Day: April 1, 2023

Green Sports Academy has wished Isaac ‘Royal Storm’ Dogboe the best of luck in his upcoming bout against Robeisy Ramirez for the vacant World Boxing Organisation (WBO) featherweight title.

The pair would square off on Saturday, April 1, 2023, at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Tulsa, Oklahoma, for the title that was vacated by Emanuel Naverette.

Dogboe would be looking to become a two-time world champion when he faces Cuban boxer Ramirez, who is a two-time Olympic gold medalist.

In a statement, Dr. Donald Agumenu, the President of Green Sports Academy, expressed his excitement for Dogboe’s upcoming fight and his admiration for the boxer’s dedication and hard work.

‘We are thrilled to see Isaac Dogboe back in the ring, and we believe that he has what it takes to come out victorious in this fight.

‘Isaac is an incredible athlete who has shown immense dedication and perseverance throughout his career. We are confident that he will make Ghana proud once again by bringing home another world championship title.’

The statement added that Green Sports Academy was committed to supporting and promoting Ghanaian athletes on the international stage and would stand behind Isaac Dogboe as he takes on this new challenge.

‘We wish Isaac Dogboe all the best as he prepares for his WBO featherweight title fight and look forward to celebrating his victory with the rest of Ghana,’ the statement stated.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Students of the Mataheko D.A. Basic School located in the Ningo-Prampram District have appealed to government to provide washrooms and toilet facilities to help alleviate their suffering of the students and to improve personal hygiene.

The students made the appeal when the Coalition of NGOs in Water and Sanitation (CONIWAS), as part of World Water Day celebration visited the school to educate students on how to wear sanitary pads and practice hygiene.

They said the female students were mostly compelled not to be in school during menstrual periods to avoid contracting infections.

They said the nearest public toilet in the community always demand money from them before they use the bathroom, which makes them financially unstable.

Mr Samuel Ofori, Headmaster of the School, confirmed the story of the students and added that there was no water available fo us by both students and teachers.

He said he was transferred to the school not long ago and was yet to get the government to construct washrooms and toilet facilities for the school.

Jamilatu Akobilla, Girls Prefect of the school, said most of the students especially the girls always practice improper disposal of used sanitary pads since there were no toilet facilities available in the school.

‘Some of us even do not return to class after we visit the public toilet in the community because we usually join long queues to be able to ease ourselves.’

‘After joining long queues to use the toilet facilitiy, you sometimes run late for class or even school would be closed before you return, so, we miss lessons in class due to this,’ she said.

‘I appeal to the government and Ghana Education Service (GES), to construct toilet facilities and washrooms for us to also ensjoy smooth learning.’

‘Mateheko D.A Basic School is a nice school situated right here in Ningo-Prampram, a sub of Accra, and the absence of washrooms is not healthy for our wellbeing,’ she added.

CONIWAS assured the students of their full support in appealing to government to provide them with adequate washrooms.

CONIWAS is an umbrella Civil Society Organisation established to contribute to water resource management and sustainable provision of water, sanitation and hygiene service promotion in Ghana.

It is dedicated to ensuring potable water supply and improved sanitation integrated with hygiene promotion, is available in right quantity and right time to the citizens of the country, especially the poor and marginalized people in society.

Source: Ghana News Agency

The Ghana Psychological Association (GPA) has welcomed the passage of the Criminal Offences (Amendment) Bill, 2021, which seeks to decriminalise attempted suicide.

A statement issued by Dr Isaac Newman Arthur, National Public Relations Officer of GPA, copied to the Ghana News Agency said the mental health professionals’ community including GPA, welcomed the great news.

The GPA congratulated Parliament and the sponsors of the Bill for the great gesture done for the people of Ghana.

‘We hope this will start a ripple effect around the world, encouraging other countries to do the same.’

The statement said it had been more than a decade since the fight to decriminalize attempted suicide intensified, with various mental health professional bodies, including GPA, engaging parliament on that subject.

‘Thankfully, on March 28, 2023, Ghana’s parliament passed a bill to decriminalize attempted suicide,’ it said.

‘This is a major breakthrough that solidifies efforts to provide mental healthcare services for a distressed person attempting suicide.’

The statement said suicide was the second leading cause of death amongst 15-19-year-olds, and men under 45 years. It said a recent psychological study confirms that 135 people are affected by one suicide loss (Cerel et al. 2018) and there was a need to aggressively prioritize suicide prevention and intervention after attempts.

It said many countries in the world had decriminalized attempted suicide and had strengthened mental health advocacy and healthcare efforts in this regard.

It explained that attempted suicide was a psychological emergency under mental health, just as a heart attack was a physical health emergency; stating that ‘why do you criminalize the former and not the latter?’

