Spontaneous Jubilation All Over(D/G, Monday, June 28,2010. page 16)

..............Benjamin Xornam Glover reports that in the Upper East Regional capital of Bolgatanga, the Black Stars’ victory was greeted with an uproar by jubilant fans, as they stormed the streets to celebrate.Throwing caution to the wind, some motor and bicycle riders displayed their riding prowess in their jubilation.However, the presence of policemen deployed on the streets of the municipality, especially around the Bolgatanga Taxi Rank, averted what would have been a nasty incident, similar to what happened recently when a fan died after Ghana won the opening match against Serbia.The celebration continued deep into the night, with joyous celebrants filling pubs and night-clubs to dance away the performance that saw the Black Stars defeat the Yankees.The party continued in some churches visited early on Sunday morning as the congregants waved, danced and stomped during the praise and worship sessions in thanksgiving to God for granting Ghana victory.

NPP MUST RECOGNISE HEROES (PAGE 14, JUNE 26, 2010)

LEADING members of the New Patriotic Party, (NPP), in the Bawku Central Constituency have reminded those leading the party to recognise its heroes and learn to give them their due in order to immortalise their achievements.
Alhaji Abdulai Billa Amandi and Alhaji Yakubu Salifu, elders of the NPP in Bawku and relatives of the late Mr Adam Amandi and late Imoro Salifu, both leading members of the Danquah-Busia tradition in the Bawku area were saddened that over the years, some of the most gallant heroes of the party have been relegated to the background.
The two men made the appeal when Mr John Alan Kyeremanten, an NPP presidential hopeful paid a courtesy call them at Natinga, a suburb of Bawku.
With the hope that Mr Kyeremanten will emerge winner at the August 7 polls of the party, Alhaji Billa Amandi advised Mr Kyeremanten to ensure that those who sacrificed for the party, namely, Paa Grant, Dankwah, Busia, Imoro Salifu, Adams Amandi and several others were duly remembered and honoured.
The late Adam Amandi was a member of the Legislative Assembly in the pre-independence era. He was also a founding member of the Northern People's Party (NPP), and later became a Minister of State in the erstwhile Progress Party (PP) government between 1969 and 1972.
For his part, Alhaji Yakubu Salifu, brother of late Imoro Salifu, one time Upper Regional Chief Executive of the then Progress Party (PP), said the late Busia created economic opportunities for the youth and made them to prosper.
He therefore advised Mr Kyeremanten that when he takes over the reigns of the party and the country, he should emulate the late Busia and take steps to create economic opportunities for the youth of the country.
Earlier in the day, Mr Kyeremanten called on the Paramount Chief of Bawku, Naba Asigri Abugrago Azoka II and his elders who prayed for Allah’s guidance for the restoration of permanent peace in the Bawku Municipality.
He also solicited the prayers of the chiefs and people of the area to make it possible for him to become the next presidential candidate for the NPP and later the president of the country.
The tour of the former trade and industry minister took him to Bawku Central, Pusiga, Garu-Tempane and Zebra constituencies where he interacted with polling station executives.
Addressing them, Mr Kyeremanten among other things promised that if he was selected as the Presidential Candidate for the NPP, he would run a broad based campaign team, which would include polling station executives, where resources meant for campaign would be given directly to them at the grass root and not to be passed through a forceful centralised campaign team, as happened in the past, where the resources did not reach those who were at the grass root doing the ‘yeoman’s job’.
“If we are serious about coming back to power, we must put the polling station executives in charge of the campaign and give them the money, logistics and other resources and we will all see the type of campaign we will run for victory in 2012,” he said.
Mr Kyeremanten during his rounds also made separate calls on the chiefs of Pusiga, Garu, Tempane, and Zebilla. He was accompanied by Mr Yaw Buabeng Asamoa, his spokesperson, Mr Kwabena Adjei Agyepong, a former presidential spokesperson and Press secretary in the Kufour administration, Mr K. Dzamesi, a former Volta Regional Minister under the NPP regime, Mr Alhassan Samari, a former Upper East Regional Minister, and Mr Abdulai Abanga, a former Municipal Chief Executive for Bawku.

