Category: General

Apostle Dr Moses Sepenu, the Chairman of the Akatsi Local Council of Churches, has called on Christians to promote unity regardless of their church affiliations.

‘I am calling on you to unite with other Christians regardless of your religious groupings in the uplifting of Jesus and for the unity of the body of Christ,’ he urged.

Apostle Dr Sepenu made the call at Akatsi in the Volta Region during the opening of this year’s Presbytery Representative Conference of the Global Evangelical Church (GEC) at the Shalom Chapel auditorium.

‘John 17:21 underscores the importance of unity among believers as a powerful testimony to the world,’ he said.

The call served as a challenge for Christians to strive for harmony, love, and oneness in the body of Christ, reflecting the divine relationship between the Father and the Son.

Apostle Dr Sepenu explained that Jesus’ prayer for unity serves as a call to embody the love and unity of God in human relationships with one another, ultimately glorifying God, and drawing othe
rs to faith in Christ.

Apostle Paul Gidigasu, the General Secretary of the Apostolic Vision Church International, in his see turn, commended GEC and the entire Presbytery for extending God’s love to other workers of the same faith.

That, he said, was proper in building God’s Kingdom by ensuring that all Christians worked in harmony and in love to the glory of God.

More than 120 delegates and church workers are participating in the three-day event on the theme: ‘Be Holy in All You Do.’

Source: Ghana News Agency

Community volunteers trained to follow up on commitments by government, cocoa and mining companies to address forced/child labour issues in the Wassa Amenfi West Municipality have called for an extension of such projects to other communities.

The project dubbed: ‘Tackling forced and child labour in Ghanaian cocoa and gold-mining sectors,’

Seeks to reduce the menace in those areas.

Rainforest Alliance, a non-governmental organisation, is implementing the project together with International Cocoa Initiative and Solidaridad West Africa.

It is funded from the Norwegian Government through the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (NORAD).

Four districts: Atwima Mponua, Atewa East, Wassa Amenfi West and Bibiani-Anhwiaso-Bekwai in the Ashanti, Eastern, Western and Western North Regions, respectively, are benefiting from the project.

At a joint quarterly district dialogue with the stakeholders at Asankragwa in the Wassa Amenfi West Municipality, the volunteers were appreciative of the positive impact of
the intervention on the lives of community members, especially children and vulnerable groups.

They discussed challenges and sustainability of the project while appreciating the donor and Rainforest Alliance.

They noted that school enrollment had increased, and they had been empowered to demand their due from companies and duty bearers and appealed to the donors to include more communities in the Wassa Amenfi West into the project.

Mr Manasseh Ameworlor, stakeholder from a cocoa buying company, said to sustain the project his outfit would continue to do its remediation services where they targeted children at risk or those already engaged in child labour.

‘We give them support to ensure they come out of the problem,’ he added.

He said last year his outfit enrolled 18 children into primary and junior high school, and three people into apprenticeship programme, and that it would continue to do same this year to safeguard the future of children in their operational areas.

Responding to the concerns raised
by the volunteers on the lack of classroom block at Aboi Nkwanta and Pantose, Mr Ameworlor said ‘we will take it up to my community development manager in our organization and see what can be done.’

Ms Naomi Krakue, a representative from the assembly, assured that the assembly had been working tirelessly to end forced and child labour in every community within the municipality.

She promised to forward all the issues raised by the various stakeholders to the appropriate authorities to be addressed as soon as possible.

Mr Anthony Kwame Darko, Programme Director for New Generation Concern, commended all the stakeholders for their dedication to duty and entreated them to work hard as the project had not yet ended.

Mr Richard Oblitei Tetteh, a representative of Rainforest Alliance, explained that the project was a step in the right direction as it aimed at complementing government’s efforts in eradicating child labour, forced labour in the Ghanaian cocoa and gold mining sectors.

He said over the last three ye
ars, the project had provided adequate support for cocoa companies, traders, cooperatives, farmer groups and gold associations to implement measures that would help to prevent, identify and address forced and child labour.

Significant achievements had been made and these included the training of 212 government agencies such as the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice, Minerals Commission and Child Labour Unit to enhance their knowledge and skills in child and forced labour issues.

Over 220 cooperatives representing 40,000 farmer cooperatives/ gold associations have been trained in a five -day Training of Trainers on Human Rights Due Diligence.

