Home Blog Page 2647

2,500 bed capacity hostel for UMaTdelays over land dispute

0
Prof Richard K Amankwa, VC

The Vice Chancellor of the University of Mines and Technology (UMaT), Prof. Richard K. Amankwa has appealed to the Minister for Railways Development to approve the pending agreement between UMaT and the Ministry to fully operationalise the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed between the two.

According to him, when the MOU is operationalised, it would help in the development of the UMaT School of Railway and Infrastructure Development (SRID) to achieve its mandate and also to prevent future litigation.

He said currently, a private investor was ready to build a 2,500 bed capacity hostel for the students of SRID, but the deal is delaying because there is no evidence that the land belongs to them.

The UMat Vice Chancellor was speaking at the first Rail Transport Observance Day at UMat School of Railways and Infrastructure Development at Essikado, near Sekondi, over the weekend.

The Day was on the theme “Ghana’s Rail Transport, Challenges and Future Prospect”.

The UMat SRID became operational in 2021 and has currently 800 students population from seven BSC engineering and seven certificate programmes.

The certificate programmes tailored for the Railway sector include; Locomotive Engineering, Signalling and Telecommunication, Railway Planning and Operations, Survey and Mappings amongst many others.

Prof.Amankwa showed appreciation to all stakeholders for their efforts towards the establishment of the SRID, with special mention of the former Minister of Railway Development, Joe Ghartey.

He was optimistic that with the involvement of the Omanhene of Essikado, Nana Kobina Nketia, and the Regional Minister amongst others, various academic, residential and road infrastructure would be built to expand the school and enable it contribute more to the education and socio-economic development of Sekondi-Takoradi.

“Nana Chair, I believe that through a synergic association between sectors and interdisciplinary research that drives information, SRID will make progress. The Railways industry is part of the solution to a sustainable future and UMaT will continue to play its role to ensure national development,” he said.

Touching on the rational for the Rail Transport Observance Day, Prof. Richard Amankwa pointed out that sustainable development was about creating a balance between meeting the needs of a growing population and the health of our planet by embracing environmental sustainability.

Without any mode of transport, the UMaT VC said there would be no trade to foster the survival of our communities.

Quoting the International Energy Agency, he said railway transport was one of the most energy-efficient transport modes responsible for 9% of global motorised passenger movement and 7% of freight shipping, but only 3% of transport energy use.

With that in mind, he said rail plays an important role in addressing many of the SDG-some directly and some indirectly.

However, despite the importance rail transport plays in an economy, the sector, he observed, had not lived up to expectations to spearhead national development.

It was in this regard that the University thought it wise to champion the day, in solidarity with the gallant railway staff who work tirelessly for the benefit of this country and also come together and share ideas on the sustainable implementation of the railway master plan for Ghana.

The Minister for Railway Developments, Peter Amewu, whose address was read on his behalf observed that due to decades of poor maintenance, neglect and inadequate investment by successive governments, only 15% of the existing narrow gauge railway network was operational.

He said in a strategic effort to develop the overall rail transport system in Ghana, government has carved out rail transport mode from other modes of transport and prioritised its development, in order for it to serve as a catalyst for the industrialisation and socio-economic development of the country.

The government has, therefore, developed a railway Masterplan to serve as a guide for the fulfilment of the Ministry’s mandate to systematically modernise and expand the railway network in the country, starting with the rehabilitation of the existing narrow gauge network.

However, the Minister pointed out that due to the deterioration of the old narrow gauge network and its corresponding high cost of rehabilitation, a policy decision was taken by government not to rehabilitate the entire network save limited sections from Accra through Tema to Nsawam on the eastern line and Sekondi-Takoradi through Kojokrom to Tarkwa on the western line, in order to operate passenger rail services.

This, he said, was to keep the system running with existing fleet of narrow gauge rolling stock, while steps are being taken to reconstruct and expand the entire network on a new standard gauge.

According to Minister Amewu, the western line, which stretches from Takoradi to Kumasi with a branch from Dunkwa to Awaso, used to be the major route for the transportation of major minerals and other bulk commodities.

Unfortunately, due to several decades of neglect and underfunding, the western line completely broke down, except for partial freight services on the Takoradi-Nsuta section.

