Karaga MP Honour Campaign Promises

Karaga MP

The Member of Parliament (MP) for Karaga in the Northern Region, Alhassan Sualihu Dandawa continues to give back more development projects to the communities within his constituency in fulfillment of his promise to address the development needs of the people. 

His ability to respond swiftly to the demands and development needs of the people has to a large extent made him an “icon” in the eyes of majority of the people, and also gained much acceptability in most of the communities.  

This was evident when the Chiefs and people of Bagurugu, a deprived community in the Karaga District openly showcased their exhilaration at the inauguration of an ultra modern health centre built by the Member of Parliament in collaboration with the community and the District Assembly.

The Community had been in a dire need of a health centre for decades now following their huge population and the long distance between them and the nearest health centre.

Almost all the over 3,153 residents including the Chief and his elders poured out in their numbers to meet the MP, Alhassan Sualihu Dandawa and the District Chief Executive for Karaga, Yakubu Imoro who is also a native of the community on arrival amidst endless cheers, drumming and spectacular popular Damba Dance in honour of the two political heads of the district.

At a colourful durbar to inaugurate the facility, the Chief of Bagurugu, Naa Ziblim Fuseini revealed that the people of the area had suffered in the time past especially pregnant women in accessing healthcare delivery from Pishigu which is the nearest health post at a distance of over 26 kilometers.

The Chief noted that even though the ruling government through the District Assembly and MP had supported the community with electricity, boreholes, schools, and also reshaped their roads, the construction of the health facility was one most important legacy he and his people would forever remember. 

“We thank our MP very much for prioritizing the health needs of my people. This facility has taken away our greatest burden especially for our women who are pregnant or are in labour. Previously, these women were carried on bicycles and motorbikes to Pishigu on a very bad road. But now because of this facility we have our own health personnel stationed in this community so it is a big joy for us”.

The Chief, who pledged massive support for the MP and the NDC government in 2016, said that the only way they could reciprocate the gesture and also get more development was to retain them.

Meanwhile, the MP for Karaga, Alhassan Dandawa in the last two and half years has connected over 18 communities onto the national electricity grid and also lobbied the government for the development of most feeder roads in the District in 2014 at the cost of 9 million Ghana Cedis at the overseas area of the district. 

He said that he had also helped in securing 5 million Ghana cedis this year 2015 through the Urban Roads to develop the Karaga town road of which tender had already been opened for bidding by contractors.

MP for Karaga, Alhassan Dandawa (r) and Chief of Bagurugu, Naa Ziblim Fuseini (mid) cutting ribbon to open Bagurugu Health Centre

The Karaga MP also said that an Inventory Report had been submitted to the Roads Ministry for approval for the bidding for the construction of roads in the Konkomba areas of the district. 

According to Mr. Dandawa, his intension to open up the road sector in the district was to facilitate economic activities of the people, connect the district to other market centres and also reduce maternal mortalities in the district resulting from inaccessible roads. He is currently working on some of the feeder roads in the district including the Nambrugu-Nakpalagu road, Nakpalagu-Pagli road, Zandua-Kokpliga road, Zandua-Galabihi road and also tarring the Somoa-Tanga and the Old Market urban roads in the Karaga township with support from the government. 

The MP for Karaga also renovated the Pishigu nurses bungalow last year and provided a number of boreholes. Mr. Dandawa also presented 10 flat screen computers and 10 set of streetlights to the Karaga Senior High School last year, and also presented 2 flat screen computers to the Karaga District NHIS office, repaired the broken down NHIS vehicle at the cost of GHC3, 000 and also donated 2 computers to the Karaga District Police and also repainted the Police Station.

Before the inauguration of the Bagurugu Health centre, the MP also donated 12 brand new motorbikes with crash helmets to the 11 health facilities in the Karaga District and also presented four double deck refrigerators to the Karaga District Hospital, Pishigu health centre, Tamalegu Health post and the Komoayile CHPS Compound. 

