Koforidua, Oct. 14, GNA - The Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) has established an mFriday Mobile Web Laboratory setup project, which the university authorities described as the first ever state-of-the-art mobile web lab in Ghana.   It was founded by a group of students and ICT professionals in September 2011, and offers ICT students and industry experts a platform to facilitate the designing, testing and launching of commercially viable mobile web applications to solve problems.   In collaboration with Vodafone, a major player in the telecommunication industry, KNUST have also set up an internet cafe at the College of Engineering reputed to be the fastest in Africa to boost teaching and research.   Professor William Otoo Ellis, Vice Chancellor of KNUST made this known in Koforidua at the weekend during the 7thBiennial Congress of the Alumni of the University referred to as “Teknokrats” on the theme: “Reducing Graduate Unemployment; The Role of Teknokrats.”   He said the academic entity has established a Quality Assurance Unit which has developed policies on quality assurance; teaching and learning; research; HIV and AIDS, and intellectual property to guide operations.   The university is also establishing off-shore centres under which a pilot project has begun in Dubai with Mechanical Engineering undergraduate top-up programme.   In this regard Prof Ellis has led a delegation to The Gambia, Nigeria and Liberia.   Mr Antwi Boasiako, Deputy Minister of Employment and Social Welfare said government is committed to invest in skills development in order to structure the largely informal sector, adding that job creation is one of the critical pillars of the Better Ghana agenda.   Mr Ebenezer Okletey-Terlabi, Deputy Eastern Regional Minister who described the theme for the congress as “very apt and opportune” said the pervasiveness of poverty in the society is debilitating and threatens to keep the nation permanently in a vicious grip.   “Due to poverty, the society is only able to generate low levels of savings, resulting in low levels of investments with corresponding low levels of output, thus reinforcing...poverty,” he added.   Mr Okletey-Terlabi advocated the need for the academic board of the university to have constant dialogue with industry to restructure its curriculum so as to train students who would be more useful and functional to society.   “Entrepreneurship training should be part of every academic pursuit at the university to enable students to have a different orientation of exploring various opportunities as to create jobs for themselves and not to rely on government for employment.”   Mr Tony Danklu, National President of the Alumni, in his report to the Teknokrats, challenged them to be innovative and entrepreneurial in their operations and called on unemployed graduates to look beyond government and traditional private sector job opening for employment opportunities.   He appealed to teknocrats, home and abroad to get involved in the activities of the Alumni.   Entrepreneurs such as Dr Kofi Amoah, Dr Michael Agyekum Addo and Mr Elikem Nutifafa Kuenyehia lectured the tecknokrats on practical ways of establishing businesses with emphasis on creativity, innovation and the ability to take risks.   They also took the congress through the need for the unemployed graduates to develop business plans and cease the many business opportunities available and cited examples in the food vending industry and marketing of local cuisine to international standards.   Dr Amoah expressed the need for government to create a one billion- dollar entrepreneurship fund and initiate massive land reforms to facilitate job creation.   Daasebre Professor Emeritus Oti Boateng, Omanhene (Paramount Chief) of New Juaben, who chaired the function called on the alumni of the country’s universities to come together to create general theories of generating employment.   The term of the current National Executive led by Mr Danklu, President was extended for a year to allow for constitutional amendments. The rest are: Collins Obeng-Marnu, Vice-President, Eunice Akosua Ofosua Amoako, General Secretary, Ernest Paa Kwesi Elelakpodia, Assistant General Secretary, Fanny Enos, Treasurer, Kwame Ohene Ampofo, Evans Yevu Aryee-Quaye, Francis Appiah-Kubi and Evelyn Akua Mensah and Prof S. O. Asiama as Co-opted Executive Members.   As part of the five-day congress the tecknokrats organised career counselling for a number of Senior High School Students and health screening exercises.   GNA...

