THE UPPER Manya Krobo District Assembly in the Eastern Region has started drafting bye-laws to punish parents who refuse to send their children to school.
The District Chief Executive (DCE), Mr Joseph Tetteh Angmor, made this known when he addressed the Apimso congregation of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana to mark its centenary celebrations.
The main occupation of the people of the Apimso area, who are mostly Presbyterians, is farming.
According to Mr Tetteh Angmor, true Christians should be concerned about the future well-being of their children.
He said if parents in the area would not live up to their responsibility of taking care of their children’s education, then the assembly would come up with punitive measures.
He therefore, advised parents, especially Christians to take keen interest in the education of their children so that they would grow to become responsible adults.
“The Assembly is in the process of drafting bye-laws which will apportion appropriate punishment for parents who will refuse to send their children to school but rather engage them on the farm and other menial jobs and I want all of you to see to the educational needs of your parents to avoid being punished,” he stated.
He said the government was concerned about the education of children, necessitating the introduction of initiatives such as the Capitation Grant and the School Feeding Programme to ensure that all parents, who could also access health care through the national health insurance scheme would be able to send their children to school.
The assembly, he also stated, had taken the initiative to sponsor students in the area in teacher and nursing training colleges. It has also undertaken other projects such as clinics at Samlesi and Ternguanya.
On sanitation, the DCE appealed to the people to regularly undertake clean-up exercises to rid the communities of filth.
Mr Angmor praised the Presbyterian Church of Ghana for its assistance to the poor, moulding the character of the people in the proverbial Presbyterian discipline and immense contribution to the improvement of education.
Monday, November 30, 2009
Friday, November 27, 2009
DO AWAY WITH NEGATIVE TENDENCIES (SPREAD, NOV 27)
THE FIRST Lady, Mrs Ernestina Naadu Mills, has called on Ghanaians to do away with all negative tendencies that account for the high mortality in the country.
Those tendencies, she said, included certain cultural practices such as the desire of couples to have children of a particular sex, which compelled them to have more children, at the risk of the women, and myths associated with family planning by a section of society, as a result of which many couples shied away from it.
The First Lady made the call at the national launch in Koforidua on Wednesday of a campaign for the acceleration of reduction in maternal and new-born deaths.
The gathering, which formed part of an African Union celebration of the event on the theme, “Ghana Cares: No woman should die while giving life”, was attended by the Minister of Health, Dr Benjamin Kunbuor; the Eastern Regional Minister, Mr Samuel Ofosu-Ampofo; his deputy, Baba Jamal; the Director of the Ghana Health Service (GHS), Dr Elias Sory; the Eastern Regional Director of Health Services, Dr Erasmus Agongo; a representative of the World Health Organisation, Dr Daniel Ketez, as well as a representative of the AU, Madam Biance Gawanas.
Also present were traditional rulers from almost all the five traditional areas in the region, including the Omanhene of New Juaben, Daasebre (Prof) Oti Boateng, who chaired the function.
According to Mrs Mills, although there had been educational campaigns to reduce maternal and new-born deaths in the country over the past 31 years, the death rate was still high.
The First Lady called for an intensive educational campaign on family planning, as well as negative cultural practices that led to maternal mortality.
She also called on the Ministry of Health to ensure that pregnant women in rural areas regularly had access to professional care, adding that the district assemblies must also collaborate with the GHS to operate the community-based health planning and services (CHIPS) in the rural areas for the benefit of expectant women.
Dr Kunbuor said globally, maternal deaths stood at 600,000 annually, while that of new-born babies was 3,000,000.
He said Ghana was taking steps in line with initiatives of the AU to reduce maternal and new-born deaths by creating public awareness of the issue, as well as providing the necessary support.
He called on medical doctors and midwives to do their best, in the face of workload challenges, to be as caring as the tenets of their profession demanded.
Dr Ketez said women should adopt family planning, while the expectant ones should be provided with emergency services to be helped to deliver by only qualified midwives and traditional birth attendants.
Those tendencies, she said, included certain cultural practices such as the desire of couples to have children of a particular sex, which compelled them to have more children, at the risk of the women, and myths associated with family planning by a section of society, as a result of which many couples shied away from it.
The First Lady made the call at the national launch in Koforidua on Wednesday of a campaign for the acceleration of reduction in maternal and new-born deaths.
The gathering, which formed part of an African Union celebration of the event on the theme, “Ghana Cares: No woman should die while giving life”, was attended by the Minister of Health, Dr Benjamin Kunbuor; the Eastern Regional Minister, Mr Samuel Ofosu-Ampofo; his deputy, Baba Jamal; the Director of the Ghana Health Service (GHS), Dr Elias Sory; the Eastern Regional Director of Health Services, Dr Erasmus Agongo; a representative of the World Health Organisation, Dr Daniel Ketez, as well as a representative of the AU, Madam Biance Gawanas.
Also present were traditional rulers from almost all the five traditional areas in the region, including the Omanhene of New Juaben, Daasebre (Prof) Oti Boateng, who chaired the function.
According to Mrs Mills, although there had been educational campaigns to reduce maternal and new-born deaths in the country over the past 31 years, the death rate was still high.
The First Lady called for an intensive educational campaign on family planning, as well as negative cultural practices that led to maternal mortality.
She also called on the Ministry of Health to ensure that pregnant women in rural areas regularly had access to professional care, adding that the district assemblies must also collaborate with the GHS to operate the community-based health planning and services (CHIPS) in the rural areas for the benefit of expectant women.
Dr Kunbuor said globally, maternal deaths stood at 600,000 annually, while that of new-born babies was 3,000,000.
He said Ghana was taking steps in line with initiatives of the AU to reduce maternal and new-born deaths by creating public awareness of the issue, as well as providing the necessary support.
He called on medical doctors and midwives to do their best, in the face of workload challenges, to be as caring as the tenets of their profession demanded.
Dr Ketez said women should adopt family planning, while the expectant ones should be provided with emergency services to be helped to deliver by only qualified midwives and traditional birth attendants.
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
AMPOFO COMMENDS SDA (NOV 25, PAGE 17)
THE EASTERN Regional Minister Mr Samuel Ofosu Ampofo, has commended the East Ghana Conference of the Seventh Adventist (SDA) Church for its immense contribution to the socio economic development of the region.
He said the church, apart from establishing schools from the basic level to a diploma awarding college of education to give quality education to the people in the region, had also set up a hospital to cater for their health needs.
Mr Ofosu Ampofo said these initiatives in addition to an elaborate programme on HIV/AIDS as well as an agricultural venture (large scale cultivation of citrus and mangoes) in some parts of the region had gone a long way to reducing poverty and improving the living condition of the people.
Mr Ofosu Ampofo made the commendation at a sod-cutting ceremony for the construction of an office complex for the East Ghana Conference at Koforidua at the weekend.
He said by these contributions, the East Ghana Conference had become a dependable development partner to the government and expressed the hope that it would continue to provide more of such initiatives for the total development of the region.
Mr Ofosu Ampofo who was happy about the construction of offices for its administration advised the leadership of the church to use the facility to train and teach the youth on morale discipline, education and patriotism.
That, he said would go a long way to directing the youth, most of whom had resorted to video games and pornographic materials.
In a sermon, the General Secretary of the S.D.A. Church in Washington, USA, Pastor (Dr) M.A. Bediako called on Ghanaians, especially Christians to support any government elected to administer the country.
Pastor Bediako who advised Christians not to allow bad experiences to influence their future said they must also live decently to avoid contracting HIV/AIDS.
Earlier, the president of the East Ghana Conference, Pastor A. Twumasi-Ankra traced the history of the church from its inception in the region at Osiem in 1931 and said with a humble beginning, it now has a membership of 31,150.
He said apart from catering for the spiritual needs of the members, it had also established schools from the kindergarten to the tertiary level, the S.D.A. College of Education at Asokore, a hospital at Koforidua as well as an agricultural venture in some parts of the region.
The Omanhene of New Juaben, Daasebre (Prof) Oti Boaten who presided over the function dwelt extensively on HIV/AIDS contraction, prevention and stigmatization and called on the people in the area to live decently.
He said the church, apart from establishing schools from the basic level to a diploma awarding college of education to give quality education to the people in the region, had also set up a hospital to cater for their health needs.
Mr Ofosu Ampofo said these initiatives in addition to an elaborate programme on HIV/AIDS as well as an agricultural venture (large scale cultivation of citrus and mangoes) in some parts of the region had gone a long way to reducing poverty and improving the living condition of the people.
Mr Ofosu Ampofo made the commendation at a sod-cutting ceremony for the construction of an office complex for the East Ghana Conference at Koforidua at the weekend.
He said by these contributions, the East Ghana Conference had become a dependable development partner to the government and expressed the hope that it would continue to provide more of such initiatives for the total development of the region.
Mr Ofosu Ampofo who was happy about the construction of offices for its administration advised the leadership of the church to use the facility to train and teach the youth on morale discipline, education and patriotism.
That, he said would go a long way to directing the youth, most of whom had resorted to video games and pornographic materials.
In a sermon, the General Secretary of the S.D.A. Church in Washington, USA, Pastor (Dr) M.A. Bediako called on Ghanaians, especially Christians to support any government elected to administer the country.
Pastor Bediako who advised Christians not to allow bad experiences to influence their future said they must also live decently to avoid contracting HIV/AIDS.
Earlier, the president of the East Ghana Conference, Pastor A. Twumasi-Ankra traced the history of the church from its inception in the region at Osiem in 1931 and said with a humble beginning, it now has a membership of 31,150.
He said apart from catering for the spiritual needs of the members, it had also established schools from the kindergarten to the tertiary level, the S.D.A. College of Education at Asokore, a hospital at Koforidua as well as an agricultural venture in some parts of the region.
The Omanhene of New Juaben, Daasebre (Prof) Oti Boaten who presided over the function dwelt extensively on HIV/AIDS contraction, prevention and stigmatization and called on the people in the area to live decently.
NAGRAT AT IT AGAIN...Calls for nationwide strike from Monday (LEAD STORY, NOV 25)
Story: A. Kofoya-Tetteh, Koforidua
GRADUATE teachers in the country, under the umbrella of the National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT), are up in arms again, ready to lay down their tools from Monday, November 30 as a result of what they claim is a lowering of their conditions of service.
The decision to embark on the industrial action was taken at a meeting of the association in Sunyani at the weekend, following which the National Council directed its members to lay down their tools with effect from Monday. They have also been directed not to participate in any official duties from the date of the strike.
The teachers’ action comes one week ahead of the first-term examinations of most senior high schools in the country.
The President of NAGRAT, Mr Kwami Alorvi, told the Daily Graphic that the association had given notice of its intended strike to the Ministry of Education and the Ghana Education Service (GES) after several unsuccessful efforts to get issues related to teachers’ conditions of service resolved.
At the core of their grievances is a reduction in their responsibility and car maintenance allowances from GH¢1 and GH¢40, respectively, to 30Gp and GH¢7, respectively.
A statement signed by the Eastern Regional Vice-Chairman of NAGRAT, Mr Kwaku Djan-Asante, and circulated to members in the region, said the government, instead of adjusting upward the responsibility and car maintenance allowances, had rather reduced them.
It said apart from that, NAGRAT members who were due for interview for promotion had not been called, despite assurances by the Minister of Education to that effect.
According to the statement, the Director-General of the GES had also not directed headmasters to make invigilation at the WASSCE optional, thereby paving the way for headmasters to coerce teachers to invigilate, with its attendant risks and meagre allowances.
It recalled that in 2006 NAGRAT members embarked on an industrial action over WASSCE invigilation and allowances but the then government could not address the problem.
The national consensus was arrived at after a tour of the regions, during which NAGRAT executives held meetings with members to thoroughly discuss their conditions of service.
An ultimatum given by NAGRAT to the government for discussions on its conditions of service expired on October 30, 2009 but there was no response.
Mr Kwami Alorvi, who led the discussions, said the tour was to enable the NAGRAT leadership to interact with members of the association for their views on those issues.
Graduate teachers have, for the past three years, been in negotiations with the Ministry of Education over emoluments and other packages.
Discussions were expected to have been concluded last month but the critical issues, including emoluments, delays in the payment of allowances of members and cuts in allowances, remain unresolved.
Earlier, Mr Alorvi had told the Daily Graphic that a house master, for instance, was formerly paid a monthly allowance of GH¢1; senior house master, GH¢1.50, and headmaster between GH¢3 and GH¢5, but the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning had recently reduced that to 30Gp, 70Gp and GH¢1, respectively.
The promotion of members of NAGRAT had also stalled for some years now, he noted, noting that teachers were being denied their rights to their salary entitlements and benefits, as promotions were tied to them.
He said the excuse given by the authorities was that there were no funds to conduct the interviews for the promotions.
He said interactions were currently ongoing with the rank and file of the association, adding that NAGRAT would come up with its next line of action regarding those issues.
GRADUATE teachers in the country, under the umbrella of the National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT), are up in arms again, ready to lay down their tools from Monday, November 30 as a result of what they claim is a lowering of their conditions of service.
The decision to embark on the industrial action was taken at a meeting of the association in Sunyani at the weekend, following which the National Council directed its members to lay down their tools with effect from Monday. They have also been directed not to participate in any official duties from the date of the strike.
The teachers’ action comes one week ahead of the first-term examinations of most senior high schools in the country.
The President of NAGRAT, Mr Kwami Alorvi, told the Daily Graphic that the association had given notice of its intended strike to the Ministry of Education and the Ghana Education Service (GES) after several unsuccessful efforts to get issues related to teachers’ conditions of service resolved.
At the core of their grievances is a reduction in their responsibility and car maintenance allowances from GH¢1 and GH¢40, respectively, to 30Gp and GH¢7, respectively.
A statement signed by the Eastern Regional Vice-Chairman of NAGRAT, Mr Kwaku Djan-Asante, and circulated to members in the region, said the government, instead of adjusting upward the responsibility and car maintenance allowances, had rather reduced them.
It said apart from that, NAGRAT members who were due for interview for promotion had not been called, despite assurances by the Minister of Education to that effect.
According to the statement, the Director-General of the GES had also not directed headmasters to make invigilation at the WASSCE optional, thereby paving the way for headmasters to coerce teachers to invigilate, with its attendant risks and meagre allowances.
It recalled that in 2006 NAGRAT members embarked on an industrial action over WASSCE invigilation and allowances but the then government could not address the problem.
The national consensus was arrived at after a tour of the regions, during which NAGRAT executives held meetings with members to thoroughly discuss their conditions of service.
An ultimatum given by NAGRAT to the government for discussions on its conditions of service expired on October 30, 2009 but there was no response.
Mr Kwami Alorvi, who led the discussions, said the tour was to enable the NAGRAT leadership to interact with members of the association for their views on those issues.
Graduate teachers have, for the past three years, been in negotiations with the Ministry of Education over emoluments and other packages.
Discussions were expected to have been concluded last month but the critical issues, including emoluments, delays in the payment of allowances of members and cuts in allowances, remain unresolved.
Earlier, Mr Alorvi had told the Daily Graphic that a house master, for instance, was formerly paid a monthly allowance of GH¢1; senior house master, GH¢1.50, and headmaster between GH¢3 and GH¢5, but the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning had recently reduced that to 30Gp, 70Gp and GH¢1, respectively.
The promotion of members of NAGRAT had also stalled for some years now, he noted, noting that teachers were being denied their rights to their salary entitlements and benefits, as promotions were tied to them.
He said the excuse given by the authorities was that there were no funds to conduct the interviews for the promotions.
He said interactions were currently ongoing with the rank and file of the association, adding that NAGRAT would come up with its next line of action regarding those issues.
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
ASSEMBLY MEMBERS SHOULD BE PAID WELL — PARTICIPANTS (PAGE 17, NOV 24)
PARTICIPANTS at a consultative forum on local governance have advocated a drastic reduction in the number of assembly members, who they said should be well paid.
Currently, there are 5,000 assembly members representing communities in the 170 metropolitan, municipal and district assemblies in the country who are only given between GH¢150 and GH¢500 based, on the financial strength of the assemblies, at the end of a four-year term.
The payment, which according to most of the participants, should be on a monthly basis, would serve as a morale booster for the assembly members to serve the communities well.
The forum, which was organised at Koforidua, the Eastern Regional Capital by the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development with financial support from GTZ of Germany, brought together traditional rulers, opinion leaders, as well as former and present district chief executives in the region.
According to the participants, the large number of the assembly members, makes it impossible for them to be adequately resourced financially.
They argued that since assembly members were needed to assist in the development of the communities, the best thing to do was to merge some of the electoral areas and reduce the number of the assembly members so that one well-resourced assembly member would take care of a large area which is currently under three or more assembly members.
They also suggested a review of the unit committee concept which, according to them, was not functioning.
Setting the ball rolling, the immediate past Eastern Regional Representative on the Council of State, Mr Fred Asante, said the electoral areas should be merged and the number of assembly members reduced so that it would be possible to give them monthly salaries and end-of-service benefits.
