CSOs In The North Campaign For Peaceful Elections

Some Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) in the Northern Region of Ghana, have reaffirmed their resolved and commitment to ensure, that the upcoming December 7, 2012 presidential and parliamentary elections, are conducted in a peaceful, free, fair and transparent manner.

According to the CSOs, it was better to make the call for peace earlier than wait till violence erupts during the period of elections, which they observed could mar the process and perhaps destabilize the economic and social ambiance of the country.

Thus, in their desire to contribute towards peaceful elections and transition of power, the CSOs which are working towards poverty alleviation and good democratic governance in the region, recently organised a peace walk in the Tamale Metropolis.

Speaking to Savannahnews in an interview after the walk, Executive Director of Northern Ghana Network for Development (NGND) Theophilus Ibrahima Dokurugu, said in order to avoid any untoward situation from now till December 7 when the electorates go to the polls, it was imperative to send across a message that would remind residents of the region particularly the youth that the mistakes of the past could be repeated if trivial issues surrounding the elections were not handled well.

He noted that violence emanating from electoral conflicts was so costly, citing countries such as Kenya, Liberia, Zimbabwe and recently La Cote D’Ivoire where thousands of her citizens were killed, maimed, displaced and property worth millions of dollars destroyed at their last presidential polls.

Tamale is a known hotspot according to recent researches conducted by various conflict resolution organizations. The majority of those often found to be engaging in violent acts particularly during elections are mostly the youth, supposedly influenced with money and other freebies by selfish politicians to enable them win power.

In this sprawling city of about 500,000 people, electioneering years are bad times for most peace loving residents considering the fact that the area was also besieged with a protracted chieftaincy dispute (Dagbon conflict) that often resurrects during electioneering periods. For instance, the 2008 elections recorded series of violent clashes between supporters of the major political parties particularly the New Patriotic Party and National Democratic Congress in Tamale, Gushiegu and other parts of the Northern Region.

However, with less than two months to what is perhaps Ghana’s major presidential and parliamentary elections especially following the discovery of oil in 2007 that is considered a sure trump card to an economic boom, the stakes are already high as many political activists in the bigger parties are trying to outdo each other through vile propaganda and smeared campaign.

Chief Inspector Robert Aheto, Station Officer of the Tamale Metropolitan Police Command in a statement, pledged that the police administration would leave no stone unturned before, during and after this year’s elections in order to ensure that peace prevailed.

He appealed to supporters of the various political parties in the Northern Region to desist from acts that would lead to violence since Ghana stood the chance of losing so much when there is an outbreak of war as a result of elections.

Meanwhile, the Tamale peace walk which was on the theme: “A peaceful Ghana, our collective responsibility” brought together various youth groups and keep-fit clubs who carried placards bearing inscriptions such as “No peace, No Azonto”, “No peace, No development” and “No peace, No education” among others.

It was organised by NGND and Centre for Active Learning and Integrated Development (CALID) in collaboration with YouthAlive with funding support from STAR-Ghana.

Pastor Ask Colleagues To Refer Persons With HIV To Hospital for Treatment

Reverend John Azumah, a crusader against HIV and AIDS through the word of God has called on the clergy to encourage persons living with the human Immunodefiency virus to report to health facilities for treatment.

According to him, some men of God still believed that HIV was only acquired through spiritual means and not through unprotected sex and other ways such as blood transfusion, sharing razor blades with a person living with HIV (PLHIV) and from mother-to-child transmission, among others.

When a member of your church acquire HIV, encourage him/her to seek medical support (which deals with the physical aspect) he preached, while you the man of God also deal with the spiritual aspect through prayers.

Pastor Azumah made this solemn call in Tamale at the end of a three-day training workshop for media practitioners in the Northern Region on HIV and AIDS reporting organized by the Ghana AIDS Commission in collaboration with the Ghana Journalists Association. 

The man of God and his wife who have been living with the virus for about ten years now, said Jesus Christ recognized the importance of the hospital when he told a story about the Good Samaritan who gave care and support to the man who was robbed and beaten to pulp by robbers on his way from Jerusalem to Jericho. 

The training was in line with government's National Strategic Plan (NSP) 2011 - 2015 aimed at reducing by 50 percent the spread of HIV and AIDS, and mother-to-child transmission to eventually stop new infections in the country.

