From Samuel Duodu, Sunyani
THE Brong Ahafo Regional Police Criminal Investigation Department (CID) has launched a man-hunt for a-20-year-old ‘galamsey’ operator who was remanded by the Fiapre Circuit Court in the Sunyani West District for stealing electricity cables but succeeded in escaping from police custody.
The accused, Jafaru Dubong, was arrested on Tuesday, June 24 , 2010, at Nyamebekyere, a farming community near Kobedi on the Sunyani -Chiraa road for stealing electricity cables belonging to the Volta River Authority (VRA) Northern Electrification Division (NED) office in Sunyani.
Jafaru, whose accomplices managed to flee the scene of the crime when they were apprehended by some residents of the area, was remanded in prison custody by the court presided over by Mr Justice Benjamin Yaw Osei on the same day of his arrest but managed to escape when he was sent to the Regional Hospital for medical attention as a result of deep cutlass wounds he sustained during his time of arrest.
The accused who is facing charges of stealing and causing unlawful damage was to reappear before the court on July, 14, 2010, but escaped from his hospital bed at the Regional Hospital in Sunyani.
The Regional Deputy Crime Officer, Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP), Mr Saviour Ahiamadi, who confirmed the escape, said the accused was sent to the Regional Hospital in Sunyani for treatment under Police guard and while on admission, he was handcuffed to the bed on which he was lying but managed to escape.
He said the police have mounted an intensive search for him but were appealing to members of the public who had any information on his whereabouts to contact the police to enable them re-arrest him.
Sources close to the court told The Mirror that the accused whose cutlass wounds was getting worse was sent to the regional hospital for medical attention but succeeded in running away from the hospital when the officer detailed to keep an eye on him went to attend to nature’s call.
It would be recalled that Jafaru, who was in the company of two others now at large, cut down the electrical copper cables on three electricity poles valued at Gh¢2,500.00 at Nyamebekyere around 3.30am resulting in power outage at the Regional Hospital in Sunyani, Penkwasi, a suburb in the Sunyani municipality and its environs and Chiraa in the Sunyani West District.
According to the Police, through the vigilance of three residents of Nyamebekyere, Jafaru, who was then descending from the pole after cutting down the wires, was arrested but his other two accomplices managed to flee the scene. Jafaru was sent to the Head of Security at the VRA NED office, Mr Owusu Agyapong, who later handed him over to the police and after investigation, he was charged with the offence and put before the court.
Friday, July 30, 2010
WOMAN, 30, ARRESTED FOR TORTURING DAUGHTER (PAGE 22, JULY 30, 2010)
A WOMAN, who allegedly tortured her 10-year old biological daughter at Nkwabeng, a suburb of Sunyani, for stealing her GH¢50 to pay her examination fees, has been arrested by the police.
The suspect, Vivian Appiah, 30, is said to have used an electric iron to burn the face, mouth and right leg of the victim, Gladys Yeboah, a pupil of Queen of Peace Preparatory School at Penkwasi.
Briefing the Daily Graphic in Sunyani, the Sunyani Municipal Police Commander, Superintendent Charles Botwe said Vivian locked up the girl in their bedroom at Penkwasi after she had confessed having taken her GH¢50 to pay for her examination fees at school.
He said the woman, who was very angry with her daughter’s behaviour, allegedly heated the electric iron and used it to burn various parts of her body on July 30, this year.
Supt. Botwe said the victim, who was in the room with her mother, screamed for help but nobody came to her rescue until after the woman had inflicted the burns on the victim and voluntarily released her.
He said the suspect’s friend who went to the house after the incident around 6.30 p.m., applied some injection violet on the victim’s burns.
Supt. Botwe stated that the girl, who was traumatised as a result of the torture, decided to go to her grandmother at Sunyani two days later.
According to him, while crying on her way to the grandmother, one Master Sule Razak, a student of Twene Amanfo Senior High/Technical School, met her and asked what was wrong with her.
Supt. Botwe said after the girl had narrated her ordeal to him, Razak took her to the police station to lodge a complaint and the victim was issued with a police medical form to attend hospital where she was treated and discharged.
The police commander said the suspect was later arrested and during interrogation, she confessed committing the crime.
She was subsequently charged with the offence and prosecuted in the law court.
The suspect, Vivian Appiah, 30, is said to have used an electric iron to burn the face, mouth and right leg of the victim, Gladys Yeboah, a pupil of Queen of Peace Preparatory School at Penkwasi.
Briefing the Daily Graphic in Sunyani, the Sunyani Municipal Police Commander, Superintendent Charles Botwe said Vivian locked up the girl in their bedroom at Penkwasi after she had confessed having taken her GH¢50 to pay for her examination fees at school.
He said the woman, who was very angry with her daughter’s behaviour, allegedly heated the electric iron and used it to burn various parts of her body on July 30, this year.
Supt. Botwe said the victim, who was in the room with her mother, screamed for help but nobody came to her rescue until after the woman had inflicted the burns on the victim and voluntarily released her.
He said the suspect’s friend who went to the house after the incident around 6.30 p.m., applied some injection violet on the victim’s burns.
Supt. Botwe stated that the girl, who was traumatised as a result of the torture, decided to go to her grandmother at Sunyani two days later.
According to him, while crying on her way to the grandmother, one Master Sule Razak, a student of Twene Amanfo Senior High/Technical School, met her and asked what was wrong with her.
Supt. Botwe said after the girl had narrated her ordeal to him, Razak took her to the police station to lodge a complaint and the victim was issued with a police medical form to attend hospital where she was treated and discharged.
The police commander said the suspect was later arrested and during interrogation, she confessed committing the crime.
She was subsequently charged with the offence and prosecuted in the law court.
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
BEREKUM PRESBY SCHOOL NEEDS SCIENCE LABORATORY (PAGE 11, JULY 28, 2010)
BEREKUM Presbyterian Senior High School (SHS) in the Berekum Municipality of the Brong Ahafo Region needs a well resourced science laboratory for the teaching and learning of science in the school.
The school which converted one of its classrooms into a science laboratory in 2005 was established by the Presbyterian Church of Ghana in 1993 and it was absorbed by the government in 1999.
A three-unit science laboratory block which was being constructed through the school’s Internally Generated Fund (IGF) had come to a standstill at the lintel level as a result of lack of funds.
There are 200 students currently pursuing science and one of the classrooms that had been turned into a science laboratory could not accommodate them during practicals hence the decision to let some of them have their practicals under the trees on the school compound to ease congestion.
When the Daily Graphic team visited the school to find out some of the challenges hindering its smooth academic work, the team saw that science students of the school were having their practicals under trees on the school compound.
According to the Headmaster of the school, Mr Joseph Mensah- Diawuo, in spite of the lack of a science laboratory the school still placed emphasis on science education, since it was through science and technology that the nation could attain the status of a developed one.
He, therefore supported an appeal to the Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFund) to provide the school with at least a one storey science laboratory or the Municipal Assembly to help complete the three-unit science laboratory which was started by the school.
In spite of these problems, he said the school topped the National Science Fair organised by the Ghana Union of Science Teachers (GUST) for all senior high schools in Accra with the production of a hair relaxer from cassava.
In 2008, he said the school won the first and second positions respectively during a similar competition held at Ho in the Volta Region with the production of cement and placed second in 2009 and fourth position respectively in Takoradi by producing fuel from pineapple and oranges for domestic and industrial use and also used ‘Kwahususuan’ to produce a beverage.
The Headmaster noted that the school was not a beneficiary of the construction of additional classrooms to accommodate first year students for the three-year.
That notwithstanding, he said the school’s Parent Teacher Association (PTA) on their own had started the construction of a six classroom block which could accommodate about 350 first year students for the new academic year in September, this year.
He expressed his appreciation to the PTA which had supported the school infrastructure to enhance academic work over the years.
The headmaster said the school was preparing towards its maiden speech and prize giving day in November this year.
The school which converted one of its classrooms into a science laboratory in 2005 was established by the Presbyterian Church of Ghana in 1993 and it was absorbed by the government in 1999.
A three-unit science laboratory block which was being constructed through the school’s Internally Generated Fund (IGF) had come to a standstill at the lintel level as a result of lack of funds.
There are 200 students currently pursuing science and one of the classrooms that had been turned into a science laboratory could not accommodate them during practicals hence the decision to let some of them have their practicals under the trees on the school compound to ease congestion.
When the Daily Graphic team visited the school to find out some of the challenges hindering its smooth academic work, the team saw that science students of the school were having their practicals under trees on the school compound.
According to the Headmaster of the school, Mr Joseph Mensah- Diawuo, in spite of the lack of a science laboratory the school still placed emphasis on science education, since it was through science and technology that the nation could attain the status of a developed one.
He, therefore supported an appeal to the Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFund) to provide the school with at least a one storey science laboratory or the Municipal Assembly to help complete the three-unit science laboratory which was started by the school.
In spite of these problems, he said the school topped the National Science Fair organised by the Ghana Union of Science Teachers (GUST) for all senior high schools in Accra with the production of a hair relaxer from cassava.
In 2008, he said the school won the first and second positions respectively during a similar competition held at Ho in the Volta Region with the production of cement and placed second in 2009 and fourth position respectively in Takoradi by producing fuel from pineapple and oranges for domestic and industrial use and also used ‘Kwahususuan’ to produce a beverage.
The Headmaster noted that the school was not a beneficiary of the construction of additional classrooms to accommodate first year students for the three-year.
That notwithstanding, he said the school’s Parent Teacher Association (PTA) on their own had started the construction of a six classroom block which could accommodate about 350 first year students for the new academic year in September, this year.
He expressed his appreciation to the PTA which had supported the school infrastructure to enhance academic work over the years.
The headmaster said the school was preparing towards its maiden speech and prize giving day in November this year.
Monday, July 26, 2010
CULTURAL, CHORAL FESTIVAL MARKS 50TH ANNIVERSARY OF SUNYANI SHIS (PAGE 14, GRAPHIC NSEMPA, JULY 26, 2010)
By Samuel Duodu, Sunyani.
As part of activities to mark the 50th anniversary of the Sunyani Senior High School (SUSEC), the planning committee of the celebration has organised a Cultural and Choral Night Festival at the school campus in Sunyani, the capital of the Brong Ahafo Region.
The broader theme for the year-long celebration is “50 Years Of Quality Education And Moral Excellence Of The Youth: SUSEC In Perspective”.
Among the cultural groups that participated in the cultural festival were the host school, SUSEC, SUSEC Basic Model School, Odumaseman Senior High School SHS, Chiraa SHS and Serwaa Kesse SHS who thrilled the audience including parents, siblings and mates from the invited schools to traditional drumming and dancing.
Other performances included drama titled “Culture, Our Hope, Our Future” and poetry recital titled “The Role Of Culture In The Development And Sustainability Of The Society.
The cultural groups performed dances from the various ethnic groups from traditional areas in the country and the one that received a lot of applause was a dance drama piece titled “Peace and Unity in Ghana”.
According to Mr Eugene Owusu-Agyemang a.k.a., Palmer, the Public Relation Officer of the SUSEC@50 Planning Committee, the dance was to depict the need for the various ethnic groups in the country to come together to promote the development of the country, since without peace, no meaningful development could take place.
He added that the cultural festival was also to let the students appreciate and be proud of their culture as against the invasion of foreign cultures.
Nana Attaku Asumadu Brempong II, Dwane toahene of Hwidiem Traditional Area in the Asutifi District of the Brong Ahafo Region and Chairman of the SUSEC Parent Teacher Association (PTA), who was also the guest of honour at the cultural festival, urged the youth to be proud of their culture as Ghanaians.
He urged the students to imbue those good cultural practices of the country and blend it with the good foreign ones so as to help them to grow into responsible citizens of the country.
