THE EASTERN Regional Youth Organiser of the National Democratic Congress(NDC), Mr Kwaku Asamoah, sustained multiple wounds when he was severely beaten by armed robbers in Koforidua in the early hours of last Friday.
Asamoah who was first sent to the Regional Hospital, Koforidua, was later taken away to the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital for further treatment.
The armed robbers, numbering six with masks on their faces, attacked Asamoah and his brother, one Daniel Boateng, who was sleeping in one of the rooms in the compound house.
The robbers after molesting the two brothers took their mobile phones and fled.
According to an eyewitness, the robbers attempted to attack other occupants in the house but took to their heel when they realised that policemen were getting near the house.
When contacted, the New Juaben Municipal Police Commander, Superintendent John Naami, confirmed the attack and said investigations were ongoing to track down the robbers.
Superintendent Naami who was holding a meeting with the Deputy Eastern Regional Police Commander, ACP David Ampah-Benni, on the issue, was hopeful that the robbers would be apprehended to face the full rigours of the law.
Monday, March 30, 2009
ABURI GIRLS RECORDS 100 PER CENT PASS IN WASSCE (PAGE 11)
Aburi Girls Senior High School last year recorded 100 per cent pass in the West Africa School Certificate Examination (WASCE) out of which 365 of the 378 presented qualified for universities and other tertiary institutions.
This remarkable performance has placed the school among the top five in the country.
The Headmistress of the school, Mrs Sylvia Asempa, made this known at the 60th speech and prize-giving day at Aburi at the weekend.
Held on the theme “Dare to dream-yes we can,” the event, which was funded by the 1984 year group, was attended by a large number of old girls and dignitaries such as the First Lady, Ernestina Naadu Mills, a member of the 1961 year group.
According to Mrs Asempa, the school, which was among the top 20 in 2003 with 91.7 per cent pass at the WASSCE, improved its performance to 99.98 per cent in 2007 and crowned it with 100 per cent last year.
According to Mrs Asempa the spectacular performance of the school was due to innovative policies, strict supervision, improved infrastructure, congenial atmosphere and commitment, and dedication and teamwork of the academic staff.
Mrs Asempa noted that there was room for improvement of the school’s academic record, and that it would at all cost double the number of grade ‘A” passes this year.
To achieve such a feat, the headmistress said the school had decided to motivate the teachers to put in their best and had, for a start, presented a brand new Opel saloon car to Madam Agnes Wendy Adu, who had taught in the school for 33 years with dedication and commitment.
She also expressed the school’s appreciation to the old girls for assisting it in diverse ways
The Senior Prefect, Miss Vida Offei-Asante, on behalf of the student body, thanked the headmistress and the teaching staff for the part they had played towards improving the academic performance of the students, and gave the assurance that the final-year students would perform excellently during this year’s WASSCE.
For her part, Mrs Naadu Mills praised the headmistress and the teaching staff for placing the school among the best in the country, adding that it had over the years produced distinguished women currently occupying responsible positions.
She also praised the Presbyterian Church for instituting discipline in its schools, such as the Aburi Girls Senior High School.
A legal practitioner, Mr Yonny Kulendi, who chaired the function, advised the students to take their studies seriously and do away with all negative traits, such as drugs and amorous relationship with boys and men, that would derail their education.
Mrs Naadu Mills later donated GH¢10,000 to the school while her husband, President J. E. A. Mills, presented an organ.
The 1984 year group also gave GH¢5,000 to the school.
Prizes were awarded to students and staff who had distinguished themselves in studies and teaching.
This remarkable performance has placed the school among the top five in the country.
The Headmistress of the school, Mrs Sylvia Asempa, made this known at the 60th speech and prize-giving day at Aburi at the weekend.
Held on the theme “Dare to dream-yes we can,” the event, which was funded by the 1984 year group, was attended by a large number of old girls and dignitaries such as the First Lady, Ernestina Naadu Mills, a member of the 1961 year group.
According to Mrs Asempa, the school, which was among the top 20 in 2003 with 91.7 per cent pass at the WASSCE, improved its performance to 99.98 per cent in 2007 and crowned it with 100 per cent last year.
According to Mrs Asempa the spectacular performance of the school was due to innovative policies, strict supervision, improved infrastructure, congenial atmosphere and commitment, and dedication and teamwork of the academic staff.
