THE School of Engineering of the Wa Polytechnic will by the end of July this year produce 400 pieces of rechargeable solar lamps which will be sold at a token fee to communities in the Upper West Region.
Known as Socialites, the lamp is assembled with local raw materials such as empty plastic bottles and is manufactured by lecturers and students of the department with technical support from the Cooper Union, an engineering institution based in the United States of America (USA).
Speaking in an interview with the Daily Graphic, after the opening of the third annual research conference of the Wa Polytechnic, the acting Rector of the polytechnic, Mr Solomon Dansieh, said the project commenced last year under a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between the Cooper Union and the Wa Polytechnic.
He said the Cooper Union went further to assist the polytechnic to set up a laboratory known as the Socialite Engineering and Technology Centre, which he said was the first enterprise in the envisioned technology park of the polytechnic.
So far, Mr Dansieh said, 62 of the lamps, which he described as simple, robust and affordable, had been assembled and distributed to communities in the Jirapa District including Baazing, Nambeg and Tampaala.
On the research conference, the acting rector noted that in line with the strategic plan of the Wa Polytechnic to initiate action programmes and enhance and promote training, research and innovation, it instituted the annual research conference dubbed Wa PARC, as a forum for staff of the polytechnic to present their research findings, seek inputs from the audience, as well as update them for publication.
Sixteen papers will be presented at the three-day conference, which is on the theme: “Mobilisation of relevant skills for national development: The role of Ghanaian Polytechnics”.
He expressed appreciation to the Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFund) and the National Council for Tertiary Education (NCTE) for their enormous support to the polytechnic and the conference.
He, however, appealed to the NTCE to review upwards the annual allocation of the faculty development and research fund to sustain its conferences and further appealed to organisations in the informal sector to come and invest in the development of the Wa Polytechnic technology park.
In a presentation on the topic: “Developing Ghana through sustainable engineering,” a lecturer of the School of Engineering at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Prof. Sampson Agodzo, deplored the level of corruption that had permeated the engineering profession in the country.
He attributed the poor engineering services being rendered in the country to incompetence and corruption on the part of engineers, saying “In this country everybody runs to where something good would happen. The procurement law which is also expected to deal with corruption is rather worsening the corruption situation,” he added.
Prof. Agodzo, who is the immediate past Rector of the Wa Polytechnic, said the non-existence of a law to regulate engineering practice in the country was the basis for the challenges confronting the profession over the years.
He, therefore, called for the passage of an engineering bill to streamline engineering practice in the country.
Touching on the influx of foreign students into the country’s educational institutions, Prof. Agodzo stressed the need for the expansion of infrastructure and service delivery among other facilities in the country’s educational institutions to be able to reap the desired benefits.
Friday, June 11, 2010
Monday, June 7, 2010
CHOOSE CANDIDATE WHO CAN ATTRACT VOTES FROM ALL SECTORS (PAGE 13, JUNE 7, 2010)
AN aspiring flag bearer of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Mr Alan Kyerematen, has advised polling station executives of the party to choose a candidate who has the capabilities to attract votes from all sectors of the political divide.
This, he said, was because the general elections in the year 2012 was not going to be an NPP affair but rather a nation-wide exercise which the NPP could not afford to toy with.
“It is, therefore, very important that the NPP presents a winning and an appealing candidate cast in the mould of Alan Kyerematen to wrest power from the NDC, come the 2012 general election” he stated.
Mr Kyerematen said this when he interacted with polling station executives of the NPP in Wa in the Upper West Region.
The meeting was part of his campaign tour of the region to seek the support of members of the party who would vote at the national congress of the party.
Describing himself as a true unifier, Mr Kyerematen said “I am the only candidate who could do this for the NPP and so you have to change the way we did things in the year 2008 and give me the nod to win power from the ruling NDC”.
He told the polling station executives that he was touring all the 230 constituencies to interact with them because of his love for the party, adding that personal sacrifice must be the hallmark of a true leader.
“Amongst all the candidates you must look out for a young, charismatic and energetic leader like Alan Kyerematen who could do the job,” he said.
On the role of the polling station executives, Mr Kyerematen said instead of forming a campaign team, he would rather empower polling station executives of the party to spearhead the party’s campaign in the 2012 elections if he won the primaries.
