Member of Parliament (MP) for Tarkwa-Nsuaem Constituency, George Mireku Duker has challenged beneficiaries of Masloc soft loans to capitalize on the credit facility given them to develop and expand their businesses. The MP made these known after he joined the Chief Executive Officer of Masloc, Hajia Abibata Shanni Mohammed Zakariah to disburse a soft loan facility to market traders in his Constituency. Addressing the beneficiaries, Hon. Mireku Duker said "I admonish all beneficiaries to capitalize on this credit facility to develop and expand their businesses" The MP revealed that in 2021, his office sponsored interest-free loans to 400 traders and further facilitated Masloc loans for 200 other traders. "I assure the traders that my office and the Government will continue to support businesses as we build a resilient economy" The facilitation of soft loans for over 200 traders was held at the Roman Parish Hall in Tarkwa, Western Region. In all, two hundred and twenty seven (227) market women benefitted from the project. The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Masloc, Hajia Abibata Shanni Mohammed Zakariah challenged the beneficiaries to repay the loans on time in order to stand a better chance of getting more in the next disbursement schedule. She charged the women to make good use of the soft loans. The beneficiaries thanked Government for the soft loans and promised to make good use of the money. They also promised to pay on time in order to stand another chance of receiving more. Below are some pictures: Story by: Joshua Kwabena Smith

Deputy Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, responsible for Lands and Forestry, and Chairman of the Appiatse Reconstruction Implementation Team, Benito Owusu-Bio has on Friday, 28th October, 2022 paid a working visit to Appiatse to among others inspect the level progress on site. Upon inspection of all the 6 lots on site, Hon. Owusu-Bio warned the Rural housing team who are in charge of the production and supply of bricks for the construction, to speed up work least they risk losing their place as the main suppliers of bricks for the project. Judging from the rate of production of bricks, he charged the Project consultants, AESL to as a matter of necessity, get alternative suppliers for the bricks to help accelerate production and replace or complement the work of the Rural Housing team. He also instructed the consultants to be on top of their game, and get all constructors up and doing as he said the President of the Republic, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo will soon pay a visit to the site. "Tidy up the site and well define the road demarcations to make the site look complete and more welcoming, the President must come to meet something better than what we see today" The Deputy Minister congratulated contractors who have built up to the window level, while encouraging those who are yet to get to that stage to erect straight and neat columns in place on the platforms to get a skeleton framework before the bricks are layed. Breifing the Deputy Minister on the progress of work, Mr. Walter Semordzie, the Site Manager with the Project Consultants, AESL, who also took the Deputy Minister around named contractors who are progressing on their plots and those trailing behind. Detailing that some reallocation and adjustments have been made on site to complement the speed of work, giving out more plots to those who have completed their brick works. He assured the Deputy Minister that all instructions will be taken into immediate action and implemented as soon as practicable. Below are some pictures: Story by: Nadia Aidoo

Director of Communications for the New Patriotic Party (NPP) Mr Richard Ahiagbah has said there was nothing new in the address delivered by former President John Dramani Mahama. In a tweet, Mr Ahiagbah said “39 pages of little. Nothing new was said. We are fixing the problem.” Delivering the address on Thursday at the University of Professional Studies, Accra (UPSA), Mr Mahama blamed the economic challenges on the Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta. He said among other things that Mr Ofori-Atta has been neglecting advice from seasoned experts at the Finance Ministry. Mr. Mahama said the Finance Minister rather chooses to listen to staff of his Databank on how to run the economy. Mr. Mahama blamed the economy challenges partly on this situation. Delivering an address at the University of Professional Studies, Accra (UPSA) on Thursday October 27, he said “We’ve had our own set of challenges in government but nothing we did, or the outcome thereof, has come anywhere close to the disaster unfolding before our eyes today." "To be clear, we are in this mess because an untouchable finance minister, relying on his Databank workers, and neglecting the advice of seasoned experts at the Finance Ministry, has been left to run this economy into the ground.“ "We are in this mess because a so-called “solid economic management team” over the last few years, has been unable to call the President’s cousin to order when he embarked on a reckless borrowing spree, indiscriminate closure of indigenous banks and financial institutions, and creative presentation of economic statistics to make our situation lookrosier than the reality" “We are in this mess because we have a President who fails to take responsibility and has instead left the nation on autopilot in the hands of bungling ministers who he describes as ‘excellent’.“Last December the President is on record as having said the present economic mess is not his fault.” He added “For emphasis, the biggest blame for the current tragic situation with oureconomy lies with the very people charged with managing the country— not with the pandemic, not with the war— our country has been unprofessionally, and Ghana has been treated like an experimental playground and a family heirloom.“ "And I regret to say, this was all avoidable.” Credit: 3news.com

