Nana Konadu's Stories

2 Children killed in accident (PAGE 42, JAN 31, 2011)

2011-01-31T03:02:00.000-08:00

Story: Nana Konadu Agyeman, Koforidua

GRIEF struck Akyem-Tafo in the Eastern Region last Tuesday when two siblings were killed in a fatal motor accident involving a Hyundai bus and a Yutong bus at the accident-prone Bunso Junction in the Eastern Region.
The deceased, identified as Christiana Dansoa Antwi, aka Nana Ama and her younger brother, Kelvin Frimpong, died when the Yutong bus rammed into the rear of the Hyundai bus on which they were travelling.
Nana Ama died instantly, while her brother was rushed to the Kyebi Government Hospital where he was pronounced dead on arrival.
Nine other passengers on board the Hyundai bus, including the mother of the deceased and three other separate family members named as Gladys Tetteh, 23 and her siblings John Tetteh, five and Jonathan Tetteh, eight, also sustained serious injuries.
They were also rushed to the same hospital where the bodies of the two victims had also been deposited pending autopsy.
According to the police, the two dead children travelled together with their mother for a funeral at Anyinam and were returning to Akyem Tafo when the accident occurred at about 3.30 p.m.
Briefing the Daily Graphic, the Eastern Regional Commander of the Motor Traffic and Transport Unit (MTTU), Superintendent James Sarfo Peprah, said the two drivers were careless because the accident could have been avoided.
He said if the driver of the Yutong bus, identified as Daniel Owusu, had “managed to slow down and swerved to the other side of the road, it would not have run into the Hyundai bus”.
According to him, Nana Ama and her younger brother and their mother joined the Hyundai bus with registration number GJ 6249 Y at Anyinam.
The bus was travelling from Anyinam to Koforidua, while the Yutong bus with registration number GN 2674 10 was from Accra to Nkawkaw.
Supt. Sarfo Peprah said on reaching the Bunso Junction, the driver of the Hyundai bus wanted to branch off the main road to Koforidua but instead of taking the out lane, he mistakenly took the inner lane, which was already being used by a taxi which was also about to join the main road.
“Since the Hyundai bus was in the lane of the taxi, the driver had to stop for the taxi to reverse but unfortunately, the Yutong bus, which was travelling at top speed, smashed the rear of the Hyundai bus, killing Nana Ama instantly and injuring others,” he stated.

Dan Botwe appeals for calm between Abiriw and Dawu (PAGE 12, JAN 31, 2011)

2011-01-31T02:59:00.000-08:00

Story: Nana Konadu Agyeman, Abiriw

THE Member of Parliament for Okere in the Eastern Region, Mr Dan Botwe, has appealed to the chiefs and people of Abiriw and Dawu to exercise maximum restraint to ensure peaceful co-existence among them.
He said the exemplary tolerance, maturity and respect for the rule of law that the people of the two neighbouring towns had demonstrated in the wake of the shooting incident that claimed one life had helped sustain peace and unity among the people.
“Since we are one people with a common destiny and aspirations, we should not in any way allow what happened to cause any deep misunderstanding among us and disturb the peaceful environment we are all currently enjoying,” Mr Botwe stated.
Speaking to the Daily Graphic in an interview at Abiriw on Saturday, the MP also urged the chiefs and the people to co-operate with the police to bring to book those behind the shooting incident that nearly marred the peace in the two towns.
To facilitate peace in the area, Mr Botwe also called on the police to expedite investigations into the incident, noting that “the ability of the police to bring to book the perpetrators will instil a sense of confidence of the people in the police”.
“Once the youth have heeded to the advice of the elders of the two towns to wait for the law to take its course, it is my hope that the police will do everything within their ability to effect the arrest of those who committed such a heinous crime,” the MP stated.
Mr Botwe expressed his profound gratitude to the chiefs, the people and the police for jointly helping to contain the disturbance that occurred on Wednesday, January 26, 2011, from escalating, adding that “our collective resolve must be sustained to expose those behind the incident to forestall any future recurrence”.

Five arrested over Abiriw shooting incident (PAGE 3, JAN 31, 2011)

2011-01-31T02:56:00.000-08:00

Story: Nana Konadu
Agyeman, Akropong.

FIVE persons suspected to be behind the shooting incident that took place at Abiriw in the Eastern Region last Wednesday that claimed the life of one person and injured two others have been arrested by the police.
The suspects, whose identities are being kept for security reasons, are in custody on the orders of the Akropong Divisional Police Command.
It would be recalled that one person was shot dead, while two others sustained gunshot wounds, when a long-standing land dispute between the people of Abiriw and Dawu turned violent on Wednesday, January 26, 2010.
Kwabena Adu, 35, and Kwadwo Adu, 36, both from Abiriw, were said to be working on their farm when they were allegedly attacked by a group from Dawu and shot in the chest and the hip, respectively.
A third person, Asiamah Bekwin, 40, also from Abiriw, was allegedly kidnapped in the process and his body was found in the bush 24 hours later.
Briefing the Daily Graphic on the arrests, the Akropong Divisional Police Commander, Chief Superintendent Ernest Owusu, said the police had information on Saturday that some of the key brains behind the shooting incident were hiding in villages near Dawu.
He said a team of policemen deployed to look for the suspects arrested the five persons at Dawu and its surrounding villages, including Krutiase, Sanfo and Abenahyia.
He said the five suspects, who are currently assisting in police investigations, would be screened and those found culpable put before court to face the full rigours of the law.

Youth organisers show solidarity with Baba Jamal (Jan 28)

2011-01-28T07:59:00.000-08:00

Story: Nana Konadu Agyeman, Koforidua

THE Eastern Regional Youth Organisers of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) have appealed President John Evans Atta Mills not to change Mr Baba Jamal as the Deputy Eastern Regional Minister.
This, they believed, would enable him to partner the new Eastern Regional Minister, Dr Appiah Kubi, to handle political and socio-economic developments effectively in the region.
“We are of the conviction that Mr Baba Jamal has what it takes to partner Dr Appiah Kubi to handle the region politically and development wise,” the youth organisers stated.
This was contained in a statement signed by the Deputy Eastern Regional Youth Organiser, Mr Yaw Antwi, and all the 41 Youth Organisers and their deputies and issued at Koforidua yesterday.
The statement followed the quarterly meeting of the party’s youth organisers and their deputies from all the 21 constituencies in the Eastern Region.
The statement indicated that it had come to the notice of the youth organisers that the Eastern Regional Executive of the NPP and some faceless persons were fighting hard to get Mr Jamal out of the region, out of fear and for their own selfish ends.
“We the youth and many more members of the party have total confidence in Mr Baba Jamal and pray the President to keep him here in the Eastern Region for the sake of our party, NDC, and the 2012 general elections,” the statement added.

LAND DISPUTE TURN VIOLENT...One shot dead, 2 injured (1B Jan 28)

2011-01-28T07:57:00.000-08:00

Story: Nana Konadu Agyeman, Abiriw

ONE person was shot dead, while two others sustained gunshot wounds, when a long-standing land dispute between the people of Dawu and Abiriw in the Eastern Region turned violent on Wednesday.
Kwabena Adu, 35, and Kwadwo Adu, 36, both from Abiriw, were said to be working on their farm when they were allegedly attacked by a group from Dawu and shot in the chest and the hip, respectively.
A third person, Asiamah Bekwin, 40, also from Abiriw, was allegedly kidnapped in the process but his body was found in the bush 24 hours later.
Kwabena and Kwadwo were rushed to the Tetteh Quarshie Memorial Hospital in Mampong where they are responding to treatment.
Asiamah’s body was found with some gunshot wounds in the stomach by a search team comprising policemen and youth from Abiriw.
He and six others had gone to their farms on the Abiriw-controlled side of the disputed land between the two neighbouring towns.
Intensive rescue efforts mounted by the police and some of the youth from Abiriw to search for him and seek his release proved futile until his body was discovered in the bush.
The body has been deposited at the Tetteh Quarshie Memorial Hospital morgue awaiting autopsy.
When Asiamah’s death made the rounds in Abiriw, irate youth massed up to avenge their friend’s death but they were reported to have been stopped by a heavy police presence in the area.
Meanwhile, police reinforcement has been dispatched from Accra and Koforidua to maintain peace between the youth of Abiriw and Dawu.
Police sources said when news of the shooting and kidnapping got to Abiriw, the youth from the area massed up in front of the Abiriwhene’s palace and on the main street. They blocked the main road leading to the town to search every passing vehicle to vent their anger on passengers suspected to be from Dawu.
But they were quickly dispersed by armed policemen sent there from Akropong.
Briefing the Daily Graphic at Dawu, the Akropong Divisional Police Commander, Chief Superintendent Ernest Owusu, said when he received information on the shooting, he quickly deployed a team to the scene where the victims were found abandoned.
He said his men rushed them to the Tetteh Quarshie Memorial Hospital.
Chief Supt Owusu said to prevent any clash between the youth from the two towns, the police went to the Abiriwhene’s palace and appealed to him to advise the youth of Abiriw to refrain from carrying out any violent retaliation.
The police, he said, again went to the acting Dawuhene’s palace to plead with him to prevail on the youth to release the kidnapped person but that had not been done.
Just after that, he said, a reinforcement from Koforidua and Accra was called in to ensure peace in the area.
The armed policemen continue to patrol the streets of the two neighbouring towns to avert any violent clash between the youth of the towns.
An emergency meeting has also been held at the Abiriwhene’s palace between the District Security Committee (DISEC) and the traditional leaders of Abiriw to find an amicable solution to the problem.

BANK THIEF JAILED 22 YEARS (1B, JAN 26, 2011)

2011-01-26T07:24:00.000-08:00

A FORMER employee of the Akim Oda branch of SG-SSB Bank who embezzled GH¢592,000 belonging to the bank has been sentenced to 22 years’ imprisonment with hard labour by the Koforidua High Court.
The convict, Francis Tetteh, who had been in custody for the past 13 months, was found guilty on four counts of stealing, each of which attracted 22 years. The sentences are to run concurrently.
Tetteh, who pleaded not guilty to all the charges, used his position as chief cashier to manipulate the bank’s computer system to steal the money in tranches of GH¢361,000, GH¢231,000 and GH¢170,000 between July and October 2009.
The facts of the case, as presented to the court, presided over by Mr Justice G.S. Suurbaareh, were that on October 8, 2009, officials of the Inspectorate Division of the bank in Accra went to the Akim Oda branch on official duties and detected that the convict had stolen GH¢592,000.
A report was lodged at the Akim Oda Divisional Police and, in the course of investigations, Tetteh admitted stealing GH¢531,000 and not GH¢592,000.
Some time between July 29 and the first week of August the same year, the convict failed to balance his papers after the day’s work and, after checking, the branch manager detected shortage of GH¢231,000 caused by the convict.
The manager confronted Tetteh, who confessed that he had taken the money, which he had given to some people for a gold business in Accra and Kasoa, and promised to refund it after the transaction.
The branch manager, after consultations, decided not to report the theft to the bank's head office in Accra.
He, however, informed the Bureau of National Investigations (BNI) outfit in Akim Oda and decided to update the bank’s books to agree with the money the convict had embezzled so that when it was retrieved, the anomaly would be corrected to reflect the right account status.
While the branch manager was waiting for the convict to retrieve and produce the money, the bank received an e-mail from the head office Accounts Department to the effect that a questionable transaction of GH¢361,000 had been detected in one of the suspense accounts and that the branch should investigate and reverse it.
In the course of investigations, it came out that the convict had manipulated the computer system and stolen another GH¢361,000 and when he was contacted, he admitted stealing the money, which he claimed he had given to some people in Accra.
The convict requested the assistance of the BNI and the police to travel with him to Accra and Kasoa to retrieve the money from those he had given the money to.
Passing sentence, Mr Justice Suurbaareh said the actions of the convict, who was in a position of trust, could seriously erode public confidence in the banking sector.
According to the court, the sentence should be deterrent enough to prevent other bank staff from committing such offences.

INITIATE YOUTH-MENTORING PROGRAMMES (PAGE 51, JAN 24, 2011)

2011-01-24T10:07:00.000-08:00

THE Mamfehene, Osabarima Ansah Sasraku, has advocated the development of sustainable youth-oriented mentoring programmes that will unearth the potential of the youth in the country.
That, he said, would motivate young people to appreciate their God-given talents and potentials to grow up to become more useful to themselves and society.
“Our most precious natural resources are not found in our gold, diamonds, cocoa, timber and manganese that our economy has depended on for many years but in our ability to unearth the talents of our children into indispensable resources for our progress,” he stated.
Speaking at the annual Ohum Festival of the chiefs and people of Mamfe in the Akuapem North District in the Eastern Region last Saturday, Osabarima Sasraku stated that “hidden in the hearts and minds of our children are the hopes, dreams and aspirations of our towns, regions, nation and the world as a whole”.
The event, which was held on the theme, “Mentoring as a means of transferring knowledge to the youth”, attracted a large gathering of people from all walks of life, including the outgoing Eastern Regional Minister, Mr Samuel Ofosu-Ampofo; the Member of Parliament for Akropong, Mr William Ofori Boafo, and the District Chief Executive for Akuapem North, Mr George Opare Addo.
Dwelling on how the country could nurture the youth into responsible adult citizens, the Mamfehene, who is also the Kyidomhene of the Akuapem Traditional Area, said for many years the country had placed little attention on the institution of youth-oriented programmes and investments to empower the youth.
“Much of our attention has been devoted to the exploitation of the country’s natural resources which are not our most precious natural resources for our development aspirations,” he stated.
“How do we, as a nation, provide guidance and the support needed so that the youth do not only receive formal education provided by our educational system but also get help to develop their self-esteem and become emotionally and spiritually mature?” he asked.
As a way of providing mentoring programmes for young people of Mamfe and its environs, Osabarima Sasraku called on the chiefs and people of the area to support the initiation of youth mentoring programmes to empower the people.
For his part, Mr Ofosu-Ampofo noted that though the youth constituted the largest segment of the population, they were the most affected by unemployment, while their potential had often been misdirected into wrong actions such as indiscipline, hooliganism, alcoholism, drug abuse and other social vices.
To address that, he said since education was now considered a right and not a privilege, the government would ensure that quality education was accessible to all children.

21,809 PUPILS BENEFIT FROM MOBILE LIBRARY SERVICES...In Lower Manya Krobo (PAGE 11, JAN 24, 2011)

2011-01-24T09:48:00.000-08:00

A TOTAL of 21,809 pupils from primary and senior high schools in the Lower Manya Krobo District in the Eastern Region have benefited from the Mobile Library and Extension Services (MLS) of the Ghana Library Board (GLB).
The three-day outreach initiative was to give the beneficiary pupils and students from 43 primary schools, 29 junior high schools and 43 senior high schools access to reading and learning materials from the mobile van of the GLB.
Besides, the programme, which was implemented on a pilot basis, afforded the pupils and students the opportunity to learn the rudiments of the Internet and its applications.
Speaking to the Daily Graphic at the closing ceremony of the programme at Odumase-Krobo at the weekend, the Eastern Regional Librarian, Mr Guy Amartefio, said the exercise formed part of efforts by the GLB to provide effective public library services to deprived communities that did not have access to static libraries.
“It is the hope of GLB that such services will bring basic reading and learning materials closer to pupils and students in order to meet their information, educational, research and recreational needs,” he stated.
Mr Amartefio indicated that the MLS also sought to support teaching and learning in basic and senior high schools, especially those in rural and peri-urban communities and therefore appealed to the pupils and the students to take advantage of the programme to read wide to enable them to acquire knowledge to excel academically.
He pointed out that similar exercises had already been organised in communities in the Kwahu North and the Atiwa districts, both in the Eastern Region.

LITERACY PROGRAMME AT HABITAT (PAGE 11, JAN 24, 2011)

2011-01-24T09:46:00.001-08:00

A LITERACY programme aimed at inculcating reading habits in schoolchildren at Habitat and its environs near Kyebi in the Eastern Region has been launched.
The initiative, dubbed “Reaching Higher Levels of Learning”, would assist the schoolchildren aged three and 13 from poor communities to access assorted reading and learning materials.
The programme, being sponsored by the Yen Anidaso Clubs of Readers, is expected to empower the beneficiaries to improve their reading skills by mainly using the same classroom textbooks and materials which are used by their peers in town and cities.
In an address at the launching ceremony, the President of Yen Anidaso Clubs of Readers, Ms Anita Adomako, said the programme was a voluntary service being provided by some concerned citizens of the area to promote reading habits among schoolchildren in the communities.
“It is our desire to leverage the power of mentoring to inspire literacy, and empower our children to learn to think independently and motivate them to apply the lessons learned from the characters in the books they read in daily life,” she stated.
According to her, many children from low-income homes and less privileged backgrounds lacked the necessary learning materials and therefore, had little or no interest in reading.
“This unfortunate situation makes it difficult for these children to make it to the top of the academic ladder, compelling most of them to drop out of school to become liabilities to the community and the nation as a whole,” Ms Adomako stated.
The Public Relations Officer of the East Akyem Municipal Education Directorate, Mr Ofori Sintim, expressed the readiness of his outfit to help train volunteer teachers to ensure the success of the programme.

LITERACY PROGRAMME AT HABITAT (PAGE 11, JAN 24, 2011)

2011-01-24T09:46:00.000-08:00

CALL FOR MORE FUNDING FOR TECHNICAL INSTITUTES (PAGE 11, JAN 24, 2011)

2011-01-24T09:43:00.000-08:00

THE Director in charge of Technical and Vocational Education Training (TVET), Mr Isaac K. Y. Ebeh, has called for more funding for technical institutions to enable them come out with products that would contribute meaningfully to national development.
“About one per cent of the Ghana Education Service (GES) budget to TVET does not portray any seriousness to technical and vocational education, while poor infrastructure development at the polytechnics and the universities that provide TVET at the tertiary levels are massive to the disadvantage of technical institutes”, Mr Ebeh stated.
He said most of the technical institutes were housed in structures that looked like abandoned farm houses with obsolete machinery and equipment in dilapidated workshops. This, he noted, undermined the relevance of such institutions to the country’s progress.
Speaking at the golden jubilee anniversary of the Koforidua Technical Institute (KOTEC) in Koforidua at the weekend, Mr Ebeh stated that “other countries we turn to for loans, grants and equipment are not naturally endowed like Ghana but have strategically invested in the TVET sector, which has become their tool for national development”.
“Since returns in the investment of TVET are manifold, we must also as a nation adopt a more pragmatic approach and commit adequate funding and make TVET relevant to our national development,” he stated.
The director said TVET was a requisite tool for national development that must be acquired and sharpened adequately to enable products of such institutions to contribute to the country’s development.
“Unfortunately, reports available show that most graduates from technical institutes do not acquire the relevant skills and knowledge and therefore, cannot be expected tools for national development”, he stated.
“Technical and vocational institutions should necessarily be the foundation of TVET, without which engineers and other high calibre technologists may not achieve the desired development goals,” Mr Ebeh stated.
The outgoing Eastern Regional Minister, Mr Samuel Ofosu Ampofo, expressed the government’s commitment to resource technical and vocational institutions to enable them to function more effectively to produce the right calibre of products for national development.
Earlier, the Headmaster of the Institute, Mr Eric E. O. Gyamera, said the lack of a wall, an administrative block, staff bungalows, assembly hall and adequate water supply were some of the challenges facing the school and called on the government and other stakeholders to help tackle the problems.

MAN DROWNS IN MINE PIT (BACK PAGE, JAN 11, 2011)

2011-01-11T07:18:00.001-08:00

A 33-year-old man last Saturday drowned in one of the numerous abandoned pits belonging to a mining company at Kyebi.
The deceased, Kabiru Mohammed, was reported to have been engaged by Mos Mining Company to use a pumping machine to drain water from some of the pits to enable the company to reclaim the land.
Kabiru, in the accompany of two young people from the Zongo community near Kyebi, was said to have slipped and fallen into the pit while working on the pumping machine.
He was rescued unconscious by his colleagues, who rushed him to the Kyebi Government Hospital, where he died on arrival.
An autopsy conducted on the body by a senior medical officer of the hospital gave the cause of death as drowning.
Meanwhile, the body has been released to the family and interred.
Briefing the Daily Graphic, the Kyebi Divisional Police Commander, DSP Ohene Gyan, said about 6.30 a.m., one Alhaji Mohammed Sanusi from Kyebi Zongo went to the Kyebi Police Station to report that his younger brother, the deceased, had drowned in a pit in one of the mining sites.
He said the deceased was engaged by the Mos Mining Company to pump water out of some of the pits to enable the company to reclaim the land.

3 CHIEFS KILLED IN ACCIDENT (1B, JAN 10, 2011)

2011-01-10T10:17:00.001-08:00

THE mission of three sub-chiefs of Agona Kwaman, near Agona Swedru in the Central Region, to attend a wedding ceremony of the daughter of their chief at Tepa in the Ashanti Region turned tragic when they lost their lives in an accident on the Accra-Kumasi highway on Saturday.
The accident, which also claimed the life of the taxi driver, identified as Yaw Baah, 40, occurred when he drove his KIA Rio taxi into a Man Diesel articulated truck which had been abandoned in the middle of the road without any warning sign at a junction between Apedwa and Anyinasin on the Accra-Kumasi highway.
The three chiefs, identified as Nana Baffour Otorbor, 78, Kyidomhene; Nana Amoah Sekyi II, 84, Benkumhene, and Nana Kwame Gyan, 93, Kyidombatan, and the driver died on the spot.
The only survivor was Nana Annor Akyemfo, 54, the Gyantuahene, who was rushed to the Suhum Government Hospital for attention. The bodies of the victims have been deposited at the hospital pending autopsy.
Briefing the Daily Graphic, the Kyebi Divisional Commander of the Motor Traffic and Transport Unit (MTTU), ASP Bernard Ofori Amanfo, said the four sub-chiefs left Agona Kwaman at 2 am for Tepa in the Ashanti Region to accompany Nana Okaaku Yeboah, chief of Agona Kwaman, to his daughter’s wedding ceremony on that fateful day.
He said the chiefs travelled through Suhum and when they reached a spot between Apedwa and Anyinasin on the Accra-Kumasi highway at about 5.30 am, their KIA Rio taxicab ran into the rear of an abandoned Man Diesel articulated truck in the middle of the road.
ASP Amanfo said the truck, fully loaded with TV sets with a Burkinabe registration numbers 10 KK 1599 and 11 KK 1216, had no sign placed behind it to warn other motorists, a situation that made it difficult for the driver of the KIA Rio taxicab, with registration number GR 7393 10, to see the stationary vehicle.
He said by the time a team from the MTTU got to the scene, the driver of the articulated truck and his mate had fled the accident scene in an attempt to avoid being killed by some of the residents of the area who went to the rescue of the victims.
Meanwhile, following the death of the three sub-chiefs in the accident, the wedding ceremony of the chief’s daughter was reported to have been postponed.

CATHOLIC BISHOP OF KOFORIDUA SUPPORTS 2 INSTITUTIONS (PAGE 11, JAN 7, 2011)

2011-01-07T09:40:00.000-08:00

THE Catholic Bishop of Koforidua, Most Rev. Joseph Afrifa Agyekum, has donated 200 bags of cement to the St. Mary Vocational Training Institute and the St. Thomas Senior High Technical School at Asamankese in the Eastern Region.
He also provided the two beneficiary schools with two Samsung air conditioners meant for the offices of the headmasters of the schools.
The items were meant to assist management of the two schools to construct more structures to enable them to accommodate the new first-year students they were to admit.
Presenting the items on behalf of the Koforidua Catholic Bishop, the Financial Administrator of the Catholic Diocese of Koforidua, Very Rev. Fr Justin Mensah, said the materials reflected the commitment of Most Rev. Agyekum to support the schools to address their infrastructure problems and also to enhance teaching and learning.
He assured management of the beneficiary schools that the Catholic Church was collaborating with other agencies, both local and international, to help put up modern classroom blocks for the two schools and appealed to the headmasters to use the materials for the intended purpose.
Receiving the materials on behalf of the two schools, the Headmaster of the St Thomas Senior High Technical School, Mr Stephen Ahenkrah-Owusu, thanked Most Rev. Agyekum for his commitment to the progress of the schools.
“You have come to our aid at a time we are in desperate need for help to tackle our infrastructure challenges.
We are faced with infrastructure problems, which we can only solve with the support of the government and well-meaning individuals in society, as well as our past students,” Mr Ahenkrah-Owusu stated.

KOREA TO FUND 22 SCHOOLS IN KWAHU NORTH, FANTEAKWA DISTRICTS (PAGE 19, JAN 6, 2011)

2011-01-06T09:21:00.000-08:00

TWENTY-TWO basic schools in rural communities in the Kwahu North (Afram Plains) and the Fanteakwa districts in the Eastern Region are to benefit from the construction of 22 classroom blocks and residential apartments for teachers.
The multi-million projects, aimed at improving educational facilities in the beneficiary communities, will comprise offices, libraries and computer laboratories, while the teachers’ quarters are expected to accommodate about 132 teachers.
Besides, furniture and various educational materials will be provided for the beneficiary schools to improve teaching and learning in the two districts.
The projects are being funded by the Korean government, under the Integrated Quality Education Project that is being implemented by the Korean International Co-operation Agency (KOICA), in partnership with World Vision International.
Inaugurating one of the completed projects — a three-unit classroom block and two teachers’ bungalows — at Nkankama in the Fanteakwa District, the Korean Ambassador to Ghana, Mr Hak Sang Lee, said since education was vital to developing the country’s human resource base, the Korean government was ever committed to making educational infrastructure and materials more accessible to some selected rural communities in the two districts.
“Since Ghana can achieve its development aspirations with a well-educated population, the Korean government is committed to helping it to harness its human resource base,” he stated.
The outgoing Eastern Regional Minister, Mr Samuel Ofosu Ampofo, commended the Korean government for its commitment to various educational projects in rural communities aimed at improving the standard of education in the beneficiary areas.
He appealed to the chiefs and people of the beneficiary communities to take good care of the projects so that they would serve the purposes for which they were constructed.
The Chief of Begoro, Daasebre Awuah Kotoko, expressed the gratitude of the people to the Korean government and World Vision International for their support towards raising the standard of education in the district.

ADASAWASE GETS TOURIST RECEPTIVE FACILITY (BACK PAGE, JAN 4, 2011)

2011-01-04T06:53:00.000-08:00

A GH¢177,000 tourist facility to provide conducive resting environment for tourists visiting the Tini Waterfalls and other tourist sites in the Atiwa District in the Eastern Region has been inaugurated.
The Adasawase Tourist Receptive facility, funded by the government through the Ghana Tourist Board, has an office, a museum, a souvenir shop, a snack bar and facilities including washrooms for the physically challenged.
The project, the second of its kind to be inaugurated in the country, will serve as a one-stop shop where tourists would be able to access information on tourist attractions and investment opportunities and enjoy local dishes in the Atiwa District in particular and the Eastern Region in general.
In address at the inaugural ceremony at Adasawase, the Minister of Tourism, Mrs Sabah Zita Okaikoi, said the project formed part of efforts by the government to improve domestic tourism and the patronage of tourist sites in the Eastern Region.
She said tourism had the capacity to create more jobs and income opportunities for the people and contribute to the better Ghana agenda promised by the National Democratic Congress (NDC) government.
She, therefore, expressed the hope that stakeholders, including municipal and district assemblies, would join hands and help attract tourism investment into the region.
The minister hinted that the EREDEC Hotel in Koforidua, which has been on divestiture for many years, would soon be rehabilitated and “put on the market for use by tourists who will visit the Eastern Region”.
Mrs Okaikoi, who announced that her ministry would partner private investors to construct 20 more rest stops nationwide, gave an assurance that the road leading to the Adasawase Tourist Receptive facility would soon be given on contract to be reconstructed to facilitate movement to tourist sites in the Atiwa District.
The Eastern Regional Minister, Mr Samuel Ofosu Ampofo, said since the district was endowed with abundant natural resources, the district assembly must work with the chiefs and the people to plant trees to preserve water bodies and the environment.
Earlier, the chief of Adasawase, Osabarima Kwame Tia, thanked the government for constructing the facility in the community but appealed for the road leading to the facility to be constructed to make it useable by motorists.
He also expressed worry over the activities of illegal chainsaw operators in the community and called on the government to help tackle the situation.

