Posts in category: Other News

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has sanctioned some major reliefs as part of efforts to recover the economy and set it back to its pre-COVID-19 levels.

The reliefs include the opening of the country’s land borders, the easing of general COVID-19 restrictions and measures to arrest the depreciation of the cedi.

There are also measures to tackle rising fuel prices occasioned by the global economic turmoil brought on by the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict and measures to address the persistent rise in the prices of goods and services.

Cabinet retreat

The reliefs were sanctioned at a crunch three-day Cabinet retreat that took place at Peduase in the Eastern Region over the weekend.

Easing burden

In a tweet last Thursday, the Minister for Information, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, disclosed that the essence of the retreat was to enable the government to proffer solutions to ease the burden on Ghanaians.

“In the coming days, details will be announced, including when and how the borders will be opened, the removal of some testing protocols, shoring up the currency and further cutting expenditures while assuring growth,” the minister told journalists on the sides of the retreat.

Details

It is expected that, in the coming days, President Akufo-Addo, the Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, other sector ministers, as well as the Bank of Ghana, will provide details on the reliefs and which sectors will experience expenditure cuts.

The reliefs are also expected to answer questions being posed by economic watchers on how the government will respond to current global economic challenges.

Source: Graphic.com.gh

The Accra-Tema passenger train service will resume full operations next week after it was suspended for nearly two years, the Ghana Railway Company Limited (GRCL) has said.

The Company said it had initially planned to resume operations earlier this week after series of successful test runs, but had to reschedule to next week after another test run on Tuesday, March 08, 2022.

“We have conducted series of successful test run. The plan was to start the commercial running on Tuesday but yesterday there was another test run. We are yet to get the actual date for the commercial running, but it will not go beyond next week,” Mr Ernest Ahene, Acting Personnel Manager, GRCL said.

He said the company would in due course communicate the actual resumption date to the general public.

The Accra-Tema train shuttle was suspended in March 2020 as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The GRCL said the suspension became necessary because the social distancing rules limited passenger intake – and that affected its revenue due to high cost of operation.

Mr Ahene said after the suspension, its engineers detected some “technical challenges” with the rail lines and had to work on them before service resumed.

“Now everything is set for the commercial running to commence,” he said, adding, “The coaches are also in good shape.”

On the issue of encroachment of rail lines, Mr Ahene said the company had commenced an exercise to clear all authorised settlers along the lines before it resumed operations.

He said settlers along rail lines exposed themselves to danger, and appealed to the public to refrain from mounting authorised structures or trading along the lines.

With respect to the Accra-Nsawam rail service, Mr Ahene said he was not in a position to determine when passenger service would resume on that line due to ongoing construction works on some culverts at the Avenor and Taifa sections of the line.

“We are done with work on those culverts but from a technical point of view, we still have to do some major works on that stretch so we have suspended operations until we are done with the maintenance works,” he said.

Shuttle service on the 40-km Accra (Kantamanto)-Nsawam line was equally suspended in March 2020 to pave way for the construction of culverts at Taifa and other sections to provide buffer against flooding.

The shuttle provided affordable and faster transport service for many commuters and traders on the Accra – Nsawam corridor and contributed to relatively low pressure on the Accra-Nsawam highway.

The Accra-Nsawam rail line was constructed in 1912 in the colonial era. The rail line at the time was used to transport goods to and fro the Eastern part of the country.

Source: Graphic.com.gh

Ghanaians studying Medicine in Ukraine whose education has been truncated due to disturbances in that country can now continue their studies in Grenada.

Last Tuesday, the government secured an agreement with the Caribbean island state for 200 Ghanaian medical students who had to flee Ukraine to continue and complete their education at the St George’s University of Medicine, Grenada.

The Registrar of the Scholarships Secretariat, Kingsley Agyemang, and the Director of Recruitment and Commercial Engagement of the university, David Anthonisz, signed the agreement to this effect in the United Kingdom (UK).

Those present at the ceremony included the Chief Growth and Strategy Officer of Medforth, a global healthcare education organisation, Molly K. O’Neill, the Chief Accountant of the Scholarships Secretariat, Richard Aidoo; the Head of Education and Recruitment of the Ghana High Commission, Afua Gyasiwaa Gaisie, and the Officer in charge of Diasporan Affairs at the Scholarship Secretariat, Richard Gyamfi.

Other agreements

Mr Agyemang told the Daily Graphic that the country was engaging other countries it had educational exchange agreements with to strike similar agreements.

The move, he said, would ensure that the 200 medical students continued with their education seamlessly so that they would return to the country after their programme to augment the number of medical doctors in Ghana.

