THE DEPUTY Eastern Regional Minister, Muhammed Ahmed Baba Jamal, has called on the media and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to intensify educational campaigns on negative cultural practices that contribute to the spread of HIV AIDS.
He said research had shown that by their biological nature, women were more prone to HIV infection than men when they engaged in unprotected sex, and that situation had been compounded due to a number of cultural practices and factors which militate against women’s rights.
Baba Jamal made the call when he addressed a public forum on HIV AIDS and violence against women in Koforidua. The event was organised by Ark Foundation, an NGO dedicated to the welfare of women and children.
He made reference to the widowhood rites that compelled widows to marry a relative of their deceased husband, the social norm that makes women submissive to men, as well as women’s inability to negotiate for safe sex, as some of the risk factors that exposed women to the virus.
He said such a culture had allowed men to take undue advantage of women in matters relating to sex and that had accounted for the spread of HIV, particularly among women.
The deputy regional minister expressed his appreciation about the role being played by the Domestic Violence and Victims Support Unit (DOVVSU) of the Ghana Police Service other law enforcing agencies, civil society groups, especially the Ark Foundation to address the issues.
The Eastern Regional Director of DOVVSU, Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP), Eunice Annor and Madam Hillary Gbedemah, a legal practitioner, took the gathering through the various aspects of domestic violence and how it related the spread of HIV.
Earlier, the Executive Director of the Ark Foundation, Madam Angela Dwamena Aboagye said her outfit would continue to organise advocacy programmes on the issues and also ensure the implementation of policies that would help address the problems.
This, she indicated had become necessary because a lot of women and children needed to be protected from domestic violence, as a positive step towards the HIV response programme.
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Monday, December 14, 2009
POLYTECHNICS MUST CONCENTRATE ON RESEARCH...Urges President Mills (PAGE 11, DEC 14)
PRESIDENT JOHN Evans Atta Mills has charged polytechnics in the country to concentrate on research, as well as the training of career-oriented human capital required for accelerated development.
He said that was critical because practical orientation of polytechnic training made it the primary avenue for the development of skills for business and industry.
The President also stressed the need for polytechnic education to be developed as a credible alternative to other forms of tertiary education focusing on the practical aspects of training of students.
The President made the remarks in an address read on his behalf by the Minister of Education, Mr Alex Tettey-Enyo, at the 7th congregation of the Koforidua Polytechnic at the weekend.
In all, 915 students, out of which 15 had first class honours graduated in various programmes at the Higher National Diploma (HND) level and were presented with certificates. The ceremony was attended by a number of dignitaries including the Eastern Regional Minister, Mr Samuel Ofosu Ampofo.
He emphasised that the Competency-Based Training (CBT) method being introduced into the polytechnics, including the Koforidua Polytechnic, would equip their products with entrepreneurial capacity to enable them to set up their own businesses to be employers rather than employees.
President Mills said it was in that respect that the government was fully resourcing the polytechnics, including the Koforidua Polytechnic which he said had been recently allocated GH¢1.4 million by the Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFund) for the construction of infrastructural amenities and development of the capacity of staff.
The President congratulated the graduates for their successes and advised them to look into the future with determination, and advised them to use the knowledge acquired to serve the nation and humanity in general.
The Rector of the polytechnic, Dr George Afrane, said the polytechnic, which was established in 1997 with a handful of students who studied Marketing, Purchasing and Supply now had a student population of 4,174 pursuing various programmes at various levels.
In addition, he said the polytechnic was running distance learning centres at Oda and Nkawkaw, and that it had planned to extend such centres to other towns in the region.
A long vacation programme, he said, was also being organised for workers within the New Juaben Municipality.
Dr Afrane who expressed satisfaction with the performance of the academic staff and the students, said such an achievement was due to the disciplinary measures instituted, and gave an assurance that the required security measures were being taken to ensure that its certificates which were being awarded internally would continue to be recognised as those of any other government tertiary educational institution in the country.
Earlier in his welcoming address, the Chairman of the Governing Council of the polytechnic, Nana Nkwantabisa lll said with the passage of the New Polytechnic Law 2007 (Act 745), the focus and the expected output from the polytechnics had received a new focus which demanded that drastic and concerted efforts on the part of all stakeholders should be made towards achieving the noble goal of providing the requisite enabling environment for teaching, learning and research.
He stated that the academic autonomy enjoyed by polytechnics under the law equally necessitated a shift towards providing the condition of service package that would retain staff and attract top-class students, and that the initiative had turned Koforidua Polytechnic into a centre of excellence.
