COVID: MTN partners with African Union on Covid-19 vaccinations
MTN, Africa’s leading mobile network, has announced a donation of $25 million to support the African Union’s COVID-19 vaccination programme in a unique public/private partnership. The donation will help secure up to seven million doses of the Covid-19 vaccine for health workers across the continent, which will contribute to the vaccination initiative of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC). “The devastating impact of COVID-19 has been unprecedented and profound. Public and private partnerships are needed if we are to succeed in the fight against the pandemic and restore social and economic norms for our continent and our communities,” says Ralph Mupita, President and Chief Executive Officer of MTN Group. On January 14, 2021, President Cyril Ramaphosa, Chairperson of the African Union, announced that the African Union had secured a provisional 270 million COVID-19 vaccine doses on behalf of its Member States, through advance procurement commitment guarantees of up to $2 billion to the manufacturers by the African Export-Import Bank. This was an important milestone in efforts to ensure equitable access to the COVID-19 vaccine for Africa’s people. However, with a population of about 1.3 billion, Africa requires many more doses to achieve at least 60 per cent herd immunity. Contributions by private organisations, like MTN, are therefore essential to help the continent reach its target. “Our goal is to ensure that all those who need the Covid-19 vaccine have access to it very quickly, but the biggest hurdle in Africa has been financing of the vaccines, and the logistics of vaccinating at scale. “We, therefore, welcome the right partnerships, like the one with MTN, to achieve our minimum 60 per cent vaccination target,” says Dr John Nkengasong, Director of Africa CDC. Commenting on this, the CEO of MTN Ghana, Selorm Adadevoh said “our immense appreciation goes to our dedicated frontline health workers, the Government, and other key stakeholders who have worked tirelessly and braved the odds to help our country in the face of this relentless pandemic. “MTN appreciates your devotion to duty and hopeful that these vaccines will help us all fight the COVID 19 pandemic.” Since the beginning of the pandemic, MTN has made significant contributions to help limit the spread of the disease and save lives and livelihoods within its African market. This donation is another example of MTN’s efforts to help find lasting solutions to solve the challenges facing the continent and to guarantee a healthy Africa, for all Africans. “We believe ongoing collaborations with key stakeholders across sectors are essential as vaccines are deployed in all our markets, with communication tools, technology and digital services being vital support infrastructure for a successful mass vaccination programme,” concludes Mupita. “In the coming months, MTN Group will look at similar support commitments for the markets in which we operate in the Middle East.” Myjoyonline Please contact Apexnewsgh.com on email apexnewsgh@gmail.com for your credible news publications. Contact: 0555568093.
MTN Ghana gets green light to buy back over 1million shares
MTN Ghana has received approval from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to buy back over one million shares of applicants, who failed to provide sufficient personal information to complete their Know Your Customer (KYC) requirements under the Initial Public Offer (IPO). It will be recalled that shareholders of MTN Ghana at an Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) held on Thursday, December 3, 2020, gave the Company the approval to buy back shares of applicants with incomplete personal information at the IPO price of GH¢0.75. A statement issued in Accra by Mr Robert Kuzoe, Acting Corporate Services Executive of MTN, said with the approval, all such applicants would receive a refund of their initial purchasing money and dividends accrued since the IPO. It said applicants, who did not provide sufficient KYC information could check the status of their account by visiting www.mtnghanashares.com to update their records and upload a copy of their valid ID card. The statement said before the buyback commences, MTN Ghana was making a final appeal to shareholders to take advantage of the notice period to complete all outstanding account information. The notice period ends on 23 February 2021. It said affected shareholders, who needed additional information may contact www.mtnghanashares.com or IC Securities at clientservice@icsecurities.com or 0302252621/3. -GNA Please contact Apexnewsgh.com on email apexnewsgh@gmail.com for your credible news publications. Contact: 0555568093.
Parliament votes against Ayariga’s motion for absorption of 2021 tertiary fees
Parliament has voted against a motion filed by the Member of Parliament for Bawku Central, Mahama Ayariga asking government to absorb fees of students in public tertiary institutions and to extend support to private universities for the 2021 academic year. He premised his request on the adverse impact of COVID-19 on incomes of individuals and businesses. The matter was determined through a voice vote on the floor of Parliament on Thursday, January 28, 2021. While the Minority group were in support of the motion, the Majority side held the view that such a move would be unnecessary because the government has already provided enough support and interventions in the area of education due to the pandemic. Mahama Ayariga had earlier urged his colleague MPs to accept the motion because it will greatly relieve families that have been adversely impacted by COVID-19, particularly the incomes of households. Citinewsroom Please contact Apexnewsgh.com on email apexnewsgh@gmail.com for your credible news publications. Contact: 0555568093.
