Abokobi, a community in the Greater Accra Region and the capital town of the Ga East Municipal Assembly, is unique and can be aptly described as the Vatican City of Ghana. The Vatican City in Rome has its own way of governing itself, having nothing to do with Rome, in terms of authority, with the Pope as its leader, and Abokobi operates along similar lines of governance. Authorities  There are three authorities at Abokobi – The Church, representing the religious authority; the chief, representing the traditional authority; and the Municipal Chief Executive, representing the political authority.  The district minister of the Presbyterian Church at Abokobi is the overall leader in the community. Chieftaincy at Abokobi is an extension of the church and so the Abokobi Mantse takes instructions from the leader of the church in the community.  Chieftaincy at Abokobi To become a chief of Abokobi, you must first be a Presbyterian and attain the position of a presbyter, a senior position in the Presbyterian Church.  Uniquely, the chief of Abokobi does not perform libation at functions and is elected by the leadership of the church. He sits in the session of the church, which is its highest governing body, where important decisions are taken. He is not under any divisional chief or paramountcy. He, therefore, has nothing to do with the chieftaincy hierarchy and is not answerable to any traditional leader. Another uniqueness of the Abokobi chieftaincy is the fact that it is not hereditary. Anybody can become a chief provided the one is a Presbyterian and more importantly a Presbyter. There is no palace and each chief operates from his house. The royal family of Abokobi is the Presbyterian Church, with the Linguist Stick of the Abokobi Chieftaincy being the Bible. Apart from sitting in the Session in the church, the chief runs his own council known as the kooshie, where he adjudicates traditional issues with the assistance of his elders. Any member of the community who receives summons from the chief for any infraction and refuses to respond is made to appear before the church session. Unlike other chiefs who have oversight of lands in their traditional areas and can, therefore, decide what to do with the land or who to sell the land to, at Abokobi, the land is vested in the church. Little wonder incidents of land guard clashes and terrorising do not exist at Abokobi. Origin of Abokobi Giving an insight into the Abokobi settlement, the MCE for Ga East Metropolis, Mr Kwao Sackey, said the community was founded by the Basel Missionaries in the 1800s and the settlers were basically converts of the Presbyterian Church. “So all the early settlers were Presbyterians. That is why the chief of Abokobi does not perform libation. Indeed, the chief of Abokobi can perform everything that a presbyter can do. That is the uniqueness of Abokobi. I tell you, there is no place in the world like Abokobi,” he stressed. He said the church owned the property of Abokobi, explaining that residents had to abide by some moral standards. “You cannot live at Abokobi and go out, get drunk and come and misbehave in the town. If you want to live at Abokobi you have to abide by the rules and regulations of the church,” Mr Sackey added. The MCE was proud that there was a high level of discipline in the community and attributed it to the influence of the church on the people. The neatness of the community, Mr Sackey stressed, attested to the level of discipline (Presbyterian discipline) in that community, stressing, “You can hardly see someone littering the community or throwing away rubbish indiscriminately.” Historically, he said the Danish slave routes from the Mountains to the Christianborg Castle passed through the Abokobi township, explaining that there were still some traits to confirm that, “and that is why I said Abokobi is unique in every sense of the word.” “Indeed, Abokobi is the Presbyterian Church and the Church is Abokobi,” Mr Sackey emphasised. Writer’s email: [email protected]  

Fire on Friday night razed down a wooden structure that housed eight families at Shukura in Accra. When the Daily Graphic reached the scene at about 9: 35 p.m,  personnel from the Ghana National Fire Service had managed to bring the fire under control. According to eyewitnesses, the fire started around 8: 50 p.m. There were no casualties, except for a young man who sustained a minor injury when he fell from the ceiling while assisting to put out the fire. The officer in charge of the Korle-Bu station of the Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS), Mr Edmund Clottey, who spoke to the Daily Graphic at the scene, said the fire personnel went to the scene after receiving a call. He said they had a hectic time bringing the fire under control, partly because they faced some resistance from the residents in the area who were not happy the fire personnel did not respond promptly to their call for help. Victims When the Daily Graphic visited the scene on Saturday morning, the victims were still counting their losses. Narrating the incident, one of them, who gave her name as Hannah Drowaah, said there was power outage around 6 p.m. and shortly afterwards, a neighbour started shouting that there was fire.   She said she quickly picked up her child and together with her mother and grandmother, rushed out of their room.  “The smoke was so intense that we couldn’t enter again to salvage anything,” she added. Madam Drowaah believed that had the fire personnel arrived a little earlier, the plight of the victims would not have been that worse. “At least we could have salvaged some of our belongings,” she said. Officials from the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO) later visited the fire victims. Meanwhile, the Assembly Member for the Mambrouk Electoral Area were the fire occured, Alhaji Peter Ahmed Quarshie, has called on the government and other organisations to come to the aid of the fire victims.

