The Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) has closed down the Regal Chinese Restaurant at Osu, Accra. The development was as a result of non-compliance with its E-VAT invoicing system. Area Enforcement Manager for Accra Central GRA, Joseph Annan, says the manager of the eatery could be prosecuted as he urged businesses to do the needful. The E-VAT invoicing system enables the GRA to monitor invoices issued to taxpayers instantly helping it to know every single transaction. The system started running in October this year Credit: Myjoyonlin.com

The Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, Hon. Samuel A. Jinapor (MP) has commended the media, particularly his Ministry’s press corps for their dedicated service to the Ministry and the country during the year. Speaking at a press soiree on Thursday, December 22, 2022, the Hon. Minister said his outfit views the media as an indispensable arm of their work and will continue to engage with the press corps to keep Ghanaians informed about activities of the Ministry. He said throughout what he will describe as a “hectic year”, the press corp remained faithful to the Ministry and gave the Ministry the needed platform to share it’s achievement. Whiles highlighting his open door policy which extends to media engagement, Hon. Jinapor also encouraged the journalists to collaborate with the Public Relations Unit of the Ministry to enhance a mutually satisfactory framework that will guide their activities" He also assured the press of his readiness to host them in his office to assist in whatever way possible in their personal and career development. He highly appreciated the Public Relations Unit of the Ministry for maintaining a good relationship between the Ministry and it's publics especially the media and task them to do more in the coming year. Below are some pictures: Story by: Joshua Kwabena Smith

The Government of Ghana says it has decided to grant exemption ro all pension funds in the Debt Exchange Programme. The Finance Minister made this known through a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) which was sighted by Thinknewsonline.com. In the MoU dated 22nd December, 2022, the Finance Minister said "Following meetings at the Ministry of Finance in December 2022 between Government of Ghana (GoG) represented by the Ministry of Employment and Labour and Organized, Ministry of Finance, and Ministry of National Security on the one hand and Organized Labour/Associations represented by leadership of all Labour Unions/Associations on the other hand, to resolve issues on the exemption of all pension funds in the Domestic Debt Exchange (DDE) Programme announced by Government on 5th December, 2022" The MoU also noted that GoG abd Organized Labour/Associations shall however work together to explore mutually beneficial options within debt sustainability limits and to also promote macroeconomic stability and economic recovery in the spirit of social partnerships. Below is a copy of the release: Story by: Joshua Kwabena Smith

Head Coach of the Morocco National Team, Walid Regragui has asked The International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) to stop African players from representing other countries other than that of their origin. He made these pronouncement in an interview monitored by Thinknewsonline.com. The Head Coach said "This has to be a basis for growth, but not only for Morocco, for all of Africa. We must continue working on that competitive DNA that Mourinho spoke of" "This generation of ours will be the best if they were capable of winning the African Cup I say goodbye to the World Cup with a message: Long live Africa!" He added that Africathrough the recently held world cup have shown that the distance between Africa and Europe has been reduced to small details. Story by: Joshua Kwabena Smith

Sex workers in Koforidua in the Eastern Region have put a massive discount on their prices in order to maintain their customers amidst economic hardships. According to the spokesperson for the sex workers union in the Eastern Region capital, they’ve lost a lot of customers in the past three months and in the bid to regain and maintain the current ones – They’ve decided to reduce their price. The group attributed the near-collapse of their business to the current economic hardships which have forced most men to remain celibate and the married ones to stay with their wives alone. Kumasi-Sex-Workers Initially, they charged 50ghc for short and 150ghc for a night stay the current reviewed prices are 20ghc for short and 80ghc for long. Speaking to a local news reporter, the group said; “We have reduced our prices to make Christmas exciting for you so come and patronise us,” “For some time now, business has been bad due to complaints of the current economic hardship. We have lost most of our customers because they also find it difficult to afford our prices”. “Before the economic crises, we use to charge at least Ghc50 for a short time and an average of Ghc150 for night service but as we speak to you now, we barely get half of the above charges, and this is a big problem to us” “They’re enticing male customers to use their services since they’re prepared to lower the price to get them out of financial trouble.“ Credit: GHPage

