President of the Republic, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has appointed Daniel Nii Kwartei Titus-Glover as the Deputy Managing Director of the Volta Aluminum Company Limited (VOLCO). Mr Titus-Glover’s appointment is contained in a letter cited by Asaase News and dated 2 March 2023. The letter addressed to the Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, Samuel Abu Jinapor, and signed by the secretary to the President, Nana Bediatuo Asante, states that “the President has nominated Daniel Nii Kwartei Titus-Glover for appointment as Deputy Managing Director of Volta Aluminium Company Limited”. “Kindly take the necessary steps to regularise the said appointment in accordance with the relevant provisions of the Companies Act, 2019 (Act 992) and the constitution of the company” the letter further read. Nii Kwartei Titus-Glover, was born on 28 August 1966. He was the New Patriotic Party (NPP) member of Parliament for the Tema East constituency and he served as deputy minister for transport during the first term administration of President Akufo-Addo. He also contested for the position of national organizer of the NPP during the 2022 national executives elections but lost narrowly to the Henry Nana Boakye, who was then the national youth organizer of the NPP. Titus-Glover holds a master’s degree from Warwick University, Coventry in the United Kingdom. He also has a certificate of higher education from Ruskin College, Oxford, and a certificate in labor studies from the University of Cape Coast. VALCO where Titus-Glover is to serve continues to play a key role in the efforts of the Ghana Government to develop an Integrated Aluminium Industry (IAI) in Ghana. Using VALCO as the anchor of the IAI Project, Ghana is set to add value to its over 700 million metric tons of bauxite deposits in the country at Kibi and Nyinahin to generate over USD1.05 trillion and create about 2.3 million good and sustainable jobs. A study into the viability of the VALCO Smelter confirmed that VALCO, properly mainstreamed into Ghana’s development agenda, will serve as the veritable Anchor of Ghana’s Integrated Aluminium Industry. VALCO is currently the live wire of the downstream Aluminium industry in Ghana through metal supplies, with its associated employment benefits. In addition, VALCO is being positioned to host an expected growth of the Aluminium downstream industry in Ghana. Credit: Asaase Radio

Zoomlion Ghana Limited has donated items including a cash donation of GHC2,000 to the family of the late Black Stars winger, Christian Atsu Twasam. The donation was made by the Managing Director (MD) of Zoomlion, Mrs Gloria Opoku Anti, who led a delegation of senior managers of the company to commiserate with the bereaved family at their residence at Ashaley Botwe, on Friday, March 3, 2023. The items, which included 25 cartons of bottled water and 2 branded waste bins all in aid of the one-week observation of late Christian Atsu, which was slated for Saturday, March 4, 2023, at the Adrigarnor Astro Turf park. According to Mrs Opoku Anti, management of the company had come to condole with the grieving family, expressing that “Ghana has lost a great footballer.” While lamenting that Christian Atsu’s death was painful, the Zoomlion MD encouraged the family to take consolation in the fact that Christian Atsu was resting in the bosom of the Lord. In addition to the donation, Mrs Opoku Anti assured the family that her outfit will take care of all sanitation matters before, during and after the one-week observation at the Adjirigarnor Astro Turf park. She also used the occasion to sign the book of condolence opened for the later Black Stars player. Mrs Opoku Anti was accompanied by the Director of Finance and Group CFO of the E&S Group, Mrs Adokarley Okpoti-Paulo, Compliance Manager, Mr Prosper Ahey, Human Capital Manager, Mr Eric Osei Annor and Director of Monitoring and Service Quality, Mr Ernest Kusi. Other members of the delegation were Director of Communications and Corporate Affairs, Mrs Emma Adwoa Appiaa Osei-Duah, Assistant Corporate Affairs Manager, Mr Daniel Ohene Obeng and Mr Idris Adam, a Communications and Corporate Affairs Officer. Story by: Joshua Kwabena Smith

