Category: General

The 1999 year group of Aggrey Memorial Zion Senior High School in Cape Coast will on Saturday 2nd December perform a ground breaking ceremony for a project dubbed Legacy project.

The Legacy project will have the members of the year group contributing towards building an ultra modern entrance and gate for the school.

The group is hoping to hand over the ultra modern entrance and gate to the school in March 2024 when they celebrate their 25th anniversary since they left school

The Aggrey Memorial Old Students Association (AMOSA) 99 year group is performing the ground breaking ceremony as part of this year’s old students home coming programme.

Mr Theophilus Tei- Ayanou, Board Chairman of the 25th Anniversary Commemoration told the Ghana News Agency that about GHS 550, 000 was needed for the entire programme

He therefore called on all AMOSA 99 members wherever they are in the world to get in touch and make contributions towards the project.

‘The Legacy project is not for a selected group of people, it is f
or everyone who completed Aggrey Memorial Senior High School in the year 1999, so nobody should sit on the fence, it is time for us to come together and give back to our Alma mater,’ He said.

Mr Ayanou also called on philanthropist and corporate organisations to support the AMOSA 99 year group to give back and do something beautiful for their Alma mater.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Ghana’s December festivities, christened ‘December in GH’ have become arguably the ‘cash cow’ for the country’s tourism sector, strongly driving tourism during the busy December season for travels to Ghana.

This year’s December in GH is finally here as celebrations start sparingly at the beginning of December, which is expected to hit the climax in the last two weeks of December and to the first week of January 2024.

Put together yearly to promote Ghana as a December holiday season destination, the event is when Ghanaians break their ‘piggy banks’, call their loved ones and go on enjoyment spree.

December in GH undoubtedly has become a time to look out for the festive calendar and this year promises not only to be fun but also fully packed with surprises and an exciting line up with an enchanting fireworks display.

Last year, award-winning artist, Sarkodie and world acclaimed comedian Michael Blackson, treated participants to good music.

This year’s event seeks to take the celebration a step higher by c
aptivating the audience with a dynamic fusion of music, dance, fashion, and artistic expression.

Seasoned artists and personalities from across the African continent together with their audiences would celebrate the rich diversity and unity that defines Africa.

From heart-pounding musical performances that span genres to mesmerising choreography that showcases the continent’s dance heritage and keeps attendees on the edge of their seats will characterise the events.

The two game changers in the promotion of the ‘December in GH’ are ‘Year of Return’ and ‘Beyond the Return’, making Ghana a December entertainment hub and a night life hotspot for the diaspora during the festive season.

A rapidly growing percentage of the African diaspora has made Ghana their prime destination to wind off after a year-long hustle and bustle.

Mr Kwasi Agyeman, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of GTA, said this year’s events would be hosted in multiple regions across the country ranging from traditional festivals to concerts, fash
ion shows, sporting events, and community projects.

Launching the events, he said the entire celebrations would be connected to the foundational pillars of the ‘Beyond the Return’ initiative – Experience Ghana, Celebrate

Ghana, Diaspora Pathways to Ghana, Brand Ghana, and Give Back Ghana, Invest in Ghana and Promote Pan African Heritage and Innovation.

This year’s calendar includes over 92 events endorsed by the Beyond the Return Steering Committee

Some of the events on the calendar include YouTube Creators Festival Ghana, Rhythms on da Runway, Little Havana, Anwamoo Festival, Eats and Beats Food and Music Festival, Cultural Oneness Festival, Home Coming Bash, December Ghana Garden and Flower Show (GGFS), RiverFest23, Adinkra Carnival, and Tadifest.

The Greater Accra Region would host 78 events, while the Eastern, Northern, Central, Upper East and Volta Regions would host 12 events.

Some notable events are the Bhim Concept by Reggae Dancehall superstar, Stonebwoy, ‘Count Down Africa,’ the Wildaland Fe
stival and Afrochella, one of the biggest musical festivals.

On December 18, there would be ‘Welcome Ghana’, December 23 and 24 would give revelers ‘Taste Ghana,’ the ‘Journey to the West’ would come off December 23 to 28 and ‘Rock the Boat Ghana’ would take place on December 27.

Also, ‘Afrochella’ festival comes off from December 27 to January 3, whilst ‘Afronation’ is scheduled for December 29 and 30.

‘All Black Party’ would take place on December 28 to 30.

