DAILY GRAPHIC, Wednesday, July 25, 2012, Pg. 11. Girl Guides and Girls Scouts workshop opens

Story: Mary Ankrah

A one-week workshop of the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts (WAGGGS) Africa Sub-Region opened in Accra last Monday.

The workshop is being hosted by the Ghana Girl Guides Association (GGGA) to highlight leadership and fund development.

It seeks to support member organisations to build their capacity in fund and leadership development with special focus on succession planning systems and to provide a guided platform for member organisations to address major challenges they face.

It is expected that the workshop would help the participants draw from the member countries, including Ghana, Liberia, Nigeria and India, to acquire practical tools and techniques on building and implementing a successful fundraising strategy.

The Head of Administration of Ashesi University College, Dr Esi E. Ansah, in her address, said there was the need for a conscious effort to make children learn and acquire qualities and lifestyles of those who train and groom them.

She said the notion that children were future leaders was not encouraging them to learn and do things as leaders now, since that notion made them think that they could wait till the future when they were given leadership positions then they would truly believe they were leaders.

“You are leaders at any age, where you are two years, five, and 12 or 20 years, it is not a future thing”, she emphasised.

She said the training and grooming of children must be a deliberate process and every Ghanaian must be involved in bringing up the kind of leaders the country wanted.

Dr Ansah, who is also the Chief Executive Officer of Axis Human Capital Limited, indicated that some of them tended to put up certain behaviours, hoping to that they would change in future when they became leaders, and, therefore, advised parents, guidance, teachers, religious leaders and all to train and groom children and strategies to involve them in the daily challenges and prospects of life.

He explained that because of globalisation, a lot of things had change, especially with social impact of the media, and urged parents to pay attention to those global changes which should instil the right values in children.

She also encouraged children and Ghanaians to take up voluntary work, adding that “it is important that when you commit your life to serve, you will not listen to anybody because you have the heart to do so”.

Addressing the gathering, the Chief Commissioner of GGGA, Mrs Juliana Ofori-Kissi, said that the GGGA became a full member of the WAGGGS since 1969 with 10 million members worldwide.

Being among the largest women organisations, she said the body was committed to helping girls and young women develop their potential and make them responsible citizens.

In line with that objective, Mrs Ofori-Kissi observed that GGGA had trained about 16, 000 girls to acquire skills in the informal sector, including leadership and career development, home craft and personal care, among other skills, towards the realisation of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) that relate to poverty alleviation, environmental sustainability and women empowerment.

“Many girls have benefited from the above mentioned skills training and we continue to spread our wings to reach out to more girls and young women in our society”, she added.

As part of the programme, GGA launched the fifth World Centre project of the WAGGGS of the Africa Sub-Region in Ghana.

DAILY GRAPHIC, Monday, July 23, 2012, Pg. 69. Ministry draft policy on composite flour

Story: Mary Ankrah
THE government has drafted a policy aimed to transform Ghana’s flour industry to regularly produce and market at least 50 per cent of flours as composite flour.

The draft policy which is underway is expected to be used in the bakery industry as a means to expand markets for locally produced crops including cassava, sweet potato and corn.

More so, the draft policy would enable the country to institutionalise the production and availability of composite flour containing at least five per cent of alternative flours by wheat flour millers by 2015.

This, according to the Ministry of Environment, Science and Technology (MEST) would create an enabling environment for the utilisation and consumption of composite flour to boost the country’s economy as well as create job opportunities for most Ghanaians.

The Minister of MEST, Ms Sherry Ayittey, made this known at a one-day consultative workshop on composite flour policy today (Wednesday) in Accra.

The workshop was to solicit for stakeholders input into the draft policy to increase public and institutional awareness of the socio-economic and commercial importance of composite flour production, utilisation and consumption in the country.

To that effect, MEST had inaugurated a 10-member committee to lead in the development of the policy document.

The committee include MEST, Ministries of Food and Agriculture, Trade and Industry, Finance and Economic Development; Flour Millers Association, Bankers Association, the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), Consumer Association, Council for Technicaland Vocational Education and Training (COTVET) and Association of Ghana Industries.

According to Mrs Ayittey, the government was keen on promoting local products especially where they guarantee the abundance of food at relatively affordable price to the low income people in society.

Composite flour, she said had the potential to reduce wheat imports by substituting local cereals, starches or proteins in traditional wheat products as the country cannot locally grow wheat  due to the climate and soil conditions which always make it imperative for the country to import wheat or wheat flour  to make bread or pastries.

She observed that despites various initiatives by the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of the United Nations, composite flour programmes in developing countries had not succeeded in reducing wheat imports even though extensive research had showed that accepted wheat products could be made with as much as 20 to 40 per cent with purified starches, 10 to 30 per cent with rice flour, five to 20 per cent cereal and root flours, or with three to 15 protein flours.