An appeal made by an unemployed foot soldier of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) to the party Chairman, Mr. Stephen Ntim, has resulted in the Deputy CEO of MASLOC, Mr. Kwabena Asamoah to donate a car to the fortunate beneficiary. Mr. Asamoah responded to the call by the NPP Chairman to assist the party foot soldier by delivering a fully paid car to help. The beneficiary, Owusu Akyeampong, a former NPP electoral area coordinator, who is a professional driver thanked the party leadership and Mr. Asamoah for their generosity and kindness. He promised to work hard with the vehicle. At a brief presentation at the NPP National Headquarters, Mr. Ntim gave the foot soldier the keys and encouraged the beneficiary to take good care of the car and utilize it diligently to generate income for himself and family. Story by: Joshua Kwabena Smith

John Dramani Mahama, flagbearer aspirant of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) has promised to operate a lean government should he win the 2024 general elections. He said he will use a total of sixty (60) Ministers and deputies should Ghanaians give him the mandate. “I shall assemble and operate the leanest but most efficient government under our fourth republic. We will reduce, significantly, the size of the government. As I announced in my Ghana We Want address at UPSA late last year, I will form a government of less than sixty (60) ministers and deputy ministers of state.” Mr Mahama also promised to probe the expenditure of Covid-19 funds and ensure proper accountability of all public funds. “Fellow countrymen and women, the time has come for Ghanaians to receive proper accountability from those they elect to political office. This accountability can only be achieved by a new party in government. I promise Ghanaians, that I shall investigate how public funds were expended and this includes the Covid-19 Audit and the findings from the Auditor-General’s reports over the years”. “We must clean the Augean stables and rid them of the filth and corruption. The anti-corruption will be given unfettered space to do their work. The days of the infamous ‘clearing agent’ will be well and truly over." "But to ensure efficiency and professionalism in this endeavour, institutions of the state would be empowered to be independent in their work. State-owned enterprises will not be a gravy train for political apparatchiks.” The former President made the comments during his campaign launch at the Cedi auditorium at the University of Health and Allied Sciences in Ho in the Volta Region. Credit: Pulse GH

Former president John Dramani Mahama has officially declared his intention to lead the National Democratic Congress (NDC) for the next presidential elections in 2024. The former president announced his candidacy at the University of Health and Allied Sciences (UHAS) in Sokode, Volta Region, saying he made the decision after months of prayer, broad consultation, and sober reflection. He is expected to face competition from the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP), like former trade minister Alan Kyerematen and former agriculture minister Afriyie Owusu Akoto, who are already on the ground campaigning. Ghana’s vice-president Mahamudu Bawumia is yet to officially announce his bid but his handlers have indicated that he is also eyeing the top post. Addressing the gathering at the Cedi Auditorium, UHAS on Thursday, 2 March 2023, Mahama said at this stage what Ghana needs is experience as well as togetherness. "At this stage Ghana demands experience and not experiment,” he said. “Ghana demands togetherness, not divisiveness.” “Ghana needs a leader who will hit the ground running on 7 January 2025. Ghana needs a leader who will not be given an orientation and excursion through the Flagstaff House – the seat of government,” Mahama said. “Ghana used to be the shining light on the continent of Africa, and I’m of the strongest conviction that we can attain those times again. I believe it and we will lead by example,” he added. He described the 2024 elections as the most important and defining elections in the history of the country given the “most difficult and challenging period of our history” in the past six years. The former president goes into the NDC presidential primary on Saturday (13 May) as the clear favourite with Dr Kwabena Duffuor, Kojo Bonsu and Ernest Krobea as those likely to stand in his way. Credit: Asaase Radio

