Cuba wants US blockage lifted

By Joyceline Natally Cudjoe

Raul Castro, President of Cuba

The Cuban government has appealed to the United Nations (UN) and other International communities to intervene in the economic, commercial and financial blockade imposed on Cubans by the United States of America (USA).

It said the policy which frowned on the diplomatic relations between US and Cuba has retarded the Cuba’s economic development and led to increasing suffering of the people.

Speaking at a press conference on Wednesday in Accra, the Cuba Ambassador to Ghana, Pedro Luis Despaigne Gonzalez reechoed Cuba’s report on Resolution 71/5 of the United Nations General Assembly.

The report titled; “Necessity of ending the economic, commercial and financial blockade imposed by the United States of America against Cuba,” seeks to address the negative impacts of the blockade policy on Cuba.

It indicated that US President, Donald Trump on June 16, 2017, signed a National Security Presidential Memorandum on Strengthening the policy of the United States towards Cuba.

This directive according to the report would tighten the blockade and make public health, food industry and agriculture, education, travelling and trade very difficult for the people of Cuba.

The report stated that President Trump has failed to adopt the derogated Presidential Policy Directive “United States- Cuba Normalisation” issued by President Barack Obama on October 14, 2016, which recognised that the blockade was an obsolete policy which would be lifted.

“The US Treasury Department on March 15, 2016, stating that Cuba would be allowed to use US dollars in its international transactions and that US Banks would be allowed to grant credits to Cuban importers for the purchase of authorised US products, so far Cuba has not been able to carry out any significant international operation in this currency,” the report said.

Mr. Gonzalez said the current USA President has increased coercive measures against Cuba adding that; “he has modified the implementation of some aspects of the blockade in the areas of travelling and trade.”

He said the blockade which was imposed on them for more than 50 years constituted a massive, flagrant, and systematic violation of the human rights of the Cuban people saying “it is unjust and should be stopped immediately.” 

He further stated that President Tramp had proclaimed that US would oppose all demands in favour of the lifting of the blockade at the United Nations Organization and other international for a, irrespective of the views expressed by the international community and the public opinion of broad sectors of the US society.

Mr. Gonzalez bemoaned that foreign companies fear to have commercial relations with Cuba stressing that the blockade had become an obstacle to the implementation of the National Economic and Social Development Plan of the country.

“The blockade generated greater distrust and uncertainty among financial institutions and even among US suppliers due to fears and a real risk of being penalised for having relations with Cuba,” he said.

ENGINEERS ASKED TO FULLY PARTICIPATE IN THE ONE-DISTRICT, ONE-FACTORY POLICY

By Joyceline Natally Cudjoe

The President of the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET), Ghana, Emmanuel Kwesi Boadu has entreated inducted engineers of the institute to participate professionally to help in the implementation of the ‘One-District, One-Factory’ policy.

According to him, this would boost the government’s policy and transform the economy to suit the present generation.

Mr. Boadu made the appeal at the induction ceremony in Accra on Thursday.

Mrs Eva Bannerman Williams, a Circuit Judge inducted 80 new members into the engineering professional body.

Mr Boadu indicated that inductees should abide by ethics of the profession to promote the welfare and integrity of the engineering constitution.

“You shouldn’t compromise in supervising shoddy works which would tarnish the image of the institution and yourselves,” he stressed.

Mr Boadu urged them to be transparent and practice their profession devoid of unprofessional conduct.

However, he appealed to the government to allocate 20-30 percent of the districts selected to the Ghanaian Machinery and Equipment Manufacturers to enable them to use their skills in transferring their acquired technology to the citizenry.

Rev. Dr. Eric Ankrah, the Immediate Past President of IET, advised the inducted engineers to be innovative and put into practice their entrepreneurial ideas acquired.

“Tap into your knowledge and come out with innovative ideas that would transform the economy in a good direction,” he advised.

He bemoaned the rate at which engineers were not being creative compelling some Ghanaians to lose trust in local engineers thus making them lose big contracts to foreigners.

Rev. Ankrah challenged engineers to take full advantage of the ‘One-District, One-Factory’ flagship policy of the government to show to Ghanaians how skillful, innovative and creative they are.

Adopt emergency standards operating procedures-Ambrose Dery charge GNFS

Minister for the Interior, Ambrose Dery has charged the Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS) to collaborate with other security and emergency services to adopt emergency standards operating procedures.

At the opening of the 11th Directors’ and Regional Fire Officers’ Conference yesterday in Accra, he said such procedures will go a long way to minimize fatalities especiallyduring national emergencies.

In a speech read on his behalf by his Deputy, Mr Henry Quartey, he further challenged the service to build its capacity to meet the numerous challenges of an emerging petro-chemical industry.

