PROVIDE MORE SHELVES FOR HOHOE LIBRAY (PAGE 23)

THE Hohoe Municipal Library has made an appeal to the Hohoe Municipal Assembly and other benevolent organisations to provide more shelves for it’s books.
According to the librarian, Mr Stephen Hekli, most of the library books were being kept on the floor due to lack of shelves to store them.
Making the appeal through the Daily Graphic at Hohoe, he noted that for lack of space, some of the library’s clients had stopped patronising the facility.
Mr Hekli mentioned shortage of staff as another problem facing the library; a situation that had prevented the facility from running two shifts, which should have been the case.
He was, however, grateful to the assembly for providing office accommodation for the library and appealed for its extension to cater for more readers.

TEACHERS ASSURED OF PAYMENT OF SALARIES (PAGE 11)

THE Hohoe Municipal Director of Education, Mrs Juliet Beauty Kumah, has assured the 2007 batch of the Diploma in Basic Education teachers that their salaries and arrears will be paid in full by the end of November this year.
According to the director, all the necessary work had been completed and at the end of this month they would return home with smiles.
A number of teachers in the Hohoe Municipality and other parts of the country who completed their training in 2007 have expressed concern about the failure of the Ghana Educations Service to put them on the correct salary scale.
According to them, despite several appeals to the GES, nothing had been done to that effect.
They said apart from not being put on the right salary scale, they were yet to be given arrears due them.
In an interview in relation to a four-point resolution sent to her and other stakeholders in education by the 2007 batch of teachers in the Hohoe municipality, she explained that the delay was due to the breakdown of machinery between August and October this year.
According to the resolution, the teachers asked that their arrears should be paid in full, and that they should be placed on the correct salary scale by November 15.
They further asked the Director General of the Ghana Education Service (GES) to conduct investigations into the undue delay to prevent a recurrence.
The resolution warned that should their conditions not be met by November 15 they would mount persistent pressure to back their demand.

PEOPLE AT PONKOR APPEAL FOR ELECTRICITY (PAGE 25)

THE people of Ponkor in the Jaman North District in the Brong Ahafo Region have appealed to the government to extend electricity to the community to facilitate the establishment of small-scale businesses in the area.
A citizen of the town resident in Tema, Mr Stephen Yeboah, made the appeal through the Daily Graphic at Ponkor on Wednesday.
He stated that since the area was noted for the cultivation of cashew, yam, cassava and maize, the extension of electricity would encourage more youth to venture into large-scale agriculture and process their produce into secondary commodities.
Addressing a meeting with farmers and the youth at Ponkor, Mr Yeboah said it was unfortunate that the youth in the area were drifting to cities in search of non-existent jobs.
He said with the provision of the necessary social amenities, such as electricity, the youth would stay in the area and make enough money to cater for their needs.
Mr Yeboah, however, called on parents in the area to show greater interest in the education of their children to enable them to be useful citizens in future.
He noted that with the introduction of the Capitation Grant and other interventions, parents had no excuse for refusing to send their children to school.
Touching on the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), Mr Yeboah appealed to the people to register to be part of the scheme in order to enjoy its benefits.
On the forthcoming general election, he appealed to leaders and supporters of the various political parties to work towards ensuring peace before, during and after the polls.

GLADYS DOE ADJUDGED BEST FARMER IN KPANDO DISTRICT (PAGE 20)

A 51-YEAR-OLD farmer of Vakpo in the Kpando District of the Volta Region, Madam Gladys Doe, was adjudged the best farmer in the district for the year 2008.
That was not the first time Madam Doe had won a prize in agriculture.
Madam Doe, who said she went into farming 10 years ago after 18 years sojourn in Nigeria, said she won the first prizes in cassava and mango production in 2005 and 2007 respectively.
In an interview after receiving her prize, Madam Doe said she learnt the profession from her late father, Mr Gabriel Doe.
Madam Doe took home a certificate, a table top refrigerator, a bicycle, a knapsack sprayer, a number of bars of Key soap, machetes and a pair of wellington boots.
In all, 25 farmers, including a disabled person, Mr Afatsao Bobodza of Kpando Bame, were awarded.
The Vakpo Senior High School (SHS) and Gbefi Hoeme Anobi District Assembly Junior High School also received prizes.
At the ceremony, the Kpando District Chief Executive (DCE), Mr Pius Kwami Adanuti, said the country could overcome the effects of globalisation, only if the people shifted their preference for foreign goods to made-in-Ghana goods.
He said in rice cultivation, for instance, Ghana had the capacity to produce her requirements but the people had developed an insatiable taste for rice from the Far East.
Mr Adanuti called on farmers to add value to their produce to meet international market standards.
For her part, the Kpando District Director of Food and Agriculture (MoFA), Madam Cecilia Gboloo, noted that agricultural production was improving in the district.
On behalf of the farmers, she commended the President, Mr John Agyekum Kufour, for responding to the cry of the farmers by subsidising by half the prices of fertilisers.
The Krontihene of Anfoega Traditional Area, Togbe Ganahe Akompi V, appealed to the Kpando District Assembly to reconstruct the collapsed local market.
He said it was ironical to be awarding farmers when they did not have any place to market their produce.

CHURCH RAISES GH¢60,000 TO FUND GUEST HOUSE (PAGE 21)

THE Klefe Evangelical Presbyterian Church, Ghana last Sunday realised more than GH¢60,000 at a fund-raising ceremony to climax their centenary celebrations held at Klefe Kpodzi in the Ho Municipality.
The money would be used for the completion of the church’s centenary guest house.
Preaching the sermon on the theme: “I Shall Not Die but Live and Proclaim the Work of the Lord,” the Moderator of the EP Church, Ghana, Rt. Rev. Dr Livingstone Komla Buama, a citizen of the town, said the church was established at Klefe about 100 years ago.
He said with hard work and dedication over the years, Christianity and education were deeply rooted in the area and the result was the production of many prominent people including bankers, doctors, lawyers, military and police officers.
Rt. Rev. Buama stressed the need for the youth to worship God in sincerity to protect them against poverty, drugs and alcohol abuse, irresponsible parenthood and sexual promiscuity.
For his part, the former moderator of the church, Very Rev. J.Y. Ledo, called on Christians to have confidence in the Lord Jesus Christ and also love one another and in truth.
“It is by so doing that our proclamation of the works of the Lord will rise up to him”, he said.
Earlier in a welcoming address, the Fiaga of Klefe Traditional Area, Togbe Afele Dzaga X, was happy about the peaceful co-existence of the 10 Christian churches in the town.
He noted that the celebration should mark a new vision for strengthening their Christian values and morals.
“We should do away with outmoded customs, reduce ignorance and poverty and make Klefe a place of peace and development and progress”, Togbe Dzaga said.
He called for the establishment of an education endowment fund to support brilliant, needy children in the area.

EVANGELICAL PRESBY SCHOOL ROAD TO BE REBUILT (PAGE 11)

THE Minister of Transportation, Dr Richard Anane, has assured students and staff of the Evangelical Presbyterian Senior High School (HEPSS) that the two-kilometre access road leading to the school will soon be rehabilitated.
He said the road project was seriously receiving attention and funds will be released for works to begin.
Dr Anane said this in a speech read on his behalf at the 46th Speech and Prize-giving Day ceremony of the school at Hohoe in the Volta Region.
Speaking on the theme “The New Reform— Challenges and Prospects”, he said the educational reform being pursued by the government required more infrastructural facilities to enhance teaching and learning in schools.
According to the minister, “the government faces the daunting task of providing infrastructure such as staff accommodation, classrooms, libraries, science blocks, workshops, buses and other logistics with the scarce resources at its disposal”.
On Information Communication Technology (ICT), he said the government, in conjunction with the Ghana Education Service (GES), had assisted a number of schools to run ICT courses, which will be replicated in other senior high schools throughout the country.
He said the performance of teachers had also been improved to meet the challenges of the new reform through such programmes as upgrading teacher training colleges to diploma-awarding institutions, distance education and sandwich programmes.
On the forthcoming election, he emphasised that as one people with a common destiny, all of us should create the enabling peaceful atmosphere and said, those who had not yet attained the voting age especially students, should not attempt to vote since that would seriously affect their education.
The Volta Regional Director of Education, Reverend Samuel Amankwa, advised parents, as partners in education, to establish cordial relationships with teachers, and added, “Make the education of your ward your central focus and seek such opportunities for them, not only in public institutions but also in the private ones”.
The headmaster of the school, Mr John Osei-Nyansa, said the school, which was established in 1961 and now had a student population of over 800, with 46 teachers, offered General Arts, General Science, Business and Vocational programmes.
The headmaster said the school was supposed to have 21 classrooms for the old programme, but only 10 could be called classrooms.
He said apart from all these problems, the teachers continued to put in their best and their results continued to be good.
In 2006, for instance, he said the school recorded 100 per cent passes with 45 per cent moving on to tertiary institutions, while they scored 98 per cent in 2007 and 98 per cent in 2008.
The headmaster noted that though efforts were being made to provide more infrastructure in the school, that would not solve the immediate challenges facing it, in spite of it being a model school.
Their challenges, he said, were mostly accommodation for staff, boys and girls dormitories and classrooms for the ever increasing student population.
He also touched on the access road to the school, which, he said, was in a very deplorable state.
In all, 26 students, teaching and non-teaching staff members received various prizes for their meritorious achievements in their respective areas.
Miss Patience Hottor, 19, a second-year General Arts student, who received the overall best student award, took home a shield, certificate, books and GH¢ 20.00.

KPANDO ACCIDENT CLAIMS SIX LIVES (BACK PAGE)

Six people died, three on the spot and three on the way to the Margaret Marquart Catholic Hospital, Kpando, in a fatal accident on the Kpando–Tokor road yesterday.
The 38-seater Mercedes Benz 205 D bus, with registration number AS 94 D, which was involved in the accident, was conveying bags of salt and 19 passengers, mostly traders from Ningo in the Greater Accra Region, to the Tokor Market when it plunged into a valley at about 5.50 a.m.
The dead include the driver of the Benz bus, his mate and four others who are yet to be identified. Their bodies have been deposited at the mortuary of the Margaret Marquart Catholic Hospital.
The remaining 13 passengers, mostly women, are on admission at the same hospital.
They are Sarah Tetteh, 50; Joyce Kwami, 20; Gifty Ntiamoah, 40; Tei Daniel, 26; Kofi Awatey, 37, and Ayiku Tetteh, 36.
The rest are Okutu Boitey, 46; Sarah Adotum, 24; Joyce Tetteh, 46; Amaki Dzagonu, 62; Baby Siaw, 30, and Emmanuel Akwettey, 21.
According to the medical superintendent of the hospital, the victims were all in stable condition.
According to the Kpando District Commander of Police, Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Julius Ellis Agbavade, the driver was just about two kilometres away from Tokor when the accident occurred.
He attributed it to tiredness on the part of the driver because he went off the road and drove some 100 metres. It was in an attempt to get back on the road that the vehicle skidded and fell into a deep valley.
The Kpando District Chief Executive, Mr Pius Adanuti, who visited the victims at the hospital, sent his condolences to the bereaved families and wished those in the hospital a speedy recovery.
He reiterated his appeal to the Ghana Highway Authority to rehabilitate the Kpando-Ve Golokuati road which had a lot of potholes on it.
On the Kpando-Tokor road, he wondered when the GHA would heed to his call to put road markings and railings on the meandering road to prevent accidents.
He expressed his gratitude to taxi drivers at Kpando, officers of the Ghana National Fire Service and the police at Kpando for their prompt response to the accident.

