Author: Akumaa GhanaMPs

The Member of Parliament for North Dayi, George Loh has said he does not the least envy President John Mahama as his first 100 days in office has been plagued with a lot of challenges which arguably has never been experienced in the life of a new government in Ghana’s political history.

He said President Mahama has not seen any peace as even before he could be sworn in, the opposition New Patriotic Party begun troubling him by challenging his legitimacy at the Supreme Court.

Contributing to a discussion on President Mahama’s first 100 days in office on Metro TV’s Good Morning Ghana show on Monday, Hon. George Loh stated that though the country has witnessed a lot of social agitation in the form of labour unrest and power crises, President Mahama has remained resolute and has efficiently steered the affairs of the country, a feat that is worthy of commendation.

“In spite of all these challenges, the president has not been distracted but has shown the strongman that he is and has managed to form his cabinet to help him govern the country’’ he said.

He said though some people have issues with the way the President shuffled his Regional Ministers to serve in regions they do not come from, he was of the view that that move was positive and will further knit us together as one people.

Hon. George Loh noted that despite that fact that the citizens have not been generally happy with the status quo, the President has managed to get the masses on board in the governance exercise and has comported himself remarkably on both the local and international scenes.

He encouraged Ghanaians to continue reposing their trust in President Mahama as he is poised to improve the living conditions of all citizens by introducing and implementing policies that will yield positive results.

Kwadwo Anim/GhanaMPs.gov.gh

The Member of Parliament for Asante Akim South, Kwaku Asante Boateng has come to the assistance of schools in his constituency in deplorable condition by providing building materials to renovate the facilities.

According to him, the current state of the classroom blocks are in such a bad state that it poses as a threat on the lives of the innocent pupils who study in them.

Speaking to GhanaMPs.gov.gh, Hon. Kwaku Asante Boateng stated that by Friday 19th April he would have distributed 500 bags of cement to be used in rehabilitating the affected buildings as soon as possible, as it would be sad to adopt a nonchalant attitude and see the children die a needless death.

He said after embarking on a thank you tour last week in his constituency which is made up of 146 towns and villages and constitutes about 5% of the total landmass of Ashante Region, it was realized that the major needs of his people were the lack of toilets, electricity and accommodation for teachers posted to the area.

Hon. Kwaku Asante Boateng added teachers who have been posted to schools in his constituencies have had to leave the town few months after arrival, a situation that has impacted negatively on quality of education in the area.

He disclosed that to address this worrying situation he has resolved to build a yet to be decided number of bungalows for the teachers every year until the problem is solved, while the constituents help the construction process through communal labour.

Kwadwo Anim/GhanaMPs.gov.gh

Nana Ato Arthur Member of Parliament (MP) for Komenda-Edina-Eguafo-Abram (KEEA) constituency, on Friday advocated the establishment of a college to enroll prison inmates in the country.

He said such a college would enable students serving jail terms to continue with their education to improve upon their knowledge and skills which would enhance their lives outside the prison.

Dr. Arthur said this on Friday at the inauguration of a newly constructed mosque at the Ankaful Main Camp Prison at Ankaful near Elmina, to serve as a place of worship for Muslims held in prison.

The mosque, which has a seating capacity of about 200, was built by the authorities of the Prisons with sponsorship from Sheikh Mustapha Ibrahim of Islamic Council for Development and Humanitarian Services (ICODEHS).

Dr Arthur promised to introduce the idea in Parliament and said if it was accepted he would personally champion its establishment.

Madam Matilda Baffour-Awuah, Acting Director General of Prisons Service, said the new vision of the Service was to foster private and public partnership – a phenomenon she believed would give it the advantage to enter into strategic partnerships.

She said the Service would focus on areas like agriculture and industries where there abound a lot of benefits, including the acquisition of knowledge and skills by the inmates and generation of revenues to expand the frontiers of their reformation and rehabilitation mandate.

Madam Baffour-Awuah commended Sheikh Ibrahim for the gesture and pointed out that the Prison Service had always cherished the partnership with religious bodies, which she noted was the area of bringing spiritual upliftment and hope to the prison inmates since “through religion one could see change that stems from the heart”.

She encouraged the inmates and others, who would be worshiping in the mosque, to hold the place with the highest of reverence and commitment to practice true worship and urged the inmates to lend themselves to the instructions of their religious’ leaders and officers so that they would be well prepared for re-entry into society upon their release.

Mr. Leopold Kwame Amoah Ansah, Deputy Director of Prisons (DDP) Officer In-charge of the Prisons, called on the public to see prison inmates just like everyone else outside the walls of the prison and that prisoners were not the irretrievable and vicious elements people perceived them to be.

He said there was a lot of hope in the Service and that if the society gave it the necessary support and resources to support its educational and vocational training programmes, it would be able to impact positively on the inmates’ skills and knowledge.

Mr. Ansah noted that if the inmates were given the requisite skills and knowledge, it would help them to become independent, resettled and get reintegrated into the society and contribute meaningfully towards national development.

He said it was the hope of the Service that the inmates committed themselves faithfully to the significance and purpose of the mosque and allowed the will of Allah to prevail so that they would have a better life.

