be local participation in this 

industry and it shouldn’t be limited 

to the big players but also understand 

that some of their profit must 

stay here to develop our country in 

the form of local partners they will 

get in the next two years.” 

Mrs Owusu-Ekuful explained 

that her Ministry is following the 

process because they do not want 

any labour agitation to come up. 

“We are following this process 

closely but as far as we are concerned 

all the necessary approval 

has been granted and they have 

started their advertisement and programmes,” 

she said. 

She added that the merging of 

the two telecommunications companies 

would result in a vibrant and 

quality service delivery at a cheaper 

cost to citizens. 

She encouraged even greater 

consolidations along such lines 

within the market. 

Vivo Energy, Engen Holdings 

enter share transaction 

VIVO ENERGY Holding BV (Vivo 

Energy) has agreed to enter into a 

share transaction with Engen Holdings 

(Pty) Limited (Engen Holdings), 

a 100% subsidiary of Engen Limited, 

in relation to the purchase of 

shares in Engen International Holdings 

(Mauritius) Limited (Engen International 

Holdings) for the 

exchange of a shareholding in Vivo 

Energy, with a possible cash element. 

The transaction is subject to 

regulatory approval. 

Upon completion of this transaction, 

nine new countries and over 

300 Engen-branded service stations 

will be added to Vivo Energy’s network, 

taking Vivo Energy’s total 

presence to over 2,100 service stations, 

across 24 African markets. 

The new markets for Vivo Energy 

included in the transaction are 

DR Congo, Zimbabwe, Réunion, 

Zambia, Gabon, Rwanda, Mozambique, 

Tanzania and Malawi. Engen’s 

Kenya operations (where Vivo Energy 

already operates) are also part 

of this transaction. 

Engen Holdings (Pty) Ltd will retain 

its interest in Engen Petroleum 

Limited (the South Africa business 

and refinery) and Engen’s businesses 

in Mauritius, Botswana, Ghana, 

Namibia, Swaziland and Lesotho, 

which are not part of this transaction. 

Mr Christian Chammas, Chief 

Executives Officer (CEO), Vivo Energy, 

said the company’s first six 

years’ shareholders have invested to 

grow Vivo Energy, increasing its network 

from around 1,300 to over 

1,800 service stations and adding 

over 400 new and refurbished shops 

and quick service restaurant offers.” 

“I am delighted at today’s agreement 

with Engen, which, subject to 

regulatory approval, will add a number 

of new African markets to our 

business so that we can offer high 

quality products and services to significantly 

more customers,” he 

added. 

Mr Chammas added that, 

“Engen is a strong and well respected 

brand, and complements our 

existing business. Upon completion 

of the transaction we look forward 

to welcoming the Engen team into 

Vivo Energy and working with them 

to grow our combined business. 

Our vision is to become the most respected 

energy business in Africa. 

Today’s announcement takes us one 

step closer to achieving that goal.” 

Yusa Hassan, Managing Director 

and CEO of Engen, said “Engen is 

excited to enter into this strategic 

undertaking with Vivo Energy, 

which is clearly aligned with our 

growth aspirations in Africa. We will 

seek to build on each other’s 

strengths from this collaboration for 

the benefit of our customers across 

the continent.” 

Currently with over 1,800 service 

stations across 15 African markets, 

Vivo Energy sources, distributes, 

markets and supplies Shell-branded 

fuels and lubricants to retail and 

commercial customers across the 

continent. Vivo Energy is jointly 

owned by the energy and commodities 

company Vitol and the Africafocused 

private investment firm 

Helios Investment Partners. 

Ian Taylor, Chairman and CEO 

of Vitol, said “Africa is a very important 

part of our business and we are 

committed to continuing to invest 

across the continent. We are delighted 

to be entering this undertaking 

with Engen that will add 300 

Engen service stations to Vivo Energy’s 

expanding footprint.” 

KRIF Ghana launches customer feedback device 

BY BENJAMIN TANDOH 

THE EXECUTIVE Chairman of Krif 

Ghana, Reverend Kennedy Okosun, 

has urged business entities to pay attention 

to their customer experience in 

order to thrive. 

This, he added, would retain and 

grow customer loyalty by delivering 

on-target solutions to satisfy customers’ 

expectations. 

Speaking at the launch of its Customer 

Feedback System device in 

Accra last Friday, Rev Okosun said factors 

such as information and communication 

technology and social media 

had played a critical role in collapsing 

markets separated by geography into 

one single theatre of marketplace. 