Source: Ghana News Agency

The Sunyani Municipal Assembly has honoured 12 deserving farmers for their contributions towards increased food productivity in the Municipality.

Mr Frank Kwadwo Ayisi, a-49-year-old Farmer at Nanketiwa, near Wawasua was adjudged the overall Municipal Best Farmer.

He is into crops and livestock and has 7,000 layers, 2,400 cockerels, 1,500 Siso birds, 2,000 broilers, 15 turkey, 13 sheep, 24 goats and 52 cattle.

Mr Ayisi has acres of varieties of vegetable farms and economic crops including cashew, coconut, oil palm, cocoa, mango and agro-forestry as well as food stuffs.

For his prize, he received a tricycle (motor king) machine and some cutlasses.

Mr Tijani Ahmed, 37 years and a farmer at Tanoano was the second-best farmer and he received a polytank, tabletop refrigerator and cutlasses.

He also has 3,500 layers, 15 sheep, 17 cattle, 30 local birds, 500 guinea fowls and acres of food and economic crops.

A 61-year-old female farmer, Mrs Theresah Adu Boateng, from Kwasimfum, was the second runner up and s
he received a tabletop refrigerator, spraying machine, cutlasses and wellington boots.

Mrs Baoteng also has 300 layers, 12 cockerels, nine goats, 12 local birds as well as acres of food and economic crops.

Special awards were also given to best female, promising, cocoa, cashew and compact farmers and they also received similar awards ranging from cutlasses, wax print, spraying machines, key bar soap and wellingtons boots.

Addressing the farmers at a durbar held at Antwikrom in the Municipality, Mr John Ansu Kumi, the Sunyani Municipal Chief Executive, stressed the government’s commitment to modernise agriculture and to make farming more attractive for the youth.

He advised the farmers to take advantage of the second phase of the Planting for Food and Jobs (PfFJs) programme, farmers had the opportunity to access credit facilities and asked those who had still not registered to do so.

Mr Kumi praised the gallant farmers for their contributions towards strengthening national food productivity, saying the go
vernment really appreciated and recognized the immeasurable contributions of farmers towards turning the nation’s economy round.

Earlier, Mr Patrick Dela Newman, the Sunyani Municipal Director of Agriculture, called on the farmers to take farming as a business venture, access credit and expand their farms.

He also commended the farmers for their contributions to enhanced food productivity in the municipality, Bono Region and the nation by extension.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Sickle Gene Action Foundation (SGAF), a Sickle Cell Disease (SCD) advocacy group, has been launched in Accra, with a call on society for a collective action in the fight against SCD in Ghana.

The aim of the Group is to make SCD medications like Hydroxyurea and treatment guidelines widely accessible throughout the country.

The Organisation would also collaborate with the government and other stakeholders to find solutions to the challenges hindering the treatment and management of SCD in the country.

Madam Victoria Awo Twumasi, Executive Director, SGAF, said: ‘The Organisation believes that early diagnoses, early access to affordable treatment and early public health awareness with quality sickle cell centres for prompt management of the condition is critical to saving lives.’

According to Madam Twumasi, measures such as stakeholder engagements, and public health interventions like counselling were needed to help find solutions to the challenges in the treatment and management of SCD.

She, therefore, cal
led on all stakeholders to join in the fight against SCD by driving national awareness and strengthening the role of civil society in advocacy.

Dr Yvonne Brew, Pediatrician, Child Health Department, Greater Accra Regional Hospital (GARH), said that ‘there is the need for newborns to be screened for SCD so that treatment can start early to save their lives’.

‘Early detection saves lives. We must know that if a child survives, society also survives,’ she said.

She asked that the government and stakeholders made screening and hydroxyurea (medication for severe SCD) for newborn babies accessible in all facilities to save more lives.

She also urged families, friends and society to show love to persons living with SCD because it contributed to treatment.

Madam Mary Lamptey, National Nurse Coordinator for Newborn Screening, who also spoke about newborn screening for SCD, said the process was quite simple and encouraged parents to allow their children to be screened.

She spoke about how the initiative was start
ed by the late Prof Ohene Frimpong in the Ashanti region in 1992 but had to be halted due to lack of funding.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Nana Amanano Mensah II, the Adontenhene of Dodi Traditional Area in the Kadjebi District, has called on the government to increase Cocoa purchasing price to stop farmers from smuggling the commodity to the Republic of Togo and other neighbouring countries.

He said the price for the product now at GHS1,300 was low, hence encouraging smuggling.

