Back Page lead
31-10-08
FIFTEEN timber companies operating in the country have called for investigations into the allocation of timber rights by the Forestry Commission.
The companies made the call as a result of what they claimed was the illegal deals being carried out by the commission in the allocation of timber rights.
The companies are In God’s Service Company Limited, Aframco Limited, Carlnormal Limited, House of Kay, Unclewad Company Limited, Tiger Exports Limited, Talento Limited and Belltop Company Limited.
The rest are Isbeg Company Limited, Ghana Tropical Limited, Nkebright Agencies, B.MS. Limited, Engineering and Technical Limited, Jeewap Company Limited and Alacraty International.
Addressing the press in Accra yesterday, the spokesperson of the aggrieved companies, Mr Bright Nkeyasen, said the Forestry Commission had allocated plantations to more than 40 companies illegally at the price of GH¢140.00, 50 per cent less than the prices won during the bidding for the plantations.
Some foreign companies, he alleged, had been allocated plantations/lots without due process, which required that there should be competitive bidding.
“The Ghana-Ivory Coast boundary trees were also allocated illegally to only two companies at GH¢ 95.00 per cubic metre. Total volume of these materials illegally allocated at cheap prices amounted to over 100,000 cubic metres of plantation timber all going to the world markets,” he alleged.
He said such acts of sabotage undermined the letter and spirit of the competitive bidding process thereby making “those of us who won the lots/plantations legally uncompetitive on the world markets”.
Mr Nkeyasen said in 2003, the government enacted a law that regulated timber allocation in the country, and that the law brought sanity and fairness into timber allocation, saying that the Law, LI 1721, spelt out general procedures for allocation of timber rights.
To pre-qualify to enter into the bidding process, companies had to be registered in accordance with the law of the country, meet all tax obligations and must not be indebted to the commission.
The 15 companies, he said, were the bid winners of the 2007 competitive bidding organised by the Forestry Commission, and that 24 lots or plantations were advertised for pre-qualification.
Mr Nkeyasen explained that after the pre-qualification process, as “we prepare for the actual bidding, three big lots were removed from the list namely lots 4, 8 and 10, totalling 35,000 cubic metres.
“When we asked why these three lots were removed from the list, Forestry Commission reply was that they were not going to sell them due to environmental and security concerns,” he said.
He explained further that prices won for the lots/plantations ranged between GH¢250 and GH¢350 per cubic metre, bringing the total price for the remaining 23 lots to GH¢ 23,958,392, and that two weeks after the competitive bidding, “the three lots which were removed from the list due to environmental and security reasons, were allocated to a foreign company based in Singapore at the price GH¢140.00 per cubic metre, which is less than 50 per cent of prices won at the bidding, without passing through competitive bidding process as required by law”.
Mr Nkeyasen also called on the government to revoke all illegal licence and permits issued by the commission.
Friday, October 31, 2008
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Prez inaugurates A-Poly block of flats
Page 3
30-10-08
President J. A. Kufuor yesterday inaugurated a number of facilities at the Accra Polytechnic to enhance effective teaching and learning there.
The projects, which were financed through the Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFund) and the polytechnic’s internally generated funds, were a five-storey block of 20 three-bedroom flats, a five-storey block of 20 two-bedroom flats, a five-storey block comprising two-bedroom flats and a five-storey block of 20 one-bedroom flats.
The rest were a water supply and distribution system on campus, block to house the Bachelor of Technology and a library, an Electrical and Electronic Engineering block and a 500 KVA electricity generating plant.
The accommodation facilities will be occupied by about 80 members of staff of the polytechnic who, hitherto, had to commute from long distances to school.
Performing the inauguration ceremony, President Kufuor said never had such massive infrastructural development taken place in the polytechnics in the country within a short time.
That, according to him, was the extent of the government’s commitment to higher education and the development of polytechnics in general.
He commended the authorities of the polytechnic for using its limited space to put up such facilities.
He said although the population was increasing, land was not, and, therefore, stressed the need for those in the capital to be economical in the use of space for providing accommodation.
“You have demonstrated by the construction of these tall structures that we can satisfy the demand for accommodation in a confined space without sacrificing aesthetic considerations. Your buildings help to brighten the capital’s skyline to add to the city’s beauty,” he stated.
President Kufuor said polytechnics occupied a significant place in the tertiary educational sector, since their mandate was “to provide training of a kind that does not obtain anywhere else in the sector”.
Beyond the traditional Higher National Diploma (HND), he said, the legal instrument provided polytechnic education now opened up the possibilities of training at the level of bachelor’s degree and beyond, adding that “it is possible to start at one type of institution to complete at another, transferring grades”.
Commenting on the forthcoming elections, he urged the staff and students to ensure that their utterances and actions, both on campus and within their communities, would be aimed at promoting free, fair and credible elections, to which the government was committed.
He said as role models, they were in a position to help make the elections successful.
The Rector of the Accra Polytechnic, Prof Festus Addo-Yobo, commended the government for funding the projects, saying that “these demonstrate the government’s positive attitude towards teaching and research in the Applied Sciences and Technology and Applied Arts and the provision of technical skills within the polytechnics”.
He said the polytechnic had responded positively to the government’s assistance by setting a target to become a world-class polytechnic, adding that the projects would go a long way to help it to achieve its ambitions.
Prof Addo-Yobo appealed to the government to assist the polytechnic to acquire land for the construction of hostel facilities outside the campus to provide more accommodation facilities for its students.
The Chairman of the Polytechnic Council, Mr Napoleon Bulley, who chaired the function, described the provision of the facilities as historic.
30-10-08
President J. A. Kufuor yesterday inaugurated a number of facilities at the Accra Polytechnic to enhance effective teaching and learning there.
The projects, which were financed through the Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFund) and the polytechnic’s internally generated funds, were a five-storey block of 20 three-bedroom flats, a five-storey block of 20 two-bedroom flats, a five-storey block comprising two-bedroom flats and a five-storey block of 20 one-bedroom flats.
The rest were a water supply and distribution system on campus, block to house the Bachelor of Technology and a library, an Electrical and Electronic Engineering block and a 500 KVA electricity generating plant.
The accommodation facilities will be occupied by about 80 members of staff of the polytechnic who, hitherto, had to commute from long distances to school.
Performing the inauguration ceremony, President Kufuor said never had such massive infrastructural development taken place in the polytechnics in the country within a short time.
That, according to him, was the extent of the government’s commitment to higher education and the development of polytechnics in general.
He commended the authorities of the polytechnic for using its limited space to put up such facilities.
He said although the population was increasing, land was not, and, therefore, stressed the need for those in the capital to be economical in the use of space for providing accommodation.
“You have demonstrated by the construction of these tall structures that we can satisfy the demand for accommodation in a confined space without sacrificing aesthetic considerations. Your buildings help to brighten the capital’s skyline to add to the city’s beauty,” he stated.
President Kufuor said polytechnics occupied a significant place in the tertiary educational sector, since their mandate was “to provide training of a kind that does not obtain anywhere else in the sector”.
Beyond the traditional Higher National Diploma (HND), he said, the legal instrument provided polytechnic education now opened up the possibilities of training at the level of bachelor’s degree and beyond, adding that “it is possible to start at one type of institution to complete at another, transferring grades”.
Commenting on the forthcoming elections, he urged the staff and students to ensure that their utterances and actions, both on campus and within their communities, would be aimed at promoting free, fair and credible elections, to which the government was committed.
He said as role models, they were in a position to help make the elections successful.
The Rector of the Accra Polytechnic, Prof Festus Addo-Yobo, commended the government for funding the projects, saying that “these demonstrate the government’s positive attitude towards teaching and research in the Applied Sciences and Technology and Applied Arts and the provision of technical skills within the polytechnics”.
He said the polytechnic had responded positively to the government’s assistance by setting a target to become a world-class polytechnic, adding that the projects would go a long way to help it to achieve its ambitions.
Prof Addo-Yobo appealed to the government to assist the polytechnic to acquire land for the construction of hostel facilities outside the campus to provide more accommodation facilities for its students.
The Chairman of the Polytechnic Council, Mr Napoleon Bulley, who chaired the function, described the provision of the facilities as historic.
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Wanton destruction of trees deplored
29-10-08
Page 30
PARTICIPANTS at a seminar on 100 years of forestry in Ghana at the Ghana International Furniture and Woodworking Exhibition (GIFEX 2008) have deplored the wanton destruction and cutting of trees in urban areas for commercial activities.
They said such destruction was seriously affecting the ecology. They therefore called on the authorities concerned to enforce by-laws in regard to the destruction of trees in urban areas.
“We have failed in our urban plantation development”, the Technical Director of the Ministry of Lands, Forestry and Mines, Mr Fredua Agyeman, summed up the views of the participants.
A former Dean of the Institute for Renewable and Natural Resources, Mr J. G. K. Owusu, who set the tone for the discussion on the subject, said little was being done about urban plantation development.
He said apart from the streets, trees around some schools had been cut, thereby defeating the purpose for which they were planted in the first place.
He stressed the need for people to plant trees around their houses to provide greenery and that people should not only plant trees for economic reasons but also to maintain the ecological balance.
In a keynote address, the Chief Executive of the Forestry Commission, Professor Nii Ashie Kotey, stressed the need for innovation and pooling of resources to meet future challenges in the timber industry so the country could remain competitive in the global village.
A Senior Lecturer at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Dr E. A. Abeney, said forest standards require sound environmental practices.
Page 30
PARTICIPANTS at a seminar on 100 years of forestry in Ghana at the Ghana International Furniture and Woodworking Exhibition (GIFEX 2008) have deplored the wanton destruction and cutting of trees in urban areas for commercial activities.
They said such destruction was seriously affecting the ecology. They therefore called on the authorities concerned to enforce by-laws in regard to the destruction of trees in urban areas.
“We have failed in our urban plantation development”, the Technical Director of the Ministry of Lands, Forestry and Mines, Mr Fredua Agyeman, summed up the views of the participants.
A former Dean of the Institute for Renewable and Natural Resources, Mr J. G. K. Owusu, who set the tone for the discussion on the subject, said little was being done about urban plantation development.
He said apart from the streets, trees around some schools had been cut, thereby defeating the purpose for which they were planted in the first place.
He stressed the need for people to plant trees around their houses to provide greenery and that people should not only plant trees for economic reasons but also to maintain the ecological balance.
In a keynote address, the Chief Executive of the Forestry Commission, Professor Nii Ashie Kotey, stressed the need for innovation and pooling of resources to meet future challenges in the timber industry so the country could remain competitive in the global village.
A Senior Lecturer at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Dr E. A. Abeney, said forest standards require sound environmental practices.
Monday, October 27, 2008
Ghana's forest depleting at alarming rate
Page 38
27-10-08
ABOUT eighty-five per cent of Ghana’s forest reserve has been depleted, leaving only 15 per cent in good condition, Dr Daniel Sekyere, Deputy Director of the Forestry Research Institute of Ghana (FORIG) has stated.
This, he said, was due to unsustainable agriculture practices, illegal farming practices, poor logging practices, over-exploitation, illegal chainsaw lumbering and mining and firewood extraction.
He said for instance, that the country consumed between 10-16 million cubic meters of fuel wood annually.
Dr Sekyere was presenting a paper on “100 Years of Forestry in Ghana: CSIR-Forestry Research Institute of Ghana’s Contribution Towards National Development” as part of the Ghana International Furniture and Woodworking Exhibition (GIFEX 2008) in Accra.
The impact of forest degradation, he said, included soil erosion, formation of hardpan, decline in water volume in rivers, streams, lakes and dams, deterioration of water quality, wind damage to crops and buildings, air pollution and global warming and climate change.
Dr Sekyere said the country’s potential forest zone covered 8.2 million hectares while 1.7 million hectares were under forest reservation and the remaining 6.5 million used for agriculture, settlements, roads and railways.
According to him, more than 70 per cent of the non-reserved forest had been lost over the last 100 years, leaving only 15 per cent in good condition.
He noted that FORIG had instituted various interventions, including restoration of degraded forest, large scale plantation and efficient utilisation of forest products to arrest forest degradation.
Dr Sekyere said the mandate of the institute was to undertake forest products research to ensure sustainable management and utilisation of the country’s forest resources as well as engage in the commercialisation of the research results and services.
He said CSIR-FORIG had a vision of becoming a centre of excellence in Forestry Research in the humid tropics, adding that the mission was to conduct high quality user-focused research that generated scientific knowledge and appropriate technologies which enhanced sustainable development.
FORIG’s contribution to sustainable forest management, he said, included the development of methods of rehabilitating mined and degraded sites, development of biodiversity conservation methods and establishment of Bambusetum containing fifteen (15) indigenous and exotic species.
“I believe that if our research findings are applied diligently, we will create greater impact and more value for our stakeholders, reinvigorate our research and help contribute to a sustainable environment and improved livelihoods for the good people of Ghana,” he said.
Dr Sekyere said FORIG’s contribution to plantation development were the development of techniques for establishment of woodlots in the derived savannah agro-ecological zones in the country, establishment of economics of plantation development, improved seeds and seedlings for planting and vegetation propagation techniques for species such as Wawa, Odum and Kusia.
The efficient utilisation of forest products, he said, drying and preservative schedules for a number of tree species, development of technologies for pulp and paper production from indigenous plant species, physical, mechanical, anatomical and working characteristics of a number of species, utilisation of lesser-used species and suitability of various species for composite products manufacturing.
Dr Ernest G. Foli of FORIG said the timber trade in Ghana began well over 100 years ago and that only a few species, mainly Mahogany, Odum, Sapele, Wawa, among others, were of interest in those early days.
Until about 1990, he said, less than 20 timber species were considered as species of ‘prime’ commercial value.
27-10-08
ABOUT eighty-five per cent of Ghana’s forest reserve has been depleted, leaving only 15 per cent in good condition, Dr Daniel Sekyere, Deputy Director of the Forestry Research Institute of Ghana (FORIG) has stated.
This, he said, was due to unsustainable agriculture practices, illegal farming practices, poor logging practices, over-exploitation, illegal chainsaw lumbering and mining and firewood extraction.
He said for instance, that the country consumed between 10-16 million cubic meters of fuel wood annually.
Dr Sekyere was presenting a paper on “100 Years of Forestry in Ghana: CSIR-Forestry Research Institute of Ghana’s Contribution Towards National Development” as part of the Ghana International Furniture and Woodworking Exhibition (GIFEX 2008) in Accra.
The impact of forest degradation, he said, included soil erosion, formation of hardpan, decline in water volume in rivers, streams, lakes and dams, deterioration of water quality, wind damage to crops and buildings, air pollution and global warming and climate change.
Dr Sekyere said the country’s potential forest zone covered 8.2 million hectares while 1.7 million hectares were under forest reservation and the remaining 6.5 million used for agriculture, settlements, roads and railways.
According to him, more than 70 per cent of the non-reserved forest had been lost over the last 100 years, leaving only 15 per cent in good condition.
He noted that FORIG had instituted various interventions, including restoration of degraded forest, large scale plantation and efficient utilisation of forest products to arrest forest degradation.
Dr Sekyere said the mandate of the institute was to undertake forest products research to ensure sustainable management and utilisation of the country’s forest resources as well as engage in the commercialisation of the research results and services.
He said CSIR-FORIG had a vision of becoming a centre of excellence in Forestry Research in the humid tropics, adding that the mission was to conduct high quality user-focused research that generated scientific knowledge and appropriate technologies which enhanced sustainable development.
FORIG’s contribution to sustainable forest management, he said, included the development of methods of rehabilitating mined and degraded sites, development of biodiversity conservation methods and establishment of Bambusetum containing fifteen (15) indigenous and exotic species.
“I believe that if our research findings are applied diligently, we will create greater impact and more value for our stakeholders, reinvigorate our research and help contribute to a sustainable environment and improved livelihoods for the good people of Ghana,” he said.
Dr Sekyere said FORIG’s contribution to plantation development were the development of techniques for establishment of woodlots in the derived savannah agro-ecological zones in the country, establishment of economics of plantation development, improved seeds and seedlings for planting and vegetation propagation techniques for species such as Wawa, Odum and Kusia.
The efficient utilisation of forest products, he said, drying and preservative schedules for a number of tree species, development of technologies for pulp and paper production from indigenous plant species, physical, mechanical, anatomical and working characteristics of a number of species, utilisation of lesser-used species and suitability of various species for composite products manufacturing.
Dr Ernest G. Foli of FORIG said the timber trade in Ghana began well over 100 years ago and that only a few species, mainly Mahogany, Odum, Sapele, Wawa, among others, were of interest in those early days.
Until about 1990, he said, less than 20 timber species were considered as species of ‘prime’ commercial value.
New wood species for manufacturing identified
Page 46
27-10-08
THE Timber Industry Development Division (TIDD) of the Forestry Commission (FC) has identified seven additional wood species of commercial and industrial value.
Among other industrial purposes, the wood species, according to the TIDD, can be used for panelling, furniture, flooring, mouldings, structural work, door, decorative veneer and plywood, for the local and international markets.
The seven species bring to 28 the number of wood species in Ghana that are used for manufacturing purposes.
They are Asoma, Yayaa, Wawabima, Ananta, Avodire, Sinduro, Ohaa and Watawpuo.
A Trade and Industry Officer at the TIDD, Mr R.A. Dadzie, made this known to the Daily Graphic at the ongoing Ghana International Furniture and Woodworking Exhibition (GIFEX) at the Ghana International Trade Fair Centre.
He gave the National Indicative Felling Levels (NIFLs) of the species as Asoma, 17,592 cubic metres; Yayaa, 4,678 cubic metres; Wawabima, 12,874 cubic metres; Ananta, 12,327; Sinduro, 6,128 cubic metres; Ohaa, 4,140 cubic metres and Watawpuo, 9,774.
He said the Division was going to promote the species to individuals, firms and organisations, adding that the ultimate aim of the TIDD was to ensure maximum returns from the sale of wood products.
Mr Dadzie said an amount of €184.17 million was realised from the export of 528,570 cubic metres of wood products from January to December, last year, and that for the same period in 2006, an amount of €170.10 million was generated.
According to him, the TIDD had targeted to generate €200 million by the end of this year, adding that the Division was able to rake in €96 million in the first half of the year.
In a related development, the Wildlife Division of the FC underscored the need for Ghanaians to undertake activities that would protect the environment for future generations.
The Public Relations Manager of the Division, Mrs Vivian A.N. Nuhu, expressed concerns about the way some people were treating the environment, thereby threatening the survival of some animal and plant species.
She noted that wildlife is not only about dangerous animals but also about living creatures like ants and butterflies.
Mr Emmanuel K.K. Mensah, Assistant Public Relations Manager of the Forestry Commission, stressed the need for people living in a particular area to embark on community forestry because of its potential to transform their lives and environment.
