Gbulahigu Community in Tolon District Provided with Potable Water

Gifty Baka, C'try Dir. CCFC, Ghana

Access to clean and safe drinking water is no longer a luxury for the Chiefs and people of Gbulahigu, a farming community in the Tolon District of the Northern Region, as they now move to a new era of change with the provision of three new boreholes with hand-pumps. 

For close to forty years now, the people have damned the consequences and are relying on “unsafe dam water” meant for agricultural purposes for their survival.

Gbulahigu is one of the deprived communities in the deprived Tolon District with most of the inhabitants engaged in farming activities. It has human population of over 4,800. But in spite of its proximity to the Northern Regional capital, Tamale, the Gbulahigu community lacks several basic amenities which therefore make live quite unbearable for the people. 

Access to potable drinking water has by far been one of the major challenges facing the people. Since 1972, the Chiefs and people of the community are relying solely on the Bolinga irrigation dam which was constructed by the Acheampong’s government for agricultural purposes. The Dam is also about seven (7) to eight (8) kilometers away from the Gbulahigu community.

Women and children of the community therefore trek that far distance to fetch water from the dam. The colour of the water in the dam clearly explains how insalubrious or unhealthy it is for human consumption. Cattle, sheep, goats and dogs also depend on the same water source. Washing with the water from the dam, according to the Assemblyman for Gbulahigu Electoral Area, Hon Michael Baba Issah changes the colour of the dress.

Hygienically, the water is supposed to be boiled or well treated before using it even for washing but the people especially farmers and children directly drink from the dam.

This reporter met some of the women and children drinking from the dam whiles cattle were also drinking from other side. Some of the community members who were met fetching and drinking directly from the dam, including Madam Amina Abdul-Rahman (lactating mother), Ibrahim Adam (a farmer), Natongmah Zakaria (a farmer) and one Zaratu Yussif (kulikuli seller) in separate interviews told Savannahnews about how the water over the years had affected most the people especially women and children in the community. 

The Senior Staff Nurse at the Gbulahigu CHPS Compound, John Kuunang in an interview with this paper said that the water had caused several health implications to the people especially during raining season where the Dam began to collect waste water and other materials including human and animal faeces into it. 

According to him, most of the cases reported at the health centre are diarrhea, cholera, respiratory tract and malaria. 

 

Mrs Gifty Baka (right), the Country Director of CCFC, assisting the Nindoo Wumbee (in hat), the Chief of Gbulahagu, to cut the tape to inaugurate the water facility. - See more at: http://graphic.com.gh/news/general-news/28762-ngo-donates-boreholes-solar-system-to-gbulahagu.html#sthash.jvmtA8Kd.dpuf

Mrs Gifty Baka (right), the Country Director of CCFC, assisting the Nindoo Wumbee (in hat), the Chief of Gbulahagu, to cut the tape to inaugurate the water facility. - See more at: http://graphic.com.gh/news/general-news/28762-ngo-donates-boreholes-solar-system-to-gbulahagu.html#sthash.jvmtA8Kd.dpuf

Mrs Gifty Baka (right), the Country Director of CCFC, assisting the Nindoo Wumbee (in hat), the Chief of Gbulahagu, to cut the tape to inaugurate the water facility. - See more at: http://graphic.com.gh/news/general-news/28762-ngo-donates-boreholes-solar-system-to-gbulahagu.html#sthash.jvmtA8Kd.dpuf

Mrs Gifty Baka (right), the Country Director of CCFC, assisting the Nindoo Wumbee (in hat), the Chief of Gbulahagu, to cut the tape to inaugurate the water facility. - See more at: http://graphic.com.gh/news/general-news/28762-ngo-donates-boreholes-solar-system-to-gbulahagu.html#sthash.jvmtA8Kd.dpuf

Commendably however, the Tahima Baptist Child Development Programme (TBCDP) with funding from the Christian Children Fund of Canada (CCFC) has constructed three hand-pumping boreholes for the Gbulahigu community. 

The project is to prevent the people especially women and children from drinking from the unsafe dam and also prevent the contraction of diarrhea, cholera and other water born diseases. 

At a durbar to commission the project, Rev. Thomas Imoro Shaibu, Programme Leader of Tahima Baptist Child Development Progrmme said that the purpose of providing the boreholes was to assist the people to at least get access to drinking water to save them from all manner of diseases. 