He said he would also set up a welfare fund to be used to support the interest and needs of polling station executives.
A member of Mr Kyerematen’s team, Mr Kwabena Agyepong, in his introductory remarks explained that going for primaries to choose a presidential candidate was a tradition of the NPP and therefore the assertion that the slot should automatically go to a particular candidate must not be allowed to happen.
He said Mr Kyerematen is a true blue member of the Dankwa Busia tradition where the NPP traced its roots and therefore the impression being created that he joined the NPP quite recently was wrong.
This, he said, was because the general elections in the year 2012 was not going to be an NPP affair but rather a nation-wide exercise which the NPP could not afford to toy with.
“It is, therefore, very important that the NPP presents a winning and an appealing candidate cast in the mould of Alan Kyerematen to wrest power from the NDC, come the 2012 general election” he stated.
Mr Kyerematen said this when he interacted with polling station executives of the NPP in Wa in the Upper West Region.
The meeting was part of his campaign tour of the region to seek the support of members of the party who would vote at the national congress of the party.
Describing himself as a true unifier, Mr Kyerematen said “I am the only candidate who could do this for the NPP and so you have to change the way we did things in the year 2008 and give me the nod to win power from the ruling NDC”.
He told the polling station executives that he was touring all the 230 constituencies to interact with them because of his love for the party, adding that personal sacrifice must be the hallmark of a true leader.
“Amongst all the candidates you must look out for a young, charismatic and energetic leader like Alan Kyerematen who could do the job,” he said.
On the role of the polling station executives, Mr Kyerematen said instead of forming a campaign team, he would rather empower polling station executives of the party to spearhead the party’s campaign in the 2012 elections if he won the primaries.
He said he would also set up a welfare fund to be used to support the interest and needs of polling station executives.
A member of Mr Kyerematen’s team, Mr Kwabena Agyepong, in his introductory remarks explained that going for primaries to choose a presidential candidate was a tradition of the NPP and therefore the assertion that the slot should automatically go to a particular candidate must not be allowed to happen.
He said Mr Kyerematen is a true blue member of the Dankwa Busia tradition where the NPP traced its roots and therefore the impression being created that he joined the NPP quite recently was wrong.
Sunday, June 6, 2010
POLICE PERSONNEL WARNED AGAINST UNLAWFUL DETENTION (PAGE 42, JUNE 7, 2010)
THE Director-General in charge of Operations of the Ghana Police Service, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCOP) John Kudalor, has warned personnel of the police service against unlawfully detaining suspects.
He said with the new cell policy of the service, personnel who would be found culpable to have acted at variance with the rules of the service, with respect to the detention of suspects, would be held responsible for their actions.
“With the new cell policy, we will ensure that specific numbers of suspects are kept in cells at some particular times. This is because we want to ensure that suspects are treated humanely and with decency because they are also human beings. In instances where the suspects are more than necessary, we could process them before court for them to be remanded in prison,” he said.
DCOP Kudalor gave the advice when he addressed a durbar of senior officers and personnel of the service at the Upper West Regional Police Headquarters in Wa.
He said policing was a calling which needed sacrifice and service, and therefore, advised personnel of the service to work to win the confidence of the populace.
The director-general deplored the uninspiring manner in which some police personnel conducted themselves and urged such personnel to turn over a new leaf, stressing that discipline must be the hallmark of every police officer.
Touching on transfers under the current police administration, DCOP Kudalor explained that the administration was streamlining the processes to ensure that all those who deserved to be transferred were asked to do so when the need arose.
He expressed worry about the situation where some regions or police stations had more than enough officers while others lacked personnel, and said those anomalies would be rectified.
DCOP Kudalor said the Police Administration wanted to be as transparent and humane as possible in satisfying all personnel with respect to transfers in the service.
The director-general further called for closer collaboration between the media and the police as it went about its work, saying, “We have to work with the media to our advantage”.
He said as part of measures to always get the right and factual information across to the public, the administration had directed the various commanders and its public affairs officers to perform such functions, adding, “The police is ready to give the right information to the media.”
The new Regional Police Commander, DCOP Roy Amuni, said he would operate an open-door policy.
He also promised to work closely with the media.