Tamale, Oct. 13, GNA - About 50 media practitioners in the Northern Region have undergone a three-day intensive training on HIV and AIDS aimed at equipping them with knowledge to help ensure effective reportage to curb the spread of the disease.   The training was also in line with government's National Strategic Plan (NSP) 2011 - 2015 aimed at reducing by half the spread of HIV and AIDS, and mother to child transmission to eventually stop new infections in the country.   The training, which ended in Tamale on Friday, was organised by the Ghana Aids Commission (GAC) in collaboration with the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA).   Participants were taken through topics including "The National Response to HIV and AIDS: Progress and Challenges" and "NSP 2011-2015: Towards Achieving Universal Access to Comprehensive HIV Services".   Dr Joseph Amuzu, Director of Policy and Planning at the GAC, who spoke on behalf of the Director General of the GAC, underscored the need for effective and continued education on the spread of HIV and AIDS to inform the lifestyle of the populace to ensure the elimination of the disease.   Dr Amuzu said even though statistics showed a continued decline in the spread of the disease over the years, a lot more needed to be done if the country was to attain her objectives outlined in the NSP 2011-2015.   He gave the prevalence of the disease in the country for the year 2011 saying the total number of persons living with HIV  was 217,428, whilst the number of HIV positive children was 31,576,  HIV positive Pregnant Women was 12,854 and annual new HIV infections for adults stood at 8,925 and that of children was 2,933.      Dr Amuzu therefore, stressed the need for education of the populace saying GAC recognised the role and contribution of the media towards the attainment of the NSP 2011-2015 hence the training.      Alhaji Alhassan Issahaku, Northern Regional Coordinating Director, said HIV and AIDS response was all-encompassing and required in-depth knowledge for effective education.      He therefore, lauded the training saying it would enable journalists and media practitioners to do accurate reportage on the disease.      Mr Affail Monney, Vice President of the GJA, who spoke on the topic: "The Role of the Media in the Response to HIV," called on journalists to go the extra mile to produce critical stories that would help to curb the spread of the disease.      Meanwhile, about 34 journalists who tested for HIV at the training were confirmed non-reactive or negative.     GNA...

Hyderabad (India) Oct. 13, GNA-  Representatives from more than 170 countries including Ghana are meeting in Hyderabad, India, to deliberate on the way forward to protect the planet’s biodiversity.   The 11th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), known as COP 11, follows the historic outcome of the 2010 Nagoya biodiversity summit.   In Nagoya, governments adopted a new Strategic Plan for Biodiversity, and two new supplementary protocols to the CBD, setting the course for halting biodiversity loss by the end of the current decade.   The meeting commenced early October, 2012 with various side events and group meeting would end on 21st of October, 2012.   As part of the meeting there will be a High Level Ministerial Meeting (HLMM) from 16th to 18th where various Ministerial Delegation including Ms Sherry Ayittey, Minister of Environment Science and Technology would be expected to give brief statements.   Again the HLMM would also have a panel discussion where delegates from Ghana would be expected to moderate a section to deliberate on issues including Biodiversity for Livelihoods and Poverty Reduction.   Ms Jayanthi Natarajan, Minister of Environment and Forests, Government of India and COP 11 President, said the present global economic crisis should encourage leaders to invest more towards amelioration of the natural capital for ensuring uninterrupted ecosystem services, on which all life on Earth depends.   “Let us all be inspired by what Mahatma Gandhi said: ‘The difference between what we do and what we are capable of doing would suffice to solve most of the world’s problems’. So let us commit ourselves to what we are capable of doing.”   Mr Braulio Ferreira de Souza Dias, Executive Secretary to the Convention on Biological Diversity urge leaders to adopt new approaches and mechanisms, emphasising the leveraging of resources from existing sources through mainstreaming, incorporating sustainability criteria in government procurement, reviewing and adjusting of economic instruments, and further engaging the business sector.   “We will be judged by our acts, not our words,” he said.   Ms Amina Mohamed, UN Assistant Secretary-General and Deputy Executive Director of UNEP said: “The collective experience and the new analysis through initiatives had illuminated that the costs of inaction are far higher and will rise and that the losses the world especially the poor—are sustaining annually as a result of unsustainable management of the natural world dwarf the investments.”   She said the private sector had a responsibility and a role to play too within the rules and regulations put in place by governments to ensure equity for all sectors of society.   The Convention on Biological Diversity is an international treaty for the conservation of biodiversity, the sustainable use of the components of biodiversity and the equitable sharing of the benefits derived from the use of genetic resources.   With 193 Parties, the Convention has near universal participation among countries.   The Convention seeks to address all threats to biodiversity and ecosystem services, including threats from climate change, through scientific assessments, the development of tools, incentives and processes, the transfer of technologies and good practices and the full and active involvement of relevant stakeholders including indigenous and local communities, youth, NGOs, women and the business community.     From Albert Oppong - Ansah, GNA Special Correspondent, Hyderabad, India (Courtesy, Global Environmental facility and UNEP)...

