Monday, 15th August, 2022
Page 2Taiwan's foreign ministry tweeted an image ofmembers of the group being greeted at a Taipei airportAUS congressionaldelegation hasarrived for an unannouncedvisit toTaiwan, 12 days aftera tour of the island by HouseSpeaker Nancy Pelosi.Five members of Congresswill visit until Monday, saidWashington's de-facto embassyin the capital Taipei.China launched its largest-evermilitary exercisesaround Taiwan after Ms Pelosi'svisit earlier in August.Ukrainian PresidentVolodymyr Zelenskyhas accusedRussia of using"nuclear blackmail"at the Zaporizhzhia nuclearpower plant - Europe's largest.Russia seized the plant inMarch and has been accusedof turning it into a base fromwhere it hits nearby towns.Both countries have tradedblame for shelling it in recentdays, prompting UN warningsof a nuclear disaster.Mr Zelensky says any Russiansoldier who shoots at orunder the cover of the plant willbe a "special target".The six-nuclear reactorZaporizhzhia station is locatedin the city of Enerhodar, on theeastern bank of the DnieperRiver (Dnipro in Ukrainian) insouthern Ukraine.Russia invaded Ukraine on24 February, seizing the plantwithin days. Moscow has keptUkrainian personnel to operatethe facility.The UN has warned thatcontinued hostilities aroundthe station could lead to a nucleardisaster affecting much ofEurope.Russia has repeatedlydenied any wrongdoing at theplant.It says it seized control ofthe plant to prevent leaks ofradioactive materials duringfighting in the region.During his video addresslate on Saturday, Mr Zelenskysaid Russia had engaged in"constant provocations" byfiring on the plant and saidforces stationed there had usedBeijing sees the self-governingisland as its own, renegadeterritory that must bereunited with the mainland.It believes that missioncould be necessary with force,if other attempts at unificationare unsuccessful.Ms Pelosi became the mostsenior American politicianto visit the island in 25 yearsduring her appearance earlierthis month.Her brief, but controversial,stopover was labelled "manic,DAILY ANALYST Monday, 15th August, 2022irresponsible and irrational" bythe Chinese foreign minister.Speaking during a meetingof south-east Asian foreignministers in Cambodia, WangYi insisted that Taiwan would"eventually return to the embraceof the motherland".Beijing continues to carryout military drills near theisland. Earlier on Sunday, Taipeisaid it had detected 22 Chineseaircraft and six naval ships inand around the Taiwan Strait.At the height of China'smilitary exercises, Taiwanaccused its neighbour of tryingto change the status quo in theregion.On Sunday, its foreignministry published photos ofmembers of the US congressionaldelegation being greeted atUkraine war: Zelensky warns Russiansoldiers at Zaporizhzhia nuclear plantit as a base to shell the citiesof Nikopol and Marhanets - onthe other bank of the river.This was being done, thepresident said, to "blackmailour state and the entire freeworld". But he stressed that"Russian blackmail only mobiliseseven more global efforts toconfront terror"."Every Russian soldier whoeither shoots at the plant, orshoots under the cover of theplant, must understand that heis becoming a special target forour intelligence, for our specialservices, for our army," thepresident said.He added that "every day"of Russia's occupation of theplant "increases the radiationthreat to Europe".Ukraine's defence intelligenceagency also accused Russiaof a provocation by parkinga Pion self-propelled heavyartillery piece outside a nearbytown and painting a Ukrainianflag on it, in an attempt to discreditKyiv.A BBC investigation revealedearlier this week that many ofthe Ukrainian workers at thesite are being kept under armedguard amid harsh conditions.On Thursday, foreign minstersfrom the G7 group of industrialdemocracies demandedthat Russia withdraw from thesite immediately.Their warning echoed statementsfrom the United Nations'nuclear watchdog, the InternationalAtomic Energy Agency(IAEA), which called for an endto "all military activities thatendanger nuclear security".UN Secretary General AntónioGuterres has warned thatthe situation at the plant could"lead to disaster".Global NewsCongress team followsPelosi with second highlevelvisit in a monthan airport.A statement from the AmericanInstitute in Taiwan saidthe team's visit was part of awider visit to the Indo-Pacificregion.It added that the five members- led by Democratic SenatorEd Markey - would discussissues including regional security,trade and investment withTaiwanese leaders.The group are due to meetThe blaze happened in Giza, whichlies just across the Nile from CairoDozens of peoplehave died after afire broke out at achurch in Egypt,many of themcrushed during a desperatescramble to escape.Officials say the number ofdead is at least 41, with dozensinjured. Children are believed tobe among the dead.An electrical fire broke outas 5,000 worshippers gatheredfor Mass at the Coptic Abu Sifinchurch, security sources toldReuters.The fire