An official of the FC, Mr Daniel Mensah, who was manning the Resource Management Support Centre (RMSC) stand at the fair, said the centre was the technical wing of the FC.
He said it was responsible for the exploration, development, facilitation, institutionalisation, implementation and monitoring of effective and affordable forest and wildlife management system in the country in accordance with the national forest and wildlife policy.
He said the objectives included accelerating improved operational capacity of the FC, enhance operational capacity and facilitate accelerated preparation and implementation of management plans.
27-10-08
THE Timber Industry Development Division (TIDD) of the Forestry Commission (FC) has identified seven additional wood species of commercial and industrial value.
Among other industrial purposes, the wood species, according to the TIDD, can be used for panelling, furniture, flooring, mouldings, structural work, door, decorative veneer and plywood, for the local and international markets.
The seven species bring to 28 the number of wood species in Ghana that are used for manufacturing purposes.
They are Asoma, Yayaa, Wawabima, Ananta, Avodire, Sinduro, Ohaa and Watawpuo.
A Trade and Industry Officer at the TIDD, Mr R.A. Dadzie, made this known to the Daily Graphic at the ongoing Ghana International Furniture and Woodworking Exhibition (GIFEX) at the Ghana International Trade Fair Centre.
He gave the National Indicative Felling Levels (NIFLs) of the species as Asoma, 17,592 cubic metres; Yayaa, 4,678 cubic metres; Wawabima, 12,874 cubic metres; Ananta, 12,327; Sinduro, 6,128 cubic metres; Ohaa, 4,140 cubic metres and Watawpuo, 9,774.
He said the Division was going to promote the species to individuals, firms and organisations, adding that the ultimate aim of the TIDD was to ensure maximum returns from the sale of wood products.
Mr Dadzie said an amount of €184.17 million was realised from the export of 528,570 cubic metres of wood products from January to December, last year, and that for the same period in 2006, an amount of €170.10 million was generated.
According to him, the TIDD had targeted to generate €200 million by the end of this year, adding that the Division was able to rake in €96 million in the first half of the year.
In a related development, the Wildlife Division of the FC underscored the need for Ghanaians to undertake activities that would protect the environment for future generations.
The Public Relations Manager of the Division, Mrs Vivian A.N. Nuhu, expressed concerns about the way some people were treating the environment, thereby threatening the survival of some animal and plant species.
She noted that wildlife is not only about dangerous animals but also about living creatures like ants and butterflies.
Mr Emmanuel K.K. Mensah, Assistant Public Relations Manager of the Forestry Commission, stressed the need for people living in a particular area to embark on community forestry because of its potential to transform their lives and environment.
An official of the FC, Mr Daniel Mensah, who was manning the Resource Management Support Centre (RMSC) stand at the fair, said the centre was the technical wing of the FC.
He said it was responsible for the exploration, development, facilitation, institutionalisation, implementation and monitoring of effective and affordable forest and wildlife management system in the country in accordance with the national forest and wildlife policy.
He said the objectives included accelerating improved operational capacity of the FC, enhance operational capacity and facilitate accelerated preparation and implementation of management plans.
DDP constructs canopy walkway
Page 55
27-10-08
A MINIATURE canopy walkway is to be mounted in the Achimota Forest as part of efforts to boost tourism in the city.
The walkway, which will be six metres high and 25 metres long, is being built as part of the ongoing Ghana International Furniture and Woodworking Exhibition (GIFEX 2008) by DDP Outdoor Limited.
The Public Relations Manager of the Wildlife Division, Mrs Vivian A.N. Nuhu, told the Daily Graphic on Saturday that having a canopy walkway in the Achimota Forest would boost visits to the area, especially the zoo that was being built there.
She said although the walkway would be permanently in the forest, “we will see whether or not it will be possible to bring it to the Trade Fair Centre during fairs for people to have a feel of it”.
There is one of such facility at the Kakum National Park in the Central Region.
She said once the walkway was mounted, visitors to the area would pay something little to have access to it, adding that using the canopy walkway in the Achimota forest could help build the confidence of people in using the canopy walkway at the Kakum Park.
She said the walkway should have been used for the GIFEX, saying it was, however, not late for subsequent events.
Mrs Nuhu said a new zoo was currently being built in the forest following the relocation of animals to the Kumasi Zoo, adding that the zoo would cover 40 hectares of the forest.
According to her, the Wildlife Division had 100.2 hectares in the area and that it was out of that that the 40 hectares was being used for the zoo.
She described the Achimota Forest as complex, with a part of it functioning as ‘the lung of Accra’, while it had rare fruits and wildlife in it.
Mrs Nuhu indicated that ponds for crocodiles, as part of the zoo, had been developed, while there were grasscutters, ostriches and camels donated by the Libyan government.
27-10-08
A MINIATURE canopy walkway is to be mounted in the Achimota Forest as part of efforts to boost tourism in the city.
The walkway, which will be six metres high and 25 metres long, is being built as part of the ongoing Ghana International Furniture and Woodworking Exhibition (GIFEX 2008) by DDP Outdoor Limited.
The Public Relations Manager of the Wildlife Division, Mrs Vivian A.N. Nuhu, told the Daily Graphic on Saturday that having a canopy walkway in the Achimota Forest would boost visits to the area, especially the zoo that was being built there.
She said although the walkway would be permanently in the forest, “we will see whether or not it will be possible to bring it to the Trade Fair Centre during fairs for people to have a feel of it”.
There is one of such facility at the Kakum National Park in the Central Region.
She said once the walkway was mounted, visitors to the area would pay something little to have access to it, adding that using the canopy walkway in the Achimota forest could help build the confidence of people in using the canopy walkway at the Kakum Park.
She said the walkway should have been used for the GIFEX, saying it was, however, not late for subsequent events.
Mrs Nuhu said a new zoo was currently being built in the forest following the relocation of animals to the Kumasi Zoo, adding that the zoo would cover 40 hectares of the forest.
According to her, the Wildlife Division had 100.2 hectares in the area and that it was out of that that the 40 hectares was being used for the zoo.
She described the Achimota Forest as complex, with a part of it functioning as ‘the lung of Accra’, while it had rare fruits and wildlife in it.
Mrs Nuhu indicated that ponds for crocodiles, as part of the zoo, had been developed, while there were grasscutters, ostriches and camels donated by the Libyan government.
WITC develops smoke dryer
25-10-08
Page 18
THE Wood Industries Training Centre (WITC) has developed a smoke dryer facility that uses saw dust for the drying of wood products instead of electricity.
The facility, which is suitable for small and medium scale enterprises (SMEs), is affordable and easy to use.
“The smoke dryer is user-friendly and does not pollute the environment, Mr George Zowonu, Public Relations Office of the WITC, told the Daily Graphic at the 2008 Ghana International Furniture and Woodworking Exhibition (GIFEX) at the Trade Fair Centre in Accra.
He noted that SMEs spent a lot of money in drying their wood and that “we have developed this facility to cut cost”.
He said the centre was holding workshops with SMEs to educate them on the use and manufacture of the facility to enable them to reduce their (SMEs) operational costs.
“This facility would go a long way to help reduce the operational costs of SMEs,” he emphasised.
According to him, every wood species had its moisture content and that the wood was supposed to be dry to meet the appropriate moisture content depending on its use.
Mr Zowonu indicated that the centre provided technical training to people irrespective of their category in the wood industry, and that in addition to the provision of training, the centre, among others, manufactured tongue and groove (T&G) wood products for panels and ceilings things.
He disclosed that the name of the centre would be changed to Timber Technology Centre as a result of changes in technology so as to bring it up to the expected standard.
With its primary focus on capacity building, human resource development and institutional strengthening, the centre offers a wide range of supporting services to those involved in downstream wood processing.
In addition to its core activities, Mr Zowonu said the centre provided extension and consultancy to the timber industry in sawdoctoring and wood processing, among other services.
Over the last 12 years, WITC had earned a reputation as a centre of excellence for training, consultancy in the timber industry, as well as other timber-related sectors in the country.
It is staffed with highly experienced and committed people, who share the core belief that progress in the timber industry can only be achieved through capacity building and by working in partnership with clients and stakeholders.
Page 18
THE Wood Industries Training Centre (WITC) has developed a smoke dryer facility that uses saw dust for the drying of wood products instead of electricity.
The facility, which is suitable for small and medium scale enterprises (SMEs), is affordable and easy to use.
“The smoke dryer is user-friendly and does not pollute the environment, Mr George Zowonu, Public Relations Office of the WITC, told the Daily Graphic at the 2008 Ghana International Furniture and Woodworking Exhibition (GIFEX) at the Trade Fair Centre in Accra.
He noted that SMEs spent a lot of money in drying their wood and that “we have developed this facility to cut cost”.
He said the centre was holding workshops with SMEs to educate them on the use and manufacture of the facility to enable them to reduce their (SMEs) operational costs.
“This facility would go a long way to help reduce the operational costs of SMEs,” he emphasised.
According to him, every wood species had its moisture content and that the wood was supposed to be dry to meet the appropriate moisture content depending on its use.
Mr Zowonu indicated that the centre provided technical training to people irrespective of their category in the wood industry, and that in addition to the provision of training, the centre, among others, manufactured tongue and groove (T&G) wood products for panels and ceilings things.
He disclosed that the name of the centre would be changed to Timber Technology Centre as a result of changes in technology so as to bring it up to the expected standard.
With its primary focus on capacity building, human resource development and institutional strengthening, the centre offers a wide range of supporting services to those involved in downstream wood processing.
In addition to its core activities, Mr Zowonu said the centre provided extension and consultancy to the timber industry in sawdoctoring and wood processing, among other services.
Over the last 12 years, WITC had earned a reputation as a centre of excellence for training, consultancy in the timber industry, as well as other timber-related sectors in the country.
It is staffed with highly experienced and committed people, who share the core belief that progress in the timber industry can only be achieved through capacity building and by working in partnership with clients and stakeholders.
Call for body to check sub-standard concrete products
25-10-08
Page 19
THE Deputy Minister of Transportation, Mr Magnus Opare-Asamoah, has called for the formation of an association that will serve as a peer review mechanism to stop the proliferation of sub-standard concrete products in the country.
“Such a body could also collaborate with other professionals to research into new trends and practices in the industry,” he said.
Mr Opare-Asamoah said this at a public forum organised by the African Concrete Product (ACP), as part of the 12th Ghana International Furniture Woodworking Exhibition (GIFEX 2008) at the Trade Fair Centre.
He said the products of the construction industry needed to be regulated to ensure that consumers got value for their moneys, adding that the government was committed to firms the necessarily supported and gave encouragement in ensuring that the “construction industry continues to contribute its quota to the gross domestic product of the country”.
"The government will continue to provide the needed resources and support for the regulatory agencies such as the Ghana Standards Board (GSB) to execute their mandate effectively," he stated, saying that there was the need for the country to aspire to and maintain high standards.
Mr Opare-Asamoah commended ACP for its efforts in promoting the use of high quality concrete products in the building and road construction industry.
According to him, the company had since the country's independence, been a true and reliable partner in the construction industry.
The Chairman of the ACP, Mr Carl Richards, said the country had seen an unprecedented boom in construction in recent times.
He said the importance of using correctly specified materials and properly qualified professionals in the construction process could not be overemphasised.
"With 52 years of service under its belt, ACP is an industry expert and leader. Our original mandate to create concrete products that meet international standards holds," he said.
The President of the Ghana Institute of Architects, Arc. William N.T. Evans-Anfom, said it was sad that some people hired the services of non-professionals when building, adding that it was more expensive to use a non-professional, since one was likely to spend more on shoddy works.
He said the building industry was all about standards.
Page 19
THE Deputy Minister of Transportation, Mr Magnus Opare-Asamoah, has called for the formation of an association that will serve as a peer review mechanism to stop the proliferation of sub-standard concrete products in the country.
“Such a body could also collaborate with other professionals to research into new trends and practices in the industry,” he said.
Mr Opare-Asamoah said this at a public forum organised by the African Concrete Product (ACP), as part of the 12th Ghana International Furniture Woodworking Exhibition (GIFEX 2008) at the Trade Fair Centre.
He said the products of the construction industry needed to be regulated to ensure that consumers got value for their moneys, adding that the government was committed to firms the necessarily supported and gave encouragement in ensuring that the “construction industry continues to contribute its quota to the gross domestic product of the country”.
"The government will continue to provide the needed resources and support for the regulatory agencies such as the Ghana Standards Board (GSB) to execute their mandate effectively," he stated, saying that there was the need for the country to aspire to and maintain high standards.
Mr Opare-Asamoah commended ACP for its efforts in promoting the use of high quality concrete products in the building and road construction industry.
According to him, the company had since the country's independence, been a true and reliable partner in the construction industry.
The Chairman of the ACP, Mr Carl Richards, said the country had seen an unprecedented boom in construction in recent times.
He said the importance of using correctly specified materials and properly qualified professionals in the construction process could not be overemphasised.
"With 52 years of service under its belt, ACP is an industry expert and leader. Our original mandate to create concrete products that meet international standards holds," he said.
The President of the Ghana Institute of Architects, Arc. William N.T. Evans-Anfom, said it was sad that some people hired the services of non-professionals when building, adding that it was more expensive to use a non-professional, since one was likely to spend more on shoddy works.
He said the building industry was all about standards.
Coconut, palm waste to be turned into usable wood
25-10-08
Back page lead
THE Forestry Research Institute of Ghana (FORIG) has made a significant breakthrough in processing waste coconut and palm trees into usable wood for the manufacture of various products.
Items that can be manufactured from the waste coconut and palm trees include tables, chairs, cupboards and beds.
Some of these products are on display at the 12th Ghana International Furniture and Woodworking Exhibition (GIFEX) at the Ghana International Trade Fair Centre in Accra.
A research scientist at FORIG, Mr Francis Wilson Owusu, told the Daily Graphic that coconut and palm trees that were more than 40 years old were suitable for use, and that the older the tree, the better the volume.
He said the institute had moved into discovering the trees as a result of the country's dwindling forests, adding that coconut and palm tree species were found in many communities across the country.
In a presentation at a seminar organised as part of GIFEX 2008, Mr Owusu said, “The forests of Ghana are dwindling as a result of over-exploitation.”
The effects, he said, were that some industries were folding up, thereby creating unemployment, there was a decline in revenue generation, increase in illegal chain saw activities, among other things.
Mr Owusu said with the new discovery, the institute would recommend the wood species to manufacturers and users of wood products, adding, "We are now at the promotional stage."
He said the wood from the trees was solid and explained that the institute had acquired a logosol machine for the milling of the trees into lumbers, noting that the machines could be used to mill the trees where they were felled.
With the discovery, he said, owners of palm and coconut trees could benefit substantially as they could make money from the sale of the trees once they were dead or attacked by disease.
At the seminar, it came out that FORIG had also been successful in working on some of the timber species that were unknown or less used, with some of the timber species being adopted and available on the market.
Back page lead
THE Forestry Research Institute of Ghana (FORIG) has made a significant breakthrough in processing waste coconut and palm trees into usable wood for the manufacture of various products.
Items that can be manufactured from the waste coconut and palm trees include tables, chairs, cupboards and beds.
Some of these products are on display at the 12th Ghana International Furniture and Woodworking Exhibition (GIFEX) at the Ghana International Trade Fair Centre in Accra.
A research scientist at FORIG, Mr Francis Wilson Owusu, told the Daily Graphic that coconut and palm trees that were more than 40 years old were suitable for use, and that the older the tree, the better the volume.
He said the institute had moved into discovering the trees as a result of the country's dwindling forests, adding that coconut and palm tree species were found in many communities across the country.
In a presentation at a seminar organised as part of GIFEX 2008, Mr Owusu said, “The forests of Ghana are dwindling as a result of over-exploitation.”
The effects, he said, were that some industries were folding up, thereby creating unemployment, there was a decline in revenue generation, increase in illegal chain saw activities, among other things.
Mr Owusu said with the new discovery, the institute would recommend the wood species to manufacturers and users of wood products, adding, "We are now at the promotional stage."
He said the wood from the trees was solid and explained that the institute had acquired a logosol machine for the milling of the trees into lumbers, noting that the machines could be used to mill the trees where they were felled.
With the discovery, he said, owners of palm and coconut trees could benefit substantially as they could make money from the sale of the trees once they were dead or attacked by disease.
At the seminar, it came out that FORIG had also been successful in working on some of the timber species that were unknown or less used, with some of the timber species being adopted and available on the market.
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
University of Ghana to break for Dec polls
Spread
21-10-08
THE University of Ghana is to break from December 6 to 8, 2008 to enable students to take part in the December 7 elections.
The authorities of the university have, therefore, changed the starting date of the first semester examinations for the 2008-2009 academic year from November 24, 2008, to November 19, 2008.
“We will break for December 6,7 and 8, 2008 for students to go and exercise their franchise. We will, however, continue with the first semester examinations from December 9, 2008,” the acting Director of Academic Affairs, Mr E.A. Amartey, told the Daily Graphic yesterday.
He said the break for the elections would not in anyway affect the academic calendar, and that the date, December 13, 2008, on which the first semester was supposed to end remained unchanged.,
He said students were expected to finish their examinations by December 13, 2008.
Mr Amartey said the authorities had already communicated the change in the commencement of the examinations to students.
Meanwhile, some students have welcomed the decision of the authorities to give them the opportunity exercise their franchise.
They said the short break would also afford them the opportunity to follow the elections closely.
“The decision is okay because writing examinations during the voting period will have disenfranchised some us,” a second-year student, Abdul Kassim said.
Another student, Stephen Asamoah, who supported the assertion of his colleague, said most students registered outside campus and that “it was good to allow them to go home and cast their ballots and come back”.
The decision of the authorities of the University of Ghana comes just about a week after the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) announced that it was going to break for students to partake in the elections.
The University Relations Officer of KNUST, Mr Solomon Panford, said after deliberating on the matter, the Academic Board had decided that the university should go on recess on Friday, December 5, 2008 and resume on Monday, December 8, 2008 to allow students who would want to travel to participate in the elections to do so.
21-10-08
THE University of Ghana is to break from December 6 to 8, 2008 to enable students to take part in the December 7 elections.
The authorities of the university have, therefore, changed the starting date of the first semester examinations for the 2008-2009 academic year from November 24, 2008, to November 19, 2008.
“We will break for December 6,7 and 8, 2008 for students to go and exercise their franchise. We will, however, continue with the first semester examinations from December 9, 2008,” the acting Director of Academic Affairs, Mr E.A. Amartey, told the Daily Graphic yesterday.
He said the break for the elections would not in anyway affect the academic calendar, and that the date, December 13, 2008, on which the first semester was supposed to end remained unchanged.,
He said students were expected to finish their examinations by December 13, 2008.
Mr Amartey said the authorities had already communicated the change in the commencement of the examinations to students.