The Ghana Railway Workers Union, on its part, argued that the rail sector arguably has the potential of solving most of the economic challenges facing the country, as well as the panacea to the unemployment situation.

For that reason, it was important that a day was set aside to critically examine the challenges and prospect of the sector.

The Union Genera Secretary, Godwill Ntarmah, whose address was read on his behalf, however, said the railway sector was bedevilled with a number of challenges and qualified to be called a highly indebted poor company.

He, however, requested the Ministry of Railway Development to arrange and conclude on the 2018 MOU between the Ministry and the school to ensure that as the original owners of the school, GRCL benefits from the progressive strides the school was making.

Nana Konina Nketiah V, Omanhene of Esskado who chaired the day, advised the students to use the knowledge they would acquire to liberate the country.

Present were the Regional Minister, Kwabena Okyere Darko Mensah, the Pro-Vice Chancellor of UMaT, Anthony Simmons, Yaw Owusu, Managing Director of Ghana Railway Development Authority (GRDA) amongst others.

GRA snoops on non-complying restaurants, bars

0
The GRA enforcement team engaging the Alley Bar attendants
Alley Bar attendant tying to explain issues to the GRA team

The Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA), as part of efforts to mobilise the needed resources for the country’s development, has snooped on restaurants and entertainment centres that are not complying with the Authority’s regulations.

The GRA, in addition to its day and night enforcement exercise, arrested non-complying registered businesses charged with the mandate to collect Value Added Tax (VAT) on behalf of the Authority.

The Authority discovered the non-complying businesses through test purchasing exercises embarked upon by staff of the Authority to establish, which enterprises are defaulting in the application of the VAT Act.

In the night exercise in which The Chronicle participated in, the Authority caught one non-complying entertainment centre, The Alley Bar at Osu Leading.

Leading the operation team was the Head of Enforcement at the Accra Centre Office of the GRA, Joseph Annan, who told journalists that the Authority has a tall list of non-complying enterprises that operate at night.

While the Authority would leave no stone unturned during the day, he said the enforcement team would soon snoop on them as well, since they had been registered to VAT or an appropriate invoice that has been authorised by the Commissioner-General, but they have failed to act right.

“The places we have visited are those that are not doing the right thing, and we have just started the night. And we will be doing more nights, as against the days so that at least nobody doing day or night will go doing the wrong thing,” he stated.

He explained that even though the domestic tax division of the Ghana Revenue Authority closes at 5:00 pm, the enforcement team would alert until the last taxpayer goes to sleep to block all revenue leakages or loopholes.

“Like I said this exercise will continue until we all do the needful. So as I always advise when you are registered, please issue the VAT invoice or an appropriate invoice that has been authorised by the Commissioner-General.

“And for those who are not registered at all, they must register because definitely we will come and be knocking at your door and the penalty for none registration is much more than what you suffer for when you are registered, but you have not issued the invoice.”

Mr Annan added that businesses are mandated under Section 41 of the VAT Act to issue VAT invoices or an appropriate invoice sanctioned by the Commissioner-General and anything other than that is an offence.

He stated: “So obviously, we will look at your records of accounts and if you are using a machine, then we will try to retrieve something so that we can assess you pre-emptively and what it means is that you have to pay immediately, but obviously there would be a full audit when investigations are done.

“The CID, who is with us would investigate the case and when the investigation is done, the case would be handed over to our legal unit who will then prosecute the cases in court.”

Mr Annan added that the enforcement team would pre-empty how much a non-complying business must pay and the amount would be collected affront before a full audit is launched into its account.

Furthermore, the said business would be made to bear all liabilities that would be incurred in the process, explaining “When the full audit is done, the payment made now is considered payment in advance and it would be taken out of the liability that would be established after the full audit and the difference, the taxpayer would be asked to pay.”

He disclosed that as much as GH₵125, 000 was assessed pre-emptively from one of the non-complying organisations, which it has paid and after the full-scale audit, it would still have to pay the difference.

The Head of Enforcement described the exercise as fruitful, as most of the companies caught on the web are cooperating with the Authority’s directives.

