MUSLIM YOUTH URGED TO EMULATE THEIR CHRISTIAN COUNTERPARTS

The Chairman of the Muslim Chiefs at the 2010 Hajj, Kuiwura Alhaji Alhassan Seidu has strongly challenged Muslim youth who are into music to emulate the shining examples of the Christian Gospel musicians, who are using their music to promote the principles and values of Christianity.

According to the Islamic scholar, the time had come for the talented Muslim musicians in Ghana and Africa to do some self retrospection and redefine their music lyrics and think about how they can also promote Islam.

Undoubtedly, about 90% of the musicians in the Northern Region are full blooded Muslims but have largely failed to use their music to propagate the gospel of Islam. Even though almost all of them frequent the mosques five times every day, they still prefer hip-life, reggae, hip-pop and ragga music to that of Islamic religious ones.

But the situation is sharply different when it comes to Christianity, as a great number of the Christian youth have committed themselves to the gospel music as a platform for the promotion of the religion.

Chief Alhaji Kuiwura made this call when he met a section of the Northern musicians in Tamale to brief them about the great opportunities that are in stock for musicians who would want to use their music to promote the course of Islam and the gospel according to the Holy Prophet Mohammed.

He disclosed that the Alhuda Islamic Society in collaboration with the top Islamic Clergymen in Saudi Arabia in their bid to make the Islamic religion more attractive in Africa and other parts of the world, had set aside a substantial amount of money and other resources to support individuals, groups and organizations that were willing to champion the course of Islam.

Urging the musicians to also use their music to promote peace, unity and development in Northern Ghana, especially Dagbon, Chief Alhaji Kuiwura Seidu said, the leadership of Islam in Saudi Arabia had identified music as one of the strongest tools that could project the name of Islam and had thus decided to invest heavily in people who would want to venture into “Islamic Gospel music”.

“If musicians in Dagbon and Northern Region decide to stay completely from politics and chieftaincy issues, and distinguish themselves so well, they can use their music to send strong and reconciliatory messages to the people who are now disintegrated. You can use your music to let the people know that violence and revenges are not the best solution to disputes,” he reminded the musicians.

He therefore encouraged the musicians to form an association to enable them access the funds from the Alhuda Islamic Society.

On the other hand, Chief Alhaji Kuiwura disclosed that, the Alhuda Islamic Society was set to establish several Islamic schools in all the ten regions of Ghana and other parts of Africa including an Islamic University in Accra .

They are also to supply muslim farmers in the three Northern Regions with agricultural machineries including tractors and combine harvesters. The farmer would only have to fuel the tractors for their businesses.

There would also establish four (4) Islamic Senior High Schools in Dagbon (Yendi, Zabzugu, Gushegu and Tamale).

DESPITE GOVT INTERVENTIONS, MORE CHILDREN STILL OUT OF SCHOOL

In Spite of the numerous interventions by government to ensure quality basic education for all Ghanaian children, majority of children of school going ages in some parts of the Northern Region are still not in school.

Most of the children especially the girls are either pushed into early marriages, kayaye or are engaged by their parents on the farm, whilst the boys herd cattle. It is estimated that children between the age of zero and fifteen years constitute over 48 percent of the total population of the Northern Region, hence any attempt by their parents or the communities to toy with their education would further widen the scope of poverty in the region.

Even though they are expected to becoming the future leaders of this country, a large number of these children are still not in school for no obvious reasons.

Against this backdrop, the Right To Play, a child centered international NGO operating in the three Northern Regions has taken steps to ensure that all children of school going ages in their operational areas are enrolled in school.

The Right To Play currently operates in about 50 communities in its four operational districts in the Upper East, Upper West and Northern Regions. The NGO is using all forms of play activities including drama, talent hunts and football competition to effect changes in the behaviour and development of its target groups.

At Tingoli, a deprived community in the Tolon-Kumbungu District of the Northern Region, the Right To Play used their play activities and football competition between students of the Tingoli R/C Primary School and other children in the community who are not in school as means of advocating and encouraging parents to enroll their children.

