Sunyani police arrest suspected armed robbers
Sunyani, May 16, GNA - Two alleged armed robbers on their way to Wenchi to rob had been arrested by the Sunyani police at a police checkpoint at Yahima near Sunyani.
Deputy Commissioner of Police Kwaku Ayensu Opare Addo told the Ghana News Agency that the robbers, who were in a taxicab, arrived at the checkpoint with three occupants including the driver. Two of the robbers were arrested and the police ordered the driver to open the boot of the cab but he reversed and drove towards Sunyani and in the melee one robber escaped. Mr Opare Addo said a police vehicle chased the taxicab whose driver opened fire on the police.
The police returned fire and hit the taxi driver in the arm but he escaped and abandoned the vehicle on the Fiapre/Sunyani road. The police made an announcement on all the three local radio stations and appealed to hospitals and clinics to report to the police anybody with gunshot wounds who might report for treatment. He said following the announcement some young men came to the police station with the driver, bleeding profusely from the arm. They told the police that they spotted the suspect at a private chemical shop at Baarko Niaba, a suburb of Sunyani, where he had gone to buy drugs.
Mr Opare Addo said police found in the abandoned taxi one pump action gun loaded with five rounds of ammunition, one Russian made shot gun, two foreign pistols, two face masks, pliers, scissors, knives and iron bars.
Source:
GNA
Korle Bu Suspends MRI, CT Scan Services
Accra 15, May, GNA- The Korle Bu Teaching Hospital on Tuesday suspended the Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) and CT Scan services as a result of a power surge that damaged one of the UPS over the weekend. Work was going on to ascertain the extent of the damage and to restore the services as soon as possible, Mr. Mustapha Salifu, Public Relations Officer of the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital, said in a statement.
He said patients who required CT services were advised to call at other facilities where these services were offered.
Investigations are ongoing to find the extent and cost of damage. The MRI is the only one that serves the West African sub-region.
Source:
GNA
Expand and equip Winneba Hospital to cope with accidents
Winneba, May 16, GNA - Authorities of the Winneba Government Hospital have appealed to the government, NGOs and philanthropists to help equip and expand some facilities at the hospital to enable it to cope with accident victims.
Mr. Anthony Obeng, the Administrator of the hospital, said the hospital, located on the Mankessim/Accra road that is becoming accident-prone, treats scores of accident victims regularly. Speaking to the GNA in an interview, he said the hospital needed to be sufficiently equipped and staffed to enable it to handle accident victims.
"The hospital has to stabilize patients before referring them to either the Regional Hospital in Cape Coast, Korle Bu Teaching Hospital or the 37 Military Hospital.
He said in the event of a fatal accidents such as the one at Gomoa Okyereko last week in which 41 people died and several others injured and the Gomoa Assin one last year in which 18 people lost their lives, the little facilities and staff at the hospital were put under pressure.
Mr Obeng said the hospital has five doctors made up of four foreigners and a Ghanaian and that three of the foreigners would be leaving the country between June and July and replacements would be needed.
The casualty ward that has five beds needs expansion and equipment including suckers, oxygen cylinders, forceps, trolleys and blood pressure apparatus.
Mr. Obeng said the hospital has no orthopedic surgeon and that accident victims with fractures are referred to the nearest hospitals in Koforidua and Accra.
He said the mortuary needed to be expanded to enable it increase its present intake from 36 to about 72 corpses. Mr Obeng commended the government for providing the hospital with an ambulance and other items to the hospital.
He denied that a victim of the Apam Junction accident died at the hospital as reported and said one Mr. Imoro Saaka, whose condition was very critical on arrival at the hospital, was referred to the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital.
Source:
GNA
Mortuary facilities over-streched by frequent accidents-Doctor
Apam, May 16, GNA - The Acting Medical Superintendent of Apam Catholic Hospital, Dr. Ebenezer Amekah has called on Ghanaians not to regard the authorities of the health facility as insensitive to the plight of accident casualties by refusing to accept them into its mortuary.