NORTHERN STUDENTS URGED TO TAKE STUDIES SERIOUSLY (PAGE 11, JUNE 23, 2010)

The Pro-Vice Chancellor of the University for Development Studies (UDS), Prof. David Millar, has advised students in the northern regions of Ghana to embrace the opportunities offered them to study hard in order to build a better future for themselves.
According to him, one thing that the north has to equal and perhaps out-do the south in is education, and as such, northern students must take their studies seriously to become better persons in future.
The Pro-Vice Chancellor gave the advice at the sixth speech and prize-giving day celebration of the Awe Senior High/Technical School at Navrongo in the Upper East Region.
He urged the students to be disciplined, listen to their teachers, obey school rules and regulations, as well as be committed, dedicated and God-fearing to make it in future.
The theme for the celebration was: “Current Education Reforms prospects for Senior High and Technical Schools-the case of Awe Senior High/Technical School”.
Touching on the importance of education for northern Ghana, Prof. Millar said the sharing of the national cake since the advent of Ghana as a nation state had always been skewed, adding that even the colonial government intended that the north should be under-developed in order to provide cheap labour to cocoa and the mining-rich south.
“This practically translated into ‘a no school concept for the north’ which persisted for a very long time,” he said. According to him, although some efforts of recent past had been made to change that trend and balance things up, there was still a huge gap.
He, therefore, challenged the students who had had the opportunity to be in school to be conscious of such fact and take full advantage of what was being offered them to liberate themselves.
“Education is the major resource in the north. All other resources, we do not come close, therefore you must make good use of the chances offered you,” he told the students.
He, however, bemoaned the inadequate infrastructural facilities for senior high and technical schools in the north and appealed to the government to provide second cycle institutions with appropriate teaching and learning materials including ICT facilities, well-furnished libraries for staff and students, as well as provide logistics and transport needs for schools in order for them to produce good results.
The Headmaster for the school, Mr Paul Achana, said to effectively compete with other schools in the region and the nation as a whole, the school would need efficient science and ICT laboratories, among other things.
He commended the school’s PTA for renovating two structures for the school for use as a library and ICT centre and the Kassena-Nankana East District Assembly for constructing a three-unit classroom block and an office, store, as well as an assembly hall, for the school.
Mr Achana also acknowledged the role of the government in financing the building of a six-unit classroom block containing a staff common room and a two-storey girl’s dormitory block for the school. These projects, he said, would no doubt enhance teaching and learning in the school.
The Deputy Upper East Regional Minister, Mrs Lucy Awuni, said the government would continue with the rehabilitation works on the Science Resource Centres.
She, however, bemoaned the use of mobile phones in the second cycle schools and its attendant break down of discipline in the schools and urged students to desist from it.
“We in the north pay a heavy price if we allow fighting and indiscipline to become endemic in our schools and communities, because it deters investors from the area,” she said.

GIVE SUPPORT TO EDUCATION IN KASSENA-NANKANA AREA (PAGE 19, JUNE 18, 2010)

The Kassena-Nankana West District Director of Education, Mr Augustine Bugase, has called on all stakeholders to support the directorate to bring education to the doorstep of every child in the district.
According to him, education is an integral part of human development, hence it behoves all to support the directorate to ensure its success.
Mr Bugase made the appeal at Paga when the Nara Rural Bank donated sports equipment to the directorate. The gesture is the first to be received from a corporate organisation since the directorate was created a little over two years ago.
He said because the district was carved out of the Kassena-Nankana East District, which could boast a university campus, a teacher training campus, a number of senior high schools and a community health school, there was an erroneous impression that the new district was well-to-do.
“This new district takes care of the outskirts and the most deprived areas and without adequate support, the work becomes very challenging,” he said.
Mr Bugase, on behalf of the directorate, thanked the donor for its support, adding that with more of such assistance, the district would unearth more sports talents for the nation.
“Paga is the home of Abedi Pele and with such support coming in, I can assure you that more talents will be revealed to contribute to uplift Ghana sports,” he said.
The Nara Rural Bank donated a set of jerseys, a set of football boots and two sets of footballs, all valued at GH$1,540, to the district education directorate.
The Managing Director of the bank, Mr Samson Atagre Adaakobga, said the donation followed an appeal by the district education office to the bank for support.
He noted that as a bank, it was determined to give maximum support to education and sports, adding that it had instituted policies and programmes to provide financial support for parents to handle the educational needs of their children.
The Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Bank, Mr David Samari, urged the beneficiaries to take good care of the items.
The Physical Education Co-ordinator for the district, Mr Mathew Acharibasam, commended the bank for responding positively to the appeal.
He expressed concern that despite the numerous appeals for support made to other institutions in the district, only the Nara Rural Bank had shown some commitment.

