Day: November 16, 2022

Tema, Nov. 16, GNA – The Ashaiman Circuit Court has sentenced three robbers to five years imprisonment in hard labour each for conspiring and robbing a woman at Zenu in the Kpone-Katamanso Municipality.

The three are Bismark Appiah, an 18-year-old bus conductor; Emmanuel Attakora 22-year-old mason; and Mubarik Sayiti, a 19-year-old welder; all residents of Zenu Atadeka.

The court presided over by Mr Simon Gaga, sentenced them on their own plea of guilty to two counts of conspiracy to commit crime and robbery contrary to the Criminal Offence Act 1960 (ACT 29).

They were sentenced to three years on count one, and five years in hard labour on count two, the sentence however is to run concurrently.

Chief Inspector Samuel Aperwah, prosecuting said, complainant Ms Evelyn Bortey Quaye, was a worker at Free Zone Company in Tema, and a resident of Atadeka a suburb of Ashaiman.

Chief Inspector Aperwah said on October 7 this year, at about 2345 hours, the complainant closed from work and was alighted by the company’s bus on a portion of the Atadeka road.

He said, whilst standing at the roadside in search of transport to her house, the accused persons who were on a motorbike stopped near her, held her to the ground and forcibly took her bag which contained automated teller machines (ATM cards), GH₵7.00 cash, and an Itel mobile phone valued at GH₵300.10, and sped off.

The complainant, according to the prosecution, narrated her ordeal to two neighbourhood committee members, who spotted her shouting by the roadside some few minutes after the robbery incident.

The neighbourhood committee member who was also on a motorbike pursued the three convicts, who later abandoned their motorbikes, and escaped when they saw that they were being chased.

The neighbourhood committee members accompanied the complainant together with the abandoned motorbike to make a complaint at the Zenu Atadeka Police station.

The court heard that on October 11, 2022, Bismark Appiah and Emmanuel Attakora went to the Katamanso Police Station to check whether they would see their motorbike there, they were however sent to New York Police Station since it was not at Katamanso.

The prosecution said at New York Police Station, the accused persons pointed out the said motorbike which was used in connection with the case and claimed ownership but failed to produce document.

They were, therefore, detained, questioned, and investigations initiated after which they were prosecuted before the court.

 

 

Source: Ghana News Agency

 

 

Accra, Nov. 16, GNA – An Accra Circuit Court has granted a GHC6 million bail to an Assistant System Analyst over an alleged GHC6,289,908.00 fraud.

Mark Anthony Alayon Sapungay, a Philippine, was ordered by the Court presided over by Ms Adelaide Abui Keddy to get three persons to stand as sureties for him with the justification that they will sign a bond to pay the amount involved should the accused person abscond.

Sapungay who denied the fraudulent breach of trust charge and stealing would deposit his passport within ten days before or after the execution of the bail.

He will return to the Court on December 14, 2022.

Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Maxwell Oppong told the Court that Hajj Awal Ismail, was a businessman and Director of Aim Global Limited, Industrial Area, North Kaneshie and the complainant.

The accused person, he said, was a Filipino and a representative of a sister company known as Aim Global Philippines, located in the Philippines and worked together with the complainant in Ghana as an Assistant System Analyst.

The prosecution said in 2020, Sapungay dishonestly appropriated GHC6,289,908.00 belonging to the complainant’s company and unlawfully transferred the said amount to the sister company in the Philippines without the complainant’s knowledge, a situation which made the complainant unable to submit his tax returns for the year 2020/2021to the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA).

It said after the complainant had detected the unlawful act, the company conducted an audit into the financial activities of the company and realised that the amount had been stolen from the company’s coffers.

The complainant reported to the police leading to the arrest of the accused person.

The prosecution said during the investigation, the accused admitted in his investigation cautioned statement and stated that he took the money and sent it through a friend without the consent of the complainant to the sister company in the Philippines upon the instructions of his Philippine boss.

 

Source: Ghana News Agency

 

Bolgatanga, Nov. 16, GNA – Ms Gloria Kobati,  the Upper East Regional Nutrition Officer of the Ghana Health Service (GHS) says malnutrition among children in the Upper East Region is increasing.

She said monthly routine data, collected during antenatal care from clinics in the region showed an underweight prevalence of 0.7 per cent recorded among children in July, which increased to 1.2 per cent in September 2022.

Madam Kobati said more cases of severe acute malnutrition were being recorded in the field as indicated by an ongoing nutrition surveillance survey being conducted by her sector and expressed fear that it could get worse by the end of the year.

The regional Nutrition Officer who was speaking in an interview with the Ghana News Agency in Bolgatanga, said anaemia cases in pregnant women were also a major maternal health challenge and noted that the effect of anaemia in pregnancy could lead to a child being born with low birth weight which predisposes them (babies) to severe complications such as stunting.

Responding to what interventions were in place to arrest child nutrition problems in the region, she said routine programmes to address immediate problems in terms of children who were not feeding well were being carried out, focusing on micronutrient supplementation.

She said her sector was undertaking programmes to counsel breastfeeding mothers on the ‘Infant and one child feeding counseling package,’ to help mothers to feed their children well.

“We know that exclusive Breast feeding is the best nutrition for a child, but most mothers are not doing it well, we have only 70 per cent coverage and want to strive for 90 per cent in the region, so we are encouraging them to breast feed well and continue till two years”. The Nutrition Officer stressed.

The programme package also educates mothers on how to feed their children at age six months and above, she added.

“Not only porridge, it is just carbohydrates and can lead to malnutrition but a child that is learning to eat should be given a varied diet that contains protein. Vegetables, fruits, legumes, and carbohydrates.”