COURT ISSUES BENCH WARRANT FOR ARREST OF BUSINESSWOMAN (PAGE 39)

THE Jasikan Circuit Court in the Volta Region has issued a bench warrant for the arrest of a 23-year old Jasiskan-based business woman, Sylvia Ama Afful, for allegedly defrauding the Ghana Commercial Bank (GCB) of GH¢1,230.
The court has adjourned the case sine die until Sylvia, who has jumped bail, is re-arrested.
Sylvia is believed to be hiding in Accra or Tema.
Presenting the facts of the case before the court presided over by Mr Samuel Kofi Solomon, the prosecutor, Inspector Seth Twum Mensah, said on December 31, 2007, Sylvia, a customer of the Jasikan branch of the GCB, went to the bank to transact business.
He said Sylvia, who had credit balance of GH¢1,247.22 at the bank, requested the staff to transfer the money to Tema for some business transactions.
According to the prosecutor, the bank suffered some power fluctuations so the transfer process was made twice as the first transaction was thought to have been unsuccessful.
Inspector Twum Mensah said when the network was fully restored, the bank detected that the suspect’s account had been credited twice.
According to the prosecutor, the bank quickly notified Sylvia by telephone but she ignored the notification and rather went ahead to withdraw all the money in her account.
Inspector Twum Mensah said Sylvia gave the assurance that she would refund the excess amount to the bank but rather closed the account and stopped going to Jasikan.

HOHOE ELECTION TASK FORCE INAUGURATED (PAGE 16)

THE 11-member Hohoe Municipal Election Task Force Committee has been inaugurated in Hohoe and tasked to ensure smooth and peaceful general election on December 7.
The committees members are drawn from the Police, Customs, Excise and Preventive Service (CEPS), Fire Service, Bureau of National Investigations (BNI), Immigration Service and the Electoral Commission (EC).
In his inaugural address, the Sector Commander of CEPS, Mr Fredua Boakye Agyeman, urged all security service personnel who would be deployed on election day to be extra cautious, maintain discipline and be alert at all times. Above all, they need to remain non-partisan before, during and after the elections.
“To the commanders who would be in charge of the various districts: We expect you to lead by example. You must ensure that all your men are well briefed on their duties, and do not hesitate to contact your superiors when confronted with any problem”, he cautioned.
Mr Agyeman urged the security service to display a high sense of fairness in order to uphold the confidence reposed in them by the public.
“I look forward to maximum co-operation from members of the security service and a cordial relationship with the general public. This is the only country we have, and we must work diligently to protect it”, he advised.

COCOBOD VOWS TO ELIMINATE CHILD LABOUR (BACK PAGE)

GHANA COCOBOD says it is determined to eliminate the worst forms of child labour in the cocoa sector throughout the country.
Addressing a farmers rally at Likpe Bala in the Hohoe Municipality last Tuesday, a Senior Research Officer of COCOBOD, Mr Paul Ntim, said in that effort, COCOBOD was collaborating with International Cocoa Initiatives (ICI) to build the capacity of some media personnel and COCOBOD field staff to deal with issues of child labour.
He announced that over 300 field staff and Licensed Buying Companies (LBCs) have so far been trained in that regard.
He added that cocobod had also started a rigorous radio educational programme on child labour with 13 selected FM stations to create awareness and sensitise communities to ensuring that children were not exploited and abused in the production of cocoa.
Examples of cases of child labour, he cited, included taking children under 18 years out of school to work on cocoa farms, and heaping heavy loads on the heads of the children.
He said with such initiatives, COCOBOD had seen effective results, especially through the use of the local languages on the 13 selected radio stations.
This, he said, was part of the national programme for the elimination of worst forms of child labour by 2011, adding that the programme was crucial to the development and growth of the country.
On the quality of cocoa, he urged farmers to ferment their cocoa for six days, dry them well so that the standard set by Ghana on the world market would be sustained.

BARCLAYS BANK FETES PUPILS (PAGE 22)

THE Hohoe branch of Barclays Bank, Ghana has feted 400 pupils selected from three junior high schools (JHS) as part of its “Make a Difference Day Celebration” held at Hohoe.
The beneficiary schools were the Evangelical Presbyterian, Experimental and New Town Municipal Assembly JHS.
As part of the celebration, Barclays Bank officials taught the students lessons in Mathematics, English and Science after which each of them took home exercise books and pens.
In addition, a counselling exercise was held for them on several issues, including respect for their parents and teachers, drug abuse and the need to learn hard in school.
Food and drinks were served to the participants.
The Co-ordinator for the programme, Mr Sterlington Horsoo of the Hohoe branch of Barclays Bank, said such programmes were organised annually to enable the staff to reach out to the people in the community as part of its social responsibility.
He said last year, the bank held the programme at the Volta School for the Deaf at Hohoe.
In a chat, the Headmaster of E.P. JHS, Mr Sylva-Eric Woname, said they were very excited about the programme since it would motivate the students to aim high.

FARMERS GET MOSQUITO NETS (BACK PAGE)

THE Produce Buying Company (PBC) has distributed 5,121 mosquito nets to farmers in various cocoa-growing centres in the Volta Region at a ceremony at Bodada in the Jasikan District.
Mr Prosper Segbla, Volta Regional Manager of the PBC, who made the presentation, said the government was doing its best to boost cocoa production to enable the country to hit the one million tonne target in the next two years.
He said due to smuggling activities, only 1,000 tonnes of cocoa beans were bought in the region in spite of the good harvest brought about by the mass spraying exercise and provision of other inputs aimed at boosting production.
This was out of the 700,000 tonnes recorded nationwide last year.
He lamented that due to smuggling in the region, incentives due to farmers were denied them, adding that last year for instance, the region had only six Ghana Cocoa Board scholarship awards as compared to Sankore, a cocoa-growing community in the Brong Ahafo, which had 300.
On boreholes, he said the region had only five, adding that the government was prepared to respond to the needs of the people if they identified themselves with it.
Mr Segbla also announced that funds had been released for the payment of bonus this year aimed at improving cocoa production in the country.

NGO OFFERS FREE EYE-SCREENING AT PEKI AVETILE (PAGE 39)

THE Volta Chapter of “Unite for Sight”, a US-based non-governmental organisation (NGO), has organised a two-day eye screening exercise dubbed: “Catch Gbi za with Eye Screening” at Peki Avetile, in the South Dayi District of the Volta Region.
The ceremony formed part of this year’s annual Gbi Dukorza festival celebration.
A total of 484 patients were screened, and those found to have cataract and pterygium were referred to the Crystal Eye Clinic at Adenta in Accra, where they were operated upon free of charge by the leader of the team, Dr James Clark.
The Volta Regional Co-ordinator of the NGO, Rev. Benjamin Bankas, told the Daily Graphic that the medical team spent about two weeks at Jasikan and Peki in the Volta Region on a similar exercise.
He said at Peki, the team found out that 45 per cent of the people screened had cataract, while the percentage of those with refractive errors was 40, with reading difficulty cases making up the remaining 15 per cent.
According to Mr Bankas, Glaucoma was detected as the major problem in the northern sector of the Jasikan District, forming about 60 per cent of all cases screened, whilst cataract came second with 35 per cent with refractive error cases being five per cent.
Rev. Bankas appealed for assistance from well-to-do individuals and benevolent organisations to enable the NGO to reach out to the hinterlands, where its services were needed most.

LEKLEBI, LAVIE RENEW TIES (PAGE 40)

THE chiefs and people of Leklebi Traditional Area in the Hohoe Municipality of the Volta Region and those in Lavie in the Republic of Togo have sealed a common bond of brotherhood at Leklebi–Duga.
At a joint news conference at the weekend to launch the commemoration of the beginning of a biannual festival known as “Leklebi-Lavie Agbonuto Za” at Leklebi Duga, the Chairman of the Leklebi Lavie Agbonuto Za Secretariat, Mr Morris Alfred Fie, said the people of Leklebi and Lavie were one people.
The conference was to renew the affiliation between the people of Leklebi and Lavie who left Notsie during the exodus of Ewe groups in the 15th Century.
The festival, to be held on rotational basis, starts from Thursday, November 6, this year, with a grand durbar to climax the occasion on November 8 at Leklebi Duga, is purely a cultural and development-oriented affair. It marks the homecoming of the chiefs and people of Lavie to to their kinsmen at Leklebi.
Mr Fie said the people of Leklebi visited their kinsmen in 1979 with a delegation of 305 people and there had been contacts between the two peoples since 1980.
He said the people of Lavie, therefore, decided to reciprocate the visit of their kinsmen at Leklebi this year.
According to Mr Fie, both kinsmen migrated from Notsie through other places before settling at Lakledzi, a distance of about 28 kilometres from Leklebi, where the Lavie were resident at the moment.
“This identification was confirmed through various similarities in names such as Biaku, Vukey, Deh, Hehemeku, Atsutse and many others, which are found in both traditional areas,” he stated.
Mr Fie said in order to execute the programme successfully, all citizens of Leklebi, both at home and abroad, had been levied GH¢5 or more.
The money, he said, must be paid before the end of October, this year

RETAIN NPP TO IMPROVE TOURIST INFRASTRUCTURE (PAGE 15)

THE Hohoe Municipal Chief Executive (MCE), Mr John Peter Amewu, has called on the people of the region to retain the New Patriotic Party (NPP) in power to improve the infrastructure at tourist sites which abound in the district.
He said the NPP government was prepared to continue to support the inflow of tourists into the country.
At a political rally at Likpe Mate in the Hohoe municipality, Mr Amewu said as a result of the massive foreign exchange derived from that sector, it was important for it to be supported.
He said for the past seven years that the NPP had been in power, there had been many projects such as schools, roads and water in every part of the country.
He announced that the road linking Wli Todzi to Hohoe had been started but expressed regret at the fact that the contractor, Canary Construction Limited, had vacated the site.
At Wli Agorviefe, the MCE cut the sod for work to begin on a GH¢60,000 Information and Communications Technology (ICT) project which is being funded by the government. The project is expected to be completed by February next year.
Mr Amewu said it would further improve the tourism potential of the area which had the Wli Waterfall and other attractions such as the Afaja and the Agumatsa ranges.
He further announced that a school block, valued at GH¢340,000, was being constructed for the Roman Catholic Primary School at Wli Todzi.

