Government urged to support private universities (Daily Graphic Feb - 09 - 2023 Page 28)

Feb - 09 - 2023

Jose Moses Michael (left), Overall Best Student, receiving his award from Ernest Ansah, founder of Data Link Institute of Business and Technology

 

The President of Data Link Institute of Business and Technology (DLIBT), Professor Stanley Saamoah Moffatt, has urged the government to consider all universities, both public and private, as a public good that must be supported in equal measure. 

 He stressed that private universities, just like their public counterparts, were key stakeholders in the delivery of quality education in the country. Prof Moffatt was addressing the 13th graduation ceremony of the DLIBT on Thursday, January 26, 2023 in Tema. 

A total of 235 students graduated in various courses such as Master of Science (MSc) Accounting, Strategic Management. Others completed courses in Bsc Computer Science, Information and Communications Technology, Business Administration as well as Advanced Diploma in Logistics and Transport. 

Awards 

Jose Moses Michael emerged the Overall Best as well as the best Male Student and best student in Computer Science, while Juliana Adu was adjudged the best student in Human Resource. Other award winners were Nixon Kweku Hamilton (Best Student MPhill Strategic Management), Ethel Adoma (Best Female Student, MSc Strategic Management), and Hope Smith Lomotey, Best Male Student. 

Enumerating some of the challenges facing private universities in the country, Prof Moffatt said private universities competed with the public universities in recruitment and retention of highly qualified faculty. 

He said salary increments for government workers made the compensation packages of public universities more attractive than what most private universities could afford. Prof Moffatt noted that the most debilitating challenge facing most private universities was inadequate funding. "DLIBT, like most private universities, rely almost entirely on internally generated funds for all its programmes and activities while most public universities receive funding from a variety of sources, including government agencies, not-for-profit organisations and business interests," he said 

According to him, that never-ending challenge was exacerbated by the tortuous processes of accreditation and affiliation which placed excessive financial pressure on the private universities. 

He called on the government not to deprive private universities of government interventions such as grants from the state, the Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFund), the Scholarship Secretariat, research grants, as well as subsidies for infrastructure expansion. 

While commending the government for abolishing corporate tax, he said the state should further help by waiving all taxes on inputs required for teaching, learning and innovation in the private universities. 

National Development Plan 

Prof Moffatt reiterated the need for a National Development Plan which would serve as a guide for academic institutions to develop programmes and courses that would feed into the plan. 

"A national development plan, in a way, can guide the government to offer competitive contracts to both public and private universities to conduct research and other activities that are believed to be in the broader public interest." he said. 

 A former Dean of the University for Development Studies(UDS) Faculty of Integrated Development, Prof Paul Kwame Nkegbe, who spoke on the theme: “Turning economic crises into opportunities”, said despite facing numerous challenges, tertiary educational institutions had demonstrated an ability to adapt and innovate to meet the needs of their students and society.

 Writer’s email: Benjamin.glover@graphic.com.gh

 

 

 

https://www.graphic.com.gh/?view=article&id=179185:government-urged-to-support-private-universities&catid=270

Kpong Left Bank Irrigation Project produces banana plantation - Set to create employment for 600 (Daily Graphic Nov - 27 - 2022)

Nov - 27 - 2022
 

The new banana plantation under cultivation

Golden Exotics Limited (GEL), a leading producer of bananas in Ghana has invested in a new plantation under the completed and modernised Kpong Left Bank Irrigation Project (KLBIP).

The move forms a major expansion drive by the GEL which already operates a 2,000-hectare plantation in Kusunya near Asutsuare in the Shai Osudoku District of the Greater Accra Region, under the Kpong Irrigation Scheme.

The expansion project is in line with GEL’s expectation of continued growth in Ghana.

Background

The KLBIP forms part of a World Bank-funded Ghana Commercial Agriculture Project (GCAP) to facilitate access to reliable water and land.

The Torgorme project, estimated at $34 million was designed to expand irrigable land from the initial 450 hectares constructed in the 1970s to about 2,500 hectares for farmers to go into commercial farming.

