I would like to draw your attention to the concerning increase in the price of the essential narcotic drug Pethidine. The producers of the Intravenous variant have raised the price from 400 to 1200, and it currently stands at 3500. I urge you to carefully investigate these substantial price fluctuations.
Hon.Kwaku Agyeman Manu, Ghana’s Health Minister
Simply waiving duties without ensuring that pharmaceutical companies have genuinely reduced medicine prices may still burden the consumers.
It is crucial to scrutinize the actions of pharmaceutical companies to safeguard the health of Ghanaians.
Selecting NAPO as the running mate to Dr. Bawumia holds the promise of unifying and strengthening the constituency base more effectively than any other contenders. NAPO’s consistent success in Manhyia South, coupled with his unopposed victories, signifies a strong and stable support within the constituency.
Dr.Mahamudu Bawumia Dr.Napo
His popularity and proven ability to connect with the electorate in Manhyia South could extend to a broader national audience, fostering unity and support across various regions. The absence of significant opposition in his constituency suggests a level of acceptance and trust that could resonate well beyond the local context.
NAPO’s selection as the running mate would not only bring valuable regional support but also a track record of service and accomplishment. This, in turn, could contribute to a cohesive and unified party stance, as his demonstrated ability to secure unopposed victories reflects a level of internal party support and harmony.
In summary, appointing NAPO as the running mate to Dr. Bawumia has the potential to create a unity-support constituency base that draws strength from his established rapport with the people of Manhyia South and extends it nationwide.
The Chief Finance Officer (CFO), at MTN Ghana, Antoinette Kwofie, has charged corporate Ghana and stakeholders to invest in creating opportunities for young girls and women who are in Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics (STEM). Mrs. Kwofie made this call at the Executive Women’s Network (EWN) Conference when she spoke during a panel discussion on the topic “Leveraging Technology to Create Inclusive Prosperity in Africa – A Shift in Perspective.”
MTN Ghana was the headline sponsor of the 2023 Executive Women’s Network (EWN) conference. The conference, which was held under the theme ‘Be Intentional about Transformation, Growth, Resilience and Agility,‘ highlighted the role women play and how this can be enhanced for greater capital gains across sector.
Contributing to a panel discussion, MTN’s CFO, in reiterating the importance of STEM education, said, “Technological advancement and digital innovation remain key drivers of economies globally. STEM remains a critical tool for driving socio-economic and inclusive growth. We need to be intentional about pushing STEM and encouraging more young women to explore careers in the field. In order to achieve this, we have to show them that their dreams are possible, provide mentoring opportunities for them and get them to engage with women who have excelled in the world of STEM.”
The MTN CFO, who is a member of the Executive Women’s Network also highlighted what MTN is doing to promote STEM education in the country. She said, “at MTN, providing digital solutions is at the heart of what we stand for. This is why we continue to partner with other institutions to ensure access to STEM education. In line with this, we have partnered with the Ministry of Communication and Digitalization in the “Girls in ICT” initiative to train about 13,000 girls nationwide. We believe this will help bridge the gender disparity gap and spur inclusive growth”.
In his concluding remarks as co-chairman for the conference, CEO of MTN Ghana, Selorm Adadevoh admonished participants at the conference to be courageous and curious about technology. He charged women to stand up and act to have equity at the table.
Participants at the conference were introduced to MTN’s array of technology solutions such as SME Plus, Messenger and Business Manager, Microsoft 365 suite and Business Website. The services are aimed at improving the efficiency of businesses in the country including “Women led” businesses.
The Executive Women Network is a non-profit organization of women in senior management and executive positions in private and public sector organizations/institutions and women entrepreneurs in Ghana.
Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta has outlined some moves geared towards cushioning the citizenry.
This is a result of what the Minister describes as efforts to give significant relief to the private sector until expenditure pressures.
He made this announcement during the presentation of the 2024 Budget Statement in Parliament.
The items listed by Mr. Ofori-Atta range from locally manufactured sanitary pads to electric vehicles.
Find the full list below:
Extend zero rate of VAT on locally manufactured African prints for two (2) more years;
Waive import duties on import of electric vehicles for public transportation for a period of 8 years;
Waive import duties on semi-knocked down and completely knocked down Electric vehicles imported by registered EV assembly companies in Ghana for a period of 8 years;
Extend zero rate of VAT on locally assembled vehicles for 2 more years;
Zero rate VAT on locally produced sanitary pads;
Grant import duty waivers for raw materials for the local manufacture of sanitary pads;
Grant exemptions on the importation of agricultural machinery equipment and inputs and medical consumables, raw materials for the pharmaceutical industry;
A VAT flat rate of 5 percent to replace the 15 percent standard VAT rate on all commercial properties will be introduced to simplify administration.
The government, as part of the 2024 budget, has earmarked GH¢220 million to aid relief efforts for communities impacted by the Akosombo Dam spillage floods.
Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta disclosed this information during the budget presentation on Wednesday, November 15.
