Information Minister, Mustapha Hamid, at a news conference today [Tuesday], said the Finance Ministry has given clearance for them to be employed. He however did not state specifically which month they will be engaged.

“This year, government is employing 32,000 health professionals, and out of that 27,000 are nurses. The 32,000 are graduates from 2014 to 2016, who are going to be employed, these are people who were left unattended to by the previous administration and we are going to employ them.”

[contextly_sidebar id=”ZiEXFW4Pf8XdbCRMSc8Ai5Nf0T8ou4cj”]This comes after a new group of graduate nurses picketed at the Ministry of Health asking to be employed by government.

Picketing at the Health Ministry to demand employment has become a common phenomenon for various health professionals in the country especially in the last three (3) years.

The about 200 graduates who picketed at the Ministry on Monday say several appeals to the Ministry of Health to engage them after they completed school in 2016, have not yielded results.

Some of the nurses were clad in red and wielded placards with messages that urged government to immediately address their concerns.

The aggrieved students were prepared to spend the night at the Ministry if authorities failed to post them, but they were dispersed by police personnel, only to return to the Ministry today [Tuesday].

Last week, another group of bonded unemployed nurses and midwives staged a protest at the Ministry of Health to demand posting.

They said they have been idling at home for the past two years after successfully leaving school and completing their mandatory national service.

But Information Minister, Mustapha Hamid at the press conference said the picketing must stop because the Health Ministry will soon be posting them.

“Once the paper works are done, the Health Ministry will begin to post them across the country.”

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By: Sammi Wiafe/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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According to him, his Ministry, which is primarily responsible for handling government communications had been overwhelmed by some of their responsibilities.

[contextly_sidebar id=”zAlldkmrFb6g1jZQGbs1mQ3mawEkMGm8″]He believes that the appointment of the spokespersons to manage government communications on specific sectors will reduce the burden on the Minister and his deputies, and improve the flow of information from government machinery to the public.

“I toyed with the idea of us appointing people that we would designate as government spokespersons, not party communicators, along the lines of cabinet sub-committees. So what we are going to do over the next few days is to appoint a government spokesperson for each of these sub-committees. So there will be a government spokesperson on legal and governance,  on infrastructure, on security and on social services,” he said at a Press soirée.

Eyebrows were raised when President Akufo-Addo appointed Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, Ama Dokuaa Asiamah Adjei, and Perry Curtis Okudzeto to serve as deputies to Information Minister, Mustapha Hamid in March 2017.

Many observers felt that the appointment of three deputies to one Ministry was unnecessary given the fact that the President had already come under fire from sections of the public for the size of his government.

However, Mustapha Hamid stated that reverting back to this system, which he said was implemented during the Kufuor administration, would greatly improve the lines of communication between the government and the public and vice versa.

“Under the Kufuor administration, we had this arrangement but somehow, this year, we wanted to shelve that arrangement and see how this goes. But it still looks like we are overwhelmed and we have taken a decision to restore that arrangement that was made, so that we can open channels to accessing government and also reach you,” he stated.

“If you are not reaching the Minister or his deputy and the matter is on governance, you can talk to the spokesperson on Governance and Legal [Affairs] who also will have the authority and mettle to be able to [respond].”

This development could resurrect concerns about the size of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) government which were raised after President Akufo-Addo appointed 110 persons to serve in his administration.

This number includes 20 Regional Ministers and their Deputies, 36 ministers for various sectors, four Ministers of State and 50 deputy ministers.

The current government by this number has the highest list of ministers and deputies to serve in any government since the start of the Fourth Republic.

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By: Edwin Kwakofi/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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Mr Isaac Okyere, General Manager of the Photon Energy said the Company is a subcontractor of RESOLAR ENERJI SISTEMLERI, a Turkish based Solar Energy Company, and believes that cheap power was the future of sustainable energy in West Africa.

“This was why the company decided to start its campaign of preaching the use of solar energy by the donation of the 15KW solar power to the ministry.”

Mr Okyere said with the use of renewable sources like the sun and wind, cost of production and eventually cost of energy to consumers would be low.

He said Photon Energy is a company built by young Ghanaian entrepreneurs, who believe that renewable energy through its installation, servicing and maintenance services, would offer jobs to thousands of Ghanaians.

Mr Okyere said the objectives of their existence in the country was to provide cheap power and create jobs to complement Government efforts, adding that, “since charity begins at home, we thought it wise that one of our initial installations should be a donation to a leading government institution like the Ministry of Information.”

