Dep Attorney General secures funds for school project

          

The Deputy Attorney General and MP for Bolgatanga East, Dominic Ayine, has secured 46 thousand, nine hundred and eighty seven Ghana Cedis from GETfund to ensure the completion of a six unit classroom block and an office for the Apindongo -Katanga community at Zuarungu. 

The project, which is currently at the roofing stage, was awarded on contract in 2011, but remained stalled due to lack of funds. 

The delay in the execution of the project had been a major concern to the people, and this prompted the MP to intervene. 

At a presentation held at Zuarungu, the Bolgatanga East Constituency Chairman of the NDC, Solomon Adombire, handed over the cheque to the contractor on behalf of the MP. 

He urged the contractor to do due diligence to the gesture and ensure that the project is executed on time devoid of shoddy work. 

The contractor for his part promised to use the money for its intended purpose. Asampana Abugre, a community leader, thanked the MP and GETFUND for responding to their plight.  

He told Radio Ghana that the successful completion of the project will inure to the benefit of the people since it will ensure an increase in school enrolment and also enhance quality teaching and learning at the basic level.

GBC NEWS                                                         END                                                        IA

Residents urged to join in the fight against poor sanitation

Record has it that over 70 percent of OPD cases recorded at the various health facilities in the Upper East Region are sanitation related diseases with malaria being the number ailment reported each day.  

The rest include diarrheoa and cholera which  had claimed the death of some residents in the region. 

The Regional Manager of Zoomlion Ghana, John Sackey, who made this known said the health sector of the country spent heavily in fighting sanitation. 

Moreover, government utilizes chunk of its resources to provide medication for malaria and other related diseases.

 Mr Sackey disclosed this to Radio Ghana at the end of today’s National Sanitation Day exercise held in Bolgatanga. 

He said since sanitation was a shared responsibility, it was incumbent on all to complement the effort of government by practicing sound environmental cleanliness.   

Mr Sackey also called for attitudinal change in the fight against sanitation since Zoomlion cannot shoulder the responsibility alone. 

The exercise began at the premises of the Regional Office of the Ghana Fire Service and ended at the Metro Mass Transport, MMT, yard. 

Present were dignitaries including the MP for Bolgatanga Central, Opam Brown Akolbire and the MCE for Bolgatanga Municipal, Edward Ayagle. 

Personnel from the various security agencies including staff of Zoomlion Ghana and the MMT were there to lend their support.

 They desilted some chocked gutters and cleared other waste materials in identified areas. In a brief message after the exercise, the MP and the MCE said was high time people embrace the national exercise considering the poor sanitation in the country.

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CSM kills two in Bongo

           

Mr Awuni

               

The Upper East Regional Disease Surveillance Officer, Baba Awuni has refuted media reports that suggest an outbreak of cerebrospinal Meningitis, CSM, in the Bongo District. 

He said though the district has recorded two deaths out of eight suspected cases, the situation still puts the district close to an alert threshold, and it is only when it records 10 cases per week that an epidemic threshold could be declared. 

Mr Awuni, identified the dead as 14 year old girl from Atampisi and a 57 year old woman from Ayopia communities. 

He tells Radio Ghana's Isaac Asare that he is not surprise the region had recorded early cases of meningitis because experience showed that the disease usually occurs between October and May, reaching its peak between March and April.

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Interior Minister calls for renewed partnership between Prisons and Police

Interior Minister, Mark Woyongo

The Minister of the Interior and MP for Navrongo Central, Mark Owen Woyongo, has called for renewed partnership between Prison Officers and Personnel of the Ghana Police Service in dealing with inmates of the country’s prisons.

 He said following the attempted jail break in Kumasi which led to the death of one inmate, it has become imperative for the two institutions to foster closer relations to forestall any future occurrence. 

As a way forward, Mr Woyongo, disclosed that talks were ongoing with the Director of Prisons to ensure that such collaboration was extended to the rest of the regions. 

