Category: General

Huawei has released the National Cloud 2.0 solution world to help government organisations around the world accelerate national digital transformation and promote intelligence.

Mr Hu Yuhai, Vice President of Huawei Hybrid Cloud, said: ‘Global digital transformation has reached a new stage of full intelligence driven by data and AI.

The National Cloud 2.0 solution from Huawei provides trusted cloud infrastructure, innovative cloud services, and extensive industry know-how. We aim to help governments achieve national digital visions faster.’

He said more than 170 countries and regions had announced digital transformation strategies and as innovative technologies like AI models see more widespread adoption, the digital transformation of government customers was reaching a new stage.

Mr Hu said previously, government customers were focused on moving their applications to various clouds and now they were seeking data- and AI-driven industry intelligence.

‘They look to leverage digital and intelligent technolo
gies to empower smart city governance, better government services, and greater economic growth,’ he said.

He said the solution was backed by Huawei’s ICT innovation and robust experience driving digital transformation for customers and partners around the world.

Mr Hu said it provided trusted cloud infrastructure, innovative cloud services, and extensive industry know-how, helping governments achieve their national digital visions faster.

He said Huawei had established secure, reliable, and open cloud-native infrastructure and provided green, low-carbon IT hardware and cloud-native infrastructure.

He said Huawei aimed to lay a robust foundation for the national digital transformation of government customers.

On innovative cloud services, Huawei leverages data and AI technologies to provide innovative cloud services, aiming to help government customers unleash data value and establish data sovereignty.

He said around extensive industry know-how, Huawei provided a series of professional services, includin
g high-level design, service planning, deliveries, and implementation, all backed by extensive experience with numerous global projects.

‘Huawei looks forward to working with more industry partners in the future and to accelerating national digital transformation for government customers around the world,’ he added.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Members of the Ghana Registered Nurses and Midwives Association (GRNMA) in public health facilities of the Upper East Region have worn red bands as first action among planned activities to embark on industrial strike action.

The leadership of the association in a notice of action, jointly signed by its President, Mrs Perpetual Ofori-Ampofo and Dr David Tenkorang-Twum, the General Secretary, demanded a review of what it described as ‘astronomical increment’ in the verification fee paid by nurses and midwives to the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) of Ghana for verification of licenses.

The leadership said although it officially communicated its discontentment about the 445.5 per cent increment in the verification fee and requested for review of the amount to an acceptable level, it had not received any response.

According to leadership, for more than a week, the institutions involved, the Parliament of Ghana, the Ministry of Health and the NMC, were yet to ‘even acknowledge receipt of our letters and to
make any effort towards having the GHS3,000 reviewed.’

The GRNMA said, ‘considering the current economic challenges and the fact that our salaries are not the best, nurses and midwives of Ghana can only contain a maximum of 25 per cent increment which in our view can be borne by all grades of nurses and midwives.’

The Association in a planned series of actions said from March 22 to 27, 2024, members would wear red bands across all health facilities and everywhere nurses and midwives’ work.

It said leadership would hold what she called a ‘major press conference,’ on March 27, 2024, and if no action were taken to address the issue.

They would withdraw Out-Patient Department (OPD) services from March 28 to April 2, 2024, and subsequently withdraw OPD and in-patient and other services on April 3, 2024.

‘All nurses and midwives are expected to fully participate in the above stated action because it is their right to do so and therefore, under no circumstance should they be threatened or coerced,’ leadership s
aid in its directive to members across the country.

Following the directive, the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in Bolgatanga visited some public health facilities to ascertain if nurses and midwives adhered to the roadmap.

At the Regional Hospital in Bolgatanga, nurses and midwives at the OPD, maternity ward and other units, tired red bands on their heads and arms as they rendered services to patients.

The situation was not different at the Sandema Hospital and the Chuchuliga Health Centre both in the Builsa North Municipality of the Region when the GNA visited.

Mr Francis Wuni, the Regional Secretary of the GRNMA, in an interview with the GNA, said until their demand was addressed, they would follow the planned roadmap to the end.

He said nurses and midwives had the right to migrate to any country of choice if they so desired and emphasized that if the employer did not want the exodus of nurses and midwives from the country, it should provide them with better conditions of service.

‘Our position is clear; we
want a review of the verification fee of GHS3,000.00. From GHS500.00 to GHS3,000.00 is astronomical. How much is our salary? Per our meager salary, we cannot contain anything more than 25per cent increment,’ Mr Wuni said.

Some nurses and midwives in red bands at the facilities visited, told the GNA that they were in full support of the directive by the leadership, and said they would adhere to it to the latter.

