UPPER EAST GHS WANTS MORE OUTREACH PROGRAMMES (Mirror, Saturday, June 21, 2009. PAGE 37)

From Benjamin Xornam Glover,
Bolgatanga
Dr James Akpablie, Deputy Upper East Regional Director in Charge of Public Health of the Ghana Health Service has made a passionate appeal to Faith- based organisations and other stakeholders in the health sector to sponsor specialists outreach programmes in the region.
Dr Akpablie made the appeal when the President of the Episcopal Relief and Development (ERD), the social service wing of the Anglican Communion in the United States of America, Mr Robert Radtke called on him at Bolgatanga.
Mr Radtke was in the region at the invitation of the Anglican Diocesan Development and Relief Organisation (ADDRO), which runs a Malaria Control Programme, dubbed Nets for life, to assess how well the programme was doing.
The delegation was led by the Executive Director of ADDRO, Very Rev. Dr Jacob Ayeebo and other officers of the organisation.
The Upper East Region has crisis in terms of the strength of medical personnel especially doctors. Available records state that though there are 27 medical doctors in the region, many of them are administrators leaving only nine as actually practicing in the health facilities to cater for a population of about 1.1 million people of the region.
Each of the five district hospitals has just one doctor, while the Bolgatanga Regional Hospital has only three doctors. Their services are complemented by the services of the Cuban Medical Brigade.
According to the Deputy Regional Director, in the area of specialist’s service, the region can only boast of one obstetrician and gynaecologist, one surgeon, a dentist and two eye specialists.
This, he intimated, was woefully inadequate adding that under the present circumstances one of the ways out is to hold regular out-reach programmes to enable the people assess specialists’ services.
He, therefore, called on organisations such as ADDRO to take up the challenge and sponsor such specialists outreach programmes to render services for the people.
Mr Radtke for his part underscored the need for greater collaboration between faith- based organisations and government agencies in the delivery of services. He said his outfit was impressed with the work in Ghana so far and pledged that more efforts would be put in the operation of the malaria control programme in Ghana.
The team had earlier paid a courtesy call on the Deputy Upper East Regional Minister, Mrs Lucy Awuni, who expressed gratitude to ADDRO and the ERD for their work in Ghana.

DOCTORS REFUSE POSTING TO UPPER EAST REGION (D/G, Friday, June 19, 2009. SPREAD)

NO medical doctor has for the past three years accepted posting to the Upper East Region, while the handful of doctors and other health service providers available are seeking for transfer to other parts of the country.
According to the Regional Director of Health Services, Dr John Koku Awoonor-Williams, none of the nine doctors posted to the region in 2007 accepted the offer.
He said in 2008, all the nine doctors posted failed to turn up, adding that as of February this year, none of them had accepted the posting.
Dr Awoonor-Williams disclosed this at a stakeholders’ forum held in Bolgatanga for District Managers of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), service providers and beneficiaries of the scheme.
The forum was to assess the performance of the scheme and service providers and to know the complaints and obstacles faced by the registered members of the scheme in accessing health care with their cards.
Dr Awoonor-Williams said in the midst of inadequate doctors and allied health providers, the health sector in the region was also faced with massive request for transfers by the few remaining, with 95 per cent of all those applying for transfers being indigenes of the region.
He said the health directorate had resorted to appealing to the conscience of those applying for transfers to encourage them to stay back and assist in the health delivery service in the region.
Touching on other challenges facing the smooth operation of the NHIS in the region, Dr Awoonor-Williams said delays in presenting claims by health facilities and other service providers continued to be a major problem to the scheme.
He also cited the deplorable state of most structures at the facilities and appealed to the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA) to as a matter of responsibility help in expanding and rehabilitating them and also adding new ones.
Dr Awoonor-Williams noted that in spite of these challenges, the scheme had been able to enrol 71 per cent of the people in the region out of a population of one million and said with the necessary support more people would be registered with the scheme.
He said there had been situations where some service providers had threatened to withhold services because the NHIA had not settled its indebtedness to them.
The regional director warned that nobody had the right to close down any public facility and said the Ghana Health Service and the Ministry of Health would deal drastically with any officer who violated the laws.
The Upper East Regional Manager of the NHIS, Mr Roger Ayine Aposs, said the abuse of the system by families and registered beneficiaries, the poor and dilapidating state of office accommodation, the refusal of pharmaceutical and chemical shops under the scheme to give out drugs to scheme members due to the low price offered for the drugs by the various schemes, were some of the challenges being faced in the region.
Mr Aposs said the NHIA had released GHҐ6,707,745.95 as reinsurance and first and second quarter subsidy to the scheme in the region.
Madam Freda Bartels Mensah, Procurement Manager of NHIA, said efforts were being made to introduce electronic systems into the use of NHIS identity cards by beneficiaries.
She said the NHIA would take into consideration appeals for support for health facilities to make them conducive for use by registered members of the scheme.
The Deputy Upper East Regional Minister, Mrs Lucy Awuni, who chaired the function, said in spite of overwhelming challenges, the NHIS had stood on its feet and charged the managers to work on the challenges facing them to help provide quality service for the people.

