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VOLTA FIRE LADIES ASSOCIATION INAUGURATED IN HO

By
Kwadwo Duodu
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0
Listen to Henry Ametepe

Henry Ametepe
The Fire Service Ladies Association (FISLA) has been urged to educate women on fire safety in general and domestic fire safety in particular.
Mr Henry Ametefe, Deputy Volta Regional Minister, gave the advice at the inauguration of the Region Branch of the Association in Ho.
It was on the theme: “Enhancing Fire Safety Activities -The Role of FISLA.”
Mr Ametefe urged the Association to visit the markets and link up with other associations of women to educate them on the rudiments of fire prevention and control at home, market, workplaces and public places.
Mr Ametefe called on FISLA to spearhead a programme to encourage institutions, including the business community, to install firefighting equipment and get their staff and workers to master the use of the gadgets.
He observed that the public is largely ignorant about how to operate fire extinguishers on public and private premises and, therefore, become helpless in tackling small fires which then assume dangerous dimensions.
In a speech read on his behalf, the Regional Fire Officer, Assistant Chief Fire Officer Kru Agyarko-Attobrah, commended the Firewomen for their resilience, dedication and perseverance.

MINISTER PROPOSES ESTABLISHMENT OF DATABASE FOR CITIZENS

By
Kwadwo Duodu
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0
Listen to Ford Kamel addressing Senior Citizens

Ford Kamel

The Volta Regional Minister, Mr Henry Ford Kamel has called for the establishment of reliable database on people who retire from public and civil service.    

According to him such information with details on expertise and location would help in the formulation of a national policy on the aged for their possible re-engagement.    
Mr Kamel made the call at a luncheon in Ho organized by the Volta Regional Coordinating Council in honour of senior citizens in the Region.     
He said senior citizens remained relevant to the socio-economic development of the country and hoped a national policy for the aged could make them active and more relevant to the country’s economy saying “for instance retired teachers could be re-engaged to help improve academic performance in schools.”    
Mr Kamel appealed to the senior citizens to preach peace in their communities saying “as opinion leaders, use your expertise to ensure that peace prevailed in your areas. Be quick to condemn actions that could cause conflict and commend peaceful gestures”.    

  
Mr Tenasu Kofi Gbedemah, a Senior Citizen and Civil Society Activist commended government for remembering the efforts of senior citizens and called on government to ensure the passage of the Right to Information Bill.   
Senior Citizens at the Luncheon

He said that was the only way to fight corruption and ensure transparency, accountability and good governance.   

Mr Ransford Ocloo, Former Volta Regional Director of the National Youth Council, said pensions of people under the SSNIT Pension Scheme was too low and appealed to government to review it.

ADAKLU CITIZENS JUBILATE OVER NEW DISTRICT

By
Kwadwo Duodu
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0
Listen to Ford Kamel’s Address

Adaklu Mountain
Jubilation engulfed the entire Adaklu traditional area last Thursday as the chiefs and people of area defied a heavy downpour to celebrate the inauguration of their new Adaklu district at Adaklu Waya, the district capital in the Volta region.
The chiefs who were dressed in their royal regalia with hundred of their enthusiastic subjects clad in white were drumming and dancing in the heavy rain which delayed the programme for hours.
Mr. Francis Segbefia, Assembly Member for Waya the creation of the district for the area was not an easy task as they have been lobbying since 2003. ‘It took us warfare of intense dialogue, press conferences, agitations and demonstrations for us to have this district’ he emphasized.
Mr. Segbefia however said, the creation of the district would change the development agenda of the Adaklu traditional area.
Delivering the inaugural address on behalf of President Mills, Mr. Henry Ford Kamel Volta regional minister said the creation of new Assemblies represented the fulfillment of one of the many promises in the 2008 National Democratic Congress (NDC)   manifesto.
He said the establishment of new districts would deepen democracy and decentralization towards a better Ghana.
He said government expected “nothing less than full and active” participation of the chiefs and people in the Assembly.
He said a District Resourcing Programme was being worked out within the framework of the recently launched Public Private Partnership Strategy, to provide each assembly with an office block, assembly hall and bungalows for its staff.
Mr. Kamel said basic needs strategy was also being worked out to ensure a minimum of two senior high schools, a district hospital, potable water and electricity for the district capital and access road to the district capital.