Such programmes, she indicated failed because of lack of regular supply or raw materials and so there was the need to improve transport infrastructure, suitable storage facilities and a technological capacity to ensure high and consistent quality of the produce.

In that direction, she said the government was taking steps to embrace commercialisation of composite not only by sponsoring and encouraging research but also would initiate plans to pilot the production of baked products in schools and hospitals.

Ms Ayittey expressed that with legislative backing, the government would reinforce the inclusion of not less than 10 per cent local products into flour for bread making to help transform those cereals or starchy crops into industrial and economic crops.

“The broader use of composite flour technologically would have positive repercussions by encouraging the use of local resources especially at the primary sector level,” she added.

That, she said would create new commercial outlets for family agricultural operations, processing units, and bakeries as well as reduced importation of wheat in the country.

In an interview with  the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Ambar Quality Foods Limited, Mrs Gertrude Quashigah, a participants at the workshop, she observed that the draft policy would add value to Ghanaian farmers to laud them for their hard work and would increase awareness to enable cateress to carry their food business to a different dimension.

“Ghanaian farmers are hardworking and the only way to remember them is to add value to their produce by processing and packaging and through this the country’s currency would be strengthened”, she expressed.

Let’s tap full potential of women in agriculture, Daily Graphic, Monday, July 23, 2012, page 11.

Women make up two-thirds of the workforce in agricultural production

Article: Mary Ankrah

The World Bank’s annual World Development Report, 2008 on Agriculture for Development has stated that “where women are the majority of smallhold farmers, failure to realise their full potential in agriculture is a contributory factor to low growth and food insecurity”.

In spite of the triple role women play as producers and processors on the farm, as workers and as care-givers in the household and in the extended families, they face greater barriers than men to increasing their productivity and income.

It is acknowledged that women around the world are the primary agents in providing for the wellbeing of their families and communities.

According to the United Nations (UN) Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) report of 1985, about 70 per cent of agricultural workers, 80 per cent of food producers, and 10 per cent of those who process basic foodstuffs are women and they also undertake 60 to 90 of the rural marketing; thus making up more than two-thirds of the workforce in agricultural production.

The FAO has indicated that while the overall proportion of the economically active population (EAP) working in agriculture declined during the 1990s, the percentage of economically active women working in agriculture at the global level remained nearly 50 per cent as of 2000, with an even higher percentage in developing countries (61 per cent) and least developing countries (LDCs) having 79 per cent.

Although FAO projections in 2010 indicate a continued reduction in the overall female participation in agriculture globally, the percentage of economically active women in agriculture in LDCs is projected to remain above 70 per cent.

However, at the Second international Conference on Women in Agriculture held in Washington, D.C. in 1998, a former Secretary of Agriculture of the United States of America (USA), Dan Glickman, stated “One of the biggest issue facing women farmers is the future of small farmers”, and that is certainly still true today.

The Keynote speaker for that conference, Tipper Gore, recognized that the important role of women in agriculture needed to be valued because they contribute to the economics of their households, communities, and the world. Unfortunately, little had change for female farmers around the world or for their counterparts in Africa, especially Ghana.

It is acknowledge that women are the key to the development of rural areas through their contributions to sustainable agriculture and rural development, including food security, yet they are often marginalized in the agricultural sector, and do not have ready access to funds or access to land and other factors of production.

Most female farmers in Africa are smallholder farmers. Besides being involved in weeding, transplanting and post-harvest activities, they are involved in agricultural activities ranging from crop farming, agro-processing to animal rearing. Indeed, diversity in agricultural enterprise is a hallmark of women in agriculture.

But, it is sad to note that in Africa, especially Ghana, the typical image of a woman farmer is a woman most often working with basic tools with a baby strapped on her back. Meanwhile the enormous effort made by this woman put food on the tables of many in Ghana and other parts of the world as well.

Statistics show that women are the key actors of Ghanaian farming, constituting over half of the agricultural labour force and producing 70 per cent of the country’s food. Women constitute 95 per cent of those involved in agro-processing and 85 per cent of those in food distribution.

A report of the Food and Agriculture Development Policy Phase II (FASDEP2), 2009 of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA), indicated that agriculture is a critical sector for women. That, about half (48.7 per cent) of the total female population is self-employed in agriculture, with the majority being engaged in food production.

Despite efforts by MoFA to promote gender mainstreaming in agriculture through the Gender and Agricultural Development Strategy (GADS) developed in the late 1990s, implementation of the strategy has not been effective since only one production of gender disaggregated data out of the eight policy statements in the GADS of MoFA is operational.

At the staff level, the Women in Agriculture Development (WIAD), which is tasked with promoting gender mainstreaming, agro-processing and nutrition, is the only one out of 12 directorates of MoFA headed by a woman, all the senior extension staff in Accra are males.

