The report that President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo and the visiting Kenyan President, William Ruto, yesterday supervised the signing of a number of agreements as part of efforts to strengthen the bond of cooperation between Ghana and Kenya is one of the trending stories in the Ghanaian press on Thursday.
The Ghanaian Times reports that President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo and the visiting Kenyan President, William Ruto, yesterday supervised the signing of a number of agreements as part of efforts to strengthen the bond of coopera¬tion between Ghana and Kenya.
In all, eight different Memorandum of Understandings (MoUs) were signed with four of them signed at the Jubilee House in Accra, when President Akufo-Addo played host to President Ruto who is in the country on a three-day state visit.
The MoUs signed were in the areas of education, tourism, diplomacy, and defence cooperation, while the other four signed at the Ghana-Kenya business forum held at the Kempinski Gold Coast Hotel in Accra focused on investment promotion, manufacturing, industry and governance.
Addressing a joint news conference after the signing of the agreements, President Akufo-Addo said the purpose of the visit by the Kenyan President was to reaffirm the ties of cooperation and the bonds of friendship that the two countries have had with each other.
He said the relationship that existed between Ghana and Kenya were forged in colonial times during the common struggles of peoples of the two countries to free themselves from the yoke of imperialism and colonialism.
President Akufo-Addo said in line with this each generation had rededicated itself to strengthen the ideals and values that animated the struggles, adding that “Ghana and Kenya established diplomatic relations shortly after Kenya gained her independence in 1963 and has been an active participant in regional and international fora collaborating on mutual issues such as peacekeeping, regional integration and sustainable development.”
The newspaper says that the Minority Caucus in Parliament has raised a red flag over the alarming decline in Ghana’s cocoa production, calling on the government to urgently address the issue to prevent further deterioration of the sector.
In a statement issued by Eric Opoku, Member of Parliament for Asunafo South and Ranking Member on the Parliamentary Select Committee on Food, Agriculture, and Cocoa Affairs, the Minority highlighted the adverse impact of the declining cocoa output on the livelihoods of Ghanaian cocoa farmers.
The recent surge in global cocoa prices, reaching an unprecedented $10,000 USD per tonne, has been attributed to a global shortage exacerbated by decreased cocoa production in Ghana and Cote d’Ivoire, which together contribute 70 per cent of the world’s cocoa output.
The Minority Caucus calls on the government to prioritise the welfare of cocoa farmers by increasing farm-gate prices and implementing measures to curb smuggling.
Mr Opoku said Ghana’s cocoa production for the 2023/2024 crop season plummeted to a historic low of 450,000 metric tonnes, the lowest in two decades, under the current Akufo-Addo/Bawumia NPP administration.
“This sharp decline in cocoa production has dire consequences for Ghanaian cocoa farmers, whose incomes and purchasing power are being severely eroded. Despite the lucrative international market prices, Ghanaian cocoa farmers are receiving meagre payments of GH¢1,308 per tonne, compared to the equivalent of GH¢8,125 per tonne on the global market.”
He said wide disparity in prices underscores the exploitation of Ghana’s hardworking cocoa farmers by the government.
“The NDC caucus in Parliament demands immediate action from the government to increase the farm-gate price of cocoa to align with the prevailing international market prices. Failure to address this issue not only perpetuates the exploitation of cocoa farmers but also threatens the viability of the cocoa industry, which is already reeling from mismanagement and corruption,” he said.
The Graphic reports that Kenyan President, Dr William Kipchirchir Samoei Arap Ruto, has described Ghana’s democracy as a beacon of hope and an inspiration to many countries, especially with the emergence of unconstitutional governments from all directions.
He explained that Kenya was proud of Ghana’s democracy, particularly the almost equal Members of Parliament for both the Minority and Majority which, he said, demonstrated the level of maturity of Ghana’s democracy and the extent to which it was entrenched.
President Ruto made the commendation during bilateral talks between Ghana and Kenya as part of his three-day state visit to Ghana at the Jubilee House in Accra yesterday.
President Ruto, who led a high-powered delegation of ministers and businessmen to Ghana, was given full honours by the Ghana Navy which mounted a guard of honour for him to inspect.
The Navy also fired a 21-gun salute and played the national anthems of both countries. President Akufo-Addo and the First Lady, Mrs Rebecca Akufo-Addo, met the Kenyan President and his spouse at the foyer of the Jubilee House and after exchanging pleasantries, greeted the ministers from both countries.
The two Presidents then had a tete-a-tete and later joined the bilateral meeting which culminated in the signing of five Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs), while the bilateral relations were moved to the level of a bi-national commission.
President Ruto indicated that they had agreed that the inaugural session of the Bi-national Commission would provide the two countries with an opportunity to reaffirm friendship, deepen bilateral ties and strengthen the normal course of African economic integration.
The newspaper says that President Akufo-Addo has directed the Volta River Authority (VRA) to curtail the export of electricity to other countries in response to the ongoing intermittent power outages, popularly known as ‘dumsor’ in the country.
Ghana exports power to neigbouring countries such as Togo, Benin and Burkina Faso.
The Chairman of the Energy Committee of Parliament, Samuel Atta Akyea, who disclosed this on Accra-based JoyNews’ PM Express show on Tuesday, April 2, 2024, said the directive exhibits the President’s prioritisation of domestic energy requirements over potential profits from exporting electricity.
“The President is on top of the issues, and I am even being educated that there is a command that our export of electricity to other countries should be curtailed. The President has an acute sense of the national need than making profits abroad so that is a factor that would come and help,” he stated.
He also stressed the need for redirecting electricity generated for export back into the national grid to alleviate the ongoing power crisis.
Meanwhile, Mr Atta Akyea said all major stakeholders in the energy sector will be appearing before Parliament’s Energy Committee on Saturday, April 6, 2024.
The meeting, he noted, was in response to the power outages across the country.
For him, meeting all key players in the energy value-chain would allow the stakeholders to comprehensively address the issues at hand.
GIK/APA
Ghana: Press zooms in on MoU signed by Ghana, Kenya to strengthen cooperation, others
