DENMARK FUNDS TRAINING OF OBSERVERS FORM THE ZONGO COMMUNITIES.

Story & Picture: Zainabu Issah

THREE hundred and sixty people from Zongo communities are to be trained as observers during the December 2012 general election.

The Danish Embassy in Accra signed an agreement with the Islamic Peace and Security Council (IPASEC) yesterday to provide funding for the training programme.

The programme, expected to benefit 220 males and 140 females, is intended to help create awareness in Zongo communities of the need to avoid all forms of violence and fraudulent election practices.
It is also aimed at ensuring that Zongo communities have confidence in the electoral process and accept the winner at the end of the elections.

The Danish support follows the launch of IPASEC’s new project, “ Ensuring violence free 2012 elections in Zongo communities in Greater Accra”, which is being spearheaded by the National Chief Imam, Sheikh Dr Osumanu Nuhu Sharebutu.

Signing the agreement, the Danish Ambassador in Ghana, Mr Carsten Nilaus Pedersen, said he was optimistic that dialogue, visits and exchanges between Danes and Ghanaians, Christians and Muslims would strengthen insights and understanding of each other.

He said such frequent interaction and engagement would help eliminate fear and overcome challenges deriving from extremism and intolerance, both religious and secular.

“Dialogue will help us explore what unites us and what we have in common, what binds us together as humans rather than what divides us,” he said.

He, however, said the grass-roots approach of working directly with people to prevent violence during elections was one which was worthy of support.

The National Chief Imam and Chairman of IPASEC, Sheikh Dr Sharebutu, in his remarks, thanked the embassy for recognising the need to support the peace campaign in Ghana.

He said the Muslim and Zongo communities in the country were faced with numerous socio-economic problems that prevented them from developing their talents as useful citizens and also made it impossible for them to actualise their dreams, aspirations and full potential as future leaders.

“Hence certain political figures and their sponsors are known to take advantage of the Zongo youth and use them to organise support, cause unrest or steal ballot boxes in the interest of the financiers,” he explained.

Additionally, he said Ghanaian Muslims believed in peace building that required a collaborative effort to achieve, hence the need for every patriotic citizen to ensure the maintenance of peace before, during and after the elections.

Sheikh Sharebutu said the funding would go a long way to bring about peace within the Muslim communities in Ghana during election periods.
Present at the signing ceremony were representatives from the Council of Muslim Chiefs, the National
Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) and the Electoral Commission and some heads of Muslim youth groups in Accra.

 Sheikh Dr Sharebutu (middle) signing the agreement form. Looking on are the Danish Ambassador, Mr Carsten Nilaus Pedersen (left), and the Deputy Head of Mission of DANIDA, Mr Jan Pirouz Poulsen.

ECOWAS SUPPORT RURAL BASED WOMEN IN GHANA.

 STORY BY ZAINABU ISSAH

THE ECOWAS Gender Development Centre (EGDC) has presented a cheque for $30,000 to three rural based women’s groups engaged in food processing and agriculture to boost their activities.

The beneficiaries are the Lioro Widows Group from the Upper West Region, the Dunenyo Women’s Association at Tokokoe in Ho, and the Otaipro Women’s Group in the Eastern Region.

The groups are to use the funds to secure farming equipment and implements such as  tractors, chemical spraying machines, machetes, hoes, Wellington boots, shelling machines , rain coats, cassava processing machines, donkey ploughs and accessories to enhance their agricultural activities.

The rationale behind the support is to help eradicate poverty and hunger among  rural women and to overcome development challenges confronting them.

At a presentation ceremony in Accra yesterday, the Director of EGDC, Madam Aminatta Dibba, said challenges that continued to confront women, such as poverty, illiteracy, HIV/AIDS and   forms of violence, among others, had continued to place the majority of women at the bottom of the development ladder.

Those factors, she said, had perpetuated and deepened the already wide gender disparities that existed in the communities.

She said the gender revolution was gradually losing its momentum hence the need to re-ignite the gender flame and gather the fighting spirit that had brought women to where they were.

Madam Dibba said: “If the gender revolution is to succeed, it must start with the rural woman, who is the most burdened, the most exploited, the most violated, the most abused and the least respected”.

She said without the social, economic, political and legal empowerment of the rural woman, the fight for gender equality and equity would be meaningless and unsustainable.

In that regard, Madam Dibba said, the ECOWAS Gender Centre had initiated a programme to support women and girls suffering form obstetric fistula in ECOWAS member states, who were mostly from the rural areas.