The statement said over the years, the nation’s understanding of health, especially mental health had improved, though there was a huge knowledge gap regarding the knowledge of the populace including law and policymakers globally relating to mental health issues.

It said this had resulted in the neglect of the mental health needs of the populace, underfunding of mental healthcare, and inadequate mental health professionals, especially in low-income countries.

It said that coupled with stigmatization, negative cultural perceptions and practices, and over-spiritualization of mental disorders, there was reduced patronization of mental health services by persons living with mental illnesses, including those with suicidal ideation and behaviours.

The statement said according to Section 57(2) of the Criminal Offenses Act, 1960 (Act 29) of Ghana, attempted suicide was classified as a misdemeanour.

It said per section 296 (4) of the Criminal Offenses (Procedure) Act, 1960 (Act 30), the punishment for misdemeanours was a term of imprisonment not exceeding 3 years.

It noted that this ACT was meant to dissuade any citizen of Ghana from attempting suicide.

It said regardless of the law, suicide attempts had seen an increase over the years with up to about 1500 deaths by suicide yearly in Ghana.

Globally, over 800,000 people die by suicide; one suicide every 40 seconds, with most of them suffering from depression and other mental illnesses.

At the time someone dies by suicide, 20 more others would be attempting it; adding that women attempt suicide three times more than men, however, men die four times more by suicide than women, it added.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Mr. Labram Musah, the National Coordinator for the Ghana Non-Communicable Disease Alliance (GhNCDA), has said the passage of the Excise Duty and Tax Stamp (Amendment) Bills will contribute to fostering healthy living in the country.

Hence, the main objective for the passage of the bills should be shifted from mainly revenue generation to Health Promotional Tax to help accelerate the passage of the bills in parliament.

Mr. Mush was speaking at a two-day Roundtable Discussion on Cardiovascular Disease (CVD), Diabetes and Obesity event organized by the Ministry of Health (MoH) at Aburi in the Akuapim South Municipality.

The event was funded mostly by the World Heart Federation (WHF) and the Stroke Association Support Network (SASNET).

The aim was to assemble various stakeholders to agree on an action plan to be implemented to improve the health outcomes of people living with CVD, Diabetes and Obesity.

Mr. Musah, said, a study conducted by the GhNCDA showed, ‘Obesity is gaining ground in developing countries. 4.5 out of 11 Ghanaian children are obese. Currently, 7 out of 10 Ghanaian adults are obese’.

The influx of cheap, but unhealthy foods and western lifestyles through aggressive food marketing, he noted had led to high consumption of junk foods, sometimes causing food addictions, especially, among children.

Mr. Musah said 30 percent of all school-age children did not eat fruit daily as 44 percent drunk soda every day at the detriment of their health unknowingly.

‘We all do it. We buy these drinks for our children to school every day and ignore the consequences of it. If the bill is passed in parliament prices will rise. When prices increase, the demand for it will reduce’, he said.

Mr. Musah, indicated that Ghana would not be the only country to have passed a bill to check the consumption of unhealthy foods as over 80 countries had policies and laws on Sugar-Sweetened Beverages (SSB).

He, therefore, appealed to the MoH to support the passage of the Excise Duty and Tax Stamp (Amendment) Bills in parliament to contribute to minimizing the number of recorded cases of the three rising health conditions.

In addition, Mrs. Elizabeth E. Denyoh, the Chairperson-Elect of the International Diabetes Federation (IDF), Africa Region, appealed to the government to include fruits in the school feeding programme as most children did not eat fruits.

‘This looks big, but if we take Akim Oda, where the majority of oranges come from in Ghana, we could include one orange into the school feeding programme per child. If we look at Sunyani, where we have pawpaw, we can include one small pawpaw in school feeding’, she said.

Again, Mrs. Denyoh, said apart from promoting healthy food consumption, the Ghana Education Service must encourage play back into schools to ensure a rise in the activeness of children.

Source: Ghana News Agency

The Western Regional Health Directorate has revoked an award presented to Nana Okobeng Amponsah, Chief Executive officer (CEO) of the Okobeng Mining Company Limited, on March 28, 2023, during the Directorate’s annual review conference in Takoradi.

The Directorate has also dissociated itself from the operations of the Okobeng Mining Company located at Bogoso in the Prestea Huni-Valley Municipality.

The Regional Director of Health Services, Nana Dr Yaw Ofori Yeboah, in a letter to the CEO revoking the Award, explained that the directorate routinely honoured individuals for their support to the health sector as part of their annual performance review process of which Nana Okobeng Amponsah’s name was submitted among others for consideration for this year’s awards.

