Former Deputy Volta Regional Minister, Francis Komla Ganyaglo has expressed his optimism at winning the chairmanship race for the National Democratic Congress (NDC) in the Volta Region.
Speaking to a section of the media in Ho, Mr. Ganyaglo reiterated that his tour across all constituencies of the Volta Region revealed to him that he was the favourite of the rank and file of the party for the position of Regional Chairman.
“If the feedback during my tour is anything to go by, I am sure there will be no other winner but Francis Komla Ganyaglo.”
The former Deputy Regional Minister is facing off with another former Deputy Regional Minister and the incumbent Vice Chairman, Henry Ametefe, and a Constituency Chairman, Frank Afriyie come Sunday, June 16, 2019.
According to him, the election would be an easy endorsement of his person vis-a-vis the requirements for the leadership in the “World Bank” region of the NDC in opposition.
He said his experience as a Deputy Minister, Municipal chief Executive for Kpando and Regional Secretary from 2001 to 2009 had prepared him for the position.
Mr. Ganyaglo said he sought to reposition the NDC in the region to reignite grassroots support for the NDC and to decentralise all party activities to the grassroots for the overall goal of making the region regain its “World Bank” status in terms of the electoral fortunes of the party.
Party faithful and delegates will on Sunday, June 16 gather at the VAG Hall, Ho to elect new leaders for positions that have become vacant as a result of the reorganisation exercise following the creation of six new regions across the country.
Winners at WOFAGRIC'19 and the Gold in the Soil Awards
By: Ewoenam Kpodo | Voltaonlinegh |
Farmer and seed grower, Connie Nyador has emerged winner of the overall award in the maiden edition of Women in Food and Agriculture Leadership Forum and Expo (WOFAGRIC 2019) and the Gold in the Soil Awards.
Madam Nyador’s, award, Gold in the Soil Award, the ultimate award was in appreciation of her outstanding achievements in producing along the entire agricultural value chain and a recognition of the impact of her establishment to her community.
The award to the Director of Fosuah Food Chain who has large plantation of food crops including cassava and yam and also a yam seed growing technologies in the Tongu area was received on her behalf by her sister, Mama Alorvi II of Dorfor-Agorveme.
Dep Min., Food and Agric. presenting the award for Mad. Nyador (projected in the background) to Mama Alorvi
The WOFAGRIC 2019 and the Gold in the Soil Awards came off from 12th-13th June 2019 in Ho, Volta Region, themed, “Women! Key Partners in Shaping Agribusiness”.
The 2-day forum and awards organised under the leadership of Agrihouse Foundation with other implementing partners like Ministry of Food and Agriculture, Women in Food and Agriculture Development, National Farmers and Fishermen Award Winners Association, Ghana (NFFAWAG) and the Volta Regional Coordinating Council (VRCC) with support from Canada and four committed industry firms, Agricultural Development Bank (ADB), Yara Ghana, Interplast and Sidalco.
The 2-day event paid tribute to the efforts and contribution by women, young female ‘agripreneurs’, physically challenged women, agricultural corporate leaders, innovators, and traditional leaders for their roles towards ensuring food security in the country.
Executive Director of Agrihouse Foundation, Alberta Nana Akyaa Akosa in a speech said women comprised a greater percentage of the workforce in the agricultural sector and “we cannot afford to treat women in agric with hands of levity.”
Madam Akosa among others, called for affirmative action to ensure the success of rural women involved in about 80 percent of agricultural production in Ghana because to her, women had been left out when it came to conversations regarding the sector.
“Despite their central importance to agriculture which sees women produce a great chunk of our food, women are sadly excluded from conversations that determine agricultural policies while unfair laws and practices deprive them of their land, their rights and their livelihoods.”
Chairman of NFFAWAG, Davies Narh Korboe mentioned the important contribution of women to agriculture saying, it explained why women had in recent years featured prominently in the National Farmers Day Celebrations and hoped to see “a woman winning the ultimate in subsequent years.”