Speaking to the GNA at Apam, Dr. Amekah expressed regret that the facility could not help in the preservation of the dead bodies in the accidents that occurred at Okyereko and Apam junction last Thursday and Monday.
He explained that the hospital's mortuary had no refrigerator but used air condition system for preserving dead bodies.
The medical officer said the method called for balming the body before preservation and added that it was difficult to balm accident casualties due to cuts they often had.
Dr. Amekah said the hospital authorities worked around the clock to save the lives of 21 victims brought to the facility from the accident at Apam junction and expressed gratitude to God that, all, except one, whose condition was critical was referred to Korle Bu Hospital. "As a Mission hospital we are enjoined to render humanitarian services but where such service can lead to destruction (of the bodies), we will not venture," he said. Dr. Amekah said the hospital was situated at an accident prone area, which called for the need for a first class mortuary service, and appealed to the church, the government, citizens of Apam and donor agencies to help to provide one.
The Medical Superintendent commended Mr. and Mrs. Tom Bakker, a Dutch couple for donating 180 million cedis to the hospital for the construction of an accident and emergency ward. He said the high cost of cement had exhausted the money with the building getting nowhere near completion, and appealed for financial and material support to complete the project.
Source:
GNA
Eastern Region recorded 118 maternal deaths last year
Kwahu Jamase No. 2, May 16, GNA - The Eastern Regional Health Directorate recorded 118 maternal deaths in hospitals, health centres and clinics in the region last year as against 157 deaths recorded the previous year.
Out of the figure, 11 deaths were registered in the Kwahu West District. The region also recorded 560 children less than five years death last year as against 668 deaths recorded in 2005. Out of the figure recorded last year, 43 were recorded in the Kwahu West District.
The Eastern Regional Coordinator of the Community Based Health Planning Service (CHPS), Mr Acheapong Fianko, said this at the inauguration of the first CHPS Centre in the Kwahu West District. He said the CHP Compound Centre comprises a dispensary, a consulting room, injection room, a delivery and resting rooms.
Source:
GNA
Proposed Military Hospital for Kumasi
Kumasi, May 16, GNA - Dr Kwame Addo-Kufuor, the Defence Minister, has said that plans were far advanced to build a 500-bed Military Hospital in Kumasi.
The proposed hospital, estimated to cost 130 million dollars, would be built opposite Prempeh College on a land given to the ministry by the Asantehene.
Dr Addo-Kufuor said this when he called on Mr Emmanuel Asamoah Owusu-Ansah, the Ashanti Regional Minister, after inspection of projects and interacting with troops at the Four Garrison as part of his visit to the garrison on Monday.
He said it was the policy of the government that a military hospital was built in Kumasi and that all the drawings of the four-storey building were ready and that contacts were going on in the United States, Germany and South Africa for funds. The Defence Minister said the project would be executed under Public Private Partnership and when completed it would be part of the 37 Military Hospital in Accra and sister to Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH) in Kumasi.
Dr Addo-Kufuor, who inspected the Senior Non-Commission Officers' quarters project and other ranks transit quarters at Iddris barracks, rehabilitation works on buildings at the Complex barracks and the construction of bungalow for the General Officer Commanding (GOC), told the Regional Minister that he was satisfied with the progress of work. He said he was disturbed with the road network at the garrison and appealed to him to assist in that direction.
Mr Owusu-Ansah said he was pleased about developments going on at the garrison and expressed his readiness to support whenever possible. He said he was optimistic that the continued cordial relations existing between the military and the civilian population would be deepened to ensure absolute peace and order in the society.
Source:
GNA
Show Of Power - Air Force Men Raid Hostel
Five airmen of the Ghana Air Force in Takoradi have been arrested for allegedly invading a hostel for Takoradi Polytechnic students and assaulting some of the students.
In the process, they are said to have vandalised the students’ hostel and taken away property worth millions of cedis, including mobile phones and cash.
