Category: General

Foreign Ministers of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries have reaffirmed, their unwavering positions and decisions of the GCC Supreme Council supporting the Moroccan sovereignty over the Sahara and the preservation of peace and security of the Kingdom of Morocco. These unwavering positions, also supporting the autonomy initiative as the only solution to the Sahara conflict within the framework of the kingdom's sovereignty and national and territorial integrity, were reaffirmed at the end of the joint working session. The session brought together at the headquarters of the GCC Secretariat General in Riyadh, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, African Cooperation and Moroccan Expatriates, Nasser Bourita, and Their Highnesses and Excellencies the ministers of Foreign Affairs of the Gulf Cooperation Council countries. The Minister of Foreign Affairs of the State of Qatar, chairman of the current session of the GCC, underlined that the Council countries reaffirmed their unwavering support for the Morocca n sovereignty over the Sahara and their firm attachment to the kingdom's territorial integrity, as well as their support for relevant UN decisions. For his part, the GCC Secretary General reiterated the Council's positions and resolutions supporting the Moroccan sovereignty over the Sahara, highlighting the importance of the strategic cooperation between the GCC and the Kingdom of Morocco. This meeting is part of the strong relations and the comprehensive and renewed strategic partnership between Morocco and the GCC countries, the foundations of which were laid by His Majesty King Mohammed VI and his brothers the leaders of the GCC member countries, since the Morocco-GCC Summit, held on April 20, 2016 in Riyadh. Source: Ghana News Agency

The Parliamentary Committee investigating the petition by some customers of the defunct Blackshield Capital Limited, formerly known as Gold Coast Fund Management, on Government's alleged failure to pay their claims, has ended its public hearing. Some key personalities who testified before the Committee include Mrs Abena Osei-Asare, a Deputy Finance Minister, Madam Jemima Maama Oware, the Registrar of Companies and Official Liquidator, and Reverend Daniel Ogbamey Tetteh, Director-General of Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The setting up of the Committee was as a result of a petition by Mr Mahama Ayariga, the National Democratic Congress (NDC) Member of Parliament (MP) for Bawku Central and Counsel for the Customers of the defunct Blackshield Capital Ltd, for the Parliament to look into the delay in release of funds for the payment of 61,000 customers of Blackshield Capital Limited, formerly known as Gold Coast Fund Management owned by Dr Papa Kwesi Nduom. He presented the petition on behalf of Mr Charles Nyame (convenor), Mr Bernard Agyekum, Mr Nathaniel Mensah, Mr David Opoku, and Madam Rosemond Mensah Grunitzky, who are members of an organization known as Aggrieved Customers of Defunct Gold Coast Fund Management. Mr Joe Ghartey, the New Patriotic Party (NPP) MP for Essikado-Ketan and Chairman of the Committee, in his closing remarks, noted that the Committee was ending its public hearings, but should the need arise for them to reconvene, they would surely do so. He noted that the Committee would do its best to complete hearings on the matter before the end of the First Meeting of the Fourth Session of the Eighth Parliament, which ends on March 22. He said they would use the recess period to prepare their report and submit it to the House by the end of the Second Week of the Second Meeting, which starts on April 30. Other members are Mr Edwin Nii Lantey Vanderpuye, MP for Odododiodio; Dr Benjamin Yeboah Sekyere, MP for Tano South, Mrs Gizella Tetteh-Agbotui, MP for Awutu Senya West; and Mr Kwasi Ameyaw-Cheremeh, MP for Sunyani East. Two experts, Dr Theophilus Acheampong, and Mr Antonio Kesse, are the technical persons assisting the Committee. Source: Ghana News Agency

