The Leadership of Parliament, with support from the STAR Ghana Foundation, has engaged with representatives of various media houses in Ghana. The event, which was on the theme: “Bringing Parliament closer to the Media: The Role of the Parliamentary Press Corps,” forms part of the efforts to ensure that Parliament engages regularly with members of the Parliamentary Press Corps as key stakeholders in reaching the citizenry.
The Majority Leader of Parliament, Hon. Osei-Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu in his address indicated that the current session of the house would have 35 Bills for presentations within eight weeks of sitting, adding that, because of the tight schedule of the House, it would have to prioritize the list of urgent bills in the legislature.
Hon. Alhaji Inusah Fuseini, Ranking Member on Constitutional and Legal Affairs who represented the Minority Leader, Hon. Haruna Iddrisu commended the media for “shining the light on the ignorance of darkness.” He said given the opportunity, the media should be able to assess the performance of Parliament as well as the output of the lawmakers.
Participants at the event had the opportunity to get feedback and updates on issues such as the Affirmative Action Bill, the Customs Amendment Bill, etc from the Leadership of Parliament.
Related projects
STAR-Ghana Foundation advocates citizens activism ahead of Election 2020
Acting Head of Policy and programmes, STAR Ghana Foundation, Teiko Sabah, has called on Ghanaians to “stand up and take their stance as Ghana gears up for general elections this year”. She said by doing so, politicians will take them seriously. She noted that consensus building is the way forward and urged Ghanaians to put the country first and make it work. Mrs. Sabah was moderating the final edition of `WE THE PEOPLE,` a television platform that discussed “the aborted Referendum to amend Article 55 (3) and lessons for Ghana’s local governance”.
`We the People” on GTV and GTV-News is a platform instituted by the Ghana Journalists Association, GJA with support from STAR-Ghana Foundation, as part of an 18-month project dubbed, “Enhanced Media-CSO Partnerships for Inclusive Local Governance”. Under the project, the GJA built the capacity of Journalists who worked meticulously with CSOs to influence critical local governance policies and other developmental issues that directly affect women, youth, and persons with disability, children, and socially excluded persons in the communities. Overall, the interventions contributed to enrich citizens’ access to quality information through structured media platforms and CSOs outlets.
Speaking as a panel member on the show, the UNDP Technical Advisor to the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development, Dr. Eric Oduro Osae, said that the country’s governance system must be redesigned and structured to create space for minority parties to operate. He said Ghana is gradually drifting to becoming a two-party state, which is inimical to the country’s democratic growth, adding “the subject of political party’s funding needs to be revisited’’.
Senior Research Fellow at the Institute for Democratic Governance, IDEG Dr. Kwesi Jonah, on his part bemoaned the lack of consensus leading up to the intended referendum to amend article 55(3). He said: “There was the lack of coordination among institutions that championed the campaigns… for the suspended referendum to amend article 55 (3) to have successfully gone through, it should have been pursued as a national project.”
The President of the GJA, Roland Affail Monney, expressed concern about the “over politicisation of issues”, in Ghana. Mr. Monney said the over politicization is issues, dominated by entrenched positions of the two major parties, NDC and NPP opposing all initiatives of the other party, is inimical to development. Mr. Monney said unless the two close gaps and ‘’create a common ground with a nationalist message, achieving national consensus would be a mirage.’’
Private Legal Practitioner, Samson Anyenini, affirmed that amendment to article 55(3) was not a panacea to breaking the winner takes all system, stating there are no scientific basis for making such conclusions. He called for the empowerment of marginalised groups to participate in local governance.
In attendance were representatives of Civil Society Organisations including Persons with Disabilities (PWDs), members of the Ghana Journalist Association, representatives of STAR Ghana Foundation, Students among others.