Mrs Sylvia Antwi Boasiako Frimpong, a Senior Nursing Officer at the OPD of the Regional Hospital, said: ‘If the employer does not want us to leave the country for greener pastures, our conditions of service should be improved so that we stay comfortably and work.’

Source: Ghana News Agency

A mechanised water system has been constructed at Diani, a community in the West Mamprusi Municipality of the North East Region (NE/R), to help ensure residents’ access to potable water.

The facility, designed to serve a population of 1,200, has a storage capacity of 10 cubic meters (Rambo 10,000 polytank) and comes with four fetching points distributed across the community.

Besides the water facility, a girl-friendly institutional latrine equipped with basic facilities for menstrual health and hygiene management, has also been constructed for the Diani Primary School to ensure that girls remain in school.

They were constructed by Plan International Ghana, an international NGO, as part of its three-year Integrated Package for Sustainable Development (I-PADEV) project, which is being implemented in the West Mamprusi Municipality of the NE/R and the Jasikan Municipality of the Oti Region.

The project seeks to contribute to creating a resilient and protective environment both at home and at school for better
health and learning outcomes for children especially girls through equitable access to and effective utilisation of water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH), early childhood care and development, education, health facilities and services.

Prior to the construction of the mechanised water system, residents relied on a polluted dam, which was about a kilometer away from them.

Mr Constant Tchona, Country Director, Plan International Ghana, speaking during the inauguration of the facilities at Diani on Friday, announced that ‘Plan International Ghana has completed 20 water facilities under the project. This includes eight mechanised systems and 12 hand pumps. Of these completed water facilities, four mechanised systems and six hand pumps are located here in West Mamprusi.’

The ceremony was also to commemorate this year’s World Water Day, which was on the theme: ‘Leveraging Water for Peace.’

World Water Day, commemorated on March 22, every year, serves as a platform to create awareness and inspire action to tackl
e the water and sanitation crisis globally.

Available data show that one in two (49 per cent) public schools in the country do not have access to improved water supply services and three out of every five (62%) children attend schools without water supply in the country whilst children, especially girls in rural and other under-served areas have to walk long distances in search of water before going to school.

Mr Tchona said ‘The lack of (or inadequate) quality water and sanitation facilities in schools disproportionately and negatively impacts on the educational outcomes (and ultimately economic empowerment and social status) of girls.’

He said, ‘Plan International Ghana believes that access to safe, adequate and affordable WASH services promotes girls and women empowerment since it enhances their dignity and position in the community.’

He mentioned other activities being undertaken under the organisation’s WASH project, which included ongoing construction of 20 girl-friendly institutional latrines in sc
hools, roll-out community-led total sanitation in 20 project communities amongst others.

He called on members of the public to use water more carefully, reducing stress on the environment and water infrastructure saying, ‘In our working lives, we can also ensure that all our activities are done responsibly and protect water resources and ecosystems according to the law.’

Mr Yidana Zakaria, North East Regional Minister said the government had committed a lot of resources to the provision of potable water to communities in the country with Nalerigu, Gambaga and Walewale being the beneficiaries in the region.

Mr Zakaria expressed the need for the beneficiaries to protect, guard and preserve water sources, and desist from all practices that polluted water sources and encouraged them to plant more trees around water bodies to preserve them.

Mr Somo Lucky Arimiyaw, West Mamprusi Municipal Chief Executive, who was represented during the event, thanked Plan International Ghana for its numerous interventions in th
e area complimenting government’s efforts to bring development to the people.

Mr Yidana Hanan, a resident of Diani, who is in-charge of the water facility, said residents would be charged 40 pesewas per bowl to fetch the water, and the money would be used to buy electricity to power the facility.

He said school children in school uniform during school hours and fetching the water for the use of the school, were allowed to fetch the water for free.

Source: Ghana News Agency

The Ellembelle District Assembly has expressed its readiness to enter broader consultation with the Eastern Nzema Traditional Council to educate the people before rolling out any form of taxation and property rates.

The move forms part of measures to enable the Council make inputs into the tax and property rates components to be imposed on the people.

Chief of Basake ,Nana Bonya Kofi who expressed the concerns during the Traditional Council meeting at Atuabo , asked the District Assembly to go back to the drawing board with broader consultation with the traditional council and allow the chiefs and elders to make inputs into how much should be paid by tax payers in the district.

Mr Solomon Agyei, Coordinating Director at the Ellembelle District Assembly on behalf of the District Chief Executive Kwasi Bonzo, told the Council that the Assembly had carried a directive from central government to form Revenue Committees to collect taxes and property rates to generate more revenue.

