Nominations for Council of State ends

The filling of nominations for the election of regional representatives to the Council of State closed Tuesday. The Electoral Commission (EC) has fixed February 6, 2013 for the election. Nominations were opened from 8 a.m. to 12 noon and 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. on January 21 and 22. The metropolitan, municipal and district assemblies in the 10 regions are expected to nominate two representatives each to constitute the Electoral College to elect one person to represent each region. Three prominent opinion leaders in the Upper East Region filed their nominations to contest and represent the region on the Council of State, reports Benjamin Xornam Glover from Bolgatanga. They are the Very Reverend Dr Jacob Ayeebo, Bishop of the Anglican Diocese of Tamale; Mr Clement Abavana and Naba Sigri Bewong, the Paramount Chief of the Sekoti Traditional Area and President of the Upper East Regional House of Chiefs. In an interview, the Deputy Upper East Regional Director of the EC, Mr Azu Bosco Anyigire, said five persons had picked nominations forms but as of 4 p.m. Tuesdayday, only three had completed the forms and submitted them to the offices of the EC.

PWDS calls for speedy passage of LI to operationalize PWD Act passed in 2006

Story: Benjamin Xornam Glover, Bolgatanga. Mr Awal Ahmed, a human rights and social Justice activist with Rural Initiatives for Self Empowerment Ghana, (RISE GHANA), a Bolgatanga based NGO has urged the President to use his first 100 days to ensure the passage of a Legislative Instrument to fully operationalize the Persons With Disability, PWD Act passed in 2006. This, he explained will bring an end to the gross violation of the provisions from the construction to health sectors with impunity. He has also called for the amendment of the disbursement procedure to make PWDs signatories to the three percent District Assembly Common Fund, DACF account. Mr Ahmed, who is also the Project Manager of RISE Ghana made the call in Bolgatanga where he also admonished the government under the leadership of president Mahama to commit itself and allocate adequate resources to the various special schools and rehabilitation centers (some of which have been closed down) located across the country. "PWDs have been coping with various forms of abuse and discrimination since the passage of PWD Act in 2006," he said and called for action to address issues bordering on issues that create an enabling environment for PWDSs. “I wish to use this occasion to speak up and demand increase promotion and advancement of disability rights from his Excellency, who have a mandate to promote, protect and fulfill our rights as contained in the 1992 Constitution and various Human Rights Instruments Ghana has ratified."He said. While congratulating the President, Mr John Dramani Mahama on his election to the high office of the country and his numerous support to PWDs such as the directive to increase the DACF allocation from 2 per cent to 3 per cent, he urged the president and his government and to commit resources to ensure a sustainable peace and development in the upper East Region focusing on youth-led initiatives. In a related development, the Polytechnic Teachers’ Association of Ghana (POTAG) has also extended a message of congratulations to the President, Mr John Dramani Mahama on his election and subsequent inauguration. In an interview with Mr Oswald Atiga, General Secretary of POTAG,he said the group while congratulating the President, would also like to take this opportunity to remind him of the strategic and forward thinking policy statement he made about turning Polytechnics into Technical Universities. He said "the association eagerly awaits and hopes this policy will be realized within the four years of your administration. We are ready and open for any kind of dialogue that will facilitate the quick implementation of this policy". -End- Writer’s email: benjamin.glover@graphic.com.gh

Who becomes the next Upper East Regional Minister?

