Home Blog Page 103

[Article] When will the Last Man Die?

May 13, 2019

By: Godfred Nelson |

Nature is declining steadily. The cause is man’s intemperate use of the natural resources: water, land, fauna and flora, forests and more.

The decline of course, is hampering the natural support systems of human life, talk of water stress issues and its corollary impacts of water shortages among others.

Nature is meant to support human existence by providing variables of “gifts” referred to as Nature’s Contribution to People (NCP) and we owe it our lives to a large extent. Therefore, our actions and inactions must be concerted to support biodiversity intentionally if we want to benefit from them perpetually and sustainably.

Abuse obviously is not the way to go. The Intergovernmental Panel on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) has released the first Global Assessment of the State of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services in almost 15 years and the revelations are stunning if not threatening.

Our forest cover (NCP 13) which is not called “over” for no reason, covers both man and animals from the impact of green house gases and also by providing “materials and assistance” for various man-made uses.

It also ensures that carbon stored in the soil, which is 3 times more than in the atmosphere is sequestered sustainably. It is therefore alarming to learn each day of the rate at which our trees are removed. Destruction to our forests is destruction to our soil.

Had there been any concerted effort to replace the felled species, there would not have been any problem. But it is painful to realise that such is not the case in our part of the world.

Tree parts such as leaves, roots, barks, seeds and pods and so on and non-timber forest products are included in the materials used by the about 4 billion people who depend on natural sources for medicinal purposes as revealed by the IPBES.

Amazingly, about 70 per cent of cancer drugs are natural or are synthetic products of nature and so, it is practically life threatening to think of the ripple effect of degradation of the ecosystem’s “goods and services”.

I read of how military personnel in China are made to plant trees on land equaling the size of Ireland, a very commendable effort which can be replicated in various parts of the world and most especially where it is most required; sub-Sahara Africa.

Land degradation through human activities is negatively impacting the livelihoods of a large group of people, with majority coming from the sub-Sahara Africa region, an indigenous populace which is already predicted to produce 9 out of 10 poorest humans below the international poverty line of 1.9 dollars per day by 2030. (World Bank)

This suggests that there is a sharp correlation between how we treat our natural environment and the impact it has on our individual and national economic well-being.

Inappropriate waste collection and disposal activities also affect our land, fresh water and marine life. Recently, I read that a whale was found dead with about 25kg of plastic waste in its gut.

Also, around 3.2 million hectares of primary forests in the world’s tropical regions including Ghana has been lost in 2018. (Forest Watch 2019)

This is about the size of Belgium. Now check your map to understand the extent of damage. This was exceeded only in 2016 which recorded 3.6 million hectares of tropical primary forest lost due to major wild fires that occurred all-year round.

The fact remains that we are reaping more from our ecological footprint than it is sustainable for the future generations. We cannot continue like this and it is imperative that government agencies in charge of our forest resources take charge of the situation.

Urban planning agencies must also step up their game so much so that the inevitable environmental impacts of urbanisation will be put in check.

It is true that when the last tree dies the last man dies. But more so, it is very predictable that before the last man dies, nature must have “died” already if we continue in this trend of degrading forest covers and nature’s gifts.

The Chinese say that the best time to plant a tree is 25 years ago, and the next best time is now. Rightly so, governmental policies must be undergirded by a strong commitment to their nationally determined contributions (NDC) to the SDG 13 and the Paris Agreement of 2016 which all go a long way to protect our primary forests.

In the end, when the last man dies, it will be our choices that would have killed him and he will not find any living man to blame.

NB: Writer is an Environmentalist and an advocate of Climate solutions.

Source: www.voltaonlinegh.com

Fiave GEC fulfills Promise, Holds Mothers’ Day Dinner

Volta Online

May 13, 2019

By: Ewoenam Kpodo | Voltaonlinegh |

Global Evangelical Church, Ho-Fiave Victory Chapel in the Volta Region has delivered on its promise when it held a dinner for mothers and all women of the church to celebrate this year’s Mothers’ Day.

The maiden Mother’s Day Dinner on Sunday at the church’s premises which saw a heavy attendance was in fulfillment of a commitment made by the Parish Pastor, Rev. I.C. Agbenuvor on May 13, 2018 (Mothers’ Day) on behalf of the church.

