Page 48: February 29, 2008.
Story: Albert K. Salia
THE United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) has described West Africa as a cocaine stockpiling centre and attributed the problem to widespread corruption and poor law enforcement structures.
It said drug traffickers perceived the sub-region as having a permissive working environment for the drug trade as many of the countries face “difficulties in controlling their territory and administering justice, and are plagued by corruption”.
This was contained in its October 2007 publication “Cocaine Trafficking in Western Africa: Situation Report”.
It said the geographical position of West Africa made it easier for cocaine from South America to get to the growing market in Europe.
Moreover, it said, there had been increased law enforcement successes in the Caribbean and in Europe, which might have played a part in the development of alternative routes for traffickers.
Citing cases of corruption and weak law enforcement in the sub-region, it said in Guinea-Bissau, the authorities seized 670 kilogrammes of cocaine in September 2006 but freed the suspects soon after their arrest and the drug consignment disappeared.
It said another example was the volumes of cocaine seized in Africa as compared to volumes seized by European navies off the coast of Africa.
“In 2005, the total cocaine seizures for all 53 African countries amounted to about 2.5 metric tonnes, while in July 2005, in a single catch in Europe, the Spanish navy seized 3.1 metric tonnes in a Ghanaian ship, representing almost 40 per cent more than the cocaine seizures on the entire continent,” it said.
The report noted also that “in 2006, the Spanish navy seized a total of 9.8 metric tonnes of cocaine off the coast of Africa, more than three times the seizures on the entire continent, which amounted to about 2.9 metric tonnes”.
It said preliminary data for 2007 clearly showed that West Africa was emerging as an important staging post along the route from South America to the growing cocaine market in Europe.
It said preliminary data for the first nine months of 2007 indicated a record level of 5.7 metric tonnes of cocaine seized in African countries, which represented an increase of 50 per cent compared to 2.8 metric tonnes seized in 2006.
“Out of the 5.7 metric tonnes of cocaine seized so far in 2007, 99 per cent were reported from West African countries: 2.4 metric tonnes were seized in Senegal in June, almost 1.5 metric tonnes in Mauritania between May and August, 0.6 metric tonne in Guinea Bissau in April, 0.5 metric tonne in Cape Verde in March, 0.4 metric tonne in Benin in August and 0.2 metric tonne in Guinea,” it said.
According to the report, in 2006, two seizures in West Africa, one made in Ghana involving 1.9 metric tonnes and one in Guinea Bissau, 0.6 metric tonne, both accounted for 90 per cent of all seizures reported on the continent.
“And this is probably only the tip of the iceberg because the lack of seizure reports from neighbouring Western African countries does not necessarily mean the absence of trafficking in these countries, but more likely the deficiency of law enforcement capacities,” it said.
“The phenomenon is growing not only in volume, but also in sophistication, with traffickers having established air connections between Latin America and Africa. Speed boats, until recently, used only for cocaine trafficking between Latin America and the United States, are now also used between Africa and Europe,” it said.
The drugs are mostly shipped to West Africa on fishing boats and freighters, with the drug usually concealed in areas built especially for that purpose in the frame of the boat, such as a modified oil tank.
The report said the cocaine seized in Ghana in May 2006 in a small coastal village provided a good example of countries along the Gulf of Guinea being used by traffickers for stockpiling.
It said the drug traffickers had also successfully managed to organise and set up direct flight connections with small planes between Latin America and West Africa with interceptions of some of such flights in Guinea Bissau and Mauritania, for example.
It said the analysis of selected EU airport seizures also highlighted the importance of western Africa in cocaine trafficking.
“In 2006, out of the 822 reports of cocaine seizures in European airports sent to UNODC, 122, representing 13 per cent, were made from flights originating from Africa. Of the 122 cases of cocaine seizures from African countries, 117 or 96 per cent originated from western African countries,” it said.
The report said based on the 117 cases reported to the UNODC, the average quantity of cocaine seized in European airports from flights originating in western African countries was 3.9 kilogrammes per incident in 2006, stressing that “in 42 cases, the drug was concealed in the luggage (an average of 5.3 kg) and in 30 cases, cocaine had been ingested (an average of 0.8 kg)”.
It said the importance of western Africa in trafficking cocaine to Europe was also evidenced by the nationalities of the persons arrested for drug trafficking at European airports.
It said in 2006, the UNODC recorded the arrests of 442 persons for cocaine trafficking from European airports and holders of African passports accounted for 16 per cent of the cases, with West Africa alone representing 14 per cent of all cases and 90 per cent of the Africans arrested.
Thursday, February 28, 2008
Man held for possessing cocaine
Page 34: February 29, 2008.
Story: Albert K. Salia
A 29-YEAR-OLD national service person has been arrested for attempting to smuggle 27 pellets of white substances suspected to be cocaine to Holland.
Christopher Boakye Amponsah, who is doing his national service with the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) at Nsawam, was arrested at the Kotoka International Airport on February 24, 2008 while going through departure formalities.
A source at the Bureau of National of Investigations (BNI), whose personnel effected the arrest, told the Daily Graphic on Wednesday that the suspect’s Mercedes C-Class Benz, with registration number GR 1954 X, has been impounded while investigations continue into his other acquired properties.
It said the suspect initially denied possessing any contraband goods but was taken to the BNI head office for observation.
It said the suspect was later taken to a hospital where he was examined and it was detected that he had swallowed foreign materials.
The source said when the suspect was taken back to the BNI head office, he discharged 24 pellets in a stool he passed.
It said he later expelled three more pellets in another round of stool discharge.
According to the source, it was at the point that the suspect admitted swallowing 27 pellets of the substance, which he claimed was given to him by someone identified only as Max.
It said the suspect claimed that Max had promised to give him 1,500 euros on delivery of the pellets in Amsterdam, Holland and alleged that Max had taken the lead to Holland to wait for him.
The source said a look at the suspect’s passport showed that he had travelled widely on the West African coast, South Africa and Europe particularly to the United Kingdom, Holland and Germany.
It said it could be deduced that the suspect was a courier considering the number of travels he had made and the property he had acquired.
It said as someone who had just completed his university education and was doing his national service, one wondered where he got his money to make such travels and acquire the Benz, a van and other properties still being investigated.
Moreover, it said, the suspect indicated that his parents were both deceased and he lived by himself.
Story: Albert K. Salia
A 29-YEAR-OLD national service person has been arrested for attempting to smuggle 27 pellets of white substances suspected to be cocaine to Holland.
Christopher Boakye Amponsah, who is doing his national service with the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) at Nsawam, was arrested at the Kotoka International Airport on February 24, 2008 while going through departure formalities.
A source at the Bureau of National of Investigations (BNI), whose personnel effected the arrest, told the Daily Graphic on Wednesday that the suspect’s Mercedes C-Class Benz, with registration number GR 1954 X, has been impounded while investigations continue into his other acquired properties.
It said the suspect initially denied possessing any contraband goods but was taken to the BNI head office for observation.
It said the suspect was later taken to a hospital where he was examined and it was detected that he had swallowed foreign materials.
The source said when the suspect was taken back to the BNI head office, he discharged 24 pellets in a stool he passed.
It said he later expelled three more pellets in another round of stool discharge.
According to the source, it was at the point that the suspect admitted swallowing 27 pellets of the substance, which he claimed was given to him by someone identified only as Max.
It said the suspect claimed that Max had promised to give him 1,500 euros on delivery of the pellets in Amsterdam, Holland and alleged that Max had taken the lead to Holland to wait for him.
The source said a look at the suspect’s passport showed that he had travelled widely on the West African coast, South Africa and Europe particularly to the United Kingdom, Holland and Germany.
It said it could be deduced that the suspect was a courier considering the number of travels he had made and the property he had acquired.
It said as someone who had just completed his university education and was doing his national service, one wondered where he got his money to make such travels and acquire the Benz, a van and other properties still being investigated.
Moreover, it said, the suspect indicated that his parents were both deceased and he lived by himself.
"We asked GCAA to re-engage Kyeremanteng
Page 28: February 28, 2008.
Story: Albert K. Salia
THE Narcotics Control Board (NACOB) has confirmed that it asked the Ghana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) to re-engage the services of Alex Kyeremanteng.
Although it explained that there was nothing to link Alex Kyeremanteng to drug trafficking, its letter of December 3, 2007 to the GCAA confirmed that Kyeremanteng was arrested for his alleged involvement in the trafficking of narcotics drugs by courier to Australia.
The Public Relations Officer of NACOB, Mr Francis Amoah, however, said that the NACOB in its letter of December 3, 2007, to the GCAA indicated that Kyeremanteng may be called upon, should the need arise, in connection with the said case in the future.
Mr Amoah was reacting to concerns raised by some staff of the GCAA about the handling of the case.
The staff, who wondered whether the law on dealing with drug traffickers was meant for different people, alleged that Kyeremanteng had been throwing his weight about that nobody could touch him.
The Daily Graphic in its November 19, 2004, edition published a story from the NACOB that Kyeremanteng had parcelled cocaine in two plastic pharmacy prescription envelopes and a birthday card to be posted to a cousin in Australia.
Kyeremanteng allegedly admitted sending the parcel but explained that it was his cousin who gave him $900 to buy the drugs.
Eight Ghanaian passports bearing different names with varied professions were found in Kyeremanteng’s home when a search was conducted there by officials of NACOB when he was arrested.
Mr Amoah said he could not give any reason why Kyeremanteng was not charged as there was nothing on his file.
He said Kyeremanteng was granted police enquiry after his arrest for investigations to continue.
According to him, no formal charges had been preferred against Kyeremanteng since his arrest and the grant of police enquiry bail in 2004.
Story: Albert K. Salia
THE Narcotics Control Board (NACOB) has confirmed that it asked the Ghana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) to re-engage the services of Alex Kyeremanteng.
Although it explained that there was nothing to link Alex Kyeremanteng to drug trafficking, its letter of December 3, 2007 to the GCAA confirmed that Kyeremanteng was arrested for his alleged involvement in the trafficking of narcotics drugs by courier to Australia.
The Public Relations Officer of NACOB, Mr Francis Amoah, however, said that the NACOB in its letter of December 3, 2007, to the GCAA indicated that Kyeremanteng may be called upon, should the need arise, in connection with the said case in the future.
Mr Amoah was reacting to concerns raised by some staff of the GCAA about the handling of the case.
The staff, who wondered whether the law on dealing with drug traffickers was meant for different people, alleged that Kyeremanteng had been throwing his weight about that nobody could touch him.
The Daily Graphic in its November 19, 2004, edition published a story from the NACOB that Kyeremanteng had parcelled cocaine in two plastic pharmacy prescription envelopes and a birthday card to be posted to a cousin in Australia.
Kyeremanteng allegedly admitted sending the parcel but explained that it was his cousin who gave him $900 to buy the drugs.
Eight Ghanaian passports bearing different names with varied professions were found in Kyeremanteng’s home when a search was conducted there by officials of NACOB when he was arrested.
Mr Amoah said he could not give any reason why Kyeremanteng was not charged as there was nothing on his file.
He said Kyeremanteng was granted police enquiry after his arrest for investigations to continue.
According to him, no formal charges had been preferred against Kyeremanteng since his arrest and the grant of police enquiry bail in 2004.
Wanted by police
Page 40: February 28, 2008.
Story: Albert K. Salia
THE Criminal Investigations Department (CID) of the Ghana Police Service has appealed to members of the public to help it trace the whereabouts of a trader, Salamatu Musah alias Naana.
Naana, as she is popularly known, is wanted to help unravel the murder of a colleague trader, Kate Owusu, in Abidjan in November 2006.
The suspect is 5”4 inches tall, fair in complexion and slim.
According to the Director-General of the CID, Mr Frank Adu-Poku, a second suspect, Esther Gyamfuah, is currently assisting the CID in investigations.
He explained that Naana travelled to Abidjan in the company of the deceased and Gyamfuah to sell some goods.
He said an Ivorian national, who had been identified only as Nazar, allegedly facilitated the entry of the three women into Abidjan through the Elubo border.
Mr Adu-Poku said the deceased allegedly delegated Nazar to sell the goods on their behalf while they lodged at a hotel in Abidjan and waited for him.
He said Nazar allegedly absconded with the goods.
He said Naana and Gyamfuah returned to Ghana three weeks later without Kate.
Mr Adu-Poku said the two women could not offer any reason why Kate did not return with them.
He said the daughter of Kate lodged a complaint with the Takoradi police in 2007, when she had still not heard from the mother.
The CID boss said since the case was reported to the police, Naana absconded from her Takoradi base and had still not been located.
Mr Adu-Poku said the Ghana office of the International Police Organisation (Interpol) had also issued an international warrant for the arrest of Naana.
He, therefore, appealed to any member of the public who knew the whereabouts of Naana to inform the nearest police station or the CID headquarters.
Story: Albert K. Salia
THE Criminal Investigations Department (CID) of the Ghana Police Service has appealed to members of the public to help it trace the whereabouts of a trader, Salamatu Musah alias Naana.
Naana, as she is popularly known, is wanted to help unravel the murder of a colleague trader, Kate Owusu, in Abidjan in November 2006.
The suspect is 5”4 inches tall, fair in complexion and slim.
According to the Director-General of the CID, Mr Frank Adu-Poku, a second suspect, Esther Gyamfuah, is currently assisting the CID in investigations.
He explained that Naana travelled to Abidjan in the company of the deceased and Gyamfuah to sell some goods.
He said an Ivorian national, who had been identified only as Nazar, allegedly facilitated the entry of the three women into Abidjan through the Elubo border.
Mr Adu-Poku said the deceased allegedly delegated Nazar to sell the goods on their behalf while they lodged at a hotel in Abidjan and waited for him.
He said Nazar allegedly absconded with the goods.
He said Naana and Gyamfuah returned to Ghana three weeks later without Kate.
Mr Adu-Poku said the two women could not offer any reason why Kate did not return with them.
He said the daughter of Kate lodged a complaint with the Takoradi police in 2007, when she had still not heard from the mother.
The CID boss said since the case was reported to the police, Naana absconded from her Takoradi base and had still not been located.
Mr Adu-Poku said the Ghana office of the International Police Organisation (Interpol) had also issued an international warrant for the arrest of Naana.
He, therefore, appealed to any member of the public who knew the whereabouts of Naana to inform the nearest police station or the CID headquarters.
Monday, February 25, 2008
A-G appeals against Tichler's jail term
Page 20: February 25, 2008.
Story: Albert K. Salia
THE Attorney-General's Department described as “disproportionate to the gravity of the offence” the four-year sentence imposed on Thomas Tichler, the 57-year-old Briton, who was convicted for causing harm and indecently assaulting a three-year-old girl.
It has, accordingly, filed a notice of appeal at the High Court seeking an increase in the sentence, which was passed on Tichler by an Accra Circuit Court, presided over by Mrs Georgina Mensah-Datsa.
The notice, which was filed last Friday, said additional grounds would be filed on receipt of the certified true copies of the judgement.
Tichler was convicted on Tuesday, February 19, 2008, on two counts and sentenced to four years and two years respectively to run concurrently effective November 2, 2007, the day he was remanded in custody.
Passing judgement, the judge said he took into consideration the fact that Tichler was assaulted by the father of the girl, while the physical injury to the victim was not permanent.
Tichler was said to have inserted his fingers into the victim’s vagina but he denied the offence and pleaded not guilty to the charges.
A total of seven prosecution witnesses, comprising the victim, her parents, the victim’s two siblings, a medical doctor and the investigator in the case, testified against Tichler.
Tichler testified and denied any wrongdoing and called two witnesses to testify for him.
The facts of the case were that Tichler, who arrived in Ghana on September 25, last year for a three-month attachment with the Voluntary Service Overseas (VSO), committed the offence at the residence of the victim on October 13, 2007, barely a week after he had arrived in the country.
According to the prosecution, Tichler visited the victim’s father at North Legon, near Redco Flats, on October 13, 2007 and on reaching the house, the victim’s father left the victim and her two siblings in the care of Tichler in order to purchase some items from town.
Tichler engaged the victim and her two siblings, aged eight and six, at the sitting room but later managed to engage the victim alone and succeeded in inserting his fingers into her vagina.
Not quiet long after the incident, the victim’s mother arrived from town and just as she entered the kitchen, Tichler followed her and requested for water to wash his hands.
Later, the victim went to her mother and said she wanted to urinate and while helping her, the mother noticed blood stains in the victim’s panties.
The victim mentioned the accused person as the one who inserted his fingers into her vagina when she was questioned by her mother.
Tichler was arrested and handed over to the Legon police.
The victim was later taken to hospital where she was examined, treated and discharged.
According to the court, the evidence of the little girl, which was taken in camera, was spontaneous and was not disjointed to seem as if it had been rehearsed as suggested by the defence.
It said the girl’s story was consistent, articulate and honest and showed that the convict’s act of carrying the girl on his shoulders and putting her down on the sofa were very contemporaneous with the time of the commission of the offence.
Story: Albert K. Salia
THE Attorney-General's Department described as “disproportionate to the gravity of the offence” the four-year sentence imposed on Thomas Tichler, the 57-year-old Briton, who was convicted for causing harm and indecently assaulting a three-year-old girl.
It has, accordingly, filed a notice of appeal at the High Court seeking an increase in the sentence, which was passed on Tichler by an Accra Circuit Court, presided over by Mrs Georgina Mensah-Datsa.
The notice, which was filed last Friday, said additional grounds would be filed on receipt of the certified true copies of the judgement.
Tichler was convicted on Tuesday, February 19, 2008, on two counts and sentenced to four years and two years respectively to run concurrently effective November 2, 2007, the day he was remanded in custody.
Passing judgement, the judge said he took into consideration the fact that Tichler was assaulted by the father of the girl, while the physical injury to the victim was not permanent.
Tichler was said to have inserted his fingers into the victim’s vagina but he denied the offence and pleaded not guilty to the charges.
A total of seven prosecution witnesses, comprising the victim, her parents, the victim’s two siblings, a medical doctor and the investigator in the case, testified against Tichler.
Tichler testified and denied any wrongdoing and called two witnesses to testify for him.
The facts of the case were that Tichler, who arrived in Ghana on September 25, last year for a three-month attachment with the Voluntary Service Overseas (VSO), committed the offence at the residence of the victim on October 13, 2007, barely a week after he had arrived in the country.
According to the prosecution, Tichler visited the victim’s father at North Legon, near Redco Flats, on October 13, 2007 and on reaching the house, the victim’s father left the victim and her two siblings in the care of Tichler in order to purchase some items from town.