 

The Paramount chief of Adaklu Traditional area, Togbe Gbogbi Atsa V, who was full of praise for the government, pledged the readiness of traditional authorities to make the Adaklu District a point of reference for excellence in good governance.

 “We want to assure the President that if local governance would become a tourist attraction in Ghana, it will surely start from the Adaklu District Assembly”, he said.
He said the chiefs and people of the traditional area were grateful to the President for fulfilling his campaign promise, and they would reciprocate the gesture by using the district as an instrument for development of the area.
Togbe Atsa commended the people for their resilience and support during the ‘fight’ for the district and urged them to support the new Assembly to grow.
The Adaklu traditional area consists of over forty small towns and villages which has enormous agricultural and tourism potentials.  

MINISTER PROPOSES ESTABLISHMENT OF SENIOR CITIZENS’ DATABASE

By
Kwadwo Duodu
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0

The Volta Regional Minister, Mr Henry Ford Kamel has called for the establishment of reliable database on people who retire from public and civil service.    
According to him such information with details on expertise and location would help in the formulation of a national policy on the aged for their possible re-engagement.    
Mr Kamel made the call at a luncheon in Ho organized by the Volta Regional Coordinating Council in honour of senior citizens in the Region.     
He said senior citizens remained relevant to the socio-economic development of the country and hoped a national policy for the aged could make them active and more relevant to the country’s economy saying “for instance retired teachers could be re-engaged to help improve academic performance in schools.”    
Mr Kamel appealed to the senior citizens to preach peace in their communities saying “as opinion leaders, use your expertise to ensure that peace prevailed in your areas. Be quick to condemn actions that could cause conflict and commend peaceful gestures”.      
Mr Tenasu Kofi Gbedemah, a Senior Citizen and Civil Society Activist commended government for remembering the efforts of senior citizens and called on government to ensure the passage of the Right to Information Bill.   
He said that was the only way to fight corruption and ensure transparency, accountability and good governance.   
Mr Ransford Ocloo, Former Volta Regional Director of the National Youth Council, said pensions of people under the SSNIT Pension Scheme was too low and appealed to government to review it.

POLITICAL PARTIES TO VISIT E.C ‘STRONG ROOM’

By
Kwadwo Duodu
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0
Listen to Dr. Afari Djan addressing Party Executives

Executives of the various political parties in the country would soon be taken on a tour of the Electoral commission of Ghana head offices to familiarize themselves with the operations of the E.C especially in the operations room (better known as the strong room) and the information technology department of the commission.

Dr. Kwodwo Afari-Djan, chairman of the commission disclosed this at a capacity building workshop organized by the Commission in collaboration with the Department for International Development (DFID) and KAB Governance Consult (KGC) for political parties in the Volta Region at Ho.
According to the E.C boss, the tour is intended to correct wrong impressions about activities that goes on in the ‘strong room’ and deepen the understanding and strength of the country’s electoral system.
“There are several rumours and we need to make people understand that we do not do surgical operations in our operations room and that no one can manipulate figures in the IT room,” Dr. Afari-Djan said. 

The National Democratic Congress (NDC), New Patriotic Party (NPP) and Progressive People’s Party (PPP) were the only parties present at the workshop which was on the theme “The Inbuilt integrity of Ghana’s Electoral Process.”
Participants treated topics like the rights and obligations of Political Parties and EC-Political Party Relations, the In-built Integrity of Ghana’s Electoral System and Importance of Polling Agents as part of the EC’s outreach programme on voter education.
Dr. Afari Gyan said everyone needed some form of voter education and advised political parties to educate the electorate on voting procedures and the dos and don’ts of elections.
He therefore expressed the hope that, the Commissions engagement with party executives would help deepen their understanding of the electoral system create mutual appreciation of the basis of the relationship between the EC and the political parties.