The feast though was organised for mothers and all women of the church, was open to every member of the church, thus, attracted men and children who were treated to sumptuous meals including “akple” and “fetridetsi”, a staple food of the people, drinks and good music.

The dinner served as a family’s day out as the women came along with their spouses and children and as well, an occasion for members of the church to fraternise and make merry on such an important day.

Rev. Agbenuvor in an interview with Voltaonlinegh was grateful to God for a successful organisation of the event and hinted of plans to make the event an annual one.

According to him, there was the need to celebrate women of the church and holding a dinner in their honour was an appropriate way to appreciate them and called on other churches to find a suitable way to celebrate women.

Patrons at the event expressed gratitude to the pastors and leadership of the church for recognising the role of women in the church and other spheres of the nation’s development and arriving at the decision to celebrate them in such a grand style.

One of them, Mrs. Irene Anumah said she was marveled at the level of success of the maiden event and the excitement from church members who were totally relaxed and reluctant to leave for their various homes even after the event.

Mrs. Anumah said she wished the dinner would be held every year (with contributions in kind and in cash from members) to help bring members together for the ultimate growth of the church.

Earlier during church service, Mrs. Sedinam Agbenuvor in a sermon titled “Committed Christian as an Instrument of Change”, intimated that “God has deposited all that it takes for a woman to effect the needed change wherever she finds herself.”

Mrs. Agbenuvor therefore challenged women especially the Christians to strive for the ability to multiply in anything they do, release God’s glory through prayer, hold the fort, serve as the canopy for the discouraged and the dejected, and be able to thrive on unfavourable grounds believing that the world would be a better place if only women would take these seriously.

Source: www.voltaonlinegh.com

UHAS Choir Holds Inaugural Concert [VIDEO]

Volta Online

May 13, 2019

By: KALD|Voltaonlinegh.com|

The University Health and Allied Sciences has formally outdoored the University Choir with a colourful inaugural concert Sunday night.

The choir which is made up of staff and students begun last year June with a mission to harness the potential of members of the university to promote choral music and project UHAS identity.

Patrons at concert held at the UHAS Trafalgar campus auditorium, were treated to various renditions of choral songs which kept many on their dancing feet.

Among the patrons were an array of personalities including the Vice Chancellor and his wife, Profs. John and Magaret Gyapong, deans, directors and other staff members and students of the Uhas community as well as members of the public.

Mr. Kenneth Wonder Tsinyo, the Choir director told West FM news that the over 70-member choir was poised to project the university in its immediate communities through music.

He noted that, the Choir, within the few months of its existence has performed at various functions of the university and also at the maiden Carols Service of Volta Serene Hotel, where they rock shoulders with the popular Harmonious Chorale in December.

The Presiding bishop of the Methodist Church in Ho, Very Rev. Phillip Tsatsu Nyorgbordzi commissioned the choir and its leaders with a call on them to be worthy ambassadors of Christ and UHAS.

Prof. John Gyapong, UHAS VC in a brief remark pledged the support of the university management to the activities of choir but charged them to find innovative means of being a self-sustaining entity that will complement the core function of the university.

Source: www.voltaonlinegh.com

Former Minister calls for Commission of Inquiry into Volta Secessionists’ Concerns

Volta Online

May 13, 2019

By: KALD | Voltaonlinegh.com |

A former Volta Regional Minister, Helen Adjoa Ntoso has proposed the establishment of a Commission of Inquiry by government to probe the concerns of the secessionist movement, the Homeland Study Group Foundation.

The commission, according to Hon. Ntoso, would help ascertain the veracity or otherwise of the group’s demand for the secession of the Volta region and parts of the northern Ghana into an independent Western Togoland state, which they claimed existed prior to the independence of the then Gold Coast now Ghana.

The Krachi West Member of Parliament who spoke on Ho-based West FM’s morning show, West Breakfast Drive on Friday, believed the commission’s work will put the matter to rest once and for all.

Some 81 members of the separatist movement were rounded up last Wednesday by a joint police-military in Ho, just few days after their octogenarian leader, Mr. Charles Kormi Kudzordzi and 7 others were picked up by state security operatives and airlifted to Accra for allegedly planning to declare independence for the supposed Western Togoland state on Thursday May 9, 2019.

This, the former Minister however believed was an appropriate action on the part of the security agencies since the intended action of the group had serious security implications for the region and the country at large.

