Ghanaian press spotlights launch of new portal to combat misinformation, others

APA – Accra (Ghana)
The launch of a new portal to combat misinformation by the Information Services Department (ISD) of the Ministry of Information (MoI) is one of the trending stories in the Ghanaian press on Tuesday.
The Ghanaian Times reports that the Information Services Department (ISD) of the Ministry of Information (MoI), has launched a new portal to combat misinformation.
Dubbed www.ghanatoday.gov.gh, the new website apart from combating misinformation and disinformation will also serve as a repository of government information that could be accessed by the general public.
It will also serve as an avenue to disseminate and promote government programmes, policies and projects.
Launching the portal, the Minister of Information, Mr Kojo Oppong-Nkrumah, said the introduction of the website by the media department of the ISD, formed an integral part of the re-organisation and retooling of government programmes.
He said the reforms aimed at equipping the department to serve more audiences with its work even as the times and media consumption patterns change.
“As you may be aware, a significant section of our population now relies on online platforms and other social media platforms for information,” Mr Oppong-Nkrumah explained.
The minister noted that some unscrupulous persons had used many of these portals and social media platforms to propagate falsehood and misinformation.
He said this phenomenon was gradually undermining democracy, stressing that “the rollout of this website will, therefore, aid the department in the fight against misinformation by providing direct information from Ministries, Departments and Agencies about the works of Government and becoming a repository of all happenings in government.”
Mr Oppong-Nkrumah said the website would provide facts about government projects and programmes, full texts of all speeches by heads of MDAs, official communications and publications, and documents on policies and programmes, to reduce the level of misrepresentations and sometimes outright misinformation online.
He expressed his gratitude to the leadership of the media division for developing the portal.
The newspaper says that the Agricultural Development Bank (ADB) PLC has launched a new corporate strategy with a commitment to strengthen agribusiness financing to accelerate the achievement of its vision “to be the people’s bank, harnessing the transformational power of agribusiness for wealth creation”.
The new corporate strategy, which was considered and approved by the Board of Directors of the Bank, replaces a 3-year strategy that expired on December 31, 2022.
It is anchored on a theme “Going Above and Beyond the Predictable”, and has nine pillars to guide the direction of the Bank for the next few years; a statement issued by the bank and copied the Ghanaian Times said.
It is aimed at enhancing the bank’s dominance as the leader in agribusiness financing in the country, and at the same time leveraging technology to reposi¬tion its Retail and Digital Banking space.
Other key focus areas include financial performance, process improvement to enhance turnaround time, risk management, and customer experience.
In his brief remarks at the launch, the Managing Director, Alhaji Alhassan Yakubu-Tali, reiterated the bank’s commitment to agribusiness financing, saying, “As the people’s bank, harnessing the transformational power of agribusiness for wealth creation, ADB is taking necessary steps to strengthen its dominance as a leader in agribusiness financing in Ghana”.
“ADB will continue to remain leader and dominant in agribusiness financing across the entire agricultural value chain,” he added.
In the area of digital and retail banking, Alhaji Yakubu-Tali announced that “ADB has rolled out strategies towards improving its digital and retail banking segments in order to enhance convenience and service delivery”.
“The bank will also leverage strongly on technology and other channels to extend banking services to non-banked or underserved areas,” he added.
The Graphic reports that the Ghana Health Service (GHS) has said routine childhood immunisation for the three conditions that has been interrupted due to shortage of vaccines has been restored.
This follows the arrival of a consignment of the vaccines in the country over the weekend and their subsequent distribution across the country.
Although the immunisation resumes today, on island and hard-to-reach communities, it will resume tomorrow due to transportation time.
The vaccines that have been in short supply since the last quarter of last year are Measles-Rubella, Oral Poliomyelitis Vaccine (OPV) and Bacille Calmette-Guérin (BCG) for tuberculosis (TB).
The Director-General of the GHS, Dr Patrick Kuma-Aboagye, told the Daily Graphic in Accra yesterday that the government had procured stocks that were enough to last beyond this year, but they were being received in batches.
He said the first consignment would take not less than six weeks, stressing that it was absolutely free from any charges.
He said more vaccines would be coming in the course of the week up to two weeks.
Dr Kuma-Aboagye appealed to parents of eligible children to visit their respective child welfare clinics to get their children vaccinated.
He explained that the GHS was going to continue with the routine process with an in-facility catch-up strategy put in place to vaccinate children who missed their vaccines.
“We are going to boost our human resource capacity at the various welfare clinics to cater for any bulge in numbers caused by the shortage,” he said, adding: “In places where health facilities are already doing outreaches to increase access and ensure no child is left out, such arrangements will continue.”
The newspaper says that Vice President of US, Kamala Harris and her husband Douglas Emhoff will visit Ghana later this month as part of her first trip to the African continent since becoming United States Vice President.
Harris will first visit Accra in Ghana; Dar-es-Salaam in Tanzania; then end the weeklong trip (March 25 to April 2) in Lusaka in Zambia before returning to Washington.
In a tweet, Mrs Harris said she was looking forward to a productive trip.
Later this month, @SecondGentleman and I will travel to Ghana, Tanzania, and Zambia as part of our Administration’s efforts to strengthen partnerships throughout Africa and advance our shared efforts on security and economic prosperity.
I look forward to a productive trip.
— Vice President Kamala Harris (@VP) March 13, 2023
The Vice President’s visit will build on the recent U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit that President Biden hosted in Washington in December 2022.
“The trip will strengthen the United States’ partnerships throughout Africa and advance our shared efforts on security and economic prosperity,” the White House said in a statement.
“Throughout the trip, in partnership with African governments and the private sector, the Vice President will advance efforts to expand access to the digital economy, support climate adaptation and resilience, and strengthen business ties and investment, including through innovation, entrepreneurship, and the economic empowerment of women”.
The Vice President will meet with President Nana Akufo-Addo of Ghana, President Samia Hassan of Tanzania, and President Hakainde Hichilema of Zambia to discuss regional and global priorities, “including our shared commitment to democracy, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, food security, and the effects of Russia’s unprovoked war in Ukraine, among other issues”.
The Vice President will also engage with civil society, including young leaders, business representatives, entrepreneurs, and members of the African Diaspora.
GIK/APA