Ghana Broadcasting Corporation

Social media is an interactive platform used in sharing information, ideas, career interests and other forms of expression through virtual communities and networks.  Social media is an internet-based application meaning you need internet to access any social media networks. In an era of smartphones and other technological gadgets you can interact with people in the comfort of your house.  Some of the most popular social media websites include Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Others are wechat, whatsapp, facebook messenger, Telegram, viber, snapchat, youtube, pinterest, linkedin and many more. These social media platforms have over 100 million registered users which means more exposure. Now the question is how do you protect your information on social media? Privacy and security settings exist for a reason.  Make good use of it. Learn how to use it to protect your information. They are invented to help you control who sees what you post and manage your online presence in ...

We can save so many lives around the world if we just slow down. Each year, more than 1.25 million people – many of them young people – die in automobile crashes. And a large proportion of these deaths are preventable: about one third are due to vehicles traveling at excessive speeds. In low- and middle-income countries, that figure is closer to half. Regardless of where one lives, speeding is a lethal problem. Studies show that on most roads, in most countries, 40–50% of all cars travel above the posted speed limit. And whether or not a car is speeding can be the difference between life and death. For example, someone who is hit by a vehicle traveling at 50 miles (80 kilometers) per hour has a 3 times higher risk of dying than if they had been hit by a vehicle moving at 30 miles (48 kilometers) per hour. This means that just setting urban speed limits at 30 miles per hour or less, and allowing local authorities to reduce speed limits further around schools and other areas with hi...

In view of the huge sums of money spent when we fall sick, it is always better to ensure that we take steps to remain healthy at all times. Staying healthy can be done in a simple manner without resorting to high expenditure at any point in time. This means that we can keep to healthy lifestyles if we remain disciplined and decide to keep only the things that can make us healthy. Lifestyles that are not healthy should be avoided by everyone so that individuals can enjoy a good life. When we do not keep to healthy lifestyles the result is sickness and frequent deaths. Healthy lifestyle involves four things. In the first place, the nature of the food we eat is very important. People must avoid and keep away from fatty and oily foods if they are to stay healthy and keep away from diseases. It is the type of food we eat that gives us the outlook we portray in the world. Eating well does not necessarily mean eating expensive food. Consuming food like beans, carrots, leaves and ensuring a w...

Being an agrarian country, it is believed Ghana is in a position to be self-reliant in food production, however, the country still imports food products like rice, milk, cooking oil, meat and flour in millions of dollars into the economy. Since independence, succeeding leaders have set up various forms of schemes to promote agriculture. There were the workers brigade, State Farms and many others. Slogans like ‘Operation Feed Yourself’ which were promoting backyard gardening to boost food production and curtail food imports were popular. However, due to changes in governments, most of the laudable programs towards making the country self-sufficient in food production have been abandoned. The nation which at one point in time got to the stage of exporting rice and other food crops rather became import-dependent on produce like rice and other food items that can be grown in large quantities locally. The initiatives by the current government to promote food production under the Planting...

There is no doubt that every nation requires peace and unity to aspire towards development. No nation in the world, irrespective of the amount of natural resources at its disposal, can progress as fast as possible if the people in that nation do not come together in peace and unity to promote its development. Without national cohesion, peace and unity no proper planning can be carried out with the aim of achieving the noble aim of all the people who make up that nation. What this means is that every member of society has a role to play to ensure that national development quickly takes place as smoothly as possible for the common good. Socio-economic development cannot be achieved on a silver platter without serious efforts from the nationals of the country. It is the people in the country whose efforts can always be put together to achieve what is good for the entire country. This explains why various sections of the population are engaged in various forms of occupation and profession...

The celebration of the Damba festival attracted a varied range of personalities from all walks of life, including the President of the Republic, Prime Minister of Barbados, government officials, parliamentarians as well as foreign visitors. It was characterised by pomp and pageantry, showing its importance and beauty to everyone. The theme chosen by the King and elders of Dagbon was: A New Dagbon-Peace and Unity for Development. This theme is significant because without peace and unity, nothing much can be achieved. If the country is to promote development in all areas then we need to have peace in every part so as to push forward the agenda of socio-economic development in order to improve upon the welfare of the people. As was pointed out by President Akufo-Addo, now that there is peace in the area the government will do its best to promote massive development there. This development will include the construction of roads, schools and water projects, among others. It is true...

