AFive-year development programme dubbed “Multi-Year Assistance Programme” (MYAP), has been held for farmers at Watro, a farming community in the Atebubu/Amantin District in Brong Ahafo.
The programme is aimed at increasing the productivity and production of farmers through improved skills to fight poverty and ensure food security in four selected districts in the Brong Ahafo and Northern regions
In all, 55 farmers groups in 48 farming communities in the four selected districts - Sene, Pru, Atebubu-Amantin districts in Brong Ahafo and East Gonja in the Northern Region benefited from the programme implemented by TechnoServe, a non-governmental organisation (NGO), and funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).
During the programme, which began in 2005 and ended in December, this year, 325 tonnes of a capacity warehouse with 224 metre square drying patio each were constructed in 18 communities of the four beneficiary districts.
Twelve multi -crop- demonstration farms were also established in 12 separate communities in the four beneficiary districts for 10,000 farmers.
About 1,200 farmers were also provided with farm inputs, grains ranging from improved seeds, garden lines and fertilisers among others to increase their yields.
Three hundred and thirty three adults learners, mostly women were also supported during the programme to undertake functional literacy numeric lessons.
Communities with acute water problems were provided with boreholes and rain harvesting facilities to address the problem of water-borne diseases.
At the durbar, Mr Theophilus Adjei, the acting Senior Programme Adviser to TechnoServe, said the objectives of the programme were to increase the incomes of the beneficiaries through enhanced agricultural marketing and strengthen the capacity of local organisation to carry out food security interventions at the community levels.
He said the beneficiaries of the programme were also trained in post-harvest activities and inventory credit through TechnoServe “trainers” workshops and the formation of farmers associations.
The programme greatly improved the quality of life of the farmers who had been introduced to new improved methodologies as well as the provision of infrastructure.
Mr Adjei stated further that farmers in the beneficiary districts had understood the need for business planning and management of their costs to ensure increased profits while they had been encouraged to deposit monthly savings in the group’s bank accounts and stock warehouse.
To ensure the sustainability of the gains made, he said, TechnoServe, through USAID, would provide the Department of Co-operatives, a government agency, with the needed logistics to continue with the project and assist the farmers to apply what they had learnt for their mutual benefit.
Mr Adjei commended the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MOFA), Crop Research Institute, Department of Co-operatives, Community Water and Sanitation Agency (CWSA), Non-Formal Education Division of the Ministry of Education and other NGOs for their support to meet the MYAP objectives.
On behalf of the beneficiaries, the District Chief Executive for Atebubu-Amantin, Mr Sanja Nanja, praised TechnoServe and its collaborators for supporting the farmers in the past years to improve their production, increase their incomes and also ensure food security.
He said TecnoServe would be remembered by the assembly as one of the most cherished development partners in the four beneficiary districts and pledged the collaboration of the assemblies to the Department of Co-operatives to ensure the sustainability of the programme.
Monday, December 28, 2009
Sunday, December 27, 2009
UPHOLD NEW CHIEFTAINCY ACT (PAGE 35, DEC 24)
A legal practitioner, Mr Peter K. O. Mensah, has urged traditional rulers to jealously guard and uphold the new Chieftaincy Act (Act 759), since it placed the institution on a more dignified status and devoid of governmental interference.
“Chiefs must regard the new Act very well because it brought back the dignity associated with the institution. With the new Act, chiefs must now stand firm since the law is supporting you. When you are able to do that, the chieftaincy institution will stand the test of time” he stressed
Mr Mensah said this when he presented a paper on the topic: “The tenets of the law”, at a two-day workshop for members of the Upper West Regional House of Chiefs in Wa.
The workshop was organised by the National House of Chiefs, with support from the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung (KAS).
Commenting on the involvement of chiefs in mainstream politics, Mr Mensah, who is also the counsel for the Brong Ahafo Regional House of Chiefs, stated that the institution was so sacred that considering the manner in which politics was practised in the country, no revered chief could withstand it.
