NDC SUPPORTERS POUR OUT TO WELCOME MILLS (PAGE 13)

SUPPORTERS of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) in the Upper West Region reaffirmed the stronghold accolade of the party in the region when they poured out in their numbers to welcome the party's flag bearer, Prof John Evans Atta Mills, to Wa.
Prof Mills, whose visit was preceded by that of the former President and founder of the NDC, Flt Lt Jerry John Rawlings, came on the heels of that of the flag bearer of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo.
Prior to his arrival, enthusiastic supporters of the NDC met the convoy of Prof Mills on the Wa-Jirapa road and led it through the Wa Market area to the rally grounds.
From teenagers to potential voters and the very old supporters and sympathisers of the NDC from all walks of life kept faith with their most-loved party as they followed the flag bearer through the principal streets of the town.
The crowd was so thick that the police and other security personnel on duty had a hectic time controlling it and in what is gradually becoming a ritual during visits of presidential candidates to the Wa municipality, some motorcycle riders who rode recklesslessly were involved in accidents and were rushed to the hospital.
On arrival at the rally grounds, Prof Mills was greeted with thunderous cheers and responded with the "yereseseamu" symbol, which was simultaneously replicated by the supporters.
Addressing the crowd, a former Regional Minister of the Upper West Region, Alhaji Amidu Sulemana, told the crowd that "We are only asking for a change".
He said the NPP had left all the schools, electricity projects and road projects in the Upper West unattended to and, therefore, they must change the government for the NDC to come and continue with its good works.
The National Womens Organiser of the NDC, Madam Ama Benyiwa Doe, asked the people to examine their lifestyle and see if there had been any improvement since the NPP came to power.
She said the NPP used that message in the past elections, but because it realised it had failed Ghanaians, it was not using it anymore.
She stressed the need for the people of the Upper West Region to give the NDC the chance to come and improve their living standards.
For his part, Prof Mills promised to re-construct the roads linking the Upper West and the Upper East regions as well as the one linking the Upper West to the Northern Region.
He assured them of a truthful, honest and sincere leadership when he became President, and thanked the people for the overwhelming reception accorded him and his entourage.
That, he said, was a clear manifestation that come December 7, 2008, the NDC was going to win the elections.

CULTIVATE SORGHUM IN LARGE QUANTITIES — BENSON (PAGE 20, GRAPHIC, NOV 18, 2008)

THE Upper West Regional Minister, Mr George Hikah Benson, has advised farmers in the region to cultivate the new sorghum variety (Kapaala) in large quantities to meet the demands of the brewery industry.
He said the advice had become imperative as Guinness Ghana Breweries had indicated its readiness to purchase more of the cereal.
Mr Benson was addressing the 24th farmers’ day celebration at Lawra.
He stated that the preparedness of Guinness Ghana Breweries to buy the cereal, the perennial problems of post harvest losses and lack of market for the crop would be a thing of the past.
Touching on methods needed to improve crop yield in the coming year, Mr Benson urged farmers to do away with activities which led to the destruction of farmlands, such as bushfires and the wrong application of agricultural chemicals.
“We are entering the harmarttan season so I urge all farmers and non -farmers to desist from indiscriminate bush burning with its attendant negative impact on the national economy,” the regional minister stressed.

WIZZY WILL NIGHT CLUB OPENS IN WA (GRAPHIC SHOWBIZ, NOV 20, 2008)

By Chris Nunoo

Entertainment in Wa, the capital of the Upper West Region in particular and the entire region has been given a boost with the opening of the first ever regular night club in the municipality.
Known as the “Wizzy Vill” nite club, it operates on Fridays, where ladies were allowed free entry and on Saturdays in the evening. Disc Jockeys adding up to the excitement by way of providing the best of music to patrons are the “Music Ambassador”, DJ Tee Jay of Radio Upper West and DJ Bacteria from Sunyani.
The Chief Executive Officer of Wizzy Vill, Mr Justin Kamboke alias Wizzy, told Showbiz that the main target for the establishment of the club was not the students as it was being speculated.
He said, Wa, was fast growing and therefore there was the need for some form of regular entertainment to make the municipality attractive enough and lively for all.
Mr Kamboke himself, a graduate from the Wa campus of the University for Development Studies (UDS) shared his personal experiences and said “When we were on campus there were times one would want to release some tension but where do one go in Wa? He asked and pointed out that the boredom in Wa coupled with other unfriendly ways of doing things made the municipality unattractive to many people particularly students.
Mr Kamboke further said based upon that perception he liaised with the owner of Maxisco drinking spot at Mmangu, a Wa suburb, to build the nite club.
Mr Kamboke explained that even though it has started operating, there was still more room for improvement on the sound quality, the lighting system as well as create a VIP segment.
He added that there were plans to also expand the bar in the club saying, “Presently, Wa is the place to be”.
With this, Mr Kamboke said first time visitors to the region could at least have a place for relaxation once in a while.
In a related development, the Regional Police Command has also taken delivery of musical equipment. Already trained bandsmen and women from the Ghana Police Service are therefore ready to spice up the entertainment scene in the municipality with distinct highlife songs on Fridays and Saturdays at the Wa police headquarters canteen.

CAMPAIGN TRAIL OF NPP SHAKES WA

For the first time in sixteen years, the campaign trail of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) shook the foundations of Wa, the Upper West regional capital, with a rally held at Timdamba JHS park.
The rally, which attracted a large crowd, also ignited the hitherto low key political activity in the region and close to an hour after the rally, Wa experienced one of its worst vehicular traffic jams, especially between the roads from the Wa central market traffic lights through to the junction linking the main Wa-Kumasi road.
Around 12 noon, supporters of the NPP and other sympathisers clad in the party colours, could be seen in almost every part of the municipality, many of them on motorcycles.
Others also sat on top of vehicles fixed with musical gadgets and danced through the principal streets to the rally grounds where they waited anxiously for the flag bearer and his running mate.
Then came the moment they were all waiting for, when Nana Akufo-Addo, followed by his running mate, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, drove in open top vehicles with smiles on their faces as they waved to the crowds amidst cheers from their supporters.
After a brief Muslim prayer, the Wa Municipal Chief Executive, Mr Mohamadu Abdul Aziz, set the ball rolling and told the supporters why they had gathered there and why they should vote for the NPP on December 7, 2008.
A Minister of State at the Office of the Attorney General and parliamentary candidate for the NPP in the Lawra/Nandom Constituency, Mr Ambrose Dery, educated the crowd on the ballot paper.
He said the NPP is number one on the ballot paper and that they must be vigilant and always look out for the elephant emblem.
The crowd roared when Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo preceded his speech with some youthful dance. He stressed the need for all to guard the peace the country was enjoying.
He said politics and elections were about different ideologies and choices and not about war and, therefore, as pacesetters in violence-free democratic elections on the continent there was the need to prove to the entire world that Ghana could also hold democratic elections devoid of violence.
He reiterated his resolve to improve conditions through the Northern Development Authority, which would be supported with seed money of one billion cedis.
This, he said, was the only way to bridge the widening development gap between the north and the south which had compelled most of the youth from the north to migrate to the south to seek non-existing jobs. Nana Akufo-Addo addressed a similar rally at Tumu in the Sissala East District.
Other speakers included Mr Yaw Osafo-Maafo, Mr Jake Obetsebi Lamptey, Godfrey Bayoung Tangou and Mr Yaw Boakye Agyarko.

ST FRANCIS OF ASISI GIRLS SCHOOL LAUNCHES 50TH ANNIVERSARY ([PAGE 11)

SAINT Francis of Assisi Girls Senior High School (SHS) in Jirapa, in the Jirapa District in the Upper West Region, has launched its golden jubilee anniversary.
The school, which is the oldest SHS in both the Upper East and West regions, is also the third SHS in the three northern regions after Tamale Senior High School and St Charles Senior High School also at Tamale.
The ceremony, which is on the theme: "Fifty Years of Quality Catholic Education: Empowering the Girl-child", was graced by past students, priests, parents and students. It also marked the beginning of a series of activities earmarked for the anniversary, which would be climaxed in September, next year.
Established in 1959 by the Catholic church, the objective was to encourage girls in the northern part of the country, some of whom were coming from various socio-cultural backgrounds, to embrace education. It was also to cultivate and nurture the girls academically and spiritually to be conscious of the their duties as women and to become productive citizens.
Launching the anniversary, the Deputy Upper West Regional Minister, Mrs Winifred Dy-Yakah, paid tribute to the church for its contribution to the region, and described Saint Francis SHS as one of the landmark contributions of the church.
She said the government placed high premium on the empowerment of women, hence its support to every step intended to champion the education of the girl-child.
Mrs Dy-Yakah, therefore, charged all stakeholders, particularly past students of the school, to be at the forefront in ensuring that the school continued to produce fully baked SHS graduates with very outstanding results.
She commended the entire staff and students for the peaceful atmosphere the school continued to enjoy.
The headmistress of the school, Rev. Sister Janis Gbie, expressed appreciation to all and sundry who had, in diverse ways, contributed to the growth and development of the school within the last 50 years.
She said inadequate boreholes on the school premises was making life unbearable for both students and teachers, adding that, "The school presently has two boreholes that are not functioning effectively to meet its water supply needs.”
On the academic performance of the school, the headmistress said results of the school had not been stable in recent times, but latest results revealed a remarkable improvement of 100 per cent passes.
She commended the Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFund) for its continued support to the school, and mentioned the construction of a three-storey girls hostel and a library complex as some of the projects being supported by the GETFund.
Rev Sister Gbie reiterated the need for the school to be fenced to ward off intruders and stray animals.