World Toilet Day is marked on the 19th of November annually. The Day is used to inspire action to address the global sanitation crisis and help achieve Goal Six of the Sustainable Development Goals, SDGs which advocates sanitation for all by 2030. The 2019 event is under the theme: “Leaving No One Behind”. A toilet is not just a place in a building. It is considered a life-saver, dignity-protector and one of the many essential things in life. Sanitation is deemed a human right issue and yet, today, 4.2 billion people live without safely managed sanitation. It is said that about 673 million people still practice open defecation worldwide. This calls for vigorous efforts aimed at expanding access to safe toilets everywhere, be it at homes, markets, farms, offices and other public places in order to prevent open defecation and its associated diseases. What is ‘Safely Managed Sanitation’? According to the UN bodies, “when people have a ‘safely managed sanitation service’, it means they ...

In view of the huge sums of money spent when we fall sick, it is always better to ensure that we take steps to remain healthy at all times. Staying healthy can be done in a simple manner without resorting to high expenditure at any point in time. This means that we can keep to healthy lifestyles if we remain disciplined and decide to keep to only the things that can make us healthy. Lifestyles that are not healthy should be avoided by everyone so that individuals can enjoy good life. When we do not keep to healthy lifestyles the result is sickness and frequent deaths. A healthy lifestyle involves four things. In the first place, the nature of food we eat is very important. People must avoid and keep away from fatty and oily foods if they are to stay healthy and keep away from diseases. It is the type of food we eat that gives us the outlook we portray in the world. Eating well does not necessarily mean eating expensive food. Consuming food like beans, carrots, leaves and ensuring a we...

Article 179 of the 1992 Constitution obliges the President of the Republic to cause to be prepared and laid before Parliament at least one month before the end of the financial year, estimates of the revenues and expenditure of the Government of Ghana for the following financial year. In fulfillment of this provision, the Finance Minister will present the 2020 Budget Statement and Economic Policy to Parliament on Wednesday, November 13. The 2020 budget and economic policy must identify measures for prudent expenditure management, boost revenue, uplift underprivileged sections of society, create sustainable jobs and improve security. We expect the 2020 budget to give an update on the interventions undertaken by government to support and sustain the industrial transformation vision involving improving collaboration with the private sector and consolidating government strategic initiatives such as One-District-One-Factory, One-Village-One-Dam, Free Senior High School, Planting for Food a...

Many cultural beliefs and practices in Africa tend to degrade women unjustifiably, and this is perpetuated by society in an unfair manner. This unfortunate development comes about as a result of inadequate knowledge or ignorance about the causes of infertility in both men and women. The nail was, therefore, hit right on the head when President Akufo-Addo called on people not to stigmatise women perceived to be infertile. It is possible to come across a fertile woman who is married to a man who has problems with the quality of sperms he produces. In the same way, it is also possible to come across another couple with the woman being infertile. The issue of infertility can, therefore, result from either the man or the woman. It is, therefore, unfortunate that anytime there is a problem with infertility, particularly in Africa, the blame is always put on the woman. According to the World Health Organisation, fifty percent of the cases of the inability of couples to conceive are caused ...

31st October is marked every year as World Cities Day. The United Nations General Assembly designated the Day by its resolution 68/239. The Day is used to promote the international community’s interest in global urbanization, push forward cooperation among countries in meeting opportunities, addressing challenges of urbanization and contributing to sustainable urban development around the world. World Cities Day is generally themed Better City, Better Life. However, each year a different sub-theme is selected, to either promote successes of urbanization, or address specific challenges resulting from urbanization. This year, the Day is under the theme “Changing the world: innovations and better life for future generations.” It aims at discussing how urbanization can be used to achieve sustainable development. Another goal is to promote the international community’s interest in implementing the New Urban Agenda globally and in enhancing cooperation among countries in taking advantage ...

The 1992 Constitution of Ghana clothed the President of the Republic with powers to create ministries and appoint ministers and their deputies in line with the developmental agenda of the country. This discretionary power some observers of our political space believe has been used capriciously and must be re-examined and steps taken, to have some lid on the number of ministers of state and ministries we should be having as a nation. When President Akufo-Addo took over the reigns of the country he “populated” the ministerial portfolios and vividly justified it, saying the tasks of sending the nation to the promised land and cleaning the mess of the previous administration demand a number of hands-on deck. He created some new ministries to the admiration of party faithful who helped to bring the “elephant” back to the seat of Government. A single purpose and time-bound ministries like the Ministry of Regional Reorganisation and Development was created and continue to exist months after ...

The fact that the Akosombo hydroelectric dam is a strategic national asset cannot be discounted. Built-in 1965 at the cost of 130 million dollars, the rock-filled dam has helped greatly in the industrial development of the country and is currently considered as the cheapest source of power in Ghana. With an initial installed capacity of 912 megawatts and subsequently increased to one thousand and 20 megawatts after retrofitting, the Akosombo dam has faithfully served the country and met its power needs with an excess generation being supplied to neighbouring countries. Initially, the dam supplied electricity to the Valco Aluminium Smelter at Tema. The construction of the dam flooded parts of the Volta River basin and led to the subsequent creation of the Volta Lake which serves as a fishing source to many people. Recently water in the dam fell drastically below operating levels due to poor rainfall thereby affecting electricity supply to the country leading to what has now b...