“Chieftaincy is an institution which we will enjoy respecting”, adding there is the need for the respective chieftaincy institutions such as the regional and national houses of chiefs to work to come out with a code of ethics for chiefs in order to streamline their activities.
The Senior Programme Manager of KAS, Mr Isaac Owusu-Mensah, said the deliberations would pave the way for the chiefs to assess the tenets of the new chieftaincy act and respond to it appropriately.
Mr Owusu-Mensah also indicated the need for a documented code of ethics for chiefs to guide their actions.
“ As a national body which is duly recognised by the 1992 Constitution, it is time a code of ethics with its appropriate sanctions were developed to guide the conduct and behaviour of chiefs across the country irrespective of ones traditional area” he emphasised.
“Chiefs must regard the new Act very well because it brought back the dignity associated with the institution. With the new Act, chiefs must now stand firm since the law is supporting you. When you are able to do that, the chieftaincy institution will stand the test of time” he stressed
Mr Mensah said this when he presented a paper on the topic: “The tenets of the law”, at a two-day workshop for members of the Upper West Regional House of Chiefs in Wa.
The workshop was organised by the National House of Chiefs, with support from the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung (KAS).
Commenting on the involvement of chiefs in mainstream politics, Mr Mensah, who is also the counsel for the Brong Ahafo Regional House of Chiefs, stated that the institution was so sacred that considering the manner in which politics was practised in the country, no revered chief could withstand it.
“Chieftaincy is an institution which we will enjoy respecting”, adding there is the need for the respective chieftaincy institutions such as the regional and national houses of chiefs to work to come out with a code of ethics for chiefs in order to streamline their activities.
The Senior Programme Manager of KAS, Mr Isaac Owusu-Mensah, said the deliberations would pave the way for the chiefs to assess the tenets of the new chieftaincy act and respond to it appropriately.
Mr Owusu-Mensah also indicated the need for a documented code of ethics for chiefs to guide their actions.
“ As a national body which is duly recognised by the 1992 Constitution, it is time a code of ethics with its appropriate sanctions were developed to guide the conduct and behaviour of chiefs across the country irrespective of ones traditional area” he emphasised.
ADUNA THUMP ALL STARS (BACK PAGE, DEC 24)
Aduana Stars yesterday maintained their unbeaten home record when they notched a 1-0 win over visiting Wa All Stars in their Premier League encounter at Dormaa-Ahenkro.
Richard Addae scored the only goal of the match from a goal mouth melee with only five minutes to the end of the match.
Richard Addae scored the only goal of the match from a goal mouth melee with only five minutes to the end of the match.
Sunday, December 20, 2009
BA YOUTH ORGANISER RETAINS POSITION (PAGE 14, DEC 19)
Mr Mohammed Seidu, aka Maha, the incumbent Brong Ahafo Regional Youth Organiser of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), has retained his position at the party’s delegate’s conference held in Sunyani, the regional capital, to elect youth and women’s organisers for the party in the region.
He polled 38 votes out of a total of 45 votes cast to beat his opponent, James Oteng Danquah, an Instructor at the Sunyani Polytechnic (S-Poly) and former President of the S-Poly Student Representative Council (SRC).
Mr Kwadwo Takyi-Ahene, the incumbent Deputy NDC Regional Youth Organiser, was also retained, while Madam Florence Anning, and Georgina Puopiel were also elected unopposed as the Women’s Organiser and Deputy Women’s Organisers respectively.
The election was supervised by Mr Kofi Adams and Madam Agnes Adoma, National Deputy Youth Organiser and Women’s Organiser respectively and witnessed by the Deputy Brong Ahafo Regional Minister, Mr Eric Opoku.
Later in a brief remark, Mr Adams, who is also the spokesperson for former President J.J. Rawlings, cautioned the youth of the party against forming structures outside the party’s structures, and added that any body who wanted to join the party, could do so at the branch and constituency levels.