There has also been the formation and strengthening of 40 Community Child Protection Committees to identify, monitor and report child and forced labour related activities among others.

‘Undoubtedly, the achievements of these feats would not have been possible without the involvement of key stakeholders and the significant roles they played,’ Mr Tett
eh added.

He urged all stakeholders to continue to work together to end child labour and give every child a chance to succeed since they are the future of the world.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Vice-Chancellor of Trinity University, Yaba, Lagos, Prof. Clement Kolawole, has urged parents to show more commitment to the general activities of their children in their academic pursuit.

Kolawole in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), said this would go a long way in enhancing their children’s success in their studies.

According to him, it is not enough to pay their children’s tuition and provide other requirements; parents must also check their activities.

He said that aside the major requirements, such as school fees, personal needs and other academic materials, parents should pay attention to the behaviours, attitudes and academic performances of their children.

‘This is more realistic and obtainable in private universities like ours, and the idea is for us school management and parents to work together to help these young minds to achieve their potentials.

‘We expect parents to link up with us so that we can work together to monitor, get the students on the right track and focus on
the reasons they are here on campus.

‘I have some parents that call me from to time to make inquiries about their children’s academic performances and behaviours on campus; that is the collaboration we are soliciting for.

‘On our part, we try to monitor the students and where we find any form of misbehaviour, we invite their parents to relate to them before sanctioning them, and some parents will be shocked,’ he said.

According to the vice-chancellor, students must know their obligations and rights, and be expressive. They must also ensure that they portray and uphold the good image of the institution.

‘We encourage them to open up where they are having difficulties, even among their peers, because some of them hide to do some funny things.

‘With such information, we will be able to respond swiftly,’ he said.

Kolawole, however, identified financial constraints as the major challenge facing the institution, adding that the management had been working within the limited resources available.

He said that
in spite of the challenges, the institution still allowed payment by installments from parents, irrespective of the courses and the stipulated fees.

According to him, the institution has facilities to accommodate about 85 per cent of the students on campus, adding that management is working within the limit of its resources so as not to add to the financial burden.

Source: News Agency of Nigeria

The Minerals Development Fund (MDF) has inaugurated its 22nd Local Management Committee at Ada under the provisions of the Fund’s Act, 2016 (Act 912).

The Fund provides financial resources for the mining communities and related matters, and the Ada Local Management Committee is the first to be inaugurated in a salt mining area.?

The Committee is chaired by Justice Nene Abayateye Ofoe Amegacher, with other members made up of traditional rulers of the area including Asafoatsengua Buertey Okumko Obuampong IV, Nene Tetteh Lanuer Okumo IV, Nene Amanortey Nangwa Apenkro IV, and Naana Adiki Manyeyo Adi I.

The rest are Mr Ebenezer Mettle Nunoo, Mr Charles Dugbartey Nanor, Mr Sampson Tetteh Kpankpah, Madam Sarah Dugbarkie Pobee, and Mr Samuel Kabutey.

The local management committees of the fund allocate resources directly benefiting mining communities, holders of interest in land within these communities, traditional and local government authorities, and institutions responsible for mining development.?

Mr Kwaku
Sakyi Addo, the Chairman of the Minerals Development Fund Board, who swore them into office, urged members to foster collaborations with all the relevant stakeholders to help drive sustainable development in the area through its initiative.

He also commended Electrochem Ghana Limited, a commercial salt mining company, for its commitment to development by paying ground rent and royalties to the Ada state.

He said some?bigger companies struggle to pay the necessary royalties after five?or more years of operation.

Mr Sakyi Addo, together with Dr Noriss Hamma, the Administrator of the Mineral Development Fund, presented a cheque for GHS250,000 to the committee as seed money.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Mr. Manish Gupta Jee, Indian High Commission to Ghana, has lauded the Bhojpuri Association of Ghana for promoting cultural exchange and preserving the rich tapestry of Indian traditions in Ghana.

The Bhojpuri Association is an Indian based not for profit organisation that promotes harmony and togetherness among communities.

Mr Gupta Jee made the remarks when he graced the Ramanavami festival organised by the Bhojpuri Association of Ghana.

The Ramanavami festival celebrates the birth of Lord Rama who is an incarnation of Lord Vishnu. This festival is celebrated during the time of March-April.

