Day: April 3, 2024

Praying for China's Prosperity and Carrying Forward the Multi-Millennial Civilization The Memorial Ceremony to Ancestor Huang Di in His Native Place in the Jiachen Year (2024) will be held in Xinzheng, Zhengzhou, Central China's Henan province, on April 11, the organizing committee said at a press conference in Beijing on March 30. This year marks the 75th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China, and is also the fifth anniversary of the implementation of the national strategy to promote ecological protection and high-quality development of the Yellow River basin. The event is expected to play a big part in carrying forward traditional Chinese culture, enhancing the cohesion of Chinese people at home and abroad, and driving the modernization of Henan. The event is co-sponsored by the People's Government of Henan Province; the Henan Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference; the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, the All-China Federation of Returned Ov erseas Chinese; the All-China Federation of Taiwan Compatriots; and the Association for Yan Huang Culture of China. It is organized by the People's Government of Zhengzhou and the CPPCC Zhengzhou Committee, with the People's Government of Xinzheng as the co-organizer. The event, which is themed 'Praying for China's Prosperity and Carrying Forward the Multi-Millennial Civilization', will comprise nine rituals. It will include introductions to the process and rituals of the Memorial Ceremony to Ancestor Huang Di in His Native Place, a national intangible cultural heritage announced by the State Council, aiming to increase the public understanding of the ceremony and related culture. There will be a 75-meter 'loong' (Chinese dragon) roaring into the sky during the eighth ritual named 'Praying for China' to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China, as well as to boost the spiritual strength of Chinese people for striving for national rejuvenation. In addition, to better p reserve the culture related to Huang Di (Yellow Emperor), the organizing committee has planned a series of innovative programs, including online and overseas worship activities. For this, the committee has upgraded the online worship platform to version 5.0. It combines advanced technologies such as AI, VR, and AR to create an immersive and interactive worship experience. The ceremony will be paired with the World Henan Entrepreneurs Convention; the Huangdi Culture Forum; and the first Zhengzhou Qi-Huang·Traditional Chinese Medicine Development Conference, among other events designed to inherit and spread traditional Chinese culture. Meanwhile, the participants can visit the renovated Huangdi Hometown in Xinzheng to savor the charm and essence of Chinese civilization. The new corridor with reliefs depicting the life of Huang Di is amazing. The organizing committee invites Chinese people from home and abroad to visit the Huangdi Hometown to pray for the motherland's prosperity and peace of the world. Sour ce: Ghana News Agency

The National Commission on Civic Education (NCCE) has been urged to collaborate with the media and civil society organisations to undertake comprehensive public education on Serious and Organised Crime (SOC). The advice was contained in a communiqué issued by the Ghana Anti-Corruption Coalition (GACC) after a training workshop for media practitioners and civil society organisations on SOC threats during elections. It noted that there was a need to provide the public with insight into the effect of SOC on the outcome of elections. It said the government should ensure that state agencies were properly resourced to carry out their functions innovatively to help sensitise the people, implement laws on SOC, and prosecute offenders. 'The government must equip law enforcement and investigative bodies with appropriate high-tech crime units that respond to quick investigations to assist law enforcement agencies,' it stated. The communiqué further advocated for law enforcement officials to be made cyber-sensitive through adequate training and support by an expert group with specialised knowledge in the relevant fields. Participants at the workshop agreed that the Electoral Commission must undertake the requisite legal reforms to ensure that political parties capture donations to candidates and expenditures by candidates who represented their party in public elections. This was to guarantee comprehensive accountability concerning the financing of electoral campaigns. The media practitioners pledged to use their respective platforms to support the commitment to confront issues of SOC that threaten the core of Ghana's democratic fabric. They also promised to factor state enforcement bodies' needs into their reportage on SOC and electoral issues and to be more deliberate and diligent when covering them. Mrs Beauty Emefa Narteh, the Executive Secretary of the GACC, said the workshop was organised by her outfit, the Africa Centre for Energy Policy (ACEP), and the Ghana Integrity Initiative (GII). Mrs Narteh said it wa s aimed at enhancing the media's capacity to contribute to the fight against SOC threats in the lead-up to the 2024 elections. She indicated that the workshop formed part of the project titled 'Safeguarding Ghana's Stability in the Face of Serious and Organised Crime (SOC) Threats During the Elections.' She added that the project aimed to deepen public understanding through the media, enhancing monitoring mechanisms, and garnering commitment from both the public and political actors to combat SOC. It also aimed at recognising that media practitioners were entrusted with power as the fourth estate of the political realm to play a pivotal role in shaping the country's democratic narrative, hence the need to equip them with the necessary knowledge to effectively integrate the combating of SOC threats into their coverage and preparations for the Election 2024. Mrs Narteh said it also acknowledged the policies and laws that prohibited the perpetration of SOC activities in Ghana, expressing worry that the spect re of SOC loomed, presenting a real and present danger to the integrity of elections in Ghana due to the potential use of illicit methods to achieve victory during elections. Mrs Narteh said the project also identified that there were weaknesses and gaps in existing legal, policy, and operational regimes that hampered effective investigation and prosecution of SOC-related crimes. Source: Ghana News Agency

