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The Member of Parliament for the Mfantseman Constituency in the Central region had paid glowing tribute to the late Brigadier-General Constance Ama Emefa Edjeani-Afenu, Ghana’s first female brigadier general, who tragically passed away on Monday, January 24, 2022.

Mrs.  Ophelia Mensah who is also the Vice Chairperson of the Defence and Interior Committee of Parliament, presenting a statement on the floor of the House on the demise of the late brigadier general described her as a trailblazer who served her country with distinction and left an indelible mark which shall never be erased.

According her, the late brigadier-general’s achievements as the first woman to be appointed as Deputy Military Adviser of the Permanent Mission in the New York from 2013 to 2016, her appointment in 1999 as the Commanding Officer of the Forces Pay Regiment, which made her the first female Commanding Officer in the history of the Ghana Armed Forces, and progressing through the ranks to become the first female Brigadier-General of the Ghana Armed Forces on March 1, 2016, as well as the 2019 UN appointed as the Deputy Force Commander in the UN Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO) where she served with distinction are no small feats, and a testament that the nation has lost a great servant in her.

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The late Brigadier-General was born on March 5, 1960, in Vane Avatime in the Volta Region. She was raised up in Tamale and attended the Kamina Barracks Primary and Armed Forces Experimental School in Kumasi before attending Wesley Girls’ Senior High School in Cape Coast to study for her O’ and A-Levels. She enlisted into the Ghana Armed Forces as one of two females in 1978, when she was 18 years old. After 18 months of training at the Ghana Military Academy, she was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant on April 25, 1980, as the only female in her batch to successfully complete her training. She was consequently awarded the Most Prestigious Resilient Officer award in her graduating class.

Her father, as well as two of her brothers also served in the military and this imbibed in her a strong sense of civic responsibility. This was demonstrated by her great career in the Ghana Armed Forces, where she progressed through the ranks to become the country’s first female Brigadier-General. She became a role model for women in the Ghana Armed Forces and the country at large.

The late Brigadier-General later graduated from the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration with a Diploma in Public Administration (GIMPA). Additionally, she had her Postgraduate Diploma in Management Practice from Ecole Superieure de Gestion in Paris, France. Subsequently, she obtained a Bachelor of Science Degree in Accounting from GIMPA.

Brigadier General Edjeani-Afenu also participated in various UN peacekeeping operations. She served as part of the United Nations Interim Forces in Lebanon (UNIFIL) in 1994 and 1998, the UN Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (MONUSCO) in 2007, and the United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL) in 2009.

She made history when she progressed through the ranks to become the first female Brigadier-General of the Ghana Armed Forces on March 1, 2016. Her appointment was confirmed in March 2017 when the Chief of Defence stalf (CDS) Major – General Obed Boamah Akwa, conferred the rank on her. The CDS, whiles congratulating her, labeled her exploits as a beacon for females in the Armed Forces.

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Member of Parliament for New Edubiase Adams Abdul Salam has lamented over difficulties parents have to go through to secure accommodation for their wards that have gained admission to the various universities in Ghana.

According to him it took his intervention for a constituent’s daughter who has gained admission to university of Ghana to get accommodation on campus.

“Mr. Speaker, a precursor to this statement is my experience on the morning of January 6th, 2022. On that day, I visited the campus of the University of Ghana, together with the student and her father, who had travelled from New Edubiase to begin their search for accommodation on campus”, he said.

“Mr. Speaker, all attempts at meeting the traditional hall authorities to put forward our request, was unsuccessful. Mr. Speaker, it took us over six hours of waiting for a manager of one of the hostel facilities on campus to finally find a slot for my constituent. When I was leaving the manager’s office at around 4:40 pm, there was still a queue of desperate students and their parents waiting to have an audience with the managers of that hostel”.

Mr. Speaker, as I stepped out in the hallway, one parent who had accompanied her child from Kumasi in search of accommodation approached me and said.

 “Gentleman, I don’t know why but something just told me to speak to you maybe you could help me. I have been here since 6:00 am, in search of accommodation for my daughter. I have waited to see the manager, but they keep saying he is busy. Please help me, as I don’t know what to do now,” she stated as she shed tears.

 Mr. Speaker, whiles trying to console the frustrated parent, another parent came up to me and lamented.

 “I gained admission here in 1998 and had challenges with finding accommodation for myself on campus. Twenty-four years on, my son is still facing similar problems. What kind of system are we running in this country?” she asked.

In a statement on the floor of the House he noted that, there are many other depressing stories of how students struggle to find accommodation in our various public universities in the country.

The current arrangements in some of our public universities are that, after paying tuition, students are required to apply and secure accommodation online.