Interaction

The Registrar said within the month, officials of St George’s University would interact with the affected medical students on individual basis towards offering them admission.

Mr Agyemang indicated that those who would not have placement at St George’s University, which had over 200 affiliated schools around the world, would liaise with the affiliate schools to offer the Ghanaian students the opportunity to continue their studies.

Context

The agreement follows an earlier Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Ghana and the university, signed in 2019.

Under the MoU, selected students who have first degrees in medical sciences would be offered scholarships for postgraduate training in the medical field.

The scholarship packages ranged from 50 per cent to 100 per cent funding by the awarding institutions, with the Scholarship Secretariat as the coordinating agency.

Proactive move

Mr Agyemang noted that the secretariat brokered the additional arrangement because the Ghana Medical School could not have placement for such continuing students.

He said some of the students had a few months left to become full-fledged medical doctors.

The Scholarships Secretariat Registrar added that not all the students had arrived from Ukraine but the government was being proactive.

Asked about the remaining 800 students who were not studying Medicine, Mr Agyemang said the government was liaising with other educational institutions both home and abroad to ensure that they continued with their studies.

He added that the students who had so far left Ukraine for Ghana through the efforts of the government would be contacted and the necessary arrangements done to quickly get them to continue with their studies in Grenada.

Mr Agyemang further stated that the moves were important in complementing Ghana’s efforts to train medical professionals as it worked towards achieving universal health coverage.

Rep from St George’s University

For his part, Mr Anthonisz said St George University of Medicine was excited and ready to absorb the medical students.

He said the university would ensure that they continued with their studies under the best of conditions.

Mr Anthonisz commended the country for having a reputation for providing great students at the international level, saying that was one of the reasons for the partnership.

He said the university had trained over 16,000 professionals, with over 10,000 of them practising in the United States and other countries.

The university’s director of recruitment expressed the hope that the collaboration between Ghana and St George University would see to the grooming of great health professionals in the country.

Source: Graphic.com.gh

The 15 public universities in the country are expected to resume full academic activities from today following the suspension of the industrial action by the University Teachers Association of Ghana (UTAG).

This is in spite of the referenda being held across the various branches of the association to ratify or reject the decision of the National Executives Committee (NEC) of the association to suspend the strike, which began on January 10 this year.

Per the constitution of UTAG, lecturers are supposed to be back in the classrooms once the strike has been suspended. This is whether or not they start the process to vote against the decision or not.

The Secretary of UTAG, Dr Asare Asante-Annor, confirmed to the Daily Graphic that the lecturers would be in the lecture halls and theatres today, especially in institutions that had indicated that lectures would resume on the said day.

“Some universities have still not come up with when they are supposed to resume, and with those ones, we don’t have any control. But all those who have issued statements that lectures would resume on Monday, we would be there,” he said.

Dr Asante-Annor said the association would meet the government on Wednesday and Thursday to continue the negotiations.

Those expected to be at the meeting include Vice-Chancellors Ghana, the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission (FWSC), National Labour Commission (NLC) and the Ministry of Education.

“What we said in our communique is that up to March 4, 2022, is the deadline for the temporary suspension of our strike. We have already started negotiations with the government, and we are going to meet again on Wednesday and Thursday. We are hoping that by then we would have something,” he said, indicating further that “by Friday if we don’t have anything on the table then we would start talking about the strike.”

Referendums

Meanwhile, referenda are being held by the various branches of UTAG for the constituents to ratify or reject the decision of the NEC to suspend the association’s industrial action.

As of yesterday, seven of the 15 branches in the public universities had voted to state their positions.

The University of Education, Winneba (UEW), the University of Ghana (UG), the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), the University of Energy and Natural Resources (UENR), the University of Environment and Sustainable Development (UESD), the University for Professional Studies, Accra (UPSA), and the CK Tedam University for Development Studies voted against the decision to suspend the strike, while the University of Health and Allied Sciences (UHAS) upheld it.

At UHAS, 85 of the lecturers voted to end the strike, with 39 against it.

During a referendum at the UG last Wednesday, 596 lecturers, representing 82.4 per cent, rejected UTAG NEC’s decision to suspend the strike, while 127, representing 17.6 per cent, accepted the decision.

At the KNUST, 654 voted against the suspension of the strike, with 211 voting in favour of it.

The UENR election saw 147 rejecting the suspension, with 36 supporting it, while 64 lecturers rejected the suspension at the CK Tedam UDS, with 35 agreeing to it.

Majority

A simple majority of the 15 branches can either ratify or reject the decision.

In the event of the majority voting against the suspension of the strike, an extraordinary meeting of NEC is held after five days to come out with the date for the next strike.

KNUST

Meanwhile, lectures have resumed at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology.

