Monday, 13th June, 2022

Page 2

Even if Ukraine does receive candidate status,

joining the EU would likely take many years

European Union leaders

are to decide later this

month whether to welcome

Ukraine, Moldova

and Georgia as candidate

states for membership of the European

Union.

Russia's invasion of Ukraine

prompted the three former Soviet

republics to submit emergency

applications in the first weeks of

the war.

Ukraine's prospects look

promising, and so do Moldova's. But

Georgia was slapped with a scathing

European Parliament resolution on

Thursday, described by one MEP as

the last "wake-up call" to the government

in Tbilisi.

Ukraine has led the way in arguing

that joining the EU has become

a geopolitical necessity, although

the three states are known as the

Association Trio for their co-operation

with the EU on everything

from political reforms to free trade.

Addressing MEPs in Strasbourg

earlier this month, Ukraine's parliament

speaker Ruslan Stefanchyk

said granting candidate status

would empower the Ukrainian people,

while "any other signal would

only benefit Russian President Vladimir

Putin and his regime".

Moldova's pro-EU President,

Maia Sandu, told Euro MPs last

month that her country still had a

long way to go. But she reminded

them that many Moldovans could

hear the bombs falling on the

Ukrainian city of Odesa from their

homes.

In the run-up to the EU's decision,

Brussels think-tank the Centre

for European Studies published

reports on Ukraine and Moldova's

applications.

A

total of 166 Covid infections

in China have

been linked to a single

bar in the capital Beijing,

officials say.

A government spokesman described

the outbreak as "ferocious".

All residents living in the area

where the bar is located will be

tested over the next three days.

The number of infections in

the city is low by international

standards but high for China,

which is the world's only major

economy still maintaining a "zero

Covid" policy.

The outbreak was traced to a

venue called the Heaven Supermarket

Bar, in the well-known

entertainment area of Sanlitun in

Chaoyang district.

Two buildings housing hundreds

of people in Chaoyang were

put under strict lockdown on

It said Ukraine faced an existential

crisis, while Moldova was

"next at risk" from Russian aggression.

It recommended that the EU

should extend candidate status to

both countries. That status far from

guarantees entry to the EU, but

does represent a significant step on

the path.

On Georgia, the report said the

formal access process would be

premature.

Its economic reforms had surpassed

both Ukraine and Moldova

and other EU candidate states, it

said. But on democracy, the government

had contradicted "the EU's

fundamental values".

On Thursday the European Parliament

backed a strongly worded

resolution calling on Georgia to

uphold the highest standards of

democracy and rule of law. It said

press freedom had been declining

dramatically and condemned the

intimidation and persecution of

journalists.

Last summer more than 50 media

workers were hurt in far-right

violence, but the government failed

to prosecute any of the organisers.

Instead it has launched criminal

investigations into owners of independent

media channels critical of

the government.

The head of Georgia's leading

opposition Mtavari TV channel,

Nika Gvaramia, was jailed last

month for three and a half years,

in what Amnesty International

described as a "blatant act of politically

motivated prosecution".

"I am a political prisoner and

the timing of my imprisonment is

deliberate," he wrote in a letter to

the BBC delivered by his lawyers.

Gvaramia, who was found

DAILY ANALYST Monday, 13th June, 2022

guilty of misusing company funds,

said his imprisonment was a message

from the Georgian government

"aimed at the open and aggressive

sabotage of Georgia's European

future".

Georgia's government has

rejected the criticism, describing

Gvaramia as an opposition leader

hiding behind journalism. The head

of the ruling party added that the

resolution from Brussels had nothing

to do with European values.

Prime Minister Irakli Gharibashvili

said earlier this month he

expected a "wise decision from the

European Union".

"Let's be open and frank here.

When Russia invaded Georgia in

2008 no-one in this world imposed

sanctions."

That led to a sense of impunity

in Moscow, he argued, prompting

Russia's invasion of Crimea in 2014

and the launch of full-scale war

against Ukraine in February.

The prime minister said Georgia

deserved as much recognition from

the EU as Moldova and Ukraine:

"The answer from the West must

be adequate, relevant: it must be

proportional."

The EU has been encouraging

the Georgian government to make

good on promised reforms, in

particular to build an independent

judiciary.

But the treatment of ex-President

Mikheil Saakashvili and other

opposition figures has raised alarm.

Saakashvili, who was in power at

the time of the Russian invasion

of Georgia, was detained when he

returned last year to back the opposition

in elections.

Both he and Nika Gvaramia say

they are victims of a political vendetta

by the country's sole oligarch,

Bidzina Ivanishvili.

Mr Ivanishvili, who made his

fortune in Russia, founded the

governing Georgian Dream Party

in 2011. And while he is no longer

chairman, his influence in politics

remains a matter of concern for

Brussels.

A recent investigation by

anti-corruption watchdog Transparency

International Georgia alleged

that Mr Ivanishvili may still have

Covid: Dozens of Covid cases

linked to Beijing bar

Sunday after a positive case was

reported, a residential committee

worker told Reuters news agency.

Some people in Beijing said

they were sent texts telling them

to report to authorities if they had

recently visited Sanlitun's bars.

Chinese officials have reversed

the relaxation of some Covid rules

in Beijing because of the outbreak.

Most children in the capital

will not return to school next

week as originally planned, officials

said.

The capital has reported 1,997

local Covid cases since 22 April.

China's overall policy of "zero

Covid" remains in place and people

catching Covid face quarantine

or hospital.

Their close contacts also face

the prospect of removal to quarantine

and the area immediately

around where they live being

locked down again.

The city of Shanghai, the country's

economic centre and a global

trade hub, recently eased Covid

curbs after a two-month lockdown.

Global News

Russia's war prompts regional

rush to become EU candidates

Beijing has reported

1,997 local Covid cases

since 22 April

business interests in Russia.

The European Parliament's

resolution calls for the businessman

to face EU sanctions, highlighting

his personal and business links to

the Kremlin. He denies being close

to the Russian leadership.

Like Ukrainians and Moldovans,

Georgians are overwhelmingly in

favour of EU membership according

A

former British soldier

has been killed fighting

for the Ukrainian

armed forces, his family

has said.

Jordan Gatley, who left the

British army in March and travelled

to Ukraine, was described as

"a hero" by his father Dean in a

tribute on social media.

He died in the battle for the

eastern city of Severodonetsk,

which has seen intense fighting in

recent days.

The Foreign Office has said it is

"supporting the family of a British

man who has died in Ukraine".

Mr Gatley's father wrote in a

Facebook post that his son had

been helping train local forces. He

added that Jordan was fatally shot

on the front line while defending

the city and they were informed of

his death on Friday.

He had gone to Ukraine to help

"after careful consideration", he

said.

According to the Facebook post,

the family "had several messages

from his team out there telling

us of his wealth of knowledge, his

skills as a soldier and his love of

his job".

"His team say they all loved

him, as did we, and he made a massive

difference to many people's

lives, not only soldiering, but also

by training the Ukrainian forces,"

the statement continued.

"Jordan and his team were so

proud of the work they were doing

and he often told me that the

missions they were going on were

dangerous, but necessary.

"He loved his job and we are so

proud of him," Mr Gatley wrote,

adding: "He truly was a hero and

will forever be in our hearts."

The BBC understands Mr

Gatley served in the British army

as a rifleman with the Edinburgh-based

third battalion of The

to opinion polls.

The question is whether the EU

would want to risk disappointing

the majority of Georgians. President

Salome Zurabishvili said in Brussels

this week that European leaders had

now recognised the "true face of

Russia" - and the only answer was

the European Union.

Jordan Gatley's family shared a picture of him in Ukraine

Ukraine war: Former

British soldier Jordan

Gatley killed in fighting

Rifles and was discharged from the

forces in March before travelling to

Ukraine.

There has been fierce street

fighting in Severodonetsk with

heavy artillery said to be causing

huge casualties for both Russian

and Ukrainian forces.

The region's governor Serhiy

Haidai has told Ukrainian TV that

Russian shelling has caused a huge

fire at a chemical plant in the city.

Up to 800 civilians are hiding in

underground bomb shelters at

the plant, Ukrainian officials have

estimated.

Fighting around Severodonetsk

has lasted for more than three

months, as Russia shifted its focus

from trying to take the capital Kyiv

to capturing the Luhansk and the

Donetsk regions of eastern Ukraine

- a mostly industrial area known as

Donbas.

Seizing Severodonetsk and its

twin city of Lysychansk would

move Russia closer to its goal as

it would give them control over

Luhansk.

Mr Gatley is the second Briton

to be killed in the conflict after the

death of Scott Sibley in April.

Mr Sibley was described as a

"friend like no other".

A post on the Logistics Support

Squadron Facebook page described

him as a "former serving soldier"

of the squadron and said he had

"showed Commando spirit until

the end".

The Foreign Office advises

against all travel to Ukraine and

the Ministry of Defence has said

that Britons who go to join the

fighting following the Russian

invasion may be committing a

criminal offence and would be

liable to prosecution.

In March, the head of the British

armed forces said that Britons

should not go to Ukraine to fight

and should find other ways to help.

DAILY ANALYST

Monday, 13th June, 2022 Page 3

The Youth of Asogli State

in the Volta region

suspect the Council

of State is behind

recent attacks on their

overlord, Togbe Afede XIV, after

returning the controversial ex

gratia to chest.

Togbe Afede’s returned

his GHS365,392.67 ex gratia to

the state explaining that the

payment was inappropriate

in the first place in view of

economic hardships in the

country. However, Togbe’s gesture

has sparked controversy with

some Ghanaians criticizing his

action as self-serving.

Metro TV’s Paul Adom

Otchere managed to secure some

documents from the Council of

State confirming that Togbe Afedi

was absent from many meetings

of the Council of State.

But the youth of Asogli

believe that the Council of State

is pushing Paul Adom Otchere to

malign and denigrate the good

Chief.

