The report that the Speaker of Parliament, Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin, has reaffirmed his unwavering support for the Proper Human Sexual Rights and Ghanaian Family Values Bill unanimously passed by Parliament is one of the leading stories in the Ghanaian press on Wednesday.
The Ghanaian Times reports that the Speaker of Parliament, Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin, has reaffirmed his unwavering support for the Proper Human Sexual Rights and Ghanaian Family Values Bill unanimously passed by Parliament.
The Speaker, in a keynote address delivered on his behalf by his aide, Mr Peter Bamfo, at the 2024 Suma Akwantu Kesie Festival in Suma in the Bono Region on Saturday, noted that the passage of the bill marked a triumph for the country’s democratic principles and a reaffirmation of its commitment to upholding traditional values.
He therefore called on the traditional leaders to continue their advocacy for the preservation of the country’s true values and support Parliament in its quest to see the Bill assented into law.
As representatives of the people, the Speaker said Parliament would do all it can within its constitutionally mandated powers to put first the interest of Ghanaians before any other interest.
He commended the Suma Tra¬ditional Council for its visionary leadership in reimagining the festi¬val as a catalyst for development in the traditional area.
He also praised the Council for the initiative to establish an ultra¬modern social centre in honour of the late Nana Kwadwo Adinkra, who invented the Adinkra symbols.
“The Adinkra Centre will serve as a beacon of hope and opportu¬nity, providing invaluable resources for youth training, cultural educa¬tion, and socio-economic empow¬erment,” the Speaker said.
The Speaker also called on the people of Suma to rally behind their leaders to ensure the develop¬ment of the area.
The newspaper says that the Ghana Edu¬cation Trust Fund (GETFund) is committing a total of GH¢2.6 billion to contractors to complete the fund’s stalled projects across the country.
This followed the approval by Parliament of more than GH¢3.9 billion for the financing of educa¬tional infrastructure projects for this year.
Speaking in an exclusive inter¬view with the Ghanaian Times in Accra yesterday, the Administrator of the Fund, Dr Richard Boadu, said this represents 67 per cent of the total amount of GH¢3,935,780, 000 approved for it by the House for the financing and also arrears for payment this year to contrac¬tors who have completed their projects.
Giving a further breakdown on the matter, he said, in all there were about 3,606 GETFund projects which had stalled and they include; administration and library blocks, assembly halls, auditorium, class¬room blocks, dining halls, dormito¬ry/hostels, E-Blocks, kindergarten block, lecture halls, model schools, sanitary facilities, staff accommo¬dations and other projects.
Dr Boadu who was giving an update on the GETFund stalled projects said of the total number projects earmarked for completion this year, 1,835 were at the basic level, 65 E-Block, nine model SHSs, 1347 SHS, 347 tertiary projects and three at the TVET category.
According to him, the Ashanti Region had the highest number of projects numbering 638, followed by the Central Region with 495 and the Eastern Region with 458 projects.
The Greater Accra and the Volta regions had a combined total of 588 representing newly completed projects respectively.
Dr Boadu said the Bono Region would benefit from 232 projects with the Upper East and Western regions receiving 198 and 197 new¬ly completed projects respectively.
However, he said the Upper West and Northern regions would benefit from 166 and 161 new projects completed by the end of the year, while Bono East, Oti and Western North and Ahafo regions would each receive 103,100, 93 and 76 new projects respectively.
The North East and the Savanna regions would complete the list with 56 and 35 newly completed projects respectively.
The Graphic reports that the Minister of Finance, Dr Mohammed Amin Adam, has assured the public that the country’s macroeconomic environment continues to remain stable and signs of economic recovery are emerging.
That comes on the back of the government’s implementation of the International Monetary Fund (IMF)-supported Post COVID-19 Programme for Economic Growth (PC-PEG).
The Finance Minister said growth was proving to be more resilient and robust than initially programmed, characterised by declining inflation, a largely stabilised exchange rate, improved Gross International Reserves (GIR) position and a declining rate of accumulation of public debt after the debt restructuring exercise.
At the maiden Monthly Economic Update Series at the Ministry of Finance in Accra yesterday, Dr Adam said both the current account and trade balances continued to improve, with key structural reforms to support growth, improve revenue mobilisation and support sound monetary and exchange policy beginning to yield fruit.
“This economic performance we are witnessing has been achieved through the cooperation and sacrifice of all Ghanaians, and I take this opportunity to express the government’s appreciation for the immense support,” the Finance Minister stated.
Ghana’s economy has been faced with its toughest challenges in decades, characterised by high inflation which peaked at a 22-year high of 54.1 per cent in 2022, unstable currency, high interest rates, slow economic growth and an unsustainable public debt which surpassed 90 per cent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2022.
This prompted the government to formally seek help from the IMF, and after meeting all the prior actions and requirements, the Board of the IMF approved Ghana’s programme in May last year.
Ten months after implementing the programme, macroeconomic stability appears to be re-emerging.
The newspaper says that the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA) has disbursed GH¢180 million to various categories of healthcare providers across the country.
The amount is predominantly the payment for claims submitted by providers under the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) and vetted for up to December last year.
It said by the current payment, the NHIS was on track and was not in arrears as it stayed within the accepted 90-day window for the payment of vetted claims.
The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the NHIA, Dr Da-Costa Aboagye, made this known in a statement yesterday.
Providing some details on the disbursement, the authority said the payments included GH¢10.57 million claims from January to July last year, which was submitted on March 19, 2024.
It said out of the amount, GH¢9 million represented claims paid for August last year, which were also submitted on March 19, 2024.
The other payments for last year, which were all submitted on March 19, 2024, were GH¢35.07 million, representing claims for September; GH¢103.46 million for October; GH¢12.56 million for November and GH¢7.05 million for December.
The NHIA added that it also paid arrears for 2020, 2021 and 2022 amounting to GH¢2.25 million.
GIK/APA