THE Volta Regional Director of the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE), Mr Fidelis Attoh has assured vulnerable groups of the nation that they will enjoy the desired protection under the participatory and multi-party democracy that had existed in the country for the past 18 years.
He said after six editions of constitutions in the history of the nation, the 1992 Constitution had proved to be resilient against any opportunist group to topple the government of the day because the Constitution was formulated on principles of consultation of which the vulnerable groups were part.
Mr Attoh said this at a lecture on the Constitution and the disability bill at the opening ceremony of a two-day workshop for members of the Volta Regional Association of the Deaf in Ho last weekend.
He said the Constitution guaranteed that no matter what the situation was, no one was expected to look down on any person as marginalised and that the NCCE had been mandated to empower them to live up to that goal.
Mr Attoh said vulnerable groups were protected under the disability law framed under the 1992 Constitution, and that it was their right to invoke aspects of the law to settle scores of any infringement against them.
He advised them to avoid sentiments of self-pity, adding that they should acquire more knowledge on their rights, freedoms and liberties through the Constitution and the disability law and should adhere responsibly to those laws in order to fulfil their obligations.
The Budget Officer of the Ho Municipal Assembly, Mr Dickson Agbenyah, disclosed that the government had stopped ceding the disability percentage of the common fund to district and metropolitan assemblies, and advised that they should relay such concerns to their respective headquarters.
He, however, said well organised groups with very good proposals would be assisted to access funds from the district assembly for economic empowerment.
The Chairman for the occasion, Mr N.K. Ankutse advised the participants to acquire requisite skills and qualifications to enable them to compete favourably in the job market.
He stressed that they should try to specialise in a particular field of endeavour to enhance their chances of getting employed.
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
POLICE SERVICE TO DETACH ITSELF FROM INTERIOR MINISTRY (PAGE 35, JULY 22, 2010)
THE Ghana Police Service is seeking parliamentary approval to detach the service from the Ministry of the Interior under the new police service regulations.
This is to enable the police service to function effectively in tune with modern trends of policing to ensure that citizens lived in a more peaceful and democratic environment.
The Director General in charge of services of the Ghana Police Service, Deputy Commissioner of Police Mr George Ankobil disclosed this when he addressed a durbar of police personnel at Ho.
He cautioned police personnel that the police uniform did not make them super human beings, adding that the concept of community policing was introduced to enhance public support for preventing, detecting and combating crime.
Mr Ankobil expressed regret that some police personnel had failed to exhibit qualities which made them excel at peace keeping missions.
He also said some policemen pursued academic qualifications and failed to apply their new knowledge functionally, and urged such officers to apply them in accordance with the new and modern system of police functions.
According to Mr Ankobil, the police service had over produced officers and that there were no offices created for those officers.
The Volta Regional Police Commander, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCOP) David Nenyi Ampah-Bennin, said the crime rate in the region had reduced to the barest minimum, making the people of the region to enjoy relative peace.
He said the region had adopted a problem solving style of policing, which was a departure from the aggressive style to community policing style.
DCOP Ampah-Bennin said 50 per cent of police personnel lived in rented quarters, adding that most of them had not received a refund of their rent but said the Electricity Company of Ghana had promised to refund payments of power consumed to those in privately-rented accommodation.
This is to enable the police service to function effectively in tune with modern trends of policing to ensure that citizens lived in a more peaceful and democratic environment.
The Director General in charge of services of the Ghana Police Service, Deputy Commissioner of Police Mr George Ankobil disclosed this when he addressed a durbar of police personnel at Ho.
He cautioned police personnel that the police uniform did not make them super human beings, adding that the concept of community policing was introduced to enhance public support for preventing, detecting and combating crime.
Mr Ankobil expressed regret that some police personnel had failed to exhibit qualities which made them excel at peace keeping missions.
He also said some policemen pursued academic qualifications and failed to apply their new knowledge functionally, and urged such officers to apply them in accordance with the new and modern system of police functions.