FAREWELL SERVICE FOR REV BUAMAH (PAGE 35)

THE Hohoe Presbytery of the Global Evangelical Church in the Volta Region has organised a farewell service in honour of the Presbytery Chairman, Rev Moses E.K. Buamah at a ceremony in Hohoe.
Rev Buamah, 54, who served as the Chairman of the Hohoe Presbytery of the church, pioneered the opening of Global Evangelical Church in Hohoe. He has been transferred to the Republic of Togo to continue with his duties.
He has also been appointed the Presbytery chairman and the leader of the National Division of New Harvest Mission International in Lome.
Rev Buamah, who was elected the Vice Chairman of the Ghana Pentecostal Church (GPC) as a result of his hard work, opened a number of churches in the northern part of the region.
In appreciation of his diligent work and dedication to duty, the church posted him to Togo to continue with his ministerial work and to win more souls for Christ.
The Chairman of the GPC, Rev Mike Osborn, in a citation, described Rev Buamah as exceptionally devoted to the service of God, which is worthy of emulation.

OCTOGENARIAN MURDERED (MIRROR, PAGE 30)

From Emmanuel Modey, Ve Koloenu

The murder of an 82-year-old man at Ve Koloenu in the Hohoe Municipality is causing a lot of panic and anxiety in the farming community.
According to the police at Hohoe, the deceased, Gilbert Nkansah, considered one of the eldest in the community, was found lying in a supine position with his head brutally crashed while his brains and other membranes had scattered at the road leading to the market on October 1, this year.
The body of the deceased has been deposited at the Hohoe Municipal Hospital Mortuary for autopsy.
The police source said the hospital authorities later detected that apart from the head that was badly damaged, the tongue, eyes, heart, membranes, and scalp were all missing.
The police source said a suspect, Paa Kwesi Gale, a 40-year-old man, had been arrested by the Hohoe Police and was assisting in investigation.

KUMA ATSEM ELECTED DFP ASPIRANT FOR CENTRAL TONGU (PAGE 13)

THE Central Tongu branch of the Democratic Freedom Party (DFP) has held its constituency conference at Juapong, during which Mr Emmanuel Kuma Atsem, 56, was elected as their parliamentary aspirant to contest the December election.
The 216 delegates, drawn from 96 branches of the Central Tongu Constituency, voted for him by acclamation.
The election was supervised by the officials of the North Tongu District Electoral Commission led by Mr Samuel Bansah.
Accepting the outcome, Mr Kuma-Atsem, who is a laboratory technician, gave the assurance that he would do everything to win the seat, using his rich experience in politics.
He said he would ensure that the DFP defeated the National Democratic Congress (NDC) during the elections.
Contributing, the Volta Regional Organiser of the DFP, Mr Michael Gamor, who is also a parliamentary aspirant for the Ho-East Constituency, reminded DFP members that politics was not like a science laboratory where experiments are made.
"If you vote the wrong candidate today, it will take you another four years to make an amendment."

55 ACCIDENTS CLAIMED 17 LIVES IN 2007 (PAGE 35)

ROAD accidents are taking a toll on the human resources of the nation. Statistics available at the Hohoe branch of the Motor Traffic and Transport Unit (MTTU) of the Ghana Police Service indicate that 55 road accidents involving 78 vehicles were recorded in the area in 2007, resulting in 17 deaths while 109 people sustained various degrees of injury.
In 2006, 83 accidents involving 88 vehicles were recorded out of which 11 people lost their lives while 123 others sustained injuries.
Only one driver was charged in connection with the accidents during the two-year period, but he was acquitted and discharged. The rest were either cautioned to be of good behaviour or are awaiting trial.
These facts came to light at a one-day workshop organised by drivers in Hohoe to determine the causes of accidents on the roads in the area.
Some of the commercial drivers, who spoke at the ceremony contended that they were poorly paid by their employers, adding that their social security contributions were also not paid as required by law.
That development, according to the drivers, put them under pressure in striving to make ends meet.
They were of the view that if the law that established the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) contribution for workers (PNDC 247 of 1991) was not enforced to benefit drivers, accidents would continue to occur on the roads.
The Executive Director of the West Africa Rural Development Foundation, a Hohoe-based non-governmental organisation, Mr Francis Dimake, said after his interaction with drivers in the Hohoe Municipality, it came to light that drivers faced a lot of problems that were unknown to the general public for them to appreciate.
“I identified that drivers work under constant pressure from their vehicle owners. Drivers suffer a lot, especially when travelling in the night when all passengers sleep as soon as the vehicles take off, leaving their lives and valuables in the care of the motorists,” Mr Dimake said.
“However, when the passengers arrive safely, nobody comes to thank the driver but when a misfortune occurs, the driver is first to be accused. Drivers are, therefore, looking for a policy which will enforce PNDC Law 247 of 1991 in their favour,” he stated.
Mr Dimake, therefore, suggested that before the roadworthiness certificate of a commercial vehicle was renewed, the vehicle owner must show evidence of payment of social security contribution for the driver.
For his part, Togbega Gabusu, the Paramount Chief of the Gbi Traditional Area, did not mince words when he added his voice to the steps to minimise the carnage on the roads.
He noted that accidents were affecting the manpower resources of the nation and also creating too many orphans in society.
Togbega Gabusu wondered why drivers would not exercise a bit of patience while driving in order to reach their destinations safely.
He stated that recent reports of roads accidents had been so harrowing that one could not understand what was happening.
The paramount chief, therefore, advised motorists to heed road safety measures and protect the lives of people. Togbega Gabusu attributed the rampant accidents in the area to speeding, dangerous overtaking, tiredness on the part of drivers leading to sleeping behind the steering wheel and improper maintenance of vehicles.

MAN OFFERS DAUGHER, 8, FOR SALE (MIRROR, PAGE 27)

From Emmanuel Modey, Nkwanta

A father’s plan to purchase a vehicle by selling his eight-year-old daughter at the Nkwanta market in the Nkwanta South District of the Volta Region, backfired when he was arrested by the police.
According to ASP Douglas Kuma, the Nkwanta South District Police Commander, the father, Kegbameni Blesa, 28, a driver resident at Basare in the Republic of Togo, asked his daughter to accompany him to Koe in the Nkwanta North District to do some business with a friend.
The District Commander said on his arrival at Koe, the friend Badaheo Kejabie, 29, a farmer, during their conversation convinced Kegbameni to go and sell his daughter the next day, which was a market day at Nkwanta.
The following morning ASP Kuma said Badaheo and Kegbameni set off with the girl to the market but an informant who heard of their plan, ulterior motive, hinted the police and feigned interest to buy the child.
At the crucial moment when the child was being offered at GH¢48,000, the police led by ASP Douglas Kuma, emerged at the scene and effected their arrest.
The two suspects were arraigned before the Nkwanta Magistrate’s Court presided over by His Worship, Mr Stanislus Amanoipo, and charged. Their pleas were not taken and they were remanded in prison custody to reappear on a later date.

HOHOE FARMERS RECEIVE ASSISTANCE (PAGE 21)

AGRICULTURE investment is beig given a boost in the Hohoe Municipality in the Volta Region to support the peasant farmers increase rice production in the country.
Currently, urgent measures to boost rice production are being taken such as distribution of seeds, fertilisers and other inputs through a credit system to peasant farmers in the area.
In collaboration with the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA) and Green Shield Agro-Chemicals, the rice farmers are being pre-financed to ease the challenges they face in the Hohoe Municipality.
According to Efo Kumah Ameyibor, Operations Manager of Green Shield, the farmers identified by MoFA, are given coupons to come to them for their farming inputs. He said, the government had by its subsidies to increase food production, absorbed half the cost of their inputs, including fertilisers.
These fertilisers are N.P.K. and Urea, which has reduced from GH¢ 50.00 to GH¢ 26.00; and Ammonia has been reduced from GH¢ 35.00 to GH¢ 18.00. The rest is Actyra at GH¢ 45.00 but with the coupon, the farmer buys it at GH¢ 25.00.
Mr Ameyibor said with their collaboration, the farmers, some of whom are poor and could not afford the bills would be allowed a grace period of six months, that is ,after harvest in February, 2009, to pay back the subsidised rates.
The Operations Manager named other districts and municipalities that they were extending their operations to as Adaklu-Ayigbe, Ho, Nkwanta, Kpassa, Jasikan, Kpando and Krachi-East.
A female farmer doing 30 acres of maize due to this intervention, Madam Patience Dzigbodi, was grateful for the assistance from the government and Green Shield for absorbing all cost on the inputs, making it possible for her to start the farming season on time.
The Hohoe Municipal Director of the MoFA, Mr Geoffrey Honu, expressed the hope that this year, rice production would be increased since that barrier which prevented farmers from starting their farms as early as possible had been reduced with Green Shield support.
He said farmers had also embraced the NERICA rice project, and had been supplied with seeds.

WOMEN MUST URGE HUSBANDS TO SEEK PEACE — MRS AKUFO ADDO (PAGE 16)

Mrs Rebecca Akufo-Addo, wife of the flag bearer of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), has advised women to talk to their husbands to remain calm and vote peacefully during the forthcoming elections.
“You women and your children stand to suffer should there be any upheaval in the elections,” she told market women when she ended a two-day familiarisation tour of some parts of the Volta Region.
She visited six market centres and interacted with the market women.
The market centres were Juapong in the North Tongu District, Kpassa and Nkwanta in the Nkwanta District, Dodo Amanfrom and Kadjebi in the Kadjebi District and Gemini in the South Dayi District.
Her said as market women and mothers they had a lot of challenges, including child maintenance and inadequate funds, for their businesses.
She, therefore, called on them to vote for the NPP to cater for thier needs.
“As women you should associate yourselves with the NPP and not be lured by empty promises of those who when voted have nothing to offer but to seek their own private interest,” she said.
She said her husband had promised to extend the capitation grant to the senior high school to remove some of the burden on them.
On roads infrastructure, Mrs Akufo-Addo said it was one of the priorities an Akufo-Addo government had outlined.
At Juapong, the market women said the market needed facilities such as kindergartens, toilet and a security fence.
Madam Agnes Aziator, Market Queen, speaking on behalf of the market women said the market was expanding so they needed more stalls.
Accompanying Mrs Akufo-Addo was the Volta Regional Minister, Mr Kofi Dzamesi.
He asked the market women to come out in their numbers on election day to vote for the NPP.

