Thursday, May 29, 2008

GH¢10,000 COMPUTER COMPLEX FOR ALAVANYO (PAGE 40)

A GH¢10,000 computer laboratory for the Alavanyo Evangelical Presbyterian Trades Training Centre (EPTTC) has been inaugurated at Alavanyo in the Hohoe District of the Volta Region.
The laboratory — containing 23 sets of computers, printers, an industrial photocopier and accessories — was sponsored by a Finland-based Ghanaian, Mr Kofi Bani.
The Chairman of the Board of Directors of EPTTC, Mr Seth Ablosu, on behalf of Mr Bani, performed the inaugural ceremony.
Mr Ablosu urged the students to take advantage of the laboratory to acquire computer literacy.
The Manager of EPTTC, Mr Seth Amoah, said ICT had become a compulsory component of the new educational reforms so they should acquire skills in it to improve their marketability.
He commended Mr Bani and the donor and promised to put the items to good use.

Monday, May 26, 2008

POWER OUTAGE AFFECTS COMMERCIAL ACTIVITIES ...In Hohoe (PAGE 22)

Story: Emmanuel Modey, Hohoe

Commercial and social life in Hohoe, the commercial hub of the Volta Region, is at a standstill, due to power outage since last week Tuesday, which has eventually affected the flow of water to the town.
The outage is due to the breakdown of a transformer at Hohoe after power was restored on completion of major works at Asiekpe in the North Tongu District.
The major work at Asiekpe, which was scheduled to increase output of electricity to the region, was announced to be undertaken in two days with consequent electricity cuts last week Tuesday and Thursday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day.
After the first day of maintenance work on Tuesday, when power was restored at 5 p.m., Hohoe still remained in darkness, and that continued into the following day.
Customers thought it was part of the maintenance work, until the third day when it affected water supply as well.
It was then that the Electricity Company of Ghana’s staff put out public information that their transformer, installed in 1983, had developed a fault.
They said there was little that their outfit could do, so they had informed Accra through their Ho office, and that they were awaiting response from Accra.
A number of people expressed their disappointment that for all these years the Ghana Water Company Limited could not acquire a stand-by generator for any exigencies.
The water situation has immediately resulted in price of sachet water shooting up by 100 per cent.
Students from schools and colleges such as St Teresa College of Education, St Francis College of Education and Hohoe E.P. Senior High School have to get up at dawn and walk several kilometres to fetch water from the nearby River Day, a tributary of the Volta River.
At the Hohoe District Hospital, the Medical Superintendent, Dr Edwin Danoo, said for the moment, they were relying on stored water and wells, but the situation could be precarious if the rains did not come soon.
When contacted, the Ghana Water Company Station Manager at Hohoe, Mr Seth Takor, said the acquisition of a stand-by generator would not be economical.
He said they were in contact with the Ho office to release a water tanker to serve the people.

Friday, May 23, 2008

DON'T DEFER COURSE FOR CHILDBIRTH (PAGE 11)

Story: Emmanuel Modey, Hohoe

THE Director of the Teacher Training Division of the Ministry of Education, Science and Sports (MoESS), Mr Victor Kofi Mantey, has expressed concern about the rate at which female teachers pursuing three-year diploma courses defer their programmes.
The situation, he noted, was because the teachers deferred their courses during pregnancy and childbirth whilst still receiving their allowances.
Mr Mantey has, therefore, advised them to endeavour to complete their courses before they decide to give birth.
Speaking at the maiden graduation of the newly trained diploma students of St. Theresa Training College at Hohoe, he said the problem could be avoided because the trainees were taught in their curriculum how to avoid pregnancy.
He pleaded with them to try and complete their course of study first and then have the number of children they could conveniently cater for.
Mr Mantey explained that the diploma programme was instituted to raise the status of teachers to correspond with what was pertaining in the West African sub-region.
In all 144 students passed out with 19 having second class. No one had a first class.
The Hohoe District Chief Executive, Mr John Peter Amewu, congratulated the graduates on successfully completing their course.
He said it was not easy to train as a teacher and advised that once they had been trained to teach they should consider it as the beginning of a great career.
"A teacher by all status is a role model in the society and his or her pronouncements and actions could help shape society," he stated.
The acting Principal of the college, Mrs Juliet Kumah, said the college, established in 1961, was the best among the eight female training colleges in the country, since they recorded the best result in the newly introduced Diploma in Basic Education course.
She appealed for the provision of more bungalows for the staff and cement to complete work on a fence project to check encroachment.
Mr Amewu immediately replied by promising them 100 bags of cement.
The Bishop of the Ho Diocese of the Catholic Church, Rt. Rev Francis Anane Lodonu, also congratulated the graduates and urged them to spread the knowledge they had acquired.
"You have become the salt of the earth and the light of the world, so that the world may be sanctified through you," he added.