Three of the students were rushed to the Effia-Nkwanta Regional Hospital and one of them, whose name was given as Isaac Kojo Nhyira, a second-year Building and Construction student, is still on admission.
After the action, the suspects boarded an aircraft for their various stations but the station commander ordered them to disembark and effected their arrest at the Takoradi Air Force Station.
The station commander expressed shock at the behaviour of the soldiers when the Daily Graphic contacted him to confirm the story.
Narrating the incidents, the students said they were in their rooms at about 8.00 p.m. when three Air Force officers entered the hostel, screaming out the name of a student who was then studying on the main campus.
They said when one of their colleagues came out of the room and told the soldiers to minimise the noise because the students were studying, an argument ensued, during which the soldiers became offended and engaged him in a scuffle and left.
They said at about 11:30 p.m. the soldiers returned to the hostel, this time numbering about eight and in uniform. Wielding machetes and clubs, they broke into the rooms and vandalised everything in sight and beat up the students.
According to the students, the soldiers made away with all mobile phones which were then being charged and an unspecified amount of money belonging to the students.
After the invasion, the students abandoned the hostel and sought refuge elsewhere.
When the Daily Graphic got to the hostel, it was realised that most of the doors had been destroyed and boxes and beds turned upside down.
At the hospital, the doctor in charge, Dr Jonathan Mensah, said Mr Nhyira had been brought there in critical condition, with his clothes soaked in blood. He said, however, that Nhyira was now responding to treatment.
Later, the Takoradi Air Force Station Commander, Group Captain Michael Samson-Oje, moved to the hostel to access the extent of damage.
The commander interacted with the students and asked them not to feel intimidated by what had happened. “The military is not your enemy; we are there to protect you, not to cause you harm,” he said.
He also visited the hospital to see the victim but when he got there Mr Nhyira had been referred to the GPHA Hospital for a dental check up.
Source:
Graphic
Palaver: Govt Lying About Sale Of ADB
Agricultural Development Bank is undoubtedly on the leading banks in the country. Its role peculiar in the senses that it performs the role of being the main engine of growth through agricultural sector financing. Like the name depicts, it is the bank for the farmers, fishermen and other agricultural sector workers.
Established some 40 something years ago, the bank has played no mean significant role in agricultural development in the country. That the bank is one of the leading banks in the country is a truth no can deny.
Currently, the bank’s total assets is ¢4.2 trillion. Last year alone, the bank lent out 24 percent portfolio of about ¢1.8 trillion to the agricultural sector. The bank also processed over 400 million dollars in the Western Union Money Transfer which has become a major revenue earner fro the bank.
The above statistics show that the bank is a major mover in the economy. It is on this impressive showing by the bank that the proposed sale of the government shares in the bank is worrying.
Even though the government has issued certain facts and statements by some government officials have proved otherwise.
In the first place, the government has confirmed receiving a proposal from the Stanbic Bank sometime last year and a committee made up of officials of the ministry of Finance and Economic Planning and the Bank of Ghana formed to review the proposal and suggest an appropriate response.
As at the time of writing this piece, the committee is yet to submit its report to the government. One wonders what has taken the committee such a long time to come out with the report.
A few weeks ago, the Member of Parliament for Assin North Hon. Kennedy Agyeman issued a warning to the Governor of Bank of Ghana not to succumb to the Brentwood institutions by self government’s shares.
The statement by the MP who is a leading member of the Party and therefore has a first hand information raises a lot of concern.
The NPP government attempt a similar sell out of the Ghana Commercial Bank until the opposition Parties, civil societies and top economic experts started making noise compelling the government to back out.
The government should come out with the committee’s report which will give its official stand. As it is now, it is very difficult to accept the press statement issued by the deputy finance minister, Hon. Professor George Gyan-Baffour.
Source:
Palaver
Corruption has reduced considerably -AG
Accra, May 14, GNA - The Attorney General and Minister of Justice Mr Joe Ghartey, on Monday noted that the rate of corruption in the country had reduced considerably. He said many loopholes for corrupt practices had been sealed and drug dealers were being punished adding that the battle would surely be won.
