'SANTA H-E-B " WAS IN MY HOME.

 

H-E-B, a leading supermarket based in Texas with over 350 chain of grocery stores in the state of Texas visited my home with gift for Christmas.
As part of their annual social responsibility and to show customer appreciation to their customers, my family among several others had the privilege to be chosen to receive lots of goodies for this christmas.

Although we had received a call informing us of their visit, we were however surprised at the amount of items they brought.I was particularly amazed to see H-E-B representatives Annabel Hall and Jessica Flynn Saldana offloading the neatly and beautifully wrapped gift bag after bag into the house...receiving packages for every member of the family was indeed heart warming. For my 19 month old little boy, it was like ' Santa came visiting". He was so excited.

It is my hope and prayer that every needy and poor heart this season will receive an art of kindness as we celebrate Christmas which commemorate the birth of Jesus Christ, the greatest gift to man.
Merry Christmas and a Haapy New Year.

From a grateful heart , we say thanks H-E-B !!!!!!.

RURAL REVIVAL MISSION DONATES TO YOHE COMMUNITY.

Members of Rural Revival Mission( RRM) this week as part of their outreach program on Monday, visited the people of Yohe,a community in the eastern Region of Ghana.

Spreading the word of God through care and compassion, the team of young men and women begun the day by preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ to a gathering of Yohe community under the theme " Behold: I am coming soon...Rev 22:12" to the people then presented bags of children dresses, cloths for men and women,shoes among others for the very poor in that community. The rest of the day was dedicated to socialization and religious entertainment. The gathering brought together both young and old in the town to witness the goodness of the Lord.

Founder and President of RRM, Pastor Jacob Andoh of Sure-way Christian Church expressed gratitude to the chiefs and Elders of Yohe for their warm reception. He also thanked members of the mission for making evangelism their priority.

Pastor Andoh also appealed to the general public especially the philanthropists to get on board to assist RRM spread the gospel whiles putting smiles on the faces of the needy" the people were so happy and appreciative because they really help especially the school going age children'he said.He also described the trip as very fulfilling.

Rural Revival Mission is a Ghanaian based non-profit organization aimed at spreading the Good News through care and compassion.

COUPLE AND BABY SAVED FROM MH17 CRASH.

A young couple, Barry and Lizzy Sim with their baby are indeed very lucky to be counted among the living today. They were few

minutes away from boarding the Malaysian Airliner (MH17) that suffered yesterday's tragedy.

The couple had to reconnect with KLM, a different flight from their scheduled MH17 due to over booking. The change in schedule actually saved their lives.

Lizzy in an interview on CNN, expressed how lucky but shocked they felt when they learn about the unfortunate incident " I feel sick and shaking right now...to think that we would have dead by now" she said.

The MH17 was flying from Amsterdam to Malaysia when it was shot down at the Eastern Ukraine Border. All 295 people on board perished.

MAJOR GENERAL SAKYI OF GHANA TO HEAD UN MISSION BETWEEN INDIA AND PAKISTAN.

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has appointed Major General Delali Johnson Sakyi of Ghana as the head of the United Nations mission tasked with monitoring the ceasefire line between India and Pakistan.

Major General Sakyi succeeds Major General Young-Bum Choi of the Republic of Korea, who completed his two-year assignment as Chief Military Observer and head of the UN Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan (UNMOGIP) on 16 June 2014.

With more than 35 years of military command and staff experience at national and international levels, Major General Sakyi served most recently as Force Commander for the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS).

He has held command and staff positions in the Ghana Armed Forces, and has experience with a number of peacekeeping operations run by the UN as well as by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).

According to the Security Council mandate given in resolution 307 of 1971, UNMOGIP observes and reports on ceasefire violations along and across the Line of Control and the working boundary between the South Asian neighbours in Jammu and Kashmir, as well as reports developments that could lead to ceasefire violations.

SOURCE:UN News Center.

THEY ARE NOT FOR SALE # BRING BACK OUR GIRLS.

The thought of what these abducted Chiboko schools girls are going through and the trauma they went through on that fateful night of their abduction gives me chills and bring tears to my eyes. I simply cant imagine that over 200 school girls will be kidnaped in the middle of their slumber.

Growing up as a young girl in my home country in West Africa in a rural-urban suburb of Ghana, memories of the challenges and difficulties one had to go through as a girl child in attaining education takes me right into the shoes of these young girls who have embrace all the odds and the economic hardship of being in a deprived community and yet be determine to go to school only to end up as bargaining price for certain unscrupulous individual interest.

And as unfortunate as the case maybe, Leaders in Africa particularly the Nigerian Government appear clueless and acting like toothless-bull-dog on how to rescue the girls, giving the perpetrators more power to now move door to door in vulnerable villages to abduct more girls.
It is almost a month now and no sign of their where about.