He disclosed that the relationship between former President Rawlings and the sitting President, Prof. J.E.A Mills, was cordial and the two had been meeting from time to time to discuss pertinent issues concerning the progress of the nation, among others.
Mr Adams noted that the recent criticisms by former President Rawlings against President Mills was to serve as a self-correcting measure and not aimed at destroying the Mills Presidency as perceived.
For her part, Madam Adoma advised the officers-elect to work hard to ensure that the party retained power in the 2012 general election, and also expressed her gratitude to the delegates for ensuring a peaceful election.
The Deputy Brong Ahafo Regional Minister, Mr Eric Opoku, in his address, called on the rank and file of the party in the region to close their ranks, bury their differences and always endeavour to use the party’s internal mechanisms to resolve their differences.
He also urged party supporters not to be complacent, but to work harder than before to ensure that the party improved on its electoral fortunes in the 2012 elections.
Mr Seidu, in his acceptance speech, thanked the delegates for retaining him and pledged to work with all, especially his rival in the contest, to help improve on the record of the party in the 2008 general election.
He polled 38 votes out of a total of 45 votes cast to beat his opponent, James Oteng Danquah, an Instructor at the Sunyani Polytechnic (S-Poly) and former President of the S-Poly Student Representative Council (SRC).
Mr Kwadwo Takyi-Ahene, the incumbent Deputy NDC Regional Youth Organiser, was also retained, while Madam Florence Anning, and Georgina Puopiel were also elected unopposed as the Women’s Organiser and Deputy Women’s Organisers respectively.
The election was supervised by Mr Kofi Adams and Madam Agnes Adoma, National Deputy Youth Organiser and Women’s Organiser respectively and witnessed by the Deputy Brong Ahafo Regional Minister, Mr Eric Opoku.
Later in a brief remark, Mr Adams, who is also the spokesperson for former President J.J. Rawlings, cautioned the youth of the party against forming structures outside the party’s structures, and added that any body who wanted to join the party, could do so at the branch and constituency levels.
He disclosed that the relationship between former President Rawlings and the sitting President, Prof. J.E.A Mills, was cordial and the two had been meeting from time to time to discuss pertinent issues concerning the progress of the nation, among others.
Mr Adams noted that the recent criticisms by former President Rawlings against President Mills was to serve as a self-correcting measure and not aimed at destroying the Mills Presidency as perceived.
For her part, Madam Adoma advised the officers-elect to work hard to ensure that the party retained power in the 2012 general election, and also expressed her gratitude to the delegates for ensuring a peaceful election.
The Deputy Brong Ahafo Regional Minister, Mr Eric Opoku, in his address, called on the rank and file of the party in the region to close their ranks, bury their differences and always endeavour to use the party’s internal mechanisms to resolve their differences.
He also urged party supporters not to be complacent, but to work harder than before to ensure that the party improved on its electoral fortunes in the 2012 elections.
Mr Seidu, in his acceptance speech, thanked the delegates for retaining him and pledged to work with all, especially his rival in the contest, to help improve on the record of the party in the 2008 general election.
3 SUSPECTED ARMED ROBBERS REMANDED (PAGE 27, MIRROR, DEC 19)
From Samuel Duodu, Kintampo.
The Kintampo Magistrate’s Court has remanded in prison custody three suspected armed robbers who allegedly shot and killed the driver of one of two vehicles they attacked on the outskirts of Gulumpe on the Brong Ahafo side of the Kintampo-Tamale road.
Issifu Zebrilla, Abdallah Yakubu and Bonya Daboase were part of a 10-member highway armed robbery gang that attacked passengers on board two vehicles after they had mounted a roadblock in the early hours of December 4, 2009.
Yakubu and Daboase, who are said to be the leaders of the gang, were arrested by the police at their hideout while the police have intensified investigations to enable them to arrest the seven others.
They were charged with robbery and murder but their pleas were not taken. They would reappear before the court, presided over by Mr Albert Zoogah, on December 21, 2009.