Addo Kufuor inducted into office as first Chancellor of KsTU

0
Dr. Kwame Addo Kufuor - 1st Chancellor of KsTU

Dr Kwame Addo Kufuor, the former Member of Parliament for Manyhia and Minister of Defence, has been sworn in as the first Chancellor of the Kumasi Technical University (KsTU) since 2016 when the Kumasi Polytechnic was converted to a university.

The new Chancellor poses with Veep Bawumia

The Chairman of the University Council, Prof. Ben Baffoe-Bonnie, during the swearing in ceremony last Friday, noted that under the leadership of Dr. Kwame Addo Kufuor the University would seek to continue to produce graduates who are critical thinkers.

He described Dr. Addo Kufuor as an illustrious son of the land, and a perfect candidate to serve as Chancellor of the great institution. He explained that the choice of Dr. Addo Kufuor followed the recommendation of a search party, in line with the status of the university.

According to him, it would take a man of great integrity, disciplined and vision oriented to lead KsTU towards its purpose of empowering Ghana’s economy and reducing unemployment among university graduates.

Prof Baffoe-Bonnie commended the university community and all those who played various roles in the selection process.

The Vice- President, Dr. Alhaji Muhammad Bawumia, described the new Chancellor as a man of integrity, was and glad that he was the first Chancellor of KsTU, and advised him to continue to make the University one of the best in Africa and beyond.

Dr. Bawumiah hoped that KsTU, under the leadership of Dr. Addo Kufuor, was going to bring out highly trained technicians to move the nation forward, and gave an assurance of the government’s commitment to technical education and Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET).

Dr. Kwame Addo Kufuor pledged to provide all the necessary support and assistance to the Council, Faculties and administration required to transform the University into one of the topmost institutions for development training in Ghana.

He commended the government for establishing the numerous TVET institutions and called for closer collaboration between the academia and artisans of Suame magazine in Kumasi for solutions to mechanical problems to enhance the automobile industry.

GAF denies providing security to firms mining in forest reserves

0
The suspects

The Ghana Armed Forces (GAF) has issued a statement denying reports that its personnel allegedly caught on camera were providing security for mining firms devastating the country’s forest reserves.

According to the statement issued on September 30, 2022, and signed by the Director of Public Relations, Naval Captain M. A. Larbi, some of the supposed footage in the widely circulated documentary was unsubstantiated allegations of past content, which had been recycled.

It said in the viral video the Mentiahene of Bekwai, Nana Kusi Frempong Kotobre, alleges that military personnel were providing security for an illegal mining firm operating in the Kobro Forest in Amansie Central, but the claim was false.

“GAF wishes to state categorically that there was no military personnel deployed for such activities and no Soldier is providing security for any mining company in any forest reserve in any part of the country,” it said.

It said following the reports, a patrol team from the 4 Infantry Battalion and the Central Command Headquarters in Kumasi was dispatched to conduct an operation in the general area on September 28, 2022.

It disclosed that persons who were picked up, some of them were dressed in the United States military-patterned camouflage uniforms, and working for a private security firm contracted by a registered small-scale mining company named Elvis and Co Mining Ltd.

Although the statement said their findings contradict the report put out in the public domain, it warned that private security guards should not be misconstrued as GAF personnel, because their camouflage patterned uniforms were even totally distinct from that of GAF’s.

It said: “In respect of the unauthorised use of military pattern uniforms by private security firms and individuals, it would be recalled that a few months back personnel of the 4 Infantry Battalion rounded up some members of a District Assembly Taskforce wearing different shades of military camouflage uniforms, captured in a viral video manhandling some civilians in the Kwabre South District.

“Considering that they were dressed in military pattern camouflage uniforms, they were wrongly perceived to be GAF personnel, thereby drawing GAF into disrepute. Aside from this, GAF has also picked up several impersonators in recent times and handed them over to the Police for prosecution.”

In the same vein, the Ghana Armed Forces reiterate that it did not condone any such acts of personnel engaging in illegal and unauthorised activities, especially illegal mining, and wished to assure the public that it would not shield any soldier engaged in any illegal, unauthorised or criminal activity, either in military uniform or not.

“It must be specifically placed on record that in the fight against illegal mining, GAF is at the forefront and remains resolute and will therefore not countenance any conduct that will derail the progress being made.

Accordingly, GAF has revamped Operation Halt II in order to intensify its surgical operations to curb the destruction of the forest reserves and pollution of the river bodies,” it stressed.

