20/12/10
Story: Musah Yahaya Jafaru
GHANA and the European Union (EU) have signed an agreement to facilitate the exportation of legally acquired timber from Ghana to the EU market.
The Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, Alhaji Collins Dauda, signed for Ghana, while the Head of the EU Delegation in Ghana, Ambassador Claude Maerten, initialled it for the EU.
The signing of the agreement followed a meeting by the Joint Monitoring and Review Mechanism on the Voluntary Partnership Agreement (VPA) which called for the exportation of only timber from legal sources.
Ghana was the first timber-producing country to sign the VPA with the EU in November 2009.
Alhaji Dauda acknowledged that the VPA had an impact on the livelihood of the people as it encouraged the legal exportation of timber and opened up the market for timber.
He said Ghana would co-ordinate the plantation development programme, the supply of legal timber and forest law enforcement, governance and trade initiative.
Alhaji Dauda welcomed ongoing studies by both Ghana and the EU to address livelihood challenges.
Ambassador Maerten said the recent adoption of the EU timber regulation provided considerable support for Ghana and other VPA negotiating countries to ensure a level playing field on the EU timber market.
He said the regulation provided justification and reward for countries such as Ghana who had concluded VPAs and acted as an incentive for other timber exporting countries to commence negotiations on the VPAs.
Friday, April 1, 2011
Ghana, EU sign agreement on timber export
20/12/10
Story: Musah Yahaya Jafaru
GHANA and the European Union (EU) have signed an agreement to facilitate the exportation of legally acquired timber from Ghana to the EU market.
The Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, Alhaji Collins Dauda, signed for Ghana, while the Head of the EU Delegation in Ghana, Ambassador Claude Maerten, initialled it for the EU.
The signing of the agreement followed a meeting by the Joint Monitoring and Review Mechanism on the Voluntary Partnership Agreement (VPA) which called for the exportation of only timber from legal sources.
Ghana was the first timber-producing country to sign the VPA with the EU in November 2009.
Alhaji Dauda acknowledged that the VPA had an impact on the livelihood of the people as it encouraged the legal exportation of timber and opened up the market for timber.
He said Ghana would co-ordinate the plantation development programme, the supply of legal timber and forest law enforcement, governance and trade initiative.
Alhaji Dauda welcomed ongoing studies by both Ghana and the EU to address livelihood challenges.
Ambassador Maerten said the recent adoption of the EU timber regulation provided considerable support for Ghana and other VPA negotiating countries to ensure a level playing field on the EU timber market.
He said the regulation provided justification and reward for countries such as Ghana who had concluded VPAs and acted as an incentive for other timber exporting countries to commence negotiations on the VPAs.
Story: Musah Yahaya Jafaru
GHANA and the European Union (EU) have signed an agreement to facilitate the exportation of legally acquired timber from Ghana to the EU market.
The Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, Alhaji Collins Dauda, signed for Ghana, while the Head of the EU Delegation in Ghana, Ambassador Claude Maerten, initialled it for the EU.
The signing of the agreement followed a meeting by the Joint Monitoring and Review Mechanism on the Voluntary Partnership Agreement (VPA) which called for the exportation of only timber from legal sources.
Ghana was the first timber-producing country to sign the VPA with the EU in November 2009.
Alhaji Dauda acknowledged that the VPA had an impact on the livelihood of the people as it encouraged the legal exportation of timber and opened up the market for timber.
He said Ghana would co-ordinate the plantation development programme, the supply of legal timber and forest law enforcement, governance and trade initiative.
Alhaji Dauda welcomed ongoing studies by both Ghana and the EU to address livelihood challenges.
Ambassador Maerten said the recent adoption of the EU timber regulation provided considerable support for Ghana and other VPA negotiating countries to ensure a level playing field on the EU timber market.
He said the regulation provided justification and reward for countries such as Ghana who had concluded VPAs and acted as an incentive for other timber exporting countries to commence negotiations on the VPAs.
CJ inaugurates e-justice task force
24/11/12
Story: Musah Yahaya Jafaru & Fauziatu Adam
THE World Bank has allocated $2 million to support the automation of the country’s judicial system under the e-justice project.