“We hope this system provides power for the offices of the Ministry, backup battery to store excess power for use in non-sunny periods and a net reverse meter, which can feed excess power back into the national grid to net-reduce grid bills and assist in working for mother Ghana,” Mr Okyere said.

He said Government’s intention of moving all state facilities on to renewable energy platforms in 2018, should lead businesses and households to adopt renewable energy systems.

The General Manager said the usage of renewable energy will cut the cost of energy and help Ghana in its effort to fighting climate change.

Mr Mustapha Abdul Hamid, Minister of Information said, Government plans to embark on an MDA Solar Rooftop Programme from 2018 as part of its renewable and alternate energy drive.

He said the programme, dubbed: “Government Goes Solar” will ensure that, government institutions switch to renewable energy to reduce Government’s expenditure on utilities.

Mr Mustapha Abdul-Hamid, the Minister of Information expressed gratitude to Photon Energy and was hopeful that the company could have future collaborations with Government to save the country energy cost.

Mr Joseph Cudjoe, a Deputy Minister of Energy, said Government through the Ministry of Energy was determined to leverage on the benefits of solar energy and expand its usage across the country.

He said the switch to solar power will mitigate the power crisis the country has been facing for the past four years, which has a general discontent amongst the populace

Photon Energy products for the Ghanaian people are in three packages, namely the retail packages of five to 10 kilowatts systems, Corporate packages of 10 and 50 kilowatts systems and Commercial packages, customized to the interest of large-scale customers.

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Source: GNA

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A statement from the Information Ministry, released on Sunday, added that 132 others were injured as a result of the incident, while about half of that number have already been discharged.

[contextly_sidebar id=”e7dQnZj6GAZXsbwPL4M8Ud8Ll3ZldVQ4″]”As at 11: 30 Sunday morning, at least seven persons have been confirmed dead, and 132 injured, out of which 64 have been discharged and 68 still receiving treatment,” the statement signed by Information Minister, Mustapha Hamid said.

The statement added that, the cause of the explosion has not yet been determined, but an investigation had commenced and punitive measures would be taken to ensure such incidents are prevented in future.

“An investigation has commenced into the cause of the explosion, and shall be followed with firm action to forestall future similar recurrences.”

The residents of Atomic Junction in Madina were thrown into a state of panic following the explosion at the gas station which spread to adjacent structures.

The huge fireball from the explosion could be seen with many people in the vicinity taking to their heels in a bid to escape the blaze.

It is unclear whether all the six died from burns, following reports that a vehicle knocked two students down as people run for their lives.

There are also reports that one 0f the deceased died out of panic by falling off an overpass around the area.

Students of the Presbyterian Senior High School and the University of Ghana, ran from their hostels which are situated close to the blast.

Leaders express grief

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo said he was devastated at the incident, stating in a tweet that “my deepest condolences to the families of the bereaved, and I wish the injured speedy recovery.”

Former President, John Dramani Mahama also expressed his grief following the explosion, and called on Ghanaians to assist all those who had been affected by the incident however they can.

Gas explosions: We won’t tolerate resistance to reforms – Bawumia

Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, cut short his birthday celebration in the Northern Region to be in Accra.

He has so far visited the site of the explosion, and has visited the 37 Military Hospital to commiserate with the victims.

He has promised that Government will foot the bills of all the injured persons, and introduce stringent measures to forestall such disasters.

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By: Edwin Kwakofi/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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Government is pre-financing the payment of the Black Stars appearance fees which will be reimbursed when FIFA’s prize money for Ghana’s participation in the world cup is paid after the tournament in Brazil.

The Black Stars players have been agitating over the continuous delay in the payment of their appearance fees.

But according to currency analyst Sammi Ampah, the move flouts the forex rules of the Central Bank which says ‘’the threshold for transfer abroad without initially submitting documentation is 50,000 dollars.’’

He said the other rules are that,”without prejudice to the limit of $10,000 withdrawal per travel, and the $10,000 annual transfer without documentation, over-the-counter cash withdrawals from FCA and FEA would be permitted up to a limit of $1,000 or its equivalent per transaction in foreign currency.’’

Mr. Ampah said this negatively affects efforts to encourage the use of non-cash instruments (plastic cards) by the Bank of Ghana.

Speaking to Citi Business News he further noted that, ‘’if you could take a general understanding of the rules guiding the transfer of money then I guess there seems to be a breach.’’

A senior lecturer at the University of Ghana Business School Dr. Godfred Bokpin, has also criticized the decision by government.

