Story: Samuel Duodu, Berekum
March 28
Students from the Yale University in the United States of America (USA) and the World of Friends International School at Berekum in the Brong Ahafo Region have launched a computer literacy programme to complement the efforts of the government in making every school-age child computer literate under the new educational reform.
The Yale University students, who are also members of the World of Friends International, an international non-governmental organisation (NGO), and their Ghanaian counterparts at Berekum had also inaugurated a computer laboratory worth $20,000 at the World of Friends International School at Berekum to ensure the success of the programme.
The computer literacy programme is aimed at making all school-age children, especially the under-privileged, in the Berekum municipality and its environs, computer literate, in order to help bridge the digital gap between the urban and the rural child in the country.
The computer laboratory is also connected to the Internet and equipped with educational programmes ranging from Mathematics, English, Science as well as games that would stimulate learning in the child.
Nana (Dr) Henne Ababio, the Co-ordinator for the World of Friends, Ghana, who conducted newsmen round the school premises, near Nsapor on the Berekum Dormaa Ahenkro Highway, said the computer laboratory would be opened to all schoolchildren in the Berekum municipality to enable them to acquire skills and knowledge in Information, Communication and Technology (ICT).
He noted that the World of Friends School near Nsapora at Berekum was established by the World of Friends, Sweden, and their Ghanaian counterparts and the school currently had a pupil population of 400, out of which 60 were orphaned and under-privileged.
Nana Ababio said the 60 orphans and the under-privileged children were being catered for by World of Friends, Sweden, and other NGOs, adding that the World of Friends also ran a Children’s Home at Baiden, near Berekum but was putting up a GH¢200,000 hostel on the school premises to relocate the home from Baiden.
He disclosed further that the school also gave pupils other options of training in photography, mural painting and needle work among others so as to expose the children to other vocations early.
Dr Ababio said the week-long visit by the 12-member student delegation from the University of Yale was facilitated by Prof. Galizi Paulo, a Law Professor from the Fordham University, USA, who also helped with the establishment of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) law school.
The 12-member student delegation, including six males and six females, jointly led by Evan Leitner and Andy-Beck, said their visit was to help establish the computer laboratory to help children of school-age from rural areas and especially the orphaned and the deprived ones to acquire knowledge and skills in ICT.
He said the computer laboratory was a project that would bridge the digital gap between children in the developed world and those of the developing world and felt Ghana should not be left out in this ICT revolution.
They said the ICT programme would also provide a cutting edge for children in the future when it came to employment, since the world was now in the digital age.
Saturday, April 19, 2008
Baffour Awuah launches campaign
Story: Samuel Duodu, Nsoatre
March 28
THE Brong Ahafo Regional Minister, Mr Ignatius Baffour Awuah, has formally launched his campaign to contest the Sunyani West Parliamentary seat on the ticket of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) in the December general election.
He has therefore pledged to bring to bear his youthful exuberance and political experience to lobby for more development projects to the constituency.
According to the Regional Minister, he had served in various capacities at the governmental level for a long time and had gained a lot of experience to represent the people in Parliament satisfactorily.
Mr Baffour Awuah made the pledge at a rally attended by some ministers of state, Members of Parliament (MP) and other NPP party faithful that preceded the launching of his campaign at Nsoatre, his hometown.
He urged NPP supporters to undertake the electioneering based on policies and programmes introduced by the government that were aimed at improving the living conditions of the people.
Mr Baffour Awuah observed that the NPP was poised to retain power and capture all the parliamentary seats in the region and therefore appealed to members not to be complacent but go all out to ensure an overwhelming victory for the party.
He advised the youth not to allow themselves to be used by self seeking politicians to foment trouble during, before and after the general elections and so to desist from all acts that could threaten the peace and stability of the nation.
Mr Baffour Awuah also appealed to supporters of the party to conduct their campaigns devoid of insults and acrimony, adding that such behaviours had the tendency to create confusion which could mar the elections.