Mr Ghartey who made the remark when members of the European Union in Ghana called on him in Accra to acquaint themselves with the operations of the Ministry said with current successes in the war against corruption internally generated funds had increased remarkably. The German Ambassador, Dr Peter Linder was at the head of the 10-member EU delegation.
The Minster said the fight against corruption must be all embracing to involve all spheres of society and that both the giver and the taker must be equally punished. Mr Ghartey said government was doing all that it could to discourage the habit yet if the people did not say no, the practice would continue.
He said his outfit was under-resourced with only 130 lawyers instead of 500 and that Upper East and Brong Ahafo regions had only two legal practitioners each making their work very difficult. Mr B K Bosomprah, Copyright Administrator, said government attached importance to copyright issues thus passed the Copyright Law in 2005 to enhance their work to meet international best practices. He said the law brought into being a copyright tribunal that dealt with such cases expeditiously punished those who infringed the law. Mrs Anita Ababio, Executive Secretary of the Law Reform Commission, said several laws including the Rent Act and the Criminal Injury Law were being reviewed to be in conformity with current judicial requirements.
Mr Felix K Korly, Director, Legal Aid Scheme, said the scheme was working tirelessly to ensure that persons who could not afford legal services were assisted to have justice.
He noted that the scheme operated humanitarian service and as a result it was difficult to get lawyers to work for them but praised the Ghana Bar Association for providing personnel who charged a token legal fee.
The Scheme in partnership with UNDP has established a Community Mediation Committee, which is often handled by national service persons due to the lack of personnel to mediate simple legal matters.
Source:
GNA
Spio's Team Joins Mills
--- to undertake nationwide tour
The flag bearer of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) for the 2008 elections, Professor John Evans Atta Mills, has started a nation-wide one-on-one interaction with various groups and individuals.
The move is described as an effective way of disseminating information to ensure that his message goes down well with Ghanaians for a resounding electoral victory for the NDC.
Mr. Kwesi Ampah, who was with the Dr. Ekwow Spio-Garbrah campaign team prior to the NDC congress, disclosed this when he announced that he had joined the Prof. Mills communication team.
He said he, together with Mr. Amete-Quarmyne, also formerly or the Spio team, joined the flag bearer’s team with the blessing of Dr. Spio-Garbrah to contribute their quota in securing a landslide victory for the Professor. He said the move was also in fulfilment of Prof. Mills’ declaration during the congress that all should forget about their differences and join hands to secure victory for the NDC to take Ghanaians out of the mess created by the New Patriotic Party (NPP) government.
He said Prof. Mills would be meeting traditional and opinion leaders, professional bodies and other associations.
He said there was every indication that there had been a great change in the hearts of the voters in areas where the NDC flag bearer lost during the 2004 elections and among Ghanaians in general.
He explained that during their rounds the team was overwhelmed by the frustration and suffering expressed by the people as a result of the abysmal performance by the NPP government.
Mr. Ampah said it was incredible the rate at which the inhuman policies and programmes as well as untruth by the Kufuor administration had made life unbearable for a lot of Ghanaians.
He also described the reception given to Prof. Mills everywhere he had been as marvellous, saying that was a sign that victory would be secured.
Source:
Palaver
Chief appeals for a bus for Asiwa Sec/Tech School
Asiwa (Ash), May 15, GNA - Nana Yeboah Asuamah II, Abotendomhene of Asiwa in the Amansie East District, has appealed to President John Agyekum Kufuor to provide a bus for the town's Seconday/Technical School.
This, he said, would help the school carry on its programmes and activities effectively.
Nana Yeboah Asuamah told the GNA in an interview on Monday that the school also lacked a like library and called on individuals, churches and organizations to also come to the aid of the school. The chief commended the efforts of the Member of Parliament for the area, Mr Ofori Kuragu and Mr Richard Aboagye, the District Chief Executive, for their contributions to the development of the school. Nana Yeboah Asuamah said the Amansie East District Assembly has voted 800 million cedis towards the construction of dormitory blocks for the school and that the MP has also promised to support the project with part of his common fund.
