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Constant Joy – Rev. Eastwood Anaba

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Believers must constantly have joy. The Word of God enjoins us to rejoice in the Lord always (Philippians 4:4-7). Periods and situations of sorrow should be counteracted as soon as they show up and be replaced with joy. The absence of joy is injurious to the spirit, soul and body.

Luke 4:18-19
18 The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,
19 To preach the acceptable year of the Lord.

The early disciples knew the importance of serving the Lord with joy or gladness. In spite of the persecution they faced, they broke bread from house to house with gladness of heart (Acts 2:46-47). The explosion of joy in their disposition gave them favour with all the people and the Lord added souls to the Church daily. It is difficult for a fellowship of believers that lacks joy to grow.

Believers in the early Church brushed aside their persecution and expressed their joy. They did not allow circumstances to steal their peace and joy. We must discard the excuses and explode in joy. Circumstances should not steal our joy. The apostle Peter commended the saints who though they had not seen Jesus Christ physically and were going through many trials, rejoiced with unspeakable joy (1 Peter 1:3-9). A vibrant expectation of “the appearing of Jesus Christ” kept them joyful in spite of their “manifold temptations” which were for a season.

Prayer: Pray that you will have constant joy, even in this period of the pandemic.

Recommended Reading:
“The Jubilee” by Eastwood Anaba
(Find e-books at www.amazon.com)
www.eastwoodanaba.com

Regent Alumni Win Big at Forty under 40 Awards

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On Friday, September 25, 2020, the 2020 edition of the Forty under 40 Awards took place at the Kempinski Hotel, Gold Coast City in Accra. 

The Forty under 40 Award programme seeks to identify, honor and celebrate a cross-section of the nation’s most influential, accomplished, young business leaders under the age forty from a wide range of industries.

Three alumni of Regent University College of Science and Technology, Benjamin Kweku Nettey Larbi, Romeo Rich-Love Seshie and Derrick Kwapong Darko were among the awardees recognized as 2020 Forty under 40 Achievers. Benjamin emerged winner in the Human Resource and Development Award Category, Derrick Darko won the Family Business Award Category, and Romeo Rich-Love Seshie was adjudged winner for the Banking and Finance Award category.

Benjamin completed Regent in 2011, after pursuing a BSc. degree in Computer Science. He is passionate about empowering youth with the tools, opportunities, products and services to maximize their potential. For the past seven years, Benjamin has represented youth voices at various high-level dialogues and youth fora in Asia, Europe, North America, and Africa. Benjamin was recognized for his youth development work locally and internationally and his involvement with a number of youth-serving organisations including the African Youth Commission, of which he is a founding member. Other organisations include YOUNGO, the UN Major Group for Children and Youth, and Youth Bridge Foundation. Benjamin serves as the Acting Head, of the Communications Unit at Regent University College of Science and Technology, a leader in private University education in Ghana.

Derrick Darko is a security consultant, who currently spearheads the operations of Lion Security Services Limited, a leading Ghanaian private security company.  At Lion Security, Derrick oversees the company’s provision of private security services for several local and multinational companies in Ghana. Lion Security has a workforce of over 1,000 personnel. Derrick graduated in 2011 with a BSc. degree in Business Administration (e-commerce).

Romeo Seshie is the CEO of Quick Credit and Investment Micro-credit Limited, a micro credit institution that offers support to small businesses through its loan scheme. The company has since its establishment provided financial support to over 50,000 Ghanaians. Romeo is an accountant, auditor and financial analyst with over 10 years of experience in the financial sector. Romeo Seshie obtained a BSc. in Accounting and Information Systems at Regent.

As part of the Award Process, various levels of supervision, authentication and validation is implemented to guard the credibility of the awards. Awardees are decided based on the Approval of the Awarding Board, and Public Voting based on Award Category.

