Category: General

The Ho Teaching and Municipal Hospitals in the Volta Region has witnessed arrival of nine new babies on the Christmas Day, including a set of male twins.

The Ho Teaching Hospital witnessed the arrival of five new babies, two cute baby girls and three lively boys.

A pair of male twins were born during the night without incident.

The Ho Municipal Hospital also recorded four fresh births on the same day.

There were two boys and two girls among the births at this facility.

The two government facilities recorded a total of nine infants on the Day.

Many people shared the sentiment that babies born on Christmas Day had specific meaning; some saw it as a special link to the celebration of Jesus Christ.
Source: Ghana News Agency

Reverend Godson K. Bodzah, Head Pastor of the Evangelical Central Chapel of the Assemblies of God, Ghana in Ho-Ahoe, in the Ho Municipality of the Volta Region says the worst kind of captivity is sin.

He urged everyone to use the festive season to get closer to God via Christ Jesus, saying, the purpose of Jesus’ manifestation was to release humanity from the bonds of sin.

Rev. Bodzah in a festive message shared with the Ghana News Agency, noted that because of sin, humanity had fallen short of God’s glory, and that was why Jesus was born to restore that glory.

‘And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name Jesus: for he shall save his people from their sins (Matthew 1:18-25,’

He said since ‘all have sinned and come short of the Glory of God,’ as stated in Romans 3:23, a sinless person was needed to set the sinful man free, and that person was none other than the Messiah Jesus Christ the Lord.

He said Christ’s death paved the way for humanity to experience the love of God as stated in Rom
ans 5:8’But God commendeth his love towards us, in that, while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.’

Rev. Bodzah who is the Chief Executive Officer of Theosalt Ministries International, exhorted Christians to diligently seek God with fervent prayers and fasting.

He said prayer and fasting driven by the Holy Spirit were indispensable keys to experiencing God’s presence, power and glory as well as the enablement for the fulfillment His mandate.

Rev. Bodzah stated that those who encountered God’s presence saw remarkable development, transformation, and change at every stage of their life.

He urged Christians to make an effort to spend an hour each day in God’s presence in order to experience God’s kindness and mercy and get miraculous strength and blessings in their life.
Source: Ghana News Agency

Mobile Telecommunications Network (MTN), through its Foundation, has presented hampers to babies born on Christmas day at two health facilities in Koforidua.

Twenty-five mothers, who delivered on Xmas day at the Koforidua Regional Hospital and the Seventh Day Adventists Hospital, received the gifts.

On December 26, every year, MTN Ghana Foundation visits hospitals across the country to present hampers and some airtime to mothers who gave birth on the 25th and 26th of December, as part of a cherished tradition.

This year, 500 baby hampers were distributed in all the 16 regions of Ghana.

Mr Ransford Gyan, the MTN Area Sales Manager in charge of Eastern, Volta and Oti, who made the presentation, said it was to show love to the newborns and their mothers.

Madam Mary Ahorlu, Staff Midwife at the Eastern Regional Hospital, on behalf of the mothers, expressed gratitude to MTN Ghana for the gesture.
Source: Ghana News Agency

The Chiefs and people of Santrokofi Bume, a community in the Guan District of the Oti Region, have held the 2023 SABUDA Homecoming event with fundraising towards educational infrastructure of the community.

The sixth edition of the Santrokofi-Bume Development Association (SABUDA) event sought to raise an amount of GHS300,000 for the completion of phase two of the teachers’ bungalow to enhance the quality of education in the area.

Mr Nathaniel Atikumi, Chairman of SABUDA, said the Association was a developmental-driven one that focused on developmental projects of the community.

He said the previous events held had yielded results such as the clinic, nurses quarters, water supply, classroom blocks and headteacher’s bungalow adding that they wanted to use the Association for other future projects.

Mr Atikumi said there was a relationship between supervision and academic success, hence a residential place for teachers in the community would enhance academic activities and performances of students.

He calle
d on citizens at home and abroad to continue to support the Association in enhancing the development of the community while calling on corporate organisations also to join the development agenda.

Nana Obibiribi Kumi III, Krontihene of Santrokofi Traditional Area, said a lot had been achieved through the unity fostered among the community’s citizens.

He said the community had come thus far due to the unity among the citizens of the community.

