President Akufo-Addo’s pledge that his unflinching support and that of his administration to free media remains unquestionable and the call on Ghana to be prepared at all times to “forestall any incursions” from neighbouring countries in the wake of terrorist threat alert on the country are some of the leading stories in the Ghanaian press on Wednesday.
The Graphic reports that President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has said his unflinching support and that of his administration to free media remains unquestionable.
That commitment, he said, was evidenced by the atmosphere of free speech prevailing in the country.
However, he said in the midst of the freedoms, it was incumbent on all to be measured in whatever they put out because ‘words could be as incendiary as guns”.
President Akufo-Addo said this when he joined Muslims at the newly inaugurated National Mosque Complex at Kanda in Accra on Tuesday, July 20, for the Eid- ul-Adha prayers.
Eid-ul-Adha commemorates the story of the Prophet Ibrahim’s test of faith when he was commanded by God to sacrifice his son, Ismail.
The festival also marks the end of the annual Hajj pilgrimage.
Making reference to the Holy Bible, which mentions that death and life are in the power of the tongue, the President reminded his country men and women that the tongue, if not properly used, could be destructive.
The newspaper says that the overlord of the Wala Traditional Area, Naa Fuseini Seidu Pelpuo IV, has said the few challenges facing the country cannot be a premise for it to be described as a failed state.
Naa Pelpuo, who made the observation during a visit to his palace in Wa by the Defence and Interior subcommittees of Parliament, cited Parliament as one of the institutions that was working for the progress of the country and said, “If for nothing at all, there are institutions that are working and Parliament is a perfect example.”
The committee, which was led by its Chairman, Mr Kennedy Agyapong, was at the palace in Wa on a fact-finding mission on the recent military assaults on some of the residents.
The Wa Naa said the people were saddened by the incident but had found it necessary to forgive because of the actions taken so far by the government and the Military High Command.
“The coming of the Defence and Interior subcommittee to carry out the fact-finding exercise on the issue has again given us some sense of hope that one can always go to bed and have a sound sleep knowing that the institutions will always be there to rise to the occasion,” he added.
The Times reports that a total of 10,291 birds have so far died naturally or destroyed in three regions, following the outbreak of the of the Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza disease, otherwise known as Bird Flu in some parts of the country.
The death of the 5,791 birds and destruction of the 524 others by the Veterinary Service Directorate (VSD) occurred on seven affected poultry farms in the Greater Accra, Central and Volta regions.
Data released by the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MOFA) yesterday said, in Greater Accra , where five farms had been affected, 3,167 birds died naturally , representing the highest natural death while 300 were destroyed by VSD.
On the only farm affected in Central, the update said 2,400 birds succumbed to the flu before the directorate destroyed the remaining 4,200 as part of measures to contain the outbreak.
The MOFA disclosed that Volta has one affected farm, where 224 birds had died since the outbreak with no bird destroyed yet by the VSD since it started tackling the situation.
To help curtail the spread of the disease, the Ministry urged the public to report any unusual death of domestic poultry and wild birds to the nearest veterinary office and public authorities.
It asked the citizenry to avoid the handling of dead birds with bare hands at all cost and consume only well-cooked poultry meat and poultry products to ensure public safety.
The newspaper says that the Director-General of the National Development Planning Commission (NDPC), Dr Kodjo Esseim Mensah-Abrampa, says the Commission has represented the Government’s 2022-2025 coordinated socio-economic policies to Parliament for consideration and approval.
This follows extensive consultations with the civil society organisations, local assemblies, private sector institutions and other key stakeholders across the country to solicit their views and concerns into government’s medium to long-term development plan.
The implementation of the plan is backed by legislations and, therefore, every project is expected to undergo critical value-for-money analysis to prevent waste of public funds.
GIK/APA