Zoomlion Ghana Limited, a waste management company, last Saturday organised a clean–up exercise in the New Juaben Municipality.
The exercise, the biggest of its kind in the area in recent times, brought together workers from the company and personnel from the Fire and Police service led by the Municipal Police Commander, Superintendent John Naami. Personnel were supplied with the necessary equipment by Zoomlion to clear choked drainage, gutters and places where public functions are held.
These included the Jackson Park, the Central Police Station, the business area and the Residency.
After the exercise, the Eastern Regional Operational Director of Zoomlion, Mr Ernest Kusi told the press that although his outfit had been clearing the area of filth daily, it decided to do it on a large scale by supplying refuse collection equipment to personnel of the Police service, Fire Service and the assembly to cover a wide area in the municipality.
This, he said, was in line with a call from President John Evans Atta Mills for a clean environment especially in the metropolises and municipalities, which contained a large number of people with the attendant environmental challenges.
“As a waste management company, we have to respond to the call from the President for a clean environment, especially in the metropolitan and municipal areas where the people are so many and generate a lot of refuse, which should be regularly disposed,” Mr Kusi stated.
Mr Kusi, who asked the people to use the company’s numerous refuse bins placed at vantage points in the municipality, said that was the only way the area would be clean at all times.
He, however, gave the assurance that his outfit would continue with its daily exercises in the municipality and other parts of the region.
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Friday, February 6, 2009
FARMERS NETWORK CALLS FOR READY MARKET (PAGE 22)
A FOUR-Day annual general meeting of the Farmers Organisation Network in Ghana (FONG), a body comprising small-scale farmers in the country, ended at Koforidua with a call on the government and other bodies to assist farmers have ready market for their produce.
The meeting, which was funded by Agritera of Belgium, a body dedicated to the welfare of small-scale farmers in developing countries, was attended by 120 delegates mostly women from the region and other parts of the country.
Also present were representatives from other farmers’ organisations such as the Ghana National Association of Farmers and Fishers (GNAF), Association of Peasant Farmers of Ghana (APFOG) and Peasant Farmers Association of Ghana (PFAG).
At the meeting, the organisation’s previous year’s activities were discussed with the view of addressing the numerous problems facing members.
In his address, the President of FONG, Dr King David Amoah, said although small- scale farmers produced the chunk of the country’s food requirement, numerous problems such as unfavourable land tenure system, lack of finance and subsidy on farming inputs especially fertiliser, made them unable to expand their farms.
He said what was most worrying was the lack of ready market for perishable farm produce, and called on all stakeholders for assistance.
A senior official of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA), Mr Osei Owusu, who represented the Chief Director, advised the farmers to form groups to be assisted with processing machines to add value to their produce.
The Eastern Regional Agricultural Extension Officer, Mr Sam Allotey, stressed the need for relevant bodies as well as non governmental organisations to assist FONG stand firm.
Alhaji Nasiru Adams, president of PFAG, appealed to the farmers to always pay back the loans given them to enable others also to benefit from the facility .
The Queen of Dawu, Nana Manko Asumadu Sakyi, who graced the occasion, called for more assistance for female farmers.
Earlier, in an address, the National Coordinator of FONG, Madam Lydia Sasu, had given the assurance that the organisation would continue to strengthen the capacity of its members to boost their activities and improve their lot.
The meeting, which was funded by Agritera of Belgium, a body dedicated to the welfare of small-scale farmers in developing countries, was attended by 120 delegates mostly women from the region and other parts of the country.
Also present were representatives from other farmers’ organisations such as the Ghana National Association of Farmers and Fishers (GNAF), Association of Peasant Farmers of Ghana (APFOG) and Peasant Farmers Association of Ghana (PFAG).
At the meeting, the organisation’s previous year’s activities were discussed with the view of addressing the numerous problems facing members.
In his address, the President of FONG, Dr King David Amoah, said although small- scale farmers produced the chunk of the country’s food requirement, numerous problems such as unfavourable land tenure system, lack of finance and subsidy on farming inputs especially fertiliser, made them unable to expand their farms.
He said what was most worrying was the lack of ready market for perishable farm produce, and called on all stakeholders for assistance.
