Friday, October 30, 2009

GOVT SUPPORTS UDS WITH GH¢20M (PAGE 11, OCT 30)

THE Government is to allocate GH¢20 million to the University for Development Studies (UDS) as a seed money towards its delvelopment.
The amount is to be released from the newly established President Endowment Fund Initiative.
The Pro Vice Chancellor of the UDS, Prof. David Milliar, who announced this, explained that GH¢2million would be disbursed to the university on a yearly basis within the next 10 years.
He expressed appreciation to the President and the Ghana Education Trust Fund (GET Fund) for their support to the fledgling university.
Prof. Millar was addressig the 17th matriculatin ceremony of the Wa campus of the UDS in Wa, in the Upper West Region.
"With this gesture, we are hopeful that the pledge by the GETFund to construct a 1,000-bed student hostel at the Tamale campus would soon be fulfilled," Prof. Milliar noted.
Touching on admissions, the acting vice chancellor said out of the over 12,450 applications received for various programmes this year, only about 10,000 applicants qualified for admission to pursue the various degree programmes.
He said that the university was able to offer admissions to 8,743 of the applicants, representing 80 per cent of the qualified applicants.
"Another 847 applicants were offered admission to pursue diploma programmes. This brings the total number of students offered admissions this academic year to 9, 696", he stated, pointing out that the current population of the university stood at 14,800.
Prof. Milliar said a lot of factors were taken into consideration, and these include giving opportunity to more female students as well as students from deprived communities.

Wednesday, October 28, 2009

SOME MAJOR ROADS IN UW TO BE TARRED (PAGE 21, OCT 28)

TARRING of some major roads in the Upper West Region is to commence in December, this year.
The works, which will cover a total of 429 kilometres, will open up the region and enhance economic activities.
Currently, the region is one of those with the worst roads in the country. Most of the roads in the area have deteriorated due to the recent rains.
According to the Regional Manager of the Department of Feeder Roads, Mr Kwabena Omane-Brimpong, the Nadowli District is one of the districts to benefit from the road rehabilitation and a total of 111 kilometres of its roads will be improved.
These include the Sankana-Nator and Dafiama- Dachia roads.
Mr Omane-Brimpong said his outfit, in consultation with the regional tender board, had terminated contracts on 18 spot-improvement road projects.
He attributed the problem to the low capacities of contractors in the region and urged them to be up to the task.
Mr Omane-Brimpong, who was addressing a meeting between technocrats in the road sector and the Nadowli District Assembly, advised contractors to regularly read contract documents very carefully and work within deadlines.
He said the Japanese Government and the World Bank would support the construction of some of the roads in the area.
The Nadowli District Chief Executive (DCE), Mr Abu Kasangbata, assured the contractors that the assembly would ensure the prompt payment for all jobs they executed.
He appealed to them to exercise restraint when payment of contracts delayed, saying, “The current budget of the assembly has catered for all that and we will ensure that we pay all the money we owe you”.
Mr Kasangbata stressed that he would not compromise for poor quality work and, therefore, advised contractors to be assertive and abide by the regulations regarding construction at all times.
A contractor, Mr Gaston Kale, appealed to the government to seek the interest of local contractors by building their capacities.
He also called for a reduction in interests rate to make payment of loans less cumbersome.

Friday, October 23, 2009

WECHIAU HIPPO SANCTUARY CHALKS 10 (GRAPHIC SHOWBIZ, OCT 22)

