APA – Accra (Ghana)
The inauguration of the Korea-Ghana Information Access Centre (IAC) of the University of Health and Allied Sciences (UHAS) at the main campus at Sokode-Lokoe, near Ho is one of the trending stories in the Ghanaian press on Tuesday.
The Graphic reports that the Korea-Ghana Information Access Centre (IAC) of the University of Health and Allied Sciences (UHAS) has been inaugurated at the main campus at Sokode-Lokoe, near Ho.
The multi-million-dollar facility has an ITC lounge for free Internet access, free access to computers and a ’Bring your own device section’ with cloud storage.
The centre also has an ICT training room for all forms of intensive training in data science, programming software/digital engineering, special computers for heavy graphics and complex digital tasks.
Further, the IAC has a video conferencing room for seminars, small group meetings and virtual interaction in addition to assistive technology for the vision impaired and the hearing impaired, a broadcast camera for video coverage and live streaming kits for robotics training for young learners.
Performing the ribbon-cutting ceremony, the Minister of Communication and Digitalisation, Ursula Owusu-Ekuful, said the centre was a remarkable effort and stood as a testament to the enduring partnership between Korea and Ghana in advancing education, technology and access to information.
“Korea’s dedication to sharing expertise, resources and technological advancements exemplify the true spirit of international cooperation,” the minister added.
The newspaper says that President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has urged Ghanaians to protect and preserve the peaceful coexistence between Muslims and Christians.
They should also not listen to anybody who speaks the language of division and exclusion.
The President said it was the sense of oneness that had made the country a beacon of peace and stability.
“We live in a country where a Muslim minority can live peacefully and in harmony with the Christian majority.
We live in a country where all the communities of Ghana can coexist and be together and that is the legacy we must protect and preserve,” President Akufo-Addo stated yesterday.
“We are all part and parcel of the Ghanaian framework and we must all work hard to maintain that,” President Akufo-Addo stated at a durbar at Nima to mark the 20th Anniversary of the installation of the Chief of Nima, Nii Futa.
Nii Futa has served as the Chief of Nima, a heavily populated suburb of Accra, since 2003.
In honour of his two decades of leadership, Zango chiefs from across the Greater Accra Region and other parts of the country were present at the grand anniversary durbar in style.
President Akufo-Addo also made a personal donation of GH¢50,000 to support the anniversary.
The Ghanaian Times reports that trading activities on the Ghana Stock Exchange (GSE) in November this year recorded a bullish performance, reflecting the relative strong growth in the Ghanaian economy for the last three quarters.
Both the volume and value of shares traded on the Accra bourse increased by 1,009.7 per cent and 807.7 per cent respectively, the GSE said in the Summary of November 2023 market activities copied to the Ghanaian Times.
It said on the equities market, the volume of shares traded on the Accra bourse increased to 131,714,300 in November, compared with the 11,869,147, while the value of shares shot up to GH¢172,371,708.48 in November from GH¢18,990,316.20 in October.
The companies which drove the November, 2023 market performance were EGH which saw an 18.64 per cent increase in its share price, GLD recorded a price gain of 2.58 per cent, MTNGH with a 2.19 per cent increase in its share price, CAL, recording a growth of 2 per cent in its share price and FML recording 0.33 per cent increase in its share price.
The GSE said the total market capitalisation increased by 0.67 per cent to GH¢74, 234.96 in November from GH¢73, 736.96 in October.
It said the GSE –CI from year-to-date (January to November 2023) saw an increase of 29.71 per cent compared with the loss of 11.69 per cent recorded in the same period last year.
“The GSE Composite Index (GSE CI) recorded an increase of 44.28 points compared to the previous month, bringing the year-to-date return to 29.71 per cent. The GSE Financial Stock Index gained 17.52 points during the month, reducing the year-to-date loss to 2.71 per cent,” the November summary of market activities statement, said.
The GSE-CI is a major stock market index which tracks the performance of all companies traded in the Ghana Stock Exchange, while the GSE-FSI is an index that measures the performance of a stock on the Accra bourse and helps investors to compare current stock price levels with past prices to calculate market performance.
The newspaper says that President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo and the Speaker of Parliament, Alban Kingsford Sumana Bagbin, are in disagreement over the position of the 1992 Constitution on the passage of Private Member’s legislation in the House.
This stems from the failure of the President to assent to three Private Member Bills which were passed by Parliament.
It would be recalled that a fortnight ago, the President in a letter to Mr Bagbin said he could not assent to the Criminal Offences Amendment Bill, 2023, the Criminal Offences 2 Bill, 2023 and the Armed Forces Amendment Bill, 2023 because of constitutional imperatives without providing further clarification.
Providing further elucidation in a letter addressed to the Speaker and read on the floor of the House in Accra yesterday, President Akufo-Addo said in as much as the contents of the bills had his support, they should emanate from the government and not engineered by a private lawmaker.
The President’s argument was premised on Article 108(a) of the 1992 Constitution which provides that Parliament shall not proceed on a bill or effect an amendment to a bill that, in the opinion of the person presiding imposes a tax or impose a charge on the consolidated and other funds of the state.
In view of the above constitutional provision, President Akufo-Addo held that such bills should have been accompanied by a detailed financial implications and its burden on the Consolidated Fund and that his outfit would in the coming days sponsor the bills for the consideration of the House.
But the Speaker said the President was wrong on his interpretation of the position of the law.
“I vehemently disagree with the President on the position he has taken. The President got it tragically wrong. I will submit in a form of statement under Article 53 my position on this matter to allow members of the House to comment during the course of the week.
“The President has not been properly advised and informed of the process this bills has gone through,” the Speaker stated.
To the Speaker, the President’s message and its content were “irregular, wrongful and unconstitutional”.
In the view of the Speaker, the constitution clearly provides on what the President should do when he disagrees with the legislature.
GIK/APA