Consequently, the Chief Justice, Mrs Justice Georgina Theodora Wood, yesterday inaugurated a 10-member task force to develop an Information and Communication Technology (ICT) infrastructure to support the speedy delivery and administration of justice.
The task force is chaired by Mr Justice Samuel Marful-Sau, an Appeal Court Judge, with Ms Sandra Thompson, the Director of Reforms and Projects, Ms Ruby Aryeetey, Deputy Director of Reforms, and Mr Francis Baiden, a systems analyst, all of the Judicial Service, as members.
The other members are Mrs Dorothy Kingsley-Nyinah, the Administrator of Commercial Courts, Prof. Jonas Amoapim, the e-justice Programme Officer of the Ministry of Communications, Mr Francis K. Boakye, the Deputy Director of ICT at the University of Ghana, Mr Bismark D. Quashie, an ICT lecturer of the University of Ghana, and a representative of the Ghana Bar Association, whose name is yet to be given.
The formation of the task force followed the outcome of a recent study tour of the e-justice of Turkey by the Chief Justice and the Minister of Communications, Mr Haruna Iddrisu.
Mrs Justice Wood said the judicial service initiated a programme some 10 years ago to automate the country’s judicial service, but indicated that “the approach has been piecemeal” because the project was dependent on donor support.
She, therefore, commended the government for supporting the current e-justice project, which would automate courts across the country, especially regional courts.
That, she said, would promote efficient delivery of justice in the country.
Mrs Justice Wood expressed the hope that the task force, made up of ICT experts and legal persons, would come up with the ICT infrastructure that would ensure the speedy and efficient delivery of justice in the country.
Mr Iddrisu said the study tour of the Turkish e-justice system had offered Ghana an insight into how to transform her e-justice system.
Therefore, he said, the government would organise more study tours for the judicial service to get more exposed to the e-justice system in other countries.
Story: Musah Yahaya Jafaru & Fauziatu Adam
THE World Bank has allocated $2 million to support the automation of the country’s judicial system under the e-justice project.
Consequently, the Chief Justice, Mrs Justice Georgina Theodora Wood, yesterday inaugurated a 10-member task force to develop an Information and Communication Technology (ICT) infrastructure to support the speedy delivery and administration of justice.
The task force is chaired by Mr Justice Samuel Marful-Sau, an Appeal Court Judge, with Ms Sandra Thompson, the Director of Reforms and Projects, Ms Ruby Aryeetey, Deputy Director of Reforms, and Mr Francis Baiden, a systems analyst, all of the Judicial Service, as members.
The other members are Mrs Dorothy Kingsley-Nyinah, the Administrator of Commercial Courts, Prof. Jonas Amoapim, the e-justice Programme Officer of the Ministry of Communications, Mr Francis K. Boakye, the Deputy Director of ICT at the University of Ghana, Mr Bismark D. Quashie, an ICT lecturer of the University of Ghana, and a representative of the Ghana Bar Association, whose name is yet to be given.
The formation of the task force followed the outcome of a recent study tour of the e-justice of Turkey by the Chief Justice and the Minister of Communications, Mr Haruna Iddrisu.
Mrs Justice Wood said the judicial service initiated a programme some 10 years ago to automate the country’s judicial service, but indicated that “the approach has been piecemeal” because the project was dependent on donor support.
She, therefore, commended the government for supporting the current e-justice project, which would automate courts across the country, especially regional courts.
That, she said, would promote efficient delivery of justice in the country.
Mrs Justice Wood expressed the hope that the task force, made up of ICT experts and legal persons, would come up with the ICT infrastructure that would ensure the speedy and efficient delivery of justice in the country.
Mr Iddrisu said the study tour of the Turkish e-justice system had offered Ghana an insight into how to transform her e-justice system.
Therefore, he said, the government would organise more study tours for the judicial service to get more exposed to the e-justice system in other countries.
CJ inaugurates e-justice task force
24/11/12
Story: Musah Yahaya Jafaru & Fauziatu Adam
THE World Bank has allocated $2 million to support the automation of the country’s judicial system under the e-justice project.
Consequently, the Chief Justice, Mrs Justice Georgina Theodora Wood, yesterday inaugurated a 10-member task force to develop an Information and Communication Technology (ICT) infrastructure to support the speedy delivery and administration of justice.