Tichler engaged the victim and her two siblings, aged eight and six, at the sitting room but later managed to engage the victim alone and succeeded in inserting his fingers into her vagina.
Not quiet long after the incident, the victim’s mother arrived from town and just as she entered the kitchen, Tichler followed her and requested for water to wash his hands.
Later, the victim went to her mother and said she wanted to urinate and while helping her, the mother noticed blood stains in the victim’s panties.
The victim mentioned the accused person as the one who inserted his fingers into her vagina when she was questioned by her mother.
Tichler was arrested and handed over to the Legon police.
The victim was later taken to hospital where she was examined, treated and discharged.
According to the court, the evidence of the little girl, which was taken in camera, was spontaneous and was not disjointed to seem as if it had been rehearsed as suggested by the defence.
It said the girl’s story was consistent, articulate and honest and showed that the convict’s act of carrying the girl on his shoulders and putting her down on the sofa were very contemporaneous with the time of the commission of the offence.
Thursday, February 21, 2008
Probe operations of Narcotics Board
Page 3: February 22, 2008.
Story: Albert K. Salia
TWO security experts have called on President J.A. Kufuor to set up a high-powered independent commission of enquiry into the operations of the Narcotics Control Board (NACOB) since 2001.
Dr Kwesi Aning and Mr Emmanuel Addo Sowatey, who made the call in separate interviews in Accra yesterday, said an investigation into the life cycle of cases dealt with at NACOB could help in shaping up a policy and its implementation to address the challenges of the drug menace facing the country.
Dr Aning suggested that membership of the commission should include representatives of both public and private institutions who understood the drug business.
He said the United Nations Office on Drug and Crime (UNODC) should be made to send representatives to serve on the commission, since their expertise was much needed.
Dr Aning, who is the Head of the Conflict Prevention, Management and Resolution Department (CPMRD) of the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre, said the commission should not only review all the cases handled since the period but also the handling of exhibits and their whereabouts.
He said the level of infiltration into the national drug fighting agency was so high that the problem needed to be dealt with.
Dr Aning said he did not believe that the government should take the missing drugs at the Police Headquarters as an isolated case, since the problem was much bigger than that.
“We need to ensure that every drug that is said to have been destroyed has, indeed, been destroyed. This should not be difficult to find out, since there are procedures for destroying these drugs, after which certificates are to be counter-signed by all the parties, with pictures available,” he said.
“Were orders or directives issued for the destruction by the trial judges? When was it done and who were present?” he asked.
According to him, the drug problem had become a national crisis with serious security implications which must be dealt with immediately, since it could no longer be swept under the carpet.
“That is why it is important to set up a genuine independent commission, with support from the UNODC, to help address the challenges,” he stated.
Dr Aning said the investigation must cover the vetting of all staff, including the property they had acquired over the years.
He said all the bad nuts must be weeded out of the system to restore the credibility of NACOB.
For his part, Mr Sowatey said it should be easy to check on the cycle of any case, including the handling and management of exhibits.
“I call for a thorough review of the entire system,” he stated.
He said there were suspicions that arrests made in the period had fizzled out with nothing to show.
Story: Albert K. Salia
TWO security experts have called on President J.A. Kufuor to set up a high-powered independent commission of enquiry into the operations of the Narcotics Control Board (NACOB) since 2001.
Dr Kwesi Aning and Mr Emmanuel Addo Sowatey, who made the call in separate interviews in Accra yesterday, said an investigation into the life cycle of cases dealt with at NACOB could help in shaping up a policy and its implementation to address the challenges of the drug menace facing the country.
Dr Aning suggested that membership of the commission should include representatives of both public and private institutions who understood the drug business.
He said the United Nations Office on Drug and Crime (UNODC) should be made to send representatives to serve on the commission, since their expertise was much needed.
Dr Aning, who is the Head of the Conflict Prevention, Management and Resolution Department (CPMRD) of the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre, said the commission should not only review all the cases handled since the period but also the handling of exhibits and their whereabouts.
He said the level of infiltration into the national drug fighting agency was so high that the problem needed to be dealt with.
Dr Aning said he did not believe that the government should take the missing drugs at the Police Headquarters as an isolated case, since the problem was much bigger than that.
“We need to ensure that every drug that is said to have been destroyed has, indeed, been destroyed. This should not be difficult to find out, since there are procedures for destroying these drugs, after which certificates are to be counter-signed by all the parties, with pictures available,” he said.
“Were orders or directives issued for the destruction by the trial judges? When was it done and who were present?” he asked.
According to him, the drug problem had become a national crisis with serious security implications which must be dealt with immediately, since it could no longer be swept under the carpet.
“That is why it is important to set up a genuine independent commission, with support from the UNODC, to help address the challenges,” he stated.
Dr Aning said the investigation must cover the vetting of all staff, including the property they had acquired over the years.
He said all the bad nuts must be weeded out of the system to restore the credibility of NACOB.
For his part, Mr Sowatey said it should be easy to check on the cycle of any case, including the handling and management of exhibits.
“I call for a thorough review of the entire system,” he stated.
He said there were suspicions that arrests made in the period had fizzled out with nothing to show.
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
Finatrade scholarship for 20 students
Page 48: February 20, 2008.
Story: Albert K. Salia
THE Finatrade Foundation yesterday presented scholarships to 20 second-year students pursuing courses in agriculture at four public universities in the country.
Each of the beneficiaries would receive GH ¢500 for every academic year of their period of study at the University of Ghana, Legon; University of Cape Coast, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology and the University for Development Studies.
The award to the 20 students brought the number of agriculture students on scholarship from the foundation to 86 since the inception of the scholarship scheme in 2003.
The foundation was set up to promote socio-economic development and help reduce poverty. It also seeks to equip the beneficiaries with practical training on the job.
At a ceremony to present the award to the new beneficiaries, the Managing Director of the Finatrade Group of Companies, Mr Nabil Mourkazel, urged agriculture students to get into farming upon completion of their tertiary education.
He said agriculture offered the best business opportunity for any entrepreneur to succeed due to the increasing demand for food to meet the growing world population.
He said the world population was growing exponentially, resulting in shortages in food supply the world over.
He urged them not to be content with the degrees they would earn at the end of their studies but to endeavour to move into the field of putting their knowledge into practice.
A Deputy Minister of Food and Agriculture, Mr Clement Eledi, conceded that modernising agriculture would be difficult unless there were farmers who would be able to use the tools and equipment imported.
He said agriculture graduates, therefore, held the key to modernising agriculture and urged them to abandon the notion of working in offices after completion of their courses.
The Chairperson of the foundation, Ms Joyce Aryee, said the foundation had so far spent GH¢94,500 on the scholarships.
She said the Finatrade Group was also offering internship programmes for the beneficiaries so that they would have the experience of the world of work.
She said the group would also engage some of the graduates permanently after they had undertaken their national service.
Story: Albert K. Salia
THE Finatrade Foundation yesterday presented scholarships to 20 second-year students pursuing courses in agriculture at four public universities in the country.
Each of the beneficiaries would receive GH ¢500 for every academic year of their period of study at the University of Ghana, Legon; University of Cape Coast, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology and the University for Development Studies.
The award to the 20 students brought the number of agriculture students on scholarship from the foundation to 86 since the inception of the scholarship scheme in 2003.
The foundation was set up to promote socio-economic development and help reduce poverty. It also seeks to equip the beneficiaries with practical training on the job.
At a ceremony to present the award to the new beneficiaries, the Managing Director of the Finatrade Group of Companies, Mr Nabil Mourkazel, urged agriculture students to get into farming upon completion of their tertiary education.
He said agriculture offered the best business opportunity for any entrepreneur to succeed due to the increasing demand for food to meet the growing world population.
He said the world population was growing exponentially, resulting in shortages in food supply the world over.
He urged them not to be content with the degrees they would earn at the end of their studies but to endeavour to move into the field of putting their knowledge into practice.
A Deputy Minister of Food and Agriculture, Mr Clement Eledi, conceded that modernising agriculture would be difficult unless there were farmers who would be able to use the tools and equipment imported.
He said agriculture graduates, therefore, held the key to modernising agriculture and urged them to abandon the notion of working in offices after completion of their courses.
The Chairperson of the foundation, Ms Joyce Aryee, said the foundation had so far spent GH¢94,500 on the scholarships.
She said the Finatrade Group was also offering internship programmes for the beneficiaries so that they would have the experience of the world of work.
She said the group would also engage some of the graduates permanently after they had undertaken their national service.
USAID- Pivot of US development agenda
Page 20: February 19, 2008
Feature: Albert K. Salia
SINCE the establishment of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) office in Ghana in 1957, Ghana has benefited immensely from USAID’s programmes.
For instance, in the first eight years, 1957-1965, of USAID's presence in Ghana, the programme was involved in agriculture, training and infrastructure (including support for the construction of the Akosombo Dam).
In the period 1966-1974, the programme turned to balance of payments support in the form of programme loans for commodity imports. In addition to programme loans, USAID provided cotton and oil under soft loans for the industrial sector. USAID strengthened agricultural extension service, farmer training institutes and the GoG's seed multiplication service. The Mission also had a small family planning and health technical assistance programme.
In 1975, USAID increased the focus on rural sectors and had a major programme of support to increase maize production in the Brong-Ahafo and Ashanti regions. This included support for inputs and construction of feeder roads.
To prove that it was not just there to throw resources at the government and its institutions, the USAID started to raise questions around 1978, about the level of its support to Ghana due to the severe and growing macroeconomic distortions. The exchange rate was enormously overvalued, and interest rates were heavily negative. These distortions, combined with the Rawlings coup in 1981, led to a period of reduced programming. Funding averaged $38 million per annum plus $15 million in food aid commodities.
Fortunately, since the return to democratic rule in Ghana, the USAID sees Ghana with its population of 23 million, as a strong proponent of democracy and a country that possess considerable growth potential, setting it apart from other troubled countries in West Africa. As a result, it has embarked on a number of initiatives to help Ghana realise its development objectives.
Ghana has become a critical U.S. African partner, playing important leadership roles in key regional and global issues, such as peacekeeping, conflict resolution, counterterrorism, anti-trafficking in persons, HIV/AIDS prevention, family planning, infectious disease control, and economic development.
Under President J. A. Kufuor’s leadership, Ghana has worked diligently through the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the African Union to ensure that peace has an opportunity to take hold in Liberia, Cote d’Ivoire, Equatorial Guinea, Togo and elsewhere. In fact, Ghana is the world’s fourth largest contributor of UN peacekeeping forces and hosts the region’s operational level peacekeeping training facility.
Ghana is increasingly viewed as a gateway for American companies to the sub-region searching for viable West African partners and is the fourth largest non-oil producing purchaser of U.S. exports in sub-Saharan Africa. Ghana’s free market policy reforms have made the country attractive to U.S. trade and investors. Transparency International (2005 Corruption Perception Index) reports that Ghana is the least corrupt country in West Africa, and sixth least corrupt country in sub-Saharan Africa.
It is in line with these positive trademarks that the current Ghana-USAID strategic objective includes strategic goals that advance the growth of democracy and good governance; strengthen world economic growth, development and stability; and improve health, education, and environment.
Despite the fact that Ghana had made significant advances, daunting challenges remain. Key institutions like Parliament and District Assemblies remain weak and lack the resources or capacity to channel citizen concerns and hold government accountable.
In addition, civil society groups lack advocacy skills and resources to advocate for their needs and interests.
Agriculture employs 60 per cent of the workforce, but a vast majority of farmers are subsistence smallholders. They lack access to improved technologies, market information and linkages to the private sector. Environmental degradation especially in forests, is taking an increase toll on Ghana's ability to sustain livelihoods. Natural resource stocks are degraded the equivalent of 10 per cent of GDP per year and resource depletion is reducing GDP growth potential by an estimated one per cent annually.
Health care delivery at the village/community level is weak. Maternal and infant mortality rates are high. Under five mortality has not changed in the last 10 years. The mortality rate has remained at 111 per 1000 live births. Malaria is the cause for 40 per cent of outpatient visits, as well as 25 per cent of deaths of children under five years or age. The HIV/AIDS prevalence rate among high-risk groups, such as commercial sex workers, is as high as 60 per cent. In the northern regions, most people live on substantially less than $1 a day and have limited access to clean drinking water and sanitation facilities.
Another critical development challenge is the low quality of education. Out of every 100 Ghanaian school-age children, it is estimated that close to 90 will enter Grade One, but only 67 of these children will complete Grade Six. Of those completing primary schools, only seven will have the reading comprehension level of a child in Grade Six. Thus, access to quality basic education remains a major challenge in Ghana.
Food insecurity is a problem in Ghana, especially in the three northern regions. Low rainfall, poor soils, and low agricultural productivity are key factors to food insecurity in Ghana. These factors are further worsened by the subsistence nature of agriculture as well as low incomes, inadequate education and poor health status of the population. Most households lack stable foods for several months of the year, resulting in high rates of malnutrition.
While interest rates continue to fall, small holder farmers and owners of micro-, small- and medium-enterprises, which make up the vast majority of Ghana’s entrepreneurs, still find it difficult to access credit.
Although Ghana has a long history of political decentralisation, devolution of fiscal and administrative authority is hampered by the central government’s reluctance to relinquish power and by local governments’ inability, and in some instances unwillingness, to plan, budget, implement and monitor programmes in a participatory manner. Communities also lack the advocacy skills needed to effectively articulate their needs and participate in shaping the agenda of local government.
Educational opportunities remain limited, only 78 per cent of children who enroll in the first grade actually complete sixth grade. Access to basic education remains challenging for girls, children with disabilities, and those living in the three northern regions of the country.
It is in response to some of these challenges that the USAID Country Strategic Plan (2004 -2010) was developed in close consultation with the Government of Ghana and development partners.
USAID/Ghana supports the Government of Ghana's Poverty Reduction Strategy by strengthening decentralised governance systems, promoting private sector competitiveness, improving health care delivery, enhancing access to quality basic education, and increasing food security. Funding levels have averaged around $37 million per year from 2004 to 2007, plus an additional $22.5 million in food aid.
Ghana’s model of democratic governance and private sector-led growth offers a beacon of hope to West Africa and Sub-Saharan Africa. Ghana’s last three Presidential and Parliamentary elections (1996, 2000 and 2004) have been free and fair. The peaceful handover of power from one political party to a rival party after the 2000 Presidential election was a clear symbol of Ghana’s democratic maturation. Civil society organisations continue to emerge as dynamic change agents at all levels of society. A free and spirited media is thriving.
The Government of Ghana (GoG) has made significant strides toward advancing the key economic reforms needed to strengthen the economy and invigorate the private sector. As a result, petroleum subsidies are gradually being eliminated, inflation has steadily declined, the number of days to start a business has been reduced and interest rates have fallen. Ghana was the first country to volunteer to undergo the African Peer Review, a good governance initiative under the African Union’s New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD).
In support of these positive trends, Ghana through the USAID has also been a beneficiary of two major US Presidential initiatives. These initiatives are targeted at specific areas so as to achieve desired effect.The two U.S. Presidential initiatives are fully integrated into USAID/Ghana’s strategy.
One of them is the U.S. Presidential Initiative to End Hunger in Africa (IEHA): USAID/Ghana’s Economic Growth Strategic Objective will increase the competitiveness, capacity and efficiency of Ghana’s private sector in overseas and regional markets, with special emphasis on non-traditional exports. IEHA funding expands USAID/Ghana’s ability to enhance export competitiveness in the agricultural sector by: (a) helping farmers and exporters understand and adopt international standards for fresh and processed commodities; (b) integrating smallholder farmers into export supply chains; (c) promoting the adoption of biotechnology innovations within the context of sound biosafety regulations; (d) broadening access to finance; and (e) improving the enabling environment for trade and investment.
The second is the U.S. Presidential African Education Initiative (AEI): USAID/Ghana’s Basic Education Strategic Objective will improve the quality of, and increase access to basic education for Ghanaian children. AEI supports an innovative reading programme, helps rural out-of-school children transition to formal school, and provides critical training to teachers.
USAID-Ghana also has other initiatives to address the various challenges facing other sectors.
Management of Extractive Industries: Ghana has one of the world’s largest known reserves of gold. Newmont (U.S.) and Gold Fields (South Africa) together have the rights to mine vast amounts of Ghana’s identified reserves, with the gold produced by Gold Fields alone generating 12 per cent of Ghana’s foreign exchange earning. Unresolved issues involving environmental protection, resettlement, employment, land use and water rights have led to growing discontent within some of the affected mining communities. USAID is on the verge of embarking on an alliance with Newmont and Gold Fields, in coordination with the Ghana Chamber of Mines, which strives to (a) design a stakeholder process for developing best practice principles for all mining industry players to follow in Ghana and (b) work with all stakeholders (communities, local and national government and the mining companies) to improve health service delivery and the quality of education in the affected mining areas. Additionally, USAID/Ghana will target two mining districts and work to improve the District Assembly’s capacity to manage issues and promote sustained economic growth with input from civil society and citizens. With support from EGAT, USAID/WARP and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, USAID/Ghana will strive to build the capacity of the Ghana Environmental Protection Agency to monitor and report on key issues in the targeted GDA mining areas.
Youth: Approximately 30 per cent of Ghana’s population is between the ages of 15 and 25 years. Ghanaian youth have extremely limited opportunities for education, employment, and participation in constructive political and development processes. While Ghana’s youth represent an enormous resource, they are rarely seen as important agents of social and economic transformation. USAID/Ghana’s strategy will enhance youth participation in local governance, reduce youth unemployment, increase access to and use of basic health services (including HIV) and ensure that Ghana’s primary school children (its future youth) have sufficient reading and numeric skills to be productive citizens. Specifically, the USAID/Ghana Economic Growth strategic objective will work on the supply side with the government to create an environment for job creation through private sector growth and the Democracy, Health and Education Strategic Objectives will work on the demand side with youth organisations, schools, communities and governments to promote healthy, productive lifestyles and opportunities for youth engagement in local governance and development.
Urbanisation: Ghana’s towns and cities are growing at a tremendous rate as a result of rural-urban migration, land policies which limit the supply of usable land, and neglect of the three northern regions. In 2001, the urban poor equaled nearly five million. The number of slum dwellers is growing at a rate of 1.8 per cent per annum. To counter this trend, USAID/Ghana’s strategy will create economic opportunities in rural farming communities and secondary towns serving those rural areas, rationalise land tenure policies, extend quality education to under-served rural communities, and improve health services in urban and peri-urban districts in the southern part of the country.