By Chris Nunoo

THE Wechiau Community Hippopotamus Sanctuary is 10 years old but there is little to show for it.
The sanctuary which is now a household name with respect to ecotourism attractions in Ghana is confronted with many challenges that have not enabled it to take its deserving place among the major tourism offerings in the country.
Ten years down the line, the road from the Wechiau town to the sanctuary would easily discourage visitors from driving there. There is also a problem of the availability of potable water while communities constituting the sanctuary have no regular electricity supply.
The sanctuary came into being through the efforts of the late Wechiau chief, Naa Bayon Doga II and can presently boast of over 20 hippos, monkeys and various kinds of birds.
At a well attended durbar held at the forecourt of the Wechiau Naa’s palace to mark the tenth anniversary last week, the Upper West Regional Minister, Mr. Mahmud Khalid, who was the special guest, urged the people of the area to periodically review the activities of the sanctuary in order to improve on it.
The regional minister reminded the people of the benefits that the communities stood to gain if the sanctuary was successfully developed and advised them to be friendly to visitors who patronised the sanctuary and be prepared to share historic information.
The durbar attracted a delegation from Canada and the United Kingdom led by the Chief Executive Officer of the Calgary Zoo in Canada, Mr. Clement Lanthier.
The delegation, as friends of the Wechiau Community Hippo Sanctuary, have contributed to the development of the sanctuary project. They have also assisted in the construction of a number of boreholes and schools for some of the surrounding communities.
The CEO of Calgary Zoo, Mr. Clement Lanthier was enskinned by the traditional leaders of the respective communities in the Wa West district, as the Bagyaa Naa meaning chief for all the communities in the sanctuary.
The Wa West District Chief Executive (DCE), Mr Seidu Tungbani, for his part, said that by-laws which would help protect the sanctuary and its environs were at the latter stages of completion and which when gazetted would be rigidly enforced to sustain the sanctuary.
Touching on what the assembly intends to do to give a facelift to the town and the sanctuary, the DCE mentioned plans to mechanise a borehole at the tourist lodge (hostel), the construction of the road leading to the sanctuary, construction of a modern guest house in Wechiau as well as the extension of electricity to the communities constituting the sanctuary.
The Head of Conservation Outreach of Calgary Zoo in Canada, Mr. Brian Keatings, called for closer collaboration between the Wechiau community hippo sanctuary and the Calgary Zoo in Canada. He urged the local community to appreciate the benefits of wildlife and called for practices that would enable wildlife to be catered for in its natural habitat.
“The world must begin to work together to keep wildlife where they belong. We must work together to provide education, water and a better life for our children and for those yet to be born and this can only happen when we involve the local people in all that we do” he said.
The President of the Upper West Regional House of Chiefs and Chief of Dorimon, Naa S D Gore, chaired the function.

Thursday, October 22, 2009

ASHGOLD SHOCK ALL STARS (BACK PAGE, OCT 22)

A well-composed Ashantigold side yesterday stunned Wa All Stars 2-0 in their own backyard in their Glo Premier League match at the Wa Stadium.
Goals from tormentor-in-chief, Addoquaye Addo, and Isaac Nii Kwei on the 25th and 38th minutes were all Ashantigold needed to silence the home fans.
Led on the technical bench by Coach David Duncan, Ashantigold looked very disciplined in all aspects of the game and kept frustrating their opponents until Sunyani-based referee Yaw Ametepe contentiously sent off Addoquaye Addo for a second cautionable offence.
From then on the tide turned, with All Stars taking the game to the visitors after bringing on some fresh limbs, but the Ashantigold defence marshalled by Kofi Agyare held the All Stars attackers in check.
• A bizarre incident climaxed the match between new entrants, Aduana Stars, and Liberty Professionals' goalless drawn game at Dormaa Ahenkro yesterday, reports Samuel Duodu, Dormaa Ahenkro.
Immediately after Takoradi-based class one referee, S.B. Bortey's final whistle, some irate fans of the home team pelted the police who were escorting the referee to the dressing room with satchet water and oranges.

CIDA SUPPORTS NORTHERN ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT PROJECT (BACK PAGE, OCT 21)

THE Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) is supporting the Ghana Environmental Management Project (GEMP) in the three northern regions with $7.2 million.
The GEMP, which was couched out of the national programme to combat desertification and drought, is aimed at strengthening the capacities of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS), the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO), among other institutions, to spearhead the crusade to protect the environment.
The acting Upper West Regional Manager of the EPA, Mr Asher Nkegbe, who made this known explained that the GEMP project was a five-year programme which sought to empower the respective institutions and communities to seriously deal with issues affecting the environment.
Mr Nkegbe was speaking at a ceremony to inaugurate a 16-member municipal environmental management committee in Wa, the Upper regional capital.
He advised the various committees which ranged from the regional, municipal to the districts to identify priority areas as far as environmental issues were concerned, and intensify their education, especially at the community level.
These committees, he said, must assist the communities to come out with proposals and also enact bye-laws as a step to ward off activities which degraded the environment.
In a speech read on his behalf, the Upper West Regional Minister, Mr Mahmud Khalid, charged Community Environmental Management Committees (CEMOs) to initiate programmes such as tree planting and anti bushfire campaigns.
He stressed the need to continuously empower local communities to enable them to contribute effectively to issues on the exploitation of the environment.
“Under the GEMP, some nurseries would be developed so please stock these nurseries with viable economic trees so that while protecting the environment, the people can also reap some benefits from the trees” Mr Khalid added.