Persons within the top echelons of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) in the Upper East Region have started lobbying to replace the outgoing regional minister who is now a Member of Parliament for Navrongo Central, Mr Mark Owen Woyongo. Mr Woyongo has indicated the end of his tenure as regional minister. In his new year message to the people of the region, he expressed the hope that the chiefs and people, civil society, non-governmental organisations, the business community in the region, the security agencies and civil and public servants as well as all other persons and groups will continue to cooperate with and give their unflinching support to whoever will succeed him as the Upper East Regional Minister, after almost four years in office and on account of his elections as MP. Consequently, there have been intense jostling and lobbying among party members for the job. Informed sources told the Daily Graphic that some powerful lobbyists are scheming for their cronies to have the job as President John Dramani Mahama has kept his plans close to his chest. Given the diverse ethnic composition of the region, a number of considerations come to play before appointments such as this is made. Aside, loyalty, competence and ability to deliver, sources within the party told this reporter that the choice of individual who gets appointment into cabinet at the national level has bearing on who gets or does not get appointed as regional minister. Party sources said in the case of the NDC, in appointment such as these, the region is demarcated into three, namely; East, Central and West. The east caters for districts such as Bawku West, Bawku Municipal, Garu-Tempane, Pusiga and Binduri. The Central zone covers the Bolgatanga, Tongo, Bongo, Nangodi area while the West spans the Kassena-Nankana East and West and Biulsa area. The source further said “it will interest you to know that since 1992, we in the NDC have had two persons coming from the East zone occupying the position. The same can be said of the West zone. The Central zone, he said, have produced one person so far, so naturally, the situation presently favours a candidate from the central zone to occupy the seat as regional minister. The source mentioned the late Sherif A. Guma (1993 – 1994) as well as Mr Cletus Avoka (1995 – 1997) as persons from the east zone who held the position as regional minister under the previous NDC administration. For the West zone, he mentioned Mr Godfrey Abulu (1994 – 1995), the immediate past Regional Minister, Mr Mark Woyongo. The only persons from the central zone to have served as Regional Minister, was Mr Donald Adabire Adabere (1997 – 1998). According to the source, the mantle from the look of things now falls on a candidate from the central zone to occupy the seat just to balance the equation. With the appointment of Mr Mahama Ayariga as minister for information designate, it rules out an appointment of a person from the east zone to the position of regional minister. Mr Woyongo also completed his tenure as regional minister so it is unlikely that a candidate will emerge from the west as regional minister. There is therefore the likely possibility that the mandate will fall on someone from the central zone. Information stumbled on by the Daily Graphic have it that the following persons have been penciled down out of which one will be considered for the position of regional minister. They are: Mr. Atanga Donatus Akamugri, the current regional secretary of the NDC, Mrs Lucy Awuni, current acting Deputy Regional Minister, and Mr John Akologu Tia, immediate past Member of parliament for Talensi constituency. The rest are Dr Atinga Mba, Rector of Bolgatanga Polytechnic, Dr Avea Ephraim Nsoh, Lecturer, University of Winniba, Mr Daniel Syme, a former District Chief Executive for Builsa, Mr Robert Baba Kuganab-Lem, Mr John Alale Abugri and Mr Francis Kambila Awindago. For the position of Deputy Regional Minister, the proposed names as stumbled on by the Daily Graphic out of which one person is to be selected are: Mrs Lucy Awuni, Mr Edward Akolgo Adimazoya, Mr Thomas Dalu Addah, and Mr Simon Nabia. The rest are Mr Clement Akasoba Anabire, Mr Adongo Solomon Aduko, Sampson T. Cherigea, Seidu Mahamdu and Mr Ali Mumuni In a related development, a youth group from Bongo has also issued a press statement appealing to the President to consider appointing a person from the Bongo district to the position of the regional minister. The statement signed by Messrs Emmanuel Ayire, Mathias Aboba and Mohammed Issaka, Chairman, Secretary, and Organising Secretary respectively of the Bongo District Youth Consensus for Development (BDYCD), said they were making the demand, taking into account the fact that “the district like all others in the region has competent people who can perform creditably well when given that office and also considering that the ruling governing party has enjoyed the full support of the people of the district since 1992. Despite this unflinching support, the party has never appointed a person from the district to that high office in the region”. “We the youth make this request in the spirit of fairness, equity and balance in the distribution of political appointment for the unity and development of the area and political support for the party. We the youth of Bongo wish to assure His Excellency the President and everybody in the NDC party that we are not by this request seeking to play down the critical factor of competence and other important factors that constitute the criteria for appointments of such nature but, we are seeking for fairness. Again we are not also seeking to sow seed of division. We are seeking to draw attention to a worrying gap we believe deserves to be closed. We urge the good people of the Upper East Region to see wisdom in our request and support our call for the right thing to be done” The ball is now in the court of the appointing authority as to who becomes the next regional minister for the Upper East Region. By Benjamin Xornam Glover

CCFC presents drugs to UE Health Directorate

Story: Benjamin Xornam Glover, Bolgatanga The Upper East Regional Health Directorate has received a quantity of assorted medicines to enable it offer healthcare services to the large number of especially people children and pregnant mothers. The medicines were provided by the Christian Children’s Fund of Canada (CCFC) and included one million tablets of Abendazole, (400mg), 480,000 tablets of Ferrous Sulphate, 750,000 tablets of Vitamins A, and two million tablets of multivitamins. According to UNICEF, every year, estimated 11 million children under the age of five in developing countries die from illness such as diarrhoeal, dehydration, Acute Respiratory Infections (ARI), measles and malaria. “This is not any parent or government’s dream for children,” said Mrs Gifty Akosua Baka, Country Director of CCFC when she led a team to present the medicines to officials of the regional health directorate at a brief ceremony at Bolgatanga. “CCFC is very much concerned about child protection and believes that a healthy child is the basic per-requisite not only for healthy growth but also for the peace of mind to pursue interests in education and other endeavours.” she added Mrs Baka explained that the presentation of vitamins, dewormers and other health promotion medicines to the Ghana Health Service in the region for the first time expands her organisation’s outreach to many more children beyond the Northern Region where they have operated for the past 16 years. She noted that one of the major challenges in their organisation’s intervention to children and communities in the northern region was poor water and sanitation conditions, lack of access to safe drinking water for rural communities remain major cause of disease infection especially diarrhoea and other water borne diseases and worm infestation among children. This challenge, she said, coupled with malnutrition, increase conditions of anaemia in children and pregnant women which worsen or result in death where access to health care facility is difficult. She expressed the hope that the medicines will go a long way to help the children in the region grow healthy and live to achieve their dreams. Receiving the items on behalf of the Regional Health Directorate management, Mr Lucio Dery, Deputy Director in charge of Administration thanked the CCFC for the support and said they would ensure the judicious use the items, especially in the area of antenatal care for both babies and care of pregnant mothers. “Malnutrition is a major challenge in this region and we are happy to have this support from CCFC”, he added. -End- Writer’s email: Benjamin.glover@graphic.com.gh

