CALL 192 AND NOT 999, FOR FIRE SERVICE...GNFS

The Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS) has reminded the public that “999” is not GNFS distress call number. For most people, 999 instead of 192 seems to be the emergency number on which to reach GNFS in times of fire out breaks that is said to delay prompt response from the authorities. This was noted by Mr. Robinson Ellis Okoe, Head of Public Relations in a press statement issued in Accra today . the statement is part of the units effort to sensitize the public on the rampant fire outbreaks in the country with the recent one at the Mallam-Market which destroyed over 50 sheds and millions worth of properties. The PRO also revealed that they are collaborating with mobile phone operators to enhance they emergency call systems, hence it is important for every Ghanaian to keep in mind and dial 192 when in distress. The statement said the management of the Service had noted with concern, the spate of fire outbreaks and the inability of a section of the public to access 192 because of the line being busy or its inaccessibility in newly developed areas. He said: "alternately, callers could also use the following fixed line numbers for assistance; Greater Accra - 0302666576/7, Ashanti Region - 032-2022221; Eastern Region - 034-2021852; Volta Region – 036-2026679; Northern Region - 037-2022864; Upper West Region - 039-2022389; Tema-030-3202518; and Western Region - 031-2022660. Others are Central Region - 033-2032902; Brong Ahafo Region - 035-2027129; Upper East Region - 338-2022277. The GNFS also quoted the numbers for its Headquarters as 030-2760110, 030-2779637, 030-2772446. The telephone number to the Fire Training School is 030- 2664937, the statement said. OPINION Although GNFS is keen on letting people know the emergency lines, there is the need for more responsiveness from all parties in the country in times of disaster. For instance it about time fire hydrant are adequately positioned and easily located in order to avoid dealing with firemen honking through the street only to tell victims there is no water in the tank to quench the fire. Again, people should also stop building in access roads for swift passage in such situation to avoid firemen having to wait on city authorities for demolishing before quenching a raging fire. Ghana stand to save a lot by doing the simple right things.

HOHOE LOCATES PEACE PATH

The paramount chief for the Hohoe Traditional area in the Volta Region Togbega Gabusu has appealed to government to lift the curfew it imposed on the area some few months ago.
He said the impasse between the Muslims and some atives of the Gbi traditional area leading to loss of lives and properties is over and calm has been restored by all parties. He made this appeal when receiving the president to his palace in Hohoe , Togbega Gabusu urged those who fleed the area as a result of the conflict to return home. He said the people have resolved to live in peace to accelerate development. A FLASH BACK

In June 2012, two persons are reported to have been shot dead in Hohoe, while an unspecified number sustained injuries, during reprisal attacks between the Zongo community, on the one hand, and other residents of the town, on the other, early Monday. The palace of the Paramount Chief of the Gbi Traditional Area, Togbega Gabusu, the Hohoe market and the lorry park were burnt down, while the Outpatients Department (OPD) of the Hohoe Municipal Hospital was vandalized. Daily Graphic report. A number of individual shops were also reported to have been destroyed in the reprisal attacks. The entire Hohoe town was held hostage, as residents remained indoors, while many travellers could not enter the town from Golokwati, Jasikan or Lolobi. The streets of the municipality remain deserted, with a tense atmosphere prevailing. A reinforcement of warriors or “Asafos” from Peki and Alavanyo was said to have arrived in the town, apparently to fight for and defend their kinsmen. The swift response by a police and military reinforcement, however, averted the escalation of hostilities and a possible bloodbath. What triggered the riot was reported as a member of the Zongo community there was electrocuted while working in the hospital compound.When he was sent to the hospital for medical attention, the authorities allegedly demanded his health insurance card before he any form of treatment is commenced. By the time the insurance card was sent to the hospital, the young man, whose identity was not immediately known, had died. The death of the young man was said to have angered some of the Zongo youth, who allegedly assaulted some members of staff of the hospital. The traditional authorities, angry at the action of the Zongo youth, banned the Muslim community from burying their dead on any Gbi (Hohoe) land. Following the ban, the Imam at Hohoe Zongo, Alhaji Alhassan, died and when the Zongo elders sought permission from Togbega Gabusu to bury him, the chief was said to have asked those who had assaulted the members of staff of the hospital to apologise before being granted permission to bury the dead. The reports indicated that the Zongo youth disregarded the chiefs request and went ahead to bury the Imam. For disregarding the order of the paramount chief, some Hohoe youth went and exhumed the corpse of the dead Imam and deposited it by the road side. That was said to have infuriated the Zongo youth, who went on rampage, setting the chief’s palace, vehicles, shops, markets and lorry parks ablaze and vandalising the Out Patient Department of the Hohoe Hospital The Government then imposed a dawn to dusk curfew which was subjects to revision.

