Journalsits urged to focus on behavioural change

THE Managing Director of the Graphic Communications Group Limited (GCGL), Mr Ibrahim Awal, has urged journalists to write persuasive articles that will change people’s attitudes and behaviour towards HIV/AIDS and the people affected by the pandemic.
He observed that journalists seldom wrote on HIV/AIDS, adding that “the more journalists write on HIV/AIDS, the more they create the much-needed awareness of it in the minds of the general public”.
Mr Awal made the appeal when a two-member delegation from the Ghana Business Coalition Against HIV/AIDS (GBCA) called on him in Accra yesterday. They were Dr Derek Nii Armah Aryee, the Programme Director, and Dr Adriana Ignea, the Programme Officer.
He noted that the GCGL being a corporate entity, staff development was a major priority area, for which reason it continued to provide free health care for its staff, their spouses and a maximum of six children.
That, he said, was aimed at ensuring that the health status of its staff was improved tremendously, pointing out that the company did not discriminate against members of staff who suffered from any kind of disease.
“It is in pursuance of this objective that the company had been collaborating with the GBCA in its activities, to the extent of granting the coalition gratis in the form of adverts, together with the Ghana AIDS Commission, in view of the seriousness the company attaches to the disease,” he said.
He advised other organisations to give support to both the GBCA and the commission in the execution of their respective mandates, adding, “We should not underrate the effect of the disease on the workforce of any organisation, as well as the country’s human resource development.”
Mr Awal expressed the company’s appreciation towards the GBCA’s support to the GCGL’s annual health walk against HIV/AIDS.
Mr Aryee also expressed his appreciation to the company for supporting the GBCA in its campaign against HIV/AIDS since its formation two years ago.
Briefing Mr Awal on the achievements of the coalition so far, the programme director said membership had increased from the initial 500 and was still on the increase.
He said aside from media publicity, the coalition published an annual newsletter to promote its campaign.

Ghanaians confident of future- veep

THE Vice President, Mr John Dramani Mahama, has observed that the government and people of Ghana are proud of and confident in the future of the country.
“As one of the leading stars of a continent that is rediscovering the path to progress after a long period of underdevelopment, we are well on track in entrenching constitutional rule and multi-party democracy as the safest political security for social and economic progress,” he stated.
The Vice President was speaking at the launch of e-Transact, an international electronic transaction payment platform designed to make financial transactions with banks more secure, easier and faster, either by using a mobile phone, an e-Transact smartcard or on the Internet.
Mr Mahama stressed that the confidence of the government and people of Ghana had proven to be well founded in the past 17 years, and expressed the conviction that the current interest the investor community had in the economy was the result of what the country had been able to achieve collectively as a nation since the adoption of the 1992 Constitution.
He expressed optimism that the use of the e-Transact electronic transaction platform would reduce cash transactions and enhance the creation of credit by the financial sector, as well as reduce the huge capital outlay the country committed into the printing of the currency at the moment.
Mr Mahama gave the assurance that the government would play its part to ensure that the management of e-Transact enhanced their operations in order to meet their goals.
He, therefore, encouraged the management to quickly extend its activities to other parts of the country to enable a larger percentage of the populace to benefit from the speed and efficiency of the electronic transaction system.
The Governor of the Bank of Ghana, Dr Paul Acquah, observed that the financial sector, which has seen a significant degree of transformation, remained reasonably healthy and one of the most vibrant sectors of the economy.
“It has been built on a set of legislation and regulations that have established a framework for the development of a modern banking and financial services industry, “ he said.
Citing the e-zwich payment system as an equally essential effort to create a safe and efficient payment and settlement system infrastructure, Dr Acquah hinted that the Ghana Interbanking Payment and Settlement System (GHIPSS), a branchless banking framework, was being developed with the e-zwich biometrics smartcard as its core.
“It allows us to tap technology to provide a wide range of services and products to the public. It opens access to the unbanked segment of the population, including those who cannot read or write, in the urban, as well as in the rural areas, ” he stated.
To ensure that there was a broad-based participation by users and service providers for the successful development of branchless banking, Dr Acquah urged the management of e-Transact to open up and not have exclusive partners to enable customers to undertake transactions across all platforms.
The Global Chief Executive Officer of e-Transact, Mr Valentine Obi, said e-Transact was a Pan-African organisation with operations in other countries, including Cote d’Ivoire, Nigeria, South Africa, Zimbabwe and The United Kingdom.
Their decision to come Ghana, he said, was based on the enviable position of Ghana on the continent, and after 18 months of operations in the country, they felt vindicated about their confidence in Ghana.
The electronic platform, according to Mr Obi, was designed by Africans for Africa and to take the African payment systems to the next level without having to go through the challenges and difficulties that the Western world had to go through at the beginning of their journey into electronic payment systems.
Mr Obi announced that e-Transact was developing its regional headquarters office complex in Accra, to cater for their operations in the sub-region, and pointed out that the complex would house the e-Transact Global training centre, a data centre and a disaster recovery site for Global e-Transact.

Caption: The Vice President, Mr John Dramani Mahama (right), cuts a tape to unveil a prototype of the new e-Transact smartcard. Looking on (from left) are the Deputy Finance Minister, Mr Seth Terkper, Governor of the Bank of Ghana, Dr Paul Acquah and the Global Chief Executive Officer of the e-Transact, Mr Valentine Obi.

Military High Command urged to liaise with financial institutions for support- Defence Minister

THE Minister of Defence, Lt Gen Joseph Henry Smith (retd), has urged the Military High Command to liaise with financial institutions and construction companies in their effort to provide adequate accommodation for military personnel.
That, he said, would help decongest the housing systems in military establishments in order to reduce the pressure on particularly young military recruits who were mostly affected.
Lt Gen Smith was speaking during a working visit to units and military establishments within five garrisons in Accra.
The visits, according to the minister, were to enable him to acquaint himself with and ascertain the various challenges faced by the military so that, together with the Military High Command, he would find ways to address them.
Lt Gen Smith also took time to visit some of the housing projects being undertaken by some heads of units and service personnel with their own funds and other housing projects under construction with funds from the Ghana Armed Forces (GAF).
He pledged to ensure that those who constructed apartments with their own funds were re-imbursed by the ministry after completion and also directed contractors who were building housing projects with funds from the GAF to ensure that the buildings were completed by September this year.
The minister observed that there were too many kiosks at the barracks and described the situation as unacceptable.
The Army Commander, Lt Gen Samuel A. Odotei, took the minister round the various units and explained some of the challenges faced by the personnel and how those challenges could be resolved with assistance from the government and the private sector.
Another challenge that was identified, apart from the accommodation problem, was the use and maintenance of vehicles. Apparently, some vehicles were not being used for the appropriate purposes, while others were being strained or overused.
Lt Gen Odotei suggested the decentralisation of vehicles at the various garrisons in the regions to reduce the strain on vehicles which had to travel sometimes from Accra to Tamale and back.