OKUDZETO CALLS FOR SUPPORT FOR MISSION VARSITIES (SPREAD, JAN 4, 2011)

2011-01-04T06:33:00.000-08:00

THE Chairman of the Presbyterian University Council, Mr Sam Okudzeto, has appealed to the government to amend the GETFund Act to enable mission-based private universities to receive funding for their programmes.
“As trusted partners to the government in education delivery, private universities are producing graduates, hence the government should do well to support their training to enable them to receive the best education for national development,” he stated.
Speaking at the fourth congregation of the Presbyterian University College (PUC) in Abetifi on Saturday, Mr Okudzeto said “failure of the government to support them is a mark of discrimination against the students of these universities and their parents who also contribute to the GETFund”.
“Since tuition is free for students of public universities, I propose that students in private universities must be given students’ loans which can pay off their total tuition fee in order to lessen pressure of cash on their parents,” he stated.
The congregation, which was on the theme: “Training the total person for national development: The role of the Presbyterian University College”, saw 200 students graduating.
Mr Okudzeto said governments the world over invested in education because of the dividends they derived from that investment.
However, he said in order to obtain the full benefit of education, governments should provide a policy on the type of skills which the educational institutions should provide to meet their country’s developmental needs.
In line with that, he said, every government should have a say in the content of the syllabuses to ensure the development of skills which would be of benefit to its human resource.
The Moderator of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana, Rt Rev Prof. Emmanuel Martey, said the church was determined to support the university to open more campuses in the cities and urban centres to ensure “our continued survival as a tertiary institution”.
“With the assistance of the Asante Presbytery, the church is opening an additional campus in Kumasi, beginning from the 2011/2012 academic year, and this will be followed in the near future with another campus in Accra,” he announced.
Earlier, the Principal of the PUC, Professor Kofi Sraku-Lartey, had mentioned acute water shortage as one of the major challenges confronting the institution and appealed to the government and individuals to help address the situation.

FIVE TRAPPED TO DEATH ...As container falls on taxi cab (BACK PAGE, JAN 3, 2011)

2011-01-03T07:46:00.000-08:00

FIVE persons were crushed to death when a container on a moving articulated truck fell on the taxi cab on which they were travelling at a spot near the Apedwa Junction on the Accra-Kumasi Highway on New Year’s eve.
The bodies of the unidentified deceased, comprising the driver of the taxicab, three adults and a two-year-old baby, have been deposited at the Suhum Government Hospital for autopsy.
A lady passenger who was also on board the taxicab, an Opel Astra with registration number GN 7197 Q,, however, survived when she forced open the door of the vehicle and jumped just before the container fell on the taxi.
The lady, who is also yet to be identified, sustained serious injury and was rushed to the Eastern Regional Hospital in Koforidua where she is responding to treatment.
Briefing the Daily Graphic, the Eastern Regional Commander of the Motor Traffic and Transport Unit (MTTU), Superintendent James Sarfo Peprah, said the Leyland articulated truck, with registration number AS 3908 A, was travelling from Kumasi to Accra loaded with logs of teak.
He said at the Apedwa Junction, the truck was climbing a hill and its gear failed, causing it to reverse, hit a pick-up before the container on it fell on the taxi, which also had five passengers on board and heading from Apedwa to Suhum.
According to Supt Peprah, a lady on board the taxi cab was reported to have asked the taxi driver, identified only as Cudjoe, to stop to allow the passengers in the vehicle to get down but he refused.
He said the lady then forcibly opened one of the doors of the taxi cab and jumped out before the container fell on it and crushed to death the other four passengers.
“All the passengers who were trapped to death in the taxi could have survived if the driver had listened to the advice of the lady,” Supt Peprah stated.

VOLTIC PROVIDES TRANSPORT FOR SCHOOL CHILDREN (PAGE 11, JAN 3, 2011)

2011-01-03T07:09:00.000-08:00

A PROJECT aimed at transporting schoolchildren from their homes to their schools and back in 10 specially-designed trikademik cycles, in the New Juaben Municipality, was today launched at Koforidua.
Under the project, a total of 55 school children, aged four to 11 years, who walked long distances daily to and from their schools will be picked from their homes and sent to school in the morning and taken back to their homes after school.
The initiative is aimed at reducing absenteeism among the beneficiary schoolchildren and improving teaching and learning in the selected schools.
The beneficiary schools are Kyeremanteng Basic School and Good Shepherd School at Ada, Babs International School at Mangasin, Presbyterian Basic Schools, Nana Kweku Boateng Basic School, Rock of Ages, Mosama Preparatory School and Assemblies of God School at Koforidua and the Roman Catholic Primary School at Effiduase.
The initiative, which will commence when basic schools resume in the second week of January, 2011, will be implemented on a pilot basis and is expected to be extended to other communities, based on its successful implementation.
It is being sponsored by the Voltic Ghana Limited in partnership with Instinct Ghana Limited, a marketing and advertising agency.
In an address at the launching ceremony at Koforidua, the Managing Director of the Voltic Ghana Limited, Mr Dhananjay K. Deshmankar, said as part of its corporate social responsibility, the management of the company decided to partner Instinct Ghana Limited to provide free transportation for the beneficiary school pupils.
“Through our observation and interactions with our consumers, we have realised that school attendance for some school children was not regular due to lack of transportation to and from various schools in the selected communities and it is our hope that this initiative will encourage increased attendance among the beneficiary children”, he stated.
The Voltic MD said the introduction of the project would provide employment for 15 riders and two bike mechanics, adding “we hope it will be an avenue for these people to nurture their entrepreneurial skills to earn decent incomes for themselves”.

LEAVE TEACHERS FOR THE CLASSROOMS...Kdua Bishop appeals to govt, GES (PAGE 19, DEC 27, 2010)

2010-12-27T07:18:00.000-08:00

THE Catholic Bishop of Koforidua, Most Rev. Joseph Afrifa Agyekum, has appealed to the government and the Ghana Education Service (GES) not to recruit teachers for national exercises that conflict with the academic calendar of educational institutions.
He said the practice of using basic and second cycle school teachers for the census and the national and district elections took the teachers away from the classrooms, a situation that adversely affected the standard of education in most public schools.
He said if such teachers should be engaged for the national exercises, it should be done during holidays to “save our pupils and students from suffering unnecessary academic drawbacks”.
He, therefore, suggested the recruitment and training of unemployed graduates from tertiary and second cycle institutions for such national exercises.
Speaking at a teachers’ durbar at Asamankese, Bishop Agyekum said “once our schools open for academic work to begin, teachers must be allowed to stay in the classroom to spend quality hours with their pupils and students without any interruption”.
The meeting was to afford the Catholic Bishop of Koforidua and other stakeholders the opportunity to meet and interact with the teachers who came from the various Catholic schools at Suhum, Asamankese, Kade, Adoagyire, Nsawam and Akwatia.
The bishop’s appeal followed earlier reports at the function by the West Akyem Municipal Director of Education, Mr Kofi Nti, that most of the basic school teachers who were recruited for the national census, after the exercise, went back to their schools only to write letters requesting for a two-week casual leave to enable them to undertake their engagement and wedding activities.
He had earlier partly blamed the non-commitment of most of the teachers to their profession for the poor standard of education in the municipality, citing lateness and absenteeism as some of the major factors contributing to the problem.
The acting Eastern Regional Manager of Catholic Schools, Mr Clemence Y. Baba, said lack of discipline among some of the teachers and lack of effective supervision by some of the headteachers of schools had contributed to poor academic performance by pupils and students.
“Efforts are now being made to assess the record of teachers before they are appointed as head of our schools,” he told the teachers as a warning to show commitment to the profession to pave way for any future promotions.

SEVERANCE AWARD FOR EX-GCD WORKERS (1B, DEC 23, 2010)

2010-12-23T04:05:00.001-08:00

ECOBANK has begun the payment of 50 per cent severance award to workers of the Ghana Consolidated Diamonds (GCD) who were laid off after the collapse of the company.
The payments followed the release of GH¢3 million by the government to the bank for disbursement to the workers.
The Deputy Eastern Regional Minister, Mr Baba Jamal, told the Daily Graphic in Koforidua yesterday that the government had to intervene to save the workers from further hardships.
“The release of the money is also in fulfilment of a promise the President, Professor John Evans Atta Mills, made to the workers of GCD in his 2008 presidential campaign to pay their severance packages if voted into power,” Mr Jamal stated.
“When GCD is successfully divested, the remaining 50 per cent of the workers’ severance award will be paid by March, 2011,” he added.
GCD collapsed in 2006 and the 780 workers of the company were laid off.
The deputy minister said the closure of the company had affected the survival of the workers and their families over the years, adding that “41 of the workers have so far passed away due to economic hardship they faced”.
To facilitate the payment process and other documentation, Mr Jamal said all the workers were allowed to take photographs free of charge.
“It is a great relief for workers of GCD who have endured economic hardship for a long time to receive 50 per cent of their severance packages prior to the celebration of the Christmas,” the deputy minister stated.

ENHANCE DECENTRALISATION PROCESS — OKYENHENE (SPREAD, DEC 22, 2010)

2010-12-22T02:15:00.000-08:00

THE Okyenhene, Osagyefuo Amotia Ofori Panin, has called on the government to enhance the decentralisation process to ensure the effective implementation, evaluation and monitoring of various development projects across the country.
He said decentralisation in the area of education, for example, would instil a sense of communal ownership, accountability and transparency at all levels of society.
“Unfortunately, our current centralised system makes it difficult for educational authorities to evaluate and monitor effectively the performance of teachers, a situation that can be solved if those to supervise the teachers are close to them in the communities,” the Okyenhene stated.
Speaking at the end-of-year State Council meeting of the chiefs of the Akyem Abuakwa Traditional Area in Kyebi last Friday, Osagyefuo Ofori Panin stated that “today’s centrality of governance is outdated and has outlived its relevance and usefulness for our development aspirations”.
The meeting was used to discuss several pertinent development issues, such as illegal mining, poor educational standards, security and other issues confronting the socio-economic development of Akyem Abuakwa.
“All over the world, governance systems which are small and scattered are relatively immune to failure, as the local authorities and the communities feel a sense of ownership in the monitoring and evaluation of the progress of community projects,” he stated.
Osagyefuo Ofori Panin stated that the implementation of centralised governance at a time when the country’s population stood at five million was “useful to the nation’s development drive, but with the current population of close to 25 million, a centralised system of governance is completely outdated, as it has outlived its relevance and usefulness to our country’s development drive”.
Buttressing his point, he said when, recently, he went round to inspect the conditions of some of the basic public schools in the area as part of activities marking his 10th anniversary on the stool, “I was faced with the reality that undermines quality teaching and learning.”
“The conditions of those schools and the children were very depressing, as they lacked proper classroom blocks, places of convenience, chairs and tables, electricity and good source of drinking water,” he stated.
“If the educational sector is decentralised, the communities could mobilise resources to complement the government’s efforts at improving basic infrastructure and provide the needed facilities, as well as set up boards to evaluate and monitor the performance of teachers to enhance teaching and learning,” the Okyenhene added.
Osagyefuo Ofori Panin charged chiefs in the traditional area to mobilise prominent citizens in their respective areas to help mobilise resources to address the basic challenges facing some of the basic schools in the area.

MAN, 38, TO DIE...For beating 80-year-old man to death (LEAD STORY, DEC 18, 2010)

2010-12-20T02:35:00.001-08:00

Story: Nana Konadu Agyeman, Koforidua

FOR beating an 80-year-old woman mercilessly to death at Akyem-Sekyere in the Eastern Region, a 38-year-old taxi driver is to pay with his life by hanging.
Although the convict, Edward Boateng, pleaded not guilty to the charge of murder, the Koforidua High Court, presided over by Mr Justice Kossi Efo Kaglo, pronounced him guilty after eight years of trial by a seven-member jury.
He was said to have gone to the family house of the deceased, Ama Kuman, at Akyem-Sekyere about 11.30 p.m. on January 1, 2002 to look for his sister but ended up subjecting the deceased to severe beatings before biting her right ear.
The deceased, who was rescued by her children, was rushed to the Holy Family Hospital at Nkawkaw unconscious, where he died the following day.
Prosecuting, a State Attorney, Mr Fred Tetteh, told the court that on January 1, 2002, the convict had gone to Akyem-Sekyere to look for his sister, Gladys Yaa Dansoah, who was the deceased’s son’s wife.
The prosecutor said when Boateng got to the house where his sister lived, he knocked hard on the door several times, calling her to come out, but there was no response.
The deceased, who was sleeping in her room, came out and told the convict that his sister did not come to the house to sleep but the convict became infuriated and pounced on her, beating her mercilessly until she became unconscious.
“Boateng even went to the extent of biting the right hear of the deceased but her daughter and Boateng’s sister who were sleeping in their separate rooms came out to rescue the old woman, who had become unconscious,” Mr Tetteh stated.
The deceased was then rushed to the Nkawkaw Holy Family Hospital and admitted but she died the following morning.
Her family reported the incident to the police, who caused the arrest of the convict on January 2, 2002.

INSECTICIDE MOSQUITO NETS FOR 10 COMMUNITIES (MIRROR, DEC 4, 2010, PAGE 34)

2010-12-06T04:09:00.000-08:00

From Nana Konadu Agyeman, Koforidua

RESIDENTS of 10 out of the 21 municipalities and districts in the Eastern Region are to benefit from 830,000 insecticide-treated mosquito nets.
The project, to be implemented on a pilot basis, will be extended to the remaining 11 districts based on the successful implementation of the project in the beneficiary areas.
The initiative, targeted at pregnant women and children under five, as well as other persons registered under the programme, forms part of the launch of the long-lasting insecticide nets hang-up campaign being implemented by the National Malaria Control Programme and financed by the USAID.
As part of measures to ensure the success of the programme, a task force and personnel of the Ghana Health Service would be moving from house to house to hang the nets in the homes of the beneficiaries and also conduct regular visits to ensure their effective use by the beneficiaries.
This became known during the launching of the universal access to Long-Lasting Hang-up campaign at Kwamang in the Kwahu West Municipality in the Eastern Region.
Launching the project, the Eastern Regional Minister, Mr Samuel Ofosu Ampofo, said available statistics showed that in 2008, 746,444 cases of malaria were recorded in the region but this increased to 925,266 in 2009.
According to him, hospital admissions which were the result of malaria increased from 39,596 in 2008 to 43,762 in 2009, while total deaths due to the disease decreased slightly from 279 in 2008 to 273 in 2009.
“It is regrettable that these deaths could have been prevented by sleeping under a treated mosquito net, but since this precaution was not adhered to, many people had to write their premature obituaries”, Mr Ofosu Ampofo stated.
He attributed the increase in malaria cases to filthy environments in towns and communities in the region, and added “it is, therefore, not surprising that the substantial increase in the death rate in Ghana could be traced to the deterioration and degeneration in our environment”.
He, therefore, appealed to the beneficiaries to sleep under the treated mosquito nets to reduce malaria cases and maternal and infant mortality in the region.

ADJETEY TOPS ALL (PAGE 3, DEC 4, 2010)

2010-12-06T02:02:00.001-08:00

A 60-year-old farmer, Mr Benjamin Adjei Adjetey, from Dodowa in the Greater Accra Region, was yesterday adjudged the national Best Farmer for 2010.
As his prize, Mr Adjetey, who is also the Managing Director of the Neehata Farm at Oyibi near Dodowa, will receive a three-bedroom house to be built at a place of his choice and fully furnished by the Agricultural Development Bank (ADB).
In addition, Mr Adjetey, who has been in the farming business for the past 37 years, will have a personal insurance cover worth GH¢5,000 provided by the Unique Insurance Company and undertake a trip to the United Kingdom sponsored by the State Insurance Company (SIC), a GH¢4,000 Akuafo Adamfo Life Policy to be financed by the Ghana Life Insurance Company and a Dstv donated by Multichoice.
Mr Adjetey, married with six children, earned the ultimate prize for embarking on a number of agricultural activities, including the cultivation of 166 acres of land, animal husbandry, a rice farm covering 100 acres, 80 acres of maize, 45 acres of mango, 20 acres of groundnuts and seven acres of cowpea.
Mr Adjetey, who has engaged five full-time workers and 100 casual ones, as well as seven family members, on his farm, also has 757 cattle, 122 sheep, 84 goats, 160 guinea fowls and 240 fowls.
The second overall national best farmer prize went to Mr Maxwell Akandem, 42, from the Upper East Region.
Mr Akandem, a graduate from the University of Development Studies (UDS), received a tractor and accessories for cultivating a 493.5-acre farmland, comprising 241 acres of maize, 10 acres each of rice, sorghum, and yam, five acres each of onion and garden eggs, as well as rearing eight goats.
Mr Eric Midose, a 47-year-old farmer from the Kwahu South District in the Eastern Region, emerged the third best national farmer and took home a double cabin pick-up worth GH¢42,000 donated by the Stanbic Bank.
Other significant awards went to Mr Moses Tetteh, 41, from Nkonya in the Volta Region, who had a KIA pick-up for being the best in fishing, while the national best livestock farmer award went to Alhaji Awudu Karim, 56, from the Upper East Region. He also received a KIA pick-up.
Sixty-five other farmers who distinguished themselves in animal raising, fishing and the production of food and cash crops such as cocoa, pineapple, citrus and cashew were also honoured.
They were presented with various items, including farm machinery and inputs.
On behalf of his colleagues, a highly elated Mr Adjetey expressed his appreciation to the government for honouring them and gave the assurance that they would do their best to increase food production.

ADJETEY TOPS ALL (PAGE 3, DEC 4, 2010)

2010-12-06T02:01:00.001-08:00

Oil or no oil...FOOD IS NO. 1 (LEAD STORY, DEC 4, 2010)

2010-12-06T01:55:00.000-08:00

PRESIDENT John Evans Atta Mills has assured Ghanaians that despite the oil find, his administration will continue to give all the necessary support to boost agricultural production in the country.
That, according to the President, was because the agricultural sector was a strong option for achieving accelerated economic growth and poverty reduction.
Addressing the 26th National Farmers’ Day celebration at Somanya yesterday, President Atta Mills said agriculture was still the mainstay of the economy, so despite the oil find, his administration would continue to support agriculture for it to help accelerate economic growth and alleviate poverty to ensure decent living for all Ghanaians.
“I am reiterating the point I continue to make that in spite of our oil find, the Atta Mills Government will continue to support the agriculture sector as a strong option for achieving accelerated economic growth and poverty reduction,” the President stated.
In all 70 farmers, fishermen, livestock breeders and agricultural extension officers who distinguished themselves in various areas of agricultural production were honoured.
President Mills said because of the government’s commitment to the agriculture sector and the efforts of the indefatigable farmers in the country who stepped up food production, the global food and economic crisis which resulted in poverty and hunger around the world last year did not become that severe in Ghana.
For instance, he said, the farmers in 2009 produced 23.1 million metric tons of root tubers and plantain and 2.6 million metric tons of cereals as against 21.3 million and 2.2 million metric tons of root tubers and plantain and cereals respectively in 2008.
On cocoa production, President Mills said it provided a foreign exchange cover of about $1.86 billion from export in 2009, while livestock farmers and fisherfolk did not only provide the nation with its important protein requirements but also generated $48.12 million in foreign exchange from fish and other seafood exports.
President Mills, however, stated that despite such gains, Ghana still spent more than $1 billion annually on the importation of food that could be produced in the country with rice alone wiping out $500 million of Ghana’s hard-earned foreign exchange.
He expressed the hope that duties imposed on selected food items in the 2011 budget would address the gross imbalance and mentioned subsidy on fertiliser, expanding irrigation to end rain-fed agriculture, intensified dissemination of agricultural technologies and education, the Youth in Agriculture Programme and the creation of a national food buffer stock company to store food as some of the government’s interventions.
President Mills said the buffer stock company had started yielding good results because it had purchased and stored 10,000 metric tons of paddy rice and about 32,000 metric tons of maize, some of which had been bought by the World Food Programme and sent to Niger.
He thanked the farmers, fishermen and livestock breeders who were honoured and the entire farming community for their efforts at keeping the economy going.
The Minister of Agriculture, Mr Kwasi Ahwoi, told the gathering about numerous initiatives that the ministry had implemented in the agricultural sector.
These included 63 per cent increase in the allocation of tractors and implements, provision of combine harvesters to farmers, warehousing, support for farmer organisations, which, he indicated, had led to increased production of food crops, livestock and fish catch, especially in the Afram Plains.
Mr Ahwoi, who also dwelt on various aspects of agriculture, stated that the ministry would not relent in its efforts at assisting all those engaged in agriculture to boost production.
Earlier in his welcoming address, the Eastern Regional Minister, Mr Samuel Ofosu Ampofo, said a number of interventions had been made to boost agriculture in the region.
These, Mr Ofosu Ampofo stated, included the rehabilitation of about 1,126.28 km. of feeder roads at the cost of GH¢2.2 million and the construction of a number of bridges.
He also stated that a road was being constructed from Mame Krobo in Kwahu North (Afram Plains) to link the Ashanti Region at Agogo, explaining that such a road network would make the Afram Plains, which could only be reached by crossing the Afram River by pontoon, accessible by vehicles from the Ashanti Region.

SEVENTY UP FOR FARMERS' CROWN (1C, DEC 3, 2010)

2010-12-05T23:54:00.001-08:00

Story: Nana Konadu Agyeman, Somanya

SEVENTY farmers and extension officers who have distinguished themselves in the agriculture sector will be honoured today at the 26th edition of the annual National Farmers Day celebration.
The event is being held at the Yilo Krobo Senior High School at Somanya in the Eastern Region with President J.E.A. Mills in attendance to honour farmers, fishermen and agricultural extension officers in various award categories such as crops, fisheries and livestock.
Provisional data at the Ministry of Agriculture (MoFA) indicates that up to September, this year, the sector grew by 4.8 per cent with real hope that the end-of-year actual target of 6.0 per cent is achievable, to make 2010 one of the most productive years for Ghanaian farmers.
Indeed all sub-sectors in the agriculture sector, according to the national budget, achieved their targets except the crops and livestock sub-sector, which posted a growth rate of 5.0 per cent against a target of 7.0 per cent.
To celebrate the the cream of the nation’s men and women who helped achieve that target, President Mills will join more than 5,000 visitors, including members of the Diplomatic Corps, ministers of state, parliamentarians, directors of agriculture, award winners and farmers at Somanya.
The celebration is being held on the theme “Grow More Foods” and to herald it, hundreds of visitors turned up yesterday to participate in an exhibition of assorted farm products, agro-chemicals, machinery and other agricultural inputs.
Officials of the MoFA and members of the Eastern Regional Planning Committee of the National Farmers Day also were at the exhibition but were tight-lipped as to who would emerge as the winner of the ultimate prize.
During a visit to Somanya yesterday, members of the planning committee, made up of representatives of the Ghana Health Service, MoFA, the Eastern Regional Co-ordinating Council, the Ghana Tourist Board among others were working around the clock to put finishing touches to preparations.
Speaking to the Daily Graphic, the Deputy Director of Fisheries of MoFA, Mr Lionel Awity, said “As I talk to you, even the farmer to be adjudged the Best National Farmer does not know it until all awardee farmers have been called for their awards tomorrow.”
He said it would take many by surprise.
In an address at the exhibition, the Eastern Regional Minister, Mr Samuel Ofosu Ampofo, said even though the country was blessed with commercial quantities of oil, the government was determined not to relegate agriculture to the background.
He, therefore, urged Ghanaians, especially the youth, to take advantage of the various government initiatives in the agriculture sector to create employment opportunities for themselves and enhance their living standard.

ENCOURAGE GHANAIANS TO OWN MINES (PAGE 13, DEC 2, 2010)

2010-12-02T21:57:00.000-08:00

THE immediate past President of the Association of Ghana Industries (AGI), Mr Tony Oteng-Gyasi, has urged the government to initiate policies that would encourage Ghanaians with experience in the mining industry to form consortiums to own mines in the country.
Such a move, he said, would help to keep some of the profits made by the mining companies within the local economy and create more jobs for the people.
“For instance, Ghanaians who were involved in the floatation of the then Ashanti Gold Field gained experience in raising international capital for mining purposes and if such Ghanaians were identified and given mining leases, they could raise international capital to operate first class mines in Ghana”, Mr Oteng-Gyasi stated.
Speaking at a budget review workshop for parliamentarians at Koforidua last Saturday, Mr Oteng Gyasi said: “Its time we supported our local investors to also own some of the mineral-rich sites across the country as part of efforts to curb the growing phenomenon of galamsey operations in the country”.
The workshop, meant to educate the MPs on the 2011 Budget and their role in its accountable and transparent implementation, was organised by the Parliamentary Centre under the auspices of the Africa Parliamentary Strengthening Programme (APSP) and funded by the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA).
The former AGI President said over the years the mining and the quarrying industry, most of which were foreign-owned, had seen a significant growth in GDP from 6.87 in 2007 to a provisional 11.2 per cent in 2010 and was projected to increase to 11.5 per cent in 2011.
This growth, he said, had been induced by the increasing global market prices of the minerals such as gold on the global market, making the mining sector one of the best growing industries in the country.
He however expressed worry over how most of the profits made by the mining companies were repatriated outside the country at the expense of the economy.
He was of the view that the commitment of the government to look for local investors interested in the mining industry and help them to acquire the requisite knowledge and skills could help reverse the trend to the benefit of the economy.
Besides, the readiness of the government to support the local investors could also help them to acquire the requisite knowledge and skills in the mining industry, a move that in the long run could curtail the growing phenomenon of galamsey operations in the country.
“We have over the years seen an increase in galamsey operations by illegal miners, who on a daily basis are becoming angrier for a simple reason that most of the mineral-rich lands are being owned by foreigners”, he said and added that “just as these mineral-rich lands are given out to foreigners, who go to the stock exchange to raise capital to mine, our local investors could also do the same when given a lease to operate”
On mining royalties, Mr Oteng-Gyasi said that with the record high prices that were currently being enjoyed by the mining companies, the payment of monthly royalties, instead of quarterly, would help the government to improve cash flow.
For his part, the Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, Dr Kwabena Duffuor, said the economy had shown strong resilience and stability with the overall budget deficit on cash basis had reduced from 14.5 per cent in GDP in 2008 to 9.6 per cent of GDP in 2009 as well as around 11 of GDP on commitment basis and on course to around 8 per cent of GDP in 2010.
He indicated that the current account deficit narrowed to about five per cent of GDP in 2009, but was expected to increase to 12.1 per cent of GDP in 2010 as a result of the importation of inputs for the oil exploration and development.
The Finance and Economic Planning Minister added that inflation had declined for 16 consecutive months to 9.38 per cent, the lowest over the past two decades, while the cedi had stabilised over the past 14 months against all the three major currencies.
“Having experienced stability for the past 18 months, the country needs to accelerate economic growth to generate jobs and reposition itself as a middle income country”, Dr Duffuor stated.
According to him, the 2011 budget sought to put the country on the right path to achieve accelerated economic growth and prosperity in an environment of stability and said that in the medium term, investment decisions of the government would focus on accelerating agriculture modernisation, developing the oil and gas industry, critical infrastructure, sustaining natural resource management and environment as well as enhancing the competitiveness of the private sector and human resource development.
“It is our expectation that the investments in these areas will increase economic activity, facilitate private sector competiveness and therefore result in increased job creation”, Dr Duffuor stated.
In his view, 2011 marked the beginning of the country’s oil production in commercial quantities, of which major challenges would be how the oil revenues would be used to transform the economy and accelerate growth without sacrificing macroeconomic stability and accentuating income inequalities.
For their part, Messrs Cletus Avoka and Osei Kyei Mensah-Bonsu, the respective Majority and Minority Leaders said since the financial destiny of the country was in the hand of legislators, MPs should undertake non-partisan analysis, debate and discussion of the 2011 Budget to ensure its accountable, transparent and effective implementation that would serve the interest of all sectors of the economy.
The Director of the Africa Programmes of the Parliamentary Centre, Dr Rasheed Draman, said since no country had ever developed without a properly and efficiently implemented budget, parliamentarians should ensure that the national budget and all the processes surrounding it did not remain mere political events.
“Please, you must keep a watchful eye on those charged with the responsibility of implementing the budget and scrutinize every line to ensure that each allocation is justified and has a role in alleviating the plight of the vulnerable in our society”, he said.