Monday, October 19, 2009

MUST MANUFACTURE OF SMALL ARMS BE LEGALISED ...Views from panellists in Wa (PAGE 27, MIRROR OCT 17)

Emmanuel Aikins,
Lecturer, Wa
Polytechnic

Local manufacturers of small arms, and for that matter, blacksmiths, are not restricted to the production of small arms alone. Their work extends to the manufacture of other metal products. Hence, for one to argue that it would mean denying them of their daily bread if blacksmiths are arrested for producing small arms is untenable.
No matter the size of the arms that are produced, they have the capacity to inflict widespread destruction and distress.
We have heard of instances where people have used arms to cause havoc unjustifiably. In other countries where small arms are produced legally, people are tempted to use them even when they could have exercised a little restraint. There, people own the arms and have them in their vehicles, homes and offices and, therefore, use them with the slightest provocation.
Indeed, people who own guns also tend to abuse the laws of the land because of the feeling of power that the ownership of a small arm gives the holder. The gun gives them ego out of which they characteristically threaten people, with the result that in some instances innocent people are killed by stray bullets.
Currently, the manufacture of small arms has not been legalised but our security people are struggling to contain armed robbery and other violent crimes and this is where I think our focus should be for now, instead of venturing into dangerous grounds and considering the issue of legalising the manufacture of small arms in the country.
What we need to do as a country is to concentrate on building a prosperous country while tackling the problem of robbery and manufacturing arms with all seriousness. I will not, therefore, for once support the legalisation of small arms.

Dr Alexis
Nang-Beifubah,
Regional Director, Ghana Health Service

In my opinion, Ghana is not mature enough to legalise the manufacture of small arms. Considering the high numbers of unemployed youth on our hands, many of whom are seriously looking for opportunities to do anything; whether legal or illegal, we should not even think of embarking on such a venture.
Encouraging blacksmiths to go ahead with the large-scale production of these arms means we are only addressing one aspect of the problem, and that is encouraging them to produce potentially destructive items.
As of now we are all aware that armed robbery has in a way gone down and I believe it is all because of the difficulty of acquiring arms these days.
In this country, there is the difficult situation of ascertaining the psychological state of people and, therefore, to entrust people with weapons is to call for disaster on our heads.
In addition, the country lacks the capacity to determine the persons to be given the license to carry out the manufacture of these weapons.
On what grounds are the call for the legalisation of the manufacture of small arms based? Why must we even think of such a thing?. Seriously we do not want to have a gun society.
I think that what we need to do is to encourage blacksmiths to rather divert their energies towards the production of metal beds for our schools, hoes for our farmers and door frames among other things, which I suppose would be of immense benefit to the entire nation instead of the manufacture of small arms.
At the moment, it seems that apart from the manufacture of small arms our blacksmiths are incapable of producing any other item, which I believe is not the case.

Sadiyya Akuba Annor,
Student, University of Development Studies (UDS)

Until this debate on legalising the manufacture of small arms came up, many people did not realise the need to delve into issues relating to arms in this country.
Times have changed globally in terms of the way things are done so it is about time that this country adapted positively to these changing trend.
It is based on this that I will support the call for the manufacturing of small arms to be legalised. When this is done, I believe it will result in stringent monitoring mechanisms on the part of our security agencies.
If we keep tormenting blacksmiths and other manufacturers of these weapons, they will hide, produce the weapons and continue to outwit the security agencies and this could be dangerous for us as a country.
However, if the manufacture of small arms is legalised, the producers of the weapons could be registered, while producers who fail to register will fall foul of the laws of the land and be dealt with.
By legalising the activity, both manufacturers and buyers of guns could be easily traced. Bearing this in mind, holders of guns will be more careful in handling the weapons.
Besides, blacksmiths, once registered, would be brought under one umbrella and with a little assistance from central government, could even manufacture very sophisticated arms for our security forces and this will reduce monies spent by the government in importing arms. Some of our blacksmiths are very talented and can manufacture very intricate things using metals.

