Month: September 2013

The Member of Parliament (MP) for Sekyere Afram Plains, Hon. Alex Adomako-Mensah on Tuesday joined the observation of “My First Day at School” celebration with pupils in various Basic and Junior High Schools in the area, with a call on parents to support and encourage teachers who avail themselves to offer their service in rural communities.

According to him, parents should not only look-up to government and other educational institutions in support of teachers but should as well do within their capacity to motivate teachers who are posted to their communities.

Hon. Adomako-Mensah who was speaking in an interview with GhanaMPs.gov.gh further lamented on how most teachers decline their service when posted to rural areas and stated emphatically that the trend could  be avoided if society do within their it capacity to augment government’s part of motivation rural-base teachers.

The MP also urged teachers in the area to eschew any form of lackadaisical attitude and focus much attention in task of helping reshape behaviours and attitude of the country’s future leaders.

He also cautioned students against truancy and promised them  computers to assist the teaching and learning of Information Communication Technology (ICT) in the area.

Some schools which were visited by the MP and his entourage include, Dagomba District Assembly (DA) and Middle School, Drobonso Presbyterian, Drobonso Middle A&B and the Drobonso Seventh Day Adventist (SDA) Primary and Junior High Schools.

In other related developments, Hon. Adomako-Mensah hinted that the Japanese government has also conferred its support to put up a new health center for the area, adding that consultations were still ongoing to acquire a land for commencement of the project.

Emmanuel Frimpong Mensah/GhanaMPs.gov.gh

The Member of Parliament for Dome Kwabenya Constituency Lawyer Adjoa Safo has promised to support Atomic D.A Primary with 40 bags of cement to complete an going school block.

The completion of the project will boost the capacity of the school to accommodate more students and also provide them with a conducive environment for serious studies.

The MP made the pledge when she visited the school and others in the Ga East Municipality such as the Tiafa Community and Ashongman Community schools, as part of activities to mark the first day at school event which is held annually.

She donated items such as Maths books, Science books, pens, pencils to equip them for studies during the new academic year.

Lawyer Adwoa Safo also entreated them to embrace education and take their studies very seriously   to enable them achieve their various aspirations in life.

She further adviced the teachers to inculcate good morals in the children to make them become responsible adults in future.

The MCE, Hon. John Kwao Sackey who was part of the team that visited the schools urged the pupils to take advantage of the opportunities created for them to stay in school and build their future well to become prominent men and women later in life.

Irene Kwakye/Ghanamps.gov.gh

The Member of Parliament for Sissala East constituency, Sulemana  Alijata Gbentie has bemoaned the slow pace of work being discharged on the Han-Tumu  road, thus has requested that the contractor expedites works on the project to boost the road infrastructure in the area.

The Han-Tumu stretch currently under construction is being reshaped to ostensibly join Tumu to Navrongo in the Upper East so it could link the Eastern corridor. As a result of this, Tumu will be a central point linking both Han and Navrongo to facilitate and ease transportation in the area.

Madam Alijata Gbentie expressed the concern when she donated items to the Ghana National Ambulance Service (NAS) in the district to aid their operations.

She presented some 5 mattresses and 20 inch colour TV to the service to boost their operations and improve on quality healthcare delivery in the district.

Mr. Yakubu Mohammed, the 2nd -in-Command at the district who received the items on behalf of the service, appreciated the efforts of the MP for her kind gesture and promised to work effectively, and collaborate with the health facilities to improve healthcare delivery in the district.

He stressed that the items received from the MP will greatly support their work as well make them efficient in their line of duty.

Mr. Yakubu Mohammed said the road network is a major source of worry to them and poses a great challenge in their operations. He recounted that most of the roads were not in good shape, especially Tumu-Wa, Tumu-Gwollu, Tumu-Pieng and Tumu-Wellembelle, which are all left unattended hence slowing transportation in general.