He said with the new cell policy of the service, personnel who would be found culpable to have acted at variance with the rules of the service, with respect to the detention of suspects, would be held responsible for their actions.
“With the new cell policy, we will ensure that specific numbers of suspects are kept in cells at some particular times. This is because we want to ensure that suspects are treated humanely and with decency because they are also human beings. In instances where the suspects are more than necessary, we could process them before court for them to be remanded in prison,” he said.
DCOP Kudalor gave the advice when he addressed a durbar of senior officers and personnel of the service at the Upper West Regional Police Headquarters in Wa.
He said policing was a calling which needed sacrifice and service, and therefore, advised personnel of the service to work to win the confidence of the populace.
The director-general deplored the uninspiring manner in which some police personnel conducted themselves and urged such personnel to turn over a new leaf, stressing that discipline must be the hallmark of every police officer.
Touching on transfers under the current police administration, DCOP Kudalor explained that the administration was streamlining the processes to ensure that all those who deserved to be transferred were asked to do so when the need arose.
He expressed worry about the situation where some regions or police stations had more than enough officers while others lacked personnel, and said those anomalies would be rectified.
DCOP Kudalor said the Police Administration wanted to be as transparent and humane as possible in satisfying all personnel with respect to transfers in the service.
The director-general further called for closer collaboration between the media and the police as it went about its work, saying, “We have to work with the media to our advantage”.
He said as part of measures to always get the right and factual information across to the public, the administration had directed the various commanders and its public affairs officers to perform such functions, adding, “The police is ready to give the right information to the media.”
The new Regional Police Commander, DCOP Roy Amuni, said he would operate an open-door policy.
He also promised to work closely with the media.
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
EMBRACE WOMEN EMPOWERMENT PROGRAMMES (PAGE 11, MAY 25, 2010)
THE Sungtaa Nyog women’s group, a civil society organisation in the Lawra District of the Upper West Region has celebrated its 10th anniversary with an advice to women to fully embrace women empowerment programmes as a step in fighting poverty.
The Secretary to the Sungtaa Nyog women’s group, Madam Rebecca Karbo, stated this when she addressed a durbar to climax the anniversary celebration of the group at Lawra.
The durbar, which attracted about 300 women among other dignitaries, was on the theme: “Empower women to reduce poverty”.
The group is a body of various women’s groups within the Lawra Traditional Area, who came together in the year 2000, to seek their interest and welfare. They included farmers, petty traders and ‘pito’ brewers.
Madam Karbo stressed the need to speed up renovation works on the Lawra Market to attract more women and also to improve upon the revenue collection capacity of the district assembly.
She also appealed to the assembly to improve water facilities in the district so that more people would have access to clean water.
On education, Madam Karbo appealed to the government to extend the school feeding programme to cover all schools in the district.
The Member of Parliament (MP) for Lawra Nandom, Mr Ambrose Dery, who was the guest of honour, said empowering women was necessary to empower the community since women formed majority of the society.
He said women were good managers of families and it was important to empower them to enhance the development of their communities.
Mr Dery, therefore, commended women under the Lawra paramountcy for coming together as a unit and said “In that way, you would become viable and we can also support you”.
The MP supported the group with an amount of GH¢12,500 for them to use as seed money to support their microfinance revolving fund, and pledged his continued assistance to the group so far as they worked towards a good cause.
He advised that “members of the group particularly the leadership must be accountable to the members and learn basic book keeping skills”.
The Secretary to the Sungtaa Nyog women’s group, Madam Rebecca Karbo, stated this when she addressed a durbar to climax the anniversary celebration of the group at Lawra.
The durbar, which attracted about 300 women among other dignitaries, was on the theme: “Empower women to reduce poverty”.
The group is a body of various women’s groups within the Lawra Traditional Area, who came together in the year 2000, to seek their interest and welfare. They included farmers, petty traders and ‘pito’ brewers.
Madam Karbo stressed the need to speed up renovation works on the Lawra Market to attract more women and also to improve upon the revenue collection capacity of the district assembly.
She also appealed to the assembly to improve water facilities in the district so that more people would have access to clean water.
On education, Madam Karbo appealed to the government to extend the school feeding programme to cover all schools in the district.
