Seth J. Bokpe's Ghana Newsreel

THE chiefs and elders of Teiman, near Madina in Accra, have urged teachers of the local St James Anglican Basic School to collaborate with the elders and the Madina Police to apprehend the man who is alleged to have defiled and impregnated his 14-year-old foster child. David Otibu, 50, who is a resident of the area, is alleged to have defiled the girl, a pupil of the Teiman St James Basic School. The victim was said to have complained of illness when she reported at school on February 12, 2010 and was sent to the Pantang Hospital, where she was examined and declared pregnant, after which she mentioned her foster father, Otibu, as being responsible for the pregnancy. According to the Crime Officer of the Madina Divisional Police, Chief Superintendent Beatrice Amoako, the suspect had since been on the run, saying efforts were being made to get his photograph for publication. The elders of the town are enraged by the development and have called on all involved to help get to the b

Aqua Vitens Rand Limited (AVRL) is installing bulk meters at the Weija Treatment Plant as part of a nation-wide loss control measure to deal with the loss of treated water. The meters will ensure effective monitoring of treated water to reduce loss that occurs during its distribution. The project, which is estimated to cost GH¢4.2 million, will see the installation of 473 bulk meters at all headworks, booster stations and major reservoirs throughout the country. In all, eight meters will be installed in phases at Weija. Available information indicates that 50 per cent of water distributed in the country, valued at US$100 million, cannot be accounted for, with the situation blamed on illegal connections. Briefing the media, an AVRL water distribution specialist, Mr John Abu-Ghansah, said monitoring water distribution in the country had been difficult because most of the meters in the system had broken down. He observed that the installation of the meters would help the compan

Thirteen indigenous corporate bodies and a Deputy Minister of Information, Mr Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, were last Friday honoured for excelling in their fields of endeavour. The awards, dubbed the TNG Corporate Excellence Awards, were under the auspices of the Intra-West Africa Communications Limited, publishers of The New Ghanaian (TNG) magazine, and meant to recognise the efforts of Ghanaians and Ghanaian companies that have distinguished themselves in their fields of endeavour. The awards ceremony, which was the second of its kind, had the award winners selected from the hotel and tourism, the educational, health, industrial and banking sectors. The Holy Trinity Spa and Health Farm won the Most Patronised Medical Tourism Centre of the Year award; Chances Hotel received the Most Patronised Regional Hotel of the Year award, while the Royal Richester Hotel took home the Fastest Growing Indigenous Hotel of the Year award. The Nyaho Medical Centre was the recipient of the Leading

AN obesity and preventive medicine specialist, Dr Hayford Y. Tabiri, has advised Ghanaians to take issues concerning their health management seriously, as ill health affects productivity. Dr Tabiri gave the advice at a cholesterol and obesity management programme organised for the staff of the Graphic Communications Group Limited (GCGL) to educate them to understand the effects of obesity and possible means of mitigating weight gain. In a presentation on the theme, “Obesity and Healthy Lifestyle Modification for Improved Productivity”, he defined obesity as the “accumulation of fat (as a result of excessive energy intake) to the extent of causing adverse effect on one’s health”. He noted with concern that obesity affected three million people in Ghana, with a higher prevalence in the southern part of the country, especially Accra, adding that Ghana was the leading obesity nation in West Africa. “We should be concerned about obesity because of the health implications it poses,”

A US$332,000 surgical theatre has been inaugurated at the St Mary Theresa Hospital at Dodi Papase in the Kadjebi District of the Volta Region. The theatre houses various facilities, including an X-ray, a water purification equipment, laundry equipment, an incinerator, borehole drilling equipment, an oxygen concentrator and its auxiliary equipment and a storage facility. Funding for the project was made possible through a partnership between the Rotary Club of Accra and its counterparts in Ludenscheid (Germany), Canterbury (England), Leuven (Belgium), Utrecht (The Netherlands) and St Quentin (France). The German Government, through the Ludenscheid Rotary Club, provided funding for the construction of the operating theatre, while the Rotary Foundation of the Rotary International made available funds for the equipment. To further enhance health delivery at the hospital, the Rotary Club of Accra and its partners also donated a multi-purpose ambulance while, sponsoring seven nurses to acqu