TRAINEE NURSES WEEK IN BOLGA (SHOWBIZ, Thursday, June 18, 2009. PAGE 9)

By Benjamin Xornam Glover

Miss Lois Morrison, was crowned Miss GNMTA 2009 in a beauty pageant organised by the students of the Bolgatanga Nursing Training College and the Midwifery Training School.
The event formed part of activities marking the students’ week celebration of the two health training institutions. GNMTA is an acronym for the Ghana Nurses and Midwife Trainees Association.
For her prize, Miss Morrison took away a 24-inch television set. Miss Nab Betila Alswell a second year student, became the first runner-up and took home a gas cooker and cylinder, whilst Miss Nancy Ndenab, a third year student placed third and was given a rice cooker.
Consolation prizes of pressing irons were given to those who placed fourth to the eigth position. The contestants, besides answering general questions relating to health and social issues such as HIV/AIDS and environmental cleanliness also put up dance performances to highlife, hip life and old school songs.
The well attended programme held at the forecourt of Celebrity Night Club at Bolgatanga was spiced with various dance performances by amateur groups. The low points of the night, however, were the rather long breaks in between performances and the unnecessarily long commentaries from the two MCs for the night, which dragged the programme till the wee hours of Sunday.
The theme for the week-long SRC celebration was “Promoting Quality Health Care, a challenge to a student nurse”. A number of activities were held by the student body to mark the event. It includes public education both on radio and in selected Junior and Senior High Schools in the Bolgatanga municipality.

Woyongo urges MDCE to lead modest lifestyles(D/G Monday, June 15, 2009. Page 36

The Upper East Regional Minister, Mark Woyongo has administered the Official Oath, oath of allegiance and oath of secrecy to Municipal and District Chief Executives in the region.
He urged them to lead modest lifestyles and work hard at achieving the goals of the government.
Mr. Woyongo also admonished them to develop a healthy working relationship with the various stakeholders in the Assembly, especially the MP, Assembly and Presiding Members, the Coordinating Directors and Heads of Departments in the district, as well as Traditional rulers and other opinion leaders and NGOs, to accelerate development in their respective districts.

UE TEACHERS RESCIND DECISION TO WEAR RED BANDS (D/G, Monday, June 15, 2009. PAGE 14)

TEACHERS in the Upper East Region have rescinded their decision to wear red bands to work as a warning to the government to expedite action on the implementation of the Single Spine Salary Structure (SSSS).
In an interview with the Daily Graphic at Bolgatanga, the Regional Secretary of the Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT), Mr Linus Cofie Attey, explained that the decision followed assurances from the government that the SSSS would be implemented in January, next year.
“Following our press conference, we were called to Accra for a meeting by the leadership of GNAT and it was at that meeting that a decision was taken for us to hold on as steps were being taken by the government for the implementation of the SSSS”, he said.
Mr Attey urged all teachers in the region to exercise restraint and go about their normal duties while the government took measures to have the policy implemented.
On Monday, June 1, 2009, the leadership of GNAT in the region announced that the teachers had decided to were red bands to work to express their frustration at what they termed “The feet dragging on the part of the government in the implementation of the SSSS”.
The teachers, therefore, threatened that any further delay in solving the salary issues would lead to another action that was yet to be determined.