Rita S. Nubabong,
NADMO, Wa

Legalising small arms would be fine since it would rather enable the security agencies to track all those who are involved in the production of small arms, as well as those who own small arms.
I agree that blacksmiths, many of whom are into the production of these small arms, can manufacture other items.
Especially, in our part of the country where majority of the people are farmers they could produce hoes, and other farm implements for the farmers. This, however, should not prevent them from going into the production of guns because the production of gun is also part of their vocation.
When blacksmiths are arrested or prevented from the production of the small arms, I bet you they would rather hide and do these things clandestinely and that would be disastrous for the country.
When this becomes the case, the security agencies would find it very difficult monitoring them. Blacksmiths have been with us over the years and they have been producing these items for so long and so if we say now that they should stop, then what else will they be doing?
What the country should rather do is to intensify activities to reach out to many of these blacksmiths, register them and streamline their activities, especially with respect to the manufacture of small arms.
Even though people will go in for these weapons once they are legalised, at least once the producer as well as the buyer or whoever is using it is known, care would be taken in its handling.
Anyone who misuses guns irresponsibly under the laws of the country must be made to face the full rigours of the law.
This issue of gun manufacture is very thorny and, therefore, has to be carefully and critically delved into before a major decision is taken on it.

George Folley,
Journalist

I think that the manufacture of small arms should be legalised because when this is done, proper records could be kept of all people with such arms. Legalising their production will also enable the security agencies to do thorough background checks on all those who own these weapons.
In contribution to the process, all sellers of ammunition must also be supplied with an ammunitions register where the particulars of both the manufacturers and the buyers would be recorded. This will help keep track of both the sellers and buyers so that in case of any eventuality, the perpetrators could easily be identified.
I think that when small arms are legalised, they must be sold solely to people who would need them for their personal protection. Beyond this, laws on the handling of small arms must be made to work effectively, in order to prevent illegal acquisition and manufacture of such arms.
This will go a long way to ward off people who have the intention of going in for such arms for other reasons including indulgence in criminal activities. Once the trade is legalised, those who produce small arms without permission will have to be dealt with severely.
There is no doubt that small arms manufacturers including blacksmiths have also contributed to the upsurge in armed robbery in the country. Conducting proper background checks on them as well as keeping good records of their activities will go a long way to help minimise violent crimes in the country.
Ghanaians are not used to the domestic handling of guns; as such there is need for intensive education and sensitisation on the proper handling of such arms.

Kwaku Baawine,
Retiree

It will be a very good decision to legalise the manufacture of small arms in the country. The research and development unit of the Ghana Army must be activated to study the manufacture of arms to be able to liaise with local arms manufacturers. If we bring these arms manufacturers out of the closet we will be able to monitor their activities.
It would be just like the forex bureau. When the concept was first brought up many were those who disagreed with it. However, we have now seen the benefits that the country is deriving from the operations of forex bureaux.
Some of these local small arms manufacturers are very talented and if their operations had been legalised many years ago, this country would have been a leading arms producer in the world by now. The very good blacksmiths could be sent outside the country and attached to ballistic experts to enable them sharpen their skills.
The decision to legalise the production of small arms is long overdue. I have been canvassing for this for a very long time. Ghanaians have an attitude of looking at things negatively and criminalising it.
Galamsey operations, for instance, were seen to be very negative but when these were streamlined, whether we liked it or not, it has taken some pressure off the government as far as youth employment is concerned.
We have to start looking at these matters as avenues for employment rather than criminalising them. The arms manufacturers must be well trained, well equipped and guided to support the country.

Friday, October 16, 2009

FOUR NABBED FOR THEFT (OCT 16, PAGE 15)

