SHIRLEY ASIEDU-ADDO'S STORIES

MOTHER OF TRIPLETS PLEADS FOR HELP (MIRROR, PAGE 21, JAN 22, 2011)

2011-01-21T05:41:00.000-08:00

From Shirley Asiedu-Addo, Cape Coast.

IT is a case of nature’s exaggerated benevolence. For getting pregnant six times, Abena Keyerewa has 10 children and now she needs help to give them a decent living.
She has two sets of twins and a set of triplets and three other children, all by spontaneous birth.
She had a girl, followed by a set of twins, a boy and a girl who were followed by another girl.
Then she had two boys and another set of twins, a boy and a girl, followed by the triplets, three boys, who she had named Shadrach, Meshach and Abedinago.
Kyerewa said she and her husband do not eat any special food, but because her mother also had twins she believes it is genetic.
She said she received medical attention anytime she is pregnant and commended medical practitioners at the Abura Dunkwa Government Hospital for the support she had when she was pregnant with the triplets.
She said when she realised through a scan that she was having the triplets, she did not stop going to the hospital.
She stated that the doctor had told her that it was likely she would be delivered through a Caesarean section.
She, however, stated that when she got into labour, she went to the hospital and before she could be prepared for the surgery, she gave birth within 20 minutes.
Kyerewa, 40, lives with her husband at Assin Ngresi in the Assin South District in the Central Region. She does not know her husband’s age but says he would be around 50 years.
They are peasant farmers who virtually consume what they grow.
Now she says life is difficult. Her first child has completed Junior High School and has joined the parents to farm.
Kyerewa sees the children as a blessing from God.
She is appealing to benevolent groups and institutions to support her to raise the children into responsible adults.

18 DIE IN TWO MOTOR ACCIDENTS (SPREAD, JAN 20, 2011)

2011-01-20T03:58:00.000-08:00

Eighteen people died in two separate accidents yesterday, one at Onyaadze on the Apam-Winneba road in the Central Region and the other at Ohene Nkwanta, near Konongo in the Ashanti Region.
In the Onyaadze crash involving two vehicles, 12 people died on the spot and one person later, while 16 others in critical condition have been admitted to the Winneba Government Hospital. The dead include the drivers of the two vehicles involved.
And at Ohene Nkwanta, five passengers, including two females and a baby girl, died on the spot when a Man Diesel articulated truck crashed into a Tata bus.
The Apam Regional Police Commander, Superintendent Oduro Amaning, told the Daily Graphic that the accident occurred around 5.30 a.m. when a cargo Benz, with registration number ER 7024 X, loaded with canned fish and mayonnaise from Accra towards Cape Coast veered of its lane and collided head-on with a Benz 207, with registration number CR 447 P, travelling from Mumford to Winneba.
In the Ashanti Region, a truck, with registration number AS 507-10, which was heading towards Accra from Kumasi, was said to have first hit the rear of a truck which was ahead of it, veered off its lane before crashing into the side of the Tata bus which was travelling from the opposite direction, causing the bus to crash into a ditch.
The Ashanti Regional Police Motor Transport and Traffic Unit (MTTU) Commander, Superintendent G. D. Hlordzi, who briefed the Daily Graphic about the incident, said the impact of the crash was so intense that the Tata bus rolled several times before falling on its side, causing five of the passengers to die on the spot from the injuries they sustained.
He said majority of the passengers in the Tata bus, with registration number GW 1764 X, sustained injuries, and were, therefore, rushed to the Agogo Presbyterian Hospital and Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital for medical care.
He said both the driver of the bus and the articulated truck survived the accident, explaining that while the driver of the bus, identified as Mustapha Seidu, was treated and discharged from the Konongo Government Hospital, the truck driver, yet to be identified, was on admission at the same hospital.
He said the bodies of the deceased were first transported to the Agogo Presbyterian Hospital, but the mortuary was full, so arrangements were made for them to be deposited at the KATH mortuary.
Superintendent Hlordzi said initial police investigations revealed that the driver of the Man Diesel articulated truck was dozing, a situation which he said caused him to hit the rear of a truck which was ahead of it.
He said it was the impact of the first incident that caused the truck to veer from its lane to crash into the Tata bus travelling from the opposite direction.
Superintendent Hlordzi said efforts were being made to identify the deceased passengers, giving assurance that investigations were underway.

KOKWAADO TO SET UP EDUCATIONAL ENDOWMENT FUND (PAGE 35, JAN 20, 2011)

2011-01-19T07:40:00.000-08:00

THE chiefs and people of Kokwaado, near Komenda, have resolved to establish an educational endowment fund to address the declining standards of education in the community.
The Mankrado of Kokwaado, Nana Kojo Sarpong III, who dropped the hint, therefore, called for support from citizens of the community both home and abroad as well as philanthropists and corporate institutions to ensure the success of the proposed fund.
Speaking at this year’s Mpontu festival of the chiefs and people of Kokwaado, Nana Sarpong said the community would support the fund with proceeds from the annual festival and a special appeal for funds to be launched later this year.
He called on the people to give their children the best of education since it is the best legacy they could bequeath to them.
Nana Sarpong urged the government to open up farming communities to enable farmers to transport their foodstuffs and cash crops to the marketing centres to improve their income levels and reduce poverty.
He said each year, farmers were grappled with post-harvest losses after toiling to cultivate crops.
He said farmers in the Komenda-Edina-Eguafo-Abirem Municipality had resorted to the cultivation of large scale cash crops as an alternative livelihood, since the collapse of the Komenda sugar factory.
Nana Sarpong said some of the crops that were produced in abundance were pineapples, citrus, coconuts, cocoa, maize, cassava, vegetables and water melon.
He complained bitterly about lack of feeder roads in the area to enable the farmers to evacuate their crops after harvest.
Nana Sarpong said the only alternative solution for the farmers was to rely on head pottage at a higher cost which eroded their income, rendering their efforts unattractive and disincentive to higher production.
He said the situation also discouraged the youth from going into farming as self-employment and wealth creation, which forced them to migrate to urban areas in search of non-existent jobs.
The chief, therefore, called on the government to create an enabling environment for farmers to increase their yields.
On the high rate of erosion which was affecting the community, Nana Sarpong appealed to the KEEA Municipal Assembly to assist them find a lasting solution to the problem.
He said the erosion had been exacerbated by the construction of the Kokwaado-Kwaarhinkrom-Kissi road during which the road was raised and a small culvert was built to direct water from the hill top without a corresponding drainage to handle the volume of water during rains.

MINI-DURBAR ON FAMILY PLANNING HELD AT BIRIWA (PAGE 35, JAN 20, 2011)

2011-01-19T07:38:00.000-08:00

I TRIED counting the number of children around with my eyes. I lost count several times. The children trooped to the grounds like a swarm of bees.
They looked happy and excited, not bothered about the discoloured teeth some of them displayed.
The children were excited about the fact that a mini-durbar was being held there. But apart from their happy faces, the sight of them was disturbing.
Most of them wore only panties with no clothes.
The near unpleasant scene blurred the picturesque scenery of the beach down the hill.
I called a few. They had sand beneath their overgrown hair.
Some of the children jumped around and danced happily.
I called one of the boys and asked “What is your class? He looked at me smiling. He did not answer.
‘How old are you’, I asked him again. He kept smiling.
Another child, a girl, who looked a little younger than the boy, answered. “He does not go to school so he does not know his age.”
‘You, how old are you’ ?, I asked the girl. Four years and I am in KG one, she answered.
Obviously, she was older. She was about eight years old and she was carrying another child less than a year old.
The boy who was not in school said his mother had travelled to Takoradi in the Western Region to work, adding that his grandmother did not have money to send him to school.
The situation undoubtedly brought home the essence of the mini-durbar which was organised by the Hope For Future Generation (HFFG), a non-governmental organisation (NGO) to educate the community on the need to patronise family planning and general healthcare services from the local health centre to help improve their living conditions.
It was clear that the Biriwa community in the Central Region needed that education badly. Many mothers had turned up for the durbar and they included Araba Atta, 25, an orange seller in the community.
She had two children already but had sworn not to patronise any family planning services.
She said she would give birth to the number of children God wanted to give her rather than getting family planning services.
Araba Atta stated emphatically that she would not adhere to any family services because it was rumoured that one might get an infection by patronising family planning services. “I also know that when you patronise some of these methods, you cannot engage in any strenuous activities,” she said.
“Madam, I am afraid and I will not go in for any of the family planning methods,” she added when I tried to convince her on the need to patronise the family planning services.
Like Araba, many people in the Biriwa community both men and women are not ready to adopt any family planning methods. “It is God who gives children,” some were quick to add.
The situation presents a great challenge for Madam Elizabeth Serwaa Adzato, the nursing officer in charge of the Biriwa Health Centre.
Madam Adzato said there were women over 35 years with about seven children still getting pregnant, thereby increasing the risk at childbirth.
With the help of three other nurses and a dedicated heart, Madam Adzato has worked meritoriously over the last four years to ensure that women and their husbands understand the need to plan their families and reduce the harsh socio-economic lives.
In the small out-patient department (OPD) of the Biriwa Health Centre, Madam Adzato takes care of about 25 pregnant women a day.
According to her, she was making a headway.
Madam Adzato said in the last four years, she had recorded no maternal death at the centre. She said 15 women had also undergone sterilisation. Some males in the community who hitherto abhorred the use of condoms are now using them while many husbands are encouraging their wives to get the injections as family planning methods.
Ama Tawiah, a fishmonger, is one of the disciples Madam Adzato had won and she said she would patronise one of the family planning methods in the near future.
She said her husband was not a problem as he understood the positive aspect of family planning.
But a lot of work must be done and HFFG has joined hands with the health facility to intensify the campaign, reduce the misconceptions and encourage more of the families to adopt family planning methods.
Mrs Cecilia Lodonu is the Chief Executive Officer of HFFG who said HFFG would work to ensure that communities were made aware of the options they had and would be encouraged to make choices to improve their socio-economic well-being.
She said HFFG was working at Biriwa and Ajumako, also in the Central Region to encourage women as well as men to patronise the family planning services.
Mrs Lodonu said she was optimistic that health services would be patronised for better lives.

CLOGSAG CALLS FOR AWARDS SCHEME (PAGE 13, JAN 17, 2011)

2011-01-17T04:30:00.000-08:00

THE Civil and Local Government Staff Association (CLOGSAG) has asked the government to institute an awards scheme in recognition of hard-working and deserving civil servants and local government service staff.
This, CLOGSAG stated, would motivate workers to work harder and increase productivity for national development.
In a resolution adopted at the close of its 11th Quadrennial National Delegates Congress in Cape Coast last Friday, CLOGSAG also called on the government to ensure that the departments and agencies were well-resourced for the discharge of their mandates.
They further called on government to extend free medical service to retired civil and local government workers.
The newly elected President, Alhaji Mahamadou Azonko, who read the resolution, also called on the government to take steps to immediately address CLOGSAG’s concerns about the Single Spine Salary Structure.
He said CLOGSAG could not be coerced into negotiating under the Public Sector Joint Standing Negotiating Committee and would use all legitimate means at its disposal to protect the right of its members to negotiate.
He stated that since CLOGSAG members did not enjoy any increase in salaries for 2010, any salary adjustment should take effect from January 1, 2010.
Earlier in his acceptance speech, Alhaji Azonko urged members of CLOGSAG to resolve to work harder to justify their demands for improved conditions of service.
He pledged that the new executive would improve supervision and unite members for the attainment of all their common objectives.
He also stated that the new executive would endeavour to complete all ongoing projects begun by their predecessors and also initiate a number of programmes to bridge the gap between the executive and members of the association.
The new executive has Mr Evans Dzikunu as the Vice President, Mr J. Appiah Sarpong, the Treasurer and Messrs Eugene Koranteng Henaku and Kwame Asamoah Dwomo and Ms Adjele Mensah Amoako as Trustees.

HUNTER MISTAKES COLLEAGUE FOR GAME (SPREAD, JAN 12, 2011)

2011-01-12T07:16:00.000-08:00

A HUNTING expedition turned fatal at Nuanua in the Assin North District of the Central Region last Saturday when a hunter mistook his friend for game and shot him dead.
The deceased, Amos Tsatsu, 47, was part of a three-man hunting team from the Forestry Task Force in Nuanua that had gone hunting last Saturday.
According to a source at the Assin Fosu Police Station, the three had a shed where they smoked their game in the forest before taking it home.
On the night in question, Amos, who was lucky to have made a kill, had gone to the shed around 2 a.m. to make a fire to smoke the meat.
The source said the Amos was smoking the meat when one of his friends, Samuel Odame, 26, moved towards the shed, all along thinking that he had seen an animal there.
Odame later told the police that he had seen game and shot at it, only to realise later at close range that he had shot the deceased.
He and the other member of the team, Daniel Nyarko, broke the news of the incident to the assembly member for the community, who subsequently reported the case to the Assin Fosu Police.
Odame has been arrested, while the police are investigating the matter.

MORE TEACHERS NEEDED AT BASIC LEVEL (PAGE 11, JAN 12, 2011)

2011-01-12T06:52:00.001-08:00

GHANA needs 45,000 extra teachers to meet the growing enrolment at the basic level.
Prof. Jophus Amanuah Mensah, a former Vice Chancellor of the University of Education, Winneba who stated this said the teacher scarcity had been worsened by retirements, deaths and migration and increase enrolments due to the need to get all children of school age in school.
He was speaking at a lecture as part of activities to mark the 10th anniversary of the Centre for Continuing Education (CCE) for Distance Learning Programme of the University of Cape Coast (UCC).
Prof. Anamuah Mensah said the situation had been compounded by the fact that a large number of the current teacher population at the basic level was untrained.
He noted that the solution to the teacher problem was not through conventional teacher education but through distance learning.
He commended the CCE of the UCC for increasing the number of students on their learning programme by about 55 per cent of total enrolment of all distance learning students.
He called for a policy to give direction and focus to the operations of distance education in the country.
A Magistrate of the Judicial Service, Her Worship Meumatu Yakubu Jebuni, an alumnus of the distance programme, deplored the lack of library facilities at some of the centres and called for the development of the regional campuses as soon as possible.
She commended the university for the opportunity, saying it had helped a lot of people, particularly women, to pursue higher education.
After 10 years the number of students on the distance programme stands at 33,000 from the pioneer student enrolment of 750.
Currently, the CCE has five programmes in Education and eight in Business Studies with 1,786 tutors and 33 study centres.
The Director of the CCE, Mr Albert Koomson, said the distance programme had become a reliable source of income for the development of the entire university.
He said the CCE would work to ensure that latest technology was employed at the various centres to make teaching and learning more effective.

UCC TO DEVELOP STUDY CENTRE IN ACCRA (BACK PAGE, JAN 4, 2011)

2011-01-04T06:51:00.000-08:00

The Centre for Continuing Education (CCE) for Distance Education at the University of Cape Coast (UCC) is developing a GH¢3.4 million study centre in Accra to further increase access to higher education.
The project, which is being funded from the university’s internally generated funds, is expected be completed within 18 months, and will provide comfortable and adequate lecture space for students enrolled in the programmes and reduce the dependence on other institutions for lecture halls.
At the launch of activities to mark the centre’s 10th anniversary celebration, the Vice Chancellor of UCC, Prof. Naana Jane Opoku Agyeman, said the establishment of the permanent study centres had become imperative.
She said the CCE had acquired plots of land in all the regions and that there was a schedule to move to the remaining regions of the country with these projects.
She lauded the success of the distance learning programme, saying that after 10 years, the number of students on the programme stood at 33,000 from the pioneer student enrolment of 750.
Currently, she said, the CCE had five programmes in Education and eight in Business Studies with 1786 tutors and 33 study centres.
Prof. Agyeman said the programme had raised the professional competence and socio-economic lives of many people, including teachers, as a result of upgrading of their academic status.
She pledged that in the near future, efforts would be made to run a second degree programme in Business Administration in Distance Education to complement the regular and sandwich options at the postgraduate level.
Prof. Agyeman called on tertiary institutions in the country to replace unhealthy competition among them with strong collaborations to promote the training of quality human resource for national development.
She commended the current Director of the CCE, Mr Albert Koomson, all past directors and stakeholders who had contributed to the success story of the CCE.
The Chairman of the CCE Board, Prof. D.D. Kuupole, said the distance education programme had lifted high the image of the university in the nation and the continent as a whole.
He gave an assurance that the CCE would continue to work to ensure that quality was sustained and improved.
Prof. Joseph Ghartey Ampiah, the Dean of the Faculty of Education, who chaired the programme, said with the growing number of students who wanted to have access to university education, the traditional approach to delivering education to students who were physically “on site” in a traditional classroom was no longer tenable.

THE EFFECTS OF RECENT FLOODS ON TEKYIAM (PAGE 22, JAN 1, 2011)

2011-01-03T06:52:00.000-08:00

WOMEN with sacks of cassava sat with sad faces not knowing how they would get themselves to the side of the main Swedru-Winneba road and to the market centres. The fruits of their labour lay before their eyes and they did not know whether they would be able to get the best from their sweat.
They waited on destiny to smile and bring a pick-up vehicle per chance around the area to enable them to transport the produce.
They were anxious. They didn’t know how long they had to wait.
One of them tied a cloth tightly around her waist and her cheek rested in her left hand. She said she was not happy about the situation which she said had affected her income and the well-being of her family.
She said their hard work was sure to go down the drain if nothing was done urgently to repair the bridge.
At Tekyiam in the Gomoa East District in the Central Region, the destruction of the main bridge connecting Tekyiam, a small farming community, with the other communities has made life frustrating for the people of the community and its environs.
The community lies about eight kilometres east of Awombrew. Their road is good, but the problem is the non-availability of vehicle plying the road.
This is because the steel bridge that connects Tekyiam with the other communities was washed away about six months ago when the Ayensu River and the tributaries of two smaller streams flooded the area. The repercussion has been unpleasant for the people in the area, both young and old.
For the old, travelling has been a problem. The vehicles plying the road from Awombrew on the Swedru-Winneba road to Panfokrom are irregular. The vehicles come once in a while.
The women said it was also sad that farmers in the community could not go to their farms whenever it rained because they could not cross the river.
The people cross to the other end of the bridge when it has not rained but that is a dangerous walk.
They walk across the broken bridge partly and then across a coconut stem spanning the river. A little mistake can be a disastrous story.
Young pupils who walk across the bridge to school have stopped attending classes due to the state of the bridge. Others have also changed their schools.
The Gomoa East District Assembly had to quickly provide a make-shift school for the very young ones in pre-school and lower primary to attend school at Tekyiam.
The older ones have to join a pick-up provided by the district assembly on a perilous journey in the bucket of the vehicle.
The children are many and the vehicle as a matter of necessity, overloads them, putting the lives of the young ones at risk.
The District Chief Executive (DCE) for Gomoa East, Mr Ahunu Armah, said the bridge needed immediate attention but was worried that its repair was beyond the budget of the district assembly. He, therefore, appealed to the President to intervene to make the situation better.
The Central Regional Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction and Climate Change Adaptation led by its Chairman, Daasebre Kwebu Ewusi, has visited the community to assess the damage and its effects on the socio-economic lives of the people.
Daasebre Ewusi said it was a disturbing situation, and pledged to help solicit support from all sectors to rectify the situation.
He said it was necessary to repair the bridge and restore the lives of the people to normalcy.
The Central Regional Co-ordinator of the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO), Mr David Mensah, said the organisation would intensify education to ensure that the people adopted effective measures to reduce the incidence of flooding in the communities.

52 GUARDS PASS OUT IN CAPE COAST (PAGE 22, JAN 1, 2011)

2011-01-03T06:51:00.000-08:00

FIFTY-TWO newly trained guards for the Cape Coast Metropolitan Assembly who underwent four months intensive training have passed out at a ceremony in Cape Coast.
The Cape Coast Metropolitan Chief Executive (MCE), Mr Anthony Agyir Arkins, who was the reviewing officer, said Local Government Act of 1993, Act 462 which established the district assemblies among other functions, empowered them to exercise political and administrative authority in the metropolis, provide guidance, give direction and all other administrative authorities in the metropolis.
He said the new guards, who were recruited to strengthen the unit committees of the assembly, would be engaged in traffic control, tourism protection, disaster prevention, among others.
Mr Agyir Arkins said the guards would also assist revenue collectors to mobilise more revenue to improve the assembly’s financial position.
He urged them to equip themselves with the bye-laws guiding their operations to enable them to function effectively.

POLICE ARREST ILLEGAL LOTTO OPERATORS (PAGE 22, JAN 1, 2011)

2011-01-03T06:50:00.000-08:00

THE Cape Coast police last Saturday rounded up 22 illegal lotto (banker to banker) operators.
The suspects were arrested during a two-hour swoop carried out in various parts of the Cape Coast Metropolis.
Confirming the story to the Daily Graphic in Cape Coast, a police spokesperson said the suspects would be put before court as soon as investigations were completed.
The Central Regional Manager of the National Lottery Authority (NLA), Ms Christie Akrofi, said the swoop was to deter others from operating the illegal lottery.
She stated that by law, no other person except the NLA could operate any form of lottery.
Ms Akrofi said what was disturbing was that the illegal operators plied on the numbers drawn weekly by the NLA and did not pay taxes, a situation that affected the sales of the NLA.
She said all attempts to educate the illegal operators to register with the NLA had proved fiasco.

CR NHIS STAFF DISASSOCIATE THEMSELVES FROM STRIKE (PAGE 22, JAN 1, 2011)

2011-01-03T06:49:00.000-08:00

SCHEME managers and staff of the National Health Insurance Schemes (NHIS) in the Central Region have disassociated themselves from the purported nationwide strike by a section of NHIS workers.
In a press release signed by the various scheme managers in the region, the workers stated that they were surprised at the various news items reported by some FM radio stations and newspapers concerning the industrial action to cause the removal of the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA), Mr Slyvester Mensah.
The release said “we in the Central Region find it very strange to engage ourselves in any unlawful acts that seem to drag the name of our scheme and that of our CEO through the mud now that the schemes are going through positive transformation due to the effectiveness of the CEO’’.
It said “we cannot be part of a destructive plan of evildoers”.
The release also stated that the workers of the NHIS in the Central Region were not part of a purported meeting which was said to have taken the decision to embark on the strike, adding that “we were not consulted or informed about any such meeting or decision”.
It said in that regard, the NHIS staff in the Central Region would like to state emphatically that anyone or a group of persons whose aim was to use them to achieve its selfish goals by inciting the staff of the scheme or workers against any authority would not succeed.
It said “we the workers of the NHIS in the Central Region are hardworking, law-abiding and focused in achieving the goals of our scheme to sustain health insurance in the country”.
The release also called on the scheme’s workers’ union to engage in dialogue to address their concerns, stressing that all staff and scheme workers must condemn any act that was unlawful.
It urged the scheme’s workers to abide by the rules and regulations of the NHIS.