Mr. Korboe said the choice of Volta Region for the maiden edition of the Awards “goes to testify that a lot of women award winners in farming and fishing come from the region and the region’s contribution to the country’s agriculture is generally commendable.”
Chief Executive Director of Sidalco Group of Companies, Rev. Dr. Gifty Lamptey congratulated organisers of the event for the initiative saying, there was the need to recognise and support women to succeed in the agriculture space.
Rev. Dr. Lamptey said the African Continent kept spending billions of US dollars to feed itself and citizens “must rise quickly to unlock the full potential of our agribusiness” to arrest the importations but noted that “this cannot be done if women who constitute over 50 per cent of our population are sidelined.”
She said Africa had enough uncultivated land which should be utilised for the continent to develop with pride, encouraging women and girls to look beyond the stereotypes and get into agriculture while calling on the youth to farm saying, “there’s gold in the soil.”
Volta Regional Minister, Dr. Archibald Letsa said it was not by accident that the region ranked the number 1 producer of rice in the country hosted the maiden forum and awards.
He commended the organisers for the awards to recognise hardworking women and pledged VRCC’s support and commitment to the laudable course.
Full list of winners of WOFAGRIC 2019 and the Gold in the Soil Awards
Passion for the Farm Award –Gladys Adzo Doe, Dr. Archibald Letsa,
Woman in Extension Services Award – No winner
She-innovates Award – Eunice Nuku
Super Woman Award – Beatrice Nagbonu (Person with disability)
Star in Agric Award – Mary Dornoo
Diamond in the Rough Award – Theresa Ama Agbovi
Feed to Food Award – Eva Atitsogbui
Royal Agro Award – Mama Ayipe Ama III, Queenmother, Abutia-Kloe
Lady of the Region Export Award – Rosalind Delali Ashigbui
Change Champion Award – Edith Richland Akorsah and Benedicta Tamekloe
Climate-Smart Women Project Award – No winner
Princess Carla Award – Janet Adade
Development Partner Award – Canadian High Commission
Five accused persons who are members of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) in the Krachi West District of the Oti Region facing charges at a high court in Ho, Volta Region for forcibly locking out District Chief Executive (DCE) for the area, Douglas Osei Nti from office have insisted they did no wrong.
The five, Sarfo Sunkwa aged 40, Mathias Banyalenso, 48, Tijani Shaibu, 36, Muntala Yakubu, 36 and Amos Nseikor Lante, 36 were charged on 3 counts of unlawful entry, causing unlawful damage and rioting with weapons following their ejection of the DCE from his office on May 28.
The accused persons were on remand for two weeks before being granted bail on Tuesday, June 11 when they reappeared in court following refusal to grant them bail on their first day in court.
They were asked to reappear on June 25.
Addressing a crowd that had gathered on Wednesday to welcome them, the group said the ongoing prosecution would not deter them from fighting the cause of the NPP.
According to them, they did not regret their action because there was no ill intention but rather a desire to draw government’s attention to the underperformance of the DCE, saying, “we acted in the interest of government and NPP.”
They pledged their support to work with the party executives to ensure NPP retains power in the upcoming general elections but called on leaders of the party to investigate their claims for necessary actions to be taken to make the party more attractive in Krachi West.
The accused persons also called on the youth to remain calm since the case was before court.
Some NPP supporters who spoke in an interview urged party executives to intervene for peace to prevail so as to allow for preparations towards 2020 elections.
The National Democratic Congress (NDC) in the Volta and Oti regions is set to go to the polls this weekend to fill vacant positions in the two regions following a reorganization exercise, necessitated by the creation of new regions.
The elections scheduled to run concurrently on Sunday, June 16, 2019, would take place at the VAG Hall in Ho and the Dambai College of Education in both Volta and Oti regions respectively.
In all, about 885 delegates, comprising 620 in Volta and 265 in Oti are expected to cast their ballot in the in the two regions.
Four positions, including Regional Chairman, Vice Chairman, Deputy Youth and deputy Women Organizers are up for grabs in the Volta region, while in exception of the Chairman slot; 15 other regional positions are open for contest in the Oti region.
