It has also agreed to construct a bridge over the Volta Lake in the southern sector as part of the Eastern corridor road network, and extend its scholarships to Ghana to improve the human resource potential of the people.
Agreements to that effect were Wednesday signed between Ghana and Japan as part of President John Dramani Mahama’s State visit to the Asian.
President Mahama said the agreements will go a very long way to advance the bilateral relations between the two countries, which said has been very strong over the years.
The new advanced medical centre is expected to help Ghana to further play a pivotal role in health research across the West African sub region.
Ghana has over the years played a key role in the area of health research with the establishment of Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical research, which was instrumental in conducting several tests during the Ebola outbreak within the West African sub region.
President Mahama who finalised the deal with the Japanese Government underscored the sacrifices of Dr Noguchi while he was in Ghana conducting a research into yellow fever.
“The relationship between Ghana and Japan are based on very strong historical foundation, especially in relation to the sacrifice Dr Nugochi did in sacrificing his life during research into yellow fever in Ghana. I believe that this visit I have paid would move the relations between our two countries to even a higher level,” President Mahama said.
“We have agreed to continue our collaboration in the areas of improvement in healthcare, infrastructural development and economic cooperation. Ghana will remain an active participant in the TICAD process,” he assured.
He thanked the Prime Minister and the people of Japan for the announcement of the resumption of the YEN Loan which he said will begin with the construction of a bridge over the southern Volta River.
“This bridge is a part of our eastern corridor road network and we’ve been very critical in improving transpiration between the northern part of Ghana and the southern part,” he said.
Touching on the international front, President Mahama said “we both agreed that Ghana and Japan will collaborate in pushing for UN security Council reforms. In this regard Ghana at the next African Union summit will do everything possible to get the AU to get on board to push the UN reform”
Prime Minister of Japan, Shinzo Abe commended Ghana’s democratic role and contribution in ensuring peace in the sub region.
Earlier President Mahama and his wife, Lordina, paid a courtesy call on Japanese emperor, and his wife at their official residence in Tokyo. Emporer Akihito is the head of the Japanese imperial family and also the ceremonial head of the country.
By Edward Kwabi|3news.com|Japan
British High Commissioner to Ghana Jon Benjamin says the Ghana Football Association (GFA) must invest FIFA’s annual contribution in poor football communities.
The story behind Africa’s fashion goes beyond the continent’s culture, traditions and intricate patterns of its garments. The next big thing is the potential of fashion to drive Africa’s future and provide solution to the rising youth unemployment and slow economic growth as a result of falling prices of commodities.
Winners of the this year’s Ghana Blogging and Social Media Awards are to be announced on Friday at a special ceremony in Accra.
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One of the two persons accused of complicity in the murder of the late Member of Parliament for Abuakwa North has allegedly stolen GHC20 from the Police Station where he is being held.
A two-storey building collapsed Wednesday afternoon injuring one person at Berekusu in the Eastern Region.
The building has been under construction for about seven years, 3news.com has learnt; it was being put up for a shopping mall.
Stunned owner of the property, Justina Donkor told TV3’s Daniel Lartey structural engineers have assessed it more than once and approved that it was strong.
She therefore appeared befuddled how part of the building will suddenly fall without any external force.
According to her, she herself and workers have been “climbing up and down” the structure almost everyday without an inkling of any defect.
Madam Donkor was grateful to God that the unfortunate event occurred at a time when there was only one worker on site.
The injured worker has been treated and discharged from hospital for someone wounds on his legs, she stated.
Story by Isaac Essel | 3news.com | Ghana 
Authorities at the Ankaful Psychiatric Hospital in the Central Region are appealing to government to step in to halt the increasing rate of encroachment on the hospital’s lands.
He said drivers are gradually ceasing to ply that road thus compelling some patients and staff to walk long distance to the main road to pick car. This, he noted, has exposed the staff and the patients to criminals who usually attack them, especially at night.