A senior official of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA), Mr Osei Owusu, who represented the Chief Director, advised the farmers to form groups to be assisted with processing machines to add value to their produce.
The Eastern Regional Agricultural Extension Officer, Mr Sam Allotey, stressed the need for relevant bodies as well as non governmental organisations to assist FONG stand firm.
Alhaji Nasiru Adams, president of PFAG, appealed to the farmers to always pay back the loans given them to enable others also to benefit from the facility .
The Queen of Dawu, Nana Manko Asumadu Sakyi, who graced the occasion, called for more assistance for female farmers.
Earlier, in an address, the National Coordinator of FONG, Madam Lydia Sasu, had given the assurance that the organisation would continue to strengthen the capacity of its members to boost their activities and improve their lot.
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
RELY ON GOD FOR PEACEFUL CO-EXISTENCE (PAGE 14)
THE Moderator of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana (PCG), the Rt Rev Dr Yaw Frempong-Manso, has said if President John Evans Atta Mills has attributed the peaceful nature of the recent general election to God, then Ghanaians should always rely on God for peaceful co-existence among the various ethnic groups.
That, he said, was necessary because a united Ghana would need peace for its development to improve the lives of the people.
The Rt Rev Dr Frempong-Manso made these remarks when he inaugurated an ultra-modern building with offices for the church at Nsukwao, a suburb of Koforidua.
The edifice, christened the Calvary Congregation, is the latest and one of the most modern church buildings to be constructed by the PCG in the Eastern Region.
The Rt Rev Dr Frempong-Manso stated that Ghanaians were one people and that was why God ensured that the elections came off peacefully, saying that since President Mills had acknowledged God’s hand in the peaceful conduct of the elections, then Ghanaians should always rely on God in whatever they did for the country to continue to have peace.
“If President Mills has said God made it possible for the elections to come off peacefully, then all of us should be grateful to God and conduct ourselves in such a way that the country will continue to have peace,” he stated.
The Moderator called on politicians to play their expected roles to ensure peace and the orderly development of the country.
Later in a sermon on the theme, “Jesus Has Authority Over Unclean Spirits”, the Rt Rev Dr Frempong-Manso cautioned Christians and Ghanaians as a whole not to have anything to do with demons, since such spirits could have a negative impact on one’s spiritual and physical well-being.
Basing his sermon on Deuteronomy 18:15-20, 1 Corinthians 8:1-13 and Mark 1:21-28, he said demons and all kinds of evil spirits exist, ready to destroy any person associating himself or herself with them, and that Christians should always rely on God, through Jesus Christ, in whatever they do.
“Many people, including some highly trained professionals, believe that demons do not exist, but they do, ready to destroy the lives of those who associate with them. But, as Christians, we are to rely on God through Jesus Christ for a happy life on earth and salvation,” the Rt Rev Dr Frempong-Manso told the congregation.
The Moderator, who commended the Calvary congregation for putting up the building, asked both the clergy and the laity to reach out to people within the community to draw them to Christ.
Rev Barima Appiah-Dankwa, who is in charge of the district, enumerated the difficulties encountered in putting up the edifice and said at the moment three new preaching points, namely, Kyeremakrom, Nyamekrom and Kwakyekrom, were to be administered under the Calvary Chapel.
Goodwill and fraternal messages were delivered by Rev Dr J.O.Y. Mantey, the Akuapem Presbytery Chairperson; Rev E. Ahenkora-Mensah, the District Minister for Effiduasi-Koforidua, and Rev Emmanuel Okyere Otu, the Chaplain of the Presbyterian Senior High School, Larteh, who is also the second minister in charge of the Samuel Otu Memorial Congregation.
A number of people, both the clergy and the laity, who contributed significantly to the construction of the new church building were also honoured.
That, he said, was necessary because a united Ghana would need peace for its development to improve the lives of the people.
The Rt Rev Dr Frempong-Manso made these remarks when he inaugurated an ultra-modern building with offices for the church at Nsukwao, a suburb of Koforidua.
The edifice, christened the Calvary Congregation, is the latest and one of the most modern church buildings to be constructed by the PCG in the Eastern Region.
