News
Government steps up flood response, urges public to cooperate
The Minister for Works, Housing and Water Resources, Kenneth Gilbert Adjei, has assured Ghanaians that government is intensifying efforts to respond to the widespread flooding that has affected parts of Accra, Tema and surrounding communities following days of heavy rainfall.
In a press release issued on Monday, June 29, the minister explained that he joined President John Dramani Mahama and members of the Anti Flood Task Force to inspect flood affected communities after the prolonged rains.
According to him, the visit enabled the team to assess the causes of the flooding and evaluate measures needed to address the problem.
He noted that since June 27, sustained heavy rainfall had flooded homes, businesses and public infrastructure, especially in low lying communities, disrupting economic and social activities.
The minister expressed government’s sympathy to families and communities affected by the floods and assured victims that relief, recovery and reconstruction efforts would continue.
“We fully appreciate the pain, disruption, and economic hardship that these events will impose on households, traders, transport operators, and businesses,” he stated.
He explained that while climate change and extreme weather patterns were contributing to heavier rainfall, human activities such as building on waterways, dumping waste into drains and ignoring planning regulations had worsened the situation.
Mr Adjei stressed that tackling flooding required the collective efforts of government institutions, local authorities, traditional leaders, businesses and residents.
He disclosed that the Ministry, through the Ghana Hydrological Authority, was working with the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO), the Greater Accra Regional Coordinating Council, Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies, security agencies and other stakeholders to respond to the emergency.
He indicated that emergency response teams had been deployed to affected communities while evacuation support, relief items for displaced persons, damage assessment and drainage clearing exercises were ongoing.
The minister further revealed that recent enforcement operations by the Greater Accra Regional Coordinating Council and Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies had focused on removing illegal structures blocking drains, waterways and wetlands.
He added that the Ministry would intensify these operations to protect natural drainage systems and prevent future flooding.
Mr Adjei announced that extensive desilting and excavation of major drains would begin immediately to improve the movement of stormwater.
He added that new drainage channels would also be constructed along natural water pathways, while government continued to expand and rehabilitate drainage infrastructure, restore wetlands and strengthen early warning systems.
The minister urged residents living near rivers, lagoons, drains and other flood prone areas to move to safer locations whenever necessary, avoid walking or driving through floodwaters and keep children away from flooded areas.
He appealed to the public to support government’s efforts by avoiding the dumping of refuse into drains, refraining from building on waterways and complying with environmental and planning regulations.
Mr Adjei expressed confidence that with collective responsibility and discipline, Ghana could reduce the impact of flooding and build safer and more resilient communities.
By: Jacob Aggrey
The 30th Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) Media Awards has celebrated three decades of recognising excellence and contributions to journalism and national development, while highlighting the media’s role in Ghana’s democracy.
Marking the milestone, Philip Osei Bonsu of the Multimedia Group emerged as the GJA/P.A.V. Ansah Journalist of the Year.
The Ghanaian Times’ Benedicta Gyimah Foley won the Best Feature Reporting, Print category, alongside other journalists recognised across various media platforms.
Other winners included Nathaniel Attoh, Best in Sports Reporting; and Godwin Asediba of Media General, Best in TV Documentary; Doreen Ampofo of GBC, Best in Radio Documentary; and freelance journalist Nii Adjei Mensahfio, Best in Online Documentary.
Daniel Kwabena Mantey was adjudged Best in TV Feature, while Clinton Yeboah of Luv FM won Best in Radio Feature, with Gilbert Azeem Tiroog of GNA taking Best in Online Features.
For news reporting, Mohammed Fugu of the Daily Graphic won Best in Print News Reporting, Nabil Ahmed Rufai, a freelance journalist, Best in TV News Reporting; Ridwan Karim Dini-Osman of EIB Network, Best in Radio News Reporting; and Timothy Ngnenbe of the Daily Graphic, Best in Online News.
The ceremony, held in Accra last Saturday on the theme, “Celebrating Excellence, Advancing Media Freedom and Combating Hate Speech in the Digital Age”, was attended by President John Dramani Mahama as the special guest of honour.
Also in attendance were the Ga Mantse, King Tackie Teiko Tsuru II, and the Inspector-General of Police, Mr Christian Tetteh Yohuno, among others.
In his address, President Mahama announced a GH₵10 million allocation in the 2027 national budget as seed capital for the reactivated Media Development Fund to support journalists’ welfare, professional development, investigative reporting and safety training, with additional corporate contributions expected.
Mr Mahama, also urged media practitioners to uphold professionalism and accuracy by avoiding sensationalism, unsubstantiated allegations and the deliberate pursuit of scandals, while promptly correcting inaccurate reports and apologising when necessary to maintain public trust and professional standards.
On journalists’ safety, he assured that the government would continue to act against attacks on them.
By Stephanie Birikorang
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Today, I focus on the theme of Ghanaian/African migrants in Finland and economic empowerment, a move away from the topic of personalities or groups and their accomplishments within the Ghanaian community in Finland that I have been writing on.
In recent times, African migrant associations and Finnish institutions are organising meetings or forums and help people seeking employment to meet employers or build professional networks to achieve economic empowerment.
Such forums are usually open to their members and anyone of African descent.to get into the Finnish job market.
Competences
Researchers and experts say entrepreneurship or self-employment has great potential to offer a route for migrants, including highly-educated ones, to participate in and contribute to the local economy.
Competences, including knowledge and knowhow, opportunities, and social capital such as family support, language, etc., are necessary to boost the entrepreneurship endeavour.
Competence in the official Finnish or Swedish languages is undoubtedly a key quality to improve employment prospects, especially for migrants since the overall unemployment among migrants could be higher than in the mainstream Finnish population.
There could also be particular privileges which may be the provision of the right information for potential entrepreneurs or job seekers.
Barriers and stress factors
Although language has a huge potential to contribute positively to entrepreneurship possibilities, studies have shown that some of the major stress factors are language problems, finances or economic capital among African migrants.
Other barriers or challenges may be how to grow the business venture or its sustainability.
Thus, migrant communities can generally be highly vulnerable to language barrier, lack of information, the nature of the work of migrants in professions where working from home is not possible.
Migrant associations, social networks, and information
By their activities, migrant associations are doing much to educate and create awareness as well as enhance economic empowerment through migrants’ entrepreneurship or self-employment and enhance opportunities.
Such associations and institutions become networks that create an important social capital as well as outlets for sharing and gaining information or knowledge. Also, it will all be for societal good if such activities are able to help reduce stress and anxiety in the migrants’ entrepreneurship endeavours.
As I keep pointing out, Finland is committed to the integration of migrants into the Finnish society. A number of research studies from surveys and other in-depth enquiries have shown a trend of increasing efforts to integrate African and other migrants into the Finnish society.
Public agencies, migrant associations and other non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in Finland have been publishing information to help educate people, which is also good for their wellbeing.
Generally, migrant associations formally create awareness among their members and other migrants usually in collaboration with some Finnish institutions, and are thus an important tool for several migrants to be positively active and to get their interests and claims heard.
As I wrote previously, the role of migrant associations acting as bridge-builders for the integration and inclusion of migrants through participation in the decision making process and by acting as a representative voice is highly appreciated in Finland. Thank you!
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