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National Service Releases PIN Codes For 2022/23 Registration For Nurses

The National Service Scheme (NSS) has released 4,330 PIN Codes for registration by eligible Ghanaian-trained nurses of all accredited tertiary institutions in the country.

The registration will enable them to enrol for their mandatory national service for the 2022/2023 service year.

“All eligible trained nurses are therefore requested to log onto the Scheme’s website on www.nss.gov.gh to follow the online enrollment procedure.”

Registration

“The period of registration spans from Monday, November 28, 2022 to Monday, December 5, 2022. Assumption of national service is on Wednesday, 4th January, 2023,” a press release issued and signed by the Executive Director of the NSS, Osei Assibey Antwi, stated.

Management

The NSS management, therefore, directed all prospective national service persons to complete their enrolment on time.

“Management wishes to advise all eligible trained nurses to personally complete their online enrolment process within the stipulated period in order to avoid petty enrolment mistakes, and to ensure that only accurate information is provided,” it said.

Source: Graphic.com.gh

Ghana Portugal

Why Cristiano Ronaldo’s Penalty For Portugal Vs. Ghana Didn’t Go To A Full VAR Review

Possible penalty overturn: Salisu foul on Ronaldo.

What happened: Portugal were awarded a penalty in the 62nd minute when Cristiano Ronaldo was knocked over by Mohammed Salisu.

VAR decision: Penalty stands, scored by Ronaldo.

VAR review: This only required a quick check by the VAR, United States referee Armando Villarreal.

Replays showed that Ronaldo definitely got to the ball first ahead of Salisu before there was contact on the Portugal striker’s boot and upper body.

Even though this could certainly be considered a soft penalty, we have to look at it in VAR terms; it would not be seen as a clear and obvious error by the match referee, fellow American official Ismail Elfath. Equally, if the referee hadn’t given the penalty, it’s unlikely the VAR would have advised a spot kick.

If Salisu had gotten to the ball first before Ronaldo, this would have been grounds for a full review, but unfortunately for the Ghana defender, he failed to do so.

Ronaldo also thought he had scored in the 31st minute, but the referee had already blown for a foul against him for a push on Alexander Djiku. The VAR is unable to review anything after the referee’s whistle, so he cannot look back at the foul to award the goal.

‘Referee gifted Portugal a penalty’ – Ghana coach Otto Addo

Ghana coach Otto Addo says the penalty scored by Cristiano Ronaldo during Ghana’s 3-2 loss to Portugal was a gift from the referee.

Ronaldo won and scored the penalty in the 65th to give Portugal the lead as he became the first man to score in five different editions of the FIFA World Cup.

However, Addo at the post-match conference at Stadium 974 after handling his first game at the World Cup said the American referee Ismail Elfath erred in awarding Portugal a penalty.

“I think it was a really wrong decision, we were playing the ball… I don’t know why VAR did not come up, there was no explanation for it,” said Addo.

“It was a wrong decision. It was actually a foul against us,” Addo stated.

He added: “If somebody scores a goal, congratulations. But this was a gift, really a gift.”

Addo disclosed that he tried to talk to the Major League Soccer referee about some of the decisions that went against Ghana after the game.

“I wanted to do it in a calm way but I was told he was in a meeting. He was not in our favour. We got a few yellow cards which were deserved but there was also holding of jerseys and stopping counterattacks that were also yellow cards but not given to them.”

Credit: ESPN

PRESEC Now Seven-Time Winners Of #NSMQ

Presbyterian Boys Senior High School (PRESEC), Legon, made it a record of seven-time winners of the National Science and Maths Quiz on Wednesday night, when they pulled a final round surprise to overtake Kumasi based Prempeh College to win the ultimate in 2022.

They pulled the surprise in the final round 5 when they overtook Prempeh College who had led in the earlier rounds.

PRESEC ended the final round with 50 points as against 41 by Prempeh College and 32 points by Adisadel College.

From the KNUST campus in Kumasi, the Presbyterian Boys’ Senior High School (PRESEC), Legon silenced the vociferous supporters of Prempeh College on home ground to secure the bragging rights as winners of this year’s National Science and Maths Quiz (NSMQ)

The keenly contested quiz lived up to its billing, as the two schools kept the pressure on each other, with Prempeh leading from the second to the fourth round by just a point.

However, in the fifth and final round, the boys from Legon in Accra answered three out of the five riddles to overtake Prempeh.