Nana Brempong commended the cultural groups that participated in the cultural festival and the planning committee, saying that education should not only be limited to academics but students must also be taught to uphold and appreciate their culture as a people.
As part of activities to mark the 50th anniversary of the Sunyani Senior High School (SUSEC), the planning committee of the celebration has organised a Cultural and Choral Night Festival at the school campus in Sunyani, the capital of the Brong Ahafo Region.
The broader theme for the year-long celebration is “50 Years Of Quality Education And Moral Excellence Of The Youth: SUSEC In Perspective”.
Among the cultural groups that participated in the cultural festival were the host school, SUSEC, SUSEC Basic Model School, Odumaseman Senior High School SHS, Chiraa SHS and Serwaa Kesse SHS who thrilled the audience including parents, siblings and mates from the invited schools to traditional drumming and dancing.
Other performances included drama titled “Culture, Our Hope, Our Future” and poetry recital titled “The Role Of Culture In The Development And Sustainability Of The Society.
The cultural groups performed dances from the various ethnic groups from traditional areas in the country and the one that received a lot of applause was a dance drama piece titled “Peace and Unity in Ghana”.
According to Mr Eugene Owusu-Agyemang a.k.a., Palmer, the Public Relation Officer of the SUSEC@50 Planning Committee, the dance was to depict the need for the various ethnic groups in the country to come together to promote the development of the country, since without peace, no meaningful development could take place.
He added that the cultural festival was also to let the students appreciate and be proud of their culture as against the invasion of foreign cultures.
Nana Attaku Asumadu Brempong II, Dwane toahene of Hwidiem Traditional Area in the Asutifi District of the Brong Ahafo Region and Chairman of the SUSEC Parent Teacher Association (PTA), who was also the guest of honour at the cultural festival, urged the youth to be proud of their culture as Ghanaians.
He urged the students to imbue those good cultural practices of the country and blend it with the good foreign ones so as to help them to grow into responsible citizens of the country.
Nana Brempong commended the cultural groups that participated in the cultural festival and the planning committee, saying that education should not only be limited to academics but students must also be taught to uphold and appreciate their culture as a people.
GOVT WON'T SPARE THOSE WHO MISUSE PUBLIC FUNDS (PAGE 14, JULY 26, 2010)
THE Brong Ahafo Regional Minister, Mr Kwadwo Nyamekye-Marfo, has said the government will not spare any public purse holder who misuses or misapplies any public funds meant for the benefit of the society.
He has, therefore, urged managers of the country’s finances at the Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) to execute their mandate within the confines of the country’s financial laws and regulation in order to ensure the efficient and judicious use of public funds for the good of Ghanaians.
Mr Nyamekye-Marfo said this at the opening of a three-day public financial management seminar for Regional, District Fire Officers, Regional Accountant, Internal Auditors, storekeepers, Districts Accountants and Accounts Clerks of the Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS) drawn from the Brong Ahafo, Ashanti and the three Northern regions in Sunyani.
The seminar which is on the theme: “Financial Management: a Key to Organisational Development” is to take participants through the provisions of the three Financial Acts passed in 2003 and the regulation in 2004. The Acts are the Financial Administration Act 654, the Audit Service Act 584 and the Public Procurement Act 663.
Mr Nyamekye-Marfo appealed to the Regional Commanders, Accountants and Storekeepers of the GNFS to religiously apply the spirit and letter of all these financial management and regulatory instruments at their various offices to achieve the objectives of the seminar.
He also called for a timely and efficient financial reporting to provide the public with the assurance that public funds have been spent in conformity with legal and other mandatory requirements by public agencies.
Mr Nyamekye-Marfo reiterated that the government remained committed to good corporate governance in order to improve the lot of the citizens and would therefore not take lightly any deliberate commission or omission by any manager of the country’s finances.
“The government of Prof. J.E.A. Mills has demonstrated beyond any shred of doubt, its commitment to rid the country of corrupt practices that will deny our citizens their fair due”, he stated.
Mr Nyamekye-Marfo in his address gave the assurance that the government was exploring all possible avenues to equip the GNFS to enable it deliver on its mandate.
Mr Mark Brako-Appiah, the Head of Internal Audit, GNFS, for his part, said the seminar was the second to be organised this year and the second in the northern sector over the past two years.
He stated that the impact of the seminar has brought about a drastic reduction in the numerous audit queries the service used to receive from external auditors.
Mr Brako-Appiah stated further that the Chief Fire Officer and his management team had also realised that some audit queries were avoidable but as a result of ignorance, these officers found themselves culpable, hence the need to take them through the Financial Acts passed in 2003 and the regulation in 2004 so that officers would appreciate their responsibilities when conducting businesses on behalf of the service.
He has, therefore, urged managers of the country’s finances at the Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) to execute their mandate within the confines of the country’s financial laws and regulation in order to ensure the efficient and judicious use of public funds for the good of Ghanaians.
Mr Nyamekye-Marfo said this at the opening of a three-day public financial management seminar for Regional, District Fire Officers, Regional Accountant, Internal Auditors, storekeepers, Districts Accountants and Accounts Clerks of the Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS) drawn from the Brong Ahafo, Ashanti and the three Northern regions in Sunyani.
The seminar which is on the theme: “Financial Management: a Key to Organisational Development” is to take participants through the provisions of the three Financial Acts passed in 2003 and the regulation in 2004. The Acts are the Financial Administration Act 654, the Audit Service Act 584 and the Public Procurement Act 663.
Mr Nyamekye-Marfo appealed to the Regional Commanders, Accountants and Storekeepers of the GNFS to religiously apply the spirit and letter of all these financial management and regulatory instruments at their various offices to achieve the objectives of the seminar.
He also called for a timely and efficient financial reporting to provide the public with the assurance that public funds have been spent in conformity with legal and other mandatory requirements by public agencies.
Mr Nyamekye-Marfo reiterated that the government remained committed to good corporate governance in order to improve the lot of the citizens and would therefore not take lightly any deliberate commission or omission by any manager of the country’s finances.
“The government of Prof. J.E.A. Mills has demonstrated beyond any shred of doubt, its commitment to rid the country of corrupt practices that will deny our citizens their fair due”, he stated.
Mr Nyamekye-Marfo in his address gave the assurance that the government was exploring all possible avenues to equip the GNFS to enable it deliver on its mandate.
Mr Mark Brako-Appiah, the Head of Internal Audit, GNFS, for his part, said the seminar was the second to be organised this year and the second in the northern sector over the past two years.
He stated that the impact of the seminar has brought about a drastic reduction in the numerous audit queries the service used to receive from external auditors.
Mr Brako-Appiah stated further that the Chief Fire Officer and his management team had also realised that some audit queries were avoidable but as a result of ignorance, these officers found themselves culpable, hence the need to take them through the Financial Acts passed in 2003 and the regulation in 2004 so that officers would appreciate their responsibilities when conducting businesses on behalf of the service.
Sunday, July 25, 2010
SUSPEND INCREASES IN UTILITY TARIFFS...Demands Brong Ahafo ICU (PAGE 35, JULY 26, 2010)
MEMBERS of the Industrial and Commercial Workers Union (ICU) in the Brong Ahafo Region have added their voice to calls on the government to immediately suspend or review downward the recent increases in utility tariffs announced by the Public Utility Regulatory Commission (PURC).
They also called on the PURC to negotiate the increases with all stakeholders including the ICU whose members had been adversely affected by the increment before coming out with any increment in future.
Members of the union, made up of workers from the formal and informal sectors of the economy including hairdressers, barbers and the self-employed, made the call at an emergency meeting organised by the Brong Ahafo Regional branch of the ICU in Sunyani to state their position on the recent utility tariff increases.
According to them, the recent increase in the prices of electricity and water bills had adversely eroded incomes of workers and the ordinary Ghanaian.
They added that apart from eroding incomes, the increase had also adversely affected industries, compelling some industries to shut down, a development that had worsened the unemployment situation in the country.
The workers at the meeting also resolved that if the government failed to respond positively to their demands by July 28, 2010, they would join their other colleagues for a nationwide protest.
They also implored the government to probe into the operations of the utility companies to curtail wastage and corruption.
Earlier in a welcoming address, Brother Ben Gayin, the Brong Ahafo Regional Officer of the ICU said the meeting was to discuss the effects of the increases and also the next line of action to take as all efforts by the leaders of the union to get the PURC to suspend the increase had not yielded the desired results.
“These increases in utility tariffs, apart from adversely affecting our scanty take-home pay which cannot take us home, will also adversely affect the profits of many industries,” he said.
Mr Gayin said the affected industries were threatening to close down and re-locate, reduce wages and salaries or freeze wages and salary negotiations, “meaning that we would work for years without pay increase while prices keep on increasing”.
Brother Gayin stated that it was the view of the ICU that utility prices should be increased but the PURC should hasten slowly and spread the increases gradually over the years, and also consult with all stakeholders including the ICU, but that was not the case.
The Regional Chairman of the ICU, Mr Albert Amoah Frimpong, for his part, said the increases in electricity and water tariffs were more than the 89 per cent and 36 per cent respectively, while the government had also withdrawn its subsidy on the utility tariffs, thereby passing the buck on the ordinary Ghanaian.
He said the National Executive Council (NEC) of the ICU at an emergency meeting in Accra recently on the utility tariffs downward increases, indicated that if the government failed to heed its call to immediately suspend or review the tariffs by July 28, 2010, the union would embark on nationwide demonstration to register its displeasure.
They also called on the PURC to negotiate the increases with all stakeholders including the ICU whose members had been adversely affected by the increment before coming out with any increment in future.
Members of the union, made up of workers from the formal and informal sectors of the economy including hairdressers, barbers and the self-employed, made the call at an emergency meeting organised by the Brong Ahafo Regional branch of the ICU in Sunyani to state their position on the recent utility tariff increases.
According to them, the recent increase in the prices of electricity and water bills had adversely eroded incomes of workers and the ordinary Ghanaian.
They added that apart from eroding incomes, the increase had also adversely affected industries, compelling some industries to shut down, a development that had worsened the unemployment situation in the country.
The workers at the meeting also resolved that if the government failed to respond positively to their demands by July 28, 2010, they would join their other colleagues for a nationwide protest.
They also implored the government to probe into the operations of the utility companies to curtail wastage and corruption.
Earlier in a welcoming address, Brother Ben Gayin, the Brong Ahafo Regional Officer of the ICU said the meeting was to discuss the effects of the increases and also the next line of action to take as all efforts by the leaders of the union to get the PURC to suspend the increase had not yielded the desired results.
“These increases in utility tariffs, apart from adversely affecting our scanty take-home pay which cannot take us home, will also adversely affect the profits of many industries,” he said.
Mr Gayin said the affected industries were threatening to close down and re-locate, reduce wages and salaries or freeze wages and salary negotiations, “meaning that we would work for years without pay increase while prices keep on increasing”.
Brother Gayin stated that it was the view of the ICU that utility prices should be increased but the PURC should hasten slowly and spread the increases gradually over the years, and also consult with all stakeholders including the ICU, but that was not the case.
The Regional Chairman of the ICU, Mr Albert Amoah Frimpong, for his part, said the increases in electricity and water tariffs were more than the 89 per cent and 36 per cent respectively, while the government had also withdrawn its subsidy on the utility tariffs, thereby passing the buck on the ordinary Ghanaian.
He said the National Executive Council (NEC) of the ICU at an emergency meeting in Accra recently on the utility tariffs downward increases, indicated that if the government failed to heed its call to immediately suspend or review the tariffs by July 28, 2010, the union would embark on nationwide demonstration to register its displeasure.