RICE PROCESSING GROUP CRIES FOR HELP (MIRROR, Saturday, June 13,2009 , PAGE 27)

From Benjamin Xornam Glover,
Zuarungu

The Coordinator of the Single Mothers Association,(SMA) a Bolgatanga-based local women's organisation, Ms Stella Abagre has underlined the importance of giving protection to locally produced commodities against the invasion of imported ones, often produced at subsidised cost.
“We are convinced that the rice industry can deliver meaningful local employment and decent income for our communities that produce them if given the needed support’ said Ms Abagre whose group was into rice processing.
Apart from rice processing, members of the association who are made up of divorcees and single mothers are into several activities including, basket weaving, sheabutter processing, social awareness training, amongst others.
Due to the lack of market, tonnes of rice neatly packaged are lying in the stores. She, therefore, stressed that if government could incorporate the use of local rice in interventions such as the School Feeding Programme, it would also help generate employment for the community members since they would be engaged in farming, processing and packaging of the produce as well as offer high quality and nutritious meals to the children.
Ms Abagre made these comments when the Upper East Regional Minister, Mr Mark Woyongo and his Deputy Mrs Lucy Awuni visited the Rice Milling Project of the group at Zuarungu, near Bolgatanga.
In her welcoming address, Ms Abagre said the SMA was set up in 1998 to negate cultural and traditional practices that have rendered unmarried women frustrated and dejected in the society.
She said activities of the SMA include income generation, advocacy and family life education. She added that with support from Oxfam, a British non-governmental organisation, a rice processing machine was acquired for the SMA to help improve the quality of locally produced rice in the region.
Ms Abagre also added that apart from difficulties in accessing markets for the products, the SMA was confronted with problems in accessing credit from financial institutions to run their businesses, and appealed to government for assistance.
The Upper East Regional Minister, Mr Mark Woyongo said it was government's desire to reduce poverty through the Savannah Accelerated Development Authority, adding that the programme was meant to help vulnerable groups such as the SMA.
He told the women who are also into shea butter processing that a Sheanut Development Baord would be established to develop, process and market the produce for export.
The regional minister announced that the government was reorganising the School Feeding Programme to fine tune it and ensure that suppliers source their purchases from the local market.
“The price of polish rice may be cheap but the nutritional value is very high. We will do all in our power to ensure higher patronage of the local rice”, Mr Woyongo said.
Mr Woyongo acknowledged the difficulties of the group in accessing paddy rice for milling and said this year; “government is going to embark on a serious rice cultivation in the Fumbisi Valley to make paddy rice available and affordable for processing”.
He also said the Irrigation Company of the Upper Region would also be supported to produce enough paddy rice for milling.
This he explained would go a long way in beating down the cost of production and subsequently make their produce competitive on the local market.
He also recommended to the leadership of SMA the services of the Export Development and Investment Fund (EDIF), and urged them to explore that possibility in seeking assistance to expand their business.

HELP FIND SOLUTION TO TOMATO GLUT IN UPPER EAST (D/G Monday, June 15,2009 PAGE 36)