At a charged press briefing in

the Volta Regional Capital of Ho

last Friday, the youth accused the

Council of State of backing the

controversial journalist.

“According to Paul Adom-

Otchere, his information on this

issue emanated from the Council

of State. We find it extremely

difficult to believe and therefore

call on the revered institution

to clear their image or we

would assume they are aiding

these treacherous characters in

society.”.

“We wish to demand the that

Paul Adom-Otchere retracts and

render an unqualified apology

to the Agbogbomefia Togbe

Afede XIV and the good people

of the Volta region as soon as

practicable.

“We call on the traditional

rulers from Paul Adom-Otchere’s

traditional area to impress upon

him to be responsible in order

not to inflame ethnic tensions

if they truly exist and abhor

disobedience towards traditional

authority. Failure by Paul Adom-

Otchere to heed these demands,

we call on all Asogli Youth and

people of Ewe descent to treat

Paul Adom Otchere as an enemy,”

the statement read.

Below is the full statement:

Press Conference Addressed

By The Asogli Youth In Response

To Blistering Attacks On Togbe

Afede XIV By Paul Adom Otchere

Host Of Metro TV's Good Evening

Ghana Show.

Friday 10th June, 2022.

Ladies and gentlemen of the

press, we are very much grateful

for honouring our invitation

at this short notice. This

conference is meant to respond

to the unjustifiable, unprovoked

and needless attack on the

Agbogbomefia of the Asogli

State by corrupt, ungrateful and

dishonest stomach journalist

called Paul Adom Otchere.

We would like to state

emphatically that ordinarily the

shameless Paul doesn’t deserve

our attention. But to the extent

that he has the moral turpitude

to unashamedly attack our

revered overlord of the Asogli

state, an astute economist and

Frontpage Stories

Asogli Youth mad at Council of State

entrepreneur whose contribution

to this country and beyond is

noticeable and acclaimed by wellmeaning

individuals, we consider

it proper to put him where he

belongs.

Ladies and gentlemen,

the Asogli Youth believe that

anyone in his right senses and

not merely led by his stomach,

who wants to see this nation

progress, who is sensitive to the

plight of the suffering masses,

who abhors corruption, injustice

and unfairness will applaud the

show of statesmanship, honesty

and the exemplary conduct as

exhibited by the revered Chief.

But of course, as

characteristic of Paul who uses

his platform to shamefully do

the bidding of his pay masters,

he instead of commending Togbe

for upholding good values, he

rather for the sake of his stomach

decided to launch scathing attack

on the Agbogbomefia.

Ladies and gentlemen, on

that show Paul made reference

to the attendance of Togbe to

the activities of the Council

of State. The Asogli Youth

challenged this assertion that

it is pulpable falsehood by Paul.

Therefore, we call on Paul Adom

Otchere to equally publish the

attendance records of other

members if indeed his claim

was not for mischief and an

attempt to ridicule Togbe. His

claim of having access to records

of allowance, payment, and

attendance clearly exposes the

complicity with the Council of

State Secretariat. We call on the

Council of State to come out and

set the records straight.

Also, Paul intimated that

Togbe cannot claim this

payment were inappropriate.

This is very shameful to say

the least. We believe that

either the “all knowing” Paul

doesn’t understand the word

inappropriate as used in Togbe’s

plain English language or he

was being disingenuous. But

we are not in the least surprise

because it is this same Paul Adom

Otchere who admitted on a live

national radio programme that

some examination papers at the

University were written for him

by benevolent individual that

he cannot even accurately recall

or probably, as symptomatic of

him, he peddled a wicked lie

about such a decent individual he

claimed wrote the papers for him.

This is the man Paul we are

talking about. How can such a

dumb question the intelligence

of the Agbogbomefia and his legal

advisors? Again, this is the man

who could not complete Law

School If this is not witchcraft,

then we do not know what to call

it.

Ladies and gentlemen of

the press, Paul displayed his

insatiable taste for ill-gotten

wealth by expressing his rage

towards Togbe for returning

what Togbe sees as inappropriate

gratuity. This is a gesture

we expect reasonable and

patriotic citizens to applaud.

Unfortunately, due to his corrupt

disposition as exhibited on the

board of Ghana Airport Company

Limited (GACL) as the chairman

in respect of the rental payment

of the so-called Christmas tree

at an outrageous cost of GHS

840,000, he sees everything

wrong with Togbe’s gesture. As

Dr Goebels stated, “a stupendous

lie when repeated will gain

credibility”.

Ladies and gentlemen, we also

want to state that the ingrate

and shameful Paul Adom Otchere

has no sense of morality and has

a stinking aura of corruption

around him. We say this because

the Man who Paul Adom Otchere

verbally attacks at the least

opportunity was actually the very

man who paid most of his school

fees at the law school which he

eventually failed. Again, it must

be stated that Togbe graciously

released his 7 series BMW for his

wedding aside other numerous

supports. Yet he turns round to

recklessly attack Togbe. WHAT

A TRAITOR AND UNGRATEFUL

BEING!


Paul Adom Otchere created

an erroneous impression that

Togbe undeservedly received

transport allowances as

commuting from Ho when in

actual fact he lives in Accra. This

assertion is sheer wickedness

and utmost dishonesty by Paul.

According to Paul Adom Otchere,

his information on this issue

emanated from the Council

of State. We find it extremely

difficult to believe and therefore

call on the revered institution

to clear their image or we would

assume they are aiding these

treacherous characters in society.

Paul, can you put up this

disgraceful, repugnant and

backward attitude towards your

traditional rulers in your area?


it must be placed on record

that the Agbogbomefia is an

accomplished businessman,

entrepreneur and a traditional

ruler whose contributions to

Ghana and beyond cannot be

over-emphasized. We are however

not saying that Togbe is immune

to constructive criticisms. But

certainly, not the jaundiced and

unwarranted one by a mercenary

journalist such as Paul Adom

Otchere.

In conclusion, we wish to

demand the following that;

1. Paul Adom Otchere retracts

and render an unqualified

apology to the Agbogbomefia

Togbe Afede XIV and the good

people of the Volta Region as soon

as practicable.

2. The management of Ignite

Media Group pull the breaks on

the “parasite” Paul Adom Otchere

since his mercenary journalistic

practices are fast eroding the

gains of an otherwise flourishing

media platform i.e. Metro TV.

The Asogli Youth are of the view

that Paul Adom Otchere is not

merely led by his stomach but

probably suffering from what

can be medically be described as

Obsessive-Compulsive Neurosis.

3. We call on the traditional

rulers from Paul Adom Otchere’s

COVID-19 Fund rakes in GH¢62M

The COVID-19 National

Trust Fund has so far

raked in GH¢62 million

since its creation in

March 2020.

Chairperson of the Fund,

Madam Sophia Akuffo says out

of the GH¢62 million, GH¢50

million has been disbursed to

hospitals, health centres, and

other agencies helping them

fight COVID-19.

Madam Sophia Akuffo was

speaking at a forum in Accra

according to Citi News.

“The COVID-19 Trust Fund

has received a total amount of

GH¢62,333,591. At the same time,

the Trust Fund has disbursed

an amount of GH¢50, 000,000

in support of health preventive,

detective and curative areas

also to support education on

preventive measures”, she said.

The COVID-19 National

Trust Fund has received many

donations and contributions

from businesses and individuals

to complement the efforts of the

government in the fight against

the COVID-19 pandemic.

It has consistently been

asking for more support to enable

it to meet the many demands for

assistance.

So far donations have been

received from cooperative

organizations, institutions, and

individuals across the country

since its establishment.

Some have been used to

purchase Personal Protective

Equipment (PPE) for health

facilities leading the fight against

the COVID-19 pandemic and the

provision of other packages as

reliefs to individuals and groups.

Last week, the COVID-19

National Trust Fund advanced

an amount of GH¢1.8 million to

Togbe Afede XIV

traditional area to impress upon

him to be responsible in order

not to inflame ethnic tensions

if they truly exist and abhor

disobedience towards traditional

authority.

4. The Youth of Asogli wish

to serve notice that we would no

longer tolerate attempts by any

individual or group of persons

to denigrate any of our Chiefs,

especially Togbe Afede. As this

will be met with the strongest

form of anger.

5. We acknowledge the

overwhelming condemnation

and aberration toward Paul’s

uncouth behaviour and

applauding the good values

shown by Togbe. The Asogli Youth

are grateful to all discerning

Ghanaians for standing by the

truth.

6. Failure by Paul Adom

Otchere to heed these demands,

we call on all Asogli Youth and

people of Ewe descent to treat

Paul Adom Otchere as an ENEMY.

Thank you.

Conveners

Simon Ohene – 0544342010

Sefadzi Agama (Sohefia)

–0242288310

the Centre for Plant Medicine

Research for the possible

production of herbal medication

for coronaviruses.

The fund says the use of

unorthodox medicines has

become important following the

spike in COVID-19 cases.

Sophia Akuffo said herbal

remedies will be needed to fight

COVID-19.

“The purpose of this financial

support is to fund research

into the development of herbal

products against the SARS

COVID-2 virus, the COVID-19

virus.

Page 4


Weija Police

The Secretary to the Kokrobite Divisional Stool under

the Ngleshie Alata Traditional Council in the Ga

South Municipality of the Greater Accra Region, Mr.

Emmanuel Ahene, has blamed the Weija Divisional

Police Commander, Chief Superintendent Freeman

Kumashie, for allegedly conniving with some elders of Nii

Arde Nkpa family of Plerno and Kokrobite to wreak havoc in

the Kokrobite township.

He explained that the police commander failed to act professionally

by deploying his officers to Krokobite to prevent

Nii Arde Nkpa family of Plerno led by Nii Arde Nkpa VI from

storming Kokrobite on Thursday, June 9, 2022, to perform

the traditional rituals to lift the ban on drumming and

noise-making.

Addressing a press conference in Kokrobite yesterday, Mr.