Friday, July 23, 2010
CHARCOAL DEALER JAILED FOR DEALING IN INDIAN HEMP (MIRROR, PAGE 20, JULY 24, 2010)
From Samuel Duodu, Fiapre
THE Fiapre Circuit Court in the Sunyani West District of the Brong Ahafo Region presided over by Mr Justice Benjamin Yaw Osei, has sentenced a charcoal seller to 10 years imprisonment with hard labour for possessing 23 sacks and two parcels of narcotic drugs known as “Indian Hemp or Marijuana”.
The hemp had a gross weight of 540,000grammes.
The convict, Elizabeth Babio, who pleaded not guilty was found guilty on the charge of possessing narcotic drug under section 2 (1) of PNDC Law 236/90.
Elizabeth was transporting the bags of Indian Hemp, concealed under some bags of charcoal, on board a KIA Cargo truck with registration number GR 5542 Z to Obuasi in the Ashanti Region when the vehicle was intercepted at Tadieso barrier near Techiman in the Brong Ahafo Region.
The court also ordered that the 23 bags and the two parcels of the illicit drug be burnt by the Police, the Customs Excise and Preventive Service (CEPS) and the court in the full glare of the public.
In passing sentence, Mr Justice Osei said he took into consideration the fact that the convict had been in prison custody since April 25, 2009 to date which Article 14 clause 6 of the 1992 Constitution mandates the court to take into account the period that the convict has spent in custody.
The facts of the case were that on April 24, 2009, a KIA cargo truck with registration number GR 5542 Z which was conveying the charcoal for the convict was intercepted at the Tadieso barrier near Techiman.
Apart from the driver, those on board the vehicle at that time were the convict and two others.
The CEPS officers, who intercepted the vehicle at the barrier, conducted a search on the vehicle and revealed the 23 sacks and two parcels of Indian Hemp which had been concealed under the charcoal.
According to the arresting officers at the barrier, the convict admitted ownership of the Indian Hemp at the barrier but claimed that they were six bags.
The convict and the others, who were on board the truck, were brought to the CEPS Regional Headquarters in Sunyani on April 25, 2009 where a thorough search of the cargo revealed 23 sacks and two parcels of the Indian Hemp.
The Regional CEPS officers, who were at the scene of inspection, told the court that the accused person over there admitted ownership of all the Indian Hemp and based on these facts, the accused was charged with the offence while the driver and the two others on board the vehicle were discharged by the court.
THE Fiapre Circuit Court in the Sunyani West District of the Brong Ahafo Region presided over by Mr Justice Benjamin Yaw Osei, has sentenced a charcoal seller to 10 years imprisonment with hard labour for possessing 23 sacks and two parcels of narcotic drugs known as “Indian Hemp or Marijuana”.
The hemp had a gross weight of 540,000grammes.
The convict, Elizabeth Babio, who pleaded not guilty was found guilty on the charge of possessing narcotic drug under section 2 (1) of PNDC Law 236/90.
Elizabeth was transporting the bags of Indian Hemp, concealed under some bags of charcoal, on board a KIA Cargo truck with registration number GR 5542 Z to Obuasi in the Ashanti Region when the vehicle was intercepted at Tadieso barrier near Techiman in the Brong Ahafo Region.
The court also ordered that the 23 bags and the two parcels of the illicit drug be burnt by the Police, the Customs Excise and Preventive Service (CEPS) and the court in the full glare of the public.
In passing sentence, Mr Justice Osei said he took into consideration the fact that the convict had been in prison custody since April 25, 2009 to date which Article 14 clause 6 of the 1992 Constitution mandates the court to take into account the period that the convict has spent in custody.
The facts of the case were that on April 24, 2009, a KIA cargo truck with registration number GR 5542 Z which was conveying the charcoal for the convict was intercepted at the Tadieso barrier near Techiman.
Apart from the driver, those on board the vehicle at that time were the convict and two others.
The CEPS officers, who intercepted the vehicle at the barrier, conducted a search on the vehicle and revealed the 23 sacks and two parcels of Indian Hemp which had been concealed under the charcoal.
According to the arresting officers at the barrier, the convict admitted ownership of the Indian Hemp at the barrier but claimed that they were six bags.
The convict and the others, who were on board the truck, were brought to the CEPS Regional Headquarters in Sunyani on April 25, 2009 where a thorough search of the cargo revealed 23 sacks and two parcels of the Indian Hemp.
The Regional CEPS officers, who were at the scene of inspection, told the court that the accused person over there admitted ownership of all the Indian Hemp and based on these facts, the accused was charged with the offence while the driver and the two others on board the vehicle were discharged by the court.
DRUG SAFETY CAMPAIGN LAUNCHED (MIRROR, PAGE 27, JULY 24, 2010)
From Samuel Duodu, Sunyani
This year’s National Drug Safety and Health Awareness Campaign by the Ghana Pharmaceutical Students Association (GPSA) has been launched in Sunyani, the Brong Ahafo Regional capital, with a call on Pharmaceutical students to accept postings to rural communities after their training to help reduce the canker of drug misuse and abuse in the countryside.
The Deputy Brong Ahafo Regional Minister, Mr Eric Opoku, who made the call in an address to launch the campaign, urged the students to devote themselves to the well-being of the communities in which they would soon have the opportunity to serve after their training to educate them on sound health practices and disease prevention.
“As core stakeholders in the health care delivery system, you need to also identify common health problems in communities while working to create interventions, to correct or prevent health issues you might discover,” he stressed.
This year’s public education on the theme: “Promoting National growth and development through the campaign against counterfeit drugs; Ensuring Improved Rational use of Medicines and Healthy Lifestyle” would take place in all the 22 municipalities and districts in the region.
The two-week campaign which is also to collect data on drug use and abuse in the region is aimed at providing individuals and communities with information, and to foster skills and confidence, which will enable members of the public to use medicine in an appropriate, safe and judicious way.
In all, eight students would be deployed in each of the 22 municipalities and districts in the region where they would embark on public education at churches, mosque, market places, schools, community centres and also house to house campaigns.
Mr Opoku commended the students for the initiative and expressed the hope that it would help reduce the incidence of quack drug peddlers, druggists and herbal practitioners with little or no knowledge in pharmacy who sell unwholesome and unprescribed drugs to innocent members of the public and the less privileged in the society.
In an address read for the Minister of Health, Dr Benjamin Kunbuor, by the Chief Pharmacist and Director of Pharmaceutical Services, Ministry of Health and Ghana Health Service, Mr James Ohemeng Kyei, the students were called on to incorporate in their education diseases of public health importance like HIV/AIDS, Malaria, Tuberculosis and the pandemic influenza HINI.
He further urged the students to drum home the message on the need for all business of importation, wholesale and retail sale and distribution of medicines licensed by the Pharmacy Council to procure all their medicines from legitimate sources so as to make drug counterfeiting unattractive.
Dr Kunbuor also urged the students to collaborate and partner the Narcotics Control Board (NACOB) to spread the message against the use of narcotic drugs, especially in second cycle and tertiary institutions and the need to observe basic hygienic practices in the homes and workplaces.
The President of GPSA, Mr Arnold Donkor, for his part, said public education was seldom allocated the necessary human and financial resources and therefore appealed to Non-governmental organisations (NGOs), pharmaceutical companies, and individuals to support the future campaigns in other regions and also to the good people of Ghana and other organisations toward this worthy course.
This year’s National Drug Safety and Health Awareness Campaign by the Ghana Pharmaceutical Students Association (GPSA) has been launched in Sunyani, the Brong Ahafo Regional capital, with a call on Pharmaceutical students to accept postings to rural communities after their training to help reduce the canker of drug misuse and abuse in the countryside.
The Deputy Brong Ahafo Regional Minister, Mr Eric Opoku, who made the call in an address to launch the campaign, urged the students to devote themselves to the well-being of the communities in which they would soon have the opportunity to serve after their training to educate them on sound health practices and disease prevention.
“As core stakeholders in the health care delivery system, you need to also identify common health problems in communities while working to create interventions, to correct or prevent health issues you might discover,” he stressed.
This year’s public education on the theme: “Promoting National growth and development through the campaign against counterfeit drugs; Ensuring Improved Rational use of Medicines and Healthy Lifestyle” would take place in all the 22 municipalities and districts in the region.
The two-week campaign which is also to collect data on drug use and abuse in the region is aimed at providing individuals and communities with information, and to foster skills and confidence, which will enable members of the public to use medicine in an appropriate, safe and judicious way.
In all, eight students would be deployed in each of the 22 municipalities and districts in the region where they would embark on public education at churches, mosque, market places, schools, community centres and also house to house campaigns.
Mr Opoku commended the students for the initiative and expressed the hope that it would help reduce the incidence of quack drug peddlers, druggists and herbal practitioners with little or no knowledge in pharmacy who sell unwholesome and unprescribed drugs to innocent members of the public and the less privileged in the society.
In an address read for the Minister of Health, Dr Benjamin Kunbuor, by the Chief Pharmacist and Director of Pharmaceutical Services, Ministry of Health and Ghana Health Service, Mr James Ohemeng Kyei, the students were called on to incorporate in their education diseases of public health importance like HIV/AIDS, Malaria, Tuberculosis and the pandemic influenza HINI.
He further urged the students to drum home the message on the need for all business of importation, wholesale and retail sale and distribution of medicines licensed by the Pharmacy Council to procure all their medicines from legitimate sources so as to make drug counterfeiting unattractive.
Dr Kunbuor also urged the students to collaborate and partner the Narcotics Control Board (NACOB) to spread the message against the use of narcotic drugs, especially in second cycle and tertiary institutions and the need to observe basic hygienic practices in the homes and workplaces.
The President of GPSA, Mr Arnold Donkor, for his part, said public education was seldom allocated the necessary human and financial resources and therefore appealed to Non-governmental organisations (NGOs), pharmaceutical companies, and individuals to support the future campaigns in other regions and also to the good people of Ghana and other organisations toward this worthy course.
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
DON'T USE PTAs TO EXPLOIT PARENTS...Tettey-Enyo advises schools (PAGE 11, JULY 21, 2010)
THE Minister of Education, Mr Alex Tettey-Enyo, has admonished the management of Senior High Schools (SHS) not to use Parent Teacher Associations (PTAs) as financial tools to exploit parents.
He noted that the ministry was alarmed about the various charges as PTA levies that appeared on the bills of schools which tended to swell up fees, thereby making it difficult for parents to conveniently afford secondary education.
“We are reliably informed that some of these charges are labelled PTA dues but they are usually not with the consent of the general PTA” he stressed.
Mr Tettey-Enyo gave the admonition in a speech read on his behalf by Ms. Benedicta Naana Biney, the acting Director- General (DG) of the Ghana Education Service (GES) at the maiden speech and prize-giving day of the Hwidiem SHS (HWISEC) at Hwidiem in the Asutifi District of the Brong Ahafo Region, over the weekend.
He stated further that students were also charged for books some of which were not relevant to the various fields of study but sold under the guise of supplies approved by the PTA.
Mr Tettey-Enyo, therefore, recommended that parents should be provided with the list of suggested supplementary textbooks for them to be acquired at their convenience.
“It is time we collectively questioned what goes into our bills, reduce them if possible and made education more affordable. Much as we approve of the support systems that are provided to complement the efforts of government, the basic principle of affordability should not be sacrificed”, he added.
Alhaji Collins Dauda, the Minister of Lands and Natural Resources and also the Member of Parliament (MP) for Asutifi South who presented the letters of the award of the scholarship to the beneficiary students at the ceremony urged school authorities to insulate their campuses from partisan politics in order not to undermine the peace and tranquility in their schools , thereby adversely affecting effective teaching and learning.
The Head of the English Department of the University of Education, Winneba, Prof. Yaw Sekyi-Baidoo, said national development was not only about the acquisition of knowledge and skills but how one could use these attributes to the benefit of themselves and society at large.
