Published articles by BENJAMIN XORNAM GLOVER, Journalist @ GRAPHIC COMMUNICATIONS GROUP LTD
Monday, 29 May 2023
Friday, 26 May 2023
Friday, 19 May 2023
Tuesday, 16 May 2023
'Good riddance to...' - Sam George on Duffuor's withdrawal (Sat. May 13, 2023)
"Good riddance to ..." was the response by Sam Nartey George the Member of Parliament for Ningo Prampram who is seeking re-election in the ongoing primary when he was asked about what he makes of Dr Kwabena Duffuor's withdrawal from the presidential primary.
"I told you that Kwabena Duffuor was not in this race to contest John Mahama, you remember? I told you that he was contesting against spoilt ballots. Spoilt ballots have beaten Kwabena Duffuor, too badly," he told journalists who are in the Ningo Prampram contesting covering the primaries.
A contender in the Ningo Prampram Constituency primary, Micheal Kwetey Tetteh is hinting of a undesirable outcome should 16 delegates from two branches be prevented from voting.
The High Court in Tema, has ordered the NDC to allow some 16 delegates to partake in the primaries in the Ningo-Prampram constituency.
These individuals are executives from two branches in the constituency who were not sworn in following the party’s branch elections.
As a result, they were also not added to the constituency’s delegates list, thus leaving them out of today's primaries.
The aggrieved executives, led by Jonas Tetteh Obinya, Mattew Ayiku, Mathias Narh, Emmanuel Tawiah and Joshua Tetteh dragged the party to court to compel the party and the constituency executives to swear them in before the upcoming primaries.
The court presided over Emmanuel Ankamah, a Court of Appeal judge, sitting as an additional High Court Judge ordered the party to not only add their names to the delegates list but also swear them in to enable them partake in the election.
Speaking to journalists on Saturday, Mr Tetteh said, "where even the two that has been sworn in as ordered by the court will be prevented to vote. This election will not end well, I am assuring you," he said.
Mr Tetteh was optimistic of his chances at winning the ticket to represent the NDC in parliament this time round having missed out at the last primary with seven votes to Sam Nartey George.
Ningo Prampram: Voting resumes with 16 delegates barred from voting (Sat. May - 13 - 2023)
Voting resumed after a brief halt at Ningo Prampram in Greater Accra following a disagreement over the eligibility of some 16 delegates.
The polling exercise which was moving smoothly was halted at about 2:30 pm as some voters from two branches who have secured a court order to vote where prevented from voting.
This led to confusion forcing the EC officials to halt the process while the police took position to protect the ballot boxes.
While Micheal Kwetey Tetteh, a contender in the Ningo Prampram primary who was spotted brandishing a court order and his supporters were insisting that the 16 delegates should be allowed to vote, Sam George and his supporters stood their grounds that those delegates would not be allowed to vote.
A contender in the Ningo Prampram Constituency primary, Micheal Kwetey Tetteh earlier hinted of a undesirable outcome should 16 delegates from two branches be prevented from voting.
The High Court in Tema, on Friday ordered the NDC to allow some 16 delegates to partake in the primaries in the Ningo-Prampram constituency.
These individuals are executives from two branches in the constituency who were not sworn in following the party’s branch elections.
As a result, they were also not added to the constituency’s delegates list, thus leaving them out of today's primaries.
The aggrieved executives, led by Jonas Tetteh Obinya, Mattew Ayiku, Mathias Narh, Emmanuel Tawiah and Joshua Tetteh dragged the party to court to compel the party and the constituency executives to swear them in before the upcoming primaries.
The court presided over Emmanuel Ankamah, a Court of Appeal judge, sitting as an additional High Court Judge ordered the party to not only add their names to the delegates list but also swear them in to enable them partake in the election.
Speaking to journalists on Saturday, Mr Tetteh said, "where even the two that has been sworn in as ordered by the court will be prevented to vote. This election will not end well, I am assuring you," he said.
Mr Tetteh was optimistic of his chances at winning the ticket to represent the NDC in parliament this time round having missed out at the last primary with seven votes to Sam Nartey George.
16 cannot vote
Voting resumed after a brief intervention by the Deputy Tema Regional Police Commander, DCOP Laar Baman.
With the two contenders it was agreed that the 16 people be barred from voting.