According to him, the service handles maternal cases frequently in the area, citing that tis very delicate dealing with that as a matter of fact it needed to have systems in place that could help them dispatch cases and emergencies.

As a result of this, he pleaded with government to commit attention to the road infrastructure in the district and enhance it for smooth transportation.

Jonathan Jeffrey Adjei/Ghanamps.gov.gh

Former education minister, Professor Dominic Fobih, is warning the NPP may lose the 2016 elections if Nana Akufo-Addo does not lead the party.

Professor Fobih is the latest in a growing list of party members to call on the former NPP presidential candidate Nana Akufo-Addo to contest the presidency, despite calls for restraint.

Prof. Fobih led a delegation from the Central Region to Nana Addo’s residence on Tuesday to pledge their support for him to lead the party again.

Professor Fobih, who is also MP for Assin South, maintained in an interview with Joy News’ Elton John Brobbey that the NPP may lose the 2016 election if Nana Addo is not maintained.

“It is not that I am coming out with the sentiment, but that is the reflection across the party hierarchy,” he said.

He also noted that Nana Akufo-Addo has already marketed himself, and questioned “why would you throw him aside and look for a new person to build his image”.

Everybody in the party, he said, feels that “he is a good candidate to follow than to change”.

He reiterated that it will be a “big blow to us” if Nana Akufo-Addo does not heed their clarion call, adding “right now people seem to have known him more than anybody else in Ghana”.

But Editor of the Daily Dispatch newspaper, Ben Ephson, thinks it is too early to call that Nana Akufo-Addo will win the presidential election for the NPP in 2016.

He cautioned the party to be rather careful about the way and manner they handle the numerous support for him to run again so that it does not weaken party structures and cause apathy as it happened after the party’s presidential primary in 2007.

Joy News

Mr Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, Deputy Minister of Education, on Tuesday reiterated government’s readiness to promote and encourage girl-child education in order to create gender parity in the educational system.

He said the attainment of gender parity in the educational system over the years had not been possible because most girls drop out of school before reaching the level of completion.

Mr Ablakwa said this when he addressed and interacted with pupils of the ASHMA 1 & 2 Basic Schools, Ashiaman No. 2 A&B Basic School and Blessed Clementina Catholic Basic School, all in the Ashiaman Municipality.

The visit was part of the “My First Day at School” programme initiated by the Ministry where new pupils are welcomed into the formal academic environment.

The tour was also to encourage children who have been admitted to school for the first time to remain in the classroom and urge them to submit to discipline and remain respectful in order to become productive individuals in the society.

Girl-child education is very important to the socio-economic development of the country, Mr Ablakwa said, and urged the pupils to take their studies seriously.

He also appealed to teachers not to relent in their efforts but work harder to bring out the best of the children, for national development.

The Deputy Minister, who later distributed school uniforms, pencils, exercise books, erasers, cups, and toffees to newly enrolled kindergarten and primary one pupils, also appealed to parents to show concern about the educational needs of their children.

Mr Samuel Ansah, Director, Teacher Education Division (TED) also visited the Osu Salem 1 primary School, John Wesley Methodist Basic School and Kaneshie North Cluster of schools.

He urged pupils to focus on their education, saying “through hard work and determination, you can achieve your aim in life”.

He advised the children to obey their teachers and pay attention to lessons, adding that through that they could be future leaders of the country.

He also presented cups to the children to welcome them to their new schools.

GNA

The Member of Parliament for Sissala East constituency, Hon. Sulemana Alijata Gbentie has taken time off visiting several schools at Tumu as today marked my first day at school across board in various schools located in the district.

The exercise was intended to officially welcome school kids in school and also psyche them up to wholly embrace education as it ostensibly forms an important aspect of life in contemporary societies.

Madam Sulemana Gbentie as part of her visit made a call on teachers to ensure that they foster good morals in the children to keep them in shape as responsible adults in future.

