Thirteen thousand students from junior and senior high schools nation wide last year took part in HIV/AIDS awareness creation projects designed to prevent the spread of the disease in the country.
The awareness creation campaign, which was undertaken by the students themselves, was to break the barrier of age which sometimes worked against HIV/AIDS campaigns.
The project offered opportunities to the youth to relate stories on HIV/AIDS to their fellow youth, thereby removing the communication gaps which usually existed between the youth and adults.
The acting President of AIESEC, the world’s largest students organisation, Ms Lydia Elim Andrews, said the organisation provided students with the opportunity to develop themselves by avoiding HIV/AIDS, one of the killer diseases affecting the youth worldwide.
She said the Ghana branch of AIESEC also implemented three projects for young entrepreneurs in 2009, including Information and Communications Technology training for students of the University of Ghana, the Central University College and the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology.
Ms Andrews said as part of its achievements in 2009, AIESEC offered opportunities to 200 students to benefit from exchange programmes with other international bodies.
She said only five Ghanaian students were able to travel outside for the exchange programme because of financial constraints and appealed to corporate organisations to assist the organisation in its efforts at training the future leaders of the country.
She said in 2009, AIESEC also assisted in the organisation of Afritour, which was aimed at attracting more tourists into the country and generating foreign exchange for the development of tourism sites in the country.
Ms Andrews said a year-long programme of activities had been drawn up to mark the 50th anniversary of AIESEC, beginning from July this year to July 2011.
Newly elected executive members of AIESEC for 2011 were introduced at the dinner and awards night.
Mr Kwesi Tabiri Fosu, the new President of the organisation, will preside over the projects for 2011.
The dinner also saw the presentation of certificates to a number of institutions for assisting the students movement to undertake projects.
Some of the award-winning organisations were the Ghana Immigration Service for assisting AIESEC members to go through immigration formalities without undue hindrances and delays, the Central University College, the University of Cape Coast and the University of Ghana for running the best AIESEC programmes and projects and for their membership drive.
Another institution that was singled out for awards was Standard Chartered Bank, which sponsored most of the projects and programmes of AIESEC, while Toyota Ghana received commendation for sponsoring the awards nights.
Monday, May 31, 2010
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
GOVT INCREASES PREMIX ALLOCATION (BACK PAGE, MAY 19, 2010)
THE weekly allocation of premix fuel has been increased from 810,000 litres to 1,380,000 litres as an additional measure by the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA) to enable fishermen to attain bumper yields during the peak fishing season which begins in June.
The Deputy Minister of Food and Agriculture in charge of Fisheries, Nii Amasah Namoale, told the Daily Graphic that in addition to the increased supply of premix, more than 170 landing beach committees had been formed under the restructuring exercise to be solely in charge of the distribution of premix directly to the fishing communities.
He announced that as part of the preparation for the fishing season, which begins at the end of this month, MoFA had acquired 1,000 outboard motors through the Agricultural Development Bank (ADB) for distribution to both inland and offshore fishermen to help them carry out their fishing expeditions with modern equipment.
The Deputy Minister said another batch of 3,000 outboard motors was being negotiated for from India to augment the fleet of outboard motors for the expected bumper harvest this season.
That, he said, was to mark the departure from the lassez faire attitude that characterised the sale of premix in the past and which led to the diversion of the product, at the expense of the fishing communities.
He urged the fishing communities to reciprocate the government’s gesture by desisting from the use of undersized nets, dynamite and poisonous chemicals such as DDT for fishing, which he said destroyed the fish stock, including the fingerlings.
He said the government was seeking funds to undertake feasibility studies of the 14 landing beaches to be constructed in the country with cold storage facilities to add value to fish during the season.
He said the government had streamlined the sale of the product and crafted guidelines to regulate the operations of the landing beach committees, the result of which would manifest during the bumper season in June, July and August.
He said unlike the past when the hyper rich hijacked the sale and distribution of the product and nothing was left for the communities, now 53 per cent of the profit made on premix was allocated to the fishing communities for social responsibility projects.