He said that was critical because practical orientation of polytechnic training made it the primary avenue for the development of skills for business and industry.
The President also stressed the need for polytechnic education to be developed as a credible alternative to other forms of tertiary education focusing on the practical aspects of training of students.
The President made the remarks in an address read on his behalf by the Minister of Education, Mr Alex Tettey-Enyo, at the 7th congregation of the Koforidua Polytechnic at the weekend.
In all, 915 students, out of which 15 had first class honours graduated in various programmes at the Higher National Diploma (HND) level and were presented with certificates. The ceremony was attended by a number of dignitaries including the Eastern Regional Minister, Mr Samuel Ofosu Ampofo.
He emphasised that the Competency-Based Training (CBT) method being introduced into the polytechnics, including the Koforidua Polytechnic, would equip their products with entrepreneurial capacity to enable them to set up their own businesses to be employers rather than employees.
President Mills said it was in that respect that the government was fully resourcing the polytechnics, including the Koforidua Polytechnic which he said had been recently allocated GH¢1.4 million by the Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFund) for the construction of infrastructural amenities and development of the capacity of staff.
The President congratulated the graduates for their successes and advised them to look into the future with determination, and advised them to use the knowledge acquired to serve the nation and humanity in general.
The Rector of the polytechnic, Dr George Afrane, said the polytechnic, which was established in 1997 with a handful of students who studied Marketing, Purchasing and Supply now had a student population of 4,174 pursuing various programmes at various levels.
In addition, he said the polytechnic was running distance learning centres at Oda and Nkawkaw, and that it had planned to extend such centres to other towns in the region.
A long vacation programme, he said, was also being organised for workers within the New Juaben Municipality.
Dr Afrane who expressed satisfaction with the performance of the academic staff and the students, said such an achievement was due to the disciplinary measures instituted, and gave an assurance that the required security measures were being taken to ensure that its certificates which were being awarded internally would continue to be recognised as those of any other government tertiary educational institution in the country.
Earlier in his welcoming address, the Chairman of the Governing Council of the polytechnic, Nana Nkwantabisa lll said with the passage of the New Polytechnic Law 2007 (Act 745), the focus and the expected output from the polytechnics had received a new focus which demanded that drastic and concerted efforts on the part of all stakeholders should be made towards achieving the noble goal of providing the requisite enabling environment for teaching, learning and research.
He stated that the academic autonomy enjoyed by polytechnics under the law equally necessitated a shift towards providing the condition of service package that would retain staff and attract top-class students, and that the initiative had turned Koforidua Polytechnic into a centre of excellence.
Sunday, December 13, 2009
HELP CHECK FALLING STANDARD OF EDUCATION (PAGE 14, DEC 12)
THE VICE President, Mr John Dramani Mahama, has asked the people of Okere and the entire Akuapem area of the Eastern Region to identify the main factors that have in recent times contributed to the falling standard of education in the area.
That, according to him would make it possible to reverse the trend, which he said had dented the image of Akuapem as the cradle of education in the country.
The Akuapem area in recent times has witnessed an abysmal performance of pupils in the BECE , some of the junior high schools scoring zero per cent.
Mr Mahama made the remark when he addressed the annual Odwira Festival of the people of Okere at Adukrom, the traditional headquarters, recently.
According to the Vice President every child had the capacity to develop academically but that could not be possible due to a number of factors such as inability of teachers to properly guide them, inadequate educational materials or infrastructure and failure of parents to ensure that their children or wards would be regular at school.
Mr Mahama who cited a school which scored zero per cent at the BECE in the Central Region but scored 100 per cent the following year after the factors militating against the performance of the pupils were identified and rectified.
He also announced various initiatives such as the construction of police stations, one at Adukrom, and the putting up of a girls’ dormitory for the Nifa Senior High School to replace the current structure being used by the girls, which is close to that of the boys.
Mr Mahama also commended the chief of Okere, Osuodumgya Otutu Kono III, for leading his people to undertake a number of projects in the area to improve the lot of the people.
Osuodumgya Otutu Kono who had set up a foundation to assist needy pupils and students in the area deplored the low performance of pupils at the BECE and asked parents and teachers as well as the government to see how best to address the issue.
He also called on the government to expedite work on the construction of the girls’ dormitory at the Nifa SHS, a police station at Adukrom as well as other social amenities that would improve the lot of the people.