He appealed to the people to rekindle their communal spirit to enable them initiate more development programmes.
Source:
GNA
Kufuor arrives home from Libya visit
Accra, May 15, GNA - President John Agyekum Kufuor returned home on Tuesday after a day's official trip to Tripoli, Libya.
The visit was upon the invitation of President Muamar al Gaddafi, the Libyan leader.
Briefing newsmen on arrival, Mr Andrew Awuni, Presidential Spokesperson, said the visit mainly offered the two leaders the opportunity to discuss key issues on the African continent as well the forthcoming African Union conference to be held in Accra. At the airport to meet the President was Vice President Alhaji Aliu Mahama, Ministers of state and senior service commanders.
Source:
GNA
Kufuor's meeting with Gadhafi dispel rumour
Libyan President Moamer Gaddafi, accompanied by Ghana's President and Chairman of the African Union John Kufuor (L) in Tripoli, Libya on Monday scoffed at rumours about Kadhafi's state of health after a report he was in a coma, and aired pictures of the veteran leader on state television
Source:
AFP/Mahmud Turkia
Agreement on sustainable development in Ahafo in August
Sunyani, May 15, GNA - The Ahafo Social Responsibility Forum of the Ahafo Project of Newmont Ghana Gold Limited is working on a 38-page draft agreement that would ensure a sustainable community development focus.
Professor D. Mireku Gyimah, Vice Chancellor of the University of Mines at Tarkwa who is the Moderator of the Forum, told newsmen in Sunyani the agreement would be signed between the company and the community in August.
The agreement would also provide for the establishment of the Ahafo Community Development Fund and define key issues that the company and the community would intend to address.
The Moderator said committees of the Forum were holding meetings with the wider public, civil society and other stakeholders, including the media, to discuss issues of concern and suggestions for enhanced benefits for consideration in the agreement.
The Forum was established in response to Newmont's commitment to the sustainable development of its areas of operation around the world. It is intended to provide the community with the opportunity to participate in the company's decisions and plans, deliberate on issues of mutual interest, help build strong communication and decide on how the Community Development Fund would be allocated.
The 53-member Forum includes a moderator and co-moderator, the Regional Minister, three Newmont managers, Ahafo Mine, the MPs of Tano North, Asutifi North and Asutifi South constituencies and the District Chief executives for Tano North and Asutifi.
Others are the Presiding Members of the two district assemblies, the chief and one other person from each of the 10 community towns, the chief farmers of Tano North and Asutifi districts and six elected representatives of women's groups (three from each district). The rest are one elected youth representative from each community town, one elected representative from a non-governmental organization in Tano North and Asutifi.
Professor Mireku Gyimah said in pursuance of the realization of the Forum's objectives, Newmont in December 2005 made a commitment that one dollar per ounce of gold sold and one per cent of net profit from the Ahafo Mine would be set aside in a Community Development Fund (CDF) for sustainable community development projects.
"The funds in the CDF will be calculated and accrued monthly on a cumulative calendar year basis and will be managed by a board of trustees elected by the Forum.
"The board will evaluate proposals for project funding and allocate funds in accordance with the principles as established by the Forum", the Moderator said.
Projects envisaged to be funded under the Fund include human resource development, provision of infrastructure such as roads, clinics, toilets, schools, provision of social amenities, economic empowerment in the form of assistance with establishing businesses, factories, credit facilities and market stalls.
Other projects are the protection of natural resources such as reforestation, environmental awareness programmes and support for cultural heritage including support for festivals, upgrading of palaces. Professor Mireku Gyimah reiterated that the Fund would be based on one US dollar for every ounce of gold sold by Newmont Ahafo, plus one per cent of the net profits of the Ahafo operation.