The Ashaiman District Court has remanded into Police custody, Abraham Ayah, a 21-year-old unemployed man, for allegedly murdering Ms. Jennifer Tetteh, contrary to Section 46 of the Criminal Offences Act 1960 (ACT 29). The court presided over by Mr Derick Parden Eshun, remanded Ayah, whose plea was not taken, to reappear on March 13, 2024. He was charged with two counts of murder and abetment of crime. Inspector Tetteh Nartey, prosecuting, said the complainant in the case is Madam Stella Matetsu, a resident of Shai Hills, Afienya, noting that on February 25, 2024, she went to the Afienya Police Station and made a report that, on February 2, 2024, at about 17:00 hours, there was a misunderstanding between Ayeh and the deceased within the yard of Taiyu Fishing Net and Equipment Manufacturing Company Limited at Shai-Hills/Afienya. The prosecution said, according to the complainant, Ayeh pushed Ms. Tetteh hard onto the cemented floor, causing her to fall unconscious until she was resuscitated by her neighbours . He stated that, on February 25, 2024, at about 07:00 hours, the deceased was found unconscious in her room and was rushed to the Tema General Hospital for treatment but was pronounced dead on arrival, and her body was deposited at the hospital mortuary for preservation and autopsy. Ayah and his accomplice, Francis Ntsiful, were subsequently arrested, and the Police accompanied the complainant to the Hospital, where the body was inspected, but there were no marks of assault on it. The prosecution noted that the investigation revealed that both Ayah and the deceased were colleague employees of Taiyu Fishing Net and Equipment Manufacturing Company Limited, adding that in January 2024, a misunderstanding ensued between the two at the workplace. He indicated that, due to the misunderstanding, Ayeh lost interest in the job and stopped the work. The facts had it that on February 24, 2024, at about 1600 hours, while Ayeh was at home, Ntsiful called him on the phone and said that the deceased, whose behaviour p ushed him out of work, was referring to him as a wizard. Based on that information, Ayah proceeded to the deceased hostel within the company's yard, entered her room, and pulled her out into the open, resulting in a scuffle during which the accused person pushed her, and she fell on her back on the cemented floor, and became unconscious. The prosecution said the investigation was still ongoing, adding that the investigator was yet to engage a pathologist to perform the autopsy, as well as forward the duplicate case docket to the Attorney General's office for study and advice. Source: Ghana News Agency

Environmentalists at a day's roundtable on climate change, culture and security have advocated an immediate, and collective action to address the pressing issue of climate change in communities. They said it was important to build the capacity of actors, particularly at the local community level, to cope with, and adapt to, the devastating impact of climate change on lives. According to them, no one group could deal with the issue as the dynamics were interwoven and like a chain, would require each one to play his role to achieve the desired impact. The panellists are; Prof Nana Ama Browne Klutse, Climtecpreneur with the University of Ghana, Legon and Prof Ken Ahorsu, Centre for International Affairs and Diplomacy, University of Ghana. Others are Prof. Aliyu Shugaba, Director of Sustainable Development Goal (SDG)-Graduate School, Maiduguri, Nigeria, and Dr Samuel Dotse, African Special Envoy on Climate Change. The Preservationists were speaking at the University of Cape Coast's (UCC) annual SDG-Graduate School, which focuses on Cultures and Development in West Africa. The school is a collaborative training network for graduate students run by UCC, University of Hildesheim in Germany, and University of Maiduguri in Nigeria. The initiative fosters innovative research that brings together approaches from performance, arts, and culture to bear on sustainable development as defined in the SDGs. Prof Klutse called for the promotion of behavioural change by all stakeholders, stressing on the need to adopt practices that would protect the environment, including forest conservation, sustainable agricultural practices and water resource management, among others. That will enhance the ability of community members to deal with and adjust to the impact of climate change on their livelihoods and food security. That, she said, could be done by helping to raise awareness and ensure greater commitment to environmental conservation and climate change adaptation policy in the districts and the regions. Prof Ahorsu said s cientists have linked severe heat and drought that fuel wildfires to climate change and human activities. The rising temperatures, he said, were a key indicator of climate change, evaporating more moisture from the ground, drying out the soil, and making the vegetation more flammable. As drought and heat continue with rising greenhouse gas emissions, he said, humans must expect more wildfires in years ahead, particularly with the fire seasons getting longer. Prof Ahorsu said the impact of climate change on agriculture remained a major concern, as farmers struggled to keep up with shifting weather patterns and increasingly unpredictable water supplies. Extreme events such as such flooding or reduced water supply also threatened crop yields, he noted saying aside from the destruction, wildfires caused loses of farm produce and that there was even a grimmer picture. Prof Saliba stressed that human activities such as some cultural practices, lighting campfires, agricultural activities and discarding lit ciga rettes were key drivers of deforestation. He cautioned that if concrete actions were not taken to break the warming cycle, more and worse wildfires and coastal devastation will recur. It was his expectation that governments and policy-makers would help protect the forests and trees to counterbalance and offset continued fossil fuel use. 'This hope remains a wild goose chase because severe and large wildfires could derail that plan,' he said. Dr Dotse said there was the need for collective efforts, involving all stakeholders, to address the triggers of wildfires. This calls for sensitisation and education for farmers on best farming practices to help curb the menace. He urged chiefs, opinion and community leaders to send strong signals to all the people in their communities to desist from bush burning, particularly during the dry season or face severe punishment in accordance with the law. Giving an overview of the programme, Dr. Sabina Appiah-Boateng, Coordinator, SDG-Graduate School at UCC said the pl atform offered scholarship research on topics such as cultural performances, eco-arts, peace building, climate change, music, among others. She said the intersection of culture, climate change, and security represented a critical and complex area of study. It addresses how cultural practices, beliefs, and identities influence and are influenced by climate change and its implications for global and regional security. To her, the interplay between culture, climate change, and security was a critical area that required nuanced understanding and innovative approaches to address the complex challenges it presented. By recognizing and leveraging cultural resources and knowledge, she said, 'it is possible to develop more effective, sustainable, and equitable strategies for addressing climate-induced security threats.' Twice every year since 2017, she said the Graduate School had organised two-week workshops, one in Ghana and the other in Nigeria. Source: Ghana News Agency