As part of the modalities, he
said the Assembly would generate revenue from signposts, billboards, and temporal structures.

The Road Safety Committee would emboss a sticker on motorcycles in the Okada business, Pragyaa and other Tricycle transport popularly called Aboboya.

Awulae Amihere Kpanyinli III, the President of the Eastern Nzema Traditional Council, asked the Assembly to consult the Council before the Assembly rolled out any taxes on the people.

Nana Akye Blay, Chief of Menzezor also stressed the urgent need for the District Assembly to liaise with the Council before taxes were fixed for people in the area.

In another development, Management of ADAMUS Mines donated GHc5,000.00, soft drinks and bottled water to support the Council.

The management of 7 Stars Mineral Water at Aiyinasi also presented cash of GHc5,000.00 to the Council.

Source: Ghana News Agency

A report from the Spanish counterintelligence centre, operating under the auspices of the Spanish Government’s Presidency, has absolved Morocco of any accusation of espionage and interference in Spain’s internal affairs.

This report unequivocally puts to rest all suspicions and accusations directed at the Kingdom of Morocco regarding alleged espionage activities targeting the Spanish Government President Pedro Sánchez and other high-ranking officials, purportedly facilitated by the Pegasus software.

It is worth noting that these allegations had already been refuted by senior Spanish officials in November 2022 during hearings before a committee of the European Parliament investigating the use of the Pegasus software.

Similarly, the Spanish National Court had decided, back in July 2023, to close the Pegasus case due to lack of evidence.

Source: Ghana News Agency

The third edition of the Blue Economy Conference (BEC2024) is scheduled for July 4-5 at the Julius Nyerere International Convention Centre in Tanzania.

Organized by the Dar es Salaam Maritime Institute (DMI), Tanzania in collaboration with the Regional Maritime University (RMU) will be on the theme, ‘Navigating the Future: Integrating Maritime Safety and Security, Climate Change Actions and Technological Advancements for Blue Economy.’

A statement issued in Accra by the University said the conference was aimed at bringing together international stakeholders, focusing on promoting the blue economy to lead development across the continent.

The blue economy every year, has an estimated turnover of between US$3.6 billion, which includes employment, ecosystem services provided by the ocean and cultural services.

It is also estimated that fisheries and aquaculture contribute US$100 billion per year and about 260 million jobs to the global economy, according to the United Nations (UN) Department of Economic and
Social Affairs (DESA) report.

It said with the huge potential of the blue economy, Africa through the conference, was looking forward to developing the maritime sector to tap into its benefits for socio-economic growth.

The statement said the conference also aimed at establishing a platform for capacity building and networking among stakeholders, fostering the blue economy in aline with maritime safety and security, climate change considerations and technological advancements as outlined in the relevant Sustainable Development Goals.

The conference will tackle other areas including sustainable exploitation and utilisation of blue economy resources, ship seaworthiness and on-board-ship competency challenges, business models for the blue economy, women in the maritime sector, fishing industry and climate action policy and environmental protection.

It said there would be discussions on Artificial Intelligence in maritime practices and the blue economy, renewable energy solutions for maritime transportation,
information systems in maritime education and training and logistics.

Others are shipping and supply chains for the blue economy, climate-responsive maritime practices and coastal management, blue economy governance, law, and policy as well as coastal and marine tourism development.

Mr David Mwakiposa Kihenzile, Deputy Minister for Transport, Tanzania will be the keynote Speaker for the event together with speakers including Dr Paul Ikongshul Adalikwu, the Secretary-General, Maritime Organisation of West and Central Africa (MOWCA), Dr Kofi Mbia, Maritime Law and Management Consultant, Madam Nancy Karigithu, Special Advisor for Maritime and Blue Economy, Mr Pa Ousman Jarju, Executive Director, Sierra Leone Maritime Authority Paul Sobba Massaquoi and Climate Specialist.

The DMI had held the Blue Economy Conference for the past two years and is now collaborating with the RMU to hold the third edition this year, following a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the two giants in maritime education and trai
ning in February.

The MoU covers areas of research and publication, staff capacity building, organisation of conferences and seminars and workshops among others, hence the collaboration to hold this year’s conference.

Dr Jethro W. Brooks Jr, the Acting Vice-Chancellor of the RMU, speaking ahead of the conference said both institutions had committed to transforming economies across Africa by providing quality training and education that would ensure that young people were equipped and positioned to drive the maritime sector.

‘We look forward for an insightful conference that would support the transformation of the African continent through the maritime industry,’ he said.

Source: Ghana News Agency