Thursday, May 22, 2008

WORKSHOP ON DEMOCRACY HELD AT HOHOE (PAGE 39)

Story: Emmanuel Modey, Hohoe

The current Asset Declaration Law has not adequately fulfilled the objective of curbing corruption in the country because of flaws and institutional handicaps in its implementation.
The Programmes Manager of the Ghana Integrity Initiative (GII), Mrs Linda Ofori-Kwafo, who made the observation, was speaking at a two-day regional workshop on Democracy and Good Governance at Hohoe.
The workshop, which was part of the GII regional level sensitisation workshops, was jointly organised with the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE).
Mrs Ofori-Kwafo noted that for the law to be effective, even in its present state, there was the need for declarations to be made accessible, the rate of compliance to be made public and the Auditor-General to design and implement a verification system.
“Also there is the need for specific sanctions, the Auditor-General to embark on public education and also the issue of gifts in the law to be clarified,” she pointed out.
Mrs Ofori-Kwafo said that was because a lax and ineffective disclosure regime was most likely to provide opportunities for public officers to become corrupt.
The Hohoe District Chief Executive (DCE), Mr John Peter Amewu, in a speech read on his behalf, charged the participants, as worthy citizens, to work seriously so that their outcomes would be used as an ‘agency for democracy and good governance’ for development.
He complained that the perception of corruption hanging around the neck of people was hampering effective development.
Earlier, the Hohoe District Director of the NCCE, Mr J.B. Mensah, had welcomed the workshop, since corruption, nepotism and other social challenges like ethnic conflict and chieftaincy problems were becoming rife in the country.

Monday, May 19, 2008

AKUFO-ADDO: MISSION IS TO SEEK RECONCILIATION IN VR (PAGE 16)

Story: Emmanuel Modey, Hohoe

The New Patriotic Party (NPP) has arrived in the Volta Region with a message of reconciliation between the people and the party.
It is in this vein that a high-powered delegation has dedicated three weeks to reach every nook and cranny of the region to ensure that their manifestos were heard by all to ensure victory in the 2008 general election.
The flag bearer of the party, Nana-Addo, who declared the message at Hohoe last week Wednesday at a well-attended rally said the region used to be very close to the party but now there was a big gap between them.
My mission is to seek reconciliation with the people of the Volta Region so that they will give me their votes,” he said.
He expressed concern that from 1992 to 2000, the NPP did not win any of the 22 constituencies, adding that, it was only after the 2004 elections that we won Nkwanta North.
“We Consider Volta Region to be our difficult area so we must not play with it,” he said.
He assured the people of the region that the NPP had always avoided the politics of exclusion and involved all in the development process.
We are building a country for all the people, our party is not for any particular group of people and we have no agenda for any group of people,” he said.
“We will ensure more openness, tolerance and the inclusion of all shades of opinion in order to attain the status of a middle income country by 2020, Nana Akuffo-Addo said.
He introduced the NPP Candidate for Hohoe North, Mr John Peter Amewu, who he described as a more popular candidate to the people.
For his part, the runner-up to the NPP 2008 presidential race, Mr Alan Kyeremanten, stressed the values of honesty and integrity since the NPP took over public office, and urged the electorate to vote the party back to office.
He said any change in government now will disrupt the strong foundation President John Kufuor had laid.
He observed that Ghana should now move from exporting raw materials to adding value to the raw materials since that was what would put more money into the pockets of the youth.
Mr Jake Obetsebi- Lamptey noted that in the pass two elections most of the people in the region voted for NDC but they could not win.
Party politics is not a family matter,” he said.
The trip took them from Ho, through Ve-Golo Kuati, Hohoe, Jasikan. They paid courtesy calls to all the chiefs and imams in the towns which they visited.