Meanwhile, some students have welcomed the decision of the authorities to give them the opportunity exercise their franchise.
They said the short break would also afford them the opportunity to follow the elections closely.
“The decision is okay because writing examinations during the voting period will have disenfranchised some us,” a second-year student, Abdul Kassim said.
Another student, Stephen Asamoah, who supported the assertion of his colleague, said most students registered outside campus and that “it was good to allow them to go home and cast their ballots and come back”.
The decision of the authorities of the University of Ghana comes just about a week after the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) announced that it was going to break for students to partake in the elections.
The University Relations Officer of KNUST, Mr Solomon Panford, said after deliberating on the matter, the Academic Board had decided that the university should go on recess on Friday, December 5, 2008 and resume on Monday, December 8, 2008 to allow students who would want to travel to participate in the elections to do so.
Monday, October 20, 2008
Spain marks National Day
Page 47
20-10-08
THE Spanish Ambassador to Ghana, Madam Julia Alicia Olmo Romero, has said the bilateral trade between Spain and Ghana is developing in a manner that will be of great benefit to the two countries.
She mentioned the successful execution of the second financial protocol that provided Ghana with 65 million euros of soft loans that were being used in the agriculture, fisheries, water, health and infrastructure sectors.
In addition, she cited the satisfactory negotiation of the debt swap agreement that implied a debt cancellation in favour of Ghana to the tune of almost 30 million euros.
Speaking at the celebration of the National Day of Spain, Madam Romero also mentioned the agreement for the promotion and protection of reciprocal investments.
The creation of a vocational and training centre that would contribute to job creation, building capacities, and the “gentleman’s agreement on migration”, she said, also formed part of cooperation between the two countries.
“Nevertheless, I am convinced that we still have a hard work to do to allow Ghana and Spain to deepen their mutual knowledge and expand their relations as a whole,” she stated.
Madam Romero commended Spanish non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and religious orders for their determination to improve the education and health situation of the less favoured people.
She said the day did not only mark the arrivals of the Spaniards in America but also the birth of Spain as a country that had contributed to forge a distinctive identity and given birth to a language and culture that reached nearly 500 million worldwide.
“Today Spain is a modern and dynamic country that during the last 30 years has been experiencing a significant political, economic and social development. After those years of fruitful evolution, we have achieved a collective aspiration of taking our place alongside the most developed countries in Europe without leaving our responsibility of being a bridge between continents, regions and cultures,” she said.
20-10-08
THE Spanish Ambassador to Ghana, Madam Julia Alicia Olmo Romero, has said the bilateral trade between Spain and Ghana is developing in a manner that will be of great benefit to the two countries.
She mentioned the successful execution of the second financial protocol that provided Ghana with 65 million euros of soft loans that were being used in the agriculture, fisheries, water, health and infrastructure sectors.
In addition, she cited the satisfactory negotiation of the debt swap agreement that implied a debt cancellation in favour of Ghana to the tune of almost 30 million euros.
Speaking at the celebration of the National Day of Spain, Madam Romero also mentioned the agreement for the promotion and protection of reciprocal investments.
The creation of a vocational and training centre that would contribute to job creation, building capacities, and the “gentleman’s agreement on migration”, she said, also formed part of cooperation between the two countries.
“Nevertheless, I am convinced that we still have a hard work to do to allow Ghana and Spain to deepen their mutual knowledge and expand their relations as a whole,” she stated.
Madam Romero commended Spanish non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and religious orders for their determination to improve the education and health situation of the less favoured people.
She said the day did not only mark the arrivals of the Spaniards in America but also the birth of Spain as a country that had contributed to forge a distinctive identity and given birth to a language and culture that reached nearly 500 million worldwide.
“Today Spain is a modern and dynamic country that during the last 30 years has been experiencing a significant political, economic and social development. After those years of fruitful evolution, we have achieved a collective aspiration of taking our place alongside the most developed countries in Europe without leaving our responsibility of being a bridge between continents, regions and cultures,” she said.
Ghana marks World Food Day
18-10-08
Page 18
GHANA and 39 other African countries have benefited from a $28-million package from the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) to address problems associated with the global rise in food prices.
The money, which was made available through the organisation’s Technical Cooperation Programme, is to enable countries to carry out short-term measures, particularly distribution of essential farm inputs to farmers.
The FAO’s Representative in Ghana, Ms Helena Semedo, announced this yesterday at a Flag-hoisting ceremony in Accra to mark this year’s World Food Day celebrations.
It was on the theme: “World Food Security: the Challenges of Climate Change and Bio-energy”.
She said the day, which was celebrated in 190 countries, provided the organisation and its member countries the opportunity to reflect on the chosen theme and undertake efforts to attain food security and eradicate hunger in the world.
“Ghana has made significant strides to reduce hunger and poverty and is regarded as one of a few African countries that are likely to achieve the first Millennium Development Goal by 2015. This positive outlook may be derailed by climate change, among many other factors, including soaring food prices,” she said.
The Minister of Food and Agriculture, Mr Ernest Akubuor Debrah, said although climate change affected everyone, the worst-hit was the hundreds of millions of small-scale farmers, fishermen and forest-dependent people who were vulnerable and insecure food-wise.
“By affecting the availability of land, water and biodiversity, the price of food will continue to rise as demand increases and the increasing demand for biofuels produced from crops will adversely impact on the availability of food for the poor,” he said.
To address the problem, he said, it behoved all to stop destroying the environment by adopting good farming methods, adding that farmers should abide by the advice of extension agents of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture.
Mr Debrah said the ministry had made it an objective to ensure universal food security and improved growth in agricultural incomes by adopting policies that would enhance and facilitate efforts by all stakeholders to increase productivity.
“As a result, we have in place several strategic interventions like improved irrigation to small holder farmers, distribution of improved seeds and seedlings, provision of inputs to farmers and provision of storage facilities for international marketing,” he stated.
The Minister of Fisheries, Ms Gladys Asmah, in a speech read on her behalf, said pressures had been exerted on fisheries resources, thereby making it impossible to scientifically manage the country’s fisheries resources.
“Our seas, lakes and rivers have been over-fished and exploited. Fishing is no longer a way of life but an intense commercial activity with heavy investments and capital outlays,” she said, adding that while the country required nearly 800,000 metric tons of fish annually, the country’s total annual fish harvest stands at 400,000 metric tons,” she stated.
The Director General of the FAO, Mr Jacques Diouf, in a message, said the number of hungry people had increased from 75 million at the end of last year due to the soaring food and energy prices.
“This crisis is due to decreasing investments in agriculture in the poorest countries during the last 30 years. The share of agriculture in public development aid declined from 17 per cent in 1980 to three per cent in 2006,” he said.
Page 18
GHANA and 39 other African countries have benefited from a $28-million package from the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) to address problems associated with the global rise in food prices.
The money, which was made available through the organisation’s Technical Cooperation Programme, is to enable countries to carry out short-term measures, particularly distribution of essential farm inputs to farmers.
The FAO’s Representative in Ghana, Ms Helena Semedo, announced this yesterday at a Flag-hoisting ceremony in Accra to mark this year’s World Food Day celebrations.
It was on the theme: “World Food Security: the Challenges of Climate Change and Bio-energy”.
She said the day, which was celebrated in 190 countries, provided the organisation and its member countries the opportunity to reflect on the chosen theme and undertake efforts to attain food security and eradicate hunger in the world.
“Ghana has made significant strides to reduce hunger and poverty and is regarded as one of a few African countries that are likely to achieve the first Millennium Development Goal by 2015. This positive outlook may be derailed by climate change, among many other factors, including soaring food prices,” she said.
The Minister of Food and Agriculture, Mr Ernest Akubuor Debrah, said although climate change affected everyone, the worst-hit was the hundreds of millions of small-scale farmers, fishermen and forest-dependent people who were vulnerable and insecure food-wise.
“By affecting the availability of land, water and biodiversity, the price of food will continue to rise as demand increases and the increasing demand for biofuels produced from crops will adversely impact on the availability of food for the poor,” he said.
To address the problem, he said, it behoved all to stop destroying the environment by adopting good farming methods, adding that farmers should abide by the advice of extension agents of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture.
Mr Debrah said the ministry had made it an objective to ensure universal food security and improved growth in agricultural incomes by adopting policies that would enhance and facilitate efforts by all stakeholders to increase productivity.
“As a result, we have in place several strategic interventions like improved irrigation to small holder farmers, distribution of improved seeds and seedlings, provision of inputs to farmers and provision of storage facilities for international marketing,” he stated.
The Minister of Fisheries, Ms Gladys Asmah, in a speech read on her behalf, said pressures had been exerted on fisheries resources, thereby making it impossible to scientifically manage the country’s fisheries resources.
“Our seas, lakes and rivers have been over-fished and exploited. Fishing is no longer a way of life but an intense commercial activity with heavy investments and capital outlays,” she said, adding that while the country required nearly 800,000 metric tons of fish annually, the country’s total annual fish harvest stands at 400,000 metric tons,” she stated.
The Director General of the FAO, Mr Jacques Diouf, in a message, said the number of hungry people had increased from 75 million at the end of last year due to the soaring food and energy prices.
“This crisis is due to decreasing investments in agriculture in the poorest countries during the last 30 years. The share of agriculture in public development aid declined from 17 per cent in 1980 to three per cent in 2006,” he said.
“Discoveries in Learning” conference opens Thursday
Page 11
20-10-08
A THREE-DAY international education exhibition conference that will showcase practical and innovative techniques in learning will be held at the British Council Hall in Accra from October 23-25, 2008.
The conference, dubbed “Discoveries in Learning”, will bring together lecturers, principals, teachers, students and parents and other stakeholders in the education sector.
It is being organised by Higher Learning Ghana, a company committed to empowering individuals, organisations and institutions with creative strategies to help them realise their potential to the fullest.
The conference will be held in collaboration with the British Council, AMAL Bank and Ministry of Education, Science and Sports (MoESS). The sector minister, Prof Dominic Fobih, is expected to open the conference, which will also be attended by representatives of the Ghana Education Service (GES).
The conference, which is on the theme: “The Learning Revolution”, will provide the platform through which international and local experts will share ideas in the area of education.
Some of the topics to be treated at the conference include learning motivation and thinking skills, learner-centred leadership, creative use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) to organisational teaching, personal learning and thinking skills, and preparing young people for the global market.
The topics for the exhibition conference are meant to be interactive, practical and innovative, as well as impact on techniques of learning and teaching.
The Director of Higher Learning Ghana, Mrs Amanda Allotey, said the “Discoveries in Learning”, which is Ghana’s premier leading international exhibition, had plans to showcase recent breakthroughs and innovations on learning strategies”.
Speakers for the exhibition conference include Dr Trevor Male and Mr Garry Burnett of the University of Hull, United Kingdom, who will be speaking on the topics: “Learner Centred Leadership, Learner Motivation and Personal Learning Skills” respectively.
A motivational speaker, Mr Emmanuel Dei-Tumi, will also speak on the topic, “Preparing Young People for the Global Marketplace and Mr Ebo Whyte, another motivational speaker, will be one of the speakers at the Parenting Seminar on Saturday, October 25, 2008. Other topics will include ‘Early Years’, ‘Special Needs’, ‘ICT’ and ‘Practical Strategies for Parents’.
Mr Moses Anibaba, Director of the British Council, has also endorsed the programme, noting that “There is a lot of synergy between the topics to be covered within Discoveries in Learning and our Continuous Professional and Personal Development Programmes, hence the British Council’s support for the event”.
He also noted that the exhibition conference had the potential of raising the next generation of leaders to meet global demands of the marketplace.
20-10-08
A THREE-DAY international education exhibition conference that will showcase practical and innovative techniques in learning will be held at the British Council Hall in Accra from October 23-25, 2008.
The conference, dubbed “Discoveries in Learning”, will bring together lecturers, principals, teachers, students and parents and other stakeholders in the education sector.
It is being organised by Higher Learning Ghana, a company committed to empowering individuals, organisations and institutions with creative strategies to help them realise their potential to the fullest.
The conference will be held in collaboration with the British Council, AMAL Bank and Ministry of Education, Science and Sports (MoESS). The sector minister, Prof Dominic Fobih, is expected to open the conference, which will also be attended by representatives of the Ghana Education Service (GES).
The conference, which is on the theme: “The Learning Revolution”, will provide the platform through which international and local experts will share ideas in the area of education.
Some of the topics to be treated at the conference include learning motivation and thinking skills, learner-centred leadership, creative use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) to organisational teaching, personal learning and thinking skills, and preparing young people for the global market.
The topics for the exhibition conference are meant to be interactive, practical and innovative, as well as impact on techniques of learning and teaching.
The Director of Higher Learning Ghana, Mrs Amanda Allotey, said the “Discoveries in Learning”, which is Ghana’s premier leading international exhibition, had plans to showcase recent breakthroughs and innovations on learning strategies”.
Speakers for the exhibition conference include Dr Trevor Male and Mr Garry Burnett of the University of Hull, United Kingdom, who will be speaking on the topics: “Learner Centred Leadership, Learner Motivation and Personal Learning Skills” respectively.
A motivational speaker, Mr Emmanuel Dei-Tumi, will also speak on the topic, “Preparing Young People for the Global Marketplace and Mr Ebo Whyte, another motivational speaker, will be one of the speakers at the Parenting Seminar on Saturday, October 25, 2008. Other topics will include ‘Early Years’, ‘Special Needs’, ‘ICT’ and ‘Practical Strategies for Parents’.
Mr Moses Anibaba, Director of the British Council, has also endorsed the programme, noting that “There is a lot of synergy between the topics to be covered within Discoveries in Learning and our Continuous Professional and Personal Development Programmes, hence the British Council’s support for the event”.
He also noted that the exhibition conference had the potential of raising the next generation of leaders to meet global demands of the marketplace.
Five honoured by ATRACO old students
20-10-08
SOME old students of the Accra Teacher Training College (ATRACO) have honoured two former principals and three teachers of the college.
They are Mr Ferdinand Gberbie, former Principal (1978-1988); Mr Wallace Abubakar, immediate past Principal (2001-2007); Mr Daniel Ofotsu Apronti, former Head of Mathematics Department; Mr Thomas Acquinas Ntumy, former Head of English Department and Mr Joe-Adjei Cobblah, former Head of Science Department.
They were each presented with a certificate.
Each of the recipients was given the opportunity to share some experiences, as well as some challenges and encounters they had with their old students.
The Principal of ATRACO, Ms Christine Henaku, used the occasion to thank the organisers and also called on the government to assist the school to put up an assembly hall.
For his part, Mr John Kwame Quayson, an old student, who organised the programme with the assistance of Mr Charles Adjetey, said the event was a historic one since Messrs Gberbie, Apronti and Joe-Adjei were among the few who moved the school from the old site at Kokomlemle to its present location in 1985.
He said teachers played a key role in the development of a country's economy, through quality education, and must be rewarded when the chalk and pens were officially placed on the table upon retirement.
Other past students, including Dr Okpoti, Head of Mathematics Department of the University of Education, Winneba and Mr De Youngsters, Proprietor of De Youngsters School, were also given the floor to recount some experiences to the admiration of the current student body.
SOME old students of the Accra Teacher Training College (ATRACO) have honoured two former principals and three teachers of the college.
They are Mr Ferdinand Gberbie, former Principal (1978-1988); Mr Wallace Abubakar, immediate past Principal (2001-2007); Mr Daniel Ofotsu Apronti, former Head of Mathematics Department; Mr Thomas Acquinas Ntumy, former Head of English Department and Mr Joe-Adjei Cobblah, former Head of Science Department.
They were each presented with a certificate.
Each of the recipients was given the opportunity to share some experiences, as well as some challenges and encounters they had with their old students.
The Principal of ATRACO, Ms Christine Henaku, used the occasion to thank the organisers and also called on the government to assist the school to put up an assembly hall.
For his part, Mr John Kwame Quayson, an old student, who organised the programme with the assistance of Mr Charles Adjetey, said the event was a historic one since Messrs Gberbie, Apronti and Joe-Adjei were among the few who moved the school from the old site at Kokomlemle to its present location in 1985.
He said teachers played a key role in the development of a country's economy, through quality education, and must be rewarded when the chalk and pens were officially placed on the table upon retirement.
Other past students, including Dr Okpoti, Head of Mathematics Department of the University of Education, Winneba and Mr De Youngsters, Proprietor of De Youngsters School, were also given the floor to recount some experiences to the admiration of the current student body.
Five honoured by ATRACO old students
Page 11
20-10-08
THE Ghana Telecom University College (GTUC) has initiated moves to set up a Centre for Education and Technology that will provide Information and Technology (IT) related services for tertiary institutions in and outside the country.
To facilitate that vision, the GTUC has created the office of Information Technology Services which will help speed up the process.
The President of the university, Dr Osei K. Darkwa, announced this at the third matriculation of the GTUC in Accra on Friday.
In all, 511 freshers, made up 43 females and 434 males, were admitted to the college. The fresh students comprised 53 students from 16 other African countries. They will pursue certificate, diploma, degree and postgraduate programmes.
Dr Darkwa said the Centre for Education Technology in Africa (CETA) would link the GTUC with colleges and schools throughout West Africa, Africa and the world at large, adding that the office of Information Technology would manage the university’s central technology infrastructure and provide IT-support services for the university.
He said the GTUC was seeking accreditation from the National Accreditation Board (NAB) to offer new programmes in Computer Forensics and Information Technology Management, adding that a third faculty, the Faculty of Business Entrepreneurship, would start next year.
“To position the university to be more competitive with others in Ghana and other parts of the world, the university is moving in the direction of open and distance learning. We are in the process of creating the GTUC virtual campus and satellite campuses in selected cities in Ghana, in conjunction with the polytechnics,” he said.
Dr Darkwa said that would enable the university to offer online courses to students who might not be physically located in Accra, saying that by “creating the GTUC virtual campus the university can enrol more students throughout Ghana and West Africa”.
He said the students were fortunate to be entering the university at the time the authorities were putting up a new classroom complex, establishing new technological infrastructure that would link the GTUC to similar institutions in other parts of the world, as well as establishing the university as an autonomous entity from its parent company.
“We encourage you to involve yourself in one or more of the many student clubs, as well as community service. It is often in these enjoyable co-curricular activities that we have opportunities to explore and develop yet untapped aspects of your character and talents,” he told the students.
On behalf of his colleagues, Kwabena Appiah-Berko pledged to share in the vision and mission of the university and appealed for the expansion of hostel facilities.
20-10-08
THE Ghana Telecom University College (GTUC) has initiated moves to set up a Centre for Education and Technology that will provide Information and Technology (IT) related services for tertiary institutions in and outside the country.
To facilitate that vision, the GTUC has created the office of Information Technology Services which will help speed up the process.
The President of the university, Dr Osei K. Darkwa, announced this at the third matriculation of the GTUC in Accra on Friday.
