All posts by goldcoastnewsline@gmail.com

• goldcoastnewsline@gmail.com
• April 29, 2024
• 0 Comments
• 5 minutes Read

Akufo-Addo directs action on GRA-SML deal

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has responded to an audit conducted by KPMG regarding the transactions between the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) and Strategic Mobilization Ghana Ltd (SML), directing that the upstream petroleum audit and minerals audit services by the latter may be terminated.

The directive was contained in a statement released by the Communications Director at the Office of the President, Eugene Arhin, yesterday.

According to the statement, the President also directed that the transaction audit and external price verification services could also be terminated because the GRA obtained only partial value or benefit from these services, partly due to a lack of monitoring.

“KPMG’s investigation found that GRA has introduced external price verification tools as part of ICUMS, among its other functions. This renders the reliance on SML for external price verification redundant,” the statement said.

The President noted that although there was a clear need for the downstream petroleum audit services provided by SML, the fee structure needs review, directing a shift from a variable to a fixed fee structure and a review of other contract provisions.

The President further directed that any renegotiated contracts with SML must undergo periodic monitoring and evaluation to ensure compliance and performance.

“GRA and the State have benefited from these services since SML commenced providing them. There has been an increase in volumes of 1.7 billion litres and an increase in tax revenue to the State of GHS 2.45 billion. KPMG also observed that there were qualitative benefits, including a 24/7 electronic real-time monitoring of outflow and partial monitoring of inflows of petroleum products at depots where SML had installed flowmeters and six levels of reconciliation done by SML.

“This minimises the occurrence of under-declarations. However, it is important to review the contract for downstream petroleum audit services, particularly the fee structure,” it said.

The statement explained that “given the experience and proficiency of SML over the last four years of providing this service, the President has directed that the fee structure be changed from a variable to a fixed fee structure. Other provisions of the contract worth reviewing include clauses on intellectual property rights, termination, and service delivery expectations”.

He also tasked the Ministry of Finance and the Ghana Revenue Authority with the immediate implementation of these directives and provision of updates to the Office of the President on the progress made.

President Akufo-Addo thanked KPMG their thorough audit, reaffirming his commitment to transparency and efficiency in government operations.

KPMG found out that no technical needs assessment was done before the engagement of SML. However, such an assessment was not legally required for engaging SML. After SML was engaged, a Chamber of Bulk Oil Distributors’ industry report, a 2021 Ernst & Young audit report commissioned by GRA and a report by the Revenue Assurance and Compliance Enforcement of the Ministry of Finance, all found that there might be underreporting, under-declaration and potential revenue leakages.

KPMG revealed that on three occasions (between June 2017 and September 2017), GRA sought approval from the Public Procurement Authority to use the single source procurement method to engage SML to provide transaction audit services. PPA did not grant approval. Subsequently, it found out that GRA engaged SML as a subcontractor to West Blue which was already providing services to GRA at the port. SML eventually took over the services provided by West Blue when the latter’s contract came to an end on 31st December 2018. GRA then added external price verification to the services offered by SML and signed a downstream petroleum audit agreement with SML.

All these were done without PPA approval. Following a change of leadership at GRA, the new leadership sought to regularise the contracts with SML, and on August 27, 2020, PPA ratified the procurement processes used to engage SML. In 2023, the Ministry of Finance (MoF), GRA, and SML entered into a Revenue Assurance Services Contract (“2023 Contract”). The 2023 Contract extended the scope of SML’s services to include upstream petroleum and minerals audit.

PPA approval was obtained for the contract, which is now the governing agreement for the services offered by SML to GRA. Another issue raised by KPMG is the absence of parliamentary approval for the contracts, given that they are multi-year contracts. Under section 33 of the Public Financial Management Act, 2016 (Act 921) (“PFMA”), such contracts must have ministerial and parliamentary approval.

KPMG also found that there was no evidence that the 2018 and 2019 contracts (transaction audit services, external price verification, and downstream petroleum audits) were submitted to the GRA Board for discussion and approval, contrary to the GRA Act, Corporate Governance Manual for Governing Boards/Councils of the Public Services and sound and accepted corporate governance practices.