Former President John Dramani Mahama believes that Ghanaians have what it takes to turn the country’s economy around if they consume more locally produced food including ‘gobe’ (beans and fried plantain). He was optimistic that the economy will get better if the citizenry consume whatever is produced locally. "Unfortunately, that project also stalled with the advent of the Akufo-Addo administration.A resurrection of all these projects and ideas will not only create jobs for our youth and other able-bodied Ghanaians but will in the medium-term help Ghana attain and consolidate its status as a middle-income country.We must plug the loopholes in our gold export industry to reap better returns from this extractive activity that is causing so much destruction to our environment.It is trite knowledge that the figures we capture in respect of our gold exports are far lower than the quantity of the metal that leaves our shores.Better accountability in this sector can yield hundreds of millions of dollars more for the national kitty.“ "It is said that desperate times call for desperate measures. There is no denying that we are in desperate times. While responsibility for the difficulties we face lies with the Akufo-Addoand Bawumia government, there are things we can do as citizens in our own small way to minimize the suffering we are going through and help Government turn the situation around.“ "A good way to start will be to regulate and minimize our expenditure by sticking to only the things that we really need. As much as possible, we need to acquire and sustain a taste and preference for locally manufactured products. If we must buy consumables or food products, let us choose that rice or chicken that is produced locally so that it doesn’t become necessary to find millions of dollars to import the same items.“ "Let us consciously eat more of our local foods like yam, and local grains. cassava, beans, local fruits, and vegetables. That way, we reduce demand for foreign currency, reduce the pressure on our currency and boost domestic production to create a win-winsituation.” The former President also advised the citizenry to cut down on non-essential foreign travel and cut down on expensive foreign products in their homes. "If there ever was a time to be thrifty, this is it! Even after an IMF programme has been agreed upon, the austerity of the next few years is going to be severe.We save scarce family resources and use them for only the most priority expenditure,” Mr. Mahama said when speaking at the University of Professional Studies, Accra (UPSA) on Thursday, October 27, 2022. He expressed optimism that “together we can save Ghana and build the Ghana we want regardless of how bad the situation is. I still have hope that we can turn things around" "Wholeheartedly, I believe in the resilience of our people.” The NDC 2020 Presidential Candidate, therefore, urged the country’s security agencies to “remain loyal to the state and the constitution. The current economic situation does not give excuses to engage in any unconstitutional acts, we can turn the situation around.” Ghana is facing economic challenges just as other countries are also doing. The local currency, the Cedi is performing poorly against the Dollar. Credit: Kumasi Online

The Police have arrested twenty-nine suspects for their involvement in violent clashes between two factions at New Tulaku, Ashaiman, in the Greater Accra Region in the wee hours of October 28, 2022. Initial investigation has disclosed that a misunderstanding between two rival factions at the New Tulaku meat market resulted in the attack in which six people sustained various degrees of injuries, the Police said in a statement on Friday. The injured are currently at the hospital receiving medical attention, and are all in stable condition, according to the medical authorities. The police have since restored calm and deepened personnel presence at Ashaiman and its environs. "IInvestigation continues and all those involved will be brought to justice,” the statement added. Source: 3news.com

