News Desk || NDC, NPP clash over traffic light installation at Tuobodom

Name: News Desk || NDC, NPP clash over traffic light installation at Tuobodom
Uploaded: 2023-08-09T12:06:04+00:00
Duration: 52 min 51 s
Channel: The Multimedia group

The Multimedia group

8/9/2023

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00:00 Hello, welcome to another edition of Newsdesk with me Bernice Abubey-Dulansa

00:05 coming up NDC-NPP clash of a traffic light installation in Thiaboda

00:09 and we'll be telling you how this happened. Stay with us for details.

00:16 Africa workers unite against military action in Niger. We'll hear from the Africa

00:21 Trade Union Congress and get the perspective of a security analyst on

00:25 this development. And on climate focus today we'll tell you about the man who

00:36 is turning degraded land into natural homesteads as a way for protecting the

00:41 environment. Details of these stories and more include in business in this hour.

00:49 Kindly stay with us.

00:52 [Music]

01:09 Thanks for your company once again we are live on DSTV channel 421 on your

01:14 digital television and around the world via myjoyonline.com. Now there's tension

01:19 in Thiaboda as supporters of the opposition NDC clash with supporters of

01:24 the governing NPP over whose efforts led to the installation of a new traffic

01:29 light in the district capital. It took the timely intervention of the district

01:33 police command to restore sanity as the DCE blocked the road in an attempt to

01:39 prevent the MP for the area Elizabeth Fusui-Jarri from leading the contractor

01:44 to the project site correspondent and as a witness the incident and here's

01:49 his report.

01:51 The timely intervention of the Thiaboda police command saved what could have been a bloody clash between some

01:57 supporters of the member of parliament for the Thiamin North and the DCE over claims on who actually led to the

02:04 installation of a traffic light at the heart of Thiaboda the district capital.

02:08 The MP lawyer Elizabeth Fusui-Jarri who is championing this cause as a campaign

02:14 promise prior to the 2020 general elections was prevented from entering the Thiaboda township by the DCE

02:20 under Donko Everson who blocked the road and ordered the police to deny her and the contractor

02:26 access to the project site. This attracted the wrath of some angry youth in the area who subsequently accused the DCE of preventing developmental projects in the area.

02:40 [Speaking in Thiaboda]

03:05 These aggrieved youth vowed to restore any attempt by the DCE and the MPP aimed at intimidating the MP and asked that the legislator has their full support.

03:15 [Speaking in Thiaboda]

03:44 [Speaking in Thiaboda]

04:13 The legislator, a former tourism minister under the Mahama regime, Elizabeth Fusui-Jarri described the actions of the DCE as unfortunate and appealed to the president, Nene Adudango Agufadu, to call him to order.

04:26 [Speaking in Thiaboda]

04:55 [Speaking in Thiaboda]

05:24 [Speaking in Thiaboda]

05:30 But how important is this particular traffic to the people of the Tichiman Malt District capital?

05:55 [Speaking in Thiaboda]

06:20 [Speaking in Thiaboda]

06:26 [Speaking in Thiaboda]

06:27 Now campaign spokesperson for Alan Tremontin has described the new patriotic party's upcoming super delegates Congress as an unnecessary electoral process.

06:37 According to Yawabe Asamoah, the Congress, which is to trim the number of flag-bearer aspirants from 10 to 5, is an administrative process that will delay aspirants from campaigning towards the November 4 delegates Congress.

06:51 He says there is a need for constitutional reforms to abort the process in subsequent years. He spoke in an interview with Lab FM's Anabu Achiyad on Inkumasi.

07:01 [Speaking in Thiaboda]

07:29 [Speaking in Thiaboda]

07:56 Mr Yawabe Asamoah also says the process is not significant in determining who becomes flag-bearer of the party. He says the party should have allowed all 10 aspirants to go through the main delegates Congress and not trim the number from 10 to 5.