The Minister of Women and Children’s Affairs, Madam Juliana Azumah Mensah, said she recognised that rural women in household economic units were responsible for almost 70 per cent of household production contributing to food security in the country.

Within the agricultural sector, rural women undertake a wide range of activities relating to food production, processing and marketing.

She pledged the government’s commitment to empower rural women in order to alleviate poverty.

Madam Mensah also commended the EGDC for providing financial support to the rural woman to further enhance their production, ensure food security and break the cycle of poverty.

For her part, the Director of Women’s Entrepreneurship Development of the National Board for Small Scale Industries (NBSSI), Madam Habiba Sumani,said the empowerment of the rural woman would contribute immensely in bridging the gender disparities and inequalities in various communities.

GHANA RED CROSS SCREENS THE PEOPLE OF KPONG BAWALESHIE

 STORY BY ZAINABU ISSAH

The Ghana Red Cross, in conjunction with the Iranian Red Crecent, has organised a free medical screening for the people of Kpong Bawaleshi at Dodowa in the Dangbe West District.

The exercise, which attracted over 500 people, was aimed at providing first aid treatment to sick persons in the area who could not afford to visit the hospitals.

It was also used as a platform to educate the people on communicable and non communicable diseases,and the need to stay healthy at all times.

In an interview with the Daily Graphic, the Secretary General of the Ghana Red Cross, Mr Kofi Addo, said the screening was part of the annual World Red Cross Red Crescent Day celebrations aimed at recognising the contributions of young people in leadership.

SOME OF THE RESIDENTS  BEING SCREENED.
 

He said the health of every Ghanaian was key to national development, hence the need to extend its humanitarian services to the rural communities.

Mr Addo also called on Ghanaians to undertake regular medical checkups in order to know their health status.

He pledged the Ghana Red Cross’ commitment in forming partnership with other medical organisations in its mandate of bringing good health to Ghanaians.

The Medical Director of the Iran Clinic and representative of the Iranian Crescent, Dr Mohammad Hadi Pahla Vanian, pledged their continuous support to the country in the area of healthcare.

He explained that some of the medication made available for the outreach included malaria drugs, antibiotics for various infections, skin ointments and body lotions, and basic medication for diarrhoea, dental problems and other diseases.

“Other sicknesses which cannot be treated over here would be referred to the hospital,” he added.
Speaking on behalf of the people in the community, Mr Eric Ntim, a resident, lauded the efforts of the Iranian Red Crescent and the Ghana Red Cross.

NIMA MARKET NEEDS FACELIFT

ARTICLE AND PICTURE BY ZAINABU ISSAH

A MAZE of buyers and sellers squeezed into congested ramshackle sheds with leaky roofs and wooden pillars threatening to give up anytime.

Cacophony of sounds from mosques and preachers blend with those of bus conductors (mates) calling passengers.

An army of houseflies furiously attacking a pile of rubbish left by the roadside.

These are scenes that greet the first time visitor to the Nima Market, one of the vibrant markets in Accra, specifically located in the Ayawaso East Sub-Metro.

Started over 50 years ago and cluttered with over 500 sheds, the market serves Nima, Mamobi, Newtown and the Pig Farm communities.

It also serves as a major wholesale hub for particular farm products, including millet, groundnut, maize, gari, beans, onion, wheat, corn flour and other vegetables.

These produce make their way mostly from the Northern parts of the country and other parts of the West African sub-region hence the Nima market is sometimes referred to as the  ‘ECOWAS Market.’

Well known as “ Kasoa Lariba” to wit, Wednesday Market in Hausa, the scene of commercial activities is that of chaos every Wednesday due to the large influx of traders and commercial vehicles competing for space.

Traders who are eager to earn a living invade the pavement and part of the road which is meant for pedestrians making it barely possible to squeeze through the maze of cars and humans.

A MARKET WOMAN SELLING HER GRAINS ON MARKET DAY

On rainy days, the Nima Market is less than attractive.  It gets muddy and sticky. Shoppers and traders alike end up with stamps of dirt on their clothes.

Washrooms are non-existent. The only place of convenient stinks so bad that it is always better, according to the traders, to go to nearby houses and plead to ease one’s self.

With a film of sweat dripping down her cheeks, Amina Suleiman, who had just returned from one such visit laments, “The last time I visited that market toilet, I felt like vomiting. The place smells so bad that it can even replace your perfume.”