Nana Kumi urged the youth to remain disciplined in all endeavours and avoid acts that could hinder their progress in life.

Dr Edward Wilson Ansah, Senior Lecturer and Head of the Department of Health, Physical Education and Recreation, University of Cape Coast, said without educational infrastructure, the development of children as future leaders would be hindered.

He called on the citizenry to contribute generously to the projects being championed since they would remain as legacies for their wards.

Dr Ansah said educational success was key because no country or co
mmunity developed without education.

He said the people must be committed to investing in educational infrastructure as well as their children who would take over affairs soon.

Madam Janet Emefa Obro-Adibo Goka, Guan District Chief Executive (DCE), urged the community members to unite and be tolerant of one another.

She said development must first begin with themselves while calling on parents to take a keen interest in the education of their wards to help them have bright futures.

Awards were presented to deserving individuals for their immense contribution to the development of the community.

The event was on the theme:’Good infrastructure; a prerequisite for academic success.’
Source: Ghana News Agency

Court users who are physically challenged or aged find it difficult to access the Kaneshie District Court.

This is because it is disability unfriendly.

Consequently, such people are often carried to the Court to seek redress.

Judges, occasionally descend to use a different room in the building for cases involving physically challenged persons.

The aged, some, very weak, have the difficult task of climbing the first or second floor of the building to access justice.

The staircases on the building have long intervals, making it impossible for people with severe disabilities to access the courtrooms.

Ghana’s Constitution demands that justice delivery should be granted to all without leaving anyone behind just as the Sustainable Development Goal Nine.

The United Nations adopted the SDGs or global goals in 2015, as a universal call to action to end poverty, hunger, and discrimination against the vulnerable, protect the planet, and ensure that by 2030, everyone enjoys peace and prosperity.

The goals, which
are 17, are intertwined and their actions affect each other’s outcomes and their development must balance social, economic and environmental sustainability.

Among the goals are one-poverty reduction, nine-industry, innovation and infrastructure, 10-reduced inequalities as well as goal 16-peace, justice and strong institutions.

Under goal nine, resilient infrastructure is supposed to be built, promote inclusive, that is, the global fast-growing economy and increasing inequalities, sustained growth must encompass industrialisation that will make opportunities accessible to all as well as resilient infrastructure.

To achieve this, government and other stakeholders must invest in buildings or improve structures accessible by all and sundry such as the aged, people with disabilities, and the sick.

Goal 16 is to promote peaceful and inclusive societies, providing access to justice for all and building affection accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels.

People everywhere should be free of fear from
all forms of violence and feel safe as they go about their duties irrespective of their ethnicity, sexual orientation, faith or physical status.

However, unfriendly court structures, for instance, that of the Kaneshie District Court, is an impediment to achieving peace and justice for all- aged, people with disabilities.

High level civil conflicts as a result of people taking the law into their hands because there is lack of access to the law court would have negative impact on Ghana’s development.

Equal access to justice is important in protecting individual rights, resolving conflicts and ensuring that the vulnerable- physically challenged or aged, are not marginalised or discriminated against.

The court would be crippled in delivering public service to all in a short time without delay if these issues are not addressee.

To side-line or discriminate against the minority such as people with disabilities in justice delivery violates their human rights, and can lead to violence.

Action is needed to resol
ve structural injustices to restore trust in the court for justice delivery towards ensuring sustainable peace.
Source: Ghana News Agency

Yet to be commissioned Ho Central Market stores have become scenes of filth, obscenity and stench.

Some deranged individuals have been dumping refuse inside some of the buildings and in non-designated areas, creating a sanitary situation that threatens the health of thousands that throng the market.

A GNA tour of the commercial centre of Volta Region’s capital city, saw unoccupied spaces becoming dumping centres, including the stair areas of some Storey buildings, and the eerie corridors of the upper floors.

The GNA was told that mentally ill persons contracted to collect refuse in the market were responsible for the unusual siting.

Traders talked about how the developing situation affected their work, which showed a lack of authority and security at the multi-million market centre.

‘When you come here in the afternoon, the heat is unbearable,’ one whose shop is right adjacent the sceptic tank for one of the buildings, and which had been turned into an incinerator, lamented.

Storm drains are fast becom
ing open urinals, and the refuse dumps; are sites for open defecation.