 This arrangement does not often work for many students, especially those in rural areas. Mr. Speaker, to access these online portals, one needs fast and reliable internet, which is a challenge in many parts of the country. Even for those in urban areas, the reports are that rooms are usually unavailable by the time students get the notification to log on to the portals.

Again, the cost of accommodation on campus is too high for the average parent, as currently, apart from the traditional halls, the average residential fee ranges between a little below Two Thousand, Five Hundred Ghana Cedis (GH₵2,500) to Twelve Thousand Ghana Cedis (GH₵12,000) for an academic year. This development makes it difficult for students from poor families to enrol.

As enrolment increases in our public universities, the only logical thing for the government to do is to provide adequate facilities to accommodate the growing student population.

Mr. Speaker, the government must also enhance the Build, Operate, and Transfer (BOT) concept, as it pertains in some public universities. This would serve as an incentive to encourage the private sector in helping to solve the current accommodation crises.

“Mr. Speaker, when accommodation facilities are expanded, the government, through the university councils, must put measures to curtail the rise in illegal selling of bed spaces in our various public universities”.

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The Minister for Education, Dr. Yaw Adutwum has assured Parliament and Ghanaians of government’s commitment to provide better accommodation to students, especially at the tertiary level.

He said, proper management systems should also be put in place where a student would be required to book online in making sure that all the needed requirements including accommodation are ready before moving on campus in order not to create any form of embarrassment for students.

He acknowledged the frustration of parents, who have to be physically present to find accommodation for their wards, and added that the challenge has been there for twenty four years (24) and should be confronted to end it.

“We are looking for ways of helping private entities get loans and put up hostels, I commend the University of Professional Studies for the way they have been able to handle the issue of accommodation through their own internally generated funds, same with UEW; when we bring together government, universities and private sector we would be able to address this challenges”.

 Dr. Yaw Adutwum was contributing to a statement made by Member of Parliament for New Adubease, Abdul-Salam Adams on challenges confronting tertiary students with respect to accommodation.

He concluded that, even though, government hasn’t completed the work on accommodation on campuses; there has not been a single case of any student that has been denied of admission into any tertiary education due to lack of accommodation.

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Minister for Food and Agriculture, Dr. Owusu Afiriyie Akoto has challenged the Ranking Member for Food, Agriculture and Cocoa Affairs Committee, Erick Opoku to show him evidence at the Committee level that suggests donkeys smuggled fertilisers to Burkina Faso.

According to him he is glad that the House is a House of record and anything said should come with evidence. “Produce record to that effect that officials from the Ministry, quote that then I would answer that question”.

Mr. Erick Opoku told the House that at the approval of the 2022 budget last year at the Committee level an official from the Ministry said donkeys were smuggling fertilisers to neighbouring Burkina Faso.

And wanted to know from the Minister what he is doing about that as a supplementary question when the Member of Parliament (MP) for Kwadaso Dr. Kingsley Nyarko had an urgent question in his name asking the Minister on measures to address complaints from farmers about unavailability and high prices of fertilisers.

Rt. Hon Alban Kingsford Sumana Bagbin noted that order 671 (1) D should be taken into consideration and said the issue raised by the Food and Agriculture Minister is an issue that should be verified and proven.

“Whether the Committee can produce that record, they are part of the House, any time you get that record you are at liberty to come to the House”.

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The Minister for Youth and Sports, Mustapha Ussif, on Wednesday, January 26, 2022  informed Parliament of plans by government to improve the performance of the national team, the Black Stars.

According to him the technical bench of the team has been tasked to come up with more details on the selection and management of the players to ensure better performance in future tournaments.

He added that there is a roadmap to encourage inter-schools participation in active sports to ensure the best talents are harnessed for future national sports endeavours and to widen the scope of selection to the national soccer team.

A Statement by the MP for South Tongu, Wisdom Kobena Woyome, cited many technical anomalies such as player disconnect indiscipline, poor managerial tactics, and poor motivation, among others as some of the causes of the poor performance of the team.

Members from both sides of the House spoke against the performance of the national team, suggesting passionately, many ways the team’s fortunes can be improved.

Mr.  Rockson Dafeamekpor, Freda Prempeh, Haruna Iddrisu and Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu spoke about the need for the nation to take steps to generally overhaul the Black Stars team and its administration to enable the players to perform better in future tournaments.

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Minority Leader Haruna Iddrisu said the Minister for Youth and Sport does not have the authority and mandate anywhere to dismiss or review the coach of the senior national team, Milovan Rajevac.

According to him it is premature for, and contravenes the football rules and regulations though the Ghana Football Association (GFA) does not put the mandate of determining a coach and his exit in the hands of a Minister or a politician.

