Wednesday, 3rd August, 2022

Page 2
Zawahiri (R) was considered Bin Laden's right-hand
man and then became al-Qaeda's leader
Last year, during the chaotic
US withdrawal from
Afghanistan, President
Joe Biden pledged his
administration would
not allow the new Taliban-led
regime to make the country a
safe-haven for terrorists.
The remarks were intended to
indicate that, as far as Mr Biden's
White House was concerned, the
decades-old war on terror was far
from over.
Almost a year later, the
president's top security advisers
approached him and suggested
that intelligence officials
may have located the leader of
al-Qaeda, Ayman al-Zawahiri, in
Afghanistan.
Identifying a high-value
target
In background briefings,
senior administration figures
President Muhammadu
Buhari has blamed the
instability in Libya as
the main cause of insecurity
in Nigeria and
the Sahel region.
Receiving Letters of Credence
of Canadian High Commissioner
to Nigeria, Ambassador James
Kingston Christoff and Ambassador
of Mexico to Nigeria, Juan
Alfred Miranda Oritz on Tuesday,
Buhari commended the collective
efforts of nations towards tackling
security challenges across
the globe, and within Nigeria,
urging more collaboration to
check terrorism, banditry and
insurgency.
The President, according to a
statement by his spokesperson,
Femi Adesina told the diplomats
that successes in taming insecurity
had been recorded through
collaboration across borders, and
more could be achieved.
“The devastating effect of
global insecurity, climate change
and the post COVID-19 era has
devastated global economies.
Nations continue to struggle to
recover from these multiple global
challenges.
“The ongoing war between
Russia and Ukraine has undermined
the progress countries
have achieved in tackling food
security in the last decade. While,
the political instability in Libya
continues to fuel terrorism in the
told reporters that they believed
Zawahiri had returned
to Afghanistan in the past year,
following the collapse of the
Western-backed government.
US spies had been carefully
watching Afghanistan ever since
the US withdrawal for signs that
al-Qaeda leaders were slowly
filtering back into the country,
an adviser to Mr Biden said.
Zawahiri is said to have
settled in a large compound
with high, protective walls, in
downtown Kabul with his wife
and daughter.
The neighbourhood Zawahiri
chose, a relatively well-todo
area called Choorpur, was
home to foreign embassies and
diplomats under the previous
administration. Now, most of the
Taliban's senior officials live in
its plush surroundings.
DAILY ANALYST Wednesday, 3rd August, 2022
In early April, CIA officers
first briefed Mr Biden's advisers,
and then the president himself,
informing him that they had
identified a network supporting
the al-Qaeda leader and his
family through multiple streams
of intelligence, according to the
briefings.
The spies had slowly established
patterns of behaviour from
the house's residents, including
the unique mannerisms of a
woman that spies identified as
Zawahiri's wife.
Officials said they had
recognised her use of terrorist
"tradecraft", which she used in an
attempt to avoid leading anyone
to her husband's safehouse in
Kabul.
They observed that after
arriving at the house, Zawahiri
never personally left the premises.
But they did note his habit of
appearing periodically on a balcony
overlooking the property's
walls for short periods of time.
Plotting an historic raid
For Mr Biden, the opportunity
to kill one of America's most
wanted men was fraught with
risk
Żawahiri was living in a dense
residential neighbourhood, and
the drone strike that accidentally
killed 10 innocent people in
Kabul, including an aid worker
President Buhari blames Libya
for insecurity in Nigeria
Sahel, as well as scuttle democratic
sustenance in both West
and Central African regions.
“Nigeria is not left out of
the equation, as we are fighting
to rid our country of banditry,
kidnapping, herder/farmer crisis
and insurgency. We are, however,
making meaningful progress
with the support of friendly
countries like yours to sustain
these fights until we overcome
these challenges,’’ he was quoted
President Muhammadu Buhari
as saying.
At the regional level, President
Buhari said Nigeria had
been working with other Member-States
of ECOWAS and other
regional blocs, to deal with the
problems of terrorism, trans-border
crimes, maritime crimes
such as piracy and illegal fishing
on our waters, illicit drug and
human trafficking, banditry, as
well as unconstitutional changes
of government.
Global News
How the US found al-Qaeda's
top man in Kabul
and seven children during the
final days of the US presence in
Afghanistan, will undoubtedly
have played on his mind.
Throughout May and June,
the US leader was focussed on
the war in Ukraine and pushing
through landmark legislation on
gun control and climate change.
But secretly a "very small and
select" group of top intelligence
officers began preparing several
options to present to him.
Mr Biden had tasked intelligence
officers with ensuring that
civilians - including Zawahiri's
family and Taliban officials -
weren't accidentally killed in the
attack.
On 1 July, Mr Biden gathered
several top officials, including
CIA Director William Burns and
Director of National Intelligence
Avril Haines, for a briefing.
Mr Biden was said to be
"deeply engaged in the briefing
and immersed in the intelligence"
as he and his advisers
gathered around a scale model of
Zawahiri's home that intelligence
officials had constructed and
brought to the White House.
"He was particularly focused
on ensuring that every step had
been taken to ensure the operation
would minimise that risk," a
senior adviser said.
Mr Biden asked for information
about the building's structure
and how a strike could affect
it, before flying to Camp David for
a weekend break.
Over the next few weeks,
officials met at the White House
situation room - a bunker-like
command centre below the
White House set up to allow the
president to monitor crises at
home and abroad.
They methodically planned
the operation, trying to anticipate
any questions the president
could ask.
Meanwhile, a small team of
lawyers came together to assess
the legality of a strike, ultimately
concluding that Zawahiri was a
legitimate target based on "his
continuing leadership role in
al-Qaeda and his participation
and operational support for
al-Qaeda attacks".
On 25 July, after convening
his team one final time and
asking his top advisers for their
views, Mr Biden authorised the
strike.
Taliban leaders scramble as
US strikes
At 06:18 local time (01:38
GMT), two hellfire missiles fired
by a drone smashed into the balcony
of Zawahiri 's home, killing
the al-Qaeda leader. Members of
his family were unharmed, intelligence
officials said.
In the aftermath of the raid,
the windows of the house appeared
to have been blown out,
but astonishingly little other
damage seemed to have been
done.
There are suggestions a little-known
version of the Hellfire
missile was used, one without an
explosive warhead. This version -
called the AGM-114R9X - instead
deploys six blades which swing
out from the side of the missile as
it approaches the target.
It is the kinetic energy from
this multi-bladed weapon's speed
that causes the destruction, as
they slice through whatever they
hit and minimises collateral
damage.
Thousands of miles away in
Washington, the president was
informed of the strike's success.
On Sunday, the Taliban's
ministry of the interior told the
local Tolo news outlet that a
rocket strike had hit an empty
house, causing no casualties.
They refused to provide additional
details at the time.
But the Biden administration
said soon after, fighters from the
Haqqani network, an ultra-violent
wing of the Taliban, rushed
Zawahiri's family away from the
site and engaged in a broader
effort to cover-up his presence.
When a BBC reporter arrived
at the house on Monday morning
a Taliban cordon sharply brandished
him away, aiming rifles at
him and insisting that there was
"nothing to see".
US officials said "multiple
streams of intelligence" had
confirmed Zawahiri 's death, but
emphasised that no American
personnel were on the ground in
Kabul. They refused to elaborate
as to how they had confirmed the
attack's success.
Intelligence agencies jealously
guard the identities of
their spies, and James Clapper, a
former director of national intelligence
under President Obama,
told the BBC that former US allies
in Kabul may have provided some
information.
It's unclear what happened
to Zawahiri's body in the wake of
the strike. Biden administration
figures said the US had made
no effort to retrieve Zawahiri's
remains, as they did in the wake
of the raid that killed Osama Bin
Laden.
Special forces retrieved Bin
Laden's body to confirm his
identity, before burying it at sea
to prevent his grave becoming a
shrine to Islamists.
However, given the Taliban
have cleaned the area, it is
possible his remains have been
retrieved.
As Mr Biden's television address
from a balcony of the White
House beamed around the world,
Taliban leaders issued a sharp
condemnation of the US incursion
into their territory. But their
comments made no mention of
Zawahiri.
There will now be speculation
about how much knowledge
senior Taliban leaders had about
Zawahiri's presence in Kabul and
what assistance they might have
been providing.
One resident told the BBC
that Taliban fighters had been
guarding the street and that the
presence of "non-Afghan residents"
was common knowledge
among locals.
The suggestion seems likely
to raise tricky questions for Taliban
leaders.

