Health Professionals tasked to employ principles of human rights in dealing with clients

Mr Joseph Whital, Dep CHRAJ Commissioner

Students of Bolga NTS in a pose with Mr Wital and his entourage

The Deputy Commissioner of CHRAJ, Joseph Whital, has challenged nurses and other health care professionals   to employ a right based approach in dealing with clients particularly the poor and the aged. In doing so, nurses as care givers should consider using basic principles of non-discrimination and the respect for human rights when exercising their official duties. These when put into practice could serve as healing antidotes for patients with both physical and psychological health problems. Mr Whital was addressing final year students of the Bolgatanga Nurses Training School after taking them through a nine week intensive basic human right programmes. The Commission of Human Right and Administrative Justice CHRAJ introduced the basic Human Right Programmes for Health Workers in the school in 2010. The aim was to equip the student nurses with human right concepts and to inculcate in them a culture of respect for human rights of people particularly clients. The training is also a joint collaboration by the Nurses and Midwives Council and CHRAJ to train nurses on how best they can take care of clients using the principles of non-discrimination and human right.  The overall goal is to ensure that clients that visit the various health facilities are accorded and treated with the human dignity they deserve. This year’s graduation ceremony on human right for 101 students of the Bolgatanga Nurses Training school was the third in the series to be organised at the school. Courses treated in the 9-week training programme included children’s rights, domestic violence, sexual harassment, mandates of the commission and ethical values and standard of nurses among others. Giving the course overview of the training programme, the Principal Investigator at the regional Office of CHRAJ, Augustus Atibila said the introduction of the course was to promote a culture and passion of mutual respect especially in the light of the alarming rate of human rights violation and abuses in the country’s health facilities. Mr Atibila however implored health professionals particularly nurses and midwives to show love, care and passion to their clients in the course of their duties.  The Regional Director of CHRAJ, Mr Kenneth Adabayeri, urged the student nurses to act as agents of change by demonstrating what they have learnt to better the lives of their clients. In reaction, the course prefect Edina Teni urged her colleagues to give practical meaning to the knowledge acquired.  She commended the joint effort of CHRAJ and the Health Sector of the region for the training. At the end of the event students that were consistent during   the training programme were recognised and awarded with certificates of participation.

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Mr Whital and his entourage

Participants in a happy mood

Course Rep

Reg Direc CHRAJ, Mr Adabayeri

One of the deserving student receiving his certificate of participation

Regional Gender Response Skills and Community Development Projects launched

17-08-13 

Section of participants

Dignitaries at the high table

The official launch of the campaign to promote girls enrolment into non-traditional professional trades has taken place in Bolgatanga with a call on parents and stakeholders in the educational sector to encourage women to embrace professions that are presumed to be the preserved of their male counterparts. The Deputy Upper East Regional Minister, Mr Daniel Syme, who made the plea lamented that economic and socio-cultural barriers that impede and discourage girls from pursuing the non-traditional trades are duly removed through educational and other communication campaign strategies. He said government in its bid to promote girl child education will not renege on its commitment to empower women in political decision making as a composite index for enhancing good governance. This, he emphasised was being facilitated through a participatory approach to national development decision making at all levels. More so, poverty among women will be drastically reduced through alternative livelihood schemes with targeted identifiable groups being women in deprived areas as well as the vulnerable and the marginalised in society. According to Mr Syme, a total of 59 MMDAs are benefiting from the Gender Responsive and Community Development Project (GRSCDP) of which 5 are in the Upper East. They are Navrongo, Bolgatanga, Bongo, Sandema and Bawku. The Regional Director Department of Women, Miss Jocelyn Adii, said the GRSCDP has since its inception seen some level of achievement and mentioned the provision of 125 computers and 10 motor bikes to Community Development Vocational set ups in the said beneficiary districts as some of the interventions. Meanwhile, 524 girls from poor households have been awarded scholarships to pursue technical skills training for a period of three years. This, Miss Adii, noted goes on to confirm government’s commitment to advancing the cause of girls through enrolment into non-traditional professional trades. The Regional President Past and Present Assembly Women (POWA), Madam Agnes Atayila, lauded the intervention by the gender ministry to  empower girls and encouraged girls to venture into professional trades such as plumbing electrical installations, carpentry and motor vehicle mechanic among others. In an interview, the Director of Service Clients DAPEG Ltd, Mrs Dephine Brew-Hammond, who represented as the guest speaker told Radio Ghana that  4- year project which is geared at promoting gender mainstreaming across national development processes and said to cost US$14.63 million will enhance the economic ,cultural legal and political conditions of majority of Ghanaians, particularly women.