When PRESEC got the third riddle right, students of Prempeh College began to file out of the hall, as it had become clear to them that their school’s dream of lifting the trophy for a record-equalling sixth time could not materialise.

PRESEC, by Wednesday’s victory, has not only maintained its record as the school with the most wins in the competition — seven — but also widened the gap between it and Prempeh College in terms of winning the quiz to two.

Seven’ a living God

It was a sweet revenge for the PRESECANS who lost to Prempeh College last year, thereby being denied the opportunity to make it seven.

Prempeh College could not repeat last year’s thrilling performance of host-and-win to equal the record of their rivals in the NSMQ competition.

John Anim Tenkorang and Alfred Ken Nsiah of PRESEC made sure their school ‘saw light’ in the midst of the light in the hall.

Wednesday’s contest marked the 11th time PRESEC had appeared at the final of the competition, winning seven of them, while Prempeh College was at the final for the seventh time, winning five of them.

Adisadel College, on the other hand, made its seventh appearance at the final, winning only once.

Nostalgia

Sharing his experience as a NSMQ contestant for PRESEC in the 1997 competition, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC), Opoku-Ahweneeh Danquah, said the competition ignited in him and his fellow contestants the passion to search for knowledge.

“Personally, the biggest experience in science is the process known to most of us as the scientific method. The meticulous empirical method has characterised the development of science. Science teaches us that it does not matter how smart or knowledgeable one is, one cannot hasten the process,” he said.

Mr Danquah urged the contestants and students in general not to relent in their quest to seek knowledge.

According to him, true scientists were not the ones who gave the right answers but rather “those who ask the right questions. The important thing is to never stop questioning.”

Interest

Otumfuo’s Hiahene, Oheneba Professor Boachie Adjei, who represented the Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, as the guest speaker, commended Primetime Limited, organisers of the quiz, for promoting the study of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) over the years.

He said the study and application of science played a pivotal role in the development of every country and called for the need to promote STEM to enable the country to produce the needed manpower that would spur its development.

Oheneba Adjei, who is an orthopaedic surgeon, said the NSMQ had, for the past 29years, sustained schools’ interest in science and commended the organisers for sustaining the competition, which had become nationally and internationally accepted.

He commended the finalists for making their schools proud and making it to the final stage of the competition.

Low enrolment

In a speech read on his behalf by the Chief Executive Officer of the Students Loan Trust, Nana Agyei Yeboah, the Minister of Education, Dr Yaw Osei Adutwum, deplored the low enrolment of students in science at the senior high schools (SHS) level.

He said currently, enrolment in science programmes at SHSs was 12 per cent, adding that as part of the effort to promote STEM, the government had renovated some science laboratories in SHSs and was building STEM schools throughout the country.

The minister said 10 STEM schools were being built, with four of them fully completed to expand access to STEM. In addition, Dr Adutwum said, the government was building girls’ STEM boarding schools to encourage women’s participation and interest in STEM.

Pilot

The Minister of Education said the government had also introduced pre-engineering courses for non-science students who would want to study science at the university.

He said the Pentecost University and the University of Mines and Technology, Tarkwa, were currently piloting the programme, which targeted mainly Visual Arts students with the creative mind to venture into science.

Dr Adutwum said the access course was for a year after the student had been admitted to the preferred course.

Source: Graphic.com.gh

NSS Projects Bumper Harvest Of Crops

The National Service Scheme (NSS) has projected a bumper harvest from its farms in the country this year.

According to the Executive Director of the scheme, Osei Assibey Antwi, investments in the NSS agricultural programme, coupled with favourable weather conditions, had made prospects for a bumper harvest, especially of maize, look good.

“Everything is going on well; we are doing three cropping cycles for maize this year, with a projected produce of 24,000 tonnes per cycle, so we project to produce 72,000 metric tonnes of maize this year, which will be a major leap from last year’s 5,000 tonnes,” he said.

Mr Antwi, who made this known in an interview with the Daily Graphic when he toured the scheme’s 140-acre maize farm at Branam in the Wenchi municipality in the Bono Region last Friday as part of his one-day working visit to the region, said the produce would be sold to generate revenue for the NSS.

Other farms

At the Kumawu Youth Farm, which is an agro-industrial zone, the scheme is cultivating 5,000 acres of maize, in addition to soya and rice, while there is a 150-acre maize farm in Ejura in the Ashanti Region.

