Lesotho Wire

Fidelity Bank through its customer experience team embarked on philanthropic initiatives to mark the national Chocolate Day celebration.

The initiatives included the donation of GHS10,000 and two boxes of locally made chocolates to the New Horizon School and a special event honouring mothers of children with disabilities.

The Bank also marked the day at Cosmos Centre for Children with Special Needs in Dormaa Ahenkro where a donation of items valued at GHS 10,000 was made to support efforts of providing specialised care for children with special needs.

The initiatives highlighted the Bank’s longstanding commitment to inclusivity, empowering the less fortunate, and community development.

Speaking at the New Horizon School, Madam Comfort Amoo, Head, Customer Experience, said: ‘Building an inclusive future where everyone has access to opportunity, regardless of ability, is a core value at Fidelity Bank.’

‘Our enduring support for New Horizon exemplifies our commitment to this principle. The interactions and
conversations we share with the students here are truly enriching, reminding us to return each year and offer our love and support,’ she said.

She noted that the National Chocolate Day and the month of love presented the perfect opportunity to share those moments with the New Horizon family.

Jocelyn Adoboe, Deputy Principal (Academic Section) of New Horizon Special School, expressed gratitude to the Bank for the continuous support to the School.

‘From supporting us through challenging times to offering this generous donation, Fidelity Bank truly embodies the spirit of partnership. This combination of essential materials and the engaging chocolate experience perfectly represents ‘learning through joy”.

Beyond chocolate delights, Fidelity Bank’s Accra Sector recognised the remarkable resilience of mothers raising children with disabilities.

A special luncheon and donation event held at the Ghana Federation of Disability Organisations (GFD) offered the extraordinary women a moment of respite, connection, a
nd support.

Mrs. Hannah Awadzi, Executive Director of the Special Mothers Project, commended the Bank for its commitment to inclusivity and called for more engagement towards addressing issues affecting children with disabilities.

Majorie Quansah, Corporate Social Responsibility Co-Ordinator, said the National Chocolate Day presented an opportunity to spread kindness and make a positive impact in the Ghanaian communities.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Inhabitance of Boa Bakundu, Bombanda, and Bombole, all, in Mbonge subdivision, Meme Division in the South West region, have gotten their national Identification cards(ID), destroyed.

These ID Cards were burnt by Separatist General Johnny Mad Dog on Monday, February 19, 2024, in Boa Bakundu.

According to information gathered, Mad Dogg, as he’s often known, went on a rampage after the arrest of his girlfriend, by government forces.

Mad Dog in collaboration with some of his fighters assembled inhabitants of these three villages, got their National Identification Cards, and set fire to them until they melted.

Mbonge Subdivision has been a hotspot of violence since the start of the year. Earlier in January, three people were shot dead in Nganjo by Separatist fighters for unknown reasons.

Repentant fighter, Mbaku Jean was also killed by the same Mad Dog in Nganjo, meanwhile in Kumukumu, another elderly man was murdered by the same fighters.

Source: Cameroon News Agency

Parliament has passed the Environmental Protection Bill 2023, which seeks to establish the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) to regulate, protect, and exercise general oversight and coordination over all matters relating to the environment and climate change.

The Bill seeks to re-enact the Environmental Protection Agency Act, 1994 (Act 490) and introduce a Pesticide Management Fund.

It also re-enacts the Hazardous and Electronic Waste Control and Management Act, 2016 (Act 917) for consolidation.

The Bill further makes provision for the implementation of actions that position Ghana to mitigate and adapt to climate change.

Dr Kwaku Afriyie, the Minister of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation, moving the motion, observed that the Bill integrates both climate and environmental laws, which were fragmented among the ministries, departments and agencies.

He said it intended to bring the Environmental Protection Authority to a level where it would be empowered by law to coordinate and ensure t
he regulations that governed institutions such as the environmental compliance laws or regulations were enforced.

The Bill also sets up a legal framework for climate change action and creates the enabling environment for the country to address the challenges that climate change poses and take advantage of the opportunities it provides.

Dr Emmanuel Marfo, Chairman of the Committee on Environment, Science and Technology, presenting the committee’s report, said the Bill provided a legal framework for a coordinated effort to address all environmental issues in the country.

