APA – Accra (Ghana)
The assurance given by Vice-President Mahamudu Bawumia that the government remains committed to protecting the nation from illicit drugs is one of the leading stories in the Ghanaian press on Monday.
The Graphic reports that Vice-President Mahamudu Bawumia has given the firm assurance that the government remains committed to protecting the nation from illicit drugs.
To achieve that, he said the government would continue to retool all the security agencies, including the Narcotics Control Commission (NACOC) to protect communities, borders and, in particular, the youth who were the most vulnerable, from the use and impact of the trade in the illicit narcotics trafficking.
He noted that despite challenges faced by the Commission, the government was committed to ensuring that NACOC’s operations and activities became a significant model for achieving its mandate.
“In view of that, the government is in the process of procuring more K 9 dogs for the Commission to enhance their operations at the Kotoka International Airport and other relevant operational areas to facilitate their surveillance,” Dr Bawumia added.
The Vice-President said this yesterday at the graduation and passing-out parade of the Narcotics Control Commission (NACOC) Cadet Course 7, held at the Immigration Service Academy and Training School at Assin Fosu.
The graduation class was made of 78 officers who were taken through 14 weeks of mandatory basic narcotics cadet training programme to help boost the institution’s manpower capacity in combating the country’s illicit drug menace.
Among the dignitaries that graced the occasion were the Minister for the Interior, Ambrose Dery; the Minister of Defence, Dominic Nitiwul; the Director-General of NACOC, Kenneth Adu-Amanfoh, and the Central Regional Minister, Justina Marigold.
Additionally, some notable individuals from sister security agencies in attendance were the Comptroller-General of Immigration, Kwame Asuah Takyi; the Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Major General Thomas Oppong-Peprah, and the Director-General of Ghana Prisons Service, Isaac Kofi Egyir.
The newspaper says that the International Finance Corporation (IFC), in partnership with the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs, SECO, has launched a program in Ghana to help the country’s banks and businesses strengthen their environmental, social, and governance (ESG) practices.
The programme is also expected to give them the tools to better address and assess risks and improve their sustainability and long-term performance.
Through the Integrated ESG (IESG) program for Ghana, IFC and the Bank of Ghana will help the country’s banks implement the Ghana’s Sustainable Banking Principles and incorporate them across their operations.
These seven principles, launched in 2019, were designed to help financial institutions respond to risks, increase transparency, and promote sustainability.
Adopting ESG principles means that corporate strategy focuses on the three pillars of the environment, social, and governance.
IFC will also work directly with Ghana’s banks to strengthen their ESG practices, and with select businesses in the manufacturing, services, and other sectors in the country, helping them address environmental, social, and other risks, and capitalize on new growth areas, such as environmentally friendly – or ‘green’ – buildings.
Implementing strong ESG practices is of increasing importance to businesses around the world, which are facing fast-evolving challenges and opportunities, including climate change, social issues, and increased investor scrutiny.
SECO funds IFC’s ESG advisory work, among other initiatives, in Ghana to support financial sector development in the country.
The Ghanaian Times reports that 505 chieftaincy disputes and conflicts are scattered across the country.
The Minister of Chieftaincy and Religious Affairs, Mr Stephen Asamoah-Boateng, who disclosed this, said the disputes were as a result of land litigation, contest for traditional power and in some cases, political interferences.
Speaking to the Ghanaian Times in an interview in Accra, he noted that about 139 of those disputes had become an albatross on the country’s security finances.
Expressing concern about the growing menace, he said currently 70 per cent of all issues being handled by the Ministry of National Security were all chieftaincy disputes and conflicts.
He explained that the disputes and conflicts were a threat to the country’s burgeoning democracy, peace and stability.
Mr Asamoah-Boateng noted that as part of efforts to tackle the menace, the Ministry has identified about 60 of the disputes which could be immediately resolved, adding that the others had been categorised under the long-term plan and activities.
“We have identified about 60 disputes which we believe can be resolved by the first quarter of next year. We are taking the necessary measures to ensure that the issues at those areas are amicably resolved for peace and prosperity to prevail,” he stated.
To resolve all the disputes and tackle emerging ones, he said the Ministry was currently undertaking the codification of all stools and skins and developing succession plans.
He noted that the codification would involve the documentation of all identified successors, lineages and claimants of a particular stool or skin so that the right succession plan could be developed.
The newspaper says that stakeholders in the environment, mining and forestry sectors, have received training on new mining regulation that aims to protect the country’s forest reserves from destruction.
The Environmental (Mining in Forest Reserves) Regulation, 2022 Legislative Instrument (L.I 2462), was passed in November, last year, to fill gaps in existing laws on environment.
The stakeholders participated in a day’s workshop, which was organised by Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), in partnership with the Forestry Commission, in Accra, on Wednesday.
It was to ensure effective stakeholders’ consultation and participation on issues relating to mining in forest reserves.
The event was also to ensure stakeholders in the sectors were abreast with provisions in the L.I for effective implementation.
The Deputy Chief Executive of Operations at the EPA, Mr Ransford Sakyi, addressing the stakeholders, said the L.I seeks to regulate mining operations in forest reserves.
“Operating or monitoring these activities with a guideline, it became necessary after 23 years of the usage of the guideline to turn this into law because investors when they come they want to see a law. Some of them think that the guideline is not adequate to regulate,” he said.
Mt Sakyi noted that previously in the guidelines, there were no clear cut directives in terms of mineral exploration, but now the guidelines now give clear guidance for mineral exploration.
GIK/APA