There is also a 500-acre maize farm at Abutia Kpoeta in the Volta Region, with 400-acre maize farms in Damongo in the Savannah Region and Komenda in the Central Region.

Mr Antwi said land preparation was ongoing at the Ankaful and Gomoa Lome farms in the Central Region, Papao in the Greater Accra Region, Tantala-Yazebi in the Northern Region and Anweabeng in the Eastern Region.

The executive director said since the Russia-Ukraine war had resulted in a global food and fertiliser crisis, the NSS decided to rely on the application of organic fertiliser, which had so far been good.

Furthermore, he said, for the first time in the programme, a fully mechanised irrigation-supported project, which is also integrated in such a manner that nothing on the farm will go waste, was taking place on the Kumawu farms.

Mr Antwi said service persons who completed their one-year mandatory service and training at the various farms and were willing to venture into agriculture as a profession would be supported with resources to do that.

Collaboration

He also said the scheme was collaborating with traditional authorities across the country to acquire more farmlands.

Mr Antwi said organisations, such as the MasterCard Foundation, had accepted the NSS proposal to release funds to support the scheme’s farming agenda.

He was accompanied by the Bono, Bono East and Ahafo Regional Director of the scheme, Prince Kankam Boadu; the Deputy Director of the NSS, Kwaku Ohene Gyan, and the Business Development Officer at the NSS Head Office, Gabriel Osei.

Source: Graphic.com.gh

Weija Floods: Hundreds Displaced, Low Spirited

Hundreds of houses around the Weija Dam have been flooded, leaving many residents displaced and in low spirits.

The flooding has also led to the destruction of items running into millions of Ghana cedis.

They include vehicles, home appliances, uncompleted structures, documents and other personal effects.

The flooding follows the opening of some spill gates of the dam by the Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL).

This latest spillage, which was unannounced, was to spill excess water to save the dam from collapse due to the recent rains.

The areas affected include Oblogo, Tetegu, New Weija, SCC, Tatop, Sampa Valley, parts of Top Town and American Farm at Ngleshie Amanfro.

‘Tourist attraction’

Most of the affected places, including the Weija Dam site, have virtually become tourist attractions, as people troop there to catch glimpses of the situation after hearing of the flooding.

Others go to the dam site to see the volumes of water that are being spilled.

Yesterday when the Daily Graphic visited some of the affected areas, it observed that houses and vehicles were submerged in flood waters.

Residents, especially those affected and their relatives, friends and neighbours, could be seen gathered in groups discussing the issue.

Other residents could be seen wading through the flood to salvage any of their belongings they could lay hands on.

Some fishermen took advantage of the situation to earn some money by charging residents GH¢10 for the use of their canoe to help retrieve some belongings.

One victim at the Pharmatrust Hostel area, who did not want his name mentioned, noted that his entire house had been flooded and showed a video of the situation to this reporter.

He said he was at work last Monday afternoon when his wife called to tell him that spilled water from the dam was getting closer to their home.

He said because his house had never been flooded anytime the GWCL opened the spill gates, he thought it would not enter his place, only to experience the flooding this morning.

Asked where he was relocating to as he carted his belongings with the assistance of some young men who also rescued his three dogs from the house, he said: “I have another house and that is where we are going to.”

Another victim, Anthony Acquah, who said he had lived in the area for about five years now, said he had never seen such flooding in his area before, adding that the situation could have been managed with better communication.

On seeing the danger, he said, he had to relocate his wife and children to a safe haven and then take his vital documents.

Another victim, Jacob Quaye, said he had lived in the Weija area for five years and had never experienced flooding of such magnitude.

Unannounced spillage

Many of the victims blamed the GWCL authorities for not handling the situation well, as there was no prior notice of this particular spillage.

When contacted, the Unit Committee Member for Weija, Elder Amponsah Ampaw, said having lived at Weija for over 20 years, he had never seen anything like that before.

He blamed the situation on the failure of the new manager at the Weija Water Works to heed the advice of the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO) to start opening the gates in bits to allow the free flow of water from the Eastern Region.

He said people had lost many items through the flood, as they could not enter their homes to pick them before the flooding took over.

For now, Elder Ampaw said, he was trying to get a place for himself and his family, after which he would take the matter up at the assembly.

When contacted, the Weija/Gbawe Municipal Director of NADMO, Emmanuel Adu Boahen, said the organisation had, between last Monday and yesterday, been able to rescue more than 25 people who got trapped in their homes.