It will consolidate the various dispersed Environmental Acts; 1996 (Act 528) and the Hazardous and Electronic Waste Control and Management Act (917) under one Act.

Dr Marfo said the Bill was intended to establish the EPA as a super regulator over all aspects of environmental protection implemented by institutions that had some responsibilities and control.

He, however, clarified that it was not intended to interfere with the enforcement ro
les of those institutions.

Source: Ghana News Agency

The Project Coordinator of Friends of the Nation (FoN), a socio-environmental advocacy Non-Governmental Organization, Mr Solomon Kusi Ampofo, has urged Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs) benefiting from the Mineral Development Fund (MDF) to invest in the local economy.

He said this could reduce poverty through the creation of jobs that generated income for workers in these mining communities to satisfy their basic needs.

‘We believe that since mining affects the lives of the citizenry, MMDAs and leaders in mining areas should have regular meetings, document the impact of mining, and ensure they use their share of the MDF to address those challenges.

Mr Ampofo said this at Akyempim when FoN, with support from Oxfam organised a workshop for stakeholders in Tarkwa Nsuaem, Prestea Huni-Valley, Wassa Amenfi East and Ellembelle District and Municipal Assembles in the Western Region.

The workshop provided the platform for the participants to learn, share best practices, challenges and lesson
s learnt on the utilisation of the Minerals Revenue at the sub-national level and make proposals for the effective management of such income, to influence the review of the Mineral Development Act 2016, Act 912.

Mr Ampofo said the criteria that FoN directed each Assembly to use in their presentation included participatory processes that ensured transparency and accountability in the utilisation of the MDF.

It was to ensure that the MDF were gender and socially responsive, addressed the impact of mining, geared towards local economic development and whether there was effective monitoring and evaluations.

Mr Ampofo in a presentation, said it was realised that although all the assemblies have made good progress in terms of participation and transparent, accountable utilisation of the funds, there was little improvement on the MDF being used to address the impact of mining.

Again, there was little progress on the MDF allocation in terms of being gender responsive and socially inclusive.

There was also little
provision for effective monitoring and evaluation which also provided certain gaps in the utilisation of the fund, and it was largely not geared towards local economic development, he said.

Although the assemblies were doing well in terms of having a lot of social development projects including the provision of bore holes and construction of classroom blocks, ‘We believe that since mining affects the lives of the people, they should improve upon the areas identified so that these communities can attain optimum benefit from the MDF,’ the Project Coordinator said.

The District Coordinating Director for Ellembelle Assembly, Mr Solomon Kwaku Adje, said ‘Per the review of our MDF guidelines, am of the view that since the government is already supporting Persons with Disabilities from the Common Fund, we can also consider at least one per cent of our MDF allocation to support our vulnerable brothers and sisters.’

Mr Elvis Adjei Duah, the Chairperson of the Local Management Committee (LMC) for Prestea Huni-Valley
Municipality, advocated for constant education for youth, vulnerable and women groups, as well as chiefs in communities affected by mining activities, to boost development of the area.

Source: Ghana News Agency

An Accra High Court on Wednesday injuncted the Civil and Local Government Staff Association, Ghana (CLOSAG) from imposing any person/s as acting National Executive (s) of the organisation pending the final determination of a suit before it.

The court also ordered that the outgoing National Executives of the association maintain their respective positions until the final determination of the suit.

The court further directed that if any of the outgoing Executives has or have retired their respective positions it should be filled by the appointment of neutral persons as in accordance with the constitution of the association.

This was contained in a statement by the applicants and copied to the Ghana News Agency in Accra.

The Court presided over by Justice Richard Apietu said acts done by the respondents were meant to circumvent the constitution of the association and that the law could not allow that.

It would be recalled when CLOSAG was about to hold its leadership elections recently, they introduced a new
requirement for eligibility which was that for any member to contest for any such positions, the person should have held a national executive position first to qualify to contest in any leadership elections.

Some members of CLOSAG argued that this was not in the constitution of the association and should be scrapped as a requirement, they later went to court and asked that the association should be restrained since it was acting contrary to its own constitution which the court has now granted an injunction restraining CLOSAG to these effects.

