News
BOST, COCOBOD close offices to protect workers against COVID-19
The Bulk Oil Storage and Transportation Company Limited (BOST) and the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) have announced the closure of their head offices in Accra, to ensure the safety of their staff against the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
This was after some staff of the two state owned institutions tested positive of the coronavirus following a mass testing exercise carried out by management.
About 46 out of the 162 members of staff at the Information Technology (IT) department at the head office of BOST at Dzorwulu in the Ayawaso West Municipality, Accra, representing 28.4 per cent have tested positive for the disease.
A statement issued and signed by company’s Corporate Communications Department said “after the mass testing, a number of the staff tested positive and arrangements are being made for their treatment”.
It said this has necessitated the closure of the head office to the public, adding that contact tracing would be carried out on staff who tested positive to start self isolation immediately.
Furthermore, the statement stated that the head office would be fumigated over the period, to ensure the safety of staff was not compromised when work resumed.
“Management would further like to assure the general public that this arrangement will not negatively impact the operations of the company since all staff have the needed facilities and enhancements to work from home within the period,” it said.
Meanwhile a source told the Ghanaian Times that some of the affected staff were working from home as a control measure.
The COCOBOD on its part, will close down its head office for a fumigation exercise from today, July 8, 2020, to Friday, July 10, 2020.
This is after some of its workers tested positive for COVID-19 during a mass testing exercise.
According to a press release from COCOBOD on Monday, July 6, 2020, the closure “has become necessary due to the mass testing the organisation is currently undertaking which has resulted in some staff members testing positive for COVID-19.”
“All necessary arrangements have been made for the affected staff to receive the necessary medical attention and contact tracing is currently ongoing to enforce quarantine and isolation measures,” the statement added.
The COCOBOD has thus urged all individuals and companies with urgent business to contact its online portal.
COCOBOD was the latest workplace to be hit by significant COVID-19 infections.
The government has noted workplaces as contributing to recent surges in COVID-19 cases.
The BOST on Monday closed down its head office at Dzorwulu after 46 employees tested positive for the virus.
At a fish-processing factory in Tema, one worker was believed to have infected 533 other workers at the facility, contributing to the surge in cases in those areas.
The spread of the disease at the factory garnered international attention as it was the largest number of confirmed cases within a single organisation in Ghana.
In Obuasi, a surge in cases in May was traced to a couple doing business in the central market.
The workplace cases compelled the government to outline safety measures to guide institutions in tackling the spread of the virus at their premises.
Ghana’s COVID-19 case count currently stood at 21,968, at the latest count.
BOST, COCOBOD close offices to protect workers against COVID-19
Source: Ghanaian Times
News
Ghana-Colombia strengthens ties through diplomatic engagement
In an important diplomatic engagement, the Colombian Ambassador to Ghana H.E. Daniel Garces Carabali paid a courtesy call on the Minister for the Interior, Muntaka Mohammed-Mubarak, at his office in Accra to discuss some key areas of collaboration.
The meeting focused on pressing issues, including security, decongestion of Ghana’s prisons, prison reform programmes, training programmes, improving the welfare of prisoners and enhancing disaster management in the country.
The courtesy call underscores the growing bilateral ties between Ghana and Colombia, building on previous engagements, such as the visit of the Colombian Vice President to Ghana in 2023.
The meeting demonstrates the commitment of both nations to fostering cooperation and addressing shared challenges.
News
Ghana to host African Catholic Journalists from August 10
The Union Catholique Africaine de la Presse (UCAP), also known as the African Catholic Union of the Press, in collaboration with the Catholic Association of Media Practitioners-Ghana (CAMP-G), is set to host its prestigious Triennial Congress from August 10 to 17 August, 2025.
The programme would be held at the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA), Legon, Accra, Ghana.
This landmark event, the most significant gathering of Catholic journalists in Africa, will bring together media professionals, researchers, and experts in digital technology from across the continent and beyond.
The theme for the Congress is: “Balancing Technological Progress and the Preservation of Human Values in the Age of Artificial Intelligence.”
Congress Highlights
The UCAP Congress 2025 will feature discussions and deliberations on critical issues arising from or related to integral human development, particularly within the framework of Artificial Intelligence (AI).
Some of the key sub-themes to be addressed include:Corporate Social Responsibility in Managing the Impact of Artificial Intelligence on Human Values, Deploying AI in Eco-friendly Business Start-ups in Africa: Opportunities and Challenges, Technology and the Reprogramming of Social Reality, Distortion of Reality in Social and Digital Media, Ecological Education and Action Against Unsustainable Exploitation of Natural Resources, and Media and the Promotion of the Recommendations of the Synod on Synodality in Africa.
Participants will include media professionals from both ecclesiastical and lay organisations, media researchers and academics, representatives from the Vatican, government agencies, NGOs, civil society, and the digital technology sector.
Objectives of the Congress
The primary goal of this Congress is to strengthen the capacities of media professionals and educate the public on the necessity of preserving human values amid rapid technological progress. Specific objectives include; Training 100 media practitioners in Artificial Intelligence and emerging technologies, with a focus on balancing innovation and human values.
This will include promoting ethics and bioethics in technical research and technological innovations through media.
Advocating for human values such as respect for life, human dignity, charity, solidarity, and human rights and assessing the impact of technological progress to better understand the challenges, risks, and opportunities presented by AI will be part of the objectives.
UCAP is a continental organisation dedicated to promoting communication within the Catholic Church and its partners in Africa. With a mission to foster spiritual growth, collaboration, and responsible journalism, UCAP works to spread the Gospel, uphold human values, and support developmental initiatives across Africa and beyond.
UCAP is an independent, autonomous, non-political, and non-profit organisation comprising African Catholic journalists, communicators, academics, researchers, and institutions in various media fields.
