National Farmers' Day award winners call on minister
Floods destroy farms in Fanteakwa
Workshop on female genital mutilation held in Bawku
Two fire victims receive items from Assembly and NADMO
Muslim Youth asked not to erect canopies near streets
National Farmers' Day award winners call on minister
Accra (Greater Accra) 29 Nov. ’99
The Minister of Food and Agriculture, Mr Joseph Owusu-Acheampong, said on Monday that the Ministry would work hard to remove bottlenecks that hinder agricultural production.
This is to enable farmers produce more and end the importation of food from neighbouring countries.
The Minister was speaking when award winners of this year's National Farmers' Day called on him at the ministry.
Mr Owusu-Acheampong said the government instituted the awards in recognition of the important role farmers play in the economy.
The awards are therefore to ginger them to do better.
The Minister said farming is an important vocation. It is therefore unfortunate that some people think that farmers must be poor.
He urged the award winners to strive to change this perception.
Mr Owusu-Acheampong urged them to send their children to school saying education is the key to power and the future of children. "You must therefore ensure that you push their children to attain the highest level of education.
Fifty-seven out of the 63 award winners called on the Minister as part of a week's programme to mark the day which falls on 3rd December.
The venue for this year's celebration is Bolgatanga in the Upper East region.
As part of the programmes lined up for this year's celebration, the farmers will visit the Tema Harbour, the Cocoa Processing Company and the hydro-electric Dam at Akosombo.
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Floods destroy farms in Fanteakwa
Dedesawirako (Eastern Region) 29 Nov ’99
About 3.5 hectares of farmland belonging to 12 communities along the Volta Lake in the Fanteakwa District have been destroyed by floods.
Crops destroyed included pepper, maize, tomatoes, beans, tobacco, and groundnut. The affected communities are Dedesawirako, Agavedzi, Tremoleveme, Petefor, Adakpe, Odotom, Gravel Pit, Harbour, Abuakwa, Ganyokope, Senukpo and Vugigli.
The district co-ordinator of National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO), Mr. S. K. Danso advised the people not to farm or build near the Volta Lake to avert such disaster.
He said the amount of money being used by the government on disaster programmes could be used to develop other sectors of the economy if communities heed to advice on disaster prevention.
The Chief of Dedesawirako, Barima Bosompem Ayirepe II, and the assemblyman for the town, Mr. Christopher Narh, appealed to NADMO and the Fanteakwa District Assembly to assist the victims.
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Workshop on female genital mutilation held in Bawku
Bawku (Upper Region) 29 Nov ’99
The Senior Medical Officer in charge of the Bawku Hospital, Dr Oscar Debrah, has said 394 out of 1,249 women who delivered at the hospital since January this year, were found to have undergone some form of female circumcision.
He said 10 per cent of those who had undergone female circumcision have had to be operated upon to facilitate delivery.
Dr Debrah disclosed this at a two-day sensitisation workshop on Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) for traditional rulers, opinion leaders, women leaders, representatives of non-governmental organisations and health workers at Bawku.
The workshop was organised by the Association of Churches in Development Projects (ACEDEP) in collaboration with the District Assembly and the District Health Management Team (DHMT).
Dr Debrah cited severe bleeding, infection and related long-term consequences, including the likelihood of contracting sexually transmitted diseases and HIV/AIDS, as some of the health related complications of FGM.
He called on traditional rulers to join in the campaign to stop the obnoxious practice.
The Deputy Upper East Regional Minister, Hajia Fati Seidu, said female circumcision is one negative cultural practice that has defiled all attempts for its elimination.
She said any cultural practice that is inimical to social progress and developmental aspirations of society should be modified or abolished in conformity with modern trends.
The Deputy Minister charged the participants, who she described as custodians of culture and tradition, to come out with workable proposals that can facilitate the eradication of outmoded cultural practices which retard the development of women and children.
The acting director of Foundation for Women's Health Research and Development (FORWARD), a London-based NGO, Dr Faith Mwangi-Powell, who is facilitating the workshop, said research has shown that FGM has no religious, moral, scientific or cultural basis and should therefore be stopped.
She noted that it is not enough to enact laws and bye-laws or even prosecute people caught practising FGM, since that, in most cases, drives the perpetrators underground.
"What is most important in eradicating FGM is to seek the commitment of society to appreciate the need to stop it," Dr Mwangu-Powell added.
Naba Asigri Apugrago Azoka II, paramount chief of Bawku Traditional area, pledged the support of his people to eradicate FGM and other negative cultural practices.
The Bawku-Naba advised his sub-Chiefs attending the workshop to attach great importance to issues that would come out of the workshop.
Mr Dominic Akudago, Bawku East District Chief Executive, who chaired the function, commended the organisers for showing interest in the socio-economic development of the area.
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Minister calls for more action on needs of disabled
Accra (Greater Accra) 29 Nov. ’99
Alhaji Muhammad Mumuni, Minister of Employment and Social Welfare, on Monday noted that meeting the needs of the disabled in the society poses a great challenge to Ghana's young democracy.
He said Ghana's disabled population of about two million is living in poverty. He said most of them belong to the one-third of the population who are currently living below the poverty line.
Mr Mumuni said this when he received a seven-member delegation from the Norwegian Association of the Disabled (NAD) led by its President, Mr. Gunnar Buvik in Accra.
