Tamale, Nov.  2, GNA – Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, the New Patriotic Party (NPP) presidential candidate, has appealed to religious leaders to pray to ensure peaceful elections in December.   He said peace, before, during and after the December polls was paramount and stressed the importance of prayer by religious leaders for the electorate to appreciate the importance of peace and avoid violence during the elections.   Nana Akuffo-Addo made the appeal in Tamale on Thursday when he met Arabic instructors and told them about the vision the NPP has for Arabic education.   “I wish to use this occasion to appeal to Imams and other Men of God to continue to offer prayers for the success of this election and you can do this by coming together to pray for the nation and those who will conduct the elections to come out of the December elections peacefully”, he said.   Nana Akufo-Addo said education would be his topmost if elected and that Arabic education would be given the attention it deserved and that he would  sit down with the Ghana Education Service (GES) to see how best Arabic could become an examinable subject.   He said the erstwhile Kufuor administration instituted an allowance scheme for Arabic instructors but alleged that the present government cancelled it on assumption of office and gave the assurance that the allowances would be restored if he gets the nod.   Nana Akuffo-Addo said if elected his government would amend the Constitution to make education free from kindergarten to the senior high school and appealed to Ghanaians to vote for him in December to give good governance to the people.   He said part of Ghana’s oil money would be used to fund education and assured teachers that those who had served for a long period would be given mortgaged houses while those who accept postings to the rural areas would be given special incentives.   Sheikh Issah Alhassan, an Islamic cleric, expressed regret that Arabic education over the years had been relegated to the background to the extent that Arabic schools do not benefit from GETFund projects.   He said Arabic instructors were lacking in the Islamic schools and that the GES was not making attempts to recruit more Arabic teachers to replace those who had retired and those who died while in active service and appealed to Presidential candidates to pay attention to Islamic education if they win power.   Sheikh Alhassan also appealed to the GES to make Arabic an examinable subject as it is with the French language since Arabic speakers in the country outnumber French speakers.     GNA...

Accra, Nov 02, GNA – An international seminar on the current challenges confronting sub-Sahara African countries in urban development such as population explosion, land planning and waste management has ended in Ghana.   The seminar, which focused on Urban Development in Asia and Africa, sought to explore the Asian experiences in dealing with urban developmental challenges.   Asian countries in 1980s and 1990s confronted the challenges and now have good urban planning systems, a statement issued by Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) to the Ghana News Agency in Accra on Thursday stated.   The seminar was organized by JICA in collaboration with the Town and Country Planning Department (TCPD) under the Ministry of Environment, Science and Technology (MEST).   It was attended by governmental delegates from Ghana, Senegal, Ivory Coast, and Vietnam.   According to the statement JICA is supporting the Government of Ghana on a Comprehensive Urban Development project, which is being implemented in Kumasi.   JICA had already facilitated two similar international seminars in Dakar-Senegal in November 2011 and Hanoi- Vietnam in February 2012.   According to the statement the delegates from Senegal and Ivory Coast made presentations on future urban development projects while those from Vietnam made a presentation on their observation on Kumasi Township.   Mr. Asiedu Poku, National Director of TCPD, said it was very important to involve people in town and country planning.   Dr. Samba Diouf, Technical Advisor to the Ministry of Town Planning and Housing in Senegal, advised the participants to include the informal sector in future urban planning.     GNA...