The Managing Director for the Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL), Ing Dr Clifford Braimah has touted the gains made by the company in supplying portable drinking water for Ghanaians as he says Illegal Mining and Sand Whining were their major challenges. According to him, the company underwent major challenges throughout the year which made achieving the company’s aim of providing portable water for all a challenging one. The MD for the GWCL was speaking at the Information Ministry’s State of the Agency Report to update Ghanaians on the success story and their challenges which was held in Accra. Ing Dr Braimah noted that, these are not the only challenges they faced but also frequent power outages, encroachment on their lands and also people destroying their water pipelines which made their operation a difficult one. He used the opportunity to appeal to all and sundry to come to the aid of the company and help them solve these challenges. Ing Dr Braimah also added that, the company really needed the 300% tariff increment they demanded from the PURC which he says, their reasons where justifiable which would have benefited the company tremendously. Ing Dr Braimah also denied claims that, using of drones to monitor the usage of water by citizens will cause job looses but says, it will rather create more employment. Story by: Joshua Kwabena Smith

The Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Food and Drugs Authority (FDA), Delese Mimi Darko has charged staff of the institution to strive hard and guard its name jealously. The CEO made these remarks while speaking at the 2022 Thanksgiving Carols and Staff Awards Service held at its headoffice in Accra. Addressing the gathering, Mrs. Darko said "We retain our steadfast devotion to our core values of Integrity, Accountability and Teamwork. Guard the name of this institution jealousy" "At the beginning of the year, I emphasised this. Each one of us is responsible for the wellbeing of the people of this country – the health and safety of the public - not just by what you do but just as importantly by what you do not do. So every day when you are leaving work at the end of the day, ask yourself if you have done your everything to enable us to achieve our mandate and boldly say our tagline" "Next year we have by God’s grace got new promising leads and support on how to make our salary conditions better and to be more liquid to provide needed logistics for better work environment. And my Board Chairman/committee members are here - we will do everything to chase these to a successful end" "Secondly, I doff my hat to you the staff of this Authority, for your performance, innovation, flexibility, adaptability …. It’s been a tough post-covid year for all of you and I’ll like to express my sincere and tremendous gratitude for hard work and dedication of each one of you in every region" She added that sacrifices made by staff amidst these harsh economic conditions, when for instance, despite the impact of increased fuel prices on transportation costs, staff showed up daily at work with optimism and hope; FDA could not have come thus far. The CEO added that for the second year running, the institution has focused its effort on winning public confidence through Integrity, Accountability and Teamwork. She stressed that these core values of the Authority have not only shaped thework culture but underpinned the success that it has achieved in 2022. Madam Darko added that despite the waning of the COVID-19 pandemic, the FDA mainstreamed some of the COVID- 19 measures such as online meetings, risk-based product registration, risk-based scheduling of inspections among others, to sustain operational efficiency. "Like many other institutions, the FDA has not been spared the effect of the global economic crisis on our operational costs and plans.  However, in the face of these uncertainties, we continued to grow and expand our capabilities to serve our clients, build our systems and processes, and invest in our staff. Staying our course and achieving our targets is precisely because we responded appropriately to these challenges. Our client services nationwide continues to improve timely and reliable support, giving our clients and stakeholders the positive experience improving the quality of applications they submit to the FDA" She stressed that the challenges have inspired FDA to innovative ways of protecting public safety. "The Centre for Import and Export Control continues to expand its scope. To curtail the unauthorised importation of regulated products using courier services, FDA now has permanent presence at the courier centres for DHL and FedEx at the KIA, and in January 2023 we will operationalise a permanent presence at the Ghana Post Head Office in Accra" She also announced that the FDA has secured a post for permanent presence at the KIA Terminal 3 arrival concourse for inspection of personal luggage for regulated products. This she mentioned, will be operationalised in 2023 after security background checks and subsequent training of FDA officers are completed. "One area of focus this year has been the establishment of new regional and district offices of the Authority. Investments have been made in all regions to ensure appropriate delivery by both regional and district offices" "To this end, I am happy to announce that the Western North Regional Office in Sefwi Wiawso has also been operationalised as the first of the new six (6) regions recently created. As and when office accommodation becomes available, the Authority will open offices in the remaining five (5) regions" "Two district offices have been operationalised in the Central Region. The first, at Kasoa in the Ewutu Senya East District and the second, at Assin Fosu in Assin Central District. In the Eastern Region, the Business Advisory Centre at Kade has offered FDA office space to be operationalised in 2023 as an FDA district office" "The Centre for Laboratory Services and Research continues to blaze the trail. In 2022, the Centre increased the scope of ISO/IEC17025:2017 accredited tests from 48 to 58 and the food laboratory was accredited for the first time with 5 parameters. The Centre’s remains the Laboratory with largest scope of accredited tests under one roof in Africa. Its Drugs Laboratory was in August awarded WHO-Prequalified Quality Control Laboratory Status, the first lab in West/Central Africa to achieve this feat" "Our strategic collaboration and international partnership have a strong showing this year, with more than 85 collaborators and partners in engaging with the FDA. Some of our new collaborators include Ghana Exim Bank, Fidelity Bank, Mastercard Foundation Ghana, Public and Private Research and Academic Institutions and Association of Food and Drugs Officials based in the USA. This is what I call innovation. Well done Kwame and team" Madam Darko hinted that FDA's Progressive Licensing Scheme is just growing and the envy of many agencies. "To date we have licensed 1511 facilities and 2780 products, all these owners having received technical assistance from our industrial support directorate through capacity building opportunities and specialized registration from the various registration directorates. Kudos to all involved. You’ve done marvelously to support the industrialization agenda of the President and government. This is the only way we can long term transform the economy of this nation" She disclosed that the system for the FDA-GSA joint application has been operationalised with the receipt