He further mentioned that additional resources would be allocated through the Ministry of Agriculture to assist in the restoration of livelihoods.
Mr Ofori-Atta expressed the government’s sympathy for the families affected and displaced by the spillage.
“Mr. Speaker, the Government has budgeted an amount of GH¢220 million to support the relief phase for the communities affected by the Akosombo spillage as well as floods upstream in the Oti, Savannah, and Bono-East Regions.”
The Finance Minister also stated that the government has sought financial assistance from the World Bank to aid in the relocation of the affected individuals.
“In addition, the Ministry of Finance, after the visit was quickened to respond. We have requested funding from the World Bank under the IDA Crisis Response Window (CRW) to support the resettlement of the victims, restoration of livelihoods, compensation and reconstruction of infrastructure in the affected communities.”
Over 17,000 children transitioned to mainstream school-Education Minister
After one year into the operations of the Ghana Education Outcomes Project (GEOP) in the country, it has successfully transitioned 17,340 children into mainstream schools.
All the over 17,000 children who were out of school have been integrated into the mainstream school after being offered the opportunity to study with special assistants from a team of educationist in some selected districts across the country.
The GEOP project is one of the interventions by the government in its quest to make education equitable by bringing children back into the classroom to acquire critical skills.
The Deputy Minister for Education, Madam Gifty Twum Ampofo speaking on behalf of Dr Yaw Osei Adutwum, the Education Minister explained that the transition follows a successful teaching and learning for the OOSC for nine months before being enrolled into the mainstream school from primary grades 2 and 4 (P2 & P4).
She made the announcement at the annual GEOP service provider assignment (Lots 1-6) annual implementation review workshop and 4th quarter review meeting held in Accra on Tuesday
The event attracted stakeholders in the education sector, policy makers among others.
The Minister spoke about the various interventions that has been put in place by the Ministry and other agencies to enhance effective teaching and learning in schools across the country.
She was upbeat that the outcome of the one year of the GEOP project gives hope of getting more of such students into the classroom.
The GEOP Coordinator, Nana Fatima High described the outcome of the project as very impressive and pledged to continue working hard towards getting the best outcomes for the nation’s education, emphasizing that, the second cohort commenced with over 20,000 children going through the accelerated learning programme.
“We have done a lot and we are very grateful so far we have taken children who have never been to school and those who have been out of school for one year or more, we have taken them through the 9 months accelerating learning programme”.
“They learned numeracy and literacy and now the children are in school transition to mainstream school which is a great achievement. Now we have started the second cohort of children, over 20,000 are going through the accelerating learning programme for 9 months to learn numeracy and literacy, and then come the next academic year they will also be transitioning into mainstream school” Nana Fatima High.
She noted that her outfit is determined to see more children back to school, hence measures are been put in place to achieve that.
Nana Fatima High commended everyone, especially service providers for their efforts toward the success of the project which would go a long way to enhance educational development in the country.
Some service providers were honoured with motorbikes and bicycles for the tremendous work done in their various districts.
Background
Ghana Education Outcome Project (GEOP), is a sub-component of the Ghana Accountability for Learning Outcomes Project (GALOP) which aim at supporting out-of-school children (OOSC) in districts that have the highest number of OOSC across the country.
The project is aimed at returning 70,000 out-of-school children into the classroom as well as improving learning outcomes in over 600 GALOP schools in 29 districts in the country and was launched by President H. E Nana Akufo Addo in February 2023.
The three-year project with funding from Foreign Commonwealth Development Organization (FCDO) grant through the Global Partnership for Results-Based Approaches Trust Fund (GPRBA-TF) and a counterpart funding of million by the government of Ghana.
Some scenes from the event:
The Majority Leader in Parliament, Osei Kyei Mensah-Bonsu, has stated that the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) took the best decision by electing the Vice President, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia to lead the party and subsequently the country at such a time.
The Suame legislator believes the current state of the country requires someone like Dr Bawumia to offer the right leadership that will reposition the country for further progress and transformation.
The main opposition party has repeatedly singled out the Vice President and criticized him for the struggles of the Ghanaian economy on the basis that he touted himself as an economic messiah while in opposition, and threw a lot of jibes at the NDC and its leader.
According to the NDC, the rising public debt caused by excessive borrowing, the struggles of the Ghanaian cedi against major international currencies, high inflation among others, have exposed the Vice President as inept, considering that he spoke harshly against lesser versions of these problems back in opposition.
The Vice President has also not been spared for the failures of the NPP government particularly because of his role as the head of the government’s economic management team.
But speaking on JoyNews’ PM Express on Tuesday, November 14, Kyei Mensah-Bonsu said the NPP has literally killed three birds with one stone with Dr Bawumia’s election.
“I think we’ve killed three birds with one stone. People say that the party is an Akan party including the former President [John Mahama] who was lamenting the fact that Bawumia was wasting his time with us and was pleading through his chiefs that he [Bawumia] joins his party. Now, that thing is gone.”