A total of 13 candidates are contesting the four vacant Volta regional positions, three of whom are battling for the chairmanship slot, which became vacant as a result of the movement of incumbent, John Kwadwo Gyapong to the Oti region.
The chairman contenders include, two former deputy Regional Ministers, Mr. Henry Ametefee and Mr. Francis Ganyaglo as well as a party activist, Frank Afriyie.
Also, a former DCE for Ketu North, Mr. Kofi Lawson and one-term MP for North Dayi, Mr. George Loh are among the five contenders for the Vice chairman position in the Volta region, while the deputy Youth and Deputy Women Organizers’ slots have three and two contenders respectively.
The Regional Secretary of NDC, Mr. James Gunu, briefing Voltaonlinegh.com on preparations, said all arrangements are in place for the conduct of the elections in the two regions, under the supervision of the Electoral Commission.
“We have engaged the Electoral Commission to conduct the polls and the Regional Police Command will take charge of security at the venues as well,” he stated.
Mr. Gunu indicated that, the voting on Sunday will be done in two parts, starting with that of Women and Youth elections and followed by the election of other officers; adding that, there will be no formal ceremony preceding the voting.
According to him, “We expect to start the process by 9am on Sunday, but there will not be any ceremony for speeches before commencing the polls. Delegates arriving from the constituencies will just move straight to the polling centre to cast their ballots. Then at the close of polls, counting and declaration of results, we have a swearing ceremony for the new executives.”
Meanwhile, the carving of Oti region out of Volta has left the latter with 18 constituencies and the former, having eight constituencies.
The Volta Regional Director, Department of Gender, Lena Alai has charged heads of departments who constitute District Planning Coordinating Units (DPCUs) at the various assemblies in the region to mainstream gender into every activity they would plan in their districts.
Madam Alai said it was important for these core management members of the assemblies to be mindful that there was another part of society “that seemed not to be equitably involved in terms of “access to opportunities and national policies.”
She wanted that in planning activities for the districts, DPCUs should take for example, government’s Planting for Food and Jobs (PFJ) and consider “how many women are participating” because women were already disadvantaged in the area of land acquisition to see “how well will women be brought onto the scene.”
The Regional Director was speaking to Voltaonlinegh on the sidelines of a 2-day workshop in Ho on gender mainstreaming organised by the Department of Gender and the Volta Regional Coordinating Council (VRCC) with funding from the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).
The workshop from 12th -13TH June, the first of its kind to be organised for DPCUs from Afadzato South and Akatsi North Districts was to introduce participants to gender mainstreaming to help them identify gender issues and how to deal with them to ensure equal access to opportunities by both men and women in their assemblies.
A similar workshop was earlier sponsored by GIZ for DPCUs in five of its (GIZ) project districts in the region.
According to the Gender Activist, “district assemblies are the smallest unit of the development structure where every action takes place” and said those in management at the district assemblies owed it a duty to the people they serve to “apply gender lens in actions they plan.”
She said people needed to understand the concept of gender and know that it involved both men and women’s issues for effective gender mainstreaming, a strategy being used to ensure gender equality in society.
Focal Person, UNFPA at VRCC, Victoria Odurowa Fato called on development organisations to make gender mainstreaming “an integral part of their mandate so that women and men benefit equally from development.”
Ms. Fato charged participants to practise what they had acquired at the training to meaningfully impact the campaign for gender mainstreaming in their various assemblies.
She mentioned that everyone needed to join government and international bodies in taking steps to stop all forms of gender inequality.
Some participants in an interview were grateful for the training saying, it opened their eyes to issues they never knew could border on gender inequality.
Lovelace Kudoto from Department of Agriculture, Afadzato South said the workshop would help inform his planning decisions to address gender inequality including focusing on provision of extension services to women in his district.
Executive Director of Youth Arise Organisation (YAO), Moses Baffour Awuah (Chief MBA) has underscored the need for mentorship and entreated the youth to always read books and listen to correct messages that would mentor them.