DUCHESS CLUB FIGHTS MALARIA IN PREGNANT WOMEN, CHILDREN (MIRROR, PAGE 35)

From Emmanuel Modey, Peki

Nestle Ghana Duchess Club, a social club, has come out to support pregnant women and children to combat malaria.
According to them, pregnant women and children were the most vulnerable to malaria, which is the number one killer in Africa. And because of this, the club had embarked on a nationwide malaria awareness campaign and had chosen Peki in the South Dayi District of the Volta Region as the first stop outside the Greater Accra Region.
The group on their arrival went to visit the Peki Government Hospital where they presented mosquito nets to patients in the maternity and the children's wards and later organised a malaria community outreach programme at Peki-Avetile where pregnant women and children were given mosquito nets too.
Addressing the people, the Human Resources and Corporate Affairs Manager, Mr Sarfo Prempeh, speaking on malaria in pregnancy, said pregnant women were more susceptible to malaria.
According to him, 28 per cent of all Outpatient Department (OPD) cases, 14 per cent of admissions and nine per cent of deaths involved pregnant women.

TRAGEDY AT JASIKAN (1b)

Five people including two English tutors of Jasikan College of Education have been killed at Jasikan in a tragic motor accident.
Four of the victims died on the spot when a Benz cargo truck crashed into a taxi in Jasikan.
The cargo truck, with registration number AS 3365 Z and driven by Adams Sibela, was said to be carrying building materials from Accra to Wulensi in the Northern Region, while the Opel Kadet taxi, with registration number GW 8774 R, was heading towards Hohoe when they collided, killing the four on the spot.
The taxi driver, Kele Cudjoe, who was referred to the Volta Regional Hospital in Ho for treatment, died on arrival at the hospital, while Adams and his mate escaped unhurt.
When the news spread in Hohoe that the dead included Paul Atsisey, 43, and Ben Sagba, 53, both tutors of English at the Jasikan College, the whole college was thrown into a state of mourning.
The Daily Graphic gathered that the tutors were travelling to Hohoe to submit scripts of the Untrained Teachers Diploma in Basic Education (UTDBE) exams which they had marked. The others who died on the spot included Janet Afezuke, 43, a trader, and a five-year-old unidentified girl.
The sole survivor, a female whose name was not immediately known, was seriously injured and is on admission at the Jasikan District Hospital.
According to an eyewitness, Adams, on reaching a spot just opposite the Jasikan District Hospital at 10.00 a.m., ran into the taxi cab when he attempted to overtake an articulated truck. Meanwhile, the taxi driver had parked off the road, having sensed danger, in his attempt to save the situation.
Adams lost control of the situation and crashed his vehicle into the taxi, killing the passengers in it.
When the Daily Graphic visited the college, both teaching and non-teaching staff, as well as the students, were mourning the tutors .
Efforts are being made to tow the vehicles to the Jasikan Police Station as investigations continue.

GH¢5,000 SPONSORSHIP FOR VOLTA DIV 2 MIDDLE LEAGUE (PAGE 47)

Royal Atlantic Resort, an Accra-based company, has launched a GH¢5,000 sponsorship for the 2008 Volta Regional Second Division Middle League at a colourful ceremony in Ho.
The two-week soccer tournament is slated for September 18 to 30 at Sogakofe in the South Tongu District. Eight teams will take part in the competition, which will be zoned into two groups.
The first and second clubs in each zone at the end of the league will qualify to participate in a super middle league of four teams.
The ultimate winner of the super middle league qualifies to represent the region in the National First Division One League for the 2008/09 season.
The participating teams are Desert Warriors F/C, Juantex F/C, De Young Stars F/C, R-Stake F/C, Forest Sacree F/C, Abaanata F/C, Red Bull Soccer Academy and Agbozume United.
The Chairman of the Volta Regional Football Association, Mr Francis Dogbatse, appealed for support from corporate bodies to assist them to unearth the latent potentials that abound in the nook and cranny of the region.
According to him the abundant talents could be groomed into good sports materials, but lamented that at the moment the RFA was poorly-resourced and cash-strapped to improve on their facilities.
He was, therefore, happy with the sponsorship package by the company to support sports development in the region.
Mr Dogbatse advised the teams to demonstrate a high sense of discipline and maturity and co-operate with the match officials for a successful soccer fiesta.
He advised referees to take officiating seriously and interprete the rules of the game without fear or favour, adding that the success or failure of the tournament fell squarely in their domain.

PHYSICALLY-CHALLENGED APPEAL TO ELECTORAL COMMISSION (PAGE 31)

From Emmanuel Modey, Ho

The Ghana Society of the Physically Disabled (GSPD) has appealed to the Electoral Commission (EC) to allow them a level playing ground to participate in the electoral process.
They observed that at present they do not have equal access to education, transport, employment and participation in public or political life.
They made the appeal at a one-day seminar on the theme “Accessible Electoral Process for Persons With Disabilities in Election 2008” in Ho over the weekend. It was organised by the GSPD and funded by DANIDA.
The GSPD, the national organisation of persons with physical disabilities, said they were confronted with a lot of disadvantages concerning the forthcoming elections which they hoped would be removed before then.
The National Financial Officer of GSPD, Mr Elias Akuamoah, said for instance that places for organising political issues should be free from all architectural barriers and that education materials should be made available in Braille.
He also suggested that EC employ sign language interpreters so that those who cannot hear also get to know what is going on. This will ensure that they are not excluded from the process due to their disabilities, since they are also Ghanaians.
For his part, an official of the Ho Municipal Electoral Commission, Mr Johnson Akafia, said the EC respects the rights of all members of society, including those of the physically disabled.
Thus they propose to make the electoral landscape as level as possible for all to ensure that all qualified voters vote. For instance, special dispensation was given to people with special needs during the limited voter registration exercise, he pointed out.
This, Mr Akafia said, included moving a centre to the Ho Leprosarium for two days, visiting the homes of the aged, bedridden and those on admission to hospitals.
He noted that the EC, as far as voting was concerned, would ensure that polling stations were as much as possible accessible to everybody, including the physically challenged, the aged and also women.
In the last two elections, for instance, the EC introduced tactile ballot for those with visual impairment but the problem they had was where to send which number.
The Ho Municipal Director of the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE), Mr Harry Asimah, noted that polling stations were accessible enough but pleaded with families of people with disabilities to assist them wherever this was not the case. He said people with disabilities had the right to vote just as they participate in social and creative activities.

TREAT WIVES AS EQUAL PARTNERS (PAGE 35)

From Emmanuel Modey, Hohoe

Fiaga Gabusu VI, President of the Volta House of Chiefs, has asked men to take their wives as equal partners. “Do not assault them but respect their views”.
Fiaga Gabusu said this at the end of a four-day workshop for 30 trained community paralegals organised by the International Federation of Women Layers (FIDA) and sponsored by the United Nations Fund for Population Activities (UNFPA) at Hohoe. Each participant received a certificate at the end of the workshop.
He was averse to violence meted out to women and children by their husbands and fathers respectively and asked that husbands and fathers should show love and affection. He was grateful that FIDA was leading the crusade to open the eyes of both men and women on gender issues and asked them to carry on with their efforts.
The Resource Mobilisation Officer of FIDA, Mrs Susan Aryeetey, said her organisation had been involved in promoting and educating the general public on gender issues with the view to reducing domestic violence.
The paralegal training , she said, was one important part of their programme and this was to produce community leaders to help identify and address gender-based issues. She called for assistance and support for them to carry on their job.
The Assistant Representative of UNFPA, Mr Bawa Amadu, on behalf of Mr Makane Kane, UNFPA Representative in Ghana, stressed the importance of upholding the rights of women.
He said this was not a charity but an important means towards reducing poverty, improving the quality of life and achieving the goals of national development.
He, therefore, appealed to all to work together to ensure , promote and uphold the common well-being and full participation in the process.
For her part, the Volta Regional Director of the Department of Women, Ms Lena Alai, said the paralegals were being trained to implement laws of domestic violence at the community level to improve the life of all.
She advised them to arbitrate cases and refer them to the appropriate authorities for action.

RE-DEMARCATE KETU SOUTH, HO CENTRAL — DFP (PAGE 13)

THE Volta Regional Secretary of the Democratic Freedom Party (DFP), Mr Manfried Nuku-Dei, has called for the re-demarcation of the Ketu South and Ho Central constituencies.
Mr Nuku-Dei, who is also an aspirant candidate for the Ho-Central Constituency, said the Ketu South had a population of 88,000 whilst Ho Central had 70,000.
He said the people in the two constituencies felt if , for instance, Nkwanta North had a population of 22,000 and South Dayi had 20,000, then compared with such constituencies, Ketu South and Ho Central were too big.
The sizes of these two constituencies, he noted, made it difficult for aspirants to go round to campaign.
Mr Nuku-Dei is on a house-to-house campaign as part of his one-to one strategy to explain to the people why they should vote for the DFP this time.
"It is time we in the Volta Region changed our voting pattern and vote the DFP to power," he said.
He called for peaceful elections since anything other than that would bring problems and untold hardships to the people.
"We have only one Ghana. As such, the campaign from now to December 7 should be devoid of rancour, tribal sentiments and name peddling, remembering that whether we win or lose, we remain Ghanaians”, he advised.

NGO OFFERS FREE MEDICAL CARE AT KADJEBI (PAGE 23)

AN American-based non-governmental organisation (NGO), Storehouse for Jesus, has organised a five-day free medical care for the people of Kadjebi in the Volta Region.
The group comprising two physicians, two surgeons and 15 missionaries, were led by Mrs Marie Collins, the Executive Director of the NGO.
The diseases that were identified and treated included hernia, malaria, arthritis, breast cancer, fevers and eye diseases.
According to Mr Michael Asante, the Executive Director of the Ghana branch of the NGO, it was the third time that the foreign NGO had rendered such a service in Ghana.
He said during the NGO’s first visit to the country, it operated at Kadjebi and Anum in the Eastern Region.
Mr Asante said the NGO had offered scholarships to 28 children from the Volta, Eastern and Greater Accra regions who were pursuing education from primary to tertiary institutions.
He said the NGO was establishing a library at Asato while Moringa seedlings were being distributed to households for planting.

DFP ELECTS GAMOR AS MP ASPIRANT FOR HO EAST (PAGE 15)

THE Democratic Freedom Party (DFP) has elected Mr Yao Gamor as their parliamentary candidate for the Ho-East Constituency to contest the December 7, 2008 election.
Mr Gamor, 46, defected from the National Democratic Congress (NDC) to join the DFP.
He was elected at the first parliamentary primary held at Ziope which was attended by 172 delegates.
The election was supervised by the Adaklu-Ayigbe District Electoral Commission, led by Mr Jonathan Okine.
Before the primary election, Mr Gamor said the constituency needed a unifier like him.
He said whilst in the NDC he was the Ho East Propaganda Secretary from 1992-2000, later as the constituency chairman and subsequently the regional organiser from 2001- 2006.
He said during all those periods, the NDC won the seat and “now that I am contesting, I hope our party will come out successful”.
He said he would use his rich experience in party organisation to ensure success.

