Daily Graphic ( Back Page), Wed. Dec.31/08
Story Rebecca Quaicoe Duho
TWO foreign observer groups have urged Ghana’s political leaders and citizens to respect the independence of the Electoral Commission (EC) and recognise its mandate with respect to the announcement of the results of the December 28 presidential run-off.
The groups commended Ghanaians for a peaceful run-off but urged political leaders and citizens to respect the mandate of the people.
According to them, although there had been irregularities in some places, the immediate post-election environment was calm and hoped that a spirit of peace and co-operation would prevail.
At separate press conferences in Accra, the Commonwealth Observer Group and the African Union Observer Mission both commended officials of the EC and the security agencies for the professionalism they displayed during the electioneering period.
In a statement read by Baroness Valerie Amos, the Chairperson of the Commonwealth Observer Group, the group observed that “with such a competitive election, the next President of Ghana will be required to unify the country and represent all citizens of Ghana”.
“A strong democracy is one in which differences can be resolved through established institutions and systems in which the people have confidence and trust. That is what the people of Ghana wish to see,” it said.
The group further hoped that Ghana’s future government would further consolidate Ghana’s democratic gains and foster political inclusiveness and co-operation.
For the AU Observer Mission, the leader of the team, Dr Salim Ahmed Salim, a former OAU Secretary-General, who read the statement said it was evident that the election had been closely contested, saying that like many other elections of similar nature, there had been heated campaigns and passion, reflecting the divergent and strongly held views of the political leadership and their impact on the electorate.
It further stated that it was evident that the outcome of the election would be very close, saying that in such a circumstance “it is all the more important that whoever wins the election should bear in mind the enormity of the responsibility that he has and the need to forge national co-operation on the basis of accommodation and the larger interest of the country”.
“The need to work together as Ghanaians from all political affiliations becomes all the more crucial,” the group said.
It said it was no less important that the candidate who did not win and the party he represented should be forthcoming in not only accepting the verdict of the people of Ghana but, more important, also working with the winning candidate in the interest of the people of Ghana.
“Such a spirit demonstrated by both candidates and their parties will make an important contribution in the consolidation of democracy, good governance, peace and harmony in the country,” it said.
The group, in its final analysis, said “the outcome of the election, coupled with the manner in which the citizenry of Ghana voted, should be seen as a victory for Ghana”.
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
Ghanaians will accept Akufo-Addo or Mills if.....-Rawlings
Daily Graphic, Pg, 15, Tues. Dec. 30/08
Story Rebecca Quaicoe Duho
THE former President, Flt Lt Jerry John Rawlings, has said that Ghanaians will accept either of the candidates vying for the presidency only when that person is properly elected.
“Whether it is Mills or Akufo-Addo, either of them will be accepted provided the elections are free and fair,” he said.
The former President said this after casting his vote at the Public Works Department (PWD) Polling Station in the Klottey Korle Constituency.
He said cheating would not give people the freedom to elect their preferred candidate and, therefore, called on politicians to respect the rights and choice of the people in the run-off.
According to him, freedom could sometimes come at a cost and, therefore, called on Ghanaians to be ready to defend their choice, saying that the country would not accept any fraudulent elections.
Flt Lt J.J. Rawlings was at the centre to cast his vote at 9 am, and his arrival was met with the usual thick crowd to cheer him on.
In his usual fashion, the former President took time to exchange greetings with the people around, after which he went ahead to cast his vote.
As at the time of his arrival, a total of 216 people had already cast their votes.
He, however, cautioned the security agencies to be extra cautious, alleging that people were using fake security identities to manipulate the elections, and said it would be in the best interest of the security agencies to be extra vigilant to protect their image.
He said the use of guns by people posing as security agents as a means of intimidating people would not work, adding that voters were more discerning and they knew their rights.
Flt Lt Rawlings called on the people to maintain their courage and keep vigilance to ensure that the right leader was elected for the country.
Story Rebecca Quaicoe Duho
THE former President, Flt Lt Jerry John Rawlings, has said that Ghanaians will accept either of the candidates vying for the presidency only when that person is properly elected.
“Whether it is Mills or Akufo-Addo, either of them will be accepted provided the elections are free and fair,” he said.
The former President said this after casting his vote at the Public Works Department (PWD) Polling Station in the Klottey Korle Constituency.
He said cheating would not give people the freedom to elect their preferred candidate and, therefore, called on politicians to respect the rights and choice of the people in the run-off.
According to him, freedom could sometimes come at a cost and, therefore, called on Ghanaians to be ready to defend their choice, saying that the country would not accept any fraudulent elections.
Flt Lt J.J. Rawlings was at the centre to cast his vote at 9 am, and his arrival was met with the usual thick crowd to cheer him on.
In his usual fashion, the former President took time to exchange greetings with the people around, after which he went ahead to cast his vote.
As at the time of his arrival, a total of 216 people had already cast their votes.
He, however, cautioned the security agencies to be extra cautious, alleging that people were using fake security identities to manipulate the elections, and said it would be in the best interest of the security agencies to be extra vigilant to protect their image.
He said the use of guns by people posing as security agents as a means of intimidating people would not work, adding that voters were more discerning and they knew their rights.
Flt Lt Rawlings called on the people to maintain their courage and keep vigilance to ensure that the right leader was elected for the country.
Gender activists advocate women empowerment
Daily Graphic, pg 17, Tues. Dec. 30/08
Story Rebecca Quaicoe Duho
GENDER activists are advocating the empowering of women to be self-sufficient by helping them to acquire skills as one of the ways to curb gender violence.
According to the Programme Co-ordinator of the Women’s Initiative for Self- Empowerment (WISE), Ms Adwoa Bami, economically empowered women were able to assert themselves and depended less on their husbands.
She said violence against women was not confined to a specific culture, region or country, or to particular groups of women within society, explaining that the different manifestations of such violence and women’s personal experience of it were shaped by many factors, including the economic status of a woman, her race, ethnicity, age, sexual orientation, disability, nationality, religion and culture.
In order to prevent violence against women, she said, the root causes of such violence and the effects of the intersection of the subordination of women and other forms of social, cultural, economic and political manipulation needed to be identified and addressed.
She said women bore almost all responsibility for meeting the basic needs of the family, yet they were systematically denied the resources, information and freedom of action they needed to fulfil that responsibility.
Ms Bami said in an interview that most women remained in abusive relationships because they were dependent on the perpetrators and did not have the financial capabilities to take care of themselves and their children.
According to her, when women were economically sound, they would be able to be self-dependent and could, therefore, stay away from abusive relationships since they could work to fend for themselves.
Reports indicate that the vast majority of the world's poor are women, two-thirds of the world's illiterates are females and also of the millions of school-going children not in school, the majority of them are girls.
Studies also show that when women are supported and empowered, the rest of society benefits. Families are healthier, more children go to school, agricultural productivity improves and incomes increase. In short, communities become more resilient.
Ms Bami said it was for that reason that WISE had, for years, been supporting women to be financially capable to take care of themselves and their homes.
In 2004, WISE established a skills training centre known as the Women Economic Empowerment Development (WEED) programme where women who are in abusive relationships are given skills training to ensure that they do not depend on their spouses.
The WEED programme seeks to promote economic independence for survivors of domestic violence through advocacy, counselling and support, group development and micro-enterprise management training, access to credit and business advisory services.
The programme empowers the beneficiaries through capacity building, the provision of micro-credit, monitoring and business advisory services, disbursement of follow-up loans and loan assessment.
To help support the WEED programme, a foreign company, China 99 Limited, has donated two high-speed Lockstich sewing machines to teach women in the programme how to sew.
The machines, which perform functions such as regular sewing, embroidery, knitting, among others, will help to train 40 participants who are currently under the WEED programme.
The Chairman of the Board of Directors of WISE, Dr Juliet Tuakli, who received the items on behalf of the WEED project, said the programme had been a huge success so far.
According to her, 200 women had been trained in the last two years and most of them had returned to their marital homes and were no longer dependent on their husbands.
She said women who were under the programme were given training, after which they were given capital, with minimum interest, to start their own businesses.
One of the success stories of the WEED programme is that of a woman who was raped by rebels in Sierra Leone, for which reason her husband refused to accept her.
After going through the WEED programme in Ghana, she was given capital to sell iced water. She currently owns a deep freezer and is able to take care of her four children. Her husband has also decided to take her back.
A teenage girl has also been able to put her son through school after she received micro-credit from the programme and she is currently into batik making. She also makes pastries for sale.
Story Rebecca Quaicoe Duho
GENDER activists are advocating the empowering of women to be self-sufficient by helping them to acquire skills as one of the ways to curb gender violence.
According to the Programme Co-ordinator of the Women’s Initiative for Self- Empowerment (WISE), Ms Adwoa Bami, economically empowered women were able to assert themselves and depended less on their husbands.
She said violence against women was not confined to a specific culture, region or country, or to particular groups of women within society, explaining that the different manifestations of such violence and women’s personal experience of it were shaped by many factors, including the economic status of a woman, her race, ethnicity, age, sexual orientation, disability, nationality, religion and culture.
In order to prevent violence against women, she said, the root causes of such violence and the effects of the intersection of the subordination of women and other forms of social, cultural, economic and political manipulation needed to be identified and addressed.
She said women bore almost all responsibility for meeting the basic needs of the family, yet they were systematically denied the resources, information and freedom of action they needed to fulfil that responsibility.
Ms Bami said in an interview that most women remained in abusive relationships because they were dependent on the perpetrators and did not have the financial capabilities to take care of themselves and their children.
According to her, when women were economically sound, they would be able to be self-dependent and could, therefore, stay away from abusive relationships since they could work to fend for themselves.
Reports indicate that the vast majority of the world's poor are women, two-thirds of the world's illiterates are females and also of the millions of school-going children not in school, the majority of them are girls.
Studies also show that when women are supported and empowered, the rest of society benefits. Families are healthier, more children go to school, agricultural productivity improves and incomes increase. In short, communities become more resilient.
Ms Bami said it was for that reason that WISE had, for years, been supporting women to be financially capable to take care of themselves and their homes.
In 2004, WISE established a skills training centre known as the Women Economic Empowerment Development (WEED) programme where women who are in abusive relationships are given skills training to ensure that they do not depend on their spouses.
The WEED programme seeks to promote economic independence for survivors of domestic violence through advocacy, counselling and support, group development and micro-enterprise management training, access to credit and business advisory services.
The programme empowers the beneficiaries through capacity building, the provision of micro-credit, monitoring and business advisory services, disbursement of follow-up loans and loan assessment.
To help support the WEED programme, a foreign company, China 99 Limited, has donated two high-speed Lockstich sewing machines to teach women in the programme how to sew.
The machines, which perform functions such as regular sewing, embroidery, knitting, among others, will help to train 40 participants who are currently under the WEED programme.
The Chairman of the Board of Directors of WISE, Dr Juliet Tuakli, who received the items on behalf of the WEED project, said the programme had been a huge success so far.
According to her, 200 women had been trained in the last two years and most of them had returned to their marital homes and were no longer dependent on their husbands.
She said women who were under the programme were given training, after which they were given capital, with minimum interest, to start their own businesses.
One of the success stories of the WEED programme is that of a woman who was raped by rebels in Sierra Leone, for which reason her husband refused to accept her.
After going through the WEED programme in Ghana, she was given capital to sell iced water. She currently owns a deep freezer and is able to take care of her four children. Her husband has also decided to take her back.
A teenage girl has also been able to put her son through school after she received micro-credit from the programme and she is currently into batik making. She also makes pastries for sale.
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
Women's Manifesto Coalition calls for affirmative action
Daily Graphic, Pg 11, Thurs. Dec. 18/08
Story: Salome Donkor & Rebecca Quaicoe Duho
THE Women’s Manifesto Coalition of Ghana has expressed its disappointment at the abysmal performance of women in the just-ended parliamentary election.
It has, therefore, called on political parties to adopt an affirmative action or a form of quota system as a deliberate intervention strategy, which it says is not new to the country’s political culture.
It said affirmative action must be seen as a development issue which would be attainable in the country’s political system, saying that as of 2006 23 countries across the world used that system which was enshrined in their various constitutions to increase women’s participation in governance.
The coalition called for a revision of the 1992 Constitution, saying that without the appropriate constitutional provisions in place, affirmative action in relation to the political empowerment of women would be difficult to attain.
A member of the coalition, Mrs Elizabeth Akpalu, who stated its concerns at a press briefing in Accra, said since women were in the majority in the country, there was the need for their balanced representation in decision-making structures.
Twenty out of the 103 women who contested the December 7 parliamentary election have emerged victorious from the results so far declared by the Electoral Commission (EC).
They are made up of seven new female Members of Parliament (MPs)-elect and 13 women who retained their seats.
Fourteen won their seats on the ticket of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), five on the ticket of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and one on the ticket of the Convention People’s Party (CPP).
Five new women won the New Juaben South, Lower West Akyem, Tema West, Amansie West and Evalue Gwira seats on the ticket of the NPP, while Samia Yaba Christina Nkrumah won the Jomoro seat for the CPP and Halutie Dubie Alhasan of the NDC wrest the Sisala East from the incumbent PNC member, Moses Dani Baah.
In 2004, 104 women contested the parliamentary election, out of which 25, comprising 20 from the NPP and five from the NDC, were elected into the current 230-member legislature.
The Greater Accra Region fielded the highest number of 18 female candidates, out of which four won, while none of the five women who contested in the Northern Region won.
Speaking to the Daily Graphic, a Principal Electoral Officer at the EC, Mr Fred Tetteh, said the NPP and the CPP each fielded 23 female candidates, while the People’s National Convention (PNC) fielded 16 female candidates, with 15 women contesting on the ticket of the NDC.
Ten women contested on the ticket of the Democratic People’s Party (DPP), while the Democratic Freedom Party (DFP) fielded nine female candidates.
Six out of the 25 women who are currently in Parliament did not contest the 2008 parliamentary election.
Female MPs such Ms Anna Nyamekye (Jaman South) and Ms Hilda Josephine Addo (Kwadaso) lost to males during the primaries, while Mrs Gladys Asmah (Takoradi), Ms Christine Churcher (Cape Coast), Ms Theresah Amaley Tagoe (Ablekuma South) and Mrs Grace Coleman, who did not contest during the primaries, have had their slots filled by males.
“We firmly believe that without the active participation of women and the incorporation of women’s perspectives at all levels of decision-making, the goals of equality, development and peace cannot be achieved,” Mrs Akpalu said.
Buttressing her point with numerous conventions, declarations and protocols such as the Beijing Platform for Action, the UN Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), the African Union Solemn Declaration on Gender Equality and the Protocol on the Rights of Women to the African Charter, she said achieving the goal of equal participation of women and men in decision-making positions would provide a balance which more accurately reflected the composition of society’s interests and the general good of all citizens.
As a way of improving the number of women in the next administration, the coalition called on the two contesting political parties in the upcoming run-off to, as a matter of urgency, outline their vision for women before the polls on December 28, 2008.
According to the coalition, the various political parties, especially the two major ones, the NPP and the NDC, did not do much to help in increasing the number of women in Parliament.
“The NDC and NPP have not convinced women, who constitute the majority of voters, about their commitment to women’s representation and participation in governance and what strategies they intend to put in place to achieve gender equity as demanded by our 1992 Constitution,” it said.
The coalition, on behalf of the women of Ghana, demanded that the next government ensure that more women were appointed as regional ministers and district chief executives and also that more women be appointed to public offices, such as boards of corporations and institutions, as well as the higher echelons of the bureaucracies, in accordance with the demands made in the Women’s Manifesto of 2004.
It said women would continue to engage with the winning political party and the next government to further address their demands and others contained in the manifesto.
Story: Salome Donkor & Rebecca Quaicoe Duho
THE Women’s Manifesto Coalition of Ghana has expressed its disappointment at the abysmal performance of women in the just-ended parliamentary election.
It has, therefore, called on political parties to adopt an affirmative action or a form of quota system as a deliberate intervention strategy, which it says is not new to the country’s political culture.
It said affirmative action must be seen as a development issue which would be attainable in the country’s political system, saying that as of 2006 23 countries across the world used that system which was enshrined in their various constitutions to increase women’s participation in governance.
The coalition called for a revision of the 1992 Constitution, saying that without the appropriate constitutional provisions in place, affirmative action in relation to the political empowerment of women would be difficult to attain.
A member of the coalition, Mrs Elizabeth Akpalu, who stated its concerns at a press briefing in Accra, said since women were in the majority in the country, there was the need for their balanced representation in decision-making structures.
Twenty out of the 103 women who contested the December 7 parliamentary election have emerged victorious from the results so far declared by the Electoral Commission (EC).
They are made up of seven new female Members of Parliament (MPs)-elect and 13 women who retained their seats.
Fourteen won their seats on the ticket of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), five on the ticket of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and one on the ticket of the Convention People’s Party (CPP).
Five new women won the New Juaben South, Lower West Akyem, Tema West, Amansie West and Evalue Gwira seats on the ticket of the NPP, while Samia Yaba Christina Nkrumah won the Jomoro seat for the CPP and Halutie Dubie Alhasan of the NDC wrest the Sisala East from the incumbent PNC member, Moses Dani Baah.
In 2004, 104 women contested the parliamentary election, out of which 25, comprising 20 from the NPP and five from the NDC, were elected into the current 230-member legislature.
The Greater Accra Region fielded the highest number of 18 female candidates, out of which four won, while none of the five women who contested in the Northern Region won.
Speaking to the Daily Graphic, a Principal Electoral Officer at the EC, Mr Fred Tetteh, said the NPP and the CPP each fielded 23 female candidates, while the People’s National Convention (PNC) fielded 16 female candidates, with 15 women contesting on the ticket of the NDC.
Ten women contested on the ticket of the Democratic People’s Party (DPP), while the Democratic Freedom Party (DFP) fielded nine female candidates.
Six out of the 25 women who are currently in Parliament did not contest the 2008 parliamentary election.
Female MPs such Ms Anna Nyamekye (Jaman South) and Ms Hilda Josephine Addo (Kwadaso) lost to males during the primaries, while Mrs Gladys Asmah (Takoradi), Ms Christine Churcher (Cape Coast), Ms Theresah Amaley Tagoe (Ablekuma South) and Mrs Grace Coleman, who did not contest during the primaries, have had their slots filled by males.
“We firmly believe that without the active participation of women and the incorporation of women’s perspectives at all levels of decision-making, the goals of equality, development and peace cannot be achieved,” Mrs Akpalu said.
