Parliament asked to review criteria for disbursing Common Fund to local assemblies

Ghana’s parliament would have to review the criteria for disbursement of the District Assemblies’ Common Fund, according to a professor with the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST).

Government is mandated to allocate a proportion of collected national revenue to the local assemblies to drive development.

But land economist, Prof. Seth Opuni Asiamah, says conditions for selection and sharing of the common fund must be tied to the property rate collection potentials of each assembly.

“I don’t see, for example, why AMA, KMA and STMA should be paid huge sums of money from the district assemblies common fund when there are poor assemblies who cannot afford because the kind of revenue that they are collecting from property rate are so low; yet we give all the money to the big assemblies,” he stated.

Prof. Asiamah has observed the Accra, Kumasi and Secondi-Takoradi Metropolitan Assemblies have huge opportunities to generate revenue from property rate collection.

He spoke in an interview at a symposium in Kumasi on the value of commercial properties and the effect on doing business in Ghana, organized by at Good Governance Africa (GGA) – West African Centre, an independent research and advocacy organization.

The event was on the theme: “Towards Improved Revenue Generation in Ghana: The Role of the Development and Use of Commercial Properties in Ghana”.

According to Prof. Asiama, cities and towns are not development to a faster pace because assemblies receive cheap money from the Common Fund, hence fail to be proactive in property rate collection.

He is also advocating taxation on idle lands to compel people to develop their lands “rather than leaving them idle and creaming off profits when the value has increased and just have to sell them”.

Head of Land Economy Department at the KNUST, Jonathan Ayitey, says the real estate industry has huge capital potentials yet to be tapped.

He identified and categorized commercial properties in Ghana and the key drivers of rents and rates for commercial properties in urban settlements in Ghana.

Participants commended GGA for providing the platform to enlighten the public on the opportunities and challenges in the sector, especially in rent charges.

Chief Executive of GGA-West Africa, Tina Asante-Apeatu, says outcomes of the engagement will be put into policy papers to drive national planning.

Story by Kofi Adu Domfeh

Tax credit scheme proposed for companies to employ fresh graduates

Ghanaian companies will be in position to offer jobs to fresh graduates if government pursues a policy of establishing an employment tax credit scheme for businesses.
 

That is according to economist and presidential running mate of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia.

He says whilst providing incentives to companies, the burden of high taxation on businesses should also be revised.

“Ghana should focus on providing tax incentives for increasing production and generating employment,” he said. “In the process, revenue can be raised from corporate taxes…what we should not allow to happen is the desire to generate revenue to kill businesses and cause unemployment.”

Dr. Bawumia was delivering a public lecture in Kumasi on the theme: “High Graduate Unemployment and Employment Embargo, What is the Solution?” It was organized by the KNUST Economic Students Association.

He has proposed that companies willing to employ fresh graduates should be given tax incentives and rebates.

“To demonstrate our focus on productivity and jobs for the youth in Ghana, particularly graduates, we should introduce employment tax credit scheme to provide incentive for companies that employ fresh graduates,” he said.

Dr. Bawumia believes the value chain of Ghana’s housing market holds a great potential to solving the high graduate unemployment by specifically tackling the mortgage market.

He however said one of the biggest threats to battling the country’s unemployment is high borrowing and debt non-sustainability, which he says leads to a slum in the economy.

He observed an operational national identification and good addressing system will help drive growth and build new businesses that will employ graduates.

Story by Kofi Adu Domfeh

Water for sustainable livelihoods

This year’s World Water Day (WWD) is on the theme “Water and Jobs.”

In Ghana, the national celebration is focused on “Improved Safe Water Access for Sustainable Livelihoods” to highlight the two-way relationship between water and the decent work agenda in the quest for sustainable development.

The National Planning Committee of the World Water Day, under the auspices of the Ministry of Water Resources, Works and Housing, has lined up some activities to commemorate the March 22 event.

The Committee believes “the growing problems associated with water resources, like drought, flooding and pollution can be addressed by implementing water-efficient and sustainable projects”. Such investments, it noted, can also create thousands of jobs from plumbers to landscapers, engineers to irrigation specialists.

Read more of the statement...

In view of its importance to every aspect of life, there is the need to ensure sustainability of water supply. This refers to the sufficient availability of and access to water into the foreseeable future. Sustainable water systems should provide adequate water quantity and appropriate water quality for a given need, without compromising the future ability to provide this capacity and quality.