The local UTAG chairman at KNUST, Prof Otchere Addai Mensah, told the Daily Graphic that it was based on the announcement by NEC to suspend the strike that most of the universities had written to students and faculties for the commencement of lectures.

Cape Coast

The Executive Committee of the Academic Board of the University of Cape Coast (UCC) has set today as the start date for the semester’s academic activities.

The Director of Public Affairs at UCC, Major Kofi Baah-Bentum, told the Daily Graphic that the decision followed an emergency meeting convened last Wednesday in response to the national executives of UTAG calling off the strike last Monday.

Suspension

Following overwhelming appeals from student groups, the public, the Parliamentary Select Committee on Education and eminent leaders, UTAG temporarily suspended its seven-week-old strike.

Addressing a press briefing last Tuesday, the President of UTAG, Professor Solomon Nunoo, said the NEC of UTAG, resolved to heed the pleas and suspended the strike till March 4, 2022, to enable it to engage with the government over the poor conditions of service of university teachers.

Source: Graphic.com.gh

Road Transport Operators have concluded negotiations on increment in fares pegging the percentage increase at 15 percent.

These new fares will take effect Saturday, February 26, 2022. It includes fares for shared taxis, intra-city (tro-tro) and intercity (long distance).

Earlier, the transport unions proposed a 30 percent upward adjustment but after a meeting on, Monday February 21, 2022, the operators have agreed to increase public transport fares by 15 percent.

“We kindly request all commercial transport operators to comply with the new fares and post same at their loading terminals,” the transport group said in a statement issued after the meeting.

The increment according to the group is in line with the administrative arrangement on public transport fares and after intense negotiations with stakeholders and in consideration of the plight of drivers, commuters and the general public.

It also cited current trends on the international market and its impact on domestic fuel prices.

The decision to increase transport fares has been necessitated by the economic hardship the country is facing and its negative impact on their work.

Various transport associations say the high cost of fuel,  high import duty on vehicles, increase in the cost of spare parts and vehicle lubricants are among the reasons.

We further request all operators and the general public to kindly cooperate for the successful implementation of the new fares”, the Road Transport operators further urged.

Source: Graphic.com.gh

The Ghana Education Service (GES) has commenced the verification and confirmation of senior high school (SHS) choices for the 2021 Basic Education Certificate Examinations (BECE) candidates.

The exercise will be done through bulk SMS, USSD messaging and online, and will end on Tuesday, February 22, 2022.

A statement issued by the GES on Tuesday said the confirmation and verification process is part of measures to ensure a smooth placement into SHS this year.

“… a bulk SMS of the schools selected will be sent to the contact numbers provided by candidates during the school selection. Candidates are to check and immediately notify their various heads of schools of any error found for corrections to be made,” the statement said.

It added that apart from the bulk messages that would be sent to all contacts, parents and candidates can also dial *899*88# and follow the instructions to verify choices made via USSD.

In addition, the online portal option can also be accessed via https://csspsverify.com.

Source: Graphic.com.gh

Germany has expressed its commitment to support Ghana’s effort to become a pan-African vaccine manufacturing hub.

Already, the German Development Cooperation and the European Union (EU) – Team Europe have initiated measures to ensure that Ghana’s domestic vaccine production is realised.

The partnership forms part of a 10-year Ghana vaccine manufacturing road map to make the country a vaccine manufacturing centre in the sub-region.

“The initiative will help create an enabling environment for local vaccine manufacturing in Africa and tackle barriers and demand siders. It is being backed by €1 billion from the EU budget and European development finance institutions such as the European Investment Bank (EIB),” the German Ambassador to Ghana, Mr Daniel Krull, said.

He said the project was for a period of 27 months — from April 2022 to June 2024 — with total funding support of over €2.8 million.

“This is co-funded by the EU and the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). The government of Ghana has already committed US$25 million seed money to the overall vaccine manufacture initiative and this project forms an integral part of the overall road map,” he added.

Mr Krull, who was speaking at a press briefing at his residence in Accra yesterday, further said the collaboration would also facilitate the upgrading and strengthening of the Food and Drugs Authority (FDA).

He explained that the support for the FDA was contained in the framework of the Team Europe initiative on manufacturing and access to vaccines, medicines and health technology (MAV+) in Africa.

Committee in Germany

The Ambassador said representatives of the Presidential Vaccine Manufacturing Committee were currently in Germany to meet stakeholders, adding that “two weeks of meetings, inspection of research facilities and vaccine production sites lies ahead.”

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo is also expected to arrive in Germany today to witness the presentation of a BioNtech modular production facility for MRNA vaccines.