ABUBRUWA JUNIOR HIGH WINS CLEAN SCHOOL AWARD (PAGE 11)

THE Abubruwa Junior High School (JHS) in the Nkwanta District in the Volta Region is the recipient of this year’s Clean School award in the region.
The contest aimed at promoting sanitation and hygiene in the schools.
This is in line with the concern of the Ghana Education Service (GES) about the health care of pupils, hence the incorporation of sanitation and hygiene in the curriculum of schools.
It was organised by the Volta Regional Co-ordinating Council and the Regional Environmental Health Directorate.
The school was given three wheelbarrows, four shovels, four rakes and four machetes, among other items.
Presenting the items, the Nkwanta District Director of Education, Rev Ernest Gaewu, said on his visit to the school in 2006, he was held spellbound by the cleanliness of the campus.
From what he saw and heard that the school had won a district award, he said he was only waiting for an opportunity to push the school to win a higher award and added, “Thank God it is with us today.”
Rev Gaewu deplored the problem of poor sanitation in the country where the absence of toilets, shortage of clean and safe water and poor hygiene had led to the death of thousands of children.
He was grateful to the World Vision International (WVI) and the Danish International Development Agency (DANIDA) for providing the schools with latrines and boreholes.
He congratulated the teachers and pupils of the school with the hope that they would keep the torch burning.
The chiefs congratulated Mr Loveson Adjei who took over as head teacher in 1998, on having the foresight to plan the school. “With the help of his able teachers and pupils, oil palm, teak trees and green grass and other ornamental plants adorn the school compound,” they said.

SOCCER EQUIPMENT FOR HOHOE SCHOOLS (PAGE 63)

Professor Dovi Afesi, a lecturer at the Massachusetts University, USA, has donated football equipment worth GHC 300.00 to the Gbi Kpeme District Assembly Schools in the Hohoe Municipality of the Volta Region.
The items are made up of 30 pants and two footballs. They were received by the headmaster of the school, Mr Evans Fia.
Prof Afesi expressed the hope that the equipment would whip up their interest in sports, which is now a very lucrative business. He called on them to respect their teachers and parents to ensure a prosperous future.

PHILANTHROPIST ASSISTS GIRL WITH AMPUTATED LEG (MIRROR, PAGE 35)

From Emmanuel Modey, Hohoe

A 12-year-old girl, Comfort Mensah of Likpe Bala in the Hohoe Municipality in the Volta Region, whose left foot was amputated after she had been bitten by a snake, has received help from a good Samaritan.
Comfort, who attends school at Gbi Godenu, near Hohoe where her parents are farmers, was detained at the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital for her inability to pay her medical fees. The good Samaritan stepped in, paid her bills and sent her to Nsawam, where she has been given an artificial limb. This was after a publication in a national weekly about her plight and detention.
Comfort’s wound was not treated properly after the snake bite and that resulted in her left leg being amputated to save her life.
Her plight was brought to the notice of this reporter at Hohoe who quickly arranged for her to be sent to the Hohoe Hospital for treatment. At the hospital, she was referred to Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital.
Sadly, her parents said they did not have any money so this reporter had to appeal to the Hohoe Municipal Assembly which gave her GH¢100.00 to facilitate the processing of her National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) card and one of their pick-up vehicles to take her to Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital for further treatment.
Though the Dodzi Foundation, an NGO at Ve Golokuati in the Hohoe Municipality, had also given them some money for her treatment, after her discharge, when she could not immediately pay her bills, she was detained in the Mother’s House at Korle Bu.
During the detention, she had to hobble about on one leg due to the amputation whenever she wanted to go anywhere.
Luckily, a good Samaritan came to her aid, paid all her bills and sent her to the Nsawam Limb Fitting Centre where he was provided with new limb to help her move around.
The good Samaritan, to ensure that her education was not halted, has also enrolled her at the Sankis Preparatory School in Hohoe, a boarding school.

TASK FORCE TO ENSURE PEACEFUL ELECTIONS (MIRROR, PAGE 42)

From Emmanuel Modey, Ho

The Ho Central Security Election Task Force has been inaugurated at Ho in the Volta Region.The task force under the Volta Regional Security Election is to ensure peaceful conduct of the December 2008 elections.
The 11-member body to complement the work of the regional task force is led by Superintendent Samuel Tetteh, Ho Municipal Police Commander.
In his inaugural address, the Volta Regional Director of the Ghana Immigration Service, Mr Francis Kpobi said the regional task force has to be complimented and replicated at the various sub-levels.
As such, they are determined to go by certain principles to portray their effectiveness and efficiency before, during and after the elections. This include collaboration, consultation, formation of sub committees and the assurance of professional display during monitoring and evaluation.
Mr Kpobi asked them to be very vigilant to ensure a very smooth election process. He wondered why " we should watch over a large number of people to die for one person to become a president or member of parliament".
He called for strict security around the ballot boxes and to ensure that they get to the final destination where the votes will be counted.

RED BULL ACADEMY IN SUPPORT OF REFEREES (GRAPHIC SPORTS PAGE 8)

The Red Bull Soccer Academy based at Sogakope in the Volta Region has launched a financial assistance programme for the benefit of the Vota Regional branch of the Referees Association of Ghana at Ho.
The Academy over the weekend presented GH 500.00 to the referees association during their regional annual physical fitness test to support the technical and physical development of referees in the region.
This year's three-day annual fitness test under the auspices of seasoned Ghana Football Association Technical Team attracted about 120 young and dynamic referees, assistant referees and match commissioners who will be eligible to officiate in the 2009 Premier and Division One football league matches in the country. They were taken through the laws of the game, methods of interpretation and intensive physical exercise.
Presenting the amount on behalf of the Academy, the Chairman of Volta Regional Football Association, Mr Francis Dogbatse said it is the fundamental and moral obligation for those who have to assist wherever it can in the development of sports.
"From our point of view, the challenges facing referees and assistant referees are intimidating. The demands are consequently very high. You have to keep the players under control, judge offside during an attack, keep up the momemtum of the game among the usual duties in matches". he said.
He said the Academy feels that referees were the main stakeholders in football, that was why they wanted to invest in their capacity building, adding that since the failure or success the game depended on referees, it is important that they are resourced to improve on their abilities.
Receiving the amount, the Chairman of the regional branch of the RAG, Mr Harry Atutornu, was hopeful that the sponsorship package would help to fulfill the development proirities set by the association in future.
He advised referees to take their officiating work seriously since training before and during matches was crucial for ensuring that one kept in tune and out of trouble in order to improve on standards.
"As referees you will be judged by thousands of eyes through television cameras, demanding absolute accuracy in your decisions without much consideration to any short-comings in future tournaments", he cautioned.
In his welcome address, the Volta Regional Sports Deveopment Officer, Mr, Gabriel Missodey asked referees to uplift the good name of soccer by being fair, firm but flexible in their decisions on the field of play.
He told them not to expect everybody to be happy with their judgements.

TEACHERS CAUTIONED AGAINST HITTING CHILDREN'S HEAD (PAGE 26)

TEACHERS have been cautioned against hitting the head of pupils as that can affect their eyes.
The Krachi West District Chief Executive (DCE), Mr Douglas Koranteng, gave the warning at an outreach programme for eye patients at Kete-Krachi in the Volta Region.
More than 283 cataract patients were given emergency treatment free-of-charge.
Health personnel from the Eye Unit of the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital in Accra undertook the programme that was sponsored by the Krachi West District Assembly.
Other collaborating agencies were the Krachi West Mutual Health Insurance Scheme, the Krachi West District Hospital and Sight Savers Ghana.
Mr Koranteng said the initiative sought to consolidate the government’s resolve to bring specialist health care to the doorstep of the rural people.
He stated that transport arrangements had been made to convey patients to and from their communities with the assembly bearing the cost of drug not covered under the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS).
The Head of the Eye Unit of the Teaching Hospital and leader of a 10-member ophthalmologist team, Dr Seth Lartey, said their presence at Kete-Krachi served as part of their social responsibility to the people.
Dr Lartey said other eye-related ailments like allergies, glaucoma, among others, were also receiving attention.
He stressed that the sight of half of the blind population in the country could be restored through simple and cost effective operation.
He warned that applying concoction to the eye usually caused more harm than good.
Dr Lartey, therefore, urged the public to report all eye related problems early to the nearest health facility to prevent blindness, explaining that there was a correlation between cataract and old age.

BUILD ANOTHER ROAD TO LINK NORTHERN GHANA (PAGE 36)

THE President of the Volta Regional House of Chiefs, Togbega Gabusu VI, has called on the government to construct another road to link northern Ghana with the south.
He suggested that the new road should pass through Akuse in the Eastern Region for heavy duty trucks while lighter vehicles would use the Adomi Bridge.
Togbega Gabusu said this to the Daily Graphic at Hohoe on the recent problem on the Adomi Bridge, and added that the development of the cracks meant that the bridge could no more contain the heavy vehicular load it was used to.
He claimed that even though work had been done on the bridge, it was still not safe.
He was of the view that the bridge should be used exclusively by vehicles below 20 tonnes so that the new road to be constructed should be used by heavier vehicles.
Togbega Gabusu noted that with the discovery of oil, the road might be misused creating further faults on the bridge.

RAINS WASH AWAY BRIDGE OVER RIVER FANTIBI (PAGE 34)

TWO days of torrential rains have washed away the concrete bridge over River Fantibi at Gbi Akpamafu on the 16-kilometre road from Gbi Wegbe to Alavanyo and Hohoe.
Following the collapse of the bridge, travellers from Wegbe to Alavanyo and Nkonya, for instance, have to make a detour of 26 kilometres through Kpando.
The Hohoe Municipal Chief Executive, Mr John Peter Amewu, and the Volta Regional Feeder Roads Manager, Mr Herbert Koranteng, were at the spot last Tuesday to access the extent of damage.
Mr Koranteng declared the road temporary closed to traffic and said in the interim measures would be put in place for renovation work to be done on it for light vehicles.
The Paramount Chief of Alavanyo Traditional Area, Togbega Tsedze Attakora VII, made an appeal through the Daily Graphic to the government to accelerate work on the Gbi-Wegbe-Alavanyo highway to ease their plight.
He said due to the deplorable nature of the road, travelling from Nkonya to Hohoe and Kpando to Alavanyo had become more expensive than it used to be.
Togbega Tsedze further appealed to the government to introduce the Metro bus service in the area to offer a less expensive transport system to the people.
Meanwhile, renovation work on the Gbi Wegbe-Alavanyo-Nkonya highway is moving at a snail’s pace. So far, the first phase of the project, which was awarded on contract about a year ago, and involving work on the culverts and drains, had just resumed.
The total cost of the facelift is GH¢ 6,600.
The contractors working on the project, Messrs Canary Company Ltd, said they were limited to only phase one and maintained that the second phase would involve the construction of bridges but resurfacing of the road had not been awarded to them.

