NEW DIRECTION FOR TECHNICAL EDUCATION (PAGE 11)

THE Minister of Education, Science and Sports, Professor Dominic Fobih, has said that Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET) is to be repositioned to enable it to play its proper role in national development.
He said the repositioning of TVET would assist polytechnics to blaze a new trail in tertiary education where there would be a healthy blend of practical competency acquisition and theory.
Professor Fobih said this in a speech read on his behalf by Mr Paul Effah, Executive Secretary of the National Council for Tertiary Education (NCTE), at the maiden congregation of the Bolgatanga Polytechnic.
A total of 199 graduates made up of 136 males and 63 females who completed their academic programmes of study during the 2005/2006 and 2006/2007 academic years were given Higher National Diploma certificates.
Prof. Fobih said the government would continue to improve physical and academic infrastructure and develop the human capital through the many interventions instituted.
He also said the government through the NCTE had started a research in order to harmonise the needs of the world of work and the polytechnic curriculum.
“The results of this research together with a tracer study being carried out by the National Board for Professional and Technicians Examination (NABPTEX) and NCTE would help polytechnics to design their training to suit the needs of industry,” he said.
Prof. Fobih emphasised that the perception that polytechnics were not receiving the necessary attention from the government was false.
He stressed that the government’s budget for polytechnics had risen from approximately GH¢ 3,100,000 in 2001 to GH¢ 54,096, 618.
The minister advised the graduands to be focused as they entered the job market, since they were likely to face a lot of challenges.
The Upper East Regional Minister, Mr Alhassan Samari, urged the polytechnic authorities to restructure their curriculum to address the current and future needs of the country, stressing that with the recent oil find in Ghana, there was going to be a demand for a new crop of skilled personnel which the nation currently lacked.
The Rector of the Bolgatanga Polytechnic, Professor Paul B. Tanzubil, said academic life had seen tremendous improvement over the years, adding that the polytechnic now ran five programmes instead of two.
He announced that four new programmes, namely Ecological Agriculture, Industrial Art, Civil Engineering, and Hotel Catering and Institutional Management would soon be rolled out.
The Chairman of the Polytechnic Interim Governing Council, Professor A. A. Alemna, observed that despite the laudable roles envisaged by Polytechnics they were yet to assume their role in national development.

IMPLEMENTING PARTNERS OF UNPF ATTEND MEETING (D/G Wednesday July 23, 2008 PAGE 20)

THE Upper East Regional Secretariat of the National Population Council has organised a day's co-ordination meeting for implementing partners of United Nations Population Fund-sponsored programmes in the region. The objectives of the meeting were to facilitate the co-ordination of activities of the implementing partners and receive reports from them on the status of their programmes. The participants at the meeting included representatives from the Ghana Statistical Service, National Youth Council, the International Federation of Women Lawyers (FIDA), the Ghana Health Service and the Domestic Violence and Victims Support Unit of the Ghana Police Service. In an address, the Upper East Regional Population Officer, Mr Alosiba Azam, said the National Population Council (NPC) was established by Act 485, 1994 to advise the government on all population matters. According to him, the NPC therefore had the responsibility for co-ordinating all population programmes to ensure synergy. In his report, the Upper East Regional Officer of the Domestic Violence and Victims Support Unit (DVVSU), Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP), Jerome Kanyog, said the regional offices of the unit were in distress, stressing that anytime it rained personnel of the unit were forced to suspend work. According to him, the concrete roofs of the unit's office located within the premises of the Regional Police Command leaked anytime it rained and that demanded major renovation. He added that the situation had been brought to the attention of the Regional Police Command for redress. DSP Kanyog said the DVVSU had investigated several cases, prosecuted offenders and also collaborated with other public institutions and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to conduct outreach programmes. For his part, Mr Thomas Azure of the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) said even though the UNFPA did not deal directly with the regional offices in the region, it worked closely with the GSS at the head office level in the implementation of some of its activities. Mr Azure cited, for instance, technical assistance the UNFPA had provided the GSS in the preparation of the 2010 population and housing census project document and pilot census mapping undertaken in 2007. Mr G. Bozia of the Ghana Health Service said with support from UNFPA there had been a series of training programmes for midwifes on safe motherhood skills while the same organisation had assisted in health education across the region. Mr David Atinga of FIDA stated that in collaboration with the UNFPA, his organisation had trained a number of para-legals who had been equipped with the understanding of basic laws on the rights of citizens. Mr Duad Abang-Gos of the National Youth Council (NYC) said the NYC, with support from the UNFPA, was co-ordinating to implement an adolescent reproductive health programme for young persons, especially those out of school. At the end of the interactions, the stakeholders pledged to work together to achieve the set targets