The task force is chaired by Mr Justice Samuel Marful-Sau, an Appeal Court Judge, with Ms Sandra Thompson, the Director of Reforms and Projects, Ms Ruby Aryeetey, Deputy Director of Reforms, and Mr Francis Baiden, a systems analyst, all of the Judicial Service, as members.
The other members are Mrs Dorothy Kingsley-Nyinah, the Administrator of Commercial Courts, Prof. Jonas Amoapim, the e-justice Programme Officer of the Ministry of Communications, Mr Francis K. Boakye, the Deputy Director of ICT at the University of Ghana, Mr Bismark D. Quashie, an ICT lecturer of the University of Ghana, and a representative of the Ghana Bar Association, whose name is yet to be given.
The formation of the task force followed the outcome of a recent study tour of the e-justice of Turkey by the Chief Justice and the Minister of Communications, Mr Haruna Iddrisu.
Mrs Justice Wood said the judicial service initiated a programme some 10 years ago to automate the country’s judicial service, but indicated that “the approach has been piecemeal” because the project was dependent on donor support.
She, therefore, commended the government for supporting the current e-justice project, which would automate courts across the country, especially regional courts.
That, she said, would promote efficient delivery of justice in the country.
Mrs Justice Wood expressed the hope that the task force, made up of ICT experts and legal persons, would come up with the ICT infrastructure that would ensure the speedy and efficient delivery of justice in the country.
Mr Iddrisu said the study tour of the Turkish e-justice system had offered Ghana an insight into how to transform her e-justice system.
Therefore, he said, the government would organise more study tours for the judicial service to get more exposed to the e-justice system in other countries.
Story: Musah Yahaya Jafaru & Fauziatu Adam
THE World Bank has allocated $2 million to support the automation of the country’s judicial system under the e-justice project.
Consequently, the Chief Justice, Mrs Justice Georgina Theodora Wood, yesterday inaugurated a 10-member task force to develop an Information and Communication Technology (ICT) infrastructure to support the speedy delivery and administration of justice.
The task force is chaired by Mr Justice Samuel Marful-Sau, an Appeal Court Judge, with Ms Sandra Thompson, the Director of Reforms and Projects, Ms Ruby Aryeetey, Deputy Director of Reforms, and Mr Francis Baiden, a systems analyst, all of the Judicial Service, as members.
The other members are Mrs Dorothy Kingsley-Nyinah, the Administrator of Commercial Courts, Prof. Jonas Amoapim, the e-justice Programme Officer of the Ministry of Communications, Mr Francis K. Boakye, the Deputy Director of ICT at the University of Ghana, Mr Bismark D. Quashie, an ICT lecturer of the University of Ghana, and a representative of the Ghana Bar Association, whose name is yet to be given.
The formation of the task force followed the outcome of a recent study tour of the e-justice of Turkey by the Chief Justice and the Minister of Communications, Mr Haruna Iddrisu.
Mrs Justice Wood said the judicial service initiated a programme some 10 years ago to automate the country’s judicial service, but indicated that “the approach has been piecemeal” because the project was dependent on donor support.
She, therefore, commended the government for supporting the current e-justice project, which would automate courts across the country, especially regional courts.
That, she said, would promote efficient delivery of justice in the country.
Mrs Justice Wood expressed the hope that the task force, made up of ICT experts and legal persons, would come up with the ICT infrastructure that would ensure the speedy and efficient delivery of justice in the country.
Mr Iddrisu said the study tour of the Turkish e-justice system had offered Ghana an insight into how to transform her e-justice system.
Therefore, he said, the government would organise more study tours for the judicial service to get more exposed to the e-justice system in other countries.
‘Create independent regulatory body for oil’
25/11/10
Story: Musah Yahaya Jafaru
AN oil consultant, Dr David C. K. Tay, has proposed the establishment of a special regulatory body to govern the operations of the country’s oil companies.
He said the current system whereby the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) doubled as an investor and a regulator in the oil sector would make it difficult for the GNPC to control the operations of its co-investors more efficiently.
