Public Agenda articles from March 2010

Public Agenda archives from March 2010

Confusion Over Oil Revenue Estimates.
March 29, 2010... Byline: Frederick Asiamah As part of managing people's expectations ahead of the first flow of oil from the Jubilee Field in the last quarter of this year, some players in the oil and gas industry of Ghana have called for a single-source...

Sudan's Bad Oil Deals - Lessons for Country.
March 29, 2010... As Sudan prepares for landmark elections in over 25 years, there is a lot at stake. The biggest is the future of the country as a referendum nine months later will decide whether the South becomes independent or not. Many voices both in the...

GCB Board Will Be Independent.
March 29, 2010... Byline: Akwasi Fredua The Board Chairman of Ghana Commercial Bank (GCB) Mr. Pryce Kojo Thompson, has insisted that the Board will maintain its independence and will resist any government interference and policies which will be inimical to the...

University of Ghana Apologises to Kofi Annan.
March 29, 2010... The Vice Chancellor of the University of Ghana, Professor C.N.B Tagoe, has sent an official apology to the Chancellor and former Secretary General of United Nations, Mr.Kofi Annan, assuring him that the University's management will spare no...

Majority Leader Solicits the Prayers of Citizens.
March 29, 2010... Byline: Alberta Dudome The Majority Leader in Parliament, Cletus Avoka, has beseeched Ghanaians to say a special prayer for all members of parliament this Easter as such prayers help sustain them in their endeavours. Mr. Avoka who was...

Ban 'Phone-Ins' If...
March 29, 2010... Byline: Basiru Adam Ace Ankomah, a legal practitioner, has staunchly called for an end to phone-in programmes on radio stations until the stations have been able to acquire delay broadcast equipment to regulate the comments made by callers....

German Ambassador Commissions Sogakope-Akatsi Road.
March 29, 2010... At an official commissioning ceremony held last Tuesday at Dabala Junction, the Minister for Roads and Highways, Honourable Joe Gidsu and H.E. the German Ambassador to Ghana, Dr. Marius Haas, formally handed over to the public the road section...

Preventing Electoral Violence Should Be a Continuous Process.
March 26, 2010... Byline: Ama Achiaa A. Baafi The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Alhaji Muhammad Mumuni, has stated that far from being a one-off undertaking, preventing electoral violence remains a work in progress to be addressed continuously by all...

Gh800,000 NHIS Debt Crippling Hospital.
March 26, 2010... Byline: Frederick Asiamah An accumulated debt of about GH?800,000 (or 8 billion old cedis) owed the Nsawam Government Hospital in the Akuapem South Municipality of the Eastern Region by the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) is said to...

Media Urged to Help Prevent TB.
March 26, 2010... Byline: Mohammed S. Baaley The Technical Advisor of the National Tuberculosis Program (NTP), Dr. Rhehab Chimzizi, has called on the media to assist with the dissemination of information to prevent, treat and possibly eliminate Tuberculosis...

Control TB in Women for Public Good.
March 26, 2010... Byline: Ama A. A. Baafi Wednesday, March 24, 2010 was world tuberculosis (TB) day. TB is a disease caused by bacteria and usually affects the lungs, spread in the air and can be cured with medicine. Health experts say that although most...

Newmont to Duly Compensate Persons Affected by Akyem Project.
March 26, 2010... Newmont Ghana has assured all individuals with farms and immovable properties, which have or will be impacted by the company's Akyem Project, that they will be duly compensated in accordance with the express provisions of the Minerals and Mining...

Country, British Parliaments Go to School.
March 26, 2010... The British House of Commons and the Parliament of Ghana have jointly organized a two-day seminar on the role of government and minority (Members of Parliament) MPs in Parliament. . Some of the topics discussed were the relationship between...

WFP Buys U.S.$780,000 Worth of Local Rice.
March 26, 2010... The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) has announced that as part of a growing trend of purchasing its items locally to benefit local farmers, it has purchased 1,433 metric tons of Ghanaian rice, worth US$780,000. This rice will be...

