GHANA 2012 ELECTION: TOPY TO HELP NDC RETAIN POWER

GHANA 2012 ELECTION: TOPY TO HELP NDC RETAIN POWER

Edward Adeti’s Report, Upper East, Ghana

Mr. Horace Ankrah, NDC UK Chairman

A branch of a youth-centred group, the Team of Popular Youth (TOPY), has been inaugurated in the Upper East Region of Ghana to help the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) clinch another 4-year term in 2012 through job creation.

The new chapter was the fourth to be inducted after branches had been installed in the Greater Accra, Eastern and Upper West Regions.

Launching the branch in Bolgatanga, Mr. Horace Ankrah, Founder of the team and United Kingdom (UK) Branch Chairman of the NDC, said the posture of the team he founded was to "create jobs for the youths with the intention that the same youths will queue unflinchingly behind President John Evans Atta Mills and Vice President John Dramani Mahama in the 2012 polls.”

Thousands of youths in the region are expected to be trained and offered jobs in farming, hairdressing, carpentry as well as tie and dye ventures among others. According to Mr. Ankrah, TOPY is registered and does not belong to any individual but to the NDC as one party. TOPY, he added, would engage the youths of every region only in ventures that are considered most viable and most suitable in the respective regions.  

He disclosed that TOPY had secured acres of land in some other regions to commence agricultural activities and expressed the readiness of the group to purchase fifty acres of land for agriculture in the Upper East Region. So far, 230 women in the region have also been brought on board to be trained in sewing and weaving under the TOPY initiative whilst some traditional rulers in the region have expressed interest in releasing lands for the TOPY-run activities.

“The youth are the future of the nation. There is, therefore, the need for them to be well organised, well resourced and well brought up with a sense of excellent leadership. We have a youth-focused Government in the Mills-Mahama Administration. TOPY is committed to complimenting the efforts of the Government in practically promoting the welfare of the youth,” Mr. Ankrah stated.

The Founder, who is also a philanthropist, advised the youths of the party to abide by the constitution of the NDC and urged them to persuade more election-eligible Ghanaians who were yet to register to do so and vote for the NDC in 2012. “Tell them what the NDC has achieved. Tell them about the plans we have got in store. Announce what are we are about to do. Tell them the NDC is the only party that has the youth at heart and that the NDC is the only party that is truly democratic as we witnessed at the Sunyani Congress. TOPY will always promote the NDC. We will ensure that the NDC retains power. We will ensure that we capture every first-time voter,” he assured.

The Upper East Regional Chairman of TOPY, Mr. Gilbert Atanga, in his welcome address said the campaign had started and vowed that the NDC youths in the region would leave no stone unturned in 2012 to ensure that the party chalked up overwhelming victories in the presidential and parliamentary elections in the region. He was particularly delighted that the job-creating programme initiated by TOPY would not only secure a win for the NDC next year but would also help tackle poverty and food insecurity.

Mr. Harry Epsona Ayamga, former Municipal Chief Executive (MCE) for Bolgatanga who chaired the inauguration, stressed that the NDC would remain a formidable party in Ghana’s history. The NDC, he said, has “the best ideology that caters for its grassroots, and not the money-laundering ideology.” Mr. Ayamga noted that President Mills deserved commendations for continuing with the unfinished projects of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) as promised and building 23 more school blocks in Bolgatanga alone within 2 and a half years alongside roads, boreholes and streetlights.

He warned the youths against detractors who were out to deceive young people and asked them to step up the campaign so that the 2012 victory would not elude the party. The inauguration was also used to introduce and swear-in national and regional executives of the group. Mr. Alagskomah Asakeya Noble, one of the region’s heavyweight symbols of NDC who oversaw the swearing-in of the executives, expressed confidence in the competence of the executives but cautioned them against complacency.  

GHANA: BOLGA LOOKS SET TO WAR AGAINST POOR SANITATION

GHANA: BOLGA LOOKS SET TO WAR AGAINST POOR SANITATION

Edward Adeti's Report, Upper East, Ghana

Mr. Edward Ayagle

The new boss of the Bolgatanga Municipal Assembly, Mr. Edward Ayiriba Ayagle, looks set to dare what his predecessors "feared" to do— a crackdown on landlords who put up houses without toilets.