08:11 [Speaking in Thiaboda]

08:40 [Speaking in Thiaboda]

09:08 [Speaking in Thiaboda]

09:37 [Speaking in Thiaboda]

09:49 Meanwhile, MPP flag-bearer hopeful Kojo Nsafuapoku is optimistic his performance in the upcoming super delegates Congress will win him the attention of many delegates. According to him, a number of them at the grassroots have failed to give his campaign the needed attention. He's also been speaking to Nana Yaljima in Inkumasi.

10:11 [Speaking in Thiaboda]

10:40 [Speaking in Thiaboda]

10:53 [Speaking in Thiaboda]

11:21 [Speaking in Thiaboda]

11:49 [Speaking in Thiaboda]

12:17 [Speaking in Thiaboda]

12:24 [Speaking in Thiaboda]

12:42 [Speaking in Thiaboda]

13:11 [Speaking in Thiaboda]

13:40 [Speaking in Thiaboda]

13:50 [Speaking in Thiaboda]

14:19 [Speaking in Thiaboda]

14:43 [Speaking in Thiaboda]

15:04 [Speaking in Thiaboda]

15:28 [Speaking in Thiaboda]

15:37 So that was actually a statement from ECOWAS that I beg your pardon. Earlier I said it was from the ITUC Africa.

15:44 Well, Secretary General of ITUC Africa Kwesi Eduamangwa will join us shortly for a conversation on this.

15:49 But already on the streets of Accra, the idea of a military intervention in Niger is not resonating with people. They are urging ECOWAS leaders to hasten slowly.

15:59 There will definitely be some backlash, you know. Some of the threats, you know, have been directed to some of the ECOWAS member countries, from these French countries, you know.

16:12 So we have to be very, very careful. And it's a very easy thing for them to take advantage of the situation and start looking towards Nigeria, Ghana and other countries.

16:25 The steps that ECOWAS is taking is truly misplaced. It is not something that Africa or Africans should support. I'm not in support of, you know, this ECOWAS intrusion on the land.

16:45 Inasmuch as Nigeria is connected to Ghana, definitely what... Yeah, so what happens to Nigeria? What happens to ECOWAS basically affects Ghanians?

17:00 So if you want to send military personnel or troops to go and then counter their decision, that implies that Ghana also supports how the country is being governed.

17:12 And you know how Ghana, other countries also see Ghana that our president is not governing as well.

17:17 Your home, you have fire in your backyard. Put it off before you come to us. So I think we should act professionally. Try to have bilateral talks, professional talks, diplomatic talks.

17:28 We also need to do our homework well. Because what is happening, if you listen to the explanation being given by the military junta, you realize that they have a point.

17:40 Ghana can be affected by going to fight against the leader or the military people who are in charge of the affair for now. They could be affected.

17:55 Because it's some people's country. That is why they have chosen to go and be cool. Once they have gotten supporters over there, people are supporting what they have done.

18:05 No, they can victimize. We have people over there, Ghanians are there. So if they are good, they should not forget that we have Ghanians over there.

18:13 Let's now speak to Kweisi Edu Amankwa. He is Secretary General of ITUC Africa. They are representing labor groups in all member states.

18:21 I'm grateful for your time this morning, sir. So we have received a statement and that statement is indicating your plea, basically, to echo us for it to restrain with this threat of military intervention.

18:37 What are your exact concerns? Thank you for having me. First of all, as ITUC Africa, we have actually condemned the coup d'etat in Niger and called on the military authorities to return the country to constitutional rule.

19:00 Because when there are problems, which is in a democracy, it is through dialogue that we seek to resolve these problems.

19:09 But beyond that, we have come out with a second statement indicating our concern that the proposed military intervention in an event that the military in Niger stays put is not acceptable to us.

19:32 And we think that it is particularly dangerous for the sub-region and that it can create political turmoil in the entire sub-region.

19:45 Do you have any recommendations for ECOWAS? So you say in that statement that you just made reference to that you've been studying what's been happening in the Sahel region, for example,

19:55 and you cite killings, kidnappings and many other effects of some of these military interventions and even the readiness of other countries within the West African sub-region to support Niger if ECOWAS goes ahead with this threat.

