Tuesday, April 16, 2019
Friday, December 22, 2017
Dr. Kuuire Urges Support for Party’s Upcoming Membership Re-Registration Exercise
The 2016 National Democratic Congress (NDC) Parliamentary
Candidate for the Nandom Constituency, Dr. Richard Kuuire, has appealed to all
supporters and sympathizers of the party to go out in their numbers to register
when the party begins its re-registration exercise.
According to
him, there was no better time to express ones support and love for his or her
party than at a period when it was required for every loyalist to have their
name and other personal details put into a single reference document.
“In every
society where democracy is strongly exercised internally, it’s only proper and
fitting that we reason together and do things in a manner that will promote our
name as a party and further enrich our internal democratic processes” Dr.
Kuuire told Savannahnews in a
recent interview.
He intimated
that, it was his desire to see a very credible register being prepared for all
branches of the party in the Nandom Constituency and for that matter, all the
275 constituencies across the country.
“The NDC is
believed to be one of the largest political parties, if not the largest, in our
country. We usually boast about our huge size in numbers. But what is a party
of great size if it cannot equally boast of a document like a register that
contains names of legitimate party supporters”, he queried.
Dr. Kuuire
therefore, encouraged all supporters and sympathizers to fully support the yet
to be announced re-registration exercise, saying “encourage your fellow party
members who have lost interest in the party to forget about what has happened
in the recent past and register again”, he urged.
He also
commended party supporters in the Nandom constituency for maintaining the peace
in the area after the 2016 elections, urging them to continue to coexist
peacefully and work hard towards victory in 2020.
The NDC is
embarking on its reorganization and manual re-registration of members at the
branch level across all 275 constituencies in the country.
This
exercise is part of the implementation of the Professor Kwesi Botchwey
Committee’s report and seeks to also ensure unity and cohesion in the party at
the grassroots level.
The manual
re-registration would later be migrated onto a biometric register, intended to
create greater and broader participation in the party’s internal election
processes as well as ensure credible outcomes.
Wednesday, December 13, 2017
Shinkaafa Buni Rice Farmers Honoured By USAID-FinGAP
Shinkaafa Buni Rice Farmers Association, an agribusiness group based in the northern part of Ghana, has been awarded by the United States Agency for International Development Financing Ghanaian Agriculture Projects (USAID FinGAP) for supporting female farmers in the rice value chain in Ghana.
The awards which is dubbed USAID-FinGAP Awards 2017 recognized the Ghanaian agricultural industry players whose contributions have aided in dealing with food security and also focused on crowding in investment and finance for agricultural production, processing and logistics in the country’s northern breadbasket.
The goal of USAID-FinGAP is to increase the competitiveness of rice, Maize and soya value chains in ways that foster broad-based and sustained economic growth in Ghana.
Shinkaafa Buni which literally means “Rice Wealth” was established in August 2016. It aims at making farmers in the Savannah ecological zone well-off through the cultivation of rice and other grains such as maize, soybeans and among others. By so doing, it will ensure that farmers produce rice in larger quantities thereby meeting the rice demand of Ghanaians and Africans at large.
Shinkaafa Buni Rice farmers association does this by supporting farmers with the provision of farm inputs, extension services, mechanization services and a ready market for farmers who cultivate crops especially rice in the northern zone.
Speaking to the media after receiving the award, the Executive Director
for Shinkaafa Buni Rice Farmers Association, Samuel Kofi Sarpong,
expressed his delightness for the award and lauded the USAID FinGAP for
the their continuous support and the recognition of the efforts of
Shinkaafa Buni Rice Farmers Association.
He explained that, hard work and commitment is what has catalyzed the winning of the prestigious award.
“Honesty, hard work and total commitment is what has resulted in this recognition", he said at “Shinkaafa Buni we have our farmers at heart and so we provide whatever the farmer will need in order to produce quality and quantity that will meet the standard of every buyer”
Mr. Sarpong assured that, the outfit will continue to support farmers in their endeavours to live a flourishing life through rice production.