Mr Asante, who is also an assembly member in Atiwa, supported his argument with the explanation that assembly members spent so much time at the expense of their businesses and that if they were adequately resourced, they would offer their best to help develop the communities.
His argument was supported by most of the participants.
With regard to the position of metropolitan, municipal and district chief executives (MMDCEs), all the speakers except one were of the view that the present process whereby the President appointed them should be continued.
They explained that there was the possibility of elected MMDCEs who belonged to different political parties other than that of the ruling one sabotaging government programmes.
A former Presiding Member of the East Akyem District Assembly and a strong advocate for the appointment of MMDCEs, Mr Kofi Ampofo, called for a simple majority of the number of votes to be secured by a person nominated by the President when assembly members cast the ballot on him.
He argued that the present system in which a prospective MMDCE should obtain two-thirds of the votes was not ideal since in certain instances, voting had to be conducted two or more times lasting several weeks during which affected political entities could not steer the affairs of such areas.
On the involvement of chiefs in local government, the participants were of the view that the chiefs should take active part in it and that any project or programme to be undertaken in their areas must be known to them and they must give their approval before the execution so that what the people actually needed would be provided.
According to them, in the past many projects such as markets were sited at wrong places and people did not patronise them just because traditional rulers were not consulted to make inputs.
Earlier, the Eastern Regional Minister, Mr Samuel Ofosu Ampofo, expressed his displeasure about the creation of new districts by the previous government without the necessary facilities being provided and mentioned the Upper Manya Krobo and Atiwa districts as examples.
He said the creation of new districts was a good thing but the necessary facilities and seed money must be made available before their creation.
Mr Ampofo also called for a well-resourced Regional Coordinating Council to enable it to properly supervise the metropolises, municipalities and districts.
The Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, Mr Joseph Yieleh Chireh, briefed the gathering on the local government concept since its inception 20 years ago and said it had become necessary to review and improve it.
He said the stakeholder meeting was also to tackle grey areas of the concept which could not be implemented due to constitutional problems and gave the assurance that the input made at the meeting would be presented to experts to see how best they could be handled.
Currently, there are 5,000 assembly members representing communities in the 170 metropolitan, municipal and district assemblies in the country who are only given between GH¢150 and GH¢500 based, on the financial strength of the assemblies, at the end of a four-year term.
The payment, which according to most of the participants, should be on a monthly basis, would serve as a morale booster for the assembly members to serve the communities well.
The forum, which was organised at Koforidua, the Eastern Regional Capital by the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development with financial support from GTZ of Germany, brought together traditional rulers, opinion leaders, as well as former and present district chief executives in the region.
According to the participants, the large number of the assembly members, makes it impossible for them to be adequately resourced financially.
They argued that since assembly members were needed to assist in the development of the communities, the best thing to do was to merge some of the electoral areas and reduce the number of the assembly members so that one well-resourced assembly member would take care of a large area which is currently under three or more assembly members.
They also suggested a review of the unit committee concept which, according to them, was not functioning.
Setting the ball rolling, the immediate past Eastern Regional Representative on the Council of State, Mr Fred Asante, said the electoral areas should be merged and the number of assembly members reduced so that it would be possible to give them monthly salaries and end-of-service benefits.
Mr Asante, who is also an assembly member in Atiwa, supported his argument with the explanation that assembly members spent so much time at the expense of their businesses and that if they were adequately resourced, they would offer their best to help develop the communities.
His argument was supported by most of the participants.
With regard to the position of metropolitan, municipal and district chief executives (MMDCEs), all the speakers except one were of the view that the present process whereby the President appointed them should be continued.
They explained that there was the possibility of elected MMDCEs who belonged to different political parties other than that of the ruling one sabotaging government programmes.
A former Presiding Member of the East Akyem District Assembly and a strong advocate for the appointment of MMDCEs, Mr Kofi Ampofo, called for a simple majority of the number of votes to be secured by a person nominated by the President when assembly members cast the ballot on him.
He argued that the present system in which a prospective MMDCE should obtain two-thirds of the votes was not ideal since in certain instances, voting had to be conducted two or more times lasting several weeks during which affected political entities could not steer the affairs of such areas.
On the involvement of chiefs in local government, the participants were of the view that the chiefs should take active part in it and that any project or programme to be undertaken in their areas must be known to them and they must give their approval before the execution so that what the people actually needed would be provided.
According to them, in the past many projects such as markets were sited at wrong places and people did not patronise them just because traditional rulers were not consulted to make inputs.
Earlier, the Eastern Regional Minister, Mr Samuel Ofosu Ampofo, expressed his displeasure about the creation of new districts by the previous government without the necessary facilities being provided and mentioned the Upper Manya Krobo and Atiwa districts as examples.
He said the creation of new districts was a good thing but the necessary facilities and seed money must be made available before their creation.
Mr Ampofo also called for a well-resourced Regional Coordinating Council to enable it to properly supervise the metropolises, municipalities and districts.
The Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, Mr Joseph Yieleh Chireh, briefed the gathering on the local government concept since its inception 20 years ago and said it had become necessary to review and improve it.
He said the stakeholder meeting was also to tackle grey areas of the concept which could not be implemented due to constitutional problems and gave the assurance that the input made at the meeting would be presented to experts to see how best they could be handled.
Monday, November 23, 2009
NEW JUABEN SOUTH NDC ELECTS OFFICERS
THE New Juaben South Constituency of the National Democratic Congress has elected its executive.
In the race for the chairmanship, Mr Andrew Asabere Awuku secured 129 votes to beat the only challenger, Mr Peter Kwadwo Frempong, who had 82 votes while Mr Salifu Iddrisu was elected the Vice-Chairman with 131 votes to beat Mr Baba Tanko who had 63 votes.
For the position of Secretary, Mr E. Forster-Tetteh had 122 votes to beat his sole challenger, Mr Isaac Adongo, who secured 87 votes.
The other elected executives were Messrs Benjamin Azamatey, Deputy Organiser; Victor Stanley Bakah, Treasurer; Baafour K. Asianoa, Deputy Treasurer; Sahadatu Ibrahim, Propaganda Secretary; Gabriel Ahadzi Dela, Deputy Propaganda Secretary; Mr Michael Osei, women organizer, Madam Janet Tagoe, Deputy Women Organiser; Madam Jefferies Amma Rejoice, Youth Organizer; Mr Gbomittan Y. Dodzie and deputy youth organiser Prince Mohammed Adams.
The rest who took executive positions were Messrs Kennedy Joseph Wolanyo, Ofori Ntikora, John Kodowo Aflatornu, Simon Resey Axolu, Elorm D. Kportufe, Edward K. Frempong, Madam Veronica S. Yakubu and Mrs Elizabeth Dwomoh.
The Eastern Regional Secretary of the party, Mr Anthony Gyampoh, who swore them into office after Miss Lydia Agyiri, the New Juaben Municipal Electoral Officer of the Electoral Commission had declared the results, called for support for the new executive to enable them do what was expected to win the seat in the 2012 elections.
In the race for the chairmanship, Mr Andrew Asabere Awuku secured 129 votes to beat the only challenger, Mr Peter Kwadwo Frempong, who had 82 votes while Mr Salifu Iddrisu was elected the Vice-Chairman with 131 votes to beat Mr Baba Tanko who had 63 votes.
For the position of Secretary, Mr E. Forster-Tetteh had 122 votes to beat his sole challenger, Mr Isaac Adongo, who secured 87 votes.
The other elected executives were Messrs Benjamin Azamatey, Deputy Organiser; Victor Stanley Bakah, Treasurer; Baafour K. Asianoa, Deputy Treasurer; Sahadatu Ibrahim, Propaganda Secretary; Gabriel Ahadzi Dela, Deputy Propaganda Secretary; Mr Michael Osei, women organizer, Madam Janet Tagoe, Deputy Women Organiser; Madam Jefferies Amma Rejoice, Youth Organizer; Mr Gbomittan Y. Dodzie and deputy youth organiser Prince Mohammed Adams.
The rest who took executive positions were Messrs Kennedy Joseph Wolanyo, Ofori Ntikora, John Kodowo Aflatornu, Simon Resey Axolu, Elorm D. Kportufe, Edward K. Frempong, Madam Veronica S. Yakubu and Mrs Elizabeth Dwomoh.
The Eastern Regional Secretary of the party, Mr Anthony Gyampoh, who swore them into office after Miss Lydia Agyiri, the New Juaben Municipal Electoral Officer of the Electoral Commission had declared the results, called for support for the new executive to enable them do what was expected to win the seat in the 2012 elections.
GOVT WILL FLUSH OUT GALAMSEY OPERATORS (1B, NOV 23)
STORY: A Kofoya-Tetteh, Kyebi
PRESIDENT John Evans Atta Mills has declared the government’s determination to flush out illegal gold miners (galamsey operators) from mining communities in the country.
He said the activities of the galamsey operators, who used dangerous chemicals such as cyanide, had, for some time now, polluted sources of drinking water, especially the Birim River in the Akyem Abuakwa area, and caused incalculable damage to the environment.
The President gave the assurance when he addressed a colourful durbar of the chiefs and people of Akyem Abuakwa to mark the 10th anniversary of the installation of the Okyenhene, Osagyefuo Amoatia Ofori Panin, at Kyebi last Saturday.
The event was also graced by dignitaries such as the Eastern Regional Minister, Mr Samuel Ofosu-Ampofo; the flag bearer of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) in the 2000 elections, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo; some ministers of state, Members of Parliament, members of the Diplomatic community, district chief executives, the Wurunaba, Naa Prof John S. Nabila, who is also the President of the National House of Chiefs, and other traditional rulers from different parts of the country.
According to President Mills, he had heard a lot about steps being taken by the Okyenhene to safeguard the environment, especially flushing out illegal miners whose activities had polluted sources of drinking water in the Akyem Abuakwa Traditional Area, adding that his administration would go all out to support the Okyenhene to flush out the illegal miners.
That, according to the President, would make it possible for the people in the area to have good drinking water.
He, therefore, called on the “galamsey” operators to move out or regularise their activities so that they could go about their duties in such a way that would not pollute sources of drinking water in the area.
“I am aware that the Okyenhene and the Eastern Regional Minister had already taken steps to stop the illegal miners from polluting the water bodies and I am giving my full support because the illegal miners are poisoning the water and also destroying the environment,” President Mills stated.
He praised the Okyenhene for his numerous initiatives that would not benefit only Okyeman but the country as a whole.
The Okyenhene enumerated a number of projects and programmes that he had undertaken or were being executed to alleviate poverty and improve the lot of not only Akyems but all Ghanaians.
These included the establishment of a university at Bunso, the University College of Agriculture and Environmental Studies, that would start admitting students next January; the setting up of a foundation to check environmental degradation; a crusade against HIV/AIDS, as well as making parents to live up to their responsibility of educating their children.
“My utmost concern is about the environment and the need for parents to live up to their responsibility in educating their children because I do not understand why parents refuse to cater for the educational needs of their children, although they have the means,” Osagyefuo Ofori Panin said.
The Okyenhene, who called on the government to continue to provide good schools in the rural areas and improve the conditions of service of teachers so that they would put up their best in the classrooms, called for punitive measures to be instituted against parents who neglected their children’s education.
With regard to disputes associated with chieftaincy, family and land in the area, he said measures were being put in place to resolve them and expressed the hope that those disputes would be reduced to the barest minimum in the next decade.
Osagyefuo Ofori Panin expressed his appreciation to his wife and all the divisional and sub-chiefs of Akyem Abuakwa for supporting him over the past 10 years and called on the chiefs to unite to advance the cause of Okyeman and Ghana in general.
PRESIDENT John Evans Atta Mills has declared the government’s determination to flush out illegal gold miners (galamsey operators) from mining communities in the country.
He said the activities of the galamsey operators, who used dangerous chemicals such as cyanide, had, for some time now, polluted sources of drinking water, especially the Birim River in the Akyem Abuakwa area, and caused incalculable damage to the environment.
The President gave the assurance when he addressed a colourful durbar of the chiefs and people of Akyem Abuakwa to mark the 10th anniversary of the installation of the Okyenhene, Osagyefuo Amoatia Ofori Panin, at Kyebi last Saturday.
The event was also graced by dignitaries such as the Eastern Regional Minister, Mr Samuel Ofosu-Ampofo; the flag bearer of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) in the 2000 elections, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo; some ministers of state, Members of Parliament, members of the Diplomatic community, district chief executives, the Wurunaba, Naa Prof John S. Nabila, who is also the President of the National House of Chiefs, and other traditional rulers from different parts of the country.
According to President Mills, he had heard a lot about steps being taken by the Okyenhene to safeguard the environment, especially flushing out illegal miners whose activities had polluted sources of drinking water in the Akyem Abuakwa Traditional Area, adding that his administration would go all out to support the Okyenhene to flush out the illegal miners.
That, according to the President, would make it possible for the people in the area to have good drinking water.
He, therefore, called on the “galamsey” operators to move out or regularise their activities so that they could go about their duties in such a way that would not pollute sources of drinking water in the area.
“I am aware that the Okyenhene and the Eastern Regional Minister had already taken steps to stop the illegal miners from polluting the water bodies and I am giving my full support because the illegal miners are poisoning the water and also destroying the environment,” President Mills stated.
He praised the Okyenhene for his numerous initiatives that would not benefit only Okyeman but the country as a whole.
The Okyenhene enumerated a number of projects and programmes that he had undertaken or were being executed to alleviate poverty and improve the lot of not only Akyems but all Ghanaians.
These included the establishment of a university at Bunso, the University College of Agriculture and Environmental Studies, that would start admitting students next January; the setting up of a foundation to check environmental degradation; a crusade against HIV/AIDS, as well as making parents to live up to their responsibility of educating their children.
“My utmost concern is about the environment and the need for parents to live up to their responsibility in educating their children because I do not understand why parents refuse to cater for the educational needs of their children, although they have the means,” Osagyefuo Ofori Panin said.
The Okyenhene, who called on the government to continue to provide good schools in the rural areas and improve the conditions of service of teachers so that they would put up their best in the classrooms, called for punitive measures to be instituted against parents who neglected their children’s education.
With regard to disputes associated with chieftaincy, family and land in the area, he said measures were being put in place to resolve them and expressed the hope that those disputes would be reduced to the barest minimum in the next decade.
Osagyefuo Ofori Panin expressed his appreciation to his wife and all the divisional and sub-chiefs of Akyem Abuakwa for supporting him over the past 10 years and called on the chiefs to unite to advance the cause of Okyeman and Ghana in general.
Friday, November 20, 2009
MIXED REACTION TO APPOINTMENT OF MMDCES (PAGE 17, NOV 20)
WHETHER to appoint or elect metropolitan, municipal and district chief executives (MMDCEs) dominated a round-table inter-party discussion on local government at Akosombo.
While some of the participants did not see anything wrong with the President appointing MMDCEs since that would enable them to properly execute government programmes as representatives of the President, others were of the view that such political heads should be elected to make them accountable to the people who would either vote for their retention or otherwise.
After deliberating on the matter for more than half an hour, it was agreed that three or more persons should be nominated by the President for the people to decide their fate through the ballot box.
The round-table discussion with the theme “Twenty years of Decentralisation and the Assembly System of Local Governance in Ghana” was organised by the Institute of Local Government with financial support from GTZ of Germany.
It was to get the various political parties, academia and other stakeholders to brainstorm on various aspects of local government with the aim of strengthening it to ensure good governance.
In attendance were representatives of the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC), the main opposition group, the New Patriotic Party (NPP), the Peoples’ National Convention (PNC), the United Renaissance Party (URP), the Convention People’s Party (CPP) and the Democratic People’s Party (DPP).
Setting the ball rolling, the General Secretary of the PNC, Mr Bernard Monah, said it was wrong for the President to appoint MMDCEs since they would only be accountable to the President.
He argued that in such a situation, the MMDCEs would sing the swan song of the President to maintain their positions and disregard the welfare of the people they were expected to serve through the execution of good programmes and projects.
His argument was supported by the General Secretary of the CPP, Mr Kobina Greenstreet, who said MMDCEs usually became tin gods who sang the praises of the President when they were appointed by him and that if local government should have its real meaning, then such political heads must be elected to be accountable to the people who would either retain or vote them out at the end of their term, based on their performance.
The National Organiser of the NDC, Mr Samuel Ofosu Ampofo, who represented the party, came out strongly in favour of the President appointing MMDCEs with the explanation that such political heads who were not members of the ruling party could decide to either sabotage the government or threaten the security of the President.
“How can you have somebody from the opposing camp of the President to represent him at the metropolitan, municipal and district levels without that person sabotaging the government or engaging in activities that would not be in the interest of the President?” he asked.
A former Minister of State and member of the NDC, Mr Kwamena Ahwoi, who also believed that for now MMDCEs should be appointed, reminded the gathering about the confusion which nearly created a constitutional crisis about 15 years ago when the late Vice-President Arkaah from a different political party could not see eye to eye with the then government headed by President Rawlings.