20:11 Do you have any recommendations for the regional body?

20:16 Well, the regional body has to do what it takes to engage the authorities in Niger.

20:23 And you know that primarily what we have now is essentially a club of leaders. A club of leaders. ECOWAS is not a sub-region entity itself.

20:40 ECOWAS is a club which has been formed by a number of sovereign states. And therefore, in fact, you find that often it is quite difficult for ECOWAS to intervene in whatever happens if it is not going according to how people expect it to go in these countries.

21:00 So ECOWAS has to do what it takes to engage more. One, in the different countries, I think that we need to be talking more about this issue and the dangers it poses.

21:12 And then ECOWAS must reach out to the country itself, the leaders of the country, and if possible, try to reach different segments of the population, find out how to get out of this mess.

21:27 Because we believe that the military option is an extremely dangerous one for the entire country.

21:35 And besides, we are yet to see any country in which democracy has been imposed from without.

21:42 - Mr. Romankwa, we know the Mali situation, right? And we know how even our own very President, Hekufada, when he was chair of ECOWAS, tried to intervene.

21:53 The former president who passed on, former president Jerry Rawlings, was also called to use his influence to try and help the situation in Mali.

22:02 We are still in 2023, and the country is still under military rule. So how about those who say that there should be engagement with ECOWAS on how to proceed with this planned military intervention,

22:18 instead of us just coming out to the media and criticizing their plan?

22:23 - Yeah, but ECOWAS has to be ready to engage with different people. We cannot just get up and go and engage with people. How are we going to do that?

22:32 You must have heard, for instance, that even in Nigeria, the Senate refused to do certain things that the executive was willing to do.

22:43 Which means that even within sovereign nations, there hasn't been enough consultation and engagement with the levels of power.

22:52 Now, if ECOWAS is not doing that, how are they going to engage us, or how do we as civil society engage them?

22:59 That is something that will be interesting to look at.

23:03 - What have your members in Nigeria, I mean the ITUC members in Nigeria, what have they been telling you about the coup and this action ECOWAS plans on embarking on?

23:16 - Well, what is very clear for our members, and in fact even non-members who are also unionized in Nigeria,

23:23 is that the threat of invasion from outside has actually united the entire body of organization in Nigeria.

23:34 And they do not want a military intervention.

23:37 Because a military intervention is going to be extremely disruptive for lives, both in and around Nigeria.

23:46 - So now, I mean, like I said earlier, this is a call to ECOWAS to rescind its decision for a military intervention in Nigeria.

23:55 But what if the leaders decide to go ahead to deploy? What will the ITUC do?

24:03 - Well, the ITUC is simply an organization of workers, and already, even before an intervention, I think in your news I just saw protests.

24:16 I don't know whether it's on the streets of Accra. Yeah, I think it's on the streets of Accra.

24:21 - Wait, what was it? - Is that Accra?

24:24 - Which story are you referencing?

24:26 - There was one in which you made protests. There were protesters against the intervention.

24:32 - All right. So what do you see? If it's what you're seeing on your screens now, it is, okay, well, you're talking about the Vox Pop, right, yes.

24:39 We spoke to people on the streets of Accra, right? They were basically sharing their thoughts.

24:44 - Okay, right. So you can see that people on the streets don't like it.

24:50 And really, if ECOWAS goes beyond the threat to actually institute a military intervention,

25:00 all we can do is to mobilize protests around our countries against the military intervention,

25:07 because really, it is extremely dangerous for their self-confidence.

25:12 - I appreciate your time this morning. Chris here, Doua Mankwa is General Secretary of ITUC Africa,

25:17 and they've released a statement calling on ECOWAS not to go ahead with this planned military intervention in Niger.

25:23 He's basically been explaining to us why the body disagrees with this move and what the impact will be,

25:29 and also just told us what will happen if ECOWAS decides to go ahead with this planned action.

