THE issue of the Indemnity Clause and the role of chiefs in party politics keeps coming up at the district and community level consultations of the Constitution Review Commission.
All the contributors on the Indemnity Clause were of the view that the Indemnity Clause should be left as it is in the Constitution.
Mr Olabode Williams of the Ayawaso East Constituency in the Greater Accra Region said any attempt to remove it from the Constitution would open the floodgates of retribution and chaos in the country.
He said the peace prevailing in the country should not be taken for granted and that well- meaning Ghanaians had not forgotten the bloodshed in sister African countries such as Liberia, Cote ‘d’Ivoire and Kenya.
Mr Williams said Ghanaians were witnesses to the day when the former President, J J Rawlings was invited to the National Reconciliation sitting which attracted a lot of Ghanaians from the political divide in the country.
He explained that the presence of the thick crowd showed how Ghanaians could be passionate about the Indemnity Clause when expunged from the Constitution.
Ms Josephine Ameseya, a public servant in her contribution said chiefs in the country had people under them whom they controlled.
She said any attempt to involve chiefs in politics would lead to the polarisation of the people along political lines, which could lead to serious conflicts at the community level since all the people in the community, would not toe the line of their chiefs when it came to politics, and could lead to clashes between those who supported the chief and those against his party.
All contributors to these two issues expressed the same view that chaos and violence would ensue when the Indemnity Clause was removed from the Constitution and chiefs were allowed to participate actively in politics.
On the assemblies concept, contributors, however, differed in their opinions with some stating that the assembly concept had outlived its usefulness and ought to be scraped from the Constitution since most assembly members were not performing their roles as agents of development.
Other contributors, however, said the assembly members were working with scarce resources and that the Constitution should recognise the important roles they play and pay them salaries commensurate with Members of Parliament for them to deliver effectively.
Alhaji Abdul Aziz, a counsellor at Accra Metropolitan Assembly said the Constitution should place more emphasis on gender issues since in Ghana many inequality existed not only between men and women but between the disabled and abled bodies.
Mr Archibold Cabbina of Kokomlemle said the Constitution should be reviewed to limit the powers of the President to the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Director of the Bureau of National Investigation (BNI) and other military chiefs to ensure that they worked without partiality.
Other consultative meetings on the Constitution were held in parts of Mamprobi and Ablekuma all in the Greater Accra Region.
Monday, June 28, 2010
Thursday, June 24, 2010
INVASION OF ALIEN PLANTS (SPREAD, JUNE 24, 2010)
THE Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), says 30 alien plants have found their way into the eco-system and are destroying the country’s biodiversity.
The alien species, according to the CSIR were replacing indigenous plants that were useful to the ecosystem at a very fast rate.
The council, which is spearheading a four-year project to remove barriers hindering the management of exotic plants, has, therefore, appealed to the security agencies and personnel of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA) at the country's borders to be vigilant by preventing travellers from bringing alien species into the country.
The Minister of Environment, Science and Technology Ms Sherry Ayittey, who launched four booklets on exotic plants, said the alien plants were causing devastation to crops and forest lands in areas such as the River Afram Headwaters Forest Reserves.
Ms Ayittey whose speech was read on her behalf said these alien plant species were also causing irreparable damage to socio-economic development and posed as health hazards to the people in the areas they were found.
She, therefore, urged agencies such as the CSIR to team up with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the Global Environment Facility (GEF) to successfully implement the four year project to remove barriers for the management of the exotic plants.
Dr Abdulai Baba Salifu, Director-General of CSIR, who chaired the function, said some biological methods had been introduced by CSIR to control the weeds.
He said one of the methods was the introduction of some species of grasshoppers to feed on the leaves of the exotic plants.
He, however, said such biological control had its limits since the CSIR could not nurture a vast quantity of those grasshoppers to deal with the ever-spreading exotic weeds that were increasing in the country.
Dr Salifu appealed to the government to increase its component of funding the project to eliminate the alien plant species before they took over the ecosystem and destroyed the agricultural sector.
Some of the alien plants included Jatropha curcas (Adadze), Lantana camara (Ananse dokuno), Striga (Wumlim) Cecropia peltata (French Adwuma) Siam Weed (Acheapong).
The alien species, according to the CSIR were replacing indigenous plants that were useful to the ecosystem at a very fast rate.
The council, which is spearheading a four-year project to remove barriers hindering the management of exotic plants, has, therefore, appealed to the security agencies and personnel of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA) at the country's borders to be vigilant by preventing travellers from bringing alien species into the country.
The Minister of Environment, Science and Technology Ms Sherry Ayittey, who launched four booklets on exotic plants, said the alien plants were causing devastation to crops and forest lands in areas such as the River Afram Headwaters Forest Reserves.