Buttressing her point with numerous conventions, declarations and protocols such as the Beijing Platform for Action, the UN Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), the African Union Solemn Declaration on Gender Equality and the Protocol on the Rights of Women to the African Charter, she said achieving the goal of equal participation of women and men in decision-making positions would provide a balance which more accurately reflected the composition of society’s interests and the general good of all citizens.
As a way of improving the number of women in the next administration, the coalition called on the two contesting political parties in the upcoming run-off to, as a matter of urgency, outline their vision for women before the polls on December 28, 2008.
According to the coalition, the various political parties, especially the two major ones, the NPP and the NDC, did not do much to help in increasing the number of women in Parliament.
“The NDC and NPP have not convinced women, who constitute the majority of voters, about their commitment to women’s representation and participation in governance and what strategies they intend to put in place to achieve gender equity as demanded by our 1992 Constitution,” it said.
The coalition, on behalf of the women of Ghana, demanded that the next government ensure that more women were appointed as regional ministers and district chief executives and also that more women be appointed to public offices, such as boards of corporations and institutions, as well as the higher echelons of the bureaucracies, in accordance with the demands made in the Women’s Manifesto of 2004.
It said women would continue to engage with the winning political party and the next government to further address their demands and others contained in the manifesto.
Drivers exploited at sub-regional borders
Daily Graphic, Pg. 3, Wed. Dec. 17/08
Story Rebecca Quaicoe Duho
DRIVERS plying West African routes were, within three months, exploited of $151.63 per trip by security agencies manning the sub-region’s borders, the Improved Road Transport Governance (IRTG) Project Report has revealed.
The amount was said to have been illegally collected from a total of 192 drivers along the Tema-Ouagadougou, Lome-Ouagadougou and Ouagadougou-Bamako borders where a driver paid at least $28.68, $90.16 and $32.78, respectively, per trip.
Drivers plying between Tema and Bamako via Ouagadougou, with 21 checkpoints, and Lome and Bamako via Ouagadougou, where there are 23 checkpoints, were the worst affected.
The IRTG also identified 75 checkpoints along the three corridors which personnel of the security agencies used to exploit the drivers, most of whom carted perishable goods such as tomatoes and other foodstuffs, as well as spare parts, electronic gadgets, among others.
The IRTG project regularly surveys primary trade corridors to measure the number of checkpoints and the extent of delays and bribery caused by police, customs and military agents.
Disseminating the findings of its third quarter research for 2008 at a press conference in Accra yesterday, the Communications and Advocacy Co-ordinator of IRTG of the West African Trade Hub (WATH), Mr Lacina Pakoun, said the situation was impeding economic development and integration in the sub-region.
He warned that if the situation was not checked, traders would abandon the West African corridor and use other routes which would be less expensive to them.
According to him, “depending on how competitive our corridors will be, it will improve on the economic development of the region".
He said the illegal activities at the borders rather led to delays, increased the prices of goods and also reduced the competitive nature of the route.
Mr Pakoun said if the situation was not checked, it would be difficult for the sub-region to improve on its trade activities.
He said between Tema and Ouagadougou drivers encountered seven police barriers in Ghana and two in Burkina Faso, eight customs checkpoints in Ghana and three in Burkina Faso and one Gendarmerie (Military Police) in Burkina Faso.
According to him, between Ouagadougou and Bamako drivers encountered three police stops in Burkina Faso and eight in Mali, three customs checkpoints in Burkina Faso and seven in Mali and one military police checkpoint in Burkina Faso and 12 in Mali.
Mr Pakoun noted that from Lome to Ouagadougou drivers encountered two police stops in Burkina Faso and four in Togo, three customs checkpoints in Burkina Faso and four in Togo and one military police checkpoint in Burkina Faso and four in Togo.
He said the 75 checkpoints represented a 12 per cent increase in the third quarter of 2008, during which period the value of bribery only increased along the primary corridor in Mali, while the level of bribery paid generally declined along the other corridors.
He, therefore, advised governments to take appropriate measures to improve the movement of goods and people along the Ghana, Mali, Burkina Faso and Togo corridors.
According to him, although the Ghana Police Service had issued a directive that there should not be more than four checkpoints along some routes such as Tema-Paga, the research found that there were seven checkpoints on that route.
Story Rebecca Quaicoe Duho
DRIVERS plying West African routes were, within three months, exploited of $151.63 per trip by security agencies manning the sub-region’s borders, the Improved Road Transport Governance (IRTG) Project Report has revealed.
The amount was said to have been illegally collected from a total of 192 drivers along the Tema-Ouagadougou, Lome-Ouagadougou and Ouagadougou-Bamako borders where a driver paid at least $28.68, $90.16 and $32.78, respectively, per trip.
Drivers plying between Tema and Bamako via Ouagadougou, with 21 checkpoints, and Lome and Bamako via Ouagadougou, where there are 23 checkpoints, were the worst affected.
The IRTG also identified 75 checkpoints along the three corridors which personnel of the security agencies used to exploit the drivers, most of whom carted perishable goods such as tomatoes and other foodstuffs, as well as spare parts, electronic gadgets, among others.
The IRTG project regularly surveys primary trade corridors to measure the number of checkpoints and the extent of delays and bribery caused by police, customs and military agents.
Disseminating the findings of its third quarter research for 2008 at a press conference in Accra yesterday, the Communications and Advocacy Co-ordinator of IRTG of the West African Trade Hub (WATH), Mr Lacina Pakoun, said the situation was impeding economic development and integration in the sub-region.
He warned that if the situation was not checked, traders would abandon the West African corridor and use other routes which would be less expensive to them.
According to him, “depending on how competitive our corridors will be, it will improve on the economic development of the region".
He said the illegal activities at the borders rather led to delays, increased the prices of goods and also reduced the competitive nature of the route.
Mr Pakoun said if the situation was not checked, it would be difficult for the sub-region to improve on its trade activities.
He said between Tema and Ouagadougou drivers encountered seven police barriers in Ghana and two in Burkina Faso, eight customs checkpoints in Ghana and three in Burkina Faso and one Gendarmerie (Military Police) in Burkina Faso.
According to him, between Ouagadougou and Bamako drivers encountered three police stops in Burkina Faso and eight in Mali, three customs checkpoints in Burkina Faso and seven in Mali and one military police checkpoint in Burkina Faso and 12 in Mali.
Mr Pakoun noted that from Lome to Ouagadougou drivers encountered two police stops in Burkina Faso and four in Togo, three customs checkpoints in Burkina Faso and four in Togo and one military police checkpoint in Burkina Faso and four in Togo.
He said the 75 checkpoints represented a 12 per cent increase in the third quarter of 2008, during which period the value of bribery only increased along the primary corridor in Mali, while the level of bribery paid generally declined along the other corridors.
He, therefore, advised governments to take appropriate measures to improve the movement of goods and people along the Ghana, Mali, Burkina Faso and Togo corridors.
According to him, although the Ghana Police Service had issued a directive that there should not be more than four checkpoints along some routes such as Tema-Paga, the research found that there were seven checkpoints on that route.
Banks urged to ensure electronic compatibility with GIPSS
Daily Graphic, Pg. 27, Thursday Dec. 11/08
Story Rebecca Quaicoe-Duho
THE Bank of Ghana has called on all financial institutions to ensure that their electronic products and services are compatible with the systems being put in place by the Ghana Inter-bank Payment and Settlement System (GIPSS).
The GIPSS is an independent body responsible for the various components of the country's payment and settlement system infrastructure.
The Assistant Director of Banking Supervision Department of the BOG, Mr Philip E. Cobbinah, made the call at the official opening of a new savings and loans company known as Advans Ghana Savings and Loans Limited in Accra on Friday.
Mr Cobbinah mentioned the electronic products currently being used in the country to include the national switch, biometric smart cards, cheque code line clearing, real time gross settlement systems and the automated clearing house.
He said the BoG, in collaboration with the Bankers Association and as part of measures to deepen financial inter-mediation, established the GIPSS to regulate the financial sector.
He said in recent times, the financial sector witnessed the emergence of a number of new financial institutions, the rapid opening of their branches, introduction of innovative products and services and extension of banking hours, among others.
“This increased dynamism has encouraged healthy competition in the industry and has brought in its wake the introduction of enhanced financial services tailored to meet the needs of customers, for which the BoG is fully supportive,” Mr Cobbinah said.
He said financial inter-mediation played an important role in the socio-economic development and growth of any nation, adding that financial institutions were at the heart of this inter-mediation process.
“By mobilising funds from surplus units and transferring the needed funds to deficit units, financial institutions make resources available to stimulate economic activities,” Mr Cobbinah said, adding that financial institutions channelled idle resources into investment and development projects.
In an address read on his behalf, the Minister of State at the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning (MFEP), Dr Anthony Akoto Osei, said the government had put in place several strategies aimed at encouraging the establishment of micro-financial institutions and supporting their efforts as part of the ongoing financial sector reforms to deepen the scope and scale of financial services and payment systems for the country.
He said as an economy in which 90 per cent of companies were small and medium enterprises, the government, in its desire to support this vital sector, had sourced a US$25-million facility from its development partners and a US$50-million micro-credit and small loans fund in addition to the establishment of a Venture Capital Trust Fund and a US$118.9 million project, all to support SMEs to get increased access to credit at a cheaper cost to enable them to grow.
He urged all institutions and the private sector in general to take advantage of the enabling environment created by the government to expand and strengthen the economy.
The Board Chairman of Advans, Mr Claud Flagon, in an address, said the company chose to operate in Ghana because of the peaceful environment and stable economy of the country.
He said the company was going to create an enabling environment for a network service which wouldl be beneficial to its customers.
The Managing Director of Advans, Mr Tongiy Gravot, in a welcoming address, said the company’s aim was to provide microfinance services to small and medium enterprises.
Story Rebecca Quaicoe-Duho
THE Bank of Ghana has called on all financial institutions to ensure that their electronic products and services are compatible with the systems being put in place by the Ghana Inter-bank Payment and Settlement System (GIPSS).
The GIPSS is an independent body responsible for the various components of the country's payment and settlement system infrastructure.
The Assistant Director of Banking Supervision Department of the BOG, Mr Philip E. Cobbinah, made the call at the official opening of a new savings and loans company known as Advans Ghana Savings and Loans Limited in Accra on Friday.
Mr Cobbinah mentioned the electronic products currently being used in the country to include the national switch, biometric smart cards, cheque code line clearing, real time gross settlement systems and the automated clearing house.
He said the BoG, in collaboration with the Bankers Association and as part of measures to deepen financial inter-mediation, established the GIPSS to regulate the financial sector.
He said in recent times, the financial sector witnessed the emergence of a number of new financial institutions, the rapid opening of their branches, introduction of innovative products and services and extension of banking hours, among others.
“This increased dynamism has encouraged healthy competition in the industry and has brought in its wake the introduction of enhanced financial services tailored to meet the needs of customers, for which the BoG is fully supportive,” Mr Cobbinah said.
He said financial inter-mediation played an important role in the socio-economic development and growth of any nation, adding that financial institutions were at the heart of this inter-mediation process.
“By mobilising funds from surplus units and transferring the needed funds to deficit units, financial institutions make resources available to stimulate economic activities,” Mr Cobbinah said, adding that financial institutions channelled idle resources into investment and development projects.
In an address read on his behalf, the Minister of State at the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning (MFEP), Dr Anthony Akoto Osei, said the government had put in place several strategies aimed at encouraging the establishment of micro-financial institutions and supporting their efforts as part of the ongoing financial sector reforms to deepen the scope and scale of financial services and payment systems for the country.
He said as an economy in which 90 per cent of companies were small and medium enterprises, the government, in its desire to support this vital sector, had sourced a US$25-million facility from its development partners and a US$50-million micro-credit and small loans fund in addition to the establishment of a Venture Capital Trust Fund and a US$118.9 million project, all to support SMEs to get increased access to credit at a cheaper cost to enable them to grow.
He urged all institutions and the private sector in general to take advantage of the enabling environment created by the government to expand and strengthen the economy.
The Board Chairman of Advans, Mr Claud Flagon, in an address, said the company chose to operate in Ghana because of the peaceful environment and stable economy of the country.
He said the company was going to create an enabling environment for a network service which wouldl be beneficial to its customers.
The Managing Director of Advans, Mr Tongiy Gravot, in a welcoming address, said the company’s aim was to provide microfinance services to small and medium enterprises.
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
WiLDAF awards eight institutions.....For role in curbing gender based violence
Daily Graphic, Pg 11, Dec. 2/12/08
Story: Rebecca Quaicoe Duho
AS part of activities to mark this year’s 16 days of activism against gender violence, Women in Law and Development (WiLDAF) has given awards to eight institutions for their role in helping to curb gender-based violence in the country.
They are the Gender Centre, the Domestic Violence Coalition, Leadership and Advocacy for Women (LAWA) Ghana, the Law Reform Commission, the Ark Foundation, FIDA-Ghana, the Domestic Violence and Victims Support Unit (DOVVSU) of the Ghana Police Service and the Ministry of Women and Children's Affairs.
The 16 days of activism is held from November 27 every year. This year's celebration is being held on the theme "Human Rights for Women: Human Right for All".
A lecturer at the Centre for Gender Studies at the University of Ghana, Legon, Professor Akosua Adomako Ampofo, in an address said “daily, all over the world, women are abused by colleagues, friends, family members and intimate partners”.
She said violence had a significant impact on the health and life expectancy of women and that the World Bank estimates that rape and domestic abuse accounted for five per cent of healthy years of life lost to women of reproductive age in developing countries.
The National Programmes Co-ordinator of WiLDAF, Ms Bernice Sam, said the time had come for people to shun violence and seek the welfare of the abused.
Nana Sekyima of the African Women Development Fund (AWDF) commended gender activists and said Ghana was a shinning example to other African countries who had fought for years for the passage of the Domestic Violence Act.
She said the AWDF supported women in areas of human rights and peace building.
Story: Rebecca Quaicoe Duho
AS part of activities to mark this year’s 16 days of activism against gender violence, Women in Law and Development (WiLDAF) has given awards to eight institutions for their role in helping to curb gender-based violence in the country.
They are the Gender Centre, the Domestic Violence Coalition, Leadership and Advocacy for Women (LAWA) Ghana, the Law Reform Commission, the Ark Foundation, FIDA-Ghana, the Domestic Violence and Victims Support Unit (DOVVSU) of the Ghana Police Service and the Ministry of Women and Children's Affairs.
The 16 days of activism is held from November 27 every year. This year's celebration is being held on the theme "Human Rights for Women: Human Right for All".
A lecturer at the Centre for Gender Studies at the University of Ghana, Legon, Professor Akosua Adomako Ampofo, in an address said “daily, all over the world, women are abused by colleagues, friends, family members and intimate partners”.
She said violence had a significant impact on the health and life expectancy of women and that the World Bank estimates that rape and domestic abuse accounted for five per cent of healthy years of life lost to women of reproductive age in developing countries.
The National Programmes Co-ordinator of WiLDAF, Ms Bernice Sam, said the time had come for people to shun violence and seek the welfare of the abused.
Nana Sekyima of the African Women Development Fund (AWDF) commended gender activists and said Ghana was a shinning example to other African countries who had fought for years for the passage of the Domestic Violence Act.
She said the AWDF supported women in areas of human rights and peace building.
Domestic violence and the HIV connection
Daily Graphic, Tuesday Dec.16, pg 11
Story: Rebecca Quaicoe-Duho
“Mothers-in-law! Mine told me when her son married me that when he beats me or maltreats me, I should not complain or report to anyone. In order words, she knew her son was going to beat me no matter what.
“True to my mother-in-laws expectations, my husband beat me at the least chance for more than 17 years. One day, I got fed-up and grabbed him when he was beating me. I beat him flat. I was so surprised that I could beat him and I felt sorry for having wasted all these years. All this time that he was beating me, I never reported to anyone but when I beat him, he went to the police, they laughed at him. The tables had turned. He went to report to the chief. I was called by the chief to answer for abomination. I said I would not apologise and that he could divorce me because I was fed up. His family members said if he should divorce me, they would take their dowry back. I told them that if they want their dowry back, then they should put the children I had bore him back inside my womb, restore my virginity and repair my uterus. Then I went to my father and threatened him not to return any dowry.
“The marriage was dissolved without any dowry being returned. They left the children for me to care for. Not a single ‘kobo’ from him or his family. I raised them without complaint and my daughter finished training college. Immediately she found someone to marry, my ex-husband and his people resurfaced requesting her dowry that they were using that to replace what I refused to return.
“I decided that no man would ever take me for granted. I acquired some land and when the chief heard about it, he wanted to stop me because it is an abomination for a woman to build! I said to him that I was not going to sit around for any man to build for me before I put a roof over my children’s head. I went ahead and put up the house. I am still alive. They think I am something else and call me names but actually they all admire me. The Chief even seeks my advice now and then.
“As for me, ever since I beat my husband, I have never looked back. I have not beaten anyone since but I still feel good for giving him a taste of his own medicine. Maybe that is when I found my confidence”.
This is the true story of a woman who was in an abusive marriage and was published in a research finding undertaken in 2007 by Actionaid Ghana in a book entitled Violence and HIV and AIDS: The Interface, and captioned ‘Voices of women in Northern Ghana’.
Some of the testimonies of the 122 women and 100 men captured showed that majority of them who were HIV positive contracted it in polygamous marriages, through force sex, some contracted it because they were poor and had to indulge in multiple sexual acts and some had it due to false marriages.
Disseminating the research findings in Accra, the Deputy Regional Director of Rights to Play, Ms Yaa Peprah Amekudzi, said the objective of the project was to help reduce violence against women, which according to her played a critical role in exposing women to HIV.
She said the research which was done in six districts, two in each of the three northern regions namely, Jirapa and Lawra in Upper West, Talensi and Nabdam in Upper East and Tamale and Bole in the Northern regions was also aimed at highlighting the vulnerability of women to HIV and AIDS as a result of the violence they face.
The study, she said, identified examples of possible linkages between the different types of violence against women (VAW) and the incidence of HIV and further highlighted issues such as sexual violence against women, especially forced sex which according to the research increased women’s vulnerability to HIV.
Also the research found that the fear of violence prevented women from negotiating for safe sex, adding that fear of violence such as stigmatisation, abuse and physical assault also prevented women from testing or declaring their status.
It also states that stigma and violence meted to women who tested positive have caused them to turn to commercial sex to survive.
According to respondents in the research, ignorance about women’s and people’s rights; misinterpretation of religious and cultural practices; the power gap between males and females; and disregard of the rights of women to decision and sex, among others, are all causes of violence against women as well as poverty and lack of formal education.