JIRAPA/LAMBUSSIE NHIS HOLDS AGM (PAGE 20)

THE Board Chairman of the Jirapa/Lambussie District Mutual Health Insurance Scheme (DMHIS), Mr W. Boguoh, has observed that failure by members of the scheme to renew their membership could be a serious setback to the growth of the scheme.
He said a critical analysis of the active membership of the scheme was worrying as the scheme data indicated that only 21,408 out of 39,554 members whose cards expired as of September 2008 had renewed their membership.
Mr Baguoh has, therefore, charged the publicity unit of the DMHIS to redirect its educational messages by stressing more on the renewal of membership.
He said that was the only means to sustain the scheme.
Mr Baguoh was addressing the fourth annual general meeting (AGM) of the Jirapa/Lambussie MHIS at Jirapa.
He said in order to make the renewal of membership more attractive, incentive packages for clients must be introduced to motivate members to continuously renew their membership.
For that reason, Boguoh urged policy makers to hasten the process of decoupling of children under the scheme.
On the performance of the scheme, the board chairman said as of the end of December, last year, a total of GH¢78,804 had been collected as premium while GH¢72,473 had also been collected as of September, this year, thus bringing the total premium mobilised since the inception of the scheme to GH¢233,785.
“The scheme has since July, this year, implemented the free maternal care for pregnant women with the registration and issuance of cards to 900 women,” he noted and commended the government for the policy.
Mr Baguoh said the policy would go a long way to minimise the current high child infant and maternal mortality in the region.
Four agents of the scheme, according to Mr Baguoh, were handed over to the police for embezzling funds paid to them by clients.
Mr Baguoh advised other agents to desist from such a bad practice, as management of the scheme would deal drastically with any culprit.
He commended the staff, the agents and the community committee members for working hard to rope in more members.
The management also honoured 24 agents of the scheme to motivate them and to encourage others to show more commitment to sustenance of the scheme.

FIRE DESTROYS WAREHOUSE IN WA (BACK PAGE)

THE offices of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA) in Wa, the Upper West Regional capital, were yesterday exposed to the vagaries of the harmattan when fire from the surrounding bushes engulfed a sheanut warehouse.
Officials of the MoFA could not immediately tell who might have set the fire but attributed it to the habitual indiscriminate burning of bushes by unidentified people who normally combed the bushes for rats during the harmattan.
They could not also give the estimated cost of the items destroyed by the fire but when this reporter enquired from a storekeeper and one of the administrators, they claimed the warehouse had been rented out to a private entity, the International Business Group Ghana Limited, and that they were not really concerned about what went on in it.
Eyewitnesses told the Daily Graphic that but for the hard work of personnel of the Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS), the fire would have extended to an adjacent building where new motorcycles, parts for new tractors and power tillers, among other new equipment for the regional MoFA office, were being kept.
As of 12 noon when the Daily Graphic got to the scene, personnel from the Fire Service, led by the Regional Commander, Mr Joseph Ahinsah, were busily struggling to put out the fire.
However, their efforts were nearly thwarted as the lights went off and there was no power to pump water into the water tenders.
Speaking to the Daily Graphic, Mr Ahinsah praised the personnel for their effort and cautioned residents of the region to desist from setting fire recklessly.
He warned of very serious disasters if they continued to burn bushes indiscriminately and particularly as the harmattan had just set in.
The Regional Director of Agriculture, Mr Emmanuel Eledi, who was visibly disturbed by the development, said, "Barely two weeks ago I had asked that a fire belt should be created around the office but that had not been done till now."

TIMBILLAH GIVES ASSURANCE OF EFFECTIVE SECURITY (PAGE 16)

THE Director-General in charge of Operations of the Ghana Police Service, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCOP), Patrick Timbillah, has assured the electorate of effective security arrangements in areas designated as “flash points” during the December general election.
He noted that even though some areas and polling stations had been marked as “flash points” there was still no room for complacency on the part of security personnel so far as other area and polling stations were concerned.
That, he said, was to make sure that other polling stations were calm and devoid of any form of disturbances.
“So far 1,399 flash points have been identified throughout the country and this is based on the conduct of the people during public events,” he stated.
DCOP Timbillah gave the assurance when he addressed a meeting of security personnel stationed in the Upper West Region.
It was attended by the General Officer Commanding the Northern sector, Brigadier General K. Adinkra, officials of the BNI, Police, CEPS and other security agencies.
The exercise, which has been code-named “Exercise Peace Angel”, will come off on November 16, 2008 and it is aimed at harmonising the operations of the security services to be able to brainstorm on the possible reaction of people, as well as to integrate and develop the spirit of teamwork among them.
DCOP Timbillah advised members of communities which had been earmarked as flash points not to be intimidated by the security arrangements during the December elections, saying, “When they conduct themselves well, there would be no problem”.
In a presentation on the role of the National Electoral Security Task Force (NESTF), the Police Director of Operations stressed the need for improved communications systems across the country in order to enhance the operations of security personnel during the December 7, 2008 elections.
That, he said, would enable the personnel to respond faster to complaints during the process.
“Telephone and all forms of communications systems must be put in good order before the elections,” he pointed out and advised security personnel not to interfere in the duties of the presiding officers.
DCOP Timbillah further urged the electoral commission to intensify its education on the dos and don’ts of the election.
The Upper West Regional Police Commander, DCOP Kwasi Appiah Boateng, said security personnel must exercise power in humility, while taking into consideration the rights of the people.
He noted that the electioneering period was the time for personnel to exhibit outmost professionalism.
He also appealed to leaders of political parties to reciprocate the efforts of the security services in order to ensure an incident-free electioneering.
The Regional Director of the Electoral Commission, Mr Yahaya Mahama, took the participants through the process of the elections and what was expected of security personnel before, during and after the elections.

PARTIES MUST ENGAGE CREDIBLE POLLING AGENTS (PAGE 16)

THE Director in charge of Research and Monitoring of the Electoral Commission (EC), Mr Amadu Sulley, has stressed the need for political parties to engage the services of polling agents who are self-disciplined, loyal and prepared to go all out in fighting the cause of the candidates and parties which they represent.
That, according to him, was because polling agents played a very crucial role in ensuring the successful conduct of elections.
He added that the EC got worried when parties brought in agents who were difficult to train because they were illiterate.
Mr Sulley said these when he addressed a day’s workshop on election reportage for media practitioners in Wa in the Upper West Region.
It was organised by the KAB Governance Consult with support from the Netherlands Institute for Multiparty Democracy (NIMD).
“Polling agents could be professors, doctors and lawyers; it is not just jobs for the boys,” he said.
He urged polling agents of political parties to feel free during the day of elections but advised that they must position themselves in such a way as not to interfere in the electoral process.
On the role of the media in ensuring a successful conduct of the elections, Mr Sulley described journalists as critical stakeholders in the electioneering process and advised them against the use of inflammatory words during and after the elections.
He cited the use of words like “rigging”, “free and fair” and “fraud” which could undermine the process and inflame passions.
He, therefore, advised media practitioners to be very circumspect by using the right terminologies according to the electoral language.
He said irregularities did not mean rigging and added that in situations where journalists were in doubt about certain issues, they must make the offices of the EC their first port of call to cross-check their information before publication.
Mr Sulley also took the opportunity to enlighten members of the media on what is expected of the EC, the electorate, security agencies as well as other stakeholders during and after the elections.
The Electoral officer in charge of the Upper West Region, Mr Ebenezer Aggery-Fynn, who spoke on the integrity of Ghana’s electoral process, said Ghana was able to gain very positive international recognition with respects to the conduct of elections and therefore there was the need to safeguard that recognition during the December general election.
He said the media was in a very sensitive position just as the EC and therefore there was the need to co-operate and work hand in hand in ensuring a successful electoral process.
For his part, The Upper West Regional Director of the EC, Mr Yahaya Mahama, said this years elections was crucial in the history of the country, hence the need for media practitioners to disseminate information which would soothe the pain and calm the nerves of people.
He also emphasised the need for media practitioners to educate the electorate on policies of the presidential candidates to be able to make informed decisions on the day of voting.

POLITICAL ACTIVITIES IN UPPER WEST LOW KEYED (PAGE 16)

During the earlier part of this year, the Upper West Region was one of the busiest places in terms of politicking in the country with many presidential candidates frequenting the region to campaign and to pay courtesy calls on chiefs, student groups and civil society organisations, among others.
However, the trend has surprisingly changed as it looks as if nothing is going on. Supporters of the political parties are therefore speculating as to the kind of strategies the aspiring Members of Parliament in the region or their presidential candidates are adopting.
Unlike the southern part of the country where political rallies are being held almost every weekend and at times even during weekdays in communities, districts and at constituency levels, in the Upper West Region the strategies being adopted by some of the politicians seem to be like guerrilla warfare tactics, where some aspirants, particularly some of the incumbents sneak in from Accra to their constituencies and return to Accra without even media personnel getting a hint about their arrival.
There were instances where presidential candidates arrive in the region without even the media getting wind of it. A typical example is when Dr Edward Mahama of the PNC recently visited. None of the media houses was aware of it. Sometimes the security agencies, particularly the police, are not informed to at least offer some security, since every presidential candidate is a potential president of the country.
Notable among some of these parties are the Convention People’s Party (CPP), the Democratic Freedom Party (DFP) and the People’s National Convention (PNC). Since the beginning of the year, one can even count on the fingertips the number of rallies some of these parties have held.
All one sees in constituencies across the region are posters of candidates. There are flags, which are also fixed on electric poles, perhaps depicting that the respective parties are strong on the ground in those areas.
In some constituencies such as Wa Central and Jirapa, sheds have been constructed and labelled as special places for the various political parties. A number of the youthful supporters go there to deliberate on issues emanating from campaign tours and how the battle is to be won.
While some people are of the view that the present low political activity in the region is positive, there are many who also think otherwise.
Speaking to the Daily Graphic, Mr Abass Mumuni, a civil servant, was of the view that too much of political activity can divert attention from the many development issues, which are very close to the heart of the people.
Madam Esi Yamoaba, a drinking bar attendant, for her part, says too much of politics brings a lot of tension to the area but was quick to added that we are in political season and therefore nothing can be done to stop it.
Miss Jane Kunsaanah of the Legal Aid Department in Wa said she was only interested in working to put money in her pocket and therefore was not bothered whether the politicians were campaigning or not.
She said although she would participate in the electoral process, she would not allow promises from the numerous politicians to distract her.
Mr James Wor, a parliamentary candidate for the Democratic Freedom Party (DFP), in the Nadowli East Constituency, said organising big rallies were very expensive and that sometimes it was better to move to the people in their communities and houses to address them.
He was also of the view that many candidates perhaps did not attach much importance to the media coverage of such events, hence their inability to invite or inform the media houses when holding their campaign rallies.
The Upper West Regional Secretary of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Mr Kale Caesar, explained that rallies were held at the constituency level, but they might not be very big compared to rallies in the south.
He said the scattered settlements in northern Ghana made it difficult to know whether rallies were being held or not.
For his part, the Regional Youth Organiser of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Mr Hafiz Bin Salih, was hopeful that the region would witness some form of activity before the end of this month because the NPP had lined up a number of events to be held in the various parts of the region.
He, however, cautioned that those activities should not be used to foment trouble by activists of other political parties.