By: Prince Kwame Tamakloe -
Media & Communication Officer, Shinkaafa Buni Rice Farmers Association
Shinkaafa Buni which literally means “Rice Wealth” was established in August 2016. It aims at making farmers in the Savannah ecological zone well-off through the cultivation of rice and other grains such as maize, soybeans and among others. By so doing, it will ensure that farmers produce rice in larger quantities thereby meeting the rice demand of Ghanaians and Africans at large.
Shinkaafa Buni Rice farmers association does this by supporting farmers with the provision of farm inputs, extension services, mechanization services and a ready market for farmers who cultivate crops especially rice in the northern zone.
He explained that, hard work and commitment is what has catalyzed the winning of the prestigious award.
“Honesty, hard work and total commitment is what has resulted in this recognition", he said at “Shinkaafa Buni we have our farmers at heart and so we provide whatever the farmer will need in order to produce quality and quantity that will meet the standard of every buyer”
Mr. Sarpong assured that, the outfit will continue to support farmers in their endeavours to live a flourishing life through rice production.
By: Prince Kwame Tamakloe -
Media & Communication Officer, Shinkaafa Buni Rice Farmers Association
Ghanaian Students Enslaved With Occultism, The Case of Commonwealth Hall
Commonwealth Hall is in the news again. This time, for murder! On Saturday, 9th December 2017, myjoyonline.com and ghanaweb.com
reported that two youths (a vandal and an associate vandal), who
started a minor argument in the presence of mature old vandals, could
not be helped until it degenerated into a point, where one was cut to
death six times in the neck with a Khebab knife, after the deceased had
provoked his attacker with a slap. That is sad.
This latest news,
though sad, comes as no surprise, except the death, which has only
enriched the tall public profile of vandalism of students admitted into
Commonwealth Hall of the University of Ghana, Legon, who are better
identified as VANDALS.
Their violent reputation until this
murder was limited to unprovoked attacks on students of other halls and
universities, attacks on Senior Members of the university management,
and a consistent violation of the Public Order Act, mostly leading to
disruptions of the university's lawful assembly, public obscenity and
destruction of public and private properties, and threatening the peace
of the university community and its environs.
For instance, much
recently, they were embroidered in clashes on University of Cape Coast
campus which saw some students sustaining multiple knife wounds, leading
to the suspension of 22 students of ATL (a decision which has since
been overturned by the Cape Coast High Court for lack of sufficient
evidence).
It will also be recalled that on 26th September,
2003, students of Commonwealth Hall ceased the residence of the then
Vice Chancellor, Prof Asenso Okyere and rampaged it.
This was
followed in March 2010 with an attack on the Chancellor of the
University, His Excellency Kofi Annan, during a graduation ceremony,
which brought international embarrassment and condemnation to the
university. At the time, Joy news reported that, “the students heckled
the former UN Secretary General, who is also Chancellor of the
University, and chanted songs in his face. He suffered this along with
his guests.” The list is inexhaustible.
It
will be oversimplified to assume that these are some silly acts by
overzealous young men who have extra energy to spare. No. Not least. In
fact, vandalism in Commonwealth Hall is a well established and
resourced spiritual organization, fronted with students, but as its main
victims too, and has influences which extend to every facet of the
Ghanaian society where power is exercised because former students of the
hall are well placed in society.
For instance H. E .John
Dramani Mahama, former President of Ghana, Nana Ato Dadzie, former Chief
of Staff, Justice Modibo Ocran of the Supreme Court, Nana Akuoko
Sarpong, Omanhene of Agogo Traditional Area and former Inspector General
of Police, Mr Peter Nanfuri, are all past members of the hall.
