Seth J. Bokpe's Ghana Newsreel

The first phase of a multi-million-dollar expansion project of the ABL, a local brewery company, designed to double the company’s production capacity has been inaugurated in Accra. The $100 million facility comprises two state-of-the-art packaging lines, an expansive warehouse with a loading bay, material storage areas and two additional power generators. Known within ABL circles as ‘Project Everest,’ the project, which started in 2013, also has 10 beer storage vessels, two additional water storage tanks, an effluent and waste treatment plant and an energy recovery system to make the plant more energy efficient.   Energy crisis will be solved  At a ceremony to inaugurate the project yesterday, the government again gave an assurance that the crippling power crisis would be tamed. It comes on the backdrop of President John Dramani Mahama’s pledge during his State of the Nation Address to Parliament last Thursday that he would fix the problem seen by many ...

The management of the Forestry Commission has presented  six Toyota Land Cruiser pickups to its Rapid Response Unit (RRU) to ease the transportation challenges crippling the work of the unit. The vehicles which were purchased with internally generated funds of the Commission is meant to empower the unit to protect the country’s forest from the activities of illegal chainsaw operators and encroachers. The vehicles worth one million Ghana cedis are also expected to help the unit police wildlife hotspots in the country to enforce forest and wildlife laws.   RR Unit The RRU was established in 2012 to deal with the increasing encroachment and destruction of forest reserves and wildlife protected areas in the country. The Chief Executive Officer of the Commission, Mr Samuel Afari Dartey, said the need to equip the unit had become apparent in the face of the sophisticated nature of vehicles and firepower that the lawbreakers were using.   He comm...

The Zimbabwe High Commission to Ghana, Ms Pavelyn Tendai Musaka, has challenged African youth to stay on the continent and create jobs for themselves and others instead of rushing out in search of greener pastures. “Use your brains and skills to create opportunities on the continent. We have so much in Africa to make ourselves comfortable, she said. The long-serving High Commissioner, who is currently the Dean of the Diplomatic Corp made the call at the launch of  campaign, to promote accountability and active citizens’ participation in the implementation of Africa Union (AU) protocols, conventions and policy decisions among member states of the continental body. Dubbed “My Africa, My Voice,” the campaign seeks to rally and empower ordinary citizens to achieve the objectives of the Africa Union and also demand the status of the implementation of conventions and protocols including the African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights, African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the ...

The practice of some heads of senior high schools (SHSs) collecting school fees for the second and the third terms from students preparing for the West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) still persists, contrary to a directive from the Ministry of Education to stop the act. Schools including the Begoro SHS, Mawuli SHS and the Presbyterian Boys’ SHS, Legon (PRESEC) have demanded the payment of the fees for the two terms even before the second term ends.  Form Three students in these boarding schools went home for the Christmas holidays with bills asking their parents and guardians to pay the second and third term fees of their children and wards. While Mawuli SHS in Ho demanded GH¢473.50 and GH¢328 as second and third term fees, respectively, Suhum SHS  had a combined bill of GH¢722.70 and GH¢782 for the second and third terms, respectively. Interestingly, students of Suhum SHS had to pay double parent-teacher association (PTA) dues in t...