NANDOM SENIOR HIGH LAUNCHES 40TH ANNIVERSARY (PAGE 11)

THE Upper West Region may not be endowed with a lot of natural resources as compared to the other regions in the country, but through the immense contributions of the Catholic Missionaries who settled there, the region can boast many educational institutions, some of which could be said to be among the best in the country.
In 1968, through the vision of the late Archbishop of the Northern Diocese of the Catholic Church, Peter Cardinal Porekuu Dery, the then brothers of Immaculate Conception (FIC) decided to establish a secondary school in Kaleo, in the present Nadowli District.
The students population of the school, now known as the Nandom Senior High School (NANSEC), grew from an initial number of 38, when it started in Kaleo to 617 students in Nandom.
The school chalked up academic successes during the period students sat for the General Certificate of Education (GCE) Ordinary and Advanced levels, which even came with very outstanding results, particularly in 1976.
This was the case until the commencement of the new educational reforms in 1990, which came up with the Senior Secondary School (SSS) system and the current Senior High School (SHS) system.
Addressing a durbar during the launch of the 40th anniversary of the school, the Headmaster, Rev. Bro. Nicholas Zumana, said in 2006 and 2007, 116 out of 218 and 180 out of 225 candidates respectively, qualified for admission to tertiary institutions
“These successes were achieved in the face of difficult conditions with respect to infrastructure and human resource” he noted, and pointed out that infrastructure facilities of the school had seen little improvement over the past 40 years.
He, however, commended the government for the construction of three new dormitory blocks for the school, and appealed for more facilities to be provided.
Rev. Zumanaa further stressed on the need to improve on the water system, lights, roads and the transport needs of the school.
The Upper West Regional Minister, Mr George Hikah Benson, who graced the occasion paid a glowing tribute to the Catholic Church for its vision to establish the school .
He commended the staff of the school for their immense contribution towards the growth of the school and urged them to do more.
Mr Benson said the government would improve the conditions of teachers as well as institute measures for them to build upon their capacities.
He, therefore, advised teachers to take advantage of the interventions of the government to improve their lot.
Touching on discipline, Mr Benson advised students to uphold high moral standards and study hard.

603 PREGNANT WOMEN RECEIVE FREE CARE IN LAWRA (PAGE 23)

SIX-HUNDRED-AND-THREE women in the Lawra District in the Upper West Region have received free medical care under the government’s policy of free maternal care for pregnant women.
Apart from receiving free continental, delivery and postnatal services, the beneficiaries are also enjoying a comprehensive package under the minimum benefit package for all insured members of the scheme.
The Board Chairman of the Lawra District Mutual Health Insurance Scheme (DMHIS), Naa A.N. Kunyelleh, made this known when addressing the fourth annual general meeting of the scheme at Lawra.
He explained that the minimum benefit package made it possible for women who visited health facilities with other ailments apart from the pregnancy, to be treated free-of-charge.
Naa Kunyelleh noted that the total patient attendance at health facilities across the district last year was 75,377.
Naa Kunyelleh lauded the rate at which people were registering with the scheme and expressed the hope that if the trend continued, the entire population of the district could be roped into the scheme.
On the challenges facing the scheme, Naa Kunyelleh said clients were abusing the scheme as they kept visiting health facilities multiple times.
He also expressed worry about the attitude of some of the staff of the scheme who frequently collected drugs from hospitals in the name of the scheme for uninsured patients.
Naa Kunyelleh, therefore, appealed to opinion leaders to sensitise the people to appreciate the benefits of the scheme.
For his part, the Lawra District Chief Executive (DCE), Mr George Sulley, was happy that the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) had made health care delivery accessible to all.
He also commended the managers of the scheme for their good work, and urged them to keep spreading the message in order to reach out to more people and register them.

SIF MAKES STRIDES IN EDUCATION IN UW (PAGE 17)

THE Upper West Region, the latest in the country, cannot boast many educational facilities as compared to the other regions, especially in the south but it has over the years striven to improve the situation through the efforts of the respective district assemblies.
But one other intervention which has helped to enhance the provision of educational infrastructure, classroom furniture, among other things in the region, is the Social Investment Fund (SIF). The SIF, which was set up in 1998 through the efforts of the government of Ghana, the African Development Bank (AfDB) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) to support both the rural and the urban poor across the country, was aimed at reducing poverty among the rural and urban poor.
This was also to ensure that people have access to basic economic and social infrastructure to enhance access of the poor to financial services by increasing the availability of micro finance as well as building the capacities of indigenous financial institutions.
It is significant to note that with that objective, classroom blocks with offices and public places of convenience have been constructed in the Upper West Region under the SIF, as well as furniture provided for schools across the nine districts of the region.
In the Nadowli District for instance, six three-unit classroom blocks with offices, stores and public places of convenience have been constructed. Furniture costing GH¢92, 845.23 have also been constructed.
Similarly, three different six-unit classroom blocks and a three-unit block have been provided for the Sissala West District at a cost of GH¢110, 783.33, while the Sissala East District has two of such classroom infrastructure worth GH¢62, 600. Other beneficiary districts include the Wa East, Lawra, Jirapa and the Lambussie districts.
Speaking to the Daily Graphic, the SIF Zonal Officer responsible for the three northern regions, Mr Kwame Obeng Nti, said the total cost of the entire projects was GH¢578, 270.66.
He said although the SIF was poised to reach almost every corner of the Upper West Region in particular, and the whole of the three northern regions, the demand for such facilities from the respective communities outweighs the financial position of the SIF, even though it is the wish of SIF to provide the facilities on a demand driven basis.
He pointed out that apart from the health facilities which had received some attention, the education sector had been neglected.

PNC ELECTS JANE-FRANCIS TO CONTEST JIRAPA SEAT (PAGE 17)

THE People’s National Convention (PNC) has elected a 28-year-old secretary to contest as its Parliamentary candidate for the Jirapa Constituency in the Upper West Region.
Miss Jane-Francis Galyuon, who polled 17 out of the 21 votes cast to get the nod, would thus rub shoulders with political veterans like Mr Edward Salia of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), the incumbent, and Mr Justin Dakorah of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), the Jirapa District Chief Executive.
Her rival contestant, Mr Abu Arthur, a teacher, polled four of the votes in the election supervised by Mr Jackson Annor, the electoral officer in charge of Jirapa.
In an address, the Upper West Regional Chairman of the PNC, Dr Gilbert Dabori Bainye, called on all PNC supporters and sympathisers to abide by the motto of the party, “service with honesty".
To this end, he urged all true PNC members to go by all the rules and regulations governing elections in the country to ensure a trouble-free general election in December.
"The December elections is for a winner and not for tricksters who have more money," Dr Bailey stated, and added that "we must not vote for money but for the best and most competent candidate”.
He described Dr Edward Mahama, the flag bearer of the PNC, as the best presidential aspirant with the best ideas, and that when the PNC was given the chance in December, it would add value to sheanuts.

DON'T ABANDON BABIES ...Women groups tell mothers (PAGE 11)

THE rampant dumping of babies into toilets and at refuse dump sites in the Wa municipality and other areas of the Upper West Region has prompted some women’s groups in the region to call for proactive measures to address the issue.
The frustration of the women stem from the fact that in recent times a number of newly-born babies, some with their unbilical cord attached, were dumped at various sites in the municipality.
They have, therefore, called for intensive education on the dangers of teenage pregnancy and abstinence from pre-marital sex, and appealed to men not to shirk their parental responsibilities.
Members of the concerned women’s groups who went on a demonstration through the principal streets of the municipality to express their displeasure at the criminal act, later converged at the forecourt of the Regional Co-ordinating Council where Madam Evelyn Debari, leader of the group, presented a petition to the Deputy Upper West Regional Minister, Mrs Winifred Dy-Yakah.
Carrying placards, some of which read, “save the tears of our innocent babies”, “stop illegal abortion” and “life, not death” included members of the Christian Mothers Association of the Wa Catholic Diocese, the Federation of Muslim Women Association of Ghana (FOMWAG) and the House of Liberation for Empowerment, also of the Wa Catholic Diocese, who were supported by some schoolchildren.
The petition indicated that in July this year alone, five newly-born babies were dumped either in toilets or at refuse dumps at different areas of the municipality. It added that three other babies were also dumped at different times in the early part of the year.
It said only two out of the nine babies that were abandoned survived, stressing that such acts were becoming habitual hence the need to start talking about the issue to let people know that babies also had the right to live.
Mrs Winfred Dy-Yakah commended the women for taking up the issue, and promised to assist to address the issue. She urged them to spread the message to organisations and institutions to let people appreciate that the act constituted a criminal offence, and urged members in the communities to be vigilant and report suspects to the appropriate agencies.

CHRAJ, CSO TO MONITOR CORRUPT POLITICAL PRACTICES (PAGE 16)

THE Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ), in collaboration with civil society organisations (CSOs), has put in place mechanisms to monitor corrupt practices by political parties in the run-up to the December 7 general election.
That, according to the Deputy Commissioner of CHRAJ, Mr Richard Quayson, was to ensure that there was much integrity among those who aspired to be in public office and that any presidential aspirant who would win the elections would represent the will of the people.
Mr Quayson, who was speaking to the Daily Graphic in Wa, said the move by CHRAJ and the CSOs was to discourage the alleged canker of vote buying by political parties.
He gave the assurance that results from the monitoring exercise would be published on a later date to draw the attention of people to the indirect effects of vote buying on the electorate and the entire country.
He said if acts of corruption during political party campaigns were checked, within the next 12 years the face of elections in the country would improve, with politicians talking more about reality during their campaigns, not fanciful things.
“Once we have all accepted multi-party democracy, the parties must play it fair. We must know that if parties use dishonest means to get the votes, the same dishonest culture will be exhibited by the politicians when they are in office,” the deputy commissioner stressed, adding, “Operators of the political system that should give us leaders must not corrupt it.”
Mr Quayson also described as very weak the argument that “we will take the items but we will not vote for them”, stressing that very good candidates could lose an election because they did not provide gifts or distribute items to the electorate.

