Public Agenda articles from August 2010

Public Agenda archives from August 2010

Are Our Schools Environments Safe Enough for Girls?
August 30, 2010... Byline: Awo Aidam Amenyah Governments, Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) and other stakeholders must be commended for their efforts in ensuring that the enrolment of girls in schools nationwide is almost the same as boys. However, their...

It Training Held to Equip Women in Media.
August 30, 2010... Byline: Roberta Dzifa Kodzitse In view of the rate at which technology is growing in our globalized world, an Information Technology training programme has been organized for 15 women in the media to equip them with computer skills. The...

Exxonmobil Terminated the Purchase Agreement Not Komos, CJA Alleges.
August 30, 2010... Byline: Gifty Mensah The Committee for Joint Action, an Accra-based pressure group, has alleged that it was not Komos that terminated the sales and purchase agreement of the oil deal with Exxon Mobil but rather it was Exxon Mobil that...

Investment in Agric is Key to Poverty Reduction.
August 30, 2010... Byline: Mohammed Suleman The country Director of SEND-Ghana, Mr Samuel Zan Akologo has called for more investment in smallholder agriculture as it could drive broadly-shared economic development and reduce poverty in the country. According...

Redefining CPP As a Calling Prophecy And Promise!
August 30, 2010... Byline: Kabu Okai-Davies There is a new prophecy hanging over the destiny of Ghana, linked to the promise of the Convention People's Party. I write this, assuming that Ghanaians know the famous lines that were uttered by Nkrumah the day Ghana...

Call Banks to Order, IEA Urges Parliament.
August 30, 2010... Byline: Irene J Mensah A senior economist of the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA), Dr John Kwakye has accused banks of failing to whip up public interest in savings in the country and has therefore called on Parliament to call them to...

Students Stranded in China.
August 30, 2010... Byline: George Amexo About 14 Ghanaian students studying medicine in China risk deportation or imprisonment if immediate action is not taken to raise money to pay their school fees, which guarantees them permit to stay in that country. ...

Call Banks to Order, IEA Urges Parliament.
August 30, 2010... Byline: Irene J Mensah A senior economist of the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA), Dr John Kwakye has accused banks of failing to whip up public interest in savings in the country and has therefore called on Parliament to call them to...

IEA Calls for Caution in Atiwa Bye-Elections.
August 30, 2010... Byline: Prosper Ashiagbor The Institute of Economic Affairs has advised all political parties contesting the Atiwa constituency bye-elections to work to hold high the democracy of Ghana since the nation has made giant and gallant strides...

Biotechnology Can Change Country's Agriculture.
August 30, 2010... Byline: Isaac Parbey A Ghanaian Biosafety and Biotechnology expert, Prof. Walter Alhassan has said that introducing Agricultural Biotechnology in the countrys agricultural sector will not only come to compliment the already traditional...

Proper Land Management Key to Sustainable Development.
August 30, 2010... Byline: Prosper Ashiagbor The Minister of Lands and Natural Resources Alhaji Collins Dauda has observed that on-going activities to alleviate poverty and ensure sustainable growth is hinged on proper land management and administration. He...

Closing Down Great Lamptey Mills is Not the Answer.
August 30, 2010... The inappropriate relationship between Mr. Lamptey Mills and one of his female students has set the entire nation talking with many proffering varying solutions to the problem, besides the case which keeps on going in and out of court. Among...

Dangers of Seeking Milk and Honey Abroad.
August 30, 2010... Byline: Linda Godji And Prosper Ashiagbor Ghanaians travelling abroad through agents have been advised to be very tactful else they may end up losing their kidneys to human traffickers. The Head of the Human Traffic Unit of the Ghana...

Shenzhen Cancer Congress Affirms World Cancer Declaration.
August 30, 2010... Byline: Yaa Oforiwah Asare-Peasah, back from Shenzhen-China The global cancer community has called on the world to take immediate steps to reduce the global cancer burden by committing to the 11 Declaration targets and provide the resources...

Are Our Schools Environments Safe Enough for Girls?
August 30, 2010... Byline: Awo Aidam Amenyah, GPO-Gnecc Secretariat Governments, Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) and other stakeholders must be commended for their efforts in ensuring that the enrolment of girls in schools nationwide is almost the same as...

