BY the last count, six telecommunications companies had been registered to operate mobile telephony industry in the country. Five of the companies are currently in a fierce competition for consumers from among the nearly 23 million population, while the sixth operator is feverishly preparing to launch its operations to make the market even more exciting.
From the 1990s to date, the liberalisation of the telecommunications sector has been very phenomenal making it possible for every village or hamlet to be accessed by cellular phone communications.
Indeed, cellular phones give true expression to the belief that the world has become a global village, making it easy for contacts to be made on any issue in every corner of the world.
Such is the high level of telephony penetration and the influence of information and communication technology (ICT) on the cultures of the world that certain countries are taking steps to introduce regulations for the use of the Internet to the displeasure of advocates of a free society.
Ghana’s mobile penetration base is estimated to hit 60 per cent by the end of this year. At the end of last year, the penetration rate was about 50 per cent with nearly 11.8 million mobile phone subscribers.
Despite the growth in the mobile telephony market, the fixed line penetration is woefully just about two per cent with Vodafone enjoying a monopoly in this sector.
The mobile telephony penetration has outpaced the growth of Ghana’s bandwidth, which has created challenges for efforts at achieving cheaper internet cost and quick accessibility because as of last year, internet usage was 2.7 per cent as compared to 5.3 per cent in the whole of Africa.
In every street corner or community can be found young people trading in top-up credits for mobile phones while fuel stations and convenience shops trade in handsets and credits.
The Daily Graphic urges the government to intensify efforts to reduce cost of operations of ICT companies so that more Ghanaians can have access to mobile telephony and the Internet.
While the government takes steps to help Ghanaians to enjoy the benefits of ICT, the players also have a responsibility to provide affordable services to their customers.
We, therefore, support the call by the Vice-President, Mr John Dramani Mahama, on players in the telecommunications industry to ensure fair and healthy competition to enable services to be extended to all consumers irrespective of their geographical location.
A look at the industry indicates that there is fierce competition among the players not only for subscribers but also for the country’s airspace.
The Vice-President was right when he noted that instead of the mobile phone companies sharing facilities such as masts to bring down cost of infrastructure and, thereby, reduce cost of services and products to the benefit of the consumer, the networks had entered into “mast war”.
The collective efforts that the Vice-President recommended, if properly regulated by the National Communications Authority (NCA), can provide the level playing field and a competitive environment to engender quality services at affordable prices to the people.
The erection of masts by mobile phone service operators especially on tall buildings and mountainous locations in the country has become an eyesore and a matter of concern to residents of those areas.
The Daily Graphic calls on the players in the telecommunications industry to harness the potential in the sector to leverage the country’s development agenda and to the advantage of the ever-growing list of clients in the mobile telephony industry.
Monday, August 31, 2009
Sunday, August 30, 2009
TOMATO FARMERS CRY FOR HELP (AUGUST 29, 2009)
AGRICULTURE remains the mainstay of our economy, despite efforts by successive governments to diversify.
We have about 70 per cent of our people living in the countryside, where their main occupation is agriculture. There is no way that the economy can boom, if we ignore the concerns of our farmers.
While people looking for land complain about the land tenure system, because of “abusa” and “abunu”, which are practices under a traditional system of sharing crops in which the sharecropper gives out half (abunu) or a third (abusa) of his yield to the landowner, there are other bottlenecks in the system that do not motivate people, especially the youth, to take to farming.
The banks are not interested in extending credit facilities to our farmers because of the high risk associated with agriculture and the government’s support to farmers by way of subsidies and inputs such as fertiliser, outboard motors and seedlings is woefully inadequate.
Sometimes, the support from the government or the banks get to the farmers when the farming season is over.
We are aware of certain policy interventions in the past and even now to stimulate agricultural production, but the most progressive so far was the ‘Operation Feed Yourself’ initiative during the General Acheampong regime.
Whatever the difficulties may be to motivate our youth to return to the land, the DAILY GRAPHIC thinks the government must do all within its power to rekindle interest in agriculture at all levels.