DAILY ANALYST
Wednesday, 3rd August, 2022 Page 3
The Managing Director
of Agricultural
Development Bank Plc,
Dr. John Kofi Mensah
has disclosed that
the African Continental Free
Trade Area (AfCFTA) will help
agribusiness entrepreneurs to
access the African Market.
The AfCTA is a single market
(duty-free-quota-free) trading
bloc covering the entire African
Continent with a total population
of 1.3 billion to create a single
continental market for goods and
services.
Speaking on the side of the
launch of the National AfCFTA
Policy Framework Action Plan at
the Kempinski Hotel, Gold Coast
City in Accra, Dr. Kofi Mensah said
Ghanaian entrepreneurs in the
Agricultural sector can access a
market with a combined Gross
Domestic Product of almost
USD3.4 trillion.
According to Dr. Kofi Mensah,
government initiatives like the
One District One Factory(1D1F)
which ADB has been a key
partner, has the potential to help
agribusiness entrepreneurs to
expand their business for the
African Market.
“AfCTA is a major global
NCA breaks silence
on Vodafone sale
Joe Anokye, Director General of NCA
The National
Communications
Authority (NCA) has
denied media reports
that it was deliberately
impeding the sale of Vodafone to
Telecel.
The NCA, however, pointed
out that the transaction does not
meet the regulatory threshold for
approval to be granted.
“in January 2022, the NCA
received an application for the
transfer of 70% majority shares
in Ghana Telecommunications
Company Limited (Vodafone
Ghana) from Vodafone
International Holdings B.V. to the
Telecel Group,” the NCA disclosed
in a statement issued yesterday.
“In accordance with due
process, the Authority evaluated
the application on various criteria
and engaged both Vodafone
and Telecel Group. After a
critical regulatory review and
evaluation, the NCA concluded
that the request did not meet the
Frontpage Stories
Agribusiness Entrepreneurs Must
Take Advantage Of AfCFTA
game-changer for entrepreneurs
especially those in Agribusiness
because as a continent we share
similar agricultural products
which can be cross traded,” he
said.
The ADB Managing Director
indicated with the critical role
the sector plays in the Ghanaian
economy the Agricultural sector
remains a low-hanging fruit the
country can pluck to benefit from
AfCTA.
Dr. Kofi Mensah, therefore,
urged players within the
Agricultural Value Chain to take
advantage of the AfCTA to expand
their business and export their
products and services to other
countries within the sub-region.
In his remarks at the launch,
the Minister of Trade and
Industry, Hon. Alana Kyerematen
said that the establishment of the
AfCTA is arguably one of the most
transformational decisions taken
by the African Union.
regulatory threshold for approval
to be granted,” the NCA added.
The NCA further explained
that its scrutiny of the deal
was to ensure compliance with
the regulatory framework and
international best practices.
Background
Bloomberg reported on Friday
that Vodafone had agreed to sell
its shares to Telecel.
But the government of Ghana
led by the Communications
Minister, Ursula Owusu-Ekuful,
sources say refused to allow
Telecel to purchase the majority
shares.
Telecel had put together a
group of Ghanaian experts and
given Vodafone a convincing
proposal for the purchase
according to reports.
Vodafone Group has given
every indication that it is not
interested in exiting and rather
prefers to sell to a properly
constituted entity with a clear
plan and vision
The recognition of the
potential benefits it could bring to
Ghana is the driving rationale for
the development of the National
AfCTA Policy Framework and
Action Plan for Boosting Ghana’s
Trade with Africa.
“The agreement provides
immense opportunities for
industrialization and the
development of regional value/
supply chains,” he said.
According to the Minister
ongoing initiatives under
Ghana’s Ten Point Industrial
Transformation Agenda such as
the National Export Development
Strategy (NEDS), the SME
Development Initiative, the
Establishment of Strategic Anchor
Industries, the One District One
Factory Programme and the
establishment of Industrial Parks
across the country are all designed
to transform the economy and
enable Ghana optimize its benefit
from AfCTA.
The AfCTA is the most
significant development in Africa
Adopt visa application refund policy
Even though Ghana
has been touted as the
gateway to Africa, the
country still lags behind
certain policy directions
concerning visa application
refund.
Currently, Ghana does not
have any universal policy or
guideline for it citizens to
demand refund from embassies
when their visa application forms
are refused.
This development has
empowered some embassies
in the country to act evasively
towards citizens by refusing them
visas without any reasonable
grounds.
Based on this, the Chief
Executive Officer (CEO) of Marrer
Ghana Limited and Susatgad Boat
Industries, Mr. Novihoho Afaglo,
has made a fervent appeal to the
Ministries of Foreign Affairs and
Regional Integration and Interior
through the Ghana Immigration
Service (GIS) to immediately
adopt a visa refund policy.
He explained that such
The Ghana Police
Administration
has commenced an
investigation into a
murder incident that
occurred on August 1, 2022, at
Nkonya Ntsumuru in the Oti
Region.
a policy will help Ghanaian
citizens demand visa refund
when the embassies deny their
visa applications wrongly or
intentionally.
Speaking to DAILY Analyst, he
said it was high time the Ghana
government adopted policies
to check the activities of these
embassies and how they were
treating Ghanaians.
“It is sometimes strange
and unexplainable how these
embassies deny visa application
forms to Ghanaians whose
documents and paper works are
genuine,” he stated.
Mr. Afaglo mentioned Nigeria
as one of the countries in Africa
that have taken a step further in
the visa refund policy.
The policy in Nigeria states
that a refund will be issued, upon
request, and with supporting
proof and or evidence from the
customer, for an acceptable reason
for a refund to be made.
“Notwithstanding the above,
Nigeria Immigration Service
reserves the right to grant or deny
Police chase murderers of
farmer at Nkonya Ntsumuru
According to the Police,
preliminary investigation
disclosed that the deceased,
since the establishment of the
Organization of African Unity
(OAU) in 1963. It is the world’s
largest Free Trade Area with a
membership of 54 States.
Novihoho Afaglo, CEO of Marrer
Ghana Limited and Susatgad Boat
Industries
refund to anyone for any reason,”
he stressed.
He, therefore, called on
the government of Ghana to
initiate programmes toward
the immediate adoption and
implementation of a visa refund
policy to ease the burden on
citizens whose applications are
denied without refund.
identified as Brempong Daniel,
was allegedly ambushed and shot
by unknown assailants while on
his way to the farm.
The Police made it known that
the body of the deceased has since
been deposited at the Kpando
Margaret Marquart Catholic
Hospital for preservation and
autopsy.
Meanwhile, it said patrols
at Nkonya and its adjoining
communities have been
intensified to ensure law and
order.
“We, therefore, urge the
public to remain calm as the
investigation continues to get
the perpetrators arrested to face
justice,” the police added.

Page 4
DAILY ANALYST Wednesday, 3rd August, 2022
GIBA
congratulates
new GJA
executives
The Ghana Independent Broadcasters Association
(GIBA) has congratulated the new executives of the
Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) on their election
and subsequent inauguration.
A letter signed by Gloria Hiadzi, Executive Secretary
of GIBA, and addressed to the GJA President, Albert Kwabena
Dwumfour, assured the GJA of its continued support " as
we work together to develop the media and communications
industry."
GJA President, Albert Kwabena Dwumfour
security zones
– Army cautions
encroachers, intruders
The Ghana Armed Forces (GAF) has issued a stern warning
to members of the general public particularly
encroachers and intruders on various security zones to
stay off.
In a statement signed by the Director of Public
Relations, Naval Captain MA Larbi, the GAF explained that the
security zones such as the Base Ammunition Depot were closed
to the public.
The statement said it was in the interest of the public that
they stayed off military bases for their own safety.
“GAF however wishes to caution the general public that the
Base Ammunition Depot is a highly sensitive and restricted
security zone which is out of bounds to the general public.
“It is strongly advised that the public desists from tampering
with the perimeter fence or attempting to gain any unauthorized
access. For their own safety and that of all others as there
could be serious repercussions for such actions.
“Intruders and encroachers are also cautioned of dire consequences
for their actions if they fail to pay heed to the numerous
public warnings and education on the need to stay clear off a
high-security zone such as an Ammunition Depot,” part of the
statement read.
Meanwhile, GAF has arrested a middle-aged man, Yaw
Boateng, and handed him over to the Police Criminal Investigations
Department (CID) following his attempt to access a military
Base Ammunition Depot at Michel Camp in Accra.
According to GAF, the suspect upon interrogation said he
attempted to enter the ammunition depot to gather some metal
products for sale.