ILLEGAL LOTTO OPERATORS ROUNDED UP (MIRROR, PAGE 35, DEC 24, 2010)

2010-12-23T04:37:00.000-08:00

From Shirley Asiedu-Addo, Cape Coast

Twenty-two illegal lotto operators (also known as “banker to banker” operators) were on Saturday rounded up by the police in Cape Coast.
The 22 were rounded up in a two-hour swoop in various parts of the metropolis.
According to the police, the suspects would be arraigned before court after investigations have been completed.
The Central Regional Manager of the National Lottery Authority (NLA), Ms Christie Akrofi, said the swoop was to deter others to stop the operations of illegal lotto.
She noted that by law no other person except the NLA could operate any form of lotto.
She said what was disturbing was that the illegal operators pried on the numbers given weekly by the NLA and did not pay taxes.
That, she said, affected the sales of the NLA.
Ms Akrofi said all attempts to educate the illegal operators to get them to register with the NLA had fallen on deaf ears.
She said the NLA would soon take delivery of over 800 point of sale machines, adding that those who wanted to register must do so.

NEW UNIFORM, HAPPY FACES (PAGE 35, DEC 2, 2010)

2010-12-02T22:13:00.001-08:00

THE little girl looked frightened. She had unkempt hair and wore a dirty orange sweater with no skirts, exposing her dirty underwear. Her legs were dirty with mud.
She wore slippers far bigger than her feet and was holding a polythene filled with palm oil.
It was not surprising that she looked afraid. The little girl, who later gave her name as Mary, stood before government officials led by the Central Regional Minister, Mrs Ama Benyiwa- Doe. The girl was answering questions on why she was not in school on the first day of reopening.
This was at Treposo in the Upper Denkyira East District in the Central Region. It was the first day of the new academic year.
The officials had gone to welcome the new pupils to school and encourage them to stay in school. As the school was empty when they arrived, they had to go to the community to urge the children to dress up and go to school.
Mary had no excuse for not being in school but said that they lived in a village far away.
She said she had been sent to Treposo, the small dusty village (bigger than her own though) to buy the oil she was holding to be used to prepare food.
Mary seemed to know little about school or that there were free uniforms for schoolchildren.
With the speed of light, Mary ran into some nearby bushes leaving all the officials stunned.
Mrs Benyiwa-Doe talked to some parents who promised the officials that they would be in the school with their children and within minutes, they were in the school.
Parents, community leaders and children with all kinds of attire as uniforms turned up at the school compound for the ceremony.
The ceremony was short and soon, new pupils with very old dresses were looking fresh and new. They were also given cups and snacks.
It is amazing how the policy on free school uniforms affects the lives of many pupils in school, particularly the rural communities. It was a sight that could easily bring goose pimples on anyone. Happy children with glittering eyes and genuine smiles filled the school compound.
Shouts of excitement filled the air as elated mothers hugged their children.
The regional minister, also hugged some of the children.
The idea of sharing the uniforms may look very casual, and may seem a “funny” idea to gain political votes, one may think. Maybe be it is. But for the children who lined up to receive the uniforms from the regional minister, it was more than that.
It certainly gave them a feeling that they were thought about and cared for, especially for children in the less-privileged communities.
One mother smiled and said, “we are happy, now we feel government closer to us than ever”. “I say thank you, to the government,” one other child said.
Many times, getting the policies and programmes to the communities to ensure its benefits to all have been a problem.
For journalists, who took trips to the communities on “the other end” of the region, it was one perilous and rough trip.
We had set off from Cape Coast a day before to Dunkwa using the Twifo Praso-Dunkwa-on-Offin road.
We had changed the rickety bus we were using at Twifo Praso for an oversized school bus.
It was around 6 p.m. when six male journalists and myself, the only female on the bus, an official and two drivers, set off from Twifo Praso to Dunkwa-on-Offin on a road which was virtually unmotorable.
We were expected to get to Dunkwa-on-Offin in about two hours if all went well.
It was dark everywhere. We were travelling through the forest. My heart leaped and the only consolation at that time was the music on an FM radio station in the bus.
As we travelled, parts of the road turned into small ponds which we had to cross. The road was so bad that the sound from travelling on it made my ears ache.
We continued and about an hour into the trip, the driver of our bus stopped and picked a man. He was having a gun.
It looked outrageous. I was angry. How can you stop to pick a man having a gun in the middle of the forest on this road? I queried the driver.
“In these parts of our country, everybody is a brother,” he said. His answer, though not very convincing, brought me facing the break down of our social values and systems that once held us together as people in the towns and cities.
I shut up. This was at Bepobeng. The man who joined the bus was Kwadwo Boateng, a hunter and he had gone for his repaired gun. He got down at Ayaase and we continued our journey, coming across only a few vehicles on the way.
At Nyaabrem, we were stopped by drivers of vehicles coming from the opposite direction.
They told us that the road had been blocked by a tipper truck which skidded off the road.
There was no coverage of any telecommunication network to enable us to communicate with family or friends, making me wonder whether the telecommunication companies are where we needed them most. We had travelled more than an hour-and-a-half and so we decided to continue.
At about 8.15 p.m., we came to the blocked portion of the road.
There was no possibility of us passing, considering the size of our bus. We stopped. Laughter and all sense of humour had left us. I looked into the darkness and I could not see anything.
The sound of insects and animals became louder. This is no longer funny.
It was 8:30 p.m. and I was in the middle of the forest, in the line of duty. The road had been blocked by an articulated truck which had lost its balance trying to climb the hilly portion of the road.
Some minutes later, a tractor came and tried to pull the bus but it was too big to go around the articulator.
For about an hour, we stood there as travellers from other vehicles tried to devise a means to get the vehicles around the articulator. Those who waited included ladies, babies and old persons. It was an unpleasant journey.
Some of the people went for machetes to weed the sides of the road to get the tractor to pull the vehicles.
Finally, at about 9.15 p.m., we went to the other end of the road.
Within minutes, we were on a tarred road. Finally, the troubles were over, so we thought.
But just then, our bus hit a pothole and immediately, all the lights on it went off with the exception of the hazard lights. That was about 9.30 p.m.
For the next curvy journey of about 15 minutes to Dunkwa-on-Offin, our bus moved with hazard lights. Thank God, we arrived safely at Dunkwa-on-Offin.
We were received by the District Chief Executive for Upper Denkyira West, Mr Kofi Ashia, who later sent us to our hotel. That was around 10.30 p.m. we were looking very weary.
However, the next morning brought joy once again.
From Treposo, we continued travelling the bad nature of the Upper Denkyira East district roads to Dankwakrom to distribute the school uniforms at Diaso.
We came back to Upper Denkyira West to Kramokrom which had poor school infrastructure but pleasant people and continued to Abudukrom to give out the uniforms.
The roads in those communities were all very deplorable.
Mrs Benyiwa-Doe pledged the government’s commitment to improve the quality of education. She advised the communities to ensure that their children were enrolled and retained in school.
For the Central Regional Director of Education, his concern was how to improve on the 83 per cent completion rate at the basic level.
As the entourage left Abudukrom, the last place of visit, pupils with new uniforms and happy faces waved as if to say, come again sometime.
As for me, the most worrying aspect of the scenarios on the trip was Mary, the little girl, who ran into the bush and was nowhere to be found. It is essential for the nation to question and find out how many of the Marys remain to be reached by the good policies being rolled out by our governments? It is important to intensify campaign on the need to get every child of school age in school, no matter what it takes.

UEW TRAINS CERTIFIED MENTORS (PAGE 11, OCT 29, 2010)

2010-10-29T09:51:00.000-07:00

THE University of Education, Winneba is training people as certified mentors who will mentor teachers and other educationist to help them build confidence in themselves and be motivated to offer their best.
The Vice Chancellor of the university, Professor Akwasi Asabere-Ameyaw, said these mentors would in addition help mentor interns and new teachers in their various specialised areas.
Prof. Asabre-Ameyaw was speaking at the graduation ceremony for 8,245 students of the university.
One person graduated with a doctorate degree, 292 with Master’s degrees, 2,413 with Bachelor’s degrees and 338 with certificates and diplomas.
Prof. Asabere-Ameyaw said the university understood its mandate of training high calibre teachers, educational administrators and researchers who were highly motivated for effective delivery.
He noted that over the past 18 years, the university had seen steady growth in student enrolment and that reflected its desire to meet the nation's increasing demand for quality professional teachers to make up for the teacher shortfalls in the classrooms and to significantly improve teaching and learning in the schools.
The vice chancellor said in addition to the existing 35 postgraduate programmes, during the last academic year 15 other postgraduate programmes were introduced.
He said the Centre for Continuing Education of UEW was currently running programmes to train teachers for higher education to help improve teaching and learning at the universities by providing new teaching staff with knowledge and skills in teaching and in managing and evaluating large classes.
Prof. Asabere-Ameyaw called on the government and other corporate organisations to support the university to live up to its mandate.
In an address, Mr Mathias Tara of the Ministry of Education said the government would pursue vigorous infrastructural development on all campuses of public universities.
He also called on universities to forge closer collaboration with private local and foreign institutions through mentorship, affiliation and networking to make quality tertiary education more accessible and affordable to many youth.
The Chancellor of the university, Dr Emmanuel Kenneth Andoh, advised the students to work hard to help improve the literacy rate and reduce poverty in the country.
He also advised them to be good role models in the communities they would be posted to.

UCC TO SET UP FISHERIES COLLEGE (PAGE 11, OCT 13, 2010)

2010-10-13T03:50:00.000-07:00

THE University of Cape Coast is working to establish a Fisheries College at Anomabo in the Central Region to help effectively manage the fisheries industry.
The college would be established in collaboration with the Department of Fisheries of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture and the Government of Ghana.
The Vice Chancellor of the university, Prof Naana Jane Opoku Agyeman, said at this year’s congregation that it was part of efforts to make the university relevant to societal needs.
“All faculties and schools in the context of the law establishing the university and the tenets of the University’s Strategic Plan continue to develop and expand their programmes to make them continually relevant and attractive to young men and women interested in the discipline provided and to respond to national needs,” she noted.
A total of 8, 155 students graduated from the University of Cape Coast (UCC) with various degrees and diplomas. They include 3,908 undergraduate students, 328 postgraduate and 3739 from the Centre for Continuing Education.
She said a pilot e-learning programme on Food Quality and Food Safety was developed by the school in collaboration with the Food and Agriculture Organisation and the German Development Organisation (GTZ).
Prof. Agyeman noted that during the year under review, the School of Agriculture of the UCC offered to run two new programmes, Master of Philosophy and Doctorate Degree in NGO Studies and Community Development and added that the university of Bonn in Germany would collaborate with the University to run the two programmes.
Prof. Agyeman asked the graduates to be disciplined wherever they found themselves to enable them leave their footprints in society.
In an address, the Deputy Minister of Education, Dr J.S. Annan said the Ministry of Education was making plans to restructure the Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFund) to make it more accessible and equitable.
He said under the proposed restructuring, equitable infrastructure distribution would be ensured to meet the funding dynamics of the GETFund.

E CAUTIOUS OF IMPOSITION OF TAX ON CHEAP IMPORTS (PAGE 42, OCT 13, 2010)

2010-10-12T05:53:00.001-07:00

THE Derma Area Rural Bank (DARB) Limited in the Tano South District in the Brong Ahafo Region has now met the Bank of Ghana’s (BOG) minimum share capital requirement of GH¢150,000 for all Rural and Community Banks (RCBs) in the country by the end of 2010.
The Chairman of the Board of Directors of the bank, Mr George Amano-Kyeremeh, announced this at the 23rd annual general meeting of the bank at Derma.
He said the bank’s paid-up capital increased from GH¢54,817.88 in December, 2008 to GH¢152,483.17 in December, 2009, representing an increase of GH¢97,665.30 or 178.16 per cent of the 2008 figure.
Mr Amano-Kyeremeh said that was made possible by transferring GH¢80,000 of the income surplus to add up to the share capital while the board of directors also purchased at least GH¢1,000 worth of shares each.
He stated, however, that the board did not recommend the payment of dividend for the year under review, saying “If the performance of your bank continues to improve, the board may recommend the payment of dividend to shareholders by the next AGM.”
Mr Amano-Kyeremeh said the bank also increased its profit after tax from GH¢22,110 in 2008 to GH¢160,678 in 2009 while the bank’s deposits rose from GH¢1,930,529 in 2008 to GH¢2,218,434 in 2009.
He said the bank’s total assets grew by 18 per cent; from GH¢2,175,078 two years ago to GH¢2,563,602 in 2009, while its investments rose from GH¢674,835 in 2008 to GH¢903,756 last year representing an increase of 34 per cent.
Mr Amano-Kyeremeh said last year, the bank was able to grant loans/advances worth GH¢1,198,747 to its customers engaged in agriculture, trading, transport, as well as salaried workers, as against a lending package of GH¢796,295 given out in 2008.
He added that with the current performance, the bank was poised to expand and steps were being taken to upgrade its Tepa mobilisation centre into a full-fledged agency while plans were under way to establish an agency at Penkwase/New Dormaa community in the Sunyani Municipality.
“We are now ready for full online operations when ARB Apex Bank Limited and Millennium Development Account (MIDA) computerisation project takes off,” he added.
The Manager of the Sunyani branch of the ARB Apex Bank, Mr Claver Dadzie, who read a speech on behalf of the Managing Director, Mr Eric Osei-Bonsu, commended management, staff and shareholders of the bank for the impressive performance over the years.
He reiterated the call on all RCBs to observe the ARB Apex Bank regulations and bye-laws in order to promote decency and sanity in their operations as any deviation or default came along with the imposition of various sanctions and penalties.
The Supervising Manager of the bank, Mr Emmanuel Osei Afriyie, said the bank would continue to introduce innovate products and also improve on its services to the satisfaction of customers and prospective clients.

E CAUTIOUS OF IMPOSITION OF TAX ON CHEAP IMPORTS (PAGE 42, OCT 13, 2010)

2010-10-12T05:53:00.000-07:00

ENSURE QUALITY IN EDUCATION — PROF KUUPOLE (PAGE 22, OCT 9, 2010)

2010-10-10T08:49:00.000-07:00

THE Pro-Vice Chancellor of the University of Cape Coast (UCC), Prof. D.D. Kuupole has stated that the drive to improve education must move from filling the classrooms with children to ensure real quality.
He said teachers must be given the special motivation to work while adequate teaching and learning materials must also be provided to ensure quality education delivery.
Prof. Kuupole was speaking at a dissemination conference to formally receive reports on key issues emerging from a five-year research into educational access, quality and outcomes in Africa.
The Department for International Development (DfID) supported the research.
The forum was to afford the research collaborators from the United Kingdom and Tanzania as well as authorities of the Ministry of Education and the Ghana Education Service and the Institute for Educational Planning and Administration (IEPA) of the UCC on the policy implications of emerging research findings.
The event was on the theme: “Redirecting policy for achieving education for all in Africa.”
Prof. Kuupole said it was time education was geared towards problem solving and not one that would create problems for the nation.
In an address read on his behalf, the Minister of Education, Mr Alex Tettey Enyo said the government had acknowledged that access to quality education was crucial for accelerating our national strategies towards achieving the education for all goals.
He, however, stated that despite interventions to increase enrolment and close the gender parity gap, there still existed disparities in some parts of the country, adding that the ministry was still putting measures in place to address those disparities.
Mr Tettey Enyo said the measures included the construction of over 300 basic schools across the country to reduce the challenge of teaching and learning under trees and 500 six unit classroom blocks in selected Senior High and Technical Institutes, especially in deprived schools.
He said the Education Ministry had established inspectorate boards to strengthen supervision of teaching and learning facilities at the basic and secondary levels.
The Director of the IEPA, Dr G.K.T. Oduro said the research sought to identify the role of head teachers in the effective administration of the schools and how to empower them to enhance their leadership skills and use such capacities to improve pupils’ achievement.
The Vice-chancellor of UCC, Prof. Naana Jane Opoku Agyeman said it was her expectation that the government could refine existing educational policies on access, quality and outcomes towards the achievement of education for all by 2015.

FISHERIES COLLEGE FOR ANOMABU (MIRROR, PAGE 34, OCT 9, 2010)

2010-10-08T05:57:00.000-07:00

From Shirley Asiedu-Addo, Cape Coast

THE University of Cape Coast is to establish a Fisheries College at Anomabo in the Central Region to help effectively manage the fisheries industry.
The college would be established in collaboration with the Department of Fisheries of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture and the Government of Ghana.
The Vice Chancellor of the university, Prof. Naana Jane Opoku Agyeman, said this at this year’s Congregation and described it as part of efforts to make university education relevant to societal needs.
“All faculties and schools in the context of law establishing the university and the tenets of the University’s Strategic Plan continue to develop and expand their programmes to make them continually relevant and attractive to young men and women interested in the discipline provided to respond to national needs,” she noted.
A total of 8, 155 students graduated from the University of Cape Coast (UCC) with various degrees and diplomas. They include 3,908 undergraduate students, 328 post graduates and 3,739 from the Centre for Continuing Education. She said a pilot e-learning on Food Quality and Food Safety was developed by the school in collaboration with the Food and Agriculture Organisation and the German Development Organisation (GTZ).
Prof. Agyeman noted that during the year under review, the School of Agriculture of the UCC offered to run two new programmes; Master of Philosophy and Doctorate Degree in NGO Studies and Community Development, adding that the university of Bonn in Germany would collaborate with the university to run the two programmes. Prof. Agyeman asked the graduates to be disciplined wherever they found themselves to enable them leave their footprints in society.
The Deputy Minister of Education, Dr J.S Annan, said the Ministry of Education was making plans to restructure the Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFund) to make it more accessible and equitable.
He said under the proposed restructuring, equitable infrastructure distribution would be ensured. He also assured that all ongoing projects in the various educational institutions would be completed in good time.
He commended UCC for its efforts in training human resource to meet the needs of the nation.

NDC WITHIN SCHEDULE TO BETTER LIFE OF GHANAIANS (PAGE 12, OCT 8, 2010)

2010-10-08T05:04:00.001-07:00

THE Deputy National Youth Organiser of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Mr James Fonu, has said the NDC was within schedule in its efforts to bring a better life to Ghanaians.
He said it was disturbing that some members of the opposition were creating the impression that the NDC was a "slow" government.
He stated that the NDC was working hard and taking into consideration its manifesto and what the party promised Ghanaians during the last general elections, adding “we would not be distracted by such behaviours.”
Mr Fonu said this when he interacted with the press at Elmina after touring the various constituencies in the Central region to interact with the youth of the NDC.
He said the youth of the NDC had been sensitised to the various development projects which the NDC government was going to undertake which would eventually reduce unemployment among the youth stating that the agitation among the youth had been removed because the NDC youth now recognised that the President was working to better their lives.
Mr Fonu said the NDC would soon come out with a document detailing what the government had been able to achieve in comparison to its manifestos to show Ghanaians that they were on course.
He asked Ghanaians to ignore the "black propaganda" by the opposition members and help support efforts by the government to create jobs, especially for the youth, and to subsequently improve on living standards.
He said during his interactions with the NDC youth, he saw that they were happy and ready to rededicate themselves to the party's growth.
He said the launch of the National Youth Policy and various programme being put in place by the government to improve living conditions would attest to government’s commitment.
He also said projects in the road and railway sectors that were expected to start soon in the country would create more employment avenues for the youth.
On the strength of the party in the region, Mr Fonu said the NDC was still very strong in the Central Region and said he was hopeful that the party would maintain all its parliamentary seats.
He called on the youth of the NDC to work to disseminate the government policies to the communities and unite to ensure victory for the party in 2012.

UC MEDICAL STUDENTS ORGANISE HEALTH FAIR (PAGE 42, OCT 7, 2010)

2010-10-06T08:38:00.000-07:00

THE University of Cape Coast Association of Medical Students has organised a health fair at the school to educate and screen students and the general public on health issues.
According to the President of the association, Alhaji Baba Bin Alhassan more students were screened for syphilis, fasting blood sugar, blood groupings, HIV and dental examination.
He said the aim of the health fair was to educate the public on how to prevent diseases and keep good health, which he said, was the core business of the medical school.
Mr Alhassan urged the public to check their health status to be able to deal with diseases at their early stages, adding that early detection of diseases made it easy to cure than developing to an advanced stage which sometimes led to lost of lives.

GMA CONCERNED ABOUT LAWLESSNESS IN THE COUNTRY (PAGE 42, OCT 7, 2010)

2010-10-06T08:37:00.000-07:00

THE Executive Council of the Ghana Medical Association (GMA) has expressed concern about the rising incidence of mob action and lawlessness in the country.
Speaking at a news briefing at the end of the GMA executive council meeting at Elmina in the Central Region, the President of the association, Dr Adom Winful, stated that several cases of armed robbery and killings had recently taken centre stage in the media.
He cited the case of the policeman who was attacked on duty and killed in Kumasi, adding that many more individuals have also been attacked by unscrupulous people resulting in various unpleasant outcomes.
Dr Winful said the association had made a passionate appeal to the government to adequately equip the security agencies to enable them to effectively deal with criminal elements.
He also called on members of the association to report all suspicious cases involving gun shot wounds who sought medical attention in their facilities to the police for further investigations.
The GMA President called on the fair wages and salaries commission to as soon as possible engage the association to thrash out issues relating to conditions of service, market premium and inducement for smooth implementation of the Single Spine Pay Policy in the health sector.
The association expressed concern about the carnage on our roads and called on the Motor Traffic and Transport Unit (MTTU) of the Ghana Police Service to intensify their educational campaign on road safety practices to clamp down on all unruly drivers on the roads.

