Corporate Social Responsibility of Mining Companies in Ghana: The case of Newmont Ghana Gold Limited at Ahafo

It is perceived by many that communities in Ghana that host large scale mining activities are affluent and outpace several other communities in terms of socio-economic development. This seems not to be the case. This notwithstanding, mining companies have an obligation to fulfil towards the communities they operate within as part of their Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). This necessitated an assessment of the Corporate Social Responsibility of Newmont Ghana Gold Limited at Ahafo in Ghana. This paper considered relevant literature pertaining to the subject matter, the views of community members within the mining enclave of Ahafo as well as that of Newmont Ghana Gold Limited. A sample of 180 respondents was chosen through a purposive sampling technique. Key personalities including an Assemblyman, a Youth Leader, and three resettled persons were interviewed. There was also a focused group discussion among community members. The study found out Newmont has not deviated from its CSR in the region

Contributions of Human and Non-human Resources’ Function, Benefit, and Rigidities Associated with Marketing E-resources among the Staff of Selected Technical University (TU) Libraries in Ghana.

The study investigated the contributions of human and non-human resources’ function, benefit, and rigidities associated with marketing e-resources at selected Technical University (TU) libraries in Ghana. 62 respondents from the three Technical Universities (TUs) libraries were respectively drawn from all the three selected Technical Universities (Kumasi Technical University, Tamale Technical University, and Takoradi Technical University). Given that the population from the three TUs library staff was small, no sampling had to be done. The investigator sent out 62 questionnaires to the various TUs and received 39 responses representing 63 %. To collect data from the libraries of the designated Technical Universities (TUs), a descriptive survey method was used. The data was analyzed using pie charts, bar charts, bar charts, line graphs, and percentages. Findings discovered that human resources are a key factor in marketing e-resources among the selected Tus libraries. Also, the functionality, attractiveness, invitation, and arrangement of the physical library building of the selected TUs libraries were good but not up to the mark. It was also certain that e-resources available at the selected Tus were challenged with several issues such as slow internet connections and restricted access, inadequate training on how to use the internet, inadequate funding, and poor ICT facilities, equipment, and resources. Hence the study recommends that the selected Technical Universities (TU) libraries should consider addressing the following challenges to aid the effectiveness of marketing e-resources

A Comparative Study of the Quality of Wastewater from Tema Oil Refinery (TOR) Against EPA Standards and its Effect on the Environment

The proliferation of industrialization has resulted in increased wastewater generation and its disposal has rapidly been of serious concern in recent times to environmental scientists. The discharge of these untreated or partially treated effluents into the environment, especially, surface water poses a great threat to the environment and also causes adverse human health. Industrial wastewater may contain high levels of contaminants such as suspended, colloidal and dissolved minerals, inert organic matter, heavy metals, possible pathogenic bacteria which might be either excessively acidic or alkaline in a way that may  have negative impact on all forms of life in the environment. This study was therefore conducted to determine the treated effluent quality of Tema (Ghana) Oil Refinery against the Ghana Environmental Protection Agency (EPA standards and also assess its impact on the environment. Samples of the effluents discharged from the refinery were taken and analyzed for physico-chemical parameters as well as Heavy Metals; lead (Pb), manganese (Mn), chromium(Cr), vanadium (V), nickel (Ni), copper (Cu) and iron (Fe) for three consecutive months and their mean values compared with EPA standard. The results revealed that, all the heavy metals were within the standard of the EPA regulatory standard but mean conductivity was very high with a mean value of 10399.0 as against 1500. Also a high TDS mean value of 5358.67mg/l was recorded as against the EPA standard of 1000mg/l. Unsatisfactory mean levels of BOD and COD which reflected the organic load in the water were recorded. The BOD value was found to be 60mg/l as against the EPA standard of 50mg/l while COD value was 423.7mg/l which was far above the EPA standard of 250mg/l. It is therefore recommended that, the wastewater treatment unit of the Tema Oil Refinery should be revamped to enhance the control of contaminant levels of the final effluent discharged into the environment. Keywords: Tema Oil Refinery; environment; wastewater; regulatory bodies; waste management; Environmental Protection Agenc