25:36 We've been joined by security analyst Dr. Bona as well. Doc, thank you so much for your time.

25:41 We've been hearing from Mr. Doua Mankwa and the concerns by ITUC. Would you say they are fairly grounded?

25:50 - No, this is it.

25:54 - Hello, Dr. Bona. Doc, if you can hear me, I was basically asking if you think these concerns by ITUC are fairly grounded.

26:10 - OK, yes, I can hear you. Good morning. I think your line is connected. Can you hear me?

26:15 - Yes, I can, Dr. Bona.

26:17 - Well, yes, I think I entirely agree with the ITUC. I entirely agree with them.

26:26 This particular intervention is uncalled for. The leaders of ECOWAS know what they must do to prevent coups like this in West Africa.

26:39 They are not doing that. They watched on, for instance, for Alassane Ouattara to actually change the constitution to stand a third term.

26:49 They watched on. Adam Abaro is doing his own thing. They have watched on for, look at what is happening in Senegal.

26:58 And so this military intervention that has been called, it's just, if you ask me, I would say it's just a tenable precedent, tenable declaration of war in ECOWAS,

27:11 which as you went around interviewing people in Ghana, largely, you know, majority of Ghanaians don't support any intervention at all.

27:23 The simple reason is that we could have an internal upheaval or upheavals within the military in our own country if we send our military officers to Niger

27:36 and we begin to bring them back home in body bags. At least history and war historians will tell you that this is how countries have been destroyed.

27:48 ECOWAS should take the way of dialogue and negotiations to see. But fundamentally, if you ask me, is ECOWAS not aware that the ordinary citizens in Nigeria,

28:03 in Ghana, in Niger, in Mali, in Cote d'Ivoire and the rest don't actually know of, we only know of the existence of ECOWAS on paper.

28:15 If you ask me again, we have something called the ECOWAS Parliament. The ECOWAS Parliament, who elected who to go and represent who at the ECOWAS Parliament?

28:26 The ECOWAS Parliament is, they are selected members of Parliament from various ECOWAS countries who go to what is called the ECOWAS Parliament and act just as an advisory body.

28:40 If we were going to learn from the European Parliament or the EU Parliament, then ordinary citizens should stand elections in Ghana to represent Ghana at the ECOWAS Parliament.

28:52 That way, these issues could be shared or these issues could be tabled at a proper constituted ECOWAS Parliament.

29:00 And so as far as I'm concerned, this particular declaration of war is a proxy war that I would urge the President of the Republic, Dana Adodanko Akufo-Addo, tomorrow is the head of state's meeting.

29:15 He should not sign on to any intervention because if that happens, we could have our own challenges in this country and we don't want to get involved.

29:25 If you look at what has taken place, it is largely in Francophone West Africa because almost these Francophone West African countries are still under the rule or dictatorship of France.

29:38 So long as they are under the dictatorship of France, issues like, you know, common trade areas, you know, travels and all that, it's not going to be possible.

29:49 We've been talking about ECOWAS for a sub-region. Why has that not worked? It hasn't worked because then big brother France decides which country, you know, amongst their dears would have to do A, B, C, D.

30:03 So as far as I'm concerned, these Francophone countries are now fighting for their independence.

30:08 And so let's tread cautiously or else our leaders, if they are not careful, they will destabilize the sub-region, the entire sub-region.

30:17 And so we need to be already, without any declaration of war in Niger, go onto the streets of Accra, Chiachi, Jubilee House area, 37, and other areas.

30:28 You have a lot of Nigerians, children and women and fathers, old people who are, you know, begging for arms on our streets when there is no declaration.

30:38 So can you imagine when the first bomb is dropped or the first gun is fired and they begin to flood this country?

30:45 Yes, you can drive them away because you went in there to go and destroy their country.

30:50 All right, Doc. So that's another conversation.

30:53 Hello, Doc, can you hear me?

30:55 Hello, Doc, can you hear me?