However, ensuring sustainable supply of access to water is an increasingly critical challenge arising from the fact that globally, water as a resource is changing due to population growth and migration, land use pressures and energy choices, and the changing climate. These factors are causing changes in water quantity, availability, and quality. The change in water resources is evidenced by its scarcity that afflicts poor people the most.

In Ghana, the current situation where parts of the country experiences acute water scarcity, requires strategic investment in water-efficiency and sustainable water management. This will provide great prospects for partnerships between businesses, water experts, community based organisations and policy makers to design projects and policies on a win-win basis for jobs and water improvements.Making these investments will strategically catalyze economic growth, develop local industries, and create more jobs for the people.

Consequently, any agenda to attract direct investment including particularly from the private sector to create sustainable water jobs, should also aim at meeting the demands of existing businesses and communities for high quality water and security of supply.

Additionally, any job creation and service provision agenda should target the rehabilitation of water reservoirs and irrigation schemes as these can enhance food security and create work opportunities for many, especially women in rural areas.

The reality of a climate myth

The United Nations marked World Happiness Day 2016 with a call on young people to take climate action. 

A release I shared on my blog generated interesting comments of diverse shades in opinion. Whilst some have lauded the UN initiative, other questioned the concept of an angry bird to drive the campaign. 

However, what caught my attention is doubts cast on the reality of climate change. 

According to Alan West of the Private Practice Law Industry, “Man Made Global Warming is a MYTH pushed by the world's snake oil salesman to make themselves filthy rich. The earth has been cooling for the past 16 years, and the Polar Icecaps are expanding....an INCONVIENIENT TRUTH!”

Nrec LLeshaj of the New Jerusalem also shared an interesting perspective:

“Once I was in a hurricane and I asked one question: Does the nature know if people are being hurt? The answer is NO. Nature only knows how to keep itself in existence for 4 billion years and continues to do so very well. That day I walked in the woods and was amazed to see that every dead tree and dead branch was eliminated and knocked out to the ground, then I realized how beautifully the nature correspond to it's work. The light, the air, the water and the environment all work for us and not against us to make human life possible on this planet. The question is are we doing enough not to make the nature go mad on us? Example Ice age or global warming all happen for a reason and that is to renew the face of the earth.”

Indeed the debate on the reality or myth of climate change remains ongoing.

However, I can say for a fact that the farmer in my village of Mampong Asaam in the Ashanti region of Ghana can successfully cultivate her groundnuts and yam with the aid of the weather. 

The non-predictability of the season is a reality the average farmer cannot deny. The rains come unexpectedly and when it comes, it is torrential to the bane of good soils and sustainable production. 

I believe the science and politics of global warming should not blind the world to the adaptation needs of vulnerable communities to the changing climate.

Young people encouraged to take action on climate change and make Angry Birds happy

The United Nations has announced a campaign to encourage young people to step up their actions to address climate change and ensure a sustainable and happier future for all.

The campaign is launched in partnership with the Angry Birds – the globally renowned mobile game characters – to make a direct link between tackling climate change and people’s happiness and well-being on the occasion of the International Day of Happiness.

“The Angry Birds have entertained millions of people around the world – and now they are part of making the world a better place,” said Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who appointed Red of the Angry Birds as an Honorary Ambassador for Green at a launch event at UN Headquarters in New York.

“We are proud to give Red a reason to go Green. There is no better way to mark the International Day of Happiness than to have our animated ambassador raise awareness about the importance of addressing climate change to create a safer, more sustainable and happier future for all,” Mr. Ban said.

The campaign, in partnership with Sony Pictures Entertainment, the UN Development Programme and UN Foundation, asks the general public across the world to make the Angry Birds happy by taking actions on climate change.

This includes sharing their photos and commitments on social media platforms using the common hashtag #AngryBirdsHappyPlanet.

By recycling, taking public transportation and conserving water, for example, individuals can share tips on how they can live sustainably and happily in their everyday lives.

As part of his ambassadorial duties, Red will go on a “virtual world tour” starting on 21 March, highlighting various ways to take climate action. His tour will take him to Paris, where countries adopted an historic agreement to address climate change in December, and will end in New York, where world leaders will sign the Paris Agreement at UN Headquarters on 22 April.