“Ghana Armed Forces personnel at the Base Ammunition Depot
in Michel Camp, have arrested a middle-aged man who was
in the process of breaching the perimeter fence in order to gain
entry into the Ammunition Depot
“The Suspect, Yaw Boateng, claimed he was from Ashaiman
Tulaku and was trying to access the Ammunition Depot to seek
aluminum plated materials for sale. Upon his arrest, 18 pieces
of aluminum plates, iron pickets and a broken street light lamp
holder were found among his possessions. He has been had over
to the Police CID for further actions,” the statement added.
one-week ultimatum
The New Patriotic Party
(NPP) has given a oneweek
ultimatum to all
former Regional and
Constituency party
executives concerned to return
all party vehicles and assets in
their possession.
This is barely a few weeks after
the NPP’s national elections.
The NPP held its national
delegates conference on Saturday,
July 16, 2022, in Accra to elect
new executives.
In a statement signed by its
new General Secretary, Justin
Kodua Frimpong, the NPP said
the directive has been necessitated
by widespread concerns
and complaints by the current
executives to the effect that
some of their predecessors (i.e.
immediate past executives) still
have in their custody, vehicles
and other items that were allocated
to Party offices to enable
executives to perform their
administrative functions and
responsibilities efficiently.
That, the NPP stated has rendered
the newly elected executives
of the Party handicapped in
the performance of their duties,
which development is adversely
impacting the conduct of Party
activities. As has been the norm,
executives are permitted to use
assets of the Party but cannot
assume ownership of same upon
leaving office.
President Akufo-Addo
has named Lariba Zuweira
Abudu, Member
of Parliament for Walewale
in the North East
Region as Minister-Designate
for Gender, Children, and Social
Protection.
Her nomination follows
the dismissal of Adwo Safo who
abandoned her post for several
months, prompting calls for her
removal.
Madam Abudu is currently
the Deputy Minister for Gender,
Children and Social Protection.
The Presidency in a statement
signed by the Director of
Communication, Mr. Eugene
Arhin said the nomination is “in
accordance with article 78 of the
Constitution. Her appointment is
subject to the approval of Parliament.”
“Pursuant to article 79 of the
Constitution, President Akufo-Addo
has also nominated Hon. Francisca
Oteng Mensah, Member of
Parliament for Kwabre East, as
Deputy Minister-designate for
Gender, Children and Social Protection,
subject to the approval of
Parliament.
“The President is hopeful
that Parliament will expedite the
approval of his nominees for this
important Ministry, so they can
assist in the effective delivery of
his mandate for his second term
in office,” the statement said.
The NPP stated that the
National Steering Committee
decides that the assets should
be returned to the respective
Regional and Constituency Party
Executive Committees.
“In the light of the foregoing,
the Party is by this notice, giving
a one-week ultimatum to all such
former executives to comply with
this directive,” the Party stated.
It entreated Regional executives
of the Party to supervise
the retrieval of these assets that
are still in possession of former
Constituency Executives of the
Party.
Meanwhile, it added that “The
National Treasurer has equally
been instructed to supervise the
retrieval of all assets with former
Regional executives of the Party.”
Akufo-Addo nominates Walewale
MP as Gender Minister
Lariba Zuweira Abudu, MP for Walewale

DAILY ANALYST
Wednesday, 3rd August, 2022 Page 5
Hardest hit by climate
crisis but left behind
of national consultations
and workshops.
Mr Ebenezer Appah-Sampong,
the Deputy Executive
Director of EPA, told the
GNA that there had been
limited involvement of
Persons With Disabilities in
climate change discourse.
The implementation of
the National Adaptation
Planning Project would
help capture their existing
structural vulnerability and
build resilience.
There are plans to capture
Persons With Disabilities
in the Climate Vulnerable
Forum activities, of
which Ghana is the current
President. The Agency hopes
to identify their priorities
and how to address their
concerns.
“This challenge was also
identified during one of
our engagements with the
Parliamentary Select Committee
on Environment,
Science and Technology and
we have included them in
the programmes to sensitize
and empower them,” he
added.
Ghana believes that if no
rapid action is taken to address
climate change and its
negative impacts now, the
future cost will be prohibitive
and counterproductive
to the socio-economic gains
made today, President Nana
Addo Dankwa Akuffo-Addo
said at COP26 in Glasgow.
However, Persons With
Disabilities who are the
hardest hit by the climate
crisis must not be left behind.
Distraught-looking
Mustapha
Adams (pseudo
name) 40, is a
smallholder
farmer and resident of
Savelugu, near Tamale.
He has no formal education
and walks with the aid
of crochets.
The reason for his mood
is the consistent record of
low maize yield in the last
five years and occasional
bush fire that consumes the
little maize left on the farm.
He observes that during
the vegetative and reproductive
stages of growth,
rains cease for some time.
As a result, the crops do not
get the needed volume of
rain to grow.
“For all these years, I
have been trying my best to
support myself by engaging
in maize and vegetable
farming. The crops have not
been doing well these years.
These are difficult times,”
he said with sadness on his
face.
Wondering where his
next meal would come from
has been Mustapha’s worry
and that of the visually and
hearing impaired, cripple,
and albinos who formed
about five per cent of the
membership of the Peasant
Farmers Association of
Ghana (PFAG).
His story is just one of
the different ways Persons
With Disabilities, especially
those in Ghana and sub-Saharan
Africa are experiencing
due to impacts of the
climate crisis.
The United Nations
Convention on the Rights
of Persons with Disabilities
defines PWDs as people
who have physical or
sensory impairments that,
when combined with other
obstacles, prevent them
from fully and effectively
participating in society on
an equal footing with others.
In Ghana, Persons With
Disabilities, form eight per
cent translating to 2,098,138
of the population, according
to the 2021 Population and
Housing census. Globally,
about one million are contributing
in diverse ways to
economic growth but often
face discrimination.
The majority of persons
with disabilities, according
to a UN Human Rights
Report at the 44th Session
of the UN General Assembly
in 2020, live in poverty, as
highlighted in the Convention
on the Rights of Persons
With Disability.
Poorest people will
continue to experience the
worst effects of climate
change through lost income
and livelihood opportunities,
displacement, hunger,
and health issues, the 2014
Impact, Adaptation and
Vulnerability report of the
Intergovernmental Panel on
Climate Change projected.
Madam Rita Kusi Kyeremaa,
the Executive Director
of the Ghana Federation
of Disability Organisations,
told the Ghana News
Agency that Persons With
Disabilities were most adversely
affected in an emergency,
sustaining disproportionately
higher rates
of morbidity and mortality,
and are among those least
able to access emergency
support.
Natural disasters affect
the access of Persons With
Disabilities to food and nutrition,
safe drinking water
and sanitation, health-care
services and medicines,
education and training, adequate
housing, and access
to decent work, she said.
“It is sad to note that we
suffer double folds because
of our disabilities. But when
the government and some
of its agencies are developing
climate change plans
and policies or implementing
programmes we are not
considered,” she lamented.
“Extreme weather events
like increased temperature,
drought, and dwindling
rainfall are becoming frequent
and intense. These
are causing anxiety, stress,
and depression that affect
the ability of our members
to function.”
“What makes the situation
worse is that dis-
ability issues become
afterthoughts…most of the
systems are not inclusive
and there is no acceptance.
There is limited knowledge
to access.”
Ghana has ratified the
United Nations Convention
on the Rights of Persons
with Disabilities (UNCRPD)
and deposited the instrument.
This means the Government
made a commitment
to the obligation that:
“States Parties undertake
(measures) to ensure and
promote the full realization
of all human rights and
fundamental freedoms for
all Persons with disabilities
without discrimination of
any kind on the basis of disability.”
“Given that persons
with disabilities are disproportionately
affected
by climate change, their
voice must be taken into
account in climate action
efforts,” UN Deputy High
Commissioner for Human
Rights Nada Al-Nasif said
at a panel discussion on
the rights of persons with
disabilities in the context of
climate change.
“Both as beneficiaries
and as decision makers
in policies raising and
responding to their concerns,"
she told the Human
Rights Council.
Major national policies
including the National
Communication to the
United Nations Framework
Convention on Climate
Change, National Determined
Contributions and
National Climate Adaptation
Plan (NAPs) do not
include Persons With Disabilities,
the GNA’s investigation
has revealed.
“When an abled person's
rice farm is in flames, the
fellow can rush to salvage
some produce, but what of
a cripple, or a hearing-impaired
farmer?,” Dr Charles
Nyaaba the Executive Director
of PFAG questioned.
