Tension is reportedly brewing at Dabala Senior High Technical School in the South Tongu district following agitations among the student body over their feeding.
The boarding students, according to Voltaonlinegh.com sources last week embarked on a protest in the school to demand answers from the authorities as to why they were being served a one-way-meal at lunch for several weeks.
The school matron for many weeks now have been subjected the students to Beans and Gari meal, known in the local parlance as “Ayiborbor” during afternoon dinning, Sources noted.
The Beans & Gari displayed during the student protest
A situation, some of the students, especially those in final year have complained about, and questioned the lack of variation in their lunch menu in spite of them paying for feeding.
They lamented to Voltaonlinegh.com about how some of them got drowsy in class after eating the monotonous meal on several occasions; while other also claimed to have suffered diarrhea in some instances as a result of the continuous eating of the ‘Ayiborbor’.
The students said they were fed up with eating same meal for long and want the school authorities to do something urgent about it.
Some students with placards
“For us, the third years unlike our juniors who are on the free SHS, we paid for feeding, so we can’t continue having same Ayiborbor as lunch everyday.”
Attempt, however to get responses from the school management to the concerns of the students have proved futile, as they prefer to remain tight lipped on the issue for fear of being sanctioned.
Other Challenges
Aside the current problem in the pantry, the school which is one of the four public SHSs in the South Tongu district, with a student population of about 1,200, is bedeviled with acute infrastructure challenges.
Established in 1991, the community based second cycle institution is grappling with inadequate accommodation for the boarders and inadequate classroom blocks for effective teaching and learning. This has caused massive congestion in some classrooms resulting to poor ventilation that obviously affects teaching and learning.
Not too long ago, some first year students had to attend class in improvised sheds and roofed with thatch as classroom.
Editor of an online news portal, The Lakenews and Lecturer at EP University College, Ho, Harrison Belley has proposed taking one district assembly in the country to court to test the law on compliance with the Disability Act.
Mr Belley said public servants at the assemblies still continue to give permits and supervise new buildings which are difficult to be accessed by persons with disability (PWDs).
According to him, the assemblies and authorities responsible to ensure buildings are constructed in a way that they are disability-friendly, will continue to look on unconcerned until people stand up to demand for the right thing to be done.
He said for now, it behooves stakeholders including media and civil society organisations (CSOs) to take the issue up and demand compliance with the Disability Act.
Parliament enacted the Persons with Disability Act 2006, (Act 715) considered a noteworthy milestone in Ghana’s human rights discourse with the hope of improving the life of PWDs by including them in the mainstream society especially in terms of accessibility.
Per the Act, it is incumbent on those putting up new buildings to which the public will have access, to provide ramps to facilitate access to the building by PWDs who will be wheelchair-bound. Where the building is a storey-building, there must be an elevator to convey PWDs to whichever floor.
The Act also stipulates that within the period of ten years of passing of the law, which had since elapsed by 2016, old buildings must conform to the accessibility bit where people who provide services at public places must make it easy for PWDs, by providing appropriate facilities that make the place accessible to and available for use by them.
However, the Act is yet to be implemented as older building still stand as they were, unfriendly to PWDs, 12 years after its enactment. More so, new buildings still spring up without any consideration of the Act.
This, the Media practitioner said, must not be allowed to continue and charged other bodies to head to the law courts to force authorities into compliance.
He made the proposal during an inception meeting organised by Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) Platform, Ghana in collaboration with GIZ, a German development agency for journalists on Wednesday in the Volta Regional capital, Ho.
The meeting was meant to whip up interest of journalists in the region in reporting on sustainable development goals (SDGs) to help the country achieve the targets by 2030
Coordinator of Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) Platform, Ugonna Ukaigwe observed the media has a critical role to play in ensuring people get to know of the SDGs, thus, achieving the target, a reality.
According to her, the media must link the social, economic, equality and other stories they cover to the 17 goals Ghana has committed herself to achieve by 2030, believing that pointing the loopholes out will put the citizenry and those in authority on their toes to work towards the goals.
Ms Ukaigwe wanted journalists to be advocates for the SDGs asking that they “link social issues that happen on a daily basis to SDGs for example, stories on open defecation can be linked to SDG 6 and 3” to bring development that meets the needs of the present generation with no compromise to the future, something the 17 SDGs are about.
The meeting also saw journalists talk about the challenges they face in their work and deliberated on the way forward while resolving to do their best to contribute to the realisation of the SDGs.