The story of vandalism has hardly been told from an honest and insider
point of view as this writer wishes to do. For the most part, what is
publicly known about Commonwealth hall of the University of Ghana are
distorted narratives either from enemies of the hall (who do not wish
the hall well) or worse, from fellows and friends of the hall who aim
for damage control of what the enemies of the hall have said. In the
process, the public is merely left with nothing but extreme views of
interested parties.
For instance, on Thursday, 10th October,
2002, the Ghana news agency carried a statement in which the old Vandals
had denied a claim by the then Dean of Students, Dr Vladimir Antwi
Danso, that
Commonwealth hall was practicing occultism.
Commonwealth hall was practicing occultism.
In a
reaction, the National President of the Old VANDALS Association, Mr
Kwasi Essel Koomson, indicated: “The Association demanded an unqualified
apology from Dr Antwi-Danso to the Commonwealth Hall in particular, the
University of Ghana as an entity, and the nation in general for
creating an environment for unnecessary panic over his effusions which
are nothing less than a quixotic reaction to some phantasmagoric
hallucinations."
Unfortunately, as a former JCR president, I regret to say that the Dean of students was right.
The Hall and its corporate image must urgently be rescued from the
hands of a bunch of occult and evil worshipers, who have successfully
passed on their evil practices to successive generations for the last
four decades.
History has it that those who started the practice
of occultism in the hall are mainly prominent royals of some Akan
tribes who today, are respectable chiefs in this country.
Even in
their present exalted positions and with the benefit of hindsight, they
are still the key figures who initiate new members under the cover of
darkness into this practice and also give them their first fetish
haircut- 'Santo'.
The 15 young
innocent teenagers and youths, whose parents assume are learning and
pursuing the moral values of their respective families, after
indoctrination are forced to swear an oath of allegiance to an evil
power, to ensure that Commonwealth students are spiritually enslaved to
live like hooligans and perverts by being initiated spiritually.
That explains why Commonwealth hall students are first matriculated and
congregated by the Chief Vandal and his fetish priest before allowing
the University to take its turn to do it officially.
It was this
struggle for power between the university management and the chief
Vandal (as to who has the power to matriculate first years)that led to
attacks on the Chancellor in 2010 as earlier alluded to.
During
these processes (matriculation and congregation), specific rituals and
sacrifices are offered to father Bacchus, an idol worshipped in the
hall, to commit the spirit of students into his care and to bless them.
Whereas the innocent students assume that these activities and their
auxiliary rituals such as the occasional purifications of the ponds in
the hall, baptising of all fresh students in these ponds and the lying
prostrate of students anytime a chief vandal is addressing them are mere
youthful exuberance, the casual observe will be able to observe a
trend: the adhering to specific time for this practices, use of
specific incantations, the involvement of respectable persons of our
society, the resources spent on it and its share power and influence of
people cannot be just for fanfare.
As a result, over the years,
brilliant young men, who are admitted into the hall, become hooligans
and social perverts characterized by bing drinking, womanizing , extreme
foolishness such as eating faeces to demonstrate ones foolishness
during 'PAWA NITE', profanity, nudity and sexual escapades.
These
are certainly the core traits of father Bacchus, the Greek god of
immorality whose statue is worshipped by students of the hall and
occasional sacrifices of food, drinks, and worship are offered to it
from the shrine of the CHIEF VANDAL, an exalted member of the 15young
men initiated.
The chief Vandal, enjoys more powers than does the traditional chiefs who established it in their paramountcy.
He is neither regulated by the laws of the university nor those of the
country (so it seems), and the university cannot sanction him. He
neither attends lectures nor university gatherings. He is always
indoors. He moves in great escort, no student must cross his path when
he is coming and neither must be heard even breathing when he is
talking. It is a punishable offense to challenge his edicts, and
everyone must lie flat on their belly while he is talking.
The
Chief Vandal has the power to declare boycotts and strikes and he names
university facilities and roads. He has a standing Militia who execute
violence at his command on anybody who threatens his power.
