Rioting SHS Students In Northern Region Dismissed

Alhai M. Haroun, GES

The Northern Regional Director of the Ghana Education Service (GES), Alhaji Mohammed Haroun “Cambodia” has disclosed that all students of the three Senior High Schools in the region who went on destructive rampage recently have been dismissed. 

According to him, any student who would want to come back to their respective schools would have to sign a bond to be of good behaviour and also be made to pay for every single property they destroyed in the cause of the riots. 

“In this situation we cannot exempt any student so the damage is going to be costed and the students will have to pay before they are readmitted into the schools. So for these schools now all the students stand dismissed until reopen of the school where they will come back with their parents to sign bonds to be of good behavior and then their parents will witness, and then they will have to pay for the damages caused before they are readmitted into the schools”.

Speaking in an interview with Savannahnews, Alhaji Haroun also directed all heads of Senior High Schools in the region to fully enforce the existing rules and regulations in order to restrain disobedient students from taking the laws into their own hands.  

According to him, the school authorities must ensure that all the students become disciplined, law abiding and study hard, and that those who were not ready to respect and submit to the rules and regulations must be sacked and forced out of the school. 

This directive follows untenable rioting by students of Salaga TI Ahmadiya, Karaga and Nalerigu Senior High Schools a last week, which led to unimaginable destruction to school properties. All the three Senior High Schools have since been closed down indefinitely after the clashes between the students and school authorities. About 31 of the rioting students are reported to have been arrested so far with all of them being students from the Nalerigu SHS.

Alhaji Haroun described it as “highly unacceptable” for the students to go on rampage and cause such a huge destruction to school properties without any reasonable cause.

Dismissed SHS Students Carrying Their Belongings Home

He lamented that the GES could not comprehend why the students should demonstrate such a level of disrespect and gross indiscipline to their authorities. What seems to disturb the Regional GES Boss is the fact that the students in the region at the Basic and Second Cycle continue to perform abysmally in spite of the huge investment and support being given by the government. 

However, the District Director of the GES for East Mamprusi, Hajia Nafisah Dauda also in an interview with DNA described the conduct of the students of the Nalerigu SHS as unacceptable and highly criminal. 

She asserted that the students went on rampage after the headmaster had told them to postpone an entertainment jam until examination was over. The students organized themselves and disconnected all the lights on campus and attacked the headmaster’s bungalow with pebbles and perforated the roof. 

The headmaster she noted had to run through the bush to the Gambaga Police Station for protection. The angry students also destroyed the school bus, the Mahindra pickup the headmaster is using also had its windscreen destroyed, a KIA truck recently donated by the Parents Teachers Association was also damaged, a packed wooden truck of the school popularly known as “Bone Shaker” also had the windscreen damaged, another school pickup also damaged and over 91 flat screen computers and laptops were also stolen from the newly built Computer library. 

According to Hajia Nafisah Dauda, she was totally devastated and in deep tears when she saw some of the students wailing, with others being attacked by asthma and some also collapsing, when she went with the police to close down the Nalerigu SHS at the directive of the Regional director.

“I am a mother and I could not take it at all. Some of the students were innocent but they were all affected and there was nothing anybody could do”.

She said that even though all the students had been chased away, the police were still manning the school campus. 

In the case of Karaga SHS, the students went on rampage and attacked school authorities for not allowing the use of mobile phones in the school. They ended up destroying properties of the school.

And in the case of the Salaga T.I Ahmadiya SHS the students complained that they were being restrained from wearing slippers into classes and exams halls. The school authorities detected that most of the students during exams write answers on their slippers and cheat the system. They also went on serious demonstration with support from some community members and caused serious damage to properties including the pulling down of the school fence wall.

Engaging Services Of PWDs Best Way Of Promoting Inclusiveness

The Executive Secretary of Ghana’s National Council for Persons With Disabilities (NCPD) Kwamina Dadzie-Dennis, has called on Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs) in the country to employ persons with disabilities (PWDs) who are knowledgeable and skilful.

According to Mr. Dadzie-Dennis, it defies logic when MMDAs refuse to engage the services of PWDs after spending the tax-payer’s money to train them to acquire skills in vocations such as carpentry, sewing/dressmaking, shoe-making, catering, ICT, electrical and electronic work among others.

“We (NCPD) are saying that, after using the PWDs’ share of the district assembly’s common fund to train them in such vocations, engage them to manufacture furniture for schools in your area....engage those who have skills in catering under the school feeding programme. This is not too much to ask for.

“PWDs with skills in ICT can also be engaged to maintain computers and other electronic equipment of all decentralised departments. Engaging the services of PWDs is a prudent and best way to promote inclusiveness in our local governance system”, Mr. Dadzie-Dennis made this call at a two-day meeting and training of leadership of various PWD groups and state agencies in Tamale.