According to Mr Ankobil, the police service had over produced officers and that there were no offices created for those officers.
The Volta Regional Police Commander, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCOP) David Nenyi Ampah-Bennin, said the crime rate in the region had reduced to the barest minimum, making the people of the region to enjoy relative peace.
He said the region had adopted a problem solving style of policing, which was a departure from the aggressive style to community policing style.
DCOP Ampah-Bennin said 50 per cent of police personnel lived in rented quarters, adding that most of them had not received a refund of their rent but said the Electricity Company of Ghana had promised to refund payments of power consumed to those in privately-rented accommodation.
HELPING ELIMINATE CHILD TRAFFICKING —GAMADEKU (PAGE 35, JULY 22, 2010)
THE Volta Regional Director of the Department of Children, Mr Edwin Gamadeku, has charged Ghanaians to translate the immense support for the Black Stars at the World Cup tournament into equal support for the elimination of child trafficking and domestic violence.
He said various methods were used in perpetrating those crimes, including abduction, force, outright sales of children for token fees and bonded placement to atone for various offences committed by their relatives for which the children did not know anything about.
Mr Gamadeku said this at a community sensitisation forum against child-trafficking at Agotime-Afegame in the Adaklu-Anyigbe District, Volta Region, last Saturday.
He said some perpetrators adopted children under the guise of training them in employable skills but eventually ended up in selling them to other people.
That, he said, was possible because of ignorance on the part of parents and guardians, the high demand for cheap labour, inadequate border controls, domestic violence and harmful cultural practices.
“A nation that allows its children to be exploited is doomed,” Mr Gamadeku stated, adding that it was for that reason that the government was committed to the fulfilment of United Nations conventions that sought to promote and protect the welfare of children.
He, therefore, enjoined all stakeholders to join the crusade on the elimination of the crime because anybody who had knowledge of the crime was liable and guilty as an allied perpetrator of the crime.
In a welcoming address read on his behalf, the chief of Afegame, Nene Mahumansro XII, said the emergence of child-trafficking was counterproductive and an indictment on the ethics of the forefathers who insisted that children were granted freedom until their parents had guaranteed their security.
He pledged the support of the people to the government to help stamp out child-trafficking, stressing that the community would ensure that nobody in the neighbourhood engaged in the crime.
Nene Mahumansro, however, called for support to make the work of the committees more effective, suggesting that cottage industries in rural areas might help eradicate child-trafficking, stressing that “child-trafficking and domestic violence are tantamount to poverty.”
A puppet show was displayed to schoolchildren from schools in neighbouring Republic of Togo and Afegame.
He said various methods were used in perpetrating those crimes, including abduction, force, outright sales of children for token fees and bonded placement to atone for various offences committed by their relatives for which the children did not know anything about.
Mr Gamadeku said this at a community sensitisation forum against child-trafficking at Agotime-Afegame in the Adaklu-Anyigbe District, Volta Region, last Saturday.
He said some perpetrators adopted children under the guise of training them in employable skills but eventually ended up in selling them to other people.
That, he said, was possible because of ignorance on the part of parents and guardians, the high demand for cheap labour, inadequate border controls, domestic violence and harmful cultural practices.
“A nation that allows its children to be exploited is doomed,” Mr Gamadeku stated, adding that it was for that reason that the government was committed to the fulfilment of United Nations conventions that sought to promote and protect the welfare of children.
He, therefore, enjoined all stakeholders to join the crusade on the elimination of the crime because anybody who had knowledge of the crime was liable and guilty as an allied perpetrator of the crime.
In a welcoming address read on his behalf, the chief of Afegame, Nene Mahumansro XII, said the emergence of child-trafficking was counterproductive and an indictment on the ethics of the forefathers who insisted that children were granted freedom until their parents had guaranteed their security.
He pledged the support of the people to the government to help stamp out child-trafficking, stressing that the community would ensure that nobody in the neighbourhood engaged in the crime.