CONVICTED ARMED ROBBERS MUST SUFFER DEATH PENALTY (PAGE 42, OCT 7, 2010)

2010-10-06T08:35:00.000-07:00

PARTICIPANTS at the Central Regional consultations on the review of the Constitution have insisted that any constitutional review made must compel the Presidency to activate the use of the death penalty, particularly on convicted armed robbers.
A significant number of the speakers observed that it was not enough to keep the death penalty in the statute books without making use of it.
They stated that the rampaging attitudes of armed robbers in recent times required that the presidency should use the death penalty to deter murderers.
The forum, which was held at the premises of the Centre for National Culture (CNC), was attended by traditional authorities, representatives from faith-based organisations and the ministries, departments and agencies in the region.
A participant, Mr Nii Adams said it was even written in the Holy Bible that the wages of sin is death, stressing that armed robbers must face the death penalty.
Other speakers said the presidency and all other faces had done a great disservice to the nation because it had failed to apply the death penalty.
In his contribution, Alhaji Issah said “A number of honourable men and innocent citizens of the nation have suffered great losses from armed robbers”.
Nana Obruasankoma of Ankaful stated that chiefs should not be allowed to dabble in politics while politicians must also not meddle in chieftaincy issues.
The participants also called for a national development agenda that would be binding on all governments no matter the party in government.
Earlier in an address, the Chairman of the Constitution Review Commission, Prof. Emeritus Albert Fiadjoe said the commission had travelled to eight regions, including the Central Region to solicit submissions from the public for the review of the constitution.
He said a second round of the consultations would be done to ensure that those who did not get the opportunity to make submissions in the first round did so.
Prof. Emeritus Fiadjoe said the nearly 35,000 submissions received from the public would be given the needed attention before the final submission to the presidency.
Prof. Fiadjoe said the commission would ensure that its work covered the welfare, cohesion, unity and good governance in the country.

HST ORPHANANAGE ASSISTS NEEDY, VULNERABLE CHILDREN (PAGE 42, OCT 7, 2010)

2010-10-06T08:34:00.000-07:00

THIS piece is about orphanages. Yes, but don’t look at it with contempt. Don’t stop reading it considering the many gloomy reports in the media in recent times about the “slavery” in the orphanages. Don’t stop reading this piece or you might throw away the baby with the bath water.
I found myself in an orphanage recently with the perception that “all these homes should be closed down until further notice.”
But as I sat on the veranda of the orphanage, I began to critically observe the place and its people critically.
First were the children. Most of them wore T-shirts over jeans trousers. They all wore nice footwear although some looked bigger on the feet of some of the children. All of them had sharp haircuts.
Their innocent eyes showed excitement and anxiety as they sat on the benches looking eagerly at the gifts that were arranged nicely on the two unpainted tables.
The University of Cape Coast Association of Medical Students (UCCAMS) had presented items, including stationery and mattresses to them.
Obviously gifts like these did not come often to the Human Service Trust (HST) Orphanage.
But when they do come, it is Christmas for the children at the home.
One of the girls caught my eyes. She looked a bit older than most of the children, and had a smile anytime I stole a glance at her.
I called her into a corner .
She is Selina Appiah, aged 14. She looked sharp and kept a beautiful smile. As I engaged her in a conversation I asked her some questions like: “When was the last time Mama Nancy caned you?”
She looked at me carefully and with a startled face said, “we are not caned here.” We are talked to if we do something wrong and Selina admitted that was the many reasons why she loved to be at the home.
Selina comes from Assin Fosu in the Central Region. She said both parents were farmers who earned little. She said they were not interested in education and their earnings were too small to enable them to educate their children, Selina and her brother.
“I never went to school when I was with my parents,” she stated. Selina who is now in Junior High School Form Two was brought to the home by a concerned aunt about seven years ago.
She said although she missed her parents and her brother, she would not want to go back and live with them.
She told me she would not have had the opportunity to go to school if she was living with her parents and that her parents came to visit her sometimes.
“I know if I had been with them, I would not have been in school,” she said.
Selina said she did not have any idea what would have become of her if she had continued to live with her parents.
“I don’t know what I would have become, but now want to be a teacher,” she said smiling.
The founder of the HST, Mrs Nancy Arkorful, a 70-year-old retiree has committed more than a decade of her life touching the hitherto little dejected lives of children in and beyond her community by turning them into happy young persons with purposeful lives ready to face the future.
The HST, which began at Abura, a suburb of Cape Coast in 1997, currently supports about 50 children by feeding them and supporting them through school while they live with their families. Eleven of the children live in the home.
The have three bedrooms neatly kept and a library for reading.
Some of the children at the home are in private schools as the founder has sought support to fund their education.
With a mission to provide access to housing, general health care and education for the needy, vulnerable and physically challenged children of the local community in order to empower them for the future.
Its vision is to transform the lives of the community by providing for the most vulnerable in society especially orphans through education and health promotion.
She has done this to the best of her abilities.
Indeed, one cannot begrudge the public for their disgust at some orphanages and the perception by many that these places are “slave homes.”
But for Selina, she says she does not care about what anyone thinks about the orphanages; “what I know is that this place is good and has given me a better life.”

UEW INAUGURATES CAMPUS AT AJUMAKO (PAGE 11, OCT 6, 2010)

2010-10-06T05:44:00.001-07:00

THE University of Education Winneba has formally inaugurated its fourth campus at Ajumako in the Central Region.
The inaugural ceremony was also used to admit the first batch of 155 students to the campus to pursue degrees in Akan and Nzema Education. The Chancellor of the university, Alhaji Asoma Banda matriculated the students.
The Vice Chancellor of UEW, Prof Akwasi Asabere-Ameyaw in an address expressed his delight that the goal of inaugurating the fourth campus had become a reality.
He noted that the vision of UEW was to gradually transfer the Faculty of Languages Education to the Ajumako campus and eventually develop the campus into a College of Languages Education.
The larger vision he said was to establish a model of languages education centre in Africa where languages in Ghana and major languages in the world would be researched into and taught.
Prof Asabere-Ameyaw also stated that the Centre for Continuing Education of UEW would also be relocated to the Ajumako campus to provide the in-service training needs for GES staff and the large number of university lecturers who required instructive skills for effective delivery
It would be recalled that when the University College of Education Winneba was established through the amalgamation of seven diploma awarding institutions, including the School of Ghanaian Languages at Ajumako all staff and students of the school were transferred to Winneba.
The facilities at the Ajumako campus was not in use until the Ghana Education Service took over the campus for the training of its staff.
Prof Asabere-Ameyaw said “that act was regrettable and we render an unqualified apology for that.”
He thanked the GES for taking the campus up, maintaining it and using it to train its staff and reassured GES that the university was ready to collaborate with the GES in the training and retraining of GES staff.
However he said the migration to the campus came with challenges including inadequate office, staff and students accommodation, limited lecture halls ,workshops laboratories and modern equipment for effective teaching and learning.
He appealed to the government to make special budgetary allocations for the university to enable it train large numbers of quality teachers to make up for the teacher shortfalls in the classrooms.
In an address read on his behalf the Minister of Education, Mr Alex Tettey-Enyo expressed concern about the dramatic decline in the study and teaching of Ghanaian languages at the basic, secondary and tertiary levels.
He said the introduction of English speaking as the hallmark for intelligence was undermining government’s effort at preserving that culture.
He said he was optimistic that the students from the university and the Ajumako campus in particular would support the development of Ghanaian languages and pledged the government’s support to this course.
Dr Emmanuel Kenneth Andoh, the Chairman of the University’s Governing Council urged the students to work hard and be disciplined in order to achieve the goals they had set for themselves.
The Central Regional Minister, Mrs Ama Benyiwa Doe, asked the communities and traditional authorities in and around the campus to support the university to thrive.
Nana Kwamena Hammah Ababio II, Omanhen of Ajumako Tradtional Area, said the chiefs of the area were ready to give the university more land for expansion.

REPORT OIL SPILLAGE FOR ACTION (BACK PAGE, OCT 2, 2010)

2010-10-03T10:48:00.000-07:00

Communities close to oil exploration and production activities have been asked to constantly monitor and report any spillage to the authorities for prompt action.
The Central Regional Minister, Mrs Ama Benyiwa-Doe, who made the call, said such constant monitoring could help to reduce drastically any havoc that could be caused to the environment by oil spillage.
Mrs Benyiwa-Doe gave the advice in a speech read on her behalf at a ceremony to mark the Central Regional celebration of the World Environment Day at Gomoa Afransi. Trees were planted by officials and schoolchildren to mark the day.
She said as Ghana joined the oil-producing countries, it would be imperative for coastal communities, especially those closed to oil exploration and production activities, to play effective monitory roles of checking for oil spillage and other possible environmental hazards.
The Regional Director of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Mr Francis Mbawini Zakari, said the high rate of species extinction carried with it terrible environmental consequences.
He said biodiversity should be inbuilt in the lifestyles and beliefs of indigenous people and communities.
He also called on the government to ration land in such a way that special areas could be set aside for hunting and recreational and cultural purposes.
Mr Zakari also asked that laws on restricted hunting seasons should be strictly enforced.
The Omanhen of the Ajumako Traditional Area, Obrempong Nyanful, called for the protection of the environment using pollution-free technologies.
He also called for intensive education on good environmental habits.

COMPLY WITH PUBLIC ORDER ACT — COP KWOFIE (PAGE 27, MIRROR, SEPT 25, 2010)

2010-09-24T08:09:00.000-07:00

From Shirley Asiedu-Addo,
Cape Coast

THE Central Regional Police Command has asked security personnel who decide to embark on public demonstrations to comply with the procedures of the Public Order Act.
The Command said that security agencies were not exempted from observing the provisions of the Act and it was important that they did the right thing to avoid getting on the wrong side of the law.
Reacting to the recent demonstrations by sections of the Prisons Service personnel in some parts of the country, the Central Regional Police Commander, DCOP Stephen Andoh Kwofie, noted that no institution, including the security agencies are exempted from observing the Act.
DCOP Andoh Kwofie said though the Prisons Service in the region were not involved in the demonstrations, the police would not have hesitated in arresting any group of security agency who behaved contrary to the provision of the Act.
He noted that the police were there to ensure that peace prevailed in the communities and would do that to the best of its ability.
DCOP Andoh Kwofie stated that the Prison Service like all other agencies had the right to go on demonstrations to express their grievances but noted that this must follow the required procedures.
DCOP Andoh Kwofie urged all to be responsible to ensure that the peace in the country is sustained.

POLICE ARREST CRIMINALS IN CAPE COAST (PAGE 27, MIRROR, SEPT 25, 2010)

2010-09-24T08:07:00.000-07:00

From Shirley Asiedu-Addo, Cape Coast

Sixty-three suspected criminals were arrested in a police swoop in suburbs of Cape Coast last Thursday.
They were arrested in hideouts at Bode, a suburb around the Kotokuraba market, suspected to harbour thieves and drug peddlers.
Four others believed to be principal members of a stealing gang harassing people around the Kotoka Market Abattoir near Kotokuraba were also arrested.
They include Ishahu Safiano, said to be the ringleader of the gang. The three others are Abudulai Razack, Kwaku Sekye alias ‘officer’ and Ekow Appiah.
For a moment there was confusion at the office of the Central Regional Police Command, as the three, Razack, Sekye and Appiah, insisted that they were not part of Ishahu’s gang.
Ishahu, however, admitted to a robbery at the Sonturk Shopping Centre at Kotokuraba that the three had initiated with his involvement.
Razack, Sekye and Appiah were said to have helped the police to arrest Ishahu at dawn on Sunday, but Ishahu after his arrest mentioned the names of the three others as his accomplices leading to their arrest.
Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Stephen Andoh Kwofie said the suspects would be screened thoroughly and those found to be involved would be put before the law courts.
He said the exercise would be sustained in other parts of the region to reduce the incidence of crime.
He urged the public to volunteer information that would help the police rid communities of criminals.

EXCESSIVE CORRUPTION HINDERS GHANA'S DEVELOPMENT GOALS (PAGE 13, SEPT 22, 2010)

2010-09-22T05:27:00.000-07:00

THE Executive Secretary of the Ghana Anti Corruption Coalition (GACC), Mrs Florence Dennis, has said that excessive corruption is responsible for Ghana’s inability to meet the Millennium Development Goals.
She noted that money devoted to projects and programmes were not being used for their intended purposes.
“Money for schools and hospitals are all being used for personal gains,” she stated.
Mrs Dennis made the assertion when she addressed a training programme for representatives of Civil Society Organisation and Community Based Organisation in the Central Region.
“People trusted with private and public responsibility are using the office for selfish gains and this is adversely affecting our developmental efforts.
This she noted undermined development, democracy and good governance and destroyed competition.
Mrs Dennis stated that there was a clear link between oil producing countries and corruption and urged the government to strengthen the capacity of anti-corruption institutions to deal effectively with anticipated corruption cases.
She noted that if all of us made conscious efforts to reduce the incidence of corruption the country’s development pace would be accelerated.

BURSARS CALL FOR INCREASE IN FEEDING GRANT (PAGE 11, SEPT 22, 2010)

2010-09-22T05:22:00.000-07:00

SOME bursars of Senior High Schools (SHSs) in the Cape Coast Metropolis say they are unsure they can continue to provide the students with well balanced meals because the feeding fees given for such purpose is inadequate.
They described the 1.20p per student per day for feeding allocation as woefully inadequate and said the situation had made managing the schools very stressful.
They said it had become a herculean task for school administrators and bursars to manage with the 1.20p to provide three healthy meals for the young adults.
At a day's seminar organised by the Value Added Tax (VAT) Service for accountants of government institutions and agencies in Cape Coast, some of the participants who were bursars of SHSs called on the Ministry of Education to work out a policy that would exempt all items purchased by the SHSs from VAT to enable them to effectively manage the schools.
The 45 accountants were educated on the Value Added Tax (VAT) and the National Health Insurance Levy (NHIL) to enable them to play more proactive roles in assisting the VAT Service to effectively collect revenue.
The seminar was also to enable the participants to support by educating others on the effective ways to ensure that taxes were paid promptly to the VAT Service.
They noted that sometimes the funds allocated the schools got finished before the schools’ vacation date and called on the Ministry of Education to look at the situation with urgency.
They called on the VAT Service to intensify education for all its stakeholders to ensure that the right procedures were adopted in the collection and payment of VAT.
The Head of the VAT Service in Cape Coast, Mrs Lydia Atakora Amoo in an address said the VAT Service was ready to bring on board all stakeholders to work together to improve revenue collection for the country.
She noted that the crucial role of the VAT Service of collecting revenue for national development and growth could not be done in isolation by the VAT Service, adding that various seminars would be organised by various categories of stakeholders soon.
She asked the accountants to serve as agents to encourage registered VAT traders and service providers to collect and pay VAT by insisting on VAT receipts.
Mr Henry Sagoe, a Revenue Officer with the VAT Service told the participants that failure to issue VAT receipts was an offense and added that payments to the VAT Service must be prompt and accurate to avoid any penalties.

CAPEVARS SACKS 131 STUDENTS (PAGE 11, SEPT 20, 2010)

2010-09-20T05:27:00.000-07:00

THE University of Cape Coast has sacked 131 students for poor academic performance.
They include 66 level 100 students and 65 level, 200 and 300 students.
Sixty-five others who failed in three credit courses are to repeat the failed courses as external candidates and redeem themselves within one academic year or be dismissed.
Nine other students at various stages of their studies have been rusticated for periods ranging from two to four semesters for contravening university regulations and engaging in violent behaviour.
The Vice Chancellor, Prof Naana Jane Opoku Agyeman, said the university remained committed to ensuring that the institution attained and remained one with worldwide acclammation in excellence.
She explained that a level 100 student who failed in three 3-credit courses was dismissed outright while student at level 200 and 300 who failed in more than three 3-credit courses also got dismissed outright.
She said failure in one or two 3-credit course or courses required that the student redeemed himself in a supplementary examination adding that failure in the supplementary examinations also resulted in outright dismissal.
At this year’s matriculation ceremony at which a total of 5,081 students were admitted into the university, Prof. Opoku Agyeman advised that students spent their time at the university judiciously making use of the staff and facilities available to avoid being sent home for poor performance.
“We believe that you have the potential to achieve the goals set for our programmes. You have the potential to achieve academic excellence. What we can do as staff is to provide the atmosphere for learning to occur; your job is to maintain that atmosphere and be responsible for the outcome of your efforts,” she said to the new students.
She stated that the university would not compromise on discipline so students should abide by the dos and don’ts of the Students Handbook.
On this year’s admissions, Prof. Opoku Agyeman noted that the intake represented a 19.5 percent increase over that of last year with appreciable increase in the intake for post graduate students and in the female/male student ratio.
She said a total of 5,081 students including 4,530 undergraduate out of the 13,000 qualified applicants who applied to the university were admitted.
For the postgraduate students, Prof. Opoku Agyeman said they were 551 for this year compared to 422 for last year while the percentage of female students increased from 34 percent last year to 39 percent of students admitted this year.
Further she said the university also admitted 994 students from less endowed schools, mature examinations and schools remedial programme to help equal and expand access to university education to promote the nation’s development.
She advised the students to take advantage of the special opportunity given them to study at the university to unlock their potentials and work to develop themselves into creative responsible citizens ready to contribute their quota towards the growth and advancement of society.
The students took the matriculation oath and declaration of obedience pledging to abide by the rules and regulations of the university.

NGO SUPPORTS CENTRAL REGIONAL HEALTH DIRECTORATE (PAGE 42, SEPT 20, 2010)

2010-09-20T05:10:00.000-07:00

FOCUS Region Health Project, a non-governmental organisation (NGO) with support from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), has presented teaching and learning materials to the Central Regional Health Directorate to support the in-service training of its staff.
The items included birth stimulators, health manuals, replacement skins and educational materials on Family planning.
The Deputy Chief Officer of USAID, Mrs Susan Wright, said the items were to support the training of clinical staff and help improve maternal health.
She said the USAID through the Focus Region Health Project was supporting three regions in the country, namely Greater Accra, Western and Central to improve the maternal mortality situation and health service delivery in the area, especially in the rural communities.
The Administrator of the Regional Health Directorate, Nana Owusu Boampong, said the items would go a long way to improve the skills and expertise of the health personnel in the region.

MOSQUITO COILS DON'T KILL MOSQUITOES — GAKPEY (PAGE 42, SEPT 20, 2010)

2010-09-20T05:09:00.000-07:00

MOSQUITO coils do not kill mosquitoes, an official of the National Malaria Control Programme, Mr Kwame Dzudzorli Gakpey, has stated.
He explained that the coil rather repelled the mosquitoes for a while, stressing that various advertisements on some coils in the country gave wrong impressions that the repellent was a mosquito killer, something which must be corrected.
He said it was important for educational tools and information on malarial control to be made clear and accurate if the fight against malaria was to be won.
Mr Gakpey was speaking at a day’s seminar organised by the NMCP of the Ghana Health Service to educate media practitioners on malaria and its effects on the economy in Cape Coast.
He said malaria, which is hyper-endemic in Ghana, was transmitted throughout the year, causing about 4,500 deaths annually.
Mr Gakpey said about 1,500 children under five years died from malaria in the country every year while 60 women died from malaria every year.
He said apart from the female anopheles mosquito, which is the main transmitter of the parasite that causes malaria, malaria could be transmitted accidentally through blood transfusion or through injection with blood contaminated with the malarial parasites.
Mr Gakpey added that the use of Insecticide Treated Nets was one sure way to control the spread of malaria and called for the proper and regular use of the ITNs.

ITALIAN INVESTORS VISIT KOMENDA-EDINA-EGUAFO ABREM (PAGE 42, SEPT 20, 2010)

2010-09-20T05:08:00.000-07:00

ITALIAN investors from the Italian Trade Centre (ITC) Group, a multinational business consortium, have expressed interest in building an international airport in the Komenda-Edina-Eguafo Abrem (KEEA) District.
Following their insterst the team has embarked on a field visit to the district.
The visit was to assess various sites for the project in three different communities, including Essaman, Sanka and Amoanda.
A partner of the ITC Group, Mr Antonio Iacobucci, who briefed the District Chief Executive (DCE) for KEEA, Mrs Veronica Essuman Nelson, on the proposed project earlier, said the project would be mutually beneficial to both the people and the investors.
He said the project would ensure that tourists could fly directly to the Central Region, thereby promoting tourism in the region.
Mr Iacobucci said the proposed airport was expected to ensure growth through wealth creation for the people of the region.
He said he was happy with the Essaman site and would have to conduct further feasibility studies to ascertain the viability of the site.
Mr Iacobucci said the proposed airport, which would be an international one, would also come with projects, including estate development and hotel accommodation in the district.
The Managing Director of the Ghana Airports Company Limited, Mrs Doreen Owusu-Fianko, said she was happy that the proposed airport project, which was mooted over 10 years ago, was becoming a reality.
She said if all things went on well, the project would begin in a year’s time.
Mrs Owusu-Fianko added that the project would be a public–private sector partnership.
An expert from the Civil Aviation Department, Mrs Anita Adjei Nmashie, said the feasibility studies would look at the layout, terrain, obstructions and elevation of the site, adding that what had been done so far pointed to the fact that it was a good place.
Mrs Nelson said the assembly would work hard to ensure that the project commenced successfully, considering the immense benefits it would bring to the people in the area and the region as a whole.

AGRO-PROCESSING FAIR OPENS IN CAPE COAST (PAGE 35, SEPT 20, 2010)

2010-09-20T05:03:00.000-07:00

AN Agro-Processing and Tourism fair dubbed: “Central Expo 2010” has opened in Cape Coast to promote trade and investments in the agro-processing and tourism sectors in the region.
More than 150 individual exhibitors and financial, technical and research institutions, including the 17 district assemblies are expected to participate in the fair, which is on the theme: “Harnessing the region’s potential for job creation”.
The Central Region Development Commission (CEDECOM) and the Central Regional Co-ordinating Council jointly organised the fair with support from the Export Development and Investment Fund (EDIF).
Activities for the one week fair include an agro-processing forum, tourism forum, CEDECOM Day and Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MOFA) Day.
Opening the fair, the Minister of Trade and Industry, Ms Hanna Tetteh in a statement read on her behalf, stated that the vision of the government is to ensure that the nation reaches a middle-income nation by the year 2020.
She said the Central Region with a lot of potential in various agricultural produce, had the capacity to produce raw materials required for the development of agro-processing industries.
Ms Tetteh stated that the EDIFs would be developed into the Export Development and Agriculture Financing Fund .
She called on the youth to take advantage of the government’s Youth in Agriculture programme to improve their standards of living.
Ms Tetteh also called on traditional authorities to make land available for the Youth in Agriculture programme to help reduce the rural-urban drift of the population.
She gave the assurance that the Ministry of Trade and Industry would partner the region in its determination to add value to agro produce to improve the general well-being of the people in the region.
The Central Regional Minister, Mrs Ama Benyiwa-Doe, said the Regional Co-ordinating Council was committed to ensuring that industries were developed to boost socio-economic activities and reduce poverty in the region.
The acting Executive Director of CEDECOM, Mr Spencer Taylor, said the fair was to promote trade and investments on agro-processing and tourism towards poverty reduction and accelerated development.
He was optimistic that after the fair, a mechanism would have been put in place to stimulate investments in the agro-processing and tourism sectors of the region which would lead to the region being branded as the best agro-processing and tourism destination in Ghana.
The President of the Central Regional House of Chiefs, Daasebre Kwebu Ewusi, who chaired the function, said the fair was the right step towards accelerated growth in the region.