About three decades ago, the world converged in Rio, Brazil to mark a significant footprint of the international community’s concern about Climate Change induced risk on humans and development. Since then, Climate Change which manifests in global warming has gained prominence in international development discussions, culminating in the creation of a dedicated convention under the auspices of the UN – The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, UNFCCC. The convention is mandated to mobilize and coordinate the efforts of Member States to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The UNFCCC, since its establishment, has facilitated a number of global gatherings in search of action steps towards averting climate change and its impacts. However, conclusions from these global forums have often times hit a snag, arising from contestation by ordinary citizens. Not only have these conclusions been described as inadequate, but they are also sometimes considered warped and false in providi...

The coming on stream of social media is undoubtedly beneficial to the world. Aside from the main media, Television, newspapers and radio, social media has helped in interactions and rapid dissemination of information to all corners of the World. Although most of the information on social media is beneficial, there is an upsurge of negative acts online that include the spread of fake news, impersonation and threats to personalities. Sadly, these days the spread of negative information likely to affect a nation and its people is rampant daily in the media, both social and traditional. There are several news items online, on-air and in newspapers some of which are not true accounts of situations. It is said that some of the fake news emanating from hatred between rival political, business and social parties. These rivals sometimes influence media persons to produce fake news to dent the image of their opponents. In Ghana and other parts of the globe, media houses are forced to retract an...

The Executive Chairman of Ghana Premier League side Dreams FC, Kurt Edwin Simeon Okraku, was on Friday, October 25 elected the President of the Ghana Football Association, GFA, at the Association’s extraordinary congress at the College of Physicians and Surgeons, Accra. The election of the new GFA President brings to an end the 13 months tenure of the Dr. Kofi Amoah led Normalisation Committee which was mandated by FIFA and the Government of Ghana to administer football on an interim basis leading to reforms, following the damning expose on corruption and maladministration of the game in the Kwasi Nyantakyi administration. Mr. Okraku beat off stiff competition from his closest challenger George Kwasi Afriyie after three rounds of voting. The other candidates who took part in the election were the first-ever female aspirant Amanda Clinton, George Ankoma Mensah, a former Vice President of the GFA, Director of Accra Great Olympics Fred Pappoe, and 36-year-old Executive Chairman of Divi...

Statistics from the Accra Metropolitan Assembly show that more than 912,0 tons of waste are generated annually in Accra. Out of this, only 410, 625 tons representing 45 per cent are collected while the 55 per cent which is mainly plastic remain in the system. Plastic waste has accounted for a major portion of the total amount of waste generated in terms of net-weight. Only two per cent of single-use plastic bottles are recycled. The rest get scattered over the streets, choke gutters and drain pipes preventing the free flow of water after a rainfall. The Minister for Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation, Prof. Frimpong-Boateng, believes that the increase in the generation of plastic waste globally is as a result of economic growth and changing consumption and production patterns. Recycling polyethylene is the best way to effectively deal with the menace and clear the environment of filth, but it is not profit-oriented. To this end, companies need government support to adequa...

There has been mixed reaction over government’s decision to terminate its concession agreement with Power Distribution Services, PDS. Whiles a section of the public applauds the decision, others believe it is a cover-up. Government’s move to abrogate the contract stems from the fact that PDS failed to satisfy conditions precedent under the relevant transaction within a specific timeline. Analysts believe the abrogation of the contract was long overdue as PDS breached a major requisition under the agreement. They were supposed to provide a bank guarantee instead of the Insurance guarantee which was provided. It is essential to state here that on the 4th of August 2014 the government of Ghana signed the Millennium Challenge Compact with the Millennium Challenge Corporation acting on behalf of the United States to achieve lasting economic growth and reducing poverty through increased private sector investment. In line with the compact there was a lease and Assignment Agreement betw...

In September 2017, Ghana took a giant step in its socio-economic strides by introducing one of the most outstanding developmental interventions in the country’s history. At the West Africa Senior High School in Accra, the President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, launched historic Ghana’s flagship educational program, the Free Senior High School. A dream that had been on his political party’s agenda for a very long time. So far, there has not been any disagreement on its introduction. Perhaps the only criticism is on its mode of implementation which of course has room for corrections. The free SHS obviously has opened doors of opportunity to many young ones who would not have had such huge privilege of stepping onto a secondary or high school compound. At the same time, it brought up huge relief to many parents who would not have seen their children being educated at that level, chiefly due to financial constraints. Today, the basic and important right of the Ghanaian child ...