The Deputy Minister expressed regret that in the past no school or clinic was built for the fishing communities from the profits from the sale of premix and gave an assurance that henceforth the profit made by the Landing Beach Committees would be used to build clinics and schools and purchase fishing nets and gear for fishermen.
He praised some fishing communities where the fishermen had started using the profits to register their members on the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS).
Nii Namoale said his ministry had banned pair trawling, noting that since he assumed office as Deputy Minister, no permit had been issued to any company to fish in the country’s territorial waters using pair trawlers.
He assured the fishing communities that any company caught practising pair trawling would be prosecuted.
He said the defunct Ministry of Fisheries left behind a debt of £4 million which had become a great burden for the Fisheries Department to shoulder, in addition to discharging its present commitment to the fishing industry.
The Deputy Minister of Food and Agriculture in charge of Fisheries, Nii Amasah Namoale, told the Daily Graphic that in addition to the increased supply of premix, more than 170 landing beach committees had been formed under the restructuring exercise to be solely in charge of the distribution of premix directly to the fishing communities.
He announced that as part of the preparation for the fishing season, which begins at the end of this month, MoFA had acquired 1,000 outboard motors through the Agricultural Development Bank (ADB) for distribution to both inland and offshore fishermen to help them carry out their fishing expeditions with modern equipment.
The Deputy Minister said another batch of 3,000 outboard motors was being negotiated for from India to augment the fleet of outboard motors for the expected bumper harvest this season.
That, he said, was to mark the departure from the lassez faire attitude that characterised the sale of premix in the past and which led to the diversion of the product, at the expense of the fishing communities.
He urged the fishing communities to reciprocate the government’s gesture by desisting from the use of undersized nets, dynamite and poisonous chemicals such as DDT for fishing, which he said destroyed the fish stock, including the fingerlings.
He said the government was seeking funds to undertake feasibility studies of the 14 landing beaches to be constructed in the country with cold storage facilities to add value to fish during the season.
He said the government had streamlined the sale of the product and crafted guidelines to regulate the operations of the landing beach committees, the result of which would manifest during the bumper season in June, July and August.
He said unlike the past when the hyper rich hijacked the sale and distribution of the product and nothing was left for the communities, now 53 per cent of the profit made on premix was allocated to the fishing communities for social responsibility projects.
The Deputy Minister expressed regret that in the past no school or clinic was built for the fishing communities from the profits from the sale of premix and gave an assurance that henceforth the profit made by the Landing Beach Committees would be used to build clinics and schools and purchase fishing nets and gear for fishermen.
He praised some fishing communities where the fishermen had started using the profits to register their members on the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS).
Nii Namoale said his ministry had banned pair trawling, noting that since he assumed office as Deputy Minister, no permit had been issued to any company to fish in the country’s territorial waters using pair trawlers.
He assured the fishing communities that any company caught practising pair trawling would be prosecuted.
He said the defunct Ministry of Fisheries left behind a debt of £4 million which had become a great burden for the Fisheries Department to shoulder, in addition to discharging its present commitment to the fishing industry.
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
SECOND BATCH OF LIBERIAN IMMIGRATION OFFICERS UNDERGO CAPACITY-BUILDING (PAGE 19, MAY 15, 2010)
THE Ghana Immigration Service (GIS) is expected to train 150 Liberian officers and 20 trainers under a two-year project to strengthen the institutional capacity and competence of the Liberian Bureau of Immigration and Naturalisation (BIN).
In that direction, the second batch of 50 immigration officers from Liberia arrived in the country yesterday for a three-month training programme.
The training is aimed at revitalising and overhauling the Liberian immigration sector.
It brings to 100 the number of Liberian immigration officers currently undergoing capacity-building training in border and immigration management in the country.
At the airport to welcome the Liberians were the Deputy Director of the GIS in charge of Operations, Mr Moses K. Gyamfi, and some immigration officials.
Mr Gyamfi appealed to the officers, comprising 40 males and 10 females, to conduct themselves in the same manner the first batch did.
He said the GIS would not compromise on discipline and urged them to channel their grievances through the appropriate quarters, not take the law into their own hands, while undergoing training at the GIS Academy and Training School at Assin Fosu in the Central Region.