The two day conference dubbed “Transformational Leadership for efficient service delivery” will afford participants the platform to brainstorm on issues confronting and ways to address them.

Mr Dery commended the service for its timely invention during the Atomic Junction Fire that helped minimize the situation, saying “This is what Ghanaians expects from its trained and experienced fire men.”

On incidents of fire, he said 3,377 outbreaks were recorded from January to September (First three quarters) of 2017 as compared to 5,638 in the same period   last year, indicating a 41 per cent decrease.

He said the estimated cost  of damage , so far this year,  was nearly 27 million  compared to about  91million last year, also showing a decrease.

However, he said “Let’s not rest on our laurels. We still have an uphill task in this regard. We must continue to strive to bring down fire outbreaks to the barest minimum.”

In this regard, the Minister charged the fire service   to scale up its mass sensitization and education drive to drum home the safety fire consciousness in the citizenry.

Mr Dery assured the GNFS of government’s commitment to support it in the areas of human resource, logistics and other needs to enable it effectively executive its mandate.

Acting Chief Fire Officer, Mr Edwin Ekow Blankson, said efforts were being made to provide every Indecent Responder with a dedicated Fire Proactive Clothing to prevent communicable diseases among Incident Respondents.

He said the GNFS will also have Fire simulators of international standards to facilitate the training of fire fighters to effectively fight industrial and domestic fire.

He expressed gratitude to government for its support and stressed GNFS’ commitment to its fire prevention and management mandate and will bring up pragmatic solutions to move the service forward.

PATRONISE THE LOCAL POULTRY PRODUCTS -- GHANAIANS URGED

 By Joyceline Natally Cudjoe

Miss Sharp (in black) inspecting the prepared dishes

The Regional Director of United States of America Poultry and Egg Export Council (USAPEEC), Zelda Sharp has entreated Ghanaians to patronise the local poultry products.

This, she said, would serve as a boost to the youth to engage in the local poultry production since there would be ready market for the produce.

Miss Zelda Sharp made the call at the Ghana and America recipe competition in Accra on Thursday, organised by USAPEEC in collaboration with Ghana National Association of Poultry Farmers (GNAPF) to promote consumption of Ghanaian and American chicken.

She indicated that the consumption of local poultry would boost sales, adding that “this would help to reduce the country’s over dependence on imported poultry from some countries which produced unwholesome poultry.”

According to her, increased local production would also help to create employment for the youth.

She said through the competition, the catering students would be educated on the difference between local and foreign chicken and how to prepare food with it in order to improve their cooking skills when they establish their restaurants in future.

participants of the competition showcasing the prepared dishes

“We need the students to know the differences between the two types of chicken so as to help in enhancing their cooking skills,” she stressed.

She urged the local farmers to rear the chickens well in other to motivate people to buy by giving them healthy food and potable water.

The Programme Manager, Madam Elizabeth Bonney said that the competition would educate the public to shun the negative perceptions they have concerning the consumption of local chicken.

“Many people think chicken is not healthy so we will educate the public on how healthy it is to consume chicken through this competition,” she said.

Madam Bonney noted that the consumption of chicken was healthier and wholesome than meat, therefore, Ghanaians should not relent in patronizing it.

 “We are collaborating with America to import wholesome chicken in addition to the one that we have here in order to cater for everyone’s need,” she said.

The participants after the competition

BE SPECIFIC WITH YOUR ALLEGATION GOV'T TELLS ANTI CORRUPTION CRUSADERS

By Joyceline Natally Cudjoe

Government has asked anti-corruption crusaders and senior citizens to be specific with their allegations instead of making general statements.

This, according to Information Minister Mustapha Abdul-Hamid would enable government deal with the allegations effectively.

Interacting with the media yesterday, he described recent allegations by former Moderator of the Presbyterian church of Ghana, Rev. Prof. Emmanuel Martey as “nebulous.”

The outspoken former Moderator is reported to have said at a lecture last week that government officials had started showing signs of corruption and further urged President Akufo-Addo to immediately stop them.

But reacting to the issue which has dominated the media, Mr. Abdul-Hamid said in as much as government welcomed criticisms, it expects them to be based on actualities and not perception.

“ As a senior citizen , we would want to urge him to go beyond talking generalities to giving us concrete examples that we can put our hand on and make an example for people to be deterred.” he said.

He said President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo was determined to fight corruption and that any pointers to potential and actual corruptions will be dealt with head on.

He said government takes seriously views on corruption issues because the fight against corrupt is of high priority to government and that the President did not expect matters of corruption to be handled like any other political issues.

On the appointment of 110 ministers cited by Rev. Prof Martey as recipe for corruption, he said the numbers did not matter but the attitude of the government on corruption.