Malaria, HIV/AIDS, and Other Infectious Diseases: Malaria is the leading cause of death in Ghana, especially among children under five and pregnant women. It is a drain on the health care system, accounting for 40 per cent of all outpatient attendance. Malaria is a major contributor to poverty — drug treatment and loss of workdays due to illness place an enormous financial strain on the resources of families, businesses and governments. Similarly, HIV/AIDS has a negative impact on productivity due to the high mortality rate and high drug treatment costs. The incidence of tuberculosis is growing at an alarming rate. In 1918, Ghana lost five per cent of its population to an Avian Influenza-like virus. Due to Ghana’s weak rural and peri-urban disease monitoring, diagnostic and treatment systems, it is feared that migratory birds infected with the Avian Influenza virus will intermingle undetected with Ghana’s rural domestic birds resulting in a catastrophic economic and health crisis. USAID/Ghana’s health programme addresses each of these threats. To combat malaria, USAID supports the GoG’s Roll Back Malaria strategy and social marketing of insecticide treated nets. USAID/Ghana’s HIV/AIDS prevention programme will change risky behaviour in the most-at-risk groups and reduce mother-to-child transmissions.
RISK FACTORS FOR VULNERABILITY
In addition to the inherent risks faced by any new democracy, Ghana's political and economic framework is vulnerable to shocks caused by volatile neighbours, domestic chieftaincy conflicts, corruption, resources (land and water), disputes, and external price shocks. The GoG, USAID, and other donors are working together to minimise these risks. Nevertheless, if realised, these risks have the potential to limit successful implementation of this strategy and reduce the impact of USAID assistance. Through careful monitoring and targeted interventions, USAID will strive to mitigate the following risks to the extent practicable:
Reducing Regional Conflict and Barriers to Trade: Ghana is located between volatile eastern (Togo and Nigeria) and western (Ivory Coast and Liberia) neighbours. Ghana has little capacity to effectively deal with a large inflow of refugees from its neighbours (there are 48,000 refugees currently living in Ghana, according to the UNHCR Statistical Yearbook). Ghana is playing an increasing role in promoting regional political stability. USAID/WARP works to strengthen ECOWAS’ capacity to promote peace and regional integration. More specifically USAID/WARP is working with ECOWAS on a common currency and other initiatives which will reduce formal and informal barriers to regional trade.
Preventing the Spread of HIV/AIDS: In Ghana, the HIV/AIDS virus currently has little impact on the macro-level economy. However, households in the lowest three wealth quintiles with a person living with HIV/AIDS are likely to fall below the poverty line, making efforts to reduce poverty less effective. While knowledge about HIV/AIDS is nearly universal in Ghana, a significant percentage of the population fails to use prevention methods.
Therefore, the most important challenge will be for Ghana to direct sufficient preventive interventions toward those groups (e.g., education sector) and geographical areas where transmission is highest, in order to reduce the number of new infections. USAID/Ghana’s strategy will identify and target the most-at-risks groups and develop interventions that will reduce risky behaviour. USAID is also working with the GoG to address the challenge of how to finance the clinical response to HIV/AIDS, where the annual cost of anti-retroviral treatment nationwide could equal tens of millions of dollars.
Reducing the Threat of Domestic Conflict: Chieftaincy disputes, extractive industry exploitation issues (both real and perceived), and resource (land and water) clashes are currently the major conflict triggers in Ghana which thwart development efforts. USAID/Ghana supports two alliances that strive to mitigate conflict: Catholic Relief Service’s Northern Ghana Peace-Keeping Initiative and a newly conceived Global Development Alliance with the key stakeholders in the extractive industries (Newmont Mining Company and Gold Fields). Both alliances will create forums for constructive dialogue between key stakeholders to settle issues and disputes before they escalate.
Expanding Export Opportunities: Ghana relies heavily on three primary exports, cocoa, gold and timber, to earn foreign currency. However, these commodities are greatly affected by world price fluctuations. The rising cost of imports such as fuel is also a major vulnerability for Ghana. Remittances of well over $2 billion annually, are Ghana’s fourth largest source of foreign exchange. However, these flows can decrease dramatically with economic downturns in the U.S. and Europe. USAID/Ghana’s Economic Growth Strategic Objective targets the expansion of non-traditional exports, such as mango, pineapple and horticulture products, to mitigate against price fluctuations of Ghana’s primary exports.
CROSS-CUTTING THEMES
A number of cross-cutting themes permeate this strategy. The most notable are gender mainstreaming; combating HIV/AIDS; good governance and decentralisation; inclusion of disenfranchised groups; empowering Ghanaians and private sector partnerships.
Gender: Women's empowerment is the key to Ghana’s development. Yet, women play a minor role in Ghana’s political and economic development. USAID programmes are gender sensitive in order to ensure both women and men are appropriately empowered. Each strategic objective collects relevant performance data, disaggregated by gender, in order to clearly show how both men and women are affected by USAID-supported activities. The Health programme, which historically has tended to focus on women, will include men to be more effective. The Education programme seeks increased enrolment of girls in primary schools, which also has a positive impact on boys’ enrolment. Under the Economic Growth programme, USAID helps women’s business associations and female entrepreneurs to market their products. The Democracy and Governance programme seeks to increase the voice of women by creating opportunities for them to advocate, to take leadership positions in citizen groups and government, and to run in elections.
HIV/AIDS: Each Strategic Objective helps in the fight against the spread of HIV/AIDS. The Health programme will lower the prevalence rate by targeting most-at-risk groups and preventing mother-to-child transmissions. The programme will also provide care and support to PLWHAs. The Education programme will reduce risky behaviour in teachers, students, out-of-school youth and parents. The Democracy and Governance programme will work with civil society organisations representing the interests of PLWHAs and assist local governments to effectively apply financial resources to combating the spread of the virus. The Economic Growth programme will encourage private sector employers to implement work place programmes that not only build awareness but also provide treatment to employees. The FFP programme provides food supplements to PLWHA and orphans.
Decentralisation: Centralised administrative and financial decision-making undermines local government’s ability to be fully responsive to the needs of Ghanaian citizens and advance development. Improved governance and the devolution of decision-making to the local level are important elements of USAID/Ghana’s programmes.
Institutional capacity-building is incorporated throughout the portfolio, at the local, district, and national levels. The Democracy and Governance programme works closely with District Assemblies to build their capacity to promote transparency, encourage public participation and respond to citizen demands. The Education programme assists PTAs and community-level school management committees to make teachers and administrators more accountable and provides grants to the District Assemblies to enhance oversight of basic education. The Health programme supports the GoG’s Community-based Health Planning and Service programme which will increase community involvement in health care. The Economic Growth programme works on national policies that encourage fiscal decentralisation.
Food Security: The Northern Region of Ghana is classified as savannah land with less than 1000mm of rainfall per year and long periodic droughts, similar to its neighbours, Burkina Faso and Niger. Poverty levels in the three northern regions of Upper East, Upper West and Northern, as well as north eastern Brong-Ahafo Region range from between 69 and 88 per cent making these regions the poorest and most vulnerable in the country. In these regions 47 per cent of the children are stunted; 44 per cent are underweight; and 11 per cent are wasted. USAID/Washington’s Food for Peace (FFP) Title II Programme, which is fully integrated into this strategy, addresses Ghana’s food security issues by increasing agricultural production and income for poor farmers (Economic Growth/ U.S Presidential Initiative to End Hunger in Africa [IEHA]); increasing access of communities to safe water and improved sanitation facilities (Health); improving health and nutrition of children under-five years old (Health); improving access to food for the highly vulnerable (Health); and improving quality of primary education in the northern regions, and increasing educational
opportunities for Ghanaian children, especially girls (Education). The completion dates for the current FFP multi-year assistance programmes range from September 2006 to September 2010. FFP funding, which is currently at $20 million per annum, is expected to drastically decline over the next five years. To avoid undermining this strategy and IEHA, USAID/Ghana will negotiate with USAID/FFP for a rational phase out of the FFP programme by 2010.
Disenfranchised and Vulnerable Groups: To the maximum extent practicable, this strategy will prioritise the inclusion of disenfranchised groups in all USAID/Ghana programmes. However, special programmes will be developed to support Muslim communities, particularly youth organisations, children with learning disabilities, the physically-challenged, especially during key elections, and children orphaned due to AIDS. For example, the Mission is undertaking, in collaboration with the Ghana Ministry of Education and Sports (MOES), an assessment of Islamic education in Ghana to help the MOES expand access to, and improve the quality of, educational services provided to Ghana’s Muslim population.
Empowering Ghanaians: USAID/Ghana’s strategy is focused on empowering individuals, communities, local and national government institutions and non-governmental organizations to attain Ghana’s development objectives.
The Democracy and Governance programme uses local expertise and Ghana’s national service volunteers to build capacity in civil society organisations and local governments. Prominent Ghanaian think tanks and non-governmental organisations are employed to strengthen Parliament. The Health programme empowers individuals by providing them with sufficient information to make informed health decisions. The Economic Growth programme builds private sector capacity and the Education programme will use the Ministry of Education’s own systems to improve reading and numeric results. USAID plans to increase host country contracting in its health and education programmes to strengthen country systems and ensure sustainability. To build local capacity, all USAID/Ghana solicitations require bidders to maximise Ghanaian expertise and the winning awards reflect this policy. Within the walls of USAID, local employees assume ever-increasing levels of responsibility as American staff are replaced by Ghanaians. Ghanaians now represent over 95 per cent of the total USAID and implementing partner population.
Public-Private Partnerships: USAID/Ghana has several public-private partnerships underway and more are in the design phase. Establishment of strategic partnerships between Ghanaian businesses and buyers in the U.S., European Union and other countries is a core component of the Economic Growth Strategic Objective. One successful alliance was recently established when the Economic Growth programme helped a Ghanaian fruit juice exporter implement technical and business production innovations and facilitated discussions with the Coca Cola Company, which resulted in a partnership to launch a new drink in the Nigerian market. USAID is also partnering with the University of Ghana and Harvard University to produce nine PhD economists to strengthen Ghana’s capacity for policy analysis and advocacy. In the Health Strategic Objective, a public-private alliance with Netmark, a Ghanaian firm, under the “Roll Back Malaria” initiative, aims to attract corporate sponsors to promote a voucher scheme for Insecticide Treated Nets (ITNs). USAID has also funded an alliance under the Democracy and Government Strategic Objective with a religious based organisation, Catholic Relief Services, to support conflict mitigation efforts in the northern regions. USAID/Ghana is also in the process of establishing a public-private alliance with major stakeholders in the mining industry to develop a best practice strategy for the entire industry.
Feature: Albert K. Salia
SINCE the establishment of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) office in Ghana in 1957, Ghana has benefited immensely from USAID’s programmes.
For instance, in the first eight years, 1957-1965, of USAID's presence in Ghana, the programme was involved in agriculture, training and infrastructure (including support for the construction of the Akosombo Dam).
In the period 1966-1974, the programme turned to balance of payments support in the form of programme loans for commodity imports. In addition to programme loans, USAID provided cotton and oil under soft loans for the industrial sector. USAID strengthened agricultural extension service, farmer training institutes and the GoG's seed multiplication service. The Mission also had a small family planning and health technical assistance programme.
In 1975, USAID increased the focus on rural sectors and had a major programme of support to increase maize production in the Brong-Ahafo and Ashanti regions. This included support for inputs and construction of feeder roads.
To prove that it was not just there to throw resources at the government and its institutions, the USAID started to raise questions around 1978, about the level of its support to Ghana due to the severe and growing macroeconomic distortions. The exchange rate was enormously overvalued, and interest rates were heavily negative. These distortions, combined with the Rawlings coup in 1981, led to a period of reduced programming. Funding averaged $38 million per annum plus $15 million in food aid commodities.
Fortunately, since the return to democratic rule in Ghana, the USAID sees Ghana with its population of 23 million, as a strong proponent of democracy and a country that possess considerable growth potential, setting it apart from other troubled countries in West Africa. As a result, it has embarked on a number of initiatives to help Ghana realise its development objectives.
Ghana has become a critical U.S. African partner, playing important leadership roles in key regional and global issues, such as peacekeeping, conflict resolution, counterterrorism, anti-trafficking in persons, HIV/AIDS prevention, family planning, infectious disease control, and economic development.
Under President J. A. Kufuor’s leadership, Ghana has worked diligently through the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the African Union to ensure that peace has an opportunity to take hold in Liberia, Cote d’Ivoire, Equatorial Guinea, Togo and elsewhere. In fact, Ghana is the world’s fourth largest contributor of UN peacekeeping forces and hosts the region’s operational level peacekeeping training facility.
Ghana is increasingly viewed as a gateway for American companies to the sub-region searching for viable West African partners and is the fourth largest non-oil producing purchaser of U.S. exports in sub-Saharan Africa. Ghana’s free market policy reforms have made the country attractive to U.S. trade and investors. Transparency International (2005 Corruption Perception Index) reports that Ghana is the least corrupt country in West Africa, and sixth least corrupt country in sub-Saharan Africa.
It is in line with these positive trademarks that the current Ghana-USAID strategic objective includes strategic goals that advance the growth of democracy and good governance; strengthen world economic growth, development and stability; and improve health, education, and environment.
Despite the fact that Ghana had made significant advances, daunting challenges remain. Key institutions like Parliament and District Assemblies remain weak and lack the resources or capacity to channel citizen concerns and hold government accountable.
In addition, civil society groups lack advocacy skills and resources to advocate for their needs and interests.
Agriculture employs 60 per cent of the workforce, but a vast majority of farmers are subsistence smallholders. They lack access to improved technologies, market information and linkages to the private sector. Environmental degradation especially in forests, is taking an increase toll on Ghana's ability to sustain livelihoods. Natural resource stocks are degraded the equivalent of 10 per cent of GDP per year and resource depletion is reducing GDP growth potential by an estimated one per cent annually.
Health care delivery at the village/community level is weak. Maternal and infant mortality rates are high. Under five mortality has not changed in the last 10 years. The mortality rate has remained at 111 per 1000 live births. Malaria is the cause for 40 per cent of outpatient visits, as well as 25 per cent of deaths of children under five years or age. The HIV/AIDS prevalence rate among high-risk groups, such as commercial sex workers, is as high as 60 per cent. In the northern regions, most people live on substantially less than $1 a day and have limited access to clean drinking water and sanitation facilities.
Another critical development challenge is the low quality of education. Out of every 100 Ghanaian school-age children, it is estimated that close to 90 will enter Grade One, but only 67 of these children will complete Grade Six. Of those completing primary schools, only seven will have the reading comprehension level of a child in Grade Six. Thus, access to quality basic education remains a major challenge in Ghana.
Food insecurity is a problem in Ghana, especially in the three northern regions. Low rainfall, poor soils, and low agricultural productivity are key factors to food insecurity in Ghana. These factors are further worsened by the subsistence nature of agriculture as well as low incomes, inadequate education and poor health status of the population. Most households lack stable foods for several months of the year, resulting in high rates of malnutrition.
While interest rates continue to fall, small holder farmers and owners of micro-, small- and medium-enterprises, which make up the vast majority of Ghana’s entrepreneurs, still find it difficult to access credit.
Although Ghana has a long history of political decentralisation, devolution of fiscal and administrative authority is hampered by the central government’s reluctance to relinquish power and by local governments’ inability, and in some instances unwillingness, to plan, budget, implement and monitor programmes in a participatory manner. Communities also lack the advocacy skills needed to effectively articulate their needs and participate in shaping the agenda of local government.
Educational opportunities remain limited, only 78 per cent of children who enroll in the first grade actually complete sixth grade. Access to basic education remains challenging for girls, children with disabilities, and those living in the three northern regions of the country.
It is in response to some of these challenges that the USAID Country Strategic Plan (2004 -2010) was developed in close consultation with the Government of Ghana and development partners.
USAID/Ghana supports the Government of Ghana's Poverty Reduction Strategy by strengthening decentralised governance systems, promoting private sector competitiveness, improving health care delivery, enhancing access to quality basic education, and increasing food security. Funding levels have averaged around $37 million per year from 2004 to 2007, plus an additional $22.5 million in food aid.
Ghana’s model of democratic governance and private sector-led growth offers a beacon of hope to West Africa and Sub-Saharan Africa. Ghana’s last three Presidential and Parliamentary elections (1996, 2000 and 2004) have been free and fair. The peaceful handover of power from one political party to a rival party after the 2000 Presidential election was a clear symbol of Ghana’s democratic maturation. Civil society organisations continue to emerge as dynamic change agents at all levels of society. A free and spirited media is thriving.
The Government of Ghana (GoG) has made significant strides toward advancing the key economic reforms needed to strengthen the economy and invigorate the private sector. As a result, petroleum subsidies are gradually being eliminated, inflation has steadily declined, the number of days to start a business has been reduced and interest rates have fallen. Ghana was the first country to volunteer to undergo the African Peer Review, a good governance initiative under the African Union’s New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD).
In support of these positive trends, Ghana through the USAID has also been a beneficiary of two major US Presidential initiatives. These initiatives are targeted at specific areas so as to achieve desired effect.The two U.S. Presidential initiatives are fully integrated into USAID/Ghana’s strategy.
One of them is the U.S. Presidential Initiative to End Hunger in Africa (IEHA): USAID/Ghana’s Economic Growth Strategic Objective will increase the competitiveness, capacity and efficiency of Ghana’s private sector in overseas and regional markets, with special emphasis on non-traditional exports. IEHA funding expands USAID/Ghana’s ability to enhance export competitiveness in the agricultural sector by: (a) helping farmers and exporters understand and adopt international standards for fresh and processed commodities; (b) integrating smallholder farmers into export supply chains; (c) promoting the adoption of biotechnology innovations within the context of sound biosafety regulations; (d) broadening access to finance; and (e) improving the enabling environment for trade and investment.
The second is the U.S. Presidential African Education Initiative (AEI): USAID/Ghana’s Basic Education Strategic Objective will improve the quality of, and increase access to basic education for Ghanaian children. AEI supports an innovative reading programme, helps rural out-of-school children transition to formal school, and provides critical training to teachers.
USAID-Ghana also has other initiatives to address the various challenges facing other sectors.