The Rt Rev Dr Frempong-Manso stated that Ghanaians were one people and that was why God ensured that the elections came off peacefully, saying that since President Mills had acknowledged God’s hand in the peaceful conduct of the elections, then Ghanaians should always rely on God in whatever they did for the country to continue to have peace.
“If President Mills has said God made it possible for the elections to come off peacefully, then all of us should be grateful to God and conduct ourselves in such a way that the country will continue to have peace,” he stated.
The Moderator called on politicians to play their expected roles to ensure peace and the orderly development of the country.
Later in a sermon on the theme, “Jesus Has Authority Over Unclean Spirits”, the Rt Rev Dr Frempong-Manso cautioned Christians and Ghanaians as a whole not to have anything to do with demons, since such spirits could have a negative impact on one’s spiritual and physical well-being.
Basing his sermon on Deuteronomy 18:15-20, 1 Corinthians 8:1-13 and Mark 1:21-28, he said demons and all kinds of evil spirits exist, ready to destroy any person associating himself or herself with them, and that Christians should always rely on God, through Jesus Christ, in whatever they do.
“Many people, including some highly trained professionals, believe that demons do not exist, but they do, ready to destroy the lives of those who associate with them. But, as Christians, we are to rely on God through Jesus Christ for a happy life on earth and salvation,” the Rt Rev Dr Frempong-Manso told the congregation.
The Moderator, who commended the Calvary congregation for putting up the building, asked both the clergy and the laity to reach out to people within the community to draw them to Christ.
Rev Barima Appiah-Dankwa, who is in charge of the district, enumerated the difficulties encountered in putting up the edifice and said at the moment three new preaching points, namely, Kyeremakrom, Nyamekrom and Kwakyekrom, were to be administered under the Calvary Chapel.
Goodwill and fraternal messages were delivered by Rev Dr J.O.Y. Mantey, the Akuapem Presbytery Chairperson; Rev E. Ahenkora-Mensah, the District Minister for Effiduasi-Koforidua, and Rev Emmanuel Okyere Otu, the Chaplain of the Presbyterian Senior High School, Larteh, who is also the second minister in charge of the Samuel Otu Memorial Congregation.
A number of people, both the clergy and the laity, who contributed significantly to the construction of the new church building were also honoured.
Monday, February 2, 2009
BLUEPRINT FOR MILLS.. Economic think-tank at work at Akosombo (LEAD STORY, JAN 30)
MEMBERS of the government’s economic management team and a group of experts have begun a three-day retreat at Akosombo, to design an economic blueprint for the four-year tenure of President John Evans Atta Mills.
Addressing the group at the opening of the programme yesterday, President Mills called for a fiscal policy that would support the country’s financial and development agenda for the next four years and beyond.
He said such a proposal should take into consideration the world economic and development strategies that could deliver the promises contained in the National Democratic Congress (NDC) manifesto.
He tasked the think tank to ensure that this year’s budget statement and fiscal policy covered not only the country’s financial and development agenda for the year but for the government’s entire first four-year term and beyond.
Such a budget proposal, he said, should take into consideration the country’s broad economic development strategies.
The four-day meeting is being attended by economic experts drawn from the various sectors of the economy, as well as from the other political parties, to examine the country’s economic situation with the view of coming out with a budget and financial policy that would address inherent problems for the growth of the economy.
The President said although the country’s development agenda would be based on the manifesto of the NDC, since his administration was for all Ghanaians, the aspirations of the other sections of the population as captured in the manifestos of the other political parties also required evaluation.
He said if such aspirations were found positive, complimentary and serving the wider course of the country’s development, they would be fused into the broader development agenda, adding, “My concept of inclusiveness includes human capital, intellectual resource and tested ideas.”
The President also stated that as the country searched for a compact and responsive financial and development programme based on the social democratic values of the NDC, the meeting should also pay significant attention to the values of justifiable continuity.
In that respect, President Mills suggested to the gathering that policies and programmes initiated by the NPP and were currently in the pipeline that supported positive national development must be thoroughly reviewed, preserved and made additional to the new initiatives that they would like to recommend.