It is against this background that we welcome the decision of the government to allocate more than GH¢10 million to support the Youth in Agriculture programme. This may not be enough but it can mark a positive beginning.
However, the present level of subsistence agriculture cannot provide for the country’s growing population.
It is unpardonable that we are unable to provide ready market for our farmers when they produce in abundance every year, even at the subsistence level.
A classic example of farmers confronted with this perennial challenge are tomato farmers in the three regions in northern Ghana who are left at the mercy of traders.
The Northern Star Tomato Factory, which was rehabilitated about two years ago to buy tomato during the harvesting season, has not been able to do so for lack of funds.
Last year, there was bumper tomato harvest in the Upper East Region but the tomato farmers lost heavily because the factory was not functional, leading to low prices of the crop on the market and consequently a glut.
The DAILY GRAPHIC adds its voice to the appeal by the farmers to the government to, as a matter of urgency, provide funds to the factory to enable it to purchase the produce from the farmers.
Our farmers have been deprived of gains from the sweat of their labour for far too long because of the apparent lack of progressive policy initiatives in the agricultural sector.
In this day and age of science and technological advancement, we find it difficult to understand why tonnes of tomatoes and other farm produce go to waste because of the non-availability of processing facilities.
We can save ourselves the embarrassment of begging for food handouts if we develop the capacity to produce to feed ourselves and for export.
We have about 70 per cent of our people living in the countryside, where their main occupation is agriculture. There is no way that the economy can boom, if we ignore the concerns of our farmers.
While people looking for land complain about the land tenure system, because of “abusa” and “abunu”, which are practices under a traditional system of sharing crops in which the sharecropper gives out half (abunu) or a third (abusa) of his yield to the landowner, there are other bottlenecks in the system that do not motivate people, especially the youth, to take to farming.
The banks are not interested in extending credit facilities to our farmers because of the high risk associated with agriculture and the government’s support to farmers by way of subsidies and inputs such as fertiliser, outboard motors and seedlings is woefully inadequate.
Sometimes, the support from the government or the banks get to the farmers when the farming season is over.
We are aware of certain policy interventions in the past and even now to stimulate agricultural production, but the most progressive so far was the ‘Operation Feed Yourself’ initiative during the General Acheampong regime.
Whatever the difficulties may be to motivate our youth to return to the land, the DAILY GRAPHIC thinks the government must do all within its power to rekindle interest in agriculture at all levels.
It is against this background that we welcome the decision of the government to allocate more than GH¢10 million to support the Youth in Agriculture programme. This may not be enough but it can mark a positive beginning.
However, the present level of subsistence agriculture cannot provide for the country’s growing population.
It is unpardonable that we are unable to provide ready market for our farmers when they produce in abundance every year, even at the subsistence level.
A classic example of farmers confronted with this perennial challenge are tomato farmers in the three regions in northern Ghana who are left at the mercy of traders.
The Northern Star Tomato Factory, which was rehabilitated about two years ago to buy tomato during the harvesting season, has not been able to do so for lack of funds.
Last year, there was bumper tomato harvest in the Upper East Region but the tomato farmers lost heavily because the factory was not functional, leading to low prices of the crop on the market and consequently a glut.
The DAILY GRAPHIC adds its voice to the appeal by the farmers to the government to, as a matter of urgency, provide funds to the factory to enable it to purchase the produce from the farmers.
Our farmers have been deprived of gains from the sweat of their labour for far too long because of the apparent lack of progressive policy initiatives in the agricultural sector.
In this day and age of science and technological advancement, we find it difficult to understand why tonnes of tomatoes and other farm produce go to waste because of the non-availability of processing facilities.
We can save ourselves the embarrassment of begging for food handouts if we develop the capacity to produce to feed ourselves and for export.
Friday, August 28, 2009
THIS POLICY HINDERS HEALTH DELIVERY (AUGUST 28, 2009)
A 2005 audit report currently before the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of Parliament has revealed that 94 experienced medical doctors who should have practised in hospitals in the public sector found themselves occupying administrative positions.