Also, there is no specific budget targeting women farmers under the budget of MoFA, apart from the allocation to WIAD. Even so, WIAD budget allocation in 2011 amounted to 0.4 per cent of MoFA’s budget, totaling GHc867, 762.

At recent forum held by ActionAid Ghana in collaboration with Green Earth Organisation, under the theme: “Smallholder Agriculture sensitive Manifestoes and Party Pledges to Reduce Poverty”, some female farmers who participated complained that gender inequality in the agricultural sector has severely limited their ability to contribute meaningfully to sustainable agricultural growth and development because programmes and projects are not systematically formulated around the different needs, interest, roles, responsibilities, status and influence in society of women and men.

They said inaccessibility to credit facilities and land, poor road network, lack of equipment and irrigation facilities and lack of storage facilities are some of the major challenges facing women farmers.

Speaking at the forum, the Treasure of the Farmer Base Organisation (FBO)in the Upper west Region, Jirapa District, Ms Galyuoni Clarissa indicated that despite the enormous efforts made by women in agriculture, only two out of 100 female headed households get extension services and one out of the eight policy statements in the gender and agricultural development strategy of MoFA, was operational.

“If all those things are done, there would be sufficient food available throughout the year; food would be less expensive, and we would be able to provide raw materials for industries as a result sustain some income for our household”, she added.

The government need to strengthen the implementation of the Gender and Agriculture Strategy, including provision of secured land; extension services and labour-saving agro-processing equipment; increase public spending to recognise unpaid work of women smallholder farmers and involve them more in decision-making.

On access to credit, the government need to develop subsidized and innovative credit programmes for women farmers and provide resources to support loan guarantee, insurance schemes and savings and credit associations to make it easier for women farmers to obtain loans from banks to increase their productivity.

More so, much of the scientific knowledge and technologies does not reach rural women for various reasons. This needs rectification. Research systems must also seek the inputs of women as they have historically been the source of much traditional knowledge and innovations. Hence, the government should empower women farmers with new knowledge and skills to bring them into the mainstream of agricultural development and reduce gender disparity.

In doing all that, the benefits will span generations and pay large dividends in the future, thus, it will attract many young women to go into agriculture.

Certainly, if the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) on gender equality (MDG3) and poverty and food security (MDG1) are mutually reinforced, gender equality promoted and women empowered in agriculture, Ghana will win sustainably the fight against poverty, especially among women in the rural areas.

DAILY GRAPHIC, Monday, July 23, 2012, Pg. 11. Let's tap full potential of women in agriculture

Article: Mary Ankrah

The World Bank’s annual World Development Report, 2008 on Agriculture for Development has stated that “where women are the majority of smallholder farmers, failure to realise their full potential in agriculture is a contributory factor to low growth and food insecurity”.

 In spite of the triple role women play as producers and processors on the farm, as workers and as care-givers in the household and in the extended families, they face greater barriers than men to increasing their productivity and income.

 It is acknowledged that women around the world are the primary agents in providing for the wellbeing of their families and communities.



Women farmers they face greater barriers

than men farmers to increasing their productivity and income.

According to the United Nations (UN) Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) report of 1985, about 70 per cent of the agricultural workers, 80 per cent of food producers, and 10 per cent of those who process basic foodstuffs are women and they also undertake 60 to 90 per cent of the rural marketing; thus making up more than two-third of the workforce in agricultural production.

The FAO has indicated that while the overall proportion of the economically active population (EAP) working in agriculture declined during the 1990s, the percentage of economically active women working in agriculture at the global level remained nearly 50 per cent as of 2000, with an even higher percentage in developing countries (61 per cent) and in Least Developed Countries (LDCs) having 79 per cent.

 Although FAO projections to 2010 indicate a continued reduction in the overall female participation in agriculture globally, the percentage of economically active women working in agriculture in LDCs projected to remain above 70 per cent. 

However, at the Second International Conference on Women in Agriculture held in Washington, D.C., in 1998, the former Secretary of Agriculture of the United State of America (USA), Dan Glickman, stated “One of the biggest issues facing women farmers is the future of small farmers”, and that is certainly still true today.

The keynote speaker for that conference, Tipper Gore, recognised that the important role of women in agriculture needed to be valued because they contribute to the economics of their households, communities, and the world. Unfortunately, little had changed for female farmers around the world or for their counterparts in Africa, especially Ghana.



It is acknowledged that women are the key to the development of rural areas through their contributions to sustainable agriculture and rural development, including food security, yet they are often marginalised in the agricultural sector, and do not share equal status at the banks or within the agribusiness sector.



Most female farmers in Africa are smallholder farmers. Besides being involved in weeding, transplanting and post-harvest activities, they are involved in agricultural activities ranging from crop farming, agro-processing to animal rearing. Indeed, diversity in agricultural enterprise is a hallmark of women in agriculture.