Bawku - MUSEC pledges GH¢3,000. for information on weapons

Story: Benjamin Xornam Glover, Bolgatanga The Bawku Municipal Security Council, (MUSEC) in the Upper East Region have warned they will take a tougher actions against persons found to be disturbing the relative peace prevailing in the area. The warming comes at the heels of recent a spate of pockets of violence that has rocked the Bawku municipality. One person was shot dead on Monday night while another three sustained injuries after parts of the municipality came under sporadic gunshots. Speaking to the Daily Graphic after members of the MUSEC held an emergency meeting in the wake of the recent clashes, the Municipal Chief Executive, Mr. Musah Abdulai condemned the emerging violence in the municipality but was quick to add that the trend has no links with ethnicity. “The problems in Bawku as we have recorded in recent times are purely criminal and not related to the ethnicity,” he insisted. He added that ‘what we need to do sensitise our people to know that the recent spate of violence is an action of criminals who what to take advantage of the prevailing peace of the area to create confusion”. Mr. Abdulai said analysing the trend in the area, it appears some people are unhappy at the prevailing peace to the extent that they will want to destabilize the relative peace in the area and therefore appealed to the public to cooperate with the security agencies to weed such people out of the system. He said when there is conflicts in Bawku, there are a group of people who go round soliciting funds for the purchase arms and ammunition, to the extent that when there is peace, such people are out of business and will also what to create confusion in town. Again, he said conflict leads to imposition of curfew during which period people go about looting so for such people, peace seems unattractive. “We need to bring all the people in Bawku together and work hand in hand to weed out such miscreants from our midst,” the MCE said. On some short term measures taken, Mr. Abdulai said the assembly has decided as a matter of urgency to install street lights on some stretches of road in the municipality to increase illumination at night to curtail such violent attacks. He said the MUSEC meeting also realised that some communities have no access roads and that a decision has been taken for the construction of those vital roads linking communities in municipality to facilitate easy patrols by the security agencies. Mr Abdulai said the assembly has instituted a programme to reward any individual who furnishes the security agencies with information leading to the arrest or conviction of persons in possession of weapons adding that an amount of GH c 3,000 will be given to such individual who provides information. -End- Writer’s email: Benjamin.glover@graphic.com.gh

Two arrested in Bawku over shooting incident( D/G, Tuesday, January 15, 2013, Page 3)

Story: Benjamin Xornam Glover, Bawku Some residents of Bawku in the Upper East Region are worried about recent incidents of intermittent shooting incidents, sometimes overnight and appealed to the security agencies to live up to their responsibilities and arrest persons behind the act. Some residents of Bawku who spoke to the Daily Graphic said the intermittent shooting incidents occasional experienced in parts of the municipality poses a threat to the fragile security of the area. “I think it will possibly add to the stigma and poor reputation that has come to be associated with Bawku in the past” asserted one resident. The appeal follows a shooting incident around Kariama in Bawku in which one person was injured. The incident is reported to have occurred at 8:30 pm on Sunday, January 13, 2013. The victim at at press time was recuperating at the Bawku Presbyterian Hospital. It was unclear what might have triggered the incident as police said investigations were ongoing. Bawku has in the recent past witnessed clashes that has brought socio-economic life to a virtual standstill. Following several interventions put in place by central government and other stakeholders, the municipality is gradually recovering from these years of protracted ethnic violence. Some residents who spoke to the Daily Graphic after the latest shooting incident said such incidents, though very minute and remote if not subdued as early as possible, could result in something undesirable. “We have had enough, this is time for peace. Our greatest fear is that if activities of the few miscreants are not check. Bawku will go back to its old state, which we are all against,” said Rashid Musah, a resident of the area. Sumaila Alhassan, another resident said having witnessed successful violent free elections, it was the hope of the people that Bawku had put the past behind it and ready to embrace a more peaceful environment and therefore called on all who are bent on ruining the peace efforts to put a stop to it. Meanwhile the police in Bawku are also calling on the people to volunteer information on activities of criminals among their midst to help the security agencies apprehend the bad nuts in the society. -End- wrier's email:benjamin.glover@graphic.com.gh