  Mrs Elizabeth Ofosu-Agyare, Minister of Tourism, Creative Arts and Culture,  has advised consumers of alcoholic beverages to reduce  their intake since too much of it is not good for them. "Alcoholic beverages have health implications so consumers should reduce the intake",  she said  She made  the statement at the media launch of the beer and wine festival last Friday at the Accra International Conference Centre. The minister urged the beer and wine manufacturers to continue to produce good quality beverage to help improve the economy of the nation. She encouraged manufacturers to package their products well so as to meet the demands of the international market. {gallery}BeerWine{/gallery}  

    Friends of Very Rev. Monsignor Roger Aboteyuure in Accra have in the spirit of Christmas raised GH¢80,000 to support the new Bolgatanga cathedral project conceived by the monsignor in 1993. Work on the Sacred Heart of Jesus Cathedral project commenced in 2003. The amount was realised at a fund-raising programme dubbed, “An evening with Monsignor Aboteyuure and friends” in Accra. The programme offered Monsignor Aboteyuure the opportunity to thank all contributors to the project and to bring attendees up to speed on the current status of the project.  He said the growth of the Catholic Church in the Navrongo-Bolgatanga Diocese, especially Bolgatanga Central, made the current church rather too small to accommodate worshippers.  He said when completed, the cathedral would have the capacity to seat 10,000 people. It would also have eight offices, an Adoration Chapel and a church hall that would serve several purposes.  In a presentation, Very Rev. Fr Moses Akebule said although the cathedral was not completed, it currently served as the venue for major church events in the diocese, and called on well-wishers and friends in other regions to emulate the Accra example to accelerate the project. Mr Lance Adogba, Chairman of the organising committee, thanked Monsignor Aboteyuure for honouring the invitation to spend time with the group. Msgr Aboteyuure was born at Atulababisi in Bolgatanga in the Upper East Region and was ordained priest in the Roman Catholic Church in 1965. He has rendered about 58 years’ service to the church.          Monsignor Roger Aboteyuure is also credited for building the Kongo Spiritual Renewal Centre and nurturing the barren Kongo hill into a green forest, providing wells, schools and sponsoring many students from the area to go to tertiary institutions. He also helped to bring electricity to the Nabdam area by connecting the Kongo community to the national grid before the government expanded the project in 1997.    

  The Executive Director, International Trade Institute for West Africa, Mrs Getrude Nimako-Boateng, has said drug addiction among students was a social scourge confronting educational establishments, families and societies. “Students engage in drug peddling and consumption sometimes under the influence of other students, some family members or friends,” she said. Mrs Nimako-Boateng, who was speaking at the 70th Anniversary Speech and Prize Giving Day of the Ghana Senior High School (GHANASS) in Koforidua, said that habit had the powerful effect of destroying the lives of those dependent on it. She said some students who had fallen to drugs ended up in psychiatric hospitals. “Some students are able to complete their studies, find jobs but  are unable to shake off their dependence on drugs and fall deeper into the abyss of drug addiction that eventually destroys their brilliant career”,she said. Mrs Nimako-Boateng urged those students who were dependent on narcotics to seek professional assistance before it was too late. She told the students to focus on their studies to be successful in life. The Very Reverend Abraham Osei Donkor, the Headmaster of the school, appealed to the old students  Association to form a cluster of year groups to pool resources and expertise to address some of the numerous challenges facing the institution. He appealed to the government to improve the infrastructure of senior high schools by providing them with more facilities to enable them to double the intake of form one students. Reverend Donkor said the school had taken on board 800 fresh students, 350 boys and 450 girls. He appealed to the government to provide the school with at least one two-storey dormitory block for the boys, as well as an ultra-modern multi-purpose assembly hall to seat 2,500 students. He said out of 1,140 students the school presented for the 2013 West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE), 1,061 passed in eight subjects, 70 in seven subjects and seven in six subjects.  Reverend Donkor said the school performed creditably in the zonal games held in Koforidua where the boys came first in hockey, third in table tennis; the girls were wonderful -second each in hockey, volleyball, handball and basketball. —GNA  