German Navy Ships in Country.
March 26, 2010... Three vessels of the German Navy were yesterday expected to berth in the port of Accra until March 28th, 2010. The frigates FGS BRANDENBURG, FGS NIEDERSACHSEN and the combat support ship FGS FRANKFURT AM MAIN are on their way from South Africa...

Continent's Economic Transformation - Reply to IMF Boss.
March 26, 2010... Byline: Kwame Osei I find it very disingenuous for the IMF boss Mr. Strauss-Kahn to say that Climate Change will affect Afrika's chances of economic growth in the future because under this so-called climate change Afrika will be the most...

World Cup Countdown - the African Challenge.
March 26, 2010... Byline: Kwame Osei This is the first in a series of articles leading up to the World Cup in South Afrika in June. This will be the first time that the prestigious tournament, arguably the greatest sporting event in the world, takes place on...

EU Supports Country's Water Sector with ?402 Million.
March 26, 2010... Byline: Gifty Mensah The Tenth European Development Fund (2008 -2013) has allocated EUR 402 million to Ghana for development, especially for the improvement of the water and sanitation sector. In addition, more than 50% of this amount...

2,015 School Children Queue for Toilet at Ashaiman.
March 26, 2010... Byline: Frederick Asiamah Master Hayford Danso Anderson is a first year student at the Ashaiman Number 2 Junior High School (JHS) where there is a toilet facility. But he will not use the school toilet even when his system so much demands it;...

Pay Attention to Water and Sanitation in Schools.
March 26, 2010... Access to water and sanitation are basic human rights and at the same time fundamental to poverty reduction and socio-economic development. Indeed, there is consensus that no strategy for poverty reduction and development can ignore humanity's...

Zoomlion Donates to Ankaful Leprosarium.
March 26, 2010... As part of its corporate social responsibility for the year 2010, Zoomlion Ghana Limited last Monday donated a number of food items, detergents and waste bins to the Ankaful Leprosarium in Cape Coast. The items which included bags of rice,...

Western Countries Must Help Build African Institutions.
March 22, 2010... Byline: Basiru Adam Elections in Africa have often resulted in conflicts with opposition parties often accusing the incumbent of interfering with the voting process. In the milieu, western countries, particularly the United States and the...

Weija Water Plant Needs Expansion.
March 22, 2010... Byline: Frederick Asiamah Urban Accra is unlikely to experience further water coverage in the short to medium term unless the capacity of the Weija Water Headworks treatment plant is increased, an official of Aqua Vitens Rand Limited (AVRL),...

FBD Orders Withdrawal of Substandard Amoxitic Oral Suspension.
March 22, 2010... The Food and Drugs Board (FDB) has ordered the immediate withdrawal of the substandard antibiotic Amoxitic Oral suspension (Amoxycillin 125mg/5ml oral suspension) from the market, a release from the FDB has directed. The substandard Amoxitic...

Poor Preservation Facilities Hampering Fishing Industry.
March 22, 2010... Byline: Gifty Mensah The slow growth of Ghana's fishing industry has been blamed on poor preservation facilities at sea, a situation which according to experts has led to a bias preference for imported fish, with an estimated 90% of fish in...

Jatropha Must Not Deprive Communities of Farmlands - Actionaid.
March 22, 2010... Byline: Basiru Adam Ghana needs a holistic energy policy that includes bi-fuels to protect poor farmers from losing their farmlands to "unscrupulous bio-fuel companies," the Country Director of Actionaid Ghana (AAG), Ms. Adwoa Kwateng...

The Silent Observer.
March 22, 2010... Byline: Ebenezer Nana Wilson A document developed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration titled: "Acquiring Biometric Ghanaian Passport, 2009, Questions and Answers" defines a biometric passport as a passport that carries...

Jubillee Attracts More Cash From IFC.
March 22, 2010... Byline: Steve Manteaw The International Finance Corporation (IFC), a subsidiary of the World Bank is to invest USD110 million in Ghana's Jubilee Field, bringing its total investment in the project to USD 325 million. Information available to...