There is also the issue of a large number of heads of departments, agencies and units under the Ministry of Health (MoH) who are specifically trained for the consulting rooms but have been asked to work as administrators.
We concede that there are some units, especially those that deal with the various disease control programmes, that must be manned by personnel with specialised knowledge but the current wholesale plan where every doctor aspires to be a director of a district or region at the expense of the health of the people is not good enough.
It is difficult to understand why the Ghana Health Service is not utilising the services of professional hospital administrators at the district and regional levels so that the doctors can concentrate on saving lives through actual healthcare delivery?
Many of us know of highly competent doctors who have currently put aside their stethoscopes and are involved in full-time administration.
The trend is growing because the doctors who have become administrators enjoy the same allowances medical practitioners are paid such as the additional duty hour allowance. They also undertake foreign trips to be paid per diem.
This situation could also have led to inadequate personnel to spearhead the crusade against public health challenges such as cholera, bilharzia and malaria.
The DAILY GRAPHIC thinks that we can change the status quo because in mission-managed health facilities, qualified hospital administrators have been employed to perform the day-to-day running of the hospitals leaving the doctors to take charge of the consulting rooms.
Another significant point raised by the report was that because the experienced doctors did not work in the hospitals, younger professionals were denied the opportunity to learn from the experiences acquired by their senior colleagues.
The DAILY GRAPHIC, therefore, associates with the observation made by the report that “in a service where brain drain has significant impact on capacity and replacement is very difficult to accomplish, using qualified doctors to undertake administrative task is a further drain on the already under-staffed sector. The effect is pressure and stress on the few medical professionals left to run the facilities”.
It should also be possible for health professionals who opt for administrative duties to spend a few days within the week to work in the consulting rooms.
We think that in order to motivate health professionals to offer efficient services to the people, we must offer more incentives to health professionals who place the consulting rooms and theatres above the administrative functions.
The DAILY GRAPHIC believes that the report by the Auditor-General will open our eyes to the challenges in the health sector in order to design measures to address them.
In the midst of a near health crisis, it behoves the policy makers in the sector to work out arrangements such that our health professionals can offer the best of health services.
There is also the issue of a large number of heads of departments, agencies and units under the Ministry of Health (MoH) who are specifically trained for the consulting rooms but have been asked to work as administrators.
We concede that there are some units, especially those that deal with the various disease control programmes, that must be manned by personnel with specialised knowledge but the current wholesale plan where every doctor aspires to be a director of a district or region at the expense of the health of the people is not good enough.
It is difficult to understand why the Ghana Health Service is not utilising the services of professional hospital administrators at the district and regional levels so that the doctors can concentrate on saving lives through actual healthcare delivery?
Many of us know of highly competent doctors who have currently put aside their stethoscopes and are involved in full-time administration.
The trend is growing because the doctors who have become administrators enjoy the same allowances medical practitioners are paid such as the additional duty hour allowance. They also undertake foreign trips to be paid per diem.
This situation could also have led to inadequate personnel to spearhead the crusade against public health challenges such as cholera, bilharzia and malaria.
The DAILY GRAPHIC thinks that we can change the status quo because in mission-managed health facilities, qualified hospital administrators have been employed to perform the day-to-day running of the hospitals leaving the doctors to take charge of the consulting rooms.
Another significant point raised by the report was that because the experienced doctors did not work in the hospitals, younger professionals were denied the opportunity to learn from the experiences acquired by their senior colleagues.
The DAILY GRAPHIC, therefore, associates with the observation made by the report that “in a service where brain drain has significant impact on capacity and replacement is very difficult to accomplish, using qualified doctors to undertake administrative task is a further drain on the already under-staffed sector. The effect is pressure and stress on the few medical professionals left to run the facilities”.
It should also be possible for health professionals who opt for administrative duties to spend a few days within the week to work in the consulting rooms.
We think that in order to motivate health professionals to offer efficient services to the people, we must offer more incentives to health professionals who place the consulting rooms and theatres above the administrative functions.
