Author: lwadmin

The Moderator of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana, Rt. Rev. Dr. Abraham Nana Opare-Kwakye, has urged all citizens to prioritise peace in the upcoming 2024 elections.

Recognising the potential tensions that could arise before, during, and after such a critical time, the moderator emphasised the importance of unity and respect for diverse perspectives.

Rev. Opare-Kwakye, who is the 19th Moderator of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana, made the call when he paid a courtesy call on Nene Sakite II, Paramount Chief of Manya Krobo Traditional Area in the Eastern Region.

Other Presbyterian pastors and officials accompanied him to the Manya Krobo Traditional Leader.

With this call for harmony, Ghanaians are encouraged to engage in peaceful dialogue and ensure a democratic process that strengthens the nation’s future.

During their engagement, Rev. Opare-Kwakye urged the chief to use his position as a stateman to promote peace before, during, and after the 2024 election, stating that a country without peace faces dev
elopmental challenges.

He expressed confidence about collaborating with the chief in ways that will foster peace during the next election.

Nene Sakite II, who also serves as the president of the Eastern Regional House of Chiefs and the paramount chief of the Manya Krobo Traditional Council, accepted the call to promote peace.

‘As a leader, I will use my status to establish any means that will promote peace before and after the 2024 elections,’ he said.

He encouraged the Presbyterian Church leader to also use his platform to promote peace in the country.

Source: Ghana News Agency

?The lack of access to ready markets and inadequate value-addition avenues for perishable crops?are two?critical challenges inhibiting sustainable agricultural growth in Ghana.

Tonnes of food produce are wasted annually?due?to these issues, with some smallholder farmers experiencing?as high as 30 per?cent postharvest losses,?the African Centre for Economic Transformation (ACET)?has estimated.

As a result of their inability to access markets, which leads to losses, most?farmers prefer?to sell their produce at the farm-gate.

Like many other farmers in the country, the woes of smallholder farmers in the?Ahafo?Region are not different,?as they struggle?to?minimise?postharvest losses because of?the?lack of modern equipment, technologies and approaches.

Despite the significant advances in food storage methods,?most of the?farmers still rely on indigenous vessels such as mud silos, barns, cribs, and drums for the storage of grain, fodder, and seed.

Agriculturists are of the view that such storage vessels are si
mple to construct and inexpensive to maintain, but are unable to protect the produce from biological, physical and environmental hazards for a prolonged period of time.

The scenario, however,?is being changed for the better by the kind courtesy of the decision by mining giant, Newmont, to revamp the?Asutifi?Processing and Services Centre (APSC).

The expanded?facility, inaugurated?recently, marks?a?significant development to boost?the agricultural value chain in one of Ghana’s strategic food producing Regions, notably in?chilli?pepper and ginger production.

The US$4 million Centre has been?established by mining giant, Newmont, with support from the German Development Cooperation, to bring to the barest minimum the incidence of postharvest losses.

It is envisaged that the initiative will, in the long term, improve the incomes and livelihoods of farmers, thereby opening up the local economy for sustainable growth.

Earning the description; ‘The food basket of Ghana’, the region’s soil type and rainfall patte
rn support the cultivation of varied food and cash crops, with farmers engaged in both subsistent and commercial production.

One critical challenge,?particularly with commercial?farming, is?the?inadequate value-addition avenues for perishable crops, including?chilli?pepper and ginger.

‘The revamped APSC signifies Newmont’s dedication to fostering local economic growth, promoting sustainable development, and supporting agricultural value chains in the?Ahafo?Region,?recognised?as the breadbasket of Ghana,’?says?David?Thornton, the Managing Director of Newmont’s Africa Business Unit.

Over 80 farmer-based?organisations?and about 1,000?chilli?pepper and ginger farmers are benefiting from the APSC through an out-grower scheme, guaranteeing them increased and consistent income.