Accra, Oct. 13, GNA -The Peasant Farmers Association of Ghana (PFAG) at the weekend presented “The Farmers Manifesto for Election 2012 and beyond”, to the leadership of the Convention People’s Party (CPP) in Accra.   The manifesto provides a platform of common set of demands for the achievement of food security, poverty reduction and sustainable national development.   Mr Charles Kwowe Nyaabe, Programme Officer of PFAG, speaking at the presentation said small scale farmers’ face complex challenges and bottlenecks which required both central and local government intervention in concert with farmers.   He said farmers concerns ranged from low participation in agriculture and food security, governance and poor access to resources critical for making a living.   He said smallholder farmers particularly women should be given special consideration in the implementation of agricultural policy.   He said government and political parties should through the Bank of Ghana and other financial institutions regulate and make it mandatory for financial institutions to reduce the interest rates spread of their annual credit supply to farmers at a very affordable rate.   “Government and political parties should allocate specific financing schemes such as Export Development and Agriculture Investment Fund, Venture Capital Fund and MASLOC to specific banks to lend in equitable and very transparent manner and at affordable rate,” he added.   The farmers’ manifesto seeks to influence political parties’ manifestos for the 2012 elections and also to be used as a tool to hold governments accountable on the delivery on small scale farmers’ priorities in the development agenda.   Mr Nyaabe said Governments and political parties should strengthen their agricultural politics particularly in the food crop sector, to reverse decades of bias in favour of cash crop production.   “Government and Political Parties should facilitate the provision and timely access to all farm inputs needed by farmers.    He called on Government to redefine the Maputo Declaration so that within the overall 10 per cent minimum budgetary expenditure target on agriculture.   Dr Abu Sakara, Presidential Candidate of CPP, said the party’s agricultural policy would focus on attaining food security for the nation, income security for farmers and fishermen and self-sufficient in the industrial sector.   He said the emphasis would also be on the use science and technology to revolutionise agriculture.   “The transformation of our agriculture to evolve beyond food security thresholds of small holder farmers to providing for our industrial needs demands the emergence of medium to larger scale commercial farming,” he noted.   He said the peasant farmers constituted the overwhelming majority of all agricultural producers and the agrarian transformation programmes of a CPP government shall therefore revolve around them.   He assured the farmers that when voted into power his government would provide means of transportation from the farm to market centres.     GNA...

Adaborkrom (W/R) Oct.13, GNA - The Bia East District Assembly on Friday confirmed Mr Kwame Twumasi Ankrah, the President’s nominee, as the District Chief Executive (DCE) at its first sitting at Adaborkrom.   All the 15 members of the assembly voted in favour of the nomination.   The assembly also elected Mr Joseph Apreku as the Presiding Member.   Mr Paul Evans Aidoo, Western Regional Minister, advised the DCE to operate an all- inclusive administration to enable people of all shades of political views to participate in the running of the district.   He said there should not be divisions in the newly created district to enable the people to support development programmes.   Mr Aidoo urged the DCE to ensure that funds allocated to the district are used for development programmes, adding that members of the assembly should eschew corruption which undermines development and progress.   Mr Ankrah thanked the President and the assembly for the confidence reposed in him and asked the traditional authorities and the people to support him to deliver.     GNA...

