THE THOUGHTS ROOM

Forty five prisoners yesterday joined 372,781 candidates to write the 2011 Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE). The inmates, who are serving various sentences at the Nsawam Medium Security Prison, the Kumasi Central Prison and the Senior Correctional Centre in Accra, are aged between 25 and 64. This is the second time that prison inmates have taken part in the BECE, following collaborative efforts between the Prisons Service and the Centre for National Distance Learning and Open Schooling (CENDLOS) to provide pre-tertiary education to the inmates. At the Methodist Basic School in Nsawam where 10 male inmates of the Nsawam Medium Prison wrote the English Paper 1, the environment was peaceful, with security personnel guarding the inmates. The officer in charge of inmates’ education, Superintendent Peter Afari Mintah, noted that it was not compulsory for inmates to write the BECE, adding that the decision was left to inmates who were willing and ready to write it. Supt Afari Mi

The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), has launched a survey that will enable ordinary citizens within the ECOWAS member countries to contribute to the decision-making process of the regional body. The survey on non-state actors (NSAs) would enable citizens within ECOWAS to make a meaningful impact on the lives of citizens of member states through a participatory and all-inclusive process. In a statement read on his behalf, the Commissioner of Macro-Economic Policy of the ECOWAS Commission, Professor Lmbert N. Bamba, noted that without the proper involvement of the NSAs, it would be impossible to visualise the Vision 2020 concept which aimed at transforming the current ECOWAS of States into an ECOWAS of People. He, therefore, called on the commission and member states to take ownership of the new vision by having a good knowledge and understanding of how the NSAs had evolved over time. Professor Bamba further mentioned that with the changing trend in development, it w

THE Minister of Education, Mrs Betty Mould-Iddrisu, has urged accountants to assist the government to expose corruption and white-collar crime in the country. She said with the advancement in technology, which is now synonymous with white collar crime, accountants should keep themselves abreast of changing trends to be able to identify loopholes and provide solutions to plugging them. Mrs Mould-Iddrisu made the call at the 18th graduation of the Institute of Chartered Accountants, Ghana (ICAG), during which 297 students graduated. The occasion was also used to admit 282 new members who have satisfied the specific qualification criteria of the institute. Mrs Mould-Iddrisu charged accountants to assume the attitudes of transparency, accountability and a high sense of integrity in the discharge of their duties. She said by exhibiting a high level of responsibility, skill and competency akin to the quality of training they had received, "the resultant effect will be that your workpla

GHANA’S jubilee field has proven reserves of more than 600 million barrels of oil alongside natural gas. The International Monetary fund (IMF) predicts that the field alone could earn the country as much as $20 billion by 2030. Since its discovery, many fora have been organised and attended by both local and international experts in oil and gas to share ideas on how the country could benefit immensely from the oil exploration to support its socio-economic development aspirations. However, among the several discussions, the nation seems to have lost track of the devastating effects that the discovery might bring to the country upon an oil rig explosion. In an interview with the Daily Graphic, the Director of the Korle-Bu Reconstructive Plastic Surgery and Burns Centre, Dr Opoku-Ware Ampomah, lamented that among the various discussions on the benefits of the oil discovery to the socio-economic development of the country, there is yet to be any of such discussions on the nation’s prepared

The government has settled the remaining GH¢572 million debt owed by the Tema Oil Refinery (TOR) to the Ghana Commercial Bank (GCB). The bank, which has been the main financier of the country's downstream petroleum sector, was paid a total of GH¢445 million out of the total debt of GH¢ 484million in March last year by government. The settlement of the debt is expected to improve GCB’s liquidity position and enhance the bank’s financial position to meet the primary reserve requirements of the Bank of Ghana, which had been violated over the years. The Board Chairman of the bank, Mr Pryce Kojo Thomson, who made this known this at the 17th Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the bank with its shareholders, noted that the settlement of the debt would enable the bank to resume lending to other borrowers who want to transact business. He, however, stated that the bank would continue to do business with government but would make sure that money loaned to government was collected. According Mr

Ghana can implement the onetime premium for all card holders of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) if the appropriate health financing reforms are made. That, according to a report commissioned by ISODEC, Alliance for Reproductive Human Rights, Essential Services Platform and Oxfam could be attained if government invested in exploring concrete and progressive solutions that would raise additional financing into the health sector. According to the report, financing of the one-time premium could be raised from an increased public investment in the health sector from both domestic resources and international aid. Also, the onetime premium could be achieved if the government overhauled the health insurance bureaucracy and created a national health system that would be free at the point of access to all. According to the report “Achieving a shared goal: Free universal health care in Ghana”, there was the need for government to transform the National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF), in

Ghana can implement the onetime premium for all card holders of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) if the appropriate health financing reforms are made. That, according to a report commissioned by ISODEC, Alliance for Reproductive Human Rights, Essential Services Platform and Oxfam could be attained if government invested in exploring concrete and progressive solutions that would raise additional financing into the health sector. According to the report, financing of the one-time premium could be raised from an increased public investment in the health sector from both domestic resources and international aid. Also, the onetime premium could be achieved if the government overhauled the health insurance bureaucracy and created a national health system that would be free at the point of access to all. According to the report “Achieving a shared goal: Free universal health care in Ghana”, there was the need for government to transform the National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF), in

WORK on the rehabilitation of the treatment plant at Kpong Water Works to improve water supply in Accra and Tema is progressing steadily. The $71 million project when completed in 2012 will produce nine million gallons of potable water to communities within the Akuapem Ridge, parts of Lower Manya Krobo District, Yilo Krobo District, Dangme West District and Tema. The old treatment plant, which was built in 1954, has not undergone any major rehabilitation works, leading to a steady deterioration of equipment and the loss of large volumes of treated water daily making it incapable of meeting the increasing demand for potable water. Inspecting the progress of work done, the Deputy Minister of Water Resources, Works and Housing, Dr Hannah Louisa Bissiw, stressed that the new water system would not be the solution to the water problem faced in parts of the Greater Accra and Eastern Regions, however, it would only lessen the plight of residents in the beneficiary communities. She said the n

24/3/2011 Sanitation (gen) Story: Jasmine Arku, Sogakope IT is estimated that about 60 per cent of solid waste generated by the 10 largest cities in the country is managed hygienically, while less than 15 per cent of the seepage generated in Accra and Kumasi is effectively treated. It is not, therefore, surprising that the country was still battling with the outbreak of communicable diseases, such as cholera and other environmental sanitation related diseases in certain parts of the country. That notwithstanding, the government says it is doing its best to effectively tackle the problem of waste management, which is threatening the country’s attainment of the objectives of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and the Growth and Poverty Reduction Strategy (GPRS II). Addressing journalists at a workshop at Sogakope in the Volta Region, the Deputy Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, Mr Elvis Afriyie Ankrah, said the challenge