The GRA Board approved the extension of SML’s services to cover the auditing of the upstream petroleum and minerals sectors, as specified in the 2023 Contract.

Regarding the transaction audit services, KPMG concluded that SML partially delivered on the service requirements. “However, given the observations made during the investigations, GRA may not have obtained all the expected benefits from the service,” it said.

• goldcoastnewsline@gmail.com
• April 29, 2024
• 0 Comments
• 3 minutes Read

NPP women want woman running mate

Constituency women organisers of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) in the Greater Accra Region have called on the Vice-President and Flagbearer of the party to consider choosing a woman as his running mate for the upcoming elections.

They noted that although, traditionally, the position of Vice-President has been predominantly occupied by men, the party has exceptional women whose expertise and accomplishments position them as highly suitable and qualified beyond measure.

During a press conference yesterday at the NPP Greater Accra Regional Office, Madam Perpetual Asante, the Deputy Regional Women Organiser, said although there are not many women participating in active politics in the country, Irene Naa Torshie Addo, Frema Osei-Opare, Ursula Owusu-Ekuful, among other women, have shown they are capable of joining the Bawumia team as Vice-President.

Doing so, she argued, would also encourage other women to participate in governance willingly and selflessly for development.

“We know that, at this point, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, who is the party’s flagbearer, and will ensure that the NPP breaks the 8, come December 7, is yet to announce the individual to support him as running mate. It is obvious that a lot of names have popped up, but as women, we are advocating ours,” she said.

“We know for sure that our mothers, Frema Osei-Opare, Irene Naa Torshie Addo, Ursula Owusu-Ekuful, Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey and others are equally capable of taking up that position to lead the party to victory, and bring about economic change,” she added.

Madam Perpetual Asante referred to the various roles these women are playing as Chief of Staff, Administrator of the District Assemblies Common Fund and Ministers of State.

Like the slogan of Dr. Bawumia, the women believe “it is possible” to break the 8 with women who constitute the majority of the party.

Speaking to the Daily Statesman on the sidelines of the press conference, Madam Perpetual Asante stressed that the women’s wing was not trying to be ‘rebellious’ but making a passionate appeal, especially as the running mate of Dr. Bawumia was yet to be announced.

“The female names mentioned have all the qualities in terms of education, self-esteem, courage and charisma to become the running mate. We are pleading with the National Executive Council, the Party and other movers and shakers of the party to add their voices to our call for a female running. We have the women,” she said.

In the event that a man becomes a running mate of the party, Madam Perpetual advocated, then majority of the Bawumia government  should be women.

“We know that Dr. Bawumia has pledged to run a lean government of about 50 Ministers and and deputies to save costs, so we expect that 30 of them should be women,” she said.

• goldcoastnewsline@gmail.com
• April 29, 2024
• 0 Comments
• 2 minutes Read

LPG dealers in Upper East welcome CRM for job increase

Dealers  in Liquified Petroleum Gas (LPG) in the Upper East have welcomed the implementation of the Cylinder Recirculation Model (CRM) policy, saying it will improve distribution to reach more consumers, and create jobs as well.

This support comes after officials of the National Petroleum Authority (NPA) allayed fears of job loss due to the implementation of the CRM.

The paramount concern of the dealers was about potential business disruptions arising from the implementation of the CRM policy.

Interacting with LPG dealers in the region, Obed Boachie Kraine, Head of Commercial Gas Regulation at the NPA, reassured the dealers/operators that the CRM would not lead to job losses but rather the value chain would be expanded.

“Additional personnel will be required for the operation of the LPG dealers particularly in the distribution of cylinders to their resellers. There will be new jobs in areas such as the transportation of cylinders, the construction of cages, cylinder maintenance and refurbishment, cylinder delivery services, and related services in the sector,” he said.

Mr Obed Boachie said this engagement underscores the collaborative approach adopted by the NPA to address industry challenges and foster sustainable growth.

The NPA remains committed to facilitating constructive dialogue and supporting stakeholders as Ghana progresses towards a safer, more efficient energy future, he added.