Germany-Ghana cooperation

Mr Krull said that in spite of the COVID-19 pandemic, trade figures between Germany and Ghana remained relatively stable, and that Germany would remain a major bilateral provider of development cooperation funds for Ghana.

“The current projects portfolio amounts to over €700 million, focusing on green energy, inclusive growth and good governance,” he said.

He added that economic ties between the two countries had “a long history and a bright future, particularly with the operationalisation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA)”.

Source: Graphic.com.gh

The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) has given its seal of approval for Ghana’s National Identity Card, the Ghana Card to be recognized globally as a valid e-passport

Thus, holders of the Ghana Card as well as its future biometric equivalents can present it as official documentation at all 197 (ICAO) compliant countries and 44,000 airports worldwide and board flights to Ghana.

This follows a “Key Ceremony” on Wednesday, February 9, 2022, at the headquarters of ICAO in Montreal, Canada, during which Ghana, represented by the High Commissioner to Canada, H.E Ransford Sowah, received the ‘key’ to symbolically indicate the country’s entry into the ICAO family.

The ICAO declaration follows an earlier hint, given in November 2021 by the Vice President, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, that Ghanaians anywhere in the world would soon be able to travel back home using their Ghana cards.

Delivering a public lecture at the Ashesi University on the role digitization is playing in transforming the Ghanaian economy, Dr. Bawumia indicated that apart from acting as the major source of proof of identity, the Ghana Card will be used as an e-passport for Ghanaian citizens, all things being equal, by the end of the first quarter of 2022.

“It is not widely known that the Ghana card is also an electronic passport (e-passport) that contains the biometric information that can be used to authenticate the identity of travellers,” Dr. Bawumia said.

He continued, “We have been working with the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) this year to globally activate the e-passport function of the Ghana card and I am happy to announce that on 13th October 2021, Ghana officially became the 79th member of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) Public Key Directory (PKD) community. The ICAO Public Key Directory (PKD) is a central repository for exchanging the information required to authenticate e-passports.”

This announcement was dismissed by a section of the public, especially members of the NDC, as “Impossible” and at best a figment of his imagination. Senior media personality, Kwesi Pratt Jnr went as far as describing it as a “lie.”

Officials of the National Identification Authority (NIA) say, however, that with the Key Ceremony in Montreal over, the Card can now be verified internationally and border control authorities will be able to confirm in less than 10 seconds that a Ghanaian biometric e-passport (booklet), as well as the Ghanacard/e-passport, were issued by the right authority, have not been altered, and are not copies or cloned documents.

A statement issued by the Authority read in part, “In practical terms, this means that it will now be faster and more effective for border control authorities to verify the identity of holders of Ghana’s passports. The Key Ceremony is the final stage of the implementation of Ghana’s e-passport project.”

In brief remarks, H.E Ransford Sowah explained that the Ghana Card contains the biometric information of the holder with a cryptographic digital signature stored on a chip that can be used to authenticate the identity of travellers.

“This makes Ghana one of the few countries in the world where the national ID card also has an e-passport capability,” he emphasized.

He continued, “This means that with this Key Ceremony, all holders of the Ghana Card have an ICAO compliant e-passport that can be read and verified at all ICAO compliant airports/border posts across the world. It can be used for international travel; the subject of course to visa restrictions and bilateral agreements. Indeed, the Ghana Card is already valid for travel in all ECOWAS countries.

“For Ghanaians living or born in the diaspora, holders of the Ghana Card can be allowed to board any flight to Ghana without any visa requirement as we seek to give an inclusive Akwaaba experience to all children and descendants of our motherland.”

Source: Peacefmonline.com

Sadio Mane netted the winning spot-kick as Senegal beat Egypt 4-2 on penalties to clinch their first-ever Africa Cup of Nations after a 0-0 draw.

The Liverpool forward had seen a seventh-minute penalty saved by Egypt keeper Gabaski but Mane held his nerve when he returned in the shootout.

Chelsea’s Edouard Mendy denied Mohanad Lasheen to give Mane the chance to win it in Yaounde’s Olembe Stadium.

Gabaski had made three good saves from Senegal’s Bamba Dieng in extra time.

Meanwhile, Senegal’s President Macky Sall has declared Monday a public holiday to celebrate the national football team’s win at the Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon).

The president, who was outside the country, cancelled the last leg of his trip to welcome back the football stars to Senegal on Monday.

President Sall will award the team on Tuesday at the presidential palace, public broadcaster RTS television reported.

Senegal won their first Afcon final after two previous defeats in finals in 2019 and 2002.

They beat Egypt 4-2 on penalties on Sunday to earn their victory after the final ended goalless following extra time.

Source: Graphic.com.gh