Ethiopian is top performing Cargo Airline by Guangzhou Airport

Ethiopian Airlines, the Largest Aviation Group in Africa and SKYTRAX Certified Four Star Global Airline, has been awarded gold prize as the top performing cargo transportation airline twice in a row.

The award was handed to Ethiopian Airlines for being the first airline among top 10 cargo operators to the Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport.

A statement from the Airline said the Award was announced at the Customers Annual Meeting, organised by Guangzhou Bayiun International Airport.

It said Ethiopian had the largest share, more than 11 per cent of the total international cargo transportation at the Airport.

The Group CEO of Ethiopian Airlines, Mr Tewolde GebreMariam, said: “We are very honoured that Guangzhou Airport has recognised us with this prestigious award."

It said Ethiopian Cargo and Logistics, which operates nine ultra-modern Boeing 777 Freighters, each with 100 tonnes uplift capacity, was facilitating trade flow between Africa and the rest of the world, thereby contributing to the economic development of the continent.

The statement said in particular, it was playing an important role in the success of the China One Belt One Road Initiative by availing critical air infrastructure that was boosting cargo export and import between Africa and China.

"I wish to thank all my colleagues at Ethiopian Cargo and Logistics for this well-deserved recognition and encourage them to work even harder to support Africa’s economic transformation,” it said.

Ethiopian won this award for the second time in a row out performing competitor airlines by transporting 38,800 tonnes of import and export cargo to and from Baiyun International Airport in Guangzhou in 2018 alone.

New skills development initiative aims to bring Ghanaian girls into STEM fold

With a significant drop-out rate of girls from primary school to secondary school and college, one new initiative in Ghana aims to improve the country's innovation, competitiveness and productivity by bringing more girls into the formal digital fold.

A report by the World Wide Web foundation found that women in poor urban areas in developing countries are 50% less likely to use the Internet than men. 

FemiTI is a project initiated by the DreamOval Foundation, that aims to train young girls to develop problem-solving skills through coding and robotics and empower them to facilitate technology creation to generate opportunities for Societal Transformation, thereby ensuring inclusive and equitable quality education.

 The first edition of FemiTI has just been concluded in partnership with SAP.

According to reports, 75% of girls in Ghana attend primary school, but there's a significant drop in girls in high school and college.

The DreamOval Foundation believes this gap can be bridged through the active development of women by introducing them to STEM-related programmes. 

Senior Vice President at the DreamOval Foundation, Francis Ahene-Affoh, said: "We believe in empowering women in the 21st century as they play a key role in the development process. We identified these girls from underprivileged communities who can be empowered digitally to become problem-solvers for their communities."

Managing Director at SAP Africa, Cathy Smith, said this has implications for efforts toward building peaceful, prosperous and sustainable communities.

"Our support for FemiTI is in line with our commitment to the UN Sustainable Development Goals, especially as they related to Gender Equality (#5) and Quality Education (#4) and aligns well with our broader activities to bring more women into the digital fold, including Africa Code Week, Women in Data Science and #SheInnovates."

Rebecca Akufo-Addo advises counterparts to be accountable to donors

First Lady Mrs Rebecca Akufo-Addo has urged her counterpart African first ladies to be more accountable, transparent and committed in dealing with development partners, saying, these attributes will go “a long way” to attract donor support for their various social programmes in Africa.

She said these attributes were what her foundation, the Rebecca Foundation, had been pursuing as it had found out in its work that “our ability to attract new donors is hinged on this”, adding that “this is something we will continue to do”.

The First Lady said this at the on-going 22nd Ordinary General Assembly of the now Organisation of African First Ladies for Development (OAFLAD), formerly, Organisation of African First Ladies Against HIV/AIDS (OAFLA).

She was speaking on the theme “Collaborating to transform Africa: Addressing the needs of vulnerable populations”.