“This is a test case for all of us, it looks quite interesting because one will expect that government will show clear leadership in this case that we are willing to go by the directives that we are willing to ensure that transactions are Cedi denominated,’’ he said.

Dr. Bokpin is demanding for clarifications about the documentation sanction the move and said,” In this case I’m not too sure whether this three million dollars will be spent under a different dispensation that they will have obtained from the bank of Ghana or the revised rules were for Ghanaians living here and a different one will apply for Ghanaians living elsewhere.”

Speaking on Eyewitness News on June 25, the Deputy Sports Minister, Joseph Yamin said the Ministry wanted to use an e-banking transaction but the players insisted they wanted physical cash payments.

By: Rabiu Alhassan/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post Gov’t broke BoG’s forex rules – Financial analyst appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

The measures come after a thorough review of the controls the central bank introduced in February this year to halt the depreciation of the cedi.

The earlier measures limited access to foreign exchange and restricted local trade transactions to the cedi.

Under current regulations, foreign exchange and foreign currency account holders are required to provide documentation for transfers outside Ghana and are only able to withdraw up to the equivalent of US$10,000 for travel abroad.

That restriction is expected to be relaxed and foreign currency account holders will no longer need to show proof of travel in order to withdraw from their foreign account.

A source at the BoG told the Daily Graphic on condition of anonymity that businesses that provided services for non-resident Ghanaians would quote their prices in cedis but could collect dollars.

Another measure that is expected to be relaxed is the prohibition of offshore currency transactions by resident Ghanaian companies.

Again, the restrictions that require exporters to collect and repatriate in full the proceeds of their exports to their local banks within 60 days of shipment are also expected to be relaxed.

BoG under pressure

The BoG came under heavy criticism from some economists and business concerns over the imposition of the foreign exchange regulations which were intended “to streamline the collection and repatriation of export proceeds to Ghana”.

Addressing the opening session of the recently held three-day National Economic Forum at Senchi in the Eastern Region, the President had called on the BoG to review the forex restriction in order to reduce the hardship on businesses.

Meeting with businesses

According to the source, the BoG had earlier planned to allow foreign exchange withdrawals of up to US$20,000 by foreign exchange account holders but had to maintain the US$10,000 withdrawal on the advice of the business sector.

But since the introduction of those measures, the cedi had declined by more than 20 per cent and is now trading against the dollar at more than GH¢3.

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According to him, the measures were instituted to serve the best interest of Ghanaians saying, “as a government, we believe that the actions taken by the bank were in the best medium to long interest of the country.”

The President expressed the hope that “the review addresses the unintended implementation flaws and allay whatever fears and anxieties the public in general and the investor community in general have expressed about the measures.”

The Bank of Ghana in a bid to save the cedi from further depreciation introduced new measures to save the cedi.

As part of the measures, the BoG revised rules governing the operations of Foreign Exchange Accounts (FEA) and Foreign Currency Accounts (FCA).

It ordered authorized dealers not to sell foreign exchange for the credit of FEA or FCA of their customers.

It also stated that cash withdrawals over the counter from FEA and FCA shall only be permitted for travel purposes outside Ghana and shall not exceed US$10, 000.00 or its equivalent in convertible foreign currency, per person, per travel.

The measures have however been criticized by sections of the public who say it will not yield the needed results because they were not thorough enough.

But addressing participants at the forum to discuss and address the nation’s current economic challenges, President Mahama said: “Government was aware of the concerns raised by various quarters of the population about the effects of these measures by the Central Bank.”

He further described Ghana’s challenges as complex adding that “there are structural problems that have taken years in some cases decades to manifest.”

He however noted that government has been able to steer the economy to some of the highest growth rates on record.

Supporting his claim, President Mahama said:  “In 2013, growth was a respectable 7.1 percent. That same year, the growth rate for the World Economy was 3.0 percent. The growth rate for emerging economies was 4.7 percent. The growth rate for Sub-Sahara Africa was 4.9 percent and the growth rate for the advanced economies averagely was 1.3 percent.”

The National Economic forum is being held to address challenges facing the economy.

The Forum, under the theme: “Changing the Narrative”, seek to achieve consensus on policies, strategies and measures that are required to accelerate Ghana’s transition from a lower middle income nation to an upper middle income economy.

Participants and major contributors at the forum constituted former finance ministers, former governors of the Bank of Ghana, eminent economists, political parties and parliamentarians.

By: Marian Efe Ansah/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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