The retooling and repair work at the Komenda Sugar Factory (KSF) put at 98 per cent complete and the chaos, stone pelting and firing of tear gas that marred the peaceful protest by Arise Ghana Movement are some of the trending stories in the Ghanaian press on Wednesday.
The Graphic reports that the retooling and repair work at the Komenda Sugar Factory (KSF) are 98 per cent complete.
The Minister of Trade and Industry, Alan Kyerematen, who disclosed this to Parliament yesterday, said a production test run would be conducted by the end of next month.
The minister was responding to a question on the floor of Parliament put to him by the Member of Parliament (MP) for Bole-Bamboi, Yusif Sulemana, on the state of the factory.
Mr Kyerematen said other works had either been completed or were at the final stages of completion.
He named the works to include the installation of a new pipeline to and from the plant to the molasses tank, and refractories. There is also lagging work in the boiler furnace and chimneys, which is fully completed.
Another was the completion of the vacuum and water testing facility at the boiler house, which had started working, with steam pressure testing ongoing for the turbine to generate three megawatts (MW) of electricity, the minister added.
The newspaper says that chaos, stone pelting and the firing of tear gas marred what had begun yesterday as a peaceful protest by Arise Ghana Movement, a pressure group, to drum home its displeasure at government policies and the high cost of living.
The police clashed with the protestors over a stalemate on the route they should use.
In the process, 12 policemen sustained varying degrees of injury, just like scores of the demonstrators.
It was a hectic day for the police, as they picked up some of the demonstrators for alleged misconduct and acts of vandalism.
It was the first day of the Ghana Arise demonstration.
Today, the protesters plan to converge on the El-Wak Stadium for the second leg of the protest and march to the Ministry of Finance and Parliament to present petitions.
While the protestors insisted on using the Ring Road Central (Circle towards Police Headquarters) to picket at the Jubilee House, the police said the demonstrators should march to the Black Star Square through the Kwame Nkrumah Avenue, where a team of policemen were lying in wait to coordinate the demonstration.
The Ghanaian Times reports that a Radiographer at the Peace and Love Hospital, Ms GraceAnim, says there is no scientific proof that sucking the breast could cure or give one breast cancer.
“There is no scientific prove that if you have the disease and your husband sucks it you will get a cure. There is also no scientific proof that when your boyfriend sucks it you will get the disease,” Ms Anim stated.
“So getting the disease or curing the disease has nothing to do with fumbling with the breast,” she added.
Ms Anim said this when the Bethel Seventh Day Adventist (SDA) Church, Osu organised a free health screening exercise for residents and church members in Accra last Sunday.
The radiographer, therefore, encouraged women to know their breasts and check it regularly in order to know if there was a problem or change.
“We encourage every woman to know their breast, check it and know their status. When the breast is free, you have to do self-examination to know the position of your breast,” she said.
“You can examine your breast anytime the breast is free because our men hold it anytime. So whenever it is not in the brassiere, fumble with it so that your hands get used to your breast. And when there is a problem you will be the first person to detect it,” she added.
The newspaper says that the World Bank has pledged to double its financing for education in Africa to $6.2 billion by 2025 to provide every child the opportunity to access quality education.
Ms Ousmane Diagana, the World Bank Vice President for Western and Central Africa, disclosed this on Monday during a press conference to close the Ministerial on Education for Western and Central Africa, said the move was to expand access to education in Africa.
He said currently, the bank spent $3.1 billion of its portfolio on education financing in Africa.
Mr Diagana said the funds would be used to support primary, secondary and tertiary education.
The day’s conference organised by the World Bank and attended by Finance and Education Ministers from the countries in the two regions, representatives of regional bodies and World Bank officials, was also used to launch the World Bank Africa Western and Central Education Strategy 2022-2025.
It was aimed at galvanising action around highlighting key findings of the World Bank Africa Western and Central Education Strategy 2022-2025 and building a coalition on education movement with increased focus on quality education to promote human capital in the Western and Central Africa Regions.
The World Bank Africa Western and Central Education Strategy 2022-2025 is a comprehensive roadmap achievable target and outcomes.
Developed by education experts from the two regions, it is focused on improving teaching and learning, reducing learning poverty, expanding access to relevant jobs and skills training.
Mr Diagana said the new World Bank strategy on education for Africa was to address the barriers inhibiting access to and quality education delivery on the continent.
“The education system in Africa is going through crisis,” he said, explaining that was the reason why the World Bank had developed the new strategy for the two regions.
Mr Diagana said the new education strategy was developed by educational experts from Africa.
He said the World Bank would on July 7 this year convene a conference on education financing in Africa in Senegal.
The Minister of Education, Dr Yaw OseiAdutwum, in his remarks said the launch of the new educational strategy was a key milestone for education delivery in Africa.
He said the Accra Call of Action called for urgent action to improve education delivery in the country, adding that “Africa had to look at what others had done to develop.”
Dr Adutwum said government was constructing seven Technical and Vocational Education Colleges to promote practical-oriented training in the sector.
“Africa’s vicious cycle of poverty can be turned into a cycle of prosperity if education is enhanced,” he said.
GIK/APA