Mrs Asempa noted that there was room for improvement of the school’s academic record, and that it would at all cost double the number of grade ‘A” passes this year.
To achieve such a feat, the headmistress said the school had decided to motivate the teachers to put in their best and had, for a start, presented a brand new Opel saloon car to Madam Agnes Wendy Adu, who had taught in the school for 33 years with dedication and commitment.
She also expressed the school’s appreciation to the old girls for assisting it in diverse ways
The Senior Prefect, Miss Vida Offei-Asante, on behalf of the student body, thanked the headmistress and the teaching staff for the part they had played towards improving the academic performance of the students, and gave the assurance that the final-year students would perform excellently during this year’s WASSCE.
For her part, Mrs Naadu Mills praised the headmistress and the teaching staff for placing the school among the best in the country, adding that it had over the years produced distinguished women currently occupying responsible positions.
She also praised the Presbyterian Church for instituting discipline in its schools, such as the Aburi Girls Senior High School.
A legal practitioner, Mr Yonny Kulendi, who chaired the function, advised the students to take their studies seriously and do away with all negative traits, such as drugs and amorous relationship with boys and men, that would derail their education.
Mrs Naadu Mills later donated GH¢10,000 to the school while her husband, President J. E. A. Mills, presented an organ.
The 1984 year group also gave GH¢5,000 to the school.
Prizes were awarded to students and staff who had distinguished themselves in studies and teaching.
Friday, March 27, 2009
PHASE 11 OF KOFORIDUA WATER PROJECT READY BY DECEMBER (BACK PAGE)
THE second phase of the Koforidua water rehabilitation project will be completed by December this year to ease the perennial water problem facing the New Juaben municipality.
Under the project, which began in 2007 with a Belgian loan of €35 million, 3.5 million gallons of water will be pumped from the Volta Lake at Kpornyakope in Manya Krobo to a treatment plant at Bukonor in Yilo Krobo for distribution to the New Juaben municipality and some other areas in the East Akyem District.
The project is being undertaken by Denys Engineering of Belgium.
Although the municipality’s estimated population of 200,000 need not less than four million gallons of water per day, the current water supply from the Densu and the Suhyen rivers pumped from two small treatment plants at Suhyen and Densuagya is 1.2 million gallons.
At the moment, the first phase of the project of putting up the treatment plant has been completed, while the second phase, the laying of the pipelines in the municipality, is ongoing.
The third phase involves the extension of water supply to Tafo, Osiem and other communities in the East Akyem District.
Briefing the press and students from some second-cycle institutions last Wednesday after a tour of the Densuagya Dam and its laboratory and treatment plants as part of activities to mark World Water Day which fell on March 22, 2009, the Eastern Regional Production Manager of Aqua Vittens Rand Limited/Ghana Water Company, Mr Martin Ansah, said considering the work so far done, water would flow from the Volta to Koforidua in December this year.
“You have all seen the pipes being laid in the municipality so uninterrupted supply of water will be made available to Koforidua in nine months to end the perennial water shortage in the area,” he stated.
With regard to the third phase, which involves the extension of the facility to Tafo, Osiem and surrounding communities in the East Akyem District, Mr Ansah said that would be possible in 2011 when the project would be completed.
Under the project, which began in 2007 with a Belgian loan of €35 million, 3.5 million gallons of water will be pumped from the Volta Lake at Kpornyakope in Manya Krobo to a treatment plant at Bukonor in Yilo Krobo for distribution to the New Juaben municipality and some other areas in the East Akyem District.
The project is being undertaken by Denys Engineering of Belgium.
Although the municipality’s estimated population of 200,000 need not less than four million gallons of water per day, the current water supply from the Densu and the Suhyen rivers pumped from two small treatment plants at Suhyen and Densuagya is 1.2 million gallons.
At the moment, the first phase of the project of putting up the treatment plant has been completed, while the second phase, the laying of the pipelines in the municipality, is ongoing.
The third phase involves the extension of water supply to Tafo, Osiem and other communities in the East Akyem District.
Briefing the press and students from some second-cycle institutions last Wednesday after a tour of the Densuagya Dam and its laboratory and treatment plants as part of activities to mark World Water Day which fell on March 22, 2009, the Eastern Regional Production Manager of Aqua Vittens Rand Limited/Ghana Water Company, Mr Martin Ansah, said considering the work so far done, water would flow from the Volta to Koforidua in December this year.
