Monday, May 31, 2010

MP FOR NKORANZA FUNDS SCHOOL BLOCK (PAGE 13, MAY 31, 2010)

The Member of Parliament (MP) for Nkoranza North Constituency, Major Derek Yaw Oduro (retd), has funded the construction of a two-classroom building with a store and office valued at about Gh¢15,000 for the local kindergarten at Madina, a farming community on the Nkoranza–Asekye– Krukese-Busunya Highway.
Inaugurating the project, Major Oduro also presented school uniforms worth about Gh¢1,500 to the 60 pupils of the school to lessen the financial burden of parents.
He urged the parents to make good use of the facility by enrolling all their school–age children in the school to ensure that they become useful and responsible future leaders.
He stressed the need for the parents to ensure that the school’s environment is neat by clearing the weeds at the place to prevent snakes from entering the classrooms.
Major Oduro assured the people that the children wouldbe fed from the resources provided by the Government under the School Feeding Programme to enhance their growth.
Major Oduro, therefore, called on the Unit Committee of the area to organise the people to support the kitchen project he had started so that it would be completed before the commencement of next academic year when the feeding programme would also begin.
The MP later presented a uniform and piece of cloth to the only teacher of the school, Madam Mary Serwaa, to motivate her in accepting to be the posted to the deprived community.
He also presented cloths to the Frafra Chief of the area, Abdulai Frafra, as well as the Dagarti Chief, Dorzie Naaba, and the Unit Committee Chairman, Mr Valinu Fiele, for their exemplary leadership roles and responsibilities.
Mr Seth Badu, Nkoranza North District Deputy Director of Education in charge of Human Resource Management and Development (HRMD), praised Major Oduro for his kind gesture and promotion of education in the district.
He recalled an event when the MP donated 22 computers to the junior high schools in the district and said if other stakeholders would emulate his shinning example, there would be accelerated development in the newly created Nkoranza North District.
Mr Badu called on parents to offer the necessary support to the teachers in the school communities and encourage them in their work since the provision of quality education depended on the collaborative efforts of parents and teachers.
Mr Kwabena Kyeremeh, the Busunya Circuit Supervisor who is also in charge of the Madina school, cited the lack of furniture and a playing field as some problems that faced the school.
He, therefore, pleaded with the Member of Parliament to assist the community in addressing those problems to promote education in the area.
The Unit Committee Chairman, Mr Valinu Fiele, also commended Major Oduro for supporting a number of development projects in Madina.
He also said the community lacked potable water and, therefore, appealed to the MP to provide the people with a borehole to protect them against contracting water-borne diseases. END.