UE NPP VOWS TO RETRIEVE PARTY ASSETS (PAGE 13, JUNE 16, 2010)

THE Upper East Regional Executives of the New Patriotic Party, (NPP), has vowed to use every available legitimate means to retrieve party assets, especially vehicles taken away by some immediate past executive members.
Speaking to the Daily Graphic at Bolgatanga, the Regional Organiser of the party, Mr Yaw Mort, maintained that all efforts to take over the vehicles in the possession of some former executives in the past had proven futile.
According to him, the party was last week Friday compelled to issue a 48-hour ultimatum to the affected persons to return the vehicles but as at last Monday when the ultimatum elapsed; none of the affected officials in possession of the vehicles returned the vehicles, which included pick-ups.
This had incurred the displeasure of the newly elected officers, who had vowed to take action within the confines of the law to get back the party assets.
Mr Mort would not go into details as to what measures would be taken to retrieve the items insisting that the party had decided to treat it as an internal party matter.
In all, the newly elected executives were demanding seven vehicles which they considered as party properties which had been registered in the name of the party but had been taken away by the old executives.However some of the affected officials are challenging the decision to retrieve the cars from them.
One such party officer, who asked not to be named, claimed it was a decision of the party for the officers to keep the vehicles which they alleged had been sold out to them.

SUPPORT GREENING THE ENVIRONMENT PROGRAMME (PAGE 42, JUNE 14, 2010)

THE District Chief Executive (DCE) for Kassena-Nankana West in the Upper East Region, Mr Thomas Addah Dalu, has called on assembly members in the district to support the assembly’s attempt at greening the environment.
Speaking at the first ordinary meeting of the third session of the assembly at Paga, Mr Dalu appealed to members of the house to continue practising good personal hygiene and maintain clean environment by weeding around their dwellings and undertaking massive tree planting exercises, especially during the rainy season.
He also advised that people in the district should build houses according to the planned layout of the various towns and villages in the district.
“A clean environment enhances good health and leads to increase in economic production. Protecting the environment should be the responsibility of all. There is the need for all our traditional leaders to work towards the protection of the environment so that the future generation can also benefit from it,” he said.
The DCE said the assembly would provide free seedlings to all communities for planting around houses, schools, dams and along water bodies, and called on the assembly members to actively participate in that exercise.
Mr Dalu said the National Afforestation Programme being spearheaded by ZOIL Services Limited was on course and the district through the Forestry Division was facilitating the acquisition of land for the project.
He announced that 300 youth would be engaged as planters by the communities to ensure the successful implementation of the programme.

GOVT TO CREATE MORE JOBS FOR THE YOUTH (PAGE 42, JUNE 14, 2010)

THE National Co-ordinator of the National Youth Employment Programme (NYEP), Mr Abuga Pele, has stated that the government is determined to work towards further enhancing the NYEP programme to create more stop-gap jobs for the youth.
He said that would enable the teeming unemployed youth in the country to find something to do while efforts were being made to restructure the economy to help the youth find more permanent jobs.
Mr Pele was speaking at the launch of two new modules in Navrongo in the Kassena-Nankana East District and Sirigu in the Kassena-Nankana West District, both in the Upper East Region.
They are the trade and vocation module with special reference to dressmaking at Navrongo and the youth in basket weaving project established at Sirigu.
The NYEP is implementing the modules in collaboration with Asongtaba Cottage Industry and Exchange Programme (ACI and EP) and Craft Pro Limited Basket Weaving Project, which are private sector initiatives.
According to Mr Pele, that intervention and many more to be rolled out in future would succeed depending on how serious the youth embraced it. He, therefore, urged the youth engaged in the programme to eschew laziness.
The NYEP co-ordinator said the government was aware of the poverty level in the three northern regions.
He, therefore, appealed to the people in those areas to avail themselves of the interventions and develop their talents instead of migrating to the southern part of the country in search of non-existent jobs.
The Upper East Regional Minister, Mr Mark Woyongo, stated that the NYEP was a laudable programme but had been abused under the previous administration so the present government was restructuring it to make it more meaningful to the beneficiaries.
He said 110,796 youth were employed under the NYEP last year across the country, adding that the government intended to engage about 100,000 youth under the programme this year.
“Some youth are currently undergoing training under the Youth in Security Services Training at the Police Training College at Pwalugu in the region,” he said.
Mr Woyongo stated that the government had planned to enact a legislation to streamline the operations of the NYEP and establish the NYEP fund to make it a more reliable and sustainable source of funding to avoid the hiccups that the programme was currently facing.
He urged the youth who were currently unemployed to take advantage of the NYEP to develop themselves.
Mr Mark Woyongo said one of the major causes of unemployment among the youth was lack of skill training and requisite experience.
He stated that the trade and vocation modules had been designed to train the youth in artisan work, dressmaking, hairdressing, weaving and food processing to enable them to create their own jobs.
Mr Woyongo said under the youth in dressmaking project, the beneficiaries would be made to sew school uniforms for schoolchildren in the country.
He said the government perceived the private sector as the largest employer in the economy and was therefore very much determined to create an enabling environment for it to exploit its full potential towards the overall development of the country.
Mr Woyongo appealed to operators in the private sector who did not have collateral security to form groups to enable them to access credit facilities from the banks and other micro facilities such as Macro-Credit and Small Loans Centre (MASLOC).
The Executive Director of the Asongtaba Cottage Industry and Exchange Programme (ACI and EP), Dr George Agulijam, said the implementing stages of the trades and vocations module in dressmaking had four beneficiary packages, namely training, setting up capital, recovery and provision of micro-credits.
He said the programme in the Upper East Region was targeting to train 600 youth and set them up in dressmaking.
Dr Agulijam stressed that the programme had projected to train 5000 youth under the Trade and Vocation Modules in the country and to assist them to establish their own businesses.
Mr Henry Kangah of Craft Pro Limited Basket Weaving said the project was expecting to offer ready market for the straw products both locally and internationally, and urged the youth to embrace it.