RED CROSS TO THE AID OF VICTIMS (D/G Tuesday July 22, 2008 PAGE 20)

"NEVER in my wildest imagination did I think that I will ever get a new abode to lay my head. After such an extensive damage to my structures during last year's floods, little did I know that someone will come to my aid. I am most grateful to the Ghana Red Cross Society and the International Organisation for Migration for this wonderful gesture." With these words, Madam Aweriga Akisiya, a woman aged over 80 thanked her benefactors for providing her with shelter. Madam Akisiya, a mother of six and 10 grandchildren, like many others in the Builsa District in particular and the Upper East Region in general, experienced the twinge of last years floods, which led to the collapse of many houses and loss of several lives. She is now a proud owner of a two-unit house constructed by the Ghana Red Cross Society (GRCS) with support from the International Organisation for Migration (IOM). Towards the end of 2007, the three northern regions suffered from serious floods never experienced in the history of the country in recent times. Many people died and property worth several thousands of cedis, including houses and foodstuffs, were lost. As expected, the floods brought serious humanitarian concerns to the population. Large tracts of farmlands were destroyed while many people were displaced. The GRCS, in line with its mandate of assisting disaster victims, moved into the affected regions to collect data on the affected people. The aim of the data collection was to map out danger zones for proper assessment of the number of victims. In addition to the provision of initial support in terms of food items to the displaced persons, the GRCS held discussions with some of its partners out of which IOM, a UN agency that has specialised in managing migration,decided to assist in the rehabilitation of displaced persons. Out of that friendship resulted the construction of 55 two-unit houses at Chuchuliga in the Upper East Region and Sugutampia in the Northern Region. The buildings, estimated at about $75,000 have now been completed and given out to the beneficiaries. Speaking to the Daily Graphic at Chuchuliga after inspecting the project, the Secretary-General of the GRCS, Mr Andrews Frimpong, said after a series of discussions with IOM, it was agreed that a number of houses should be built to replace the collapsed ones. He said at Chuchuliga, where more than 300 houses were destroyed, the two organisations provided 30 housing units while Sugutampia in the Northern Region had 25. Mr Frimpong pointed out that the aid was earmarked for the aged and vulnerable,widows, the blind and other physically challenged persons as well as women and children. He said the gesture was a demonstration of the organisation's commitment to alleviating the plight of persons affected by natural disasters. Explaining why Chuchuliga was selected over other communities, Mr Frimpong attributed the gesture to the commitment and leadership qualities exhibited by its chief, Naba Francis A. Asangalisa. "At the initial stages of the floods when we were distributing food and other items to the victims, the chief played a key role that was why Red Cross decided that if there was going to be additional support, then it should go to Chuchuliga," Mr Frimpong said. He expressed his appreciation to the Chief of Chuchuliga and his elders as well as members of the community for their support, co-operation and understanding, adding that without that assistance, the successes chalked up could not have been possible. For his part, the National Programme Officer of IOM, Mr David Ekow Appiah, said his organisation had taken it upon itself to support the vulnerable in times of need, stressing “I am prepared to work with the Red Cross in the future to bring relief to the people. He also expressed the hope that the assistance provided would go a long way to ameliorate the suffering of the people, especially with the onset of the rains this year. The Chief of Chuchuliga , Naba Francis Asangalisa, was grateful to the two organisations for the gesture. With the success story of Chuchuliga and Sugutampia, the Red Cross and IOM have made progress in their efforts to heal the wounds of the two regions. It is hoped that other humanitarian organisations would emulate their example to bring relief to the people who suffered serious damage as a result of the disaster.

CONTINUE TO ASSIST IN NATIONAL DEVT ...Samari urges senior citizens (D/G Tuesday July 22, 2008 PAGE 20)

THE Upper East Regional Minister, Mr Alhassan Samari, has appealed to senior citizens in the region to reflect on how best they can still be of use to the national development effort. "The development of Ghana and the Upper East Region can only move forward through the collective efforts of all of us in addressing poverty and the diseases that have afflicted our people," he said. Mr Samari said this in Bolgatanga at a reception organised by the Regional Co-ordinating Council (RCC) for senior citizens in the region to commemorate Ghana's Republic Day. He noted that the region was endowed with natural resources such as irrigable land, minerals and tourist sites that could be exploited by potential investors. "There is the need for us to work concertedly towards creating a congenial atmosphere for both private and government businesses to go on uninterrupted," the regional minister emphasised. He stressed the need for the senior citizens to ensure that incidents such as communal conflicts in Bawku, as well as land and chieftaincy disputes and highway robberies, were done away with to promote the accelerated development of the region. Mr Samari enumerated some of the achievements of the NPP government since 2000, adding that the improvement in the economy could not have been possible without the wise counsel and efforts of some of the senior citizens. Each of the over 100 senior citizens from all the municipalities and districts in the region, with the exception of those from the Bawku municipality, was presented with a full piece of Ghana@50 cloth and cash of GH¢40. Present at the ceremony were the Deputy Regional Minister, Mrs Agnes Chigabatia, as well as municipal and district chief executives for Garu Tempane, Talensi-Nabdam, Bongo, Kassena-Nankana West and Kassena-Nankana Central.

