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NewsTranscript
00:00 Welcome back to the AM show. It's time for us to review what the papers are
00:05 reporting today and if you just joined us this is the Journal News Channel
00:08 grateful that you could allow us into your space. Well I have the daily
00:14 graphic today, the Finder newspaper, the Ghanaian publisher, the daily guide and I
00:23 also have with me the custodian. Now to help us review the papers is Dr. Kwame
00:28 Assasante. He is a political scientist and the director of the Center for
00:33 European Studies at the University of Ghana. Doug, grateful for joining us here.
00:37 Good morning. Good morning. I trust all is well. I see you again. I'm very well. Great.
00:51 Let's start off. I'm well. Could you yourself? By grace, I'm well. Let's start off
00:59 from the daily graphic newspaper. On the front page, Tamale International Airport
01:06 opens. Digital audio transmission here. Technology trial takes off. Republic
01:13 Bank Africa set up hub in Accra. Ghana saves 1.5 billion dollars from GMPC
01:20 Jensa deal, Parliamentary Select Committee. We'll delve deeper into that
01:25 particular story later on. But there's this interesting story at the back page
01:30 of the daily graphic. It says youth form 85% of prison inmates. Age range between
01:39 12 and 35. Now the story written by Elizabeth Konedu-Bwache and Diana
01:46 Maines says or it reads, "The country currently has over 9,000 youth locked up
01:52 in various prisons. The number represents about 85% of total number of inmates
01:58 which is over 15,000." The deputy director of prisons, Melissa
02:04 Santos, made this known at a multi-stakeholder dialogue organized by
02:08 the National Youth Authority for actors within the youth development ecosystem.
02:11 She described the situation as worrying because the percentage of young people
02:16 who were between the age of 12 and 35 years did not have access to the many
02:22 benefits that a youth in the country had which made them a liability to the
02:28 country. The deputy director of prisons therefore pleaded that some national
02:31 activities geared towards the youth in the country are also implemented in the
02:36 prison so that young inmates could also benefit. This is worrying that
02:44 85% of inmates are youth. But what story does it tell?
02:52 Okay, so we'll get back to him but it should be a source of worry for
03:04 all of us in the country that we have such a number of people who
03:11 could contribute more to the development of the country locked up.
03:16 Why is that the case? What are we not doing right that we have all of these
03:22 young people locked up? They're not locked up because the
03:28 system says they should be locked up but it's because of something they did. But
03:31 why did this happen? I mean something that should engage all of our thinking
03:37 this morning that youth forming 85% of prison inmates. That's quite
03:43 shocking. I wish that we could even get your thought on this on our social media
03:48 platform. What do you make of this story? What should we do to reduce these
03:54 numbers because this is huge. Now the chief executive officer of the National
03:59 Youth Authority, Paus Enamhajide, said it was the responsibility of the state to
04:03 account for the young people in the country and that it was also important
04:07 to work with non-state actors to ensure that the issues of young people were
04:12 addressed. That he said was the reason the authority had chosen the month of
04:17 August to amplify the challenges that confronted young people and also
04:21 collaborate with stakeholders to discuss the solutions that could be rolled out
04:25 to deal with the challenges of young people. But if you're a young person and
04:29 you're watching us this morning, there are a lot of opportunities in this
04:33 country. Maybe you are not aware but for example if you go on to the
04:41 www.neip.gov.gh platform there are numerous opportunities and that's why it's
04:46 important that you listen to this conversation we have today so that we
04:51 can expose ourselves to all the opportunities that we can take advantage
04:54 of and it's coming up later on the show. We'll be speaking to the
04:58 CEO of the NEIP to expose all of us to the many opportunities
05:06 that exist in the NEIP so that we can take advantage of them. I'm sure if we do
05:11 we can minimize some of these instances that we see get our youth in there. Now
05:18 let's turn to the headline story on the digital audio transmission which is to
05:24 take off. The story is written by Mary-Anne Amponsa and Dixon Walano-Docet.
05:30 It says a new radio technology, digital audio broadcasting, that enables the
05:34 transmission of digital audio content over the airwaves has gone live in the
05:39 country. This makes the country the first in West Africa and fourth on the
05:44 continent to embrace the innovative technology. DAB brings in an era of
05:49 radio broadcasting that will improve on the traditional frequency modulation FM
05:53 by using digital signals instead of analog resulting in improved reception
06:00 quality and reduced signal interference with increasing demand for sound
06:04 broadcasting services and limited FM frequency availability in major cities.