He further solicited for government assistance to resolve the protracted chieftancy dispute in the Akuapem area which according to him if not resolved on time had the tendency of disturbing the peace of the area.
That, according to him would make it possible to reverse the trend, which he said had dented the image of Akuapem as the cradle of education in the country.
The Akuapem area in recent times has witnessed an abysmal performance of pupils in the BECE , some of the junior high schools scoring zero per cent.
Mr Mahama made the remark when he addressed the annual Odwira Festival of the people of Okere at Adukrom, the traditional headquarters, recently.
According to the Vice President every child had the capacity to develop academically but that could not be possible due to a number of factors such as inability of teachers to properly guide them, inadequate educational materials or infrastructure and failure of parents to ensure that their children or wards would be regular at school.
Mr Mahama who cited a school which scored zero per cent at the BECE in the Central Region but scored 100 per cent the following year after the factors militating against the performance of the pupils were identified and rectified.
He also announced various initiatives such as the construction of police stations, one at Adukrom, and the putting up of a girls’ dormitory for the Nifa Senior High School to replace the current structure being used by the girls, which is close to that of the boys.
Mr Mahama also commended the chief of Okere, Osuodumgya Otutu Kono III, for leading his people to undertake a number of projects in the area to improve the lot of the people.
Osuodumgya Otutu Kono who had set up a foundation to assist needy pupils and students in the area deplored the low performance of pupils at the BECE and asked parents and teachers as well as the government to see how best to address the issue.
He also called on the government to expedite work on the construction of the girls’ dormitory at the Nifa SHS, a police station at Adukrom as well as other social amenities that would improve the lot of the people.
He further solicited for government assistance to resolve the protracted chieftancy dispute in the Akuapem area which according to him if not resolved on time had the tendency of disturbing the peace of the area.
APPAW-GYASI TO CONTEST NPP NEW JUABEN SOUTH (PAGE 13, DEC 12)
A 42-year-old Koforidua businessman, Mr Ike Appaw-Gyasi, has declared his intention to contest the chairmanship of the New Juaben South Constituency of the New Patriotic Party (NPP).
Mr Appaw-Gyasi, who is currently the Eastern Regional Secretary of the NPP and was in the campaign teams of both former President J.A. Kufuor and Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, the party’s flag bearer for the 2008 elections, made his intention known at a press conference in Koforidua.
He said he had decided to take up the mantle to resolve the differences in the party in the constituency and unite the rank and file not only to retain the seat but also ensure that the party overwhelmingly won the presidential votes in the area in the 2012 general election.
To achieve that purpose, Mr Appaw-Gyasi, who stated that he did not belong to any perceived faction within the party in the constituency, said if elected chairman, he would immediately call for a stakeholders’ meeting to resolve internal differences.
He further stated that the party’s polling station executives and foot soldiers, who would benefit from training programmes to sharpen their skills for the 2010 polls, would also be taken good care of in all aspects, adding that the “winner-takes-all” syndrome would be a thing of the past under his chairmanship.
He said nobody within the NPP should be left out in carrying out the party’s good agenda for the 2010 elections and that he had positioned himself to lead the party to accomplish its agenda at the constituency level.
He, therefore, called for support from the rank and file of the party to enable him to execute his initiatives to improve the fortunes of the party for a resounding victory in 2012.
Mr Appaw-Gyasi, who is currently the Eastern Regional Secretary of the NPP and was in the campaign teams of both former President J.A. Kufuor and Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, the party’s flag bearer for the 2008 elections, made his intention known at a press conference in Koforidua.
He said he had decided to take up the mantle to resolve the differences in the party in the constituency and unite the rank and file not only to retain the seat but also ensure that the party overwhelmingly won the presidential votes in the area in the 2012 general election.
To achieve that purpose, Mr Appaw-Gyasi, who stated that he did not belong to any perceived faction within the party in the constituency, said if elected chairman, he would immediately call for a stakeholders’ meeting to resolve internal differences.
He further stated that the party’s polling station executives and foot soldiers, who would benefit from training programmes to sharpen their skills for the 2010 polls, would also be taken good care of in all aspects, adding that the “winner-takes-all” syndrome would be a thing of the past under his chairmanship.
He said nobody within the NPP should be left out in carrying out the party’s good agenda for the 2010 elections and that he had positioned himself to lead the party to accomplish its agenda at the constituency level.
He, therefore, called for support from the rank and file of the party to enable him to execute his initiatives to improve the fortunes of the party for a resounding victory in 2012.