He said the training formed part of a tripartite two-year project agreement signed last year among Liberia, Ghana and The Netherlands, under the auspices of the United Nations (UN), aimed at professionally overhauling and revitalising the Liberian immigration.
He said the physical endurance and academic training could enable the officers of the BIN to become efficient and responsive to contemporary immigration trends through training and capacity building.
Mr Gyamfi commended the UN for providing logistics to airlift the first and second batches of Liberian immigration officers from Liberia to Ghana for the course to improve their skills in border management and safeguard the security of Liberia.
Mr Varney Carmon, the First Secretary at the Liberian Embassy in Ghana, who was at the airport to welcome his compatriots, urged them to comport themselves to project the good image of Liberia.
Mr Emmanuel Minnaar, the Immigration Attaché at The Netherlands Embassy, said the course for the second batch would be an improvement over that of the first batch because of the lessons learnt.
He said the course was the result of fruitful co-operation that existed among The Netherlands, Ghana and Liberia and urged the participants to help advance that international co-operation.
In that direction, the second batch of 50 immigration officers from Liberia arrived in the country yesterday for a three-month training programme.
The training is aimed at revitalising and overhauling the Liberian immigration sector.
It brings to 100 the number of Liberian immigration officers currently undergoing capacity-building training in border and immigration management in the country.
At the airport to welcome the Liberians were the Deputy Director of the GIS in charge of Operations, Mr Moses K. Gyamfi, and some immigration officials.
Mr Gyamfi appealed to the officers, comprising 40 males and 10 females, to conduct themselves in the same manner the first batch did.
He said the GIS would not compromise on discipline and urged them to channel their grievances through the appropriate quarters, not take the law into their own hands, while undergoing training at the GIS Academy and Training School at Assin Fosu in the Central Region.
He said the training formed part of a tripartite two-year project agreement signed last year among Liberia, Ghana and The Netherlands, under the auspices of the United Nations (UN), aimed at professionally overhauling and revitalising the Liberian immigration.
He said the physical endurance and academic training could enable the officers of the BIN to become efficient and responsive to contemporary immigration trends through training and capacity building.
Mr Gyamfi commended the UN for providing logistics to airlift the first and second batches of Liberian immigration officers from Liberia to Ghana for the course to improve their skills in border management and safeguard the security of Liberia.
Mr Varney Carmon, the First Secretary at the Liberian Embassy in Ghana, who was at the airport to welcome his compatriots, urged them to comport themselves to project the good image of Liberia.
Mr Emmanuel Minnaar, the Immigration Attaché at The Netherlands Embassy, said the course for the second batch would be an improvement over that of the first batch because of the lessons learnt.
He said the course was the result of fruitful co-operation that existed among The Netherlands, Ghana and Liberia and urged the participants to help advance that international co-operation.
Thursday, May 13, 2010
DEV DUE TO DEMOCRCY — TUC (SPREAD, MAY 13, 2010)
THE Trades Union Congress (TUC) says Ghana’s experience in poverty alleviation has confirmed the direct correlation between constitutional multi-party democracy and improved living conditions.
Speaking at a public lecture in Accra, the Deputy Secretary-General of the TUC, Dr Yaw Baah, stated that since the restoration of constitutional democracy and the multi-party system of governance in the country in 1992, the living standards of Ghanaians had improved progressively.
He explained that at the moment, less than six million Ghanaians lived below the poverty line of GH¢208 per annum and attributed the gains being made in poverty reduction to the democratic process.
Dr Baah was speaking at the 10th annual Constitution Week of the National Commission on Civic Education (NCCE) on the theme, “Poverty — A Threat to Constitutionalism and Multiparty Democracy in Ghana”.
He said the multi-party system of government engendered competition among political parties and compelled politicians to excel, which led to an increase in wealth creation.
He said it also created opportunities for education and employment and called for greater focus on education and employment for the total eradication of poverty in the country.
Another speaker, Mr Kofi Bentum Quantson, who is a security expert, called on governments to focus on the survival, safety and well-being of the population to reduce poverty and ensure that people participated in decision-making.
