General News of Thursday, 9 September 2021Source: 3news.comMinister of Food and Agriculture Dr Owusu Afriyie Akoto has described as “desperate scaremongering” claims by former President John Mahama that Ghana faces imminent food shortage. Ghana is not facing food shortage, PFJ is very much on course!! The fact is that the Planting for Food and Jobs is a wholly Government of Ghana (GoG) funded programme. FOOD SHORTAGE AND HUNGERAgain, it is needless to say that the claims by Former President Mahama that Ghana is likely to face food shortage leading to hunger in the coming year, is only an act of scare-mongering. Ghanaians must rest assured that the country will not face food shortage neither will it experience famine as being claimed by Former President Mahama.

General News of Thursday, 9 September 2021Source: kasapafmonline.comGhana’s Foreign Affairs Ministry has denied media reports suggesting a supposed partnership between the UK and Ghana on third-country asylum, as part of the cooperation between the two countries on security and migration. “The Ministry wishes to categorically state that Ghana has no interest or intention to consider any proposed partnership on Third Country Asylum,” a statement by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration said on Wednesday. This comes on the back of a report by Sky News UK on the content of a Virtual Meeting the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey held with the UK Minister for Africa, Rt. Hon James Duddridge. Following many arrivals, there are concerns about the pressure on finding accommodation for new arrivals – said in a letter by the UK’s Immigration Minister Kevin Foster to MPs looking into immigration facilities.

Sports News of Thursday, 9 September 2021Source: ghanasoccernet.comThe Ghana FA will decide on the future of Black Stars coach Charles Akonnor on Friday at its emergency meeting. Ghana coach CK Akonnor has come under serious backlash from the fans following the abysmal performance of the team in the two games. This has led to calls for the Coach Akonnor to be sacked which will be determined by the Ghana FA Executive Council at the meeting on Friday. Ghana FA Executive Council member Randy Abbey in an interview with Accra-based radio station Asempa FM confirmed a meeting will be held to review the performance of the team. “Ghana lost their GFA has fixed an Exco meeting for Friday,”“Black Stars management are yet to send their report.

The President on his campaign trail ahead of the 2020 presidential elections, touted himself as truthful and trustworthy and thus called on Ghanaians to vote for him again. According to him, “The most important thing I want to say is that I want Ghanaians to know I didn’t become President to deceive anybody. “I want the Ghanaian people to understand that Akufo-Addo is a truthful person and he is a man of his words and, so, they should trust me. On Thursday, 10 September, President Akufo-Addo will inspect the ongoing construction of various educational facilities under the Senior High School Intervention Projects at Sunyani Senior High School in Sunyani East and West. Throughout the tour, the President will use the opportunity to hear first-hand from the people and commit to the remaining parts of his administration’s agenda.

“Unfortunately, a statement was made by the minister of finance that over 6,000 lawyers don’t pay tax. “Absolutely false, first of all, we don’t have 6,000 lawyers in Ghana, It’s likely in excess of 3,000, so the data is wrong. There are so many lawyers who are in government service who pay tax directly, so the statement is just patently false,” Mr Forson told Francis Abban on the Morning Starr Thursday. He added: “there are people in private practice who also pay taxes, so the impression given that lawyers don’t pay tax is really unfortunate. Some doctors [are not paying income tax]…so you begin to see all of these professionals, all of us on social media ranting against the government and [realise] that most of these people are not even paying taxes.”

General News of Thursday, 9 September 2021Source: www.ghanaweb.comThe Ejura Traditional Council has announced a packed two-week programme for this year’s Sekyerene (Yam Festival). The programme for the festival also includes other peace-seeking events such as Islamic prayers, inter-denominational church service, musical concert, health walk, clean up exercise and sports games among community members. The festival and the grand durbar will be organised under the theme, “Peaceful Co-existence for Development.”Below is the full programme for the 2021 Yam Festival, as announced by the Ejura Traditional Council. Tuesday, September 28th, health walk and health screening. Friday, October 1, grand durbar, and musical night in the evening.

Following this, the then Chief Executive of the Ghana National Gas Company, Dr George Sipa Adjah Yankey, assured Ghanaians that the Cedi will bounce back to be competitive with other currencies on the market. He said commercial activities of the Ghana National Gas Company, when started, will cover 75% of the market and both the cedi and the economy will witness a boost. Dr. George Sipa Adjah Yankey, Chief Executive of the Ghana National Gas Company (GNCC) at Atuabo in the Western Region, has assured Ghanaians that the country’s depreciating currency and slow growth of the economy will soon be a history. “Ghanaians would soon see the enormous impact of the many ongoing development projects being carried out by the Mahama administration. Dr Yankey, also blamed the excessive importation of essential goods and services for the weak performance of the cedi.