CHILDREN IN BAWKU FACE HEALTH RISK (D/G Tuesday July 22,2008 PAGE 20)

MOST children in the Bawku Municipality, especially those under five years of age, stand the risk of contracting infectious diseases because about 78 per cent of them who were expected to be immunised could not do so due to the conflict.
The Bawku Municipal Director of Health Services, Dr Mensah Afful, painted the gloomy picture at Bawku when he addressed the youth of all the tribes in the municipality at a meeting organised by the Bawku Literary Society (BLS).
IBIS Ghana, a non-governmental organisation (NGO), sponsored the event.
Dr Mensah Afful said as a health policy, his outfit was expected to immunise 90 per cent of children below the age of five against polio and measles, but as of March, this year, between 20.4 per cent and 22.3 per cent of the children in the area had been immunised against polio and measles.
The figures, he said, were low compared to 26.9 per cent and 28.2 per cent coverage for polio and measles during the same period last year.
Dr Mensah noted that the situation had resulted in a pool of infections leading to rising number of deaths among children because most of the nurses could not move freely to some parts of the municipality for the immunisation while parents equally could not go to the health centres to have their children immunised.
"Even now that the area is experiencing relative calm, hospital attendance is very low and one may wonder where they take the sick to and this is becoming a great worry to the health directorate," he lamented.
Dr Mensah said performance indicators on immunisation, deliveries and out-patients department (OPD) were all going down as a result of the restriction on the movement of people.
He said only six doctors made up of two Cubans and two Ghanaians as general doctors and two ophthalmologists, were currently at post and they were working under serious stress.
Dr Mensah Afful described the conflict as unproductive considering the numerous negative effects it had had on the socio-economic life of the people, especially the health implications the people were grappling with.
For her part, the Human Resource Officer of the Ghana Education Service (GES) in Bawku, Madam Fatima Seidu, said teaching and learning came to a standstill any time the conflict intensified.
She added that as a result of the conflict, a lot of teachers, especially the non-natives, had been thronging the Municipal Directorate of the GES to seek transfers and releases, to the detriment of the pupils.
According to Madam Seidu, her recent visit to some of the basic schools in the area revealed that only two out of the 10 teachers were in some of the schools, adding that in some cases only 50 out of 150 pupils population were present.
She explained that education was the bedrock of development for every society, and therefore, appealed to the youth to influence their neighbours positively when they returned to the various communities so that there would be effective teaching and learning.
Speaking on the theme: "Tolerance Amongst the Youth — A Prerequisite for sustainable peace in Bawku", the President of BLS, Miss Florence Bombande, said there could never be any meaningful development in Bawku if there was no peace.
She, therefore, admonished the youth not to allow themselves to be used as a tool in the conflict because it was their future that was at stake and any lapses on their part could jeopardise them greatly.
Miss Bombande urged the youth in Bawku to see themselves as brothers and sisters and strive to live peacefully.
At the end of the meeting, the youth saw the need for peace to prevail in Bawku and its environs, and therefore, came out with some resolution messages for peace, some of which read “Respect for individual opinions”, “Let's live in peace in Bawku”, “Political campaigns should be peaceful” and “Discipline during the elections”..

CHANGE VOTING PATTERN, URGES AKUO-ADDO (D/G Thursday July 17,2008 PAGE 17)