Presenting the facts, Sergeant (Sgt) Tim Ahiaduvor said on December 12, 2009 the robbers, numbering about 10, who had blocked the road with some logs, intercepted the Kumasi-bound Mercedes Benz bus from Bawku being driven by Kwaku Acheampong at about 2.30 a.m.
Sgt Ahiaduvor said the robbers shot into the bus injuring Acheampong and two other passengers, thereby forcing the injured driver to block the road with his vehicle.
He said some minutes later, a Yutong Bus, driven by Abdulai Jamoni, from Accra towards Tamale arrived at the scene and the driver, sensing danger, tried to escape by reversing but was shot and killed by the robbers, forcing the vehicle into a ditch.
He said the armed robbers, having succeeded in stopping the two vehicles, ordered the passengers at gunpoint to lie on the ground and robbed them of their mobile phones and monies, after which they fled into a nearby bush.
The prosecutor said the police were informed and the injured were rushed to the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital in Kumasi while the body of the deceased was deposited at the Tamale Teaching Hospital mortuary.
Sgt Ahiaduvor said on December 5, 2009, following a tip-off, Zebrilla was arrested by the Buipe Police and a search conducted at his residence revealed seven mobile phones with their chips removed, and cash of GH¢188.00 and 10,000 CFA.
Sgt Ahiaduvor said during interrogation Zebrilla admitted being a member of the robbery gang, adding that the items and monies retrieved from his house were his share of the booty.
The prosecutor said Zebrilla mentioned Yakubu, Daboase, Allai Fulani, Hamidu Fulani, Bukari Naya, Mahamadu, Belembe Yakubu and two others as his accomplices.
Sgt Ahiaduvor said on December 7, 2009, Yakubu and Daboase were also nabbed. Yakubu was found with a stolen mobile phone while Daboase had three phones and GH¢1,350 cash.
It would be recalled that the Mirror published Zebrilla’s arrest and the attempt by the police in the Brong Ahafo Region to get at the other nine suspects who were then on the run.
The Kintampo Magistrate’s Court has remanded in prison custody three suspected armed robbers who allegedly shot and killed the driver of one of two vehicles they attacked on the outskirts of Gulumpe on the Brong Ahafo side of the Kintampo-Tamale road.
Issifu Zebrilla, Abdallah Yakubu and Bonya Daboase were part of a 10-member highway armed robbery gang that attacked passengers on board two vehicles after they had mounted a roadblock in the early hours of December 4, 2009.
Yakubu and Daboase, who are said to be the leaders of the gang, were arrested by the police at their hideout while the police have intensified investigations to enable them to arrest the seven others.
They were charged with robbery and murder but their pleas were not taken. They would reappear before the court, presided over by Mr Albert Zoogah, on December 21, 2009.
Presenting the facts, Sergeant (Sgt) Tim Ahiaduvor said on December 12, 2009 the robbers, numbering about 10, who had blocked the road with some logs, intercepted the Kumasi-bound Mercedes Benz bus from Bawku being driven by Kwaku Acheampong at about 2.30 a.m.
Sgt Ahiaduvor said the robbers shot into the bus injuring Acheampong and two other passengers, thereby forcing the injured driver to block the road with his vehicle.
He said some minutes later, a Yutong Bus, driven by Abdulai Jamoni, from Accra towards Tamale arrived at the scene and the driver, sensing danger, tried to escape by reversing but was shot and killed by the robbers, forcing the vehicle into a ditch.
He said the armed robbers, having succeeded in stopping the two vehicles, ordered the passengers at gunpoint to lie on the ground and robbed them of their mobile phones and monies, after which they fled into a nearby bush.
The prosecutor said the police were informed and the injured were rushed to the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital in Kumasi while the body of the deceased was deposited at the Tamale Teaching Hospital mortuary.
Sgt Ahiaduvor said on December 5, 2009, following a tip-off, Zebrilla was arrested by the Buipe Police and a search conducted at his residence revealed seven mobile phones with their chips removed, and cash of GH¢188.00 and 10,000 CFA.