But, it is sad to note that in Africa, especially Ghana, the typical image of a woman farmer is a woman most often barefoot and working with basic tools with a baby strapped on her back.  Meanwhile the enormous effort made by this woman put food on the tables of many in Ghana and other parts of the world as well.



Statistics shows that women are the key actors of Ghanaian farming, constituting over half the agricultural labour force and producing 70 per cent of the country’s food. Women constitute 95 per cent of those involved in agro-processing and 85 per cent of those in food distribution.

A report of the Food and Agriculture Development Policy Phase II (FASDEP 2), 2009 of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA), indicated that agriculture is a critical sector for women.



That, about half (48.7 per cent) of the total female population is self-employed in agriculture, with the majority being engaged in food production.

Despites efforts by MoFA to promote gender mainstreaming in MoFA, through the Gender and Agricultural Development Strategy (GADS) developed in the late 1990’s, implementation of the strategy has not effective since only one production of gender disaggregated data out of the eight policy statements in the GADS of MoFA is operational.

At the staff level, the Women in Agriculture Department (WIAD), which is tasked  with promoting gender mainstreaming, agro-processing and nutrition is the only one out of 12 directorates of MoFA headed by a woman, all the senior extension staff in Accra are males.

Also, there is no specific budget targeting women farmers under the budget of MoFA, apart from the allocation to WIAD. Even so, WIAD budget allocation in 2011 amounted to 0.4 per cent of MoFA’s budget, totalling GH¢867,762.

At a recent forum held by ActionAid Ghana in collaboration with green Earth Organisation, under the theme: “Smallholder Agriculture Sensitive Manifestoes and Party Pledges to Reduce Poverty”, some female farmers who participated complained that gender inequality in the agricultural sector has severely limited their ability to contribute meaningfully to sustainable agricultural growth and development because programmes and projects are not systematically formulated around different needs, interest, roles, responsibilities, status and influence in society of women and men.

They said inaccessibility to credit facilities and lands, poor road network, lack of equipment and irrigation facilities and lack of storage facilities are some of the major challenges facing women farmers.

Speaking at the forum, the Treasure of the Farmer Base Organisation (FBO) in the Upper West Region, Jirapa District, Ms Galyuoni Clarissa, indicated that despite the enormous efforts made by women in agriculture, only two out of 100 female headed households get extension services and one out of the eight policy statements in the gender and agricultural development strategy of MoFa, was operational.

“If all those things are done, there would be sufficient food available throughout the year; food would be less expensive, and we would be able to provide raw materials for industries as a result sustain some income for our household”, she added.

The government need to strengthen the implementation of the Gender and Agriculture Development strategy, including the provision of secured land; extension services and labour-saving agro-processing  equipment; increase public spending to recognise unpaid work of women smallholder farmers and involve them more in decision-making.

On access to credit, the government need to develop subsidised and innovative credit programmes for women farmers and provide resources to support loan guarantee, insurance schemes and savings and credit associations to make it easier for women farmers to obtain loans to increase their productivity.

More so, much of the scientific knowledge and technologies does not reach rural women for various reasons. That needs rectification. Research systems must also seek the inputs of women, as they have historically been the source of much traditional knowledge and innovations. Hence, the government should empower women farmers with new knowledge and skills to bring them into the mainstream of agricultural development and reduce gender disparity.

Women make up two-third of the workforce in agricultural production

In doing all those, the benefits will span generations and pay large dividends in the future, thus, it will attract many young women to go into agriculture.



Certainly, if the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) on gender equality (MDG 3) and poverty and food security (MDG 1) are mutually reinforced, gender equality promoted and women empowered in agriculture, Ghana will win sustainably the fight against poverty especially among women in the rural areas.   

DAILY GRAPHIC, Tuesday, July 18, 2012, Front Page & Pg. 3. Military aircraft loses fuel tanks in flight




Some journalists being conducted round the K8 aircraft at the Air Force Base in Accra after the accident

  Story: Emmanuel Bonney & Mary Ankrah

Two fuel tanks of a Ghana Air Force jet fighter came off the aircraft and crashed into pieces on the ground at Sakora in the Adentan municipality of Accra yesterday.

One of the tanks fell near a house, while the other landed in an open space.

In spite of the incident, the aircraft, which was on a routine training flight under the command of two pilots, returned safely to the Air Force Base.

There were no casualties.

The K-8 jet fighter which had taken off at the Air Force Base at 10.27 a.m. returned to base at 10.35 a.m. after losing the fuel tanks.

The incident, which drew a large crowd, including students, to the scenes, did not damage any property or cause injuries to anybody at Sakora.

There was a huge police presence to ensure law and order.

The military plane is said to have been purchased by the government from China about four years ago. 