Although it may seem hopeless I believe with the assistance from the Americans, this barbaric and inhuman activities from this militant group will be brought to a closer.

HELP SAVE THE LIFE OF THIS JOURNALIST.

The health of Vincent Thomas Cann, one of the central regional correspondence for TV3 is in a critical condition and he is appealing to well wishers for help.
Our collegue journalsit has been diagnosed with end stage kidney. Currently,his life depends on weekly renal dialysis to save his kidneys until he is able to raise 50,000 ghana cedis ($5,000) for kidney transplant,an amount he is finding diffult to raise.
Thomas is on admission at the central regional hospital.

In a letter signed by Dr.Asante Awuku, the physician specialist, the hospital on behalf of Thomas will cherish any amount of donation to save the life of this once vibrant 28 years old journalist who now lays weak on his hospital bed due to ill health.
Every day counts and no contribution is too small.
For further questions or support, please contact the head of renal unit at the Central Regional Hospital-Ghana on
033209311063/ 0233244683388.

KOMFO ANOKYE MISSING BABY SAGA, A THREAT TO MDG 5.

One main component of curbing Maternal Mortality Ratio (MMR)under the Millenium Development Goal(MDG5)set by the United Nations in 1990, is to attain universal reproductive health by 2015 as well as reducing by three quarter the MMR. By this target,every woman especially pregnant women irrespective of their location must have access to antenatal and post natal care. That is, women who rely on orthodox and traditional way of meeting their health needs will all embrace skilled and professional health care delivery.
In view of this, several projects have been laid down since Ghana signed the Charter including advocacy programs to ensure more women turn to the clinics and hospitals when the need be.

However the recent missing baby saga at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital in Kumasi may pose a threat to this target as women seems to be loosing confidence in professional health care. The out break of this story has sparked conversation about how patients are treated in some of these hospital. Everyone we interviewed seems to have a bitter experience one way or the other.
What makes the situation worrying is that each story told reveals gross neglect on the parts some of these trained and skilled health personnel who should know better...one common complained shared was the bad manners and harsh tone some nurse use when talking to patients.

In most of these public hospitals, the rights of pregnant women are often relegated to the background. she is denied the right of having a company be it a friend or a relative in the delivery room with the excuse that there are no enough room to accommodate any guest. This kind of situation gives rooms for suspicion in still birth and other complications.

Contrary to what happens in private clinics, patients are treated with outermost care and respect because it is usually the rich who visit such clinics. Ironically, majority of the workers in these private clinics have second jobs in the public centers but creates different environment for patients.
So those who can not afford these expensive clinics are left at the mercy of such unprofessional nurses who are dragging the name of this noble profession into the mud.

In 2010, Ghana recoreded 350 dead cases out of 100,000 live birth from any cause related to or aggravated by pregnancy or its management excluding accidental or incidental causes. This is according to CIA world factbook. Comparing to the developed world, a woman's life time risk of dying in pregnancy and childbirth is 1 in 3800. Being pregnant in the developed world doesn't pose much risk because, access to health is made available to all without any discrimination.


RECAP


The Ministry of Health has directed the doctor and nurse under whose supervision a still-born baby was declared missing to proceed on leave.

The unfortunate incident which took place at the Akomfo Anokye Teaching Hospital in Kumasi about two weeks ago was triggered when a Muslim lady by name Suwaiba put to birth in the said hospital and demanded for the body of her baby after she was told it was a still- birth.

The inability of the hospital officials to produce the corps of Suwaiba's dead baby reportedly led to someyouth from the Muslim community(zongo youths) taking the law into their own hands, invading the hospital and subsequently assaulting some of the health workers.

The doctors and nurses in anger and in fear of further attacks withdrew their services for about a week. They returned only after several appeals and promises of increased police presence to secure the hospital and their private homes.

Suwaiba allegedly demanded the body of her baby in order to bury him in accordance with her Islamic traditions but all efforts to retrieve the body proved futile although she had earlier been made to thumb print a document confirming the death of her baby..

According to some nurses at the KATH, an orderly, hired only two weeks before the incident, picked the baby with instructions to take it to the morgue but a search at the mortuary revealed the body had not been deposited there. Nurses say the orderly initially claimed he incinerated the body of the baby but the hospital authorities have denied the claim saying the incinerator had not been used in several days.

The Kumasi Police after some investigations are reported to have arrested seven unidentified people believed to be staff of the same hospital with stealing and conspiracy to steal a baby. The Hospital authorities have promised to liaise with the police to get to the bottom of the matter.

EMPOWERING WOMEN WILL END HUNGER..WFP

Every year, the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) provides more than eleven million schoolgirls with food to help keep them in education and around three million vulnerable women with special nutritional support. This year, on International Women’s Day (March 8), WFP is celebrating how empowering women can boost global efforts to end hunger.

