Security Challenges in Ghana, the Imperative, of States Security Agencies: A Study of the Ghana Police Service

Security is necessary for a stable democracy as well as flourishing development Security challenges are prevalent in both developing as well as developed countries However a historical as well as recent security challenge in less developed countries suggests a rather interesting picture in comparison to developed countries This study sought to unravel the security challenges in Ghana and the imperative of Ghana Police Service as a security agency The mixed-method of data collection was used The study established that armed robbery cybercrime and political vigilantism are the major security challenges in Ghana It was revealed that the inefficiency of the police is as results of political interference lack of logistics poor condition of service like accommodation unfair treatment of junior officers among others The insight gained led to the following recommendations depoliticizing the police institution upgrading their system to enhance effective communication organization of periodic refresher courses among other

The Influence of Religion on Capital Structure Decision among Small and Medium Enterprises in Ghana

This paper examines the influence of religion on capital structure decisions of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Ghana. The issue is very relevant considering the meritorious contributions SMEs offer to growth of the Ghanaian economy. Exploratory- descriptive of its kind, this study adopts quantitative and quota sampling approaches to select 200 SMEs owned and manage being Christians and Moslems. Statistically, the results of the study suggest that religion has a significantly weak influence as far as decisions on capital structure are concern. The direction of the study revealed that relative to Muslims, SME operators being Christians greatly accounted to the significant influence religion had on total capital structure of SME businesses. Since most SMEs owners value full ownership of their business, any capital structure that risk their full control may not be entertain. Keywords: Capital Structure, Religion, Small and medium enterprise (SME

The Impact of Acquisition on Firms Financial Performance (A Case Study of Total Petroleum Ghana LTD)

This work evaluates the impact of Acquisition on Firms’ Financial Performance. That is a case study of Total Petroleum Ghana. Acquisition is a corporate strategy by which companies take over other company without necessarily buying the other company. The main reasons behind this study were to assess Pre and Post-Acquisition liquidity of total petroleum Ghana, and also to determine the Pre and post-Acquisition profitability of total petroleum Ghana. Moreover to evaluate Pre and Post-Acquisition asset utilization of total petroleum Ghana Company Limited. The results of the findings show that in terms of liquidity, there was a significant impact of the acquisition on the performance. Post-acquisition liquidity ratios indicated significantly higher performance. Moreover, for the profitability and assets utilization, the pre-acquisition performances were better than the four years of the post-acquisition period, though these differences were statistically insignificant. By making references to the findings it can be concluded that the acquisition of Mobil oil by Total petroleum has not been profitable to the company within the first four years. This work recommends that management of the company need to pay more attention on the external environment. Keywords: Acquisition, Petroleum, Profitability, Performance, Firms DOI: 10.7176/EJBM/12-30-08 Publication date:October 31st 202

Psychological Factors That Influence Teachers’ Perception of Head Teachers’ Leadership Styles in the Dormaa East District

The activities in the schools as well as the interactions that took place in the schools influenced teachers’ perception of head teachers’ leadership styles the most. The purpose of the study was to investigate the psychological factors that influence teachers’ perception of head teachers’ leadership styles. The study adopted an exploratory approach using a descriptive survey design. The study was carried out in 50 basic schools with a sample size of 217 teachers. The proportional random sampling method was used to select the respondents. The study showed that situation-specific factors namely; school culture, relationship with other teachers, interpersonal relationship with the head teacher, head teacher support, and GES policies being implemented influenced teachers’ perception of head teachers’ leadership styles. The study found no statistically significant difference between males and females in terms of factors influencing teachers’ perception of head teachers’ leadership style. It was recommended that the training of head teachers should include how to build healthy school culture in the schools. Keywords: Headteacher, Leadership style, Perception, Situation-Specific Factors DOI: 10.7176/JEP/13-21-08 Publication date:June 30th 202

Radiological Study of Radon Gas in Underground Goldmine

Indoor radon concentrations were collected monthly over a period of one year in 10 different levels in an underground goldmine to determine the radiological impact on workers. The detectors were installed in batches within four quarters. The measurements were carried out using LR115 solid state nuclear track detectors. The results show that the activity concentration of radon in the underground mine ranges from a minimum of 2 Bqm-3 to a maximum of 284 Bqm-3 with a mean value of 58.51 Bqm-3. The highest radon concentration was observed in the second quarter when the season was warm, and the lowest radon concentration was observed in the first quarter when the season was colder. The hazard indices, exposure rate, excess lung cancer risk and annual effective dose from the rock and soil samples possess no radiological hazard if used for building materials. Keywords: Radon, Effective Dose, Radiological hazard, LR 115, Activity Concentration DOI: 10.7176/JEES/14-2-03 Publication date:March 31st 202

Sustainable building processes' challenges and strategies : the relative important index approach

