Category: General

Stakeholders at a forum in Bolgatanga have underscored the urgent need for accelerated efforts to address issues negatively affecting growth and development of children. They pointed out child marriages, teenage pregnancy, child trafficking, Female Genital Mutilation, sexual exploitation, and abuses that continued to hinder progress of children in the country which posed serious threat to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). They therefore called for collective efforts to fast-track attainment of Sustainable development Goals related to protection of children. The stakeholders who are members of the Upper East Regional Child Protection Committee made the observation during its 2023 fourth quarter meeting, organised by the Department of Children with funding support from the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF). The participants included the Departments of Children, Gender and Social Welfare and Community Development, Ghana Health Service, Ghana Education Service, National Commission for Civic Education, state human rights institutions, traditional and religious leaders, and civil society organisations. Mr James Twene, Acting Upper East Regional Director of the Department of Gender, said Ghana was likely to miss out on the achievement of the SDGs by 2030 especially goals related to the protection and welfare of children particularly girls if accelerated efforts were not churned out to address these challenges. He explained that child marriage was one of the major factors still affecting children in Ghana particularly girls with the rate currently at 19 per cent and attributed the phenomenon on gender inequality and power imbalances as root causes. Speaking on the topic 'using gender transformative approach to fighting child marriage,' Mr Twene urged critical examination of inequalities and gender roles, norms, and dynamics to strengthen positive norms that support equality and an enabling environment. 'There is the need to promote relative position of women, girls and marginalised groups and transform the underlying social structures, policies and broadly held norms that perpetuate and legitimise inequalities,' he added. He said apart from providing skills training and empowerment especially for adolescents to make them independent and strengthen justice systems, there was the need to increase advocacy and education and involve men and boys in the advocacy programmes to make maximum impact. Ms Yvonne Wonchua, the Gender Desk Officer, Upper East Regional Coordinating Council, noted that although some significant efforts had been made over the years to promote the welfare of children, child protection issues continued to be challenging. She, therefore, charged members of the Child Protection Committee to work together to help eliminate practices that were harmful to children and help achieve gender parity. Pe Thomas Asangchera Aluah, the Chief of Kazigu in the Kassena-Nankana West District, noted that the breakdown of values of the extended family system was major factor leading to certain risky behaviours of adolescents and called for strengthening of positive traditional values of society. Mrs Georgina Aberese-Ako, Acting Upper East Regional Director, Department of Children, noted that the meeting was part of efforts to create a platform for the various child protection institutions to share their activities and coordinate efforts to address issues affecting children. She said the influx of asylum seekers into the region as result of the Sahel crisis required that stakeholders worked together to deliver impactful support to the vulnerable, especially children and avoid duplication of activities and interventions. Source: Ghana News Agency

Mr Yaw Owusu Adisi, a Tailor at Kadjebi in the Oti Region, has been arrested by the Kadjebi Police for forcefully shaving the private parts of Mr Bright Abusah, 19-year-old Electrical apprentice. Narrating his ordeal to the Ghana News Agency (GNA), Abusah, said the accused at around 2000hours on Sunday, January 21, invited him to his workshop at Kadjebi Cocoa Market, a suburb of the area, locked him up and asked whether he had a girlfriend, and started showing him pornographic films on his mobile phone. He said the accused ordered him to remove his trousers and underpants, which he obliged because he threatened to harm him if he resisted. Abusah said the accused then picked his scissors and disposable razor blade and started shaving his genitals and after shaving, he then tried to arouse him by smearing ointment around his penis, which he declined. He was able to escape from his ordeal when the accused excused himself to undertake some move, allowing Abusah to run away to Menuso, a farming community in t he district to report the incident to his grandfather, Mr Simon Tetteh Abusah. He said his grandfather then took him to the Kadjebi Police station to lodge a formal complaint on Monday, January 22 leading to the arrest of the accused. The accused later told the Ghana News Agency that, 'in life, certain things must happen to a man for him to learn some lessons.' Source: Ghana News Agency