Sunyani, Oct. 13, GNA - Sir Dr Kwame Donkor Fordwor, Member, Governing Council of Catholic University College of Ghana (CUCG) has appealed to Government to establish Graduate Entrepreneurship Capitalisation Fund to overcome the challenge of graduate unemployment.      He said such a fund should be managed by the Students Loan Trust in collaboration with a new company to be known as Graduate Entrepreneurship Centre to use the fund in training and providing capital for groups of graduates who have good business ideas to commence their own businesses.      Dr Fordwor who is also a Fellow of Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences made the appeal as guest-of-honour at the Seventh Congregation and 15th Matriculation of CUCG at Fiapre near Sunyani at the weekend.       The University conferred honours on 57 graduates who met the requirements of the institution after successfully pursuing Bachelor of Science in  courses such as Public Health Management, Public Health Informatics,  Public Health Education, Economics, Management, Computer Science, Banking and Finance, Mathematics with Finance and Bachelor of Arts  in Religious Studies.       The Institution admitted 789 new students to undertake various courses and that makes the current student population 4,097.      He also urged government to provide incentives to motivate the private sector to help mentor the nation’s young graduates and establish joint-ventures with them.       Dr Fordwor, an economist and baker suggested to the Government to conduct a stakeholder consultation to explore ways of establishing the fund.         He added that Ghana possessed vast resources to enable it turn the situation around, hence there should be a formal way to engage graduates in the application of their knowledge and useful exuberance into productive attitude and national development.        The CUCG Governing Council Member called on Government to identify ways of supporting private universities to train the needed human resources for development, saying that could be achieved through creation of a platform by the government for regular interaction with private universities as a major stakeholder in development.      Professor Ernest Aryeetey Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ghana in an address read on his behalf pledged the support of Ghana’s premier university for intense research interactions with CUCG.   Reverend Monsignor John Opoku Agyemang, CUCG Governing Council Member who acted for the Chair of the Council, Most Rev Philip Naameh, Catholic Archbishop of Tamale told the graduates that whatever they achieve in life would depend on how effective and judicious they would use the freedom they have now to take decisions whiles effectively applying the training and knowledge acquired from the university.   GNA...

Wa, Oct. 13, GNA – Mr Emmanuel Volsuuri, Upper West Regional Manager of Zoom Lion Ghana Limited, a sanitation company has called on the Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies to implement their bye-laws on sanitation offences to foster behavioural change.      He said imposition of fines on offenders could serve as a source of mobilising revenue for development projects.     Mr Volsuuri made the call in Wa on Saturday at the launch of a regional sanitation campaign as part of a short term national strategy to clean the country of filth before the end of the year.      He said if the sensitisation of the public on good sanitation was backed by strict enforcement of sanitation bye-laws with emphasis on prosecutions and fines many of the challenges would be overcome.     Activities lined up for the campaign include, sweeping of markets, lorry parks and streets, desilting of  drains, evacuation of heaps of refuse, clearing of bushy environment, picking of plastic bags, fumigation of the environment and deodorisation of public toilets.      Zoomlion has provided logistics such as refuse containers, pay loaders, refuse trucks, shovels, rakes, wheelbarrows, Wellington boots, nose masks and hand gloves for the exercise.      The Zoomlion Regional Manager urged politicians to devote a little of their campaign time to talk about sanitation issues so that the people would see the need to change their behaviour and attitude towards the subject.      Alhaji Amidu Suleman, Regional Minister said government was committed to ensuring a healthy environment and a healthy people but noted that no amount of money could solve the problem if the people refused to change their attitude.      He said at the end of the three months of the sanitation campaign all the Assemblies would be assessed and graded and they must therefore ensure that all citizens were involved in the exercise.       The Regional Minister warned residents of Wa against open defecation in the Wa forest which was becoming alarming since the faeces could be washed into water sources to cause cholera outbreak.   GNA...

