‘NO GOV’T CAN PROVIDE FREE EDUCATION’-PRAMOUNT CHIEF

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October 31, 2011

The Paramount chief of Ziavi traditional area in the Ho municipality, Togbe Kwaku Ayim IV, has asked parents not to believe the notion that education is free. “Education is expensive and not free, if not so, individuals will not establish private schools” he emphasized.

He noted that no government can make education free and urged parents not to buy promises from politicians claiming to make education free. “If any politician comes to you promising free education for your children, it is not true”

Togbe Ayim, also a retired educationist, therefore called on parents to prioritize and invest heavily in the education of their children especially the girl child in order to secure a better future for them and their families.

Togbe Kwaku Ayim was speaking at a thanksgiving and fundraising service to climax the 15th annual conference of the Ho-East presbytery great choir (Hadzihaga) of the Evangelical Presbyterian church at Ziavi Dzogbe on Sunday.

He commended the presbytery for supporting the E.P university college and also for their initiative to start a fish farming project.

Mr. Charles kudiabor, chairman of the Ho-east presbytery great choir (Hadzihaga) urged members to remain committed and support the activities group.

He also appealed to government to address the concerns of teachers to forestall any strike action that will jeopardize the educational system.

Rev. B.K Keteku, Klefe Kpodzi district pastor, in his sermon urged Christians to seek the intervention of the Holy Spirit in all their endeavors. He also asked them to live in harmony, peace, tranquility and in humility to facilitate development.

The newly elected executives at the conference under the chairmanship of Mr. bright Kudiabor were inducted to office while awards were also presented to individuals who contributed towards the success of the choir over the years.

A total of GH¢ 3089.70 was realized from the fundraising.

POLICE ASKED TO ADOPT POSITIVE ATTITUDES

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Kwadwo Duodu

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October 30, 2011

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Police recruits have been urged to adopt positive attitudes towards policing, exercise high level of professionalism and avoid rudeness to win public trust in combating crime in the country.

DCOP David Asante-Appeatu, Director-General, Research, Planning and ICT of the Ghana Police Service made the call on Friday at the passing-out parade of 205 General Recruits after six-month rigorous training at the Volta Regional Police Training School in Ho.

According to DCOP Asante-Apeatu, the Service has injected more disciplines and schemes into the Service’s recruit training to enable it to meet the exigencies of modern day policing and advised the new recruits that the Service was undergoing an image enhancing exercise and would not tolerate image denting behaviours.

DCOP Asante-Apeatu said today’s policeman must have some knowledge in ICT and some capacity to interact with colleagues in nearby francophone countries, hence lessons in French and ICT have been included in the training curriculum as well as out of training depot attachments to enable the recruits to provide effective service.

He reminded the recruits that, aside academic qualification promotion, promotion in the Service are also based on seniority as well exemplary performance.

He also advised the general public to observe all road traffic regulations in order to avoid needless accidents.

The recruits treated dignitaries, including Alhaji Hamidu Mahama, Deputy Commissioner of Police responsible for Human Resource, Director of Training, ACP Kofi Boakye and Colonel Cyril Necku, Deputy Volta Regional Minister to immaculate silent drills, slow and quick marches.

Eight recruits were awarded for excellence with the overall best recruit going to Otibu Kwaku Gyan.

click link to listen to DCOP Asante-Appeatu

VOLTA CADRES DEFEND GBEVLO-LARTEY

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Kwadwo Duodu

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October 12, 2011

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The Volta Regional Branch of the United Cadre Front (UCF) of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) on Tuesday called on president mills to ignore the call by, a group calling itself Concerned Group of the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) to dismise of the National Security Coordinator, Lt-Col. (rtd) Larry Gbevlo-Lartey.

On Tuesday October 4th, 2011, the group demonstrated at the ruling party’s headquarters demanding the immediate dismissal of the National Security Coordinator, listing a litany of accusations against the Security Coordinator including the fact that security capo is using his position to impose his son, Nestor Gbevlo Lartey on the people of Hohoe North constituency as the NDC’s parliamentary candidate and as such creating political tension and incohesion in the Hohoe north constituency.

