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‘Body odour can push partners away’

The Director at the Department of Gender in the Upper West Region, Ms Charity Bature has advised married women to maintain a healthy body and practise good personal hygiene to keep their husbands at home.

She explained that having body odour due to lack of good personal hygiene could push married men away from the home and force them to “recruit” other women to perform the duties of wives.

She maintained that it was necessary for women to take very good care of their bodies, especially during their menstrual cycle to prevent them from infections and other issues.

Ms Bature stated this at a day’s workshop orgainsed by the department for female artisans in the region on sexual and reproductive health issues.

The programme, which was supported by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) discussed issues such as safe sex devoid of sexually transmitted infections and diseases (STIs/Ds), personal hygiene during menstruation and sex as well as gender based violence (SGBV).

She explained that sensitisation programmes organised earlier by the Department of Gender had targeted females in the formal sector to the neglect of others, therefore, the workshop at Wa was to ensure that every woman was sensitised to SGBV issues regardless of their social status.

Ms Bature advised women to bath regularly, change their sanitary pads often, wash their private parts with only water to avoid rashes and other infections and also ensure that they discarded their sanitary pads appropriately.

She expressed the need for unmarried persons to abstain from sex but advised that if they could not, then they should indulge in safe and protected sex.

The director defined safe sex as “the use of condoms to reduce the risk of transmitting or acquiring STI/Ds” and said the only form of contraceptive that prevented the transmission of STIs was the condom.

She indicated that STIs/Ds such as gonorrhoea, syphilis and the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) could cause symptoms such as fever, sores around the mouth, anal itching, bleeding and soreness, frequent urination as well as itching or redness around the genitals.

She cautioned women against having multiple sexual partners which according to her could easily lead to the acquisition of an STI/D.

Touching on SGBV issues, Ms Bature explained that if women were adequate and self-sufficient, the likelihood of suffering abuse from men would be quite minimal and urged them to develop themselves in order to remain independent.

“When women have their own means of sustenance, they will not overly depend on a man for their every need so that when the men withhold those needs from them they are unable to function,” she said.

In light of this, the director encouraged the women to endeavour to educate their female children and give them skills training to ensure that they were gainfully employed so they would not fall victim to unscrupulous men.

Some participants who spoke to The Spectator lauded the department for the training and said it had broadened their horizon how to handle issues regarding their reproductive health and family life.

From Lydia Darlington Fordjour, Wa

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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