Former President John Dramani Mahama has blamed Ghana’s woes on the Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta. Mr. Mahama described Mr Ofori-Atta as an untouchable appointee of the President who is creating problems for the economy. Delivering an address at the University of Professional Studies, Accra (UPSA) on Thursday October 27, he said “We’ve had our own set of challenges in government but nothing we did, or the outcome thereof, has come anywhere close to the disaster unfolding before our eyes today." “To be clear, we are in this mess because an untouchable finance minister, relying on his Databank workers, and neglecting the advice of seasoned experts at the Finance Ministry, has been left to run this economy into the ground.“ "We are in this mess because a so-called “solid economic management team” over the last few years, has been unable to call the President’s cousin to order when he embarked on a reckless borrowing spree, indiscriminate closure of indigenous banks and financial institutions, and creative presentation of economic statistics to make our situation lookrosier than the reality.“ "We are in this mess because we have a President who fails to take responsibility and has instead left the nation on autopilot in the hands of bungling ministers who he describes as ‘excellent’. Last December the President is on record as having said the present economic mess is not his fault.” Meanwhile, the Majority in Parliament has agreed to a plea by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to have his ministers at the Finance Ministry stay on a little longer despite pressure from the caucus. Some members of the Majority caucus on Tuesday, October 25 demanded the removal of the sector minister, Kenneth Nana Yaw Ofori-Atta, and the Minister of State at the Ministry, Charles Adu Boahen, as well as their deputies for the poor management of the country’s economy. They threatened that they will have no business to do in Parliament for the government if this demand is not met. "We are by this medium communicating our strong desire that the President changes the Minister of Finance and the Minister of State in the Finance Ministry without further delay,” Asante-Akyem North Member (MP) Andy Appiah-Kubi led the over 80 MPs. "We want to serve notice, and notice is hereby served that until such persons as aforementioned are made to resign or removed from office, we members of the Majority Caucus here in Parliament will not participate in any business of Government by or, for the president by any other Minster.” A meeting was subsequently called later Tuesday evening by President Akufo-Addo, who appealed for some time for his embattled ministers especially as Ghana is negotiating a deal with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the 2023 budget is also being compiled. Majority Leader Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu on Wednesday, in an interview with TV3‘s Roland Walker, promised to go back to the aggrieved MPs for a meeting and get back to the President. On Wednesday, he released a statement on the outcome of the meeting with all the Majority MPs. “After deliberations among the Majority Caucus today, Wednesday, 26th October, 2022, it was agreed to accede to the President’s plea.” Credit: 3news.com

Deputy Minister for Lands and Natural Resources responsible for Mines, Hon. George Mireku Duker has expressed optimism that Ghana’s waterbodies which have been polluted by illegal mining activities could regain their lost purity status by March 2023 if we are all committed to the fight against illegal mining. Hon. Mireku Duker is reassured and encouraged by the fact that the measures introduced by government are already yielding results and that if the trend is sustained by the first quarter of 2023, there will be a drastic improvement in the quality of the water bodies. He noted that the training of river wardens, who will compliment the Operation Halt II taskforce is another laudable initiative by government towards the liberation of waterbodies from galamsey operations. Speaking at a Community Sensitization on Illegal Mining in Tarkwa on Thursday, October 27, 2022, Hon. Mireku Duker averred that the introduction of digital innovations such as registering and tracking of all earth moving equipment in the country as well as the Community Mining Scheme will guarantee success for government in its fight against illegal mining. He, however asserted that the innovations and efforts by government will not see the light of day if traditional authorities and residents of mining communities do not join in the fight against illegal mining. He, therefore threw a challenge to the chiefs and residents of Tarkwa and its environs to extend helping hands to government purge the Bonsa River of the pollution from galamsey operations. Hon. Mireku Duker appealed during the engagement at Tarkwa that if the residents cooperate with the government, he is certain without any sense of ambiguity that by March 2023, the Bonsa River passes through the community would be pure and safe. He cautioned the mining communities that government which has demonstrated strong commitment to protecting legal small-scale mining businesses would be left with no option to heed to the call of those who are asking for a ban on small scale mining if it does not enjoy the collaborative efforts of the indigenes of the communities. “There are suggestions for government to close down small-scale mining activities but we are aware of the number of job opportunities created in the small-scale mining sector. The Bonsa River has been destroyed. 100 years ago, they mined gold here in Tarkwa but the river was clear so how have we allowed greed to make us destroy our river”, he said. “Because myself, my Minister Hon. Samuel A. Jinapor believes in small-scale mining, we have the blessings of President Akufo-Addo to promote mining but in a very sustainable and responsible way. If you don’t want government to ban small-scale mining, all of you gathered here must help clean the Bonsa River. The chiefs, small-scale miners and everyone here has a role to play to protect the Bonsa River. The Small-scale miners have assured the MCE during a meeting that by the end of December, the Bonsa would have cleared" “The leadership of the small-scale miners in Accra have also assured us of their support to ensure that the Birim River in the Eastern region is cleared. It is the responsibility of everyone to fight illegal mining. Government alone cannot fight illegal mining, we need your collaboration. Government has recruited river wardens whose job is to provide constant patrol of the Pra, Tano, Bonsa, Ankobrah, among others. They’ve been given speedboats to do their job. The riverguards have uniforms stuffed with body cameras and their movements will be monitored,” he said. The MCE for Tarkwa-Nsuaem, Benjamin Kesse said the people of Tarkwa-Nsuaem will not sit down aloof and watch others destroy their livelihoods. He assured that they will provide intelligence to the security authorities about galamsey operators. Nana Adakwa Bediako III, Dzasehene of Apinto commended the government for the Community Mining scheme in the area, revealing that many lives have been impacted positively by the innovative mining scheme. He promised that his community will not allow galamsey operators create a bad name for them. Below are some pictures: Story by: Joshua Kwabena Smith