The Forum would also encourage additional contributions from Newmont contractors, development partners and NGOs, grants from donor agencies, support from district assemblies, government sources and others.
The company expects the Ahafo Mine to produce approximately 500,000 ounces of gold per year, barring any problems as shutdowns as a result of electricity shortage and this means that the Fund is expected to receive a minimum of 500,000 dollars per year, he said. Professor Mireku Gyimah said under the Fund, employment and training would also be offered to skilled citizens who have the best qualifications and experience.
He said Newmont and its contractors would employ validated citizens of community towns in unskilled positions, saying validation processes would be agreed on by the Forum.
15 May 07
Source:
GNA
Energy crisis causing massive job losses
Thousand of Ghanaian workers have lost their jobs since the current energy crisis began in August 2006, according to statistics at the National Labour Department.
The statistics shows that from September 2006 to the first quarter of this year, March 31, 2006, a total of 33 companies filed for bankruptcy. As a result 2,333 workers lost their jobs.
A breakdown of the figures show that in the last quarter of last year- September to December 2006, 21 companies filed for insolvency with 1,798 workers asked to go home.
For the first quarter of this year, January to March 31, 2007, 12 applications for redundancy were recorded with some 535 workers losing their jobs.
Quite expectedly, the manufacturing sector, which heavily depends on electricity, tops the list with about 60% of all companies that declared bankruptcy within the period.
Sources at the NLD explained that these companies range from textile, pharmaceutical, mining, construction to hospitality industries.
According to the statistics, the textile sector is the worse hit , largely due to the influx of cheap textiles from Asia.
Just last week President Kufuor announced that Ghana was going into full partnership with China in textile production, a policy which has been derided by industry watchers due to its potential to kill the textile sector.
Some of the companies blamed their decision to fold up on inefficiency in the utility sector vis-à-vis the high cost of production and low levels of productivity. One labour officer blamed the situation on the free trade and economic policy being implemented by Ghana.
"Government must do everything possible to find a solution to the worsening energy situation to save jobs and prevent crime. Also as people come with goods from anywhere and sell them cheaply, local producers cannot sell theirs cheaply because if high production cost. They are therefore left with no other choice than to reduce their labour force or close down" said a top labor officer.
Source:
Public Agenda
Car snatching
...Opel Astra Is The Target
Statistics from the Police Headquarters in Accra have indicated that car snatching has increased to 34 within the first quarter of this year as compared to 19 for the same period last year. According to Inspector Dompreh the Public Relations Officer of the Greater Accra Regional Police, Opel Astra is the main targeted car for armed robbers because it can move very fast.
He explained that one of the reasons why car snatching is on the ascendancy is that most taxi drivers do not belong to any union and that has made it very difficult for the police to monitor them. He added that some taxi drivers are lazy and always give their cars to spare drivers who at times condone with robbers for illegal operations.
According to him, most drivers are very greedy to the extent that they accept big offers to take unsuspected criminals to long distances even to very remote areas that they are ignorant of.
Inspector Dompreh also noted that last year the police took it upon themselves and organised educational campaigns for drivers against car snatching alongside with tit bits and precautions but some have been reluctant to take precautions.
"Drivers who have been victims of car snatching syndicates are the very ones who refuse to take preventive measures" he said.
He urged all drivers to be alert of people who hire their services and the places they are hired to go.
Source :
Ghanaian Voice
Strengthen commissions on human rights-Committee
Accra, May 14, GNA- The Ghana Committee on Human and People's Rights has called for the strengthening of structures of commissions on Human Rights to make them function effectively.
The Group stressed on equipping of the national, regional and district apparatus of the commissions with adequate human and material resources to address cases of human rights violations.
The call, contained in a statement signed by Ms. Veronica Ayikwei Kofie, Executive Director of the Committee, comes as a prelude to the 41st Ordinary Session of the African Commission on Human and People's Rights, to be held in Accra from May 16 to 30.
The Committee requested that commissioners of commissions who have oversight responsibility for the West African sub-region be resourced to enhance their work and make their impact felt by the ordinary people whose interest was paramount.