On market days, the market swarms with both buyers and sellers. Foot traffic becomes so thick that there is always a spill over from the main market onto the main road worsening the already existing ‘go slow.’

There is also the pockets of filth which at the end of the market day piles up all over the place as there are no waste bins or containers to throw the garbage in.

With no drains in the market, the traders end up throwing things that should be in drains onto the floor- sometimes leading to verbal and physical brawls.

The only drains close to the market, which is along the road, is also mostly covered with wooden boards - most of which have outlived their purpose. On a number of occasions, the traders said patrons of the market had sustained injuries.

A SECTION OF THE MARKET WOMEN ALONG THE ROAD.

Not everybody is happy with the chaos by the roadside. The Market Queen, Mrs Charlotte Martey, complained that traders along the road have virtually shut down business within the market because customers no longer want to come into the market to shop.

According to her, to stop the selling on the shoulders of the road, the market leadership had employed eight people to deal with the situation but it could not be sustained.

“I could no longer pay for their services because as much as I pay for them to sack them, others attacked the task force  created and they sometimes engaged in fights which led to the dissolution of the taskforce,” she explained.

For many of the traders, the Accra Metropolitan Assembly had not lived up to its responsibility of providing facilities for the market even though the traders pay their taxes.

“We have complained on countless occasions about the state of the market but it has not brought us any good news. It is all about we will do it, we’ll do it,” she lamented.
She, therefore, called on the AMA and the Accra Mayor, Mr Alfred Vanderpuye, as a matter of urgency, to honour his promise about the rehabilitation of the market.

“The rains are getting near and we fear to lose the market because structures get damaged anytime there is a downpour. The market has over the years being a source of income for our farmers who bring their produce here for sale and those who sell them. We do not want to lose it,” she said.

With her hands deep in piling up tomatoes on her tray, Aunty Gifty, a trader who had plied her trade in the market for 30 years, observed that the market remained the same for many years.

But those who sell along the road also have a reason. Hajia Rukaya, who had been selling millet along the road over the last five years, told the Daily Graphic that the cost of shed in the market was too expensive and people liked to shop along the road rather than in the market.

The state of the market during the rainy season is also not an incentive she said.
“During the raining season, the market becomes flooded and this is a disadvantage to the traders because they all come out to sell on the streets.”

AN TYPICAL WEDNESDAY SCENE OF THE MARKET.

“When it rains, those in the market also come out to the streets to sell their produce. So what difference does it make when I sell on the street rather than be in the market where I pay huge sums of money for a shed but have to come out to the street again when it rains?”

She, however, said that the only way to leave the streets was when the market was rebuilt to accommodate all traders.

Following the recent visit of President John Evans Atta Mills to the Nima Market, it has suddenly become a centre of attraction and considerable interest especially with foreigners.

That, according to many traders, was an exciting moment as it has even led to increase in patronage by foreigners.

But with the rainy season staring at them in the face, many of the traders said the President would be welcomed again when the rains set in so he could see the conditions they work to earn their daily bread.

GREATER ACCRA MINISTER TOURS PROJECT.

THE Greater Accra Regional Minister, Nii Laryea Afotey-Agbo, has toured  the capital to acquaint himself with ongoing  projects in the city.

The tour, organised by the AMA, was also to introduce the regional minister to other officials working to improve conditions in the city and to expose him to the environmental issues.

Some of the project sites visited included; the One Way traffic road on the Asafioatse Netty road, and the Kantamanto road,  Lavender Hill, Mampoase drains roads and street lights, and the Millennium City Schools.

Others are the Abossey Okai,Darkuman, Sakaman and the Osu storm drains, Lapaz lorry Station and the Akweteman roads.

The rest are the Kotobabi Abavana toilet facility, West Legon Liquid Waste Treatment Plant, and the East Legon community roads, and the distribution of refuse bins to the residents of the Pig farm community.

At the Lavender hill in Ablekuma South, the Mayor reiterated that plans were far advanced to build six anaerobic digesters to treat waste into organic waste which would be ready by June this year.

He said the digesters would marginally help reduce problems with odours, pathogens and green house gas emissions from animal waste or sewerage sluge and also turn sewerage treatment plants and animal waste on farms into manure.

At  Mampoasi in the Ablekuma Sub-metro, a 14 kilometre (km) road has been constructed with 28km roadside drains. Also, 250 streetlights and pipe born water has been installed in the community.

