OPENING ADDRESS BY H.E. JOHN DRAMANI MAHAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF GHANA, AT THE NATIONAL ECONOMIC FORUM [SENCHI-AKOSOMBO TUESDAY, MAY 13™, 2014 ] The Vice President of the Republic of Ghana Her Ladyship the Chief Justice H.E. former President Jerry John Rawlings Secretary General of the TUC  Senior Citizen and renowned Economist Mr. Kwame Pianim Paramount Chief of Akwamu and the Queenmother Distinguished Guests Ladies and Gentlemen It is a pleasure for me to be here today, but it is an

The Minister of Health, Ms Sherry Ayittey, has called on health professionals to cut down on unbudgeted spending to help in avoiding waste in the health sector. She called on them to help in working at harnessing the little resources the sector got from the government, as well as the dwindling donor support. The minister made the call at the opening of a five-day health summit organised in Accra yesterday. The 2014 Health Summit, which was on the theme: “Working together towards quality healthcare

The State could not produce two witnesses to testify in the trial of Johnson Kombian when the case was called Monday. This, according to Principal State Attorney, Mrs Marina Appiah Opare, was because the investigator had told her that the two witnesses, one at Nankpanduri and the other in Accra, had been occupied with very pressing assignments. The trial judge, Justice Mustapha Habib Logoh, subsequently adjourned the case to May 20, 2014 and prayed the investigator on the case to ensure that the

The domestic cooking device which combines a gas cylinder affixed to a ‘stove’ at the top has been declared dangerous for use. The Ghana National Fire Service has consequently warned that the domestic fire set – which has fire directly set on top of the liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) cylinder – can spark a wave of domestic fires if the production, sale and use of those cylinders are not stopped. “That kind of cylinder with a stove on it is a very dangerous mechanism,” McFrancis Agbavitor,

The construction of houses on the hill near the Peduase Lodge in Aburi has been identified as a major cause of the weakness of the Aburi mountain whose boulders have been falling onto the Accra-bound section of the road. Consequently, the Minister of Roads and Highways, Alhaji Amin Amidu Sulemani, has charged the Akwapim South District Assembly to check that development, as the government works to find a lasting solution to the ‘falling rocks’ on the stretch. Alhaji Sulemani inspected the extent

The Coalition of Concerned Teachers (CCT) has declared its intention to embark on a nationwide strike from Friday, May 16, 2014 over the failure by the government to pay arrears of teachers. The group says its members will also join the National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT) to embark on a joint street demonstration in Accra. Similarly, another demonstration will be organised in Kumasi the same day.  The intended demonstration by the CCT follows a similar call by NAGRAT for a demonstration

Representatives of three institutions who were billed to appear before the Judgement Debt Commission yesterday to provide information on cases against them were unable to show up. When the cases were called, counsel for the commission, Mr Dometi Kofi Sorkpor, said the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA), the Bureau of National Investigations (BNI) and the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning had requested the adjournment of the cases. In the case of the BNI, he said the BNI had informed the commission

A number of residents of Accra have called on participants in the National Economic Forum to find solutions to problems such as fuel price increases, high taxes and the importation of food into the country. Other issues they want addressed are the depreciating value of the cedi, incompetent management of the economy and increasing transport fares. The suggestions were made in separate interviews in Accra yesterday. Overspending A teacher, Mr David Ofoe Amedejro, attributed the challenges facing

A pressure group, the People’s Forum, has said heeding the call by a section of the public for the dismissal of the Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, Mr Seth Terkper, as a result of the current economic challenges will be economically wrong. According to the group, the reasons for the call on the President to dismiss Mr Terkper did not make economic and political sense. Mr Clement Amole, a member of the group, addressing a press conference in Accra yesterday, said the ailing economy could

Financial and technical challenges have compelled the Ghana National Gas Company (Ghana Gas) to shift the completion and pre-commissioning of its processing plant at Atuabo to the end of July, this year. This new development has resulted in the reduction of production of oil at the Jubilee Fields from 115,000 barrels per day to 103,000. The completion and pre-commissioning date for the processing plant was set for the end of March, this year. Information made available to the Daily Graphic indicates

