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Ghana-Press-Review May 07, 2021 to 10:10 236 APA – Accra (Ghana) The report on Ghana s COVID-19 vaccination programme and the arrival of 350,000 doses of the Oxford AstraZeneca vaccines in Accra on Friday morning is one of the trending stories in the Ghanaian press on Friday.
The Graphic reports that after weeks of apprehension over the fate of Ghana s COVID-19 vaccination programme, the exercise looks set to resume soon after 350,000 doses of the Oxford AstraZeneca vaccines landed in Accra on Friday morning.
It arrived around 5am, May 7, aboard a Turkish Airline fight to kick-start the second phase of the nationwide vaccination.
Fears that the programme could be held back heightened when the second batch of doses from the COVID-19 Vaccine Global Access Facility (COVAX) facility, expected from India, were not forthcoming.
Govt must build trust in Agyapa Royalty Agreement Hene Kwarpong
May 6, 2021 Mr Ken Ofori-Atta, Minister of Finance
The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Songhai Group, Hene Kwarpong, has postulated that the Agyapa Royalties Agreement is a good initiative introduced by the government.
However, he noted that the government must build trust among the citizenry in order to get them to appreciate the benefit that it comes with.
“Agyapa is fine but how do we do it to generate trust?” he quizzed.
The Agyapa deal received stiff opposition from civil society groups and the National Democratic Congress (NDC) after the critics said the deal was bad.
Gold bars
The Founding and Managing Partner of the Songhai Group, Dr Ohene Aku Kwapong, has likened Ghana’s status in the gold mining industry to a ‘rent collector’ who would soon be out of business if it does not take steps to monetise its gold.
He indicated that gold is a non-renewable resource, which can get exhausted at any point in time, hence the need to invest the proceeds we derive from it to create more wealth for the country.
Dr Kwapong was speaking at the Public Forum on Monetisation of Mineral Royalties organised in Accra yesterday on Zoom.
Co-chairman for Ghana Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (GHEITI), Dr Emmanuel Steve Asare Manteaw has described as bogus the public forum organised by the Minerals Incomes Investment Fund to explore the concept and best practices of monetizing minerals royalties.
According to him, the public forum does not constitute proper consultation as the government should have first come out with the amendment in the Agyapa deal after President Akufo-Addo directed the Finance Minister and the Attorney-General to correct the concerns raised by the Civil Society Organizations (CSOs).
Speaking on
Okay FM’s Ade Akye Abia Morning Show, Dr Steve Manteaw was of the view that the President should have made public the changes done in the Agyapa deal as raised by the Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) and then call for public discussion on those changes before any public forum to explore the concept and best practices of monetizing minerals royalties.