Mr Jacob Felix Amoah, the Headmaster of the School in his report said discipline had been the hallmark of the school and therefore did not come as a surprise when the school scored 100 per cent at the 2009 West Africa Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE).
He, however, appealed for a school bus to enhance academic work and appealed for accommodation for teachers on the school campus and the immediate repairs of the floors of the school’s Assembly and Dinning Hall and their ceilings which leaks badly.
Mr Joseph Badu, the Asutifi District Director of Education for his part urged the students to concentrate on their studies and not to allow themselves to be distracted by the ‘galamsey’ operations going on in the area.
He noted that the ministry was alarmed about the various charges as PTA levies that appeared on the bills of schools which tended to swell up fees, thereby making it difficult for parents to conveniently afford secondary education.
“We are reliably informed that some of these charges are labelled PTA dues but they are usually not with the consent of the general PTA” he stressed.
Mr Tettey-Enyo gave the admonition in a speech read on his behalf by Ms. Benedicta Naana Biney, the acting Director- General (DG) of the Ghana Education Service (GES) at the maiden speech and prize-giving day of the Hwidiem SHS (HWISEC) at Hwidiem in the Asutifi District of the Brong Ahafo Region, over the weekend.
He stated further that students were also charged for books some of which were not relevant to the various fields of study but sold under the guise of supplies approved by the PTA.
Mr Tettey-Enyo, therefore, recommended that parents should be provided with the list of suggested supplementary textbooks for them to be acquired at their convenience.
“It is time we collectively questioned what goes into our bills, reduce them if possible and made education more affordable. Much as we approve of the support systems that are provided to complement the efforts of government, the basic principle of affordability should not be sacrificed”, he added.
Alhaji Collins Dauda, the Minister of Lands and Natural Resources and also the Member of Parliament (MP) for Asutifi South who presented the letters of the award of the scholarship to the beneficiary students at the ceremony urged school authorities to insulate their campuses from partisan politics in order not to undermine the peace and tranquility in their schools , thereby adversely affecting effective teaching and learning.
The Head of the English Department of the University of Education, Winneba, Prof. Yaw Sekyi-Baidoo, said national development was not only about the acquisition of knowledge and skills but how one could use these attributes to the benefit of themselves and society at large.
Mr Jacob Felix Amoah, the Headmaster of the School in his report said discipline had been the hallmark of the school and therefore did not come as a surprise when the school scored 100 per cent at the 2009 West Africa Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE).
He, however, appealed for a school bus to enhance academic work and appealed for accommodation for teachers on the school campus and the immediate repairs of the floors of the school’s Assembly and Dinning Hall and their ceilings which leaks badly.
Mr Joseph Badu, the Asutifi District Director of Education for his part urged the students to concentrate on their studies and not to allow themselves to be distracted by the ‘galamsey’ operations going on in the area.
Friday, July 16, 2010
REGIONAL MINISTER COMMENDS LOCAL CONTRACTORS (PAGE 22, JULY 16, 2010)
THE Brong Ahafo Regional Minister, Mr Kwadwo Nyamekye-Marfo, has commended local contractors in the region for doing quality work on projects given to them and also abiding by specification and the time frame assigned to the projects.
Mr Nyamekye-Marfo made the commendation when he inspected the progress of work on the administration block for the Asutifi District Assembly under construction at Kenyasi.
The GH¢800,000 project being undertaken by Emmanuel Otoo Furniture and Construction, a Sunyani-based construction company, is about 70 per cent complete.
The regional minister stated that the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC), which is a social democratic party, placed emphasis on local content and would continue to work with local contractors to enable them to build their capacities and expertise to take up high-profile jobs.
Mr Nyamekye-Marfo, who was accompanied by the Asutifi District Chief Executive (DCE), Mr Eric Addae, on his district-wide tour to inspect ongoing development projects and inaugurate those that were completed, however, cautioned that the Regional Co-ordinating Council (RCC) and for that matter the government would not tolerate shoddy work.
He, therefore, urged all local contractors in the region who were working on government-sponsored projects and those financed by donor communities to work to specification and strive to complete them on schedule.
As part of the inspection tour, the regional minister inaugurated an electrification project for the Gyedu Vocational/Technical Training Centre sponsored by the assembly, as well as a new police station at Ntotroso and a sanitary facility at Acherensua.
Other facilities he inspected were senior and junior staff quarters and the Kenyasi Health Centre at Kenyasi, the district capital, the Kenyasi-Hwidiem road
Mr Nyamekye-Marfo expressed satisfaction with the progress of work so far and urged the contractors working on the projects to deliver on schedule.
The regional minister later inaugurated a GH¢79,000 four-unit teachers’ quarters at Kenyasi and a three-unit classroom block with a staff common room, an office and a store attached for the Goamu Akosakrom Primary School at Goamu Akosakrom, a farming community.
The inauguration of the classroom block at Goamu Akosakrom coincided with the distribution of 2,000 exercise books and 100 school uniforms to the pupils under the government’s free exercise books and uniforms policy.
Mr Nyamekye-Marfo, in a brief remark at the inaugural ceremony, gave an assurance that the government would continue to provide educational infrastructure at all levels of education to enhance teaching and learning.
He urged parents not to shirk their responsibility towards the education of their children, thinking that the government had shouldered all the expenditure on their children’s education.
Mr Nyamekye-Marfo made the commendation when he inspected the progress of work on the administration block for the Asutifi District Assembly under construction at Kenyasi.
The GH¢800,000 project being undertaken by Emmanuel Otoo Furniture and Construction, a Sunyani-based construction company, is about 70 per cent complete.
The regional minister stated that the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC), which is a social democratic party, placed emphasis on local content and would continue to work with local contractors to enable them to build their capacities and expertise to take up high-profile jobs.
Mr Nyamekye-Marfo, who was accompanied by the Asutifi District Chief Executive (DCE), Mr Eric Addae, on his district-wide tour to inspect ongoing development projects and inaugurate those that were completed, however, cautioned that the Regional Co-ordinating Council (RCC) and for that matter the government would not tolerate shoddy work.
He, therefore, urged all local contractors in the region who were working on government-sponsored projects and those financed by donor communities to work to specification and strive to complete them on schedule.
As part of the inspection tour, the regional minister inaugurated an electrification project for the Gyedu Vocational/Technical Training Centre sponsored by the assembly, as well as a new police station at Ntotroso and a sanitary facility at Acherensua.
Other facilities he inspected were senior and junior staff quarters and the Kenyasi Health Centre at Kenyasi, the district capital, the Kenyasi-Hwidiem road
Mr Nyamekye-Marfo expressed satisfaction with the progress of work so far and urged the contractors working on the projects to deliver on schedule.
The regional minister later inaugurated a GH¢79,000 four-unit teachers’ quarters at Kenyasi and a three-unit classroom block with a staff common room, an office and a store attached for the Goamu Akosakrom Primary School at Goamu Akosakrom, a farming community.
The inauguration of the classroom block at Goamu Akosakrom coincided with the distribution of 2,000 exercise books and 100 school uniforms to the pupils under the government’s free exercise books and uniforms policy.
Mr Nyamekye-Marfo, in a brief remark at the inaugural ceremony, gave an assurance that the government would continue to provide educational infrastructure at all levels of education to enhance teaching and learning.
He urged parents not to shirk their responsibility towards the education of their children, thinking that the government had shouldered all the expenditure on their children’s education.
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
REPAIR BRIDGE OVER RIVER TANO — CHIEFS (PAGE 42, JULY 12, 2010)
Story: Samuel Duodu, Acherensua.
FOUR paramount areas and a divisional council in the Asutifi District of the Brong Ahafo Region have appealed to the government and the Ministry of Roads as a matter of urgency to rehabilitate the bridge over the Tano River on the Acherensua-Ntotroso-Sunyani Highway.
According to them, the bridge, which links the Ahafo side of the region to Sunyani, the regional capital, and the Brong side, has become a death trap and could not be used anytime the river over flowed its banks making travelling on it dangerous to human life.
The Paramount areas, namely Acherensua, Hwidiem, Kenyasi Number One and Two and the Ntotroso Divisional Council made the appeal when the Brong Ahafo Regional Minister, Mr Kwadwo Nyamekye-Marfo paid separate courtesy calls on the councils as part of his one-day working visit to the district.
The calls were also to thank Nananom in the district for helping to ensure peace before, during and after election 2008 which saw President J.E.A. Mills and his government assuming the reigns of power and also to afford the regional minister the opportunity to interact with Nananom and their people to know their problems at first hand.
The councils added that the bridge, which was contructed in the 1960s through community initiative, has not seen any rehabilitation ever since and thought the bridge could have been given the same attention when the road was reconstructed recently.
They, therefore, expressed the hope that President Mills’ government would take up the rehabilitation of the bridge to make it safe.
The four paramount areas and the divisional chief also appealed for the rehabilitation of the Kenyasi-Hwidiem road which is also in a deporable state.
The Omanhene of Acherensua Traditional Area, Agyewodin (Prof) Adu Gyamfi Ampem was first to narrate his harrowing experience on the bridge and said he nearly lost his life recently when he attempted crossing the bridge on his way from Sunyani to Acherensua.
Nana Ampem added that he and his entourage would have drowned in the river which had over flowed its banks and had completely submerged the bridge at that time, and added that because the gods of his ancestors resided in the forest close to the river, he was saved by them and was able to cross to safety.
The Acherensua Omanhene noted that education was the bedrock of every society and appealed to the government to establish one of the campuses of the University of Renewable Energy Resources promised the region by the government, in Acherensua since the area has a senior high school(SHS).
Nana Ampem also appealed for the construction of a bailey bridge over the confluence of the Kuasu and Abu rivers to make the transportation of cocoa and other food crops from Asushieyie and its environs to the maketing centres easy.
Barima Twereko Ampem, the Divisional Chief of Ntotroso for his part said the Bantamahene, Baffour Asare Owusu Amankwatia V, who came to represent the Asantehene during their recent annual Apomasu festival, nearly lost his life on that same bridge.
He added that the Bantamahene and his entourage had to take a detour to save their lives, “I am therefore appealing to the government to rehabilitate the bridge to ensure safety” .
The Akwamuhene and Acting President of Hwidiem Traditional Council, Nana Twei Adjei Baffour I, called on the assembly to complete the structures at the new Hwidiem market, sited along the Hwidiem-Kenyasi road to enable traders who often traded on the main streets of the town on market days to move there since the situation had often led to accidents and knocking down of children by vehicles on market days.
Nana Kofi Abiri, Omanhene of Kenyasi Number One and Odeneho Dadeako Nsiah Ababio, Omanhene of Kenyasi Number Two both appealed for the rehabilitation of the Kenyasi-Hwidiem road which they said was in a deporable state.
Mr Nyamekye-Marfo, who later inspected the bridge in his response during the separate courtesy calls, gave the assurance that the regional highways office had done some evaluation work on the bridge but were yet to submit the report to his office which he would forward to the Ministry of Roads for immediate attention.
He further gave the assurance that the government would continue to put in place pragmatic measures to improve on the economy and the general welfare of Ghanaians and therefore appealed to the people to exercise restraint as they would begin to see signs on the ground very soon.
Mr Nyamekye-Marfo , who was accompanied by Mr Eric Addae, the Asutifi Distrit Chief Executive, told Nananom to advise the youth who spoke and phoned-in to radio stations to speak with decorum and desist from attacking personalities on air since it did not augur well for the good of the nation.
FOUR paramount areas and a divisional council in the Asutifi District of the Brong Ahafo Region have appealed to the government and the Ministry of Roads as a matter of urgency to rehabilitate the bridge over the Tano River on the Acherensua-Ntotroso-Sunyani Highway.
