Day: June 8, 2024

The site of abolitionist Sojourner Truth’s famous 1851 speech, ‘Ain’t I a Woman?’ is now marked by a plaza and a memorial honoring her legacy.

The former slave turned woman rights activist made the address to an audience at the Ohio Women’s Rights Convention held at the Universalist Old Stone Church in Akron.

She addressed the audience about why her humanity and the humanity of other enslaved African Americans were not recognized in the same light as white Americans, reflecting on the struggles she had endured while in slavery.

The church has since closed and in its place today stands the Sojourner Truth Legacy Plaza and the United Way of Summit and Medina Counties. The statue, sculpted by artist and Akron native Woodrow Nash, depicts Truth standing tall and clutching a book. The monument is built on top of an impala lily, the national flower of Ghana, from which Truth’s father descended.

‘It was an opportunity to embed within the design of the memorial to uplift the overlooked contribution of Black women
civic leaders that have sojourned in Truth’s footsteps,’ Brent Leggs, senior vice president at the National Trust for Historic Preservation, said, according to ABC News.

The plaza is surrounded by large stone pillars that are carved with phrases like ‘faith’ and ‘activism’ at the top and a passage from Truth beneath it. One of Truth’s quotations on a pillar reads, ‘I will not allow the darkness around me to determine the light in my life.’

According to Towanda Mullins, chairperson of the Sojourner Truth Project-Akron, the plaza will honor a portion of the country’s history while also helping to build the future. She expressed, ‘It’s going to remind others to be the first one to speak up, to speak up for all, not just for some.’

According to a press release, the African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund, with funding from the Knight Foundation, United Way of Summit and Medina, the Sojourner Truth Project-Akron, and the Akron Community Foundation, launched the plaza project.

The trailblazing activist i
s commemorated in more places than just Akron’s statue and plaza. She was honored in 2020 with the unveiling of a bronze statue that portrayed her alongside women’s rights pioneers Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony at New York’s Central Park. It was the park’s first monument honoring historical heroines According to the city’s website, another statue of Truth was unveiled in Angola, Indiana, in 2021, at the same location where she delivered a speech in 1861.

Truth is believed to be the first Black woman to successfully sue white men to free her son from slavery. Other cases may exist that researchers are unaware of.

Isabella Bomfree, who later became known as Sojourner Truth, was born into slavery in the Hudson Valley in 1797. In 1826, she and her daughter fled her final owner’s home after he failed to keep his promise to liberate her. She went on to work for the Van Wagenens and took their surname.

Source: Ghana Web

Mr Kwame Asuah Takyi, the Comptroller-General of the Ghana Immigration Service, has successfully completed an impactful 10-day tour of the five Northern Regions with a call for peaceful collaboration with residents to safeguard the country’s borders.

The Comptroller-General reassured the officers’ selfless dedication to the safety and security of the country.

The team began the tour from the North, traversing through the North East, continuing to the captivating landscapes of the Upper East, venturing towards the picturesque West, and culminating in the enchanting Savannah. 

This was in a statement from the Immigration Public Affairs Department copied to the Ghana News Agency in Accra.

Mr Takyi appealed to the residents not to harbour illegal individuals within their homes to undermine national security, emphasising the crucial role of every citizen in upholding these vital standards.

The tour served as an opportunity for the Comptroller-General to connect with his dedicated staff, gain crucial insights
into regional activities, and uplift their spirits in the face of daunting weather and working conditions.

It also aimed to comprehensively assess the security landscape at the various borders and unapproved routes, with a particular focus on empowering officers to effectively safeguard against potential terrorist threats and prevent the illegal entry of migrants.

Mr Takyi embarked on a series of courtesy calls, paying respects to Regional Ministers, District Coordinators, and Chiefs such as the Northern and Upper East Regions, Ya-Naa, Mion paramountcy, the Overlord of Mamprugu, and the traditional authorities of Waala, Telansi, Pagapio, and the Bola Wura.

These engagements, the statement said, were emblematic of a unifying spirit, demonstrating the collaborative effort required to ensure the safety and prosperity of the regions and the nation as a whole.

The Overlord of Waala Traditional Area, Naa Fuseani Seidu Pelpuo IV, and his Council of Elders donated 100 acres of land to the Service. 