The Office of the Administrator of Stool Lands, a department under the Lands Ministry has joined the Ministry’s digitalisation drive with the Launch of their Revenue Application in collaboration with GIZ, a German Based Cooperation in Ghana. The OASL Revenue App is a web-based application purpose-built with functionalities and tools to enable data collection, billing, revenue collection and payments. The Application is built on street address maps from MMDAs, OASL Revenue tables and details of the respective OASL district offices. Speaking at the launch which was organised on the sidelines of the Ghana Digital Innovation Week, the Deputy Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, responsible for Lands and Forestry Hon. Benito Owusu-Bio congratulated the Office for the initiative, saying that he pleased the OASL RevApp has joined the digital transformation journey of Ghana. The Deputy Minister acknowledged government's efforts in digitalisation indicating that "Through the capable hands of the Vice President, HE Alhaji Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, the Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo administration has been taking very aggressive steps to hasten the nation's transition from a predominantly paper system to a paperless system, by leveraging technology to streamline many Government processes" He noted that all these efforts by government have yielded significant advantages, necessitating the need for government agencies to transition their operations to a digital platform in order to increase accessibility, accountability, and revenue mobilization. Hon. Owusu-Bio allueded that in the past, the many manual challenges of the OASL, restricted their operations but hoped that with this software, field operations will be automated, and the scope of coverage of the Office’s operations will be expanded, which will ultimately optimize revenue collection and management. He was also of the positive view that the OASL's present digitalization of operations will enable the office to accomplish much more in these areas, terminig the event as revolutionary one. He entreated the staff of the OASL to take advantage of the initiative to learn all there is to know about this software and make optimum use of it to raise revenue for the socio-economic development of our country Ghana. The Chairman of the ocassion and Chief of Adusena in the Eastern Region, Nana Dr. Boni Abankro V in his address applauded the efforts of the OASL and GIZ for coming up with such an initiative which he termed as a "tremendous achievement" to among others collate the country’s land revenues properly. He said he is now confident and has no doubts the OASL can indeed manage the country’s lands, urging occupants of the stools and families to have trust in the OASL to deliver on the job. He proposed to government and the Ministry to rob in OASL in the  fight against illegal mining as they are mostly in constant contact with traditional authorities in the various districts and regions of Ghana. Mrs. Maame Ama Edumadze-Acquah, the Administrator of Stool Lands, in her submission said over the years the Office has been searching for sustainable and smart ways of enhancing stool lands revenue mobilisation through the use of mordern technology and therefore the introduction of this App is a dream come true and has rendered their manual operations, obsolete. She said her Office has boldly embraced the digitalisation drive to address the numerous limitations of it's operations and recognize the need for database development, rent assessment, revenue collection and management. She appreciated the GIZ team for their efforts and financial support in ensuring the realisation of their dream of digitalizing Revenue collection "We very grateful for your immense support and efforts, you have given us all we need to make this App work and you are still with us helping train our staff do better and for this we are thankful" The App she said is expected to present a Morden digital solution for the end-to-end revenue operaions of OASL while urging all to support her outfit on their new venture of digitalizing operations, specifically revenue collection and mobilisation. Raphael Frerking, the Program Manager Governance for Inclusive Development at GIZ on his part, said GIZ supported OASL with the development of the Revenue Application, and the OASL Portal, which allows citizens to manage payments for their Ground rent and other royalties based on the traditional land law. The GIZ Program Manager further elaborated that the GIZ also supports the rollout of these applications to all 14 regional offices of OASL by training a core team to implement the roll-out, adding that 9 out of the 14 roll out have already been done and looks foward to complete the task with the 5 regions left. He indicated that aside OASL, his outfit has also supported the digitisation of revenue management processes for several other organisations in the last 10 years. Below are some pictures: Story by: Joshua Kwabena Smith

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo will be addressing the nation on the economy on Sunday October 30. He announced this on Thursday October 27. “I will be addressing the nation on the economy on Sunday, 30th October, 2022 at 8pm. Watch it live on @NAkufoAddo, GTV and all major news networks across the country. #BouncingBackTogether,” Mr Akufo-Addo said in a tweet. See tweet below: Credit: 3news.com

