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Hundreds throng UPSA ahead of Dr Bawumia’s address


Hundreds of people, including students and supporters of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), have thronged the University of Professional Studies (UPSA) in Accra ahead of an address to be delivered by Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia.

The Flagbearer of the ruling NPP is scheduled to address Ghanaians on Wednesday evening and set the tone for his political campaign.

About an hour from Dr Bawumia’s address, the Kofi Ohene Konadu Auditorium, UPSA Campus, is filled to capacity.

There’s a heavy police presence within the precinct of the UPSA as many more people flock to the auditorium to listen to the Vice President.

The UPSA campus is flooded with flyers bearing the campaign pictures of Dr Bawumia with the inscription: ‘Bawumia for President 2024? and ‘It is possible’.

Dr Bawumia is expected to arrive at the auditorium by 16:00 hours.

The address will serve as a precursor to the Vice President’s official campaign launch, following his election as Flagbearer of the NPP in November 2023.

Dr Bawumia is expected
to highlight the major achievements of the Akufo-Addo-led Government over the past seven years and outline his vision for Ghana should he be elected as the President on December 7.

Since becoming Flagbearer, the Vice President has repeatedly articulated his intention to digitise Ghana’s economy, create sustainable jobs, and build an inclusive system that aligns with global demands.

‘My vision is to build an inclusive, food self-sufficiency, data-driven and systems-based nation that will fully participate in the global digital revolution,’ he told supporters of the Party in his victory address on November 4, 2023.

Dr Bawumia pledged to unleash the ingenuity of the youth in various sectors such as information technology, robotics, entrepreneurship, creative arts, and sports, among others, to build a mighty nation.

Source: Ghana News Agency

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Ensuring sustainable food security in Africa: Smallholder support, investments crucial – Dr Mensah


African countries need to promote substantial investments in agriculture and provide the needed support to smallholder farmers to ensure sustainable food security for their people.

Dr Christian Sewordor Mensah, Executive Director of the African Center for Business Incubation, who stated this, said there was a need for African leaders to work to address poor implementation of policies, inadequate investments, as well as limited support for smallholder farmers to ensure sustainable food production to feed the growing population in Africa.

In an article made available to the Ghana News Agency in Kumasi, Dr Mensah observed that, though significant progress had been made over the years to address food insecurity in Africa, the Africa Union’s (AU) journey towards achieving its objectives was still ongoing.

He said the AU’s policies, strategic frameworks, and collaboration initiatives had undoubtedly contributed to improved agricultural productivity, resilience to climate change, and increased trade in agricultur
al goods.

The attention now lies on the slow implementation of policies and frameworks at the national level due to limited institutional capacity and political will.

Additionally, insufficient investment in agriculture, particularly in the context of climate change adaptation and mitigation, as well as inadequate attention to the needs and constraints faced by women and marginalized groups within the agricultural sector, are significant factors.

Again, insufficient access to finance and markets for smallholder farmers, limiting their ability to participate in value chains and earn sustainable incomes as well as limited awareness and understanding of the importance of food security among the general population, impede efforts to mobilize support and resources.

Dr. Mensah assessing the AU’s achievement of food security objectives, said food security had been an enduring challenge for many African countries due to a variety of factors such as climate change, limited access to modern agricultural technologie
s, inadequate infrastructure, and political instability.

Recognizing the urgency of addressing this issue, the African Union, he said had established food security objectives to promote sustainable, resilient, and inclusive agricultural systems.

The AU has developed several policies and frameworks to tackle food security, notably the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) and the Malabo Declaration.

The aim of the CAADP is to improve agricultural productivity and promote food security, while the Malabo Declaration sets targets to be achieved by 2025, including doubling productivity, halving post-harvest losses, and tripling intra-African trade in agricultural goods.

Again, the AU launched the African Agriculture Fund, supported by the African Development Bank, to finance agricultural projects in member states.

Furthermore, the creation of the Africa Food Security Initiative (AFSI) has attracted significant investments from both internal and external sources, which have contributed
to boosting agricultural productivity.

Dr. Mensah said recognizing that food security issues were beyond national borders, the AU had placed emphasis on strengthening collaboration and regional integration.

Efforts such as the Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) aimed to remove trade barriers and promote agricultural trade among member countries are in place.

Other policies such as resilience to climate change, promotion of sustainable agricultural practices, agroforestry, and the development of climate-smart agriculture.

Source: Ghana News Agency

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I did not leave behind an economic mess – Former Prez Mahama


Former President John Dramani Mahama, the Flagbearer of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), said no economic mess was left by his previous administration as insinuated by the New Patriotic Party (NPP), rather the NPP took over a stabilised economy.

‘When I left office, the debt to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) was 57 per cent and the optimum GDP for middle income countries as recommended by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is 60 per cent,’ he stated.

‘My administration was under the recommended debt to GDP but today, the debt to GDP is more than 100 percent.’

Mr Mahama was speaking at a town hall meeting in Tamale on Tuesday as part of his Building Ghana Tour in parts of the Northern Region.