Source: Ghana News Agency

The Akrofuom District Assembly in the Ashanti Region is taking deliberate steps to train pupils to have positive and innovative mindset, Dr Maurice Jonas Woode, the District Chief Executive (DCE) has hinted.

He said the Assembly had resolved to support some committed teachers in the district to help teach school children to adopt a new mindset that would embrace innovations.

He was speaking at a day’s workshop organised by the Center for Balance Development, a US based Non-Governmental Organisation dedicated to the enhancement of balance in the global development process.

The workshop, which involved teachers and pupils drawn from basic schools in the district, was focused on one of the key programmes of the organisation dubbed, ‘Innovation Club: Path of Success for Innovators of Tomorrow.’

It is a progressive, innovative, and holistic empowerment programme designed for children and youth to nurture their capacities and talents, enhance their innovative mindset, and discover their unique path of success.

T
he pupils would also be empowered to explore innovations that serve the needs of the global community for a more united, prosperous, and sustainable world.

The DCE said before the youth could be empowered to have innovative mindset, it was imperative to start from the foundational level, hence, the need to target children at the lower level of the education system.

Mr Tony Parker Danso, an Auxiliary Board Member of the Center for Balance Development, who was the Resource person for the workshop, commended the DCE for supporting the training.

‘We need concepts to enable the children face the challenges of the world, the focus is to empower the kids and the youth to face the challenges to change the world,’ he noted.

He was optimistic that the youth were well conditioned to have a change in mindset and called for the support of government and its agencies to enable the youth to adopt the right approaches in dealing with environmental, social, and economic challenges of the world.

The participants numbering
over 40 expressed excitements about the workshop, indicating that they had acquired new ideas on how to be agents of change in their respective schools.

Source: Ghana News Agency

A two-member delegation from Somaliland are in Ghana to understudy the country’s civic education system being championed by the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE), to enable them to replicate the same.

The delegation was led by Mr Abdirisak Yusuf Jama, Director, Centre for Civic Education and Constitutional Training, Ministry of Parliamentary Relations and Constitutional Affairs, Somaliland.

He was accompanied by Mr Mohamed Lali Cuman, Director, National Curriculum Development Centre of the Ministry of Education, Somaliland.

Addressing the delegation in Accra, on Wednesday, Ms Kathleen Addy, Chairperson of the NCCE, noted that civic education was critical in sustaining the democracy of any country.

She explained that many countries, which ignored civic education, were paying the consequences.

‘We count ourselves lucky to have this institution,’ she said, adding that ‘we were fortunate that what we have happened at the time that it happened, and we are very grateful for that.’

She said over t
he years, the NCCE had constantly looked for new ways to reach out to Ghanaians, focusing more on young people.

She emphasized that the relevance of the NCCE could not be underestimated and that they would do everything that was within their power to protect the institution and ensure it continued to deliver on its mandate.

‘We are committed to ensuring that the Commission continues to exist, the Commission continues to deliver on its mandate that was given to us by the fourth republican constitution,’ she stressed.

Ms Addy assured the delegation of the Commission’s readiness to grant them the assistance required to build a strong civic education system.

She said the Commission had started the process of setting up an assistance unit to support countries that wanted to embark on civic education.

Mr Samuel Asare Akuamoah, Deputy Chair in charge of Operations, NCCE, commended Somaliland for taking the initiative to establish a civic education.

He advised the delegation to go beyond tours and seek technica
l assistance from countries with established civic education to enable them to build a strong civic education system.

He also urged them to ‘lobby’ the government of the day, to ensure that it bought into the idea, of protecting and safeguard the system after it’s set-up.

On his part, Mr Jama, lauded the NCCE for its robust civic education system, indicating that they had gained three key things in their encounter with the Commission, namely; the leadership qualities at the NCCE; the experience and the encouragement, which, he believed, would help them replicate same in their country.

The delegation also visited the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NaCCA), on Tuesday, February 20, and is expected to visit the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs and leadership of the governing New Patriotic Party.

Source: Ghana News Agency