President Mills further stated that all hands should be on deck, the reason for which not only card-bearing members of the NDC had been assembled for the job but also people from the other political parties, academia and industry, and explained that the purpose for such co-operation was to begin the formation of an alliance of patriotic partners to help drive the national development programme.
He gave the assurance that sections of the Ghanaian community not represented at the meeting would be called to join in subsequent exercises.
According to President Mills, the task ahead would not be easy looking at the economic difficulties that had been identified and that the budget must promote the private sector, make it possible for the new-found oil deposits to be exploited in such a way that would support the economy and also improve the living condition of the people.
The budget, according to him, must also be tailored to meet the current global economic downturn.
A member of the Transition Team, Mr P.V. Obeng, said the gathering was to come out with a development programme that would last for at least four years.
President Mills later on his way to Accra stopped briefly at Atimpoku and Kpong where he was mobbed by a large crowd, mostly hawkers.
Addressing the group at the opening of the programme yesterday, President Mills called for a fiscal policy that would support the country’s financial and development agenda for the next four years and beyond.
He said such a proposal should take into consideration the world economic and development strategies that could deliver the promises contained in the National Democratic Congress (NDC) manifesto.
He tasked the think tank to ensure that this year’s budget statement and fiscal policy covered not only the country’s financial and development agenda for the year but for the government’s entire first four-year term and beyond.
Such a budget proposal, he said, should take into consideration the country’s broad economic development strategies.
The four-day meeting is being attended by economic experts drawn from the various sectors of the economy, as well as from the other political parties, to examine the country’s economic situation with the view of coming out with a budget and financial policy that would address inherent problems for the growth of the economy.
The President said although the country’s development agenda would be based on the manifesto of the NDC, since his administration was for all Ghanaians, the aspirations of the other sections of the population as captured in the manifestos of the other political parties also required evaluation.
He said if such aspirations were found positive, complimentary and serving the wider course of the country’s development, they would be fused into the broader development agenda, adding, “My concept of inclusiveness includes human capital, intellectual resource and tested ideas.”
The President also stated that as the country searched for a compact and responsive financial and development programme based on the social democratic values of the NDC, the meeting should also pay significant attention to the values of justifiable continuity.
In that respect, President Mills suggested to the gathering that policies and programmes initiated by the NPP and were currently in the pipeline that supported positive national development must be thoroughly reviewed, preserved and made additional to the new initiatives that they would like to recommend.
President Mills further stated that all hands should be on deck, the reason for which not only card-bearing members of the NDC had been assembled for the job but also people from the other political parties, academia and industry, and explained that the purpose for such co-operation was to begin the formation of an alliance of patriotic partners to help drive the national development programme.
He gave the assurance that sections of the Ghanaian community not represented at the meeting would be called to join in subsequent exercises.
According to President Mills, the task ahead would not be easy looking at the economic difficulties that had been identified and that the budget must promote the private sector, make it possible for the new-found oil deposits to be exploited in such a way that would support the economy and also improve the living condition of the people.
The budget, according to him, must also be tailored to meet the current global economic downturn.
A member of the Transition Team, Mr P.V. Obeng, said the gathering was to come out with a development programme that would last for at least four years.
President Mills later on his way to Accra stopped briefly at Atimpoku and Kpong where he was mobbed by a large crowd, mostly hawkers.
THREE DIE IN ACCIDENT AT APEDWA JUNCTION (PAGE 14, JAN 29)
THREE persons died and six others sustained various degrees of injury when a Kia Sportage vehicle veered off the road and knocked them down at Apedwa Junction on the Kumasi-Accra Highway last Tuesday.
The vehicle, which was being driven by one Joe Adu with two others on board, was travelling from Kumasi to Accra.
The dead have been identified as Perpetual Dede, 7; Michael Akualo, 8, and Kwame Asare, 9.
The injured are Irene Agyeiwaa, 8; Elizabeth Nyaho, 36; Abena Gyamfua, 36; Abena Esther, 35; Isaac Asare, 21, and Mary Akyere, 5. They are on admission at the Suhum and Kyebi Government hospitals and are said to be responding to treatment.