According to them, the bridge, which links the Ahafo side of the region to Sunyani, the regional capital, and the Brong side, has become a death trap and could not be used anytime the river over flowed its banks making travelling on it dangerous to human life.
The Paramount areas, namely Acherensua, Hwidiem, Kenyasi Number One and Two and the Ntotroso Divisional Council made the appeal when the Brong Ahafo Regional Minister, Mr Kwadwo Nyamekye-Marfo paid separate courtesy calls on the councils as part of his one-day working visit to the district.
The calls were also to thank Nananom in the district for helping to ensure peace before, during and after election 2008 which saw President J.E.A. Mills and his government assuming the reigns of power and also to afford the regional minister the opportunity to interact with Nananom and their people to know their problems at first hand.
The councils added that the bridge, which was contructed in the 1960s through community initiative, has not seen any rehabilitation ever since and thought the bridge could have been given the same attention when the road was reconstructed recently.
They, therefore, expressed the hope that President Mills’ government would take up the rehabilitation of the bridge to make it safe.
The four paramount areas and the divisional chief also appealed for the rehabilitation of the Kenyasi-Hwidiem road which is also in a deporable state.
The Omanhene of Acherensua Traditional Area, Agyewodin (Prof) Adu Gyamfi Ampem was first to narrate his harrowing experience on the bridge and said he nearly lost his life recently when he attempted crossing the bridge on his way from Sunyani to Acherensua.
Nana Ampem added that he and his entourage would have drowned in the river which had over flowed its banks and had completely submerged the bridge at that time, and added that because the gods of his ancestors resided in the forest close to the river, he was saved by them and was able to cross to safety.
The Acherensua Omanhene noted that education was the bedrock of every society and appealed to the government to establish one of the campuses of the University of Renewable Energy Resources promised the region by the government, in Acherensua since the area has a senior high school(SHS).
Nana Ampem also appealed for the construction of a bailey bridge over the confluence of the Kuasu and Abu rivers to make the transportation of cocoa and other food crops from Asushieyie and its environs to the maketing centres easy.
Barima Twereko Ampem, the Divisional Chief of Ntotroso for his part said the Bantamahene, Baffour Asare Owusu Amankwatia V, who came to represent the Asantehene during their recent annual Apomasu festival, nearly lost his life on that same bridge.
He added that the Bantamahene and his entourage had to take a detour to save their lives, “I am therefore appealing to the government to rehabilitate the bridge to ensure safety” .
The Akwamuhene and Acting President of Hwidiem Traditional Council, Nana Twei Adjei Baffour I, called on the assembly to complete the structures at the new Hwidiem market, sited along the Hwidiem-Kenyasi road to enable traders who often traded on the main streets of the town on market days to move there since the situation had often led to accidents and knocking down of children by vehicles on market days.
Nana Kofi Abiri, Omanhene of Kenyasi Number One and Odeneho Dadeako Nsiah Ababio, Omanhene of Kenyasi Number Two both appealed for the rehabilitation of the Kenyasi-Hwidiem road which they said was in a deporable state.
Mr Nyamekye-Marfo, who later inspected the bridge in his response during the separate courtesy calls, gave the assurance that the regional highways office had done some evaluation work on the bridge but were yet to submit the report to his office which he would forward to the Ministry of Roads for immediate attention.
He further gave the assurance that the government would continue to put in place pragmatic measures to improve on the economy and the general welfare of Ghanaians and therefore appealed to the people to exercise restraint as they would begin to see signs on the ground very soon.
Mr Nyamekye-Marfo , who was accompanied by Mr Eric Addae, the Asutifi Distrit Chief Executive, told Nananom to advise the youth who spoke and phoned-in to radio stations to speak with decorum and desist from attacking personalities on air since it did not augur well for the good of the nation.
REGIONAL MINISTER COMMENDS CONTRACTORS (PAGE 42, JULY 12, 2010)
Story: Samuel Duodu, Kenyasi
THE Brong Ahafo Regional Minister, Mr Kwadwo Nyamekye-Marfo, has commended local contractors in the region for doing quality work on projects given to them and also abiding by specification and the time frame assigned to the projects.
Mr Nyamekye-Marfo made the commendation when he inspected the progress of work on the administration block for the Asutifi District Assembly under construction at Kenyasi.
The GH¢800,000 project being by Emmanuel Otoo Furniture and Construction, a Sunyani-based construction company, is about 70 per cent complete.
The regional minister stated that the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC), which is a social democracy party, placed much emphasis on local content and would continue to work with local contractors to enable them to build their capacities and expertise to take up high-profile jobs.
Mr Nyamekye-Marfo, who was accompanied by the Asutifi District Chief Executive (DCE), Mr Eric Addae, on his district-wide tour to inspect ongoing development projects and inaugurate those that were completed, however, cautioned that the Regional Co-ordinating Council (RCC) and for that matter the government would not tolerate shoddy work.
He, therefore, urged all local contractors in the region who were working on government-sponsored projects and those financed by donor communities to work to specification and strive to complete them on schedule.
As part of the inspection tour, the regional minister inaugurated an electrification project for the Gyedu Vocational/Technical Training Centre sponsored by the assembly, as well as a new police station at Ntotroso and a sanitary facility at Acherensua.
Other facilities he inspected were senior and junior staff quarters and the Kenyasi Health Centre at Kenyasi, the district capital, the Kenyasi-Hwidiem road
Mr Nyamekye-Marfo expressed satisfaction with the progress of work so far and urged the contractors working on the projects to deliver on schedule.
The regional minister later inaugurated a GH¢79,000 four-unit teachers’ quarters at Kenyasi and a three-unit classroom block with a staff common room, an office and a store attached for the Goamu Akosakrom Primary School at Goamu Akosakrom, a farming community.
The inauguration of the classroom block at Goamu Akosakrom coincided with the distribution of 2,000 exercise books and 100 school uniforms to the pupils under the government’s free exercise books and uniforms policy.
Mr Nyamekye-Marfo, in a brief remark at the inaugural ceremony, gave an assurance that the government would continue to provide educational infrastructure at all levels of education to enhance teaching and learning.
He urged parents not to shirk their responsibility towards the education of their children, thinking that the government had shouldered all the expenditure on their children’s education.
THE Brong Ahafo Regional Minister, Mr Kwadwo Nyamekye-Marfo, has commended local contractors in the region for doing quality work on projects given to them and also abiding by specification and the time frame assigned to the projects.
Mr Nyamekye-Marfo made the commendation when he inspected the progress of work on the administration block for the Asutifi District Assembly under construction at Kenyasi.
The GH¢800,000 project being by Emmanuel Otoo Furniture and Construction, a Sunyani-based construction company, is about 70 per cent complete.
The regional minister stated that the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC), which is a social democracy party, placed much emphasis on local content and would continue to work with local contractors to enable them to build their capacities and expertise to take up high-profile jobs.
Mr Nyamekye-Marfo, who was accompanied by the Asutifi District Chief Executive (DCE), Mr Eric Addae, on his district-wide tour to inspect ongoing development projects and inaugurate those that were completed, however, cautioned that the Regional Co-ordinating Council (RCC) and for that matter the government would not tolerate shoddy work.
He, therefore, urged all local contractors in the region who were working on government-sponsored projects and those financed by donor communities to work to specification and strive to complete them on schedule.
As part of the inspection tour, the regional minister inaugurated an electrification project for the Gyedu Vocational/Technical Training Centre sponsored by the assembly, as well as a new police station at Ntotroso and a sanitary facility at Acherensua.
Other facilities he inspected were senior and junior staff quarters and the Kenyasi Health Centre at Kenyasi, the district capital, the Kenyasi-Hwidiem road
Mr Nyamekye-Marfo expressed satisfaction with the progress of work so far and urged the contractors working on the projects to deliver on schedule.
The regional minister later inaugurated a GH¢79,000 four-unit teachers’ quarters at Kenyasi and a three-unit classroom block with a staff common room, an office and a store attached for the Goamu Akosakrom Primary School at Goamu Akosakrom, a farming community.
The inauguration of the classroom block at Goamu Akosakrom coincided with the distribution of 2,000 exercise books and 100 school uniforms to the pupils under the government’s free exercise books and uniforms policy.
Mr Nyamekye-Marfo, in a brief remark at the inaugural ceremony, gave an assurance that the government would continue to provide educational infrastructure at all levels of education to enhance teaching and learning.
He urged parents not to shirk their responsibility towards the education of their children, thinking that the government had shouldered all the expenditure on their children’s education.
NDC TO ESTABLISH FUND TO SUPPORT YOUTH (PAGE 13, JULY 14, 2010)
Story: Akwasi Ampratwum-Mensah & Samuel Duodu, Sunyani
The National Democratic Congress (NDC) has decided to establish a fund that is geared towards supporting members of the youth wing of the party who are desirous to either go into farming or learn a trade of their choice in the various regions.
In the next couple of months, the fund would be officially launched in Sunyani, the capital of the Brong Ahafo Region, to kick-start the Youth-In-Agriculture and Skills Training Programme for the teeming youth of the NDC in the respective regions.
Mr Ludwig Hlodze, the National Youth Organiser of the NDC, who announced this at an NDC Brong Ahafo Regional Youth Forum at the Auditorium of the Sunyani Polytechnic at the weekend, further indicated that already an agricultural pilot project was underway in Ho, the Volta Regional capital, where maize had been cultivated on a large scale.
The forum was on the theme,”Unite! We Must!!, for a Better Ghana Agenda”
Under agriculture, Mr Hlodze explained that Agriculture Mechanisation Centres would be established in the various regions, where tractors would be purchased for the youth, who would be encouraged to go into block farming to produce food for the country .
For the skills training, Mr Hlodze said the party would pay for those who wanted to learn any trade or business enterprise of their choice, adding that the programme was designed to economically empower both the young male and female of the party in the regions.
“So I want the regional youth executives to identify those who want to go into farming or learn a trade and by that we would be able to plan ahead of time, since we cannot always depend on the central government for all our needs all the time”, Mr Hlodze advised.
He further advised them to take the programme very seriously so that there would be food security in the country as envisaged by the NDC thereby, contributing to the “Better Ghana” agenda of President John Evans Atta Mills’s administration.
According to the NDC National Youth Organiser, a recent fund-raising meeting organised by the youth wing of the party in the Ashanti Region yielded about Gh¢70,000 which he described as very encouraging and, therefore, gave the assurance that more of such meetings would be held in the other regions.
He said, gone are the days when the youth of the party relied on District Chief Executives (DCEs) for stipends, saying “How long can you depend on the DCEs for your survival. A time may come that a DCE’s secretary will tell you his boss is not in when you get there”.
Mr Hlodze stressed that under his leadership as the National Youth Organiser, such behaviours would not be encouraged as he promised at the time of his election but rather he would ensure that better programmes were undertaken for the economic empowerment of the youth.
However, he noted that all the laudable programmes and projects that would be embarked upon would not materialise if there was no unity among the youth, saying that by 2012 the young people of the party would have been economically strong and encouraged to show their loyalty for the NDC party.
Mrs Ama Benyiwa-Doe, the Central Regional Minister, who also addressed the gathering advised that those who would be roped into the National Youth Employment Programme (NYEP) should use whatever money they would receive to either continue their education or learn a trade.
The Deputy Chief of Staff, Mr Alex Segbefia, stressed the need for the youth to exercise patience and come along with the government to battle the challenges that it inherited from the previous administration, adding that one and a half years was too short a time for the government to satisfy everyone.
He said those who wanted to criticise the government ought to do so constructively and avoid resorting to the media on any trivial issue instead of settling matters amicably indoors.