“You have all seen the pipes being laid in the municipality so uninterrupted supply of water will be made available to Koforidua in nine months to end the perennial water shortage in the area,” he stated.
With regard to the third phase, which involves the extension of the facility to Tafo, Osiem and surrounding communities in the East Akyem District, Mr Ansah said that would be possible in 2011 when the project would be completed.
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
PASTOR DONATES TO WIDOWS (PAGE 20)
A PASTOR of the Apostolic Church of Ghana stunned his congregation by doing the unexpected thing when he surprisingly donated the whole amount given to him by the church to widows and orphans.
The undisclosed amount of about GH¢2,000 or more was raised during a church service organised last Sunday at Aburi to honour Pastor Kwabena Ankamah.
Pastor Ankamah, a lawyer by profession, who was ordained about two years ago to be in charge of the Aburi local assembly was elevated to the status of district pastor in charge of four assemblies in the area.
In appreciation of his elevation, the church organised a mini convention attended by pastors and representatives of the various churches within the Koforidua area during which the money was raised for him.
But as soon as the money which was in a big plastic bowl was given to Pastor Ankamah, he gave it to his wife, Agnes who in turn, handed it over to a member of the church to be shared among widows, orphans and vulnerable children of the congregation.
Pastor Ankamah, who is also associated with the prison ministries, said it had all along been his desire to help the poor and the needy and that he would periodically offer financial and material support in that respect.
“I have always been thinking of the difficulties facing widows, orphans and other vulnerable people among the congregation so after consulting my wife, both of us decided to give the money out to make life worth living for them”, Pastor Ankamah stated.
Pastor Ankamah suggested that part of the money should be set aside as seed capital for the needy.
He added that he would regularly contribute to the fund and appealed to others with means to help, to assist the needy.
Earlier in a sermon based on the theme: “For the master’s use only”, the Koforidua Area Apostle of the church, Pastor J.A. Addy was hopeful that God would use Pastor Ankamah as a shepherd to direct the congregation in line with the tenets of the church.
Quoting from the second book of Timothy chapter 2, Apostle Addy said the best way Pastor Ankamah could properly direct the congregation was to preach the truth without fear or favour and must be fair but firm in that respect.
Pastor Ankamah’s experience as a lawyer would go a long way in administering the Aburi district of the church and urged the congregation to cooperate with him.
The undisclosed amount of about GH¢2,000 or more was raised during a church service organised last Sunday at Aburi to honour Pastor Kwabena Ankamah.
Pastor Ankamah, a lawyer by profession, who was ordained about two years ago to be in charge of the Aburi local assembly was elevated to the status of district pastor in charge of four assemblies in the area.
In appreciation of his elevation, the church organised a mini convention attended by pastors and representatives of the various churches within the Koforidua area during which the money was raised for him.
But as soon as the money which was in a big plastic bowl was given to Pastor Ankamah, he gave it to his wife, Agnes who in turn, handed it over to a member of the church to be shared among widows, orphans and vulnerable children of the congregation.
Pastor Ankamah, who is also associated with the prison ministries, said it had all along been his desire to help the poor and the needy and that he would periodically offer financial and material support in that respect.
“I have always been thinking of the difficulties facing widows, orphans and other vulnerable people among the congregation so after consulting my wife, both of us decided to give the money out to make life worth living for them”, Pastor Ankamah stated.
Pastor Ankamah suggested that part of the money should be set aside as seed capital for the needy.
He added that he would regularly contribute to the fund and appealed to others with means to help, to assist the needy.
Earlier in a sermon based on the theme: “For the master’s use only”, the Koforidua Area Apostle of the church, Pastor J.A. Addy was hopeful that God would use Pastor Ankamah as a shepherd to direct the congregation in line with the tenets of the church.
Quoting from the second book of Timothy chapter 2, Apostle Addy said the best way Pastor Ankamah could properly direct the congregation was to preach the truth without fear or favour and must be fair but firm in that respect.
Pastor Ankamah’s experience as a lawyer would go a long way in administering the Aburi district of the church and urged the congregation to cooperate with him.
ZOOMLION TRAINS 60 SANITATION GUARDS (PAGE 20)
ZOOMLION, a private refuse collection organisation has started training 60 young men and women it has engaged as sanitation guards.
