Ghana: Press spotlights approval of Space Policy by government, others

APA – Accra (Ghana)
The report that the Cabinet has approved a national space policy that will provide a framework for the use of space science and technology for sustainable development is one of the trending stories in the Ghanaian press on Thursday.
The Graphic reports that the Cabinet has approved a national space policy that will provide a framework for the use of space science and technology for sustainable development.
In line with that, the policy will coordinate how ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) access and consume space data.
The Minister of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation (MESTI), Dr Kwaku Afriyie, who made this known at a “Meet the Press” series in Accra yesterday, said the approval of the policy was a key milestone in the nation’s development trajectory.
“Currently, there is no coordination in the way MDAs access data from entities which provide space data, and we do not even consider value for money,” he said.
Dr Afriyie added that as part of measures to leverage space technology, MESTI was currently working with relevant ministries and the private sector to transform the Ghana Space Science and Technology Institute (GSSTI) into a space agency to coordinate the growth of human capital, infrastructure and space science.
The minister said that although the government had frozen the establishment of agencies because of the financial burden involved, it was important to consider space agency as a special case.
“I am pleading for exemption for us to establish the space agency because the GSSTI has the needed infrastructure, so there will be zero financial burden on the government.
If we do not do it, the country will rather incur losses,” he said.
The minister further said that his outfit had under the Ghana-Korea K-Innovation Partnership Programme, unveiled a 10-year master plan to enhance the commercialisation of research and innovation.
The newspaper says that the Supreme Court has dismissed an injunction application which sought to stop the Speaker of Parliament from allowing a bill that criminalises LGBTQ to proceed in Parliament.
In a unanimous decision Wednesday, a nine-member panel of the apex court, presided over by the Chief Justice, Justice Gertrude Torkornoo, held that the applicant failed to convince the court to grant the injunction.
Reading the decision of the court, Justice Torkornoo held that the court was not convinced to put an injunction on an uncompleted work of Parliament, especially when the substantive case challenging the bill would address the issues raised by the applicant.
Due to the court dismissing the application for injunction, lawyers for the applicant – Dr Amanda Odoi, withdrew an application for contempt against the Speaker.
Dr Odoi wanted the court to cite the Speaker of Parliament – Alban Bagbin, for contempt, due to his decision to allow Parliament to proceed to hear the bill in spite of the injunction application.
After the withdrawal of the contempt application, the apex court dismiss the application as withdrawn.
Dr Odoi- an academic researcher is challenging the constitutionality of the Human Sexual Rights and Ghanaian Family Values Bill which is seeking to outlaw the practice of LGBTQ and any activity promoting it in the country.
It is her case that the Speaker of Parliament breached Article 108 of the 1992 Constitution by not giving an opinion whether the bill when implemented could lead to financial consequences on the country through a charge on the consolidated fund.
The Ghanaian Times reports that the World Bank estimates that nearly 850,000 people in the country were pushed into poverty in 2022 due to rising food prices.
It also said food insecurity significantly increased with a quarter of the population, about 7.7 million people deemed to be food insecure by the end of 2022, adding that food insecurity would remain elevated till the end of the year.
This is contained in the 7th Ghana Economic Update report by the World Bank titled “Price Surge: Unravelling Inflation’s Toll on Poverty and Food Security.”
Authored by three economists of the World Bank, Kwabena Gyan Kwakye Economist, Paul Andres Corral Rodas, Senior Economist and David Elmaleh, Senior Economist, the yearly analytical report examined Ghana’s economic developments and prospects and this year’s report focused on the impact of inflation on the household.
“High inflation in Ghana in 2022 led to catastrophic effects on food security and poverty, rising inflation disproportionately affected the less well of, who allocate a larger share of their budget to food,” the report said.
It explained that farmers were susceptible to global fertiliser price fluctuations and most of the fertilisers used in the country were imported, adding that “Higher fertiliser prices contributed to more expensive locally produced goods which followed the trend of imported-stuffs.”
The report further highlighted that food inflation outpaced non-food inflation leading to worsened impacts for the country’s vulnerable populations.
“Since the poorest devote a larger share of their budgets to food and food is not easily substitutable, especially at subsistence levels, this leaves them more vulnerable to rising prices. Inflation eroded household purchasing power, with wages and salaries unlikely to keep pace with price increase,” it said.
The newspaper says that a self-testing HIV kit to enable the public to check their status in the comfort of their homes, and wherever they find themselves was yesterday unveiled in Accra.
The device, supported by Global Fund to fight HIV, AIDS and Tuberculosis, would provide convenience, confidentiality, privacy and quick result.
Unveiling the kits, the Minister of Health (MoH), Mr Kwaku Agyeman-Manu, said the HIV self- testing kit was one of the newest innovations in the range of strategies aimed at encouraging persons to know their status.
He said the availability of HIV testing kits would address the critical gap in healthcare system.
“Testing is the foundation to the entire response to HIV/AIDS, which is the gateway to prevention, treatment care and support services.
“Testing is the foundation to the entire response to HIV/AIDS, which is the gateway to prevention, treatment care and support services.
GIK/APA