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
CADBURY GIVES BIKES TO SAAMAN PUPILS (PAGE 22, DEC 5)
SCHOOLCHILDREN in and around Saaman, a cocoa-growing community, who normally walk long distances to school, would no longer do so.
This is because Cadbury, a cocoa procession firm, has donated 840 bicycles worth GH¢87,000 to be given out free to schoolchildren in the area.
Saaman, which is situated in the cocoa belt in the Fanteakwa District of the Eastern Region, has a junior high school and a number of primary schools.
Other towns and villages within the vicinity also have such schools and because most of the children come from villages and hamlets kilometres away, they have to cover the long distances by foot to and from school each day.
The children normally become too tired on reaching school so they are not able to pay attention properly during classes while at home after classes they cannot also go through their study notes due to tiredness.
Such a situation has adversely affected their studies as most of them perform poorly in the Basic Education Certificate Examinations (BECE).
Realising the difficulties the children have been going through, Cadbury decided to come to their rescue with the package dubbed: “Cadbury Cocoa Partnership”. This is the company’s initiative to assist people in cocoa-growing areas, especially schoolchildren, to overcome their difficulties.
The presentation of the bicycles at Saaman turned the small community with about 200 households into jubilation as parents followed their schoolchildren to the spot where the bicycles were distributed.
The chief of the town, Barima Okuampa Agyeman, who accompanied the Nkosuohene of Fanteakwa, Nana Antwi Boasiako I, to witness the distribution of the bicycles, described the package as the best for the children, since most parents living along the road could not afford to pay for the transport cost of their children to go to school.
Parents whose children use footpaths were also appreciative because the bicycles can go through the meandering paths with ease to enable the children to attend classes on time.
Presenting the bicycles to the children, the General Manager of Cadbury Canada, (the mother company), Mr Gary Scullion, said in all 5,300 bicycles would be made available to Ghanaian schoolchildren under the initiative to alleviate their suffering so that they would be able to concentrate on their studies.
The Managing Director of Cadbury Ghana, Mr James Amoateng, said the package, which would cover children of 700,000 cocoa farmers in Ghana, would lessen the burden of the farmers and boost their morale to produce more cocoa.
He appealed to the parents and guardians of the schoolchildren to ensure that the bicycles were used for the intended purpose.
Mr Basilio Okello, the National Director of World Vision, through which the bicycles were channelled, said pupils who covered at least a kilometre or more would benefit from the package.
The Cadbury Cocoa Partnership package has won the admiration of the Fanteakwa District Chief Executive (DCE), Mr Abass Fuseini Shaabe, who described the initiative as one of the best to improve the standard of education in communities in the district which produce mainly cocoa.
He said the gesture from Cadbury was borne out of the company’s love for children and the district. Cadbury is also sinking 10 wells to provide the people with potable water.
The DCE, who stated that the government was also doing the best to improve education in the area, appealed to the country’s development partners to help wage a crusade against HIV/AIDS in the district.
He expressed his appreciation to Cadbury International, World Vision, VSO, Care International, as well as individuals who had helped to improve the lot of the people in the area.
This is because Cadbury, a cocoa procession firm, has donated 840 bicycles worth GH¢87,000 to be given out free to schoolchildren in the area.
Saaman, which is situated in the cocoa belt in the Fanteakwa District of the Eastern Region, has a junior high school and a number of primary schools.
Other towns and villages within the vicinity also have such schools and because most of the children come from villages and hamlets kilometres away, they have to cover the long distances by foot to and from school each day.
The children normally become too tired on reaching school so they are not able to pay attention properly during classes while at home after classes they cannot also go through their study notes due to tiredness.
Such a situation has adversely affected their studies as most of them perform poorly in the Basic Education Certificate Examinations (BECE).
Realising the difficulties the children have been going through, Cadbury decided to come to their rescue with the package dubbed: “Cadbury Cocoa Partnership”. This is the company’s initiative to assist people in cocoa-growing areas, especially schoolchildren, to overcome their difficulties.
The presentation of the bicycles at Saaman turned the small community with about 200 households into jubilation as parents followed their schoolchildren to the spot where the bicycles were distributed.
The chief of the town, Barima Okuampa Agyeman, who accompanied the Nkosuohene of Fanteakwa, Nana Antwi Boasiako I, to witness the distribution of the bicycles, described the package as the best for the children, since most parents living along the road could not afford to pay for the transport cost of their children to go to school.