He observed that, when MMDAs seriously begin to consider the knowledge and skill sets of PWDs and engage them fairly as they would do in the case of persons without disabilities, many PWDs would be lifted out of misery and poverty.

The meeting and training programme in Tamale which was organised by the Human Rights Advocacy Centre (HRAC) in collaboration with the NCPD, Ghana Federation of Disability Organisations (GFDOs) and NORSAAC, was sponsored by the US State Department in Accra.

The programme was part of the implementation of a project dubbed: “Improving Conditions For PWDs”. The objectives of the programme were among other things, to discuss the implementation of the PWDs Act (Act 715, 2006) and the Mental Health Act (MHA), Act 846, 2012; gaps between the laws and actual practices; and challenges inhibiting implementation.    

Passed by the Parliament of Ghana into law in 2006, the PWDs Act seeks, among other things, to guarantee PWDs access to public places, free general and specialist medical care, education, employment and transportation. It also seeks to ensure that PWDs play an active and central role in all aspects of life, regulate the commitments and responsibilities of state and private duty-bearers.

The MHA on the other hand was passed in 2012, and seeks to bring an improvement towards the care of poor, vulnerable people with mental illness or epilepsy, protection of their human rights and promotion of their participation in restoration and recovery. The law, which has been hailed by the WHO as one of the best legislations worldwide, also seeks to ensure that adequate provision of resources has nine parts consisting of a Mental Health Board, a Service, a Review Tribunal, Visiting Committee, Voluntary Treatment and Involuntary Treatment.

Sadly, many PWDs and persons with mental illness and epilepsy (PWMIE) are accommodated in prayer camps and healing centres, owing to prevailing beliefs that disabilities arise from evil spirits. Some victims are chained to trees outside in the heat/cold weather with often inadequate care. This is largely due to the fact that, the government is yet to begin with the implementation of the PWDs law after nearly a decade of its enactment.

The Northern Regional Coordinator of GFDOs Abraham Boah, also noted that many PWDs were increasingly being denied employment in both the public and private sectors. “The situation is causing a lot of frustration among our members and some have resorted to begging on the streets in spite of good academic qualifications.....their children can’t have education because there is no money at home”, he disclosed.

Mr. Boah further lamented over the inaccessible nature of many public buildings and urged a speedy implementation of the disability law, which he believes, could address the situation. “This is one of the reasons why PWDs are denied employment....they can’t have access to their offices even when they’re employed”, he observed.  

About 10 percent of Ghana’s total population (approximately 2.2 million) have different forms of disabilities. They consist of the visually impaired, hearing impaired, crippled, amputated, epileptic/ mentally retarded, albino, autistic, dyslexic among others.

There are inadequate special schools for these groups of people and even where they exist, they are poorly resourced. From the highest to the lowest echelons of the entire Ghanaian society, persons with disabilities are discriminated against.

Take for instance, disability sports; they are treated differently as compared to the other national teams made up of able-bodied young men and women. No training facilities for them, no training kits and always, no funds for them to participate in local and international competitions. Even where the funds are there, it is insufficient to cater for their needs. It is a pathetic situation.

Wendy Abbey, Technical Advisor, HRAC

Technical Advisor at HRAC Wendy Abbey urged government to begin with the implementation of the PWDs law since that held the key to the door through which PWDs could demand access to many things as spelt out in the law.

There was also the need to carry out advocacy and outreach programmes, she noted, adding that “These should target PWDs, PWMIE, service providers, families of PWDs/PWMIE and government to ensure the realisation of the rights of PWDs/PWMIE as stipulated by the two Acts and all other international regulations”, she stressed.

While encouraging private institutions to employ PWDs since they stood to benefit tax rebates from the state, Ms. Abbey also entreated civil society organisations that promote the interest of PWDs to begin to take legal actions against public and private institutions that infringe upon the rights of PWDs and PWMIE.

Meanwhile, participants appealed to government to provide special schools such as the school for the deaf and blind with teaching and learning tools and equip health facilities with special diagnostic equipment so as to ensure early detection of disabilities among children.

They also asked government to consider awarding scholarship to people studying sign language at the tertiary level as well as ensure the teaching and learning of basic sign language and interpretation in all basic schools in the country in order to promote peaceful coexistence among the hearing and hearing impaired.

They further recommended government establish special schools for different disability groups in each of the ten administrative regions of Ghana so as to ensure close monitoring and involvement by families and relations of such children.

EC Ready For Delayed 2014 District Level Elections Set For September 1

Mr. Amadu Sulley, Deputy EC Chairman

A Deputy Chairman in charge of Operations at Ghana’s Electoral Commission (EC) Amadu Sulley, has declared that the body was well prepared logistically and financially to execute the delayed 2014 District Level Elections set for September 1 in all 6,114 electoral areas across the country.

