The Ministry says parents should be allowed to register any name they wish to give their children. The intervention follows growing public outcry after the registry said names such as Naa, Nana, Nii and Junior among others would not be registered.

The Local Government Minister, Hajia Alima Mahama, who gave the directive, made it known in Parliament today [Tuesday] January 30, 2018.

[contextly_sidebar id=”wjJ2V2hswTVfCDg6MtYRN7Mh9ql2uSTH”]She said the new directive has become necessary following the huge public outcry.

“Mr. Speaker, considering that the SOP serves as an operational guideline for the registration of births and deaths, coupled with the sentiments expressed by the public, the acting registrar of births and deaths registry has been directed to review the SOP and further directed that names such as Nana, Nii, Papa and so on as given by the parents should be accepted for registration.”

She advised the Registry to instead, be concerned about official titles “such as reverend, doctor, Mr., Miss, honourable and so on” while her outfit works on bringing to Parliament a bill on Births and Deaths regulation.

“The Minister of Local Government and Rural Development will very soon bring a bill to Parliament on registration of births and deaths, which will address some of these controversies, and to reflect and accommodate present trends and societal developments,” Alima Mahama told Parliament.

Background

The Births and Deaths Registry’s decision has been widely criticized by Ghanaians, including Legal Practitioner, Ace Ankomah, who has described the move to blacklist names such as Nana, Paapa, Nii, Junior among others as illegal.

The Registrar at the Births and Deaths Registry, John Yao Agbeko, however justified the action, saying the law governing the Registry’s operations – Act 301 (1965), gives them the power to do so adding that such names are considered title names.

“There is a law that regulates the activities of the Births and Deaths registry, that law is the Births and Deaths Registration Act 301 of 1965. In this Act, we have a function for the Minister to do a regulation. In the regulation, there is a function for the Registrar to come out with a mode of operation…So even though you will not read it in the Act, the regulation allows the registrar to come out with the mode of operation to manage the place, and that is what we have done. That is why if you go to Tamale, the one over there will tell you that you cannot register that name. If you pick that same name and you run to Accra, in order to do same, you will be told you can’t do it,” he explained.

But Ace Ankomah pointed out that what the Registry was doing “is not in the law, and it is also not in the regulation that was supposed to have been made under the 1965 Act.”

Occupy Ghana petitions AG over blacklisted names by Births and Deaths

Pressure Group, Occupy Ghana, has written to the Attorney General, Gloria Akuffo, to complain about the Births & Deaths Registry’s action.

Occupy Ghana in the letter argued that, the Registry’s action has no basis in law, and charged the Attorney General to take steps to address the issue since it is a gross violation of the rights of Ghanaians.

“We have however checked that Act and all relevant laws including the Regulations passed under the Act. We have not seen any provision that either supports this policy or gives the Registrars of Births and Deaths any power to refuse to register any name. We believe that this stance is a gross violation of the rights of Ghanaians to choose names (particularly Ghanaian names) as they deem fit for their children, subject to the right to change one’s name at any time later in life,” the letter said.

Occupy Ghana in the letter, which was also copied to the Local Government Minister, called on the Attorney General to order the Registry to stop such acts, else they will proceed to court within the next 30 days.

Speaker summons Minister, Births Registry over ban on ‘title names’

The Speaker of Parliament, Prof. Aaron Mike Oquaye, subsequently summoned the Local Government Minister and the management of the Births and Deaths Registry over the issue.

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By: Godwin A. Allotey & Duke Mensah Opoku/citifmonline.com/Ghana
Follow @AlloteyGodwin

The post Register Nii, Nana, other names – Minister orders Births Registry appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

The Oando fuel station, which is close to Ready Oil Service station, is said to be in operation without a valid license from the EPA and also has several unauthorized structures mounted in its yard, posing serious risks to commuters on the Highway.

The Eastern Regional Director of the EPA, Felix Addo Okyere told Citi News that when his outfit tried closing down the station after realizing that they were selling diesel to illegal miners in the area, the pump attendants and other workers of the company resisted the move.

Felix Addo Okyere told Citi News that the agency could not carry out the intended closure of the facility due to the violent nature of the community members.

