Day: June 9, 2024

The Anti-Human Smuggling and Trafficking in Person (AHSTIP) Unit of the Aflao Sector Command of the Ghana Immigration Service (GIS) has urged the public to join efforts in combating human trafficking.

The Unit, in partnership with the International Centre for Safe Migration, marked the African Union International Border Day on Friday by shedding light on the escalating issue of human trafficking and the associated illicit activities occurring across African borders, calling for a united commitment to combating these transgressions.

Assistant Superintendent of Immigration (ASI), Justice Kudzo Normeshie, the Officer-in-Charge of the AHSTIP Unit, GIS at the Aflao Sector Command, emphasised the importance of raising public awareness in the fight against human trafficking, citing the challenging conditions prevalent in many African countries that render individuals more vulnerable to such exploitation.

‘The current trends in migration across our ECOWAS corridors, triggered by climate change, harsh economic cond
itions for the youth, political instabilities, threats of terrorism among others, have forced the youth to be on the move for survival.

Desperate as they are, most of them, especially children, girls and women end up falling into the hands of Traffickers and Smugglers who promise them lucrative jobs but end up exploiting them sexually, through forced prostitution.’

He said boys and men were equally being exploited through forced labour, forced criminal activities such as cybercrimes, perpetuating fraud activities as well as organ harvest in worse cases while ‘children, are mostly pushed into forced begging which we can witness in the big cities within the sub-region.’

ASI Normeshie indicated the Unit’s success in the fight against human trafficking and noted that they had over the years, ‘rescued several victims of trafficking and smuggling, reunited them with their families and referred perpetrators to the Headquarters for prosecutions.’

He assured that with the recent inauguration of the Aflao Transitio
nal Shelter, made possible through the support of international partners, the AHSTIP Unit of the GIS Aflao Sector Command was better positioned to protect these vulnerable migrants, provide them with psychological counselling among other needs and, to effectively prosecute perpetrators.

‘We’re therefore calling on the general public to support our team by donating something no matter how small to the shelter to help us feed victims and cater for their other needs. Because they normally come to very deplorable states.

And we need these supports to fix their lives, give them a treat for them to know that the world still loves them and that they can restart their lives,’ he said to the Ghana News Agency.

The day which saw the Unit collaborate with the Togolese counterparts to facilitate the sharing of flyers and educational materials on human trafficking at the Togo side of the border, had teams board TSR and ABC buses, bound for Niger and Nigeria respectively to educate travelers onboard, on the need to be v
igilant and not fall preys to human traffickers.

The African Union Border Day is celebrated annually on June 7 to promote peace, security, and stability across the continent with emphasis on the importance of harmonious borders for Africa’s development.

Source: Ghana News Agency

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) through the Resilient Ecosystem and Sustainable Transformation of Rural Economies (RESTORE) project has started planting about 40,000 trees in five communities within the Bibiani Anwhiaso Bekwai Municipality of the Western North Region.

The beneficiary communities are Pataboso, Debiso, Bremang, Ankra-Muano and Kumkumso.

The USAID funded RESTORE programme, being implemented by the Rainforest Alliance and Olam Food Ingredient (OFI), in partnership with multinational chocolate companies, farmer cooperatives and local partners, is aimed at Increasing tree cover and contribute to national and corporate emission reduction targets.

Mr Kelvin Nartey, Senior Associate at Rainforest Alliance, in an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA) to kick start the tree planting exercise, said the project was timely since it would address some of the barriers hindering sustainable cocoa production, deforestation and low income among cocoa farmers within the coc
oa supply chain.

He stated that the strategic intervention also sought to address the primary threats of illegal and unsustainable cocoa farming, illegal mining and logging activities leading to a destruction of forest reserves.

‘The project seeks to address the limited livelihood opportunities and under representation of women and youth in West Africa’s cocoa economy,’ Mr Nartey added.

Mr Emmanuel Braima, Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning at the Rainforest Alliance, asked Ghanaians to protect and preserve the country’s forest reserves and that Rainforest Alliance was committed and ready to support farmers willing to plant trees on their farms.

Mr Justice Koduah, Branch Coordinator, OFI, advised cocoa farmers to take farming as their businesses and always protect the environment to improve yield.

He asked farmers and opinion leaders in the beneficiary communities to actively accept the RESTORE project and the Green Ghana initiative by nurturing the trees planted, saying ‘Protecting forest reserves and
environment should be a shared responsibility.’

Source: Ghana News Agency

Nana Odeneho Kwafo Akoto III, Akwamuhene has targeted to plant one million trees every year to restore and reduce air pollution for health and climate benefits along the riverbanks at Asuogyaman District.

The exercise, dubbed: ‘The OKA Million Tree Campaign’ which was launched as part of activities to mark the Green Ghana Project, was an initiative to change behaviours about illegal tree felling, reduce other pollution sources and enhance greenspaces in the district.