Ahene called on the Police Management Board (POMAB) to

impress upon the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Dr. George

Akuffo Dampare, to transfer the Weija divisional police commander

who he accused of meddling in chieftaincy and land

disputes in Kokrobite and its adjoining communities in the

Ga South municipality.

He warned that if Chief Superintendent Kumashie was not

transferred from the Weija Divisional Police Command, the

violent clashes in Kokrobite would continue “because the senior

police officer was in league with elders of Plerno family.

He stated that the gazetted Chief of Kokrobite fishing

town, Nii Ofei III, and his boys had no hand in the bloody gun

battle which occurred in Kokrobite on Thursday, June 9, 2022.

He said at the time of the disturbances, Nii Ofei III had

been invited to the Kokrobite police station to answer questions

on matters related to him and his elders’ preparation to

perform the necessary rituals that fateful day to lift the ban

on drumming and noise-making in the Ga State.

"I want to state on record and also swear by our ancestors

and God Almighty that Nii Ofei III and l, Emmanuel Ahene,

were with the police at Kokrobite Police Station before we

heard that there were gunshots for which we were told one

person had been confirmed dead, while two others, including

a fifteen-year-old boy, had sustained gunshot wounds who

were said to have been rushed to hospital for medical treatment.”

"So how come that the media has reported that Nii Ofei III

ordered his boys to shoot and kill people?" Mr. Ahene quizzed

and called on media houses running with such falsehoods to

immediately render an unqualified apology to Nii Ofei III.

Mr. Ahene was responding to the New Crusading Guide

newspaper report on Friday, June 10, 2022, edition with the

screaming headline: "Ga Battle @ Kokrobite...As Nii Ofei III

Boys on Shooting Spree, Kill Asafoatse and others.”

He stated emphatically that there were factual inaccuracies

coupled with propaganda and baseless allegations in the

said report of the newspaper.

He, therefore, cautioned the newspaper to stop its continuous

practice of publishing one-sided stories all the time,

adding that there were misunderstandings between members

of Nii Ofei family and Nii Arde Nkpa family of Plerno, saying

that their reports always created confusion and tension in the

area.

Mr. Ahene called on the general public, particularly citizens

of Kokrobite both home and abroad, to disregard the media

reports linking Nii Ofei III to the recent gun shooting.

According to him, the records at the Kokrobite police station

showed clearly that Nii Ofei III together with the Chief

of Plernor, Nii Arde Nkpa VI, who has been parading himself

as the Chief of Kokrobite was under police custody before the

gunfight erupted at Kokrobite.

He explained that since the installation of Nii Ofei III

as the legally and traditionally installed Chief of Kokrobite

in the year 2010, records available indicated that Nii Ofei III

has been performing these necessary traditional rituals in

Kokrobite.

"So how come that elders of Nii Arde Nkpa Clan of Plerno

would come to Kokrobite that very day to carry out such traditional

rituals since we the traditional authorities of Kokrobite

headed by Nii Ofei III had officially written a letter to the

Police Administration informing them of our programmes

towards this year's annual celebration of Homowo which we

have been performing since 2010? he asked.

NHIS should absorb bills of

The Member of Parliament

(MP) for North

Tongu, Samuel Okudzeto

Ablakwa, has reiterated

the call for medical bills

of rape and defilement victims

to be absorbed by the National

Health Insurance Scheme.

According to him, the country

already has a well-operationalized

scheme which is the National

Health Insurance Scheme so there

is no need for a new fund. Moreover,

such a move, he said will

enable victims and their families

report such cases to the police for

prompt actions.

At a stakeholder’s engagement

organized by Plan International

Ghana to deliberate on how

medical examination bills for

sexual and gender-based violence

survivors can be abolished, the

MP said, “Fortunately for us as

a country, we have a National

Health Insurance Scheme which

is well operationalized, can’t we

just make this one of the items

that health insurance should take

care of?”.

The MP again said another

option is to look at another existing

fund which is the district

assembly common fund to take

care of medical bills of raped and

defiled victims.

In Ghana, sexual and gender-based

violence survivors are

compelled to pay between Ghc 300

and Ghc 1,500 for medical examination,

and treatment consultation

in order to complete police

medical forms to be able to seek

justice and have their perpetra-

The King of the Igbo

Community in Ghana,

His Royal Majesty,

Eze Dr. Ambassador

Chukwudi Ihenetu,

is appealing to the Government

of Ghana and the Ghana Union

of Traders Associations (GUTA)

to take another look at the law

restricting foreigners, particularly

Nigerians in the retail industry in

the country.

According to the King, the easing

of the retail laws will favour

the two countries that happen to

be great allies.

GUTA and NUTAG have been at

loggerheads in recent times over

the presence and operations of the

latter in the Ghanaian retail space.

This has led to the locking up

of some retail shops owned and/

or operated by Nigerians, Accra,

Kasoa, and Koforidua

The shutdowns were necessitated

by what GUTA members

described as “escalating numbers

of foreigners in the retail business

in the country.

The King of the Igbo Community

in Ghana, His Royal Majesty,

Eze Dr. Ambasador Chukwudi

Ihenetu, who believes the Nigerians

are much aware of the laws

and adhering to them, called for a

second look at this law to develop

the two countries.

“My humble request, a plea

to the Government and GUTA is

for them to tamper justice with

Mercy over my people in the area

of retail in the good market of

Ghana.

Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, MP for North Tongu

tors punished.

In spite of provisions in the

Domestic Violence act.2007 (act

732) Section (8) which states “a

victim of domestic violence who

is assisted by the police to obtain

medical treatment under subsection

(1) (c) is entitled to free

medical treatment from the state”.

SGBV survivors are continuously

charged by health facilities

anytime they walk in to obtain

medical reports for the pursuance

of justice.

However, families of the victims

mostly in the rural areas are

unable to pay as a result making

it difficult to access justice. This

has left these perpetrators openly

posing more threats to the life of

“We know that foreigners

can’t retail in Ghana, but, with

good arrangement, the devil can

see God. With the proper understanding

that we are the same

people.

“We are not violating your

laws and we are not saying you

must do this, Your Excellency,

Nana Akufo -Addo, but we are appealing

for this to be looked into

so that people can trade. We are

not in Ghana to destroy Ghana but

to make it great.

The same way Nigerians are

here in Ghana, we have Ghanaians

in Nigeria so if we manage

ourselves properly, all these issues

that we see as mega issues will

not be mega issues. So, I am pleading

with the Government,” the

respected King said.

The King, therefore, cautioned

all Nigerians against violence and

corrupt practices and urged them

to support the agenda to rebrand

Nigeria in Ghana.

His Royal Majesty, Eze Dr. Ambasador

Chukwudi Ihenetu will

mark the 10th anniversary of his

Kingship in the diaspora.

He, therefore, outlined activities

to boost Nigeria’s relations

with Ghana as well as embark on

activities to support the needy in

the society.

According to him, he has

managed to change some negative

perceptions about the Igbo people

in Ghana since he ascended to the

throne 10 years ago.

In Ghana here, every Nigerian

man is referred to as an Igbo man.

young people especially women

and children in the community.

Plan International Ghana

believes the lack of evidence to

assist the prosecution of Sexual

and Gender-Based violence cases,

particularly rape and defilement

connects to the pervasive absence

of medical reports when survivors

are unable to pay the fees charged.

The Country Director for Plan

International Ghana, Solomon

Tesfa Mariam, said the organization

will remain committed to

Ghanaians and work with other

relevant institutions so that every

injustice issue affecting girls,

boys, women, and men will be

addressed.

Consider Nigerians in retail business

Some Ghanaians see the Igbo man

as crime committers, but, it is not

like that. Since the establishment

of the Igbo throne here in Ghana

in 2012, these problems are no

longer there as it was before.

“Nigerians in Ghana, it is for

you to be law-abiding citizens,

don’t violate the laws of Ghana.

Try the best you can to endure

even when someone offends you.

Try your best to solve issues and

not fight. Also, try the best you can

to focus on your business.

If you commit a crime in

Ghana, the Laws of Ghana will

hold you responsible. So be a good

citizen and let’s rebrand Nigeria.

King of the Igbo Community

in Ghana, His Royal Majesty,

Eze Dr. Ambassador

Chukwudi Ihenetu

DAILY ANALYST


Perspective

Why Gold Mining Has

Not Transformed Local

Mining Communities

I

WOULD like to do

a series on mining

sector sustainability

using Ghana as a case

study. In this episode,

I will argue out my points to

answer two questions:

1. Why are mineralresourced

nations poor?

2. Why has gold mining

not been able to transform

Ghanaian local economies

and host mining communities?

In my course, “Course

17007 Mining, and Water

Resources/Environmental

Protection in Africa,” at the

Ruhr-Universität Bochum

in Germany, I discussed and

brainstormed with my students

in two summer semesters

why mineral resourcerich

countries have failed

to achieve sustainability. In

this episode, I discuss with

your audience, sustainability

in the mining sector. We

will implore examples from

Ghana to answer the question

on whether we are achieving

or can ever achieve sustainability

in the sector. I am giving

the two scenarios below

as case studies in the assignment

to my students.

I do highly discourage

chew and pour in my engagements

with students, and

I always encourage brainstorming

on a subject matter

in my class. The assignment

reads: Study these two plates

in the file below about a situation

in a dominant mining

community in Africa.

1. Plate 1 shows a road

leading to a mining town

2. Plate 2 shows an

abandoned mine land from

gold mining. The field had

been abandoned for many

decades and used by children

as playground. Women also

use it a passing place to their

farms.

Applying the concept of

sustainability, (use the materials

in the links below to

help):

1. State and describe

what could be wrong with

each field.

2. What are the implications

of each field on the

community?

3. What can the min-

economic growth. Extractive

industries like that of bigger

mining companies exacerbate

the resourced curse.

The resource curse (paradox

of plenty) refers to the

paradox that countries with

an abundance of natural

resources (e.g. fossil fuels, oil,

minerals such as gold, bauxite,

diamond, etc.), tend to

have less economic growth,

less democracy, and worse

development outcomes than

countries with fewer natural

resources.

