The pledge by President Akufo-Addo that the government is determined to finding a satisfactory solution to the University Teachers Association of Ghana (UTAG) impasse to ensure the academic calendar is not derailed is one of the leading stories in the Ghanaian press on Tuesday.
The Ghanaian Times reports that the President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, says the government is determined to finding a satisfactory solution to the University Teachers Association of Ghana (UTAG) impasse to ensure the academic calendar is not derailed.
He has also expressed the hope that the parties involved in the impasse would exhibit good faith and equity to bring the stalemate to an end.
The President said this when he addressed the maiden National Labour Conference on the theme; “Strengthening Tripartism for Building Peaceful Labour Relations and Resilient Economy” held at Kwahu Nkwatia in the Eastern Region.
The conference was aimed at reinforcing the tripartite conversation on the dynamics and happenings on the Labour front for timely policy response.
Topics, including the state of the economy, conditions of service of public sector workers, public sector salaries, labour productivity, labour dispute prevention dissolution and sustainable pension for all were discussed at the conference.
President Akufo-Addo said the government would implement a new policy to cut down on budget of ministries, agencies and departments by 20 per cent this year as a measure to ensure fiscal consolidation.
That, he said, was part of the government’s measure to recover the economy.
The newspaper says that the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has called on all member countries to ensure the safety of their citizens living in Ukraine.
A statement issued by the ECOWAS Commission and copied to the Ghanaian Times said the ECOWAS was following with great concern the military invasion of the Republic of Ukraine by Russia, which has led to human casualties, particularly among civilians.
“ECOWAS strongly condemns this action and calls for both parties to stop the fighting and use dialogue to solve their differences in the interest of peace in this region,” the statement added.
After weeks of escalations between Russia, the United States and Western Europe, the volatile situation in Ukraine seems to have reached a stalemate, with Russia indicating they would begin withdrawing troops from the contested border.
However, while the conflict begins to cool in the real world, the online battle rages on and does not look to end soon.
The Russian threat of a full-throttle invasion of Ukraine is the latest step in a series of aggressive actions taken by Russian President, Vladimir Putin, to expand that country’s influence, territory and reclaim the former Soviet state.
Besides sending more troops to the Ukrainian border, Russia is beefing up efforts on the cyber front.
Well-established tactics such as utilising bots (a software application that runs automated tasks over the internet) on social media to sow discord and increase political polarisation remains part of the country’s modus operandai, threatening not only elections but also disrupting commerce online. Russia mystifies its involvement with hacker groups, thereby shifting blame.
The Graphic reports that the National Democratic Congress (NDC) has called on the Commonwealth of Nations to investigate what it says was human rights violations against its members by the Ghanaian government.
The party has also urged the international political organisation to monitor the human rights situation in Ghana and what it said was the criminal persecution of its members.
The General Secretary of the NDC, Mr Johnson Aseidu Nketia, at a press conference in Accra on Monday, February 28, 2022, said the party had sent a petition detailing its grievances to the Commonwealth.
He said the petition was necessitated by the “harassment, criminal persecution and human rights violations” against some leading members of the NDC including its National Chairman, Mr Samuel Ofosu Ampofo.
“There are some practices that are not in accordance with good governance and the principles of the Commonwealth so we have petitioned them to take the appropriate action,” he said.
Mr Nketia explained that the party’s petition to the Commonwealth doesn’t suggest that Ghana was not an independent country but rather, the petition seeks to draw the attention of the organisation to the lack of good governance in Ghana’s body politics.
“Membership to the Commonwealth means the member state must adhere to good governance, so if you are not practicing good governance, you can be suspended like we saw in Zimbabwe and elsewhere,” he said.
The newspaper says that Ghana has called on Russia to withdraw and end the ongoing invasion of Ukraine.
It has also encouraged dialogue and peaceful resolution of differences between Russia and the other parties.
At a press conference in Accra on the security situation in Ukraine and the safety of Ghanaians in that country, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey, said Russia bore responsibility for the security and safety of Ghanaian citizens and, therefore, called on its leadership to respect humanitarian law.
“The ongoing military operations have put the lives of our compatriots in danger. The Government of Ghana remains concerned for the safety and security of our people currently in Ukraine.
“Ghana will continue to condemn, unreservedly, this unprovoked attack on the sovereignty and territorial integrity of a United Nations member state,” she said.
Recalling efforts made prior to the attack, Ms Botchwey said, Ghana, in its capacity as a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, had supported calls and efforts to dissuade the Russian Federation from using force to address what Russia had described as its security concerns related to NATO expansion.
She said the UN had also warned Russia of the humanitarian consequences of any conflict and encouraged dialogue and peaceful resolution of the differences between it and the other parties.
“Like the rest of the world, we accepted the word of Russia that it did not intend to attack Ukraine. On February 24, 2022, however, we were stunned by news of the bombardment and invasion of Ukraine by the Russian Federation.”
GIK/APA