On the consequences of violence against women in the community, the research identified that there was no considerable differentiation on the level of impact of violence against women on the community.
It said about 80 per cent of respondents said VAW retarded development in all facets, namely social, economic and political and therefore called for a holistic approach towards addressing violence.
In its recommendations which covered policy, programming, monitoring and evaluation, the research targeted key players such as religious bodies, chiefs and traditional authorities, non-governmental organisations and community members.
To further give impetus to addressing violence and HIV, the report made recommendations on advocacy strategies as well as how these strategies would be monitored for effectiveness and efficiency.
A Human Resource and International Development Expert, Mrs Lilly H. Bonney, who chaired the dissemination exercise, said it was time for the country to look at issues of culture and tradition, saying that no matter the level of education of people, culture and tradition still played an important role in their lives.
She also called for the leadership skills of women to be developed so that they could help in the general well-being of other women.
Story: Rebecca Quaicoe-Duho
“Mothers-in-law! Mine told me when her son married me that when he beats me or maltreats me, I should not complain or report to anyone. In order words, she knew her son was going to beat me no matter what.
“True to my mother-in-laws expectations, my husband beat me at the least chance for more than 17 years. One day, I got fed-up and grabbed him when he was beating me. I beat him flat. I was so surprised that I could beat him and I felt sorry for having wasted all these years. All this time that he was beating me, I never reported to anyone but when I beat him, he went to the police, they laughed at him. The tables had turned. He went to report to the chief. I was called by the chief to answer for abomination. I said I would not apologise and that he could divorce me because I was fed up. His family members said if he should divorce me, they would take their dowry back. I told them that if they want their dowry back, then they should put the children I had bore him back inside my womb, restore my virginity and repair my uterus. Then I went to my father and threatened him not to return any dowry.
“The marriage was dissolved without any dowry being returned. They left the children for me to care for. Not a single ‘kobo’ from him or his family. I raised them without complaint and my daughter finished training college. Immediately she found someone to marry, my ex-husband and his people resurfaced requesting her dowry that they were using that to replace what I refused to return.
“I decided that no man would ever take me for granted. I acquired some land and when the chief heard about it, he wanted to stop me because it is an abomination for a woman to build! I said to him that I was not going to sit around for any man to build for me before I put a roof over my children’s head. I went ahead and put up the house. I am still alive. They think I am something else and call me names but actually they all admire me. The Chief even seeks my advice now and then.
“As for me, ever since I beat my husband, I have never looked back. I have not beaten anyone since but I still feel good for giving him a taste of his own medicine. Maybe that is when I found my confidence”.
This is the true story of a woman who was in an abusive marriage and was published in a research finding undertaken in 2007 by Actionaid Ghana in a book entitled Violence and HIV and AIDS: The Interface, and captioned ‘Voices of women in Northern Ghana’.
Some of the testimonies of the 122 women and 100 men captured showed that majority of them who were HIV positive contracted it in polygamous marriages, through force sex, some contracted it because they were poor and had to indulge in multiple sexual acts and some had it due to false marriages.
Disseminating the research findings in Accra, the Deputy Regional Director of Rights to Play, Ms Yaa Peprah Amekudzi, said the objective of the project was to help reduce violence against women, which according to her played a critical role in exposing women to HIV.
She said the research which was done in six districts, two in each of the three northern regions namely, Jirapa and Lawra in Upper West, Talensi and Nabdam in Upper East and Tamale and Bole in the Northern regions was also aimed at highlighting the vulnerability of women to HIV and AIDS as a result of the violence they face.
The study, she said, identified examples of possible linkages between the different types of violence against women (VAW) and the incidence of HIV and further highlighted issues such as sexual violence against women, especially forced sex which according to the research increased women’s vulnerability to HIV.
Also the research found that the fear of violence prevented women from negotiating for safe sex, adding that fear of violence such as stigmatisation, abuse and physical assault also prevented women from testing or declaring their status.
It also states that stigma and violence meted to women who tested positive have caused them to turn to commercial sex to survive.
According to respondents in the research, ignorance about women’s and people’s rights; misinterpretation of religious and cultural practices; the power gap between males and females; and disregard of the rights of women to decision and sex, among others, are all causes of violence against women as well as poverty and lack of formal education.
On the consequences of violence against women in the community, the research identified that there was no considerable differentiation on the level of impact of violence against women on the community.
It said about 80 per cent of respondents said VAW retarded development in all facets, namely social, economic and political and therefore called for a holistic approach towards addressing violence.
In its recommendations which covered policy, programming, monitoring and evaluation, the research targeted key players such as religious bodies, chiefs and traditional authorities, non-governmental organisations and community members.
To further give impetus to addressing violence and HIV, the report made recommendations on advocacy strategies as well as how these strategies would be monitored for effectiveness and efficiency.
A Human Resource and International Development Expert, Mrs Lilly H. Bonney, who chaired the dissemination exercise, said it was time for the country to look at issues of culture and tradition, saying that no matter the level of education of people, culture and tradition still played an important role in their lives.
She also called for the leadership skills of women to be developed so that they could help in the general well-being of other women.
Let there be peace
Daily Graphic, (Sunday Special)
Story Rebecca Quaicoe Duho
THE Chairman of the National Peace Council, His Eminence Peter Cardinal Appiah Turkson has called on Ghanaians to ensure that the upcoming Presidential and Parliamentary elections are held in a peaceful manner.
According to him, it is the trust and hope of the council that “we shall all graciously accept the outcome of the elections, since that will be the people’s choice”.
The Chairman of the Council said this when the Council met with the ECOWAS Observer Election Mission in Accra on Friday.
The mission, led by Former Nigerian President, Gen. Yakubu Gowon and made up of Members of Parliament of other ECOWAS states and some media personnel is in Accra to observe Sunday’s presidential and parliamentary elections.
Cardinal Turkson who was briefing members of the mission on the work that the Council has so far undertaken since it was established some two years ago said despite its efforts and that of other peace organisations, the country was still bedevilled with pockets of chieftancy disputes which could lead to chaotic situations if not well addressed.
He said the politicisation of tribalism was not only a problem in Ghana but also across Africa and called on all to help address it.
He said the council has done everything possible within its means to ensure that such chieftancy or tribal disputes does not translate into the upcoming elections and therefore called on all to ensure that such a situation does not happen.
He commended efforts of other religious and non-governmental organisations saying that the council has also organised workshops for key stakeholders in the up-coming elections such as the security agencies and media personnel in all the 10 regions and said their effort will surely pay-off with a peaceful election.
The Chairman said the Council has also met with some first-time voters who they counselled and gave guidance on how to cast their votes peacefully.
Touching on some concerns raised during the Council’s meeting with former President Rawlings and some members of the NDC, Cardinal Turkson said it was time the country took the issue of incumbency serious during future elections.
He said the advantage that an incumbent government had over other parties was an issue that the constitution needs to address in future elections to ensure that state funds are not used for elections.
“The opposition always feels that the incumbent has an edge over it”, and this according to him is an issue that needed to be addressed.
He commended all the Presidential and Parliamentary aspirants saying that their ability to interact with each other gives the council the hope that all will be well.
He said in other African countries politicians do not have such fraternity and therefore what was happening in Ghana where Presidential aspirants have given their pledge to ensure that there will be peace, should be enumerated in other countries.
“In Ghana, party members are still friends and they display this publicly unlike in other countries and this gives us hope”, he said.
He took the opportunity to wish all the aspirants in both the presidential and Parliamentary elections the best of luck.
Story Rebecca Quaicoe Duho
THE Chairman of the National Peace Council, His Eminence Peter Cardinal Appiah Turkson has called on Ghanaians to ensure that the upcoming Presidential and Parliamentary elections are held in a peaceful manner.
According to him, it is the trust and hope of the council that “we shall all graciously accept the outcome of the elections, since that will be the people’s choice”.
The Chairman of the Council said this when the Council met with the ECOWAS Observer Election Mission in Accra on Friday.
The mission, led by Former Nigerian President, Gen. Yakubu Gowon and made up of Members of Parliament of other ECOWAS states and some media personnel is in Accra to observe Sunday’s presidential and parliamentary elections.
Cardinal Turkson who was briefing members of the mission on the work that the Council has so far undertaken since it was established some two years ago said despite its efforts and that of other peace organisations, the country was still bedevilled with pockets of chieftancy disputes which could lead to chaotic situations if not well addressed.
He said the politicisation of tribalism was not only a problem in Ghana but also across Africa and called on all to help address it.
He said the council has done everything possible within its means to ensure that such chieftancy or tribal disputes does not translate into the upcoming elections and therefore called on all to ensure that such a situation does not happen.
He commended efforts of other religious and non-governmental organisations saying that the council has also organised workshops for key stakeholders in the up-coming elections such as the security agencies and media personnel in all the 10 regions and said their effort will surely pay-off with a peaceful election.
The Chairman said the Council has also met with some first-time voters who they counselled and gave guidance on how to cast their votes peacefully.
Touching on some concerns raised during the Council’s meeting with former President Rawlings and some members of the NDC, Cardinal Turkson said it was time the country took the issue of incumbency serious during future elections.
He said the advantage that an incumbent government had over other parties was an issue that the constitution needs to address in future elections to ensure that state funds are not used for elections.
“The opposition always feels that the incumbent has an edge over it”, and this according to him is an issue that needed to be addressed.
He commended all the Presidential and Parliamentary aspirants saying that their ability to interact with each other gives the council the hope that all will be well.
He said in other African countries politicians do not have such fraternity and therefore what was happening in Ghana where Presidential aspirants have given their pledge to ensure that there will be peace, should be enumerated in other countries.
“In Ghana, party members are still friends and they display this publicly unlike in other countries and this gives us hope”, he said.
He took the opportunity to wish all the aspirants in both the presidential and Parliamentary elections the best of luck.
Monday, December 15, 2008
Mixed feelings greet news of run-off
Daily Graphic, Pg 3. Thursday, Dec. 11 2008
Story Rebecca Quaicoe
MANY Ghanaians yesterday received the news of the official results of the 2008 presidential election with mixed reaction.
Some residents of Accra jubilated on hearing that there was going to be a run-off, but others were disappointed that they would have to endure another gruelling electioneering in the next three weeks.
Still others were indifferent on hearing that there was going to be a run-off on December 28, 2008.
The run-off, which was announced by the Chairman of the Electoral Commission (EC), Dr Kwadwo Afari-Gyan in Accra, will be between Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), who polled 4,159,439 votes, representing 49.13 per cent of the total valid votes cast, and Professor John Evans Atta Mills of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), who polled 4,056,634 votes, representing 47.92 per cent.
Before the announcement, people were seen glued to their radio and television sets to hear the final declaration and after that there were pockets of jubilation, while others remained calm.
A hairdresser at Adabraka, Ms Saint Claire Adotey, said she was not happy with the run-off, but she was quick to add that it was good for every one to perform his or her civic duty as a patriotic citizen by voting on the new date.
She said she had hoped for negotiations to spare the country a second round but since that could not happen, she would go out on the day of the run-off and vote for her candidate.
Another lady who declined to mention her name said she was happy there was going to be a run-off.
She said that would be the time for people to actually take a bold decision to vote massively for their various parties to ensure that there was a clear winner.
Meanwhile, business activities at the central business district of Accra are picking up steadily, shaking off the election fever that had engulfed the country, reports Gifty Bamfo.
A visit to some busy centres within the district, including the CMB area and Makola, about 10.45 a.m. yesterday revealed that the usual brisk business activities were coming back, although at a slower pace, as a few hawkers, traders and buyers were seen shopping and interacting with one another.
Most of the hawkers and traders complained about the missing Christmas fever in the country, although they were hopeful that things would normalise when the election period was over.
They told the Daily Graphic that they were worried about the delay in announcing the election results which they believed had caused the low patronage of goods.
A tomato seller at CMB, who identified herself only as Georgina, said there was no sign of Christmas as the elections had overshadowed all activities pertaining to the festivities.
"My tomatoes are not being bought because the elections have created a lot of tension which has made everyone to forget about Christmas," she said.
Christmas in the country is often characterised by brisk shopping activities, particularly in the central business district of Accra, where both wholesale and retail trading take place.
However, the uncertainties that come with elections often put people on the alert to want to pass the democratic test before looking elsewhere. Ghana faced an arduous task to prove the maturity of its democracy as many African countries, including neighbouring Cote d’Ivoire, cast a slur on the ability of sub-Saharan African countries to organise successful elections.
A toy shop owner, Mr Eben Zerobabel, lamented the slow pace of business, saying the market presented a boom the same time last year, with buyers beginning their shopping as early as December 1.
“This year is different,” he said. “The elections have halted many business activities in the country,” the toy vendor added.
A rice seller, known only as Arthur, said there was low patronage, despite Monday’s Eid-ul-Adha Festival celebrated by Muslims, noting that on such occasions, “Muslims buy a lot of rice but this year our rice is almost intact”.
An onion seller, Mabel Sowah, said, “The elections have slowed the normal brisk business here at CMB. People are not buying my onions, although we are in December, the time when I look forward to food vendors buying a lot of the onions.”
Artificial wigs in Ghana are part of the fashion trend with different types and colours being introduced onto the markets for women to complement their beauty, particularly on festive occasions such as Christmas.
However, a visit to the market revealed there was low patronage of the product as intimated by Auntie Bea, a wig shop owner.
“We are in December but all the wigs I bought for the Christmas festivities have not been bought yet, I hope that after the elections everything would return to normal.”
At the Makola Market, the atmosphere was no different, as most of the shops were opened, with hawkers and buyers going about their normal businesses.
The usual brisk business was on the low side, as most of the people were seen discussing the election results.
Most of the people the Daily Graphic spoke with believed there was electoral tension, as they were surprised at the outcome of the results.
Auntie Cecilia, a lace material seller, said, “Most of the people are afraid that there could be conflict in the country if one party refuses to accept the results of the elections and this has really affected our market, although Christmas is around the corner.”
Story Rebecca Quaicoe
MANY Ghanaians yesterday received the news of the official results of the 2008 presidential election with mixed reaction.
Some residents of Accra jubilated on hearing that there was going to be a run-off, but others were disappointed that they would have to endure another gruelling electioneering in the next three weeks.
Still others were indifferent on hearing that there was going to be a run-off on December 28, 2008.
The run-off, which was announced by the Chairman of the Electoral Commission (EC), Dr Kwadwo Afari-Gyan in Accra, will be between Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), who polled 4,159,439 votes, representing 49.13 per cent of the total valid votes cast, and Professor John Evans Atta Mills of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), who polled 4,056,634 votes, representing 47.92 per cent.
Before the announcement, people were seen glued to their radio and television sets to hear the final declaration and after that there were pockets of jubilation, while others remained calm.
A hairdresser at Adabraka, Ms Saint Claire Adotey, said she was not happy with the run-off, but she was quick to add that it was good for every one to perform his or her civic duty as a patriotic citizen by voting on the new date.
She said she had hoped for negotiations to spare the country a second round but since that could not happen, she would go out on the day of the run-off and vote for her candidate.
Another lady who declined to mention her name said she was happy there was going to be a run-off.
She said that would be the time for people to actually take a bold decision to vote massively for their various parties to ensure that there was a clear winner.
Meanwhile, business activities at the central business district of Accra are picking up steadily, shaking off the election fever that had engulfed the country, reports Gifty Bamfo.
A visit to some busy centres within the district, including the CMB area and Makola, about 10.45 a.m. yesterday revealed that the usual brisk business activities were coming back, although at a slower pace, as a few hawkers, traders and buyers were seen shopping and interacting with one another.
Most of the hawkers and traders complained about the missing Christmas fever in the country, although they were hopeful that things would normalise when the election period was over.
They told the Daily Graphic that they were worried about the delay in announcing the election results which they believed had caused the low patronage of goods.
A tomato seller at CMB, who identified herself only as Georgina, said there was no sign of Christmas as the elections had overshadowed all activities pertaining to the festivities.
"My tomatoes are not being bought because the elections have created a lot of tension which has made everyone to forget about Christmas," she said.
Christmas in the country is often characterised by brisk shopping activities, particularly in the central business district of Accra, where both wholesale and retail trading take place.
However, the uncertainties that come with elections often put people on the alert to want to pass the democratic test before looking elsewhere. Ghana faced an arduous task to prove the maturity of its democracy as many African countries, including neighbouring Cote d’Ivoire, cast a slur on the ability of sub-Saharan African countries to organise successful elections.
A toy shop owner, Mr Eben Zerobabel, lamented the slow pace of business, saying the market presented a boom the same time last year, with buyers beginning their shopping as early as December 1.
“This year is different,” he said. “The elections have halted many business activities in the country,” the toy vendor added.
A rice seller, known only as Arthur, said there was low patronage, despite Monday’s Eid-ul-Adha Festival celebrated by Muslims, noting that on such occasions, “Muslims buy a lot of rice but this year our rice is almost intact”.
An onion seller, Mabel Sowah, said, “The elections have slowed the normal brisk business here at CMB. People are not buying my onions, although we are in December, the time when I look forward to food vendors buying a lot of the onions.”
Artificial wigs in Ghana are part of the fashion trend with different types and colours being introduced onto the markets for women to complement their beauty, particularly on festive occasions such as Christmas.
However, a visit to the market revealed there was low patronage of the product as intimated by Auntie Bea, a wig shop owner.
“We are in December but all the wigs I bought for the Christmas festivities have not been bought yet, I hope that after the elections everything would return to normal.”
At the Makola Market, the atmosphere was no different, as most of the shops were opened, with hawkers and buyers going about their normal businesses.
The usual brisk business was on the low side, as most of the people were seen discussing the election results.
Most of the people the Daily Graphic spoke with believed there was electoral tension, as they were surprised at the outcome of the results.
Auntie Cecilia, a lace material seller, said, “Most of the people are afraid that there could be conflict in the country if one party refuses to accept the results of the elections and this has really affected our market, although Christmas is around the corner.”
Resolve electoral disputes peacefully
Daily Graphic, Wed. Dec. 10/08 Pg 31
Story Rebecca Quaicoe Duho
THE Carter Centre has encourgaed all stakeholders in the just ended elections to use post election dispute resolution measures to ensure the peaceful resolution of electoral challenges in accordance with the country's constitution.
It has, therefore, lauded efforts by the Supreme Court of Ghana to address deficiencies in the electoral dispute process by dedicating judges to expedite legal challenges.
These were the preliminary statements of the Centre, read by the former Botswana President, Mr Quett Ketumile Masire, at a press conference in Accra.
