The interactive seminar was orchestrated under the auspices of Faculty of Agriculture, KNUST, Kumasi. As a result, the Dean of the Faculty, Prof. Armstrong Donkoh, chaired the august event. Admittedly, the audience, comprising freshmen, continuing students, post graduate students and lecturers were mesmerized by the introduction of the host and guest speakers respectively, by the Dean of the Faculty

After his acceptance and welcome address, Prof. Donkoh, proceeded to give an introduction to Agricultural Biotechnology. Subsequently, he invited the first speaker, Dr. Richard Akromah, a lecturer at the Department of Crop and Soil Sciences, Faculty of Agriculture, who gave a remarkable lecture on the theme illustrated in PowerPoint presentation. Dr. Gary Blumenthal, a U.S. Biotechnology Expert, who also doubles as President and Chief Executive Officer of World Perspectives’ Incorporated, was the second speaker.

As part of his presentation, Dr. Akromah, defined Biotechnology as “The application of living organisms or parts of organisms to improve, modify or produce products for specific uses.” He also added that biotechnology plays a significant role in breeding process such as artificial insemination, especially for species that are unable to cross easily. Advanced nations currently practising this technology magnificently are the United States, China, Argentina and Canada, he disclosed.

“Regrettably, some people shun Genetically Manufactured Crops (GMC), perhaps, because they are ignorant of the process. Some countries discourage the technology of Genetically Manufactured Crops simply because they have other alternatives”, he noted. Dr. Akromah also advised that the use of agro-chemicals should rather be reduced; however, such chemicals are more harmful to indigenous farmers who use them without employing the essential safety measures.

Dr. Akromah pointed out that Egypt, Burkina Faso and South Africa are the few countries in Africa, known for practising agricultural biotechnology. He specifically supported this statement with Genetically Manufactured Crops such as golden rice. Prior to his last remarks, Dr. Akromah, assured students from his Department to perceive the lecture as the preparation grounds for their studies.

On the part of Dr. Gary Blumenthal, he briefly reviewed Dr. Akromah’s lecture to buttress his presentation since both Speakers touched on the same theme. The invited Speaker from the United States shared his experiences, having visited and contributed immensely to about sixty (60) different countries in the area of agriculture. He estimated that by 2013, most developing countries in the world would adopt the practice of biotechnology. He emphatically lamented that, Ghana tends to be deficient in plant and animal protein.

The American Biotechnology expert, stipulated that agricultural biotechnology would enable Ghana to generate more income and increase productivity in the agriculture sector, considering that majority of Ghanaians are into crop production. Dr. Blumenthal also added that, the technology is usually subsidized for developing countries; the cassava technology, was, for example awarded to Africa.

In line with the programme schedule, undergraduates, post graduate students and lecturers who were at the function had the opportunity to ask questions and make contributions with respect to the theme.

The Vice-Dean of the Faculty of Agriculture, Dr. JVK Afun, on behalf of the Faculty expressed his appreciation to all and sundry whose presence and contribution made the seminar a complete success. He subsequently encouraged the use of biotechnology in the agricultural sector of Ghana.
Date Posted: 25th Aug, 2010 Source: URO

Prof. Kwapong, who served as the first Ghanaian Vice-Chancellor of the University between 1966 and 1975, presented the books spanning several fields including Classics, Higher Education, Capacity Building, Distance Learning, and International Development to the Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Ernest Aryeetey, at a short ceremony at Legon.

Speaking after the presentation Prof. Kwapong reminisced on events during his tenure both as Pro-Vice-Chancellor and Vice-Chancellor. He recalled lectures he presented to students on the importance of reading to avoid becoming “illiterate graduates”. He suggested the integration of the Hall libraries into the main university system because as he put it, “the library is the life-blood of the university.”

Prof. Aryeetey expressed appreciation to Prof. Kwapong for helping to augment the University’s library resources. He expressed optimism that students and other users of the library would access the hidden treasures in the books.

The Acting University Librarian, Ms. Gifty Boakye gave assurance that the books would be preserved and that steps would be taken to ensure that they were not “mutilated” by users. She spoke of measures that have been taken to automate the University’s entire library system, as well as other security measures that been put in place.

Prof. Kwapong was accompanied by his daughter, Mrs. Korantema Adi-Dako. Present at the ceremony were Mr. J. M. Budu, Registrar, Mr. Philip Mandy, Director of Finance, and Mrs. Stella A. Amoa, Acting Director of Public Affairs, as well as officials of the Balme Library.