Management of Extractive Industries: Ghana has one of the world’s largest known reserves of gold. Newmont (U.S.) and Gold Fields (South Africa) together have the rights to mine vast amounts of Ghana’s identified reserves, with the gold produced by Gold Fields alone generating 12 per cent of Ghana’s foreign exchange earning. Unresolved issues involving environmental protection, resettlement, employment, land use and water rights have led to growing discontent within some of the affected mining communities. USAID is on the verge of embarking on an alliance with Newmont and Gold Fields, in coordination with the Ghana Chamber of Mines, which strives to (a) design a stakeholder process for developing best practice principles for all mining industry players to follow in Ghana and (b) work with all stakeholders (communities, local and national government and the mining companies) to improve health service delivery and the quality of education in the affected mining areas. Additionally, USAID/Ghana will target two mining districts and work to improve the District Assembly’s capacity to manage issues and promote sustained economic growth with input from civil society and citizens. With support from EGAT, USAID/WARP and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, USAID/Ghana will strive to build the capacity of the Ghana Environmental Protection Agency to monitor and report on key issues in the targeted GDA mining areas.
Youth: Approximately 30 per cent of Ghana’s population is between the ages of 15 and 25 years. Ghanaian youth have extremely limited opportunities for education, employment, and participation in constructive political and development processes. While Ghana’s youth represent an enormous resource, they are rarely seen as important agents of social and economic transformation. USAID/Ghana’s strategy will enhance youth participation in local governance, reduce youth unemployment, increase access to and use of basic health services (including HIV) and ensure that Ghana’s primary school children (its future youth) have sufficient reading and numeric skills to be productive citizens. Specifically, the USAID/Ghana Economic Growth strategic objective will work on the supply side with the government to create an environment for job creation through private sector growth and the Democracy, Health and Education Strategic Objectives will work on the demand side with youth organisations, schools, communities and governments to promote healthy, productive lifestyles and opportunities for youth engagement in local governance and development.
Urbanisation: Ghana’s towns and cities are growing at a tremendous rate as a result of rural-urban migration, land policies which limit the supply of usable land, and neglect of the three northern regions. In 2001, the urban poor equaled nearly five million. The number of slum dwellers is growing at a rate of 1.8 per cent per annum. To counter this trend, USAID/Ghana’s strategy will create economic opportunities in rural farming communities and secondary towns serving those rural areas, rationalise land tenure policies, extend quality education to under-served rural communities, and improve health services in urban and peri-urban districts in the southern part of the country.
Malaria, HIV/AIDS, and Other Infectious Diseases: Malaria is the leading cause of death in Ghana, especially among children under five and pregnant women. It is a drain on the health care system, accounting for 40 per cent of all outpatient attendance. Malaria is a major contributor to poverty — drug treatment and loss of workdays due to illness place an enormous financial strain on the resources of families, businesses and governments. Similarly, HIV/AIDS has a negative impact on productivity due to the high mortality rate and high drug treatment costs. The incidence of tuberculosis is growing at an alarming rate. In 1918, Ghana lost five per cent of its population to an Avian Influenza-like virus. Due to Ghana’s weak rural and peri-urban disease monitoring, diagnostic and treatment systems, it is feared that migratory birds infected with the Avian Influenza virus will intermingle undetected with Ghana’s rural domestic birds resulting in a catastrophic economic and health crisis. USAID/Ghana’s health programme addresses each of these threats. To combat malaria, USAID supports the GoG’s Roll Back Malaria strategy and social marketing of insecticide treated nets. USAID/Ghana’s HIV/AIDS prevention programme will change risky behaviour in the most-at-risk groups and reduce mother-to-child transmissions.
RISK FACTORS FOR VULNERABILITY
In addition to the inherent risks faced by any new democracy, Ghana's political and economic framework is vulnerable to shocks caused by volatile neighbours, domestic chieftaincy conflicts, corruption, resources (land and water), disputes, and external price shocks. The GoG, USAID, and other donors are working together to minimise these risks. Nevertheless, if realised, these risks have the potential to limit successful implementation of this strategy and reduce the impact of USAID assistance. Through careful monitoring and targeted interventions, USAID will strive to mitigate the following risks to the extent practicable:
Reducing Regional Conflict and Barriers to Trade: Ghana is located between volatile eastern (Togo and Nigeria) and western (Ivory Coast and Liberia) neighbours. Ghana has little capacity to effectively deal with a large inflow of refugees from its neighbours (there are 48,000 refugees currently living in Ghana, according to the UNHCR Statistical Yearbook). Ghana is playing an increasing role in promoting regional political stability. USAID/WARP works to strengthen ECOWAS’ capacity to promote peace and regional integration. More specifically USAID/WARP is working with ECOWAS on a common currency and other initiatives which will reduce formal and informal barriers to regional trade.
Preventing the Spread of HIV/AIDS: In Ghana, the HIV/AIDS virus currently has little impact on the macro-level economy. However, households in the lowest three wealth quintiles with a person living with HIV/AIDS are likely to fall below the poverty line, making efforts to reduce poverty less effective. While knowledge about HIV/AIDS is nearly universal in Ghana, a significant percentage of the population fails to use prevention methods.
Therefore, the most important challenge will be for Ghana to direct sufficient preventive interventions toward those groups (e.g., education sector) and geographical areas where transmission is highest, in order to reduce the number of new infections. USAID/Ghana’s strategy will identify and target the most-at-risks groups and develop interventions that will reduce risky behaviour. USAID is also working with the GoG to address the challenge of how to finance the clinical response to HIV/AIDS, where the annual cost of anti-retroviral treatment nationwide could equal tens of millions of dollars.
Reducing the Threat of Domestic Conflict: Chieftaincy disputes, extractive industry exploitation issues (both real and perceived), and resource (land and water) clashes are currently the major conflict triggers in Ghana which thwart development efforts. USAID/Ghana supports two alliances that strive to mitigate conflict: Catholic Relief Service’s Northern Ghana Peace-Keeping Initiative and a newly conceived Global Development Alliance with the key stakeholders in the extractive industries (Newmont Mining Company and Gold Fields). Both alliances will create forums for constructive dialogue between key stakeholders to settle issues and disputes before they escalate.
Expanding Export Opportunities: Ghana relies heavily on three primary exports, cocoa, gold and timber, to earn foreign currency. However, these commodities are greatly affected by world price fluctuations. The rising cost of imports such as fuel is also a major vulnerability for Ghana. Remittances of well over $2 billion annually, are Ghana’s fourth largest source of foreign exchange. However, these flows can decrease dramatically with economic downturns in the U.S. and Europe. USAID/Ghana’s Economic Growth Strategic Objective targets the expansion of non-traditional exports, such as mango, pineapple and horticulture products, to mitigate against price fluctuations of Ghana’s primary exports.
CROSS-CUTTING THEMES
A number of cross-cutting themes permeate this strategy. The most notable are gender mainstreaming; combating HIV/AIDS; good governance and decentralisation; inclusion of disenfranchised groups; empowering Ghanaians and private sector partnerships.
Gender: Women's empowerment is the key to Ghana’s development. Yet, women play a minor role in Ghana’s political and economic development. USAID programmes are gender sensitive in order to ensure both women and men are appropriately empowered. Each strategic objective collects relevant performance data, disaggregated by gender, in order to clearly show how both men and women are affected by USAID-supported activities. The Health programme, which historically has tended to focus on women, will include men to be more effective. The Education programme seeks increased enrolment of girls in primary schools, which also has a positive impact on boys’ enrolment. Under the Economic Growth programme, USAID helps women’s business associations and female entrepreneurs to market their products. The Democracy and Governance programme seeks to increase the voice of women by creating opportunities for them to advocate, to take leadership positions in citizen groups and government, and to run in elections.
HIV/AIDS: Each Strategic Objective helps in the fight against the spread of HIV/AIDS. The Health programme will lower the prevalence rate by targeting most-at-risk groups and preventing mother-to-child transmissions. The programme will also provide care and support to PLWHAs. The Education programme will reduce risky behaviour in teachers, students, out-of-school youth and parents. The Democracy and Governance programme will work with civil society organisations representing the interests of PLWHAs and assist local governments to effectively apply financial resources to combating the spread of the virus. The Economic Growth programme will encourage private sector employers to implement work place programmes that not only build awareness but also provide treatment to employees. The FFP programme provides food supplements to PLWHA and orphans.
Decentralisation: Centralised administrative and financial decision-making undermines local government’s ability to be fully responsive to the needs of Ghanaian citizens and advance development. Improved governance and the devolution of decision-making to the local level are important elements of USAID/Ghana’s programmes.
Institutional capacity-building is incorporated throughout the portfolio, at the local, district, and national levels. The Democracy and Governance programme works closely with District Assemblies to build their capacity to promote transparency, encourage public participation and respond to citizen demands. The Education programme assists PTAs and community-level school management committees to make teachers and administrators more accountable and provides grants to the District Assemblies to enhance oversight of basic education. The Health programme supports the GoG’s Community-based Health Planning and Service programme which will increase community involvement in health care. The Economic Growth programme works on national policies that encourage fiscal decentralisation.
Food Security: The Northern Region of Ghana is classified as savannah land with less than 1000mm of rainfall per year and long periodic droughts, similar to its neighbours, Burkina Faso and Niger. Poverty levels in the three northern regions of Upper East, Upper West and Northern, as well as north eastern Brong-Ahafo Region range from between 69 and 88 per cent making these regions the poorest and most vulnerable in the country. In these regions 47 per cent of the children are stunted; 44 per cent are underweight; and 11 per cent are wasted. USAID/Washington’s Food for Peace (FFP) Title II Programme, which is fully integrated into this strategy, addresses Ghana’s food security issues by increasing agricultural production and income for poor farmers (Economic Growth/ U.S Presidential Initiative to End Hunger in Africa [IEHA]); increasing access of communities to safe water and improved sanitation facilities (Health); improving health and nutrition of children under-five years old (Health); improving access to food for the highly vulnerable (Health); and improving quality of primary education in the northern regions, and increasing educational
opportunities for Ghanaian children, especially girls (Education). The completion dates for the current FFP multi-year assistance programmes range from September 2006 to September 2010. FFP funding, which is currently at $20 million per annum, is expected to drastically decline over the next five years. To avoid undermining this strategy and IEHA, USAID/Ghana will negotiate with USAID/FFP for a rational phase out of the FFP programme by 2010.
Disenfranchised and Vulnerable Groups: To the maximum extent practicable, this strategy will prioritise the inclusion of disenfranchised groups in all USAID/Ghana programmes. However, special programmes will be developed to support Muslim communities, particularly youth organisations, children with learning disabilities, the physically-challenged, especially during key elections, and children orphaned due to AIDS. For example, the Mission is undertaking, in collaboration with the Ghana Ministry of Education and Sports (MOES), an assessment of Islamic education in Ghana to help the MOES expand access to, and improve the quality of, educational services provided to Ghana’s Muslim population.
Empowering Ghanaians: USAID/Ghana’s strategy is focused on empowering individuals, communities, local and national government institutions and non-governmental organizations to attain Ghana’s development objectives.
The Democracy and Governance programme uses local expertise and Ghana’s national service volunteers to build capacity in civil society organisations and local governments. Prominent Ghanaian think tanks and non-governmental organisations are employed to strengthen Parliament. The Health programme empowers individuals by providing them with sufficient information to make informed health decisions. The Economic Growth programme builds private sector capacity and the Education programme will use the Ministry of Education’s own systems to improve reading and numeric results. USAID plans to increase host country contracting in its health and education programmes to strengthen country systems and ensure sustainability. To build local capacity, all USAID/Ghana solicitations require bidders to maximise Ghanaian expertise and the winning awards reflect this policy. Within the walls of USAID, local employees assume ever-increasing levels of responsibility as American staff are replaced by Ghanaians. Ghanaians now represent over 95 per cent of the total USAID and implementing partner population.
Public-Private Partnerships: USAID/Ghana has several public-private partnerships underway and more are in the design phase. Establishment of strategic partnerships between Ghanaian businesses and buyers in the U.S., European Union and other countries is a core component of the Economic Growth Strategic Objective. One successful alliance was recently established when the Economic Growth programme helped a Ghanaian fruit juice exporter implement technical and business production innovations and facilitated discussions with the Coca Cola Company, which resulted in a partnership to launch a new drink in the Nigerian market. USAID is also partnering with the University of Ghana and Harvard University to produce nine PhD economists to strengthen Ghana’s capacity for policy analysis and advocacy. In the Health Strategic Objective, a public-private alliance with Netmark, a Ghanaian firm, under the “Roll Back Malaria” initiative, aims to attract corporate sponsors to promote a voucher scheme for Insecticide Treated Nets (ITNs). USAID has also funded an alliance under the Democracy and Government Strategic Objective with a religious based organisation, Catholic Relief Services, to support conflict mitigation efforts in the northern regions. USAID/Ghana is also in the process of establishing a public-private alliance with major stakeholders in the mining industry to develop a best practice strategy for the entire industry.
USAID - Pivot of US development agenda
Page 20: February 19, 2008.
Feature: Albert K. Salia
SINCE the establishment of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) office in Ghana in 1957, Ghana has benefited immensely from USAID’s programmes.
For instance, in the first eight years, 1957-1965, of USAID's presence in Ghana, the programme was involved in agriculture, training and infrastructure (including support for the construction of the Akosombo Dam).
In the period 1966-1974, the programme turned to balance of payments support in the form of programme loans for commodity imports. In addition to programme loans, USAID provided cotton and oil under soft loans for the industrial sector. USAID strengthened agricultural extension service, farmer training institutes and the GoG's seed multiplication service. The Mission also had a small family planning and health technical assistance programme.
In 1975, USAID increased the focus on rural sectors and had a major programme of support to increase maize production in the Brong-Ahafo and Ashanti regions. This included support for inputs and construction of feeder roads.
To prove that it was not just there to throw resources at the government and its institutions, the USAID started to raise questions around 1978, about the level of its support to Ghana due to the severe and growing macroeconomic distortions. The exchange rate was enormously overvalued, and interest rates were heavily negative. These distortions, combined with the Rawlings coup in 1981, led to a period of reduced programming. Funding averaged $38 million per annum plus $15 million in food aid commodities.
Fortunately, since the return to democratic rule in Ghana, the USAID sees Ghana with its population of 23 million, as a strong proponent of democracy and a country that possess considerable growth potential, setting it apart from other troubled countries in West Africa. As a result, it has embarked on a number of initiatives to help Ghana realise its development objectives.
Ghana has become a critical U.S. African partner, playing important leadership roles in key regional and global issues, such as peacekeeping, conflict resolution, counterterrorism, anti-trafficking in persons, HIV/AIDS prevention, family planning, infectious disease control, and economic development.
Under President J. A. Kufuor’s leadership, Ghana has worked diligently through the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the African Union to ensure that peace has an opportunity to take hold in Liberia, Cote d’Ivoire, Equatorial Guinea, Togo and elsewhere. In fact, Ghana is the world’s fourth largest contributor of UN peacekeeping forces and hosts the region’s operational level peacekeeping training facility.
Ghana is increasingly viewed as a gateway for American companies to the sub-region searching for viable West African partners and is the fourth largest non-oil producing purchaser of U.S. exports in sub-Saharan Africa. Ghana’s free market policy reforms have made the country attractive to U.S. trade and investors. Transparency International (2005 Corruption Perception Index) reports that Ghana is the least corrupt country in West Africa, and sixth least corrupt country in sub-Saharan Africa.
It is in line with these positive trademarks that the current Ghana-USAID strategic objective includes strategic goals that advance the growth of democracy and good governance; strengthen world economic growth, development and stability; and improve health, education, and environment.
Despite the fact that Ghana had made significant advances, daunting challenges remain. Key institutions like Parliament and District Assemblies remain weak and lack the resources or capacity to channel citizen concerns and hold government accountable.
In addition, civil society groups lack advocacy skills and resources to advocate for their needs and interests.
Agriculture employs 60 per cent of the workforce, but a vast majority of farmers are subsistence smallholders. They lack access to improved technologies, market information and linkages to the private sector. Environmental degradation especially in forests, is taking an increase toll on Ghana's ability to sustain livelihoods. Natural resource stocks are degraded the equivalent of 10 per cent of GDP per year and resource depletion is reducing GDP growth potential by an estimated one per cent annually.
Health care delivery at the village/community level is weak. Maternal and infant mortality rates are high. Under five mortality has not changed in the last 10 years. The mortality rate has remained at 111 per 1000 live births. Malaria is the cause for 40 per cent of outpatient visits, as well as 25 per cent of deaths of children under five years or age. The HIV/AIDS prevalence rate among high-risk groups, such as commercial sex workers, is as high as 60 per cent. In the northern regions, most people live on substantially less than $1 a day and have limited access to clean drinking water and sanitation facilities.
Another critical development challenge is the low quality of education. Out of every 100 Ghanaian school-age children, it is estimated that close to 90 will enter Grade One, but only 67 of these children will complete Grade Six. Of those completing primary schools, only seven will have the reading comprehension level of a child in Grade Six. Thus, access to quality basic education remains a major challenge in Ghana.
Food insecurity is a problem in Ghana, especially in the three northern regions. Low rainfall, poor soils, and low agricultural productivity are key factors to food insecurity in Ghana. These factors are further worsened by the subsistence nature of agriculture as well as low incomes, inadequate education and poor health status of the population. Most households lack stable foods for several months of the year, resulting in high rates of malnutrition.
While interest rates continue to fall, small holder farmers and owners of micro-, small- and medium-enterprises, which make up the vast majority of Ghana’s entrepreneurs, still find it difficult to access credit.
Although Ghana has a long history of political decentralisation, devolution of fiscal and administrative authority is hampered by the central government’s reluctance to relinquish power and by local governments’ inability, and in some instances unwillingness, to plan, budget, implement and monitor programmes in a participatory manner. Communities also lack the advocacy skills needed to effectively articulate their needs and participate in shaping the agenda of local government.
Educational opportunities remain limited, only 78 per cent of children who enroll in the first grade actually complete sixth grade. Access to basic education remains challenging for girls, children with disabilities, and those living in the three northern regions of the country.
It is in response to some of these challenges that the USAID Country Strategic Plan (2004 -2010) was developed in close consultation with the Government of Ghana and development partners.
USAID/Ghana supports the Government of Ghana's Poverty Reduction Strategy by strengthening decentralised governance systems, promoting private sector competitiveness, improving health care delivery, enhancing access to quality basic education, and increasing food security. Funding levels have averaged around $37 million per year from 2004 to 2007, plus an additional $22.5 million in food aid.
Ghana’s model of democratic governance and private sector-led growth offers a beacon of hope to West Africa and Sub-Saharan Africa. Ghana’s last three Presidential and Parliamentary elections (1996, 2000 and 2004) have been free and fair. The peaceful handover of power from one political party to a rival party after the 2000 Presidential election was a clear symbol of Ghana’s democratic maturation. Civil society organisations continue to emerge as dynamic change agents at all levels of society. A free and spirited media is thriving.