3 SCHOOL PROJECTS INAUGURATED AT NKANKAMA (PAGE 35, DEC 1, 2010)

2010-12-02T12:13:00.000-08:00

A THREE-UNIT classroom block and two residential apartments for the Nkankama District Assembly Junior High School in the Fanteakwa District in the Eastern Region have been inaugurated and handed over to the community.
The classroom block comprises offices, a well-stocked library and computer laboratory attached while the residential bungalow will accommodate six teachers of the school.
The projects estimated to cost US$1,764,643 form part of 22 similar projects being implemented in the Fanteakwa and the Kwahu North (Afram Plains) Districts, aimed at enhancing teaching and learning in the beneficiary rural communities.
The Korean government financed the projects through the Korea International Co-operation Agency (KOICA) under its Integrated Quality Education Project while its execution was undertaken by the World Vision International.
The South Korean Ambassador to Ghana, Mr Hak Sang Lee, performed the inaugural ceremony at Nkankama.
He said since the development of the human capital of every nation was critical to its socio-economic progress, the Korean government was committed to support Ghana to harness its human and natural resources.
“Since education is the key to improve the human capital of Ghana, the Korean government is determined to extend support to Ghana to enable it to achieve the universal primary education by 2015”, Mr Lee stated.
He noted that the Republic of Korea had the same GDP as Ghana in the 1960s, but today his country was far ahead in its development strive due to “a well educated human resource who have and are contributing meaningfully to its development.”
“Ghana could also achieve the same high GDP through hard work and commitment to provide accessible quality education to the people,” Mr Lee stated.
The Eastern Regional Minister, Mr Samuel Ofosu Ampofo said since education helped to prepare the minds of the people to facilitate social integration and economic development, the government would continue to commit resources to make education more accessible.
He commended the Korean government for its commitment to support various educational projects in rural communities, which would help raise the standard of education in the beneficiary communities.
Mr Ofosu Ampofo appealed to the beneficiary communities to own the projects and preserve them so that they would serve the purpose for which they were constructed.
The Chief of Begoro, Daasebre Awuah Kotoko, expressed the gratitude to the people, the Korean government and the World Vision International for their support towards the uplift the standard of education in the area.

ECG TO IMPROVE POWER SUPPLY IN NEW JUABEN (SPREAD, NOV 30, 2010)

2010-12-02T11:11:00.001-08:00

WORK on the construction of a 33kv primary station to improve electricity supply in the New Juaben Municipality and its environs is progressing steadily.
The 2.3-million-euro project forms part of efforts by the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) to also enhance the stability of electricity supply to Koforidua, Jumapo, Oyoko, Akwadum, Okorase, Suhyen and Mangoase.
The project, which is 85 per cent complete, will complement the only 20mva capacity primary station at Old Estate, a suburb of Koforidua.
The project, which started in September, 2009, and is expected to be completed in November, 2010, is being funded by the Norwegian government and executed by the Jacobsen Electro of Norway.
The Eastern Regional Director of the ECG, Mr Kobina Arthur Forson, disclosed this to the Daily Graphic in Koforidua.
He said the project would enhance the capacity of his outfit to effectively cater for the increasing energy demand by the New Juaben Municipality and the surrounding communities.
Mr Forson made the disclosure when the Business Operational Performance monitoring team, which comprises of officials from the ECG and the State Enterprise Commission, paid familiarisation tours to some of the facilities of the ECG in Koforidua and Old Tafo in the East Akyem Municipality.
The two-day tour, which afforded the officials first-hand insight into the challenges facing the ECG and its personnel, took the team to the Bulk Supply Plant at Old Tafo and the Mile 50 primary station in Koforidua.
The team also inspected the upgrading of the 11kv lines to 33kv from Old Tafo to Suhum and from Old Tafo to Anyinam, Begoro and Kwabeng; a project which is expected to ensure customer satisfaction and reduce losses to the ECG, upon completion.
The regional director said the only primary station at Old Estate, which is being fed by the rural lines, served the New Juaben Municipality and its environs, a situation that often led to occasional power outages whenever there was a technical fault.
He said to avoid such a problem, the ECG was building new lines from the Old Tafo Bulk Supply Plant (BSP) to the existing primary station at Old Estate and the new primary station at Mile 50 to avoid further disruption of power supply to the people.
“As the New Juaben Municipality expands, we need to build our capacity to enable us to cater effectively for the growing energy demands of the municipality and its surrounding areas,” Mr Forson stated.
For his part, the Executive Director of the STE, Mr David Djanie, expressed satisfaction at the efforts being made by the ECG to meet the increasing energy demands of residents in the New Juaben Municipality and the nearby communities.

COLLABORATE WITH GOVT TO EMPOWER WOMEN — AZUMAH-MENSAH (PAGE 11, NOV 27, 2010)

2010-12-02T06:35:00.000-08:00

THE Minister of Women and Children’s Affairs, Mrs Juliana Azumah-Mensah, has urged organisations and institutions concerned with gender equality,to continue to collaborate with the government to initiate more measures that would empower women socially, economically and politically in society.
The Minister said the challenges to the development of women in the country was embodied in social, cultural, economic and political discrimination coupled with violation of their rights, intimidation and violence.
Mrs Azumah-Mensah made the call at the launch of the 16 days of activism against gender-based violence at Suhum last Thursday.
The event was on the theme “Women Speak, End Gender-Based Violence Now!”, formed part of international campaign set aside to highlight the various human right abuses perpetrated against women globally. It was also to pay respect to human rights defenders as well as raise awareness about the elimination of all forms of violence against women.
In her view, women also lacked the capacity to engage in viable economic activities to generate enough money for themselves, a situation that had made them to remain in the vicious poverty cycle, preventing them from having access to proper healthcare, education, shelter and food, among others.
The minister said there was the need to encourage women to control their lives and effectively contribute to national development, as well as gain freedom from all forms of socio-cultural, economic and political discriminations.
“Until we sustain our commitment to empower women, forces that militate against the development of women in general will be so overwhelming that it will be difficult to reap the fruits of our efforts, thus making the future of women in Ghana bleak”, Mrs Azumah-Mensah stated.
“Many women are unable to afford even the cost of transportation to reach health facilities, while others face barriers because they are illiterate and unable to express themselves in English, considered as the official language”, Mrs Azumah-Mensah stated.
The minister also lamented the denial of women to own property such as land, cash crops among many ethnic groups, while others remained subjected to traditional male dominance that denied them statutory entitlements to inheritance and property owning, legally registered marriage and the maintenance and custody of their children.
“Even today, many widows are thrown out of their late husband’s houses by relatives who consider it a taboo for women to own houses, a situation that has made single women poor and unable to properly ensure their children’s well-being and development”, the minister stressed.
On employment, she said discrimination at the workplace had become common causing some women to engage in menial jobs like head potters and house helps, exposing them to social, commercial and sexual exploitation.
With regard to education, she said though education was a right in itself and a pathway to the enjoyment of other rights, the lack of education for women had a lifetime cost such as the opportunities for financial independence and increasing the likelihood of early marriage with its high incidence of emotional and physical ill-health.
“In spite of the fact that Ghana has passed laws that prohibits early marriage, many girls are married off without their consent due to poverty. This denies them access to education, which in the long run significantly increases their risks of contracting HIV and AIDS and increase maternal mortality”, she added.
The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Resident Representative, Ms Ruby Sandhu-Rojon, also reiterated the call on stakeholders to put in more efforts at ending violence against women and ensuring their involvement in conflict resolution and peace building processes.
The National Co-ordinating Director of the Domestic Violence and Victims Support Unit (DOVVSU), Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Elizabeth Dassah, said despite various interventions by her outfit and other stakeholders, domestic violence was still rife in the country.
“Over the past 12 years of its establishment, DOVVSU has recorded about 120,000 cases of violence, with spousal violence accounting for over 26,000, defilement 9,417, rape 2,458, with more than 50,000 presenting cases of non-maintenance”, she said.
ACP Dassah added that some of the gender-based crimes which were often not reported included forced marriage, abduction, trafficking in women and children into portage, domestic servitude and prostitution, children in worst forms of labour, sexual harassment in the workplace and violence against the girl child in school, stressing that these cases were also on the increase.
For his part, the Deputy Eastern Regional Minister, Mr Baba Jamal, called on both men and women, especially married couples, to show mutual respect to one another to curb the increasing rate of violence committed against one another.

MAN SHOT DEAD BY FARMER (BACK PAGE, NOV 25, 2010)

2010-11-25T03:14:00.000-08:00

A 34-year-old farmer is in the custody of the Eastern Regional Police Command for allegedly killing a young man he suspected of sexually harassing his (farmer’s) niece.
The incident occurred when the farmer, Samuel Obeng Ofori, on his way to his farm in the morning, saw three brothers allegedly making frantic attempts to rape his niece.
Enraged by what she considered an attempted rape of the girl, who was on her way to school at the time, Ofori was said to have fired at the three, killing Frank Fordji Ajololo, one of the three men, on the spot.
The other two brothers were said to have taken to their heels.
According to the Eastern Regional Police Commander, DCOP Ransford Ninson, in the early morning of Tuesday, November 23, 2010, the relatives of Oforiwaa gave a crate of minerals to her to send to somebody in her school.
On her way to the school, the three brothers approached her and seized the crate of minerals after which they attempted to rape her.
In a bid to free herself from the grips of her captors, the girl screamed, which attracted some of the residents of the area to her rescue.
Incidentally, her uncle, Ofori, who was also on his way to his farm, arrived at the scene and saw the ensuing struggle between her niece and the three young men. He allegedly fired at them, killing Frank Ajololo in the process.
He was said to have later gone to the police station to report himself and is currently in police custody assisting in investigation.
The body of the deceased, Frank Ajololo, has been deposited at the morgue of the Suhum Government Hospital for autopsy.

GUARD AGAINST SHODDY WORK (BACK PAGE, NOV 24, 2010)

2010-11-25T02:32:00.000-08:00

YOUTH recruited under the Youth in Road Maintenance (YiRM) module of the National Youth Employment Programme (NYEP) have been advised not to allow themselves to be influenced by unscrupulous contractors to execute projects in shoddy ways.
The Deputy Eastern Regional Minister, Mr Baba Jamal, who made the call, stated that if they connived with unscrupulous contractors to do shoddy work, they would fail to justify the purpose for which they were employed under the scheme.
He was speaking at the end of a weekend training programme for 10 regional supervisors for the YiRM module of the NYEP at Koforidua.
The participants had undergone an intensive training in road maintenance at the Ghana Highway Authority Training Centre in Koforidua and were to supervise the youth engaged under the module to keep the roads across the country in good condition.
The deputy regional minister said the introduction of the YiRM module of the NYEP was aimed at not only creating employment for the youth but also to enable them to check poor execution of road construction projects by contractors across the country.
He indicated that the survival of every government depended on the success of youth employment programmes such as the NYEP.
He, therefore, urged the beneficiaries of the various modules to appreciate their recruitment into responsible positions to ensure the success of the programme.
Mr Jamal reminded the beneficiaries to guard against any other conduct that could cast a slur on the government, saying that “your failure to live up to expectation will give credence to the notion that you were appointed not on merit but on political lines”.
The Deputy National Co-ordinator of the NYEP, Alhaji Tapsoba Alhassan, said the recruitment of the youth under the module was not based on their political affiliation but on their merit and competence.
He appealed to the media to refrain from carrying out negative and unsubstantiated publications about the NYEP and the personnel working for the programme, saying that, “you should ensure fair reportage by cross-checking and obtaining authentic information before making them public”.

TAKE ADVANTAGE OF OIL AND GAS — CJ urges students (PAGE 3, NOV 22, 2010)

2010-11-25T02:04:00.001-08:00

THE Chief Justice, Mrs Justice Georgina T. Wood, has called on universities and other tertiary institutions to design courses that will equip students with knowledge and employable skills in the oil and gas industry.
That, she said, would enable Ghanaian students to take advantage of the numerous employment opportunities offered by the exploitation of oil and gas in the country.
“It is time tertiary education considered positioning itself to take opportunities that are uncovered on a daily basis so that Ghanaians can take their destiny into their own hands, especially in the field of oil,” she stated.
The Chief Justice made the call in a speech read on her behalf by Mr Justice Paul Baffoe Bonnie, a Justice of the Supreme Court, at the sixth convocation of the All Nations University College (ANUC) in Koforidua on Saturday.
The event, at which 281 students who pursued various programmes at the university graduated, coincided with the matriculation of 850 students into the institution.
“History shows that countries can only thrive better when they invest in their people and infrastructure, when they promote multiple export industries, develop a skilled workforce and create space for small and medium-sized businesses that create jobs,” Mrs Wood said.
The Chief Justice said the country was currently battling with challenges of development, in spite of the fact that various governments and organisations had, over the years, put in place different policies and projects to improve the quality of education, reduce poverty and speed up the rate of development.
“However, despite these wonderful policies and projects, the country is only creeping out of high rate of unemployment, high rate of school drop-outs, increasing population, high rural-urban drift, among other numerous socio-economic challenges,” Mrs Wood stated.
She expressed delight that in spite of those challenges, the country had, over the years, witnessed an increase in the number of private universities which supported the few overcrowded and overstretched public universities in the country.
“It is invigorating that the religious bodies that pioneered education in Ghana have vigorously joined that crusade of university education and equally taken the challenge to assist the educational sector in bringing up graduates who are instilled with decent moral behaviour.
“The expectations are that these fresh graduates will come up with fresh and innovative ideas to strengthen the inefficient, ill-equipped, grossly underpaid, demoralised, unmotivated and unresponsive civil and public service that has bedevilled all African countries, including Ghana,” the Chief Justice stated.
In an address read on his behalf, the Minister of Education, Mr Alex Tettey-Enyo, commended the role being played by private universities to develop tertiary education in the country.
“While the government welcomes private participation in tertiary education as a solution to improving access, if we are to derive benefits from education, we must ensure that curriculum is relevant and quality is high,” he said.
He commended private institutions providing tertiary education but cautioned that “we must be able to increase access without overcrowding classrooms and improve quality with better learning resources without making education unaffordable”.
The Provost of the College of Science of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Professor R. K. Nkum, advised the graduates to be prepared to learn from the experiences of others they would meet on the job market to enable them to excel in their chosen careers.
Earlier in his welcoming address, the President of the ANUC, Dr Samuel H. Donkor, had said the university would partner major research institutions and universities, both local and international, for research collaboration to make the ANUC a centre of excellence in research and innovation.

PRESBY UNIVERSITY COLLEGE ADMITS 500 (BACK PAGE, NOV 17, 2010)

2010-11-18T06:33:00.000-08:00

THE Presbyterian University College (PUC) last Saturday admitted 500 students at its eighth matriculation at Abetifi in the Eastern Region to pursue various programmes at the institution’s four campuses.
The students will be pursuing their studies at the Okwahu (Abetifi), Asante-Akyem (Agogo), Akropong-Akuapem and Tema campuses of the university.
Addressing the ceremony, the Principal of the institution, Professor K. Sraku-Lartey, said as part of measures to ensure quality academic programmes that would produce the best students, PUC had revised its strategic plan to reposition the institution.
“We are now striving to obtain a charter in five years’ time and make PUC self-sustaining financially within 10 years, as well as realign existing programmes and introduce new demand-driven ones whose outputs will meet local and international requirements,” he stated.
Professor Sraku-Lartey also indicated that the university intended to increase its student population to at least 3,000 in five years and establish a School of Agriculture, which will be backed by viable commercial agriculture.
In a speech read on his behalf, the Moderator of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana, Rt Rev Yaw Frimpong-Manso, called on the government to support the infrastructural development of the university to enhance teaching and learning.

RIOTS AT KYEBI...As galamsey youth battle police, soldiers (LEAD STORY, NOV 10, 2010)

2010-11-13T00:39:00.000-08:00

Story: Nana Konadu Agyeman, Kyebi

STONE-THROWING illegal miners on Monday engaged armed policemen and soldiers in a confrontation at Kyebi after the security men had seized equipment belonging to the galamsey operators, including excavators and pumping machines.
Numbering about 200, the youth hurled stones and sticks at the six security men after blocking some of the roads in the town.
The military and police personnel responded with warning shots to disperse the mob and managed to exit through an alternate route to the Kyebi Police Station to request for reinforcement.
In the absence of the security men, the rioters were reported to have taken their mining equipment to the forecourt of the Okyenhene’s palace, poured petrol on it and were in the process of setting them ablaze when the military/police reinforcement arrived amidst the firing of warning shots to finally disperse the mob. No arrest was made.
The personalities who came the scene included the Eastern Regional Minister, Mr Samuel Ofosu Ampofo, the Eastern Regional Police Commander, DCOP Ransford Ninson, the Commanding Officer of the 1st Battalion Infantry, Lt Col Barimah Owusu, and some members of the Regional Security Council (REGSEC).
They held a meeting with some of the chiefs at the Okyenhene’s palace at Kyebi, including the Okyenhemaa, Nana Twumawaa Dokua, during which the regional minister urged the traditional leaders in the Akyem Abuakwa area to cause the arrest of any person who undertook mining in the area and called on the security agencies to go all out in dealing with illegal miners at Kyebi and its environs.
He condemned the violent behaviour exhibited by the galamsey operators towards the security personnel who were discharging their legitimate duty.
“If the law is not allowed to prevail, we all stand a big risk of being the subject of frequent violent attacks by the illegal miners, who now possess sophisticated weapons to defend themselves and their illegal activities,” Mr Ofosu Ampofo stated.
He called on small scale miners to respect the laws of the land, which require them to register with the Minerals Commission, adhere to proper mining regulations and pay taxes to the Commission.
He said small scale mining had triggered the violation of minerals and environmental laws in the country, a situation which, he said, had emboldened the galamsey operators to frequently mine with poisonous chemicals and divert water bodies without any regard to the health implications their actions posed to the public.
“Today, River Birim is at the brink of extinction simply because the mining laws are not being adhered to by these galamsey operators,” he said, pledging that this would not happen under his watch as a regional minister.
He further expressed dismay at the growing acquisition of sophisticated weapons by the galamsey operators to defend their businesses and themselves, citing a case in which angry, armed galamsey operators demonstrated and marched to the palace of the paramount chief of Akyem Bosome, Okotwereaso Oware Agyekum, who is also the vice president of the Eastern Regional House of Chiefs, and made attempts to remove his sandals of authority and slaughter a sheep to signify his destoolment.
He said the chief, who sustained injury at the hands of the mob, was, however, rescued by the timely intervention of the security forces.
Nana Dokua, who represented the Okyenhene, pledged the support of the traditional leaders to the security forces in their effort to get rid of galamsey operations in the Akyem Abuakwa Traditional Area.

FLOODS CAUSE HAVOC IN AFRAM PLAINS (BACK PAGE, NOV 2, 2010)

2010-11-06T03:37:00.000-07:00

TWO thousand and eight hundred persons in 120 villages and towns along the Volta Lake in the Kwahu East, Kwahu South and Kwahu North districts in the Eastern Region have been rendered homeless by floods.
Besides, the floods have also destroyed 850 buildings and more than 1,800 farms, markets and roads are submerged.
This was confirmed when the Eastern Regional Minister, Mr Samuel Ofosu Ampofo, accompanied by the respective District Chief Executives for the Kwahu South, Kwahu East and Kwahu North districts, Mr Joseph O. Sasu, Mr Samuel Asamoah and Mr Charles Evans Apraku, as well as officials from the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO), led by its Eastern Regional Co-ordinator, Mr Ranford Boakye, visited some of the affected communities in the three districts last Friday.
The visit was used to sensitise the affected persons, most of whom were reluctant to relocate to high grounds to avoid the damaging effects of the floods.
In the Kwahu South District, 490 persons have been displaced and 322 houses destroyed in 22 communities, while 1,202 persons had been affected in 74 communities in the Kwahu North District (Afram Plains).
In the Kwahu East District, a transformer belonging to the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) that supplies power to the Kotosu Water Treatment Plant had submerged, threatening the supply of water to health and educational institutions as well as various households in the area.
One thousand and two persons in 74 communities have been affected in the Kwahu North, where a number of markets and roads, have been flooded making them unmotorable.
At Ekye Amanfrom and Agordeke in the Kwahu North, the floodwaters have inundated the passenger terminals at the two harbours, making it difficult for the pontoons and canoes to berth for passengers.
During the tour, the delegation presented a number of relief items worth GH¢8,800 to the affected persons. The items comprised 800 bags of rice, 40 cartons of soaps, 100 pieces each of bowls and buckets, 20 bales of used clothes, 500 pieces each of plates and cups and 22 bales of poly-mats.
The beneficiary communities included Kotosu and Asempanye in the Kwahu South District, Adawso and Asubone Odumase in the Kwahu South District.
The rest were Ekye Amanfrom, Gadokope, Dororotopong-Kodome, Bridgeano, Teacher Kope and Agordeke in the Kwahu North District.
During the tour, Mr Ofosu Ampofo and his entourage came face-to-face with the threatening nature of the increasing volume of the floodwater, which had caused extensive damage to buildings and personal belongings of the affected persons.
Amazed at the increasing volume of the flood, which, at the time of the visit, could take less than five minutes to make some of the houses in the Kwahu South and Kwahu North Districts to submerge, Mr Ofosu Ampofo appealed to the international community and the country’s development partners to come to the aid of the government to provide the people with their basic needs such as blankets, used clothes and mattresses.
He also called on the three district assemblies to immediately go to the aid of the affected persons by providing them with their basic needs and water tanks at vantage points to serve drinking water to the affected communities to curb the spread of any water-borne diseases.

THREE BANK WORKERS JAILED FOR FRAUD (BACK PAGE, OCT 30, 2010)

2010-11-06T02:18:00.000-07:00

THREE employees of the Suhum branch of the Mumuadu Rural Bank who stole a total of GH¢148,422 belonging to the bank have been sentenced to seven years' imprisonment each with hard labour by the Koforidua High Court.
The convicts, Michael Nti Gyakari, Paul Mensah and Frank Dankwa, were all cashiers at the bank where they embezzled GH¢46,170, GH¢39,334 and GH¢62,918 respectively.
As their modus operandi, they collected the passbooks of customers who went to the bank to deposit their money and wrote the deposited amounts in the passbooks but failed to enter them in the bank’s books and destroyed the deposit forms to avoid detection before pocketing the money.
The three, who are currently students at the University of Cape Coast, were charged with stealing but pleaded not guilty to the 254 counts.
According to the facts of the case as presented by a State Attorney, Mr Frederick Tetteh, on May 14, 2009, after close of work, while the Suhum branch manager of the Mumuadu Rural Bank, Mr James Osafo, was checking the transactions for the day, he detected from Paul Mensah’s cashiers book that there were transactions which were not supported by the vouchers and which indicated stealing.
Consequently, he said, the internal auditor at the bank’s head office at Osino was invited to assist with investigations.
Mr Tetteh said it came to light that within a period of one year, while the three persons were on duty at the bank, they received various sums of money from customers and entered such money in the respective bank passbooks of the customers.
However, the convicts failed to enter the same amount in the ledger books and also failed to feed the computer with the transactions and pocketed the deposited amounts.
The case was then reported to the police and after investigations, it emerged that Nti Gyakari stole GH¢46,170 while Paul Mensah and Frank Dankwah stole GH¢62,918 and GH¢39,334 respectively.
According to the State Attorney, in the course of investigations Nti Gyakari paid GH¢5,000 while GH¢1,900 and GH¢2,000 were paid to the bank by Paul Mensah and Frank Dankwah respectively before being arraigned.
Passing sentence, the court, presided over by Mr Justice G. S. Suurbaareh, said the incarceration of the three should serve as deterrent to other personnel working in the banking industry.

AKUAPEM RIDGE TOWNS BENEFIT FROM WATER PROJECT (SPREAD, OCT 26, 2010)

2010-10-26T11:57:00.000-07:00

TOWNS and communities located on the Akuapem Ridge in the Eastern Region are to benefit from a water supply project designed to solve the perennial water problem in the area.
When completed in 2012, the rural water project, which is a component of the Kpong Old Water Works, will benefit communities such as Akorley, Abonse, Aperede, Adukrom, Awukugua, Dawu, Akropong, Mamfe, Amanokrom, Tutu, Obosomase, Ahwerase, Aburi, Gyankama, Peduase, Kitase and Berekuso.
The Minister of Water Resources, Works and Housing, Mr Alban Bagbin, who disclosed this in a speech read on his behalf at the Odwira festival of the chiefs and people of Aburi on Saturday, said access to improved water supply would enhance economic activities in the beneficiary communities.
The event, which was used to raise funds in aid of the Aburi Educational Fund and development projects in the area, drew a large gathering of people, including the Minister of Roads and Highways, Mr Joe Gidisu; the Deputy Eastern Regional Minister, Mr Baba Jamal; the Municipal Chief Executive for Akuapem South, Dr Godfried O.B. Twum, and the Member of Parliament for Aburi/Nsawam, Mr O. B. Amoah.
Mr Bagbin said though the government inherited difficulties in practically every sector of the economy on assumption of office, it was making every effort to resuscitate the economy, as well as restore various social services to the people.
Highlighting some of the developments on the Akuapem Ridge, he said the refurbishment of the Presidential Lodge at Peduase had finally been completed.
He also announced that the Peduase village facelift and infrastructural upgrading, which were major additional works to the Peduase Lodge Project, had also been completed.
The Minister of Roads and Highways, Mr Joe Gidisu, said the construction of the Pantang-Mamfe road, initiated by the NDC government and implemented by the NPP government, had enhanced the movement of the people and goods.
He, however, said the Aburi-Nsawam road project, which was awarded some years ago, had come to a standstill due to inefficiency on the part of the contractor and indicated that the contract would soon be re-awarded to “a credible and competent contractor”.
He hinted that a number of selected roads in the Aburi township would soon be rehabilitated, while the Ghana Highway Authority, in collaboration with the Building and Road Research Institute (BRRI), was undertaking studies on the landslide on the hills at Ayi Mensah to curb any future landslide in the area.
Mr Jamal advised the youth to prepare themselves adequately by taking their education seriously to enable them to face the future with confidence.
Earlier in his welcoming address, the Aburihene, Nana Otubuor Kwasi Gyan, expressed appreciation to the government for the construction of the Aburi Craft Village, which, he said, would create jobs for the youth in the area.
He expressed concern at the poor state of the Aburi Botanical Gardens, which he attributed to lack of maintenance and, therefore, called for a public-private partnership to assist in the refurbishment of the gardens.