Aboadze (W/R), Nov. 02, GNA - The Chief fisherman for Aboadze, Nana Adam Eduafo and uncle to one of the victims of last Monday's accident at the West African Gas Pipeline Company(WAPCO), has accused the management of Aboadze VRA Hospital of negligence.     The accident claimed the lives of two engineers of the company who were working on the pipeline in readiness for fresh gas from Nigeria.      Nana Adam Eduafo told the Ghana News Agency that the death of his nephew, Dawood Ben Awortwe, 35, an engineer with the company, could have been avoided if there was a medical doctor at the facility at that time he arrived.     He said when the deceased was rushed to the health facility around 2130 hours last Monday, they waited for several hours without any medical doctor to attend to him hence his untimely death.     The chief fisherman said the deceased was the only native from Aboadze community who had been employed by WAPCO, adding that the family was devastated by the incident since he was the breadwinner of the family.     He said the deceased got married just last year and that his wife, Ajah, is pregnant with his baby. Nana Eduafo said since the deceased was a Muslim, he was buried on Wednesday as the Islamic tradition demands.     Meanwhile, the mortal remains of the other victim of the accident, Opare Addo Nketsia, 45, has been released to the family in Tema.      Nketsia was reported to have been sent from Tema to assist in preparation towards receiving fresh gas from Nigeria after the pipelines were damaged by a ship anchor in Togolese territory a few months ago.     The General Manager of Corporate Affairs of WAPCO, Mrs Harriet Wereko Brobby, said the cause of the accident is not known and that the company has instituted investigations to ascertain the cause.     When the GNA visited the regulatory and metering station at Aboadze, where the incident happened, the entire workers were in solemn mood with red arm-band hanged at the entrance of the company.   GNA ...

Tanokrom (W/R), Nov. 02,  GNA - Twenty-three people were rendered homeless when fire gutted their building at East Tanokrom in the Sekondi-Takoradi Metropolis of the Western Region on Thursday.     The Western Regional Manager for the National Disaster Management Organisation(NADMO), Mr Japheth Baidoo confirmed the tragic incident to the Ghana News Agency in an interview in Takoradi.     He said the cause of the fire is not known sayingt the blazing fire started from a wooden structure near a storey building containing 13 rooms and 23 occupants around 1200 hours early Thursday morning     Mr Baidoo said by the time the fire was brought under control, all the property in the rooms were destroyed but no casualty was recorded..     He said the regional office of NADMO had found a temporary accommodation for the victims in a mosque in the vicinity and provided them with relief items.     The regional NADMO Boss said the victims were provided with polymers, blankets, mattresses, bags of rice and cooking oil.     He said the regional secretariat had petitioned the national headquarters of NADMO to support them with more relief items to support the victims.     Mr Baidoo appealed to the general public to be careful with how we handle fire since we are in a dry season and fire could quickly spread.   GNA ...

Cape Coast, Nov.1, GNA - A two-day sensitization workshop on Ghana Integrated Financial Management System (GIFMIS) was on Thursday opened in Cape Coast with a call on the participants to show commitment to ensure the smooth implementation of the programme.     The workshop which is jointly organized by the Controller and Accountant General Department(CAGD)  and the Ministry of Finance and Economic planning  is being  attended by more than 60 participants mainly accountants and internal auditors  of MMDS as well as Heads of  Departments.     The workshops  which would be  organized in all the regions in the country is to among others sensitize  stakeholders  and solicit their support to ensure the proper implementation of the system.     Mr Siraj Tanko, GIFMIS Project Accountant , who took the participants through an overview of the system, said GIFMIS is an integrated computerized   financial management system  used in budget preparation and implementation, accounting/Financial reporting, cash management  and assets management.     He said GIFMIS would help provide aggregate expenditure control, predictability for financial flows, expenditure and investment planning, ability to monitor expenditure and fiscal accountability.     Mr Tanko  said out that GIFMIS  reform process would enhance and re-enforce the internal control systems in public financial management  for accountability as well as  ensure an effective and efficient budget preparation, execution, monitoring and evaluation mechanism.     He explained that the system would also provide the ability to budget, track and monitor projects and grants through the chart of accounts by using the project accounting functionality as well as enhance enforcement of financial legislations.     The Project Accountant, disabused claim that the system was going to push  Internal Auditors  out of job, stressing that  it would rather enhance their capabilities and ensure complete and timely exchange of data and information among MDAs/MMDAs and central governments.     He said the GIFMIS would in this regard train all Internal Auditors on it’s modules  which include  General Ledger, Purchase order, Account Receivable, Account payable, cash management and fixed Assets and that  all the regions would be provided with 10 computer each in  addition to the establishment of   transaction processing centres.     He said despite that fact that the System has a lot of benefits, it has network availability and stability , low level of computer literacy in public sector and stakeholders   skeptics as some of the challenges  facing the e system.     Mr Samuel Duodu, Regional Director  of the CAGD, in a welcoming address said the GIFMIS was instituted to address the loopholes in the financial sector and urged all stakeholders to give it the needed support and commitment.     GNA ...