Accra, Oct. 13, GNA-The Council of Young Men Christian Association (YMCA) of Ghana, on Saturday held a peace programme in Accra, using a basketball shot as a symbolic commitment to ensure peace in the December general election.   Dubbed: “a shot for peace towards election 2012”, the programme was under the auspices of the World Alliance of YMCA and it had brought together members of “the big six of YMCA,” including the Ghana Red Cross Society, Ghana Girl Guides, Head of State Awards Ghana, Ghana YWCA and Ghana Scout to commit themselves towards the course of peace by shooting 500 baskets.   Mr Reynolds Kwadwo Kissiedu, National Chairman, YMCA stated that  even though Ghana was considered a citadel of peace and growing democratic governance in Africa, it was important not to over look the fact that the country was not immune to electoral conflicts that other countries had experienced.   “This year’s election is indeed a test to the well touted democratic credentials of Ghana. There has been a high political tension over the period, we have witnessed a situation where both the government in power and the opposition are making predictions beforehand, the print and electronic media are filled with accusations and counter accusations, character assassination, libel. All are serving as indicators that pose a great threat to the peace that we all enjoy in our beloved nation,” he said.   According to him, safeguarding the peace in the country was a shared responsibility, urging all stakeholders including, political parties Electoral Commission and the media to join hands to ensure peaceful election 2012.   “Every shot today means we are committing ourselves towards a serious work for peace before, during and after the 2012 elections. Let us come together   and say No to electoral violence.”   The YMCA is a leading international youth movement in the world that seeks to promote social justice and peace to enhance development of the body, mind and spirit of young people and their communities, irrespective of religion, race, gender or culture.     GNA...

Ho, Oct. 13, GNA - An integrated multi-targeted programme to raise incomes of women especially, by introducing their school-going children to the positive aspects of the digital world, is underway in the Ho Municipal Area.      Under the scheme launched on Saturday, the school children will be enabled to add value to the subsistence farm businesses of their parents, through the use of the internet and mobiles phones.      The programme dubbed, Mobile Library Internet Service (MLIS) for Development, is under auspices of the Volta Regional Directorate of the Ghana Library Authority, (GLA), with funding from Electronic Information for Libraries (EIFL).     Mr Alikem Tamakloe, Volta Regional Director of the Ghana Library Authority, said 200 basic school pupils, 40 each from the Taviefe, Ziavi-Dzogbe, Ziave-Lume, Ho-Fiave and Sokode communities would begin the programme.      He said the project had provided the Volta Regional Library Mobile Van with additional computers, a digital library and a solar system, to facilitate the use of the computers in areas without electricity.          Mr Tamakloe said the skills acquired should enable the school children to retrieve and pass on development information to their parents to enable them increase yield, besides the acquisition of knowledge related to school subject areas.      He said agricultural related information expected to be passed on include seed management, cropping techniques, food prices and pest control.      Mr Tamakloe said the children, as agents of change, “will also be linked up with Agricultural Extension officers, from whom they would receive information on good agricultural practices, when the need arises, through mobile phone SMS”.      “This will build the children’s own confidence in farming as a viable venture, apart from the support they will give to their parents,” he stated.      Mr Tamakloe said the project, running for a year, was expected to improve school performance of the pupils, raise incomes of their parents and introduce young people interested in farming as a business.      He said the school children would also be introduced to educational games on the internet that would sharpen their capacities in mathematics, languages and the sciences.      Mr Tamakloe said two teachers who had been selected from each community to assist the Mobile Library Staff in implementing the project and the mobile library staff had been orientated on the use of the equipment and software for the project.      He said the project was coming into a social setting, where mothers as breadwinners were often forced to withdraw their children from school because of low incomes from subsistence farming and other petty jobs.      Mr Tamakloe said with raised incomes, these women could then keep their children in school.       GNA...