GES INTERNAL AUDITORS APPEAL FOR LOGISTICS (PAGE 61, OCT 25, 2010)

2010-10-22T07:15:00.001-07:00

Internal auditors of the Ghana Education Service (GES) have called on the government and the GES to provide official vehicles and logistics to all the regional offices of the unit to enable personnel to discharge their duties more diligently.
That, they said, would empower the auditors to frequently monitor educational institutions to ensure judicious utilisation of funds provided by the government to promote quality education.
“If an auditor depends on the client’s means of transport for easy movement and materials to work with, he could inevitably be influenced in his reportage, ” they stated.
The acting Eastern Regional Auditor of the GES, Mr Joseph A. Allotey, who made the call, said “with the lack of transportation in all the regional units, the only option left for the GES internal auditors to monitor educational institutions is to use public transport as their daily mode of transportation”.
“Independence, one of the ethical and professional standards for auditors to perform their duties diligently, cannot be achieved when we lack some of the basic logistics and facilities,” Mr Allotey stated.
He was speaking at the 7th annual Eastern Regional conference of the Association of GES internal auditors at Asuogyaman in the Eastern Region.
The event themed: “The Internal Auditor: An agent for safeguarding assets for a better Ghana”, brought together internal auditors of the GES and regional and district directors of education in the Eastern Region to take stock of the achievements, challenges and plan towards the future progress of the units.
The acting regional auditor said the work of the GES internal auditors entailed frequent monitoring of several educational institutions across the country.
However, he said, no region could boast duty post vehicles to facilitate the movement of the auditors, a situation that often compelled the personnel to resort to the use of public transport in the discharge of their duties.
In his view, the GES received a chunk of the national budget to promote better education delivery in the country.
This and other development resources were provided by the government to pursue programmes such as the provision of basic classroom blocks for children attending classes under trees, the Capitation Grant, the School Feeding programme, the Free School Uniforms and the supply of free exercise books.
He said it was the responsibility of the internal auditors of the GES to ensure that funds provided for such programmes were utilised for the intended purposes.
“By so doing, the internal auditor ensures that contracts are appropriately, effectively and efficiently awarded and executed and reviews auditable areas such as contract selection, purchasing, receipt of goods and services, checking and approving of payment vouchers, ” Mr Allotey stated.
He, therefore, appealed to the management of the GES to support and co-operate with the internal auditors to discharge their professional duties more diligently.
He also appealed to the management of the GES to refrain from perceiving internal auditors as “witch hunters since our task is to act as watch-dogs for the government just as external auditors act on behalf of shareholders and creditors of a company”.
“The success or failure of the internal audit unit in the GES as an agent for safeguarding assets for a better Ghana will depend on the support of the top GES management, independence of the internal auditor and strong ethical culture within the GES, ” Mr Allotey added.
For his part, the Eastern Regional Chairman of the association, Mr Adolph Attah-Gatorwu, advised the GES internal auditors to live above reproach to enable them to earn the confidence and respect “that the management of GES desires”.
He said when the unit was restructured into zonal systems, the regional and the zonal heads of the unit were promised means of transport but the promise had “become a dream of the past”.
“We can easily count how many of our members have offices of their own at their stations while some have to share furniture with other staff members, a situation that makes keeping our documents safe and out of reach of third parties difficult, ” Mr Attah-Gatorwu said.
He, therefore, appealed to the GES to help address such problems confronting the internal auditors to enhance their role as agents for “safeguarding assets”.
In a speech read on his behalf, the Asuogyaman District Chief Executive, Mr Johnson O. Ehiakper, appealed to the GES to empower internal auditors in the area of logistics to enhance their output.
“Internal auditors need to be empowered to produce reports on time for a proper evaluation of controls put in place by the management to expose weaknesses that can lead to assets and other financial losses that had the tendency to derail quality education delivery, ” he stated.

CATHOLIC BISHOP OF KOFORIDUA SUPPORTS SCHOOL PROJECTS (PAGE 63, OCT 25, 2010)

2010-10-22T07:13:00.000-07:00

THE Catholic Bishop of Koforidua, Most Rev. Joseph Afrifa Agyekum, has donated 200 bags of cement to the St Mary Vocational Training Institute and the St Thomas Senior High Technical School at Asamankese in the Eastern Region.
He also provided the two beneficiary schools with two Samsung air conditioners meant for the offices of the headmasters of the schools.
The items were meant to assist management of the two schools to construct more structures to enable them to accommodate the new first year students they were to admit.
Presenting the items on behalf of the Koforidua Catholic Bishop, the Financial Administrator of the Catholic Diocese of Koforidua, Very Rev. Fr Justin Mensah, said the materials reflected the commitment of Most Rev Agyekum to support the schools to address their infrastructure problems and also to enhance teaching and learning .
He assured management of the beneficiary schools that the Catholic Church was collaborating with other agencies, both local and international, to help put up modern classroom blocks for the two schools and appealed to the headmasters to use the materials for the intended purpose.
Receiving the materials on behalf of the two schools, the Headmaster of the St Thomas Senior High Technical School, Mr Stephen Ahenkrah-Owusu, thanked Most Rev Agyekum for his commitment to the progress of the schools.
“You have come to our aid at a time we are in desperate need for help to tackle our infrastructure challenges.
We are faced with infrastructure problems, which we can only solve with the support of the government and well-meaning individuals in society as well as our past students”, Mr Ahenkrah-Owusu stated.

Pix: Very Rev. Fr Mensah (third left) handing over the items to Mr Ahenkrah-Owusu, Headmaster of the St Thomas Senior High Technical School.

ROTARY CLUB DONATES TO ADUKROM PRESBY JHS (PAGE 11, OCT 18, 2010)

2010-10-18T06:06:00.000-07:00

THE Rotary Club of Accra Airpot has presented 200 Science and Mathematics books and other learning kits to the Adukrom Presbyterian Junior High School.
The materials formed part of the club’s commitment to support less-endwed schools to improve on teaching and learning.
Presenting the items, the President of the club, Mr Caodoc Mills Lamptey, said the members of the club decided to support the school to enable the students to read wide and prepare adequately for the Basic Education Certificate Examination.
He advised the students to make use of the books and materials so as to improve upon their knowledge.
He charged the management of the school to take good care of the books to ensure that they served the purpose for which they were donated.
Receiving the items, the Headmaster of the school, Mr Edmund Amoah, thanked the members of the Rotary Club of the Accra Airport for their support to the school which he described as timely to motivate the students to read and prepare well for the BECE.

HEALTH TRAINING INSTITUTIONS ASK FOR MORE RESOURCES (PAGE 51, OCT 13, 2010)

2010-10-13T03:59:00.000-07:00

THE Conference of Heads of Training Institutions (COHHETI) has urged the Ministry of Health (MoH) to adequately resource and support health training institutions.
This is to enable them to meet accreditation requirements and consolidate their tertiary status.
It said the provision of well-equipped and stocked libraries, computers, textbooks and health-related journals, current editions of teaching and learning materials, buses for educational tours and vehicles for administrative duties and supervision of students in the clinical areas would enable them ensure quality training of health professionals.
Speaking at the opening of the 2010 annual general meeting and scientific session of the association in Koforidua, the Chairman of COHHETI, Mr James Yambor, said the lack of financial support and other logistics “is adversely affecting the tertiary status of health training institutions”.
The meeting, on the theme: “Consolidating the tertiary status of health training institutions: Challenges and prospects”, brought together heads and acting heads of the various health training institutions in the country.
Making reference to the government’s White Paper on reforms in the tertiary educational system in the country, Mr Yambor said teacher training colleges, agricultural training colleges, nursing and midwifery training colleges were all classified as tertiary institutions and placed under the Regional Colleges of Applied Arts, Science and Technology (RECAAST) to ensure cost-effectiveness by sharing teaching facilities, infrastructure and equipment.
However, he said, resource constraints facing the Ministry of Education (MoE) did not allow for the full implementation of the RECAAST system, in spite of the fact that the MoE had recommended that all RECAAST institutions be affiliated to the universities and steps be taken to upgrade the resources of the potential institutions to those of diploma-awarding institutions.
He, therefore, called on the MoH to help address those challenges to enable health training institutions to measure up to their tertiary status and deliver quality training to students.
For his part, Mr Richard K. Adjei of the NAB advised lecturers in the health training institutions to engage in research activities in relevant areas to enable them to acquire more knowledge and build their professional capability.

AMOAKO-ATTA SUPPORTS ATIWA VICTIMS (PAGE 13, OCT 13, 2010)

2010-10-13T03:57:00.000-07:00

THE Member of Parliament-elect for the Atiwa Constituency, Mr Kwesi Amoako-Attah, has presented assorted items worth GH¢2,000 and an undisclosed sum of money to the 17 persons who sustained various injuries during the Atiwa by-elections.
The items, comprising cartons of tins of Milo, milk and toiletries as well as bags of rice and sugar, were given out to the people who got injured when the four-wheel drive of the National Women’s Organiser, Ms Anita Desoso, allegedly ran into them.
They included Isaac Duah Agyeman, 18, Seth Ampofo, 20, Ruben Addo, 22, Richard Obuoba, 20, Ernest Amoako, 26, Grace Ofosuwaa, 36, Ama Kyerewaa, 30, Ebenezer Adomako, 40, George Abu, 38, Bright Agyapong, 28, Kofi Bremang, 37, Yaw Asiedu, 35, Asomaning Danpreh, 76, Eric Osei, 49, Sameul Owusu Kwesi, 28.
The MP-elect made the presentation to the 17 persons at Abomosu in the Atiwa Constituency last Friday and was accompanied by the Eastern Regional Second Vice-Chairman of the NPP, Alhaji Omar Bodinga, and his Assistant Secretary, Mr Antwi Bosiako, as well as some of the Atiwa Constituency executive members of the party.
Presenting the items, Mr Amoako-Attah said the items were meant to show the commitment of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) to the welfare and recuperation of the 17 persons.
Mr Amoako-Attah, who said the party had already settled over GH¢7, 500 medical bills incurred in the treatment of the 17 persons, assured them of his personal and that of the party’s support to foot any future expenses.
He, therefore, urged the people to continue to seek further medical treatment at the hospitals to enable them to recuperate fully.
He said since the pains they suffered were meant for a good cause to protect any electoral malpractice by “outsiders”, he and the party would not let “your brave acts and pains go in vain”.
The MP-elect called on the police to expedite action on inverstigation into the incident to ensure justice for the 17 persons. Mr Amoako-Attah pledged to commit himself to the rapid socio-economic progress of the Atiwa District in order to raise the standard of living of the people.
Receiving the items on behalf of the others Isaac Duah thanked the MP-elect, the flag bearer of the NPP, Nana Akufo Addo Addo Dankwa, for showing support and footing their medical expenses in the Koforidua and Enyiresi Government Hospitals, as well as the St. Joseph Hospital in Koforidua.

CHIEFTAINCY TEARING NATION APART (SPREAD, OCT 4, 2010)

2010-10-04T07:41:00.000-07:00

THE President, Professor John Evans Atta Mills, has observed that chieftaincy disputes are tearing the country apart and appealed to traditional leaders in the country to work towards a better image for the institution.
President Mills said efforts at improving the quality of life of the people and making the country a better place to live in were being undermined by the numerous disputes, “often with disastrous consequences”.
In a speech read on his behalf by the Eastern Regional Minister, Mr Samuel Ofosu Ampofo, at a durbar of chiefs and people of Akuapem, on the occasion of Odwira, the President said, “unless chiefs resolve to take concrete measures to stem this trend of affairs, it will be very difficult for us to achieve our development targets”.
The colourful event, which was marked on the theme; “The maintenance of peace and unity within the chieftaincy institution for economic, social and moral development”, drew a large gathering of people from all walks of life.
They included the presidential candidate of the New Patriotic Party, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, the Member of Parliament for Akropong, Mr William Ofori Boafo, and the Eastern Regional Secretary of the National Democratic Congress, Mr Anthony Gyampo.
The festivity coincided with the 36th anniversary of the enstoolment of the Okuapehene, Oseadeeyo Nana Addo Dankwa III.
“I am convinced that efforts at accelerating our development will be given a bigger boost if our traditional leaders will play their strategic roles as leaders in the development of our communities,” Prof. Mills stated.
The President said as the oldest governance institution in the country, chieftaincy must necessarily regain its rightful and enviable position in society.
That, he said, would only be possible if chiefs cultivated the will power to discard individual or personal interests and placed the interest of their communities and the nation over and above everything else, adding that, “it is my prayer that the various houses of chiefs will take up this challenge.
“For example, as custodians of culture and tradition, chiefs could exploit the values and traditions that we cherish to protect our environment against degradation and ensure sound environmental practices,” he said.
Prof. Mills added that cultural tourism was an emerging area of the tourism sector, which was very promising in the country and, therefore, urged chiefs to be at the forefront in promoting the sector.
He also urged traditional leaders to exercise the influence they wielded and lead in the crusade against the current moral decadence and instil discipline and sound moral values, particularly in the youth, as well as the promotion of education and the training of the youth.
In his welcoming address read on his behalf, Oseadeeyo Addo Dankwa called for government support for the chieftaincy institution to enable chiefs and other traditional leaders to play the leadership role expected of them by society.
According to him, the protracted chieftaincy disputes arising out of postponement of judicial committee sittings were due to the absence of legal counsel who were intended to help the judicial committees in their deliberations.
He was of the opinion that to save the chieftaincy institution, its economic and political base should be strengthened, adding that, “some of the former sources of genuine income should be restored to the chiefs”.

AMPOFO SHOWS MATURITY ...At Odwira Festival (PAGE 13, OCT 4, 2010)

2010-10-04T07:29:00.000-07:00

The Eastern Regional Minister, Mr Samuel Ofosu Ampofo, last Friday displayed political maturity and humility when he walked up to, and shook hands with the New Patriotic Party (NPP) presidential candidate, Nana Akufo-Addo, at the Odwira Festival durbar at Akropong-Akuapem.
The gesture put to silence the growing agitation and murmuring among some of the large gathering of people from all walks of life at the event.
Mr Ofosu Ampofo, who was representing the President as the special guest at the function, announced his preparedness to walk about 70 metres to where Nana Akufo-Addo was seated at the right side of the Akuapemhene, Oseadeeyo Addo Dankwa III, to welcome him to the festival.
The decision of the President’s representative followed the refusal of the security personnel detailed at the festival to allow the NPP flag bearer to greet Mr Ofosu Ampofo and other government dignitaries at the high table.
That was because Nana Akufo-Addo attempt to extend greetings to the government dignitaries was a breach to the event protocol, which required that all invited guests to the function be seated before the arrival of the President or his representative.
Nana Akufo-Addo, in the company of other top members of the NPP, arrived late at the function at about 3.40 p.m. when Mr Ofosu Ampofo and the government delegation were in the process of paying courtesy call on the chiefs and people.
The NPP presidential candidate’s arrival triggered some shouting and clapping from a section of the gathering and just after Mr Ofosu Ampofo and his entourage had finished paying courtesy calls on the chiefs and people and had taken their seats, Nana Akufo-Addo also took turn to extend greetings to the chiefs and people.
Immediately after paying homage to the chiefs and people, he decided to walk up to the high table to greet Mr Ofosu Ampofo and other government dignitaries but just a few metres to the destination, the security personnel prevented him and his entourage from doing so.
That attracted some booing and agitation from a section of the gathering who appeared very dismayed at the scene that was created following the security agencies’ action.
Prior to delivering the President’s address, Mr Ofosu Ampofo expressed worry over the scene that was created when the NPP presidential candidate was disallowed from greeting him and other dignitaries and, therefore, announced his readiness to walk up to Nana Akufo-Addo to return his “disallowed greeting” and formally welcome him to the festival.
To the surprise of the chiefs and the people, just after reading the President’s speech, Mr Ofosu Ampofo, accompanied by the District Chief Executive for the Akuapem North, walked up to Nana Addo-Dankwa and welcomed him to the function, a scene that attracted massive applause from the chiefs and the people.
The gesture immediately brought to an end the agitation and murmuring from the gathering, some of whom were already engaged in trading of words on whether what happened was appropriate or not.
Mr Ofosu Ampofo had earlier told the gathering that since the theme of the occasion sought to foster unity and peace, they must not allow what took placed to trigger any rift among them.
He also told the chiefs and people that he was a brother to Nana Akufo-Addo, since the two of them were Akyems, saying “we are all one people and, therefore, must never let what happened divide us”.
Meanwhile, Mr Ofosu Ampofo has said that he did not instruct police personnel to prevent Nana Akufo-Addo from greeting him at Friday’s Odwira durbar at Akwapim in the Eastern Region.
According to him, he was not initially aware of the presence of the presidential candidate of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) at the durbar grounds, since all dignitaries were seated before his arrival.
Throwing more light on the issue, Divisional Police Commander of the Akwapem South District, Chief Superintendent Ernest Owusu explained that the programme was originally billed to start at 1:30pm but as at 3:30pm when it started, Nana Akufo-Addo and his entourage had not arrived.
It was therefore agreed that the Regional Minister, stepping in for the president should proceed to greet the chiefs. It was also agreed that Nana Akufo-Addo would not be allowed to go round to greet the chiefs and the decision was communicated to him through the traditional secretary one Bekoe, the police commander said.
However, he stated, when Nana Akufo Addo arrived, he decided to greet the chiefs including the regional minister, but observing protocol, the police prevailed on him to abandon the greetings and take his seat.
Press Aide of the NPP flag-bearer, Herbert Krapa confirmed the incident.
This is the second time that the NPP’s flag bearer had been prevented from greeting dignitaries at a function as a result of protocol breach.
In the first week of September he was prevented from greeting President Atta Mills during the Fetu Afahye festival of the chiefs and people of Cape Coast in the Central Region under similar circumstances.

FEES NOT MEANT TO DENY STUDENTS ACCESS (PAGE 11, SEPT 29, 2010)

2010-09-29T05:51:00.000-07:00

THE Board of Governors of the All Nations University College (ANUC) at Koforidua, has explained that the recent adjustment in fees was not meant to deny its students access to higher education.
It said the upward adjustment in the tuition fees was to enable the institution to provide quality higher education to the students.
The 9.09 per cent tuition fee increase, the Board of Governors stated, was the first in three years but it still made the university fees the lowest on the market.
A press release signed by the President of ANUC, Dr Samuel Donkor, said the increment had “become necessary due to the current economic realities and the high cost associated with the delivery of quality higher education”.
It pointed out that the ANUC would continue to provide affordable quality higher education to give access to the average Ghanaian and other foreign nationals.
“Anyone who wishes can survey the market for the cost of higher education in these times”, the statement added.
Giving details of the increment in tuition fees scheduled for the current semester for the various programmes offered by the university, the statement indicated that while under the Business Administration, Ghanaian students would now pay GH¢600, international students would pay US$1,100, while the weekend students would pay GH¢400 per trimester.
With regards to Computer Science, Ghanaian students would pay GH¢600; international students US$1,100 and weekend students GH¢400 per trimester, while under Biomedical Engineering, Ghanaian students would pay GH¢690, international students US$1,300 and GH¢460 for weekend students per trimester.
The statement added that Ghanaian students pursuing Computer Engineering were to pay GH¢690, their international counterparts, US$1,300 while the weekend students were to GH¢460 per trimester.
Under Electronics and Communication Engineering, it said Ghanaian students were being charged GH¢690, international students US$1,300 and weekend students GH¢460 per trimester.
For the Oil and Gas Engineering, Ghanaian students would have to pay GH¢1, 300, international students US$1,800 and GH¢797 per trimester for weekend students.
With regard to Biblical Studies with a minor in business, Ghanaian students would pay GH¢450, international students US$600 and GH¢234 for weekend students per trimester, while under the diploma in Biblical Studies, Ghanaian students were to pay GH¢350, international students US$500 and weekend students GH¢234 for trimester.
“For the Foundations programme, Ghanaian students would have to pay GH¢200 and international students US$200, while the Ghanaians and the international students were to pay GH¢450 and US$450 respectively for the pre-university programmes”, the statement added.
It would be recalled that students of the university last week protested against the upward adjustment in fees, saying that, they were not consulted and given prior notice to prepare for the adjustment.
They contended that the move was likely to deny some of them university education if the authorities failed to heed to their demand for a review.
However, the university authorities and the students leadership have begun talks to find an amicable solution to the disagreement over the fees adjustment.

ACCOMMODATING FIRST YEAR SHS STUDENTS (PAGE 11, SEPT 27, 2010)

2010-09-27T05:17:00.000-07:00

PARENTS of students who have gained admission to the Aburi Girls Senior High School have pledged to support the school to tackle the problem of infrastructure facing the school.
The move will see the prospective parents supporting the school with various building materials to renovate and convert a disused chapel building into a dormitory to accommodate 200 fresh students.
Besides, the parents also expressed their readiness to assist with the renovation and furnishing of other structures to enhance the capacity of the school to admit more fresh students.
The pledge followed a meeting between the school’s Parent-Teacher Association (PTA) and about 250 prospective parents whose children have gained admission to the school.
The meeting saw the executives of the PTA of the school brainstorming with the parents to see how best to find a solution to the accommodation problem facing the school.
The parents’ pledge formed part of their contribution to complementing the government’s efforts at providing infrastructure at the school to enhance teaching and learning.
The meeting, chaired by the PTA chairman of the school, Professor Enu Kwesi, saw the parents touring the site of the disused chapel, where they saw a few trips of sand, stones, blocks and buckets of paints already dumped there towards the renovation of the building.
The Aburi Girls SHS, one of the sought-after girls’ boarding schools in the country, has been allocated a six-unit classroom block but currently the school does not have adequate dormitories and classrooms to accommodate the 432 students placed in the school by the Ghana Education Service (GES).
At the meeting, some of the prospective parents noted that the issue of lack of infrastructure to cater for the admission of fresh students must be seen as “a problem which must be given urgent attention not only by the government but also by all concerned parents".
Some of the parents, who spoke to the Daily Graphic, said the pledge to support the school with the various building materials formed part of “our widow’s mite to support the government in providing infrastructure for the school”.
“Since it is also the responsibility of parents to ensure that our children benefit from quality education in a serene environment, parents could complement the efforts of the government at providing the required infrastructure to the various Senior High Schools in the country,” they stated.
The parents commended the PTA executives and management of the school for their hard work, which, they said, had contributed significantly to making Aburi Girls SHS one of the Best Senior High School in the country.

JUBILANT NPP SUPPORTERS CELEBRATE ATIWA VICTORY (PAGE 12, SEPT 2, 2010)

2010-09-02T09:12:00.000-07:00

THOUSANDS of jubilant supporters of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) poured onto the streets of Kwabeng, headquarters of the Atiwa Constituency,on Tuesday, to celebrate the election of Mr Kwasi Amoako Atta as the new Member of Parliament for the area in a by-election.
The by-election was to find a replacement for the late Kwasi Annor Ankama, also of the NPP, who passed away in the middle of the year.
Mr Amoako Atta, a lawyer, secured 20,282 votes (75 per cent) to beat three other contestants; Mr Emmanuel Atta Twum of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) who had 6,190 votes (22.89 per cent), Mr George Padmore Apreku of the New Vision Party (NVP) who polled 477 votes (1.76 per cent) and Kasum Abdul Karim of the People’s National Party (PNC) who had 94 representing 0.35 per cent of the total vote cast of 27,540.
As soon as the Eastern Regional Director of the Electoral Commission (EC), Mr Paul Boateng, announced the results and raised the hands of Mr Amoako Atta as the new MP-elect, thousands of the NPP members and supporters from all parts of the constituency poured onto the streets of Kwabeng singing party songs and dancing.
The jubilant crowd, including old women and children, went through the main street and other arterial roads in Kwabeng while some praised the NPP executives for doing a good job which ensured an overwhelming victory. Others mobbed Mr Amoako Atta for doing his best to win the seat which had been held for years by the NPP.
Earlier the National Chairman of the NPP, Mr Jake Otanka Obetsebi Lamptey, who led a number of the party’s gurus to monitor the election, told the jubilant crowd that by retaining the seat, the NPP had exhibited a clear signal that it would definitely win the 2012 elections to unseat the NDC.
However, the First Vice-Chairman of the NDC, Alhaji Huudu Yahaya, who commended the police for their excellent performance at the poll, indicated that the NDC would gear up to retain power in 2012.
He also called for investigations to find the culprits who, he alleged, assaulted some NDC officials.
Meanwhile, all the 1,200 policemen and a handful of soldiers deployed for the election have been withdrawn.
According to the Eastern Regional Police Commander, DCOP Ransford Ninson, the policemen who managed to prevent chaotic situations at flash points such as Abomosu where six persons were knocked down by a vehicle during disturbances as well as other few places had to be withdrawn immediately the results were announced and calm restored.
The Anyinam District Police Commander, DSP (Rev) John Opoku, who gave out the names of the victims as Isaac Dua, 18, Seth Ampofo, 20, George Abu, 30, Kwabena Agyepong, 25, Kojo Barima, 30 and Osei Kwabena, 48, said they were among a group of young men armed with sticks and other offensive weapons who blocked the road at Abomosu to prevent the NDC National Women Organiser, Madam Anita De Soso, from passing through.
The driver of Madam De Sooso’s vehicle, DSP Opoku stated, panicked and drove through, injuring them in the process.
All the six victims, he stated, were sent to the Government Hospital at Engiresi where three were treated and discharged.

NPP RETAINS ATIWA SEAT (1C, SEPT 1, 2010)

2010-09-01T10:51:00.001-07:00

GHANA is said to be losing an estimated $40 million annually as a result of rice smuggled into the country.
Estimates compiled by the Food and Beverages Association of Ghana, for presentation to the Ministry of Trade, indicate that 100,000 metric tonnes out of the 350,000 metric tonnes of rice imported into the country are smuggled in, causing the country the millions of dollars in tax revenue.
The resort to the smuggling of rice is attributed to the high duty and other tariffs being implemented at Ghana’s ports as against the country’s West African neighbours.
In that smuggling adventure, Elubo, Debiso, Nkrankwanta, Dadieso and Enchi border areas are the most frequently used to bring in the 100,000 metric tonnes; 75,000 metric tonnes of which are described as high value perfumed rice.
The finding of the association, made up of about 20 local entrepreneurs, also revealed that rice sales for 2010 dropped by 25 per cent.
It also noted that duty on imported rice in Cote d’Ivoire was 12.5 per cent with no Valued Added Tax (VAT), while “on the contrary, importers in Ghana have to pay 20 per cent customs duty in addition to 12.5 per cent VAT and 2.5 per cent National Health Insurance Levy (NHIL) in addition to other levies, all totalling 40 per cent.
“So the inherent difference of 22.5 per cent in the landing cost of imported rice in the respective countries works to the advantage of the traders involved in the smuggling,” they added.
They explained that there was a difference to the tune of GH¢7 between a 25kg bag of smuggled perfumed rice and the legally imported one.
According to them, the traders involved in the trade were able to manage the direct cost by manipulating the duty at the Ghana-Cote d’Ivoire border, hence the difference of GH¢7 per bag.
The players said there was also an under-declaration of customs duty to the tune of 50 per cent.
Citing high value perfumed rice as an example, they noted that the CIF price of Thai perfumed rice was $950 per metric tonne and customs duty of 20 per cent amounting to $190 per metric tonne, whereas duty paid at the Ghana-Cote d’Ivoire border was $95 per metric tonne.
They explained that the loss of revenue to the Ghana government on account of VAT on 75,000 metric tonnes was $6,412,500 annually while customs duty on the same quantum of imports was $7,125,000 annually, bringing the total loss of revenue on perfumed rice alone to $13.5 million.
They said the fear was that international prices of rice had started rising in the last four weeks, which was likely to promote more smuggling into the country, stressing that “rice prices have increased from an average of about $800 to $900 in the last four weeks”.