Parents whose children use footpaths were also appreciative because the bicycles can go through the meandering paths with ease to enable the children to attend classes on time.
Presenting the bicycles to the children, the General Manager of Cadbury Canada, (the mother company), Mr Gary Scullion, said in all 5,300 bicycles would be made available to Ghanaian schoolchildren under the initiative to alleviate their suffering so that they would be able to concentrate on their studies.
The Managing Director of Cadbury Ghana, Mr James Amoateng, said the package, which would cover children of 700,000 cocoa farmers in Ghana, would lessen the burden of the farmers and boost their morale to produce more cocoa.
He appealed to the parents and guardians of the schoolchildren to ensure that the bicycles were used for the intended purpose.
Mr Basilio Okello, the National Director of World Vision, through which the bicycles were channelled, said pupils who covered at least a kilometre or more would benefit from the package.
The Cadbury Cocoa Partnership package has won the admiration of the Fanteakwa District Chief Executive (DCE), Mr Abass Fuseini Shaabe, who described the initiative as one of the best to improve the standard of education in communities in the district which produce mainly cocoa.
He said the gesture from Cadbury was borne out of the company’s love for children and the district. Cadbury is also sinking 10 wells to provide the people with potable water.
The DCE, who stated that the government was also doing the best to improve education in the area, appealed to the country’s development partners to help wage a crusade against HIV/AIDS in the district.
He expressed his appreciation to Cadbury International, World Vision, VSO, Care International, as well as individuals who had helped to improve the lot of the people in the area.
BIRIM NORTH DEVELOPMENT ON COURSE...But bad roads hinder progress (PAGE 22, DEC 5)
BEFORE 1988, the Birim North District was part of the then Birim District. The Bririm District was a large area composed mainly of forests containing various tree species of economic value such as Odum, Sapele, Mahogany and Wawa.
The vast area is also an arable land suitable for the cultivation of various crops such as oil palm, citrus and cocoa, as well as cereals and tubers such as cocoyam, cassava and yam.
The district also had big and densely populated towns including Akyem Oda, Akyem Swedru and New Abirem, Afosu and numerous towns and villages.
The large land area with its corresponding large population made its development in terms of the provision of social amenities such as roads, schools, hospitals and potable water difficult although the district assembly with its headquarters at Akyem Oda did its best in this respect.
It was, therefore, decided to create the Birim North District from the mother district, the Birim District, in 1988 to facilitate the development of its communities.
The Akyemmansa District was further carved out of the Birim North making the Birim North smaller, to accelerate its development.
The new district Bririm North with its capital at New Abirem is surrounded by five districts, namely the Kwahu West, Kwaebibirem, Asante-Akyem, Akyemmansa and Atiwa.
It has an estimated population of 80,000 spread out in big towns such as New Abirem, the district capital, Ntronang, Akoasi, Pankese and Nkwateng and smaller towns and villages such as Asuobena, Kyenkyenko, Gambia and Kuntenase.
The creation of the new political entity, as expected, led to the acceleration of its development with the rehabilitation and construction of schools, roads, markets, clinics and the provision of potable water for many towns and villages.
However, since many communities could not benefit from such needed social amenities in the past eight years, the assembly, under the direction of Mr Napoleon Amoako Asiamah, the District Chief Executive (DCE), has, since his assumption of office this year, initiated an elaborate development programme to ensure that every community would have its fair share of the national cake with at least one of such amenities.
Under the programme with education as the priority, all the communities without basic schools are being provided with such facilities while old ones such as the D/A Model schools at Akwadum and Adadekrom are being renovated.
The two second cycle educational institutions in the area, the Afosu/Abirem SHS situated between the borders of Afosu and New Abirem and the St Michael’s SHS at Akoasi, have also been provided with the necessary facilities to enhance teaching and learning.
A scholarship scheme has been instituted for qualified and needy junior high school leavers in the various communities to continue their education at the senior high schools, while those with the WASSCE results are also being sponsored to pursue courses in teaching and nursing.
These students, together with others who are also being supported by the assembly at the polytechnics and the universities, are expected to come back to assist in their chosen fields to advance the development of the area.
To ensure that the area catches up with the technological world of ICT, the assembly is planning to set up an Internet facility to hook the second cycle educational institutions and also serve the public.