The DAILY GRAPHIC believes that the report by the Auditor-General will open our eyes to the challenges in the health sector in order to design measures to address them.
In the midst of a near health crisis, it behoves the policy makers in the sector to work out arrangements such that our health professionals can offer the best of health services.
Thursday, August 27, 2009
NEVER AGAIN, BRETHEN (AUGUST 27)
ON Tuesday, some hoodlums at the Konkomba Market in Accra put up a behaviour that can only be akin to what happens in the animal kingdom.
In the full glare of their compatriots, these people exhibited brute force in airing their grievances.
The spectacle that was left behind after the free-for-all, during which machetes, guns and other offensive weapons were used, was horrific.
Ghana has come a long way since 1992 when multiparty democracy was adopted and we think we must turn our back to arbitrariness and human rights abuses. In this dispensation, might is no longer right or the order of the day, and so the rule of law must reign supreme.
Our passion for the rule of law should provide enough space for all patriotic citizens to express their opinions without let or hindrance.
Our rich diversity should never be the source of conflict and deadly disagreements but should encourage us to respect the values inherent in our rich diversity.
Whether we like it or not we shall continue to be one people belonging to this great country with a common destiny, notwithstanding our ethnic, political and religious differences.
It is sad that a section of the society has allowed its association with political parties to disturb our sense of brotherhood and drive us to engage in fratricidal struggles.
The time has come for all Ghanaians to resolve never to allow multiparty democracy to sow deep-seated hatred among the people.
Multiparty democracy is all about choices and that dispensation should promote healthy rivalry and competition among the political parties and their supporters.
Electioneering conducted in a free, fair and friendly atmosphere is always a delight and offers even comic relief, depending on the issues that are raised on the platforms.
It is unfortunate that Tuesday’s incident during which four persons were said to have lost their lives while many people got injured is being linked to the protracted conflict in Dagbon and the deep-seated hatred between supporters of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the National Democratic Congress (NDC).
The DAILY GRAPHIC believes that after the election, it is now time for all Ghanaians to join hands to build the country.
Our people should refuse to resort to violence on the least provocation, even if they are hired by certain unscrupulous political party officials.
The tragedy of our circumstances in recent years, particularly since 1992, is our inability to stand up collectively against wrongdoing.
The political system has been abused by our political leaders and their followers as a result of rent seeking and patronage, where only the well-connected benefit from the system.
The culture of impunity has nurtured a gang of ‘machomen’ and land guards who cause mayhem in the communities for personal or class benefits.
The latest violence at the Konkomba Market started simmering before and during the general election in December last year, but because no action was taken, these gangsters were emboldened to misbehave last Tuesday.
The DAILY GRAPHIC, therefore, appeals to the police to act decisively to bring the perpetrators of last Tuesday’s violence to book in order to serve as deterrent to others.
The two political parties also have a responsibility to advise their supporters to desist from the culture of impunity and violence for which they are gradually gaining notoriety for.
No matter the provocation, let us say no to communal violence that can threaten the peace and stability of the nation.
In the full glare of their compatriots, these people exhibited brute force in airing their grievances.
The spectacle that was left behind after the free-for-all, during which machetes, guns and other offensive weapons were used, was horrific.
Ghana has come a long way since 1992 when multiparty democracy was adopted and we think we must turn our back to arbitrariness and human rights abuses. In this dispensation, might is no longer right or the order of the day, and so the rule of law must reign supreme.
Our passion for the rule of law should provide enough space for all patriotic citizens to express their opinions without let or hindrance.
Our rich diversity should never be the source of conflict and deadly disagreements but should encourage us to respect the values inherent in our rich diversity.
Whether we like it or not we shall continue to be one people belonging to this great country with a common destiny, notwithstanding our ethnic, political and religious differences.
It is sad that a section of the society has allowed its association with political parties to disturb our sense of brotherhood and drive us to engage in fratricidal struggles.
The time has come for all Ghanaians to resolve never to allow multiparty democracy to sow deep-seated hatred among the people.