Media Urged to Be Circumspect in Reporting On Women in Public Office.
March 22, 2010... Byline: Alberta Dudome Gloria Ofori Boadu, member, Governing Council of the National African Peer Review Mechanism, has called on the media to be circumspect when reporting on issues concerning women in public office. According to her, the...

LAP's Systematic Land Title Registration is Commendable.
March 22, 2010... For an organization not to render itself irrelevant to the needs of society relative to a perennial problem citizen's face in accessing its services, it must constantly be fashioning out alternative and innovative ways of meeting the challenge....

'I'll Fix Water Problem in 100 Days' - Babgin.
March 22, 2010... Byline: Gifty Mensah and Roberta Kodzitse The Minister for Water Resources, Works and Housing, Hon. Alban S.K. Bagbin has declared that he will fix all water related problems within the first 100 days of his tenure in office. According to him...

Going for Longest Toilet Queue Record?
March 22, 2010... Byline: Frederick Asiamah Today, March 22, is the last of three days set apart for the 2010 World Water Day commemoration. To take advantage of this unique opportunity, three global networks representing hundreds of civil society...

Nation, 22 Others Betray Africa.
March 19, 2010... Byline: Frederick Asiamah More than 20 African countries, including Ghana, appear to have betrayed the interest of the Continent by associating with the Copenhagen Accord, which was reached compromisingly at last December's Fifteenth...

BasicNeeds Documentary On the Needs of Epileptic and Mentally Challenged.
March 19, 2010... As part of its efforts to promote the needs and rights of persons with mental illness and epilepsy, BasicNeeds, and international NGO, has come out with a new documentary to preach the importance of self-help groups. The documentary, which...

Why We Have to Change Capitalism.
March 19, 2010... Byline: Joseph Stiglitz In the Great Recession that began in 2008, millions of people in America and all over the world lost their homes and jobs. Many more suffered the anxiety and fear of doing so, and almost anyone who put away money for...

Clean Agenda.
March 19, 2010... Byline: Frederick Asiamah Staff of, and visitors to the Nsawam Government Hospital were held spellbound last Saturday by over 40 physically disabled persons who for close to two hours cleaned the Children's Ward and its environs as if they...

Disabled School Children Need Incentives.
March 19, 2010... Byline: Frederick Asiamah Cecilia Bartholomew, President, Women's Wing of the Ghana Association of the Blind, has described as "naked discrimination" the practice of giving incentives to needy but brilliant school children without special...

Giving Ex-MPs Role in National Affairs.
March 19, 2010... A developing country like Ghana has to harness every imaginable resource, talent, skill, competence and expertise to deal ruthlessly with any obstacle that holds back the nation's clock of progress to reduce poverty, and liberate the potentials...

Women in Local Governance Fund to Be Re-Launched.
March 19, 2010... Byline: Ama A.A. Baafi and Alberta Dudome Government is to re-launch the defunct Women in Local Governance Fund to support women contesting in local governance elections and district assemblies elections that will be held in September this...

Arrest of Zambian Catholic Priest Raises Concern.
March 19, 2010... Byline: Rita Atiyire The arrest of Father Francis Bwalya, a Roman Catholic Priest in the usually quite town of Kitwe, in Zambia has raised serious concerns about citizens' right to free expression in that country, and is a source of simmering...

CHRAJ Has No Power.
March 19, 2010... Byline: Mohammed S. Baaley A legal practitioner and a defense counsel for Dr. Ato Quarshie, one of the officials mentioned in the Mabey and Johnson [M&J] scandal, Nana Ato Dadzie has raised objection to the summoning of his client,...

Amend Constitution to Free MPs to Cross Carpet.
March 19, 2010... Byline: Ebenezer Hanson Many political analysts have at one time or the other decried Parliamentarians, sometimes in rather scathing language, for being too partisan and not acting according to their conscience "dictated by constituency and...