With regard to water and sanitation, small water systems have been provided for the people in some of the big towns like New Abirem, Ntronang, Pankese and Amuana Praso, while almost all the small towns and villages such as Yaw Tano, Wiowso, Tweapease, Larbikrom and Praso Kuma have benefited from boreholes.
The assembly’s sanitation drive is also making a good impact on the communities because it has teamed up with Zoomlion to regularly rid the communities of filth.
In anticipation of the influx of people to the area due to the operations of Newmont, a gold mining company, the assembly has acquired a large tract of land for the disposal of liquid and solid waste, particularly at New Abirem.
On health, the health centre at New Abirem has just been elevated to a full hospital status with a resident medical doctor to assist the medical assistant, all of whom have been provided with residential facilities by the assembly.
Persons living with HIV/AIDS and the physically challenged are also being supported with funds to make a living.
To boost trading, farming and micro businesses, the assembly is constructing a GH¢300,000 market complex at New Abirem together with other markets at Amuana Praso, Ntronang, Akoasi and Nkwateng.
It is also assisting some farmers to secure funds or oil palm and cocoa hybrid seedlings to expand their farms and one of the beneficiaries, Mr Kwaku Nti, from Hweakwae, who has gone into poultry farming, is grateful to the assembly for the initiative.
Tourism is also being boosted and an historic village, Praso Kuma, where the great Asante King, Osei Tutu I, was said to have died in war with the Akyems about four hundred years ago, is to be provided with the necessary facilities to cater for Ghanaian and foreign tourists.
Other facilities to be developed in the tourism sector include the township of Akrofonso, which lies on the confluence of the rivers Pra and the Nwin, with the waters of the two rivers forcing to flow to the other, making it a beautiful work of nature.
Although the district has made a headway in its development drive, the bad nature of the main roads that link the area with the rest of the country have negatively affected its development.
These roads, the New Abirem-Nkwantanan road and the New Abirem-Ayirebi road, are almost impassable during the rainy season, and so dusty during the harmattan period that those who ply them, apart from having difficulty in breathing are also covered with dust, thus preventing prospective investors from doing business in the area.
The assembly, which has acquired a grader and a tipper truck purposely to recondition the feeder roads and has done a lot in that respect has been compelled to start rehabilitating such major roads.
However, not much is being done because the workload is heavy and requires a huge financial outlay, which is beyond the reach of the assembly. The assembly has therefore called for government intervention, particularly during the harmattan before the rains set in next year.
If this is not done, there is no way the Birim North District could accomplish its development agenda and attain a municipal status as expected within the next few years due to the activities of Newmont, which has also been providing some of the social amenities for communities in its operational areas.
“We are doing our best and some of the roads, the Akoasi-Tenkyemso-Abotsikrom road and the Afoso-Tweapease Akoasi road are being rehabilitated while most communities now have the basic necessities of life such as water, schools and clinics.
“But the bad nature of the main road linking the capital with the rest of the country, which is almost impassable during the rainy season, is cutting the area from the rest of the country and we wish this problems is tackled now before the rains set in,” the DCE, Mr Amoako Asiamah, stated.
Considering the rate at which the assembly with the support of its development partners, as well as Newmont, is providing the necessary social amenities and the influx of people from the rest of the country to be engaged in the mine fields, the rehabilitation of the main road in the area would hasten the district’s development to the status of municipality in the near future.
The vast area is also an arable land suitable for the cultivation of various crops such as oil palm, citrus and cocoa, as well as cereals and tubers such as cocoyam, cassava and yam.
The district also had big and densely populated towns including Akyem Oda, Akyem Swedru and New Abirem, Afosu and numerous towns and villages.
The large land area with its corresponding large population made its development in terms of the provision of social amenities such as roads, schools, hospitals and potable water difficult although the district assembly with its headquarters at Akyem Oda did its best in this respect.
It was, therefore, decided to create the Birim North District from the mother district, the Birim District, in 1988 to facilitate the development of its communities.
The Akyemmansa District was further carved out of the Birim North making the Birim North smaller, to accelerate its development.
The new district Bririm North with its capital at New Abirem is surrounded by five districts, namely the Kwahu West, Kwaebibirem, Asante-Akyem, Akyemmansa and Atiwa.
It has an estimated population of 80,000 spread out in big towns such as New Abirem, the district capital, Ntronang, Akoasi, Pankese and Nkwateng and smaller towns and villages such as Asuobena, Kyenkyenko, Gambia and Kuntenase.
The creation of the new political entity, as expected, led to the acceleration of its development with the rehabilitation and construction of schools, roads, markets, clinics and the provision of potable water for many towns and villages.
