APA – Accra (Ghana)
The report that President Akufo-Addo says that Ghana remains firm in its advocacy for sweeping reforms in the United Nations (UN) to enable it to address the numerous challenges confronting the global community is one of the leading stories in the Ghanaian press on Friday.
The Ghanaian Times reports that President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo says Ghana remains firm in its advocacy for sweeping reforms in the United Nations (UN) to enable it to address the numerous challenges confronting the global community.
“We belong to the side that are advocating radical reforms, especially of the United Nations and, of course, of the global financial institutions so that they can, if you like, be more democratic and take into account the preoccupation of countries like our own,” he emphasised.
President Akufo-Addo said this when a delegation of professors and students from the Harvard Business School called on him at the Jubilee House in Accra on Wednesday.
He explained that the agree¬ments and understandings that were created after the Second World War, leading to the creation of the UN, had largely been disrupted.
In addition, he said the understanding that also came after the collapse of the Soviet Union had been displaced, leading to a number of uncertainties about how the global community was to proceed.
President Akufo-Addo said the need for the reforms to take place had become more imperative now than ever because in 1945, when the organisation was established in San Francisco, the entire countries of the African continent, apart from Ethiopia and Liberia, were under colonial rule and as such were not factored into the structure.
“That is my understanding but the rest of us were all under British, Portuguese, Spanish and French domination and rule, and were not there. Therefore, the organisation that was created wasn’t an organisation that was created with a place for us as it were,” he added.
The newspaper says that the ECOWAS Community Court of Justice is to deploy an early warning committee to Ghana to monitor the country’s preparations towards the 2024 general elections.
The committee would assess infractions of electoral laws and the regional election provisions as part of ECOWAS existing pre-election protocol and regulations.
The Head of Legal Services and Research of the Community Court of Justice, Apraku Nketiah, who made this known in Accra yesterday, said the committee would arrive in the coming months.
Interacting with journalists after the opening of a sensitisation mission of the court, he said committee would visit other countries scheduled to go to the polls this year.
“Once there’s an election, the early warning team will come. Followed by some monitoring team. And then we invite also memoranda from stakeholders. If they think that part of our rules of engagement are not being properly harnessed or being abused, the court is there to receive such petitions and deal with it,” he said.
The week-long mission by a delegation from the ECOWAS Court, which started on Sunday aims to create public awareness about the work of the court to citizens of member countries.
The delegation has since embarked on media tours, interacted with law stu¬dents, visited the Attorney General’s office, held consultations with some stakeholders and would meet the Ghana Bar Association (GBA) before the mission ends.
Mr Nketiah said the court was ready to handle petitions from parties and individual who would compete in the upcoming elections, assuring that cases would be handled in accordance with ECOWAS provisions on elections.
“There are so many provisions that regulate the conduct of elections in member countries. And trust me, if they (petitions) are brought before the court, we will try to make sure that respect is given to those provisions for the benefit of the citizens of the community,” he noted.
Mr Nketiah said the court was still relevant because it had been resolving many issues across the region with issues concerning a former president of Sierra Leone, currently pending before the court.
Concerning constitutional beeches in the West African sub region, he said the court, like national courts, could only handle cases that were brought before it.
The Graphic reports that in a dramatic reversal, football fanatics across Africa will be treated to a full feast of the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) after SuperSport confirmed it will broadcast all 52 matches live.
Just a week ago, SuperSport sent shockwaves through the continent by announcing it wouldn’t broadcast the prestigious tournament, scheduled for January 13th to February 11th, 2024, in Ivory Coast.
However, in a U-turn, MultiChoice, SuperSport’s parent company, secured broadcasting rights with New World TV (NWTV) to bring every electrifying moment to your screens.
“We are delighted to be able to showcase the best of African football live to our viewers,” declared Rendani Ramovha, SuperSport CEO. This sentiment was echoed by Nimonka Kolani, Managing Director of NWTV, who stated, “Nothing is more important than the happiness of Africans who wish to follow their teams during the biggest football competition in Africa.”
DStv and GOtv subscribers across Africa can cheer on their favourite teams, while Ghanaian fans can also relish the action on free-to-air channels like GTV, GTV Sports Plus, and pay television broadcaster Startimes.
The newspaper says that the government has paid $10 million to the West African Gas Pipeline Company (WAPCo) to cover part of the state’s indebtedness to the company to avert a possible power crisis and a load shedding exercise.
Deputy Minister of Energy, Andrew Kofi Egyapa Mercer, has confirmed to the Daily Graphic that the government owed WAPCo $19.3 million.
The $10 million payment to WAPCo brings government’s payment to the company to $13 million after the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) had earlier redeemed $3 million of the debt.
It leaves the government with an outstanding $6.3 million to clear with the gas pipeline company at this point.
Government’s intervention comes in the wake of recent extensive power outages across the country, with fears expressed widely among the population that a load shedding exercise could be on the cards.
The Ministry of Energy has explained that the power outages had come about because WAPCo cut gas supply to Ghana due to the outstanding debts.
But the deputy minister said that had been resolved as of last Wednesday, with supply now restored.
He said arrangements were in place for the GNPC to pay WAPCo the invoice for December by Monday, January 15, while the ministry, after engaging WAPCo, had made arrangements to ensure that invoices were not accumulated going forward.
WAPCo, he said, had threatened to cut supply on January 2, 2024, if payment was not made, but the ministry got the company to extend it to January 5, 2024.
GIK/APA