He said government’s efforts to clean payroll off ghost names, action to reduce sole sourcing and ensure sanity in procurement regime, among others shows government’s resolve to protect the public purse.

HO TECH. & GIMPA WON EASTERN ZONE INTER-UNIVERSITY QUIZ COMPETITION

By Joyceline Natally Cudjoe

Ho Technical University and Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA) have emerged winners of the 2017 Eastern Zone Inter-University quiz Competition.

The two schools beat their five contenders to qualify for the national constitution quiz which will take place in February next year.

The remaining five schools that participated in the quiz were Islamic University, All Nations University, University of Professional Studies Accra (UPSA), Ashesi University and the University of Ghana (UG), Legon.

The competition which was organised by National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) was on the theme “Restoring our Ghanaian Values as Active Citizens”.

It among others aimed at ensuring that students and the youth in general appreciate the constitution of the country, helping them know their fundamental rights and also increase their sense of patriotism.

The Chairperson of the NCCE, Mrs. Josephine Nkrumah said the contest afforded students the opportunity to deepen their understanding of the constitution and helped them participate in local and national governance.

She indicated that, her outfit was poised on ensuring that young Ghanaians become responsible members of the society “who are well inclined with the law and participate thoughtfully in public affairs.”

Mrs. Elizabeth Sackey, the Greater Accra Deputy Regional Minister lauded the NCCE for the initiative.

She said constitution represents the symbol of nationhood and embodies the rights of citizens, thus the need for the youth to consciously leverage the acquisition of the constitutional knowledge.

She encouraged the students to make it a priority to preserve the laws of the country and foster consistent commitment to the fundamental values and principles of the land, as expressed in the constitution.

According to Mrs. Elizabeth Sackey, teaching and learning of the constitution in school curriculum would go a long way to totally transform the minds of the youth.

She reiterated the need for students to desist from seeing the constitution as just an embodiment of rules, laws and principle of national life but as something very crucial to survival and national heritage that safeguard their rights at all times.

Int’l Day of the Girl Child marked

By Joyceline Natally Cudjoe

The 6^th International Day of the Girl Child (IDGC) was marked on Wednesday in Accra with an appealed to Ghanaians to advance gender equality.

The event which was held under the global theme “Girls’ progress =Goals’ progress: A Global Girl Data Movement” witnessed pupils from various schools being educated on how to fight for their right as females.

The programme which was organised by Power to Girls Foundation (PGF), Women in Law and Development in Africa (WILDAF) and Crossroad 

International (CI) aimed to highlight and address the needs and challenges girls face, while promoting girl’s empowerment and the fulfillment of their human rights.

Ms. Djifa Ahado, the First Secretary (Development) and Senior Programme Analyst of the Canada High Commission who read a speech on behalf of the Government of Canada said girls are powerful constituency for shaping a sustainable world.

“There are 1.1 billion girls in the world today and they are powerful for shaping a sustainable world that is better for everyone,” she said.

She indicated that girls are talented and could drive forward the developmental agenda of the country, adding that if society quit discriminating against the girl child, there would be an immense benefit that would hone a brighter future for the country.

Ms. Ahado noted that girls are very creative as such their challenges should be addressed to eliminate the intergenerational transmission of poverty and violence in achieving equitable and sustainable development outcomes.

“You are brimming with talents and creativity but your dreams and potentials may be thwarted by discrimination, violence and lack of equal opportunities,” she said.   

The Member of Parliament for Korle Klottey, Dr. Zenator Agyeman-Rawlings in her remarks urged Ghanaians to desist from verbally assaulting politicians saying, “this act has shun many women from rising up in the political landscape because they do not want to be the subject of abuse.”

She said the landscape of politics could be changed if society quit abusing females verbally, adding that women and girls should be inspired in order for them to contribute their quota to nation building.

Dr. Agyeman-Rawlings further stated that girls have the potentials to change the world thus they should be empowered for more equitable and prosperous future by solving issues that hinder their socio-economic growth.

She advised the youth in academia to be truthful, stressing the need for discipline and right consciousness to promote peace, sustainable culture and integrity of the country.

“Education is not all about reading and writing, it is also about right conscience and discipline that can make good impact on the lives of others,” she advised.

Ms. Mary Achieng Ojuka, the Marketing Manager of Fay International Limited, producers of Faytex Pads addressed the challenges girls face during menstruations and educated them on menstrual hygiene management.

She bemoaned that some girls on the African continent either missed days at school or dropped out of school entirely because they did not have access to appropriate facilities to manage their menstruation.

Ms. Ojuka pledged her support to irradiate such situation; she distributed Faytex pads to the pupils.