Tag: GENERAL NEWS

To enhance effective collaboration between stakeholders in the food and medical products research space, the Chief Executive of the Food and Drugs Authority (FDA), Dr Delese A. A. Darko, has called for stronger partnerships between the Authority and industry players.

Dr Darko made this call at the maiden edition of the FDA’s Scientific Forum, which was held on Thursday, September 14 in Accra.

Under the theme ‘Protecting Public Health and Safety Through Partnerships’, the forum brought together the academic community, industry players, sister agencies, research institutions, as well as current and potential collaborators of the FDA to share knowledge for the general advancement of food and medical products’ safety, quality and efficacy in Ghana.

The forum also had as part of its objectives to encourage discussions on partnering for success in local vaccine research, development, and production.

“We are in a fast paced scientific world and as a key player in the field of science in Ghana, our work requires close collaboration between the organization and higher learning institutions and industry players at the forefront of knowledge in research and development.

“As a regulator, we must regularly engage with such bodies to keep at pace with our field. We put this forum together to provide a platform for active discussions on ensuring the quality and safety of food and medical products through effective collaboration.

“We will need even stronger partnerships for us to fulfill our mandate. Our aim is to strengthen the relationship between us and all the stakeholders whose work impact food and medical products so we learn from each other in order to improve the work we do for the benefit of the consumer,” Dr Darko remarked.

The forum featured keynote speeches from the Minister of Health, Kwaku Agyeman Manu, and the Vice Chancellor of Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Prof Rita Dickson.

There were, as well, concurrent panel discussions, and poster presentations from researchers to live and online audiences.

Speaking on the importance of the forum to government’s agenda for enhancing research into safe foods and medical products, Minister of Health Kwaku Agyeman Manu commended the FDA for organizing such a forum to provide the platform for synthesize ideas for the work the FDA does and to support vaccine research in Ghana

“This forum presents a unique opportunity for knowledge sharing and I want to commend the FDA for putting it together. Public safety is important for economic growth and it is in these fora that stakeholders are able to bring ideas on board to enhance the safety of food and drugs,” Mr Agyeman Manu said.

“Let us cease this opportunity to forge stronger alliances for a safer and healthy Ghana,” Minister said.

With support from its partners, giz, USAID, Pharmanova, WHO and Atlantic Lifesciences, the FDA put together this first Scientific Forum as part of the Authority’s strategic objective to promote food and medicine safety governance through the promotion of inter-agency collaboration.

Ideas from this forum is expected to culminate into implementation strategies which enhances the Authority’s mandate as the regulator of food and medicines in Ghana

Nigeria’s Appeal Court has rejected one challenge to Bola Tinubu’s narrow victory in February’s presidential election.

After a six-hour verdict, they said the appeal by Peter Obi’s Labour Party was without merit and dismissed all his arguments, including fraud.

Their verdict on the challenge by Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party is expected shortly.

Despite the election challenge, Mr Tinubu was sworn into office on 29 May.

The election was the most fiercely contested since the end of military rule in 1999, with three strong candidates for the first time. Mr Tinubu won with 37% of votes cast, against 29% for Mr Abubakar and 25% for Mr Obi.

The country was tense before Wednesday’s ruling, with increased security in the capital, Abuja.

Despite warnings from authorities against demonstrations, various political groups gathered outside the courthouse, singing and dancing.

The ruling on the same day he marked 100 days in office will be a huge relief to President Tinubu who will now keep an eye on the Supreme Court where his opponents are likely to appeal against this judgement.

But the unanimous verdict by the judges at the Appeal Court will fill him with confidence. This was already on display as he was not even in the country for Wednesday’s ruling, travelling to India for the G20 summit.

Lead justice Haruna Tsammani, who read the verdict, said “the petitioners failed to prove allegations of corrupt practices and over-voting”.

Source: BBC

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has described Ghana’s unemployment rate as unacceptable.

The unemployment rate in Ghana is expected to reach 5.00 percent by the end of 2023, according to Trading Economics’ global macro models and analysts’ expectations.

In the long-term, the Ghana Unemployment Rate is projected to trend around 4.70 percent in 2024 and 4.50 percent in 2025, according to our econometric models, Trading Economics said.

President Akufo-Addo, while honoring some young men and women entrepreneurs in respect of the Presidential Pitch initiative, on Friday, 18th August 2023 said that “Entrepreneurship is a vital component of economic growth and development, and has been embraced globally as an important driver of economic transformation.

“I believe firmly that the fastest way to deal with the challenges confronting our economy and the unacceptable rate of unemployment is the fusion of technology, entrepreneurship, and business.

“Governments, the world over, recognise youth entrepreneurship as the appropriate tool to address the unemployment challenges of our times.”

He added “That is why I am happy that, under Seasons One, Two, and Three of the Presidential Pitch, 702 direct and thousands of indirect jobs have been created by our winners, with majority of these jobs being established in rural communities.

“I want to single out the Chief Executive Officer of Pizzaman Chickenman, Christian Boakye Yiadom, the tenth-place winner from Season Two for special mention. He started his pizza business on the campus of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology in Kumasi.