Former President John Dramani Mahama has promised to scrap the payment of ex-gratia to members of the executive should he be re-elected in the 2024 elections. Speaking at the launch of his campaign which took place in the Cedi Auditorium at the University of Health and Allied Sciences in Ho, in the Volta Region on Thursday, March 2, Mr. Mahama said he will take the necessary steps to scrap the payment as soon as he assumes power. "The payment of ex-gratia to members of the executive will be scrapped. The necessary Constitutional steps to take this will start in earnest in 2025. We will also persuade members of the other arms of government to accept its removal.” He also promised to restore the trust in state institutions by addressing “issues pertaining to the exercise of powers of the president, proper separation of powers, strengthening of Parliament, restoring the independence of the judiciary, independent and quasi-state institutions and depoliticizing them. “These will take the centre stage of the new administration,” he added. The former president also took a swipe at Akufo-Addo’s government for worsening the poverty levels in the country. The “cluelessness and the harrowing dismantling of our progress by the NPP government has damaged and killed many bright dreams of the country.” “This government has been clueless and, in many ways, callous. We are saddled with debt, and we have been downgraded by every rating agency and inflation has gone off the roof, sending people into abject poverty,” Mr. Mahama told a cheering crowd at the Cedi Auditorium. Credit: Citinewsroom

The Parliamentary Select Committee on Health has toured some mosquito breeding sites in the Bono Region with a call on Zoomlion Ghana Limited (ZGL) to step up its larval control operation targeted at immature mosquitoes to help fight malaria in the country. “Despite the gradual reduction of malaria cases from 19,000 to 21,000 and 16,000 in 2020, 2021 and 2022 respectively in the Berekum Municipal, we believe a lot of work needed to be done as well," the chair of the Health Committee of Parliament, Dr Nana Ayew Afriyie, made the call during an inspection tour of some breeding sites in the Berekum Municipal, Bono Region, Wednesday, March 1, 2023. The tour enabled the committee to get firsthand information about the larval control spraying operation of the Vector Control Services of ZGL which targets immature mosquitoes that may be developing in stagnant water. The visit was also necessary because it will inform members of the committee in their deliberations to approve or otherwise of the budget for the project. Addressing journalists after an inspection tour of some breeding sites in the Berekum Municipal, the chair of the Health Committee of Parliament, Dr Ayew Afriyie, said the committee decided to embark on the regional tour to ascertain the level of progress of work. “As the people’s representatives, we are here to provide oversight, and see how the funds of the taxpayer is being applied when it gets to larvicidal control of malaria,” he said. “We have a budget to approve. Normally, we will say the formula for the National Health Insurance Authority: it will be in the next two or three weeks. Before we approve the budget, we needed to see a few things and that include this larvicidal or vector control of malaria. We often, than not, in the year will make approval and that approval goes to a private company which is good. It is a PPP that is a modern trend of financing health practice which we all agree,” he went on to explain. Furthermore, Dr Afriyie, who is the Member of Parliament (MP) for Effiduase Asokoroe, charged Zoomlion to involve more the staff of the National Malaria Control Programme (NMCP). He underscored that NCMP was a part of the larval control operation of Zoomlion, adding that though the NMCP was to monitor the activities of Zoomlion, “it looks like there is a disengagement between the NMCP and the company.” He made it clear that it was the committee’s responsibility to ensure value for money in the award of these contracts to private entities. “So we may be having results, but scientifically we need to put a lot of things on paper so that when we come in here we can look at it as a matrix and checklist it. …but in all we need the community to have value for money,” he insisted. However, Dr Ayew Afriyie pointed out that there were issues with the project that needed to be addressed. These, he mentioned, included some of the mapped out breeding sites not receiving continuous and effective spraying, and also the need for Zoomlion to have a schedule for the exercise. The Ranking Member on the Committee and MP for Juaboso, Kwabena Mintah Akandoh, asked Zoomlion to critically look at the strength of its spraying workforce and their welfare, indicating that this can have an adverse impact on the output of the project. For his part, the Malaria Focal Person in Berekum Municipal, Joseph Gyebi-Buaben, revealed that there has been a gradual reduction of malaria cases in the municipal in the last three years (2020, 2021 and 2022). Giving the breakdown, he disclosed that in 2020, the Berekum Municipal recorded malaria of 19,000 which slightly went up to 21,000 in 2021 and then reduced to 16,000 in 2022. The General Manager (GM) of Vector Control Services of ZGL, Reverend Ebenezer Kwame Addae, said they work in collaboration with Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research (NMIMR) and NMCP, who is the supervising agency. “What we do includes mapping of mosquito breeding sites after which we move in to do larviciding which is the application of Bacillus thuringiensis israelensis (Bti) to kill all the larvae that we see in the stagnant water so that they will not grow to become adult mosquitoes,” he elucidated. According to him, the Bti they use has 28 residual period, but added that in the event of a heavy rain “we go back and apply the larvicide.” “We operate with a minimum of 20 sprayers in most of the districts, albeit there are some districts that have between 30 and 40 sprayers depending on the size of the district or the municipal, adding that even some have 50,” he revealed. Rev Addae, who is also in charge of the National Mosquito Programme (NMP), contended that reducing mosquito populations required a collective strategy. “In controlling mosquitoes, it takes a collective strategy. It is not only one strategy that we use but what we do is to try and control the larvae. And you know there are so many sources which serve as breeding grounds for mosquitoes,” he noted. He said his outfit undertakes its operations in the districts with Malaria Focal Persons (MFPs), health and environmental officers as well. “We do it in a scientific manner by first mapping the areas to know that yes it is feasible to apply the larvicide. If we map and we don't see any larvae, we don't work there. So we move from breeding site to breeding to site, that is, where there are stagnant water and when we get there we involve the community too in the exercise,” he stated. He said the programme has been quite successful though he admitted that other interventions had also played a part. “And this is evident in the statistics of reduced malaria cases in the Berekum Municipal as provided by the Malaria Focal Person in the Berekum Municipal,” he buttressed. Rev Addae used the opportunity to advise Ghanaians to get involved in reducing the mosquito populations in the country by ensuring that “we keep our environs clean and avoid the creation of stagnant water.” Story by: Joshua Kwabena Smith