In her contribution, the Head of Consumer Services at the NPA, Eunice Budu Nyarko, stressed that it was important for customers of petroleum products, especially LPG to feel safe in their use of LPG.

She said the CRM would improve the relationship between LPG dealers and their customers as they would be closer to their communities.

The Upper East Regional Manager of NPA, Bashiru Natogma on his part encouraged dealers in the region to embrace the CRM.

• goldcoastnewsline@gmail.com
• April 25, 2024
• 0 Comments
• 6 minutes Read

ECOWAS, Africa at crossroads: Which way forward?

The question of effective and accountable leadershipand governance systems needs to be seriously addressed to provide hope and better living conditions for the citizens of Africa.

We must educate and provide opportunities to prevent West African youths from falling into religious radicalisation, the looting caused by hardships, banditry and insurgencies being witnessed in the region.

At CALE, we strongly believe that peace and security are fundamental for Africa’s developmental efforts. Therefore, we must address the underlying chronic poor leadership, governance and structural weaknesses, which are the critical root causes of the continent’s slow development.

It must also be emphasised that national security is the bedrock of national development. Therefore, developing national consciousness and civic pride are the most effective ways to build grassroots civil defence against destabilising elements in local communities.

Secondly, the reasons for Africa’s inability, particularly in the West and Central subregions, to arrest these insecurity challenges are largely due to poverty, lack of development and poorly resourced armies in the fragmented nation states. Africa, beginning with the eight subregional economic communities, needs to move swiftly towards political and military integration.

It must return to Dr Kwame Nkrumah’s vision for a United State of Africa. Africa needs to implement effective and binding conflict resolution mechanisms and a mandatory APRM in place of the voluntary mechanism

Integration

Thirdly, Pan-African political integration and formation of a joint high command force would resolve the high military cost and difficulties involved in tackling the continuing local and cross border insurgencies and terrorist activities. These would allow unity of purpose and the pooling of resources together to effectively fight off the growing insecurity threats.

Importantly, political integration would also deter unconstitutional coup d’états as a “collective defence” operational mechanism, like that of the NATO Alliance, namely – “attack on one is an attack on all” can be realised.

This means an attack or insurrection in one country would trigger a military response from the joint high command forces leaving the “uprisers” no place to hide. Interestingly, a similar collective force called Anti Insurgency Force has been established by the breakaway Alliance of Sahel States to fight insurgencies and defend their territorial integrity.

Fourth, to survive and be relevant to the lives of citizens, ECOWAS, and the AU need bold leadership to drive further reforms and move member states towards pol

itical integration like the EU model.

Looking at the turbulent political history of West Africa and Africa as a whole, particularly considering the current geopolitical dynamics the prophetic message of Osagyefo Dr Kwame Nkrumah for a United States of Africa remains an urgent necessity, if Africa is going to see lasting peace and wholesale durable development of greater benefit to the people.

Uniform vision

West Africa and the whole of Africa need a uniform vision and common voice on global platforms to be taken seriously, as a respected global player. It is interesting to note that the rest of the world refers and treats Africa as one country, but African leaders continue to cling to their colonially demarcated artificial ‘little’ enclaves in the name of national sovereignty, forgetting that our relevance lies in our collective unity as one people.

Fifth, a bold political union of Africa coupled with its strong and healthy relationship with China could radically change the global order. Together, they can push for a fairer and more balanced geopolitical architecture that would allow equitable and sustainable development of all human societies.

As outlined in Nkrumah’s manifesto for Africa, the AU Assembly in the collective interest and welfare of African people, should agree to put in motion a mechanism at the foreign minister’s level to harmonise the political systems and work out the modalities to actualise the needed politically united superstate of Africa. The Agenda 2063 vision should become the developmental blueprint for the envisaged African superstate.

In this direction, China’s political model offers a good example for the African superstate. Each African state could be the equivalent of the Chinese provincial and administrative regions as they represent different ethnic groupings in the country and each has a functioning local government.