The group also accused the national security coordinator of masterminding the the dismissal of Mr. Victor Kondobrey, the formal MCE for Hohoe.

But in a statement read by Mr John Tenyoh Agbovi, Volta Regional Assistant for Political Programmes of the UCF, the cadres debanged those allegations being leveled against Lt. Col. Rtd. Gbevlo-Lartey, describing them as fabricated, unfounded and malicious to destroy the hard won reputation of the national security coordinator.

The statement said, the leader of the demonstrators, one Hajia Sherifatu Sulley do not hail from any part of the Volta region and Mr. Reginald Seth Dogbey, who claimed to be an executive and signed the press statement that was issued out by the demonstrators is not a recognized member of the NDC in the Hohoe north constituency but rather he is an imposter misleading people for his parochial interest.

The statement also said the dismissal of Mr. Victor kondobrey as MCE for Hohoe due to his gross incompetence, corruption and mismanagement was appropriate and in the best interest of the municipality and any attempt by any group of people to fight for his reinstatement would be a regrettable mistake.

The statement also said the expression of interest by Mr. Nestor Gbevlo to contest the parliamentary primaries for the Hohoe north constituency is not a crime for people to be attacking him. The cadres therefore called on party members to assess the individuals seeking political office on their individual qualities.

“If Mr Gbevlo is not liked by the people of this constituency, it is a matter of being rejected at the constituency primaries and that will end the matter there,” the statement said.

The Volta regional executives of the united cadres’ front therefore called for calm and restraint in the Hohoe north constituency.

HO WEST CONSTITUENTS DEMAND A DISTRICT

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Kwadwo Duodu

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October 10, 2011

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The Congress of Paramount Chiefs and Queen Mothers of Ho West Constituency has called on president Mills to create a district for the constituency to accelerate the development of the area.

The call was made by Osie Adza Tekpor VII, Paramount Chief of Avatime Traditional Area and Chairman of the Congress at the celebration of the maiden unity durbar of the chiefs and people of the 16 traditional councils of the Ho West Constituency on Saturday at Dzolokpuita in the Ho municipality.

He said the creation of the new district will lessen the burden on the Ho municipal assembly in the administration of the municipality and in bringing meaningful development to the communities under the assembly.

Osie Adza Tekpor said the durbar was to create a formidable force for unity, development, idea sharing, investment and creation of jobs for young people and also consolidate the efforts of the chiefs, queen-mothers and the youth of the constituency.

He also called for work to be done on roads in the constituency to boost the economic and tourism potentials.

The Deputy Volta Regional Minister, Colonel Cyril Neku (Rtd), who represented President John Evans Atta Mills, commended the resilience of the people and urged them to remain united for the accelerated development of the area.

He said government remained committed to promises made to the nation and that the Ho West Constituency would have its fair share of development projects.

Mr Emmanuel Kwasi Bedzrah, MP for the area and one of the brains behind the Unity Durbar, urged the youth to take advantage of the various government intervention programs to enhance their livelihoods.

He also said the constituency has what it takes to be a district and there are committees in place to spearhead activities that will ensure that all the requirements needed for the creation of a district are met.

Mr. Bedzrah said meetings have been ongoing since 2009 with the chiefs to address pertinent issues especially the one pertaining to the location of the district capital, which he said majority of the paramount chiefs agreed on Dzolopkui since it is currently the constituency capital and was also the capital of the then Ho east local authority during the 1st republic before it was faced out.

The durbar which was nearly marred by a two hour heavy downpour did not deter the people from dancing with jubilation to the low quality sounds emanating from the wet drums and other musical instruments.

click link and listen to Osie Adja-Terkpor and Hon. Bedzrah

WORLD TEACHERS DAY; ‘WOMEN SUSTAINED G.E.S’-DR. AFUN

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Kwadwo Duodu

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October 6, 2011

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“But for women, the Ghana Education Service may have collapsed”, this is according to Dr Jakpasu Victor Afun, Rector of the Ho Polytechnic, who was speaking at a durbar of teachers to mark this year’s World Teachers Day on the theme “Teachers for Gender Equality,” in Ho on Wednesday.

