FLEX

FLEX to institute awards for deserving youths

 - Participants at a National Youth Leadership Conference were on Monday called upon to have burning desire, persistence and perseverance towards investment and the ability to acquire entrepreneurial skills.

"Success is based on principles, but not on the acquisition of wealth, while attitude determines success," Mrs Harriet Osei-Amoah Owusu, Abossey Okai Branch Manager of United Bank for Africa (UBA) Ghana Limited, has observed.

She made the call at the inauguration of Foundation for Leadership Excellence (FLEX)-Ghana, an Accra-based non-profit organisation on the theme: "Shaping the Destiny of our Nation," in Accra

Mrs Owusu advised the youth to accept constructive criticism to enable them to achieve success and asked the participants to ensure they set reasonable targets and standards for themselves in their prospective professions.

Mr John Kissi, President of FLEX-Global, UK, said the aim of the organisation was to give every Ghanaian child the opportunity to be exposed to the fundamental principles of leadership, career and personal development.

He said FLEX intended to initiate personal development clubs in many senior high schools and tertiary institutions in the country.

"We also intend to set up a state of the arts skill development centres in each regional capital where young people can be scheduled to attend sessions to have the opportunity to develop their skills," Mr Kissi added.

He announced that FLEX had instituted an award scheme for young leaders and young innovators to promote leadership development and promote creativity among the youth.

Mr Kissi said that the organisation sought to work closely with youth organisations in churches, schools and in the communities, saying its activities would be extended across Africa.

He observed that a lot of the youth go through education with the focus only on the curriculum and did not spare anytime to develop other skills that would enhance their effectiveness in their chosen field of endeavour.  

FLEX is an organization that helps mentor individuals on career development, social responsibility, entrepreneurial, personal and leadership develop

Prof Nketia

Prof Nketia celebrated

      Professor Emeritus Joseph Hanson Kwabena Nketia was on Friday celebrated for his immense contribution to the development of arts in the country.

     Prof. Nketia is a renowned international musicologist, poet, cultural activist, nationalist and a scholar.

     Professor Kwesi Yankah, Pro-Vice Chancellor, University of Ghana, praised the icon and said the hand of the artist was indispensable in every national campaign and educational agenda.

     He said efforts to enrich and deepen the country’s democracy would not have been possible if stakeholders do not resort to visual symbols, poetry, and music among others.

     The DEMAY and Ghana Association of writers’ night of the Arts staged at the National Theatre in Accra under the auspices of the Pan African Writers Association and the National Theatre created the setting for the celebration of the man who has made firm indelible prints in the fabric of Ghana’s arts and culture. 

     “The entire exercise seeks to mainstream an important aspect of our lives, which has been perpetually sidelined, along with its creator”, Prof.Yankah said.       

     The night saw memorable performances from the Ghana Dance Ensemble, Madina Presby choir, the Jubilee choir of the University of Ghana, Osei Korankye and Egya Koo Nimo.

     The audience were given soothing doses of choral music, solo and instrumentals from the repertoire of Prof. Nketia.

     The Ghana Dance Ensemble performed to the admiration of the expectant audience with the booming sounds of drumming laced with fluting accompanied by well rehearsed dance steps.

     The audience were also taken through the works and achievements of Prof Nketia and how they have contributed to the development of the country

     Prof Nketia has over two hundred publications to his credit including more than twenty books.

     He is also a recipient of numerous national and international awards including Ghana Gospel music special awards, Grand medal of Government of Ghana, Cowell awards of African Music Society, Ghana book awards, Companion of the order of the star of Ghana.

     Prof Nketia served as a Professor of Music at UCLA, University of Pittsburgh, and has lectured in many top universities in the United States, Europe, Africa and Asia, including the University of Michigan, Harvard, Stanford, City University of London, and the China Conservatory of Music.

     He has over eighty compositions including choral, solo, and instrumental works and songs including ‘Nkyirimma Nye Bi’, ‘Monna N’ase’, ‘Monkamfo No’ and ‘Yaanom Montie’.

     The legend also established the music section of the Institute of African Studies, University of Ghana, the African Dance Ensemble now the Ghana Dance Ensemble of the Institute and the international Centre for African Music and Dance.

     He is recognised not only as an authority in the field of music in Africa but also as one of the world’s leading ethnomusicologist.

     He is the Chancellor of Akrofi Christallor Institute of Theology Mission and Culture.

Amicus Youth conference

6th Amicus youth empowerment summit kicks-off in Accra

      The two- day youth empowerment summit dubbed: “6th Amicus Youth Empowerment summit,” is expected to start from October 7- October 8 in Accra, on the theme: “Reactivating the Ghanaian Dream: The Answer to Ghana’s Youth Unemployment.”