In all, 511 freshers, made up 43 females and 434 males, were admitted to the college. The fresh students comprised 53 students from 16 other African countries. They will pursue certificate, diploma, degree and postgraduate programmes.
Dr Darkwa said the Centre for Education Technology in Africa (CETA) would link the GTUC with colleges and schools throughout West Africa, Africa and the world at large, adding that the office of Information Technology would manage the university’s central technology infrastructure and provide IT-support services for the university.
He said the GTUC was seeking accreditation from the National Accreditation Board (NAB) to offer new programmes in Computer Forensics and Information Technology Management, adding that a third faculty, the Faculty of Business Entrepreneurship, would start next year.
“To position the university to be more competitive with others in Ghana and other parts of the world, the university is moving in the direction of open and distance learning. We are in the process of creating the GTUC virtual campus and satellite campuses in selected cities in Ghana, in conjunction with the polytechnics,” he said.
Dr Darkwa said that would enable the university to offer online courses to students who might not be physically located in Accra, saying that by “creating the GTUC virtual campus the university can enrol more students throughout Ghana and West Africa”.
He said the students were fortunate to be entering the university at the time the authorities were putting up a new classroom complex, establishing new technological infrastructure that would link the GTUC to similar institutions in other parts of the world, as well as establishing the university as an autonomous entity from its parent company.
“We encourage you to involve yourself in one or more of the many student clubs, as well as community service. It is often in these enjoyable co-curricular activities that we have opportunities to explore and develop yet untapped aspects of your character and talents,” he told the students.
On behalf of his colleagues, Kwabena Appiah-Berko pledged to share in the vision and mission of the university and appealed for the expansion of hostel facilities.
Friday, October 17, 2008
Komenda Senior High Technical is 17
17-10-08
Page 11
THE Second World War (1939-1945) bequeathed a barracks to the people of the Komenda Traditional Area. It was inhabited by the Fleet Air Arm of the Royal British Navy. A section of the barracks provided the fertile ground where a mustard seed was sown, growing to become the Komenda Senior High Technical School.
The school was established in January 1991 as a community co-educational day senior high school, with preference for technical training. In accordance with the government’s policy at the time, PNDCL 207, the school inherited its basic equipment for teaching and learning from the Experimental Junior Secondary School which which later became Aldesgate Junior Secondary School, Komenda.
The decision to locate the school in the barracks was resolved through consultations with the traditional rulers, the Komenda, Edina, Eguafo Abirem (KEEA) administration then headed by Major Joseph Atta Clifford-Wirrom (Rtd), the Regional Education Office, then under Mr P. A. K. Badu-Prah, and Dr G.K. Erbynn, the then Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Investment Centre and now Nana Owoododow X, Chief of Assin Jakai and Praso in the Central Region.
The structures in the barracks underwent some renovation works and expansion, with additional facilities to make it suitable for educational use. By 1999, the Technical, Agricultural and Visual Arts departments had been given permanent classrooms.The headmaster’s office and library blocks were also completed.
Guided by its motto “Dzinpa Ye Sen Ahonya”, - good name is better than riches, the pioneer students, numbering 73, comprising 55 boys and 18 girls under the tutorship of five, including the headmaster, girded their loins, uprooted stubborn stumps, filled gullies, reduced bushes to pathways and toiled variously to give the school its current shape and condition.
To date, close to 1,000 boys and girls have been duly registered, trained and passed out into the world and are found in all walks of life.
We commend those band of noble teachers who endured the harsh conditions and served in various capacities and lifted the banner of the school high. We salute them.
Four heads have administered the school since its inception. Mr Joseph Ernest Tachie-Menson, now of blessed memory, was the pioneer headmaster. His tenure spanned January 1991 to January 1999. He was responsible for the construction and inauguration of the first sets of new buildings.
He is remembered for hosting two speech days. The first was on October 10, 1995 and the second on October 11, 1997.
Ms Victoria Regina Longdon (1999-2003) was credited with the introduction of a canteen system which enabled hostel students to have regular hygiene and timely-served meals. The result was an increase in enrolment as students from outside the community joined the school from Winneba, Apam, Saltpond, Sekondi-Takoradi and Cape Coast. She also held two speech days.
Mr Gabriel Kwame Tagborlo (March 2003-June 2005) succeded Ms Longdon. His service with the school ended in June 2005 by reason of retirement. The fourth and current headmaster, Mr David Nicholas Bonney took office in June 2005.
Today, KOMENSTEC is no longer a community day school. It is a national school that offers placement for every Ghanaian student who qualifies by all standards to pursue a senior high technical school education. With a further expansion of facilities by an additional magnificent two-storey girls dormitory block to offer accommodation for non-community students, a 76-seater Eicher bus to promote educational tours and a 300-seater dining hall block under constrution, the school is poised to gradually take its place among its kind in the country.
The school is grateful to the government of Ghana through its relevant bodies for the continued care and support it has received from it. The Board of Governors and parent-teacher association (PTA) is collaborating with the school’s administration to develop the school further.
As the school celebrates its day tomorrow, Saturday, October 18, 2008, its board, all teaching and non-teachinfg staff, students, well wishers and friends, wish the school a happy celebrations.
Page 11
THE Second World War (1939-1945) bequeathed a barracks to the people of the Komenda Traditional Area. It was inhabited by the Fleet Air Arm of the Royal British Navy. A section of the barracks provided the fertile ground where a mustard seed was sown, growing to become the Komenda Senior High Technical School.
The school was established in January 1991 as a community co-educational day senior high school, with preference for technical training. In accordance with the government’s policy at the time, PNDCL 207, the school inherited its basic equipment for teaching and learning from the Experimental Junior Secondary School which which later became Aldesgate Junior Secondary School, Komenda.
The decision to locate the school in the barracks was resolved through consultations with the traditional rulers, the Komenda, Edina, Eguafo Abirem (KEEA) administration then headed by Major Joseph Atta Clifford-Wirrom (Rtd), the Regional Education Office, then under Mr P. A. K. Badu-Prah, and Dr G.K. Erbynn, the then Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Investment Centre and now Nana Owoododow X, Chief of Assin Jakai and Praso in the Central Region.
The structures in the barracks underwent some renovation works and expansion, with additional facilities to make it suitable for educational use. By 1999, the Technical, Agricultural and Visual Arts departments had been given permanent classrooms.The headmaster’s office and library blocks were also completed.
Guided by its motto “Dzinpa Ye Sen Ahonya”, - good name is better than riches, the pioneer students, numbering 73, comprising 55 boys and 18 girls under the tutorship of five, including the headmaster, girded their loins, uprooted stubborn stumps, filled gullies, reduced bushes to pathways and toiled variously to give the school its current shape and condition.
To date, close to 1,000 boys and girls have been duly registered, trained and passed out into the world and are found in all walks of life.
We commend those band of noble teachers who endured the harsh conditions and served in various capacities and lifted the banner of the school high. We salute them.
Four heads have administered the school since its inception. Mr Joseph Ernest Tachie-Menson, now of blessed memory, was the pioneer headmaster. His tenure spanned January 1991 to January 1999. He was responsible for the construction and inauguration of the first sets of new buildings.
He is remembered for hosting two speech days. The first was on October 10, 1995 and the second on October 11, 1997.
Ms Victoria Regina Longdon (1999-2003) was credited with the introduction of a canteen system which enabled hostel students to have regular hygiene and timely-served meals. The result was an increase in enrolment as students from outside the community joined the school from Winneba, Apam, Saltpond, Sekondi-Takoradi and Cape Coast. She also held two speech days.
Mr Gabriel Kwame Tagborlo (March 2003-June 2005) succeded Ms Longdon. His service with the school ended in June 2005 by reason of retirement. The fourth and current headmaster, Mr David Nicholas Bonney took office in June 2005.
Today, KOMENSTEC is no longer a community day school. It is a national school that offers placement for every Ghanaian student who qualifies by all standards to pursue a senior high technical school education. With a further expansion of facilities by an additional magnificent two-storey girls dormitory block to offer accommodation for non-community students, a 76-seater Eicher bus to promote educational tours and a 300-seater dining hall block under constrution, the school is poised to gradually take its place among its kind in the country.
The school is grateful to the government of Ghana through its relevant bodies for the continued care and support it has received from it. The Board of Governors and parent-teacher association (PTA) is collaborating with the school’s administration to develop the school further.
As the school celebrates its day tomorrow, Saturday, October 18, 2008, its board, all teaching and non-teachinfg staff, students, well wishers and friends, wish the school a happy celebrations.
Thursday, October 16, 2008
Commercial drivers undergo driving management course
Page 34
16-10-08
ROAD Safety and Transportation Consultancies (RSTC) Limited, a driving training institution, has provided training in Driving Management Science (DMS) for 3,940 commercial drivers without any charge.
The programme aims at enhancing the competencies of drivers in terms of exhibition of positive attitudes and behaviours.
“The entire objective of DMS is to make professional drivers accept the concept of zero tolerance for crash. DMS also inculcate better vehicle handling and maintenance culture in vehicles,” Mr Godfred Akyea-Darkwah said at end of a one-week intensive course for 40 commercial drivers in Accra on Friday.
The programme took the drivers through safe driving, customer care, drivers habit and ethics, vehicle fire safety, topography of Accra, practical driving techniques and essentials of vehicle maintenance.
Mr Akyea-Darkwah said the DMS programme, which started in 1994 by RSTC, had come to replace the defensive driving methodology of training professional drivers, adding that defensive driving programme should be restricted to beginner drivers in the driving profession.
He said out of the number of drivers trained, only one professional driver had been involved in a crash for the past four years when the DMS was introduced.
Facilitators, he said, hammered more on the current electioneering and the danger it posed to road users, passengers and pedestrians, adding that road traffic accidents went up during election years.
Mr Akyea-Darkwah said for instance, statistics from the National Road Safety Commission (NRSC) indicated that 717 people were killed in 6,922 accidents that occurred in 1992, while 1,040 people were killed in 8,488 accidents in 1996 with 1,578 people dying in 11,714 accidents in 2000.
In 2004, he said, there were 12,164 accidents killing 2,173.
“I, therefore, wish to seize the opportunity to appeal to the commercial, institutional drivers and the motoring public to be patient and careful as the electioneering campaign is heating up. All road networks are experiencing convoy and campaign driving style which is full of speeding and blatant disregard for road speed limits,” he said, adding that that was “characterised with overloading” and “people sitting in vehicle buckets to campaign grounds are all forms of high risks activities”.
He appealed to drivers not to follow or compete with convoy vehicles, and that drivers should not prevent convoy vehicles from bypassing them even if they were opposed to the party vehicles that were moving.
In the same vein, he said, campaign passengers should desist from sitting in the buckets and trailers of vehicles such as pick-ups and payloaders, since they posed high risk to occupants, and that “convoy drivers are also reminded that they should be conscious of the people they meet on the road”.
The officer in charge of Information Management at the National Road Safety Commission (NRSC), Mr Kwame Kodua Atuahene, said the issue of road safety was a shared responsibility and that all had a role to play.
The course prefect, Mr George Asare, said the DMS programme gave a vivid account of each road safety and vehicle maintenance issues.
16-10-08
ROAD Safety and Transportation Consultancies (RSTC) Limited, a driving training institution, has provided training in Driving Management Science (DMS) for 3,940 commercial drivers without any charge.
The programme aims at enhancing the competencies of drivers in terms of exhibition of positive attitudes and behaviours.
“The entire objective of DMS is to make professional drivers accept the concept of zero tolerance for crash. DMS also inculcate better vehicle handling and maintenance culture in vehicles,” Mr Godfred Akyea-Darkwah said at end of a one-week intensive course for 40 commercial drivers in Accra on Friday.
The programme took the drivers through safe driving, customer care, drivers habit and ethics, vehicle fire safety, topography of Accra, practical driving techniques and essentials of vehicle maintenance.
Mr Akyea-Darkwah said the DMS programme, which started in 1994 by RSTC, had come to replace the defensive driving methodology of training professional drivers, adding that defensive driving programme should be restricted to beginner drivers in the driving profession.
He said out of the number of drivers trained, only one professional driver had been involved in a crash for the past four years when the DMS was introduced.
Facilitators, he said, hammered more on the current electioneering and the danger it posed to road users, passengers and pedestrians, adding that road traffic accidents went up during election years.
Mr Akyea-Darkwah said for instance, statistics from the National Road Safety Commission (NRSC) indicated that 717 people were killed in 6,922 accidents that occurred in 1992, while 1,040 people were killed in 8,488 accidents in 1996 with 1,578 people dying in 11,714 accidents in 2000.
In 2004, he said, there were 12,164 accidents killing 2,173.
“I, therefore, wish to seize the opportunity to appeal to the commercial, institutional drivers and the motoring public to be patient and careful as the electioneering campaign is heating up. All road networks are experiencing convoy and campaign driving style which is full of speeding and blatant disregard for road speed limits,” he said, adding that that was “characterised with overloading” and “people sitting in vehicle buckets to campaign grounds are all forms of high risks activities”.
He appealed to drivers not to follow or compete with convoy vehicles, and that drivers should not prevent convoy vehicles from bypassing them even if they were opposed to the party vehicles that were moving.
In the same vein, he said, campaign passengers should desist from sitting in the buckets and trailers of vehicles such as pick-ups and payloaders, since they posed high risk to occupants, and that “convoy drivers are also reminded that they should be conscious of the people they meet on the road”.
The officer in charge of Information Management at the National Road Safety Commission (NRSC), Mr Kwame Kodua Atuahene, said the issue of road safety was a shared responsibility and that all had a role to play.
The course prefect, Mr George Asare, said the DMS programme gave a vivid account of each road safety and vehicle maintenance issues.
Government releases GH¢10m for workers housing
16-10-08
Page 49
THE government has released GH¢10 million to HFC Bank Limited as a revolving fund for public sector employees’ housing scheme.
Under the scheme, public sector workers will be able to access up to GH¢25,000 to complete or purchase their own houses.
The Minister of Water Resources, Works and Housing, Alhaji Abubakar Saddique Boniface, who announced this at a press conference on the government’s affordable housing programme in Accra, said the interest rate was 10 per cent.
He said several investors had shown interest in the delivery of houses for Ghanaians and that the ministry had signed memoranda of understanding (MoU) with prospective investors in that regard.
“Some of the proposals are quite advanced. Among them are Renaissance Management Group of the USA — $250 million — and Sithru Malaysia — $120 million. The process seems a bit slow because of the due diligence that has to be done on these proposed investments,” he explained.
Alhaji Boniface said the government’s role as the facilitator of the private sector notwithstanding, it had realised that it had a social commitment to ensure that lower income workers were housed, adding that it was in trying to address the problem and the growing housing deficit that President Kufuor initiated the Affordable Housing Programme.
That, he said, was to provide houses for low to middle-income workers of the country who were facing acute accommodation problems and who most often retired without accommodation.
He said the target was to provide 100,000 housing units over a 10-year period through direct government intervention and in partnership with the private sector, adding that “the programme commenced with the Borteyman-Nungua project in February 2006 and was extended in May 2006 to Kpone, near Tema, and Asokore-Mampong in Kumasi. The Koforidua project was launched in July 2007 and that of Tamale and Wa in September 2007”.
Alhaji Boniface said the proposals were essentially for one, two and three-bedroom house types and flats and that what was under construction in all the sites under the first phase were one and two-bedroom apartments in four-storey blocks of flats with minimum specification and the necessary infrastructure such as roads, drainage, a central sewage system, shopping centres, clinics and schools.
To date, he said, a total of 325 local contractors and 60,000 local workers were engaged on the projects in all the six sites and a total amount of GH¢52.67 million had been spent on the projects, adding that 5,162 units were under construction in all existing sites and that they were at various stages of completion.
He expressed the hope of completing some of the housing units by the end of the year.
He said it was intended to build 600 housing units under the first phase in the remaining regional capitals of Sunyani, Sekondi/Takoradi, Ho, Bolgatanga and Cape Coast.
Alhaji Boniface said with regard to land, the ministry had sourced 50,000 acres in Greater Accra and other regional and district capitals purposely for the government’s housing programme and associated infrastructural development.
“The main objective is to establish land bank systems to facilitate access to land by developers,” he said, and commended the chiefs and landowners who had voluntarily offered their land.
He said the ministry and the Ministry of Lands, Forestry and Mines and other agencies were implementing the Accra Government Residential Areas Redevelopment Project as part of the urban renewal strategy and that the objective was to maximise the use of existing prime lands and increase housing densities.
Alhaji Boniface explained that the housing deficit was estimated to be in excess of 500,000 units, while supply was about 45,000 units per annum, against an annual requirement of 100,000.
Page 49
THE government has released GH¢10 million to HFC Bank Limited as a revolving fund for public sector employees’ housing scheme.
Under the scheme, public sector workers will be able to access up to GH¢25,000 to complete or purchase their own houses.
The Minister of Water Resources, Works and Housing, Alhaji Abubakar Saddique Boniface, who announced this at a press conference on the government’s affordable housing programme in Accra, said the interest rate was 10 per cent.
He said several investors had shown interest in the delivery of houses for Ghanaians and that the ministry had signed memoranda of understanding (MoU) with prospective investors in that regard.
“Some of the proposals are quite advanced. Among them are Renaissance Management Group of the USA — $250 million — and Sithru Malaysia — $120 million. The process seems a bit slow because of the due diligence that has to be done on these proposed investments,” he explained.
Alhaji Boniface said the government’s role as the facilitator of the private sector notwithstanding, it had realised that it had a social commitment to ensure that lower income workers were housed, adding that it was in trying to address the problem and the growing housing deficit that President Kufuor initiated the Affordable Housing Programme.
That, he said, was to provide houses for low to middle-income workers of the country who were facing acute accommodation problems and who most often retired without accommodation.
He said the target was to provide 100,000 housing units over a 10-year period through direct government intervention and in partnership with the private sector, adding that “the programme commenced with the Borteyman-Nungua project in February 2006 and was extended in May 2006 to Kpone, near Tema, and Asokore-Mampong in Kumasi. The Koforidua project was launched in July 2007 and that of Tamale and Wa in September 2007”.
Alhaji Boniface said the proposals were essentially for one, two and three-bedroom house types and flats and that what was under construction in all the sites under the first phase were one and two-bedroom apartments in four-storey blocks of flats with minimum specification and the necessary infrastructure such as roads, drainage, a central sewage system, shopping centres, clinics and schools.
To date, he said, a total of 325 local contractors and 60,000 local workers were engaged on the projects in all the six sites and a total amount of GH¢52.67 million had been spent on the projects, adding that 5,162 units were under construction in all existing sites and that they were at various stages of completion.
He expressed the hope of completing some of the housing units by the end of the year.
He said it was intended to build 600 housing units under the first phase in the remaining regional capitals of Sunyani, Sekondi/Takoradi, Ho, Bolgatanga and Cape Coast.