The Road to Food Security.
August 30, 2010... Byline: Kanayo F. Nwanze Recently, I was on a road in the Southern Choma District of Zambia to meet with Rosemary Pisani, a smallholder farmer and mother of eight who struggled to feed her children prior to joining a farmer's cooperative to...

As the GBC Looks for Its Owner...
August 30, 2010... Byline: Basiru Adam writes from Berlin, Germany It was the last event I watched on TV before embarking on my journey to Germany on Friday, July 23, 2010. Mrs. Elizabeth Smith, Secretary-General of the Commonwealth Broadcasting Association...

Exxonmobil Terminated the Purchase Agreement Not Komos - CJA Alleges.
August 30, 2010... Byline: Gifty Mensah The Committee for Joint Action, an Accra-based pressure group, has alleged that it was not Komos that terminated the sales and purchase agreement of the oil deal with Exxon Mobil but rather it was Exxon Mobil that...

Redefining CPP As a Calling Prophecy And Promise!
August 30, 2010... Byline: Kabu Okai-Davies, Member of CPP, Australia Branch There is a new prophecy hanging over the destiny of Ghana, linked to the promise of the Convention People's Party. I write this, assuming that Ghanaians know the famous lines that...

Biotechnology Can Change Ghana's Agriculture.
August 30, 2010... Byline: Isaac Parbey A Ghanaian Biosafety and Biotechnology expert, Prof. Walter Alhassan has said that introducing Agricultural Biotechnology in the country's agricultural sector will not only come to compliment the already traditional...

Proper Land Management Key to Sustainable Development.
August 30, 2010... Byline: Prosper Ashiagbor The Minister of Lands and Natural Resources Alhaji Collins Dauda has observed that on-going activities to alleviate poverty and ensure sustainable growth is hinged on proper land management and administration. He...

Exxonmobil Terminated the Purchase Agreement Not Kosmos, CJA Alleges.
August 30, 2010... Byline: Gifty Mensah The Committee for Joint Action, an Accra-based pressure group, has alleged that it was not Kosmos that terminated the sales and purchase agreement of the oil deal with Exxon Mobil but rather it was Exxon Mobil that...

Season of Anomie And Comedy.
August 27, 2010... August 2010 will go into the annals of history as the season when Ghanaians were treated to a flurry of political and social activities laced with comedy and anomie. Expectedly, they have occasioned a lot of commentaries and interventions, some...

Mad Rush for Land.
August 27, 2010... Byline: George Amexo In anticipation of a surge in commercial activities when Ghana commences oil and gas production in commercial quantities, there is a mad rush for acquisition of land in the Ahanta Municipality, where most of the...

CPP Will Kill Poverty in Ghana, Says Shadow Cabinet.
August 27, 2010... The Convention People's Party (CPP) has adopted a strategy of social-transformation based on its home-grown ideology of Nkrumahism, driven by the three principles of Self Determination, Social Justice and Pan-Africanism in preparation towards...

Scientists Need to Collaborate With Media - Yaw Boadu-Ayeboafo.
August 27, 2010... Byline: Akwasi Fredua The General Manager of Daily Graphic, Mr. Yaw Boadu-Ayeboafo, has tasked the Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences (GAAS) to collaborate with the media by developing programmes and activities that will empower the media and...

National Service Persons for Town and Area Councils.
August 27, 2010... Byline: Mathias Aboba The Deputy Upper East Regional Minister, Hon. Lucy Awuni, has described as laudable a plan to post National Service and Voluntary Service Personnel to District Assembly Sub-Structures in the Region. The Minister...

Youth Project to Compete in 2010 Stockholm Junior Water Prize.
August 27, 2010... Byline: Ama Kudom-Agyemang The due diligence of some youngsters has yielded double dividends for them - a national award package that includes a sponsored trip to participate in the 2010 World Water Week in Stockholm, Sweden and then an...

Politics and Religion - Rev. Asante - Antwi Raises the Bar.
August 27, 2010... Byline: Edward Kutsoati Until two Sundays ago, Ghanaians lived with the delusion that politics can be separated from the other institutions of society, such as religion and chieftaincy. The wake-up call came from none other than an...