30:57 So, I mean, the issue of the ripple effect and the geopolitics will take us to another dimension, right?

31:03 But there are those who also believe that this decision by ECOWAS is to stump the regional bodies' authority.

31:10 We've seen what ECOWAS has tried to do in Mali, for example, and they've still not been able to return the country to democratic rule.

31:19 So it's as though the body feels threatened and its image out there appears to be one that is of a weak institution.

31:30 Don't you believe that the decision to go hard is to save the image of ECOWAS and to also prove that ECOWAS can make these tough decisions when it needs to?

31:41 Well, I don't think so. I don't think that the leadership, you know, what do you call it, their inability to return Mali to constitutional rule and all that.

31:53 The truth is that, let me put it bluntly, the leaders are afraid for themselves and their position they occupy.

32:01 I tell you what, Alassane Wachara has been sent as a member of the delegation that went into some of these countries that there were coups.

32:11 When we know that he himself did a constitutional coup in this country, Adam Abaru and the rest have done worse than we are seeing.

32:21 I don't support coup at all. And our situation is different from what is happening in Francophone West Africa.

32:28 So I will say that ECOWAS is weak because, you know what, the leaders largely have not been able to speak to their other colleagues who are changing the constitution left and right.

32:41 Go to Niger. Niger, I mean, the second poorest country in the world, when they have mineral resources that could have been used to turn the country around.

32:52 My mind is that, are the leaders telling us that the citizens of ECOWAS, because we have probably some of them, we didn't put them there, some of them we put them there,

33:04 they will decide what probably the rest of us don't want in a manner that will destroy this country.

33:11 And so my mind is that we need to tread cautiously as a country first, and we need to tread cautiously as a sub-region.

33:20 Because whatever happens in Niger, what happened in Ghana, whatever, you know what is happening in Burkina Faso,

33:27 every now and then you have asylum seekers crossing to Sisala, crossing to other places.

33:33 We have not been able to deal with our issues in Boko. Boko is lit on fire. So my mind is that we need to tread cautiously.

33:40 Thank you so much, Doc. We'll leave it here for now. And this situation is not only having a political dimension,

33:47 it's also having a very dreadful outlook on onion business here in Ghana.

33:52 The closure of Niger's land and air borders have created difficulties in carting the produce from that country to Ghana.

33:59 Its ripple effects include escalating prices on the Ghanaian market.

34:03 My colleague, Jackie Mshumayabua, is at Adjeng Kotoku Onion Market. She joins us with more.

34:09 Jackie, what have you been able to establish so far?

34:12 OK, Bennett, so far it seems the prices have increased slightly.

34:22 And just as you can see behind me, the place is empty.

34:26 So I have the chairman here of the Progressive Onions Association, and I want him to tell us more.

34:34 All right, Sumayla, so how has the Niger border, the closure of the border, been affecting the onion selling here?

34:42 Good morning, viewers. The closing of the border has affected us a lot.

34:52 Because we bought onions and we've loaded, we have over 75 cars standing on the border, and it has affected our business.

35:09 Since you can see the market, it is empty, simply because of the cold. So it has affected us a lot.

35:16 OK, and has there been any price increase? Because last week I was in the market, and I realized that there was a slight increase.

35:22 But how has it been today?

35:24 Yeah, the price has gone up somewhat. Because last week we were selling 1,200, 1,150.

35:32 But now we are selling 1,400 and 1,450.

35:36 And do you have any goods on the way, onion, to be precise?

35:40 Yeah, yesterday they talked to the ambassador and they've opened the border, so some of the cars are on their way coming, but they didn't reach yet.

35:54 OK, and how much do you think you'd be losing in terms of costs? Because that was last week, and it's been there for long.

36:01 How much do you think you are going to lose as a result of this?

36:04 There are no onions, it's a rotting goose. So unless it comes, we know by all means we will lose a lot, because we know it will be split into a square.

36:14 And since it's a square, by all means we have to reduce it. We will not get the price that we bought there.