ECOWAS sets US$50 maximum cost for coronavirus testing
The Economic Community for West African States has made a resolve to set a US$50 amount to be paid by citizens of member countries in order to gain access to COVID-19 testing. This is according to a communique issued following the 58th Ordinary Session of Authority of Heads of State and Government on January 23, 2021. The communique explains the measure forms part of the sub-regional body’s efforts to curb and fight the spread of the pandemic in a much timely manner. It adds that the Authority of Heads of State and Government have also agreed on a collective procurement approach for COVID-19 vaccines. Ghana’s President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo on his part has earlier assured citizens government was working to procure vaccines by March 2021 with government set to begin negotiations with international pharmaceutical companies to source a suitable COVID-19 vaccine for Ghana. This comes after the completion of a task by the Committee set up by Ghana’s government to make recommendations for the procurement of COVID-19 doses to fight the virus. Meanwhile, Africa has not been spared the wrath of the coronavirus pandemic with cases recorded totalling 3.49 million so far, 2.97 million recoveries and a death toll of 87,937 according to the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. So far, the Africa Centre for Disease Control on January 19, 2021 announced the beginning of a COVID-19 vaccine pre-order program for all African Union (AU) member states. South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa and AU Chairperson earlier in January announced it has secured a provisional 270 million doses of vaccines through the African Vaccine Acquisition Task Team. Ghanaweb Please contact Apexnewsgh.com on email apexnewsgh@gmail.com for your credible news publications. Contact: 0555568093.
Supreme Court refuses Mahama request to file additional ground of review
A nine-member review panel of the Supreme Court has dismissed a motion moved by lawyers of former president John Mahama seeking leave to file “an additional ground of review” to the review application on the interrogatories. Mr. Mahama and his lawyers per the motion are also seeking leave to replace paragraph 28 of their original statement of the case. Tsatsu Tsikata who moved the motion made reference to copious authorities and urged the court to oblige them file their request since it will assist the court to make a proper determination of the review pending. Lawyers of the Respondents all opposed to the motion. While the EC lawyer Justin Amenuvor opposed on point of law, lawyers of the 2nd Respondent Akoto Ampaw argued their case out. The enhanced review panel chaired by Justice Kwasi Anin Yeboah, in its short ruling said, the application was premised to invoke the inherent jurisdiction of the lead court. The court said the jurisdiction of the court cannot be invoked in the manner that the applicant was asking the court to do. The application was subsequently dismissed. The panel also includes Justice Yaw Appau, Justice Samuel Marful-Sau, Justice Nene Amegartcher, Justice Prof Nii Ashie Kotey, Justice Gertrude Torkornoo, Justice Mariama Owusu. Justice Amadu Tanko and Justice Henrieta Mensah-Bonsu are the new judges added to the enhanced panel. The application for review is currently being heard. Kasapa Please contact Apexnewsgh.com on email apexnewsgh@gmail.com for your credible news publications. Contact: 0555568093.
UER: Dachio Chief renamed the dam constructed in his community from FOOTBALL PARK to WEEDY DAM
Chief of Dachio, a community in the Bolgatanga East District of the Upper East region Naaba Akaliga II has intensified his disappointment at the implementation of the government’s One Village One Dam project in his community, as he further renamed the dam constructed from his earlier description of football park to now ‘weedy dam’. The Upper East Region has a unimodal rainy season usually from April to October. Study indicates that there were variations in rainfall between the months. The variations in monthly rainfall and in both night and day temperatures determine the rainy and dry seasons in the Upper East Region and these was as a result of climate change. So, government policy of One Village One Dam (1V1D) is better project to address the challenges of farmers various communities. But according to Naaba Akaliga II who was speaking in an exclusive interview with Ngamegbulam Chidozie Stephen of Apexnewsgh.com said the dam is already drying up in the month of January. He said, when the news came to him, that his community will benefit from the government policy of 1V1D, he was excited and to the extent of calling his community members to inform them how necessary it was to vote for the party who was bringing such initiative but, little did he know they are only coming to destroy their trees and land. “We are in January not even February and the dam is drying up. Is this a dam? When I described it as a football park, they took it all over the world. In fact, I am not a politician and I don’t play politics but what I see with my naked eye is what I was saying, but they took it the other way saying am supporting this NDC and is never so. Since the time memorial, Dachio have had no dam. So, when I heard them mentioned that they want to come and dig a dam here, I was very very happy and called my people and told them this party is trying to alleviate our poverty. So, for that matter, we are going to vote for that party because they are coming to construct a dam here, this was my first initiative. But, at the long run when they started it, they didn’t inform me. You imagine, you are coming to use my land which I have provided and if the need be, that the land is to be constructed