He cautioned that voting the National Democratic Congress back to power would spell doom for the country since the party had nothing to offer Ghanaians.
March 28
THE Brong Ahafo Regional Minister, Mr Ignatius Baffour Awuah, has formally launched his campaign to contest the Sunyani West Parliamentary seat on the ticket of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) in the December general election.
He has therefore pledged to bring to bear his youthful exuberance and political experience to lobby for more development projects to the constituency.
According to the Regional Minister, he had served in various capacities at the governmental level for a long time and had gained a lot of experience to represent the people in Parliament satisfactorily.
Mr Baffour Awuah made the pledge at a rally attended by some ministers of state, Members of Parliament (MP) and other NPP party faithful that preceded the launching of his campaign at Nsoatre, his hometown.
He urged NPP supporters to undertake the electioneering based on policies and programmes introduced by the government that were aimed at improving the living conditions of the people.
Mr Baffour Awuah observed that the NPP was poised to retain power and capture all the parliamentary seats in the region and therefore appealed to members not to be complacent but go all out to ensure an overwhelming victory for the party.
He advised the youth not to allow themselves to be used by self seeking politicians to foment trouble during, before and after the general elections and so to desist from all acts that could threaten the peace and stability of the nation.
Mr Baffour Awuah also appealed to supporters of the party to conduct their campaigns devoid of insults and acrimony, adding that such behaviours had the tendency to create confusion which could mar the elections.
He cautioned that voting the National Democratic Congress back to power would spell doom for the country since the party had nothing to offer Ghanaians.
Construction of Bui Dam affects 1,800 people
Story: Samuel Duodu, Sunyani
March 25, 2008
ONE thousand eight hundred people from seven communities in Brong Ahafo and some parts of the Northern Region will be affected by the construction of the Bui Hydro Electric Dam.
The social impact on the 1,800 people, who will be displaced by the project from three traditional areas, namely, Banda and Mo in Brong Ahafo and Bole-Bamboi in the Gonja Traditional Area in the Northern Region, will be minimal, since the areas are sparsely populated, compared with the Akosombo and Kpone areas where dams have been constructed.
Osahene Kwaku Aterkyi, the Omanhene of the Kukuom Traditional Area and Member of the Bui Development Secretariat, disclosed this at the official signing ceremony of the acquisition plan and reports which involved the secretariat and 32 land and environmentally related agencies and departments in Sunyani on Tuesday.
The government has acquired the 443,503 acres of land needed for the commencement of the construction of the Bui Dam, which will take five years.
He assured the people and the communities that would be affected by the project of adequate compensation, which he said would be paid promptly.
He said lessons had been learnt from the construction of the Akosombo and Kpong dams and that those would impact positively on the Bui Dam project.
Among the agencies and departments whose representatives appended their signatures were the Lands Commission, the Land Valuation Board, the Administrator of Stool Lands, Town and Country Planning, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Volta River Authority (VRA).
Osahene Aterkyi explained that the signing of the acquisition plan and reports signified that the government had formally acquired the land under the State Lands Act of 1962 (Act 125) which ‘empowered the President, where it is in the public interest, to declare any land required in the public interest’.
He said 21 per cent of the Bui Game and Wildlife Reserve Park would be taken and another land would be provided to make up for what had been taken, adding that lands that had been acquired for the project consisted of both state and stool lands, saying that provision for prompt and adequate compensation had been made.
Mr Godfred D. Boateng, the Bui Secretariat Project Co-ordinator, reiterated that because pre-evaluation had been done, money had been set aside for prompt and adequate compensation.
He added that the Chinese government was also positioned to help in the resettlement and irrigation projects in order to make life comfortable for those who would be displaced to peacefully co-exist with the contractors for the smooth take-off of the project.
Nana Abraham Kwadwo Kwakye, the Deputy Brong Ahafo Regional Minister, who chaired the signing ceremony, in his remarks, called on the Bui Secretariat to ensure that all the knotty issues were resolved to guard against speculative activities which would give room for people to claim undue compensation.