Mr Dani Baah and Mr David Apasera who are chairman and leader of the party respectively, were reportedly demoted in a communique said to have been issued by the party’s National Executive Committee on Tuesday, September 7, 2021. According to the said communique, Janet Nabila who was suspended as the party’s General Secretary on August 28, 2021, together with some other members of the party filed a complaint against the Chairman and the Party Leader. The communique released following the supposed NEC meeting on Tuesday, found Mr Dani Baah and Mr David Apasera guilty of charges including embezzling of party funds and decided on their removal as Chairman and Party Leader respectively. However, a press release signed by Mr Dani Baah and issued on the letterhead of the party, dated Wednesday, September 8, 2021, said the suspension of Ms Nabila as General Secretary of the party still holds. The statement further said the supposed removal of the National Chairman and the Party Leader from their positions was a void decision.

Prof. Baffour Agyeman-Duah, the Chief Executive Officer of the John Kufuor Foundation, added that there is the need for the country’s democratic institutions to rather wake up, reports citinewsroom.com. He cited the recent Afrobarometer surveys conducted by the Centre for Democratic Development (CDD-Ghana) that showed a waning of Ghana’s democracy as an example. According to him, this is indicative of the need for confidence to be reposed in the democracy that we practice. We cannot be complacent… We should never let our guards down; we have to continually strengthen our institutions of democracy. “If you look at Afrobarometer surveys, it is clear that in recent times, Ghanaians’ support for democracy has fallen.

Business News of Thursday, 9 September 2021Source: thebftonline.comFor sensitization efforts on the opportunities presented by the Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) to reap tangible benefits, there is a need to streamline information and target Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs) which operate in areas where the nation holds a competitive advantage over its peers on the continent. While acknowledging concerns raised in some quarters about the scope of sensitization efforts, he stated that not all sectors, or businesses operating in those sectors, are ready to take advantage of the AfCFTA in its nascent stages; as such, priority must be given to those best placed to take advantage of the arrangement. “What I would want to see is a bit of targeting in terms of sensitization; it is not an opportunity for every business and it is not everyone who would be interested in the African market. In light of this, Mr. Nunekpeku says the harmonization of commercial laws must take precedence in the minds of key stakeholders, as “every profitable business environment is underpinned by a robust and comprehensive legal order”. If regulatory agencies ensure the effective implementation of an Africa-wide quality benchmark, it would be safe to assume that an acceptable level of investment would translate to cost-saving and parity across the board,” he explained.

He commended the contractors and assured them that President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo appreciates highly the contribution of contractors to the Ghanaian economy and is fully committed to helping them. Contractors are the movers and shakers of the economy so if you all come together, you can imagine the help Ghana’s economy will derive. Kwabena Agyepong (ING) who was the chairman of today’s event laid emphasis on the need for Ghanaian contractors to present a united front in their dealings. He disclosed that contractors are the backbone of every economy and that Ghanaian contractors recognize the power they wield and play an active role in the economy. The National Infrastructure Summit is a three-day event that brings all players in the construction industry under one roof to deliberate on ways of improving the sector and maximizing gains.

Business News of Thursday, 9 September 2021Source: 3news.comThe Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre (GIPC) Mr Yofi Grant has revealed that Ghana is expected to generate $3billion from Foreign Direct Investments (FDIs) in 2021. Total investment inflows thus peaked to US$2,796.49 million in 2020, with a total FDI value of US$2,650.97 million for Ghana. The FDI value of US$2,650.97 million illustrates a significant increase of 139.06% over the FDI value of US$1,108.93 million recorded in 2019. In terms of the sector allocation of the investments, the manufacturing sector with 57 projects recorded the largest FDI value of US$1,270.53 million. This was followed by the services and mining sectors with FDI values of US$656.19 million and US$ 424,32 million respectively.

Cricket of Thursday, 9 September 2021Source: ghanaguardian.comThe Minister for Youth and Sports, Hon. Mustapha Ussif on Wednesday, 8th September, urged the Ghana Cricket Association and other sports federations to be proactive with their plans and programs of activities ahead of time. He also encouraged the Cricket Team to continue with its impressive performance to make its way through to be among the household sports in Ghana. The President of the Ghana Cricket Association, Emmanuel O. Asare in his remark thanked the Minister for his support and also pleaded for more support to enable the team to chalk more success for the country. He also appealed to the Minister to factor the game among the competitive sports for the African Games in 2023.

According to him, he is fed up with the political talks of both the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) as far as votes garnering is concerned. Speaking on Peace FM's 'Kokrokoo' programme on Wednesday, September 8, 2021, Kwesi Pratt Jnr said,"Ghanaians are not as much concerned with what party comes to power in the next elections as they are about their living conditions being improved". "I am tired of the two parties and the political talks," he added. This is the state of the national economy...For me, voting isn't my priority. What's important to me is to find ways to alleviate the hardships and financial problems to ease the burdens on Ghanaians," he stated.

“NDC must man the polling station, they must man the collation centres, make sure the pink sheets are correct, make sure we get the right results and everything because maybe someone else will be flagbearer. They will choose Supreme Court but if I become flagbearer I am not going to the Supreme Court,” he stressed. The 2024 elections will be won or lost at the polling station. And so you must do the needful,” he stated in English, changing tongue to Twi by saying: “I meant NDC must not wait to go to the Supreme Court again. What we must do at the polling station and collation center must be done!”