“It’s a real honour to be selected as the recipient of this award”, said Benjamin Larbi. “I would like to thank God almighty for giving me a purpose to live for. I am grateful to the Awarding Board, and the voting public for deeming me worthy of this recognition, and thankful to my family for their unflinching support of my youth development journey.”

Newspaper Headlines: Monday October 5, 2020

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Newspaper Headlines: Monday October 5, 2020

Government must do more to uphold rights of older persons- CHRAJ

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 The Commission said though Ghana had over the years made progress in advancing the rights of older persons and recognising the important role they played, more needed to be done to draw attention to their plights and wellbeing.
   
Mr Joseph Whittal, the Commissioner, said this in a statement issued in Accra to commemorate the 2020 global celebration of the International Day of Older Persons.
     
The Day, which marks the 30th-anniversary celebrations, is on the theme; “Pandemics: Do They Change How We Address Age and Ageing,” and aimed at promoting the human rights of all persons in Ghana, especially older persons.
   
The theme, further highlighted the role of the healthcare workforce to the wellbeing of older persons, with special recognition to the nursing profession.
   
“This is consistent with goal 3 of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, which seeks to ‘ensure healthy lives and promote wellbeing for all ages;’ particularly target 3.8, achieving universal health coverage.”
 
“This includes financial risk protection, access to quality essential healthcare services and access to safe effective quality and affordable essential medicines and vaccines for all,” the statement said.
     
It said the composition of the world population had changed drastically over the years. Between 1950 2010, life expectancy rose from 46 to 68 worldwide.
   
In 2019, there were 703 million persons aged 65 and over globally.
     
According to the Madrid International Plan of Action (MIPA), the number of older persons globally was projected to reach two billion between 2019 and 2050.
     
Ghana is a signatory to several international instruments and conventions that seek to protect the rights of older persons, such as the 2002 African Union Policy Framework and Plan of Action on Ageing; the 2002 second World Assembly on Ageing and MIPA on Ageing and the 1982 UN Plan of Action on Ageing, it said.
   
It stated that more importantly, the supreme law of Ghana, the Constitution, enjoined the State to enact appropriate legislation to ensure the protection and promotion of all other basic human rights and freedoms, including the aged; and to improve social assistance to the aged, to enable them to maintain a decent standard of living.
   
The statement said 10 years after the NAP, the State was yet to ensure that the healthcare needs of older persons were comprehensively addressed by the National Insurance Scheme (NHIS).
   
“For instance, physiotherapy management of Parkinson’s disease and dementia, which are more prevalent among older persons who are above 60 years and most medications for such conditions are not included in the in the NHIS drug policy”.
   
“As we commemorate this day, CHRAJ wishes to raise awareness on the special health needs of older persons and of the contributions to their health and to the functioning of the societies in which they live,” it stated.
   
It also called for the need to increase awareness and show appreciation to the role of the health care workforce in maintaining and improving the health of older persons with special attention to the nursing profession.
   
The statement said that would also increase understanding of the impact of COVID-19 on older persons, which called for deliberate healthcare policy and service delivery interventions to minimize the effects of the pandemic on older persons and the future.
     
The Commission also called on Government to speed up processes of completing the ongoing stakeholders consultations on the National Ageing Bill laid before Parliament.
   
The United Nations (UN) on December 14, 1990, designated October 1st as the International Day of Older Persons per the UN Resolution 46/9.
   
In 2002, the UN General Assembly adopted the Madrid International Plan of Action on Ageing to respond to the opportunities and challenges of the aging population in the 21st century.
   
One of the central themes of the MIPA is to ensure the full enjoyment of basic human rights of all persons and the elimination of all forms of discrimination and violence against older persons.  
 
By Samira Larbie, GNA

Media Organizations should make their content accessible to Persons with Disability

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Mr Anomah-Kordieh gave the advice at a media training workshop and Disability and Mental Health Inclusion, dubbed: Ghana Participation Programme, a UK Aid funded programme being implemented by Ghana Somubi Dwumadie, in partnership with Basic Needs Ghana, Kings College London, Sightsavers International and Tropical Health, all non-governmental organizations.
 