The name OAFLA, changed to OAFLAD with effect from Monday February 11, 2019 as the members of the organization launched their strategic vision for the next five years at the ongoing general assembly.

The name change was agreed upon during the 21st ordinary session of the organisation last year, with a new vision of giving the first ladies, a wider scope of areas to work on, apart from HIV and AIDS.

Mrs Akufo-Addo, in her speech, said funding was a big challenge in their line of work and that the scarcity of it could derail any strategic vision.

“The misconception is that First Ladies have access to unlimited funding. No, we don’t. It’s been a struggle to raise funds”, she noted.

She said in her opinion, Ghana and indeed other African countries, faced a fundamental developmental challenge and wondered how Africa could develop at a pace that matches global development.

“How do we create a more equitable society and inclusive development for the vulnerable, especially, women and children”, she asked.

Mrs Akufo-Addo said she was however happy to say that Ghana had taken some bold steps towards a more accelerated inclusive development, adding that “these positive developments, informed my strategic vision as First Lady”.

She said her strategy was to champion the wellbeing of women and children, in a sustainable manner, by being guided by the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) one, two, three, four, five, eight, ten and 11.

She added that despite the successes that she had chalked as First Lady through her Foundation and the Infata Malaria Prevention Programme “I am the first to admit that we have some challenges.  The first is sustainability. Often, the work of First Ladies end, once their husbands leave office”.

However, she said “because I believe so much in what I do, I want my causes to outlive me.

“We are and will continue to partner with development partners and state institutions to mainstream our initiatives and ensure sustainability”, Mrs Akofo-Addo said.

Earlier In a welcome address,the First Lady of Ethiopia, Ms Zinash Tayachew,  reminded her counterparts of the much work that they had to do for the vulnerable in society and called on them to exhibit motherly love in the discharge of their work.

Ms Tayachew said the needs of their people were so overwhelming, and what they were doing might seem ‘like a drop in the ocean’, but added that, they were still changing the lives of people.

the President of OAFLAD, Mrs Adjoavi Sika Kobore, on her part, commended her fellow First Ladies for their commitment towards the improvement of the lives of their citizenry, especially, women, children and the vulnerable.

The outgoing Director of the United Nations Programme on HIV and AIDS (UNAIDS), Mr Michel Sidibe, commended the organisation for the transformational role that it had played in helping in the fight to eradicate HIV and AIDS from the continent.

African Union Commissioner for Social Affairs, Madam Amira Elfadil Mohamed, said the health needs of people remained a priority to the AU and that the role and contribution of the first ladies was inevitable to the development of the health of their people.

In separate remarks the First Ladies pledged their support to aligning their work to the new strategic vision of the organisation to help better the lives of their people.

Other development partners present at the meeting included Abbott Laboratories, Gilead Sciences, Inc., the International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF), the United Nations Population Fund {UNFPA) and the World Health Organisation (WHO).

They all pledged their support to the work of the OAFLAD.

Kejetia arterial roads expanded to ease congestion

The Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly (KMA), in collaboration with the security agencies, have embarked on an extensive decongestion exercise to clear some parts of the city’s Central Business District (CBD) of petty traders, who had taken up the area.

This is to pave way for the inauguration of the arterial roads linking the completed first phase of the Kejetia/Central Market Redevelopment Project, which had been expanded under the project, to ensure free vehicular and human movement.

The stretches are; the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH) Roundabout –Kejetia, Dr Mensah-Kejetia, and the Suame roundabout to Kejetia, which had been taken over by petty traders.

The Metropolitan Chief Executive (MCE), Mr. Osei Assibey Antwi, briefing newsmen in Kumasi, said the Assembly had directed the traders to relocate to any of the satellite markets dotted around the city.

The exercise, he said, had begun after a two-week ultimatum by the city authorities to the traders to vacate the streets.

“We want to make sure that there are no obstacles on the roads when they are finally opened to traffic,” he said.