He said that the health and development of children was the main priority of the TBCDP, hence the provision of the water facilities.

Rev. Shaibu observed that the water provision would also assist the health centre to also operate effectively. 

Tahima Baptist Child Development Progrmme also donated solar panels and two vaccine fridges to the Gbulahigu CHPS compound to enable the personnel operate at night.

Commissioning the project, the Country Director of CCFC, Madam Gifty Baka said that the long absence of clean water for drinking, bathing and cooking had affected the well-being of both children and adults in the community.

According to her, “water is life and a right for every citizen of Ghana”. She noted that the CCFC’s involvement in the provision of the projects was influenced by the difficulties children in the community were going through every morning to trek afar to fetch water before going to school.

Madam Baka further noted that, her visit to the Gbulahigu community revealed not only the health problems but also how the children of the community especially the girl child suffered to get water each morning and got to school very late and tired. 

“Everything CCFC is doing is for the sake of the children. We want our children to be healthy, stay alive and become responsible adults in future”. That is why we did not only provide the water facilities but went further to support the health centre and also providing education facility to support the community. CCFC is also providing sponsorship for some needy children in the community to have access to education”.

She unveiled plans of CCFC and the Tahima Baptist Child Development Project to mechanise the boreholes and also provide three classroom block to reduce the congestion at the school in the community.

CCAT Ask Gender Minister to Investigate Tamale Sex Scandal

Gender Minister, Nana Oye

Members of the Concerned Citizens Association of Tamale (CCAT) have launched full scale attack on the Minister of Gender, Children and Social Protection, Nana Oye Lithur for keeping long silence on the infamous Tamale sex scandal involving about 50 young ladies. 

The group is demanding the Gender Minister to launch full scale investigations into the matter and also find ways of blocking the pornographic photos and videos of the young ladies that are in high circulation across Ghana and beyond.

The President of the CCAT, Basharu Alhassan Daballi in an interview with a section of the media in Tamale described it as “unusual of the Minister of Gender to keep quite on serious issues that clearly violate the rights, freedom and dignity of women” in Ghana.

“We are unhappy about Nana Oye Lithur’s silence on the issue which involves about 50 young ladies in a sex scandal. In fact this is unusual of her. “We are calling on her to at least to institute an investigation into this particular act and if they can block further pictures from been posted on the social media it will be good for us as a people and also protect the image of Ghana.”

Mr. Basharu Alhassan Daballi bemoaned that most of the victims in the act were women who are married with children and could be gravely affected. “A lot of people will be affected especially women who are married now: some are married women and some are yet to marry but when they did this they were not married, this is the social angle we are coming from.”

Parents of the victims have pleaded with the media and other individuals to seize fire in their bid to circulate the pictures. Several religious and traditional leaders in Tamale have also condemned the act.

World Vision, Bibir Curb Falling Educational Standards in Nanton

Executive Director, Bibir-Ghana

Several reasons have been cited by various stakeholders in education as the cause of the falling educational standards in basic schools in the Nanton Constituency in the Savelugu-Nanton Municipality in the Northern Region of Ghana.

The reasons are, inability or refusal by parents to pay their wards school fees, teacher absenteeism, lack of monitoring and supervision by educational authorities, lack of teachers, learning and teaching materials and among others.

This came to light at a forum of educational stakeholders including Parent Teacher Associations, School Management Committees, non-governmental organisations and students. The forum was organised by Bibir-Ghana in Nanton in the Savelugu-Nanton Municipality.

The forum was part of the implementation of a literacy and numeracy education programme by World Vision-Ghana with technical advice and support from Bibir-Ghana in some five communities in Nanton. The communities are Bulung, Kpachilo, Nantonkurugu, Kpano and Gbumgbum.

Bibir-Ghana would among other things, form reading clubs in the five communities, and also revive existing ones formed by World Vision to imbibe the culture of reading among children in the beneficiary communities.

However, the aforementioned reasons assigned to the falling educational standards by stakeholders, are not so different from what educational authorities also outlined recently at a similar forum. 

They include candidates lack of adequate understanding of simple concepts in their subject areas; incomplete coverage of syllabus; weak foundation at the primary level; poor attitude of teachers towards work; lack of standardized mode of assessment to track schools performances and high level of truancy among BECE candidates after registration.