“Let us ponder over this issue dispassionately so that we do not recommend anything that would be inimical to the state or the communities that would be headed by the MMDCEs”, Mr Ahwoi stated.
Another representative of the NDC, Mr Elvis Afriyie Ankrah, supported the idea of appointing MMDCEs and said although it had been enshrined in the NPP manifesto that such political heads should be elected, that party could not do so during its eight years of administration because that party realised that it was not feasible.
When it came to their turns, both Dr Kwasi Jonah of the Political Science Department of the University of Ghana, Legon and Mr Kwasi Afriyie-Badu of Kab Governance Consult said the ideal thing to do was to elect MMDCEs but judging by the cost involved and other problems inherent in Ghana’s electoral system, adding another group of prospective political heads for 170 metropolises, municipalities and districts to the process now would not be easy.
They, therefore, called for a gradual process during which all the bottlenecks associated with the electoral system in Ghana, especially that of lack of funds would be removed after which MMDCEs should be elected.
A representative of the NPP, Mr Jonathan Hagan, suggested that the regional ministers and MMDCEs should be taken away from the security system if MMDCEs were to be elected so that they would not pose any threat to the government or the President, should they come from different political parties or areas that did not support the ruling party.
After a lengthy debate on the issue, it was agreed that three or more persons should be nominated by the President to be voted for the MMDCE positions.
With regard to other aspects of the local government system, a past Municipal Chief Executive, Mr Kwabena Sintim Aboagye, who was also one of the representatives of the NPP at the forum, was not happy about moneys given to members of parliament for the development of communities in the constituencies; a practice that MMDCEs could not question, and called for a re-examination of the issue.
Other issues that were deliberated on were the creation of new districts, the involvement of chiefs in the local government system, the appointment of deputy MMDCEs and how certain programmes such as HIV/AIDS could be tackled with funds either from the local level or from the central government.
The Director of the Institute of Local Government Studies and moderator of the programme, Dr Esther Ofei-Aboagye, expressed satisfaction about the friendly nature of the debates, which according to her, would go a long way in improving the local government system for the benefit of the communities.
While some of the participants did not see anything wrong with the President appointing MMDCEs since that would enable them to properly execute government programmes as representatives of the President, others were of the view that such political heads should be elected to make them accountable to the people who would either vote for their retention or otherwise.
After deliberating on the matter for more than half an hour, it was agreed that three or more persons should be nominated by the President for the people to decide their fate through the ballot box.
The round-table discussion with the theme “Twenty years of Decentralisation and the Assembly System of Local Governance in Ghana” was organised by the Institute of Local Government with financial support from GTZ of Germany.
It was to get the various political parties, academia and other stakeholders to brainstorm on various aspects of local government with the aim of strengthening it to ensure good governance.
In attendance were representatives of the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC), the main opposition group, the New Patriotic Party (NPP), the Peoples’ National Convention (PNC), the United Renaissance Party (URP), the Convention People’s Party (CPP) and the Democratic People’s Party (DPP).
Setting the ball rolling, the General Secretary of the PNC, Mr Bernard Monah, said it was wrong for the President to appoint MMDCEs since they would only be accountable to the President.
He argued that in such a situation, the MMDCEs would sing the swan song of the President to maintain their positions and disregard the welfare of the people they were expected to serve through the execution of good programmes and projects.
His argument was supported by the General Secretary of the CPP, Mr Kobina Greenstreet, who said MMDCEs usually became tin gods who sang the praises of the President when they were appointed by him and that if local government should have its real meaning, then such political heads must be elected to be accountable to the people who would either retain or vote them out at the end of their term, based on their performance.
The National Organiser of the NDC, Mr Samuel Ofosu Ampofo, who represented the party, came out strongly in favour of the President appointing MMDCEs with the explanation that such political heads who were not members of the ruling party could decide to either sabotage the government or threaten the security of the President.
“How can you have somebody from the opposing camp of the President to represent him at the metropolitan, municipal and district levels without that person sabotaging the government or engaging in activities that would not be in the interest of the President?” he asked.
A former Minister of State and member of the NDC, Mr Kwamena Ahwoi, who also believed that for now MMDCEs should be appointed, reminded the gathering about the confusion which nearly created a constitutional crisis about 15 years ago when the late Vice-President Arkaah from a different political party could not see eye to eye with the then government headed by President Rawlings.
“Let us ponder over this issue dispassionately so that we do not recommend anything that would be inimical to the state or the communities that would be headed by the MMDCEs”, Mr Ahwoi stated.
Another representative of the NDC, Mr Elvis Afriyie Ankrah, supported the idea of appointing MMDCEs and said although it had been enshrined in the NPP manifesto that such political heads should be elected, that party could not do so during its eight years of administration because that party realised that it was not feasible.
When it came to their turns, both Dr Kwasi Jonah of the Political Science Department of the University of Ghana, Legon and Mr Kwasi Afriyie-Badu of Kab Governance Consult said the ideal thing to do was to elect MMDCEs but judging by the cost involved and other problems inherent in Ghana’s electoral system, adding another group of prospective political heads for 170 metropolises, municipalities and districts to the process now would not be easy.
They, therefore, called for a gradual process during which all the bottlenecks associated with the electoral system in Ghana, especially that of lack of funds would be removed after which MMDCEs should be elected.
A representative of the NPP, Mr Jonathan Hagan, suggested that the regional ministers and MMDCEs should be taken away from the security system if MMDCEs were to be elected so that they would not pose any threat to the government or the President, should they come from different political parties or areas that did not support the ruling party.
After a lengthy debate on the issue, it was agreed that three or more persons should be nominated by the President to be voted for the MMDCE positions.
With regard to other aspects of the local government system, a past Municipal Chief Executive, Mr Kwabena Sintim Aboagye, who was also one of the representatives of the NPP at the forum, was not happy about moneys given to members of parliament for the development of communities in the constituencies; a practice that MMDCEs could not question, and called for a re-examination of the issue.
Other issues that were deliberated on were the creation of new districts, the involvement of chiefs in the local government system, the appointment of deputy MMDCEs and how certain programmes such as HIV/AIDS could be tackled with funds either from the local level or from the central government.
The Director of the Institute of Local Government Studies and moderator of the programme, Dr Esther Ofei-Aboagye, expressed satisfaction about the friendly nature of the debates, which according to her, would go a long way in improving the local government system for the benefit of the communities.
Thursday, November 19, 2009
OFOSU AMPOFO PARDONS MDCES (PAGE 16, NOV 19)
THE Eastern Regional Minister, Mr Samuel Ofosu Ampofo, has rescinded his decision to discipline 16 out of the 21 municipal and district chief executives (MDCEs) in the region who reported late for a public function last week Wednesday.
This followed an apology rendered to him by the MDCEs, who also demonstrated their resolve not to repeat such a thing by reporting promptly for a similar meeting the following day.
The MDCEs, together with other heads of departments, agencies, and top officials of the assemblies were to report on that day at the New Capital View Hotel, Koforidua at 8 a.m. for an orientation seminar on auditing, but by 10 a.m., only five of them, namely, Messrs Joseph Omari (Kwahu South), Napoleon Amoako (Birim North), Joseph Tetteh Angmor (Upper Manya), Tom Budu (Akyemansa), Andrews Tetteh Soda (Yilo Krobo) and a handful of the other participants were present.
That incurred the wrath of Mr Ofosu Ampofo, who decided to take disciplinary action against them, although he did not specify the form or nature of the sanction.
In an interview at his residence, Mr Ofosu Ampofo explained that he had pardoned the MDCEs because they had demonstrated in action not to be late at public functions again by reporting promptly for a similar gathering the following day.
He stated that he also took into consideration the apology rendered, but warned that a repeat of such misconduct would not be tolerated.
“I have to pardon them because of the remorse they exhibited and also demonstrated in action by reporting promptly the next day for another meeting.
“In fact, some even arrived before the stated time, and I have no other choice than to pardon them,” the regional minister stated.
This followed an apology rendered to him by the MDCEs, who also demonstrated their resolve not to repeat such a thing by reporting promptly for a similar meeting the following day.
The MDCEs, together with other heads of departments, agencies, and top officials of the assemblies were to report on that day at the New Capital View Hotel, Koforidua at 8 a.m. for an orientation seminar on auditing, but by 10 a.m., only five of them, namely, Messrs Joseph Omari (Kwahu South), Napoleon Amoako (Birim North), Joseph Tetteh Angmor (Upper Manya), Tom Budu (Akyemansa), Andrews Tetteh Soda (Yilo Krobo) and a handful of the other participants were present.
That incurred the wrath of Mr Ofosu Ampofo, who decided to take disciplinary action against them, although he did not specify the form or nature of the sanction.
In an interview at his residence, Mr Ofosu Ampofo explained that he had pardoned the MDCEs because they had demonstrated in action not to be late at public functions again by reporting promptly for a similar gathering the following day.
He stated that he also took into consideration the apology rendered, but warned that a repeat of such misconduct would not be tolerated.
“I have to pardon them because of the remorse they exhibited and also demonstrated in action by reporting promptly the next day for another meeting.
“In fact, some even arrived before the stated time, and I have no other choice than to pardon them,” the regional minister stated.
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
NGO ON WIDOWS' WELFARE INAUGURATED IN KUMASI (NOV 18, PAGE 20)
SALKAN Christ Foundation, a non-governmental organisation (NGO) dedicated to the welfare of widows, the aged and under-privileged children, has been inaugurated at Koforidua.
The NGO together with its sister organisation, Christian Friends of Democracy, also promotes good governance, conflict resolution, crusade against HIV/AIDS and helps the unemployed in the New Juaben Municipality to be engaged in income-generating ventures.
At the inaugural ceremony at the weekend, the Executive Director of Salkan Christ Foundation, Mrs Sarah Okantey, who is also the Project Director of Christian Friends of Democracy, said the two Koforidua-based organisations would continue to tackle problems militating against women, especially widows, venerable children and the aged.
She said most widows had to go through some inhuman, outmoded traditional rites and some children through no fault of theirs, faced a lot of challenges.
Mrs Okantey said while the women, especially widows could not take any action against such inhuman treatments meted out to them either due to ignorance and poverty, the venerable children could also not tackle their own problems because of their ages.
She stated that it was in that respect that the two organisations were formed to help address such problems.
“Although we came to the scene last year, we managed to assist eight women made up of widows and single mothers in diverse ways, especially counselling and empowerment to fight for their rights or make a living,” she said.
“We are now handling 200 desperate, rejected, dejected and miserable women some of who were at the point of taking their own lives because they could not by themselves overcome their challenges,” Mrs Okantey stated.
She gave the assurance that the two organisations would not relent in their efforts in addressing the challenges of the oppressed and the needy.
The Eastern Regional Minister, Mr Samuel Ofosu Ampofo commended the foundation for achieving a lot within a period of one year.
He mentioned some of the achievements of the foundation as the provision of 22 boreholes for 22 communities, scholarships for 736 pupils and students in junior and senior high schools, teacher training colleges as well as tertiary educational institutions.
Mr Ofosu Ampofo added that the foundation had also been negotiating for the release of Ghanaian prisoners illegally incarcerated in prisons in La’ Cote d’Ivoire.
The NGO together with its sister organisation, Christian Friends of Democracy, also promotes good governance, conflict resolution, crusade against HIV/AIDS and helps the unemployed in the New Juaben Municipality to be engaged in income-generating ventures.
At the inaugural ceremony at the weekend, the Executive Director of Salkan Christ Foundation, Mrs Sarah Okantey, who is also the Project Director of Christian Friends of Democracy, said the two Koforidua-based organisations would continue to tackle problems militating against women, especially widows, venerable children and the aged.
She said most widows had to go through some inhuman, outmoded traditional rites and some children through no fault of theirs, faced a lot of challenges.
Mrs Okantey said while the women, especially widows could not take any action against such inhuman treatments meted out to them either due to ignorance and poverty, the venerable children could also not tackle their own problems because of their ages.
She stated that it was in that respect that the two organisations were formed to help address such problems.
“Although we came to the scene last year, we managed to assist eight women made up of widows and single mothers in diverse ways, especially counselling and empowerment to fight for their rights or make a living,” she said.
“We are now handling 200 desperate, rejected, dejected and miserable women some of who were at the point of taking their own lives because they could not by themselves overcome their challenges,” Mrs Okantey stated.
She gave the assurance that the two organisations would not relent in their efforts in addressing the challenges of the oppressed and the needy.
The Eastern Regional Minister, Mr Samuel Ofosu Ampofo commended the foundation for achieving a lot within a period of one year.
He mentioned some of the achievements of the foundation as the provision of 22 boreholes for 22 communities, scholarships for 736 pupils and students in junior and senior high schools, teacher training colleges as well as tertiary educational institutions.
Mr Ofosu Ampofo added that the foundation had also been negotiating for the release of Ghanaian prisoners illegally incarcerated in prisons in La’ Cote d’Ivoire.
KWAHU PRASO RURAL BANK GIVES MORE LOANS (PAGE 20, NOV 18)
THE Kwahu Praso Rural Bank, near Nkawkaw gave out GH¢363,780 as loans to its customers last year as against the GH¢204,822 it made available for the same purpose in 2007.
The Chairman of the Board of Directors of the bank, Mr Eric Kwakye Darfour made this known at the 14th annual general meeting of shareholders of the bank at Kwahu Praso at the weekend.
He gave the breakdown as agriculture (food crop production and maintenance of cocoa farms),
GH¢45,000; cottage industry,
GH¢52,000; transport, GH¢50,300; education, GH¢62,700; and others GH¢79,440.
According to Mr Darfour, the bank decided to increase its loan portfolio to support the people in its catchments area to expand their agricultural and other commercial ventures.
He said those who were also assisted for educational purposes used the facility to educate themselves or children, and added that the initiative was to eradicate poverty in the area.
Mr Darfour stated that the bank was able to give out more loans due to its splendid performance during the year under review.
He said its total income increased from GH¢146, 916 in 2007 to GH¢213165 in 2008 while deposits grew from GH¢714,490 to GH¢919,231 within the same period.
Mr Darfuor said the bank’s pre-tax profit increased from GH¢12,556 in 2006 to GH¢35,237 in 2007 but plummeted to GH¢29,302 in 2008.
He attributed the decrease to the inability of some of the beneficiaries of the loans to repay, and therefore, appealed to them to do so to enable others to benefit from the facility.
To improve the fortunes of the bank and serve customers better, Mr Darfuor announced the purchase of a Nissan Pick Up vehicle for its operations and a further training of its staff while the computerisation exercise being embarked on would be completed in 2011.
He added that the bank currently provided Western Union Money Transfer facilities as well as the e-Zwich, and appealed to people in the area and those outside the country to do business with it.
The Head of Human Capital and Administration Department of the ARB Apex Bank, Mrs Francisca Dedei Attipoe, who deputised for the Managing Director of the bank, Mr Eric Osei-Bonsu, commended the bank for its outstanding performance.
She however urged the board and management of the Kwahu Rural Bank to take note of the current competition within the banking sector and accelerate its modernisation drive to attract more customers.
Mrs Attipoe also briefed the shareholders of the bank on the current situation of rural banks some of which, she said, would be merged to enable them to stand firmly to serve the communities within their catchments area.
The Chairman of the Board of Directors of the bank, Mr Eric Kwakye Darfour made this known at the 14th annual general meeting of shareholders of the bank at Kwahu Praso at the weekend.
He gave the breakdown as agriculture (food crop production and maintenance of cocoa farms),
GH¢45,000; cottage industry,
GH¢52,000; transport, GH¢50,300; education, GH¢62,700; and others GH¢79,440.
According to Mr Darfour, the bank decided to increase its loan portfolio to support the people in its catchments area to expand their agricultural and other commercial ventures.
He said those who were also assisted for educational purposes used the facility to educate themselves or children, and added that the initiative was to eradicate poverty in the area.
Mr Darfour stated that the bank was able to give out more loans due to its splendid performance during the year under review.
He said its total income increased from GH¢146, 916 in 2007 to GH¢213165 in 2008 while deposits grew from GH¢714,490 to GH¢919,231 within the same period.
Mr Darfuor said the bank’s pre-tax profit increased from GH¢12,556 in 2006 to GH¢35,237 in 2007 but plummeted to GH¢29,302 in 2008.
He attributed the decrease to the inability of some of the beneficiaries of the loans to repay, and therefore, appealed to them to do so to enable others to benefit from the facility.
To improve the fortunes of the bank and serve customers better, Mr Darfuor announced the purchase of a Nissan Pick Up vehicle for its operations and a further training of its staff while the computerisation exercise being embarked on would be completed in 2011.
He added that the bank currently provided Western Union Money Transfer facilities as well as the e-Zwich, and appealed to people in the area and those outside the country to do business with it.
The Head of Human Capital and Administration Department of the ARB Apex Bank, Mrs Francisca Dedei Attipoe, who deputised for the Managing Director of the bank, Mr Eric Osei-Bonsu, commended the bank for its outstanding performance.