Nana Amanano Mensah made this known at the 39th National Farmers’ Day celebration at Dodi-Papase, a farming community in the Kadjebi District.

He said Dodi Traditional Area was a leading producer of Cocoa in the Kadjebi District in the late 1960’s and still in the lead.

Nana Amanano Mensah, who is also the Chief of Dodi-Poase-Cement, a farming community in the district, however, applauded the government for the introduction of Planting for Food and Job flagship programme.

He called on the government to subsidise agro-chemicals and inputs to enable farmers purchase them for use.

Nana Amanano Mensah, who chaired the function, congratulated the 2023 award winners.

T
he district has awarded 16 Farmers at the 39th Farmers’ Day celebration.

Source: Ghana News Agency

The Ghana AIDS Commission (GAC) has launched a short code on the MTN and Vodafone networks to allow individuals and groups to donate to the HIV Fund.

The short code *9898# would allow the public to make cash contributions to the fund to aid in the country’s HIV response.

Mrs Akosua Frema Osei-Opare, Chief of Staff, who launched the short code at the 2023 World AIDS Day National Durbar, also stated that the Country Coordinating Mechanism (CCM) had guided the country in concluding the Global Fund Grant Cycle seven applications for 2024-2026.

‘I am also aware of the strenuous efforts the GAC is making at mobilising additional resources to finance the national response.

‘I therefore invite corporate Ghana, Ghanaians both at home and abroad, to donate their widow’s mite to the fund in whichever way possible,’ she said.

World AIDS Day, observed annually on December 1, is an international day dedicated to raising awareness of the AIDS epidemic caused by the spread of HIV infection and mourning those who have d
ied because of the disease.

The 2023 celebration is on the theme; ‘Let Communities Lead.’

Mrs. Osei-Opare stated that one of the key causes of the disproportionate HIV disease burden among women and girls was gender inequality.

Two out of three Ghanaians living with HIV are women, while four out five new infections, in young people aged 15 to 24 years, are adolescents, girls and women.

The Chief of Staff expressed grave concern that adolescents and young people account for 28% of total new HIV infections in the country.

To end AIDS, she stated that inequality, stigma, and prejudice in all their forms must be eliminated, and that promotion of female child education must be vital in helping to cut new infections among them by 50 per cent.

Speaking on the various interventions the government had undertaken in ending stigma, discrimination, and inequality, Mrs Osei-Opare announced that the Government had accepted to join the Global Partnership.

This would not only boost Ghana’s position in the fight to end
AIDS by 2030 but would also help to meet the Sustainable Development Goals.

‘We have the tools and expertise in place to end AIDS, we can, and must, join forces to achieve it, ‘ she added.

The Chief of Staff urged the GAC to use its rich public health response knowledge to bolster ongoing efforts against emerging pandemics and how they relate to HIV and AIDS.

Dr Kyeremeh Atuahene, the Director General Ghana AIDS Commission, said the country only possesed 33 per cent of the total funding required for the national response over the next three years, and that the other 67 per cent must be raised domestically.

According to him, the GAC was implementing a five-year resource mobilisation strategy to address the funding gap.

Dr. Atuahene stated that the Commission was developing an investment case for the HIV and AIDS response for the first time in collaboration with its partners UNAIDS, PEPFAR, and the Global Fund to provide realistic resource allocation options that ensure lower unit cost, cost effectiveness,
and value for money.

‘In addition to the investment case, we are conducting sustainable assessment and planning, which ultimately will produce a national HIV and AIDS Financial Sustainability Plan.

‘These products will guide government resource allocation decisions and make a strong business case for the private sector to contribute to finance the HIV response in a sustainable manner,’ he added.

Mr Rolf Olson, Deputy Chief of Mission at the US Embassy, offered the US Embassy’s continued assistance and advised the public to test more frequently and seek counselling.

Mr. Hector Sucilla Perez, Country Director of UNAIDS in Ghana, urged government institutions involved in the HIV response, traditional leaders, authorities, and development partners to improve work coordination with communities.

The Deputy Minister of Health, NAP+ Ghana representative, Ghana HIV and AIDS Network (GHANET), Dr Stephen Ayisi Addo, Dr Kwaku Afriyie, Executive Oversight Minister of GAC and Minister of MESTI, traditional leaders, am
ong other dignitaries were present at the durbar.