Multiparty democracy is all about choices and that dispensation should promote healthy rivalry and competition among the political parties and their supporters.
Electioneering conducted in a free, fair and friendly atmosphere is always a delight and offers even comic relief, depending on the issues that are raised on the platforms.
It is unfortunate that Tuesday’s incident during which four persons were said to have lost their lives while many people got injured is being linked to the protracted conflict in Dagbon and the deep-seated hatred between supporters of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the National Democratic Congress (NDC).
The DAILY GRAPHIC believes that after the election, it is now time for all Ghanaians to join hands to build the country.
Our people should refuse to resort to violence on the least provocation, even if they are hired by certain unscrupulous political party officials.
The tragedy of our circumstances in recent years, particularly since 1992, is our inability to stand up collectively against wrongdoing.
The political system has been abused by our political leaders and their followers as a result of rent seeking and patronage, where only the well-connected benefit from the system.
The culture of impunity has nurtured a gang of ‘machomen’ and land guards who cause mayhem in the communities for personal or class benefits.
The latest violence at the Konkomba Market started simmering before and during the general election in December last year, but because no action was taken, these gangsters were emboldened to misbehave last Tuesday.
The DAILY GRAPHIC, therefore, appeals to the police to act decisively to bring the perpetrators of last Tuesday’s violence to book in order to serve as deterrent to others.
The two political parties also have a responsibility to advise their supporters to desist from the culture of impunity and violence for which they are gradually gaining notoriety for.
No matter the provocation, let us say no to communal violence that can threaten the peace and stability of the nation.
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
DON'T REPEAT AKOSOMBO AT BUI (AUGUST 25, 2009)
FROM hindsight, the directive from the Ministry of Environment, Science and Technology (MEST) to the Bui Power Authority (BPA) to submit an Environmental Management Plan and a Resettlement Action Plan can be said to be a proactive move to avoid the unpleasant aspects of the Akosombo Dam experience.
In the 1960s when the Akosombo Dam was being constructed, many things including a user-friendly resettlement plan were ignored by the authorities.
The resettlement plans for the 52 towns inundated by the dam were drawn with no or very little consultation with the residents of those communities.
The moves by the MEST indicate that as a people we are learning from our mistakes so that we do not inflict pain on communities in the catchment area of the Bui Dam Project.
The fallout from the Akosombo Dam continues to impact negatively on the living conditions of communities in the dam’s catchment area even up to today.
Many families who lost compound houses were compensated with very small structures like hen coops which did not meet their expectations. The farmlands of the people were flooded and few hectares which were spared had their vegetation disturbed to the extent that the farmland could not support any meaningful agriculture.
Quite ironically, the economy of the communities in the dam area were seriously affected by the Akosombo Dam, which was executed to help accelerate the economic development of the country.
Water-borne diseases and other health challenges have also been on the ascendancy thereby aggravating the poor living conditions of the people downstream.
The DAILY GRAPHIC thinks that although the Bui Power Project will accelerate economic development, it should not be carried out at the expense of the daily endeavours of the local people.
Environmentalists raised the red flag when the government decided to revive the Bui Power Project because of their concern for the protection of flora and fauna.
The DAILY GRAPHIC cautions against a repeat of what happened at Akosombo where very rich and resourceful families were reduced to beggars in their own backyards just because a good programme ignored the human touch.
The Bui Power Project holds a lot of promise for the future of the country. This can, however, be attained if the concerns of the people are taken care of by the project management team.
We are encouraged that through civil society activism, the people are wide awake and ready to fight for their rights.
The DAILY GRAPHIC advises the people in the Bui area not to sit on the fence but get actively involved in all the public hearings planned to elicit public reaction and support for the project.
They should participate in all the activities planned by the government to explain the challenges associated with the execution of the project. By their active participation, they will be part of the critical decisions that will be taken to lessen the headaches associated with big ventures like the Bui Dam Project.
The people should voice out their concerns now to avoid the mistakes of Akosombo and guarantee a better standard of living for the people of Bui.