He said inflation, prior to his exit from office, was 15.5 per cent but increased to 54 per cent under the NPP-led Government and subsequently dropped to 30 per cent.

Cocoa production under the current administration had reduced to under 500,000 metric tonnes from 960,000 metric tonnes under the NDC administr
ation, Former President Mahama said.

He said his government secured a syndicated loan of 1.8 billion dollars at two percent based on the cocoa production value whereas the current government had 800 million dollars at eight percent underscoring the deficit in cocoa production.

‘When we left office, we gave the NPP two new oil fields to triple oil revenue. All the work we did as NDC was with only one field, which is the Jubilee field.’

The Stabilisation Fund, which aided the country’s survival during the COVID-19 pandemic, and the Ghana Infrastructural Investment Fund, which was being used for the Agenda 111 hospital projects, were both established under his administration, Mr Mahama said.

There were 300 million dollars and 270 million dollars, respectively, in each fund, he added.

‘With all these, how did I leave a mess? The constant talk of Mahama left us a mess is a myth and not true. They created the mess themselves,’ the former President said.

Source: Ghana News Agency

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Parliament to complete consideration of anti-LGBTQ Bill by February 9


Mr Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, the Majority Leader and Leader of Government Business in Parliament says the House will complete the consideration of the anti-LGBTQ Bill by Friday, February 9.

The Majority Leader stated this during the Parliamentary Leadership engagement with the Parliamentary Press Corps at Parliament House in Accra.

He noted that the Business Committee of the House at its meeting on February 5th, programmed to have the first consideration of the ‘Promotion of Proper Human Sexual Rights and Ghanaian Family Values Bill, 2022’, beginning Wednesday, February 7.

He said the House anticipates that they would be able to close it by Friday, February 9.

The consideration stage of a Bill is where the House considers the provisions of the Bill clause by clause and makes amendments before it can be passed into law.

The object of the ‘Promotion of Proper Human Sexual Rights and Ghanaian Family Values Bill, 2022’ is to provide for proper human sexual rights and Ghanaian Family Values proscribe lesbian, g
ay, bisexual, transgender, queer (LGBTQ+) and related activities.

Source: Ghana News Agency

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Ghana needs a leader who understands digitisation, geopolitics – Former President Kufuor


Former President John Agyekum Kufuor says the country needs a leader that has a deeper understanding of the global digital economy and geopolitics to champion development.

The Former President said technology and digitisation were rapidly changing all sectors of development and cautioned that failure to select a leader that understood that concept could affect Ghana’s rapid socio-economic developement.

President Kufuor was speaking ahead of Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia’s address to Ghanaians in Accra Wednesday evening.

The Former President described Dr Bawumia as ‘a man of destiny’ and someone who had a grasp of digitisation and geopolitics.

‘We need a leader that can marshal new technologies…We are in a new situation. Cometh the hour, cometh the man. The time has come for this man (Bawumia)’ President Kufuor said.

He appealed to Ghanaians to support Dr Bawumia’s presidential ambition to help the country succeed in an era dominated by technology.

Dr Bawumia’s address will serve as a precursor to h
is official campaign launch, following his election as Falgbearer of the New Patriotic Party in November 2023.

The Vice President is expected to highlight the major achievements of the Akufo-Addo-led Government over the past seven years and outline his vision for Ghana should he be elected as the president on December 7.

Since becoming Flagbearer, Dr Bawumia has repeatedly articulated his intention to digitise Ghana’s economy, create sustainable jobs, and build an inclusive system that aligns with global demands.

‘My vision is to build an inclusive, food self-sufficiency, data-driven and systems-based nation that will fully participate in the global digital revolution,’ he told supporters of the Party in his victory address on November 4, 2023.

Dr Bawumia pledged to unleash the ingenuity of the youth in various sectors such as information technology, robotics, entrepreneurship, creative arts, and sports, among others, to build a mighty nation.

Source: Ghana News Agency

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Let’s form ‘great alliance’ to rescue Ghana-PPP urges citizenry


The Progressive People’s Party (PPP) has asked the citizenry to join the Party to form ‘Great Alliance 2.0 to rescue the country from the abyss’.

It urged the populace to vote out the New Patriotic Party (NPP) administration for its ‘abysmal performance’ and usher in a government that would bring change to the life of the people.

‘Ghana needs a rescuer, a rescuer that does not reside in the corridors of power, but in the hearts and minds of its people.’

Nana Ofori Owusu, National Chairman of the PPP, speaking at a press conference dubbed ‘Change’ in Accra, highlighted some challenges facing the country and attributed them to leadership failure and mismanagement of resources of the country.

He said the fight to bring about change was a call to action for Ghanaians to stop the country from ‘bleeding’.

‘It can only come to an end when the people rise up against oppression, nepotism, suppression … and look government in the eye and tell them they must go,’ he said.

Nana Owusu said given the debt situation o
f the country, it would only take a responsible party like the PPP to use the next four years to clean up the mess created.

He assured that the Party would complete abandoned projects from the first Republic and cut the size of government to reduce government expenditure while encouraging the indigenous private sector to thrive, create jobs and provide support for government initiatives.

Source: Ghana News Agency