ALAN ENDS TOUR OF UPPER EAST REGION (PAGE 13, JUNE 11, 2010)

A contender for the New Patriotic Party (NPP) flag-bearer slot, Mr John Alan K. Kyerematen, has completed his campaign tour of the Upper East Region.
The tour took him to all the 13 constituencies in the region where he outlined his plans and vision to polling station executives who form the electoral college for the August 7 polls to elect a presidential candidate for the NPP.
On the last day of his tour, Mr Kyerematen interacted with potential delegates in the Binduri, Nabdam, Talensi and Bolgatanga Central constituencies.
In Bolgatanga, almost all activities in the municipality came to a halt when the aspirant and the members of his campaign team came out from their vehicles and walked through the town, greeting and shaking hands with the ordinary man and woman on the street.
Elated onlookers and admirers of the former Minister for Trade, Industry and President’s Special Initiatives (PSIs) in the Kufuor administration, including women and children, lined up to shake hands with and wave back at Mr Kyerematen.
The walk about started from the Bolgatanga taxi rank through the central business district to the Catholic Social Centre where he addressed the polling station executives.
He asked the delegates to look out for someone who would unite the party because without unity, it would be difficult to confront the NDC.
He described himself as a unifier who had also sacrificed for the unity of the party and urged the delegates to vote for him.
He also called on the delegates to vote for a candidate who would attract the youth of Ghana, who form the majority of the voting population.
“All the five candidates in this race will come before you. When we come, look at us and hear what we have to say and then decide who this cap fits,” he said.
“Eighty per cent of world leaders are below 50 years and, therefore, it behoves you, the delegates, to select a young, dynamic, enterprising, energetic, affable and committed leader and that person is, no doubt, Mr Kyerematen” he said.

EMBARK ON MOBILISATION (PAGE 13, JUNE 11, 2010)

CONSTITUENCY and Polling station executives of the Peoples National Convention, (PNC), in the Upper East Region have been tasked to undertake a grassroot mobilisation drive of members to reposition the party and make it a viable third force of the Ghanaian political scene.
A policy analyst of the party, Mr Atik Mohammed made the call at Bolgatanga where the party held a day’s seminar for Regional and Constituency Executives.
Also in attendance were all PNC candidates in the region who contested the last general elections.
The strategic seminar was aimed at providing the party operatives with skills and knowledge relevant for grassroot mobilisation towards winning election in Ghana.
It was organised by the PNC with support from the Institute for Economic Affairs (IEA) and the Netherlands Institute for Multi-party Democracy, (NMID).
Speaking at the opening of the seminar, Mr Atik Mohammed said a post-mortem of the PNCs performance in the 2008 general election revealed failure to embark on massive grassroot mobilisation accounted for the poor performance of the PNC.
According to him, the party had decided to embark on a series of capacity building workshops to ensure that the party structures at all levels were revived. “This is in view of the important role grass root mobilisation plays in ensuring victory” Mr. Mohammed said.
He was optimistic that with effective grassroot mobilisation the Party would increase its parliamentary seats adding that “"Let's fight hard to surprise Ghanaians who have all along held the view that that the NPP and the NDC are the only two dominant parties in the country”
Speaking on the topic, “the Importance of grassroots mobilisation,” Mr. Mohammed said it ensures that the party’s visibility is enhanced and help in the expansion of its support base. “By effectively marshalling grassroots support, we can conquer some of the negative perceptions which have worked against us for some time now.” He said.
Mr Henry Fatchu, the Upper East Regional Secretary of the PNC, who spoke on "How to ensure effective grassroots mobilisation at the constituency level for victory in 2012”, reminded the participants that without resources, human and capital, logistics, effective communication and campaign strategy among others, no party could be seriously considered in terms of good results.
He said the party at the constituency level should have an effective executive, a strong campaign team, a research and monitoring team, fund-raising team and persons who could authoritatively communicate the party vision and mission to woo the voters, stressing that without these structures in place, the good plans of the party would only be in their manifestos.
The National Youth Organiser of PNC, Mr Emmanuel Wilson said the PNC with two seats in parliament out of the total of 260 seats may be the second largest opposition in the country but it needed to work hard to increase its representation in the legislative arm of government to contribute effectively to the governance of the country.
He said to revive and strengthen the party structures at all levels for victory in 2012, there must be a review of the party’s constitution to make it stronger. He also urged the leadership of the party to educate the members on the ideals of the PNC as well as the involvement of leadership in community based activity such as sports, clean-up exercises and other social events to propagate the ideals of the party as a way of wooing people to buy into the philosophy of the PNC to enable the party win the next general elections.
The Upper East Regional Chairman of the Party, Alhaji Baba Mohammed expressed the hope that the polling station and constituency executives would put their learned skills into practice after the seminar to enable the party to win more supporters in the region.