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Citizens participation in budget process of MMDAs appalling-SEND Ghana reveals

 

Mr Eugene Yirbour, SEND Ghana Rep.

 A participant expressing his view

Narration: A Lead Researcher at SEND Ghana, Eugene Yirbour has described as appalling the level of citizens participation in the budget process of the various Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies MMDAs. He said though participation in decisions related to public budget was a fundamental right of the citizenry, access to budget information and other related document is low as most officials in the various assemblies have confirmed that even majority of assembly members have little knowledge of assembly’s budget and are unable to understand the basic of budgeting and explain anything in the budget to their community members. This notwithstanding has contributed significantly to the poor participation of citizens in the budget process. Mr  Yirbour made these revelations at an interface meeting held at Bolgatanga involving relevant stakeholders in the region. Here is a report by correspondent Isaac Asare.

 

 

 

 Report

 

The overall goal of the engagement was to deliberate on the way forward in ensuring effective management of the District assemblies Common Fund (DACF). It was also to share SEND Ghana’s survey on the level of MMDAs compliance with the DACF guidelines and to examine the degree of transparency and accountability in the application of procedures and processes for the disbursement and utilisation of the DACF. He disclosed that a research finding conducted in the various MMDAs of Northern Ghana suggest that most assemblies do not have audit units where they could access internal budget reports. Based on the report, 95 percent of respondents denied having any practical knowledge of budget process, an indication that the assemblies were not living up to expectation, although MMDAs are required to play a leading role in disseminating information on budget to their staff and communities. The lack of knowledge on the assembly’s budget process, he noted has resulted in the loss of revenue for the assemblies and blamed it on apathy and laxity on the part of both the MMDAs and the citizenry. Moreover the absence of effective audit reports implementation committees and internal audit units at the assembly level was greatly affecting the management of the assemblies to implement audit recommendations. This he recommended calls for concerted effort by key stakeholders including the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development MLGRD to address the issue. Touching on the unlawful deductions made from the DACF by the MLGRD, Mr Yirbour said `for the purposes of transparency, it was prudent for the common fund secretariat to ensure that all stakeholders are officially furnished informed and agreed on deductions and how they should be utilised. Per the report some of the deductions are huge and are executed without issuance of receipt which it said contribute is thwarting the financial strength of the MMDAs to address the developmental challenges of the respective assemblies. He further underscored the need to minimize the level of the said deduction to assist in the development planning of the MMDAs.

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Ghanaians urged to be prayerful ahead of the Supreme Court verdict –Rev. Antwi

 

The District Minister of the Presbyterian Church, Bolgatanga, Rev Amagyei Antwi, had admonished Ghanaians, particularly Christ believers not to engage in blustering utterances that have the tendency of inflaming passion but rather remain steadfast and pray against any unforeseen event through prayer.  The country, he observed stood at a cross road considering the gloss uncertainties surrounding the on-going Supreme Court case. According to him, as the country awaits the verdict of the said case, it was incumbent on all as citizens to propagate the essence of peace since it was key to sustaining the country’s prevailing peace and serenity. Rev Antwi gave the advice at this year’s special mini harvest organised by the Peniel Presbytery in aid of a new church building. It was on the theme: ‘Why live in luxurious houses while my house is in ruins’. Rev Antwi was hopeful that with the level of maturity being exhibited by Ghanaians with regards to the election petition, we were poised to achieving much democratic credentials if the outcome of the verdict is accepted by all. He however entreated all and sundry especially Christians to work towards peace. Preaching on the topic: ‘Set your heart on things above’, Rev Antwi admonished Christians to subject themselves to Christ’s eternity and rest upon His promise of bringing salvation to the world. Christians he moreover advised ought to live above reproach and justify their inclusion to heaven since it was a safe haven where perfection is assured. Rev Antwi described heaven as a prepared place for prepared people and therefore called on Christ believers to draw closer to Christ and experience his resurrection. He also challenged them to ignore the pressures of life and worship God with diligence, humility, love and obedience. To the congregation, Rev Antwi said earthly fame was temporal and irrelevant hence the need for the congregation to contribute their quota to providing a decent place of worship. He reminded them of the presbytery upcoming general Assembly slated for August 16-22, 2013 at Abetifi and urged them to pray towards the success of the event. The occasion was used to launch and unveil the banner for the church’s annual harvest. Meanwhile, a fund raising ceremony backed by pledges and donations yielded GHc 40,000 in support of the new church building.