“Equally, when drought
strikes, an abled farmer can
dig a well in search of water
to irrigate his or her farm.
What if it happened to a
visually impaired farmer?
Practically, they lose everything.”
He advocates for the
urgent development of a
customized climate change
adaptation and mitigation
strategy to sensitize Persons
With Disabilities, provide
early warning systems,
and build their resilience.
The Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA)
acknowledged the challenge
and has begun steps
to engage the leadership of
Persons With Disabilities,
including them in all forms

Page 6
DAILY ANALYST Wednesday, 3rd August, 2022
Do proper screening
before recruitment
private security men
Mr Albert Kan
Dapaah, the
Minister for
National Security,
has called on
Managers and Owners of private
security firms to ensure proper
screening before recruiting
personnel into their agencies
to prevent the engagement of
unlawful persons.
“Managers and Owners of
these firms must endeavour to
conduct proper screening to
prevent criminals and miscreants
from being recruited into the
system,” he said.
Mr Edward Kwaku Asumani,
the Deputy National Security
made the call on behalf of Mr
Dapaah during the ASIS African
security conference 2022 in Accra.
The conference is to share
experiences with stakeholders
within the security industry
and to exchange ideas on
contemporary issues affecting
private security.
The conference was on the
theme: “Private Security and its
role in business and government
in Africa.”
Mr Kan Dapaah said, in
order not to recruit criminals
and miscreants into the private
security firm, there was the need
to institute proper wages and
conditions of service to boost the
Ghana could progress only
through religious tolerance,
unity and love – Bagbin
morale of personnel to prevent
them from indulging in criminal
acts.
“Private security firms
must endeavour to collaborate
with State Security agencies to
enhance training regimes for
personnel towards improving
the general standard of security
delivery to the citizen,” he added.
Mr Francis Poku, a Former
National Security Minister, called
for collaboration between the
government and the private
security firms to address some of
the challenges in the industry.
He said the government must
provide up-to-date legislation
that would govern the work
of these firms, which provide
security support in the country.
“It is collaboration in the
sense that both government and
the private industry have some
work to do, on the part of the
government they need to provide
legislation and guidelines to
govern the conduct of people in
the industry,” he said.
Mr Poku called on the
government to recruit more into
the existing security agencies
as the number of Police officers
was inadequate to meet future
challenges.
He said collaborating with
the government would also help
bring unauthorized security
agencies under existing laws and
regulations.
Dr Alex Acquaye, Certified
Protection Professional (CPP),
pointed out some challenges
private security operatives
were facing, including lack
of legislation and proper
regulations to cover cases where
private security operatives
were not allowed to use certain
weapons to defend themselves in
their operations.
Mr Acquaye also noted that
“as long as there is a crime, a
crime must be fought.”
“The gravity of the crime
will determine the type of
countermeasure to use in
handling such crimes,” he added.
Mr Acquaye said there was
the need for recruitment of more
people with careful screening
into the private security
agencies since almost all “top”
organisations in Ghana like
the Banks and other corporate
institutions engaged them.
Mr Musa Balogun, the Senior
Regional Vice President, CPP,
said the collaboration would
bring a lot of professionalism
and opportunities that the
government and private security
companies in Ghana and Africa
could benefit from.
Mr Musa noted that the
conference would provide an
opportunity to see where the
gaps were and what needed to be
done as government and security
professionals to find ways in
bridging the gap.
Mr Musa observed that
reintegrating retired military
personnel and officers into the
private security sector was key
as they had in-depth knowledge
about safety, security, and peace.
He also added that when
the regulations are amended,
it would give opportunities for
all the retired personnel to be
reintegrated and work in the
private sector.
Mr Alban S.K. Babgin,
the Speaker
of Parliament, has
called on Ghanaians
to join hands
in addressing the challenges
facing the country.
He said the country could
progress only through religious
tolerance, unity and love for one
another, and it is unity that will
make this country grow to become
the country we all desire.
Mr Bagbin made the call in
an address read on his behalf at
the launch of the 60th anniversary
celebration of the Kingdom
Transfer Consortium in Accra on
Monday.
The celebration is on the
theme: “Ghana, Know Who
You Aare, Where You Are Your
Exclusive Privileges and what is
Expected of You.”
Speaker Bagbin said: “Ghana
will be plunged into a state
of despair and retrogression if
there is no peace, and love for one
another.”
He said Jesus Christ stood for
peace, unity and love and that
Ghanaians must show such attitudes
to their neighbours.
The Speaker called on the
Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin
entire citizenry to come together,
“whether we are from different
ethnic or political backgrounds
to help achieve progress. “
He commended religious
leaders for ensuring that there
was a high level of religious tolerance
in the country despite the
different religious faith, which
had contributed to the maintenance
of peace in Ghana.
The Speaker of Parliament
admonished Christians to practice
kindness and generosity
adding that it was the only way
God would bless the work of their
hands.
The Most Reverend George N.
Kotey, Founder of The Church of
Christ (Spiritual Movement) said,
“as Ghanaians, we must have
accurate knowledge relating to
certain prophetic and historical
facts about our nation,”
He said lack of this essential
knowledge hindered spiritual
growth and adversely affects national
economic development.
The Most Rev. Kotey urged the
churches to intensify their evangelism
to help rid the country of
social vices which have been on
the ascendancy.
Economist calls for the modification
of technical schools into industrial
educational institutions
The Reverend Dr. Samuel
Worlanyo Mensah,
Executive Director for
the Centre for Greater
Impact Africa, has
urged the government to modify
technical schools into industrial
educational institutions to attract
more youth into that sector.
He said such a national policy
direction would also change
people’s perception of technical
and vocational training being the
reserve of school dropouts.
He explained that developing
that sector into industrial education
would enable the country to
develop at a fastest rate as more
people would have skills to help
them establish some small and
medium-scale businesses.
Rev. Dr. Mensah said this at
the “Ghana News Agency-Tema
Regional Industrial News Hub
Boardroom Dialogue,” which
is a media think-tank platform
for commercial and business
operators to communicate to the
world.
The GNA-Tema Industrial
News Hub was created also to
provide industrial players a communication
platform and tool to
use to reach out in a proactive
way while serving as grounds to
address national issues.
The economist said such persons
would then employ others
who would have been left unemployed
after completion of school
and that would not only reduce
unemployment, but would also
provide the government with
more revenue as they would pay
taxes to the state.
Rev. Dr. Mensah said: “Research
shows that, once someone
completes engineering or
other technical and vocational
training, they would not wait for
government to employ them but
will rather create job avenues for
themselves and others”.
He said incorporating technical
schools into industrial
institutions would also create
more entrepreneurial opportunities
for the youth to help reduce
the high rate of unemployment
in the country.
Rev. Dr. Mensah said apart
from making monies available
for the youth as start-ups as
contained in the 2022 budget, the
government must strengthen the
technical base of the country so
many would develop the interest
in manufacturing industries.
Mr Francis Ameyibor, the
Tema Regional Manager of the
Ghana News Agency admonished
all public institutions to work
with credible media institutions
to help curb the spread of fake
news in the country.

DAILY ANALYST
Wednesday, 3rd August, 2022 Page 7
Efua Sutherland Children’s Park was
almost given to private developers
– Playwright’s daughter reveals
Daughter of the late
playwright, Efua
Sutherland has
revealed that the
children’s park which
is named after her mother was
almost given to private developers
six years ago.
Prof Esi Sutherland-Addy in
an interview on JoyNews’ AM
Show revealed that successive
governments have had financial
constraints in keeping the park
running.
The Covid-19 lockdown reignited
Female Genital Mutilation in Ghana
At the beginning of the
COVID-19 pandemic,
the UN children’s
agency predicted that
“shattered schools,
lockdowns and disruption to
services that protect girls,” would
put an additional two million girls
around the world, at increased
risk of being subjected to Female
Genital Mutilation (FGM). Here
in Ghana, for nine-year-old Aisha
[not real name], that prediction
proved unfortunately true.
She cries as she recounts
how her genitalia was mutilated
against her will during the 2020
lockdown in Kultamise, a town
in the Pusiga District of Ghana’s
Upper East Region. “They stuffed
a rag in my mouth to prevent me
from crying out loud, held me
tight against the ground, opened
my legs, and cut my clitoris,” she
says. In the aftermath, Safia bled
so much, that she thought she was
going to die. “Some concoctions
made from herbs were applied but
I still bled for two days.”
In the same district, 8-yearold
Amina [not real name] from
Waare was out of school for over
a month after undergoing FGM.