Thursday, May 20, 2010

5 REGIONS TO BENEFIT FROM HIV PROGRAMME (PAGE 42, MAY 20, 2010)

An HIV AIDS programme aimed at reducing new infections and stigmatisation has kick-started in five selected regions in the country.
The project, dubbed: “Reinforcing the scaling up of HIV services: Strengthening HIV prevention and effective targeting,” is designed to reach 15 selected municipal and district assemblies in the five regions.
The beneficiary regions are the Brong Ahafo, Upper West, Ashanti, Northern and Upper East. The selected municipalities and districts are Kintampo North, Sunyani and Techiman municipalities, the Kintampo South, Dormaa East, Asutifi, Nkoranza North, Pru, Wenchi and Jaman North districts in the Brong Ahafo Region.
The rest are Jirapa, Lawra-Nandom, Wa and Lambusie in the Upper West Region, Kumasi Metropolis and Bosomtwe District in the Ashanti Region, Central Gonja and East Gonja in the Northern Region and Bolgatanga and Bawku West in the Upper East Region.
The project, which is being financed by the Global Fund, is being implemented by the Mission of Hope for Society Foundation (MIHOSO) and the Adventist Development and Relief Agency of Ghana (ADRA), both non-governmental organisations (NGOs).
The project also seeks to address the gaps in the national HIV response such as the superficial understanding of HIV in many segments of the population.
The project is also targeted at people living with HIV and AIDS (PLHIV), most at risks population (MARP), men having sex with men and their female counterparts, female sex workers (FSWs), prison inmates, most-at-risk youth (15-24), workers (miners), transport workers, female porters, pregnant women, infants born to HIV-positive women and the general population.
In an interaction with the Daily Graphic at a community capacity enhancement (CCE) training workshop in Sunyani, Mr Gabriel Gbiel Benarkuu, the Executive Director of MIHOSO, said so far, the project had been able to cover more than 5,000 people on HIV anti-stigmatisation messages through one-on-one and face-to-face education and HIV and AIDS education.
He stated that HIV prevention outreach events had been organised in the beneficiary areas, while over 60 peer educators within MARPs had been trained.
He added that 30 people had also been trained to reach out to out-of-school youth, long distance drivers and truck/cart pushers.
Mr Benarkuu said the workshop, which was organised by MIHOSO in collaboration with ADRA-Ghana, was to encourage community members to participate in the project to help combat HIV and AIDS.
He said the workshop was to build the capacities of some selected community-based organisations (CBOs), farmer-based organisations (FBOs) and civil society organisation (CSOs), as well as community representatives.
Mr Benarkuu said the project’s target for the next quarter was to intensify HIV counselling and testing, mobilise more CSOs/FBOs into CCE training to undertake stigmatisation reduction activities and reach out to more communities with anti-stigmatisation messages.
Mr Benarkuu said the project would also promote the adoption of safer sexual practices in the general population, promote healthy behaviours and safer sexual practices among PLHIV, MARPs and vulnerable groups.
He said it would also promote the mother-to-child and safe blood transmission and strengthen the institutional capacity and community system for scaling up HIV and AIDS, Sexual Transmitted Infections (STI) and Tuberculosis (TB) services.
Mr Benarkuu said in order to achieve those objectives, male and female condoms would be distributed freely to MARPs, vulnerable groups and the general population, adding it would also register PLHIV with the National Health Insurance (NHIS) to increase their access to health services, including the management of infections.
He stated that the project would help strengthen and expand PMTCT services and early infant diagnosis, provide STI prevention packages and increase referral system for STI diagnosis and treatment.

Wednesday, May 19, 2010

PARTICIPANTS WANT EXGRATIA REVIEWED (PAGE 14, MAY 19, 2010)

Participants in a two-day district and community level consultation organised by the Constitution Review Commission (CRC) at Nsawkaw, the capital of the Tain district in the Brong Ahafo Region, have called for the review of the provision of ex-gratia as enshrined in the Article 71 of the 1992 Constitution for all public officers.
They stressed the need for beneficiaries under Article 71 to contribute to the Social Security National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) like other workers and reap benefit from it rather than through the provision of ex-gratia.
They also called on the government to provide adequate resources for the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) to enable it intensify public education on the constitution.
The forum was attended by traditional rulers, civil society and various social groups in the district.
Earlier in his welcome address, the Tain District Chief Executive (DCE), Mr. Jones Samuel Tawiah, stressed the need for the District Assembly Common Fund (DAFC) to be reviewed from the current seven per cent to 10 per cent.
This, he said, would enable the various municipal and district assemblies to implement their development agenda.
Mr. Tawiah urged the NCCE to make the 1992 Constitution accessible to all Ghanaians, especially in schools.
He expressed the hope that the exercise, when completed would enable the country to strengthen its democracy through the 1992 Constitution which was under review.
He urged all citizens to take advantage of the exercise and enlighten themselves about the constitution, saying this was an important exercise which should be embraced by all.
Mr. Tawiah also commended the participants for showing great interest in the exercise and noted that it was an indication of the citizen’s complete understanding of democracy in the country.
The Member of Parliament (MP) for Tain, Mr. Ahmed Ibrahim, recommended for a provision that would ensure the smooth transfer of power from one government to another after a general election.
This, he said, would enable the country to reduce the tension and difficulties that normally arose between political parties after general elections.
Mr. Rowland Atta-Kesson, the Head of the Research Team of the CRC, commended the participants and urged them to continue deliberating on the subject and submit other supplementary suggestions through various stakeholders in their community to the commission.