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NIA Mass Registration exercise in U/E records high patronage

16-08-13       

Narration: The National Identification Mass Registration Exercise began yesterday in the various designated centres of the Upper East Region with centres recording high patronage. A visit by our Upper East Regional Correspondent Isaac Asare to some corresponding polling station witnessed prospective registrants forming long queues to partake in the national exercise. The exercise which is being spearheaded by the National Identification Authority (NIA) is expected to last for the next 10 days and covers persons that have attained the age of six and above. Radio Ghana brings you the details.

 Report

According to our correspondent the atmosphere at the areas visited including Bukere and Dapotidongo, were relatively calm as registration agents were on top of their respective duties. Materials including registration forms and machines were available for the smooth execution of the exercise. At the premises of the Regional House of Chiefs in Bukere, one of the Registration Officers Emmanuel Sarkodie, hinted that due to the high turn up of qualified registrants the registration machine broke down during the process. He therefore called on the authorities to furnish the centre with an additional machine and cartridges to augment and ease pressure on the existing one. At the close of the exercise as about 5:10 pm, the centre had registered more than 70 qualified persons. Mr Sarkodie later told Radio Ghana that similar exercises conducted in other regions recorded incidence of double registration and warned that persons found culpable would be made to face a jail term. Additionally, the penalty for double registration attracts 2,500 penalty units and each penalty unity costs GH¢12.00. The regional exercise involving 1,267 trained personnel with 700 data entry agents was not conducted for voting purposes but rather a mechanism aimed at providing a secure and reliable way of identifying both Ghanaians and foreign nationals in the country. Mr Sarkodie however entreated the general public not to prevent people from registering. He also advised registrants to come along with the necessary verification documents for easy identification. Documents required for registration could include baptismal card or certificate, birth certificate, birth weighing card, voters ID card, passport, driver’s license and SSNIT card among others. Meanwhile persons that did not possess any of the said documents are required to come along with relatives to identify them under oath. She stressed that registration was absolutely free and advised the public to report any officer or person who demands money for registration, to any nearby NIA District Office for action to be taken. The Upper East Region had zone into two  with zone one comprising operational zones such as Bolgatanga Municipality, Bongo, Kassena-Nankana, Builsa North, and Builsa South Districts whilst zone wwo covers Bawku Municipality, Bawku West, Garu-Tempane and Talensi-Nabdam Districts.

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Extreme level of alcohol intake increases risk of brain damage- Psychiatric expert

16-08-13       

Mental Health Expert, Sandra Kodima interacting with partcipants at the training session

Peter Badimak, Exeutive Director, YARO (Basic Needs)

Narration:   A Principal Community Psychiatrist in the Upper East Region, Peter Akagwire,  has warned that excessive alcohol intake over a long period of time could lead to lead to brain impairment. This is because regular heavy drinking interferes with some essential components of the brain that are needed for good mental health. On other hand high levels of alcohol could as well contribute to one’s feeling of depression and anxiety and makes stress harder to deal with. Mr Akagwire made the disclosure at a day’s training seminar on managing alcohol addiction for community health nurses in Bolgatanga. Correspondent Isaac Asare has more for Radio Ghana.