Prof. Ebenezer Owusu Oduro, Vice Chancellor, University of Ghana |
I should also add that it is one of the
most corrupt and morally bankrupt organization you can have in the
world. The chief vandal trades his power for sex from female student
politicians, and only supports the highest bidder. They don't support
student interest. Unless it is convenient to do so. For them, it is who
has the money to pay.
This will explain why legitimately
elected student leaders are impeached and reprisals against university
administration are so rampantly spearheaded by the chief Vandal. It
should be understood that even though most of these agitations are
fronted with legitimate student concerns, in most instances, they are
self serving, initiated because persons in authority (student and
university management leadership) have failed to induce the chief vandal
with bribes and recognition.
That also explains why very
corrupt student leaders and university administration have had
successful tenures even though they were worse than Adam in their
perversions.
Unfortunately, it is these attitude and persons who
graduate to form the Old Vandals Association. At these levels, it is an
association of past students of the hall who were members of this cult
while in school.
Sadly, some are leading light of our society.
They use their positions to ensure that this occultic practice is
perpetuated on campus and to lobby for key positions in society for
their members after school.
On the first agenda, they work hard
to constantly ensure that whoever holds key position in the management
of the Hall or the university administration is somebody who thinks like
them.
With that, they are able to make leaders of the occult group comfortable and escape the law when they faulter.
With that, they are able to make leaders of the occult group comfortable and escape the law when they faulter.
That explains why even in the face of scarce student accommodation
regime, the outfit (leaders of the cult) has extra large rooms for a
shrine, palace (the dark room) and workers of the chief vandal.
It also explains why students of the Hall always get away with very
serious offences in the face of compelling evidence. Because the
university management was installed by the old vandals through lobbying
vandals in high places.
Benjamin Akyena Brantuo |
So in the
context of the above narrative, it is reported as indicated above that a
vandal has been stabbed to death in the presence of OLD VANDALS, who
claim all they could do was to become spectators to the fight of death
between two youth. Hmmmm.
While I stand with the family of the
bereave and Ghanaians in this moment of grieve, I dare say this death
should be the least that the public should worry about.
Instead,
Ghana should be concerned that the over four thousand young men who are
annually being admitted into the Commonwealth hall of the University of
Ghana for the last 50years are being initiated into occultism directly
and indirectly.
Even most troubling is the fact that these
practices, which started from the premier University, Legon, has now
infested every public University in Ghana and regrettably, most senior
high institutions are now also practicing Occultism.
Consequently, today's students are less competent. Rather, there is a
surge in immorality such as homosexuality, alcoholism, violence,
womanizing, vulgarism, plain stupidity, etc in our students. Even
worse, our universities have not only become ungovernable but den for
strange sicknesses, evil forces and deaths.
The resultant effect
of enslaving the educated minds of a country into Occultism and such
moral bankruptcy are that we should not expect morality and principled
lifestyle in any facet of our society.
If students mature with
these attitude, it will crush our politics and ruin families. It will
muddy our professional integrity and create enmity between a man and his
God.
In conclusion, I make the following proposals as a way out.
First, I propose the immediate disbandment of vandalism and such cultic
groups from our campuses. This has nothing to do with suppressing
academic freedoms. Vandalism is anti student activism and governance. It
has betrayed it time without number.
Instead, I recommend that
the Visitation Panel Report of 2007 led by Sir John Daniels (google it
to read) should be implemented fully, especially aspects which bother on
student Representation at every level of decision making.
Secondly, parents must immediately actively investigate the extent of the involvement of their wards and help them.
Thirdly, Spiritual exercise of Christians on campuses must be intensified.
Fourthly, persons found still practicing this evil worship on campus must be branded as anti Ghanaians and punished.