This was after a phone call was placed to the General Secretary of the NDC, Fifi Fiavi Kwetey.Mr Micheal Kwetey Tetteh told Graphic Online that the General Secretary of the party informed them that although the 16 delegates were sworn in line with the court order, it was agreed that for this election, no new names should be included in the register.
via: https://www.graphic.com.gh/news/politics/voting-halted-in-ningo-prampram.html
Johnson Sirleaf calls for leveraging data infrastructure to drive development (Daily Graphic, Tues, May 16, 2023 Page 25)
A former President of Liberia, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, has called for more investment in data infrastructure and capacity-building to improve decision-making for accelerated development on the African continent.
For instance, she said, there was the need to build technical and appropriate human capacity to collect, manage and analyse data effectively.
She was speaking at the opening of a five-day Afrobarometer Round 10 planning meeting at the Aqua Safari Resort at Ada, in the Greater Accra Region yesterday.
Madam Sirleaf is a member of the International Advisory Council at Afrobarometer, a pan-African, nonpartisan survey research network that amplifies citizens’ voices.
Agenda
The meeting was attended by some core partners of Afrobarometer, national partners and supporting units from 40 African countries to design the upcoming round of surveys.
It will also include a series of plenary and working-group sessions to discuss and design survey instruments and methodologies, data quality assurance measures and results dissemination strategies.
LLack of data
Madam Sirleaf said in many cases across the continent, the lack of timely data had led to the implementation of ineffective policies, misallocation of resources and perpetuation of inequalities.
"In Africa, the need for timely data has become increasingly important in recent years.
With the continent experiencing significant economic growth and development, data has become an essential tool for policymakers and development practitioners," she said.
According to her, many African policymakers and practitioners still relied on intuition, anecdotal evidence and personal experience to make decisions, saying, "the misalignment between policies and actual needs has resulted in suboptimal outcomes".
She commended Afrobarometer for focusing on issues such as access to education, health care and other basic services for minority groups and marginalised communities.
"We all understand how such data can help promote social justice and reduce inequality, thereby contributing to a more inclusive and equitable society," Madam Sirleaf added.
Roles
In a speech read on her behalf, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey, said Afrobarometer, together with other research groups, continued to play meaningful roles in the political discourse by making people's voices significant in policy initiatives and decision-making at the continental and global levels.
As a resourceful research organisation, she said Afrobarometer could complement efforts of policymakers, opinion leaders and academia to sensitise the public to topical issues such as climate change, the transition to the green economy, energy and food security and capacity-building for media personnel and the youth.
The Chief Executive Officer of Afrobarometer, Joseph Asunka, said if democracy was indeed a government of the people, by the people, and for the people, then the people's voice and life experiences must count in policy and development decisions that affected their lives.
"We are here today in pursuit of a noble vision: a world in which Africa’s development is anchored in the realities and aspirations of its people," he said.
For his part, Afrobarometer co-founder and Board Chairman, Prof. Emmanuel Gyimah-Boadi, said collaborations and insights gathered at the meeting would be instrumental in guiding future research endeavours of the organisation.
Wednesday, 10 May 2023
Tema West benefits from road improvement projects( Daily Graphic, Saturday, May 6, 2023 Page 11)
She explained that the municipality was witnessing a significant upgrade in road infrastructure although a lot remained to be done to bring relief to the residents in the area.
The projects executed so far include the asphalt overlay of 3.5 km of road at Community three Sites A and B, the asphalt overlay of 5 km of roads at the former Adom FM area in Community two, the asphalt overlay of 5.3 km of road at Community five SSNIT flats area, asphalt overlay of 5.5 km road at HFC Estates in Community 18 and the asphalt overlay of 10.25 km road around Awudu Issaka park area in Community 20.
Speaking at the first ordinary general meeting of the fourth session of the second assembly, Ms Addo said the projects were part of the numerous asphalt works being undertaken within the Greater Accra Region of which the municipal assembly had so far benefited from about 50.0 km of the entire packaged allocation.
She said aside the projects, other road rehabilitation and upgrading projects in the municipality were at 40 per cent stages of completion within the municipality. These include the rehabilitation of the Emef to Sakumono link road, the rehabilitation of roads around the Pleasant Place Church area to Kotobabi, upgrading of roads around Adonai and Kenebi Hotel area.
“Road construction and maintenance is one critical area that requires immense contribution and investment. The Assembly is in touch with the Department of Urban Roads to increase budgetary allocation in respect of road infrastructure for 2023,” she said.