When the Daily Graphic got to the scene, the place had been cordoned off, while some officials of the Ghana Air Force, the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO) and the police were making efforts to pull out one of the tanks which was stuck in the ground near a septic tank and a fully fenced house.

Parts of the tank were also seen scattered around the area.

Before falling onto the ground, the tank had ripped off some leaves of a mango tree.

In the compound of the house was the overpowering scent of the fuel which had discoloured some of the leaves of the mango tree.

Madam Lahira Inusah, a sister to the landlord of the house, who was a few metres away from where the tank fell, escaped unhurt.

She told the Daily Graphic that she was outside the house with her dog when she heard a big bang on the compound.

She said minutes later, she saw the aircraft fly past.

“Before I realised, the dog had run away, leaving me alone. I then looked to my left and saw the tank crash and the fuel spill. I was lucky because it could have hit me or fallen onto the house,” she said.

Madam Inusah's brother, Ibrahim Maida, who was in town when the tank fell into their house, pledged to assist in investigations into the cause of the incident.

A resident of the adjacent house, Philip Kwawu, said he saw the tank land in the house.

He said he was going to his room when he saw the tank land in the nearby house and so he mobilised three persons and then scaled the wall into the house to find out what had happened after hearing a loud noise.

It was on entering the house that he found the tank stuck in the ground, a situation that compelled him to call the police.

When contacted, the Director of Public Affairs of the Ghana Armed Forces, Colonel M’bawine Atintande, told journalists that additional fuel tanks on the aircraft  helped to sustain the jet fighter.

He said the cause of the incident would be known after investigations into it had been completed.

The Madina Police Commander, Chief Superintendent Anderson Fosu-Ackaah, told the Daily Graphic that the police were investigating the incident.

The torn pieces of the tanks have been retrieved from the ground by the police and sent to the Air Force Base, while the spilled fuel has been scooped into two gallons and a big rubber bowl.  

DAILY GRAPHIC, Tuesday, July 17, 2012, Centre Spread Pg.32 & 33. NHIA registers 700 psychiatric patients

Story: Mary Ankrah

About 700 inmates of the Accra Psychiatric Hospital (APH) were yesterday signed onto the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) to access healthcare service free of charge.

The exercise, undertaken by the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA), is intended to save the hospital from huge sums of money which it spends on the medical bills of the inmates.

The registration of the 711 inmates brings to 10,000 the number of inmates of psychiatrics, leprosaria and orphanage across the country so far registered under the NHIS by NHIA.

Speaking at a ceremony at which the NHIA presented registration cards of the inmates to the APH, the Chief Psychiatrist of the hospital, Dr Akwasi Osei, said the management of the hospital had challenges in accessing health care for the inmates.

That, he said, was because in most cases the management had to plead with nurses in other hospitals to give the inmates health care, particularly when the relatives of the inmates did not show up to pay the medical bills.

Dr Osei was, therefore, full of praise for the NHIA for registering the inmates onto the NHIS and called on the government to expedite the review of the NHIS.

The Deputy Minister of Health, Mr Rojo Mettle-Nunoo, after inspecting facilities at the hospital, noted that mental health structures were not meant for residential purposes.

For that reason, he said, cured inmates who were still at the hospital could be sent home to reunite with their families and loved ones.

Mr Mettle-Nunoo said after the NHIS law had been amended, psychiatric patients would have full benefit of NHIS exemptions that the scheme would make available for all mentally ill patients.

DAILY GRAPHIC, Thursday, July 12, 2012, Pg. 28. Residents appeal to Zoomlion to collect refuse.



The heap of waste littered around the public toilet at Korle-bu Sempe-Korlegonno



Story & Picture: Mary Ankrah

RESIDENTS and food vendors at Korle-bu Sempe-Korleguno, a suburb of Accra have called on Zoomlion to expedite the collection of refuse container in the area because it is emitting unpleasant odour in the vicinity. 

For more than a week now, the refuse container which has been placed close to a public toilet, has been overflowing with garbage.

Some of the residents who expressed their displeasure at the way Zoomlion Limited had been collecting the refuse at the area and called on Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) to intervene as the container is close to the Korle-bu Teaching Hospital.

“The whole area is sinking and it is worse when it rains. The stench has become unbearable for us. The refuse breeds mosquitoes and flies which is not safe for our health”, a resident, Nii Ankrah complained to the Daily Graphic.

 

According to him, Zoomlion always collects of the refuse every weeks when the container has been filled to the brim.

Another resident, Juliet Okai, said Zoomlion always attributed the delay in the collection of the refuse to faulty vehicles and other pressing issues.

Two food vendors who trade along the Global Addo road, Naa Amerley, a beans seller and Suma, a kenkye seller, indicated that they are forced to operate under the insanitary conditions, so they have devised a means to protect their foods from contamination.

"The waste keep pilling every day; the waste managers don't do the collection in time and that is what is making the garbage pile up day in and day out", they noted.

