Category: General

Mr Kwame Asuah Takyi, the Comptroller-General of Immigration (CGI), has admonished officers of the Eastern Regional Command of the Ghana Immigration Service (GIS) to let discipline be their guiding principle in their career.

The Comptroller-General said this during a durbar he held with officers and men of the Eastern Regional Command on the sideline of activities planned for the celebration of the 67th Independence anniversary in Koforidua.

He praised the Government for the massive retooling of the Ghana Immigration Service and intimated that ‘in the history of the GIS no government has ever invested in the GIS than this current government of HE Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo.’

He added, ‘There has been an unprecedented increase in recruitment into the Service more than quadrupling the manpower base, supply of specialised vehicles for border patrols, expansion in both residential and office accommodation among others.’

Mr Takyi also informed the durbar of the Government’s decision for the GIS to begin to de
ploy its Officers to some selected Ghana Missions abroad as Consular Officers which directive, he said, would be implemented very soon.

Mr Asuah Takyi admonished his Officers to justify such massive support from the Government by working very hard to safeguard Ghana’s borders and contribute to strengthening internal security.

He commended the RC and called for more of such duty posts to be established across the country to bring Immigration services to the doorposts of the citizens.

Faisal Disu, Deputy Commissioner of Immigration (DCOI), who welcomed the Comptroller-General to the Command Headquarters, extolled the great leadership style of the CGI which, he said, had led to the transformation of the GIS.

He called on him to assist the Command renovate a duty post they had established in Donkorkrom in the Affram Plains.

Source: Ghana News Agency

The Kwadaso Circuit Court has remanded three persons into Police custody for allegedly attacking and assaulting fire officers on duty at the Race Course market in Kumasi.

Solomon Anaba 18, Lamamia Ismael 21, and Akongoli Adoko 18, were charged with assault on public servants and conspiracy to conduct violence, and would reappear before the court presided by Mr Stephen Kumi, on March 26, 2024

Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Mr Jonas Newlove Adjei, pleaded with the court to remand the suspects to help in the speedy investigations of the case.

He said the suspects who are squatters and had no permanent abode, should be kept in custody while investigations continued.

The police on Monday morning (March 11, 2024) announced the arrest of five persons in connection with the case, but the three were brought before the court.

The suspects, together with others, who were said to be on the run, attacked officers from the Ghana National Fire Service, who were responding to a distress call on a fire outbreak
at the Race Course market at about 1am last Monday.

The thugs accused the officers of delaying in responding to the call.

The fire razed down about 180 container shops in the market.

Source: Ghana News Agency

By Charity Nginyu

A truck transporting brewery products from Brasseries was attacked by separatist fighters on Tuesday, March 12, 2024, resulting in the death of two people.

According to reports, the driver was hit by the gunfire, losing control of the vehicle at Fish Pond Hill, Bamenda, North West Region. The truck crashed into two pedestrians, killing one, before stopping.

The driver, on his part, succumbing to injuries incurred from the bullets, passed away moments later.

Witnesses described scenes of panic as the truck came under attack, with people running away from the gunfire and screeching tires.

This attack comes from longstanding resistance by separatists against the circulation of Brasseries trucks in the North West Region of Cameroon.

In recent times, separatists have executed attacks, especially in the North West Region where they have

set ablaze a series of trucks transporting important material.

Source: Cameroon News Agency

The Public Service Lodge, a Freemasonry Lodge in Accra as part of its 50th anniversary celebrations has donated a theatre operating bed to the Adabraka Polyclinic, in Accra.

The donation, which signifies the Lodge’s commitment to social responsibility, was a collaborative effort between the Public Service Lodge, the Public Service Royal Arch Chapter, and the Public Service Chapter Rose Croix.

Mr Isaac Hood, Right Worshipful District Grand Master, said the Public Service Lodge, founded in August 1974, had a rich history of serving the Ghanaian community.

‘Established by twelve prominent Masons led by W. Bro. Philip Carlis Paittoo, the Lodge sought to foster a fellowship among distinguished individuals within the public service sector.

‘Beyond their internal focus, the Public Service Lodge has consistently demonstrated a strong dedication to societal well-being. The Lodge has a long-standing tradition of supporting charitable endeavours, both independently and in collaboration with the District Grand Lodge
of Ghana. They have consistently strived to ‘pour the healing balm of consolation into the bosom of the afflicted’, as exhorted by the principles of freemasonry.’

He said the donation of the theatre operating bed to the facility was a testament to the Organisation’s enduring values of service, fellowship, and philanthropy.

‘It is also a call to other charitable organisations to support the Polyclinic to achieve District Hospital status…’

Dr Abdul Razak Quao, Medical Superintendent, Adabraka Polyclinic, said the Facility’s vision was to be upgraded to the level of a district hospital that would offer a comprehensive, quality, affordable, accessible and timely service to the people of the Korle Klottey Municipality.

He said having a theatre bed was an important requirement by the Health Facilities Regulatory Authority (HeFRA) and expressed appreciation to the Organisation.