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has called on Ghana’s allies to weigh in with words of support at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for the $3 billion extended credit facility (ECF) being sought by the country to be approved. Ghana has already reached a staff level agreement (SLA) with the Fund but approval is yet to be given by the Executive Board of the Fund. The President expressed hope that the approval will come by the end of this month. President Akufo-Addo expressed this hope while addressing members of the diplomatic corps at the 2023 Presentation of Diplomatic Greetings at Peduase Lodge in the Eastern Region on Tuesday, February 28. He pointed out that already Ghana has had the tacit support of the so-called Paris Club. “Just as we manged to achieve a staff level agreement with the Fund in record time in December last year whose terms were systematically fulfilling including the difficult but ultimately highly successful process of the Domestic Debt Exchange Programme, I am confident that with the cooperation we have received from the members of the Paris Club and the People’s Republic of China, which had sent a delegation from China’s EXIM Bank to Accra over the weekend to meet with officials of the Ministry of Finance, we shall be able to go to the Board of the Fund to conclude finally the agreement by the end of March,” he said. “This will set the stage for the strong recovery of Ghana’s economy. Needless to say, we will hope that all Ghana’s friends will weigh in with words of support at the Fund.” President Akufo-Addo conceded that the country’s balance of payment in 2022 was thrown out of gear as a result of many factors including the Russia-Ukraine war, plunging the country into “considerable difficulties”. But he indicated that the move to IMF was for a “short term” to repair the country’s public finances. Credit: 3news.com

