CHILDREN'S COURT...MAWULI SCHOOL SPEAKS ON CHILD RIGHTS (JUNIOR GRAPHIC, PAGE 15)

Due to widespread poverty in Africa, the rights of children in this part of the world are not considered important. There is massive abuse of the rights of children, especially because children themselves and our elders do not know what constitutes the rights of the child.
In a poverty-stricken home, will parents give their last morsel of food to their child while they themselves starve? I doubt that! Children are, therefore, not getting access to food and are being denied basic education and health.
That is why there is the need for African leaders to eradicate poverty on the continent by focusing attention on providing jobs for their people.
In our country, the government is doing a lot to help children by building more schools and introducing the Malaria Control Programme to improve on their health. These are laudable programmes which all African leaders can adopt in their respective countries.


It is time the views of children were made to reflect in government policies and laws, since most of these affect children.
A case in point is the decision to extend the duration of the senior high school programme from three to four years where the views of students sought have not been taken seriously.
African leaders should also ensure that the policies they institute for children are rigidly adhered to.
I wish to express my gratitude to the government for the establishment of the Domestic Violence and Victims Support Unit (DOVVSU of the Ghana Police Service and also for ensuring that children attend school.


The celebration of the Africa Union Day of the African Child reminds us all of the rights of children, which are fundamental and should be respected in our society. These include the right to shelter, food and free expression.
In some places, instead of children going to school, they are left on their own to cater for themselves. Consequently, they engage in child labour, drug abuse, prostitution, among other vices.
In most cases, the rights of children are not recognised and are trampled upon due to ignorance.
Our leaders should involve young people in the decision-making process, since they suffer the effects of the policies instituted by adults.
Children, on their part, are grateful for being assured of their right to education and health through programmes such as the National Immunisation Days and the Free Compulsory Universal Basic Education (FCUBE).


The day is worth celebrating because most of us young people do not know our rights, which I think should be protected. Although some of these rights are being protected, majority of them have been violated, especially when it has to do with the rights of children in rural areas.
Majority of children in these areas are not in school because education is not considered important to most parents there.
Rather, the children are used as labourers by their parents to assist them in their trades where they are given a token. This has exposed many children to life on the street and hazards such as rape, defilement, teenage pregnancy, robbery, etc.
The government should go to the aid of all such children. It should create more employment opportunities to reduce rural-urban migration involving young people, with its attendant problems.
I, however, congratulate the government on the introduction of good policies such as the National Health Insurance Scheme which will go a long way to benefit children, as well as our parents.

DRIVERS DEFY COURT ORDER (PAGE 37)

From Emmanuel Modey, Hohoe

The Hohoe High Court has banned vehicles from loading on the shoulders and portions of the Jasikan–Accra Highway in front of the Hohoe main lorry park as well as from the junction of the Hohoe Municipal Court to the former Top Oil Filling Station.
This was an order of interlocutory injunction issued by the High Court upon an affidavit filed on behalf of the Ghana Private Road Transport Union (GPRTU) and seven others against the Northern Volta Cooperative Limited, Hohoe and Progressive Transport Owners Association (PROTOA).
In a judgement delivered by the Hohoe High Court Judge, Justice Mustapha Logoh on, May 21, 2009 said that “ all the parties to this suit are restrained from loading on the shoulders and portions of the Jasikan-Accra motor road just in front of the main lorry park”.
But in spite of the ban, passenger vehicles plying Hohoe and the South have defied the High Court order and continue to load on the shoulders and portions in front of the main lorry park .
These vehicles could be seen all round the day briskly competing with vehicles parked in the main lorry park and the Cooperative lorry parks.
In the suit filed on March 24, this year, the applicant, GPRTU prayed for the order to restrain the defendants, Cooperative and PROTOA from interfering with or engaging in forcible loading of passengers from the applicants lorry park.
The suit also asked them to stop harassing passengers and forcibly turning the road side into a loading point thereby creating conflict, mayhem and breach of peace.
Although the police were ordered to ensure total compliance with the court order, they have looked on helplessly while the order is defied.