He said poverty was a threat to national security because “if the people are allowed to wallow in poverty, they will become apathetic to government programmes and projects which are meant to serve them”.
Mr Quantson said the resultant effect was political destabilisation because poor people usually lacked the security consciousness for their own survival.
Dr Vladimir Antwi-Danso of the University of Ghana said social, political and economic exclusion ought to be eliminated from the country’s body politic.
He explained that poverty ought to be tackled holistically, since any attempt to isolate the economic aspect without tackling the social and political exclusion of the poor could not achieve effective results.
He observed that an attempt to deal with the economic aspect separately would change the value system in the multi-party system from a system where ideas and strategies competed for the obsession with monetary and material gains.
Dr Antwi-Danso, therefore, called on the media to redirect their energies from the New Patriotic Party/ National Democratic Congress dichotomy to discussions on real development issues.
The Chairman of the National Development Planning Commission, Mr P.V. Obeng, who chaired the function, expressed concern over the magnetisation of politics in the country where the activities of foot soldiers, which used to be voluntary, were fast becoming a gold mine for party faithful and nobody seemed to care, since it reared its head in the previous administration and had reared its head again in the present administration.
Speaking at a public lecture in Accra, the Deputy Secretary-General of the TUC, Dr Yaw Baah, stated that since the restoration of constitutional democracy and the multi-party system of governance in the country in 1992, the living standards of Ghanaians had improved progressively.
He explained that at the moment, less than six million Ghanaians lived below the poverty line of GH¢208 per annum and attributed the gains being made in poverty reduction to the democratic process.
Dr Baah was speaking at the 10th annual Constitution Week of the National Commission on Civic Education (NCCE) on the theme, “Poverty — A Threat to Constitutionalism and Multiparty Democracy in Ghana”.
He said the multi-party system of government engendered competition among political parties and compelled politicians to excel, which led to an increase in wealth creation.
He said it also created opportunities for education and employment and called for greater focus on education and employment for the total eradication of poverty in the country.
Another speaker, Mr Kofi Bentum Quantson, who is a security expert, called on governments to focus on the survival, safety and well-being of the population to reduce poverty and ensure that people participated in decision-making.
He said poverty was a threat to national security because “if the people are allowed to wallow in poverty, they will become apathetic to government programmes and projects which are meant to serve them”.
Mr Quantson said the resultant effect was political destabilisation because poor people usually lacked the security consciousness for their own survival.
Dr Vladimir Antwi-Danso of the University of Ghana said social, political and economic exclusion ought to be eliminated from the country’s body politic.
He explained that poverty ought to be tackled holistically, since any attempt to isolate the economic aspect without tackling the social and political exclusion of the poor could not achieve effective results.
He observed that an attempt to deal with the economic aspect separately would change the value system in the multi-party system from a system where ideas and strategies competed for the obsession with monetary and material gains.
Dr Antwi-Danso, therefore, called on the media to redirect their energies from the New Patriotic Party/ National Democratic Congress dichotomy to discussions on real development issues.
The Chairman of the National Development Planning Commission, Mr P.V. Obeng, who chaired the function, expressed concern over the magnetisation of politics in the country where the activities of foot soldiers, which used to be voluntary, were fast becoming a gold mine for party faithful and nobody seemed to care, since it reared its head in the previous administration and had reared its head again in the present administration.
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
GOVT TO INVEST IN LIVESTOCK, POULTRY SECTORS (PAGE 46, MAY 6, 2010)
The government is determined to directly invest in the livestock and poultry sectors to increase the per capita consumption of meat per person in the country from 11 to 22 kilogrammes by 2050.
This is because meat consumption in Ghana, according to statistics, remains one of the lowest in the sub-Saharan region, as well as on the continent.
A Deputy Minister of Agriculture in charge of Livestock, Dr Alfred Tia Sugri, who announced this at a meeting of experts on livestock in Africa in Accra on Tuesday, said the country’s investment in the agricultural sector had been in favour of crop farming, adding that the government now sought to change the policy to invest more in the livestock and poultry sectors.