Oil Revenue Consultations Lack Openness.
March 19, 2010... Civil society groups in the oil and gas industry have faulted the on-going consultations on the Draft Ghana Petroleum Revenue Management Bill, describing it as "speculative without any strong foundation." According to the groups, Government...

Govt Must Walk the Women Empowerment Talk-CHRAJ.
March 15, 2010... The Commission on Human and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) has called on Government to demonstrate its commitment to women empowerment by walking the talk. Governments over the years, CHRAJ claimed, have made pronouncements declaring their...

We Shall Employ All Methods to Achieve Goal-GMA.
March 15, 2010... The Ghana Medical Association (GMA) has in a press release stated that if nothing is done regarding its "on -call duty facilitation allowance" it will use all options available to it to get the issues resolved. The statement signed by Dr....

Isodec Tracks Government HIV/Aids Resources.
March 15, 2010... Byline: Alberta Dudome The Integrated Social Development Center (ISODEC) in collaboration with IDASA Governance and AIDS Programme (GAP) of South Africa is undertaking two researches. The studies are part of a multi-country research project...

Gender Equality Necessary to Achieve MDGs.
March 15, 2010... Byline: Ama A.A. Baafi and Roberta Kodzitse A women's rights advocate, Ms Janet Adama Mohammed, has said that efforts to prevent all forms of violence against women, end impunity for perpetrators and provide effective support and redress for...

Local Women Still Marginalized.
March 15, 2010... Byline: Akwasi Fredua. Miss Kyerewaa Asamoah, Programme Officer, Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) /Global Call to Action Against Poverty (GCAP), Ghana Chapter, has stressed that Ghanaian women are still marginalized in terms of...

School Dropouts to Access Free Online Vocational Courses.
March 15, 2010... Byline: Alberta Dudome The Minister for Education, Hon. Alex Tettey- Enyo, has said that the National Democratic Congress government has instituted a long distance education programme, the Technical Vocational Educational Training (TVET), in...

Zoil Life Guards Rescue Lives On Volta Lake.
March 15, 2010... Ten of the newly trained Zoil Life Guards on Monday February 22, 2010 rescued a driver, two mates and a truck load of yams, gari and beans from the Volta Lake at Dambai in the Northern part of the Volta Region as the crowd gathered hailed the...

Online Vocational Course is Misplaced.
March 15, 2010... Byline: From the Editor The Public Agenda is saddened by the response of the Minister for Education, Hon. Alex Tettey- Enyo, on the floor of Parliament about government's policy on basic school drop outs. According to the Minister, the...

Interest Rate in Nation is Highest in Africa.
March 15, 2010... Byline: Irene Janice Mensah and Gifty Mensah In 2004 the Bank of Ghana (BoG) directed all commercial banks in the country, to abolish and in some instances reduce, what it described as unfair bank charges and fees being charged by the various...

Parliamentary Oversight, Key to Getting It Right in Oil Sector.
March 15, 2010... Byline: Basiru Adam Participants in a meeting with representatives of ONE International, a campaign and advocacy organization founded by Bono of U2 fame, have observed that it will take a well resourced and a motivated parliament to ensure...

Black Stars Unite Against Malaria.
March 15, 2010... Byline: Basiru Adam Every goal the Black Stars of Ghana get to score in the upcoming World Cup in South Africa will be celebrated as victory against malaria on the continent, the nation's FA President, Mr. Kwesi Nyantekyi, has said. TV...

The Police Must Stop This Goro Street Menace.
March 15, 2010... Byline: Gifty Mensah One of the fastest growing jobs in some cities in Ghana like Accra, Kumasi and Takoradi is the Goro boy business. This refers to the practice of persons who assist drivers' mates at bus stops to call for passengers for...

FWSC Intensifies Public Education On New Salary Structure.
March 12, 2010... Byline: Ama Achiaa A. Baafi The Fair Wages and Salaries Commission (FWSC) has denied recent media reports that it has engaged in illegal negotiations with some organizations and said no negotiations has started. Its Chief Executive...