She also reminded teachers to as well focus on identifying individual talents in the kids, especially at that tender age, noting that it was relevant  to unearth their talents in them now and assist them explore it to their advantage.

The MP said parents needed to take keen interest in the education of their wards, as most of them habitually neglect their wards regarding their efforts in school and how well they fare in their academic work.

She therefore advised parents to collaborate with teachers to support achieve quality education in the area.

Madam Sulemana Gbentie took advantage of the exercise and touted a number of pro-poor social programmes implemented by government in the educational sector, specifically in the basic level, like the School Feeding Programme, Free school uniforms and exercise books and the rest, thus advised the school children to take advantage of the opportunities created for them to stay in school and build their future.

The MP donated few items such as Chinese canvass, books and other educational materials that will aid them in their studies.

Jonathan Jeffrey Adjei/Ghanamps.gov.gh

Government is working hard to ease the social lives of people living up-north through the provision of meaningful development facilities that could better their lots in the area.

Following this, efforts are currently in place to open up the power sector in the Sagnarigu district as serious works are being carried out to connect at least 25 additional communities to the national grid.

It is envisaged that latest by the end of the year this august project will duly be completed to enable electricity supply for these deprived communities that have been off-grid for so many years, the Member of Parliament for the area, Alhassan Bashir Fuseini revealed.

Speaking to Ghanamps.gov.gh, Hon. Bashir Fuseini disclosed that the project which forms part of the government’s effort to improve on the energy delivery programme in the country commenced about two months ago, stressing that the project is moving on smoothly as expected.

He indicated that LV poles have been mounted already, and wiring works also done whiles transformers have as well been installed in several areas to efficiently push the project in the respective communities under the project.

He said contractors are well committed to the project and discharging works in a fast pace to ensure that the project meets the scheduled deadline for its implementation.

Communities included in this phase are Kulnyevila, Garizegu, Nyerizee, Shigu, Nagbogu,Yepala, Yekura, Bukpomo, Sanga, and Salaamba amongst others.

Jonathan Jeffrey Adjei/Ghanamps.gov.gh

‘’If Dr. Kwadwo Afari Gyan, was the coach of the Blacks Stars team, he would have been sacked by now judging by his poor showing during the 2012 general elections’’.

This is according to the Member of Parliament for Akuapem North, Osei Bonsu Amoah who has passed a verdict on the performance of the Electoral Commissioner during the December 2012 elections, describing his work as abysmal.

The recent 2012 election petition case challenging the validity of the election of President Mahama as President at the Supreme Court, revealed lots of irregularities in the last election with some political watchers and the opposition NPP blaming Dr. Afari Gyan and the EC for acts of commission and omission which allowed such infractions to occur.

The EC over the weekend requested the various political parties to formulate inputs into a new set of electoral reforms that will guide the running of various future elections.

However the Chairman of the New Patriotic Party, Jake Obetsebi Lamptey has said the party is not convinced that the call from the Electoral Commission (EC) to political parties for recommendations to reform Ghana’s electoral process is genuine, saying “We are suspicious that the call by the EC will result in we and others submitting recommendations that would then be buried in the bosom of the EC, either to never emerge or to emerge in some emasculated form, the product of the wisdom and constitutional absolute powers allowed to the E C.”

Contributing to a discussion on Metro TV’s Good Morning Ghana show, Hon. O.B Amoah stated that Ghana put in so much resources into that election, but the outcome was nothing to write home about.

‘’Some of us then, made sure in Parliament that the EC would not attribute any problems that it would have faced in that 2012 election to lack of funds, so we ensured that it received all the monies it needed to run an efficient election, we spent so much energy and experience at the committee level even to ensure that the EC’s regulations met the required standards and after all this look at the outcome of the elections. This kind of eight months of litigation who enjoys it, all the judges admitted there were short falls so we don’t have to keep quiet about it and say the man should go his way and relax peacefully’’ he said.

Kwadwo Anim/Ghanamps.gov.gh