In the 1960s when the Akosombo Dam was being constructed, many things including a user-friendly resettlement plan were ignored by the authorities.
The resettlement plans for the 52 towns inundated by the dam were drawn with no or very little consultation with the residents of those communities.
The moves by the MEST indicate that as a people we are learning from our mistakes so that we do not inflict pain on communities in the catchment area of the Bui Dam Project.
The fallout from the Akosombo Dam continues to impact negatively on the living conditions of communities in the dam’s catchment area even up to today.
Many families who lost compound houses were compensated with very small structures like hen coops which did not meet their expectations. The farmlands of the people were flooded and few hectares which were spared had their vegetation disturbed to the extent that the farmland could not support any meaningful agriculture.
Quite ironically, the economy of the communities in the dam area were seriously affected by the Akosombo Dam, which was executed to help accelerate the economic development of the country.
Water-borne diseases and other health challenges have also been on the ascendancy thereby aggravating the poor living conditions of the people downstream.
The DAILY GRAPHIC thinks that although the Bui Power Project will accelerate economic development, it should not be carried out at the expense of the daily endeavours of the local people.
Environmentalists raised the red flag when the government decided to revive the Bui Power Project because of their concern for the protection of flora and fauna.
The DAILY GRAPHIC cautions against a repeat of what happened at Akosombo where very rich and resourceful families were reduced to beggars in their own backyards just because a good programme ignored the human touch.
The Bui Power Project holds a lot of promise for the future of the country. This can, however, be attained if the concerns of the people are taken care of by the project management team.
We are encouraged that through civil society activism, the people are wide awake and ready to fight for their rights.
The DAILY GRAPHIC advises the people in the Bui area not to sit on the fence but get actively involved in all the public hearings planned to elicit public reaction and support for the project.
They should participate in all the activities planned by the government to explain the challenges associated with the execution of the project. By their active participation, they will be part of the critical decisions that will be taken to lessen the headaches associated with big ventures like the Bui Dam Project.
The people should voice out their concerns now to avoid the mistakes of Akosombo and guarantee a better standard of living for the people of Bui.
Monday, August 24, 2009
GIMPA DESERVES PRAISE (AUGUST 24)
THE human resource of any country holds the key to progress and prosperity. Whatever the people decide to do or otherwise determines the future direction of that community.
It is, therefore, not surprising that the National Democratic Congress (NDC) chose as its slogan “investing in job creation, people and the economy” during the last elections because without a well-trained human resource the country’s development agenda cannot be attained.
No doubt, universities or tertiary institutions of all kinds have been established across the length and breadth of the country offering courses that are essential for nation building.
Even though most of the private tertiary institutions are offering courses in business and administration there are other training institutions filling the gap in offering training in information communication technology (ICT).
The worry, however, is that apart from the six public universities that specialise in specific disciplines, most of the private institutions are concentrating on particular disciplines to the detriment of other crucial areas of the economy.
Now, training in Science and Technology, ICT and Oil and Gas has become very crucial if Ghana is to attain a middle-income status by 2020.
There cannot be any quick fixes to our plan to become a major economic power on the African continent. We need to plan systematically, especially at the education front, by training people who will take charge of the sectors that will propel us to the ‘promised land’.
It is against this background that the DAILY GRAPHIC shares in the call by Vice-President John Dramani Mahama for the establishment of strong institutions that will help to transform the country’s economy.
GIMPA has pioneered a training programme at the tertiary level that has caught on with all our universities. About a decade ago, it was a taboo to mention or suggest the introduction of sandwich programmes, evening courses and weekend schools at the tertiary level.
Our universities were then closeted in their conservative mould such that they thought it was unnecessary to open the universities to people who could find time to attend lectures only after the close of work, at weekends or during long vacations.
The University of Cape Coast (UCC), for instance, has, through the sandwich programmes, helped to empower many teachers and other professionals attain higher qualification.