Samira’s parents were pressured
by family and friends into
agreeing to FGM. “My relatives
and friends used to mock me. That
was when my parents decided
that I should be mutilated,” she
says.
FGM takes many different
forms, including partially or
completely removing the clitoris
or inner labia, sealing the vagina,
and other practices like piercing,
cauterizing and pricking the
vagina for non-medical reasons.
Citing scholars, the United
Nations Population Fund (UNFP)
says FGM became very popular
across along Arab slave route on
the western shore of the Red Sea
before spreading to southern and
western Africa. It is believed that
enslaved women were subjected
to genital mutilation to deter
them from sexual intercourse
and pregnancy. Arab slave owners
tended to stop the people they
enslaved from reproducing, unlike
Americans who forced them to
reproduce children they would
then sell to others as slaves.
In the African regions where
the practice was introduced, it
would go on to be accepted as
culture, eventually seen even
as indigenous or beneficial.
According to the UNFPA, FGM
was practiced in Western Europe
and the United States in the 1950s
to treat ailments like epilepsy,
nymphomania, and hysteria,
among others.
Many hoped FGM will be
rooted out when it was outlawed
in Ghana in 1994, but statistics put
its prevalence at 4% nationally
and much higher in some parts.
In the Bawku municipality, more
than 8 in every 10 women and
girls have been mutilated. In the
Upper East region, it’s about 4 in
every 10 women and girls.
Some Ghanaians still hold
beliefs that legitimize the
practice. “ It makes the girl pure
as tradition demands,” says
Norgane Lizeta, a traditional
cutter. But there is also a
financial incentive to keep doing
it. “Circumcision is a source of
income for the one carrying out
the act,” Lizeta admits.
Even when fear of the law
stops some from procuring the
mutilation on Ghanaian soil,
it still may happen. “In some
instances, people engaged in
cross border trade where people
take their children from Ghana to
Togo and vice versa. They do this
because they know it is not legally
accepted,” says Habiba Osman, a
gender activist.
Dire long-term effects
The immediate experience of
FGM is traumatic – special knives,
shards of glass, or razor blades
are used for the cutting and the
girls are neither given anesthesia
nor antiseptics, and its long-term
effects can be life-long. A survivor
who asked for anonymity said she
simply endures sex, years after
the cutting. “I don’t remember
how old I was but I was in my
adolescent age when my genitalia
was cut. I was told it [the clitoris]
would be long and ugly and men
will not like it if it is not cut. I
don’t enjoy sex but because I am
married, I have to endure,” she
said.
A 2018 report by the BMC
Women’s Health lists the
consequences to include severe
pain, excessive bleeding, shock,
genital tissue swelling, and
heightened risk of the human
immunodeficiency virus (HIV)
due to the use of the same
knife for cutting women/girls
and sometimes death. That is
in the short term. In the long
term, the report says, girls may
have impaired wound healing
and suffer other physical and
psychological problems including
not being able to enjoy sexual
intercourse, depression, or death
as a result of hemorrhage during
or after childbirth. In some
instances, relationships between
survivors living with the effects
of FGM and their partners are
strained or end in divorce.
The obstetric outcomes for
survivors of FGM are particularly
dire. A study by the World Health
Organisation (WHO) has shown
that such women are more likely
to have complicated deliveries
which include caesarian section,
episiotomy, resuscitation of the
infant, postpartum hemorrhage,
and inpatient perinatal death.
A midwife with the
Kulungugu Health Centre, Issaka
Hamidatu explained that “FGM
affects them a lot. Some of them
lose a lot of blood during delivery.
A few victims have died in
instances where they did not get
enough blood to replace what was
lost.”
This story was produced in
partnership with the Pulitzer
Center
As such, some individuals decided
that leasing the land out for
private development, including
office spaces among others, would
solve the problem.
Prof Sutherland-Addy indicated
that it took the intervention of
the family to halt the takeover.
“I think that without making
it public, there have been some
moments in which the Park was
almost going to be built on by
various entities and we [the family]
have been able to get in and
say ‘Look, this is just wrong’.
“So they were going to actually
take the park and her name to
Achimota Forest and we said we
are not playing ball on this one,”
she told host Benjamin Akakpo on
Monday.
According to Prof Sutherland-
Addy, with the support of the
President of the day, the operation
SIM card deadline:
Deal with Ghana card
acquisition issues
– Minority to Gov’t
The Minority in
Parliament has urged
the government to deal
with the issues with the
acquisition of the Ghana
card.
According to the Minority, the
latest sim cards re-registration
extension announced by the
Minister of Communication
will come to naught until the
challenges confronting the
acquisition of the Ghana card is
fully addressed.
“We are unperturbed and
unconcerned about whether she
did it reluctantly or willingly
all we are interested in is the
fact that she has to comply
with common sense and logic
to do the extension whether
it is willingly is none our of
business,” the ranking member of
Communication Committee, Sam
George told Naa Dedei Tettey on
the Morning Starr Monday.
He continued “She serves the
people of this country and she
must do what is the will and wish
to take over the Children’s Park
was halted.
“Interestingly, everybody
who was supposed to have been
involved in this, when questioned
by the Presidency denied having a
hand in it,” she noted.
Considering the location of
the Park, Prof Sutherland-Addy
was of the view that the country
would generate a lot of revenue
should the government invest in
the area.
She also called for stringent
legislation with regard to how
parks should be managed.
According to her, preserving
national parks should not be a
convention but one that keeps the
designated grounds for eternity.
“I mean there have been near
misses. So it is very important for
parks to have legislations that
make it a park in perpetuity so
that it is not just convention.
“We also have to have a board
that involves the public and
private sectors, suitable NGOs
who know what to do with these
things and just oversee the
development of the park,” she
suggested.
of the majority of the Ghanaian
people. The deadline that has
been extended for me, I said it
last time that if you just extend
the deadline without necessarily
dealing with the root cause of why
Ghanaians are unable to register
before the deadline you will get
to the deadline and have the
problem.”
The lawmaker further advised
the Ministry to deal with issues
of the acquisition of the National
Identification card to have a
smooth process, “people don’t
have the software that you are
demanding for.
“Until and unless there is a
holistic approach to dealing with
the acquisition of the Ghana card
by the majority of the Ghana
people or the Minister complying
actually with real dictates of the
law is.
“Which is allow people to
register with their driving license,
their passport with their voter
ID or the Ghana Card, you will
continue to have this problem.”

Page 8
Prof. Sampson Antwi, the
Vice Dean of the School
of Medicine and Dentistry,
Kwame Nkrumah
University of Science
and Technology (KNUST), has
advised the government to tackle
urgently the attrition of skilled
health personnel.
He said the swift action
would prevent Ghana’s health
service from paralysing, saying a
more formalised way of engagement
with foreign governments
would be mutually beneficial
than the current uncontrolled
exodus.
Prof. Antwi gave the advice
in a keynote address at the
45th Annual General and Scientific
Meeting (AGSM) of the West
African College of Physicians
(WACP) Ghana Chapter in Accra,
which was on the theme: “Impact
of COVID-19 on Healthcare Practice
in Ghana.”
Prof Antwi said as of July 28,
2022, the pandemic had recorded
579,216,591 cases and 6,413,702
confirmed deaths, making it one
of the deadliest in history, adding
that the huge human resource
deficit created by COVID-19 in
most health institutions in developed
countries had sparked a new
wave of “brain drain” in Ghana’s
health care system.
Data on separated staff from
the Okomfo Anokye Teaching
Hospital (KATH), Kumasi, showed
that 161 professionals left in 2017,
followed by 168 more in 2018,
rising further to 170 in 2019, 172 in
2020, and 230 in 2021, he said.
Comparatively, data on midyear
separation showed a sharp
rise in the number of staff from
66 and 65 in 2018 and 2019 respectively,
to 148 between 2020 and
Health
now, he added.
Prof. Antwi said COVID-19
presented both positive and negative
effects on healthcare practice
globally, exposing huge challenges
and weaknesses in infrastructure,
financing, emergency preparedness,
and safety practices by
healthcare practitioners.
However, in Ghana, swift measures
were initiated to enhance
surveillance, contact tracing, testing,
infrastructural expansion,
training of healthcare professionals,
local production of Personal
Protective Equipment (PPEs) and
other medical supplies, introduction
of hand hygiene practices,
facemask wearing, and social
distancing rule, to contain the
spread of infection, he noted.