However, since many communities could not benefit from such needed social amenities in the past eight years, the assembly, under the direction of Mr Napoleon Amoako Asiamah, the District Chief Executive (DCE), has, since his assumption of office this year, initiated an elaborate development programme to ensure that every community would have its fair share of the national cake with at least one of such amenities.
Under the programme with education as the priority, all the communities without basic schools are being provided with such facilities while old ones such as the D/A Model schools at Akwadum and Adadekrom are being renovated.
The two second cycle educational institutions in the area, the Afosu/Abirem SHS situated between the borders of Afosu and New Abirem and the St Michael’s SHS at Akoasi, have also been provided with the necessary facilities to enhance teaching and learning.
A scholarship scheme has been instituted for qualified and needy junior high school leavers in the various communities to continue their education at the senior high schools, while those with the WASSCE results are also being sponsored to pursue courses in teaching and nursing.
These students, together with others who are also being supported by the assembly at the polytechnics and the universities, are expected to come back to assist in their chosen fields to advance the development of the area.
To ensure that the area catches up with the technological world of ICT, the assembly is planning to set up an Internet facility to hook the second cycle educational institutions and also serve the public.
With regard to water and sanitation, small water systems have been provided for the people in some of the big towns like New Abirem, Ntronang, Pankese and Amuana Praso, while almost all the small towns and villages such as Yaw Tano, Wiowso, Tweapease, Larbikrom and Praso Kuma have benefited from boreholes.
The assembly’s sanitation drive is also making a good impact on the communities because it has teamed up with Zoomlion to regularly rid the communities of filth.
In anticipation of the influx of people to the area due to the operations of Newmont, a gold mining company, the assembly has acquired a large tract of land for the disposal of liquid and solid waste, particularly at New Abirem.
On health, the health centre at New Abirem has just been elevated to a full hospital status with a resident medical doctor to assist the medical assistant, all of whom have been provided with residential facilities by the assembly.
Persons living with HIV/AIDS and the physically challenged are also being supported with funds to make a living.
To boost trading, farming and micro businesses, the assembly is constructing a GH¢300,000 market complex at New Abirem together with other markets at Amuana Praso, Ntronang, Akoasi and Nkwateng.
It is also assisting some farmers to secure funds or oil palm and cocoa hybrid seedlings to expand their farms and one of the beneficiaries, Mr Kwaku Nti, from Hweakwae, who has gone into poultry farming, is grateful to the assembly for the initiative.
Tourism is also being boosted and an historic village, Praso Kuma, where the great Asante King, Osei Tutu I, was said to have died in war with the Akyems about four hundred years ago, is to be provided with the necessary facilities to cater for Ghanaian and foreign tourists.
Other facilities to be developed in the tourism sector include the township of Akrofonso, which lies on the confluence of the rivers Pra and the Nwin, with the waters of the two rivers forcing to flow to the other, making it a beautiful work of nature.
Although the district has made a headway in its development drive, the bad nature of the main roads that link the area with the rest of the country have negatively affected its development.
These roads, the New Abirem-Nkwantanan road and the New Abirem-Ayirebi road, are almost impassable during the rainy season, and so dusty during the harmattan period that those who ply them, apart from having difficulty in breathing are also covered with dust, thus preventing prospective investors from doing business in the area.
The assembly, which has acquired a grader and a tipper truck purposely to recondition the feeder roads and has done a lot in that respect has been compelled to start rehabilitating such major roads.
However, not much is being done because the workload is heavy and requires a huge financial outlay, which is beyond the reach of the assembly. The assembly has therefore called for government intervention, particularly during the harmattan before the rains set in next year.
If this is not done, there is no way the Birim North District could accomplish its development agenda and attain a municipal status as expected within the next few years due to the activities of Newmont, which has also been providing some of the social amenities for communities in its operational areas.
“We are doing our best and some of the roads, the Akoasi-Tenkyemso-Abotsikrom road and the Afoso-Tweapease Akoasi road are being rehabilitated while most communities now have the basic necessities of life such as water, schools and clinics.
“But the bad nature of the main road linking the capital with the rest of the country, which is almost impassable during the rainy season, is cutting the area from the rest of the country and we wish this problems is tackled now before the rains set in,” the DCE, Mr Amoako Asiamah, stated.