“TOMATO glut hits Upper East Region”… “Veep sympathises with Tomato Farmers”… “Farmer commits suicide over tomato glut”…. “Upper East tomato farmers in crisis”.
These are a few headlines that were splashed on the pages of newspapers in the country in the recent past. The headlines discussed one major theme—The annual tomato glut that faces the region almost every year.
More than 80 per cent of farmers in the region are engaged in tomato farming. However, every year, the region faces a tomato glut with its attendant low prices or even lack of market for the produce.
Large quantities of tomatoes produced by the hardworking farmers at Tono, Vea, Pwalugu and other farming communities in the region often go bad for lack of market.
Tomato glut in the Upper East Region has been an annual phenomenon because the farmers do not have reliable markets for their produce. Ironically, the main buyers, known as “market queens” from the southern parts of Ghana who are constantly in unending battles to have better prices, find unorthodox means of constantly exploiting the farmers by delaying the buying of the produce.
Although there is a tomato factory at Pwalugu in the region, christened the Northern Star Tomato factory, which is owned and managed by the Ministry of Trade and Industry, lack of funds has been identified as the main problem hindering its full operation. This year for instance, the management of the factory complained that there was no money to purchase the produce thereby putting both the factory and the farmers in an unpleasant situation.
Between February and March, this year, the annual tomato glut phenomenon was recorded and as usual the farmers made the noise to draw the government’s attention to the problem. Some even went to the extent of committing suicide just because they could not withstand the agony of seeing their investments go down the drain.
In view of the problem, the Vice President, His Excellency John Mahatma, visited the region to intervene and within a short period of time, a short term solution was found to the problem.
As an immediate step towards ensuring stable market for the produce, Vice President Mahama said his office would liaise with the Minister of Food and Agriculture and the Minister of Trade and Industries to assist the factory with a capital injection to boost tomato production in the area.
After a tour of the factory, Mr Mahama stressed the need for a feasibility study of the Pwalugu Tomato Factory to enable the government to determine how best it would intervene to keep the factory running all-year-round.
He gave the assurance that he would visit the area again at a future date with the Minister of Food and Agriculture and the Minister of Trade and Industries for detailed assessment of the facility before any definite decisions could be taken.
The Vice President pledged the government’s determination to institute prudent measures to encourage tomato production and processing in the region as part of a long-term plan to create sustainable jobs for the people.
Three months have passed since the Vice President visited the area to assess the tomato glut, yet some stakeholders in the tomato industry seem to have no clue as to what is exactly happening.
During an interaction with a group of tomato farmers in Navrongo recently, they expressed fears that if a solution is not found to the problem, that is, restructuring the factory before the start of the tomato farming season, people were likely to return to the gloomy days of the past where farmers spent huge sums of money in the production of tomatoes only for the produce to go waste because there was no reliable market for them.
Available information has it that the tomato farming season in the Upper East Region starts from August and ends in January. While peasant farmers would start nursing their seedlings in August and transplant them in September, those engaged in commercial farming would start their nurseries in September and transplant them in October.
Checks at the factory, the two ministries concerned in the region and random interviews with some farmers in the region have all drawn blanks.
The Farms Operations Manager of Northern Star Tomato Factory, Mr Kwabena Darkwah, was unable to say what immediate steps had been taken.
He, however, stated that his bosses in Accra were still discussing the way forward for the factory after the visit of the Vice President.
When the National President of the National Farmers and Fishermen Award Winners Association, Mr Philip Abayori, was contacted on the issue on phone, he confirmed that a delegation of farmers had met with the Ministry of Trade and Industry on a proposal that farmers would want to acquire about 30 per cent shares in the factory.
He said for now, they had been made to believe that the government had agreed in principle to collaborate with the farmers in their bid to acquire shares in the factory.
Mr Abayori stated that they (farmers) were working out the modalities because it was their belief that if famers were represented on the board, their interests would be protected and at the end of the day, the annual hullabaloo of tomato glut would be a thing of the past.
He dismissed assertions that there was foot dragging, adding that there was goodwill on the part of the ministry and for that matter the government.
Mr Abayori also expressed the hope that sooner than later some positive news would be heard.” There is no cause for alarm”, he assured.
For now farmers in the region, especially the tomato farmers, have only one plea, and that is, the various stakeholders should act fast in restoring the factory to respond to the marketing needs of their produce.
When it goes into full operation, the factory could also offer employment opportunities for the region’s teeming youth. A stitch in time saves nine.

NAVRONGO HOSPITAL APPEALS FOR RESOURCES (PAGE 40)