Alhaji Boniface said with regard to land, the ministry had sourced 50,000 acres in Greater Accra and other regional and district capitals purposely for the government’s housing programme and associated infrastructural development.
“The main objective is to establish land bank systems to facilitate access to land by developers,” he said, and commended the chiefs and landowners who had voluntarily offered their land.
He said the ministry and the Ministry of Lands, Forestry and Mines and other agencies were implementing the Accra Government Residential Areas Redevelopment Project as part of the urban renewal strategy and that the objective was to maximise the use of existing prime lands and increase housing densities.
Alhaji Boniface explained that the housing deficit was estimated to be in excess of 500,000 units, while supply was about 45,000 units per annum, against an annual requirement of 100,000.
Word Miracle Church dedicates Kasoa Temple
Page 43
16-10-08
THE Presiding Bishop of the Word Miracle Church International (WMCI), Bishop Charles Agyin Asare, has dedicated the Prayer Temple of the Kasoa branch of the church.
The occasion was also used to climax activities marking the 10th anniversary of the branch.
Preaching the sermon on the topic, “The Shaking Has Started”, Bishop Agyin Asare said what was happening currently in the world was what Jesus said was going to happen in the last days.
That, he said, included the financial crisis that had hit the United States and other countries.
Bishop Agyin Asare said although such a crisis had a ripple effect on the rest of the world, there was the need for Christians not to fear but look up to God, adding that “fear can make you lose hope”.
God, according to him, always took care of His own, hence the need to believe in Him only.
“This is the time to have faith in Christ because He will take care of His own,” he admonished the congregation, and indicated that everything would pass away but the promises of God would not fail.
Bishop Agyin Asare commended the members and leadership of the Kasoa branch of the church for putting up the chapel.
In a brief history, the host pastor, Rev Joseph Lavoe, said the church began in a classroom with 12 adults and six children in February 1998.
He thanked members for their support for the church, saying that in spite of the fact that every single member played an active role, the efforts of pastors Enoch Collins, Ato Ghartey and Owusu Nsiah, who contributed in diverse ways to the growth of the church, were worth mentioning.
16-10-08
THE Presiding Bishop of the Word Miracle Church International (WMCI), Bishop Charles Agyin Asare, has dedicated the Prayer Temple of the Kasoa branch of the church.
The occasion was also used to climax activities marking the 10th anniversary of the branch.
Preaching the sermon on the topic, “The Shaking Has Started”, Bishop Agyin Asare said what was happening currently in the world was what Jesus said was going to happen in the last days.
That, he said, included the financial crisis that had hit the United States and other countries.
Bishop Agyin Asare said although such a crisis had a ripple effect on the rest of the world, there was the need for Christians not to fear but look up to God, adding that “fear can make you lose hope”.
God, according to him, always took care of His own, hence the need to believe in Him only.
“This is the time to have faith in Christ because He will take care of His own,” he admonished the congregation, and indicated that everything would pass away but the promises of God would not fail.
Bishop Agyin Asare commended the members and leadership of the Kasoa branch of the church for putting up the chapel.
In a brief history, the host pastor, Rev Joseph Lavoe, said the church began in a classroom with 12 adults and six children in February 1998.
He thanked members for their support for the church, saying that in spite of the fact that every single member played an active role, the efforts of pastors Enoch Collins, Ato Ghartey and Owusu Nsiah, who contributed in diverse ways to the growth of the church, were worth mentioning.
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
Don't discriminate in award of scholarship
Page 31
15-10-08
THE outgoing Rector of the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA), Prof Stephen Adei, has said the state should desist from favouring students in public institutions in the award of scholarships.
He said Ghanaians should be able to compete for scholarships on the basis of need, programme and academic achievements and not the institution one attended.
“The state should immediately stop favouring those who are in public universities when it comes to scholarships,” he said when he presented a paper on, “Funding Private Tertiary Educational Institutions: Lessons For the Future”, at the launch of the 10th anniversary of the Central University College (CUC) in Accra on Monday.
He said higher education played a strategic role in national development by providing critical knowledge and skills to participate in the global economy, as well as enlarge choices and facilitate democratic governance.
The sector, he said, was responsible for training high-level personnel for technical, managerial and leadership positions, generating new knowledge which was key to technological advancement, among other things.
Prof Adei said there was no doubt that private universities were offering education at very low rates of between GH¢1,300 and $5,400 per annum, and that “only Ashesi University College’s $5,400 per annum does not fit the pattern, but even that is much lower than the annual fees charged by the elite second-cycle schools in the city of Accra-Tema which range above $6,000”.
He said the future landscape of financing private tertiary education must change drastically and that existing institutions had to expand critical mass of enrolment, generate research and enter into the sciences and other areas.
That, according to him, would require state encouragement, loanable funds and market-determined fees, adding that long-term funding of capital or the development of private tertiary educational institutions should come from financial institutions such as the International Finance Corporation (IFC).
Prof Adei indicated that the Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFund) policy regarding private institutions must be made clear and not to be at the discretion and magnanimity of visits by dignitaries.
He said, for instance, that 10 per cent of the fund could be earmarked for private institutions, although “I believe that the bulk should go to support public universities”.
Private universities, he said, were in the country to stay, as they would grow in number and size and share in the enrolment of students.
“Government policy should recognise that an enabling environment is needed to create expanded private tertiary institutions. That will require a paradigm shift in the attitude of the government and the bureaucracy of public institutions such as the National Council for Tertiary Education, the National Accreditation Board (NAB), the GETFund and the Scholarship Secretariat,” he said.
Prof Adei said the funding of private higher educational institutions was clearly dominated by fees and church/owner support, saying there was the need for the institutions to look for government support, including consessional loans, research earnings, private sector and service charges.
He expressed the hope that private tertiary institutions such as the CUC, the Valley View University and the Regent University would, in the next 10 years, be the priced universities of choice in the country and urged them to speed up with expansion and quality improvement.
To that end, he said the NAB should institute a standard criteria in all areas of concern to measure all universities in the country.
Prof Adei said the immediate future did not look too bright for private universities, as an examination of the manifestos of the Convention People’s Party (CPP), the National Democratic Congress (NDC), the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the People’s National Convention (PNC) showed.
“The CPP says nothing. The NDC ‘only indicates that it will construct two new public universities’. The NPP promises a public university in each region and making university education accessible, but says nothing on the private sector. The PNC will convert some high schools into universities; faculty to be provided by retired leaders abroad and it will set up a research and development fund, but all in the public domain,” he said.
He said private tertiary educational institutions should, therefore, engage in lobbying, make noise and say things that politicians would listen to because when the “government is awake, their funding options will expand”.
The Chairperson of the Board of Regents of the CUC, Ms Joyce Aryee, who outlined a brief history of the college, said it was started by the International Central Gospel Church with 12 students and a staff strength of five.
The President of the CUC, Prof V. P. Y. Gadzekpo, said, among things, the university was to empower people to realise their dreams.
15-10-08
THE outgoing Rector of the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA), Prof Stephen Adei, has said the state should desist from favouring students in public institutions in the award of scholarships.
He said Ghanaians should be able to compete for scholarships on the basis of need, programme and academic achievements and not the institution one attended.
“The state should immediately stop favouring those who are in public universities when it comes to scholarships,” he said when he presented a paper on, “Funding Private Tertiary Educational Institutions: Lessons For the Future”, at the launch of the 10th anniversary of the Central University College (CUC) in Accra on Monday.
He said higher education played a strategic role in national development by providing critical knowledge and skills to participate in the global economy, as well as enlarge choices and facilitate democratic governance.
The sector, he said, was responsible for training high-level personnel for technical, managerial and leadership positions, generating new knowledge which was key to technological advancement, among other things.
Prof Adei said there was no doubt that private universities were offering education at very low rates of between GH¢1,300 and $5,400 per annum, and that “only Ashesi University College’s $5,400 per annum does not fit the pattern, but even that is much lower than the annual fees charged by the elite second-cycle schools in the city of Accra-Tema which range above $6,000”.
He said the future landscape of financing private tertiary education must change drastically and that existing institutions had to expand critical mass of enrolment, generate research and enter into the sciences and other areas.
That, according to him, would require state encouragement, loanable funds and market-determined fees, adding that long-term funding of capital or the development of private tertiary educational institutions should come from financial institutions such as the International Finance Corporation (IFC).
Prof Adei indicated that the Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFund) policy regarding private institutions must be made clear and not to be at the discretion and magnanimity of visits by dignitaries.
He said, for instance, that 10 per cent of the fund could be earmarked for private institutions, although “I believe that the bulk should go to support public universities”.
Private universities, he said, were in the country to stay, as they would grow in number and size and share in the enrolment of students.
“Government policy should recognise that an enabling environment is needed to create expanded private tertiary institutions. That will require a paradigm shift in the attitude of the government and the bureaucracy of public institutions such as the National Council for Tertiary Education, the National Accreditation Board (NAB), the GETFund and the Scholarship Secretariat,” he said.
Prof Adei said the funding of private higher educational institutions was clearly dominated by fees and church/owner support, saying there was the need for the institutions to look for government support, including consessional loans, research earnings, private sector and service charges.
He expressed the hope that private tertiary institutions such as the CUC, the Valley View University and the Regent University would, in the next 10 years, be the priced universities of choice in the country and urged them to speed up with expansion and quality improvement.
To that end, he said the NAB should institute a standard criteria in all areas of concern to measure all universities in the country.
Prof Adei said the immediate future did not look too bright for private universities, as an examination of the manifestos of the Convention People’s Party (CPP), the National Democratic Congress (NDC), the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the People’s National Convention (PNC) showed.
“The CPP says nothing. The NDC ‘only indicates that it will construct two new public universities’. The NPP promises a public university in each region and making university education accessible, but says nothing on the private sector. The PNC will convert some high schools into universities; faculty to be provided by retired leaders abroad and it will set up a research and development fund, but all in the public domain,” he said.
He said private tertiary educational institutions should, therefore, engage in lobbying, make noise and say things that politicians would listen to because when the “government is awake, their funding options will expand”.
The Chairperson of the Board of Regents of the CUC, Ms Joyce Aryee, who outlined a brief history of the college, said it was started by the International Central Gospel Church with 12 students and a staff strength of five.
The President of the CUC, Prof V. P. Y. Gadzekpo, said, among things, the university was to empower people to realise their dreams.
'Don't politicise land issue'
Page 3
15-10-08
THE Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mr Stephen Asamoah-Boateng, has cautioned Ghanaians against politicising the issue of land in the country.
That, he said, was because that issue was very dear to the hearts of the people.
He said this when he announced the postponement of a scheduled press conference by the Ministry of Lands, Forestry and Mines at the Conference Room of the Ministry of Information yesterday.
The Minister of Lands, Forestry and Mines, Mrs Esther Obeng-Dapaah, was expected to take her turn at the meet-the- press series to address fallout from the recent announcement by the government to release a percentage of lands in Accra that had been acquired by the state to their original owners.
Mr Asamoah-Boateng apologised to the press for the postponement of the event, which he said would be held next week Tuesday.
He said the recent decision to release lands in Accra was going to be replicated in the other regions, and that the process was an ongoing one, adding that matters of land were not the preserve of the Ministry of Lands, Forestry and Mines alone but also the Attorney-General's Department, which was a key agency.
He underscored the need for the media to have a better understanding of the facts surrounding Accra lands and help to do away with emotions.
He said the media would not be helping the cause of the nation if they became sensational because everybody was screaming on the land matter.
On Ga-Dangme lands, Mr Asamoah-Boateng said the media could do more underground work by knowing the lands better, the stools and the families concerned to be able to report accurately.
He gave the assurance that the details and the facts behind the release of the lands would be made known next week.
The government last Wednesday announced that it was returning a percentage of lands in Accra that had been acquired by the state for various development projects to their original owners.
It, accordingly, directed the Ministry of Lands, Forestry and Mines to prepare and submit proposals and modalities for consideration by Cabinet.
It said the gesture was in fulfilment of a promise made by the President, Mr J. A. Kufuor, to return part of those lands to the original owners.
Some of the lands to be released are at Mpehuasem at East Legon, which was acquired for the Accra Training College; the Ogbojo site for the National Women Training Centre; the Adenta site for the West Africa Secondary School; the Kwabenya Ghana Atomic Energy Commission site; the Odorgonno Secondary School site at Awoshie and the Bank for Housing and Construction site at Madina.
15-10-08
THE Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mr Stephen Asamoah-Boateng, has cautioned Ghanaians against politicising the issue of land in the country.
That, he said, was because that issue was very dear to the hearts of the people.
He said this when he announced the postponement of a scheduled press conference by the Ministry of Lands, Forestry and Mines at the Conference Room of the Ministry of Information yesterday.
The Minister of Lands, Forestry and Mines, Mrs Esther Obeng-Dapaah, was expected to take her turn at the meet-the- press series to address fallout from the recent announcement by the government to release a percentage of lands in Accra that had been acquired by the state to their original owners.
Mr Asamoah-Boateng apologised to the press for the postponement of the event, which he said would be held next week Tuesday.
He said the recent decision to release lands in Accra was going to be replicated in the other regions, and that the process was an ongoing one, adding that matters of land were not the preserve of the Ministry of Lands, Forestry and Mines alone but also the Attorney-General's Department, which was a key agency.
He underscored the need for the media to have a better understanding of the facts surrounding Accra lands and help to do away with emotions.
He said the media would not be helping the cause of the nation if they became sensational because everybody was screaming on the land matter.
On Ga-Dangme lands, Mr Asamoah-Boateng said the media could do more underground work by knowing the lands better, the stools and the families concerned to be able to report accurately.
He gave the assurance that the details and the facts behind the release of the lands would be made known next week.
The government last Wednesday announced that it was returning a percentage of lands in Accra that had been acquired by the state for various development projects to their original owners.
It, accordingly, directed the Ministry of Lands, Forestry and Mines to prepare and submit proposals and modalities for consideration by Cabinet.
It said the gesture was in fulfilment of a promise made by the President, Mr J. A. Kufuor, to return part of those lands to the original owners.
Some of the lands to be released are at Mpehuasem at East Legon, which was acquired for the Accra Training College; the Ogbojo site for the National Women Training Centre; the Adenta site for the West Africa Secondary School; the Kwabenya Ghana Atomic Energy Commission site; the Odorgonno Secondary School site at Awoshie and the Bank for Housing and Construction site at Madina.
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Parents complain about computerised selection system
Spread
14-10-08
PARENTS whose children have still not been placed in senior high schools (SHS) have expressed their frustration with the Computerised Schools Selection and Placement System (CSSPS) and urged the Ghana Education Service (GES) to improve on the efficiency of the system.
Some of the parents were disappointed that with second-cycle schools set to re-open for first-year students today, they had still not been able to secure placements for their children.
Although the GES had given the assurance that all students would be placed, the parents said it was time the perennial problem was addressed, since it created too much anxiety among candidates who had not been placed.
Scores of parents continue to besiege the GES Headquarters with their children in search of school placements.
They told the Daily Graphic in separate interviews that the total scores of all the qualified students should be displayed on the results slips to ensure greater transparency in the selection process.
“My child had aggregate 15 but he has not been placed in any school,” one frustrated parent told the Daily Graphic.
Out of the 173,315 BECE candidates who qualified for placement, 139,478, including 1,579 re-entry candidates, have been placed in SHS and technical institutes, leaving 33,837.
But the GES has assured students and parents that all students will be placed in schools.
“If those who have not been placed decide to accept schools they did not choose, they will all get schools by the end of the month,” Mr Stephen Adu, the Director of Basic Education at the GES, told the Daily Graphic.
He acknowledged that there might be a few problems with the system and indicated that most of the problems students were facing had been created by the students and their parents themselves.
“Some of the parents have failed to accept what they have chosen themselves,” he stated.
He explained that although there was a lot of interest in the ‘big’ schools, competition for admission to those schools was very keen and said students and parents needed to recognise that.
Some of the parents are smarting under pressure from their children to get them placed in schools of their choice, particularly the ‘big’ schools.
One parent, Mr John Obeng, said although his child had been offered placement at Koforidua Secondary/Technical School, that was not the choice he had made.
“My child chose schools in the Central Region — Mfantsipim, Adisadel, St Augustine’s and Ghana National College — but I think there was a mix up in the computer selection process. He had aggregate six, with a total score of 438,” he stated, and showed reporters the results slip to buttress his claim.
Another parent, Peter Simpson, said although his child had been placed at the Ashaiman Secondary School, she was very unhappy and had declined to go.
“My child had aggregate 14 and she wants either Tema Senior High School or Chemu Secondary School. She is sad and I have been unable to convince her to go to Ashaiman Secondary School,” he stated.
14-10-08
PARENTS whose children have still not been placed in senior high schools (SHS) have expressed their frustration with the Computerised Schools Selection and Placement System (CSSPS) and urged the Ghana Education Service (GES) to improve on the efficiency of the system.
Some of the parents were disappointed that with second-cycle schools set to re-open for first-year students today, they had still not been able to secure placements for their children.
Although the GES had given the assurance that all students would be placed, the parents said it was time the perennial problem was addressed, since it created too much anxiety among candidates who had not been placed.
Scores of parents continue to besiege the GES Headquarters with their children in search of school placements.
They told the Daily Graphic in separate interviews that the total scores of all the qualified students should be displayed on the results slips to ensure greater transparency in the selection process.
“My child had aggregate 15 but he has not been placed in any school,” one frustrated parent told the Daily Graphic.
Out of the 173,315 BECE candidates who qualified for placement, 139,478, including 1,579 re-entry candidates, have been placed in SHS and technical institutes, leaving 33,837.
But the GES has assured students and parents that all students will be placed in schools.
“If those who have not been placed decide to accept schools they did not choose, they will all get schools by the end of the month,” Mr Stephen Adu, the Director of Basic Education at the GES, told the Daily Graphic.
He acknowledged that there might be a few problems with the system and indicated that most of the problems students were facing had been created by the students and their parents themselves.
“Some of the parents have failed to accept what they have chosen themselves,” he stated.
He explained that although there was a lot of interest in the ‘big’ schools, competition for admission to those schools was very keen and said students and parents needed to recognise that.
Some of the parents are smarting under pressure from their children to get them placed in schools of their choice, particularly the ‘big’ schools.
One parent, Mr John Obeng, said although his child had been offered placement at Koforidua Secondary/Technical School, that was not the choice he had made.
“My child chose schools in the Central Region — Mfantsipim, Adisadel, St Augustine’s and Ghana National College — but I think there was a mix up in the computer selection process. He had aggregate six, with a total score of 438,” he stated, and showed reporters the results slip to buttress his claim.
Another parent, Peter Simpson, said although his child had been placed at the Ashaiman Secondary School, she was very unhappy and had declined to go.