Personnel from the environmental health and sanitation unit of the Eastern Regional Co-ordinating council are taking the trainees through the rudiments of refuse collection while zoomlion provides the logistics.
Addressing the trainees at Koforidua, the Programme Officer of the Environmental Health and Sanitation Directorate of the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development, Mr Samuel Akwei Allotey, stressed the need for cleanliness to eradicate diseases such as malaria, typhoid, dysentery and diarrhoea from our communities.
That, he said, would go a long way in reducing the burden on the health insurance scheme since such diseases could be prevented through clean environment.
Mr Allotey said although the sanitation guards would be in most of the communities in the region to ensure their cleanliness, the inhabitants should desist from loitering the environment with filth, adding that a clean environment should be the responsibility of all.
He asked environmental health officers and the sanitation guards to intensify public education on sanitation to keep the environment clean at all times.
The Regional Supervisor of Zoomlion, Mr Ernest Kusi said with the training of the guards, his outfit would be able to significantly improve refuse collection within its operational areas to make the communities tidy.
He said that had been the goal of zoomlion.
In a speech read on behalf of the Regional Minister, Mr Samuel Ofosu-Ampofo by the Regional Co-ordinating Director, Mr S. Bawa, he said the deteriorating sanitary situation in towns and communities in the region had led to the collaboration between zoomlion, a private entity and the local government and rural development, to address the issue.
Mr Ofosu-Ampofo called on the people to adopt a lifestyle that would make the communities free from refuse.
He also solicited for support for the guards to enable them to properly discharge their duties.
The regional minister expressed his appreciation to zoomlion for its immense contribution towards the improvement of sanitation in the region.
Personnel from the environmental health and sanitation unit of the Eastern Regional Co-ordinating council are taking the trainees through the rudiments of refuse collection while zoomlion provides the logistics.
Addressing the trainees at Koforidua, the Programme Officer of the Environmental Health and Sanitation Directorate of the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development, Mr Samuel Akwei Allotey, stressed the need for cleanliness to eradicate diseases such as malaria, typhoid, dysentery and diarrhoea from our communities.
That, he said, would go a long way in reducing the burden on the health insurance scheme since such diseases could be prevented through clean environment.
Mr Allotey said although the sanitation guards would be in most of the communities in the region to ensure their cleanliness, the inhabitants should desist from loitering the environment with filth, adding that a clean environment should be the responsibility of all.
He asked environmental health officers and the sanitation guards to intensify public education on sanitation to keep the environment clean at all times.
The Regional Supervisor of Zoomlion, Mr Ernest Kusi said with the training of the guards, his outfit would be able to significantly improve refuse collection within its operational areas to make the communities tidy.
He said that had been the goal of zoomlion.
In a speech read on behalf of the Regional Minister, Mr Samuel Ofosu-Ampofo by the Regional Co-ordinating Director, Mr S. Bawa, he said the deteriorating sanitary situation in towns and communities in the region had led to the collaboration between zoomlion, a private entity and the local government and rural development, to address the issue.
Mr Ofosu-Ampofo called on the people to adopt a lifestyle that would make the communities free from refuse.
He also solicited for support for the guards to enable them to properly discharge their duties.
The regional minister expressed his appreciation to zoomlion for its immense contribution towards the improvement of sanitation in the region.
DEVELOPING EASTERN REGION'S TOURIST FACILITIES ...Ofosu-Ampofo shows the way (PAGE 20)
EASTERN Region, the third most populous political area after the Ashanti and Greater Accra regions, has a heterogeneous population of 2.1 million (according to the 2000 Population and Housing Census).
The people can be classified in three main groups — the Krobos, the Guans and the Akans comprising the Akyems, Akwamus, Kwahus, Akuapems and Juabens. All of them have peculiar ways of life and rich divergent cultures mostly exhibited during festivals.
While the Krobos celebrate the Ngmayem and Kloyosikplem festivals in remembrance of severe famine and forceful ejection from their ancestral home on the Krobo Mountains by the British colonialists centuries ago, the Akuapems celebrate the Odwira with the Boso Guans celebrating the Odwedji.
The Akyem Abuakwas, the largest of the three Akyem groups celebrate the Ohum while the other two, Kotoku and Bosome have different festivals.