The recent reports of the numerous arrests made, excavators seized and immobilised, and other equipment destroyed, attests to this renewed and sustained effort.

“The Ghana Armed Forces, therefore, wishes to once again refute the allegations made and to state that its personnel were not providing security for any mining firm in any forest reserve.

“However, it is prudent that the media and other stakeholders verify claims to ensure accurate information is published. GAF, therefore, wishes to urge Joy News and other media partners that its doors are open for the necessary clarifications to be made to ensure a balanced reportage at all times.

“GAF will continue to count on the support of all Ghanaians especially the media and major stakeholders, in curbing the illegal mining in our forest reserves and water bodies and also in clamping down on the use of military pattern uniforms by private security guards and other unauthorised persons.”

How A Maltese, William Francis Brennan introduced lottery in Ghana

0
Anniversary cake being cut
Gbese Mantse, Nii Ayi Bonte (l) and NLA Director-General, Samuel Awuku sitted on the front roll.

On September 29, 1962 under the leadership of a Maltese -William Francis Brennan- the then Director-General of the National Lotteries Department, held its first draw to mark the beginning of responsible gaming in Ghana and the prize was £5,000.00.

This new direction of generating revenue through gaming came about following a visit to Malta by Komla Agbeli Gbesemah, Finance Minister under Dr Kwame Nkrumah’s regime.

Giving details of an account of the birth of NLA, the Director-General, Samuel Awuku said: “As the story goes, Mr Gbedemah informed the then Prime Minister, Dr Kwame Nkrumah on his return, who in turn sent envoys to Malta to understudy the lottery and requested the Maltese government to help Ghana set up its own lottery body.

“In granting that request, the Maltese government seconded Mr William Francis Brennan, an Officer of the Malta Public Lotteries Department, to assist Ghana set up the Department of National Lotteries (DNL). Mr Brennan was thus the Department’s first Director-General.”

The lotto historian continued that the genesis of lotto is credited to the Roman Empire before taking shape in Spain in 1434 and subsequently, spreading to England and other parts of Europe.

A wide angle view of board members, management, staff and invited guests

In respect of this, he said although Malta cannot claim the origin of the lotto as part of its history, it was through the south European nation’s effort that Ghana successfully established its charter and held the maiden draw on September 29, 1962.

Therefore, he added that, September 29th marks a very important calendar in the history of the National Lottery Authority (NLA), and this year is remembered as the Authority’s diamond jubilee.

He said these at the launch of the NLA 60th anniversary in Accra last week Thursday, 29th September 2022.

Addressing invited guests, management and staff, the Director-General said lotto has contributed immensely to the socio-economic development of Ghana, since its introduction.

According to him, the NLA can boldly say over the past 60 years, it has generated revenue for national development, touched lives, communities and institutions, as well as made its patrons rich (millionaires).

However, he noted that coming this far had not been without tests and trials and that the NLA has had its fair share of challenges in this 60-year journey, hence the reforms, policies and decisions taken by successive Boards and Director-Generals, which had transformed the organisation to chalk this feat.

Mr Awuku also made known social intervention projects being undertaken by the NLA under its charity branch, Good Cause Foundation, which covers education, health, youth development and culture.

Outlining the programme for the 60th anniversary, Mr Awuku said three months had been set aside to celebrate the anniversary, in which the month of October has been dedicated to its cherished customers, whom they recognise as their most valued assets, while November is slated for giving back to society including commissioning various projects embarked upon across the country, and the anniversary would be climaxed with a grand durbar in December.

The NLA board members taking their turn to cut the anniversary cake

He indicated that the celebration will be held alongside the first-ever conference of the Africa Lottery Association in Ghana from December 7th to 10th.

The Director-General thanked the Board, the Veteran Administration of Ghana (VAG), management, staff and stakeholders for keeping their faith in the Authority.

On his part, the Deputy Minister for Finance, Dr John Kumah thanked Mr Awuku for bringing dynamism to the operation of the NLA, especially the contribution of GH₵10 million to the Youth Start Programme.

He was sure that these new drives and energy in the Authority would help management and staff to work assiduously to seal all revenue leakages, “as far as NLA is concerned, this revenue is to support activities of the NLA and to help the government in its revenue drive. So we implore you to be mindful about how you handle revenue in the operations of the NLA.”