Cape Coast, Nov. 02, GNA- The Member of Parliament (MP) for Cape Coast South , Mr Ebo Barton Oduro has donated a brand new desktop computer and its accessories to the Central Regional Headquarters of the Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS)..     The accessories included a printer, scanner, photocopier and a fax machine.     Mr Barton Oduro, who  presented the items  at a short ceremony in Cape Coast, said even though the Government may not be able to bear all the cost of their needs, his office would try as much as possible  to meet all their demands in order to help make the work of the Service easier  and efficient.    He asked that details of the cost of other projects they may need be forwarded to his office as soon as possible in order to start working on it.      The Regional Fire officer, ACFO John Amponsah Tetteh, who received the items, thanked the MP for the gesture and said the equipments had come at an opportune time since there was a lot of work to be done but that they were limited due to the lack of computers, printers and a photocopy machine.     He said the regional headquarters was made up of 14 departments and due to the lack of the requisite logistics, officers were not able to complete work in the office and in some cases had to borrow their children’s computers to do office work.        Mr Tetteh said that the Service was faced with a lot of challenges with some of the Fire Stations in the region having no equipment or office furniture and appealed to the MP to assist the office with a camera and camcorder to take shots of fire scenes to support investigations and make their work more efficient.    He expressed his gratitude to the MP for the gesture and urged   him to come to the aid of the Service so that it could  perform its statutory functions effectively and efficiently       GNA ...

Bimbilla (N/R), Nov. 02, GNA –Assemblies of God Relief and Development Services (AGREDS) in collaboration with the Christians Children Fund of Canada (CCFC) have successfully graduated trainees and equipped them with set up kits to start their own businesses. The trainees who were mostly girls who were expected to gain more practical knowledge in attachments with experienced dressmakers to ensure their competitiveness in the job market. The organizations would also facilitate the acquisition of National Vocational and Technology Certificates to the grandaunts to pave way for their future development in their chosen career. Madam Gifty Akosua Baka, Country Director of CCFC addressing of the grandaunts at Bimbilla in the Nanumba North, said the two organizations were Christian institutions set up to provide hope and a future for children regardless of religious and ethnic backgrounds. She urged the girls to take their profession seriously because they could make big money out of it and shine at the national and international levels. She said their support will help families and communities develop the needed skills and resources to overcome poverty saying ‘children are rightful dependants on adult support therefore their experiences of poverty result from deprivation of essential materials’. Madam Baka said there was the need to equip the youth with the necessary skills and knowledge  saying CCFC and AGREDS would continue adopting strategic approaches to reduce child poverty through developing their potential for national growth. Madam Baka urged the graduating team to be ambassadors of hope to other girls in the Nunumba district to motivate them for a brighter future. Mr. O. Baba Alhassan, Programme Coordinator of the Nanumba Child Development Programme (NCDP) of AGREDS, said the mission of the programme was to promote the holistic development of children in the Nanumba North and South Districts by providing child’s access to education, recreation nutrition and potable drinking water. He said the programme had constructed some three classroom blocks in three communities, established ICT center at Pusuga, constructed 6 rain water harvesting tanks, provided assorted textbooks for ten schools and organized extra classes for some students.   Mr. Alhassan said the organization also paid fees for 60 children to pursue SHS education, assisted 4 volunteer teachers to pursue Untrained Teacher’s Course in Basic Education and sponsoring 1,450 school children and providing food items for seven schools in their program schools.       GNA ...