Investing in the Youth.
March 12, 2010... Byline: Frederick Asiamah The Ga East Municipal Assembly has set out to improve quality basic education as a way of investing in the youth, Mr. John Kwao Sackey, Municipal Chief Executive, said last weekend. The MCE said the assembly was...

Unitization - an Indispensable Practice in the Oil And Gas Industry.
March 12, 2010... Byline: K.N. Atuahene The Creation Account as per the Holy Bible(Genesis chpt.1),makes it manifestly clear that Man was created in God's image with instructions to be fruitful, populate and dominate the world making use of other articles of...

Govt Must Honour Its Campaign Promises to Women.
March 12, 2010... The Network for Women's Rights in Ghana (NETRIGHT) has called on government to translate its promises of promoting women's rights as contained in its party's manifesto into concrete action to achieve true equality for women. NETRIGHT noted...

Investing in the Youth.
March 12, 2010... Byline: Frederick Asiamah Ga East Assembly prioritizes quality basic education The Ga East Municipal Assembly has set out to improve quality basic education as a way of investing in the youth, Mr. John Kwao Sackey, Municipal Chief...

AABN to Empower Traditional Eateries.
March 12, 2010... Byline: Irene J. Mensah The African Aurora Business Network (AABN) in collaboration with Indigenous Caterers' Association of Ghana (ICAG) is organizing a training workshop for ICAG members in Accra. Dubbed "EATbiz - Empowering the...

CJA Raise Fresh Concerns Over PSC Tema Shipyard.
March 5, 2010... The Committee for Joint Action (CJA) has urged Government to immediately come out with its comments on the report of the Special Ministerial Committee, which investigated the PSC Tema Shipyard Ltd recently. A March 2, 2010 statement signed by...

Companies in the News.
March 5, 2010... Byline: Compiled By Irene J. Mensah Latest Toyota Land Cruiser Prado launched Toyota Ghana Limited has unveiled the latest Toyota Land Cruiser Prado in Accra. The new Prado's performance has been improved to give it a better...

Judicial Vacation Review Proposal Receiving CJ's Attention.
March 5, 2010... The Chief Justice, Mrs. Justice Georgina Theodore Wood, says the proposal for the review of the judicial vacation is receiving due attention. "Her Ladyship the Chief Justice has noted the concerns and has indicated that her office will...

Child Labour Laws Must Be Implemented.
March 5, 2010... Byline: Ama Achiaa A. Baafi Social workers are advising the public to desist from employing the services of head porters (Kayayei) who are minors or below 18 years. They are also seeking empowerment so that social workers can stop any child...

Single Spine Salaries Take.
March 5, 2010... Byline: Gifty Mensah and Roberta Kodzitse The Fair Wages and Salaries Commission has, after several months of consultations, finally arrived at a decision to implement a Single Spine Pay Policy (SSPP) which will take place from July 1, 2010....

Trade Unions Urged to Be Independent.
March 5, 2010... The General Secretary of the International Trade Union Confederation, Africa Regional Organisation (ITUC-Africa), Mr. Kwasi Adu-Amankwah, has urged African Trade Unions, particularly those in the public sector, to move beyond membership...

Tourism Minister Urges Africans to Take Advantage of South Africa 2010.
March 5, 2010... Tourism Minister, Mrs. Zita Okaikoi, has called on Africans to take advantage of the upcoming South Africa 2010 to harness the tourism potentials on the continent. According to her, the Africa is endowed with a lot of tourism sites capable of...

Be Original - Nigerian Actress Shows the Way.
March 5, 2010... Byline: Alberta Dudome An ace Nigerian film actress has called on the youth to desist from copying blindly. According to Mrs. Hilda Dokubo, the only way to affect your society is to be original and be you. Speaking to the Public Agenda in...

German's President Sends Goodwill Message to Ghanaians.
March 5, 2010... Mr President, On the occasion of Independence Day in the Republic of Ghana, allow me to offer you and the Ghanaian people my sincere congratulations and those of my fellow Germans. This year the anticipated start of oil production will...