06:08 The country's deployment of the latest version of DAB, the DAB+ will address
06:13 frequency constraint for FM radio and allow stations to reach more cities
06:18 while broadcasting the same radio content. Okay let's see how that goes.
06:23 Let's turn to other stories in the daily graphic newspaper. Okay let's see.
06:36 Okay so we had this story here. Let's see. Now Tamale, the northern regional
06:46 capital was ushered into a brand new life yesterday afternoon when Vice
06:52 President Dr. Mahamudu Baumea inaugurated the second phase of the
06:56 redevelopment project of the Tamale International Airport here at a brief
07:01 ceremony. The airport which has now gained international status is formally
07:05 open to passengers. This follows successful test and simulation exercises
07:10 on a project by the Ghana Airport Company Limited. The expansion works
07:14 costing 17 million dollars included the construction of a modern terminal
07:20 building and other ancillary facilities such as VIP lounge, two boarding gates
07:24 for self-service check-in kiosk, eight check-in desks, airline offices,
07:30 commercial retail areas and multi-purpose terminal for hodge travel
07:35 facilitation and a five kilometer road network. The airport also has a 350
07:41 capacity car park, a technical area which includes a reservoir for portable water
07:45 and firefighting and a sewage treatment plant among other facilities.
07:50 Inaugurating the facility, Dr. Baumea indicated that the terminal was designed
07:54 for passenger throughput of 400,000 annually adding that with the opening of
08:01 the new terminal a number of airlines would now be flying directly from Tamale
08:05 to various parts of the world. So today if you are from the northern part of the
08:10 country and you are traveling anywhere in the world you don't need to come
08:13 through Accra. All you need to do is to go to Tamale and then you can travel, you
08:19 can fly from Tamale to Paris, to London, to Canada, to US, wherever you want to go
08:27 to. He said the project was in line with the government's effort to expand the
08:32 infrastructure in the airline industry to boost the agribusiness in the country
08:36 and attract foreign investors while making Ghana an aviation hub of the West
08:42 African sub-region. So even if someone was to fly into Burkina Faso, you can come
08:47 into Ghana through Tamale and then it goes into Burkina. Wonderful. Let's see
08:52 how this goes. My only worry will be how we maintain this facility. I mean that
08:57 has been a challenge in this country. We build fantastic infrastructure but when
09:02 it comes to maintaining them it becomes a headache. There are so many routes that
09:08 are going bad because we fail to do maintenance on those routes. I was
09:14 driving on the Anadji Highway sometime last week and I was telling myself how
09:19 have we allowed this road to even begin to have these portals. Small portals have
09:24 started to develop on the Anadji Highway in Takrade but authorities are
09:28 watching on for those smaller portals to deteriorate before we spend a lot of
09:34 money to reconstruct the roads. I mean that's the challenge we have in this
09:38 country. So as we reopen the Tamale Airport, fantastic, but I only hope that
09:46 when the smallest of challenges come we should tackle them from the early stages
09:50 so that they do not deteriorate. That has been our culture in this country
09:55 and for that Anadji Road that I'm talking about, we're all here. Let's give
09:59 ourselves a year. We'll bring stories of that road and we'll see how wider the
10:04 portals have become because authorities are failing to act. That is how we are
10:10 in this country. So my only plea is that once we have opened such a fantastic
10:15 project, let us up our game when it comes to, you know, maintenance because
10:23 for our lack of maintenance a lot of proper infrastructure have gone bad in
10:27 this country. Now when you go to page 16 of the daily graphic it says,
10:34 "Minerals Commission discusses exploration of lithium at Mphantaman."
10:39 Now the Minerals Commission is holding preliminary discussions with Atlantic
10:43 Lithium Limited, a mining company on the development of the Ewoja lithium
10:47 deposit in Mphantaman municipality in the central region. The project has
10:51 however not received the approval of the Minister of Land and Natural Resources.
