DEPUTY MINISTER ESCAPES DEATH (SPREAD, APRIL 24, 2010)

The Deputy Upper East Regional Minister, Mrs Lucy Awuni, and a team of journalists last Thursday survived an accident when her official vehicle veered off the road and somersaulted three times at Binduri, near Bawku.
The deputy minister, in the company of National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO) officials and the press, was on her way to Garu Tempane to inspect buildings damaged by a rainstorm.
A reporter of the Daily Graphic, Mr Alhandu Abdul-Hamid, one of the four journalists on the accident vehicle, a Toyota Landcruiser GXR V8, with registration number UE 3 -10, who survived the accident, said the deputy minister’s driver, who tried overtaking the NADMO vehicle which was leading the convoy, veered off the road and the vehicle somersaulted three times.
He said the Upper East Regional Correspondent of Metro Television, Mr Abdulai Issaka, had to break the windscreen of the vehicle with his hands for those in the car to escape. In the process, Mr Issaka sustained some cuts.
Mr Issaka later indicated that but for the airbags in the vehicle, the occupants would have been exposed to great danger.
The Regional Correspondent of the Ghanaian Times, Alhaji Ibrahim Mohammed, also sustained minor injuries.
The timely intervention by inhabitants of Binduri and the NADMO officials saved the deputy minister, whose legs were trapped under the seats of the vehicle.
Mrs Awuni, who was rushed to the Bolgatanga Regional Hospital, is on admission but in stable condition, while the press men, as well as the driver and the security escort, have been treated and discharged.

RAINSTORM DESTROYS HIGH TENSION ELECTRIC POLES (SPREAD, APRIL 24, 2010)

A severe rainstorm has destroyed more than 23 high tension electric poles in the Builsa District in the Upper East Region.
The rainstorm, which also ripped off portions of the roof of the eight-classroom block of the Sandema Senior High School completed just two years ago, has led to the cutting of electric power to most towns in the southern part of the district, including Wiaga and Fumbisi.
Also destroyed were public schools, including the Chiock Primary School, the Woblisa Day Care block and the Fumbisi Senior High and Agriculture School, which had their roofs ripped off.
At the Fumbisi Senior High and Agriculture School, the entire roof of the Science Laboratory was blown off, exposing students, laboratory equipment and chemicals to the vagaries of the weather.
The District Chief Executive (DCE) for Builsa, Mr Norbert Awulley, and the District Co-ordinator of the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO), Mr Solomon Akogti, have toured the affected areas.
In an interview with the Daily Graphic, Mr Awulley said the havoc caused by the storm had disrupted electricity supply to parts of the district, adding that some individual households had also lost a number of property.
He said the assembly had contacted the Upper East Regional Office of the Northern Electricity Department of the Volta River Authority to help restore power supply.
He appealed to the VRA to act with dispatch, saying the lack of electricity was affecting the economic life of the people since most to them relied on electric power to operate their small businesses.
Mr Akogti said many houses had collapsed and those affected were living with relatives and friends.
He said his outfit was in the process of collating data on affected persons for onward submission to the regional office of NADMO for assistance to some of the victims.

. EAST NURSES CONDEMN MRDER OF COLLEAGUE (PAGE 31, APRIL 20, 2010)

THE Upper East Region branch of the Ghana Registered Nurses Association (GRNA) has condemned the recent attack and killing of a nurse in Bawku.
They have, therefore, appealed to the people in the conflict area to embrace peace rather than resorting to violence.
On Thursday, April 1, 2010, a Deputy Nurse Anaesthetist at the Bolgatanga Regional Hospital, Mr Samuel Ayamba Akolgo, was pulled out of a vehicle and lynched.
The Regional Secretary of the GRNA, Mr Samuel Akolgo, told the Daily Graphic during the annual week celebration of the GRNA at Bolgatanga that the association would not hesitate to withdraw their services if the security situation did not improve.
He said most of their colleagues, especially those working in the conflict area, were now living in a state of fear while others had lost their property due to the protracted nature of the conflict.
Mr Akolgo, therefore, challenged the the government and the security agencies to improve security situation in the area.
The week was celebrated on the theme: "Moving nursing into professional excellence.”
As part of the celebration, members of the association organised a health walk through the principal streets of Bolgatanga to draw public attention to the importance of physical exercise.
The association also mobilised a team of medical assistants, dental, ear, nose and throat professionals to screen members of the public.
The regional GRNA secretary said although the GRNA appreciated the government's efforts to improve conditions of service of health workers, there were still issues that needed urgent attention.
He called for negotiation of the Collective Bargaining Agreement submitted in 2008 to address the grievances to motivate them to perform better in health delivery.
Mr Akolgo said the association was watching keenly the issue of duty allowance and expressed the hope that their employer would not make the mistake of the past by listening to one section of the health workers.
He urged nurses to be devoted to their duty and demonstrate their respect for human life and dignity since the attitude of some nurses had been in question in recent times.
Mr Akolgo also charged nurses to respect the Ghana Health Service Code of Ethics for the nursing profession.

