GEMP project records appreciable results- EPA boss

19-11-13   

Regional EPA Boss, Mr Asher Nkegbe

The Ministry of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation (MESTI) in collaboration with the Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development, DFATD, formerly the Canadian International Development Agency, CIDA, have met in Bolgatanga to deliberate on desertification issues in the three northern regions of the north. The round table meeting was to afford community members the opportunity to share experiences, lessons and good practices on the implementation of the Ghana Environmental Management Project, GEMP, and the Ghana Sustainable Land and Water Management. Addressing participants, the Upper East Regional Minister,  Alhaji Limuna Mohammed-Muniru expressed appreciation to the World Bank and its donor partners was taking a bold step to support the implementation of the GEMP project, which he noted had been made to benefit about 200 communities of Northern Ghana. He said the impact of the project has been greatly felt by beneficiary communities as they have come to the realisation that the environment was fragile enough for them to neglect. More so, they have deem it necessary to protect, rehabilitate and manage it sustainably to ensure their survival. Alhaji Mohammed Muniru also observed that under the phase two of the project, communities have become more responsive and are currently managing to cope with the harsh and unpredictable environment. Women on the other hand have been supported and encouraged to appreciate the relevance of forest conservation. He however urged participants including stakeholders in the land sector to support government in its bid to combat environmental degradation since it cannot shoulder the responsibility alone. The Regional Director of the EPA, Mr Asher Nkegbe expressed worry about the behaviour of the people towards their campaign to reduce land degradation and desertification in the region. He therefore cautioned the various departments to be steadfast in all their endeavours to help eradicate degradation and desertification in the region. Mr. Asher Nkegbe later commended the various departments and the Canadian government for their support.  The meeting was attended by dignitaries including the Chief Director at the Ministry of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovations, Dr Sylvester Anemana and the Chief of Kayoro who also represented as the chairman for the occasion. Stakeholders including small holder farmers drawn from the three regions of the north were also present to share their experiences.

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Bongo DCE worried over fallen academic standards among BECE candidates

22-11-13   

BECE Candidates in action

The District Chief Executive [DCE] for the Bongo District in the Upper East Region, Alexis Adugdaa Ayamdor  is worried about  the increasing fallen academic performance of students in the Basic Education Certificate Examinations [BECE] within the district. The DCE expressed the sentiment in his maiden address to the second ordinary meeting of the third session of the sixth Assembly.  Mr. Ayamdor noted that the assembly over the years has injected enough resources into the provision of educational infrastructure but much cannot be shown for it in terms of excellent performance at prescribed examinations. He said in spite of the assembly’s numerous efforts including financial assistance it gives to students at various levels of education, the performance of especially basic school pupils at their final exams keeps on dwindling and has taken a nose dive for some time now. The situation, he denounced could hold a bleak future for the human resource base of the Bongo district if nothing was done to salvage it. Meanwhile, 3-unit classroom blocks are under construction for the communities of Nayorogo and Atanseka while a teachers’ quarters at Vea is being renovated, all geared at beefing up educational infrastructural needs of the district. According to My Ayamdor, another area of concern was the increasing rate of girls becoming pregnant within the basic school system of the district and appealed to members of the assembly to join forces with parents and other stakeholders to educate the girl child and community members on the negative repercussions of teenage pregnancies. He pledged that the Assembly in conjunction with the Ghana Education Service will to the effective monitoring and supervision across the district in order to identify and remedy the obstacles effecting quality teaching and learning. He also mentioned teacher motivation as one of the surest ways to reverse the dwindling academic performance. Turning his attention on health, Mr. Ayamdor observed that malaria continues to top the list of all reported cases to health facilities throughout the district as well as account for most infant morbidity cases. He commended the district health directorate for instituting measures such as the Motor King Referral Scale-Up Project funded by the Doris Duke Charital Foundation. He emphasized that the time was due for the district to have a robust ambulance services unit which will help save lives in times of emergencies. He revealed that the Assembly has been supporting the Ghana Health Service by constructing CHPS facilities, giving financial support for immunization exercises, carting of food supplies to supplementary feeding  centres amongst others and that this will be improved in the coming years. On revenue mobilization, Mr. Ayamdor said the assembly is doing well but there is more room for improvement and accordingly tasked the finance directorate to come up with workable plans to mobilize more internally generated funds for developmental purposes and also plug all leakages in the revenue chain of the assembly.

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Resident of Tidonsolgo in Bolgatanga commits suicide

20-11-13                 

The lifeless body of Abuwa 

Barely 72 hours after a contract staff of the Volta River Authority in Bolgatanga got electrocuted while at post, Residents of Tidonsolgo , a suburb of Bolgatanga woke up early this morning to witness yet another tragic death of a young mason, Nyaaba Abuwa, aged  28. Abuwa committed suicide at the Abuwa cemetery around the area.  As at the time Radio Ghana got to the scene, the young man was found hanged on an air-bony tree in the cemetery, an area  just close to the Baptist Basic School and about 200 metres away from his residence. A teacher at the school, who spoke to Radio Ghana on condition of anonymity, said he reported very early for school only to find both residents and students gathered around the scene.  He believed that the incident might have happened last night. Some relatives of the deceased who also spoke to the media were perturbed and could not unravel the circumstances leading to the horrific  action of late Abuwa. Meanwhile, the police had conveyed the body back to their custody and had invited family members for investigations. This brings to two the number of unfortunate death incidents recorded within the week in Bolgatanga.