March 25, 2008
ONE thousand eight hundred people from seven communities in Brong Ahafo and some parts of the Northern Region will be affected by the construction of the Bui Hydro Electric Dam.
The social impact on the 1,800 people, who will be displaced by the project from three traditional areas, namely, Banda and Mo in Brong Ahafo and Bole-Bamboi in the Gonja Traditional Area in the Northern Region, will be minimal, since the areas are sparsely populated, compared with the Akosombo and Kpone areas where dams have been constructed.
Osahene Kwaku Aterkyi, the Omanhene of the Kukuom Traditional Area and Member of the Bui Development Secretariat, disclosed this at the official signing ceremony of the acquisition plan and reports which involved the secretariat and 32 land and environmentally related agencies and departments in Sunyani on Tuesday.
The government has acquired the 443,503 acres of land needed for the commencement of the construction of the Bui Dam, which will take five years.
He assured the people and the communities that would be affected by the project of adequate compensation, which he said would be paid promptly.
He said lessons had been learnt from the construction of the Akosombo and Kpong dams and that those would impact positively on the Bui Dam project.
Among the agencies and departments whose representatives appended their signatures were the Lands Commission, the Land Valuation Board, the Administrator of Stool Lands, Town and Country Planning, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Volta River Authority (VRA).
Osahene Aterkyi explained that the signing of the acquisition plan and reports signified that the government had formally acquired the land under the State Lands Act of 1962 (Act 125) which ‘empowered the President, where it is in the public interest, to declare any land required in the public interest’.
He said 21 per cent of the Bui Game and Wildlife Reserve Park would be taken and another land would be provided to make up for what had been taken, adding that lands that had been acquired for the project consisted of both state and stool lands, saying that provision for prompt and adequate compensation had been made.
Mr Godfred D. Boateng, the Bui Secretariat Project Co-ordinator, reiterated that because pre-evaluation had been done, money had been set aside for prompt and adequate compensation.
He added that the Chinese government was also positioned to help in the resettlement and irrigation projects in order to make life comfortable for those who would be displaced to peacefully co-exist with the contractors for the smooth take-off of the project.
Nana Abraham Kwadwo Kwakye, the Deputy Brong Ahafo Regional Minister, who chaired the signing ceremony, in his remarks, called on the Bui Secretariat to ensure that all the knotty issues were resolved to guard against speculative activities which would give room for people to claim undue compensation.
Friday, April 18, 2008
LANDS COMMISSION NEEDS GOVT SUPPORT — EXECUTIVE SECRETARY (BACK PAGE)
Story: Samuel Duodu, Sunyani
The Lands Commission is unable to deal with issues of wanton encroachments on public lands, frivolous court suits and haphazard development in the country because of the lack of political will on the part of governments to back the actions of the commission.
Alhaji Ibrahim Baryeh, Executive Secretary of the commission, has therefore called on the government to back the commission with the needed political will to deal with the problems that have bedevilled the commission, noting that this is the time to ensure that such unhealthy developments are dealt with to ensure discipline in the system.
Alhaji Baryeh made the call at a five-day annual review conference of the Lands Commission at Sunyani in the Brong Ahafo Region on the theme: “Achieving the Goals of the Citizens’ Charter — A challenge for the Lands Commission”.
The Executive Secretary announced that the commission was preparing for the total computerisation of its operations and had therefore developed a modern Geo-Information Systems (GIS) Laboratory that had been equipped to start scanning all the central records, convert the manual registers into digital formats, as well as purchase a generator to address the frequent power outages that interfere with the commissions’ operations.
Alhaji Baryeh noted that the commission, recognising that dependence on donor funding alone could not completely address key issues confronting it, had decided to undertake a number of projects to support its operations.
These, he said, included funding from the internally generated funds and the construction of deed registries in Ho, Cape Coast, Tamale and Sunyani.
To improve records management at the commission, Alhaji Baryeh disclosed that the commission had contracted the Public Records and Archives Administration Department (PRAAD) to review and upgrade its headquarters filing systems.