*The Municipal Chief Executive, Mr John Peter Amewu, and Mr Herbert Koranteng, the Volta Regional Feeder Roads Manager, accessing the extent of damage to the concrete bridge over River Fantibi that links Gbi Wegbe and Alavanyo.

2 NDC REGISTRATION OBSERVERS MISSING? (PAGE 3)

TWO members of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) who were sent by the Member of Parliament (MP) for the Hohoe North, Mr Prince Jacob Hayibor, to verify an alleged registration malpractice at the Wli Todzi Polling Station in the Hohoe Municipality are reportedly missing.
One other person, identified as Yaro Haruna, 32, who was also sent by the MP, was stabbed in the chest, but managed to escape to Togo before returning to Ghana, while two others on the same mission were arrested and remanded by the Hohoe Police to help with investigation into the whereabouts of the missing men.
The men were among seven NDC activists who were sent by the MP of the area to monitor situations at the registration centre.
The names of those missing were given only as Mr Cooker, a driver, and Mr Tumewu, an Assembly member of Fodome Ahor. Those arrested were Sadiq Abubakari, 21, a footballer, and Abdul Kadri Yusif, 38, a sprayer.
As of last Wednesday, August 6, 2008 when registration should have closed at the polling station, after four days of registration in the community, the seven-member group was surprised at the long queue of people still waiting to be registered.
The incident happened after some accusations and counter-accusations from members of the two leading political parties concerning the registration of foreigners and minors, which generated tension within the Wli Todzi Polling Station in the Hohoe Municipality.
Wli Todzi, a farming community located on a plateau and has a population of about 2000 can only be reached by road through the Republic of Togo, thus the inhabitants do almost all their businesses in Togo.
While the NPP said all the people in the queue were Ghanaians, the NDC tried to prevent them from registering, with the explanation that they were aliens and minors.
The attempt by the NDC group to verify the ages and citizenship of some of the people in the queue was vehemently resisted by a section of the youth which resulted in a free-for-all.
In the ensuing fight, the policeman on duty fired warning shots to disperse the crowd.
A vehicle belonging to one of the MPs, a Rexton, with registration number GE 6470 W, was vandalised by the irate youth, and the only bridge to the community was also destroyed to prevent any vehicle from going to or leaving the area.
Mr Hayibor told the Daily Graphic, that he had a hint that a lot of people would come from Togo to register at the polling station, so he sent the seven people in his vehicle to monitor the situation.
“We are aware of busloads of people from Yikpa and its environs in Togo who were given money to register at Wli Todzi,” he alleged.
He said they were surprised that those in the queue were minors who could not speak a word in even pidgin English.
He said but for the benevolence of a party agent who hinted the seven people of an imminent attack, the situation would have been fatal, especially after the bridge had been destroyed.
In a related development, the Kadjebi Police have remanded Prosper Tetteh, a cameraman of the Electoral Commission (EC), and his accomplice, who allegedly travelled to Togo and took shots of some people to be registered.
Tetteh and his accomplice, Agbeko Dornyo, were ambushed by a group of NDC agents at about 4.30 am last Wednesday, between Havekope and Kechi in the Kadjebi District in the Volta Region.
During a search, the digital camera and its accessories, and a laminator packed in an EC suitcase, were concealed in a fertiliser bag and handed over to the police for further investigations.

MAN, 60, STABBED TO DEATH (PAGE 33)

A 60-year-old man, Samuel Bedzrah, met his death when he was stabbed after separating a fight between a brother and a sister at Balve, a surburb of Hohoe, last Friday.
Daniel Kumassah, 24, alias Daniel Ketorwu, who allegedly stabbed Bedzrah is in the grips of the Hohoe Police.
According to Superintendent Anthony Darkeh, Hohoe Divisional Crime Officer, at about 10 am on Friday July 25, 2008, there was a misunderstanding between Kumassah and his sister, Felicia.
Due to the misunderstanding his sister decided to leave the house, but Kumassah followed her with the intention to beat her up.
This attracted a lot of people to the scene and Bedzrah, who came to the scene was able to ease the anger of the suspect and took him to his house to cool down tempers.
Unknowingly to Bedzrah, Kumassah was still annoyed and on reaching the house, he (Kumassah) rushed to the room, brought out a double edged knife, kicked the old man down, stabbed him in the left rib with the knife and took to his heels.
Bedzrah was rushed to the Hohoe Municipal Hospital but was pronounced dead on arrival.
Kumassah was arrested at Gbi-Godenu and brought to the Hohoe Police Station for further investigations.

KPADJA CLAN GETS NEW CHIEF (PAGE 47)

A NEW chief for the Kpadja Clan of Akpafu-Odomi in the Hohoe District has been installed.
He is Nana Ntiamoah III and he succeeds Nana Ntiamoah II who died three years ago.
Nana Ntiamoah, known in private life as Mr Dorcet Kugblenu, a private businessman, swore the oath of allegiance to Nana Afrifa IV and Nana Attando II, the Paramount Chief and the Adontenhene, respectively, of the Akpafu Traditional Area.
Nana Ntiamoah called on the people to wage a serious war to improve the standard of education in the town.

31 TEACHERS, NON-TEACHING STAFF HONOURED AT NKWANTA (PAGE 21)

THIRTY-ONE teachers and non-teaching staff in the Nkwanta District of the Volta Region who excelled over the past three years have been honoured at a ceremony at Nkwanta.
They took home prizes such as television sets, refrigerators and gas burners with gas cylinders.
The best teacher in the primary division in 2005 was Ms Christine Darko of Nkwanta Local Authority Primary (L/A) ‘ A’ school while that of the junior high school (JHS) category went to Mr Anthony Yao Agbo of Ashiabre L/A JHS with the senior high school (SHS) award going to Mr Simon Rockefeller of Ntrubuman SHS.
In the 2006 awards, the best teachers were Ms Bridget Kafui Ayensu of Nkwanta Primary ‘A’ school, Mr Ben Hozi of Nkwanta L/A JHS and Ms Catherine Sogbe of Nkwanta SHS.
In 2007 awards, Ms Annie Checheku of Nkwanta E.P. Primary School emerged the best in the primary division, while Mr Daniel Akli of Nkwanta L/A JHS won that the JHS category. There was no entry for the SHS award.
For the non-teaching staff, Mr Afred Kutor Ofori took the first prize for 2005, while Ms Josephine Afordofe emerged victorious in 2006 while Mr Emmanuel Homenoo won the 2007 award.
In a speech, the Nkwanta South District Chief Executive (DCE), Mr Joseph Denteh, commended the award winners for their hard work.
“If we should consider the man hours the teacher puts into his work, then what he takes home as his salary is a mockery of his output,” he observed.
Mr Denteh said the teachers should be consoled that the government, through the salary rationalisation policy, was working to bridge the salary gap of public sector workers.
He noted that even though the prizes they were taking home might not be commensurate with the enormous strain they went through, they should be happy that their efforts had been recognised.
The Volta Regional Director of Education, Reverend S.A. Amankwa, stated that teachers should receive their reward on earth but not in heaven.
He advised the teachers that as transformers of the souls and minds, they should be mindful of whatever they did because a mistake in the classroom could cause the entire nation.
In his welcoming address, the Nkwanta District Director of education, Rev Ernest Gaewu, noted that the Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) results in the district had gradually improved comparing the 2006 results with those of 2007.
He said in 2006, the district had 50 per cent passes and placed 77th on the national league table while in 2007, it obtained 52 per cent and placed 76th.
Rev Gaewu stated that the district chalked up successes during the 2005 National Basic School Festival held in Sekondi in the Western Region where Ashiabre L/A JHS won the second prize in dance and drama.
He said in the field of sports, the district won the ‘under 12’ boys soccer trophy during the 2007 regional basic schools’ sports festival where Kwame Liboja of Tinjase L/A Primary School was adjudged the best player.
He was grateful to the Ghana Education Project, DANIDA, Hunger and Poverty Reduction Foundation, UNICEF, World Vision International as well as the Members of Parliament for Nkwanta North and Nkwanta South, for using part of their share of the common fund for infrastructure development, purchase of furniture for schools and their contribution towards the success of the teachers’ awards programme.

BIG HUNT FOR SUSPECTED MURDERER (PAGE 34)

From Emmanuel Modey,
Hohoe

The Hohoe Police have mounted a search for one Godwin Atsu, 45, a farmer of Akpafu Adokor, in the Hohoe municipality on allegations of murder.
The suspect is being hunted for allegedly murdering his cousin, Michael Atsu, 49, also a farmer at Akpafu Todzi.
According to the police, Michael had a strong hatred for Godwin because he was the caretaker of farms of Godwin's brothers living at Tarkwa in the Western Region. And for a long time, the two of them had been at loggerheads.
On June 5, 2008, when the two of them met on a cocoa farm given to them by their head of family, Mr Seth Atsu, a quarrel broke out leading to a brutal fight.
The police said Michael first slashed the wrist of Godwin almost severing it, and he in retaliation slashed Michael on the head and additionally severed his wrist.
Godwin then rushed home and narrated what had transpired to his sister and when the deceased did not return home, a search party was mounted the following day leading to the discovery of his body in the bush.

POLICE INVESTIGATE STRANGE DEATH (PAGE 35)

From Emmanuel Modey, Hohoe

The Krachi Divisional Police are investigating a case of alleged murder of one Yussif Musah, a native of Navrongo, in the Upper East Region.
The deceased, Musah, was contracted by one Sunday Ayodeli, 42, a sub-contractor for KASAPA, a mobile service provider, to blast a rock with dynamite in one of the pits they were digging to erect the KASAPA mast.
After some time, the deceased could not be traced until news broke out that a corpse had been found lying in a path leading to Obikyere village near Kpassain in the Nkwanta District.
The Nkwanta police found the dead body in a state of partial decomposition and it was that of a male; it was lying naked, the stomach was burst open and the intestines had gushed out. His clothes were lying beside him.
Sunday, who had contracted the deceased, has been arrested by the Nkwanta Police and arraigned before the Krachi East Magistrates’ Court at Dambai. The court presided over by Mr C.K. Dorleku has granted the suspect, Sunday, bail to reappear on August 5, 2008. He pleaded not guilty to a charge of provisional murder.

PLAN GHANA DONATES TO 2 NGOs (page 39)

The Livelihood Advisor of Plan Ghana, Mr Kofi Adade Debrah (left), presenting the four motorbikes, two computers, printers and accessories to Mr George Gyapong (right), the Programmes Manager of Rural Action for the Poor (RAP), a Hohoe-based non-governmental organisation (NGO).
RAP and another NGO, Facts for the Youth in Southern Organisation, based at Sogakofe in the South Tongu District, was another beneficiary of the donation. Both NGOs are engaged in micro finance services in the Volta Region.
Speaking at the ceremony, Mr Debrah said Plan Ghana’s objective in the region was to ensure that by the year 2011, 20 per cent of families would see marked improvement in their incomes.
He said under the micro-finance project, Plan Ghana would establish 40 village savings and loans associations with 1,000 members from 20 communities in the Hohoe Municipality and South Tongu District within the first year.
The micro-finance project aims at assisting people who do not have access to institutional financial activities to mobilise savings to improve the micro-enterprise.
The project, which would be implemented in the area for three years, will spend an estimated sum of GH¢100,000 during the first year.