The Salvation and the Mamprobi Millennium City School are about 80 per cent complete while the Kotobabi Abavana Cluster of Schools is still under construction and when completed, would help eliminate the shift system.

The minister also inaugurated the Kotobabi Ababvana toilet for the schoolchildren and distributed 500 plastic refuse bins to the residents of the Pig Farm community.

At the West Ayawaso district, the minister inspected the construction of the West Legon Liquid Waste Treatment Plant aimed to solve the sewerage problems in Accra.

Contractors said the project when completed would serve the University of Ghana, Legon Presbyterian Boys School, and the Institute of Professional Studies (IPS) and in future include Haasto, East and West Legon, Okponglo and Madina.

The project is however about 70 per cent complete and comprises Sewerage Treatment Ponds, Sewers, and the Sewerage Pump Stations.

At the Korle Klottey constituency, the Member of Parliament (MP), Mr Nii Armah Ashiety, thanked the AMA for the construction of the storm drain which has reduced flooding in the vicinity during downpours.

He said this was a prove of the government’s commitment to provide better living conditions to Ghanaians under the Better Ghana Agenda saying, “  Others have been in power for eight years but have not been able to achieve what we have done in four years.”

The Accra Mayor, Mr Alfred Vanderpuji, in his remarks thanked the various contractors of the projects for their effort in bringing to light the Millenium City Dream of the government

VEEP CALLS FOR PRIVATE- PUBLIC PARTNERSHIP

 Story: Musah Yahaya Jafaru & Zainabu Issah

THE Vice-President, Mr John Dramani Mahama, has called for a strong and innovative public-private partnership (PPP) towards addressing the issue of stigmatisation against persons with HIV.
Such a partnership, he said, was also crucial in empowering  women in the fight against HIV.

The Vice-President made the call at the opening session of the Mother to Child Transmission (MTCT) of HIV summit organised by the University of Ghana in collaboration with the Brown University of the United States of America Academic Partnership in Accra yesterday.

 The collaboration between the University of Ghana and the Brown University is designed to address HIV/AIDS jointly with the Ghana AIDS Commission and the National AIDS/STI Control Programme and the Ghana Health Service.

Held on the theme, “Towards an HIV-free Generation by 2015”, the summit sought to discuss successes and challenges in eliminating Paediatric HIV in Ghana by 2015.

Besides public-private partnership, the Vice-President called for the active participation of men in the elimination of MTCT in order to meet the less than five per cent target of MTCT by 2015.

The government, he said, had released an unspecified amount towards the elimination of Mother-to-Child Transmission (MTCT) of HIV in the country by 2015, and added that the government had earmarked GH¢150 million for the fight against the dreadful disease.

Out of the allocation, some substantial resources had been released to the Ghana AIDS Commission for its operations and work.

The Vice-President said the government would continue to support efforts at achieving virtual elimination of MTCT.

“I hope that by 2015, no child would be infected with HIV/AIDs as a result of transmitting it from the mother,” he said.

In his welcome address, the Provost of the University of Ghana (UG) College of Health Sciences, Professor Aaron Lawson, said participants during the summit would take into consideration not only the challenges of MTCT but also how to overcome those challenges.

He, however, implored participants to give their outmost best in ensuring that the MTCT target was achieved.

The Director-General of the Ghana AIDS Commission, Dr Angela El-Adas, in her remarks, said the elimination of MTCT was a shared responsibility of all stakeholders.
She, however, called for a continuous collaboration in order to achieve the 2015 MTCT target of less than five per cent.

Professor Timothy Flanigan, a Professor of Medicine from the Brown University, pledged the commitment of the university in the participation in the global fight against MTCT and HIV/AIDs, saying “we would collaborate with the UG in providing the requisite knowledge and skills towards the understanding of HIV/AIDs to medical students”.

He said the partnership was also a way of sharing requisite knowledge between the two universities in the area of medicine and the fight against HIV/AIDs.

Addressing the summit, Chief Paediatric, Adolescent and Maternal AIDS Branch of the United States of America (USA), Madam Lynne M. Mofenson, explained that without the use of anti-retroviral interventions, MTCT rates were 20-25 per cent in formula-fed infants and up to 40-45 per cent in prolonged breastfeeding.

She, however, said women who required treatment for the disease received the highest priority in order to effectively prevent MTCT.

The Programmes Manager of the National AIDS/STI Control Programme, Dr Nii Akwei Addo, explaining the state of MTCT in the country, said there was the provision of treatment, care and support to women infected with HIV, their infants and families.