According to him, in the late 1970s and early 80s, women were the people who hold the fort when most men were running away from Ghana to Nigeria.

Dr. Afun said due to the effort of women teachers, many different professional women are being churned out to compete favorably with their male counterparts. He said Gender parity in educational opportunities is imperative for accelerated national development and as such for the world and that matter Ghana to achieve the millennium development goals on schedule, there is the need to get women on board.

He therefore called for non discrimination against women since they have a lot to offer for the development of the country.

In a speech read on his behalf, Mr Samuel Alobuia, Acting National President of Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT) said while teachers strived to put in their best, other stakeholders in education should also play their part more effectively to facilitate better results.

Mr Alexander Mawusi Buadi, Regional GNAT President said it will be wrong to apportion blame to only teachers in this time of poor educational performance. He also complained about the inability of the GES to absorb teachers from study leave without pay, back into the system and the long delays in placing 2010 newly trained teachers on their official salary scales.

The Regional Minister, Mr Joseph Amenowode, said teachers’ performance is major factor to the abysmal performance in the recent Basic Education Certificate Examination and promised government commitment to better the lot of teachers to help reverse the situation.

A retired Educationist and a former Ho municipal director of education Mr Francis Korwu, said the package needed to be given to teachers to give them the verve to work are not being delivered early enough and therefore called on government to provide the incentives it had consistently promised teachers, some of whom work in deprived areas to motivate them to improve on their performance.

Mr Korwu also called for circumspection in the posting and transfer of lady teachers to some duty posts, so as not to jeopardize their lives.

In all, 30 teachers and non teaching staff including three staff of the regional GNAT secretariat were awarded for meritorious service to GNAT over the years.
Click link and listen to Dr. Afun and Joseph Amenowode audios

The Woes of a Rural teacher

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Kwadwo Duodu

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October 5, 2011

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October 5, every year is celebrated as World Teachers’ Day, but have you ever thought of the daily troubles teachers in rural areas go thru in dispensing quality education?

Miss Cynthia Adjololo, is a young trained teacher who has been posted to Klave, a rural farming community in the Ho municipality last year.

She tells me her experience teaching in a rural community over the past one year. Click and Listen Cynthia narrates her experience as a rural teacher

POOR READING HABIT; MAIN CAUSE OF FAILURE AT B.E.C.E

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Kwadwo Duodu

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October 5, 2011

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Poor reading habits of students at the Klave L.A J.H.S in the Ho municipality have been identified as one of the main causes of the abysmal performance at the 2011 Basic Education Certificate examinations.

According to Miss Cynthia Adjololo, a teacher at the school, most students in J.H.S cannot identify the alphabets left alone pronouncing two or letter words.

This came to light at the first School Performance Appraisal meeting (SPAM) organized by the Ho municipal education directorate to engage Stakeholders in identifying the causes of the poor performance of students in the 2011 B.E.C.E and to find ways of reversing the trend at Klave on Tuesday.

Mr. Francis Sedor, the PTA chairman of the school, said since 2008 the school have scored zero percent in the B.E.C.E and blamed the situation on lack of teachers in the school in previous years.

According to him, not until recently, the primary school have only four teachers teaching pupils from KG to P6 and three teachers handling the junior high school students and this make teaching and learning less effective.

Other problems identified included the inconsistency of students and teachers in the classrooms as some of the students abscond from school to engage in stone quarrying which is a lucrative business in the area.

The meeting which was attended by parents, teachers, school children and opinion leaders from the Klave community as well as officers from the education directorate, led by the municipal director of education forms part of measures being taken to address the poor performance of students in the municipality.