Commenting on the event, he urged the board, management and staff to use the occasion as a time for reflection on the past, present and future.

The Minister for Justice and Attorney-General (A-G), Godfred Yeboah Dame, added that if the NLA was a natural person, he or she would be proceeding on retirement at age 60 years, but the new age is a rather new dawn for achieving the greater feat.

Already, he noted that the NLA has positioned itself as a tool used by political actors in their quest to improve the economic circumstances of the country.

Mr Yeboah was of the opinion that if the NLA is managed well, it would serve as a catalyst for national development.

According to him, since the lotto is more than a game or entertainment, it requires fairness and continuous adoption and adaptation of new technologies for an effective operation.

The Minister for Defence, Dominic Nitiwul, thanked NLA for its longstanding relationship with the Veterans Administration of Ghana, the Ghana Armed Forces and the Defence Ministry.

He proudly said six of the NLA former Director-Generals were military persons and their immense contribution, including the construction of the NLA main administration block – the Fortune House, had helped shaped the Authority to this day.

The Defence Minster stressed that his ministry would continue to explore new ways of partnering with the NLA to better the lives of the servicemen and women.

The Board Chairman of NLA who also doubles as a Member of the Council of State, Togbe Francis Nyonyo Agboada said the Authority would resolve to deepen its partnership with Corporate Ghana.

He said “We have successfully licensed some Private Lotto Operators, (PLOs) and look forward to welcoming more on board.  The security services, together with the NLA task force, will continue to clamp down on defaulters to sanitise the lottery industry.

“We are also in the process of signing on some more Collaborators who will introduce some exciting new games for our cherished patrons.  By the end of the year, we should take delivery of our modern machines, which purchase was done in accordance with the standards of the World Lottery Association (WLA).”

A diamond jubilee crest and sculpture of NLA’s first Director-General, William Francis Brennan, were unveiled, as well anniversary song by Ayigbe Edem.

Rocky Dawuni speaks on Kirani Ayat’s copyright case against GTA

0
Rocky Dawuni

Grammy-nominated reggae musician Rocky Dawuni has added his voice to Kirani Ayat’s copyright case against the Ghana Tourism Authority (GTA).

 

Speaking in an interview on Hitz FM, he said the Sarki rapper had the right to protest because his intellectual property right was infringed upon.

 

“He has a legitimate complaint,” said Rocky Dawuni.

“The thing is that he needed to get somebody’s attention on the whole thing,” he told Hitz FM.

 

This comes after Kirani Ayat called out GTA after President Nana Akufo-Addo posted a video on Twitter that contained elements of the rapper’s music video, ‘GUDA,’ without permission from the artist.

 

The video the President posted was put together by the tourism authority for the “Visit Ghana” campaign.

 

In a tweet directed at the President, the artist lamented the tourism authority’s negligence when he [Kirani Ayat] initially approached the outfit for sponsorship, but they went ahead to use his material without permission.

 

The issue created a back-and-forth between the artist and the tourism authority. Eventually, a “bespoke” agency – SAMSAL – who according to GTA, provided Kirani AYAT’s video on behalf of the artist, reacted with a press statement refuting the claim.

 

Rocky Dawuni went on to advise the Ghana Tourism Authority to settle the

issue amicably with the artist.

 

“They should sit down and then figure this out – figure the right way to deal with this.”

 

Although the exchange of words was not the best way to educate people about copyright, Rocky Dawuni believes the issue serves as a wake-up call to everyone that intellectual property rights, when infringed upon, the right owners deserve to be well compensated.

 

He went ahead to add that the blame game is unnecessary.

 

Credit: myjoyonline.com

Camidoh makes Billboard chart entry with ‘Sugarcane’

0
Camidoh

Raving Ghanaian musician, Raphael Camidoh Kofi Attachie, better known within the showbiz circles as Camidoh is having a good run with his output, ‘Sugarcane‘.

The multiple award-winning recording and performing artiste on Friday, November 19, 2021, served his listeners and the entire music community with an amazing piece of music captioned; ‘Sugarcane’ featuring music producer, Phantom.