Mr Masire led a 57-member observer team from the Cater Centre in the United States of America (USA), to observe the just ended presidential and parliamentary elections.
The Centre which observed the elections in 300 polling stations in 30 districts across the country, was established in 1982 by former US President Mr Jimmy Carter and his wife Rosalynn Carter.
It is committed, among other issues, to advancing human rights and alleviating unnecessary human suffering and, therefore, seeks to prevent and resolve conflicts, enhance freedom and democracy and improve health.
In the statement, the former Bostwana President commended Ghanaians for undertaking a peacefull elections saying that “Ghana is becoming a model democracy in the region and abroad. The Electoral Commission of Ghana continues to enjoy international recognition for its exemplary conduct”.
“We commend the efforts of Ghana's political parties, civil society, religious leaders, and others who actively promoted the peaceful contentstation of power as a prerequisite for Ghana's continued democratic development”, he added.
He said that the Center fully expects that as the final vote is tabulated, any challenges to the results will be handled peacefully through existing and constitutionally sanctioned procedures in an open and transparent manner.
Mr Masire went further to state that the competitiveness of the process is already apparent in the large number of parliamentary seats that have changed hands and commended “both the honest election and gracious defeat of contesting candidates, as well as the rights of all Ghanaian citizens to participate freely in the political process”.
According to the statement, the Centre in its mission however observed some strenghts and weaknesses in the just ended elections some of which were that while Ghana generally enjoys a strong legal framework for elections, the implementation of this legislation has not been consistent and mentioned some key areas where there were inconsistencies with the electoral legislation include the number of party agents per polling stations, the placement of party seals on ballot boxes during opening and closing and the determination of voter intent during the count.
The statement said while these issues did not appear to affect the integrity of the process and in some instances may have strengthened its transparency, it urged the Electoral Commission to ensure that practices and election legislation are aligned.
It further recommended that in future the EC should allocate additional voting booths on the basis of the number of registered voters per polling station to avoid situations where voters stayed in queues for long hours.
It also observed that although procedures for voting were largely followed in the majority of polling places visited, several procedures had the ability to undermine the secrecy of the ballot this it said was because in some places the privacy screen for voting did not adequately shield the voter from view.
Story Rebecca Quaicoe Duho
THE Carter Centre has encourgaed all stakeholders in the just ended elections to use post election dispute resolution measures to ensure the peaceful resolution of electoral challenges in accordance with the country's constitution.
It has, therefore, lauded efforts by the Supreme Court of Ghana to address deficiencies in the electoral dispute process by dedicating judges to expedite legal challenges.
These were the preliminary statements of the Centre, read by the former Botswana President, Mr Quett Ketumile Masire, at a press conference in Accra.
Mr Masire led a 57-member observer team from the Cater Centre in the United States of America (USA), to observe the just ended presidential and parliamentary elections.
The Centre which observed the elections in 300 polling stations in 30 districts across the country, was established in 1982 by former US President Mr Jimmy Carter and his wife Rosalynn Carter.
It is committed, among other issues, to advancing human rights and alleviating unnecessary human suffering and, therefore, seeks to prevent and resolve conflicts, enhance freedom and democracy and improve health.
In the statement, the former Bostwana President commended Ghanaians for undertaking a peacefull elections saying that “Ghana is becoming a model democracy in the region and abroad. The Electoral Commission of Ghana continues to enjoy international recognition for its exemplary conduct”.
“We commend the efforts of Ghana's political parties, civil society, religious leaders, and others who actively promoted the peaceful contentstation of power as a prerequisite for Ghana's continued democratic development”, he added.
He said that the Center fully expects that as the final vote is tabulated, any challenges to the results will be handled peacefully through existing and constitutionally sanctioned procedures in an open and transparent manner.
Mr Masire went further to state that the competitiveness of the process is already apparent in the large number of parliamentary seats that have changed hands and commended “both the honest election and gracious defeat of contesting candidates, as well as the rights of all Ghanaian citizens to participate freely in the political process”.
According to the statement, the Centre in its mission however observed some strenghts and weaknesses in the just ended elections some of which were that while Ghana generally enjoys a strong legal framework for elections, the implementation of this legislation has not been consistent and mentioned some key areas where there were inconsistencies with the electoral legislation include the number of party agents per polling stations, the placement of party seals on ballot boxes during opening and closing and the determination of voter intent during the count.
The statement said while these issues did not appear to affect the integrity of the process and in some instances may have strengthened its transparency, it urged the Electoral Commission to ensure that practices and election legislation are aligned.
It further recommended that in future the EC should allocate additional voting booths on the basis of the number of registered voters per polling station to avoid situations where voters stayed in queues for long hours.
It also observed that although procedures for voting were largely followed in the majority of polling places visited, several procedures had the ability to undermine the secrecy of the ballot this it said was because in some places the privacy screen for voting did not adequately shield the voter from view.
Drinking spots around klottey-Korle shut for polls
Daily Graphic, Wed. Dec. 10/08
Story: Rebecca Quaicoe Duho
MOST drinking spots in and around the Klottey-Korle Constituency did not open for business due to Sunday’s polls.
Those which opened in the morning closed just when the ballots for both the presidential and parliamentary elections were being counted.
A visit to about six sites within and around the constituency showed that most drinking bar operators and some night-clubs were closed to ensure that people would not drink excessively.
At the Variety’s Bar and Evelyn’s Inn, both at Tudu, where most of its patrons are usually students from the Accra Polytechnic and its environs, both spots were closed for business the whole day.
A manager at Variety’s, Mr Michael Aboagye, told the Daily Graphic that both spots were not opened because of the elections.
Another spot, Old Timers, one of the oldest and most popular at Adabraka, was also closed for business on Sunday.
The place which is noted for its chilled drinks, Sunday ‘omo tuo’ and other local dishes and plays good local music to the admiration and dancing of both the youth and adults, did not open either for the whole day.
Also, Bermuda, a nightclub at Adabraka where most patrons spend their evenings with good hiplife and foreign tunes, especially on weekends, had its doors shut to its customers because of the elections.
A customer who showed up at the club around 9 p.m., was visibly disappointed when he turned the knob to open the door to the club and realised that it was firmly shut.
He lamented: “Oh for just some small drink and we have had to roam all of Adabraka!” He and his girlfriend were visibly disappointed and reluctantly left to continue their search for a place to sit and relax over some chilled bottles.
At Eclipse, also at Adabraka, the door to the club was closed to its patrons and cars were seen making U-turns to go and search elsewhere for a place to relax.
An old spot for senior citizens, Avenue Club House, where patrons are always assured of good quality and chilled beer especially ‘Bubra’, did not also open for business.
The next point of call was Semi’s at Asylum Down, the drinking bar which is always filled to capacity because it shows live football matches on a big screen and also boasts secure parking and spacious seating places for its clients. This spot too was no exception and was closed for business.
The bar, during the Ghana 2008 football tournament, was always filled to capacity with mostly journalists and other young people converging there to drink, watch and discuss matches.
This spot would ordinarily have been filled to capacity with patrons who would have loved to sit and analyse the polls with their colleagues, but they were disappointed and had to leave in the hope of settling elsewhere for a drink and some relaxation.
However, Strawberry at Adabraka, and Duncans at Osu, provided consolation to people who badly needed to take a beer or two.
At strawberry, people were seen dancing to loud music while others tried to discuss the voting exercise that had then taken place.
At Duncans, however, patrons were minding their own business as they drank their beer and Guinness and settled for kebabs and sausages instead of their favourite banku and tilapia because the food section was not operating.
The Daily Graphic, however, observed that none of the patrons was ready to discuss politics there and rather preferred to listen to the results in silence as they imbibed and quaffed their drink.
Story: Rebecca Quaicoe Duho
MOST drinking spots in and around the Klottey-Korle Constituency did not open for business due to Sunday’s polls.
Those which opened in the morning closed just when the ballots for both the presidential and parliamentary elections were being counted.
A visit to about six sites within and around the constituency showed that most drinking bar operators and some night-clubs were closed to ensure that people would not drink excessively.
At the Variety’s Bar and Evelyn’s Inn, both at Tudu, where most of its patrons are usually students from the Accra Polytechnic and its environs, both spots were closed for business the whole day.
A manager at Variety’s, Mr Michael Aboagye, told the Daily Graphic that both spots were not opened because of the elections.
Another spot, Old Timers, one of the oldest and most popular at Adabraka, was also closed for business on Sunday.
The place which is noted for its chilled drinks, Sunday ‘omo tuo’ and other local dishes and plays good local music to the admiration and dancing of both the youth and adults, did not open either for the whole day.
Also, Bermuda, a nightclub at Adabraka where most patrons spend their evenings with good hiplife and foreign tunes, especially on weekends, had its doors shut to its customers because of the elections.
A customer who showed up at the club around 9 p.m., was visibly disappointed when he turned the knob to open the door to the club and realised that it was firmly shut.
He lamented: “Oh for just some small drink and we have had to roam all of Adabraka!” He and his girlfriend were visibly disappointed and reluctantly left to continue their search for a place to sit and relax over some chilled bottles.
At Eclipse, also at Adabraka, the door to the club was closed to its patrons and cars were seen making U-turns to go and search elsewhere for a place to relax.
An old spot for senior citizens, Avenue Club House, where patrons are always assured of good quality and chilled beer especially ‘Bubra’, did not also open for business.
The next point of call was Semi’s at Asylum Down, the drinking bar which is always filled to capacity because it shows live football matches on a big screen and also boasts secure parking and spacious seating places for its clients. This spot too was no exception and was closed for business.
The bar, during the Ghana 2008 football tournament, was always filled to capacity with mostly journalists and other young people converging there to drink, watch and discuss matches.
This spot would ordinarily have been filled to capacity with patrons who would have loved to sit and analyse the polls with their colleagues, but they were disappointed and had to leave in the hope of settling elsewhere for a drink and some relaxation.
However, Strawberry at Adabraka, and Duncans at Osu, provided consolation to people who badly needed to take a beer or two.
At strawberry, people were seen dancing to loud music while others tried to discuss the voting exercise that had then taken place.
At Duncans, however, patrons were minding their own business as they drank their beer and Guinness and settled for kebabs and sausages instead of their favourite banku and tilapia because the food section was not operating.
The Daily Graphic, however, observed that none of the patrons was ready to discuss politics there and rather preferred to listen to the results in silence as they imbibed and quaffed their drink.
Electorates keep vigil for results
Daily Graphic, Pg. 29. Tuesday, Dec. 09/08
From the collation centre at the Art Centre of the Klottey-Korle constituency in the Greater Accra Region, Rebecca Quaicoe Duho reports that there was jubilation and shouts by NDC supporters who were at the centre to witness the collation of the results from the 111 polling stations in the constituency.
The NDC polled 30,575 votes as against 28,238 for the NPP, 881 for the CPP and 148 for the PNC.
The rest are 35 for DPP, 30 for DFP, 17 for the independent candidate and four for the RDP.
There were cheers for the NDC parliamentary Candidate Nii Armah Ashietey who won the parliamentary seat for the area.
The seat which was originally for the ruling NPP fell to the opposition when Mr Ashietey polled 30,633 votes as against his major opponent Mr Samuel Nii Tawiah who had 28,066 votes.
The constituency was among the few where a total of 101 women stood for parliamentary seats across the country but Madam Monica Quarcoopome, the only female candidate among the two men, had only 1,900 votes.
Anxious supporters were already jubilating before the Electoral Commission officials could finish the collation exercise at dawn.
From the collation centre at the Art Centre of the Klottey-Korle constituency in the Greater Accra Region, Rebecca Quaicoe Duho reports that there was jubilation and shouts by NDC supporters who were at the centre to witness the collation of the results from the 111 polling stations in the constituency.
The NDC polled 30,575 votes as against 28,238 for the NPP, 881 for the CPP and 148 for the PNC.
The rest are 35 for DPP, 30 for DFP, 17 for the independent candidate and four for the RDP.
There were cheers for the NDC parliamentary Candidate Nii Armah Ashietey who won the parliamentary seat for the area.
The seat which was originally for the ruling NPP fell to the opposition when Mr Ashietey polled 30,633 votes as against his major opponent Mr Samuel Nii Tawiah who had 28,066 votes.
The constituency was among the few where a total of 101 women stood for parliamentary seats across the country but Madam Monica Quarcoopome, the only female candidate among the two men, had only 1,900 votes.
Anxious supporters were already jubilating before the Electoral Commission officials could finish the collation exercise at dawn.
Massive turnout @ polls
Daily Graphic, Mon. Dec. 08/08
From the Korle-Klottey Constituency, Rebecca Quaicoe Duho reports that voting was delayed for 20 minutes at the Public Works Department (PWD) Castle polling station.
When the polls finally began at 7.20 am a total of 260 people had voted as at 10 am and the Presiding Officer, Mr. Richard Mingle in an interview said a total of 1,103 persons including Former President Flt. Lt. Jerry John Rawlings, were expected to cast their vote.
According to him the voting materials which arrived at 7 am was short of Absent Voters’ List and the Enumeration’s Forms but he said that was not going to cause any problem since they could rely on the list from the political parties polling agents to cross-check when people arrived with ID cards but could not find their names in the voters register.
At the Art Centre Polling Station ‘A’ and ‘B’ where a total of 2,221 people were expected to exercise their franchise, a long queue was observed as people patiently waited for their turn to vote.
Speaking to the Presiding Officer of the polling station ‘A’, Mr Chris Addo-Adodo he said voting started at 7:15 am and as at 10: 35 a total of 321 had voted and every thing was moving on smoothly.
The Officer at the polling station ‘B’, Mr Frank Nene-Yullie also said so far everything was moving on smoothly.
He said a total of 300 people had voted at 10:40 am and he was hopeful that everything would be as peaceful as it started.
He was observed busily sorting out people who had misplaced their ID cards and also those who had transferred their votes to the centre.
At the Cristal City Temporal Booth in Adabraka, bollot papers were brought in after 8 am as anxious voters had queued since dawn to cast their votes.
The ballots papers were being counted before voting as at 8:12 am when the Daily Graphic got to scene.
A voter at the center told the Daily Graphic that a wrong register was brought to the centre at 7 am and it had to be taken back resulting in the delay.
From the Korle-Klottey Constituency, Rebecca Quaicoe Duho reports that voting was delayed for 20 minutes at the Public Works Department (PWD) Castle polling station.
When the polls finally began at 7.20 am a total of 260 people had voted as at 10 am and the Presiding Officer, Mr. Richard Mingle in an interview said a total of 1,103 persons including Former President Flt. Lt. Jerry John Rawlings, were expected to cast their vote.
According to him the voting materials which arrived at 7 am was short of Absent Voters’ List and the Enumeration’s Forms but he said that was not going to cause any problem since they could rely on the list from the political parties polling agents to cross-check when people arrived with ID cards but could not find their names in the voters register.
At the Art Centre Polling Station ‘A’ and ‘B’ where a total of 2,221 people were expected to exercise their franchise, a long queue was observed as people patiently waited for their turn to vote.
Speaking to the Presiding Officer of the polling station ‘A’, Mr Chris Addo-Adodo he said voting started at 7:15 am and as at 10: 35 a total of 321 had voted and every thing was moving on smoothly.
The Officer at the polling station ‘B’, Mr Frank Nene-Yullie also said so far everything was moving on smoothly.
He said a total of 300 people had voted at 10:40 am and he was hopeful that everything would be as peaceful as it started.
He was observed busily sorting out people who had misplaced their ID cards and also those who had transferred their votes to the centre.
At the Cristal City Temporal Booth in Adabraka, bollot papers were brought in after 8 am as anxious voters had queued since dawn to cast their votes.
The ballots papers were being counted before voting as at 8:12 am when the Daily Graphic got to scene.
A voter at the center told the Daily Graphic that a wrong register was brought to the centre at 7 am and it had to be taken back resulting in the delay.
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
More than 300,000 living with HIV/AIDS
Daily Graphic, Pg 3, Tues. Dec. 02/08
Story: Rebecca Quaicoe Duho & MacLiberty Misrowoda
MORE than 300,000 Ghanaians are said to be living with HIV and AIDS, the Director General of the Ghana AIDS Commission, Prof Sakyi Awuku Amoa, has said.
Prof Amoa said the fight against HIV and AIDS has become the responsibility of the general public, and called for leaders in the country to fight the stigma associated with it.
“The individuals living with the disease can no longer fight alone, we must all get involved,” he added.
Prof Amoa was speaking at the 20th World AIDS Day durbar held in Accra on the theme ”Leadership Reducing Stigma and Discrimination”.
According to him, through the efforts of the commission people living with AIDS were now able to come out to declare their status, a development which, he said, was not the case some few years ago.
“There are more than 500 associations of people living with AIDS in the country, and this has tremendously reduced the challenges associated with stigmatisation,” he said.
The Presidential Adviser on HIV and AIDS, Prof Fred T. Sai, said the theme for last year’s AIDS Day had been maintained this year because it continued to be relevant in the fight against HIV and AIDS in the country.
Prof Sai said the theme threw a challenge to all, not only high office holders and leaders on HIV and AIDS issues, but also leaders in the family, communities and social groups and associations in the country.
“Leadership by personal example is particularly needed in working towards reducing stigma and discrimination against people living with HIV,” he added.
Prof Sai emphasised that the theme challenged all sections of society to demonstrate in the churches and mosques, in the ministries, in Parliament and in schools the need to avoid the disease.
“We need to remind ourselves that being silent about AIDS is not the best way to sustain the drive and momentum that a fight against such an epidemic requires”.
He acknowledged the important financial support and technical assistance given over the years by development partners but was quick to add that more could be done.
The US Ambassador, H. E. Donald G. Teitelbaum, said the number of people living with HIV and AIDS in Ghana was enough to fill the Baba Yara Stadium in Kumasi five times, adding that every one of them were persons with name, face and life.
He said that the task ahead of Ghanaians in fighting HIV and AIDS was enormous and needed leadership to accelerate it.
“Today is World AIDS Day, but to defeat AIDS, we must focus on AIDS every day of the year; only then can we hope to stop people from becoming infected.
A book on the voice of women in Northen Ghana, titled “Violence and HIV and AIDS: The Interface”, was launched.
Launching the book, the Country Director, Action AID Ghana, Ms Adwoa Kwateng Kluvitse, called on the government to make provision for the economic empowerment of women in the national budget as a way of reducing the number of women who were forced into survival sex.
