President gives GHȻ93,000 support to Samuel Nuamah's family

By Edmund Mingle

President John Mahama, has presented a compensation and support package worth GHȻ93,000 to the family of the late Samuel Nuamah who lost his life in the tragic motor accident involving the presidential press corps on August 20.

The package consists of GHȻ50,000 into the endowment fund set up for his little son, 5,000 dollars (GHȻ18,500) for his wife, Lillian, GHȻ20,000 for his mother and father and GHȻ5,000 for his family.

Samuel Nuamah was the Ghanaian Times Presidential Correspondent at the Flagstaff House.

The late Samuel Nuamah

He died on the spot on August 20, this year when a bus conveying him and other presidential reporters from Ho, in the Volta Region to Accra after covering the President's assignment there, bust a tyre and somersaulted before crashing. Other reporters were severely injured.

Presenting the package to the family at a meeting at the Presidential Lounge of the Accra International Conference Centre on Friday, President Mahama described the offer as a token to help alleviate any hardship on the dependants of Nuamah.

The meeting was to create the platform for the family and management of New Times Corporation to thank the President for the assistance towards the funeral on September 17.

President Mahama, said "although the package cannot compensate for the life lost, it would provide some comfort for the bereaved family, particularly the widow and child".

For Nuamah's two-year old son, he said the GHȻ50,000 will be put into the Nuamah Education Fund established by the New Times Corporation to provide his educational and welfare needs.

The fund, he believed, would help to secure a good future for the child.

He described the passing of Nuamah as "a collective loss", and, therefore, assured the family of the Presidency's continued assistance.

President Mahama said he had directed the relevant officials to expedite action on the accident report, indicating that the family would be duly informed about any available insurance payments.

Mr. Julius Debrah, the Chief of Staff, who gave the details of the package, hoped it would help ameliorate the difficulties that the family might encounter due to the absence of its breadwinner.

He also gave assurance that all outstanding issues would be dealt with, and urged the family to accept the Presidency's offer.

Head of Family, Michael Kabu Mensah, thanked the Presidency for the package, and indicated their acceptance of the offer.

He particularly thanked President Mahama for ensuring that the late Nuamah was offered a befitting funeral, saying the family remained highly appreciative.

Board Chairperson of New Times Corporation, Rose-Margaret Kpodo, also expressed appreciation to the President for the support, as well as the assistance offered by the Presidency during the planning of the funeral.

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Passports Office receives computers from GIFEC to improve services

By Edmund Mingle

The operations of the Passports Office received a major boost yesterday, with the receipt of a large quantity of computers and accessories that would help to eliminate the delays associated with the acquisition of passport.

Mr. Kwabena Acheampong (second left) presenting the equipment to Mr. Alexander Grant Ntrakwa. 

The equipment support package, offered by the Ghana Investment Fund for Electronic Communication (GIFEC), is to help the Office to revamp its operations across the country and clear the backlog of hundreds of passport applications.

In addition, it is to assist the Office to successfully roll out its Electronic Passport Application System.

Described by the Office as a “timely intervention,” the support package included 75 desktop computers, 75 UPS and 10 scanners and their accessories, worth GH¢233,626.

Presenting the package to the Office in Accra, Mr. Acheampong, Administrator of GIFEC, said his outfit had been concerned about the cumbersome nature of the country’s passport acquisition process, which has compounded the disturbing role of middlemen and passport contractors.

“This problem must be eliminated as a matter of urgency, in order to restore confidence in the system,” he said.

While believing that the provision of the equipment would help to clear the backlog of unprinted passports, he said “the onus lies on the Passport Office to create a foolproof system that ensures that applicants can be guaranteed dates for the issuance of passports.”

This he said would discourage applicants from seeking for assistance from middlemen and “protocol officers” who end up duping them.

Mr. Acheampong assured the office of further support, indicating that GIFEC was supportive of plans by the office to collaborate with the National Identification Authority in creating a common database that could be used by all relevant institutions so as to resolve the complexity of acquiring various national identification documents.