He said the municipal and the regional offices of the organisation had gone round to assess the situation and it was dire.

“Together with support from the Regional NADMO, we are at the estuary to open it to pave the way for the water to flow. The situation is terrible and we are working on it,” he said.

GWCL

Meanwhile, the GWCL said because of the severity of the situation at the dam, it had opened four spill gates for water to flow and save the integrity of the dam.

A statement signed by the Head of Public Relations and Communications of the GWCL, Stanley Martey, said: “The Weija Dam is currently at the level of 49.5 feet, as against the maximum operating level of 48 feet.

“Spillage normally begins when the level gets to 46.5 feet. As a result, four spill gates have been opened to safeguard the integrity of the dam, save the dam from collapse and save lives and properties.”

Mr Martey also said while there was no prior warning about that particular spillage, the GWCL had, since last April, been cautioning residents about a possible spillage due to the water level.

The public, it said, could call or Whatsapp the GWCL on 0555123393, 0555155524, 0207385088, 0207385089 or 0207385090.

The toll-free line is 0800 40 000 for Vodafone cell and land lines only and 0302 218240 for all other networks.

Source: Graphic.com.gh

Bank Of Ghana Warns MoMo Loan Defaulters

The Bank of Ghana (BoG) has warned Mobile Money (MoMo) loan defaulters who have deliberately refused to register their SIM cards under the ongoing national SIM Card registration exercise in a bid to avoid repayment.

According to the central bank, defaulters who have no intention of repaying their acquired loans stand the risk of being denied access to future credit facilities.

In a press release issued today [Sept 28, 2022], the BOG said defaulters who fail to “repay such loans will attract negative repercussions on borrowers’ credit reports/history and could subsequently adversely affect any chance of obtaining loan facilities from other financial institutions and credit providers in future.”

The release disclosed that the BoG has data on all mobile money loan customers domiciled in the databases of credit bureaus. It also advised borrowers who had discarded their SIM Cards in a bid to avoid repayment to contact their lenders to discuss repayment plans.

“Borrowers who have discarded their SIM Cards are being advised to contact their telecommunication service providers or respective lenders, to discuss repayment arrangements to avoid adverse information on their credit reports, that could deny them access to future credit facilities,” the release said.

Source: Graphic.com.gh

NCA To Block Outgoing Calls And Data Services Of Unregistered SIMS Effective September 5

Persons who have not registered their SIM cards will be barred from receiving certain services, including all outgoing voice calls and data services, from today, September 5, 2022.

This was the decision by the National Communications Authority (NCA) after it held extensive engagements with telecommunications companies operating in the country.

The Authority in a statement explained the move forms part of punitive actions ahead of the SIM registration deadline which takes effect on September 30, 2022.

The NCA however reiterated that persons who fail to register their SIM cards before the September 30 deadline will have their numbers blocked permanently.

Meanwhile, Communications Minister, Ursula Owusu-Ekuful on Sunday, July 31, 2022, announced an extension to the deadline for the SIM re-registration exercise to September 30, 2022.

Addressing journalists at a press conference, the minister said the extension had become necessary owing to the teething challenges for registrants who are yet to be issued or acquired their national identifications cards.

Source: Ghanaweb.com

Ghana First In Sub-Region To Commit To Nuclear Power

The Director of the Nuclear Power Institute of the Ghana Atomic Energy Commission, Professor Seth Kofi Debrah says President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo’s approval for the inclusion of nuclear power into the country’s power generation mix indicates the country’s readiness to go nuclear. 

The President, in a statement on Wednesday, approved the inclusion of nuclear technology into the country’s power generation mix.

The statement said the decision was in line with global collective commitment to ensure sustainable power to enhance rapid industrialisation, and to propel economic growth.

Prof Debrah told the Ghana News Agency that the formal announcement of approval meant the country was the first in the subregion to commit to a nuclear power programme and provided enough signal to the international community and investors that it was a venture worth funding. 

He said the announcement, technically known as the National Position, was one of the key 19 infrastructure issues under phase one of the programme, a guideline set by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

It is in consonance with the global collective commitment to the sustainable availability of power, and the peaceful exploitation of nuclear energy for the benefit of citizens, to enhance rapid industrialization, and to propel economic growth.