The Akropong School for the Blind is appealing for public support to enable it to construct a multi-purpose library complex to enhance academic work in the school. The project, which is estimated to cost $450,000, will house facilities such as a Braille production unit, a reading block, a CD recording room and offices. The Headmistress of the school, Ms Mahela Narh, made the appeal at this year’s United Way Ghana (UWG), a non-governmental organisation (NGO)’s “Day of Caring” held in the school and sponsored by Newmont Gold Ghana Limited (NGGL). The Day of Care initiative is a one-day participation-based community event that directs the spirit of love and compassion demonstrated in the St Valentine’s Day tradition and is meant to symbolise the power of national unity and the usefulness of community service. The day is observed through the involvement and participation of volunteers in community projects that address community needs. Individuals in the selected communities, employers and

The Maternity Ward of the La General Hospital on Sunday, Valentine’s Day, was a sight of joy and excitement as Zain Ghana showed love to nursing mothers and new-born babies at the hospital. Dubbed the Zain Beautiful Hearts, the initiative was to assist deprived mothers who were likely to face financial challenges in caring for their babies after they had left the hospital. It also focused on extending love and care to new-born babies and their mothers on Valentine’s Day by simultaneously distributing 630 baby hampers among 13 government hospitals all over the country. Under the programme, senior management members of the company led teams of employees to distribute hampers which contained baby products to the mothers at selected hospitals. They included the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital, the Cape Coast General Hospital, the Sunyani General Hospital, the Tamale Regional Hospital, the Wa Regional Hospital and the Ho Government Hospital. At the La General Hospital, 10 babies, made up of s

THE Managing Director of the ARB Apex Bank, Mr Eric Osei-Bonsu, has advised Rural and Rural Community Banks (RCBs) to seek the consent of the ARB Apex Bank before putting their resources at the disposal of the commercial banks in the country in the name of profit. “Such transactions could lock up your funds and when you need funds most, you cannot have access. In banking, liquidity is more important than profitability”, he stressed. Mr Osei-Bonsu gave the advice at the Western Union Convention for Front Line Associates (FLA) and Supervisors in Accra. The convention which brought together about 900 participants from the rural banking industry in the country, had the theme: “Bringing Western Union Money Transfer to the door steps of the Rural Communities-the Role of the Rural and Community Banks.” It was aimed at identifying and addressing the challenges confronting the payment of Western Union Money Transfers for banks in the ARB Apex Bank network, to share ideas and update the operator

YOUTH for Action Ghana (YAG), a non-governmental organisation (NGO), has called on the government to revoke the mining lease granted to Newmont Gold Ghana Limited (NGGL) to operate in the Ajenua Bepo Forest Reserve in the Birim North District of the Eastern Region. It said the decision of the government to allow mining in the reserve defeated government’s own policy of rehabilitating degraded forests in the country. Addressing a news conference in Accra last Wednesday, the Executive Director of YAG, Mr James Kwabena Bomfeh Jnr, said the previous stance of the government to not to “allow mining in the forest reserve was hailed by civil society organisations and Ghanaians”. He said those organisations described the decision as a progress stance by the current government in aligning mining issues to the National Land Policy (NLP) of 1999 and the ECOWAS Mining Directive on the Harmonisation of the Guiding Principles and Policies in the mining sector which were ratified by the Government o

The Suapolor of the Se (Shai) Traditional Area in the Greater Region, Nene Drolor Bosso Adamtey I, has challenged traditional rulers to create opportunities for their people to improve on their livelihoods rather than using their positions to pursue their personal interests. He said traditional rulers should aim at improving the livelihood of their people by mobilising them to achieve set goals, adding that persistent litigation over land and right to stools and skins were not only a blot on the chieftaincy institution but also tended to deny young people countless opportunities. “The willingness or how far we can go to make life better for our people should be a measure of our success and not how well we are doing ourselves,” he said. Drolor Adamtey told the Daily Graphic that the allocation of huge parcels of land to foreigners who paid little money would in the end deny generations yet to be born their heritage. "Land selling should not be encouraged and even when we decide to