Sgt Ahiaduvor said during interrogation Zebrilla admitted being a member of the robbery gang, adding that the items and monies retrieved from his house were his share of the booty.
The prosecutor said Zebrilla mentioned Yakubu, Daboase, Allai Fulani, Hamidu Fulani, Bukari Naya, Mahamadu, Belembe Yakubu and two others as his accomplices.
Sgt Ahiaduvor said on December 7, 2009, Yakubu and Daboase were also nabbed. Yakubu was found with a stolen mobile phone while Daboase had three phones and GH¢1,350 cash.
It would be recalled that the Mirror published Zebrilla’s arrest and the attempt by the police in the Brong Ahafo Region to get at the other nine suspects who were then on the run.
OBEY ROAD TRAFFIC REGULATIONS (MIRROR, PAGE 35, DEC 19)
From Samuel Duodu, Techiman.
The Brong Ahafo Regional Police Commander, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCOP) Seth Charles Oteng, has called on road users to obey road traffic regulations to avoid fatal accidents before, during and after the Christmas and New Year festivities.
Mr Oteng noted that it was during this period that more people travelled while drivers cashed in to make more profit through speeding, overloading and reckless driving.
He made the call at the regional launch of this year’s National Road Safety Campaign for the Christmas and New Year periods dubbed “Arrive Alive” at the Techiman Main Lorry Park last Tuesday.
The campaign is to remind all road users, especially commercial drivers, of the need to be cautious on the road and strictly observe road traffic rules and regulations to avoid accidents during and after the festivities.
An 11-member Road Safety Committee for the Techiman Municipality was inaugurated at the ceremony.
The day was also marked with a street procession of placard-bearing schoolchildren. some some of the placards read “Road Safety is a shared responsibility”, “If you drink, do not drive and if you drive do not drink”, “Avoid speeding and wrongful overtaking” through some of the principal streets of the municipality to heighten awareness of road safety.
DCOP Oteng, who is also the Chairman of the Regional Road Safety Committee (RRSC), said the festivities also marked a period of joy and merrymaking with excessive drinking of alcoholic beverages by drivers resulting in speeding and wrongful overtaking.
He therefore reminded drivers that section (4) of Act 683 (2004) as amended by Act 761 (2008) permitted alcohol levels of 0.08 per cent when driving and expressed the hope that drivers would strictly observe this regulation to avoid any catastrophe during the period.
“If you drink, do not drive and if you drive do not drink,” he advised the drivers.
Mr Daniel Wuako, Regional Director of the NRSC, said the Brong Ahafo office of the NRSC in collaboration with the RRSC and the Municipal and District Road Safety Committees had drawn up a number of activities to sustain the campaign.
Mr Wuako said road safety was a shared and collective responsibility and therefore called on all and sundry to play their roles to ensure an accident-free Christmas and New Year and also prevent the carnage on the road in the country and the nation as a whole.
Mr Noble Appiah, the Executive Director of the NRSC, who inaugurated the Techiman Municipal Road Safety Committee, stressed the need for all road users to be cautious to reduce avoidable and preventable road accidents.
The Omanhene of the Techiman Traditional Area, Oseadeeyo Akumfi Ameyaw IV, who chaired the function, stressed the need for drivers and passengers to ensure an accident-free Christmas and New Year.
The Brong Ahafo Regional Police Commander, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCOP) Seth Charles Oteng, has called on road users to obey road traffic regulations to avoid fatal accidents before, during and after the Christmas and New Year festivities.
Mr Oteng noted that it was during this period that more people travelled while drivers cashed in to make more profit through speeding, overloading and reckless driving.
He made the call at the regional launch of this year’s National Road Safety Campaign for the Christmas and New Year periods dubbed “Arrive Alive” at the Techiman Main Lorry Park last Tuesday.
The campaign is to remind all road users, especially commercial drivers, of the need to be cautious on the road and strictly observe road traffic rules and regulations to avoid accidents during and after the festivities.