of first ten (10) product applications. These applications, she added have been registered and the requisite information shared with GSA through a file exchange system developed by IMTS Department of the FDA. "The Joint Application System has shortened considerably the time required to secure FDA registration and GSA certification. The FDA in collaboration with ProPer Alliance, has launched the ProPerSeals Platform which will support the new Intelligence/investigation Directorates in its activities" "At the continental level, the FDA continues to distinguish itself as a regulatory capacity strengthening hub. This year we have trained regulators from across the continent in clinical trials oversight, and pharmacovigilance. Notable among these is the delivery of the first Advanced Clinical Trial Fellowship Training, in collaboration with the School of Public Health, University of Ghana. We also supported Nigeria, South Africa and more recently Rwanda in their preparation for their formal WHO benchmarking for Maturity Level 3 through capacity strengthening programmes such as training courses, assisted self-benchmarking and study tours at the FDA. We share in the joy of their success Nigeria and South Africa and look forward to Rwanda’s knowing that our support was worthwhile. The great strides that the Authority has made in protecting public health and safety this year have not gone unnoticed" AWARDS RECEIVED "This year we received a phenomenal Fifteen (15) awards; we could have been winning more than one every month; a mind-blowing testament of our achievements for 2022. The awards include the Most Financially Sustainable Regulator and the Best Inter-Trading Specified Entity at the maiden Public Enterprise League Table Awards organized by the Ministry of Public Enterprises, SIGA and the Ministry of Finance, 1. Industry Leadership Award, at the Ghana -West Africa Healthcare Excellence Awards 2022 by Unique Communications" The CEO told the gathering that the Centre for Laboratory Services and Research was awarded the Best Public Health Laboratory Centre for 2022. "Corporate Communications Team of the Year (Government Regulations) at the 4th National Communications Awards by Africa Digitalization Impact Project & RAD Communications. Gold Label Seal of Good Standing in the Delivery of Customer Service and Consumer Relations Excellence Award at the Ghana Customer Service Excellence Recognition Scheme by National Customer Service Advocate, GLOBAL PLUS CO. LTD & Ghana Customer Service Development Initiative" FOCUSING ON 2023 "As we move into a new year, there will be challenges and maybe storms. The only thing that is constant is change and our only constant is God. Be open to change. For whatever reason you FEEL you are being posted/transferred once it is by my hand, murmur not. It will work out for your good. And as I was told at the start of my career, regulation is dynamic" "So, we must adapt, we will bring new ideas, please embrace them. We as Management are open to your innovations, please bring them. I am confident that we have the requisite skills, knowledge, and tenacity to overcome them. Indeed, it is our challenges that inspire us to innovate and adopt new ways of delivering on our mandate" She reminded the staff that a successful business model needs to adapt continually to its operating environment, as such, starting January 2023, the Authority will commence flexi home-based work to ease the burden of transportation costs and promote operational efficiency. ACHIEVEMENTS OF DIRECTORATES Enforcement Directorate "Staff capacity strengthening in intelligence gathering and reporting has improved quality of intelligence reports and conduct of investigations. This resulted in several swoops to retrieve unregistered brands of Prostinor 2, Pro-cold and Aboniki ointment manufactured in Nigeria from the market. Eighty-Thousand, Seven Hundred and Twenty-Nine (80,729) units were retrieved and safely disposed-off" Food Safety and Consumer Education Directorate "The National Food Safety Policy was launched. A national food safety emergency response plan (FoSERP) was developed, and its Management Committee inaugurated. The use of Uber services for inspections of Food Service Establishments eliminated inspection backlogs and reduced client waiting time from 5 months to 2 weeks. Five Hundred and Ninety-Five (595) previously unknown facilities were identified and inspected increasing revenues through application fees and fines" Food Registration and Applied Nutrition Directorate "Implementation of a conceptual framework to strengthen FDA’s collaboration with Research and Academic Institutions to facilitate research to influence policy and protect public health. This has been widely accepted by the research and academic community" 2022 Awards Madam Darko noted that the FDA won 15 awards for the year 2022. "Industry Leadership Award, at the Ghana -West Africa Healthcare Excellence Awards 2022 by Unique Communications, The Centre for Laboratory Services and Research was awarded the Best Public Health Laboratory Centre for 2022, Corporate Communications Team of the Year (Government Regulations) at the 4th National Communications Awards by Africa Digitalization Impact Project & RAD Communications, Gold Label Seal of Good Standing in the Delivery of Customer Service and Consumer Relations Excellence Award at the Ghana Customer Service Excellence Recognition Scheme by National Customer Service Advocate, GLOBAL PLUS CO. LTD & Ghana Customer Service Development Initiative and Customer Service Focused, Public Sector Institution for the year 2022 – 2023 at the Ghana Customer Service Excellence Recognition Scheme by National Customer Service Advocate, GLOBAL PLUS CO. LTD & Ghana Customer Service Development Initiative" Other awards include; Excellence in Government Regulatory and Standards at the 2nd National Governance & Business Leadership Awards 2022, National Government Agency of the year at the National Business Honors, The Most Financially Sustainable Regulator and Best Inter-Trading Specified Entity at the maiden Public Enterprise League Table Awards by Ministry of Public Enterprises, State Interests and Governance Authority and Ministry of Finance, Exemplary Leadership Award under the Ghana-West Africa 2022 at the Healthcare Excellence Awards, National Business Shero of the year for the government agency under 2022 at the National Business Honours Awards, Best CEO of the year under the Ghana Medical Laboratory Excellence Awards 2022, Outstanding Public Leadership Award under the 2nd National Governance 2022 and Leadership Award, FDA listed as one of the 100 most influential Business Leadership personalities in Ghana 2022, Innovative CEO Award under the West Africa Young Leaders Awards 2022 and Public Sector Chief Executive Award under Public Sector Awards 2022. The Food and Drugs Authority also rewarded three outstanding retirees for their selfless efforts. The three are 1. Emmanuel Yaw Kwarteng; Director, Centre for Import and Export Control, Thomas Amedzro; Director, Enforcement Directorate and Samuel Kwakye; Regional Head, FDA Eastern Regional Office. Each received a citation and an undisclosed amount of money. Some departments and individuals were also rewarded for their excellent performance in the year 2022. Master Salifu Asigiri from the Inspectorate Department of the FDA was adjudged the Overall Best Staff for 2022. He thanked the Leadership of FDA for rewarding his efforts and dedicated his award to his mentors. Story by: Joshua Kwabena Smith

