Luxury In the Clouds; A Taste of Ho’s Coolest Locations

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December 18, 2018

By: AKN | Voltaonlinegh.com|

Ever thought of a hospitality experience in the clouds as the lush greenery rolls over the mountains? Then you are only a few seconds away from making that discovery in Ghana.

It has perhaps not grabbed much attention but it is at the heart of the Volta’s hospitality industry.

It is the Weta Mountains or the Kabakaba Hills located uphill of the Volta Regional capital, Ho.

The mountains which stretch from the northeastern part of the capital to the northwestern part, and kissing the heavens, provides a soothing environment worth experiencing.

A look at the mountains over one’s head captures a pleasing view of magnificent buildings with the terraced structures.

It is no wonder, that there is a mad rush for lands at that part of the city.

Investors, who acquired these lands, mostly invest in the hospitality industry.

Chains of Hotels are springing up on the hills where irresistible treats await guests.

Some of the prestigious Hotels in the Volta Region are up there in the clouds. Volta Serene, Skyplus, African Hill Resort and Fred’s Kitchen and Wellness among others are all soaring in the clouds.

Weta hills is indeed an exciting space in Ghana to enjoy good times and it presents a perfect setting to explore nature. The topography of the area provides a thrilling environment for hiking and camping.

At one side are the lush view of the Ho Township and the panoramic view of Adaklu Mountains which is on the hips of the City.

From the other end, one could have a serene view of Klefe and its spouting waterfalls.

Less than 30 minutes’ drive from the hill could land you in Amedzorfe; the highest points of human settlements in Ghana. The town with its temperate weather has another thrilling experience that would be told another day.

On the Weta (Kabakaba hills), one feels closer to the heavens. And it could be a reason churches pitch camp in the forest to meditate.

But as the development sprout in the greenbelt, there are concerns over its threats on the ecological system.

Obviously, there is a need to merge the development and deforestation through policies that could satisfy all competing interests.

It behoves on city authorities to show the way.

I’m particularly enthused by the luxury I see in the clouds on the Weta Hills and I see this as a gold mine in tourism in the Volta Region yet to be fully harnessed.

As Ho gradually becomes a city of choice for persons who need time away from the buzz of Accra, I recommend the clouds for the next guest.

Source: www.voltaonlinegh.com

Tem-Kotokolis Hold Prayers to Ask for God’s Blessings for Oti to Happen

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Volta Online

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December 18, 2018

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Wura Brinai II, Overlord of Tem Kotokoli (right)

By: Obrempongba Kwame Owusu | Voltaonlinegh.com |

The people of Tem-Kotokoli in the Nkwanta South District of the Volta Region have held special prayers to ask for the blessings of Almighty God (Allah) in the referendum scheduled to take place in the northern part of the region on December 17.

They sought God’s blessing for a resounding ‘YES’ votes to enable the demand of the people in the area to have a new region, Oti carved out of the existing Volta Region, come to pass.

The Overlord of Tem–Kotokoli, Wuro Dawood Chedere Brinai II in an address to his people during the special prayers on Friday at Kue, a suburb of Nkwanta, said there must be divine intervention to ensure the proposed Oti Region happens because the people of Volta north have been making the demand for the past 40 years.

Wuro Dawood Chedere Brinai indicated that the people living in that area have been deprived of social amenities for long, thus, the need for the new region demand to bring the needed development to the area.

He therefore called on all indigenes of Kotokoli to come out in their numbers and vote massively in favour of the new region in the December 27 referendum.

Earlier, other traditional areas including Adele, Konkomba, Guan-Agyode, Challah had embarked on various forms of campaign activities urging residents of the area to vote Yes in the referendum.

Source: www.voltaonlinegh.com

Paramount Chief of Battor Calls on his Subjects to Avoid Land Disputes for Development

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Volta Online

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December 18, 2018

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By: Prince Zao | Voltaonlinegh.com |
The Paramount Chief of Battor Traditional Area in the North Tongu District of the Volta Region, Togbega Patamia Dzekle VII has called on his people especially the youth who are the future of the area to avoid litigations over land to allow for development projects to come to the area.

Togbega said there was the need for the youth to desist from land grabbing and unnecessary land litigation because that would keep investors away from the area, thus, depriving it from the needed development projects.

He made the call in his welcome address during the grand durbar of chiefs and people of Battor Traditional Area on Saturday to climax this year’s Hogbeza, the annual festival of the people.