The African Union and ECOWAS on Tuesday called for calm and urged the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC to release without further delay results of Saturday's tightly contested elections to ease political anxiety in the country. In a joint statement, the Election Observation Missions of the two organisations said they had noted "with concern signs of increasing tensions in the country...," following the presidential and parliamentary votes. The main opposition Peoples Democratic Party and the Labour Party, have called for the cancellation of the poll results, accusing INEC of breaching the electoral law by failing to upload the results on its viewing portal from the polling units. At press conferences addressed by their senior officials on Tuesday, the same political parties said they had lost confidence in the INEC leadership. Their agents walked out of the National Collation Centre in Abuja on Monday after failing in their spirited demand on the INEC Chairman Prof Mahmood Yakubu to suspend the vote collation and announcements. They claim that the results were not uploaded as required by the electoral Act. This was in spite of the assurances by Yakubu that the Commission would review all relevant complaints after the collation. Two former Nigerian leaders, retired army generals Olusegun Obasanjo and Abdulsalam Abubakar have also weighed in on the controversy calling for peace, with Obasanjo joining in the call for the cancellation of the poll results to avoid setting the country "on fire," For their part, officials of the ruling All Progressive Congress want the ongoing vote collation and announcements of results to continue. The party's flag bearer has taken an early lead in the results of some of the 36 states so far declared by INEC. Balloting was delayed in some voting centres due to late arrival of election officials or materials, while the media reported incidents of thuggery, vote rigging, voter intimidation and suppression as well as vandalism and snatching of electoral materials in some voting centres in parts of the country. The police in Lagos, the commercial capital reported the arrest of more than a dozen suspects over violence in the city. Some INEC officials were attacked by thugs in some cases, while the Islamic extremist Boko Haram group also launched mortar attack in the North Eastern state of Borno resulting in injuries but no death. Africa's most populous and oil-rich nation is on political teetherhooks anxiously awaiting results of the seventh round of elections since its return to civilian rule in 1999 after prolonged spells of military dictatorships## Credit: ECOWAS

The electoral commission, INEC, has declared Bola Tinubu, the candidate of Nigeria’s ruling party, APC, as the winner of Saturday’s presidential election. Mr. Tinubu defeated 17 other candidates who took part in the election. He scored a total of 8,794,726 votes, the highest of all the candidates, thus meeting the first constitutional requirement to be declared the winner. He also scored over 25 per cent of the votes cast in 30 states, more than the 24 states constitutionally required. INEC, Chairman Mahmood Yakubu, who announced the final results in the early hours of Wednesday in Abuja, said Atiku Abubakar of the PDP came second in the election. Atiku polled a total of 6,984,520 votes in the election. Peter Obi of the Labour Party came third in the election with a total of 6,101,533 votes while Rabiu Kwankwaso of the NNPP came fourth with 1,496,687 votes. Mr Yakubu said a Certificate of Return for the President and Vice President will be presented by 3 p.m. on Wednesday at the National Collation Centre. Only the top four candidates won the presidential election in at least one state. Each of Messrs Tinubu, Atiku and Obi won in 12 states while Mr Kwankwaso won only in Kano.However, winning a majority of states is not a requirement for a candidate to be declared the winner of the election. States Won Mr Tinubu won the election in Rivers, Borno, Jigawa, Zamfara, Benue, Kogi, Kwara, Niger, Osun, Ekiti, Ondo, Oyo and Ogun states.Atiku won in Katsina, Kebbi, Sokoto, Kaduna, Gombe, Yobe, Bauchi, Adamawa and Taraba states. He also won in Osun, Akwa Ibom and Bayelsa states. Mr Obi won in Edo, Cross River, Delta, Lagos, FCT, Plateau, Imo, Ebonyi, Nasarawa, Anambra, Abia and Enugu states. Mr Kwankwaso won in only Kano State Credit: Premium Times

Management of the Ghana Immigration Service wishes to caution the general public about a fake Facebook account bearing the picture and details of the Comptroller-General of Immigration Mr Kwame Asuah Takyi. This Facebook account is fake and created by scammers in a bid to defraud unsuspecting job applicants. The Comptroller-General does not own or operate a Facebook account neither has he contracted any person or persons to operate one on his behalf. The general public is therefore cautioned not to deal with the faceless people behind this account on Facebook or any other social media account. The Ghana Immigration Service says anyone who transacts business with this persons does so at his or her own risk. Story by: Joshua Kwabena Smith