Mr. Awuah mentioned peer pressure, substance abuse, social skills, anger management, goal setting among others as some issues in life that required the advice and guidance of an expert to deal with.
According to the Certified USAID Africa Lead Facilitator, there should be circumspection when choosing mentors as there could be aspects of a mentor that might be undesirable to a mentee and advised that in such situations, “learn what to learn and walk away from the rest.”
Using what he termed the 5 Ms of life: Mentors, Minos, Mates, Motivators and Messers, Chief MBA called for self discipline to be able to deal with the various sets of people one was likely to meet in life’s journey in order to remain committed to one’s goals.
The Author gave the advice during a two-day programme dubbed Stepping ahead Leadership Conference themed, “Becoming an Agent of Change: Making Africa a Better Place”.
YAO’s programme from 11th-12th June at GNAT Hall, Ho, the first of its kind in the Volta Region was organised for senior high school (SHS) leavers to inspire them to engage in some productive activities while awaiting their results, thus, putting them ahead of their peers.
The conference which had various sessions including Personal Development, Leadership 101, and Personal Mission Statement, saw presentation of certificates to participants.
Licensed Counselling Psychologist and Teacher, Augustina Atkinson Dadebo who spoke on Career Choices and CV Writing, advised participants to carefully choose their career paths to suit their personalities categorised into “social, investigative, artistic, conventional, realistic and enterprising.”
Mrs. Dadebo said it was important to choose a profession based on one’s personality trait to ensure satisfaction and passion for the job.
“If I’m a social person, then the kind of work I can do very well is maybe become a teacher or a nurse. Social people are the helpers like a pastor, a counselor, etc. So, I will that know my personality helps me better to work in this environment.
According to her, “a lot of people have become square pegs in round holes” not because they lacked proper training but rather, their personalities did not suit their careers.
She said making the right choice was important explaining that “I’m satisfied because I’m happy with what I’m doing, I’m changing lives” and added that “even when I’m broke, I know that my work is impacting the life of a young one and I find satisfaction in that.”
Participants who spoke to Voltaonlinegh were impressed about the event saying, it had been impactful and would give them direction in life.
A participant who recently completed OLA Girls SHS, Ruth Selorme Acolatse said she thought “it was one of those programmes you go and the facilitators talk and talk and say it’s over and you all stand and leave” but soon realised it was different as “the first thing we did was team building which I never thought will be done.”
Ms. Acolatse said there were other educative sessions and was glad she came and so, encouraged others to join YAO to have access to such great opportunities.
Youth Arise Organisation is founded in 2012 is a body of young professionals committed to the principles and values of mentoring, education and policy oriented networking with the aim of empowering the young people to be selfless, effective and dedicated leaders.
Mr. Tanson (in suit) presenting the donation to Mr. Kanyi (2nd from left)
By: Ewoenam Kpodo | Voltaonlinegh |
GCB Bank, Ho main branch has presented a cash amount for some building materials in support of the ongoing Volta Press Centre project.
Acting Regional Manager, GCB Bank, Volta, Elvis Tanson who presented the donation on Wednesday, June 12 to the Volta Regional branch of the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) said the gesture was to appreciate the media for the important role they continued to play for the prevailing peace in the country.
Mr. Tanson said the media in Ghana had helped to sustain the country’s democracy and peaceful environment for businesses to thrive and so, deserved the needed support to keep up with their good works.
He noted the company’s resolve to nurture the relationship with media practitioners who are also customers into an inseparable one.
He revealed that GCB Bank had through the use of Information Technology, transformed its services in addition to improved customer relations to excite customers and assured prospective customers of exciting services.
Receiving the donation, Regional Chairman, GJA-Volta, A.B. Kafui Kanyi thanked Management of the bank for their support and all individuals and businesses that had supported the project.
Mr. Kanyi said the first phase of the project, scheduled to be commissioned on Friday, June 21 would serve as a regional secretariat, a rallying point for media practitioners, and a resource centre, adding, the project when fully completed would among other things offer accommodation to journalists visiting the region.