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Youth Harvest Foundation graduates 15 trainees under its STEP-UP Project

18-11-13     

The first batch of 15 out of 25 trainees that underwent a year training course in sewing and other entrepreneurial skills, have been honoured in a brief ceremony at Bolgatanga. The graduants who were offered the opportunity to develop and present business plans for consideration, were also taken through skill training in quality control and reproductive health under a special project dubbed: Seamstresses Training Enterprise Project in the Upper East Region (STEP-UP). The project is being spearheaded by Youth Harvest Foundation Ghana (YHFG) with financial support from the UN-Habitat. The project among other interventions provides the opportunity for 25 seamstresses in the municipality to be trained on annual basis with the aim of reducing poverty among the youth, particularly girls. Currently, four projects are running alongside the STEP-UP project with focus on equipping young people with entrepreneurial and employable skills for self- reliance and sustainability. The Financial Administrative Officer of YHFG, David Ayine, in his welcome address, explained that the strategy for adopting the STEP-UP project was to assist the trainees set up their own businesses and take advantage of the job market via the training they have acquired. To this end, the trainees  are taught  on how to develop business plans,  adding that such plans when identified as  viable are opened up for investment opportunities. He said though they do not provide money directly for the implementation of the plans, they were in the position to link these plans to other concerned organisations, particularly , the Local Enterprise and Skills Development Program (LESDEP)  for consideration. Mr Ayine, encouraged the graduants to focus on developing their talent and take advantage of the project in order to prepare them adequately for the job market. According to him, the training offered to the graduants gives them the comparative advantage over other seamstresses already on the market and further urged them to develop the right attitude towards work. Mr Ayine, showed gratitude to LESDEP, UN-Habitat and the Municipal Assembly for their invaluable support and anticipated more support in the ensuing years. The 15 graduants were later presented with certificates of participation. Speaking to Radio Ghana, the Regional Coordinator, National Youth Council, Mr Daud James Abang-gos emphasized the need for refresher training for the graduants to sharpen their skills. He moreover, encouraged the graduants to come under one umbrella and form cooperatives. This way, they would be able to present themselves as young people in business and  avail themselves as guarantee for loans to establish their own businesses.

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Rural women urged to embrace ICT to reduce poverty

18-11-13     

CEO of OLAMCS, Emmanuel Atiiga

Some handiwork of OLAMCS trainees 

The Kassena-Nankana East Municipal Director of Education, Augustine Ayirezong, has underscored the need for women to take key interest in the learning of ICT. For him, ICT education as a tool for development has become useful and an understatement of the word lucrative since it was no longer an added advantage to one’s employability but a basic requirement in today’s global village. To this end, it was high time women rise beyond secretaryship and delve into ICT to enable them break out of poverty and marginalisation. Mr Ayirezong made the call at the inauguration and exhibition of products of Our Lady of Mercy Community Services (OLAMCS) in Navrongo. OLAMCS vision is to empower underserved communities with employable skill training and entrepreneurship through ICT. Since its inception in 2005, the centre with the support of partner organisations have undertaken youth development and formation targeting over 300 youth. With financial and technical support from COTVET-SDF, Ghanaman Trust fund and OSWA-Senegal, the centre has since provided ICT training for 150 illiterates and semi illiterates with young girls and school drop outs constituting the majority. These beneficiaries are also being trained in new skills in soap and beads making, smock weaving dressmaking, floral decoration as well as basic financial management education among others. The first batch of trainees numbering 81 have successfully completed their one year training and are now being taken through entrepreneurship and small business management. The CEO of OLAMCS, Mr Emmanuel Atiiga announced that the centre was admitting the second batch of beneficiaries for which training was on-going for a period of 3 months. Moreover there were plans to introduce new skill training targeting the teeming unemployed youth and expressed hope to extend their activities to benefit other communities of Northern Ghana. The Kassena-Nankana Municipal Chief Executive, Dr Stanislaus Kadingdi, said investing in people particularly the youth was one of the key areas of government, therefore efforts must be made to complement governments effort in that regard. He however expressed his outfit’s readiness to engage COTVET and its partners to chart the way forward in tackling poverty among the people. The Municipal Director of Education, who was the guest speaker Augustine Ayirezong, for his part, encouraged women to venture into ICT and not see it as a preserve for men.  He underlined some recommendation necessary to reducing poverty and unemployment among the teeming youth including prison inmates. Meanwhile, an ICT centre for trainees of OLAMCS was later inaugurated, whilst an exhibition to showcase the various artefacts and products by the trainees were put on display. The event which was characterised with a cultural display by the Gia cultural troop was on the theme: ‘ICT, Alternative Employable Skills Training and Entrepreneurship Development’.

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Man, 25 electrocuted to death in Bolgatanga

18-11-13               

Deceased hanging after being electrocuted

   

Residents of Bolgatanga were this morning thrown into a state of disbelief when a young man aged 25 got himself electrocuted and died whilst on duty. The deceased who is identified as Edward Adapore, a contract staff of the VRA was said to be working on one of the 3 phase lines of a high tension pole around the library junction, when the unfortunate incident occurred. An eye witnessed who decline to be mentioned told   Radio Ghana that the deceased was busily working on the said pole when he mistakenly touched a live voltage line killing him instantly. He said initially there was no power on the lines, but were surprise to see the deceased struggling with a live wire later on. He described the incident as bizarre and urged management of the VRA to explain to the public what really happened leading to the death of the young man. All effort to get clarification from authorities of the VRA had proven futile. Meanwhile, investigations are on-going by the police to unravel the mystery behind the death of the deceased person. The body of late Adapore has since being deposited at the Bolgatanga Mortuary morgue.

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GBC: Advertisement on food and drugs requires approval-...

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