The report of excitement building among Ghanaian athletes, eager to compete on home turf as Accra prepares to host the 13th African Games is one of the leading stories in the Ghanaian press on Tuesday.
The Graphic reports that as Accra prepares to host the 13th African Games, excitement builds among Ghanaian athletes, eager to compete on home turf.
With the opening ceremony imminent, athletes are putting the finishing touches on their preparations for this prestigious continental event.
While the final roster of nearly 500 Ghanaian athletes is yet to be confirmed by Chef de Mission Ernest Danso, several sporting federations have already submitted their teams.
Leading the pack is the Ghana Football Association with a contingent of 40 players comprising 20 Black Satellites players and 20 Black Princess players; Ghana Athletics, with 36 athletes, followed by the Ghana Table Tennis Association, which will be represented by 10 players, eager to demonstrate their prowess on home soil.
The Graphic Sports gathered that the final contingent list has been held up as some federations are pushing for larger athlete allocations, citing their competitive edge and the potential for podium finishes.
Despite the buzz surrounding the event, concerns linger regarding ticket availability, with the Local Organising Committee yet to announce pricing and availability.
The recent arrival of teams from South Africa, Egypt, Algeria, Libya, Togo, and Tunisia adds to the anticipation, with athletes expected from 49 participating nations.
The newspaper says that the Member of Parliament for Ningo-Prampram, Samuel George Nartey, is of the view that Ghana’s economy will not collapse if American businesses decide to pull out of the country following the passage of Ghana’s Human Sexual Rights and Family Values Bill, 2021.
The controversial anti-LGBTQ legislation which prohibits lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) activities and criminalises their promotion, advocacy, and funding in the country, was unanimously passed by Parliament on Wednesday, February 28, 2024, after three long years since it was introduced on the floor of parliament
The anti-LGBTQ bill if assented to by the President will, among other things, impose sanctions on willful promotion and engaging in LGBTQ activities in the country.
The bill proscribed a minimum sentence of six months and maximum three years for persons caught in the act of same-sex activities.
However, persons found guilty of willful promotion or advocating or funding the activities of LGBTQ will, upon conviction, face three years minimum and five years maximum imprisonment.
The Ningo-Prampram legislator, who was speaking with a Nigerian based News Central TV said, “American businesses in Ghana are not in Ghana because of LGBTQ+” and that “they are in Ghana because they make profit.”
For him, Americans ought to stay away from Ghanaian local politics, stressing that Ghana is a sovereign nation.
Mr Sam George called on African nations to be strong and firm in their decisions.
The Ghanaian Times reports that Ghana stands to lose a total of $3.8 billion in the next five to six years from its development partners following the passage of the Proper Human Sexual Rights and Ghanaian Family Values (An¬ti-LGBTQ) law.
Consequently, the Finance Ministry has asked the government to begin an effective engagement with conservative countries, including the Arab countries and China to help trigger resources to fill in the potential financing gaps to be created through the withdrawal of financial support from the country’s development partners.
Parliament on 28th of Febru¬ary, 2024, Parliament passed the Proper Human Sexual Rights and Ghanaian Family Values (“An¬ti-LGBTQ”) Bill, which is yet to be forwarded to the President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo for his assent.
A brief by the Finance Min¬istry on the assessment of the impact of the passage of the Anti-LGBTQ law on the Ghana¬ian economy intercepted by the Ghanaian Times said the govern¬ment should begin a structured engagement with local conserva¬tive forces such as religious bodies and faith-based organisations to communicate the economic implications of the passage of the “Anti LGBTQ” law and to build a stronger coalition and a framework for supporting key development initiatives that are likely to be affected.
“The President may have to defer assenting to the Bill until the court rules on the legal issues tabled by key national stakeholders (civil society organisations and Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice) the brief by the Finance Ministry titled “Passage of the Proper Human Sexual Rights and Ghanaian Fami¬ly Values: Brief on the Immediate Impact on the Implementation of the 2024 Budget,” intercepted by the Ghanaian Times stated.
It said the expected $300 million financing from the First Ghana Resilient Recovery, Development Policy Operation (Budget Support) which was currently pending Par¬liamentary approval might not be disbursed by the Bank when it was approved by Parliament, on-going negotiations on the Second Ghana Resilient Recovery Development Policy, Operation (Budget Sup¬port) amounting to $300 million might be suspended.
It added that the on-going negotiations for $250 million to support the Ghana Financial Stability Fund might be suspend¬ed, disbursement of undisbursed amounts totalling $2.1 billion for on-going projects would be suspended, preparation of pipeline projects and declaration of effec-tiveness for two projects worth $900million might be suspended.
The newspaper says that the government has budgeted an amount of GH¢4.1 billion to pay the locked up funds of customers of Gold Coast Fund Management Company Limited, the Minister of State designate at the Ministry of Finance, Abena Osei-Asare, has disclosed.
The amount is the remainder of the GH¢8.9 billion locked up funds of Asset Management Companies (AMCs) in the banking sector clean-up exercise.
“(Government) has allocated about GH¢4 billion and that is in respect of the Asset Management Companies and other financial matters,” she told the Committee investigating government’s failure to pay customers of locked up funds yesterday in Accra.
The release and payment of that amount, she said, was contingent on the availability of funds to the government.
“These numbers are estimates. (The ability of government to pay as contained in the budget) de¬pends on revenues that will come in,” she clarified.
For example, she said in 2020, government earmarked GH¢3.1 billion and actually paid GH¢3.4 billion, and in 2021, budgeted for GH¢5.5 but managed to pay only GH¢1.36 billion; depending on the availability of funds.
The category of persons whose locked up funds are yet to be paid are those whose investments are more than GH¢50,000.
Those whose investments have been redeemed are persons whose investments are below GH¢50,000.
GIK/APA