The rest are inappropriate use of instructional hours by teachers; lack of parental supervision and monitoring of children’s learning behaviour; negative peer influence; inadequate or poor supervision of schools by GES officials as well as mass promotion of pupils to the next class at the end of academic years.

As a result, of the 22 Junior High Schools presented by the Savelugu-Nanton Municipal Directorate of the Ghana Education Service for the 2012 Basic Education Certificate Examination, 15 schools scored below 40 percent representing 68.20 percent.

The Executive Director of Bibir-Ghana Joseph Charles Osei, said by the end of September 2014, an estimated 234 children from the five beneficiary communities would have been able to read and write as well as solve some basic arithmetic problems with ease.

World Vision ADP Manager

He said there would be a quiz competition towards the end of the programme to assess the competence of children who participated in it and those who emerge winners would be rewarded.

Area Development Programme Manager of World Vision-Ghana in the Savelugu-Nanton Municipality, Michael Kingsley Dohzie, explained that the aim of the organisation’s education project is to improve access and quality of basic education for approximately 11,000 children leading to improved learning outcomes.

He also cited improved literacy, numeracy and essential life skills in primary education leading to increased knowledge of teachers in literacy and numeracy instructional methodology and increased learning opportunities for children.

Buipewura Jinapor Formally Re-instated into House of Chiefs

Buipewura Jinapor II

The Paramount Chief of Buipe Traditional Area, Buipewura Abdulai Mahama Jinapor II has been recalled to the Northern Regional House of Chiefs after the longstanding altercation between him the Gonja Traditional Council. 

A Tamale High Court Judge, Mr. Justice Gilbert Ayisi Addo swore him as a member of the Regional House of Chiefs on Thursday 28^th August 2014 at the Tamale High Court. The swearing in was witnessed by the administrators and judicial officers of the Regional House of Chiefs and the media. 

The swearing in now empowers the Buipewura to freely carry out his statutory mandates as Paramount Chief to deliver judgment on specific cases that would be brought before him as enshrined in the 1992 constitution. 

Buipewura Abdulai Mahama Jinapor II in somewhere May 2010 was de-skinned by the Gonja Traditional Council chaired by the current Yagbonwura Tuntumba Bore Essa I for an alleged insubordinate conduct. 

As a result, the Yagbonwura and the Gonja Traditional Council disenskinned the legitimate Buipewura and replaced him with one Bawa Jawu from the Awushie family which was one of the families that contested the skin with the Jinapor family.

This action by the Yagbonwura completely broke down the peace and unity in Buipe leading loss of lives and properties. But Buipewura Abdulai Mahama Jinapor II through his legal team led by Lawyer Mohammed Alhassan filed an order of certiorari at a Tamale High Court and restrained the Council from en-skinning Bawa Awushie Jawu as Chief of Buipe or his successor.

He was finally exonerated by the court presided over by His Lordship Kwame Ansu Gyeabour who quashed the Gonja Traditional Council’s action.

The Judge in his ruling described the Council’s decision as illegal and awarded the plaintiff Ghc4, 000 fine for causing emotional stress to him.

Buipewura Jinapor II (right) being sworn in by Justice Ayisi Addo (left)

The Council was charged to pay additional Ghc2, 400 to the Buipewura for the expenses he made throughout the legal tussle.

In compliance with the court ruling, Buipewura Abdulai Mahama Jinapor II was subsequently reinstated as the chief of Buipe by the Gonja Traditional Council.

The Buipewura also a retired senior police officer has since initiated moves to reunite the people including members of the opposing Awushie family. 

He has successfully enskinned the opponent, Bawa Awushie Jawu as “Danyampewura” which makes him (Bawa Jawu) as next to the Buipewura in his cabinet. 

The Buipe Chief apart from spearheading development agenda of the area also organized a very successful Damba Festival in March 2014 for the first time in five years to further unite the people.

He told the media that his vision is to support the District Assembly and for that matter government to transform Buipe into the commercial hub of the three Northern Regions. Already, Buipe is described as the industrial centre of the north with a number of factories operating in the area. 

Buipewura Jinapor II on the other hand pledged to work with members of the Northern Regional House of Chiefs to speed up all outstanding chieftaincy disputes pending before the House.