In Ghana, the evidence

of the resource curse is most

seen in especially the gold

mining regions and communities,

where mining activities

have resulted in deepening

poverty, environmental

degradation, and social impacts.

In Nigeria, Angola,

the Democratic Republic of

Congo, and Sierra Leone, the

resource curse has resulted

in armed conflicts and civil

wars.

This curse is also more

evident in countries where

there is a centralised government,

less devolution, and

less decentralisation. Here,

power is highly concentrated

in the capital cities. Less

concentration and attention

are paid to the local communities.

Many businesses and

their registration are highly

carried out in the capital cities.

This system is a top-down

approach that creates uning

companies do to achieve

sustainability for the community?

4. We will later answer

these questions but let us

first analyse the first two

questions: Why mineral

resourced nations are poor;

and why gold mining had not

been able to transform Ghanaian

local economies and

host mining communities.

The first reason is that

resource is cursed. Several

scholarly works had linked

mineral mining and extractive

industries to proliferation

of poverty and underdevelopment.

For example, Ross

(2001; 2003) observes that “oil

and mineral dependence are

strongly associated with unusually

adverse conditions for

the poor”, and that “higher

levels of mineral dependence

[are] strongly correlated with

higher poverty rates.”

Another study by Gamu

et al. (2015), did empirical

analyses of fifty cases and

found that large-scale extractive

mining industries rather

exacerbate poverty in mining

communities. Interestingly,

same study found that smallscale

mines are linked to

poverty reduction.

Harvard scholars Sachs

and Warmer in 1995, studied

97 developing countries in the

period 1970-1989 and observed

that resource-poor economies

outperformed resourcerich

economies in terms of

necessary frustrations, many

bureaucracies and cumbersomeness

in getting businesses

registered and making

decisions at the local level.

Ghana's decentralisation

is thus described by some

experts as centralised decentralisation.

Others argue that

our so-called decentralisation

is rather deconcentration.

Distribution of the gold

mining revenues: The curse

is also evident in countries

and systems, where

revenues generated from

mining communities go to

the central government and

where little of the revenue

goes to the communities

where the mineral is mined

and extracted. In Ghana, for

instance, the mining companies

pay 7% royalties of the

total gold mining revenues

to the Republic of Ghana.

Here is the distribution: 80%

of these goes to the central

government (retained in the

Consolidated Funds) and 20%

is transferred to the Mineral

Development Fund (MDF) –

this is stipulated in the MDF

Act 2016. Ten percent of the

20% is retained by the MDF as

10% goes to the host mining

communities. Out of this 10%

that goes to the host mining

communities, about 5%

is transferred to the District

Assembly for the regulatory

institutions such as the

Mineral Commission and the

Environmental Protection

Agency (EPA).

Eventually, only 1.8% ends

up with the chiefs for any

development in the communities.

There is no law that

stipulates how even the little

1.8% should be used for any

meaningful development.

Additionally, no checks and

balances are put in place

to ensure that these funds

are put into their intended

purpose.

Another reason is that

large scale mining companies

create 'enclave economies',

where only a fraction of the

total Ghanaian labor force is

employed in the sector. The

sector usually depends on

highly technical and skilled

labor, which are limited in rural

communities where gold

mining is done. Thus, large

scale mines exist to boost

national incomes and foreign

exchange earnings for the national

economy but positive

economic impacts on the local

communities where they

operate are minimal. Several

past studies had supported

my argument.

Garvin et al. (2009) posit

that large-scale mines employ

estimated 20,000 people

in Ghana, far below the estimated

number artisanal gold

mining sector absorbs. Artisanal

small-scale gold mining

in Ghana employs over four

million people.

In 2001, Aryee pointed out

that despite huge investment

injected into the Ghanaian

economy from bigger scale

mines, the distribution of

income remains uneven with

rural communities where

mines are located receiving

little benefits from the gold

mining income.

Akabzaa and Darimani

(2001) indicated that poverty

abounds in gold mining and

resource-rich communities,

with lower absorption and

employment of the local people

into the large-scale mines.

Garvin et al. (2009) further

add that Ghanaian communities

that house mining

companies get real little local

benefits from the industrial

gold mining operation and

exploration activities.

This article is a combination

of some three episodes

in the series I did on world

environment day (5/06/2022).

The other analyses will be

added soon.

BY Dr. AK Mensah/Cebstar-

Africa

The writer holds a PhD

from the Ruhr University

Bochum in Germany. He is

a scientist at the CSIR and

the founder of the Centre for

Better Society Advocacy and

Research-Africa.

Page 6


The Commission on

Human Rights and

Administrative Justice

(CHRAJ) has urged the

Government to improve

and expand social protection

systems to be more child sensitive

such as cash transfers, including

child grants.

The Commission said such a

child-sensitive system would also

prevent the likelihood of pushing

children into hazardous work

conditions.

Mr Joseph Whittal,

Commissioner of CHRAJ in a

statement copied to the Ghana

News Agency to commemorate

World Day Against Child Labour

(WDACL) on Sunday, further

stated that expanding social

protection systems, would help

improve the household income of

the most vulnerable.

In 2002, the International

Labour Organization (ILO)

established the WDACL to raise

awareness and activism towards

child labour prevention.

The ILO was created in 1919

with social justice objectives,

The Agbleza festival of

the chiefs and people of

Ziope in the Agotime-

Ziope district has been

launched with a call

on the people to toil to place the

festival on the tourism map of

the country.

Madam Emelia Emefa

Adzimah, the District Chief

Executive, who made the call said

strategic planning and hard work

could yield this result if “We are

poised collectively to do so.”

The Agbleza cloth was

also unveiled at the event on

the theme, Consolidating the

Gains of Farming towards Our

Development.”

She said a good repackaging

of the festival to depict the

cultural heritage and values of

the area could serve as a pull

factor towards making the

festival popular in the region,

country and globally.

She therefore urged the

people to forge a common unity,

devoid of decisive tendencies.

Madam Adzimah eulogised

the importance of peace, a

requisite for development, saying

in the absence of peace all plans

would remain as dreams urging

the people to constantly remain

peaceful.

She announced that the

district was a beneficiary

of government’s flagship

programme dubbed Agenda 111

including protection of children.

To achieve its child-oriented

objectives, the ILO adopted

the Convention on Minimum

Age (Convention No. 136, 1973)

providing for the minimum age of

employment of children.

Also in 1999, there was the

adoption of Convention No.182

on the Elimination of the Worst

Forms of Child Labour.

This year’s global theme,

“Universal Social Protection to

End Child Labour” focuses on

pushing for increased investment

in social protection systems

and schemes to ensure social

protection avenues and the

protection of children against

child labour.

According to the ILO, as at

the beginning of 2020, one in

10 children aged five and over

were involved in child labour

worldwide – representing an

estimated 160 million children,

or 63 million girls and 97 million

boys.

Also, it is estimated that, there

are more children in child labour

in Sub-Saharan Africa than in the

rest of the world combined.

Specifically in Ghana, there

is an average of 21 per cent of

children aged five to 17 years

involved in child labour, with 14

per cent engaged in hazardous

forms of labour.

Ghana is a signatory to

United Nations Convention on

the Rights of the Child, African

Charter on the Rights and Welfare

of the Child, ILO Convention

on Minimum Age (Convention

No.138, 1978), and Worst Forms of

Child Labour, 1999 (Convention

No. 182,), the African Charter on

the Rights and Welfare of the

Child, the Palermo Protocol and

relevant ECOWAS Protocols and

Child Policy and Strategic Plan of

Action.

Nationally, Ghana has an

extensive legal and policy

framework to ensure the

protection of children and the

1992 Constitution protects

the rights of children against

any work that threatens their

development.

In addition, there is the

Children’s Act, 1998 (Act 560), the

Human Trafficking Act, 2005 (Act

694), the Domestic Violence Act,

2007 (Act 732), The Criminal Code,

1960 (Act 29) and the Criminal

Code (Amendment) Act, 1998 (Act

554)

Ṫherefore, CHRAJ advised

the Government to implement

Target 1.3 of the Sustainable

Development Goal 1 (End Poverty)

that calls for the implementation

of nationally appropriate social

People Of Ziope Launch The Agbleza Festival

project for which the site was

handed over to the consultant

and contractor saying actual

physical works is expected to

start soon.

She spoke about other

government interventions of the

government such as planting

for food and jobs, planting for

export and rural development,

one district one factory and one

village one dam, many of these

the district being a beneficiary.

The DCE reminded the

gathering about the recent

spike in covid-19 cases in some

parts of the country and advised

them to continue to adhere to

the protocols with those yet to

social protection systems

take the jab to do so adding the

Monkeypox and Influenza are

new arrivals.

Mr Charles Agbeve, Member

of Parliament (MP) of the area

said a well-packaged festival

could be a good rallying point

for socio-cultural and economic

development and declared his

full support to the festival.

He called on citizens of the

area home and abroad to lend

their full support to the festival

to attract the necessary impetus.

Togbui Vizaze Adzaho, the

Awadada of Ziope traditional Area

is upbeat about improving the

festival this year recounting the

success of the previous one.

protection systems and measures

for all, with substantial coverage

of the poor and the vulnerable.

In addition, the Commission

entreated the Government

to implement relevant

recommendations of the

Universal Periodic Review as

Ghana prepared to submit its

national report to the Human

Rights Council in October 2022 for

the Fourth Cycle Review.

It acknowledged the

significance of Ghana’s

comprehensive social protection

framework such as the Social

Protection Policy with its

flagship programmes, including

Livelihoods Empowerment

Against Poverty (LEAP), the

Labour-Intensive Public Works

(LIPW), the School Feeding

Programme (SFP), the National

Health Insurance (NHIS)

Exemptions and the Basic

Education Capitation Grants.

Those social protection

initiatives, CHRAJ noted, had

been instrumental in alleviating

poverty in many Ghanaian

households and helped reduce

poor coping mechanism by

families such as school dropout,

child trafficking and child labour.