Journalists and other media practitioners, have been encouraged to develop interest in reporting on the mining sector, to help ensure that Ghanaians derive the expected benefits from the minerals of the country. Dr Ebo Afful, a Senior Lecturer at the University of Media, Arts and Communication (UniMAC), gave the encouragement in Wa, at a media training on mining sector reporting organised by Azumah Resources Limited, a gold exploration company operating in the Upper West Region. He said journalists must develop interest in projecting issues of the mining sector with the knowledge that extractive minerals have played a leading role in enhancing the economic emancipation and development of many countries including South Africa. 'Therefore, it is important that the media pay attention to the mining sector because it is an area that can give so much wealth to society,' said. The training was to introduce the journalists and other media practitioners in the region to the mining sector, equip them with the kno wledge of the industry and whip up their interest in reporting on the sector. Dr Afful indicated that the discovery of lithium and the interest it had generated among the people had made it more imperative for the media to develop interest in and increase reportage on the sector, to inform the public of the potential benefit of that mineral. 'The first thing that the journalist reporting the mining should do is to study the sector, because if you are not knowledgeable in the area, you cannot write compelling stories on it. So, it is important for the media houses to take interest in the area and build the capacity of their journalists in that area,' Dr Afful explained. He stressed the need for the media practitioners and journalists to have refresher courses on the mining sector reporting and advised them to focus on specialisation of this key area of socio-economic importance. He also advised the '21st-century journalists,' to see themselves as academics by researching, understanding the issues, and tak ing the pain to do proper analysis and interpretation before drawing conclusions on their reports. 'So, if the 21st-century journalists begin to behave like academics, they will definitely be writing good stories, interesting and important stories, stories that, at the end of the day, mobilise the whole society to achieve whichever goal that they want to achieve for themselves,' he said. Representatives from the Minerals Commission at the training also took the participants through the legal frameworks governing the country's mining sector. Some legal frameworks mentioned included the Minerals and Mining Act, 2006 (Act 703), Minerals and Mining (Amendment) Act, 2015 (Act 900), Minerals and Mining (Amendment) Act, 2019 (Act 995), and Minerals and Mining (Local Content and Local Participation) Regulations, 2020 (L.I. 2431). Participants were also schooled on the different types of mineral rights in Ghana - Exploration mineral rights (Reconnaissance License, Prospecting License, Restricted Reconnaissance Lic ense and Restricted Prospecting License) and Exploitation mineral rights (Mining Lease, Restricted mining Lease and Small-scale mining License). Mr Gabriel Mwin, the Managing Director of Info Radio in Wa, commended Azumah Resources Ltd and the training facilitators for the knowledge imparted to the participants. He said the media owed it a responsibility to get the public informed about the minerals sector of the country, how the resources were being exploited, usage of the proceeds and the general impact of the mining activities on the lives of Communities and the nation. Source: Ghana News Agency

Nana Kwaku Ennin II, Chief of Bokaso in the Western North Region, has appealed to the government and the Trade Ministry to ensure the operations of the Akontombra rice processing factory which was commissioned some two years ago. The 6.7 million cedis factory situated at Bokaso is yet to be operationalized, after its commissioning by the President in September 2021. The factory, established under the One -district One Factory initiative, has the capacity to process between 1.5 and 2.8 tonnes of rice per hour. The factory, which would be operated under the Common User Facility (CUF), an agro industry factory established by the Rural Enterprise Programme under the Ministry of Trade and Industry would create jobs for more than 118 people. At the commissioning of the factory, it was made known that it would directly employ about 118 people, including management, professionals, and factory floor workers and that more than 600 farmers from the area would also be directly engaged to supply paddy rice for proces sing. Nana Kwaku Ennin II expressed worry about the factory's inability to operate over two years after its commissioning, noting that the facility would have helped create employment opportunities for farmers and the teaming youth in the area. 'I accepted this project wholeheartedly thinking it would help create employment in the area, but the outcome is not the best.' A visit to the factory by the Ghana News Agency revealed that the main entrance to the factory was locked with two tractor machines packed on the compound with overgrown weeds all over the facility. Source: Ghana News Agency

Mr Yaw Owusu Adisi, a Tailor at Kadjebi in the Oti Region, has been arrested by the Kadjebi Police for forcefully shaving the private parts of Mr Bright Abusah, 19-year-old Electrical apprentice. Narrating his ordeal to the Ghana News Agency (GNA), Abusah, said the accused at around 2000hours on Sunday, January 21, invited him to his workshop at Kadjebi Cocoa Market, a suburb of the area, locked him up and asked whether he had a girlfriend, and started showing him pornographic films on his mobile phone. He said the accused ordered him to remove his trousers and underpants, which he obliged because he threatened to harm him if he resisted. Abusah said the accused then picked his scissors and disposable razor blade and started shaving his genitals and after shaving, he then tried to arouse him by smearing ointment around his penis, which he declined. He was able to escape from his ordeal when the accused excused himself to undertake some move, allowing Abusah to run away to Menuso, a farming community in t he district to report the incident to his grandfather, Mr Simon Tetteh Abusah. He said his grandfather then took him to the Kadjebi Police station to lodge a formal complaint on Monday, January 22 leading to the arrest of the accused. The accused later told the Ghana News Agency that, 'in life, certain things must happen to a man for him to learn some lessons.' Source: Ghana News Agency