Tuesday, March 24, 2009

AKAN CONSTITUENCY MP ASSISTS INSTITUTIONS (PAGE 17)

The Member of Parliament for the Akan Constituency, Mr Joseph Ofori, has presented various items worth GH¢11,300 to some institutions and individuals in the constituency.
The presentation by the MP which forms part of the MPs common fund was in fulfilment of his pledge to enhance their activities.
Some of the items include a computer and its accessories, each to the Kadjebi Magistrate Court and the Police Station, 120 pieces of machetes for peasant farmers, three boxes of mathematical sets and also 10 sets of jerseys for some selected schools and communities.
Presenting the items, Mr Ofori said the items to the magistrate court and police were to enhance their duties and to facilitate justice delivery.
Receiving the items, the Judge, His Worship Stannislaus Amanoipo, commended the MP for the gesture.
He said for many years they had been without the necessary logistics to enhance their work.

Wednesday, March 18, 2009

UPPER NORTH ZONE HOLDS INTER-SCHOOLS (JUNIOR GRAPHIC., BACK PAGE)

Fifteen Senior High Schools and Colleges of the Upper North Zone of the Volta Region have taken part in a week long sports competition at Nkonya SHS in the Jasikan District of the Volta Region.
They competed in various disciplines such as soccer, table tennis, volleyball, athletics, netball and cross country race.
The schools were Nkonya, Kadjebi Asato, Krachi, Oti, Worawora, Bueman, Nturbuman and Kpassa Senior High Schools (SHS).
The rest are Krachi Sec/Tech, Asukwakwa Sec/Tech, Okadjakrom Sec/Tech and Father Dogli Memorial Trades School.
The games was opened by the Jasikan District Director of Education, Mr F.K.Afesi who urged the participants and officials to abide by the rules and regulations of the game to enable them to raise a strong and formidable team to represent the zone.
The Chairman of the Volta Regional Schools and Colleges Sports Federation, Mr Musah Yamba Issahaku who is also the Headmaster of Kadjebi Asato SHS also stressed the need for the sportsmen and women to avoid indiscipline and any acts that would mar the beauty of the competition.
In the opening football match, Nkwanta SHS played a determined game to beat the host school, Nkonya SHS by a lone goal scored by Alhassan Ahmed in the 78th minute.
In the boys volleyball match, Krachi Sec/Tech beat Ntruboman SHS by two straight games to qualify to the next stage.
During the boys’ cross country race, Master Richard Mampeme of Krachi Sec/Tech outpaced his colleagues to win in 4:22:50. He was followed by Zaccheaus Mamo of Ntruboman SHS and Bless Gbadago in 4:24:31 and 4:27:22 respectively.
For the girls’ category, Miss Mavis Laten of Nkwanta SHS ran so fast to win the race in 5:21:94. Dina Napare and Dora Kyei, both of Krachi SHS followed in 5:32:21 and 5:38:02 respectively.

VOLTA FARMERS LAUD MOFA, GREEN SHIELD COLLABORAION (PAGE 34)

Rice and maize farmers in five districts of the Volta Region have noted that the collaboration between the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA) and Green Shield Agro Chemicals contributed to the increased yields on their farms last year.
They have, therefore, expressed the hope that the programme would be extended to farmers in other districts.
According to Mr Oscar Tetteh of Ve-Gbodome in the Hohoe municipality, with their support, he was able to harvest over 150 maxi bags of rice paddy from his five acre farm.
About 60 per cent of the population in the five districts of Hohoe, Jasikan, Kadjebi, Nkwanta North and South engage in small scale farming but many of them have no access to markets.
This came out at a day’s trainers of trainers workshop at Hohoe held for MoFA Extension Officers, agro-chemical dealers and farmers to educate them on the proper use of chemicals to increase their yield.
Last year, MoFA in collaboration with the Green Shield and Yara Ghana, a subsidiary of Yara International, co-operated by supporting the farmers with inputs like fertilisers, insecticides, and improved seeds. The cost of the inputs and service was deducted from their earnings after the farming season.
In his opening address, the Operations Manager of Green Shield company, Efo Kumah Ameyibor, said last year, 15 groups of about 30 farmers who cultivated maize and rice benefitted from the support.
This year, he said, an aggressive campaign would be mounted to reach the hinterlands to interact with more farmers in order to introduce them to how to increase production.
He said proper incentives should exist for such farmers to produce more.
He attributed the low productivity to lack of education and adherence to traditions, and that the success in achieving a satisfactory rate of agricultural growth hinged on the willingness of the farmers to adopt both new production and marketing techniques.
Efo Ameyibor said with the proper use of the right inputs, the present situation where an acre of cultivated land yielded six to eight bags would increase to between 12 to 16 bags.
He said this year, they had decided to involve the MoFA extension efficers who would visit the farmers on their farms to ascertain whether they were using the right inputs.
The Hohoe Municipal Director of the MoFA, Mr Geoffery Honu, told the farmers to increase their production this major season since a maize drier had been installed in Hohoe to meet their drying needs.
He gave the assurance that cassava farmers would also benefit from the dryer.