The Management of Graphic Communications Group Limited (GCGL) yesterday organised a Voluntary Counselling and Testing programme for its staff and their dependants as part of this year’s celebration of World AIDS Day.
The programme, which was preceded with a two-day training of trainers workshop for some staff members, was aimed at encouraging staff of the company to know their HIV status.
According to the 2008 Report on the Global AIDS Epidemic released in July, it is estimated that 250,000 people were living with HIV and AIDS as at the end of 2007 in Ghana.
Around that same period, it further estimated that 1.9 per cent of adults aged 15-49 in Ghana were living with HIV and AIDS and out of this number an estimated 60 per cent of the cases occurred among women.
Also, it further estimated that 17,000 children aged 0-15 were living with HIV and as at the end of 2007, an estimated 21,000 people had died from AIDS in the country.
It is in the light of this statistics that the Resident Doctor of the GCGL, Dr Aidoo?????????, said the company deemed it necessary to introduce its staff to VCT, since the issue of HIV and AIDS affected all.
He said the company, in July this year, organised the first of such programmes and according to him, over 70 staff members took part in the exercise and he hoped that this time around more staff members and their dependants would take part in the VCT exercise.
He said it was prudent that the company educated its staff so that it did not spend more funds on treatment when they contracted the virus out of ignorance.
He said the company was in the process of finalising a workplace policy to protect its staff, especially from stigmatisation.
“HIV is real, people sometimes think it is far off,” Dr Aidoo said and advised that there was the need for awareness to be created so that people would realise that they could not just go to bed with anybody at all and walk away free.
“Treatment is available, so people should not shy away from knowing their HIV status,” he advised. The Programme Director of the Ghana Business Coalition Against HIV and AIDS (GBCA), Dr Derrick Nii Armah Aryee, said the group, with technical support from the German Technical Corporation, provided voluntary counselling and testing to organisations and institutions.
He said the group, of which the GCGL is a member, was made up of 26 organisations and a member of the Pan-African Network of Business Coalition.
Assisted by the Programmes Officer of the GBCA, Dr Adraiana Ignea, who is from the Chartered Institute of Makerting and GTZ, Dr Aryee said the coalition had assisted some of its members to draft workplace policies and organise fora for members to upgrade their knowledge on current happenings concerning HIV and AIDS.
Story: Rebecca Quaicoe Duho & MacLiberty Misrowoda
MORE than 300,000 Ghanaians are said to be living with HIV and AIDS, the Director General of the Ghana AIDS Commission, Prof Sakyi Awuku Amoa, has said.
Prof Amoa said the fight against HIV and AIDS has become the responsibility of the general public, and called for leaders in the country to fight the stigma associated with it.
“The individuals living with the disease can no longer fight alone, we must all get involved,” he added.
Prof Amoa was speaking at the 20th World AIDS Day durbar held in Accra on the theme ”Leadership Reducing Stigma and Discrimination”.
According to him, through the efforts of the commission people living with AIDS were now able to come out to declare their status, a development which, he said, was not the case some few years ago.
“There are more than 500 associations of people living with AIDS in the country, and this has tremendously reduced the challenges associated with stigmatisation,” he said.
The Presidential Adviser on HIV and AIDS, Prof Fred T. Sai, said the theme for last year’s AIDS Day had been maintained this year because it continued to be relevant in the fight against HIV and AIDS in the country.
Prof Sai said the theme threw a challenge to all, not only high office holders and leaders on HIV and AIDS issues, but also leaders in the family, communities and social groups and associations in the country.
“Leadership by personal example is particularly needed in working towards reducing stigma and discrimination against people living with HIV,” he added.
Prof Sai emphasised that the theme challenged all sections of society to demonstrate in the churches and mosques, in the ministries, in Parliament and in schools the need to avoid the disease.
“We need to remind ourselves that being silent about AIDS is not the best way to sustain the drive and momentum that a fight against such an epidemic requires”.
He acknowledged the important financial support and technical assistance given over the years by development partners but was quick to add that more could be done.
The US Ambassador, H. E. Donald G. Teitelbaum, said the number of people living with HIV and AIDS in Ghana was enough to fill the Baba Yara Stadium in Kumasi five times, adding that every one of them were persons with name, face and life.
He said that the task ahead of Ghanaians in fighting HIV and AIDS was enormous and needed leadership to accelerate it.
“Today is World AIDS Day, but to defeat AIDS, we must focus on AIDS every day of the year; only then can we hope to stop people from becoming infected.
A book on the voice of women in Northen Ghana, titled “Violence and HIV and AIDS: The Interface”, was launched.
Launching the book, the Country Director, Action AID Ghana, Ms Adwoa Kwateng Kluvitse, called on the government to make provision for the economic empowerment of women in the national budget as a way of reducing the number of women who were forced into survival sex.
The Management of Graphic Communications Group Limited (GCGL) yesterday organised a Voluntary Counselling and Testing programme for its staff and their dependants as part of this year’s celebration of World AIDS Day.
The programme, which was preceded with a two-day training of trainers workshop for some staff members, was aimed at encouraging staff of the company to know their HIV status.
According to the 2008 Report on the Global AIDS Epidemic released in July, it is estimated that 250,000 people were living with HIV and AIDS as at the end of 2007 in Ghana.
Around that same period, it further estimated that 1.9 per cent of adults aged 15-49 in Ghana were living with HIV and AIDS and out of this number an estimated 60 per cent of the cases occurred among women.
Also, it further estimated that 17,000 children aged 0-15 were living with HIV and as at the end of 2007, an estimated 21,000 people had died from AIDS in the country.
It is in the light of this statistics that the Resident Doctor of the GCGL, Dr Aidoo?????????, said the company deemed it necessary to introduce its staff to VCT, since the issue of HIV and AIDS affected all.
He said the company, in July this year, organised the first of such programmes and according to him, over 70 staff members took part in the exercise and he hoped that this time around more staff members and their dependants would take part in the VCT exercise.
He said it was prudent that the company educated its staff so that it did not spend more funds on treatment when they contracted the virus out of ignorance.
He said the company was in the process of finalising a workplace policy to protect its staff, especially from stigmatisation.
“HIV is real, people sometimes think it is far off,” Dr Aidoo said and advised that there was the need for awareness to be created so that people would realise that they could not just go to bed with anybody at all and walk away free.
“Treatment is available, so people should not shy away from knowing their HIV status,” he advised. The Programme Director of the Ghana Business Coalition Against HIV and AIDS (GBCA), Dr Derrick Nii Armah Aryee, said the group, with technical support from the German Technical Corporation, provided voluntary counselling and testing to organisations and institutions.
He said the group, of which the GCGL is a member, was made up of 26 organisations and a member of the Pan-African Network of Business Coalition.
Assisted by the Programmes Officer of the GBCA, Dr Adraiana Ignea, who is from the Chartered Institute of Makerting and GTZ, Dr Aryee said the coalition had assisted some of its members to draft workplace policies and organise fora for members to upgrade their knowledge on current happenings concerning HIV and AIDS.
ECG will ensure non-stop power supply
Daily Graphic, pg 35, Mon. Dec. 01/08
Story & Picture: Rebecca Quaicoe Duho
THE Managing Director of the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG), Mr Jude Adu Amankwa, has assured Ghanaians that the country will have uninterrupted power supply during and after the forthcoming elections.
He said the ECG was working fervently to ensure that the recent power outages in the country did not occur during and after the elections.
The MD gave the assurance when he inspected one of the power lines at the Achimota sub station ‘H’ in Dzorwulu, which burst into flames last Thursday morning due to high voltage.
The incident which disrupted power supply to one third of Accra occurred when the Minister of Energy, Mr Felix Owusu Adjapong, was at the site together with officials of the ECG and Volta River Authority (VRA) to ascertain the cause of the frequent power outages in Accra.
The explosion occurred at 9.57 a.m., giving off a thunderous noise accompanied by flames and fumes, and was the second time in a week that particular line had caught fire.
The earlier incident, according to officials of the ECG, occurred when a vegetable grower set fire to some weeds around the power lines.
A team from the ECG within an hour were brought in to work on the cables so as to restore power to the affected areas, which included Alajo, Industrial Area, Kotobabi and parts of Makola.
Mr Adu Amankwa said his men were working around the clock to ensure that power supply just before, during and after the elections were as normal as possible so as not to create room for people to cause any mischief.
He said the ECG had set-up an emergency telephone line where people could call and complain whenever they experienced any power failure and gave the number as 021611611.
The Energy Minister had earlier said that the incident was a clear manifestation that no one was sabotaging electricity supply in the country because of the forthcoming elections, saying the problem was related more to the use of out-moded equipment.
Mr Adjapong said the government was seriously working on resourcing the ECG so that it coul upgrade its equipment to ensure efficiency in energy supply.
He said the ECG needed $980m to transform the energy sector over a period of five years but said the government had only been able to provide $250m in the last two years.
He was hopeful, however, that about half of the needed funds would be made available to the company next year.
The Chief Executive Officer of the VRA, Mr Owura Sarfo, said the present energy capacity of the Akosombo Dam ( 1,400 megawatts) exceeded the country’s energy needs of 1,280 , emphasising that everything was on course.
He reiterated the fact that most of the energy problems that the country was facing was due to technical problems, saying that the VRA was generating enough power to meet the needs of the whole country.
The CEO of the Ghana Grid Company (GRIDCO), a private energy supplier in the country, Mr Joseph Wiafe, said the company had the capacity to supply the needed energy but also attributed most of its failures to unforeseen circumstances such as lightening and human activities such as bush burning.
The tour also took the team to the Makola substation ‘G’ and the Osu primary substation.
Story & Picture: Rebecca Quaicoe Duho
THE Managing Director of the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG), Mr Jude Adu Amankwa, has assured Ghanaians that the country will have uninterrupted power supply during and after the forthcoming elections.
He said the ECG was working fervently to ensure that the recent power outages in the country did not occur during and after the elections.
The MD gave the assurance when he inspected one of the power lines at the Achimota sub station ‘H’ in Dzorwulu, which burst into flames last Thursday morning due to high voltage.
The incident which disrupted power supply to one third of Accra occurred when the Minister of Energy, Mr Felix Owusu Adjapong, was at the site together with officials of the ECG and Volta River Authority (VRA) to ascertain the cause of the frequent power outages in Accra.
The explosion occurred at 9.57 a.m., giving off a thunderous noise accompanied by flames and fumes, and was the second time in a week that particular line had caught fire.
The earlier incident, according to officials of the ECG, occurred when a vegetable grower set fire to some weeds around the power lines.
A team from the ECG within an hour were brought in to work on the cables so as to restore power to the affected areas, which included Alajo, Industrial Area, Kotobabi and parts of Makola.
Mr Adu Amankwa said his men were working around the clock to ensure that power supply just before, during and after the elections were as normal as possible so as not to create room for people to cause any mischief.
He said the ECG had set-up an emergency telephone line where people could call and complain whenever they experienced any power failure and gave the number as 021611611.
The Energy Minister had earlier said that the incident was a clear manifestation that no one was sabotaging electricity supply in the country because of the forthcoming elections, saying the problem was related more to the use of out-moded equipment.
Mr Adjapong said the government was seriously working on resourcing the ECG so that it coul upgrade its equipment to ensure efficiency in energy supply.
He said the ECG needed $980m to transform the energy sector over a period of five years but said the government had only been able to provide $250m in the last two years.
He was hopeful, however, that about half of the needed funds would be made available to the company next year.
The Chief Executive Officer of the VRA, Mr Owura Sarfo, said the present energy capacity of the Akosombo Dam ( 1,400 megawatts) exceeded the country’s energy needs of 1,280 , emphasising that everything was on course.
He reiterated the fact that most of the energy problems that the country was facing was due to technical problems, saying that the VRA was generating enough power to meet the needs of the whole country.
The CEO of the Ghana Grid Company (GRIDCO), a private energy supplier in the country, Mr Joseph Wiafe, said the company had the capacity to supply the needed energy but also attributed most of its failures to unforeseen circumstances such as lightening and human activities such as bush burning.
The tour also took the team to the Makola substation ‘G’ and the Osu primary substation.
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
Making 'gender justice' accessible to women
Daily Graphic, pg.11, Tuesday, Nov. 26/08
Article: Rebecca Quaicoe Duho
Four years ago, Yaaya was gang-raped by four of her schoolmates in her village, which is not far from Accra, the nation’s capital city.
She was 18 years and was just about to write her Senior Secondary School Certificate Examination (SSSCE), now West African Senior Secondary School Certificate Examination (WASSCE), but because of the trauma that she went through and the injury she suffered, she could not sit for the examination and became a school dropout.
Today, Yaaya lives in Accra and the end result of the rape was the birth of a beautiful baby girl nine months later.
Although she used every effort possible, both crude and orthodox, to abort when she realised four months later after the sexual assault that she was pregnant, she could not terminate the pregnancy.
Now her daughter, whom she named Nhyiraba, is three years and they are leaving together in one of the densely populated suburbs of Accra.
The irony of Yaaya’s situation is that she wanted to be the first female lawyer in her village and her aim was to help promote gender justice among her people but she could not achieve her dream.
Presently, she does not have any qualification to earn her a decent job and therefore she is a petty trader.
Two of the boys who raped her are presently in the university pursuing various courses, while the other two are outside the country.
Yaaya’s situation is one of the many cases of injustices that women and girls face in the country.
Although her case was sent to the court, she could not stand the agony and ‘shame’ that she had to go through in the open court to testify and to withstand cross-examination by counsel of the accused, so she bowed to pressures from family and friends to settle the case out of court, which never yielded any positive results.
Cases of injustices to women and children are worse, especially in countries affected by armed conflicts and abject poverty, and according to the Director and Assistant Administrator of the Bureau for Crisis Prevention and Recovery of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Ms Kathleen Cravero, “the justice system consistently fails women”.
She estimates that in Rwanda, up to half a million women were raped during the genocide in 1994. “Yet, only three women served as judges among the 16 permanent judges of the International Criminal Tribunal for that country. According to her, in Eastern Congo 15,000 women are raped every year.
At a colloquium on Gender Justice in Accra, Ms Cravero said such inequity extended beyond Africa, stressing that only one woman had served as a judge on the International Court of Justice since it was established more than 80 years ago.
She also observed that the 34-member International Law Commission had had no woman throughout its 55-year history until 2001, when two women were finally elected.
Explaining what gender justice was, Ms Cravero, in an address read on her behalf, said it was not only a question of granting women access to formal laws but it was about ensuring protection under the law and securing positions for women to enforce the law.
Also, gender justice, she said, penalises violence against women in all its forms; be it dispossession of their property or inequality in social, economic and political rights or physical and sexual violence.
She further indicated that gender justice also empowered women to contribute to a society based on the rule of law. It also means taking positive measures to educate women and securing them equal representation in all legal professions.
Gender justice, according to her, also means encouraging women to work as public guardians of security and justice, as well as legal professionals, arbitrators of justice and as public figures of highest moral standing in the service of their society.
On how people, especially judges, can help to contribute to gender justice and equality, she says it can be done by listening to women, stressing that the experiences and perspectives of ordinary women are crucial for understanding how to deliver justice in a meaningful way.
She says people can support action at the grass roots and points out that nothing is more important than to be observant and pay attention to efforts in the villages, in camps, municipalities and in the rural areas, and empower grass roots actors to become catalysts for national or even international change.
Also, she suggests that people can support and promote women as actors in both politics and justice institutions, adding that “we can make sure that girls have educational opportunities and remove institutional barriers to the progress in their careers”.
She also proposes that people can insist on legal and constitutional guarantees by ensuring that women’s rights are embedded in constitutions and laws, and demand that these are adhered to in policy-making and the execution of laws in courts.
She further suggests that people can speak out against inequality and injustice, saying that “each of us can ensure that in private and public settings alike we refuse to tolerate inequality and injustice for women”.
She further proposes that “we can display leadership and serve as role models”, adding that lawyers, prosecutors and judges can demonstrate their commitment, serve as an example and be inspiration for societal and attitudinal change.
She finally calls on the judiciary at large to come together to build global and regional partnerships for gender justice, explaining that “we can support partnerships and networks in our region and around the globe to advance justice for women, as equal citizens and as powerful legal professionals”.
According to a concept paper from the Judicial Service, “most often, equality for women is considered a woman’s issue. But more accurately, equality and equal protection of human rights is a societal issue. An independent judiciary that protects the rights of and is accessible to women and includes women in positions of authority is a strong judiciary that serves society as a whole”.
Although many countries, including Ghana, has national constitutions and laws, and have signed international conventions, instruments and protocols, which all seek to protect and promote equality between men and women, the reality, as the Chief Justice, Mrs Georgina Wood, puts it, “it is a mirage”.
Women such as Yaaya and their children are the ones at the disadvantage as the former UN Secretary General once said, “when women are fully involved, the benefits can be seen immediately: Families are healthier; they are better fed; their income, savings and reinvestment go up. And what is true of families is true of communities and, eventually, of the whole country”.
Article: Rebecca Quaicoe Duho
Four years ago, Yaaya was gang-raped by four of her schoolmates in her village, which is not far from Accra, the nation’s capital city.
She was 18 years and was just about to write her Senior Secondary School Certificate Examination (SSSCE), now West African Senior Secondary School Certificate Examination (WASSCE), but because of the trauma that she went through and the injury she suffered, she could not sit for the examination and became a school dropout.
Today, Yaaya lives in Accra and the end result of the rape was the birth of a beautiful baby girl nine months later.
Although she used every effort possible, both crude and orthodox, to abort when she realised four months later after the sexual assault that she was pregnant, she could not terminate the pregnancy.
Now her daughter, whom she named Nhyiraba, is three years and they are leaving together in one of the densely populated suburbs of Accra.
The irony of Yaaya’s situation is that she wanted to be the first female lawyer in her village and her aim was to help promote gender justice among her people but she could not achieve her dream.
Presently, she does not have any qualification to earn her a decent job and therefore she is a petty trader.
Two of the boys who raped her are presently in the university pursuing various courses, while the other two are outside the country.
Yaaya’s situation is one of the many cases of injustices that women and girls face in the country.
Although her case was sent to the court, she could not stand the agony and ‘shame’ that she had to go through in the open court to testify and to withstand cross-examination by counsel of the accused, so she bowed to pressures from family and friends to settle the case out of court, which never yielded any positive results.
Cases of injustices to women and children are worse, especially in countries affected by armed conflicts and abject poverty, and according to the Director and Assistant Administrator of the Bureau for Crisis Prevention and Recovery of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Ms Kathleen Cravero, “the justice system consistently fails women”.