Dr Quao said the Polyclinic needed a defibrillator, anesthesia machine, patient monitors, ceiling mounted operating lamp, oxygen concen
trator, resident warmer, electrosurgical unit, mini blood bank fridge, an 80L autoclave and called for support.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Ghana gets its first Credit Rating Agency to provide credit rating and related services for the financial markets to operate efficiently.

Beacon Credit Rating Agency (Beacon Ratings) was granted regulatory approval by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) granted regulatory in accordance with Section 209 of the Securities Industry Act 2016 (Act 929) as revised by the Securities Industry Act 2021.

A rating agency is an organisation that rates the financial health of businesses and governmental bodies, particularly their capacity to make principal and interest payments on loans.

The rating assigned to a given debt shows an agency’s level of confidence that the borrower will honour its debt obligations as agreed.

Ghanaian financial institutions, investors, and fund managers have been relying on the ratings of international agencies to influence their investment decisions.

Mr Paul Ababio, the Deputy Director-General for the SEC, speaking at the launch, said rating agencies played an important role in
the financial market development of Ghana.

He said emerging capital markets, including Ghana, were often characterised by increased volatility, a dynamic economic landscape, and rapid growth.

He said the role of a rating agency was critical as it played a lead role in guiding both investors and entities to accurately price financial instruments and provide leadership on price determination.

Mr Ababio said the financial markets provided a platform for corporate entities to raise capital directly from investors.

He said there was a challenge in ensuring that investors had critical information about detailed assessments and analyses of an entity’s ability to repay loans.

‘The critical role played by credit ratings in an efficient financial market is conventional wisdom and by providing information on default risk and, therefore, on the likely future performance of an issuer, ratings contribute to the efficiency of the markets,’ he added.

He said ratings could help establish a more balanced information syst
em in a market and with ratings, investors have an additional source of information that they could use to establish benchmarks for comparing risks and returns.

Dr Justice Ofori, the Chief Executive Officer for the National Insurance Commission, in a speech read on his behalf, said the impact of risky rapid rating downgrades as a direct result of entities not being able to meet the expected level of financial stability could affect market perception.

He said that this could lead to a loss of business as doubts may be entertained concerning the entity’s ability to meet the financial commitments of investors.

Mr Noble Yao Akaba, the Founder of Beacon Ratings Agency, said the rating agency would be impactful to the financial markets by bridging the gap between entities and investors.

He said the rating agency would monitor the entity’s performance, with upgrades and downgrades serving as signals to investors.

He said the agency would be supporting portfolio managers in investment decisions and lenders in cr
edit decisions.

He said Beacon Ratings aimed to be a leading business analytic and rating agency in Africa and this vision would be achieved by enhancing the efficiency of the money and capital markets, by assessing corporate entities/ issuers and financial instruments.

‘We reaffirm our commitment to delivering reliable and high-quality ratings with integrity, independence, and transparency,’ he added.

Source: Ghana News Agency

BY STEPHEN TADAHA

The National Observatory on Climate Change (NOCC) in its recent weather forecast made public by the department of National Meteorology, announced that the first planting season in the West Region and in some parts of the North West Region should commence on April 2. As from this date according to the Observatory, the atmosphere will be characterized by heavy downpours of at least 30 millimeters, a level highly recommended by experts to plant.

But on the field, the remark is different as many farmers began planting since the start of the first rains at the beginning of the month of March contrary to what experts recommend.

‘The National Observatory says we should start planting on a particular date but we follow the weather and not what they say. The weather tells us when to plant. We have seen for ourselves that the rains are back and cannot wait again’ declared a farmer.

‘I planted since the start of rains and cannot remove my plants that have germinated because they have said so. I saw
rain and planted and don’t think the dry season will be back. The climat this year is different’ says another farmer.

Knowing that there is a slight change in climatic conditions, these farmers say they are not worried of the change because their crops

‘ We planted and we think the crops will do good. How should they say we should wait for almost a month after the rains before planting? I don’t believe that.’ She adds.

According to experts, the first rains are not the best for crops.

‘We recommend that farmers wait for at least three good rains, in a way that the soil will be soft and ready before planting. If not the grains will be burnt in the soil and they will be obliged to plant again.’ says Edwige Soup, Divisional delegate of Agriculture and Rural development for Bamboutos

‘ Concerning recommendations of the National Observatory on Climate change, rains between March 1-10 will be under observation because they will be sporadic and will lead to an increase in temperatures, thus humidity.’ She Adds

The localities called upon to begin planting on April 2 are Bamboutos, Noun, Upper Plateaux, Upper Nkam, Menoua, Koung-Khi and Nde in the West Region, Mezam, Menchum, Bui and Ngo-Ketunjia in North West, Lebialem and Kupe-Manenguba in the South West region.

In other parts of these Regions, The national Observatory recommends that the planting season begins on March 23, 2024.

Source: Cameroon News Agency