  The creation of livelihood opportunities for women in the northern part of the country is critical in dealing with the influx of underaged girls to urban Accra to engage in head porterage, popularly called ‘Kayayei’. This came to light at a sensitisation meeting with the Women and Children (Mother-to-Child) Sub-Committee of the Sissala West District at Gwollu in the Upper West Region.  The meeting identified other factors that accounted for the phenomenon to include widespread poverty, large family size resulting in high dependency and chronic food insecurity. The forum was organised by a non-governmental social work, children, women and marginalised group’s advocacy and policy influencing organisation, Centre for Development Initiative (CDI). The CDI is collaborating with the Women and Children Sub-Committees of the Madina and Adentan Municipal Assemblies which are considered to be the receiving, transit and distribution districts of children mostly from the Sissala West District.   Causes of migration Outlining the major causes which serve as push factors for women and children to migrate, the committee observed that the long period of the dry season, coupled with the fact that access to livelihood opportunities by women to engage in off-season income generation activities (farming) was a major factor.  “Migrating with their children - sometimes with or without the approval of their husbands and parents - is used as a survival strategy. Unfortunately, some of them often fail to return and their children also end up becoming ‘professional’ kayayee,” the committee observed. Addressing members of the committee, the Executive Director of CDI, Mr Alexis Danikuu, noted that the rate at which underaged children were being transported from the district to the urban centres, especially Accra, to engage in kayayee was alarming.   Human capital challenge He said the situation constituted a major challenge to the human capital formation of the district and the country as a whole. “This is because a poorly and inappropriately trained work force cannot contribute meaningfully to the development of this country, leading to reduced productivity and resulting in a vicious cycle of poverty,” Mr Danikuu explained.  He said since the issue of the street children phenomena was a major political campaign issue in the run up to the 2012 election, “the government must do more to deal with the problem.”  He reiterated the point that the successful implementation of the LEAP programme as well as aspects of the SADA, which dealt with women livelihood empowerment, was critical in this regard. He said children, especially girls as young as seven years, could be found serving as carriers of goods (head porters otherwise known as kayayee), washers of dishes in local restaurants, house helps, babysitters and some even were forced into prostitution.  Mr Danikuu said by working with the sub-committees, the CDI aimed to contribute to the national efforts in dealing with the worst forms of child labour and trafficking. Giving the background of the project, he said it was focused on building the capacities of committee members on the concepts, forms and practical measures the assemblies could do to prevent, protect and mitigate the impact of the phenomena on those who were already in the streets in their respective municipal and district assemblies.   