Ceremonial planting

Speaking at a ceremonial planting of banana seedlings at the KLBIP in Torgorme in the North Tongue District last Wednesday, the Managing Director of GEL, Benedict Rich, said the plantation expansion would cover 500 hectares of land.

He said when fully completed over the next two to three years, the new plantation would employ about 600 people, adding that given the right support from the chiefs, people and policy makers as well as enough water supply, which they expressed the hope to expand in the future.

Mr Rich said the company’s plantation in Ghana, which was started in 2003, now exported over 85 per cent of 100,000 tonnes of bananas produced from Ghana annually, while employing 3,500 full time employees.

He said while they cherished the opportunity given to GEL to invest in the rehabilitated Kpong Left Bank Irrigation Scheme, the size of land allocated to them was smaller than their standard size of a banana plantation.

Mr Rich, however, expressed the hope that the success of the new venture would open other opportunities for them to grow the farm to the size of its Kasunya plantation.

He also expressed the hope that issues of land allocation to local farmers, which the Lands Commission was working on, would be expedited to avoid the problem of encroachment on lands already allocated to commercial farmers and the destruction of crops by cattles. 

Transformation agenda

The Minister of Food and Agriculture, Dr Owusu Afriyie Akoto, commended GEL for being the first out of the 14 commercial farmers allocated lands, to take advantage of the rehabilitated Kpong Left Bank Irrigation Project at Torgorme.

He said this move would contribute substantially to the transformation agenda of the government.

The minister called for cooperation between investors, the chiefs and people of Torgome to ensure that the scheme was successfully implemented, so it went a long way to improve their standard of living.

He disclosed that to address some concerns of the chiefs, some portions of the project area had been allocated to smallholder farmers in the Torgorme community for vegetable cultivation.

Challenges

The vice-president of Compagnie Fruitier in Ghana, major shareholders of GEL, Olivier Chassang, appealed to the government to improve the road network linking their production site and the Tema Port, to facilitate easy transportation of the produce.

He hinted of GEL’s desire to take advantage of the Tema-Mpakadan railway line currently under construction, to facilitate the transportation of produce from their production site to the Tema Port.

He said the benefit of such intervention would include a reduction in generalised cost, comprising vehicle operating cost, travel time, reduction in transportation cost and reduction in post-harvest losses.

The Mankrado of the Torgorme Traditional Area, Torgbe Gidi IV, said the project would create employment opportunities for the youth, alleviate poverty and enhance development in the communities within the catchment area of the irrigation scheme.

Writer's email benjamin.glover@graphic.com.gh

https://www.graphic.com.gh/news/general-news/kpong-left-bank-irrigation-project-produces-banana-plantation-set-to-create-employment-for-600.html

Kpong Left Bank Irrigation Scheme rehabilitated

 

Ashaiman; other side of the town’s origin (Daily Graphic Friday Dec - 02 - 2022 Page 28)

  Dec - 02 - 2022

The name Ashaiman comes from two Ga words; "Ashai" being the name of a person, in this case, Nii Ashai, and "Mang" being the Ga word for a town. The name Ashaiman is ,therefore, said to mean Ashai's town.

According to a great grandson of Nii Ashai- the man said to have founded Ashaiman- Ibrahim Nii Ashai, Ashaiman has never been called “Mpoase”.

But where from the name Mpoase? 

Mpoase

Ibrahim Nii Ashai told the Daily Graphic that the name Mpoase came about due to conversations that usually took place among fishmongers who in the past came from the mountainous areas of Aburi, Akuapim among others to Tema to buy fish.

Narrating how that name came about, Ibrahim said when they (fishmongers) reached Ashaiman after trekking for a long time, they would go and greet Nii Ashai, the founder of Ashaiman and ask him, ‘mpo no asei anaa’? Nii Ashai will respond by saying, ‘mpo no asei” or ‘mpo no nsei ye’ meaning, there is turbulence at sea or not.“If Nii Ashai says there is turbulence at sea, they would stay with him for some days until they hear that the situation has changed, meaning there is bumper harvest. Then they would go to Tema and buy their fish. This turned out to be the usual conversation between Nii Ashai and the traders from the mountains.