NGO ORGANISES PROGRAMME TO UNITE COMMUNITIES (PAGE 13, SEPT 18, 2010)

2010-09-20T04:32:00.000-07:00

AFRICAN Information Movement (AIM), a non-governmental organisation (NGO) based in the Komenda Edina Eguafo Abrem (KEEA) Municipality has embarked on a programme to help remove rancour in campaigns by the candidates for the District Assembly elections.
The programme dubbed: “Soccer 4 Democracy” would see the various candidates in the electoral area contesting in the game of football to bring unity among themselves.
The programme is being organised in collaboration with Giant of the Future International (GFI) and the Central Regional Development Commission (CEDECOM).
At a stakeholders sensitisation workshop at Elmina, Mr Kwadwo Okyere, the Project Co-ordinator,said it was the objective of AIM to use football to promote local governance and peaceful elections in the area.
Mr Okyere said AIM would collaborate with the office of the Electoral Commission in KEEA to create the needed platform for interaction between aspirants and the communities.
He stated that if the communities were educated adequately on the importance of local governance, they would actively participate in local governance.
The Municipal Officer of EC in the KEEA, Mr Richard Asenso, said statistics indicated that there was poor patronage in the district assembly elections, adding that the programme to whip up interest in the district assembly elections was crucial to the success of the nation’s decentralisation process.
The Presiding Member of the KEEA Municipal Assembly, Mr Andrews Essuman-Prah, who chaired the function, advised the various communities to co-operate with assembly members to enhance the development of their areas.

ACCOUNTANTS ATTEND SEMINAR ON VAT (PAGE 22, SEPT 11, 2010)

2010-09-13T05:56:00.000-07:00

FORTY-FIVE accountants from government institutions and agencies in Cape Coast have attended a day's seminar on the Value Added Tax (VAT) and the National Health Insurance Levy (NHIL) to enable them to play more proactive roles in assisting the VAT Service to effectively collect revenue.
The seminar was geared towards educating the participants to assist in educating other people on the effective ways of ensuring that taxes were paid promptly to the VAT Service.
Addressing the participants, the Head of the VAT Service in Cape Coast, Mrs Lydia Atakora Amoo, said the service was ready to bring on board all its stakeholders to work together to improve revenue generation for the country.
She stated that the crucial role of the VAT Service in collecting revenue for national development could not be done in isolation by the VAT Service.
Mrs Atakora Amoo said a number of seminars would be organised for various categories of stakeholders soon.
She urged the accountants to serve as agents to encourage registered VAT traders and service providers to collect and pay VAT by insisting on VAT receipts.
A Revenue Officer with the VAT Service, Mr Henry Sagoe, told the participants that failure to issue VAT receipts was an offence, adding that payment of VAT must be prompt and accurate to avoid penalty.
The participants called for intensified education for all traders and service providers if the right procedures were to be adopted.
They observed that some of the laws on procurement, particularly on exemptions, were not clear and called for further clarification and explanations for stakeholders.

IMMIGRATION SERVICE PATROL UNITS TO USE WEAPONS (SPREAD, SEPT 10, 2010)

2010-09-10T10:01:00.000-07:00

THE government has approved a proposal for border patrol teams of the Ghana Immigration Service (GIS) to use weapons.
This forms part of efforts by the government to review legislation and policies, as well as the conditions of service of immigration personnel, to promote capacity and effective vigilance at the borders.
Furthermore, a new strategic plan for the GIS is set to be launched before the end of the year while a proposal for the extension of border operational hours is currently awaiting consideration by the government.
The Minister of the Interior, Mr Martin Amidu, made this known at the passing out of the second batch of recruits of the Bureau of Immigration and Naturalisation (BIN) of Liberia at the Ghana Immigration Training School at Assin Fosu on Wednesday.
Mr Amidu noted that these reforms and strategies were critical to emerging democracies in the sub-region, adding that "Ghana stands willing and committed to further share with other countries to enable them to deal with challenges and practicalities of border and immigration control in the future."
He asked the security officers to demonstrate initiative, alertness and high sense of discretion and judgement at all times.
He also called for humility, discipline and selflessness in all situations, as well as a sense of dedication to work.
Mr Amidu stated that Ghana was proud to be associated with the recovery process in Liberia, adding that the ministry was reliably informed that the first batch of trainees had already demonstrated a high sense of duty, integrity and professionalism in their work.
He noted that already the GIS had secured very commendable support from the Danish government to partly fund the process of infrastructure upgrading and curriculum review to transform the GIS Training School into a regional institution to provide professional and management courses in the senior category and other customised courses for counterparts in the sub-region and beyond.
The National Security Advisor of Liberia, Boima Fahnbullah, thanked the Ghana government for the tremendous support in helping to build the security forces of Liberia.

ST MONICA'S WINS MP QUIZ COMPETITION (PAGE 11, SEPT 10, 2010)

2010-09-10T09:54:00.000-07:00

SAINT Monica’s Girls School in Cape Coast has received an award for winning the Member of Parliament’s (MP’s) quiz held in Cape Coast recently.
The President, Professor John Evans Atta Mills, presented the award which included a television set, a plaque and certificate to the Headmistress of the School, Mrs Philomena Charlotte Sampson, during this year's Fetu Afahye of the chiefs and people of Cape Coast.
St Monica's School had 46 points to win the MP’s competition.
They beat 11 other schools to win the competition.
The Quiz was organised by the MP for Cape Coast, Mr Ebow Barton Oduro, as part of several initiatives to boost the academic standards in schools, particularly at the basic level.
The quiz covered such areas as Mathematics, English, Science and general knowledge.
Alec Jones Basic School which placed second with 37 points and Wesley Girls Basic School which came third with 32.5 points, both received their prizes at the festival.
Mr Barton Oduro said he would work to improve the quality of education in the constituency.

CENTRAL EXPO 2010 OPENS IN CAPE COAST (PAGE 19, SEPT 7, 2010)

2010-09-07T03:35:00.000-07:00

AN agro-processing and tourism fair dubbed ‘Central Expo 2010’ has opened in Cape Coast to promote trade and investments in the agro-processing and tourism sectors in the region.
Over 150 individual exhibitors and financial, technical and research institutions, including the 17 District Assemblies in the region, are expected to participate in the fair, which has the theme “Harnessing the region’s potential for job creation”.
It was organised by the Central Region Development Commission (CEDECOM) and the Central Regional Co-ordinating Council, with support from the Export Development and Investment Fund (EDIF).
Activities for the one-week fair include an agro-processing forum, tourism forum, CCEDECOM Day and Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA) Day.
Opening the fair, the Minister of Trade and Industry, Ms Hanna Tetteh, in a statement read on her behalf, noted that the vision of the government was to work to ensure that the nation attained a middle income status by the year 2020.
She noted that the Central Region, with its high potential in various agricultural products, had the capacity to produce raw materials required for the development of agro-processing industries.
She noted that the EDIF would be developed into the Export Development and Agriculture Financing Fund to help farmers expand their farms.
She called on the youth to take advantage of the government’s Youth in Agriculture programme to improve their standards of living.
Ms Tetteh also called on traditional authorities to make land available for the youth in agriculture to help reduce the rural-urban drift.
The Central Regional Minister, Mrs Ama Benyiwa Doe, said the Regional Co-ordinating Council was committed to ensuring that industries were developed to boast socio-economic activities and reduce poverty in the region.
The acting Executive Director of CEDECOM, Mr Spencer Taylor, said the fair was to promote trade and investments in agro-processing and tourism toward poverty reduction and accelerated development, adding that the region ideal for investments in citrus, pineapple, oil palm, cassava, plantain, eco-tourism, beach development, amusement parks and travel and tour.
Daasebre Kwebu Ewusi, the President of the Central Regional House of Chiefs, who chaired the function, said the fair was the right step towards accelerated growth in the region.

GOOD COUNSEL COLLEGE INAUGURATES PROECTS (PAGE 11, SEPT 6, 2010)

2010-09-06T07:48:00.000-07:00

TWO projects valued at GHҐ290,000 have been inaugurated for the Mother of Good Counsel College of Technology in the Komenda-Edina-Eguafo Abrem (KEEA) District of the Central Region.
The projects are a dining hall with a kitchen and a hostel.
It was funded by a Dutch philanthropist, Mr Boudewijin Muurmans and his wife.
The school was started by Madam Esther Rhule to train young ladies in employable skills such as cookery and sewing.
According to Madam Rhule, her passion to start the college was stirred by her determination to support needy adolescents, provide them with shelter and skills that would equip them to live more responsible lives and contribute their quota to society. She said it was also to provide protection for abused adolescents.
Products of the college sit the National Vocational Training Institute (NVTI) examinations.
She said management of the school would introduce information and communication (ICT) studies, Business Studies, Home Economics, Visual and General Arts to attract more students to the school.
She thanked Mr Muurmans and all who had contributed to the school’s development and called for support from all to help the school develop its infrastructure.
Madam Rhule called on the KEEA Municipal Assembly to help rehabilitate the Sanka-Broyibima Road to ensure easy access to the school.
In an address at the inauguration ceremony, the Central Regional Minister, Mrs Ama Benyiwa Doe, noted that vocational and technical education development was still crucial in the nation’s quest to attain its development goals.
She advised the students to concentrate on getting to the highest level possible in their pursuit of their educational goals and added that currently, there were a lot of avenues in higher education for technical and vocational students. The Metropolitan Archbishop of Accra, the Most Reverend Charles Gabriel Palmer-Buckle, called on schools to ensure that their students were trained to promote made-in-Ghana products.
He said that would help the economy to develop and preserve our culture.
Mr Muurmans said he always desired to support Africa’s development, and added that he chose to come to Ghana after considering the prevailing peace and the political stability, as well as the friendly nature of its people.

TEACHING HOSPITAL FOR CAPE COAST...Prez renews promise to CR (LEAD STORY, SEPT 6, 2010)

2010-09-06T07:38:00.000-07:00

President John Evans Atta Mills has assured that the Central Regional Hospital in Cape Coast will be upgraded to a teaching hospital.
This, he said, was to support the training of medical doctors at the University of Cape Coast School of Medical Sciences (UCCSMS).
President Mills noted that the new hospital would include an auditorium and diagnostic centre, a teaching and learning centre, an office block and a pavilion.
President Mills said this when he addressed a durbar of chiefs and people of Cape Coast to climax the annual Fetu Afahye at the Victoria Park on Saturday.
Hundreds of people, including local and foreign tourists, gathered at the durbar grounds hours before the arrival of the chiefs, being carried in their colourful palanquins, led by the paramount chief, Osabarima Kwesi Atta II, and accompanied by the seven Asafo companies.
President Atta Mills’s entourage included the Minister for Trade and Industry, Ms Hannah Tetteh, the Central Regional Minister, Mrs Ama Benyiwa Doe, and the Member of Parliament for Cape Coast and Deputy Minister of Justice and Attorney General, Mr Ebo Barton Odro.
Also present were the leader and flag bearer of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Nana Akufo-Addo and his entourage.
President Mills noted that the government’s decision to support the UCCSMS was in response to a special appeal from the Dean to the presidency to ensure that students of the medical school did not have to travel to Korle Bu in Accra or the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital in Kumasi for their clinical training.
He said the government would help the UCCSMS to ensure that the school was adequately equipped to support in developing the manpower needs for the health sector.
He also announced that the world football governing body, FIFA, was building a Centre of Hope in Cape Coast to help assist the youth in various sporting activities.
President Mills called for unity in the area and the country as a whole, adding that conflicts were the recipe for underdevelopment.
He gave the assurance that the government would keep faith with the people of Cape Coast and work to ensure that the development of the area was accelerated.
The Regional Minister, in her address, said the Town Hall and some of the bridges in the metropolis, including the one at Bakano, had been rehabilitated and sanitary conditions in the metropolis and on the beaches improved significantly.
Further, she said, the assembly had created land banks to ensure that interested investors had easy access to land and called on investors to come to the metropolis and invest.
The MP, Mr Barton-Odro, pledged his commitment to improving the level and access to education in the area.
In his welcoming address, Osabarima Kwesi Atta II, called for a review of the computerisation of the senior high school placement programme, adding that the current system was fraught with a lot of problems.
He further asked that the policy that insisted on a quota for students in the catchment area of the various SHS facilities be implemented to enable more indigenes to get access to the SHS in their communities.
He also called for the construction of a new market as promised by the NDC government and the completion of work on the Cape Coast Stadium project.
Osabarima Atta also called for the dredging of the Fosu Lagoon.
At the ceremony, President Mills presented sets of jersey (how many???) and 10 footballs each to the Ebusua Dwarfs and Venomous Vipers Football clubs.

GOVERNMENT DONATES TOWARDS FETU AFAHYE (SPREAD, SEPT 4, 2010)

2010-09-06T06:00:00.000-07:00

The government through the Central Regional Coordinating Council has presented items and a cash of GH¢10,000 to the Oguaa Traditional council to support the celebration of the Fetu Afahye.
The items include a cow, 100 tubers of yams, 10 cartons each of oil, Guiness, Beer, 20 cartons of soft drinks and 10 cartons of assorted drinks and two cartons of schnapps.
The Central Regional Minister, Mrs Ama Benyiwa Doe who presented the items at the Obama hall of the Emintsimade Palace in Cape Coast said the government was appreciative of the Oguaa traditional area’s commitment at promoting peace and unity among the people of the area.
She pledged that the President, Prof John Atta Mills would work to support the traditional council to development the metropolis.
Osabarima Kwesi Atta, Paramount Chief of the Oguaa Traditional Area thanked the President for the gesture and his dedication to always help make the Fetu Afahye a success. Osabarima Atta later led the elders to perform the Oman Purification rites. This includes sacrificing a cow to the gods to thank them for the past year and ask for a good year.

GLOBAL SUMMIT ON HIV/AIDS HELD IN CAPE COAST (PAGE 43, AUGUST 30, 2010)

2010-08-29T11:42:00.000-07:00

THE Central Regional Minister, Mrs Ama Benyiwa Doe, has called for strategies to enable the developing world develop traditional medicine to universally acceptable standards for socio-economic gains.
She stated that HIV AIDS, malaria, hypertension, stroke, tuberculosis and diabetes had been a bother to mankind for far too long hitting, especially the poor, illiterate, women and children.
Mrs Benyiwa Doe made the call at the opening of the fourth Global Summit of HIV AIDS, traditional medicine and indigenous knowledge at the University of Cape Coast.
The ceremony brought together traditional medicine practitioners and experts from the United States of America, Nigeria, United Kingdom, Democratic Republic of Congo, Egypt, Guinea, Botswana, Burkina Faso and Ghana.
Mrs Benyiwa Doe also called for recommendations that would ensure the adoption of patent laws which would protect intellectual property and indigenous knowledge in traditional medicine practice.
An advocate for traditional medicine practice based in the USA, Mr William Danquah, bemoaned the neglect of traditional medicine in Ghana and Africa in general.
Mr Danquah, who is the Chief Executive Officer of Africa First, an organisation advocating for traditional medicine literally, wept as he gave an analysis of great importance of traditional medicine to ensure the health and well-being of the people of Ghana and Africa at large.
As he lamented on the plight of traditional medicine, particularly in Ghana, Mr Danquah was intermittently choked by his tears and sobs and had to stop and apologise for his emotional attachment and stance on traditional medicine practice.
“I am sorry but this shows my emotional attachment to traditional medicine practice,” he sobbed.
Mr Danquah stated that traditional medicine had been virtually neglected and the practitioner left to live in poverty despite its importance.
He urged African countries to commit more to the development and research into traditional medicine to complement health service delivery on the continent.
A representative of the World Health Organisation, Dr Nana Ama Bretuo, stated that between 70 and 80 per cent of the population in developing countries had used complementary or alternative medicine.
She said WHO had developed guidelines for the registration of traditional and tools for institutionalising traditional medicine in health systems.
Dr Bretuo added that more than half of the countries in the African region had developed national policies and established traditional medicine programmes and offices in their ministries of health.
She expressed optimism that the summit would help identify solutions to the challenges confronting traditional medicine and strengthen the structures to make it an effective complement to conventional medicine practice.

UCC'S LABORATORY BLOCK RENOVATED (PAGE 43, AUGUST 30, 2010)

2010-08-29T11:41:00.000-07:00

AN old laboratory block for the University of Cape Coast (UCC) School of Agriculture has been rehabilitated and equipped at a cost of GH¢686,000 to facilitate effective research and teaching.
The laboratory block consists of three laboratories for Animal Nutrition and Soil Science.
The laboratories now have gas taps, fume chambers, engineering workshops, offices and store rooms.
The Minister of Food and Agriculture, Mr Kwesi Ahwoi, who inaugurated the project, said it was evidence of the government’s commitment to ensure food security in the country.
The project was awarded on contract in November 2003 to be completed in 18 months but was delayed due to the poor performance of the contractor.
In January, this year, the MOFA, the Canadian International Agency (CIDA) and the Centre for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) repackaged the contract and awarded it to Melgrep Company.
Mr Ahwoi stated that he was optimistic that the laboratories would help provide the needed infrastructure and research-based training for the future agriculturists who would adopt pragmatic approach and impart the know-how to the farmers.
He called on the School of Agriculture to commercialise some of its activities.
Mr Ahwoi noted with regret that a project which should have taken six months to complete had taken seven years.
The Vice-Chancellor of the UCC, Prof. Naana Jane Opoku Agyeman, stated that the facility was put up in the 1960s for the Agricultural Engineering Department but had since been under-utilised due to lack of equipment and poor construction.
She said in 2002, the school made a request under the Agricultural Sub-Sector improvement Programme (AgSSIP) for refurbishment.
Prof. Opoku Agyeman thanked CIDA and CSIR for the support and gave the assurance that the university would refurbish and equip the laboratories.
The Dean of the School of Agriculture, Prof. J.A. Kwarteng, said the school had in the past provided human resource for the agricultural sector, adding that it would ensure that it provided leadership in agriculture education in the country and on the African continent.
A Representative from CIDA, Ms Janine Cocker, said CIDA had collaborated to support the development of agriculture in several ways and pledged that CIDA would continue to support efforts at improving the agricultural sector.

BAN ON HUNTING (PAGE 22, AUGUST 17, 2010)

2010-08-17T08:58:00.001-07:00

THE Executive Director of the Wildlife Division of the Forestry Commission, Nana Edu Nsiah, has asked Ghanaians to stop hunting from August 1 to December 1, 2010 to ensure the effectiveness of the close season for hunting.
The close season is the period where hunting is banned officially to ensure that animals are given enough time to reproduce and grow.
The ban does not, however, include the hunting of grass cutters.
Nana Nsiah was speaking at a durbar of hunters, bush meat sellers, security personnel, schoolchildren and members of the general public to mark the official close of the hunting season at Mankessim.
He said the pace at which hunting had led to the extinction of some of the animal species gave cause for worry, and observed that such destruction of the animal species and other natural resources such as water bodies and the forest might take years to replenish.
Nana Nsiah said portions of the forest had been preserved as forest reserves, sacred groves and wetlands, some negative attitudes of some Ghanaians were affecting efforts at conservation, adding “this must be stopped if the people are to maintain their livelihood.”
He called on all Ghanaians, especially chiefs, to work to sustain the environment, saying that chiefs as custodians of the land had essential roles to play in the communities to help curb the wanton destruction of the ecosystem.
The Executive Director called on the security agencies to help the division in arresting and prosecuting offenders.
The Manager of the Kakum National Park, Mr Daniel Ewur, said if the wildlife was made to go extinct, the world would be in chaos.

42 CLINICAL STUDENTS INDUCTED AT UCC (PAGE 11, AUGUST 16, 2010)

2010-08-16T03:12:00.001-07:00

THE Chairman of the Medical and Dental Council, Dr K.O. Adadey, has asked medical practitioners to respect the rights of patients in the practice of the profession.
He said it was time to understand that patients had rights and that it was important to treat them with respect and dignity.
He was addressing the first “white coat” ceremony for the first batch of students of the University of Cape Coast School of Medical Sciences (UCCSMS) at Cape Coast at the weekend.
The ceremony was to induct the clinical students into the profession.
The 42 students were dressed with white coats by mentors to symbolise their induction into the medical profession. They also took the medical students’ oath.
Dr Adadey said it was time for doctors to work in partnership with patients by listening to them and responding to their concerns and preferences and desist from playing God in the various institutions.
“Be honest and open and act with integrity and never discriminate unfairly against patients of colleagues and never abuse the patients trust in you.”
Dr Adadey also asked them to give patients the needed information and support to help improve and maintain their health.
He called for selfless dedication on the part of the students as professionals to improve health service delivery in the country.
The Director General of the Ghana Health Service, Dr Elias Sory said he was happy that the UCCSMS had introduced initiatives that would help prepare the medical students into doctors Ghanaians would appreciate .
The Dean of the UCCSMS, Dr Harold Amonoo-Kwofie said the UCCSMS’s curricula was based on best practice in line with modernisation within the Ghana Health Service and requirements of the Medical and Dental Council.
He noted that the UCCSMS curricula had a conscious bias towards the discipline of community medicine and public health, adding that the school was bound to influence the way medical education was offered in Ghana.
The Vice Chancellor of the University of Cape Coast, Prof. Jane Naana Opoku Agyeman, commended the dean for turning the school into a unique one, adding that Ghana deserved the best profession in all sectors to help accelerate development.