Mr. Assibey-Antwi pointed out that, under no circumstance, would the Assembly allow traders to hawk on the road.

Some traders had since the beginning of the Redevelopment Project invaded unapproved areas in the CBD for business, refusing to relocate to the satellite markets in spite of several warnings.

The MCE said the Assembly’s taskforce would continue to be at post until all the traders had relocated to designated areas.

He said the Assembly had taken the necessary steps to ensure that everything was in order before opening the Kejetia roads.

Court adjourns Maj Mahama’s Case to allow defence lawyer to recuperate

An Accra High Court, presided over by Justice Mariama Owusu, has adjourned the trial of the alleged murderers of Major Maxwell Mahama to Thursday, February 21, to enable Mr Bernard Shaw, a defence Lawyer in the case, to commence his cross-examination of the sixth witness.

Mr Shaw, who was reported to be unwell at the last hearing date, was said to be still indisposed when the case was called on Tuesday.

At the previous session, the sixth prosecution witness, a 14-year old Junior High School student, told the Court, that she saw Akwasi Asante, one of the accused persons, take his father’s gun.

She narrated: “On May 29, 2017, when the incident happened, l went to school without picking my pocket money, so l came back home to pick the money and upon entering our room, a few minutes later, my uncle Akwasi Asante, entered to pick the gun.”

The JSS two student, whose evidence in chief was led by Mrs Evelyn Keelson, a Chief State Attorney said, she asked Uncle Asante twice, where he was taking the gun but he did not answer her.

The witness, who spoke Twi, through an interpreter, said she locked the door and left for school and it was upon her return from school that she informed his father that Uncle Asante had come for his gun.

“My father went to the Deiso Police Station to lodge a complaint, where I was invited to give my statement to the Police,” she added.

The witness was also made to identify the said Akwasi Asante in open court.

Fourteen persons are standing trial at an Accra High Court over the killing of Maj Mahama, who was an Officer of the 5th Infantry Battalion, at the Burma Camp.

He was on duty at Denkyira-Obuasi in the Central Region, when some residents allegedly mistook him for an armed robber, while he was jogging, and lynched him.

The mob had ignored his persistent plea that he was an officer of the Ghana Armed Forces.

The accused are William Baah, the Assemblyman of Denkyira Obuasi, Bernard Asamoah alias Daddy, Kofi Nyarko aka Abortion, Akwasi Boah, Kwame Tuffour, Joseph Appiah Kubi, Michael Anim and Bismarck Donkor.

Others are John Bosie, Akwasi Baah, Charles Kwaning, Emmanuel Badu, Bismarck Abanga and Kwadwo Anima.

Afoko challenges State’s Nolle prosequi at Supreme Court

Lawyers for Gregory Afoko, the man at the center of the murder of the Upper East Regional Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) Adams Mahama, have filed an application at the Supreme Court regarding the nolle prosequi filed by the state following the arrest of Asabke Alangdi.

At the hearing at a District Court on Tuesday, lawyers revealed that they filed the application at the apex court on Monday.

But the court said it did not have a copy and therefore gave them three days to put their house in order.

The case was adjourned to Monday, February 18.

The Attorney-General in January this filed a nolle prosequi to discontinue the trial of Gregory Afoko, the man accused of killing Alhaji Adams Mahama.

The nolle prosequi followed the arrest of Asabke Alangdi, the other accused person in the trial, in Ivory Coast last Friday
Alangdi had been at large since the death of Alhaji Mahama on May 2015 at Bolgatanga.

The Minister of Information, Mr Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, announced the arrest of Alangdi at a press briefing in Accra on Monday, January 28, 2019.

Alhaji Saddique Boniface donates 210 streetlights to his constituency

The Member of Parliament for Madina (MP) Constituency, in the Greater Accra Region, has presented more than two hundred streetlights to the Madina Constituency to help beef up security in the municipality. 