Labour in Mining Decreases.
March 1, 2010... Byline: Basiru Adam In spite of increased investment in Ghana's mining industry, the proportion of Ghanaians employed in the industry has been dwindling as against expatriates, Dr. Thomas Akabzaa, Senior Lecturer of the Earth Science...

Journalists Concerned About Limited Access to Water.
March 1, 2010... Byline: Frederick Asiamah "Water is a development issue; and, since Ghana is a developing country, one of the things we need very much is improved access to water, especially in rural areas. It is important that as media personnel we advocate...

Lack of Reliable Data Affects MDGs.
March 1, 2010... Byline: Akwasi Fredua Leonard Ackon, Communications Assistant of the Ghana Chapter of the Millennium Goals (MDGs) Project, has identified the lack of reliable data on Ghana's performance on the MDGs as one of the major challenges facing the...

Tema Records 1,432 Accidents in 2009.
March 1, 2010... A total of 1,432 accidents, involving 3,010 vehicles, occurred in the Tema Police Region last year. This showed an increase of 125 accidents in the Region, as compared to the 1,287 accidents recorded in 2008. Deputy Superintendent of...

Do Away With Judicial Vacation, Lawyer Proposes.
March 1, 2010... Byline: Gifty Mensah The Executive Director of the Legal Resources Centre, Mr. Edward Amuzu, has called for a review of the judicial vacation of the judiciary, which normally occurs from June to October every year. According to him, the...

President Mills Was At His Best, But ...
March 1, 2010... Byline: Alberta Dudome Members of Parliament have given divergent views on the state of the Nation's address as delivered in Parliament by President John Evans Atta Mills last Thursday. While some gave him a plus others were not enthused at...

VRA Should Be Made to Answer for Its Negligence.
March 1, 2010... In its November 9, 2009 edition, Public Agenda broke the news of a seemingly unintended power subsidy being enjoyed by mining companies and which had as at the time of the report cost the tax-payer a whooping GHc146M. We stated in our story...

VRA Guilty of Criminal Negligence.
March 1, 2010... Byline: Steve Manteaw Evidence gathered by Public Agenda suggests that the Volta River Authority can be cited for criminal negligence for not collecting new electricity tariffs from mining companies negotiated and agreed upon in July 2008....

Energy Policy is Human Rights-Deficient.
March 1, 2010... Byline: Mohammed Suleman A law lecturer at the University of Ghana, Dr. Dominic Ayine has recommended that Ghana's energy policy should address matters pertaining to entitlements as well as provide guarantees against potential human rights...

Bog Urged to Accelerate Computerization of Rural Banks.
March 1, 2010... The Bank of Ghana (BOG) and the ARB Apex Bank have been urged to, as a matter of urgency, accelerate the computerization of Rural and Community Banks (RCB's) in the Country to facilitate their operations. The Regional Coordinator of Trias...

Establish More DOVVSU Offices in Police Stations.
March 1, 2010... Byline: Akwasi Fredua The National Co-coordinator of the Domestic Violence and Victims Support Unit (DOVVSU), Chief Superintendent Elizabeth Dassah, has requested for the establishment of DOVVSU offices in all Police Stations in Ghana to...

Police to Clean Up Image.
March 1, 2010... Byline: Irene J. Mensah The Inspector General of Police (IGP), Mr. Paul Tawiah Quaye, has declared 2010 a year of "Image Redemption" for the service, issuing a strong warning to corrupt and errant officers to turn a new leaf or face severe...

Gov't Spending On Social Services Should Benefit the Poor- New Study.
March 1, 2010... Byline: Ama A.A. Baafi A recent study conducted by the Integrated Social Development Centre (ISODEC) into Ghana's health, education and water sectors has revealed that government spending generally in the three sectors is not well targeted at...

800 Driver's Licences Unclaimed At the Tema MTTU.
March 1, 2010... About 800 driver's licences have been left unclaimed by offending drivers, at the office of the Tema Motor Traffic and Transport Unit (MTTU), of the Ghana Police Service. The licences were seized from drivers for alleged various motor traffic...