UGBS launches business journal

A BUSINESS journal, Management and Organisation: A Multidisciplinary Journal of Business, developed by the University of Ghana Business School (UGBS) has been launched in Accra.
The journal which will be published in two volumes, January and June, will be circulated worldwide.
It is international and multidisciplinary in character, and seeks to promote the interplay and nexus between organisational functionality, management practice and economic/national development.
The journal also aims at facilitating greater understanding of organisational and managerial processes and functions and critical firm level challenges facing developing and emerging areas.
It also seeks to publish works that test, advance and develop models, frameworks and concepts in the broad areas of management, organisation, finance, public sector management and decision systems.
Giving a background to the journal, its Editor, Dr Bill Puplampu, who is also a lecturer at the UGBS, said the journal was not entirely new, since the UGBS had a similar publication in the late 1970’s.
He said the school had a journal called The Journal of Management Studies, which died sometime in 2003 and was revised under an entirely new editorial board.
Dr Puplumpu said the journal would periodically accept prescriptive, theoretical and conceptual papers, which present sufficient ground-breaking discourse of theory, models and methodological paradigms, reviews of the literature or practice which lead to new understandings.
The Editor pointed out that the journal sought to pursue a policy of double-blind peer-review, while papaers will vary in length from 5,000 to 7,500 words, but explained that papers outside this range may be considered under special circumstances.
He promised that the editorial team would make sure that the publication was available to the business community and also see to it that a column was reserved for practitioners to also contribute.
Launching the journal, the Pro-Vice Chancellor of the University of Ghana, Professor Kwesi Yankah, said the publication had come at a time when there was a resurgence of research and publishing at the university and commended the editorial board and the UGBS for adding to the stock of journals founded and nurtured by the university.
He said the university considered publications, seminars and conferences as key outlets for knowledge dissemination since they offered opportunities for peer review, assessment and commentary in order to determine one’s standing within a discipline.
To promote that cause, Prof. Yankah disclosed that the university had boosted the budget for research and conferences, and put in place measures to facilitate access to funds by students and expressed the hope that the journal would trigger the delivery of several other journals in the university and beyond.
“This year, the Research Committee has received a record number of applications for research funding, and the university administration having been thus encouraged, has further boosted funding for research for the next academic year”, he stated.
Prof. Yankah said the university would institute an initiative through which students would be able to assess lecturers as part of efforts to improve knowledge construction and its dissemination at the university, saying that the move formed part of measures aimed at improving academic standards as well as the quality of scholars that graduate from the university.
He was optimistic that the measure would additionally encourage research and scholarship and publications within the university so that graduates did not end up as half-baked impostors.
The assessment of lecturers by students, Prof. Yankah said, was a practice that had been standardised in several universities across the world and their decision to formally introduce it at the university was informed by recommendations from a report put together by a Visitation Panel instituted by the University Council.
"To us as a university, knowledge construction and dissemination have been our mainstay", he noted and emphasised that since the establishment of the university in 1948, these have been our major preoccupation,” he stated.
“We disseminate knowledge through teaching and publication, but what is the value of teaching if this is not informed by quality research and inquiry into various aspects of discipline”, he stated and pointed out that the quality of teaching at the university had often been founded on quality research”.
That, he said was the reason why the university ensured that the teaching departments spent 70 per cent of their time teaching, and 30 per cent on research, while the Research Departments spent 30 per cent of their time teaching and 70 per cent on research.
The Managing Director of Cal Bank, Mr Frank Adu, who spoke on the topic “Academic Thinking and Management Issues,” drew the attention of the audience which comprised mainly scholars from the academia, to the fact that graduates from universities often failed to observe certain critical details relevant to the stability of an organisation.
He said his experience with products from the universities revealed that they lacked critical and analytical thinking as well as self motivation, and the application of ethics.
Mr Adu nonetheless agreed that academic thinking and management issues would continue to be relevant because the business community depended on academic thinking for decision making.
The acting Dean of the UGBS, Mr S. Takyi-Asiedu, gave the assurance that the journal would serve as a medium to disseminate research findings from lecturers in the country’s maiden universities and other parts of the world.
He expressed confidence that the journal absolutely met international standards, considering the membership of its editorial board.

Caption: Pix-1 The Pro-Vice Chancellor of the UG, Professor Kwesi Yankah, displaying a copy of the journal, “Management and Organisation: A Multidisciplinary Journal of Business” by the University of Ghana Business School (UGBS).

Pix-2- from left to right, The Editor of the publication, Dr Bill Puplampu, the Acting Dean of UGBS, Mr S. Takyi-Asiedu, the Managing Director of Cal Bank, Mr Frank Adu and the Pro-Vice Chancellor of the UG, Professor Kwesi Yankah after the launch of the journal.

Government will withdraw accreditation- if Private tertiary institutions performing poorly

THE government will not hesitate to withdraw the accreditation of any private tertiary institution in the country found to be operating below the required standards, the Vice President, Mr John Dramani Mahama, has stated.
He noted that this was in line with the government’s determination not to compromise on the quality of education which was the secret behind the development of any nation.
“It is the people that make up the country. That is why we have to concentrate on eradicating illiteracy and provide opportunities for all our people to be educated,” he said.
The Vice President was speaking at the second graduation and fourth matriculation ceremony of the Regent University College of Science and Technology held in Accra at the Weekend.
Mr Mahama however gave the assurance that the government would continue to collaborate with the private sector in the provision of quality education to eradicate illiteracy because it believed that public institutions of higher education alone could not provide the human resource needs of the country.
He urged all private tertiary institutions in the country to inject into their graduates an entrepreneurial spirit to enable them to set up their own businesses to create employment for others instead of seeing themselves as only fit to be employees.
In all, over 230 students graduated from the university whilst over 500 students were admitted into different programmes, including Bachelor Degree programmes in Accounting and Information Systems, Economic with Computing, Management with Computing, Computer Science and Computing with Education.
The President and Chief Executive of the University, Professor E. Kingsley Kwabena Larbi, paid tribute to all teachers, stating that education was the greatest investment any country could make.
He gave the assurance that the university would work in collaboration with the central government to eradicate illiteracy in situations where students at the lower and tertiary levels could not afford their tuition fees.
Prof. Larbi expressed the belief that democracy could only be entrenched if the majority of the population was educated in order to make informed decisions as to who governs them.
He noted that a major challenge facing the country in the 21st Century was the widening gap between the poor and the rich, which resulted from the lack of adequate education in the rural areas.
To help salvage the situation, Prof. Larbi announced that the Regent University had taken steps to support some children from indigent families in junior and senior high schools in the Eastern Region and intended to extend the support to cover students from other regions.
Additionally, he said the university had established the Regent-Ghana Jubilee Scholarship Fund to support needy students as well as students with great leadership potential in areas consistent with the vision of the university.
Degrees were conferred on graduands from the School of Informatics and Engineering, and the School of Arts and Social Sciences.
In the awards categories, Master Francis Agbewali was adjudged the overall best student in academics and for best character, as well as the best student in the School of Arts and Social Sciences.
The best student in the School of Informatics & Engineering was awarded to Master Emmanuel Asimani whilst the Best Computer Science Student was awarded to Ms Diana Ademola.