He said  lack of funding, human resources, among others, were some of the challenges faced in the provision of health care to persons living with HIV.

Abandoned uncompleted Maamobi drain pose treat to lives.

What started as the construction of a drain to ensure the smooth flow of waste water and improve sanitation in the Mamobi- 441 community, now poses a threat to the lives  of residents in the community.

Structures built along the now uncompleted drain, which runs from Kawokudi Junction through Paloma Restaurant to the Korle Lagoon, are on the verge of collapse as erosion has gradually eaten up the walls of these houses.

Some residents have therefore willingly abandoned their structures while others have resorted to dumping refuse behind their houses as a way of fighting erosion.
The first part of the Mamobi drainage, which was awarded to the State Construction Company (SCC), was completed 1999, but the second phase, which runs from the Mamobi bridge to Kawokudi junction, is still struggling to see the light of day.

The drain is now filled with human excreta, rubbish and dirty stinky stagnant water which makes it almost impossible to breathe when passing through the community.

People whose houses are close to the drain, stand a high risk of losing their lives and property during heavy floods because the rains over the years have eaten up the walls of the drain.

There are reported cases in which flood waters (from the drain) destroyed some houses and property while some mothers also reported that their children fell in the drain and were injured.

With the onset  and predictions of heavy rains this year, residents now fear for their lives citing that the rains has already exhibited its wrath in what they consider as better layout communities.

Speaking to Daily Graphic, Madam Alice Dotse, a 76 year old woman who has lived in the community for close to 40 years, said residents are compelled to dump refuse at the edges of the gutter to prevent further breakdown of walls of houses which face the gutter.

She narrated a scene she witnessed during one of the heavy rains in the past years, where a wall of one of the houses broke down and washed down properties worth thousands of Ghana cedis.

“I remember being able to save a bag of clothing for the people. By the time the rain stopped, all their belongings were gone. It was a very sad moment especially when the woman had just given birth,” she said.
Madam Dotse said the creaky wooden bridge was constructed by the residents to aid crossing of the gutter.

“The bridge we built has been subjected to change over the years due to the depth of the drain. Because it is built with wood, the rain sometimes washes it down and we have to collect money from residents and those who use the bridge on a daily bases to rebuild it.”

She added that in the early 1990’s, the then President Rawlings participated in the cleaning of the gutter and called for an immediate construction of a drain.

This however came to light when part of the drain was constructed leaving the one within the Mamobi-441 community.

She however appealed for an immediate intervention from the Accra Metropolitan Assembly to help put the gutter in good shape before it eats to their homes.

Another resident, Alhaji Gado, who spoke with fury, recalled being a victim of the wrath of the heavy rain when he slipped and fell in the gutter while he was clearing rubbish behind his house.

“Most of the time, people pour rubbish into the gutter when it rains. This sometimes get stuck in the gutters behind their houses when they don’t come out to direct it into the main gutter. This results in the mosquitoes coming into their rooms.” he explained.

Holding a shovel in hand, Mr Seidu said there was a time when the heavy rains cracked his bedroom wall and before he realised his room was flooded.

He also expressed his concern about the need to construct the drain as early as possible in order to save the lives of the people especially the children who live in the community.

However, in October last year, the Deputy Minister of Environment, Science and Technology, Dr Mustapha Ahmed, who is also the Member of Parliament (MP) for the Ayawaso East Constituency, inaugurated the Nima Mamobi Urban Storm Water Management to a tune of GHC7.3 million.

The project, expected to complete within two years, is aimed at leading the mitigation and perennial flooding and enhancement of sanitation in the community.

It has, however, come to a halt due to financial constraints and lack of resources to push the project and make it a reality.

Dr Ahmed, in an interview, said the delay in the execution of the project was also a result of poor performance on the side of the contractor.

“The contractor has not performed up to the expectation of government hence two warning letter have been sent to him on the way he is handling the project,” he explained.

Also, the contractor is faced with the challenge of resources such as the premix concrete which are scarce in supply.

He, however, said plans are far advanced to make an arrangement from a company in Australia  to procure a regular supply of the premix concrete.

An effort to reach the Chief Executive Officer of Caspian Energy Ghana Ltd, Mr Humphrey Quaye, who is the contractor of the project, has, however, proved futile.


(THE PICTURES WERE TAKEN BY ME AND I DEDICATE THIS FEATURE TO MY MOTHER, HAJIA AYISHETU SALIFU.)