“He received twenty-five thousand cedis (25,000), which he used to scale-up his business. It eventually led to the opening of the first Pizzaman Chickenman branch on KNUST campus on 17th January 2020, some six months after the competition. Today, Pizzaman Chickenman has become a household name and a favourite bite for many

It is a week since the coup led by the presidential guard

The UK’s foreign minister has welcomed what he called “decisive action” by the West African bloc Ecowas in dealing with junta leaders in Niger a week after the coup.

James Cleverly, who is on a three-country tour of Africa, was speaking after meeting Nigerian President Bola Tinubu in Nigeria’s capital, Abuja.

Mr Tinubu is also chair of Ecowas and has taken a robust stance on the coup, which has been widely condemned.

On Sunday, he hosted a meeting of West African leaders who gave Niger’s junta a week to give up power or face possible military consequences.

The British foreign secretary said: “We touched briefly on the situation in Niger. I made the point that the UK very much welcomes Ecowas’ and indeed his [Tinubu’s] decisive action, his strong commitment to democracy and the unambiguous message that violence is not the means to bring political change in any circumstance.

“And that the commitment to democracy in Nigeria and in the region is unwavering. This very much supports the UK’s position.”

West African defence chiefs are also meeting in Abuja about Niger – consultations that will go on until Friday.

Nigeria’s military spokesperson, Brigadier General Tukur Gusau, told the BBC: “The military solution will be the last option.”

Their military plan is to be present

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has written to the Minister of Interior, Ambrose Dery, to release the former Deputy National Security Coordinator, Alhaji Salifu Mimina Osman, from custody.

This follows a petition lodged at the Office of President by the Paramount Chief of Kpembe Traditional Area, Kpembewura Haruna Dari Bismark Banbange Ndefoso I.

According to the petition dated Wednesday, July 26, Alhaji Mimina Osman deserves presidential pardon on grounds of ill-health and good behaviour.

A response issued by the Secretary to the President, Nana Asante Bediatuo, on Tuesday, August 1 said after consultation with the Council of State, President Akufo-Addo has exercised his prerogative of mercy in favour of the Deputy National Security Coordinator in the John Mahama administration and granted him mercy in accordance with Article 72(1)(a) of the 1992 Constitution.

“Kindly take the necessary steps to give effect to the presidential pardon immediately,” the response directed the Interior Minister.

Alhaji Mimina Osman was one of three persons found guilty of 14 different charges including causing financial loss to the state and contravention of the Public Procurement Act in the procurement of surveillance equipment for the National Security Council Secretariat.

Together with two other board members of the National Communications Authority (NCA) Eugene Baffoe-Bonnie and William Tetteh-Tevie, Alhaji Mimina Osman, a son of Kpembe, was slapped with a five-year jail sentence by Justice Eric Kyei Baffour in 2020.

The three got a total of 16 years in prison by the Accra High Court with hard labour

At least four people have been reported dead in a ghastly on the Kumasi-Techiman highway.

The accident, which involved a VIP bus and a trailer truck, occurred at Nkenkaasu in the Ashanti Region on the dawn of Wednesday, August 2.

Driver of the VIP bus, according to eyewitness, veered off his lane and collided with the truck.

The bus with registration number AP 1986-22 was heading towards the direction of Techiman whilst the truck with registration number BF 2315 F1 03 loaded with cereals was coming towards Kumasi.

The injured have been sent to the Nkenkaasu Government Hospital for treatment

The Minister of Sanitation and Water Resources, Cecilia Abena Dapaah, has observed that there are noticeable inconsistencies in the report of the stolen cash from her home.

She implies that what is being discussed in the public domain is quite inconsistent with the facts in the original complaint on the case.

Breaking her silence on the matter, which was heard at an Accra Circuit Court for the first time on Thursday, July 20, the former Member of Parliament of Bantama said she is taking steps “to examine the origins of the inconsistencies and will provide a detailed response in the coming days”.

There has been public uproar over revelations in court that the Minister had kept $1 million, €300,000 and millions of Cedis in her house.

Two house helps, according to the charge sheet, had stolen the monies between July and October, 2022.

The house helps – Patience Botwe, 18, and Sarah Agyei, 30 – have been granted bail to reappear in court on Wednesday, August 2.

Three other persons including the father of the teenage house help were also arrested by the police for benefitting from the booty.

Already, some political leaders are calling for her to step aside.

The Minority Leader, Dr Cassiel Ato Forson, is demanding immediate investigations into the matter.

His party’s flagbearer, John Dramani Mahama, described the matter as “scandalous”, lunging at President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo for allowing his ministers to go unpunished in many similar situations

The Minister of Sanitation and Water Resources, Cecilia Abena Dapaah, has observed that there are noticeable inconsistencies in the report of the stolen cash from her home.

She implies that what is being discussed in the public domain is quite inconsistent with the facts in the original complaint on the case.

Breaking her silence on the matter, which was heard at an Accra Circuit Court for the first time on Thursday, July 20, the former Member of Parliament of Bantama said she is taking steps “to examine the origins of the inconsistencies and will provide a detailed response in the coming days”.