Touching on the Citizens’ Charter, the Executive Secretary stated that the commission had set for itself three major objectives in the execution of the Charter instruments.
This, he said, was to ensure quick and efficient service delivery to meet with charter objectives, ensure that complaints about poor services were dealt with in a prompt and transparent manner to the satisfaction of the client and help drive the improvement of service delivery within the commission.
To achieve these objectives, Alhaji Baryeh stated that the commission would focus on staff attitudinal change, improvement in working conditions, effective monitoring mechanisms and computerisation of lands records.
A Deputy Minister of Lands, Forestry and Mines, Mr Andrews Adjei–Yeboah in his address called on the management and staff of the Lands Commission to purge itself of all corrupt practices in the delivery of services to the public, which tended to cast a slur on the image of the commission.
According to him, poor information flow, poor staff attitudes, delays in providing services and the perennial accusations of corrupt practices had given the commission a bad image.
“The ministry therefore expects that to clean up this poor image, the commission will fully equip the client services unit and train the staff to provide quality, prompt and efficient services to the public,” he stressed.
The Lands Commission is unable to deal with issues of wanton encroachments on public lands, frivolous court suits and haphazard development in the country because of the lack of political will on the part of governments to back the actions of the commission.
Alhaji Ibrahim Baryeh, Executive Secretary of the commission, has therefore called on the government to back the commission with the needed political will to deal with the problems that have bedevilled the commission, noting that this is the time to ensure that such unhealthy developments are dealt with to ensure discipline in the system.
Alhaji Baryeh made the call at a five-day annual review conference of the Lands Commission at Sunyani in the Brong Ahafo Region on the theme: “Achieving the Goals of the Citizens’ Charter — A challenge for the Lands Commission”.
The Executive Secretary announced that the commission was preparing for the total computerisation of its operations and had therefore developed a modern Geo-Information Systems (GIS) Laboratory that had been equipped to start scanning all the central records, convert the manual registers into digital formats, as well as purchase a generator to address the frequent power outages that interfere with the commissions’ operations.
Alhaji Baryeh noted that the commission, recognising that dependence on donor funding alone could not completely address key issues confronting it, had decided to undertake a number of projects to support its operations.
These, he said, included funding from the internally generated funds and the construction of deed registries in Ho, Cape Coast, Tamale and Sunyani.
To improve records management at the commission, Alhaji Baryeh disclosed that the commission had contracted the Public Records and Archives Administration Department (PRAAD) to review and upgrade its headquarters filing systems.
Touching on the Citizens’ Charter, the Executive Secretary stated that the commission had set for itself three major objectives in the execution of the Charter instruments.
This, he said, was to ensure quick and efficient service delivery to meet with charter objectives, ensure that complaints about poor services were dealt with in a prompt and transparent manner to the satisfaction of the client and help drive the improvement of service delivery within the commission.
To achieve these objectives, Alhaji Baryeh stated that the commission would focus on staff attitudinal change, improvement in working conditions, effective monitoring mechanisms and computerisation of lands records.
A Deputy Minister of Lands, Forestry and Mines, Mr Andrews Adjei–Yeboah in his address called on the management and staff of the Lands Commission to purge itself of all corrupt practices in the delivery of services to the public, which tended to cast a slur on the image of the commission.
According to him, poor information flow, poor staff attitudes, delays in providing services and the perennial accusations of corrupt practices had given the commission a bad image.
“The ministry therefore expects that to clean up this poor image, the commission will fully equip the client services unit and train the staff to provide quality, prompt and efficient services to the public,” he stressed.
Thursday, April 17, 2008
PROF GYAN BAFFOUR RETAINED UNOPPOSED (PAGE 17)
Story: Samuel Duodu, Wenchi
A Deputy Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, Prof. George Gyan Baffour, has been retained as the New Patriotic Party (NPP) Parliamentary candidate for the Wenchi Constituency in the Brong Ahafo Region.