Bimbilla (N/R), Nov.02, GNA – The Assemblies of God Relief and Development Services (AGREDS) in collaboration with the Christians Children Fund of Canada (CCFC), have recognised the efforts of some hard working teachers in the Nanumba North District.       The teachers, who have demonstrated hard work and dedication to duty, received cash rewards and set of computers.    They had also contributed to the academic excellence of their students in the district resulting in the area emerging as the best in the Regional BECE performance.     Mr. O. Baba Alhassan, Programme Coordinator of the Nanumba Child Development Programme (NCDP) of AGREDS, addressing the event in Bimbilla, observed that teaching as a profession was a career that required commitment, perseverance, honesty, integrity and discipline.     He called on teachers in the country to give out their best and avoid behaviors that amounted to nation wrecking saying “if you fail to teach the innocent children and yet go to the bank for your salaries, you are a nation wrecker”.     He said teachers with their influence transcending all sectors of society and must contribute to help change the fortunes of the nation.     Mr Alhassan said the mission of AGREDs was to promote the holistic development of children in the Nanumba North and South Districts by providing child’s access to education, recreation nutrition and potable drinking water.     He said the programme had constructed some three classroom blocks in three communities, established ICT center at Pusuga, constructed 6 rain water harvesting tanks, provided assorted textbooks for ten schools and organized extra classes for some students.     Mr Alhassan said the organization also paid fees for 60 children to pursue SHS education, assisted 4 volunteer teachers to pursue Untrained Teacher’s Course in Basic Education and sponsoring 1,450 school children and providing food items for seven schools in their program schools.     Madam Gifty Akosua Baka, Country Director of CCFC, said it was necessary to look again at the curricula used by the GES to incorporate art and craft skills acquisition and vocational knowledge to help make graduates relevant to the job.           GNA ...

Kuntanase (Ash), Nov. 02, GNA – A new College of Education is to be built at Kuntanase, the capital of the Bosomtwe District, Dr Joseph Oteng-Agyei, the Energy Minister, has announced. The project, which is scheduled to begin next year, is meant to train more teachers to meet the required numbers to boost the nation’s education. Dr Oteng-Adjei, the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) parliamentary candidate for the area, said this when he paid a courtesy call on the acting President of the Kuntanase Traditional Council, Nana Premo Kwagyan in his palace. He appealed to the people to vote to retain the government in power to continue its development agenda. Dr Oteng-Adjei touted his development achievements in terms of the numerous projects he had assisted to bring to the area and presented himself as the most suitable person to represent the people in parliament. He pledged to use his share of the District Assembly’s Common Fund to establish a scholarship scheme for brilliant but needy students if elected in the December polls. The Minister invited his political opponents to ensure a clean electioneering campaign based on issues - free from insults, lies and deception. Nana Kwagyan commended him for the significant contribution he had made towards the socio-economic progress of the constituency and wished him success in his campaign. He said the traditional council would release 70 acres of land for the construction of the College and   appealed to the Minister to assist get a fire tender for the fire station at Kuntanase to enable fire fighters to effectively handle emergencies.     GNA ...

Koforidua, Nov. 02, GNA - A three-day Capacity Building Workshop for parliamentary candidates from 30 selected constituencies has ended in Koforidua.     The workshop, which sought to prepare the candidates for their work as potential Members of Parliament (MPs), was organized by the Ghana Center for Democratic Development (CDD-Ghana) in collaboration with Coalition of Domestic Election Observers (CODEO) and supported by Open Society Initiative for West Africa (OSIWA). The workshop, which drew participants from Volta, Central, Greater Accra and Eastern Regions, was under the theme: “Promoting policy issue based campaign in election 2012”.   Mrs Regina Oforiwa Amanfo, Programs Officer, CDD-Ghana, said Ghana would be holding its sixth presidential and parliamentary elections under the fourth republic after five successive and progressive ones which produced two election turnovers.      She said even though the 2008 general elections were touted as generally credible and peaceful by both local and international observers, the process was not without challenges.   “The elections suffered from various political, institutional and technical gaps such as limited political space for discussing policy issues affecting marginalized groups like women, youth and the disabled, mistrust and suspicion among political opponents, political intolerance and insults, intimidation and harassment” she added.     Mrs Amanfo said all those problems needed to be avoided and resolved before the 2012 elections which from all indication would be more competitive.     She said it was against that background that CDD-Ghana in partnership with CODEO over the past years had organized parliamentary debates in selected constituencies to help shift political discourse during campaigns to focus on pertinent issues to avert the challenges that served as threats to the country’s democracy.          Mrs Amanfo said this year’s parliamentary debates like the previous ones would seek to ease the growing tension in the build up to the upcoming elections by streamlining campaign messages of aspirants to focus on issues affecting the vulnerable groups in the selected constituencies.      She used the platform to appeal to political parties to avoid politics of insults and any form of hate speeches which will affect the peaceful environment in the country.     Participants were taken through topics like, “the constitutional and constituency role of MPs, effective communication and communicating policy ideas and economic and developmental challenges facing Ghana”.    Others were governance deficits in Ghana; challenges facing Ghanaian youth: the role of Mps, issues affecting persons with disability; the disability law and its compliance and mainstreaming gender in public life: prospect and challenges.       GNA ...