UNKNOWN GUNMEN ATTACK ELEDI'S RESIDENCE (PAGE 20)

RECENT attacks on certain personalities in major cities of the country have been extended to Wa, capital of the Upper West Region.
This time around, the victim of the attack was a Deputy Minister of Food and Agriculture, Mr Clement Eledi, whose private residence was besieged by unknown assailants.
The attack was said to have taken place at about 1 a.m. on Saturday, July 19, 2008 when some armed men stormed the deputy minister’s house and started shooting indiscriminately.
When the Daily Graphic contacted the Deputy Regional Police Commander, Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Augustine Gyening, he confirmed the incident and said his outfit was investigating the matter.
Mr Gyening, however, declined to give further details with the explanation that the investigations were at the primary stages.
Meanwhile, the Daily Graphic has gathered that the shooting was foiled by a policeman in the house who also fired back at the attackers, thereby compelling them to flee.
Mr Eledi was out of town at the time of the attack. When the Daily Graphic checked at the Wa Regional Hospital it was discovered that there was no casualty.

CHRAJ-MEDIA COLLABORATION ESSENTIAL (PAGE 21)

THE Deputy Commissioner of the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ), Mr Richard Quayson, has called for effective collaboration between the media and the commission in dealing with human rights issues.
He said people ought to understand human rights issues to prevent others from trampling upon their rights.
According to him, that would also empower the public to hold public officers accountable for their actions.
Addressing a day’s workshop for media personnel at Wa in the Upper West Region, Mr Quayson said many people were ignorant about human rights issues and needed to be educated.
He said in order to reach out to more people, CHRAJ needed the media to make inroads and bring issues on human rights to the doorsteps of people.
On what CHRAJ was doing to prevent abuse of the rights of people, the deputy commissioner said a manual to improve human rights in schools had been developed for the Ghana Education Service (GES) to discourage the bullying and maltreatment of students.
“We are also preparing a code of conduct and documents on conflict of interest for public officers. This is aimed at improving the level of integrity for public life”, Mr Quayson noted.
He said most of the complaints received by his outfit were on human rights and administrative injustices, adding that on the average, the commission received 14,500 complaints annually, out of which about 85 per cent were disposed of in a year.
He said CHRAJ would not shield anybody; neither would it allow anyone to use the commission to ridicule anybody, and stressed that if the country dealt with corruption and human rights issues as well as administrative injustices, it would receive the appropriate public recognition.
“We need to put our house in order so that our wealth does not drain out, especially with the oil find,” Mr Quayson emphasised.
He also said CHRAJ was very serious about eradicating corruption in the country.

4 MORE UW DISTRICTS TO BENEFIT FROM LEAP (PAGE 21)

FOUR more districts in the Upper West Region are to benefit from the Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty (LEAP) programme this year. They are Jirapa, Nadowli, Lambussie-Karni and the Sissala East.
This brings to five the number of beneficiary districts in the region since the LEAP programme was launched in the region early this year.
Presently, the Lawra District is the only district where the programme is being implemented under a pilot project.
The Programme Head of Community Care at the Upper West Regional Office of the Department of Social Welfare, Mr Andrews Kaayi Dimah, told the Daily Graphic that the number of beneficiary districts would be increased from the present 31 to 150 while the beneficiary communities in the various districts would also be increased from four to six.
“Unlike the initial implementation stages when we targeted only caregivers with orphans and the most vulnerable, this time around, we are roping in the aged. Mr Dimah called for an increase in the staff strength in the beneficiary districts as well as the provision of a means of transport to ensure an effective monitoring of the programme.
He also appealed to the respective district assemblies to complement the efforts of the department to make the LEAP programme a success.
The Social Welfare Officer also urged the communities, especially traditional rulers to take the LEAP programme as their bonafide, and also educate their subjects not to politicise the programme.
He said that was necessary because the identification was done by members of the community implementation committee, while the Social Welfare Department did the registration..
Mr Dimah further explained that there were conditions such as birth registration, child immunisation and registration of children under the NHIS, which must be honoured by people who would be identified.
He said failure to meet those requirements meant that such people would not benefit from the programme.

APRM, A GUIDE FOR GHANAIANS (PAGE 21)

THE Catholic Bishop of Wa, Most Reverend Paul Bemile, has described the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) as a guide for all Ghanaians.
The APRM, he said, was an eye-opener for many countries, institutions and even chiefs who are now trail blazers of the mechanism.
Bishop Bemile said this when he and Alhaji Issahaque Abdullai, a businessman and a former Regional Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), called on the Upper West Regional Minister, Mr George Hickah Benson, to show him the national awards they received recently.
Bishop Bemile said the peaceful nature of the region was a clear indication that the people were beginning to cohabit peacefully with others, adding that the award was not for themselves alone but the entire region.
Commenting on the forthcoming general election, the Catholic Bishop stressed the need for Ghanaians to ensure that it was conducted peacefully, adding “We do not want what happened in Kenya to happen in Ghana because when that happens, there would be no President Kufuor or Kofi Annan to mediate.”
He gave the assurance that the Catholic Church in the region would make it a priority to pray for peace before, during and after the election.
Bishop Bemile expressed appreciation to President Kufuor for the honour done them.
The regional minister stated that the two awardees really deserved the awards.
He described them as role models who had done a lot for the region in particular and the country, and added that “a lot must be learnt from them.”

IT IS AGAINST LAW TO DEFACE PARAPHERNALIA (PAGE 16)

THE Commander of the Airborne Force Detachment in Wa, Lieutenant Michael Siaw Amoah, has reminded Ghanaians that it is against the law of the country to deface the paraphernalia of any political party.
He noted that acts of destroying posters or flags of opposing political parties would not increase the votes of any political party, but would rather inflame passions.
Lieutenant Amoah, therefore, appealed to all to live in harmony with one another before, during and after the 2008 elections.
“Destroying the posters of other parties is against the law, and one can be arrested for doing that,” he stressed, saying election, like football, has both winners and losers.
Lieutenant Amoah was speaking at the inauguration of a nine-member peace contact group for Wa in the Upper West Region.
The programme, which was sponsored by the UNDP, is a municipal peace initiative, which had the objective of promoting peace during and after the 2008 general election.
The group comprises representatives of the various royal gates, religious groups, political parties and other youth organisations in the region.
The Executive Secretary of the National Media Commission, Mr George Sarpong, who chaired the function, said security personnel were needed to promote peace, and not to oppress people.
Mr Sarpong advised the youth of the various royal gates in Wa to endeavour to document the history surrounding their lineages in order to build their confidence.
This, he said, would empower them to deal with each other peacefully after careful reflections, when the issues on successions arose.
Other speakers include the Deputy Upper West Regional Police Commander, ACP Augustine Gyening, and the Regional Head of the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE), Mr Kofi Adam.

DEVELOPERS ENCROACH ON WA AIRSTRIP (PAGE 49)

THE Upper West Regional Aviation Officer, Mr Clifford A. Appiah, has noted with concern the increasing level of encroachment by defiant developers on the land constituting the entire Wa airstrip.
Describing the situation as a serious threat to the safety and the security of users of the airstrip, Mr Appiah said erosion around certain portions of the strip was also of major concern.
Mr Appiah expressed the concern during a tour by the Upper West Regional Minister, Mr George Hickah Benson, and officials from the Wa Municipal Assembly and the regional Land Secretariat to the airstrip to ascertain the seriousness of the problem.
He noted that some residents had also cut the barbed wires which had been erected to safeguard the runway, thereby giving stray animals the leeway to move onto the runway with ease.
“On June 2, 2008, a goat crossed the Air Force plane which was transporting the Vice-President, Alhaji Aliu Mahama, from Wa to Accra just as it was about to take off,” the aviation officer lamented, saying the situation could have brought a lot of grief to the entire country.
Asked if the number of aviation security personnel available was up to the task, he explained that with the support of the police, they were able to contain the situation.
“This airstrip is used mainly by VVIPs and VIPs and so all stakeholders must come together to ensure its maximum security, protection and maintenance,” he pointed out.
Mr Benson, for his part, gave the assurance that everything would be done to save the airstrip, since it was used not only by the President and his vice but also by all and sundry.
Meanwhile, the Daily Graphic gathered that in spite of efforts such as radio announcements and a series of meetings between officials of the regional Land Secretariat and the purported landlords, developers were still keen on putting up buildings around the demarcated area.
The Wa Municipal Chief Executive, Mr Mohammed Abdul Aziz, in an interview, blamed the problem on the inadequate capacity of the Building Inspectorate Division of the assembly, as well as connivance by some workers of the assembly with the developers.
He said a task force to monitor the siting of unauthorised structures in the municipality, as well as the proper issuance of permits for buildings, had been constituted to check the situation.

ALL STARS VOW TO BEAT KOTOKO (PAGE 47)

In spite of the fact that they have already won this year’s Premier League with three matches left, Kumasi Asante Kotoko still have their pride and image to protect when they play debutantes, Wa All Stars at Wa today.
On the contrary Wa All Stars, whose form has dipped so quickly after an impressive first round which saw them capturing the sixth position on the league table for a very long time, have sworn heaven and earth to claim all the three points today.
All Stars have drawn three times and lost once in their last four games, and have dropped from the sixth position to the ninth place in the standings. With the remote threat of being relegated, the Wa lads have mounted an operation to claim all the nine points from the remaining matches, starting with the Kotoko game, to secure their position in the Premier League.
Speaking to the Daily Graphic, the chairman of Wa All Stars, Mr Yunusah, said both the players and officials of the team were at a loss as to what exactly is the cause of their unimpressive form lately.
“It is in this regard that we have vowed to win all the remaining matches, hence the ‘operation nine points’,” he stressed, urging the teeming supporters of the club to throng the stadium today to support the team.
Mr Yunusah said even though it was going to be a very difficult match, the morale in camp and the high spirits of the players would work better for the team to claim all the three points from Kotoko.
He appealed to the fans to comport themselves and also co-operate with the security personnel on duty to ensure an incident-free encounter.
A similar difficult challenge confronts Hasaacas who play Hearts of Oak at Sekondi.
Other games will see King Faisal versus Tema Youth in Kumasi, Ashantigold versus Heart of Lions at Obuasi, Great Olympics versus Arsenal in Accra, Real Sportive versus RTU at Tema and All Blacks versus Zaytuna at Swedru.