Nene Mahumansro, however, called for support to make the work of the committees more effective, suggesting that cottage industries in rural areas might help eradicate child-trafficking, stressing that “child-trafficking and domestic violence are tantamount to poverty.”
A puppet show was displayed to schoolchildren from schools in neighbouring Republic of Togo and Afegame.
CULTIVATE CRITICAL THINKING VALUES (PAGE 43, JULY 22, 2010)
THE Board Chairman of the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation (GBC), Professor John Aheto, has urged students of tertiary educational institutions to cultivate the values of critical thinking.
That, he said, would make them highly productive citizens of the nation.
According to him, if they thought critically, they could come to judgements, choices, ideas, conclusions and decisions for themselves, instead of letting others to do that on their behalf.
Professor Aheto said this when he delivered a lecture at the second Student Representative Council (SRC) week of the Evangelical Presbyterian (EP) University College at Ho last weekend.
He spoke on the topic: “The delivery of quality tertiary education: The role of private universities as stakeholders in Ghana.”
Prof. Aheto said the components of critical thinking included the intense consideration and imagination for plausible alternatives to current attitudes and ways of thinking and living.
He stated that there was no one sure answer to problems of the world but solutions rested in the choice of alternatives and cost.
Prof. Aheto said, among others, that a well–cultivated critical thinker, student or professional was open minded within alternative systems of thought, able to recognise and assess their assumptions, implications and practical consequences.
According to him, research and evaluation had revealed that polytechnics performed much better in accountancy than their counterparts in the universities, adding that the best teachers of the nation were found in the polytechnics.
He asked lecturers of tertiary institutions to accept challenges of their students and not insist that students reproduce knowledge delivered only according to their methods of teaching.
Prof. Aheto revealed that the Ho Polytechnic was rated as number one among polytechnics in the country.
He predicted that private universities would overtake state universities within the next 10 years, adding that the lecturer to student ratio in private universities was more conducive to learning.
Prof. Aheto, who is the dean of students at the Central University College, encouraged students of private universities to be proud of themselves.
He stressed that the students of the EP College of Education should not think that they could not excel because it was a new institution.
The Volta Regional Minister, Mr Joseph Amenowode, advised the students to be content with their enrolment at the institute since that was better than none at all.
He said they should behave differently after school in order to bring a good image to their alma mater, emphasising that they should refrain from occultism, examination malpractice, rape and other social vices which had infiltrated the academic environment of schools.
Mr Amenowode said the foundation of the university was divine in line with the hallmark of the EP Church as exponents of education in the Volta Region hence a pacesetter in the establishment of the premier university for the region.
The registrar of the university, Mr S.W.K Buame, urged the student leadership to chart a good path in their administration, adding that they should always elect good people into leadership positions.
He commended Prof. Aheto for donating 3,025 books to the university library.
Mr Buame stated that the collections on accountancy and marketing had made the library highly rated and resourceful.
In a welcoming address, the Student Representative Council (SRC) President, Mr Charles J. Adokor, said the SRC week would serve as a forum to inform government and other stakeholders on challenges facing the school.
He said although the university was young with teething problems, it was pertinent to provide a school bus and the completion of ongoing building projects to cater for the ever increasing student population.
That, he said, would make them highly productive citizens of the nation.
According to him, if they thought critically, they could come to judgements, choices, ideas, conclusions and decisions for themselves, instead of letting others to do that on their behalf.
Professor Aheto said this when he delivered a lecture at the second Student Representative Council (SRC) week of the Evangelical Presbyterian (EP) University College at Ho last weekend.
He spoke on the topic: “The delivery of quality tertiary education: The role of private universities as stakeholders in Ghana.”
Prof. Aheto said the components of critical thinking included the intense consideration and imagination for plausible alternatives to current attitudes and ways of thinking and living.
