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‘Create family size you can cater for’

●●Mr Braimah (middle) interacting with the people at the event

A member of staff of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) in Accra, Mr Abass Braimah, has charged men to create family sizes they could easily cater for to avoid raising irresponsible children in society.

He explained that parents had the task of supporting their wards physically, psychologically and mentally and, therefore, would need to have the right number of children they could care for in their homes.

He said that even though some religions permitted men to marry more than one woman, the same God would hold every man who was unable to cater for his children responsible for producing more children he could contain.

Mr Braimah was speaking at the National launch of the Child Marriage Campaign at Dondoli in the Upper West Region. The campaign which was at the behest of the Planned Parenthood Association of Ghana (PPAG) with support from the UNFPA sought to enhance mechanisms for reporting child marriage and other abuse cases against children to the appropriate authorities for redress.

“As a Muslim, even though I am entitled to more than a wife, my busy schedule at work will not enable me cater for many children than I have at the moment; and it is not just about money but being able to thoroughly monitor and discipline them so that they grow up as responsible adults”, he said.

Mr. Braimah said that many children these days grew up in families where some parents were not aware of their daily movement as a result of raising money to cater for the home stressing that it was advisable to stick to a smaller family size.

“Sometimes social vices among children occur when a man marries more than one woman and has more children he can not cater for that is why the Holy Quran enjoins men to only go in for those additional wives when they are sure they would be able to treat all of them equal with love and do justice to each of them”, he said.

He emphasised that having a sizeable number of children helped to better care for their needs and ensure that they were properly raised.

“With a small family size, you can easily teach the children your religion, how to make supplication and how to even take care of their personal hygiene and remain responsible”, he said.

Touching on the issue of child marriage, Mr Braimah stated that when people gave birth to a lot of children than they could cater for in the midst of extreme poverty, the tendency of giving some of the girls out for early marriage was high.

He again said that because the children were many and were not properly catered for, some of them could indulge in early sex for money to purchase their basic needs or simply follow bad friends to live promiscuous life which could result in teenage pregnancies and sexually transmitted infections.

Mr Braimah advised men to live within their means and create family sizes they could cater for, not just financially but psychologically and emotionally as well.

From Lydia Darlington Fordjour, Dondoli

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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