An Assembly member in the Ketu South Municipal assembly, Mr. Joseph Adampa has cautioned the general public against demeaning persons with disability (PWDs) but rather treat them with mutual respective and comradery.
According to former chairman of the Social Services subcommittee of the Assembly, PWDs just like their abled counterparts have a lot of potentials to contribute to the socio-economic development of the country, when given the needed support and encouragement.
Speaking at a recent celebration of World Disability Day in the Ketu South municipality, Mr. Adampa stated ‘their capabilities cannot be in seeing or hearing but can contribute massively in political, social and developmental issues.’
He advised persons with disability to eschew self-pity and focused on harnessing their potentials for the benefit of themselves and the society as a whole.
The programme which was massively patronized by disabled persons from all walks of life in the municipality was also used by the authorities to address teething challenges affecting the welfare of the vulnerable group.
The participants’ lamented about the challenges they faced in accessing a lot of facilities in the country. They noted that there are many buildings in the country which have no provision for persons living with disability which makes it difficult for them to access.
The Ketu South Municipal Chief Executive, Mr. Eliot Agbenorwu on his part, expressed delight at the turnout of the PWDs for the celebration, as he assured them of assembly and the government’s support towards improving their living standards.
He also promised to act on petition brought to him by the leaders of the disability association, regarding the inaccessibility of most public schools and institutions by PWDs in the municipality.
The virtually impaired group also called on Ghanaians to learn the sign language to facilitate easy communication with them.
Volta Regional Minister, Dr Archibald Yao Letsa has boasted of his region’s performance in the agriculture sector making it the centre of attraction at the recently held National Farmers’ Day in Tamale, Northern Region.
According to Dr Letsa, participants at the event on Friday, December 1, deserted all the other stands in favour of the Volta stand which he termed “stand of attraction” for the Day because of the variety of products on display.
He said this to buttress the agriculture potentials of the region which he wanted to be fully exploited taking advantage of the government’s Planting for Food and Jobs initiative to benefit citizens of the region and Ghana at large.
The Minister was happy the Regional Department of Agriculture and the Ministry of Food and Agriculture revealed Volta Region (where rice is grown in all 25 districts) has been recording higher yields in rice in recent years as compared to the others.
He said most of the “brands of processed perfumed rice popularly found on the Ghanaian market including Copa, Champion, Aduahene, and Pride are all produced in the Volta Region.”
He spoke on other projects including the irrigation infrastructure in the region meant to increase production to provide food and jobs for the people.
Dr Letsa said this while addressing participants at the second meeting of the Volta Regional Coordinating Council (VRCC) on Tuesday at the Residency, Ho.
He touted the initiatives of the ruling government which he said to led to “tremendous successes across the various sectors including Security, Food Security, Road network, Education, Water and Sanitation among others” in the region.
The meeting also saw presentations from Regional Agriculture Directorate briefing members of the Council on the successes chalked as a result of government’s flagship programmes as well as the attention given to the sector.
Planning Officer, Regional Education Directorate, Bright Dey who walked the members through the state of education in the region, called on parents to provide the educational needs for their wards accusing them of shying away from their responsibility in the name of free senior high policy.
He therefore appealed to the parents to provide their children with the necessary assistance especially their elective textbooks to support government’s policy to succeed.
The meeting which brought together members of the Council including the Deputy Regional Minister, Maxwell Kofi Blagodzi, Chief Director, Felix Chaahaah and Dean of Municipal and District Chief Executives, Kudjoh Attah had presentations from 3 other departments including Urban Roads, Ghana AIDS Commission (GAC) and Customs Division of Ghana Revenue Authority.
While the presentation on Urban Roads focused on the 10.5 Km Sokode-Ho Dual Carriage Road project, GAC canvassed for support of members to stop stigmatizing people living with HIV in order to eradicate the epidemic by 2030 and Customs spoke on the importance of the tax stamp inviting every Ghanaian on board claiming it has safety and revenue implications for the region and country as a whole.
A second year student of the Anlo-Afiadenyigba Senior High School in the Keta municipality is battling for his life at the hospital after he was reportedly stabbed by a colleague during a heated argument about their girlfriends, Voltaonlinegh.com has learnt.
The incident which happened at about 11:00am Wednesday, had the victim identified as Isaac Newton stabbed with a broken louvre blade in the dormitory by his colleague second year student, identified only as Wise, following a degeneration of their verbal altercations.