Prof. Gyan Baffour who is also the sitting NPP Member of Parliament (MP) for Wenchi was declared unopposed by Mr Samuel Kwaah, the Wenchi Municipal Director of the Electoral Commission (EC), at the constituency delegate conference held at Wenchi last weekend.
According to Mr Kwaah, Prof Gyan Baffour was the only person who had filed his nomination to contest the Wenchi Parliamentary seat on the NPP ticket as of the close of nomination, and therefore he had to be declared unopposed.
Prof. Gyan Baffour is therefore the first sitting MP of the NPP in the country to be elected by popular acclamation.
Addressing the delegates conference earlier, Mr Kwasi Adu Gyan, the Brong Ahafo Regional Chairman of the NPP, said that the party, right from the national to the polling station level had put in place effective and vigorous campaign strategies to increase its parliamentary seats from 128 to about 200 in this year’s election.
He stated that the party had therefore increased the polling station executive from five to 15 to embark on a vigorous door to door campaign to ensure that the party retained power and increased its representation in parliament.
Mr Adu Gyan therefore urged the party’s polling station executives to close their ranks and eschew all divisive tendencies and work hard to retain power as well as ensure that the party’s parliamentary candidates won.
He said the Busia-Danquah Tradition had its roots from Wenchi because of the late Dr Kofi Abrefa Busia, the Prime Minister of the Second Republic who hails from there, and therefore called on members of the party to ensure that the party recorded a higher margin in both the presidential and the parliamentary polls.
Prof. Gyan Baffour in his remarks thanked the constituency and polling station executives for the confidence they had reposed in him by retaining him as the parliamentary candidate and pledged to work with all to ensure another victory in the December election.
He stated that the national election in the constituency was not about the NPP and the NDC but was about development and non-development as well as the modernity of Wenchi, saying that the NPP within its seven and a half years of rule, and as the MP for the area, had brought massive development to the area to restore Wenchi to its past glory as one of the major towns in the Brong Ahafo Region.
Prof. Gyan Baffour, therefore urged the electorate to vote for him and the flag bearer of the NPP, Nana Akufo-Addo, to continue with the development of Wenchi and the country as a whole.
He pledged that when elected he would collaborate with his colleague MPs along the northern corridors of the country to lobby for the construction of the Wenchi-Bole-Bambio–Wa-Hamile road , adding that the construction of the road would make Wenchi the gateway to the north-western part of the country.
Dr Gyan Baffour also added that he would also ensure the reconstruction of the Wenchi-Techiman road to further enhance commercial activities in the town.
A Deputy Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, Prof. George Gyan Baffour, has been retained as the New Patriotic Party (NPP) Parliamentary candidate for the Wenchi Constituency in the Brong Ahafo Region.
Prof. Gyan Baffour who is also the sitting NPP Member of Parliament (MP) for Wenchi was declared unopposed by Mr Samuel Kwaah, the Wenchi Municipal Director of the Electoral Commission (EC), at the constituency delegate conference held at Wenchi last weekend.
According to Mr Kwaah, Prof Gyan Baffour was the only person who had filed his nomination to contest the Wenchi Parliamentary seat on the NPP ticket as of the close of nomination, and therefore he had to be declared unopposed.
Prof. Gyan Baffour is therefore the first sitting MP of the NPP in the country to be elected by popular acclamation.
Addressing the delegates conference earlier, Mr Kwasi Adu Gyan, the Brong Ahafo Regional Chairman of the NPP, said that the party, right from the national to the polling station level had put in place effective and vigorous campaign strategies to increase its parliamentary seats from 128 to about 200 in this year’s election.
He stated that the party had therefore increased the polling station executive from five to 15 to embark on a vigorous door to door campaign to ensure that the party retained power and increased its representation in parliament.
Mr Adu Gyan therefore urged the party’s polling station executives to close their ranks and eschew all divisive tendencies and work hard to retain power as well as ensure that the party’s parliamentary candidates won.