Report

The seminar organised by Basic Needs, a health related NGO with support by the Upper East Regional Health Directorate sought to provide remedies in addressing mental health effects on alcoholism. It also forms part of Basic Need’s effort to bringing health closer to the people by ensuring that community health workers have the necessary skill, attitude and expertise to support mental health care at the community level. Mr Akagwire, revealed alcohol intake in recent times has become part and parcel in everyday Ghanaian life with majority of the youth sticking to the practice. He said though it is generally use for enjoyment and other ceremonial activities, its health, social and occupational effects cannot be glossed over as its constant abuse are permanent and irreversible. He however cautioned the youth to desist from the practice since chronic and long term abuse could increase one’s risk of developing health problems including liver cirrhosis, diarrhoea, gastritis as well as hypertension and stroke. He warned parents not to give their children alcohol as they could easily become epileptic or mentally sick. During a presentation, a facilitator with Basic Needs, Ms Sandra Kodimah, took participants through the possible impact of alcoholism on the economy, education and work. Touching on the effects of alcohol on pregnancy, Ms Kodima, advised that heavy maternal alcohol use increases the risk of children developing physical deformities, miscarriage, low birth rate, pre- term labour and foetal spectrum disorders among other related problems. She however advised women to stay off alcohol. She later took participants through good communication skills and alcohol brief interventions as a way of influencing a desirable change and attitude in alcohol addicts. Ms Kodimah, advised community mental health professionals to demonstrate acceptance and genuineness by giving alcohol addicts full care and attention without judging or evaluating them. Moreover, effective alcohol addiction treatment should usually begin by managing the most dangerous physical symptoms such as the effects of withdrawal. Once these health problems are brought under control, the psychological effects of alcoholism can be addressed. Speaking to Radio Ghana, the Executive Director Basic Needs, Mr Peter Badimak,  said cursory observation by basic needs shows that an  increasing number of people particularly youth engage in alcohol sometimes excessively, thus making them dependant. The turn of event, he noted, was critical as the nation stand the risk of losing its human resource to alcohol. Interestingly, most health professionals do not also appreciate the fact that they need to have certain attitudes and skills to deal with people who come to them with signs of alcoholism in them, hence the need for the training session. The interactive session he explained was to help them become abreast with managing alcohol addiction issues and being able to help the population in dealing with mental health associated with alcohol

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Stakeholders forum calls for justification to proposed tariff adjustment

14-08-13  

Regional Director of GBC URA Radio taking his turn during an open forum

Mr Francis Kusi, Dir of Finance and Commercial  VRA/NEDCo

Narration: Stakeholders at a day’s public forum in Bolgatanga has kicked against the proposed upward adjustment of electricity tariff, saying any tariff increment without due consideration could worsen the plight of domestic consumers as well as businesses. According to them utility service providers have over the years taken consumers for granted and therefore do not have any moral justification to increase tariffs at the expense of providing consumers with better quality of service. Whilst condemning utility service providers for their poor services, some participants were of the view tariffs could be increased on annual basis to help meet their operational cost rather than imposing regular charges on customers. Isaac Asare has more for Radio Ghana.

Report

 The stakeholders meeting involving MDCEs, heads of various departments and educational institutions including a cross section of the public forms part of a national exercise being conducted by the Public Utility Regulatory Commission PURC to enable officials of the  Volta River Authority and  the Northern Electricity Distribution Company (VRA-NEDCO) to explain the essence for tariff review. The primary focus was to ensure equitable and reliable power distribution in Northern Ghana and beyond. It was on the theme: ‘The Past, Present and the Future. NEDco, a subsidiary of VRA proposed review of the distribution charge from the existing figure of GHp 9.88 per kilowatt hour to GHp24.07kwh, representing 144 percent. The astronomical increase as described by stakeholders is subject to the approval of the PURC and it is intended to support the service providers enhance their service delivery. The proposed upward review was to also help NEDco widen its coverage in under-served areas including parts of Volta and Brong Ahafo. Reacting to concerns raised at the forum, the Director of Finance and Commercial of the VRA-NEDCO, Mr Francis Kusi said his outfit is in the process of carrying out major expansion works at strategic  project sites and are considering replacing ageing distribution network nationwide, hence the need for consumers to comply with the new tarrif. This, he noted, would enable the company provide efficient and reliable service to its growing clients. Moreover distribution network mapping and data capture as well as the upgrade and replacement of the overloaded transformers would also be carried out to improve the reliability and quality of supply from the transmission and sub-transmission systems. Mr Kusi was optimistic that with the support of stakeholders, NEDCo was poised to provide communities with sub power–station and pre-paid meters with ease. He however denounced the widespread notion that prepaid meters were expensive in its usage as compared to the manual meter system, which he noted was incurring huge debt for the company. The prepaid meters, he moreover explained were certified to meet international standards and was introduced to help tackle collection loses and illegal connections among other negativities. The meters, he moreover warned was the preferred choice and must not be tampered with since they have been subjected to test by the PURC. The Upper East Regional Minister, Alhaji Limuna -Muniru who chaired the function implored stakeholders to complement the effort of PURC and its service providers in ensuring quality service delivery. 