WORK TO IMPACT POSITIVELY ON ASSEMBLIES — AMENOWODE (PAGE 15)

The Volta Regional Minister, Mr Joseph Amenowode, has called on members of the municipal and district assemblies to ensure that their contribution impacts positively on the effectiveness of the assemblies to improve the living standards of the people.
He reminded the members that they were joining the assemblies at a time when the policies and programmes of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) government were unfolding, adding that " it behoves you all to keenly follow these policies and programme to impact positively on the activities, projects, and programmes of your assemblies.
Mr Amenowode expressed his unpreparedness to harbour inefficient members under his administration, adding that their three months probation is a test of their abilities to be able to see whether they could stand the herculean duties ahead of them.
Speaking during the opening of a day’s training workshop for 30 per cent of the government appointees in the Volta region at Ho, he explained that the wisdom in the appointment of members of the municipal and district assemblies had been borne out by their specialist skills and expertise and this must bear on their work at the assemblies.
" It is, therefore, your obligation to place your expertise be it professional, technical or otherwise, at the disposal of the assembly," he said.
Mr Amenowode said the training was to equip the members with the necessary skills to ensure effective and efficient delivery of national development goals.
Three districts, namely South Tongu, Nkwanta North and Krachi West were conspicuously absent at the programme which attracted 180 participants.
He expressed the hope that they would take the workshop seriously and come out to be the men and women wanted to serve their people.

CREDIT PACKAGE FOR SMALL-SCALE FARMERS (BACK PAGE)

Small-scale farmers at Gbledi Gbogame in the Hohoe municipality of the Volta Region are to be assisted with a credit package under a GH¢23,000 micro-finance scheme to boost productivity and enhance their livelihood.
Farmers from three out of the 32 farmers groups, namely, the Unity Group, the Dagbanadu Trading Group and the Elikplim Trading Group, who completed a training course on entrepreneurial skills for income-generating activities have been given GH¢9,400 out of the package.
The scheme is being accessed by small-scale farmers selected from three communities for sacrificing their farmlands for the execution of the Afadjato Agumatsa Community Forest Conservation (AACFC) project. The communities are Fodome Ahor, Gbledi Gbogame and Chebi.
The launch of the programme at the weekend coincided with the inauguration of a 21-member Community Resource Management Area (CREMA) Committee, tasked with the objective of encouraging the fringe communities to take active part in the management and control of the natural resources in the project area.
The committee, under the leadership of Major Engilbert Adoboe (retd), is made up of seven members each chosen from the three fringe communities of the project.
The AACFC project began in 1998 as a collaborative initiative between the people of Ahor, Chebi and Gbogame and the Ghana Wildlife Society (GWS), with sponsorship from The Netherlands government.
Launching the scheme, the Executive Director of GWS, Dr Erasmus Owusu, said the project would consolidate and build on the achievements made in the first phase.
"The GWS is more committed to the conservation of the forest through community-based eco-tourism on the Afadjato- Agumatsa range and ensure that the people have alternative means of livelihood, rather than massive reliance on the forest and its resources," he said.
Dr Owusu announced that the revolving loan would be managed by the Christian Rural Aid Network (CRAN), Ghana for a one-year period at an interest-free rate and, therefore, cautioned the recipients not to see the loans as gifts.
Inaugurating the 21-member committee, the Zonal Manager of the Wildlife Division of the Forestry Commission in charge of the Greater Accra, Eastern and Volta regions, Mr John Naada, charged the members to work as a team to justify the huge investment made in the project.
He said the project would become a showpiece and a source of knowledge where tourists would gather information on eco-tourism promotion and wildlife species for medicinal, educational and research purposes.
For his part, Mr Hanson Agboso, the Project Manager, stated that the collection of biodiversity and socio-economic baseline data, the establishment of a community nature reserve, the promulgation of bye-laws and the preparation of a 10-year conservation plan were some of their achievements.