you have to inform me but, I was not told. I took myself to the site and when I saw the contractor and he said he was going to use 18 days to construct the dam, I said what kind of dam is this and he replied I should wait and see. I told the contractor that I have never seen that before because even the grader you are using to construct the dam is not a grader, we use it for roads and you are using it for a dam. He came and destroy trees; we are having more than over 50 trees and at long last 18 days elapsed and they said they have finished”. He narrated “The DCE is there, he will also not inform me but, during the campaign time, he said he wasn’t also aware but, he was here for the construction, in fact, the Dachio dam is nil, they have done nothing here. Even when I said football park is now worst, they said it was a dugout, it doesn’t qualify to be called a dugout, a dugout is never done this way. Am sitting here looking at it, except if there is a Jesus somewhere to come and help us”. He said “When they are now in the house, some of them lost their seats and they are now consoling each other, who will come out at all. I think they are waiting for the new DCE to be appointed, maybe he will come up and say something, it is real nobody is talking about it”. Asking how the Dachio Community people are feeling with the uncompleted dam especially in this time of the dry season, the only replied saying the people of Dachio Community paid the personality concerned in his coin by not voting him again into power. “The people of Dachio paid the one who is concerned in his coin by not voting him back into power, he has been kicked out. If the government will change his decision and bring back, we don’t know. But we are looking for a new DCE”. He told Apexnewsgh.com Apexnewsgh.com/Ghana/Ngamegbulam Chidozie Stephen Please contact Apexnewsgh.com on email apexnewsgh@gmail.com for your credible news publications. Contact: 0555568093.
CLIMATE CHANGE: The 1V1D Policy itself is a success but, implementation is 100% failure—Rev. John Akaribo
Due to the terrible climate change witnessed in the Upper East Region in recent times, especially in the area of the continuous change pattern of rainfall during the actual farming season, people of the Upper East Region requested the government for an intervention to provide a dam to assist them in dry season farming activities and luckily their request was granted the by the President of the Republic of Ghana Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo. So clearly, Upper East Region is one of the benefited regions when it comes to the government flagship policy of One Village One Dam (1V1D). Even though the policy was initiated by the government with good heart, it appears representatives of the farming communities in the Upper East Region are not pleased with its implementations by the government. In Upper East Region, according to the Update on sighted by Apexnewsgh.com on the Website of the then Ministry for Special Development Initiative, 150 small dams were supposed to be constructed across the 15 MMDAs with each MMDAs benefiting 10 small dams for their various communities. However, our visit to most of the dams shows that some are already drying up in the month of January and farmers are not too excited about such development. Engaging the Upper East Regional Focal Person for Peasant Farmer Association of Ghana Rev. John Akaribo in an exclusive interview on the effect of Climate Change on peasant farmer in the Upper East Region of Ghana especially with regards government policy of One Village One Dam (1V1D), Rev. Akaribo describes the policy as a very successful programme, successful initiative, laudable initiative but, insisted the implementation of the policy was a 100 percent complete failure. “The policy itself is a success, implementation is a failure. It was a very successful programme, is a very successful initiative, it was a laudable initiative but, implementation is 100 percent complete failure. If you are ready without any fear or favor, get the time and call me to send you to some of the 1V1D in this region and I will send you round and you will see if there is any dam that can boast of enough water in the reservoir, let alone to talk of whether they have been able to use it for a quarter-acre garden. If it is not there then, what is it? What was the purpose of One Village One Dam? It was to help our women, to help our vulnerable so that can be doing some small small garden over there and also to water our animals. Then if you dug the thing and there was no water and it has not achieved any objective and for that matter, I will say is a failure”. He stressed However, he further advised the government to revisit the policy with good ideas and involve technical experts needed to offer them good and proper advice on how to make the policy a success. “So, the government should go back and re-engineered those dams, they should involve ideas, they should involve engaging development authorities, they should have the technical know-how, they should involve the Agric engineering department so that they do it well”. However, he is confident that with the government policy of One Village One Dam (1V1D), if handled well, the stressful situation of ‘Climate Change’ affecting farmers in the Upper East Region will drastically reduce because farming needs a constant water supply. However, Joe Biden the President of the United State is preparing to deal with climate change in a way no U.S. president has done before – by mobilizing his entire administration to take on the challenge from every angle in a strategic, integrated way. Apexnewsgh.com/Ghana/Ngamegbulam Chidozie Stephen Please contact Apexnewsgh.com on email apexnewsgh@gmail.com for your credible news publications. Contact: 0555568093.