The Ministry of Health (MoH), has urged the Pharmacy Council to address the influx of counterfeit and substandard drugs and the indiscriminate peddling of all manner of medicines across the country. The ministry has also developed five key priority areas which include improved interventions towards the achievements of the health-related Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), adequate water supply to health facilities, adequate bed supply to the health institutions and harmonising the scattered malarial interventions to ensure effective malarial control to optimise health delivery in Ghana. The Deputy Minister of Health, Dr Nii Oakley Quaye-Kumah, made this known at the inauguration ceremony of the boards and governing councils of the Pharmacy Council, the Nurses and Midwives Council and the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH). The Pharmacy Council has nine members and chaired by Mr David Anim-Addo, the KATH board being constituted by 11 members and chaired by Dr Kwaku Agyeman-Mensah w

A regional meeting on the Media, Conflict and Democracy in Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) member states has ended in Accra. The participants expressed concern with the military's temptation to intervene in politics, as well as the manipulation of national constitutions and electoral laws, describing the situation as a looming threat to democracy and security in some countries in the region. In a nine-point communiqué that established a West African Forum of Media Practitioners to promote democracy, peace and security in the region, the meeting noted with satisfaction the improved peace and security in the region, which it said augured well for the regional integration agenda. It consequently set up a five-member steering committee comprising of media practitioners from Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Burkina Faso, Senegal and Guinea-Bissau to promote democracy, peace and security. The two-day meeting was organised by the ECOWAS Commission in partnership with Media Fo

THE Aqua Vitens Rand Limited (AVRL) has developed an extensive water rationing programme to help mitigate the effects of the water crisis that has hit parts of Accra. Consequently Tema and its environs, which receive water consistently without interference, will have their supply affected until the situation is resolved. The Communications Manager of the AVRL, Mr Stanley Martey, disclosed this to the Daily Graphic in an interview yesterday. He said the AVRL had deployed its tankers to provide services to hospitals, schools and other critical institutions, while collaborating with the security agencies and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to get their fleet of tankers on board to help contain the situation. “Getting the tanker fleet of the police, the military, the CEPS and the IRS would ensure that we supply water to the critical institutions and residential areas most hit by the crisis,” he said. Mr Martey said the company was also in talks with the National Disaster Management Org

SOME telecommunication companies in the country have endorsed the decision of the government to place a temporary ban on the erection of telecom towers in the country. They said they were in support of any action that would bring sanity to the mounting of the towers which would ultimately strengthen the telecom infrastructure base of the country. Speaking to the Daily Graphic, the Corporate Affairs Executive of MTN, Ms Mawuena Dumor, said the company would collaborate with the government on the issue and all other operational issues to support efforts at improving the overall network infrastructure deployment and quality of its telecom services. She said the bulk of the company’s investment in the last two years had been in infrastructure, adding that, “We have concentrated on fibre roll out, a new technology and equipment to help us reach even more rural and remote areas.” She stated that the company was supporting the smooth roll-out of cell sites (towers) through Co-location w

THE Ministry of Environment, Science and Technology (MEST) has given the assurance that a solution will soon be found to the environmental menace posed by plastic waste in the country. As part of the solution, the ministry is learning from the experiences of China, Kenya and Mauritania and also collaborating with a multi-national recycling company to convert plastic waste into machine oil. According to the experts, plastic oil could be used to lubricate industrial machines and, according to Ms Sherry Ayittey, the sector Minister, the move was to ensure added value to plastic waste which was creating environmental problems for the country. Receiving the report of the committee which was set up to look at the problem of plastic waste and make recommendations, Ms Ayittey said a pilot project would soon commence in some parts of the country to determine the viability of the project for its subsequent expansion. The latest figures indicate that there are 895 plastic manufacturing companie

