Ghana Broadcasting Corporation

In accessing safe water, people normally do not associate that with nature or the natural ecosystem. Ghanaians are well acquainted with getting water from taps, wells, rivers and dams. In Ghana, secured access to water is associated with the Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL), which distributes water via pipes to most urban and peri-urban areas. So, as long as people have water in their homes, it means GWCL is doing its job. However, behind the taps, wells, rivers and dams, is nature, which cycles, stores, cleans and releases the raw fresh water resource to living beings. How often do we take note that the water that keeps man healthy, powers industry and the economy, come from nature? By nature fundamentally it include, forests, aquifers, soils, lakes, mangroves, wetlands and flood plains. They provide water storage, filter water, lower the impacts of floods, and protect coastal areas. In other words, it is a viable venture for countries to restore degraded or destroyed water ecosyste...

The Ghana Police Service per the Constitution is mandated to protect lives and property. However, it is an open secret that the Service is not adequately resourced in terms of equipment, vehicles, modern security gadgets and accommodation. The Service is also under staffed thus over-stretching the numbers currently working. With all these challenges, some Police personnel are working diligently to ensure peace and tranquility in the society. There are others who at best can be described as miscreants who go harassing the very people they are supposed to protect thus tarnishing the image of the service. The President in the State of the Nation Address in Parliament in February this year indicated that his administration has earmarked 800 million Ghana Cedis to retool the Ghana Police Service. Government also has plans to provide one hundred saloon cars to the Service for other operations. This is to ensure that the Service performs its duties effectively and efficiently. Some philanthro...

Governance, as we all came to meet is the process whereby an individual or group of people, are entrusted with the mandate of leadership or administrative authority to spearhead the affairs of a larger society toward an expected goal. The first man created was faced with the substantial task of managing the eco-system to the expectations of the maker. He was exceptionally endowed with wisdom and knowledge required for him to excel. Ironically, when left alone, man was consequentially depraved of innovation. In order to sanitize the situation, the Supreme Maker intervened with the system of governance called THEOCRACY-The leadership of God, or religious leaders. Hardly had the Supreme Maker settled down, man disapproved of his divine leadership and demanded another form of governance which was reluctantly granted. This brought about dynasties. With the advent of ancient civilization, a variety of systems of governance were introduced namely Democracy, Autocracy, Plutocracy, Meritocracy ...

Any country that fails to plan its development programme risks the chance of encountering failure in the future. The attainment of positive results in terms of attainment of remarkable socio-economic development does not come by chance but through consistent and regular planning strategies towards that purpose. This explains why President Akufo-Addo has found it necessary to launch a seven-year plan which outlines the vision of his government. According to the President, the agenda for job creation, prosperity and equal opportunity for all was on course. The launched development plan which is an embodiment of a coordinated programme of economic and social development policies of the government development plans constitute a feature of good governance. Good governance implies deliberate planning for progress and growth. Thus, good governance and effective development plans go hand in hand because without effective governance, our development agenda will be less successful. This means th...

The Government's quest to make Accra one of the cleanest cities in Africa is good, looking at the current situation in the country where it is believed that about 20 million tonnes of waste is generated daily, with Accra alone generating the chunk of it. The improper management of these wastes is making the country filthy and unattractive. This therefore calls for pro-active measures by the city authorities who have been entrusted with the mandate to collect these waste to be up and doing. And with the onset of rains this year as has been predicted by the Ghana Meteorological Agency, it behoves the Assemblies to plan towards desilting the drains to avoid perennial flooding especially the national capital. The continuous flooding of Accra every year is making Ghana which is located in the centre of the world unattractive to investors and tourists due to the country's inability to manage waste. Proper disposal of plastic waste is becoming a serious challenge for the country. The ...

Oil revenue is very strategic and crucial to a fledging economy like Ghana. In some jurisdictions oil find has been a curse more than a blessing. It is in the light of this that one finds the latest report by the Public Interest and Accountability Committee (PIAC) very interesting albeit worrying. According to the report about half of the projects supposed to have been funded and executed with petroleum revenue do not exist. PIAC a multi-stakeholder body which monitors and tracks the use of the country's oil and gas revenue also found out that there was lack of involvement of communities and beneficiary institutions in the project selection and implementation making tracking and demand for accountability difficult. Since Ghana started drilling oil in commercial quantities PIAC has done a yeoman's job in monitoring the use of revenue accruing from it. It was as a result of its recommendation that the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) was stopped from using oil money in...