The gesture w
ill serve as the foundation for a future training school, residence, and regional headquarters embodying the spirit of progress and cooperation.

Mr Takyi was accompanied by the Chief Staff Officer, Assistant Commissioner of Immigration Emmanuel Ashley, Deputy Superintendent of Immigration (DSI) Barbara Sam, and DSI Osei Kwakye of the Public Affairs Department, along with other officers from the National Headquarters.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Lawyer Martin Kpebu has strongly critiqued a recent ruling on a mistrial application filed by two accused persons in a high-profile financial crimes case.

Ato Forson and Richard Jakpa, filed separate applications seeking the declaration of a mistrial in the ambulance purchase case.

Both accused persons cited contents of a leaked audio between Attorney-General Godfred Dame and Jakpa for their application.

On Thursday, June 6, 2024, the presiding judge, Justice Afia Serwah Asare-Botwe, ruled that the application filed by the former Deputy Finance Minister, Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson, was not tenable.

Lawyer Kpebu, however, robustly disagreed with the judge stressing that she should have at least heard the lawyers for both applicants before writing her ruling on the matter.

He explained extensively on TV3 (June 7, 2024) that there are tonnes of literature on criminal disclosures in the United States, United Kingdom and other African countries where mistrials have been granted over similar reasons cited by the a
pplicants.

“Sometimes a common lie by the prosecution witness or the prosecutor just suppressing some evidence, then the whole trial is stopped, so many of them (cases).

“The judge handicapped herself from receiving such arguments from the defence lawyers. There was huge mistake, this area of the law is new so it shouldn’t be taken for granted that let’s leave it for the judge alone,” he stressed.

“The judge needs to listen to the arguments from the lawyers, they had to bring their cases then she would blend with hers, the outcome would have been better than the situation where she alone just did the ruling,” he emphasized.

Kpebu stressed that with defence counsels like Thaddeus Sory for Jakpa and Abdul Aziz Bamba for Ato Forson, the ruling would have been much richer and better.

Source: Ghana Web

The Bui Power Authority (BPA), the managers of the Bui Generating Station (BGS) has cultivated and nurtured 1,400 acres of trees since the government’s Green Ghana Initiatives was launched in 2021.

Mr Samuel Kofi Ahiave Dzamesi, the Chief Executive Officer has said.

He said the authority had contracted and some of the BGS’s Project Affected Persons (PAPs) were nurturing the trees, which were all doing well.

Mr Dzamesi said this in a speech read on his behalf by Mr Samuel Nimako-Boateng, the Director, Power Operations Department, BPA, during a tree planting exercise organised by the authority at Bui in the Banda District of the Bono Region to mark this year’s Green Ghana Day.

Personnel of the BPA and the Ghana Armed Forces deployed to protect the Dam participated in the tree planting exercise.

Mr Dzamesi said the Authority would plant 16,000 tree seedlings around the dam’s enclave this year, saying it cultivated and nurtured 11,813 different species of trees in 2023.

Additionally, he explained the Board
of Directors of the Authority had approved a policy on the conservation and protection of 26 different economic indigenous and domesticated tree species at the dam site.

Currently, the authority is tagging the identified tree species for easy identification, Mr Dzamesi stated, saying with assistance from the Wildlife Division (Bui National Park) of the Forestry Commission, the authority was sensitizing local communities on the need to preserve the trees.

He expressed worry that impacts of climate change were being felt and underlined the need for the BPA to complement efforts towards global fight against the adverse effects and mitigating the impact of climate change in the country.

Climate change, he added, was contributing to erratic rainfall patterns, rising temperatures, food insecurity and increasing poverty levels.

Mr Dzamesi said a strong political will with an increased investment response ‘by the Emergency Response Team attributable to our collective efforts for the acquisition and deployment of
additional two State-of-the-art multi-purpose fire tenders in operations at the BGS here’.

‘Aside protecting our installations and our forest, cashew farms within the catchment area were protected thereby enhancing biodiversity conservation’, he stated.

Mr Chrisentus Kuunifaa, the Director, Occupational Health, Safety, Security and Environment of the BPA, stressed the authority’s commitment tree plantation was preserved for the nation to derive the optimum benefit

Source: Ghana News Agency