A renowned physicist, Prof. Francis Allotey, has urged mathematics teachers to change their approach to teaching the subject in order to make it more appealing to students. According to him, "although mathematics is not a difficult subject, the teaching methodology frightens students and create the notion that the subject is difficult". Prof. Allotey said when teachers of mathematics made the subject interesting, “we would be able to produce great thinkers who would contribute their quota to nation building". He was speaking to the Daily Graphic after the launch of the Founders’ Day celebration of the Ghana National College (GNC) as part of activities marking the centenary celebrations of Dr Kwame Nkrumah. The GNC was the first school established by Dr Kwame Nkrumah in 1948 to absorb teachers and students who were dismissed from secondary schools in Cape Coast for participating in the 1948 riots. Programmes lined up for the week-long celebration sponsored by the Dr Kwam

Zain Ghana, in collaboration with Instinct Media, an advertising agency, has launched an initiative in Hohoe in the Volta Region aimed at providing relief for pupils who have to walk long distances to get to school. Known as “Trikademik”, the concept is a mobile advertising billboard which provides free transport services for children between six and 10 and optimised advertising space for advertising. The project is also expected to serve as employment avenues for the youth of the area. Tricycles for the project have been specifically developed in partnership with the University of Delft in The Netherlands and adapted to suit the local terrain, including coping with the rainy season. The pilot project is expected to benefit 40 schoolchildren from Kodzeto and Dzenyena who sometimes skip classes because of transportation problems In a speech read on his behalf at the launch of the project by the Deputy Director of the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development, Ms Fatia Lilly S

GHACEM Limited, a subsidiary of the Heidelberg Cement Group has awarded 4distributors and 16 direct end-users of GHACEM cement with an assurance that the company would continue to overcome the challenges prevailing in the cement industry. Dubbed “The 2009 Customers Appreciation Night,” it had award winners comprising construction companies and key GHACEM distributors picking up their awards at a ceremony in Accra last Saturday. The awards included the most improved distributor award which went to Sabert Investment Limited of Cape Coast, for increasing its sales by 97 per cent from 2008. The Eastern First Choice Enterprise of Koforidua was the winner of the Best Branded outlet award. In the construction category, Sinohydro Construction Corporation took the top prize in Class A whiles Kawpaw Limited was the best in Class B Cemonit Limited won the best Concrete product manufacturers top award while Trasaco Estate Limited, took home the Estate developers top award. The Managing Direc

The mounting of telecommunications masts and towers in the country has been banned until further notice. The directive communicating the ban is contained in a letter dated January 12, 2010 from the Minister of Environment Science and Technology (MEST) to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). It also announced the establishment of an inter-sectoral committee comprising personnel from the EPA, the National Communications Authority (NCA), the Ghana Atomic Energy Commission (GAEC) and National Security to produce guidelines that would bring some order in the way communication towers are being erected all over the country. According to the EPA, about 50 per cent of all communications masts in the country were erected by service providers who did not obtain the required permit. In recent times, the rampant installation of telecommunication masts throughout the county has raised concern over public health and safety. And the rush for land for that purpose has stirred some land di

AS Ghanaians anxiously look forward to the huge impact that the country’s emerging oil industry will have on the national economy, an economist has cautioned that it can also adversely affect the manufacturing and agricultural sectors. According to Dr Robert Osei, a Research Fellow at the Institute of Statistical, Social and Economic Research (ISSER) of the University of Ghana, the oil industry will also lead to a drift in labour from other sectors of the economy, in search of non-existing jobs in the industry. He expressed the hope that Ghana would not suffer from the ‘Dutch Disease’, a situation where high revenue generated by the oil and gas industry led to a decline in the competitiveness of non-booming tradeable sectors, as well as a decline in the overall growth of the economy. Dr Osei made the remark at a public lecture organised by ISSER and sponsored by the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung (FES) on the theme: “The macroeconomics of managing an oil boom: Global lessons indicated”. He s