GHANAIANS LACK THE COURAGE TO FIGHT MEDIOCRITY.

It been observed that a number of Ghanaians are apathetic to governance issues, especially at the local level, and would rather accept to condone with illegality than confront it. The Deputy Volta Regional Director of the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE), Mr. Pontius Pilate Baba Apaabey has expressed the need for Ghanaians have been called on to garner the courage to consistently insist on seeing the right thing done. Mr Apaabey, made this known in a paper he delivered on “Local Participation and Social Auditing for Good Governance” at a Transparency and Accountability Workshop in Kpando in the Kpando Municipality of the Volta Region on Monday. The Workshop was organised by the NCCE in is collaboration with Ghana Integrity Initiative (GII) to boost participation of the citizenry in ensuring transparency, accountability and good governance. He expressed the need for active social auditing mechanism to press for credible performance from duty bearers rather than looking-on helplessly on any kind of out -put. Mr Apaabey defined social auditing as the assessment of the “performance of public policies, programmes and projects in order to influence the process, outcomes and impacts of these instruments against the corresponding budgetary allocation for their implementation”. Mr Apaabey listed executive dominance at all levels of government, low participation of women in local governance, slow pace of fiscal decentralisation, lack of open and transparent local governance as some of the challenges to local governance and citizen’s participation. He noted that information flow from government to its citizens and vice-versa was not fluid enough. Mr Apaabey said some of the factors limiting effective participation of citizens in governance include low level of citizens’ understanding of mechanisms, blurred responsibilities at the levels of local governance and overdependence on central government for project initiation and implementation. Mrs Linda Ofori-Kwafo, Programmes Manager of GII, in a presentation on corruption, expressed regret that the canker was getting deeper into the body-politic despite the existence of laws to check it. She blamed the situation on political rhetoric not backed by political will, which had witnessed only slogans without action. Mrs Ofori-Kwafo said corruption was likely to increase when people who engaged in it went unpunished. She observed that all manner of surveys kept rating Ghana a low performer in checking the canker.

TAKE A STAND FOR TEACHERS

Today is World Teacher's Day. A day set aside by UNESCO to reflect on the role of teachers in our lives."Take a stand for teachers!" is the 2012 motto for World Teachers' Day. Celebrations are being organized around the world.
From a small Local Government Primary School in Achimota a community in Accra " Achimota Anglican Primary&JSS" the little unassuming girl among a number of pupils struggling to make meaning out of what going to school meant, saw going to school as a difficult journey which looked like a walk through a dark long tunnel.
To have the courage of adding up the numerics of one stage to the other, making sense out of comprehensive situations and the ability to compose meaningful essays as well as dealing with the sience of this world among other things is all because of that first teacher she met. This is my personal stands for Teachers. They made it possible for me, a poor girl from a poor home to be empowered to take charge of my life with educations as my defense. All through, there was one particular Teacher at every stage of our academic lives who stood by us to make sure we see the light at the end of that long tunnel.TAKE A STAND FOR TEACHERS TODAY.
To all Teachers particularly Ghanaian Teachers, We say AYEKOO.    
 

Tamale Police arrest fake medical doctor

A 34-year old Prince Adewole Gbewole has been arrested by the Tamale Police Command for allegedly faking as a medical doctor. The accused who was charged by Tamale Magistrate’s Court for pretending to be a public officer and stealing was remanded in prison custody to re-appear on October 15.  Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Ebenezer Tetteh, Public Relations Officer of Ghana Police Service in Tamale, told the Ghana News Agency that the accused went to the Tamale Teaching Hospital on September 27 and told one Rafiatu Kaderi, a medical assistant that he was a medical student from a university in Canada, posted to the medical facility for his internship. He said the accused was later spotted in a medical gown at the Surgical Ward operating by the name Dr Habib Dramani and also expressed his intention to put up a clinic on a land he had acquired at Tamale SSNIT flats. ASP Tetteh said Gbewole requested an official vehicle from Mr Kaderi to rush to Tamale SDA Hospital to assist a colleague to handle a complicated case. He said after taking the vehicle, the accused did not show up and also refused to pick calls on his cell phone, compelling the medical assistant to report the case to the police. ASP Tetteh said the police received another complaint from one Samuel Abobbtey, a restaurant operator that the accused had come for his car using the same modus operandi but this time introducing himself as Dr Nana Oteng. Gbewole had also outwitted other victims under the guise of being a prominent chief going by the name Otumfuo Osei Tutu. The police tracked the accused to his hideout in Bolgatanga in the Upper East Region where he was arrested.