Psychometric Properties of a Safety Culture Index among Mental Health Workers in Ghana

Safety culture among mental health workers is essential, especially in developing countries where workplace safety seems neglected. However, few studies have provided detailed psychometric analyses of convenient safety instruments with practical relevance for the healthcare industry in the Sub-Saharan African context. We sampled 574 (54.4 % females, 45.6 % males) mental health workers from three Specialist Psychiatric Teaching Hospitals in Ghana. Initially, we collected data using adapted items from Edkins and Coakes’ 25-item Airline Safety Culture Index (ASCI). Consequently, we conducted a Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) using the Diagonally Weighted Least Squares estimator. We also used the item reduction analysis (Gradual Response Model) to reduce the adapted 25-item scale to 11 items (Modified Safety Culture Index, MSCI- 11). Finally, we conducted reliability analyses (alpha and omega) for the MSCI-11. We observed that the data in the CFA showed adequate fit indices [χ2 (df = 44, N = 574) = 223.752, p < 0.001; CFI = 0.975; TLI = 0.968; RM- SEA = 0.084 (CI 90 % 0.074- 0.096); SRMR = 0.063]. The MSCI- 11 is parsimonious and has good reliability estimates [α = 0.853 (95 % CI 0.835 – 0.870) and ω = 0.853 (95 % CI 0.837- 0.087)]. Future studies should use additional cross-validation in other high-risk jobs to generalise the new scale

History’s Role in Policy Making: Proffering Solutions and Questions for Humanity and the Ghanaian Context

Concerning history, several people across the globe perceive or think that it is mostly about past events and also about dead people. Some trained historians, whether in ancient histories or contemporary histories, have sometimes vehemently concluded that the historian or the writer of history cannot draw conclusions but he can only make inferences or better still ask questions. Such carefulness of the historian does not only add to his tactfulness but also makes the ordinary reader aiming at policy to rush for quick-fix information, ‘non-history’. To a large extent when the works of historians have been used by policy makers, they are not cited. They are used in a way that the ordinary reader or beneficiary might not have a clue that history had a part to play in the birthing of such policy. This history and policy essay gleans information from essential academic sources to push forward an argument for history’s role in policy making. It does look at some relevant questions for Ghana where the authors lecture in history and political studies

A Historical narrative of the British Colonial Administration's Clamp down on Witch finding Shrines amongst the Asante People of the Gold Coast

The paper focuses on the issue of witchcraft at the Gold Coast and Asante in particular. Information from archival sources and secondary sources has been gleaned to form a historical narrative covering the period 1907 to 1940. The dilemma of the indigenous people concerning witchcraft, the attempts of Indigenous Priest Healers (IPH) to cure and the trite efforts of the British Colonial Administration to clamp-down some of the shrines of the IPHs considered to be engaged in witch-finding have been looked at

Preventive Healthcare Strategies and Impact among the Asante People of the Early Twentieth Century Gold Coast: A Historical Narrative and Lessons for the Present Sanitation Challenge in Kumase

This article focuses on the development of preventive health care of the Asante people of early twentieth century Gold Coast. Attention has been paid to the public health strategies put in place by the Colonial Administration as well as the efforts and collaboration between Traditional Authorities and the British Colonial Administration to prevent diseases in Asante and Kumase in particular. Lessons for the present sanitation challenge learnt from this historical piece gleaned severally from archival and secondary written sources have been discussed

Serological evidence of vector and parasite exposure in Southern Ghana: the dynamics of malaria transmission intensity.