The central government retains foreign policy, overall strategic development, and have national security powers. We should be working towards removing all restrictions on free movements on the continent by developing common African passport. Certain countries, e.g. Kenya, are already implementing this one Africa goal.

As part of this United Africa process, the Assembly should consider making the APRM mandatory for all member states. It should elect or appoint an APRM Body consisting of respected ex-African leaders, eminent scholars and practitioners from various disciplines, exemplary civil servants versed in public administration and successful entrepreneurs from member states to conduct country evaluation and audits on all the agreed developmental key indicators in the Agenda 2063 vision, as a baseline for planning.

The work of the APRM Body should be supportive and forward looking in its approach. It should devise working framework and protocols, which should be approved by the AU Assembly.

Its primary goal should be to find out effective policies, mechanisms and programmes that have produced tangible transformative progress in the different countries, which can be shared and scaled up across the continent.

The APRM should work with “national” (the to-be provinces) officials to devise technical support mechanisms to help each state improve and overcome identified challenges. Where necessary, a number of the existing states should be merged for greater administrative efficiency.

Conclusion

In the face of the many crises caused in part by the foreign-imposed divisive border and governance system that tear Africans apart, the continuing terror of terrorism, the wanton destruction of civil wars, the vice of poverty and hunger that follows these evils, the wasteful expenditure on internal border policing that restrict trading among ourselves and the shameless colonial and foreign exploitation, Africa is at a crossroads that radical decisions have to be taken – change course or continue business as usual?

We evoke the memories of our Pan-Africanist forefathers, freedom fighters and thinkers, in particular, President Julius Nyerere of Tanzania and Osagyefo Dr Kwame Nkrumah, the founding father of Ghana.

The latter, a tireless champion of the elusive Union of African States, in his speech at the founding of the OAU, in Addis Ababa, on May 24, 1963 said: “It is clear that we must find an African solution to our problems, and that this can only be found in African unity. Divided we are weak; united Africa could become one of the greatest forces for good in the world. We must unite now or perish.”

Finally, we humbly ask all current African leaders, in particular ECOWAS and the African Union Commission, your Excellencies, which way forward please? We, the children of Africa deserve your unequivocal answers.

The writer is the Founder & Executive Director, Centre for African Leadership & Excellence (CALE).

By Dr Alex A. Appiah

• goldcoastnewsline@gmail.com
• April 25, 2024
• 0 Comments
• 3 minutes Read

JGC, Komptech to train 600 stakeholders in solid waste management

Over 600 staff of Zoomlion and other public officials are expected to be trained in integrated solid waste management through the Jospong-Komptech Waste Academy project initiated by the Jospong Group of Companies (JGC).

The Academy is part of a 3-year capacity-building cooperation agreement between the Austrian Development Agency (ADA), JGC, and Komptech, in collaboration with ICEP and the
Technical University of Vienna. It signifies JGC’s collective dedication to advancing sustainable waste management practices in Ghana.

Speaking at the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding to kickstart the training, the Project Lead for the Jospong-Komptech Waste Academy, Brigadier General Mike Akpatsu, explained that the project is a comprehensive three-year renewal agreement that seeks to train, transfer knowledge, and build the capacity of the youth on waste management.

He added that the project is also working with the National Association of Local Authorities of Ghana (NALAG) to create awareness, and also reach out to policymakers to sensitize and advocate waste segregation policy to influence waste management at homes.

Brig-Gen. Akpatsu (Rtd.) further stated that the project would also reach out to young adults and kids through the Zoomkids Foundation to create programmes and projects to sensitize kids on sanitation.

The Chief Human Capital Resources Officer of Jospong Group, Akwelley Bulley-Kwakyi, noted that her outfit was poised to make significant strides towards a more sustainable and efficient waste management ecosystem in Ghana.

“As we embark on this new chapter, we are filled with anticipation for the growth and development opportunities it brings,” she added.

She further noted that over the years, JGC’s collaboration with Komptech had been pivotal in advancing solid waste recycling and composting processes in Accra and Kumasi, and now extending to Sefwi, Damongo, Goaso, Wa, Dambai and several other locations within the borders of Ghana.