FOUR persons have been arrested by the Wa Police for allegedly breaking into the pharmacy of the Nadowli District Hospital and stealing assorted drugs and a desktop computer, all worth GH¢35,000.
The suspects are Fidelis Bainye, 33, Moses Abudu Suntaah, 26, both record keepers at the hospital, Stephen Kpenye, 40, a watchman, and Lamin Pouryilideoni, 36, who was described as an accomplice.
The Upper West Regional Police Commander, Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Alex Bedie, who briefed the Daily Graphic, said the police received a report that the pharmacy of the hospital had been burgled on October 10, 2009.
He said the police quickly mounted an investigation into the matter and arrested the four.
He said it came out that Moses had once worked at the pharmacy and so he had a spare key to the place.
He said Moses allegedly planned with Fidelis to steal the drugs from the pharmacy and, therefore, about 3 a.m. on that day they broke into the pharmacy and made away with a number of drugs and a desktop computer.
ACP Bedie said further investigations by the police revealed that the watchman, Kpenye, was supposed to report to duty that day but he did not turn up, paving the way for Moses and Fidelis to have a leeway.
He said in a bid to throw dust into the eyes of the hospital authorities, Moses, who had carried the booty to his house at Kaleo, near Wa, for safekeeping set fire to the curtains in the pharmacy shop.
He said after his arrest, Moses sent a message to Fidelis about his arrest and asked him to go to his house and remove the stolen items to an unidentified location.
He added that Fidelis, with the assistance of Lamin, a nursing mother, quickly packed the drugs and the computer and hid them somewhere.
He said Fidelis and Lamin were subsequently arrested, while further investigations led to Stephen’s arrest.
Upon interrogation, ACP Bedie said, Fidelis and Moses admitted stealing the items, while Stephen claimed he had been indisposed on the night of the theft, hence his inability to report to work.
The Regional Police Commander said all four suspects had been placed in police custody pending further investigations.

Monday, October 12, 2009

DR SORY TOURS UPPER WEST (OCT 9, PAGE 20)

THE Director General of the Ghana Health Service (GHS), Dr Elias Sory, has called on the Nurses and Midwives Council to as a matter of urgency, review the embargo on admission of community health nurses and their prevention from performing midwifery functions.
He said the policy as it stood now hindered effective healthcare delivery, especially in very remote areas.
Dr Sory said this when he was confronted with the difficulty under which health personnel, especially community health nurses operated, during a tour of some areas in the Upper West Region.
He stated that when decisions on the issue were made more flexible, they would help solve the problem of lack of midwives in some critical areas.
Reacting to concerns that some districts in the region lacked the required professionals to carry out certain specific functions such as midwifery and also to man particularly the various Community Health Planning and Services (CHPS) centres, Dr Sory said that should not be the case.
He explained that community health nurses were trained by all the 10 regions and therefore there should not be any situation where some regions would be lacking such health professionals, necessitating the call for a critical look at the admission procedure into such institutions.
The tour which took Dr Sory and his team to Jirapa, Han, Ping, Nadowli and Kayiri, was organised by the Japan International Co-operation Agency (JICA) in collaboration with the GHS to evaluate the concept of CHPS compound since its inception by the JICA in the region in 2006.
Dr Sory was accompanied by the Chief Director at the Ministry of Health (MOH), Madam Salamatu Abdul Salaam, the Upper West Regional Director of Health Services, Dr Alexis Nang Beifubah, the Director of Policy Planning Monitoring and Evaluation, Dr Frank Nyonator and representatives from JICA.
“Admission of community health nurses must be based on where such nurses were supposed to work and not because a district is sponsoring them. In any case, these students are sponsored generally by the government and not the districts”, he stated.
Dr Sory said that had been the situation because the country over the years, failed to come out with a major policy decision on such issues, stressing “the government must take realistic measures on the issue by enacting a law”.
He stated that some of the laws of the country had been distorted because even after they had been used under military regimes, they were still being used currently”.
The director general advised district directors of the service to be assertive and strive to make an input when certain major decisions were to be taken.
He commended the JICA for its efforts to uplift healthcare delivery in the country.
Earlier, Dr Sory and his entourage called on the Upper West Regional Minister, Mr Mahmud Khalid and his deputy, Mr Cesar Kale where he stressed the need for practical measures to be instituted to nip in the bud the canker of alcohol abuse in the region.
He expressed regret that the literates who were supposed to conscientise the unfortunate illiterates, were rather the main people leading the fray.
For his part, the regional minister reiterated the call for doctors to undertake national service, saying “the housemanship is part of the medical school training and not national service”.
He said such a decision could be very beneficial to the Upper West since doctors would be posted under the scheme to work in the region.
Mr Khalid further appealed to the director general to strive in improving the number of doctors in the region.