MEDIA PRACTITIONERS ASKED TO PRACTICE ‘PEACE JOURNALISM’

By
Kwadwo Duodu
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0

 Listen to Justin Bayor

The West African Network For Peace-building (WANEP), Ghana, has asked media practitioners to practice peace journalism so as to guarantee the country’s peace during this electioneering period.
Mr. Justin Bayor, the National Network Coordinator of WANEP-Ghana, said the country is currently experiencing security challenges hence the need for media practitioners to be circumspect in their reportage in order not to jeopardize the country’s fledgling democracy.
“Anyone who thinks Ghana is peaceful and can never go to war, is day dreaming’ Mr. Bayor said and noted that the nation’s security is no longer the duty of the security agencies but rather a shared responsibility of every citizen.
Mr Bayor, who made the call at a media consultative workshop in Ho on Friday, expressed concern about the use of vindictive and provocative language in the Ghanaian media.
He said the derogatory remarks creeping into the media landscape had the potential of plunging the nation into chaos, if not checked immediately.
Mr. Bayor said WANEP is engaging youth from 14 ‘hot spots’ across the country to be ambassadors of peace to ensure that the 2012 general election is conducted without rancor.
Some participants at the workshop blame the increasing use of foul language in the media  on the commercialization of the media, which now superseded the public interest and called for the regular training of media practitioners as well as media owners on the modern trends in reporting and also on the need to always serve the public interest.

TOGBEGA GABUSU SPEAKS ‘AM NOW A REFUGEE’

By
Kwadwo Duodu
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0

Togbega Gabusu (middle) flank by Togbe Adzimah (L)
 Listen to Togbe Afede appeal to Factions
The Paramount chief of Gbi Traditional area, Togbega Gabusu VI has on Thursday said he has been living in a hideout as his sisters were also staying with other people after his  palace was vandalised and vehicles burnt by some irate Zongo youth in Hohoe last Monday. “Am now a refugee in my own home” Togbe Gabusu said in his first public comment when he met with a delegation from the Volta Regional House of Chiefs and the Volta Regional Security Council (REGSEC) led by Togbe Afede XIV President of the house of chiefs and the Volta regional minister, Henry Ford Kamel in the residence of the Hohoe Municipal Chief Executive, to sympathize with the people of Hohoe and to also help broker peace.
Clashes broke between the youth of Hohoe and their Zongo counterparts last Monday, after the later went on rampage and vandalised properties in the palace of Togbe Gabusu including his vehicles, accusing him (Gabusu) of ordering the exhumation of the corpse of the Chief Imam of the area. This led to reprisal attack from the indigenes, who also went and set ablaze shops belonging to some Zongo people in the town. 
The town is now under a dusk to dawn curfew with heavy security deplored to maintain law and order.
According to Togbega Gabusu he hasn’t been to his palace since the incident as he was forced to be indoors and, therefore, he could not assess the extent of damage caused to his house and property.
He thanked the delegation of the chiefs especially Togbe Afede for the deep concern they had shown to him and the rest of the people and expressed the hope that a better situation would arise from the crisis.

 Mr. Henry Ametepe, Deputy Volta regional minister, used the occasion to assure Togbega that government would do its best to put the palace back to shape.
Togbe Afede & his Entourage

 Earlier, Togbe Adzima V, Chief of Gbi-Abansi, briefed Togbe Afede and his entourage and stressed that the Gbis were not against the Moslems but the unruly behaviours of some of their youths.

He expressed disgust at the audacity of the youths from the Zongo Community to ransack and torch the Palace of Togbega Gabusu. He said the Zongo youths had consistently acted with hostility and impunity towards the traditional authorities over the years.
Togbe Afede appealed to them to defer the deadline set for the replacement of traditional regalia which got missing from the chief’s palace and said the situation was so volatile and that nothing should be done for it to escalate.
Togbe Afede also assured them that the Regional House of Chiefs would collaborate with the Volta Regional Coordinating Council towards the restoration of stool regalia and treasures which got missing in the conflict.
He urged the parties to soften their stance and give peace a chance, adding that without peace and unity, the huge potential of Hohoe as an investment destination could not be exploited.
Meanwhile, the Assembly Member for the zongo community, Alhaji Gibril Buhari, has appealed to Togbe Afede XIV to prevail on the Gbi Traditional Council to soften their stance on the ultimatum given for them to return the missing regalia, so that an extensive search would be conducted to retrieve whatever that was taken from Togbe Gaabusu’s palace.
COMMITTEE OF EMINENT PERSONS TO INVESTIGATE CLASHES
Some of the displaced persons

