The setting up of the Early warning systems, including maritime coordination centres to pick intelligence on potential security threats to the country is one of the leading stories in the Ghanaian press on Tuesday.
The Graphic reports that the Early warning systems, including maritime coordination centres, have been set up to pick intelligence on potential security threats to the country.
Measures are also being put in place to establish an Accra initiative for coastal states and communities, where the leadership of the security services will meet periodically to review the security situation in coastal areas.
They will also share intelligence to prevent security threats, particularly among Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) that share common borders.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, Ms Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey, who announced this at a press briefing in Accra yesterday, said the systems were in line with measures adopted by member states of ECOWAS in the wake of rising security threats.
She explained that while the early warning centres would pick up signals relating to political instability, terrorism and violent extremism in the sub-region, the maritime centres were part of a regional framework to counter illegal activities such as piracy and armed robbery in the Gulf of Guinea.
The minister also said that the ECOWAS Commission was considering a supplementary protocol on good governance and democracy that would ensure that constitutionally elected Heads of State had a maximum of two-term tenure.
The newspaper says that the former President John Dramani Mahama in a write-up titled “Time is ticking for the crisis-ridden Ghanaian economy”, has called for a public forum on the Ghanaian economy.
He argues that when his NDC government in 2015 faced challenges, it immediately convened the Senchi Economic Forum at which “we tapped the brains and expertise of a wide variety of knowledgeable people and stakeholders and built a consensus on our economic plan going forward.”
“We must as a matter of urgency, borrow a leaf from our NDC sound approach toward the challenges we faced in 2015.”
To him, such a forum will help provide for “urgent and constructive dialogue among stakeholders with the view to fashioning out a robust set of policy responses to the economic challenges before we get to the point of no return.”
“We in the NDC stand prepared to aid in the salvage effort because inaction is not an option in the face of disaster. The clock is ticking very fast and the time to act is now,” the former President wrote.
The Graphic also reports that the ratings agency, Standard and Poor’s Global Ratings (S&P), has maintained the country’s creditworthiness score at ‘B’ negative and ‘B’ over its solid growth prospects in the short to medium term.
The agency also left the outlook at stable, saying that it was convinced that measures put in place to arrest the debt growth would yield the necessary results.
In a statement issued last Friday, S&P, however, warned that it would not hesitate to revise the current rating score in the next six to 12 months should the situation change.
The affirmation of the country’s long and short term foreign and local currency sovereign ratings at ‘B’ and ‘B’, respectively, means that Ghana’s debt are classified as highly speculative in the eyes of global investors.
S&P is now the only agency among the top three to have maintained the country’s credit worthiness score this year.
Earlier in January and February, Fitch Ratings and Moody’s Investor Services downgraded the country’s score to B negative from B with a negative outlook and B to Caa1 with a stable outlook, respectively.
Experts say the downgrades are a global phenomenon occasioned by the damage caused by the COVID-19 pandemic on economies.
So far, 48 countries have been downgraded globally although only three countries in Africa — Nigeria, Tunisia and Mozambique — share the same ranking on the scale used by the ratings agencies.
The downgrades followed a strong build-up in debts and the posting of large fiscal deficits as governments across the world step up borrowing and spending to help contain the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Ghanaian Times says that the Vice President, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, has launched an electronic travel card designed to specifically control the travel expenditure of government and public officials.
Known as the e-Travel Card, it seeks to facilitate the cashless disbursement of travel allowance and other payments for local and foreign trips of public officials.
It falls under the government’s policy of digitalising the country as all officials will be issued with the e-Travel card.
It is expected that, the implementation of the new policy would regulate and control waste and misappropriation of funds by travelling officials.
Dr Bawumia launched the card at the 22nd annual delegate’s conference of the Controller and Accountant General’s Department (CAGD) held at Cape Coast.
The conference was on the theme: “The role of CAGD in advancing the Digitalisation Agenda of Ghana”.
The newspaper states that the 2020 Globocan cancer report indicates that 24,009 new cases of cancers occur annually in Ghana.
Out of the number, 15,802 people lose their lives, most of them victims of breast, liver, cervix and prostate cancers.
According to the Chairperson of the Ghana Non-Communicable Diseases Alliance (GhNCDA), Dr Beatrice Wiafe-Addai, who dropped the hint, said there had been a surge in cancer cases since 2018, in the country and, therefore, called for urgent attention and warned that “breast cancer is still the leading cause of death among Ghanaian women as far as cancers are concerned”.
Speaking at this year’s World Cancer Day held at Goaso, Ahafo Region on Friday, Dr Wiafe-Addai said cancers in Ghana could be significantly reduced if charities operating in that space were assisted with adequate resources and logistics to reach the hinterlands where the condition was pervasive, due to poverty and ignorance.
The World Cancer Day was under the theme, “Close the Care Gap”.
It was celebrated by Breast Cancer International (BCI) in collaboration with the Goaso Traditional Council and the GhNCDA to expose significant barriers related to socio-economic factors that prevent many people from accessing life-saving services including treatment and care.
Dr Wiafe-Addai, who doubles as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Peace and Love Hospital, advised women to conduct self-breast examinations and report anomalies for early treatment.
Mr George Yaw Boakye, the Ahafo Regional Minister, commended BCI for bringing the programme to the Ahafo Region to educate and create awareness on breast cancer to the women in the area.
He was hopeful that the women would take lessons and report early to the health centres when they detected differences in the breasts to help save lives, saying that “prevention is better than cure.”
GIK/APA