Dr Tay, who is a civil engineer, was speaking on the topic: “Offshore Oil Development and Implementation Processes” at a lecture organised by the Ghana Institution of Engineers in Accra on Tuesday.
The one-hour lecture touched on the oil discovery, exploration, infrastructure, management of oil revenue and agreements between oil companies and the government.
Dr Tay indicated that since GNPC had only about 10 per cent share in the oil field, the company with the biggest share would have a better say in the management of the oil.
Therefore, he said, an independent regulatory body which was outside the arrangement would be in the best position to regulate operations of the oil companies.
“It is in the interest of every country that the regulatory authority is independent of the investment,” he said.
Dr Tay proposed the formulation of a local content in the oil industry for the benefit of the local people, pointing out that “the benefit should not only be financial, but there should be technology transfer and provision of jobs for the local people”.
On the prospects of Ghana’s oil, Dr Tay said the country’s oil was one of the largest in Africa with an estimated drilling of 120,000 barrels a day, adding that the country stood the chance of generating huge revenues from the sector.
He commended the government for taking precautionary measures, including agreements for royalties and taxes, and charged the government to stick to the terms of the agreements.
Story: Musah Yahaya Jafaru
AN oil consultant, Dr David C. K. Tay, has proposed the establishment of a special regulatory body to govern the operations of the country’s oil companies.
He said the current system whereby the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) doubled as an investor and a regulator in the oil sector would make it difficult for the GNPC to control the operations of its co-investors more efficiently.
Dr Tay, who is a civil engineer, was speaking on the topic: “Offshore Oil Development and Implementation Processes” at a lecture organised by the Ghana Institution of Engineers in Accra on Tuesday.
The one-hour lecture touched on the oil discovery, exploration, infrastructure, management of oil revenue and agreements between oil companies and the government.
Dr Tay indicated that since GNPC had only about 10 per cent share in the oil field, the company with the biggest share would have a better say in the management of the oil.
Therefore, he said, an independent regulatory body which was outside the arrangement would be in the best position to regulate operations of the oil companies.
“It is in the interest of every country that the regulatory authority is independent of the investment,” he said.
Dr Tay proposed the formulation of a local content in the oil industry for the benefit of the local people, pointing out that “the benefit should not only be financial, but there should be technology transfer and provision of jobs for the local people”.
On the prospects of Ghana’s oil, Dr Tay said the country’s oil was one of the largest in Africa with an estimated drilling of 120,000 barrels a day, adding that the country stood the chance of generating huge revenues from the sector.
He commended the government for taking precautionary measures, including agreements for royalties and taxes, and charged the government to stick to the terms of the agreements.
CJ condemns abusive language in media
26/12/10
Story: Musah Yahaya Jafaru
THE Chief Justice, Mrs Justice Theodora Wood, has condemned the use of insulting, abusive and foul language in the media.
That trend, she said, would not augur well for the unity and development of the country.
Mrs Wood was speaking yesterday at the mounting of the ‘Four-Way Test’ billboard at the Supreme Court by the Rotary Club of Accra-Airport.
The club had mounted a similar billboard at the Supreme Court five years ago, but it had faded. That necessitated the mounting of a new one.
The Four-Way Test consists of four questions: “Is it the truth?; Is it fair to all concerned?; Will it build goodwill and better friendships?; and Will it be beneficial to all concerned?
Mrs Wood said if Ghanaians adhered to the demands of the Four-Way Test, they would refrain from the use of foul and insulting words in the media.
She, therefore, charged the Rotary Club of Accra-Airport to mount the Four-Way Test billboards at all the courts.
The District Governor of Rotary District 9100, Mr Marwan Fattal, said Rotary would mount Four-Way Test billboards throughout the country.
He said when Rotarians mounted the Four-Way Test billboards at the courts, it was not to suggest that they were “holier than anybody else or that the courts were the culprits”.
“But the court is a place where what is the truth, fair, good and beneficial are debated every day. The question asked in the Four-Way Test may seem simple, but they provide deep principles for your professional lives,” he said.
Story: Musah Yahaya Jafaru
THE Chief Justice, Mrs Justice Theodora Wood, has condemned the use of insulting, abusive and foul language in the media.
That trend, she said, would not augur well for the unity and development of the country.