Benjamin Akyena Brantuo
Broadcast Journalist, former President, Commonwealth Hall
benakyena@yahoo.com
Broadcast Journalist, former President, Commonwealth Hall
benakyena@yahoo.com
Monday, December 11, 2017
Excavator Belonging to NRCC Used By Illegal Sand Winners
It has
emerged that, an excavator belonging to the Northern Regional Coordinating
Council is being used by illegal sand winners to destroy the immediate environment
along the banks of the White Volta River, thereby threatening the life of the
river.
The excavator with registration number GV 3295-15 is
reported to have left the premises of the Northern Regional Minister’s official
residence where it had been parked since it was brought into the region several
months ago.
But the minister, Salifu Saeed, denied having any foreknowledge
or approving of the earth moving equipment to be given to the illegal sand
winners after he was ‘questioned’ by journalists.
This revelation came to light following the Regional
Minister’s official visit to the river side to ascertain the level of
destruction caused by activities of the illegal sand winners and their impact
on a Water Treatment Plant belonging to the Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL).
Mr. Saeed, who was accompanied by members
of the Regional Security Council (REGSEC), gave the illegal sand winners a
one-week ultimatum to relocate from upstream to downstream to continue with
their work.
He cautioned that, failure by the illegal
sand winners to relocate within the one-week ultimatum would incur the wrath of
REGSEC which he was the chairman as they would no longer be room for human face
approach to the situation.
“You can get graders to come and create
a path to the downstream so that you can have access road to the place where
you can get quality sand to mine”, he said.
Mr. Saeed admitted that, the activities
of the sand winners was threatening the existence of communities in Tamale,
Sagnarigu and other surrounding districts if they were allowed to continue
winning sand at the upstream.
The Regional Manager of the GWCL,
Engineer Stephen Ndebugre, expressed concern over the rate at which the sand
winning activities were negatively impacting water treatment and supply to
residents of five districts in the area.
According to him, the GWCL was now
using more alum than ever before to treat the river water for supply compared
to previously when they only used few bags to treat it.
“From 20 bags we are now using about 48
bags and sometime past we were using about 90 bags. For a small plant like this
we shouldn’t be using that amount of water but because of the pollution we are
compelled to use that amount”, he noted.
The White Volta River also known as the
Nawuni River, the main production source of potable water for residents of the
Tamale Metropolis, Savelugu/Nanton Municipality as well as the Tolon, Sagnarigu
and Kumbungu Districts, has come under serious environmental threat.
Years of uncontrolled sand winning by
building contractors and owners of tipper-trucks, has destroyed farmlands and
the ecosystem along the river banks including economic and medicinal trees. As
a result, the depth of the river has reduced drastically over the years due to
silts which have incapacitated its water holding ability.
More worrying is the fact that, the
silting of the river is also posing a great danger to residents of the five metropolitan,
municipal and district assemblies (MMDAs), threatening the river’s future
capacity to supply the required volume of water to over 500,000 people.
The shallowness of the river has also
resulted into perennial flooding of communities along its banks which sometimes
have led to loss of lives and property. In fact, this further reduces the
amount of water the river feeds into the Akosombo Dam, the country’s major
source of hydroelectric power.
CDD-Ghana Promotes Improved Service Delivery in Gusheigu And Karaga Districts
As
part of efforts to improve governance and the quality of service delivery at
the district level, Rural Initiatives for Self-Empowerment Ghana (RISE-Ghana)is
implementing a long term project that seeks to promote service delivery in the
Karaga and Gusheigu Districts in the Northern Region of Ghana.
Dubbed “I Am
Aware” (IAA), the project is being championed by the Centre for Democratic
Development (CDD-Ghana) together with RISE-Ghana with funding support from the
William and Flora Hewlett Foundation of the United States of America.
The IAA project is informed by the
development challenges of the Karaga and Gusheigu Districts which were ranked
among the least developed districts in the Northern Region in the 2015 District
League Table.
The DLT is a social accountability tool
being used by UNICEF and CDD-Ghana each year to measure the level of
development across all the 216 Districts in Ghana in the area of Water,
Sanitation, Education, Health, Security and Governance.