She estimates that in Rwanda, up to half a million women were raped during the genocide in 1994. “Yet, only three women served as judges among the 16 permanent judges of the International Criminal Tribunal for that country. According to her, in Eastern Congo 15,000 women are raped every year.
At a colloquium on Gender Justice in Accra, Ms Cravero said such inequity extended beyond Africa, stressing that only one woman had served as a judge on the International Court of Justice since it was established more than 80 years ago.
She also observed that the 34-member International Law Commission had had no woman throughout its 55-year history until 2001, when two women were finally elected.
Explaining what gender justice was, Ms Cravero, in an address read on her behalf, said it was not only a question of granting women access to formal laws but it was about ensuring protection under the law and securing positions for women to enforce the law.
Also, gender justice, she said, penalises violence against women in all its forms; be it dispossession of their property or inequality in social, economic and political rights or physical and sexual violence.
She further indicated that gender justice also empowered women to contribute to a society based on the rule of law. It also means taking positive measures to educate women and securing them equal representation in all legal professions.
Gender justice, according to her, also means encouraging women to work as public guardians of security and justice, as well as legal professionals, arbitrators of justice and as public figures of highest moral standing in the service of their society.
On how people, especially judges, can help to contribute to gender justice and equality, she says it can be done by listening to women, stressing that the experiences and perspectives of ordinary women are crucial for understanding how to deliver justice in a meaningful way.
She says people can support action at the grass roots and points out that nothing is more important than to be observant and pay attention to efforts in the villages, in camps, municipalities and in the rural areas, and empower grass roots actors to become catalysts for national or even international change.
Also, she suggests that people can support and promote women as actors in both politics and justice institutions, adding that “we can make sure that girls have educational opportunities and remove institutional barriers to the progress in their careers”.
She also proposes that people can insist on legal and constitutional guarantees by ensuring that women’s rights are embedded in constitutions and laws, and demand that these are adhered to in policy-making and the execution of laws in courts.
She further suggests that people can speak out against inequality and injustice, saying that “each of us can ensure that in private and public settings alike we refuse to tolerate inequality and injustice for women”.
She further proposes that “we can display leadership and serve as role models”, adding that lawyers, prosecutors and judges can demonstrate their commitment, serve as an example and be inspiration for societal and attitudinal change.
She finally calls on the judiciary at large to come together to build global and regional partnerships for gender justice, explaining that “we can support partnerships and networks in our region and around the globe to advance justice for women, as equal citizens and as powerful legal professionals”.
According to a concept paper from the Judicial Service, “most often, equality for women is considered a woman’s issue. But more accurately, equality and equal protection of human rights is a societal issue. An independent judiciary that protects the rights of and is accessible to women and includes women in positions of authority is a strong judiciary that serves society as a whole”.
Although many countries, including Ghana, has national constitutions and laws, and have signed international conventions, instruments and protocols, which all seek to protect and promote equality between men and women, the reality, as the Chief Justice, Mrs Georgina Wood, puts it, “it is a mirage”.
Women such as Yaaya and their children are the ones at the disadvantage as the former UN Secretary General once said, “when women are fully involved, the benefits can be seen immediately: Families are healthier; they are better fed; their income, savings and reinvestment go up. And what is true of families is true of communities and, eventually, of the whole country”.
Sunday, November 23, 2008
Female candidates need financial support
Daily Graphic, Pg 17, Saturday, Nov. 22/08
Story: Rebecca Quaicoe Duho
SOME women parliamentary candidates in the forthcoming general elections have called for the setting up of a fund to support women in politics.
According to them such a fund should be set-up for women who would be contesting for parliamentary seats in future elections.
The women made the call at a day’s forum on ‘the role of the media in enhancing women’s participation in election 2008’ in Accra, organised by ABANTU, a non-governmental organisation, with sponsorship from the African Women Development Fund (AWDF).
The women parliamentary aspirants observed that women most often could not compete equally with their male counterparts because they normally lacked financial backing.
They, therefore, called on the government and other international agencies to come to the aid of such aspiring women politicians so as to help increase the number of women in parliament.
According to them although they had the capacity and willingness to be members of parliament to represent their people in their various constituencies, they were normally defeated because they did not have the financial backing that would enable them to mount effective campaigns.
One of the candidates, Ms Zalia Seidu who said she was contesting the Ayawaso Central Constituency seat for the third time on the ticket of the Peoples National Convention (PNC) said her major challenge was lack of funds.
Another aspirant, Ms Zita Okaikoi, who is contesting the Dome Kwabenya Constituency seat on the ticket of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) also expressed similar concerns and said the establishment of such a fund was the only way by which women’s representation in parliament could be increased.
Ms Sarah Akrofi Quarcoo who was the facilitator of the forum traced women’s participation in politics from the 1960s and said although the number of women in parliament had increased since then, it was not significant considering the fact that women constituted only 10.8 per cent of the current 230-member parliament.
She said although concerns were more about the quality and impact that female parliamentarians had made in parliament, "it is also significant to note that numbers still count given the fact that the idea of ensuring that a critical mass of women are represented in parliament will encourage greater and more effective participation".
Ms Akrofi-Quarcoo said over the years, the media had brought into sharp focus inequalities in the system, saying that particularly, after the Beijing Conference, "the media supported awareness creation of the critical issues of concern in the Platform for action, significant among which is women’s participation in decision making and politics".
She urged the media to continue with its good work by speaking for women, promoting their interest and participation in politics so that the December elections would see an increase in the presence of women in parliament.
She said the media’s support for the forthcoming elections was crucial since fewer women were contesting the elections from the various political parties.
She said, "our work should not end with the elections. Indeed, post-election issues, such as the appointment of women into key ministerial positions have been more challenging", and called on the media to play an advocacy role in that respect.
Ms Jeannette Quarcoopome, Programme Administrator, Media Foundation for Africa, who chaired the forum, observed that women had not made progress in their participation in political process.
She said the media could support women candidates by mounting persistent campaigns to help whip the interest of the electorate to vote for women.
Story: Rebecca Quaicoe Duho
SOME women parliamentary candidates in the forthcoming general elections have called for the setting up of a fund to support women in politics.
According to them such a fund should be set-up for women who would be contesting for parliamentary seats in future elections.
The women made the call at a day’s forum on ‘the role of the media in enhancing women’s participation in election 2008’ in Accra, organised by ABANTU, a non-governmental organisation, with sponsorship from the African Women Development Fund (AWDF).
The women parliamentary aspirants observed that women most often could not compete equally with their male counterparts because they normally lacked financial backing.
They, therefore, called on the government and other international agencies to come to the aid of such aspiring women politicians so as to help increase the number of women in parliament.
According to them although they had the capacity and willingness to be members of parliament to represent their people in their various constituencies, they were normally defeated because they did not have the financial backing that would enable them to mount effective campaigns.
One of the candidates, Ms Zalia Seidu who said she was contesting the Ayawaso Central Constituency seat for the third time on the ticket of the Peoples National Convention (PNC) said her major challenge was lack of funds.
Another aspirant, Ms Zita Okaikoi, who is contesting the Dome Kwabenya Constituency seat on the ticket of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) also expressed similar concerns and said the establishment of such a fund was the only way by which women’s representation in parliament could be increased.
Ms Sarah Akrofi Quarcoo who was the facilitator of the forum traced women’s participation in politics from the 1960s and said although the number of women in parliament had increased since then, it was not significant considering the fact that women constituted only 10.8 per cent of the current 230-member parliament.
She said although concerns were more about the quality and impact that female parliamentarians had made in parliament, "it is also significant to note that numbers still count given the fact that the idea of ensuring that a critical mass of women are represented in parliament will encourage greater and more effective participation".
Ms Akrofi-Quarcoo said over the years, the media had brought into sharp focus inequalities in the system, saying that particularly, after the Beijing Conference, "the media supported awareness creation of the critical issues of concern in the Platform for action, significant among which is women’s participation in decision making and politics".
She urged the media to continue with its good work by speaking for women, promoting their interest and participation in politics so that the December elections would see an increase in the presence of women in parliament.
She said the media’s support for the forthcoming elections was crucial since fewer women were contesting the elections from the various political parties.
She said, "our work should not end with the elections. Indeed, post-election issues, such as the appointment of women into key ministerial positions have been more challenging", and called on the media to play an advocacy role in that respect.
Ms Jeannette Quarcoopome, Programme Administrator, Media Foundation for Africa, who chaired the forum, observed that women had not made progress in their participation in political process.
She said the media could support women candidates by mounting persistent campaigns to help whip the interest of the electorate to vote for women.
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Climate change affects women’s livelihoods
Daily Graphic, pg. 11 Sat. Oct 11/08
Article: Rebecca Quaicoe Duho
GATHERED around a small pot of boiling maize in a remote village in Ghana is Ruby, a peasant farmer, as well as her four children who are waiting to cook their last cereal.
Life has not been easy for the family and many other farmers in and around their village as their crop yield has been poor due to bad weather.
Ruby and farmers in other parts of the world are among people in the global community who are experiencing the negative impact of climatic change, as a result of human activities.
Those seriously affected by the change are women and children who constitute the most vulnerable group in society and environmentalists say the global community is living on a time bomb that can explode at any time.
According to the preamble of the Women’s Manifesto of the United Kingdom (UK), “climate change is the single greatest environmental threat to life on earth. It not only impacts on our environment physically and economically, it also affects us socially and culturally.”
The issue of climate change has become dicey as the environment has for centuries been polluted and the end result is the numerous natural disasters such as flooding, cyclones, rising sea levels, heat waves and hurricanes which are currently being experienced throughout the world.
However, all is not lost yet as propounders of the manifesto believe that women have a key role to play in tackling the issue of climate change as consumers, educators and ‘change agents’ in homes, by encouraging the adoption of lower carbon lifestyles and passing on green values to the next generation.
According to the originators of the manifesto, women are also far more concerned about environmental issues than men but, “unfortunately, our importance is not matched by our representation. Women are significantly under-represented in decision-making positions on environmental issues, industry and the scientific community. We are also insufficiently empowered in taking action in our own homes to mitigate the effects of climate change.”
Globally, women are said to be more vulnerable to the impacts of climate change due to their different social roles and status. In the developed world, increasing costs for energy, transport, health care, and nutrition are likely to affect women, including single mothers, more than men. In developing countries, women are already suffering disproportionately more as a consequence of climate change.
The manifesto estimates that 70 per cent of the world’s poor, who are far more vulnerable to environmental damage, are women. It states further that 85 per cent of people who die from climate-induced disasters are women while 75 per cent of environmental refugees are also women. It adds that women are more likely to be the unseen victims of resource wars and violence as a result of climate change.
Women are believed to be more environmentally aware than men, more likely to be doing something about climate change but also more likely to suffer from its effects. They spend more time shopping than men and make the majority of purchases that have a direct impact on climate change, including food, clothing and household goods. As household managers, women are believed to hold the key to controlling household carbon emissions across the world.
However, due to the feminisation of poverty, other existing gender inequalities, and the gendered roles of men and women in society and in the division of labour, there are gender differences in climate change impacts.
At its 46th session in 2002, the Commission on the Status of Women took up climate change issues when it addressed environmental management and the mitigation of natural disasters. The agreed conclusions adopted by the commission called for action to mainstream a gender perspective into ongoing research by the academic sector on the impact of climate change, including the root causes, and to encourage the application of the results of this research in policies and programmes.
It is widely acknowledged that the negative effects of climate change are likely to hit the poorest people in the poorest countries hardest. In other words, the poor are most vulnerable to climate change.
Since women form greater part of the population of the poor in developing countries and communities that are highly dependent on local natural resources, women, again, are likely to be disproportionately vulnerable to the effects of climate change. Moreover, because of gender differences in property rights, access to information and in cultural, social and economic roles, the effects of climate change are likely to affect men and women differently.
Chapter 24 of Agenda 21 of the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) therefore calls for a global action for women towards sustainable and equitable development and it recognises the impact of environmental problems on the lives of women and children.
It also calls for urgent measures to avert the ongoing rapid environmental and economic degradation in developing countries that generally affects the lives of women and children in rural areas suffering drought, desertification and deforestation, armed hostilities, natural disasters, toxic waste and the aftermath of the use of unsuitable agro-chemical products.
The chapter says that in order to reach these goals, women should be fully involved in decision-making and in the implementation of sustainable development activities.
In Ghana, the impact of climate change on women is no different as the global phenomenon puts women's livelihoods at stake.
This is because women constitute about 51 per cent of the nation’s population and about 30 per cent of them are heads of households. According to the Ministry of Agriculture, women also constitute 52 per cent of the agricultural labour force and produce 70 per cent of subsistence crops and play major roles in production and distribution.
Incidentally, a lot of Ghanaian women depend on the natural environment to provide food, energy, water and medicine; and it is this ecosystem that is under threat. Women’s income from their livelihoods and other economic activities has been affected, thus making them poorer.
The low income levels of Ghanaian women can be said to be leading them to compounding the issue of environmental degradation, since most of them do not have the resources to adhere to environmentally sound practices such as the use of gas instead of firewood.
Also due to inadequate resources, most middle class women go in for second-hand electrical gadgets such as fridges and microwaves which is not healthy for the environment because these emit more carbon than necessary.
The harm of global warming which is leading to climate change, according to environmentalists, has already been caused generations ago and the only solution now is for people especially women to change their attitude towards the environment.
Women such as Ruby mentioned in the introduction of this article should be empowered to adopt a more environmentally friendly approach to generate and make a living, focusing on the need for sufficient food, water, cooking fuel, a climate-proof asset base to prevent poverty, protection against climate-induced floods, famine, drought and conflict, and the education on climate change.
Article: Rebecca Quaicoe Duho
GATHERED around a small pot of boiling maize in a remote village in Ghana is Ruby, a peasant farmer, as well as her four children who are waiting to cook their last cereal.
Life has not been easy for the family and many other farmers in and around their village as their crop yield has been poor due to bad weather.
Ruby and farmers in other parts of the world are among people in the global community who are experiencing the negative impact of climatic change, as a result of human activities.
Those seriously affected by the change are women and children who constitute the most vulnerable group in society and environmentalists say the global community is living on a time bomb that can explode at any time.
According to the preamble of the Women’s Manifesto of the United Kingdom (UK), “climate change is the single greatest environmental threat to life on earth. It not only impacts on our environment physically and economically, it also affects us socially and culturally.”
The issue of climate change has become dicey as the environment has for centuries been polluted and the end result is the numerous natural disasters such as flooding, cyclones, rising sea levels, heat waves and hurricanes which are currently being experienced throughout the world.
However, all is not lost yet as propounders of the manifesto believe that women have a key role to play in tackling the issue of climate change as consumers, educators and ‘change agents’ in homes, by encouraging the adoption of lower carbon lifestyles and passing on green values to the next generation.
According to the originators of the manifesto, women are also far more concerned about environmental issues than men but, “unfortunately, our importance is not matched by our representation. Women are significantly under-represented in decision-making positions on environmental issues, industry and the scientific community. We are also insufficiently empowered in taking action in our own homes to mitigate the effects of climate change.”
Globally, women are said to be more vulnerable to the impacts of climate change due to their different social roles and status. In the developed world, increasing costs for energy, transport, health care, and nutrition are likely to affect women, including single mothers, more than men. In developing countries, women are already suffering disproportionately more as a consequence of climate change.
The manifesto estimates that 70 per cent of the world’s poor, who are far more vulnerable to environmental damage, are women. It states further that 85 per cent of people who die from climate-induced disasters are women while 75 per cent of environmental refugees are also women. It adds that women are more likely to be the unseen victims of resource wars and violence as a result of climate change.
Women are believed to be more environmentally aware than men, more likely to be doing something about climate change but also more likely to suffer from its effects. They spend more time shopping than men and make the majority of purchases that have a direct impact on climate change, including food, clothing and household goods. As household managers, women are believed to hold the key to controlling household carbon emissions across the world.
However, due to the feminisation of poverty, other existing gender inequalities, and the gendered roles of men and women in society and in the division of labour, there are gender differences in climate change impacts.
At its 46th session in 2002, the Commission on the Status of Women took up climate change issues when it addressed environmental management and the mitigation of natural disasters. The agreed conclusions adopted by the commission called for action to mainstream a gender perspective into ongoing research by the academic sector on the impact of climate change, including the root causes, and to encourage the application of the results of this research in policies and programmes.
It is widely acknowledged that the negative effects of climate change are likely to hit the poorest people in the poorest countries hardest. In other words, the poor are most vulnerable to climate change.
Since women form greater part of the population of the poor in developing countries and communities that are highly dependent on local natural resources, women, again, are likely to be disproportionately vulnerable to the effects of climate change. Moreover, because of gender differences in property rights, access to information and in cultural, social and economic roles, the effects of climate change are likely to affect men and women differently.
Chapter 24 of Agenda 21 of the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) therefore calls for a global action for women towards sustainable and equitable development and it recognises the impact of environmental problems on the lives of women and children.
It also calls for urgent measures to avert the ongoing rapid environmental and economic degradation in developing countries that generally affects the lives of women and children in rural areas suffering drought, desertification and deforestation, armed hostilities, natural disasters, toxic waste and the aftermath of the use of unsuitable agro-chemical products.
The chapter says that in order to reach these goals, women should be fully involved in decision-making and in the implementation of sustainable development activities.
In Ghana, the impact of climate change on women is no different as the global phenomenon puts women's livelihoods at stake.
This is because women constitute about 51 per cent of the nation’s population and about 30 per cent of them are heads of households. According to the Ministry of Agriculture, women also constitute 52 per cent of the agricultural labour force and produce 70 per cent of subsistence crops and play major roles in production and distribution.
Incidentally, a lot of Ghanaian women depend on the natural environment to provide food, energy, water and medicine; and it is this ecosystem that is under threat. Women’s income from their livelihoods and other economic activities has been affected, thus making them poorer.
The low income levels of Ghanaian women can be said to be leading them to compounding the issue of environmental degradation, since most of them do not have the resources to adhere to environmentally sound practices such as the use of gas instead of firewood.
Also due to inadequate resources, most middle class women go in for second-hand electrical gadgets such as fridges and microwaves which is not healthy for the environment because these emit more carbon than necessary.
The harm of global warming which is leading to climate change, according to environmentalists, has already been caused generations ago and the only solution now is for people especially women to change their attitude towards the environment.
Women such as Ruby mentioned in the introduction of this article should be empowered to adopt a more environmentally friendly approach to generate and make a living, focusing on the need for sufficient food, water, cooking fuel, a climate-proof asset base to prevent poverty, protection against climate-induced floods, famine, drought and conflict, and the education on climate change.