The Member of Parliament (MP) for Lawra Nandom, Mr Ambrose Dery, who was the guest of honour, said empowering women was necessary to empower the community since women formed majority of the society.
He said women were good managers of families and it was important to empower them to enhance the development of their communities.
Mr Dery, therefore, commended women under the Lawra paramountcy for coming together as a unit and said “In that way, you would become viable and we can also support you”.
The MP supported the group with an amount of GH¢12,500 for them to use as seed money to support their microfinance revolving fund, and pledged his continued assistance to the group so far as they worked towards a good cause.
He advised that “members of the group particularly the leadership must be accountable to the members and learn basic book keeping skills”.
Friday, May 21, 2010
NDC FACTIONS MUST BURY DIFFERENCES (PAGE 14, MAY 21, 2010)
THE acting Upper West Regional Minister, Mr Moses Bukari Mabengba, has called on all factions involved in the rumpus in the National Democratic Congress (NDC) in the region to bury their differences and come to a compromise.
That, he said, was the only way to create the required atmosphere to resolve intra-party problems and continue with the development agenda of the region.
Mr Mabengba made the call when he met members of the Upper West Regional Local Council of Churches at the Conference Room of the Regional Co-ordinating Council (RCC) in Wa.
He called on the people to come to terms with the principle that there must always be one leader at a time, adding, “The Upper West, which is the youngest region, used to be the most peaceful, but in recent times we have not had the peace we are all yearning for.”
He appealed to the clergy to use their influence in society to intercede, both spiritually and physically, when the need arose.
Mr Mabengba further appealed to the people to unite to fight poverty, disease and squalor which, according to him, were the common enemies of the three northern regions, instead of fighting among themselves.
Mr Mabengba took oversight responsibility of the Upper West Region after the dismissal of the substantive regional minister, Mr Mahmud Khalid, last week Tuesday by the President.
He will be acting as Upper West Regional Minister until a substantive Regional M
inister is appointed.
He arrived in Wa last Sunday and has since met with the Regional Security Council (REGSEC), heads of departments, the leadership and members of the NDC, as well as the former regional minister.
He also called on the Regional Chief Imam, Alhaji Issahaque Yakubu, and asked for his support and prayers.
Mr Mabengba told the clergy that his mission to the region was not because he had a magic wand to deal with all the problems there, adding, “Perhaps being a minister in a conflict-prone region, may be the President thought I could bring these experiences to bear on the Upper West.”
The Chairman of the Local Council of Churches and Head Pastor of the Fountain Gate Chapel in Wa, Rev Ben Ancheba, in his response, called for transparency on the part of political leaders in their dealings.
“Leaders must begin to open up. Very often you know people who you could easily call on but the moment they get into political positions, they are clouded with some kind of mystery,” he said.
On the recent disturbances by some irate NDC youth in the region, he called for patience and urged all to keep praying for the region and the country at large.
He attributed the disturbances to the lack of understanding of the governance process and ignorance on the part of the people.
Other speakers advised political parties to set up prayer groups to intercede spiritually on behalf of governments and the parties, while others thought the incident was an eye opener which would push political leaders to open up and engage more people at the grass roots.
That, he said, was the only way to create the required atmosphere to resolve intra-party problems and continue with the development agenda of the region.
Mr Mabengba made the call when he met members of the Upper West Regional Local Council of Churches at the Conference Room of the Regional Co-ordinating Council (RCC) in Wa.
He called on the people to come to terms with the principle that there must always be one leader at a time, adding, “The Upper West, which is the youngest region, used to be the most peaceful, but in recent times we have not had the peace we are all yearning for.”
He appealed to the clergy to use their influence in society to intercede, both spiritually and physically, when the need arose.
Mr Mabengba further appealed to the people to unite to fight poverty, disease and squalor which, according to him, were the common enemies of the three northern regions, instead of fighting among themselves.
Mr Mabengba took oversight responsibility of the Upper West Region after the dismissal of the substantive regional minister, Mr Mahmud Khalid, last week Tuesday by the President.
He will be acting as Upper West Regional Minister until a substantive Regional M
inister is appointed.
He arrived in Wa last Sunday and has since met with the Regional Security Council (REGSEC), heads of departments, the leadership and members of the NDC, as well as the former regional minister.