blocked an entrance,causing a stampede, they said.Fire services say the blazehas been brought under control.The exact cause of the fire isnot clear.However, Father FaridFahmy, from another nearbychurch in the Imbaba neighbourhood,told the AFP newsagency that it was caused by ashort circuit."The power was out andthey were using a generator,"he said. "When the power cameback, it caused an overload."Worshippers have been explainingtheir moments sincethe blaze ignited.President Tsai Ing-wen onMonday.President Tsai's office saidthe month's second high-levelAmerican visit signalled "firmsupport" for Taiwan.The US does not officiallyrecognise Taiwan - only a fewcountries do - however, it doesmaintain a strong relationshipwith the island, which includesselling weapons for Taiwan todefend itself.Egypt fire: Dozens deadin Giza Coptic church"People were gathering onthe third and fourth floor, andwe saw smoke coming from thesecond floor. People rushed togo down the stairs and startedfalling on top of each other,"Yasir Munir told Reuters."Then we heard a bang andsparks and fire coming out ofthe window," he said, addingthat he and his daughter wereon the ground floor and able toescape.Egyptian President AbdelFattah al-Sisi offered his "sincerecondolences to the familiesof the innocent victims thathave passed on to be with theirLord in one of his houses ofworship".The prosecutor's office saidit had sent a team to the sceneto investigate the cause of theblaze.Giza lies just across the Nilefrom Cairo and is part of theGreater Cairo metropolis.Coptic Christians make upat least 10 million of Egypt's 103million people.Copts claims they facediscrimination and play a lesserpart in Egyptian public life thantheir numbers justify.
DAILY ANALYSTMonday, 15th August, 2022 Page 3GPRTU rubbisheslinks with ZoomlionFrontpage StoriesThe Ghana PrivateRoad Transport Union(GPRTU) has denied anylinks with ZoomlionGhana Limited as faras the mandatory towing levy isconcerned.In a statement, the unionsaid claims by Mr Bright Simons,Vice President of IMANI Ghana,on Wednesday 10 August,alleging that, the Ghana PrivateRoad Transport Union (GPRTU)“has cut a deal with the wastemanagement experts ZoomlionGhana Limited to impose atowing insurance service on ourmembers without a membershipballot” is “untrue”.“The leadership of GPRTUwishes to inform the generalpublic, Bright Simons and hislikes that, the GPRTU has no suchrelationship with Zoomlion inconnection with our life-savinginnovative towing insurancepolicy which is aimed at bringingsanity to reduce road fatalities.Indeed, we are awarethat Zoomlion’s business iswaste management and soour relationship with themis purely along the lines ofwaste collection. It is thereforeunfortunate that BrightSimons will engineer such awild allegation to spark anunnecessary uproar within ourrank and file.” A portion of thestatement saidGovt to support marketwomen with trucksRead the full statement belowRE: ZOOMLION IN CHARGEOF GPRTU MANDATORY TOWINGLEVY –BRIGHT SIMON ALLEGESAccra, 11th August, 2022, – Wehave read with disappointmenta story published by www.ghanaweb.com and attributedto Mr. Bright Simons, HonoraryVice President of IMANI Ghana,on Wednesday 10th August,alleging that, the Ghana PrivateRoad Transport Union (GPRTU)“has cut a deal with the wastemanagement experts ZoomlionGhana Limited to impose atowing insurance service on ourmembers without a membershipballot”.ALSO READ Zoomlion kickstartsproper handwashingcampaign in basic schoolsThe leadership of GPRTUwishes to inform the generalpublic, Bright Simons and hislikes that, the GPRTU has nosuch relationship with Zoomlionin connection with our lifesavinginnovative towinginsurance policy which is aimedat bringing sanity in order toreduce road fatalities. Indeed,we are aware that Zoomlion’sbusiness is waste managementand so our relationship withthem is purely along the lines ofwaste collection. It is thereforeunfortunate that Bright Simonswill engineer such a wildallegation in an effort to spark anunnecessary uproar within ourrank and file.The Leadership of GPRTU hashad broad consultations with ourmembers across the nation anddo not understand what BrightSimons meant by “membershipballot”. Over the years we havetaken decisions that havekept us together as a unionwithout acrimony. It is thereforeunfortunate that a person of hisstature would be motivated toput spanners in the wheels of acarefully thought-through policywhich has been widely acceptedby the membership of the GPRTU.We wish to state for therecord that between Januaryand June 2022, the National RoadSafety Commission has reportedthat 1,300 persons have beenkilled in road accidents in Ghana.These fatalities were associatedwith stationary and or brokendown vehicles on the road asreported by the National RoadSafety Authority. The reportindicates that nearly 8,000 peoplesustained various degrees ofinjuries during the same period.This according to the reportis even an improvement ascompared to previous years.These frightening