ZOOMLION INAUGURATES ZOOM KIDS (PAGE 11, JUNE 11, 2010)

Zoomlion Ghana Limited, a private waste management company, under its Zoom Kids Sanitation Clubs Initiative, has donated over 150 wheelbarrows, shovels, wellington boots, hand gloves and nose masks to some selected schools in the Bolgatanga Municipality.
The items were presented at the launch of the Zoom Kids Clubs in the Upper East Region to help the beneficiary schools to champion the cause of inculcating the habit of keeping a clean environment in the schools.
Zoom Kids Clubs is an initiative that seeks to engage children in primary and junior high schools and inculcate in them the habits of keeping a clean environment among their peers.
Members of these clubs are also to serve as ambassadors in the fight to protect the environment.
The schools which benefited from the donations included Awogeya Primary and JHS, St. Charles and St. John’s Primary and JHS, Methodist Primary and JHS and Adabasi Primary and JHS.
The rest are Fountain Gate Primary and JHS, Mt. Sinai Primary and JHS, Victory Primary and JHS, Doayin Primary and JHS and St., Anthony of Padua Primary and JHS, all in the Bolgatanga Municipality.
The activities of the sanitation clubs include educational talks on personnel hygiene, health and sanitation and sanitation diseases by resource persons, beautification exercise in schools, tree planting activities, excursion to some waste management organisations, as well as regular inter-school quiz competitions on sanitation at the end of every term.
In a speech read on his behalf by the National Environmental Sanitation Supervisor of the company, Mrs Beatrice Ampons, the Chief Executive Officer of Zoomlion Ghana Limited, Mr Joseph Siaw Agyapong, reminded the children of the need to protect the environment, stressing that a healthy environment would prevent the spread of diseases such as malaria.
“The company wants the children in our schools to imbibe and grow with the culture of good sanitation. We hope to bring the minds of the pupils to consciousness on sanitation,” he said.
He advised the kids to practise hand-washing with soap and water, stressing that when practised over a long period of time, it would save the children from becoming sick frequently.
Mr Agyapong thanked the Ghana Education Service for embracing the concept and stated that the programme would be extended to other schools in the region to help educate the children on sanitation for good health, growth and ultimately helping make Ghana clean.
The Regional Operations Supervisor of Zoomlion Ghana, Mr Laud Mike Tagoe, said the company recognised children as key players and, therefore, entreated them, as well as their teachers, to do their best so that their generation would be different in terms of cleanliness.
The Upper East Regional Minister, Mr Mark Woyongo, who inaugurated the clubs, said a lot of Ghanaians needed to change their behaviour and expressed the hope that through the clubs, children would be used to educate the public towards changing their negative attitudes towards the environment.
He commended the management of Zoomlion Ghana Limited for creating such an important avenue for the training of children on the need to make the environment clean and safe to live in.
Mr Woyongo expressed the hope that the club would not only inculcate good sanitary habits in the children but also make them peer educators in their various communities as they educate their friends and parents to desist from activities that polluted and destroyed the environment.