The Government of Ghana (GoG) has made significant strides toward advancing the key economic reforms needed to strengthen the economy and invigorate the private sector. As a result, petroleum subsidies are gradually being eliminated, inflation has steadily declined, the number of days to start a business has been reduced and interest rates have fallen. Ghana was the first country to volunteer to undergo the African Peer Review, a good governance initiative under the African Union’s New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD).
In support of these positive trends, Ghana through the USAID has also been a beneficiary of two major US Presidential initiatives. These initiatives are targeted at specific areas so as to achieve desired effect.The two U.S. Presidential initiatives are fully integrated into USAID/Ghana’s strategy.
One of them is the U.S. Presidential Initiative to End Hunger in Africa (IEHA): USAID/Ghana’s Economic Growth Strategic Objective will increase the competitiveness, capacity and efficiency of Ghana’s private sector in overseas and regional markets, with special emphasis on non-traditional exports. IEHA funding expands USAID/Ghana’s ability to enhance export competitiveness in the agricultural sector by: (a) helping farmers and exporters understand and adopt international standards for fresh and processed commodities; (b) integrating smallholder farmers into export supply chains; (c) promoting the adoption of biotechnology innovations within the context of sound biosafety regulations; (d) broadening access to finance; and (e) improving the enabling environment for trade and investment.
The second is the U.S. Presidential African Education Initiative (AEI): USAID/Ghana’s Basic Education Strategic Objective will improve the quality of, and increase access to basic education for Ghanaian children. AEI supports an innovative reading programme, helps rural out-of-school children transition to formal school, and provides critical training to teachers.
USAID-Ghana also has other initiatives to address the various challenges facing other sectors.
Management of Extractive Industries: Ghana has one of the world’s largest known reserves of gold. Newmont (U.S.) and Gold Fields (South Africa) together have the rights to mine vast amounts of Ghana’s identified reserves, with the gold produced by Gold Fields alone generating 12 per cent of Ghana’s foreign exchange earning. Unresolved issues involving environmental protection, resettlement, employment, land use and water rights have led to growing discontent within some of the affected mining communities. USAID is on the verge of embarking on an alliance with Newmont and Gold Fields, in coordination with the Ghana Chamber of Mines, which strives to (a) design a stakeholder process for developing best practice principles for all mining industry players to follow in Ghana and (b) work with all stakeholders (communities, local and national government and the mining companies) to improve health service delivery and the quality of education in the affected mining areas. Additionally, USAID/Ghana will target two mining districts and work to improve the District Assembly’s capacity to manage issues and promote sustained economic growth with input from civil society and citizens. With support from EGAT, USAID/WARP and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, USAID/Ghana will strive to build the capacity of the Ghana Environmental Protection Agency to monitor and report on key issues in the targeted GDA mining areas.
Youth: Approximately 30 per cent of Ghana’s population is between the ages of 15 and 25 years. Ghanaian youth have extremely limited opportunities for education, employment, and participation in constructive political and development processes. While Ghana’s youth represent an enormous resource, they are rarely seen as important agents of social and economic transformation. USAID/Ghana’s strategy will enhance youth participation in local governance, reduce youth unemployment, increase access to and use of basic health services (including HIV) and ensure that Ghana’s primary school children (its future youth) have sufficient reading and numeric skills to be productive citizens. Specifically, the USAID/Ghana Economic Growth strategic objective will work on the supply side with the government to create an environment for job creation through private sector growth and the Democracy, Health and Education Strategic Objectives will work on the demand side with youth organisations, schools, communities and governments to promote healthy, productive lifestyles and opportunities for youth engagement in local governance and development.
Urbanisation: Ghana’s towns and cities are growing at a tremendous rate as a result of rural-urban migration, land policies which limit the supply of usable land, and neglect of the three northern regions. In 2001, the urban poor equaled nearly five million. The number of slum dwellers is growing at a rate of 1.8 per cent per annum. To counter this trend, USAID/Ghana’s strategy will create economic opportunities in rural farming communities and secondary towns serving those rural areas, rationalise land tenure policies, extend quality education to under-served rural communities, and improve health services in urban and peri-urban districts in the southern part of the country.
Malaria, HIV/AIDS, and Other Infectious Diseases: Malaria is the leading cause of death in Ghana, especially among children under five and pregnant women. It is a drain on the health care system, accounting for 40 per cent of all outpatient attendance. Malaria is a major contributor to poverty — drug treatment and loss of workdays due to illness place an enormous financial strain on the resources of families, businesses and governments. Similarly, HIV/AIDS has a negative impact on productivity due to the high mortality rate and high drug treatment costs. The incidence of tuberculosis is growing at an alarming rate. In 1918, Ghana lost five per cent of its population to an Avian Influenza-like virus. Due to Ghana’s weak rural and peri-urban disease monitoring, diagnostic and treatment systems, it is feared that migratory birds infected with the Avian Influenza virus will intermingle undetected with Ghana’s rural domestic birds resulting in a catastrophic economic and health crisis. USAID/Ghana’s health programme addresses each of these threats. To combat malaria, USAID supports the GoG’s Roll Back Malaria strategy and social marketing of insecticide treated nets. USAID/Ghana’s HIV/AIDS prevention programme will change risky behaviour in the most-at-risk groups and reduce mother-to-child transmissions.
RISK FACTORS FOR VULNERABILITY
In addition to the inherent risks faced by any new democracy, Ghana's political and economic framework is vulnerable to shocks caused by volatile neighbours, domestic chieftaincy conflicts, corruption, resources (land and water), disputes, and external price shocks. The GoG, USAID, and other donors are working together to minimise these risks. Nevertheless, if realised, these risks have the potential to limit successful implementation of this strategy and reduce the impact of USAID assistance. Through careful monitoring and targeted interventions, USAID will strive to mitigate the following risks to the extent practicable:
Reducing Regional Conflict and Barriers to Trade: Ghana is located between volatile eastern (Togo and Nigeria) and western (Ivory Coast and Liberia) neighbours. Ghana has little capacity to effectively deal with a large inflow of refugees from its neighbours (there are 48,000 refugees currently living in Ghana, according to the UNHCR Statistical Yearbook). Ghana is playing an increasing role in promoting regional political stability. USAID/WARP works to strengthen ECOWAS’ capacity to promote peace and regional integration. More specifically USAID/WARP is working with ECOWAS on a common currency and other initiatives which will reduce formal and informal barriers to regional trade.
Preventing the Spread of HIV/AIDS: In Ghana, the HIV/AIDS virus currently has little impact on the macro-level economy. However, households in the lowest three wealth quintiles with a person living with HIV/AIDS are likely to fall below the poverty line, making efforts to reduce poverty less effective. While knowledge about HIV/AIDS is nearly universal in Ghana, a significant percentage of the population fails to use prevention methods.
Therefore, the most important challenge will be for Ghana to direct sufficient preventive interventions toward those groups (e.g., education sector) and geographical areas where transmission is highest, in order to reduce the number of new infections. USAID/Ghana’s strategy will identify and target the most-at-risks groups and develop interventions that will reduce risky behaviour. USAID is also working with the GoG to address the challenge of how to finance the clinical response to HIV/AIDS, where the annual cost of anti-retroviral treatment nationwide could equal tens of millions of dollars.
Reducing the Threat of Domestic Conflict: Chieftaincy disputes, extractive industry exploitation issues (both real and perceived), and resource (land and water) clashes are currently the major conflict triggers in Ghana which thwart development efforts. USAID/Ghana supports two alliances that strive to mitigate conflict: Catholic Relief Service’s Northern Ghana Peace-Keeping Initiative and a newly conceived Global Development Alliance with the key stakeholders in the extractive industries (Newmont Mining Company and Gold Fields). Both alliances will create forums for constructive dialogue between key stakeholders to settle issues and disputes before they escalate.
Expanding Export Opportunities: Ghana relies heavily on three primary exports, cocoa, gold and timber, to earn foreign currency. However, these commodities are greatly affected by world price fluctuations. The rising cost of imports such as fuel is also a major vulnerability for Ghana. Remittances of well over $2 billion annually, are Ghana’s fourth largest source of foreign exchange. However, these flows can decrease dramatically with economic downturns in the U.S. and Europe. USAID/Ghana’s Economic Growth Strategic Objective targets the expansion of non-traditional exports, such as mango, pineapple and horticulture products, to mitigate against price fluctuations of Ghana’s primary exports.
CROSS-CUTTING THEMES
A number of cross-cutting themes permeate this strategy. The most notable are gender mainstreaming; combating HIV/AIDS; good governance and decentralisation; inclusion of disenfranchised groups; empowering Ghanaians and private sector partnerships.
Gender: Women's empowerment is the key to Ghana’s development. Yet, women play a minor role in Ghana’s political and economic development. USAID programmes are gender sensitive in order to ensure both women and men are appropriately empowered. Each strategic objective collects relevant performance data, disaggregated by gender, in order to clearly show how both men and women are affected by USAID-supported activities. The Health programme, which historically has tended to focus on women, will include men to be more effective. The Education programme seeks increased enrolment of girls in primary schools, which also has a positive impact on boys’ enrolment. Under the Economic Growth programme, USAID helps women’s business associations and female entrepreneurs to market their products. The Democracy and Governance programme seeks to increase the voice of women by creating opportunities for them to advocate, to take leadership positions in citizen groups and government, and to run in elections.
HIV/AIDS: Each Strategic Objective helps in the fight against the spread of HIV/AIDS. The Health programme will lower the prevalence rate by targeting most-at-risk groups and preventing mother-to-child transmissions. The programme will also provide care and support to PLWHAs. The Education programme will reduce risky behaviour in teachers, students, out-of-school youth and parents. The Democracy and Governance programme will work with civil society organisations representing the interests of PLWHAs and assist local governments to effectively apply financial resources to combating the spread of the virus. The Economic Growth programme will encourage private sector employers to implement work place programmes that not only build awareness but also provide treatment to employees. The FFP programme provides food supplements to PLWHA and orphans.
Decentralisation: Centralised administrative and financial decision-making undermines local government’s ability to be fully responsive to the needs of Ghanaian citizens and advance development. Improved governance and the devolution of decision-making to the local level are important elements of USAID/Ghana’s programmes.
Institutional capacity-building is incorporated throughout the portfolio, at the local, district, and national levels. The Democracy and Governance programme works closely with District Assemblies to build their capacity to promote transparency, encourage public participation and respond to citizen demands. The Education programme assists PTAs and community-level school management committees to make teachers and administrators more accountable and provides grants to the District Assemblies to enhance oversight of basic education. The Health programme supports the GoG’s Community-based Health Planning and Service programme which will increase community involvement in health care. The Economic Growth programme works on national policies that encourage fiscal decentralisation.
Food Security: The Northern Region of Ghana is classified as savannah land with less than 1000mm of rainfall per year and long periodic droughts, similar to its neighbours, Burkina Faso and Niger. Poverty levels in the three northern regions of Upper East, Upper West and Northern, as well as north eastern Brong-Ahafo Region range from between 69 and 88 per cent making these regions the poorest and most vulnerable in the country. In these regions 47 per cent of the children are stunted; 44 per cent are underweight; and 11 per cent are wasted. USAID/Washington’s Food for Peace (FFP) Title II Programme, which is fully integrated into this strategy, addresses Ghana’s food security issues by increasing agricultural production and income for poor farmers (Economic Growth/ U.S Presidential Initiative to End Hunger in Africa [IEHA]); increasing access of communities to safe water and improved sanitation facilities (Health); improving health and nutrition of children under-five years old (Health); improving access to food for the highly vulnerable (Health); and improving quality of primary education in the northern regions, and increasing educational
opportunities for Ghanaian children, especially girls (Education). The completion dates for the current FFP multi-year assistance programmes range from September 2006 to September 2010. FFP funding, which is currently at $20 million per annum, is expected to drastically decline over the next five years. To avoid undermining this strategy and IEHA, USAID/Ghana will negotiate with USAID/FFP for a rational phase out of the FFP programme by 2010.
Disenfranchised and Vulnerable Groups: To the maximum extent practicable, this strategy will prioritise the inclusion of disenfranchised groups in all USAID/Ghana programmes. However, special programmes will be developed to support Muslim communities, particularly youth organisations, children with learning disabilities, the physically-challenged, especially during key elections, and children orphaned due to AIDS. For example, the Mission is undertaking, in collaboration with the Ghana Ministry of Education and Sports (MOES), an assessment of Islamic education in Ghana to help the MOES expand access to, and improve the quality of, educational services provided to Ghana’s Muslim population.
Empowering Ghanaians: USAID/Ghana’s strategy is focused on empowering individuals, communities, local and national government institutions and non-governmental organizations to attain Ghana’s development objectives.
The Democracy and Governance programme uses local expertise and Ghana’s national service volunteers to build capacity in civil society organisations and local governments. Prominent Ghanaian think tanks and non-governmental organisations are employed to strengthen Parliament. The Health programme empowers individuals by providing them with sufficient information to make informed health decisions. The Economic Growth programme builds private sector capacity and the Education programme will use the Ministry of Education’s own systems to improve reading and numeric results. USAID plans to increase host country contracting in its health and education programmes to strengthen country systems and ensure sustainability. To build local capacity, all USAID/Ghana solicitations require bidders to maximise Ghanaian expertise and the winning awards reflect this policy. Within the walls of USAID, local employees assume ever-increasing levels of responsibility as American staff are replaced by Ghanaians. Ghanaians now represent over 95 per cent of the total USAID and implementing partner population.
Public-Private Partnerships: USAID/Ghana has several public-private partnerships underway and more are in the design phase. Establishment of strategic partnerships between Ghanaian businesses and buyers in the U.S., European Union and other countries is a core component of the Economic Growth Strategic Objective. One successful alliance was recently established when the Economic Growth programme helped a Ghanaian fruit juice exporter implement technical and business production innovations and facilitated discussions with the Coca Cola Company, which resulted in a partnership to launch a new drink in the Nigerian market. USAID is also partnering with the University of Ghana and Harvard University to produce nine PhD economists to strengthen Ghana’s capacity for policy analysis and advocacy. In the Health Strategic Objective, a public-private alliance with Netmark, a Ghanaian firm, under the “Roll Back Malaria” initiative, aims to attract corporate sponsors to promote a voucher scheme for Insecticide Treated Nets (ITNs). USAID has also funded an alliance under the Democracy and Government Strategic Objective with a religious based organisation, Catholic Relief Services, to support conflict mitigation efforts in the northern regions. USAID/Ghana is also in the process of establishing a public-private alliance with major stakeholders in the mining industry to develop a best practice strategy for the entire industry.
Feature: Albert K. Salia
SINCE the establishment of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) office in Ghana in 1957, Ghana has benefited immensely from USAID’s programmes.
For instance, in the first eight years, 1957-1965, of USAID's presence in Ghana, the programme was involved in agriculture, training and infrastructure (including support for the construction of the Akosombo Dam).
In the period 1966-1974, the programme turned to balance of payments support in the form of programme loans for commodity imports. In addition to programme loans, USAID provided cotton and oil under soft loans for the industrial sector. USAID strengthened agricultural extension service, farmer training institutes and the GoG's seed multiplication service. The Mission also had a small family planning and health technical assistance programme.
In 1975, USAID increased the focus on rural sectors and had a major programme of support to increase maize production in the Brong-Ahafo and Ashanti regions. This included support for inputs and construction of feeder roads.
To prove that it was not just there to throw resources at the government and its institutions, the USAID started to raise questions around 1978, about the level of its support to Ghana due to the severe and growing macroeconomic distortions. The exchange rate was enormously overvalued, and interest rates were heavily negative. These distortions, combined with the Rawlings coup in 1981, led to a period of reduced programming. Funding averaged $38 million per annum plus $15 million in food aid commodities.
Fortunately, since the return to democratic rule in Ghana, the USAID sees Ghana with its population of 23 million, as a strong proponent of democracy and a country that possess considerable growth potential, setting it apart from other troubled countries in West Africa. As a result, it has embarked on a number of initiatives to help Ghana realise its development objectives.
Ghana has become a critical U.S. African partner, playing important leadership roles in key regional and global issues, such as peacekeeping, conflict resolution, counterterrorism, anti-trafficking in persons, HIV/AIDS prevention, family planning, infectious disease control, and economic development.
Under President J. A. Kufuor’s leadership, Ghana has worked diligently through the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the African Union to ensure that peace has an opportunity to take hold in Liberia, Cote d’Ivoire, Equatorial Guinea, Togo and elsewhere. In fact, Ghana is the world’s fourth largest contributor of UN peacekeeping forces and hosts the region’s operational level peacekeeping training facility.
Ghana is increasingly viewed as a gateway for American companies to the sub-region searching for viable West African partners and is the fourth largest non-oil producing purchaser of U.S. exports in sub-Saharan Africa. Ghana’s free market policy reforms have made the country attractive to U.S. trade and investors. Transparency International (2005 Corruption Perception Index) reports that Ghana is the least corrupt country in West Africa, and sixth least corrupt country in sub-Saharan Africa.
It is in line with these positive trademarks that the current Ghana-USAID strategic objective includes strategic goals that advance the growth of democracy and good governance; strengthen world economic growth, development and stability; and improve health, education, and environment.
Despite the fact that Ghana had made significant advances, daunting challenges remain. Key institutions like Parliament and District Assemblies remain weak and lack the resources or capacity to channel citizen concerns and hold government accountable.
In addition, civil society groups lack advocacy skills and resources to advocate for their needs and interests.
Agriculture employs 60 per cent of the workforce, but a vast majority of farmers are subsistence smallholders. They lack access to improved technologies, market information and linkages to the private sector. Environmental degradation especially in forests, is taking an increase toll on Ghana's ability to sustain livelihoods. Natural resource stocks are degraded the equivalent of 10 per cent of GDP per year and resource depletion is reducing GDP growth potential by an estimated one per cent annually.
Health care delivery at the village/community level is weak. Maternal and infant mortality rates are high. Under five mortality has not changed in the last 10 years. The mortality rate has remained at 111 per 1000 live births. Malaria is the cause for 40 per cent of outpatient visits, as well as 25 per cent of deaths of children under five years or age. The HIV/AIDS prevalence rate among high-risk groups, such as commercial sex workers, is as high as 60 per cent. In the northern regions, most people live on substantially less than $1 a day and have limited access to clean drinking water and sanitation facilities.
Another critical development challenge is the low quality of education. Out of every 100 Ghanaian school-age children, it is estimated that close to 90 will enter Grade One, but only 67 of these children will complete Grade Six. Of those completing primary schools, only seven will have the reading comprehension level of a child in Grade Six. Thus, access to quality basic education remains a major challenge in Ghana.