  An unauthorised ‘mall’ that flourished at the Tetteh Quarshie interchange for 15 years has finally been removed by a task force from the La Dade-Kotopon Municipal Assembly (LaDMA). The initial exercise was carried out on January 3 and 4, 2014, followed by a mop-up on Monday, January 6, as the traders at the mall which was adjacent to the popular Accra Mall went back to trading after they had been sacked the first time. A visit to the mall on Friday and Saturday showed that tables and makeshift structures around the vicinity had been demolished and the shoulders of the roads had been cleared to ensure free movement of people. Some of the traders were seen making efforts to relocate to the temporary market at the lorry station near the mall, while some hawkers were seen lurking around the area, hoping that the exercise could be a nine-days’ wonder and go back to the area to trade. The traders  According to the LaDMA Chief Executive, Ms Rita Odoley Sowah, who spoke with the Daily Graphic yesterday, the Assembly already had plans to dislodge the traders who had increased in number over the years; that is before the paper’s publications on the illegal trading activities on September 12 and in December last year. “Before I came into office, they had been asking them to move away, and when I came to office too I went there with the mayor of Accra and he introduced me to them that he was no longer taking care of the place so they had to account to the new MCE of the area, so we asked them to move, to which they did not fully comply,” she said. Ejection of illegal traders Narrating how the exercise was carried out, Ms Sowah said the Assembly went with its task force and the police and asked the traders to move their wares on both the first and second days of the exercise, cleared returnee traders and removed all structures during the mop-up. She said when the traders were asked why they had converged on the space along the road to sell, they said they were just carrying out their trading activities but admitted that anytime they were driven away by officials of the assembly, they came back. “So we want to put in measures that our task force will be there often, so that they will not be able to come back to the place,” the LaDMA Chief Executive hinted. Confirming that the Tetteh Quarshie area was not the only place under their jurisdiction that had attracted illegal trading activities, Ms Sowah told the Daily Graphic that the Assembly had embarked on similar exercises at the Cantonments/Labone Junction, the Danquah Circle and near the American Embassy. Ms Sowah said in each of the places, the traders were educated on the need to move from those locations and if they were ready to take their wares they were allowed to do so, but those who refused had their wares confiscated until they paid a fine, while the containers they occupied were cut and carted away. Dealing with illegal occupancy On how the assembly was dealing with the issue of illegal occupancy of traders in some suburbs, she said: “It is in the plans of the assembly to get the traders off the places so that we can regain our estates.” The LaDMA Chief Executive expressed worry that apart from the illegal trading activities, some of the traders had made those areas their residencies. “They have gathered refuse here and there,” she said.   Ms Sowah said the assembly had plans for another market in a new community behind the Trade Fair, close to an area earmarked for a lorry station.  She intimated that a meeting had been held with executives of a lorry station at the Tetteh Quarshie interchange and an arrangement had been made for the traders to temporarily trade there.  

  The Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) has paid GH¢36,327.70 to 15 consumers whose equipment got damaged as a result of power surges and fluctuations in 2013. The damaged equipment included domestic and commercial refrigerators,  a voltage guard, a corn mill, a Panasonic printer,  a Multi TV Digi Box and a plasma television. A hotel which had one of its rooms burnt due to poor service from the ECG was also compensated after it had submitted evidence to support its claims against the utility company. Because of the persistent failure of the ECG to respond to the complaints of the affected consumers, they submitted separate petitions to the Public Utilities and Regulatory Commission (PURC) to investigate the matter to ascertain the cause of the damage. Upon realising that the grievances of the consumers were genuine, the PURC proceeded to use powers vested in it to prevail on the ECG to pay the said compensation to the consumers. According to the Director of Public Affairs and External Relations of the PURC, Nana Yaa Akyempim Jantuah, the affected consumers were five commercial entities and 10 individuals. She said the amount paid to the distressed consumers ranged from GH¢150 to  GH¢5,045.70. Ms Jantuah explained that the commission thoroughly investigated the complaints to ascertain the cause of damage before proceeding to let the utility service provider pay compensation to the consumer. She reminded the public that compensation was paid by the utility company that caused the damage and not the PURC.  The PURC, she said, protected the interest of consumers in that regard and accordingly stressed that the PURC was committed to protecting the interest of all consumers of water and electricity. Report problems to the PURC Consumers whose equipment or appliances are damaged because of poor quality of service by utility service providers can report to the PURC for redress. The commission is accordingly inviting all consumers of water and electricity who have lodged complaints with utility companies but have not received any feedback to report their grievances to the PURC for resolution. Under the PURC (Complaints Procedure) Regulations 1999 (LI 1665), any consumer who has issues with any utility company is expected to send a written or oral compliant to the PURC. Complainants are expected to provide their full names, contact addresses, telephone numbers, account numbers and the utility company or the person against whom the complaint is being lodged. Particulars of the nature of the complaint, together with copies of any document in support of the complaint and the relief being sought by the aggrieved customer, must also be provided. PURC Act Per its procedures, the PURC then forwards copies of consumers’ complaints to the utility service provider against whom the said complaint has been lodged. The Commission then conducts preliminary enquiry into the matter and also determines whether or not the complaint could be settled through mediation and settlement. When there is a deadlock, the PURC conducts a formal hearing where both parties are given the opportunity to state their respective cases. The PURC, after the hearing, arrives at a decision. In this regard, the PURC has expressed its commitment to ensure that dissatisfied consumers of water and electricity whose concerns have not been addressed by utility companies are resolved satisfactorily. Writer’s email: [email protected].  