36:20 And we have to reduce it and sell it. So we will lose a lot.

36:24 So let me go right to the vice chairman of the Progressive Onion Seller's Association.

36:34 Can you tell us your name?

36:36 My name is Yakubu Akweneba.

36:38 So do you think the prices are likely to go up if this continues?

36:42 The prices already go up. And now we are selling it, literally they are selling it 1,500.

36:50 And beneath the border, the last two days, they opened a small and the onions came and they have locked it again.

36:58 And a lot of the cars are going to Burkina. So about 45 cars are blocked in Burkina about five days now.

37:06 And they said they will do escort up to now. So our life is miserable.

37:10 All our money, if it comes to the market, they are like a graveyard. So it's not easy.

37:15 So personally, when I came here, it looks like the place is very empty. Why is that?

37:20 Because of the onion. We are exporting it to Ghana here. And there is no onion.

37:26 If not, those cars come. And the onion, the women keep long in the car, there is heat. It will spoil.

37:34 The women, the onions, tomatoes, we are the same.

37:37 So they split to Burkina. All the cars go block at Burkina there. And we have nothing to do.

37:44 They said they will escort there about six days now. They said they will escort every day.

37:49 The cars are there. The cars are there. We don't even know what to do.

37:53 And the little they bring to the market, we are selling 1,000, 1,200. Now it's 1,500.

38:01 And it's not even more. It's the local one that they harvest more than they even bring to the market.

38:07 It's not even plenty. And all the ladies, they will get one people will be fighting on it.

38:12 So we are pleading to the government to see to Burkina.

38:15 So that they will open the border and escort the cars to Ghana here for us.

38:20 If we go there, it's only Ghana cars. There is no car from anywhere.

38:24 We are pleading to the government.

38:26 Now I'm coming back to you, Sumaila. He was talking about the local onions.

38:31 Do you think that would be an alternative?

38:34 Yeah, the local onions, it is good because if government is to support us, we will do much here.

38:43 That one will be helping the country.

38:47 For example, at Agogo side like this, we have plenty land there whereby we can farm the onions.

38:55 We can produce more, but due to money circumstance.

39:00 If government can help us, so that we will do it on our own.

39:05 Jacqueline was coming to us from the Ajen Kutuku onion market.

39:15 We are trying to assess the impact of the Kuin Niger on onion sales in Ghana.

39:20 Well, the president of the Peasant Farmers Association, Mr. Chels Nyaba, has also been speaking about this situation.

39:26 According to him, more than 90% of our produce come from outside Ghana.

39:32 The current situation in Niger, what will happen to our markets?

39:36 He joins us for more on this.

39:38 Hello, Mr. Nyaba. Thank you so much for joining us.

39:40 Just before Jackie ended that conversation from the Ajen Kutuku market,

39:46 she was finding out what Ghanaian farmers or what advantage Ghanaian farmers could take

39:54 as a result of this situation in Niger.

39:56 Clearly, there's a market. People need onions.

39:59 We're not getting them from Niger, but do we have what it takes to meet the demand?

40:04 Thank you very much and good morning to yourself and your team.

40:10 Sometimes when this question is posed to me, I feel so ashamed that countries that are supposed to depend on us

40:22 for some of these commodities, they're small-sick and then we tend to even panic more than them.

40:28 If you remember, in the last three months, when the Bukung Haram issue happened in Burkina,

40:35 there was a shortage of tomatoes in Ghana.

40:38 Yet, Burkina Faso farmers, some years back, came to Ghana to learn how to produce tomatoes.

40:44 When you talk of onions, I think we have more fertile lands for onion production

40:50 than all the countries we import the onions from.

40:53 If we take the white water basin along that valley, all those places are fertile lands for onion production.

41:01 You go to Asante, regions like Kuku, fertile lands for onion production.

41:06 You come to even the coastal area, Adan, you go to Hohoi area, all these places have potential for onion production.

41:17 Yet, we've not been able to explore those potentials.