The country’s land and air
boarders, including the Kotoka
International Airport in Accra,
were closed, and a three-week
lock down imposed on Greater
Accra, Ashanti, and part of Central
regions to stop the community
spread of the virus, while the
President via his “Fellow Ghanaians”
televised series, which
won admiration worldwide, gave
regular update on the COVID
situation.
He said statistics from
the Okomfo Anokye Teaching
Hospital showed that out of
the total number of 1,158 and
1,927 confirmed cases recorded
between 2020 and 2021, 368 representing
31.8 per cent and 529 (27.5
per cent) were health staff.
The disruptions in service
delivery, he noted, resulted in
over choked wards and units;
staff overstretched and overwhelmed
health systems, even in
developed countries, and facilities
had to be shutdown because of
DAILY ANALYST Wednesday, 3rd August, 2022
Gov’t urged to urgently
tackle the attrition of skilled
health personnel
inadequate staff numbers, lack of
space, PPEs and oxygen scarcity
in some centres.
Prof Antwi said the situation
created fear and panic among
healthcare workers, affected
continuing care services, especially
for women and children,
and disrupted critical training,
workshops, conferences and the
academic calendar of medical
students who graduated without
exams or completing their
rotations.
He said notwithstanding
those challenges, most health
institutions responded positively
with a major boost in infection
prevention training and practices,
strengthened local capacity
of companies in PPE production
and supply to the health sector,
and the construction of a new
ultramodern Infectious Disease
Center in Accra.
He noted that innovative
tools like the Touchless thermometers,
Medical Drones services,
Telemedicine and virtual meetings
had now become the new
order of doing things in every
sphere of life, and also admitted
that hand hygiene practices and
facemask wearing largely helped
in reducing diarrhoeal and other
respiratory diseases.
Prof. Antwi said the negative
effect of “Post Covid-19,” included
the fact that a lot of skilled heath
care workers were lost to death,
causing a human resource challenges,
especially in developed
countries, while networking and
socialisation were still lacking despite
the ease in the restrictions.
Positively, he said Post
Covid-19, had seen an increased
number of testing centres from
two to 50, while hand hygiene
practices, face mask wearing,
and cough etiquette had come to
stay with the potential to reduce
diarrhoeal and other respiratory
diseases.
He said the strengthened
surveillance system of the Ghana
Child infected with Marburg
virus dies in Ghana
A
child who contracted
the highly infectious
Ebola-like Marburg
virus in Ghana has
died, a World Health
Organization official has said.
The death on Tuesday brings
the total number of fatalities in
the country to three since Ghana
registered its first-ever outbreak
of the disease last month. The
outbreak is only the second in
West Africa, after the first was
detected last year in Guinea.
The dead child, whose gender
or age were not disclosed, was one
of two new cases reported last
week by the WHO.
“Last week I mentioned the
two additional cases. One is the
wife of the index case and the
other one is the child of the index
case and the child unfortunately
died, but the wife is still alive
and improving,” WHO doctor
Ibrahima Soce Fall told reporters.
The virus is transmitted
to people from fruit bats and
spreads among humans through
direct contact with bodily fluids,
surfaces and materials, the WHO
said
Ṡo far, the Ghanaian health
ministry has only reported three
confirmed cases and further
testing remains to be done on a
fourth suspected case, Fall said.
The first two cases, in
southern Ghana’s Ashanti
region, both had symptoms
including diarrhoea, fever,
nausea and vomiting, before
dying in hospital, the WHO said
previously.
Health Service would ensure effective
management of other emerging
threat of infectious diseases
and epidemics, while improved
health investment would facilitate
Ghana’s local vaccine production
from January 2024.
He stated that currently most
governments across the globe
had increased health spending
to strengthen healthcare, and
the need for ID centres and more
health infrastructure came to
light due to deficiencies identified
during the hit of the pandemic,
which underpinned government’s
Agenda 111 vision.
Prof. Antwi, therefore, entreated
the government to sustain the
momentum of improving Ghana’s
healthcare infrastructure by pursuing
its Agenda 111 programme.
Dr John Boateng Mensah, the
Secretary of WACP-Ghana, commended
all health professionals
for their commitment and selfless
support to society, and encouraged
them to help tackle emerging
infections like Monkeypox
and Marburg viral disease.
Youth, stakeholders discuss
reproductive health
education and development
Panelists discussing the issues during the forum
A
forum has been held Dr Peter Attafuah, Northern
for the youth to discuss Regional Director of Education
issues around their expressed need for increased
Reproductive Health advocacy on issues of RHE to
Education (RHE) and properly guide children to lead
development as well as engage responsible lifestyles.
stakeholders on such issues.
Dr Attafuah said such
Representatives from youth advocacy should target parents
groups in the five regions in the and religious leaders to
north attended the forum in appreciate the fact that there
Tamale dubbed: “YOUTHATALK” was need to teach children sex
to discuss the issues, which education such that they would
included teenage pregnancy, child not kick against it.
marriages, sexual and genderbased
violence, HIV and AIDS and Northern Regional Director of
Alhaji Issifu Seidu Iddi,
sexually transmitted infections. National Population Council said
They also engaged
contraceptive use was increasing
representatives from the National in the region saying this was good
Youth Authority, Ghana Health for the health of couples and the
Service, Ghana Education Service, country’s population.
and the National Population
Miss Blessilla Na-afoe Kandoh,
Council on measures to address Youth Advocacy and Campaigns
such issues.
Coordinator at Norsaac told
It was organised by Norsaac, the youth that “RHE is an
a human rights community empowerment tool. It is just to
engagement, and policy
enhance our knowledge to make
influencing organisation, as informed choices about our RHE
part of the Informed Choices for and our overall development and
Change project funded by AXIS to also empower young people. So,
champion RHE.
we also have a role to play in this
Some of the youth, who
advocacy for RHE.”
participated in the forum,
She said “in view of
expressed need for especially issues affecting young people
health workers to be professional including high levels of teenage
in attending to their health needs pregnancy, child marriages,
and not divulge information about sexual and gender-based violence,
their health issues to others. HIV and AIDS and sexually
Madam Miriam Bonah,
transmitted infections, we
Senior Midwife at Tamale Central need RHE guidelines so that
Hospital said most health
we have approved content on
facilities had had their staff RHE for all young people in the
trained on youth friendly services country to have access to quality
assuring the youth of professional information.”
health services.

DAILY ANALYST
Wednesday, 3rd August, 2022 Page 9
Opinion
Nurturing creativity in
young learners is crucial
in today’s changing world
The United Nations
have designated
2021 as the International
Year of
Creative Economy
for Sustainable Development.
Around the world,
partly due to the pandemic,
people are drawing on their
creativity like never before
to find innovative creative
solutions to the problems
and challenges we face.
Creative skills are always
in demand, and this applies
to many sectors and careers
across the globe, including
in the fields of research,
computing and the performing
arts. A study by the
UK’s Department for Digital,
Culture, Media and Sport
(2021) shows that employment
in creative industries
is growing at four times the
rate of the UK workforce.
This is supported by McKinsey
(2018) who predicts
that as automation transforms
the skills companies
need, demand for creativity
will rise sharply by 2030.
Developing creative
skills in school to build a
creative workforce
This rising demand for
creative skills in the industry,
and the positive
response by 81 countries to
the UN creative economy
this year, emphasises how
important creativity is for
today’s global economy.
Therefore, we must help
young people to develop
their creative skills from an
early age in school.
Offering students the
opportunity to study creative
subjects throughout
their school life is key to
helping them develop their
creative skills, which is one
of the reasons why we have
introduced new creative
subjects to the Cambridge
Primary and Lower Secondary
programmes. I have seen
first-hand how the arts can
make self-starters and help
children to develop emotional
intelligence. Creative
subjects require students to
set their own agenda from
within themselves and explore
unconventional areas
after school. It helps young
people to develop critical
thinking and the ability to
interpret the world around
them; encourages self-expression
and creativity; and
builds confidence as well as
a sense of individual identity.
Changing our Primary
and Lower Secondary curriculum
From looking at the clear
benefits of teaching creative
skills to young students, and
in light of feedback from
Cambridge International
teachers and educational
experts, we decided to
enhance and expand Cambridge
International’s Primary
and Lower Secondary
curriculum. Alongside our
existing subjects, we have
added Art & Design, Physical
Education, Music and Digital
Literacy.
As well as complementing
our overall promotion
of creativity, these subjects
give even more opportunities
to develop the skills
we know are increasingly
valuable in responding to
the demands of tomorrow’s
changing world.
Creativity is key to our
student's future success
Without creative subjects,
schools risk offering
one-dimensional curricof
thought.