He said as a first step, the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA) had launched the Cockerel Project to enhance food security and increase the intake of animal protein by distributing high quality cockerels to upgrade local breeds of poultry in the villages.
He said another project, the Credit in Kind Scheme under the Livestock Project, had earmarked 21,000 sheep and goats for distribution to Ghanaian farmers to help improve the number of ruminants in 35 districts of the country.
The deputy minister said pig production, with youth groups as commercial producers using the value chain approach, was underway in some parts of the country.
He further said MoFA was establishing legume fodder gardens for feeding ruminants. It was also adopting environmentally sound and sustainable measures, including the promotion of effective livestock housing, to ensure the use of animal dung for manure and biogas production.
Dr Sugri said those measures were not being carried out in a vacuum and that mobile and tele-veterinary medical clinics in the communities were being strengthened to provide animal health care for the numerous livestock schemes in the country.
The FAO Assistant Director-General/Regional Representative for Africa, Ms Maria Helena Semedo, who organised the conference of experts, said the livestock revolution which had hit the world was yet to come to sub-Saharan Africa due to numerous constraints.
Instead, she said, the importation of livestock products by countries in the sub-region was increasing, saying that was an important issue for African producers who were already facing constraints in production, processing and accessing markets.
This is because meat consumption in Ghana, according to statistics, remains one of the lowest in the sub-Saharan region, as well as on the continent.
A Deputy Minister of Agriculture in charge of Livestock, Dr Alfred Tia Sugri, who announced this at a meeting of experts on livestock in Africa in Accra on Tuesday, said the country’s investment in the agricultural sector had been in favour of crop farming, adding that the government now sought to change the policy to invest more in the livestock and poultry sectors.
He said as a first step, the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA) had launched the Cockerel Project to enhance food security and increase the intake of animal protein by distributing high quality cockerels to upgrade local breeds of poultry in the villages.
He said another project, the Credit in Kind Scheme under the Livestock Project, had earmarked 21,000 sheep and goats for distribution to Ghanaian farmers to help improve the number of ruminants in 35 districts of the country.
The deputy minister said pig production, with youth groups as commercial producers using the value chain approach, was underway in some parts of the country.
He further said MoFA was establishing legume fodder gardens for feeding ruminants. It was also adopting environmentally sound and sustainable measures, including the promotion of effective livestock housing, to ensure the use of animal dung for manure and biogas production.
Dr Sugri said those measures were not being carried out in a vacuum and that mobile and tele-veterinary medical clinics in the communities were being strengthened to provide animal health care for the numerous livestock schemes in the country.
The FAO Assistant Director-General/Regional Representative for Africa, Ms Maria Helena Semedo, who organised the conference of experts, said the livestock revolution which had hit the world was yet to come to sub-Saharan Africa due to numerous constraints.
Instead, she said, the importation of livestock products by countries in the sub-region was increasing, saying that was an important issue for African producers who were already facing constraints in production, processing and accessing markets.
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
INFO BILL WILL EXPAND FRONTIERS — JOHN TIA AKOLOGO (SPREAD, MAY 4, 2010)
Ghana observed this year’s World Press Freedom Day with a promise by the government to ensure the promulgation of the Right to Information Bill to expand the frontiers of freedom.
The Minister of Information, Mr John Tia Akologo, who gave the assurance, said the Right to Information Law would be a critical tool to enhance media professionalism and ethical journalism in the country.
He said the passage of the bill would inspire media practitioners to practise qualitative journalism and spur them on to even greater heights to promote truth, good governance, freedom, justice, peace and democracy.
Speaking at a flag-raising ceremony to mark the day in Accra, Mr Akologo said the bill, when passed, would strengthen the role of the media in promoting transparency and accountability in the country.
The theme of the day was: “Freedom of Information; the Right to Know”.
The United Nations, in 1993, declared May 3 as World Press Freedom Day to raise awareness of the importance of the press and remind governments of their duty to respect and uphold the right to freedom of expression enshrined in Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
The minister said information in every aspect was important for national development and the right to know was even more fundamental.
He said it was important for Ghanaians to have the right information on government policies and opportunities at their disposal for them to make informed choices in their investment and career building.