ATIWA — NPP, NDC HOLD FINAL RALLIES (PAGE 3, AUGUST 30, 2010)

2010-08-30T06:55:00.000-07:00

HEAVYWEIGHTS of the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) and the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) have descended on the Atiwa Constituency to unleash their final shots ahead of tomorrow’s by-election.
With simultaneous rallies that brought the constituency alive yesterday, the NDC pulled a large crowd at Anyinam, while the NPP also did same at Kwabeng, in numbers that made it difficult to predict the outcome of tomorrow’s exercise.
At Anyinam, the NDC lined up speakers including the party’s National Chairman, Dr Kwabena Adjei; the General Secretary, Mr Johnson Asiedu Nketia; the National Organiser, Mr Yaw Boateng Gyan; and the Eastern Regional Minister, Mr Samuel Ofosu Ampofo, while on the NPP list were the party’s leader and flag bearer for the 2012 presidential polls, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo; the National Chairman, Mr Jake Obetseby-Lamptey, and the General Secretary, Mr Owusu Afriyie, among others.
The speakers at the two separate events urged the electorate to vote for their respective candidates.
The Atiwa seat was declared vacant following the death of Kwasi Annoh Ankama, the Member of Parliament (MP) for the area.
The candidates contending the seat are Mr Emmanuel Atta Twum of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), a human resource person who also is the current District Chief Executive for the Atiwa District, and Mr Kwasi Amoako Attah, a legal practitioner who is also the current Presiding Member of the Atiwa District Assembly.
Others are Mr Kasum Abdul Karim, a farmer, for the PNC and Mr George Apraku Padmore, a journalist, standing on the ticket of the New Vision Party.
Prior to the rallies, the two main contending parties had resorted to intense house-to-house and mini campaigns at various communities and towns in the Atiwa Constituency to canvass for votes for their respective parliamentary candidates.
They had also aggressively engaged in accusations and counter-accusations of each other’s attempt to buy votes and rig the election.
The campaign tour undertaken by the NDC involved Mr Johnson Asiedu Nketia and the Eastern Regional Minister, Mr Samuel Ofosu Ampofo, and his deputy, Mr Baba Jamal, who also took the opportunity to explain to the electorate the impact of government policy on the socio-economic development of the country and, particularly, the Atiwa District.
The NPP’s campaign tour, led by its flag bearer, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, and the National Organiser of the party, Alhaji Muctar Bamba, was used to introduce the NPP’s parliamentary candidate, Mr Kwasi Amoako Atta, to the electorate and canvass for votes for him.
On security measures being adopted to ensure the safety of the electorate, the Eastern Regional Police Commander, DCOP Ransford Ninsin, said 1,200 police personnel, comprising 735 policemen from the Eastern Region and 465 policemen from the Greater Accra, Western, Central and the Volta regions, would be deployed at all the 113 polling stations in the Atiwa Constituency.
He explained that to ensure maximum safety of the electorate, 10 police personnel would be stationed at each polling station at five strategic areas at Nkuaben, Osino, Anyinam, New Jejeti and Akyem Akropong to respond to emergency situations.

ENFORCE LAWS TO PROTECT NATURAL RESOURCES (PAGE 22, JULY 24, 2010)

2010-07-25T10:56:00.000-07:00

MEMBERS of the Eastern Regional Lands Commission have called on the government to ensure the strict enforcement of environmental laws and regulations to preserve and protect the country’s natural resources from depletion.
They also urged the government to adequately resource all the environmental enforcement agencies to empower them to effectively monitor the activities of small-scale miners across the country.
“The low priority given to the enforcement of environmental laws and the inability of environmental agencies to effectively monitor the activities of licensed small-scale miners could partly have contributed to the widespread pollution of water bodies, depletion of forest and the degradation of farmlands, as well as the environment over the years,” they stated.
They made the call after a day’s tour of the various mining sites at Akwatia.
During the tour, the members came face-to-face with the extent of depletion of forest covers and the pollution of the Birim River as a result of the activities of both licensed small-scale mining companies and illegal miners at Akwatia and its environs.
The tour took the members of the commission to the abandoned consignment of the Ghana Consolidated Diamonds (GCD) where both licensed and illegal miners had diverted the course of the Birim River and were found mining at the base of the river.
Besides, the visit also enabled the members to interact with officials of the Kwaebibirem District Assembly.
The members were informed that almost on a daily basis, galamsey operators die in pits and the assembly provides assistance in retrieving the bodies for burial.
The Land Commission members, who were joined by officials of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), observed at first hand how licensed miners use big excavators to degrade the base of the Birim River, forests and farmlands in the Akwatia area.
Speaking to the Daily Graphic, the Board Chairman of the commission, Nana Kodua Kesse, said the objective of the commission was to promote the judicious use of lands by society and ensure that land use was in accordance with sustainable principles and the maintenance of a sound eco-system.
He said in line with such in objective, members of the commission decided to tour some of the mining sites at Akwatia to enable them to know and understand the impact of the activities on the environment in the area.
In the view of Nana Kodua Kese, the uncontrolled activities of both licensed and illegal miners, as well as illegal chainsaw operations over the years had led to the incessant flouting of environmental laws and regulations.
He said that had led to the rapid depletion of forests, heavy pollution of water bodies and the degradation of farmlands and the environment in general, leading to countless un-reclaimed mining sites in the region.
“Until our environmental laws and regulations are respected promoted, greedy individuals, including chainsaw and galamsey operators, will continue to exploit our resources and pollute our bodies at the expense of the masses today and posterity,” Nana Kodua Kesse stated.
He added, “we can only ensure adherence of environmental laws only when the government and environmental enforcement agencies pay a high priority to negative environmental concerns as pertaining to the negative operations of galamsey miners and lawless licensed miners”.
At the Kwaebibirem District Assembly where members of the commission held a meeting with the staff, Messrs Delali Nyablodzo and Samuel Ayim Antwi, the District Co-ordinating Director and the Finance Officer of the assembly.

DEPUTY MINISTER COMMENDS CATHOLIC GROUP (PAGE 43, JULY 21, 2010)

2010-07-21T08:55:00.000-07:00

Deputy Minister commends Catholic group)

Story: Nana Konadu Agyeman, Koforidua
THE Deputy Eastern Regional Minister, Mr Baba Jamal, has commended the Community of the Holy Family of Devine Mercy, a Catholic group at Koforidua, for promoting the teaching and learning of French among basic schools in the region.
He said such commitment was gradually helping to reverse the low interest of students and pupils in the study of French, which he described as a language that “today has a global appeal to many people.”
“Since we are surrounded by Francophone countries, there is the need to learn French to help in our political, social and economic interactions with our neighbours,” Mr Jamal stated.
Speaking at the 2010 Devine Mercy French award for some selected basic schools in the Eastern Region, Mr Jamal said “language is a basic tool for development and it is a means by which both students, intellectuals and business-minded people can gain access to vast and varied supply of knowledge and experiences that are in the hands of our Francophone neighbours.”
This year’s competition, the third in a series, was organised for 120 pupils and students from selected basic schools at Koforidua, Tafo, Suhum, Somanya and Akosombo.
For the primary category, pupils from the Wesley International School, Koforidua obtained 93.2 per cent to place first, followed by pupils of the Carol Gray School, Somanya and the Solomon School, Koforidua, who had 83.5 and 82.5 per cent to take the second and third positions, respectively.
At the JHS level, the Star at Suhum School had 89 per cent to take the first position while the Akosombo International School and the Riis Presbyterian School at Koforidua had 86.3 and 86.1 per cent to take the second and third positions, respectively.
The competition was sponsored by the Mac Dic Royal Plaza Hotel, the Y & K Investment Limited and the Antarctic Limited, both at Koforidua.
Mr Jamal said since the country was surrounded by French-speaking neighbours, the need for learning and teaching French had become more indispensable.
He, therefore, advocated the need for the learning of French to be made a compulsory subject from the basic to the tertiary level of education in the country.
    According to him, if the inclusion of French was made a compulsory subject and a requirement into tertiary institutions such as the university, students would be motivated to study the language to improve themselves.
“We can only hope to make Ghana the gateway to West Africa if we can encourage our people to see the need to study French in this era of global village which required our people be armed with the language that will enable them to cross boundaries and still find their way in any French-speaking country”, Mr Jamal stated.
   He, therefore, expressed the hope that the Ghana Education Service would give serious consideration to the call for French to be included in the curricula of educational institutions from the basic to the tertiary levels.
   Mr Jamal urged the Community of the Holy Family of Devine Mercy to collaborate with the French Embassy in the country to enable them to get more schools from all the 21 municipalities and districts in the region to also benefit from the French competition, stressing “if we engage the youth in this productive venture, it will help them to acquire knowledge and also reduce their involvement in social vices”.

ASUOGYAMAN ASSEMBLY DISTRIBUTES EXERCISE BOOKS AND UNIFORMS (PAGE 42, JULY 15, 2010)

2010-07-14T08:54:00.000-07:00

THE Asuogyaman District Assembly in the Eastern Region has started distributing free exercise books and school uniforms to pupils in first cycle educational institutions in the area.
The exercise, according to the District Chief Executive (DCE) Mr Johnson Ehiakpor, was in line with the government’s initiative to ensure that children of poor parentage were educated like those of the rich.
He said in all 13 million exercise books and 2,000 school uniforms would be given out to pupils in the district, adding that those in primary three would receive nine exercise books each while those from primary four and six and the junior high schools (JHS) would have 13 each with the JHS pupils getting drawing and graft papers in addition.
Mr Ehiakpor, who personally conducted the exercise, gave out 100,012 exercise books and unspecified number of school uniforms to pupils in four educational circuits in the district, namely Gyakiti, Akosombo, Anum/Boso, Frankadua/Asikuma, Apeguso and Senchi.
Some of the beneficiary schools were Gyakiti Presbyterian Primary, Tortibo Local authority (L/A) Primary and JHS, Dodi-Asantekrom Presbyterian Primary and JHS, Frankadua L/A Primary and JHS, Mpakadan Presbyterian and JHS and Adome L/A Primary.
The Queen of Akwamu, Nana Afrakuma II, who together with some of the queens in the area witnessed the distribution of the items, praised the government for the initiative and called on parents to take advantage of the scheme to enrol their children in school.
That, she said, would help develop the area.
A number of parents who also witnessed the distribution of the items, said the donation had come at the right time since most of them could not provide their children with the uniform.
The parents who were thankful to the government for providing their children with the items, expressed the hope that the gesture would be sustained so that their children and wards would be able to go to school.

KOFORIDUA HOUSING PROJECT TO BE REVIEWED (PAGE 42, JULY 15 2010)

2010-07-14T08:53:00.000-07:00

WORK on the stalled multi-million dollar Koforidua affordable housing project (off the Akwadum-Suhum road) will soon be revived to ensure its speedy completion.
  In this regard, the government is currently sourcing funds from the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) and other financial institutions to boost the capacity of the 18 contractors working on the project to enable them to finish work on time.
  The Deputy Minister of Water Resources, Works and Housing, Dr Ahmed Mustapha disclosed this in Koforidua.
He said “the government is committed to obtaining the needed funds to facilitate the early completion of the project started by the previous government to provide decent accommodation for the people.”
Dr Mustapha said this when he and the Deputy Eastern Regional Minister, Mr Baba Jamal, paid a working visit to the site of the project last Monday.
The visit was to enable the minister to observe the progress on the project and also have first-hand information about the challenges facing the project, which started in 2007.
The 2,805 housing unit project which is being developed on 106 acres, will comprise 1,056 two-bedroom apartments and 1,523 single bedroom apartments, all contained in four-storey buildings.
The project aimed at alleviating accommodation problems facing workers and their families, will have facilities such as a clinic, a shopping centre, a post office, a community centre, a police post, schools, churches and mosques, to meet the standard of a modern community.
Dr Mustapha said as part of the government’s pursuit of the better agenda policy, all affordable housing projects, including the one at Koforidua, which were started by the previous government, would be given priority to ensure their early completion.
That, he believed, would help provide decent and affordable housing units for Ghanaians, especially average income earning workers and their families.
Dr Mustapha gave the assurance that the government was also determined to acquire legal entitlement to the site for the affordable housing projects to curtail any future litigation that could stall the progress of the project.
He pledged the government’s support for the contractors, stressing “we are ready to partner with you the contractors to identify obstacles that impede the progress of the project.”
For his part, Mr Jamal said the early completion of the Koforidua housing project would provide relief for most workers, who stayed in nearby towns such as Suhum, Akwadum and Akyem Tafo and had to commute daily to Koforidua to work.
He also stated that the proximity of Koforidua and Accra had made the Eastern Regional capital a favourite working destination for most companies and their workers, who he said, were now relocating to the fast-growing area.

TAXI DRIVERS CAUTIONED AGAINST CAR SNATCHERS (PAGE 42, JULY 15, 2010)

2010-07-14T08:52:00.000-07:00

THE Eastern Regional Police Command has appealed to taxi drivers who are hired from Accra to the region to be alert to car snatchers.
It said the command had observed with concern that lately, taxis were often snatched from their drivers at gunpoint in remote areas of the region.
“The modus operandi of the car snatchers is for one of its members to lure a driver of a fairly new taxi from Accra to the Eastern Region mostly at night or on Sundays and make the armed gang attack the driver and snatch the taxi,” the command stated.
In a statement signed by the Public Affairs Officer of the Eastern Regional Police Command, Chief Inspector Yaw Nketiah-Yeboah, “the most notorious routes for the car-snatching gang are the New Tafo-Kukurantumi-Koforidua road and the Asuboni rails area off the Nkawkaw main road.”
According to the statement, 16 taxis, including eight bearing this year’s registration numbers, were snatched from their drivers within a period of six months in the Eastern Region.
“Three of these vehicles were snatched on June 5 and 6, 2010 at Enyiresi on the Bunso-Nkawkaw stretch of the Accra-Kumasi road and two others last Sunday at Akyem-Asafo,” it stated.
“This indicates that drivers of new taxis are the victims,” the statement said, and appealed to taxi drivers to avoid plying such routes at odd hours.
The statement also advised taxi drivers to immediately report any attack or suspicious and unusual movement by individuals to the nearest police barriers or police stations to enable the police to act in time.

GOVT, TRADITIONAL LEADERS MUST COLLABORATE FOR DEV (PAGE 14, JULY 13, 2010)

2010-07-13T08:01:00.000-07:00

THE Vice President, Mr John Dramani Mahama, has called for effective collaboration between the government and traditional leaders to enhance the socio-economic development of the country.
He said such collaboration would also encourage consultation, counselling, co-operation and support to enable the government to achieve its quest to usher the country into the comity of middle income nations.
“Traditional leaders and the government as development partners have a common task which is to develop the communities and the nation and above all to promote the welfare of our people that have elected or appointed us to leadership positions,” Mr Mahama stated.
The Vice President made the call in an address read on his behalf by the Eastern Regional Minister, Mr Samuel Ofosu Ampofo, at the Ohumkan festival of the chiefs and people of Akyem Tafo in the East Akyem Municipality of the Eastern Region on Saturday.
The event, which also marked the 25th anniversary of Osabarima Adusei Peasah IV’s installation as the Akyem-Tafohene, was on the theme “Unity in Development”.
The Vice President said the chieftaincy institution was vital for the progress and socio-economic development of the country, saying that “traditional authorities and the state as has always been the case play a complementary role in nation building”.
“I am therefore inspired and encouraged about the involvement, collaboration and contributions of chiefs towards the development of their communities and the country as a whole,” he stated.
He urged chiefs to show stronger commitment towards the development of their people and the communities to enable them to leave behind a legacy which posterity would judge them by.
“The success or otherwise of a chief is inextricably linked to solving problems of mankind, showing affection, care and love to humanity, values our chiefs must always strive to achieve”, Mr Mahama added.
He further urged traditional leaders and parents to lead the crusade in the fight against moral decay and indiscipline among Ghanaians, particularly the youth.
“Parents and traditional leaders, through whose leadership and control our children and the youth are nurtured, need to advise and guide them when their actions deviate or do not conform to our norms and values,” he stated.
He also advised the youth to avoid lifestyles, practices and behaviours which he described as “obscene and not considered prudent and righteous”.
The Vice President commended Osabarima Peasah for ensuring peace and progress in the area for the past 25 years, saying that the “government has noted with appreciation and admiration the peace and unity that have prevailed in your area”.
He pledged the commitment of the government to continue to provide infrastructure and social facilities to improve upon the quality of life of the people in Akyem-Tafo, adding that currently the road from Sokoda Juaso to Osiem-Old Tafo junction on the Koforidua-Bunso highway was under rehabilitation.
Osabarima Peasah expressed appreciation to the government for the development of the town but appealed for the rehabilitation of the only market in the area as well as some of the roads in the town to facilitate the movement of the people and goods.

GOVT AIDS DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL WELFARE (PAGE 43, JULY 5, 2010)

2010-07-06T04:06:00.000-07:00

THE government has presented 50 bicycles, five computers, five scanners, printers, as well as tables and chairs, to the Eastern Regional Office of the Department of Social Welfare.
The items will be distributed to members of the LEAP implementation committees in nine districts in the region to facilitate the effective monitoring and supervision of the LEAP programme.
Presenting the items, the Eastern Regional Minister, Mr Samuel Ofosu Ampofo, said the donation was a demonstration of the government’s commitment to motivate the department and its districts officers to ensure the successful implementation of the LEAP programme.
He called on the beneficiary officers to help identify local investment opportunities in their districts to enable the government to provide the underprivileged in society with the needed support to overcome poverty.
According to him, the government is now shifting its focus from implementing various poverty-alleviation programmes to boosting local investment opportunities to empower the people to undertake ventures that will improve their living standards.
“Since the government has now recognised that the allocation of money to the people to go into various income-generating activities in the past has failed, it has now shifted focus on identifying and boosting local economic opportunities to empowering the people to overcome poverty,” Mr Ofosu Ampofo stated.
The regional minister mentioned the preparedness of the government to continue with the various social interventions, such as the School Feeding Programme and the Capitation Grant, that were implemented by the previous government
Receiving the items, the Eastern Regional Director of the Department, Mr Gyamena Danquah, expressed appreciation to the government for fulfilling its promise to facilitate the mobility of members of the LEAP implementation committees in the region.

EDUCATION MUST FOCUS ON APPLICATION OF KNOWLEDGE (PAGE 11, JULY 5, 2010)

2010-07-06T04:00:00.000-07:00

THE President of the All Nations University College (ANUC) in Koforidua, Dr Samuel H. Donkor has called for a paradigm shift in the country’s education system that will place a strong emphasis on the application of knowledge rather than theory.
He said, “The time has come to bridge the wide gap between theory and practice in the delivery of education, which is the engine that drives economic growth in any nation”.
“As we train skillful manpower for the country, our universities must strive to equip graduates with useful practical skills, keeping in mind that application of knowledge acquired, is useful and to achieve this we must look at our methodology as learning is by practice as, well as by precept”, Dr Donkor stated.
Speaking at a meet-the-press in Koforidua, Dr Donkor stated,“for us to make strides in our development aspirations, we must encourage our students to spend long periods undertaking experiments in the laboratories and classrooms”.
The meeting formed part of the university’s commitment to recognise the important role being played by the media, as well as strengthen the cordial relationship between the media and the institution.
The president said the country’s development aspirations had been hampered over the years due to inadequate preparation of students from the universities in the country.
Dr Donkor stressed that the quality of graduates from the country’s universities could determine the level of productivity, adding “raising the level of our work ethics in our educational institutions is the only way forward for the country”.
He explained that as the country, together with other African countries stepped up its quest for economic development as a step to emerge from poverty, it was imperative to take another look at the country’s education delivery, to make it have a strong focus on application of knowledge rather than theory.
“The need for students to spend long hours doing experiments in the laboratory, reading, writing, presenting papers and other assignment on a daily basis should be a routine for them in our educational institutions”, Dr Donor emphasised.
To ensure proper training of students, he said his outfit had instituted a “total personality development” as the cornerstone of the university’s educational philosophy to inculcate training on work ethics, self-esteem, interpersonal skills, innovation and creativity into its curricula.
“By this, the Ghanaian society is privileged to benefit from the balanced training of a new generation of scientists, engineers and business professionals who can work with diligence, perseverance and a high sense of patriotic and selfless passion”, he added.
On accredited programmes being offered by the institution, Dr Donkor mentioned Oil and Gas Engineering, Biomedical Engineering, Electronics and Communications Engineering, Computer Engineering, Computer Science and Business Administration, which were all taught by qualified full-time lecturers.

SDA COLLEGE OF EDUCATION HOLDS GRADUATION (SPREAD, JULY 5, 2010)

2010-07-06T03:59:00.001-07:00

THE Director of the Teacher Education Division of the Ghana Education Service (GES), Mr Victor K. Mante, has called on people in leadership positions who benefited from the heavy investment made by the country’s first President in the education sector to help provide similar opportunities for the youth.
“Today, a great number of Ghanaians in responsible positions were educated in the Ghana Education Trust (GET) schools set up by Dr Kwame Nkrumah, hence they must also work hard to give our children and posterity the same opportunities which have made them what they are today”, Mr Mante stated.
Speaking at the third congregation of the Seventh-day Adventist (SDA) College of Education at Asokore, near Koforidua, Mr Mante said “as we concentrate on eradicating illiteracy, we in leadership positions must provide opportunities for all our people to be educated”.
In all 271 students who completed their training at the college in 2008 graduated.
The director said since every nation’s most important resource is its human resource and not only its natural resources, the need to provide free compulsory education at the basic level to its people should be given priority.
This, in his opinion, would ensure equal and balanced access to tertiary education to enable students to acquire the requisite knowledge and skills to contribute meaningfully to nation-building.
He advised the graduates to justify the immense investment made in their training through the taxpayers’ money by working very hard at their stations, adding, “You must therefore exhibit values of honesty, integrity, dedication, professional skills and the fear of God to ensure the provision of quality education in our schools”.
The Principal of the SDA College of Education, Mr A. Akumfi-Ameyaw, said currently the student enrolment of the college was 814, comprising 541 males and 273 females.
He mentioned the construction of a six-unit classroom block and the release of GH350, 000 for the completion of its library block and the assembly hall, as some assistance to the school under the GETFund project.
On challenges facing the school, he mentioned lack of accommodation for staff , most of whom he said resided in town, and pointed out that the situation had hampered effective teaching and learning. He therefore appealed to the government to help address the problem.

NADMO PRESENTS RELIEF ITEMS TO FIRE VICTIMS (PAGE 22, JULY 3, 2010)

2010-07-06T03:42:00.000-07:00

THE National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO) has presented assorted relief items to 20 persons whose rooms and personal belongings were destroyed in a fire outbreak at Osiem in the East Akyem Municipality in the Eastern Region.
The items comprised 15 pieces each of students’ mattresses, blankets, plastic bowls and plates, buckets and cups, as well as three packets each of roofing sheets, bags of rice and maize,two bags of beans, cartons of soap and a bail of second hand clothing.
The East Akyem Municipal Assembly also provided the affected persons, mostly farmers, with undisclosed sums of money as part of its contribution to support them.
The fire, which occurred on Saturday, June 27, this year, destroyed items such as refrigerators, television sets, furniture and other personal belongings of the 20 persons in a compound house number B 16 at Kubase at Osiem.
Presenting the items, the Eastern Regional Co-ordinator of NADMO, Mr Ransford Boakye and the Municipal Chief Executive for East Akyem, Mr Peter Asirifi, said the items were meant to provide the victims with relief to enable them to cope with the unfortunate incident.
Receiving the items on behalf of other victims, Madam Esther Amakye, thanked the government for the gesture, which she described as timely.

FARMER, 60, TO DIE BY HANGING (PAGE 19, JUNE 26, 2010)

2010-06-28T05:25:00.000-07:00

“YOU will be taken back to the prison where you were brought from to be hanged until you are dead, after which the Head of State will decide where your body will be buried. May your soul rest in peace.”
These were the final words of the Koforidua High Court judge, Mr Justice G. S. Suurbaareh, when he sentenced a 60-year-old farmer, Malaho Agbavitor, who had been found guilty by a seven-member jury for murdering his landlord, Abubakari Sadick, at Anyinam in the Eastern Region.
Agbavitor was whisked away in handcuffs to the prison, where he had already spent the past three years on remand.
The sentence came after a State Attorney, Ms Akpene Motey, who was prosecuting, had told the court that the convict “intentionally killed the landlord and ran to his village, Ave Dakpa, near Akatsi in the Volta Region, until he was arrested on July 7, 2007”.
According to the facts of the case, the convict, a Togolese national, in September 2006 hired a parcel of land belonging to the deceased for GHҐ80 to cultivate maize.
However, in January 2007 when the maize matured and was ready for harvesting, the deceased landlord approached the convict to have the farm produce shared between the two but the convict disagreed, resulting in a misunderstanding between them.
Later on that fateful day, the landlord went to the convict’s farm but never returned home until he was found dead, with machete wounds at the back of his neck, the following day.
Ms Motey said on the same day, the convict fled to his home town, Ave Dakpa, where he spent six months until he was arrested on July 7, 2007.

FARMER TO DIE...For butchering landlord (MIRROR PAGE 3, JUNE 26, 2010)

2010-06-25T10:21:00.000-07:00

From Nana Konadu Agyeman,
Koforidua.

A 60-year-old farmer, Malaho Agbavitor, who butchered his landlord to death for stealing his farm produce, has been sentenced to death by hanging by a High Court in Koforidua.
The convict, a Togolese national, was unanimously found guilty by a seven-member jury for murdering his landlord, Abubakari Sadick on his farm at Anyinam in the Eastern Region on January 31, 2007. Agbavitor was charged with murder.
A State Attorney, Ms Akpene Motey, who was prosecuting, told the court, presided by Mr Justice G. S. Suurbaareh that the convict “intentionally killed the landlord and run to his village, Ave Dakpa near Akatsi in the Volta Region, until he was arrested on July 7, 2007”.
According to her, the convict on September 2006, hired a parcel of land belonging to the deceased landlord for GH¢80 to cultivate maize.
However, on January, 2007 when the maize matured and was ready for harvesting, the deceased landlord approached the convict to have the farm produce shared between the two but the convict disagreed, resulting in a misunderstanding between them.
The State Attorney said on that fateful day, the landlord went to the farm of the convict but never returned home. He was found dead the following day with machete wounds at the back of his neck.
Ms Motey said the same day,the convict fled to his home town, Ave Dakpa, where he spent six months until he was arrested on January 7, 2007.
According to her, in his caution statement after his arrest, the convict told the police that because he killed his landlord, Sadick, alias Kwasi Taylor, he feared for his life and therefore, decided to flee to his hometown.
That was after he had revealed that somebody had been stealing heaps of maize he had harvested and kept on his farm and therefore, decided to lay ambush on his farm in a bid to find out who had been stealing the maize.
The prosecutor said the convict laid ambush on his farm for three days, before he saw the deceased on his farm filling a sack with maize.
Ms Motey said the convict confronted his landlord and ordered him to carry the bag of maize to the police station but the landlord told “him to get away with his nonsense and made an attempt to move away”.
However, the convict rushed on the deceased with a machete and slashed the back of his neck, after which he fled to his hometown, the prosecution added.
The counsel of the convict prayed the jury to consider the circumstances preceding the killing of the landlord, adding “if after careful assessment you find what he told the court to be true, you should acquit him, but if you consider his evidence to be a concoction, you should convict him of murder, which is the position of the law”.
However,after a recess, the seven-member jury unanimously came up with a guilty verdict after which the court sentenced the convict to death by hanging.

