Month: July 2011

The government is formulating a bill to provide a legal and regulatory framework for the protection of computerized information before the country adopts a full scale digital economy.

The proposed Data Protection Bill seeks to protect the right of all Ghanaians to personal data as well as those of corporate organizations.

Haruna Idrissu, Minister of Communication, announced this I an address read on his behalf at the launch of the “First Africa Digital Week 2011” in Accra yesterday and said the bill was currently before Parliament and would be considered when the House resumed in October.

The ceremony was organized by the Africa e- Governance Academy.

He said the ministry had been working with the National Information Technology Agency (NITA) and other organizations to pilot an e-mail and web management postal in the cloud platform.

The collaboration, he said, was also meant to evaluate security challenges by deploying policy makers, academics and solution providers to deepen government infrastructure in ICT development in the country.

He said the unethical practice of hacking which revealed government and individual private information as well as defrauding them, was a major concern to government , and the move would provide adequate protection to individuals provide information and also guard them from being duped.

The Member of Parliament for Trobu/Amasaman, Ernest Attuquaye Armah today Friday 29th July 2011, has broken ground to signify the commencement of a pre- primary school block at Medie in the Ga West District of the Greater Accra Region .

The GHC30, 000 project which is expected to be completed in three months when done, will be in fulfillment of the MP’s quest to ensure that all the basic schools within the constituency are provided with Pre- Primary schools which is very vital for the educational development of the child.

The MP who himself is an Architect has taken up the consultancy aspect of the project which most of the time cost about 1/3 of the entire cost of the project while the inhabitants will also help by supplying building materials such as stones and sand, and also provide labour for the construction of the facility.

Speaking to ghanamps.gov.gh the Hon. Attuquaye Armah emphasizes the importance for the pre-schools since it has been established by educators that more learning takes place during the first five years than at any other period in life.

It is during these formative years that character and personality are developed, and basic attitudes formed.

He says education is an issue very dear to his heart and he is very much committed to ensuring the improvement of the educational standards in his constituency, an objective he claims he is on course fulfill.

Story by : Kwadwo Anim/ghanamps.gov.gh

The Parliamentary Select Committee on Lands and Forestry has expressed satisfaction with a plantation project at Essen Epan Forest Reserve in the Birim Central Municipality and appealed to the government to commit more resources to it.

The 400-hectare plantation, which was established between 2003 and 2010, has trees species such as Cedrela, Ofram, Ceiba and Emire.

Mr Albert Abongo, Chairman of the Committee, accompanied by members, inspected the plantation on Monday and said it was a good way to create jobs.

He said the committee was impressed with what was happening in the Forestry Sector adding “We need to maintain what we have done so far.”

Mr Abongo, the Member of Parliament for Bongo, appealed to the government to commit more resources to similar projects to create more jobs and also to serve as reforestation.

He expressed worry about the way illegal chainsaw operators are devastating the forest and said the government was putting in measures to curb it.

One of those measures is to empower fringe communities to go into other livelihood projects as snail and piggery rearing and mushroom production.

Mr Adjei Yeboah, MP for Tano South and Ranking Member of the Committee, appealed to the government to consider giving loans to farmers engaged in Taunga farming.

He also appealed to the government to release funds approved for the Forestry Commission on time to enable it to function effectively.

Members of the Committee included Mr Ofosu Asamoah, MP, for Kade, Reverend Dr Joses Asare-Akoto, MP, for Asugyaman and Mr Albert Zigah, MP for Ketu South.

Source : GNA

All is set for the Ghana Tourism Board to be transformed into the Ghana Tourism Authority as President Mills has assented to the Tourism Bill.

The law, among other goals, will empower the Authority with more regulatory powers and also establish a Tourism Fund for the development of the tourism sector.

With the passage of the bill into law, the sector ministry has initiated the process towards its implementation.

This involves the establishment of a board and management team for the authority as well as stakeholder sensitization on the collection of the levies for the tourism development fund among others.

The chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on Trade, Industry and Tourism, Alhaji Amadu Sorogho told Citi News that the law is expected to insulate tourism activities from government control whilst simultaneously streamlining activities in the sector.

“As at now, most of our tourist sites and activities are scattered around and are owned by different groups. The museums, forts and castles do not fall under the ministry of tourism. So how then do we describe tourism? This law would bring all tourism activities under one authority so that they can be properly coordinated”.

Mr. Sorogho said a major investment in domestic tourism was key to a booming tourism industry which would be possible by well-coordinated and organized activities.

“A fund would be created help to expand and educate our young ones to be knowledgeable on the tourist activities concerning our own country.

“We need to start from within; we do not have to wait for foreigners to come into the county to improve our tourism”.All is set for the Ghana Tourism Board to be transformed into the Ghana Tourism Authority as President Mills has assented to the Tourism Bill.

The law, among other goals, will empower the Authority with more regulatory powers and also establish a Tourism Fund for the development of the tourism sector.

With the passage of the bill into law, the sector ministry has initiated the process towards its implementation.

This involves the establishment of a board and management team for the authority as well as stakeholder sensitization on the collection of the levies for the tourism development fund among others.

The chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on Trade, Industry and Tourism, Alhaji Amadu Sorogho told Citi News that the law is expected to insulate tourism activities from government control whilst simultaneously streamlining activities in the sector.

“As at now, most of our tourist sites and activities are scattered around and are owned by different groups. The museums, forts and castles do not fall under the ministry of tourism. So how then do we describe tourism? This law would bring all tourism activities under one authority so that they can be properly coordinated”.

Mr. Sorogho said a major investment in domestic tourism was key to a booming tourism industry which would be possible by well-coordinated and organized activities.

“A fund would be created help to expand and educate our young ones to be knowledgeable on the tourist activities concerning our own country.

“We need to start from within; we do not have to wait for foreigners to come into the county to improve our tourism”.

Source: GNA

The Member of Parliament for Akim Oda, Yaw Owusu Boateng has commended the Minister of Road and Highways, Joe Gidisu for the engineering works he caused to be done on the Birim Bridge in the Birim Central Municipality of the Eastern Region.

According to him, the repair works done on the bridge saved it from total collapse after last week’s heavy rains that caused flooding and displaced lots of people in Akim Oda and its environs.

The Birim Bridge prior to the recent maintenance work was in a poor state and brought a lot of inconvenience to residence of the Birim Central Municipality, and other Cocoa farmers as the bridge links cocoa producing areas of the Ashanti and Eastern Regions.

Residents of Akim Oda and Nkwanta claim since its construction about 50 years ago, the bridge had seen no major rehabilitation works which resulted in its deteriorating state.

Repair works on the GH¢ 210,000 which was being conducted by the Ghana Highway Authority and begun in January was expected to be completed by the beginning of April 2011 but that obviously has not been achieved.

Speaking to ghanamps.gov.gh, the Member of Parliament for Akim Oda, Yaw Owusu Boateng stated that the repairs on the bridge was a timely intervention as the bridge in its earlier state could have easily caved in and worsened the already devastating floods.

He said continues repair works on the Birim Bridge have been suspended to enable the Ghana Highway Authority carryout maintenance work on the bridge linking Spinters road to Ashiaman which is widely used by several motorists.

“Hon. Joe Gidisu has assured me that right after the maintenance work has been done on the Ashiaman Bridge, officials will turn their attention on the Birim Bridge and complete the necessary repair works to put the bridge back in shape’’ Hon. Owusu Boateng said.

Story by : Kwadwo Anim/ghanamps.gov.gh

Amnesty International has condemned the recent call by Paul Evans Aidoo, Western Regional Minister, for the arrest of all gay men and lesbians in the country.

The organization has advocated for the removal of Ghana’s legislation which could result in the arrest, detention, prosecution and punishment of people solely for their sexual orientation or gender identity.

It said it is concerned that homophobic comments by political figures may result in violence against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people in Ghana.