“So this is where the “mpoase” comes from. Everybody coming to Ashaiman was very clear in his/her mind that he or she was coming to Ashai’s Town (Ashaiman),” he said.

Founding

On how Ashaiman was founded, Ibrahim explained that Nii Ashai, originally a fisherman on the shores of Tema, moved to the area after becoming interested in farming and after a good harvest decided to settle in the village with his only son Nii Doku. He said over time, the name ASHAIMAN (Ashai's Town) was formed.The great grandson of Nii Ashai, Ibrahim, who was reacting to an earlier publication in the Daily Graphic, titled “Welcome to Jericho, Lebanon, New York, Middle East, Ashaiman’s foreign communities” published on Friday, November 18, 2022, insisted that Nii Ashai founded Ashaiman without anybody’s support.

 

 https://www.graphic.com.gh/features/features/ashaiman-other-side-of-the-town-s-origin.html

Welcome to Jericho, Lebanon, New York, Middle East: Ashaiman’s ‘foreign’ communities (Daily Graphic, Date: Nov - 18 - 2022 Page 23)

 Nov - 18 - 2022

W.T. Mensah Street in Ashaiman Middle East 

 

Initially known as Mpoase, Ashaiman was founded in the 17th century by the late Nii Tetteh Amui I, a native of Tema.

In an interview with the Daily Graphic recently, the Regent of Ashaiman, Nii Annang Adzor, said Nii Tetteh Amui I was a fisherman who settled in the area to carry out farming activities due to low catches.

According to the regent, Nii Amui had a friend named Doku Ashai who would normally travel from Tema to Dodowa to trade. On one occasion when Nii Ashai was heading towards Saasabi en route to Dodowa, he met Nii Amui who offered him a piece of land to settle on.

Nii Adzor said as time went by, the town became a meeting place for traders who were moving between Tema and Dodowa to trade and became known as Ashaiman, translated as ‘Ashai’s town’.

Over time, the town has increasingly become the recipient of a large number of migrants from all over Ghana and some West African countries. The population of the municipality, according to the 2021 Population and Housing Census, stands at 208,060, with 103,410 males and 104,650 females.

Due to the influx of people from the West African sub-region, many refer to the community as the “United States of West Africa”.

Expansion

Over the period, the population of Ashaiman has increased and the town has expanded, giving way to more suburbs springing up, some of which bear names of foreign cities.

From suburbs such as Tulaku, Market Square, Fitter Line, Taboo Line, Tsinai Agbe, Zongo Laka, Roman Down, Night Market, Asensu Bar, Official Town, Taifa, Newtown, Valco Flats, Afariwaa, Christian Village and Atadeka, the community has expanded to include new suburbs such as Middle East, Jericho, Lebanon Zones one to five, New York and Washington among others.

But how come these “foreign” names became attached to suburbs when most residents living in areas with such names probably have absolutely no idea how those names came to be associated with the area or suburb?

One may tend to think these areas are actually named after these foreign cities because perhaps they share similar attributes with them, but that is not the case.

The regent of Ashaiman explained that in a few cases, persons returning from those foreign lands who resided first in the new places named the places after the foreign country or city they had sojourned in.

Lebanon

In the case of Lebanon, Nii Adzor said most of the military personnel who returned to Ghana from peacekeeping duties in Lebanon, the country located on the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea, bought lands in those areas and put up properties.

He said Ashaiman Lebanon was demarcated from zones one to five, adding that with time and as a result of population growth and expansion, suburbs such as the Middle East, Jericho, New York and Washington, named by been-tos or returnees from those states or countries, emerged.

He said the new suburbs had brought a lot of changes to the city, whereas in the past the town had to bear the tag as the citadel of all sorts of crime, filth and other violent practices.

That impacted negatively on the development of the area to the extent that some people shied away from being considered residents of the area; however, the situation had changed greatly, he said.

Nii Adzor noted that the negative image of Ashaiman had changed and it was now a place where people could feel a lot more comfortable.

So the next time you are in a trotro to Jericho or order a ride via a ride-hailing app to visit a friend at Jericho, be sure to ask for further clarification as the Jericho in question could be the Ashaiman Jericho, which is completely different from what is mentioned in the Bible.