Doctor 'angry ' with police(The Mirror, Saturday, January 12, 2013. Page 24)

Story: Benjamin Xornam Glover, Bolgatanga The Upper East Regional Director of Health Services, Dr. Koku Awoonor-Williams, has called for justice to prevail to all manner of persons irrespective of their status. Dr. Awoonor-Williams’ was angry that in spite of abundant evidence of defilement of an eight year old girl, the Police are yet to put the case before court to seek justice several months after the matter was reported to them. The Regional Director, just as authorities of the St John Bosco’s Primary School in Navrongo in the Upper East region, said he is shocked and dismayed regarding the decision of the Domestic Violence and Victim Support Unit (DOVVSU) of the Ghana Police Service to release a young man who is reported as having kept an 8 years old class 3 pupil of the school in sexual bondage for four years. In September 2012, the class teacher of the little girl, (name withheld) having observed over a period of time noted that the pupil was always complaining of abdominal pains tried to find out the possible cause of the problem but the girl resisted her attempts. But the teacher suspecting strongly that something serious was wrong with the girl reported the incident to the head teacher and together with some teachers managed to persuade the girl into telling them her ordeal. According to the teachers, the girl narrated vividly how a young man who lives in her neighborhood in Janania, a farming community near Navrongo took advantage of the absence of her grandparents to forcefully have sex with her and threatened to kill her if she revealed it to anyone. From the girl’s narration, the first episode took place some four years ago when she was four years old in kindergarten and since then the young man has continued to sexually abuse her up to date. The alleged culprit according to the girl forcefully had sex with her several occasions, sometimes forcing her to do unimaginable things by an eight year old. He also repeated his threat anytime he had sex with her. The girl narrated that her grandfather once suspected the action of the young man and reported him to his father and for some time he ceased but before long he resumed and has continued since. Further interviews with the girl by the teachers revealed that her parents are divorced and her father took her to live with her grandfather while he migrated to southern Ghana in search of work. Upon hearing the agony of the girl, the school authorities sent for the grandfather of the pupil and when the old man was questioned whether he was aware his granddaughter was being abused sexually by a young man in the neighborhood he responded in the affirmative but added that he reported the action of the young man to his father whom he described as a son and he promised to make sure he gets his son to put a stop to the act. He was however not aware if the gentle man had stopped or not. Given that the old man confirmed the little girl’s story, the school authorities decided to report the matter to the Kassena-Nankana East District Police. The girl was subsequently issued with a medical form to go for medical examination following which the young man in question, Master Blaise Ada-enge Akannamse; a 17 years old JHS graduate was arrested. The case was quickly transferred to the Domestic Violence and Victim Support Unit of the Ghana Police Service in Bolgatanga. Information however, has it that the culprit was released the same day and has since being left to roam as a free man in the community. In an interview with some staff of the school, the teachers expressed shock at the twist of events and said the speedy disposal of the case and the release of the suspect leaves them at a lost. , As one of them put it “We have no idea what happened and the case has been dismissed, no one has come to tell us anything not even something we should all do to help the little girl. We are afraid." "Before making the report to the Police, we thought the perpetrator when found will be made to face the full rigors of the law and something deterrent done to save the innocent girl and other potential victims, surprisingly however, the case has taken a different turn. Now if the gentleman has been freed for whatever reason, how can we guarantee the safety and security of this little girl and other girls in the community? Perhaps something is wrong somewhere”, the teacher lamented. The officer in charge of Girls Education at the Ghana Education Service, Kassena-Nankana East District Directorate, Madam Mary Rose Abachele, who was apparently not aware of the dismissal of the case also expressed shock and surprise and fear about the outcome of the case and said her office was not informed of the action of the police. When the DOVVSU office was contacted the Officer in charge, ASP Kojo Apiah-Kubi, confirmed the case and said they had to discontinue the case for lack of evidence. He said the alleged case took place more than six months ago and was not immediately reported and when they issued a medical report, the Doctor could not established that there was rape. The decision of the Police however has not gone down well with health and humans rights experts. The Upper East Regional Director of Health speaking on the matter in an interview expressed anger, shock and dismay at the action of the Police and called for justice for rape and defiled victims. He lamented “This is a sad and shocking story. If the Police cannot protect innocent victims and ensure justice prevails and people are safe, then we are heading for “Animal Farm”. Dr. Awoonor-Williams called on the police administration to do the right thing and restore hope to vulnerable people who seek justice. He indicated his intentions to follow every development relating to the case just to be sure that it is not swept under the carpet promising to back the course of justice for the little girl whatever it may take. -end-