Caption: Master Francis Agbewali receiving his award as the overall best student in academics and best character from the Rector of the Pentecost University, Reverend Ohene Kyei.

Girl, 7, killed in accident

A SEVEN-year-old girl, Vera Naa Larko Laryea, was reported dead after being hit by a BMW saloon car, with registration number GW 8133 R and driven by a police officer, on the First Light-Flamingo road in Accra yesterday.
Vera, according to his brother, Shedrach Laryea, was returning from Sunday School at the Mataheko J.T. Primary School when the accident occurred.
Eyewitnesses at the scene of the accident alleged that the police officer (name withheld by the police), overlooked the traffic light which had turned red and drove through it at top speed, killing Vera instantly.
When contacted, Inspector J. Asherowu of the Kaneshie Divisional Police said he and three others were on patrol when they saw a mob on the verge of attacking the police officer who had hit Vera.
"On reaching the scene, we saw a mob who had gathered around the BMW, the officer and the victim, who lay on the ground. We did not know whether the child was dead or not so as part of our duty to protect the lives of citizens and their property, we had to ward the mob off and when they refused I fired two warning shots to ward them off," he stated.
He explained that after unsuccessful calls for an ambulance from the Kaneshie Police, the patrol team, together with two relatives of Vera’s, took the deceased to the Police Hospital where she was pronounced dead on arrival.
Inspector Asherowu said he and his colleagues returned to the accident scene to move the car to the station but they realised that the mob had deflated its tyres and even wanted to cause further damage to it.
He said they then advised the suspect to report himself at the Kaneshie Police Station and he heeded their advice.
When the Daily Graphic visited the Kaneshie Police Station around midday yesterday, the suspect was behind bars.
The Station Officer at the Kaneshie Motor Traffic and Transport Unit (MTTU), Chief Inspector Samuel Amoani, said the police received a call on the accident and followed up to the scene to ascertain the cause of the accident.
"At the scene, we met some family members of the deceased, spoke with them and also listened to accounts of eyewitnesses at the scene," he said, and added that the police were yet to question the suspect, who would assist them in further investigations.

Caption:
Pix: 1 The BMW saloon car that hit the deceased, killing her instantly.
Pix: 2 An eyewitness (hands stretched) explaining how the accident occurred to the Dansoman District Police Commander, ASP Yartey Tawiah, who was at the scene to find out the cause of the accident.
Next to him is Inspector J. Asherowu of the Kaneshie Divisional Police.

Meet all deadlines on banking regulations- Deputy Minister advices financial institutions

THE Deputy Minister of Finance Mr Seth Terkper has encouraged banks and all financial institutions to act swiftly in meeting all the regulations and deadlines set by the Bank of Ghana.
He said this would position the country to meet the challenges of the finacial crisis and find solution to the meltdown should it hit the shores of the country.
Speaking at the launch of the first-ever three-day banking fair organised by Stanbic Bank in Accra last Thursday, Mr Terkper said the country was going through some micro-economic instability but the government would adopt the best policies and measures to ensure that the country was placed on a sound footing to promote growth and prosperity in the economy.
“The government is committed to building a vibrant private sector knowing that once that sector is encouraged to grow it will not only expand by creating job opportunities for the people of this country but will also contribute to improving the standard of living our people whilst contributing to our GDP”, he stated.
Mr Terkper commended Stanbic bank for its $100 million facility support for peasant farmers in Ghana and three other African countries to improve productivity, increase income and to alleviate poverty.
He said the fair was timely because it would afford both individuals and the business community the opportunity to experience a more direct and personal discussion of their banking requirements with the bank in order to get the best advice for their financial and business concerns.
“This initiative by Stanbic will also renew confidence in the banking system as an integral intermediary in our financial system,” he added and expressed optimism that the fair could also reduce the low understanding of what banks offered and the inability of banks to tailor their services and products to meet the needs of the public.
Some of the products and services on display at the fair which received high patronage by some members of the media, business executives, and the general public included an Internal banking and mobile top up stand, E-zwich, Investment banking, Personal lending, Transnational and Saving Product, Global Transactional banking and Custody Services.
Guests at the fair had an opportunity to conduct banking businesses, open accounts, and held discussions on vehicle and asset financing as well as received corporate banking solution after the launch of a new product known as ‘new Business online (nBol).
The new product nBol is a single online platform with a single point of entry for clients to perform multiple functions across Africa.
The Managing Director of Stanbic Bank, Mr Alhassan Andani said the bank since its commencement of business in Ghana, had 22 branches and 460 employees.
He said the theme for the fair, “Money Matter” was chosen to demystify banking and to get their services closer to their customers and prospective ones.

Let’s all unite to fight violence against women

THE Public Information Officer of the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR), Mrs Needa Jehu-Hoyah, has stated that the fight to end violence against women will succeed if both men and women adopt a united effort.
She said the theme for this year’s International Women’s Day celebration, “Women and men: United to end violence against women”, was in consonance with the UNHCR’s mandate for the protection of the rights of refugees, adding, “The pursuit of gender equality through targeted actions of empowering women and girls remains a fundamental aspect of UNHCR’s work.”
Mrs Jehu-Hoyah was speaking on behalf of the UNHCR High Commissioner, Mr Antonio Guterres, at a durbar to honour 480 women, including 30 survivors of domestic and gender violence, trained by the UNHCR in various skills at the Buduburam Refugee Camp in the Central Region.
The durbar was held to climax this year's International Women's Day,
The training formed part of the commission’s efforts to forge peaceful co-existence between refugees and the host communities by organising programmes to enhance the lives of both parties.
The information officer contended that in situations of forced displacement, no one was spared deprivation, stating that violence, particularly sexual and gender-based, was a major characteristic of contemporary conflict.
“We have framed the matter positively, highlighting the role of all of us in promoting human rights and gender equality,” she stated, adding, “It begins with me; it begins with you, it begins with us.”
The Director of the Central Regional Department of Women, Mrs Paulina Abayage, enumerated the types of domestic violence and said they included physical, sexual and psychological violence, as well as non-verbal and economic violence, which she described as a situation where men denied their spouses the opportunities of becoming economically viable.
According to her, domestic violence in the Central Region was on the increase and that the best way to minimise it was through awareness creation and the expression of extreme love for victims.
She also spoke about the crucial role of women in conflict, and citing the Liberian civil war as an example, she said the war in that country would not have degenerated to that extent if women’s role in conflict management had been recognised and utilised appropriately.