A committee of eminent persons from the Volta region is to be set up to unravel the cause of the clashes which claim three live and displaced over thousand people. This was disclosed by the Volta regional minister Henry Ford Kamel, when he led the delegation of chiefs to pay a courtesy call on the Catholic bishop of Jasikan, Most Rev. Gabriel Akwasi Ababio Mante.

Members of the committee who would be drawn from various spheres of the society including the religion, according to the minister would investigate circumstances leading to the clashes and come out with a roadmap which would bring total peace to Hohoe and to forestall future occurrences.
Bishop Mante expressed shock at the incident but was grateful to the security apparatus for the swift nature the situation was brought under control.
He assured the delegation of his readiness to help restored peace to Hohoe but complained about non-implementation of recommendations of investigative committees and said this had left problems unresolved. This attitude, he said could spell disaster if aggrieved parties felt that justice have not been done.
Meanwhile, the  delegation of Chiefs and the Volta Regional Security Council (REGSEC) led by Togbe Afede XIV President of the house of chiefs and the Volta regional minister, Henry Ford Kamel, have visited the displaced persons at Jasikan.
Togbe Afede appealed to them to return home to begin the process of reconciliation and rebuilding.
He also urged them to be law abiding and respect traditions of the Gbi people.
The displaced people who are mostly zongo women and children were part of the over six thousand persons who flee the conflict and are living with friends and relatives at Jasikan, Kadjebi, Biakoye and Kpando.

burnt shops
Gabusu’s burnt vehicle

CHAOS IN HO AS POLICE SHOT AND KILLED A ‘SUSPECTED CRIMINAL’

By
Kwadwo Duodu
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0
Listen to  My report from the incident scene

Police pushing a suspect into the vehicle

There was chaos in Ho, the Volta regional capital Sunday morning, when angry youth of Anlokordzi; a suburb of Ho clashed with police officers following the killing of one of their colleagues by the police in the area. 

 The incident occurred during a dawn swoop by the police in the area noted for harboring suspected criminals and wee smokers.
Police sources disclosed that, the young man suspected to be a criminal  was shot and killed when he allegedly attempted to stab a Police officer with a knife.

But  eyewitnesses at the scene said the deceased, Atsu Mensah was rather shot and killed at a short range in the neck by one of the police officers when he attempted to escape, after eight of them were arrested in ‘Kpako’ house, located behind the Metro mass Transit terminal, close to the Ho central market. This angered the youth of the area, who mass up with machetes, stones and sticks and attacked police officers who were at the scene to convey the corpse to the morgue.

Empty pellets at the clash scene
Sensing danger,  the police officers retreated to the Ho central police station , firing several warming shots to disperse the angry mob who followed and threw stones and sticks at them. The mob also burnt car tyres and created blockades on the road in front of the police station with logs and cement blocks before a reinforcement of armed police and military personnel arrived at the scene to put the situation under control.

The incident has left several people sustaining various degrees of injuries, with 13 suspects so far arrested.

As of Sunday afternoon, relative calm have returned to the area as a team of police and military personnel are on patrol in the area.