Besides the processing of?chilli?pepper and ginger, the facility, situated at?Subriso, a community along the?Acherensua-Hwidiem?road, is also expected to add value to every step of the?farmers’ activities, from production to market. ?

In
2013, Newmont, which operates the?Ahafo?Mine in?the?Ahafo?Region and the?Akyem?Mine in the Eastern Region, established the?Asutifi?Processing and Services Centre, in collaboration with the German Development Cooperation.

The project was initially designed?on a pilot basis to explore processing and marketing opportunities for?agricultural produce at?Ahafo.

This was after extensive engagements with the beneficiary farmers and assessments to understand the agricultural?value chain in the?region and the opportunities therein.

In line with Newmont’s social performance strategy, which aims to enhance opportunities for people in its host communities, particularly the youth and women, the APSC became a significant vehicle to support the livelihoods of the people and create sustainable jobs in the?area.?

The project, being implemented?under Newmont’s broader Local Economic Diversification (LED) initiative,?focuses on fostering partnerships with development agencies as well as the?government with an aim to improve
the living conditions of the people.

It seeks?to identify business opportunities, create employment?and promote sustainable development in the company’s host communities.

The facility, which started operating in 2013, encountered some challenges that impacted the?realisation?of its full potential, including?limited raw materials to feed the factory and ready markets for the products.

In the course of time,?Newmont conducted extensive feasibility studies in 2018 to confirm the viability of a bigger facility with the requisite market demand for processed?chilli?pepper and ginger.

The outcome of the assessment justified?the company’ssignificant investment to scale up the project and create job opportunities, especially for farmers in the area and those in the agricultural?value chain.?

‘The German Development Cooperation is happy to partner Newmont on this project, which has?a?huge potentially?positive impact for the farmers,’ John?Duti,?the Team Lead of Invest for Jobs at?GIZ Ghana,?remarked at the inaugur
ation?of the revamped Asutifi?Processing and Services Centre.

‘It will aid increased productivity by?addressing?the issue of postharvest losses, one of the key challenges in the agricultural sector.’

Newmont, one of?the world’s leading mining companies, is?among Ghana’s largest taxpayers, and its development foundations at?Ahafo?and?Akyem continue?to?support host community development.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Prof Kenneth Agyemang Attafuah, the Executive Secretary of the National Identification Authority has called on assembly members and traditional rulers to collaborate to support their assemblies to raise internally generated funds to undertake projects.

He said the government was committed to continuing with developmental projects and urged members of the assembly to work together to initiate programmes that would help uplift the living standard of the people.

Prof Attafuah, who represented the President, made the call at the inauguration and swearing of 29 elected Assembly Members and 13 Government Appointees of the Nsawam Adoagyiri Municipal Assembly on Monday in the Eastern Region.

They were sworn into office by Madam Sarah Nyarkoa Nkansah, Nsawam District Court Judge.

Mr Jeremiah Agyekum Amoafo, the Municipal Coordinating Director in a welcoming address told the Assembly Members that the progressive and sustainable development of the municipality largely depended on them.

He said: ‘Section 12 and 16 o
f the Local Governance Act 2016 (936) place premium on the work of the Assembly and for that matter most of the development of the area depends on grassroot participation.’

Nana Opare Amankwaah II, Chief of Ahodwo, near Nsawam, who chaired the function called on the Members of the Assembly to pay serious attention to their work through the initiation of development projects to improve the living conditions in the communities.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Nana Agyemang Ansong, the Sales and Marketing Manager for the Cocoa Processing Company (CPC), has said that the consumption of cocoa products in Ghana must reach a point where ‘Ghanaians must look cocoa.’

Mr Ansong, in an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA), said when visitors come to Ghana, the first thing that must strike them is that the people are healthy, and this could only be achieved with the promotion of the consumption of cocoa products.

‘Ghanaians must look cocoa, to the extent that the first thing that strikes you when you enter Ghana is that the people look healthy.’