Notwithstanding all those

Many public

basic schools in

Accra have no

washrooms, the

Ghana News

Agency (GNA) has observed.

Those with washrooms have

them in an awfully bad state and

also not disable-friendly.

At the Liberty Mantse or

Farisco Cluster of School, toilet

facilities were available but not

disability friendly.

An official of the School, who

spoke on condition of anonymity,

said some prominent persons in

government who attended the

school, had pledged to extend

a helping hand to give the

institution a facelift in the next

few months, and hoped that they

would offer help as promised.

The Calvary Methodist Basic

Cluster of Schools, Adabraka, also

had toilet facilities, but lacked

an entire water, sanitation and

hygiene (WASH) facility.

“We are not under the

Government’s WASH project

at all. We have toilet and hand

washing facilities but lack

changing rooms for the female

learners who need it sometimes

when in their periods. This is

really challenging for them and

we appeal that we are considered

in that regard,” a lady who said

she was afraid to talk, said.

An authority at the Osu Salem

Primary School, told the GNA that

the School had a toilet facility,

efforts by the government to

reduce child labour in Ghana, Mr

Whittal stated that the emergence

of the COVID-19 pandemic and its

aftermath economic and social

developments had disrupted gains

made pre-pandemic period.

A survey by UNICEF showed

that an estimated 22 million

people in Ghana, about two-thirds

of the population, experienced

a decrease in household income

because of the pandemic.

Similarly, 52.1 per cent

of households reduced food

consumption as a coping

mechanism in the face of the

COVID-19 pandemic.

In addition, almost one

child out of every three lived in

monetary poverty, while 73 per

cent of children experienced

multidimensional poverty

suffering from multiple and

overlapping deprivations.

The Commission indicated

that those developments

highlighted the importance

of expanding Ghana’s social

protection systems to build

resilience of the poor and

vulnerable and to prevent poor

coping mechanisms that usually

led to child labour.

Many public basic

schools in Accra have

no washrooms

though not in a good state.

She said learners were

managing it with the hand

washing stations they had,

adding: “Our toilet facilities

are, however, not disability

friendly because we don’t have

any disability in this school at

the moment. But should we get

one now, the school will not be

convenient for that learner at

all.”

She said the school was

also in dire need of water to fill

its storage tank, as it was not

connected to the public water

lines.

“The lack of access to water

is a problem we are facing right

now in this school and that

makes it quite challenging to

maintain our WASH facility here

well,” she said.

DAILY ANALYST


Armed Forces Engaged On 4th

Republican Constitutional Dispensation

The National

Commission for Civic

Education (NCCE), has

engaged the Ghana

Armed Forces in an

open forum on Ghana’s fourth

republican constitutional

dispensation.

The forum, at the Burma

Camp, was part of activities

marking the 2022 Annual

Constitution Week to consolidate

the gains made by the State

in the 30 years of democratic

dispensation and solicit views on

constitutional reforms.

April 28, this year, marks

exactly 30 years since 92 per

cent of Ghanaians voted ‘yes’

in a referendum to accept and

approve the 1992 Constitution

as the fundamental law of the

country.

The theme for the

Constitution Week education

campaign is: “Three decades of

uninterrupted constitutional

rule: revisiting the agenda for

reforms.”

The military, under the fourth

Republican Constitution is said

to have played a paramount role

in helping to ensure stability

in Ghana’s governance and

democratic processes.

At the forum, whiles some

officers raised concerns about the

“winner takes all governance,”

and called for constitutional

reforms, others called for a

review.

Some others suggested

that security education should

be an integral part of Ghana’s

curricular from the basic schools

to the tertiary level.

An officer also called for more

education and explanation on the

campaign “See Something, Say

Something” against terrorism. He

called on citizens to be vigilant

always.

Madam Kathleen Addy,

Acting Chairperson, National

Commission for Civic Education,

in an interview with the

Ghana News Agency, said, the

engagement was in tandem with

the Commission’s mandate to

promote and sustain Ghana’s

democracy through civic

education.

She said soldiers were citizens

of the country like civilians

hence the need to deepen their

understanding in democracy,

seek views on reforms that

reflect the citizen’s aspirations.

“Maybe our understanding

of nationhood and democracy

might have changed, so why

don’t we make some changes in

the Constitution to reflect the

current time that we live in,”

Madam Addy stated.

She said, generally, citizens

were calling for amendments

to several provisions, including

the appointing powers of the

President, particularly with

regards to the district chief

executives.

The Acting Chairperson said

the NCCE had not taken sides but

was only getting the people to

understand what the governance

issues were to feed a reform

process as a follow up to the work

of 2010 Constitutional Review

Commission.

Colonel Michel Yao Borbi,

Director for Education, Ghana

Armed Forces, in a welcome

address, said, 30 years of

uninterrupted constitutional rule

was a great achievement, adding

that the education by the NCCE

was relevant.

“The National Commission

for Civic Education’s view that

having constitutional rule for 30

years is a milestone that must

be celebrated, is a statement I

identify with in its entirety with

the knowledge of our political

history,” he said.

Col. Borbi said the

magnitude of significance of

the 1992 Constitution cannot be

underestimated as it helds duty

bearers accountable for their

stewardship.

He said the military was a key

stakeholder in the democratic

dispensation and would not

relent on their duties.

He called on every citizen

to live by the tenets of the

Constitution.

The NCCE is expected to

collate views and present them to

the State.

TTU to be positioned

as the university of

choice for Oil, Gas

2022 Hajj: Board absorbs GH¢13K of

cost for pilgrims who paid in 2020

The Hajj Board says it

has absorbed about

GH¢13,000 of the 2022

pilgrimage fees for

some 2,000 pilgrims

who paid their fares in 2020.

This follows concerns by

some pilgrims over an earlier

agreement that they would not

pay additional charges after their

initial deposit of GH¢19,500.

The 2020 Hajj was cancelled

for international participants

due to the coronavirus pandemic,

leading to the closure of borders

and airlines in a lot of countries.

With plans for the pilgrimage

in 2022, the Board asked the

pilgrims who paid in 2020 to

make a top-up of GH¢7,000 due to

exchange rates and other factors.

Speaking to Citi News, a

Member of the Hajj Board, Alhaji

Ismaela Ibrahim, explained that

preparations are far advanced for

over 3,000 pilgrims to be airlifted

from Ghana and that the top-up

is even discounted.

“The question everyone

is asking is that, we have an

agreement with them, so why

are increasing the fees? The

GH¢19,000 they paid in 2020

was a calculation of GH¢5.2 to a

dollar. Everything we collect here

is transferred to Saudi Arabia

in dollars, since we cannot use

dollars over there.”

“The money given to us by

the will-be pilgrims then, there

are no activities on it. Some say

interest on the investment. That

will not be enough but what we

have offered to the 2020 pilgrims

is that, we have absorbed about

GH¢13,000 of what they are

supposed to pay for 2022”, he

emphasised.

Prior to the journey, pilgrims

pay for Hajj services such as

accommodation and feeding in

Saudi Arabia.

Earlier, the Board announced

that monies paid for the 2020 Hajj

will be refunded following the

cancellation of the pilgrimage.

The Pilgrimage Affairs Office

of Ghana (PAOG), in collaboration

with Hajj Agents Association,

pegged the 2020 Hajj pilgrimage

fare at GH¢19,500, an equivalent

of $3,500 dollars.

This was after the Office

resolved that the fare will remain

unchanged from 2019.

PAOG indicated that the fare

could have been higher, but the

intervention by the government

helped to make it affordable for

more people to perform the Hajj.

Professor Victor Kweku

Bondze Micah, Pro

Vice Chancellor of the

Takoradi Technical

University (TTU) has

disclosed that the university is

positioning itself to have a firm

grip of the oil and gas training as

its niche area.

In that regard, he said the

university had resolved to

channel all its programmes

towards oil and gas and its

related issues to be able to solve

key problems that might arise in

the industry.

Prof Micah, who was speaking

to the media on the vision of

TTU and its contribution to the

Sekondi-Takoradi Metropolis and

the Western Region underscored

the importance of industryacademia

collaboration to the

realization of its medium and

long-term vision.

Subsequently, he said the

university was constantly

engaging industries in the

Western Region teaching

students.

“As a university, we are

positioning ourselves well to

have a grip of the oil and gas

area so that in the long term, we

can confidently pride itself as

the university of choice when

it comes to oil and gas,” the Pro

Vice Chancellor stated.

“In the long term, the

university hopes to create a

hub at Akatakyi which will be

dedicated to purely engineering

training,” he added and appealed

to the government through

the Petroleum Commission to

support them in that direction.

The engineering hub, Prof

Micah said had ultra-modern

welding equipment for the

training of plumbing and pipe

fitting.

He said students of TTU

were sent to industries during

vacations and added that for

their new programmes, at

least a semester is spent in the

industry to learn from industry

practitioners, in addition to

what was being taught in the

classroom.

Prof. Micah commended the

government for the investment

it was making in Technical and

Vocational Education and said

that was the way to go.

He mentioned that countries

that have developed did so with

TVET and encouraged Ghanaians

to show much interest in TVET.

’” Very soon, TVET is going to

be the order of the day because

a lot of the administrative

works are going to be done by

machines,” he added.

Prof Micah also spoke about

plans of the university for

artisans and master craft men

which included the rolling

out of short certificate courses

and encouraged them to take

advantage to upgrade themselves

in their professions.

Page 8

Management of

the Sandema

Hospital in the

Builsa North

Municipality of

the Upper East Region has reiterated

appeals to Government,

Non-Governmental Organizations,

philanthropists and individuals

to support the facility

with power plant for health care

delivery.

The over 30years obsolete

power plant which served the

entire facility broke down

despite all attempts by Managements

of the Hospital and the

Regional Health Directorate to

repair it.