statisticsas put out by the National RoadSafety Authority motivated theleadership of GPRTU to embarkon this initiative to help reduceroad carnage and protect roadusers. The GPRTU is poised andready to implement the initiativewith Road Safety ManagementServices Limited and otherstakeholders.We have successfullylaunched an app to aid membersto have access to towing vehiclesand, the over 2.6 million vehiclesoperated by our members haveagreed to subscribe to theinitiative through the app withdetails of their vehicles.One would have thought thata simple inquiry at the GPRTUregarding this matter wouldhave settled and rendered thetweet and the brouhaha it hasgenerated unnecessarily.We call, therefore, for anunqualified apology and also acomplete retraction from bothGhanaweb and Bright Simonson their false allegation tobring peace and further requesttheir support for the successfulimplementation of the project forthe safety of Ghanaian lives or wewill advise ourselves.SignedGODFRED ABULBIRE(GPRTU SECRETARY)President Nana Akufo-Addo has given theassurance that hisgovernment is doeverything practicallypossible to halt the rising foodprices in the country.Speaking at the closingceremony of the 22 GeneralAssembly of the PresbyterianChurch of Ghana at Kwahu-Abetifi in the Eastern region overthe weekend, President Akufo-Addo said arrangements werebeing made with market womento provide trucks to evacuate foodstuff from rural markets to urbancentres to help reduce food pricesin the cities.Furthermore, he said hisgovernment was encouragingcompanies and institutions toengage in the manufacturing ofinorganic fertilizers to scale upproduction to reduce the impactof high cost and unavailability offertilizers as “ we advance rapidlyour plan to establish an organicfertilizer plant in Ghana”.Touching on the poor stateof the economy, he said hisPresident Nana Akufo-Addogovernment was determined torevive and return the economyto the path of economic growthrecorded before the Covid-19pandemic.“The Akufo-Addo governmenthas not thrown up its handsin despair. We are determinedto bring relief to the Ghanaianpeople, and return the economyto the high rate of growth thatcharacterized development inthe three years preceding theCOVID-19 outbreak and whichmade our economy one of thefastest growing in the world atthe time.”“The approach to the IMFis a major step in the short runtowards that goal. Other stepswill be taken in particular todeal with the unacceptabledepreciation of the currency-the Cedis. Reining in inflationby bringing down food pricesis a major preoccupation of thegovernment and hopefully, thisseason’s emerging successfulharvest will assist us in thisregard,” President Akufo-Addosaid..Bawumia joins Ga Mashieto Celebrate HomowoVice President Dr.Mahamudu Bawumiaon Saturday joinedthe chiefs and peopleof Ga State (GaMashie) to celebrate the 2022 GaMashie Homowo festival.He paid courtesy calls onthe Ga Mants, Nii Tackie TeikoTsuru, the Gbese Mants, NiiAyibontey, Sempe Mants, NiiAdote Otintor, Nii Ahene NunooIII, Abola Mants and the AsereMants, Nii Nikoi Olai Amashi II.Everywhere he went, theVice President was received withspontaneous applause and cheersfrom the enthusiastic gathering.In a brief remark to the Sempechief and his people, Dr. Bawumiastarted with the usual Homowogreetings of 'Afi oo afi' beforeexplaining the purpose of hisvisit; to pay homage to the chiefsand people of the Ga State, saying“it is a beautiful festival andour Chiefs are the custodians ofour tradition and this is why onbehalf of the government and ourparty I'm here to pay homage toall the key chiefs in the Ga state.”He encouraged the traditionalleadership headed by the SempeMantse to keep up with the goodinitiatives being undertaken inthe area, with a pledge to be apartner in that regard.“Please continue to do all theVice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia exchangingthings you're doing to developthe Ga state. I want to assure youthat we will be by your side tosupport you to continue to do thegood work for the Ga state”, Dr.Bawumia pledged.He gave meaning to thatpledge by making a cash donationto support the reconstruction ofthe Sempe Mantse's palace, andalso presented assorted drinks tosupport the festivities.The occasion was also gracedby the National Chief Imamof Ghana Sheikh Usman NuhuSharubutu, and some members ofthe Diplomatic Corps.The traditional priest ofSempe later prayed for the VicePresident, asking God to grant hisheart's desires.HomowoThe Ga people celebrateHomowo which is translatedas 'hooting at hunger' inremembrance of a devastatingfamine arising from a droughtthat occurred in their history inprecolonial Ghana. The festivalstarts in August with the plantingof crops (mainly maize and yam)before the rainy season starts.During this period, noisemakingis prohibited or bannedsince it is believed that it willhinder the maturity of the crops.Even though it is a Gatraditional festival, many otherethnic groups also partake in thecelebrations.