  A specially trained sniffer dog from the Narcotics Control Board (NACOB) has exposed a 32-year-old Nigerian trader who had concealed substances believed to be narcotic drugs  in his bag at the Kotoka International Airport (KIA) in Accra. The huge black Labrador that was sniffing luggage at the arrival hall of the KIA last Wednesday knelt in front of the suspect, identified as Justice Okechuku, and started barking. Consequently, Okechuku was arrested and upon search, he was found to have concealed 4.4 kilogrammes of the substance, with a street value of $300,000, in his luggage. According to the Deputy Executive Secretary of the NACOB, Mr Richard Nii Lantey Blankson, the suspect had arrived on board a Kenyan Airline flight from Dar El Salaam, Tanzania at about 1:00 p.m. last Wednesday. NACOB officials suspected him of carrying some drugs due to his demeanor, so they mounted surveillance on him. Drug traffickers  Mr Blankson said usually those drug traffickers had a way of concealing the drugs in their travelling bags in such a way that they were not easily detectable. To detect such concealment, he said, officials had to cut and destroy whole bags of such suspects. The deputy executive secretary said to avoid waste of unnecessary time, specially trained sniffer dogs were usually brought in to assist. In the case of the suspect, Mr Blankson said as soon as the luggage started rolling out at the arrival hall and the travellers started identifying them, one of the dogs moved to where the suspect was standing with one luggage while waiting to pick another bag on the conveyor belt and started barking at him. Special dogs academy The NACOB  and the Ghana Armed Forces have jointly established a special dogs academy to train Labradors and their handlers both locally and internationally to assist in the effort to arrest drug dealers and peddlers. He said the suspect, upon interrogation, claimed he was sent by another Nigerian who lived in Tanzania to deliver a small parcel of drugs to his business partner in Accra for a fee. Suspect arrested The suspect explained further that it was the said Nigerian who bought the airline ticket and gave him some money for the trip. The suspect claimed that his agent in Tanzania explained to him that somebody would meet him at the airport on his arrival in Ghana. However, Okechuku failed to provide the name of his Nigerian accomplice in Tanzania or the one to receive him on arrival in Ghana. The suspect has been placed in custody, while investigations are ongoing after which he would be put before the law court. Writers email: [email protected]  

  The Special Operations Unit at the Presidency has intensified decongestion of all ports of entry and warned that goods that are not cleared within the stipulated 30 days for general goods and 21 days for perishable goods will be disposed of through public auction. The Spokesperson for the unit, Dr Clement Apaak, told journalists in Accra that the unit had already placed some of the goods on the uncleared cargo list and gazetted some of them since the beginning of January 2014. He said the consignees or their agents would require permits before they could clear the goods within the 30 or 21 days’ expiry period. Procedure Dr Apaak, who is also a presidential staffer, explained that the procedure was that such goods would first be placed on the uncleared cargo list and gazetted. He said after the 30 or 21-day expiry period, the uncleared goods or cargo would be disposed of through public auction and allocations in accordance with existing laws and regulations governing overstayed goods and cargo. Caution Dr Apaak asked consignees, importers and agents "to strictly take note and adhere to these warnings or hold themselves blameable". He said some people used the name of the President to defraud some consignees. The presidential staffer, therefore, cautioned consignees, importers and agents not to deal with unscrupulous persons who might try to defraud them by posing as members of the Special Operations Unit or as staff at the Presidency. He asked importers to report such unscrupulous individuals to the appropriate authorities for them to be arrested and dealt with. He warned that anybody found in the act of defrauding importers would be dealt with according to the law. Special Operations Unit The Special Operations Unit was set up by President John Dramani Mahama and is led by the Chief of Staff, Mr Prosper Douglas Bani. In the latter part of 2013, the unit uncovered duty fraud involving more than 250 state agencies and private companies. The companies were said to have managed to escape payment of approximately $367 million import duties at bonded warehouses between 2005 and 2012 by conniving with officials of the Customs Division of the Ghana Revenue Authority.  