The Hospital, which is a

referral centre for the Municipality

and its environs, and also

Health

serves some parts of the North

East and Upper West Regions,

is often plunged into darkness

anytime there is power outage in

the Municipality.

Mr Prosper Asandem, the Administrator

of the Hospital who

reiterated Management’s appeal

for a new power plant at a meeting

of Heads of Departments and

staff of the Municipal Assembly

after several appeals, said “The

generators have broken down

beyond repairs.”

The meeting, graced by Mr

Stephen Yakubu, the Regional

Minister and some key Regional

Heads of Departments, and officials

of the Regional Coordinating

Council, afforded staff in the

Municipality the opportunity

to interact with the Minister on


Sandema Hospital

appeal for power plant

how to improve service delivery

in their respective Departments.

Mr Asandem said the facility

had a “small generator” which

was not able to supply alternative

power to the entire Hospital

in critical times, and disclosed

that the usage of the generator

was based on the Unit with critically

ill patients when there was

power outage.

“If an entirely new power

plant could be procured for the

facility, it will be helpful,” the

Hospital’s Administrator said.

Prior to the meeting, the

Paramount Chief of the Builsa

Traditional Area, Nab Azagsuk

Azantilow, also appealed to the

Minister when he called on him

at his palace to support the Hospital

with a power plant.

He earlier corroborated the

challenges the lack of alternative

power supply to the Hospital

had on health care delivery as

indicated by the Administrator,

adding that the lives of patients,

especially pregnant women were

in danger at the facility.

“You can imagine if a pregnant

woman is delivering or

there is an ongoing operation

and power goes off,” the Paramount

Chief said.

Commenting on the issue,

Dr Emmanuel Kofi Dzotsi, the

Regional Director of the Ghana

Health Service (GHS) said “We

have sent technicians on several

occasions to work on it, but now

it is beyond us. And it needs to be

changed as early as possible.”

When the Ghana News

Agency (GNA) visited the facility

to ascertain the condition of the

power plant, it observed that the

plant in question was obsolete

and some portions of it had

rusted.

Some patient relatives who

expressed their frustrations to

the GNA about the erratic power

supply in the Municipality and

the lack of power plant to serve

the Hospital, said Nurses had to

use their mobile phone lights to

attend to patients when there

was power outage.

“My brother is on admission

here, and we experienced some

power outages, especially at

night for the past days he has

been admitted. I saw nurses

struggling with their phone

lights to render services. This

facility actually needs a power

plant,” a relative of a patient said

on condition of anonymity.

3,000 people screened

for multiple diseases

in Old Tafo

SEND GHANA commends GHS for proactively

cautioning Ghanaian citizenry on Monkeypox

SEND GHANA has

commended the Ghana

Health Service for

taking proactive steps

to increase surveillance

and cautioning the Ghanaian

citizenry to be on a high alert

even before the monkeypox

disease spreads across the

country.

They however urged

government to commit more

resources to finance epidemic

preparedness in the country.

A release signed by the

Chief Executive Officer of

SEND GHANA, Siapha Kamara,

indicated that, it’s extremely

necessary to reinforce their call

for the government of Ghana

and health policymakers to

increase funding for epidemic

preparedness.

The release also said, “While

SEND GHANA applauds the GHS,

we deem it extremely necessary

to reinforce our call for the

government of Ghana and health

policymakers to increase funding

for epidemic preparedness.

In emergencies such as this,

reliable and adequate funding is

essential to, for example, increase

human resource capacity, create

and sustain public awareness,

strengthen surveillance and

response systems to help prevent

disease outbreaks, and ensure

rapid response at local level, etc.”

According to SEND GHANA,

future epidemics are inevitable

and it is necessary to make a

long-term investment in health

security systems as well as

preparedness to deal effectively

with public health emergencies.

Below is the original press

release:

SEND GHANA has taken

notice of reports of recently

confirmed cases of the

Monkeypox virus in Ghana.

According to the Director-General

of the Ghana Health Service

(GHS), five cases of the infectious

disease have been recorded in

Ghana’s Eastern, western, and

Greater Accra regions.

It is distressing that this is

occurring at a time there is a

surge in COVID-19 cases and the

Influenza A H3N2, with the first

case of the latter recorded in

January 2022. This development

suggests that Ghana is currently

dealing with three health

emergencies in the face of the

prevailing economic challenges.

SEND GHANA wishes to

commend the GHS for taking

proactive steps to increase

surveillance and cautioning

the Ghanaian citizenry to be

on a high alert even before

the disease spreads across the

country. Noting that some

control measures are already in

place to minimize the spread

of the disease after it has been

confirmed is a step in the right

direction.

While SEND GHANA applauds

the GHS, we deem it extremely

necessary to reinforce our call

for the government of Ghana

and health policymakers to

increase funding for epidemic

preparedness. In emergencies

such as this, reliable and

adequate funding is essential

to, for example, increase human

resource capacity, create and

sustain public awareness,

strengthen surveillance and

response systems to help prevent

disease outbreaks, and ensure

rapid response at local level, etc.

We maintain that future

epidemics are inevitable.

Therefore, it is necessary to

make a long-term investment

in health security systems and

preparedness to deal effectively

with public health emergencies.

Responding too late to disease

outbreaks costs lives and affects

economic growth, national

security, and the well-being of

people. In developing economies

such as Ghana, the poorest and

most vulnerable people are the

most affected by health threats.

We strongly urge the

government to speed up efforts

to set up the Public Health

Emergency Fund and/or realign

the existing COVID-19 Levy to

include epidemic prevention

and response at all levels. A

Public Health Emergency Fund

would be critical in helping

increase resilience in Ghana’s

health system to prepare and

respond with urgency to existing

public health risks and future

epidemics.

About three thousand

people drawn from

Old Tafo and other

communities within

the Greater Kumasi

area have undergone a health

screening exercise to enhance

their wellbeing.

The exercise, organised by

the Vodafone Ghana Foundation

under its ‘health-fest’ initiative,

saw the beneficiaries screened

for hypertension, diabetes,

hepatitis B, malaria and HIV/

AIDS, at the Old Tafo Government

Hospital.

It also created awareness and

tests for knowing one’s sickle

cell status, with the beneficiaries

of the exercise being registered

onto the National Health

Insurance Scheme (NHIS).

Dr Mrs Stella Agyenim-

Boateng, Board Director for the

Foundation, in an interview with

the media, called for intensified

education on sickle cell in order

to whip up knowledge about the

disease in the Ghanaian society.

The Foundation believed

that a healthy people was a

prerequisite for the progress of

any nation, she observed.

It was against this backdrop

that Vodafone has set aside June,

this year, to promote healthy

lifestyles, and also work with

stakeholders to reduce maternal

mortality by offering free

ultrasound screening.

The Foundation, as part of

the programme, donated some

sanitary items and a television

set to the Old Tafo Government

Hospital.

Ms Geta Striggner-Quartey,

Director of Legal and External

Affairs, Vodafone, said over the

past six years, the Foundation

had given a special focus to the

Ashanti Region by undertaking

a number of socially impactful

initiatives.

In pursuance of its

objectives, the company has

themed this month (June), “BOA

ASANTEMAN”, to underscore the

need to address key sustainable

development issues in the

region, including education,

health and environmental

sustainability.

According to the Vodafone

Director of Legal and External

Affairs, the company had

stepped up its outreach

programme for the benefit

of the people, saying the

authorities would not relent in

abiding by its corporate social

responsibilities.

DAILY ANALYST


African solutions to African

problems: Reframing

Africa is plagued by

many epidemics —

from tuberculosis

and HIV/AIDS to

malaria and wild

polio — but the continent has

also worked for decades to fight

these threats. The key to beating

these deadly diseases is turning

inward to existing expertise and

finding locally driven solutions.

The recent COVID-19 pandemic

has placed public health

back in the global spotlight and

has also served as a reminder

that science is not undertaken

in an ivory tower. Science shapes

humanity because it takes place

among us. COVID-19 has also

showcased that no epidemic

takes place in isolation. Through

collaboration we can build on

the foundations of our knowledge

to bring forward innovative

ways to address health challenges

that benefit all of humanity.

This is not a new idea. In fact,

it is something that we became

all too familiar with during the

AIDS pandemic.

Despair, pain, and loss were

rampant during the 1980s and

early 1990s, at the beginning of

South Africa’s HIV epidemic. Every

weekend, white funeral tents

in rural KwaZulu-Natal seemed

to mushroom up and multiply,

signifying the growing toll the

virus was taking on the country.

Witnessing this helped

catalyse me to undertake one

of the earliest population-based

studies that looked closely at

this emerging health issue in

South Africa. HIV prevalence was

low at the time, with less than

1% of the population having

been infected.

But lurking within the data

was a shocking revelation:

young women (15-24 years old)

were six times more likely to be

infected compared to their male

counterparts.

We knew something had

to be done. That meant understanding

what had led to this

striking disparity in risk. So, we

began speaking to women from

all parts of society to try and get

a better sense of what they were

experiencing.

Here’s what we learned:

power dynamics of relationships

and sex were disrupting disease

prevention. Women didn’t have

the ability to protect themselves

because of the limited options

available to them — options

like condoms, that placed the

responsibility of reducing risk in

the hands of men.

Meanwhile, cases continued

to surge in South Africa at an

alarming rate, doubling annually

in the general population.

Existing methods to prevent

HIV infection weren’t going to

cut it. Approaches designed in

the global North were never

going to be able to fully account

for the needs of women in Africa.

That’s why new solutions had to

be brought forward instead.

One way that we sought to

empower women was through

a gel that contained Tenofovir,

an antiretroviral (ARV) medication.

This innovative approach,

shown in the CAPRISA 004 trial,

enabled HIV-negative women

to protect themselves from the

virus. CAPRISA’s research on

PrEP was recently recognised by

the VinFuture Prize as a lifesaving

innovation from the global

South.

Today, Tenofovir is taken

daily as a pill for HIV prevention,

a solution also known as pre-exposure

prophylaxis ( PrEP ). It

has been adopted by the World

Health Organization (WHO) as a

key prevention option for both

women and men.