Kumasi, Oct. 13, GNA – Former First Lady, Nana Konadu Agyemang Rawlings, on Saturday made history, becoming the nation’s first-ever credible female candidate to be endorsed by a political party to contest for the presidency.        She pledged to transform the nation and restore it to the path of real social justice and progress saying her strong and progressive leadership would ensure access to education, health care and protect the rights of every Ghanaian.        Putting the people above politics is her goal, she said, adding that she would place the people at the centre of her policies.        “The real treasures of the nation are not the oilfields but the youth and women” she noted and said they must therefore be supported to realize their potentials and dreams.         Her election was by popular acclamation at the National Democratic Party (NDP) national delegates congress held at the Baba Yara Sports Stadium in Kumasi.        On hand were about 3,000 delegates and observers. A huge crowd of the party’s supporters adorned in the NDP’s colours also made it to the venue of the event to be part of the historic congress.       Representatives of the other political parties, including the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Convention People’s Party (CPP), Progressive People’s Party (PPP), People’s National Convention (PNC) and Independent People’s Party (IPP) were there to show solidarity.       Conspicuously missing was the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC).                  Mrs Rawlings, who has over the decades been fighting for women, described her candidature, as representing the dawn of “a new era”, drawing deafening applause from the large gathering.        Former President Jerry John Rawlings, who stood by the side of the wife, lauded the leadership of the NDP, for the vision and boldness to form the party.        He said he had no doubt that the party’s underpinning principles of transparency accountability and good governance would enable it to make an impact in December polls.        He said the former First Lady had provided leadership and gone through difficult times to ensure that the ordinary Ghanaian enjoyed decent living.         “For over 30 years, Nana has been moving round the country to advance the principles of social justice and good governance.”          He appealed to the NDP to hold firm to the values of integrity and justice and avoid repeating the mistakes and blunders of the NDC.          He chastised the NDC for deviating from the party’s values of truthfulness, honesty and integrity – a departure he said was likely to send it back to opposition.        The former President said he found it uncomfortable that for some time now, reason had not prevailed in the NDC as the leadership simply refused to correct the wrongs and kept harassing these who genuinely wanted to restore dignity and integrity to it.     GNA...

Ho, Oct. 13, GNA - Dr Archibald Yao Letsa, New Patriotic Party (NPP) Ho-Central Parliamentary Candidate, has stepped up his campaign, with forays into 13 communities in the constituency.      The communities are Tanyigbe, Takla, Hodzo, Nyive, Atikpui, Shia, Klave, Hoe, Matse, Taviefe, Ziave, Klefe and Sokode.      A statement signed by the Mr Kojo Ampofo, Press-Secretary of the Ho-Central NPP, said the thrust of Dr Letsa’s message was tackling the extensive poverty in those areas, through pragmatic rural development policies.      The statement said the development policies would be youth-focused entrepreneurship promotions to give livelihoods to young people.      It said Dr Letsa, a medical doctor and an entrepreneur was accompanied by his wife, Victoria Letsa and Mr Ohene Frimpong, NPP Ho-Central Constituency Chairman, and as they went on their rounds they emphasised the NPP flagship message of free Senior High School.      The statement said Dr Letsa also complained about the near collapse of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) with the promise that the NPP would fix the scheme back to vibrancy when it forms government.      It said at every stop, enthusiastic people cheered, shouting the catchphrase “free education, change now”.      Dr Letsa is contending for the Ho-Central seat the second time on the NPP ticket.     In 2008, his first time, he got 6,228 votes or 11.5 per cent while Captain George Kofi Nfojoh, winning on the NDC ticket, got 47,036 or 87 percent.      GNA...