Caption : The Head of Women of Glory at the Buduburam Camp, Madam Kebah Freeman (left), receiving a certificate from the Public Information Officer of the UNHCR, Mrs Needa Jehu-Hoyah (middle), for her contribution to the promotion of the welfare of women and growth women associations at the camp. With them (right) is the Repatriation Officer at the camp, Madam Olivia Shannon.

CEIBA Airline makes debut flight to Accra

CEIBA Intercontinental Airline, an airline from Equatorial Guinea, has started operations in Ghana to provide air services and deepen existing bonds between the two countries.
The move is expected to open up the two countries for increased business as well help connect the West and Central African regions.
The Minister for Roads and Transport, Mr Mike Hammah, said the the inauguration of the flight in Accra that the initiative was timely considering the difficulty of flight connections and limited availability of flights options for travel within the sub-region.
"The government of Ghana believes that the development of the region requires much more attention and integration than has been forthcoming in the past and we consider transportation especially air travel as an essential vehicle to move economic development at a quicker pace", he remarked.
The flight operations are in line with a Memorandum of Understanding between the Ghana Aeronautical and the Equatorial Guinea authorities recently signed for the provision of air services between the two countries.
He said under the terms airlines of the two countries were at liberty to operate air services for both passenger and cargo.
"The two states also concluded and initiated a main text on Bilateral Air Services Agreement (BASA), which now is expected to undergo ratification in the respective countries before the signing of the agreement", Mi Hammah added.
CEIBA Intercontinental is the national airline of Equatorial Guinea which will fly four times from Accra to Malabo via Cotonou and Abudjan and also land in Libreville, Brazaville, Bata and Pointe Noire.
The Chief Executive of CEIBA, Mr Mamadou Jaye, commended Ghanaian and Equatorial Guinean authorities for their swiftness and efficiency in implementing the open skies agreement between the two countries.
The opening of the Ghanaian skies, he acknowledged, would go a long way to boost the expansion efforts of the Equatorial Guinea national carrier which started operations only in 2007.
The relationship between Ghana and that country dates back decades, as Malabo, one of its major cities, was built out of the ancient Island of Francisco Miacias Nguema (Fernando Po), from where Tetteh Quarshie brought cocoa to Ghana that has become an important cash crop for the country.
The airline has dominance in the Central African Republic and is seeking to widen its presence in West Africa, with Accra as its hub within the sub-region.
Many of its nationals, civil servants and professionals of Equatorial Guinea are products of Ghanaian institutions of higher learning and are still coming here to train.
“The economic importance of Ghana in the sub-region as the first Anglophone country we have interactions with is bound to contribute to drawing our countries closer to the realisation of objectives we have set for ourselves,” Mr Mamadou said.

China will fulfil promise to Africa

THE Government of the People's Republic of China has given the assurance that it will continue to fulfil the promises it made to Africa during the China-Africa Summit in 2006.
China, at the end of the two-day Beijing Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Co-operation, gave a promise to double its aid and trade to Africa to $100 billion by 2010.
The Chinese Ambassador to Ghana, Mr Yu Wenzhe, who gave the assurance when he paid a courtesy call on the Editor of the Daily Graphic, Mr Ransford Tetteh, in Accra yesterday, announced some of the measures undertaken so far to ensure that those promises made in respect of Ghana were fulfilled.
He said the Chinese Embassy was preparing to assist Ghanaians, particularly those in the media, to enrol in exchange programmes in China to learn Chinese, as well as the cultural and socio-economic activities of the people of China.
"I hope that the media in Ghana will have more opportunities to visit China, acquaint themselves with what is going on there and bring back relevant information for publication," he stated, and pointed out that if the two countries were to co-operate in an effective and efficient manner, then "it was essential that the people of both countries understood each other’s culture".
One area of constraint affecting trade between the two countries, according to the Ambassador, was the language barrier, which he said was very crucial if trade relations between the two countries were to improve significantly.
He commended the media in Ghana for their role during the 2008 elections and the transition period, stressing that "everyone was calling for peace and eventually, with the help of the media, everything came out all right".
Mr Wenzhe revealed that as part of the cultural integration programme between the two countries, the biggest news agency in China, the Xinhua News Agency, would soon send some journalists to work in Ghana and report on China-Ghana trade relations.
He expressed optimism that with the support of the media in Ghana, the team from Xinhua would be able to send first-hand information from Ghana to China, and vice versa.
Mr Tetteh, who is also the President of the Ghana Journalists Association, recalled that relations between the two countries dated back to the administration of Ghana's first President, Osagyefo Dr Kwame Nkrumah.
He said he was hopeful that the gesture by the Chinese government to assist media practitioners in Ghana to study in China would yield the desired result of breaking the language barrier to help solve issues that existed as a result of the lack of communication, adding that the difficulty encountered by traders of both countries as a result of the language barrier was not helpful.
Mr Tetteh said Ghanaians and the world at large were amazed at the technological advancement of China during the recent 2008 Olympics held in Beijing and expressed the hope that with China's assistance, Ghana and Africa in general would be able to face the storm of financial crisis facing the world.

Taylor’s trial,new form of colonialism — counsel

THE lead counsel for the former Liberian President, Charles Taylor, Mr Courtenay Griffiths, has described the International Criminal Court (ICC) as a new form of neo-colonial structure being used by the West to control their former colonies.
He said in reality, “what we are witnessing in the 21st century is the creation of a new form of neo-colonialism — a colonialism by a different means” through the misuse of the International Criminal Law.
Mr Griffiths, who was speaking at a press conference on the status of Taylor’s trial by the ICC at The Hague, Holland, in Accra at the weekend, said it was time for Africans to take charge of their own destiny and not allow the Western powers to dictate to them.
While accepting that Mr Taylor was guilty of some offences against humanity before the period of his indictment, he argued that Mr Taylor’s trial had received very little publicity here in Africa, yet it was the continent which was most affected by the outcome of those proceedings, and asked why Mr Taylor’s trial had not taken place in Africa.
“Why has the African Union (AU) not established its own court to deal with issues which affect Africans in Africa? If a corporal in the American Army cannot be tried in the ICC for war crimes and crimes against humanity, how come an African president can?” he asked.
In his opinion, one reason Mr Taylor’s trial and the trial of other Africans were taken to The Hague was that it was easier to destroy the rights of a people when they were kept in the dark and added that the majority of Africans had no clue as to what was going on in The Hague.
According to him, the world had moved on since Britain’s gunboat policy in the 19th century and because that was not feasible now, the West needed a different means to control their former colonies, saying that one way of doing that was through the ICC.
That, he said, was because it was curious that no one was calling, with equal ferocity, for either former President George Bush or former British Prime Minister Tony Blair to stand trial for the atrocities instigated by them in Iraq.
Likewise, he said, there was a studied silence from the “international community” when it came to the crimes committed so recently by the state of Israel in Gaza, pointing out that impunity only became an issue if the perpetrator was a black African who did not enjoy the backing of the West.
Mr Griffiths recalled that when Mr Taylor was arrested and dragged to The Hague to stand trial, he had warned “that if they came for him in the morning they would come for others at night”, noting that that vision had now come true in the case of the President of Sudan and that the next could be President Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe.
When asked why the press conference in Ghana, he said he had come to the birthplace of Pan-Africanism, in the hope that “we can together rekindle that non-negotiable demand that Africans be treated equally on the global stage”.
“This is a good place to start with politically astute individuals. Accra is a good place because from here the fight could go across. This goes beyond Charles Taylor; let’s not personalise this because he is just being used as a catalyst for the process and if we do not halt this it will engulf us all,” he stated.
He said that was a serious issue that needed to be addressed because almost half a century after supposed independence, “we still allow this to go on”.