Bole District Intensifies Measures to Raise More Revenue.
August 27, 2010... Byline: K. John Paul The Bole District Assembly is putting in place pragmatic measures to increase its Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) to support development projects in the district. The steps are to enable the assembly to significantly...

Kuapa Kokoo to Eliminate Child Labour On Cocoa Farms.
August 27, 2010... Byline: Alhaji Bashiru Zakari The Executive Director of Kuapa Kokoo Farmers Union (KKFU), Mr.Emmanuel Arthur, has predicted that the implementation of the Kuapa Kokoo Child Labour Policy will help eliminate child labour on farms. "We have...

Man Sentenced 30 Months for Stealing Car Engine.
August 27, 2010... Byline: Roberta Dzifa Kodzitse An Accra Circuit Court has sentenced a young man in his early twenties to 30 months imprisonment for stealing the engine of a Mercedes Benz that costs GHc3,500. Evans Nkrumah, the accused hails from...

Virtual Security Introduces New Fire Alarm System.
August 27, 2010... Byline: Gifty Mensah Virtual Security Africa, a digital surveillance company in Ghana, has introduced a new fire alarm system onto the Ghanaian market to secure facilities in the country against destruction of properties by fire. The Gent...

Domestic Servant in Court for Theft.
August 27, 2010... Byline: Cindy Dilys Maade Asamoah A domestic servant is in trouble for allegedly stealing items worth several millions of Ghana cedis from his employer's bedroom. When the accused appeared in court last week he pleaded guilty but asked the...

'It's Your Life, It's Your Choice'.
August 27, 2010... Byline: Cindy Dilys M. Asamoah 'It's your life, it's your choice,' the jingle to remind Ghanaians, especially the sexually active of the population on the need to use condoms and other forms of contraception has been re-launched under a...

Well Done Food and Drugs Board!
August 27, 2010... Byline: Dr. Kwame Osei This piece is being written as a response to an article in a recent edition of this paper by the CEO of the Food and Drugs Board, Dr. Stephen K. Opuni. I recently wrote an article entitled: The China/Afrika...

MPs Bare Teeth at Ministers.
August 27, 2010... Byline: Leonard Shang-Quartey Hell almost broke lose last Saturday, at the Dodowa Forest Hotel, when it became apparent that in response to an invitation by the Parliamentary Committee on Poverty Reduction to the Ministers of Finance and...

Statistician Sounds Alarm.
August 27, 2010... Byline: Mohammed Suleman Mr. Joshua Wumbe, a Statistician with the Central University College, Mataheko Campus, has submitted that the 2010 Population and Housing Census risks failure because there is the high probability that the exercise...

No Visas for Para-Cyclists.
August 13, 2010... Byline: Frederick Asiamah and Isaac Parbey Ghana's participation in next week's 2010 UCI World Para-cycling Championship in Canada is in doubt as authorities are yet to secure visas and finalise travel arrangements for the Para-cyclists who...

CPP Congratulates NPP on Successful Delegates' Congress.
August 13, 2010... On behalf of the Leadership and entire membership of the Convention People's Party (CPP), I write to officially congratulate the New Patriotic Party (NPP) for holding a successful special delegates congress on August 7, 2010 which saw the...

Fake Aids Doctor Nabbed.
August 13, 2010... Byline: Dr. Stephen K. Opuni As part of its regulatory activities, the Food and Drugs Board (FDB) has ordered the immediate suspension of drug production activities at the facilities used by Mr. Nicholas Antwi for the production and...

Essential Services Platform Calls for Gender Sensitive Policies in Water Sector.
August 13, 2010... The Essential Services Platform has called on government to formulate water-related gender sensitive policies that will inure to the benefit women. The call follows disturbing revelations from a recent study on "Women's Voices in Water...

Gender Policy for the Disabled Outdoored.
August 13, 2010... Byline: Isaac Parbey The Ghana Federation of the Disabled (GFD) has developed a gender policy to guide the Federation and member organizations in mainstreaming gender issues confronting the movement. The policy is to address what the GFD...

JA Plant Pool Shows the Way in Transportation.
August 13, 2010... Byline: Mohammed Suleman The Vice President, His Excellency, John Dramani Mahama, has underscored that government will continue to collaborate with the private sector in provision of the requisite development projects and services to improve...