He said vehicles that dared to use the road frequently break down, something he explained, has discouraged people from plying the road.
“People have to walk from the hospital to the main road before they could get car and the situation is even dangerous at night. Very soon patients will not be able to come here if the situation is not changed,” he said.
Mr Pongo has therefore appealed to the District Assembly and the government to intervene to stop the encroachment on their lands and also fix the bad roads leading to the facility.
By Kwame Kakraba|3news.com|Ghana
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Ivorian refuges living in Ghana have expressed concern over harassment, arrest and subsequent imprisonment of a number of them who have returned to their motherland.
The refugees made their concerns known in Accra during a visit by the Ivoirian Government Delegation led by Madame Mariatou Kone, the Ivorian Minister for Solidarity, Social Cohesion and Victim Compensation.
Members of the delegation include staff from United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Abidjan; staff from Ivorian Ministry of Foreign Affairs; the Ivorian Refugee Agency (SAARA – Service d’Aide et d’Assistance aux Réfugiés et Apatrides en Côte d’Ivoire) as well as representatives of several Ivorian ministries – Interior/Security, Education, Youth and Employment and Defence.
Other members of the delegation were Mon Seigneur Touabli, Catholic Bishop of Agboville, as well as two former Ivorian refugees in Togo who voluntarily returned to Cote d’Ivoire.
The refugees asked the ivorian Government to grant amnesty to them, free all political prisoners and embrace media freedom.
Other concerns were the state of former refugees from Ghana who are alleged to be imprisoned upon their return to Cote d’Ivoire, frozen financial assets of Gbagbo’s sympathisers and the full report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.
The refugees asked to be acknowledged as refugees who have forcibly fled their country and not as persons who were on a self-imposed exile.
As part of efforts to register their displeasure at the way the Ivorian Government was handling the situation the refugees carried placards with inscription such as “We (refugees) cannot go back home, while our parents are still in prison in Ivory Coast. Tell Ouatarra to free them” and “There is no freedom in Ivory Coast.”
It took the timely invention of Ghana’s security agencies to calm the refugees amidst shouts of “Gbabo! Gbabo! Gbabo! Long Live Gbabo! Long Live Gbabo! Long Live Gbabo!”
Although the visits of the Cote d’Ivoire delegation to the two refugees camps at Egyeikrom in the Central Region and Ampain in the Western Region could not take place, the Accra meeting afforded a number of Ivorian refugees the opportunity to voice out their concerns and grievances towards their authorities, and more importantly, to initiate a first step toward dialogue and reconciliation efforts.
Despite the heckling and booing, Madame Kone managed to bring total serenity into the meeting by singing the Ivoirian National Anthem, which inspired most of the refugees to rise up and join her in singing in unisome.
After getting their attention, Madame Kone, explained that the purpose of their visit was to afford the Ivorian Authorities the opportunity to update their compatriots about the new developments, which had occurred in their country since their exile, so that they would be in a better position to make informed decisions about their future.
She apologised to the refugees for the unpleasant situation they find themselves in and urged them to return home and contribute to the socio-economic development of their motherland.
She said President Alassane Dramane Ouattara has being re-elected and sworn in for a second term of office, and that the President is appealing to all Ivorian refugees to return home.
Madame Kone said, she was once a refugee in Ghana during the Ivorian crisis; adding that the security situation in the Ivory Coast had normalised now, and that the economy is doing very well.
Dr Kofi Anani, the Executive Secretary, Ghana Refugee Board, said the visit by the Ivorian delegation would further cement the fruitful relation between the two countries.
In Ghana, the total number of Persons of Concern (PoC) to UNHCR at the end of 2015 was 19,265 comprised of 17,406 refugees and 1,859 asylum-seekers from over 25 different countries of origin.
Most refugees have been in Ghana for at least five years, with the most recent major influx being that of Ivorian refugees in mid-2011; the remaining refugees arrived either in the 90s or early 2000s.
Source: GNA