Ghanaian press focuses on plans by VP to inject 2,000 megawatts of solar power, others

The plan by Vice-President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia to augment the current power production of the country with 2,000 megawatts of solar power should he become the leader of the country is one of the trending stories in the Ghanaian press on Thursday.
The Graphic reports that Vice-President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia has assured Ghanaians and the business community that he will augment the current power production of the country with 2,000 megawatts of solar power should he become the leader of the country.
He said he was aware of the increased cost of electricity in doing business, among other challenges but expressed the hope that the 2,000 megawatts of solar power, which was about half of the total electricity consumption of the country, would boost businesses and also reduce the cost of power.
Dr Bawumia, who was speaking during a meeting with members of the Council of Indigenous Business Association (CIBA) in Accra last Monday, urged traders and businesses to support his bid to be successful in the forthcoming Presidential election in December to help realise that dream.
He called on Ghanaians to give him the chance to be President, saying “I am currently a Vice-President, someone was President, I have not been President before, so give me the chance to be President and you will notice the work I will do.”
“I know I will come to you again after you give me the chance in this year’s elections and so I will work very hard. Someone will come and have a honeymoon because he has just four years,” he added.
The CIBA, which is a group of indigenous businesses, includes the Ghana National Association of Garages, the Ghana Bar Operators Association, the Market Traders Association, the Ghana Traditional Caterers Association, the Ghana National Tailors and Dressmakers Association and the National Refrigerators and Air Condition Workshop Owners Association.
The newspaper says that a new study by the Private Enterprises Federation (PEF) has indicated that the cost of tax compliance by the micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) is too high.
This is because the tax laws are too complicated for them to understand, a development which compels most of them to engage the services of professional accountants and experts at a high fee in their quest to be tax compliant.
That imposes an extra cost on some of these small businesses which are still trying to find their feet.
Speaking in an interview with the Daily Graphic on the sidelines of a dialogue meeting on the current tax regime in the country with some members of the Finance Committee in Parliament, Dr Isaac Nyame, who led the study said looking at the nature of their businesses, there was the need for the authorities to simplify their tax regime for easy understanding and compliance.
“They have to engage experts to prepare financial statements and file their taxes because understanding the tax regime is even a big issue for them.
We noticed a complete lack of education about the various taxes that affect their businesses and they are at a loss as to who they should approach to get the necessary education,” he stated.
The Ghanaian Times reports that the West African Examination Coun¬cil (WAEC) says its inability to pay some invigilators and supervisors is due to the government’s indebt¬edness of GH¢57.3 million for examinations conducted in 2022 and 2023.
The indebtedness for 2022 is GH¢ 9.9 million while that of 2023 is GH¢47.4 million, compris¬ing GH¢40 million for the main examination and GH¢7.4 million for practical.
The WAEC National Office Director of Finance, Cornelius Azumah, who disclosed this in Ac¬cra yesterday, has therefore, assured the service providers that efforts were underway to get the money from the government in order to pay them.
“In 2022, we had to use some fees received for 2023 examination to pay supervisors and invigilators for 2022. We have been following upon that and they promise that they will release funds to add soon so that we can pay the supervisors and invigilators for 2023 and get them ready for 2024 examination,” he said.
“So far we have taken some funds from them and we still have some arrears to receive,” he said in response to a question on the Council’s delay in paying service providers of the examinations conducted in the period.
The press conference was to an¬nounce the opening of the WAEC portal for registration of candidates for the three examinations to be conducted by the Council this year.
The Head of Public Affairs of the WAEC National Office, John Kapi, said the portal for the Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) for school and private can¬didates, opened on March 11, and costing GH¢214.01 for registration, would be closed on Friday, April 19, 2024.
He said the examination would be written from July 8 to 12, 2024, noting that the school candidates would be examined on the com¬mon core curriculum and the pri¬vate candidates on the old syllabus.
For the West African Secondary School Examination (WASSCE), which would once again be a Ghana only examination, he said, it would be administered from Au¬gust 5 to September 27, 2024.
“Despite the difference in period for the conduct of the examina¬tion, the standard of the examina¬tion remains unchanged,” he said.
The newspaper says that the Black Stars Head, Coach Otto Addo, has indicated that it will take a lot of work to get the Black Stars back to the top.
Speaking after Ghana drew 2-2 with Uganda in an international friendly game in Morocco, he admitted the team was not playing well even at the time he took over, but believes they are good enough to reach the level Ghanaians ex¬pect to see them.
Ghana got goals from Jerome Opoku and Jordan Ayew but missed out on holding on to the lead twice with Kotoko’s Mukwala scoring in the game.
Coming after a 2-1 defeat against Nigeria in a similar friendly a few days earlier, Addo stated that the turnaround was going to take time.
“Finishing must be better under pressure. It’s a lot of work, it’s a lot of work, but I have to say this is what I expected because…we were not good even before I came so it’s a process.”
The Black Stars coach was also not happy with his charges level of discipline after completing the two international friendly games against Nigeria and Uganda.
Against Nigeria, defender Jerome Opoku was sent off in the 56th minute for an apparent dissent towards the referee.
In the draw against Uganda, Ghana defenders, Mohammed Salisu and Alidu Seidu, were dis¬missed from the game in the 89th and 93rd minute respectively.
According to Otto Addo, that was far from pleased over the dismissals, stating that “I think the discipline off the pitch was very good in this camp but the disci¬pline on the pitch, to play good, play hard but intelligent and not getting silly yellow and red cards.”
“Discipline has to be much bet¬ter and this is something that we have to address and we addressed it even after the match which we have to work on.”
GIK/APA