Speaking to Radio Ghana's Isaac Asare in Bolgatanga,  Mr.  Woyongo outlined plans by his ministry to resource and decongest the country’s prisons.  

Overcrowding at the Kumasi Central Prisons is said to be one of the factors for the attempted jail break. 

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Bolgatanga: Ghana to face major shortfall in tomato production

Vegetable farmers particularly those in the Upper East Region are not likely to go into tomato production since they no more find the venture lucrative.

According to them, the dysfunctional Northern Star Tomato Factory, at Pwalugu, which is supposed to serve as the main market centre for their tomato produce, speaks volumes of their inability to engage in tomato farming.

This means that tomato queens will now resort to buying tomato in larger quantities from neighbouring Burkina Faso. In view of the situation, experts in the vegetable sector of the region predict a major shortfall in tomato production this year.

Perhaps an indication that Ghanaians are going to buy tomatoes at a higher price on the market.

Radio Ghana's Correspondent, Issac Asare engaged the thoughts of the Upper East Regional Chairman of the Vegetable Farmers Association, Donald Samani on the issue.

Mr Asana said in the face of the challenges, executives of the association made efforts to engage management of the company to discuss issues relating to a price fixing among others.

He said though series of meetings were held to that effect, tomato farmers in the region are still not convinced because they believe the factory is still battling with other challenges in terms of crates, marketing and delays in carting the produce from the farms to the factory, hence their resolve to pull out from the business.

In an interview, the DCE for Talensi, Edward Awunnore, confirmed that the tomato factory at Pwalugu is not fully operational as expected, but said the assembly is in discussions with an investor who has expressed interest in reviving the factory.

The Talensi D C E assured the workers that the investor will arrive in Ghana by next two weeks to assess the situation at the factory, and urged the farmers to exercise restraint.


GBC NEWS                                                            END

Ghana Close to winning AFCON 2015

Ghana’s Senior National Team the Black Stars were winners over their Guinean Counterpart in what could be described by soccer pundits as the most fascinating match in the ongoing AFCON tournament.

Black Stars midfielder, Christian Atsu gave a good account of himself after coming close to scoring a hat trick during the fierce quarter final game yesterday.

Ghana won three goals to nil with Atsu scoring the opener while Akwesi Appiah who featured for the first time proved himself by scoring the second goal as a result of a defensive blunder from the Guinean Defence.

The victory over the Syli Guinean National team has given high hopes as the Stars are two steps ahead to winning the ultimate cup.

As the Black Stars prepares to meet the home side Equitorial Guinea side in the semis, most soccer fans are hopeful that with the current level of commitment and zeal exhibited by the stars, they were poised to win the cup for the fifth time.

Attached audio is some expectations from residents of Bolgatanga in an interview with Radio Ghana's regional correspondent Isaac Asare.

GBC NEWS                                     END                                                                      IA

U/E tops forced and early marriages

02-02-15            

Research has shown that the Upper East Region was leading in terms of forced and early marriages.  Subsequently, the practice was still prevalent in most deprived areas of Ghana despite the country’s law frowning on it. 

The Director of Afrikids,  a child right NGO, Nicholas Kuma who made this known said forced and early marriages  was against the fundamental human rights of victims, hence the need for organizations to intensify their public education to conscientize people on the practice. 

Mr Kumah, was speaking at the durbar of the Chiefs and People of Yorogo, a community in the Bolgatanga Municipality to honour its citizens that have contributed to the development process of the area. 

Speaking on the theme “Home recognition and encouragement towards development, the Chief of Yorogo, Naba Johnson Awuni, stressed on the urgent need to give recognition to persons that have distinguished themselves in various fields of endeavour. 

While acknowledging the effort of individuals and organisations in the development process of the community, Naba Awuni called on the people to embrace education and take responsibility for the welfare of the children. 

He lamented on the developmental gap in the area of education and appealed to the Assembly and the Ghana Education Service for support. Individuals and organizations were honoured for their contribution to the development of the area, the Director of Afrikids, Nicholas Kumah, was one of the awardees.

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