Mr. Ansah appealed to Sheikh Ibrahim to assist the Prison Camp to dig a borehole to help address the water supply needs of the Ankaful prisons.

Sheik Ibrahim unveiled the plague and dedicated the mosque to the Almighty Allah.

The member of Parliament for Afram Plains south, Mr. Joseph Appiah Boateng has assisted 10 students with education scholarships.

The beneficiaries who are all students of the St Phidelis Senior High School in the constituency included 6 boys and 4 girls. The scholarship packages include payment of school fees, boarding fees and other relevant materials as they may require.

In an interview with Ghanamps.gov.gh, Mr. Appiah Boateng said his focus is to give as many of the youth in the constituency the opportunity to have formal education which will prepare them for the future.

He said about 30 students have also registered to be assisted and look forward to extending similar assistance to them. According to him, even before he was elected the MP, he assisted the school with 200 student mattresses, 200 plates, 200 buckets 150 blankets and 400 cups. The items were meant to provide comfort to students to be able to learn in a peaceful atmosphere.

The MP said youth development must be given the necessary support if the country wants to achieve accelerated development and he hopes to do his best in contributing his widow’s mite in this direction.

Dominic Shirimori/Ghanamps.gov.gh

The Member of Parliament for Gomoa Central, Rachel Nana Adwoa Appoh has rallied support for women’s soccer by urging corporate organizations to sponsor the National women’s football league as part of their corporate social responsibilities.

According to her, sustaining the women’s football league will not only serve as a ground for selecting players into the various national teams, but also create an avenue for women to discover their talents and subsequently realize their dreams as professional footballers.

She has further entreated the team management committee members of the various women national teams to identify talented players for future national assignments for Ghana.

In a press release on the just ended Ghana National Women’s Football League, the Hon. Rachel Appoh who is also a member of the parliamentary, select committee on youth and sports commended the Ghana Football Association (GFA) for putting up this competition for the women in the football fraternity.

She noted that the sustenance of the league and subsequent creation of divisions in the near future will also grant a platform for entrepreneurs to enter into partnership with the government agencies and other identifiable organization for business.

The youthful MP appealed to the team owners to name their clubs such that a common person on the street could identify him or herself with the team for a massive supporting base.

While commending all the teams that competed in the league for their participation, she singled out Hasaacas Ladies for praise for winning the maiden edition of the tournament.

Kwadwo Anim/GhanaMPs.gov.gh

The Member of Parliament for Sissala East, Sulemana Alijata Gbentie has donated a total of One Thousand and Ninety (1,090,000) pairs of Chinese canvas to twenty one (21) schools in her constituency.

According to her between 22 to 122 pairs of the foot ware were presented to individual schools depending on the number of children found to have need for the canvasses in those particular schools.

Speaking to GhanaMPs.gov.gh, Hon. Sulemana Alijata Gbentie stated that she was inspired by the need to support the children who have had to walk long distances barefooted to schools, a situation she described as worrying and one which affected the academic performance of the pupils.

She said it was even more disheartening to see the pupils walk barefooted on the sun especially during the harmattan season which left their feet cracked and badly hurting and also prevented some of them from attending school.

The MP who is also the immediate past District Chief Executive for Sissala East stated that the presentation of the items put smiles on the faces of the pupils who saw the items as a great relief.

Hon. Sulemana Alijata Gbentie noted that the donation was made possible through the support of Bright Generation Foundation, an NGO based in Kumasi.

She indicated that she further distributed a total of 200 solar torch lights to women groups in the area, while 50 pieces of the solar torch lights were presented to teachers in five villages in the area namely: Dimajaun, Wuru,Kwatun,Danu and Dasisan.

Hon. Sulemana Alijata Gbentie expressed her believe that the teachers who teach in these areas which have no electricity will go a long way in aiding the teachers prepare their teaching notes at night to impact knowledge in the pupils who are future leaders of Ghana.

Kwadwo Anim/GhanaMPs.gov.gh

The Member of Parliament for Nabdam constituency, Hon. Boniface Agambilla has contended that several road projects suspended and abandoned in the area were as a result of what he described as ‘management lapses, lack of vision and laziness’.

A number of road projects were within the last 4-5 years awarded for tarring to boost the road infrastructure in the district but these projects were however halted as contractors assigned to discharge works claimed that there were insufficient funds to complete the projects.

The MP in an interaction with Ghanamps.gov.gh expressed worry on the issue and therefore assured to embark on a follow –up to ascertain the real state of the various projects which have been neglected.

These are major feeder roads which include Asonge-Zanlerigu-Pelungu, Pelungu-Sakote, Sakote-Kusunaba, and Pelungu-Nangode junction roads which were awarded for reshape under the ambit of the Department of feeder roads.

Mr. Agambilla said he would double up efforts to ensure that contractors get back to work early as possible to improve the status of the road network in the district.

“MPs are not spending officers, but they can only advocate so the executive will dispatch financial provisions for work to be done”, Mr. Agambilla stressed.

Meanwhile the MP has stated that he would direct attention to improve the water situation and energy delivery programmes in the short term to enhance the wellbeing of his constituents.

Jonathan Adjei/Ghanamps.gov.gh