The GAC honoured some individuals and staff for their outstanding performance towards HIV response in the country.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Mr Emmanuel Dzakpasu, Anloga District Coordinating Director, in the Volta Region, says the district is ripe for investment and has appealed to the business community to consider the area for investment and doing business.

He said a lot of investment opportunities abound in the area as the district was blessed with arable lands for agriculture and tourism potential which could be harnessed for development.

Mr Dzakpasu said this when the Anloga District Assembly took it turn at the Sixth Volta Trade and Investment Fair to showcase investment potential within the area.

He said the arable lands in the area were good for cultivating maize, sugar cane, and rice, tomatoes, onion, shallot, okro, and pepper.

The Coordinating Director said the area had been noted as being one of the highest producers of shallot and tomatoes in the country.

Mr Dzakpasu said the district was also noted for commercial cultivation of sugar cane which was being processed into local gin in commercial quantities in Shime Areas.

Investm
ent potential also abounds around fishing due to the sea and the lagoon and the sea is extremely rich in predatory fishes such as barracuda, sharks, blue marlin, salt fish, horse mackerel, anchovies, sardines, and sardinella.

The Co-ordinator said there was variety of shell fish, including crabs, squid, or cuttle fish, lobsters and shrimps and other sea creatures such as dolphins in the sea ecosystem.

At Bomigo, which is at the western side of the district stood about 15 million metric tonnes of clay deposits, he said, and this could be turned into a major industry for the production for hollow bricks, roofing tiles, dinner wares, and plumbing fixtures thereby creating opportunities for jobs creation.

‘The availability of straw in large quantities is also another potential for the weaving of numerous straw products such as local mat and punch. Opportunities exist for the extraction and processing of coconut into coconut oil for both domestic and foreign markets.’

On the tourism potential, Mr Dzakpasu said
the high waves from the sea were ideal for surf riding and wind surfing, and the windy atmosphere within the area was also good for building recreational facilities along the beach for tourists.

The Atorkor Slave Market, one of the ancient slave markets in the Volta Region and the Cape St. Paul’s Light House at Woe were beautiful tourist sites in the district, he said.

Mr Dzakpasu also mentioned the Anlo-Keta wetlands, which served as Ramsar site and host several migratory birds that fly and patronise the Mediterranean and the South Atlantic flyway as another tourism potential.

He said the district had very clean and unique golden beaches in the country, which could offer places of relaxation to tourists and recorded a lot of seasonal sea turtles which came onshore to lay eggs for hatching annually during the months of August and March and this provided beautiful scenes to behold.

Source: Ghana News Agency

International passengers travelling through the Kotoka International Airport (KIA) have the option of accessing the self-service kiosks at ‘Terminal 3’ for a swift check-in process.

The self-service is part of efforts by the Ghana Airports Company Limited (GACL) to ensure seamless facilitation through the KIA.

A statement issued by the Airport Company, copied to the Ghana News Agency on Friday, said the British Airways, Delta Airlines, United Airlines and Turkish Airlines had been enrolled onto the system.

Ground Handling Agents and GACL Customer Service Staff are on hand to offer help to passengers requiring assistance.

The self-service check-in kiosks are Do-It-Yourself systems that allow passengers to perform processes that would normally be performed at a check-in counter.

‘These processes include the printing of boarding passes and the verification of passengers identification,’ the statement said.

The service allows customers to check-in at their convenience, receive their boarding pass, choose s
eats on board, and bag drop-off.

‘While this is largely dependent on the Airline check-in timeline, this system speeds up the check-in process and provides passengers with greater flexibility and control over their journeys.’

The Kiosks offered multiple language options, catering to diverse passenger needs, the statement said.

‘A key benefit is that it eliminates long queues thus speeding up the departure process.’

‘The system is user-friendly, making it easy for passengers to navigate.’

The system enabled Airlines to efficiently manage Staff Resources, especially during peak travel periods.

The GACL had, over the years, made deliberate investments in customer experience initiatives for memorable traveling experiences.

These investments have culminated in the recognitions conferred on the KIA, with the recent Level 1 Accreditation by Airports Council International.

The activation of the self-service check-in kiosks, coupled with the reintroduction of government’s waiver on the pre-arrival visa regime
in Ghana from December 1, 2023 to January 15, 2024, will enable swift processing time and excellent customer experiences at KIA.

‘The GACL will continue to provide world-class facilities and services in line with its Mission Statement, and will harness efforts and resources to make the passengers journey at KIA a pleasant and memorable one,’ the statement said.

Source: Ghana News Agency