Posts in category: Other News

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

The Ghana Pentecostal and Charismatic Council (GPCC) has called on the Majority and Minority Members of Parliament (MPs) to find a common ground to resolve the issues concerning the introduction of the electronic transaction levy (E-Levy).

That, it said, would ensure that the country moved on with its development agenda.

The President of the GPCC, Rev. Prof. Paul Frimpong-Manso, said this in an interview after the opening of the 53rd Annual Conference of Heads of Churches and Organisations at the Pentecost Convention Centre at Gomoa Fetteh in the Central Region last Wednesday.

The four-day conference is on the theme: “Defending the Christian Faith in Contemporary Times”.

Compromise

“Ghana needs money to work, so let us all do our best to make sure that the nation works. If E-Levy will work, the opposition and the Majority should come to a compromise, so let us not entrench ourselves as if it is political tension and battle, and one party will win,” he said.

Already, he said, the fight by the Majority and Minority MPs in the House last year was one of the most shameful incidents in the history of the country, and should not happen again.

It has happened twice in this Parliament and should not happen again,” he said.

Corruption

Rev. Prof. Frimpong-Manso expressed concern about corruption in the country, especially when 70 per cent of the population were Christians.

He wondered how the Church, as the body of Christ, could defend the Christian faith in a morally degenerating and corrupt society where the lack of fear of God and the love for money was reaching the tipping point.

He explained that defending the Christian faith went beyond mere slogans, condemnation and militancy but “allowing our light to shine in every dark area of our private and public life and allowing our salt to season and stop the rot in every sphere of our national life”.

He added that it was an open secret that public sector corruption was the greatest threat to the democracy, development, peace and stability of the country.

“How do we defend the Christian faith when 70 per cent of all monies siphoned illegally from the public purse every year were stolen by Christians who are supposed to be the light and salt of this world?” he asked, admonishing all Christians to first hold themselves accountable and then teach and discipline corrupt people in the society to eschew corruption and petty stealing.

Source: Graphic.com.gh

The State Housing Company (SHC) has begun an assessment of the damage done to residential structures by the deadly explosion at Appiatse, a small community near Bogoso in the Western Region.

The assessment will provide the company with adequate information to plan the rebuilding exercise, which the government has instructed it to carry out.

Last Saturday, a team from the state-owned building firm moved to the community which was flattened by blasts from 10 tonnes of explosives to evaluate and mark residential, commercial and classroom blocks, shops, churches, among other structures, for construction.

The swift move by the company is in response to the assurance by the Vice-President, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, that the government would reconstruct the community to bring relief to the people, especially the victims of the blast.

Road reconstruction, engagements

Aside from housing, work has also begun on the reconstruction of the damaged part of the Tarkwa-Asankragua road, which developed a deep opening, to ensure free flow of traffic.

Also, the Minerals Commission has closed down Maxam Ghana, a Ghanaian-Spanish joint company, as part of investigations into the fatal explosion.

The tragic incident, which killed more than 13 people and injured more than 100 others, resulted an accident involving the truck transporting the explosives to a mine at Chirano in the Western North Region and a tricycle at Appiatse, a mining and farming community in the Prestea Huni-Valley municipality in the Western Region, last Thursday.

Assessment

Speaking with the Daily Graphic, the Municipal Chief Executive for Prestea-Huni Valley, Dr Isaac Dasmani, said “after the SHC had carried out its assessment, we have not started disturbing the place because we are waiting for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) report to tell us about the toxicity level or otherwise”.

He said the explosives were essentially chemicals and, therefore, “when the EPA is done with its assessment, we will be in a position to hand it over to the SHC and our team at the assembly for the commencement of work”.

“The SHC team was here, as well as a team from the EPA Regional Directorate, and we sat down with them and discussed the way forward. We agreed on what to do, so we are waiting for clearance from the environmental regulators,” Dr Dasmani said.

He said one critical aspect of providing housing for the people was the drawing, which had already begun, explaining that the SHC was working with engineers from the assembly and the Statistical Service.

“This is a very unique community that shares things among themselves – we cannot ignore that. Therefore, we will factor it into the drawings. We are registering the families to ensure that we don’t separate them,” he said.

The MCE said the assembly would also ensure that the reconstruction created enough spaces to open up the community, saying: “We have enough land to create the needed ambiance for the community.”

Accountability

Dr Dasmani said aside from the relief items received, the assembly had received much support from the mining companies.

“I must say we have a lot of goodwill and we’ll ensure that every support in cash or in kind is accounted for and directed towards the benefit of the people,” he said.

Road project

In the quest to ensure the road is open to traffic, the contractor working on the main Tarkwa-Apimanim road has been instructed to move in to save the situation.

The contractor, Gabriel Couto-Rango Consortium, said it would be able to prepare the 100-metre damaged portion of the road for bitumen surfacing within a week.