In an interview with the Ghana News Agency after the launch, he called on the chiefs and people of the area to encourage ownership of the tree planting exercise and to enhance participation of all including school children in the district.

He said his initiative would also be focused on schools and other non-governmental organisations to enhance promotion of greenspaces development, planting of indigenous trees in the district.

He said: ‘We should be mindful of our actions such as indiscriminate tree felling and the negative effects it had on
the environment.’

Nana Kwafo Akoto said research showed that drought and rising temperatures were threatening the lives of over three billion people, hence over two billion hectares of the world’s land were degraded endangering the ecosystems of several plants and wildlife.

‘United Nations is targeting to resort over 350 million hectares of degraded landscapes globally by 2030 to restore blighted landscapes and the environment,’ he emphasised.

He said to create resilience and combat land degradation the UN had identified seven sustainable ways to restore the environment, such as making agriculture sustainable and saving the soil.

Other sustainable ways were to protect the pollinators, restore freshwater ecosystems, renew coastal marine areas, bring nature back to cities and generate financing for restoration.

Nana Kwafo Akoto acknowledged the support of the Volta River Authority, PRAXIS Africa, an NGO, Asuogyaman Company Limited, Ohemea Afrakoma II Foundation, Forestry Commission for their immense contri
bution for the OKA Tree Planting exercise.

Mr Ulysses Ocran-Hammond, an Environment Manager of the Volta River Authority gave an assurance that his outfit would supply seedlings to the chiefs to ensure the sustainability of the OKA Tree Planting initiative.

He said VRA had planted over 6,000 trees along the banks as it takes afforestation seriously to protect the environment.

Mr Prosper Agbenyo, Coordinating Director of the Asuogyaman District Assembly, who spoke on behalf of the District Chief Executive, Miss Opokuwa Akonor called on all to embrace the initiative launched by the chief.

He said the assembly would ensure that all schools in the district are to collaborate to plant trees to protect the environment.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Reverend Dr Lawrence Tetteh, President of the Worldwide Miracle Outreach, has said the 2024 general elections presented an opportunity for the country to redefine its narrative and strongly emerge again as a beacon of democracy in Africa.

He said major actors, including Electoral Commission (EC), citizens, political parties, religious and traditional leadership and institutions mandated to support, had the collective responsibility to make this a reality.

‘Ghana stands at the crossroad of another democratic journey, which should transcend the shadows of the past and usher in a new era of peaceful election and progress,’ he added.

Dr Tetteh, a renowned Evangelist, Economist and philanthropist, was speaking to the Ghana News Agency in an interview after a three-day retreat in Ho.

He said transparent electoral processes were vital to instill trust in the citizens and stressed that strengthening electoral institutions, ensuring independence of the EC and implementing secure and transparent voting processes we
re paramount.

He called on Christians and other faith-based organisations to become Ambassadors of peace in the upcoming general elections in December and religiously commit their pulpits and others towards peace, tranquility and co-existence.

He prayed for the peace in the Volta region and the rest of Ghana, believing the elections would be free and fair to all parties and leave the country as a whole in the aftermath.

Dr Tetteh admonished politicians to desist from enticing voters with money and allow the electorates to decide who should lead them without monetary influence.

He urged the Electoral Commission to amplify its education on the electoral process to the citizenry and added ‘the EC should always go ahead of politicians.’

He urged the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) to design tailored programmes to engage the youth in constructive activities, steering them away from violence and influence peddling to mitigate electoral violence.

Source: Ghana News Agency

The National Commission of Civic Education (NCCE), Kpone-Katamanso Municipal Office, has participated in the 2024 national ‘Green Ghana’ tree planting exercise across some communities in Kpone.

Mr Seth Sotie Kpone-Katamanso, the Kpone-Katamanso Municipal Director of the NCCE, speaking to the Ghana News Agency (GNA), stated that institutions such as the Commission should take charge of the tree planting exercise.

Mr Sotie explained that it was the responsibility of the Commission to ensure that residents understood the rationale behind the national tree planting exercise, adding that trees ensure a healthy ecosystem as well as the beautification of the environment.

According to him, the NCCE was ready to take the campaign to the length and the breadth of the municipality to ensure enough trees were planted within the various communities.

Mr Sotie explained that the tree planting exercise by his outfit was to raise awareness about the importance of environmental sustainability and to ensure that everyone wa
s brought on board.

He called on the chiefs and the people within the Kpone traditional area, including students, to also help in preserving lands and the environment, respectively, for future generations, saying the surest way was to plant enough trees to replace those that have been destroyed within the communities.

The NCCE planted different species of trees at the Kpone-Community Day School and other parts of the communities in Kpone, adding that the exercise would be replicated in other institutions across the municipality.

Source: Ghana News Agency