Earlier, Prof. Kwapong called on the Vice-Chancellor in his office where he had discussions with him.

“The shift system is not ending for ending sake but to enable the children have eight hours of instruction instead of the four hours under that system”.

Addressing teachers on abolition of the shift system in public schools in the Metropolis on the theme: “Quality Education – a must for all children”, the Accra Mayor stated that no school within the Metropolis would operate the shift system when basic schools reopen mid September this month.

He said all the 170,000 pupils within the Municipality, had been assigned to physical structures to receive eight hours of quality teaching.

“The Assembly, working with churches, heads of private schools and individual property owners, has secured enough structures and in some cases built temporary ones to be used as classrooms for the education of our children,” Dr Vanderpuije said.

He appealed to teachers to help improve the low educational standards and to eliminate elements that discredit public schools and label them as unproductive urging the teachers to “set high standards, raise the bar very high and be tough to make sure that every child of school going age is in school at the correct time”.

The mayor also asked teachers not to accept indiscipline and make sure that the eight hours of instruction was interspersed with social activities so that learning did not become boring and that the Assembly would support extra curriculum activities.

School heads, he said, should involve parents, monitor teachers and pupils for productiveness and give no room for activities that would mar the beauty of moving education in the Metropolis into a higher level.

The mayor, who is also a teacher, said the qualities of a good teacher included a positive mental attitude and being role models for the pupils.

Dr Vanderpuije said the schools would be opened to parents and pupils on September 13th and that pupil must report to their current schools so that those who had been reassigned to new locations would be directed to the new sites.

The Assembly has requested for the services of 200 teaching assistants under the National Youth Employment Programme to support teachers in the schools.

Heads of schools have been asked to report to school on September 11 to prepare their schools and display the list of schools that had been transferred to other sites and also receive new furniture.

Source: GNA

The Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, Dr Kwabena Dufuor and the Country Director of the World Bank, Mr Ishac Diwan, are set to append their signatures to the financing deals in Accra Wednesday.

Sources at the Ministry of Finance and the World Bank Country Office, told the Daily Graphic in Accra that the amount would cover six areas of financing.

They include $79 million for social opportunities, $69 million for sustainable rural water and sanitation project and $70 million additional financing for the Ghana Energy Development and Access Project to improve distribution of electricity.

Others include the second phase of the Food and Agricultural Sector Development Policy (FASDEP II), which has received $25 million upfront (equivalent to Special Drawing Rights {SDR 6,600}); a $44.7 million supplementary financing for the e-Ghana project; and $10 million for natural resources and environmental governance project.

The sources said the social opportunities financing would help improve social protection and increase access to employment and cash-earning opportunities during agricultural off-seasons.

The financing would also increase access to conditional cash transfers nationwide and improve economic infrastructure in target districts.

A recent World Bank study identified cash transfers to be one of the most well-targeted social intervention policies in the country.

Some sources say GEDAP, which was first signed in August, 2007, would receive the additional $70 million financing to enable the government to provide supplementary financing for network reinforcement in densely populated urban areas, as well as build capacity for improved distribution system management, particularly with respect to commercial performance.

“The bulk of proposed activities would be focused on improving electricity distribution network and service delivery in the Ashanti Region, where losses incurred by the national electricity provider, the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) are the highest, and the demand growth is the fastest”, the sources said.

The Ghana Integrated Financial Management Information System (GIFMIS) is an addition to the e-Ghana project that has necessitated the additional $44.7 million financing.

GIFMIS is expected to integrate the government’s revenue and expenditure framework into one platform to help harmonise monitoring and evaluation with the aim of improving the quality of government expenditure and eliminating waste.

GIFMIS will serve as the official system of record, processing and reporting to meet the government’s budget preparation and management, financial accounting and reporting, disbursement processing, internal controls and auditing requirements.

Source: Daily Graphic

Minister of Local Government and Rural Development - Joseph Yieleh Chireh

The government yesterday launched a new module of the National Youth Employment Programme (NYEP) designed to absorb more than 10,000 youth into the road sector.

 The initiative, as part of a sustained effort to widen employment opportunities for the youth, is geared towards establishing various vigilante teams to constantly maintain and repair the country’s roads and make them motorable and reduce the frequency of accidents on them.

The project, being implemented under a private/public partnership, will initially create jobs for 1,000 youth in each of the 10 regions and build the capacity and sharpen the skills of hundreds of young people, particularly those who have studied engineering at the tertiary level.

