The appeal by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to Ghanaians to continue to work to create the platform for the evolution of a new Ghanaian civilization is one of the trending stories in the Ghanaian press on Monday.The Graphic reports that President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has challenged Ghanaians to continue to work to create the platform for the evolution of a new Ghanaian civilisation.

That, he said, would give true meaning to the foundational values of freedom and justice “on which our nation was birthed”.

President Akufo-Addo stated this in a nationwide broadcast on the eve of the 30th anniversary celebration of the Fourth Republic at the Jubilee House in Accra on Friday.

The President described the milestone as a great credit to Ghanaians, saying “30 years ago, all of us resolved to build, under God, a united nation, grounded in democratic values and the rule of law”.

“We have advanced a great deal in realising this vision, and I am confident that with a spirit of fairness, hard work, integrity and reconciliation, the best days of Mother Ghana lie ahead of us,” he assured.

President Akufo-Addo indicated that although the nation was confronted with difficulties in its economic performance, “I do not doubt our collective resolve to work our way out of these challenges, and put our nation back onto the path of progress and prosperity”.

He, therefore, urged Ghanaians to do everything within their means to safeguard the country’s 30-year-old democratic process.

He explained that Ghanaians did not have to look far back into history to see that stable period of constitutional government and intelligent management of the economy lead to prosperity.

The newspaper says that the Ghana cedi is beginning to lose grounds to the US dollar after performing impressively over the last month.

Figures from the Bank of Ghana (BoG) for Thursday, January 5, 2023, shows that the dollar is now selling at GH¢8.6067.

This represents a depreciation of the cedi as the dollar was selling at GH¢8.6017 as at Wednesday, January 4.

The dollar was selling at GH¢8.5817 on Tuesday, January 3, 2023.

The Graphic also reports that President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has appointed the Minister of Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta, as the caretaker Minister for the Ministry of Trade and Industry.

That was after the President had accepted the resignation letter of Alan Kwadwo Kyerematen at the Jubilee House last Thursday.

President Akufo-Addo thanked Mr Kyerematen for his services to his government and to the country, and wished him well in his future endeavours.

The President has asked Mr Ofori-Atta, to act as caretaker until a substantive appointment is made.

Mr Kyerematen resigned from his position with effect from yesterday.

Sources close to the former minister confirmed to the Daily Graphic that Mr Kyerematen submitted his letter of resignation on Thursday evening.

That, sources said, was to enable him to concentrate on his bid to lead the New Patriotic Party (NPP) as its flag bearer for the 2024 presidential election.

According to the NPP’s regulations, ministers who intend to contest the presidential primary are to step down to concentrate on their campaigns so as not to interfere with the work of government.

Mr Kyerematen is one of the frontrunners in the flagbearship position of the NPP.

He started serving as Minister of Trade and Industry in President Akufo-Addo’s government in 2017.

The Ghanaian Times says that the Sung Bie’la Foundation Ghana under its Women Empowerment Project has selected 45 women to embark on cultivation of soya beans in Binduri District in the Kusuag Traditional area of the Upper East Region, to improve on their livelihood.

The Founder of the organisation, Hajia Zenabu Awinbe Salifu made this known in a statement copied the Ghanaian Times after the launch of the ‘Farming for Livelihood’ project in the district last year.

According to her, the initiative would not only empower women but also provide jobs for them to be able to support their families and the district at large.

“My team and I do not only want to support these women by empowering them, we also want to provide jobs for them to be able to sustenance their family and the district at large,” she said in the statement.

Hajia Salifu said that it was important for women to be empowered to strengthen standard of living since they were central to agriculture and make strong contribution to food security and nutrition at both the household and community levels in the country.

However, she said women in the northern part of the country had little or no empowerment due to lack of education, high rate of windows and non-supportive families and spouses which had led to truncate standard of living in these communities.

Hajia Salifu, a human resource practitioner, stated that Women were of vital importance to rural economies in the country that was the reason the organisation selected those numbers to embark on the cultivation of soya beans in the Binduri District.

“These women were congregated into three  groups for effective and efficiency monitoring and coaching on modern farming skills, the foundation at the end of the farming season, will resell the seeds and give the capital back to these women to start up other businesses since the northern sector has only one farming season,” she noted.

She said organisation met with the women last year and they embraced the project and ready to ensure the success of it.

“The foundation through its partners and donors made available the farms lands, farm tools, seedlings, adequate fertilisers and other materials to ensure the project achieve its purpose,” she stated.

The founder said the foundation also provided a resource personnel from the Ministry of Food and Agriculture to empower them on new ways of farming for bountiful harvest.