A source close to the incident told voltaonlinegh.com that, the two boys while awaiting the day’s examination begun teasing each other about how ‘cheap’ their Anyarko SHS girlfriends were, as they bragged of ‘conning’ one another’s girlfriend in separate instances.
“These boys were in the dormitory with other students awaiting the day’s examination when they began to tease each other’s girlfriend. Each telling the friend how ‘cheap’ the girlfriend was that he easily conned her,” the source stated and added that, the argument degenerated when the victim allegedly use a louvre blade to hit the back of his colleague, Wise, who in retaliation, also picked the broken blade and stabbed him [Isaac] in the stomach.
The incident has sent a shockwave down the rest of the student body, some of whom managed to rush the victim on a motor bike to a nearby health facility, the International Missions Hospital, where medical personnel were said to be working around the clock to stabilize his condition.
Meanwhile, the attacker has since absconded from the school campus.
The Awoamefia of Anlo State, Togbui Sri III will embark on a historic visit to Ashanti Kingdom this weekend on the invitation of the Asantehene, Otumfuor Osei Tutu II.
The Anlo Overlord is the Special Guest of the Asantehene for the final Akwasidae celebration of the year, which is slated for Sunday, December 16, 2018 at the Manhyia Palace in Kumasi.
A statement issued on Tuesday by the Chief of Staff at Manhyia Palace, Mr Kofi Badu stated that, the Akwasidae would mark the celebration of the long-standing friendship between Asanteman and the Anlo state as part of Otumfuo’s efforts to promote national cohesion and inter-ethnic harmony.
The Awoamefia is expected to travel with a cortege of some 150 people to the ceremony, which would showcase the rich cultural heritage of the two ancient traditional states.
The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), with support from Mondelez Cocoa Life Program, has launched a mobile application to facilitate tree registration in off-reserve cocoa landscapes in the Asunafo North and Suhum Municipalities, in the Ashanti and Eastern Regions respectively.
The tree registration is to help farmers or those who plant trees, secure proof of ownership from the Forestry Commission, as per the current policy on tree tenure/ownership in Ghana.
The exercise is expected to encourage farmers to plant more trees in their farms to improve the country’s forest cover.
“As cocoa farmers, securing ownership of trees in our farms is what we have all been pushing for. So this registration exercise is very important to us”, stated Mr. Daniel Amponsah, a Cocoa Farmer in Kasapin Community, Asunafo North District.
Speaking on the importance of the mobile application, Mr. Kwame Asumadu, a Forest Management and Conservation Specialist at UNDP emphasized that the mobile application is to ease tree registration process in off-reserve landscapes.
“We had dialogues with various stakeholders to design a registration form to be used by farmers to register planted trees in off-reserve landscapes. To minimize the multiple tasks in such a tiring process, we decided to develop a mobile application to facilitate the data collection and storage processes”, noted Mr. Asumadu.
He added that the registration exercise will involve both planted and naturally-occurring trees to serve as an incentive to enhance the conservation of biological diversity in the landscape and the maintenance of the environmental conditions necessary for optimum production of cocoa.
To facilitate the tree registration, 45 community-level enumerators have been trained to embark on the registration process. They were particularly trained on the application of the mobile app and how to collect biodata, farm size, and tree data for each farmer and farms. It is expected that about 300,000 trees would be registered for farmers in the 2 districts.
The exercise would be carried out in the remaining 10 Cocoa Life districts where local economic trees were supplied to cocoa farmers.These districts are Ahafo Ano North, Amansie West, Sekyere East (Ashanti Region); Awutu Senya (Central Region); Fanteakwa, West Akim, New Juaben (Eastern Region); Bia West, Juabeso, and Wassa East (Western Region).
The tree registration initiative falls under a project entitled “Environmental Sustainability Project (ESP II) in Cocoa Landscapes’’. The project, has since 2014, supplied over 1.5million economic tree seedlings to more than 10,000 farmers in 560 communities across 5 regions of Ghana for planting, to increase tree and carbon stocks on their farms.
This falls in line with the project’s principal objective to help cocoa farmers adopt environmentally sustainable and climate change resilient cocoa production practices, and to conserve ecosystems and natural resources in cocoa landscapes.
A parent has written to the authorities of his wards’ schools to feel free and use the cane on them as a corrective measure anytime they go wrong.
The man by name Emmanuel Kufoalor from Dededo in the Ho West district in his authority note to teachers stated that, his wards should be excluded from the government’s directive to all schools barring the use of corporal as a corrective tool on students.