Twenty-four individuals comprising fifteen prison inmates and nine officers of the Nsawam Medium Security Prison have received certification in Electrical Wiring from the Energy Commission. The team recorded an 80 per cent pass in the electrical wiring certification examination organised by the Commission. The project is a collaborative effort of the Ghana Prisons Service and the Energy Commission, which was rolled out last year to provide inmates and officers with the skills to conduct internal wiring through training and certification.  The ceremony was on the theme: 'Ensuring the Safety of Life and Property through the Promotion of Standardized Cables and Accessories.'  Mr Oscar Amanoo-Neizer, the Executive Secretary of the Commission, said the project would help promote the rehabilitation of the inmates and give them self-employable skills, which was critical to their smooth social reintegration and reduce the tendency of re-offending upon discharge. 'Beyond enhancing employability, education and voc ational training also foster a sense of purpose and responsibility among inmates, encouraging them to envision a future beyond incarceration and actively work towards it,' he said. The CEO said by investing in their education and skills development, they were not only empowering individuals to break the cycle of crime but also contributing positively to their communities upon reintegration. Professor Ebenezer Oduro Owusu, the Board Chairman of the Commission, commended the graduands for their outstanding performance and efforts during the training and the examination. He advised them to conduct themselves well as professionals and be guided by the laws of electrical wiring and avoid the use of sub-standard electrical wires.  Dr. Francis Omane-Addo, the Deputy Director General of Prisons in charge of Operations, who represented the Director General of Prisons, expressed gratitude to the Energy Commission for sponsoring the training. Dr. Omane-Addo congratulated the trainees and urged them to constantly vi sit the electrical shops in the facility to practice what they have been taught. He urged the graduating officers to take the project seriously and practice what they have learnt to train other inmates in the facility. Awards were also presented to the best graduating inmates and officers. Source: Ghana News Agency

The Girls Not Brides (GNB) Ghana Partnership, a coalition for ending child marriage and all forms of violence against girls, has called for the arrest of Numo Borketey Laweh Tsuru XXXIII, Gborbu Wulomo of Nungua for his marriage to a 12-year-old girl. The Girl, whose husband is this 63-year-old traditional religious leader would serve as his spiritual wife. It said child marriage had been a violation of human rights that robbed young girls of their childhood, potentials, and prospects, with Ghana having over two million child brides, representing 19 per cent of all young women married before their 18th birthday; an affront to achieving equality indicators under the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030. Hajia Fati Seidu Tambro, the GNB Ghana Partnership National Chairperson, in a statement copied to the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in Takoradi, said it found the tradition as a breach of the fundamental human rights of the girl child. The statement said Ghana had pledged its commitment to protect its citizens e specially vulnerable groups including women and girls, through the ratification of various international conventions and protocols that safeguard them from violence. 'Article (4) of the UN Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against women (DEVAW) (1993) states that, no State should invoke any custom, tradition or religious consideration in the perpetration of violence against women.' Hajia Tambro said Ghana had domesticated these international laws and prohibited all customary practices that dehumanised or were injurious to the physical and mental wellbeing of persons in Article 26(2) of the 1992 Constitution. The statement said, 'Although the people of Nungua are conforming to their tradition and custom, it must be practice according to the provision of the Constitution and International conventions of which Ghana is a signatory.' The GNB Ghana Partnership had therefore appealed to the National House of Chiefs to exercise the powers conferred to them by the laws of the land under Article 49 to 55 of the Chieftaincy Act 2008, to harmonise and modify the customary laws of Ghana to conform to the principles of human rights and gender equality. The statement also urged the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection as well as other relevant stakeholders to act accordingly, to save the 12-year-old child from such customary laws which worked against the wellbeing of women and girls in society. Source: Ghana News Agency