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has described as “unfortunate” failure by the police to grab the killers of Ahmed Hussei-Suale three years on. Wondering whether the investigative journalist was killed for his profession or otherwise, President Akufo-Addo said the inability to unravel the cause of death is negatively affecting Ghana’s press freedom image. “Unfortunately for us, despite the very widespread effort made by the police and the CID, we still have not been able to lay hands on the perpetrators of Suale’s death,” he lamented to the leadership of the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) at the Jubilee House on Wednesday, October 26. “It is unfortunate. So, even though he is a journalist, we still don’t know why he was killed, whether because of the work he was doing or other matters.” Ahmed Hussein-Suale was shot thrice on his shoulders by two men on motor bikes on Wednesday, January 16, 2019 near his Madina residence. The attackers were said to have laid in wait for hours before perpetrating the heinous crime. He was then part of investigations by Tiger Eye PI that had led to a landmark exposé of corruption in Ghana football. Police are still investigating the crime with no one arrested as of yet despite a few persons picked up for interrogation. President Akufo-Addo assured the leadership of GJA of the general safety of journalists in the country. “The safety of journalists in Ghana has to be considered as sacrosanct; sacrosanct from members of the community, sacrosanct from agencies of the state and we must live in a country where journalists have to feel safe to go about their work because the work they do for the country and the community is extremely important.” The leadership of GJA had called on the President after assuming the reins as executives of the Association. Credit: 3news.com

An Economist, Mr Kwame Pianim has criticized the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) for stationing officers in shops to collect taxes. He condemned this approach and further described it as ‘irritating’. He explained in an interview with TV3’s Paa Kwesi Asare on Wednesday October 26 that the decision came at a time Ghanaians were going through untold hardships. He said “cut expenditure, not planting GRA officers in shops, people are suffering, when people are suffering that is not when you irritate them. “Things are not going well and we are looking for the President to come up the way he did during Covid, we need a credible message from him that ‘I am going to cut expenditure to stabilize the economy’.” The GRA recently positioned its officers at shops, restaurants, and other businesses in some parts of the country including the Ashanti region. The officers were tasked to take details of sales for tax purposes. This infuriated the shop owners leading to the shut down to protest against the GRA’s action. This attracted flak from some quarters including a Deputy Communications of the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) Ernest Owusu Bempah. Mr Owusu Bempah called for the sacking of the GRA boss for what he believed was a poor approach to collecting taxes. “What is his motivation for doing this in the Ashanti Region which is the stronghold of the NPP? Who is behind him? “You don’t put system in place, no consultation done before you roll out this, the man should be sacked,” he said in a statement. Credit: 3news.com

Minister for Education, Dr. Yaw Adutwum has urged pupils of The Morning Star School to have dreams that will scare them to do more in their academics. The Minister made these known while interacting with pupils of the school during a working visit on Thursday. Interacting with the students, the Education Minister said “Life is a miracle. Your miracle comes when you get to do what you never thought you will be able to do. So I always encourage people that don’t think of becoming just a Medical Doctor, dream of developing of building medical hospitals across Africa” “Have a dream that can scare you and when you have that dream, you don’t play around. Your dream is so big that you don’t have time to waste” He challenged the pupils to use their weekend revise what has already been taught as well as read ahead, adding that such practices will always boot the learning skills of the child. “Spend your Saturdays and Sundays well. Make time to read. Dream of becoming someone great in the world. Pick-up your books and read. Reading should not be about what has been assigned to you. Read on your own and improve your vocabulary” Addressing the media after his tour, the Education Minister said “I want to underscore the importance of the private sector-public sector working together. When the private sector does well, they do it for the country so I want to encourage Private Sector workers to know that the Ministry is behind them” He added that the Education Ministry will continue to support the Private Sector to be able to achieve more. “It is important that public schools collaborate with private schools. There are some best practices here. We don’t need to travel abroad to get best practices. On her part, Director of Administration, Nana Yaa Siriboe said “We are happy and honoured to have you here today. It helps and boost our moral and it encourages us to do the good works we have set forth to do” She added that impacting knowledge in the lives of children for them to become great personalities has always been a dream thus her running of The Morning Star School. She assured the Education Minister that she will ensure more great minds are churned out from The Morning Star School. Below are some videos and pictures: Story by: Joshua Kwabena Smith