“My child had aggregate 14 and she wants either Tema Senior High School or Chemu Secondary School. She is sad and I have been unable to convince her to go to Ashaiman Secondary School,” he stated.
Monday, October 13, 2008
50 Contractors lose contracts
Page 47
13-10-08
THE Ministry of Water Resources, Works and Housing has terminated the contracts of 50 contractors working on the government’s affordable housing projects for failure to deliver.
The sector Minister, Alhaji Abubakar Saddique Boniface, who disclosed this to the Daily Graphic, said 14 of the contractors were at the Borteyman site, 11 at Asokore Mampong and 25 at the Kpone site.
He made this known when he took journalists on a tour of the government’s affordable housing projects at the Kpone and Borteyman sites last Saturday.
“As far as I am concerned I have signed for the termination of their contracts. All the contracts were awarded at the same time as those that have been terminated,” he said, adding that some contractors had not been to the sites for some months, now although they had been given mobilisation funds.
At the sites workers were seen busily working, with most of them plastering some of the buildings. It was realised that while some buildings had been roofed, others were yet to be partitioned.
The Project Engineer at the Kpone site, Mr Joseph Kofi Allotey, said 16 of the flats which had been plastered were ready for painting and that those 16 flats contained 200 units of houses.
Alhaji Boniface said one of the major constraints was financing and that with the President’s endorsement and parliamentary approval of GH¢30 million, access to that amount was expected from this week.
“The SSNIT has prepared all the documentation and we are due for the first draw of the facility some time next week. So we expect that the contractors will now begin to have access to money to purchase the necessary materials,” he stated.
He said amenities such as water, electricity and road for the projects had gone on tender and that “hopefully, from the next week or two, contractors will be on site working on them.
That, he said, would go on concurrently with the inauguration of the buildings that were almost complete at the end of next month.
At Borteyman, the Chief Supervisor of Habitat Ghana Limited, Alhaji Mohammed, expressed concern over the delay in having access to blocks, although he had been given mobilisation funds.
He said about 200 bags of cement were caking as a result of the lack of blocks to work with and urged the minister to give them the go-ahead to secure blocks from other sources.
The minister said blocks were expected to be supplied from this week and indicated that consultants would be allowed to secure blocks from others sources provided they (blocks) could meet the standard requirement.
13-10-08
THE Ministry of Water Resources, Works and Housing has terminated the contracts of 50 contractors working on the government’s affordable housing projects for failure to deliver.
The sector Minister, Alhaji Abubakar Saddique Boniface, who disclosed this to the Daily Graphic, said 14 of the contractors were at the Borteyman site, 11 at Asokore Mampong and 25 at the Kpone site.
He made this known when he took journalists on a tour of the government’s affordable housing projects at the Kpone and Borteyman sites last Saturday.
“As far as I am concerned I have signed for the termination of their contracts. All the contracts were awarded at the same time as those that have been terminated,” he said, adding that some contractors had not been to the sites for some months, now although they had been given mobilisation funds.
At the sites workers were seen busily working, with most of them plastering some of the buildings. It was realised that while some buildings had been roofed, others were yet to be partitioned.
The Project Engineer at the Kpone site, Mr Joseph Kofi Allotey, said 16 of the flats which had been plastered were ready for painting and that those 16 flats contained 200 units of houses.
Alhaji Boniface said one of the major constraints was financing and that with the President’s endorsement and parliamentary approval of GH¢30 million, access to that amount was expected from this week.
“The SSNIT has prepared all the documentation and we are due for the first draw of the facility some time next week. So we expect that the contractors will now begin to have access to money to purchase the necessary materials,” he stated.
He said amenities such as water, electricity and road for the projects had gone on tender and that “hopefully, from the next week or two, contractors will be on site working on them.
That, he said, would go on concurrently with the inauguration of the buildings that were almost complete at the end of next month.
At Borteyman, the Chief Supervisor of Habitat Ghana Limited, Alhaji Mohammed, expressed concern over the delay in having access to blocks, although he had been given mobilisation funds.
He said about 200 bags of cement were caking as a result of the lack of blocks to work with and urged the minister to give them the go-ahead to secure blocks from other sources.
The minister said blocks were expected to be supplied from this week and indicated that consultants would be allowed to secure blocks from others sources provided they (blocks) could meet the standard requirement.
Efforts to eradicate poverty worldwide
19-10-08
Page 19
THE World Council of Churches (WCC) is working in consultation with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank to eradicate poverty worldwide, a member of the Central Committee of the Council, the Most Rev Robert Aboagye-Mensah, has announced.
According to him, the WCC was more concerned about poverty eradication, since it believed that countries had enough resources to take care of their citizens.
“We think we must work towards eradicating poverty because we believe that poverty is something that should not continue to stay with us because the world that we live in has enough for all of us to be able to come out of poverty,” he said at the launch of a campaign against poverty dubbed “Stand Up, Take Action” in Accra.
The Most Rev Aboagye-Mensah said there had been series of consultations with the IMF and the World Bank, adding that for the first time, there was a meeting in Accra to that effect.
He said the meeting in Accra ended up with the WCC, the World Bank and the IMF committing themselves to eradicating poverty, adding that “we believe at the WCC that poverty eradication is not only the work of leaders of worthy countries, but the work of leaders of poor countries”.
“All of us have a responsibility towards eradicating poverty,” he said, and indicated that education and skills training were key to poverty eradication.
The Most Rev Aboagye-Mensah, who is also the Presiding Bishop of the Methodist Church of Ghana, Ghana, said change in society involved everybody working together and not politicians and donors alone.
He lauded the Stand Up Take Action Against Poverty Campaign, which was in support of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), and stated that the gap between the rich and the poor was too wide.
The IMF Resident Representative, Mr Arnold Mcintyre, urged Ghanaians to continue to strive towards achieving all aspects of the MDGs by 2015.
The campaign, he said, was more essential to bringing attention to the efforts being made against poverty eradication.
The Director of the MDGs Secretariat of the Christian Council of Ghana, Rev Albert Kwabi, said the campaign was so crucial for “us to hold our governments accountable”.
Mr Nicholas Amponsah, Project Manager in charge of the Localisation of the MDGs at the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), stressed the need for citizens to take ownership of their countries’ development issues.
Under the three-day (October 17-19, 2008) Stand Up Take Action Against Poverty Campaign, citizens will be expected to speak out against poverty and inequality to remind governments of their pledge and promises to end poverty and achieve the MDGs.
By starting on a Friday and ending on a Sunday, the Stand Up, Take Action Against Poverty Campaign would provide an opportunity for people at home, work, school and place of worship to take part in the event.
On October 17, 2007, more than 43 million people all over the world spoke against poverty and inequality.
Page 19
THE World Council of Churches (WCC) is working in consultation with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank to eradicate poverty worldwide, a member of the Central Committee of the Council, the Most Rev Robert Aboagye-Mensah, has announced.
According to him, the WCC was more concerned about poverty eradication, since it believed that countries had enough resources to take care of their citizens.
“We think we must work towards eradicating poverty because we believe that poverty is something that should not continue to stay with us because the world that we live in has enough for all of us to be able to come out of poverty,” he said at the launch of a campaign against poverty dubbed “Stand Up, Take Action” in Accra.
The Most Rev Aboagye-Mensah said there had been series of consultations with the IMF and the World Bank, adding that for the first time, there was a meeting in Accra to that effect.
He said the meeting in Accra ended up with the WCC, the World Bank and the IMF committing themselves to eradicating poverty, adding that “we believe at the WCC that poverty eradication is not only the work of leaders of worthy countries, but the work of leaders of poor countries”.
“All of us have a responsibility towards eradicating poverty,” he said, and indicated that education and skills training were key to poverty eradication.
The Most Rev Aboagye-Mensah, who is also the Presiding Bishop of the Methodist Church of Ghana, Ghana, said change in society involved everybody working together and not politicians and donors alone.
He lauded the Stand Up Take Action Against Poverty Campaign, which was in support of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), and stated that the gap between the rich and the poor was too wide.
The IMF Resident Representative, Mr Arnold Mcintyre, urged Ghanaians to continue to strive towards achieving all aspects of the MDGs by 2015.
The campaign, he said, was more essential to bringing attention to the efforts being made against poverty eradication.
The Director of the MDGs Secretariat of the Christian Council of Ghana, Rev Albert Kwabi, said the campaign was so crucial for “us to hold our governments accountable”.
Mr Nicholas Amponsah, Project Manager in charge of the Localisation of the MDGs at the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), stressed the need for citizens to take ownership of their countries’ development issues.
Under the three-day (October 17-19, 2008) Stand Up Take Action Against Poverty Campaign, citizens will be expected to speak out against poverty and inequality to remind governments of their pledge and promises to end poverty and achieve the MDGs.
By starting on a Friday and ending on a Sunday, the Stand Up, Take Action Against Poverty Campaign would provide an opportunity for people at home, work, school and place of worship to take part in the event.
On October 17, 2007, more than 43 million people all over the world spoke against poverty and inequality.
Friday, October 10, 2008
Ministry to set up fund for youth employment
Spread
10-10-08
THE Ministry of Manpower, Youth and Employment (MMYE) has initiated moves to institutionalise a funding regime for youth employment and youth enterprise in the country.
This is to ensure that there is a statutory pool of funds to support youth employment and young people with bright business and entrepreneurial ideas.
In view of that, the ministry has filed a memo for Cabinet’s approval to develop a draft bill to that effect.
“Upon Cabinet’s policy approval, a bill entitled ‘Youth Employment and Enterprise Fund’ would be submitted to Cabinet and ultimately to Parliament for consideration and enactment into an Act,” the sector minister, Nana Akomeah, said at the second anniversary celebration of the NYEP in Accra yesterday.
Since its launch in October 2006 by President Kufuor, he said, 109,000 young men and women had been beneficiaries of the programme, which cost the government $100 million a year.
He gave the breakdown as Sanitation module, 15,000; Nursing Assistantship, 4,500; Community Policing, 4,500; Youth in Agriculture, 25,000; Community Teaching Assistants, 25,000; Trades and Vocation/Entrepreneurial, 300; Afforestation, 1,400 and Industrial Attachment, 3,000.
Nana Akomea noted that a major drawback for the NYEP since 2006 had been the delay in the release of funds from designated sources, and that in May this year, upon the Cabinet’s approval, the NYEP signed a financial management service agreement with the Agricultural Development Bank (ADB).
“This agreement provides ADB with over 70,000 new accounts of NYEP beneficiaries and handling of all the programme’s funds. In return, the ADB credits all beneficiary accounts on a monthly basis,” he stated, adding that “when the transfers into the programme’s accounts are made, ADB is reimbursed and paid a management fee of 0.5 per cent, or on interest of 1.54 per cent when our accounts are insufficient”.
He indicated that since the agreement beneficiaries had been paid timeously, relieving the situation when allowances were paid three to five months in arrears, and that in the immediate period up to the end of the year, the NYEP was considering proposals to effect increase in allowances to all beneficiaries.
Nana Akomeah said the issue of employment was the core measurement of how development policy and programmes were impacting on citizens.
He said the country in the last seven years had seen the most sustained increase in the economy, and that in the last two years in particular, “we have reached six per cent growth rates, the highest since 1984 when we embarked on economic structural adjustment”.
The Secretary General of the Trades Union Congress (TUC), Brother Kofi Asamoah, urged the government to de-politicise the recruitment of the programme in order to ensure its success and sustainability.
“We of the TUC see the NYEP as a very productive way of using the energy of the teeming youth across the country. It is thus necessary for the government to facilitate processes towards the passage of a National Youth Employment Law working in concert with the National Service Scheme,” he said.
He said the government should also devise modalities for the training and eventual integration of NYEP personnel into the organisations that were currently employing them.
Mr Asamoah said the government should consider dialoguing with private sector actors in the telecommunications, real estate and small-scale manufacturing industries to provide training and subsequent employment for NYEP personnel in those areas.
“We of the TUC are particularly happy about the NYEP because it is one of the few large-scale national policies and programmes that are truly country-owned in terms of the policy initiative and financing,” he said.
10-10-08
THE Ministry of Manpower, Youth and Employment (MMYE) has initiated moves to institutionalise a funding regime for youth employment and youth enterprise in the country.
This is to ensure that there is a statutory pool of funds to support youth employment and young people with bright business and entrepreneurial ideas.
In view of that, the ministry has filed a memo for Cabinet’s approval to develop a draft bill to that effect.
“Upon Cabinet’s policy approval, a bill entitled ‘Youth Employment and Enterprise Fund’ would be submitted to Cabinet and ultimately to Parliament for consideration and enactment into an Act,” the sector minister, Nana Akomeah, said at the second anniversary celebration of the NYEP in Accra yesterday.
Since its launch in October 2006 by President Kufuor, he said, 109,000 young men and women had been beneficiaries of the programme, which cost the government $100 million a year.
He gave the breakdown as Sanitation module, 15,000; Nursing Assistantship, 4,500; Community Policing, 4,500; Youth in Agriculture, 25,000; Community Teaching Assistants, 25,000; Trades and Vocation/Entrepreneurial, 300; Afforestation, 1,400 and Industrial Attachment, 3,000.
Nana Akomea noted that a major drawback for the NYEP since 2006 had been the delay in the release of funds from designated sources, and that in May this year, upon the Cabinet’s approval, the NYEP signed a financial management service agreement with the Agricultural Development Bank (ADB).
“This agreement provides ADB with over 70,000 new accounts of NYEP beneficiaries and handling of all the programme’s funds. In return, the ADB credits all beneficiary accounts on a monthly basis,” he stated, adding that “when the transfers into the programme’s accounts are made, ADB is reimbursed and paid a management fee of 0.5 per cent, or on interest of 1.54 per cent when our accounts are insufficient”.
He indicated that since the agreement beneficiaries had been paid timeously, relieving the situation when allowances were paid three to five months in arrears, and that in the immediate period up to the end of the year, the NYEP was considering proposals to effect increase in allowances to all beneficiaries.
Nana Akomeah said the issue of employment was the core measurement of how development policy and programmes were impacting on citizens.
He said the country in the last seven years had seen the most sustained increase in the economy, and that in the last two years in particular, “we have reached six per cent growth rates, the highest since 1984 when we embarked on economic structural adjustment”.
The Secretary General of the Trades Union Congress (TUC), Brother Kofi Asamoah, urged the government to de-politicise the recruitment of the programme in order to ensure its success and sustainability.
“We of the TUC see the NYEP as a very productive way of using the energy of the teeming youth across the country. It is thus necessary for the government to facilitate processes towards the passage of a National Youth Employment Law working in concert with the National Service Scheme,” he said.
He said the government should also devise modalities for the training and eventual integration of NYEP personnel into the organisations that were currently employing them.
Mr Asamoah said the government should consider dialoguing with private sector actors in the telecommunications, real estate and small-scale manufacturing industries to provide training and subsequent employment for NYEP personnel in those areas.
“We of the TUC are particularly happy about the NYEP because it is one of the few large-scale national policies and programmes that are truly country-owned in terms of the policy initiative and financing,” he said.
Committee suggests insurance policy for students
Page 11
10-10-08
THE Committee of Enquiry set up by the Ministry of Education, Science and Sports (MoESS) to investigate the tragic death of Master Gafaru Abdul Rahman of the Adisadel College in Cape Coast has recommended the introduction of an insurance policy for students at all levels of education in the country.
That, it said, was as result of the exposure of students to all manner of risks as they went about their school life.
This was contained in the report of the committee submitted to the sector minister, Prof. Dominic Fobih.
Although the ministry agreed in its response that there was the need for an insurance cover for students at all levels of education, it said the cost and mode of implementation needed to be discussed by all stakeholders.
“The ministry agrees in principle that there is the need for insurance cover for students at all levels of education. However, there are issues such as cost and mode of implementation that need to be discussed by all stakeholders to inform the appropriate policy design,” a report signed by the Chief Director of the MoESS, Mr Ato Essuman, said.
The committee was chaired by the Managing Director of the Ghana Posts, Mr Kofi Dua Adonteng. Other members were the Omanhene of Mamfe Akuapem, Osabarima Nana Ansah Sasraku III; the former head and representative of the Conference of Managers of Education Units (COMEU), Very Rev Dr Richard Foli, and the General Manager of Islamic Schools, Alhaji Arimeyao Shaibu.
Concerning whether the tragic death of Master Gafaru was as a result of religious coercion, the committee concluded that “the incident had nothing to do with religion” and that “the students found in the block “were not exclusively Muslims”.
On whether the Senior Housemaster was the cause of the death of the student, the committee, among other things, found that the Senior Housemaster was not even personally present at the top level of the building where the deceased was last seen alive.
The Ministry of Education, Science and Sports in its report said it would ensure that the schools’ Code of Discipline and the Unified Code of Conduct of the Ghana Education Service (GES) were harmonised to ensure a uniform code of conduct for schools in the country.
It said in as much as the ministry respected the rights and freedoms of individuals, it could not permit indiscipline in schools across the country.
The report further noted that the ministry would uphold the rights of the individual as enshrined in the 1992 Constitution.
“The foundation for a disciplined workforce is built in schools and, therefore, schools must be encouraged to ensure discipline. The ministry and its agencies will not attempt in any way to undermine the effort of any school authority to ensure discipline,” it said.
In order to preserve the time-tested practices and traditions that served as effective modes of character training and moulding of students, the Sunday morning services and other routine activities of schools would be maintained, the report stated.
The ministry reiterated its deepest regret for the unfortunate incident that resulted in the untimely death of master Gafaru, and that “in view of the findings of the Committee of Enquiry, the ministry wishes to appeal to all Ghanaians, particularly the bereaved family and the Muslim community to accept the loss of master Gafaru as a tragic accident”.
10-10-08
THE Committee of Enquiry set up by the Ministry of Education, Science and Sports (MoESS) to investigate the tragic death of Master Gafaru Abdul Rahman of the Adisadel College in Cape Coast has recommended the introduction of an insurance policy for students at all levels of education in the country.
That, it said, was as result of the exposure of students to all manner of risks as they went about their school life.
This was contained in the report of the committee submitted to the sector minister, Prof. Dominic Fobih.
Although the ministry agreed in its response that there was the need for an insurance cover for students at all levels of education, it said the cost and mode of implementation needed to be discussed by all stakeholders.
“The ministry agrees in principle that there is the need for insurance cover for students at all levels of education. However, there are issues such as cost and mode of implementation that need to be discussed by all stakeholders to inform the appropriate policy design,” a report signed by the Chief Director of the MoESS, Mr Ato Essuman, said.
The committee was chaired by the Managing Director of the Ghana Posts, Mr Kofi Dua Adonteng. Other members were the Omanhene of Mamfe Akuapem, Osabarima Nana Ansah Sasraku III; the former head and representative of the Conference of Managers of Education Units (COMEU), Very Rev Dr Richard Foli, and the General Manager of Islamic Schools, Alhaji Arimeyao Shaibu.