The objective was also to encourage the out of school children especially to enroll in school. Shortly after the football match, a mini-durbar was organized by the NGO to sensitize the community especially the Chief, opinion and religion leaders as well as parents on the need to prioritize their children’s education especially the girl child.

Savannahnews gathered that, the young girls in the Tingoli community see early marriage as the surest way of relieving themselves and their parents from poverty, to the total neglect of their education.

Some of the parents this reporter questioned on why they were not interested in sending their children to school almost sang one song “we don’t have money to pay school fees, buy school uniforms and books”.

Some of them claimed they were not aware of the government’s policy of Free Compulsory Universal Basic Education (FCUBE), the free school uniforms, books and capitation grant.

However, the Assistant Project Officer of the Right To Play, Ms. Dunee Emma Evita addressing the mini-durbar took time to explain to the community leaders and their children about the importance of education and how it could contribute to the development of the area.

According to Ms Evita, it was totally irrelevant for any parent to use the issue of poverty as basis for not sending their children to school.

She noted that, government and other partners like Right To Play had committed so much resources into the educational sector, and had also embarked on massive advocacy campaign towards encouraging the populace to embrace education at all levels.

The Assistant Project Officer emphasized that it would be of great disincentive to any community that would allow its people or children to reject education for kayaye or early marriage.

However, the Area Circuit Supervisor for the Ghana Education Service, Mr. Ernest Tia Chimsi and

Madam Ayishetu Adam, a Sport Coordinator for the District also added their voice to the call by the Right To Play to encourage parents to take advantage of the numerous government educational policies to propel the community into a better future.

Conversely, two set of football jerseys and footballs were presented to the teams for continuous campaign to encourage children in the community to enroll. A similar project was also launched in Savelugu simultaneously by the Right To Play to also encourage children to enroll in school.

DAILY DISPATCH REPORTER WINS TOP AWARD

The Northern Regional Correspondent of The Daily Dispatch newspaper, Joseph Ziem, has won the Kasa 2010 Media Awards for Best Journalist For Natural Resources And Environmental Governance in the newspaper category.

The award, which includes a brand new Toshiba Laptop Computer and a Certificate of Honour, was presented to the young journalist by officials of Kasa-Ghana through the Management of The Daily Dispatch in Accra last week.

Kasa-Ghana is a non-governmental organization that advocates for proper management of Ghana’s natural resources and environment as well as demanding adequate accountability from multinationals and companies involved in the extraction of minerals from the country’s natural environment.

Its corporate name, ‘Kasa’ drawn from the twi language which literally means Speak Out, Kasa-Ghana is one of the few NGOs in the country that has been in the forefront of speaking against the excessive and reckless exploitation of the country’s natural resources such as gold, diamond, bauxite, manganese, iron ore, timber, etc.

The organization advocates for the judicious extraction of these mineral resources through the involvement of the media, communities affected by mining activities and other civil society organizations in an attempt to fight climate change and desertification in Ghana .

In order to encourage journalists to persistently and continuously report on negative environmental practices, most especially those perpetuated by companies in the extractive industry, Kasa-Ghana instituted an award scheme to reward those who have a deep sense of understanding in the natural environment and ready to fight throtheir reportage by exposing bad practices that pose danger to the natural environment and other living things including man.

Thus, in 2010 another competition was announced on the NGO’s website for journalists who are into environmental reporting to submit stories they have written and published in their respective media houses and beyond.

Joseph Ziem, who was one of the many journalists across the country to enter the competition, doubted he would emerge winner at the grand finale which was scheduled to take place in December 2010 but unfortunately could not come off.

But lo and behold, Joseph Ziem had a phone call from the Kasa Secretariat in Accra after close of work on Thursday June 23, 2011 when he was informed that, he had won the Kasa 2010 Media Awards for Best Journalist For Natural Resources And Environmental Governance.

According to the young journalist, “he had beaten a whole class in exams before. He led groups to win keenly contested competitions when he was still a school boy. But, he has never received any award as a measure of his efforts and outstanding performance.”

Joseph Ziem continued by saying “he least expected he would win the 2010 Kasa Media Awards because, the article he submitted was his first ever written article as a professional journalist and besides, that was the first time he’d entered into a media award contest.” I’ve always known that I will win an award one day in this profession may be by the time I turn 30 or 40 years of age but not at the age of 25, he added.