“We have the issues with the filling station, Oando Oil Company at Anyinam. We’ve had issues with the station because it has been operating all this while without a permit. We closed it down and the owner initiated the process of acquiring the permit. However, somewhere along the line, he halted the process,” he said.

He said the EPA subsequently was tipped off that the said station, which had barricaded its premises, was instead selling diesel to illegal miners operating in the Atewa area.

“In one of our monitoring exercises we went there and during the visit, we saw on the way a boarded place. We thought they were doing a construction. We got a tip-off that it is not a construction activity but instead they have a lot of Jerri-cans full of diesel and they are selling it to the public. When we went, lo and behold, it was for the sale of diesel,” he added.

“When we contacted them, they claimed they have been buying the fuel from the filling station and keep them there and resell them to the miners or galamseyers. As you are aware, there is a ban on galamsey so if you are selling to them, then you are aiding galamsey.”

The EPA director said when they tried stopping the perpetrators; there was resistance from the community people despite the presence of police officers at the scene.

“Eventually we wanted them to stop, however, they were resistant. So we came back and sought assistance from the regional police command. We went there with three policemen when we got there was resistance from them and they also had reinforcement. They were violent. They didn’t even allow us to take pictures and they threatened us. We also sought reinforcement from the district police command, they came and they were able to calm the situation. The district police command came to assure us that he will see to it that by Friday, they will dismantle the place and clear all those activities.”

Mr. Okyere further said the owner of the facility and leaders of the protestants have been arrested and are aiding in investigations.

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By: Neil Nii AmarteyKarnaku/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post E/R: Residents stop EPA from closing down ‘illegal’ fuel station appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

Speaking on Point Blank, Dr. Spio-Garbrah asserted that law enforcement agencies must put their foot down in the fight against the menace which is ravaging water bodies and farmlands all over the country.

“It is a law enforcement matter because, in many countries, you just won’t be able to do that [mine illegally]. So the law enforcement must put their foot down. These guys can’t be shooting at the Ghana Armed Forces. We are not fighting any war as a country… I believe that the Ghana armed forces, working alongside the police, have a very critical role to play in this matter,” he explained.

In the former Minister’s view, there is a policy problem with respect to managing small scale mining and fighting illegal mining in Ghana.

Speaking as a former board member of AngloGold Ashanti, he highlighted the scale of the epidemic, noting that “it will amaze many Ghanaians to learn that currently, there are as many as 8,000 to 10,000 illegal miners on AngloGold’s concession alone.”

“They are operating underground and they are very sophisticated. They have teams, they have all kinds of expertise and they use some of the old workers to guide them in tunnels that they ought not to know much about,” he added.

Citi FM’s #StopGalamseyNow campaign

Dr. Spio-Garbrah thoughts on illegal mining followed the launching of Citi FM’s #StopGalamseyNow campaign aimed at raising awareness of the urgency of the illegal mining situation and its consequences in Ghana.

The campaign makes five demands of government:

• The total cessation of all small and medium scale mining for a period of six months
• The cessation of the issuance of new mining licences for a year
• The reclassification of mining categories to reflect the use of new/larger equipment
• The allowance of water bodies to regenerate their natural ecology
• Tree planting and a land reclamation project

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By: Delali Adogla-Bessa/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post Army, Police must take over galamsey fight – Spio-Garbrah appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

As the Citi Breakfast Show pushed the campaign on-air, Citi FM staff were interacting with commuters sharing leaflets and creating awareness of the campaign with a focus on four main corridors; Tema, Legon, Spintex Road and Dansoman.

The campaign makes five clear demands of government to clamp down on the menace which is destroying the county’s land and water resources, and may see Ghana resorting to the importation of clean water in the next two decades.

Citi FM is looking to appeal to the public’s conscience and garner their involvement and support in the fight.

The demands of the campaign to government include:

• The total cessation of all small and medium scale mining for a period of six months
• The cessation of the issuance of new mining licences for a year
• The reclassification of mining categories to reflect the use of new/larger equipment
• The allowance of water bodies to regenerate their natural ecology
• Tree planting and a land reclamation project

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Photos: Godwin Allotey, Philip Ashon

By: citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post Citi FM staff hit the streets for #StopGalamseyNow campaign [Photos] appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.