He also called on the Regional Chief Imam, Alhaji Issahaque Yakubu, and asked for his support and prayers.
Mr Mabengba told the clergy that his mission to the region was not because he had a magic wand to deal with all the problems there, adding, “Perhaps being a minister in a conflict-prone region, may be the President thought I could bring these experiences to bear on the Upper West.”
The Chairman of the Local Council of Churches and Head Pastor of the Fountain Gate Chapel in Wa, Rev Ben Ancheba, in his response, called for transparency on the part of political leaders in their dealings.
“Leaders must begin to open up. Very often you know people who you could easily call on but the moment they get into political positions, they are clouded with some kind of mystery,” he said.
On the recent disturbances by some irate NDC youth in the region, he called for patience and urged all to keep praying for the region and the country at large.
He attributed the disturbances to the lack of understanding of the governance process and ignorance on the part of the people.
Other speakers advised political parties to set up prayer groups to intercede spiritually on behalf of governments and the parties, while others thought the incident was an eye opener which would push political leaders to open up and engage more people at the grass roots.
UPPER WEST NPP REFUTES ALLEGATIONS (PAGE 14, MAY 21, 2010)
THE New Patriotic Party (NPP) in the Upper West Region has refuted assertions by some members of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) in the region that it caused the removal of the former Regional Minister, Mr Mahmud Khalid.
It noted that events which led to the immediate dismissal of Mr Khalid were purely an internal NDC affair and, therefore, the NDC must concentrate on solving its problems rather than pointing accusing fingers at the NPP.
A statement signed and released by the Upper West Regional Secretary of the NPP, Mr Stephen Engmen, therefore, urged members of the NDC to stop dragging the name of the NPP through the mud.
It described events which lead to the dismissal of the minister as unfortunate and said the NPP was worried about the development in the region and not that of a few individuals who were fighting for their selfish needs.
The statement further said contrary to claims that the former regional minister was awarding contracts to NPP people, the NDC had rather consciously refused to award contracts to people perceived to be NPP sympathisers.
The statement, therefore, called on the NDC to deliver on its promises and find solutions to their recent intra party wrangling and stop drawing the NPP into such confusion.
It further described Mr Khalid, the former Regional Minister, as a sacrificial lamb who had been sacrificed to appease a few people to the detriment of the interest of majority of the people.
The statement further noted that it was totally wrong for the NDC to misinform the world that NPP members were benefiting from contracts from the NDC when in actual fact it was not the case.
It noted that events which led to the immediate dismissal of Mr Khalid were purely an internal NDC affair and, therefore, the NDC must concentrate on solving its problems rather than pointing accusing fingers at the NPP.
A statement signed and released by the Upper West Regional Secretary of the NPP, Mr Stephen Engmen, therefore, urged members of the NDC to stop dragging the name of the NPP through the mud.
It described events which lead to the dismissal of the minister as unfortunate and said the NPP was worried about the development in the region and not that of a few individuals who were fighting for their selfish needs.
The statement further said contrary to claims that the former regional minister was awarding contracts to NPP people, the NDC had rather consciously refused to award contracts to people perceived to be NPP sympathisers.
The statement, therefore, called on the NDC to deliver on its promises and find solutions to their recent intra party wrangling and stop drawing the NPP into such confusion.
It further described Mr Khalid, the former Regional Minister, as a sacrificial lamb who had been sacrificed to appease a few people to the detriment of the interest of majority of the people.
The statement further noted that it was totally wrong for the NDC to misinform the world that NPP members were benefiting from contracts from the NDC when in actual fact it was not the case.
UNITE, FORGE AHEAD IN PEACE — DERY (PAGE 13, MAY 21, 2012)
THE Member of Parliament for the Lawra-Nandom Constituency, Mr Ambrose Dery, has made a passionate call on the chiefs and people of the three Northern Regions to unite and forge ahead in peace.
This, he said, was because the three Northern Regions could not continue to be associated with violence when there is a lot they could do to improve the living condition of their people.
Mr Dery expressed grave concern about the incessant cases of violence that had clouded the northern parts of the country and urged all peace loving Northerners to help reverse the trend.