The DAILY GRAPHIC thinks that nothing is impossible when there is the will and commitment to do so. We concede that the public universities were starved of resources to run many of the programmes then thought to be unorthodox on our campuses. But with the introduction of sandwich programmes and weekend schools, many of the universities have generated revenue internally to carry out their expansion programmes.
We commend GIMPA for blazing the trail in this regard and urge it to expand its horizon further so that it can admit many of the youth and even working people who are ‘hungry’ for further academic pursuits
The initiative, however, must not be at the expense of good quality education. While the numbers knock at the door thirsty for higher education, it behoves the National Accreditation Board (NAB) to enforce regulations that make it impossible for unscrupulous people to cheat.
The bottom line is that the NAB must bite by “naming and shaming” proprietors who establish schools without accreditation so that our young people do not waste their precious time, energy and money looking for academic laurels in unaccredited institutions.
It is, therefore, not surprising that the National Democratic Congress (NDC) chose as its slogan “investing in job creation, people and the economy” during the last elections because without a well-trained human resource the country’s development agenda cannot be attained.
No doubt, universities or tertiary institutions of all kinds have been established across the length and breadth of the country offering courses that are essential for nation building.
Even though most of the private tertiary institutions are offering courses in business and administration there are other training institutions filling the gap in offering training in information communication technology (ICT).
The worry, however, is that apart from the six public universities that specialise in specific disciplines, most of the private institutions are concentrating on particular disciplines to the detriment of other crucial areas of the economy.
Now, training in Science and Technology, ICT and Oil and Gas has become very crucial if Ghana is to attain a middle-income status by 2020.
There cannot be any quick fixes to our plan to become a major economic power on the African continent. We need to plan systematically, especially at the education front, by training people who will take charge of the sectors that will propel us to the ‘promised land’.
It is against this background that the DAILY GRAPHIC shares in the call by Vice-President John Dramani Mahama for the establishment of strong institutions that will help to transform the country’s economy.
GIMPA has pioneered a training programme at the tertiary level that has caught on with all our universities. About a decade ago, it was a taboo to mention or suggest the introduction of sandwich programmes, evening courses and weekend schools at the tertiary level.
Our universities were then closeted in their conservative mould such that they thought it was unnecessary to open the universities to people who could find time to attend lectures only after the close of work, at weekends or during long vacations.
The University of Cape Coast (UCC), for instance, has, through the sandwich programmes, helped to empower many teachers and other professionals attain higher qualification.
The DAILY GRAPHIC thinks that nothing is impossible when there is the will and commitment to do so. We concede that the public universities were starved of resources to run many of the programmes then thought to be unorthodox on our campuses. But with the introduction of sandwich programmes and weekend schools, many of the universities have generated revenue internally to carry out their expansion programmes.
We commend GIMPA for blazing the trail in this regard and urge it to expand its horizon further so that it can admit many of the youth and even working people who are ‘hungry’ for further academic pursuits
The initiative, however, must not be at the expense of good quality education. While the numbers knock at the door thirsty for higher education, it behoves the National Accreditation Board (NAB) to enforce regulations that make it impossible for unscrupulous people to cheat.
The bottom line is that the NAB must bite by “naming and shaming” proprietors who establish schools without accreditation so that our young people do not waste their precious time, energy and money looking for academic laurels in unaccredited institutions.
Sunday, August 23, 2009
HEED PLEA OF COTTON FARMERS (AUGUST 22, 2009)
A FEW decades ago, the textile industry created jobs for both skilled and unskilled labour in the country.
From Accra, Tema, Akosombo to Juapong, the textile companies boosted the local economy of these towns by providing livelihood for majority of the people.
The returns from the textile industry did not accrue only to their owners and employees but others such as transport owners, food vendors and cotton farmers.
During the glorious days when local fabrics flooded the market, there were as many as 30 firms producing textiles in the country.
These companies were established as a result of the import substitution policy adopted by the late President Kwame Nkrumah to offer affordable alternatives to the Ghanaian consumer and create jobs for the people.
Presently, 21 textile factories have collapsed over the past three decades due to the influx of cheap foreign fabrics, leaving three which are producing below capacity.