These factors, he explained, had 

pushed enterprises to make critical 

choices which would enable them to 

stick close to their customers. 

“There is a consensus that customers 

in the new millennium have become 

more sophisticated with complex 

and changing tastes and preferences. 

“Companies are no longer in the 

position to guarantee that they can 

continue to exclusively serve their defined 

customers in the foreseeable future,” 

he said. 

The device, he explained, is destined 

to revolutionise the customer satisfaction 

assessment architecture of 

any user entity when deployed. 

“The device is ideal for teller performance 

measurement, showcasing 

customer focus orientation and guaranteeing 

confidentiality and objectivity 

in data gathering. It also serves as an 

important source for the provision of 

Human Resource statistics. 

“KRIF Ghana Limited will provide 

an example to buttress the position 

that the Ghanaian- Hungarian partnership 

is a workable proposition by officially 

launching a customer feedback 

system manufactured in Hungary 

which is both heart-warming and reassuring,” 

he stressed. 

The customer feedback system, as 

explained by KRIF Ghana, is a Microsoft-based 

device which comes 

with an innovative design, ease of installation 

and dependability and can be 

tailored to dovetail into the peculiarities 

of any client. 

The device is noted to have a userfriendly 

touch screen, tablet-based terminals 

and optional peripherals such 

as webcam, keyboard, WIFI, and motion 

sensors.



DAILY HERITAGE TUESDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2017 11 

Politics 

“Be who you are and say what you feel, because 

those who mind don't matter, and those who 

matter don't mind” ― Bernard M. Baruch 

Make Africa more 

attractive to end 

modern-day slavery 

• Apostle Amoako Atta tells leaders 

We know those who 

scrap pro-poor policies 

– President Akufo-Addo 

THE PRESI- 

DENT of the 

Republic, Nana 

Addo Dankwa 

Akufo-Addo, 

has reiterated 

that the Free Senior High School 

Policy, launched this year, on 

September 12, will be sustained 

and is here to stay. 

According to President 

Akufo-Addo, “I know, and I am 

sure I am not the only one who 

has heard the people who are 

mounting political platforms, 

speaking on television and radio, 

and putting up posts on social 

media hoping and praying for 

this policy to collapse.” 

He continued, “We know 

those who have a record for 

scrapping pro-poor policies – 

nursing and teacher trainees will 

bear testimony. I wish to assure 

them that Free SHS will be sustained, 

that Free SHS is here to 

stay. The overwhelming majority 

of Ghanaians support the choice 

that I have made in implementing 

Free SHS”. 

President Akufo-Addo made 

this known on Saturday, December 

2, 2017, when he delivered a 

speech at the 60th Anniversary 

Celebrations of the Kumasi 

•President Nana Akufo-Addo 

Academy, in Kumasi. 

The President stressed that 

there is no part of Ghana that 

does not recognise the importance 

of education, adding that 

“we have all accepted that education 

is the best route to moving 

out of poverty.” 

He said it is for this reason 

that he launched the Free Senior 

High School policy, to ensure 

that one of the biggest obstacles 

that stood in the way of access 

to secondary education, which is 

cost, is removed. 

“This has already led to an increase 

of over 90,000 children, 

who have entered secondary 

school this academic year, who 

would otherwise have dropped 

out at this stage. Free SHS has 

lifted the financial burden off 

parents, and the heart-rending 

anxiety that accompanies the beginning 

of every school term,” 

he said. 

President Akufo-Addo said 

he was, thus, surprised that because 

of political expediency, 

some would wish and pray for 

this policy to fail. 

Nonetheless, the President reiterated 

that “my government 

believes that we have a sacred 

duty to our children, and the 

generations beyond in ensuring 

that irrespective of their circumstances, 

whether of birth, status, 

class, ethnic or religious affiliations, 

their right to an education 

is preserved.” 

On the teething challenges 

confronting the Free SHS policy, 

the President acknowledged that 

“these would be with any new, 

bold initiative”. 

He told the gathering that he 

was inspired by the famous Chinese 

adage that “a journey of a 

thousand miles begins with the 

first step”, explaining that “we 

have taken that first step in 

Ghana, and we shall deal with 

the challenges.” 

In dealing with the teething 

challenges, President Akufo- 

Addo stated that “[the] Government 

has ordered thousands of 

mono-desks and bunk beds, as 

well as furniture for dining halls, 

staff rooms, computer labs and 

markers for classroom.” 