Food insecurity is a problem in Ghana, especially in the three northern regions. Low rainfall, poor soils, and low agricultural productivity are key factors to food insecurity in Ghana. These factors are further worsened by the subsistence nature of agriculture as well as low incomes, inadequate education and poor health status of the population. Most households lack stable foods for several months of the year, resulting in high rates of malnutrition.
While interest rates continue to fall, small holder farmers and owners of micro-, small- and medium-enterprises, which make up the vast majority of Ghana’s entrepreneurs, still find it difficult to access credit.
Although Ghana has a long history of political decentralisation, devolution of fiscal and administrative authority is hampered by the central government’s reluctance to relinquish power and by local governments’ inability, and in some instances unwillingness, to plan, budget, implement and monitor programmes in a participatory manner. Communities also lack the advocacy skills needed to effectively articulate their needs and participate in shaping the agenda of local government.
Educational opportunities remain limited, only 78 per cent of children who enroll in the first grade actually complete sixth grade. Access to basic education remains challenging for girls, children with disabilities, and those living in the three northern regions of the country.
It is in response to some of these challenges that the USAID Country Strategic Plan (2004 -2010) was developed in close consultation with the Government of Ghana and development partners.
USAID/Ghana supports the Government of Ghana's Poverty Reduction Strategy by strengthening decentralised governance systems, promoting private sector competitiveness, improving health care delivery, enhancing access to quality basic education, and increasing food security. Funding levels have averaged around $37 million per year from 2004 to 2007, plus an additional $22.5 million in food aid.
Ghana’s model of democratic governance and private sector-led growth offers a beacon of hope to West Africa and Sub-Saharan Africa. Ghana’s last three Presidential and Parliamentary elections (1996, 2000 and 2004) have been free and fair. The peaceful handover of power from one political party to a rival party after the 2000 Presidential election was a clear symbol of Ghana’s democratic maturation. Civil society organisations continue to emerge as dynamic change agents at all levels of society. A free and spirited media is thriving.
The Government of Ghana (GoG) has made significant strides toward advancing the key economic reforms needed to strengthen the economy and invigorate the private sector. As a result, petroleum subsidies are gradually being eliminated, inflation has steadily declined, the number of days to start a business has been reduced and interest rates have fallen. Ghana was the first country to volunteer to undergo the African Peer Review, a good governance initiative under the African Union’s New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD).
In support of these positive trends, Ghana through the USAID has also been a beneficiary of two major US Presidential initiatives. These initiatives are targeted at specific areas so as to achieve desired effect.The two U.S. Presidential initiatives are fully integrated into USAID/Ghana’s strategy.
One of them is the U.S. Presidential Initiative to End Hunger in Africa (IEHA): USAID/Ghana’s Economic Growth Strategic Objective will increase the competitiveness, capacity and efficiency of Ghana’s private sector in overseas and regional markets, with special emphasis on non-traditional exports. IEHA funding expands USAID/Ghana’s ability to enhance export competitiveness in the agricultural sector by: (a) helping farmers and exporters understand and adopt international standards for fresh and processed commodities; (b) integrating smallholder farmers into export supply chains; (c) promoting the adoption of biotechnology innovations within the context of sound biosafety regulations; (d) broadening access to finance; and (e) improving the enabling environment for trade and investment.
The second is the U.S. Presidential African Education Initiative (AEI): USAID/Ghana’s Basic Education Strategic Objective will improve the quality of, and increase access to basic education for Ghanaian children. AEI supports an innovative reading programme, helps rural out-of-school children transition to formal school, and provides critical training to teachers.
USAID-Ghana also has other initiatives to address the various challenges facing other sectors.
Management of Extractive Industries: Ghana has one of the world’s largest known reserves of gold. Newmont (U.S.) and Gold Fields (South Africa) together have the rights to mine vast amounts of Ghana’s identified reserves, with the gold produced by Gold Fields alone generating 12 per cent of Ghana’s foreign exchange earning. Unresolved issues involving environmental protection, resettlement, employment, land use and water rights have led to growing discontent within some of the affected mining communities. USAID is on the verge of embarking on an alliance with Newmont and Gold Fields, in coordination with the Ghana Chamber of Mines, which strives to (a) design a stakeholder process for developing best practice principles for all mining industry players to follow in Ghana and (b) work with all stakeholders (communities, local and national government and the mining companies) to improve health service delivery and the quality of education in the affected mining areas. Additionally, USAID/Ghana will target two mining districts and work to improve the District Assembly’s capacity to manage issues and promote sustained economic growth with input from civil society and citizens. With support from EGAT, USAID/WARP and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, USAID/Ghana will strive to build the capacity of the Ghana Environmental Protection Agency to monitor and report on key issues in the targeted GDA mining areas.
Youth: Approximately 30 per cent of Ghana’s population is between the ages of 15 and 25 years. Ghanaian youth have extremely limited opportunities for education, employment, and participation in constructive political and development processes. While Ghana’s youth represent an enormous resource, they are rarely seen as important agents of social and economic transformation. USAID/Ghana’s strategy will enhance youth participation in local governance, reduce youth unemployment, increase access to and use of basic health services (including HIV) and ensure that Ghana’s primary school children (its future youth) have sufficient reading and numeric skills to be productive citizens. Specifically, the USAID/Ghana Economic Growth strategic objective will work on the supply side with the government to create an environment for job creation through private sector growth and the Democracy, Health and Education Strategic Objectives will work on the demand side with youth organisations, schools, communities and governments to promote healthy, productive lifestyles and opportunities for youth engagement in local governance and development.
Urbanisation: Ghana’s towns and cities are growing at a tremendous rate as a result of rural-urban migration, land policies which limit the supply of usable land, and neglect of the three northern regions. In 2001, the urban poor equaled nearly five million. The number of slum dwellers is growing at a rate of 1.8 per cent per annum. To counter this trend, USAID/Ghana’s strategy will create economic opportunities in rural farming communities and secondary towns serving those rural areas, rationalise land tenure policies, extend quality education to under-served rural communities, and improve health services in urban and peri-urban districts in the southern part of the country.
Malaria, HIV/AIDS, and Other Infectious Diseases: Malaria is the leading cause of death in Ghana, especially among children under five and pregnant women. It is a drain on the health care system, accounting for 40 per cent of all outpatient attendance. Malaria is a major contributor to poverty — drug treatment and loss of workdays due to illness place an enormous financial strain on the resources of families, businesses and governments. Similarly, HIV/AIDS has a negative impact on productivity due to the high mortality rate and high drug treatment costs. The incidence of tuberculosis is growing at an alarming rate. In 1918, Ghana lost five per cent of its population to an Avian Influenza-like virus. Due to Ghana’s weak rural and peri-urban disease monitoring, diagnostic and treatment systems, it is feared that migratory birds infected with the Avian Influenza virus will intermingle undetected with Ghana’s rural domestic birds resulting in a catastrophic economic and health crisis. USAID/Ghana’s health programme addresses each of these threats. To combat malaria, USAID supports the GoG’s Roll Back Malaria strategy and social marketing of insecticide treated nets. USAID/Ghana’s HIV/AIDS prevention programme will change risky behaviour in the most-at-risk groups and reduce mother-to-child transmissions.
RISK FACTORS FOR VULNERABILITY
In addition to the inherent risks faced by any new democracy, Ghana's political and economic framework is vulnerable to shocks caused by volatile neighbours, domestic chieftaincy conflicts, corruption, resources (land and water), disputes, and external price shocks. The GoG, USAID, and other donors are working together to minimise these risks. Nevertheless, if realised, these risks have the potential to limit successful implementation of this strategy and reduce the impact of USAID assistance. Through careful monitoring and targeted interventions, USAID will strive to mitigate the following risks to the extent practicable:
Reducing Regional Conflict and Barriers to Trade: Ghana is located between volatile eastern (Togo and Nigeria) and western (Ivory Coast and Liberia) neighbours. Ghana has little capacity to effectively deal with a large inflow of refugees from its neighbours (there are 48,000 refugees currently living in Ghana, according to the UNHCR Statistical Yearbook). Ghana is playing an increasing role in promoting regional political stability. USAID/WARP works to strengthen ECOWAS’ capacity to promote peace and regional integration. More specifically USAID/WARP is working with ECOWAS on a common currency and other initiatives which will reduce formal and informal barriers to regional trade.
Preventing the Spread of HIV/AIDS: In Ghana, the HIV/AIDS virus currently has little impact on the macro-level economy. However, households in the lowest three wealth quintiles with a person living with HIV/AIDS are likely to fall below the poverty line, making efforts to reduce poverty less effective. While knowledge about HIV/AIDS is nearly universal in Ghana, a significant percentage of the population fails to use prevention methods.
Therefore, the most important challenge will be for Ghana to direct sufficient preventive interventions toward those groups (e.g., education sector) and geographical areas where transmission is highest, in order to reduce the number of new infections. USAID/Ghana’s strategy will identify and target the most-at-risks groups and develop interventions that will reduce risky behaviour. USAID is also working with the GoG to address the challenge of how to finance the clinical response to HIV/AIDS, where the annual cost of anti-retroviral treatment nationwide could equal tens of millions of dollars.
Reducing the Threat of Domestic Conflict: Chieftaincy disputes, extractive industry exploitation issues (both real and perceived), and resource (land and water) clashes are currently the major conflict triggers in Ghana which thwart development efforts. USAID/Ghana supports two alliances that strive to mitigate conflict: Catholic Relief Service’s Northern Ghana Peace-Keeping Initiative and a newly conceived Global Development Alliance with the key stakeholders in the extractive industries (Newmont Mining Company and Gold Fields). Both alliances will create forums for constructive dialogue between key stakeholders to settle issues and disputes before they escalate.
Expanding Export Opportunities: Ghana relies heavily on three primary exports, cocoa, gold and timber, to earn foreign currency. However, these commodities are greatly affected by world price fluctuations. The rising cost of imports such as fuel is also a major vulnerability for Ghana. Remittances of well over $2 billion annually, are Ghana’s fourth largest source of foreign exchange. However, these flows can decrease dramatically with economic downturns in the U.S. and Europe. USAID/Ghana’s Economic Growth Strategic Objective targets the expansion of non-traditional exports, such as mango, pineapple and horticulture products, to mitigate against price fluctuations of Ghana’s primary exports.
CROSS-CUTTING THEMES
A number of cross-cutting themes permeate this strategy. The most notable are gender mainstreaming; combating HIV/AIDS; good governance and decentralisation; inclusion of disenfranchised groups; empowering Ghanaians and private sector partnerships.
Gender: Women's empowerment is the key to Ghana’s development. Yet, women play a minor role in Ghana’s political and economic development. USAID programmes are gender sensitive in order to ensure both women and men are appropriately empowered. Each strategic objective collects relevant performance data, disaggregated by gender, in order to clearly show how both men and women are affected by USAID-supported activities. The Health programme, which historically has tended to focus on women, will include men to be more effective. The Education programme seeks increased enrolment of girls in primary schools, which also has a positive impact on boys’ enrolment. Under the Economic Growth programme, USAID helps women’s business associations and female entrepreneurs to market their products. The Democracy and Governance programme seeks to increase the voice of women by creating opportunities for them to advocate, to take leadership positions in citizen groups and government, and to run in elections.
HIV/AIDS: Each Strategic Objective helps in the fight against the spread of HIV/AIDS. The Health programme will lower the prevalence rate by targeting most-at-risk groups and preventing mother-to-child transmissions. The programme will also provide care and support to PLWHAs. The Education programme will reduce risky behaviour in teachers, students, out-of-school youth and parents. The Democracy and Governance programme will work with civil society organisations representing the interests of PLWHAs and assist local governments to effectively apply financial resources to combating the spread of the virus. The Economic Growth programme will encourage private sector employers to implement work place programmes that not only build awareness but also provide treatment to employees. The FFP programme provides food supplements to PLWHA and orphans.
Decentralisation: Centralised administrative and financial decision-making undermines local government’s ability to be fully responsive to the needs of Ghanaian citizens and advance development. Improved governance and the devolution of decision-making to the local level are important elements of USAID/Ghana’s programmes.
Institutional capacity-building is incorporated throughout the portfolio, at the local, district, and national levels. The Democracy and Governance programme works closely with District Assemblies to build their capacity to promote transparency, encourage public participation and respond to citizen demands. The Education programme assists PTAs and community-level school management committees to make teachers and administrators more accountable and provides grants to the District Assemblies to enhance oversight of basic education. The Health programme supports the GoG’s Community-based Health Planning and Service programme which will increase community involvement in health care. The Economic Growth programme works on national policies that encourage fiscal decentralisation.
Food Security: The Northern Region of Ghana is classified as savannah land with less than 1000mm of rainfall per year and long periodic droughts, similar to its neighbours, Burkina Faso and Niger. Poverty levels in the three northern regions of Upper East, Upper West and Northern, as well as north eastern Brong-Ahafo Region range from between 69 and 88 per cent making these regions the poorest and most vulnerable in the country. In these regions 47 per cent of the children are stunted; 44 per cent are underweight; and 11 per cent are wasted. USAID/Washington’s Food for Peace (FFP) Title II Programme, which is fully integrated into this strategy, addresses Ghana’s food security issues by increasing agricultural production and income for poor farmers (Economic Growth/ U.S Presidential Initiative to End Hunger in Africa [IEHA]); increasing access of communities to safe water and improved sanitation facilities (Health); improving health and nutrition of children under-five years old (Health); improving access to food for the highly vulnerable (Health); and improving quality of primary education in the northern regions, and increasing educational
opportunities for Ghanaian children, especially girls (Education). The completion dates for the current FFP multi-year assistance programmes range from September 2006 to September 2010. FFP funding, which is currently at $20 million per annum, is expected to drastically decline over the next five years. To avoid undermining this strategy and IEHA, USAID/Ghana will negotiate with USAID/FFP for a rational phase out of the FFP programme by 2010.
Disenfranchised and Vulnerable Groups: To the maximum extent practicable, this strategy will prioritise the inclusion of disenfranchised groups in all USAID/Ghana programmes. However, special programmes will be developed to support Muslim communities, particularly youth organisations, children with learning disabilities, the physically-challenged, especially during key elections, and children orphaned due to AIDS. For example, the Mission is undertaking, in collaboration with the Ghana Ministry of Education and Sports (MOES), an assessment of Islamic education in Ghana to help the MOES expand access to, and improve the quality of, educational services provided to Ghana’s Muslim population.
Empowering Ghanaians: USAID/Ghana’s strategy is focused on empowering individuals, communities, local and national government institutions and non-governmental organizations to attain Ghana’s development objectives.
The Democracy and Governance programme uses local expertise and Ghana’s national service volunteers to build capacity in civil society organisations and local governments. Prominent Ghanaian think tanks and non-governmental organisations are employed to strengthen Parliament. The Health programme empowers individuals by providing them with sufficient information to make informed health decisions. The Economic Growth programme builds private sector capacity and the Education programme will use the Ministry of Education’s own systems to improve reading and numeric results. USAID plans to increase host country contracting in its health and education programmes to strengthen country systems and ensure sustainability. To build local capacity, all USAID/Ghana solicitations require bidders to maximise Ghanaian expertise and the winning awards reflect this policy. Within the walls of USAID, local employees assume ever-increasing levels of responsibility as American staff are replaced by Ghanaians. Ghanaians now represent over 95 per cent of the total USAID and implementing partner population.
Public-Private Partnerships: USAID/Ghana has several public-private partnerships underway and more are in the design phase. Establishment of strategic partnerships between Ghanaian businesses and buyers in the U.S., European Union and other countries is a core component of the Economic Growth Strategic Objective. One successful alliance was recently established when the Economic Growth programme helped a Ghanaian fruit juice exporter implement technical and business production innovations and facilitated discussions with the Coca Cola Company, which resulted in a partnership to launch a new drink in the Nigerian market. USAID is also partnering with the University of Ghana and Harvard University to produce nine PhD economists to strengthen Ghana’s capacity for policy analysis and advocacy. In the Health Strategic Objective, a public-private alliance with Netmark, a Ghanaian firm, under the “Roll Back Malaria” initiative, aims to attract corporate sponsors to promote a voucher scheme for Insecticide Treated Nets (ITNs). USAID has also funded an alliance under the Democracy and Government Strategic Objective with a religious based organisation, Catholic Relief Services, to support conflict mitigation efforts in the northern regions. USAID/Ghana is also in the process of establishing a public-private alliance with major stakeholders in the mining industry to develop a best practice strategy for the entire industry.
Monday, February 18, 2008
A look at the Peace Corps
Page 21: February 18, 2008.
Article: Albert K. Salia
“The Peace Corps shows what is best in America, the generosity of spirit." - Joseph Kennedy.
In 1961, President John F. Kennedy established the Peace Corps to promote world peace and friendship. Volunteers of the Peace Corps were to act as “missionaries of democracy” in whatever field they found themselves.
The mission of the Peace Corps is to help the people of interested countries in meeting their need for trained men and women, help promote a better understanding of Americans on the part of the peoples served and help promote a better understanding of other peoples on the part of Americans.
Since 1961, the Peace Corps has shared with the world, America's most precious resource—its people.
Peace Corps Volunteers serve in 74 countries in Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, Central and South America, Europe, and the Middle East. Collaborating with local community members, volunteers work in areas like education, youth outreach and community development, the environment, and information technology.
Ghana has the distinction of being the first country in the world to welcome the Peace Corps. The first group of 52 volunteers arrived in Ghana on August 30, 1961. Since that time, more than 3,700 volunteers have successfully served in the country.
Ghana's stable government, commitment to democracy, and extensive efforts to reform its economy are the key factors that contribute to the Peace Corps' impact.
In Ghana, the Peace Corps has been helping to promote the government’s educational reforms and community development initiatives through programmes in education, small enterprise development, environment and health.
Education
In the field of education, volunteers teach science, mathematics, information and computer technology and visual arts to more than 7,600 students in secondary schools and work closely with Ghanaian counterparts in the development of subject resource manuals. Many volunteers are involved in secondary projects that include rehabilitating school libraries and establishing science and computer laboratories. Some also help to strengthen parent-school and school-community relationships.
Small Enterprise Development
Volunteers provide training in eco-tourism, small business development, financial management, marketing, product quality, client servicing, standards and credit availability for small entrepreneurs. They work with international and local non-governmental agencies, local governments, and private sector associations in both urban and rural areas. Some volunteers organise income-generating projects for people living with HIV/AIDS. Other volunteers develop tourism destinations and products focused on the cultural and historical value of activities such as kente weaving and bead making.