10:56 Neither has a contract, transaction, deal or stake for any person, company or
11:02 entity been signed. By law the Commission is mandated to make recommendations to
11:08 the Minister for the granting of mineral rights including a mining lease. Once
11:14 that has not been done, no company can mine in this country and that's why
11:18 those who are mining without these, we call them illegal mining. So if any
11:22 company is mining lithium in Mphantaman area and you know about it, you
11:26 have to report. They don't have the license, per what we are reading here. Now
11:31 it says, "The Chief Executive Officer of the Minerals Commission, Martin Kwekwe,
11:35 you see, told the daily graphic that the Commission had not made any such
11:39 recommendations for the granting of a mining lease for the development of the
11:43 lithium deposit at Ewoja. He explained that Atlantic Lithium had a
11:48 prospecting license which it acquired through its Ghanaian subsidiary, Barari
11:54 Development Ghana Limited. "At this stage Atlantic Lithium Limited still
11:59 holds a prospecting license. In the name of its local subsidiary, Barari
12:03 Development Ghana Limited." Martin, you see, added. The
12:10 interview comes in the wake of claims by Piedmont Lithium in respect of the
12:15 company's acquisition of a stake in the Ewoja Lithium project in Ghana. The
12:19 press release by the Commission follows the Australian mining firm Piedmont
12:23 Lithium had acquired a 22.5% stake in Atlantic Lithium's Ewoja
12:28 project in the country. The CEO of Piedmont, Keith Phillips, was quoted in a
12:33 release saying, "We are pleased with the result of the Ewoja Lithium project.
12:37 Definitive feasibility study and our election to end our initial
12:42 22.5% interest in Atlantic Lithium's Ghanaian lithium project portfolio."
12:47 Now, the Cabinet on July 27 this year approved a new policy for the
12:53 exploitation, management and regulation of lithium and other green minerals in
12:57 Ghana. The overarching goal of the new framework is anchored on the principle
13:01 that exploitation of green minerals including lithium must benefit
13:06 the people who are true owners of the mineral resources. How are we going to
13:11 ensure that the people benefit from this? It's another conversation we need
13:17 to have but now we do know that nobody has been giving the license to
13:23 exploit the mineral. All that they have is prospecting to determine the
13:28 amount of lithium we do have. So if you see something, you need to say
13:34 something. If you see someone is mining lithium from those areas, you
13:41 need to alert the authorities so that the right things can be done.
13:47 So we've been joined now by Dr. Kwame Asasante on the phone. Doc, great to have
13:54 you back. So I wanted us to start from the youth forming 85% of prison
14:02 inmates. We are told they range between 12 to 35 years and I was asking what
14:09 real story does this tell? This is a very unfortunate story and it's not good for
14:18 a country such as ours and of course it's not good for any country. Why are we in
14:26 this? A number of factors come to the fore. If you look at this later, it tells you
14:34 that there's something wrong with our socialization process where we're
14:38 setting values in children for them to develop to become the best
14:42 socialized. What we are seeing tells us that there's something wrong with that.
14:49 Let's cut our mind back to the family and see how far have we been able or how
14:58 far have we fared in terms of our development or contribution in this
15:04 regard. Do we offer children the best of training in terms of what will make them
15:10 fit into society? The answer is no. We have allowed children to do their own
15:17 things and we have all manner of difficulties. People also have broken
15:23 homes that have contributed immensely to some of this. Added to it, you can also
15:31 talk about issue of what a lot of youth who are energetic and what idle, doing
15:40 nothing. Issue of unemployment and skills training is missing. So you'll find them
15:47 in providers that will lead them into prison. It is unfortunate and this means
15:53 that our institutions must up their game alongside with families, with you know
16:00 schools, with other agencies of socialization. They have to come in
16:07 seriously because this country cannot do without the youth. And look at their
16:12 number, the age bracket 12 to 35. In other jurisdictions where you see a
16:19 number of people who are in the labor front working and here we have them in
16:26 prison. It sends a very wrong signal to us that all government efforts, all the
16:33 efforts of our stakeholders, we are still having a sizable number of our youth
16:39 population lock up in prison. It is cause for worry and stakeholders must take an act now.
16:47 How must we deal with this? I mean what is the solution to this? The solution lies
16:52 in some of the things I've said. We need to tighten the noose around the
16:58 things that will make children, growing children, we can't sit for society.
17:13 Families must take seriously the process of socialization in cork it. Let's
17:20 continue to do that. In cork it values into children so that when they grow
17:27 they live by them. Problem of what? Families. We need to also look at that
17:34 and resolve them one way or the other. And then government must strengthen its
17:41 efforts to provide employment for the youth. There are a lot of them who are ready to
17:47 work and they have no jobs. That means, that doesn't mean, let me also say it
17:53 clearly, that that doesn't mean that if you don't have job you must go into
17:57 violence that will take you to prison. No. But the old adage says that's better,
18:03 that the devil finds work for the idle. Let us engage them through what?