At a press conference addressed by the Tamale South MP on Wednesday, January 26, 2022 after the Minister and the Ranking member made a statement on the floor of the House, he acknowledged that Ghanaians are justified in their anger over the abysmal performance of the Black Stars at the ongoing African Cup of nations in Cameron. Kwaku Sakyi-Danso/Ghanamps.com

 

Minister for Lands and Natural Resource Samuel Abu Jinapor has revealed that Government would from next week inaugurate a ministerial Committee of technocrats to conduct an enquiry not only into the Apiate explosion and disaster.

According to him their work would move into the whole issue of health and safety in the mining industry in Ghana for a recommendation to be made and implemented which would address the issues of health and safety. “Our country is to be a health and safety place when it comes to mining”.

He made this revelation at a press briefing on Tuesday, January 25, 2022 when he made a statement on the floor of the House with regards to the Apiate explosion.

As to whether government is not having a kneejerk reaction to the situation, has described by the Minority Leader Haruna Iddrisu particularly regarding the suspension  of the companies involve, he responded by saying that all over the world when there is a disaster the standard practice is to suspend the company involve for investigation to take place.

“When issues like this happen there is the need for the broader interrogation so that we can learn the useful lessons out of the industry, and the larger picture, where are the loop holes and where do we have to tighten the legal regime is there a sufficient policy regime?”

Mr. Abu Jinapor further noted that a five member Committee has been set up with chairperson being Dr. Joyce Ayie to raise the necessary funding to help address the disaster.

According to the Minister the president Nana Akufo-Addo himself has been very instrumental coordinating government efforts, as there has been an intervention and emergency response which has been very swift and robust since the disaster occurred, Thursday, January 20, 2022.

“The  president was chairing a cabinet meeting but step out  and started  the initial coordination of government effort as,  we have seen relief items were sent immediately the following day the vice president led a government delegation led by the Vice President, Information, Interior and Lands and Natural Resources Minister”.

He added that far reaching steps have been taken by suspending the operations of Maxam Ghana Ltd, which the company responsible for the explosives and the chief inspector of the mines had been interdicted for credible and standard investigation to be carried out.

Government, he said is fully on top of this matter and the president has made a commitment that government is going to mobilize all the resources to support the victims and to reconstruct a community and build a modern community for the people.

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The Minister for National Security,  Kan Dapaah, speaking at the opening of a three days Commonwealth Parliamentary Association said there can never be a true democracy without checks and balances; stressing that the current composition of the 8th Parliament presents an effective way for the Legislature to check the Executive for the development of the country.

He highlighted some of the challenges of the 8th Parliament and mentioned physical confrontation on the floor of the House and said both sides should work together in the best interest of the nation.

Welcoming the participants to the workshop, the Clerk to Parliament, Mr. Cyril Kwabena Oteng Nsiah, noted the need for the Commonwealth to pay attention to developing and implementing mechanism that would boost trade, enhance security and improve gender relations.

He said the workshop is taking place at a time when member countries need to have a unified force in the face of current global difficulties.

He was of the view that deliberations on the topics outlined for discussion during sessions of the workshop will result in a cross fertilisation of ideas for the growth of respective parliaments and renew the commitment to improve the lot of nations and the world at large.

The objective of the workshop is to help develop a greater understanding of the operations of Parliamentary Trade, Security and Gender Committees in the Commonwealth.

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The Member of Parliament (MP) for Karaga constituency in the Northern Region, Dr. Mohammed Amin Adam has yet again offered his profound assurances to play a pivotal role in the educational journey of students in Karaga.

He made these remarks when he addressed a gathering of 70 student-beneficiaries of the Anta Education Fund (AEF) and some members of the constituency at the district assembly hall in the Karaga constituency.

Dr. Amin recounted to all and sundry that his commitment to building the educational capacity of his constituents begun before his days as a parliamentary candidate of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP), where he supported 33 students at different stages of tertiary as well as supporting the teaching staff with 50 laptops as an incentive and also to facilitate their work.

“I am very passionate about the agenda of educational capacity building because I have been a beneficiary of student loans and will forever be cognisant of the relief it brought to my parents, and I during the trying times of my childhood”.

“It is my hope that through the opportunities from the AEF, the burden of not being able to fund academic logistics would be lifted off deserving students”, he added.

The Karaga lawmaker thanked all the dignitaries present at the occasion for their support and assured the audience of his unflinching support to the people.

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As part of ensuring that local economic development moves on his constituency, Member of Parliament for Bantama, Francis Asenso-Boakye has presented knitting machines to some selected tailors and seamstresses in his constituency.

The Bantama lawmaker made this presentation over the weekend and posted it on his twitter account as part of empowering his constituents.

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