THE Medical Superintendent of the Navrongo War Memorial Hospital, Dr William Gudu, has appealed to the Government and other stakeholders to help the hospital with resources to enable it to provide quality health care to the public.
He said the facility, which served the people of Kassena-Nankana East and Kassena-Nankana West districts, lacked such modern facilities as laboratory and operating theatre.
According to him, inadequate supply of water and erratic electricity power supply had seriously affected health care at the hospital.
Dr Gudu made the appeal when the Upper East Regional Minister, Mr Mark Woyongo, toured the facility to familiarise himself with some of the challenges facing the hospital, with a view to finding solutions to the problems.
The visit to the hospital coincided with the inauguration of the mortuary facility which broke down five years ago. The mortuary was rehabilitated at a conservative cost of GH¢9,000 from the hospital’s internally generated funds.
According to the regional minister, prior to the rehabilitation of the facility, families from the two districts who relied on it had to travel to the Bolgatanga Regional Hospital to preserve dead bodies.
He tasked the management of the hospital to enter into maintenance agreements with the repairers of the mortuary to service it at regular intervals.
Briefing the regional minister on the challenges of the hospital, the medical superintendent said the hospital, which was established in the colonial era, lacked modern toilet facilities and patients had no option but to stick to KVIPs outside the hospital.
He also expressed concern about inadequate beds and dilapidated physical structures of the facility, and appealed to the Government for support.
Responding to the appeal, Mr Woyongo said the Government placed premium on the health of the people and would do all in its power to address the numerous challenges facing the hospital.
On the poor water supply to the facility, Mr Woyongo tasked the District Chief Executive for Kassena-Nankana East, Mr Emmanuel Andema, to liaise with the Ghana Water Company to ensure that water was pumped to the hospital’s overhead tanks, at least once a week, while efforts were made to address the problem permanently.
Mr Woyongo also promised to co-ordinate with the offices of the Volta River Authority (VRA) to examine the possibility of supplying the hospital with a separate transformer to curtail frequent power fluctuations.
On personnel, the regional minister promised to explore the possibility of partnering the Ministry of Health to put in place a package that would see to a team of specialist doctors conducting clinics at least once every month.
He gave the assurance that the necessary support would be provided for the success of the programme.
While commending the medical staff for their dedication to work, Mr Woyongo appealed to them not to embark on strikes.
“Already, our people are suffering and the health facilities are not the best. Our people cannot afford to travel outside to access health care, so please bear with us,” Mr Woyongo stressed.
He gave the assurance that the Government was very sensitive to the plight of health workers and would do all it could to meet their requests for better remuneration.
“Once the economic conditions improve, obviously, we will address the issues of salaries of every worker in this country,” Mr Woyongo stated.

13 STUDENTS SUSPENDED OVER CLASHES (BACK PAGE)

THIRTEEN students of the Bawku Senior High School (BSHS) and the Bawku Technical Institute (BTI) have been suspended for their alleged involvement in clashes between the two schools on April 4 and 5, this year.
A White Paper issued by the Upper East Regional Co-ordinating Council last Tuesday, said the decision was arrived at following recommendations of a six-member committee of enquiry set up by the Regional Minister, Mr Mark Woyongo, to investigate the immediate and remote causes of the disturbances.
Five students out of the 12 from the BTI were suspended for one year for their active role in fuelling the clashes, while the remaining eight including one female, all of BSHS, were suspended for one month each. They would also be de-boardinised after serving the period of their suspension.
This, according to the RCC, would serve as a deterrent to others in the future.
Those suspended for one year are Maurice Kaguah, Foster Ayamga, Edward Kodabalogo, Kadiri Osman and Rashid Bukari, all of BTI.
The rest, who are under a month’s suspension, are Abdul-Saamed Mahama, Dennis Ayamga, Awinaba Sulemana Abdul-Ganim, Sampson, John Badiwomehit Yizanbazor and Simon Zong, all of BSHS.
Veronica Oladokun of BSHS and Raymond Nsoh of BTI were suspended for one month each and de-boardinised for sitting together at a common market at an ungodly hour.
The Senior Prefect of BSHS, Master Asaki Zackariah Seidu, is also to pay for the cost of uniform of one Raymond Nsoh of BTl after which he is to be stripped of his post for being irresponsible.
It would be recalled that following a clash between students of both schools in April, this year, which resulted in injury to some students and destruction of property worth GH¢10,020.98, the Upper East Regional Minister set up a six-member committee of enquiry to investigate the disturbances and come out with recommendations.
The committee was under the chairmanship of Mr Luke Abugri, Principal of the Gbewaa Training College.
Among other things, the committee recommended that entertainment programmes of the two schools in future should close at the same time to avoid problems. It also recommended that school rules and regulations should be adhered to in the two schools particularly at night.
The committee also recommended that more interactive activities should be encouraged between the two schools, particularly during the day time, to foster unity between the two institutions.
The committee also recommended that the school authorities should draw the attention of the security agencies anytime there was rumour of imminent threat of attack on each other.
It was also recommended that tutors who were scheduled to be on duty from March 29 to April 4, 2009 should be reprimanded for negligence of duty.
However, the committee said one Mr Joseph Azuntaba of Bawku Senior High School should be commended for his dedication to duty during the period.