Cell phone thieves nabbed

THE Nima Police have arrested three suspected mobile phone thieves who were alleged to have stolen over 300 mobile phones and accessories, digital cameras, cam-coders, and a play station (both video gadgets), from a phone dealer at the Tip Toe Lane near the Kwame Nkrumah Circle in Accra.
The suspects who live in Nima are, Adamu Ibrahim alias Kabruso, who allegedly masterminded the operation, and was said to be a roadside mobile phone seller,Nicholas Nimta, alias Horror, a barber and Ibrahim Hamidu also a roadside mobile phone seller.
They were arrested on March 7, 2009, and arraigned on March 10, 2009 and remanded in police custody. They are to reappear before court on March, 26, 2009.
The Nima Divisional Police Commander, Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP), Andrew Angwubatogwe Awuni, who narrated the incident to the Daily Graphic, said the complainant on March 5, 2009 got to his shop at about 7:00a.m. to start business as usual but detected that all items in his shop had been stolen.
ACP Awuni said the complainant had noticed that the thief or thieves had gained entry into his store by cutting through the backside of a wooden shop before his store, and later cutting through the side of his store which was also wooden and making away with all the items.
He said the complainant informed his friends who were also mobile phone dealers to be on the alert.
ACP Awuni said on March 7, 2009 the third accused person, Ibrahim Hamidu sold seven assorted phones at a cost of GH¢350 but the witness who knew Hamidu very well paid GH¢550 for the phones and quickly took the phones to the complainant who identified them as some of his stolen phones.
He said the witness then called Hamidu and reminded him of the over payment and requested that either he returned the balance of GH¢200 or brings more phones to cover the balance.
Consequently, he said Hamidu agreed to bring more phones to the witness, and was arrested in the process.
During interrogation, Hamidu was said to have mentioned the second accused, Nicholas Nimta as his source of supply. The witness informed the police of the information and added that upon his arrest, Nimta initially denied knowledge of the phones, but later admitted and confessed to the crime.
Two mobile phones and all the accessories for the phones and digital cameras including the cam-coders were found during a search conducted at his barbering shop.
??He said Nimta also mentioned the first accused person, Adamu Ibrahim as the person who gave him the phones and all the accessories to sell, and pointed??. When a search was conducted in his Ibrahim room after his arrest, seven pieces of Ipods, one play station, three speakers, four phones and accessories belonging to the complainant were retrieved.
ACP Awuni said Ibrahim also mentioned one Maxwell as the person who gave him the phones and digital cameras to sell but could not lead the police to the said Maxwell.
He said upon further investigations it was found that the second accused person, Nimta had given some of the stolen items to his family members to sell for him.
ACP Awuni said when Nimta was interrogated, he denied all the allegations, but on March, 9 2009 some of his family members gave 22 digital cameras and cam-coders and 20 assorted mobile phones to the complainant, claiming that they were retrieved them from some unidentified persons.
He said the items so far recovered included 40 pieces of assorted mobile phones, 47 pieces of digital cameras, seven pieces of Ipods, one play station and quantities of mobile phones and digital camera accessories. Mr Awuni said investigations were still ongoing to retrieve the remaining items.

Caption: From left to right, Nicholas Nimta, alias Horror, Adamu Ibrahim alias Kabruso, and Ibrahim Hamidu.

GTV on DStv

GHANA Television (GTV) has been launched on MultiChoice Digital Satellite television (DStv), the continent’s leading satellite television service to offer subscribers in the country quality digital pictures.
This formed part of MultiChoice strategy to enhance DStv’s international status by offering as many African public broadcasters as possible to be on the DStv bouquet and also to further enhance their relationships with local broadcasters.
GTV’s services, which is available on DStv channel 142 (DStv West African bouquet) was made possible through an agreement between MultiChoice Africa and the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation (GBC).
Speaking at the launch yesterday, the General Manager of MultiChoice Ghana, Mr Samuel Baimbill-Johnson, said MultiChoice was committed to the development of the continent and also devoted to promoting and projecting Africa.
“No other company in Africa has invested as much in the creation and delivery of local content. Our sister company M-Net is the lead investor in the development and provision of local content, and are committed to unearthing local talent and building a strong television industry in the markets in which we operate”, he stated.
He said he was confident that the addition of GTV onto the DStv platform in a list of more 60 channels would add more value and viewing pleasure to their subscribers in Ghana.
“With GTV on DStv, viewers in every corner of Ghana can now access the channel with digital quality signal resulting in a much clearer picture”, he stated and pointed out that “as with other broadcasters that are on DStv platform, GTV will be available only to viewers in Ghana for a start.”
Mr Baimbill-Johnson announced that MultiChoice had experienced phenomenal growth over the last 12 months with over 200,000 subscribers signed up for DStv, bringing the total number of DStv subscribers to 2.3 million.
He, however gave the assurance that their commitment to Ghana was in the long-term because Ghana was one of their most important markets.
The Director-General of GBC, Mr William Ampem-Darko, expressed his profound gratitude to MultiChoice for the collaboration.
He was optimistic that the link would uplift the image of GTV and therefore entreated MultiChoice to give GTV a global presence to enable Ghanaians abroad to acquaint themselves with what was going on in the country.
He was however of the view that the collaboration was not a competition but a cooperation that would be beneficial to MultiChoice.