Health
Touching on health, the MCE said that as part of the government’s Agenda 111 initiative in building hospitals within districts and regional capitals, the Tema West Assembly had earmarked part of the TEXPO market lands for the construction of the proposed edifice.
“The Assembly in its efforts to ensure the project is realised would be demolishing the unauthorised structures within the 8.6-acre land of the Assembly at the TEXPO market.” She said that the assembly and its security council, in collaboration with stakeholders within the Tema West Municipal area had engaged the residents on the encroached land to vacate it to enable the assembly to benefit from the initiative.
Ms Addo said the assembly had also instituted regular visits to eateries in the municipality to engage food vendors on issues of food safety.
The visit, she said, formed part of continuing efforts by the assembly to intensify monitoring of the activities of food vendors in the municipality and enforce food safety and hygiene bye-laws of the assembly. She said those who failed to comply would be summoned, charged and prosecuted.
The MCE for Tema West said the Assembly in its efforts to improve infrastructural development had earmarked a number of projects such as the reconstruction of the dilapidated Tema Community two European market, completion of a three-unit classroom block at Star Primary School, Tema Community Five, completion of fence wall at Tema Polyclinic to address issues of encroachment and insecurity at the clinic, construction of speed humps on selected roads to improve road safety, construction of zonal office for staff of Adjei-Kojo Zonal Council and building of a health centre at Adjei-Kojo all aimed at addressing the development deficit in the municipality.
Finance
Ms Addo indicated that the assembly’s total revenue generated in the first quarter of 2023 stood at GH¢3,059,099.20, an increase of 15 per cent over the same period in 2022.
These increments, the MCE explained, related to the early printing and distribution of bills, monitoring and supervision of revenue activities with the municipality and strict internal controls.
The MCE reiterated the need for cooperation and unity among the various stakeholders in the planning and implementation of plans and programmes of the assembly that would be of benefit to all residents in the municipality.
via: https://www.graphic.com.gh/news/politics/tema-west-benefits-from-road-improvement-projects.html
Mogya is latest from Rejoice Otchere( Graphic Showbiz, May 4, 2023 Page 4)
BUDDING Ghanaian Gospel singer Rejoice Otchere is out with a new single titled Mogya which was released on Wednesday, May 3.
Mogya is the Akan word for blood thus Rejoice also known as RJ’s latest song communicates the power in the blood of Jesus Christ.
The song, a ballad, affirms the singer’s beliefs that as Christians, now was the time to utilise the power of the blood of Jesus Christ.
“There’s evil all around us and we need to plead His blood over our lives, our purposes and assignments, our families, loved ones and anything that concerns us. This is what my song Mogya is about”, she tells Graphic Showbiz.
Talking about the inspiration behind Mogya, RJ said “In this day and age, it seems that the power in the blood of Jesus Christ has been underestimated. Therefore we need to go back to it. This is the inspiration behind the song”, she added.
Although she may not be a household name yet, RJ is not too new in the Gospel music space. She is a praise and worship leader, a singer and songwriter who is passionate about inspiring hope and an awareness of God’s manifest presence and love through her music in the society and the world at large.
Her debut single, Holy Spirit(2018) was birthed out of a desire to know God more through fellowship with the Holy Spirit each day.
After that, she released songs such as Amen, Light of Heaven and Yesu, an expression of appellations to Jesus Christ which was dropped in December last year.
That is not all, she has also put together worship medleys and done covers of other Gospel songs and hymns.
RJ harbours the desire to attain greatness on the gospel music scene. She hosts an annual live worship concert dubbed The Ecounter which is gradually becoming a staple event on the Gospel industry calendar.
She was a music director and lead singer for the Vibes Choir of Faith Assemblies of God, Nungua, before joining Hope Congregation of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana, Sakumono Estates’ Royals of Hope.
RJ who is currently lead vocalist for RJMUSIC is married to David Oppong Kumi and they are blessed with a baby girl.
via: https://www.graphic.com.gh/entertainment/showbiz-news/mogya-is-latest-from-rejoice-otchere.html
Wednesday, 3 May 2023
Tuesday, 2 May 2023
CPP worried over tax burden on workers ( Daily Graphic, Tues May 2, 2023. Page 17)
THE Convention People’s Party (CPP) has expressed concern over the tax burden on Ghanaian workers.
This, the party said, had eroded the incomes of workers, worsening their standard of living.