On 20 July 2011, Paul Evans Aidoo, the Western Region Minister and MP for Sefwi-Wiawso, ordered security forces to arrest all gay and lesbian people in the west of the country, and called on landlords and tenants to report anyone they suspected of being gay or lesbian.

A statement released by Amnesty International stated that the use of laws to arrest, prosecute or imprison individuals for consensual same-sex relations in private or on the basis of their gender identity or expression is a violation of Ghana’s international human rights obligations under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the International Covenant on Economic, Social an Cultural Rights (ICESCR).

The rights enshrined in these international treaties include the rights to privacy, freedom from discrimination, equal treatment under the law, freedom of expression, association and assembly. The Ghanaian government has obligations under these standards to promote, respect and protect the human rights of its population without distinction of any kind, including on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity.

Ghana’s own constitution recognizes the right to freedom from discrimination in Article 17. Furthermore, the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, ratified by Ghana in 1989, affirms the equality of all people. Article 2 affirms the right to freedom from discrimination, article 3 guarantees equality before the law and article 26 outlines the duty of all individuals not to discriminate, and to “maintain relations aimed at promoting, safeguarding and reinforcing mutual respect and tolerance.”

Amnesty International further called on Minister Paul Evans Aidoo to retract his comments, and for the Government of Ghana to overturn article 104 of the Ghanaian Criminal Code, which has the effect of criminalizing homosexuality in Ghana.

Story by : Kwadwo Anim/ghanamps.gov.gh

Ghana’s rural water coverage is now 63 per cent showing an increase of 5.86 per cent from 2008, Mr Kingsford Sumani Alban Bagbin, Minister of water Resources, Works and Housing said on Tuesday.

Taking his turn at the Meet-The-Press series in Accra, Hon. Bagbin who is also the MP for Nadowli West said government in line with the Ghana Shared Growth and Development Agenda and the Millennium Development Goal number seven was improving access to safe drinking water and decent sanitation facilities in rural communities.

He said since 2009, 20,000 boreholes had been constructed as part of the 0 million per year COMPACT commitment at the World Water Forum in Washington DC on water and sanitation.

Mr Bagbin said the African Development Bank rural and sanitation project ongoing in the Ashanti Region was expected to provide 1,406 boreholes, 10 hand-dug wells, three rain harvesting systems and two mechanized systems in beneficiary communities.

“Local Service Delivery and Government Programmes being funded by DANIDA, which started in 2009 involving 30 districts in Eastern, Volta, Greater Accra and Central Regions would also benefit from a total of 1,020 boreholes and six piped systems.”

Peri-Urban, Rural and Small Town Water and Sanitation project in Brong Ahafo being funded by Agence Francaise de development (AfD), he said, would provide 17 Small Town Piped Systems and 1000 boreholes to be completed December 2012.

The Minister said the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) was also constructing 1,000 boreholes in Cocoa growing areas to be completed in 2012.

The CIDA funded Northern Region Small Towns Water and sanitation Project, Mr Bagbin said was also expected to be completed in 2015 to provide 30 small town water systems.

He said the Sustainable Rural Water and Sanitation Project being funded by International Development Association of the World Bank would rehabilitate 400 boreholes, 13 Small Town Systems, drill 1,200 new boreholes, 40 new community water schemes, and provide 29 new small town water supply.

Mr Bagbin said the Community Water and Sanitation Agency from 2010 to March 2011 has provided 551 new boreholes with hand pumps, rehabilitated 57 boreholes with pumps, two hand-dug wells with pumps, 409 boreholes awaiting hand pump installation, dug 12 new hand-dug wells with pumps, and seven new small communities with piped water systems.

Others were 22 new small communities with water systems, 73 new small communities with water systems, 69 new small towns with piped water systems, 34 rain water harvesting systems and 11 Ghana Water Company Limited piped connection works still ongoing.

He said with all these ongoing and completed projects, the government was on course to fulfil its campaign promise “to end the perennial water crisis of our communities and cities by significantly expanding and upgrading water infrastructure by the end our first term in office.”