Alexander Grant Ntrakwa, Director of Passports, who described the donation as a timely intervention said it came at a time the office was scaling up efforts to clear the backlog and also deploy the electronic application system.

He said the equipment would be used to retool the operation unit at the head office and the regional application centres.

He believed that with the right equipment to support the system for application processing, it could take less than two hours to issue passports after the head office receives a processed application from the any of the application centres.

Ghanaian company wins Global Leaders award

Mrs. Johanna Odonkor Svanikier (left), Ghana’s Ambassador

to France presenting the award to Mr. Amoh.

The Global Trade Leaders Club, has adjudged Justmoh Construction Limited, a Takoradi-based Ghanaian company as winner of the Club’s prestigious International Award for Leader-ship in Image and Quality. It is in recognition of the company’s quality leadership in the construction sector in Ghana.

Justice Amoh, CEO and founder of the Justmoh Group, received the award at the club’s awards ceremony in Paris, France last Monday.

In picking up this award, Justmoh Construction joins a selected group of companies, whose managers have received recognition in their respective fields for their achievements and business acumen.

The Global Trade Leaders Club (GTLC) is an association of entrepreneurs made up of 7,000 members in 95 countries.

The International Award for Leadership in Image and Quality was created as a promotional programme offering support for business networking around the world.

Membership of the GTLC is limited to previously awarded companies.

Svani Groups Supports Soronko Foundation

By Edmund Mingle

Svani Group Limited has donated a Mahindra pick-up vehicle in support of Soronko Foundation’s efforts at empowering girls across the country. 

The gesture, which forms part of series of social interventions marking the silver jubilee anniversary celebration of Svani Group, a leading automobile and logistics services firm, would help to facilitate the operations of the foundation across the country.

The Foundation, which is a social development wing of the of the Soronko Solutions Group, a software development company, offers technology skills training for girls with the aim of grooming girls to become independent problem solvers and entrepreneurs.

Presenting the vehicle, Mr. Thomas Svanikier, Executive Chairman of Svani Group, lauded the objectives of the Foundation, indicating that the empowerment of women was critical to nation building.

Mr. Thomas Svanikier(second from left) presenting
the keys to the vehicle  to Regina Agyare

He said his outfit remains supportive of interventions that would offer quality education and empowerment for the younger generation, particularly girls, and therefore, assured the Foundation of more assistance and collaboration.

He believed that Svani and other companies in the industrial sector would be the end beneficiaries of the technology training being offered by the Foundation for girls, saying it was therefore relevant for the foundation to be supported to deliver on its mandate.

Regina Agyare, Founder of Soronko Solutions, receiving the keys to the vehicle, thanked the company for the gesture.

She said the donation will aid the investment for girls to develop skills for critical thinking and use technology to solve problems.

She indicated that the Foundation was currently pursing a movement, dubbed “Tech Needs Girls” in which girls are mentored to lead and innovate by learning to code.

“We currently have 30 volunteers, 15 mentors who are either computer scientists or engineers and 455 mentees,” she indicated, adding that “we are also working on how the disabled in Ghana can use technology to integrate better in their communities.”

Ibrahim Mahama Ends Odaw Dredging

By Edmund Mingle

Engineers and Planners (E&P), the construction firm owned by the President’s brother, Ibrahim Mahama, has concluded its desilting operations on the Odaw drain in Accra.

It has also handed over all the equipment it took from the government for the project which it undertook free of charge.

Mr. Mahama peeling off his company's
brand sticker from the tipper trucks

Although it desilted three kilometers, representing about 40 per cent of the choked drain, the company believed it was time to pull out.

“I am pulling out not because I want to, but I believe we have done most of the work and others can also continue,” Mr. Mahama, Chief Executive Officer of E&P, told Journalists at the site on Saturday.

Asked whether the pull-out was as a result of the criticism and politicization of his involvement in the project, he said although the criticisms and politicization which he described as “very unnecessary and discouraging” for such voluntary work, he said the company needed to concentrate on its core business.

The choked Odaw drain was found to have contributed largely to the flooding of parts of Accra particularly the Kwame Nkrumah Circle area where the flood led to the explosion at a filling station, killing 159 people on June 3.