She said unlike her tenure where the activities of the Homeland Study Group Foundation posed no security threat, their present conduct as claimed by the security agencies, required a serious attention from appropriate state actors in order to curtail an escalation.

Source: www.voltaonlinegh.com

I’m the 1st DCE to have Exceeded Revenue Target – Central Tongu DCE

Volta Online

May 12, 2019

By: Christopher Pappoe | Voltaonlinegh |

District Chief Executive (DCE) for Central Tongu, Thomas Moore Zonyrah has touted his achievements as DCE saying, he was the first to have exceeded the Assembly’s revenue target since the creation of the district.

Mr. Zonyrah disclosed this on Tuesday when Dela Radio, based in the district capital, Adidome, organised a town hall meeting for him to account for his two years in office.

He said the assembly set a target of 140 per cent for this year but had already exceeded this target and that market stalls and lockable shops were under construction at the Mafi Kumase Market in the district to help boost revenue.

The DCE mentioned over 40 projects which the assembly executed within 2 years and with some at different stages of completion in the district.

In the health sector, he mentioned Dove, Anfoe and Kpogadzi CHPS zones as successes chalked while in education, Mafi Akyemfo, Srekpe, Avedo, Avakpedome and Mafi Kumase kindergarten were at various stages of completion.

He also disclosed that more than 20 communities had been connected to the national Grid with potable water extended to some rural areas while others benefited from boreholes.

In the area of transportation, he said “different town roads have also been worked on in the district.”

Mr. Zonyrah touched on sanitation saying, open defecation has been a worry to the district over the years and assured that about 15 institutional WC facilities were being constructed to arrest the situation.

On government’s flagship programme, 1 District-1 Factory, he intimated that more than 3 different organisations were in the district with about 8,000 jobs being created.

The town hall meeting which attracted lots of citizens was also attended by heads of departments and other key stakeholders in the district.

Source: www.voltaonlinegh.com

Bawumia Charges Muslims to Pray for Ghana’s Development

Volta Online

May 12, 2019

By: Benjamin Owusu | Voltaonlinegh |

Vice President Dr. Mahamadu Bawumia has asked Muslim communities in the Oti Region to use the Ramadan fasting month to pray for him and the New Patriotic Party (NPP) government to succeed in bringing total development into the country.

Dr. Bawumia said Ghana needed divine intervention to achieve the needed development and the only way was for its citizens to go to God through prayers.

He was speaking when he joined hundreds of Muslims in the Oti Regional capital, Dambai on Friday for prayers as part of his nationwide Ramadan tour.

The Vice President also joined and prayed with Muslim faithful at Kwamekrom in Biakoye and Kadjebi in Akan District asking for the blessings of God throughout the Ramadan season.

Minister for Zongo and Inner City Development, Ahmed Mustafa assured that government was putting measures in place to see the development of zongo communities in the country.

Assemblyman for Kwamekrom, Amidu Ibrahim appealed to the Vice President and the Minister for Zongo and Inner City Development to consider renovating the Kwamekrom Central Mosque and introducing English and Arabic to attract more students.

Some residents who spoke to Voltaonlinegh appreciated the visit of Dr. Bawumia and prayed that their requests should be granted.

Source: www.voltaonlinegh.com

Criminal Prosecution of Secessionists, Storm in Teacup-Dafeamekpor

Volta Online

May 11, 2019

By: Ewoenam Kpodo | Voltaonlinegh |

Member of Parliament for South Dayi in the Volta Region, Rockson-Nelson Etse Dafeamekpor has registered his displeasure at the security’s handling of members of secessionist group, Homeland Study Group Foundation (HSGF) describing it as a storm in a teacup.

A joint police-military operation on Wednesday led to the arrest of 81 people including two women suspected to be members of HSGF in and around Ho, the Volta Regional capital for unlawful social/public gathering but were later granted bail.

The arrest of the 81 individuals followed an earlier arrest on Sunday of the leader of the group, an over 80-year old Charles Kormi Kudzordzi, popularly known as Papavi Hogbedetor and 7 other front liners for their alleged attempt to secede some regions from Ghana and declare them on Thursday, May 9, 2019 as an independent country called Western Togoland.

The eight were airlifted to Accra and without access to a lawyer, arraigned before a high court on charges of conspiracy to commit treason felony, abetment of unlawful training, unlawful assembly and offensive conduct conducive to breach of peace with the leader being the only person who was granted bail.