The MP, Alhaji Abubakar Saddique Boniface, presented the streetlights to the Head of the Coordinators of the Madina La Nkwantanang Constituency at a colourful ceremony at his office in Madina, Accra.

The MP, who is also the Minister of State at the Office of the Vice President, said he was hopeful that the lights will go a long way to assist the constituency to beef up security in the 21 electoral areas in the municipality.

He said the darkness that engulfs the town due to the absence of streetlights had made it dangerous for people to carry out their businesses at night and had also increased crime in the area. 

Alhaji Saddique Boniface said he had already presented one hundred streetlights to the Assembly and also implementing developmental projects out of his common fund to better the lives of the residents in the municipality.

He entreated the Constituency Coordinators to maintain the lights to prolong its lifespan.

The Leader of Constituency Coordinators of Madina La Nkwantanang Constituency, Mr Joseph Kwabena Dadzie, who received the items on behalf of the Coordinators expressed gratitude to the MP for the donation.

Tema Mantse calls for change in by-election laws

The industrial City King, Dr. Nii Adjei Kraku ll, has bemoaned the perpetual spectre of violence that lurks over the country anytime there is a Parliamentary by-election.

He has therefore proposed to the lawmakers to come up with legislations to end the vicious cycle.

Speaking in an exclusive interview with the Ghana News Agency in Accra on by-election related violence, Nii Tema suggested that the current constitutional arrangement that mandated that a by-election be held when a sitting MP stepped down or died mid-way into a four-year tenure, be scrapped.

“Rather, I propose that when a sitting MP leaves his Parliamentary seat before his tenure ends, his party be allowed to maintain the seat till the four-year tenure ends…his party can then organise an internal primary to elect his or her replacement for the rest of the tenure,” Nii Tema proposed.

The Tema Mantse said, a recalibration of the Constitution to give the four-year security of tenure to Political parties in respect of Parliamentary seats they win during general election, would be a creative way of ending the perennial violence and tensions that characterised Parliamentary by-elections.

“Not only will it prevent the violence and tensions, it will also be less expensive for the country, less stressful for the Electoral Commission, and easier for the law enforcement agencies to manage,” Dr. Adjei Kraku ll said.

Nii’s call comes in the aftermath of the violent parliamentary by-election at Ayawaso West Wuogon, which resulted in the shooting of some 18 people in front of the house of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC)’s candidate for the by-election, Delali Kwasi Brempong.

“If you consider the fact that, this violent by-election follows up on almost every other by-election that we have had-Chereponi, Atiwa, Talensi and Ayawaso west Wuogon by-elections among others – then you begin to see that we need to do something creative about the problem before it gets out of hand,” Nii said.

He pointed out that his proposal could not be far-fetched because the kind of arrangement that he was talking about already existed at the Presidential level.

“Indeed, in the event that a sitting President dies in office, a national by-election is not held to elect a new President. The party in power continues to remain in power with the sitting President’s vice, governing for the rest of the tenure of the deceased President.”

He said the arrangement was followed to the letter, when the late President Mills died in office, and the baton of leadership fell on former President John Dramani Mahama.

MP surprise at lack of cooporation at Ngleshie-Amanfro

It was all drama, shock and surprises, when Member of Parliament for Bortianor-Ngleshie-Amanfro, Mr Habib Saad, visited some communities in her constituency to check out drainage and sanitation issues.

Acting on a report on the poor drainage issue in the area, the MP decided to face the bull by the horns, by visiting the Adjorlolos, who were reportedly operating a fish-pond in the house.

To the utter surprise of the MP, other residents, and executive members of Canal Avenue Landlords Association, Mrs Regina Adjorlolo who pooped up complained that she was sick and therefore could not give any account concerning their requests.

She also told the Visitors that her husband was also sick and was even on bed and could not get up and needed to be taken to the hospital.