A visit to the area showed residents dumping their household waste on the refuse pile around the container.

Some passers-by had also covered their noses and mouth with handkerchiefs to avoid the stench.

Cynthia Osei, another food vendor in the area complained about the recent development which, she said, had overwhelmed the area.

She said the problem required urgent attention and suggested that additional refuse container be sent to the area.

The caretaker of the refused dump, Samuel Tetteh Addo, explained that whenever the container was full, he alerts the Assemblyman and some authorities of Zoomlion Limited for collection but they usually delay.

“I sometimes call the Assemblyman and some authorities when Zoomlion do not come to collect the refuse on time and sometimes through persistent intervention they would finally come for the refuse”, he further stated.

DAILY GRAPHIC, Thursday, July 12, 2012, Pg. 48. 'Teacher must be equipped well'

Story: Mary Ankrah

The Country Director of the World University of Canada, Mr Akwasi Addai-Boahene, has said Ghanaian teachers need to be equipped with effective teaching methodologies to impart the right knowledge to school children.

The methodologies, he said, could be combined with the use of modern technologies and Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) to address classroom challenges to make learning enjoyable for children. “We need to design the education sector as a learning organisation which would address emerging issues and confront challenges with research and innovation,” he opined.

Mr Addai-Boahene stated this at the Star-Ghana semi-annual education convention in Accra.

The convention, which brought together Star-Ghana education grant partners and civil society organisations, was on the theme: “Building Partnership towards Quality Education Outcomes”.

It sought to bring the education grant partners to learn lessons about specific projects funded by Star-Ghana were contributing to accountable education service delivery.

Speaking at the convention, Mr Addai-Boahene observed that young children were desperate to be in schools with competent teachers, where they could learn, receive attention, make friends and increase their self-worth.

According to him, there is the need to create a new teacher with the sense of commitment, passion, professionalism and the desire to transform the world with his or her skill.

He disclosed that between 2001 and 2002 and 2008 and 2009, the number of primary school teachers grew from 80, 552 to 114,421, while untrained teachers grew from 35.1 per cent to 52 per cent, resulting in more students for each qualified teacher.

In a bid to remedy the current situation, he said, the only way the country could accelerate the pace of development and growth into a middle income status was to make education more relevant to the social, cultural and economic desires of beneficiaries including communities, parents and children.

“These people want the type of education that will make them dominate  and understand their environment, improve and modernise their culture, tradition as well as make them relate to the wider society in a functionally useful way,” he said.

He recommended that it was time to shift from education reforms that were input-focused to outcome-driven, stressing the need for policy makers, education managers, donors and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to collaborate to make learning the ultimate objective of education.

For his part, a representative of the National Catholic Secretariat, Mr Samuel Zan, called on the government to partner with religious bodies and civil society organisations for the realisation of true quality education service delivery.

DAILY GRAPHIC, Wednesday, July 11, 2012, Pg. 48 e-Government network to connect public schools



The Deputy Minister of Communications, Mr Attuquaye Armah



Story: Mary Ankrah

The Deputy Minister of Communications, Mr Attuquaye Armah, says the e-Government network infrastructure will soon be put in place to ride on the national communication fibre backbone to connect all public and educational institutions and district assembles.

The infrastructure, he said, would facilitate the provision of last mile solutions by the private sector to ensure a complete network infrastructure and provide adequate bandwidth capacity for e-services.

To that end, he said, the ministry had developed an information technology and information management (IT/IM) scheme of service to assist the public service in attracting and retaining highly skilled IT/IM personnel to support the transformation in the government sector through the development  and exploitation of information and Communication Technologies(ICTs).

The Minister noted that as a result of the above development, well trained IT professionals were needed in areas such as software engineering/programming/analysis, database administration, networking, e-commence, IT project management and internet application.

Mr Armah made this known at the third Ghana Telecom University College (GTUC) congregation last Saturday in Accra.

Out of the total of 253 students who graduated, 243 received either MSc or and MBA Degree in programmes including Supply Chain Management, Engineering and Management, Engineering Business Management, Finance, Management Information  System, Oil and Gas Engineering Project Management Logistics and IT while 10 students received MSc in Telecom Management.

Speaking at the third GTUC congregation, Mr Armah, however, indicated that unlike years back when students who came out of school had jobs easily, that had changed currently because the number of students who graduated yearly far exceeded the number of job vacancies available and that had made the job market very competitive.

It was for that change, he observed, that the Ministry had established the Ghana Multimedia Incubator Centre (GMIC) to promote innovation and entrepreneurship by providing a supportive and sharing environment to ICT business start-ups during initial stages of development to reduce the failure rate of such businesses.

Mr Armah also urged students and educational institutions to collaborate with government to collectively take advantage of the opportunities that ICTs offered. He added that “this way, the government, students and educational institutions could contribute towards the socioeconomic development of the country.”