Environment
Volunteers reduce environmental degradation through partnerships with governmental and non- governmental agencies. Ghana faces persistent environmental issues such as deforestation, diminished soil fertility, erosion and disappearance of naturally occurring bodies of water. They facilitate the planting and sale of seedlings, develop community environmental groups and transfer management skills for natural resource-based income-generating projects.
Health
Volunteers promote behavioural change to reduce water and sanitation-related diseases and to create HIV/AIDS awareness and prevention. Through participatory community assessment, delivery of health talks and training, volunteers collaborate with community water and sanitation committees. Health projects focus on improving hygiene and nutrition, protecting water supplies, extending clinical services, working to eradicate Guinea worm disease and educating communities on HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases.
Coming from all walks of life and representing the rich diversity of the American people, volunteers range in age from college students to retirees. Every Peace Corps Volunteer's experience is different.
From teaching English to elementary schoolchildren in Zambia to launching a computer learning centre in Moldova and promoting HIV/AIDS awareness in South Africa or working on soil conservation in Panama, volunteers bring their skills and life experiences to where they are needed most.
The success of the Peace Corps since its inception can be seen because there are more than 190,000 Peace Corps Volunteers currently in 139 countries, working on issues ranging from AIDS education to information technology and environmental preservation.
Today, the Peace Corps is more vital than ever, working in emerging and essential areas such as information technology and business development; and more than 1,000 new volunteers are committed to that, as a part of the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief.
Peace Corps Volunteers continue to help countless individuals who want to build a better life for themselves, their children and their communities.
The world has changed since 1961 and the Peace Corps has changed with it. With 8,079 volunteers in 68 posts serving 74 countries, the Peace Corps is more relevant today than ever.
While volunteers continue to do important work like bringing clean water to communities and teaching children, today's volunteers also work in areas like HIV/AIDS awareness, information technology and business development.
The Peace Corps will continue to address global needs as they arise.
After the September 11, 2001 attacks alerted the nation to growing anti-U.S. sentiment in the Middle East, President George W. Bush pledged to double the size of the organisation within five years as a part of the war on terrorism. For the 2004 fiscal year, the American Congress passed a budget increase at $325 million; $30 million above that of 2003, but $30 million below the President's request.
Article: Albert K. Salia
“The Peace Corps shows what is best in America, the generosity of spirit." - Joseph Kennedy.
In 1961, President John F. Kennedy established the Peace Corps to promote world peace and friendship. Volunteers of the Peace Corps were to act as “missionaries of democracy” in whatever field they found themselves.
The mission of the Peace Corps is to help the people of interested countries in meeting their need for trained men and women, help promote a better understanding of Americans on the part of the peoples served and help promote a better understanding of other peoples on the part of Americans.
Since 1961, the Peace Corps has shared with the world, America's most precious resource—its people.
Peace Corps Volunteers serve in 74 countries in Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, Central and South America, Europe, and the Middle East. Collaborating with local community members, volunteers work in areas like education, youth outreach and community development, the environment, and information technology.
Ghana has the distinction of being the first country in the world to welcome the Peace Corps. The first group of 52 volunteers arrived in Ghana on August 30, 1961. Since that time, more than 3,700 volunteers have successfully served in the country.
Ghana's stable government, commitment to democracy, and extensive efforts to reform its economy are the key factors that contribute to the Peace Corps' impact.
In Ghana, the Peace Corps has been helping to promote the government’s educational reforms and community development initiatives through programmes in education, small enterprise development, environment and health.
Education
In the field of education, volunteers teach science, mathematics, information and computer technology and visual arts to more than 7,600 students in secondary schools and work closely with Ghanaian counterparts in the development of subject resource manuals. Many volunteers are involved in secondary projects that include rehabilitating school libraries and establishing science and computer laboratories. Some also help to strengthen parent-school and school-community relationships.
Small Enterprise Development
Volunteers provide training in eco-tourism, small business development, financial management, marketing, product quality, client servicing, standards and credit availability for small entrepreneurs. They work with international and local non-governmental agencies, local governments, and private sector associations in both urban and rural areas. Some volunteers organise income-generating projects for people living with HIV/AIDS. Other volunteers develop tourism destinations and products focused on the cultural and historical value of activities such as kente weaving and bead making.
Environment
Volunteers reduce environmental degradation through partnerships with governmental and non- governmental agencies. Ghana faces persistent environmental issues such as deforestation, diminished soil fertility, erosion and disappearance of naturally occurring bodies of water. They facilitate the planting and sale of seedlings, develop community environmental groups and transfer management skills for natural resource-based income-generating projects.
Health
Volunteers promote behavioural change to reduce water and sanitation-related diseases and to create HIV/AIDS awareness and prevention. Through participatory community assessment, delivery of health talks and training, volunteers collaborate with community water and sanitation committees. Health projects focus on improving hygiene and nutrition, protecting water supplies, extending clinical services, working to eradicate Guinea worm disease and educating communities on HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases.
Coming from all walks of life and representing the rich diversity of the American people, volunteers range in age from college students to retirees. Every Peace Corps Volunteer's experience is different.
From teaching English to elementary schoolchildren in Zambia to launching a computer learning centre in Moldova and promoting HIV/AIDS awareness in South Africa or working on soil conservation in Panama, volunteers bring their skills and life experiences to where they are needed most.
The success of the Peace Corps since its inception can be seen because there are more than 190,000 Peace Corps Volunteers currently in 139 countries, working on issues ranging from AIDS education to information technology and environmental preservation.
Today, the Peace Corps is more vital than ever, working in emerging and essential areas such as information technology and business development; and more than 1,000 new volunteers are committed to that, as a part of the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief.
Peace Corps Volunteers continue to help countless individuals who want to build a better life for themselves, their children and their communities.
The world has changed since 1961 and the Peace Corps has changed with it. With 8,079 volunteers in 68 posts serving 74 countries, the Peace Corps is more relevant today than ever.
While volunteers continue to do important work like bringing clean water to communities and teaching children, today's volunteers also work in areas like HIV/AIDS awareness, information technology and business development.
The Peace Corps will continue to address global needs as they arise.
After the September 11, 2001 attacks alerted the nation to growing anti-U.S. sentiment in the Middle East, President George W. Bush pledged to double the size of the organisation within five years as a part of the war on terrorism. For the 2004 fiscal year, the American Congress passed a budget increase at $325 million; $30 million above that of 2003, but $30 million below the President's request.
3 nabbed for human trafficking
Page 23: February 16, 2008.
Story: Albert K. Salia
THREE persons suspected to be engaged in human trafficking have been arrested.
The three, a lecturer at the Accra Polytechnic and two Lebanese brothers, are suspected to be operating two different trafficking gangs.
Ibrahim Zubairu, the lecturer at the Accra Polytechnic, is currently on court bail while Ali Hussein and his brother, Mohammed Hussein, both Lebanese, are currently in custody at the Ghana Immigration Service (GIS) following their arrest on Tuesday.
Briefing the Daily Graphic, the Director of GIS, Ms Elizabeth Adjei, said two other collaborators of Zubairu, whose names she did not disclose for security reasons, were on the run.
She said the trafficking gangs usually recruited people from the Middle East, bring them to Ghana through Togo, then smuggle them to Europe or America.
She said the victims were often given fictitious travelling documents of other countries including fake visas.
Ms Adjei said in the first case involving Zubairu, the suspect brought in four Iraqis made up of two men, a lady and a child from Syria to Lome in November last year.
She said because the victims did not have the permit to enter Ghana, Zubairu and his collaborators smuggled them into Ghana through the bushes at night in December, last year.
According to her, Zubairu and his cohorts put out the lights of the car they used to bring the victims into Ghana each time they suspected that there might be human activity in those areas.
Ms Adjei said the victims were accommodated at a residence in Dzorwulu pending their departure to Europe after paying $12,500 each to the three Ghanaians.
She said the victims were later provided with fake South African passports and were scheduled to travel on December 28, but could not make it due to unknown reasons.
The director said the victims were later arrested by undercover agents of the GIS who led them to arrest Zubairu at his offices at Accra Polytechnic.
She said Zubairu was granted court bail after he was charged for attempted human trafficking.
With regards to the Hussein brothers, who operate the Phoenicia Restaurant at the Airport Residential Area, Ms Adjei said they brought in five Lebanese in January purportedly in transit to Togo via road.
She said the five Lebanese failed to show up at the Aflao Immigration Post indicating that they were still in Ghana.
As a result, she said, operatives of the Enforcement and Operations Units were alerted to look out for them.
Ms Adjei said intelligence later indicated that the five Lebanese were about to be smuggled outside the country through the Kotoka International Airport.
According to her, two of the Lebanese showed up at the KLM counter at the airport but were prevented from boarding the flight by the KLM officials on suspicion that the travelling documents were fake.
Unfortunately, she said, the KLM officials failed to notify the immigration officials to apprehend them.
Ms Adjei said the GIS later learnt that the two had slipped out of the country and that the three remaining Lebanese were to travel to Lome last Monday.
She said undercover agents of the GIS intercepted the three victims at Prampram in the Greater Accra Region last Monday.
She said the agents of the GIS arrested the Hussein brothers at dawn on Tuesday after initial investigations showed that they had brought the Lebanese into Ghana with the purpose of sending them abroad.
Ms Adjei said the GIS had intensified its immigration control and post-entry monitoring activities following global terrorists threats.
She said it had come to the attention of the GIS that some unscrupulous persons had occupied themselves with human trafficking, with people from conflict-prone areas as their targets.
She said nationals of Bangladesh, India, Iraq and Lebanon were the most targeted and indicated that the GIS would rise up to the task of dealing with the criminal gangs.
Ms Adjei said what the traffickers did was often to smuggle the victims to neighbouring West African countries, acquire Ghanaian visas for them to enter Ghana legally.
She explained that the choice of Ghana was because of the availability of flights to the preferred destination of the victims in Ghana.
Ms Adjei said the GIS had notified the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to alert the Ghana missions in the West coast to thoroughly screen visa applications from nationals from the Middle East and other areas before issuing visas to them.
She appealed to Ghanaians to be on the alert and notify the GIS of any suspicious persons within their neighbourhood, since national security was a collective responsibility.
Story: Albert K. Salia
THREE persons suspected to be engaged in human trafficking have been arrested.
The three, a lecturer at the Accra Polytechnic and two Lebanese brothers, are suspected to be operating two different trafficking gangs.
Ibrahim Zubairu, the lecturer at the Accra Polytechnic, is currently on court bail while Ali Hussein and his brother, Mohammed Hussein, both Lebanese, are currently in custody at the Ghana Immigration Service (GIS) following their arrest on Tuesday.
Briefing the Daily Graphic, the Director of GIS, Ms Elizabeth Adjei, said two other collaborators of Zubairu, whose names she did not disclose for security reasons, were on the run.
She said the trafficking gangs usually recruited people from the Middle East, bring them to Ghana through Togo, then smuggle them to Europe or America.
She said the victims were often given fictitious travelling documents of other countries including fake visas.
Ms Adjei said in the first case involving Zubairu, the suspect brought in four Iraqis made up of two men, a lady and a child from Syria to Lome in November last year.
She said because the victims did not have the permit to enter Ghana, Zubairu and his collaborators smuggled them into Ghana through the bushes at night in December, last year.
According to her, Zubairu and his cohorts put out the lights of the car they used to bring the victims into Ghana each time they suspected that there might be human activity in those areas.
Ms Adjei said the victims were accommodated at a residence in Dzorwulu pending their departure to Europe after paying $12,500 each to the three Ghanaians.
She said the victims were later provided with fake South African passports and were scheduled to travel on December 28, but could not make it due to unknown reasons.
The director said the victims were later arrested by undercover agents of the GIS who led them to arrest Zubairu at his offices at Accra Polytechnic.
She said Zubairu was granted court bail after he was charged for attempted human trafficking.
With regards to the Hussein brothers, who operate the Phoenicia Restaurant at the Airport Residential Area, Ms Adjei said they brought in five Lebanese in January purportedly in transit to Togo via road.
She said the five Lebanese failed to show up at the Aflao Immigration Post indicating that they were still in Ghana.
As a result, she said, operatives of the Enforcement and Operations Units were alerted to look out for them.
Ms Adjei said intelligence later indicated that the five Lebanese were about to be smuggled outside the country through the Kotoka International Airport.
According to her, two of the Lebanese showed up at the KLM counter at the airport but were prevented from boarding the flight by the KLM officials on suspicion that the travelling documents were fake.
Unfortunately, she said, the KLM officials failed to notify the immigration officials to apprehend them.
Ms Adjei said the GIS later learnt that the two had slipped out of the country and that the three remaining Lebanese were to travel to Lome last Monday.
She said undercover agents of the GIS intercepted the three victims at Prampram in the Greater Accra Region last Monday.
She said the agents of the GIS arrested the Hussein brothers at dawn on Tuesday after initial investigations showed that they had brought the Lebanese into Ghana with the purpose of sending them abroad.
Ms Adjei said the GIS had intensified its immigration control and post-entry monitoring activities following global terrorists threats.
She said it had come to the attention of the GIS that some unscrupulous persons had occupied themselves with human trafficking, with people from conflict-prone areas as their targets.
She said nationals of Bangladesh, India, Iraq and Lebanon were the most targeted and indicated that the GIS would rise up to the task of dealing with the criminal gangs.
Ms Adjei said what the traffickers did was often to smuggle the victims to neighbouring West African countries, acquire Ghanaian visas for them to enter Ghana legally.
She explained that the choice of Ghana was because of the availability of flights to the preferred destination of the victims in Ghana.
Ms Adjei said the GIS had notified the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to alert the Ghana missions in the West coast to thoroughly screen visa applications from nationals from the Middle East and other areas before issuing visas to them.
She appealed to Ghanaians to be on the alert and notify the GIS of any suspicious persons within their neighbourhood, since national security was a collective responsibility.
Ghana 29th on World Press Freedom records
Page 45: February 14, 2008.
Story: Albert K. Salia
GHANA has been ranked 29th in world press freedom records for 2007 and third in Africa for the same period.
Iceland topped the world rankings and was followed by Norway, Estonia, Slovakia and Belgium with the United Kingdom placing 24th and the United States of America ranked 48th.
In Africa, Mauritius and Namibia were jointly ranked number one and they jointly placed 25th in the world, followed by Ghana, South Africa, which placed 43rd in the world, Cape Verde was next and 45th in the world. Togo was sixth in Africa and 49th in the world and Mauritania was seventh in Africa and 50th in the world with Eritrea placing last in the world at 169th position.
A world-wide press freedom index published by Reporters Without Borders (RWB) said the annual ranking was based upon the organisation’s assessment of the countries press freedom records.
It explained that the report was based on a questionnaire sent to 14 partner organisations of Reporters Without Borders in five continents and its 130 correspondents around the world as well as to journalists, researchers, jurists and human rights activists.
It said the survey asked questions about direct attacks on journalists and the media as well as other indirect sources of pressure against the free press.
“RWB is careful to note that the index only deals with press freedom and does not meassure the quality of journalism”, it said.
It said due to the nature of the survey’s methodology based on individual perceptions, there were often wide contrasts in a country’s ranking from year to year.
The ranking, it explained, took into account pressure on journalists by non-governmental groups, for example the Basque terrorist group, ETA in Spain or the mafia in Russia, which could pose serious threats to press freedom.
Story: Albert K. Salia
GHANA has been ranked 29th in world press freedom records for 2007 and third in Africa for the same period.
Iceland topped the world rankings and was followed by Norway, Estonia, Slovakia and Belgium with the United Kingdom placing 24th and the United States of America ranked 48th.
In Africa, Mauritius and Namibia were jointly ranked number one and they jointly placed 25th in the world, followed by Ghana, South Africa, which placed 43rd in the world, Cape Verde was next and 45th in the world. Togo was sixth in Africa and 49th in the world and Mauritania was seventh in Africa and 50th in the world with Eritrea placing last in the world at 169th position.
A world-wide press freedom index published by Reporters Without Borders (RWB) said the annual ranking was based upon the organisation’s assessment of the countries press freedom records.
It explained that the report was based on a questionnaire sent to 14 partner organisations of Reporters Without Borders in five continents and its 130 correspondents around the world as well as to journalists, researchers, jurists and human rights activists.
It said the survey asked questions about direct attacks on journalists and the media as well as other indirect sources of pressure against the free press.
“RWB is careful to note that the index only deals with press freedom and does not meassure the quality of journalism”, it said.
It said due to the nature of the survey’s methodology based on individual perceptions, there were often wide contrasts in a country’s ranking from year to year.
The ranking, it explained, took into account pressure on journalists by non-governmental groups, for example the Basque terrorist group, ETA in Spain or the mafia in Russia, which could pose serious threats to press freedom.
Monday, February 11, 2008
Three taxi snatchers under arrest
Page 48: February 12, 2008.
Story: Albert K. Salia
THREE persons who snatched a taxi from its driver and took it to Wa to sell have been arrested.
The three — Yakubu Mutawakil, 34; Salifu Abubakar, 27, and Vincent Agbadzi, 29 — are currently in custody at the Amasaman Police Station.
The Amasaman District Police Commander, Superintendent J. Oklu Gyamera, told the Daily Graphic after the arrest of the three, that the taxi driver, Mr Odartey Darlington, reported to the police on January 10, 2008, that two men had robbed him of his taxi, with registration number GS 3027 Y, at Odumasi, near Amasaman.
He said the driver claimed that the two men, who were later identified as Abubakar and Agbadzi, hired him from Achimota and requested that he took them to Odumasi.
He said the driver claimed that on reaching an isolated area near Odumasi, the two men pulled a knife at him and asked him to stop.
Supt Gyamera said the two men tied him up and gagged him with the duster to prevent him from shouting for help.
He said the men also took away the driver’s mobile phone and abandoned him in the bush and sped off.
According to him, the two men later picked Mutawakil on the way and headed for Wa.
Supt. Gyamera said the suspects then had to sell the mobile phone on their way to buy fuel.
The District Commander said upon reaching Wa, the suspects could not get a ready market for the vehicle, resulting in Abubakar and Agbadzi returning to Accra.
He said Mutawakil promised to sell the car at GH¢3,500 and bring the booty to Accra for them to share.
Supt. Gyamera said while the vehicle was in Wa, Mutawakil took it to a mechanic shop for the AMA embossment on it to be defaced.
He said while the mechanics were busy defacing the AMA embossment, an informant saw it and notified the Wa police on suspicion that it might have been a stolen vehicle.
He said the Wa police responded immediately and succeeded in arresting Mutawakil and impounded the vehicle as well.