Although the Kwahus have no specific festival, the Easter festivities have become a period when the Kwahus both at home and abroad, visit their ancestral homes to undertake many activities which draw a number of tourists to the area.
The Juabens, descendants of Ashantis who migrated from old Juaben to the region centuries ago, also celebrate Akwasidae, climaxing it with the Akwantukese Festival in remembrance of the difficulties their ancestors went through during the exodus.
The festivals are celebrated annually at different periods in the traditional capitals such as Kyebi in Akyem Abuakwa, Akropong in Akuapem and Akwamufie in Akwamu.
Apart from hosting the Kloyosiplem and Ngmayem festivals, the people of Somanya in Yilo Krobo and Odumase in Manya Krobo are also noted for the picturesque Dipo puberty rites which prepare adolescent girls adorned in beads and other traditional cloths for womanhood.
Apart from those festivals which draw a number of both domestic and foreign tourists to the region, there are also numerous tourist attractions in different parts of the area that also bring in a lot of visitors.
Some of the tourist facilities are the Boti, Arkaa and Tini falls in Yilo Krobo, Akuapem North and Atiwa Districts, respectively, the Butterfly Sanctuary within the Atiwa Mountains which contains a lot of ancient caves that have become habitats of bats and different species of animals.
There is also the Tetteh Quarshie Cocoa Farm at Mampong-Akuapem where the offspring of the original cocoa tree planted by the man who brought the golden pod from Fernando Po nearly 200 years ago is still flourishing.
Other tourist attractions are the Big Tree at Aprokumase near Akyem Oda, which is supposed to be the biggest in West Africa and the Dwarf and Dodi Islands on the Volta Lake.
With the exception of the Aburi Botanical Garden which has to some extent been developed to attract visitors as well as the Akosombo Dam where a number of foreign visitors including dignitaries visit while in the country, the rest of the tourist sites have not seen any improvement.
There has not also been any elaborate plan to showcase the various traditional festivals to the outside world to draw more visitors to the areas which would rake in foreign exchange revenue and also create jobs for the unemployed.
Realising that such festivals and tourist facilities when properly developed could accelerate the region’s development, the Regional Minister, Mr Samuel Ofosu-Ampofo on assumption of office, took steps to improve such tourist sites.
He first toured two of the facilities, the Boti and Arkaah falls to be followed by other trips in a bid to add value to the sites and place in the region on the tourism map of the world.
Accompanied by the Eastern Regional Manager of the Ghana Tourist Board, Mr Sampson Donkor, the regional minister met with some of the landowners and operators of the facilities last week.
They discussed a wide range of issues from land compensation and the construction of first-class reception centres with facilities such as water, electricity, public places of convenience and mini restaurants and bars for relaxation.
Mr Ofosu-Ampofo, who was overwhelmed by the beauty of the two water falls, immediately unveiled a number of initiatives and tasked the Yilo and Akuapem North District assemblies to come out with programmes for their development.
Some of Mr Ofosu-Ampofo’s novelties are the involvement of private participation in the development of the sites, training of local people as tour guides as well as creation of websites on the tourist facilities and festivals which must also have brochures to serve as bait to tourists.
To hasten the development of the tourist sites, Mr Ofosu-Ampofo stated that the regional co-ordinating council would be collaborating with the ministries of tourism, transport and highways which would ensure that roads leading to the sites are in good condition at all times.
According to him, the Ministry of Education would also be roped in for a systematic and sustained programme during which pupils and students from basic, second cycle and tertiary educational institutions would visit the sites during holidays.
With regard to traditional festivals, the regional minister has also indicated his outfit’s preparedness to collaborate with the traditional authorities for their celebrations.
The Ofosu-Ampofo’s tourism development initiative although very laudable, could only succeed if stakeholders, especially owners of the land in which the tourist sites are located are compensated to avoid litigation.
Furthermore, the various district assemblies must place tourism development on their agenda and collaborate with the Regional Co-ordinating Councils which should in turn get in touch with the relevant sector ministries on the issue.
That would attract a lot of domestic and foreign tourists who would also be provided with good services in many of the newly-constructed hotels with all the necessary facilities, especially at Koforidua, the regional capital, the gateway to the tourist sites.