To this end, she said food demonstration was being conducted at the community level to help the mothers prepare nutritious food at home to feed their children and noted that even though most homes had the needed food requirements, some mothers did not know how to properly combine the essential ingredients for a balance diet.

“A child at six months should be introduced to complementary food of minimum acceptable diet.”

Madam Kobati said a micronutrient powder was being given to mothers to put in the baby’s food as supplement to boost their micronutrient status since most of the children did not feed well.

She said the Nutrition Unit was faced with challenges of shortage of all the food supplements and powder used in managing children who were malnourished.

According to her, there were no supplies of ‘Plumpy nuts’ which is a therapeutic food for malnourished children, “though we have the capacity to improve   the situation, the needed commodities are unavailable to run most of the programmes,” she added.

She appealed to the government and stakeholders to support the region to improve the current poor nutrition status.

 

 

Source: Ghana News Agency

Accra, Nov 16, GNA – Merck Foundation, has held the 9^th edition of the Merck Africa Asia luminary conference with a call on African first ladies to prioritize infertility and stigma challenges.

The annual conference, running from November 15-16, 2022, among other things seeks to contribute to the social and economic development of developing countries and improve access to quality and equitable healthcare solutions.

It is also to celebrate the 5th anniversary of Merck Foundation and 10 years of establishing development and capacity building programmes of Merck Foundation which started in 2012.

The conference is being attended both online and in-person and is on the theme “Merck Foundation Africa Asia Luminary 2022 Together We Make a Difference”.

Senator Dr Rasha Kelej, the Chief Executive Officer of Merck Foundation, speaking at the opening appreciated the African first ladies for participating in the meeting.

She said the conference provided an opportunity for participating African first ladies from 15 countries to talk about the strategies and impact of Merck Foundation partnership programmes in building healthcare capacity and their role in breaking infertility stigma and supporting girl education.

The CEO explained that Merck Foundation over the years had awarded more than 1, 470 scholarships to doctors in 50 countries to contribute to the transformation of patient care in their respective counties.

The doctors today are specialists in various fields such as diabetes, fertility, oncology, reproductive health, cardiology, endocrinology, respiratory and acute medicine, and health media, she said.

Senator Kelej said the doctors aside transforming healthcare were also helping to raise health awareness to improve disease management, early detection & prevention, to improve access to quality and equitable healthcare solutions across developing countries.

Professor Dr Frank Stangenberg-Haverkamp, Chairman of both the Executive Board of E. Merck KG and Merck Foundation Board of Trustees, spoke on the various programmes embarked on by the Foundation.

He said the first ladies thus play a critical role in the well-being of women and girls in their respective countries.

Prof Stangenberg-Haverkamp said good healthcare could transform the lives of individuals and families across developing countries and contributed significantly to the sustainable economic development of any country, adding that healthcare was the major driver of growth and consequently social progress.

He noted that the challenges African nations faced were huge, but the Merck Foundation was committed to working closely with African countries to overcome them and urged the first ladies to stay together to make a difference in their respective countries.

The conference is being attended by First Ladies of 15 African countries including Ghana, Botswana, Central African Republic, Burundi, Congo Brazzaville, Democratic Republic of Congo, Gambia, Liberia, Malawi, Mozanbique, Namibia, and Niger.

The rest are Zimbabwe, Sierra Leone, Nigeria, Zambia, as well Ministers of Health, Gender, Information and Education and over a 6000 healthcare providers and policy makers.

 

 

Source: Ghana News Agency

 

 

Bolgatanga, Nov. 16, GNA – The Upper East Regional Directorate of the Ghana Education Service (GES) has referred the students of Chiana Senior High School (SHS) who misconducted themselves in a viral video to the Guidance and Counselling Unit of the school.

Some female students of the school in the Kassena-Nankana West District, in a video that went viral, rained insults on President Akufo-Addo, using unprintable words.

Following their misconduct, the Management of the GES at the national level, in a statement, condemned the act and apologised to the President on behalf of the students, school and members of the public.

Mr Nathaniel N-yaaba, the Public Relations Officer of the GES, in an interview with the Ghana News Agency in Bolgatanga, said prior to the investigation by the Disciplinary Committee, the students would undergo guidance and counselling sessions.

He said the essence was to enable them to relax their minds and compose themselves to continue with their studies while the Committee investigated the matter.

“We have also invited their parents to assist in the investigation.”

Mr N-yaaba described their act as unfortunate, saying : “In fact, as a Directorate, we are not happy with what has happened at all. We are grooming these young ones to be responsible in their utterance.”

He urged parents to take up their responsibility to discipline their children and instil in them proper moral training to avert such acts in the future.

He said students, especially at the basic level, spent more time with their parents than with teachers, and reiterated the need for parents to be in charge.

“As it is said, charity begins at home. When parents start well at home, the teachers can model the students, but when parents do not start the training and discipline at home, it will be difficult for the teachers to model them.”

Mr N-yaaba said the GES was doing its best to instil discipline and proper training in students.

“It is in the light of this that the Directorate in 2019 tasked all Municipal and District Directors of Education to form the Guidance and Counselling Teams.”

“The teams are headed by Coordinators to ensure that these young ones are sensitised on the need to be disciplined. What they have done is uncalled for…”

He attributed the Region’s poor performances in both the Basic Education Certificate and the West African Senior Secondary Certificate examinations, over the years, partly to indiscipline and bad attitudes of students.

He advised them to use the various channels of communication in their respective schools to communicate their grievances for redress.

“They have Prefectorial Boards and the Students Representative Councils they can use to seek redress on any grievance they may have.”

 

 

Source: Ghana News Agency