NGOS TAKE MEASURES TO STOP ENVIRONMENTAL DEGRADATION (PAGE 22)

The Coalition of non-governmental and community-based organisations in the northern part of the Volta Region has mounted a massive drive to halt environmental degradation in the area.
At an extra-ordinary meeting held at Jasikan to re-strategise on what to do to reduce the menace, the organisations discussed the problems of illegal felling of trees and bush fires.
The meeting also took into account the uncontrolled sale of lands by chiefs, elders and landowners to some people, especially chainsaw operators whose activities turned out to degrade the forest with their blessing.
The meeting, which was at the instance of the Association of Jasikan District Civil Society Organisations (AJADSCO), attracted 60 participants.
The association urged the district assemblies, Forestry Commission, Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA) and the Department of Wildlife, to rigidly enforce the laws on tree felling and bushfires, which not only destroyed the forest, but also made the area uninhabitable.
The Chairman of AJADSCO, Alhaji Issaku Buraimah said it was high time the activities of illegal chainsaw operators were curtailed to save the land for production for other future uses.
In this vein, he said, the coalition would collaborate with chiefs and land owners on how to reduce environmental degradation.
Mr Buraimah said the incidence of bushfires had destroyed the Rivers Odomi and Kabo and other forest reserves leading to the reduction in the livelihood of the people.
“ We have lost our Rivers Odomi, Kabo and many different species of trees and animals such as Odum, Wawa and deers”, he lamented.
Mr Buraimah stated that the extinction of certain animals like antelopes, bush cats, squirrels, monkeys and deers created an imbalance of the eco-system.
He also bemoaned the fact that the area, which used to be a major producer of cocoa and coffee, could no longer sustain the production of such crops.
The consequence, Mr Buraimah said, was the devastation of houses at Jasikan and Kute by a recent rainstorm and called for concerted efforts to reverse the trend.

EXPLOIT GRANITE DEPOSITS AT SANTROKOFI ...Nana Lestabi appeals to investors (PAGE 25)

The Paramount Chief of Santrokofi Traditional Area in the Hohoe Municipality, Nana Lestabi II, has called on investors to exploit the huge granite and sand deposits in the area.
The deposits, he said, were critical in the construction industry, and therefore, urged road and housing sectors to look for an investor to establish a quarry in the area.
Nana Lestabi made the call when he addressed a durbar of chiefs and people of the area as part of activities to climax the Okyonsa festival at Santrokofi-Benua.
It had the theme: “Okyonsa festival: A tool for uniting people for development and progress”.
The festival, which was revived after its last celebration in 1983, marked the period of out-dooring young girls who have been taken through puberty rites and prepared for marriage.
Historically, the people of Santrokofi, who are Guans, migrated from Aneho in the Republic of Benin, formerly Dahomey, and settled on Mountain Olekpo before moving to their present site in 1901 in search for access to education and suitable farmlands.
At the durbar to climax the festival, 14 citizens were honoured for their contributions to the development of the area.
Nana Lestabi said the festival had been revived to serve as a unifying force and raise funds for development projects in the area.
He stated that this year, the people would build a traditional council hall and office complex, rehabilitate the school blocks in the community and tackle the late Reverend Father Apietu’s Vocational School project.
Nana Lestabi appealed to the Member of Parliament for the area, Mr Prince Jacob Hayibor, and the Hohoe Municipal Chief Executive, Mr Victor Condobbery, to rehabilitate the five-kilometre road from Benua to the forest reserve boundary line to facilitate the transportation of foodstuffs to the marketing centres.
Commenting on the theme for the festival, the Minister of Chieftaincy and Culture, Mr Alex Asum Ahensah, said unity was dear to the heart of President Professor John Evans Atta Mills.
He said it was only through unity traditional area and that of the nation could be developed.
“It is only in unity that we can fight poverty and build a better nation”, he said.
The Hohoe MCE, Mr Condobbery, also hammered on unity which, he said, would stimulate development and progress.
He said, “You will agree with me that a lot of development programmes and projects have either been abandoned in some areas of the district as a result of protracted chieftaincy disputes”.
An amount of GH¢ 3, 015 was realised for the construction of a permanent traditional council hall and offices.