MIRACULOUS ESCAPE ...10 Survive horrific accident, but diriver dies (1B, AUGUST 16, 2010)

2010-08-16T02:56:00.000-07:00

Story: Shirley Asiedu-Addo, Atobiase

TEN female workers of the Texas Casino in Tema escaped death narrowly when the Urvan bus on which they were travelling got trapped under a tipper truck.
For more than two hours the passengers were trapped under the trailer of the tipper truck fully loaded with sacks of fertiliser.
The workers were travelling from Tema to Assin Fosu to attend a colleague’s engagement ceremony.
The driver’s mate on the Urvan bus also survived the accident, but the driver, identified as Osa Mensah, lost his life.
The accident occurred at Assin Atobiase at about 6.30 a.m. on Saturday when the DAF tipper truck which the Urvan bus was following failed to successfully climb a hill and reversed uncontrollably, falling on the Urvan bus in the process.
Eyewitnesses told the Daily Graphic that the driver of the Urvan bus, with registration number GN 1273-09, had noticed that the tipper truck had a problem climbing the hill and he, therefore, parked the bus at the foot of the hill for safety, waiting for the tipper truck to ascend the hill.
The police and officials from the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO) had to organise a lift from the BRM Wood Company to lift the trailer from the Urvan bus after the Ghana National Fire Service had failed to respond to all distress calls.
The injured were rushed to the Assin Fosu St Xavier Hospital, where they are responding to treatment.
Musah Chaliba, a mechanic who was on the tipper truck when the accident occurred, said the truck, which was travelling from Tema to Obuasi, had developed a fault earlier on the Accra-Tema Motorway and so he had been called from Kumasi to work on it.
Two of the injured whom the Daily Graphic spoke to said they were grateful to God for saving their lives.

TEACHERS FACE SANCTIONS...For using ppils on personal farms (MIRROR, PAGE 35, AUGUST 14, 2010)

2010-08-13T08:37:00.000-07:00

From Shirley Asiedu-Addo, Esiam

Luck ran out for basic school teachers at Esti Fawomaye Basic School in the Ajumako Enyan Essiam (AEE) district of the Central Region when the District Chief Executive and the District Director of Education visited the school to find it empty because they had sent the pupils to work on farms.This was on a Monday morning.
The District Chief Executive, Mr Light Koomson has ordered that all the teachers involved in the practice be given the needed sanctions and their activities monitored to ensure they do not repeat the practice.
The DCE made this known at a ceremony to inaugurate three projects under the Community Based Rural Development Project at Breman Essiam in the AEE district. The projects include a three classroom kindergarten with a storeroom and a Community Health Improvement Compound.
According to Mr Koomson, he was in the office when he received an anonymous call from someone in the Esti Fawomaye community.
The caller informed the DCE that all the pupils in the primary school had been sent to work on farms by the teachers.
He told the DCE that the situation had been going on for some time.
Mr Koomson said he immediately went to the district directorate of education to inform the district director of education and they together with some officials set off to the remote community of Etsi Fawomaye.
He said on reaching the community, they found out that there was not a single pupil in the classroom. All of them he said had gone to works in farms.
He stated that it was wrong to use pupils as labourers, especially on school days.
He advised teachers to do the right thing warning that they would not be spared if they were found to have exploited the children for their selfish gains at the expense of their studies.
Mrs Ama Benyiwa Doe, Central Regional Minister, said it was necessary for parents to play very important roles in ensuring that their wards received the needed attention and tuition in school and called on parents to monitor the progress of their wards in school.
She noted that government had embarked on several interventions in the education sector including the distribution of free uniforms and exercise books and a 1.50 cedi per head increment in the capitation grant.
She commended the AEE District Assembly for its efforts to bring accelerated development to the people in the area and urged the communities to support the district assembly by maintaining all projects.

$500,000 HOME FOR HOMELESS CHILDREN (MIRROR, PAGE 35, AUGUST 14, 2010)

2010-08-13T08:33:00.000-07:00

From Shirley Asiedu-Addo, Cape Coast

HOMELESS children in the Cape Coast Metropolis, who live under perilous and deplorable conditions, will soon live more decent lives.
A 500,000 dollar home is being constructed in Cape Coast to help provide the needy children with a homely environment.
The Bishop of the Christian Hope Centre in the USA , Bishop Spamford Assilfie, who is overseeing the project, said the project upon completion would house about 200 needy children. The facility would include dormitories and basic schools to support the children to go through formal education.
Others would be given vocational skills at vocational training centres to be built to equip the children with vocational skills.
The facility would also include a clinic to see to the health needs of the children at the home.
The first phase of the home complex is expected to be completed by the end of the year and operation would commence next year.
Bishop Assilfie, who is also the Nkosuahene of Bandoh in the Eguafo paramount area, said society had changed greatly over the years.
This, he noted had led to the break down of essential social family values which has led to many children living on the streets under dangerous conditions.
He said the Christian Hope Centre with support from its Senior Pastor, Pastor Dave Hackett, and other individuals in the USA such as Mr Matt Rizkallah of the Manufacturing Automation Systems Limited and Pastors of the Twin Tiers had committed resources to support several orphanages in the country over the past 14 years.
He said the donors realised, however, that many of the items did not get to the real beneficiaries.
He said the decision to build the home was because the donors believed they could manage the home better and give the children the best they could.
“If we have to do it, then we must ensure that the right people benefit from the things we bring to Ghana ,” he said.
He said the sponsors would on completion of the project, bring retirees from abroad to help in the teaching of the children.
Bishop Assilfie said “many children are on the streets. But many of these children have talents that can help us turn the fortunes of this country.
It behoves all who have the capability to support these children to help harness their talents for the good of the country”.

CR NPP GEARS UP TO RECAPTURE POWER (PAGE 13, AUGUST 10, 2010)

2010-08-10T10:21:00.000-07:00

THE New Patriotic Party in the Central Region says it is geared to recapture the region in the 2012 general elections after Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo won the presidential primaries in all the 19 constituencies of the region.
In various interviews with party supporters, they said they were ready to work with Nana Akufo Addo to ensure that the party wins the election in 2012.
“Nana has always been our man and we are happy that he won the election,” said Mrs Dadzie.
Another supporter who was still in a jubilant mood said he knew that the party would be much stronger after the election of the flagbearer.
"We are a democratic party and the contest was a reflection of how strong the internal democratic structures of the party are.”
They said it was now incumbent on all supporters of the NPP to work to get more people to vote in the 2012 election, adding that victory was sure for the party in 2012.
Nana Ato Arthur, former Central Regional Minister, said in an interview that the overwhelming win for Nana Addo indicates that the region was ready to change the ruling government for the NPP.
"Nana won in all the 19 constituencies of the region and it is obvious that the NPP and the communities that these representatives come from would vote the NPP back into power in 2012."

ABANDON ALL FORMS OF SLAVERY...Ghanaians told as Emancipation Day reaches climax (SPREAD, AUGUST 5, 2010)

2010-08-05T06:58:00.000-07:00

A Grand durbar and a wreath-laying ceremony have been held at Assin Manso in the Central Region to climax this year’s celebration of Emancipation Day, with a call on Ghanaians to abandon all forms of ‘slavery’.
The Minister of Tourism, Mrs Zita Okaikoi, who made the call, said, “Slavery cannot be consigned to history so long as men, women and children are still being coerced, drugged, tricked and sold to do dangerous and degrading work against their will.”
She said it was obvious that neither emancipation nor independence could guarantee freedom simply by proclamation.
The celebration, which was on the theme, “Rejuvenating the Desire and Aspiration of the Youth”, was graced by a retinue of gorgeously dressed chiefs and queens, led by Barima Kwame Nkyi, the Paramount Chief of the Assin Apimanim Traditional Area, and other Africans from the Diaspora.
Mrs Okaikoi said it was important that all people everywhere made a commitment to take a firm stance against slavery and any form of bondage, adding that despite the fact that all human beings were born free and equal, thousands of women and children continued to be sold into forced labour and exploited beyond imagination.
“We must keep fighting the wrongs and ills in our society if we are to attain the target of respect for human dignity, to enable us to live and feel the reality of emancipation on the African continent,” she stated.
A representative of African Americans in Ghana, Dr Margaret Price, called on the youth to unite, renew their minds, eschew selfish behaviours and believe that they could make it on the African continent.
She noted that the future of the Diaspora and the African continent depended largely on the youth and urged them to emancipate themselves from mental slavery to enable them to build their societies.
Barima Nkyi advised the youth not to throw themselves into voluntary slavery by travelling abroad to work in demeaning and dangerous conditions but work hard on the continent, adding, “The freedom fought for us must be celebrated in all we do.”
In a speech read on her behalf, the Central Regional Minister, Mrs Ama Benyiwa Doe, said emancipation celebrations must translate into economic and socio-political development.
Wreaths were laid at the ancestral graveyard at Assin Manso on the tombs of Samuel Carson and Crystal, both Africans in the Diaspora whose remains had been re-interred at Assin Manso.

4,600 PEOPLE IN KEEA ENJOY POTABLE WATER (PAGE 54, AUGUST 2, 2010)

2010-08-04T12:48:00.002-07:00

MORE than 4,600 people in two communities in the Komenda-Edina-Eguafo-Abrem (KEEA) District, Akwanda and Broyibima, now have constant access to potable water.
This follows the inauguration of 10 stand pipes in the communities to replace the existing ones which were broken down for lack of maintenance.
The GH¢130,000 project was funded by “Water for Life,” a charitable organisation established by Vitens in the Netherlands and whose resources in Ghana are managed by Aqua Vitens Rand Limited (AVRL).
The communities resorted to water from dirty streams as well as supply by tankers which was very expensive.
The water would be sold to consumers in line with the prevailing tariffs.
Inaugurating the projects, the Deputy Minister of Water Resources Works and Housing, Dr Hannah Bissiw, said the issue of water was a top priority on the government’s development strategy towards achieving its “better Ghana” agenda.
She stated that the government was aware of the fact many Ghanaians still lacked access to safe water, adding that the government was committed to investing in the water sector to reverse the unfortunate situation.
Dr Bissiw commended Vitens Water Services, GWCL and the AVRL for their relentless efforts to provide potable water for the pro-poor communities in the face of their numerous challenges.
She urged the beneficiary communities to take full advantage of the facility to complement government’s efforts at improving the standards of living in the country.
Mr Gerhardt Van der Top of the Vitens and Rand Water Services said the support was to improve the access to the communities which did not benefit from the Water Treatment Plant at Sekyere Hemang.
He said he was optimistic that the project would further strengthen the relationship between Ghana and The Netherlands.

CR LOSES GH¢44 MILLION THROUGH DISASTERS (PAGE 54, AUGUST 2, 2010)

2010-08-04T12:48:00.001-07:00

THE Central Region has lost property worth more than GH¢44 million to various natural disasters from January to June, this year.
The disasters include rainstorms, domestic and bush fires and tidal waves.
The Central Regional Minister, Mrs Ama Benyiwa-Doe, announced this at the region’s turn of the “Meet-the-Press” series in Cape Coast last Thursday.
She said the disasters left about 6,117 persons displaced and also damaged 8,278 houses and about 100 acres of land.
On the recent floods, Mrs Benyiwa-Doe said three districts, including Agona West, Agona East and Gomoa East were affected.
She said the floods claimed 11 lives, rendered 16,731 persons homeless, including 3,981 males, 8,785 females and 3,965 children.
Mrs Benyiwa-Doe said 3,000 of the affected persons had been registered and are being supported and rehabilitated.
She stated that a presidential task force had carried out an assessment for the appropriate actions to be taken.
The regional minister urged the affected communities to exercise restraint as the government was taking measures to find funds to rebuild the infrastructure destroyed through the disasters.
On the environment, Mrs Benyiwa-Doe stated that about 40 per cent of the region’s land mass of 9,826 kilometres had been severely degraded due to both nature induced and, especially human induced activities, adding that the hidden cost of the land degradation to the region was estimated at $434 million per annum.
She was particularly concerned about the pollution of the Benya, Fosu and Narkwa lagoons and Rivers Akora and Ochi, and advised the communities to stop polluting those water bodies.
On youth employment, Mrs Benyiwa-Doe said 21,730 persons had been engaged under the National Youth Employment Programme (NYEP) to reduce the unemployment situation in the region.
Mrs Benyiwa-Doe said significant achievements had been chalked in the health sector in the region, stating that no case of cholera had been reported in the region since 2007.
She said there had also been remarkable achievements in immunisation programmes in recent times with immunisation recording over 100 per cent participation.
She said although there were challenges of personnel and infrastructure, a 60-bed capacity hospital at Twifo Praso to be completed by 2012, the construction of a 140-bed capacity hospital at Winneba and the upgrading of the Ajumako District hospital were some of the projects that were expected to help improve the health service delivery in the region.
Mrs Benyiwa-Doe also expressed concern about illegal mining (galamsey) activities in the region, which she said, had claimed many lives and was presently making the treatment of safe drinking water very expensive at the Sekyere Hemang Water Treatment Plant.
She said the government was working hard to provide many more communities with potable water, adding that districts including Assin North, Assin South, Gomoa East and Gomoa West, Abura Asebu-Kwamankese, Ajumako-Enyan-Essiam and Asikuma-Odoben Brakwa would benefit from borehole projects.
She said an ultra modern cold store facility had been provided at Nyanyano in the Gomoa East District, while a second one was at an advanced stage of completion at Kormantsi in the Mfanstman District to reduce post harvest losses in the coastal areas.
Touching on security, the regional minister expressed concern about 18 murder and 31 robbery cases recorded as of May, 2010, and advised the public to volunteer information on suspicious characters.
The Information Minister, Mr John Tia Akologu, who chaired the function, said it was important for journalists to bear in mind the ethics of the profession in the discharge of their duties.
He said while the government was not interested in criminalising speech, it behoves on journalists to ensure that their reports did not split society or dent the reputation and the fundamental human rights of others.

$500,000 FOSTER HOME FOR CAPE COAST (PAGE 22, AUGUST 3, 2010)

2010-08-03T03:01:00.000-07:00

MANY children in the Cape Coast metropolis who do not have a place to call home and live under perilous and sometimes deplorable conditions, would soon lead more decent lives.
A $500,000 dollar foster home is being constructed in Cape Coast to help provide needy children with a homely environment.
The Bishop of the Christian Hope Centre in the USA, Bishop Spamford Assilfie, who is overseeing the project, said upon completion, the facility would house about 200 needy children.
The facility would include dormitories and basic schools to support the children to go through formal education.
Others would be given vocational skills at vocational training centres to be built, which would equip the children with vocational skills.
The facility would also include a clinic to see to the health needs of the children at the foster home.
The first phase of the foster home complex is expected to be completed by the end of the year and operation would commence next year.
Bishop Assilfie, who is also the Nkosuohene of Bandoh in the Eguafo paramount area, said society had changed greatly over the years and had led to the break down of essential social family values, which had led to many children living on the streets under dangerous conditions.
Bishop Assilfie said the Christian Hope Centre led by its Senior Pastor, Pastor Dave Hackett, with support from individuals in the USA such as Mr Matt Rizkallah of the Manufacturing Automation Systems Limited and pastors of the twin tiers had committed resources to support several orphanages in the country for the past 14 years.
He said the donors realised, however, that many of the items did not get to the real beneficiaries.
Bishop Assilfie said the foster home was being constructed because the donors believed they could manage the home better in order to offer decent accommodation for the children.
“If we have to do it, then we must ensure that the right people benefit from the things we bring to Ghana”, he said.
He said on completion of the project, the sponsors would bring retirees from abroad to help in teaching the children.
Bishop Assilfie said “many children are on the streets. But many of these children have talents that can help us turn the fortunes of the country.”
It behoves all who had the capability to support those children and harness their talents for the good of the country.

CR LOSES GH¢44 MILLION THROUGH DISASTERS (PAGE 54, JULY 31, 2010)

2010-08-01T10:10:00.000-07:00

4,600 PEOPLE KEEA ENJOY POTABLE WATER (PAGE 54, JULY 31, 2010)

2010-08-01T10:09:00.000-07:00

SLAVERY ABORTED ...Police save 118 children (LEAD STORY, JULY 31, 2010)

2010-08-01T09:38:00.000-07:00

Story: Shirley Asiedu-Addo, Cape Coast

THREE buses loaded with 118 children allegedly being trafficked to Half Assini in the Western Region were intercepted by the Central Regional Police Command at the Moree Barrier, near Cape Coast, yesterday morning.
The children, aged between three and 15, were being transported from Narkwa and Eku Mpoano in the Central Region on the three Benz buses, with registration numbers CR 782 09, GR 1006 T and GN 4231 Y, when the police pounced on the buses upon a tip off.
Twenty-four women on the vehicles and the three drivers were detained, along with the children at the Central Regional Police Headquarters in Cape Coast.
The Regional Police Public Relations Officer, Mr Raymond Asaaba, told the press that the police intercepted the vehicles because they suspected that the children were being trafficked to the Western Region to work in dangerous conditions for money.
He noted that it was an offence to engage children in perilous working conditions and said if investigations proved that the children were being trafficked, the police would take the next action of prosecuting the suspected offenders.
But one of the drivers of the intercepted vehicles, Mohammed Sagoe, denied that the children were being taken away to be engaged in hard labour.
He said the children lived with relatives at Narkwa and Eku Mpoano, where they attended school, but had been organised for holidays in Half Assini to assist their parents, who were mostly fishermen and fishmongers, with their fishing activities during the vacation.
He said the children usually engaged in that type of vacation practice until about three days to the re-opening of their schools when they were transported back to the Central Region to continue with their schooling.
Mr Asaaba said the police would commandeer the vehicles back to Narkwa and Eku Mpoano with a team of policemen to conduct further investigations, after which the police would take the next course of action.

OVER 17,000 PERSONS DIE FROM HIV/AIDS ANNUALLY (PAGE 42, JULY 26, 2010)

2010-07-25T11:11:00.000-07:00

MORE than 17,000 persons die from HIV AIDS in the country annually, the Central Regional Co-ordinator of the HIV AIDS, Mr Ebenezer Koomson, has stated.
He said the situation was a serious drain on the human resource base of the country and required intensified actions to significantly reduce the spread.
Speaking at the mid-year review meeting on HIV AIDS at Cape Coast in the Central Region on Tuesday, Mr Koomson said 17,058 people died from the HIV AIDS annually, adding that the fight against the pandemic was far from being won.
He stated that the HIV AIDS population stood at 240,802 at the last count in 2008, saying it included 219,600 adults and 21, 202 children.
Mr Koomson said it was clear that a lot needed to be done to further reduce the prevalence rate to less than one per cent.
Mr Koomson said in the Central Region, out of the 4,486 people who tested for the HIV virus for the second quarter of the year, 567 tested positive for the virus.
He, therefore, advised people in the region to adopt more responsible lifestyles.
Mr Koomson said there were other concerns about some people using fraudulent PLWHA associations to seek support from organisations.
He stated that one of such associations had been blocked from accessing sponsorships, adding that District Directors of the Health Service had been charged to guarantee such associations before they accessed funds from the Ghana AIDS Commission.
Mr Koomson called for the promotion of condom use to ensure safe sex.
He implored the districts to ensure the prompt return of reports in the HIV and AIDS situation in the region.
From Twifo Heman Lower Denkyira, 52 persons tested positive between January and June this year.
The Abura Asebu Kwamankese district has opened four condom outlets to increase its accessibility in the communities.
The Assin North Municipality in its report read by Dr John Otoo, expressed concern about the poor use of condoms by people living with HIV AIDS, saying some of them were being careless in their sexual lives.

'KILLER HUNTER' ARRESTED (MIRROR, PAGE 27, JULY 24, 2010)

2010-07-23T09:04:00.000-07:00

From Shirley Asiedu-Addo, Cape Coast

A hunter, Kwaku Amoah, who mistook his younger brother for game and shot him dead during a hunting expedition at Enyan Abonwim, was on Friday re-arrested by the police after he had escaped from custody.
Amoah, 32, shot Kojo Blankson dead, after which he was arrested on June 22, 2010. But he escaped from police custody three days later when he reported sick and was sent to the Ajumako Government Hospital for treatment.
According to the Central Regional Police Public Relations Officer, Mr Raymond Asaaba, police investigations indicated that Madam Esi Saakwa, 35, Amoah’s mother-in law; Mr Kwaku Gariba, 42, his father-in-law, and Kwaku Etuah, 24, had allegedly assisted the suspect to escape by breaking the handcuffs.
Investigations also revealed that Amoah stayed in the bush during the day and went home to Enyan Abonwim to sleep with his in-laws in the night.
The police re-arrested him, together with his accomplices, on July 7, 2010 when he went home.
The three accomplices have been charged with four counts of harbouring a criminal, resisting arrest, abetment of crime and causing damage to state property.
Mr Asaaba said it was important for hunters to take extra precaution in their hunting expeditions to avoid unfortunate situations.
“Hunters should not shoot at their targets until they had clearly seen their images and identified them,” he said.
He also said all persons in possession of guns should register them with the police, as required by law, and renew their licences and permits annually, noting that defaulters would not be spared.

HIV POSITIVE PERSONS ON 'RAMPAGE' (MIRROR, LEAD STORY, JULY 24, 2010)

2010-07-23T09:00:00.000-07:00

From Shirley Asiedu-Addo, Cape Coast

A DISTURBING trend among People Living With HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) in Assin Fosu and its environs is unfolding; with most of them marrying, remarrying and getting pregnant .
“The victims are intentionally infecting others and this gives cause for concern".
The Medical Director of Health Services at Assin Fosu St Xavier Hospital, Dr John Otoo, said the situation had given another dimension to the problem.
At a preview meeting on HIV/AIDS in the Central Region in Cape Coast on Tuesday, Dr Otoo said, “this is a serious problem we have to deal with".
“Only last week, I counselled three persons. One has married another wife in addition to his wife and the second wife is also infected. The two others have impregnated other women in the town”.
He said the reason for that had been the use of the anti retroviral drugs which had been invigorating and making them look healthier.
He said the problem was that the HIV positive persons knew their status and added that their actions were irresponsible.
“They are not using condoms and this is not good, for them and for society,” he said.
Mr Ebenezer Koomson, Regional HIV Co-ordinator, said there were other concerns about some people using fraudulent PLWHA associations to seek support from organisations.
He noted that one of such associations had been blocked from accessing sponsorships and said currently district directors of health had been charged to guarantee such associations before they accessed funds from the Ghana AIDS Commission.
Mr Koomson said the fight against HIV and AIDs was not over and said there was the need for intensified education to ensure behavioural change.
He called for the promotion of condom use to ensure safe sex.
He said the annual deaths figure of 17,058 was worrying and called for all to adopt more responsible sexual lives.