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Gov’t injects US$72 m to support land management and records of all land allocations

15-08-13    

In a bid to ensure efficiency in the management and records keeping of all land allocations and transaction within traditional areas, government under the Land Administration Project (LAP II) is injecting a whopping US$72 million to support the project. The move is to consolidate the gains made under LAP–I by deepening reforms, and enabling the land sector agencies to be more responsive to clients among other interventions. Moreover the project which is being supported by the World Bank and CIDA will help address key policy actions recommended in the Ghana National Land Policy of 1999 and also address critical issues militating against effective land administration in the country. The Regional LAP Coordinator, Mr Abu Seidu, who gave the hint at a sensitization workshop in Bawku said the formulation of the LAP which is geared at promoting the establishment of more Customary Land Secretariats (CLSs) will go a long way to deepen customary land administration at the traditional Authority levels. Its effective implementation he assured will contribute significantly in the reduction of rampant land conflicts particularly Bawku where land dispute has resulted in loss of lives and property. The workshop attended by the various divisional and sub-divisional chiefs in the Kusaug Traditional Area was organised to brief land owners on the criteria set by the LAP-II for the establishment of CLSs. It was also organised in conjunction with the Office of the Administration of Stool/Skin Land (OASL) with the aim to building the capacity of chiefs and landowners on settling land disputes at their localities through appropriate Alternative Dispute Resolution and Mediation. As part of decentralisation of service delivery process, LAP-II will ensure the demarcation of more customary land boundaries including the ascertainment and Codification of Customary Laws (ACLs) on land and family. The Communication and Public Outreach Officer at the Regional Office of Lands Commission, Mercy Mbamana Sapak said the Phase 2 of the LAP which is the latest of the long term 15-25 years in the land sector, will tackle weak land administration systems and above all address issues of insecurity of land tenure and poor records management for the purpose of transparency in land processes. She advised land owners to take advantage of the existing Customary Land Secretariats since its existence will help minimize land related disputes and conflicts as well as promote good governance in local land administration. Giving an overview of ADR mechanisms in Ghana, the Assistant Stool Lands Officer, John Kwame Laari, said for peace and development to thrive, it was imperative for all to use negotiation and mediation  as alternatives in resolving land disputes rather than resorting to litigations at the law courts. Mr Laari used the occasion to sensitize the Bawku Traditional Council members on the establishment of CLS in Bawku.  At an open forum, issues of land compensation and leases became topical as some chiefs demanded answers on leases granted to prospective developers for public projects. The CLS Coordinator for Bawku, Edward Abugrago said his outfit will ensure the up to date records of all land transaction, emphasizing that measures will be practically put in place to ensure the sustainability of the establishment and mentioned mass land registration as one of the priority areas. Mr Abugrago called for the cooperation of chiefs and land owners to enable his outfit realise its set objective. Similar stakeholders meetings are on-going and will cover five districts of Kusaug Traditional Area.

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Some Queen mothers present at the meeting

Traditional chiefs from Kusaug

Mr John Kwame Laari delivering his speech

Mr Abu Seidu , Regional LAP Coordinator