Throughout the world, various countries depend on taxation whether directly or indirectly to raise money for developmental purposes. Countries that are able to do this effectively promote socio-economic development to high levels to the satisfaction of their citizens. Infrastructural development such as the construction of roads, bridges and the building of hospitals, schools and expansion of electricity and water supply systems become real due to effective taxation systems. It is in the light of this that the current campaign by the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) to sensitise Ghanaians on the need to register for their Tax Identification Numbers (TIN) is seen as a positive step which is also aimed at helping the country to be self-reliant in many respects. A tax payer identification number (Tin) is an identification number used by the tax agencies in their administration of tax laws. It can be used by the social security administration or by the internal revenue service. If Ghanaians c...

For a week, the arrest and detention of the Deputy General Secretary of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), Koku Anyidoho, has dominated the airwaves and the media space. This is as a result of an interview the NDC scribe granted an Accra-based radio station where he commented on the Ghana-US Defence cooperation agreement. In the said interview, Mr. Anyidoho warned that President Nana Akufo-Addo could be overthrown, in a “civilian coup d’état”. This has been described by the security agencies as treasonable comments. The Criminal Investigations Department (CID) subsequently arrested Mr. Anyidoho. He was detained by the CID and spent two nights in the custody of the Bureau of National Investigations (BNI) and later granted bail. Due to the arrest, he could not take part in the demonstration against the government in relation to the Ghana-US defence cooperation agreement of which he was a leading organiser. One would ask what the relationship between the Ghana-US Defence c...

Christians are today marking the resurrection of Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour. Easter comes from an old English word meaning spring. And spring is that season that sees the return of sunshine and warmth, the disappearance of frost and winter, the emergence of green leafy vegetation and flowers, birds, insects and wildlife emerging from their long hibernation to escape the cold of winter. This celebration brings to a climax the events that marked the final days of Jesus' earthly journey-the Triumphant entry into Jerusalem, the Last Supper, His arrest and trial, crucifixion, death and burial. By the resurrection of Jesus, Christians are assured the defeat of sickness, persecution, sterility of all forms in their lives and their ultimate victory over death. After forty days of prayer, fasting and penance in Lent, culminating in the observance of the passion and death of Jesus Christ on Good Friday, Easter is a day that is eagerly anticipated and thoroughly celebrated. As the celeb...

Today, the Christian World marks Good Friday, the crucifixion and death of Jesus. This is the most important event on the Christian calendar because at the heart of the Christian faith is the confession that Jesus is the saviour of the human race. With close to 70 percent citizens professing to be Christians, it is safe to assume that 70 percent of teachers and health professionals, service men and women, legislators, judiciary and law enforcement agencies are also Christians. About 70 percent of market women and other segments of the society are believers. Add the over 15 percent Muslims who acknowledge Jesus as Prophet and it is clear that the Ghanaian society is without doubt a religious one. This is perhaps why on Good Friday the country assumes a quiet, sober and reflective mood. Almost everyone who identifies themselves as a Christian, makes it a point to set foot in church on Good Friday. Today the sermons and messages from the pulpit will re-capture and re-emphasize the events ...

The free Senior High School policy which was introduced by the government is a laudable idea considering the hustle and bustle that some parents have to go through to educate their wards. The policy gives parents the opportunity to send their wards to school free of charge without paying fees. It has come at a time when most parents find it difficult to send their wards to school due to the economic challenges in the country. The introduction of the policy has actually lessened the burden on parents. However, the sustainability of the policy should be looked at critically to help the growth of the nation. Considering Ghana's numerous resources, the introduction of the free SHS policy is long overdue. The question is, how do we sustain the programme? The funding of the policy by the government is good but alternative sources of funding should be found to sustain it. One way that the government can sustain the policy is to set up a Free SHS Trust Fund to enable philanthropists who ar...