Duayaw Nkwanta (B/A), Oct.13, GNA - The Golden Jubilee Library at Duayaw-Nkwanta in the Tano North District of Brong-Ahafo has finally started experiencing patronage from the expected quarters.      The new turn in the patronage of the library is due to the introduction of computer practical lessons for basic schools in the district two months ago as a pilot project by the Ghana Library Authority (GLA) in collaboration with the Ghana Investment Fund for Electronic Communications (GIFEC).       A visit by the Ghana News Agency to the library saw a long queue by pupils and students of Primary and Junior High Schools in both public and private schools waiting for their turn to benefit from the facilities.      This situation, which has not only brought congestion at the library, has also placed pressure on the computers creating inconveniences for both officials and other users.      Most pupils from schools like District Council (D/C) and Presbyterian primary who had come for computer lessons told the GNA that “we always come here since the introduction of the new facilities because we have sufficient time to try our hands on the computers unlike in our schools where we are only taught theories without any practical aspects of them”.      Others explained that due to the absence or few computers in their schools, they have limited time, thereby killing their interest for practical computer tuitions.       Ms Sandra Tabuaa and Master Daniel Akpalu, Primary six and four pupils respectively stated that, had it not been the computers in the library, they would not have gotten the practical feel of the machines.       “We have been seeing them in books but now we can operate them and even switch them on and off” they added.   The pupils expressed their happiness about how they have been able to adapt quickly to computer and its application within two months and thanked the GLA and GIFEC for the initiative and pleaded with them for additional computers to augment the existing ones.      Mr Emmanuel Sarkodie, District Librarian, said the high patronage was because most of the schools in the district had just few computers for their students.   He was however worried about the low attendance from the females compared to their male counterparts adding that the result of the high turn-out also meant that there was excessive heat at the library and called on the Assembly to install the supplied fans and air conditioners provided by GIFEC for better ventilation.      Mr Jafaru Taha, Information Communication and Technology (ICT) tutor at the library also expressed his satisfaction at the high turnout rate  by both pupils and adults of Non-Formal Education class.      They were responding fast to basic ICT lessons such as switching and shutting down of computer, features of desktop screen, booting, typing among others, he added.      The tutor cited long queues and frequent power outages as well as inadequate computers to meet the high demands, as the major challenges distracting lessons.      He pleaded with benevolent organisations and stakeholders to assist in providing computers to schools in the district to inculcate useful ICT knowledge in the young ones.     GNA...

Kintampo (B/A), Oct. 13, GNA – The Kintampo Municipal Assembly on Thursday inaugurated and handed over three school blocks constructed at GHȼ 312,000.00 to the Municipal Education Directorate at a ceremony in Kintampo in Brong-Ahafo Region.      The projects financed from the District Assemblies Common Fund comprised three-unit classroom block for Baffoe Local Authority(L/A) primary, three-unit classroom block for Gruma-line primary and six-unit classroom block  for Sunders Junior High School (JHS).      The primary schools comprising two-unit toilets, a library and teachers common room valued at approximately GHȼ 81,000.00 each whilst the six-unit classroom block consisting of office, store and teachers common room was estimated at GHȼ 150,000.00.      Alhaji Alhassan Seidu Harrison, Municipal Chief Executive for Kintampo, said “the Assembly as the top development agent to the communities” in the Municipality had undertaken many socio-economic projects in the municipality to make life worth living for the people.      He said the projects ranged from education and health facilities, good drinking water under the Small Town Water Systems (STWS) programme to actualize the Better Ghana Agenda.      Mr Engelbert Prosper Sracoo, Municipal Director of Education, said the school blocks alone could not ensure quality education without the efforts of themselves, parents and guardians, teachers and other stakeholders.      He advised the students in the Municipality to be serious with their studies and also urged parents and guardians to be responsible in ensuring that their sons and daughters in school would be studying always to justify the investment they were making in them.      He also appealed to teachers to show commitment to their duties and help inculcate wisdom to the children.     GNA...

Kintampo (B/A), Oct. 13 GNA – Mr Paul Tawiah Quaye, the Inspector-General of Police (IGP) on Thursday commended the Police in Brong-Ahafo Region in their fight against armed robbery.      He said the Techiman-Kintampo-Buipe highway was a leading highway robbery area but situation has been brought under control because of good and prudent measures instituted by the Police administration.      Mr Quaye made the commendation in an address read for him at the inauguration of a new District Police headquarters built by the Kintampo Municipal Assembly from its District Assembly Common Fund.     The one-storey building has offices for the District Commander, District CID, Community Police and Court office, Motor Transport and Traffic Unit (MTTU), cells for men and women.     Mr Quaye said Kintampo was also noted for unlawful break-ins, stealing and other crimes which the Police alone could not handle without the cooperation of the people in the Municipality and called for the creation of neighbourhood watch committees to complement the efforts of the Police.   He appealed to Landlords and Landladies in the area to make houses available to the Police for renting to make the establishment of DOVVSU a reality and also increase the number of Police personnel in the area.     The IGP charged the Police to play a neutral and pro-active role to ensure that the election 2012 passed off peacefully.     Alhaji Alhassan Seidu Harrison, the Municipal Chief Executive (MCE) said the maintenance of security in the Municipality could neither be the sole responsibility of the government nor the Assembly and called for a multi-disciplinary approach to ensure peace in the area.     GNA...