Mr. Dandawa who used to be a philanthropist even before becoming an MP has also installed nine (9) grinding mills in some of the communities he had connected to the national grid. He has donated two deep freezers to the Karaga and Pishigu slaughter houses.  

He has also supported some needy students with funds and also gained admissions for many students into the tertiary institutions across Ghana. The MP announced plans to repair the broken down ambulance (cemetery van) he donated to the Karaga Central Mosque in 2011.

However, he commended the chief and people Bagurugu for being the initiators of the project before his intervention to complete it.

According to him, he had always sympathized with the people of the community especially the women for walking long distances to other communities to access healthcare.

He appealed to the personnel to show more commitment on duty and deliver quality services to the people. Mr. Dandawa also appealed to the Chief and people to also support the personnel in any way they could in order to motivate them to stay in the community.

Addressing the large enthusiastic gathering, the District Chief Executive for Karaga, Yakubu Imoro thanked the Chief and people of Bagurugu for the massive endorsement of the government and the Better Ghana Agenda. He said that the Karaga District had been one of the districts in Ghana that had benefited from a number of projects under the administration of President John Dramani Mahama especially in the areas of education, health, rural electrification, water and sanitation, agriculture and road networks among others.

The DCE promised to continue to provide the necessary development interventions to the people and thus appealed to them to also rally behind him and the government of the day.

Mr. Yakubu Imoro who is also development worker underscored the need for the people to maintain their support to the NDC which he said dated back 1992 and vote massively for the party in 2016.

He assured the people of getting them the necessary medical equipments, adequate health personnel, accommodation and means of transport to further boost health service delivery in the area.

The District Health Director, Braimah Mustapha Farouk who received keys to the facility, thanked the MP and the DCE for the initiative. He said that the magnificent nature of the centre was more than a CHPS compound, but the limited number of personnel and the absence of some essential medical tools had compelled the health directorate to name the facility as CHPS compound until the necessary upgrading was made.

He promised to make the necessary arrangement to get the required number staff to manage the facility to befit its beauty.

DANIDA Supports GDCA To Expand Empowerment For Life Programme

Mrs. Rosemond S. Kuma

The Danish Development Agency (DANIDA) of the Danish Government has allocated 8.7 Million DKK (GH¢4.5 million) to the Ghanaian Developing Communities Association (GDCA) to enable it expand its Empowerment for Life (E4L) programme in the Northern Region of Ghana.

“This funding covers only the whole of 2015”, Programmes Advocacy and Communications Officer at GDCA Rosemond Suraya Kumah, told journalists at a recent media review meeting held at GDCA’s headquarters in Tamale. She added that: “it is a yearly budget for 4 years”.

Mrs. Kumah explained that the support from DANIDA was in view of the fact that GDCA chalked significant successes under the first and second phases of the implementation of the E4L programme which began in January 2010 and ended in December 2014. 

“The E4L phase 3 is informed by lessons and experiences of phase 1 and 2 plus ideas from an independent mid-term evaluation results. Phase 3 seeks to empower community structures; the major role of the programme is now facilitation”, she emphasised.

 

According to Mrs. Kumah, under this new funding package, six more districts aside the initial 15 beneficiary districts would also benefit from the E4L programme which spans between January 2015 and December 2018. “Karaga, Savelugu-Nanton, Kumbungu, Saboba, Mion and East Gonja Districts are the new districts to benefit from E4L”, she stated.

E4L is jointly implemented by the GDCA and the Youth Empowerment for Life (YEfL). The budget for the first and second phases of the programme was GH¢5,554,055.28. E4L is aimed at empowering the poor, vulnerable and marginalised groups in the beneficiary districts to have the capacity and ability to improve their quality of life through education, employment, local organisation as well as better access to and management of food and water resources on the basis of a right-based approach.

Initially, the programme targeted a primary group of 66,545 people and a secondary group consisting of 64,815 people. It was grouped into two phases with the first phase covering the period from 1^st January 2010 to 31^st December 2011 whilst the second phase covered the period from 1^st January 2012 to 31^st December 2014.

