The Ghana Mineworkers Union has called on banks and other financial institutions in the country to encourage savings and investment culture among workers at their early working age to enable them to improve their social and economic lives in the future.
Speaking at a colourful jobs and investment fair at Obuasi on Thursday, Mr Nicholas Yeboah, the local secretary of the Ghana Mineworkers Union at AngloGold Ashanti -Obuasi mine, said s stronger ‘cooperation and collaboration between employers, employees and banks and other financial institutions’ would go a long way to encourage the culture of savings and investments among workers. ‘It will also enable workers and their families to start saving their incomes and investment early in their working lives’, he said. The fair, which is first of its kind in the country, was organized by AngloGold Ashanti, the Ghana Mine Workers Union and the Professional and Managerial Staff Union for ex-employees of Obuasi mine. It was attended by more than 550 people, including banks and financial institutions as well as leading recruitment agencies in the country.
Mr Yeboah noted that financial education to educate and create awareness among the union members begun early last year, the objective of the fair is to create more awareness for the ex-employees to enable them to make informed choices on their future not only in their investment decisions but future career opportunities as well. Given the economic challenges and difficulties in the country, ‘we certainly don’t want our ex-members to become destitute, after life on the Obuasi mine; we want them to invest generously now and enjoy their investment in future’, adding that ‘this explains why we should cooperate and collaborate with AngloGold Ashanti management and the banks and other financial institutions for our mutual growth and development’. He commended AngloGold Ashanti for living its values with its support and also commended the financial institutions and the recruitment agencies who took part in the fair.
In his earlier presentation Mr John Chapman -Awuah of the Finance Department of AngloGold Ashanti, advised the ex – employees and the union leaders to critically examine the investment products been offered them by the investment houses, saying ‘let’s take into consideration risks, time and performance and associated with these products when we are making our investment decisions so that we don’t burn our hands’. SSNIT, Liberty Finance, NDK Capital, EM Capital Partners, IGS, Frontline Capital Advisors, Jobs in Ghana, First Atlantic Bank, Gold Securities and Carl Assets Management. Others were SOS Labour, Laing Services, National Board for Small Scale Enterprises, Technoserve and Golden Pride.
The foregoing measures also harmonised with emerging international initiatives to fight corruption, including the world community’s adoption of the United Nations Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC) in 2003. The African Union (AU) Convention Against Corruption 2005 and the ECOWAS Protocol on the Fight Against Corruption (ECOWAS Protocol) were adopted at the regional and sub-regional levels respectively. Ghana ratified both the UNCAC and the AU Convention in 2005, and the ECOWAS Protocol in 2003.
Even so, a number of studies continue to indicate that corruption persists in Ghana , with serious consequences for the nation’s development. In the face growing public concern about the scale of corruption and its impact on society, however, there is equally growing recognition that corruption can and must be effectively tackled through a holistic and comprehensive approach that builds on lessons from previous anti-corruption measures and integrates new perspectives, methods and tools. There is a growing consensus that the new approach requires the development and implementation of a well-articulated national anti-corruption strategic plan designed with the active participation of the citizenry and their full and sustained involvement in its implementation. To succeed, secure and sustain the nation’s development, the new anti-corruption approach demands manifest political will from the nation’s political elite, as well as multi-partisan commitment that transcends political leadership competitions.
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