According to Mr Emmanuel Keteku, Ho Municipal Director of Education, 1720 out of 3233 candidates who wrote the B.E.C.E in the municipality had aggregate 6 to 30. He said the poor performance of the pupils amounted to wasting of government’s limited resources and blamed all stakeholders including parents for being less concerned with their children’s education. He therefore urged parents to invest in their children’s education and not to rely solely on government to finance the education of their wards since it is now expensive for government alone to bear.

He also urged opinion leaders to motivate the teachers to give off their best and not to be insulting them.

Other officers from the education directorate also took a swipe at some of the teachers for deserting duties to engage in their personal businesses.

They therefore advised both pupils and teachers to work hard to justify the investments being made in education.

On the way forward, officers from the education directorate will be at Klave in a forth night to undertake a reading clinic for teachers, as the directorate intensifies supervision and monitoring of schools to ensure that teachers are at post and punctual in class.

A task force have also been set up by the community members to ensure school children do not stay at home during school hours and also to ensure punctuality among teachers and students.

“CORPORAL PUNISHMENT IS ILLEGAL” CHRAJ

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Kwadwo Duodu

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October 3, 2011

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Teachers and parents have been asked to avoid the use of corporal punishment and find civil means of disciplining children since the act breach article 28 clause 3 of the 1992 constitution which says ‘A child shall not be subjected to torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.’

Mrs Joy Animah Debrah, a Senior Public Education officer at the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ), made the call on Monday at the start of a two day training workshop for 55 patrons of human rights clubs drawn from schools in the Volta and Eastern regions in Ho.

According to Mrs Animah Debrah, corporal punishment such as canning which is administered mostly through anger have not proven to be effective as a means of training children over the years.

She said the continuous use of the cane in schools imprints on the minds of children that cruelty is the best way in resolving problems and urged head-teachers to advise their staff to stop the use of canes in schools.

Mrs, Debrah advised parent to incorporate children in decision making and not just imposed things on them since they are growing and they should be help to grow properly. She also advised teachers and parents to desist from verbally abusing children.

Mr. Samuel Bosompem, deputy director of Public Education at CHRAJ and a facilitator at the workshop, said human right is about the behaviour of persons and therefore urged teachers and parents to live exemplary behaviours for children to emulate.

The Volta Regional Director of CHRAJ, Mr Joseph Nuertey, on his part urged the patrons to respect and protect the rights of children at school and also be on the lookout for human and child rights abuses at schools and address or refer them to the appropriate authorities for redress.
click to listen Mrs. Debrah.

GHANAIANS ASKED TO PATRONIZE DOMESTIC TOURISM

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Kwadwo Duodu

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September 28, 2011

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A mona monkey

Ghanaians have been urged to patronize domestic tourism in order to learn about other cultures to enhance peaceful co-existence among them.

The minister for tourism, Akua Sena Dansua made this call at a Grand Durbar at Tafi Atome Monkey Sanctuary in the Hohoe municipality of the Volta region to commemorate this year’s world tourism day on Tuesday.

According to the minister, aside the promotion of national cohesion, patronizing domestic tourism will help create jobs and grow the domestic economy which will lead to the development of the country.

This year’s celebration which is on the theme “Tourism: Linking Cultures”, according to the tourism minster provide the opportunity to educate the public on the importance of tourism in fostering national unity, global understanding, cohesion and mutual respect.

Hon. Akua Sena Dansua said tourism is the 4^th foreign exchange earner and have contributed 6.2% to d country’s GDP in 2010.

She said the development of tourism need a multi-sectorial approach and therefore called on corporate Ghana, MMDAs and individuals to partner government in the development and promotion of tourism in the country.

The chief of Tafi Atome, Togbe Dabrah V, commended government for commemorating such an important and international day in their community and appealed for the construction of the road leading to the community and the provision of boreholes to alleviate the water situation in the area as well as the provision of educational infrastructure.

On his part, the Volta regional Minister, Joseph Amenowode who is also the MP for the area said the Volta region is the most important tourist destination in the world and the celebration of the world tourism day in the region is the beginning of harnessing the tourism potential for the development of the region and the country.