Mr Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, the Deputy Minister of Information, pointed out that without the youth the NDC could not survive and, therefore, called on the regional executive of the party to embark on projects and programmes that would benefit the party.
He gave the assurance that by the end of August those who had applied for loans under the MASLOC, especially the women, would receive them with one and a half per cent interest as against the previous three per cent interest on the facility.
According to Mr Ablakwa, there was no need for the regional executives to wait for Accra to come down to solve the problems at the grassroots, adding that, “everytime should be a time for party work but not only when elections were due”.
The Deputy Brong Ahafo Regional Minister, Mr Eric Opoku, whose address drew applause from the youth disclosed that the current government inherited about ¢100 Trillion from the previous New Patriotic Party (NPP), and that the government was doing everything possible to put things in order and, therefore, urged the youth to exercise restraint.
Mr Elvis Afriyie Ankrah, the Deputy Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, also appealed to the youth not to make statements that would destroy the party, saying, “Don’t let us destroy the party with our mouths because no matter the situation, we can find solutions.
He declared, “Do not let us joke with the power that we have struggled to grab from the NPP or else we will be doomed when they recapture the reigns of government”.
Present at the forum were the Brong Regional Minister, Mr Kwadwo Nyamekye-Marfo, Alhaji Baba Gausu, the NDC Regional Organiser and Mr Mohammed Seidu, the NDC Regional Youth Organiser.
The National Democratic Congress (NDC) has decided to establish a fund that is geared towards supporting members of the youth wing of the party who are desirous to either go into farming or learn a trade of their choice in the various regions.
In the next couple of months, the fund would be officially launched in Sunyani, the capital of the Brong Ahafo Region, to kick-start the Youth-In-Agriculture and Skills Training Programme for the teeming youth of the NDC in the respective regions.
Mr Ludwig Hlodze, the National Youth Organiser of the NDC, who announced this at an NDC Brong Ahafo Regional Youth Forum at the Auditorium of the Sunyani Polytechnic at the weekend, further indicated that already an agricultural pilot project was underway in Ho, the Volta Regional capital, where maize had been cultivated on a large scale.
The forum was on the theme,”Unite! We Must!!, for a Better Ghana Agenda”
Under agriculture, Mr Hlodze explained that Agriculture Mechanisation Centres would be established in the various regions, where tractors would be purchased for the youth, who would be encouraged to go into block farming to produce food for the country .
For the skills training, Mr Hlodze said the party would pay for those who wanted to learn any trade or business enterprise of their choice, adding that the programme was designed to economically empower both the young male and female of the party in the regions.
“So I want the regional youth executives to identify those who want to go into farming or learn a trade and by that we would be able to plan ahead of time, since we cannot always depend on the central government for all our needs all the time”, Mr Hlodze advised.
He further advised them to take the programme very seriously so that there would be food security in the country as envisaged by the NDC thereby, contributing to the “Better Ghana” agenda of President John Evans Atta Mills’s administration.
According to the NDC National Youth Organiser, a recent fund-raising meeting organised by the youth wing of the party in the Ashanti Region yielded about Gh¢70,000 which he described as very encouraging and, therefore, gave the assurance that more of such meetings would be held in the other regions.
He said, gone are the days when the youth of the party relied on District Chief Executives (DCEs) for stipends, saying “How long can you depend on the DCEs for your survival. A time may come that a DCE’s secretary will tell you his boss is not in when you get there”.
Mr Hlodze stressed that under his leadership as the National Youth Organiser, such behaviours would not be encouraged as he promised at the time of his election but rather he would ensure that better programmes were undertaken for the economic empowerment of the youth.
However, he noted that all the laudable programmes and projects that would be embarked upon would not materialise if there was no unity among the youth, saying that by 2012 the young people of the party would have been economically strong and encouraged to show their loyalty for the NDC party.
Mrs Ama Benyiwa-Doe, the Central Regional Minister, who also addressed the gathering advised that those who would be roped into the National Youth Employment Programme (NYEP) should use whatever money they would receive to either continue their education or learn a trade.
The Deputy Chief of Staff, Mr Alex Segbefia, stressed the need for the youth to exercise patience and come along with the government to battle the challenges that it inherited from the previous administration, adding that one and a half years was too short a time for the government to satisfy everyone.
He said those who wanted to criticise the government ought to do so constructively and avoid resorting to the media on any trivial issue instead of settling matters amicably indoors.
Mr Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, the Deputy Minister of Information, pointed out that without the youth the NDC could not survive and, therefore, called on the regional executive of the party to embark on projects and programmes that would benefit the party.
He gave the assurance that by the end of August those who had applied for loans under the MASLOC, especially the women, would receive them with one and a half per cent interest as against the previous three per cent interest on the facility.
According to Mr Ablakwa, there was no need for the regional executives to wait for Accra to come down to solve the problems at the grassroots, adding that, “everytime should be a time for party work but not only when elections were due”.
The Deputy Brong Ahafo Regional Minister, Mr Eric Opoku, whose address drew applause from the youth disclosed that the current government inherited about ¢100 Trillion from the previous New Patriotic Party (NPP), and that the government was doing everything possible to put things in order and, therefore, urged the youth to exercise restraint.
Mr Elvis Afriyie Ankrah, the Deputy Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, also appealed to the youth not to make statements that would destroy the party, saying, “Don’t let us destroy the party with our mouths because no matter the situation, we can find solutions.
He declared, “Do not let us joke with the power that we have struggled to grab from the NPP or else we will be doomed when they recapture the reigns of government”.
Present at the forum were the Brong Regional Minister, Mr Kwadwo Nyamekye-Marfo, Alhaji Baba Gausu, the NDC Regional Organiser and Mr Mohammed Seidu, the NDC Regional Youth Organiser.
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
MINISTER INAUGURATES FACILITIES AT JAMAN (PAGE 22, JULY 13, 2010)
THE Minister of Health, Dr Benjamin Kunbuor, has inaugurated a GH¢36,000 maternity, surgical and children’s wards for the Jaman North District Government Hospital at Sampa in the Brong Ahafo Region.
The construction of the facilities was financed by Mr Matthew Essieh, a citizen of Sampa based in the United States of America (USA).
The maternity ward has been named after his wife, Mrs Ella E. Essieh, while the general ward has been christened “Matthew Essieh Ward”.
The ceremony was part of the inauguration of the new site for the hospital where the wards are also located to mark the beginning of expansion works to enable the hospital befit the status of a district facility.
Until the inauguration of the new site, the hospital was housed in a smallpox immunisation centre which was upgraded into a health post in the 1960s and later turned into a district hospital when the district was carved out of the then Jaman District in 2007.
With the inauguration of the new site, the hospital will benefit from some additional infrastructure to enable it to serve the people of the district and those from the northern part of neighbouring Cote d’Ivoire which shares a border with the district.
The new site for the hospital was donated by the Sampa Traditional Council.
Speaking at the inauguration ceremony, Dr Kunbuor expressed his gratitude to Mr Essieh and his family for the gesture and expressed the hope that the facility would impact on the lives of the people in the area.
He gave the assurance that the ministry would provide the hospital with medical equipment and an ambulance to replace the old one which was donated to it by Mr. Essieh about 10 years ago.
He added that the district assembly was also collaborating with the ministry to provide the hospital with a theatre as part of the expansion works.
The Minister of Health, in response to an appeal by the acting President of the Sampa Traditional Council, Nana Kwadwo Maasah 11, for the establishment of a nursing training school at Sampa, said the district would definitely have one due to its geographical location.
He disclosed that over the last few months the government had started a number of initiatives to revamp health infrastructure through a well-planned programme of rehabilitation and construction of new hospitals and clinics across the country aimed at ensuring that every Ghanaian had reasonable access to basic health services, no matter his or her location, origin or socio-economic background.
Mr Kwadwo Nyamekye-Marfo, in his address, commended Mr Essieh and his family for giving back to their community and called on other citizens of the region to emulate their example.
He, however, appealed to the MoH and the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA) to investigate the circumstances under which the number of registered clients under the NHIS in the district was higher than the total district population of 78,192 as against the 94,956 NHIS card-bearing members.
Dr Aaron Offei, the Brong Ahafo Regional Director of Health Services, for his part, called for better rapport between members of the community and staff of the hospital and appealed to the local FM stations in the area to desist from misinforming the people on health issues which had often led to confrontations between staff of the hospital and some members of the public.
Mr Essieh expressed the hope that the facility would help inspire the youth of the area and generations to come to contribute their quota to the development of their town .
He appealed to the people of the district to continue to co-exist in peace, since that was a prerequisite for the accelerated development of the area and expressed the hope that the facility would go a long way to improve health delivery in the area.
Nana Maasah 11, the Adontenhene of Sampa and acting President of the Sampa Traditional Council, who chaired the function, thanked Mr Essieh and his family for the gesture, and urged the government to complement the efforts of the people to enhance health delivery in the area.
The construction of the facilities was financed by Mr Matthew Essieh, a citizen of Sampa based in the United States of America (USA).
The maternity ward has been named after his wife, Mrs Ella E. Essieh, while the general ward has been christened “Matthew Essieh Ward”.
The ceremony was part of the inauguration of the new site for the hospital where the wards are also located to mark the beginning of expansion works to enable the hospital befit the status of a district facility.
Until the inauguration of the new site, the hospital was housed in a smallpox immunisation centre which was upgraded into a health post in the 1960s and later turned into a district hospital when the district was carved out of the then Jaman District in 2007.
With the inauguration of the new site, the hospital will benefit from some additional infrastructure to enable it to serve the people of the district and those from the northern part of neighbouring Cote d’Ivoire which shares a border with the district.
The new site for the hospital was donated by the Sampa Traditional Council.
Speaking at the inauguration ceremony, Dr Kunbuor expressed his gratitude to Mr Essieh and his family for the gesture and expressed the hope that the facility would impact on the lives of the people in the area.
He gave the assurance that the ministry would provide the hospital with medical equipment and an ambulance to replace the old one which was donated to it by Mr. Essieh about 10 years ago.
He added that the district assembly was also collaborating with the ministry to provide the hospital with a theatre as part of the expansion works.
The Minister of Health, in response to an appeal by the acting President of the Sampa Traditional Council, Nana Kwadwo Maasah 11, for the establishment of a nursing training school at Sampa, said the district would definitely have one due to its geographical location.
He disclosed that over the last few months the government had started a number of initiatives to revamp health infrastructure through a well-planned programme of rehabilitation and construction of new hospitals and clinics across the country aimed at ensuring that every Ghanaian had reasonable access to basic health services, no matter his or her location, origin or socio-economic background.
Mr Kwadwo Nyamekye-Marfo, in his address, commended Mr Essieh and his family for giving back to their community and called on other citizens of the region to emulate their example.
He, however, appealed to the MoH and the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA) to investigate the circumstances under which the number of registered clients under the NHIS in the district was higher than the total district population of 78,192 as against the 94,956 NHIS card-bearing members.
Dr Aaron Offei, the Brong Ahafo Regional Director of Health Services, for his part, called for better rapport between members of the community and staff of the hospital and appealed to the local FM stations in the area to desist from misinforming the people on health issues which had often led to confrontations between staff of the hospital and some members of the public.
Mr Essieh expressed the hope that the facility would help inspire the youth of the area and generations to come to contribute their quota to the development of their town .
He appealed to the people of the district to continue to co-exist in peace, since that was a prerequisite for the accelerated development of the area and expressed the hope that the facility would go a long way to improve health delivery in the area.
Nana Maasah 11, the Adontenhene of Sampa and acting President of the Sampa Traditional Council, who chaired the function, thanked Mr Essieh and his family for the gesture, and urged the government to complement the efforts of the people to enhance health delivery in the area.