The Parliamentary Majority Caucus Wednesday defended the government's recent decision to raise passport fees and other services rendered by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration. Mr Andy Appiah Kubi, the Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of Parliament, addressing the Parliamentary Press Corps, said: 'The subsidy of passport fees by GHS400 should not solely benefit the 20 per cent of Ghanaians who require passports to travel, as it is not equitable.' 'We agree that it is only about 20 per cent of Ghanaians that need passports to travel out of the country. And, therefore, looking at it from that context, the passports then become a privilege, not a right or need.' 'So, if it is a privilege, who should bear the cost of passports? To be honest with you, within the subregion, passports in Ghana are the cheapest and indeed it is incomparable with anywhere else.' 'The most immediate cost element is from Liberia, and they are charging GHS499.50, which is the equivalent of $50 for passpo rts that span for five years…' Mr Appiah Kubi, the New Patriotic Party Member of Parliament (MP) for Asante Akim North, said. In a related development, Mr Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, the National Democratic Congress (NDC) MP for North Tongu, Tuesday expressed disappointment at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration's decision to increase passport application fees in the country. He noted that he and his colleague MPs on Parliament's Foreign Affairs Committee had suggested a graduated approach when economic conditions improved, but their advice was disregarded, and urged the Ministry to reconsider its actions. The Ministry, in a statement issued on Monday, announced an upward review of fees and charges for all services it provided to the public, effective, Monday, April 1, 2024. The decision aligned with the 2023 fees and charges regulations, Legislative Instrument (L.I.) 2481. It said: 'The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration wishes to inform its valued clients that, in ac cordance with the fees and charges (Miscellaneous provisions Regulations, 2023 (L.I 2481), there will be an adjustment in the fees and charges for all services provided by the Ministry.' '…Processing fee for an expedited 48-page passport now costs GHS800, while 32 pages application is GHS700.' 'Expedited Application 48 Pages GHS800. Expedited Application 32 Pages GHS700. Standard Application 32 Pages GHS500. Standard Application 48 Pages GHS644.00.' Mr Ablakwa said: 'The Ministry should reconsider this inimical action immediately. We shall surely revisit this matter when Parliament resumes from recess.' On Friday, December 15, 2023, the Ministry on the Floor of Parliament sought to increase the amount Ghanaians paid to secure passports from GHS100 to GHS644. Madam Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey, the sector Minister, explained that the deficit in the printing of passport booklets was preventing the necessary investments in the Passport Office. '…Ghanaians pay just about GHS100 for a passport, to produce one pa ssport booklet, it costs GHS400, which means that for every passport that an applicant acquires, the government has to put in GHS300 and this is not sustainable,' she said. Speaking on the floor of Parliament before the approval of a GHS1.127 million budget estimate for the ministry, Madam Ayorkor Botchwey told the House that the proposal was being considered by the Committee on Subsidiary Legislation. 'At the moment, passports don't serve as IDs, we have national ID cards. Therefore, those who need passports are those who need them to travel, and I don't think that they would want us to continue to subsidize it.' Per the report by the Committee on Foreign Affairs on the 2024 budget estimates of the ministry, a comparison of Ghana's passport fees with that of other West African countries shows the rate of $7.7 is the lowest within the sub-region. Cameroon charges $180, Guinea $57, Guinea-Bissau $65, Burkina Faso $80 and Nigeria $54.29. Source: Ghana News Agency