41:20 I attribute the local production of onions partly to our policies that focus on promoting particular crop commodities.

41:31 You look at the Planning for Food and Health, which was looking at promoting staple food production,

41:36 even though onions was listed as one of the vegetables to be considered under the program,

41:42 there is no special investment in onion production.

41:45 The focus was only maize, rice, and soybeans.

41:48 Those who produce onions locally are the Pidam farmers, of which the majority of them are women.

41:56 They are producing between less than one acre per person.

42:01 Now, onion production is highly profitable and at the same time highly intensive,

42:08 which requires very serious attention for you to be able to get your maximum yield.

42:14 The variety that we produce in Ghana, that's the Bokore, even though it's short in maturity, the yields are very low.

42:23 The one that we always get from the Nizé, the seed to get one bottle is 250 Ghana seeds.

42:32 You need three of them to do for one acre.

42:34 Apart from the seed, you need to also apply a pesticide control pest.

42:40 You need to prepare the land, you need to do labor, and you also need regular water supply.

42:44 And all this, and the farmers have to contend with that because there's no any government investment in that.

42:50 For service losses issues in onions, it's also very serious.

42:54 Even though we produce more, we lose about 50% due to poor service losses.

43:00 So far, data from IFEW suggests that our total onions production in Ghana is about 8,200 acres.

43:07 And with this one, we are doing only about 144,000.

43:14 When countries like Nizé is doing closer to two million, Nigeria is doing closer to two million,

43:20 Egypt, which is the leading producer of onions, is doing about 3.3 million, we are doing 144 million.

43:27 All these countries, it's not the case that they have more potential for onions production than we do.

43:33 Now, let me come to your question as to whether farmers can take advantage of this.

43:38 And Mr. Nyabaa, can you be very brief for me? I'm sorry we've run out of time.

43:44 Can you be very brief? Can you do it in 30 seconds?

43:46 Yeah. So I think for we, the farmers, we think this is a golden opportunity.

43:52 My only appeal to the Ministry of Food and Agriculture is that they should try to support us with the seeds,

43:58 with the water supply system and with the knowledge.

44:01 Once we do that, we'll be able to increase our current use of between 10 metric tons to 35 metric tons that Nizé has been,

44:09 because our lands are more fertile than those lands.

44:14 Right. Thank you so much for your time.

44:16 Charles Nyabaa is president of the Peasant Farmers Association, and he's been speaking to us about what advantage Ghanaian farmers can take

44:23 as a result of the lack of onions on our market due to the coup in Nizé.

44:28 You're watching Newsdesk with me, Bennis Abubayidu-Lansa.

44:32 It's now time for business, and Darrell Quow is standing by with the latest.

44:36 Hi, good morning. Welcome to business. My name is Darrell Quow.

44:45 The director general of the Social Security and National Insurance Trusts, Dr. John Fweye Tengkwang,

44:50 has indicated that the Trust is willing to participate in the second round of the domestic debt exchange program.

44:56 According to him, the terms of the offer are more favorable than the initial program, hence the decision to subscribe.

45:01 He was speaking at the 2023 edition of the employers' breakfast meeting.

45:06 Social Security and National Insurance Trusts held an engagement with employers in the country

45:12 to deliberate on how to ensure the prompt payment of SNATE contributions of their employees.

45:17 The Trust, as of June 2023, retrieved 132 million ZSRs through court cases.

45:23 Speaking to the media, Director General of SNATE, Dr. John Fweye Tengkwang, said

45:28 the Trust will make sure it has enough liquidity to pay pensions when they are due.

45:32 The government has tabled a new offer for pension funds that are holding government bonds.

45:41 The terms of the offer are certainly better than the first one that was floated.

45:49 We do hold some government paper. I think it's about a little less than a billion Ghana cities of government paper.

45:59 We will look at it and then we will subscribe and make sure that we have enough liquidity to be able to pay our immediate benefits when they come due.

46:17 You know, at SNATE, the way we pay our pensions, part of it is from the fixed income, which will be partly affected.