The Tema Regional Police have arrested three suspected thieves who allegedly stole a metal safe containing a large sum of money belonging to the employer of one of the suspects. The suspects were Sylvester  Donkor, Richard Apau and Jonathan Ahinful, an employee of Lara Mart Supermarket at Tema Community Two, where the safe was stolen from. They are in police detention pending further investigations. Briefing journalists, the Tema Regional Police Commander,  DCOP Mrs  Beatrice  Zakpaa Vib-Sanziri,

The Environmental Service Providers Association (ESPA) has attributed the inability of its members to rid the Accra and Tema metropolises of filth to rising debt owed to its landfill operators, particularly at the Kpone Landfill Site.  Expressing grave concern over the worsening sanitation situation in the country, the association said its members had been drowned in debts which was making it impossible for them to operate at full capacity. The association indicated that the Kpone Landfill Site,

The Criminal Investigations Department (CID) of the Obuasi Divisional Police Command is mounting a search for a suspect, Eric Kouame Danoma, for committing several crimes. The suspect is believed to have committed crimes of stealing, fraud and issuing of dud cheques. He is believed to be in his late thirties and was the General Manager of Kofcans Company Limited, Obuasi. He has defrauded several individuals and companies of thousands of Ghana cedis through the issuing of cheques in his personal

Four industrious Ghanaian women who have made immense contributions to improving the lives of other people were last Sunday recognised and presented with awards. They were conferred with  “Super Women” awards at an impressive ceremony in Accra, organised on the theme “Super Woman 2014: Celebrating Ghana’s Amazing Women on Mothers Day”. The Awardees The four were Mrs Joyce Ababio, the Chief Executive Officer (CET) of Vogue Style; Mrs Kalsoume Sinare Baffoe, the founder of Kalsoume Sinare

The Global Cervical Charity Foundation, a Kumasi-based health NGO, in collaboration with the National Catholic Health Secretariat, has organised a programme for 165 women in the Atwima-Nwabiagya District, to screen them for cervical and breast cancer, as part of activities to commemorate this year’s Mothers Day. The exercise, which took place at Kufour Camp in the Atwima-Nwabiagya District, was organised with funding from unibank Ghana Ltd. It brought together women from 19 communities in the

As part of its corporate responsibilities, GOIL has presented gifts to some of its customers to build a long-standing relationship with them. At a presentation ceremony at the Asafo Bus Terminal in Kumasi, a Marketing Executive of the Middle Belt Zonal Office of GOIL, Margaret Ennin, presented a number of GOIL T-shirts and hampers to the Takoradi-Elubo branch executive officers of the VVIP Transport. She said transport unions were part of the cherished customers of the fuel company and that GOIL

Businessman Alfred Agbesi Woyome yesterday spelt out the steps he took in his bid to make Ghana a sports tourism hub in 2008. According to him, he funded the Local Organising Committee (LOC) of CAN 2008 to conduct an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), as well as funded a company appointed by the LOC to conduct feasibility studies to pave the way for the construction of stadia and other facilities for CAN 2008. Led by one of his lawyers, Mr Sarfo Buabeng, to give his evidence-in-chief in his

The technical committee set up by the government to investigate the agreement between the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) and Subah Infosolutions Ghana Limited has described the contract as valid and cannot be set aside. Its decision, according to the committee, was based, among other things, “on the legitimacy and capacity of the board chairman to sign such agreements”. Committee’s Report The committee noted that the Public Procurement Authority (PPA) and the National Communication Authority

The helicopter which plunged into the ocean last Thursday is said to have caught fire in the air before nosediving into the ocean, a survivor of the crash and some fishermen who witnessed the incident have said. The incident claimed the lives of three persons, while one person is still missing.  As a result, the General Transport, Petroleum and Chemical Workers Union (GTPCWU) of the TUC has called for an independent probe into the crash, which could have been avoided. Speaking to the Daily Graphic,

The Chief of Nigerians living in the Ga East, La-Nkwantanang/Madina and Adentan municipalities, Eze-Kennedy has lauded President John Dramani Mahama for the steps taken to confer with his Nigerian counterpart, Goodluck Jonathan, on the way forward on the current security situation in Nigeria. President Mahama was in Nigeria in his capacity as the ECOWAS Chairman to have discussions relating to the atrocities being committed by the militant group Boko Haram.  The discussions were to allow the two