Mr Anomah-Kordieh took participants through acceptable language to use when reporting on disability and urged the participants to always seek clarification from persons with disability themselves when reporting about them.
 
He urged the media to seek knowledge on the appropriate local language description for persons with disabilities, saying, most of the words and the proverbs used in the local language are derogatory to persons with disability.
 
Mr Fred Nantogmah, Knowledge Management and Communications Officer at Basic Needs Ghana said the media should not condone ableism and tokenism when reporting on disability issues
 
Ableism is discrimination in favour of non-disabled persons and tokenism is a situation when members of a particular category are treated differently from other people.

 

By Hannah Awadzi, GNA

Adaklu Assembly presents medical screens to Health Directorate

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Mr Phanuel Donkor Kadey, the Adaklu District Chief Executive, who presented the screens to the Directorate, said it was to boost health confidence and provide quality healthcare services to the people.
     
The DCE said the medical screens cost GHC15,295.50 and funded from the COVID-19 allocation of the District Assembly.
     
He said since assuming office in 2017, the Assembly had invested in the health and sanitation sectors, with the focus of making primary healthcare available and accessible to women, children, elderly, and all vulnerable groups.
   
Mr Kadey said such interventions saw the supply of motorbikes, medical beds, construction of CHPS Compounds, and also some direct cash transfers and many others, to the Directorate.
   
The DCE praised the staff of the Directorate for the commitment and hard work, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic period.
   
Mr Kadey noted that in the face of lack of critical logistics, the Directorate was able to stand tall in the COVID-19 fight, especially during the period the District recorded some cases.
   
Dr Charles Azagba, the District Director of Health Services, who received the items, was grateful to the Assembly for supporting health delivery in the District.
   
He said the Directorate had only two medical screens and described the presentation as timely.
   
Dr Azagba said having received motorbikes in the past, Personal Protective Equipment and direct cash support during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Directorate was working hard to make Adaklu, a model of quality and improved health service delivery.

Olam and Temasek donate COVID-19 PPE TO NOGUCHI INSITUTE

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The consignment comprised various items of PPE including 3,000 surgical gowns, face shields, KN95 masks, and nitrile gloves. They were delivered to the Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research through the Ministry of Health. 

 

This adds to a previous donation of RNA extraction kits for 20,000 COVID-19 tests, supplied by the two organisations in June. In March this year, Olam also donated two consignments of medical supplies to the Greater Accra Regional Hospital (GARTH) and the Kumasi Centre for Collaborative Research (KCCR). 

 

Speaking at the handing over ceremony at the Ministry of Health in Accra, Miss Patience Mantey, Quality Manager of Olam’s Packaged Food Business said: “For us, safeguarding and supporting our community is a number one priority. Since the outbreak of the virus, Olam has supported front liner workers with many interventions to lessen the impact of the pandemic on the country. 

 

“As far as this pandemic is concerned, we are working on a global scale with local governments, health organisations and other partners to respond in an agile way to the challenges that we all face at this time. We believe our combined expertise and collective action can successfully curb the impact of COVID 19,” Miss Mantey said 

 

Receiving the items on behalf of the Noguchi Institute, Dr Bernard Oko Boye, Deputy Minister for Health said donations such as these have helped the country tremendously in its fight against the COVID 19 pandemic; “We are determined to win the war against COVID 19 in record time and with minimum casualties. But to achieve this, we do need the support of partners and Olam has proven itself as a worthy partner so far.”. 

 

Dr. John Kofi Odoom, Head of the Virology Department at the Noguchi, Institute said the test kits donated earlier by Olam are expensive on the open market and are very significant for the work of the Research Institute. 

 

Dr. Odoom said although current statistics of COVID 19 may look encouraging, the pandemic is not over yet and advised Ghanaians to continue to abide by all the recommended safety and preventive protocols until the pandemic is completely expelled from the country.   

