Ghana’s performance on budget transparency, has aptly been described as stagnant, following its very little progress made over the past two years, an Open Budget survey (OBS) report has said. In 2017, Ghana scored 50 out of 100 in the Open Budget Index (OBI), and this represents a fall in scores in comparison with a…
Fifty years ago this spring, the sewing machinists at Ford’s Dagenham plant famously downed tools and in doing so changed history. But contrary to popular belief, the strike that nudged Barbara Castle into creating the Equal Pay Act didn’t start over equal pay. It was originally a demand for recognition, for the women who stitched…
The US Department of State and the European Union have slammed Nasa leader Raila Odinga’s January 30 ‘swearing-in’ and the shutdown of television stations. In separate press statements posted on their websites on Thursday, they emphasised that all leaders and the government should obey the Kenyan Constitution ad the rule of law. ELECTIONS The US…
The Kenyan authorities “violated the public’s right to information” by blocking broadcasts of TV channels that defied a ban on live coverage of the symbolic inauguration of Raila Odinga as “the people’s president”, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said Wednesday. The human rights body released a statement that also highlighted the deteriorating human rights record of…
Zimbabwe’s President Emmerson Mnangagwa has appointed High Court Judge Priscilla Chigumba as the new chairperson of the national election agency, according to an appointment letter seen by Reuters on Wednesday. The Zimbabwe Election Commission has not had a permanent chairperson since Rita Makarau resigned in December, months before a vote whose credibility is crucial to…
Very often, we hear cases of child abuse which includes, emotional abuse, physical abuse and sexual abuse. It is worthy to note that most abused children have some sort of relationship with their abusers. The abusers are either, mothers, fathers, other members from nuclear and extended family and family friends including neighbours and caregivers. Sexual…
The Peasant Farmers Association of Ghana (PFAG) has called on government to address delays to input distribution, the poor quality of inputs, as well as bureaucracies holding back smooth implementation of the Planting for Food and Jobs (PFJ) initiative. According to the PFAG, reports from its regional monitoring identified loopholes it believes could severely hamper…
There is the need to balance the debate around whether the country should rely more on local investment or foreign direct investment, especially as indigenous companies do not have the requisite financial muscle to drive socio-economic growth, CEO of the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre (GIPC), Yofi Grant, has stated. “We cannot grow the economy on…
Corruption is a major contributor to Africa’s stunted development. By corroding and weakening governance institutions and the democratic values of human rights, gender equality, justice, and the rule of law, it has hindered the continent’s progress toward peace and prosperity. A 2002 AU study estimated that Africa loses about $150 billion annually to corruption. Illicit…