He said: “This development informs the international community that the country has done the needful under phase one, which includes making a knowledgeable commitment and making a formal declaration.”

“It gives the country the leverage over other countries within the subregion, especially as, there is a vision to make Ghana a power generation hub and provide stable electricity to propel development on the continent.”

Prof. Debrah commended the government for moving the Ghana Nuclear Power Programme Organisation (GNPPO), the body mandated to oversee the implementation and coordination of the nuclear power programme, to the Presidency.

He said the GNPPO would be dealing with trade, human resource development, energy generation and regulations that would need a higher body to ensure effective and efficient coordination and implementation. 

Nuclear Power Ghana (NPG), the established Owner/Operator of Ghana’s proposed Nuclear Power Plant(s), has successfully completed Phase one activities as required by the IAEA.  

In Phase 2 of the Programme, it has made great strides in the required processes and currently making efforts to facilitate the public announcement of the preferred site, the technology Ghana has opted for, and the selected Vendor/Strategic Partner for the Project by the end of 2022.

To develop sustainably, have clean, reliable, safe power and ensure secured and smooth energy transition, Ghana decided to include nuclear power in its energy mix – solar, hydropower, and thermal. 

The deployment of nuclear power in Ghana is also in line with the country’s Green Energy Solutions commitments and the government’s medium to long-term strategy of actualising industrialisation and socio-economic development within the West African sub-region, the government has said.

Energy experts estimate that beyond 2025, Akosombo and Kpong Hydropower Plants, the nation’s baseload supply points, which currently serve 32 per cent of electricity demand, would have their capacities reduced to about 25 per cent.

Source: BBC

Check Weight Before X-Ray – Atomic Energy Expert

The Director of the Nuclear Power Institute of the Ghana Atomic Energy Commission (GAEC), Prof. Seth Kofi Debrah, has advised x-ray technicians to be mindful of the weight of clients before exposing them to the required radiation.

He said it was necessary that anyone seeking x-ray services checked his or her weight first because the radiation they would be exposed to during an x-ray shot must correspond with the weight of the client.

He said exposing a person to multiple radiations could affect the cells of a person.

He said x-rays were controlled by MA and KV settings that were weight-dependent.

Prof. Debrah said that during an interaction with journalists who toured the GAEC as part of a three-day training programme.

Training

The training was organised by the institute to sensitise journalists to issues concerning nuclear power.

Prof. Debrah said there were scales within facilities where x-rays were taken for people to check their weight.

“If you get it perfect, you would get a perfect x-ray. But if you don’t and you keep shooting, one, two and three times, you are actually affecting the cells of the person. That is why it is important that you check the weight of the person before you give the x-ray,” he said.

“We are already in the radiation zone whether we like it or not. The sun is radioactive in nature, so once you walk under the sun, you are in the radiation zone, so you have some form of radiation around you.

“Radiation itself is not dangerous, but there is a tolerance level for radiation that you should not get to, and that is what we are advising people on. In our services and our works, we try not to get even close to the tolerance levels of ourselves,” he said.

Microwave use

Prof. Debrah also advised persons using microwave facilities not to get closer to them when they were in use.

The microwave, he said, worked in certain ways that included being magnetic that was associated with some radiation.

“That is why we say when a microwave is operating don’t stand in front of the microwave,” he said, adding “keep your distance from sources. Don’t spend too much time around sources, and if you have any form of shielding, use it”.

At the closing session of the training, the Director-General of the GAEC, Prof. Samuel Dampare, said journalists were a major stakeholder in the nuclear agenda of the country.

He expressed the hope that journalists and the media would help to propagate the activities of the commission.

The Executive Director of Nuclear Power Ghana, Dr Stephen Yamoah, said the workshop should demystify some of the perceptions about the issue of nuclear power.

Source: Graphic.com.gh

MY AFRICA: Restoring the Tainted Image of the World’s Most Blessed Continent

By Prince Kojo Asare (prince.asare@thecophq.org)

Whether it is the golden sparkle of the Sahara Desert sand, the lush beauty of the Congo Rainforest or the stunning desert islands of Mozambique, AFRICA is a treasure trove of exotic locations just begging to be explored. 

From the northernmost city of Ras ben Sakka in Tunisia to the southernmost town of Cape Agulhas in South Africa, the continent of AFRICA is known for her breathtaking landscapes and is touted as the home of natural panorama.