E4L relies on strategies that would focus more on advocacy as compared to service delivery and also focus on tracking all root causes of inequalities and making them known to those who should fulfil those rights. 

Following the implementation of E4L in the last five years, a complementary basic education policy was formally signed as a policy of the Ministry of Education and now, government can allocate resources for its implementation. “The programme targeted 9,000 out-of-school children and achieved 9,125 (5,121 Boys and 4,004 Girls) for the literacy classes”, Mrs. Kumah cited. 

She also pointed out that, E4L has been able to influence community based organisations (CBOs) in all beneficiary districts to prepare community action plans and presented them to the District Assemblies. “Consequently, community priorities will inform the 3-year strategic plans of the districts. Through the CBOs engagement with MMDAs, a total of 192 communities have gained access to various facilities in health, education, water and sanitation, road network and electricity”, she noted. 

Furthermore, youth participation in the work of MMDAs has increased. “They are being invited to sit in MMDA General Assembly meetings and are informed of various development activities in the district. Up to 270 households have now put up toilet facilities in their homes with great awareness on Community-Led Total Sanitation issues in the target districts”, Mrs. Rosemond Kumah mentioned.

Chieftaincy Affairs Minister Ask Chiefs To Register Their Names

Dr. Henry Seidu Daanaa

Ghana’s Minister for Chieftaincy and Traditional Affairs, Dr. Henry Seidu Daanaa has appealed to Chiefs and Queen mothers across the country to take the necessary steps to have their names registered in the national registry of chiefs.

According to Dr. Daanaa, having a register of all chiefs and queen mothers would ensure the effective resolution of all chieftaincy disputes and conflicts as well as distinguish between chiefs and queen mothers and those who pose as chiefs or queen mothers. 

He reiterated that, unresolved chieftaincy disputes and conflicts was a threat to the institution of chieftaincy as well as undermined its administrative effectiveness in the country. 

Dr. Daanaa made the appeal when he addressed a meeting of Registrars of the ten Regional and National Houses of Chiefs in the Northern Regional Capital, Tamale. The meeting is an annual activity where Registrars of the various houses of chiefs in the country converge to take stock of their work and forge a new way forward. 

Later in an interview with journalists, the Chieftaincy and Traditional Affairs Minister also reassured the Northern Region House of Chiefs that government had not reneged on its promise to refurbish their offices.

It would be recalled that the late President John Evans Atta Mills cut a sod for the refurbishment and expansion of offices of the Northern Region House of Chiefs in 2011 but that has since not materialized after his demise in 2012. 

Wulugu Naba, Prez. National House of Chiefs

President John Dramani Mahama at a meeting with the National House of Chiefs in Kumasi sometime in July 16, 2014, also said: “I wish to assure you that provision has been made in this year's budget for the completion of the National House in order to expand it to be able to take in additional numbers. I will ensure the speedy release of these funds so that the complex can be completed.

“……I am all too aware of the unsatisfactory conditions of the office buildings of the various Houses of Chiefs and as I said budgetary allocations have been made for the expansion and rehabilitation of the National House but also additional allocations have been made for the rehabilitation of the Northern Regional House of Chiefs and the Ashanti Regional House of Chiefs. Further allocation will be made for expansion and rehabilitation of the other Regional Houses.   

“Providing decent office accommodation for our Chiefs will go a long way in ensuring that satisfactory and comfortable conditions are provided for the staff working in these establishments for the efficient performance of their duties”, he said.

However, Dr. Henry Seidu Daanaa in Tamale said that the work had not been abandoned and indicated that plans were far advanced for work to commence on the building and other Regional Houses of Chiefs in the country.

SAVACEM To Destroy Significant Portions Of Yakumbo Forest Reserve

Savanna Cement Company Limited (SAVACEM), a subsidiary of Diamond Cement Company Limited is yearning eagerly to mine more limestone in significant portions of the Yakumbo Forest Reserve at Buipe in the Central Gonja District in the Northern Region of Ghana.  