The statement called for simplification of procedures for reporting violations and accessing the Africa Commission on Human and People's Rights and the Africa Human Rights court to create confidence and environment of trust.
The Committee noted that the blatant disrespect for rights such as civil, political cultural and children's right from the basic to the echelons of society had contributed in a large measure to the obstruction of justice resulting in bitter strives, political and social upheavals.
It pointed out that the situation where agencies set-up for the protection of limb, life and property were employed by the ruling establishments to brutalize, maim and even kill innocent people with impunity was alarming and should no longer be tolerated.
The statement noted that "Journalists have been attacked and killed in cold blood for raising the alarm and speaking or publishing the truth on issues affecting the interest of society, trade unionists suffered similar fate or long prison terms for no apparent violation of the law but for representing their workers."
It also said lawyers have suffered for defending people's right, judges brutalized for upholding the rule of law and political opponents, suspects, prisoners and perceived enemies were subjected to inhumane treatment of one kind or the other.
The statement, therefore, urged African governments to understand that sustainable peace and development were dependent on democracy and respect for human rights, which were the key elements of good governance.
The Committee said "A human rights approach to development stresses liberty, equality and empowerment. This approach put people first and promotes human-centered development and African governments have a responsibility of helping to fulfill this aspiration".
Source:
GNA
Obuasi NPP rubbishes NDC confidence
Obuasi, May 14, GNA - The Obuasi constituency of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) has stated that the confidence of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) to win the Obuasi parliamentary seat in 2008 general elections was a political bluff.
"The NDC must be living in a dreamland to believe that it can take the constituency's parliamentary seat from the ruling NPP come 2008".
A statement from the NPP office in the constituency said the recent visits to Obuasi by the NDC gurus including the General Secretary, Mr Asiedu Nketia, Mrs Ama Benyiwa-Doe, the National Women's Organizer and Mr Collins Dauda could not change the minds of the electorate.
The statement said it was ridiculous for the NDC to think that the people of Obuasi had forgotten the atrocities committed against innocent persons including the seizure of properties belonging to genuine businessmen and women in the constituency.
It said putting the atrocities aside, the Obuasi constituency had witnessed development within the last six years and that was far beyond what the NDC could do when it was in power.
The NPP said the construction of certain key facilities like the mortuary and the children's ward at the Obuasi Government Hospital, the multi-purpose library, school projects, boreholes, market stores and other projects in the municipality under President Kufuor's administration are visible testimonies.
It said the NPP government had completed the few projects the NDC initiated in the municipality including the Kwabenakwa Abattoir and the Obuasi Horsey Park Stores Complex.
The party assured all its supporters not to panic but to remain resolute since "the NPP has what it takes in terms of counter strategy to poison NDC to death" in 2008 and keep them in opposition for the next generation".
Source:
GNA
Child health promotion underway in Nkoranza
Nkoranza (B/A), May 14, GNA - The Nkoranza District Directorate of Health Services has projected to capture about 24,500 children aged between zero and five to benefit from the child health promotion week programme to help combat infant morbidity and mortality. Mr. Richard Kwasi Hinneh, the District Director of Health Services, told the Ghana News Agency at Nkoranza that some health officials had been detailed to work in the 12 facilities in the eight sub-districts to ensure that parents and nursing mothers patronized the exercise. He described the programme as very important since the best way to ensure the growth of an individual was to monitor the person's life right from the first day of birth.
Mr. Hinneh said the health officials were reaching out to nursery and kindergartens to ensure that all children who fall within the range of the exercise were covered. The children are being immunized against the nine childhood preventable diseases and provided with birth certificates and child health record cards while others received Vitamin 'A' supplement and treated mosquito nets.
Pregnant women receive tetanus immunization and are educated on malaria and diarrhea. The theme for this year's child promotion week programme was, "Care for the new born, start right" and appealed to nursing mothers to patronize the exercise.
Source:
GNA