GOVT MUST NOT SACRIFICE WELFARE OF CITIZENS — LECTURER (PAGE 14, JULY 22, 2010)

2010-07-22T04:45:00.000-07:00

A LECTURER at the University of Cape Coast, Mr Francis Darkeh, has cautioned the government not to sacrifice the environmental well-being of the nation’s citizens for political goodwill.
He said the negative effects of human activities on the environment required the government to take more drastic steps to protect the environment.
Mr Darkeh was speaking at a seminar on climate change for selected second cycle schools in the Cape Coast metropolis at the weekend.
About 250 students were taken through the causes and effects of climate change and the role of the youth in mitigating the effects. It was organised by the Green Earth Organisation.
He called for a national youth environmental policy that would encourage the youth to get involved in efforts to redeem the environment.
He also charged environmental clubs and groups to work to pressurise government to take the necessary steps to remedy the situation.
Mr Darkeh said activities of environmental associations in the country should mount enough pressure on the government to enable them to take responsible actions towards redeeming the environment from further destruction.
Mr Darkeh called on students to join in educating the public on the need to protect the environment.
The Youth Coordinator of the Green Earth Organisation, Mr Elisha Kyirem, said the effects of the climate change phenomenon was being felt all over the world but more serious in developing countries, including Ghana.
He said as young people, they had certain talents and energies to restore the degraded environment and advised the students to conserve the good in the environment.

DOUBLE AGONY...Rescue vehicle worsens plight of accident victims (LEAD STORY, JULY 17, 2010)

2010-07-18T09:10:00.000-07:00

A TRAGEDY of double agony struck at Akra, near Ekumfi Swedru in the Central Region, yesterday when a fire engine on a mission to rescue accident victims crashed into another vehicle, resulting in more casualties.
Nine people had been killed in the earlier accident but the fire engine carrying the firemen who had gone to the rescue of the accident victims worsened matters when it veered off the road at the accident scene and hit another vehicle, leaving two of the firemen injured.
The scene was the Mankessim-Apam stretch of the Accra-Takoradi highway and two vehicles, an Urvan bus and a Mercedes Sprinter belonging to the Johnson and Johnson Company, had collided about 11.30 a.m. yesterday, killing nine and injuring 11 others.
The Ghana National Fire Service in Cape Coast had responded to a distress call to assist the victims but fire engine crashed into the 4X4 vehicle belonging to the District Chief Executive for Gomoa East which had parked near the road for him to assist the victims.
The dead comprised seven passengers on the Urvan bus, with registration number GS 458-09, a passenger on the Mercedes Sprinter, with registration number WR 1291-09, and a roadside seller.
The accident occurred when the Mercedes Sprinter, which was travelling from Takoradi, collided with the Urvan bus, which was travelling from Accra towards Cape Coast.
The dead, whose identities are yet to be established, have been deposited at the Central Regional Hospital in Cape Coast and the Saltpond Government Hospital, while the injured are receiving attention at the same hospitals.
The Mfantseman District Police Commander, Superintendent Odonkor, who briefed newsmen on the accident, cautioned drivers to be extra careful during this rainy season.

GOVT TO PROVIDE MORE CLASSROOMS (PAGE 51, JULY 15, 2010)

2010-07-15T05:48:00.000-07:00

Four thousand schools which organise classes under trees are to benefit from the government’s programme to provide them with decent infrastructure.
Under the programme, which will be implemented in phases, the government will provide classrooms and other facilities for 200 of the schools annually to enhance teaching and learning.
At a colourful durbar of the chiefs and people of Elmina to mark this year’s Bakatue Festival last Saturday, the Deputy Minister of Education, Dr J.S Annan, said the provision of the infrastructure to the schools would enhance education delivery, particularly in the rural communities.
Dr Annan, who is also the Member of Parliament for the Komenda-Edina Eguafo Abrem (KEEA), said the government was also providing desks and free school uniforms to promote education at the basic level.
In fulfilment of the government’s pledge to enhance education delivery, Dr Annan said more than 1.6 million school uniforms would be distributed to pupils in mostly deprived communities.
To ensure the efficient management and administration of the basic schools, the deputy minister said the ministry was also going to ensure that the continuous assessment of pupils at the basic level, as well as record keeping in the basic schools were computerised.
He refuted allegations that the school assistant module under the National Youth Employment Programme (NYEP) had been abolished, saying more assistants would be recruited in addition to national service personnel to improve teaching in schools.
In an address read on his behalf, Nana Kwodwo Conduah, the Paramount Chief of the Edina Traditional Area, said despite efforts by the KEEA Municipal Assembly to improve educational infrastructure in the area, Elmina continued to face such problems.
He expressed concern about the situation where a sod was cut for the commencement of work on a fishing harbour two years ago in Elmina but actual construction work was yet to begin.
He called on the government to reactivate the harbour project since it would be of great benefit to the fishing community in the area.
The festival was attended by hundreds of visitors including tourists, who witnessed the rich and unique culture of the people of Elmina.
The celebration got to a crescendo when the Paramuont Chief of the Edina Traditional Area, Nana Kwodwo Conduah IV, clad in his traditional black and white cloth rode in a palanquin to lead a procession of other chiefs, who were gorgeously dressed in Kente through the principal streets of Elmina.
As the procession rolled to the Elmina park for the grand durbar, women dressed with the traditional headgear (“takuwa”) sang praises.

Govt to provide more classrooms pg 51 July 15,2010

2010-07-15T04:08:00.000-07:00

Story: Shirley Asiedu-Addo, Elmina.
Four thousand schools which organize classes under trees are to benefit from the government’s programme to provide them to with decent infrastructure.
Under the programme, which will be implemented in phases, the government will provide classrooms and other facilities for 200 of the schools annually to enhance teaching and learning.
At colouful durbar of the chiefs and people of Elmina climaxed a week long activities to mark this year’s festival the Deputy Minister of Education, Dr J.S Annan said this would enhance education delivery particularly in the rural communities..
Hundreds including indigenes and tourists on Saturday thronged the Elmina township to celebrate festival.
The Paramuont Chief, Nana Kwodwo Conduah in his traditional black and white and his chiefs clad gorgeously in rich kente cloths paraded through the principal streets of Elmina in palanquins before converging at the forecourt of the Elmina Castle for the durbar at about 2.30 pm.
Women with the traditional “takuwa” singing praises of the Paramount Chief joined the procession.
Dr Annan who is also the Member of Parliament for the Komenda-Edina Eguafo Abrem (KEEA) said government was also providing desks and free school uniforms to promote education at the basic level.
In fulfillment of the government’s pledge to enhance education delivery Dr Annan said more than 1.6 million uniforms would be distributed nations in mostly deprived communities.
To ensure the efficient management and administration of the basic schools, the deputy minster said the Ministry of Education was also going to ensure that the Continuous Assessment of pupils at the basic level as well as all records in the basic schools were computerized to ensure the efficient management and administration of the basic schools.
He refuted allegations that the School Assistant module under the National Youth Employment program had been abolished saying that more assistants would be recruited in addition to National Service Persons to help better the teacher ratio in the schools.
He said he would continue to work to ensure that the poor education standards in the area were bettered.
In an address read on his behalf, the Omanhen noted that despite efforts by KEEA Municipal Assembly to improve educational infrastructure in the area, Elmina continue to face infrastructural problems.
He said of grave concern that though a sod was cut for the commencement of work on a fishing harbour two years ago in Elmina work has not began and called on the government to work to ensure that work commenced on the harbour adding that there are over 800 canoes and a number of fishing boats working in Elmina and a harbour would further boost fishing activities in the area.

FUGITIVE ARRESTED TO FACE MURDER CHARGE (PAGE 46, JULY 15, 2010)

2010-07-14T08:59:00.000-07:00

the Ajumako Police in the Central Region have arrested Yaw Afful, 27, seven years after he escaped arrest for allegedly injuring one Jacob Quainoo in a fight leading to his death.
Afful has been charged with murder and is to be arraigned.
According to the Public Relations Officer of the Central Regional Police Command, Mr Raymond Asaaba, on September 9, 2003, Afful, then 20, engaged Quainoo, a student of the Ahamakoama Roman Catholic School in a fight for allegedly dancing with his girlfriend at the annual Akwanbo Festival at Enyan Apaa in the Central Region.
During the scuffle, Afful was alleged to have thrown Quainoo onto the ground but got injured when his head hit a metal bar.
The case was reported to the Police after Quainoo took ill and was admitted at the Prince Charles Hospital at Mankessim in the Central Region.
Mr Asaaba said Quainoo’s situation became worse and was transferred to the Central Regional Hospital where he died on admission.
Before he passed away, Mr Asaaba said Quainoo was said to have told the police that in the scuffle, Afful threw him (Quainoo) onto the ground where he (Quainoo) hit his head against a metal bar injuring himself.
He said Dr Edwin Quaynor, Medical Director at the hospital who examined the deceased, said he died of severe head injury.
Meanwhile, Mr Asaaba said after the incident, Afful fled to New Abirem in the Eastern Region until he was arrested by the police on June 28, 2010 and brought to Ajumako.

CAR THIEF NABBED (PAGE 19, JULY 13, 2010)

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A 32-year-old auto mechanic, Daniel Yeboah, alias Kwabena Atta, who shot a taxi driver in the ribs and drove away in his taxicab has been arrested.
According to the Central Regional Police Public Relations Officer, Mr Raymond Asaaba, about 7 p.m. on Saturday, July 2, 2010, Yeboah hired the Kia Pride cab, being driven by Kofi Annim, from Yamonransa to a destination off the old Cape Coast road.
On the way, the suspect pulled out a locally manufactured pistol and fired at the ribs of the driver, after which he pulled the driver out of the vehicle and drove away.
Mr Asaaba said Annim managed to inform the police on duty at the Moree Barrier about the incident and the police subsequently sent wireless messages to all police information rooms in the region.
He said about 8:30 p.m. the same day, the suspect was spotted at the Assin Fosu Police Barrier and arrested.
When he was searched, a locally manufactured pistol and one live cartridge were found on him.
Upon interrogation, Yeboah, who claimed he hailed from Fawohomanyame, near Akroso in the Eastern Region, said he was returning from Tarkwa in the Western Region where he had gone to seek employment.
Mr Asaaba said the suspect would soon be arraigned before court.
Meanwhile, Atta is on admission at the Central Regional Hospital.
Mr Asaaba cautioned drivers who drove at night to be careful about the routes they plied and advised them to use routes that were safe.

Government solicits ideas of the aged (PAGE 22, JULY 10, 2010)

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Story: Shirley Asiedu-Addo, Cape Coast

GOVERNMENT is soliciting the expertise and experiences of the aged to accelerate the pace of the Better Ghana agenda.
The Central Regional Minister, Ms Ama Benyiwa Doe has,therefore, called on the aged to bring all experiences on board to support the government with ideas that would better the lot of Ghanaians.
At a reception in honour of some aged persons in the region to mark Republic Day, the regional minister said the government was more than willing to receive pieces of advice from the aged to advance the better Ghana Agenda it had set for itself.
“We all have a part to play to ensure that the system works well so that our dear nation could realise its objective of becoming a middle income nation as we all desire,” she said.
She said the government was appreciative of the immense contribution of senior citizens to the nation's development and would wish to tap from the wealth of experience to move the development process forward.
She also called on them to take advantage of the exemption package for the aged under the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) to better their conditions of living.
She said government was reviewing the NHIS to ensure that the one time premium policy was implemented.
Ms Doe said government would also continue the Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty Programme (LEAP) and other social interventions that would better the lives of the aged and other vulnerable groups in society.

(Churches should collaborate with traditional authorities (PAGE 22, JULY 10, 2010)

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Story: Shirley Asiedu-Addo, Cape Coast

THE Central Regional House of Chiefs has called for collaboration between churches and traditional authorities to help reduce the increasing spate of moral decadence in society.
It said the church and the chieftaincy institution played important roles in modelling the society to ensure that the youth in particular was prepared to lead morally acceptable lives.
The House made the call when the Chirst Embassy Church presented copies of Rhapsody of Realities, a daily devotional to members of the House at a ceremony in Cape Coast.
It was part of the church's Reach Out Ghana (ROGHA) campaign aimed at distributing the daily devotional to one million Ghanaians.
Nana Appiah Nuama, Omanhen of Twifo Mampong, commended the church for the gesture, saying it was the first time a church had sought to engage the House.
He asked the church to preach against evils in society to make society more peaceful.
Nana Amoa Sasraku, Omanhen of Twifo Heman, pledged to support the church with a parcel of land if it decided to establish a branch in his community.
Daasebre Kwebu, President of the House, said the chieftaincy institution was not idolatrous as being painted by churches across the country.
The Pastor of Christ Embassy in Cape Coast, Rev. Ernest Arthur, said the church would distribute 50,000 copies of the devotional in the Central Region.
He thanked the chiefs for their support for the programme and pledged that the church would commit more to developing the youth into people capable of harnessing their talent for their good and the good of society.

MECHANIC SHOOTS TAXI DRIVER, BOLTS WITH CAR (PAGE 3, MIRROR, JULY 10, 2010)

2010-07-11T07:08:00.000-07:00

From Shirley Asiedu-Addo, Cape Coast

A 32-year-old auto mechanic, Daniel Yeboah a.k.a as Kwabena Atta, who shot a taxi driver in the ribs and drove away his taxi cab has been arrested.
According the Police Public Relations Officer, Mr Raymond Asaaba, on Saturday, July 2, 2010, at about 7 p.m., Yeboah chartered a Kia Pride cab being driven by one Kofi Annim from Yamonransa and directed the driver to use the old Cape Coast road.
On their way, Mr Asaaba said the suspect pulled out a locally manufactured pistol and fired at the ribs of the driver, pulled him (driver) out of the vehicle and drove away.
Mr Asaaba said Annim managed to inform the police on duty at the Moree Barrier about the theft and they subsequently, sent wireless messages to all police information rooms in the region.
At about 8.30 p.m., the same day, the suspect was spotted at the Assin Fosu police barrier and was arrested.
When he was searched, a locally manufactured pistol and one live cartridge was found on him.
When interrogated, Yeboah claimed he came from Fawohomanyame near Akroso in the
Eastern Region and was returning from Tarkwa in the Western Region where he claimed he had gone to seek employment.
He is in police custody and would be arraigned soon.
Meanwhile, the victim is on admission at the Central Regional Hopsital.
Mr Asaaba cautioned drivers who drive at night to be mindful of the routes passengers direct them to use, saying they must use routes where they can be sure of their safety and avoid driving in isolated places.

PAY ATTENTION TO TALENTED BUT UNEXPOSED CHILDREN (PAGE 11, JUNE 17, 2010)

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THE acting Central Regional Director of the Department of Children, Mr Israel Aklorbortu, has stressed the need to pay more attention to talented but unexposed children to enable them explore their talents.
He said it was obvious that attention and support had been given to the brilliant but needy chidldren to the neglect of the talented.
Mr Aklorbortu was speaking after supervising technical training sessions organised by the Department of Children for selected children in selected schools in the Cape Coast metropolis.
The training sessions were also organised in selceted schools in the Komenda-Edina- Eguafo-Abrem municipality of the Central Region.
Mr Aklorbortu said education in the country was tilted to encouraging more brilliant children at the expense of the talented ones and pointed out that education must also seek to bring up talented children adding that talents abound in the country's schools and it behoved all stakeholders to help harness such talents for national develoment.
He said it was time for stakeholders in the educational sector to identify and give talented children the needed encouragement, materials and the needed environment to help nurture such talents.
He gave the assurance that the department of children would continue to work to ensure that all children were given the needed environment to excel in whatever field they were good in.

$400,000 FIFA CENTRE FOR CAPE COAST (PAGE 79, JUNE 16, 2010)

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The sod has been cut for work to commence on a $400,000 FIFA Football for Hope Centre at Cape Coast in the Central Region.
The centre is one of 20 being built by FIFA in Africa to commemorate the 2010 World Cup in Africa.
The centre would have a learning room with educational materials including an ICT bay of up to 50 computers, a health clinic, a 200-seater auditorium, and an artificial pitch.
The Chairman of the Ghana FIFA Football for Hope Centre, Nana Sam Brew Butler, said the initiative was a first in FIFA’s over 70-year history, and that Ghana was among the first beneficiaries of the initiative.
He said the centre which was expected to be completed in December would impact the lives of the youth who would have access to the facility build virtues such as discipline, focus and tenacity that would help them to achieve success in other areas of their lives.
He gave the assurance that as chairman of the centre, he would work to ensure that the centre helped the nation to build capacity to win laurels.
Nana Brew Butler thanked the Mfantsipim School for providing land and the Cape Coast Metropolitan Assembly and the Oguaman Union for the support.
Mr Koame Edjah, Headmaster of Mfantsipim School, said the school, was proud to be associated with the project and pledged the school’s support for the project.
The Metropolitan Chief Executive for Cape Coast , Mr Anthony Egyir Aikins, said the Assembly would sustain interest in the project and support it to ensure its successful completion.

FISHERMEN MUST NOT MEDDLE IN POLITICS (PAGE 13, JUNE 12, 2010)

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THE Canoe Owners and Fishermen Group of the Central Region has asked fishermen not to meddle in politics that will go to disunite their ranks.
It said introducing politics into the fold of fishermen would bring about acrimony and weaken their front and efforts to seek better conditions for fishermen in general.
The group was reacting to a press conference organised by the Fishermen Friends of Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo (FIFNAA), an NPP flag-bearer aspirant, in which the FIFNAA called on delegates to the NPP’s August 7 delegates congress to vote for Nana Akufo-Addo to become the flag bearer of the NPP for the 2012 general election.
FIFNAA, at its press conference, said the NPP must recognise that it was Nana Akufo-Addo who could deliver the party from opposition and Ghanaians from the hardships that the National Democratic Congress (NDC) had placed on them.
It said President Mills capitalised on the woes of the fishermen in 2008 and used them to campaign to win the presidency, adding that fishermen were now disappointed at the deal the NDC had offered them and that premix and outboard motors, both essentials in the fishing industry, were now more expensive than they were in the NPP era.
But the Spokesperson for the Canoe Owners and Fishermen Group, Kweku Sam, said fishermen were grateful to President Mills for making premix fuel available and in abundance at the landing beaches.
He said the organisers of the FIFNAA press conference were known NPP organisers and activists who used fishermen to make money which was saved in an account at the Agricultural Development Bank in Cape Coast and called for a probe into the issue.

MOBILE PHONE EXPOSES WEE PUSHER (PAGE 31, MIRROR, JUNE 12, 2010)

2010-06-11T08:08:00.000-07:00

From Shirley Asiedu-Addo, Cape Coast.

Emelia Korkuvi, a marijuana supplier, who was so eager to reach her customer and deliver some “goods” ended up making several calls to the wrong person — a police detective, who later caused her arrest.
According to Assistant Commissioner of Police ACP Samuel Lartey of the Central Regional Police Headquarters, on May 28, 2010, the Twifo Praso police had information that some young men were dealing in narcotic drugs at Asikafoambantem, a suburb of Twifo Praso near the Pra River.
He said the police led by Detective Inspector R. A. Doudu went to the area and arrested one Paulina Okyerewaa, who was selling stuff suspected to be marijuana to customers. He said Paulina was the wife of one Bashiru Walla, a notorious drug dealer.
ACP Lartey said the police managed to arrest two other suspects, one Kofi Anane and Kwame Adoma but Okyerewaa escaped with the assistance of some small scale miners who ferried her across the Pra River.
Later the same day ACP Lartey said Bashiru was arrested from his hideout and a quantity of marijuana and a mobile phone were taken from him.
He said on June 1, 2010, the three, Bashiru, Anane and Adoma were arraigned before a Cape Coast Circuit Court and were remanded into prison custody to re-appear on June 15, 2010.
However, Emelia Korkuvi, who ACP Lartey said was apparently the marijuana supplier to Bashiru and his wife kept calling Bashiru’s mobile phone, which was then in the custody of the police, demanding to talk to Bashiru or his wife.
Detective Doudu pretended to be Bashiru and answered the calls during which Emelia, who is a resident of the Afram Plains arranged to bring the “goods” to him (Inspector Doudu) at Twifo Praso.
On June 6, 2010, Emelia called Detective Doudu again, still thinking that he was dealing with Bashiru, and arranged with him (Doudu) to meet her at the lorry station at Twifo Praso to collect the “goods.”
The police mounted a surveillance at the lorry station and arrested Emelia when she arrived at Twifo Praso at around 11:00 a.m. on a bus with registration number, AS 725 T from Assin Fosu.
ACP Lartey said when Emelia’s luggage was searched it was found to contain nine compressed maxi parcels of dried leaves concealed in two big baskets of salted fish (koobi).
Upon interrogation, she admitted supplying marijuana to Bashiru and some other persons at Twifo Praso.
The police said she would be arraigned before court after investigations have been made.

ASSEMBLY STAFF ATTEND RECORD KEEPING SEMINAR (PAGE 20, JUNE 8, 2010)

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MORE than 80 staff of Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies in the Central Region have attended a two-day workshop on record keeping.
The workshop is one of a series of capacity building workshops being organised by the assembly on the Functional Organisational Assessment Tool (FOAT) with the support of DANIDA.
In an address read on behalf of the Head of the Local Government Service, Mr Kwasi Opong-Fosu, he said the FOAT assessment revealed that most of the assemblies, particularly the metropolitan ones were found wanting in record keeping and management.
He said it was expected that there would be a drastic change in record keeping and management in the assemblies.
Mr Oppong-Fosu stated that it was only through the operation of a well-run records management programme that an organisation whether public or private, could conduct smooth business.
He urged the participants to ensure that they acquired the best practise needed to solve most of the problems facing the communities.
Mr Oppong-Fosu said to affirm the seriousness attached to the capacity building programme, the secretariat would draw a monitoring itinerary to visit all districts to ascertain whether the knowledge acquired at the training workshops were being put to use.
The Central Regional Minister, Mrs Ama Benyiwa-Doe stated that the changing dynamics of the world required new ideas, adding that there was the need for training and retraining.
She called for proper records keeping, especially at the registry to ensure that confidential documents and letters were secured.

