The Daily Graphic joins the call by Crime Check Foundation for government to as a matter of urgency pass the non-custodial Sentencing Bill into law, so that offences such as hawking and open defecation will not attract custodial sentencing. Ironically, the paper notes that officials who fail in their duties to provide service or facilities, which eventually culminates in people contravening the laws of the land go scot-free, while those denied those services and facilities are arrested and imprisoned. For such offences, the paper notes that the country should rather opt for community service for a period to be decided by court so that openly working in a community for an offence committed will serve as a deterrent to others while society will also benefit from such service. The Graphic therefore urges all to support the poor and vulnerable facing prosecution for offences which call for non-custodial other than custodial sentencing.

The Ghanaian Times is elated that following its publication on the abandonment of a multi-purpose facility at the Hodzo Community Senior High School in the Ho Municipality, the Ministry of Education has put together a team of officials from Accra to visit the school on an inspection mission. The excitement of the paper is rooted in the fact that the ministry’s action came less than twenty-four hours after the story emerged. On the other hand, the Times is worried about the abandonment of projects initiated by predecessor administrations, including schools. It finds it mind boggling that it usually has to take the promptings of the media to draw attention to such abandoned facilities, as if District, Municipal and Metropolitan officials of concerned ministries, departments or agencies do not see these problems until they are published.

The Daily Graphic expresses the need for an urgent and strategic solution to overcoming the unemployment conundrum the country is battling with. It is in this regard that the paper says relevant, appropriate and quality technical education is paramount if Ghana wants to equip its youth with the required technical and vocational skills that will enable them to become employable and also start their own businesses. The paper says the country has shown its commitment to technical education and skills development by investing more than 3 billion cedis in technical institutions last year for the provision of laboratories and also devoting 60 million cedis as seed money for the repackaging of the skills Development Fund. The Graphic says there is the need to keep pushing even more to institutionalize skills development in the country for sustained job creation. The paper says it knows the national kitty is overstretched, and therefore, policy makers must constructively think through funding options to pool more resources for the effort.

The Daily Graphic says it is time gross indiscipline in the country is nipped in the bud. Considering the viral video of a man and woman literally operating a chop bar at the newly constructed and opened Pokuase four-tier interchange, the paper says it is at a loss by such act. While the Graphic is glad that the illegality has since been halted with the arrest and caution of the father and his daughter, operators of the eatery, who saw nothing wrong with starting a chop bar right at the interchange, it is equally dismayed that people actually patronized the eatery while it was in operation despite its location being distasteful. The paper says it is more worrying that well-meaning Ghanaians who when such illegalities begin, call on the authorities to ensure that the right thing is done are tagged know-it-all. The Graphic therefore lauds the Greater Accra Regional Minister’s ‘Let’s make Accra work’ initiative but says he alone cannot do it all. The paper notes that many metropolitan, municipal and district chief executives are sleeping on the job, the reason it supports the recommendation that when MMDCEs are appointed they must be given six month renewable contracts so that when they fail to perform, they are removed from office.

”There must be sanity in the Public Land Sector” is how the Ghanaian Times captions its editorial. The paper believes that something has gone wrong for which President Akufo Addo has urged government institutions to stop the sale of public lands with immediate effect when he  inaugurated the Board of the Lands Commission this week. It is the hope of the paper that the misdeeds or corruption in the Public Land Sector would be rigorously checked, so that even if it is possible, the Law will be used by the state to repossess State Lands acquired through underhand dealing.

The Ghanaian Times draws attention to some issues related to the Pokuase Interchange, which says when addressed can be replicated anywhere in the country to check indiscipline on Ghanaian roads. To the paper, a major concern in maintaining discipline on the Pokuase interchange is check misbehavior of drivers. It says it is worrying that although there are lorry stations and bus stops around some drivers refuse to use them and instead park and load at unauthorized places. It says such practice causes serious obstruction and results in traffic jams in the area rendering the interchange not serving its purpose. The Times says such driver misbehavior must be exploited for revenue generation by the assemblies.

THE GHANAIAN TIMES says the Ghana Bauxite Company at Awaso in the Bibiani-Ahwiaso Bekwai District must be made to thrive. It finds it reassuring that there is still a huge potential for the company which government is bent on exploring to its fullest to make it a viable source of revenue and employment. Also heart-warming, the paper says is the fact that once the Awaso company thrives, all those whose livelihoods depend on it can heave a deep sigh that, at least, they have hopes of having food on their table, as well as meeting other basic needs. The Times says people tend to forget that when companies collapse, those who suffer most are the non-workers whose livelihoods depend on them, because they have to find ways to start new lives without any compensation.

THE GHANAIAN TIMES says preservation of WAEC’s integrity, results and certificates is critical and must be given utmost attention. It says the importance of WASSCE cannot be discounted because it is the means by which SHS products can climb the academic ladder to the tertiary level. Therefore, the issue of the examination body leaking papers every year must be given utmost attention. It says Monday, August 23, WAEC debunked claims by Africa Education Watch that the Food and Nutrition examination papers in the ongoing WASSCE Examination were leaked to the public. The paper agrees with WAEC, that though feedback aids corrective actions to improve its performance, such reckless circulations create needless pressure on WAEC and candidates. While the Times joins WAEC to appeal for necessary due diligence to avoid the issuance of such fake reports, the paper calls on WAEC to check such recklessness to preserve its integrity.

The Daily Graphic says Ghanaian festivals should be used as a springboard to boost tourism and accelerate the country’s development. The paper says it is regrettable Ghana has not found more creative and innovative ways of celebrating festivals. It says the country stands to benefit if its cultural heritage can be marketed effectively through tourism. It, therefore, urges government and all relevant institutions to help support festivals of the country to grow into international events that will earn the country revenue.

THE GHANAIAN TIMES: says there should be no delay or excuse in fixing the ravages of floods in the Upper West Region. The paper is happy that the Roads Minister, Kwasi Amoako-Attah, officials of the Regional Coordinating Council, Ghana Highway Authority, and NADMO toured the affected areas because they are major stakeholders in offering relief to the affected people. The Times says NADMO in particular should give the people whatever they deserve for it is an open secret that such incidents are exploited by some of its officials to divert relief items either for their own use or sell them and pocket the money. The Ghana Highway, it says should do well to ensure the best of supervision, in order not to give any contractor the opportunity to compromise quality and durability.