In his keynote address, the Rector of Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA), Prof. Yaw Agyeman Badu, noted that if the technological or digital divide was not tackled as a matter of urgency, institutions would continue to miseducate the current and future generation of students.

In that direction, he said, for Ghana to play a meaningful role in the global economy, it needed to place measures to integrate technology into the entire educational curriculum from primary to the tertiary level of education.

In addition, Prof. Badu emphasised the need for the country to move rapidly to bridge the technological gap so that the country would truly use ICT to leverage the country’ development process.



A cross section of the graduating students



JUNIOR GRAPHIC, July 11-17, 2012, Back page. Creator Schools wins tournament



The senior and junior teams of Creator Schools displaying their trophies

 Story: Mary Ankrah

THE second edition of the Tema Inter Schools Baseball Tournament has ended on an exciting note with defending champions, the Creator Schools, defying all odds to win the glittering trophy at stake.

The two-day tournament, held at the Chemu School Park at Tema Community Seven, was organised by the Ghana Baseball and Softball Association for private schools in the Tema Metropolis.

Students who participated in the tournament were from Datus Complex Schools, Queen Esther School, Deks School, Creator Schools and Celestial School.

At the end of the highly competitive contest, it was the senior and junior teams of Creator Schools that exhibited the best skills, hitting, dashing and completing the three mandated innings in style to win the cup.

In a short interview with the Sports Director of Creator Schools, Mr Mathew Kofi Okyere, he said, as defending champions, his team prepared very well to maintain the trophy.

“The trophy we won last year gingered us to go all out to win again”, adding that the massive support they enjoyed from the student body and the motivation from the school’s management also played a role in the victory.

DAILY GRAPHIC, July 10, 2012,Front Page & Pg. 3. MTTU to launch public education on new road law

Story: Graphic Reporters
THE full enforcement of the new Legislative Instrument (LI) which bans the use of hand-held communication gadgets and motorcycles for commercial activities may have to wait for now.

This is because officials of the Motor Traffic and Transport Unit (MTTU) of the Ghana Police Service are now to educate themselves on the provisions of the new law to enable them to have a clearer understanding of the road regulations.

Commenting on the new law and its enforcement, the Commander of the MTTU, Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACOP) Mr Angwubutoge Awuni, told the Daily Graphic in Accra yesterday that since the law had just come into effect, it was important that personnel of the MTTU had a detailed understanding of the provisions before enforcing it.

“Enforcing the law without a detailed understanding of it will end up creating problems,” he said.

According to him, the MTTU had planned a three-month intensive training for its personnel in the 10 regions to educate them on the new law to forestall arbitrariness in its implementation.

Under the LI, it is an offence for drivers to use hand-held communication devices such as mobile phones to make calls, send or receive messages or access the Internet while driving or operate television monitors on the dashboard of moving vehicles.

Only members of the security agencies are permitted under the law to use mobile phones and other communication devices in the execution of their duties.

Even before the coming into force of the LI, the use of hand-held communication devices while driving was considered dangerous driving under the Road Traffic Act, Act 683.

The LI now harmonises most of the road traffic regulations into one complete document, hence the need for the personnel of the MTTU to educate themselves on it.

But even before the authorities begin to enforce the law, some commercial motorcycle operators, popularly called Okada, have adopted clandestine methods to outwit policemen.

Some have begun mobile operations soliciting for clients, while those bold enough to stay at stations speed off on seeing policemen approach.

Mr Awuni said personnel of the MTTU had also been asked to buy copies of the LI to be able to better enforce the law.

He, however, gave an assurance that if motorists were found breaking the law, they would be arrested and dealt with, stressing that even before the new LI came into effect, the use of mobile phones while driving was considered an offence under Act 683.

On the use of earpiece or Bluetooth while driving, he explained that although it was not an offence, the MTTU admonished motorists to desist from using it while driving.

He called on motorists to make conscious efforts to respect the new law, since voluntary compliance would not only save their lives but also save them from brushes with the law.

Mr Awuni also urged the National Commission on Civic Education (NCCE) and the National Road Safety Commission (NRSC) to embark on a public education exercise to create more public awareness of the new law, writes Dominic Moses Awaih

Since the law came into effect, no arrests had been made, he added.

For his part, the Head of Communications at the NRSC, Mr Kwame Koduah Atuahene, said many road accidents could be attributed to the actions of the Okada riders.

He said although people acknowledged the positive influence of Okada operators in their lives and businesses, that could not be compared to the harm and danger the operators posed to people’s safety.

Mr Atuahene explained that in countries such as Nigeria, Benin and Togo where Okada operations had been legalised, the authorities were now confronted by many challenges because of the devastation the Okada business had caused their economies.

He said insurance companies in Ghana had refrained from taking the Okada business on board because the insurers considered the Okada business as high risk, Gloria Bamfo reports.