He stated that there was no one sure answer to problems of the world but solutions rested in the choice of alternatives and cost.
Prof. Aheto said, among others, that a well–cultivated critical thinker, student or professional was open minded within alternative systems of thought, able to recognise and assess their assumptions, implications and practical consequences.
According to him, research and evaluation had revealed that polytechnics performed much better in accountancy than their counterparts in the universities, adding that the best teachers of the nation were found in the polytechnics.
He asked lecturers of tertiary institutions to accept challenges of their students and not insist that students reproduce knowledge delivered only according to their methods of teaching.
Prof. Aheto revealed that the Ho Polytechnic was rated as number one among polytechnics in the country.
He predicted that private universities would overtake state universities within the next 10 years, adding that the lecturer to student ratio in private universities was more conducive to learning.
Prof. Aheto, who is the dean of students at the Central University College, encouraged students of private universities to be proud of themselves.
He stressed that the students of the EP College of Education should not think that they could not excel because it was a new institution.
The Volta Regional Minister, Mr Joseph Amenowode, advised the students to be content with their enrolment at the institute since that was better than none at all.
He said they should behave differently after school in order to bring a good image to their alma mater, emphasising that they should refrain from occultism, examination malpractice, rape and other social vices which had infiltrated the academic environment of schools.
Mr Amenowode said the foundation of the university was divine in line with the hallmark of the EP Church as exponents of education in the Volta Region hence a pacesetter in the establishment of the premier university for the region.
The registrar of the university, Mr S.W.K Buame, urged the student leadership to chart a good path in their administration, adding that they should always elect good people into leadership positions.
He commended Prof. Aheto for donating 3,025 books to the university library.
Mr Buame stated that the collections on accountancy and marketing had made the library highly rated and resourceful.
In a welcoming address, the Student Representative Council (SRC) President, Mr Charles J. Adokor, said the SRC week would serve as a forum to inform government and other stakeholders on challenges facing the school.
He said although the university was young with teething problems, it was pertinent to provide a school bus and the completion of ongoing building projects to cater for the ever increasing student population.
Sunday, July 18, 2010
8 PROJECTS INUGURATED IN KPANDO DISTRICT (PAGE 22, JULY 17, 2010)
THE Kpando District Assembly in the Volta Region has inaugurated eight projects undertaken with funds from the District Development Facility (DDF).
The Ministry of Local Government and Rural Government in collaboration with the DDF Secretariat granted the assembly $489,000 for the execution of selected development projects and capacity building programmes last year.
The assembly therefore invested the funds to pave the Kpando lorry park and taxi rank, and the premises of the district assembly office, the construction of a new slaughter house, rehabilitation of a meat shop, rehabilitation and construction of structures and extension of electricity to the lakeside Torkor market.
The rest are the provision of streetlights in the office of the district assembly and the health centre, rehabilitation of refuse systems and the acquisition of 10 motorbikes for the Ghana Education Service, the Kpando Urban
Council and the revenue section of the assembly to enhance efficiency.
Addressing the inaugural ceremony, the Deputy Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, Mr Elvis Afriyie-Ankrah, said the achievement of the Kpando District Assembly was a testimony of good leadership and what could be achieved under the DDF.
He said the DDF, if well applied, would enhance local economic development to facilitate poverty reduction and catalyse the road to the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
He said effective service delivery was crucial to the functions of district assemblies, saying that was the basis for measuring the impact of resources extended to district assemblies.
Mr Afriyie-Ankrah said it was time to increase the percentage of the consolidated fund ceded to the District Assemblies’ Common Fund (DACF) to bridge the financing gap between rural and urban areas in view of the heavy demands by the people on the assemblies.
He stressed that the judicious use of funds was of critical concern to the government, warning that district assemblies which misapplied funds might deny their people requisite development.
The deputy minister announced that the Kpando District had been earmarked for the second phase of the DDF programme.