UPPER EAST CHILDREN STILL OUT OF SCHOOL ...Despite interventions (PAGE 11)

LIKE all children in the country and across the globe, children in the Upper West Region also deserve the protection, quality health care, the right to quality basic education and above all access to the basic necessities of life.
The picture on the ground with respect to the rights and responsibilities of children, however, is exactly the opposite in the region and in spite of all the efforts being made to get more children into schools to improve their lot, the enormity of the problems confronting children in the region seems to be swallowing them so quickly, which calls for a lot of attention from all interested parties.
Apart from the very high under-five mortality rate, many children in the region are also malnourished and do not go to school. Due to the poor state of the region, many of the children who could not endure the pressure have joined their older relations to travel to the southern part of the country to seek unavailable greener pastures. In recent times, more and more children in the region, particularly females between the ages of 13 and 16, are said to have taken to prostitution, especially in certain areas of the Wa municipality and do undertake their ‘trade’ especially on market days.
Responding to this information, the regional head of the Department of Children of the Ministry of Women and Children’s Affairs, Mrs Annacleta Naab, said her office was liaising with the Domestic Violence and Victims Support Unit (DOVVSU) to investigate and find a solution to the problem.
In an interview with the Daily Graphic, Mrs Naab said even though the department was constrained financially, she was working around the clock to collaborate with some NGOs and other institutions to come out with mechanisms, which would improve the lot of children in the region.
In this regard, her office is to embark on a tour of the various districts, starting from Nadowli, Jirapa and Lawra to know at first hand the state of the children in these districts and to intensify the education and sensitisation to the need for parents to ensure that every child of school age is in school.
Mrs Naab said parents and nursing mothers would also be taken through programmes on how to prepare food for their children to make sure that food given to new born babies was balanced and nutritious.
Investigations by the Daily Graphic revealed that funds to support such programmes were not forthcoming.
Furthermore, the Ministry appears to have drawn an agenda to be carried out in the regions, irrespective of the peculiar nature of problems confronting the regions.
As a step to alleviate the plight of children, Plan Ghana, an international non-governmental organisation (NGO), in collaboration with Midas Education Trust, also an NGO, has taken it upon themselves to institute a project known as the Right of Children (ROC).
The project, which was started in 2003 with six communities in the Sissala area, namely Pulima, Jeffisi, Tumu, Gwollu Fielmua and Zini, has now been extended to cover 58 communities.
According to the Northern Sector Manager of Plan Ghana, Mr William Agyekum Acquah, Plan Ghana’s expectation was that the programme would enhance the abilities and capabilities of children, their families and communities and to make them more active in the development of their respective communities.
Mr Acquah, who was addressing the second graduation of members of the ROC club in Gwollu in the Sissala West District, further explained that the objective of introducing such a programme was to equip at least 70 per cent of families in Plan-assisted communities in the region to be abreast of issues bordering on the rights and responsibilities of children.
“As we speak now, awareness level among Plan-assisted communities, as far as the establishment of ROC clubs are concerned, has risen from the initial two per cent when we started the programme, to 98 per cent”, Mr Acquah indicated and said child participation in a lot of activities in communities, which was relegated to the background, was gradually gaining grounds.
He noted that through the ROC programmes, children, particularly those in Plan Ghana-assisted communities, had been taken through a series of training programmes both at home and abroad. This, he said, had made many of them very assertive, while many were now allowed to participate in decisions which affected them and their communities.
There has also been a tremendous improvement in school enrolment as a result of the intense awareness created, particularly by those on the rights of children to education.
A Member of ROC, Mr Abbass Koriwie, commended Plan Ghana for the initiative, saying, “Now, we know more about personal hygiene and issues on sanitation and even organise clean-up exercises weekly or monthly”. For his part, the District Director of Education, Mr Iddrisu Mahama, appealed to Plan Ghana to extend the ROC clubs to all schools in the district as they had been a very effective tool of empowering school children in the district.
He also advised the children not to disrespect their parents, stressing that “to know your rights means knowing your responsibilities and that must make you a well-behaved child”.U

BOAFO ADVISES CHIEFS TO BE GOD-FEARING (PAGE 21)

THE Minister of Chieftaincy and Culture, Mr S. K. Boafo, has charged traditional rulers to be God-fearing and refrain from indulging in acts which create suspicions among themselves and feuding factions when they are appointed to help resolve disputes.
He said even though the truth hurts, it must nevertheless be told as it was because decisions they took as chiefs concerning conflicts on successions to stools and skins went very far to determine the future of present generations and those yet to be born.
“The chieftaincy institution is a perpetual one which we must not toy with, if you are a royal so be it, if you are not a royal you must be told,” he stated.
Addressing a meeting of the Upper West Regional House of Chiefs in Wa, Mr Boafo said “the skin or the stool is one and so if it is not your turn to occupy it, there is nothing you can do about it”.
He told chiefs to be wary of impostors who are using all sorts of means to buy their way into families to be able to occupy stools and skins and said the institution had presently become very enticing so much that more learned people wanted to be chiefs.
Commenting specifically on the Wa chieftaincy dispute, the minister challenged the house to endeavour to settle it peacefully, adding that “so we must resolve it amicably and properly”.
On adjudication of cases by the house, Mr Boafo expressed grave concern about delays in the adjudication of cases by the judicial committees, saying that when cases of such nature delayed people read all manner of meanings into them.

GIVE PRIORITY TO UPPER WEST DEVELOPMENT — AYEBOAFOH (PAGE 44)

THE General Manager in charge of Newspapers of the Graphic Communications Group Limited (GCGL), Mr Yaw Boadu- Ayeboafoh, has stressed the need for successive governments to give special priority to the development of the Upper West Region.
He said considering the level of deprivation in the region, the population of the region must not be used as a yardstick to determine the size of resource allocation for the region, adding that a special budget must be allocated for the region at all times.
Mr Boadu-Ayeboafoh, who was accompanied by the Senior Zonal Manager in charge of the Northern Region, Mr Michael Baga, and Mr George Folley Quaye, the Upper West Regional Editor of the Daily Graphic, said this when he called on the Upper West Regional Minister, Mr George Hickah Benson, during a working visit to Wa.
Commenting on the construction of the roads, linking the Upper West and the Upper East regions, as well as Upper West and the Northern Region, the general manager bemoaned the slow pace of work, saying improvement in the road network made people feel a sense of belonging.
He advised the regional minister to liaise with his colleague in Upper East in order to facilitate the construction of the Tumu road which linked Upper West to Upper East.
“At least the artillery roads ought to be given special attention to link the region with the other regions,” he noted.
He was not happy that even though Upper West could boast of many resourceful personalities, majority of them were staying outside the region.
The regional minister said the region had seen a lot of development projects including the construction of schools, clinics, and arterial roads, since the NPP government assumed power.
Mr Benson indicated that the region, was deprived forcing about 51 per cent of the population to migrate elsewhere, a situation which calls for special attention for the region.
He mentioned some of the investment potential of the region as vast arable lands and the abundance of clay, pointing out that “the region is a virgin one whose potential is yet to be tapped”.
Mr Benson further stressed the need for a conscious effort to market the region and its investment potential as part of efforts to enhance its development.

SPORTIVE HOLD ALL STARS (BACK PAGE)

A 2-0 victory over Obuasi Ashantigold at the Baba Yara Stadium yesterday helped Kumasi Asante Kotoko further tighten their grip on the Onetouch Premier League title.
Kotoko who have stretched their leadership by 11 points now look poised to be coasting to the ultimate.
But for some unpardonable misses at goal, the Porcupine Warriors would have run riot over Ashgold, who contributed significantly to their own defeat with a second-rate performance.
The Obuasi club raised false hopes of a brilliant afternoon when just two minutes into the game, Richard Awuah outwitted goalkeeper Nii Baah in an aerial challenge but failed to provide the final connection.
The early scare triggered a stormy response from Kotoko who laid siege in the opponents’ area with skipper Osei Kuffour and Kojo Poku in full attendance.
Veteran keeper James Nanor was booked early in the game (12th minute) when Referee Thomas Nunoo judged him for deliberately delaying the game. Nanor, who pulled off a great save from Poku’s effort in the 22nd minute, however, had no answer to a Kotoko attack six minutes later as Francis Akwaffo swung in a free kick for Jordan Opoku to punish Nanor.
In the 61st and 66th minutes, Osei Kuffour and Poku dribbled past Nanor but the finishing was always a problem.
Kotoko could, however, not be denied the second goal in the 73rd minute when a brilliant combination between Osei Kuffour and Opoku found Akwaffo who surreptitiously connected non-drop past Nanor.
Protests from Ashgold that Akwaffo scored from an offside positioning was brushed aside by Referee Nunoo.

DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS WILL BE DISTRIBUTED FAIRLY (PAGE 20)

THE Sissala West District Chief Executive (DCE), Mr Salifu Baluwie, has given the assurance that he will ensure an equitable distribution of development projects in the district for every community to get its fair share of the national cake.
He has, therefore, appealed to the traditional authorities in the area to co-operate with the government in the realisation of that objective.
Mr Baluwie, who was speaking in an interview at Gwollu, said even though the district was not well endowed in terms of natural resources, the government would not turn its back to it.
He, however, denied allegations by some traditional leaders in the district that the area was being discriminated against, with respect to the distribution of development projects.
“We must all feel proud to be part of the district and work to develop it,” he said.
Commenting on the attitude of some heads of departments in the district, the DCE asked them to be innovative and come out with pragmatic initiatives that would propel the development agenda of the district.
“The district cannot move away from its current underdevelopment if we are united in implementing our development plan,” Mr Baluwie stressed.
He further called on workers in the district to work extra harder, especially in the area of revenue generation, stressing, “You must form a task force to ensure accountability and prudent use of resources.”