And it hasn’t stopped there

— a range of new anti-retroviral

drugs and long-acting formulations,

delivered as injections and

implants, are currently being

evaluated to expand prevention

choices.

AIDS is no longer a fatal condition,

instead it is chronic yet

manageable. But we still see too

many deaths and new HIV infections,

particularly in marginalized

populations. Two-thirds of

all people living with HIV/AIDS

are in sub–Saharan Africa and

Opinion

the region accounts for 60% of

all new infections.

As we turn our focus towards

other pandemics, such as

COVID-19, we cannot afford to

lose the gains made in HIV. It is

a trap we fell into before — when

early HIV work overshadowed TB

efforts — and it is not one we can

afford to be caught in again.

Even now, COVID-19 continues

to draw on lessons from the

decades of work that have been

poured into our HIV/AIDS response.

This includes leveraging

existing testing tools to detect

COVID, utilising clinical trial infrastructure

to expedite vaccine

development, calling on community

engagement processes to

educate the public, and relying

on scientific expertise to guide

governments in their response.

The AIDS pandemic has

taught us that scientists, policy-makers,

and civil societies

cannot work in a vacuum. There

must be a unity of purpose that

galvanises the steadfast support

of global leaders in governments

and funding agencies across the

world.

Africa has the scientific lead-

ership and intellectual capital to

develop new technologies and

interventions. This is something

we have shown time and time

again. If there is a problem, then

local research is surely the best

path toward finding a solution.

Pursuing this path of innovation

requires funding that

will support and promote the

growth and expertise of Africa’s

scientists. Our inter-dependency

and shared vulnerability

underscores the importance of

collaboration and resource-sharing

both globally and regionally

that must be used for the benefit

of humanity. There is no time for

complacency. We must ensure

that solutions are tailored by local

research to best benefit those

in need.

Professor Quarraisha Abdool

Karim is an infectious diseases

epidemiologist and Associate

Scientific Director of the Centre

for the AIDS Programme of

Research in South Africa (CA-

PRISA). She was a 2021 Laureate

of the VinFuture Prize, in the

‘Innovators from developing

countries’ category.

The need to pause and rethink

Ghana’s Tax Exemption Regime

GHANA HAS been

granting tax exemptions

and getting

virtually nothing in

return. Meanwhile,

higher and more taxes are

imposed on citizens repeatedly.

Public sector workers are asking

government to pause and rethink

the exemptions which are

a drain on government revenue.

Ghana's low and declining

tax efforts make it extremely

disturbing for the country to

grant so many tax exemptions

and get nothing in return. Tax

revenue is only 14 percent of

GDP, a much smaller figure than

many African countries. On

the other hand, expenditures

depending on the taxes, are high

and growing. Overall, national

expenditures hover between

23 and 27 percent of GDP while

revenues stand between 12 and

15 percent. The resulting budget

deficits account for the growing

national debt.

Agreeably, there is a need to

raise the tax-GDP ratio through

direct taxes. Direct taxes are

more progressive and relieve the

overburdened citizens from new

and higher taxes.

However, it is equally important

to revisit the revenue losses

that the country is incurring

through tax exemptions. For example,

most of the exemptions

to the Export Processing Zones

(EPZ) enterprises do not make

economic or social sense.

A country gives tax exemptions

to derive specific benefits.

In the case of the EPZ, the

expected benefits are export

revenue, employment, technology,

and skills transfer. Unfortunately,

studies reveal that Ghana

gives away much-needed tax

revenue without getting commensurate

benefits.

Exports from EPZ are lower

than other enterprises in the

domestic economy. In addition,

available figures show that

employment is much lower than

anticipated.

Besides, the quality of jobs is

unacceptable or appalling; some

of the employees do not enjoy

social security, minimum wage

and other minimum decent

work standards enshrined in the

laws of the land.

Meanwhile, it is common

knowledge that skills development

and technology transfer do

not happen without decent work

standards.

It is expected that EPZ enterprises

engage in value-added

processes that increase export

earnings.

However, this does not always

happen. For example, some

enterprises have turned their

operations into warehousing

outposts instead of manufacturing

centres.

Some also sell more than 30

percent of their produce on the

domestic market, in contravention

of the law.

As a result, they compete

with producers on the local

market to the detriment of local

competitors who do not benefit

from exemptions.

The disappointing performance

of the enterprises in

EPZ is due to several factors,

including legislative, regulatory,

policy weaknesses, institutional,

and monitoring challenges.

Therefore, Public Sector Workers

Unions find it gratifying that

Ghana's Parliament is considering

a Bill on Tax Exemptions.

However, for now, as a public

sector workers' group, we respectfully

make the following

recommendations to parliament

to: (1) Rethink the idea that a

company can be declared as a

single factory zone. It hampers

effective monitoring of the operations

of the FPZ Enterprises

to ensure that they comply with

the terms and conditions for

which they are enjoying the tax

exemptions; (2) Empower the

Ghana Revenue Authority, the

Free Zones Authority, and other

relevant institutions to undertake

an independent assessment

of the operations of eligible free

zone enterprises for continued

eligibility or otherwise of the

tax exemptions they enjoy. The

independent report on the operations

of the free zone enterprises

must look at the number of

Ghanaians employed. We must

also assess the quality of the employment

the companies offer to

Ghanaians. In addition, Government

must take an interest in

whether the employees receive

at least the minimum wage, are

registered for social security and

enjoy the statutory benefits stated

in the country's laws. Finally,

there is a pressing need to review

the Free Zones Act (Act 504,

1995) and align it with modern

trends, including operations of

the digital economy and e-Commerce.

This review should also

allow the phasing out of single

factory enclaves that complicate

monitoring and enforcement.

Ghana must pause and rethink

wasteful tax exemptions

in the face of a multiplicity of

excessive and burdensome indirect

taxes.

Issued by National Coordinating

Committee (NCC) of Public

Sector Unions in Ghana.

Page 10

The World Bank says

that additional policy

reforms in investment

and trade facilitation

can further enhance

The Institute of

Directors-Ghana (IoD-

Gh) has engaged the

Managing Director and

Chief Executive Officer

(CEO) of Zenith Bank Ghana

Limited, Mr Henry Onwuzurigbo,

on the status of a draft Directors’

Charter Bill and the National

Corporate Governance Code

(NCGC).

Mr Rockson Kwame

Dogbegah, President of IoD-

Gh, who paid a courtesy call

on the CEO with a delegation

from the IoD-Gh, said to

further strengthen professional

directorship in Ghana, the

Institute had sent a status draft

of the Directors’ Charter Bill to

the Minister of Education for

due process.

The visit was to welcome the

CEO who had recently assumed

office and to discuss strategic

matters of mutual interest

regarding the practice of good

corporate governance and

professional directorship.

Mr Dogbegah stated that the

Directors’ Charter Bill, when

passed, would establish the

IoD-Gh as a statutory body to

set standards for the practice

of corporate governance in

Ghana and to provide for related

matters.

Also, he updated the Bank on

the key stakeholder engagement

the Institute had untaken

leading to the unanimous

agreement on the need to

develop a National Corporate

Governance Code (NCGC).

The NCGC project seeks to

harmonise the different industry

and sector specific governance

codes existing currently into a

national code that will provide

some ease of compliance and

reference to promote the culture

of good corporate governance for

public and private organizations.

Mr Dogbegah, also the

Chairman of the African

Corporate Governance Network

(ACGN), therefore, explained

that, when completed, the NCGC

would serve as a unified national

corporate governance reference

Business

Mr Pierre Laporte, World Bank Country

Director for Ghana, Liberia and Sierra Leone

trade flows between Ghana and

the rest of the sub region.

In its Ghana Trade

Competitiveness Diagnostics

report, it urged the Government


to among other things, take

either administrative or

regulatory steps to reduce

port charges, revise outdated

transshipment regime,

reduce the number of police

checkpoints and resolve the VAT

charge on transit trade services.

“Several steps are required

to simplify and harmonise

import and export procedures,

and to overhaul the governance

framework of the Port of Tema,”

the report noted.

While commending Ghana’s

progress in the transport

and logistics services where

maritime cargo volume

increased by 7.6 per cent on

average per annum over the

period of 2010 to 2020, the Bank

has called for infrastructure

Zenith Bank CEO and IoD-Ghana Discusses

Directors’ Charter Bill, Corporate Governance Code

for good corporate governance

for all stakeholders in the

country.

Also, he indicated that the

NCGC would enhance Ghana’s

global appeal as an investment

destination, provide clarity,

inclusiveness, harmony and

synergy, and boost investor

interest and confidence as the

harmonised code was expected

to be in conformity with

international best practices.

Mr Dogbegah, thus called

on Zenith Bank and Corporate

Ghana to support the Institute’s

two major projects, the National

Corporate Governance Code and

the Director’s Charter Bill and

join the Institute as a Corporate

member.

The IoD-Gh President

pointed out some notable

inroads the Institute had made

in promoting the practice of

Corporate in Ghana, adding that

as a member of the ACGN, the

Institute had over the past two

decades engaged in training,

advocacy and publications

geared towards national

Ghana needs more policy reforms in

adherence to good corporate

governance.

Mr Henry Onwuzurigbo,

Managing Director and CEO of

Zenith Bank Ghana Ltd, who led

Zenith Bank delegation, assured

them of the Bank’s commitment

to continuously uphold the

tenets of good corporate

governance.

As MD and CEO, Mr

Onwuzurigbo said he would

continue in the steps of his

predecessors and continue to

foster a cordial rapport with

IoD-Gh.

He commended the Institute

of Directors-Ghana for the

exceptional leadership shown

in promoting good corporate

governance and director

professionalism.

Zenith Bank Ghana Ltd

emerged winner in the

Universal Banking Category as

the Best Corporate Governance

Compliant Organisation at

the Fourth IoD-Gh Corporate

Governance Excellence Awards

held in November 2021.