He said the Busia-Danquah Tradition had its roots from Wenchi because of the late Dr Kofi Abrefa Busia, the Prime Minister of the Second Republic who hails from there, and therefore called on members of the party to ensure that the party recorded a higher margin in both the presidential and the parliamentary polls.
Prof. Gyan Baffour in his remarks thanked the constituency and polling station executives for the confidence they had reposed in him by retaining him as the parliamentary candidate and pledged to work with all to ensure another victory in the December election.
He stated that the national election in the constituency was not about the NPP and the NDC but was about development and non-development as well as the modernity of Wenchi, saying that the NPP within its seven and a half years of rule, and as the MP for the area, had brought massive development to the area to restore Wenchi to its past glory as one of the major towns in the Brong Ahafo Region.
Prof. Gyan Baffour, therefore urged the electorate to vote for him and the flag bearer of the NPP, Nana Akufo-Addo, to continue with the development of Wenchi and the country as a whole.
He pledged that when elected he would collaborate with his colleague MPs along the northern corridors of the country to lobby for the construction of the Wenchi-Bole-Bambio–Wa-Hamile road , adding that the construction of the road would make Wenchi the gateway to the north-western part of the country.
Dr Gyan Baffour also added that he would also ensure the reconstruction of the Wenchi-Techiman road to further enhance commercial activities in the town.
I SHALL INVOLVE ALL STAKEHOLDERS — ATTA FENA (Page 39)
Story Samuel Duodo, Wenchi
THE Wenchi Municipal Chief Executive (MCE), Nana Atta Fena, has stated that he will engage all stakeholders in the municipality in his administration for the rapid development of the area.
According to him, one of the first steps he would adopt to realise that objective would be to call a meeting of all stakeholders to brainstorm on how to move the newly elevated municipality forward.
Nana Fena made the remark after he had received a 100-per cent endorsement from the 30 Assembly members at an emergency meeting held at Wenchi in the Brong Ahafo Region to confirm him as the President’s nominee for the position of MCE.
He pledged to work in close collaboration with the Assembly members, the Member of Parliament (MP), Nananom, the various religious bodies, as well as the youth, in uniting all sections of the society for the progress of the municipality.
He mentioned education, health care and sanitation, among others, as areas of his priority and appealed to all and sundry to play their respective roles to make the municipality one of the best in the country.
Nana Fena also assured the people that he would complete all development projects initiated by his predecessor and support the MP at all times for the New Patriotic Party (NPP) to retain the parliamentary seat in the area.
He gave the assurance that he would not discriminate against anybody in the discharge of his official duties.
The MCE thanked the Assembly members for the confidence reposed in him and assured them that he would live up to expectation.
THE Wenchi Municipal Chief Executive (MCE), Nana Atta Fena, has stated that he will engage all stakeholders in the municipality in his administration for the rapid development of the area.
According to him, one of the first steps he would adopt to realise that objective would be to call a meeting of all stakeholders to brainstorm on how to move the newly elevated municipality forward.
Nana Fena made the remark after he had received a 100-per cent endorsement from the 30 Assembly members at an emergency meeting held at Wenchi in the Brong Ahafo Region to confirm him as the President’s nominee for the position of MCE.
He pledged to work in close collaboration with the Assembly members, the Member of Parliament (MP), Nananom, the various religious bodies, as well as the youth, in uniting all sections of the society for the progress of the municipality.
He mentioned education, health care and sanitation, among others, as areas of his priority and appealed to all and sundry to play their respective roles to make the municipality one of the best in the country.
Nana Fena also assured the people that he would complete all development projects initiated by his predecessor and support the MP at all times for the New Patriotic Party (NPP) to retain the parliamentary seat in the area.
He gave the assurance that he would not discriminate against anybody in the discharge of his official duties.
The MCE thanked the Assembly members for the confidence reposed in him and assured them that he would live up to expectation.