She however urged the board and management of the Kwahu Rural Bank to take note of the current competition within the banking sector and accelerate its modernisation drive to attract more customers.
Mrs Attipoe also briefed the shareholders of the bank on the current situation of rural banks some of which, she said, would be merged to enable them to stand firmly to serve the communities within their catchments area.
AKUAPEM FOUNDATION IMPROVES EDUCATION (PAGE 20, NOV 18)
ABOUT 150 years ago, the Basel missionaries set foot on the Akuapem scarp with two main aims.
The first aim was to establish churches and convert the indigenous people to Christianity and secondly to set up basic schools to educate the local people, especially the new converts to at least read and write so that they could properly communicate with the missionaries.
The Basel Mission which later became the Presbyterian Church of Ghana continued with its educational drive by establishing the first teacher training institution, the Presbyterian Training College (PTC) at Akropong, the traditional headquarters, to train teachers for the numerous basic schools.
The teachers most of whom were also trained to be ministers of the gospel, apart from helping to turn out good pupils for the then secondary schools, also succeeded in putting the proverbial Presbyterian discipline in the pupils.
The discipline instilled in the students made them to excel in the second cycle schools and finally the universities, especially the University of Ghana where students of Akuapem origin were more than any other ethnic group, especially in the 1970s.
The large number of students from Akuapem at the universities no wonder led to many of them coming out as lawyers, academicians, ministers of the gospel and engineers in different fields.
However, from the mid 1990s, the high standard of education in the Akuapem area which has now been divided into two political entities, the Akuapem North District and Akuapem South Municipality started moving anti-clockwise with many of the basic schools having all the final year students failing the Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE).
For instance, statistics made available by the Akuapem North District Director of Education, Mr Alfred Osei indicate that out of 1,937 candidates who sat for the BECE in the district in 2005, 1,038 passed and 899 failed while in 2006, 1,204 out of the total of 2,080 candidates presented, failed.
The situation was almost the same in 2007 when 920 out of 2,089 presented for the examination, failed while last year, 874 out of the 2,187 candidates who took part in the examination, failed.
This year’s BECE results were also not encouraging because out of the 2,668 candidates presented, 1,212 failed.
The situation in the Akuapem South District is no different as portrayed by the Municipal Director of Education, Madam Stella Kwamina Nanor although she said there had been some improvement at the BECE.
However, the continued decline in the performance of the pupils in the area over the years has led to the reduction in the number of students from Akuapem to the universities and other tertiary educational institutions.
To reverse the trend, the Akuapem Community Foundation, a body formed and directed by some well-meaning citizens of Akuapem to see to the development of the area, decided to give the necessary support to improve education in the area.
The foundation which was formed about five years ago, has within the past few years, provided educational materials, especially books to some of the junior high schools (JHS) in the area.
Apart from that, it has also taken the initiative to educate parents and guardians on the need to invest in the education of their children or wards who are also properly counselled to take their studies seriously.
To crown such efforts, the foundation has been periodically holding durbars christened: “Akuapem Education Day” each year during which stakeholders of education such as parents, teachers and directors of education in the two districts brainstorm to find lasting solutions to the problem.
This year’s event on the theme: “Economic empowerment — Earning a living from the natural environment,” took a different course because it focused on the economic empowerment of parents to be able to properly cater for the educational needs of their children or wards.
The event which took place at the serene Danso’s Naturalist Centre at Ahyiresu, near Aburi at the weekend, brought together parents, pupils, educationists, District Chief Executives for the area, Mr George Opare-Addo (Akuapem North) and Dr Godfried Osei-Bonsu Twum (Akuapem South) as well as resource persons such as Mrs Rosetta Annan, a former Director at the Ministry of Food and Agriculture.
The Eastern Regional Minister, Mr Ofosu Ampofo who also attended the meeting, expressed concern about the declining standard of education not only in the Akuapem area, but the region as a whole.
He warned that any JSS in the region which records zero per cent in the BECE would have its head replaced.
Mr Ofosu Ampofo, however, directed the two assemblies to give the necessary support to all basic schools to enable the pupils to perform well.
For her part, Mrs Rosetta Annan, formerly of the Ministry of Food and agriculture, took the parents through the rudiments of income generation, especially with the use of the area’s natural resources.
A number of schoolchildren who also excelled in the previous BECE and were at the ceremony, were given books.
The Mamfehene, Osabarima Ansa Sasraku who also addressed the function, said the main aim of the foundation was to improve the well-being of Akuapems, adding that such an initiative could only be achieved through good education and income generation for parents.
He stated that the foundation had also taken steps to restore the ecology of the area which was being degraded at an alarming rate as well as helping to fight the dreaded HIV/AIDS pandemic.
Osabarima Sasraku said the institution of those measures had already started yielding positive results.
He cited for instance that out of the 120 final year JHS pupils who were given books and other assistance by the foundation last year, 113 of them had grades between one and six in English, 104 scored between one and six in Mathematics and 108 had between one and six in General Science — a remarkable development.
With such an improvement in the performance of the pupils only a year after they had been provided with books and other materials and counselling, it is hoped that many more pupils would perform creditably at the BECE next year and the years beyond to reverse the downward trend of the standard of education in the area.
The situation would put Akuapem back on the map of Ghana as one of the areas with a high standard of education.
The first aim was to establish churches and convert the indigenous people to Christianity and secondly to set up basic schools to educate the local people, especially the new converts to at least read and write so that they could properly communicate with the missionaries.
The Basel Mission which later became the Presbyterian Church of Ghana continued with its educational drive by establishing the first teacher training institution, the Presbyterian Training College (PTC) at Akropong, the traditional headquarters, to train teachers for the numerous basic schools.
The teachers most of whom were also trained to be ministers of the gospel, apart from helping to turn out good pupils for the then secondary schools, also succeeded in putting the proverbial Presbyterian discipline in the pupils.
The discipline instilled in the students made them to excel in the second cycle schools and finally the universities, especially the University of Ghana where students of Akuapem origin were more than any other ethnic group, especially in the 1970s.
The large number of students from Akuapem at the universities no wonder led to many of them coming out as lawyers, academicians, ministers of the gospel and engineers in different fields.
However, from the mid 1990s, the high standard of education in the Akuapem area which has now been divided into two political entities, the Akuapem North District and Akuapem South Municipality started moving anti-clockwise with many of the basic schools having all the final year students failing the Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE).
For instance, statistics made available by the Akuapem North District Director of Education, Mr Alfred Osei indicate that out of 1,937 candidates who sat for the BECE in the district in 2005, 1,038 passed and 899 failed while in 2006, 1,204 out of the total of 2,080 candidates presented, failed.
The situation was almost the same in 2007 when 920 out of 2,089 presented for the examination, failed while last year, 874 out of the 2,187 candidates who took part in the examination, failed.
This year’s BECE results were also not encouraging because out of the 2,668 candidates presented, 1,212 failed.
The situation in the Akuapem South District is no different as portrayed by the Municipal Director of Education, Madam Stella Kwamina Nanor although she said there had been some improvement at the BECE.
However, the continued decline in the performance of the pupils in the area over the years has led to the reduction in the number of students from Akuapem to the universities and other tertiary educational institutions.
To reverse the trend, the Akuapem Community Foundation, a body formed and directed by some well-meaning citizens of Akuapem to see to the development of the area, decided to give the necessary support to improve education in the area.
The foundation which was formed about five years ago, has within the past few years, provided educational materials, especially books to some of the junior high schools (JHS) in the area.
Apart from that, it has also taken the initiative to educate parents and guardians on the need to invest in the education of their children or wards who are also properly counselled to take their studies seriously.
To crown such efforts, the foundation has been periodically holding durbars christened: “Akuapem Education Day” each year during which stakeholders of education such as parents, teachers and directors of education in the two districts brainstorm to find lasting solutions to the problem.
This year’s event on the theme: “Economic empowerment — Earning a living from the natural environment,” took a different course because it focused on the economic empowerment of parents to be able to properly cater for the educational needs of their children or wards.
The event which took place at the serene Danso’s Naturalist Centre at Ahyiresu, near Aburi at the weekend, brought together parents, pupils, educationists, District Chief Executives for the area, Mr George Opare-Addo (Akuapem North) and Dr Godfried Osei-Bonsu Twum (Akuapem South) as well as resource persons such as Mrs Rosetta Annan, a former Director at the Ministry of Food and Agriculture.
The Eastern Regional Minister, Mr Ofosu Ampofo who also attended the meeting, expressed concern about the declining standard of education not only in the Akuapem area, but the region as a whole.
He warned that any JSS in the region which records zero per cent in the BECE would have its head replaced.
Mr Ofosu Ampofo, however, directed the two assemblies to give the necessary support to all basic schools to enable the pupils to perform well.
For her part, Mrs Rosetta Annan, formerly of the Ministry of Food and agriculture, took the parents through the rudiments of income generation, especially with the use of the area’s natural resources.
A number of schoolchildren who also excelled in the previous BECE and were at the ceremony, were given books.
The Mamfehene, Osabarima Ansa Sasraku who also addressed the function, said the main aim of the foundation was to improve the well-being of Akuapems, adding that such an initiative could only be achieved through good education and income generation for parents.
He stated that the foundation had also taken steps to restore the ecology of the area which was being degraded at an alarming rate as well as helping to fight the dreaded HIV/AIDS pandemic.
Osabarima Sasraku said the institution of those measures had already started yielding positive results.
He cited for instance that out of the 120 final year JHS pupils who were given books and other assistance by the foundation last year, 113 of them had grades between one and six in English, 104 scored between one and six in Mathematics and 108 had between one and six in General Science — a remarkable development.
With such an improvement in the performance of the pupils only a year after they had been provided with books and other materials and counselling, it is hoped that many more pupils would perform creditably at the BECE next year and the years beyond to reverse the downward trend of the standard of education in the area.
The situation would put Akuapem back on the map of Ghana as one of the areas with a high standard of education.
Sunday, November 15, 2009
CEPS JUNIOR STAFF APPEAL TO RAGB (NOV 14, PAGE 23)
JUNIOR officers of the Customs, Excise and Preventive Service (CEPS) have called on the Revenue Agencies Governing Board (RAGB) to reduce the number of steps they have to go through before becoming senior officers.
They also suggested that CEPS officials who lost their lives or got injured in the course of their work must be rewarded and honoured.
The Chairman of the Junior Staff Association, Mr Felix A. Brobbey made the call at the ninth biennial national delegates conference of the association at Koforidua.
The four-day conference, on the theme: “Integrated revenue collectors-The dawn of a new era in revenue mobilisation,” which was attended by delegates throughout the country, was to take stock of the association’s activities with a view to enhancing revenue collection.
According to Mr Brobbey, there were 17 promotional steps within the service junior officers had to go through, nine to reach the senior level, which makes it impossible for most of them to attain senior staff status before retirement.
He expressed the hope that recommendations made jointly by management and the senior and junior staff to address the issues would be considered.
Mr Brobbey said the junior staff association had performed creditably, mobilising over 50 per cent of the total national revenue over the years despite the numerous challenges.
He, however, appealed to his colleagues to eschew all forms of indiscipline and adopt the best working practices and lead simple lifestyles to keep away accusing fingers.
Mr Brobbey urged the CEPS management to honour their obligation to the staff in terms of refund of medical expenses and payment of retirement and long-service benefits since non-payment of such benefits had the potential to make the service corrupt.
The Eastern Regional Minister, Mr Samuel Ofosu Ampofo, expressed dissatisfaction about the inhuman condition under which CEPS officials worked at the entry and collection points, and gave the assurance that he would contact other regional ministers to see how best to solve that problem.
Mr Ofosu Ampofo commended CEPS for its credible performance over the years.
The Executive Secretary of the Revenue Agencies Governing Board (RAGB), Mr Samuel Sallas-Mensah, said over the past four years, tax revenue had grown on the average of more than 20 per cent, which supported about 60 per cent of government expenditure budget.
He stated that despite such a good performance of tax revenue, there was still room for improvement, adding “we still have to do a lot more work to expand the tax net, seal the leakage and provide quality service.
Mr Sallas-Mensah also explained to them the integration of the three revenue collection agencies, namely CEPS, Internal Revenue Service and the Value Added Tax, giving the assurance that there would not be any job loss.
For his part, the Commissioner of CEPS, Mr E.R.K. Lanyon, briefed them about the modernisation exercise currently going on at CEPS to improve staff performance in mobilising more revenue.
He asked the junior officers to observe the code of conduct in the course of their duty so that there would not be a situation to dismiss any of them for avoidable infractions.
They also suggested that CEPS officials who lost their lives or got injured in the course of their work must be rewarded and honoured.
The Chairman of the Junior Staff Association, Mr Felix A. Brobbey made the call at the ninth biennial national delegates conference of the association at Koforidua.
The four-day conference, on the theme: “Integrated revenue collectors-The dawn of a new era in revenue mobilisation,” which was attended by delegates throughout the country, was to take stock of the association’s activities with a view to enhancing revenue collection.
According to Mr Brobbey, there were 17 promotional steps within the service junior officers had to go through, nine to reach the senior level, which makes it impossible for most of them to attain senior staff status before retirement.
He expressed the hope that recommendations made jointly by management and the senior and junior staff to address the issues would be considered.
Mr Brobbey said the junior staff association had performed creditably, mobilising over 50 per cent of the total national revenue over the years despite the numerous challenges.
He, however, appealed to his colleagues to eschew all forms of indiscipline and adopt the best working practices and lead simple lifestyles to keep away accusing fingers.
Mr Brobbey urged the CEPS management to honour their obligation to the staff in terms of refund of medical expenses and payment of retirement and long-service benefits since non-payment of such benefits had the potential to make the service corrupt.
The Eastern Regional Minister, Mr Samuel Ofosu Ampofo, expressed dissatisfaction about the inhuman condition under which CEPS officials worked at the entry and collection points, and gave the assurance that he would contact other regional ministers to see how best to solve that problem.
Mr Ofosu Ampofo commended CEPS for its credible performance over the years.
The Executive Secretary of the Revenue Agencies Governing Board (RAGB), Mr Samuel Sallas-Mensah, said over the past four years, tax revenue had grown on the average of more than 20 per cent, which supported about 60 per cent of government expenditure budget.
He stated that despite such a good performance of tax revenue, there was still room for improvement, adding “we still have to do a lot more work to expand the tax net, seal the leakage and provide quality service.
Mr Sallas-Mensah also explained to them the integration of the three revenue collection agencies, namely CEPS, Internal Revenue Service and the Value Added Tax, giving the assurance that there would not be any job loss.
For his part, the Commissioner of CEPS, Mr E.R.K. Lanyon, briefed them about the modernisation exercise currently going on at CEPS to improve staff performance in mobilising more revenue.
He asked the junior officers to observe the code of conduct in the course of their duty so that there would not be a situation to dismiss any of them for avoidable infractions.
Thursday, November 12, 2009
GHANA TO EARN MORE MONEY FROM TRADITIONAL EXPORTS (PAGE 38, NOV 12)
THE Minister of Trade and Industry, Ms Hannah Tetteh, has stated that with improvement in the export of non-traditional products, Ghana can earn GH¢5 billion in 2015.
This, she said, would make it possible for the country to attain a middle-income status with a per capita income of US$1,000 by the year 2020.
“We have set ourselves an ambitious goal of achieving a middle-income status with a qualitative benchmark of US$1,000 per capita by 2020, using export as the main springboard for realising this vision,” Ms Tetteh said.
The minister made these remarks when she addressed a stakeholders’ forum on the Export Development and Investment Fund (EDIF) in Koforidua.
She said considering the small size of Ghana’s domestic market, the export sector provided the best option for optimising production possibilities and a quicker way of integrating the country into the global economy.
Ms Tetteh said since the non-traditional sector in that direction would create more wealth, generate employment and improve the welfare of the people, it was, therefore, necessary that EDIF would be well resourced to support that sector.
The minister, who acknowledged the role EDIF had played in promoting the non-traditional sector since its inception in 2001 in areas such as agro-processing, salt mining, wood processing, handicraft, garments and textile, as well as pharmaceuticals and plastics, called for the right stimuli, through adequate, affordable and timely finance, for the sector.
Mr Kwesi Ahwoi, Minister of Agriculture, expressed regret that although agriculture played a key role in the country’s economy, it was still being practised at a subsistence level with many farmers using hoes and cutlasses for land clearing.
He said another worrying aspect of farming in Ghana was the high cost of tractor services for land clearing and non-application of fertiliser, all contributing to low productivity of agricultural produce.
The minister expressed concern about the inability of some prospective exporters to honour orders due to limited production base, while most of them were not able to meet the required quality standard and had their products rejected, causing embarrassment to the ministry.
Mr Ahwoi said it was due to such challenges that a number of measures such as offering of credit facilities, subsidy for the procurement of inputs and mechanised services, as well as the development of agricultural exports, were being taken to support farmers.