Friday, July 9, 2010
ATEBUBU COLLEGE OF EDUCATION HOLDS MAIDEN CONGREGATION (PAGE 11, JULY 9, 2010)
THE Atebubu College of Education in the Atebubu-Amantin District of the Brong Ahafo Region has held its first congregation at Atebubu on the theme: “Producing Quality and Disciplined Teachers: The Role of College of Education”.
In all, 410 students who completed the college in 2007, 2008 and 2009 graduated and were presented with Diploma in Basic Education (DBE) certificates.
The college, established in December 1965 as a teacher training institution to train certificate “A” teachers to teach in the basic schools in the country, was one of the 38 teacher training colleges in the country that was given accreditation to run the DBE programme by the National Accreditation Board in September, 2007.
With the passage of the Education Act 2008, Act 778, the Atebubu College of Education is now a tertiary institution affiliated to the University of Cape Coast.
The ceremony coincided with the unveiling of a bust of the first Principal of the College, Mr J.N. Ghansah, to honour him for his dedicated service and poineering role. The bust, which is sited in front of the administration block, was unveiled by Mr Alidu Fuseni, Chief Director of the Ministry of Education (MOE) and a past student of the college.
In an address read on his behalf, Mr Paul Effah, the Eexcutive Secretary of the National Council for Tertiary Education (NCTE), called on the Colleges of Education in the country to undertake research activities to generate new knowledge which would inform their teaching.
He noted that one of the greatest expectations of any institution at the tertiary level was to undertake research and it was, therefore, expected that the Colleges of Education would develop and strengthen their research activities as tertiary education institution to justify their new status.
Mr Effah added that promotions of academic staff of the various Colleges of Education would no longer be based on the length of service but on their research output.
Speaking on the theme, the Executive Secretary of the NTCE said often times, students of Colleges of Education referred to conditions in tertiary institutions and claimed they were unduly disadvantaged.
“Students of Colleges of Education make reference to the freedom that tertiary students enjoy for instance the wearing of what individual students consider decent, going to town without permission among others. It is important, to remember that as teachers, the future of your sons and daughters will be entrusted into your care. The children will look up to you for direction”, he said.
“This is why you should mould your character to be an example for the children to follow. Be committed to your work. Stay above reproach and strife for excellence”, he told the congregation.
The Brong Ahafo Regional Minister, Mr Kwadwo Nyamekye-Marfo, in his address, said the government was committed to provide and expand infrastructure at all levels of education to ensure quality teaching and learning in the country.
He stated further that the government’s campaign promise to establish a public university in the Brong Ahafo Region to be christened University of Renewable Natural Resources was on course.
Mr Fuseni, the Chief Director of the MOE, who also chaired the ceremony, called on the various Colleges of Education to secure deed titles to protect their lands for expansion now that they have been upgraded to tertiary institutions.
He urged the graduating students to take advantage of the opportunity offered them with the conferment of the Diplomas to pursue higher education since the certificates offered them were comparable to any other certificate for teachers worldwide.
Mr Ghansah, the first Principal of the college, reiterated the call on teachers to accept postings to the countryside where their services were needed most to help improve the lot of the people there.
In all, 410 students who completed the college in 2007, 2008 and 2009 graduated and were presented with Diploma in Basic Education (DBE) certificates.
The college, established in December 1965 as a teacher training institution to train certificate “A” teachers to teach in the basic schools in the country, was one of the 38 teacher training colleges in the country that was given accreditation to run the DBE programme by the National Accreditation Board in September, 2007.
With the passage of the Education Act 2008, Act 778, the Atebubu College of Education is now a tertiary institution affiliated to the University of Cape Coast.
The ceremony coincided with the unveiling of a bust of the first Principal of the College, Mr J.N. Ghansah, to honour him for his dedicated service and poineering role. The bust, which is sited in front of the administration block, was unveiled by Mr Alidu Fuseni, Chief Director of the Ministry of Education (MOE) and a past student of the college.
In an address read on his behalf, Mr Paul Effah, the Eexcutive Secretary of the National Council for Tertiary Education (NCTE), called on the Colleges of Education in the country to undertake research activities to generate new knowledge which would inform their teaching.
He noted that one of the greatest expectations of any institution at the tertiary level was to undertake research and it was, therefore, expected that the Colleges of Education would develop and strengthen their research activities as tertiary education institution to justify their new status.
Mr Effah added that promotions of academic staff of the various Colleges of Education would no longer be based on the length of service but on their research output.
Speaking on the theme, the Executive Secretary of the NTCE said often times, students of Colleges of Education referred to conditions in tertiary institutions and claimed they were unduly disadvantaged.
“Students of Colleges of Education make reference to the freedom that tertiary students enjoy for instance the wearing of what individual students consider decent, going to town without permission among others. It is important, to remember that as teachers, the future of your sons and daughters will be entrusted into your care. The children will look up to you for direction”, he said.
“This is why you should mould your character to be an example for the children to follow. Be committed to your work. Stay above reproach and strife for excellence”, he told the congregation.
The Brong Ahafo Regional Minister, Mr Kwadwo Nyamekye-Marfo, in his address, said the government was committed to provide and expand infrastructure at all levels of education to ensure quality teaching and learning in the country.
He stated further that the government’s campaign promise to establish a public university in the Brong Ahafo Region to be christened University of Renewable Natural Resources was on course.
Mr Fuseni, the Chief Director of the MOE, who also chaired the ceremony, called on the various Colleges of Education to secure deed titles to protect their lands for expansion now that they have been upgraded to tertiary institutions.
He urged the graduating students to take advantage of the opportunity offered them with the conferment of the Diplomas to pursue higher education since the certificates offered them were comparable to any other certificate for teachers worldwide.
Mr Ghansah, the first Principal of the college, reiterated the call on teachers to accept postings to the countryside where their services were needed most to help improve the lot of the people there.
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
GOVT TO ENSURE PASSAGE OF INFORMATION BILL (PAGE 13, JULY 7, 2010)
A Deputy Minister of Information, Mr James Agyenim- Boateng has given the assurance that the government will ensure the passage of the Right to Information Bill into law to deepen democratic culture in the country.
As a campaign promise made to Ghanaians by the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC), he said, the bill had received Cabinet approval and was ready to go through the parliamentary processes.
Mr Agyenim Boateng gave the assurance in response to a question when he met the staff of the various agencies and departments under the Ministry of Information at the Brong Ahafo Regional Co-ordinating Council (RCC) conference room in Sunyani on Monday.
The meeting formed part of the Deputy Minister’s seven-day tour to the Brong Ahafo Region to obtain first, hand information on the challenges that the sector agencies under the ministry were facing in the discharge of their duties and operations.
Mr Agyenim-Boateng stated further that the Right to Information Bill was not only for the media but the entire populace so the government would ensure its passage since it was aimed at ensuring transparency and accountability in governance.
He added that Prof. Mills’ government was committed to transparency and accountability and therefore, the passage of the bill was one of the ways to ensure that public office holders account for their stewardship.
“This government is sparing no efforts to ensure that the bill is passed into law”, he stressed.
Responding to other concerns raised by the Regional Manager of the Ghana News Agency (GNA), Mr Charles Koomson and staff of the Information Service Department (ISD) that they had no computers at their regional and district offices, Mr Agyenim Boateng gave the assurance that the government would equip the various agencies under the ministry, especially the ISD and the GNA to effectively disseminate and explain government policies and programmes to the citizenry.
He, therefore, urged the staff of the sector agencies, particularly the ISD and GNA to continue to be innovative in the discharge of their mandate while the government takes the necessary steps to address their operational needs as soon as possible to enable them to be effective and efficient.
Mr Charles Bampoe, the Regional Manager of Graphic Communications Group Limited (GCGL), for his part, appealed to the Deputy Minister and the RCC to impress on the various municipal and districts assemblies (MDAs) in the region to subscribe to the company’s regional newspaper for Brong Ahafo and Ashanti, ‘Graphic Nsempa’ to ensure its sustenance on the newsstands.
He added that Graphic Nsempa aimed at affording the MDAs the opportunity to reach out to the people at the grass roots with government policies and programmes.
Mr Albert Adoko, the Regional Editor of Ghana Television (GTV), the state broadcaster said the delay in the showing of news stories on GTV from the region was as a result of the change of the disc being used for news coverage.
He explained further that the previous disc had a time duration of 20 minutes but the current one has a time duration of 80 minutes and until that was exhausted, they could not send the stories that they had covered on the disc to Accra,hence, the delay in airing news stories from the region.
The Deputy Brong Ahafo Regional Minister, Mr Eric Opoku, in his closing remarks called on the staff of the ISD to be abreast of the government policies and programmes of the Better Ghana agenda to enable them disseminate and educate the public, especially those at the grass roots.
That he said, would let the people understand what the government was doing to improve upon their lot and also enable them rally behind the government to achieve the Better Ghana agenda.
As a campaign promise made to Ghanaians by the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC), he said, the bill had received Cabinet approval and was ready to go through the parliamentary processes.
Mr Agyenim Boateng gave the assurance in response to a question when he met the staff of the various agencies and departments under the Ministry of Information at the Brong Ahafo Regional Co-ordinating Council (RCC) conference room in Sunyani on Monday.
The meeting formed part of the Deputy Minister’s seven-day tour to the Brong Ahafo Region to obtain first, hand information on the challenges that the sector agencies under the ministry were facing in the discharge of their duties and operations.
Mr Agyenim-Boateng stated further that the Right to Information Bill was not only for the media but the entire populace so the government would ensure its passage since it was aimed at ensuring transparency and accountability in governance.
He added that Prof. Mills’ government was committed to transparency and accountability and therefore, the passage of the bill was one of the ways to ensure that public office holders account for their stewardship.
“This government is sparing no efforts to ensure that the bill is passed into law”, he stressed.
Responding to other concerns raised by the Regional Manager of the Ghana News Agency (GNA), Mr Charles Koomson and staff of the Information Service Department (ISD) that they had no computers at their regional and district offices, Mr Agyenim Boateng gave the assurance that the government would equip the various agencies under the ministry, especially the ISD and the GNA to effectively disseminate and explain government policies and programmes to the citizenry.
He, therefore, urged the staff of the sector agencies, particularly the ISD and GNA to continue to be innovative in the discharge of their mandate while the government takes the necessary steps to address their operational needs as soon as possible to enable them to be effective and efficient.
Mr Charles Bampoe, the Regional Manager of Graphic Communications Group Limited (GCGL), for his part, appealed to the Deputy Minister and the RCC to impress on the various municipal and districts assemblies (MDAs) in the region to subscribe to the company’s regional newspaper for Brong Ahafo and Ashanti, ‘Graphic Nsempa’ to ensure its sustenance on the newsstands.
He added that Graphic Nsempa aimed at affording the MDAs the opportunity to reach out to the people at the grass roots with government policies and programmes.
Mr Albert Adoko, the Regional Editor of Ghana Television (GTV), the state broadcaster said the delay in the showing of news stories on GTV from the region was as a result of the change of the disc being used for news coverage.
He explained further that the previous disc had a time duration of 20 minutes but the current one has a time duration of 80 minutes and until that was exhausted, they could not send the stories that they had covered on the disc to Accra,hence, the delay in airing news stories from the region.
The Deputy Brong Ahafo Regional Minister, Mr Eric Opoku, in his closing remarks called on the staff of the ISD to be abreast of the government policies and programmes of the Better Ghana agenda to enable them disseminate and educate the public, especially those at the grass roots.
That he said, would let the people understand what the government was doing to improve upon their lot and also enable them rally behind the government to achieve the Better Ghana agenda.