Ms Ayittey whose speech was read on her behalf said these alien plant species were also causing irreparable damage to socio-economic development and posed as health hazards to the people in the areas they were found.
She, therefore, urged agencies such as the CSIR to team up with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the Global Environment Facility (GEF) to successfully implement the four year project to remove barriers for the management of the exotic plants.
Dr Abdulai Baba Salifu, Director-General of CSIR, who chaired the function, said some biological methods had been introduced by CSIR to control the weeds.
He said one of the methods was the introduction of some species of grasshoppers to feed on the leaves of the exotic plants.
He, however, said such biological control had its limits since the CSIR could not nurture a vast quantity of those grasshoppers to deal with the ever-spreading exotic weeds that were increasing in the country.
Dr Salifu appealed to the government to increase its component of funding the project to eliminate the alien plant species before they took over the ecosystem and destroyed the agricultural sector.
Some of the alien plants included Jatropha curcas (Adadze), Lantana camara (Ananse dokuno), Striga (Wumlim) Cecropia peltata (French Adwuma) Siam Weed (Acheapong).
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
PINEAPPLE FARMERS INCREASE EXPORTS TO US (BACK PAGE, JUNE 8, 2010)
THIRTY small-scale pineapple farmers in the country increased their exports to the European and North American markets from 26 tonnes in 2006 to 166 tonnes last year under the Africa Growth and Opportunities Act (AGOA).
That was after they had obtained organic certification to export to that country.
A Deputy Minister of Food and Agriculture, Mr Yaw Effah Baafi, made this known when he addressed an international conference on organic agriculture as a business in Accra.
The four-day conference was organised by the Washington State University and the US Department of Agriculture to present the latest information on obtaining certification, finding buyers and the kinds of organic products that are in great demand in the $46-billion organic foods trade.
Opening the conference, Mr Baafi urged Ghanaian farmers to take advantage of AGOA to export organic foods and products to the US to earn foreign exchange for the country.
He explained that developing countries such as Ghana were facing numerous challenges, including soil degradation, food security and climate change, which did not augur well for agriculture.
He said it was, therefore, opportune for farmers in the country to practise organic farming as a means of increasing soil fertility without the use of agro-chemicals.
He observed that most farmers in the country applied agro-chemicals wrongly, with devastating effects on the environment and water bodies as fish stocks and other eco-systems got destroyed by the toxins.
He said the Ministry of Food and Agriculture regarded organic agriculture as an intervention that was to assuage the years of destruction of the environment, as well as ensure food security within the shortest possible time.
Mr Baafi observed that yields from organic farms were much better than those from the conventional type of agriculture where soil had become degraded due to over-reliance on chemical fertilisers.
Mr David Granatstein of the Washington State University said demand for certified organic foods and products had been growing steadily over the past decade.
He said as a result, efforts were under way in Africa to develop opportunities for trade in organic products.
That was after they had obtained organic certification to export to that country.
A Deputy Minister of Food and Agriculture, Mr Yaw Effah Baafi, made this known when he addressed an international conference on organic agriculture as a business in Accra.
The four-day conference was organised by the Washington State University and the US Department of Agriculture to present the latest information on obtaining certification, finding buyers and the kinds of organic products that are in great demand in the $46-billion organic foods trade.
Opening the conference, Mr Baafi urged Ghanaian farmers to take advantage of AGOA to export organic foods and products to the US to earn foreign exchange for the country.
He explained that developing countries such as Ghana were facing numerous challenges, including soil degradation, food security and climate change, which did not augur well for agriculture.
He said it was, therefore, opportune for farmers in the country to practise organic farming as a means of increasing soil fertility without the use of agro-chemicals.
He observed that most farmers in the country applied agro-chemicals wrongly, with devastating effects on the environment and water bodies as fish stocks and other eco-systems got destroyed by the toxins.
He said the Ministry of Food and Agriculture regarded organic agriculture as an intervention that was to assuage the years of destruction of the environment, as well as ensure food security within the shortest possible time.
Mr Baafi observed that yields from organic farms were much better than those from the conventional type of agriculture where soil had become degraded due to over-reliance on chemical fertilisers.
Mr David Granatstein of the Washington State University said demand for certified organic foods and products had been growing steadily over the past decade.
He said as a result, efforts were under way in Africa to develop opportunities for trade in organic products.
2,000 CATERERS ATTEN FOOD SAFETY COURSE (PAGE 20, JUNE 8, 2010)
TWO thousand traditional caterers, popularly known as “chop-bar operators” throughout the country are undergoing training in business management, customer service and food safety.
The training programme which started in the Greater Accra Region with the first batch of 200 traditional caterers at the Entrepreneurship Training Institute was to also show the participants the relationship between nutrition and exercise in helping to maintain good health.