Dr Yeboah, however, said after the awards, the directorate received many complaints with copious evidence against the CEO and the operations of his company, which include environmental degradation, which has significant health implications.

The Regional health director said the health directorate has also cited petitions by chiefs and youth of Gwira against the company for acts that run counter to the principles behind the awards.

‘Given the above revelations and the misrepresentation made in the media, we hereby unreservedly revoke the award presented to you on 28th March 2023 and dissociate ourselves from the operations of your company.’

Source: Ghana News Agency

The Paramount Chief of Nima, in the Ayawaso East Municipality of the Greater Accra Region, Nii Futah, has urged Parliament to consider amending sections of the law which allow a girl child the right to consent to sex aged 16.

According to him, this would help address the legal discrepancies that existed between when a girl could consent to sexual relationships and the legal marriage age.

Nii Futah made the call during a Capacity Building Engagement on Gender Based Violence and HIV, held for traditional leaders and some community members at Nima, in Accra.

The engagement, organised by the International Network of Religious Leaders Living with or personally affected by HIV/AIDS (INERELA+ Ghana), with funding from the United Nations Women Trust Fund, aimed at increasing knowledge and awareness on gender-based violence and HIV and AIDS.

Currently, Ghana’s Criminal Offences Act, 1960 (Act 29), pegs the age of sexual consent at 16 years old, the minimum age at which an individual is considered legally old enough to consent t9lo participate in any sexual activity.

However, the country’s Children’s Act and the Criminal Procedure Code 1998 (Act 30), set the legal age for marriage at 18.

Nii Futah noted that, the two years period between the ages of consensual relationships and marriages were a recipe for disaster.

He said: ‘The issue of marriage, I believe that, is not about when a girl gets married earlier than 18 or so she is more likely to have STDs or so, I do not think there is any study in that. The problem remains education and maturity, making a girl, having her properly educated and mature to look after a home, I have no problem with that.

‘But, if a girl can go into a relationship at 16, and she can sleep with a man at 16 without any responsibility and that is allowed by law and that law prevents that girl from getting married so that the man can take responsibility over that girl, there is something wrong with that.’

He added that: ‘You know, society gets frightened with this, and I cannot prevent my girl from having an affair with a boy at the age of 16 because, if you say she has a right to do so ,then, that means I do not have the right to stop her from doing it, with all its consequences, but she should wait until 18 then, on her own consent get married.

‘I have heard this a few times. I don’t know how it managed to get into our constitution, but definitely, there’s something wrong with that constitution. If it is also a law outside of the constitution, that is, a Legislative Instrument (LI) whatever, then, we must look at it carefully.’

Nii Futah also expressed concern about the recent rise in HIV infection in the country, adding that the government must intensify education on the virus to curb the trend.

Nana Yamfoah Amua Sekyi, Director, Public Education, Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ), said the Children’s Act seriously frowned on child marriages and warned parents against encouraging such act.

According to her, children whose hand were given in marriage become a burden not only to their families but also to society.

Chief Superintendent Eric Asiedu, Nima Division Police Command, said the command took seriously issues of defilement, and emphasised the need for community leaders not to protect perpetrators of such crimes.

He also entreated parents not to shirk their responsibilities to protect them from falling into the hands of sexual predators.

Mrs Paulina Louisa Essel, a Certified Counselling Psychologist, CHRAJ, bemoaned the continuous stigmatization against persons living with the virus

Speaking on the effect of HIV and mental health, she explained that stigmatisation remained a major challenge to the fight against HIV in the country, including getting affected persons to go for the anti-retroviral drugs.

‘The effect is that many feel ashamed when they are stigmatised, causing them to go into isolation,’ she said.

She appealed to the traditional leaders to help sensitize their communities on the disease and the negative impact of stigmatising against persons living with the virus.

Mrs Mercy Acquah-Hayford, National Coordinator for INERELA+ Ghana, entreated pregnant women living with HIV to disclose their statuses on time for early treatment to protect their unborn babies from contracting the virus.

Source: Ghana News Agency

‘My Boy Charles – Memoirs of a Life and Legacy of Exploits’ a book on the ministry of Archbishop Charles Agyinasare, founder and Head Pastor of the Perez Chapel International, has been launched.

The Reverend Sam Korankye Ankrah, Apostle General of the Royalhouse Chapel International, launched the 387-page-book, which captures the life, family and ministry of the Clergyman was launched on Friday night at the Church’s headquarters, in Accra.

The auditorium was filled to capacity by family, church members, seasoned pastors, business people, politicians, public officials and well wishers who were there to support him.

They include the Reverend Stephen Wengam, the General Superintendent of Assemblies of God Ghana and Bishop Gideon Titi-Ofei, Presiding Bishop of The Pleasant Place Church.