In commemoration of Kumasi 

Academy’s 60th Anniversary, 

the President announced 

that through the Ministry of Education, 

a vocational centre 

would be constructed for the 

school and its library and ICT 

centre completed. 

BY PROSPER AGBENYEGA 

THE FOUNDER of The Lord’s Parliament 

Chapel International (former 

Freedom Chapel International), Apostle 

Francis Amoako Atta, has indicated 

that the challenge that African countries, 

including Ghana, are facing as regards 

the slave trade in Libya can only 

be surmounted if these nations rise up 

and build their respective countries and 

make it more attractive for their citizens. 

According to him, although people 

are aware of the barbaric killings and 

inhuman treatments being meted out 

to their fellow Africans in Libya, 

drones of people keep migrating to 

Libya for greener pastures which they 

cannot find in their countries. 

He said, “Why is it that upon all 

that we are hearing and seeing, people 

still travel to Libya. It is because probably 

the conditions here are not good 

for them, the jobs are not here and it 

makes it difficult for a university graduate 

to afford a square meal a day. So 

what do you expect them to do?” 

Apostle Amoako Atta, in an exclusive 

interview with this reporter, also 

said the time had come for African 

leaders to stand up and condemn Libya 

over this shameful modern day slavery 

and bring them to justice. 

According to him, Africa, at this 

time, needs determined leaders that 

can help build their country, establish 

industries and create jobs for the teeming 

youth so as to break the chain of 

migration and by extension the slave 

trade in Libya. 

“When people find comfort wherever 

they are, they would not think of 

moving out because they are better at 

where they are. Our leaders must take 

the current situation in Libya as a test 

case for them to stand up and build 

their nation,” he said. 

He, however, lauded the Ghanaian 

government and its leaders for introducing 

One-District-One-Factory program, 

which will help create jobs and 

help sustain livelihoods. 

But he averred that the President 

Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo’s 

government must be committed to its 

policy directions so as to achieve better 

results for the entire nation. 

“If the 1D1F is sustained and the 

government ensures that it works perfectly, 

I don’t think anyone will go to 

Libya after hearing and seeing what is 

happening out there. Look, all our 

people want are jobs and money. Government 

must open companies, build 

factories so that everybody will at least 

be comfortable in his or her own corner,” 

he said. 

The Apostle, who himself worked 

in Libya from 1985 to 1988, also explained 

that we talk about the slavery 

in Libya without talking about the 

cause of slavery in modern day society. 

He mentioned that what we are 

witnessing today is the result of the 

decision our forefathers took to sell us 

to the whites. 

“The most potent tool in the hand 

of the oppressor is the mindset of the 

oppressed. Libyans always see us as 

slaves. They refer to anybody with a 

black skin as slave and that is why they 

continue to treat us as such,” the 

Apostle indicated. 

He said the unfortunate incident of 

modern day slavery could be attributed 

to the mistake of our leaders 10 to 20 

years ago because they failed to tackle 

key macroeconomic challenges, including 

unemployment and poverty that is 

crippling most societies and the economy 

at large. 

“But we fail to ask the question, 

what really contributes to immigration. 

Migrants leave their country for elsewhere 

partly because they feel insatiable 

in their home country,” Apostle 

Amoako Atta said. 

He also said unemployment has 

been the major factor causing these 

migrants to flee from their land of to a 

place they have no idea about. 

He, however, stressed that in as 

much as our leaders did not play their 

part in solving key macroeconomic issues 

the underlining factor causing 

what we are witnessing in Libya and 

elsewhere today would persist. 

•Apostle Francis Amoako Atta

12 



BY ABIGAIL ASARE 

•DJ Mono 

•DJ Lord 

Thousands invade 

•Kidi 

•Kumi Guitar 

‘S Concert’ 

• Organisers apologise to 

artistes who could not perform 

PHOTOS & STORY BY RAMSON 

ACQUAH-HAYFORD 

THOUSANDS OF people 

thronged the Accra Sports 

Stadium last Saturday to witness 

the fourth edition of arguably 

Ghana’s biggest 

outdoor event, the ‘S-Concert.’ 

The show, which assembled the biggest 

and hottest artistes in the country, saw the 

largest music audience ever to hit the 

Accra Sports Stadium. 

Thousands of people from all walks of 

life thronged the sports stadium to partake 

in the Neon Edition of the music 

show organised by the lead brand of the 

Excellence In Broadcasting Network, 

Starr 103.5FM. 