The Commander of the Motor Traffic and Transport Unit (MTTU) in the Eastern Region, Superintendent James Sarfo Peprah, told the Daily Graphic that the victims were by the side of the road at Apedwa Junction when they were knocked down by the vehicle.
He said Perpetual, Michael and Kwame had sustained severe injuries and were pronounced dead on arrival at the hospital.
Supt Peprah, who said the police were conducting investigations into the tragedy, appealed to drivers to adhere to the speed limit of not more than 50 kilometres per hour within towns and villages along the highways.
The vehicle, which was being driven by one Joe Adu with two others on board, was travelling from Kumasi to Accra.
The dead have been identified as Perpetual Dede, 7; Michael Akualo, 8, and Kwame Asare, 9.
The injured are Irene Agyeiwaa, 8; Elizabeth Nyaho, 36; Abena Gyamfua, 36; Abena Esther, 35; Isaac Asare, 21, and Mary Akyere, 5. They are on admission at the Suhum and Kyebi Government hospitals and are said to be responding to treatment.
The Commander of the Motor Traffic and Transport Unit (MTTU) in the Eastern Region, Superintendent James Sarfo Peprah, told the Daily Graphic that the victims were by the side of the road at Apedwa Junction when they were knocked down by the vehicle.
He said Perpetual, Michael and Kwame had sustained severe injuries and were pronounced dead on arrival at the hospital.
Supt Peprah, who said the police were conducting investigations into the tragedy, appealed to drivers to adhere to the speed limit of not more than 50 kilometres per hour within towns and villages along the highways.
Sunday, February 1, 2009
AKUFO-ADDO GRATEFUL TO EASTERN REGION (PAGE 16, JAN 23)
THE presidential candidate of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) in the just-ended election, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, has expressed his appreciation to the people of the Eastern Region for voting massively for him during the election.
He said although most voters in the region supported him, as well as the NPP, the party lost the elections narrowly to the National Democratic Congress (NDC), and expressed the hope that the NPP would win back power in four years’ time.
Nana Akufo-Addo was addressing a large gathering of NPP supporters at the Jackson Park in Koforidua on Tuesday to thank the people in the region for their support during the elections.
He was accompanied by a large entourage of party heavyweights such as Messrs Yaw Osafo-Maafo, Jake Okanta Obetsebi-Lamptey, both former ministers of state in the Kufuor administration, Agyarko Kyeremanteng, who contested the NPP presidential slot with Nana Akufo-Addo; Mr Peter Mac Manu, National Chairman of the NPP, Nana Ohene Ntow, General Secretary, some outgoing municipal and district chief executives, as well as some NPP Members of Parliament in the region.
According to Nana Akufo-Addo, although the Electoral Commission (EC) declared him the loser with deficit of about 40,000 votes, he accepted the results in the interest of Ghana and as such did not do anything that would disturb the peace prevailing in the country.
He said what was needed was for the rank and file of the NPP, as well as its teeming supporters, not to apportion blame among themselves, but to be more united than before to win more sympathisers to its side for a resounding victory at the 2012 polls.
“The people in the Eastern Region, as usual, gave their massive support to the NPP, but we lost the elections narrowly and we should not blame anybody within our big family; stay united for a resounding victory in four years’ time,” Nana Akufo-Addo told the gathering to a thunderous applause.
Nana Akufo-Addo, who said he was happy that no blood was shed during the elections, added that the NPP would definitely take over from the NDC to continue with its good policies, explaining that it was only the NPP that had the capacity to improve the fortunes of Ghanaians.
Messrs Jake Obetsebi-Lamptey, Yaw Osafo-Maafo, Agyarko Kyeremanteng, Ohene Ntow, as well as other officials of the party, took turns to condemn some of the policies of the NDC. They said the NDC could not do anything to improve the lots of the people and gave the assurance that the NPP would, at all cost, kick out the NDC from power through the ballot box, after its first term.
He said although most voters in the region supported him, as well as the NPP, the party lost the elections narrowly to the National Democratic Congress (NDC), and expressed the hope that the NPP would win back power in four years’ time.
Nana Akufo-Addo was addressing a large gathering of NPP supporters at the Jackson Park in Koforidua on Tuesday to thank the people in the region for their support during the elections.