Participants were taken through topics such as; The National Response to HIV and AIDS; Progress and Challenges; and National Strategic Plan 2011-2015: Towards Achieving Universal Access to Comprehensive HIV Services.

About 50 media practitioners from radio, television and print were trained on HIV and AIDS aimed at equipping them with knowledge to help ensure effective reportage to curb the spread of the disease. 

Director of Policy and Planning at the Ghana AIDS Commission, Dr Joseph Amuzu, who spoke on behalf of the Director General of the GAC, stressed the need for effective and continued education on the spread of HIV and AIDS in order to transform the lifestyle of the populace to ensure the elimination of the disease.

           

He said even though figures from GAC showed a continued reduction in the spread of the disease in recent years, more work needed to be done if the country was to attain her objectives outlined in the NSP 2011-2015.

Currently, the total number of persons living with HIV in Ghana is 217,428, whilst the number of HIV positive children is 31,576,  HIV positive Pregnant Women 12,854 and annual new HIV infections for adults stands at 8,925 and that of children 2,933.

    

Thus, recognizing the good role the media can play in contributing towards the achievement of the NSP 2011-2015, a capacity building workshop had to be organized for practitioners across the country so that the information could get down to the populace very well.

    

Vice President of the Ghana Journalists Association Affail Monney who was one of the workshop facilitators charged media practitioners to go the extra mile to produce critical stories that would help to curb the spread of HIV and AIDS.

Shift your attention a bit from politics, he said, and report on challenges that are facing the rural poor so that life could be better for them.

Ghana To Compete In World Robotics Olympiad In Malaysia

Three of Ghana’s best science students from three Senior High Schools (SHSs) yet to be nominated, will be representing the country at the 2012 World Robotics Olympiad (WRO) competition to be organised next month in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

This will be the first time Ghana has taken part in such a competition after previously and recently undergoing regional and national competitions in the country in Robotics Inspired Science Education (RISE II) organized by the United States of America (USA) Embassy in Ghana in partnership with the Ghana Robotics Academy Foundation, as preparation towards the WRO in Malaysia. 

Ghana’s number-one space scientist with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) in the USA, Dr. Ashitey Trebi-Ollennu who disclosed this to journalists on the sidelines of this year’s RISE contest/workshop in Tamale said, Ghana will face 38 science, technology and engineering advanced countries such as Japan, China, Korean and USA among others in the WRO competition slated for 9^th to 11^th November 2012.

Dr. Ashitey Trebi-Ollennu, Space Scientist At NASA, USA

Dr. Trebi-Ollennu who is NASA’s Senior Robotics Engineer, said ten selected SHS Science Clubs from the three regions of the North– Upper West, Upper East and Northern were taken through RISE education to sharpen their skills ahead of the tough international contest.

RISE education seeks to transform the learning experience of young Ghanaians by connecting scientific theory with hands-on learning experience. Not only do teachers and students strategise, design, build, program and test an autonomous robot to solve defined real world problems, but students are able to develop leadership skills, self-confidence, presentation and communication skills through the experience of Robots competitions.

Three Science Clubs from three SHS were selected from the Upper East and West Regions as well as four from the Northern Region to participate against each other in the competition. The competition which will also be organized in Kumasi, Accra and Cape Coast by bringing 32 more SHSs together to compete, would enable the organisers to pick three best science students to represent the country in the upcoming WRO contest in Malaysia.

According to Dr. Trebi-Ollennu, countries whose economies had good prospects in the near future were those that placed serious emphasis on the development of human resource, science, technology and engineering.

He stated that Ghana stood the chance of advancing in science, technology and engineering and that what was needed now was for the country to invest in these sectors, which he described as the three most important pillars to the economic development of every country.

Stressing the need to connect scientific theory to practical experience, the NASA Robotics Engineer was hopeful that the program would enable students to develop interest in learning science, engineering and technology. 

On the other hand, participants lauded the initiative by the US Embassy saying it was educative, because robotic science provided them the opportunity to learn how to design, assemble and program robots. Besides, the workshop according to them had demystified the perception that only the white man could build robots and use them to solve problems. 

