Ghana's six billionth child ushered into the world
GNA and GBC are not for sale - Mills
Draft disability policy for Cabinet
District assemblies urged to purchase farmers produce
Who is responsible for these teenage pregnancies?
Assemblies of God commissions vocational centre at Yendi
Citizens asked to be security conscious
Church leaders urged to help combat crime wave
Drivers asked to initiate moves to maintain road
Ghana's six billionth child ushered into the world
Accra (Greater Accra) 12 Oct ’99
A baby boy, weighing 3.9 kilos, on Tuesday became a celebrity at birth when he entered the record books as Ghana's six billionth child.
Born at the nation's leading hospital, the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital, Baby Zibar, was ushered into the world by Nana Konadu Agyeman Rawlings, the First Lady at a VIP ceremony.
The mother, Madam Joyce Dikpuu, a trader, gave birth at exactly 0115 hours. Her husband, Isaac Zibar, is self-employed. Both parents hailed from Nandom, in the Upper West region, and are resident in Accra.
In Sarajevo, Bosnia, Mr Kofi Annan, the Ghanaian UN Secretary-General, visited a maternity home to receive the world's symbolic six billionth child.
October 12, 1999, has been designated by the United Nations as the day of the six billionth child, a symbolic observation of a historic population milestone.
The day also marks 30 years of UNFPA operations in population control
activities.
Nana Konadu said the day should be a reminder for Ghanaians to rededicate their energies to the urgency of addressing population issues and their impact on development and the environment.
This, she said, is because Ghana's population continues to grow while the ability to provide the basic necessities to ensure human dignity such as clean water, food, basic education, secure housing and health care is not keeping pace.
She said Ghana, like other developing countries, cannot escape the fact that rapid population growth and high fertility represents a serious "brake" on development and help to perpetuate the cycle of poverty.
Ghanaians should also not forget the dire threat that HIV/AIDS poses to the people and the future of their socio-economic development.
Nana Konadu said a consensus has emerged from the UN Conference on Population and Development in 1994 that population concerns are at the heart of sustainable development strategies.
"The core of this consensus is a recognition that smaller families and slower population growth depend not only on control but on free choice.
"It follows, therefore, that population and development programmes are more effective when they centre on improving the education, rights and status of women."
She commended government's efforts in improving the coverage and delivery of social services in health, education, water supply and sanitation and household food security, saying "we have scored achievements in our population programmes and related development efforts".
Fertility, she said, has declined dramatically over the past decade, from 6.4 births per women in 1988 to 5.5 births in 1993 and to 4.5 in 1998.
The use of family planning methods has increased from 13 per cent in 1988 to 20 per cent in 1993 and 22 per cent in 1998. The use of modern contraceptives has also risen from five per cent in 1988 to 10 per cent in 1993 and 13 per cent in 1998.
Nana Konadu said the proportion of children fully immunised before age one has increased from 43 per cent in 1993 to 51 per cent in 1998 with significant gains in birth rates and life expectancy.
She, however, regretted that the under-five and maternal death rates are still unacceptably high just like the rates in adult illiteracy, particularly for women.
Nana Konadu said, "with the population growth currently at 3.1 per cent per annum, Ghana's population will be about double in 23 years.
"In addition, statistics from the National AIDS Control Programme indicate that over 55,000 cases of AIDS have occurred in the country as of December 1998 and about 500,000 Ghanaians are infected with HIV".
She said government is committed to confronting the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Ghana and urged Ghanaians to be concerned about the crisis.
It is estimated that there will be about 1.2 million HIV positive cases by the 2005" if the present trend continues.
Dr Nafis Sadik, UNFPA Executive Director, in a message, said some 356,000 babies would be born around the world, 90 per cent of them in developing countries today.
The message, read by the UNFPA Representative, Mr Moses Mukasa, said a third of the children will be born into poor families and their early life will be a struggle for elements of human dignity - water, food, clothing, housing, sanitation, basic education and health care.
Half of the babies will be female and many of them will bear the additional burdens of gender based discrimination, sexual violence, sexually transmitted diseases, unwanted pregnancy and denial of reproductive health and rights.