An official of the Prudential Bank told the meeting that EDIF, since 2001, had approved GH¢13,519,862 to the bank for on-lending to its beneficiaries.
This, she said, would make it possible for the country to attain a middle-income status with a per capita income of US$1,000 by the year 2020.
“We have set ourselves an ambitious goal of achieving a middle-income status with a qualitative benchmark of US$1,000 per capita by 2020, using export as the main springboard for realising this vision,” Ms Tetteh said.
The minister made these remarks when she addressed a stakeholders’ forum on the Export Development and Investment Fund (EDIF) in Koforidua.
She said considering the small size of Ghana’s domestic market, the export sector provided the best option for optimising production possibilities and a quicker way of integrating the country into the global economy.
Ms Tetteh said since the non-traditional sector in that direction would create more wealth, generate employment and improve the welfare of the people, it was, therefore, necessary that EDIF would be well resourced to support that sector.
The minister, who acknowledged the role EDIF had played in promoting the non-traditional sector since its inception in 2001 in areas such as agro-processing, salt mining, wood processing, handicraft, garments and textile, as well as pharmaceuticals and plastics, called for the right stimuli, through adequate, affordable and timely finance, for the sector.
Mr Kwesi Ahwoi, Minister of Agriculture, expressed regret that although agriculture played a key role in the country’s economy, it was still being practised at a subsistence level with many farmers using hoes and cutlasses for land clearing.
He said another worrying aspect of farming in Ghana was the high cost of tractor services for land clearing and non-application of fertiliser, all contributing to low productivity of agricultural produce.
The minister expressed concern about the inability of some prospective exporters to honour orders due to limited production base, while most of them were not able to meet the required quality standard and had their products rejected, causing embarrassment to the ministry.
Mr Ahwoi said it was due to such challenges that a number of measures such as offering of credit facilities, subsidy for the procurement of inputs and mechanised services, as well as the development of agricultural exports, were being taken to support farmers.
An official of the Prudential Bank told the meeting that EDIF, since 2001, had approved GH¢13,519,862 to the bank for on-lending to its beneficiaries.
MINISTER TO DISCIPLINE MDCES FOR LATENESS (BACK PAGE, NOV 12)
THE Eastern Regional Minister, Mr Samuel Ofosu Ampofo, has decided to take disciplinary action against 17 out of the 21 municipal/district chief executives (M/DCEs) in the region for reporting late at a public function.
The M/DCEs, together with heads of ministries, departments and other top officials of the assemblies as well as members of the Audit Report Implementation Committee (ARIC) were supposed to report at the New Capital View Hotel, Koforidua, at 8 a.m. on Monday for a sensitisation seminar on auditing.
But by 10.30 a.m. only four of the M/DCEs, namely Messrs Joseph Omari (Kwahu South), Napoleon Amoako (Birim North), Joseph Tetteh Angmor (Upper Manya) and Tom Budu Akyemansa and a handful of the other participants were present.
That angered Mr Ofosu Ampofo, who said he had taken the issue very seriously and would punish the district political heads, although he did not specify the nature of the disciplinary action.
“You are being paid with the taxpayer’s money and given all the necessary support, including vehicles to be prompt at public functions, and I will not take any explanation for not being able to come at the appropriate time”.
He then directed the officials registering the participants to provide him with the list of the M/DCEs who reported late for the necessary sanctions.
Later in an address, Mr Ofosu Ampofo asked ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) as well as the municipal/district assemblies which had not yet constituted ARICs to do so in order to ensure that recommendations contained in all audit reports in their respective organisations would be implemented.
Mr Ofosu Ampofo, who dwelt extensively on public auditing and how it affects the operations of the assemblies, expressed hope that the MDAs/MMDAs would give ARICs unrestricted access to documents and employees as well as the necessary administrative and logistical support to do their work.
He also cautioned the MDAs/MMDAs to be guided by the principles of probity, transparency and accountability which the Government stood for, adding that any public service manager who mismanaged the affairs of his or her organisation would face the full rigours of the law.
A resource person, Mr Richard Ntim of the Institute of Internal Auditors, Ghana, asked the participants to follow laid-down regulations in auditing to avoid being sent to committees for questioning.
The M/DCEs, together with heads of ministries, departments and other top officials of the assemblies as well as members of the Audit Report Implementation Committee (ARIC) were supposed to report at the New Capital View Hotel, Koforidua, at 8 a.m. on Monday for a sensitisation seminar on auditing.
But by 10.30 a.m. only four of the M/DCEs, namely Messrs Joseph Omari (Kwahu South), Napoleon Amoako (Birim North), Joseph Tetteh Angmor (Upper Manya) and Tom Budu Akyemansa and a handful of the other participants were present.
That angered Mr Ofosu Ampofo, who said he had taken the issue very seriously and would punish the district political heads, although he did not specify the nature of the disciplinary action.
“You are being paid with the taxpayer’s money and given all the necessary support, including vehicles to be prompt at public functions, and I will not take any explanation for not being able to come at the appropriate time”.
He then directed the officials registering the participants to provide him with the list of the M/DCEs who reported late for the necessary sanctions.
Later in an address, Mr Ofosu Ampofo asked ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) as well as the municipal/district assemblies which had not yet constituted ARICs to do so in order to ensure that recommendations contained in all audit reports in their respective organisations would be implemented.
Mr Ofosu Ampofo, who dwelt extensively on public auditing and how it affects the operations of the assemblies, expressed hope that the MDAs/MMDAs would give ARICs unrestricted access to documents and employees as well as the necessary administrative and logistical support to do their work.
He also cautioned the MDAs/MMDAs to be guided by the principles of probity, transparency and accountability which the Government stood for, adding that any public service manager who mismanaged the affairs of his or her organisation would face the full rigours of the law.
A resource person, Mr Richard Ntim of the Institute of Internal Auditors, Ghana, asked the participants to follow laid-down regulations in auditing to avoid being sent to committees for questioning.
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
GHANA COULD EARN GH¢5BN IN 2015 - TETTEH (PAGE 21, NOV 11)
THE Minister of Trade and Industry, Madam Hanna Tetteh, has stated that with the improvement in the export of non-traditional products, Ghana could earn GH¢5 billion in 2015.
That, she said, would make it possible for the country to attain a middle-income status with an income per capita of US$1,000, by the year 2020.
The minister made the remarks when she addressed a stakeholders’ forum on the Export Development and Investment Fund (EDIF) in Koforidua over the weekend.
She said considering the small size of Ghana’s domestic market, the export sector provided the best option for optimising production possibilities and a quicker way of integrating the country into the global economy.
Madam Tetteh stated that since the non-traditional sector in that direction would create more wealth, generate employment and improve the welfare of the people, it was therefore, necessary that EDIF would be well-resourced to in turn support that sector.
The minister acknowledged the role EDIF had played in promoting the non-traditional sector since its inception in 2001 in areas such as agro-processing, salt mining, wood processing, handicraft, garments and textile as well as pharmaceuticals and plastics. She called for the right stimuli through adequate, affordable and timely finance for the sector.
“We have set ourselves an ambitious goal of achieving a middle-income status with a qualitative benchmark of US$1,000 per capita by 2020, using export as the main springboard for realising this vision,” the minister stated.
The Minister of Food and Agriculture, Mr Kwesi Ahwoi, expressed regret that although agriculture played a key role in country’s economy, it was still being practised at a subsistence level, with many farmers on small holdings using hoes and machete for land clearing.
He said another worrying aspect of farming in Ghana was the high cost of tractor services for land clearing and non-application of fertiliser, all contributing to low productivity of agricultural produce.
The minister also expressed concern about the inability of some prospective exporters to honour orders due to limited production base, while most of them were not able to meet the required quality standard and had their products rejected, causing embarrassment to the ministry.
Mr Ahwoi said it was due to such challenges that a number of measures such as offering of credit facilities, subsidy for the procurement of inputs and mechanised service, as well as the development of agricultural export, were being taken to support farmers.
That, she said, would make it possible for the country to attain a middle-income status with an income per capita of US$1,000, by the year 2020.
The minister made the remarks when she addressed a stakeholders’ forum on the Export Development and Investment Fund (EDIF) in Koforidua over the weekend.
She said considering the small size of Ghana’s domestic market, the export sector provided the best option for optimising production possibilities and a quicker way of integrating the country into the global economy.
Madam Tetteh stated that since the non-traditional sector in that direction would create more wealth, generate employment and improve the welfare of the people, it was therefore, necessary that EDIF would be well-resourced to in turn support that sector.
The minister acknowledged the role EDIF had played in promoting the non-traditional sector since its inception in 2001 in areas such as agro-processing, salt mining, wood processing, handicraft, garments and textile as well as pharmaceuticals and plastics. She called for the right stimuli through adequate, affordable and timely finance for the sector.
“We have set ourselves an ambitious goal of achieving a middle-income status with a qualitative benchmark of US$1,000 per capita by 2020, using export as the main springboard for realising this vision,” the minister stated.
The Minister of Food and Agriculture, Mr Kwesi Ahwoi, expressed regret that although agriculture played a key role in country’s economy, it was still being practised at a subsistence level, with many farmers on small holdings using hoes and machete for land clearing.
He said another worrying aspect of farming in Ghana was the high cost of tractor services for land clearing and non-application of fertiliser, all contributing to low productivity of agricultural produce.
The minister also expressed concern about the inability of some prospective exporters to honour orders due to limited production base, while most of them were not able to meet the required quality standard and had their products rejected, causing embarrassment to the ministry.
Mr Ahwoi said it was due to such challenges that a number of measures such as offering of credit facilities, subsidy for the procurement of inputs and mechanised service, as well as the development of agricultural export, were being taken to support farmers.
PUT ASIDE POLITICAL AFFILIATION IN ASSEMBLY DELIBERATIONS (PAGE 15, NOV 11)
THE Presiding Member of the Atiwa District Assembly in the Eastern Region, Mr Kwasi Amoako Attah, has stated that since the assembly does not conduct business on party lines the members should put aside political affiliation in their deliberations.
That, he said, would help accelerate the development of the communities in the area.
Mr Amoako Attah made the remarks when he addressed the second ordinary meeting of the assembly this year at Kwabeng, the district capital, at the weekend.
The Atiwa District, which was carved out of the vast East Akyem District about four years ago, though a stronghold of the New Patriotic Party, also has a large following of the National Democratic Congress (NDC).
According to the presiding member, the area could only be developed if members of the assembly could put aside their political affiliations, unite and ensure a judicious use of resources.
Mr Amoako Attah pledged to continue to fight against corruption, and urged the assembly members not to do anything that would undermine the development of the communities but to continue to offer dedicated service to the people.
The District Chief Executive (DCE), Mr Emmanuel Attah Twum, said eight projects were currently being undertaken with funding from the District Assemblies’ Common Fund and HIPC initiative, adding that construction work on them was at different stages of completion.
The projects included a GH¢96,000 health insurance office at Anyinam which has been completed, a GH¢61,000 junior high school complex at Pameng, which is 50 per cent complete, a GH¢68,352.43-four-unit kindergarten block for the Abomosu Presbyterian school which is 65 per cent complete and a GH¢181,724.62 two-storey bungalow for the DCE at Kwabeng.
On revenue generation, Mr Atta Twum said out of the estimated GH¢170,164 to be collected this year, GH¢118,427.35 had already been mobilised as of the end of October.
He also told the House that it’s first quarterly share of the District Assemblies’ Common Fund in the sum of GH¢232.241.98 as well as that for the second quarter constituting GH¢223,098.48, had been received.
The DCE gave the assurance that the assembly would make judicious use of the funds to improve the lot of the people.
He deplored the poor performance of the pupils at the Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE), saying out of the total number of candidates who sat for the examinations, 898 passed and 1,051 failed.
Mr Atta Twum, therefore, appealed to parents and teachers to live up to their responsibilities to reverse the trend.
He dwelt on other areas such as health, agriculture, and said the assembly had taken the necessary steps that would improve the lot of the people in the area, and appealed to the assembly members for support in that direction.
That, he said, would help accelerate the development of the communities in the area.
Mr Amoako Attah made the remarks when he addressed the second ordinary meeting of the assembly this year at Kwabeng, the district capital, at the weekend.
The Atiwa District, which was carved out of the vast East Akyem District about four years ago, though a stronghold of the New Patriotic Party, also has a large following of the National Democratic Congress (NDC).
According to the presiding member, the area could only be developed if members of the assembly could put aside their political affiliations, unite and ensure a judicious use of resources.
Mr Amoako Attah pledged to continue to fight against corruption, and urged the assembly members not to do anything that would undermine the development of the communities but to continue to offer dedicated service to the people.
The District Chief Executive (DCE), Mr Emmanuel Attah Twum, said eight projects were currently being undertaken with funding from the District Assemblies’ Common Fund and HIPC initiative, adding that construction work on them was at different stages of completion.
The projects included a GH¢96,000 health insurance office at Anyinam which has been completed, a GH¢61,000 junior high school complex at Pameng, which is 50 per cent complete, a GH¢68,352.43-four-unit kindergarten block for the Abomosu Presbyterian school which is 65 per cent complete and a GH¢181,724.62 two-storey bungalow for the DCE at Kwabeng.
On revenue generation, Mr Atta Twum said out of the estimated GH¢170,164 to be collected this year, GH¢118,427.35 had already been mobilised as of the end of October.
He also told the House that it’s first quarterly share of the District Assemblies’ Common Fund in the sum of GH¢232.241.98 as well as that for the second quarter constituting GH¢223,098.48, had been received.
The DCE gave the assurance that the assembly would make judicious use of the funds to improve the lot of the people.
He deplored the poor performance of the pupils at the Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE), saying out of the total number of candidates who sat for the examinations, 898 passed and 1,051 failed.
Mr Atta Twum, therefore, appealed to parents and teachers to live up to their responsibilities to reverse the trend.
He dwelt on other areas such as health, agriculture, and said the assembly had taken the necessary steps that would improve the lot of the people in the area, and appealed to the assembly members for support in that direction.
ABURI TO GET WATER BY END OF MONTH (BACK PAGE, NOV 11)
WORK on a major mechanised borehole water project to drastically ease the perennial water problem in Aburi and its surrounding areas will be completed by the end of the month.
The project, which is a temporary intervention ahead of a $71-million programme in the Eastern Region, will also improve water supply to Aburi town, Aburi Girls’ Senior High School and the Peduase Lodge.
A member of the Board of Directors of the Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL), Group Captain Michael S.K. Dordor (retd), who disclosed this when he led a delegation from the board on a tour of the project site, said the borehole project formed part of the government's commitment to end the water problem in the town and its surrounding areas.
The project, being financed by the GWCL at an initial cost of GH¢70,000, involves the mechanisation of boreholes, the construction of transmission mains from the boreholes to existing reservoirs, the construction of a borehole starter pump house and the connection of electricity to the pump house.
The delegation, which included Mr Arnold H.K. Seshie and Mr Moses Pecku, inspected progress of work on a borehole in Aburi and the Peduase Presidential Lodge following media reports of water shortage at the Aburi Secondary School.
Group Captain Dordor expressed delight at the progress and quality of work undertaken so far and urged the workers to complete the project on schedule.
He said contrary to earlier reports in sections of the media, there was no backwash of dirty water into the reservoir at Aburi.
Mr Michael Botse Baidoo, a project manager at GWCL, who guided the tour, told the board members that so far the borehole had been drilled and the construction of transmission pipelines to the reservoirs completed.
He noted that the project would be fully completed by the end of November when electricity would be connected to the starter pump house, adding that in the interim the GWCL had mounted a generator set to pump water from the borehole to give temporary relief to the people of Aburi.
At Aburi Girls’ High School, the headmistress said the school relied on a borehole for water supplied through tanker services.
She said the school owned one water tanker vehicle which it used, together with a few hired ones, to fetch water from the borehole and sometimes from far away Madina in Accra.
Group Captain Dordor, who was not happy with the poor water supply situation in the school, promised to direct the GWCL to offer free technical assistance in the detection and repair of leakage to help put back to use an abandoned underground reservoir in the school.
He expressed the hope that the mechanised borehole project would be completed on schedule to save the school from further hardship and disruption of academic work.
On the GH¢71 million project, he said both the Eastern and some parts of the Greater Accra regions would be beneficiaries as the government sought a permanent solution to the water problem in Aburi and its surrounding areas.
He said the contractors, Messrs Tahal Group BV and Tahal Consulting Engineers, had already commenced work on the project involving the construction of a treatment plant, transmission and distribution pipelines and reservoirs.
Group Captain Dordor said the project, known as the Accra-Tema Rural Water Supply System, was expected to be completed by the end of 2011 and it would benefit Aburi, the Peduase Lodge and over 80 towns in the Eastern and Greater Accra regions, especially those found on the Akuapem Ridge and the Accra Plains.
The project, which is a temporary intervention ahead of a $71-million programme in the Eastern Region, will also improve water supply to Aburi town, Aburi Girls’ Senior High School and the Peduase Lodge.