However, creativity
is much more than just
learning to paint or dance,
it is about generating new
ways of thinking. Hence, it
is also really important to
help students to develop
their creative thinking in all
subjects.
Changes to the Cambridge
Primary and Lower
Secondary programmes will
help students to develop
creative skills explicitly
through studying subjects
such as mathematics and
science. These subjects are
underpinned by creative
problem solving and we expect
our students to actively
engage in their learning,
to make sense of ideas and
build connections across
subjects. It is so important
that we shift the focus to
enable them to find innovative
solutions rather than
just recalling facts and
figures.
Having worked as a
curriculum developer for
many years, I have seen
the benefits of embracing
creativity in the classroom,
which allows all students
to see themselves as having
the potential to develop in
this area. A good balance of
knowledge and skills in any
subject area gives teachers
the ability to allow creative
explorations rather than
rush through quickly to a
perceived ‘right answer’ or
‘product’.
Assisting academic performance
and mental health
There are also a number
of other benefits to studying
creative subjects and building
creative skills. Recent
research has found a correlation
between studying
creative subjects and students’
overall performance
and wellbeing.
Research by Tim Gill, Research
Officer at Cambridge
University Press and Assessment,
found that whilst
the number of students in
England who study music
is decreasing, those who do
study it tend to get better
results across all subjects.
The research found a potential
link between playing
a musical instrument and
higher executive functions
- students with higher executive
functions are more
likely to have high academic
attainment. The overall
benefit of playing a musical
instrument or taking GCSE
Music was an improvement
of one grade in every six
GCSE subjects taken.
Physical Education lessons
also bring real benefits
to student performance and
wellbeing. Research conducted
by the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention
(CDC, 2021) has found
that physical activity has a
positive impact on cognitive
skills such as concentration
and attention for
children aged 6-13 years old.
It also enhances classroom
attitudes and behaviours,
all of which are important
components of improved
academic performance.
Furthermore, a study from
the University of Illinois
(2009) found that physically
fit students are more likely
to perform better in school
and achieve higher grades.
Art subjects in the curriculum
are also beneficial
to students’ overall well-being
and can promote good
mental health according
to research by the Royal
Society for Public Health.
Their research, Reduction of
Cortisol Levels and Participants'
Responses Following
Art Making, conducted by
cognitive neuroscientists
Kaimal, Ray & Muniz found
that creating art reduces
cortisol levels - markers
for stress - and induces a
positive mental state. A
positive mindset enables a
student to perform well and
navigate any stressors and
demands that may occur
during their time at school.
In addition, according to
joint research by leading UK
art organisations - the Tate
Museum, The Royal Shakespeare
Company and the
University of Nottingham
- studying art subjects helps
prepare students for life
ulums that do not foster
the full potential of young
people. It is therefore essential
that educational leaders
are open to adapting and
changing the courses and
subjects they offer their
students, in order to nurture
their creative skills. By
doing so we will enable our
students to thrive in their
future studies and careers
and play their part in helping
to find solutions to the
problems and challenges of
the future world.
About Cambridge Assessment
International Education
Cambridge Assessment
International Education
prepares school students for
life, helping them develop
an informed curiosity and a
lasting passion for learning.
We are part of the University
of Cambridge.
Our Cambridge Pathway
gives students a clear
path to educational success
from age 5 to 19. Schools
can shape the curriculum
around how they want
students to learn – with a
wide range of subjects and
flexible ways to offer them.
It helps students discover
new abilities and a wider
world, and gives them the
skills they need for life, so
they can achieve at school,
university and work.
Cambridge International
is the short name of Cambridge
Assessment International
Education.
Abigail Barnett, Deputy
Director of Curriculum Programmes,
Curriculum and
Qualifications at Cambridge
Assessment International
Education

Page 10
Global Credit Ratings
(GCR), an international
rating agency, has
upgraded Fidelity
Bank Limited’s
national scale long-term issuer
rating from A to A+ and has
affirmed the Bank’s short term
issuer ratings of A1 with a Stable
Outlook.
The GCR listed Fidelity Bank’s
sound domestic franchise, good
distribution network and local
geographic diversification, stable
funding structure and good
levels of liquidity as factors that
underpinned the ratings, a press
release shared with the Ghana
Tullow Ghana has
concluded a 10-month
long Supplier Finance
Readiness Programme
to provide financial
and business advisory support
to some suppliers affected by the
COVID-19 pandemic.
More than 150 suppliers and
35 companies selected from the
oil and gas industry in Ghana
were trained to build financial
resilience and sustainable
businesses for the future.
Facilitated by Invest In
Africa (IIA), a private sectorled
initiative focused on
growing local businesses, the
participants were trained in
financial modelling, business
plan preparation, financial
management, corporate
governance, and business risk
management.
The training also gave
participants, important
financial toolkits to enhance
their interactions with lending
institutions and strengthen
their ability and preparedness to
access finance.
Speaking at the closing
ceremony in Accra, Mr Wissam
Al-Monthiry, Managing Director
for Tullow Ghana, reiterated the
Business
Fidelity Bank’s rating
upgraded to A+
News Agency announced Monday.
“The ratings also factor
sound capitalisation supported
by robust internal capital
generation,” it added.
Fidelity Bank is the largest
privately-owned Ghanaian Bank
and serves approximately two
million customers in 75 branches
across the country.
According to the GCR, Fidelity
Bank “is adequately capitalised
with a forecast capital ratio of
25 per cent over the next 12 to 18
months.”
The Agency also explained
that the ratings may improve
should the bank further diversify
Suppliers receive
financial, business
advisory support from
Tullow Ghana, IIA
Company’s resolve to support
individuals and companies in
the oil and gas sector towards
sustainable development.
He said: “Tullow Ghana
will continue to support local
capacity development through
various targeted knowledge
sharing interventions to equip
local companies and increase
their participation in the
industry while making them
globally competitive.”
The programme, which
was launched in August 2021,
formed part of initiatives to
help suppliers in the oil and
gas industry to be financially
resilient and sustainable.
It had become more
important as Ghanaian
businesses focused on delivering
maximum value from the
Jubilee and TEN fields under the
Ghana Value Maximization Plan.
When fully executed, the
plan would see a further $4
billion investment in Tullow’s
Ghana operations over the next
10 years.
This is expected to lead to
more activities and an increase
in production, which means
more suppliers and more supply
volume requirements.
DAILY ANALYST Wednesday, 3rd August, 2022
its revenue sources and maintain
an internal capital generation
rate of more than 30 per cent.
Commenting on GCR’s
upgraded ratings, Julian Opuni,
the Managing Director of Fidelity
Bank Ghana, welcomed the
milestone, saying the rating
“speaks volumes” about the
Bank’s commitment to building
a good governance culture and
an effective risk culture for the
benefit of all our stakeholders.
“This also represents the
results of the loyalty and hard
work of our staff over the years
as well as the confidence that our
customers have in us.
“Fidelity Bank is grateful
to each and every one who
continues to support the Bank to
achieve great feats such as this. It
is also our promise to consolidate
our gains to ensure that Fidelity
Bank is still positioned as one of
Prices of local airline
tickets have shot up
by between 15 and 20
percent, prompting
recession fears among
local operators following “a
gradual drop” in patronage.
The new prices, which took
effect from July 08, 2022, were in
response to a rise in operational
costs occasioned by the
depreciation of the Cedi against
the Dollar, and an increment in
aviation fuel prices, the Ghana
News Agency has gathered.
Domestic airline operators
said their cost of operation had
doubled since the beginning
of the year and that an upward
adjustment in airfares was
necessary to sustain their
businesses.
The Cedi has depreciated
by about 28 percent since the
beginning of the year whiles
prices of aviation fuel have more
than doubled since January this
year.
In July alone, the Cedi
depreciated by 7 per cent to
settle at GHS 8.50 to the Dollar as
of August 1, 2022.
According to industry
players, Jet A-1 (one of the
most commonly used fuels for
commercial aviation) which was
the leading financial institutions
in Ghana that continues to create
value for all its stakeholders,” Mr
Opuni added.
The bank, which is marking
its 15th anniversary this year,
started as a Tier one bank, is now
the leader in the digital banking
trading at an average $0.6 per
litre, had shot up to an average
$1.2130 (ex-refinery price) as of
July 31, 2022.
The domestic airline
operators claimed they initially
resisted the appetite to adjust
their airfares for fear that
patronage would plummet.
Under the new pricing
regime, passengers booking
a one-way trip to Kumasi
could pay as high as GHS 689
(depending on the airline and
the time) while a round trip now
costs about GHS 1,300.