Mr Nicholas Acheampong, who supervises earthwork, called for the cooperation of motorists using the bypass and members of the affected communities to ensure that they did not intrude.

Solutions

The Western Regional Minister, Mr Kwabena Okyere Darko-Mensah, who visited the community and the project site, commended the team on the ground for its commitment to find temporary and lasting solutions to the unfortunate situation.

He said the RCC was in constant touch with the situation on the ground to ensure that the best care was provided for the people, and that the government would not let them down.

Maxam closed

The Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, Mr Samuel Abu Jinapor, under whose directive the mine was closed, also directed the Chief Executive of the Minerals Commission to interdict the Chief Inspector of Mines and suspend the registration of Maxam, pending the outcome of investigations.

The suspension of Maxam’s registration and operations, was carried out by the Western Regional Manager of the Minerals Commission, Mr Isaac Mwinbelle, on the company’s premises at Iduapriem, near Tarkwa, at exactly 2 p.m. last Saturday.

After reading Regulation Two (2) of the Minerals and Mining Explosive Regulations, 2012 (LI 2177), Mr Mwinbelle signed the closure notice, which was counter-signed by the Maxam Plant Manager, Mr Emerald Takyi, after which the operations were declared closed.

The regional manager explained that the closure was as a result of the explosion of its products which were being transported, adding that although the explosion did not occur at the plant, “the shutting down forms part of the Minerals and Mining Regulations (LI 2182), which looks at health and safety regulations”.

“Let me emphasise that we are not here to pronounce judgement on the company and its operations. We are here just for the enforcement of the regulation, which requires the closure of the facility,” Mr Mwinbelle said.

He said in spite of the fact that the explosion did not happen at the plant, the factory was the source of the explosive products, adding: “This is where they are manufactured and transported to various mining sites.”

Concerns

Senior employees of some large-scale mining companies have expressed concern about the closure of Maxam because it would have serious consequences on their operations.

This is because the company supplies about 40 per cent of the explosives used in the industry in the country and other West African countries.

Source: Graphic.com.gh

Banks have expressed their readiness to comply with a Bank of Ghana (BoG) directive that mandates them to use only the Ghana Card in identifying their customers before transacting business with them.

The Ghana Association of Bankers (GAB) said the July 1 deadline was favourable and they would take the necessary steps to enable them to comply.

The Chief Executive Officer of the GAB, Mr John Awuah, told the Daily Graphic yesterday that banks had been working with the National Identification Authority (NIA) and its private partner to link their systems to the National Identity Register for the purposes of verification.

Consequently, he expressed the confidence that the processes would be completed by June to allow for its take off in July.

Directive

He was reacting to a public notice from the central bank to banks and other deposit-taking institutions to accept only the Ghana Card as a form of identification in undertaking transactions from July 1, this year.

The central bank also directed the affected institutions to take steps to update their customer records using the Ghana card details as the only form of identification.

The directive issued yesterday and signed by the bank’s Secretary, Ms Sandra Thompson, said the move was to ensure the safety of the financial system.

“The public is to note that no other form of identification will be accepted for financial transactions in all BoG-regulated financial institutions after the effective date stated above,” the notice stressed.

It explained that the directive applied to banks, specialised deposit-taking institutions (SDIs) non-deposit-taking financial institutions, payment service providers and dedicated electronic money issuers, forex bureaus and credit reference bureaus.

ID register

The bank said the directive was pursuant to Regulation on the National Identity Register, 2012 (L.I. 2111).

“In line with this Notice, Section 30 of the Anti-Money Laundering Act, 2020 (Act 1044) and Regulation 12 of the Anti-Money Laundering Regulations, 2011 (L.I. 1987), all financial institutions shall take steps to update customer records with the Ghana card. Customers of BoG regulated financial institutions are, therefore, advised to update their records with their respective financial institutions with the Ghana Card in line with this notice,” the statement said.

KYC

It explained that the NIA verification transaction platform would be integrated into the BoG’s financial monitoring platform for the purposes of know your customer (KYC).

“This is to ensure that all financial transactions performed within the ecosystem are linked to one identity and information, and unique codes for the transactions shared with BoG to facilitate the identification of initiators/beneficiaries for track and trace purposes. This will include but not limited to transactions by banks, non-bank financial institutions, and mobile money operators (MMOs).

Compliance

Mr Awuah said banks had been in constant discussion with the central bank, the NIA and the private partner on how to make the Ghana card the only medium to identify customers.

He explained that banks were working to connect their systems with the national register to ensure that whenever customers came to the banking halls for transactions, their Ghana cards could be verified.

“What it means is that between now and July 1, customers will have to walk in to the banking halls and replace their identity documents with only the Ghana card. For those who do not replace their cards before the July 1 deadline, they will have to do so before they can be served,” he said.

Source: Graphic.com.gh