Ghana: Press zooms in on pledge by Ghana, Iran to deepen bilateral ties, others

APA – Accra (Ghana)
The report that Ghana and Iran last Friday, renewed their bond of cooperation and pledged to deepen their bilateral ties for the mutual benefits of both countries is one of the leading stories in the Ghanaian press on Monday.
The Ghanaian Times reports that Ghana and Iran last Friday, renewed their bond of cooperation and pledged to deepen their bilateral ties for the mutual benefits of both countries.
This was when Ghana joined the Iranian Community to mark the 45 years anniversary of the Islamic Revolution of Iran established on February 11, 1979 by Ayatollah Khomeini, after an uprising led to the overthrow of the Pahlavi dynasty.
In attendance were ministers of states, traditional and religious leaders, members of the Diplomatic Corps and friends of the Iranian Community in Ghana.
Addressing the gathering, the Islamic Republic of Iran Ambassadors to Ghana, Bejan Gerami, said the Islamic Revolution had made significant advancement in the field of economic, science, and nuclear technology for the benefit of humankind.
He said the relationship between the two countries would continue to grow due to the goodwill of their leadership, and commended President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo for his efforts in maintaining the strong ties between them.
Mr Gerami said the Iran’s foreign policy was founded on the “principles and values of peace, justice, independence while rejecting discrimination, aggression and foreign domination in international politics.”
The Ambassador said Iran always had constructive and strong cooperation with friendly countries, especially Ghana, adding “the relationship between Ghana and Iran which was established in 1983 has remained positive, cordial and ever- expanding.”
Mr Gerami said Ghana-Iran Joint Permanent Commission for Cooperation( JPCC) had held seven meetings culminating in the signing of 20 Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to enhance cooperation in health, education, agriculture, energy, to mention but a few.
He noted the establishment of the Islamic University College and the Iran Clinic in enhancing education and healthcare delivery in the country.
The newspaper says that former President, John Dramani Mahama has supported the call for a bipartisan parliamentary enquiry into the Akosombo Dam spillage which had displaced about 12,000 people in parts of the Volta Region in September, last year.
According to him, an enquiry to ascertain the cause of the man-made disaster would serve as a guide to forestall such spillages in the future.
Speaking at the commissioning of the second phase of the Alternative Housing Project for the displaced victims on Saturday at Battor in the North Tongu District of the Volta Region, Mr Mahama urged the Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin to expedite the setting up of a committee to hold a televised public enquiry to avoid such disasters in the future.
He therefore appealed to President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo and Dr Mahamudu Bawumia to be responsive and sensitive to the plight of the victims of the dam spillage and immediately commence work on the resettlement project for the affected people.
Five months after the disaster, Mr Mahama expected the government to empathise with the victims and work towards providing a decent resettlements for the people who were sacrificed for the entire country for a sustainable hydroelectric power.
Mr Mahama expressed disappointment at the VRA knowing it (VRA) has the capacity to measure the inflow of water into the lake and also able to annually project the releases that come from the Bagre Dam in Burkina Faso into the Akosombo Dam.
“So it should have been possible to know that with the excessive rainfall that took place in the northern part of the country including the volumes that were expected from the Bagre Dam, releases should have started much earlier than it did to avoid the disaster,” Mr Mahama said.
The Ghanaian Times also reports that the Member of Parliament for North Tongu Constituency, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, reminded President Akufo Addo and Vice President, Dr Bawumia of their oath of office which enjoins them to be fair to all manner of persons and treat the resettlement of the people who had been in tents for the past five months, with the urgency it deserves.
Mr Ablakwa wondered government’s sluggish approach in using proceeds of the contingency fund and the $220 million allocation in the 2024 budget for the spillage victims to ameliorate the plight of the affected citizens.
Until now, a total of only 600 victims has been resettled with the first being the resettlement of the first 300 in November, last year, through the intervention of First Sky Group of Companies and the second phase also by a number of donors.
The second phase, by courtesy of the National Chief Imam and a list of other donors, could only accommodate additional 300 families with a whopping 12,000 affected victims wallowing in distress.
Mr Ablakwa expected and looked forward to the parliamentary enquiry with no prejudice and hoped that his colleagues in Parliament would expedite action on the enquiry.
The Women in Law and Development in Africa (WiLDAF) Ghana, as part of its two-year project dubbed “PROTECT!” on Friday engaged community leaders at Ekumfi Akwansa Kokodo, in the Central Region, on anti-sexual violence prevention and reduction.
The project being implemented in three districts in Ledzokuku, Ga West and Ekumfi in the Greater Accra and Central Regions respectively aimed to promote positive norms, healthy relationships, engage community structures to create safe environments for girls and young women.
Funded by African Women’s Development Fund (AWDF), the project also sought to provide legal services for adolescent girls, boys and young women to address sexual violence against them.
The Graphic says that Ghana’s Chief Justice, Justice Gertrude Sackey Torkornoo, has emphasised that it is important for lawyers and judges to make ethical values a cornerstone of their work for effective justice delivery.
She said a holistic approach to ethical values such as the avoidance of conflict of interest, high moral character, integrity, impartial adjudication of cases, and discipline by legal professionals was essential to the effective use of the law to promote stability, security, fairness, innovation and prosperity in society.
Delivering a lecture on the topic “Ethics, Compliance and Accountability: A Holistic Approach to Adjudication’, Justice Torkornoo said ethical values were the means through which other factors of the law were effectively harnessed for justice to be served.
“Ethics is a gentle set of directional signpost that leads the legal professional to the standard of intellectual delivery required for justice to be adequately served to citizens to whom belong the right of justice,” she said.
The lecture by the Chief Justice was the highlight of the launch of a moot court competition named after her by the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA) Law School in Accra last Thursday.
Known as the Gertrude Sackey Torkornoo Moot Court Competition, the competition will bring together students from various faculties of law across the country to showcase their advocacy skills and their understanding of the law as it applies to real life situations.
GIK/APA