The assembly under successive governments has always avoided hoofing it whenever the media want to engage it on the slippery ground of bending landlords to build toilets as its byelaws demand for the obvious reason that doing so could antagonise the people against the government of the day and further result in the party in power losing some votes. But Mr. Ayagle, in a press briefing in Bolgatanga, says he does not fear what his forebears feared because “sanitation-related diseases are claiming more votes than the necessary enforcement itself.”

Lack of private toilet facilities and failure to enforce the sanitation byelaws in Bolgatanga have continued to encourage thousands of people to defecate openly amid fears that disease outbreaks could grab the municipality by surprise anytime soon. About 9 out of 10 landlords in Bolgatanga who charge as much as an average of 25 Ghana cedis for one-month rent of a single room do not see the need to put up a decent toilet facility for themselves and their tenants, most of whom are worried and fear to welcome long-staying visitors in their homes.

Bolgatanga was adjudged the neatest town in the country in September, 2003, by the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development when Mr. Rockson Ayine Bukari was in charge as the Municipal Chief Executive (MCE), but residents have continued to compete for space with growing filth about eight years down the lane. In his day, anyone caught in any act of pollution was towed to the sanitation court and slapped with appropriate fines. A 35-member sanitation task force was once in place to ensure that the existing sanitation byelaws were obeyed, gutters cleared up and public toilets kept clean.

Besides, the assembly once built more public toilets and stretched helping hands to landlords who came forward with requests for toilets in their houses; but, however, practically has not succeeded in pursuing its sanitation vision to the point where it should have become difficult today for any house to exist without an accompanying serviceable toilet of its own in the municipality. Rockson Bukari is probably so far the only MCE who came close to doing that.

The new MCE, touching on developmental projects in the municipality, told newsmen during the briefing that his administration since its beginning in May, this year, had seen the completion of six projects including a water closet toilet facility, school blocks and health facilities which had been handed over to the beneficiary agencies and communities. Nyariga and Soe-Yipala each now has a 3-unit classroom block with office, toilet and stores. The Baptist Junior High School in the Zongo community has also been provided with the same facility. Mr. Ayagle expressed the hope that the new development would encourage enrollment and ease the pains of pupils who travel miles to attend school outside their own communities.

Two Community-based Health Planning Services (CHPS) compounds, the MCE said, have been handed over to the Ghana Health Service (GHS) at Katanga and Yarigabisi. He promised that the facilities, which were completed at the costs of Gh¢78,450.00 and Gh¢78, 670.00 respectively, would receive further furnishing from the assembly to make them work effectively enough to reduce maternal mortality and infant morbidity as well as pressure at the Regional Hospital.

“One other project that cannot escape mention is a Gh¢54,193.97 10-seater water closet facility for the Atulbabisi Electoral Area which, as I speak, is in use and I believe strongly that this facility will help improve sanitary conditions in the said area as no person will have a reason to defecate in the open,” the MCE stated, adding “My resolve is to do everything possible to keep the Municipality clean at all times.”

He disclosed that he had ordered the clearing of garbage which had almost swallowed up the Bolgatanga Experimental School and had also held bilateral talks with the regional executives of the Ghana Private Roads and Transport Union (GPRTU) on sanitation particularly at the main lorry station which, according to him, has remained a sanitation reference point for visitors since it is their first and last point of call when entering and leaving the municipality. He promised to work closely with the media and urged the assembly’s Health and Sanitation Unit to intensify its efforts on sustaining clean-up programmes.

The MCE added that the massive support that greeted President Mills’s bid at the Sunyani Congress was a victory forecast ahead of 2012 for the President to make good in his “Better Ghana Agenda” implementation till 2016.

GHANA: UNICEF RECORDS SUCCESS IN THE UPPER EAST

UNICEF RECORDS SUCCESS IN THE UPPER EAST

Edward Adeti’s Report, Upper East, Ghana

The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has chalked up a wave of successes in seven key areas that affect the wellbeing of children in Ghana's Upper East Region. The areas include health, nutrition, education, child protection, water, sanitation and hygiene.