17 CADETS INJURED IN ACCIDENT (PAGE 21)

SEVENTEEN cadets of the Knights of St John International and Junior Auxiliary of the Nadowli Catholic Church sustained various degrees of injuries last Sunday when a mini bus they were travelling on was involved in an accident.
They include 11 males and six females out of which three sustained serious injuries and have since had their limbs amputated.
The victims were returning from Jirapa to Nadoli in the Nadowli District of the Upper West Region after a friendly football match with their counterparts in Jirapa at about 9 p.m. when the accident occurred.
The driver of the vehicle, Mr Ziebu Mwintiribu, who briefed the Daily Graphic, while on his hospital, bed at the Wa Regional Hospital said he did not detect any fault on the vehicle until he got to the spot where the accident occurred.
He said all he could see was that the steering of the vehicle had locked. The Upper West Regional Minister, Mr. George Hickah Benson, who was touched by the plight of the victims upon hearing about the accident, presented food items worth GH¢400 to them.
These included rice, sugar, millet and cooking oil. Receiving the items, the Medical Director at the hospital, Dr. Joshua Abebrese, expressed appreciation to the minister for the gesture.
He was hopeful that the casualties, particularly those who had their limbs amputated, would recover quickly and pick up the pieces.

36 STUDENTS IN 3 NORTHERN REGIONS HONOURED (PAGE 20)

THIRTY-SIX students from the three northern regions who obtained between aggregates six and 15 in the 2006/07 Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) have received various sums of money ranging from GH¢300 to GH¢400 under a scholarship scheme.
In addition, the students received certificates, books and hampers.
Known as the Ghana Education Service (GES)/World Food Programme (WFP) girls education scholarship and awards, the first category of the beneficiaries, who had up to aggregate seven, received GH¢400, certificates, books and hampers while the second category of students with aggregates eight up to eleven, had books and other gifts as well as certificates and cash.
The third category being those with aggregates 13 to 16, were also given similar awards.
The ceremony, which was on the theme: “Investing in women and girls,” also marked the award of special prizes to some headteachers.
The outgoing representative of the United Nations WFP in Ghana, Ms Trudy Bower, in an address, said 59 girls, who were currently pursuing senior high school (SHS) education, had so far benefited from the scheme since its introduction about six years ago.
She expressed the hope that the award scheme would encourage other students in the junior forms to study in order to obtain better grades in the BECE to benefit from the award scheme.
Ms Bowers further stressed the importance of girl child education in the efforts to transform the society into a better place, pointing out that “the education of girls and women is the surest way to achieving greater economic Empowerment.”
Commenting on the supply of food to schoolchildren under the WFP girls’ education activities in the three northern regions, she said 45,000 girls in 802 schools across 25 districts across northern Ghana benefited from the programme.
“Girls who had attended school for 85 per cent of the month were given food rations of cereals, oil, and iodised salt as incentive to them and their families,” she noted.
She also appealed to district assemblies to institute by laws against cultural practices which were inimical to the education of girls.
The Upper West Regional Minister, Mr George Hickah Benson, for his part lauded the scholarship scheme and said it had increased the enrolment of girls in schools, particularly senior high schools.
He said the meals given to schoolchildren under the WFP, coupled with the introduction of the Capitation Grant by government had not just attracted more children into schools but also helped to improve the nutritional needs of children as well as their mental and physical development.
Mr Hickah Benson pledged the support of the regional co-ordinating council towards the successful implementation of the programme, and charged the various assemblies to do same.
He also congratulated the award winners, and urged them to study hard so that they could win more laurels.

UPPER WEST ROADS TO BE IMPROVED (PAGE 20)

THE Upper West Region is to see improvement in the road sector this year, the Minister of State at the Ministry of Transportation, Mr Godfrey Bayon Tangu, has announced.
Mr Tangu, who was addressing a people’s assembly at Wa, said in all, a total of 265 kilometres of roads in the region would be tarred.
He mentioned some of the projects to be tackled as the 109 kilometre Wa-Han-Tumu, the 70 kilometre Tumu-Chuchuliga, the Nadowli-Lawra and Hamile roads.
The Minister of State at the Ministry of Justice and former Regional Minister for the region, Mr Ambrose Dery and a Deputy Minister of Agriculture, Mr Clement Eledi, attended the forum.
The Upper West Regional Minister, Mr George Hickah Benson, in an address, commended past regimes for their roles in the creation of the region.
He hinted that eight communities in the region had so far been connected to the national electricity grid this year, adding that five more communities in the region would be connected to the grid soon.
On the National Youth Employment Programme (NYEP), Mr Benson said 4,769 people had been employed in the region.
He called on the people to eschew divisiveness and work collectively to improve their living standard.
For his part, the Wa Municipal Chief Executive (MCE), Mr Abdul Aziz Mohammed Godo, said the people’s assembly concept was meant to deepen the roots of decentralisation and to bring good governance to the doorstep of the people.
He commended the respective royal families of the Wala Traditional Area for their resolve to pursue due process of law to settle their grievances.

WA HOUSING PROJECT TO BEGIN THIS MONTH (PAGE 14)

THE Minister of Water Resources, Works and Housing, Alhaji Boniface Abubakar Saddique, has given the assurance that work on the proposed housing project in Wa, the Upper West regional capital, would commence by the end of June.
He said there would be no objection to any contractor who had been awarded a contract on the project.
Mr Saddique, who was on a tour of the region to ascertain the progress of work on projects under his ministry, also visited the 52-acre site, where he interacted with some of the landlords whose lands had been acquired for the project.
He appealed to them to exercise restraint and promised to facilitate the payment of their compensation, which is said to be close to GH¢90,000.
After the cutting of the sod for the commencement of the project on July 18, 2007, by the then Minister for Water Resources, Works and Housing, Mr Hackman Owusu Agyeman, not much has happened on the site.
On the provision of potable water for communities, Mr Saddique stressed the need for communities to own the water by paying for it.
This, he said, would encourage them to take good care of such facilities.
“Water should be a security item. We must place value on water as an economic asset and not social,” he emphasised.
The Regional Minister, Mr George Hickah Benson, appealed to the minister to do all in his power to facilitate the construction of the affordable houses since Wa was developing at a very fast pace,with its resultant accommodation problems.
Mr Benson also told him to work out modalities to enable occupants of low cost houses built some years back to be able to acquire them.
At Lawra in the Lawra District, the minister also inspected a new GH¢550,000 water tank project initiated by the Community Water and Sanitation Agency (CWSA) and a newly built household sanitary facility.
The Lawra District Chief Executive, Mr George Sulley, for his part, announced the construction of 240 household latrines across the district, as well as 14 institutional latrines at a cost of GH¢360,000.
He also stressed the need to expand the water systems in the district to meet the demands of the increasing population.

NPP TO WIN ELECTIONS ON RECORD — DERY (PAGE 16)

Story: Chris Nunoo, Lawra

AN aspiring NPP parliamentary candidate in the Lawra Nandom Constituency, Mr Ambrose Dery, has said the track record of the NPP would be the basis on which the party would win this year’s elections.
That, he said, was because the record of the NPP was clear in the minds of all Ghanaians, which would be the determinant of the winner of the December 2008 elections.
He called on his constituents to refrain from acts of violence and always resort to dialogue, saying democracy was all about the exchange of different ideas and so there was no need for supporters of opposing political parties to indulge in insults and fights.
Mr Dery, who is a Minister of State at the Ministry of Justice and Attorney General, was addressing the Songtaa Nyong women’s group at Lawra in the Lawra District of the Upper West Region.
He said the northern part of the country was not immune to conflicts and so there was the need for the people to get closer to one another.
“Do not think conflicts cannot come to us, particularly those of us in the Upper West. We must, therefore, work against that because when that happens it is the women and children who will suffer most,” he noted.
Throwing more light on high food prices, Mr Dery gave the assurance that the government was working very hard to ensure that the country was secure as far as food was concerned.
He further explained that the situation was a global problem, as it concerned increases in petroleum prices.
He said with the recent discovery of oil in the country, such problems would soon be over.
Touching on the loan disbursement under the micro credit scheme, among others, the aspiring MP advised loan beneficiaries to work very hard to generate income so that they could pay back the loans for others to benefit.

UPPER WESS REGION ...25 Years of existence (PAGE 7)