The fact that as a country we have not also ever elected a Muslim to be our presidential candidate, it opens up possibilities, and I think that’s very good on the part of not only the NPP but as a country because the constitution provides that there should not be any discrimination in electing people into public office. On the discrimination strands they mention regional balance, gender balance, ethnic balance and religious balance. In the directive principles of state policy, all these things are mentioned” he noted.
Nonetheless, the experienced legislator stated that Dr Bawumia was not elected based on ethnic, religious or geographical considerations.
But, let’s not overly dwell on that because Bawumia has not been elected because he’s a Muslim or a northerner. He’s been elected because at this time in the nation’s development, some of us believe that the critical thing to look at is who has the knowledge, competence, vision and experience to help us reposition the economy; someone who’s strong in financial management. It wasn’t as if none of them qualified to be the leader, but in terms of who had greater competence to handle the economy, we felt that it was Dr Bawumia, and that is why the overwhelming majority elected him to be the candidate.”
On the running mate position, the Suame MP, who had rooted for a northerner to be the flagbearer, said the running mate must be from the south, but was not specific as to which region that person should come from, although the suggestions so far have largely favoured the Ashanti Region, the NPP’s stronghold.
In a recent interview on JoyNews, a former General Secretary of the NPP, Kwabena Agyei Agyapong, also downplayed attempts by political opponents to blame the woes of the incumbent NPP administration largely on the Vice President and now flagbearer, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia.
In the view of Mr Agyapong, unlike the National Democratic Congress’ flagbearer, John Dramani Mahama who has been President before, the same cannot be said of Dr Bawumia because the buck does not stop with him as the Vice President.
He thus suggested that comparing him to the NDC’s John Mahama who has been both a Vice President and a President would not be fair.
The First Deputy Speaker, Joseph Osei-Owusu, has added his voice to calls for Vice President, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia’s running mate to be selected from the Ashanti region.
This follows intense competition among some New Patriotic Party Members of Parliament over who partners with the newly elected flagbearer Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia.
Names that have emerged so far are Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh; the Minister for Energy, Majority Leader, Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, First Deputy Speaker, Joseph Osei -Owusu and Education Minister, Dr Yaw Osei Adutwum.
Speaking in an interview with JoyNews’ Evans Mensah, Mr Osei-Owusu confirmed that it is generally agreed for the running mate for the newly elected party’s flagbearer to be chosen from the Ashanti region.
This, the Bekwai MP who has also been tipped to be the running mate, says it is the only solution to the party winning the 2024 general election.
“It is generally agreed in the party that if Bawumia wins, his running mate should come from the Ashanti region,” he said.
Mr Joseph Osei-Owusu H.E.Alhaji Mahamudu Bawumia
Asked whether Dr Bawumia has consented to that agreement, he replied “I think so.”
The First Deputy Speaker said he believes the perfect candidate for the position should have some values such as integrity, the person who commands respect in and out of the party to complement that of the new leader.
According to him, even though the candidates mentioned so far to be jostling for the position meet the criteria, “they aren’t the only group of people who are eligible to be nominated and I think that the field is wide.”
Asked why he is taking himself out of the equation although rumoured to be a candidate, he said: “I think that we should allow the man the space to look at the whole game board and select.”
“I agree that the person must come from the Ashanti region because, in our party’s dynamics, it would help a lot to select from the Ashanti region,” he said.
He explained that the selection of a candidate from the Ashanti region would give “the people in the region confidence that the party values their immense contribution to the party.”
Meanwhile, a member of the Bawumia campaign team, Sammi Awuku has shot down suggestions that Dr Bawumia, is already considering his choice of a running mate for the 2024 polls.
Speaking on Joy FM’s Top Story on Monday, November 7, he said the Vice President is not in a rush to name his running mate.
According to him, Dr Bawumia is an extremely analytical person and consults broadly on issues, and so “he would be taking the views of people he knows and when he is ready, when the time comes, he would pick the right man.”
“For now, let me issue a disclaimer. The Vice President has not discussed with any member of his inner team or bigger team about his choice that he would be recommending to the National Council,” he clarified.
The New Patriotic Party (NPP) has made it clear that the party will no longer accommodate or ‘accept as a member’ any individual running any form of campaign for Mr Alan Kwadwo Kyeremanten and his movement.
The party’s General Secretary was emphatic on NEAT FM’s morning show, Ghana Montie that those persons are “automatically barred” from the ‘Elephant’ party per their constitution.
Justin Frimpong Kodua and Alan Kyerematen
“Any member who declares his/her support for another political party or an independent candidate automatically forfeits his/her membership,” Lawyer Justin Koduah read a portion of the NPP’s body of law to justify his comments.
Mr Alan Kwadwo Kyeremanten denounced NPP’s unfairness to him after the first round of the party’s flagbearership election and later departed from the party to form a ‘movement’ to contest the December 7 presidential election.
Alan in a photograph with members of Movement for Change
He, however, had many staunch NPP members joining his movement to ensure the success of his dream to become Ghana’s president