Deputy Energy Minister, Andrew Egyapa Mercer has disclosed that the first consignment of fuel under Ghana’s Gold for Oil deal will arrive on the shores of the country in January 2023. The Deputy Minister in an interview with Benjamin Akakpo on the AM Show on Wednesday, said the necessary agreement needed had been completed for the first consignment to arrive. “On the 10th, 11th and 12th of January, the first consignment of the finished product is going to arrive in this country coming from the United Arab Emirates" All the necessary agreement that needed to be executed has been executed. A lot more interest had been shown by other oil traders in terms of Government to Business. Government to Government conversations have also taken place,” he said. The Legislator noted that significant progress had been made as part of efforts to import cheap fuel to Ghana. The Gold for Oil barter deal will see the country getting cheaper fuel in exchange for Gold. Prices of fuel are expected to go down further after the cheap fuel is introduced into the market. Mr. Egyapa Mercer explained that the deal is intended to “compliment what it is that the private sector who are operators within the space are providing.” According to him, this move by the government will take some pressure off the dollar and make it available to other people to avoid increasing pressure on the cedi. It will be recalled that in November, Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia announced the deal to ostensibly tackle the country’s “dwindling foreign exchange reserves” and also to address rising prices of petroleum products. He said the government expects “this new framework to be fully operational by the end of the first quarter of 2023.” Fuel prices at the time of the announcement were high at most fuel pumps across the country, with consumers appealing to the government for an intervention. Subsequently, a government delegation was dispatched to Abu Dhabi to negotiate a deal to bring petroleum products onto the Ghanaian market. The delegation was scheduled to meet the Chief Executive of the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC), Sultan Al Jaber for a possible deal. Credit: NDC NPP