  The Chief Executive Officer of Global Solution Outreach Incorporated, Rev. Solomon Badoo, has called on African leaders, especially those in the West African sub-region, to desist from depending on grants and rather compete on the global market. Rev. Badoo, who is based in Indiana in the United States of America, said that during the opening of an organisational leadership conference for some leaders of the Foursquare Gospel Church in Accra.  According to him, Ghana had the requisite expertise, resources and personnel to compete in various sectors on the global market.  Rev. Badoo further expressed concern about the inability of African graduates to explore and compete with their counterparts in the West and the Americas.  He said the time had come for African students to take up their rightful positions both in academia and other fields of the economy to make strides to project the African continent as a platform for development and innovation.  “Until the mindsets of Ghanaian leaders are changed, the economy of the country will continue to diminish,” he said. Rev. Badoo appealed to Ghanaians to develop a positive mindset to be able to embrace change, which is a tool for greatness.  He was of the view that leaders in respectful positions should desist from mediocrity and think outside the box to explore other ways of improving the economy. Rev. Badoo said the training programme would go a long way to equip and also enhance the knowledge and capacity of participants to be able to effectively instill in their members the values that would  help them  promote the growth of the church and the entire society. “Good leaders affect lives through critical thinking and problem solving through teaching of good and quality lifestyle and moral standards,” he said.                                                                                       Rev. Badoo called on the youth to explore other areas of the economy, especially information and communication technology (ICT) to showcase to the world that Africans could move the world to another level if given the chance.  Rev. Christopher Marfo Ahenkorah, the General Overseer of the Foursquare Gospel Church, said church leaders must prepare their mindset to embrace life- transforming training which would go a long way to strengthen their growth of the church.  Dr Daniel Lucero, a transformational speaker, added that God’s promise for church leaders was to see them prosper and be strategically positioned. He noted that leaders should be prepared to leave their comfort zones as a measure to propel them for the work of God.  That, he said, would create an opportunity for them to receive blessings and favour from God.  

  A resident of Kibi in the Eastern Region,  Mr Kofi Akresi, has expressed concern about the sanitation practices of the community which are posing a health challenge. According to him, the waste management system in the community is poor and some of the residents do not observe good sanitation practices either. Mr  Akresi told the Daily Graphic that due to the absence of waste receptacles in the community, residents dumped refuse, faecal matter and other waste matter at unauthorised places. He has, therefore, appealed to the government, the Ministry of Health, the Environmental Protection Agency and other concerned bodies to immediately come to the aid of the community to address the challenge. Mr Akresi indicated that the community’s dump site, which is overflowing with rubbish, was close to the chief’s palace, but all attempts to get the chief to take the needed action to rectify the situation had proved futile. According to him, “residents living around the dump site are suffering due to the stench, a situation which worsens when it rains”. This, he added, had prompted many of them to vacate their homes to seek refuge elsewhere. He further disclosed that the community hospital, Kibi Hospital, which was near the dump site, also deposited its waste at the dump site. “It is fascinating how a hospital could be operating close to such a place that is so much engulfed in filth. What is more worrisome is that the hospital also dumps its waste at the place, which is near the houses of community members,” Mr Akresi stated. He mentioned that schools, churches and other important facilities in the communities were all operating near the dump site, yet none of the authorities had questioned their operations.  Mr Akresi indicated that to get the situation rectified, he sought legal action at the Community Tribunal at Kibi against the bodies responsible for sanitation in the community, but since the year 1999 the case had only been called  twice. He called  on the authorities to provide adequate rubbish bins to the community and to also change the current dump site. He has also called for  laws that would sanction offenders who dumped rubbish at unprescribed places in the community.  