Mr. Mahama handing over the keys to the heavy
 duty vehicles to Ibrahim Abdulai, Caretaker of the
 Government Machinery House at Tema

Following the incident, Mr. Mahama volunteered to desilt the drain for free, but as the desilting progressed, members of the opposition New Patriotic Party and the Minority in Parliament questioned the appropriateness of E&P’s involvement in the project, amidst suspicion of underhand dealings.

Among other things, the critics questioned why the President’s younger brother had been allowed to use state equipment to execute a private contract.

But Mr. Mahama maintained it did not undertake the project as a contract, but just an agreement with the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development, to undertake the desilting for free.

As part of the agreement, the Ministry provided fuel and the equipment including tipper trucks and excavators, while E&P provided and paid personnel and desilting experts.

On how much he spent on the project, Mr. Mahama, told journalists during his inspection of the desilted stretch, that it would have cost the government some 15million dollars if the project had been undertaken as a contract.

“I have no regrets doing this. I did this just to show that Ghanaians are capable.

Mr. Ibrahim Mahama explaining issues
 to Reporters at the Odaw drain site

“We planned to operate here for a month, but we spent nearly four months on the project, and I think we have done our best,” he stressed.

According to him, they have desilted the most difficult part of the drain, adding explaining that any contractor the job would be awarded to would have it easy.

“What remains is to put a dredger in the undesilted areas and pipe out the soil,” he stressed.

From the Odaw drain site, he moved to the Government Machinery Safe House at Tema where he returned assorted earth moving equipment, used for the project, to the government.

The equipment consist of 20 tipper trucks, four bulldozers, three excavators, three wheel-loaders and two motor graders.

On his next line of action, he said the company would be focusing on a number of major contracts in the mining sector, where it does its core business, adding he only deployed his personnel to help the government to desilt the Odaw, as the company was awaiting those new contracts.

He expressed concern about the politicization of the project, saying such practice would continue to destroy the self-help spirit of well meaning Ghanaians.

Mr. Mahama peeling off his company's brand sticker
from one of the excavators

“We can solve our problems if we reduce and politics and the suspicious and bring our resources together to address challenges that affect all of us,” he said.

“I didn’t volunteer to undertake the project for free because the President is my brother. I did it because I felt I needed to help my country,” he said.

He therefore urged his critics and others which similar resources to support nation building, saying the country would not progress “if we continue with this pettiness.”

Don Bosco University To Open Centre In Ghana

From Edmund Mingle, India

The Don Bosco University (DBU), headquartered in India, is planning to open a regional university centre in Ghana to contribute to the provision of quality higher education for the youth.

The move, which is part of the university's plan to expand its coverage to West Africa, is to enable more people in the region to access its education programmes towards improving the human resource base in the sub-region.

Dr. Mavely presenting an MBA degree certificate to Edmund Mingle

The centre, which would help to improve the facilitation of the university's distance learning programme, which more Ghanaians and Africans in general were currently accessing, is expected to culminate into the establishment of a Ghana Campus of Don Bosco University.

Fr. Dr. Stephen Mavely, Vice Chancellor of the University, announced this during an interaction with graduating foreign students, including this reporter, at the fourth convocation of the university in Guwahati, India on Thursday.

The centre, which would add to the growing network of Don Bosco institutions around the globe, would help to enhance interaction between course facilitators distance learning students in the sub-region.

According to Dr. Mavely, the necessary approval was being sought for the opening of the centre, while the accreditation requirements for the establishment of the campus were being assessed.

More than 300 Ghanaian students have enrolled for the university’s distance learning programme, as more Ghanaians and others in the sub-region express access Don Bosco’s higher education programmes.

He gave the assurance that the university’s programmes would continue to be improved and tailored to meet professional and job market needs, indicating that the university was committed in collaborating with other institutions in India such as DBU Global, the Global Center for distance education of Don Bosco University, and others across the world, to achieve that objective.

Addressing the convocation in which 532 students, including 190 distance education students, graduated in various bachelors and masters degree programmes, Dr. Mavely, congratulated the graduands and inspired them to aspire.