He also assured the people of Tafi Atome that the road to the area will be tarred and other infrastructure provided.

Thomas Aquinas Quansah, deputy minister for local government and rural development said as part of the ministry’s support for the development of tourism, all MMDAs have been asked to set aside a percentage of their internally generated and common funds for tourism development in their jurisdictions.

Earlier, the minister of tourism and Volta regional minister commissioned a renovated information centre which was sponsored by rlG communications and a footbridge constructed by the tourism ministry in the sanctuary to aid easy movement .

The United Nations set aside 27th September each year to celebrate World Tourism Day as a way of fostering awareness among the international community of the importance of tourism and its social, cultural and economic values.

As part of this year’s celebration was a tour of tourist attraction sites in the Kpando District and Hohoe Municipality including Kpando Torkor markets and Volta Lake loading site, Grotto at Agbenoxoe, Togbui Dagadu’s palace and Wli Waterfalls on Saturday September, 24.

There were also an Arts and Culture Exhibition, a Local Gastronomy (food fair), sightseeing of the monkey sanctuary and cultural performances by various cultural troupes from the Volta region during the grand durbar which was well attended by a high powered government delegation.

click link to listen to attached audio Tourism minister and Regional Minister.

2011 ASOGLI YAM FESTIVAL CLIMAXED

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Kwadwo Duodu

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September 26, 2011

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Togbe Afede addressing the Durbar

The 2011 Asogli yam festival came to a climax on Saturday in Ho with a called on chiefs, politicians and opinion leaders in the country to come together and provide the kind of leadership that will strengthen the nation’s unity, inspire and give hope to the people.

Togbe Afede XIV, the Agbogbomefia of the Asogli State and president of the volta regional house of chiefs made the call at a colourful grand durbar of chiefs and people of the Asogli Traditional Area and attended by tourists from across the world, government officials as well as chiefs and people from other traditional areas and regions of the country.

Togbe Afede noted that unity has been the foundation that has enabled Ghana to survive as a country and that same oneness is vital for the future especially as the country goes to the polls next year.

He therefore bemoaned the high level of insults on the airwaves by politicians even though the 2012 General Election is about 15 months away and called for the moderation of language and circumspection to bring some sanity into politicking in the country.

He stated that for the nation’s politics to meet the aspirations of the people there is the need for tolerance, respect for one another, forgetting the past no matter how painful and respect for the truth among others.

Togbe Afede said development is what brings happiness, and that among other reasons is why he led a 27 member delegation including the Regional Minister, Chiefs, politicians and businessmen from the region to China where they signed an agreement for the establishment of a sister relationship with Ningxia Region.

He revealed that the intended cooperation with Ningxia in the fields of Agriculture, Education, Health, and Tourism among others will bring development and jobs to the Volta region and to Ghana as a whole.

The Agbogbomefia also commended the efforts of the other chiefs in the State in promoting peace and tourism in the area.

In a speech read on his behave by the Local Government Minister, Samuel Ofosu Ampofo, President John Mills, reiterated Government’s commitment to the development of the Volta Region and assured the people of better things in the coming years in fulfillment of the Better Ghana Agenda.

He commended the Chiefs and people of the Asogli State for their contribution to the development of the country and congratulated them on the Yam Festival that signifies their commitment to Agriculture which is a major area for development.

The president also advised the youth to eschew all forms negative conducts that will affect their lives and the future of this nation.

The paramount chief of Notsie and the president of Togolese House of Chiefs Togbe Agorkorli IV who chaired the occasion congratulated the people of the Asogli State and Ghana as a whole for the peace and development that has engineered the stability of the country.

There were fraternal messages from the national house of chiefs and the ministry of chieftaincy and culture.

The celebration which was under the theme: ‘Our Politics must bring about Peace, Unity and Development’ was characterized by traditional dances, mystical performances, and cordiality among the thousands of local and visiting revelers.

click link and listen to TogbeAfede speech in ewe and Ofosu_Ampofo’s_speech.