He was grateful to the government for introducing its flagship programme, the Free Senior High School (SHS) policy but was quick to advise the government to help solve the numerous challenges facing it.

He also urged citizens of Battor to take advantage of the programme and get themselves educated to ensure a bright future for themselves and the area.

Togbega Patamia Dzekle decried the poor roads in the North Tongu District which he said was affecting a lot of businesses.
He mentioned the Sege-Aveyime and Asutsuare-Aveyime roads as some of the bad roads which impact negatively on the socio-economic activities of the people.

District Chief Executive for the area, Collins Arku in a speech, added his voice to that of the Paramount Chief and called on the people to stop land litigation which he identified to be one of the contributory factors retarding development in the district.

Member of Parliament for the area, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwah called for unity among the chiefs so that the area could attract a lot of investors to bring jobs to the teeming youth in the area.

He disclosed that plans were underway towards the establishment of a Polytechnic at Battor in 2019 to provide residents and those from other part of the region and the country with tertiary education.

Hon. Ablakwah donated 10 street lights to the Battor Senior High, GH¢3,000.00 towards the education endowment fund and pledged 150 bags of cement towards the building of a community centre at Battor.

Source: www.voltaonlinegh.com

Data Link Institute Holds 9th Congregation

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Volta Online

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December 17, 2018

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Data link (1) — Section of the Graduating Students

By: KALD|Voltaonlinegh.com|

Data Link Institute, a private university college in the Tema Metropolis has held its ninth congregation for some 356 students who successfully completed various academic programmes of study for the 2017/18 academic year.

Graduands at the ceremony which took place at the WAEC hall in Tema were awarded degree certificates in Business administration and other disciplines.

President of the Institute, Professor Jacob J. Nortey in his address said the students have received the quality training requisite for the world of work.

He entreated the graduating students to use the knowledge and skills acquired to find innovative solutions to societal problems; and also be worthy ambassadors of the institute by exhibiting high level of integrity and honesty in all their dealings.

The institute, which is affiliated to the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), the president noted has also rolled out additional academic programmes in affiliation with other local and foreign reputable universities as well as professional institutions to attract more prospective students.

In addition, Prof. Nortey said the institute in its quest to become a world class tertiary institution was working to engaged more experienced full and partime faculty members; while they take steps to develop the institute’s central campus at Tema.

Founder and Executive Chairman of the Institute, Mr Ernest Ansah on his part urged the graduates to make a difference in their communities and also not to turn their backs towards their alma mater, as it required their support to develop.

Mr. Ansah also appealed for government’s intervention in terms of infrastructure through the Getfund for all private tertiary institutions in the country to enable to create more access for beneficiaries of the free SHS policy.

Mr. Ernest Ansah, founder of Data Link Institute

The Overall Best graduating Student, Ms Deborah Sagoe Gunnel who also emerged as the best female student in Marketing, challenged her colleagues to take on opportunities in the country to contribute towards national development instead of seeking greener pastures elsewhere.

Source: www.voltaonlinegh.com

Dabala SHTS Students Protest Monotonous Gari & Beans Menu

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Volta Online

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December 17, 2018

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Dabala SHS 21 — Dabala Senior High Technical School

By: Tabitha Kugbonu | Voltaonlinegh.com |

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.

“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.

Source: www.voltaonlinegh.com

Let’s Take on Assemblies on Inclusion of PWDs – Journalist Proposes

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Volta Online

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December 17, 2018

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By: Ewoenam Kpodo |Voltaonlinegh.com |

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.

Source: www.voltaonlinegh.com

Assembly Member Calls for Persons with Disability To Be Treated with Respect

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Volta Online

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December 16, 2018

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By Sylvia Awuye|Voltaonlinegh.com|

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.

Source: www.voltaonlinegh.com

Volta Was the Stand of Attraction at 2018 Farmers’ Day-Minister Boasts

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Volta Online

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December 13, 2018

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VRCC (4) — Dr. Letsa Addressing the meeting

By: Ewoenam Kpodo | Voltaonlinegh.com |

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.

Source: www.voltaonlinegh.com

SHS Student stabs Colleague in Brawl over ‘Girl friends’

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Volta Online

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December 13, 2018

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By: KALD | Voltaonlinegh.com |

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.

Source: www.voltaonlinegh.com

Awoamefia Embarks on Historic Visit To Manhyia Palace

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Volta Online

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December 12, 2018

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Asantehene VS Awomefia — Otumfuor & Togbui Sri II

By: KALD|Voltaonlinegh.com |

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.

Source: www.voltaonlinegh.com