Considering the rate at which the assembly with the support of its development partners, as well as Newmont, is providing the necessary social amenities and the influx of people from the rest of the country to be engaged in the mine fields, the rehabilitation of the main road in the area would hasten the district’s development to the status of municipality in the near future.
POLICE IMPOUND WHITE NUMBER-PLATE BUSES (PAGE 23, DEC 5)
THE Eastern Regional Police Command on December 1, 2009 started impounding air-conditioned buses with white number plates being operated commercially.
According to the police, the white-plated registered vehicles were for either hiring or domestic use and owners of those vehicles had to register them commercially with the yellow number plate.
The air-conditioned buses, which cost between GH¢33,000 and GH¢36,000 each, were purchased by some financial institutions for some individuals and transport unions on a hire-purchase basis to be paid for within four years but because insuring them for commercial use costs higher than insuring them for private use, most of the owners have decided to register them as private vehicles, although they use them to carry passengers.
The Eastern Regional Police Commander, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCOP) Stephen Andoh-Kwofie, who notified the various transport unions in Koforidua about the exercise during a meeting a month ago, said it was wrong for any vehicle using the white number plate to carry passengers, explaining that in the event of an accident, it would be difficult for the occupants to claim insurance.
To buttress his case, DCOP Andoh-Kwofie said four passengers, who died when one of those air-conditioned buses, a Nissan Urvan was involved in an accident at Akyem Swedru about a month ago, could not be paid any insurance claims because the vehicle had not been registered to carry passengers.
“We will not allow such a thing to continue so we will impound all such vehicles found carrying passengers in any part of the region,” he stated.
DCOP Andoh-Kwofie, who said operators of those vehicles would be prosecuted, asked their owners to register them appropriately to avoid being punished.
At the various loading pads in Koforidua where some of the white number-plated buses load, the executives of the transport unions said it was wrong for the police to impound the vehicles because most of them had been registered to carry passengers.
The Chairman of the Koforidua-Swedru branch of the Ghana Private Road Transport Union (GPRTU) of the TUC, Mr Muniru Alhassan, produced documents from the State Insurance Company and the Ghana Tourist Board in respect of one of those vehicles and said all passengers on board would be covered by insurance in the event of an accident.
He, however, asked the police to deal with owners of vehicles which did not have the relevant documents.
When contacted on the issue, some officials of insurance companies in Koforidua pleaded anonymity but said their outfits were obliged to cater for all those on board those vehicles so far as the vehicles had insurance cover. According to them, the colour of the number plate did not matter.
According to the police, the white-plated registered vehicles were for either hiring or domestic use and owners of those vehicles had to register them commercially with the yellow number plate.
The air-conditioned buses, which cost between GH¢33,000 and GH¢36,000 each, were purchased by some financial institutions for some individuals and transport unions on a hire-purchase basis to be paid for within four years but because insuring them for commercial use costs higher than insuring them for private use, most of the owners have decided to register them as private vehicles, although they use them to carry passengers.
The Eastern Regional Police Commander, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCOP) Stephen Andoh-Kwofie, who notified the various transport unions in Koforidua about the exercise during a meeting a month ago, said it was wrong for any vehicle using the white number plate to carry passengers, explaining that in the event of an accident, it would be difficult for the occupants to claim insurance.
To buttress his case, DCOP Andoh-Kwofie said four passengers, who died when one of those air-conditioned buses, a Nissan Urvan was involved in an accident at Akyem Swedru about a month ago, could not be paid any insurance claims because the vehicle had not been registered to carry passengers.
“We will not allow such a thing to continue so we will impound all such vehicles found carrying passengers in any part of the region,” he stated.
DCOP Andoh-Kwofie, who said operators of those vehicles would be prosecuted, asked their owners to register them appropriately to avoid being punished.
At the various loading pads in Koforidua where some of the white number-plated buses load, the executives of the transport unions said it was wrong for the police to impound the vehicles because most of them had been registered to carry passengers.
The Chairman of the Koforidua-Swedru branch of the Ghana Private Road Transport Union (GPRTU) of the TUC, Mr Muniru Alhassan, produced documents from the State Insurance Company and the Ghana Tourist Board in respect of one of those vehicles and said all passengers on board would be covered by insurance in the event of an accident.
He, however, asked the police to deal with owners of vehicles which did not have the relevant documents.
When contacted on the issue, some officials of insurance companies in Koforidua pleaded anonymity but said their outfits were obliged to cater for all those on board those vehicles so far as the vehicles had insurance cover. According to them, the colour of the number plate did not matter.
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