BIRIM RIVER BLEEDS FROM POISONOUS CHEMICALS (PAGE 35, JUNE 24, 2010)

2010-06-23T07:09:00.000-07:00

THE Birim River, rich with abundant minerals such as gold and diamond as well as a green vegetation along its banks surrounded by thick forests, has for many years remained the pride and identity of people of Okyeman.
However, today the river is not only bleeding from heavy toxic chemicals such as cyanide and mercury, but is also on the brink of being pushed rapidly to extinction.
A visit to Apapam, Adadaetam, Hawinase through Kyebi, Pando, Asikam, Adukrom, Asiakwa, Bunso, Osino, Abompe, Ankaase, Akyem Mampong, Anyinam, Morso, Akrofufu, Akwaboaso, Asunafo to Akyem Oda will reveal clearly the extent to which the quality of water sourced from the Birim River and treated by the Ghana Water Company (GWC) has been seriously polluted, making the river to always appear brownish red and distasteful for human consumption.
Taking its source from the Atiwa Forest Range, the Birim River is gradually drying up due to the activities of illegal miners, who are mostly armed with sophisticated fire arms.
Without any fear, these illegal miners either mine close to the banks or right in the Birim River or sometimes divert its course to enable them to extract minerals from the basin of the river.
Once a good source of drinking water for the people, today the Birim River has become a source of various water-borne diseases for the people living along its banks, especially pregnant women and children who on a daily basis drink from it, since they can never afford a sachet or bottle of water.
Like many other important rivers that once served various communities across the country but are no more in existence, the persistent shrinking of the Birim River is projected to pose an acute water shortage to inhabitants in communities along its banks in the future.
The impunity with which the galamsey operators mine close to the river and sometimes mount canoe-like structures to mine right in the middle of the river, degrading and depleting forest covers and large tracts of farmland close to the banks of the river, has incessantly exposed this source of drinking water to heavy toxic materials such as cyanide and mercury which the illegal miners use to extract gold and diamond from the river and its environs.
Environmental risk
This endless siege from the devastating activities of illegal miners, who are believed to have migrated from Akwatia where similar land degradation and minerals were plundered, is posing serious environmental and health risks to the communities that live along its banks and use the river as their main source of water.
Contrary to the saying that healthy rivers are very important part of every community’s heritage and identity as they serve as good drinking water for the people in the communities, the important role played in the past by the Birim River for the people has now been destroyed.
Notwithstanding the heavy pollution and the destruction, the Birim River is presently the raw water source for four different treatment plants of the Ghana Water Company (GWC) at Kyebi, Osino, Anyinam and Bunso, and millions of gallons of water is pumped to the people in the Akyem area daily.
The GWC finds it extremely expensive treating water sourced from the river for human consumption. Besides, the activities of illegal miners close to the banks of the river and sometimes right in the river has also on several occasion compelled the GWC to shut down its water treatment plants at Kyebi and Bunso.
It has been reported that on many occasions the company was compelled to treat the water in its polluted state, it was often forced to pump the treated water to waste, since the treated water never conformed to drinking water standards of the World Health Organization (WHO), thus incurring liabilities in the waste of energy, manpower and chemical.
During a REGSEC meeting with chiefs from the Akyem area at Koforidua on March 20, this year, the Regional Director of the Quality Assurance of the GWC, Mr Moses Painstil, disclosed that due to the extent of pollution of the Birim River, the cost of treating water was three times more than it used to be in the past when the river used to be clean.
He indicated that the galamsey operators mined deep and wide pits, from which the liquid waste often seeped to the intake points where dams had been constructed for abstraction and subsequent treatment. This situation has left the GWC helpless in the face of the boldness, lawlessness and violence on the part of the galamsey operators who seem unstoppable by the security forces or the Akyem Abuakwa Mining Monitoring Team, which has been formed to check mining operations in the Akyem Abuakwa Traditional Area.
The question therefore is for how long will the activities of illegal miners continue to threaten the survival of the Birim River and the long-term interest of the people in Okyeman, all in the name of job creation for the unemployed youth?
Agreeable, the advent of the galamsey operation, as it is reported, has created about 500, 000 jobs to the jobless youth, but it seems the short-term gain of galamsey for a few greedy, lawless and violent individuals, including some chiefs, has taken precedence over the long-term impact of numerous benefits of the Birim River and other natural resources on the people’s living standard.
Good drinking water denied
Hundreds of thousands of people in the Akyem area, for a very long time and through no fault of theirs, have been denied access to good drinking water and are currently paying a heavy price for the activities of illegal miners, who according to reports, were sometimes backed by some of “unscrupulous chiefs in the Akyem areas”.
These chiefs, in a bid to enrich their individual pockets, are said to often accept money from the galamsey operators and release land to them to carry out their nefarious operations, overlooking the immense dangers illegal mining could pose to forest cover, water bodies, the environment and the people, today and posterity.
It is against this background that the Okyenhene, Osagyefuo Amoatia Ofori Panin, called for the arrest and prosecution of any chief who will be found guilty of promoting illegal mining in their respective areas to face the full rigours of the law to serve as a deterrent to others.
According to him, any traditional leader who would be found to have collected money and given out land to the illegal miners to operate in the area should be made to face the law without any fear or favour.
I recall him saying that “If you, as chiefs, allow poverty to compel you to give out land to selfish individuals to destroy our forest reserves, water bodies and the ecology, at the expense of the people and posterity, then you must be made to be accountable for your selfish actions by facing the laws of the land.”
According to the Okyenhene, if the environmental laws and regulations in the country were to be respected and promoted, then those found guilty of flouting them, including himself, his children, sub-chiefs and members of royal families, should not be spared but be made to face the law.
For this call from the Okyenhene to be practical and purposeful, the readiness and commitment of the government to accord a high priority to environmental crime in the country could significantly curb the reckless depletion and plundering of natural resources as well as the pollution of the Birim River and other water bodies in the country.
The arrest and prosecution of those who flout environmental laws and regulations, without any fear or favour, indeed must be seen and felt in all the mining communities to drive home the determination of state institutions to stamp out activities that pose a threat to the environment.
Police/military swoop
It would be recalled that a joint military/police swoop on Kyebi and Asikam to stop illegal mining in the areas late in 2009, led to the arrest of over 90 illegal miners and the confiscation of their machines including excavators and pumps.
These illegal miners and their machines were taken to the Eastern Regional Police Headquarter only to be released a few days later, a situation that could partly be blamed for the impunity and violent behaviour of illegal miners in their operations.
Moreover, the inability of the various environmental agencies such as the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources, the Ministry of Environment, Science and Technology, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Forestry Commission and the Minerals Commission to educate the communities on the dangers of illegal mining as well as monitor the activities of galamsey operators to ensure that environmental laws and regulations are not flouted has also partly contributed to the impunity with which galamsey operators carry out their activities.
To reverse the trend, the time has come for the government to adequately resource all the environmental enforcement agencies to enable them to effectively tackle the incessant growing threats to the Birim River and other natural resources in the region and the country as a whole.
In the opinion of Okyenhene, the allocation of the needed funds to these environmental agencies will boost their capacity to curb the activities of illegal chainsaw and galamsey operators bent on depleting forests and polluting water bodies.

WORKSHOP HELD TO HARMONISE CERTIFICATES (PAGE 61, JUNE 21, 2010)

2010-06-21T08:58:00.000-07:00

Story: Nana Konadu Agyeman, Koforidua.

A two-day workshop aimed at mapping out strategies to harmonise the fragmentation in certificates being issued by the various technical and vocational training institutes in the country has been held in Koforidua.
The workshop created a platform for stakeholders in the country’s Technical and Vocational Education and Training system (TVET) to find a common curriculum and training for all the technical and vocational institutes.
This is to ensure that certificates being issued by the technical and vocational institutes to their products would conform to the standard qualifications set by the Council for Technical and Vocational Education and Training (COTVET) for such certificates to be recognised.
The workshop was attended by representatives of the Council for Technical and Vocational Education and Training (COTVET), Ministry of Education, Ghana Education Service, Ghana Institute of Engineers, Ministry of Trade and Industry, as well as the Japan International Co-operation Agency (JICA).
Others included experts from the Ghana Employers Association, polytechnics, technical schools, the National Business and Technical Education Board (NABTECS).
Currently, due to the different curricula and training offered by the various technical and vocational institutes in the country, some of the certificates being offered by the technical and vocational training schools are recognised while others are not.
The strategic outcome of the workshop will be incorporated in the Technical and Vocational Education and Training Support Project (TVETS) being implemented by the COTVET on a pilot basis in three technical institutes in a bid to deliver the new technical and vocational education and training system.
The competency-based training initiative, which is expected to run for a four-year period from April 2007 to March 2011, is currently being implemented at the Accra Polytechnic, the National Vocational Training Institute (NVTI) and the Accra Technical Training Centre.
Based on the successful outcome of the project, stakeholders will then decide whether to implement the competency-based training in all technical and vocational training schools in the country or not.
The initiative is jointly being financed by the government and the Japanese Government which has provided a $3.4 million grant through the Japan International Co-operation Agency (JICA), which would provide technical support in the implementation of the project.
In an address at the opening ceremony, the Executive Director of COTVET, Mr Daniel B. Awuah, said to ensure harmonisation and recognition of the certificates being issued by TVETs, COTVET would monitor training offered by all technical institutions to “put sanity in technical training in the country”.
He said technical training institutes that flouted the regulations and standard of training set by the COTVET “will be sanctioned or sued in the law court to serve as a deterrent to others”.
On the new competency-based training (CBT), he said a lot of premium had been placed on certificates, allowing those with such certificates from technical institutes to gain more advantage on the job market at the expense of those “though do not have certificates have the skills and are competent technically due to years of working experience”.
He indicated that 60 per cent of students who had graduated from the junior high school (JHS) could not make it to the senior high schools (SHSs) “not because they are academically weak but there are not many senior high and technical schools to absorb them”.
To this end, he hinted that the government had approved GH¢3 million through the GETFund towards the training of about 5,000 JHS graduates and other people with technical skills to equip them with employable skills and support them to establish themselves after training.
The Director of Statistics, Research and Information Management of the Ministry of Education, Dr Dominic Pealore, expressed the commitment of the ministry to collaborate with stakeholders to champion technical and vocational education in the country.
“The success of this TVETS project will also depend largely on the various Standing Committees formed and the COTVET,” he stated.
He thanked the country’s development partners for their commitment and support to technical and vocation education in the country over the years and expressed the hope that they would continue such good works.

POTAG KICKS AGAINST SINGLE SPINE PAY POLICY (JUNE 9, 2010)

2010-06-21T06:53:00.000-07:00

Story: Nana Konadu Agyeman, Koforidua.

THE Polytechnic Teachers Association of Ghana (POTAG) has kicked against attempts to shift the payment of salaries of its members to the Controller and Accountant-General’s Department pay system.
It said it would not be in the interest of its members if their salaries were offloaded unto the pay system of the CACD, which it said was “already engulfed with several problems and inconsistencies that it is unable to solve”.
In a press statement at Koforidua yesterday (7/06), the National President of POTAG, Mr G. K. Abledu, however stated that “POTAG, having a representation on the Public Service Joint Negotiating Committee, does not in any way oppose government’s efforts to adopt and equal work equal pay salary structure through the implementation of the single spine pay policy”.
The National President of POTAG said even before the start of implementation of the Integrated Personal Payroll Database 2 (I.P.P.D. 2)”, polytechnics had been beset with difficulties in the payment of staff salaries.
According to him, simple documents submitted by the polytechnics to the CAGD had often been obliterated “as we have not been properly linked to the I.P.P.D 2”.
“Documents have to be prepared manually by the polytechnics before they are processed at the CAGD and already there are signs of inaccuracy and ineptitude”, he emphasized.
Buttressing the position of POTAG, he said Wa Polytechnic, for example, presented both a hard and soft copy of their staff list for processing to the CAGD but a number of staff had their names deleted while unknown names were rather included.
“The situation was not different at Tamale Polytechnic, where the Accountant himself who prepared the staff list and submitted it to the CAGD had his name off the list published for verification, while staff had their salaries slashed by half or more”, Mr Abledu stated, adding that “the payroll problems encountered by bodies on the IPPD as far back as 2004 had remained unresolved”.
Citing the saga surrounding the ex-gratia of Members of Parliament, which was released by the Office of the President but was in excess and therefore MPs were asked to refund the money, he said “these are some of the problems POTAG envisages that the polytechnics could be confronted with, which must not be allowed to start in the first place”.
In his view, since staff at the Polytechnics had to go in for bank and credit union loans as well as mutual and provident funds to supplement their meager salaries, the slightest delay in paying such loans at agreed period attracted an imposition of a penal interest.
“We cannot guarantee the regular payment of such deduction of our salaries to the various banks as the CAGD will not be able to make prompt payments of our salaries to the various bodies and this could lead to avoidable legal suits against individuals and the polytechnics”, Mr Abledu explained.
He added: “In the end, it is the staff who will suffer as they will be denied access to loans and other forms of credits and this will also not allow others to enjoy these facilities through no fault of theirs”.
The president also expressed worry over the government’s inability to renew the conditions of service for both POTAG and Teachers and Education Workers Union (TEWU), which expired in 2008.
According to him, efforts to get POTAG Standing Joint Negotiating Committee (SJNC) to reconvene to negotiate the conditions of service with the government had proved futile, adding that the “government always gives untenable excuses as to why negotiations cannot be held”.
“It must be reiterated that the patience of unionized bodies in the polytechnics has been overstretched and so we demand that the SJNC should be reconvened soonest to include conditions of service for both POTAG and TEWU, while effort made to get one for PAAG”, Mr Abledu stated.

USE POSTINGS TO GIVE BACK TO SOCIETY (JUNE 7, 2010, PAGE 11)

2010-06-21T06:43:00.000-07:00

Story: Nana Konadu Agyeman, Aburi.

THE Deputy Minister of Education in charge of Pre-tertiary, Mrs Elizabeth Amoah-Tetteh, has appealed to newly trained teachers to use their postings as an opportunity to give back to society the huge investment the nation has made in their training.
She reminded the teachers that since all the skills needed to groom pupils and students were acquired first at the training institutions, they should help uplift the standard of education in the country.
“Remember that it is teachers who have made you what you are today, so as you go into the field you must also help to bring up the young ones you will be teaching to your current status or even better”, she stated.
Speaking at the 3rd ceremony of the Aburi Presbyterian Women’s College of Education at Aburi on Saturday, Mrs Amoah-Tetteh reminded the teachers that “as you walk out of walls of your college, remember that you can contribute to reducing the number of street children or dropout rate in the country”.
The event saw the graduation of 201 students who were admitted to pursue their training at the college in October 2006.
According to Mrs Amoah-Tetteh, the training of teachers was key to the continuous production of the requisite human resources needed for the country’s growth and development.
“That is why the government keeps investing in improving all types of facilities in the 38 training colleges of education and has even upgraded them to a tertiary status as a diploma-awarding institutions”, she stated.
The deputy minister said the government was fully aware that assuming a new status, the Colleges of Education required adequate infrastructures such as lecture halls, halls of residence, well-stocked modern libraries as well as well trained and qualified teachers.
“It is for these reasons that the government has already started improving infrastructures in the colleges, including six-unit classroom blocks and modern libraries built in each of the 38 colleges, in addition to well-equipped science laboratory in each of the 15 science colleges”, she added.
She advised teachers to desire to upgrade themselves to enable them to excel in their profession, adding that “you must take advantage of the various offers by the GES, GNAT and our development partners to upgrade yourselves periodically through study leave, distance learning, in-service training opportunities, sandwich courses and scholarships”.
In a speech read on his behalf by the Municipal Chief Executive for Akuapem South, Dr Godfried O. Bonsu-Twum, the Eastern Regional Minister, Mr Samuel Ofosu Ampofo appealed to the gruaduands to shun vices such as drug abuse and alcoholism, which he said could undermine their teaching ability and career.
In his welcoming address, the acting Principal of the college, Mrs Grace Manubea Ansah, said the security in the college was at stake due to lack of fence wall, thus allowing intruders especially males to harass the female students.
According to her, with the help of the Akuapem Presbytery and small contributions of the college, a part of the wall had been raised to partly address invasion of the college’s campus by male adults.
“Taking into consideration the importance of a serene environment for teaching and learning, I will want to appeal the rest of the college wall be raised to have complete security. This is estimated to cost GH1, 500”.
The acting Principal also appealed for a well-stocked library complex, access road to the college and the replacement of the college plant, which broke down due to frequent power fluctuation.

WORKSHOP HELD TO HARMONISE CERTIFICATES (PAGE 61, JUNE 21, 2010)

2010-06-20T10:57:00.000-07:00

A two-day workshop aimed at mapping out strategies to harmonise the fragmentation in certificates being issued by the various technical and vocational training institutes in the country has been held in Koforidua.
The workshop created a platform for stakeholders in the country’s Technical and Vocational Education and Training system (TVET) to find a common curriculum and training for all the technical and vocational institutes.
This is to ensure that certificates being issued by the technical and vocational institutes to their products will conform to the standard qualifications set by the Council for Technical and Vocational Education and Training (COTVET) for such certificates to be recognised.
The workshop was attended by representatives of the Council for Technical and Vocational Education and Training (COTVET), Ministry of Education, Ghana Education Service, Ghana Institute of Engineers, Ministry of Trade and Industry, as well as the Japan International Co-operation Agency (JICA).
Others included experts from the Ghana Employers Association, polytechnics, technical schools, the National Business and Technical Education Board (NABTECS).
Currently, due to the different curricula and training offered by the various technical and vocational institutes in the country, some of the certificates being offered by the technical and vocational training schools are recognised while others are not.
The strategic outcome of the workshop will be incorporated in the Technical and Vocational Education and Training Support Project (TVETS) being implemented by the COTVET on a pilot basis in three technical institutes in a bid to deliver the new technical and vocational education and training system.
The competency-based training initiative, which is expected to run for a four-year period from April 2007 to March 2011, is currently being implemented at the Accra Polytechnic, the National Vocational Training Institute (NVTI) and the Accra Technical Training Centre.
Based on the successful outcome of the project, stakeholders will then decide whether to implement the competency-based training in all technical and vocational training schools in the country or not.
The initiative is jointly being financed by the government and the Japanese Government which has provided a $3.4 million grant through the Japan International Co-operation Agency (JICA), which will provide technical support in the implementation of the project.
In an address at the opening ceremony, the Executive Director of COTVET, Mr Daniel B. Awuah, said to ensure harmonisation and recognition of the certificates being issued by TVETs, COTVET would monitor training offered by all technical institutions to “put sanity in technical training in the country”.
He said technical training institutes that flouted the regulations and standard of training set by the COTVET “will be sanctioned or sued in the law court to serve as a deterrent to others”.
On the new competency-based training (CBT), he said a lot of premium had been placed on certificates, allowing those with such certificates from technical institutes to gain more advantage on the job market at the expense of those “though do not have certificates have the skills and are competent technically due to years of working experience”.
He indicated that 60 per cent of students who had graduated from the junior high school (JHS) could not make it to the senior high schools (SHSs) “not because they are academically weak but there are not many senior high and technical schools to absorb them”.
To this end, he hinted that the government had approved GH¢3 million through the GETFund towards the training of about 5,000 JHS graduates and other people with technical skills to equip them with employable skills and support them to establish themselves after training.
The Director of Statistics, Research and Information Management of the Ministry of Education, Dr Dominic Pealore, expressed the commitment of the ministry to collaborate with stakeholders to champion technical and vocational education in the country.
“The success of this TVETS project will also depend largely on the various Standing Committees formed and the COTVET,” he stated.
He thanked the country’s development partners for their commitment and support to technical and vocation education in the country over the years and expressed the hope that they would continue such good works.

COLLEGES OF EDUCATION TO GET 20 COMPUTERS (PAGE 11, JUNE 16, 2010)

2010-06-17T10:38:00.002-07:00

THE government is to provide each of the 38 Colleges of Education across the country with 20 sets of flat screen computers and air conditioners for their information and communications technology (ICT) centres.
The facilities are to enhance teaching and learning of ICT and boost the capacity of the colleges to provide quality training to the students.
The Minister of Education, Mr Alex Tettey-Enyo, who disclosed this, also said “as part of the government’s policy to complete all ongoing projects in all the Colleges of Education, the Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFund) had allocated large sums of money to all the institutions”.
He was speaking at the second congregation ceremony of the Seventh Day Adventist (SDA) College of Education at Effiduase, Koforidua during which 294 students, who completed in 2008, graduated.
“The government is committed to producing qualified teachers to ensure quality education at the basic level of the country’s educational structure to enable the nation to have a solid foundation on which higher levels of education can be built”, Mr Tettey-Enyo stated
The Education Minister said since the nation’s most important resource was its people and not its gold, cocoa nor its oil, the government would continue to provide the Colleges of Education with the needed logistics to enable them to render quality training to teacher trainees.
“Since it is the people who build the nation and are capable of making it strong and great, we have to concentrate on eradicating illiteracy and provide opportunities for all our people to be educated”.
To achieve this literacy rate among the population, Mr Tettey-Enyo emphasised the important role teachers played in the human resource development of the country, adding that “the government’s attention is focused on the training, deployment and motivation of teachers”
On the elevation of Colleges of Education to tertiary status, he said in consonance with the National Accreditation Board (NAB) regulations, all the 38 institutions which were given three years of institutional accreditation to run the Diploma in Basic Education (DBE) programme would undergo a re-accreditation exercise this year.
“Since education is the foundation for the growth of the society which also develops on knowledge and skills acquired through teaching and learning, the elevation of colleges to tertiary status will enable the nation to move away from the old ways of doing things to accelerate human development of Ghana”, he stated.
For his part, the Eastern Regional Minister, Mr Samuel Ofosu Ampofo, lamented the increasing level of indiscipline among the youth in the country and, therefore, advised the newly trained teachers to help reverse the trend in the communities they would be posted to.
“As young teachers who are coming out, you must see yourselves as generational thinkers and be agents of change in society so that together we can do away with the upsurge of indiscipline to make Ghana a better dwelling place for all,” he stated.
In his welcome address, the Principal of the college, Mr A. Akumfi-Ameyaw, mentioned the lack of fence and accommodation for staff of the colleges as some of the challenges undermining effective teaching and learning.
He, therefore, appealed to the government to help address the problems “to protect us from armed robbers and other intruders as well as enhance teaching and learning”.

COLLEGES OF EDUCATION TO GET 20 COMPUTERS (PAGE 11, JUNE 16, 2010)

2010-06-17T10:38:00.001-07:00

6 KILLED IN ACCIDENT (PAGE 3, JUNE 15, 2010)

2010-06-15T08:03:00.000-07:00

SIX persons perished in an accident when a Ford bus collided head-on with a Benz truck at Obretema, near Suhum, last Saturday.
Four persons, including the driver of the Ford bus, whose identities were yet to be known, and a civilian employee of the Ghana Armed Forces (GAF), identified as Edmund Lomotey, died on the spot.
Two out of the three persons, including the driver of the Benz bus, who were rushed to the Suhum Government Hospital in coma died on Sunday.
Eight people who sustained various degrees of injury were taken to the Suhum Government Hospital and are said to be responding to treatment, while the bodies of the dead have been deposited at the morgue of the same hospital.
Briefing the Daily Graphic, the Eastern Regional Commander of the Motor Traffic and Transport Unit (MTTU) of the Ghana Police Service, Superintendent James Peprah, said the accident occurred at 4 p.m. on Saturday when the Ford bus, in the process of overtaking another vehicle, collided head-on with the Benz truck.
He said the bus, with registration number AW 3393 Z, was travelling from Kumasi towards Accra, while the truck, with registration number GT 6100 B, was travelling from the opposite direction.
Meanwhile, a 54-year-old man, identified as Kwadwo Adekplovi, also died when he was knocked down by a vehicle at Amanase, near Suhum, on Saturday .

ENFORCE LAWS ON ENVIRONMENT (PAGE 3, JUNE 14, 2010)

2010-06-14T05:01:00.000-07:00

THE Okyenhene, Osagyefuo Amoatia Ofori Panin, has called on the government and other stakeholders to strictly enforce environmental laws and regulations in order to preserve and protect the country’s fast-dwindling natural resources and water bodies from further destruction and pollution.
According to him, until such laws and regulations were respected, promoted and defended, greedy individuals, including chainsaw and galamsey operators, would continue to exploit “our resources at the expense of the masses today and posterity”.
He said if such illegal chainsaw operators, miners and chiefs were found promoting those activities and arrested and prosecuted without any fear or favour, it would deter others from flouting environmental laws and regulations in the country.
“How long can we, as a nation, continue to fold our arms and look on helplessly while chainsaw operators and illegal miners deplete and destroy our forests, rivers, lakes and farmlands with impunity?” the Okyenhene asked.
Speaking at the national launch of the World Environment Day at Osino in the Eastern Region on Saturday, the Okyenhene said “almost every water body in the nook and cranny of Ghana, including the Korle Lagoon, the Pra, Birim, Densu, Oti and Afram rivers, as well as forests, which are national assets, is being polluted and destroyed because we have failed miserably to enforce laws that are to protect and preserve them”.
The event, which was on the theme: “Many Species, One Ghana, One Future”, was used to plant several species of plants at Osino and its environs in the Fanteakwa District.
The Okyenhene stated that God, in His wisdom, had blessed the country with abundant natural resources such as forests, water bodies and rich farmlands that should enhance the living standards of the people and also make the country self-sufficient.
“However, the very natural resources that are to enable us to improve every area of our existence, from health, agriculture, water and medicinal needs, are now turning out to be a source of diseases for our innocent children, pregnant women and the general masses,” he stated.
Osagyefuo Ofori Panin blamed this unfortunate state of affairs on negligence on the part of the government, the security forces, the EPA and the Minerals Commission to strictly enforce the various laws and regulations that were to preserve and protect the country’s natural resources from incessant exploitation.
“When the gifts of nature are destroyed, the meaningful prolonged existence of mankind on earth is also cut short,” he added.
In his view, if the government and other stakeholders continued to pay no urgent attention to putting a stop to the activities of illegal miners and chainsaw operators, “I dare say that the consequences of abusing the laws of nature will see us pushing all our natural resources, plant and animal species to extinction”.
He indicated that in the wake of the massive destruction of the forests, farmlands and water bodies, it had always been “chiefs who are blamed for promoting the activities of illegal miners and chainsaw operators in their communities and not the government”.
“Unfortunately, the days when our chiefs were described as illiterates and did not have degrees in environmental science, Master of Science and PhDs but understood the importance of preservation to human survival and, therefore, controlled the activities of their people towards the environment have been taken away,” he said.
He used the occasion to challenge Ghanaians to change their attitudes towards their environment, adding that “together we can help preserve our water bodies and environment for our own meaningful existence on earth”.
For her part, the Minister of Environment, Science and Technology, Ms Sherry Ayitey, identified threats to biodiversity in the country to include rapidly increasing trade in bush meat, agriculture, commercial logging, illegal activities by chainsaw operators and mining.
To confront those challenges, she said, the government, in partnership with non-governmental organisations and development agencies, had launched the Green Ghana project and re-launched the arbour day to instil in Ghanaians the habit of planting and nursing trees for both economic and aesthetic purposes to mitigate the effects of climate change and global warming.
For his part, the Deputy Country Director of the UNDP, Mr Shigeki, called on the government and other stakeholders to help preserve biodiversity in the country in order not to precipitate the extinction of various species of animals and plants.

TEACHERS TRAINING MUST BE PROFESSIONALISED (PAGE 11, JUNE 11, 2010)

2010-06-11T06:00:00.000-07:00

THE Eastern Regional Minister, Mr Samuel Ofosu Ampofo, has stressed the need for the training of young teachers at the 38 colleges of education to be geared towards making them true professionals.
He said this could eventually lead to the licensing of teachers on a renewable basis every four years, to help instill a sense of pride, dignity, discipline and quality.
“The good part of merit licensing of teachers is that it will ensure discipline and quality output on the part of teachers”, Mr Ofosu Ampofo stated.
In an address at the 2nd graduation ceremony of the Kyebi Presbyterian College of Education, Mr Ofosu Ampofo said achieving this concept would depend on the efficiency and effectiveness of the colleges of education.
One hundred and four-five students graduated at the ceremony which was on the theme “Transition to Tertiary Status: Prospects and Challenges”.
The regional minister said with the elevation of teacher training colleges to tertiary status , the lecturers were required to pursue higher education to enable them to attain higher qualifications that would enhance their output.
“To be a successful tertiary institution demands that the lecturers should be of high academic standing, hence the need for those who have not yet attained the requisite academic qualifications and research skills to upgrade themselves”, he stated.
Mr Ofosu Ampofo called on the Ghana Education Service (GES) to facilitate efforts aimed at supporting the numerous unqualified teachers who were already in the classrooms to the level of diploma holders since that would virtually be the minimum qualification demanded of all professional teachers.
“The solution for this challenge will entail either organising vacation or sandwich classes for this category of teachers at all the colleges of education, or the GES should provide adequate motivation to them and encourage them to take advantage of the distance learning scheme,” he stated.
Mr Ofosu Ampofo further called for the creation of other non-academic administrative and support service departments such as security, transport, estates, parks and gardens, which would manage and co-ordinate the operations of colleges of education.
He, therefore, called on the current management and all prospective managers to seek further studies on management of higher educational institutions, which he described as a challenging area.
“Failure of practitioners to pursue higher education will lead to people with the requisite qualifications coming from outside their mainstream to take up leadership positions from them,” he stated.
On resourcing of colleges of education, Mr Ofosu Ampofo said since the education enterprise was quite expensive, the government would ensure that the necessary funds would be released to support all the 38 colleges of education to enable them offer quality training.
For his part, the principal of the college, Rev. E. Y. Omenako, advised the graduate teachers to work hard to reflect the quality training they received at the institute.