Prof. Agnes Atia Apusigah is first female Vice President of the Regentropfen College of Applied Sciences
The Council and Board of Directors of the Regentropfen College of Applied Sciences, located at Namoo in the Bongo District of the Upper East Region, has appointed Professor Agnes Atia Apusigah, Development Sociologist, as its Vice President.
Prof. Atia Apusigah is a Subscriber to the STAR Ghana Foundation and a member of the Governing Council (GC) of same. She chairs the Gender and Social Inclusion Committee (GSIC) of the GC. Prof. Apusigah previously served as a member of the Steering Committee of the STAR-Ghana Programme from 2010 to 2018.
Prof. Apusigah is a social critic and a feminist activist with extensive experience working with civil society organisations and donor agencies. Her work with civil society has centered on research, policy development, capacity-building, programming support, and project evaluation. She currently chairs the governing board of Afrikids Ghana and is also a member of the Network for Women’s Rights (NETRIGHT) in Ghana
She holds a PhD in Cultural Studies with Curriculum Studies from the Queen's University at Kingston, Ontario, Canada. She has immensely contributed to research particularly in the areas of: political economy of African development, indigenous knowledge systems, gender studies, and educational policy and reforms. Her recent publications include Bridging Worlds, Teacher Professionalism and Educational Quality in Ghana (with LA Alagbela) and Women’s Movement and Political Change in West Africa.
The Chairperson, members of the Governing Council, and the entire fraternity of the STAR Ghana Foundation wish to extend our congratulations to Prof. Apusigah.
We are hiring - Programme Support Officer
Programme Support Officer – STAR-Ghana
Salary (full time): GHS 50,000 – GHS 56,000
Type of contract: Fixed Term
Contracted hours:35
Contract length: October 18, 2020
Location: Accra, Ghana
Closing date: 31 May 2018
Interview date: 4 June 2018
About us
Christian Aid has a vision: a world free from poverty. To do that we are committed to exposing the scandal of poverty, helping in practical ways to root it out from the world, and to challenging and changing the systems that favour the rich and powerful over the poor and marginalized. Christian Aid is seeking staff to manage a major donor funded accountability programme in Ghana.
About the role
The Programme Support Officer will ensure the effective and efficient administrative functioning of the programme office and activities undertaken. The officer will have responsibility for the day to day running of the office in an efficient and cost effective manner in line with the programme’s Operations Manual. Major responsibilities include providing logistics to support the smooth functioning of the office and programme events, secretariat support to the Steering Committee, supporting in office administration, implementing office procedures and processes, provision of support for the smooth and effective implementation of programmes and supervision of support staff.
About you
You must have work experience in NGO sector in administration and logistics functions. You should be confident to work in a large organisation with multiple partners. You must have knowledge and experience in basic accounting. You must have a knowledge and mastery of Microsoft Office suit.
Further information
This role requires applicants to have the right to work in the country where this position is based.
We value diversity and aspire to reflect this in its workforce. We welcome applications from people from all sections of the community, irrespective of race, colour, gender, age, disability, sexual orientation, religion or belief.
You can expect a wide range of rewards and benefits and flexibility that will ensure you enjoy a good work/life balance.
Competency questions
As part of your application you will be asked to demonstrate your suitability by giving answers to the following questions:
Building Partnerships
Tell us about a time when you worked in a helpful and cooperative way with others and provided help to them without being asked. What was the situation? What help was needed? What was expected of you in the situation? What was your task here? What actions did you take? Why did you take that action(s)? What was the outcome of your actions? What was the impact? How did you know?
Communicate Effectively
Tell us about a time when you needed to explain something in a simple or different way because someone appeared to have not understood you. What was the context? What was your task? What did you have to communicate differently? What did you say? How did you say it? What was the result? Were you successful? If so, how did you know?
Steward Resources
Please give us an example of how you have taken account of the need to use resources economically and without unnecessary waste when planning and delivering your work. What was the situation? What was your task? What was expected of you? What action(s) did you take? Why? What was the outcome? How did you know you were successful in using resources economically?