A copy of the letter dated 5th December, 2018 and sighted by Voltaonlinegh.com, has the following excerpts;
“I Emmanuel Kufoalor write to state that, my wards and I will not be part of the law from the Government to all schools that teachers should not correct the notorious students by canning them.
… Any teacher who will teach any of my wards should feel free and use the cane or any corrective measure to correct them.”
The letter also contained his contact and a Voter identification numbers for confirmation by anyone who would be in doubt of the content.
Copy of Mr. Kufoalor’s letter
When contacted, Mr. Kufoalor confirmed the existence of the letter and gave reasons for his unusual action.
He told Voltaonlinegh.com that, the absence of caning in schools was destroying his children as they do not respect teachers anymore which turned to affect their academic work.
According to him, ‘the low academic performance and insubordination of my wards compelled me to write to their school authorities to use cane on them as a corrective measure. I correct them in the house with the cane but teachers claim Government directive says students should not be caned.”
The father of five, whose first child is currently in the senior high school with the rest in basic school, bemoaned how some parents quarrel with teachers because their wards were corrected with cane and stated that, such conducts breeds indiscipline among the children which affects their academic work.
Quoting the biblical principle of “Spare the rod and spoil the child”, Mr. Kufoalor emphasized the need for some level of corporal punishment to be allowed in school in order to instill discipline in wayward children.
It will be recalled that, the Ghana Education Service (GES) few years ago outlawed the use of the cane in all schools in the country.
A statement issued to that effect stated that “Henceforth, any GES/private school staff who inflicts corporal punishment on any child in our schools will be dealt with per the policy guidelines of the service and subsequently referred to the appropriate institution to deal with it”
Residents of Asutsuare in the Shai Osudoku District have called government to impress upon managers of a Chinese manufacturing company, Shinefeel Company Ghana Limited to find an alternative means of discharging wastewater from their activities; threatening to take the law into their own hands should nothing be done about their issue.
The residents complained they had made several attempts to stop the company from polluting their water source but it failed to heed their calls.
The aggrieved residents are accusing the company of discharging its wastewater into their (residents’) canals used for irrigating their rice and vegetables farms.
According to them, the Shinefeel Company Ghana Limited which recycles papers to produce toilet paper and egg holder and also produces paint and plastic products, channels its wastewater through the canal, describing it as a worrying situation.
Regional Correspondent of Metro TV and Best Health Reporter at the just ended Volta Journalists Awards, Christian Ahodie spoke to the aggrieved farmers including women who said they “experience itching and skin rashes” whenever they came into contact with the water which they suspected was as a result of the wastewater from the company that was being directed into the canal.
According to a resident, Narteh Patience, they “use the water for washing but after using the water, your skin turns white and itches. We are seriously affected and we want the company to put a stop to discharging their wastewater into the canal.”
However, the company maintained that its wastewater being discharged “is safe”, suspecting the development to be someone or a group instigating the community against them.
The Corporate Affairs Manager of Shinefeel Company Ghana Limited, Simon Adom disagreed with the suspicions of the residents. He said though their treatment plant breaks down occasionally, “the company treats the waste water before it is discharged and cannot be harmful to human health.”
Regarding the complaints of skin itching by the people, he said that could be resulting from the use of some agro chemicals and advised the famers to seek medical attention.
An Environmental Health Officer, Asutsuare Council, Julius Totime assured that “there are periodic inspections” on the activities of Shinefeel Company Ghana Limited after the company had come under serious accusations few months ago when tonnes of fishes died in the Volta lake.
The Environmental Officer noted that though fears were that the deaths were as a result of the company’s activities, test results by the Environmental Protection Agency did not find any link to the company.
Education gives knowledge that uncovers the lid on darkness and brings light where many would have perished without it.
As ignorant as many on the streets are, it is more dangerous to see it fester, mature and become a monster without education.
On my usual travels from Accra to Ho last two years, I saw for myself how mob injustice was been meted out to a young man just almost my age.
Seeing the gory scene physically for the first time left me traumatized for days. Very unfortunate on my part, the vehicle I was on board was caught in serious traffic right there. Cement blocks were thrown at him; logs and any form of metal were used to hit him. For what his crime was, only Christ knows! I took my eyes off but will unconsciously catch a glimpse just to see if the young man has mysteriously vanished from the angry inhumane creatures.