PAY UNANNOUNCED VISISTS TO SCHOOLS (PAGE 35, JUNE 9, 2010)

2010-06-09T02:09:00.000-07:00

THE Eastern Regional Minister, Mr Samuel Ofosu, has tasked 21 municipal and district chief executives (M/DCEs) in the region to pay regular, unannounced visits to the basic schools benefiting from the School Feeding Programme.
He said such visits would make the caterers to observe strict health and safety rules in the preparation of food for the schoolchildren.
Besides, he said, they would help them assess at first-hand the quality and quantity of food being served to the pupils and also put a stop to the use of unwholesome ingredients by some “unscrupulous caterers”.
Mr Ofosu Ampofo said “it is time we collectively stopped and exposed bad practices and the desire of greedy individuals bent on making undue profit at the expense of our future leaders”.
The regional minister was addressing the M/DCEs and their co-ordinating directors, officials of the Ghana Education Service and other stakeholders at the regional inauguration of the district School Feeding Programme implementation committees in Koforidua on Tuesday.
The committees are to see to the successful implementation of the programme and ensure that it operates within acceptable standards at the municipal and district levels.
Mr Ofosu Ampofo said the introduction of the School Feeding Programme by the government had become one of the important social interventions that had increased access to education and learning, as well as improved children’s health and nutrition, especially for pupils from the deprived communities.
He was, however, unhappy about the several reported cases of pupils being fed on unwholesome food items by the very individuals whose services had been engaged to prepare food for them.
The regional minister, therefore, urged the M/DCEs and the committees in the region to be proactive in ensuring effective monitoring of the programme in their respective areas.
“Since schoolchildren of today are the embodiment of the nation’s future leaders, the burden of ensuring their educational development should be the duty of every Ghanaian,” he stressed.
Mr Ofosu Ampofo appealed to the chief executives to give priority to the extension of the programme to poor communities that deserved it.
He urged them to ensure that locally produced food items were used in the preparation of meals for the pupils, adding that “using locally sourced food will not only inculcate the consumption of local food in the children, but also provide reliable income for local farmers”.

GH¢850,000 BUILDING COMPLEX FOR ABURI CRAFT VILLAGE (PAGE 35, JUNE 9, 2010)

2010-06-09T02:08:00.002-07:00

THE Export Development and Investment Fund (EDIF) has approved a total of GH¢850,000 towards the construction of a modern building complex for the Aburi Craft Village this year.
The project, which is aimed at promoting the tourism potential in the area and enhancing the work of wood carvers, would be constructed on an 8.5-acre piece of land at the Aburi Y Junction.
The project, to be implemented in two phases, would involve the construction of stalls, showrooms, a forex bureau, an Internet cafe’, a canteen and a guest house, among others.
On completion, the project would provide opportunity for small-scale craft makers to market their products and give the youth requisite training and skills to earn a decent living.
Currently, wood carvers only sell their wares in small and inappropriate stalls by the roadsides, a situation that poses danger to them and their clients.
The Aburihene, Otoobuor Djan Kwesi II, who made this known in an interview with the Daily Graphic at Aburi, said the complex would significantly enhance the work of the carvers and enable them to apply their entrepreneurship skills in a competitive market to earn better incomes.
According to him, since the country earns adequate foreign exchange from the export of handicrafts and its increased patronage by tourists, the completion of the modern complex will afford the carvers ready market for their produce locally and at the international level.
Otoobuor Djan expressed appreciation to the Ministry of Trade and Industry for its commitment over the years to fulfil its promise of promoting the work of wood carvers in the area.
Speaking on the Aburi Botanical Gardens, Otoobuor Djan appealed to the government to help market the garden to potential investors who would develop it because it was gradually losing its natural endowment and tourism potential.

WOMEN ATTEND WORKSHOP ON ROAD SAFETY (PAGE 35, JUNE 9, 2010)

2010-06-09T02:08:00.001-07:00

A ROAD safety awareness workshop aimed at sensitising women to the dangers and effects of road traffic crashes on the country’s human resource development, has ended in Koforidua.
The event was to help women appreciate the magnitude of road traffic crashes in the country and the urgent need for them to get actively involved in the reduction and prevention of fatalities on the roads.
After the training, the women were expected to become advocates of road safety by supporting rigorous road safety campaigns in their respective homes, communities, churches and mosques, schools, markets and workplaces.
Organised by the National Road Safety Commission (NRSC), the workshop brought together women from the various ministries, departments and agencies, as well as representatives from the various trade groups and associations in the New Juaben Municipality.
In an address, the Executive Director of the NRSC, Mr Noble J. Appiah, said 70 per cent of road traffic deaths in the country involved men, a situation that had placed a heavy responsibility of family upbringing on women in society.
“In event of the death of more men in road crashes, most homes are left without breadwinners; this has serious socio-economic implications for women and their families, the community and the country,” he stated.
Mr Appiah, therefore, urged women to take the leading role by championing and being advocates in road safety wherever they found themselves, adding that “we should demand road safety as pedestrians and passengers all the time”.
He reminded the participants that road safety was not about accidents and the loss of human lives, but the “pain and suffering as well as the socio-economic impact on our women.”
Mr Appiah expressed worry over some Ghanaians’ careless attitudes towards accidents, stressing, “It is time we disabused our minds that every road crash that claims lives is the will of God.”
“As passengers when a driver misbehaves, we must check him in order to curb rampant road crashes, failure of which we will find ourselves killed through a drivers’ recklessness,” he reminded the women.
Giving an overview of the current road safety records in the country, the Director of Planning and Programmes of the NRSC, Mrs May Obiri-Yeboah, said the Eastern, Greater Accra, Ashanti and Brong Ahafo regions accounted for 70 per cent of road traffic crashes since 1998.
According to her, 42 per cent of persons killed annually were pedestrians, made of 23 per cent children below the age of 16 while 70 per cent of persons killed annually were in the active group age between 16 and 55.

STEEL BRIDGES TO LINK COMMUNITIES IN 10 MUNICIPALITIES (PAGE 35, JUNE 9, 2010)

2010-06-09T02:06:00.000-07:00

A NUMBER of rural communities in 10 municipalities and districts in the Eastern Region which are either surrounded or divided by rivers are to be linked with 18 steel bridges.
The provision of the bridges is to facilitate the movement of the people and haulage of agricultural produce.
The bridges, which will be between 20 and 35 metres across rivers, will be financed by the government with support from the governments of The Netherlands, the United States of America and Spain.
The Spanish government will provide five bridges, estimated at GH¢3,017,227, in farming communities in the East Akyem Municipality, Birim South and the Upper Manya districts.
The American government will construct the bridges in farming and fishing communities in the Atiwa, Yilo Krobo, Fanteakwa and the Asuogyaman districts at a total cost of GH¢2,991,955.
Even though work on the Spanish and the American-financed bridges are yet to be awarded on contract, the projects are expected to be completed in 2012.
However, work on the Dutch-financed bridges, estimated at GH¢3,114,721, is ongoing in the East Akyem and West Akyem municipalities and Kwahu South, Kwahu West, Yilo Krobo and the Upper Manya Krobo districts.
The Eastern Regional Manager of the Department of Feeder Roads, Mr David Brobbey, made this known to the Daily Graphic at Effiduase, near Koforidua.
He made these statements when he took the Eastern Regional Minister, Mr Samuel Ofosu Ampofo, round to inspect the delivery of various steel components of the bridges on the premises of the Department of Feeder Roads in Koforidua.
That was after Mr Ofosu Ampofo had paid a working visit to interact with the management and workers of the Ghana Highway Authority, the Department of Feeder Roads and the Urban Roads Department in Koforidua to acquaint himself with the challenges facing the three institutions and their workers.
He said when completed, the bridges were expected to provide easy access to remote farming and fishing communities where the people currently used canoes to ferry women in labour and the sick across rivers before boarding vehicles to nearby hospitals.
Besides, Mr Brobbey said, the bridges would also bring a lot of relief to the people, especially schoolchildren who travelled by canoes daily to attend school in the other communities.
“Upon completion, people in communities close to rivers and other water bodies will no longer have to use canoes to cross bridges, sometimes getting drowned in the process,” Mr Brobbey stated.
According to him, currently the most convenient means of transport for the people living in the farming and fishing communities surrounded and divided by rivers was the use of canoes to reach other communities.
“There are times when many of these communities are cut off completely from other communities, especially during heavy rainy seasons when the level of the rivers rise, making it impossible for them to either cross or cart their farm produce to marketing centres,” he stated.
He added: “When this happens, schoolchildren cannot go to school and those who dare sometimes get drowned in the process.”
Mr Ofosu Ampofo said about 30 per cent of foodstuffs produced in the country were lost through post-harvest loses caused by lack of access roads in most of the rural communities.
He, therefore, expressed optimism that the construction of the bridges would ease the burden poor farmers went through to cart their farm produce to the market centres on time to enable them to earn decent incomes.
The regional minister tasked the management of the Department of Feeder Roads to put in place measures to ensure effective supervision of the projects and their early completion.

NKUSUOHEMAA PROMOTES INTELECTUAL EXCELLENCE ...At Obosomase-Akuapem (PAGE 11, JUNE 4, 2010)

2010-06-04T08:31:00.000-07:00

A SCHOOL designed to ignite enthusiasm for learning in the Akuapem area has begun at Obosomase. It is currently admitting children from kindergarten to junior high school (JHS).
The objective of the new school, Aloma International Academy is to provide instruction covering early childhood education through high school and college.
The school, will also provide training in Information and Communication Technology (ICT). The academy is also a training facility for Early Childhood educators.
Though the institution is geared primarily to provide instruction, it will go further in the delivery of a high standard of quality childcare.
Its daily operations starts from 7:00 am. to 7:00pm. The time period will enable parents to drop their children at school before going to work and pick their wards after work.
The facility is equipped to provide three meals per day for students. Also scheduled for provision, are malaria tablets and vitamins, once weekly. In that context, a wellness programme has been designed.
“We intend to improve the condition of the whole child,” said Nana Akua Adobea, Nkosuohemaa of the Kronti Division of Aburi the school’s proprietress, adding that “our holistic approach speaks to making quality education available.”
Nana Akua Adobea who hails from Jamaica and is privately known as Ms Aloma Ingram was enstoolled at the Kronti Palace of Aburi four years ago.
“I am looking for parents who are serious about educating their children. Our Ghanaian children deserve the best,” Nana Akua Adobea said.
“At present, the institution is offering a free tuition scholarship to each student, for the first term, which has started. Of course, there is a cost for uniforms, food, other materials and services, at a reasonable cost”, she said.
Dr Osei Bonsu Twum, the District Municipal Chief Executive for Akuapem South, who visited the project, was so impressed and said, “Nana, I am being touched by Angel. You are an Angel.”
Nana Akua Adobea explained to the Daily Graphic that the initial phase of the project, consisting of the first floor of a six-unit two storey classroom block, has been completed.
She said the project was furnished with a computer laboratory with Internet facility, a library and child-friendly learning tools aimed at stimulating the learning abilities of the children.
However, the lack of funds is currently posing serious constraints to the early completion of the second floor of the project and another six-unit classroom block, which is currently at the foundation level.
Upon completion, the Aloma International Academy will also comprise facilities for adult learning centre, family planning and nutrition programmes for women in the area.
The project forms part of Nana Akua Adobea’s contribution to making learning under a conducive environment by school children more accessible and the uplift of the standard of education at Obosomase and other communities on the Akuapem Ridge.
According to the Nkosuohemea since education was one of the major tools that could promote the development of a child’s intellectual, mental formation as well as behavioural patterns, she decided to provide the Obosomase community with a school to make education more accessible to schoolchildren from the area and its environs.
“Although every child has the right to education, it is not only the responsibility of the government; It is a shared responsibility among the state, traditional authorities, individuals, parents as well as teachers,", the Nkosuohemaa of Aburi stated
“Since I am passionate about education in Ghana, access to quality education by poor and underprivileged children has always been my keen interest for many years as an educationist”, Nana Adobea stated.
She pledged her commitment to use the Aloma International School as a resource centre for other schools as well as “train other educationists and Academy that will need help in uplifting the standard of education on the Akuapem Ridge”.

ABURI GIRLS CHALKS UP ACADEMIC SUCCESS (SPREAD, JUNE 3, 2010)

2010-06-03T04:40:00.000-07:00

THE Aburi Girls’ Senior High School chalked up 100 per cent in the 2009 West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE), making this record the best academic performance in more than 10 years.
Out of the 460 candidates who passed in all the eight subjects, one student obtained Grade A in all the eight subjects while seven got Grade As in seven subjects.
With such an improved academic record, the school has now become the best SHS “that feeds the universities in the country with qualified students”.
The Headmistress of the school, Mrs Silvia Asempa, made this known at the school’s 64th anniversary speech and prize-giving at Aburi.
She stated that “among the 20 top SHSs who fed the universities five years ago, we have improved to the top 10 two years ago and the top five last year and today we are the number one SHS”.
The event, marked on the theme: “Be That Light On The Hill”, was used to honour students who had distinguished themselves in various subjects and co-curricula activities, as well as hardworking teaching and non-teaching staff.
Ms Ernestina Okoe-Martey, who obtained eight Grade As in the 2009 WASSCE, was honoured for being the overall best student. For her prize, she received a laptop and assorted sets of books.
The class of 1985 students, who organised the anniversary, also honoured the Headmistress of the school, Mrs Asempa, and her deputy, Mrs Sefa Twerefour, and her predecessor, Dr Joyce Lucy Asibey, for their distinguished services to the development and academic successes of the school over the years.
The headmistress attributed the successful academic achievement in the 2009 WASSCE to innovative policies, strict supervision, improved infrastructure, congenial atmosphere, teamwork, commitment and dedication of the management, parent-teacher association (PTA), board members, Old Girls Association and the students.
“We promise not to dilute our academic momentum to be at the top always,” Mrs Asempa said, seizing the opportunity to express her profound gratitude to the teaching and non-teaching staff, students and other stakeholders.
On discipline, Mrs Asempa said discipline had remained one of the guiding principles that had significantly made a difference in the character of the students and their academic performance.
“However unpalatable our discipline methods seem, we make our girls understand and appreciate the fact that discipline has a direct relationship with academic performance and the bedrock of every successful endeavour,” she stated.
She gave an assurance that “since discipline is a holistic system that ensures total development of our girls to enable them to reap its full effect of hard work, self-respect, self-dignity and confidence, we will never be complacent in our discipline approach”.
Recounting other successes achieved by the school under her nine-year administration, Mrs Asempa mentioned the PTA-funded GH¢52,000 sachet water plant, the first of its kind in any SHS in the country, a GH¢32,000 refurbished chemistry lab funded by the 1985 class, a GH¢20,000 bedroom flat, a three-unit classroom block which had enabled the school to admit 120 more girls, and a two-bedroom flat, among others.
On challenges facing the school, the headmistress identified the lack of a modern art studio for the art department as the only challenge facing the art students, adding that “it is the only department that has not received any appreciable attention”.
On infrastructure, she said with the support of the school’s PTA, Old Girls Association and other stakeholders, “we are on our own putting measures in place to supplement the government’s infrastructural development to accommodate the 2010/2011 new entrants in September this year”.
Delivering her keynote address, a Circuit Court judge, Mrs Doris Bempong, an old student, advised the students to strive for excellence and integrity to enable them to make a difference in their life and that of others.
“To fulfil your dreams, sacrifice yourself by devoting your time, talents and resources to your studies and seek out and love everyone regardless of their situation and circumstances, as well as inspire by teaching others through your example,” she stated.
A special guest of honour, Mrs Oboshie Sai-Kofie, an old student and former Minister of Information and National Orientation, encouraged the students to avail themselves of the opportunities to be groomed and prepared for excellence for responsible leadership in future.

ZOOMLION PRESENTED WITH SANITARY EQUIPMENT (PAGE 35, JUNE 2, 2010)

2010-06-01T11:13:00.000-07:00

THE Eastern Regional Co-ordinating Council (RCC) in collaboration with the New Juaben Municipal Assembly has presented a number of sanitary items to Zoomlion Ghana Limited, a waste management company.
The items included 40 pairs of wellington boots, 10 shovels and six wheelbarrows.
They are to support staff of the company, most of whom clean choked gutters and refuse dumps wearing inappropriate footwear such as bathroom slippers, shoes, among others, in the municipality.
Presenting the items, the Eastern Regional Minister, Mr Samuel Ofosu Ampofo, said the Regional Co-ordinating Council (RCC) and the municipal assembly decided to present the equipment to motivate the workers of Zoomlion to discharge their duties more effectively and efficiently.
"Since environmental cleanliness is a shared responsibility, it is our hope that these items will encourage workers of Zoomlion to clear choked gutters, refuse dumps and ensure general cleanliness in the New Juaben Municipality," he stated.
Mr Ofosu Ampofo said he would pay regular inspection to the area to ensure that the items were used for the intended purpose.
Receiving the items, the Regional Operations Supervisor of Zoomlion, Mr Ernest Kusi, thanked the RCC and the New Juaben Municipal Assembly for their support.
He pledged to ensure that the equipment would be utilised to ensure cleanliness in the area.

ADB BOARD CHAIRMAN PRAISES FARMER (PAGE 54, MAY 31, 2010)

2010-05-30T10:06:00.000-07:00

THE Board Chairman of the Agricultural Development Bank (ADB), Mr Ibrahim Adams, has lauded the management of Kwanim G.D.K. Farm, a 1,000-hectare mechanised farm at Kwanim in the Kwahu North District in the Eastern Region, for contributing significantly to food security in the country.
He has therefore recommended the farm to be considered as a model that should be replicated across the country.
According to him, that would help empower indigenous individual farmers and private companies to embark on mechanised farming to contribute towards increased food production in Ghana.
Mr Adams, who toured Kwanim G.D.K Farm with the Eastern Regional Minister, Mr Samuel Ofosu Ampofo, said “ADB has so far invested GH¢3 million in this farm and is committed to the success of the project since it is the only properly managed mechanised farm in the country now.”
The visit was to enable the ADB Board Chairman to have first-hand insight into the achievements and challenges of the farm, especially the delay in the completion of its two 10,000-metric tonne warehouses.
The project, which has been described by Mr Adams as an integral part of the farm, was expected to be completed in December 2009 but lack of finance, purloins and appropriate welding machines have delayed it.
The ADB Board Chairman said since agriculture was the backbone of the Ghanaian economy, the government was determined to support the cultivation of mechanised farming across the country to enhance food production and security.
Mr Adams hinted that following the success of Kwanim G. D.K. Farm, the ADB had decided to replicate mechanised farming in the Ashanti and Brong Ahafo regions.
He urged the management of Kwanim G.D.K. Farms to diversify its operations to include the establishment of a mill to add value to its produce, such as animal feed, to support animal husbandry and fish farming in the country.
Mr Ofosu Ampofo described Kwanim G.D.K. Farm as a private project that had now become “a national asset, currently contributing to food security in the country.”
He therefore expressed the commitment of the government to facilitate the expansion and development of the farm, adding that “we will support the construction of access roads and street lights to the farm.”
He appealed to farmers and interested individuals to take advantage of cage fish farming in the Volta Lake, which he described as “more lucrative and rewarding.”
The Executive Chairman of Kwanim G.D.K. Farm, Mr Alex Tenkorang, said out of the over 8,500 hectares of land acquired for the cultivation of maize and other crops, management had only been able to cultivate 450 hectares of the land with maize, 60 hectares with soya beans and 20 hectares with water melon.
According to him, his outfit planned to cultivate about 500 hectares of various crops this year, but persistent rainfall, which had made ploughing of the land difficult, seemed to undermine the company’s ability to achieve the target for the year.
Mr Tenkorang identified lack of access roads, street lights and finance as some of the challenges facing the expansion of the farm project.
He appealed to the government and the ADB to support the development aspirations of the farm.

HERBALIST APPEALS TO GOVT, MOH FOR HELP (PAGE 22, MAY 28, 2010)

2010-05-28T09:50:00.000-07:00

THE Eastern Regional Chairman of the Ghana Federation of Traditional Medicine (GHATFRAM), Dr Emmanuel Kyei-Osei has appealed to the government and the Ministry of Health (MoH) to conduct scientific and clinical test into his herbal medicine, which he claims is a potent cure for HIV and AIDS.
He said the test would determine the efficacy or otherwise of the herbal medicine, which he said, had helped to improve the health status of some persons living with HIV and AIDS.
In an interview with the Daily Graphic in Koforidua, Dr Kyei-Osei said “a positive outcome of the test will help the country to produce large quantities of this herbal concoction to treat persons living with HIV and AIDS.”
The 72-year-old herbalist, who is the proprietor of the “Enso Nyame Ye Herbal Clinic” in Koforidua, expressed concern over the rate at which the HIV and AIDS pandemic was claiming many innocent lives as a result of lack of cure for the deadly disease.
“How on earth can we as a nation sit down and look on helplessly when many lives are being lost through HIV and AIDS, and we are not prepared to support those who are making efforts to find a cure to the disease?”, Dr Kyei-Osei asked.
He claimed that although he had discovered a cure for the disease, the only challenge was how to draw the attention of the government, the MOH, scientists and medical practitioners at the various hospitals to monitor clinical tests on HIV and AIDS patients to ascertain the efficacy of the herbal concoction.
According to Dr Kyei-Osei, in 2004 he wrote a proposal to the MOH to provide him with between 50 and 100 PLWHAs for clinical test to verify the efficacy of the herbal medicine but he did not obtain any positive response from the authorities.
“I also recall that in 2008, the then Minister of Health, the late Major Courage Quarshigah directed the Centre for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) to conduct a research into the efficacy of my medicine, but again I did not get any positive response from the CSIR, even though it came to me to collect samples of the herbal medicine for test,” he stated.
“This was in spite of the fact that I had already taken the medicine to the same CSIR at Mampong in 1995 to test for the toxification, which led to its approval”, he added.
Recounting his experiences with health personnel at some of the hospitals, Dr Kyei-Osei said he had often asked some of the HIV and AIDS patients he was treating with his herbal concoction to go for clinical evaluation to test their viral load, CD 4 and CD 8 counts but most of the doctors declined to give the patients the outcome of the results to enable them to report back to him.

IMPROVE SERVICE CONDIDTIONS OF TEACHERS...Government urged (PAGE 11, MAY 28, 2010)

2010-05-28T09:42:00.000-07:00

THE Director of the Institute of Education of the University of Cape Coast, Prof. James Adu Opare, has called on the government and stakeholders to improve the conditions of service of teachers in order to make the teaching profession more attractive.
That, he said, would enable the various colleges of education in the country to attract “quality students who qualify to be trained to become teachers”.
“Since teaching is no longer attractive, few students are motivated to enter the colleges of education to train to become teachers,” he stated.
In a speech read on his behalf at the second graduation ceremony of the Kyebi Presbyterian College of Education at Kyebi on Saturday, Prof. Opare said, “It is up to the state to improve the conditions of service of teachers if it wants to attract able and committed candidates to enter the colleges of education.”
One hundred and forty five students graduated during the ceremony, which was on the theme, “Transition to tertiary status: Prospects and challenges”.
The director said it was on record that getting the right number of candidates who met the requirements to enter the colleges of education had been a headache for the heads of those institutions.
Speaking on the topic, “Challenges facing the elevation of teacher training colleges into tertiary status”, Prof. Opare said, “There cannot be quality education without teachers of good quality. Similarly, there cannot be teachers of good quality unless we have teacher education of good quality.”
On other challenges, he said with the elevation of teacher training colleges to colleges of education, the practice of students being made to behave in certain ways and doing things such as taking exeats for permission to leave campus, going to bed at stipulated times, weeding the school campus and carrying water to the kitchen must be given a second thought.
“If this culture runs into the tertiary era, students are likely to rebel and this may undermine discipline,” he said.
He, however, cautioned the students of the colleges not to enjoy their newly found freedom in an irresponsible way.
On staffing, he said at present none of the colleges had the optimum number of qualified staff to teach, adding that it would take time to train or recruit enough qualified staff to teach in the colleges.
With regard to infrastructure, Prof. Opare said the colleges had basic infrastructure such as classrooms and offices that only needed to be refurbished.
“However, not all the facilities are suitable for tertiary institutions, as furniture in most of the colleges is suitable for secondary school students, while science laboratories are incomplete and others lack computers for ICT training and office work,” he added.
The director also identified career progression of the teaching staff of the colleges as another challenge, saying, “When the colleges fully attain tertiary status, we expect that promotions or career progression will be determined by quality of research and publications.”
“Unless the colleges get well-equipped libraries with Internet facilities, as well as the requisite books, the tutors cannot work towards promotion, as limited opportunities for research and promotion will naturally be a source of frustration for them,” he added.
On financial management, Prof. Opare said at present some of the bursars in the colleges did not possess the right qualifications and experience to handle their financial affairs and “to go the extra mile to advise the heads of institutions, a situation that must be considered critically”.
The Eastern Regional Minister, Mr Samuel Ofosu Ampofo, said since financing the educational enterprise was quite expensive, the government would, as a matter of priority, ensure that the necessary funds were released to support all the colleges of education.
In his welcoming address, the Principal of the Kyebi Presbyterian College of Education, Rev. E.Y. Omenako, identified the lack of highly trained personnel for the development of the colleges as fully fledged tertiary institutions as one of the major challenges facing the colleges.
“I, therefore, urge the government to pay attention to this critical manpower requirement without delay,” he pleaded.

ASOKWA SOS CHILDREN'S HOME GETS ASSISTANCE (PAGE 42, MAY 26, 2010)

2010-05-25T06:46:00.000-07:00

MEMBERS of the Eastern Regional branch of the Knights and Ladies of Marshall, a Catholic friendly society, have donated assorted items worth GH¢1,000 and cash of GH¢500 to the SOS Children's Home at Asiakwa.
The items comprised bags of rice, gallons of cooking oil, assorted biscuits, drinks, toffees, toiletries, detergents and toys.
The donation formed part of activities marking the 2010 Marshall Day celebrations.
Presenting the items, Mr Charles Appiase, a Knight, and Mrs Gloria Bramson, a Lady, said the donation formed part of the association’s charity work to support the needy and under-privileged in society.
"As a practical demonstration of our commitment to make life meaningful, we have decided to donate these items to put smiles on the faces of these children who are our future leaders," they stated.
Receiving the items, the Head of Mothers of the home, Mrs Gertrude Buochi, thanked the Marshallans for the gesture.
She seized the opportunity to appeal to other organisations to support the under-privileged children at the home.0

ENTERPRISE LIFE ASSURANCE COMPANY COMMENDED (PAGE 21, MAY 25, 2010)

2010-05-25T05:40:00.000-07:00

THE Commissioner of the National Insurance Commission (NIC), Mrs Nyameke Kyiamah, has commended the management of the Enterprise Life Assurance Company (ELAC) for contributing immensely to the development of the insurance industry in the country.
According to her, the hard work and innovative strategies adopted by the management of ELAC had spurred the company on to become the second biggest life company and one of the three specialist life insurance entities in the country.
"ELAC has, over the past eight years of its operations, shown tremendous growth from the initial 16th position in premium income to become the second biggest life company in the country as of 2009," Mrs Kyiamah stated.
In a speech read on her behalf at the 2010 Top 100 Sales Representatives’ Conference of the company in Koforidua last Friday, Mrs Kyiamah said, "The NIC appreciates your great contribution to the development of the insurance and life industry in Ghana."
The event, which was on the theme, “The career sales rep — A Force for change", was used to reward 20 topmost sales representatives who distinguished themselves and contributed to the growth of the company.
As part of their reward, the best five sales representatives, with Miss Gifty Quao being adjudged the overall best, were given a sponsored trip to South Africa with some spending money.
"With the coming into force of the new insurance law, there has been tremendous focus, resulting in 16 life companies in the country, as against three in 2002,” Mrs Kyiamah stated.
According to her, the NIC would soon harmonise the training requirements for the sales teams of various life insurance companies to improve the quality and image of the sector.
"This, we believe, will encourage individuals to make a career out of this job," she added.
The Executive Director of ELAC, Mr Cleland C. Bruce Jnr, said in spite of the financial constraints faced in 2009, the company had achieved successes, growing by 57 per cent of its gross premium over that of the previous year.
"While active policy holders grew by 36 per cent, benefits payment to our clients increased from GH¢2.8 million to GH¢4.6 million," he said, adding that the company's 2009 performance could not have been achieved without continuous patronage by its clients.
He hinted that his outfit would soon introduce a number of innovative technological facilities, such as an interactive website and the use of mobile phones that would allow clients to check and monitor their premium growth.
A resource person, Mrs Catherine Ablorh, who is the Eastern and Volta Zonal Manager of the Graphic Communications Group Limited, advised sales representatives to help change the poor perception the public currently had of life assurance ownership in the country.
The Omanhene of the New Juaben Traditional Area, Daasebre Oti Boateng, urged insurance companies to diversify their business activities to enable them to take advantage of the insurance market potential in the country.
"You can accomplish this by coming up with innovative policies and opening up to your customers to instil a sense of ownership in them," he stated.