Birth and Death Registry Rotting Away.
August 13, 2010... Byline: Nana Poku The Principal Assistant Registrar of Births and Deaths Registry, Mr Kingsley Asare Addo, has predicted that unless the Registry is rescued, it would collapse sooner than expected. He related this disheartening piece of...

Purging the Constitution of Ambiguities.
August 13, 2010... The Fourth Republican Constitution wears a lot of hats. It is the highest law on the land; it is the supreme law of Ghana; it is the nation's fundamental law and the standard by which all laws are measured. Accordingly, any other law found to be...

Constitutional Review.
August 13, 2010... Byline: Frederick Asiamah Professor Mike Oquaye, Second Deputy Speaker of Parliament, has called on the Constitution Review Commission (CRC) to treat every recommendation as significant and do a thorough job to ensure the removal of...

Reflections on My Local Experience.
August 9, 2010... Byline: Tiffany Focht When I wrote last month about my first impressions of Ghana and the expectations I had for my stay, I said that I was "looking forward to mastering the public transportation system, learning some Twi, and hopefully...

Women Demand Increased Participation in Political Processes.
August 9, 2010... Byline: Mohammed Suleman The Programme Coordinator of Women in Law and Development in Africa -Ghana (WiLDAF ), Ms Bernice Sam, has bemoaned the exclusion of many women from the political decision making-processes as leaders, legislators,...

Child-Centric Legislation Will Address Violence Against Girls.
August 9, 2010... Byline: Ama A.amankwah Baafi A recent study on violence against girls in schools has revealed that sexual violence is still prevalent and increasing in spite of the law-the Constitution, Criminal Code, Children's Act, CEDAW and the Convention...

Clerk to Parliament Demands Regular Staff Training.
August 9, 2010... The Clerk to Ghana's Parliament, Mr. Emmanuel Kwesi Anyimadu, has emphasized the need for regular training for Parliamentary staff and members of the Parliamentary Service to enable them to acquire innovative ideas and be in a position to...

CJA to Demonstrate Against Kosmos-Exxon Deal.
August 9, 2010... Byline: Cindy Dilys Maade Asamoah The Committee for Joint Action (CJA) has served notice that it will stage a demonstration against attempts by Kosmos Energy to sell its stake in Ghana's Jubilee Field to fellow American oil giant Exxon-Mobil...

DPS Pledge Support for Environmental Policy Implementation.
August 9, 2010... Ghana's development partners have reinforced their support for policy implementation in Ghana, especially in the Environment and Natural Resources (ENR) sector. "We know that these are aspirations that the Government and people of Ghana...

How to Fish Out Your Lazy MP.
August 9, 2010... Byline: Basiru Adam Some of your Members of Parliament (MPs) virtually have P.O.Ps (Plaster of Paris), as we say in Ghana, strung to their mouths; they cannot and do not talk in Parliament, and you know it. Some, still, boycott Parliamentary...

Zita Calls for More Investment in Tourism.
August 9, 2010... The Minister of Tourism, Mrs. Sabah Zita Okaikoi has called on investors to take advantage of the general incentives available when they decide to invest in the tourism sector. According to the Minister, the government recognizing the...

Zoil Plants More Coconut Trees in Western Region.
August 9, 2010... The Zoil Eco Brigade Project which was launched last year to pursue an aggressive coastal aforestation project is successfully progressing. The workers are planting more coconuts along the beaches of the Western Region. Coconut trees have been...

Zoil Saves More Lives on the Volta Lake.
August 9, 2010... Zoil Lifeguards stationed at Dambai in the Kete Krachi District of the Volta Region have once again averted an accident on the Volta Lake by saving the lives of 51 passengers together with their goods on last Wednesday. The incident occurred...

Census Begins September 26.
August 9, 2010... Byline: Roberta Dzifa Kodzitse Dr. Kwabena Duffuor, Minister of Finance and Economic Planning has announced Sunday, September 26, 2010 as commencement date for population and housing census in the country and will further serve as reference...

Privatization of Basic Schools Could Lead to Segregation.
August 9, 2010... Byline: Gifty Mensah The former Acting Chief for Environment & Sustainable Section, ESSD Division of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), Addis Abba, Dr. Kwadwo Tutu has said the privatization of basic schools is a...