You also do not need travel documents to travel to New York, Washington, Lebanon or Middle East since they are all communities in Ghana.

Writer’s email: benjamin.glover@graphic.com.gh

 https://www.graphic.com.gh/features/features/welcome-to-jericho-lebanon-new-york-middle-east-ashaiman-s-foreign-communities.html

 

 

 

Fire destroys makeshift homes, shop at Ashaiman ( Daily Graphic Tues, February 7, 2023. Back Page)

 

 

Tues, February 7, 2023

 

Ghana Baptist Convention launches 60th anniversary (Daily Graphic, Feb - 05 - 2023)

 Date: Feb - 05 - 2023 (Page 25)

 

The Ghana Baptist Convention,(GBC)  has launched its 60th anniversary, with a call on Ghanaians to to guard against the depletion of the environment and natural resources.

The Executive President of the GBC, Rev Enoch Nii Narh Thompson who made the call on Sunday, February 5, 2023 said issues of the environment should be of great concern to everyone in the country because the high rates of degradation could affect all.

He noted that creations are gifts from God and that mankind had a duty to use resources judiciously by consciously preserving and conserving natural resources not only in one’s country but the world at large for future generations.

The 60th anniversary was launched at the First Baptist Church in Tema on theme: “Fulfilling God's purpose, growing God's church-60 years on."

Activities lined up for the year-long anniversary celebration includes lectures, tree planting exercise among other events. The celebration would be the climaxed with a national thanksgiving service at the Baba Yara Sports Stadium, Kumasi on the November 26, 2023.

Degradation 

Speaking to journalists on the sidelines of the anniversary launch, Rev Thompson expressed concern about the rapid rate of environmental degradation an mentioned with regret the activities of illegal mining saying they could have grievous effects on the environment.

"If we Christians, as most of the people of this nation claims to be should have the consciousness of God's concern for the environment, then we should keep our environment tidy and avoid degradation." he said

He urged Christians involved in galamsey to rethink about the effect of their mining activities and guard against the depletion of resources.

Rev. Thompson e said bearers of God’s image, all Christians have the responsibility not only to be reconciled with God but also and privilege of caring for God’s creation. 

Anniversary launch

The GBC which started as a mustard seed has growing into one of the largest denominations in Ghana, with over 1,300 local churches in Ghana.

Rev. Enoch Nii Narh Thompson  thanked God for guiding the GBC throughout its existence in the country.

The anniversary, he said, was significant because it highlighted the numerous contributions the GBC had made to the country in all spheres of life.

He noted that the church has played a crucial role in the area of education, quality healthcare delivery and improving the physical and spiritual lives of people in the country.

He highlighted the GBC's efforts in putting up medical facilities across the country such as their flagship Baptist Medical Centre at Nalerigu and other health facilities across the country, the provision of boreholes in a number of communities to improve the lives of the people, their contribution to the development of Ghana’s human Capital through the Ghana Baptist University College, the early childhood development centres, and the Baptist Vocational training centre focusing on the training of girls who have been rescued from the Trokosi system.

Rev Thompson said for the rest of the period that that the GBC will exist, they commit to preach the unadulterated word of God
"As we stand on this pinnacle of 60 years, we look further afield, and see that there remain many mountains to be climbed, that there are valleys to be passed and some rivers to be crossed. Into the future we seek progress in evangelism, in financial solvency, human resource development and provision conducive places of worship for their ur congregations.

Brief historyThe current Ghana Baptist Convention's early beginnings were associated with the Nigerian Baptist Convention and the Southern Baptist Convention of USA.

The Nigerian Baptist brothers and sisters came to the Gold Coast to trade in the early part of the 1900's.

These Yoruba Baptist traders later grouped themselves to form Baptist churches in Ghana.

In 1963, the Nigerian Baptist Convention granted the conference independence. The conference was renamed Ghana Baptist Convention in January 1964. 

Writer’s email: benjamin.@graphic.com.gh

 

via: https://www.graphic.com.gh/news/general-news/ghana-baptist-convention-launches-60th-anniversary.html