DFP WON'T USE LAW ON CAUSING FINANCIAL LOSS (PAGE 17)

THE Democratic Freedom Party (DFP) has said that since it is a freedom-loving party, it will not use the law on causing financial loss against anybody when it comes to power.
“Our aim is to teach peace and practise peace without retaliation,” Dr Obed Asamoah, the Founder of the party, said at a rally at the Hohoe E. P. School Park in the Volta Region.
He said the DFP was a party that signified peace, tolerance and unity which were needed to move the nation forward.
He lamented that the country’s farmers, who represented 60 per cent of the population, were still poor because they had not been properly treated by the NPP government.
“The way the poverty eradication programme is being treated is not the best. Unless you are a member of the ruling party, you do not benefit from any incentives,” he claimed.
He said the DFP would subsidise farm inputs such as fertilisers to enable farmers to produce cheaper foodstuffs and thereby reduce the over-dependence on foreign foods.
For his part, the flag bearer of the party, Mr Emmanuel Ansah-Antwi, said governments since independence had failed the nation by neglecting the agricultural sector.
He said since a greater number of the population were farmers, subsidising agricultural inputs would go a long way to reduce poverty.
He said the Volta Region lacked industries and a tertiary institution and said there was the need to establish an agricultural university in the region.
The flag bearer expressed the hope that when the DFP won power, it would widen the tax net and utilise national resources judiciously.
The party had early on held separate rallies at Kpassa and Nkwanta in the Nkwanta North and South constituencies, respectively, where it said it was going to introduce a green revolution to boost agriculture.
At Hohoe the party leadership paid a courtesy call on the chiefs of the Gbi Traditional Council, led by Togbega Gabusu VI.
Togbega Gabusu advised them to tolerate one another and be at peace with other parties.
The DFP’s MP aspirant for the Hohoe North Constituency, Mr Benedictus Mordzinu, a teacher, was introduced to the people.

HOHOE SOUTH NDC NOMINATES AMENORWODE (PAGE 15)

THE Hohoe South Constituency Branch of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) has only one aspirant for the forth- coming parliamentary election in December.
He is the incumbent Member of Parliament (MP), Mr Joseph Amenorwode.
Speaking to the Daily Graphic at Ve Golokuati in the Hohoe municipality, Mr Amenorwode said he was sure to win the seat to get back to Parliament.
He was optimistic that the NDC would win massively to form the next government to lead the nation out of its present predicament.
The MP stressed the need for his constituency to be elevated to a district status.
This, he said, was because it had 22 electoral areas, 11 paramountcies, six second-cycle institutions and markets at Ve Koloenu, Have and Logba.
The rest were tourists attractions, including the highest mountain, Afadjato, the highest waterfall, the Wli Waterfall, the Tafi Atome Monkey Sanctuary and the Volta Lake scenery.

MARY THERESA HOSPITAL GETS GYNAECOLOGIST (PAGE 20)

THE Mary Theresa Catholic Hospital at Dodi-Papase in the Kadjebi District has now got a gynaecologist, the only one in the northern part of the Volta Region.
The hospital was able to get the specialist due to the commitment of the management and staff to ensure that the hospital becomes the best in terms of obstetrics and gynaecology in that part of the region.
At the first-ever Patron Saints Day at the hospital, the Hospital Administrator, Mr Stannard Issah Mahama, said to achieve its objective of excellent health care, the hospital has for the past five years sponsored a number of students in the various tertiary institutions and also provided infrastructural facilities.
He mentioned some of the facilities as the construction of four staff bungalows, and the renovation of the adult ward with funding from the government and the laboratory with financial assistance from the German Rotary Volunteer Doctors.
Mr Mahama said a mortuary project financed from the hospital’s internally generated funds (IGF) had reached the lintel level and was expected to be completed by December, this year.
He said the biggest challenges that were seriously affecting the hospital’s progress were transportation and telecommunication.
Mr Mahama said one of the facility’s problems was human resource as it had lost some of the best hands through deaths, resignation or transfers.
He was, however, happy to announce that through the IGF the hospital was training 18 student nurses at the various nurses training institutions in the country.
According to Mr Mahama, the hospital would be 50 years in five years’ time so the management was planning feverishly to launch it.
The Medical Officer in charge of the hospital, Dr Christina Tetteh, said between 2007 and the middle of 2008, 23,294 patients attended the hospital out of which 2,462 were admitted.
On HIV/AIDS, out of the 604 patients who were examined in 2007, 84 of them tested positive, adding that 15 TB cases were detected from 2007 to the middle of 2008, three of who died.
The Bishop of the Jasikan Catholic Diocese, Most Reverend Gabriel Akwasi Mantey, who dedicated the statue of Saint Mary Theresa, the Patron-Saint of the hospital, commended the 19 staff for their dedication, and presented various awards to them.
The bishop advised them to adopt a maintenance culture to ensure that facilities at the hospital did not break down frequently.

FREE MEDICAL SERVICE AT JASIKAN HOSPITAL (PAGE 36)

A free outreach medical programme to perform surgeries on various ailments has begun at the Jasikan District Hospital in the Volta Region.
Cases being treated include fibroid, hernia, urine retention, as well as general surgery.
It is being undertaken by the Christ Leads Medical Services, a non-governmental organisation (NGO), led by Dr Christian Amenuveve, a surgical specialist, and it is specifically being carried out for people who have registered under the National Health Insurance Scheme.
So far, 180 clients have benefitted from the programme.
Between July and December, 2007, 149 clients covered by the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) were treated under the programme at a cost of GH¢36,400. This year, an estimated GH¢60,000 is expected to be spent on the programme.
Patronage at the surgical sessions continue to be high, since there are no surgical services in the deprived areas.
The Jasikan NHIS, which commenced in January 2006 and inaugurated in February, the same year with a membership of 7,000.
As of now, the scheme can boost 51,095 card-bearing members who receive medical facilities at four major hospitals in the district, namely Jasikan, Worawora, Kpando and Hohoe.
Total attendance this year is 10,816 and GH¢29,893.82 has so far been paid to service providers.
The biggest challenge facing the scheme is getting access to people living beyond the Volta Lake, which is inaccessible.
In an interview, the Jasikan District Director of Health Services, Dr Samuel Abudey, said since the Jasikan Hospital was elevated to a district hospital, it still operated with facilities used by health centres.
He said the hospital had only 48 beds at the male and female wards, two water closet systems for the patients, nine beds in the maternity ward and no means of transport.
According to him, electricity was their major challenge, compelling the authorities to instal a generator which functioned at a high cost.
Dr Abudey noted with regret that even though the Jasikan hospital was a district hospital, it had no mortuary and laundry and the road to the facility was very deplorable, adding, “There is only one medical director who also doubles as the District Director of Health Services.”

FRANCO TOPS THEM ALL (PAGE 39)

THE Saint Francis College of Education (FRANCO) at Hohoe has obtained the highest performance in the first Diploma in Basic Education course in the country.
The programme was introduced at the beginning of the 2004/05 academic year with the first batch of students completing their course in July, last year.
Out of a total of 8,132 trainees who completed the course in the 38 teacher training colleges nationwide, 235 of them passed out at FRANCO.
No candidate in the country obtained first class pass. Thirty-four students had second class upper division, four of whom came from FRANCO, while 69, out of the 805 candidates who obtained second class lower division were also from the college.
In the third class division, out of a total number of 3,690 candidates, FRANCO had 113 while 44 of the 3,192 students who had ordinary pass, came from the college.
The Principal of FRANCO, Mr Dennis Agbenuvor, revealed this to the Daily Graphic at Hohoe.
He said the college also took the third position in the maiden edition of spelling competition for training college students, taking home a 21-inch colour television set and a set of assorted dictionaries.
The principal commended the staff of the college for their serious attitude towards work.
He said an internet facility had been established in the college to enable students access the web.
Mr Agbenuvor mentioned some challenges hampering the smooth academic work at the institution, such as lack of a library, toilet facilities, and residential accommodation, stressing that only 13 out of the 42 members of staff had accommodation on the campus.
The principal appealed to stakeholders, old students and benevolent associations for assistance in order to produce highly trained teachers.

WORAWORA HOSPITAL IN DISTRESS (PAGE 40)

THE Worawora Hospital in the Jasikan District in the Volta Region is in distress.
The roofs of the various sections of the facility, especially the theatre, X-ray department, the pharmacy and the stores, are leaking.
Since the hospital was built more than 50 years ago to serve the rural communities, it has not seen any major renovation.
During a fact-finding tour, this writer realised to his dismay the deplorable nature of the facility, with the walkway having been completely ripped off.
The sole doctor in charge of the facility and the entire staff work under very trying conditions, such as inadequate delivery tools.
According to the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS), about 53 per cent of Ghanaians take about 30 minutes or less to reach the nearest health facility.
However, rural communities are worse off in terms of access to health care. About only three per cent of rural households live in communities where there are doctors.
It is for this reason that the people of Worawora and its environs are appealing to the government to come to the aid of the hospital by taking over the payment of the salaries of some of the staff who are currently being paid from the internally generated fund (IGF) of the facility.
The sole doctor of the hospital, Dr Felix Doe, told the Daily Graphic that the facility, which is a major referral point in the northern part of the Volta Region, did not have any vehicle for emergencies.
He stated that repair work on the building was far beyond the capability of the IGF.
Dr Doe said the hospital had so far spent more than GH¢31,700 on the rehabilitation of the senior staff bungalows, the junior staff quarters, beautification programmes and refurbishing of the laundry department.
He said more than GH¢2,100 was spent each month to pay casual labourers, a situation that is a serious drain on the IGF.
According to the doctor, the hospital did not have an emergency block, so the management of the facility were trying to renovate a structure to serve that purpose but they were at their wits’ end since no help was coming from anywhere.
He said the worse of it all is the large number of accident victims brought to the hospital due to the regular motor accidents occurring on the Kpando-Dambai highway, which passes through the town.
Dr Doe, therefore, appealed to well-to-do individuals and benevolent organisations to come to the aid of the hospital by providing it with some its needs.