Source : GNA

Government will collaborate with stakeholders to use the tourism sector as a poverty alleviation strategy, Ms Akua Sena Dansua, Minister of Tourism on Tuesday said.

“Tourism has the capacity to create jobs and redistribute income. It also helps to mitigate rural-urban migration and stimulate development through investment in infrastructure and superstructure facilities,” she said.

Ms Dansua was speaking at the ceremony organized to commission the first of 35 billboards being constructed to be mounted at entry and exit points in regional capitals.

The first billboard, which was mounted at Kasoa in the Central Region, is to serve as a brand to promote all the regions as tourism destinations.

The billboards dubbed “Discover Ghana,” is a project being undertaken by the Ministry of Tourism in collaboration with the United Nations World Tourism Organisation’s Sustainable Tourism for Eliminating Poverty (ST-EP) Foundation with funds from the Korean Government through its Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.

It is also under the auspices of the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) and Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

Ms DHo Young-Shim, the Korean Ambassador in Ghana, applauded the country for its rich cultural heritage and hospitality stressing that her people had high regard for Ghanaians and their products.

“Ghana in Korea means something delicious, sweet and good,” she added.

Ms Young-Shim, who is also the Chairperson for the Board of Directors and Member of the United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDG) Advocacy group, called for a continuous and close partnership between both countries.

After the ceremony in Kasoa, the team travelled to the Sempe Cluster of Schools at Mamprobi in Accra to commission the first of 24 libraries to be constructed throughout the country.

The library project, dubbed “Thank You Small Library”, is also being undertaken in collaboration with the Korean Government in collaboration with the UN MDG Advocacy Group and the KOICA.

Ms Dansua advised the pupils to read widely to build their vocabulary as well as improve their learning skills.

She called on school administrators to form tourism clubs in schools.

Ms Young-Shim also called on Ghanaians to invest in education stressing that it was crucial to socio-economic development.

“Korea has no cocoa, oil and gold. It has nothing, but it invested in education and that is what has led her to become a developed nation.”

Mr Fritz Baffoe, Member of Parliament for Ablekuma South, advised the pupils to use their time wisely and to improve their learning habits.

Mr Alfred Okoe Vanderpuije, Accra Metropolitan Assembly Chief Executive Officer, urged the pupils to stay in school and learn hard to achieve their goals.

He called for the maintenance of the library, books and other teaching and learning materials.

GNA

The opposition New Patriotic Party says the purchase of the Embraer 190 aircraft must be deferred until independent investigations are carried out on the use and actual cost of the jet, as the agreement for the purchase smacks of corruption.

The Minority in Parliament last week approved the purchase of four other aircraft but withdrew from approving the purchase agreement of the Embraer 190 as they questioned its whopping $105 million price tag, but the Majority went ahead to approve the deal.

At a press briefing in Accra on Wednesday, the Member of Parliament for Okaikoi South, Nana Akomea who addressed the media, called for the entire deal to be subjected to painstaking scrutiny to purge it of its reeking corruption.

“The Minority will join the call by well meaning Ghanaians on President Mills to stop proceeding on the purchase of the $88 million Embraer 190 and the 17 million Hanger.

“But we call on him to have an independent body and there are several of them that are credible that can do a value for money due-diligence assessment on this deal so that we know what we are getting as a country,” MP for Okaikoi North Nana Akomea said.

“Otherwise the majority of Ghanaians will believe that the government is not aware of their needs; that prices of the Embraer and the Hanger are inflated; and that there is corruption in the deal to purchase the Embrarer and the Hanger.”

He believed that the Embraer 190 was an Executive Jet but government wanted to deceive the public into believing that it was being purchased for use by the military.

“The minority insists that this is not true; we insist that the Embraer 190 is basically a commercial aircraft which the NDC government at great cost to the tax payer is having configured as an executive jet.

Story by : Kwadwo Anim/ghanamps.gov.gh