“Almost all the ballot papers and other materials have been printed. As at last week, most of the printing houses confirmed that they had finished printing their materials even before the deadline of August 13. All biometric verification devices have also been loaded with data of electorates”, he explained.

At an engagement with civil society organisations and the media in Tamale last Friday, Mr. Sulley also revealed that, 19,009 and 43,584 candidates were to contest in the nationwide Assembly and Unit Committee elections respectively. 

In the Northern Region, 1,960 candidates are expected to contest in 705 electoral areas in 26 districts. Of this number, 1,882 are men while 78 are women. Compared to the botched elections in March 3^rd, a total of 2,018 candidates were expected to contest, and of this number, 91 were women while 1,927 were men. 

Furthermore, the Yendi Municipality has the highest number of women contestants in the Unit Committee election, 56– whereas Mamprugu-Moaduri has only one woman contestant. On the other hand, the Tamale Metropolis also has the highest number of men contestants, 255– whereas the Mamprugu-Moaduri District has the lowest number of men contestants, 39.

Statistics have shown that in 1994, 122 women were elected Assembly Members nationwide as against 4,082 men.  196 women in 1998 as against 4,624 men whereas the year 2000 saw 341 women elected against 4,241 men. In 2006 433 women were elected as against 4,301 men. 

In the Northern Region, out of a total of 137 women that contested the District Assembly Elections in 2010, only 19 of them were voted. In that same year, while only one was elected to the Tamale Metro Assembly compared to 64 men, no woman was elected in nine other districts in the region. Overall, only 6 women in the entire region won the elections to become Assembly Members out of a total of 43 women who contested.  

But according to the 2010 Population and Housing Census, the population of the Northern Region was 2,479,461 representing about 10 percent of Ghana’s population. Of this figure, the male population was 1,229,887 whereas that of women was 1,249,574. This shows that the population of women in the region exceeded that of men by 19,687.

Some participants at the engagement expressed worry over likely low turnout of voters due to the inception of the rainy season in Northern Ghana. However, Mr. Sulley dispelled the concern expressed and hope by intense media publicity similar to the type associated with parliamentary and presidential elections, there should be high turnout at the various polling stations on voting day.

Mr. Sulley further urged all contestants to respect all regulations associated with the organisation of district level elections, warning that “anyone who flouts any of the regulations shall be disqualified, fined or banned from contesting future elections”.

Director of Human Resource and General Services at the EC’s head office Muhammed Adoquaye, appealed to journalists to assist the Commission to educate electorates as well as contestants going into the elections on September 1^st.

He also urged election observers to know their roles and play them carefully and effectively, since there are instances some observers would want to take up the roles of election monitors saying “the two are completely different roles”. 

Tamale Center For National Culture In A Deplorable State

Tourism Minister, Ms. Elisabeth Agyare

Ghana is said to be among the few African countries in the sub-region with many ethnic groupings but with diverse cultures and traditions ranging from marriage, naming ceremony, funeral performance, festival among others.

These cultural differences are what make Ghana stand out as a unique country for many European and American nationals to visit for holidays, honeymoon and conferences. 

Some of the few places where these diverse cultures of Ghanaians are promoted or showcased to indigenes and most especially foreigners are their many Centres for National Culture (CNC) and the National Theatre.

In each of the ten administrative regions of Ghana, there is a CNC for people to visit on daily basis to listen to traditional music and storytelling, watch performances of traditional dancers, drama and also buy artifacts to decorate their homes and offices.

Sadly, due to lack of adequate renovation over the years, some of these centres like the Tamale Centre for National Culture built in the 60’s, is beginning to look very deplorable and unattractive to visitors.

Malfunctioning air conditioners and ceiling fans, filthy washrooms, dilapidated theatre, leaking roofings, insanitary premises, broken furniture and poor drainage systems among others, stare at the face of any first time visitor to the Tamale CNC.

Besides, the facility is poorly resourced and the few office equipment available for administrative purposes are also obsolete and malfunctioning most of the time. 

According to the Administrator of the Centre Abubakari Saeed, although the Centre had few sources of revenue generation, the amount of funds generated was inadequate to be used to renovate the place and buy the necessary equipment needed to enable the facility fully functional.

Mr. Saeed appealed to the Northern Region House of Chiefs and other proponents of northern culture and tradition to use their influence to prevail on government to restore the place to enable it function well.

He observed that, the Centre was part and parcel of the cultures and traditions of the chiefs  and they would not be promoted enough if the Centre was left to deteriorate to levels where it had to be closed down completely.

Adding his voice to the call, an ardent advocate of Ghanaian culture and former Governing Council Chairman of the University for Development Studies (UDS), Dr. Abdulai Baba Salifu, said if urgent steps were not taken, the Centre was likely to be closed down.

He observed that, the current state of the Centre was not befitting the status of any traditional ruler in the Northern Region and wonder if people especially foreigners would continue to patronize services there in few years to come.