The celebration in Ghana, which attracted about 700 participants, was charaterised by several cultural programmes, organized by the Indian community, as well as various dance groups, enthralled the audience with their vibrant performances.

The performances range from classical Indian dances to traditional Ghanaian rhythms.

Mr. Awdhesh Pandey, the President of the Bhojpuri Association, who spoke on the significance o
f Ramanavami, said the festival is a time for celebration and reflection.

He urged participants to embrace the spirit of unity and understanding.

Source: Ghana News Agency

The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) on Friday again visited the family of one of those who died in the stampede which occurred during the distribution of palliative rice in Lagos in February.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the NCS delegation was led by Hammi Swomen, an Assistant Controller-General of Customs (ACG) and Zonal Coordinator Zone A.

Commiserating with the deceased’s family at Empire Area of Lagos, Swomen expressed the condolences of the Customs Comptroller General, Mr Wale Adeniyi, to the family.

‘We came to pay a condolence visit to one of victims of government rice palliative distribution and this is the second time we are checking on their welfare.

‘You remember the unfortunate incident that happened when customs got approval of President Bola Tinubu to support Nigerians by selling 25kg par boiled rice at a reduced price of N10,000.

‘Unfortunately, we had a stampede outside our premises after the exercise and that led to the incident; right now, we have confirmed four family ar
e affected.

‘We are here on behalf of the Comptroller-General, Mr Bashir Adeniyi, to continuously show our support to this family.

‘ We have been here before, this is our second time of coming and the deceased family has visited our office too,’ Swomen said.

He said that the service was not unmindful of the effect of this loss, adding that customs had pledged to support the four deceased families continuously.

Swomen said they decided to continuously check on the family to ease the trauma they were going through.

He assured that the Customs management would continue to engage in concrete terms with the families of the victims.

Michael Odulaja, the husband to the deceased, commended the moral support given by the customs management.

Odulaja, in tears, recounted the vacuum his wife, late Susan Odulaja, had left for the family.

‘She left five children. It is not easy to loose a caring and understanding wife.

‘ Since she had died, I have never been myself.

‘My wife was too helpful because I don’t know h
ow much a man can give a woman, woman is still the owner of the house.

‘ Since her death, we could not get ourselves because she had been there for her family, ‘ Odulaja said.

‘ I thank God and I also thank the Customs Service for their continuous support,’ Odulaja said.’

NAN reports that The Nigeria Customs Service suspended its rice disposal initiative following a stampede that claimed seven lives on Feb. 23.

The incident was during the distribution of 25kg bags of rice at its Zonal Headquarters, Yaba, Lagos State.

Source: News Agency of Nigeria

The International Water Management Institute (IWMI) has identified six priority areas to drive the operationalisation of its Global Strategy in water management research in West and Central Africa.

These priorities are building resilient agri-food systems against climate change, reducing risks from droughts, floods, and compounding systems water risks, and enabling circular water and food economy innovations.

The rest are leveraging water for resilience in fragile and conflict-affected settings, strengthening gender equity in water resources utilization and management, and supporting water infrastructure and allocation decisions.

Dr Olufunke Cofie, IWMI West Africa Regional

Representative, told the Ghana News Agency that the six priorities were crucial and would influence its global strategy.

Dr Cofie was speaking in an interview during a Regional Stakeholder Consultation on IWMI’s Strategic Priorities on Transforming Water Systems for a Sustainable Future in West and Central Africa in Accra.

The event
was to operationalise IWMI’s global strategy through the development of a regional strategy roadmap, codesign and develop mechanism for Research for Development, jointly identify and pursue resource mobilisation opportunities and strengthen networks and future.

She said it was important to have a strategy to guide directions of water management to ensure stakeholders remain focused on their operations.

Dr Cofie said, ‘if strategies are not in place, they will not be able to define their priorities and these Global Strategy was based on Regional Dialogues.’

She said it was to draw an action plan on how they would operationalize the strategy through clearly defined priorities that they agreed upon.

Dr Mark Smith, the Director-General of IWMI, said the strategy had been developed for operationalisation for the next seven years to help address water management challenges.

He said it was to help IWMI’s partners and the countries they work in to become water-secured and manage water better.

The Director-Gener
al said the strategy was to address water risk or drought, flood, and women inequality.