LOCAL TAILORS MUST SEW UNIFORMS (MIRROR, PAGE 42, MAY 22, 2010)

2010-05-23T10:03:00.000-07:00

From Nana Konadu Agyeman, Koforidua.

THE Eastern Regional Minister, Mr Samuel Ofosu Ampofo, has urged the 21 municipal and district assemblies in the Eastern Region to abide by the government’s directive to award the sewing of the free school uniforms to indigenous tailors and dressmakers in their areas.
He, therefore, has asked Municipal and District Chief Executives to obtain the names of members of the Tailors and Dressmakers Association in their areas to be considered for the job.
This, he said, would create employment for the local tailors and dressmakers to enable them to raise their standard of living.
Handing over 42,000 pieces of school uniforms and about 2,950,000 exercise books to the 21 Municipal and District Chief Executives in Koforidua, Mr Ofosu Ampofo warned that “the government will find it unacceptable if the sewing of school uniforms is awarded to tailors and dressmakers outside any district”.
The school uniforms, after it had been sewn, would be distributed to 42,000 school children in some of the deprived communities in the region. Each of the assemblies would be provided with 2,000 pieces to be sewn.
The regional minister said the provision of various poverty alleviation interventions by the government such as free school uniforms, the School Feeding Programme and the Capitation Grant were meant to uplift educational standards in the country and motivate schoolchildren to be in the classrooms.
On the provision of the exercise books, Mr Ofosu Ampofo expressed worry over reports about the sale of the books in some districts in the region and, therefore, appealed to the MCEs and the DCE to “exercise strict oversight responsibility to curb the practice”.
He hinted that the unfortunate practice had arisen because individuals who had been engaged to convey the books from the premises of the Eastern Regional Co-ordinating Council to the various district education directorate offices often sold some of the books out “to cover the cost incurred on carting them to the various districts”.
He, therefore, urged the MCEs and the DCEs to send vehicles belonging to the assemblies to convey the books in order to put an end to the practice.
Receiving the items on behalf of the districts, the Eastern Regional Director of Education, Mrs Rene Boakye-Boateng, expressed appreciation to the government for its commitment to raise the standard of education in the country.

MINISTER COMMENDS ALL NATIONS UNIVERSITY COLLEGE (SPREAD, MAY 22, 2010)

2010-05-23T09:20:00.000-07:00

THE Deputy Minister of Health, Mr Rojo Mettle-Nunoo, has commended the management of the All Nations University College (ANUC) for being the first accredited private university in the country to pioneer the establishment of Biomedical Engineering.
The programme, he said, would equip students with a sound foundation in biomedical engineering to enable them to play a critical role in biomedical research to improve the health status of Ghanaians.
“The government applauds the ANUC for being a trailblazer in pioneering the establishment of Biomedical Engineering, which has been dubbed one of the strongest on the continent,” he stated.
Speaking at the fifth Convocation of the ANUC in Koforidua on Thursday, Mr Mettle-Nunoo stated that “with its relatively few years in existence, ANUC has also become the first private university to receive accreditation from the National Accreditation Board for an upstream programme in Oil and Gas Engineering”.
Two hundred and sixty one students who pursued various disciplines in Administration, Electronics and Communications Engineering, Biomedical Engineering, Computer Science and Computer Engineering received certificates. Out of the number, 10 graduates obtained First Class honours.
“As the Minister of Health, I am very pleased that today we have the first batch of Biomedical Engineering graduates produced by a Ghanaian tertiary institution passing out of the All Nations University College, a momentous occasion for which we should all be happy and proud,” Mr Mettle-Nunoo said.
The Eastern Regional Minister, Mr Samuel Ofosu Ampofo, commended ANUC for introducing a total personality development programme which he described as exemplary.
The personality development programme inculcates training in work ethics, self-esteem, interpersonal skills, innovation and creativity in the students.
“In this way, the Ghanaian society is privileged to benefit from the balanced training of a new generation of scientists, engineers and business professionals which is crucial in any bid for social and nation reform,” he stated.
In his welcoming address, the President of ANUC, Dr Samuel H. Donkor, announced that out of the 700 graduates from the university, all but 14 were gainfully employed.
He said that was an attestation to the quality and relevance of the university’s programmes.
According to him, the overwhelming acceptance of the university’s graduates on the job market placed the ANUC among the top universities in the country.
He announced that the university had plans to establish new programmes such as Bachelor of Engineering (B.E.) in Civil Engineering, B.E. Electrical/Electronics Engineering, B.E. Biotechnology, B.E. Environmental/Safety Engineering, B.E. Automotive Engineering, Master of Science (MSc) in Nursing, MCA and M.E. in Computer Engineering, M.E. Electronics and Computer Engineering and MBA.

RAINSTORM CAUSES HAVOC AT BEGORO PRESBY SHS (PAGE 42, MAY 20, 2010)

2010-05-20T12:25:00.000-07:00

A SEVERE rainstorm completely ripped off the roofs of four classrooms of the Begoro Presbyterian Senior High School (SHS) last Monday, injuring some of the students in the process.
Three students sustained deep cuts on the head, arm and the rib while 11 others were traumatised in the incident, which occurred at exactly 10.35 a.m. when the students were in their classrooms.
All the 14 students were rushed to the Begoro District Hospital, where they were admitted and treated to enable them to overcome the trauma they had gone through during the incident.
The students sustained the injuries and shock when they ran helter-skelter, amidst desperate screams of help, out of their make-shift dwarf-walled pavilion classrooms, which had their roofs ripped off by the rainstorm.
The students, mostly girls, were reported to have quickly dashed out of their classrooms in a bid to salvage their dresses, which they had then dried on lines near the girls’ dormitory.
However, some of them were unfortunately struck by some of the flying objects, including the branches of some of the teak trees planted on the school compound.
The force of the rainstorm pulled down portions of the classroom block and some of the teak trees, which prevented some of the flying roofing sheets from causing an otherwise serious injuries to the students and damages to other buildings at the school.
When the District Chief Executive for Fanteakwa, Mr Abass Fuseini Sbaab, visited the school immediately after the incident, it was realised that most of the wood used for roofing the classrooms were termite infested.
The Assistant Headmaster of the school, Mr David Odjijah told the Daily Graphic that but for the presence of a number of teak trees on the school compound, the wreck caused by the rainstorm could have been worse.
According to him, the school lacked a decent classroom block for effective teaching and learning.
Mr Odjijah, therefore, appealed to the authorities to provide the school with a 24-unit classroom block to prevent the recurrence of such a disaster in the future.
Mr Sbaab assured the management of the school that the assembly would bear all the medical expenses incurred by injured students.
He also gave an assurance that the assembly would send labourers and carpenters to the school to clear the debris after which the assembly’s engineers would assess the cost of re-roofing the damaged classroom blocks.

MORE HOUSING UNITS FOR SECURITY AGENCIES (PAGE 23, MAY 15, 2010)

2010-05-18T07:19:00.001-07:00

THE Eastern Regional Minister, Mr Samuel Ofosu Ampofo, on Wednesday reiterated the government’s commitment to allocate the first batch of the 200,000 housing units to be constructed across the country between April this year and April 2015 to the security agencies.
He said the project, to be jointly funded by the government and the Korean Government, would solve the acute accommodation problems facing personnel of the Ghana Armed Forces, the Police Service, the Prisons Service and others to boost their morale to discharge their duties more professionally.
Speaking at a send-off party for 82 retiring military officers and men at the Michel Camp, Tema, Mr Ofosu Ampofo stated that “the government will make the allocation of the first batch of the 200,000 housing units to the security agencies a priority in order to create a conducive environment for them and their families”.
The event was held for the military officers who had served the Ghana Army for 25 years and over. They will proceed on terminal leave on May 15, 2010 and eventually retire in November this year.
Mr Ofosu Ampofo noted that the invaluable contributions of the military to the peace and stability in the country over the years had made the nation enjoy an enviable democratic dispensation.
“Your commitment to the peace and democracy of our nation requires that the government provides you with a conducive environment that will motivate you to continue to discharge your duties professionally and co-operate with the government and the citizenry,” he stated.
He appealed to the retiring military officers to take advantage of the various government initiatives meant for farmers, such as the block farming, subsidised irrigation machines, fertilisers, weedicides and insecticides, to go into farming to enhance their living standards while they were on retirement.
Mr Ofosu Ampofo commended military personnel for the high professional skills they demonstrated in active service, adding, “Your professionalism has made our nation to be recognised in international peace-keeping.”
He appealed to the retiring security officers to put the experiences they had acquired at the disposal of the various cadet corps in tertiary and second-cycle institutions.
Earlier in his welcoming address, the Commanding Officer of the 1st Infantry Battalion, Lt Col Barimah Brako Owusu, commended the retiring officers for their commitment and distinguished invaluable services to the Ghana Army over the past 25 years.
He advised them to refrain from any negative attitudes that could tarnish their reputation and that of the entire GAF, adding, “While on retirement, the Military Command would not want to hear of you being implicated in any criminal cases such as armed robbery.”
He appealed to the government to resource the military with the needed logistics to enhance the training of military personnel to enable them to execute their duties more professionally, both locally and internationally.

USE NATURAL RESOURCES TO DEVELOP NATION — EP ELDERS (PAGE 42, MAY 13, 2010)

2010-05-12T08:20:00.000-07:00

LEADERS of the Evangelical Presbyterian Church of Ghana have called on the government to utilise the country's natural resources for rapid socio-economic development.
The Moderator of the General Assembly of the Evangelical Presbyterian (EP) Church, Rt Revd Francis Amenu, and the President of the Trinity Theological Seminary, Rev. Dr Cyril Fayose, made the call at the maiden synod of the West Volta Presbytery of the church at Akosombo.
The three-day event, on the theme: “Enhancing human dignity," was attended by leaders of the church who deliberated on the successes, challenges and shortcomings of the church over the years and planned for future activities.
Speaking at the ceremony, Rev. Dr Fayose said one of the factors that had contributed to low self-esteem among Africans, including Ghanaians, was their inability to recognise, appreciate and harness the abundant natural resources at their disposal.
"We just do not appreciate and harness the enormous resources at our disposal. Before coming into contact with the western European merchants and Christian missionaries, we were self-sufficient, savvy and sophisticated," he said.
He added: "When these people landed on our shores, we welcomed them, showered them with gifts, danced for them, carried their luggage to our villages, gave them land and settled them, they looted our resources freely, which we carried to their countries for them".
According to Rev. Dr Fayose, up to today, the black man still danced for the white man, gave them free access to their economies and markets as well as queued at their embassies literally begging to go and sweep their gutters and clean their toilets.
"Our religious and political leaders go to them soliciting aid and grants before we can survive. We are still dancing so that they will donate pittance of their loot to us," he added.
Rev. Dr Fayose stated that Africans continued dependence on donor aid had contributed immensely to the low self-esteem among the black people, a situation that had made them to perceive everything to have originated from the western world as superior to those produced on the African continent.
"It is our incessant dependence on donor aid that has eventually violated our basic human dignity as a people," Rev. Dr Fayose said.
He, therefore, appealed to the government, religious bodies and other stakeholders to psyche the people to appreciate and harness their natural resources to uplift their socio-economic standards.
Dr Fayose said as part of efforts of restoring a national dignity, Ghanaians should believe in themselves and learn to consume what they produced locally.
For his part, Rt Revd Amenu called on churches to be catalysts for change and commended the government's efforts in pursuing national orientation programmes aimed at changing the psyche of the people.
The moderator commended the government for instituting measures to ensure safety on the Volta Lake, but appealed for more pontoons to improve the Volta Lake transport system.
The District Chief Executive for Asuogyaman, Mr Johnson Ehiakpor, gave the assurance that the government would soon provide a number of pontoons that would safely ferry the people across the lake.
He used the occasion to outline the various development and social intervention projects being implemented by the government in the district.
In a welcoming address, the Chairperson of the West Volta Presbytery of the church, Rev. Joyce K. Kodade, appealed to members of the church with professional skills and knowledge to provide resources that could be utilised to support the poor, marginalised and oppressed members among them.

THREE KILLED IN ACCIDENT (PAGE 59, MAY 10, 2010)

2010-05-09T10:39:00.000-07:00

THREE persons died in an accident last Tuesday when a Sprinter bus collided head-on with a Fiat tipper truck at the Customs, Excise and Preventive Service (CEPS) checkpoint at Nsutam, near Bunso, in the Eastern Region.
Several others also sustained various degrees of injury and were rushed to the Kyebi Government Hospital for treatment.
The bodies of the dead have been deposited at the same hospital, pending identification and autopsy.
Briefing the Daily Graphic, the Eastern Regional Commander of the Motor Transport and Traffic Unit (MTTU), Superintendent James Peprah, said the accident occurred at about 12.30 p.m.
According to him, the collision occurred right in the middle of the CEPS checkpoint.
He gave the registration numbers of the bus and the truck as GS 5225 O9 and WR 743 Q respectively.
He said investigations were currently underway to establish the cause of the accident.

TEACHERS ADVISED TO SHOW COMMITMENT TO WORK (PAGE 11, MAY 5, 2010)

2010-05-05T03:21:00.000-07:00

THE Akuapem North District Director of Education, Mr Ben B. Cronze, has advised teachers to show commitment to their work and refrain from negative practices that undermined their efficiency and effectiveness.
He cautioned that teachers who misconducted themselves to retard the academic performance of students and the standard of education would be dealt with.
"Since the district education directorate will no longer tolerate any zero per cent passes in the Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE), teachers must refrain from absenteeism, drunkenness, lateness and the use of mobile phones during teaching hours" Mr Cronze stated.
Speaking at a dinner for basic school teachers at Mamfe last Saturday, Mr Cronze said one of the major factors undermining the standard of education in the area had partly been blamed on the teachers' poor attitude towards work.
The dinner was hosted by the Chief of Mamfe, Osabrima Ansah Sasraku III, to show his appreciation to the efforts being made by basic school teachers at Mamfe and its surrounding communities to improve the poor standard of education in the district.
The director of education said in 2008, out of the 2000 candidates presented for the BECE, only 38 students obtained aggregate six or better, while 28 students had the same grade in the 2009 examination.
He added that between 2008 and 2009, two junior high schools in the area recorded zero per cent passes in the BECE.
To improve on the academic performance in the area, Mr Cronze therefore, urged the teachers to change their attitude towards the profession, adding that the education directorate would no longer accommodate any negative behaviours on the part of teachers.
"You must remember that once you are given an appointment letter after your training to go to the classrooms and teach, you must refrain from all lackadaisical attitudes that undermine your efficiency and effectiveness to offer your best", he stated.
He reminded the teachers to be mindful of the blessings associated with offering their best to raise the academic performance of the pupils and students entrusted into their care, adding "a great teacher receives his/her blessings not only from God but from the very little ones entrusted into his or her care".
The district also expressed concern over the long distance some of the teachers had to commute everyday to teach and therefore appealed to the government and other stakeholders to help provide accommodation for the teachers.
Osabarim Sasraku expressed his commitment and that of the traditional authority to raise the standard of education in the town and its surrounding communities.
He called for support from other stakeholders, especially the Akuapem North District Assembly, to organise series of mock examinations for future BECE candidates from the town and other nearby communities so as to prepare the students adequately for examinations.
The Mamfehene, who presented an undisclosed amount of money to the teachers as a token of his appreciation, used the occasion to introduce a number of students from the University of Ghana who would travel to the area to teach students in the basic school every weekend.

FREE UNIFORMS FOR 1,409 SCHOOL CHILDREN (PAGE 11, MAY 3, 2010)

2010-05-03T10:43:00.000-07:00

Schoolchildren in three districts in the Eastern Region have benefited from the government’s free school uniform programme.
The uniforms would be distributed to 1,409 schoolchildren in deprived public basic schools in the Akyemmansa, Kwahu North and Upper Manya Krobo districts.
The uniforms were handed over to the three beneficiary districts, which are described as the most deprived among the 21 districts in the region.
The initiative is being implemented on a pilot basis in fulfilment of the government’s promise to provide free school uniforms to deprived schoolchildren across the country.
Handing over the items, the Eastern Regional Minister, Mr Samuel Ofosu Ampofo, expressed the hope that the school uniforms would boost the morale of the beneficiary pupils to study hard and motivate them to stay in school, and pointed out that “it is the hope of government that social interventions such as the provision of free school uniforms will bring a lot of relief to poor parents".
Mr Ofosu Ampofo announced that the Regional Co-ordinating Council (RCC) would soon receive another 43,000 pieces of school uniform materials, which would be distributed to all the municipal and district assemblies in the region.
"With this consignment, every municipal and district assembly will receive 2,000 pieces, which are already in pre-cut pieces," he said.
He, therefore, called on municipal and district chief executives to help identify local tailors and dressmakers who would help in sewing the school uniforms.
He added that with education as a top priority, the government would soon construct about 4,000 new school buildings for schools that organised classes for their pupils and students under trees, due to lack of infrastructure.
"As part of this initiative, each of the 21 districts in the Eastern Region is to benefit from the construction of three new school buildings which will provide conducive environment for teaching and learning," he said.
Receiving the items, Mrs Kate Agyeman Badu, who represented the Eastern Regional Director of Education, Mrs Rene Boakye-Boateng, thanked the government for the gesture.

PARENTS ADVISED TO SERVE AS MODELS TO CHILDREN (PAGE 11, APRIL 30, 2010)

2010-05-02T10:46:00.000-07:00

THE Vice-Chairperson of the Madonna Junior High School Parent-Teacher Association (PTA) in Koforidua, Mrs Suzie Brocke, has advised parents and guardians to be role models to their children and lead exemplary lives that would shape the lives of their children for a better future.
“We as parents and guardians need to show the right examples to our children by being free and chatting with them to enable us to understand, guide and shape them for a brighter future", Mrs Brocke said.
Speaking at a graduation ceremony of the Madonna Junior High School on Wednesday, Mrs Brocke said "to have the right influence on our children, parents must never fail to chastise them whenever they go wrong and commend them when they do the right thing".
The graduation ceremony for 43 students; comprising 21 boys and 22 girls, was used to honour some of the graduating students who distinguished themselves in various subjects.
Mrs Brocke, who is also a senior lecturer at the Nursing and Midwifery Training College in Koforidua, said since parents and guardians were often the first point of contact for their children, any bad examples or lifestyles on their part could negatively affect the psyche and future aspirations of their children.
"Since children are extremely susceptible to both good and bad influences in their formative years, it is our responsibility as parents to ensure that we ourselves exhibit the best examples that we desire them to emulate today and in the future", she explained.
She also advised the graduates to be guided by humility and respect for both the young and the elderly, adding "your key to success in every aspect of life is humility and respect towards others".
She further admonished the students to focus on the pursuit of their future ambitions, stressing, "a good start gives you a good finish in life".
"Staying focused in life also requires you to refrain from all negative lifestyles such as pre-marital sex, drug abuse, fraud and ‘Sakawa’, all of which could jeopardise your future dreams", she stressed.

2 GALAMSEY OPERATORS FINED GH¢700 EACH (SPREAD, APRIL 28, 2010)

2010-04-28T08:00:00.001-07:00

TWO galamsey operators accused of attempting to carry out illegal mining in the Birim River at Ankaase in the Eastern Region have been sentenced to a GH¢700 fine each by the Anyinam Magistrate’s Court.
In default, Ishmael Donkokoa, 38, and Azekeh Zakaria, 32, will serve a one-year prison sentence with hard labour.
The two accused persons were committed to the fine on their own plea.
The two had pleaded for forgiveness from the court on the ground that they were only about to begin their operations in the river when they were arrested.
While passing sentence, the court, presided by Mr Joseph Twumasi, said the two convicts were quite youthful, first offenders and, therefore, should be spared custodian sentences.
The prosecution’s case was that the convicts, who are residents of Akwatia, went to Ankaase, near Anyinam, to carry out their illegal mining activities.
According to Detective Chief Inspector Martin Amofah, about 9 a.m. on April 22, 2010, the Okyeman Mining Task Force, led by the Chief of Enyiresi, Nana Kyei Sarfo Kantanka, spotted a boat-looking structure on the Birim River near Ankaase.
The members of the task force, who were on their routine patrol duties along the Birim River to check the activities of illegal mining, suspected that the structure was being used for illegal mining and, therefore, informed the Anyinam Police.
Detective Chief Inspector Amofah said a team of policemen was immediately sent to where the structure had been found on the river.
He said after thorough investigations, the two convicts claimed ownership of the structure.
"When the police took them to the Anyinam Police Station, they told the police during interrogations that they had just mounted the structure on the river when they were arrested," the prosecutor stated.

AKUAPEM MAMPONG INSTALS NEW CHIEF (SPREAD, APRIL 27, 2010)

2010-04-27T11:18:00.000-07:00

A 53-year-old businessman, Mr Otu Baah, was last Saturday installed as the new chief of Mampong-Akuapem.
Under the stool name Osabarima Kwame Otu Dartey III, the new chief succeeds the late chief of the town, Nana Otu Pabi IV, who died in 2008 after reining for 16 years.
At a colourful durbar of the chiefs and people of Mampong-Akuapem, the new chief was paraded through the main streets of the town, to the admiration of the townfolks who defied a heavy rainfall to witness and show solidarity during the installation of their chief.
The event drew a large gathering of people, including the Member of Parliament for Akropong, Mr William Ofori Boafo, and the District Chief Executive for Akuapem-North, Mr George Opare-Addo.
Swearing the oath of allegiance to the Amankrado of Mampong-Akuapem, Nana Anson Owura II, and the elders of the town, Osabarima Dartey expressed his gratitude to the people for the confidence reposed in him to be the new chief of the town.
He appealed to the people to unite and be truthful to one another to enable them to peacefully co-exist and contribute meaningfully to the town's development.
The chief also called on the people to give priority to the education of their children, saying, "it’s only by this that we can aspire to raise more learned people to serve our society and the country as a whole".
Osabarima Dartey, who advised the people to keep their surroundings clean in order to stay healthy, also advised them to register with the National Health Insurance Scheme to enable them to enjoy affordable health care being provided by the three health facilities in the area.

ROTARY CLUB ASSISSTS NGO AT KOFORIDUA (PAGE 43, APRIL 26, 2010)

2010-04-26T05:55:00.000-07:00

THE Rotary Club of Accra Airport has presented a cheque for GH¢15,730 to the Matthew Chapter 25 House, a Koforidua-based Christian non-governmental organisation, which caters for persons living with HIV and AIDS (PLWHAs).
The donation formed part of the club's annual support to the House to cater for the medical expenses, feeding, school fees and educational materials for orphans and PLWHAs.
The donation comprised a cheque for GH¢3,000 to offset the accumulated debt owed by the PLWHAs of the House to the Eastern Regional Hospital at Koforidua and a cheque for GH¢5,200 as scholarships for three senior high school female students.
Orphans living with the disease were also presented with a cheque for GH¢900 to cater for the educational material needs.
Additionally, a cheque for GH¢7,000 was also given to the House to pay for drugs for the PLWHAs and another cheque for GH¢4,000 to enable the House to pay for expenses incurred on their feeding.
Presenting the cheques, the President of the club, Mr Ebow Acquah, said members of the club decided to donate the cheques as part of its yearly support for the good work being done by Matthew Chapter 25 for PLWHAs in Koforidua and its environs.
"The members of the club have over the past four years found the good work being done by the Director of the House, Rev. Fr Alex Bobby Benson, and his staff as effective and dedicated to alleviating the plight of PLWHAs who come from various backgrounds," he stated.
According to him, not long ago, the club donated 20 mattresses and some medical equipment to the House, paid the school fees of a number of students and medical treatment of the PLWHAs at the House.
Receiving the items, Rev. Fr. Benson thanked the members of the Rotary Club of Accra Airport for their support.
He said that was a great relief to the cause being pursued by the House in catering for food, medical and educational expenses for adults, students and orphans at the House.

KWAEBIBIREM ASSEMBLY ACQUIRES GRADER (PAGE 43, APRIL 26, 2010)

2010-04-26T05:54:00.000-07:00

THE Kwaebibirem District Assembly has acquired a grader to enable it to undertake minor road construction projects in the district which is a major producer of oil palm in the country.
The grader, which costs GH¢385,843, will be paid for by the assembly over the next two years under a hire purchase arrangement with the management of J.A. Plant Pool (Ghana), to support district assemblies to improve on the road networks in their respective areas.
Taking delivery of the equipment, the Municipal Chief Executive for Kwaebibirem, Mr George Agyeman Duah, said the district was endowed with many suitable farmlands, tourist sites and other natural resources which could be developed for the benefit of the people.
"However, one major problem confronting this district is the poor road network as most of the roads are not tarred and, therefore, hardly possible to drive on during the rainy season," the DCE said.
He was, therefore, happy that the acquisition of the grader would help the assembly to undertake minor road constructional works to facilitate the transportation of people and agricultural produce.
Mr Duah said the assembly had set up a seven-member management committee chaired by the District Co-ordinating Director to ensure the effective use of the grader.
Inaugurating the equipment, the Deputy Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, Mr Elvis Afriyie-Ankrah, urged the assembly to ensure that the grader would be used for the purpose for which it was acquired.

IDENTIFY LOCAL ECONOMIC POTENTIALS FOR DEVELOPMENT (PAGE 14, APRIL 24, 2010)

2010-04-25T11:55:00.001-07:00

THE Deputy Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, Mr Elvis Afriyie Ankrah, has called on metropolitan, municipal and district assemblies (MMDAs) in the country to identify their local economic potentials and make investment in those areas a priority.
That, he said, would boost their ability to create wealth and more jobs for the people and thereby become less dependent on the common fund from the central government.
Speaking at the second ordinary meeting of the Kwaebibirem District Assembly in the Eastern Region, Mr Ankrah said, "It is no longer prudent for assemblies to exist only as administrative and political entities; they should also make investment in their local economies a priority to become financially empowered."
He noted that with the emergence of the new concept of local economic development and empowerment, there was the need for a paradigm shift in the pursuit of the development agenda by district assemblies.
He said instead of district assemblies heavily relying on the Common Fund for development, such as the provision of social amenities, they should rather identify and invest in the economic potentials of their areas.
He called on the Kwaebibirem District Assembly to take advantage of the vast tracts of suitable land for the cultivation of oil palm in the area and offer the needed incentives to farmers in order to make oil palm cultivation a lucrative venture for the people, especially the youth.
"As the fulcrum of development, you must not be so myopic in the pursuit of your development programmes; you must diversify in investment projects that can create wealth and employment and address other socio-economic challenges facing your development," he said.
He reminded district assemblies to take advantage of the agro-processing and small-scale enterprises programmes launched by the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development, the Ministry of Trade and the Ministry of Food and Agriculture, to improve on their agro-processing capacity to stimulate their local economies.
For his part, the District Chief Executive for Kwaebibirem, Mr George Agyeman Duah, highlighted various development achievements such as the construction of a number of classrooms, the rehabilitation of roads in the area and the supply of assorted educational materials to basic schools in the area.