SCHOOLS SENSITISED TO JON FIGHT AGAINST CORRUPTION (PAGE 20, JUNE 8, 2010)

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FIRST and second cycle schools in the Central Region are being sensitised to join the fight against corruption in the country.
The Ghana Anti-Corruption Free School Project (GCFSP) is working to fight corruption beginning with the future leaders.
In the Central Region, the project will be undertaken in first and second cycle educational institutions.
The National Co-ordinator of the GCFSP, Mr Nelson Addy, said it was necessary to reduce waste in the system in order to accelerate the socio-economic advancement of the country.
He said the GCFSP had volunteers who were to sensitise the children to the need to adopt morally right standards for a better nation in the future.
Mr Addy said it would be disastrous if the future generation were not made to understand the crippling effects of corruption on the nation’s development efforts and building them into anti-corruption ambassadors would be in the best interest of the nation.
He stated that it behoved all concerned citizens to support the project.
In an address read on her behalf, the Central Regional Minister, Mrs Ama Benyiwa Doe, said corruption was a phenomenon confronting all sectors of life, stressing that the GCFSP should be encouraged to eradicate it.
She said the launch of the project in the educational sector was laudable because the sectorwas the pivot of the socio-economic development of every nation and the birthplace of the human resource.

GERMAN VOLUNTEER ASSISTS PEDU SCHOOL (PAGE 35, JUNE 7, 2010)

2010-06-06T09:24:00.000-07:00

A GERMAN volunteer teacher at the Pedu Metropolitan Assembly “A” basic school, Mr Alexander Hagelstein, has impressed upon a German company, Procter and Gamble, to donate 10 used laptop computers to the school.
Mr Hagelstein saw that the school did not have access to Information Communication Technology (ICT) facilities so he decided to convince his father, Mr Reinhold Hagelstein, who collaborated with the Procter and Gamble to support the school with the laptop computers.
It was a joyous occasion for both staff and pupils of the school as they gathered at a short ceremony on the school compound to receive the laptops.
Mr Hagelstein is a volunteer on an a inter-cultural exchange programme organised by the Coastal Inter-cultural Exchange (CIE) of Ghana and VIA Inter-cultural Exchange of Germany who is teaching at the Pedu Municipal Assembly Primary School.
Mr Hagelstein said he was happy to help change the status of the school for the better.
For his part, Mr Reinhold Hagelstein said he was happy to be part of efforts to support many children to learn about computers as knowledge in ICT played a very important role in the future success of the children.
The Director of CIE, Mr Paschal Godwyll, said CIE worked to bring volunteers in the areas of education to support education delivery in the country while promoting inter-cultural exchange.
The Headteacher of the school, Mrs Sarah Mensah, thanked the donors for the gesture, saying the laptops had come at an opportune moment to help the children in learning ICT.

MP PRAISES YOUTH ASSOCIATION FOR PROMOTING DEV (PAGE 35, JUNE 7, 2010)

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THE Member of Parliament (MP) for Abura-Asebu-Kwamankese, Mr Anthony Christian Dadzie, has commended the Asebuman Youth Association for its foresight in promoting the development of the Asebu Traditional Area in the Central Region.
The MP made the commendation when the executives and some members of the association paid a visit to him at his residence at Amosima in the Central Region.
Mr Dadzie further praised the association for supporting the Asebu Ekroful water project with communal labour and urged them to maintain that momentum to help revive the spirit of self-help in the people.
According to him, the youth had shown their willingness to support the development of the area by uniting all the 18 communities in the traditional area. He, therefore, urged them to sustain the spirit.
He warned them against divisive tendencies which had the potential to cripple the vision of the association, stressing that they should be one another’s keeper.
The youth officially informed him about the formation of the association which is aimed at supporting the development of the Asebu Traditional Area.
Mr Dadzie observed that the constituency had a major problem with sanitation and appealed to the youth to help promote good sanitation practices.
He also advised members of the youth group to help revive the communal spirit which was non-existent in most of the communities in the constituency.
Mr Dadzie implored the youth to be humble and work in tandem with all stakeholders in the constituency to bring total development to the area.
Mr Dadzie, who is also a member of the Parliament Select Committee on Roads and Transport, hinted that government had plans to upgrade various roads in the district.
The youth appealed to the MP to ensure that the Ekroful Water Project was given the needed attention and the government to also take over the Moree High School as a matter of urgency.
The Public Relations Officer of the Asebuman Youth Association, Papa Abaka, said the association was teaming up with chiefs in the traditional area to promote development.
The chairman of the association, Mr Precedence Mensah, called on the MP to use part of his share of the common fund to support education.

GOMOA WEST MAKES PROGRESS (PAGE 35, JUNE 7, 2010)

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ATHE Gomoa West District is breathing fresh air as the district assembly led by the District Chief Executive (DCE), Mr Theophilus Aidoo-Mensah, is making giant strides in its efforts to better the lives of the people.
For some time now, it was obvious that the Gomoa District had not made significant efforts to enhance accelerated development.
A visit to Apam and many other communities in the district, recently, revealed that the people in the area were breathing a new air of development. It was realised that rehabilitation work on the Apam town roads was progressing steadily to facilitate the movement of people within the town.
The administration block of the district assembly is also being rehabilitated at a cost of GH¢108,165, with about 40 per cent of the project being completed.
Speaking to the Daily Graphic at Apam, the district capital, Mr Aidoo said two guest houses in the town had been completed while work on a kitchen and places of convenience for the Apam Police Station were being painted.
The streetlights at Apam have been rehabilitated at a cost of GH¢5,000 to make life in the town at night enjoyable.
The assembly is also undertaking projects in all the communities in the district to improve the living conditions of the people.
The projects financed with the assembly’s share of the District Assemblies’ Common Fund include the construction of a three-classroom block each at Mozano, Gomoa Dunkwa and Debiso.
At Mumford, rehabilitation work on 40 stores and pavement of the market is about 50 per cent complete.
Mr Aidoo-Mensah said the total cost of the market rehabilitation was GH¢104,090.
According to him, the assembly had to relocate the traders at the market before starting the rehabilitation of the market, which was in a deplorable state.
The DCE expressed optimism that the project would be completed by the end of the year to boost trading activities at Mumford.
At Eshiem, the assembly is constructing an Area Council office for the community at a cost of GH¢26,982, which has reached the roofing level.
Mr Aidoo-Mensah said a number of communities in the district were also benefiting from development projects under the Community Based Rural Development Projects.
At Gomoa Mankessim, a six-classroom block with a four-seater place of convenience estimated at GH¢78,557 is under construction, which is currently at the roofing level.
A similar project is being undertaken at Mprumen and Gomoaman to improve educational facilities in the district.
Besides, classroom blocks are being constructed at Gomoa Abaasa, Assin Brofoyedru and Abrekum, which are at advanced stages of completion.
On water and sanitation, Mr Aidoo-Mensah said the assembly would construct boreholes at Gomoa Kumasi, Antseadze, Amenfi, Apam Bridge and Abonko to ease the acute water shortage in the district while public places of convenience had been constructed at Denkyira, Gomoa Abaasa, Wassa and Dawurampong Eshiem and Tarkwa Eshiem.
He said the assembly would also construct nurses’ quarters at Gomoa Assin and a meat shop at Dawurampong.
Mr Aidoo-Mensah stated the district was bracing itself up for accelerated development and would leave no stone unturned in achieving that objective.
He said in that regard, land had been cleared for interested youth under the Youth in Agriculture programme, and appealed to chiefs in the area to release more land for the project.
The DCE said 426 persons had been recruited in the various modules of the National Youth Employment Programme, including the Community Teaching Assistants, Water and Sanitation, Eco Brigade and Health Extension.
Mr Aidoo-Mensah said the district had received exercise books for distribution to schools, stressing that the government would ensure that education was given the needed support.
He said the district was yet to receive its allocation of free uniforms for distribution to pupils of public basic schools in deprived communities.

CHIEFS DIVIDED OVER POLITICS (MIRROR, PAGE 42, JUNE 5, 2010)

2010-06-04T09:21:00.000-07:00

From Shirley Asiedu-Addo, Apam.

Some chiefs in the Gomoa West District are divided over the constitutional provision which bars chiefs from actively participating in politics.
There were heated arguments for and against the provision barring chiefs from active politics at a constitutional review forum held at Apam recently.
The Chief of Antseadze near Apam, Nana Obentsi Kuma VIII, vehemently opposed the provision barring chiefs from actively participating in politics, saying the provision was not only hypocritical, but also an infringement on their human rights.
He noted that it was obvious that many chiefs in the country were already active in politics despite the provision, adding that the provision only created an environment for hypocrisy.
“We all know that despite the provision, many chiefs have openly associated with some political parties in the country and some have gone ahead to mount platforms in support of such political parties,” he said.
We have also heard some of the comments that some notable chiefs made during the election and it marvels some of us why such a provision should still be in the Constitution,” he continued.
He said chiefs were like any other human being and it was only normal that they should be allowed by the Constitution to take active part in politics.
But the Chief of Apam, Nana Effriam X, said it was important that chiefs were not allowed to participate in politics.
He said chiefs were noble people chosen and respected by the communities and must not get involved in politics.
He said chiefs were custodians of the land and its people and serve as a unifying force and must not get involved in politics which has become too divisive.
This was supported by many people who spoke at the forum.
They noted that engaging in active politics would only reduce the respect the people have for chiefs.
They said it would also pave way for some people to abuse the chieftaincy institution and bring it into disrepute.
This was supported by the District Chief Executive, Mr Theophilus Aidoo, who said chiefs must leave politics for politicians.
“We would want to relate to our chiefs honourably and not on the tough and rough political terrain,” he said.
Another issue that was in contention was the election or otherwise of District Chief Executives.
While many said DCEs must be elected, others including many current assembly members of the district assembly said they must leave the process of appointing the DCEs just as it is.
Many others also called for the separation of the Attorney General's position from the Minister of Justice.

RURAL ENTERPRISE FACILITY INAUGURATED AT ASSIN EDUBIASE (PAGE 35, MAY 29, 2010)

2010-05-28T10:28:00.000-07:00

AWARD CONTRACTS ON BASED ON CAPABILITY OF CONTRACTORS (PAGE 46, MAY 26, 2010)

2010-05-25T06:34:00.000-07:00

A former national executive of the Building and Civil Engineering Contractors Association of Ghana, Mr Samuel Obeng, has called on the government to award contracts based on the capabilities of contractors.
He observed that awarding contracts based on the political affiliations of contractors was detrimental to the nation’s efforts at growth and must be discouraged.
Speaking at a meeting of the Central Regional branch of the association in Cape Coast, Mr Obeng said it was unfortunate that many projects had been delayed or were shoddily executed because jobs had been awarded to incapable contractors.
“It is necessary for the government to seek the interest of the nation first in the award of contracts,” he added.
He said rumours making the rounds indicated that some projects were being awarded on contract without putting such contracts on tender.
“Let’s bid for all such projects and let the most qualified bidder take the project,” he stressed.
He advised the contractors not to allow politicians to infiltrate their ranks and divide their front, saying that the association needed a united front to press home its demands and ask for better deals and conditions from the government and other clientele.
He also appealed to members of the association to do more social work to support the region’s development efforts.
The National President of the association, Mr Edmund Amanor, expressed concern about the way the government had failed to accord indigenous contractors the required recognition for their immense contribution towards the development of the nation.
Rather, he said, politicians had always demeaned the work of Ghanaian contractors, describing their work as shoddy, and pointed out that that was not fair and must be stopped.
He called for a policy to regulate the activities of contractors and ensure that they operated more professionally.
A seven-member executive, chaired by Mr Ebenezer Boakye, to run the affairs of the association in the Central Region for the next four years, was sworn in.
Mr Boakye pledged to unite members of the association to work hard to support the development of the region and that of the nation as a whole.

RURAL ENTERPRISE FACILITY INAUGURATED AT ASSIN EDUBIASE (MIRROR, PAGE 39, MAY 22, 2010)

2010-05-23T09:50:00.000-07:00

From Shirley Asiedu-Addo, Assin Edubiase.

A GH¢170,000 Rural Enterprise Facility (RTF) has been inaugurated at Assin Edubiase in the Assin South district of the Central Region to support the training of the youth in employable skills.
The facility brings to 11 the total number of RTF under the Rural Enterprise Projects (REP) in the country.
The project, which was funded by the Government of Ghana, International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and the African Development Bank (AfDB), would serve the Assin North, Twifo-Heman -Lower Denkyira, Abura-Asebu-Kwamankese and Asikuma-Odoben Brakwa districts.
The Minister of Trade and Industry, Ms Hanna Tetteh, in her address at the ceremony said under the Technology Promotion and Support to Apprenticeship Training component of the REP, the government is establishing 18 RTFs country-wide to support the transfer of appropriate technology to farmers, agro-processors, metal-based artisans and micro and small entrepreneurs and the training of the unemployed youth as apprentices in viable trades.
Ms Tetteh said government was working further to provide additional resources to expand the RTFs and was spending GH¢1,700,000 for the extension and retooling of the RTFs.
She noted that if the growth and development of Ghana is the responsibility of all Ghanaians and if over 65 per cent of all Ghanaians lived in the rural areas, then the future of the country lies in the opportunities that are created for the rural dwellers that would help better their lives.
Ms Tetteh said the government was committed to building a strong and vibrant rural economy to address unemployment, poverty and urban migration; adding that so far, 66 districts were participating in the project with presence in all the districts.
She said the second phase of the REP, which began in 2003 had reached over 163,000 people including 89,000 women with various project services. Of the number reached, she said 86,500 had been trained in various community-based skills including soap making, grasscutter and snail rearing while others had been equipped with small business management, improved production processes and basic engineering skills.
She noted that as of March 31 2010, the REP had provided 3,810 graduate apprentices in 45 districts with start-up kits worth GH¢1,300,000.
She promised that the government would scale up the provision of the facilities to benefit all the districts.
Ms Tetteh appealled to the Assin South district to ensure that the RTF benefited as many people in the community as possible.
Mr Kwasi Attah-Antwi, Project Coordinator of the REP, commended the Assin South district assembly for the successful completion of the project and added that the facility would be provided with internet connectivity and other office equipment.
The Assin South District Chief Executive, Ms Sabina Appiah Kubi, expressed concern about the poverty levels in the area and said the assembly was committed to working with the people to change the fortunes of the area for the better, adding that the assembly contributed GH¢70,000 towards the project.
She called on the Ministry of Trade and Industry to assist the assembly to develop the facility into an industrial area to serve more people.
The Central Regional Minister, Ms Ama Benyiwa Doe, advised the community to take good care of the facility. Thirty newly-trained persons were presented with start-up kits to enable them start their trade.

PRESIDENT'S MOTORCADE NOT INVOLVED — POLICE (PAGE 3, MAY 22, 2010)

2010-05-23T09:05:00.000-07:00

The Central Regional Police Command has categorically denied that a despatch rider with the President’s Motorcade hit one Kofi Duodoo in March last year and neglected the victim.
The police said it was unfortunate that the incident, which rather involved an apprentice mechanic, had been associated with the Presidency in sections of the press.
The Central Regional Police Commander, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCOP) Stephen Andoh-Kwofie, addressed a press conference in Cape Coast yesterday to explain the incident.
He said police investigations indicated that the victim was hit on March 27, 2009 by one Robert Sam Allotey, who was riding an unlicensed motorcycle sent to his (Allotey's) master’s workshop for repairs.
He said while riding the motorcyle after the President’s visit to Cape Coast, Allotey veered off the road and crashed into a nearby kiosk where Duodoo was sitting.
DCOP Andoh-Kwofie said the victim was rushed to the Central Regional Hospital and was treated and discharged.
“How an apprentice mechanic using an unlicensed motorbike became part of a presidential motorcade beats the command’s imagination,” he said.
He said the victim, in his statement to the police and much later to the Regional Co-ordinating Council (RCC) for compensation, did not mention that the suspect was part of the presidential motorcade.
He said both the rider and the victim failed to report the incident to the police for reasons best known to them.
DCOP Andoh-Kwofie said a week later, however, Duodoo reported the incident to the Regional MTTU and was issued with a police medical form to attend hospital for endorsement by the medical officer.
“Till date he has not submitted the medical report,” he said, adding that it was even with great difficulty that the police could trace him to give them information on the suspect for investigations.
He said the suspect was arrested on April 28, 2009 and, after investigations, arraigned before the Cape Coast Circuit Court and later granted bail.
He said preliminary investigations revealed that the victim was already in an unhealthy condition before the accident, adding that the victim had not responded to several calls on him to provide his Out-patient Department (OPD) cards to enable the police to issue a report for insurance claims.
DCOP Andoh-Kwofie said the suspect was re-arrested on May 17, 2010 and charged with four counts of careless and inconsiderate riding, causing harm, using an unlicensed motorbike and failing to report an accident.
He said it was unfortunate that political interpretations were being given to the case and said political identity would not change the face and phases of police investigations in the country and urged the public not to use the media as the police.
He said if the victim failed to provide the necessary medical documents for the pursuit of his case, it would still be difficult for him to claim compensation, despite his resort to the press.

ALAN CAUTIONS NPP AGAINST WRONG CHOICE (PAGE 13, MAY 19, 2010)

2010-05-19T10:52:00.000-07:00

Mr Alan Kyerematen, an aspirant for the flagbearer position of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) for the 2012 election, has cautioned the party against choosing a wrong person as flag bearer.
He said that would spell doom and shatter the party’s chances of returning to power in 2012.
He has therefore appealed to the party’s electoral college and delegates to consider a candidate who can attract the youth and non members of the party to support the party’s quest for power in 2012.
He said it was no secret that the nations of the world were opting for youthful leaders with dynamism and energy to move their parties and their nations forward.
Mr Kyerematen was addressing members of the party at the Centre for National Culture in Cape Coast recently. The meeting was part of his tour of the Central Region to solicit for votes from the electoral college of the party and to sell himself to members of the party in general.
The large auditorium was filled to capacity with enthusiastic NPP supporters who interspersed his address with cheers.
He said if the NPP in opposition was to make any significant strides in the 2012 election, it would depend on the flag bearer it would choose.
“If the party makes the mistake of choosing the wrong person then we may have to stay in opposition much longer,” he said, adding that he was the one with a natural appeal, particularly to the youth, and the right choice for the party.
Mr Kyermaten said NPP lost the 2008 election partly because the party was not able to convincingly sell its message, noting that the laudable policies of the NPP government, including the National Health Insurance scheme and the School Feeding Programme should have been hammered.
He said his goal was to create jobs, reduce poverty and better the lives of the people of Ghana if he got the nod from the party and the people of Ghana and asked the delegates to give him the opportunity to serve.
He said he was the person who had kept faith with the polling station agents when nobody appreciated their work, even when the party was in government, and said he was ready to cater for the polling station agents.

LET'S RETAIN QUALITY TEACHERS (MIRROR, PAGE 35, MAY 15, 2010)

2010-05-18T10:02:00.000-07:00

From Shirley Asiedu-Addo, Cape Coast.

The Vice Chancellor of the University of Education, Winneba, Professor Akwasi Asabere- Ameyaw, says the country needs to attract and retain quality people who can unleash the hidden potentials of young Ghanaians in the teaching profession, for accelerated socio-economic advancement of the country.
He said the quality of teacher education is key to developing and preparing the youth to take up the responsibilities of changing the fortunes of the nation. It was, therefore, necessary for trainee teachers to be given incentives to attract the best brains into the profession, and that must be coupled with a significant improvement in the infrastructure in the colleges of education.
Prof. Asabere-Ameyaw was addressing the 3rd annual congregation of the OLA College of Education in Cape Coast recently.
It had the theme: “Quality Teacher Education in Ghana; Our Hope, Our Future.”
A total of 950 students graduated with Diplomas in Basic Education.
The Deputy Minister of Education, Dr J. S. Annan, in a speech read on his behalf, said through the Ministry of Education and the Ghana Education Service, the government was improving the general conditions of teachers through the payment of competitive salaries and allowances, provision of decent accommodation and enhanced retirement benefits, among others.
Dr Annan commended OLA for being the only female college of education to accept the challenge to train quality teachers in Science and Mathematics as a way of improving quality education in the basic schools.
He said it behoved teachers to exhibit the highest professional standards as a way of justifying the taxpayers’ money used for their training.
The Principal of the college, Reverend Sr Elizabeth Amoako-Arhen, expressed concern that a number of projects on the campus, including a 1,500-seater multi-purpose assembly hall, an eight-unit block of flats for staff accommodation, a library complex, science laboratory, lecture halls and a resource complex for professional development still remained uncompleted.
She, therefore, called for support to complete the projects.

AWARD CONTRACTS ON MERIT (PAGE 14, MAY 18, 2010)

2010-05-18T09:47:00.001-07:00

A former National Executive of the Building and Civil Engineering Contractors Association of Ghana, Mr Samuel Obeng, has called on the government to award contracts based on capabilities and abilities and not on the basis of one’s political affiliation.
He said awarding contracts to contractors based on political affiliation and not on capabilities were detrimental to national development efforts.
Mr Obeng was speaking at a meeting of the Central Regional branch of the association at Cape Coast recently.
He said it was unfortunate that many projects had been delayed or ill executed because they were awarded to incapable contractors.
“The government must see Ghanaian contractors and not NPP and NDC contractors,” he said, adding that it was necessary for the government to seek the interest of the nation in the award of contracts.

CHURCH MUST WORK TO UNITE NATION (PAGE 13, MAY 15, 2010)

2010-05-18T07:26:00.001-07:00

The Bishop of the Cape Coast Diocese of the Methodist Church, Rt Rev Nicholas Asane, has said that the church must work extra hard to unite the polarised nation for accelerated development.
He said a nation that was divided against itself would not stand, adding that divisions would only draw growth backwards.
“Unity is essential in every venture and we need unity in order to battle victoriously”. she said
He was speaking at the 49th Synod of the Cape Coast diocese last week. It was on the theme: “Oneness in Christ.”
He said it was important that the church itself worked to unite itself to bring the nation together to surmount the teething problems, particularly indiscipline.
Rt Rev Asane said the level of division in the church and state leaves much to be concerned about and added that the state and the church must collaborate in ensuring the people, particularly the youth, stayed united to move the nation forward.
Bishop Asane further stated that the leadership of the state and church bring effective leadership and accountability.
He said it was important for leaders to be examples for the youth.
He said the diocese would support Methodist schools in the diocese to promote quality education.
In her address, the Lay Chairman of the Church, Mrs Araba Atta-Sam, said it was necessary to bring all talents together to build the church.
She said this called for tolerance on the part the clergy and the laity adding that “we have to rely on each other for support.”
Mrs Atta-Sam also called for support from all churches for the Methodist Development Fund.
Nana Kwadzo Addae, Chief of Abura, called on the church to revive the communal support spirit to build the communities.