An estimated 40,000 people sang along 

tunes and performances from their favourite 

stars like Shatta Wale, Stonebwoy, Edem, 

Fancy Gadam, Kidi, Kuami Eugene, comedian/actor 

Lilwin and many others throughout 

the 11-hour event. 

However, a few artistes like Samini, 

Ebony, and Mr Eazi were not able perform 

but organisers of the event have issued an 

apology to the artistes for the lax in organisation. 

Security was impermeable as the military 

and police ensured order for the smooth 

running of the event 

The 2017 S-Concert is sponsored by 

Storm Energy Drink, Accra City Hotel, Express 

Savings and Loans, Ghana Post GPS, 

Hubtel, and Cosmopolitan Health Insurance. 

Below is the apology 

At the 2017 edition of the annual S-Concert 

event, some of our announced acts were 

not able to perform. 

We regret this and take full responsibility. 

We would like to convey our sincere apologies 

to all concerned, especially Samini, 

Ebony and Mr Eazi. 

We also would want to apologize to the 

teeming fans who came out in their numbers 

to support these acts. 

The S-Concert platform remains one for 

all and we are sad this happened particularly 

to some of our most revered local acts. 

To the thousands who showed up at this 

year’s S-Concert, we owe you so much for 

being part of yet another historic edition. See 

you all next year, for a bigger and better 

event. 

General Manager, Radio & Print 

EIB Network 

Kwasi Anim Adjei 

•The crowd were thrilled at the event



•Stonebwoy (R) performing 

with Kelvyn Boy (L) 

The show, which assembled 

the biggest 

and hottest artistes in 

the country, saw the 

largest music audience 

ever to hit the Accra 

Sports Stadium. 

•Bola Ray in a 

joyous mood 

• Ms Daniella Akorfa Awuma, Miss International 

Africa, with Minister of Tourism, Arts and 

Culture, Madam Catherine Ablema Afeku 

Tourism 

Minister praises 

Daniella Akorfa 

t 

i 

•Giovanni 

Caleb, one of 

the MCs for 

the event 

•Shatta Wale 

•Lilwin in 

action 

THE MINISTER of 

Tourism, Arts and Culture, 

Madam Catherine Ablema 

Afeku, has commended the 

Second Princess of the 

Miss Tourism Ghana 2016, 

Ms Daniella Akorfa Awuma, 

for raising the flag of Ghana 

high at the 2017 Miss International 

Beauty Pageant held 

in Tokyo. 

The Minister, who interacted 

with the delegation 

from the Miss Tourism 

Ghana (MTG) team when 

they paid a courtesy call at 

her office last Tuesday, said, 

“The girls were making 

Ghana very proud.” 

She therefore pledged 

that her Ministry would continue 

to support immensely 

their various projects. 

The team comprises the 

newly-crowned Miss International 

Africa, 

Daniella Akorfa Awuma, 

Miss Tourism Culture, Benedicta 

Nana Adjei, Head of 

Youth Development, Makafui 

Seshie and Director of 

Events and Operations, Mrs 

Delphine J. Brew-Hammond. 

In a release copied to the 

DAILY HERITAGE, the 

meeting commenced with a 

welcome note from the 

Chief Director of the 

Tourism Ministry, Dr Joel 

Sohnne, in which he praised 

the team for raising the flag 

of Ghana very high. 

Mrs Delphine J. Brew- 

Hammond, the Director of 

MTG, also spoke on the 

journey to winning the title 

of Miss International Africa 

and being chosen to share in 

the glory of a semi-finalist. 

She said, “We are very 

grateful to H.E. Sylvester Allotey-Parker, 

his wife and the 

entire Embassy of Ghana 

staff in Japan for their unrelenting 

and unwavering support 

for Ms Akorfa 

Awuma.” 

The Minister gave the 

girls the opportunity to talk 

on their projects. 

Akorfa Awuma, said “I 

will carry on with the projects 

of the MTG organisation, 

which is sanitation and 

the environment.” 

Ms Nana Adjei told the 

gathering about what occurred 

on World Toilet Day, 

when the MTG team visited 

the Jekora plant at Borteyman, 

where waste turns into 

manure. 

The Deputy Minister of 

Tourism, Arts and Culture, 

Dr Ziblim Barri Iddi, also 

advised the Tourism Ambassadors 

to stay focused on 

their projects and the sky 

will be their limit. 

He encouraged them to 

take whatever they were 

about to do seriously. 