There has been public uproar over revelations in court that the Minister had kept $1 million, €300,000 and millions of Cedis in her house.

Two house helps, according to the charge sheet, had stolen the monies between July and October, 2022.

The house helps – Patience Botwe, 18, and Sarah Agyei, 30 – have been granted bail to reappear in court on Wednesday, August 2.

Three other persons including the father of the teenage house help were also arrested by the police for benefitting from the booty.

Already, some political leaders are calling for her to step aside.

The Minority Leader, Dr Cassiel Ato Forson, is demanding immediate investigations into the matter.

His party’s flagbearer, John Dramani Mahama, described the matter as “scandalous”, lunging at President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo for allowing his ministers to go unpunished in many similar situations

North Tongu Member of Parliament Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa has said that every Ghanaian should be concerned about the content of the leaked tape that captures an alleged plot to oust the Inspector General of Police (IGP).

Speaking on the Key Points on TV3 Saturday, July 15, he said “The content of that tape must be a concern to any Ghanaian.”

His colleague Tolon Member of Parliament Habib Iddrisu condemned the recording of the conversation on the plot to oust the IGP.

Also speaking on the Key Points on TV3 Saturday, July 15, he said this audio raises serious questions that should be answered.

“It is very disappointing, you have a lot of questions to ask, and I appreciate that this thing happening in our country is totally unacceptable

“Why did they record it, who recorded it, and who leaked it? These are the critical questions to ask. The recording is wrong, the one who leaked it is wrong,” he said.

He further said the work of the committee formed by the Speaker to look into this matter will not yield any results.

He added “It will be an exercise that will not yield any results. The speaker did not indicate clearly the reference.

“If that committee is set up and parliament finishes its work then what? There are agencies that are equipped to handle this tape, not Parliament. From where I sit I don’t see where it is going, it is just the politics we are seeing. This committee the speaker has formed, I don’t see where it will go. I don’t think Parliament was the right forum for this to be done. There is more to it than we have heard,” he said.

The Speaker of Parliament, Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin, has ordered the constitution of a seven-member committee to probe the leaked audio recording of some persons purportedly plotting the removal of the IGP, Dr George Akuffo Dampare.

The committee will have three members each from the two sides of the House with one technical person.

The names of the three members apiece from the Majority and Minority caucuses are expected to be made available within one week, the Speaker so directed on Thursday, July 13.

This comes barely 24 hours after the Deputy Minority Leader, Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah, filed an urgent statement on the floor, calling for an investigation into the recording.

The Speaker had asked him to put the statement in writing for him to make orders. This was done on Thursday.

According to the Speaker, the committee will investigate the authenticity of the leaked audio recording, the conspiracy to remove the current IGP, any other matter contained in the audio recording and recommend sanctions to persons found culpable where appropriate.

It is also to make recommendations for reforms where necessary and make such other recommendations and consequential orders as the committee may deem appropriate.

These will be the Special Committee’s terms of reference

Thousands of residents who were displaced by floods in six communities in the Jomoro Municipality of the Western Region have received relief items and various sums of monies from their Member of Parliament, Dorcas Affo-Toffey.

The communities are Nzulezu, Elubo, Ghana Nungua, Cocoa Town, Nsuano, and Zongo Community in Elubo.

Also affected were basic schools, especially the Nzulezu Primary School.

It has been destroyed by the floods, affecting pupils, since teaching and learning were halted.

It was the first time in over six hundred years that such floods hit the world’s tourism destination area, Nzulezu, and other communities.

Some residents in Nzulezu were evacuated on boats to Beyin, a nearby community in the area, for shelter.

The community, which is entirely made up of stilts and houses of over 500 inhabitants, almost submerged after it rained continuously for seven days.

Properties worth thousands of Ghana cedis were destroyed in these communities.

The MP was in these six communities to assess the extent of damage to the residents and property and sympathize with the victims.

Madam Affo-Toffey, apart from the relief items to all these communities, also donated an amount to them.

Nzulezu, for instance, received an amount of GH¢10,000 to be used to solve the unsanitary situation due to the floods.

In an interview with the media, Madam Affo-Toffey said: “It’s all about education, zoning and planning because elsewhere, before someone would build, you have to go to the town and country planning department to seek approval and permit.”

“They will ensure the buildings are built in a place that would not disrupt raining water. What we can say for now is for them to stop indiscriminate dumping of refuse. We have a long way to go but I am sure with time, things will change,” the MP said in Twi.

Madam Affo-Toffey added, “They [residents] have built here for a long year so they cannot leave here but we shall educate them to stop dumping refuse.

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“Provisions are being made to support those who do not have places to sleep. These places are flood zones areas so there is nothing that could be done.”

The Abusuapayin of Nzulezu, Abizi Kojo, said the walkways and toilet facilities which are used by tourists have also been destroyed.

He, therefore, called on the Tourism Ministry and the Ghana Tourist Board to urgently help in fixing their slipways and the tourist toilet facility since the community is still welcoming tourists from all over the world despite the flooding