He thanked Kasa-Ghana, Mr. and Mrs. Ernest Koranteng of WACAM and Messrs Kasim Abdallah and Alhassan Imoru of RUMNET for being a source of inspiration to him.

Meanwhile, Joseph Ziem has dedicated the award to all staff of The Daily Dispatch most especially Mr. Ben Ephson, Managing Editor of the paper for his words of encouragement and the entire membership of the Media Advocates for Sustainable Environment (MASE) which he is the Northern Regional Coordinator.

QUEEN MOTHERS UP NORTH RESOLVE TO CHAMPION DEVELOPMENT

IN AN ATTEMPT to complement government efforts at bridging the development gab between the North and the South, Queen mothers in the Northern Region have declared themselves fit towards drumming home the needed development -that has eluded the region over the years, and also serve as engines for reconciliation, peace and unity among the people up north.

The Queen Mother of the Bole Traditional Area, Kansawuriche Hajia Bukari is therefore challenging all queen mothers in the region to lead their communities in peace in order to attract more investors and also allow for the smooth implementation of the government’s development policies and programmes.

Addressing a two-day workshop in Tamale which brought together all queen mothers in the northern region to deliberate on good governance, poverty reduction and helping to achieve the millennium development goals 4 and 5 among others, the Kansawuriche urged her colleagues to be innovative in their roles as queen mothers and speak out against the rots in society.

According to the learned Queen, who is also the Northern Regional Chairperson of the Ghana Registered Midwives Association, queen mothers have a role to play in ensuring that, child and maternal mortality, rural urban migration, female genital mutilation, teenage pregnancy, forced marriage, child delinquency and among others, become a thing of the past.

She suggested ways which could help reduce child and maternal mortality rates in Northern Ghana . For instance, she asked queen mothers to lead women in their communities to cultivate farms through which proceeds from the sale of produce can be used to assist pregnant women who lack support during the time of delivery.

Kansawurche also proposed that, queen mothers should form partnerships with their local transport services so that they could be provided with a means of transport anytime a pregnant woman is in labour in order to reach the hospital on time to save the life of the baby and the mother.

On female education, she asked chiefs to institute a fine that would prevent parents from taking their wards out of school to assist them on farms or travel south of the country to engage in menial jobs.

The queen mother of Bole encouraged her colleagues to liaise with non-governmental organizations, community health volunteers, health personnel, and metropolitan, municipal and district assemblies to embark on health education to prevent female genital mutilation, vaginal fistula, HIV/AIDS, violence, conflicts and among others.

NURSES AT TAMALE TEACHING HOSPITAL TO EMBARK ON STRIKE IF……

Over 40 percent of health personnel at the Tamale Teaching Hospital constituting members of the Ghana Registered Nurses Association (GRNA) could embark on strike by the end of June 2011, if the Fair Wages and Salary Commission (FWSC) fails to explain to them their salary placement levels under the Single Spine Salary Structure (SSSS).

This follows an earlier call by the National Executive Council of the Association for the FWSC to migrate nurses and midwives onto the SSSS by the end of July, 2011.

Against this background, the Tamale Teaching Hospital branch of the GRNA is requesting for a very clear and comprehensive explanation regarding the placement levels of their members and the accompanying salaries that can be realistically expected after the migration process so as to avoid disappointments and its attendant consequences.

Addressing a press conference at the hospital’s premises last week, Chairman of the Association, Mr. Musah Salifu, said the request for information was informed by the fact that none of their members, including local, regional and national executives seem to have any clear idea as to what was contained in the SSSS package for nurses and midwives.

He said information on the package seems to be shrouded in some kind of secrecy and treated like national security information. Adding that, the Association deemed it as a right to know exactly what is contained in the package being prepared for them as nurses or workers of Ghana before June 30.

The Tamale Teaching Hospital branch of GRNA thus, stated in no uncertain terms that the FWSC must come out and furnish them with the necessary information not later than the June 30, 2011 deadline, otherwise they should not blame them for any unpleasant consequences that might arise in the future as a result of their silence and secrecy over the SSSS which they thought was completely uncalled for.