Ghana parly catches fire

ACCRA. — A small unit on a tower building at Ghana’s Parliament caught fire on Tuesday but the blaze did not cause any major damage or disrupt the use of the facility, the national fire service said. The fire started in a printing room on the 10th floor of the “Job 600” complex and spread to an adjoining kitchenette, fire service spokesman Billy Anaglate said. “We have put it out and everything is under control. It’s not a threatening situation.”

ACCRA. - A small unit on a tower building at Ghana’s Parliament caught fire on Tuesday, but the blaze did not cause any major damage or disrupt the use of the facility, the national fire service said.

The fire started in a printing room on the 10th floor of the “Job 600” complex and spread to an adjoining kitchenette, fire service spokesman Billy Anaglate said.

“We have put it out and everything is under control. It’s not a threatening situation and we expect the complex to open for business tomorrow,” Anaglate said.

Firemen and other officials are investigating what may have started the fire, he added. Tuesday’s fire was the second to have occurred in the 12-storey building, following a similar incident on the fifth floor in 2012 when the structure was undergoing its first major refurbishment.

The tower was originally built by Ghana’s first president Kwame Nkrumah to serve as the venue for a 1965 meeting of the Organisation of African Unity, now the African Union. It now houses 252 offices and related facilities for members of parliament and their staff after refurbishment and expansion works were completed in 2015.

Meanwhile, Ghana’s president Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, says he does not know why the African Union conferred a recent award on him.

The 73-year-old who came to power in 2016 referred journalists to the AU President Alpha Conde, who he said could better explain the reason he was given this year’s “AU Gender Champion Award”.

He was speaking to a cross-section of journalists during the government’s press meeting to mark six months since he took office.

He, however, observed that the appointment of a sizeable number of women in his government could have earned him the accolade.

‘‘It’s a question that I forgot to pose to (President) Alpha Conde, the president of the AU, but frankly I think this is an area that I could still do much better than I have done so far.

‘‘I have not been able to make the 30 percent benchmark that we stated in our manifesto with respect to public appointments,’’ he stressed.

The award was given to him on June 3 during the 29th AU Heads of States summit that took place in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa. It was presented by the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA).

Part of the citation that came with the plaque read: “In recognition of your efforts in gender equality at continental level as the African Union Gender Champion for the year 2017.”

Ghana currently has a number of high ranking female appointees chosen by President Akufo-Addo. Among others, first female secretary of cabinet, Madam Debrah-Karikari and Ghana’s first woman Chief of Staff, Madam Frema Opare Addo.

He also chose another woman to occupy the seat of Chief Justice. Justice Sophia Akuffo took over from Ghana’s first female Chief Justice, Georgina Theodora Wood, who retired after a decade as head of the judiciary.

The Chief Justice is the fourth most powerful person in Ghana behind the president, his vice and the speaker of parliament. - Reuters/Africa News.