CENTRAL REGION CHIEFS DECLARE WAR ON TEENAGE PREGNANCY (PAGE 22, MAY 15, 2010)

2010-05-18T07:21:00.000-07:00

PARAMOUNT chiefs in the Central Region have declared war on teenage pregnancy in the region.
The chiefs have noted with concern the increasing rate of teenage pregnancy in the region and said that was unacceptable.
They have therefore vowed to ensure that the youth, particularly vulnerable young girls, climbed the educational ladder to the highest level possible.
At a meeting of the Central Regional House of Chiefs recently, teenage pregnancy was one of the principal issues that engaged the attention of the members.
The President of the house, Daasebre Kwebu Ewusi, said it was disturbing that the girls were not able to climb the educational ladder to an appreciable level due to early pregnancy and other sexual activities.
He said if the region was to develop at a reasonable rate, its entire human resource must be harnessed.
Daasebre Ewusi said in that regard, the house would embark on a campaign against teenage pregnancy beginning with the second-cycle schools to educate the girls on the need to abstain from sex.
“The situation is worrying and we would have to start from school to school to get the girls to understand the importance of education,” he stressed.
Daasebre Ewusi said it was obvious that when educated, girls could make meaningful contributions to the development of their communities and society, so the potential in girls must not be wasted because of early sex and pregnancy.
He said the chiefs would also intensify education in the communities on the need to ensure that girls were enrolled and retained in school.
Daasebre Ewusi appealed to the Regional Co-ordinating Council to support the setting up of a fund to give scholarship to girls to go through secondary education.
He advised the chiefs in the region to support the National Forestry Plantation Development being undertaken by the Forestry Commission to promote reforestation by releasing land for the project.
The president also called on the chiefs to encourage the youth in their communities to venture into farming.
He said that would discourage the youth from migrating to the cities in search of non-existent jobs.
The Paramount Chief of Effutu, Neenyi Ghartey, said the region’s proximity to the oil- rich region must be seen as an opportunity that must be exploited fully for the benefit of its people.

SYMPOSIUM ON MANAGING LARGE CLASSES OPENS AT UCC (PAGE 11, MAY 14, 2010)

2010-05-18T05:04:00.000-07:00

AN international symposium on managing large classes has opened at the University of Cape Coast (UCC) with a call on educational institutions to manage large classes effectively without compromising on the quality of education.
The symposium was held under the Ghana Collaboration Project-Higher Education for Development in Ghana project, a collaboration between the UCC and the University of Georgia in the United States of America (USA ) to ensure effective teaching and learning in higher institutions of learning.
The Vice Chancellor of the university, Professor Naana Jane Opoku Agyeman, who made the call, said it was obviously inevitable that educational institutions would have to grapple with large classes due to international policies and statements but said that this placed greater responsibility on the institutions and its stakeholders to work to ensure that quality was maintained.
She said this called for a conscious effort to learn more strategic ways to teach the large classes in a way that students were able to grasp what was taught for future use.
She noted that the introduction of policies to promote access to higher education and education for all had considerably increased the number of students, placing a lot of strain on theatre halls, libraries, hostels and other educational materials and facilities for education managers.
She said she was optimistic that the symposium would provide a platform for stakeholders to find solutions to the problems of large classes.
Prof. Kobina Yankson, the Director of the Quality Assurance Unit of UCC, in an address on Instructional Excellence, called for well-equipped facilities of research for students and staff to promote effective work in the universities.
He also called for the strengthening of instructional content with respect to its adequacy, accuracy, relevance and currency to make graduates more marketable.
Rev Prof. Emmanuel Addow-Obeng, the immediate past vice chancellor of the UCC, said the issue of large classes had become a permanent issue to be dealt with by higher institutions, as many lecturers and teachers had used the issue of large classes as an excuse for ineffective work.
Mr Nicholas Oppong from the University of Georgia said the collaboration would be promoted to enhance effective work in both universities.

PROF AMEYAW LAUDS TEACHERS' ROLE IN DEVELOPMENT (PAGE 11, MAY 7, 2010)

2010-05-07T06:03:00.000-07:00

The Vice Chancellor of the University of Education, Winneba, Prof. Akwasi Asabere-Ameyaw, has underscored the important role of teachers in the country’s accelerated socio-economic advancement.
He said for that reason, it was important to attract and retain quality people into the teaching profession to tap the hidden potentials of young Ghanaians.
Prof. Asabere-Ameyaw made the statement when he addressed the 3rd annual congregation of the OLA College of Education in Cape Coast.
It was on the theme “Quality Teacher Education in Ghana, Our Hope, Our Future.” A total of 950 students graduated with Diplomas in Basic Education programme.
He said the quality of teacher education was key to developing and preparing the youth to take up the responsibilities of changing the fortunes of the nation, adding, “The success of what we hope to achieve as a nation hinges on the quality of our teachers”.
He, therefore, stressed the need to provide trainee teachers with incentives, to attract the best brains into the profession, and said that must be coupled with a significant improvement in the infrastructure in the colleges of education.
“Teachers remuneration must be comparable to other professions and monetary rewards could be given to long-serving teachers,” he added.
Prof. Asabere-Ameyaw called for measures to streamline promotions in the teaching profession and also said strong emphasis must be placed on continuous skills upgrading and professional development to make teachers respond to the challenges of the profession.
He advised the graduants to serve as models for their pupils.
The Deputy Minister of Education, Dr J S Annan, in a speech read on his behalf, said the teacher is central to all education reform processes, and pointed out that teacher education should be of greater concern to policy makers, education providers and all stakeholders in education.
He said government, through the Ministry of Education and the Ghana Education Service, was committed to improving the general conditions of teachers through the payment of competitive salaries and allowances, provision of decent accommodation and enhanced retirement benefits among others.
The Principal of the College, Rev Sr Elizabeth Amoako-Arhen, expressed concern that, a number of projects under construction at the college, including a 1,500 seater multi-purpose assembly hall, an eight unit block of flats for staff accommodation, a library complex, science laboratory, lecture halls and a resource complex for professional development, still remained uncompleted and called for support to complete the projects.

TRADITIONAL COUNCIL, MCE ON COLLISION COURSE (PAGE 42, MAY 5, 2010)

2010-05-04T05:43:00.000-07:00

THE Edina Traditional Council has given the Komenda-Edina-Eguafo-Abrem Municipal Chief Executive (MCE) Rev. Mrs Veronica Essuman Nelson one week to appear before it and explain why she wrote to prevent the council from launching the annual Bakatue festival at the Benya Lagoon site.
The Omanhene of Edina Traditional Area, Nana Kodwo Conduah VI, said the council found it unfortunate and disturbing that the MCE had the audacity to stop the council from launching the festival.
He said as the Omanhene, the Chieftaincy Act gave him the power to hold a meeting wherever he deemed fit.
In a letter the MCE wrote to the Omanhene, she ordered him to relocate a meeting scheduled at the Benya Lagoon site to his palace for “security reasons”.
Nana Conduah said it was obvious that the behaviour of the MCE was an attempt to infiltrate the chieftaincy institution in the area with political undertones.
The launch of the Bakatue and the inauguration of the planning committee for the festival were both suspended.
There was heavy police presence around the palace where the Omanhene held his meeting, which he described as unwarranted.
He said there were moves by unknown persons to create a sense of insecurity in the area, stressing that such unhealthy development must be discouraged.
Nana Conduah said if the MCE failed to appear before the council to explain in detail the content of the letter to the council, the Traditional Council would not celebrate the festival this year, adding that all citizens of Elmina and its well wishers should hold the MCE responsible if the festival did not come on.
According to him, the MCE recently asked him on phone to ensure that Jojo Solomon was not allowed to attend the meeting to launch the festival.
Nana Conduah said he replied the MCE that he could not prevent Jojo from attending the ceremony scheduled at the lagoon site.
He said if the Bakatue was not celebrated, it would affect the socio-economic activities of the area and cautioned the MCE not to do anything to politicise the festival.
In his reaction, the Public Relations Officer (PRO) of the KEEA Municipal Assembly, Mr Edmund Houphouet said the MCE as the chairman of the Municipal Security Committee (MUSEC) has a responsibility to ensure that there was peace in the area.
He said it was rumoured that some fishermen of Elmina had planned to attack the Omanhene and his elders if Nana Conduah went ahead with the proposed meeting following some comments he (Nana Conduah) had made on a local FM station, Ahomka FM.
Mr Houphouet said it was to prevent violence that the MCE wrote to the traditional council to relocate the meeting to prevent any bloodshed.
The Bakatue is expected to be celebrated in the first week of July, this year.

ASSEMBLY TAKES MEASURES TO RAISE MORE REVENUE (PAGE 42, MAY 5, 2010)

2010-05-04T05:42:00.000-07:00

THE Komenda-Edina -Eguafo-Abrem (KEEA) Municipal Assembly has put in place pragmatic measures to increase its internally generated revenue to support its developmental activities.
The measures enabled the assembly to significantly increase revenue for the 2009 fiscal year.
The assembly managed to mobilise GH¢248,409, representing 125.79 per cent of the estimated revenue of GH¢197,475 for the year.
The Municipal Chief Executive (MCE), Mrs Veronica Essuman Nelson, who announced this at the assembly’s first ordinary meeting this year, said 2010 had also started on a good note.
She said the assembly was taking steps to relieve all commissioned revenue collectors of their duties and use the employed collectors for every collection to reduce waste in the system.
Mrs Essuman Nelson stated that it was not wise for a commissioned collector to collect GH¢25 to be paid GH¢30 at the end of the month.
She said it was certainly not the time for complacency, adding that the assembly would strive for better results this year.
Mrs Essuman Nelson said there were about 26 on-going projects in the municipality.
She mentioned some of the projects as a two-unit classroom block at Benyadze, a three-unit classroom block at Nkontrodo and the rehabilitation of the local Catholic Primary School block.
Other projects included a community health centre and a six-unit classroom block at Abeyee and a classroom block at Etsiapa.
Mrs Essuman Nelson gave the assurance that the assembly would ensure the completion of all uncompleted projects to improve conditions in the communities.
Mrs Essuman Nelson said the standard of education in the municipality was not the best.
She said for that reason, the assembly decided to organise a study camp for the Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) candidates at Eguafo during the last vacation.
She said the camp was so successful that, there were plans to extend it to other parts of the municipality.
The MCE said the municipal engineer of the assembly had been tasked to compile a report of schools under trees in the municipality with pictorial evidence for onward transmission to the appropriate quarters.
On health, Mrs Essuman Nelson said the assembly had taken delivery of two ambulances from Gouda to be given to the local health centre.
She said there were other plans by a philanthropist from Gouda to support the KEEA by re-designing and re-constructing drains and canals in Elmina.

TREAT SUSPECTS WITH RESPECT — AKROFI-ASIEDU (PAGE 42, MAY 4, 2010)

2010-05-04T05:40:00.000-07:00

A former Greater Accra Regional Police Commander, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCOP) Mr Douglas Akrofi -Asiedu, has condemned the inhuman treatment meted out to some suspects in police cells and urged the police to treat such people with respect.
He said suspects should be treated as innocent persons until proven guilty.
Mr Akrofi-Asiedu who spoke at a training course for 124 police personnel drawn from all the 10 regions at the Central Regional Police Training School at Winneba, said suspects were also human beings with rights so they must not be treated like animals.
The participants at the two-week course were taken through topics such as human rights, community-based policing, leadership skills, police procedure, democratic policing, investigation and communication skills.
Mr Akrofi-Asiedu called for improvement of the nations’ police cells to make them more habitable for suspects.
The immediate past Central Regional Police Commander, DCOP Akayire Kampara advised the police personnel to make concious efforts to redeem the image of the institution.
He urged participants to complement the Inspector General of Police’s efforts to raise the standards of the Ghana Police Service to internationally accepted standards by putting what they had been taught to practice.
The Officer Commanding the training school, Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Samuel Okanta, thanked the police administration for making the training possible.
He said he was very happy with the general performance of the service and expressed the hope that it would persist.

ICT PARK FOR CAPE COAST (PAGE 19, MAY 1, 2010)

2010-05-02T11:13:00.000-07:00

Work on a $75 million Information Communication Technology (ICT) Park is to begin in Cape Coast before the end of the year.
The Deputy Minister of Communications, Mr Gideon Quarcoo, who stated this at a stakeholders forum on the Park in Cape Coast, said when inaugurated, the Park would be the first to help open up the metropolis and its environs to the outside world.
The project, which would be implemented by the Youth Aid Foundation for Winners, based in Cape Coast, and its partners would be a public-private partnership. It is being supported by the Commonwealth Telecommunications Organisation and is expected to employ about 2000 persons.
He said prospective investors had already shown interest and are being encouraged to submit proposals for the project.
Mr Quarcoo said the park would create the necessary linkage between government, education, tourism and help service the emerging oil and gas industry on the Western corridor.
He said activities at the Park would include software development, webhosting, business outsourcing and IT Solutions.
He urged the Project Development Committee to fashion out appropriate strategic investment and marketing plan and attract potential investors to the Park.
He gave the assurance that the Ministry of Communications would ensure that the Technology Park would be adequately serviced by optic fibre and other advanced communications infrastrucuture and transform the Cape Coast area into a high-tech cyber city.
He said the metropolis would be supplied, in the meantime, with broadband service under the e-government infrastructure project by the middle of the year.
The Chief Executive Officer of the CTO, Dr Ekwow Spio-Garbrah, said it was important that local participation was promoted to ensure the sustainability of the project.
He said the CTO would work to support the project and help propel socio-economic activities in the area.
The Central Regional Minister, Mrs Ama Benyiwa Doe, said illiteracy, squalor and poverty rates were still high in the region but she was optimistic that the project would help reduce the level of unemployment in the metropolis and the region in general.
The Chief Executive Officer of the Cape Coast ICT Park Company Limited, Mr Christian Bansah, said the project would help the youth, in particular, to explore opportunities in and outside the country and called on interested investors to contact the company and invest in the project for it to benefit as many people as possible.

NEW SPONSORHIP PACKAGE FOR DOCTORS (PAGE 21, MAY 1, 2010)

2010-05-02T11:08:00.001-07:00

From Shirley Asiedu-Addo, Cape Coast.

The Ministry of Health has stated that soon, all doctors seeking sponsorship in specialist training will require service of at least three years rotation in a rural community.
Dr Benjamin Kunbour, Minister of Health, who stated this, said it was to help bridge the equity gap between deprived communities and urban communities in the areas of healthcare.
He was addressing some students of health education institutions in Cape Coast at the University of Cape Coast School of Medical Sciences (UCCSMS).
He said it was disturbing that health indicators from some deprived regions in the country negatively affected the overall national health indicators and gave a grim picture of the nation’s health status despite very significant achievements in the health sector.
He said though the doctor patient ratio in the country was not good, the real situation was worse than what was reported, saying it is time to use real access of the people to health facilities and doctors.
He pledged that the ministry would work to ensure that all health facilities and educational institutions are given the needed support and resources.
He said it was necessary in particular to support the health educational institutions to enable them to churn out products holistically developed to support national growth and development.
Prof. Harold Amonoo Kwofie, Dean of the UCCSMS, appealed for the expansion of facilities at the Central Regional Hospital to facilitate the use of the hospital as training place for students of the school.
He also called for adequate means of transport for the schools.
The minister, accompanied by the Central Regional Director of Health Services, Dr Samuel Kwashie, and other health officials later visited the Ankaful Mental hospital where he gave the assurance that the ministry would work to ensure that the Mental Health Bill was passed into law.
He also promised the hospital a generator.
On the outbreak of the H1N1 influenza, Dr Kunbour said though the vaccines for the influenza were expected in the country by the end of the month, it was necessary for all to keep proper hygienic practices to reduce the spread of the disease.
He commended the regional directorate of health for the swift manner with which it dealt with the outbreak of the H1N1.

ACRIMONY POSES SECURITY THREAT — QUANTSON (PAGE 13, APRIL 29, 2010)

2010-04-29T06:04:00.000-07:00

A Security Expert, Mr Kofi Quantson, has said the acrimonious nature of the country’s politics poses a security threat as the nation prepares to explore its oil resource.
He said the “politics of emotionalism” being practised by some politicians and their followers was a critical security threat which must not be overlooked.
He said the resentment which had led to a highly polarised citizenry with high expectations and demand from each faction was not good for the nation.
Mr Qantson was addressing the second Annual Colloquium on Oil and Gas organised by the University of Cape Coast. It was held on the theme “Oil and Gas: Ghana’s Preparedness.”
Mr Quantson said it was dangerous for the country if political parties and politicians were not tolerant, noting that democracy could not be practised without tolerance.
Mr Quantson added that other security challenges posed by the oil find included piracy, terrorism, blackmail, prostitution, corruption and other maritime crimes and suggested that serious efforts be made to improve security, reduce corruption and other criminal activities.
He also cautioned that if that was not done, criminals would have more benefits from the oil than the citizenry.
He also urged the managers of the resource to ensure transparency in the use of the oil revenue and also ensure that fuel was readily available for Ghanaians.
Mr Samuel Abotsi of the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Centre said maritime security was a critical factor which had been overlooked and added that it was necessary for land, air and sea surveillance to be intensified to discourage looting and stealing while Ghana utilised its oil.
He also touched on chieftaincy disputes and youth radicalism in areas of the find and said this had made it extremely important to manage expectations to ensure that highly expectant citizens did not use violence to demand their due.
The Vice Chancellor of the UCC, Professor Naana Jane Opoku Agyeman, in a speech read on her behalf, said the university was committed to addressing oil and gas issues to significantly improve the lives of Ghanaians.
She said she was optimistic that the government would effectively manage the oil revenues, diversify the economy, create more jobs to better the lives of the people and accelerate efforts of the nation to acquire a middle-income status.
She also said she was hopeful that more women would be involved in all aspects of the oil and gas industry.
The Dean of the School of Business at the UCC, Prof. Philip Bondzie-Simpson, said the colloquium would bring out positive suggestions on key areas of the oil and gas industry.

3 INJURED AS STUDENTS CLASH AT UCC (PAGE 3, APRIL 27, 2010)

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THREE students have been arrested by the police while three others were hospitalised following a violent clash between students of the Atlantic Hall (ATL) and the Casely Hayford (Casford) Hall of the University of Cape Coast (UCC) last Sunday.
The traditional rivalry between the two halls was said to have been ignited for the second time in two weeks when students of the two halls clashed at the old site of the university, resulting in the hostilities.
Several students sustained various degrees of injury, three of them seriously, while louvre blades of Adehye Hall and ATL were destroyed.
Meanwhile, the Executive Council of the UCC has set up a committee, chaired by Prof. D.D. Kuupole, to investigate the disturbances and report within two weeks.
Mr Kofi Dzontoh, the Public Relations Officer of the UCC, said the council would take the necessary action against all those found to have been involved in the disturbances.
According to sources the Daily Graphic spoke to, students of the Casely Hayford Hall had a tradition to embark on the ‘sharp brain’ procession through the university and always went to the solely female hall, Adehye Hall, which the students of Casely Hayford considered their counterpart hall during the procession.
On Sunday however, the procession turned violent between the two halls, with the students attacking one another.
Students of ATL were said to have armed themselves in anticipation of an attack, while their counterparts from Casely Hayford were also said to be armed with various harmful implements as they undertook the procession to the Adehye Hall, which is near ATL.
The sources said the tension between the two halls was heightened due to an incident that occurred between students of the two halls after the inter-hall athletics competition during which students of Casely Hayford were said to have prevented ATL students from going on procession through some parts of the new site where Casely Hayford Hall is situated.
The students from both halls were said to have engaged in a free for all, resulting in the destruction and injuries.
Meanwhile, the injured are said to be responding to treatment at the UCC Hospital.

NPP MUST NOT DEPART FROM ITS ROOT — FRIMPONG-MANSO (PAGE 21, APRIL 22, 2010)

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an aspirant to the NPP flagbearership, Professor Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng, has said the party needs a unifier as its flag bearer if it is to recapture power in the 2012 elections.
He noted that the current strife and factionalism in the party were dangerous for its growth and could be detrimental to its efforts at winning power in the 2012 elections.
“We, as a party, are straying from the foundations of our party and it is important that we come back to our roots, which recognise the rule of law,” he said.
Addressing members of the Tertiary Students Confederacy of the NPP (TESCON) in Cape Coast, Prof Frimpong-Boateng said it was necessary that the party selects a flag bearer who would be accepted by Ghanaians and enable the NPP to win the 2012 elections.
He said it was essential for the NPP to understand that the 2012 elections would not be an easy one, adding that the party should put its best foot forward and minimise the risk of losing the general election.
He said it was obvious that the development of the country had been slowed down by the National Democratic Congress (NDC), adding that “the country needs a gem to work to change its fortunes for the better”.
He said the youth in particular had not been treated fairly by the various governments and said it was important for the youth to use their voting power to choose a leadership which was capable to giving them the needed opportunities to better their lives.
“Every generation requires some sort of leaders and it is important for you, as the youth of the country, to identify the right leadership in your time and vote for it to make your lives better,” he said.
Prof Frimpong-Boateng said Ghanaians had not done well collectively after 53 years of independence, considering the fact that almost everything was imported into the country, while the country had all it took to make it.
He said the educational, health and agricultural sectors needed to be given greater boost to ensure that the country moved forward, adding that this required a new crop of leadership with the zeal to move the nation from a state of decadence to affluence of which all Ghanaians would be proud.
Prof Frimpong-Boateng said his track record as Chief Executive Officer of the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital and his work at the National Cardiothoracic Centre were ample evidence that he was a good material for the flagbearership and subsequently the presidency.
The Central Regional Secretary of the NPP, Mr Kwamena Duncan, urged all NPP members to close their ranks and work to win the 2012 elections.
He said the NDC had not done well in its governance and it was obvious that with a little effort on the part of the NPP it would be able to return to power in the next general election.