Meanwhile, the Volta regional Security Council (RESEC) in a press statement signed by the regional minister, who is also the chairman of RESEC, Henry Ford Kamel have expressed its condolences to the bereaved family and called on the citizens of Anlokordzi to exercise restraint and remain calm. The statement concluded by assuring the good citizens of Ho that, ‘a transparent and independent committee of enquiry would be set up to investigate the unfortunate incident.
In a related development, the Volta Regional Chairman of the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) and a correspondent for the Daily Graphic Mr Victor Kwawukume, have been allegedly assaulted by the police for taking photographs of the chaotic situation.
Mr Kwawukume who narrated his ordeal, said he was at the scene taking notes and pictures as the police arrested people and beat suspects with batons and gun buts, when the police rushed on him and assaulted him severally on the face and head.
He said though he identified himself as a media personnel, the police pounced on him until a police friend of his came to his rescue.
The GJA chairman said the police seized his camera, and asked him to come for it at the Ho central Police Station, which He later collected at the Station with some journalists and he was ordered to delete all the pictures he took.

JOURNALISTS CHARGED TO PRACTICE JOURNALISM OF ‘CHANGE’

By
Kwadwo Duodu
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0


Mr Henry Ford-Kamel, the Volta regional minister has charged journalists in the region to practice journalism that would bring change and development to the people in the region.
‘Responsible journalism is the one that provide the basis for the transformation of the lives of people in the society’ he emphasized.
Mr. Kamel who was addressing journalists at a press soiree in Ho on Friday noted that, though the region is endowed with numerous natural resources and tourism potentials, it still remains one of the poorest in the country. He therefore charged journalists to help identify and harness resources for the economic emancipation of the Region.
Citing the Keta basin for instance, Mr. Kamel said the basin has the potential to supply salt to the entire West African sub-region and called for Public-private partnership to build a mini habour to boost the salt industry at the Keta basin. He observed that the Region’s tourism potentials could turn its fortunes and challenged the media to market those potentials.
Mr. Kamel also expressed concern about the fallen standard of education in the region and urged all stakeholders to help reverse the situation to bring back the region’s glory as bastion of quality education in the country.
He also used the opportunity to appeal to landowners to desist from the outright selling of lands, as they may be selling lands that might have precious minerals.

Mr Henry Ametepe, Deputy Volta Regional Minister, said the development of the Region was a shared responsibility and urged journalists to work for the common good of the Region.
The Volta Regional Chairman of the Ghana Journalists Association, Mr Victor Kwawukume, on his part asked journalists to work in the interest of the nation and ensure that the nation remain “intact” before, during and after the December Elections.
He asked them to be guided by the code of ethics of the profession and not be intimidated by politicians.

NDC’S GREATEST GIFT FOR RAWLINGS IS ELECTION 2012 VICTORY

By
Kwadwo Duodu
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0

Okudzeto Ablakwa
Listen to Ablakwa   Kobby & Ford Kamel        

A Deputy Minister of Information Mr Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa has said that, the greatest gift that National Democratic Congress (NDC) can give the party’s founder and former president J. J Rawlings is for the party to win the December polls so as to preserve the legacy and dignity of the founder and his family.
According Mr Ablakwa, the NDC founder and his family have suffered so much dehumanizing treatments during the eight years tenure of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and stated that the former first family is likely to suffer similar feat under another NPP administration. He therefore called on party members to work very hard to retain the NDC in power with or without the support of the founder.
 Mr Ablakwa was addressing members of the Ho central constituency chapters of Tertiary Educational Institution Network (TEIN) of the NDC at the Ho Polytechnic auditorium on Friday.

On his part, Mr Kobby Acheampong, Deputy interior Minister said the NDC was at a crossroad and in the process of a re-birth. The re-birth according him, would ensure the party’s continuous existence.
He therefore urged members to remain focus and “follow the leader of the Party” to go thru the re-birth successfully, stressing that “At every given time, there is only one leader and that leader is the one we need to follow”.
The Volta Regional Minister, Mr Henry Ford Kamel, also urged members of the party not to be discouraged by the recent challenges in the Party, but instead, rally behind President Mills, the leader of the party to ensure that the NDC succeeds.
Mr Ludwig Hlordze, National Youth Organiser of the NDC said young people in the Party has great future; and urged them to propagate the “good works” of the Party and “win souls” for an easy task in the December polls.
President of Ho Polytechnic TEIN, Mr Chris P. Awudi, called for a succession plan to be developed for the youth to assume leadership positions in the Party.
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