On the broadcasting law, he said a technical committee would soon be formed to study the bill and make the necessary recommendations for the approval of the Cabinet.
The President of the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA), Mr Ransford Tetteh, said the GJA believed that credible freedom of information and broadcasting laws would enhance the ability of the media to promote healthy debate and contribute to the achievement of mutual understanding.
He said the two laws would be of immense benefit to improve information flow and promote transparency.
He said Ghana’s experience in the broadcast industry during the last elections convinced many people that there could be no more time to waste in passing those two laws, since any delay "will be at our own peril".
The Chairman of the National Media Commission, Mr Kabral Blay-Amihere, said the day should be used to reflect on the past, present and future trends of the journalism profession in the country.
He explained that several members of the media fraternity had suffered various degrees of attacks and said that those heroes needed to be commemorated during Press Freedom Day celebrations.
In his contribution, Mr Kofi Kapito, an official of the Consumer Protection Agency, was of the opinion that the media adopted a lukewarm attitude towards complaints by consumers, because the press and the media depended on companies and multinationals for advertisements.
The Minister of Information, Mr John Tia Akologo, who gave the assurance, said the Right to Information Law would be a critical tool to enhance media professionalism and ethical journalism in the country.
He said the passage of the bill would inspire media practitioners to practise qualitative journalism and spur them on to even greater heights to promote truth, good governance, freedom, justice, peace and democracy.
Speaking at a flag-raising ceremony to mark the day in Accra, Mr Akologo said the bill, when passed, would strengthen the role of the media in promoting transparency and accountability in the country.
The theme of the day was: “Freedom of Information; the Right to Know”.
The United Nations, in 1993, declared May 3 as World Press Freedom Day to raise awareness of the importance of the press and remind governments of their duty to respect and uphold the right to freedom of expression enshrined in Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
The minister said information in every aspect was important for national development and the right to know was even more fundamental.
He said it was important for Ghanaians to have the right information on government policies and opportunities at their disposal for them to make informed choices in their investment and career building.
On the broadcasting law, he said a technical committee would soon be formed to study the bill and make the necessary recommendations for the approval of the Cabinet.
The President of the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA), Mr Ransford Tetteh, said the GJA believed that credible freedom of information and broadcasting laws would enhance the ability of the media to promote healthy debate and contribute to the achievement of mutual understanding.
He said the two laws would be of immense benefit to improve information flow and promote transparency.
He said Ghana’s experience in the broadcast industry during the last elections convinced many people that there could be no more time to waste in passing those two laws, since any delay "will be at our own peril".
The Chairman of the National Media Commission, Mr Kabral Blay-Amihere, said the day should be used to reflect on the past, present and future trends of the journalism profession in the country.
He explained that several members of the media fraternity had suffered various degrees of attacks and said that those heroes needed to be commemorated during Press Freedom Day celebrations.
In his contribution, Mr Kofi Kapito, an official of the Consumer Protection Agency, was of the opinion that the media adopted a lukewarm attitude towards complaints by consumers, because the press and the media depended on companies and multinationals for advertisements.
LET'S DEBATE RIGHT TO INFORMATION BILL — AKOTO-AMPAW (PAGE 13, MAY 4, 2010)
A legal practitioner, Mr Akoto Ampaw, has called on Ghanaians to take interest in the Right to Information Bill and contribute to debates on it before it is passed into law by Parliament.
He was of the view that the existing bill, reviewed by a cabinet technical sub-committee, when passed into law could lead instead to non-disclosure.
Mr Ampaw, said that a few negative provisions had been added to the bill which was before Parliament, and that Ghanaians as a people had to send memorandum to Parliament to ensure that the negative provisions were changed and not passed into law to protect the sovereignty bestowed on them by the Constitution.
He, however, commended the government for tabling the Right to Information Bill before Parliament as part of its campaign promise to pass it into law.
Mr Akoto Ampaw who was speaking at the World Press Freedom Day in Accra on Friday, said some of the negative provisions were the blanket exemption of the office of the President, Vice President and Cabinet from the Right to Information Bill.