Thursday, May 15, 2008

INDUSTRIALISTS ATTEND WORKSHOP IN HOHOE (PAGE 40)

Story: Emmanuel Mordey, Hohoe

FIFTY-FIVE small-scale industrialists have completed a two-day regional entrepreneurial workshop at Hohoe in the Volta Region.
The Unilever Foundation for Education (UFED) organised the workshop, which was facilitated by Empretec Ghana Foundation. It was aimed at upgrading the skills and competencies of the small-scale entrepreneurs.
Opening the workshop, the Chairman of the UFED, Mr Andrew E. Quayson, said since the workshops started seven years ago, they had helped the beneficiaries to expand their businesses, giving them access to bank credit facilities and building on stronger customer service.
He said 770 entrepreneurs had so far been trained in the Greater Accra, Ashanti, Western, Brong Ahafo and the Volta regions.
Mr Quayson noted that developing country determined to reach a middle-income status by 2015, must see the need for vibrant small and middle-scale enterprises.
He said that was why Unilever Foundation saw the workshops as their contribution to the development of the informal sector which employed about 85 per cent of the labour force.
The Head of Credit Operations of EMPRETEC, Mr Nii Ansah Adjaye, said all successful entrepreneurs should have special skills, hence the need to equip them.
He noted that hard work and commitment were the key to success and, therefore, entreated the participants to take the workshop seriously.
The Paramount Chief of the Gobi Traditional Area, Togbega Gabusu VI, noted that lack of requisite skills was the bane of successful businesses in the country.
He, therefore, advised the participants to share their knowledge with others who could not attend the workshop.
Earlier in a welcoming address, the Unilever representative for Volta North, Mr Alfred E. Neizer, urged them to put the knowledge they had acquired to good use, since it had long-term benefits.
He urged them as business people to operate within the laws of the country.

Wednesday, May 14, 2008

NDUOM URGES VOLA VOTERS TO VOTE FOR CPP (PAGE 15)

Story: Emmanuel Modey, Hohoe

THE Presidential Candidate of the Convention People’s Party (CPP), Dr Paa Kwesi Nduom, has asked the people of the Volta Region to look for a new customer in their voting system.
He said “a particular party had described the Volta Region as its World Bank in the past, a commitment which to date has little evidence of fulfilment”.
Dr Nduom asked “how much interest has the party put into the bank all these years?”
He was at Ve-Deme in the Hohoe District as part of his two-day campaign tour of the Volta Region. Dr Nduom was also in Hohoe South, Akan and Buem constituencies as part of his community-based campaign to announce the return of a strong, independent and competitive CPP to Ghanaian politics. He also attended the funeral of Togbe Dagadu.
Dr Nduom commended the New Patriotic Party (NPP) government for its selfless commitment to renovating the Flagstaff house.
According to him, the CPP is the rightful owner of the house and they will live in it after the general elections in December.
“The construction of the Flagstaff House signifies a victory for the CPP, for the party was the first occupant of the house”, he declared.
He, therefore, assured the people that the CPP was the original CPP and was campaigning on the theme “look inside your pocket and vote.”
“Look inside your pockets and if your pockets are light, then the CPP is for you,” he said.
“In the past, the CPP created jobs for you and I promise that when you vote for me, I will make jobs available for the youth”, he said.
He gave the assurance that a CPP government would demonstrate a lot of commitment to rural dwellers, irrespective of who they voted for.
He said that the CPP would create jobs for the youth to ensure that there was money in their pockets.
Answering a question of his association with the NPP, Nduom said the CPP had learnt its lesson and come back to clean its house.
“Now we do not want to hear anything about the National Democratic Congress (NDC) or the New Patriotic Party (NPP),” he said.
Welcoming the entourage, the Paramount Chief of Ve Traditional Area, Togbe Delume VII, asked for tolerance and patience in the political campaign, adding that the youth who constitute the majority of the electorate, do not know about Dr Kwame Nkrumah and the CPP.

Sunday, May 11, 2008

DEVT CHIEF DONATES TO NEEDY CHILDREN (PAGE 25)

Story: Emmanuel Modey, Akpafu-Mempeasem

THE Development Chief of Akpafu-Mempeasem in the Hohoe District, Nana Dr Kwaku Sai, has presented textbooks, exercise books and school uniforms worth GH¢8,000 to 300 children whose education he is sponsoring.
Nana Sai, known in private life as Dr Aribet Linner, a German national, is catering for needy and deprived children through the Akpaful Child Care Centre for the Needy, which he has established at Akpafu Mempeasem.
Mr Tsaku Ayim, the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the centre, on behalf of Nana Sai, presented the items to Madam Vicentia Adzei, the proprietor of the centre.
The centre, established in 1995, currently houses 100 orphans and deprived children.
At the moment, seven products of the centre are pursuing higher education at the Institute of Professional Studies (IPS), the Telecom University and other tertiary educational institutions.
Receiving the items, Madam Adzei expressed concern about the lukewarm attitude of the community towards the centre.