“Leveraging Komptech’s expertise, we have already conducted numerous training sessions and are steadfast in our pursuit of further capacity-building initiatives,” Bulley-Kwakyi stated.

For her part, Regina Rosemary Orthner, the Honorary Consul of Austria to Ghana, emphasized that the cooperation agreement is aimed at strengthening ties and fostering capacity building between Austria and its local partners.

She disclosed that the opening of the Austrian Embassy in Ghana later this year would further improve the bilateral relationship between Ghana and Austria which had been intense in recent years.

She was of the view that Ghana’s sanitary challenges persist because the nation had not yet provided citizens, especially children, with tools and adequate knowledge on waste management.

“If we want our kids to manage their waste properly, then we must provide them with the bins, and teach them how to use it. So it starts with education and the provision of the right tools to help solve the sanitation challenges,” she stressed.

She believes that the Jospong-Komptech Waste Academy project will greatly improve the nation’s sanitation knowledge gap.

Funded by Komptech and the Austrian Development Agency (ADA) with funds from Austrian Development Cooperation, the three-year programme provides both technical expertise and financial support to empower Jospong staff and the wider stakeholder community.

• goldcoastnewsline@gmail.com
• April 25, 2024
• 0 Comments
• 2 minutes Read

Newmont pays GHC1.295billion in taxes to govt for first quarter

Newmont’s Business Unit in Africa says its operations at Ahafo South and Akyem mines paid a total of GH₵1.295 billion in taxes, royalties, levies and carried interest to the Ghanaian government in the first quarter of 2024.

The payment was made through the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA), Forestry Commission and the Ministry of Finance.

This comes on the back of the recent publication of its 2023 full-year fiscal payment which announced that its operations in Ghana paid GHC3.965 billion, representing a 43.6% increase in fiscal payments over the same period in 2022.

A statement from Newmont outlined a breakdown of the payments made, saying “for the first quarter of 2024, Newmont’s Ahafo South operation contributed GHC1.105 billion while its Akyem operation contributed GHC190 million.”

“From January to March 2024, the breakdown shows that Newmont paid a total of GHC672 million as Corporate Tax; GHC291 million as Mineral Royalties; GHC99 million as Pay-As-You-Earn; GHC97 million as Withholding Tax; GHC122 million as Carried Interest; and GHC14 million as Forestry Levy,” it explained.

Portions of the statement further indicated that in Ghana, the company is advancing its Ahafo North project, which includes four open pit mines and a standalone mill located approximately 30 kilometres (km) from our Ahafo South operation.

The project, according to the statement, is expected to add approximately 300,000 ounces per year to its production in Ghana.

The statement also included the impact of its presence in Ghana, disclosing that “with a direct employees and contractor workforce of over 9,000 in Ghana, Newmont continues to deliver on its objectives safely, creating long-term value for its stakeholders, host communities and the local economy.”

The company also has well-resourced development foundations at both operational sites leading social development in the host communities.

Newmont remains the world’s leading gold company and a producer of copper, silver, zinc and lead.

The company’s world-class portfolio of assets, prospects and talent is anchored in favourable mining jurisdictions in North America, South America, Australia and Africa. Newmont is the only gold producer listed in the S&P 500 Index and is widely recognized for its principled environmental, social and governance practices.

• goldcoastnewsline@gmail.com
• April 25, 2024
• 0 Comments
• 3 minutes Read

“Reintroduce Fiscal Responsibility Act”- Senior Presidential Advisor

In an effort to tackle cost overruns during election year, the Senior Presidential Advisor, Yaw Osafo-Maafo, has proposed that the government reconsiders the introduction of the Fiscal Responsibility Act.

He said elections in the country, since the inception of the Fourth Republic Constitution, had been characterised by budget overruns where the governments spent beyond their budget.

“To me, it is such a serious problem that we need a law on fiscal responsibility. In some countries, if you spend more than a certain percentage in the previous year’s expenditure, the Minister of Finance gets into trouble. The whole idea is to ensure that you spend within your budget and the figure they use is 5%,” he said.