Sumaiya, a dealer in exotic fabrics who recently set up shop at the market, narrated her ordeal in the unsanitary environment.

‘There are urinals over there, but people are using the drains here to pee. The stench is very disturbing’.

Other unusual refuse spots found in and around the market, are said to be created by these ‘mad’ men, whose services are patronised by some traders.

The prevalence of criminals and miscreants who loft in the unused upper floors is already a long-standing challenge to the market modernisation project, which was made possible through a secondary cities initiative of the Government of France.

A long line of urine that is bleaching the disability access ramp to the largest building, shows constant urination and is producing an unbearable stench.

Comfort, a dressmaker who was the only one working among the long, forlorn corridor of stores, told of how owners of the various units abandoned them to trade on th
e ground floor.

‘All these stores have become warehouses, and it is affecting patronage of business here. And because nobody comes here, people come here to pee and do other stuff’.

The dressmaker would call for more access ways to the infinity corridors of the upper floors, to make them more attractive to the public.

A few mentally ill persons could be seen loitering around the market, mostly near the refuse they had accumulated.

A member of the market management committee who spoke to the GNA admitted the situation was an eyesore and that efforts were being made to address the issue.

Yet a food vendor at the entrance to the polluted stair area, said authorities showed neglect.

‘We have been complaining to the Council but there has been no response. The mad guy is taking GHC 1 and heaping the refuse there. Every day the authorities see him, but they don’t do anything about it. Every morning he goes to sweep and then dump the refuse there’.

The said madman, reportedly notorious who limps on a stick, is
said to abuse anyone who dares question his waste management methods.

‘He tried setting fire to the refuse inside the building, and we had to stop him’.

Mr. Lawrence Senya, Municipal Environmental Health Officer, told the GNA, ‘This is a situation we are grappling with.

Because these people are not sane, we are having difficulty controlling them,’ he said, adding that the market was not totally enclosed.

‘We are yet to get full enclosure of the market, and it should have been done by November, but the metal gates are not fully installed. We are sure by January ending we should get around it’.

He noted how some officers of the Environmental Health Department and cleaners from the Municipal Assembly had been supporting sanitation at the market.

Mr Senya said there were some considerations to engaging the various market associations to take up the cleaning.

The Ghana Journalists Association, Volta Chapter, with its allies some years ago undertook a clean-up exercise at the Central market, which was gaspin
g under filth.
Source: Ghana News Agency

The price of gutted fresh tilapia has shot up months after the flood occasioned by the spilling of excess water from the Akosombo hydro dam in the Eastern Region, the Ghana News Agency (GNA) has observed.

The spillage has destroyed tilapia farms and caused hikes in pricing by value chain actors associated with the farm-to-fork of tilapia, a delicacy for many people especially during festive seasons.

At least at five popular tilapia grilled joints at Osu, North Kanashie, Nungua, Lapaz, and East Legon, in Accra, have seen about a 100 per cent increase in all the sizes.

A table size tilapia is selling at GHS 140.00, a jump from GHS 70.00 post the floods, at Osu.

Asked why the price had doubled, Daavi, a caretaker of the Osu joint, said there had been a decline in the supply side and that limited stock was expensive.

‘…Now, two people buy one fish and share compared to months before where they would buy two fishes.’

Checks by the GNA indicate that farms at Asutsuare, a town along the Lake, in the Eastern R
egion, were selling the 50 kilogramme (kg) of medium size tilapia at GHS 2,150 for average size of tilapia.

Mr Jacob Adzikah, CEO of the Chamber of Aquaculture Ghana, said research had found that a kilogramme of tilapia which used to sell at GHS 31.00 at the farm gate had gone up to GHS 41.00 after the spillage.

The research unit of the Chamber of Aquaculture told the GNA that they had observed a slight price increase of about GHS 10.00 at the farm gate.

He projected that the trend might cause the commodity to be more expensive in the coming days.

Mr Adzikah said fish farmers along the Volta Lake lost fish stock worth about GHS 58 million due to the spillage.

He appealed to state agencies, especially the Fisheries Commission to provide some support to affected fish farmers.

None of the affected farmers, he said, had subscribed to aquaculture insurance, hence the huge loss in the industry after the flood, which displaced an estimated 35,857 residents.