He said prior to the Chocolate Day initiative in 2005, the per capita consumption rate of chocolates among Ghanaians was extremely low, pegged at below half a kilo, as consuming chocolate was very unpopular among the populace.

He disclosed that with the help of the media and other promotional activities by CPC, the Ghana Tourism Authority (GTA), and Ghana COCOBOD, among other stakeholders, the per capita consumption of cho
colate and cocoa products is now above one kilogramme per head annually.

‘It means that almost every Ghanaian is beginning to eat at least one kilogramme of cocoa per year; even though it is still low, it has improved significantly,’ he said.

He said it was the dream of CPC to increase this figure to about 2.5 to three kilogrammes per year per person, adding that Ghanaians, especially children, must make chocolate products a staple and consume them constantly to derive their full health benefits.

Mr. Ansong stated that CPC has products to meet everybody’s taste, whether they want to chew, drink, spread, or bite, adding that for the 2024 chocolate and Valentine’s Day celebrations, they have produced enough products for every member of the 30 million population to get at least 100 grammes of chocolate for the week.

He said their challenge, however, was their inability to produce even more than they have, noting that ‘we wish we could produce more, our ability to expand our factory to produce more chocolate
products for Ghana, West Africa, Africa, and even beyond the continent.’

Touching on some activities to mark the week-long Chocolate Day celebration, he said that alongside some collaborative lined-up programmes between the company, GTA, and COCOBOD, the CPC would provide inmates of the Accra Psychiatric Hospital with chocolate drinks.

Also, the CPC, in collaboration the Ghana Free Zones Authority, would be feeding 500,000 children with Alltime Chocolate Drink.

The Accra Technical University’s Food Department would also develop chocolate cuisine as part of the celebrations.

The Sales and Marketing Manager added further, that, in line with their 2024 theme ‘Eat Cocoa, Grow Ghana,’ free chocolate drinks would be provided at its regional offices to give cocoa farmers the opportunity to taste their produce.

The National Chocolate Day, which was an initiative by the late Jake Obetsebi Lamptey, the then Minister of Tourism, in 2005, coincides with Valentine’s Day and has the objective of boosting the consumpti
on of Ghana’s cocoa and its products.

Source: Ghana News Agency

The mother of a 15-year-old Form One student of Bechem Presbyterian Senior High School (PRESEC) who was allegedly gang-raped by six final year students of the school have appealed to the Police to be expeditious in their investigations for justice to prevail.

The Police at Bechem in the Tano South Municipality of Ahafo Region have arrested and placed three of the suspects in custody and launched a manhunt for the other three who are currently on the run.

The arrested suspects are Agyem Frimpong, Emmanuel Ankama and one Osman.

Another accomplice, Kyeremaa Hamida, a female final year student who aided the suspects to commit the crime is also in Police custody, assisting investigations.

The sad incident happened on Saturday, February 10 around 21:30 hours, when accomplice Hamida allegedly lured the unsuspecting victim (name withheld) to a dilapidated structure, near the girl’s dormitory where the suspects gang-raped her, Ghana News Agency (GNA) learnt.

A reliable source at the Bechem Police Station confirme
d the story and added the suspects were yet to be arraigned before court.

Speaking in an interview with the GNA, Mrs Victoria Otu, the victim’s mother, said the condition of her daughter had worsened and appealed for justice to prevail.

‘The school authority rang to inform me about the incident and what we need now is to seek justice for our child,’ she stated.

A medical report from the Duayaw-Nkwanta St. John of God Catholic Hospital sighted by the GNA confirmed the victim had been raped.

Narrating her ordeal, the victim told the GNA she was lying on her bed when the suspect Hamida approached and asked her to ‘see her outside.’

‘When we got outside, she told me to follow her to the drying-line area and upon reaching the place she handed me over to the six boys who were standing behind the structure and all of them forcibly had sex with me,’ she stated.

Source: Ghana News Agency