According to Executive Director of
RISE-Ghana, Awal Ahmed Kariama, in the 2017 DLT, the KaragaDistrict improved
from a rank of 207/216 in 2016 to 193/216 whiles the Gusheigu Districts lipped
from 210/216 in 2016 to 215/216.
“To help improve the quality of
services and responsiveness, the project is empowering citizen groups to
actively participate in local governance.Citizens groups’submitted petitions to
the District Assembly for input into the District Medium Term Development Plan
(DMTP) for 2018-2021”, he noted.
Mr. Awal also explained that, community
durbars were organized to educate citizens on the local governance policy,
social accountability and their roles and responsibilities.
“As the I Am Aware project is building
our capacity to demand transparency and accountability for improved services,
they are also telling us that charity begins at home. We must begin demanding
accountability from the various Water Boards in our respective communities to
use proceeds to improve the water situation as we engage the District Assembly
further.
“The opportunity to present petitions
and proposals to various Assembly Committees is also an important area we must
encourage various citizens like the Attaya Base to use”- Alhassan Mohammed,
Presiding Member for Karaga District noted at one of its durbars.
“The water and sanitation situation
here in Nyong community here in Karaga District is not the best.We learnt the
minimum is 400 people per borehole of water facility but we have over 2,000
people per borehole.As women, we must come together and make use of the
Complaints Unit of the Assembly to demand better coverage” AfisatuZiblim,said
during the community durbar.
Karaga District Coordinating Director, Wumbei
Ibn Zakaria expressed satisfaction with a petition submitted to the Assembly by
citizesns.
“The issues of Education, Health and
WASH contained in your petition for consideration into the MTDP of the Karaga
District are very important to us as an Assembly.We will ensure they are
included into the plans and budgeted for consideration. We are grateful to the
IAA project for this initiative”, he indicated.
District Chief Executive for Gusheigu District
Assembly, Musah Issah, also assured petitioners his readiness to work together with
them to provide them withthe services they asked for. “I want to urge you to
support the management and staff of the Assembly in this regard as we do our
part”, he implored.
“The local governance act and the
planning guidelines provide great opportunities for demand driven development
with Citizen playing a key role in that. We are proud to partner CDD-Ghana and
the Hewlett Foundation for the innovative “I Am Aware” project which is
creating platforms for meaningful citizen participation and builds on the
District League Table.But let me emphasize that, the DLT is not about
non-performance”– the Executive Director of RISE-Ghana said at the Durbar in
Nyong.
“The water
and sanitation situation here in Nyong community here in Karaga District is not
the best.We learnt the minimum is 400 people per borehole of water facility but
we have over 2,000 people per borehole.As women, we must come together and make
use of the Complaints Unit of the Assembly to demand better coverage”
AfisatuZiblim,said during the community durbar.
Karaga
District Coordinating Director, Wumbei Ibn Zakaria expressed satisfaction with
a petition submitted to the Assembly by citizesns.
“The issues
of Education, Health and WASH contained in your petition for consideration into
the MTDP of the Karaga District are very important to us as an Assembly.We will
ensure they are included into the plans and budgeted for consideration. We are
grateful to the IAA project for this initiative”, he indicated.
District
Chief Executive for Gusheigu District Assembly, Musah Issah, also assured
petitioners his readiness to work together with them to provide them withthe
services they asked for. “I want to urge you to support the management and
staff of the Assembly in this regard as we do our part”, he implored.
“The local
governance act and the planning guidelines provide great opportunities for
demand driven development with Citizen playing a key role in that. We are proud
to partner CDD-Ghana and the Hewlett Foundation for the innovative “I Am Aware”
project which is creating platforms for meaningful citizen participation and
builds on the District League Table.But let me emphasize that, the DLT is not
about non-performance”– the Executive Director of RISE-Ghana said at the Durbar
in Nyong.
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