As a labour-intensive project, it is also part of the government’s “Better Ghana” agenda.

Launching the programme on behalf of President John Evans Atta Mills in Accra, the Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, Mr Joseph Yieleh Chireh, challenged the metropolitan, municipal and district assemblies (MMDA) to play a critical role in the programme and ensure that “we get value for the fund committed to the project”.

He expressed grave concern about how most institutions that had supervisory role over good initiatives such as the module relented on their responsibilities, a situation which usually led to the collapse of such programmes in no time.

He identified lack of regular payment to those engaged in jobs under the various NYEP modules as the biggest challenge but noted that “fortunately for us, this time round sources of payment have been identified”.

Mr Chireh lauded the Zeeba Group, the private company which is collaborating with the Ministry of Roads and Highways in the latest module, for its vision.

The National Youth Co-ordinator of the NYEP, Mr Abuga Pele, announced that the government had increased the percentage of talk time tax allotted to the programme from 20 to 60 per cent.

That, he said, would provide resources to the NYEP to undertake various programmes to equip the youth with skills to improve and strengthen the capacity of the youth.

A Deputy Minister of Energy, Alhaji Inusah Fuseini, said the social challenges posed by the annual unemployment rate called for radical interventions such as the road module and commended the organisers for putting in place such “stoppage measures”. 

He said the government would within the next five of more years be able to develop the critical areas of the energy sector to take care of the oil find.

Mr Fuseini said the government spent a total of $1 billion for the past five years on road construction and maintenance, hence the need to keep the roads in good shape.

He said the government did not believe in a situation whereby the roads would be allowed to deteriorate beyond repairs before taking action.

A Deputy Minister of Employment and Social Welfare, Mr Antwi-Bosiako Sekyere, urged the youth to develop skills and the required attitude to enable them to penetrate the job market.

Mr Elvis Afriyie Ankrah, the Deputy Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, who chaired the occasion, encouraged the youth to exercise restraint, since the government had initiated a lot of interventions to solve the youth unemployment problem.

The Communications Director of Zeeba Group, Mr Jake Quayson, said the company had endorsed the vision espoused by the Mills administration to create jobs for the youth, hence its decision to collaborate with the Ministry of Road and Transport in executing this module.

Source: graphic.com.gh

Osu Children's Home

Ace investigative Journalist Anas Aremeyaw Anas, says he is ready to  co-operate  with the committee formed to investigate the allegations of child neglect and widespread corruption against staff of the Osu Children’s Home.

He added that he can’t wait for the investigations to begin.

Anas Aremeyaw Anas initially stated that he will not corporate with the committee because the sector Minister, Hon. E.T Mensah made some prejudicial comments to his work but said he rescinded his decision after the Emplyment minister apologized to him.

“The minister after a while called me to virtually apologize and say he didn’t mean what he said, we didn’t leave there because he said it on air so we wanted the clarification on air and he has since gone on air to further clarify that he has a lot of respect for what we have done”.  

The Chairman of the nine-member committee tasked to look into issues of child neglect and impropriety at the Osu Children’s home has also appealed to investigative Journalist Anas Aremeyaw Anas to appear before the committee as it starts investigations into the children’s home exposé.

Mr Antwi Boasiako Sekyere said the composition of the committee will ensure that due diligence is done to unravel the truth.

Hon. Boasiako Sekyere who is also the deputy Employment Minister has called on people whose names and faces have been captured in Anas’ video tape to corporate when called upon. He assured them that the committee will not cover anybody.

The nine-member ministerial committee was inaugurated on Monday September 6 by the Employment and Social Welfare Minister, Hon. E.T Mensah.

The terms of reference of the Committee are to reveal the full text of the video footage, the structure of the Osu Children’s Home, examine the modus-operandi of the institution including general administration, financial administration, source of income, resources for the institution and to identify any act of omission or commission that resulted in the alleged abuses at the Home.

The Committee is also to examine general conditions prevailing at the Home and the Staff strength among others.

Source: Citifmonline.com

UG Vice Chancellor- Prof Ernest Aryeetey

The 2010 Matriculation Ceremony took place this weekend at the Athletics Oval this weekend. The Vice-Chancellor, Professor Aryeetey in his address noted that 5,197 have duly registered for the 2010/2011 academic year.

The Registrar, Mr. J.M. Budu administered the Matriculation Oath after which a representative of the 2010 Matriculation class, Ms. Abigail Beduwaa Mensah , a Bachelor of Arts student from Akuafo Hall delivered the Expectations Address. She later signed the Matricula on behalf of matriculants.