An 11-member Road Safety Committee for the Techiman Municipality was inaugurated at the ceremony.
The day was also marked with a street procession of placard-bearing schoolchildren. some some of the placards read “Road Safety is a shared responsibility”, “If you drink, do not drive and if you drive do not drink”, “Avoid speeding and wrongful overtaking” through some of the principal streets of the municipality to heighten awareness of road safety.
DCOP Oteng, who is also the Chairman of the Regional Road Safety Committee (RRSC), said the festivities also marked a period of joy and merrymaking with excessive drinking of alcoholic beverages by drivers resulting in speeding and wrongful overtaking.
He therefore reminded drivers that section (4) of Act 683 (2004) as amended by Act 761 (2008) permitted alcohol levels of 0.08 per cent when driving and expressed the hope that drivers would strictly observe this regulation to avoid any catastrophe during the period.
“If you drink, do not drive and if you drive do not drink,” he advised the drivers.
Mr Daniel Wuako, Regional Director of the NRSC, said the Brong Ahafo office of the NRSC in collaboration with the RRSC and the Municipal and District Road Safety Committees had drawn up a number of activities to sustain the campaign.
Mr Wuako said road safety was a shared and collective responsibility and therefore called on all and sundry to play their roles to ensure an accident-free Christmas and New Year and also prevent the carnage on the road in the country and the nation as a whole.
Mr Noble Appiah, the Executive Director of the NRSC, who inaugurated the Techiman Municipal Road Safety Committee, stressed the need for all road users to be cautious to reduce avoidable and preventable road accidents.
The Omanhene of the Techiman Traditional Area, Oseadeeyo Akumfi Ameyaw IV, who chaired the function, stressed the need for drivers and passengers to ensure an accident-free Christmas and New Year.
Friday, December 18, 2009
ADJEI TO GO FOR NDC RE-ELECTION (PAGE 15, DEC 18)
The Brong Ahafo Regional Secretary of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Mr Justice Samuel Adjei, has given the assurance that he will use his vast experience in politics to mobilise the needed support to help the NDC win the 2012 general election.
He said if he were elected the party’s regional secretary, he would continue to rely on his all-inclusive policy to ensure that the modest gains chalked up by the party in the region in the 2008 general election was sustained.
Mr Adjei, who also contested as the NDC Parliamentary candidate for Sunyani East in the 2008 election, had called at the Daily Graphic Office in Sunyani to declare his intention of going for re-election.
“I will like to appeal to the rank and file of the party, especially the regional delegates, to elect me as the regional secretary to reshape the forward march of the party,” he said.
Mr Adjei noted that under their leadership as the regional executives they were able to bring the NDC to power, saying even though we lost marginally in the first round of the 2008 election we were able to marshal the force to have a slim victory over the New Patriotic Party (NPP) in the second round.
He said that the feat achieved by the party in the 2008 general election was the result of the hard work of the party.
He said he would work with all to ensure that the NDC achieved its agenda of a better Ghana as well as ensure victory for the party in the 2012 election.
He said if he were elected the party’s regional secretary, he would continue to rely on his all-inclusive policy to ensure that the modest gains chalked up by the party in the region in the 2008 general election was sustained.
Mr Adjei, who also contested as the NDC Parliamentary candidate for Sunyani East in the 2008 election, had called at the Daily Graphic Office in Sunyani to declare his intention of going for re-election.
“I will like to appeal to the rank and file of the party, especially the regional delegates, to elect me as the regional secretary to reshape the forward march of the party,” he said.
Mr Adjei noted that under their leadership as the regional executives they were able to bring the NDC to power, saying even though we lost marginally in the first round of the 2008 election we were able to marshal the force to have a slim victory over the New Patriotic Party (NPP) in the second round.
He said that the feat achieved by the party in the 2008 general election was the result of the hard work of the party.
He said he would work with all to ensure that the NDC achieved its agenda of a better Ghana as well as ensure victory for the party in the 2012 election.
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