The Miss Tourism Ghana 

Team was sponsored by the 

Tang Palace Hotel, Da Viva 

Fabrics and Max International.


14 

DAILY 

News 


HERITAGE TUESDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2017 

•Mr Apiagyei Frempong, Head of Personal Banking, uniBank receiving a plaque 

from Mr Ken Ofori-Atta, Finance Minister 

•Team uniBank displaying their awards 

uniBank wins Best 

CSR Company’ again 

UNI- 

BANK 

(GHAN 

A) Limited 

was 

on 

Thursday, November 30, 

2017, confirmed as the 

best practising Corporate 

Social Responsibility 

(CSR) Company of the 

year for the second consecutive 

time at the 16th 

edition of the Ghana 

Club 100 awards. 

The bank in October 

this year was adjudged 

the CSR Bank of the 

Year and CSR Initiative / 

Campaign of the Year at 

the seventh Ghana CSR 

Excellence Awards. 

The award bestowed 

on uniBank was in recognition 

of the Bank’s immense 

contribution 

towards the socio-economic 

growth of the 

country through its numerous 

CSR activities. 

uniBank (Ghana) Limited 

beat off strong competition 

from numerous 

enterprises with its alluring 

CSR initiatives, including 

the Operation 

Smile Project. 

Through this benevolent 

act, uniBank partnered 

with Operation 

Smile Ghana, an International 

medical charity Organisation 

to perform 

free surgical operations 

on 150 patients born with 

cleft lips and cleft palate 

the 3rd commonest birth 

defect in the world. 

This birth defect, 

which is increasingly 

spreading within some 

rural and urban areas in 

the country, causes 

speech abnormalities and 

breathing problems 

sometimes resulting in 

death. 

uniBank’s accomplishment 

in CSR delivery has 

been legendary as it spans 

almost all facets of the 

development spectrum 

within the country. 

The awards ceremony 

organised by the Ghana 

Investment Promotion 

Centre was on the theme 

‘Industrialisation – A tool 

for job Creation and Accelerated 

Economic Development,’ 

Through this benevolent act, 

uniBank partnered with Operation 

Smile Ghana, an International 

Medical Charity 

Organisation to perform free 

surgical operations on 150 patients 

born with cleft lips and 

cleft palate; the 3rd commonest 

birth defect in the world. 

•Team uniBank displaying their awards

DAILYHERITAGE.COM.GH 

Sports 


All is set for Friday’s taekwondo 

championship – PRO 

BY ROLAND BROWN TAMAKLOE 

THE PUBLIC Relations Officer 

(PRO) of the Ghana Taekwondo 

Federation (GTF), Mr Adnan 

Lamptey, has said that the upcoming 

championship at the Accra 

Sports Stadium will be used to rank the athletes 

who would participate in it. 

Mr Lamptey told the DAILY HER- 

ITAGE in Accra yesterday that the ninth edition 

of the two-day Korea Cup Taekwondo 

Championship, which takes place on Friday, 

December 8 and Saturday, December 9, 2017, 

would also be used to select the best fighters 

for the national team. 

He said the championship is in two categories, 

namely the senior’s weight division and 

the Para division meant for adults. 

“Though the federation does not encourage 

the participation of foreign athletes in this 

championship, we would not prevent them 

from participating. 

“Preparations for the championship are 

going on smoothly according to plan. The electronic 

gears would be used in the championship 

this year to help reduce the risk of injuries. 

“The electronic gears would make it easier 

for any kind of dangerous play to be detected 

by the officials. Mr Lamptey said he was looking 

forward to a successful event,” he said. 

The PRO said the championship is sponsored 

by the Embassy of the Republic of 

Korea and will mark the 40th anniversary of 

the friendship between Ghana and Korea. 

Decker Engineering to 

begin earthworks on 

GOC OlympAfrica site 

DECKER ENGINEERING 

and Construction Limited has 

agreed to begin earthworks on 

the Ghana Olympic Committee 

(GOC) site at Amasaman for 

Ghana’s OlympAfrica Centre. 

The said land was acquired 

almost a decade ago for the 

project but all that was done on 

it was a wall built around it to 

deter encroachers from invading 

the land. 

After that the land has been 

left unattended to but after assumption 

of office, the GOC 

President, Mr Ben Nunoo Mensah, 

expressed interest in working 

on the site. 

The company, which is 

owned by the GOC President 

together with his partners, 

would undertake the project 

which is valued at 

GH¢25,000.00 for free. 