Others are Bishop Benjamin Ohene Aboagye, Presiding Bishop,Perez Chapel Int, Lawyer Justin Frimpong Kodua, General Secretary of the New Patriotic Party, Mr Sylvester Mensah a, former Chief Executive Officer of the National Health Insurance Authority, Nana Kwame Bediako, a.k.a. ‘Cheddar’.

The Archbishop celebrated his 61st Birthday in March and the book launch marks another milestone in his Ministry.

The book shares the most powerful and inspiring stories of the man of God that anyone can read to be enlightened.

Prior to the launch, many renowned Senior Pastors shared insightful testimonies of the work and ministry of the Archbishop Charles Agyinasare.

Bishop Dag Heward-Mills said, ‘I have known Archbishop Charles Agyinasare as a man of miracles, signs, and wonders. He is someone I have admired, whose ministry has spanned many years and has blessed many people…’

Professor Philip Ebow Bondzi-Simpson, Vice-Chancellor of the Methodist University, who reviewed the book said it centred on the Clergyman’s journeys, struggles, doubts and frustrations in life.

Each chapter started with quotable quotes extracted from issues Archbishop Agyinasare has written on, sermons he has preached and books previously authored.

‘It also talks about the significant milestones, achievements reached over the years and finally, the mission of this man, ‘ he explained.

‘It talks about the man, his knowledge and mission. We will learn about the commission of this particular prophet: the commission to hear and to preach,’ he added, using 1 Samuel 10:25.

Prof. Bondzi-Simpson said the book highlights the message that there was hope for everyone regardless of the circumstances of their birth and upbringing, history and past, adventures and misadventures-a proof that God loved the sinner but not the sin and extended His hand of saving grace to all, including the sinner.

Bishop Dr Charles Agyinasare was born on March 22, 1962 to Staff Sergeant Andrews Asare and Elizabeth Arthur at Achiase in the Eastern Region of Ghana.

He is an International speaker, Statesman, Educator and an author of many Christian books.

Dr Agyinasare started the World Miracle Bible Church, which was later renamed Word Miracle Church International (Now Perez chapel International) in 1987 in Tamale, in the Northern Region of Ghana.

He later moved to Accra in 1994 (CFC Building-Nkrumah Circle) where his meetings were characterised by mighty signs and wonders including notable signs of stopping the rain.

In what became known as ‘the Great Move’, the Church bought and relocated their place of worship to the former Meat Marketing Board head office (Now Perez Dome, Dzorwulu) in March 1998.

From an initial Sunday morning membership of 70 adults in October 1994, the Church has grown phenomenally to several thousands of people with over 50 branches currently in Accra, hundreds throughout Ghana, and several hundred of affiliates worldwide.

Agyinasare has been involved in world Evangelism for over three decades and has preached in more than 85 nations.

In recognition of his distinguish service to humanity, he has been awarded with several honourary doctoral degrees from reputable Universities across the world, including London’s Shiloh Ecclesiastical Bible College, and MC School of Advanced Leadership, Bangalore, India.

Dr Agyinasare is the author of over 50 books, some of which have been translated into French and Japanese.

He is married to Rev. Mrs Vivian Agyinasare, who currently serves as the International Women’s Director of the Perez Chapel International and Associate Churches Worldwide.

They have three adult children and an adopted daughter: Pastor Dr Sellasie Agyinasare, Pastor Francis Agyinasare, Ms Charlene Agyinasare, Ms Clementina Quashie and two grand daughters: Carly Agyinasare, and Vivian Sena Agyinasare.

Source: Ghana News Agency

The Tema East and Tema Central Sub-Metro Councils have been reconstituted by the Tema Metropolitan Assembly (TMA) to effectively discharge their duties.

Swearing in the newly elected chairmen for the two areas, Mr Yohane Amarh Ashitey, Tema Metropolitan Chief Executive, urged all stakeholders to work together to improve the two areas.

He stated that effective involvement and cooperation among local stakeholders would help bring the required development.

Getting appropriate local answers to developmental problems would be easier, if all stakeholders were involved, Mr Ashitey noted.

He also requested input from the local populace, the traditional council, and other interested parties so that the Assembly could address important problems with service delivery.

At the Tema East sub-metro, Mr Dennis Amanor Tetteh received 11 votes to defeat Mr Mathew Adjetey Okunko, who obtained seven, to become the chairman.

At the Tema Central Sub Metro, Mr Sylvester Yankey was sworn in after receiving 15 votes to defeat Mr. Francis Davis Mills’ who had five.

The two chairmen expressed gratitude for being chosen, and pledged to collaborate with the assembly members, TMA, and other stakeholders to guarantee the full development of their various communities.

Source: Ghana News Agency