Sunday, October 11, 2009

POLICE NAB TWO SUSPECTS (PAGE 23, MIRROR, OCT 3)

From Chris Nunoo, Wa

THE Wa police have arrested two suspected armed robbers, Nayaa Aweriba, 35, and George Tofaha Suglo, 46, on the Wa-Jirapa road.
The suspects, who were riding a motorcycle, were arrested after a police patrol team intercepted their motorcycle at about 8 p.m. last Sunday.
The Upper West Regional Police Commander, ACP Alex Bedie, who briefed The Mirror, said when a search was conducted on the suspects a shotgun with seven cartridges and two jack knives were found.
He said when they were questioned they said they were galamsey operators at Dekope in Bole in the Northern Region.
ACP Bedie said Nayaa claimed he bought the gun from one Robert and that they were travelling to Kaleo in the Nadowli District of the region for a funeral where he was going to use the gun to fire musketry as a sign of respect to the departed.
Mr Bedie said their explanation did not convince the patrol team and were arrested.
He said the two suspects had since been detained while a search had been mounted for Robert.

MAN NABBED OVER FATHER'S DEATH (PAGE 29, MIRROR, OCT 3)

From Chris Nunoo, Wa

The Wa Police have arrested a man, Sumani Isaka Jnr, from Bugubelie near Tumu in the Sissala East district for allegedly shooting and killing his father.
The Police are also searching for three other suspects who allegedly teamed up with Isaka to inflict multiple cutlass wounds on one Bashiru Salifu, a suspected yam thief.
The Upper West Regional Police Commander, ACP Alex Bedie, told The Mirror that on September 13, 2009 the police in Tumu received a complaint from Isaka that his 45-year-old father, Sumani Isaka Snr, left the house for his farm and has since not returned.
He said Isaka claimed he followed up to the farm only to find out that his father had been murdered and that he suspected Salifu, who is also a farmer.
He said the police followed Isaka to the scene and the body was found with a deep wound in the left thigh suspected to have been caused by a gunshot.
Mr Bedie said upon inspection by the police it came out that the deceased was shot from close range and added that when the police further conducted a search in the area, they found Salifu with cutlass wounds all over his body lying unconscious in the bush.
He said a postmortem conducted on the deceased showed that he died of haemorrhage resulting from excessive bleeding from the thigh.
Mr Bedie said further investigations revealed that on that fateful day the deceased went to the farm only to realise that someone had gone to steal tubers of yam from his farm and he immediately suspected Salifu, who is alleged to be a well-known crop thief in the area.
He said the deceased who was not happy about what he discovered on his farm quickly went home and organised three others and Isaka, who armed themselves with cutlasses and a gun and went to the farm to look for Salifu.
He said when they met Salifu on the farm and questioned him about the loss of the yam, a brawl ensued and Salifu managed to overpower the deceased and held him onto the ground.
In the process, ACP Bedie said, the deceased asked Isaka to shoot at Salifu but Isaka missed and rather fired at his father in the thigh.
He said Salifu sensing danger got up from the deceased but the three others and Isaka pounced on Salifu and inflicted cutlass wounds on him.
Thinking that Salifu was dead, ACP Bedie said, the four dumped him in the bush and fled the scene with the then wounded Isaka Snr but he died on the way.
He said Isaka when interrogated denied shooting the father and blamed Salifu for doing that.
Mr Bedie said the body of the deceased had been deposited at the Wa hospital morgue while Salifu has been admitted at the Wa Regional Hospital for medical treatment under police guard.

Friday, October 9, 2009

DCE CALLS FOR CLOSER COLLABORATION (PAGE 16, SEPT 28)

THE District Chief Executive (DCE) for Lawra, Mr Samson Abu, has called for closer collaboration among the various departments, agencies and the assembly to keep the district on track in its development effort.
To this end, he has underscored the need for a regular interaction between the respective heads of institutions and the assembly in order to move as a united force.
Interacting with the Daily Graphic in Wa, the DCE said situations where some institutions did not participate fully or make any input into programmes of the assembly sometimes slowed or derailed development programmes.
He, therefore, called for a change of attitude among the various stakeholders in the district.
“Let us move in unison as we all have the intention to reduce the poverty level of our people”, he stressed and said the Government was working assiduously to better the lives of all Ghanaians.
Mr Samson Abu said revenue mobilisation, was one of the priorities of the assembly.
He said the overdependence on the District Assemblies Common Fund (DACF) had not augured well for many assemblies and, therefore, there was the need to raise more revenue internally to carry out development projects.
Mr Abu hinted that the assembly would recruit more people under the youth employment programme as revenue collectors.
“We also want to strengthen the area and town councils by getting the right people to do the monitoring at these levels. At the first point of call from the grass roots, we hope to use the area and town councils to rope in more revenue” he explained.
He added that there were plans to put up a permanent office complex to house the assembly because where it currently operated belonged to the controller and accountant general’s department
In addition, the DCE said, the assembly, with assistance from the District Development Fund (DDF), would also construct a 16-room self- contained apartment to house nurses who would be posted to the district.
That, he said, was part of efforts by the assembly to entice and maintain health personnel posted to the district.