Ghana’s Sports Minister, Mustapha Ussif, claims that an estimated $5.1 million was spent on the country’s 2022 World Cup campaign, which ended in the group stage after the Black Stars failed to beat Uruguay. The four-time African champions were eliminated in the first round after falling to Uruguay 2-0 in a match that Ghanaians had hoped to win to avenge the painful defeat at the hands of the South Americans in South Africa 12 years ago. Prior to the tournament in Qatar, Ussif revealed that the government had budgeted $8.1 million for the group stage campaign. Thus, his latest revelation of $5.1 million spent means they saved $3 million, which he described as “prudent management”. "Our estimated budget at the group stage was $8.1 million,” he said in Parliament. "Out of this estimated budget Mr Speaker, our total expenditure for the group stage participation amounted to $5,171, 840.“ "These expenditures covered appearance free, per diem, flight arrangements, medicals, equipment logistics, and hospitality.” "Mr Speaker the reason for the surplus of $3 million after our exit from the group stage is the result of the ministry’s prudent management of resources as well as the ministry’s decision to negotiate on qualification bonus for the next round instead of paying winning bonuses per match.” “What this means is that in spite of our black stars defeating South Korea in our second group match we did not pay any winning bonus for that game” According to reports, FIFA will pay Ghana $9 million for their group stage exit. Meanwhile, champions Argentina are set to take home more than $40 million. Credit: 3news.com

The Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) has written to the Constitutional, Legal and Parliamentary Committee of Parliament that a resolution has been completed, in principle, for compensation for some staff of the Office. The matter came to the fore during deliberations on the Appropriation Bill for the 2023 fiscal year. Itwas revealed that staff of the Office, including the Special Prosecutor, have not been paid for the past 15 months. The Minority, therefore, demanded that payment is made before the allocations to the Office in the budget is approved. In a letter written by the Special Prosecutor, Kissi Agyebeng, to the Committee, there was correspondence between the Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, and Mr Agyebeng on Thursday, March 10.This was further pushed by the Committee on Wednesday, December 14. Mr. Agyebeng stated that per the dictates of the establishing Act of the OSP, Act 959, and the Office of Special Prosecutor Regulations, 2018 (LI 2373), the agreement for compensation was reached. "The OSP expects the Minister of Finance to sign the outcome off by correspondence addressed to the Special Prosecutor before close of business 23 December 2022,” Mr Agyebeng wrote. Meanwhile, the Minority in Parliament says until the agreement is signed, it will reject the allocation of funds to the OSP as contained in the 2023 budget. Credit: 3news.com

Communications Officer of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Sammy Gyamfi has tied the knot with his fiancee, Irene Amankwaa Karikari in a private ceremony held in Accra. The beautiful ceremony was graced by Former President, John Dramani Mahama, Newly Elected NDC Chairman, Johnson Asiedu Nketia and defeated Chairman, Samuel Ofosu-Ampofo. Thinknewsonline.com has gathered that the wife of Sammy Gyamfi, Irene Amankwaa Karikari who is a strong NDC member, contested for the position of Deputy Women’s Organiser in the Sunyani. It is emerging that Lawyer Tsatsu Tsikata was also aming the NDC Bigwigs present at the ceremony. Below are some pictures: Story by: Joshua Kwabena Smith

The Ministry of Finance says Ghana reserves the right in its sole discretion to extend the timetable for the Invitation at any time. According to the Ministry, this is as set in the Exchange Memorandum. In a communique issued by the Finance Ministry, it said "Any Eligible Holders whose Eligible Bonds are held on its behalf by a broker, dealer, bank, custodian, trust company or other nominee must contact such entity if it wishes to participate in the Invitation, as such entities may establish an earlier deadline to receive instructions to tender Eligible Bonds" The Ministry added that in making this decision to extend, the Republic considered feedback from the financial sector in relation to the need to secure internal approvals. Further, the extension affords the Government of Ghana the opportunity to consider suggestions made by all stakeholders with the aim of adjusting certain measures acceptable within the constraints of the Government’s Debt Sustainability Analysis. The Ministry also hinted that the Settlement Date for the Invitation is now expected to occur on Friday, 6 January 2023, or as soon as practicable thereafter, but no later than the Longstop Date which is now scheduled for Monday, 13 January 2023, unless further extended by the Republic pursuant to the Invitation. "The date that the Republic will announce the results of the Invitation is now expected to occur on or about 2 January 2023. Moreover, the issue date, interest accrual schedules, payment schedules and amortization schedules for the New Bonds will be adjusted to reflect the actual Settlement Date. Except as set forth in this paragraph, the terms and conditions of the Invitation are not modified or amended" Below is a copy of the communique: Story by: Joshua Kwabena Smith