The people can be classified in three main groups — the Krobos, the Guans and the Akans comprising the Akyems, Akwamus, Kwahus, Akuapems and Juabens. All of them have peculiar ways of life and rich divergent cultures mostly exhibited during festivals.
While the Krobos celebrate the Ngmayem and Kloyosikplem festivals in remembrance of severe famine and forceful ejection from their ancestral home on the Krobo Mountains by the British colonialists centuries ago, the Akuapems celebrate the Odwira with the Boso Guans celebrating the Odwedji.
The Akyem Abuakwas, the largest of the three Akyem groups celebrate the Ohum while the other two, Kotoku and Bosome have different festivals.
Although the Kwahus have no specific festival, the Easter festivities have become a period when the Kwahus both at home and abroad, visit their ancestral homes to undertake many activities which draw a number of tourists to the area.
The Juabens, descendants of Ashantis who migrated from old Juaben to the region centuries ago, also celebrate Akwasidae, climaxing it with the Akwantukese Festival in remembrance of the difficulties their ancestors went through during the exodus.
The festivals are celebrated annually at different periods in the traditional capitals such as Kyebi in Akyem Abuakwa, Akropong in Akuapem and Akwamufie in Akwamu.
Apart from hosting the Kloyosiplem and Ngmayem festivals, the people of Somanya in Yilo Krobo and Odumase in Manya Krobo are also noted for the picturesque Dipo puberty rites which prepare adolescent girls adorned in beads and other traditional cloths for womanhood.
Apart from those festivals which draw a number of both domestic and foreign tourists to the region, there are also numerous tourist attractions in different parts of the area that also bring in a lot of visitors.
Some of the tourist facilities are the Boti, Arkaa and Tini falls in Yilo Krobo, Akuapem North and Atiwa Districts, respectively, the Butterfly Sanctuary within the Atiwa Mountains which contains a lot of ancient caves that have become habitats of bats and different species of animals.
There is also the Tetteh Quarshie Cocoa Farm at Mampong-Akuapem where the offspring of the original cocoa tree planted by the man who brought the golden pod from Fernando Po nearly 200 years ago is still flourishing.
Other tourist attractions are the Big Tree at Aprokumase near Akyem Oda, which is supposed to be the biggest in West Africa and the Dwarf and Dodi Islands on the Volta Lake.
With the exception of the Aburi Botanical Garden which has to some extent been developed to attract visitors as well as the Akosombo Dam where a number of foreign visitors including dignitaries visit while in the country, the rest of the tourist sites have not seen any improvement.
There has not also been any elaborate plan to showcase the various traditional festivals to the outside world to draw more visitors to the areas which would rake in foreign exchange revenue and also create jobs for the unemployed.
Realising that such festivals and tourist facilities when properly developed could accelerate the region’s development, the Regional Minister, Mr Samuel Ofosu-Ampofo on assumption of office, took steps to improve such tourist sites.
He first toured two of the facilities, the Boti and Arkaah falls to be followed by other trips in a bid to add value to the sites and place in the region on the tourism map of the world.
Accompanied by the Eastern Regional Manager of the Ghana Tourist Board, Mr Sampson Donkor, the regional minister met with some of the landowners and operators of the facilities last week.
They discussed a wide range of issues from land compensation and the construction of first-class reception centres with facilities such as water, electricity, public places of convenience and mini restaurants and bars for relaxation.
Mr Ofosu-Ampofo, who was overwhelmed by the beauty of the two water falls, immediately unveiled a number of initiatives and tasked the Yilo and Akuapem North District assemblies to come out with programmes for their development.
Some of Mr Ofosu-Ampofo’s novelties are the involvement of private participation in the development of the sites, training of local people as tour guides as well as creation of websites on the tourist facilities and festivals which must also have brochures to serve as bait to tourists.
To hasten the development of the tourist sites, Mr Ofosu-Ampofo stated that the regional co-ordinating council would be collaborating with the ministries of tourism, transport and highways which would ensure that roads leading to the sites are in good condition at all times.
According to him, the Ministry of Education would also be roped in for a systematic and sustained programme during which pupils and students from basic, second cycle and tertiary educational institutions would visit the sites during holidays.
With regard to traditional festivals, the regional minister has also indicated his outfit’s preparedness to collaborate with the traditional authorities for their celebrations.
The Ofosu-Ampofo’s tourism development initiative although very laudable, could only succeed if stakeholders, especially owners of the land in which the tourist sites are located are compensated to avoid litigation.