He was accompanied by a large entourage of party heavyweights such as Messrs Yaw Osafo-Maafo, Jake Okanta Obetsebi-Lamptey, both former ministers of state in the Kufuor administration, Agyarko Kyeremanteng, who contested the NPP presidential slot with Nana Akufo-Addo; Mr Peter Mac Manu, National Chairman of the NPP, Nana Ohene Ntow, General Secretary, some outgoing municipal and district chief executives, as well as some NPP Members of Parliament in the region.
According to Nana Akufo-Addo, although the Electoral Commission (EC) declared him the loser with deficit of about 40,000 votes, he accepted the results in the interest of Ghana and as such did not do anything that would disturb the peace prevailing in the country.
He said what was needed was for the rank and file of the NPP, as well as its teeming supporters, not to apportion blame among themselves, but to be more united than before to win more sympathisers to its side for a resounding victory at the 2012 polls.
“The people in the Eastern Region, as usual, gave their massive support to the NPP, but we lost the elections narrowly and we should not blame anybody within our big family; stay united for a resounding victory in four years’ time,” Nana Akufo-Addo told the gathering to a thunderous applause.
Nana Akufo-Addo, who said he was happy that no blood was shed during the elections, added that the NPP would definitely take over from the NDC to continue with its good policies, explaining that it was only the NPP that had the capacity to improve the fortunes of Ghanaians.
Messrs Jake Obetsebi-Lamptey, Yaw Osafo-Maafo, Agyarko Kyeremanteng, Ohene Ntow, as well as other officials of the party, took turns to condemn some of the policies of the NDC. They said the NDC could not do anything to improve the lots of the people and gave the assurance that the NPP would, at all cost, kick out the NDC from power through the ballot box, after its first term.
COURT TO HEAR AKWATIA ELECTORAL DISPUTE FRIDAY (PAGE 35, JAN 21)
A HIGH Court in Koforidua will from Friday, January 23 start hearing a case in which three parliamentary candidates for the Akwatia Constituency have filed a writ to compel the Electoral Commission (EC) to re-run the elections in all the polling stations in the constituency.
They are Baba Jamal Muhamed Ahmed of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Samuel Abrokwa and Basil Ahiable, both independent candidates.
The three contended that it was not only six polling stations that were fraught with malpractices during the 2008 elections, but the entire polling centres in the constituency and so the re-run should be held throughout the constituency.
The court, presided by Justice Surubarreh, after listening to arguments on the legality of the time frame on some aspects of the trial by Tony Lithur, lead counsel for Baba Jamal and E.O Armah who led a team of lawyers to represent the EC, adjourned the sitting to Friday.
Shortly after the adjournment, groups of people, some of whom were in political party ‘T’-shirts and standing in front of the court building, rained insults on one another, compelling policemen on duty to move in to put the situation under control.
It would be recalled that a group of people seized ballot boxes at six polling stations in the Akwatia Constituency during the elections, making it impossible to declare results in the constituency.
As a result of that, the EC had decided to re-run the elections only in the affected six polling stations, but the complainants want the court to order a re-run in all the 89 polling centres in the Akwatia Constituency.
They are Baba Jamal Muhamed Ahmed of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Samuel Abrokwa and Basil Ahiable, both independent candidates.
The three contended that it was not only six polling stations that were fraught with malpractices during the 2008 elections, but the entire polling centres in the constituency and so the re-run should be held throughout the constituency.
The court, presided by Justice Surubarreh, after listening to arguments on the legality of the time frame on some aspects of the trial by Tony Lithur, lead counsel for Baba Jamal and E.O Armah who led a team of lawyers to represent the EC, adjourned the sitting to Friday.
Shortly after the adjournment, groups of people, some of whom were in political party ‘T’-shirts and standing in front of the court building, rained insults on one another, compelling policemen on duty to move in to put the situation under control.
It would be recalled that a group of people seized ballot boxes at six polling stations in the Akwatia Constituency during the elections, making it impossible to declare results in the constituency.
As a result of that, the EC had decided to re-run the elections only in the affected six polling stations, but the complainants want the court to order a re-run in all the 89 polling centres in the Akwatia Constituency.
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