According to him, because the Amasaman police had sent a signal about the loss of the vehicle, the Wa police brought both the suspect and the vehicle to Accra on February 6, 2008, to assist in investigations.
Supt Gyamera said while in custody, Mutawakil led the police to arrest Abubakar and Agbadzi from their hideouts.
He alleged that the three suspects confessed committing the offence.
Story: Albert K. Salia
THREE persons who snatched a taxi from its driver and took it to Wa to sell have been arrested.
The three — Yakubu Mutawakil, 34; Salifu Abubakar, 27, and Vincent Agbadzi, 29 — are currently in custody at the Amasaman Police Station.
The Amasaman District Police Commander, Superintendent J. Oklu Gyamera, told the Daily Graphic after the arrest of the three, that the taxi driver, Mr Odartey Darlington, reported to the police on January 10, 2008, that two men had robbed him of his taxi, with registration number GS 3027 Y, at Odumasi, near Amasaman.
He said the driver claimed that the two men, who were later identified as Abubakar and Agbadzi, hired him from Achimota and requested that he took them to Odumasi.
He said the driver claimed that on reaching an isolated area near Odumasi, the two men pulled a knife at him and asked him to stop.
Supt Gyamera said the two men tied him up and gagged him with the duster to prevent him from shouting for help.
He said the men also took away the driver’s mobile phone and abandoned him in the bush and sped off.
According to him, the two men later picked Mutawakil on the way and headed for Wa.
Supt. Gyamera said the suspects then had to sell the mobile phone on their way to buy fuel.
The District Commander said upon reaching Wa, the suspects could not get a ready market for the vehicle, resulting in Abubakar and Agbadzi returning to Accra.
He said Mutawakil promised to sell the car at GH¢3,500 and bring the booty to Accra for them to share.
Supt. Gyamera said while the vehicle was in Wa, Mutawakil took it to a mechanic shop for the AMA embossment on it to be defaced.
He said while the mechanics were busy defacing the AMA embossment, an informant saw it and notified the Wa police on suspicion that it might have been a stolen vehicle.
He said the Wa police responded immediately and succeeded in arresting Mutawakil and impounded the vehicle as well.
According to him, because the Amasaman police had sent a signal about the loss of the vehicle, the Wa police brought both the suspect and the vehicle to Accra on February 6, 2008, to assist in investigations.
Supt Gyamera said while in custody, Mutawakil led the police to arrest Abubakar and Agbadzi from their hideouts.
He alleged that the three suspects confessed committing the offence.
Sunday, February 10, 2008
2000 police personnel promoted
Page 47: February 11, 2008.
Story: Albert K. Salia
MORE than 2,000 personnel of the Ghana Police Service have been promoted to various ranks as part of efforts to motivate them.
The Police Council handled the senior officers promotions while the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Mr P. K. Acheampong, was responsible for the junior officers.
The acting Director of Public Affairs, DSP Kwesi Ofori, told the Daily Graphic on Wednesday that 1,358 of the promoted staff were junior officers with the remaining being senior officers.
He said among the senior officers were 17 Chief Superintendents who were promoted to Assistant Commissioners of Police (ACP), 28 from Superintendents to Chief Superintendents, 68 from Deputy Superintendents of Police to Superintendents and 60 from Assistant Superintendents to DSPs.
DSP Ofori said among the newly promoted ACPs were Mr Richmond Nii Ashitey Lomo Boi-Bi-Boi, Accra Regional Crime Officer; Madam Elizabeth Allando, Madina Divisional Commander; Martha Appiah, Divisional Crime Officer for Kpeshie; Messrs Anthony Tennyson Aidoo, Director of Police Communications, and Kwesi Mensah Duku, Tesano Divisional Police Commander.
He said the Director of Interpol Ghana, Mr Frank Sam Kwofie, and the Quarter Master-General, Mr Victor Gyan-Kyereko, were among those promoted from Superintendents to Chief Superintendents.
He explained that the promotions were based on seniority and the availability of vacancies in the general pool and the particular professional units.
DSP Ofori said prospective candidates for promotion must also have an unblemished career, no conviction for disciplinary problems in the past two years, no ongoing investigations and must have served for four years in his or her current position.
According to him, those who return from approved study leave must also work satisfactorily for six months after their return before recommendation is made for their promotion.
He explained that when approved such officers would not lose their seniority as they would be promoted to be at par with their colleagues.
DSP Ofori said so also were personnel on attachment with the United Nations and other bodies either outside or within the country.
He said such officers upon their return would be promoted accordingly so far as they did not have any disciplinary problems.
Besides these, he said, there was also room for special recommendation for promotion for personnel who exhibited exceptional commitment, bravery and courage to duty.
DSP Ofori said in such cases, the number of years served by the personnel did not matter before being promoted.
He said the IGP was hopeful that the promotions would encourage the affected personnel to work hard.
Story: Albert K. Salia
MORE than 2,000 personnel of the Ghana Police Service have been promoted to various ranks as part of efforts to motivate them.
The Police Council handled the senior officers promotions while the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Mr P. K. Acheampong, was responsible for the junior officers.
The acting Director of Public Affairs, DSP Kwesi Ofori, told the Daily Graphic on Wednesday that 1,358 of the promoted staff were junior officers with the remaining being senior officers.
He said among the senior officers were 17 Chief Superintendents who were promoted to Assistant Commissioners of Police (ACP), 28 from Superintendents to Chief Superintendents, 68 from Deputy Superintendents of Police to Superintendents and 60 from Assistant Superintendents to DSPs.
DSP Ofori said among the newly promoted ACPs were Mr Richmond Nii Ashitey Lomo Boi-Bi-Boi, Accra Regional Crime Officer; Madam Elizabeth Allando, Madina Divisional Commander; Martha Appiah, Divisional Crime Officer for Kpeshie; Messrs Anthony Tennyson Aidoo, Director of Police Communications, and Kwesi Mensah Duku, Tesano Divisional Police Commander.
He said the Director of Interpol Ghana, Mr Frank Sam Kwofie, and the Quarter Master-General, Mr Victor Gyan-Kyereko, were among those promoted from Superintendents to Chief Superintendents.
He explained that the promotions were based on seniority and the availability of vacancies in the general pool and the particular professional units.
DSP Ofori said prospective candidates for promotion must also have an unblemished career, no conviction for disciplinary problems in the past two years, no ongoing investigations and must have served for four years in his or her current position.
According to him, those who return from approved study leave must also work satisfactorily for six months after their return before recommendation is made for their promotion.
He explained that when approved such officers would not lose their seniority as they would be promoted to be at par with their colleagues.
DSP Ofori said so also were personnel on attachment with the United Nations and other bodies either outside or within the country.
He said such officers upon their return would be promoted accordingly so far as they did not have any disciplinary problems.
Besides these, he said, there was also room for special recommendation for promotion for personnel who exhibited exceptional commitment, bravery and courage to duty.
DSP Ofori said in such cases, the number of years served by the personnel did not matter before being promoted.
He said the IGP was hopeful that the promotions would encourage the affected personnel to work hard.
Thursday, February 7, 2008
NACOB needs permanent staff — Aning
Page 34: February 7, 2008.
Story: Albert K. Salia
AN expert in narcotics, Dr Kwesi Aning, has called on the government not to second personnel of any agency to the Narcotics Control Board (NACOB) again.
He said the issue of seconding personnel from other agencies to the NACOB had impacted negatively on the performance of the national drug agency.
Dr Aning, who is also the Head of Conflict Prevention Management and Resolution Department (CPMRD) of the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre, told the Daily Graphic on Wednesday that the government needed to recruit competent persons on full-time basis and give them the requisite training to enable them to deliver.
He said the present situation where key positions were occupied by staff on secondment from other agencies did not augur well for total commitment in the fight against drugs.
According to him, such staff owed their allegiances to their parent institutions and, therefore, did not see themselves as part of NACOB and feared to do anything that might jeopardise their positions and also bring the name of their parent institutions into disrepute.
He said the problem of leaking information to parent organisations and individuals and that of handling of suspects and exhibits were all issues that seconded staff could not be trusted with.
Dr Aning said there were numerous instances where seconded staff had to start afresh to learn the workings of the organisations and settling down for business often took time.
He said the present situation was also not motivating enough for staff of NACOB to work hard to be rewarded with promotion to the top.
Dr Aning said staff of NACOB should rather be sent to the other agencies as focal persons for the NACOB.
He explained that it would then be the duty of such focal persons to gather intelligence for analysis by NACOB.
Dr Aning said in situations where personnel of any agency were to be sent to NACOB for whatever reason, such staff must be made to resign from their parent organisations, stressing that “people working at NACOB should have a 100 per cent allegiance to the organisation”.
He indicated that in Nigeria, Liberia and Sierra Leone, their drug controlling agencies were adequately resourced with both personnel and logistics to undertake their own investigations, forensic laboratories for testing of drugs and prosecution units to deal with cases.
He also called for the adequate resourcing of NACOB and incentives for the staff to give of their best.
He explained that it was the inadequacy of resources and lack of motivation for staff that the drug dealers capitalised on to infiltrate the security agencies and other public institutions to corrupt the system.
According to Dr Aning, although experts had called for the raising of the status of NACOB into a commission, which he agreed with, it was also important that it was adequately resourced.
Story: Albert K. Salia
AN expert in narcotics, Dr Kwesi Aning, has called on the government not to second personnel of any agency to the Narcotics Control Board (NACOB) again.
He said the issue of seconding personnel from other agencies to the NACOB had impacted negatively on the performance of the national drug agency.
Dr Aning, who is also the Head of Conflict Prevention Management and Resolution Department (CPMRD) of the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre, told the Daily Graphic on Wednesday that the government needed to recruit competent persons on full-time basis and give them the requisite training to enable them to deliver.
He said the present situation where key positions were occupied by staff on secondment from other agencies did not augur well for total commitment in the fight against drugs.
According to him, such staff owed their allegiances to their parent institutions and, therefore, did not see themselves as part of NACOB and feared to do anything that might jeopardise their positions and also bring the name of their parent institutions into disrepute.
He said the problem of leaking information to parent organisations and individuals and that of handling of suspects and exhibits were all issues that seconded staff could not be trusted with.
Dr Aning said there were numerous instances where seconded staff had to start afresh to learn the workings of the organisations and settling down for business often took time.
He said the present situation was also not motivating enough for staff of NACOB to work hard to be rewarded with promotion to the top.
Dr Aning said staff of NACOB should rather be sent to the other agencies as focal persons for the NACOB.
He explained that it would then be the duty of such focal persons to gather intelligence for analysis by NACOB.
Dr Aning said in situations where personnel of any agency were to be sent to NACOB for whatever reason, such staff must be made to resign from their parent organisations, stressing that “people working at NACOB should have a 100 per cent allegiance to the organisation”.
He indicated that in Nigeria, Liberia and Sierra Leone, their drug controlling agencies were adequately resourced with both personnel and logistics to undertake their own investigations, forensic laboratories for testing of drugs and prosecution units to deal with cases.
He also called for the adequate resourcing of NACOB and incentives for the staff to give of their best.
He explained that it was the inadequacy of resources and lack of motivation for staff that the drug dealers capitalised on to infiltrate the security agencies and other public institutions to corrupt the system.
According to Dr Aning, although experts had called for the raising of the status of NACOB into a commission, which he agreed with, it was also important that it was adequately resourced.
Narcotic business challenges stability
Page 28: February 7, 2008.
Story: Albert K. Salia
THE head of Conflict Prevention Management and Resolution Department (CPMRD) of the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre, Dr Kwesi Aning, has stated that the greatest challenge to Ghana’s stability is the narcotic business.
He said the drug problem had undermined the reputation of the country in the last 15 years, and that increasingly the name Ghana was becoming synonymous with the drug trade.
According to him, it had become so because there had not been any serious operational response and also those in authority were unwilling to combat the menace.
Speaking in an interview following the arrest of a nine-member Ghanaian crew on board a shipload of 2.5 tonnes of cocaine in Liberian waters by a French navy at the weekend, Dr Aning indicated that even the rhetorical responses of the political authority had not been serious.
“Although we have security agencies, these institutions do not understand the dynamics of drugs and Ghana’s reputation in it,” he said.
Dr Aning said until the country began to see the drug trade as the new frontier for Ghana’s survival and responded to it as it did to the HIV/AIDS pandemic by having a national strategy and a concerted effort to deal with it, “we will never scratch the surface of the threat posed by the drug menace”.
He said if recent occurrences were anything to go by, then one would be right to conclude that there was no inter-agency collaboration at all but a fight for bureaucratic supremacy among the institutions that should be fighting the drug trade.
According to him, even more disturbing was the fact that instead of the fight against narcotics being an intelligence-led operation, it had become reactive.
Dr Aning noted that it was sad that the profits of drug trafficking was impacting so much on public institutions and community relations that it was no more shameful to be tagged a drug lord or agent because of the welfare role they played in society.
He said the way and manner public sector institutions, especially the police and the judiciary, were beginning to lose credibility was enough to send signals that all was not well with our fight against drugs.
“The picture that one gets is a country that is passive, its institutions totally directionless and its social values totally compromised,” he lamented.
Dr Aning said the weaknesses of the system and the non-seriousness shown in the fight against narcotics was the inability of the state to trace the information leaks that led to MV Jano escaping and the missing 77 parcels on board the MV Benjamin.
According to him, all these indicated that the agencies had been infiltrated by the drug lords as nothing was heard about MV Jano, no one punished for leaking the information and the budgetary allocation of no agency was cut, stressing that “the response mechanism to deal with such lapses is simply non-existent”.
He said the problem would be better appreciated if one was to compare the income levels of security personnel and the property they had acquired over a period.
Dr Aning said the problem had also been compounded by the fact that there had not been enough political will in fighting the drug menace.
He said although there had been public discourse and declaration in fighting the menace, private discourse between people in authority and law enforcement officers showed that the security personnel were prevented from doing their work.
“Although they can disobey the orders, they do so at their own peril. They will lose their jobs,” he said.
“What we are seeing now is more of a systemic infiltration of the country and not an individual problem,” he added.
Dr Aning said it was because of such failures and weaknesses that the foreign partners had decided to ward off the drug trade by guarding their waters and the West African coast from use by the drug lords.
He suggested that targets should be set for security institutions to deal with the problem and the government should be ready to hire and fire and people found to be connected in drug business should be imprisoned if need be.
He also called for a legislation to empower the security agencies to deal drastically with drug dealers when caught so as to send strong signals that the country was serious about its commitment to dealing with the problem.
He urged churches and traditional leaders to declare a month each year for public education on drugs.
According to him, while people, including churches and chiefs, were currently adoring wealth and commending people for building schools and other projects for them, if they did not question the source of the funds, the country would begin to reap the rewards of the drug business in the next 10 years.
“Already, the outline is there for all to see. The use of macho men and drug addicts everywhere would be worse,” he said, adding that if nothing was done the country that everyone cherished as a stable and peaceful one would be dominated by gangsterism, drug addicts, among others.
Story: Albert K. Salia
THE head of Conflict Prevention Management and Resolution Department (CPMRD) of the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre, Dr Kwesi Aning, has stated that the greatest challenge to Ghana’s stability is the narcotic business.
He said the drug problem had undermined the reputation of the country in the last 15 years, and that increasingly the name Ghana was becoming synonymous with the drug trade.
According to him, it had become so because there had not been any serious operational response and also those in authority were unwilling to combat the menace.
Speaking in an interview following the arrest of a nine-member Ghanaian crew on board a shipload of 2.5 tonnes of cocaine in Liberian waters by a French navy at the weekend, Dr Aning indicated that even the rhetorical responses of the political authority had not been serious.
“Although we have security agencies, these institutions do not understand the dynamics of drugs and Ghana’s reputation in it,” he said.
Dr Aning said until the country began to see the drug trade as the new frontier for Ghana’s survival and responded to it as it did to the HIV/AIDS pandemic by having a national strategy and a concerted effort to deal with it, “we will never scratch the surface of the threat posed by the drug menace”.
He said if recent occurrences were anything to go by, then one would be right to conclude that there was no inter-agency collaboration at all but a fight for bureaucratic supremacy among the institutions that should be fighting the drug trade.
According to him, even more disturbing was the fact that instead of the fight against narcotics being an intelligence-led operation, it had become reactive.
Dr Aning noted that it was sad that the profits of drug trafficking was impacting so much on public institutions and community relations that it was no more shameful to be tagged a drug lord or agent because of the welfare role they played in society.
He said the way and manner public sector institutions, especially the police and the judiciary, were beginning to lose credibility was enough to send signals that all was not well with our fight against drugs.
“The picture that one gets is a country that is passive, its institutions totally directionless and its social values totally compromised,” he lamented.
Dr Aning said the weaknesses of the system and the non-seriousness shown in the fight against narcotics was the inability of the state to trace the information leaks that led to MV Jano escaping and the missing 77 parcels on board the MV Benjamin.
According to him, all these indicated that the agencies had been infiltrated by the drug lords as nothing was heard about MV Jano, no one punished for leaking the information and the budgetary allocation of no agency was cut, stressing that “the response mechanism to deal with such lapses is simply non-existent”.
He said the problem would be better appreciated if one was to compare the income levels of security personnel and the property they had acquired over a period.
Dr Aning said the problem had also been compounded by the fact that there had not been enough political will in fighting the drug menace.
He said although there had been public discourse and declaration in fighting the menace, private discourse between people in authority and law enforcement officers showed that the security personnel were prevented from doing their work.
“Although they can disobey the orders, they do so at their own peril. They will lose their jobs,” he said.
“What we are seeing now is more of a systemic infiltration of the country and not an individual problem,” he added.
Dr Aning said it was because of such failures and weaknesses that the foreign partners had decided to ward off the drug trade by guarding their waters and the West African coast from use by the drug lords.
He suggested that targets should be set for security institutions to deal with the problem and the government should be ready to hire and fire and people found to be connected in drug business should be imprisoned if need be.
He also called for a legislation to empower the security agencies to deal drastically with drug dealers when caught so as to send strong signals that the country was serious about its commitment to dealing with the problem.
He urged churches and traditional leaders to declare a month each year for public education on drugs.
According to him, while people, including churches and chiefs, were currently adoring wealth and commending people for building schools and other projects for them, if they did not question the source of the funds, the country would begin to reap the rewards of the drug business in the next 10 years.
“Already, the outline is there for all to see. The use of macho men and drug addicts everywhere would be worse,” he said, adding that if nothing was done the country that everyone cherished as a stable and peaceful one would be dominated by gangsterism, drug addicts, among others.
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