“I think that in Ghana we should certainly implement this Fiscal Responsibility law very well because when you create distortions in the economy, people would be called upon to tighten their belt and that means hardship and we should avoid it,” he added.

The Senior Presidential Advisor said this on the sidelines of the Open Government Partnership (OGP)- Construction Sector Transparency (CoST) Initiative Stakeholder Meeting in Accra.

Parliament suspended the implementation of the Fiscal Responsibility Act, 2018 (Act 982) in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Act charges the government to ensure that the overall fiscal balance on a cash basis for a particular year does not exceed a deficit of five percent of the gross domestic product for that year.

Mr Osafo-Maafo noted that these budget overruns were usually caused by promises made by politicians in an election year; therefore, most projects in that period were unbudgeted for.

“A budget is simply your total expenditure and total revenue. If you are not able to match additional revenue, you don’t go in for additional expenditure because there’s going to be cost overrun and that creates a lot of distortions in the economy,” he explained.

“So, in every election year except one, we have a situation where we have serious cost overruns and this cost overruns is arising out of political promises which brings about pressure. In the cause of it, government literally carry out a lot of unbuddgeted programmes that is the source for cost overruns and it create problems. A country works responsibly with a budget and you should obey your budget,” Mr Osafo-Maafo added.

Touching on the OGP-CoST initiative, he said it promotes transparency, participation, and accountability in the delivery of infrastructure projects.

“This is done through multi-stakeholder working, disclosure of data, an independent review known as CoST assurance, and social accountability,” he said.

The project has been piloted in the Sekondi-Takoradi Metropolitan Assembly. Through the project, he said, the Assembly earned a strong reputation for transparency and accountability as one of the sub-national OGP members.

Mr Christiaan Poortman, the Board Chairperson for CoST, said his outfit aimed at enhancing capacity, promoting effective governance in local infrastructure projects, and fostering engagement with stakeholders.

He said Ghana’s hosting of the 51st CoST Board Meeting in Ghana underscored the collective commitment to transparency, accountability, and good governance in infrastructure development.

Source: newsworldgh.com

• goldcoastnewsline@gmail.com
• April 25, 2024
• 0 Comments
• 2 minutes Read

$20m for Kpong irrigation scheme expansion

Minister of Food and Agriculture, Bryan Acheampong, has announced the approval of $20 million to expand the left bank of the Kpong Irrigation Scheme, which will be implemented by the Food Systems Resilience Programme (FSRP).

This comes after the government earlier pumped $20 million, which was under the Ghana Commercial Agriculture Project (GCAP) in 2011, to commence the Kpong Irrigation project which farmers in the Asutuare enclave, including Golden Exotic Company Limited,  benefit from.

The rehabilitation of the irrigation scheme is expected to further improve the water situation and help farmers in the enclave improve their yields.

“The people of this community must know that the government has pumped $20 million into the irrigation scheme around this area, and I have also approved another $20 million to expand the left bank of the irrigation scheme in this area, which is going to be implemented by the Food Systems Resilience Programme, and that will amount to $40 million in this area alone,” he said.

Dr. Bryan Acheampong announced the approval yesterday during a speech at a grand durbar to commemorate the 20th anniversary celebrations of Golden Exotic Company Limited, Ghana’s largest banana exporter, at Kasunya in Asutuare.

The Managing Director of Golden Exotic Company Limited, Benedict Rich, in an interview with Citi News intimated that the company had leveraged on drone technology to improve productivity.

“Drone technology has really advanced in the last few years and we have been trying it and a lot of the work that can be done by hand has now been done by aeroplanes and drones are just a gamechanger and we use them to apply fertilizer and use them to count the bananas and use them to monitor diseases,” he explained.

Source: GNA

• goldcoastnewsline@gmail.com
• April 25, 2024
• 0 Comments
• 3 minutes Read

Make significant investments toward immunization- HFFG urges government

Hope for Future Generations (HFFG), a non-governmental organization, is urging the government to commit substantial financial resources investment towards achieving immunization sovereignty for the country.