Nearly 600 women die each year from pregnancy and inadequate care in childbirth while 70,000 die due to unsafe abortion.
Mr Samuel Nuamah Donkor, Minister of Health, said his Ministry has established several policy and programme interventions to achieve a balance in socio-demographic growth rates and development.
Mr Nuamah Donkor said "for us in the Ministry, other areas of persistent concern relate to the following: the youth, Aged, HIV/AIDS and STDs (Sexually Transmitted Diseases) and other emerging issues and improving access and quality of care including reproductive health services".
While it took 100 years for the world's population to increase from one billion to two billion and 33 years to reach three billion, it took only 12 years to reach six billion.
Professor George Benneh, Chairman of the National Population Council, Said: "This pattern is not different from the situation in Ghana where in 1921, the population was 2.1 million and by 1984, it had doubled to 12.2 million.
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GNA and GBC are not for sale - Mills
Accra (Greater Accra) 12 Oct. ’99
Vice-President Professor John Atta Mills on Tuesday said that the government will continue to own the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation and Ghana News Agency because of their strategic importance.
Prof. Mills said contrary to opinions held by certain people that the two entities have been slated for sale, they are to be re-engineered and revamped and possibly transformed to self-financing public institutions.
The Vice-President, who was addressing the launch of a 173 million-dollar Public Sector Management Programme in Accra, said publicity on the reform agenda should be stepped up to forestall misinformation.
The programme, which will be funded by the World Bank, spans 11 years. It aims at right sizing the public service and streamlining its operations to make it more effective and private sector friendly.
The National Institutional Renewal Programme (NIRP) is the implementing agency.
In all, 35 subvented organisations/agencies will be re-structured. Of these, 16 including the GBC and GNA, will be fully commercialised and weaned off the national budget.
Prof. Mills said, "employers and agency heads must be obliged to ensure that the Ghana Public service is apolitical performing its functions in an impartial and professional manner. Employment decisions must also be based on merit."
He said an ideal renewed organisation should focus on entrenching customer-oriented culture through the establishment of service standards and mechanism for performance based evaluation, productivity and service quality measurement.
He called for the building of an effective partnership between government, the private sector and civil society organisations including non-governmental agencies.
The public service should take advantage of the new information technology in reducing administrative burden on clients and ensuring significant savings for the sector.
"Our ultimate aim on our path towards 2020 should be a move towards a 'paperless' government."
Dr Appiah Koranteng, National Co-ordinator, NIRP, said staff rationalisation, training and modernisation are some of the measures to be employed in the exercise.
The first phase running for three years would end in July 2002. The second and third phases will cover four years each.
He appealed to people in management to co-operate with the NIRP during the implementation period.
Mr Peter Harold, World Bank Country Director, said public sector reforms form part of a much broader agenda to ensure good governance and administrative, judicial and political transparency.
He said the World Bank is convinced that Ghana can adequately handle the programme hence its support.
"I would not be here today if we (World Bank) does not believe that the government of Ghana is not able to effectively and decisively meet these challenges".
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Draft disability policy for Cabinet
Accra (Greater Accra) 12 Oct. ’99
Alhaji Mohammad Mumuni, Minister of Employment and Social Welfare, has said the time has come for organisations to complement the government's effort at integrating the disadvantaged members of society into the mainstream of the national development process.
He said in line with this, the Ministry is putting before Cabinet a draft disability policy that would enable the government to forge a strategic partnership with the private sector to ensure that a fair social service is created for the deprived.
"Government alone cannot bear the burden in its effort towards uplifting the image of the deprived including the aged, orphans and disabled. Institutions such as churches and mosques can assist government."
Alhaji Mumuni said this at the weekend when he launched a tourism link-up programme for the deprived at the children's park in Accra.
The programme, which was under the theme, "Support the Deprived in Our Society through Tourism Link-Up", was organised by Frednaro Travel and Tours.
It aims at promoting free packaged tourism for the disadvantaged. The programme attracted children from Christ Faith Foster Home, Demonstrations Schools for the Deaf at Mampong Akuapim, Osu Children's Home and Association for the Blind Unemployed.