He said, ‘without effective water management, we can easily lose the gains made regarding growth and development.’

Source: Ghana News Agency

Prof. Nenibarini Zabbey, Project Coordinator, Hydrocarbon Pollution Remediation Project (HYPREP), says Mangroves are best sequesters of carbon which mitigate climate change.

Zabbey spoke with newsmen on Friday in Abuja while showcasing HYPREP’s efforts in combating climate change in the country.

According to him, mangrove system is crucial in addressing climate change.

‘Our mangrove restoration project is the world’s largest in an oil degraded environment; we have environment vanguards provided with catalytic funds to plant mangrove seedlings.”

He said that the mangrove system of restoring spillage areas was the best globally and five times better than tropical rainforest.

‘HYPREP is committed to enhancing the capacity of the local people; we build the capacity of the local people which we refer to as environment vanguards.’

Zabbey said that the cleaning up of Ogoni land comprised 2000 hectares of both the medium risk site and a complex high risk site oil degraded area.

He said there was a pilot proj
ect of 560 hectares in which the community people was fully involved in planting more mangroves.

‘As part of our broad livelihood programme at the moment, we have also trained no fewer than 5,000 youth and women because we want to create a sustainable livelihood for them.

‘We are at the same time, restoring the environment in order to resuscitate the traditional livelihoods of the people which is basically fishing and farming,’ he said.

Source: News Agency of Nigeria

A total of 136 smallholder farmers and aggregators have been recognised at the Inaugural Peasant Farmers Day celebration held at Navrongo in the Kassena-Nankana Municipality of the Upper East Region for contributing significantly to the food basket of the country.

The awardees received prizes ranging from farm inputs to home appliances including fridges, television sets, bags of fertilizer, knapsack sprayers, tarpaulin, insecticides, and cash.

It was organised by the Peasant Farmers Association of Ghana (PFAG), in collaboration with the Akuafo Nketewa Company Limited, a business unit under PFAG, and the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA).

It was themed: ‘Deepening the role of smallholder farmers in promoting food and nutrition security in the midst of climate change and global crises’.

Dr Charles Nyaaba, the Chief Executive Officer, Akuafo Nketewa Company Limited, explained that more than 80 percent of the food consumed in Ghana was produced by peasant farmers, however, their efforts were hardly rec
ognised.

Most of them were mostly left out of the government’s annual farmers’ day celebration despite their immense contribution, he said, and that the maiden awards scheme was to motivate and attract more people into farming.

‘Peasant farmers are responsible for all the raw materials we get for industries and export but in terms of reward, they are usually ignored,’ he noted.

‘I say this because most of the smallholder farmers are in the hinterlands and even travelling to the nearest district offices of department of Agriculture to access extension services and information is a problem.’

‘But because we work with them and they are our members we need to recognise some of these people’.

As part of creating a support system for the smallholder farmers, a Credit Union was launched to provide loans for them to engage and improve upon their business.

Dr Nyaaba noted that access to finance from the banks had always been a challenge for smallholder farmers and the support from government was unsustainable, s
caring youth and women from continuing or venturing into farming.

‘With this Farmer Cooperative Union, the farmer can contribute some amount and whenever that farmer needs financial support, can access it.’

‘The thinking is to establish the farmer cooperative union in the then 10 regions and form our own bank called the farmers bank.’

The occasion also saw the launch of a pension scheme to support the smallholder farmers in their old age.

Mr Wepia Awal Adugwala, President, PFAG, noted that climate change was hitting hard at the agriculture sector and posed significant threat to Ghana’s food security, and underscored the urgent need for adaptive agriculture.

He explained that apart from supporting smallholder farmers with subsidised farm inputs, improved seeds, and mechanisation services to reduce cost of food production, there was the need for government to invest in irrigation to encourage all year-round farming.

Mr Charles Ayuebono Adam, the Principal Agriculture Economist in charge of Policy, Plannin
g, Monitoring and Evaluation Directorate, MoFA, said unlike the phase one of the planting for food and jobs, which was subsidy based, the second phase was input-credit base and encouraged the farmers to register to benefit from the programme.

Ms Christina Abaadaa, who won the best female sorghum producer, urged the government to support peasant farmers, especially the women, with tractors services, adding that: ‘anytime we are competing with men for tractor services, we don’t get it’.

Source: Ghana News Agency