Ghanaian press spotlights minister’s optimism of brighter future for Ghanaians, others

APA – Accra (Ghana)
The report that the Minister of Information, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, has urged Ghanaians, especially the youth, to remain hopeful despite the challenges that confront the society and that the future looks brighter with many opportunities is one of the trending stories in the Ghanaian press on Monday.
The Graphic reports that the Minister of Information, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, has urged Ghanaians, especially the youth, to remain hopeful, saying despite the challenges that confront society, the future looks brighter with many opportunities.
He, however, cautioned that in order to take advantage of opportunities, the youth had to be “well grounded”, and avoid distractions that could ruin their future.
“For many of the young ones that are here, you have opportunities to do great and magnificent things in the years ahead. I want to encourage you to be hopeful.
“There is a difference between those who are hopeful and jumping around with glee, which doesn’t end well, and those who are hopeful and it ends well, and one of the reasons is that they (the latter) are well grounded,” he said.
Mr Oppong Nkrumah made the remark at the Miracle of Christmas Concert at the Christianborg Stake Centre of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Accra last Friday.
The concert was part of the church’s “Light the world with love initiative,” started seven years ago.
The initiative encourages people, including church members, to transform Christmas into a season of service.
It is a worldwide movement to touch hearts and change lives by doing the things Jesus did such as feeding the hungry, comforting the lonely, visiting the sick and afflicted, and showing kindness to everyone.
The Ghanaian Times says that a Ghanaian investor has taken over the Aveyime Rice Project in the Central Tongu District in the Volta Region, with a promise to turn things around.
The investor, Christian Kpodo, and his company, Chrispod Farms Limited (CFL), will be the third entity to manage the project which has the potential to produce over 800,000 tonnes of rice a year, saving the nation almost $600 million in rice imports.
The new attempt to revive the project comes after previous management by US entity- Prairie Texas Incorporated (PTI) with the company Prairie Volta Limited (PVL) which ended in failure in 2016, and the Quality Grain Company which ended in a scandal, causing financial loss of almost $20 million the state and the jailing of four former top public officials in 2004.
At a sensitisation programme to introduce CFL to the communities within the catchment of the project, Mr Kpodo said as an indigene of the Volta Region, he decided to invest in the region to improve the livelihoods of people, as well as harness the resources of the region for sustainable development.
He said he always felt terrible whenever he visited the Volta Region and saw the level of destitution and poverty.
“When I look back and see how my people are suffering, with no jobs but we have such vast lands with nothing going on, I feel very sad.
After investing in other places, we have to come together and build this region,” he said.
Mr Kpodo said CFL intended to augment its production with an outgrower scheme to make the people have a sense of ownership of the project.
The newspaper reports that the High Court, Accra, has affirmed a GH¢19 million tax liability imposed by the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) on Scancom PLC, owners of MTN Ghana.
On November 9, the High Court, Accra, (Commercial Division) presided over by Justice Afi Agbanu Kudomor ruled that the GRA did not err in law when it imposed a Value Added Tax (VAT) liability on Scancom PLC for Imported Services between 2014 to December 2017.
This was after the MTN appealed against the imposition of VAT liability at the high court.
Justice Kudomor held that “GRA did not err in law when it imposed National Health Insurance Levy and Ghana Education Trust Fund Levy (together with interest and penalties) on Scancom PLC’s on their Imported Services from August 2018 to December 2018 irrespective of whether they were applied to Taxable or Exempt services.”
She said GRA did not act arbitrarily when it applied the Ghana Educational Trust Fund Levy and National Health Insurance Levy each of 2.5 per cent on the imported services by Scancom PLC irrespective of whether Scancom PLC’s imported services were used to produce Taxable or Exempt supplies.
“It is for these reasons that the instant Tax Appeal fails. There will be no order as to costs, each party is to bear its own costs,” the court said in its judgement,” Justice Kudomor added.
In 2020, the GRA commenced a comprehensive tax audit on MTN Ghana, spanning the period January 2014 to December 2018.
The audit focused on all aspects of MTN’s businesses in¬cluding Input VAT claims related to goods and services procured by MTN Ghana, VAT on services imported by the company and Input Value Added Tax claims related to office premises constructed by the telecom giant.
The Ghanaian Times also reports that more than 800 delegates from over 100 countries across the globe are expected in Accra from November 29 to 30 to participate in the first-ever Global Conference on Cyber Capacity Building (GC3B).
The two-day event themed “Cyber Resilience for Development” is organised collaboratively with the Ministry of Communications and Digitalisation, Cyber Security Authority, Global Forum on Cyber Expertise (GFCE), the Cyber Peace Institute, the World Bank, and the World Economic Forum.
Addressing the media during the Minister’s Press Briefing in Accra yesterday, the Director-General of Cyber Security Authority, Dr Albert Antwi-Boasiako, stated that the GC3B Conference was aimed at bringing together a diverse group of high-level decision-makers and practitioners from governments, international organisations, the private sector, civil society, and academia.
He stated that cyber resilience and capacity building plays a key role in enabling and supporting the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development but also aims to improve the awareness and need for decision makers to leverage and create cyber capacity building programmes and opportunities.
“Expectations for the event include the development of a global cyber capacity-building agenda, improved coordination mechanisms, and increased resources for cyber resilience,” Dr Antwi-Boasiako said.
GIK/APA