The Minister had to relocate at the Accra Rehabilitation Centre in order to receive the delegation because the President of the association, himself a disabled, was in wheel chair and could not have access to the Minister's office.
Mr Mumuni called for the creation of user-friendly public buildings for the disabled to ease mobility and accessibility in order to ensure their rights.
The Minister, who touched on the need to empower the disabled, noted that this group of persons stands a great risk of social exclusion.
He said the needs of the disabled are high on the agenda of the government but the liberalisation of the economy and market forces have compounded the situation to the disadvantaged in society.
Mr Mumuni said the Community-Based Rehabilitation (CBR) programme being run in some parts of the country would soon be extended to all the 110 districts as part of measures to make the disabled economically independent.
Mr Buvik said the delegation is in the country to study the results of the CBR, which is being sponsored by his association in collaboration with the government of Ghana.
Mr Robert Tamm, Resident Representative of the NAD, said the team would undertake a study of the incidence of disability and sensitise disabled associations on the need to promote their rights.
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Two fire victims receive items from Assembly and NADMO
Aduamoa (Ashanti) 30th November 99
The Kwabre District Assembly and the Kwabre District Secretariat of the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO) have presented relief items worth 3.5 million cedis to two fire victims in the district.
They are Mr. Philip Owusu-Afriyie and Mohammed Osman of Aduamoa and Atimatim respectively.
Mr. Owusu-Afriyie, who lost everything in his room, received one million Cedis, five bags of cement, two bundles of roofing sheets, a mattress, four pieces of blanket, plastic buckets, two bags of rice, two lanterns and second-hand clothes.
Osman also had one million cedis, a bag of rice, mattress, two bundles of roofing sheets, blankets, bedsheets, buckets and a lantern.
Mr. Ernest Opoku-Fofie, Kwabre District Chief Executive (DCE) presented the items to the victims at separate functions.
He expressed his sympathy to the victims and urged them to make good use of the items in a way that would help them to meet the challenges and difficulties they would face.
The DEC asked the people to bury their political differences or inclinations and help the government to move the nation forward.
The nation needed absolute peace and tranquillity and not political upheavals and lawlessness, which only draw the nation back in its developmental efforts and create confusion and instability.
He pointed out that the government, through the District Assembly Concept is doing all that it can to enhance effective development.
Mr Owusu-Afriyie and Mohammed Osman thanked the DCE and the two organisations for the items and said what have been given to them would enable them to re-establish themselves.
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Kumasi (Ashanti), 30th November 99
A one day seminar, organised by the Asokwa-East Constituency of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) for its ward activists and executives, to map out strategies towards winning the 2000 general elections has ended in Kumasi.
The seminar, which was attended by 100 party activists and executives, was also to create a platform for enlightening participants on new developments in the party and other national programmes.
Speaking on "Party discipline", Mr. Osman Boakye, Ashanti Regional Head of the Progressive Voluntary Organisations (PVO), asked NDC members and sympathisers not to let tribal and religious considerations influence them in their agitation for the selection of a Vice Presidential candidate of the party.
He said the NDC was national in character and that any attempt to use ethnic or religious affiliation of a person to give him any appointment will, therefore, defeat and undermine the cardinal principles of the party.
Mr. Boakye stated that the NDC already has its own internal mechanism for the selection of a Vice Presidential candidate and members should, therefore, appreciate it and allow the system to be used in making the selection.
Hajiaa Salamatu Kunte, Ashanti Regional Women's Organiser of the NDC, advised women within the party with identical skills and vocation to form co-operatives to enable them to benefit from financial assistance from the banks.
She advised women to transform their agitation for economic and political empowerment into reality by contesting for leadership positions not only at the unit and assembly levels but also at the national.
Alhaji Bawa Tanko, Chairman of the Asokwa-East constituency of the NDC, announced that the local executives would soon reorganise all the branches in the constituency, to strengthen their capacity to deliver their programmes at the grassroots level.
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Muslim Youth asked not to erect canopies near streets
Kumasi (Ashanti), 30th November 99
Muslim Youth Clubs and Associations have been asked to refrain from the habit of erecting canopies near streets for the purpose of entertainment during festive occasions and celebration of weddings.
Imam Abdul Mumin Harun, Chairman of the Suame Islamic Youth association, said the Council of Ulamau and Muslim Elders were highly concerned about the practice since it casts a slur on the Islamic faith and must, therefore, not be allowed to gain grounds.
Imam Harun was speaking at a ceremony organised by the Suame Islamic Youth Association in Kumasi on Sunday to create a forum for the old executives to hand over to a newly elected one.
He observed that it has become the norm of Islamic Youth Clubs in Kumasi, in particular, to normally erect canopies, very close to the streets, especially around the Roman Hill area through to the Manhyia during festive periods, thereby obstructing vehicular movement and even exposing the celebrants to danger.
Imam Harun, however, made it clear that Islam cherishes the youth coming together to form clubs that would be used to bring about meaningful development.
Odeneho Kwaku Appiah, President of Youth in Action, a network of youth groups in Kumasi, asked Muslim Youth Clubs to make education of their members and neighbours, a priority in the planning of all their programmes.
He advised that as the next millennium draws closer, it was imperative for Muslim Youth Clubs to begin to devote their energies and resources to organise literacy classes for the adult illiterates in their neighbourhoods.
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