The second-largest continent also boasts one of the world’s largest rainforests, limitless natural resources, the most diverse ecosystem, and megafauna (such as giraffes, zebras, hippos, gorillas, and wildebeest) found nowhere else in the world.

Ironically, despite her great fortunes, AFRICA is widely regarded as the poorest; most undeveloped; and the most plagued by famine, diseases and civil wars compared to the six other continents of the world – Asia, North America, South America, Antarctica, Europe and Australia/Oceania.

Over the years, the constant portrayal of AFRICA as a “dark continent,” especially by western media, has fueled the belief that the continent may be under a “spiritual curse.”

So prevalent was this notion in the 20th century that in 1997, Dr. Tokunboh Adeyemo, a renowned Evangelical leader, wrote a book titled: “Is Africa Cursed? A Vision for the Radical Transformation of An Ailing Continent,” to rebut this claim and insist that AFRICA is blessed.

For a continent possessing colossal quantities of gold, silver, copper, diamonds, oil, natural gas, rubber, coal, bauxite, tin, graphite, uranium 235, and even fertile soil, it begs the question whether AFRICA is indeed “cursed” or just being misrepresented.

How could a continent blessed with around 25% of the entire bird species of the world, 1,100 different species of mammals, and four of the five fastest land animals (the cheetah, the wildebeest, the lion, and the Thomson’s gazelle), be considered cursed? 

Would she have been called the “poorest and most undeveloped continent” had her inhabitants taken advantage of her large land area (30.3 million km2) and the vast mineral resources she possesses to alleviate abject poverty on the continent?

Would AFRICA be branded a “dark continent” had her inhabitants fully explored the 10,000 plant species in her tropical rainforests through scientific (medicinal) research to fight diseases on the continent?

Would she be tagged as a “cursed continent” had her inhabitants capitalised on her 874 million hectares of arable land and favourable weather conditions for massive agricultural production to eradicate food insecurity on the continent?

Again, what perception would the western world have had of AFRICA had her inhabitants sought her interest and not exploited her in every way possible to satisfy their greed and pursue a life of opulence?

How different would the story of AFRICA have been had her inhabitants not just looked on for many years but made conscious efforts to correct the narrative of AFRICA being “the worst place on earth?”

After careful and sober reflection on these questions, I concluded that the continent of AFRICA has never been the problem; we are! –  the 1.3 billion Africans inhabiting this continent. We failed our continent by not protecting, preserving and promoting a good image of her – the African brand.

Instead of projecting the African brand, we stood aloof and looked on as the name of the continent was constantly dragged through the mud. Unfortunately, with time, some Africans have come to accept the distorted image of AFRICA as the reality and even join non-Africans to pronounce doom over the continent.

Dr. Adeyemo expressed similar sentiments in his book when he said, “the image that non-Africans seem to have about AFRICA and Africans is negative, and sometimes the image we [Africans] also have about ourselves—including Christians—is equally negative.”

Based on the above premise, I can deductively argue that the six other continents have a better image than AFRICA, not because they have more minerals or a larger land area. It is, rather, because their inhabitants have succeeded in protecting, preserving and promoting a good image of their respective continents.

The continent of Europe, for instance, has earned the reputation of being the most developed and prosperous continent because her inhabitants explored and maximised her resources. Also, by harnessing the power of the media, Europeans have succeeded in controlling the narrative of how Europe is perceived by the outside world. This, they have achieved, by constantly painting a positive image of life on the continent. In so doing, they have not only made their continent more prosperous but also attractive for inhabitants of other continents to desire to live in it.

Hence, to restore the tainted image of AFRICA, we must begin to consciously tell the African story and not let others do that for us. For so long, the western media has portrayed AFRICA as the “factory of diseases, poverty and famine.” But such problems are not exclusive to AFRICA; other continents face similar challenges. 

We have a duty to speak up and refute the “offensive labels” placed on the continent, bearing in mind that untruths left uncorrected or unchallenged become truth. 

We must, therefore, resolve to represent AFRICA better. We must always uphold her values of love, hard work, ingenuity, hospitality, integrity, sincerity, humility and respect for others.

We must never lose sight of the fact that, as Africans, we are ambassadors of the world’s most blessed continent, and our actions and inactions in every facet of life directly affect how she is perceived.

Let us all commit to rebuilding the distorted image of AFRICA because it is only in her prosperity that we shall also prosper.

Long live the beautiful continent of AFRICA!

Long live GHANA!