Mr Ampaw said if there should be malfeasance , it could have a devastating effect on the country if the three offices were exempted from scrutiny.
He said another critical area was the national security which had been associated with heinous crimes such as arresting people, and to exempt them would be a step backward.
He said the litmus test of every right to information law was whether the information when released could harm public interest, and that these ought to be explained.
Mr Ampaw said blanket exceptions, were therefore, a challenge to the bill which sought to empower ordinary people to check corruption and arbitrariness in the exercise of power.
He wondered how many Ghanaians would use the right to information law to demand information when they had to pay, and called on Parliament to come out with a simplified fee-regime than the current complex fees regime in the bill.
He explained, for instance that the longer it took a government agency to compile an information the more the one demanding the information would pay even if it was the inefficiency on the part of the government agency that contributed to the delay.
He said what was more dangerous was that the right to appeal was not to an independent body but to Minister of Justice who was a politician, and that it would amount to non-disclosure.
Mr Ampaw said five countries in Africa, among them Angola, Ethiopia and Zimbabwe, had the right to information laws but they were rather inimical and amounted to non-disclosure instead of promoting disclosure.
He said the right to information law would promote participation and enhance openness, transparency and accountability on the part of public office holders.
Mr Ampaw therefore called on stakeholders to table broadcasting laws before Parliament for the debate to begin.
Mr Ransford Tetteh, President of the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA), in a welcome address, said after the dust had settled in the struggle for the liberalisation of the national airwaves, the time had come for a regulatory framework to guide broadcasting in the country.
Ms Adjoba Kyiamah, Corporate/Legal Affairs Manager of Accra Brewery, said her organisation sponsored the event because the company believed that openness, transparency, accountability and probity promoted business.
He was of the view that the existing bill, reviewed by a cabinet technical sub-committee, when passed into law could lead instead to non-disclosure.
Mr Ampaw, said that a few negative provisions had been added to the bill which was before Parliament, and that Ghanaians as a people had to send memorandum to Parliament to ensure that the negative provisions were changed and not passed into law to protect the sovereignty bestowed on them by the Constitution.
He, however, commended the government for tabling the Right to Information Bill before Parliament as part of its campaign promise to pass it into law.
Mr Akoto Ampaw who was speaking at the World Press Freedom Day in Accra on Friday, said some of the negative provisions were the blanket exemption of the office of the President, Vice President and Cabinet from the Right to Information Bill.
Mr Ampaw said if there should be malfeasance , it could have a devastating effect on the country if the three offices were exempted from scrutiny.
He said another critical area was the national security which had been associated with heinous crimes such as arresting people, and to exempt them would be a step backward.
He said the litmus test of every right to information law was whether the information when released could harm public interest, and that these ought to be explained.
Mr Ampaw said blanket exceptions, were therefore, a challenge to the bill which sought to empower ordinary people to check corruption and arbitrariness in the exercise of power.
He wondered how many Ghanaians would use the right to information law to demand information when they had to pay, and called on Parliament to come out with a simplified fee-regime than the current complex fees regime in the bill.
He explained, for instance that the longer it took a government agency to compile an information the more the one demanding the information would pay even if it was the inefficiency on the part of the government agency that contributed to the delay.
He said what was more dangerous was that the right to appeal was not to an independent body but to Minister of Justice who was a politician, and that it would amount to non-disclosure.
Mr Ampaw said five countries in Africa, among them Angola, Ethiopia and Zimbabwe, had the right to information laws but they were rather inimical and amounted to non-disclosure instead of promoting disclosure.
He said the right to information law would promote participation and enhance openness, transparency and accountability on the part of public office holders.
Mr Ampaw therefore called on stakeholders to table broadcasting laws before Parliament for the debate to begin.
Mr Ransford Tetteh, President of the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA), in a welcome address, said after the dust had settled in the struggle for the liberalisation of the national airwaves, the time had come for a regulatory framework to guide broadcasting in the country.
Ms Adjoba Kyiamah, Corporate/Legal Affairs Manager of Accra Brewery, said her organisation sponsored the event because the company believed that openness, transparency, accountability and probity promoted business.
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