Nkawkaw, Nov. 02, GNA-The General Manager of the Credit Union Association (CUA), Mr Emmanuel Oduro Darko, has appealed to the Government to pass a Legislative Instrument (LI) to govern the Association to gain more public recognition and assist the development process. He said the existing law, Corporative Decree NLCD 252 of 1968, is inadequate and completely outdated to allow the Cooperative as well as the Credit Union to be competitive and abreast with current economic situation in the country. Mr Darko made the appeal when he addressed members of CUA from the various parts of the Eastern Region at Nkawkaw on Thursday as part of the celebration of the International Credit Union (ICU) day and the International Year of Cooperative Day celebration in the Country. The celebration was under the theme: “Members matter most”. He said that Decree was unfair to the Credit Union System, which controls over 660,000 members with over 3,000.000 households. Mr Darko said Credit Unions were owned and managed by its members for their own economic and social interventions and other socio-economic development of the people for meaningful co-existence. He said CUA, which operates in all the regions in the country had employed 150 staff who mobilizes huge sums of funds to offer credit assistance to its members. The Eastern Regional Chapter Board Chairmen of CUA, Mr Francis Adu Asare, advised members of CUA to intensify their campaigns to create awareness of the credit union. He said CUA could not operate effectively in an unstable environment and advised members to preach peace, before, during and after the general election to ensure peace and development in the country. The Kwahu West Municipal Director of the Department of the Cooperative, Mr. William Acheampong, advised members to pay their credit loans regularly to sustain the association. GNA ...

Kumasi, Nov. 01, GNA - Dr Sam Jonah, a Member of the Steering Committee of the Open Government Partnership Initiative (OPGI) under the Public Sector Reform Secretariat, has said the weakness in some state institutions is often due to how they had been constituted. He said more often than not weakness in state institutions had been attributed to lack of resources yet in most of the cases, the resources were there but due to a defect in the constitution of the leadership structure it became weak. Speaking at a public consultation forum in Kumasi on the OPGI, he said some of the institutions were suffering and unable to perform their functions effectively largely because the “scratch my back” syndrome appeared to weigh on the performance of the institution and not lack of resources. Dr Jonah cited the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) for instance and the public outcry for the inability of the committee to prosecute or sanction people who were cited to have embezzlement huge state funds. He said the PAC was a clear example of such institution where its composition was rendering it weak and questioned how politicians at the PAC could strictly probe matters when they would in turn need the support of the very people who came before them. He called on the public to make inputs into the action plan for the OGPI to ensure integrity and accountability in managing public resources and offices for improvement in the lives of the people. The OGPI is a global tool to improve public services and increase public integrity to create safer communities and improvement in cooperate accountability and in connection with that Ghana is expected to develop a national action plan for submission to the global secretariat of the OGPI by December 2012 to demonstrate its commitment to the implementation. The four thematic areas under the OGPI are transparency, citizen participation, accountability and technology innovation. One of the key areas that the OGPI was focusing since it was the basis for transparency and accountability among public office holders is the Right to Information law. Nana Aboagyewaa Kente, the Konkrohemaa of Asante-Mampong, who was a participant at the event, said with the sudden rise in public debts payments it should be part of the thematic areas where the OGPI would focus its attention to ensure equity and transparency in public funds. She also stressed the need for the OGPI to look at the issue of gender since it was a factor in attaining any meaningful development of a country. Nana Aboagyewaa Kente urged the steering committee to demonstrate their commitment to women empowerment by involving more women on the steering committee.   GNA ...