Article: Chris Nunoo

THE Upper West Region, with Wa as its capital, is 25 years old since it was created from the then Upper Region.
Despite the fact that the leadership of the country at that time heeded the cries and agitation from various quarters for the Upper Region to be divided, because the ‘Wa side’ was not seeing substantial development as compared to the ‘Bolgatanga portion’, the region, after 25 years, is still struggling in terms of development.
In the area of education, for instance, the region is not very much endowed as most school children continue to study under trees. There is also the problem of unavailability of qualified teachers to be teaching in the schools.
This and other problems notwithstanding, the region can boast of some of the very good senior high schools in the country such as the Saint Francis Zavier Seminary and the Nandom Secondary schools.
Thankfully, the region now has a university campus, which is the Faculty of Integrated Development Studies (FIDS) of the University for Development Studies (UDS), as well as a polytechnic, but these two tertiary institutions, which are very young, are still struggling to find their feet.
In the area of health, a lot more ought to be done as the main hospital in the region, likewise district hospitals, does not match the status of modern hospitals. This is because many of these hospitals do not have the facilities to meet the health needs of the people.
Furthermore, the hospitals lack personnel, particularly doctors. The same can be said of the regional police headquarters, which are said to have been built as a district police headquarters but have been serving as the regional headquarters for 25 years now.
Currently, accommodation for the police personnel in the region is a huge problem, with majority of the personnel living in rented houses, some of which are in very appalling conditions. The situation is the same with the Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS) , the Ghana Prisons Service (GPS) and many other important institutions, which are all working tirelessly to propel the development of the region.
Consequently, in as much as one appreciates tarring of roads in the Wa township and the construction of the famous Bamboi-Tinga roads, together with the extension of electricity to parts of the region, there is still much more to be done and not many people are satisfied with the pace of the provision of these facilities. One major problem is water, which ought to be improved and extended to other parts of the regions.
Much commendation must go to the swarm of non-governmental organisations which are, in their own way, trying to lift life in the Upper West Region from its present state to a better position as far as the nation’s development is concerned.
There is, therefore, the need for stakeholders to critically identify and assess the priorities of the region after 25 years of its existence and work to develop those areas.
Apart from the improved roads in the regional capital, all other roads in the region are in a bad state, especially the roads that lead to some of the major districts and towns. These include the Wa-Tumu, Wa-Funsi and the Wa-Lawra and Nandom roads, thereby making the movement of people and foodstuffs from one area to the other very difficult.
The area needs a modern health facility. Health workers in the region must also be given special incentives as a means to attract more health workers, especially doctors, to work in the region. Ironically, Wa, and for that matter the Upper West Region, has nothing to show as the youngest region in the country. Being one of the three poorest regions in the northern part of the country and the country at large, it has nothing to showcase with respect to economic investment.
The region’s position as the leader, as far as maternal and under five mortality in the country is concerned also calls for stringent and effective mechanisms to reverse the trend as the region celebrates its silver jubilee from tommorrow, May 23 to June 1, 2008, to facilitate the processes which would minimise the mortality rate in the shortest possible time.
All Upper Westerners, government officials and other stakeholders who have the region at heart must, in the face of the difficulties confronting the rapid development of the region, cast their minds back from when the region was created to its present state, put their act together and plan for a better future for the region. This is because like any other region, the Upper West also deserves better.
Considering the issues on the table at the time, the Upper Region was split into two, the then head of state, the late Gen. Ignatius Kutu Acheampong, started the process but his dreams were short-lived as he was overthrown. Before his overthrow, Gen. Acheampong had set the pace to divide the area, initiating the construction of bungalows and multi-purpose offices to house the various ministries, departments and agencies, including that of the Regional Co-ordinating Council. Then came former President Hilla Limann when the country went back to constitutional rule. He also resolved to continue with the process but it was slow because of some constitutional requirements.
Dr Limann was also overthrown and therefore could not succeed in completing what Gen. Kutu Acheampong started. When former President J.J. Rawlings took over power in 1981, he also saw the need to divide the region and so in January 1983, the Upper West Region was created from the Upper Region with Wa as its capital. The Upper East Region has Bolgatanga as its regional capital.
With a total land area of 18,476 square kilometres, representing 12.7 per cent of the total land area of the country, the Upper West Region shares boundaries with two countries namely Cote d'Ivoire, on the west and Burkina Faso, in the north. The present population of the region, according to the 2002 National Population Census, is 576,593, with a population density of 31 per square kilometre (national average is 77).
Before the creation of the region, the Upper West could only boast three districts, namely Wa, Sissala and Lawra districts. Presently, the region has nine districts and these are Wa East and Wa West, Nadowli, Jirapa-Lambussie, Lawra, Sissala East, Sissala West, Wa Municipal and the newly created Lambussie Karni District.
Farming is the mainstay of the people with the cultivation of yam, maize, groundnut and millet as the major food crops produced in the area. A few of the people are also into livestock farming.
Even though the region is very young, compared to others in the country, it has had at least eight regional ministers in its 25 years of existence.
With about five ethnic groups, made up of Dagarbas, Walas, Sissalas, Lobis and a small group of Kasenas, the Upper West Region could be said to be a relatively peaceful region in the country. It has also managed to produce some eminent personalities, including a former Inspector General of Police, Mr Peter Nanfuri, the Vice-President of the National House of Chiefs, Naa Banawini Sando II, the late Cardinal Peter Dery and Dr Edward Gyader, all of whom have in diverse ways contributed their quota to the development of the country.

COTTON FARMERS PETITION GOVERNMENT (PAGE 47)

STORY: Chris Nunoo, Wa

Cotton farmers in the three northern regions of the country have petitioned the government to act quickly to save the cotton industry from collapsing.
In a petition presented to the Upper West Regional Minister, Mr George Hickah Benson, the farmers, who described cotton as the ‘white gold’ of northern Ghana, catalogued a number of factors hindering the production of cotton.
The petition, which is to be forwarded to President Kufuor, stated that given the required attention, cotton would become a viable cash crop for the country.
Signed by Mr Mohammed Adam Nashiru, the National Secretary of the Ghana Cotton Farmers Association, the petition raised the issues of the high cost of production and the unfair world trade, which favours countries of the developed world.
The farmers appealed to the government to support them this season by offering free mass spraying of cotton.
The farmers also stressed the need for the government to encourage more credit schemes, and the various district and municipal assemblies to assist them with credit facilities.
The group further appealed for subsidies on farm inputs, pointing out that cotton cultivation was gradually becoming unattractive and as such some of the farmers were considering cultivating other crops.
Mr Benson said the government was aware of the potential of cotton.
That, he said, accounted for the inclusion of cotton the fact cultivation in the special initiatives of the President.
Mr Hickah Benson acknowledged that there were problems with the cotton industry but said the government would try to address the concerns of the farmers.
The regional minister commended the farmers for the peaceful means they had adopted to channel their concerns.

PLAN GHANA ENCOURAGES DRY SEASON FARMING...In Sissala District (PAGE 20)

Story: Chris Nunoo, Pulima

THE provision of dams by Plan Ghana, an international non-governmental organisation (NGO), through its livelihood empowerment programme, to the people of the Sissala District of the Upper-West Region, has been described by the farmers as a lifetime investment, which has brought a new lease of life to their families and households.
They said until the dams were constructed, all they had to do during the dry season was to idle about, sit under trees or probably go round picking firewood.
Barely three months after the dams were formally handed over to the communities, lands around them had been taken over by the farmers for the cultivation of fresh vegetables, including okro, cabbage, carrots and onions.
The dam sites are gradually picking up at market centres as many people including commuters who drive through the towns, pass by the farms to purchase some of the fresh produce.
This, notwithstanding, the dams also serve as a source of drinking water for livestock while those who are engaged in fish farming are also making very good use of them.
These came to light when the Daily Graphic paid a familiarisation visit to the farms of some of the beneficiary communities and interacted with the farmers.
The beneficiary communities, which include Nyimati, Pulima, Buoti and Jefissi, expressed appreciation to Plan Ghana for the project and asked for more of such interventions.
“The dams have actually brought life to our communities. Before the construction of the dams, we had to wait for the rains before we could work on the farms,” some of the farmers told the Daily Graphic.
The farmers also said they now had enough produce to send home for domestic use.
Speaking in separate interviews, some of the farmers — Madam Talata Yakubu, Madam Mamoro Sankoro, Madam Adisa Ali Hantong and Madam Mariama Sumani Haduon — said currently, they could heave a sigh of relief.
They showered praises on Plan Ghana for the initiative, stressing that “now we can eat well and put some money in our pockets as well”.
“The dams have really helped us, but for the dams we would have been idling about, sitting under trees or gathering fire wood,” they said, adding that “with the construction of the dams, we’ll be busy always working on our farms”.
As part of assistance to the farmers, field officers of Plan Ghana intermittently pay visits to the farms to study at first-hand what the farmers are doing.
They also take the farmers through some form of orientation as to the type of seedlings they must sow and how to plant the seedlings.
Plan Ghana is also taking measures to organise special training programmes for the farmers on the proper usage of the dams.

66 PRISON OFFICERS HONOURED (SPREAD)

Story: Chris Nunoo, Wa

SIXTY-six officers of the Ghana Prisons Services (GPS) in the Upper West Region have been decorated with golden jubilee medals at a ceremony in Wa.
The awards were given to the officers during the 51st independence celebration of Ghana’s independence, in recognition of their sacrifices to the country.
The Upper West Regional Minister, Mr George Hickah Benson, who was the Guest of Honour, said the awards must be a springboard for hard work.
Mr Hickah mentioned the introduction of distance learning for inmates as one of the programmes aimed at equipping them for life after prison.
Touching on this year’s election, the regional minister urged the officers to help ensure violence-free and fair elections in December. He also advised them to psyche up for the job at hand.
For his part, the Regional Commander of the Prisons Service, Mr Joseph Kwaw Yankson, appealed for improvement in accommodation facilities for the officers in the region.

WONDER YAM UNITES COMMUNITY (MIRROR, PAGE 25)

From Chris Nunoo, Manden near Bole

Call it the land of the wonder yam and you would not be wrong. That is the reality at Manden, a farming community 15 kilometres from Bole in the Bole District of the Northern Region.
Now known as the 'Sedu Bile’ yam, it found its way into Manden during the lean season of 1984 when one Alhaji Sedu Bile, a native of the town, returned from Cote d’Ivoire after a visit to that country. Today both Alhaji Sedu Bile and the ‘Tembi’ yam which is also referred to as the wonder yam, are household names in the Manden community and beyond. Wonder yam, because to the people of the community the arrival of the special yam species marked the end of hunger in the town.
The yam is also said to have special qualities compared to other yams. It is good for human consumption and also industrial use.
Currently, a festival in honour of Alhaji Sedu Bile coupled with the commemoration of the arrival of the wonder yam into Manden has been instituted and it is celebrated in April every year. It has been the only festival of the people of Manden instituted over the past six years.
Derived from a species known as the ‘Tembi’ yam of Cote d’Ivoire in 1983, the yam was said to have been developed by an Ivorian agricultural scientist and was brought to that country. Alhaji Sedu Bile went to Bona in Cote d’Ivoire with a team of dancers known as Sator dancers from Manden to grace a wedding ceremony. There they learned about the yam.
Alhaji Sedu Bile had been harvesting thousands of the yam since his return from Cote d’Ivoire and was adjudged the best regional farmer at the time.
Then came the time to market the yams. With the help of other prominent farmers, Alhaji Seidu Bile started transporting his produce to Nakwebi, Tuna and surrounding villages in the Northern Region and beyond.
Consequently, ‘Sedu Bile’ spread all over the area with other regions nicknaming it their own way. Now the yam is being exported to neighbouring countries.
Speaking to The Mirror, the people of Mandari, led by Mr E.K. Yakubu, said there had never been hunger in Manden since the arrival of the yam. They said the yam had attracted a lot of the youth to go into farming. The only problem they face, though, is how to market the produce after harvesting. The people say the yam has united their communities the more as they see themselves as one people with the yam as the unifying factor.