BACKGROUND: Seroepidemiology provides robust estimates for tracking malaria transmission when intensity is low and useful when there is no baseline entomological data. Serological evidence of exposure to malaria vectors and parasite contribute to our understanding of the risk of pathogen transmission, and facilitates implementation of targeted interventions. Ab to Anopheles gambiae salivary peptide (gSG6-P1) and merozoite surface protein one (MSP-1(19)) reflect human exposure to malaria vectors and parasites. This study estimated malaria transmission dynamics using serological evidence of vector and parasite exposure in southern Ghana. METHODS: Total IgG responses to both antigens in an age stratified cohort (14) were measured from South-eastern Ghana. 295 randomly selected sera were analyzed from archived samples belonging to a cohort study that were followed at 3 consecutive survey months (n = 885); February, May and August 2009. Temporal variations in seroprevalence of both antigens as well as differences between the age-stratified cohorts were determined by χ (2) test with p < 0.05 statistically significant. Non-parametric repeated ANOVA - Friedman's test was used to test differences in antibody levels. Seroprevalence data were fitted to reversible catalytic model to estimate sero-conversion rates. RESULTS: Whereas parasite prevalence was generally low 2.4%, 2.7% and 2.4% with no apparent trends with season, seroprevalence to both gSG6-P1 and MSP1(19) were high (59%, 50.9%, 52.2%) and 57.6%, 52.3% and 43.6% in respective order from Feb. to August. Repeated measures ANOVA showed differences in median antibody levels across surveys with specific significant differences between February and May but not August by post hoc Dunn's multiple comparison tests for gSG6-P1. For MSP1(19), no differences were observed in antibody levels between February and May but a significant decline was observed from May to August. Seroconversion rates for gSG6-P1 increased by 1.5 folds from February to August and 3 folds for MSP1(19). CONCLUSION: Data suggests exposure to infectious bites may be declining whereas mosquito bites remains high. Sustained malaria control efforts and surveillance are needed to drive malaria further down and to prevent catastrophic rebound. Operational factors for scaling up have been discussed

ILLICIT DRUG USE AND TRADE: AN ETHNOGRAPHIC STUDY OF KUMASE (2000–2018)

The illegal drug trade is a world phenomenon, which has had some adverse impact on societies. Significantly, the impact is damning in developing economies in Africa and Ghana in particular. This paper therefore seeks to address the causes and effects of the use and peddle of these illegal drugs in three communities in the capital city of the Asante Region of Ghana. It further ascertains the extent to which these drugs burden the security agencies in the communities and the country in general. We have used documentary and non-documentary sources to arrive at some postulations on this important social question which has wider ramifications on Kumase, Asante, Ghana and Africa in general

Mother Earth, Mother Africa and Theology

The theological role of African women and men in sustainable development and environmental justice strongly emerges in this book. Picking up the theme and metaphor of the fifth pan-African conference of the Circle of Concerned African Women Theologians (hereafter ‘Circle’), ‘Mother Earth and Mother Africa’, this book titled Mother Earth, Mother Africa and Theology presents original and innovative research by scholarly members and friends of the Circle. The main contribution of the volume is its multi- and trans-disciplinary exploration and reimagining of human relationships to Earth from an African ecofeminist and ecowomanist theological perspective. It engages in critical conversations of re-interpreting and re-imagining African cultural, religious, theological, and philosophical perspectives on gender and the Earth. The aim is to construct Earth-friendly relationships in the face of the growing global environmental crisis. Scholarly voices of African women and men from fields such as Theology, Environmental Law and Policy, Tourism, Agricultural Science and Natural Resources, and Economics are reflected in this book, which consists of three parts: Creation, the Trinity, and Mother Africa; Caring for Mother Africa; and Mother Africa and her daughters’ (in)fertility. Each of the eleven chapters in the volume presents the metaphor of Mother Earth, Mother Africa, and gender relations, with the aim to explore life-affirming, life-enhancing human relationships to Earth from the author’s particular area of specialisation and context