18:10 Certain training and then let us occupy them with something that will help them
18:17 in their development and that will deal with some of these problems. I know it
18:22 will not go completely but we'll be able to work a nibbit in the back or reduce
18:27 it to the barest minimum. Okay now let's turn our attention to the Finder
18:33 newspaper now. On the front page it says government settles 2.4 billion coupons on
18:39 new bonds. No licenses granted to mine lithium according to Minerals Commission.
18:44 Research to find one traditional dish as Ghana's national food underway and
18:50 17 million dollar phase 2 of Tamale Airport commissioned to increase
18:54 economic activities in northern Ghana according to Dr. Baumea. Now the story is
18:59 on page 2 of the Finder newspaper. It says Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Baumea has
19:04 commissioned the Tamale International Airport phase 2 project at a colorful
19:08 ceremony in the northern regional capital facilitated under the auspices
19:13 of the UK Ghana Business Council established in 2018 and co-chaired by
19:17 Dr. Mahamudu Baumea. The project is part of government's aviation sector
19:21 infrastructure development program designed to expand the frontiers of the
19:25 aviation industry and to make Ghana the aviation hub within the West African
19:29 sub-region. Dr. Baumea who broke ground on August 15 2019 for works to begin on
19:34 a project expressed delight that four years on the Tamale International
19:38 Project Airport phase 2 project has been completed.
19:41 Quote this project is so dear to the government and particularly the hard
19:46 working people of the northern region and its trading partners across the
19:49 length and breadth of the country and the sub-region unquote. Dr. Baumea stated at
19:54 a commissioning quote the completion of this ultra modern terminal building
19:58 together with a multi-purpose terminal and other ancillary facilities are
20:01 expected to provide needed impetus for increased economic trading activities
20:06 and to reinforce the status of Tamale as a sub-Saharan hub for flight to and
20:12 from neighboring West African countries and Sahel regions. Doc I was saying a
20:20 while ago that well this is good fantastic project but our only problem
20:26 should be maintaining them. What do you make of this this the commissioning and
20:29 and what the prospect that brings this brings to the northern part of the
20:33 country? Yeah you couldn't have said it better we need to develop that culture
20:39 and sustain it. The culture of maintaining very important things or
20:46 anything that we put our resources into we need to maintain them to the best of
20:51 what is required of us so that it serves the purpose for which it was developed.
20:57 In modern economics you cannot do without aviation industry booming and
21:06 then attracting a lot of people to use facilities within the industry so this
21:13 is a good call and it has come at no better time than this time but we want
21:19 more in other places so that it will open the frontiers of the country's
21:24 economy and allow us to rake in the necessary revenues that we need to
21:28 propel our economy from its current pitfalls. That's the final call.
21:35 All right government we understand has settled some 2.4 billion coupons on new
21:42 bonds and the story is on page 4 it is written by Elvis Dacone says the
21:49 Ministry of Finance has issued instructions for the settlement of first
21:52 matured coupons of new bonds issued under phase of the domestic debt
21:57 exchange program. In a Twitter post the Finance Ministry said that the payment
22:01 is in line with credibility of Ghana's domestic debt operation quote in line
22:05 with government's commitment to the continued success and credibility of
22:08 Ghana's domestic debt operations instructions have gone out for their
22:11 settlement of 2.4 billion cities first coupon payment of the DDEP due today
22:18 the tweet stated. I mean what do you make of this when the whole thing
22:24 started a lot of there were a lot of people who didn't participate because of
22:29 you know people not trusting the process but here we are what does it say?
22:36 If you look at this, this is a good thing but my prayer is that we should be
22:41 able to maintain or sustain. We don't want a one day wonder thing where you pay today the next day
22:49 you default and people pick it at the ministry and all that. It doesn't bode
22:55 well for a country which is struggling to maintain its image in this direction.