May Day
This was contained in a statement signed by the General Secretary of CPP, Nana Yaa Akyempim Jantuah, on the occasion of May Day on May 1 yesterday.
“Today, May 1, 2023 is supposed to be a day of celebration for the hardworking masses of this dear country, Ghana,” it said.
“Unfortunately today Ghanaian workers are faced with the payment of taxes that have eroded their incomes completely and depleted their standard of living and increased their cost of living to the highest level ever,” it said.
Liberate
The party, therefore, called on all well-meaning Ghanaians who love the country to join the party to liberate the country from the New Patriotic Party (NPP) government.
It said the Akufo-Addo/Bawumia government had taken the people of the
country and workers for granted for too long and “it is time for us to
vote for the CPP in the 2024 general election”.
Ghana, it believed, would be great again.
The government of the NPP, it said, had repeatedly shown that it had no plans to pull the country from the doldrums of mismanagement, corruption and abject poverty.
“It is so sad that as we fight to save our environment from illegal mining (galamsey), the government and its cohorts have been cited as complicit in galamsey in Ghana, and it is also sad to know that Ghana is smuggling illicit gold out of this nation worth $ 6 billion while we have cup in hand begging the International Monetary Fund to grant us a bailout of $ 3 billion, very sad indeed,” it emphasised.
Come clean
The statement charged the President and his team to come clean on all the accusations levelled against them.
“Concerning galamsey, Ghanaians deserve to know the truth, there are too many cover-ups,” it said.
Appeals Court judge donates library to Ada Foah community (Daily Graphic, Tues. May 2, 2023 Back Page)
A Justice of the Court of Appeal, Justice Victor D. Ofoe, has inaugurated and handed over a library facility to the people of Ada Foah in the Ada East District in the Greater Accra Region.
The library complex is stocked with assorted books and other educational materials to encourage reading habits among young people and to empower them to fully realise their academic potential.
The facility, which boasts a 100-seater conventional library, a reception area, a storeroom, an office and washrooms, was handed over to the Ghana Library Authority.
It has become the 15th library in the Greater Accra Region and the first in the Ada East District under the Ghana Library Authority.
At the inauguration of the facility last Friday, Justice Ofoe, a native of Ada Foah, expressed excitement about the facility and the benefits he intended to bequeath to the youth in his community.
He said quality education at the basic level was critical in shaping the academic performance of children, hence the need to inculcate in them the habit of reading by making reading and learning materials available.
Full use
Justice Ofoe urged parents and teachers to get their children and pupils to make full use of the facility.
“Note that the library is yours.It is an additional tool of learning we have added to what you already have.
The pupils should have a library book for use during the library period allocated on your timetable.Let us together improve literacy.Let us take advantage of this facility to improve the quality of education within the district,” he said.
“Together, let us get the child on the wheels towards self-development.Let us raise their curiosity, knowledge, learning and the ability to discern information from misinformation.The world is moving and education cannot be an option.
It is a must-have, whether to be a lawyer, mechanic, medical doctor, architect, mason, nurse, teacher, you need education and you cannot have education without reading,” he stressed.Justice Ofoe thanked the Presbyterian Church of Ghana in Ada Foah for giving out the parcel of land for the project, and also the Ada East District Assembly and the Ghana Library Authority for supporting the initiative.
Research facility
The Ada East District Director of Education, Moses Pormotey,
entreated indigenous Ada citizens to develop the library into a research
centre to pave the way for the research, preservation, restoration and
marketing of the Dangme culture.
The Chief Executive of the Ada East District Assembly, Sarah Dugbakie Pobee, commended Justice Ofoe for his invaluable service to the community and the gift of a library.
She urged other natives of Ada and persons who had invested in waterfront properties to emulate the gesture by sponsoring similar projects in other parts of the district such as Kasseh, Big Ada and the various island communities to benefit children, especially.
The Greater Accra Regional Director of the GLA, Edward Addo-Yobo, said the authority was ready to provide the necessary reading materials and services in order for the children in the community to derive maximum benefit from the library.
The Magistrate of the Ada Circuit Court, Paulina A. Kwakyewaa, thanked Justice Ofoe for the initiative, and advised the children of the community to take advantage of the library and spend their leisure time there to enrich their knowledge.