IMPLEMENT SINGLE-SPINE SALARY WITH DISPATCH (Monday, June 1,2009. PAGE 3)

TEACHERS in the Ashanti and Upper East regions have called on the government to act with dispatch in the implementation of the Single Spine Salary Structure (SSSS).While the Ashanti Regional branch of the National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT) cautioned the government against hiding behind threats by the Ghana Medical Association (GMA) to drag its feet over the implementation of the SSSS, the Upper East Regional branch of the Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT) said it was displeased with the slow pace of implementation of the SSSS.Speaking at the inauguration of the Ashanti regional chapter of the women’s wing of NAGRAT otherwise known as “Women of Excellence”, the regional chairman of NAGRAT, Mr Daniel Boama Duku, said it appeared the government was being forced by the doctors’ rejection of the SSSS to delay the implementation of the new salary scheme against the wishes of other groups of workers.“Our patience is running out and if we don’t see any road map with regards to the implementation within the shortest possible time, we will advise ourselves,” Mr Duku said.He noted that “times are hard and government cannot continue to play with our lives” and advised against aggravating confusion in the educational front.Mr Duku maintained that it was only when teachers were motivated that they could offer their best.The Regional Co-ordinator of the women’s wing, Mrs Adelaide Biyaa-Powers, pledged that the association would play its role effectively in the fight against child labour, teenage pregnancy and other vices that threatened the lives of the youth.The Headmistress of St Louis Senior High School, Mrs Theresa Addai, who chaired the function, said the female graduate teacher could do a lot to bring sanity into the educational system.

At a teachers forum in Bolgatanga, the Regional Secretary of GNAT, Mr Linus Cofie Attey, announced that teachers had decided to put on red bands to work to express their frustration at what they termed the foot dragging on the part of the government in the implementation of the scheme.
Mr Attey said any further delay in solving the salary issue would lead to another action that was yet to be determined. “Our plight has been made worse by rising inflation and high cost of utilities, rent and other consumables are whittling away the real values of earnings,” he added.
He said it had been the hope of teachers that by January 2009 each of them would have been enjoying a fairer salary structure devoid of distortions and disparity that would motivate them in their work, but this had not been the case.
“Our patience all this while is now turning into frustrations,” he said, adding that “the same ap plies to the national pension Act, Act 766 which is also suffering undue delay”.
He announced that based on this delay, the teachers in the region had decided to wear red bands to work as a warning to the government to expedite action on the implementation of the SSSS.
He, however, cautioned teachers in the region that the wearing of red band should not be misconstrued as a strike action and, therefore, advised them to go about their normal duties while they waited for a response from the government.

POLICE OUTLINE BAWKU PEACEKEEPING CHALLENGES (PAGE 31)