     The Summit is a platform for advocacy and awareness creation on entrepreneurship and youth development.

     Mr Dakumba Ben Asomoaning, Country Director of Amicus Onlus Ghana, said the summit would have a positive effect on the well being and growth of participants by inspiring in them with a sense of determination to change destructive habits.

     He was speaking in Accra on Wednesday ahead of the summit to corporate institutions, which attracted Mr Chris Gardener, a renowned motivational speaker, best seller novel author as the keynote speaker. 

     He said the event would also change debilitating perceptions and instil in the participants logic of consciousness and awareness to pursue secured, equitable and sustainable lifestyles.

     Mr Asomoaning noted that the summit among other things would identify feasible job creation and employment opportunities in areas such as information Communication Technology, Agri-business, Oil/Gas and Renewable Energy, Green Revolution and Climate Change.

     He said ideas would be shared on knowledge and competencies required to discover, establish and manage starter up businesses.

     The Amicus youth empowerment summit has also advanced in partnering the London Business School to build the capacity of the Ghanaian youth to meet international business standards.

     “Holistic capacity development can be a great leveller, with the ability to empower people in all corners in the developing world”, he said.

     Mr Gardener, Chief Executive Officer of a brokerage firm- Gardener Rich LLC, urged participants to ensure that they protect their dreams from people who do not believe in them, and to be passionate about anything they do.

    Amicus Onlus is an international organisation of volunteers that works towards the creation of sustainable human development through capacity building.

census

Apathy towards census

    - A visit by the GNA news team to the Accra business district on the eve of the National Population and housing Census (PHC) shows an apathetic and ignorant attitude towards the whole PHC exercise.

     The GNA observed that most of the night clubs were in full operation, with people busily enjoying themselves whiles others were selling and performing their normal activities.

     A prostitute, Cynthia, in an interview with the GNA, said she was not aware today was census night and if the enumerators by chance get to her place of work, then she would be counted.

     Cynthia also said if she is not counted, that might not be her problem.

     Fafa Antwi, another prostitute, noted that, because she works at night, she doesn’t have time to listen to radio or watch television for information so she was not aware of the census.

     She said even if she is counted, it would not bring any money into her pocket or put food on her table.

     Some of the people GNA tried speaking to, were not willing to talk, just because they said they do not have time for any government exercise.

     Nana Yaw, a store keeper, who spoke to the team, observed that, he saw some people marking buildings and stores, but was not aware of any impending exercise, so the team have to take time to educate him on the importance of the whole exercise to the country.

     He promised to welcome the census enumerators, who would come to his shop or house and would also educate his colleagues about the exercise.

     The feedback the News team got was, either the education was not effective or that people are just apathetic to the whole exercise

Tourism Bill

Stakeholders’ meeting on the Tourism Bill opens

      Ghana is to have a National Tourism Law, which will address pertinent weaknesses in the tourism sector by establishing the National Tourist Authority.

     The mandate of the Authority would be to regulate the tourism industry and develop tourism in a sustainable manner, Mrs Zita Okaikoi, Minister of Tourism, said on Thursday.

     She was addressing a Ministerial Advisory Board and Inter-Ministerial Committee sensitisation meeting on the Tourism Bill in Accra on Thursday.

     Mrs Okaikoi said the bill had made provisions for the establishment of a Tourist Development Fund.

     She said cabinet had approved the Bill and it would be sent to Parliament for debate and passage.

     The Minister said the sector was widely acclaimed to hold the potential to establish a new international economic order that would help eliminate the widening gap between the rich and the poor countries, and ensure a steady acceleration of economic and social development.

     She said for the country to maximize its share of global tourism, there was the need to critically look at the endemic weaknesses confronting the tourism sector for redress.

     Mrs Okaikoi noted that the sector currently generated 1.6 billion dollars making it the fourth highest foreign exchange earner after cocoa, gold and remittances from abroad.

     She said it was the target to make Ghana the preferred tourist destination, starting with the West African sub-region and eventually Africa, thus making tourism a leading sector not only in terms of wealth creation, but also to create jobs especially for the youth.

     However, “it behoves us to formalise and strengthen the linkages between the tourism sector agencies and agencies that have direct responsibilities for managing these resources”.

     Mrs Okaikoi also noted that this would enable agencies to coordinate with each other to promote tourism for national development.

     Ms Heidi Marie Boakye, Assistant State Attorney at the Attorney General’s Department, in a presentation on the overview of the bill said it would address issues like sex tourism, control and promotion of advertisements and tourism enterprise licence.

     She said the bill also made provision for the establishment of a National Tourism Authority and a Tourism Development Fund.