Following the huge success of the song, the Grind Don’t Stop Records prodigy teamed up with Nigeria’s Mayorkun and Darkoo alongside Ghanaian singer and Legacy Life Entertainment star, King Promise to discharge the remix to the jam on Friday, April 8, 2022.

‘Sugarcane Remix’ debuted on several music charts across the globe since its release including Billboard U.S. Afrobeats Songs Charts with its official music video surpassing 30 million views on video sharing and social media platform, YouTube.

Interestingly, almost a year after the official release of the original ‘Sugarcane’ song, the masterpiece has made an entry on Billboard U.S. Afrobeats Songs Charts. ‘Sugarcane’ currently sits at the 40th position on the chart.

Credit: pulse.com.gh

Black Sherif unveils the cover art for his forthcoming debut album

0
Black Sherif

Black Sherif has unveiled the cover art for his much-anticipated debut album, titled, ‘The Villain I Never Was’, slated for release on Thursday, October 6, 2022.

This comes off after an impressive global charting year with singles like Second Sermon Remix, Kwaku The Traveller, and recently, Soja.

The 20-year- the old rapper is poised for action as his sound has been co-signed by several industry greats such as Timberland, DJ Khaled, Busta Rhymes, and Popcaan among others.

Ever since he made his breakthrough onto the music scene, the talented Ghanaian rapper and entertainer have been the center of attraction whiles churning out back-to-back hit tunes as well as delivering top-notch verses on songs he features.

You would recall that, after dropping ‘Soja‘ on Thursday, September 22, 2022, Black Sherif hinted at serving the music community with his first ever studio album dubbed, ‘The Villain I Never Was‘.

From the details he shared via his official Apple Music account, the upcoming album which comes in a package of 14 tracks will be available for purchase and streaming on all digital music stores from Thursday, October 6, 2022.

‘The Villian I Never Was’ houses his monster hit songs, ‘Kwaku The Traveler’ and ‘Second Sermon Remix’ as tracks 13 and 14 respectively alongside his recent jam, ‘Soja’ the 4th track. In an update of events, Black Sherif has shared the official artwork for the album.

Taking to Twitter, he posted the artwork with the caption, “It took me everything to give life to this body. The one thing in my life that I gave everything up for. There is life in this body, I hope it treats you well and speaks to you as I want it to. My debut album, is “The Villain I Never Was”. Available on all stores on 06-10-2022.”

Credit: pulse.com.gh

Kinaata wins Man of the Year Music Award at EMY Africa Awards

0
Kofi Kinaata

The 7th edition of the EMY Africa Awards was live on Saturday, October 1, 2022. The event which has over the years awarded and celebrated distinguished gentlemen and women who have been making positive impacts in diverse fields lived up to the billing once more.

The event took place at the Grand Arena in Accra and it had the Fante Rap God, Kofi Kinaata picking up the award as the Man of the Year Music category.

Other respected people who also won awards include Adjetey Annan, Tony Tometey, Ezekiel Yartel, and others awarded for their hard work in different fields.

Other respected people who also won awards include Adjetey Annan, Tony Tometey, Ezekiel Yartel, and others awarded for their hard work in different fields. Performers included South African star Zahara, Akwaboah & Cina Soul, Kwabena Kwabena and a few others.

Credit: pulse.com.gh

125 dead after crowd crush at Indonesian football match

0
A group of people carry a man in the stadium during the melee

One of the world’s worst-ever sports stadium disasters has left 125 people dead and around 180 injured at a football match in Indonesia.

Police used teargas in response to a pitch invasion by rioting fans, causing a crush among panicked spectators.

Officers and organisers are facing scrutiny over the tragedy, one of the world’s deadliest sports stadium disasters, including questions over the use of teargas inside the venue, which is contrary to Fifa guidance.

The incident occurred after a match in which the Javanese club Arema were defeated by their rivals Persebaya Surabaya at Kanjuruhan stadium in Malang regency, East Java on Saturday night.

Supporters from the losing side stormed the pitch and authorities fired teargas, leading to a crush and cases of suffocation, said East Java’s police chief, Nico Afinta.Two police officers were among the dead.

Many people were crushed and suffocated when they ran to one exit, Afinta said.

Credit: theguardian.com

The Ghanaian Chronicle