ROLE OF CHURCH IN EDUCATIONAL REFORM CRUCIAL (PAGE 11)

Story: Chris Nunoo, Wa

THE Vice-Dean of Students of the University for Development Studies (UDS), Wa Campus, Dr Clifford Maasole, has called for the institution of realistic mechanisms under the new educational reform to impart to students not only academic knowledge, but also skills, particularly in the area of information technology.
That, he said, was the only means to groom the youth of today into meeting the challenges of the new millennium.
Addressing the annual general meeting of the Wa Catholic Diocesan Priests Association (WADPA) in Wa, in the Upper West Region, Dr Maasole said the role of the church in the new educational reform was very crucial.
The meeting was on the theme: “The church and state partnership in implementing the new education reform.”
“School education today must let the youth acquire something in knowledge and skills in information and technology if they are to prosper in the new millennium,” he stated.
He, therefore, stressed the need for the total involvement of all stakeholders in education, if the country was to achieve a middle-level income status by the year 2015.
Dr Maasole deplored the system where major policy decisions, such as the new educational reform, were done solely at the top and imposed on the implementors, stressing that when that happened, “they would accept the reform, but not the impetus for the reform”.
On ethnic conflict in the entire northern part of the country, Dr Maasole emphasised the need for all to help fight the war against violence.
He said violence was doing more harm to the entire social fabric of the northern society.
“These conflicts must be addressed, if we wished to be part of the new reform,” he said.
The Catholic Bishop of Wa, Most Rev. Paul Bemile, pointed out the role of the Catholic Church in the development of education since independence, and stressed the need for all to respect the religious freedoms and personal interests of students of other faith.
Bishop Bemile also gave a hint about the preparation of a new syllabus by the Catholic Bishops Conference under the reform, and urged teachers in the Catholic schools to rise up to the challenges of the time.
The Upper West Regional Minister, Mr George Hickah Benson, in a speech read on his behalf, commended the Catholic Church for its role in the development of education in the region and the country at large.
He expressed grave concern about the prevalence rate of HIV/AIDS in the region as against the national prevalence rate, saying the prevalence rate in the region was higher than that of the entire nation.
For his part, the President of WADPA, Rev. Matthew Tuuronsong, urged the media to continue to stand by the truth at all times, even in the face of all opposition.
He called for the establishment of a new teacher training college to train more teachers for the region.

WA NHIS REGISTERS MORE CLIENTS (PAGE 20)

Story: Chris Nunoo

THE Wa Municipal Health Insurance Scheme has since its inception attracted 73,937 clients, representing 67 per cent of the total population of 112,050 in the municipality.
The Manager of the scheme, Mr Abdul Rahaman Alhassan, made this known when addressing the fourth annual general meeting of the scheme at Wa.
He, however, stated that in spite of the attainment of over 95 per cent coverage in terms of sensitisation, that had not had a direct impact on the number of people covered.
According to him, the scheme recorded 24 per cent increase in registration in 2005, went up to 50 per cent in 2006 and 67 per cent in 2007.
Mr Alhassan said 19,202 of the clients were from the informal sector, 8,005 being Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SNIT) contributors and 38,487 being people under 18 years.
He said 6,512 of the beneficiaries were over 70 years, 528 being indigents and 1,203 pensioners.
Mr Alhassan appealed to interested parties to come on board and join in wooing more people to register with the scheme.
He said a total of 64,563 cards were issued in 2007, adding that GH¢94,969.62 was also realised as premium by the end of last year.
The Wa Municipal Chief Executive (MCE), Mr Mohammed Aziz, in a speech read on his behalf, challenged the staff of the scheme to redouble their efforts to make the scheme one of the best in the country.

TRUCK PUSHER HELD OVER BOY'S MURDER (PAGE 3)

Story: Chris Nunoo, Wa

A 37-YEAR-OLD truck pusher, Rufai Mohammed, a native of Techiman in the Brong Ahafo Region, has been arrested by the Wa police for allegedly murdering a 15-year-old class six pupil of the Tanvere Methodist Primary School.
Rufai, who doubles as a tailor, was said to have travelled from Techiman to Balenfili Tugdo, a village near Wechau in the Wa West District, to carry out the act.
Sources close to the Upper West regional police told the Daily Graphic that Rufai, on arrival in the village, managed to convince the mother of Faawun Tieru, the victim, to allow her son to accompany him (Rufai) to the house of the chief of the village to spend the night.
The source said when the two reached the outskirts of the village, Rufai, without any provocation, allegedly murdered Faawun.
It said when after a while Faawun was not coming back home, his mother became worried and decided to follow up to find out what had kept him from returning home.
The source said on her way, the mother found the body of Faawun lying by the shoulder of the road.
It said she raised alarm, which attracted other people to the spot and a search party was quickly mobilised to trace Rufai but to no avail.
The source said Rufai resurfaced at Wechau the next day and he was identified and arrested by the people and subsequently handed over to the police.
The police source said Rufai was still being interrogated by the police while the body of the deceased had been deposited at the Wa Regional Hospital morgue for autopsy.

CONDEMN RUNNING OS SCHOOL FEEDING PROGRAMME (PAGE 11)

Story: Chris Nunoo, Wa

THE Deputy Upper West Regional Co-ordinating Director, Alhaji Isshaque Alhassan, has called on Ghanaians to condemn the way the Ghana School Feeding Programme (GSFP) is being managed and offer alternative solutions to the problems facing it.
This, he said was because the school feeding concept was very good, especially because it had positively impacted on school enrolment, improved nutrition and helped to develop education in general.
He has therefore, stressed the need for people to appreciate the idea behind the programme and help to improve and sustain it.
Alhaji Alhassan was speaking at a regional interface meeting of civil society and stakeholders of the GSFP at Wa, in the Upper West Region.
It was organised by Send Foundation, a non-governmental organisation, and it was aimed at bringing to the fore, problems associated with the GSFP in the region.
‘The School Feeding Programme is a good concept, despite the loopholes, but we do not have to throw the baby away with the bad water”, he said, adding that, Ghanaians must make the programme succeed.
For his part, the Country Director of Send Foundation, Mr Samuel Zan, said the meeting was neither meant to find faults with individuals nor institutions but to assess and evaluate the impact of the GSFP policy on school children.
He said the foundation was an advocate of the GSFP programme and was only interested in making the programme work.
Mr Zan therefore, expressed regret at the absence of the Upper West Regional Co-odinator of the GSFP at the meeting and commended representatives of other organisations who were present.
He said Ghanaians had the responsibility to ensure that the school feeding programme achieved the desired objectives.

REFEREE AGGREY NEARLY SPOILT DAY AT WA (G/SPORTS. PAGE 16)

STORY: CHRIS NUNOO, WA

The much talked-about premier league match between Accra Hearts of Oak and Wa All Stars lived up to its billing, but with much tension and expectations from both sides.
However, the beauty of the match was nearly marred as Tarkwa-based referee T.K. Aggrey and his men intermittently came up with some contentious decisions which led to his heckling by players of Accra Hearts of Oak when the only goal of the match was scored by Daniel Bomfah in the 72nd minute for Wa All Stars.
That notwithstanding, Hearts of Oak who many thought could make mince meat of the Wa club following the 3-0 defeat they handed All Stars in the first round, coupled with Hearts’ current win over Tema Real Sportive, failed to silence the fans in Wa after travelling all the way from Accra with a special jet to the Upper West region.
Wa All Stars proved to be very tough customers for the champion club to the extent that Hearts’ newly-found Israeli coach could hardly find the brakes to stop the All Stars attacking machine spearheaded by the fast running Issah Saliu, Ishmael Fridos and Daniel Bomfah.
The new-look All Stars side played according to the instructions of coach Emmanuel Quarshie and matched their opponents squarely from the begining of ht match. But when all seemed like the match was heading for an even fight, one of the recently recruited players for All Stars, Daniel Bomfah, did what mattered most by sloting the ball home for the only goal of the match in the 72nd minute; The players of Hearts, led by their skipper Issah Mohammed to protest briefly that the goal was a handball.
Speaking to the Graphic Sports in a post-match interview, an elated coach, Emmanuel Quarshie did not agree with the players of Hearts but commended his boys for a job well done and sounded a word of caution to all visiting teams to the Wa Sports stadium that All Stars were not prepared to relinquish even a single point at their home ground in the second round of the Onetouch Premier League. He appealed to the supporters of the club to exercise patience when the going gets tough and support the team to acheive more feats.

10 NADOWLI COMMUNITIES TO GET BOREHOLES (PAGE 20)

Story: Chris Nunoo, Nadowli

TEN communities in the Nadowli District in the Upper West Region are to be provided with boreholes as part of measures to solve their perennial water problems and to also improve sanitation in the region.
The beneficiary communities include Bouyiri, Zimbogu, Gbanko, Eale, Loho-Guo and Dunjan.
Known as the Global Water Initiative of the Catholic Relief Service (CRS) the project will include the provision of new boreholes as well as the maintenance of existing ones.
The Nadowli District Chief Executive (DCE), Wing Commander (retd) Eric Dakurah, who made this known, said when the deal was done, the district would begin to manage its own water sources.
Wing Commander Dakurah, who was addressing the first ordinary meeting of the assembly this year at Nadowli, also announced the construction of 240 household latrines under a hygiene and sanitation programme.
Throwing more light on the construction of the household latrines, Mr Dakurah explained that all the beneficiary communities were to contribute 50 per cent of the project cost by way of communal labour, while the Assembly would contribute the remaining 50 per cent.
Touching on the development of education in the district, the DCE said the district was vigorously improving infrastructure and furniture, among other things, to attract more children to the schools in the area.
He commended the District Education Directorate for its efforts at uplifting education in the district, stressing that "the district was ranked first in the region in the 2007 Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE)."
The Presiding Member of the Assembly, Madam Hycintha Abatu Gyang, charged the Assembly members to endeavour to pay regular visits to their electoral areas to know at first-hand the problems confronting the people.
She also urged them to unite and accommodate one another as they worked to move the district forward.