POLICEMEN on peacekeeping mission in Bawku have complained that lack of accommodation and logistics is hampering their efforts at maintaining law and order in the area.
They complained of inadequate rations and the lack of the required security equipment, namely as bullet proof vests and crash helmets among others.
This was during an interaction between the personnel on the ground and the Director General in Charge of Operations, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCOP) John Kudalor at Bawku on Wednesday.
DCOP Kudalor was in Bawku at the instance of the Inspector General of Police to assess the logistical challenges confronting the police service in the discharge of their mandate in Bawku.
The police service has come under severe criticisms with a disclosure by the Upper East Regional Minister that morale among the policemen on the ground had sunk very low.
During the meeting, the policemen appealed for an increase in their rations to GH¢ 4.00. They also appealed for the services of professional medical personnel on the ground to attend to their medical needs.
The policemen also called on the police administration to ensure that their living quarters be fumigated to save them from rodents and insects.
They also complained that their toilet and bathroom facilities were in bad conditions.
Responding, DCOP Kudalor said the Police Administration had taken note of the conditions on the ground and efforts would be made to improve the conditions under which the men worked.
“The police administration will take immediate steps to address some of the challenges facing the personnel in Bawku,” the DCOP said at a press briefing after the tour.
He conceded that the problems facing the men on the ground were enormous as things appeared to have deteriorated and gave the assurance that the new police administration would work hard to resolve the challenges.
DCOP Kudalor was accompanied on his tour by the outgoing Upper East Regional Police Commander, DCOP Alhaji Hamidu Mahama and DSP Abraham Acquaye, a Staff Officer at the Police Headquarters.
DCOP Mahama disclosed that five out of the 14 persons arrested in connection with the recent violence in Bawku would soon be arraigned, adding that one other person had been arrested in connection with the death of the Bawku Municipal Officer of the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ), Mr Felix Assibi.
He said a mobile phone found on the suspect turned out to belong to the deceased. He said once the interrogation was over, the suspect would be put before court.
The director general in charge of operations later toured Pusiga and Garu-Tempane to be appraised of the security challenges facing the police in those areas.
At Garu, the District Chief Executive, Mr David Adakudugu, called on the administration to overhaul the police set-up in the district to control activities of thieves, armed robbers and other criminals in the area.
He said houses were raided daily and people attacked and robbed of their motor cycles and other valuables, adding that the frequent criminal activities in and around the area were making life uncomfortable and unsafe.
Mr Adakudugu gave the assurance that the assembly was ready to commit its little resources to support the efforts of the police not only in the Garu-Tempane District but also neighbouring Bawku.
DCOP Kudalor said the concerns raised would be looked into and given the necessary attention.

BAWKU NABA BLAMES POLICE FOR UNENDING CONFLICT (BACK PAGE)

THE Bawku Naba, Asigri Abugrago Azoka II, has deplored the behaviour of some police personnel on peacekeeping operations in the area and blamed them for the unending conflict.
He alleged that some of the officers on the ground had compromised their neutrality, thereby frustrating attempts to bring lasting peace to the area.
Naba Azoka made the comments when members of the Upper East Regional Security Council (REGSEC) and the Bawku Municipal Security Council called on him at his palace in the wake of the recent shooting incident in the town.
He questioned why some persons were allowed to hold what he termed illegal public events while the police stood by and watched and expressed his frustration at the constant release of suspected troublemakers soon after their arrest by the police.
The Bawku Naba said the only way that the conflict in Bawku could be solved was for the government to speed up action and come out clear with a ruling on the reports submitted by the two factions to the dispute.
The Upper East Regional Minister, Mr Mark Woyongo, urged the Bawku Naba to continue to advise his subjects to exercise restraint as the government worked to find a lasting and amicable solution to the problem.
He said the REGSEC and the police administration would critically assess the concerns of the chief with regard to the conduct of the police officers and where necessary ensure that the right thing was done.
Briefing the media earlier, Mr Woyongo disclosed that 14 persons arrested in the shooting incident were being screened.
He said one AK 47 rifle and a G3 rifle were also retrieved from the combatants in addition to some rounds of ammunition.
Mr Woyongo disclosed that four vehicles were burnt at Pulmakom. In addition, the Ghana Immigration Service office at Pulmakom, a border town, was also burnt.
Mr Woyongo said from all indications, the opinion leaders had lost control over the youth and disclosed that henceforth, REGSEC would target youth leaders and educate them on the need to maintain peace.
He appealed to the media, especially those without correspondents in the conflict area, to exercise a little circumspection in their reportage of the situation in Bawku, since some of their reports inflamed passions in the area.

REVIEW POLICY ON STUDENT INTAKE TO TRAINING INSTITUTIONS (PAGE 11)