    The Minister of  Roads and Highways, Alhaji Amidu Sulemana, has admonished contractors to always ensure that contracts awarded them are executed to specifications to ensure value for money. He expressed concern over the undue delay in  the execution of contracts and the shoddy nature of some of the works, for which he blamed some supervising engineers for failing to live up to their responsibilities of ensuring the delivery of quality work. Alhaji Sulemana, who emphasised  the need for the timely and efficient execution of projects, further observed that “there are no bad contractors;  there are only bad engineers.” The minister was speaking during an inspection tour of the Dipali irrigation project in the Savelugu/Nanton District in the Northern Region at the weekend. The project forms part of the 21 irrigation schemes being constructed in some parts of the country.  The project is being undertaken by the Northern Rural Growth Programme (NRGP). The programme is an eight-year agricultural initiative that was inaugurated in 2009 by the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA).  It aims at reducing poverty and ensuring food security among rural households in the Northern, Upper East and Upper West regions,  as well as five other districts in the Brong Ahafo region. The African Development Bank (AfDB), International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and the Government of Ghana are co-financing the programme. The Minister of Agriculture, Mr Clement Humado, said the project was in line with the policy of the government in helping to improve on the lot of rural farmers in beneficiary communities in the country. He expressed the hope that with the successful implementation of the schemes, it would stem the tide of the migration of the youth in the north to the southern sectors of the country to seek  greener pastures. The minister called on the management and contractors working on the various aspects of the project to ensure that work was not only completed on schedule but was done to specification to achieve its intended purpose. The National Programme Coordinator of NRGP, Mr Roy Ayariga, said his outfit was using a multifaceted approach to address food insecurity in Northern Ghana. The programme is premised on commodity value chain development, rural infrastructural development and improved access to financial services by all stakeholders in the production chain. He, however, expressed concern that the people risked losing all the benefits that came along with the programme if contractors failed to ensure the timely and efficient execution of the work. For their part, the contractors also expressed their frustrations in delays in the issuance of certificates, inadequate  funds and high interest rates on loans as some of the challenges they encountered in the smooth execution of the projects.    

  Metropolitan, municipal and district chief executives (MMDCEs) in  the 22 districts in the Western Region have deplored the  failure  to complete  GETFund-funded school projects scattered all over the region, which has denied children access to quality education. The chief executives said  the situation was creating a lot of problems and disturbing  their budgets as the assemblies had to construct improvised structures to ease the plight of the children. They said  this in a communiqué read after a two-day end-of-year review meeting by  the chief executives to discuss the state of the region and how to improve its  performance. The District Chief Executive (DCE) for Aowin, Mr Oscar Ofori Larbi, who read  the communique on behalf of his colleagues, said the abandoned projects  were mostly uncompleted GETFund-funded six-unit classroom projects, additional classrooms  and dormitories for senior high schools in the region.  The situation, he said, had resulted in  crowded scenes in classrooms at basic and senior high schools and that did not create the perfect ambiance for effective teaching and learning.  He said the DCEs appreciated the government’s efforts to provide infrastructure for schools in the region. “We are, however, worried over the existence of a large number of uncompleted or abandoned school blocks scattered all over the region, thereby denying children access to quality education as envisioned by the President,” he said. The DCEs attributed the situation to the non-payment of contractors by the GETFund secretariat to enable them to continue the projects. The situation, he said, was making things difficult for the MMDCEs in the region and that something must be done about it. He said,  “we renew our commitments as operatives at the district level to work hard to ensure that in collaboration with the GETFund and the Regional Coordinating Council (RCC) solutions are found to the challenges.”  The DCE said it was  the hope of his colleagues that through the collaboration, the uncompleted projects would be completed for communities with inadequate school infrastructure. That, he said, would improve teaching and learning and also ensure that any school shift system practised in any district in the region  would be abolished. Also in the nine-page communique, the MMDCEs said they were further disturbed by the unacceptable degradation of the forest and the pollution of the water bodies in the region He said the chief executives had also noted that the region accounted for the bulk of the nation’s cocoa but had challenges with its evacuation, and  called for more attention to be paid to the roads. They called on the sector ministry to compel the  contractor on the Enchi – Dadieso road  to move to site to resume work to ensure the completion  of the project on schedule.  “Urgent efforts must be made to ensure that the Benchema Junction – Osei Kojokrom road is awarded on contract to ease the difficulty in reaching the two Bia districts,” they said.