Creating wealth from waste -• The Berlin Story
Daily Graphic, Pg 23, Monday, Oct 13/08
By Rebecca Quaicoe Duho
URBAN dwellers the world over are said to generate about 14 to 20 per cent of all world-wide waste. Much of the waste generated, that is 57 to 85 per cent, are primarily disposed off in landfills, including open and engineered sites.
In Africa, a total of 29.3 per cent of waste generated is dumped in landfill sites, 47 per cent dumped openly, 1.4 per cent incinerated, 9.2 burnt openly and 8.4 per cent disposed off in other unhygienic ways.
Africa recycles 3.9 per cent of solid waste generated on the continent as against 8.5 in Asia, 10.7 in Europe, 8.1 in Northern America and 3.2 in Latin America.
The issue of waste management has become complex across the globe as the volume of waste generated keeps increasing due to urbanisation. Also, the waste produced is more sluggish and inorganic, and worse of all, they are dumped together with hazardous materials.
The indiscriminate and improper dumping of solid waste, often mixed with hazardous untreated materials such as medical waste raises several serious environmental concerns, including loss of renewable resources such as metals, plastic, glass; loss of potential resources such as compost from organic waste, and energy from burnable waste.
Contamination of land and water bodies due to discharge of chemicals and other hazardous materials, and air pollution due to emissions from burning and release of methane from anaerobic decomposition also remain a concern to environmentalists.
Health concerns such as risks to human health leading to respiratory problems, skin and other diseases, and longer term impacts due to dioxins and spread of diseases by vectors in areas near landfill sites are critical issues which need to be addressed.
With the issue of climate change becoming more prominent, people cannot be less concerned about how their waste is disposed of since the way waste is handled today would determine the level to which our climate can be affected in future.
Handling waste properly can led to a reduction in the discharge of dangerous chemicals into our water bodies, soil and most of all, the atmosphere as this will help reduce the emission of carbon dioxide to help cut down on the depletion of the ozone layer.
The Berlin Experience:
With a total population of 3.4 million people, Berlin, the capital city of Germany generates 4,000 tons of waste daily. Half of the waste generated is household waste which is collected and incinerated by a municipal waste collection company known as the Beliner Stadtreinigungsbetriebe (BSR).
Berlin banned the dumping of solid waste into landfill sites in June 2005 and since then waste generated is disposed of either through incineration or recycling.
The BSR facility, which will today cost one billion euro, was built in 1967 and it is a non-profit public company aiming to collect 50 per cent of Berlin’s household waste with the focus on achieving a balance between economic needs, environmental protection and good health.
The company with a total employment of 200 people at its site and about 2,000 on the field burns 170 tones of waste every hour.
Through the burning process, the plant is designed to eliminate and prevent dangerous gases such as sulphur from polluting the air and converts nitrogen dioxide (NO2), another dangerous substance into nitrogen (N2) which is harmless and dissolves in the environment.
The plant also separates scrap metals and sells it to steel companies while ashes generated are used as fillers at landfill sites or in the construction of roads. Some hazardous components which are difficult to deal with are also dumped underground, especially in mining sites.
The smoke which comes out during the incineration processes is also degassed to ensure that it meets environmental standards with the daily toxicity in the air which is measured to ensure that no oxygen is emitted into the environment.
Heat generated during the burning process is not wasted but sold into the municipal grid to warm households during the winter.
The work of the company is made easy in the first place as people are educated to separate their waste. A typical household in Berlin has about five waste containers performing different functions.
The waste is separated into residuals, papers, green glass, white glass and plastics. BSR’s duty is to collect the residual and this usually comes with cans and bottles as some people do not separate their waste properly. The company, however, does not sort the waste out but puts them in the incinerator which burns at 850 degrees.
Waste management in Accra
Accra, with an estimated population of about four million, generates about 2,000 tones of waste daily and all this waste is dumped in landfill sites. Most of the waste is generated in some major market areas such as Kaneshie, Agbogbloshie and Mallam Atta.
The Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA), charged with the responsibility of ensuring that waste generated is collected and effectively disposed of, is often overwhelmed as the population of the capital keeps increasing by the day due to uncontrolled urbanisation.
The situation has led to large quantities of waste being generated daily in Accra, and this exerts much pressure on an over-strained solid waste management system.
One major factor that makes it impossible for the AMA to discharge its duty effectively is the unavailability of a high-tech dumping site, the closure of the Oblogo Landfill Site in April 2007 and the subsequent closure of a second site also situated at Oblogo.
Coupled with weak institutional capacity, and lack of resources, both human and capital, the city authorities face difficulties in ensuring that all the waste generated in the city is collected for disposal. Due to the AMA’s impossibility of collecting all the waste effectively, the collection of waste from homes has been limited to some privileged areas in the capital while other areas considered to be inhabited by the poor, especially the slums, are left to contend with the problem on their own. This leads to indiscriminate disposal of waste in surface drains, canals and streams, creating insanitary and unsightly environments in many parts of the city.
The discrimination in the collection of waste is said to have led to an estimated 80 per cent of households in the city not paying for the disposal of their waste and most of them dump their refuse directly at sanitary sites where they pay between a token GH20p and GH¢1 depending on the volume of the garbage.
Waste collection is sub-contracted to private companies such as ZoomLion, Yafuru, Meskworld and ABC wastes and they all charge different rates ranging from GH¢4 to GH¢15 a month depending on the area.
The AMA is said to be spending GH¢600,000 monthly to maintain refuse sites and GH¢240,000 on landfill sites and currently, it is said that 65 per cent of the assembly’s resources are spent on sanitation-related issues alone.
According to a recent Daily Graphic report, an expert on waste management warned that an explosion at the Oblogo site was imminent if the AMA did not take steps to degas the site.
Presently, the AMA is at a fix as to where to dump its waste as the chief of Oblogo has called for the closure of the present landfill site due to the danger posed to the lives of the people living around it.
Although the AMA is preparing a new damping site at Sampa near Weija, the question is will the site help solve the problems of the AMA on the issue of effectively collecting and disposing of solid waste in the capital? One may also want to ask how long the site at Sampa will be able to hold the waste generated in the capital city and what the next step will be when that place is also full.
It is about time that the city authorities and government came out with a more concrete plan on the disposal of solid waste in the capital. It is also time for the government to take steps to introduce modern technologies into the disposal of waste in the country.
This can be started through educating people on waste separation to ensure its easy disposal. The issue of waste separation is a foreign concept to Ghanaians as many people are not used to it. Although ZoomLion has introduced the system, not much education has been given to the populace on where to put particular waste except with the yellow and green colouring on the containers which to an educated person would seem suggestive but is meaningless to an illiterate.
Also although the containers have been designed for easy identification, most people ignore the symbols on them and dump their waste as and when they find them empty.
As a result of the problems associated with the improper disposal of waste in the capital city, there is a clear need for a multi-stakeholder partnership in proper and integrated waste management in all stages — collection, transportation, treatment, and disposal, but especially at the source where it is generated, and integration with policies that encourage waste reduction, reuse and recycle.
By Rebecca Quaicoe Duho
URBAN dwellers the world over are said to generate about 14 to 20 per cent of all world-wide waste. Much of the waste generated, that is 57 to 85 per cent, are primarily disposed off in landfills, including open and engineered sites.
In Africa, a total of 29.3 per cent of waste generated is dumped in landfill sites, 47 per cent dumped openly, 1.4 per cent incinerated, 9.2 burnt openly and 8.4 per cent disposed off in other unhygienic ways.
Africa recycles 3.9 per cent of solid waste generated on the continent as against 8.5 in Asia, 10.7 in Europe, 8.1 in Northern America and 3.2 in Latin America.
The issue of waste management has become complex across the globe as the volume of waste generated keeps increasing due to urbanisation. Also, the waste produced is more sluggish and inorganic, and worse of all, they are dumped together with hazardous materials.
The indiscriminate and improper dumping of solid waste, often mixed with hazardous untreated materials such as medical waste raises several serious environmental concerns, including loss of renewable resources such as metals, plastic, glass; loss of potential resources such as compost from organic waste, and energy from burnable waste.
Contamination of land and water bodies due to discharge of chemicals and other hazardous materials, and air pollution due to emissions from burning and release of methane from anaerobic decomposition also remain a concern to environmentalists.
Health concerns such as risks to human health leading to respiratory problems, skin and other diseases, and longer term impacts due to dioxins and spread of diseases by vectors in areas near landfill sites are critical issues which need to be addressed.
With the issue of climate change becoming more prominent, people cannot be less concerned about how their waste is disposed of since the way waste is handled today would determine the level to which our climate can be affected in future.
Handling waste properly can led to a reduction in the discharge of dangerous chemicals into our water bodies, soil and most of all, the atmosphere as this will help reduce the emission of carbon dioxide to help cut down on the depletion of the ozone layer.
The Berlin Experience:
With a total population of 3.4 million people, Berlin, the capital city of Germany generates 4,000 tons of waste daily. Half of the waste generated is household waste which is collected and incinerated by a municipal waste collection company known as the Beliner Stadtreinigungsbetriebe (BSR).
Berlin banned the dumping of solid waste into landfill sites in June 2005 and since then waste generated is disposed of either through incineration or recycling.
The BSR facility, which will today cost one billion euro, was built in 1967 and it is a non-profit public company aiming to collect 50 per cent of Berlin’s household waste with the focus on achieving a balance between economic needs, environmental protection and good health.
The company with a total employment of 200 people at its site and about 2,000 on the field burns 170 tones of waste every hour.
Through the burning process, the plant is designed to eliminate and prevent dangerous gases such as sulphur from polluting the air and converts nitrogen dioxide (NO2), another dangerous substance into nitrogen (N2) which is harmless and dissolves in the environment.
The plant also separates scrap metals and sells it to steel companies while ashes generated are used as fillers at landfill sites or in the construction of roads. Some hazardous components which are difficult to deal with are also dumped underground, especially in mining sites.
The smoke which comes out during the incineration processes is also degassed to ensure that it meets environmental standards with the daily toxicity in the air which is measured to ensure that no oxygen is emitted into the environment.
Heat generated during the burning process is not wasted but sold into the municipal grid to warm households during the winter.
The work of the company is made easy in the first place as people are educated to separate their waste. A typical household in Berlin has about five waste containers performing different functions.
The waste is separated into residuals, papers, green glass, white glass and plastics. BSR’s duty is to collect the residual and this usually comes with cans and bottles as some people do not separate their waste properly. The company, however, does not sort the waste out but puts them in the incinerator which burns at 850 degrees.
Waste management in Accra
Accra, with an estimated population of about four million, generates about 2,000 tones of waste daily and all this waste is dumped in landfill sites. Most of the waste is generated in some major market areas such as Kaneshie, Agbogbloshie and Mallam Atta.
The Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA), charged with the responsibility of ensuring that waste generated is collected and effectively disposed of, is often overwhelmed as the population of the capital keeps increasing by the day due to uncontrolled urbanisation.
The situation has led to large quantities of waste being generated daily in Accra, and this exerts much pressure on an over-strained solid waste management system.
One major factor that makes it impossible for the AMA to discharge its duty effectively is the unavailability of a high-tech dumping site, the closure of the Oblogo Landfill Site in April 2007 and the subsequent closure of a second site also situated at Oblogo.
Coupled with weak institutional capacity, and lack of resources, both human and capital, the city authorities face difficulties in ensuring that all the waste generated in the city is collected for disposal. Due to the AMA’s impossibility of collecting all the waste effectively, the collection of waste from homes has been limited to some privileged areas in the capital while other areas considered to be inhabited by the poor, especially the slums, are left to contend with the problem on their own. This leads to indiscriminate disposal of waste in surface drains, canals and streams, creating insanitary and unsightly environments in many parts of the city.
The discrimination in the collection of waste is said to have led to an estimated 80 per cent of households in the city not paying for the disposal of their waste and most of them dump their refuse directly at sanitary sites where they pay between a token GH20p and GH¢1 depending on the volume of the garbage.
Waste collection is sub-contracted to private companies such as ZoomLion, Yafuru, Meskworld and ABC wastes and they all charge different rates ranging from GH¢4 to GH¢15 a month depending on the area.
The AMA is said to be spending GH¢600,000 monthly to maintain refuse sites and GH¢240,000 on landfill sites and currently, it is said that 65 per cent of the assembly’s resources are spent on sanitation-related issues alone.
According to a recent Daily Graphic report, an expert on waste management warned that an explosion at the Oblogo site was imminent if the AMA did not take steps to degas the site.
Presently, the AMA is at a fix as to where to dump its waste as the chief of Oblogo has called for the closure of the present landfill site due to the danger posed to the lives of the people living around it.
Although the AMA is preparing a new damping site at Sampa near Weija, the question is will the site help solve the problems of the AMA on the issue of effectively collecting and disposing of solid waste in the capital? One may also want to ask how long the site at Sampa will be able to hold the waste generated in the capital city and what the next step will be when that place is also full.
It is about time that the city authorities and government came out with a more concrete plan on the disposal of solid waste in the capital. It is also time for the government to take steps to introduce modern technologies into the disposal of waste in the country.
This can be started through educating people on waste separation to ensure its easy disposal. The issue of waste separation is a foreign concept to Ghanaians as many people are not used to it. Although ZoomLion has introduced the system, not much education has been given to the populace on where to put particular waste except with the yellow and green colouring on the containers which to an educated person would seem suggestive but is meaningless to an illiterate.
Also although the containers have been designed for easy identification, most people ignore the symbols on them and dump their waste as and when they find them empty.
As a result of the problems associated with the improper disposal of waste in the capital city, there is a clear need for a multi-stakeholder partnership in proper and integrated waste management in all stages — collection, transportation, treatment, and disposal, but especially at the source where it is generated, and integration with policies that encourage waste reduction, reuse and recycle.
Train children to be assertive, independent
Daily Graphic, pg. 11 Oct. 18/08
Story Rebecca Quaicoe Duho, Dodowa
The Greater Accra Regional Director of the Department of Children, Mr Peter Akyea, has called on parents and guardians to train their children and wards properly to make them assertive and independent in future.
Making a presentation on “The Effects of Conflict on Children, the Family and the Community”, he said children tended to lose their childhood whenever there was a conflict situation, and that, according to him affected them psychologically and emotionally.
He added that during conflict situations, the routine life of children was disrupted as a result of displacement, destruction, death and separation from their parents and families, and this left them to perform unsafe and unpleasant tasks for survival.
Mr Akyea was speaking at a day’s workshop which was organised by the Department of Children under the Ministry of Women and Children’s Affairs (MOWAC) at Dodowa in the Greater Accra Region.
The workshop, which was sponsored by the United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF), was the fifth in a series of similar programmes that had been held in the Volta, Upper East, West and the Northern regions. It brought together representatives from non-governmental organisations (NGO’s), law enforcement agencies, social workers, traditional rulers and child educators.
He called on all to see child protection around the key area of child survival, development, protection and participation.
Mr Akyea said the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) offered the highest standards of protection and assistance for children, and that various articles of the Convention dealt with the best interest of the child under name and nationality, preservation of identity, separation from parents and family reunion.
Some of the participants expressed concern about the attitude of some parents who took undue advantage of the operation of orphanages in their communities and dumped their children there under the pretext that they were poor, and therefore could not take care of them.
They said although orphanages were meant to cater for children who had lost either one or both parents and did not have anybody in the extended family to take care of them, some mothers abandoned their children to be fed and clothed at such facilities, a situation which participants agreed was hampering the traditional way of bringing up children in the African society, and also destroying the family system in the country.
A social worker, Ms Patricia Wilkins, Executive Director of Basics International, an NGO, called on the Department of Social Welfare to critically examine the background of people who applied for permits to establish orphanages in the country.
A representative from the Greater Accra Regional Office of the Department of Social Welfare, Mr Leonard Agbley, said to ensure that orphanages in the country adhered to proper procedures of sheltering children the department was currently controlling the establishment of such institutions in the country.
He explained that managers of orphanages needed to have permits from the department before they could handle abandoned children in their institutions, adding that they would have to go through procedures such as notifying the police or a social welfare regional office of their plans to undertake such projects.
The Chairman of the Greater Accra Regional Multi-sectoral Committee on Child Protection (MCCP), Mrs Susanna Mahama, in a welcome address said conflict in homes and society presented situations where children and their mothers ended up suffering the consequence of such situations.
Story Rebecca Quaicoe Duho, Dodowa
The Greater Accra Regional Director of the Department of Children, Mr Peter Akyea, has called on parents and guardians to train their children and wards properly to make them assertive and independent in future.
Making a presentation on “The Effects of Conflict on Children, the Family and the Community”, he said children tended to lose their childhood whenever there was a conflict situation, and that, according to him affected them psychologically and emotionally.
He added that during conflict situations, the routine life of children was disrupted as a result of displacement, destruction, death and separation from their parents and families, and this left them to perform unsafe and unpleasant tasks for survival.
Mr Akyea was speaking at a day’s workshop which was organised by the Department of Children under the Ministry of Women and Children’s Affairs (MOWAC) at Dodowa in the Greater Accra Region.
The workshop, which was sponsored by the United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF), was the fifth in a series of similar programmes that had been held in the Volta, Upper East, West and the Northern regions. It brought together representatives from non-governmental organisations (NGO’s), law enforcement agencies, social workers, traditional rulers and child educators.
He called on all to see child protection around the key area of child survival, development, protection and participation.
Mr Akyea said the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) offered the highest standards of protection and assistance for children, and that various articles of the Convention dealt with the best interest of the child under name and nationality, preservation of identity, separation from parents and family reunion.
Some of the participants expressed concern about the attitude of some parents who took undue advantage of the operation of orphanages in their communities and dumped their children there under the pretext that they were poor, and therefore could not take care of them.
They said although orphanages were meant to cater for children who had lost either one or both parents and did not have anybody in the extended family to take care of them, some mothers abandoned their children to be fed and clothed at such facilities, a situation which participants agreed was hampering the traditional way of bringing up children in the African society, and also destroying the family system in the country.
A social worker, Ms Patricia Wilkins, Executive Director of Basics International, an NGO, called on the Department of Social Welfare to critically examine the background of people who applied for permits to establish orphanages in the country.
A representative from the Greater Accra Regional Office of the Department of Social Welfare, Mr Leonard Agbley, said to ensure that orphanages in the country adhered to proper procedures of sheltering children the department was currently controlling the establishment of such institutions in the country.