But Hon. Dafeamekpor said the criminal prosecution of the secessionists was uncalled for and described the processing of the eight for court without access to a lawyer considering the charges leveled against them as a departure from laid down procedure anchored in law.

He admitted that it was “possible” for the group to do what it was alleged but it was not “probable” to do so because per the history, the “territory previously known as Western Togoland, presently is made up of 5 regions: the Upper East Region, the North East Region, Northern Region, the Oti Region and the Volta Region.”

“So how can any serious security agency come to the conclusion that the mere intention of a group based in Ho, not based in Oti, not based in Northern Region, not based in North East, not based in Upper East Region will successfully declare a self-determined territory their own,” he wondered.

The Lawmaker made this known on Friday when he granted an interview on Ho-based West FM’s morning show, West Breakfast Drive regarding the arrests in the region in relation to activities of the group.

He rather proposed that government had a dialogue with the agitators saying, “persecution has never succeeded in quelling the agitations of a people determined to attain self rule.”

The private legal practitioner also hinted of plans by the Volta caucus in Parliament to meet over these agitations and see the way forward because tact was needed in dealing with such agitations so as not to offend the sensibility of the people.

Earlier, Mr. Dafeamekpor in a press release titled, “Rambo-Style Arrest of Octogenarians Worrying; The State must Act to Restore their Rights as Citizen” following the first arrest in the week, condemned the manner in which the men were picked up saying, it was “a raw exercise of executive power” which “ought not be abused in the manner it was applied.”

Source: www.voltaonlinegh.com

MPs not Representing their Constituents enough- ACPJR Dir

Volta Online

May 11, 2019

By: Ewoenam Kpodo | Voltaonlinegh.com |

Executive Director for African Centre for Parliamentary Journalism and Research (ACPJR), Harrison Belley has observed that most Members of Parliaments (MPs) had failed to properly represent their constituents in Parliament.

Mr. Belley said ideally, MPs should visit th eir constituencies to engage members on the agenda of Parliament and seek their opinion to ensure their views were represented in discussions in the House but “when they are in their comfort zone, they don’t care about it.”

According to the EP University College (EPUC) Lecturer, an MP’s “decision in Parliament is supposed to be informed by his/her engagement with the community.”

He cited for instance, the Right to Information Law that before that Bill was passed, the MPs were supposed to have visited the constituencies they represented for their (the people) consent and inputs into the discussion.

Mr. Belley said though some might attribute their failure to meet with their constituents to various reasons contrary to the standing orders of Parliament, refusal to honour telephone interviews on radio stations and granting interviews to the media in the constituencies and regions should not be tolerated because the media served as another platform for engagement with constituents.

To him, on Mondays that Parliamentary sitting does not hold, MPs could engage the media in their constituencies and brief constituents on what transpired in parliament in recognition of their (MPs) roles as representatives of their people.

The Executive Director made this known on Thursday while addressing concerns from the media that some MPs in the Volta Region turned down offers to speak to them on issues of interest to the citizens during the launch of a report by the non-profit organisation at EPUC main campus, Ho.

The report titled, “Monitoring Media Coverage of Parliament in the Volta and Oti Regions” established that majority of the respondents had “limited understanding of parliamentary practice and procedures in Ghana.”

The study also revealed that “all the programme (morning show) hosts have never had capacity building in parliamentary reporting in the last three years” with majority not reviewing “the hansard of Parliament and have not set eyes on the agenda of Parliament, order and vote and proceedings.”

The research which considered discussions of Parliament of Ghana from January-April 2019, employed qualitative data from analysis of issues and discussions on morning show programmes, purposively sampling 20 radio stations, 20 programme hosts/journalists, 20 media panelists, 15 editors and 10 media owners from both regions.

According to Mr. Belley, the study by Africa’s premier provider of parliamentary journalism and research training was to assess the nature of media coverage of Parliament and whether it contributed to a better understanding of its functions and processes to ensure “accurate, fair, impartial and balanced coverage” of its activities.

Source: www.voltaonlinegh.com

Western Togoland Campaigners in Latest Arrest Granted Bail

Volta Online

May 10, 2019

By: Ewoenam Kpodo | Voltaonlinegh |

Some 81 individuals including two women arrested on Wednesday in and around Ho, the Volta Regional capital for unlawful social/public gathering to demonstrate against an earlier arrest of leaders of secessionist group, Homeland Study Group Foundation (HSGF) have been granted bail.