KUKUOM SHS LACKS RESIDENTIAL FACILITY (PAGE 11, JULY 7, 2010)
THE Kukuom Agriculture Senior High School (SHS) in the Asunafo South District of the Brong Ahafo Region has no residential facility for teachers on the school campus making it difficult for the monitoring of boarding students in the night.
The school, which is one of the selected model schools established in 1976 as a government-assisted facility, can only boast a wooden structure which serves as dining and assembly hall and other dilapidated structures as girls and boys dormitories.
Neither the headmaster nor his assistant, the teaching and non-teaching staff live on the school campus which makes the supervision of the boarding students difficult while there is congestion in the few classrooms available.
This gloomy picture was painted by the Headmaster of the school, Mr Thomas Antwi, when the Regional Minister, Mr Kwadwo Nyamekye-Marfo, toured educational and health institutions in the Asunafo South and North municipalities of the region to acquaint himself with the challenges they were facing.
Mr Antwi told the Regional Minister and his entourage, including the Asunafo South District Chief Executive (DCE), Mr Fleance Danso, that the only infrastructure the school could boast of now was a GH¢53,000 three-unit classroom block which was about 70 per cent complete.
He added that the school was selected as one of the model schools by the previous regime but the project had been abandoned by the contractor while the road network in the school was in bad state.
The situation was also not different at the Ahafoman Senior High Technical School (ASTS) in the Asunafo North Municipality when the Regional Minister paid a similar visit.
The Headmaster of the school, Mr Yaw Adu-Gyamfi, said the school lacked classrooms, adding that at least an eight-unit classroom block was needed to help ease the congestion in the classrooms and also to accommodate the form one students who would be admitted in September, this year.
He stated that in response to the acute classroom accommodation, the Parent-Teacher Association (PTA) had initiated a seven-unit classroom block project at a cost of GH¢35,000 which is at the foundation level and, therefore, appealed for assistance from the government to help complete the project.
Mr Adu-Gyamfi also appealed for repairs of the school’s water system that had broken down forcing students and staff to travel to town before getting water, reshaping of the school’s access road and the construction of a fence to prevent encroachers.
The Regional Minister in his response to the infrastructure needs of the two schools, said the government had released funds for the provision of additional classrooms for SHSs in the region for the first phase while more funds were expected for the second phase before September when the three-year SHS would begin.
He urged the assemblies where the two schools were located to assist the schools to meet some of the challenges, especially in the area of the access road and the repair of the schools’ water systems.
Mr Nyamekye-Marfo said the government was committed to meeting the infrastructure needs of both public basic and senior high schools in the country and would not renege on that responsibility, since it formed part of its agenda of investing in the people and for that matter, the youth.
He urged the students of both schools to desist from negative lifestyles such as drug abuse and sexual promiscuity that had the potential to jeopardise their future, and concentrate on their studies.
The Regional Minister and his entourage also visited the Kwapong Vocational/Technical School and the Sankore SHS, both in the Asunafo South District, where the authorities of both schools appealed for additional infrastructure in the area of classrooms, dormitories and residential facilities to accommodate teachers on the schools’ compound.
The school, which is one of the selected model schools established in 1976 as a government-assisted facility, can only boast a wooden structure which serves as dining and assembly hall and other dilapidated structures as girls and boys dormitories.
Neither the headmaster nor his assistant, the teaching and non-teaching staff live on the school campus which makes the supervision of the boarding students difficult while there is congestion in the few classrooms available.
This gloomy picture was painted by the Headmaster of the school, Mr Thomas Antwi, when the Regional Minister, Mr Kwadwo Nyamekye-Marfo, toured educational and health institutions in the Asunafo South and North municipalities of the region to acquaint himself with the challenges they were facing.
Mr Antwi told the Regional Minister and his entourage, including the Asunafo South District Chief Executive (DCE), Mr Fleance Danso, that the only infrastructure the school could boast of now was a GH¢53,000 three-unit classroom block which was about 70 per cent complete.
He added that the school was selected as one of the model schools by the previous regime but the project had been abandoned by the contractor while the road network in the school was in bad state.
The situation was also not different at the Ahafoman Senior High Technical School (ASTS) in the Asunafo North Municipality when the Regional Minister paid a similar visit.
The Headmaster of the school, Mr Yaw Adu-Gyamfi, said the school lacked classrooms, adding that at least an eight-unit classroom block was needed to help ease the congestion in the classrooms and also to accommodate the form one students who would be admitted in September, this year.
He stated that in response to the acute classroom accommodation, the Parent-Teacher Association (PTA) had initiated a seven-unit classroom block project at a cost of GH¢35,000 which is at the foundation level and, therefore, appealed for assistance from the government to help complete the project.
Mr Adu-Gyamfi also appealed for repairs of the school’s water system that had broken down forcing students and staff to travel to town before getting water, reshaping of the school’s access road and the construction of a fence to prevent encroachers.
The Regional Minister in his response to the infrastructure needs of the two schools, said the government had released funds for the provision of additional classrooms for SHSs in the region for the first phase while more funds were expected for the second phase before September when the three-year SHS would begin.
He urged the assemblies where the two schools were located to assist the schools to meet some of the challenges, especially in the area of the access road and the repair of the schools’ water systems.
Mr Nyamekye-Marfo said the government was committed to meeting the infrastructure needs of both public basic and senior high schools in the country and would not renege on that responsibility, since it formed part of its agenda of investing in the people and for that matter, the youth.
He urged the students of both schools to desist from negative lifestyles such as drug abuse and sexual promiscuity that had the potential to jeopardise their future, and concentrate on their studies.
The Regional Minister and his entourage also visited the Kwapong Vocational/Technical School and the Sankore SHS, both in the Asunafo South District, where the authorities of both schools appealed for additional infrastructure in the area of classrooms, dormitories and residential facilities to accommodate teachers on the schools’ compound.
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
FOUR BEDROOM TEACHERS' QUARTERS FOR KOJOADDAIKROM (PAGE 43, JULY 5. 2010)
THE Brong Ahafo Regional Minister, Mr Kwadwo Nyamekye-Marfo, has inaugurated a GH¢41,000 four-bedroom teachers’ accommodation at Kojoaddaikrom, a farming community in the Asunafo North municipality.
The facility, which is to help accommodate teachers posted to the deprived community without electricity and other social amenties, was financed by the Community-based Rural Development Programme (CBRDP) in collaboration with the Asunafo North Municipal Assembly.
The inauguration coincided with the distribution of 2,513,000 exercise books and 77 school uniforms under the government’s free exercise books and uniform policy to the eight remaining basic schools in the Bediakobidre Circuit, bringing the total number of exercise books distributed to pupils in the circuit to 8,577,000.
The eight beneficiary schools are Abebresekrom Local Authority Primary, Nyankomawo Primary, Adenkyekye Roman Catholic Primary, Kojoaddaikrom Primary, Alhajikrom Primary, Kojoaddaikrom Junior High, Abebresekrom JHS and Adenkyekye JHS.
It also formed part of the regional minister’s two-day working visit to the Asunafo North Municipality and Asunafo South District to inspect some development projects notably in the education and health sectors.
Speaking at the inauguration ceremony, Mr Nyamekye-Marfo said it was the policy of the government to continue to provide and expand infrastructure in basic and senior high schools (SHS) nationwide to eradicate schools under trees by the end of its four-year term.
He added that the government’s intervention in the educational sector such as the free school uniforms and exercise books, incentive package for teachers who accepted postings to deprived communities, as well as the provision of infrastructures, were aimed at enhancing quality teaching and learning in the country.
Mr Nyamekye-Marfo therefore urged teachers to reciprocate the gesture of the government to improve their conditions of service and to put in their best.
He also appealed to parents not to shirk their responsibilities towards the education of their children and urged the pupils to study hard in order to justify the investment made in them by their parents.
Earlier, the Regional Minister also visited the Ahafoman Senior High Technical School (SHS) where he interacted with the students, and teaching and non-teaching staff to know at first-hand the problems the school was facing.
He gave an assurance that the government would provide additional infrastructure to ease the classroom congestion while the municipal assembly would repair the school’s water system that had broken down and the bad road leading to the school.
Mr Nyamekye-Marfo also visited the Asunafo North Municipal Government Hospital at Goaso, the capital of the municipality, where he also interacted with the health workers.
He urged the health workers to help improve the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) and also gave an assurance that the government would make good its promise of a one-time premium before the end of its four-year term.
The Asunafo North Municipal Health Director , Dr Kofi Asemani-Mensah, appealed to the minister to help improve on the lighting system at the various wards of the hospital.
At the Goaso Omanhene’s Palace, Mr Nyamekye-Marfo gave the assurance that the Regional Coordinating Council (RCC) was working around the clock to ensure that the Goaso Midwifery Training School was started by September, this year.
Nana Baffour Akwasi Bosomprah II, appealed for a facelift of the Goaso township.
The minister also visited the Mim Senior High School where he inspected a seven classroom block being built and sponsored by the school’s Parent -Teacher Association (PTA) at a cost of GH¢35,000.
The facility, which is to help accommodate teachers posted to the deprived community without electricity and other social amenties, was financed by the Community-based Rural Development Programme (CBRDP) in collaboration with the Asunafo North Municipal Assembly.
The inauguration coincided with the distribution of 2,513,000 exercise books and 77 school uniforms under the government’s free exercise books and uniform policy to the eight remaining basic schools in the Bediakobidre Circuit, bringing the total number of exercise books distributed to pupils in the circuit to 8,577,000.
The eight beneficiary schools are Abebresekrom Local Authority Primary, Nyankomawo Primary, Adenkyekye Roman Catholic Primary, Kojoaddaikrom Primary, Alhajikrom Primary, Kojoaddaikrom Junior High, Abebresekrom JHS and Adenkyekye JHS.
It also formed part of the regional minister’s two-day working visit to the Asunafo North Municipality and Asunafo South District to inspect some development projects notably in the education and health sectors.
Speaking at the inauguration ceremony, Mr Nyamekye-Marfo said it was the policy of the government to continue to provide and expand infrastructure in basic and senior high schools (SHS) nationwide to eradicate schools under trees by the end of its four-year term.
He added that the government’s intervention in the educational sector such as the free school uniforms and exercise books, incentive package for teachers who accepted postings to deprived communities, as well as the provision of infrastructures, were aimed at enhancing quality teaching and learning in the country.
Mr Nyamekye-Marfo therefore urged teachers to reciprocate the gesture of the government to improve their conditions of service and to put in their best.
He also appealed to parents not to shirk their responsibilities towards the education of their children and urged the pupils to study hard in order to justify the investment made in them by their parents.
Earlier, the Regional Minister also visited the Ahafoman Senior High Technical School (SHS) where he interacted with the students, and teaching and non-teaching staff to know at first-hand the problems the school was facing.
He gave an assurance that the government would provide additional infrastructure to ease the classroom congestion while the municipal assembly would repair the school’s water system that had broken down and the bad road leading to the school.
Mr Nyamekye-Marfo also visited the Asunafo North Municipal Government Hospital at Goaso, the capital of the municipality, where he also interacted with the health workers.
He urged the health workers to help improve the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) and also gave an assurance that the government would make good its promise of a one-time premium before the end of its four-year term.
The Asunafo North Municipal Health Director , Dr Kofi Asemani-Mensah, appealed to the minister to help improve on the lighting system at the various wards of the hospital.
At the Goaso Omanhene’s Palace, Mr Nyamekye-Marfo gave the assurance that the Regional Coordinating Council (RCC) was working around the clock to ensure that the Goaso Midwifery Training School was started by September, this year.
Nana Baffour Akwasi Bosomprah II, appealed for a facelift of the Goaso township.
The minister also visited the Mim Senior High School where he inspected a seven classroom block being built and sponsored by the school’s Parent -Teacher Association (PTA) at a cost of GH¢35,000.
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