Mrs Wood was speaking yesterday at the mounting of the ‘Four-Way Test’ billboard at the Supreme Court by the Rotary Club of Accra-Airport.
The club had mounted a similar billboard at the Supreme Court five years ago, but it had faded. That necessitated the mounting of a new one.
The Four-Way Test consists of four questions: “Is it the truth?; Is it fair to all concerned?; Will it build goodwill and better friendships?; and Will it be beneficial to all concerned?
Mrs Wood said if Ghanaians adhered to the demands of the Four-Way Test, they would refrain from the use of foul and insulting words in the media.
She, therefore, charged the Rotary Club of Accra-Airport to mount the Four-Way Test billboards at all the courts.
The District Governor of Rotary District 9100, Mr Marwan Fattal, said Rotary would mount Four-Way Test billboards throughout the country.
He said when Rotarians mounted the Four-Way Test billboards at the courts, it was not to suggest that they were “holier than anybody else or that the courts were the culprits”.
“But the court is a place where what is the truth, fair, good and beneficial are debated every day. The question asked in the Four-Way Test may seem simple, but they provide deep principles for your professional lives,” he said.
Two Ghanaians die in Saudi
26/11/10
Story: Musah Yahaya Jafaru
TWO of the 2,500 Ghanaian Muslim pilgrims who performed this year’s Hajj are reported dead in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
The two, both men, were said to have died of natural causes.
The Secretary of the National Hajj Committee (NHC), Alhaji Muhammad Kpakpo Addo, who spoke with the Daily Graphic via phone, declined to give the names of the dead, insisting that the NHC would have to clear that with the families of the deceased in Ghana.
He said that the first pilgrim, in his late 60s, died at Madina, while the second pilgrim, in his late 50s, passed away in Mecca. They have since been buried.
The two pilgrims died before the beginning of the Hajj rites.
Meanwhile, Alhaji Addo said, all the other pilgrims were in good condition of health and were preparing for their return journey.
He said the first batch of 266 pilgrims were expected to arrive in Ghana on Tuesday, November 30, 2010, aboard the Egypt Airline aircraft.
The second to the ninth batches would be arriving from December 1 to December 6, 2010.
Alhaji Addo said the pilgrims would come with their pieces of luggage and indicated that the luggage would be conveyed to the Hajj Village, where the pilgrims would go for them.
That arrangement, he said, was to prevent the loss of any piece of luggage.
On the thorny issue of Ghana’s quota, Alhaji Addo said the Chairman of the NHC, Alhaji Alhasan Bene, and other members had begun talks with the Saudi Hajj authorities on the need to increase Ghana’s quota from the current 2,500 to a number that could cover all Ghanaian pilgrims.
Story: Musah Yahaya Jafaru
TWO of the 2,500 Ghanaian Muslim pilgrims who performed this year’s Hajj are reported dead in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
The two, both men, were said to have died of natural causes.
The Secretary of the National Hajj Committee (NHC), Alhaji Muhammad Kpakpo Addo, who spoke with the Daily Graphic via phone, declined to give the names of the dead, insisting that the NHC would have to clear that with the families of the deceased in Ghana.
He said that the first pilgrim, in his late 60s, died at Madina, while the second pilgrim, in his late 50s, passed away in Mecca. They have since been buried.
The two pilgrims died before the beginning of the Hajj rites.
Meanwhile, Alhaji Addo said, all the other pilgrims were in good condition of health and were preparing for their return journey.
He said the first batch of 266 pilgrims were expected to arrive in Ghana on Tuesday, November 30, 2010, aboard the Egypt Airline aircraft.
The second to the ninth batches would be arriving from December 1 to December 6, 2010.
Alhaji Addo said the pilgrims would come with their pieces of luggage and indicated that the luggage would be conveyed to the Hajj Village, where the pilgrims would go for them.
That arrangement, he said, was to prevent the loss of any piece of luggage.
On the thorny issue of Ghana’s quota, Alhaji Addo said the Chairman of the NHC, Alhaji Alhasan Bene, and other members had begun talks with the Saudi Hajj authorities on the need to increase Ghana’s quota from the current 2,500 to a number that could cover all Ghanaian pilgrims.
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