He was confident that the knowledge gained by the graduands would enable to take overcome entrepreneurial challenges and contribute meaningfully to the growth of their organisations, communities and countries.

Touching on the theme for the convocation- “You can win, you can ride the tide, don’t be afraid to fly”- the Vice Chancellor urged the graduands to be confident, innovative and hardworking to become achievers, saying “have the capacity to dream, dare to fly and have the inner pull to make a difference.”

The Governor of Assam State, Shri P.B. Acharya, for his part, congratulated the graduands, particularly foreign students, in their zeal for higher education.

He was particularly impressed about the presence of 21 graduating distance students at the convocation, saying provision of education should not have borders.

He gave the assurance the government of Assam would provide the necessary support needed by DBU to expand its programmes for the benefit of Indians and other nationals.

Present at the convocation were 21 students from 13 countries (Qatar, Malaysia, Ghana, Nigeria, Ethiopia, Tanzania, Dubai, Kenya, Oman, Belgium, Mozambique, South Sudan and the Philippines) who successfully completed their degree programmes in Bachelor of Computer Applications, Master of Business Administration, Master of Science in Information Technology, and Master of Computer Applications.

Five doctoral students were also graduated at the ceremony.

Don Bosco University belongs to the Don Bosco society of a network of catholic organisations pursing the human development goals.

The educational system is founded on the dream of Saint John Bosco, popularly known as Don Bosco (1815-1888) a catholic priest who worked to rescue the poor and disadvantaged youth of his time.

His system of education, which is being pursued by the university, envision the creation of generations of young men and women who are intellectually competent, morally upright, socially committed, spiritually inspired and devoted to their country and the world.

 

The Assam State Governor (fifth left) and other senior faculty members in a group picture with the graduating foreign students at the convocation

Svani Group Aids Osu Presby Schools With Bus, Water Facility

By Edmund Mingle

Madam Doris Owusu (left)
receiving the keys and documents
to the bus from Mr. Thomas Svanikier

Svani Group Limited has rescued the Osu Presby Cluster of schools at Osu in Accra, from the difficulties of transportation and water supply, with the donation of a 36-seater bus and water facility to the cluster.

The donation of the Eicher bus worth 60,000dollars and the water facility comprising three mechanised boreholes and a reservoir, worth GHc75,000 was to alleviate the plight of the cluster in conveying the pupils for activities outside the campus, as well as addressing challenge of securing water supply for the cluster.

Prior to the provision of the water facility, the cluster, comprising eight schools, with a population of about 2,000, had to be sending the pupils to fetch water from outside the campus, resulting in the closure of the only toilet facility serving the cluster.

Although the toilet has been re-opened for use with the flow of water, relieving the pupils of the challenge in accessing a sanitation facility, Svani Group intends to redevelop it into an expanded modern water-closet facility.

In addition, the company is building a modern library and ---for the cluster.

The donation gesture forms part of activities marking the silver jubilee anniversary celebration of Svani Group,  a leading automobile and logistics services firm with subsidiaries in the oil and gas, energy and real estate sectors.    

Mr. Thomas Svanikier, Executive Chairman of Svani Group, presenting the donation on Monday indicated that the gesture was indicative of the company’s commitment to its social responsibility, as well as its contribution to the provision of quality education for children.

In addition, he said it was a form of giving back to the schools- especially the Osu Presby Boys (Salem) School where he had his primary education and Osu Presby Girls school where his mother attended.

He urged the teachers to give off their best in nurturing the children for the future, and assured the cluster of more assistance.

Madam Doris Owusu, Osu-Doku Circuit 30 Supervisor, receiving the donation, described it as a “surprise and a big relief” for the schools in the cluster.

She thanked the company for the support, and urged others to emulate the exemplary example.

Reverend Isaac Brown, headteacher of Osu Presby Boys school, and Mrs. Mercy Fiakpui, headteacher for Osu Presby Girls school, who would take managerial custody of the bus, thanked the company for the support, saying it would inspire the teachers and the pupils to do more.