Speaking in turn at a sensitisation seminar organised in Bolgatanga by UNICEF in collaboration with the Upper East Regional Coordinating Council (UERCC) for Municipal and District Chief Executives, Presiding Members and Coordinating Directors, a number of health and sanitation experts showcased some of the best practices and success stories recorded by UNICEF over the years in the region.

Announcing the purpose of the seminar in her welcome remarks, Mrs. Habib Amama Kaleem, UNICEF’s Child Development Specialist at the Tamale Field Office, said it was organised to highlight some of the success stories that the assemblies had in a number of programmes that they had supported in collaboration with development partners.

The seminar was also aimed at orienting participants on the social issues that affect the wellbeing of children and soliciting the support of the participants for the implementation of UNICEF-supported programmes and services in the various assemblies. Mrs. Habib Amama Kaleem expressed the hope that the assemblies, as the direct link between government and the people, would continue to collaborate with UNICEF to achieve results for the children.

The Upper East Regional Minister, Mr. Mark Owen Woyongo, who recalled the fruitful partnership that UNICEF had formed with assemblies, ministries, departments and agencies in the region over the years, hailed UNICEF’s positive impact in the region and gave the assurance that government would sustain its collaboration with such child-centred bodies to ensure better life for its people.

“I am aware UNICEF is supporting the MDAs and MMDAs in the region in implementing the Integrated Community Case Management and the Kangaroo Mother Care among others. I am aware it has also entered into a partnership with the Environmental Health and Sanitation Unit and Community Water and Sanitation Agency to ensure that there is increased access to potable water in deprived communities. It is also making efforts to ensure that there is increased coverage and improved access to sanitation, improved hygiene and behaviour change especially in the area of hand washing with soap,” Mr. Woyongo said.

The Regional Minister also applauded UNICEF for teaming up with the Departments of Social Welfare and Community Development to establish the Regional Child Protection Networks and Community-Based Child Protection Teams. Mr. Woyongo was, however, depressed as records revealed by the teams indicated that child rights abuses such as defilement, child trafficking, elopement of girls, forced marriages and female genital mutilation were on the increase in the region. Whilst describing the development as a worrying situation that must be addressed immediately, Mr. Woyongo directed the Municipal and District Chief Executives to take steps to reverse the trend.

Mr. Cletus Asamani, Acting Upper East Regional Environmental Health Officer, said as a result of the Community-led Total Sanitation (CLTS) concept which UNICEF had supported in implementing in the selected districts, proper disposal of faeces had become popular in communities where open defecation had been the order of the day. The same communities, he added, had also accepted hand washing as a basic measure against cholera and diarrhoea among other sanitation-related diseases.

On Community-Based Child Protection Programme, UNICEF is also said to have facilitated the return to school of female students who have dropped out of school as a result of teenage pregnancy. According to Madam Vinolia Osei, Upper East Regional Director of Community Development, sixteen pregnant girls, who dropped out of school at Yikene and Zaare in the Bolgatanga Municipality, have been assisted through the programme to return to school. Besides, the programme has been advocating and facilitating the enrolment and acceptance of children with disabilities in the appropriate schools. Through the at programme, a crippled boy at Nyariga in Bolgatanga, whose name was only given as Adamu, happily returned to school after he had stopped schooling as a result of humiliation from school mates.

Mrs. Agnes Zizinga, Director of Health for Bongo, said the Integrated Community Case Management (ICCM) with support from UNICEF, had reduced incidence of diarrhoea, malaria and ARI cases in the under fives with increased awareness of causes and prevention of malaria and diarrhoea amongst mothers and community members.

The Bawku West District Director of Health, Mrs. Mary Stella Adapesa, in her presentation on Community-based Management of Acute Malnutrition and CIMCI Programmes, said a lot had been achieved with support from UNICEF but, like the other presenters, solicited more support from the assemblies to renovate and expand health infrastructure to improve quality of care. She entreated the assemblies to formulate and enact bye-laws that will band the killing of severely malnourished children where the people held the cultural conviction that such children were evil.   

“There is also the need for the assembly to support with fuel to facilitate referral of needy clients. The assembly should also support to regulate the activities of prayer camps and herbalists who delay sick people at their centres until it is too late for the health centres to save them,” she concluded.