Wednesday, May 7, 2008

HAYIBOR RETAINS MANDATE (PAGE 17)

MR Prince Jacob Hayibor, the incumbent Member of Parliament (MP) for Hohoe North, has retained the mandate of the NDC to contest the general election in December.
He beat three other contestants with 117 votes in the primary held at Huh last week Tuesday.
A former Hohoe North Constituency Chairman of NDC, Mr Elliot Nestor Akototse, came second with 90 votes.
The two other contestants — Mrs Bernice Afi Heloo and Mr Victor Condobbrey — had 64 and four votes, respectively.
All the losers conceded defeat and pledged to support Mr Hayibor in order to retain the seat in the general election.
The election was supervised by Mr David Acheampong, the Hohoe District Officer of the Electoral Commission.


NDC MP FOR AKAN CONSTITUENCY FAILS TO GET NOD

THE National Democratic Congress (NDC) Member of Parliament (MP) for Akan, Mr John Cudjoe Gyapong, failed to get the nod from delegates to contest the 2008 general election on the ticket of the party.
At the primary held at Dodo-Amanfrom in the Kadjebi District of the Volta Region, Joseph Kwaku Ofori, the Assembly Member for the Kadjebi Central Electoral Area, emerged the winner among five other contestants with 93 votes.
Mr Gyapong, who came second, had 54 votes, while the other three contestants — Mr Nicholas Fato, Mr Kwao Yaidoo and Mr Seth Alifu — polled 34, 10 and one, respectively.
The Kadjebi District Electoral Office, led by Mr Ernest Adomah, conducted the election.

Sunday, May 4, 2008

BIG HUNT FOR POACHER (MIRROR, PAGE 30)

From Emmanuel Modey, Hohoe

The Nkwanta Police in the Volta Region has mounted a search for one Kwasi Owusu, a poacher from Keri, who illegally entered the Kyabobo National Park and killed five Duiker's and threatened to shoot the staff of the Forestry Commission of the Wildlife Commission.
He was remanded in police custody by the Nkwanta Magistrate Court on charges of threatening and unlawful entry into the National Park.
Last Monday, on April 28, he pleaded with the court that he was not feeling well so he was sent to Nkwanta District Hospital for treatment. While at the hospital, he escaped from the grip of the policeman who was escorting him, into the bush.
The police is therefore appealing to the general public to assist in his arrest.

Friday, May 2, 2008

SSNIT HOLDS AWARENESS FORUM AT JASIKAM (PAGE 21)

Story: Emmanuel Modey, Hohoe

THE Hohoe branch of the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) has organised a forum at Hohoe to create awareness among teachers and non-teaching staff in the Jasikan District of the Volta Region.
The awareness drive, which was attended by participants drawn from 22 circuits in the district, was to sensitise them to the steps to adopt before their retirement.
The forum was in line with SSNIT’s “Project 54 and Above”, which is aimed at encouraging the participating organisations’ members in that age group to visit the SSNIT offices to be taken through processes of updating their records.
The objective of the project is to prepare them for processing their benefits, since they could retire at 55 years.
All relevant period pertaining to the financial claims and other issues like changing of beneficiaries, which needed to be updated, would be done to reflect the true state of affairs before they retired.
Briefing the Daily Graphic at Hohoe, the Hohoe branch Manager of SSNIT, Mr Richard Setsoafia, said oftentimes it had been found out that the old data was no longer relevant due to reasons like change of family, death or additional children.
The SSNIT Co-ordinator of the Ghana Education Service (GES), Mr Samuel Nyame, called on teachers to visit the nearest SSNIT office for their missing identity cards to be replaced.

Thursday, May 1, 2008

PLAN GHANA AWARDS SCHOLARSHIPS TO 100 STUDENTS (PAGE 32)

Story: Emmanuel Modey, Hohoe

PLAN Ghana has presented a scholarship package to 100 students in second cycle educational institutions in two districts in the Volta Region.
Each of the beneficiaries would receive GH¢280 for every academic year for a period of four years.
Fifty brilliant, needy students each from the South Tongu and Hohoe districts are being sponsored in senior high schools.
At a brief ceremony at Likpe-Mate recently to present the award to the beneficiary students, the National Director of Plan Ghana, Mr W. Ahuma Adodoadji, stated that an amount of GH¢112,000 had so far been invested in the programme.
He urged the students to take their studies seriously so that they could contribute their quota towards the socio-economic development of the nation.