Thursday, October 8, 2009

STOP DEMONISING POLITICAL OPPONENTS ...Says Amuah (SEPT 19, PAGE 14)

A Social worker, Mr Donald Amuah, has called on politicians to refrain from demonising political traditions and ideologies of their political opponents.
This, he said, would bring much harmony among the various political parties rather than polarising them.
"We are in a country where a group of people see everything Dr Kwame Nkrumah did as bad, while other groups also see the works of Dr Abrefa Busia to be the same", Mr Amuah lamented, and added that when such things existed, we would always have conflicts on our hands.
Speaking on the topic: "Conflict prevention, resolution and transformation — the role of the youth in northern Ghana," Mr Amuah expressed concern about the signals the political leaders were sending to the next generation with such postures.
He attributed many of the conflicts scattered around the country to some of these developments, saying, "In a country where we do not accept our heroes and where people still lament that successive governments have not treated them well, the problem seeps down to the ordinary people and into institutions, which usually leads to conflicts".
Mr Amuah was addressing selected women's groups at a two-day workshop on conflict resolution in Wa.
It was organised by the Tamale Ecclesiastical Province Pastoral Conference (TEPPCON), with support from the Konrad Adenaur Foundation.
Commenting on the recent debate over the country's educational system, Mr Amuah expressed regret that after 50 years of independence, "There are still unresolved conflicts over our educational system.”
He, therefore, stressed the need for the Government to involve all stakeholders, including parents and come out with clear structures on the country's educational system.
He, therefore, called on Ghanaians to be bold and hold political leaders accountable, pointing out that we must do away with situations where political leaders imposed decisions on the people.
He expressed the hope that an opportunity would be created for the youth by way of national conferences for them to interact very often, so that they come to appreciate common natural values.
This, Mr Amuah said, would concientise the country's youth to refrain from being coerced into conflict or whipping up sentiments that would lead to conflicts.

STOP DEMONISING POLITICAL OPPONENTS ...Says Amuah (SEPT 19, PAGE 14)

A Social worker, Mr Donald Amuah, has called on politicians to refrain from demonising political traditions and ideologies of their political opponents.
This, he said, would bring much harmony among the various political parties rather than polarising them.
"We are in a country where a group of people see everything Dr Kwame Nkrumah did as bad, while other groups also see the works of Dr Abrefa Busia to be the same", Mr Amuah lamented, and added that when such things existed, we would always have conflicts on our hands.
Speaking on the topic: "Conflict prevention, resolution and transformation — the role of the youth in northern Ghana," Mr Amuah expressed concern about the signals the political leaders were sending to the next generation with such postures.
He attributed many of the conflicts scattered around the country to some of these developments, saying, "In a country where we do not accept our heroes and where people still lament that successive governments have not treated them well, the problem seeps down to the ordinary people and into institutions, which usually leads to conflicts".
Mr Amuah was addressing selected women's groups at a two-day workshop on conflict resolution in Wa.
It was organised by the Tamale Ecclesiastical Province Pastoral Conference (TEPPCON), with support from the Konrad Adenaur Foundation.
Commenting on the recent debate over the country's educational system, Mr Amuah expressed regret that after 50 years of independence, "There are still unresolved conflicts over our educational system.”
He, therefore, stressed the need for the Government to involve all stakeholders, including parents and come out with clear structures on the country's educational system.
He, therefore, called on Ghanaians to be bold and hold political leaders accountable, pointing out that we must do away with situations where political leaders imposed decisions on the people.
He expressed the hope that an opportunity would be created for the youth by way of national conferences for them to interact very often, so that they come to appreciate common natural values.
This, Mr Amuah said, would concientise the country's youth to refrain from being coerced into conflict or whipping up sentiments that would lead to conflicts.