local news, ghana local news

local news, ghana local news

Former Africa correspondents of The New York Times share their memories of Nelson Mandela.    

South Africans, world leaders and citizens of many nations reacted to the death of Nelson Mandela on Thursday.    

    The Catholic Archbishop of Freetown, Most Rev. Dr Edward Tamba Charles, has urged members of the Knights and Ladies of Marshall, a Catholic friendly society, to be shining examples and soldiers of Christ. “I congratulate you and assure you of my maximum support and prayer. Be true role models of the Catholic faith and work as shining examples, as true soldiers of Christ in the evangelising process,” he said  He described as laudable the fundamental principles of the Noble Order,—unity, charity, fraternity and service— which are prerequisites for the development of one’s spirituality. Most Rev. Charles said this in a homily at a thanksgiving Mass to climax the consecration of the new Council and Court of the Knights and Ladies of Marshall at the St Anthony Catholic Church, Freetown, Sierra Leone.  Present at the Mass were the Supreme Knight of the Knights of Marshall, Sir Kt Bro. Joseph Ekow Paintsil, his Deputy W/B, Ernest Amoako Arhen, the Grand Lady of the Ladies of Marshall, Most Respected Lady Sis. Margaret Yirenkyi, her deputy, Respected Lady Alice Ayebi and about 200 Marshallans from Ghana, Liberia, Togo and Sierra Leone.  Also present included Past Supreme Knight, Sir Kt Bro. James Adomako, Most Respected Ladies, Sisters Dame Theresa Pobee and Victoria Yellu, all from Ghana. Advice Most Rev. Charles stressed on the need for Christians to prepare themselves adequately for the arrival of the Lord Jesus Christ so that they could give a good account of their stewardship.  “The time has come for Christians to change the course of their lives by doing what is pleasing to Him,” he advised. Most Rev. Charles appealed to the Marshallans to assist in promoting vocation, as well as organising a viable laity council in the Catholic Archdiocese of Freetown.  In his remarks, Sir Kt Bro. Paintsil thanked Archbishop Charles and the Catholic Archdiocese of Freetown for their encouragement and support which had culminated in the establishment of the first Council and Court in Sierra Leone.  He told the congregation that the fundamental principles of the Noble Order had found expression in all activities – through united activities, networking, intensification of fraternal relations and the rendering of charity to the poor and needy by all operating councils and courts in Ghana, Togo, Benin, Liberia, the United Kingdom, and now Sierra Leone, with an estimated membership of about 10,000. He invited the congregation, especially the youth to,  among other things, consider joining the Noble Order to experience the benefits associated with the Noble Order’s inspired fundamental principles of unity, charity, fraternity and service. At the Mass, the new Grand Knight, Bro. Thomas W. Tingan and Noble Lady Sis Rachael Abie Parker presented a church organ with combo and US$1,000 cash to the church. The hierarchy of the Noble Order also presented an undisclosed amount to support ongoing projects.    

Mrs Rani Melwani, a Director of Melcom Group of Companies presenting the keys to an ambulance  worth $36,000 to  Air Vice Marshal Mathew Quarshie, Chief of Defence Staff. Looking on are Mrs Sonyia Sadhwani, Director of Brand Management of Melcom (right), Mr Ramesh Sadhwani, Joint Group Managing Director of Melcom (extreme right), and Mr Godwin Agnorbor, Director of Communications of Melcom Group . The ambulance presented to the 37 Military hospital is the company’s  contribution towards healthcare delivery. The presentation is also in appreciation of what the role the hospital played during the collapse of a building housing the Melcom store at Achimota a year ago.

  The Minister of Water Resources, Works and Housing, Mr Collins Dauda, has attributed the collapse of buildings in the country to the use of poor building materials by contractors. He observed that in most cases the kind of building materials used by contractors were not up to standard and were cheap.  Mr Dauda made those remarks when he addressed participants in the annual general meeting of the Architectural and Engineering Services Limited (AESL) in Accra. The minister further challenged contractors to use locally manufactured materials in their works to reduce the cost of building. Mr Dauda said a study had revealed that the use of local materials in the construction of public buildings brought the cost of the project down by 30 per cent. To this end, the sector minister tasked the executive of the AESL to put in place a contract document that compelled contractors to use local materials in their works. Mr Dauda was optimistic that patronising local materials would also create jobs for many Ghanaians, to reduce  unemployment. Ministry’s support to improve local building materials He stated that minority was prepared to support and partner the AESL to improve the quality of local building materials and designs for global competitiveness. He assured the AESL of the government’s commitment to address the delay in the payment of consultancy fees by the government, ministries, department and agencies. AESL accepts challenge of the minister The Managing Director of AESL, Mr Louis Satchmo A. Atongo, stated that his outfit had accepted the challenge of the minister and had already put in measures to address the issues.  Mr Atongo indicated that the company had invested substantially in technological infrastructure and hoped to improve architecture in the country in the years to come.  He added his voice to the call on engineers and contractors to use standard materials in their building projects.  