THE Principal of the Saint John Bosco’s College of Education, Mr Alfred Abugre Ndego, has appealed to the government to review the policy on student intake to training institutions as the current policy limits the number that can be admitted.
He said the irony of such a policy in the face of inadequate teachers in the system, was that over 24,000 classrooms in Ghana had no teachers, while the situation in the three northern regions was worse. Every year, he noted, heads of teacher training colleges had a painful experience of turning away candidates who qualified but could not be admitted to train as teachers because each college was restricted to a quota which they had to comply with.
Speaking at the fourth matriculation ceremony to formally admit fresh teacher trainees to the college, Mr Ndego said out of the 1,200 applications received from prospective candidates wanting to be trained as teachers, the number was reduced to 280 after careful scrutiny.
But, according to Mr Ndego, the Saint John Bosco’s College like other northern colleges of education, had the potential to admit more than the 280 quota adopted and, therefore, proposed an amendment to the policy.
Touching on other issues confronting the colleges, Mr Ndego noted that gender parity for colleges of education would remain a mirage unless conscious efforts were made to enhance girls’ education in Ghana especially in the northern part of the country.
He made a passionate appeal to the government to invest more resources in basic and senior high schools for the teaching of Science, Mathematics and Technical Skills.
Mr Ndego also proposed that science colleges, in particular, should be given concession to mount special bridging courses for candidates who obtain minimal grades in Science, Mathematics, Technical Skills and English language. That, he explained, would prepare the candidates to get the required standards for admission to the colleges.
He reminded the newly admitted students that discipline was the trump card for all the numerous successes the college had chalked up in the past and therefore urged them to effectively apply themselves to the rules and regulations of the college to ensure order and a peaceful environment for sound academic and professional work.
Mr Ndego said some of the greatest challenges facing the college was the lack of water supply, massive encroachment on the college lands and the lack of accommodation for the 52-member teaching staff and appealed to the government to come to its aid.
The Upper East Regional Minister, Mr Mark Woyongo, noted that the teacher was central to every educational reform process and teacher education and satisfaction should therefore be of utmost concern to policy makers, education providers and all stakeholders in education.
He said the government of the NDC was committed to making the teaching profession very lucrative to attract professionals in other fields and students into the teaching field.
Mr Woyongo said in pursuit of this agenda, the government would improve the general conditions of teachers through the payment of competitive salaries, provision of decent accommodation, enhanced retirement benefits and the payment of hardship allowances to teachers in deprived areas in the country.
He assured the authorities of the college that the numerous challenges of the college would be addressed to make teaching and learning very effective.

ONE KILLED IN BAWKU (Monday, June 1,2009. PAGE 3)

ONE person was reported to have been shot dead in Bawku yesterday triggering another bout of sporadic shooting in the town.
The deceased, identified as Sulemana Ibrahim, aged between 30 and 35 is alleged to have been shot several times in the chest and hands.
Following the incident, residents have deserted the streets and people have gone indoors.
The Upper East Regional Police Commander, Deputy Commissioner of Police, Alhaji Hamidu Mahama told the Daily Graphic on phone that some arrests have been made and the military and police have intensified their patrols to halt the firing.
Last Friday, barely 24 hours after President John Evans Atta Mills had met with opinion leaders from both sides in the Bawku conflict, sporadic gunshots were heard at Bawku at about 11 p.m on and continued into the early hours of Saturday, May 30, 2009.
It was not clear what might have precipitated the shooting incident, but a number of people interviewed on the streets of Bawku at the time said the incident was either a jubilation or protest to the alleged granting of bail to some persons connected to an arson incident that occurred in the area in January, this year.
Upon a visit to Bawku on Saturday, which was also a market day, this reporter found that calm had been restored but the briskness associated with trading activities at the market was absent.
The Upper East Regional Police Commander, Deputy Commissioner of Police, Alhaji Hamidu Mahama, condemned the incident and dismissed the assertion that the latest incident was a renewal of the ethnic clashes between the feuding factions.
He said once the sporadic shooting incident started, the joint military and police team on operational duties were deployed to quell the action, adding that so far no arrest had been made while no casualty had been reported.
According to DCOP Mahama, calm had been restored to the area and the joint military and police personnel had intensified their patrols in the area.
He said the security agencies, especially the police, had the mandate of the newly appointed Inspector General of Police to deal ruthlessly with anyone who perpetrated crime in the area and warned the people to refrain from lawless acts.
The Regional Minister, Mr Mark Woyongo, also condemned the shooting incident.
He said it was the expectation of all that with the intervention of the President during his two-day visit to the region and having met all the opinion leaders of Bawku, it was about time the people gave peace a chance.
He reiterated the fact that the most important ingredient for development was peace and appealed to the people of Bawku to abide by the peace process initiated to help bring permanent peace to the area.