Mr Dery made the call when he addressed a durbar to mark the 10th anniversary celebration of the Sungtaa Nyog women’s group at Lawra in the Lawra district of the Upper West Region.
“Why is it that whenever there is a misunderstanding in the North, it leads to violence? Are we saying that we cannot use dialogue to seek solutions to our grievances?” Mr Dery asked.
Commenting on the recent events in the Upper West Region which led to the removal of the Regional Minister, Mr Mahmud Khalid, Mr Dery called for a cease fire and reminded the people that the President had the prerogative to appoint and dismiss anybody he appointed.
He said protesting violently and above all, invading the precinct of the Regional Coordinating Council (RCC) to destroy government documents cast a slur on the security situation in the region and must be condemned by all.
Mr Dery, who is also the Deputy Minority Leader in Parliament, advised the youth to always bear in mind that the Upper West in particular was the least developed region in the country and therefore, instead of engaging in such lawlessness, they must rather channel their energies into ventures which would bring development and prosperity to the people.
On the development of women in the region, the MP said women must act as agents of peace since they were at the receiving end in times of violence.
He advised women to use their motherly techniques to convince their children and the youth, many of who were used to forment such troubles, to desist from such practices and be of good behaviour.
He said Northern Ghana was becoming too violent and challenged women to partner men in the crusade to bring peace.
He also called for a change in some cultural practices such as early marriages, Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) among other practices which were detrimental to the development of women and appealed to parents to be much concerned about the nutritional needs of their children.
That, he explained, would go along way to check the incidence of maternal and under five mortality cases in the region.
Touching on the Savannah Accelerated Development Authority (SADA), the Deputy Minority Leader was not happy about the pace with which it was being handled and described the NDC government as a government of broken promises.
He added that as one of the major campaign promises of the NDC, the respective communities must be enjoying the fruits of the SADA by now.
He, therefore, called on the government to make the SADA operational in the shortest possible time in the interest of the people and also to enhance the development of the respective beneficiary communities.
This, he said, was because the three Northern Regions could not continue to be associated with violence when there is a lot they could do to improve the living condition of their people.
Mr Dery expressed grave concern about the incessant cases of violence that had clouded the northern parts of the country and urged all peace loving Northerners to help reverse the trend.
Mr Dery made the call when he addressed a durbar to mark the 10th anniversary celebration of the Sungtaa Nyog women’s group at Lawra in the Lawra district of the Upper West Region.
“Why is it that whenever there is a misunderstanding in the North, it leads to violence? Are we saying that we cannot use dialogue to seek solutions to our grievances?” Mr Dery asked.
Commenting on the recent events in the Upper West Region which led to the removal of the Regional Minister, Mr Mahmud Khalid, Mr Dery called for a cease fire and reminded the people that the President had the prerogative to appoint and dismiss anybody he appointed.
He said protesting violently and above all, invading the precinct of the Regional Coordinating Council (RCC) to destroy government documents cast a slur on the security situation in the region and must be condemned by all.
Mr Dery, who is also the Deputy Minority Leader in Parliament, advised the youth to always bear in mind that the Upper West in particular was the least developed region in the country and therefore, instead of engaging in such lawlessness, they must rather channel their energies into ventures which would bring development and prosperity to the people.
On the development of women in the region, the MP said women must act as agents of peace since they were at the receiving end in times of violence.
He advised women to use their motherly techniques to convince their children and the youth, many of who were used to forment such troubles, to desist from such practices and be of good behaviour.
He said Northern Ghana was becoming too violent and challenged women to partner men in the crusade to bring peace.
He also called for a change in some cultural practices such as early marriages, Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) among other practices which were detrimental to the development of women and appealed to parents to be much concerned about the nutritional needs of their children.
That, he explained, would go along way to check the incidence of maternal and under five mortality cases in the region.
Touching on the Savannah Accelerated Development Authority (SADA), the Deputy Minority Leader was not happy about the pace with which it was being handled and described the NDC government as a government of broken promises.
He added that as one of the major campaign promises of the NDC, the respective communities must be enjoying the fruits of the SADA by now.
He, therefore, called on the government to make the SADA operational in the shortest possible time in the interest of the people and also to enhance the development of the respective beneficiary communities.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)