Tag: Business

The Central North Regional Electricity Distributor (Cenored) on Thursday promised to clear its debt of N.dollars 2 million owed to NamPower, saying the debt was inherited during the Cenored-Okahandja Municipality joint venture five years ago.

NamPower this week listed Cenored as one of its clients that have defaulted on their monthly agreed payments. The power utility stated that the defaulters, including several regional and local authority councils, now collectively owe it over N.dollars 1 billion. Cenored issued a media statement on Thursday explaining that its debt emanates from the Cenored-Okahandja Municipality joint venture, as the municipality owed NamPower over N.dollars 60 million before the creation of the joint venture.

Cenored further added that a monthly payment agreement between NamPower and the joint venture of N.dollars 300 000 is active and ongoing. It stated that the outstanding N.dollars 2 million will be cleared through this monthly instalment.

“A meeting held Thursday afternoon between Cenored and NamPower in Windhoek established that Cenored was put on the list of defaulters by mistake,” said the statement.

Cenored assured its direct customers that they will not be affected by the planned NamPower electricity cuts to defaulters on 05 June this year. Cenored was established in 2005 to distribute electricity to the residents of Otjozondjupa, Kunene and Omaheke regions, as well as parts of Oshikoto.

Source: The Namibian Press Agency

A two-unit teachers' quarters, the first of its kind in the Adaklu District, was on Thursday commissioned at Adaklu Dorkpo in the Volta Region for the community's basic school teachers.

The GHC320,000 project was funded by Mr Kwame Agbodza, the Member of Parliament (MP) for Adaklu with his share of the MPs Common Fund.

It was jointly commissioned by Mr. Agbodza, Madam Juliana Kpedekpo, Adaklu District Chief Executive (DCE), and Togbe Asigbe Kofi, Dutor of the community.

Mr Agbodza said improving education was his priority and that he would continue to work to enhance the quality of education in Adaklu, because that made him happy.

'For Adaklu to develop, it will start from the teachers in our classrooms.'

'They, therefore, needed to be highly motivated to enable them to imbibe the requisite knowledge to bring out the latent talents in them,' the MP said.

'Adaklu has no gold nor oil deposits, so I'm encouraging parents to work assiduously to give their children the best of education to enable them to be competitive in the job market.'

Mr Agbodza promised to work hard, in collaboration with other stakeholders, to eliminate schools under trees in the district.

He said with a little push, children in deprived schools could match those in well-endowed ones and urged teachers to put in their best in tutoring the children.

He commended teachers working in remote communities in the district for their patriotism and assured of reserving a category in the annual best teacher awards he instituted in the district for them.

The MP appealed to the Government to pay the contractor to resume work on an abandoned six-unit classroom block being funded by the Coastal Development Authority for the community.

Madam Kpedekpo urged the people to shed their political coloration and forge a united front for the development of Adaklu.

She appealed to the District Education Directorate to enhance creative education by organisng drama competitions among schools in the district.

The DCE hinted that a few desks have been allocated for schools in the district.

She bemoaned the absence of maintenance culture in the society and appealed to the community and teachers to take good care of the quarters.

Madam Kpedekpo assured the people that the Assembly would work to upgrade the road linking the community to Adaklu Kpetsu, and a hydro fructure, a new mechanism that improves the yield of water, would be attached to their borehole to improve its water yield.

Mr Samuel Bruku, the Acting Adaklu District Director of Education, called on the citizens to put up teachers' bungalows in their communities as a way of attracting and retaining teachers.

He noted that most teachers were not residing in the communities in which they taught, which was affecting teaching and learning.

Mr Eli Keti, the Assemblyman for Kpetsu Electoral Area, commended Mr Agbodza for the initiative and assured that it would be maintained .

Mr. William Akpator, the Headteacher of the school, enumerated a catalogue of challenges facing the school, among them being inadequate classrooms and computers.

Ms Ophelia Wordi, a teacher at the school, was presented with Ghc 500 by Mr Agbodza for her dedicated service.

The pupils entertained the gathering with drama and traditional dance.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Integrated water resources management and the restoration of forest ecosystems are among the priorities of the 2023-2027 Strategic Plan of the Tunis-based World Wild Life Fund (North Africa) presented Thursday at a regional workshop held in Tunis.

Focus was mainly placed on the sustainable integrated management of the main freshwater ecosystems and their watersheds. The goal is to promote the development of more climate-resistant ecosystems and help ensure public well-being and alternative livelihoods for populations.

Support of actions to secure drinking water and ecosystem water requirements will be at the centre of efforts, said WWF North Africa Director Jamel Jrijer.

"We will seek to ensure integrated water management while taking into account the changing needs of humans, ecosystems and species," he added.

Zero deforestation is the ultimate goal by 2030 along with the restoration of 1 million hectares of degraded forest ecosystems in the region.