It noted that although the government had done well thus far, more had to be done, especially, as the country is in its GAVI’s (Global Vaccine Alliance) Accelerated Transition Phase.

“As the country is in GAVI’s Accelerated Transition Phase, making a deliberate effort to increase domestic resource mobilization, dedicated to the procurement of vaccines, immunization service delivery and Primary Health Care is crucial to saving lives, enhancing the quality of life and achieving immunization sovereignty,” HFFG indicated in a statement to mark the 2024 Immunization Week celebration.

GAVI is an independent public-private partnership and multilateral finance structure that aims at increasing worldwide access to the use of vaccines, particularly among vulnerable children.

GAVI has been supporting Ghana’s immunisation programme with 80 percent of the cost and delivery of vaccines and has contributed immensely to the strengthening of health systems over the years.

Following the attainment of lower middle-income status, Ghana will, from 2027, be removed from the list of beneficiary countries receiving free vaccines under GAVI support.

Per the Vaccine Alliance transition policy that aims at moving countries from development assistance to domestic financing of immunization programmes, Ghana would stay in accelerated transition until 2029 and fully transit by January 2030.

In the spirit of the Immunization Week celebration, a key component of HFFG’s Financing Immunization Advocacy Response Project (FAIR Project), it urged the government to build upon this progress by paying up the arrears by midyear.

“This commitment will further strengthen our immunization programs and contribute to achieving our shared goal of universal immunization coverage,” the statement said.

Making a case, HFFG indicated that the timely release of funds is essential for procuring vaccines to avoid shortages and address current and emerging health threats and vaccine shortages.

“Most importantly it safeguards the country against any form of shortage that could have adverse effects on the administration of vaccines especially for children,” it said.

“An increase in national budgets for Primary Health Care is vital for strengthening health systems and supporting outreach programs. These resources contribute to the development and sustenance of robust vaccination campaigns that reach even the most hard-to-reach and underserved communities,” it further argued.

Among other things, HFFG reaffirmed its unwavering dedication to advocating  greater domestic resource mobilization and increased accountability for results in reaching zero-dose children and increasing immunization coverage.

The organization pledged its commitment to collaborating with the government and other stakeholders to advance public health goals and promote sustainable development.

• goldcoastnewsline@gmail.com
• April 24, 2024
• 0 Comments
• 2 minutes Read

Nigerian Army dismisses two soldiers for stealing Dangote Refinery’s cables

The Nigerian Army has confirmed the dismissal of two soldiers involved in an alleged theft of armoured cables from the premises of Dangote Refinery in Lagos State.

The two soldiers, Corporal Innocent Joseph and Lance Corporal Jacob Gani, were dismissed with immediate effect and also handed over to other security agencies for prosecution.

A statement by Army’s spokesman Major General Onyema Nwachukwu, said the two soldiers carried out the incident on 14 April.

“In line with the Nigerian Army’s (NA) commitment to upholding high standard of professionalism, integrity and discipline, the NA wishes to update the general public on the outcome of the investigation into the alleged theft of armoured cables at the Dangote Refinery premises on 14th April 2024, involving Corporal Innocent Joseph and Lance Corporal Jacob Gani.

“Sequel to a thorough investigation conducted in collaboration with the management of the company, the two soldiers were found to have abandoned their duty post and to be in unauthorized possession of the materials. Subsequently, they were both charged for failure to perform military duties punishable under Section 57, subsection (1) and other civil offenses punishable under Section 114, subsection (1) of the Armed Forces Act CAP A20, the Law of the Federation of Nigeria 2004.”

“They were summarily tried. During the trial, the evidence against them was presented and they were given the opportunity to present their cases and defend themselves, but were, however, found guilty of the charges leveled against them in accordance with military laws,” the statement said.

“As a demonstration of NA’s zero-tolerance for misconduct and criminality within its ranks, the two soldiers have been dismissed from the NA with immediate effect and handed over to relevant authorities for further prosecution.”

The Army said their dismissal was in line with its “resoluteness in maintaining its institutional integrity and reputation.”