According to the company, 

they would clear and level the 

land to pave the way for the real 

work to begin. 

The GOC President has indicated 

that the first phase of 

the project would be an office 

complex which will house the 

administrative part of the centre 

and would comprise offices, 

a kitchen and a conference 

room. 

He said the next phase 

would be about five multi-purpose 

pitches plus an Olympicsize 

football field with tartan 

tracks. Then a hostel facility 

would be added in the next 

phase to cater for the various 

national teams. 

Nunoo Mensah said the Association 

of National Olympic 

Committees of Africa 

(ANOCA) had agreed to give 

the GOC $150,000 to begin the 

work on the site. 

He, however, added that 

ANOCA had granted them permission 

to solicit funds from 

corporate bodies to support the 

project and in return get a naming 

right for whichever project 

they supported. 

He added that they were 

currently in talks with 

Ghana National Petroleum 

Corporation 

and Dangote Cement 

and called 

on corporate 

Ghana to 

come on 

board for 

the realisation 

of 

the 

dream 

of having 

the 

Ghana OlympAfrica 

Centre. 

A few weeks ago, 

the GOC leadership 

toured Togo’s facility 

at the invitation of 

Allasane T. Diake. 

I felt like hurting 

Neymar — Lienard 

STRASBOURG MIDFIELDER Dimitri 

Lienard has admitted he felt like 

"hurting" Paris Saint-Germain's (PSG’s) 

Neymar during Saturday’s shock 2-1 

win over PSG, the Ligue 1 leaders. 

The 29-year-old, who has fought his 

way up from the third tier of French 

football with Strasbourg, teed up Nuno 

Da Costa's assist for the opener and 

said Neymar's behaviour angered him 

when the pair clashed. 

"He [Neymar] was a bit annoyed -- 

he knew very well that it was a foul," 

Lienard told RMC Sport. 

"He told me 'you dived, you dived.' 

I wanted to tell him 'my dear, of 

course, you are a star and, of course, 

you can do to us what you like but 

when you are dancing in front of me, 

my only desire is to hurt you.’ 

"However, it is also the 

same when you do it 

and get touched a little, 

you also expect 

it. It is part of the 

game -- it is football. 

There was 

nothing nasty. 

There was a good 

mentality on the 

pitch." 

Lienard was ecstatic 

to have 

come out 

on top 

against the 

likes of 

Neymar, 

Edinson Cavani 

and 

Kylian 

Mbappe. 

"The emotion 

is huge," he 

told Goal. "To 

come from 

where I 

have 

come 

from 

to 

play 

against 

Neymar or against 

all of these stars, 

such as Cavani 

and Mbappe -- it 

has all happened so fast. 

"It is really fabulous to have been 

able to beat them. They are going to go 

to the World Cup and maybe even become 

European champions. The emotions 

are tremendous. 

"There is magic in football and that 

is that simply putting names on a piece 

of paper does not win a match. I am 

delighted and pleased to have beaten 

PSG." 

Lienard did his best to play up the 

significance of the surprise result, insisting 

that Strasbourg never expected 

to take all three points. 

"Of course, it is an achievement." 

Lienard told Le Equipe. "They are unbeaten 

since when? This is a big moment, 

right? 

"It is a feat and it is wonderful for 

us players to have beaten PSG but 

mainly to pick up three more points in 

Ligue 1. 

"We never expected to take all three 

points against PSG but we have our 

feet on the ground and never play 

games to lose. However, when you are 

up against PSG, it is another galaxy. 

"I do not know if I have come back 

down to earth yet but we are going to 

enjoy this. I have stars in my eyes this 

evening. I am like a kid." 

Strasbourg coach Thierry Laurey 

was pleased with the result and acknowledged 

that his players got lucky 

at times. 

"We played well," Laurey said. "We 

had a bit of luck, we have to acknowledge 

that. It was a close-run thing. To 

beat such a team, all the stars have to 

align and you have to surpass your limits. 

"We were clinical, even if on two or 

three counter-attacks, we could have 

done better. We dug in and we made 

sure that we didn't do any old thing 

with or without the ball. 

"The boys played great. They battled 

like lions, I'm very proud to be the 

coach of that team. If we don't get carried 

away, we can think about staying 

up. Not because we have beaten Paris, 

but because we're improving." 

PSG will have the chance to exact 

some revenge on Strasbourg next week 

when they return to Stade de la Meinau 

in the Coupe de la Ligue. kwesesports

Daily Heritage December 5

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