In an address read on his behalf, the Volta Regional Minister, Mr Joseph Amenowode, called on municipal and district assemblies to be committed to the implementation of all government programmes and projects for the people to derive full benefits from them.
“It would be unfortunate if the people in the region should be denied their share of national development due to inefficiency and lack of commitment on the part of the assemblies,” he stressed.
Mr Amenowode said he would personally hold Municipal and District Chief Executives accountable for any lapses and non-performance that would deny their people a fair share of
national development programmes.
The Kpando District Chief Executive, Mr Francis Komla Ganyaglo, said the district assembly was among those in the Volta Region which passed an assessment in 2008 for the award of the DDF.
He said the assembly had also completed 17 projects undertaken with funds from the DACF, HIPC and internally generated funds.
Mr Ganyaglo announced that the assembly had again passed the 2009 Functional Organisational Assessment Tool (FOAT) assessment and would be granted GH¢547,143.82 to undertake more development projects.
For his part, the Chairman of the Ghana Private Road Transport Union (GPRTU), Mr Francis Affum, said the union would complement efforts of the district assembly by providing electricity at the lorry park and to construct more stores.
He decried the unfair competition emerging between operators of “Okada” and members of the union.
The Ministry of Local Government and Rural Government in collaboration with the DDF Secretariat granted the assembly $489,000 for the execution of selected development projects and capacity building programmes last year.
The assembly therefore invested the funds to pave the Kpando lorry park and taxi rank, and the premises of the district assembly office, the construction of a new slaughter house, rehabilitation of a meat shop, rehabilitation and construction of structures and extension of electricity to the lakeside Torkor market.
The rest are the provision of streetlights in the office of the district assembly and the health centre, rehabilitation of refuse systems and the acquisition of 10 motorbikes for the Ghana Education Service, the Kpando Urban
Council and the revenue section of the assembly to enhance efficiency.
Addressing the inaugural ceremony, the Deputy Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, Mr Elvis Afriyie-Ankrah, said the achievement of the Kpando District Assembly was a testimony of good leadership and what could be achieved under the DDF.
He said the DDF, if well applied, would enhance local economic development to facilitate poverty reduction and catalyse the road to the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
He said effective service delivery was crucial to the functions of district assemblies, saying that was the basis for measuring the impact of resources extended to district assemblies.
Mr Afriyie-Ankrah said it was time to increase the percentage of the consolidated fund ceded to the District Assemblies’ Common Fund (DACF) to bridge the financing gap between rural and urban areas in view of the heavy demands by the people on the assemblies.
He stressed that the judicious use of funds was of critical concern to the government, warning that district assemblies which misapplied funds might deny their people requisite development.
The deputy minister announced that the Kpando District had been earmarked for the second phase of the DDF programme.
In an address read on his behalf, the Volta Regional Minister, Mr Joseph Amenowode, called on municipal and district assemblies to be committed to the implementation of all government programmes and projects for the people to derive full benefits from them.
“It would be unfortunate if the people in the region should be denied their share of national development due to inefficiency and lack of commitment on the part of the assemblies,” he stressed.
Mr Amenowode said he would personally hold Municipal and District Chief Executives accountable for any lapses and non-performance that would deny their people a fair share of
national development programmes.
The Kpando District Chief Executive, Mr Francis Komla Ganyaglo, said the district assembly was among those in the Volta Region which passed an assessment in 2008 for the award of the DDF.
He said the assembly had also completed 17 projects undertaken with funds from the DACF, HIPC and internally generated funds.
Mr Ganyaglo announced that the assembly had again passed the 2009 Functional Organisational Assessment Tool (FOAT) assessment and would be granted GH¢547,143.82 to undertake more development projects.
For his part, the Chairman of the Ghana Private Road Transport Union (GPRTU), Mr Francis Affum, said the union would complement efforts of the district assembly by providing electricity at the lorry park and to construct more stores.
He decried the unfair competition emerging between operators of “Okada” and members of the union.
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