‘Let’s kick out money laundering’

THE Bank of Ghana (BoG) has charged all banks and financial institutions to adhere strictly to the Anti-Money Laundering Act 2008, in order to deter people and organisations from attempts to transform illegally acquired wealth into clean resources.
The Act gives banks the legal authority to question and report large and suspicious lodgement of funds and suspicious transactions to a money laundering authority to be investigated.
With the passage of the law in response to the current threat of money laundering and terrorist financing across the world, a Financial Intelligence Centre (FIC), is being established by the BoG as provided for by the law to receive and analyse financial information and suspicious transaction for further investigations by law enforcement authorities.
The list of accountable institutions included banks and non-banking institutions, operators of game of chance, dealers of precious metals and stones, auctioneers, lawyers, accountants, real estate company or agent and non-governmental institutions that carried on activities including deposit taking of money, financing of trade, industry, commerce or agriculture, securities portfolio management and dealing in shares, stocks, bonds or other securities.
The Deputy Governor of the Bank of Ghana, Mr Lionel Van Lare Dosoo, who conveyed the directive at a seminar on "Managing the Risk of Money Laundering", emphasised that with the Ghanaian economy increasing integrating into the global financial system, it was imperative that the local financial system adhered to international best practice.
The seminar which was organised by KPMG was attended by stakeholders drawn largely from the banking community.
"Considering the critical nature of foreign investment to a developing economy like ours, it becomes extremely imperative that every efforts is made to ensure that our banks and other financial institutions adhere to strict professional banking practices to help stop these activities," he stated.
He pointed out that "where banks failed to keep a business transaction record, report suspicious transactions or an officer who commits money laundering offence, the Act empowers the FIC to obtain a search warrant to enter any premises belonging to that officer or employee of such institution.”
He disclosed that the law also allowed officials of FIC to search the premises and remove any document, material or other things important for the purpose of the law enforcement agency.
To that effect, he said, banks were also required to develop internal policies, procedures and controls aimed at countering money laundering, noting that those should include designation of compliance officers, adequate screening procedures when hiring employees and an audit function to test compliance with policies and control relating to money laundering activities.
Mr Dosoo said it was expected that the identification, documentation and record keeping of banks would help in surveillance and investigations of movements of large sums of money and monetary instruments.
The deputy governor said the central bank’s "Know Your Customer” policies were also geared towards helping banks to determine customers' true identity, sources of income and business.
The deputy governor expressed hope that the ongoing process of the National Identification Scheme would further enhance customer identification and improve transparency in banker-customer relations.
The BoG was also in close collaboration with the National Security, the Commercial Crime Unit of the Ghana Police Service and all commercial banks on issues relating to money laundering, adding that Ghana had been slated for an Anti-Money Laundering Assessment in April 2009.
Mr Dosoo said the country had also taken steps to observe international treaties and conventions on the subject.
The Head of Corporate Reporting and Investment Banking at the National Banking College (NBC), Nana Otuo Acheampong, said religious bodies had also been cited in the law and should endeavour to adhere to it.
According to him, the inclusion of religious bodies in the list of accountable institutions under the Act was to require religious leaders to also report suspicious donations to the church for investigations by the FIC.
He emphasised that an accountable institution should comply by reporting such suspicions within 24 hours after the knowledge or grounds for suspicion of the transaction.
Nana Acheampong bemoaned the fact that despite the enactment of laws designated to curb money laundering, these evils still take place and were in most cases on the increase.
"The law enforcement agencies all over the world are overwhelmed by the sheer size and sophistication that criminals are now employing to perpetrate their illegal deeds", he stated and indicated that the extent to which money was being laundered globally was estimated to be between $500 billion and $1 trillion.
A Partner of KPMG in charge of Forensic and Africa Head of Anti-Money Laundering Services, Mr Kevin West, stressed the need for complaint officers to be skilled and well trained to ensure that Ghana was not labelled a money laundering entry point to the West African sub-region.
He said although money laundering could not be completely eradicated, it was important to ensure that the country did not become a victim of people who used the country's financial institutions for criminal activities.
Addressing the participants on scenarios captured in the Global Anti-money Laundering Survey conducted in 2007, Mr Kevin said strict compliance to the law was essential for Ghana to keep a clean sheet in the face of the raging menace.

Translate ideas of Nkrumah into action — Kwesi Jonah

A SENIOR Lecturer at the Department of Political Science of the University of Ghana, Legon, Mr Kwesi Jonah, has petitioned the government to fully translate the ideas of Ghana’s first President, Osagyefo Dr Kwame Nkrumah, into effective action in order to achieve the country’s development agenda.
“Most of his ideas have now found their way into state policies and principles,” he noted, and said the country could only move forward if Dr Nkrumah’s ideas were firmly integrated into the country’s development strategy.
Mr Jonah made the appeal when he addressed an audience at the second public memorial lecture on Dr Nkrumah and his centenary celebration which was held at the Arts Centre in Accra on the theme, "Osagyefo Dr Kwame Nkrumah at 100: Celebrating the Life and Legacies of a Pan-African Legend".
“Because of the foundation Dr Nkrumah laid for us, we can boldly say that we are a solidly united country,” he said, and stressed that Dr Nkrumah’s initiatives were not an end in themselves because years after his death most of his achievements were what most Ghanaians depended and prided themselves on.
“The unity of African countries — USA — was more important to him than Ghana,” he said, adding that Dr Nkrumah was of the view that “even the richest African country could not survive alone politically, economically and socially”, and that was why, during the proclamation of Ghana’s independence, Dr Nkrumah stressed the fact that “‘the independence of Ghana is meaningless unless it is linked with the total liberation of the African continent’,” he said.
He indicated that in the process, Dr Nkrumah discovered that three things needed to be firmly implemented if Africa could ever be united and they were “one currency, one army and one foreign policy”, but Kenneth Kaunda, the then President of Zambia, and other African leaders suggested co-operation along functionary lines and regional unions, which for Dr Nkrumah was not a proactive strategy.
He recounted one of Dr Nkrumah’s legacies, the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), through which Dr Nkrumah tried to bring all independent states not only in Africa but also other parts of the world, particularly those in Asia, to pursue their own objectives other than following the Eastern and Western blocs to achieve their development agenda.
Mr Jonah said though some of the members of the movement openly aligned themselves with either of the blocs, NAM could never be sidelined from Dr Nkrumah’s achievements because it formed a forum for solidarity across the world.
“Dr Nkrumah, by all standards in the world ,was a great person,” he stated, and pointed out that years after his death Africans around the world remembered him for his persistence struggle against colonialism across Africa.
Mr K. B. Asante, a retired diplomat and educationist who was a minister of state in Dr Nkrumah’s government, bemoaned the fact that years after the Kulungugu bombing, no commission of enquiry had been set up to find the culprits behind the attack.
Recounting his experiences with Dr Nkrumah, Mr Asante recalled that as a political science student he once took the opportunity to ask Dr Nkrumah why he wanted a one-party state when he had two-thirds majority in Parliament and Dr Nkrumah made it known to him that though there were talents in the Convention People’s Party (CPP), he wanted to appoint the best and most relevant Ghanaians into positions, hence his resolve to tap into all parties in a one-party state.
He said he did not even have a CPP card and did not refer to himself as an Nkrumahist but Dr Nkrumah believed and trusted in him, adding that that was why Dr Nkrumah appointed Mr J. H. Mensah in his administration.
The President of the Kwame Nkrumah Foundation, Professor Agyeman Badu Akosa, justified the legitimacy of the Preventive Detention Act (PDA) passed in July 1958 by Dr Nkrumah.
He said the Act was justifiable, even if the life of one person was saved, noting that innocent people were killed and maimed during the political tension at that time.
Prof Akosa explained that the Act was in no way different from the ‘Patriotic Act’ and the ‘Terrorism Act’ that had been passed in the United States of America (USA) and the United Kingdom (UK), respectively, but no questions had been raised against the passage of those acts.
The President of the Kwame Nkrumah Memorial Park, Mr Kwaku Manu-Asiamah, said Dr Nkrumah was great among his peers and so his ideas should not be left to die and expressed the belief that efforts at ensuring Nkrumah’s mortality should be the joint commitment of all Africans.
He advised government to negotiate with Panaf Books Limited, the publishers of Dr Nkrumah’s books, to publish the books locally for the benefit of the general public and visitors who visited the park in order to defuse false charges against Africa by Europeans that Africa had no history or philosophy.
On problems associated with the park, he said the museum, a key component of the park, had its roof and floor leaking badly.
“The cracks in the museum floor were hidden for the celebration of Ghana@50 with a carpet. Now the leakage from the floor has exposed our cosmetic attempt to solve the problem once and for all. If you enter the museum today, stains on the carpet will tell an unfriendly story,” he emphasised, and stressed that “Nkrumah was a builder and, therefore, for any building associated with his name to go to ruins is unpardonable”.