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DAILY ANALYST
Monday, 15th August, 2022 Page 3
GPRTU rubbishes
links with Zoomlion
Frontpage Stories
The Ghana Private
Road Transport Union
(GPRTU) has denied any
links with Zoomlion
Ghana Limited as far
as the mandatory towing levy is
concerned.
In a statement, the union
said claims by Mr Bright Simons,
Vice President of IMANI Ghana,
on Wednesday 10 August,
alleging that, the Ghana Private
Road Transport Union (GPRTU)
“has cut a deal with the waste
management experts Zoomlion
Ghana Limited to impose a
towing insurance service on our
members without a membership
ballot” is “untrue”.
“The leadership of GPRTU
wishes to inform the general
public, Bright Simons and his
likes that, the GPRTU has no such
relationship with Zoomlion in
connection with our life-saving
innovative towing insurance
policy which is aimed at bringing
sanity to reduce road fatalities.
Indeed, we are aware
that Zoomlion’s business is
waste management and so
our relationship with them
is purely along the lines of
waste collection. It is therefore
unfortunate that Bright
Simons will engineer such a
wild allegation to spark an
unnecessary uproar within our
rank and file.” A portion of the
statement said
Govt to support market
women with trucks
Read the full statement below
RE: ZOOMLION IN CHARGE
OF GPRTU MANDATORY TOWING
LEVY –BRIGHT SIMON ALLEGES
Accra, 11th August, 2022, – We
have read with disappointment
a story published by www.
ghanaweb.com and attributed
to Mr. Bright Simons, Honorary
Vice President of IMANI Ghana,
on Wednesday 10th August,
alleging that, the Ghana Private
Road Transport Union (GPRTU)
“has cut a deal with the waste
management experts Zoomlion
Ghana Limited to impose a
towing insurance service on our
members without a membership
ballot”.
ALSO READ Zoomlion kickstarts
proper handwashing
campaign in basic schools
The leadership of GPRTU
wishes to inform the general
public, Bright Simons and his
likes that, the GPRTU has no
such relationship with Zoomlion
in connection with our lifesaving
innovative towing
insurance policy which is aimed
at bringing sanity in order to
reduce road fatalities. Indeed,
we are aware that Zoomlion’s
business is waste management
and so our relationship with
them is purely along the lines of
waste collection. It is therefore
unfortunate that Bright Simons
will engineer such a wild
allegation in an effort to spark an
unnecessary uproar within our
rank and file.
The Leadership of GPRTU has
had broad consultations with our
members across the nation and
do not understand what Bright
Simons meant by “membership
ballot”. Over the years we have
taken decisions that have
kept us together as a union
without acrimony. It is therefore
unfortunate that a person of his
stature would be motivated to
put spanners in the wheels of a
carefully thought-through policy
which has been widely accepted
by the membership of the GPRTU.
We wish to state for the
record that between January
and June 2022, the National Road
Safety Commission has reported
that 1,300 persons have been
killed in road accidents in Ghana.
These fatalities were associated
with stationary and or broken
down vehicles on the road as
reported by the National Road
Safety Authority. The report
indicates that nearly 8,000 people
sustained various degrees of
injuries during the same period.
This according to the report
is even an improvement as
compared to previous years.
These frightening statistics
as put out by the National Road
Safety Authority motivated the
leadership of GPRTU to embark
on this initiative to help reduce
road carnage and protect road
users. The GPRTU is poised and
ready to implement the initiative
with Road Safety Management
Services Limited and other
stakeholders.
We have successfully
launched an app to aid members
to have access to towing vehicles
and, the over 2.6 million vehicles
operated by our members have
agreed to subscribe to the
initiative through the app with
details of their vehicles.
