The Finance Ministry has rejected claims by the Trade Union Congress that government was relying on advice from experts at the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, thereby, leading to the implementation of neo-liberal economic policies in the country. According to the Ministry, government economic policies are informed by contributions from various stakeholders including TUC, domestic policy think-tanks, Civil Society Organisations (CSOs), Development Partners and international investment

Shea butter production is the main source of livelihood for many women in northern Region. However, women engaged in shea butter production do not derive full benefit of their hard work as they lack the technical know-how to enable them to maximise output. These women are by tradition, exempted from land ownership, but they have the opportunity to pick the shea nuts freely in the wild. In extreme cases, they are bitten by snakes while picking the nuts because they do not have any protective clothing

State Prosecutors have called in the first prosecution witness in the trial of former Co-ordinator of the National Youth Employment Programme (NYEP), Abuga Pele, and Philip Akpeena Assibit, a representative of Goodwill International Ghana for allegedly willfully causing financial loss of GH¢4.1 million to the state.   Nuru Hamidan, Municipal Chief Executive of Asokore Mampong in Ashanti is testifying in the case before the Financial Division of the High Court in Accra.  Meanwhile, the state today

Drama unfolded at an Accra circuit court Monday when a man convicted of dealing in narcotic drugs told the court after his conviction that he believed in the usefulness of Indian hemp. His comments sent the courtroom into uncontrollable laughter. “I have used Indian hemp for the past 11 years and it has made me potent in bed. l wish my wife were here to testify to that,” Barima Odei Ampadu said. According to him, Indian hemp does not cause madness, but rather cures asthma and cough. “My wife

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has earmarked a new dumpsite at Nsumia in the Ga West District. The new site, which has been engineered to contain refuse for the next two years, is to replace the closed Pantang landfill site. Pantang Site The EPA last month shut down the Pantang landfill site near Abokobi to address the health and environmental concerns the dumpsite posed to residents of Pantang and other communities in the Ga East Municipality. Even though the site has been shut down

A number of displaced families at Promised Land and Solomon City near Adjei Kojo, where there was massive demolition, have relocated. A few families who claim they have nowhere to go, however, continue to reside in tents provided by the National Disaster Management Organisation  (NADMO). On a visit to the area at the weekend, a little over two weeks after the demolition exercise which displaced over 800 persons, mostly women, children and the aged, the  Daily Graphic reporter saw that the site

A tax policy advisor at the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning, Dr Edward Larbi Siaw, has criticised the situation in which only a few Ghanaians honour their tax obligations. “We cannot continue to deal with a population of 25 million and collect taxes from only two million out of the six million eligible taxpayers,” he stated. Describing the situation as “not tax justice”, Dr Siaw said it was unfair to increase tax rates for those in the tax net, while other eligible taxpayers walked

Construction workers are to enjoy a 40 per cent increase in salaries, wages and allowances. The collective bargaining agreement (CBA) to that effect has been signed between the Association of Road Contractors (ASROC) and the Construction and Building Materials Workers Union (CBMWU) of the Ghana Trades Union Congress (TUC). The salaries and wages cover a period of one year, while the allowances cover a period of two years. The increment brings the minimum salary and wage from GH¢6.97 to GH¢11.62

Authorities of the University of Ghana say they are yet to receive any formal notification from the government asking them not to collect tolls from motorists who use the university’s campus roads. Until that was done, the authorities said, motorists would have to pay road tolls before they could access the campus. The Director of Public Affairs of the university, Mrs Stella A. Amoa, made the statement in an interview with the Daily Graphic in Accra yesterday, in reaction to the government’s

There is a growing public concern over the siting of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and fuel stations in residential areas in Accra. This is in the wake of a gas tanker crash at Kwahu Fodua, near Nkawkaw, that killed eight people and injured more than 20 others, three weeks ago.  According to some residents of Accra, it was about time the authorities concerned, including the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the National Petroleum Authority (NPA) and the Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS),

Some land developers at Kwabenya have appealed to the National Security and the Inspector General Police (IGP) to come to their aid and stop the activities of persons suspected to be land guards operating in the area. The land developers said the land guards, who acted with impunity, harassed and seized their working equipment, as well as parcels of lands that had been genuinely acquired. Confrontation  The developers made the appeal at their meeting at Kwabenya last Saturday. One of the developers,

The Community Water and Sanitation Agency (CWSA) and IRC International Water and Sanitation Centre in The Netherlands have established a project to develop scalable models that will ensure sustainable water services delivery in rural communities in the Brong Ahafo Region. The Sustainable Services at Scale (Triple-S) Project operates under the auspices of the Community Water and Sanitation Agency, and in partnership with other stakeholders. It is to support processes to increase learning and adaptive

The Financial Division of the High Court has given Alfred Agbesi Woyome up to March 17, 2014 to file his submission of ‘no case’. It also directed the state to file the necessary papers in rebuttal to the businessman’s claim that the state had failed to prove a case against him. Woyome’s lawyer, Mr Sarfo Buabeng, declared the defence team’s intention to file a submission of ‘no case’ on behalf of the businessman, who has been accused of defrauding the state to the tune of GH¢51.2

Alleged professional negligence in the administration of intravenous infusion to two  children has led to the amputation of their limbs. The victims, both males, are a 10-month-old baby, Mohammed Hafiz, whose left arm has been amputated, and  two-and-half-year-old Prosper Nsumba, who has had his right arm amputated. The incidents occurred separately at a private clinic in Tamale and at the Bimbilla Hospital in the Nanumba South District in the Northern Region. While Hafiz was sent to the clinic

A seven-member presbytery executive of the Sowutuom District of the Church of Pentecost has been inducted into office at a ceremony at Sowutuom in Accra. The Odorkor Area Head of the church, Apostle Johnson Agyemang Badu, who inducted the new executive officers during a four-day fasting and prayer revival, urged them to work steadfastly in truth and to have good functional relations with their various congregations, no matter their social status or ethnic background. He advised them to make the