Alhaji Mumuni noted that the gradual breakdown of the traditional support system makes it imperative for the state to assume greater responsibilities for the welfare of children and the deprived but this stretches government resources.
"The strength of our democracy will always be measured by the level at which we improve the quality of life for all category of persons."
He said through tourism children and the deprived could learn and develop through play and discovery adding that "their minds are stimulated and challenged."
The Minister also praised institutions like the Help Age Ghana, which continue to provide a home for the aged.
Mrs Doreen Owusu Fianko, Executive Director of Ghana Tourist Board, said she was delighted that at last tourism is being sent to the doorsteps of the disadvantaged to enable them to derive educational and recreational benefits.
She said the tourism link-up programme needs the commendation and support from all since its promotion and sustainability depends on the benevolence of society and corporate bodies.
The Proprietor of Frednaro Travel and Tours, Nana Appiah Kubi, enumerated some of the packages for the underprivileged institutions, which included all SOS villages, the aged, and the blind, who would be taken to places of interest such as forts and castles.
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District assemblies urged to purchase farmers produce
Atwima-Techiman (Ashanti) 12 Oct. ’99
A proposal has been made to District Assemblies to consider the establishment of a central marketing systems to buy produce from farmers at the farm gates to protect farmers from exploitation by middlemen.
Odeneho Kwaku Appiah, president of the Youth in Action, a network of youth groups in Kumasi, suggested that such a system should be made to function on similar lines like the former Ghana Food Distribution Corporation (GFDC).
Odeneho Appiah made the proposal yesterday at Atwima-Techiman in the Kumasi Metropolitan area, where he addressed a forum of members of 'Peace and Love club'.
The meeting was to create a platform for the club to review its programmes, with the view to shifting emphasis on the establishment of agricultural projects to help generate funds for the club.
The Youth in Action president noted that the creation of such a marketing system will not only guarantee reasonable and ready market to farmers but will also help attract more of the youth to farming and thereby pave the way for the success of Agricultural production in the country.
Mrs Aba Oppong, Assistant Manager in-charge of youth programme of the Centre for Development of People (CEDEP) said it is the policy of the CEDEP to encourage and assist the youth to acquire skills that can make them self-employed instead of the tendency to seek only white colour jobs.
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Who is responsible for these teenage pregnancies?
Wa (Upper West) 12 Oct. ’99
Twenty teenage pregnancies were reported to the Wa district office of the Department of Social Welfare between January and September this year as against 15 last year.
Out of the number, nine were rejected by the men whom the girls named as being responsible while the men who accepted responsibility for the other 11 pregnancies have failed to provide for their maintenance.
Disclosing this in an interview at Wa on Tuesday, Mr Williams Niyuni, the District Social Welfare Officer, attributed the increasing number of teenage pregnancies partly to lack of parental care and control over their children.
He said poverty has also made it impossible for some parents to provide the basic needs of their girls thereby making them fall prey to men who entice them with money and other gifts.
Mr Niyuni also blamed the situation on the influx of pornographic and other foreign films into the country, which he said also, influence the sex life of the youth.
He appealed to parents, religious bodies and teachers to educate girls on their sexuality as a way of minimising teenage pregnancies in the area.
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Assemblies of God commissions vocational centre at Yendi
Yendi (Northern Region) 12 Oct. ’99
A multi-disciplinary vocational training school, established by the Assemblies of God Church to serve five districts in the Eastern corridor of the Northern Region was commissioned at Yendi at the weekend.
The 490 million cedi project, known as Buchwalter Memorial Competence Centre, is equipped to offer courses in textile designing and weaving, sheabutter oil extraction, dressmaking and food processing.
It was funded by a consortium of local and international collaborators.
They include the Assemblies of God Relief and Development Agency, the district assemblies of the beneficiary communities -- Yendi, Saboba/Chereponi, Zabzugu/Tatale, Bimbilla and Gushegu/Karaga Districts, the Danish Agency for International Development, the Inter-church Organisation for Development Co-operation and Foundation for Christian Education.
It is expected 1.2.billion cedis will spent at the centre for the next three years.