46:30 Part of it is from contributions and part of it will be from other investment income that we have.

46:36 We've had a bit of a headwind vis-à-vis dividends from the banks.

46:42 We believe that all this is temporary and that in the next year, couple of years or so, we'll be back to trend.

46:50 Deputy Director General in charge of operations and benefits at SNATE, Pearl Nana Amadakun,

46:56 urged employers to be compliant and pay SNATE contributions of their employees.

47:00 Let's all of us here care about the bottom line, i.e. your profits.

47:06 Therefore, a good corporate social image and the culture of your organization is important.

47:14 The contribution you pay provide a sense of security for your workers and promote industrial harmony.

47:22 Your continuous compliance also positively impacts your image as a good social and corporate citizenship.

47:33 The Ministry of Communications and Digitalization has called on academia to inculcate the use of emerging technology in teaching and learning processes.

47:41 According to the ministry, this will improve digital inclusion and deepen the development of ICT in the country.

47:47 Deputy Minister of Communications, Amad Puma, spoke on behalf of the sector minister at the launch of the National ICT Week,

47:54 which is spearheaded by the National Information Technology Agency.

47:59 With the advent of emerging technologies, Ghana is poised to fast-track the development of its technology space through its digitalization agenda.

48:08 As part of efforts to drive digitalization, the National Information Technology Agency has launched the National ICT Week and the World Technology Forum.

48:17 The program, which is under the auspices of the Ministry of Communications and Digitalization, will seek to deepen collaborations and enhance conversations in the sector.

48:27 Speaking at the launch, Deputy Minister for Communications and Digitalization, Amad Puma, called for the inclusion of technological tools in teaching and learning processes.

48:37 We call upon our academic institutions to emphasize ICT education and research, fostering a culture of lifelong learning and technological adaptation.

48:50 Embracing emerging technologies will allow us to stay at the forefront of innovation and keep pace with a rapidly evolving global landscape.

49:00 On the need to develop proper data systems, Director General of the National Information and Technology Agency said his outfit will facilitate proper data collection and loss.

49:10 Ensuring that we have data specific to us and even on the continent is what the dialogue has been, right?

49:21 Data centers are doing okay. If you take the National Data Center, it's doing extremely well. It's being revamped.

49:30 The government now has a government cloud. We are doing well there. We are working with our sister agency, Data Protection Commission.

49:41 And that's it for business. The news continues after this break.

49:51 This is Newsdesk with me, Bernice Abubaye-Dulamsa.

49:54 An inspirational Ghanaian has developed a beautiful natural homestead where he keeps animals for business and conserves the environment by converting degraded lands into forests.

50:06 After sand winning, leading to a degraded land about 24 years ago, the enclave at Domiabra, near Ejuswing, the Ashanti region, is now a one-of-a-kind farm surrounded by a forest.

50:17 Mahmoud Mohamed Nwodin visited the homestead for Climate Focus.

50:21 So when I came, I found out that some of the parts, the land is being used as a sand winning area and for that you cannot plant anything.

50:44 So I consulted the agric ministry and they introduced me to the fisheries department and they told me that we can just repair some of the pits to make a fish pond.

51:13 For me, I always say that this place is a little heaven because from the Bible we all understand that Adam and Eve started from a garden and the garden contains so many trees and different types.

51:24 So I brought a discussion with my dad that why don't we go into different types of plants.

51:30 Since this place is an ecotourist site, people will come and learn things from here.

51:35 So we started to plant, we have the jackfruit, perhaps star fruit, we have in local dialects we call prekese, we have so many plants around.

51:45 People also come, some come for medicinal purposes, some come for research purposes, some also come for tour sites.

51:52 So this was the inspiration behind it, that's why we created so many plants here.

51:57 What an interesting story of how one person in a family is changing the story.

52:10 We'll be bringing you more in subsequent bulletins but that's it for this edition of Newsdesk.

52:14 With me, Ben is Abube Ndunansa.

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