CURFEW BREAKER JAILED 3 YEARS (PAGE 3, APRIL 17, 2010)

THE Bolgatanga Circuit Court has sentenced a resident of Bawku, Ayimbilla Bashiru, to a three-year jail term with hard labour for breaking curfew hours in the municipality.
Bashiru pleaded guilty to the offence and was sentenced on his own plea by the court presided over by Mr William Boampong.
According to the prosecution, Bashiru was arrested on April 11, 2010 at 11:20 p.m. loitering in the Bawku municipality and was picked up by the police, who were on patrol.
Curfew from 4p.m. to 6a.m. has been imposed by the government on Bawku and its environs in view of the protracted violence in the municipality.
Counsel for Bashiru, Mr Joseph Kpemka, said the prosecution, in its rush to obtain conviction, committed an error by applying laws which had been repealed and vowed to file an appeal at the Bolgatanga High Court to have the sentence quashed.

ONE PERSON ARRESTED OVER DANLADI'S MURDER (PAGE 3, APRIL 17, 2010)

THE police in Bawku have arrested one person in connection with the shooting of a 53-year-old man at Mishiga near Bawku on Thursday night.
The deceased, Abdulai Awudu Danladi, was allegedly shot at about 8p.m. while having dinner with his wife, who also sustained gunshot wounds.
Danladi is said to be the New Patriotic Party (NPP) polling station chairman at Mishiga.
The Bawku Divisional Police Commander, Chief Superintendent Kwaku Buadu Peprah, could, however, not readily disclose the name of the suspect arrested because he was not in the office and was not up to date with investigations conducted as of the time the Daily Graphic spoke to him on phone.
Danladi’s wife is responding to treatment at the Bawku Presbyterian Hospital.
Chief Supt. Peprah said the police would get to the bottom of the matter and apprehend the culprits who were behind the shooting.
Questions are being raised about how the assailants could carry out their deadly mission amid tight security in place at Bawku and its environs particularly when a 4:00p.m.-6:00a.m. curfew had been imposed.

CULTIVATE HEALTHY LIVING HABITS (PAGE 21, APRIL 14, 2010)

THE Manager of the Binaba Area Community Health Project, a non-governmental organisation (NGO), Mr Simon Amoah, has stressed the need for people to strive in cultivating healthy living habits.
He mentioned the regular cleaning of surroundings and avoiding open defecation as some of the practices that could guarantee quality living.
Mr Amoah also urged people without any of toilet facilities to dig and bury their faecal matter as a way of safely disposing of human excreta.
Mr Amoah gave the advice at a ceremony at Binaba to mark the world’s longest queue, which coincided with the World Water Day celebrated annually.
The event was aimed at re-echoing the importance of improved sanitary facilities for national development.
A total of 104 women joined a queue to symbolise the need for toilet facilities in the community.
According to Mr Amoah, the national coverage with regard to the provision of improved toilets facilities was nothing to write home about, showing a meagre 11 per cent national coverage with the Bawku District having a 2.2 per cent coverage.
He said that was very disheartening, especially when one reflected on the high prevalence of sanitation-related illness and their disastrous effects on the population.
Mr Amoah said reports indicated that diarrhoeal diseases and intestinal worms, which are sanitation-related illnesses, were among the 10 common diseases frequently seen at the outpatients department throughout the district.

MAJOR BANKS, FIRMS CLOSE DOWN IN BAWKU (PAGE 3, APRIL 13, 2010)

A number of banks and business entities operating in the Bawku municipality have relocated due to the unstable situation of the one-time brisk commercial town.
A survey of the municipality yesterday revealed that three major banks — the Ghana Commercial Bank (GCB), the Agricultural Development Bank (ADB) and Barclays Bank — have relocated to other parts of the Upper East Region.
The staff of the GCB have been relocated to Bolgatanga, while those of Barclays Bank have been sent to Tamale.
Customers in need of banking services will now have to travel to Bolgatanga to access them.
The Area Manager of the GCB in charge of the Northern, Upper East and Upper West regions, when contacted on telephone for explanation, directed the reporter to the Public Affairs Manager of the bank in Accra for the reasons behind the temporary closure but he did not rule out the general insecurity in the municipality.
Bawku, one of the brisk commercial towns in northern Ghana, has suffered a major economic setback in recent times due to the general instability in the municipality.
The protracted internecine conflict in the municipality has had a negative impact on socio-economic activities. Many people have fled and development projects in the area have stalled.
In an interview, the Bawku Municipal Chief Executive, Mr Musah Abdulai, said about 70 per cent of the assembly’s revenue had been channelled into conflict prevention, to the detriment of development projects in the area.
The Upper East Regional Minister and Chairman of the Regional Security Council (REGSEC), Mr Mark Woyongo, after a REGSEC meeting in Bawku last Wednesday, hinted that as a result of the conflict in the border town, the nation was losing so much in revenue collection at the Customs, Excise and Preventive Services (CEPS) operation points since most traders who plied the route to the Sahelian countries were now using other alternative routes.
The Sector Commander of CEPS, Mr N.A.K. Kitiki, when contacted, declined to comment, with the excuse that he needed clearance from the Commissioner of CEPS in Accra or the Public Relations Office of the service before passing any comment.
Last week, National Security imposed a temporary ban on motor riding in Bawku with the aim of reducing the spate of lawlessness and murder in the area.
The ban, according to the authorities, was to curb the activities of gunmen who go about killing innocent people and fleeing from the crime scene with the aid of the motorbikes.
Sections of the public in Bawku, especially government workers, health workers and teachers, have appealed to the government for special permits to enable them to use their motorbikes, which are the major means of transportation in the municipality.