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  CDH Financial Holdings (CDH) has presented a cheque for GH¢150,000 to sponsor the building of an infrastructure for  Internet connectivity at the Ghana Armed Forces Command and Staff College. Making the presentation, Group Chief Executive of CDH, Mr Emmanuel Adu-Sarkodee, explained that no modern activity could be undertaken without the incorporation of Information and Communication Technology.  He said CDH, therefore, did not hesitate to support the college when the request came through.  He explained that the amount was to cover the cost of building an infrastructure which would enable a wireless Internet access to cover the entire campus premises. The Commandant of the College, Air Vice Marshal Issifu Sakib Kadri, expressed his gratitude on behalf of the Ghana Armed Forces Command and Staff College to the management of the CDH for the support.  He also pledged that the infrastructure, when completed, would be maintained for generations to come, and assured the CDH management that their support was great relief to the college.  The Ghana Armed Forces Command and Staff College is a key training institute for  officers of the Ghana Armed Forces, as well as officers from other countries.  

International Needs Ghana (ING), a non-governmental organisation (NGO), has observed that wife-inheritance, a traditional practice under which widows are forced to marry their brothers-in-law, is outmoded. The practice, the NGO says, is as outmoded as the ‘trokosi’ system, which is also a traditional religious practice where virgin girls serve in shrines to atone for the crimes committed by a family member.  It has, therefore, called for wife-inheritance to be scrapped. Mrs Patience Vormawor, ING’s Programmes Manager, Research and Documentation, was addressing a day’s workshop on the rights of women, children and other vulnerable groups for about 50 traditional, religious and opinion leaders and women’s rights advocates at Adidome. International Needs Ghana is a child and women’s rights advocacy NGO. Under the wife-inheritance system, the widow’s new husband, brother or relative of the late husband, takes over all property of the deceased. Mrs Vormawor said a widow must have the absolute freewill to choose her next lover and have the right of property of her late husband according to prevailing inheritance laws. The workshop was organised by ING with support from the Australian Agency for International Development (AUSAID) and International Needs, Australia. Participants were from the Ketu-South and Keta municipalities, Ketu-North, Akatsi-South, Central-Tongu, North-Tongu and South-Tongu districts of the Volta Region. It was to empower participants on women and children’s rights issues towards the elimination of debasing, dehumanising and destructive practices affecting women and children.      Mrs Vomawor said such inheritance marriages placed many women in difficult situations and in some cases, they contracted Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STDs).      She urged community leaders to show concern for women and children as their predicaments reflected the well-being of families and the community at large. Mrs Vomawor expressed worry that the Trokosi system was still in practice. She took participants through some of the dehumanising practices women and children suffered and the national and internationals rules banning them. Mrs Vomawor said children and women must be given the right environment to develop their potentials. Mr Raphael Suglo, Director, Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ), South- Tongu District, cautioned traditional authorities and their courts to stay off cases regarding defilement, rape, incest and other human rights related litigations reserved for the national agencies and courts. He said assembly members and religious leaders were also forbidden from such cases. Mr Suglo taught participants lessons on Inheritance Law, Child Labour and Human Trafficking and asked them to report all child abuse and similar cases to the police, CHRAJ or the department of social welfare.     Mr Sylvanus Adukpo, ING Programme Manager in charge of Gender and Empowerment, said the phenomenon of teachers impregnating pupils was an issue that needed to be addressed as it hindered the progress of girls. An eight-member Women’s Rights Advocacy Committee, including chiefs, is to be formed in all the 17 communities which sent delegates to the workshop. — GNA

The government has ordered the immediate suspension of the Anti-Piracy Textile Task Force established by the Ministry of Trade and Industry to clamp down the rising sale of pirated textiles on the Ghanaian market. The new twist described by the Textile Workers Union as unfortunate, followed a clash between members of the 17-member task force and some traders at Makola, in the Central Business District (CBD) in Accra this week. The Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry, Nii Lantey Vanderpuije, announced the new directive when he met with the textile retailers at the Makola Market. Earlier, during an interaction with President John Mahama and the Minister of Gender and Social Protection, Nana Oye Lithur, the Greater Accra Regional Market Queen, Madam Mercy Needjan, appealed to the President to intervene in the seizure of their textiles, since the traders were losing their livelihood. Consequently, the President announced the immediate suspension of the work of the task force and gave the traders a three-month moratorium to learn to decipher between the pirated textiles and the genuine ones. Riding on the back of the President’s directive, Nii Vanderpuije announced the suspension of the work of the task force.