The withdrawal of former President John Mahama’s acceptance of the continental body’s appointment as its High Representative for Somalia by the Chairperson of the African Union Commission is one of the trending stories in the Ghanaian press on Friday.
The Graphic reports that former President John Dramani Mahama has in a letter to the Chairperson of the African Union Commission withdrawn his acceptance of the continental body’s appointment as its High Representative for Somalia.
While thanking the AU for the confidence reposed in him, Mr. Mahama noted that, “the high political importance of the proposed assignment requires that the High Representative enjoy the unalloyed support and co-operation of all political stakeholders.”
This was made known in a statement dated Thursday, May 20, 2021, issued by Joyce Bawah Mogtari, a Special Aide to Mr. Mahama.
Former President Mahama whose appointment as the AU envoy has been roundly welcomed by the Council of Presidential Candidates of Somalia, and the Coalition of Somalia’s Federal Member States, further cautioned in his letter to the AU Chairperson, Moussa Faki Mahamat, that the lack of support by the Federal Government could jeopardize the whole process and undermine the hopes that the entire world has in bringing peace to the esteemed land of Somalia.
The former President used the opportunity to reaffirm his commitment to the African Union’s vision of an integrated, prosperous and peaceful Africa, that includes Somalia.
The newspaper says that the Minister of Finance, Mr. Ken Ofori-Atta, has been explaining why the government was establishing the Development Bank of Ghana.
The Ministry of Finance has signed an agreement with the European Investment Bank (EIB) for €170 million for the establishment of Development Bank Ghana (DBG).
The signing became possible after a meeting between President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo and the President of the EIB, Dr. Werner Hoyer, during the former’s official visit to Belgium.
According to Dr. Hoyer, the facility was the highest provided by the bank for the establishment of a development bank or any other project in Africa.
The DBG is an integral feature of the GH¢100-billion Ghana Cares ‘Obaatampa’ project.
At a press conference in Accra on Thursday, Mr. Ken Ofori-Atta explained in details the reason for the development bank.
The Graphic also reports that the Speaker of Parliament, Mr. Alban S.K. Bagbin has said that Africa must immediately institute the right mechanisms to promote its cultural identity, including indigenous languages to help propel socio-economic development.
He said that countries on the continent, including Ghana should chart a new path to growth, centered around its cultural identity because none of the developed countries relied on another’s cultural identity to attain that status.
Mr. Bagbin noted that Africa was behind in socio-economic development because its countries had over the years followed the ideas and value systems borrowed from other cultures that do not conform to its way of life.
Mr. Bagbin made the call when a section of the leadership of the Tijaniya Muslim Council of Ghana led by Sheik Muhammed Mutawakil Iddris paid a courtesy call on him in Parliament.
Tijaniya is one of the contemporary forms of the Sufi movement, which came from the teachings of Sidi Ahmad al Tijani in North Africa, but now increasingly prevalent in West Africa, predominantly in Senegal, The Gambia, Mauritania, Mali, Guinea, Niger, Chad, Sudan and Northern Nigeria. Its devotees are called Tijānī.
The delegation was in Parliament to among other things discuss issues of mutual cooperation and also congratulate Mr. Bagbin on his elevation to the high office of the Speaker of Parliament.
The Speaker said Africa must avoid the tendency of using the benchmark of the western world to measure its development.
That, he said, was not realistic or progressive and had contributed to the underdevelopment of the continent.
“The poverty in Africa is not the poverty of wealth or property, but rather it is the poverty of the mind,” he said.
The Times says that the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) will undertake another load shedding, in a bid to carry out an exercise to address power supply challenges in the Greater Accra Region.
The 16-day exercise, which starts from May 27 to June 11, is to enable the completion of the Kasoa Bulk Supply Point (BSP).
Consequently, power outage in the affected areas, including Dansoman, Westland, Haatso, Cantoments, Gilden Tulip, Abelempke among others, would start from 6pm-12 midnight each day of the outage, said Mr. Kwame Agyemang Budu, the Managing Director of ECG, at a press conference, in Accra, on Thursday.
He said the exercise was necessary because it would enable workers of the company to re-construct GRIDCo’s 161 KV transmission lines, before its commissioning.
Mr. Budu said that the upcoming activity followed the successful completion of the Pokuase BSP project a few days ago.
“We took into consideration the first outage programme and therefore previously affected customers are not part of this schedule,” he said.
GIK/APA