Women's NGO donates to Tema female Ward( Daily Graphic, Thurs, April 27, 2023 Page 13)
As part of efforts to improve healthcare at the Tema General Hospital, the Tema chapter of Women Empowerment Foundation International (WEFI), a non-governmental organisation (NGO), has donated assorted hospital equipment to the female medical ward of the facility.
The items included 31 bedspreads, 12 patient mattresses, one
wheelchair, one zimma frame, three oxygen cylinders, an adjustable
wheeled bedframe, 15 plastic chairs and packs of bottled water all
estimated at about GH¢40,000.00
The group also changed the curtains in the ward and adjoining offices.
The President of the Tema chapter of the WEFI, Christiana Agyeman-Berko, speaking to journalists after presenting the items to the hospital said the group which was founded in 2009 as a charity organisation adopted the Female Medical Ward of the facility in 2017 and renovated the entire ward.
The renovation included re-roofing of the ward, changing of the ceiling boards, fixing and changing of bathroom and toilet facilities, painting of the ward, plumbing works, and re-netting of the entire female medical ward.
She said the latest donation, which was based on an appeal from the facility, was aimed at enhancing health care services provided to the public at the facility
She also said WEFI had undertaken similar projects in other health facilities in the past.
Additionally, she said WEFI had granted educational scholarships to needy but brilliant students who were pursuing courses at the second cycle and tertiary level.
Appeal
A Senior Nursing Officer at the hospital, Naana Mensima Aikens, expressed appreciation to WEFI for their support for the ward, emphasising that it would help to bring relief to patients.
She appealed to corporate entities in Tema to come to the aid of the facility since it was the only referral hospital for the whole metropolis and neighbouring communities.
Mrs Aikens made a special appeal for the Tema General Hospital to be provided with a mobile medical X-ray machine to help radiographers take X-ray images of patients without having to move the patients out of the ward.
She said the only existing portable medical X-ray machine in the facility had broken down for some months now, adding that sometimes, patients had to be moved in an ambulance from the ward to the X-ray unit just to have an X-ray image taken, something which came with its own inconvenience for the patient and health care providers.
Mrs Aikens urged philanthropists to support the facility with patient monitors which would allow patients to be safely monitored while on admission and also more adjustable wheeled bed frames as well as patient lockers for the 32-bed female medical ward which currently has less than five-wheel adjustable beds while most of the existing patient bedside lockers have broken down.
via: https://www.graphic.com.gh/news/general-news/womens-ngo-donates-to-tema-female-ward.html
Unichem Industries sets up pharmaceutical plant (Daily Graphic, Wed April 26, 2023 Back Page)
Unichem Industries Limited, a pharmaceutical distribution company, has set up a pharmaceutical plant to produce high quality medicines for the Ghanaian market and the African sub region.
Staff of the facility working on the production floor of the new pharmaceutical plant
The new facility, which is located on the Spintex Road in Accra, has three separate divisions that will produce the reputed London United Exports Ltd (LUEX) pharmaceutical products, which are liquids, ointments and capsules.
The factory, the first of its kind in West Africa, is aimed at improving Unichem Ghana’s supply chain to accelerate the supply of reputed LUEX pharmaceutical products and new breakthrough in medicines to patients across Africa.
In his welcome address at the ceremony yesterday, a Director of Unichem Group, Jason Nana Yaw Mohan, said the facility represented a new era in the production of LUEX pharmaceutical products in Ghana that would benefit millions of people across Africa.
Investment
The Minister of Health, Kwaku Agyemang-Manu, in a speech read on his behalf by Dr Joycelyn Naa Kokoi Azeez, Director of Pharmaceutical Services, Ministry of Health, said the opening of the facility represented a significant investment in Ghana's healthcare infrastructure to provide quality medicines for the masses, adding that the ministry was delighted to see such private sector investments in health care.
That, the minister noted, would undoubtedly complement the efforts of the government to provide quality healthcare services to Ghanaians.
Partnership
The Chief Executive Officer of LUEX Healthcare, Sunil D. Mohan, said
the establishment of the factory by Unichem in Ghana marked a
significant milestone in LUEX Healthcare’s commitment and partnership
in delivering quality products in Ghana and beyond.
via: https://www.graphic.com.gh/news/general-news/unichem-industries-sets-up-pharmaceutical-plant.html
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THE Minister of the Interior, Mr Cletus Avoka and the Director General of the Ghana Immigration Service, Mrs Elizabeth Adjei, have jointly c...