A driver with the Amedzofe Technical School is reportedly in critical condition at the hospital, after a bus load of students he was transporting plunged into a deep valley on the mountaineous Amedzofe Road in the Ho West district.
The students were said to be returning from an ongoing inter schools sports festival in Ho when the accident occurred late Tuesday afternoon.
Information picked by Voltaonlinegh.com, suggested that, the school bus was climbing the steep road to Amedzofe when it suddenly began to reverse, causing the driver to lose control of the vehicle, leading to it falling off into the valley.
This has left dozens of students on board the bus with various degrees of injury, with that of the driver said to be the most severe.
They are however responding to treatment at the Ho Municipal hospital, where they later sent for medical attention.
Some 40 youth drawn from parts of Volta Region are undergoing skills training under 21 Days of Y’ello Care campaign, MTN’s Corporate Social Responsibility.
Twenty of the youth are receive training in Digital Marketing, 10 in Bead Making and the rest in Make-up Artistry.
The training which started on Monday June 10 at Ho Municipal Digital Centre saw the enthusiastic youth in their best moods ready for the skills acquisition.
One of them, Promise Afari who enrolled for the Make-up Artistry module said she had looked forward for a time when she would have that training and become a great Make-up Artiste in future and so, expressed gratitude for MTN 21 Days of Y’ello Care for giving her and her colleagues such a great opportunity.
The 10-day training by MTN in partnership with National Youth Authority (NYA) and Ho Municipal Assembly and expected to empower the youth by equipping them with skills to earn them a livelihood, is in line with this year’s theme, “Creating a Brighter Future for our Youth”.
Participants being briefed before the training
The 21 Days of Y’ello Care is a 21-day long staff volunteerism programme in which thousands of MTNers across the 21 operating countries give their time to touch the lives of people in their various markets.
Speaking at the launch of the training, Regional Director of NYA, Yao Semorde commended the telecommunication giants in the country for supporting the cause of the youth with such employable skills.
Mr. Semorde said it was important to empower the youth who are the backbone of the nation and mentioned that though government was making efforts in that regard, there was the need for support from corporate Ghana in addressing youth unemployment.
He explained the criteria used to arrive at the 40 beneficiaries saying, they sent information to various youth groups registered with the Authority and the groups sent the list of names of their members to participate in the training.
Speaking in an interview with Voltaonlinegh, Volta Regional Team Lead, MTN, Mawuli Katahena disclosed that the 21 Days of Y’ello Care is an annual programme from 1st to 21st June instituted 12 years ago to encourage staff to physically get involved in activities that would uplift the communities they operated in to make lives better for people.
Mr. Katahena said the programme was all about giving back to society and that MTN Ghana would continue to roll out activities meant to improve lives of people in communities it existed.
“Last two years, we were at a town close to Hohoe called Wegbe. There’s a special school there. We rehabilitated their dormitory, equipped the staff common room with computers. And last year, we were at Akatsi to deal with sanitation at Akatsi Market. This year, we’re giving skills training to our youth in Ho. So, next year will be something else.”
He therefore encouraged customers of MTN to continue using the services of the company bearing in mind that whatever the company would get from them would be channeled back into making society a better place.
As part of government’s effort to make education sector more attractive in the country, candidates writing this year’s Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) in the Oti Region, will receive free hot meal daily from government to enable them stay focused to write the examination.
Speaking to Voltaonlinegh, Deputy Minister for Oti Region, Maxwell Kofi Blagodzi explained that the decision was part of incentive package to enable inspire candidates stay at school for the second paper.
He encouraged them to put in their best and come out with good results to enable them benefit from government’s flagship programme, the Free Senior High School (SHS).
Some candidates who spoke in an interview thanked the government and promised to perform creditably in the ongoing BECE.
The supervisor in charge at Bonakye Centre in the Nkwanta South Municipality, Lawrence Antwi, complained that due to the bad road network to the area, examination materials arrived 30 minutes late which delayed the process but candidates were able to finish within time.
Meanwhile, of the 377 candidates expected at the Centre, 3 were absent on the first day of the examination with one reported dead.