USAID recently joined with Ghana’s Ministry of Education, Vodafone Business Solutions, and Global e-schools and Communities Initiative (GESCI) to launch the ICT for Education Global Development Alliance public private initiative. The alliance supports the Ghana Educational Service’s goal of providing internet access to SHSs to support teaching and learning, and to improve management. Under the program, USAID would provide for installation and necessary internet connectivity upgrades to 400 SHSs throughout the country.

Meanwhile, St. Francis Xavier Minor Seminary SHS in the Upper West Region emerged as the overall champions beating Navrongo SHS and Bolgatanga Girls’ SHS at the end of the stiff competition. All team members were each given Gold Medals, a Trophy and the Gold Award Certificate.   

Navrongo and Bolgatanga Girls SHSs took the second and third places respectively. Team members were given Silver and Bronze Medals, Certificates of Participation, Trophies as well as Silver and Bronze Award Certificates.  

St. Francis Xavier Minor Seminary SHS again emerged winners in the Robot Design category beating Navrongo and Bolgatanga Girls’ SHSs to the second and third places respectively. 

In the Programming category, Bawku SHS also beat St. Francis Xavier Minor Seminary and Navrongo SHSs to the second and third places respectively, whereas in the Autonomous Rescue Challenge, St. Charles Minor Seminary SHS beat Navrongo and St. Francis Xavier Minor Seminary SHSs in that order. 

The rest of the other contesting schools such as Wa SHS, T.I Amaddiya SHS, Yendi SHS, Islamic SHS and Tamale SHS as well as winners in the various categories received Certificates of Participation.

19 Students Of TAGISS Nearly Killed After Eating Harmful Kenkey

The Bureau of National Investigations (BNI) has uncovered what nearly cost the lives of nineteen (19) female students of the Tamale Girls International Senior High School (TAGISS) in the Northern Regional capital of Ghana.

According to Savannahnews sources within the Northern Regional Office of the BNI, intelligence information gathered on September 18, 2012 at TAGISS confirmed, that the 19 students suffered severe diarrhoea following the consumption of unwholesome Kenkey sold by a food vendor on September 17, 2012.

The unfortunate incident led to the hospitalization of the affected students at the Tamale West Hospital for several days. Even though the kenkey seller was asked to stop selling, Savannahnews sources in the school revealed that she was still bring food to sell to the students.

The school, which had no safe drinking water for a student population of about 600, also forced the helpless girls to rely on polluted water under a bridge on the Tamale-Buipe-Kumasi highway and running water in a farm close to the school. These two water bodies are believed to be polluted with human excreta apparently washed into them by frequent rains. 

The BNI, our sources revealed, also uncovered that the school had no toilet facilities, no housemistress, no headmaster or headmistress, no permanent or fully employed teachers, except National Service Personnel and National Youth Employment Programme (NYEP) teachers who were engaged by the proprietor, but  were paid with the tax payers’ money.  

TAGISS, which is located at Datoyili along the Tamale-Buipe-Kumasi Highway and about five miles away from the centre of Tamale, had congested and poorly ventilated dormitories (50 students per dorm) as well as running water in a rice field as its main source of water, according to an investigative report compiled by the Tamale Metropolitan Assembly’s Sub-committee on Education.  

Established in 1997 by educationist, businessman and politician Albert Atutiga, TAGISS lacked certain important basic facilities that were needed in order to ensure a complete accomplishment of second cycle education.

Thus, the report of the Sub-committee on Education signed by its Chairman Alhaji Adam Abubakari Takoro, recommended to the proprietor Mr. Atutigah to decongest the dormitories of the school, provide staff list and indicate their last schools attended as well as their academic qualifications.

It also recommended that the proprietor appointed or engaged the services of a housemistress and a substantive headmaster for effective supervision and monitoring of the welfare of the students.

The report also asked the proprietor of TAGISS to acquire a vehicle for the school due to the long distance between it and any health facility and other amenities for the students. 

The Committee’s report further charged the proprietor of TAGISS Mr. Albert Atutigah to form a viable Parent Teacher Association (PTA) and immediately reduce lateness levy from GH¢20.00 to an economically acceptable amount for students.

Meanwhile, Mr. Albert Atutigah confessed to the Committee that men were sexually harassing the students of his school, Tamale Girls International Senior High School due to lack of security.