Speaking at the opening ceremony, the Rector of the Institute, Prof. Reginald T.A. Ocansey, said traditional caterers had a role to play in checking obesity, which is rearing its ugly head in the country by beginning to ask their clientele questions as well as providing health tips.
He said when traditional caterers were well trained, they could help in preventing communicable diseases by keeping their environment clean.
That, he said, could encourage more customers to patronise local dishes and contribute meaningfully to the economic growth of the country.
Prof. Ocansey said when the maintenance of good healthy habit was inculcated in the traditional caterers, they could pass it on to the entire population since most Ghanaians patronised the food prepared by traditional caterers.
He advised traditional caterers to stop being in the catering business only to make money but to regard themselves as health agents who served hygienic and nutritious food.
Speaking at the opening ceremony, the Chief Executive 0fficer of Homefoods Processing and Cannery Limited, Mrs Felicia Twumasi, urged the women to stop using their business capital for weddings and funerals since that could lead to the depletion of their capital.
She, therefore, advised them to inculcate the habits of savings and good record keeping to ensure that they qualified for micro financing to expand their businesses.
Mrs Twumasi also implored them to expand their businesses into related fields instead of moving from one unrelated business to another.
Ms Maureen Erekua Odoi of African Aurora Business Network (AABN), one of the non-governmental organisations (NGOs) which organised the eating business programme, (eatbiz) in collaboration with Indigenous Caterers Association of Ghana, said the year-long training programme would be conducted in all the regions for the 2,000 caterers who had been selected to help mainstream the catering service into the economic development of the country.
The training programme which started in the Greater Accra Region with the first batch of 200 traditional caterers at the Entrepreneurship Training Institute was to also show the participants the relationship between nutrition and exercise in helping to maintain good health.
Speaking at the opening ceremony, the Rector of the Institute, Prof. Reginald T.A. Ocansey, said traditional caterers had a role to play in checking obesity, which is rearing its ugly head in the country by beginning to ask their clientele questions as well as providing health tips.
He said when traditional caterers were well trained, they could help in preventing communicable diseases by keeping their environment clean.
That, he said, could encourage more customers to patronise local dishes and contribute meaningfully to the economic growth of the country.
Prof. Ocansey said when the maintenance of good healthy habit was inculcated in the traditional caterers, they could pass it on to the entire population since most Ghanaians patronised the food prepared by traditional caterers.
He advised traditional caterers to stop being in the catering business only to make money but to regard themselves as health agents who served hygienic and nutritious food.
Speaking at the opening ceremony, the Chief Executive 0fficer of Homefoods Processing and Cannery Limited, Mrs Felicia Twumasi, urged the women to stop using their business capital for weddings and funerals since that could lead to the depletion of their capital.
She, therefore, advised them to inculcate the habits of savings and good record keeping to ensure that they qualified for micro financing to expand their businesses.
Mrs Twumasi also implored them to expand their businesses into related fields instead of moving from one unrelated business to another.
Ms Maureen Erekua Odoi of African Aurora Business Network (AABN), one of the non-governmental organisations (NGOs) which organised the eating business programme, (eatbiz) in collaboration with Indigenous Caterers Association of Ghana, said the year-long training programme would be conducted in all the regions for the 2,000 caterers who had been selected to help mainstream the catering service into the economic development of the country.
Monday, June 7, 2010
USE MARKETING TOOLS EFFECTIVELY (PAGE 25, JUNE 7, 2010)
THE Head of Marketing of Unilever Group of Companies, Mr Akofa Ata, has called on corporate organisations to use social communication tools such as twitter and facebook to reach out to customers.
He stressed that it was not shameful for marketing branches of companies to resort to social communication tools to communicate with their customers in order to understand them and model products that would meet their desire.
He explained that marketing branches that ignored the power of Information, Communication and Technology and all its tools for reaching customers were doing more harm than good to themselves and their companies.
Speaking on the topic: “How to Get to Grips with Your Competitors” as part of the series of educational lectures instituted by the Chartered Institute of Marketing Ghana (CIMG), Mr Ata said marketers could not function any more in the information economy without knowing the use of social communication tools and applying them in their work.
He also urged companies to invest heavily in advertising and make their goods affordable to attract customers to their products.
He said this could lead their competitors to incur losses because their goods would be priced costly and would drive customers away to those that were affordable.
He said any company which was a leader in a certain segment of the market must not wait for competitors to make inroads into that segment before preparing catch-up and follow-up strategies to fend off the competitors, since that would not work out satisfactorily and it could led to the company losing the fight.
Mr Ata therefore advised companies with a market lead not to play with their competitors but to hit them hard through strategies so that they would not be able to withstand the competition from the onset.