OPERATE WITHIN CONSTITUTION — MENSAH (PAGE 42, JUNE 9, 2010)

THE National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) has cautioned security personnel, especially the police to operate within the limits as prescribed by the Constitution.
The Upper East Regional Director of the commission, Mr Peter H. Mensah, gave the warning at a forum with security agencies at Bolgatanga.
He said the Constitution enjoined everybody to oppose all forms of abuses of the law.
The forum formed part of the 10th Constitution week celebration.
Presenting a paper on the topic: “The role of security agencies in protecting the Constitution,” Mr Mensah stated that personnel of the security agencies were expected to live above reproach in whatever capacity they found themselves.
“As law enforcement agencies, they might be tempted to feel different from the ordinary citizens in the course of enforcing the law; they might see themselves as above the law and exhibit behaviours that tend to set bad precedence for the citizens. On the contrary, law enforcement personnel are expected to be very disciplined and show great respect for the laws of the land at all times whether in uniform or not,” Mr Mensah said.
The Bolgatanga Municipal Director of the NCCE, Mr Avolum Wini Sambila, underscored the need for security personnel to lead in defending the Constitution.

UE PNC REVIEWS ITS PERFORMANCE IN 2008 GENERAL ELECTION (PAGE 14, JUNE 8, 2010)

The Peoples National Convention (PNC) in the Upper East Region has identified the lack of resources, the inability of the party to launch its national campaign, as well as the lack of coordination in the national campaign team of the party as some of the factors that affected the performance of the PNC throughout the country in the last general election.
These observations were made at a Regional Executive Committee meeting held in Bolgatanga to review the party’s performance in the 2008 general election brainstorm the challenges of the party in the region and to strategise for the 2012 presidential and parliamentary elections.
According to the Regional Secretary of the PNC, Mr Henry Fatchu, all the 13 constituency chairmen, their secretaries and the 2008 parliamentary candidates were in attendance at the regional party offices for the crucial meeting held last Saturday.
Mr Fatchu said after their deliberations, it was proposed that the research team of the party should be strengthened to come out with modern methods of campaigning for 2012.
He said the regional executives endorsed the decision of the National Executive Committee for early congress scheduled for November 30, 2010, at Sunyani as a step towards the re-organisation of the party.
Touching on the pending national exercise to clean the voters register, Mr Fatchu said the meeting urged Ghanaians who were unable to register in the last voters registration exercise and those who had attained the age of 18 to take advantage of the up-coming exercise to register as that was the only way they could exercise their franchise in 2012.
On the economy, Mr Fatchu said the party in the region appreciates government effort to achieve a single-digit inflation as it was necessary to achieve a stable macro-economic growth which could affect the real value of money.
The PNC, however, reminded government that the trade-off between inflation and unemployment as a result of reduced inflation will lead to high unemployment in the economy and its attendant social repercussions.

MP FOR CHIANA-PAGA INITIATES PROJECTS (PAGE 14, JUNE 5, 2010)

The Member of Parliament for the Chiana-Paga Constituency in the Upper East Region, Mr Leo Kaba, has initiated a number of development projects targeted at bringing relief to his constituents.
Addressing the first ordinary meeting of the third session of the Kassena-Nankana West District Assembly at Paga, Mr Kaba said with support from his share of the Districts Assemblies Common Fund, the GET Fund, the National Health Insurance Scheme and the HIPC Funds, he has started the construction of libraries, OPD sheds and the provision of market structures and high tension electric poles as his contribution towards the development of the area.
Mr Kaba, who is serving his first term in Parliament, said his keen interest was in the area of education and through consultation with the District Education Directorate, he had identified that students do not read in schools in the district and to address that concern, he was funding the construction of three libraries in each of the three zones of the district by the end of his first four years in parliament.
He disclosed that the library facility for Paga, being constructed at a cost of GH¢ 30,000, was almost completed, while work on that of the East and West zones would soon commence.
He said he had also handed over 300 dual desks, as well as a photocopier to the education directorate to enhance work at the office.
Mr Kaba said following discussions with the District Director of Health Services, he had decided to provide sheds for some health centres to increase the seating capacity at the OPDs at a cost of GH¢20,000. Funds for these project, he said, were coming from the NHIS.
He also outlined plans to support the construction of market sheds in four communities namely: Kajelo, Kayoro, Sirigu and Paga with funds from his share of the HIPC funds, as well as work towards the extension of electricity through the supply of high tension poles for some communities in the district.
He appealed to the Assembly Members to work in unity to promote the accelerated development of the area.