One would have thought that
a simple inquiry at the GPRTU
regarding this matter would
have settled and rendered the
tweet and the brouhaha it has
generated unnecessarily.
We call, therefore, for an
unqualified apology and also a
complete retraction from both
Ghanaweb and Bright Simons
on their false allegation to
bring peace and further request
their support for the successful
implementation of the project for
the safety of Ghanaian lives or we
will advise ourselves.
Signed
GODFRED ABULBIRE
(GPRTU SECRETARY)
President Nana Akufo-
Addo has given the
assurance that his
government is do
everything practically
possible to halt the rising food
prices in the country.
Speaking at the closing
ceremony of the 22 General
Assembly of the Presbyterian
Church of Ghana at Kwahu-
Abetifi in the Eastern region over
the weekend, President Akufo-
Addo said arrangements were
being made with market women
to provide trucks to evacuate food
stuff from rural markets to urban
centres to help reduce food prices
in the cities.
Furthermore, he said his
government was encouraging
companies and institutions to
engage in the manufacturing of
inorganic fertilizers to scale up
production to reduce the impact
of high cost and unavailability of
fertilizers as “ we advance rapidly
our plan to establish an organic
fertilizer plant in Ghana”.
Touching on the poor state
of the economy, he said his
President Nana Akufo-Addo
government was determined to
revive and return the economy
to the path of economic growth
recorded before the Covid-19
pandemic.
“The Akufo-Addo government
has not thrown up its hands
in despair. We are determined
to bring relief to the Ghanaian
people, and return the economy
to the high rate of growth that
characterized development in
the three years preceding the
COVID-19 outbreak and which
made our economy one of the
fastest growing in the world at
the time.”
“The approach to the IMF
is a major step in the short run
towards that goal. Other steps
will be taken in particular to
deal with the unacceptable
depreciation of the currency
-the Cedis. Reining in inflation
by bringing down food prices
is a major preoccupation of the
government and hopefully, this
season’s emerging successful
harvest will assist us in this
regard,” President Akufo-Addo
said..
Bawumia joins Ga Mashie
to Celebrate Homowo
Vice President Dr.
Mahamudu Bawumia
on Saturday joined
the chiefs and people
of Ga State (Ga
Mashie) to celebrate the 2022 Ga
Mashie Homowo festival.
He paid courtesy calls on
the Ga Mants, Nii Tackie Teiko
Tsuru, the Gbese Mants, Nii
Ayibontey, Sempe Mants, Nii
Adote Otintor, Nii Ahene Nunoo
III, Abola Mants and the Asere
Mants, Nii Nikoi Olai Amashi II.
Everywhere he went, the
Vice President was received with
spontaneous applause and cheers
from the enthusiastic gathering.
In a brief remark to the Sempe
chief and his people, Dr. Bawumia
started with the usual Homowo
greetings of 'Afi oo afi' before
explaining the purpose of his
visit; to pay homage to the chiefs
and people of the Ga State, saying
“it is a beautiful festival and
our Chiefs are the custodians of
our tradition and this is why on
behalf of the government and our
party I'm here to pay homage to
all the key chiefs in the Ga state.”
He encouraged the traditional
leadership headed by the Sempe
Mantse to keep up with the good
initiatives being undertaken in
the area, with a pledge to be a
partner in that regard.
“Please continue to do all the
Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia exchanging
things you're doing to develop
the Ga state. I want to assure you
that we will be by your side to
support you to continue to do the
good work for the Ga state”, Dr.
Bawumia pledged.
He gave meaning to that
pledge by making a cash donation
to support the reconstruction of
the Sempe Mantse's palace, and
also presented assorted drinks to
support the festivities.
The occasion was also graced
by the National Chief Imam
of Ghana Sheikh Usman Nuhu
Sharubutu, and some members of
the Diplomatic Corps.
The traditional priest of
Sempe later prayed for the Vice
President, asking God to grant his
heart's desires.
Homowo
The Ga people celebrate
Homowo which is translated
as 'hooting at hunger' in
remembrance of a devastating
famine arising from a drought
that occurred in their history in
precolonial Ghana. The festival
starts in August with the planting
of crops (mainly maize and yam)
before the rainy season starts.
During this period, noisemaking
is prohibited or banned
since it is believed that it will
hinder the maturity of the crops.
Even though it is a Ga
traditional festival, many other
ethnic groups also partake in the
celebrations.
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