Merchant Bank goes to Abbossey Okai

MERCHANT Bank Ghana Limited has widened its reach, with the opening of another branch at Abbossey Okai in Accra.
The outlet, which brings the bank’s network to 18 branches, will offer services to people in the spare parts market as well as small- and medium-scale enterprises (SMEs).
The acting Managing Director of the bank, Dr Kwame Osei-Owusu, said the presence of Merchant Bank in Abbossey Okai signified an open invitation to the chain of businesses in the area and its environs to deal with it.
He named some of the benefits to customers as the free use of automated teller machines (ATMs), zero deposit account opening, no charges for processing salaries as well as zero charges for withdrawal from personal accounts.
Dr Osei-Owusu said with good collaboration between the bank, the SMEs and business associations, they would together remove many of the barriers facing entrepreneurs in the country, and hence in the Abbossey Okai spare parts market, thus improving their business culture.
"We would not only support and partner you but we would take significant interest in the general development of the capacity of your businesses," he assured.
The Supervising Director of Merchant Bank, Nana Fredua Agyeman Pambuo I, advised staff of the bank to understand and appreciate the concerns of the customers, who mostly operate in the informal sector.
He announced that the bank would collaborate with the Member of Parliament for Ablekuma Central to ensure that a Police Station was sited in the area to provide security for their activities.
The bank said it would open 11 more branches before the end of the year.
The Member of Parliament for the Ablekuma Central, Mr Theophilus Tetteh Chaie, expressed gratitude to the bank for offering to assist in the establishment of a Police Station to beef up security at the Abossey Okai area.

VIASAT 1 launched

VIASAT 1, a new television channel on Ghana’s TV screens, has been officially launched in Accra with a commitment to deliver quality programmes to viewers and advertisers.
It is owned by Modern Time Group (MTG), a Scandinavian company with coverage in over 29 countries
The Chief Executive Officer of MTG, Ms Laurence Miall d'Aout, said at the launch in Accra yesterday that the group had invested heavily in infrastructure, hinting that both their play-out facilities and transmitter sites were built with state-of-the-art equipment to enable it to provide good picture and sound quality for its audience.
"By doing this, we will drive viewers to the channel and deliver increased returns on investment for our advertisers," she stated, and expressed the belief that its way of doing business would resonate well with the expectations of its advertisers and audience.
"We are a client-focused organisation and we are here to deliver the best entertainment to viewers and first-class services to advertisers," she emphasised.
Ms d'Aout announced that the station intended to set up a transmitter site in the Northern Region, in addition to the ones already in place in the Greater Accra, Ashanti, Central and Western regions to enable it to cover densely populated areas of Ghana.
The station, according to her, had also entered into agreement with some of the biggest African content owners and secured what it believed were the best African movies, series and current affairs programmes.
Ms d'Aout said the company intended to develop good relations with newspapers, magazines and radio stations in Ghana to provide TV viewers with better and more programming information.
The Chief Executive of Viasat 1, Rune Skogeng, disclosed that the station had been awarded the national terrestrial TV licence by the National Communications Authority.
He gave the assurance that the station, with over 22 years’ experience in both radio and television broadcasting, would strictly adhere to international standards.

Ministry to adopt stringent measures to save forests

THE Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, Alhaji Collins Dauda, has said the ministry will adopt stringent measures to address the problem of deforestation in mining communities in the country.
That, he said, was to ensure that residents of mining communities had sustainable livelihoods.
He gave the assurance when the Australian High Commissioner to Ghana, Mr William Williams, paid a courtesy call on him in Accra.
Alhaji Dauda identified re-afforestation as one of the areas that had not received much attention from the government and promised to carry out programmes to significantly address the phenomenon of deforestation which was fast degrading lands in the country.
“It is true that we need the minerals but the lands are being destroyed, together with the vegetation,” he stated, and indicated that the ministry would ensure that programmes on re-afforestation were effectively implemented to yield the desired results.
He acknowledged the relationship that existed between Ghana and Australia and expressed his readiness to deepen ties between the two countries.
Mr Williams expressed Australia’s commitment to address challenges in the mining sector, in view of the fact that there were some Australian companies operating in the sector.
He said he wanted to see for himself the sort of social responsibility activities that such companies were engaged in as part of measures to ensure sustained livelihoods for residents of those communities.
According to him, after taking stock of problems existing in those communities, he would seek to collaborate with the Minerals Commission and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to figure out how best those problems could be resolved.
Mr Williams invited the minister to a mining conference to be held in Australia in September this year.
The conference, he stated, would focus on Australian companies engaged in mining activities in Africa.

CEPS introduces new system

THE Customs, Excise and Preventive Service (CEPS) in collaboration with Ghana Community Network Services Limited (GCNet) is to introduce the Ghana Customs Management System II (GCMSII), to enable agents to validate their documents within five minutes before clearing.
The new web-based system, which would facilitate trade between exporters and importers and increase the revenue mobilisation of CEPS, is an amendment of the current manual system being used by CEPS and will be introduced on April 6, 2009.
The Operations Manager of GCNet, Mr Chris Holden, who made this known at a stakeholders meeting in Accra last Tuesday, said the new system would improve the functionality of the operations of CEPS, by enabling agents to forward details of documents to GCNet and they in turn forward that information to CEPS for feedback, all under five minutes.
He explained that after the 'Manifest' (information submitted by the agents) had been declared and approved by CEPS officials online, the agents could then go to the CEPS depot to clear the goods without delays.
Additionally, he said, that would also avoid the falsification of payments actually made by these agents whilst processing or clearing goods for their clients.
Mr Holden said the introduction of the GCMS II was to avoid such abuses and the erroneous impression created about the level of tariffs charged in the clearance of goods through Customs, or the operational status of the current GCMS being used by CEPS.
The Deputy Systems & Database Manager of GCNet, Mr Eliot Ansah, said the meeting with the stakeholders, who were mainly clearing agents, was to help them identify shortfalls and bottlenecks faced by agents in their operations with CEPS and other agencies.
The Principal Collector of the Compliance Unit of CEPS at the Kotoka International Airport, Mr Lawrence Anang, said GCNet had impacted positively on the activities of CEPS.
According to him, the introduction of the system had fully transformed and modernised the operations of CEPS, resulting in increased revenue collection, reduction in clearance time and greater compliance by stakeholders.
In the area of capacity building, he disclosed that GCNet in an ongoing process was training personnel of CEPS in relevance modules of the system, according to their operational requirements.
"The introduction of the new system will enable importers to clear their goods within an hour," he stated, and added that that would also allow them to quickly respond to complaints from clients, and make communication with clients more flexible.