As she continued to talk about the sick husband, she suddenly burst out, shouting at the executives, and accusing them of earlier coming to disturb her sick husband who took them to inspect the back of her building, adding that she thought it was over and ‘you have come again, this time with a higher Authority.’

Mrs Adjorlolo said she would not allow the team to do what they had come to do in her house adding that the first visit of the executive members made the Blood pressure of the husband to rise as he had to conduct them round the house in a sick mood.

The team explained that, they were only seeking a solution to the drainage problem, but Mrs Adjorlolo continued with her quarrelsome posture, adding that she would come with her Lawyer, if the association wanted more clarifications from her.

As the team kept watching her display of anger and refusal to cooperate, her husband came out asking to know what was happening, but Mrs Adjorlolo pushed him backwards.

 Mr Adjorlolo, however refused and joined the wife in shouting and accusing the executives, claiming the water was not from their fish pond.

After sometime, the team left them and went to inspect the backside of the house, where the water was flowing from a pipeline directly connected from the house of Mrs Adjorlolo to the back of their building.

Mr Habib who could not believe what he had seen said, ‘even the sick husband who she claimed could not get out of bed was fighting more than the sick wife’.

The MP later promised that he would bring some Engineers to check on the problem and find a lasting solution to the problem.

North East Region presented with Constitutional Instrument

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo on Tuesday presented the Constitutional Instrument (CI 116) that gives effect to the creation of the North East Region of Ghana to the overlord of the Mamprugu Kingdom, Nayiri Naa Bohogu Abdulai Mahahami Sheriga in Accra.

The North East Region is the first of six regions created after last year’s referendum to receive its Constitutional Instrument. Officially the 11th region of Ghana, it was carved out of the Northern region.

At a historic and colourful ceremony at the forecourt of the Jubilee House in Accra, President Akufo-Addo named Nareligu in East Mamprusi district as the capital of the North East Region, and also charged the current Northern Regional Minister, Salifu Saeed, to take charge of the new region until a substantive minister is appointed.

The North East region was one of the areas to record the highest margin of Yes votes in last December’s Referendum conducted by the Electoral Commission as a result of the demand by the people of the Volta, Brong Ahafo, Northern, Western, Eastern for the reorganisation of those regions.

The last time a region was created in Ghana was in 1983 during the era of the Provisional National Defence Council, when the Upper West Region was carved out of the Upper region as the 10th region in Ghana.

The creation of the new regions was a promise President Akufo-Addo made in the run-up to the 2016 elections; and results from the December 2018 referendum recorded over 90 per cent endorsement of the newly-created regions.

President Akufo-Addo assured the people of the North East Region that the areas would witness substantial development, as his government had earmarked an initial amount of GH¢20 million for projects in the region.

He said his Administration would ensure that the desire for growth, progress and prosperity, which informed the creation of the regions was fulfilled.

The Nayiri, on behalf of the people of the North East Region, thanked the President and the Government for the creation of the region, saying, “the overwhelming endorsement of the people during the referendum gives ample testimony of how dear the region is to the people.”

“The expectations are so high…and we owe you a huge debt that we cannot pay till the end of time.”

“I wish to assure you that the North East Region is the vehicle to drive the development agenda of the people in the region…we shall partner government to make sure that the engine of this vehicle is at all times well-oiled to keep it in perfect state and function,” Nayiri Bohogu Abdulai Mahami Sheriga assured the President.

He said the potential of the region, which had a fair share of the country’s natural resources, should be taped for national development and that, it that would materialise when there was peace.

“We shall do all within our means to maintain the peace and social harmony we are currently enjoying, assuring further that the traditional authorities would work to ensure that any potential source of conflict in the area was nibbed in the bud.

“Let us be mindful of the fact that conflicts pose a serious threat to development and the very survival of mankind. The key to growth, prosperity and development throughout history is peace,” he told the people of the region. 

He called on the political leadership and duty bearers to gird their lions and work harder to accelerate the pace of development in the region.