Ghana: Press zooms in on President’s task on ministries to keep food prices low, others

APA – Accra (Ghana)
President Akufo-Addo’s task on the Ministries of Food and Agriculture and Transport to implement measures to keep food prices low is one of the leading stories in the Ghanaian press on Monday.
The Graphic reports that President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, has tasked the Ministries of Food and Agriculture, and Transport to implement measures to keep food prices low.
Particularly, they are also to ensure that the cost of transportation of food to market centres is lower.
The Minister of Information, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, who disclosed this to the Daily Graphic yesterday, said the aim was to bring down the general price level of goods and services, particularly for food products, to further reduce inflation.
The move is part of a raft of measures the government is implementing to crank the economy to continue its growth, which has so far defied forecasts.
It will also augment measures by the Bank of Ghana (BoG) which has consistently maintained that it would continue a tight monetary policy stance aimed at further driving down non-food inflation.
The BoG policy rate is currently pegged at 30 per cent, from its lowest of 13.5 per cent which subsisted between March to September 2021.
The newspaper says that the world is observing World Food Day today on the theme: “Water is Life, Water is Food. Leave No One Behind,” to highlight the critical role of water on earth and water as the foundation of the world’s food.
On October 16 every year, the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) marks the day to serve as a valuable platform to raise awareness of hunger and inspire action for the future of food, people and the planet, while promoting understanding of healthy diets and nutritional needs.
The FAO officially declared October 16 as World Food Day in 1979.
The day serves as an opportunity to advocate a stronger dedication to realising Sustainable Development Goal Two (SDG 2).
It is a moment to put a spotlight on FAO’s pivotal role in spearheading global initiatives towards achieving zero hunger, a mission embedded in the organisation’s foundation since 1945.
Last Saturday, the Ministries of Food and Agriculture (MoFA) and Fisheries and Aquaculture Development, together with the FAO and other development partners, organised a float to raise awareness of issues of hunger, water shortage and the need to take urgent action to avert them.
Today, the MoFA will hold a presidential breakfast meeting on agriculture and agribusiness financing, to be followed by a flag-raising ceremony at its forecourt to signify the country’s resolve to address the burning issue of food security.
Financing agriculture has been a major challenge for financial institutions, considering the high risk associated with agricultural activities, especially farming.
The Ghanaian Times reports that the Ghana Armed Forces (GAF) has as of yesterday rescued 1,800 persons at Mempe, and Aaveyime in the Volta Region affected by floods as a result of the spillage of the Akosombo and Kpong Dams to safe heavens.
Dubbed: ‘Operations Boafo’ it is being spearheaded by the 48 Engineers Regiment of the GAF.
They have been put in shelters provided by the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO).
As a result of the rise in the number of rescued victims, the military has also built military tents to host the additional numbers as the recue continues in its fourth day.
The operation according to Commander of the 48 Engineers Regiment, Lieutenant Col (Lt/Col) Alex Twumasi, will continue until the situation was calmed.
Speaking to the Ghanaian Times in Accra yesterday, on the ‘Operation Boafo’ was such related operations in support of NADMO to assist civilians affected in the VRA’s spillage.
“We activated ‘Operations Boafo’ on Friday morning, with the deployment of one officer and 12 soldiers equipped with six boats, mounted with out-board motors to ferry victims to safety and provide them with the needed support,” he said, adding that as long as the spillage continues, we shall be on hand to ensure lives and property were saved.
“Today, as I speak with you, the Chief of Army Staff, the Chief of Naval Staff and Chief Executive officer of NADMO, Nana Agyeman Premeph and others visited some of the disaster sites to assess the extent of damage where they also interacted with some of the victims about their plight,” Lt/Col Twumasi stated.
The newspaper says that The Ministry of Information (MoI) last Friday condemned the assault on Citi FM/Citi TV reporter during the vetting of Odododiodo parliamentary candidates of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) in Accra.
“The ministry condemns in no uncertain terms the subjecting of Journalists or media houses to any form of harassment, intimidation, or attack simply for doing their work. Journalism is not a crime,” the sector minister, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, noted in a statement issued on Friday.
The minister urged Citi TV/FM to formally report the incident to both the Ghana Police Service and the National Media Commission (NMC) for appropriate action to be taken against the perpetrators.
Meanwhile, the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) on its part, is demanding the immediate arrest and prosecution of the NDC thugs who assaulted a Citi FM/TV journalist.
The journalist, Akosua Otchere, was covering the vetting of NDC parliamentary aspirants for the Odododiodio Constituency on October 13, when chaos broke out.
According to media reports, she was assaulted and her phone seized by a group of irate NDC youth.
A statement signed and issued in Accra over the weekend by the General Secretary of GJA, Kofi Yeboah condemned the attack on Akosua Otchere in the line of duty, and called on all Ghanaians as well as the international community to condemn same.
“What happened at the offices of the Greater Accra Regional Branch of the NDC on Friday, was an act of insanity that must not be allowed to fester in our body politics, and so we urge the police to act swiftly to arrest and prosecute the thugs to help sanitise the political space, especially in respect of assault on media practitioners by political actors,” it noted.
Despite the condemnation of the act by the NDC’s regional and na¬tional leadership, the statement said, the GJA would not countenance attack on any journalist.
“While waiting for action beyond the rhetoric by the regional and national leadership of the party, the GJA wishes to serve notice, with deep ink, to political parties and the general public that henceforth, any assault on journalists and the media shall be repelled with the strongest weapon we can marshal,” it added.
GIK/APA