SAVACEM, which has for the past 8 years been mining limestone –raw materials for the manufacturing of cement, is now yearning eagerly for its concession of 2.86 square kilometres of land to be increased to 49.6 square kilometres.

At a stakeholders’ forum in Buipe where an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) report on SAVACEM’s request to mine limestone in the Yakumbo Forest Reserve was read, some citizens denounced the idea of mining in a forest reserve. 

They claimed mining in the forest would lead to the destruction of more economic trees such as shea and dawadawa as well as trigger serious environmental problems.  

The Yakumbo Forest Reserve is a habitat for thousands of economic trees such as shea, dawadawa, teak and rosewood. Following the mining of limestone by SAVACEM in recent years, the forest has come under serious threat of extinction or disturbance. 

This reporter can confirm that mining in the Yakumbo Forest Reserve further exposes it to more environmental problems such as land degradation, indiscriminate felling of trees, charcoal production, bush burning and fuel wood harvesting. 

For instance, the Central Gonja District is one of the leading suppliers of charcoal to towns and cities in southern Ghana. Charcoal production is one of the major economic activities of the people besides fishing, shea butter processing and the sale of fuel wood. In recent years, there have been reports of illegal logging and fuel wood harvesting in and around the forest reserve. Thus, granting SAVACEM a license to further mine in the forest is likely to open the floodgates for more people to invade the area in and around the forest to cut down more trees and increase its vulnerability to climate change effects.   

The stakeholders’ forum which brought together the Paramount Chief of Buipe, Buipewura Mahama Abdulai Jinapor II, opinion leaders, citizens, officials of the Central Gonja District Assembly, Lands and Forestry Commissions as well as the media, was meant to collate views, suggestions and concerns for the final determination of granting of license to SAVACEM. 

The National Director of Mining at the EPA Michael Ali Sandow, who read the EIA report, stated that excessive dust would most likely disturb communities staying close to the SAVACEM plant.

Mr. Sandow also said the natural vegetation of the forest and areas around it would be affected if permission was finally granted SAVACEM to mine the limestone. Shea trees, dawadawa and other trees he pointed out, would be cut down to pave way for the mining activities.

He however stated that, concrete steps would be taken to prevent any negative environmental disaster or public health problem in the event that SAVACEM was granted license to mine the concession they were requesting for. He gave the assurance that SAVACEM would reclaim the destroyed land after the project finally comes to an end.

He said the company would, on a daily basis, use water to douse the heavy and excessive dust produced as a result of the mining and manufacturing activities. SAVACEM as a company, he added, was also ready to pay reasonable compensation to persons who would be affected by its activities.

Mr. Sandow further allayed fears of any noise pollution in the area, stressing that the EPA would ensure that noise levels remained within the approved levels. Aquatic life, according to him, was safe because the distance between the Black Volta and SAVACEM was over 500 metres and therefore there was no any anticipation of water pollution and destruction of aquatic life as a result of the activities of SAVACEM.

Queen Mother of Buipe Bridge, Bridge Wurche Barchisu during an open forum, complained that the destruction of shea trees and dawadawa in particular, would most definitely deny many women of their sources of livelihood. The activities of SAVACEM in the last few years, she said, had also rendered farmlands close to the forest reserve uncultivable.  

Bridge Wurche appealed to SAVACEM to build a market for the women to enable them engage in trading activities on a daily basis. “Here, we have only one market day in a week and so, women who could not sell all their perishable goods on a market day ran at a loss when they have to send those goods back home. This is because we don’t have a modern market with stalls where people can come at any time and any day to buy and sell”, she maintained.

Mr. Nuhu, a resident of Buipe also told Savannahnews that communities that were severely affected by the activities of SAVACEM included Buipe, Alhassan Kura, Old Buipe, Benkura and among others. He said the dust from the factory was changing the colour of all trees from green to brown.

 

Meanwhile, SAVACEM since it started operations has been able to execute some projects for the benefit of the people. The projects include a borehole, a six-unit classroom block and a 25MW VRA substation which supplies 6MW of electricity to the cement factory while the rest is supplied to homes in the nearby communities.