Faith-based stakeholders have reacted strongly to the passage of the Anti-LGBTTQAP+ Bill, otherwise christened as 'Human Sexual Rights and Family Values ACT, 2024 by Parliament. They were happy about Parliament's resilience in passing the Bill, which is awaiting Presidential assent. The stakeholders said the practice in general was against the practices of Ghanaians and Africans and is being foisted on the continent by Western countries and assigns, who are expressing their displeasure with the Legislator's action. They contended that their belief systems, including tradition, culture and value systems strongly abhorred the practice or phenomenon of same-sex behaviours, which animals even frowned upon. They praised the Parliamentarians for doing justice to the Bill, which took three years to pass on February 29 in a unanimous vote. The belief systems in Christianity, Islam, Chieftaincy and traditional worship and practice, all abhorred the same-sex phenomenon in the country, which is being fought on the altar of human rights by Western countries. Right Rev. Dr Lt. Col. Bliss Divine Agbeko (rtd), Moderator of the General Assembly of the Evangelical Presbyterian Church, Ghana, sharing his view on the matter, said 'It is untenable to impose sexual practices that are deemed evil on us.' Rev. Dr Lt. Col. Agbeko disclosed these to the Ghana News Agency in the aftermath of the passage of the Bill, saying 'We Africans are pro-life.' 'Life is not about us alone; we must pass it on to others and generations unborn through procreation.' What happens behind your closed door is none of our business but when it comes to society, LGBTQ+ is unacceptable in Ghana,' he asserted. Mr Raphael Kofi Nana Dunyo, an Octogenarian and a traditionalist from Dagbamete within the Akatsi South Municipality of the Volta Region said the act could be classified as unacceptable practice in their setting, insisting customs in Ghana forbade LGBTQ+. 'Our belief, as traditionalists, does not support such practices for centuries. So, this pa ssage is in place,' he told the GNA. He further explained that such practices would never be entertained within their jurisdiction 'since the gods prohibit that.' Togbega Patamia Dzekley VII, Paramount Chief of Battor Traditional Area, said the same-sex phenomenon was an abomination to the traditional and cultural belief systems of the nation. He was of the conviction that 'No traditional leader or authority will consent to same-sex considerations.' He asked how the Royal Family of Britain could maintain succession for the Monarchy, if they had practised same-sex marriages, saying 'Same-sex is ungodly, defiles the concept of human existence and must not be promoted under human rights.' He said emerging threats and commentaries from Western countries were an attestation of the extension of the 'slave trade' and the use of financial muscle to foist a sacrilegious practice on Ghanaians. 'We will prefer to go hungry as a country than accept same-sex marriage and appealed to President Akufo-Addo to assent to the Bill,' Togbega Dzekley said. Mr James Gawu, spokesperson of Togbui Saba V, the 'Dufia' of Nogokpo in the Volta Region, explained that the LGBTQ+ activities had a lot of questions to answer. 'What happens to the generation after us? Is the same-sex agenda an attempt to reduce the human population and replace it with robots,?' he queried. He said the passage of the bill must be accepted by all, adding 'The practice is an abomination before the gods of the land and seas.' 'Our forebears never did this. The first question that comes to mind is the creation story. Are the same-sex adherents saying they are wiser than God?' Alhaji Alfa Anas Hamidu, Volta Regional Chief Imam, sharing a position of the Quran on same-sex rights, said the Holy Book urged adherents to use their mouths and hearts to correct wrongdoing in society to avoid curses or calamities from falling on humanity. He said same-sex activities were forewarned in the Quran, Chapter 7: 80-84, about Lot's wife in Sodom and Gomorrah and the ensuin g repercussions. He said both the Quran and the Bible vividly captured the punishment for these sacrilegious behaviours and wondered why these were being perpetrated on the altar of human rights. Alhaji Hamidu said the youth of Islam were being sensitised on the same-sex matter as a means of saving the next generation. Meanwhile, Professor Audrey Gadzekpo, Board Chair of Centre for Democratic Development (CDD) Ghana, said in the media that the 'Anti-LGBTTQAP+ Bill is obnoxious and dangerous for our democracy and human rights.' Development partners have indicated debilitating consequences for the country if the Bill becomes Law. Source: Ghana News Agency