National

Peace Council endorses EC’s adoption of Ghana Card for voter registration

Published

5 months ago

June 27, 2024

The National Peace Council has backed the Electoral Commission’s decision to adopt the Ghana Card as the primary document for voter registration in future elections.

This endorsement comes after initial concerns and debates over the feasibility of using the Ghana Card exclusively for registration, considering challenges in its issuance by the National Identification Authority (NIA).

Initially, the EC had proposed using only the Ghana Card for voter registration, a move that sparked criticism from various stakeholders due to accessibility issues surrounding the Ghana Card.

Many raised concerns about the potential disenfranchisement of voters who may not possess the card or face difficulties obtaining it from the NIA.

Following a closed-door meeting with the Electoral Commission to discuss electoral preparations, Dr Ernest Adu Gyamfi, Chairman of the National Peace Council, expressed support for the EC’s stance.

He highlighted the flaws in the current guarantor system, which has been criticised for compromising the integrity of the electoral process, thereby endorsing the adoption of the Ghana Card as a more robust alternative.

Dr Gyamfi emphasised the importance of ensuring a credible electoral process that enhances public trust and minimises opportunities for electoral malpractice.

He underscored that using the Ghana Card could streamline voter registration procedures, potentially reducing instances of irregularities associated with the guarantor system.

“The reality is that until we accept the Ghana card or one system as our form of registration, the figures they gave us, 63 per cent of those who registered within this short period used the guarantor system, which is high. Ghana cards are 39 per cent so that the whole system of busing people will continue.”

“You bring people from a different constituency, if I think that this is my safe zone and I have enough votes when they move people from the constituency, then you go and say,’ Where’s your card, where do you live?’, somebody comes in and say I know him. How can you challenge those things?” he quizzed.

National

Fuel prices to fall between 2% and 4% in coming days – IES

Published

4 months ago

July 31, 2024

Melody 911FM

The prices of petroleum products are expected to fall between 2% and 4% for petrol, diesel, and Liquefied Petroleum Gas, beginning tomorrow August 1, 2024.

This follows the slowdown in the depreciation of the Ghana cedi during the second half of July 2024 and the favourable international market dynamics.

According to the Institute for Energy Security (IES), the price of petrol and deisel fell by 2.99% and 4.59% respectively and LPG by 1.10% in the second half of July 2024.

“Precisely, the price of gasoline [petrol] fell by 2.99%, gasoil [diesel] by 4.59%, and LPG by 1.10% in the second half of July 2024. The Ghana cedi also recorded slowed depreciation (0.52%), the lowest since February 2024.

“Following the positive realised on the foreign fuel market coupled with the slowed depreciation of Ghana Cedi recorded on the domestic forex market, the Institute for Energy Security (IES) projects a fall in fuel prices in the coming days”.

World Oil Market

The second pricing window for July 2024 for the first time since the post-OPEC+ meeting saw Brent crude futures dropping below $80 per barrel.

This was driven lower by disappointing global demand as Chinese imports in July 2024 hit the lowest level in two years.

Brent Crude traded at $78.70 per barrel compared to $83.03 per barrel at the start of the pricing window.

Local Fuel Market Performance

The second pricing window for July 2024 saw the price of liquid fuels jump at the pumps on the local fuels market.

Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) increased the price per litre of petrol by GH¢0.30 and Gasoil by GH¢.20 respectively.

The IES computation of the national average price for the three refined petroleum products for the first pricing window for July 2024 showed petrol and diesel selling at GH¢14.23 and GH¢14.70 per litre respectively, whereas (LPG) went for GH¢15.22 per kilogramme.

National

Graduate Unemployed Nurses welcome over 15,000 recruitment

Published

4 months ago

July 31, 2024

Melody 911FM

The Graduate Unemployed Nurse and Midwives Association has welcomed the latest decision by the government to recruit over 15,000 new health professionals.

In a statement released on Friday, July 26, 2024, the Ministry of Health (MoH) announced the recruitment of 15, 200 nurses and midwives, effective Monday, August 5, 2024.

The MoH confirmed that the Ministry of Finance (MoF) has granted the necessary financial clearance for the recruitment process.

Interested and qualified candidates are expected to apply through the MoH’s online application portal, where they can select their preferred agency under the Ministry. The application period will close on Friday, August 23, 2024.

This comes on the back of numerous protests and demonstrations by several health professionals over the government’s inability to clear the backlog of 2020, 2021 and 2022.

National President of The Graduate Unemployed Nurse and Midwives Association Ibrahim Haruna has been reacting to the latest development.

“We’re very grateful in the first place to the Ministry of Health. It’s not bad news, but it’s not completely what we’re expecting.

“That is what we have got for now, so we will take it… Last week Friday, we received a call from the Ministry that they have got clearance for us around 15,000, so we were expecting an official communication and it came in from the ministry, so it’s welcome news,” the National President of the Graduate Unemployed Nurse and Midwives Association said.

National

NDC targets 14 parliamentary seats in Northern Region

Published

4 months ago

July 30, 2024

Melody 911FM

The National Democratic Congress (NDC) in the Northern Region has set an ambitious goal to win 14 parliamentary seats in the 2024 general elections.

Mohammed Abdul-Salam, the Northern Regional Secretary of the NDC, stated that the party is determined and prepared to secure victory in the upcoming polls.

On Saturday, July 27, the NDC launched its campaign in Tamale, the capital of the Northern Region, with the aim of increasing their parliamentary seats in the area.

Abdul-Salam expressed confidence that the party would reclaim some of its previously held seats from the New Patriotic Party (NPP).

He also mentioned that the NDC has established adequate structures to ensure the achievement of this target in the forthcoming election.

“We should be able to win 14 seats, and that is clearly doable, but our target is to win all the 18 seats because they are all winnable, we have mopped out strategies to get out there on the field, our men are on the ground every day.”

“That is why if you have observed, every genuine survey that is done regarding the election 2024 in all the regions, put the NDC way ahead of the NPP,” he stated.