He explained that they could win the competition when they leveraged their strength as soon as they spotted a competitor.
Mrs Josephine Okutu, President of CIMG, said the topics for the educational series were carefully chosen to reflect exactly on what was happening in the business front, as well as in the market place.
She urged corporate organisations to allow their staff, especially those in the marketing branches, to partake in the educational series, since it would impact positively on their organisations.
He stressed that it was not shameful for marketing branches of companies to resort to social communication tools to communicate with their customers in order to understand them and model products that would meet their desire.
He explained that marketing branches that ignored the power of Information, Communication and Technology and all its tools for reaching customers were doing more harm than good to themselves and their companies.
Speaking on the topic: “How to Get to Grips with Your Competitors” as part of the series of educational lectures instituted by the Chartered Institute of Marketing Ghana (CIMG), Mr Ata said marketers could not function any more in the information economy without knowing the use of social communication tools and applying them in their work.
He also urged companies to invest heavily in advertising and make their goods affordable to attract customers to their products.
He said this could lead their competitors to incur losses because their goods would be priced costly and would drive customers away to those that were affordable.
He said any company which was a leader in a certain segment of the market must not wait for competitors to make inroads into that segment before preparing catch-up and follow-up strategies to fend off the competitors, since that would not work out satisfactorily and it could led to the company losing the fight.
Mr Ata therefore advised companies with a market lead not to play with their competitors but to hit them hard through strategies so that they would not be able to withstand the competition from the onset.
He explained that they could win the competition when they leveraged their strength as soon as they spotted a competitor.
Mrs Josephine Okutu, President of CIMG, said the topics for the educational series were carefully chosen to reflect exactly on what was happening in the business front, as well as in the market place.
She urged corporate organisations to allow their staff, especially those in the marketing branches, to partake in the educational series, since it would impact positively on their organisations.
Friday, June 4, 2010
MET LIFE LAUNCHES SCHEME FOR MUSLIMS (PAGE 29, JUNE 4, 2010)
AN insurance scheme designed to meet the life insurance and investment needs of the Muslim community has been introduced onto the Ghanaian market.
The Labaika scheme, the first of its kind on the Ghanaian market, is based on the stringent requirements of Sharia, which regards high interest rates as unislamic.
Speaking at the launch of the new product the Chief Executive Officer of Metropolitan Life Insurance, Mr Diop Frimpong, said the main purpose of the product was to provide a Sharia compliant investment product for the Muslim community.
He explained that the Labaika product was based on the purest concept of mutual help and social solidarity and was based on the principles of Sharia.
He said it was also to promote the concept of equality, and provided fixed sums should death occur during the term of the insurance irrespective of age, sex, social status and occupation.
Mr Frimpong said the Labaika product was a meaningful way of saving towards the financial requirements of the Hajj.
He said the scheme was also to provide a good opportunity for parents to save towards the increasing cost of education. Mr Frimpong appealed to Muslim communities to patronise the scheme since Metropolitan Life Insurance was offering them a product which respected their faith.
Mrs Nyamikeh Kyiamah , the acting Commissioner of Insurance said the insurance industry had seen a tremendous growth during the last few years mainly due to the improvements in the country’s macroeconomics environment and the emergence of appropriate products on the market.
She said the total life premium income grew from GH¢22 million in 2004 to about GH¢90 million in 2008
She said the life insurance industry had made significant progress in the last few years but still there remained much to be done to reach out to the informal sector.
The Labaika scheme, the first of its kind on the Ghanaian market, is based on the stringent requirements of Sharia, which regards high interest rates as unislamic.
Speaking at the launch of the new product the Chief Executive Officer of Metropolitan Life Insurance, Mr Diop Frimpong, said the main purpose of the product was to provide a Sharia compliant investment product for the Muslim community.
He explained that the Labaika product was based on the purest concept of mutual help and social solidarity and was based on the principles of Sharia.
He said it was also to promote the concept of equality, and provided fixed sums should death occur during the term of the insurance irrespective of age, sex, social status and occupation.
Mr Frimpong said the Labaika product was a meaningful way of saving towards the financial requirements of the Hajj.
He said the scheme was also to provide a good opportunity for parents to save towards the increasing cost of education. Mr Frimpong appealed to Muslim communities to patronise the scheme since Metropolitan Life Insurance was offering them a product which respected their faith.
Mrs Nyamikeh Kyiamah , the acting Commissioner of Insurance said the insurance industry had seen a tremendous growth during the last few years mainly due to the improvements in the country’s macroeconomics environment and the emergence of appropriate products on the market.
She said the total life premium income grew from GH¢22 million in 2004 to about GH¢90 million in 2008
She said the life insurance industry had made significant progress in the last few years but still there remained much to be done to reach out to the informal sector.
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