A member of the Board of Directors of the Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL), Group Captain Michael S.K. Dordor (retd), who disclosed this when he led a delegation from the board on a tour of the project site, said the borehole project formed part of the government's commitment to end the water problem in the town and its surrounding areas.
The project, being financed by the GWCL at an initial cost of GH¢70,000, involves the mechanisation of boreholes, the construction of transmission mains from the boreholes to existing reservoirs, the construction of a borehole starter pump house and the connection of electricity to the pump house.
The delegation, which included Mr Arnold H.K. Seshie and Mr Moses Pecku, inspected progress of work on a borehole in Aburi and the Peduase Presidential Lodge following media reports of water shortage at the Aburi Secondary School.
Group Captain Dordor expressed delight at the progress and quality of work undertaken so far and urged the workers to complete the project on schedule.
He said contrary to earlier reports in sections of the media, there was no backwash of dirty water into the reservoir at Aburi.
Mr Michael Botse Baidoo, a project manager at GWCL, who guided the tour, told the board members that so far the borehole had been drilled and the construction of transmission pipelines to the reservoirs completed.
He noted that the project would be fully completed by the end of November when electricity would be connected to the starter pump house, adding that in the interim the GWCL had mounted a generator set to pump water from the borehole to give temporary relief to the people of Aburi.
At Aburi Girls’ High School, the headmistress said the school relied on a borehole for water supplied through tanker services.
She said the school owned one water tanker vehicle which it used, together with a few hired ones, to fetch water from the borehole and sometimes from far away Madina in Accra.
Group Captain Dordor, who was not happy with the poor water supply situation in the school, promised to direct the GWCL to offer free technical assistance in the detection and repair of leakage to help put back to use an abandoned underground reservoir in the school.
He expressed the hope that the mechanised borehole project would be completed on schedule to save the school from further hardship and disruption of academic work.
On the GH¢71 million project, he said both the Eastern and some parts of the Greater Accra regions would be beneficiaries as the government sought a permanent solution to the water problem in Aburi and its surrounding areas.
He said the contractors, Messrs Tahal Group BV and Tahal Consulting Engineers, had already commenced work on the project involving the construction of a treatment plant, transmission and distribution pipelines and reservoirs.
Group Captain Dordor said the project, known as the Accra-Tema Rural Water Supply System, was expected to be completed by the end of 2011 and it would benefit Aburi, the Peduase Lodge and over 80 towns in the Eastern and Greater Accra regions, especially those found on the Akuapem Ridge and the Accra Plains.
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
ELECT CHIEF EXECUTIVES FOR ASSEMBLIES — DAASEBRE OTI BOATEN (PAGE 16, NOV 10)
THE Omanhene of the New Juaben Traditional Area, Daasebre Oti Boaten, has stated that unless metropolitan, municipal and district chief executives (MMDCEs) are elected, the country’s local government system would not yield the required results.
Daasebre Oti Boaten made the statement when he addressed a seminar on local governance, organised for members of parliamentary sub committees on Local Government and Rural Development, Subsidiary Legislation and Constitutional, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs at Koforidua over the weekend.
The seminar, which was funded by the German Technical Corporation (GTZ), was to broaden the horizon of the legislators to properly deal with local government issues that would be brought before Parliament.
According to the Omanhene the current local government system which empowered the President to appoint political heads for the metropolitan, municipal and districts assemblies had alienated such political heads from the people.
He said the most worrying aspect of the situation was that because such political heads were appointed by the President, they always operated in such a way that would please the President to maintain their positions instead of seeking the welfare of the people.
“He said the people would then have to decide whether to retain them or vote them out based on their performance and that would compel them to perform creditably”.
“We have to elect MMDCEs so that any of them who would not perform to the satisfaction of the people, would be kicked out through the ballot box,” Daasebre Oti Boaten stated.
“He asked, “If the President has been elected for four years to be accountable to the people, who will decide whether to re-elect him or not taking into consideration his performance, then why should the same not be applied to MMDCEs?”
The Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, Mr Joseph Yieleh Chireh, said Ghana had since 1988, been implementing comprehensive local government and decentralisation reforms as an alternative development strategy.
He said the decentralisation programme, which had been anchored on four inter-related areas, namely political, administrative and planning and fiscal had broadened the base of the decision-making process by providing MMDAs, civil society organisations and other stakeholders the enabling environment to provide opportunity for citizens to participate in local governance and the development process.
Mr Yieleh Chireh expressed the hope that the seminar would better prepare the MPs to deal with local government issues, and thanked the GTZ for its support.
In his welcoming address, the Eastern Regional Minister, Mr Samuel Ofosu-Ampofo, expressed regret that certain legislation had been passed by Parliament which had proven difficult and even impossible, to implement either because of policy clarity or failure of legislative drafting or both.
He mentioned legislation such as the Public Procurement Act, 2003, Act 663; Internal Audit Agency Act 2003 Act 658 and the Local Government Service Act 2003, Act 656, and was hopeful that the seminar would better prepare the legislators to deal with such issues.
Daasebre Oti Boaten made the statement when he addressed a seminar on local governance, organised for members of parliamentary sub committees on Local Government and Rural Development, Subsidiary Legislation and Constitutional, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs at Koforidua over the weekend.
The seminar, which was funded by the German Technical Corporation (GTZ), was to broaden the horizon of the legislators to properly deal with local government issues that would be brought before Parliament.
According to the Omanhene the current local government system which empowered the President to appoint political heads for the metropolitan, municipal and districts assemblies had alienated such political heads from the people.
He said the most worrying aspect of the situation was that because such political heads were appointed by the President, they always operated in such a way that would please the President to maintain their positions instead of seeking the welfare of the people.
“He said the people would then have to decide whether to retain them or vote them out based on their performance and that would compel them to perform creditably”.
“We have to elect MMDCEs so that any of them who would not perform to the satisfaction of the people, would be kicked out through the ballot box,” Daasebre Oti Boaten stated.
“He asked, “If the President has been elected for four years to be accountable to the people, who will decide whether to re-elect him or not taking into consideration his performance, then why should the same not be applied to MMDCEs?”
The Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, Mr Joseph Yieleh Chireh, said Ghana had since 1988, been implementing comprehensive local government and decentralisation reforms as an alternative development strategy.
He said the decentralisation programme, which had been anchored on four inter-related areas, namely political, administrative and planning and fiscal had broadened the base of the decision-making process by providing MMDAs, civil society organisations and other stakeholders the enabling environment to provide opportunity for citizens to participate in local governance and the development process.
Mr Yieleh Chireh expressed the hope that the seminar would better prepare the MPs to deal with local government issues, and thanked the GTZ for its support.
In his welcoming address, the Eastern Regional Minister, Mr Samuel Ofosu-Ampofo, expressed regret that certain legislation had been passed by Parliament which had proven difficult and even impossible, to implement either because of policy clarity or failure of legislative drafting or both.
He mentioned legislation such as the Public Procurement Act, 2003, Act 663; Internal Audit Agency Act 2003 Act 658 and the Local Government Service Act 2003, Act 656, and was hopeful that the seminar would better prepare the legislators to deal with such issues.
Sunday, November 8, 2009
NURSES ADVISED TO STAY AND WORK IN THE COUNTRY (PAGE 15, NOV 7)
THE Public Services International (PSI) Sub-regional Secretary for English-speaking East and West Africa, Madam Khadija Mohammed, has cautioned Ghanaian nurses against travelling abroad to seek greener pastures because it was not all that rosy in such countries.
She also asked them to take into consideration the welfare of their nuclear families, especially the children that they would leave behind, denying them of the needed parental care they need to grow up into useful citizens.
Madam Khadija Mohammed gave the caution at the launch of an information kit on the migration of women health workers at Koforidua.
The six-page document, which was jointly developed by the Health Services Workers Union (HSWU) of the TUC and the Ghana Registered Nurses Association (GRNA) in August last year, contains addresses of Ghana’s missions abroad and all the necessary information on the recruitment of health workers, especially nurses.
According to Madam Mohammed, although it was not wrong for Ghanaian health workers, especially nurses to travel outside to work and gain international exposure in order to perform better, the best thing for them to do was to return home after a few years’ stay to render services to Ghanaians.
She said although some of the migrant nurses had it easy getting jobs, others had to go through a lot of difficulties and so it was better for them to stay at home and support the trade union to improve their lot and improve healthcare service delivery in the country.
“Although some of the nurses practising in foreign countries succeed financially, their children normally grow up to be miscreants and liabilities to society”, she said.
The Project Officer of the Department of Union Development and International Solidarity, Madam Jennifer Lack, gave a harrowing account of the difficulties migrant health workers without the necessary travelling and working documents went through in African countries and advised Ghanaian health workers who intended going to such countries to be well prepared.
The Deputy General Secretary of the Trades Union Congress, Dr Anthony Baah, who launched the information kit, appealed to nurses and other health workers to support the union to fight for their rights to improve their lot instead of travelling abroad to seek greener pastures.
He appealed to nurses to be prepared to render their services in the rural areas where they were mostly needed.
The National Chairman of the Health Services Workers’ Union of the TUC, Reverend Richard Kwasi Yeboah, said a study conducted by the Nurses and Midwives Council from 2002 to 2005 revealed that nurses and midwives migrated to developed countries such as the United Kingdom and the United States due to poor salaries and working conditions at home, inadequate basic working materials and equipment, as well as lack of prospects for further professional development.
He said it was in that direction that the union had taken steps to address the issue and at the same time lobby the government and employers to sign far-reaching compensation agreements with employers of the receiving countries for the health human resource they poached.
Rev. Yeboah, who gave detailed account of what the union was doing to address the issue, stated that the rate at which nurses and other health professionals migrated to foreign countries had reduced due to improvement in their salary levels. Also some of them had been provided with private cars.
He expressed the hope that the necessary agreements would be reached between the Government and the receiving countries to enable Ghana to benefit from the labour of its working citizens abroad.
Earlier in his welcoming address, the General Secretary of the PSWU of the TUC, Mr Abu Kuntulo, called for a joint action to address the issue.
She also asked them to take into consideration the welfare of their nuclear families, especially the children that they would leave behind, denying them of the needed parental care they need to grow up into useful citizens.
Madam Khadija Mohammed gave the caution at the launch of an information kit on the migration of women health workers at Koforidua.
The six-page document, which was jointly developed by the Health Services Workers Union (HSWU) of the TUC and the Ghana Registered Nurses Association (GRNA) in August last year, contains addresses of Ghana’s missions abroad and all the necessary information on the recruitment of health workers, especially nurses.
According to Madam Mohammed, although it was not wrong for Ghanaian health workers, especially nurses to travel outside to work and gain international exposure in order to perform better, the best thing for them to do was to return home after a few years’ stay to render services to Ghanaians.
She said although some of the migrant nurses had it easy getting jobs, others had to go through a lot of difficulties and so it was better for them to stay at home and support the trade union to improve their lot and improve healthcare service delivery in the country.
“Although some of the nurses practising in foreign countries succeed financially, their children normally grow up to be miscreants and liabilities to society”, she said.
The Project Officer of the Department of Union Development and International Solidarity, Madam Jennifer Lack, gave a harrowing account of the difficulties migrant health workers without the necessary travelling and working documents went through in African countries and advised Ghanaian health workers who intended going to such countries to be well prepared.
The Deputy General Secretary of the Trades Union Congress, Dr Anthony Baah, who launched the information kit, appealed to nurses and other health workers to support the union to fight for their rights to improve their lot instead of travelling abroad to seek greener pastures.
He appealed to nurses to be prepared to render their services in the rural areas where they were mostly needed.
The National Chairman of the Health Services Workers’ Union of the TUC, Reverend Richard Kwasi Yeboah, said a study conducted by the Nurses and Midwives Council from 2002 to 2005 revealed that nurses and midwives migrated to developed countries such as the United Kingdom and the United States due to poor salaries and working conditions at home, inadequate basic working materials and equipment, as well as lack of prospects for further professional development.
He said it was in that direction that the union had taken steps to address the issue and at the same time lobby the government and employers to sign far-reaching compensation agreements with employers of the receiving countries for the health human resource they poached.
Rev. Yeboah, who gave detailed account of what the union was doing to address the issue, stated that the rate at which nurses and other health professionals migrated to foreign countries had reduced due to improvement in their salary levels. Also some of them had been provided with private cars.
He expressed the hope that the necessary agreements would be reached between the Government and the receiving countries to enable Ghana to benefit from the labour of its working citizens abroad.
Earlier in his welcoming address, the General Secretary of the PSWU of the TUC, Mr Abu Kuntulo, called for a joint action to address the issue.
Friday, November 6, 2009
FREE NIFORMS TO BE DISTRIBUTED SOON...To deprived communities (PAGE 11, NOV 6)
THE DISTRIBUTION of free school uniforms to children in communities which are most deprived will start soon.
The Vice-President, Mr John Dramani Mahama made this known in an address read on his behalf by the Deputy Minister of Transport, Mrs Dzifa Attivor to mark this year’s Abedru Festival for the people of Akrade in the Akwamu Traditional area in the Eastern Region.
According to the Vice -President, the clothes for the uniforms were being printed after which the dress makers would start sewing.
“We are on course in fulfilling our promise of increasing access to educational opportunities for our people and the government will soon start the distribution of free school uniforms to children of school age in the most deprived communities”, he stated.
“I am happy to announce that as I speak the uniforms are being printed and once that is done, the local dress makers will take care of the sewing of the uniforms,” Mr Mahama stated.
Teachers, Mr Mahama stated, would continue to be supported as well as educational institutions to improve their facilities.
On agriculture, he said, the Youth in Agriculture Programme would be pursued vigorously with ‘mouth-watering packages’ adding that the Aveyime Rice Project is now in place.
The Vice -President also assured the people of New Akrade that since their livelihood depended on the Volta Lake, the government would make travelling along the lake safe, adding that by the last quarter of 2010 work would begin to remove tree stumps from the lake and that the tree stump removal project would create jobs for the youth in the area.
Mr Mahama further told the gathering that the government was working closely with the Ghana Maritime Authority to secure more speed boats to enable the navy carry on with its patrol, especially on the lake.
He expressed his appreciation to the people of New Akrade for their tremendous support for the NDC during the 2008 elections which enabled the party to win the elections.
He, however, asked the people to put aside partisanship and unite to develop the town.
“Let me use this platform to thank you for your massive support for the NDC during the 2008 elections and I wish to add that the elections are over, the period for partisan politics are over and we must unite as one people for the area’s development”, the Vice-President said.
The Eastern Regional Minister, Mr Samuel Ofosu Ampofo who also spoke at the durbar expressed regret about the protracted Akwamu chieftancy dispute which had lasted for 18 years and said such an unfortunate development had polarised the Akwamu people, deprived them of an Omanhene and retarded the area’s development.
Mr Ofosu Ampofo, therefore appealed to the feuding factions to use the festival to bury their differences.
The Regional Minister commended the chief of New Akrade, Nana Okrukata V for establishing a GH¢250,000 educational fund to cater for needy students in the area.
Nana Okrukata expressed the hope that the educational fund would make it possible for many students of poor parentage to go to school and appealed for support from the regional administration and the Asuogyaman District Assembly.
He also appealed to the government to ensure that the Volta River Authority compensated all those whose lands had been submerged as a result of the creation of the Volta Lake, as well as return unused acquired lands to the owners.
The Vice-President, Mr John Dramani Mahama made this known in an address read on his behalf by the Deputy Minister of Transport, Mrs Dzifa Attivor to mark this year’s Abedru Festival for the people of Akrade in the Akwamu Traditional area in the Eastern Region.
According to the Vice -President, the clothes for the uniforms were being printed after which the dress makers would start sewing.
“We are on course in fulfilling our promise of increasing access to educational opportunities for our people and the government will soon start the distribution of free school uniforms to children of school age in the most deprived communities”, he stated.
“I am happy to announce that as I speak the uniforms are being printed and once that is done, the local dress makers will take care of the sewing of the uniforms,” Mr Mahama stated.
Teachers, Mr Mahama stated, would continue to be supported as well as educational institutions to improve their facilities.
On agriculture, he said, the Youth in Agriculture Programme would be pursued vigorously with ‘mouth-watering packages’ adding that the Aveyime Rice Project is now in place.
The Vice -President also assured the people of New Akrade that since their livelihood depended on the Volta Lake, the government would make travelling along the lake safe, adding that by the last quarter of 2010 work would begin to remove tree stumps from the lake and that the tree stump removal project would create jobs for the youth in the area.
Mr Mahama further told the gathering that the government was working closely with the Ghana Maritime Authority to secure more speed boats to enable the navy carry on with its patrol, especially on the lake.
He expressed his appreciation to the people of New Akrade for their tremendous support for the NDC during the 2008 elections which enabled the party to win the elections.
He, however, asked the people to put aside partisanship and unite to develop the town.
“Let me use this platform to thank you for your massive support for the NDC during the 2008 elections and I wish to add that the elections are over, the period for partisan politics are over and we must unite as one people for the area’s development”, the Vice-President said.