The Rev. Dr S. B. Asore, General Superintendent of the Assemblies of God, and a member of the Council of State, who commissioned the project, said it is intended to address the root causes of poverty, especially among women in the area through the provision of skill training.
He said it is important for Christians to know the realities of their communities to be able to respond in a relevant and appropriate manner.
Dr Asore said the success of the project depends largely on the communities adding that donor funding would later be phased out.
Mr J.K. Wumbee, Executive Director of the Assemblies of God Relief and Development Service, said a 48-million-cedi micro credit facility has been set aside to assist graduates of the centre to set up their own enterprises.
He said the project is targeted at poverty reduction at the household level and for it to achieve its objectives it requires the contribution of all stakeholders.
Mr Mohammed Alhassan, Yendi District Chief Executive, said the objectives of the centre are in line with government's effort to equip school leavers with skills to enable them to make meaningful contributions to national development.
He said the centre is of special importance because it aims at empowering women and helping to eliminate some of the social and economic factors militating against female education.
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Citizens asked to be security conscious
Avenorpeme (Volta Region) 12 Oct. ’99
Alhaji Seidu Iddi, Volta Regional Minister, has asked the citizenry to demonstrate their abhorrence towards the spate of violent crimes in the country by being security conscious.
Suspicious movements of people and the presence of strange and seemingly friendly people in communities, neighbourhoods and secluded places should not be taken for granted.
Alhaji Iddi was reacting to security concerns raised at a meeting of chiefs at Avenorpeme in the Akatsi District at the weekend regarding highway robberies on the Accra-Aflao highway.
The Regional Minister assured them that the government is working out appropriate responses to the challenges posed by such crimes.
The success of such strategies will however, depend largely on the extent to which the public will be security conscious and will willingly and promptly provide information to the security agencies about such criminals.
Alhaji Iddi said the Volta Regional Co-ordinating Council will pay a handsome reward for information leading to the arrest of such criminals.
He asked those with information to contact him personally in addition to contacting the security agencies.
Other issues discussed at the meeting included the standard of education in the region, Keta sea defence work and roads.
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Church leaders urged to help combat crime wave
Nkwabeng (Brong Ahafo) 12 Oct ’99
Mr Joshua Ankomah, District Chief Executive for Nkoranza, has stressed the need for churches to preach against the rising crime wave and indiscipline among the youth.
He was addressing the Nkwabeng North Seventh Day Adventist Church at Nkwabeng during the dedication of their two million-cedi choir robes.
He called on them to get actively involved in communal labour activities and to honour their tax obligations to enhance the development of the communities.
Mr Ankomah urged them to protect the environment against destructive human activities and to keep their surroundings clean to prevent the outbreak of epidemics.
The President of the Mid-West Ghana Conference, Pastor Appiah Kubi Kwarteng, urged the youth to be filled with the Holy Spirit and said he regretted the spate of moral decadence among the youth.
He urged the choristers to lead exemplary lives in order to command the respect of the people.
About 1.6 million cedis were raised from an appeal for funds.
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Drivers asked to initiate moves to maintain road
Ayeduase (Ashanti) 12 Oct. ’99
Drivers plying the Kotei-Deduako road have been urged to mobilise resources to maintain the road.
Mr Osei Wireko-Ababio, assemblyman for Ayeduase electoral area, made the appeal at the inauguration of the Ayeduase-Kotei-Deduako branch of the Progressive Transport Owners Wives Association (PROTOWA) at Ayeduase on Sunday.
He said although there were positive signals from the Government and the Member of Parliament for the Asokwa-East for the rehabilitation of the road, it was important for ''the drivers and the communities to combine efforts to rehabilitate the road before government steps in''.
Mr Wireko-Ababio commended PROTOA for its transport services to various communities within the Ayeduase electoral area, without which many towns and villages would face transport problems.
Mr Alex Adjepong, Executive Chairman of the Ayeduase-Kotei-Deduako branch of PROTOA, advised the executives of PROTOWA to make accountability and probity key principles of their stewardship.
Mrs Frimpomaa Appiagyei, Chairperson of the association, said its objective was to give greater support to their husbands.
Officers of the association were sworn into office by Mr Isaac Agyemang, Ashanti Regional branch organiser of PROTOA.
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