The cheap textile imports have plunged the local industry into even more serious crises with a drop in production from 130 million metres in the 1970s to 25 million metres now and a further 60 per cent drop in textile sector employment.
As a nation, we have failed to protect our local industries through a deliberate policy to maintain “the commanding heights of the economy”. Sometimes we have over-liberalised our economy to the envy of neo-liberal economists.
The experience that we went through in deciding to print fabrics for school uniform locally should serve as a wake-up call to rethink the liberalisation policy.
We cannot build our economy if we continue to rely on cheap imports because such economic activities only enhance the fortunes of countries from where we import most of the items.
The DAILY GRAPHIC, therefore, urges the government to heed the call by cotton companies in the Northern Region for more support for the industry as it has the potential to generate foreign exchange and provide job opportunities for the large number of unemployed youth in the area.
“We are ready and committed to producing cotton once again to feed the local textile industries and for export if the needed support is offered to us by the government to revamp the cotton sector,” the President of the Cotton Producers Association, Alhaji Ibrahim Abdulai Mobila, said in Tamale.
The revival of the cotton business can lead to the creation of jobs, reduction in poverty and improvement in the living standards of the farmers.
The DAILY GRAPHIC believes that cotton farmers must be supported to expand their operations to help in the revamping of the textile industry.
The rejuvenation of the local economy in the northern part of the country through support for cotton and other farmers must be a priority of the government.
There is no way our farmers can increase production if they continue to borrow at commercial rates to undertake agricultural ventures.
The DAILY GRAPHIC, therefore, calls on the government as a matter of urgency to put in place special credit facilities at concessionary rates solely for those who want to undertake agriculture or raw material production to feed our local industries such as the textile factories.
From Accra, Tema, Akosombo to Juapong, the textile companies boosted the local economy of these towns by providing livelihood for majority of the people.
The returns from the textile industry did not accrue only to their owners and employees but others such as transport owners, food vendors and cotton farmers.
During the glorious days when local fabrics flooded the market, there were as many as 30 firms producing textiles in the country.
These companies were established as a result of the import substitution policy adopted by the late President Kwame Nkrumah to offer affordable alternatives to the Ghanaian consumer and create jobs for the people.
Presently, 21 textile factories have collapsed over the past three decades due to the influx of cheap foreign fabrics, leaving three which are producing below capacity.
The cheap textile imports have plunged the local industry into even more serious crises with a drop in production from 130 million metres in the 1970s to 25 million metres now and a further 60 per cent drop in textile sector employment.
As a nation, we have failed to protect our local industries through a deliberate policy to maintain “the commanding heights of the economy”. Sometimes we have over-liberalised our economy to the envy of neo-liberal economists.
The experience that we went through in deciding to print fabrics for school uniform locally should serve as a wake-up call to rethink the liberalisation policy.
We cannot build our economy if we continue to rely on cheap imports because such economic activities only enhance the fortunes of countries from where we import most of the items.
The DAILY GRAPHIC, therefore, urges the government to heed the call by cotton companies in the Northern Region for more support for the industry as it has the potential to generate foreign exchange and provide job opportunities for the large number of unemployed youth in the area.
“We are ready and committed to producing cotton once again to feed the local textile industries and for export if the needed support is offered to us by the government to revamp the cotton sector,” the President of the Cotton Producers Association, Alhaji Ibrahim Abdulai Mobila, said in Tamale.
The revival of the cotton business can lead to the creation of jobs, reduction in poverty and improvement in the living standards of the farmers.
The DAILY GRAPHIC believes that cotton farmers must be supported to expand their operations to help in the revamping of the textile industry.
The rejuvenation of the local economy in the northern part of the country through support for cotton and other farmers must be a priority of the government.
There is no way our farmers can increase production if they continue to borrow at commercial rates to undertake agricultural ventures.
The DAILY GRAPHIC, therefore, calls on the government as a matter of urgency to put in place special credit facilities at concessionary rates solely for those who want to undertake agriculture or raw material production to feed our local industries such as the textile factories.
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