Source: ug.edu.gh

The market which is set to begin operations by the close of this year is designed to serve small businesses wanting to use the exchange to raise capital.

Deputy Managing Director of the Stock Exchange Ekow Afedzi tells Joy Business this is part of the plans to attract more local businesses to list on the Accra bourse.

“We will create a special market for those companies; rural banks, small companies that want to use the market to raise more capital.

“Together with the Security and Exchange Commission we will work together to create a market that will serve that group of companies.

“Most often Ghanaian companies grow to a certain level and cannot expand anymore. We need to break that and get more companies to raise long term capital,” he said.

Source: Joy Business/Myjoyonline.com/Ghana

Mr Ebenezer Baiden said the tariff review could either see light bills going up or down, depending on the cost of power production. “We are adopting automatic adjustment formula in rate setting which will see periodic reviews of tariffs every three months.

What this means is that instead of waiting for a year before increasing electricity tariff, we proposed that a transitional plan be put in place whereby tariff adjustments will be done gradually until it reaches the full recovery level.

This system is similar to the one adopted formerly by the National Petroleum Authority,” he explained.

According to Mr Baiden, the regulator of the utility industry, Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC), is currently reviewing the automatic adjustment formula, adding that by principle, the commission has given the ECG the go-ahead to implement it.

He believes the tariff adjustment is needed to upgrade and improve the distribution facilities of ECG whose lifespan has been shortened due to the repetitive switching on and off during the recent national load shedding exercise.

“We need a tariff adjustment to expand the distribution facilities and give access to more Ghanaians who currently do not have access to electricity supply,” the company explained.

The automatic adjustment formula was introduced in October 2003 in order to help project electricity tariffs gradually to full cost recovery level.

Unfortunately, the automatic adjustment formula was not robust enough to move the tariff (especially the Distribution Service Charge) to full cost recovery levels and therefore it was abandoned after February 2005.

Meanwhile, the three electric utility companies which agreed to sacrifice their revenue so that electricity consumers would pay less have called on government to honour its side of the bargain and fulfill their conditions for the review.

In a joint statement, the Volta River Authority, Ghana Grid Company and the Electricity Company of Ghana explained that the downward review has been possible because of the current stability in the exchange rates, reduction in inflation and the expected flow of natural gas from the West Africa Gas project.

It stated that this means a reduction in the cost of generation and associated reduction in transmission and distribution costs. The three companies however reiterated that the subsidy is subject to implementation of the automatic adjustment formula in rate setting which would see periodic reviews of tariffs every three months.

“The main parameters that influence the cost, that is the hydro/thermal mix, inflation, exchange rate and fuel price, will be reviewed for the tariff to be adjusted accordingly,” the statement added.

The top actor, who is most often described as a ‘screen bad boy’, is relegating some of the ‘bad boy’ traits to the background to play the role of an investigative journalist in his upcoming movie titled ‘Somewhere In Africa’.

This role is to clearly appreciate the good works of some investigative journalists and Anas is one of such persons in Ghana.

Majid is playing the role of a struggling undercover journalist, who is trying to get a very big break. However his editor is making this mission a near impossibility.

Aside that, all is also not well at home as he does not have time for his family because he is always traveling from one country to another to investigate stories.

Majid, a father of two, has played different roles in countless movies but the performance he puts out in ‘Somewhere in Africa’ is unprecedented.

He is playing the role of a journalist despite his several unpleasant encounters with members of Ghana’s inky fraternity, especially entertainment writers.

NEWS-ONE visited Majid while he was on location shooting the said movie and this was what he had to say: “So far, this is the most difficult thing compared to any other movies that I have done.

Sometimes, when we finish shooting, it takes us about two hours to just get the make-ups off. We also have to talk in a certain accent which is unusual.”

He actually played two different characters in the movie. He acted as a journalist called Frank and then as the wicked King Mumbasa of a Kingdom in Africa called Kinbala.

The director, Frank Raja, said he had been working on the movie for the past one and half years and expressed the hope that it would cause a big stir when it finally comes out.

“This is a movie enthusiasts would want to see. I have planned this movie several years back and I had to put myself together and make sure that all the props are ready.

I will not say much but I will say it is a fantastic movie and Africa should watch out for us. I know this is not going to be my best as far as film production is concerned but this movie is sure going to be the best I have ever made,” Frank Raja told NEWS-ONE.

Source: NewsOne