He explained that managers of orphanages needed to have permits from the department before they could handle abandoned children in their institutions, adding that they would have to go through procedures such as notifying the police or a social welfare regional office of their plans to undertake such projects.
The Chairman of the Greater Accra Regional Multi-sectoral Committee on Child Protection (MCCP), Mrs Susanna Mahama, in a welcome address said conflict in homes and society presented situations where children and their mothers ended up suffering the consequence of such situations.
Edtex promotes use of local fabrics
Daily Graphic, Pg 11, Oct. 23/08
Story: Rebecca Quaicoe Duho
A Textile Designer, Ms Edwina Assan of Edtex Design, has lauded the launch of the National Friday Wear programme by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Presidential Special Initiatives (PSI).
She said the move was a positive step to promote the use of made-in-Ghana prints and revitalise the textiles and garments industry and also project a unique Ghanaian identity through the extensive use of local fabrics and designs as business wear.
Ms Assan who holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree with textile option made the statement in Accra when she launched an exhibition of an assortment of locally designed fabric and batik designed for soft furnishing for homes.
The programme, which attracted a wide range of customers, including foreigners and tourists, showcased items such as bedspread, curtains, shower curtains, cushion covers, hand towels, chair backs, aprons, pot holders, oven gloves, napkins, tissue box holders, jewellery holders, table cloths and wall hangings.
She said the introduction of Friday wear by most companies had challenged the textile industry to come up with innovative designs, saying that this had helped increase the patronage of locally manufactured fabrics.
Ms Assan, however said the importation of cheap textiles and imitation wax prints into the country was greatly affecting the operations of the local textile industry, and therefore stressed the need for the government to step up efforts to restrict the importation of such goods.
According to her, the government could do this through the imposition of stiffer tariffs on foreign textiles imported into the country to help local industries withstand competition.
Ms Assan said so far she had marketed her products on the international markets such as in the United States of America (USA), Britain and Germany, and export some to Japan and the USA. She has also undertaken contracts to furnish some top hotels, restaurants and organisations in the country, including the Golden Tulip and the Barclays Bank.
She said the textile industry had a huge market on the international market, and pointed out that although it might be expensive to start operating in the sector, one needed to work with determination.
A Friend of Art, Mrs Heidi Amegayibor, who opened the exhibition congratulated Ms Assan for her continuous commitment and support to the textile industry, saying that “it is amazing and just great to see Edwina and her Edtex brand growing and coming up with new fascinating wall pictures and a diverse array of not only tasteful, but well selected colours and other home décor”.
She said Edtex started 20 years ago when the local textile industry was not in vogue but added that the company had managed to stay in fashion.
Story: Rebecca Quaicoe Duho
A Textile Designer, Ms Edwina Assan of Edtex Design, has lauded the launch of the National Friday Wear programme by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Presidential Special Initiatives (PSI).
She said the move was a positive step to promote the use of made-in-Ghana prints and revitalise the textiles and garments industry and also project a unique Ghanaian identity through the extensive use of local fabrics and designs as business wear.
Ms Assan who holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree with textile option made the statement in Accra when she launched an exhibition of an assortment of locally designed fabric and batik designed for soft furnishing for homes.
The programme, which attracted a wide range of customers, including foreigners and tourists, showcased items such as bedspread, curtains, shower curtains, cushion covers, hand towels, chair backs, aprons, pot holders, oven gloves, napkins, tissue box holders, jewellery holders, table cloths and wall hangings.
She said the introduction of Friday wear by most companies had challenged the textile industry to come up with innovative designs, saying that this had helped increase the patronage of locally manufactured fabrics.
Ms Assan, however said the importation of cheap textiles and imitation wax prints into the country was greatly affecting the operations of the local textile industry, and therefore stressed the need for the government to step up efforts to restrict the importation of such goods.
According to her, the government could do this through the imposition of stiffer tariffs on foreign textiles imported into the country to help local industries withstand competition.
Ms Assan said so far she had marketed her products on the international markets such as in the United States of America (USA), Britain and Germany, and export some to Japan and the USA. She has also undertaken contracts to furnish some top hotels, restaurants and organisations in the country, including the Golden Tulip and the Barclays Bank.
She said the textile industry had a huge market on the international market, and pointed out that although it might be expensive to start operating in the sector, one needed to work with determination.
A Friend of Art, Mrs Heidi Amegayibor, who opened the exhibition congratulated Ms Assan for her continuous commitment and support to the textile industry, saying that “it is amazing and just great to see Edwina and her Edtex brand growing and coming up with new fascinating wall pictures and a diverse array of not only tasteful, but well selected colours and other home décor”.
She said Edtex started 20 years ago when the local textile industry was not in vogue but added that the company had managed to stay in fashion.
Let’s support women in politics'
Daily Graphic Pg 11, Oct 28/08
Story: Rebecca Quaicoe Duho
One of the salient issues discussed at the United Nation’s (UN) World Conference on Women in Beijing in 1995 was that of improving women’s active participation in all aspects of development.
That conference agreed that “the empowerment and autonomy of women and the improvement of women’s social, economic and political status is essential for the achievement of both transparent and accountable government and administration, and sustainable development in all areas of life”.
Although the status of women across the world has marginally improved after the conference there is still more to be done to address the issue of gender inequality to achieve gender equality, equity, mainstreaming and women empowerment.
In Ghana, although women constitute more than half of the country’s population, their representation in parliament as well as in other decision-making positions is low.
Presently, there are 25 women in the country’s 230-member Legislature. The country has four women cabinet ministers as against 16 men. There is also no female regional minister in the country, while there are only three deputy ministers.
Also, out of the 35 chief directors of ministries, only six are women while there are only three women representations on the Council of State which is composed of a membership of 25. There four women out of the total number of 48 serving as ambassadors and high commissioners, whereas at the district assembly level, out of a total of 138 district chief executives, only 12 are women.
Records of the number of women participating in this year’s parliamentary election indicate that less than 70 will be contesting this year’s election to enter the country’s legislature, as against 100 in 2004.
To sharpen the skills of journalists in writing on the poor representation of women in decision-making, a women’s advocacy non-governmental organisation (NGO), Women Media and Change (WOMEC), in conjunction with ABANTU for Development and with support from the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), has organised a two-day workshop for selected journalists on increasing women’s participation in politics.
The workshop, which brought together 30 journalists from the Greater Accra, Eastern, Central and Western regions, was aimed among other things, at building the capacity of the participants to be more gender sensitive in their reportage before, during and after the elections. It was also to sensitise the journalists to give adequate coverage to all the female candidates vying for various parliamentary seats, as well as also use the media as an effective tool to solicit votes for them.
A Gender and Development Consultant, Mrs Joana Opare, who took participants through the topics “promoting women’s participation in governance and decision making” and “Understanding gender-concepts and terminologies”, admitted that “gender advocacy cannot be changed within a day; it will take decades or centuries to do it”.
Enumerating some of the barriers that hinder women’s participation in politics, she said that women were generally less interested in politics; both women and men often see politics as a man’s affair; women lacked political capacities; women lacked confidence in their own political capabilities and that they also have lower level of education, professional experience, income and available time, as compared to men.
She stated further that women who wanted to enter into politics often lacked support from their husbands or family at the societal level; they had limited access to leadership, managerial skills and training and also mentioned the lack of female role models and mentors.
She also said there was an aggressive political climate, competitiveness and discrimination or intimidation of women, adding that the working conditions and organisational culture was not adapted to women’s circumstances such as the lack of childcare services, family leave and flexible work schedules.
Mrs Opare further noted that there were no laws in the country on the political rights and participation of women although Article 35 (6) (b) of the 1992 Constitution provides that the state takes appropriate measures to achieve reasonable gender and regional balance in recruitment and appointment to public office.
She said in order to actualise the principles of good governance that takes into account the equal representation of men and women, the process of governance will have to secure the inclusion of those who are marginalised.
According to her, gender equality was a contributor to, as well as an outcome of good governance and that it was essential to look beyond the question of numbers to enhancing the quality and effectiveness of women politicians.
She called on advocates of gender equality to conduct research, particularly on the need for changes at policy levels, encourage the collection, analysis and dissemination of sex-disaggregated data, develop practical tools to support the integration of gender perspectives at both policy and programme levels and also strengthen and disseminate methodologies for gender analysis.
She also called for moral support for women aspiring to enter into politics through the support of interest groups within the political process, or create another system of mentoring for inexperienced women politicians, provide support from a reference group or institution that will act as a support base and as a pressure group for women’s issues
She said women feel continuously marginalised, stereotyped, taken for granted and experience little understanding or support, adding that to attain equal participation of men and women in governance, men need to work together with women and that every effort must be made to bring on board their valuable contributions towards sustainable development at all levels.
Giving an overview of the workshop, Mrs Charity Binka, the Executive Director of WOMEC, said in order for the media to help in scaling up the representation of women in parliament, “it was necessary for a critical mass media professionals to be created and cultivated to promote and give greater visibility to all female parliamentary candidates, irrespective of the political party they are representing”.
She said the workshop, which will also be replicated in the northern sector of the country, will also bring the media personnel together after the elections for a post- election seminar to draw up realistic strategies to sustain the interest generated in the electorate for female candidates to ensure their success in future.
Story: Rebecca Quaicoe Duho
One of the salient issues discussed at the United Nation’s (UN) World Conference on Women in Beijing in 1995 was that of improving women’s active participation in all aspects of development.
That conference agreed that “the empowerment and autonomy of women and the improvement of women’s social, economic and political status is essential for the achievement of both transparent and accountable government and administration, and sustainable development in all areas of life”.
Although the status of women across the world has marginally improved after the conference there is still more to be done to address the issue of gender inequality to achieve gender equality, equity, mainstreaming and women empowerment.
In Ghana, although women constitute more than half of the country’s population, their representation in parliament as well as in other decision-making positions is low.
Presently, there are 25 women in the country’s 230-member Legislature. The country has four women cabinet ministers as against 16 men. There is also no female regional minister in the country, while there are only three deputy ministers.
Also, out of the 35 chief directors of ministries, only six are women while there are only three women representations on the Council of State which is composed of a membership of 25. There four women out of the total number of 48 serving as ambassadors and high commissioners, whereas at the district assembly level, out of a total of 138 district chief executives, only 12 are women.
Records of the number of women participating in this year’s parliamentary election indicate that less than 70 will be contesting this year’s election to enter the country’s legislature, as against 100 in 2004.
To sharpen the skills of journalists in writing on the poor representation of women in decision-making, a women’s advocacy non-governmental organisation (NGO), Women Media and Change (WOMEC), in conjunction with ABANTU for Development and with support from the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), has organised a two-day workshop for selected journalists on increasing women’s participation in politics.
The workshop, which brought together 30 journalists from the Greater Accra, Eastern, Central and Western regions, was aimed among other things, at building the capacity of the participants to be more gender sensitive in their reportage before, during and after the elections. It was also to sensitise the journalists to give adequate coverage to all the female candidates vying for various parliamentary seats, as well as also use the media as an effective tool to solicit votes for them.
A Gender and Development Consultant, Mrs Joana Opare, who took participants through the topics “promoting women’s participation in governance and decision making” and “Understanding gender-concepts and terminologies”, admitted that “gender advocacy cannot be changed within a day; it will take decades or centuries to do it”.
Enumerating some of the barriers that hinder women’s participation in politics, she said that women were generally less interested in politics; both women and men often see politics as a man’s affair; women lacked political capacities; women lacked confidence in their own political capabilities and that they also have lower level of education, professional experience, income and available time, as compared to men.
She stated further that women who wanted to enter into politics often lacked support from their husbands or family at the societal level; they had limited access to leadership, managerial skills and training and also mentioned the lack of female role models and mentors.
She also said there was an aggressive political climate, competitiveness and discrimination or intimidation of women, adding that the working conditions and organisational culture was not adapted to women’s circumstances such as the lack of childcare services, family leave and flexible work schedules.
Mrs Opare further noted that there were no laws in the country on the political rights and participation of women although Article 35 (6) (b) of the 1992 Constitution provides that the state takes appropriate measures to achieve reasonable gender and regional balance in recruitment and appointment to public office.
She said in order to actualise the principles of good governance that takes into account the equal representation of men and women, the process of governance will have to secure the inclusion of those who are marginalised.
According to her, gender equality was a contributor to, as well as an outcome of good governance and that it was essential to look beyond the question of numbers to enhancing the quality and effectiveness of women politicians.
She called on advocates of gender equality to conduct research, particularly on the need for changes at policy levels, encourage the collection, analysis and dissemination of sex-disaggregated data, develop practical tools to support the integration of gender perspectives at both policy and programme levels and also strengthen and disseminate methodologies for gender analysis.
She also called for moral support for women aspiring to enter into politics through the support of interest groups within the political process, or create another system of mentoring for inexperienced women politicians, provide support from a reference group or institution that will act as a support base and as a pressure group for women’s issues
She said women feel continuously marginalised, stereotyped, taken for granted and experience little understanding or support, adding that to attain equal participation of men and women in governance, men need to work together with women and that every effort must be made to bring on board their valuable contributions towards sustainable development at all levels.
Giving an overview of the workshop, Mrs Charity Binka, the Executive Director of WOMEC, said in order for the media to help in scaling up the representation of women in parliament, “it was necessary for a critical mass media professionals to be created and cultivated to promote and give greater visibility to all female parliamentary candidates, irrespective of the political party they are representing”.
She said the workshop, which will also be replicated in the northern sector of the country, will also bring the media personnel together after the elections for a post- election seminar to draw up realistic strategies to sustain the interest generated in the electorate for female candidates to ensure their success in future.
'Government is committed to quality education'
Daily Graphic, Pg 11, Oct. 29/08
Story Rebecca Quaicoe Duho, Amasaman
THE government is committed to using quality education to empower the youth to take up the mantle of leadership when their time is due, the Deputy Greater Accra Regional Minister, Ms Theresa Amerley Tagoe, has stated.
She said, knowledge and skilled labour force constituted the greatest assets of a nation, but if a child of school age was compelled by circumstances to go into child labour, that asset was destroyed forever.
Ms Tagoe noted that “Education as a tool empowers and expands the resource base of a nation leading to sustainable economic and social development.
The Deputy Minister was speaking during the Greater Accra Regional celebration of this year’s National Children’s Day, organised by the regional directorate of the Department of Children at Amasaman.
The day was marked with the theme, “Children at the center of the Children’s Act” and it brought together school children, parents, opinion leaders, traditional rulers and stakeholders.
Ms Tagoe urged parents to take advantage of the capitation grant and the school feeding programme introduced by the government and send their children to school.
She said parents who failed to take advantage of these programmes among others, introduced by government concerning the welfare of children, were hindering the smooth development and progress of their wards.
The ‘Children’s Act’ recognised children as people who cannot be ignored, she observed, and asked society to help these children attain their full potentials in life.
The ‘Children’s Act’ together with other Legislative Instruments, policies and programmes, such as the Early Childhood Care and Development policy and the Human Trafficking Act, among others have been ratified by Parliament for the survival, development and protection of children, Ms Tagoe noted.
The Regional Director of the Department of Children, Mr Peter Akyea, said the department had undertaken educational programmes in the region through its community sensitisation exercises which according to him had encouraged most parents to send their children to school.
He said his outfit in collaboration with the Domestic Violence and Victims Support Unit (DOVVSU,) of the Ghana Police Service, had been able to address a lot of child protection issues which included child abuse and neglect.
On behalf of other school children in the district, a pupil from the Amasaman District Assembly Junior High School, Miss Gifty Nyadudzi, called on the society to help children to enjoy all their rights as enshrined in various policy documents including the Constitution, to help them realise their full potentials.
Earlier in a welcome address, the Amasaman Municipal Chief Executive, Nana Bram Okae said the assembly had contributed in diverse ways to place the child at the centre of development in the municipality.
He said 60 per cent of the assembly’s budget is spent on providing educational infrastructure like school blocks to improve teaching and learning adding that within the past five months, the assembly had spent GH6,000 cedis on dual desks for schools within the municipality.
The assembly is currently feeding 4,523 pupils of six different schools as well as supporting brilliant but needy children to continue their education up to the university level.
Story Rebecca Quaicoe Duho, Amasaman
THE government is committed to using quality education to empower the youth to take up the mantle of leadership when their time is due, the Deputy Greater Accra Regional Minister, Ms Theresa Amerley Tagoe, has stated.
She said, knowledge and skilled labour force constituted the greatest assets of a nation, but if a child of school age was compelled by circumstances to go into child labour, that asset was destroyed forever.
Ms Tagoe noted that “Education as a tool empowers and expands the resource base of a nation leading to sustainable economic and social development.
The Deputy Minister was speaking during the Greater Accra Regional celebration of this year’s National Children’s Day, organised by the regional directorate of the Department of Children at Amasaman.
The day was marked with the theme, “Children at the center of the Children’s Act” and it brought together school children, parents, opinion leaders, traditional rulers and stakeholders.
Ms Tagoe urged parents to take advantage of the capitation grant and the school feeding programme introduced by the government and send their children to school.
She said parents who failed to take advantage of these programmes among others, introduced by government concerning the welfare of children, were hindering the smooth development and progress of their wards.
The ‘Children’s Act’ recognised children as people who cannot be ignored, she observed, and asked society to help these children attain their full potentials in life.
The ‘Children’s Act’ together with other Legislative Instruments, policies and programmes, such as the Early Childhood Care and Development policy and the Human Trafficking Act, among others have been ratified by Parliament for the survival, development and protection of children, Ms Tagoe noted.
The Regional Director of the Department of Children, Mr Peter Akyea, said the department had undertaken educational programmes in the region through its community sensitisation exercises which according to him had encouraged most parents to send their children to school.
He said his outfit in collaboration with the Domestic Violence and Victims Support Unit (DOVVSU,) of the Ghana Police Service, had been able to address a lot of child protection issues which included child abuse and neglect.
On behalf of other school children in the district, a pupil from the Amasaman District Assembly Junior High School, Miss Gifty Nyadudzi, called on the society to help children to enjoy all their rights as enshrined in various policy documents including the Constitution, to help them realise their full potentials.
Earlier in a welcome address, the Amasaman Municipal Chief Executive, Nana Bram Okae said the assembly had contributed in diverse ways to place the child at the centre of development in the municipality.
He said 60 per cent of the assembly’s budget is spent on providing educational infrastructure like school blocks to improve teaching and learning adding that within the past five months, the assembly had spent GH6,000 cedis on dual desks for schools within the municipality.
The assembly is currently feeding 4,523 pupils of six different schools as well as supporting brilliant but needy children to continue their education up to the university level.
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