Meanwhile, some commercial drivers have particularly welcomed the decision to ban the use of motorcycles for commercial activities and described it as long overdue, report Zainabu Issah, Alice Aryeetey and Mary Ankrah.

According to the drivers, the commercial motorcycles were major contributory factors to road accidents in areas where they operated.

They commended the government for passing the law, saying it would help reduce the number of accidents on the roads.

One of the drivers, Mr David Otoo, said he was glad the Okada business would come to a stop because the riders caused a lot of nuisance on the roads.

A businessman, Mr Rashid Kanka, described the law as a very good one, noting that the only problem he had with it was whether or not it would be implemented to the letter.

He said his other concern with the new law was how business people would communicate with their clients in the event that they were held up in traffic.

While describing the law as excellent, a doctor at the Maamobi Polyclinic who refused to give his name, however, wondered why doctors were excluded from the list of those permitted to use communication devices while driving, since their work was also delicate.

He explained that with the heavy traffic situation and other operational challenges, most doctors gave instructions to nurses via the mobile phone before getting to  hospitals.

A driver with the State Transport Company (STC), Mr Agyekum Osei, explained that as a long-distance driver, he needed to keep in touch with friends and family at any time of the day.

“I need to be able to call my wife and children and also respond to their calls. What if I don’t pick her calls? She will say I do not have time for her,” he lamented.

A taxi driver who plies the Kaneshie-Korle-bu route, Mr Richard Addotey Addo, said he was grateful to the government for enacting the law.

According to him, it was a good initiative by the government and hoped that it would be implemented and enforced.

A tour of some of the Okada stations at the General Post Office area, the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital and Abossey Okai indicated that the Okada operators had adopted clandestine methods to outwit any law enforcement officer.

Instead of parking at their usual stations, some of them ride around soliciting for clients.

They mostly go around beckoning passengers or stopping to find out from people standing along the road whether they want their services or not.

Those who are bold to park at their usual stations, however, speed off on seeing policemen.

Some drivers at the Kwame Nkrumah Circle Trotro Station said if the law banned the use of hand-held devices while driving, then no one should be exempted.

According to them, those permitted to use hand-held devices could also cause accidents
They expressed concern over the selective exemption of security personnel in the use of communication devices and stressed that those in the health and other professions were equally important.

At Abossey Okai in Accra, a section of motorcycle riders said the law would effectively deprive them of their source of livelihood.

The law prohibits the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority (DVLA) from registering motorcycles for the purpose of carrying passengers for the payment of fares.

An Okada rider, Mr Alhassan Antaru, who spoke on behalf of his fellow riders, said the law had put him out of job.

He described the law as not only unfair but also discriminatory, as it prevented those who had opted for the Okada business from getting their daily bread.

DAILY GRAPHIC, Monday July 2, 2012, Pg.38Ga Rural Bank records 28% rise in turnover

Story: Mary Ankrah

THE Ga Rural Bank Limited has increased its annual turnover from GH¢1.643 million in 2010 to GH¢2.12 million in 2011. The increase is 28.75 per cent.

The bank also posted a profit after tax of GH¢ 247, 435 in 2011 compared to the GH¢ 211,756 that it recorded in 2010.

Total assets of the bank increased from GH¢10.295 million to GH¢13,329.014, representing an increase of 29.48 per cent.

The increase was mainly as a result of  loans and advances which increased by 28.46 per cent in the year.
The Board Chairman of the Bank, Mr G. S. K. Anku, said this at the bank’s 20th annual general meeting at Amasaman in the Ga West District of the Greater Accra Region on Saturday.

According to Mr Anku, investments in government securities also improved from GH¢5,197,850 to GH¢6,441,500, an increase of 23.93 per cent while customer deposits rose from GH¢8,855,397 to GH¢11,508,436, representing about 30 per cent increase, which enabled the bank to improve its investments in government securities.

Shareholders’ funds, improved by 13.38 per cent from GH¢281,278 to GH¢318,910, statutory reserve fund increased by 19.06 per cent from GH¢324,590 in 2010 to GH¢386,449 in 2011, while income surplus improved from GH¢568,334 to GH¢722,634 (27.15 per cent increase).

Mr Anku disclosed that the bank had increased its share price of 0.12 pesewas to 0.20 pesewas per share with effect from July 2, 2012 to shareholders.

He said the board had recommended the payment of dividend of three pesewas per share amounting to GH¢58, 866.99. This year’s dividend per share is 50 per cent higher than the 2010 dividend which was two pesewas per share.

The board chairman added that the increase was to help motivate shareholders and other investors to buy more shares in the coming days.

In the bid to alleviate poverty, Mr Anku  said the bank would continue to offer loans and other support services to small scale businesses in the country, especially those operating in its catchment area.