Sustainability has been increasingly advocated by the global construction industry due to the need to minimise the industry's adverse impacts. An important area when focusing on sustainability is the issue of project management teams since they are involved from the project's inception to its completion. Many studies have investigated and advocated a wide range of sustainability practices within the construction industry. However, little attention has been geared towards construction project management teams when addressing the issues of sustainability. This study aims to provide an empirical analysis of the challenges and mitigating strategies for enhancing project management teams’ readiness in the adoption of sustainable building processes. It does so by undertaking an extensive critical review of literature resulting in the identification of sixteen challenges and sixteen mitigation strategies and conducted a cross-sectional survey among 200 Ghanaian construction industry professionals. Data obtained from the survey was analysed using descriptive statistics and relative importance index rankings. The study revealed that inadequate training and education, unfamiliarity with green technologies, and higher initial costs of green construction practices and materials are the key challenges that hinder project management teams’ implementation of sustainable building processes. The study further revealed the significant mitigation strategies such as educating stakeholders on the future benefits of green buildings, engaging personnel with green building background, and setting sustainable priorities and goals early in the feasibility study. The value of this paper is to help project management teams to understand these challenges and strategize to turn them into opportunities for the construction industry

Radiation Protection Knowledge and Awareness of Naturally Occurring Radioactive Materials among Underground Goldmine Workers in Ghana

The level of knowledge and awareness of naturally occurring radioactive materials and indoor radon among underground goldmine workers were measured using a well-structured closed ended five-point likert scale questionnaire using a one sample T test for the analysis. There was a significant relationship between the awareness and knowledge of NORM and radon gas among the underground workers apart from the awareness and knowledge of the increased risk of cancer due to exposure of radon for workers who smoke. The level of awareness and knowledge is positively correlated with the level of education of respondents and negatively correlated to the years of service and age of respondents, but the ANOVA table indicates a statistical significance between the demographic data and the awareness and knowledge of radon gas and NORM in their working environment with an adjusted R2 of 46.1%. Keywords: NORM, Indoor radon, correlation, awareness, knowledge. DOI: 10.7176/IKM/13-3-04 Publication date:April 30th 202

TIME SERIES ANALYSIS OF RADON CONCENTRATION AT DIFFERENT DEPTHS IN AN UNDERGROUND GOLDMINE

Indoor radon concentrations were collected monthly over a period of one year in 10 different levels in an underground goldmine and the data was analysed using a four moving average time series to determine the relationship between depths of the underground mine and the indoor radon concentration. The detectors were installed in batches within four quarters. The measurements were carried out using LR115 solid state nuclear track detectors. Statistical models are applied in the prediction and analysis of the radon concentration at various depths. The time series model predicted a positive relationship between the depth of the underground mine and the indoor radon concentration. Thus, elevated radon concentrations are expected at deeper levels of the underground mine, but the relationship was insignificant at the 5% level of significance with a negative adjusted R2 (R2 = – 0.021) due to an appropriate engineering and adequate ventilation rate in the underground mine. Keywords: LR115, Radon Concentration, Time Series, Underground goldmine, DOI: 10.7176/APTA/87-03 Publication date: April 30th 202

The impact of aggregate government expenditure on growth in OECD and SSA countries

This study identified the extent to which aggregate government expenditure affect economic growth in OECD and SSA. The study used static and dynamic model which involved the use of fixed effect and pooled OLS with regards to the static model and SYS-GMM to achieve the set objective. The SYS-GMM showed that government expenditure had a negative significant impact on growth in OECD countries but a positive significant impact in SSA countries. The results for combining all the countries used for the study showed that, government expenditure had a negative impact on growth of real GDP per capita for all countries but was significant for the pooled OLS results. In a situation where government expenditure per worker is growth enhancing, it is recommended for government to implement expansionary fiscal policies through infrastructure development like roads, good educational system telecommunication networks etc to help enhance growth

Prevalence and Associated Risk Factors of Symptomatic Dry Eye in Ghana: A cross-sectional population-based study

Purpose This study sought to estimate the prevalence and associated risk factors of symptomatic dry eye in the general non-clinical Ghanaian population. Methods This was a cross-sectional population-based study conducted from November 2019 to February 2020. A stratified, multistage, random sampling technique was used to select participants aged 18 years and above from the capital cities of eight administrative regions in Ghana. Symptomatic dry eye was assessed using the Ocular Surface Disease Index questionnaire (OSDI). A study specific structured questionnaire was administered to collect information on participants’ demographics and self-reported risk factors of dry eye disease such as smoking, diabetes, hypertension, arthritis, ocular allergies, pregnancy, contact lens wear, use of topical glaucoma medication and multivitamin supplement. Multiple linear regression analysis was used to explore associations between symptomatic dry eye and participant characteristics. A p-value of 0.05 was considered statistically significant