Drobo (B/A), Oct. 13, GNA – Nana Addo Danquah Akuffo-Addo, the New Patriotic Party (NPP) flagbearer for election 2012, has said his free Senior High School policy is to pave way for the ordinary Ghanaian to gain access to quality education.      He said the NPP would not allow destructive criticisms by political detractors to derail the attention of the NPP and make the policy a mirage.      Addressing thousands of NPP supporters at a rally to kick start his eight-day campaign tour in the Brong-Ahafo region at Drobo in Jaman South District, Nana Akuffo-Addo said the country had all the needed resources to implement the policy next year.      The NPP presidential candidate and his entourage including Mr John Allan Kyeremateng, a leading member of the party, Alhaji Mocta Bamba, NPP’s National Organiser and Lord Commey, a member of Nana Akuffo-Addo’s communication team held similar rallies at Atuna, Japekrom, Merehano, Dwenem and Zezera.      Nana Akuffo-Addo expressed disappointed that some leading members of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) who had benefited from the free SHS education some years ago continued to sabotage the realistic policy.      He said though the NDC claimed the country had no sound financial base to implement the policy, it had been able to pay judgment debts to the tune of GHȼ830 million in the past two and half years.      The NPP presidential candidate challenged Ghanaians to give the mandate in the coming elections to the NPP and see the policy’s implementation.      He said the only way to bridge the gap between the rich and the poor in society was to ensure that accessible but quality education was made available to all.      Nana Akuffo-Addo told the cheering supporters they could really benefit from the free SHS education and also see remarkable improvements in their living conditions only when they ensured that majority of Ghanaians understood that the NPP could implement the policy next year and vote for the party.      Nana Akuffo-Addo said the party was aware parents and guardians could not afford to pay their children and wards school fees because of the current economic hardship as a result of NDC’s mismanagement of the economy.      He said the National Health Insurance Scheme, mass cocoa spraying exercise and the free maternal delivery were all on the verge of collapse and advised Ghanaians to vote for the NPP to resuscitate those policies for the benefit of the ordinary Ghanaian.      Mr Yaw Afful Mahama, Member of Parliament for the Constituency, appealed to the gathered crowd to exercise restraint as the NPP was aware of their numerous problems.      He said the deplorable nature of roads and the high rate of youth unemployment in the area would soon be over only when they voted for the NPP.       Alhaji Bamba said the NDC had a record of electoral fraud and rigging and advised supporters of the NPP to eschew complacency and be vigilant on the voting day.      He urged the NPP supporters not to fear attempts by the NDC to intimidate them as the party’s hierarchy was determined to ensure that a clean election was conducted.      Mr Kwasi Asomah-Cheremeh, NPP’s Brong-Ahafo Regional Chairman, expressed optimism that the people in the area would participate in the election and vote massively for the NPP.      He said any attempt by the NDC to rig the election would not be successful and advised the party supporters to intensify their campaigns.      At the various communities they visited, Nana Akuffo-Addo and his entourage were given a rousing welcome by enthusiastic party supporters clad in party colours and other paraphernalia.      The visit will continue to Jaman North, Tain, Wenchi, Techiman North as well as Nkoranza North and Nkoranza South constituencies.     GNA...

Accra, Oct. 13, GNA – Vodafone’s Health line Television Programme would this weekend feature a discussion on cancer and how to effectively handle children with cancer concerns   A statement issued to the Ghana News Agency in Accra said cancer was not necessarily the death sentence, but rather a disease affecting a particular part of the body with different forms and causes.   The statement said the treatment room part of the programme would demonstrate how women can examine their breasts for signs of cancer as early detection can lead to a complete recovery.   It said this weekend’s feature story would also show the importance of the need to follow-up on hospital visits after the treatment of cancer as that was the way to beat the condition.   Vodafone Healthline airs on Sundays on TV3 at 5.00pm, eTV and Top TV at 8.00pm and GTV at 8.30pm, it is then repeated on Wednesdays on Metro TV and Crystal TV at 8.30pm.     GNA  ...