General News of Sunday, 1 January 2012

Source: GNA

Major Stories In November 2011

President John Evans Atta Mills on Wednesday stated categorically that he as the Head of State he will not support any attempt to flourish homosexuality in Ghana.

“I as president of this nation I will never initiate or support any attempt to legalise homosexuality in Ghana.

“As government we will abide by the principles as contained in our Constitution, which is supreme.”

Princess Ameerah Al-Taweel, wife of the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal has paid a visit to the Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research in Accra on Monday.

Tullow Oil, one of the companies involved in the production of oil in the Western Region, says it has since the start-up of production at the end of 2010, produced over 22 million barrels of oil and safely exported 21 oil cargoes.

President John Evans Atta Mills inaugurates 13-Member Board of the National Peace Council

Government has voted GH¢35 million for the Microfinance and Small Loans Centre (MASLOC) in 2012, Dr Kwabena Duffuor, Minister of Finance and Economic Planning announced on Wednesday.

The Finance and Economic Planning Minister on Wednesday presented governments 2012 fiscal budget to parliament for approval.

The Budget, on the theme: “Infrastructural Development for Accelerated Growth and Job Creation,” recognized that the present state of the global economy presented the country with a number of unanticipated events and that a further deterioration of the global economic environment could have substantial spill-overs to the Ghanaian economy.

The First Lady, Mrs Ernestina Naadu Mills, has launched the Ashanti Regional Campaign for Accelerated Reduction in Maternal Mortality (CARMMA), in Kumasi, with a call on Metropolitan, Municipal and District Chiefs Executives (MMDCEs) to assist make the initiative a success.

The National Democratic Congress (NDC) on Friday described the government’s 2012 Budget as an economic stimulant for the accelerated and transformational development of the country.

Ahead of the 2012 elections, President John Evans Atta Mills at the weekend reiterated his commitment to, and call on Ghanaians for peaceful polls, stressing that violence and bloodshed do not have a place in Ghana.

Five leading members of the Peoples National Convention (PNC) have filed a writ at an Accra High against the leadership of the party for engaging street thugs to vote at the party’s national delegates congress in 2007.

Accra, Nov. 24, GNA - Government would soon receive four helicopters from the Chinese Government to provide security and surveillance in the oil and gas fields in the Western Region, Vice President John Dramani Mahama, has announced.

Construction work is expected to commence early next year on the first gas infrastructure, including a gas processing plant that would represent a major boost to government’s plan to accelerated infrastructure development in 2012.

Ghana New Agency inaugurates state-of-the-art News Management System.

The Convention Peoples Party (CPP) says it has uncovered a grand plot to use the fractional demand for early congress to undermine and destabilize the new leadership under Ms Yaaba Samia Nkrumah.

Deputy Finance Minister Seth Terkper has asked stakeholders not to see recent hikes in the corporate mining tax and the introduction of a windfall tax as an anti-investment drive by government.

Mr Barton Oduro, Deputy Minister for Justice and Attorney General, on Monday called for collective engagement in the international debate on Intellectual Property (IP) to seek international legal instruments to protect the rich culture and heritage of Africa.

Government rolls out modalities for setting up Ghana Youth Parliament on July 1, 2012 to climax activities marking Republic Day celebration.

Accra, Nov. 29, GNA - Vice President John Dramani Mahama launches the Ghana Chamber of Telecommunications with a call on operators to scale up investment to boost the provision of data services to enhance revenue and spur economic growth.

The Convention Peoples Party (CPP) spells out qualifications criteria for the party’s flag bearership contest slated tentatively for the first quarter of next year.

Mr Daniel Marfo Ofori Panin, General Secretary of the Okyeman Youth Association (OYA), has condemned publications that accused Okyehene Osagyefo Amotia Ofori Panin of engaging in illegal small scale mining popularly known as "galamsey".

The New Patriotic Party (NPP) will extend support services and opportunities enjoyed by cocoa farmers to farmers in the north under its Northern Development Authority to help modernize agriculture and enhance the economic fortunes of the people.

Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, the presidential candidate of the NPP, said farmers in the north would be provided with incentive packages including agricultural machinery, inputs, fertilizers and credit facility to help boost maize and rice production.

The Association of Ghana Industries (AGI) has asked the Government to reconsider the six per cent flat rate tax imposed on Small and Medium scale enterprises because it would place a huge tax burden on such businesses.

The National Lottery Authority (NLA) on Wednesday announced the extension of the deadline for ending the use and sale of manual coupons to the public from December 15, 2011 to January 31, 2012.

The Convention People's Party (CPP) on Wednesday appointed Nii Armah Akomfrah, former Chairman of CPP United Kingdom branch as its Communications Director.

The Convention Peoples Party (CPP) files a writ at an Accra High Court to restraint Dr Paa Kwesi Nduom and 19 others from holding an Extraordinary meeting of the National Executive Council.