Author: Web Desk

Armed robbers have stormed the premises of Sethi Brothers Ghana Limited in the Tema Heavy Industrial Area and made away with an undisclosed amount of money. In the early hours of Sunday, seven of the ten robbers, armed with assault raffles and pistols, scaled the wall of the company and opened the main gate for three others to join the expedition while a get-away car waited on the main Accra Aflao highway. Briefing the Ghana News Agency, Mr Addi Sethi, a member of the management team, said, one of the security men was beaten up but no death was recorded. According to a CCTV footage made available to the GNA, the robbers, who wore masks, tied up the hands of a security man and under the threat of death, he took them to the various offices and rooms of four expatriate staff who were also manhandled. After taking the robbers to the safes and sensitive offices, they locked them up, ransacked the safes and offices and bolted. The security man who pleaded anonymity, said he was overpowered and beaten up by th e robbers. A source close to the Tema Regional Police Command said no arrest had been made yet and that the investigation was ongoing. The Tema Heavy Industrial Area has come under robbery attacks lately. Sethi Brothers Ghana Limited are dealer in construction materials and real estate and one of the iconic companies in the industrial enclave. Source: Ghana News Agency

Madam Emmanuella Woelikplim Afetorgbor, the Assistant Director for the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) in Anloga District of the Volta region, has urged all workers to exhibit discipline and dedication to work. The aim, according to her, would help increase productivity as well as improve quality delivery. Madam Afetorgbor, in an interview with the Ghana News Agency after commemorating this year's 'Workers Day' celebration, said the day acknowledged the contribution and achievements of all workers. 'Workers Day reminds you of the importance of workers globally, and all workers should be recognised for their hard work and dedication. ' She further stated that all workers, including teachers, health workers, security agencies, farmers, fisherfolks as well as public and civil servants, should work with love for humanity and dignity at all levels. 'Let us honour and celebrate the hard work and dedication of individual workers in all fields of work. May all workers enjoy safe and healthy worki ng conditions with abundant growth and development,' she added. Madam Afetorgbor said the labour force remained a key indicator in every angle of life and should be recognised, empowered, and motivated. Some workers, the GNA engaged, expressed worry and dissatisfaction about their working conditions and appealed to the authorities to help. Source: Ghana News Agency

Madam Matilda Tettey, the Head of Public Relations, Ministry of Local Government, Decentralisation and Rural Development (MLGDRD), says the Gulf of Guinea Northern Regions Social Cohesion (SOCO) Project of the Ministry is making significant strides. With over 500 sub-projects underway, including the construction of mechanised boreholes, roads and schools as part of the project, significant headways had been achieved, she said. 'Community dialogue and local economic development are essential components of the project, targeting the youth, community leaders, and women in the various regions, and building their capacity in things that generate conflicts,' she added. Madam Tettey was speaking at the closing ceremony of the 2024 Civil Service Week Policy Fair, on the theme: 'Combatting the Threat to Sub-Regional Peace and Security: The Perspective of the Civil Service,' in Accra. The MLGDRD participated in the programme with its allied institutions: the Institute of Local Government Studies, Office of the Com mon Fund Administrator, Local Government Service and Land Use and Spatial Planning Authority. Also in attendance were the Births and Deaths Registry, Parks and Gardens, and Community Development. Madam Tettey said despite the challenges associated with such projects, the Ministry made efforts to manage them effectively, with most of the issues resolved at the local level. The theme aligned with the SOCO project aimed to proactively prevent the spread of conflict from the Sahel, reduce vulnerability to climate change, and strengthen local institutions, economic opportunities and public trust. In Ghana, the project had been implemented in six regions in the northern parts; the Northern, Upper East, Upper West, North East, Savannah and Oti regions, with 48 Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies benefitting. Maintaining those initiatives was essential, involving continuous social cohesion initiatives and disseminating messages of empowerment and peace throughout the communities. 'The Ministry's att endance in the fair demonstrated its accomplishments as well as the value of teamwork and creativity in tackling the intricate problems of peace and security,' she said. Source: Ghana News Agency

The Trades Union Congress (TUC), says Ghana has recorded 250 per cent depreciation in the cedi in the past eight years coupled with over 25 per cent inflation resulting in huge decline in the living standards of citizens. Mrs Phyllis Agyemang, the Eastern Regional Secretary of the TUC, said in a speech by the Organised Labour, that the decline was mainly due to Ghana's over-dependence on imported goods whose prices were directly influenced by foreign currencies. 'The exchange rate of the cedi is now almost GHS14 to one US dollar compared to about GHS4 in 2016. That means workers who earned a monthly salary of GhS1,000 in 2016 took home the equivalent of US$250. Today, GHS1000 is only US$71,' she said. Mrs Agyemang was addressing over 800 workers representing about 20 organisations in the Eastern Region who converged in Koforidua to celebrate Labour Day. The celebration was on the theme: 'Election 2024: The Role of Workers and Social Partners in Securing Peaceful Elections for National Development'. Mrs Agyemang observed that most workers depended on loans to cater for some basic needs like house rent and school fees among others, however, the interest required to be paid was over 30 per cent as the informal sector charged up to 50 percent interest. She said with the current economic distress of the country and the relatively high wages, what the TUC negotiated for workers in the last two years had lost their real value. Therefore, the only thing Ghana had left, Mrs Agyemang mentioned was peace which was priceless and must be protected at all costs from political gimmicks. 'At least we are enjoying relative peace compared to other countries in the sub-region. The peace we are enjoying is priceless and so we should never allow partisan politics to destroy it,' she said. Mrs Agyemang appealed to the government to rectify the challenges causing the frequent power outages which were destroying people's property in the country. She said it was regrettable that Ghanaians must experience 'dumsor' again after a ll they had gone through in the past and pleaded with the authorities to do something quickly to resolve the problem. Source: Ghana News Agency

Reverend Dr Smith Francis Tettey, Chairman of the Kumasi Presbytery of the Global Evangelical Church, has called on Ghanaians to vote men and women with integrity into power in the December general elections. This, according to him, would help change the status quo of the country's economy, which, according to him, was 'fraught with glorified corruption which seems invisible to the laws of the land.' Addressing the 2024 Kumasi Presbytery Representative Conference at Ayigya, in the Oforikrom Municipality, he said Ghanaians must change the way of doing things to help change the situation of the country. The theme for the conference was 'Be holy in all you do'. Rev. Dr Tettey pointed out that, Ghana was now in a worsening environmental situation due to the connivance of people in high and low positions with foreign nationals to wreck the ecology of the land with irrevocable pollution of water bodies and wanton depletion and devastation of the country's natural resources. He said unemployment had reached it s highest point with attendant criminal activities, which were beyond the detection and control of the security agencies that were supposed to curb them. Rev, Dr Tettey said it was time all the church denominations raised a unified prophetic voice against corruption, environmental degradation and widespread oppression of the less privileged in society. He commended Parliament for passing the anti-gay bill and called on the President to sign the bill into law to help protect the country's moral values and cultural heritage. He called on all committed Christians to pray fervently to God for forgiveness and His mercy for turning around the poor state of the nation and the decay in society. Rev. Tettey said it was time Christians insisted that the righteousness of God reigned in Ghana. Source: Ghana News Agency