Akaaso (W/R), Nov. 02, GNA - A former police officer, Mr Oppong Nkrumah, 54, has emerged as the best farmer for the Bibiani-Anhwaiso-Bekwai District.     He took home a motorized tri-cycle donated by Chirano Gold Mines Limited, cutlasses, bars of soaps and a certificate.     Mr Jospeh Adansi-Bornah, the District Chief Executive for Bibiani-Anhwiaso-Bekwai , said the farmers day celebration which was instituted 28 years ago, was aimed at encouraging farmers to give off their best.     He said farmers had continued to play significant roles in the promotion of food security and stabilization of the country since time immemorial and all must work hard to complement the efforts of Ghanaian farmers.     Mr Bornah reminded the youth to venture into farming and make their contributions towards the rapid economic development of the country.     He commended the Chirano Gold Mines Limited and Noble Gold Mines for their continual support to various communities and the district assemblies and its allied agencies.     GNA ...

Adutor (V/R), Nov 02, GNA - Emmanuel Agbesa, 45, from Adidokpe was adjudged the best all-round farmer in the South-Tongu District during the Farmer’s Day Celebration at Adutor on Friday.     He got for his prize, a motorbike, pair of boots, spraying machine and five cutlasses.     Each of the fifteen other winners in the various categories got a bicycle, spraying machine, pair of boots and cutlasses.     Mr Daniel Amelorku, South-Tongu District Chief Executive (DCE), told the Ghana News Agency that government’s efforts to expand agricultural production in the area was being hampered by land litigation.     GNA ...

      Koforidua, Nov. 02, GNA - Mobile Telecommunications Network (MTN) Ghana has presented 4,000 Ghana Cedis, a drink hamper and assorted MTN souvenirs to the chiefs and people of New Juaben in support of the celebration of the Akwantukese festival .       Presenting the items, Mr Samuel Adjei Saah, Senior Manager of South Eastern Business District of MTN, said MTN is offering an 11 minutes of free calls to any MTN number to all its subscribers within the next two months in commemoration of the 11 million subscribers milestone.     He said as part of the offer, those who browse on the MTN network, would receive a discount of 50 percent each time they purchase an internet bundle and 20 percent discount on pay- as-you-go service for the customers of the network.      Mr Saah said the network has also introduced the MTN 1188 directory service which provides the contact information of over 30,000 institutions and companies in the country to anybody just by dialling  1188.      He said MTN has made it a duty to support traditional celebrations across the country each year to keep alive the values and principles that identify Africans.      Receiving the items, Daasebre Oti Boateng, Omanhene of the New Juaben Traditonal Area, said the Akwatukese festival was introduced 15 years ago to commemorate the celebration of his fifth year of enstoolment as the Omanhene of New Juaben.        He said the festival was to unite the people and enhance the history and cultural development of the people of New Juaben.       Daasebre Oti Boateng said he did not come to meet the festival but he crafted it in line with the culture and tradition of the people and so nobody has the authority to prescribe how the festival should be celebrated.      On behalf of the chiefs and people of New Juaben, he expressed his appreciation to MTN for the donation.      Accra Brewery Limited also presented water and assorted drinks to support the organization of the durbar of chiefs to crown the festival on Saturday, November 3, 2012.              GNA ...