Wednesday, March 11, 2009

WOMAN STABS SISTER TO DEATH (PAGE 22)

From Emmanuel Modey, Anyirawase

The family of Christian Komla Agbesi, a retired teacher, suffered double agony when one of the daughters was stabbed to death by her elder sister at Biakpa near Vane in the Ho Municipality last Saturday.
The two sisters who are married and based in Accra, had returned home for the funeral of their late grandfather, who would be buried today at Biakpa.
It all started when the deceased, Mrs Faustina Afi Mawufemor, 26, complained in the presence of visitors about the accused always staying out late only to demand for food immediately she returned from town.
This did not go down well with the accused, Mawutor Afi Asante, 36, and a mother of two, and she threw the knife she had used in cooking at her sister.
The knife pierced her sister’s ribs under her right armpit and she was rushed to the Ho Municipal Hospital but pronounced dead on arrival.
Her body has been deposited at the Anfoega Catholic Hospital in the Kpando District for autopsy.
The Anyirawase District Police Commander, ASP Stephen Kofi Ahiatafu, confirmed the incident and said the police investigations were ongoing.

Thursday, March 5, 2009

WORK ON HOHOE TOWN ROADS PROGRESSING (PAGE 39)

WORK is progressing on the Hohoe town roads. At the moment, the 1.6 kilometre highway through the town has been tarred.
As part of the project, the 300-metre road linking Agodome with Zongo has received first dressing while the 1.8-kilometre drainage system from the Bank of Ghana to the St Francis College of Education is also progressing steadily.
According to the Volta Regional Engineer of the Ghana Highways Authority (GHA), Mr Steven Blay, he had examined the chippings used in the road construction and found them to be of good quality.
The Managing Director of Survivals Construction Work, Mr Dela Castro-Ahorsu, who is executing the project said the GH¢1,170 project would be completed on schedule.

BEST FARMER DONATES TO ORPHANAGE (PAGE 40)

THE 2007 best maize farmer in the Hohoe Municipality, Mr Valentine Confidence Fiah-Tse has donated a quantity of items valued at GH¢500 to the House of Hope Orphanage at Gbikledzo, near Hohoe.
The items included bags of maize, rice, sugar, gallons of cooking oil, biscuits and assorted toilet facilities.
Presenting the items, Mr Fiah-Tse, who is also the Senior Accountant of the Hohoe Municipal Hospital, said the donation was part of his annual contribution towards the upkeep of needy children and institutions.
He expressed the hope that the items would be judiciously used for the benefit of the children.
Receiving the items, the mother of the orphanage, Madam Elizabeth Kusi Mensah was grateful to the donor for the gesture.

FIRE OUTBREAKS DESTROYED GH¢526,550 PROPERTY...In VR in 2008 (PAGE 40)

THE Volta Region recorded a total of 84 fire outbreaks last year resulting in the loss of two lives and destruction of property worth GH¢526,550.
Bush fires topped the list of disasters with 42 incidents, which destroyed property valued at GH¢11,500.
A total of 33 domestic fires caused destruction of property estimated at GH¢186,950 while seven vehicular fires and two electrical fires destroyed various items worth GH¢161,500 and GH¢12,000 respectively.
The Assistant Chief Fire Officer in charge of the Volta Region, Mr Eric Tei-Mensah, made this known at a meeting between the Chief Fire Officer (CFO) , Mr F.K. Ferkah and personnel of the Volta regional fire command in Ho.
Mr Tei- Mensah said there were two deaths involving a 40-year old woman and her three-year-old daughter in Ho.
He spoke of the deplorable state of the fire stations in the region and their equipment.
According to Mr Tei-Mensah, only three out of the 13 fire stations in the region, namely, Hohoe, Ho and Nkwanta had permanent structures while the 10 remaining were on rented premises.
He said with the creation of five more administrative districts in the region, namely Kpeve, Adaklu-Anyigbe, Kpassa, Dambai and Penyi, there was the need to open fire stations in those areas.
The regional fire officer said the staff strength of 306 in the entire region was woefully inadequate.
He noted that staff accommodation was virtually non-existent, adding that the construction of three flats which began in 1986 at the regional headquarters was at a standstill.
Mr Ferkah decried the inability of the Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS) Council to interact with the personnel in the region as it had been doing in the other regions.
He, however, stressed that the new administration would continue to provide the necessary support to enable the service to stand up to its challenges.
Mr Ferkah gave the assurance that the service would take delivery of new fire engines purchased with loans approved by Parliament and the Cabinet.
He reiterated the need for the personnel to intensify fire safety education campaign by going to the churches, mosques, schools and business centres as a measure of minimising the incidence of fire outbreaks in the region.
The chief fire officer emphasised the need for the personnel to sensitise the general public to Fire Precaution Regulation 2003 (LI1724), adding that they must also strive to improve on their internally generated funds targets.
He warned that his administration would not tolerate any acts of indiscipline by any staff member and therefore, urged them not only to work hard, but must also be punctual.
Mr Ferkah commended the personnel in the Volta Region for providing the best squad at the National Extrication Challenge, who later represented the country at the World Extrication Challenge in the United Kingdom in July, last year.
He said their performance was so impressive that it won them a plaque.