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43-yr old barber initiates environmental campaign to keep Oti river clean
‘Do The Right Thing’ at work at the landing site of the Oti river
A 43-year old barber, Mr Gilbert Addae, popularly known as ‘Do the Right Thing’ has turned himself into an environmental crusader, undertaking regular clean-up exercise at the landing sites of the Oti river at Dambai, in the Krachi-East Municipality of the Oti Region.
The decision was to create awareness on environmental cleanliness to enable him change the negative attitude of people about the environment, and avoid littering their communities, particularly the landing sites at Dambai.
Speaking in an interview, Mr Addae explained that he developed an interest in keeping the surroundings of river Oti clean for the past four years.
According to Mr Addae, he made cleaning the landing site a major responsibility, hoping that people would appreciate his efforts, emulate and join him, and in the process stop littering around the water body, which served as a major source of water for the people.
Sadly, he said it appears his efforts is going unnoticed, saying that, “the greatest appreciation I expected was for the residents to stop littering around water bodies and the environment, but anytime I clean, the following day one would see a new heap of rubbish.”
According to Mr Addae, he leaves his barbering shop in the morning for the clean-up exercise and follow up with education on the need to keep their surroundings clean, particularly fishermen, passengers of the pontoon and traders.
Mr ‘Do the Right Thing’ said the Oti Regional Director of Environmental Health (RDEH), Mrs Sybil Marie Boison, had helped in carrying out his new found passion by buying him a smart phone and provided him with reflective uniforms, wellington boots and hand gloves.
Mr Addae further explained that the smartphone helped him to call the Regional Director for advice whenever he needed technical support to enable him perform his unofficial duties well.
Moreover, Mr Addae stated that after four years of collecting waste material at the landing site, he became used to not only keeping the area clean but rather extends to the entire environment.
But that, he said, has not affected his barbering business which he maintains a high level of concentration on.
“This is not affecting my business at all. After going about my clean-up campaign, I return to my shop to do my barbering business in the afternoon,” he added.
For the long term, ‘Do The Right Thing’ has a vision to form groups in order to educate people on environmental cleanliness beyond the Krachi-East Municipality.
When contacted, the Oti Regional Director of Environmental Health, Mrs Sybil Marie Boison, commended ‘Do the Right Thing’ for the passion to clean the surroundings of the Oti river, and asked others to emulate his good example to ensure a clean community.
From Samuel Agbewode , Dambai
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GEXIM deepens relations with US EXIM Bank
A management team of the Ghana Export – Import Bank (GEXIM) led by the Acting Chief Executive, Sylvester Mensah met with the leadership of the Export–Import Bank of the United States (US EXIM) on Wednesday April 23, 2025 in Washington DC, United States of America.
The Acting President and Chairman of US EXIM, Mr. James C. Cruse and Vice President, International Relations, Ms. Isabel Galdiz received the GEXIM delegation, which included Deputy CEO for Banking, Mr. Moses Klu Mensah and Head of International Cooperation, Mr. Jonathan Christopher Koney at the headquarters of US EXIM.
The meeting offered the GEXIM team the opportunity to share the strategic direction of the Bank in line with the resetting agenda of the President of the Republic, His Excellency John Dramani Mahama for the repositioning of the Ghanaian economy into an export-led one by providing the requisite investment to Ghanaian businesses.
Mr. James C. Cruse expressed US EXIM’s eagerness to deepen its existing relations with GEXIM and proposed the signing of a new Cooperative Framework Agreement following the expiration of a Memorandum of Understanding signed in 2019 to utilize US EXIM’s medium term loan guarantees to procure machinery by GEXIM for qualified Ghanaian Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs).
Mr.Sylvester Mensah thanked the Acting President and Chairman of US EXIM for hosting the GEXIM delegation and reaffirmed the Ghanaian government’s commitment to strengthening trade and investment between Ghana and its global partners for economic transformation of Ghana with GEXIM playing a pivotal role.
The two teams will be meeting on the sidelines of the 2025 US EXIM Annual Conference on 29th and April 30, 2025 to explore possible areas of collaboration and matching Ghanaian businesses to American companies. The meeting ended with an exchange of gifts.
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Many SOEs have been used as mere instruments for personal wealth accumulation –Pres.Mahama
President John Dramani Mahama has expressed concern over the misuse of State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) for personal financial gain by individuals in leadership positions.
Speaking during a meeting with Chief Executives of specified entities under the State Interest and Governance Authority (SIGA) on Thursday, March 13, the President directly attributed the dire state of SOEs to their leadership, accusing chief executives, management teams, and governing boards of prioritising personal enrichment over organisational efficiency.
He pointed to bloated budgets, unjustified allowances, and unnecessary expenditures as factors draining public funds while SOEs continue to rely on government bailouts.
“Many SOEs have been used as mere instruments for personal wealth accumulation by appointees. The chief executives, management, and boards of these enterprises are responsible for this situation. Some SOEs have become perennial loss-makers, draining public funds with bloated budgets, unjustified allowances, and unnecessary expenditures while relying on government bailouts as if entitled to them. Many of these entities are at their lowest point in the entire history of the Fourth Republic,” he said.
President Mahama further noted that many SOEs have been plagued by inefficiencies, corruption, and mismanagement, leading to consistent financial losses. He cited the 2023 State Ownership Report by the State Interests and Governance Authority (SIGA), which highlighted systemic inefficiencies and wasteful expenditures within these entities.
He therefore reaffirmed his commitment to reforming under-performing SOEs and ensuring they serve national interests.
He warned that loss-making SOEs will no longer be tolerated and will either be merged, privatised, or closed.
“I will assess you based on your performance. If you do not align with the pace of the reset agenda, you may be asked to step aside. If that adds to the horror movie, so be it,” he added.
Source: Myjoyonline.com