Ampabame Number -Two (Ash),  Nov. 02, GNA - A fifty-five year old widow and mother of four, Madam Akua Tiaa, from Nweneso Number-Two, on Friday emerged as the best farmer in the Atwima-Kwanwoma District.    She received a 21-inch television set, knapsack sprayer, radio set, piece of wax print, mist blower, a bicycle and certificate.    Eighteen others were also recognized for their unique performance in various fields of agriculture and were also presented with certificates, knapsack sprayers, pieces of wax print and radio sets.    Mr Anthony Nyame, District Chief Executive (DCE), commended the farmers for their hard work, dedication and commitment to feed the nation.    He gave the assurance that the government would continue to support the agriculture sector to enable it to create more jobs and ensure food security.    He appealed to the farmers to adopt modern farming practices to improve production.    Madam Tiaah called on the youth to engage themselves in farming as it had high returns.   GNA ...

Akaaso (WR), Nov. 02, GNA  - Twenty-eight  farmers in the Bibiani-Anhwiaso-Bekwai District were on Friday, recognized at a ceremony held at Akaaso, for their contribution to the development of agriculture in the area.     Mr Oppong Nkrumah, 55, was adjudged the overall best farmer and for his prize, he carried away a tricycle, cutlasses, pair of wellington boots and a certificate.    Other award winners received refrigerators, gas stoves, television set and agricultural inputs.    Mr Joe Adansi Bonda, the District Chief Executive (DCE), encouraged them to form organizations to enable them to resist cheating by middlemen.    He said farmer-based-organizations could play a key role in tackling bottlenecks in the marketing of agricultural products.    He urged the award winners to sustain their hard work and urged them to take advantage of the expertise of agricultural extension officers to boost crop yield and returns.   GNA ...

Nkawie (Ash), Nov. 02, GNA – Mr Samuel Kofi Tetteh, a 38-year old farmer at Akomadan-Afrancho in the Offinso North District was on Friday adjudged the Ashanti Regional best farmer.      This was at the 28th national farmers day celebration held at Nkawie in the Atwima-Nwabiagya District.      He received a corn mill, motorized spraying machine, sewing machine, knapsack sprayer, bicycle, pair of wellington boots, 10 cutlasses, a radio cassette recorder, herbicides and a certificate as his prize.     Tetteh has cultivated 75 acres of maize, 10 acres of tomatoes, 15 acres of yam, 20 acres of cassava, 10 acres of cocoa, 20 acres of oil-palm 10 acres of teak plantation, four acres of cowpea and owns 22 cattle, 100 birds, nine grass-cutters and 100 snails.        Twenty (20) other farmers were also honoured at the ceremony for their tremendous contribution to agricultural development in the region.     They were presented with certificates, knapsack sprayers, wellington boots cutlasses, radio cassette recorders and herbicides.     Mr Mohamed Issah 46, from Kodie in the Afigya Kwabre District emerged best regional fish farmer, with Mr Osei Yaw Johnson, 35, from Agona in the Sekyere South, as the best youth farmer.     The two, received deep freezers, cast net and bicycles in addition to the other items given to all the award winners.     Dr Kwaku Agyemang-Mensah, the Regional Minister, underlined the need to strengthen farmer based organizations through market place bargaining power to enable them to provide the food requirements of the country.     He said using farmer-based-organizations to increase access to technology, inputs and market was the key to agricultural modernization and a sure way to improving human capacity for increased production and rural incomes.      The Minister spoke of government’s determination to improve food security and farmers income and encouraged them to come together in order to benefit from various government interventions in the sector.     Mr Emmanuel Eledi, the Regional Director of Agriculture, appealed to farmers to adhere to the advice by the agricultural extension agents to increase production.         GNA ...