Henry Onwuzurigbo

investments that facilitate

shipping through containers.

The report titled,

“Strengthening Ghana’s Trade

Competitiveness in the Context

of AfCFTA” also revealed that

Ghana’s trade regime in goods

was restrictive as far levels of

tariff and non-tariff barriers

(NTB) were concerned.

In comparison with other

countries as at 2019, the report

showed that Ghana’s tradeweighted

Most Favored Nation

(MFN) tariff rate was 10.57

per cent, higher than most

comparators except for Kenya,

which has a trade-weighted MFN

of 13.35 per cent.

“The number of non-tariff

measures (NTMs) imposed by

Ghana are higher than in Nigeria

and Cote d’Ivoire but below

levels in Vietnam although

further analysis is required to

ascertain the extent NTMs are

enforced in a discriminatory

way,” the report highlighted.

Speaking at the launch of

the report in Accra, Mr Pierre

Laporte, World Bank Country

The Government of

Ghana will get US$1

billion from some

international banks

for budget purposes

and to boost the Central Bank

reserves as the country seeks to

cut its fiscal deficit and stabilise

the cedi.

Details of the loan is yet to be

laid before Parliament is actually

a US$2Billion syndicated loan

with the first billion now being

made available while the rest

comes later in the year.

According to a Bloomberg

report sighted by GhanaWeb,

Ghana raised $750 million

through syndicated loans with

the participation of about eight

African and European banks and

$250 million from multilateral

lenders.

Standard Bank Group Ltd.,

Standard Chartered Plc and

Rand Merchant Bank Ltd. led the

arrangements, the report added.

Director for Ghana, Liberia and

Sierra Leone, said that regional

integration, digital innovation,

and trade policy was key to

driving Ghana’s economic

transformation agenda.

The country, he added,

could strengthen its trade

competitiveness and optimise

benefits under the African

Continental Free Trade

Agreement (AfCFTA) and the

Global Value Chain (GVC)

through the elimination of NTBs,

implementing trade facilitation

reforms and enhancing

regulatory framework for

services.

Mr Herbert Krappa, Deputy

Minister of Trade and Industry,

said the findings of the

diagnostics report were a wake

up for government in pursuing it

transformation agenda.

“Government will continue

to intensify our best efforts at

enhancing our merchandise

trade competitiveness. We will

continue to invest in trade

related infrastructure including

ICT digital trade,” he said.

Government to get

US$1 billion from

foreign banks

Ghana cut its budget

shortfall to 7.4% of gross

domestic product in 2022, from

an estimated 12.1% of GDP and

will dedicate $750 million of the

syndicated loans to the budget,

for expenses and liability

management.

The rest will go to the Bank

of Ghana to beef up its resources

for swap deals.

"Ghana’s debt ratio rose to

78% of GDP at the end of March,

from 66.3% of GDP a year before.

The cedi lost 22% against the

dollar this year, compared with

1% appreciation for the same

period a year ago.

"The country will consider

the second tranche of $1 billion

in the latter part of the year,

after the mid-year review of the

budget and taking into account

the impact of the electronic

transactions levy, oil and food

prices, as well as geopolitics,"

the report stated further.

DAILY ANALYST


Mohamed Salah

has won the

men's 2021-22

Professional

Footballers' Association

(PFA) Player of the Year

award following an incredible

individual campaign for Liverpool.

Salah wins the men's award

for the second time, beating

Manchester City rival Kevin De

Bruyne to the prize.

Cristiano Ronaldo, Harry

Kane and Salah's team-mates

Virgil van Dijk and Sadio Mane

were also nominated.

Salah earns his second PFA

title

The PFA award is voted for by

current and former professional

footballers, and Salah has once

again impressed his peers above

all others in the Premier League.

He shared the Golden Boot

with Tottenham forward Son

Heung-min

He also claimed the Playmaker

of the Year award

Salah is now one of only nine

players to have won two PFA

Players’ Player awards, joining

Ronaldo and De Bruyne, along

with Mark Hughes, Alan Shearer,

Thierry Henry and Gareth Bale,

plus twice women's award winners

Lucy Bronze and Fran Kirby.

What has Salah said about

winning PFA POTY?

The Egypt international said:

“It’s a great honour to win a trophy,

individual or collective and

this one is big so, I'm very happy

and very proud of that.

"This one is a really good one

to win, especially because it’s

voted by players. It shows you

that you’ve worked really hard

and you get what you worked for.

"I have my room with trophies

in a cabinet and I made

sure that I had another space for

one more. I always keep space

and just try to imagine that the

Mohamed Salah

Salah beats De

of the Year as Kerr

also recognised

trophies are going to come.”

"When you get older, you feel

like you’re more stable and you

know exactly what you want

from football so I’m just trying

to really chill and help the team.

That’s why I think I also won

the Playmaker award, because

it’s like you’re more aware of the

game, so you just try to make the

people next to you better and try

to make yourself better as well.”

Kerr claims women's crown

The women's award went to

Chelsea striker Sam Kerr, who

claimed her maiden title and became

the first Australian of any

gender to be named PFA Player

of the Year.

Kerr finished 2021-22 as top

scorer in the Women's Super

League with 20 goals, as Chelsea

won the title by a point from

Arsenal as part of a domestic

league and cup double. She

scored twice in the FA Cup final

as the Blues beat Manchester

City after extra time.

The PFA Players’ Player of the

Year 2022 | @samkerr1

@ChelseaFCW @TheMatildas

#PFAawards #POTY pic.

twitter.com/G8sw7jmIxC

— Professional Footballers'

Association (@PFA) June 9, 2022

She said: “It's a massive

honour I think, whenever you’re

voted for by your peers. I think

that’s the highest honour as a

player so it’s an amazing feeling.

“I do a lot as a player, sometimes

it comes off and sometimes

it doesn’t, but I think you

have to see yourself in those

moments. I just have belief in

myself honestly. Just lots of confidence

that in the 90th minute

or whenever it is, that the team

will give me the ball and rely on

me.

"Knowing that my team trust

me gives me loads of confidence.

I love those big moments - that's

what I live for as a footballer.”

The much awaited

match between

Borussia Dortmund

Legends and African

football Super stars

(Giants) comes off at the Accra

Sports Stadium on Saturday,

June 11, 2022.

Speaking at an encounter

media partners at Silicon House

at Tesano on Thursday morning,

Ibrahim Tanko, a former player

of Dortmund assured that the

match will be very interesting

and urged football fans to troop

to the stadium to watch and

have fun.

Benedict Schold, Director of

International Partnerships at

BVB Dortmund expressed that

Ghana was specially chosen due

to the interest in football among

the people, and it will be linked

to personal relationships and

development of the game.

Already top German

footballers from Dortmund

are in town including Patrick

Omowoyeba, Jurgen Koehler,

Nigerian Victor Ikpeba and

Zidane.

According to the organisers,

Shooting Stars, a division two

side in Ghana, the project is to

promote unity and love among

football people and create

opportunities for young people.

The National Sports

Authority (NSA) has

signed a Memorandum

of Understanding

(MoU) with the Kwame

Nkrumah University of Science

and Technology (KNUST), to

leverage on research to improve

football pitches across the

country.

As part of the collaboration,

the Horticulture Department

of the KNUST would conduct

research to identify why most

grasses on Ghanaian pitches

are not able to withstand the

weather, and how best to use

local materials to improve the

pitches.

The Department would also

train managers of pitches of

the NSA on the right species of

grasses to use to ensure quality

and long lasting pitches to

facilitate sports development.

Professor Mrs. Rita

Akosua Dickson, the Vice-

Chancellor, KNUST welcomed

the collaboration, saying that

“research and collaboration

touched the nerves of the

University”.

“One of the things that we

are very much convinced about

as a university is that we have

always been staunch believers of

constructive partnerships.

She added that, “we believe

that with the mandate that we

Sports

Giants to thrill football fans

at Accra Sports Stadium

Mr. Martin Heward – Mills,

one of the Marketing officers

handling the event said the game

also affords young people who did

not see some stars to learn from

their skills and techniques.

The project started with a call

to Ibrahim Tanko and he linked

up others like Tony Baffoe of the

Ghana Professional Footballers

Association, and they have

worked hard to make it a reality.

The former CAF Deputy General

Secretary said Ghana can provide

four sets of legends to feature,

however only 22 players will be

NSA signs MoU with

have as the leading science and

technology university mandates

us to go through research and

proffer solutions to solve the

myriad problems that this

country is facing”.

She said the research work

of the KNUST would be best

seen and attested to through its

impact on humanity, society,

homes, industry, sports among

other fields of endeavours.

The Vice-Chancellor

commended the NSA for finding

it expedient to collaborate

with the University to develop

its pitches and pledged the

commitment of the KNUST to the

MoU.

Prof. Peter Twumasi, the

Director-General, NSA said his

outfit had a mandate to develop

about 47 sporting disciplines

on the field.

Other cultural activities

will herald the match to involve

students and communities.

Mr. Randolf Rodiigues, CEO of

Shooting Stars FC said he is glad

that all the Super stars are in

Ghana for the match.

Some of the players most

likely to feature for the African

Giants are Abedi Pele, Tony

Baffoe, Sammy Kufour, Yaw Preko,

Awudu Issaka, Asamoah Gyan,

Adebayor, Stephen Appiah, C. K.

Akunnor and Kwadwo Asamoah.

For tickets dial *713*33*44#

in the country which required

collaboration with institutions

such as the KNUST to deliver on

its mandate.

He said the NSA in the last

six years had scaled up sports

infrastructural development

across the country, providing

100 astro turfs and multipurpose

stadia which could host about 20

sporting disciplines.

Such facilities, he noted,

would reduce pressure on the

Accra, Kumasi, Tamale and

Essipong stadia which have also

undergone renovations recently.

He said sports had the

potential to create employment

for the youth and stressed the

need for stakeholders to join

forces to develop the talents

as a strategy to address youth

unemployment.

Monday, 13th June, 2022

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