A one-way trip from Accra
to Tamale now costs an average
GHS 642 while a round trip cost
nearly GHS1, 400.
A fuel surcharge of between
GHS 50 to GHS 100, depending on
the airline, is embedded in the
total price build up; the fee was
introduced in March this year
to cushion the airlines over the
rising cost of aviation fuel.
In an interview with some
passengers, they expressed
worry about the development,
saying the increments would
compel them to resort to road
transport.
Some of the passengers said
they would continue to travel by
air to save time and for safety
space. It has 75 branches across
the country.
It has two subsidiaries,
Fidelity Asia Bank, which is a
wholly-owned in Malaysia, and
Fidelity Securities Limited, an
asset management firm.
Local airline ticket prices
up; passengers lament
purposes, adding that they
would travel “only when it is
extremely necessary.”
“Last month, I paid GHS 449
from Accra to Kumasi. Barely two
weeks later, I wanted to book for
a return trip and the least I got
was GHS 689.
“The increment was sudden.
At least they should have
advertised ahead of time, so
we plan accordingly,” a regular
passenger, who spoke on
condition of anonymity, said.
In an interview with the
GNA, Mr Duncan Sambu,
the Chief Operating Officer,
PassionAir, said there had been
a gradual drop in the patronage
of its services since the
introduction of the new fares
weeks ago.
He said the increment was
necessary as local operators
were strained by the rising
cost of aviation fuel and the
depreciation of the Cedi.
Mr Sambu said although the
cost of aviation fuel declined
last month (about $0.02 per litre
in the second half of July), the
decrement was insignificant.
“When you compare
our price increment to the
depreciation of the Cedi against
the Dollar, we are below the
depreciation,” he said.
He added that: “We can
see the numbers in terms of
patronage have reduced because
a lot of people don’t have that
purchasing power.”
Mr Sambu said a downward
adjustment of their prices “is
not immediate” as projections
suggest that the Cedi may
depreciate further in the coming
weeks.
“We are still monitoring, and
once things start getting better,
we will look at our prices again,”
he said.

DAILY ANALYST
Wednesday, 3rd August, 2022 Page 11
Sports
Liverpool defender Virgil
van Dijk believes that
speculation over a
new contract adversely
affected Mohamed
Salah's form last season. The
Egyptian forward failed to get
on the scoresheet in each of the
three finals that Liverpool played
last season, including the UEFA
Champions League title-decider
with Real Madrid.
Meanwhile, in the Premier
League, Salah scored just once in
his last five appearances, a solitary
goal against Wolves on the
final matchday, with Van Dijk of
the opinion that his standards
slipped due to the uncertainty
surrounding his future.
What did Virgil van Dijk say
about Salah's form?
Salah finally silenced the
rumours of a potential Anfield
exit by signing a new three-year
contract in July, and has been a
fixture in the squad once again
during pre-season.
The 30-year-old looked back
to his best as Liverpool beat
Manchester City 3-1 to claim
their first Community Shield in
16 years at the King Power Stadium
on Saturday.
He contributed to all three
goals as he created the first,
scored the second from the spot,
and was the architect of the
third which was netted by new
signing Darwin Nunez.
Van Dijk was full of praise
for Salah after the game, as he
insisted his team-mate is now
playing with a "free mind" again
after a difficult period.
Mohamed Salah
Salah contract
his Liverpool form,
admits Van Dijk
"He’s under the microscope
all the time," said the Dutch
defender. "He obviously created
that himself because he’s such
a good player, but he shows
that consistency all the time.
Towards the end of the season,
maybe April onwards, there were
a lot of talks with the contract
and stuff.
"We are all human beings
and I think that affected him a
little bit unfortunately. But he
still showed a high level of quality.
Now everything is sorted,
he’s playing with a free mind,
he’s happy to be here and I think
everyone else is happy too."
Cool, calm, clinical
A brilliant angle of @Mo-
Salah's penalty and the passionate
celebrations from the
travelling Kop pic.twitter.com/
Wqer2cC5pV
— Liverpool FC (@LFC) July
31, 2022
Who will Salah be fighting
for Golden Boot in 2022-23?
Despite going through a lean
patch of form last term, Salah
got his hands on the Golden
Boot as he finished as the joint
highest scorer along with Son
Heung-Min on 22 goals.
It was the third time that
he has bagged the prestigious
individual award, having won it
previously in 2017-18, 2018-19.
However, he will have to be
at his best again in 2022-23 as he
will be rivalled by a few other
deadly strikers such as Nunez,
Manchester City new boy Erling
Haaland, and Tottenham's Harry
Kane.
Man City turn
transfer attentions to
Anderlecht's Gomez
Manchester City
are in talks to
sign 21-yearold
Anderlecht
left-back Sergio
Gomez. However, any transfer
for the former Barcelona and
Borussia Dortmund defender is
expected to be in addition to any
move for a first-team full-back.
Pep Guardiola would
still want a replacement for
Oleksandr Zinchenko, who
joined Arsenal in earlier in the
transfer window, but City have
shelved any moves for Brighton's
Marc Cucurella as he edges
closer to a move to Chelsea.
Who is Gomez?
The Spain under-21
international has been a regular
for Belgian side Anderlecht
since he switched to them from
Dortmund in June 2021.
Gomez was voted the club's
Player of the Year last season
after making 49 appearances
under former boss and ex-City
captain Vincent Kompany.
The 21-year-old started as an
attacking player during his time
at Barcelona's La Masia Academy
and was once dubbed the 'new
Iniesta'.
Maguire & Ronaldo most abused
players of Twitter - report
Manchester United
pair Cristiano
Ronaldo and
Harry Maguire
have received
more Twitter abuse than
any other Premier League
footballers, a new study has
found. UK communications
regulator Ofcom analysed over
two million tweets during the
first half of the 2021-22 season
and discovered close to 60,000
abusive messages.
The hate was
overwhelmingly concentrated
on a select few individuals, with
half of the unpleasant messages
directed at just 12 players - eight
of whom played for Man Utd.
Ronaldo was found to have
received the most online abuse
Ronaldo and Maguire
Sergio Gomez
Named in GOAL's NXGN top 50
teenagers on the planet in 2019,
Dortmund had paid €3m to take
him to the Bundesliga but he
played just 10 minutes over three
first-team appearances before
moving to Belgium.
How is City's hunt for a leftback
going?
Fellow Spaniard Cucurella
was City's top target but they
have refused to meet Brighton's
£50m ($61m) valuation of another
former Barca defender.
City continue to be linked
with a number of players but
Guardiola currently has rightduring
the period analysed.
Overall, the forward was sent
12,520 abusive messages between
August 13, 2021 and January 24,
2022.
Maguire was a close second
with 8,954 such tweets, while
teammates Marcus Rashford and
Bruno Fernandes were third and
fourth, respectively.
England captain Harry
Kane was the the most abused
non-United player and the fifth
overall, with Fred, Jesse Lingard,
Jack Grealish, Paul Pogba and
David de Gea rounding off the
top 10.
The study also set out to
determine what causes an
increase in abusive tweets
being sent to Premier League
footballers.
back Joao Cancelo, academy
product Josh Wilson-Esbrand and
centre-back Nathan Ake as his
options.
"If it's possible [to strengthen
we will] but if not, we stay with
the players we have," he said
ahead of the Community Shield
clash with Liverpool.
"Joao can play there, Josh can
play there, Nathan can play there.
I never complain about the squad
I have since the first season. It
is always for the benefit of the
club, not for me, and I support
the club."
A spike was noticed on
November 7 when Maguire
posted an apology to United
supporters following a 2-0 derbyday
defeat to Manchester City at
Old Trafford. Following this, just
shy of 3,000 abusive messages
were sent - 10.6 per cent of the
total on that particular day.
What can be done to stop
footballers receiving abuse?
The report found that 7% of
footballers analysed received
Twitter abuse every day, and
Ofcom's group director for
broadcasting and online content
Kevin Bakhurst said that both
tech firms and supporters needed
to do more to curb it.
"Social media firms needn't
wait for new laws to make their
sites and apps safer for users,"
he said.
"When we become the
regulator for online safety, tech
companies will have to be really
open about the steps they're
taking to protect users. We will
expect them to design their
services with safety in mind.
"Supporters can also play a
positive role in protecting the
game they love. Our research
shows the vast majority of
online fans behave responsibly
and, as the new season kicks
off, we're asking them to report
unacceptable, abusive posts
whenever they see them."