The Regional Police Command in collaboration with the 66 Artillery Regiment on Wednesday arrested 17 people in the house of leader of the group, Charles Kormi Kudzordi (who lives near the Barracks in Ho), 54 aboard a bus entering Ho and 10 others at other entry points to the Ho municipality.

Seventy-one of them were earlier granted police enquiry bail while the remaining 10 were on Thursday, granted a bail of GH¢500 each with a public servant as surety by a Ho circuit court.

Lawyer for HSGF, Emile Atsu Agbakpe prayed the court presided over by His Worship Ebenezer Kwaku Ansah to grant the 10 bail while the court looked into merits of the case, arguing that an intention to demonstrate in itself could not be deemed to be an offence.

The accused persons were asked to reappear in court on May 21, 2019.

Meanwhile, the Lawyer in a separate habeas corpus application seeking the Ho High Court 2 to allow for the eight persons arrested on Sunday to be produced before the court, failed to convince the court.

In dismissing the application, Justice Baah said the case was already being tried by a competent court in Accra with the whereabouts of the accused persons known and so the claims of their whereabouts being unknown could not hold.

Earlier Arrest

Eight persons were on Sunday arrested in Ho and airlifted to Accra in a joint operation by the police and the military for their alleged attempt to secede the Volta Region from Ghana and declare it on Thursday, May 9, as an independent country called Western Togoland.

They included over 80-year old leader of the group, Charles Kormi Kudzordzi, popularly known as Papavi Hogbedetor, Bisa Akorli, 54, Kofi Dzreke, 39, Thompson Tsigbe, 58, Benjamin Agbadzada, 48, Agbenyega Akudzi, 54, Freemen Blikaku, 36, and Nkpe Tsryiri Kudzo aged 61.

They were (without access to a lawyer) arraigned before a high court on Wednesday in Accra on charges of conspiracy to commit treason felony, abetment of unlawful training, unlawful assembly and offensive conduct conducive to breach of peace.

All of them were denied bail except the octogenarian who was admitted to a bail in the sum of GHS250,000 and they would reappear on May 22, 2019.

Background

This was the second time the leadership of the Homeland Study Group Foundation had been arrested for attempting to declare the Volta Region an independent state.

The group made waves in 2017 when police arrested some of its leaders on March 7, in Ho for agitating for the restoration of Western Togoland as a state and a declaration of independence on March 9.

Although the leading figures of the Foundation were ordered by a high court in Ho to sign a bond of good behaviour and desist from their secessionist activities in July 2017, they convened another breakaway conference.

According to the group, the Gold Coast voted to be a unitary state on July 12, 1956 while the Western Togoland voted to be in union with Ghana on July 9, 1956 and that the union had not been established till now.

The Homeland Study Group Foundation was formed by secessionists to unite all the supporters of Togoland. The group has since been campaigning for the Volta/Oti Region and parts of Northern, North East and Upper East regions from Ghana to join the new state.

Source: www.voltaonlinegh.com

MP Donates Relief Items to Rainstorm Victims

Volta Online

May 10, 2019

By: Benjamin Owusu | Voltaonlinegh.com |

Member of Parliament for Krachi West in the Oti Region, Helen Adjoa Ntoso has donated bags of cement and 40 bundles of roofing sheets as relief package for victims of two farming communities, Twereso and Wurotor in a recent rainstorm in the area.

The rainstorm which occurred last week Tuesday in the two communities claimed one life and destroyed the roofing of many houses leaving over 200 people displaced.

Speaking in an interview with Voltaonlinegh, Hon. Ntoso bemoaned the continuous destruction of the environment through illegal chainsaw operations and reckless bush burning.

The result, according to the former Volta Regional Minister, had been that there were not enough trees to serve as windbreak to reduce the impact of strong winds that often accompanied rains in the area.

She therefore, advised the people to help check and brace their building strongly in order to avoid such occurrences in the future.

A father, Tetteh Odue, who lost his 2-year old son to the rainstorm together with some affected victims who received the relief items, expressed their profound gratitude to the Lawmaker for her support and called on other individuals and groups to also come to their aid.

Source: www.voltaonlinegh.com

1...102103104...207 Page 103 of 207