23:01 It doesn't bode well at all and you do yourself good, I'm talking about the
23:07 government if you are able to right that wrong and make sure that you do it well
23:12 and then you you ginger people who want to contribute to financing government
23:18 through the public sector. Without public finance definitely governance process is
23:26 going to what the affected so it is incumbent upon government to do the
23:30 needful and then you know respect the terms of contracts relative to this
23:37 type of agreement so that you pay people on time. We need more of such finances to
23:44 stabilize the economy and government need to do what is required of them to
23:49 also bring smiles on the faces of those who put in their hard-earned resources
23:54 but the nonsense I'm sorry to say of government always checking out at the
24:01 last minute when people have contributed and they want their returns, government will
24:06 come out with all cock and bull stories and then government push that which is
24:10 always annoying I think at least so that we'll have an environment that will be
24:18 attractive enough to get people into that sector and support government in
24:22 this effort. All right moving on to the Daily Guide newspaper says Cecilia
24:30 Dapasto Lincoln's case, third suspect granted bail. We save the economy from
24:35 collapse that's according to BOG. Bamiya opened 17 million Tamale airport
24:40 phase 2, compensated Africa Nana tells of the worst and 2.4 billion released
24:45 to Saturday the first coupon. Now on page 3 the story is written by Charles
24:51 Tichy Bwedu and says President Ekofodo continues to mount pressure on the need
24:56 for Western countries to pay compensation to Africans and their
25:00 countries for the negative effect of the transatlantic slave trade. The subject of
25:05 restitutions he said must go along with a matter of reparations since according
25:10 to him quote no amount of money can restore the damages caused by slave
25:15 trade and its consequences which have spanned many centuries. Your thoughts?
25:22 This issue about reparation and all that I have a different story, a different
25:27 thing about it because if we're talking about slavery it didn't take one
25:34 person or one group of people to do it. It was a joint effort between our people
25:39 and the slave master. So who is paying who a compensation? Sometimes when I hear
25:46 this there's something that we have to sit down and do and that is to
25:49 interrogate the literature the more and then see the causes and then who perpetrated
25:56 the act and then if there is any reparation we can look at it and look at
26:01 this case and that is why we always cry about these things and the Western world
26:05 no one's of mine. That is not to say that I endorse slavery and all the effects. I
26:12 hate it and I was a student of history and were taught slavery and I detest it.
26:18 I have visited places in the US such as Monticello where I've seen the effect of
26:25 slavery and the rest of them but look it's a very complex matter we have to
26:32 look at it very well if you want to make sense the well and then we're trying to
26:39 see what we you know demand out of that out of which we can create problems and
26:46 people will laugh at us. But aside I want to say that let us not bank our hopes. I'm not
26:53 sure we are banking our hopes on this thing. I believe that we will definitely be giving
26:58 us that type of reparation and all that with or without it we should you know
27:05 prepare our minds that we move on and that we use slavery as a bitter lesson
27:10 to guide our future conduct and you follow our country on our own. But there's
27:16 no argument about what the West did. Some of them are being said that I mean
27:21 when they read history it paints them that the sort of things their
27:25 grandfather's did to Africa. So is there debate about who is supposed to do what?
27:31 The issue is that you are asking for reparation for you know the acts of
27:40 inhumanity that was committed to black people, to the people of Africa, to the people of
27:48 Atlantic Ocean, to the New Wales and the rest of them. And I'm saying that the source, the beginning,
27:55 who were those who took part in slavery? It's always was a market where we were
28:01 suppliers and those who also demanded the commodities. And so was it that it's
28:09 only Western Wales that was guilty of this and our people contribute. Remember before
28:14 even went on transatlantic slavery, domestic slavery and then even with the introduction of what
28:21 transatlantic slavery, there were people who took part in selling, around this country and check our history.
28:29 Of men in here in Africa, in Ghana, in Africa, took up Benin. The King Kusoko and
28:36 Koo would not stop selling slaves because it supported the economy, the Benin
28:41 economy and the rest of them. And I'm saying that having taken part in these ugly
28:46 business, that is one actor plus another actor, why are you demanding reparation
28:52 from the person who also was on the market after you have supplied? That for
28:57 me is a lingering question that beat my mind and I need answers from the public.
29:03 Interesting. All right, Doc, I'm grateful to you for joining us here on our niche
29:08 review segment of the show. I do have a great day. Dr. Kwame Asansante is Director of the
29:16 Center for European Studies at the University of Ghana. This is the AM show and we're
29:24 grateful to you for joining us here. This is a niche review segment. We'll take a
29:29 quick break. When we return, we'll bring you sports but just before, this segment
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