Concerning whether the tragic death of Master Gafaru was as a result of religious coercion, the committee concluded that “the incident had nothing to do with religion” and that “the students found in the block “were not exclusively Muslims”.
On whether the Senior Housemaster was the cause of the death of the student, the committee, among other things, found that the Senior Housemaster was not even personally present at the top level of the building where the deceased was last seen alive.
The Ministry of Education, Science and Sports in its report said it would ensure that the schools’ Code of Discipline and the Unified Code of Conduct of the Ghana Education Service (GES) were harmonised to ensure a uniform code of conduct for schools in the country.
It said in as much as the ministry respected the rights and freedoms of individuals, it could not permit indiscipline in schools across the country.
The report further noted that the ministry would uphold the rights of the individual as enshrined in the 1992 Constitution.
“The foundation for a disciplined workforce is built in schools and, therefore, schools must be encouraged to ensure discipline. The ministry and its agencies will not attempt in any way to undermine the effort of any school authority to ensure discipline,” it said.
In order to preserve the time-tested practices and traditions that served as effective modes of character training and moulding of students, the Sunday morning services and other routine activities of schools would be maintained, the report stated.
The ministry reiterated its deepest regret for the unfortunate incident that resulted in the untimely death of master Gafaru, and that “in view of the findings of the Committee of Enquiry, the ministry wishes to appeal to all Ghanaians, particularly the bereaved family and the Muslim community to accept the loss of master Gafaru as a tragic accident”.
NAGRAT commends President
Front Page
10-10-08
THE National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT) has commended President Kufuor for directing the release of the frozen October 2006 salaries of its members.
It said the President’s intervention was welcome news for its members who had not been treated fairly by the Ghana Education Service (GES) Council.
“We welcome the move and I’m happy that the matter has been settled,” the President of NAGRAT, Mr Kwame Alorvi, told the Daily Graphic in an interview yesterday.
During the 14th annual Teachers Award Day on Tuesday, President Kufuor said he had directed that the October 2006 salaries of some teachers that were suspended due to a strike they had embarked on be restored forthwith.
That, he said, was the government’s show of solidarity with the teachers as they celebrated the awards day.
Following the declaration of the strike by NAGRAT as illegal by the National Labour Commission (NLC), the GES Council had directed that the October-November salaries of teachers who went on strike be frozen.
However, an apology by the Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT) led to the release of the salaries of its members who joined the strike.
Mr Alorvi said none of the other labour unions or groups such as the Teachers and Educational Workers Union (TEWU) and the health workers group that had gone on strike before NAGRAT during the period had been asked to apologise for their action.
According to him, the association had to embark on the industrial action as a result of the refusal of the GES management to implement an agreement it had signed with it, adding that the association’s action had been legitimate.
He noted that the association had, all along, wanted justice in the matter, since it was not the only institution that had gone on strike during the period.
Mr Alorvi said the association had always been committed to the delivery of quality education and continued to give of its best.
He lauded the awards presented to the teachers and said the ceremony should go beyond being a one-day event, adding that there were basic things needed to be done on a regular basis to motivate teachers.
He said it was sad that for the past 10 years a housemaster had been receiving GH¢1 as monthly allowance, while the headmaster of an endowed school received GH¢3 a month as allowance.
10-10-08
THE National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT) has commended President Kufuor for directing the release of the frozen October 2006 salaries of its members.
It said the President’s intervention was welcome news for its members who had not been treated fairly by the Ghana Education Service (GES) Council.
“We welcome the move and I’m happy that the matter has been settled,” the President of NAGRAT, Mr Kwame Alorvi, told the Daily Graphic in an interview yesterday.
During the 14th annual Teachers Award Day on Tuesday, President Kufuor said he had directed that the October 2006 salaries of some teachers that were suspended due to a strike they had embarked on be restored forthwith.
That, he said, was the government’s show of solidarity with the teachers as they celebrated the awards day.
Following the declaration of the strike by NAGRAT as illegal by the National Labour Commission (NLC), the GES Council had directed that the October-November salaries of teachers who went on strike be frozen.
However, an apology by the Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT) led to the release of the salaries of its members who joined the strike.
Mr Alorvi said none of the other labour unions or groups such as the Teachers and Educational Workers Union (TEWU) and the health workers group that had gone on strike before NAGRAT during the period had been asked to apologise for their action.
According to him, the association had to embark on the industrial action as a result of the refusal of the GES management to implement an agreement it had signed with it, adding that the association’s action had been legitimate.
He noted that the association had, all along, wanted justice in the matter, since it was not the only institution that had gone on strike during the period.
Mr Alorvi said the association had always been committed to the delivery of quality education and continued to give of its best.
He lauded the awards presented to the teachers and said the ceremony should go beyond being a one-day event, adding that there were basic things needed to be done on a regular basis to motivate teachers.
He said it was sad that for the past 10 years a housemaster had been receiving GH¢1 as monthly allowance, while the headmaster of an endowed school received GH¢3 a month as allowance.
Thursday, October 9, 2008
Don’t buy unlabelled bulk milk-FDB
Page 47
09-10-08
THE Food and Drugs Board (FDB) says it has come to its notice that some business concerns are using unapproved routes to bring banned milk products from China into the country.
It has, therefore, urged the public not to patronise unlabelled bulk milk powder, milk products with suspicious-looking packaging, milk products whose prices have been reduced drastically, as well as milk products with defaced labelling (concealing the country of origin).
The Ministry of Health (MoH), on September 23, 2008, suspended the importation of all milk and milk products manufactured in China.
The suspension followed the confirmation of reports that milk and milk products manufactured in China were contaminated with melamine, an industrial chemical used to manufacture plastics and fertiliser, which is said to affect the kidney and also cause cancer when consumed over a long period.
Thousands of babies in China were reported to have suffered acute kidney failure, with several fatalities, after consuming infant milk formulae contaminated with melamine, a situation that has raised a health alert in many countries.
The products affected by the directive in Ghana include infant formulae, powdered milk, liquid milk, candies, lollipops, cookies, cakes, milk tablets, yoghurt drinks, biscuits, toffees, chocolates, cream crackers and egg rolls.
The decision to suspend the importation of milk from China was taken in conjunction with the Ministry of Trade, Industry, Private Sector Development and President's Special Initiatives, upon the advice of the Food and Drugs Board (FDB).
A statement signed by the Chief Executive of the FDB, Mr E.K. Agyarko, said despite the directive issued by the Ministries of Health, and Trade, Industry, PSD and PSI, on the ban on importation of infant formulae and other milk products, some businesses were smuggling them into the country.
“The general public is further advised to report to the board or the police anyone found attempting to repackage any product for sale to the general public,” it said, and assured the public that it was taking the necessary regulatory measures to ensure that milk products on the market were safe for consumption.
09-10-08
THE Food and Drugs Board (FDB) says it has come to its notice that some business concerns are using unapproved routes to bring banned milk products from China into the country.
It has, therefore, urged the public not to patronise unlabelled bulk milk powder, milk products with suspicious-looking packaging, milk products whose prices have been reduced drastically, as well as milk products with defaced labelling (concealing the country of origin).
The Ministry of Health (MoH), on September 23, 2008, suspended the importation of all milk and milk products manufactured in China.
The suspension followed the confirmation of reports that milk and milk products manufactured in China were contaminated with melamine, an industrial chemical used to manufacture plastics and fertiliser, which is said to affect the kidney and also cause cancer when consumed over a long period.
Thousands of babies in China were reported to have suffered acute kidney failure, with several fatalities, after consuming infant milk formulae contaminated with melamine, a situation that has raised a health alert in many countries.
The products affected by the directive in Ghana include infant formulae, powdered milk, liquid milk, candies, lollipops, cookies, cakes, milk tablets, yoghurt drinks, biscuits, toffees, chocolates, cream crackers and egg rolls.
The decision to suspend the importation of milk from China was taken in conjunction with the Ministry of Trade, Industry, Private Sector Development and President's Special Initiatives, upon the advice of the Food and Drugs Board (FDB).
A statement signed by the Chief Executive of the FDB, Mr E.K. Agyarko, said despite the directive issued by the Ministries of Health, and Trade, Industry, PSD and PSI, on the ban on importation of infant formulae and other milk products, some businesses were smuggling them into the country.
“The general public is further advised to report to the board or the police anyone found attempting to repackage any product for sale to the general public,” it said, and assured the public that it was taking the necessary regulatory measures to ensure that milk products on the market were safe for consumption.
School heads ask for increase in feeding grants
Pge 47
09-10-08
HEADS of senior high schools in the country have petitioned the Ghana Education Service (GES) for an increase in the feeding grant of students to meet the increasing cost of goods and services.
According to them, the 80Gp per day per student was inadequate and, therefore, there was the need for an increase in the amount.
They said feeding a student three times a day on 80Gp was not enough.
The Director of the Secondary Education Unit of the Ghana Education Service (GES), Mr Stephen Adu, who confirmed the petition of the heads of schools to the Daily Graphic, said the service had begun the process of looking at the possibility of increasing the feeding grant.
He said since many factors would have to be taken into consideration before an increment could be approved, there was the need to have the basis on which the increase was to be made.
Mr Adu said that would give a fair idea as to how much needed to be added, saying, “We need to see the matrons on the cost of food items, since they are the technical people on the ground.”
Once that was done, he said, the service would be able to come up with how much needed to be added.
He said any increase in the grant would be effected next year, since the bills of students, especially those in first-year, had already been prepared.
Mr Adu said the GES was working closely with the heads, saying they had been very co-operative and that in the event of any increase it would be communicated to them.
Meanwhile, the GES has said the results of 2008 Basic Education Certificate Examination candidates who have qualified for admission to senior high schools but have not been placed have been dispatched to the regions for distribution to schools.
It said the results of about 769 re-entry candidates who had not been placed had also been dispatched alongside those of the 2008 candidates.
The GES said heads of junior high schools were to make available ‘Form B’ to every qualified but unplaced candidate at no cost, adding that “all qualified but unplaced candidates are to complete sections A, B and C of the Form B and submit it to the heads of junior high schools”.
It said heads were expected to complete the filling of the Form B for submission to their district directors by October 7, 2008 for onward submission to the Director-General of the GES through the regional directors of education.
It warned that any head caught selling the forms would be severely sanctioned.
09-10-08
HEADS of senior high schools in the country have petitioned the Ghana Education Service (GES) for an increase in the feeding grant of students to meet the increasing cost of goods and services.
According to them, the 80Gp per day per student was inadequate and, therefore, there was the need for an increase in the amount.
They said feeding a student three times a day on 80Gp was not enough.
The Director of the Secondary Education Unit of the Ghana Education Service (GES), Mr Stephen Adu, who confirmed the petition of the heads of schools to the Daily Graphic, said the service had begun the process of looking at the possibility of increasing the feeding grant.
He said since many factors would have to be taken into consideration before an increment could be approved, there was the need to have the basis on which the increase was to be made.
Mr Adu said that would give a fair idea as to how much needed to be added, saying, “We need to see the matrons on the cost of food items, since they are the technical people on the ground.”
Once that was done, he said, the service would be able to come up with how much needed to be added.
He said any increase in the grant would be effected next year, since the bills of students, especially those in first-year, had already been prepared.
Mr Adu said the GES was working closely with the heads, saying they had been very co-operative and that in the event of any increase it would be communicated to them.
Meanwhile, the GES has said the results of 2008 Basic Education Certificate Examination candidates who have qualified for admission to senior high schools but have not been placed have been dispatched to the regions for distribution to schools.
It said the results of about 769 re-entry candidates who had not been placed had also been dispatched alongside those of the 2008 candidates.
The GES said heads of junior high schools were to make available ‘Form B’ to every qualified but unplaced candidate at no cost, adding that “all qualified but unplaced candidates are to complete sections A, B and C of the Form B and submit it to the heads of junior high schools”.
It said heads were expected to complete the filling of the Form B for submission to their district directors by October 7, 2008 for onward submission to the Director-General of the GES through the regional directors of education.
It warned that any head caught selling the forms would be severely sanctioned.
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
GES warns Heads-Over illegal fees
Page 1 Lead
04-10-08
THE Ghana Education Service (GES) has warned that it will sanction heads of public basic schools who are thwarting the government’s efforts at maintaining fee-free education at the basic educational level.
According to the GES, it had come to its notice that some unscrupulous heads had been charging unauthorised school fees from pupils when there was fee-free education under the Capitation Grant policy.
“If, after investigations, it is found that a headteacher has collected unauthorised fees or levies, we will sanction that person,” the Director of the Basic Education Division of the GES, Mr Stephen Adu, told the Daily Graphic yesterday.
The action of such heads, he said, amounted to sabotaging the efforts of the government at providing free basic education, adding that any headteacher found to have collected authorised fees would be dealt with.
The government abolished the payment of all levies with the introduction of the grant, under which the government pays GH¢3 per pupil in every public basic school.
The sanction, Mr Adu said, would range from demotion and transfer to outright dismissal.
A directive from the GES said whereas parent-teacher associations (PTAs) could agree among themselves to levy parents and guardians in order to undertake development projects in public basic schools upon receipt of approval from the service, "pupils cannot be sacked from school for the non-payment of such levies by parents and guardians”.
That, it said, was because it would undermine the government’s policy of Free Compulsory Universal Basic Education and defeat the purpose for the introduction of the Capitation Grant.
"Parents/Guardians are, therefore, advised to report any unapproved fees charged and any unlawful sacking of their children/wards from public basic schools anywhere in Ghana to the district or regional directors of education or to the GES Public Relations Unit for immediate action," the directive said.
04-10-08
THE Ghana Education Service (GES) has warned that it will sanction heads of public basic schools who are thwarting the government’s efforts at maintaining fee-free education at the basic educational level.
According to the GES, it had come to its notice that some unscrupulous heads had been charging unauthorised school fees from pupils when there was fee-free education under the Capitation Grant policy.
“If, after investigations, it is found that a headteacher has collected unauthorised fees or levies, we will sanction that person,” the Director of the Basic Education Division of the GES, Mr Stephen Adu, told the Daily Graphic yesterday.
The action of such heads, he said, amounted to sabotaging the efforts of the government at providing free basic education, adding that any headteacher found to have collected authorised fees would be dealt with.
The government abolished the payment of all levies with the introduction of the grant, under which the government pays GH¢3 per pupil in every public basic school.
The sanction, Mr Adu said, would range from demotion and transfer to outright dismissal.
A directive from the GES said whereas parent-teacher associations (PTAs) could agree among themselves to levy parents and guardians in order to undertake development projects in public basic schools upon receipt of approval from the service, "pupils cannot be sacked from school for the non-payment of such levies by parents and guardians”.
That, it said, was because it would undermine the government’s policy of Free Compulsory Universal Basic Education and defeat the purpose for the introduction of the Capitation Grant.
"Parents/Guardians are, therefore, advised to report any unapproved fees charged and any unlawful sacking of their children/wards from public basic schools anywhere in Ghana to the district or regional directors of education or to the GES Public Relations Unit for immediate action," the directive said.
Heads threaten to reduce intake but...
Spread
04-10-08
HEADS of some second-cycle schools have said beginning from the next academic year they will start reducing the intake of qualified Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) candidates into the first year of senior high school (SHS) to make room for the fourth-year SHS students under the education reform.
This, they said, was due to the lack of efforts on the part of the education authorities to start the construction of classroom blocks for the fourth year students.
However, the Minister of Education, Science and Sports, Prof. Dominic Fobih, has described the action of the heads as premature, since there are ongoing efforts to provide classrooms for the schools.
“We cannot construct all the classrooms at a go and it would have to take time. The fact that we have started somewhere does not mean that we are not doing anything,” he told the Daily Graphic.
The first batch of qualified BECE students admitted to SHS Form One who started the education reform last year, are now in their second year, and the heads of schools are worried that they may not have classrooms for them in the fourth year if they keep admitting the same number of students they admit every year.
"We are now in the second year of the reform and they have not even started building classrooms for the fourth year. Two years is not far from now and nothing is being done," one of the heads who pleaded anonymity told the Daily Graphic.
The source said for instance, it would need a 15-unit classroom block to cater for the current Form Two students when they get to Form 4, adding that "I wonder whether that can be done in a year".
Another headmaster said the construction of the classroom blocks should have started by now to avoid any rush that could end up in shoddy work.
"If by the end of this academic year they have not started construction work for the fourth year, I would reduce the intake of qualified BECE candidates who would be going to Form One because if I don't do that their seniors would not get classrooms," he stated.
Prof. Fobih noted, however, that the government was continuously awarding contracts for the construction of classrooms and that “this is an ongoing thing”.
He gave the assurance that final-year or fourth-year students would have classrooms by the time they get there.
Under the education reform that commenced last year, universal basic education was extended from nine to 11 years, comprising two years of kindergarten, six years of primary school and three years of junior high school (JHS).
A new four-year SHS offers general education with electives in General Arts, Business, Technical, Vocational and Agriculture for entry into a tertiary institution or the job market.
After JHS, students may choose to go into different streams at SHS, comprising General Education and Technical, Vocational and Agricultural and Training (TVET) or enter into an apprenticeship scheme with some support from the government.
04-10-08
HEADS of some second-cycle schools have said beginning from the next academic year they will start reducing the intake of qualified Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) candidates into the first year of senior high school (SHS) to make room for the fourth-year SHS students under the education reform.
This, they said, was due to the lack of efforts on the part of the education authorities to start the construction of classroom blocks for the fourth year students.
However, the Minister of Education, Science and Sports, Prof. Dominic Fobih, has described the action of the heads as premature, since there are ongoing efforts to provide classrooms for the schools.
“We cannot construct all the classrooms at a go and it would have to take time. The fact that we have started somewhere does not mean that we are not doing anything,” he told the Daily Graphic.
The first batch of qualified BECE students admitted to SHS Form One who started the education reform last year, are now in their second year, and the heads of schools are worried that they may not have classrooms for them in the fourth year if they keep admitting the same number of students they admit every year.
"We are now in the second year of the reform and they have not even started building classrooms for the fourth year. Two years is not far from now and nothing is being done," one of the heads who pleaded anonymity told the Daily Graphic.
The source said for instance, it would need a 15-unit classroom block to cater for the current Form Two students when they get to Form 4, adding that "I wonder whether that can be done in a year".
Another headmaster said the construction of the classroom blocks should have started by now to avoid any rush that could end up in shoddy work.
"If by the end of this academic year they have not started construction work for the fourth year, I would reduce the intake of qualified BECE candidates who would be going to Form One because if I don't do that their seniors would not get classrooms," he stated.
Prof. Fobih noted, however, that the government was continuously awarding contracts for the construction of classrooms and that “this is an ongoing thing”.
He gave the assurance that final-year or fourth-year students would have classrooms by the time they get there.