THE flag bearer of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, has reiterated his appeal to voters in the Upper East Region to change their voting pattern and vote massively for the NPP.
That, he said, would ensure that the good works already started by the NPP administration would be sustained.
He explained that since 1992 the people of the region had never given their mandate to the NPP and stressed that the time had come for them to change their voting pattern.
Nana Akufo-Addo arrived in Bolgatanga on Tuesday to a tumultuous welcome by party faithful at the start of a four-day campaign tour of the region.
He told the party faithful to dismiss the notion that the NPP was an Akan party, stressing that the roots of the party cut across the entire country.
"Majority of Ghanaians have made up their minds that they are returning the NPP to power for the third time and I think it is important that this time round the people of this region do all within their power to share in the victory of the NPP by increasing the current two parliamentary seats it occupies," the NPP flag bearer told a crowd at a rally at the Bolgatanga Jubilee Park.
The tour will take him to eight out of the 13 constituencies in the region where he is expected to interact with party faithful, chiefs and other opinion leaders.
Constituencies excluded from his tour are Garu-Tempane, Bawku Central, Zebilla, Pusiga and Binduri.
Hundreds of party faithful defied an early afternoon downpour to welcome Nana Akufo-Addo to the region at the outskirts of Bolgatanga. Both lanes on the highway from Winkongo Junction to Bolgatanga were jammed with vehicles, while several motorcyclists, some without safety helmets, threw caution to the wind by riding dangerously.
Little wonder, two motorcyclists were rushed to the Bolgatanga Central Hospital at the back of a party van after their motorbikes had collided and they had sustained severe injuries at the ADB Junction in the heart of Bolgatanga.
Dwelling on some of the development projects embarked on by the Kufuor Administration, Nana Akufo-Addo urged Ghanaians to return the party to power to continue with its good development works.
He said his major vision for the three northern regions would be to close the development gap between the north and the south, stressing that he wanted to be the one to lead the process of bridging the gap through the establishment of the Northern Development Fund.
The NPP flag bearer also said his government would inject modernity into agriculture, especially in the northern part of the country to transform the area into the bread basket of the country.
He said his administration would embark on an extensive irrigation programme, while more dams, boreholes, as well as rain harvesting techniques, would be introduced to turn the area around.


Nana Akufo-Addo also mentioned that his government intended to establish more vocational and technical schools, as well as agricultural colleges, for the training of the youth "so that we can get the skills needed to drive the transformation of the north".
The NPP flag bearer and his entourage had earlier called on the Paramount Chief of the Bolgatanga Traditional Area, Naba Martin Abilba, and the Tindana (traditional landowner) of Soe, Nyaba Ayelgeya, to introduce himself to them.
The entourage later called on the Regional Chief Imam, Yussif Adam, at his mosque to seek his spiritual blessing.
Nana Akufo-Addo was accompanied by Messrs Yaw Osafo-Maafo; Alan Kyerematen and Dan Botwe, all former flag bearer aspirants, Hajia Alima Mahama, who is eyeing the vice-presidential slot, Madam Rita Asobayire, the NPP National Women's Organiser, the Upper East Regional Minister, as well as regional party executives.
Mr Kyerematen, overwhelmed by the large crowd that came to welcome Nana Akufo-Addo, called on the Electoral Commission to organise the elections immediately to see if the NPP would not win, while Mr Botwe urged all who had turned 18 to have their names registered when the EC opened the voters register later in the year.
The Upper East Regional Minister called for a united front if the NPP was to make inroads in the region.
Nana Akufo-Addo later met with regional, constituency and polling station chairmen to discuss the way forward for the party.

MORE YOUTH ATTEMPT SUICIDE (The Mirror, Saturday July 12, 2008 PAGE 15)

From Benjamin Xornam Glover, Navrongo

The number of cases of attempted suicide recorded in the Kassena-Nankana District of the Upper East Region is becoming alarming, especially the large number of youth involvement.
Statistics available at the Navrongo Police Station have revealed that four incidents of attempted suicide were reported between January and June this year.
Additionally, The Mirror investigations at the Navrongo War Memorial Hospital also revealed that 15 suicide cases were reported at the facility between September 2007 and May this year.
A half-year report made available to The Mirror by the district police showed that three of the cases involving the youth were reported in January this year, while the other one occurred in March 2008.
According to the Upper East Regional Police Public Relations Officer, Inspector Ebenezer Tetteh, in all the cases recorded, the mode adopted by the culprits was drinking DDT, a poisonous substance.
He said the first incident, involving one Kanpawin Adia, occurred in January 10, 2008. Adia was later arrested and charged for attempted suicide.
The second incident occurred on January 12, 2008. However, no arrest was made.
The third case was recorded at 2:15 p.m. on January 31, 2008 and it involved one Mathew Amediko, while the fourth one took place on March 3 and the victim was one Alexander Akwopore.
Inspector Tetteh was, however, unable to assign any reasons for that disturbing trend.
The Senior Health Services Administrator of the Navrongo War Memorial Hospital, Mr Kofi Konlan, also told The Mirror that all the 15 people who attempted to take their lives and were rushed to the hospital were treated and discharged, stressing that no deaths were recorded at the facility. He confirmed that the mode of suicide was through the consumption of poisonous substances.
Some residents of Navrongo attributed the incidence of suicide to hopelessness and frustration, though they could not offer further explanation.