WLI-AFEGAME WOOS TOURISTS TO WLI WATERFALLS (PAGE 40)

THE people of Wli-Afegame in the Hohoe District of the Volta Region have now realised the need to woo tourists to the Wli Waterfalls, the highest in West Africa.
In this regard, they have reconstituted the Wli Tourist Management Committee (TMT) to run the affairs at the site.
After only two years of operation, the committee has acquired a 15-seater Nissan mini bus, valued at GH¢30,600, a sound system worth GH¢1,500 and cables worth GH¢1,700 for street lights.
In addition, GH¢4,500 has been spent on the construction of foot bridges over Agumatsa River, a tributary of the fall, as well as a television set and a DVD for people who cannot reach the fall to watch it on screen.
The site, which is fast attracting tourists, has, however, been neglected by the Ghana Tourist Board (GTB) in terms of development.
A tour of the site recently showed a gloomy picture. Although the site is generating much resources for the government, it has seen very little development.
As of the end of March, this year, more than GH¢2,000 had been realised from tourists while more than GH¢58,700 revenue was realised in 2007.
During this year’s Easter festivities alone, which attracted more than 3,500 people, the site generated about GH¢3,000.
A typical example of the GTB’s neglect of the site is that a tourist village, started in 2003, has come to a standstill, while the road leading to the place is deplorable.
There is neither a decent lorry park at the site nor any public place of convenience to cater for the large number of people who visit the place. What a pity! Again, at this time when the whole world has become a global village, one cannot communicate to the rest of the country from Wli.
Work on the extension of telephone is, however, progressing steadily in four tourist sites including the Wli Waterfalls. The rest are Gbledi, where the Afadjato, the highest mountain in Ghana, is found, Liati-Wote where the Tagbo falls are sited, and Tafi Atome, which has the Monkey Sanctuary.
According to the Chairman of the TMT, Mr Nicholas Harry Agbelie, land had been acquired for telecommunication operators to invest in the area.
Last year, more than GH¢4,000 being part of the revenue from the operation of the Wli Waterfalls was disbursed to four communities in the Wli Traditional Area, namely, Afegame, Agoviefe, Todzi and Dzogbega, to supplement their development efforts.
The aim of the donation was to provide alternative livelihood for people whose lands were acquired for projects around the waterfalls.

PROGRAMME TO ENHANCE ROOTS TUBER PRODUCTION BEGINS (BACK PAGE)

AN 80-year Roots and Tuber Improvement and Marketing Programme (RTIMP), under which small-scale farmers will be assisted with credit package to enhance production in roots and tubers, has been launched at Nkwanta in the Volta Region.
This is a follow-up to the Root and Tuber Improvement Programme (RTIP), which ran from 1999 to 2005.
The programme, under the initiative of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA) and made possible through a bilateral agreement between the Government of Ghana and the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), follows the success of RTIP.
In all, 60 districts throughout the country will benefit from the programme, with Nkwanta being the only one in the Volta Region.
Outlining the details of the programme, the agronomist in charge, Dr Stephen Asante, said the goal of the project was to enhance income and food security to improve the livelihoods of the rural poor and to build a market-based system to ensure profitability at all levels in the value chain.
He said the project had three components, namely support to increase commodity chain linkages; support to root and tuber production; the up-grading of small-scale root; and tubers processing, business and marketing skills.
“Farmers to benefit from the RTIMP should be in groups of 12 - 25, and all the extension agents who are attached to the project will be provided with the necessary logistics to enhance their duties,” he said.
He called on the groups to be ready to pay 10 per cent of the cost of equipment they wished to purchase for processing for the programme to add 30 per cent as a grant.
“The 60 per cent left would come as a loan from the North Volta Rural Bank, Nkwanta, and that is what they would have to pay with any interest and on whatever terms agreed between them and the bank,” Dr Asante said.
He expressed the hope that under the project, gari processing would improve, since first class gari was non-existent.
Launching the project, the Nkwanta South District Chief Executive, Mr Joseph Denteh, said the government was determined to put in place the necessary social amenities and infrastructure to raise the quality of lives of the people.
He further urged the people to make use of the numerous opportunities available at the assembly to reduce poverty, ignorance and disease in society.
Earlier in a welcoming address, the Nkwanta District Director of MoFA, Mr Apepe Amankwatta, urged the farmers to endeavour to work hard to justify the huge investment made for their benefit so as to be able to repay the loans on time for others to benefit.

CO-OPERATE FOR DEVELOPMENT ...Urges Togbega Gabusu VI (PAGE 17)

The Paramount Chief of Gbi Traditional Area, Togbega Gabusu VI, has appealed to landlords to co-operate with the Hohoe District Assembly and release parcels of land to it for development purposes.
He also advised the assembly not to think of siting their offices only in the Hohoe township.
He was speaking at the inaugural ceremony of the elevation of Hohoe District Assembly in the Volta Region to a municipality. This brings to two the number of municipalities in the region. The other one is the Ho Municipality.
The ceremony which also coincided with the first ordinary meeting of the assembly saw the assembly presenting motorbikes to all the assembly members to facilitate their work.
Togbega Gabusu VI asked the assembly to take a second look at their Town and Country Department.
According to him, the department was not living up to expectation, resulting in the haphazard developments, especially in the new settlements.
The Volta Regional Minister, Mr Kofi Dzamesi, congratulated the assembly on its elevation and said this required hard work to justify the confidence and trust the government had reposed in them.
The Municipal Chief Executive (MCE), Mr John Peter Amewu, expressed the hope that the motorbikes would help them to reach out to the remotest parts of their electoral areas.
That, he said, would help the assembly to increase its internally generated revenue to undertake more development programmes.
The Managing Director of Motor Kings Ltd. in Accra, Dr Nong Goa, had earlier presented the keys to the motor bikes to the MCE.
In all, 100 motorbikes were acquired for use by 72 assembly members and women groups in the municipality.
The MCE expressed regret that there was no land for development in the municipality, and that where the assembly found one and had attempted to undertake development projects, legal action had been taken against it.

COALITION OF MUSLIM YOUTH SUPPORTS BAWA (PAGE 15)

THE Coalition of Muslim Youth has reiterated its support for suggestions from various quarters to make the ambassador to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Alhaji Rashid Bawa, the running mate of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) presidential candidate, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, in the December elections.
“ We the muslim youth have the strong conviction that Alhaji Rashid Bawa has up his sleeves the necessary qualities that will be required of a running mate”.
In a press release at a youth meeting at Hohoe, they said “Alhaji Bawa is an outgoing, proactive, down-to-earth and a hard- working gentleman, who displayed sterling qualities when he was Deputy Minister of Education, Youth and Sports”.
The release stated that Alhaji Bawa was a symbol of strength, determination and inspiration to the Muslim youth, whose love for the growth and development of Islam and the youth in the country was manifested in his selfless contribution to the Islamic University in Accra.
We the Muslim youth would like to place on record that the experience Ambassador Bawa has acquired over the four years he had been the nation’s ambassador to Saudi Arabia, with accreditation to the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Oman, Qatar, Syria, Pakistan, Iran, Iraq, Bahrain, Yemen and Kuwait, has given him the necessary connections and capabilities to facilitate the socio-economic development in the three northern regions and in the Zongo communities in the country.

KEN ANKU ELECTED NPP ASPIRANT FOR NORTH DAYI (PAGE 17)

A Media Consultant to the Ministry of Transportation, Mr Ken Stephen Anku, 50, has been elected as the parliamentary candidate for the New Patriotic Party (NPP) to contest for the North Dayi seat.
At a well attended function on Sunday, he polled 84 votes, out of the total of 106 delegates.
He beat Akua Sena Apaw-Bri, who had 19 votes, whilst Dominic Peter Krampah was third with three votes.
Speaking at the function, the Minister of Transportation, Dr Richard Anane, urged Mr Anku to work harder to ensure that the party won the North Dayi seat.
The minister advised him to show humility and also share ideas with his colleagues.
On roads, he announced that 15 kilometres of roads would be tarred in every district annually to open up the rural areas to link up the urban areas.
He said since 2006, the government had started a pilot project to tar roads in cocoa growing areas to facilitate the transportation of cocoa to the urban areas.
Dr Anane asked the people to consider what the government had been able to achieve in the past seven years that they had been at the helm of affairs and vote them back to power.
On the Kpando-Worowora-Dambai road,he said the sod would be cut to begin the third phase of the project in July this year.
The minister gave the assurance that the contractors were already on site.
He also gave the assurance that the government would increase the production of cocoa and shea nut in the country to boost the standard of living of the people, adding that everything would be done to increase the fleet of metro-buses in the regions.
He expressed the hope that if retained in power, the NPP government would promote free education programme at the senior high school level to ensure that every child of schoolage attended school.
The chairman of the North Dayi Constituency branch of the NPP, Mr Andy Lartey, pledged their support for the winner to wrest the seat for the party.
Mr Ken Anku in his victory message thanked the delegates for the trust reposed in him and said he had the inspiration to enter politics from the Minister of Transportation, Dr Anane. All the losers pledged their support to the winner.
The election was supervised by Mr James Botchwey of the Kpando District Electoral Commission.

OLD STUDENTS ASSIST HOHOE EVANGELICAL SCHOOL (PAGE 26)

The North America branch of Hohoe Evangelical Presbyterian Secondary School Association (HEPSSOSA) has donated GH¢1,500 to the school.
This is to assist in the construction of a 15-shower bath house for the girls dormitory.
The amount was presented on their behalf by the President of the HEPSSOSA North America Inc, Mr Richard Akoto, who is currently in the country for a short holiday.
Another benefactor and an old student, Mr Ray Akoto, a businessman, also presented a set of 81 stockings to the school’s football team.
Receiving the items, the Headmaster of the school, Mr J.M.K. Osei-Nyansah, said the project started in March this year and so far GH¢3,000 had been spent on it.
He appealed to old students to go to the aid of the school and expressed worry at the deplorable nature of their link road to the town.
He said now that the rains had set in the school could be cut off if no help came immediately.

TOGBEGA GABUSU JOINS GBI STUDENTS IN CLEAN-UP (PAGE 26)

Togbega Gabusu VII, Paramount Chief of the Gbi Traditional Area, led the Gbi Senior High Sec/Tech School in a clean-up exercise at Hohoe over the weekend.
They cleared silt from gutters, cleared weedy areas and burnt piles of rubbish in a three-hour exercise.
Togbega Gabusu told the Daily Graphic during the exercise that it was his initiative to help inculcate in the people the need to keep the environment clean to keep out mosquitoes.
He said it was a worry to him that people should have malaria just because they did not keep their environment clean.
Togbega, who is the President of the Volta Region House of Chiefs, used the occasion to urge all to keep their environment clean if they wanted to remain healthy.
The Hohoe District Health Promotion and Education officer, Mr Kwami Doe, spoke to the students on malaria, how it was contracted and its effects on the citizenry.
He told them that only mosquito bite caused malaria so they should do everything to avoid it.
He said malaria could have a serious effect on academic work and asked the students to do everything to avoid the disease.
“Your parents too, when they have the disease, they will suffer, they cannot go to work, reducing earnings for the family but have to look for money to buy medications,” he noted
He dispelled some misconceptions about malaria, such as some people suffering from malaria because they worked too hard in the sun.