RAWLINGS: NDC RISKS GOING INTO OPPOSITION UNLESS... (PAGE 14, JUNE 3, 2010)

FORMER President J.J. Rawlings has warned that the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC), of which he is the founder, risks going back into opposition in 2012 if, in his estimation, things were not done right.
In a sober and reflective address to a gathering at Chiana in the Upper East Region after he had attended the thanksgiving service for the late Chiana Pio, Pe Rowland Adiali Ayagitam II, Flt. Lt. Rawlings warned that his fears would come to pass if steps were not taken by those at the helm of affairs to restore hope to Ghanaians.
“I am not unaware of the economic pains Ghanaians are going through. I do remember the great promises that we all had for this country during the campaign. But, today, I do not know how many of us still hold the same hope,” he lamented, and called on religious leaders, as well as Ghanaians, to pray to the Good Lord to help political leaders.
The late Chiana Pio was the Speaker of the Consultative Assembly that drafted the 1992 Constitution and the former President described the late chief as one who led his people and served the nation, much to the admiration of a number of people, and presided over one of the finest constitutions of the country.
“Ghana is eternally grateful to him,” he eulogised.
Touching on the lack of justice, the former President drew a connection between the events of June 4 and what he termed the current painful economic situation.
“Freedom without justice is like a kite in the air without a rope to hold it; it will not fly,” he said, adding, “What June 4, 1979 did to this country was like what Jesus Christ did when He saw those gamblers, robbers and thieves misbehaving in His Father’s temple.”
He seized the opportunity to advise the kingmakers to go about the succession plan for the next Chiana Pio in a very mature manner and called for the selection of a man of respect who had compassion as the late chief.
“We should not allow this process to divide us. Let us do it in a sober manner so that when the choice is made it will bring us all together,” he said.
“Let it be the choice that our heart desires, it should be a choice of a man who reflect the heart of the people of Chiana. Choose a man of peace. There are some people who will use money and political influence to sow seed of division among you,” former President Rawlings said.
The Upper East Regional Minister, Mr Mark Woyongo, also praised the late chief for his development efforts and love for peace and emphasised the need for an atmosphere of peace in the selection of the next paramount chief.
The Regent, Mr Innocent Kwaratugu Ayagitam, commended the former president for the recognition he gave the late chief.
The thanksgiving service was officiated by Rev. Fr. Augustine Abase and supported by Rev. Fr. Kapochina, both of the Navrongo-Bolgatanga Diocese of the Catholic Church.

GCB RESUMES OPERATIONS IN BAWKU (PAGE 55, JUNE 2, 2010)

ONE and a half months of suspending its operations in the Bawku Municipality, the management of Ghana Commercial Bank has resumed operations of the bank in the area.
Banking services were suspended as a result of the unstable situation caused by the conflict in the Bawku Municipality in April this year.
The three major banks serving the area,— the Ghana Commercial Bank (GCB), the Agricultural Development Bank (ADB) and the Barclays Bank — shut their doors to clients and relocated to other parts of the Upper East Region.
However, not long after their closure, ADB resumed operations but the other two remained closed forcing customers in need of banking services to travel all the way to Bolgatanga to access them.
Last Monday, staff of GCB who have been operating in Bolgatanga returned to their Bawku offices, the first in nearly 45 days to serve their customers, some of whom come from neighboring Garu-Tempane, Pusiga and Zebilla.
The closure of the bank significantly reduced productivity as civil servants, pensioners and other clients had to abandon their work places and travel far distances to assess their banks.
A cross-section of the public, particularly customers of the GCB in Bawku welcome the resumption of banking services in the municipality.
A source at the bank who pleaded anonymity told the Daily Graphic that for every day that the bank remained closed, the bank was losing the opportunity to make revenue, while residents of Bawku were not getting the needed banking services.
The source therefore expressed the hope that the relatively calm situation would be maintained if not enhanced to ensure that permanent peace returns to the area to enable the continuous operation of the bank .
Last Friday, the Office of National Security relaxed the temporary ban imposed on the riding of motorbikes in the Bawku municipality and its environs.
The ban which had been relaxed to allow only females to ride motorbikes, was also hailed by some of the citizens of the area, mostly business owners who believed that it would revive their commercial ventures particularly the sale of motorcycles among others.