Furthermore, the various district assemblies must place tourism development on their agenda and collaborate with the Regional Co-ordinating Councils which should in turn get in touch with the relevant sector ministries on the issue.
That would attract a lot of domestic and foreign tourists who would also be provided with good services in many of the newly-constructed hotels with all the necessary facilities, especially at Koforidua, the regional capital, the gateway to the tourist sites.
CORRUPTION ENDEMIC IN GHANA — PARTICIPANTS (PAGE 16)
Participants at a round-table seminar on corruption have said unless members of the public were bold to report on corruption related issues, there was no way it could be minimised or eliminated from the country.
According to them, the Ghanaian society had now become so endemic with corruption that one had to offer money, material or their bodies in the case of young women before being offered any form of assistance.
The seminar which was held at Koforidua last Monday was organised by the Ghana Integrity Initiative (GII) in collaboration with the National Catholic Secretariat, the Ahmadiyya Muslim Mission and the Christian Council.
It was attended by about 50 participants made up of Christian leaders and the Ahmadiyya Muslim Mission in the Eastern Region.
The participants said corruption was now synonymous with the Ghanaian society and unless people were bold to point out corrupt officials, there was no way it could be eliminated or minimised from the system.
Setting the ball rolling for the discussions, a member of the Council of State, Nana Owusu Gyamadu III, said it was unfortunate that almost every person in the country had to pay bribe before being assisted, a situation he said was negatively affecting the country’s development.
“People are bribed on enstoolment, destoolment, employment, admissions to schools, colleges and tertiary institutions, contracts and even for the transfer of reverend ministers and the best way to fight the canker is to boldly report those involved,” Nana Gyamadu stated.
He called on all especially, the participants, to use the word of God to help minimise it.
For his part, the Executive Secretary of the GII, Mr Vitus A. Azeem, said corruption was impeding Ghana’s economic growth and that his outfit would continue to organise similar seminars to create the awareness on the canker as a way of eliminating it from society.
He said although the fight against corruption would not be easy, he was hopeful that the high rate of corruption would reduce in due course.
He called on religious leaders to join the crusade against the canker.
The Project Support Officer of GII, Mrs Sandra Gakson, said apart from hosting workshops on corruption, her outfit had also been carrying out periodic social auditing on the canker.
The Very Rev. J.K.B Appiah-Acheampong, Supt Minister of the Methodist Church in charge of Mampong-Akuapem, chaired the function.
According to them, the Ghanaian society had now become so endemic with corruption that one had to offer money, material or their bodies in the case of young women before being offered any form of assistance.
The seminar which was held at Koforidua last Monday was organised by the Ghana Integrity Initiative (GII) in collaboration with the National Catholic Secretariat, the Ahmadiyya Muslim Mission and the Christian Council.
It was attended by about 50 participants made up of Christian leaders and the Ahmadiyya Muslim Mission in the Eastern Region.
The participants said corruption was now synonymous with the Ghanaian society and unless people were bold to point out corrupt officials, there was no way it could be eliminated or minimised from the system.
Setting the ball rolling for the discussions, a member of the Council of State, Nana Owusu Gyamadu III, said it was unfortunate that almost every person in the country had to pay bribe before being assisted, a situation he said was negatively affecting the country’s development.
“People are bribed on enstoolment, destoolment, employment, admissions to schools, colleges and tertiary institutions, contracts and even for the transfer of reverend ministers and the best way to fight the canker is to boldly report those involved,” Nana Gyamadu stated.
He called on all especially, the participants, to use the word of God to help minimise it.
For his part, the Executive Secretary of the GII, Mr Vitus A. Azeem, said corruption was impeding Ghana’s economic growth and that his outfit would continue to organise similar seminars to create the awareness on the canker as a way of eliminating it from society.
He said although the fight against corruption would not be easy, he was hopeful that the high rate of corruption would reduce in due course.
He called on religious leaders to join the crusade against the canker.
The Project Support Officer of GII, Mrs Sandra Gakson, said apart from hosting workshops on corruption, her outfit had also been carrying out periodic social auditing on the canker.
The Very Rev. J.K.B Appiah-Acheampong, Supt Minister of the Methodist Church in charge of Mampong-Akuapem, chaired the function.
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