Guinness launches street dance competition

GUINESS Ghana Breweries Limited (GGBL), has launched its second edition of Malta Guinness Street Dance Africa 2009.
The competition will once again showcase Ghana’s hottest dance talent, the best, vibrant and skilled dancers from across the country, following the runaway success of last year’s competition.
The Marketing Director of GGBL, Ms Ama Okyere, at the launch said, millions watched the televised programmes which showcased dancers from all over Africa, popping, locking and krumping their way to the pan-African final in August.
She recalled that Ghanaian dance stars— 2PUFF and the Nigerian dance crew SOULQUEST — threw down their hottest moves in an energetic dance-off before 2PUFF was crowned Malta Guinness Street Dance champions.
The Marketing Manager of Malta Guiness, Ms Mary Cobbla, said, from Monday, March 2, 2009,each dance crew made up of six people could visit their local recruitment centres where leaflets and demonstration videos would be made available for more information on how to participate in the event.
She added that a series of auditions in each participating country would see dance crews with the best routine entering the national stage of the competition, to compete with each other.
“The smoothest movers and shakers in Ghana will be selected to represent their country at the International Finals in September”, she stated. She promised that for those who thought last year’s show was hot, this year’s show will be even hotter.
She announced that Ghanaian hiphop dance supremo and guru, Slim Buster and some skilled membersof the entertainment industry will be judging this year’s grand final event and Malta Guinness was pulling out all the stops to put on a spectacular show which would be held in Kenya for the first time.
Ms Cobbla disclosed that winners of the Ghana competition would be flown to join counterparts from Nigeria, Cameroun, Tanzania, Kenya, the United States, Europe and Asia for a vibrant contest where only one crew can take the title of Malta Guinness Street Dance International champion.
The competition, she hinted, would truly showcase the best of Ghanaian dance talent to the world.
Additionally, she pointed out that this year’s entrants would enjoy a once-in-a-lifetime experience as they danced their way to fame and fortune ; and that the winning dance crew would take home huge cash prizes, exclusive merchandise, Malta Guinness and a DVD of their performances on stage.
The crew, she said would also have the opportunity to work with Africa’s best dance choreographers and professional stylists.
Aside that, she said Malta Guinness would be treating guests to culinary delights, cool tasting drinks and exclusive give-aways, whilst audience at home would have the chance to cheer on their favourite dance crew as they watch Ghana’s brightest stars begin their path to stardom.

Surveyors raise concerns on achievement of MDGs

THE achievement of targets for the Millennium Development Goals (MDG’s) may elude the country if the government fails to integrate certain key inputs into its day to day activities, the President of the Ghana Institution of Surveyors (GhIS), Mr Jonathan Allotey Abbosey has observed.
“Looking at the slow rate of implementation of development projects and the provision of some social services, the achievement of the target may elude us by the year 2015”, he stated.
Mr Abbosey was speaking at the 40th Anniversary/Annual General Meeting and the Fourth Annual Surveyors Week of GhIS held in Accra.
He said despite the fact that the MDG’s have been streamlined and domesticated into Ghana’s Growth and Poverty Reduction Strategy (GPRS I & II) the concept still appeared very remote or alien.
He noted further that effort should be made, especially by the Ministries, Department and Agencies to achieve the MDG’s.
Speaking on the theme, “Achievement of the Millennium Development Goals in Ghana- A Reality or a Mirage- The Role of the Surveyor” Mr Abbosey said if the targets of the MDGs were to be attained within the agreed period, then the government needed a well-motivated human resource, efficient cost-effective and transparent land administration system and more importantly, an up-to date geo-spatial data for the planning of development projects.
“Planners require up-to date geo-spatial data to enable them to plan ahead of infrastructure development, if slums and informal settlements are to be controlled to the minimum”, he emphasised and explained that accurate planning schemes could be derived from up-to date maps and plans to facilitate the work of professionals charged with the responsibility of controlling development.
He urged customary land owners with large tracts of land to engage the services of professional surveyors, with the relevant expertise, if even on part time basis, to assist them to manage their lands.
Mr Abbosey, however, gave the assurance that GhIS would continue to collaborate with other professionals to offer cost-effective services to help alleviate poverty, reduce hunger, develop and help maintain infrastructures.
He, therefore, challenged members of the institutions to contribute to the national development agenda by assisting government to implement decisions that would help in achieving the set targets of the MDG’s.
The Chief Executive of the Millennium Development Authority (MiDA), Mr Martin Eson-Benjamin, who chaired the meeting charged members of GhIS to improve the availability of updated information to aid planning and enforce rules and regulations on land surveys and effective planning.
He said the contribution of surveyors to the national development agenda, depicted the importance and relevance of their institution as far as the management of land-based resources, property, construction and environmental issues were concerned.
He said MiDA, based on its goal of “Poverty Reduction through Economic Growth and Agricultural Transformation” sought to improve tenure security for existing land users and to facilitate access to land for commercial crops in the districts under the Millennium Challenge Account (MCA) Ghana programme.
According to him MiDA also intended to rehabilitate and upgrade feeder and trunk roads as well as highways to reduce transportation costs affecting agricultural commerce at sub-regional and regional levels in Ghana.
Mr Eson-Benjamin said he was aware of the inadequacy of Ghana’s land policy and regulatory framework and the underdeveloped land registration system , which he attributed to the large number of land disputes pending before the law courts.
That, he said impacted negatively on the growth and modernisation of the agricultural sector, adding that MiDA saw the sustainability of land reforms as the cornerstone of any successful revolution of Agriculture, of which GhIS had a major part to play.
The choice of theme for the celebration, he said underpinned the institutions effort to accelerate the pace of attaining the MDG’s and also ensuring Ghana’s continued eligibility for the MCA funding.
At the end of the ceremony, 65 surveyors were inducted into the GhIS, while eight survey technicians from various tertiary institutions countrywide were given awards for their excellent performance in their final exams.