RAINSTORM CAUSES HAVOC AT DUAYAW-NKWANTA (PAGE 21)
PUBLISHED MARCH 18
Story: Samuel Duodu, Duayaw-Nkwanta
A severe rainstorm hit Duayaw-Nkwanta, the capital of the Tano North District in the Brong Ahafo Region, and its environs at the weekend, rendering many people homeless.
Some of the victims are staying with their relatives and friends while others are putting up in classrooms.
The rain disaster has worsened the plight of the people in the area. Two weeks ago, a bushfire burnt down 16 communities destroying a lot of property and 900 bags of maize.
No casualties or injuries were recorded in both disasters but property estimated at GH¢10 million was destroyed.
The storm ripped off the roofs of both public and individual buildings, the most seriously affected ones being the Duayaw Nkwanta Girls’ Vocational Institute and Dwenase Primary School.
The communities affected by the bushfire included Brede and Sereso, both farming communities, which had their farmlands and crops including 500 and 400 bags of maize, respectively, destroyed.
The District NADMO Co-ordinator, Mr Isaac B. Kyere, who briefed the Daily Graphic team that toured the affected communities, described the situation as a double agony, since the district was hit by the rainstorm and a bush fire within of two weeks.
According to Mr Kyere, he, in the company of the District Chief Executive (DCE), Mr Nicholas Lenin Anane Agyei, and other officials from the district assembly, had visited the towns affected by the disasters to sympathise with the victims.
He stated that the district assembly had already gone to the aid of the victims, while the District NADMO office had also mobilised some second-hand clothing for their upkeep.
The District NADMO Co-ordinator, however, made a passionate appeal to the NADMO headquarters in Accra, the Member of Parliament (MP) for the area, Mr Ernest Debrah, who is also the Minister of Food and Agriculture, and others to come to the aid of the victims.
Mr Kyere disclosed that one Karikari from Susuanho, a farming community in the district, had been arrested as the prime suspect for the bushfire and had been remanded in prison custody by the Duayaw Nkwanta Circuit Court.
He appealed to the people to desist from bush burning, adding that even though the rains had begun early setting bush fire was still dangerous.
Story: Samuel Duodu, Duayaw-Nkwanta
A severe rainstorm hit Duayaw-Nkwanta, the capital of the Tano North District in the Brong Ahafo Region, and its environs at the weekend, rendering many people homeless.
Some of the victims are staying with their relatives and friends while others are putting up in classrooms.
The rain disaster has worsened the plight of the people in the area. Two weeks ago, a bushfire burnt down 16 communities destroying a lot of property and 900 bags of maize.
No casualties or injuries were recorded in both disasters but property estimated at GH¢10 million was destroyed.
The storm ripped off the roofs of both public and individual buildings, the most seriously affected ones being the Duayaw Nkwanta Girls’ Vocational Institute and Dwenase Primary School.
The communities affected by the bushfire included Brede and Sereso, both farming communities, which had their farmlands and crops including 500 and 400 bags of maize, respectively, destroyed.
The District NADMO Co-ordinator, Mr Isaac B. Kyere, who briefed the Daily Graphic team that toured the affected communities, described the situation as a double agony, since the district was hit by the rainstorm and a bush fire within of two weeks.
According to Mr Kyere, he, in the company of the District Chief Executive (DCE), Mr Nicholas Lenin Anane Agyei, and other officials from the district assembly, had visited the towns affected by the disasters to sympathise with the victims.
He stated that the district assembly had already gone to the aid of the victims, while the District NADMO office had also mobilised some second-hand clothing for their upkeep.
The District NADMO Co-ordinator, however, made a passionate appeal to the NADMO headquarters in Accra, the Member of Parliament (MP) for the area, Mr Ernest Debrah, who is also the Minister of Food and Agriculture, and others to come to the aid of the victims.
Mr Kyere disclosed that one Karikari from Susuanho, a farming community in the district, had been arrested as the prime suspect for the bushfire and had been remanded in prison custody by the Duayaw Nkwanta Circuit Court.
He appealed to the people to desist from bush burning, adding that even though the rains had begun early setting bush fire was still dangerous.
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