Accra, Nov. 02, GNA – The Controller and Accountant-General’s Department’s (CAGD) on Friday called on employees who have complaints in respect to the October 2012 salaries to report to CAGD Payroll Clinics in the Regions and Districts.    CAGD in a statement to the Ghana News Agency in Accra said such complainants can also contact the Clients Service Office at the Headquarters for the necessary action.     The statement said the attention of CAGD been drawn to the effect that some employees on the Government of Ghana (GoG) payroll, particularly staff of the Ghana Education Service (GES), have complained about the alleged unjustified reductions in their net salaries for October 2012.    It said an investigation of the allegation by a team constituted by the Minister of Finance and Economic Planning revealed that: “The payment of the 2010-2011 Single Spine salary arrears which were enjoyed by public sector staff from October 2011 was largely completed in July 2012”.    The statement said “the payment of 2012 arrears resulting from the 18 per cent salary increase for 2012 was also completed in September 2012. Thus, at the end of October 2012, SSSS arrears (2010-2011) and the 2012, 18 per cent salary increase arrears were no longer available for public sector employees who have been paid all such arrears”.    It explained that “in September 2012, the total amount of 34.9 million Ghana cedis which was paid to GES staff as arrears was no longer available in October 2012”.    According to CAGD some staff of GES experienced significant declines in their net salaries because of their commitments under third party deductions such as servicing of loans which were honoured.    The statement said the CAGD historical information of staff on such third party deductions was updated and the necessary deductions had been duly effected and this could have “resulted in the alleged unjustified reduction in net salaries for October 2012”.    It said “an employee with a basic salary of GH¢1, 481.39 at the end of September 2012 did not suffer any loss in basic salary at the end of October 2012 and similarly, the gross salary of this staff was maintained at GH¢1, 703.60 for September and October 2012.     The statement explained that “this employee, however, who serviced an existing loan to the tune of GH¢76.14 at the end of September 2012 serviced his/her loan facility at GH¢218.74 in October 2012 and this is due to the coming into effect of an additional loan contracted earlier.     With this, the statement said, an amount of GHc403.50 paid to this staff as arrears in September 2012 was no longer available at the end of October 2012.     “Consequently, the net salary of this employee which stood at GH¢1, 639.10 at the end of September 2012 justifiably became GH¢1,000.41 at the end of October 2012 due mainly to the servicing of the additional loan and the non availability of the arrears for this staff”.     GNA ...

Bolgatanga, Nov. 2, GNA - Mr Mark Woyongo, Upper East Regional Minister has noted that the region’s over-dependence on local farming tools, poor marketing network, coupled with erratic rainfall pattern makes agriculture less lucrative, despite huge investments in the sector.   He said government had initiated measures and programmes to support the concept of Farmer Based Organisations (FBOs) to enhance accelerated agriculture growth and enable members to access credit from financial institutions to purchase farm inputs. Mr Woyongo made the observation during the regional celebration at Paga in the Kassena Nankana West District on the theme: “Growing more food- strengthening farmer based organisation for market place bargaining power.” He said government in its bid to modernise agriculture and enhance food security had introduced the Block Farming Programme, a component of the Youth in Agriculture programme to promote the production of some selected crops, in order to create jobs for the youth and improve food security. “Under the 2012 Block Farming programme, the region achieved 1,100 hectares of rice, 2,750 hectares of maize and 140 hectares of soya beans,” he said. Mr Woyongo said the programme had employed more than 6,000 farmers, comprising 3,700 males and 2,300 females. During the 2012 major cropping season, the region took delivery of 315,000 bags of fertilisers under the Fertilizer Subsidy Programme through authorized and licensed input dealers. He said under the Northern Rural Growth Programme, the region cultivated about 1,000 hectares of maize and soya beans, with a total number of 130 farmer groups engaged. Mr Cletus Achaab, Regional Director of Agriculture, commended government for its support in the agricultural sector since it is the backbone of the economy and contributes more than 32 per cent of the country’s Gross Domestic Product. Mr Thomas Addah Dalu, District Chief Executive said agriculture is a vital tool for the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals and eliminates extreme poverty and hunger. “Agriculture contributes to development as an economic activity since it can be a source of growth for the national economy by providing investment opportunities for the private sector and a prime driver of agriculture-related industries,” he said.   He appealed to the people of the area to continuously practice good personal hygiene and maintain a clean environment by weeding around their dwellings, saying “a clean environment enhances good health and lead to increase in economic production”. Mr Awintoma Akande, a 40 -year old farmer from Tilli, in the Bawku West District, and 2010 National Best Millet Farmer was adjourned the Regional Best farmer.        GNA  ...