The Eastern Regional Minister, Mr Samuel Ofosu Ampofo who also spoke at the durbar expressed regret about the protracted Akwamu chieftancy dispute which had lasted for 18 years and said such an unfortunate development had polarised the Akwamu people, deprived them of an Omanhene and retarded the area’s development.
Mr Ofosu Ampofo, therefore appealed to the feuding factions to use the festival to bury their differences.
The Regional Minister commended the chief of New Akrade, Nana Okrukata V for establishing a GH¢250,000 educational fund to cater for needy students in the area.
Nana Okrukata expressed the hope that the educational fund would make it possible for many students of poor parentage to go to school and appealed for support from the regional administration and the Asuogyaman District Assembly.
He also appealed to the government to ensure that the Volta River Authority compensated all those whose lands had been submerged as a result of the creation of the Volta Lake, as well as return unused acquired lands to the owners.
Thursday, November 5, 2009
MANYA-KROBO CHIEFS BAN NOISE-MAKING (BACK PAGE, NOV 5)
THE Manya-Krobo Traditional Council has, with immediate effect, banned the use of musical instruments at funerals and during church services in any locality within the traditional area after 8:00p.m.
The Konor of Manya-Krobo, Nene Sakite II, who announced the ban, ordered sub-chiefs, Dademantsemei (heads of the smaller communities) in the area to seize such instruments to be deposited at the various police stations in the area, after which leaders of the affected churches and families would be severely dealt with.
Nene Sakite announced the ban when he addressed a durbar of chiefs and people of the area to mark this year’s Ngmayem festival of the people at Odumase-Krobo, the traditional capital.
The event, on the theme “Promoting our cultural diversity — Recipe for development”, was attended by all the divisional and sub-chiefs of the area, as well as such dignitaries as the Minister of Employment and Social Welfare, Mr Stephen Amoanor Quao, who is also the Member of Parliament for Upper Manya; the Eastern Regional Minister, Mr Samuel Ofosu Ampofo, and the Minister of Chieftaincy and Culture, Mr Alex Asum Ahensan.
According to Nene Sakite, solemn occasions such as funerals had now been turned into merry-making with the use of musical instruments and loudspeakers late into the night at weekends.
He said the situation had been compounded by some religious organisations, especially the Pentecostal and Charismatic churches, which also do the same almost everyday, making it difficult for people to sleep.
He ordered religious leaders and family heads not to play musical instruments after 8:00 p.m.
“I am a traditional leader and Christian who believe that funerals should be observed in a solemn manner, while church services must not also be conducted in a way that would disturb others, so the right thing must be done at all times,” Nene Sakite stated.
On agriculture, he said the area had a large tract of land, and called on the youth to go into farming to make a living.
With regard to low standard of education in the area, as a result of which some schools had been registering zero per cent passes at the Basic Examination Certificate Examination (BECE), Nene Sakite asked all stakeholders, especially teachers and parents to live up to their responsibility to reverse the trend.
The Konor of Manya-Krobo, Nene Sakite II, who announced the ban, ordered sub-chiefs, Dademantsemei (heads of the smaller communities) in the area to seize such instruments to be deposited at the various police stations in the area, after which leaders of the affected churches and families would be severely dealt with.
Nene Sakite announced the ban when he addressed a durbar of chiefs and people of the area to mark this year’s Ngmayem festival of the people at Odumase-Krobo, the traditional capital.
The event, on the theme “Promoting our cultural diversity — Recipe for development”, was attended by all the divisional and sub-chiefs of the area, as well as such dignitaries as the Minister of Employment and Social Welfare, Mr Stephen Amoanor Quao, who is also the Member of Parliament for Upper Manya; the Eastern Regional Minister, Mr Samuel Ofosu Ampofo, and the Minister of Chieftaincy and Culture, Mr Alex Asum Ahensan.
According to Nene Sakite, solemn occasions such as funerals had now been turned into merry-making with the use of musical instruments and loudspeakers late into the night at weekends.
He said the situation had been compounded by some religious organisations, especially the Pentecostal and Charismatic churches, which also do the same almost everyday, making it difficult for people to sleep.
He ordered religious leaders and family heads not to play musical instruments after 8:00 p.m.
“I am a traditional leader and Christian who believe that funerals should be observed in a solemn manner, while church services must not also be conducted in a way that would disturb others, so the right thing must be done at all times,” Nene Sakite stated.
On agriculture, he said the area had a large tract of land, and called on the youth to go into farming to make a living.
With regard to low standard of education in the area, as a result of which some schools had been registering zero per cent passes at the Basic Examination Certificate Examination (BECE), Nene Sakite asked all stakeholders, especially teachers and parents to live up to their responsibility to reverse the trend.
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
WEST AKYEM ASSEMBLY MEMBERS GO TO SCHOOL (PAGE 20, NOV 4)
A CAPACITY-BUILDING workshop to equip assembly members in the West Akyem Municipality with the requisite skills to properly manage the affairs of the people in their various communities, has ended at Asamankese.
Sunkwa Foundation, a local non-governmental organisation (NGO) organised the event with support from the German Development Services (GTZ).
Addressing the participants, the Deputy Eastern Regional Minister, Mr Baba Jamal, reminded the assembly members of their role of identifying the needs of their communities to be provided.
He expressed dissatisfaction at the unhealthy relations among some of the assembly members which retarded the progress of the municipality and called on them to unite for the total development of the area.
The Municipal Chief Executive, Mr Seth Otchere stressed the need for periodic training programmes for the assembly members to enable them to discharge their duties effectively.
The Municipal Co-ordinating Director, Mr Alex Obeng-Gyabaa took the participants through the topic: “The role of the assembly member in citizens’ participation in local governance” and said the involvement of the local people in decision making reduced alienation to ensure good governance.
He asked the assembly members to always organise communal labour, educate the people on their rights, privileges, obligations and responsibilities and also make recommendations on all matters that would affect their well-being.
The Municipal Planning Officer, Mr Augustine Mensah and the Regional Budget Officer, Mr Samuel Gyasi Abrowah, also took the participants through the topics: “Public procurement and contract processes at the district and municipal levels” and “Functional organisational assessment tool”.
Sunkwa Foundation, a local non-governmental organisation (NGO) organised the event with support from the German Development Services (GTZ).
Addressing the participants, the Deputy Eastern Regional Minister, Mr Baba Jamal, reminded the assembly members of their role of identifying the needs of their communities to be provided.
He expressed dissatisfaction at the unhealthy relations among some of the assembly members which retarded the progress of the municipality and called on them to unite for the total development of the area.
The Municipal Chief Executive, Mr Seth Otchere stressed the need for periodic training programmes for the assembly members to enable them to discharge their duties effectively.
The Municipal Co-ordinating Director, Mr Alex Obeng-Gyabaa took the participants through the topic: “The role of the assembly member in citizens’ participation in local governance” and said the involvement of the local people in decision making reduced alienation to ensure good governance.
He asked the assembly members to always organise communal labour, educate the people on their rights, privileges, obligations and responsibilities and also make recommendations on all matters that would affect their well-being.
The Municipal Planning Officer, Mr Augustine Mensah and the Regional Budget Officer, Mr Samuel Gyasi Abrowah, also took the participants through the topics: “Public procurement and contract processes at the district and municipal levels” and “Functional organisational assessment tool”.
NEWMONT ORGANISES QUIZ COMPETITION FOR SCHOOLS (PAGE 20, NOV 4)
NEWMONT Ghana Gold Limited, a multinational gold mining company currently prospecting for the mineral in the Akyem area, has organised a quiz competition for 16 junior high schools (JHS) in its operational areas.
The schoolchildren answered questions on the environment with specific reference to mining, mathematics, science and English language.
After a gruelling session of the event with the theme: “Socialising with our schools through learn and play” which lasted for about two hours, New Abirem Holy Child JSS claimed the ultimate prize and its representatives, Master Richard Boateng, Master Prosper Appiah Kubi and Master Tettey Bismarck were given school bags filled with educational materials all provided by Newmont.
The school was also given five ‘T’ shirts and a gift voucher of GH¢600 donated by Global Institute of Business and Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Studies to fund the training of the contestants in ICT, as well as a trophy, certificate of distinction and a 21-inch television set.
Afosu Roman Catholic JSS took the second place and the contestants, Master Samuel Ofosu, Miss Ernestina Nartey and Master Koranteng Frempong, also had school bags stocked with educational materials.
The school also got five ‘T’ shirts and GH¢600 donated by Global Institute of Business and ICT Studies to sponsor the training of the school’s contesting team in ICT.
New Abirem JHS ‘A’ claimed the third position and their three contestants, Master Bright Asare, Miss Paulina Adjetey and Master Gabriele Asare had files filled with educational materials while their school had a certificate.
Afosu Local Authority JHS which secured the fourth position, had a certificate and its representatives, Master Evans Somuah, Master Isaac Awuni and Miss Jennifer Boateng had files filled with educational materials.
Pupils of all the 16 participating schools were also presented with exercise books and pens, while the teachers who led them had ‘T’ shirts.
The General Manager of the Newmont Akyem Project, Dr Helen Macdonald who addressed the contestants, said the event formed part of the company’s school engagement programme which started in 2005.
Dr Macdonald said the programme which was to encourage the pupils and students to take to mining as a career, also provided a better understanding of the company’s activities in the communities in the operational areas, particularly in respect of environmental control measures instituted by Newmont.
She expressed the company’s appreciation to the heads of the schools which participated in the competition and the Birim North District Directorate of Education, for providing technical support.
The District Director of Education, Mr Christian Eric Attakorah deplored the poor performance of the contestants in mathematics.
He said in view of the situation, heads of all junior high schools in the district would have to go for a special course on methodology in mathematics in order to train teachers they supervise.
The schoolchildren answered questions on the environment with specific reference to mining, mathematics, science and English language.
After a gruelling session of the event with the theme: “Socialising with our schools through learn and play” which lasted for about two hours, New Abirem Holy Child JSS claimed the ultimate prize and its representatives, Master Richard Boateng, Master Prosper Appiah Kubi and Master Tettey Bismarck were given school bags filled with educational materials all provided by Newmont.
The school was also given five ‘T’ shirts and a gift voucher of GH¢600 donated by Global Institute of Business and Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Studies to fund the training of the contestants in ICT, as well as a trophy, certificate of distinction and a 21-inch television set.
Afosu Roman Catholic JSS took the second place and the contestants, Master Samuel Ofosu, Miss Ernestina Nartey and Master Koranteng Frempong, also had school bags stocked with educational materials.
The school also got five ‘T’ shirts and GH¢600 donated by Global Institute of Business and ICT Studies to sponsor the training of the school’s contesting team in ICT.
New Abirem JHS ‘A’ claimed the third position and their three contestants, Master Bright Asare, Miss Paulina Adjetey and Master Gabriele Asare had files filled with educational materials while their school had a certificate.
Afosu Local Authority JHS which secured the fourth position, had a certificate and its representatives, Master Evans Somuah, Master Isaac Awuni and Miss Jennifer Boateng had files filled with educational materials.
Pupils of all the 16 participating schools were also presented with exercise books and pens, while the teachers who led them had ‘T’ shirts.
The General Manager of the Newmont Akyem Project, Dr Helen Macdonald who addressed the contestants, said the event formed part of the company’s school engagement programme which started in 2005.
Dr Macdonald said the programme which was to encourage the pupils and students to take to mining as a career, also provided a better understanding of the company’s activities in the communities in the operational areas, particularly in respect of environmental control measures instituted by Newmont.
She expressed the company’s appreciation to the heads of the schools which participated in the competition and the Birim North District Directorate of Education, for providing technical support.
The District Director of Education, Mr Christian Eric Attakorah deplored the poor performance of the contestants in mathematics.
He said in view of the situation, heads of all junior high schools in the district would have to go for a special course on methodology in mathematics in order to train teachers they supervise.
KWAHU SOUH TACKLES PROJECTS...In response to people's demand (PAGE 20, NOV 4)
UNTIL 2004, the Kwahu South District, covering a land area of 1,876 square kilometres with its capital at Mpraeso, was made up of two other political entities, the Kwahu West and Kwahu East Districts.
The large land size contained big towns such as Mpraeso, the district capital, Nkawkaw, a big commercial centre, Abetifi, Kwahu Tafo, Obo and Nkwatia, as well as numerous smaller communities with a total population of approximately 216,307 (2003 estimates).
Due to the large land size and population, it was almost impossible to provide most of the social amenities such as potable water, school buildings and roads for the numerous communities, although previous administrations since 1992 did the best in that respect.
It, therefore, became necessary to carve out two new districts, Kwahu West (2004) and Kwahu East (2007) from the mother district (Kwahu South), whose land area currently stands at 1,462 square kilometres with an estimated population of 82,240.
That initiative as expected, started to yield good results with the provision of more social amenities made up of big projects such as schools and construction and rehabilitation of roads that required heavy financial outlay.
The provision of these high-cost amenities which takes at least one, two or more years to complete, although necessary, were not the priority needs of the people.
They rather preferred the assembly to provide them with mini projects such as foot bridges, rehabilitation of hand-dug wells and clinics, or rehabilitation of schools which cost between GH¢2,500 and GH¢30,000 per project.
It is in this direction that on assumption of office, the District Chief Executive (DCE), Mr Joseph Omari decided to give priority to the construction of these small projects in many communities.
Some of the projects are a foot bridge over the Ntutuagya stream linking two different parts of Mpraeso, roofing and walling of wells to prevent the water from being polluted, which cost as low as GH¢2,000 per well.
Others are an Information and Communication Technology (ICT) centre with a library attached at Mpraeso, rehabilitation of the Twenedurase Community Clinic, cladding of the Roman Catholic primary school classroom blocks at Osubeng and Koranteng, 10 and eight-seater KVIP public places of convenience at Nketepa and Atuobi, respectively and the rehabilitation of a hand-dug well at Obo.
“The assembly is providing these minor facilities after consultation with the people in the affected communities and assembly members have been given the mandate to supervise construction work in the localities where a project cost less than GH¢5,000, to ensure their early completion”, Mr Omari stated.
According to the DCE, because the total development of the district could be achieved with the provision of other big projects such as the reconstruction or rehabilitation of roads, school buildings, the assembly with the support of the government and donor agencies such as DANIDA, had started some of such projects.
Some of the projects are the rehabilitation of the Mpraeso/Atibie town, the Bepong-Ntomeng, Asakraka-Asikam and the Obo-Aduamoa roads, all of which are being funded with part of the assembly’s share of the District Assemblies’ Common Fund under the Local Service Delivery and Governance Programme currently being supported by DANIDA.
Big projects in the education sector, including the rehabilitation of a number of junior and senior high schools, some of which have been completed and re-inaugurated.
The projects included the Atibie A.K. Islamic JHS and the Asuboni JHS all of which cost GH¢80,000 and funded by the Millennium Development Authority (MIDA), the Obo Anglican Primary and Bepong District Assembly Primary Schools and the Adawso JHS.
Sanitation is also being vigorously tackled with the clearing of heaps of refuse that had not been removed for years at Mpraeso, Atibie, Bepong and Asakraka.
The most significant aspect of the sanitation drive is the involvement of Zoomlion Ghana Limited which regularly sprays the affected areas, including slaughter houses which have also been provided with mosquito nets.
With regard to poverty alleviation, the assembly has decided to sponsor some students to the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) to study ceramics and allied disciplines, after which the assembly would set up a subsidiary company to be managed by the KNUST products to produce burnt bricks and blocks on a large-scale for the building industry at either Obomeng or Bisease which have large deposits of clay.
It is expected that the engagement of the youth in bricks and blocks production, as well as in ceramics will go a long way in reducing unemployment in the area.
Farming is being boosted and some farmers, some of who supply foodstuffs for senior high schools in the area are being assisted by the Millennium Development Agency (MIDA) in capacity building and loans, particularly in irrigation.
Already, a lot of young men have taken the opportunity to engage in large-scale pepper cultivation at Akwasiho, one of the major farming communities.
Tourism is another sector that the assembly has decided to tackle because the picturesque landscape of the district (it contains most of the mountains on the Kwahu Scarps) has made it a tourist destination.
One of the mountains, the Odwen Anoma is noted for paragliding with seasoned paragliders from countries such as South Africa , the United States, Canada and France, demonstrating their skills during the Easter period, is to be further developed with modern receptive and recreational centres.
This is because the sport had put the area and Ghana on the world tourism map.
Other facilities to be improved with receptive facilities are the beautiful rocks with the formation of a crocodile at Amate, waterfalls at Obomeng, Kwahu Amanfrom and Oworobong as well as the historic route from Nkawkaw to the top of the mountains through which the Kwahus migrated from the Asante Kingdom centuries ago.
With the completion of most of the social amenities, the development of the tourist attractions and the empowerment of the people to generate more income for their livelihood to reduce poverty, it is expected that the area would in the next few years not only be one of the best in terms of social amenities, but also a tourist haven in the country.