The young man was weak, helpless and bleeding profusely. Aside death, he has no hope but the angry mob was still bent on setting him ablaze with lorry tyre hanged on him. How sad, pathetic and pity it was to imagine that was one of my friend or possibly your relative!
Just when I attempted shouting at the mob, other passengers on board my vehicle tamed me to my seat for the fear that I do not invite terror on them.
Gradually the vehicle faded from the scene from metres to kilometres but the incident was still mirroring in my eyes. It became clear to me when I saw it in the newspapers the following day and this means just one thing to me.
All the reportage about such inhuman and degrading treatment are often true and not concocted nor exaggerated as I use to think.
I asked myself, isn’t there anyone to seek justice for this sought of people? I revisited the 1992 constitution of Ghana to see if they have no place of refuge. It was in black and white in Article 13(1) that ‘No person shall be deprived of his life intentionally except in the exercise of the execution of a sentence of a court in respect of a criminal off.’
It thus, became evident the law prohibits such acts but seems the missing link here is the lack of education.
It is against this background that the African Centre for International Law and Accountability (ACILA) has been touring the length and breadth of Ghana, educating the fourth estate of the realm (The media) on what the law says with reference to the fundamental rights of everyone including the vulnerable in society.
Why the media? The media because their impact in shaping minds, educating and relentlessly shaping public knowledge is unmatched compared to the Executive, Judiciary and the Legislature.
The media on daily basis influence almost all Ghanaian through many mediums including print, radio/television or social media.
Throughout the year 2018, ACILA held engagement with 300 news editors, 180 news reporters and 60 bloggers and social media enthusiasts in all ten regions of Ghana. This has been one of the impactful means through which knowledge is impacted to better inform the public.
The Executive Director of ACILA, Mr. William Nyarko has dedicated his days, energy and resources to framework of ideas getting committed to a common purpose of a just society where everyone’s right is upheld and protected no matter the circumstances.
In an encounter with journalists in the Eastern region at Koforidua on October 10 2018 which I was privileged to partake, Mr William Nyarko said “everyone has a right to live and we must eschew the tendencies of pronouncing suspects guilty before they’re haul before the law” since this could lead to people taking the law into their own hands to meter out cruel punishment to suspected individuals.
The 10th of December is celebrated by the UN as World Human Rights Day
As the World marks December 10 as “World Human Rights Day”, the onus lies on us to seek knowledge on the fundamental human rights in the chapter 5 of the 1992 constitution of Ghana.
We cannot keep doing unto others what we would have resisted others to do unto us. No matter how slowly the wheel of justice grinds, the outcome will certainly be in the interest of the parties and strengthening our democracy.
Just as people living with some form of disability or the other are considered “vulnerable”, it simply means they fall in a class of some minority where their dependency on the majority will certainly mean so much to them to achieve their full potentials.
No one chooses to be an amputee, blind, death, dwarf or hunchbacked but to be sexually oriented is but a choice and this does not necessarily make the law selective in implementation.
No matter our race, religion, creed, or “SEXUAL” orientation, we all deserve some dignified treatment under the laws even under the United Nations Chatter declaration some 70 years on.
It is sad and worrying to say the least to ever pelt stone or assault or marginalize someone based suspicions of LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual or Transgender).
Heaven suddenly broke loose when the president of the Republic of Ghana mentioned in a BBC interview that law to legalise gays and lesbians relationship will one day emerge when a strong force emerge to revolt for it. Yes, such act has no place in our Ghanaian society same way taking the life of another or himself.
We ought not to be judgmental by considering some acts more sinful hence demand lighter punishment just like a man who sleeps with his fellow man for pleasure. I’m totally against the act of LGBT just as I’m against any form of inhumane treatment towards such persons, one must not attempt killing a fellow human but rather draw the laws attention and that’s where I stand because they’re simply vulnerable like the visually impaired.
To better assist such people, it’s best to offer them some form of counseling with higher expectation that they change to understand the most enjoyable sexual experience of a man initiating with a woman.
The Holy book (Bible), in Numbers 35:16-17 speaks volume of what awaits all of us who think we must stone others to death.
In as much as our educational system might have failed us by not enlightening us on the basic human rights, it is just proper to seek knowledge ourselves because it will first be to your defense when anyone attempts to abuse that basic RIGHT.
It’s still a crime in Ghana to engage in any canal knowledge in public and it’s equally a crime to dehumanize or assault a fellow human let alone taking a fellow human life.