Under the education reform that commenced last year, universal basic education was extended from nine to 11 years, comprising two years of kindergarten, six years of primary school and three years of junior high school (JHS).
A new four-year SHS offers general education with electives in General Arts, Business, Technical, Vocational and Agriculture for entry into a tertiary institution or the job market.
After JHS, students may choose to go into different streams at SHS, comprising General Education and Technical, Vocational and Agricultural and Training (TVET) or enter into an apprenticeship scheme with some support from the government.
34,500 Personnel potsed for national service
Page 11
08-10-08
THE National Service Scheme (NSS) on Monday announced the postings of 34,500 personnel for the 2008-2009 service year.
The figure represents an increase of 2,020 from the 2007-2008 national service year.
At a news conference to announce the release of postings, the Executive Director of the National Service Scheme, Mr Kofi Obiri Yeboah, expressed concern about the attitude of institutions that conducted aptitude tests for would-be service personnel on the campuses of tertiary institutions with the aim of recruiting brilliant students for their institutions for national service.
Such a practice, he said, was against the mode of operations of the service secretariat, since it was the mandate of the secretariat to recruit people for national service.
He, therefore, asked such institutions to desist from the practice because “having a first-class does not mean that you can perform on the job”.
Mr Yeboah said the secretariat had allowed the practice for sometime because some institutions, especially the financial ones, gathered background information about personnel posted to their outfits.
“By Act 426, no institution or organisation has the right to go round the universities and polytechnics to recruit would-be service personnel. It is only the National Service Scheme that has the mandate to do that,” he emphasised.
He gave the regional breakdown of the 2008-2009 service year as Greater Accra, 10,988; Ashanti, 5,640; Eastern, 2,871; Western, 2,690; Brong Ahafo, 2,667; Central, 2,080; Northern, 1,871; Volta, 1,571; Upper West, 710 and Upper East, 698.
In pursuant of the government’s policy of providing quality education, he said, 60-70 per cent of the personnel had been posted to the education sector to meet the shortfall in the posting of teachers to the rural areas.
Mr Yeboah said although the postings had been released, service persons could access their postings from Wednesday, October 8, 2008, adding that the service persons could check from the secretariat website of www.nssghana.org.
“Since its inception, the scheme has been contributing to the socio-economic development of the country. Service personnel are posted to places where their services are needed,” he stated, and reminded service persons that national service was “a call to national duty and postings must be accepted in good faith”.
Posting, he said, should never be seen as a punishment.
The NSS was established in 1973 by NRC Decree with 1,500 service persons. In 1980, the Buah Committee came out with a proposal that saw the enactment of the scheme by Act 426.
Since then the scheme has operated within this law.
Mr Yeboah said the rationale behind the establishment of the scheme was to cater for the shortfall of manpower in the country, especially in the rural areas.
08-10-08
THE National Service Scheme (NSS) on Monday announced the postings of 34,500 personnel for the 2008-2009 service year.
The figure represents an increase of 2,020 from the 2007-2008 national service year.
At a news conference to announce the release of postings, the Executive Director of the National Service Scheme, Mr Kofi Obiri Yeboah, expressed concern about the attitude of institutions that conducted aptitude tests for would-be service personnel on the campuses of tertiary institutions with the aim of recruiting brilliant students for their institutions for national service.
Such a practice, he said, was against the mode of operations of the service secretariat, since it was the mandate of the secretariat to recruit people for national service.
He, therefore, asked such institutions to desist from the practice because “having a first-class does not mean that you can perform on the job”.
Mr Yeboah said the secretariat had allowed the practice for sometime because some institutions, especially the financial ones, gathered background information about personnel posted to their outfits.
“By Act 426, no institution or organisation has the right to go round the universities and polytechnics to recruit would-be service personnel. It is only the National Service Scheme that has the mandate to do that,” he emphasised.
He gave the regional breakdown of the 2008-2009 service year as Greater Accra, 10,988; Ashanti, 5,640; Eastern, 2,871; Western, 2,690; Brong Ahafo, 2,667; Central, 2,080; Northern, 1,871; Volta, 1,571; Upper West, 710 and Upper East, 698.
In pursuant of the government’s policy of providing quality education, he said, 60-70 per cent of the personnel had been posted to the education sector to meet the shortfall in the posting of teachers to the rural areas.
Mr Yeboah said although the postings had been released, service persons could access their postings from Wednesday, October 8, 2008, adding that the service persons could check from the secretariat website of www.nssghana.org.
“Since its inception, the scheme has been contributing to the socio-economic development of the country. Service personnel are posted to places where their services are needed,” he stated, and reminded service persons that national service was “a call to national duty and postings must be accepted in good faith”.
Posting, he said, should never be seen as a punishment.
The NSS was established in 1973 by NRC Decree with 1,500 service persons. In 1980, the Buah Committee came out with a proposal that saw the enactment of the scheme by Act 426.
Since then the scheme has operated within this law.
Mr Yeboah said the rationale behind the establishment of the scheme was to cater for the shortfall of manpower in the country, especially in the rural areas.
Miracle Church marks 10th anniversary
Page 21
08-10-08
MEMBERS of the Kasoa branch of the Word Miracle Church International (WMCI) at the weekend undertook a walk as part of activities marking the 10th anniversary of the branch.
The three-hour march dubbed: “Taking Authority March,” took members of the church, who sported their anniversary polo shirts and caps, through the streets of Kasoa as well as the Old and New Market sites.
Amid dancing and singing, the members prayed for peace for the nation, ahead of the forthcoming general election. They also committed the town to the hands of the Lord and prayed for the prosperity of traders at the Kasoa Market.
The host Pastor of the Kasoa WMCI, Rev. Joseph Lavoe, said the march was to announce the presence of the church in the area to the authorities of the land.
“God has given the church power and authority. He told Joshua that wheresoever the sole of your foot shall tread upon, I the Lord, have given you the land for possession,” he said, adding “I believe God has given us this land”.
Rev. Lavoe said during the march, members of the church exercised their kingdom right over the principalities of the land, and expressed the hope that the three-hour exercise had made a positive impact spiritually and physically.
Rev. Lavoe believed that following the march, all that belonged to the church, the nation and the people had been given to them.
“Wherever you are as a church, don’t be afraid of the powers that have been in existence. God has given you the power and authority that anything you bind shall be bound and anything that you loose shall be loosed,” he admonished churches.
08-10-08
MEMBERS of the Kasoa branch of the Word Miracle Church International (WMCI) at the weekend undertook a walk as part of activities marking the 10th anniversary of the branch.
The three-hour march dubbed: “Taking Authority March,” took members of the church, who sported their anniversary polo shirts and caps, through the streets of Kasoa as well as the Old and New Market sites.
Amid dancing and singing, the members prayed for peace for the nation, ahead of the forthcoming general election. They also committed the town to the hands of the Lord and prayed for the prosperity of traders at the Kasoa Market.
The host Pastor of the Kasoa WMCI, Rev. Joseph Lavoe, said the march was to announce the presence of the church in the area to the authorities of the land.
“God has given the church power and authority. He told Joshua that wheresoever the sole of your foot shall tread upon, I the Lord, have given you the land for possession,” he said, adding “I believe God has given us this land”.
Rev. Lavoe said during the march, members of the church exercised their kingdom right over the principalities of the land, and expressed the hope that the three-hour exercise had made a positive impact spiritually and physically.
Rev. Lavoe believed that following the march, all that belonged to the church, the nation and the people had been given to them.
“Wherever you are as a church, don’t be afraid of the powers that have been in existence. God has given you the power and authority that anything you bind shall be bound and anything that you loose shall be loosed,” he admonished churches.
Friday, October 3, 2008
15 Students receive Unilever awards
Page 17
03-10-08
THE Unilever Ghana Foundation for Education and Development has awarded 15 graduating students who have distinguished themselves in their respective disciplines in the country’s polytechnics and universities.
The awards ranged between GH¢ 150.00 to GH¢ 250.00 and certificates of recognition.
In addition, the names of the beneficiaries would be captured on special recognition notice boards cited at their almer mater as perpetual reminders.
Speaking at the ceremony, the Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Foundation, Mr Andrew Quayson, said the students were selected by their universities and polytechnics as the overall best in their disciplines or academic institutions, based on their final year examinations in 2007.
He said such special events were organised not only to inspire the recipients, but also to serve as a reminder and motivation to all and sundry that “wherever we find ourselves and in whatever capacities, our contributions are being assessed for rewards”.
Since 2000, he said, the foundation had annually honoured graduates from the public tertiary institutions who distinguished themselves in their academic disciplines.
“For us at the foundation, demonstrating to these young adults in tangible terms that we appreciate their efforts and believe in their ability to go on to excel to greater heights is a step in the right direction,” he emphasised.
Mr Quayson said in total, the foundation was spending GH¢3,000.00 for the honours, and implored all and sundry “to strive to brighten our corner no matter how little”.
“It is our fervent hope that as they go out into the world of work, they will, by their achievements in their career and other pursuits, lend credence to the belief and confidence we have in them,” he stated.
He said having exhibited sterling academic performances, there was the need to energise themselves with the same discipline and enthusiasm to go through life to become exemplary leaders in their homes, communities and country.
A Lecturer at the Accra Polytechnic, Mr Nat Johnson, who benefited from a Unilever scholarship in 1967, commended the Unilever Foundation for inspiring the graduates to attain greater heights.
03-10-08
THE Unilever Ghana Foundation for Education and Development has awarded 15 graduating students who have distinguished themselves in their respective disciplines in the country’s polytechnics and universities.
The awards ranged between GH¢ 150.00 to GH¢ 250.00 and certificates of recognition.
In addition, the names of the beneficiaries would be captured on special recognition notice boards cited at their almer mater as perpetual reminders.
Speaking at the ceremony, the Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Foundation, Mr Andrew Quayson, said the students were selected by their universities and polytechnics as the overall best in their disciplines or academic institutions, based on their final year examinations in 2007.
He said such special events were organised not only to inspire the recipients, but also to serve as a reminder and motivation to all and sundry that “wherever we find ourselves and in whatever capacities, our contributions are being assessed for rewards”.
Since 2000, he said, the foundation had annually honoured graduates from the public tertiary institutions who distinguished themselves in their academic disciplines.
“For us at the foundation, demonstrating to these young adults in tangible terms that we appreciate their efforts and believe in their ability to go on to excel to greater heights is a step in the right direction,” he emphasised.
Mr Quayson said in total, the foundation was spending GH¢3,000.00 for the honours, and implored all and sundry “to strive to brighten our corner no matter how little”.
“It is our fervent hope that as they go out into the world of work, they will, by their achievements in their career and other pursuits, lend credence to the belief and confidence we have in them,” he stated.
He said having exhibited sterling academic performances, there was the need to energise themselves with the same discipline and enthusiasm to go through life to become exemplary leaders in their homes, communities and country.
A Lecturer at the Accra Polytechnic, Mr Nat Johnson, who benefited from a Unilever scholarship in 1967, commended the Unilever Foundation for inspiring the graduates to attain greater heights.
Thursday, October 2, 2008
Action plan for rice production
Page 32
02-10-08
GHANA’s rice industry is to produce high quality rice to meet 70 per cent of the domestic consumption needs of the population.
This follows the development of a five-year action plan (Rice Industry Action Plan 2008-2013) that will double local rice production and enhance the country’s competitiveness in the industry as part of efforts to transform the agricultural sector.
The action plan was developed by players in the rice industry at a two-day workshop organised by an international non-governmental organisation (NGO), ACDI/VOCA, which is the implementing partner for the Millennium Development Authority (MiDA) in the southern agricultural zone.
The MiDA is responsible for managing the Millennium Challenge Account (MCA) Ghana Programme and the Regional Implementation Consultants (RICs) for the country’s southern zone.
Stakeholders at the workshop who developed the action plan included rice input suppliers, small and large-scale rice farmers, leaders of farmer-based organisations, rice processors, wholesalers, retailers and exporters, as well as financial service providers.
“This action plan will also serve as a map that will guide our activities in support of rice sector participants for the remainder of the MCC-funded MiDA agricultural project,” a Senior Technical Adviser at ACDI/VOCA, Dr Owuraku Sakyi Dawson, said.
The industry participants were of the view that there was the need for training in agronomy, water management and post-harvest handling for all actors in the sector and indicated that the training in those areas was to start next month.
According to the action plan, what needed to be done to address the constraint of poor seed and the selection of varieties included multiplication of approved high-yielding varieties which satisfied market demand for taste and other cooking characteristics for the various agro-ecological zones.
“Rice industry stakeholders are of the view that the multiplication of the approved high-yielding varieties with characteristics that are demanded by the market will start in February 2009,” it indicated.
Dr Dawson said ACDI/VOCA was proud to be the country’s MiDA partner in the implementation of MiDA’s agriculture project in the southern zone, adding that “even more important, we are proud to be a partner to all the farmers and firms which will realise the rich potential of Ghana’s agricultural and agribusiness sectors”.
The workshop was, among other things, to verify the preliminary findings of the rice value chain analysis conducted to enhance industry competitiveness, develop a vision for the rice industry and develop an action plan with industry participants on what was needed to realise the vision of a more competitive rice industry.
02-10-08
GHANA’s rice industry is to produce high quality rice to meet 70 per cent of the domestic consumption needs of the population.
This follows the development of a five-year action plan (Rice Industry Action Plan 2008-2013) that will double local rice production and enhance the country’s competitiveness in the industry as part of efforts to transform the agricultural sector.
The action plan was developed by players in the rice industry at a two-day workshop organised by an international non-governmental organisation (NGO), ACDI/VOCA, which is the implementing partner for the Millennium Development Authority (MiDA) in the southern agricultural zone.
The MiDA is responsible for managing the Millennium Challenge Account (MCA) Ghana Programme and the Regional Implementation Consultants (RICs) for the country’s southern zone.
Stakeholders at the workshop who developed the action plan included rice input suppliers, small and large-scale rice farmers, leaders of farmer-based organisations, rice processors, wholesalers, retailers and exporters, as well as financial service providers.
“This action plan will also serve as a map that will guide our activities in support of rice sector participants for the remainder of the MCC-funded MiDA agricultural project,” a Senior Technical Adviser at ACDI/VOCA, Dr Owuraku Sakyi Dawson, said.
The industry participants were of the view that there was the need for training in agronomy, water management and post-harvest handling for all actors in the sector and indicated that the training in those areas was to start next month.
According to the action plan, what needed to be done to address the constraint of poor seed and the selection of varieties included multiplication of approved high-yielding varieties which satisfied market demand for taste and other cooking characteristics for the various agro-ecological zones.
“Rice industry stakeholders are of the view that the multiplication of the approved high-yielding varieties with characteristics that are demanded by the market will start in February 2009,” it indicated.
Dr Dawson said ACDI/VOCA was proud to be the country’s MiDA partner in the implementation of MiDA’s agriculture project in the southern zone, adding that “even more important, we are proud to be a partner to all the farmers and firms which will realise the rich potential of Ghana’s agricultural and agribusiness sectors”.
The workshop was, among other things, to verify the preliminary findings of the rice value chain analysis conducted to enhance industry competitiveness, develop a vision for the rice industry and develop an action plan with industry participants on what was needed to realise the vision of a more competitive rice industry.
Accra EP church choirs hold rally
Page 29
02-10-08
THE Accra Presbytery Church Choirs’ Union of the Global Evangelical Church has held its Triennial Rally at the Accra Teacher Training College.
As part of the rally, the delegates made a donation of food items, beverages and detergents to the National Office of the SOS villages of Ghana for distribution to the various SOS Villages.
New Executives were also elected, with Mr Samuel Kwadzo as President; Mr Moses Ahlivia, Vice President and Madam Peace Kumako, Secretary. The Choirmasters are Messrs George Asiamah and Godsway Hanyabui.
The Presbytery Choirs Co-ordinator is Rev C. K. K. Aglago.
Speaking at the ceremony, the Synod Clerk of the Global Evangelical Church, Rev Prince Tefe, advised politicians to be concerned about the stability of the country and avoid acts and utterances that could lead to disunity and hatred among Ghanaians.
He reminded the various contestants to bear in mind that whoever won the December general elections would need the support of all citizens irrespective of their party affiliations to contribute to the national development agenda.
Preaching the sermon at a thanksgiving service to round off the programme, the pastor in charge of the Dome-Atomic branch of the Global Evangelical church, Rev Dr Seth Gbewonyo, stressed the need for churches and other religious gatherings to serve as forums where issues which united Ghanaians as one people would be highlighted.
Rev Dr Gbewonyo, who is also the Hall Master of Akuafo Hall of the University of Ghana, Legon, asked Ghanaians to be prepared to forgive one another and continue to pray for God’s guidance to elect leaders who would be accepted across the political divide.
Rev Dr Gbewonyo commended the involvement of the youth in national politics, but cautioned that they should not allow themselves to be misguided to forment trouble during this year’s electioneering or in the future.
He said: “The youth need to bear in mind that any disturbance of the national peace and stability cannot provide a congenial atmosphere for them to nurture their talent to be tapped for national progress.”
02-10-08
THE Accra Presbytery Church Choirs’ Union of the Global Evangelical Church has held its Triennial Rally at the Accra Teacher Training College.
As part of the rally, the delegates made a donation of food items, beverages and detergents to the National Office of the SOS villages of Ghana for distribution to the various SOS Villages.
New Executives were also elected, with Mr Samuel Kwadzo as President; Mr Moses Ahlivia, Vice President and Madam Peace Kumako, Secretary. The Choirmasters are Messrs George Asiamah and Godsway Hanyabui.
The Presbytery Choirs Co-ordinator is Rev C. K. K. Aglago.
Speaking at the ceremony, the Synod Clerk of the Global Evangelical Church, Rev Prince Tefe, advised politicians to be concerned about the stability of the country and avoid acts and utterances that could lead to disunity and hatred among Ghanaians.
He reminded the various contestants to bear in mind that whoever won the December general elections would need the support of all citizens irrespective of their party affiliations to contribute to the national development agenda.
Preaching the sermon at a thanksgiving service to round off the programme, the pastor in charge of the Dome-Atomic branch of the Global Evangelical church, Rev Dr Seth Gbewonyo, stressed the need for churches and other religious gatherings to serve as forums where issues which united Ghanaians as one people would be highlighted.
Rev Dr Gbewonyo, who is also the Hall Master of Akuafo Hall of the University of Ghana, Legon, asked Ghanaians to be prepared to forgive one another and continue to pray for God’s guidance to elect leaders who would be accepted across the political divide.
Rev Dr Gbewonyo commended the involvement of the youth in national politics, but cautioned that they should not allow themselves to be misguided to forment trouble during this year’s electioneering or in the future.
He said: “The youth need to bear in mind that any disturbance of the national peace and stability cannot provide a congenial atmosphere for them to nurture their talent to be tapped for national progress.”
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)