The large land size contained big towns such as Mpraeso, the district capital, Nkawkaw, a big commercial centre, Abetifi, Kwahu Tafo, Obo and Nkwatia, as well as numerous smaller communities with a total population of approximately 216,307 (2003 estimates).
Due to the large land size and population, it was almost impossible to provide most of the social amenities such as potable water, school buildings and roads for the numerous communities, although previous administrations since 1992 did the best in that respect.
It, therefore, became necessary to carve out two new districts, Kwahu West (2004) and Kwahu East (2007) from the mother district (Kwahu South), whose land area currently stands at 1,462 square kilometres with an estimated population of 82,240.
That initiative as expected, started to yield good results with the provision of more social amenities made up of big projects such as schools and construction and rehabilitation of roads that required heavy financial outlay.
The provision of these high-cost amenities which takes at least one, two or more years to complete, although necessary, were not the priority needs of the people.
They rather preferred the assembly to provide them with mini projects such as foot bridges, rehabilitation of hand-dug wells and clinics, or rehabilitation of schools which cost between GH¢2,500 and GH¢30,000 per project.
It is in this direction that on assumption of office, the District Chief Executive (DCE), Mr Joseph Omari decided to give priority to the construction of these small projects in many communities.
Some of the projects are a foot bridge over the Ntutuagya stream linking two different parts of Mpraeso, roofing and walling of wells to prevent the water from being polluted, which cost as low as GH¢2,000 per well.
Others are an Information and Communication Technology (ICT) centre with a library attached at Mpraeso, rehabilitation of the Twenedurase Community Clinic, cladding of the Roman Catholic primary school classroom blocks at Osubeng and Koranteng, 10 and eight-seater KVIP public places of convenience at Nketepa and Atuobi, respectively and the rehabilitation of a hand-dug well at Obo.
“The assembly is providing these minor facilities after consultation with the people in the affected communities and assembly members have been given the mandate to supervise construction work in the localities where a project cost less than GH¢5,000, to ensure their early completion”, Mr Omari stated.
According to the DCE, because the total development of the district could be achieved with the provision of other big projects such as the reconstruction or rehabilitation of roads, school buildings, the assembly with the support of the government and donor agencies such as DANIDA, had started some of such projects.
Some of the projects are the rehabilitation of the Mpraeso/Atibie town, the Bepong-Ntomeng, Asakraka-Asikam and the Obo-Aduamoa roads, all of which are being funded with part of the assembly’s share of the District Assemblies’ Common Fund under the Local Service Delivery and Governance Programme currently being supported by DANIDA.
Big projects in the education sector, including the rehabilitation of a number of junior and senior high schools, some of which have been completed and re-inaugurated.
The projects included the Atibie A.K. Islamic JHS and the Asuboni JHS all of which cost GH¢80,000 and funded by the Millennium Development Authority (MIDA), the Obo Anglican Primary and Bepong District Assembly Primary Schools and the Adawso JHS.
Sanitation is also being vigorously tackled with the clearing of heaps of refuse that had not been removed for years at Mpraeso, Atibie, Bepong and Asakraka.
The most significant aspect of the sanitation drive is the involvement of Zoomlion Ghana Limited which regularly sprays the affected areas, including slaughter houses which have also been provided with mosquito nets.
With regard to poverty alleviation, the assembly has decided to sponsor some students to the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) to study ceramics and allied disciplines, after which the assembly would set up a subsidiary company to be managed by the KNUST products to produce burnt bricks and blocks on a large-scale for the building industry at either Obomeng or Bisease which have large deposits of clay.
It is expected that the engagement of the youth in bricks and blocks production, as well as in ceramics will go a long way in reducing unemployment in the area.
Farming is being boosted and some farmers, some of who supply foodstuffs for senior high schools in the area are being assisted by the Millennium Development Agency (MIDA) in capacity building and loans, particularly in irrigation.
Already, a lot of young men have taken the opportunity to engage in large-scale pepper cultivation at Akwasiho, one of the major farming communities.
Tourism is another sector that the assembly has decided to tackle because the picturesque landscape of the district (it contains most of the mountains on the Kwahu Scarps) has made it a tourist destination.
One of the mountains, the Odwen Anoma is noted for paragliding with seasoned paragliders from countries such as South Africa , the United States, Canada and France, demonstrating their skills during the Easter period, is to be further developed with modern receptive and recreational centres.
This is because the sport had put the area and Ghana on the world tourism map.
Other facilities to be improved with receptive facilities are the beautiful rocks with the formation of a crocodile at Amate, waterfalls at Obomeng, Kwahu Amanfrom and Oworobong as well as the historic route from Nkawkaw to the top of the mountains through which the Kwahus migrated from the Asante Kingdom centuries ago.
With the completion of most of the social amenities, the development of the tourist attractions and the empowerment of the people to generate more income for their livelihood to reduce poverty, it is expected that the area would in the next few years not only be one of the best in terms of social amenities, but also a tourist haven in the country.
Sunday, November 1, 2009
ASARE-LARTEY EYES EASTERN REGION NPP CHAIRMANSHIP (PAGE 14, OCT 31)
A FOUNDER member of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Mr Kofi Asare-Lartey, has decided to contest the Eastern Regional chairmanship of the party.
Mr Asare-Lartey, who is the incumbent NPP Chairman for the Fanteakwa Constituency, had since 1992 been a member of the constituency executive.
He made his intention known in an interview in Koforidua last Wednesday and said he had decided to assume the regional chairmanship position to unite the rank and file of the party in the region and mobilise the people to rally behind the NPP for a resounding victory in the 2012 general election.
He said although the Eastern Region had been a strong base of the NPP where it obtained 70 per cent of the presidential votes in the 2000 elections, it registered only 56 per cent of the presidential votes in the 2008 elections, adding that that must be reversed.
According to Mr Asare-Lartey, that could only be accomplished with unity, dedication and commitment on the part of the rank and file of the party in the region, adding that his long experience as a constituency executive had positioned him well to lead the party in the region for a resounding victory at the 2012 polls.
In an answer to a question as to what he would do to ensure victory at the 2012 polls, he said he would actively involve all the five polling station executives in every polling station and the party’s electoral co-ordinators to spread the good messages of the party to increase its support base.
He also pledged to support and help resource the party’s foot soldiers to penetrate the communities to drum home the need to bring back the NPP to continue with its good policies which were jettisoned when the party lost the 2008 elections.
He added that the party already had the region as its stronghold, saying that the only thing to do was to increase its presidential votes to clinch victory.
“The region, like Ashanti, is a stronghold of the party and we won almost all the parliamentary seats in past elections. Our only problem is to increase the presidential votes to enable whoever is elected the flag bearer to be victorious in the 2012 elections,” Mr Asare-Lartey stated.
Mr Asare-Lartey called on all members and supporters of the NPP in the region to give him the mandate to lead the NPP.
Mr Asare-Lartey, who is the incumbent NPP Chairman for the Fanteakwa Constituency, had since 1992 been a member of the constituency executive.
He made his intention known in an interview in Koforidua last Wednesday and said he had decided to assume the regional chairmanship position to unite the rank and file of the party in the region and mobilise the people to rally behind the NPP for a resounding victory in the 2012 general election.
He said although the Eastern Region had been a strong base of the NPP where it obtained 70 per cent of the presidential votes in the 2000 elections, it registered only 56 per cent of the presidential votes in the 2008 elections, adding that that must be reversed.
According to Mr Asare-Lartey, that could only be accomplished with unity, dedication and commitment on the part of the rank and file of the party in the region, adding that his long experience as a constituency executive had positioned him well to lead the party in the region for a resounding victory at the 2012 polls.
In an answer to a question as to what he would do to ensure victory at the 2012 polls, he said he would actively involve all the five polling station executives in every polling station and the party’s electoral co-ordinators to spread the good messages of the party to increase its support base.
He also pledged to support and help resource the party’s foot soldiers to penetrate the communities to drum home the need to bring back the NPP to continue with its good policies which were jettisoned when the party lost the 2008 elections.
He added that the party already had the region as its stronghold, saying that the only thing to do was to increase its presidential votes to clinch victory.
“The region, like Ashanti, is a stronghold of the party and we won almost all the parliamentary seats in past elections. Our only problem is to increase the presidential votes to enable whoever is elected the flag bearer to be victorious in the 2012 elections,” Mr Asare-Lartey stated.
Mr Asare-Lartey called on all members and supporters of the NPP in the region to give him the mandate to lead the NPP.
JUNIOR POLICE PERSONNEL ATTEND CAPACITY COURSE (PAGE 25, OCT 31)
A TWO-WEEK capacity building course organised by the Police Administration to sharpen the skills of the junior ranks in the Ghana Police Service has ended at the Eastern Regional capital, Koforidua.
It was attended by 150 constables, lance corporals and corporals drawn from various parts of the country.
In an address read on behalf of the Director-General in charge of Human Development of the service, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCOP) Mrs Joana Osei Poku, the Deputy Eastern Regional Police Commander, Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) K. Dwamena-Yeboah reminded the participants to avoid indiscriminate arrests and detentions as well as all forms of inhuman treatment of suspects.
That, she said, would guarantee the rights of the citizenry and win them the confidence of the people.
DCOP Osei Poku said modern policing demanded partnership with the public to solve the problems within the community.
She stressed the need for the police to analyse problems and take actions that would enable the people in the community support the police in fighting crime.
DCOP Osei Poku asked the participants to be courteous, fair but firm in the course of their duties.
She expressed the hope that they would share the knowledge acquired with their colleagues.
The course prefect, Lance Corporal Issahaku M. Amadu, said the course had been very beneficial since it had positioned them to deal with any situation in the course of their duties.
On behalf of his colleagues, Lance Corporal Amadu expressed gratitude to the Inspector General of Police and all the police officers who helped to make the course a success.
He, however, appealed to the Police Administration to consider shifting afternoon parades to the mornings.
It was attended by 150 constables, lance corporals and corporals drawn from various parts of the country.
In an address read on behalf of the Director-General in charge of Human Development of the service, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCOP) Mrs Joana Osei Poku, the Deputy Eastern Regional Police Commander, Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) K. Dwamena-Yeboah reminded the participants to avoid indiscriminate arrests and detentions as well as all forms of inhuman treatment of suspects.
That, she said, would guarantee the rights of the citizenry and win them the confidence of the people.
DCOP Osei Poku said modern policing demanded partnership with the public to solve the problems within the community.
She stressed the need for the police to analyse problems and take actions that would enable the people in the community support the police in fighting crime.
DCOP Osei Poku asked the participants to be courteous, fair but firm in the course of their duties.
She expressed the hope that they would share the knowledge acquired with their colleagues.
The course prefect, Lance Corporal Issahaku M. Amadu, said the course had been very beneficial since it had positioned them to deal with any situation in the course of their duties.
On behalf of his colleagues, Lance Corporal Amadu expressed gratitude to the Inspector General of Police and all the police officers who helped to make the course a success.
He, however, appealed to the Police Administration to consider shifting afternoon parades to the mornings.
KPETEKPLEY OLOGO VI TO BE BURIED DEC 5 (OCT 31, SPREAD)
THE late Paramount Chief of Yilo Krobo, Kpetekpley Narh Dautey Ologo VI, who died on May 7, this year, would be laid to rest at Somanya, the traditional capital on December 5, this year.
The acting President of the Yilo Krobo Traditional Council, Osayem Tetteh Odorkor Tuumeh, made this known when he addressed a press conference in Somanya yesterday.
The press conference, which was also attended by Nana Korlekuo Adjado, the Queen of Yilo Krobo, as well as sub-chiefs and elders of the traditional area, was to officially announce to the people the final funeral rites for Kpetekpley Dautey Ologo, who, until his death, was also the President of the Eastern Regional House of Chiefs.
According to Osayem Tuumeh, the activities would cover 15 days, starting from December 1, on which citizens of Yilo Krobo, both in Ghana and abroad, would be expected to undertake a homeward journey to Somanya.
He said on the next day, December 2, the body of Kpetekpley Ologo would be sent to Somanya to lie in state on December 3 and December 4 before interment on December 5.
Osayem Tuumeh said the final funeral rites for the departed paramount chief would then begin from December 6 to 15. He invited Yilo Krobo citizens, both at home and abroad, as well as Ghanaians, to be in Somanya to give the late chief a befitting royal farewell.
The late Kpetekpley Ologo, known in private life as Cephas Kwame Narh, was born on October 10, 1937 at Akyem Maase to Emmanuel Kwame Dawutey and Sarah Dede Yomor, both of blessed memory from the Sra Langmasi Royal Clan of Yilo Krobo.
He had his basic education at the Maase Methodist School between 1943 and 1952 and then continued to the Government Secondary/Technical School, Takoradi, between 1953 and 1957.
His outstanding performance at the Sixth Form in the school earned him an appointment as Mathematics tutor in the same school, during which he had government scholarship in 1963 to study electrical engineering at the Prague Technical University in the then Czechoslovakia, where he obtained BSc. and MSc. degrees in Electrical Engineering.
Between 1970 and 1972, he moved to Germany, where he specialised in Hospital Engineering and obtained his postgraduate qualification in that field.
On June 23, 1972, he returned to Ghana and took appointment at the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital as maintenance engineer.
In 1972, Cephas Kwame Narh married the Grace Boabeng, with whom he had three sons, Maxwell Narh, Alexander Padi and Michael Edward Narh.
He was enstooled Konor of Yilo Krobo in 1978 under the stool name of Kpetekpley Narh Dawutey Ologo V1 to succeed Nene Padi Keteku Akrobetu III.
Some of his achievements were the formation of the Yilo Krobo State Council in 1990, renovation of the palace of the paramountcy, promotion of the Kloyosikplemi festival and the development of the Boti Falls as a tourist attraction.
Positions he held included vice-president and president of the Eastern Regional House of Chiefs, member of the National House of Chiefs, chairman of the Research Committee of the Eastern Regional House of Chiefs and member of the National House of Chiefs Research Committee.
Kpetekpley Ologo was also a member of the Eastern Regional Co-ordinating Council, the Eastern Regional Lands Commission as well as the Eastern Regional AIDS Commission.
The acting President of the Yilo Krobo Traditional Council, Osayem Tetteh Odorkor Tuumeh, made this known when he addressed a press conference in Somanya yesterday.
The press conference, which was also attended by Nana Korlekuo Adjado, the Queen of Yilo Krobo, as well as sub-chiefs and elders of the traditional area, was to officially announce to the people the final funeral rites for Kpetekpley Dautey Ologo, who, until his death, was also the President of the Eastern Regional House of Chiefs.
According to Osayem Tuumeh, the activities would cover 15 days, starting from December 1, on which citizens of Yilo Krobo, both in Ghana and abroad, would be expected to undertake a homeward journey to Somanya.
He said on the next day, December 2, the body of Kpetekpley Ologo would be sent to Somanya to lie in state on December 3 and December 4 before interment on December 5.
Osayem Tuumeh said the final funeral rites for the departed paramount chief would then begin from December 6 to 15. He invited Yilo Krobo citizens, both at home and abroad, as well as Ghanaians, to be in Somanya to give the late chief a befitting royal farewell.
The late Kpetekpley Ologo, known in private life as Cephas Kwame Narh, was born on October 10, 1937 at Akyem Maase to Emmanuel Kwame Dawutey and Sarah Dede Yomor, both of blessed memory from the Sra Langmasi Royal Clan of Yilo Krobo.
He had his basic education at the Maase Methodist School between 1943 and 1952 and then continued to the Government Secondary/Technical School, Takoradi, between 1953 and 1957.
His outstanding performance at the Sixth Form in the school earned him an appointment as Mathematics tutor in the same school, during which he had government scholarship in 1963 to study electrical engineering at the Prague Technical University in the then Czechoslovakia, where he obtained BSc. and MSc. degrees in Electrical Engineering.
Between 1970 and 1972, he moved to Germany, where he specialised in Hospital Engineering and obtained his postgraduate qualification in that field.
On June 23, 1972, he returned to Ghana and took appointment at the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital as maintenance engineer.
In 1972, Cephas Kwame Narh married the Grace Boabeng, with whom he had three sons, Maxwell Narh, Alexander Padi and Michael Edward Narh.
He was enstooled Konor of Yilo Krobo in 1978 under the stool name of Kpetekpley Narh Dawutey Ologo V1 to succeed Nene Padi Keteku Akrobetu III.
Some of his achievements were the formation of the Yilo Krobo State Council in 1990, renovation of the palace of the paramountcy, promotion of the Kloyosikplemi festival and the development of the Boti Falls as a tourist attraction.
Positions he held included vice-president and president of the Eastern Regional House of Chiefs, member of the National House of Chiefs, chairman of the Research Committee of the Eastern Regional House of Chiefs and member of the National House of Chiefs Research Committee.
Kpetekpley Ologo was also a member of the Eastern Regional Co-ordinating Council, the Eastern Regional Lands Commission as well as the Eastern Regional AIDS Commission.
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