 

Temasek Foundation, a shareholder of Olam International, supports a diverse range of programmes aimed at enhancing livelihood and communities in Singapore and globally. The Foundation’s programmes, executed through philanthropic endowments, strive towards achieving positive outcomes for individuals and communities. 

Registrar-General halts new company registrations for deployment of electronic system

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The temporary hold on applications is to pave way for the testing and full operationalization of the Registrar-General’s  Department’s new electronic system effective Thursday, October 1, 2020.
 
A statement signed by Madam Constance Adomaa Takyi, Head of Public Relations, Registrar-General’s Department, and copied the Ghana News Agency said the Department will however receive new Company Registration applications from Monday, October 5, 2020.
 
The statement noted that the deployment of the upgraded electronic system and implementation of the Beneficial Ownership Register are both in compliance with the provisions of the Companies Act 2019 (Act 992)
 
“We, therefore, urge the public to visit the Department’s website www.rgd.gov.gh to download the new six different types of forms for Company Registration to familiarize themselves with them.”
 
“Other services offered by the Department such as Registration of Marriages, Administrative services, Industrial Property Rights and Administration of Estates will continue to be carried out. For further information kindly contact the Public Relations Office for further Clarification,” the statement said.

Rural Banking sector survived coronavirus

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He said management and boards of rural and community banks (RCBs) had been consistent in pursuing service innovation and digital technology, resulting in the growth of deposits from 3.88 billion at close of 2019 from the 2.85 billion cedis in 2017.
 
“In spite of the impact of COVID-19, we have seen some modest level of growth from GHS 4.03 billion at the end of March 2020 to 4.23 billion at the end of June 2020,” Mr Mattah added.
 
The Director was speaking at the opening of the 19th Annual Managers’ conference of the Apex Bank in Ho, which was on the theme “The Speed of Change.”
 
“He said the Bank would sustain the current “momentum for results-oriented change” that was driving progress of RCBs.
 
“We can say without hesitation that our quest to harness the power of innovation and digitisation for sustainable growth has yielded some tangible results. Today we can boast of a modern ICT backbone, which is helping us to develop innovative customer-centric products for the RCB customers,” the Director said.
 
Mr Mattah noted that innovation remained a key growth pillar and had driven the enhancement of the ICT operating platform for RCGs, resulting in the development of “relevant, competitive products and enhanced services.”
 
He said delivering on its promise to unveil a formidable Agency Banking service, a mobile banking service- a major component of the initiate, had been operationalised.
 
“We are almost through with full integration with the largest mobile network operator, MTN. However, all RCB customers with Vodafone and Airtel-Tigo numbers can sign up for mobile banking.
 
“With that, they can do a plethora of services,” he said, adding that a data centre upgrade scheduled for completion in November 2020 will enhance communication, and also facilitate the smooth operation of the online and mobile banking services.
 
Mr Mattah mentioned that four major cyber and information security and requirements under the Ghana Financial Sector Development Project had been given the green light, and that upon completion, would provide world-class data and network security for RCBs.
 
He said the Bank in February 2020, was awarded ISO 27001:2013, making it a pacesetter in banking certification in Ghana, and also, envy within the space of financial and data security.
 
“The certification is a validation of our capacity to provide exceptional experience to our customers. It is a stamp of confidence in our people, systems and processes and a loud announcement to our partners and customers that the Bank and our member RCBs have come a long way and are poised to deliver superior service to customers,” Mr Mattah stated.
 
He stated partnership with the Ghana Inter-bank Payment and Settlement Systems, which he said had yielded good results, including RCB customers’ access to services of GOIL and KFC branches nationwide.
 
The Director asked stakeholders to consider the unexpected wind of change that swept through the globe, and unite on riding the storm into a prosperous future.
 