GHANASCO, NAVASCO CLOSED DOWN...After student violence (BACK PAGE, JUNE 1, 2010)

TWO schools — the Ghana Senior High School (GHANASCO) in Tamale and the Navrongo Senior High School (NAVASCO) in the Upper East Region — have been closed down following students’ violence there. In Tamale, the action of the authorities followed a rampage by the students on Monday for the alleged seizure of their mobile phones, while a seven-member committee has been set up to investigate the cause of the rioting at NAVASCO.After the GHANASCO students had embarked on a massive demonstration and destroyed bungalows and other school properties, the decision to close the school down was arrived at after a meeting of the security committees of the Northern Region, the Tamale Metropolitan Assembly, the Ghana Education Service and the school authorities. The rioters also smashed the windscreens and dented the police light-armoured vehicle, as well as the windscreens of the vehicle used by the Tamale Metropolitan Director of Education and a taxicab belonging to the husband of a female tutor.Other property destroyed included two motorbikes, one of which was completely burnt. The students also carried away some fowls belonging to some tutors and vandalised the bungalows of some of the tutors, destroying personal belongings in the process, including television sets and sound systems.The students were also alleged to have broken into the office of the senior housemaster and taken away the mobile phones which had been seized from the students.A police reinforcement had to fire balls of canister to disperse the stone-throwing rioters, resulting in some of the students sustaining injuries.Even though calm has returned to the school compound, as of the time of filing this report there was still heavy police presence to avert further disturbances.So far, 16 students have been arrested in connection with the violence and they are in custody, assisting the police in their investigations.The Headmistress of the school, Madam Mary Asobayire, who returned to Tamale from Accra on Sunday night after the successful launch of the 50th anniversary of GHANASCO, could not immediately be reached for her comment.Briefing a fact-finding delegation, led by the Upper East Regional Minister, Mr Mark Woyongo, and his deputy, Mrs Lucy Awuni, that toured NAVASCO after the riots, the Assistant Headmaster in charge of Administration, Mr Sixtus Adikwo, said the aggression started at about 10 p.m. on Sunday when he heard students chanting in the direction of the headmaster’s bungalow.According to him, when he came out and rushed to the school administration block, he found the rioters heading towards the administration block and he tried to stop them. Mr Adikwo said when he inquired, the students informed him that they were after the life of one teacher who had denied them the opportunity of taking their lunch and supper that day.He said the rioting students resorted to the throwing of stones and, in the process, broke a number of louvre blades at the administration block. Some also broke into the office of the senior housemistress, vandalised the office and took away about 40 mobile phones which had been seized from the students by the school authorities. Others bolted with some accounting books meant for sale.Mr Adikwo also indicated that the rampaging students broke some street light bulbs and even attempted to plunge the entire school into darkness by disconnecting power supply to the school.He indicated that attempts by the prefects to calm the situation backfired, as the rioting students chased their leaders away and pelted them with stones, adding that the prefects were labelled as traitors.He said the authorities had no option but to call in the police, after consulting the DCE for the area, who had driven in first to the headmaster’s bungalow, in the course of which one policeman was hit by a stone, injuring him.Mr Adikwo said following a meeting held separately with the prefects, the staff and the SRC, it was concluded that conditions on the school compound were not safe, hence the proposal for the temporary closure of the school.According to the District Co-ordinating Director, Mr Edward Abazing, preliminary investigations revealed that there were a number of remote causes to the incident. One of them, according to him, was the decision by the school authorities to seize students’ mobile phones. He said the students also rejected the payment of postal charges of GH¢1 to enable the school authorities to post terminal reports to their parents.

VOLLEYBALL: GHANA CROWNED ECOWAS CHAMPS (PAGE 31, JUNE 1, 2010)

The national youth male volleyball team, true to prediction, emerged champions in the four-nation ECOWAS Youth Championship held in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, over the weekend.
The team, virtually made up of players from the Ghana Immigration Service, beat Mali three sets to one in the final match after they trounced Togo by the same scoreline in their first match.
The leader of the contingent, Mr Paul Atchoe, made this known to the Daily Graphic on arrival from Burkina Faso last Sunday.
Mr Atchoe, who is also the Chairman of the Greater Accra Volleyball Association, attributed the success of the team to the final warm-up games the team played in Bolgatanga which exposed the cracks in the team.
Those cracks, he said, were quickly rectified to put the boys in shape for a gold medal-winning performance at the championships.
This is Ghana’s first appearance at the annual ECOWAS Youth Championship, which has been in existence since ECOWAS was established 35 years ago.
Ghana was invited based on its performance in the recent Zone 3 club championship held in Benin where the Police team placed first and the Immigration team placed second in the women and men’s divisions respectively.
Mr. Atchoe expressed the team’s appreciation to Mr Worlanyo K. Agrah, Chief Executive Officer of the National Sports Council (NSC), for making it possible for the team to participate in the championship.
He also thanked the Upper East Regional Police Commander, Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Bright Oduro, himself a veteran volleyball player, for hosting the players prior to their departure to Burkina Faso.
He was appreciative of the show of support by the volleyball fraternity in the Upper East Region prior to their departure to Burkina Faso which culminated in victory for the team.