CEPIL, Others Nurture Future Environmentalists.
August 9, 2010... Byline: Frederick Asiamah Opportunity is being given to 50 young Ghanaian professionals to be part of a three-nation pool of environmental activists who will be collaborating to ensure sustainable environments for future generations of Ghana,...

CJA Launches Signature Campaign in Favour of GNPC.
August 9, 2010... Byline: Roberta Dzifa Kodzitse After publicly rallying support for Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) and on its intention of acquiring KOSMOS shares, the Committee for Joint Action(CJA) has launched a signature campaign as a first...

Other Parties Must Learn From the NPP.
August 9, 2010... Ghana is known on the African continent as a pacesetter nation in many enterprises and Saturday, August 7, 2010, came to represent a major milestone in the country's and for that matter Africa's democratic practice. The vehicle for achievement...

Attafuah Wades Into Debate on Oil Cash.
August 9, 2010... Byline: Frederick Asiamah In the debate on how to utilize expected revenues from Ghana's nascent oil and gas industry, some individuals and groups including lawyers, civil society activists, non-governmental organizations and community- based...

2012 Battle Lines Drawn.
August 9, 2010... It was a massive win for Nana Addo Dankwah Akufo-Addo, the front runner in the NPP presidential primaries, tipped by many to carry the day, but for Nana's camp it has been a pleasant surprise. "Though we expected to win, we must concede that...

The Trust Bank Vindicated.
August 9, 2010... Byline: Irene J. Mensah That The Trust Bank (TTB) is one of the indigenous banks indisputably performing creditably has been confirmed by the recent 9th Banking Awards in Accra as TTB added another laurel to its credit as the best bank in the...

National Service Persons Advised to Accept Postings to Rural Areas.
August 6, 2010... The District Director of the National Service for Bole, Mr. Ali Issah, has advised National Service Persons to accept postings to rural areas and not to see it as punishment because the people in those areas needed their service, which would in...

Government Must Declare Child Trafficking a National Crisis.
August 6, 2010... Challenging Heights has called upon the Government to declare the spate of child trafficking in the country as a national crisis and to put the Police on a high alert so as to dismantle the trafficking syndicate, according a release signed by...

Canadian High Commission Celebrates Cluster Munitions Ban.
August 6, 2010... The High Commission of Canada to Ghana hosted a reception on Aug 2, 2010 to celebrate the Entry into Force of the Convention on Cluster Munitions. Jointly with FOSDA, the Foundation for Security Development in Africa, the High Commission marked...

ACET, GoG Agree to Reduce Poverty.
August 6, 2010... Byline: Cindy Dilys Maade Asamoah The African Centre for Economic Transformation (ACET) on Wednesday signed an agreement with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to assist the Government of Ghana in its efforts at reducing poverty, hunger and...

Nation to Lead in Redd Execution.
August 6, 2010... Byline: Mohammed Suleman The Executive Director, Forest Services Division, at the Forestry commission, Mr Raphael Yeboah, has stated that Ghana has identified that reducing emissions as a result of forest degradation and stopping...

I Am the Best Candidate to Lead NPP Back to Power - Alan.
August 6, 2010... Byline: Mohammed Suleman One of the five presidential hopefuls of the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP), Mr. Alan John Kwadwo Kyeremanten, has tasked delegates to vote for a candidate who is attractive not only to NPP members but also to...

Why Atta Mills Pipped Nana on Popularity in 2008.
August 6, 2010... Byline: Gabby Asare Otchere-Darko Ever since Arthur Kennedy published his book, 'Chasing the Elephant into the Bush', and more so since the NPP presidential primaries got going, several commentators have used the analysis of Larry Gibson to...

Halting Our Declining Athletics.
August 6, 2010... Present day athletics in Ghana, especially at the national level, does not evoke the intense passion of the glorious days of yesteryears. The reasons are not farfetched. Athletics in recent times seems to be a remote activity entirely...

Parties to Propose November 7 for Elections.
August 6, 2010... Byline: Frederick Asiamah The four political parties with representation in Parliament have set the first week of September as deadline for the finalization of their positions on aspects of the 1992 Constitution which are up for amendment. ...