The increase in Producer Price Inflation (PPI) rate in September to 9.6 percent and the report that the pension scheme for cocoa, coffee and shea farmers has been finalised and would be launched before the end of the year are some of the leading stories in the Ghanaian press on Thursday.
The Graphic reports that the year-on-year Producer Price Inflation (PPI) rate rose slightly in September to 9.6 percent compared with a 9.0 percent recorded in August.
The rate represents a 0.6 percentage point increase in producer inflation relative to the rate recorded in August 2020.
Professor Samuel Annim, the Government Statistician, said the month-on-month change in producer price index between August 2020 and September 2020 was 0.1 percent.
The producer price inflation in the Mining and Quarrying sub-sector decreased by 6.1 percentage points over the August 2020 rate of 37.9 percent to record 31.8 percent in September 2020.
The Manufacturing sector, which constitutes more than two-thirds of the total industry, increased by 1.9 percentage points to record 5.9 percent.
The utility sub-sector recorded the same inflation rate of 5.8 percent as the rate for August 2020.
The newspaper says that the pension scheme for cocoa, coffee and shea farmers has been finalised and would be launched before the end of the year, Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD), Mr. Joseph Boahen Aidoo, has said.
He said all the necessary arrangements and documentations had been completed, paving the way for the scheme to take off.
He explained that a board of trustees had also been constituted to administer the scheme that would operate as a contributory venture.
He said that what was left now was for COCOBOD and the government to set a date for the official launch of the scheme.
Mr. Aidoo made this announcement last Tuesday when the executive of the Ghana Cocoa, Coffee, and Shea Nut Farmers Association (COCOSHE) paid a courtesy call on him at the Cocoa House in Accra to congratulate him on his recent award in Ivory Coast.
The visit was also to commend the COCOBOD CEO for his efforts to get the producer price of cocoa increased for the 2020/21 season.
The Graphic also reports that the death toll from the collapsed Church of Prosperity building at Akyem Batabi in the Asene-Manso District in the Eastern Region has risen to 14.
This followed the recovery of 12 more dead bodies (six last Tuesday night and eight yesterday).
The 14 who have lost their lives comprise eight females and six males.
Seven people were also pulled out from the massive debris alive and sent to the Oda Government Hospital for treatment.
The Times says that Professor Naana Opoku-Agyemang, the Presidential Running Mate of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), has urged for calm in the campaign activities of parties contesting the December 7, elections.
“Our activities should not be characterized by violence and disorderliness since we are not at war with each other so let us not spill blood over our political differences, but think of the overall interest of the citizenry, stability, growth and development of the nation,” she admonished.
Prof Opoku-Agyemang made the call when she paid a courtesy call on Barima Osei Hwedie II, Chief of Ejura in the Ashanti Region, as part of her campaign tour to interact with traditional authorities, traders, students, women groups, the youth and the university community.
She is on a six-day working visit to solicit votes for the party in Ashanti, where the NDC has three of the 47 constituencies – Asawase, Ejura-Sekyedumase and Sekyere Afram Plains.
The campaign tour also saw Prof Opoku-Agyemang pay a courtesy call on the Chief of Sekyedumase, Nana Antwi Boasiako II, and Nana Apau Wiafe Ababio Sanwansa, Chief of Hemang, where she outlined the party’s vision to the traditional authorities and people.
The newspaper reports that the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) and the Ghana News Agency (GNA) yesterday commemorated the late Dr Isaac Godwin Kweku Aikins, the first General Manager of the GNA in Accra.
In his honour, the GJA has instituted an award category for Ethical Journalism to remind journalists of the need to adhere to the professional standards of journalism and deepen his memory.
Paying tribute to Dr. Aikins, the President of the GJA, Mr. Affail Monney stated that the death of the first Ghanaian General Manger of the GNA and a former GJA General Secretary, was a shock to the Association as he was a pivotal pillar in the journalism community.
Stating that the “quality of a man’s life is not measured by duration, but by his contribution to humanity,” he mentioned that the GJA and the media community were the utmost benefactors of the services of Dr. Aikins.
Mr. Monney indicated that the former General Manager of the GNA gave the agency a solid foundation which spurred up the Agency’s immense growth, adding that he “kept the flag of Ghana and made a mark at the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO).”
The GJA president emphasised that the Dr. Aikins had “made his mark as one of the professionally finest gems Ghana has produced.”
The General Manager of GNA, Albert Kofi Owusu highlighted the legacy left behind by the late former Manager of the Agency.
GIK/APA