The Ghana Immigration Service (GIS) has held a stakeholder consultative session with Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, the Attorney General's Office, the Boundary Commission, among sister security services on strengthening border and migration management in Ghana. According to the GIS, the objective of consultative session is to accept inputs and finalise a strategic plan as an institutional document. The GIS also noted that it will guide the aspirations of the Service in line with its mandate to improve Border Security and Migration Management in Ghana. Addressing the gathering, Comptroller-General of GIS, Mr. Takyi said "This Stakeholder Consultative Forum is an opportunity to get together and discuss issues of common interest regarding the seven-year (2023-2029) Strategic Plan of the Service" "This is an opportunity for dialogue, for you to have a better understanding of our vision, mission, and strategic objectives, and for us to solicit for your inputs, note your suggestions and opinions, and adopt them, where necessary" Mr. Takyi thanked the International Centre for Migration Policy Development  for facilitating the development of the new Strategic Plan (2023-2029) under the “Strengthening Border and Migration Management in Ghana” (SMMIG) Project, which is funded by the Government of Denmark. "My special appreciation and sincere thanks to the Technical Working Group and the Consultant. Thank you for bringing your expertise and experience and engaging in a series of fruitful, constructive, and open exchange meetings and also to the GIS National Management Members, Regional Commanders who solicited inputs from the Districts and Sector Commands as well as Department, Sectional and Unit Heads, to come out with the first draft of the Strategic Plan" He stressed that the Ghana Immigration Service is committed to stakeholder engagement as a continuous and step-by-step process. "We want to share with you what our aspirations are for the next seven years. We want to listen to your ideas. At this meeting, through active participation, I do expect that we would respect each other’s opinions and viewpoints" "It might be difficult to have absolute agreement on all issues, but we can make the greatest effort in trying to ensure that key concerns and important suggestions are documented and considered in the finalisation of the Strategic Plan" On his part, Senior Maritime Security Programme Officer, Danish Embassy, Joel Johnson said "The Embassy would like to, first and foremost, commend the efforts and contributions made by all partners, both national and international, towards the development of this strategic document, which would guide the operations of the GIS in coming years" "We would also like to express our appreciation to our implementing partner, the ICMPD, and the Ghana Immigration Service for setting and maintaining the pace in the development of this document through an active engagement of all stakeholders." He reminded the gathering of how Denmark places great importance on effective border and migration management. He added that the Embassy was therefore pleased to be supporting Ghana in this sector under its current project, “Strengthening Border and Migration Management in Ghana”. "Indeed, within the framework of the said project, Denmark is not only supporting the development of the GIS Strategic Plan, but also the building of the capacities of GIS officers to successfully detect, investigate and prosecute document fraud and other migration related offences" "Furthermore, in consideration of the fact that migration related offences include a host of cross-border crimes, such as the smuggling of drugs and weapons, amongst others, the project also seeks to create an enabling environment for effective collaboration among relevant national law enforcement agencies, through the organization of interagency border management conferences" He revealed that Denmark is hopeful that with the level of commitment continued to be shown by all partners to this project and the current work, the collective goal of improving Ghana’s border and migration management will be attained. Taking her turn, Head of Office, ICMPD Ghana, Amala Obiokoye-Nwalor said "Since 2016, ICMPD has been supporting the GIS in its strategic planning process,which saw the development of the just expired 2018-2022 strategic plan. She added that prior to the expiration of the plan, ICMPD with funding from the European Union also conducted an evaluation of the plan to draw out good practices and lessons learnt. "Consequently, this new 7-year strategic plan will build on the gains of the last plans as well as other framework documents such as National Migration Policy and the Land border security strategy. " "It will also take cognisance of the lessons learnt from the last plan to ensure robust, well-articulated document that will guide GIS future programming and contribute to the attainment of its mandate" The project, according to her, is implemented in line with ICMPD's three-pronged approach of Research, Capacity development and Dialogue. "The entire strategy development process and the plan itself is designed to strengthen the GIS capacity in result based management." The Ghana Immigration Service with support from the "Strengthening Border and Migration Management in Ghana" (SMMIG) project, funded by the Government of Denmark and implemented by the International Centre for Migration Policy Development (ICMPD)has begun the development of a new 7-year Strategic Plan (SP). The SP is one of the framework documents which guides GIS policies and programmes, thereby providing direction for the GIS in achieving its mandate. Furthermore, the SP will serve as a tool for engaging stakeholders and partners. Story by: Joshua Kwabena Smith