Ghana - The African Mirror

Nov

2020

Sorting out fact from fiction when it comes to the safety of Ghana’s media practitioners

JACOB NYARKO, Lecturer of Communication Studies, University of Cape Coast THE ability of the media to function effectively is inseparable from democracy. And that functioning depends on cooperation from different entities in society. So a clampdown on media practitioners is an assault on democracy. In Ghana, which is regarded as a democracy, concerns have been raised about the spate of assaults and intimidation against media practitioners. These fears have been supported by the fact that Ghana has fallen in the ranking of the World Press Freedom Index. In our study we set out to try and identify the source of…

Sep

2020

By The African Mirror

How Accra tackled complex challenges in an urban slum

ENVIRONMENT

JESSICA KRITZ, Assistant Professor--Research Track, Georgetown University WHEN I first heard about the community of Old Fadama in Accra, Ghana, I recognised something. A Ghanaian Catholic sister who visited the green market weekly in that neighbourhood told me about it. She worried about a community of vulnerable migrant women known as “head porters” or kayayei, who earned a pittance transporting heavy items balanced on their heads. Old Fadama reminded me of Appalachia, the part of the US where I grew up in the late 1970s. Nearly everyone in my county lived below the poverty line. We learned to work together…

Sep

2020

By The African Mirror

Urban planning needs to look back first: three cities in Ghana show why

AFRICITIES

NATE PLAGEMAN, JENNIFER ANNE HART and TONY YEBOAH MONTHS into the global COVID-19 pandemic, policymakers have begun discussing what the “new normal” might look like in metropolitan environments. Some urban planners have framed COVID-19 as an opportunity to re-imagine and improve cities’ built landscapes. Such calls follow a common prescriptive: that post-epidemic planning will reinvent cities into dreamscapes of public health, equality and technological progress. Urbanism journalist Alissa Walker recently argued, though, that now is not the time for imagining an urbanist utopia. Instead, she writes, people must come to terms with the historical processes that have “made COVID-19 more…

Sep

2020

By The African Mirror

Ghana court dismisses MTN’s challenge against market regulator

BUSINESS

A high court in Ghana has dismissed the local MTN unit’s challenge to a move by the national telecommunications regulator aimed at exposing it to greater competition, the company said on Thursday. In June, MTN appealed a decision by the National Communications Authority (NCA) to designate it a significant market power, a move that requires the regulator to take corrective action. But in a Sept. 1 decision, the court “dismissed the company’s application,” MTN said in a statement. It said it maintained its position that the NCA’s decision was unfair from a procedural standpoint and would “explore all available options…

Sep

2020

By The African Mirror

Ghana to reopen international air borders from September 1, says president

COVID-19

Ghana will reopen air borders to international travel as of September 1 after closing them in March to limit the spread of the coronavirus, President Nana Akufo-Addo said in a speech to the nation on Sunday. Land and sea borders will remain closed, he said.

Aug

2020

By The African Mirror

Volkswagen opens vehicle assembly facility in Ghana

MOTORING

AFRICAN MIRROR REPORTER ONE of the world’s leading vehicle manufacturers - Volkswagen - has expanded its front in Sub-Saharan Africa, with the official opening of a vehicle assembly facility in Accra, Ghana. With this investment, Ghana has become the 5th Volkswagen vehicle assembly location in Sub-Saharan Africa; the other locations are in South Africa, Kenya, Nigeria and Rwanda. The President of Ghana, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo presided over the official opening of a facility that has created jobs in Ghana. Akufo-Addo witnessed the unveiling of the first vehicle assembled in Ghana. The country’s Minister of Trade and Industry, Alan Kyerematen,…

Aug

2020

By The African Mirror

Rape victims ‘denied justice’ in Ghana by costly medical fees

NEWS

KWASI GYAMFI ASIEDU REPORTING rape is traumatic for anyone, but having to pay two months' wages to complete the medical form prevents many in Ghana from seeking justice, said a leading actress whose campaign to waive fees has reached the presidential palace. British-Ghanaian actress Ama K. Abebrese - who starred with Idris Elba in the award-winning 2015 drama "Beasts of No Nation" - started a petition after hearing about the prohibitive charges in the West African nation where rape convictions are rare. The minimum doctor's fee for filling out a police medical form is 300 cedis ($52) - twice the…

Jul

2020

By The African Mirror

How parts of the media in Ghana aid — rather than fight — corruption

MEDIA FREEDOM

JOSEPH YAW ASOMAH, Assistant Professor, St. Thomas University (Canada) CORRUPTION is a significant obstacle to development, democratic consolidation and environmental security, particularly in the developing world. It involves a misuse of power in serving private ends at the public expense. Corruption occurs in both the public and private sectors. There are different forms of corruption. Political corruption is a classic example. It is often committed by politicians and top government officials acting alone or collaborating with other actors to advance private agendas. In democratic societies, free and independent private media can investigate and expose political corruption. They can also pressurise…

Jul

2020

By The African Mirror

What Ghana’s first woman vice-presidential candidate of a major party offers

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

ROBERT E. HINSON, Head, Dept of Marketing and Entrepreneurship, University of Ghana Business School, University of Ghana GHANA has a reputation as one of the more established democracies in sub-Saharan Africa. It has successfully organised six elections in its fourth republic, with power changing hands between the two largest political parties, the New Patriotic Party and the National Democratic Congress. These two parties represent almost 95% of voting numbers based on past elections. Over these elections, women have participated and been elected to positions in parliament. Some women have also been nominated as running mates and have run for the…