Action will likewise target restored and climate-resilient marine and coastal ecosystems by 2030 to provide habitat for many flagship marine species,and support the economy .

"We target around 45 million dinars in funding for the next 5 years, "the official further told TAP. Part of this funding is already available and we are endeavouring to mobilise the rest."

"We will seek to implement our strategic plan by involving local populations and with the support of local and foreign partners," he added.

The workshop was attended by Environment Minister Leila Chikhaoui, Regional Director of WWF Europe and North Africa country offices Ajay Barai as well as representatives of the European Union delegation to Tunisia and the UN Development Coordination Office. This in addition to representatives of the French Development Agency (AFD), the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), the the international union for the conservation of nature (IUCN), WWF France and other national, regional and international agencies and organisations.

Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse

Government has initiated steps to develop a National Action Plan on Business and Human Rights (NAPBHR) to protect and safeguard the fundamental human rights of people within the business sphere.

The plan sought to ensure that both state and non-state actors conducted their business activities within the framework of the standards of the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPBHR).

The Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice, and the Attorney General and Ministry of Justice are spearheading the development of the plan.

On completion, Ghana would be the third African country to draw the NAPBHR after Kenya and Uganda.

At a stakeholders' consultative workshop in Wa on the Action Plan's development, Mrs Mary Nartey, Co-Chairperson of the National Action Plan Steering Committee, said when completed, the Plan would be a blueprint for both state and non-state actors and businesses on how to protect and respect the rights of people.

She said it was to ensure that businesses complied with the applicable human rights existing within Ghana and globally and to address any negative impact of their business operations on human rights.

'The realisation of human rights requires a complementary approach hence the consultation on the development of the Action Plan for all of us to respect the rights of all persons,' she said.

Mrs Nartey commended ActionAid Ghana (AAG) and other development partners for providing funding for the stakeholders' engagements.

Mr Samuel Sabuli, the Project Manager, AAG, in a speech read on behalf of the Country Director of AAG, commended the Government for taking steps to develop a NAPBHR in line with the UN recommendations.

'On daily basis we hear or read about the harrowing stories of employees, consumers, and community members who fall victim to actions of businesses that violate their rights as humans,' he said.

These right abuse actions sometimes lead to environmental pollution, underpaying of workers, or forcefully evicting communities and depriving them of their livelihoods,' he said.

Mr Sabuli appealed to the NAP Steering Committee and the stakeholders to go through the process with a gender-sensitive lens to ensure that gender issues were not relegated to the background in developing the plan.

'This is very important because most often issues of gender are usually not taken into consideration. Let's ensure that issues of gender in business are catered for,' he said.

The AAG, since its inception in Ghana, had been supporting communities and building their capacities to identify and resist human rights violations in any form.

Mr Ubeidu Siddique, the Upper West Regional Director of CHRAJ, said respecting the fundamental human rights of people was everybody's business, including business entities.

'It is the thinking that the development, adoption, and effective implementation of a national action plan for business and human rights will only be successfully robust if it receives broader engagement and support among key stakeholders like you,' he indicated.

The stakeholder engagements across the 16 regions of the country are to solicit inputs into the development of the Plan and to appraise stakeholders of the concept of human rights, and the gaps identified in the National Baseline Assessment, conducted earlier.

Source: Ghana News Agency

The Education Director in the Erongo Region, Erenfriede Stephanus has called on the private sector to come on board and assist the directorate in renovating old school buildings and constructing new schools.

Stephanus during the town hall meeting in Swakopmund on Monday stressed that government alone is not able to do so as funds are insufficient.

“We have a serious challenge with the hostels and as a result, some of these hostels, including a block at Namib High School, had to be closed off. We tried to renovate some of the dilapidated hostels, with some having pipes that are rusted and need to be replaced. The rooms are in a terrible state and so much really needs to be done, but the government cannot do it alone,” she said.

The situation has led to some learners being accommodated at hostels at other schools, while others had to find accommodation in surrounding areas.

“This issue has been forwarded to the minister’s office and a meeting will be held later this month to discuss the way forward in easing the matter,” she added.

Parents have also been advised to take their children to schools with hostels outside town as schools in Swakopmund are overcrowded but those in smaller towns and rural areas are underutilised.

Stephanus expressed disappointment in the fact that these schools mainly enrol learners from other regions, in the process neglecting the local vernaculars spoken in those areas such as Khoekhoegowab or Otjiherero and now have to be forced to find or train teachers in other languages such as Oshindonga and Rukwangali to cater for learners coming from the north.

“We recently renovated the hostel at the Dibasen Secondary School in Okombahe which burned down some years ago, same as Petrus Ganeb in Uis, however due to insufficient funds, we could not renovate all the blocks,” she said.

Two schools, a primary and secondary school, are currently under construction in Swakopmund and are expected to ease the shortage of schools at the town.

Source: The Namibian Press Agency