‘There are limited aquaculture insurance products in
the sector, but many fish farms do not subscribe because they do not appreciate the importance of aquaculture insurance,’ Mr Adzikah stated.

‘This is a huge concern because if farms appreciate the importance of aquaculture insurance and conforming to best biological practice, it will ensure sustainability in the sector,’ he added.

Some farms like China Fujian Fishing Limited are reconstructing fish cages after losing several thousands of fish stock.

Another farm Maleka Farms was seen undertaking repair works and preparing to scale up opoperation when the GNA visited.

The Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Natural Resource Department (NRD) early mid- December commenced an on-site exercise to assess the impact of the recent floods on aquaculture farms at Akuse and Asutsuare.

The fact-finding mission, conducted by technical directors of other departments sought to learn about the extent of infrastructural damage, losses of livelihood, and make recommendations.

Ms Helina S. Dodd, a Principal Programme
Officer at EPA-NRA, told the GNA that the visit undertaken under the instruction of the Dr Henry Kwabena Kokofu, the Executive Directors of EPA, afforded them the opportunity to interact with farm owners.

She said they held discussion with operators of fish farms and discussed avenues for technical support.

Ms Dodd stated that the team was looking into the issue of illegal fish farm operators and collaborating with other agencies to deal with the situation and ensure sanity.

She said preliminary outcome showed that many farmers had their infrastructure damaged extensively, while thousands of fishes were lost/escaped during the floods.

The Akosombo Dam, a hydroelectric dam on the Volta River that generates electricity, exceeded its water level operational capacity and had to spill excess water in October.

The spillage resulted in flooding at low-lying communities.

North and Central Tongu districts were the most hit, with communities such as Mepe, Battor, Sogakope, Mafi, Adidome and Ada inundated.
Source:
Ghana News Agency

MTN Ghana, the leading Mobile Telecommunications Network has put smiles on the faces of some babies born on December 25, 2023, Christmas Day in some hospitals in the Upper East Region.

Included in the donation are items such as baby oil, soap, diapers, wipes, clothes and all the things needed during delivery and MTN credit scratch cards given to mothers of each of the babies at the Regional Hospital in Bolgatanga and the Bongo District Hospital.

The gesture was a nationwide activity as part of the commitment of MTN Ghana to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ with babies born on Christmas Day annually.

Speaking on the sidelines of the donation exercise, Mr Martin Kumobah, the Upper East Regional MTN Ghana Team Lead, noted that Christmas symbolized the season of love and sharing and giving to the babies was a critical way of showing love.

Mr Kumobah explained that 30 hampers were given out to babies born on Christmas day at major hospitals in the region this year, adding ‘We want to put smiles on their fa
ces before the world welcomes them.

‘For us in MTN we believe in sharing love strongly and nationwide we have taken the decision that every year on December 26, we will present beautiful hampers to babies born on Christmas day, December 25, and we have been doing this for some years now’.

Mr Kumobah explained that apart from providing reliable services to MTN subscribers, the company was committed to helping the less privileged and added that the exercise would be sustained.

The Regional Team Lead explained that over the years, MTN had worked and rolled out innovative measures that had enhanced customers’ experiences and added that it was investing heavily in innovations that would give the best of services to its customers.

‘We are making a lot of investment when it comes to our network coverage and as far as service delivery is concerned, we will not stop, so be assured that in 2024 we will make sure that no matter the corner you are you will have the best experience when it comes to our network,’ he ad
ded.

At the Regional Hospital, there were nine babies comprising six girls and three boys from eight deliveries while at the Bongo District Hospital, there were also nine babies comprising five boys and four girls from eight deliveries.

Two mothers from each of the two hospitals went through cesarean operations to have their children and a set of twins was also recorded at each hospital.

Ms Anisa Abdulai, a Midwife at the Maternity Ward of the Regional Hospital, expressed gratitude to MTN Ghana for the gesture and noted that the hampers contained all the things the mothers needed to take care of the children.

She said some mothers could not afford to settle some hospital bills and even buy some of the items and noted that it was a big relief to the mothers and their children.

Ms Victoria Agobre, a beneficiary mother at the Bongo District Hospital, thanked MTN Ghana for the gift and said it would go a long way to support them to ensure good hygiene and relieve them of the financial pressure they had to go
through to get the items.
Source: Ghana News Agency