“We need to pause counting our loses and rather plan for the future. As an industry, we need to plan quickly how to take advantage firstly of, the opportunistic business avenues that the advent of the COVID-19 has brought us.
 
“Secondly we need to strategise on how to harness the permanent business avenues the virus has unleashed on the world,” he said.
 
Mr Yaw Sarpong, Head of the Other Financial Institutions Supervision Department (OFISD) of the Bank of Ghana, said the sector cleanup restored confidence in banking, and asked stakeholders to consider the coronavirus pandemic as “wakeup call to revive our ways of doing things.”
 
He added that the Bank of Ghana remained committed to providing the appropriate regulatory support.
 
Togbe Kotoku XI, Paramount Chief of Kpenoe Traditioanl Area and a guest of honour at the event, said the banking crisis, and the subsequent sector clean-up did wreck some havoc on lives particularly in rural communities, and asked RCBs to reinvigorate faith in banking.
 
The three-day conference would offer managers and executive officers the opportunity to collectively access and enhance its efforts to remain indispensable in the financial sector.
 
By Samuel Akumatey, GNA

Fifteen alleged members of Western Togoland Restoration Front in court

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Initially, Nene Agblorm II, also known in private life as Joshua Kwaku Agblorm II pleaded guilty with explanation to charges of attending meeting of a prohibited organisation, the Western Togoland Organisation, and participating in a campaign of the Group.
 
He, however, pleaded not guilty to rioting with weapon contrary to section 199 of the Criminal and other offences Act 1960 (Act 29).
 
Nene Agblorm II in his explanation said the NEC met and planned to create awareness to the world about the intimidation that was meted to Ewes, hence the blocking of the roads.
 
He said it was also because of the issues associated with the recent voter registration exercise, where most people could not find their names in the register.
 
“We organized because of the removal of most of the names from the voter register,” he said.
 
The court upon hearing the explanation from the accused person entered a plea of not guilty for him.
 
Other accused persons including Rapheal Tetevi, Felix Sosa, James Nanewortor, Lena Amegbor, Rev. David Tagbor Dumakor, Seleasi Gbadago, Gilbert Nyadzinyo, Awudza Godwin, Divine Nyadzinyo, Excel Liberty Aheto Kuegbeshika, Lawrence Nyadainyo and Benjamin, pleaded not guilty to all charges.
 
Detective Inspector Simon Apiorsornu, in the brief facts, said Nene Agblorm II was the Principal Elder of Dorsi Clan of Osuwem, while Rapheal was a resident of Dorwenya with the rest being residents of Juapong.
 
He said Nene Agblorm II was also the Chairman of the West Salt Province of the Front.
 
The Prosecution said prior to the September 25, 2020 attacks and disturbance at Juapong, there were meetings between Nene Agblorm II and other senior members of the Organisation now at large.
 
He said in the meeting, Nene Agblorm II, took minutes of their meetings on the line of action and incited the other accused persons, who took to the streets, blocked the Juapong-Accra main road amidst burning lorry tyres and firing gun shots. He said meanwhile investigation was ongoing.
 
Mr Thomas Gelorvu, Lawyer for Seleasi and Benjamin, said his clients were father and son, who were travelling from Akate in Asesewa to visit their relatives in Juapong when they were arrested.
 
He said it was an allegation the accused person knew nothing about.
The Counsel quoting Act 19 (2c), which states that a person charged with a criminal offence shall, be presumed to be innocent until he/she is proved or has pleaded guilty.
 
He, therefore, prayed the court to grant the two accused person bail.
“They are ready and have persons of substance who will be sureties for them and will be available anytime to stand trial,” he said.
 
The Prosecution, who opposed the bail, said any attempt to release the accused persons would be dangerous to society.
 
He said the accused persons would endanger the good people and they would also interfere with police investigations.
 
The Court listening to the parties, refused bail for the accused persons.
The case is adjourned to October 13.
 
By Morkporkpor Anku, GNA
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