Celebrated annually on 20 March, the International Day of Happiness is an important observance to acknowledge that happiness and well-being are universal goals and aspirations in the lives of all people around the world and the importance of their recognition in public policy objectives.

The Day this year focuses on the relationship between having a healthy planet and our happiness.
 

Bold, coordinated, worldwide actions to “Break Free from Fossil Fuels”

The global platform “Break Free” has been launched, featuring a series of peaceful, coordinated actions that aim to disrupt the fossil-fuel industry’s power by targeting the world’s most dangerous and unnecessary fossil fuel projects.

This May, thousands of people from around the world will join actions taking place across 6 continents aiming to halt dirty fossil fuel operations and demonstrate support for an accelerated ‘just transition’ to 100% renewable energy.

Major actions are currently planned in countries such as Indonesia, Nigeria, Brazil, US, Germany, Philippines, Australia and more – led by the communities that have spent years already fighting dangerous fossil fuel projects.

“Hot on the heels of the largest ever climate mobilisations in history activists are once again stepping back into the ring to strike a body blow against a fossil fuel industry that’s on its knees.” said Wael Hmaidan, the Director of Climate Action Network. “More and more people are joining the fight because they see how fossil fuels are destroying the planet, risking the economy, and creating injustice for local communities. The movement is here to stay, there is no end to it, until the final bell tolls for the fossil fuel industry.”

On the back of the hottest year in recorded history, communities worldwide are demanding governments put words into action after delivering the historic Paris Agreement in December where 196 parties signalled the end of the fossil fuel era.

In order to address the current climate crisis and keep global warming below 1.5C degrees fossil fuel projects need to be shelved and existing infrastructure needs to be replaced, now.

“The science is clear: we need to keep at least 80%, if not more, of fossil fuel reserves in the ground,” said Payal Parekh, the Global Managing Director of 350.org. “Communities worldwide are experiencing firsthand the consequences of climate change and the damage inflicted by the fossil fuel industry. It’s up to us to break free from fossil fuels and accelerate the shift towards a just transition to 100% renewable energy. It’s in our hands to close the gap between what current commitments will achieve and what science demands is necessary in order to protect our common home.”

The climate movement’s commitment to scaling up its resistance to the fossil fuel industry comes at a time when renewable energy is already more affordable and widespread than ever before. These new tools give communities at the front lines of climate change new ways to respond to the crisis and build their own power.

“Moving towards 100% renewable energy is possible with the political will to make the change” said Arif Fiyanto, Coal Campaigner at Greenpeace Indonesia. “There are no major economic or technical barriers to a future supported by renewable energy. Any new infrastructure built to support fossil fuels expansion, such as coal mines, power plants, oil rigs and export terminals will be a waste of money and further lock us into a path to irreversible climate change”.

Post-Paris, the fossil fuel industry is running scared with prices plunging and companies going bankrupt. Now, ramped up civil disobedience will show that the industry’s social licence to operate is fast evaporating. Such peaceful civil disobedience brings people from all walks of life, and not just seasoned climate activists, to challenge both politicians and polluters to accelerate the unstoppable energy transition already underway.

One such example is last year’s Ende Gelände (Here And No Further), which saw 1500 people take part in a daring act of civil disobedience to shut down Europe’s biggest source of CO2 emissions.

On the urgency at hand, Hannah Eichberger from this grassroots anti-coal alliance said: “It’s time now for a grassroots energy transition that does not only exchange one source of energy for the other but that tackles the root causes of natural destruction and social injustice: corporate power.”

The struggles against the fossil fuel industry and the environmental, social, economic and political destruction they’ve wielded has been underway across regions for many years.

"Fossil fuels have brought horrendous pollutions to the Niger Delta alongside unimaginable human rights abuses while severely harming communities, said Nnimmo Bassey, Nigerian activist from the Health of Mother Earth Foundation, “We cannot allow fossil fuel addicts to burn the planet. The time for the shift is now. No one will set us free. We must break free ourselves, now" he added.

These peaceful worldwide mobilisations taking place in May serve as an important point in the climate movement’s trajectory to increase pressure on the fossil fuel industry. The global struggle to finally break free from fossil fuels will continue making this a struggle the world cannot ignore.