“Giving women the power to make choices over their lives is one of the first steps towards a world with zero hunger,” said WFP Executive Director Ertharin Cousin. “In every country where WFP works, women are front and centre in programmes to tackle the problems of food insecurity and undernutrition. We work with women farmers, traders, nutrition workers, school cooks and we serve millions of schoolgirls, pregnant women and nursing mothers.”

This year’s United Nations theme for International Women’s Day stresses that “Equality for women is progress for all.” One example of a WFP programme that focuses on women’s advancement is Purchase for Progress, or P4P, an initiative that helps smallholder farmers, particularly women, become competitive players in the marketplace by producing food for sale and use in WFP programmes.

In Ghana, almost half of the 1,500 smallholder farmers participating in the P4P initiative are women. In northern Ghana, where women traditionally reap, thresh and process rice for sale using tedious manual methods of parboiling, P4P has provided farmer groups with rice threshers and reapers as well as semi-mechanized parboilers to ease the physical burden of their work.


By using the tools provided by WFP, smallholder women farmers like Afeshetu Sumani, who lives in the village of Kpalsi in Tamale region, have drastically reduced the amount of time they spend parboiling rice, from three hours to 30 minutes. No longer exposed to the intense heat and stinging smoke she had to endure using traditional methods, Afeshetu feels empowered to produce more.

With support from other partners including UN Women, Women in Agricultural

Development of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture and FAO, WFP has developed a P4P Gender action plan to address the specific challenges women face. WFP is targeting to train over 700 women this year.

“WFP has strong partners who provide women farmers with training in areas that they have identified themselves to improve their ability to compete in the marketplace, including food fortification, literacy and time management,” said Pippa Bradford, WFP Representative and Country Director. “Listening to their needs has been key to P4P’s success in Ghana.”

A report by WFP’s sister agency the Food and Agriculture Organization estimated that closing the gender gap in agriculture by giving women farmers more resources could bring the number of hungry people in the world down by more than estimated 100 million people. The State of Food and Agriculture 2010-2011 report found that women lacked access to land, credit, tools and seeds that could boost agricultural production.


SOURCE:Vera Boahene/Accra

AUCTION SALE IN TEXAS FOR GHANAIAN NEEDY STUDENTS .

Ghana Initiative for Valued Education (GIVE) is organizing an auction sale to mobilize funs to offers scholarship to needy students in Ghana- West Africa.

GIVE, an Non-Profit Organization with its base in Arlington-U.S.A, has over the years been supporting needy but brilliant students with scholarships for tuition and other educational materials as well as the construction of classrooms.

Focusing on deprived communities in the country, GIVE has since its establishment in 2010, provided continous support to 333 students.

For 2013-2014 academic year, 85 scholarships were awarded: to 8 elementary, 74 junior high school, 2 senior high school and 1 university student.

And to help sustain this noble course, this year's GIVE fund raising has been slated for 17th April. The Event which is being organised under the auspices of the founder of GIVE, Craig Powell will feature auctioning of Sports collectibles from the Texas Ranger, authentic African art works among several others.

ZONGO YOUTH LAWLESSNESS YIELD RESULT IN "MISSING BABY SAGA"

The Ministry of Health has directed the doctor and nurse under whose supervision a still-born baby was declared missing to proceed on leave.

The unfortunate incident which took place at the Akomfo Anokye Teaching Hospital in Kumasi about two weeks ago was triggered when a Muslim lady by name Suwaiba put to birth in the said hospital and demanded for the body of her baby after she was told it was a still- birth.

The inability of the hospital officials to produce the corps of Suwaiba's dead baby reportedly led to someyouth from the Muslim community(zongo youths) taking the law into their own hands, invading the hospital and subsequently assaulting some of the health workers.

The doctors and nurses in anger and in fear of further attacks withdrew their services for about a week. They returned only after several appeals and promises of increased police presence to secure the hospital and their private homes.

Suwaiba allegedly demanded the body of her baby in order to bury him in accordance with her Islamic traditions but all efforts to retrieve the body proved futile although she had earlier been made to thumb print a document confirming the death of her baby..

According to some nurses at the KATH, an orderly, hired only two weeks before the incident, picked the baby with instructions to take it to the morgue but a search at the mortuary revealed the body had not been deposited there. Nurses say the orderly initially claimed he incinerated the body of the baby but the hospital authorities have denied the claim saying the incinerator had not been used in several days.

The Kumasi Police after some investigations are reported to have arrested seven unidentified people believed to be staff of the same hospital with stealing and conspiracy to steal a baby. The Hospital authorities have promised to liaise with the police to get to the bottom of the matter.

SOURCE: LURENCIA BOSSMAN,ACCRA.

'' LEGON STUDENTS"AND INSTANT JUSTICE.

There is a video which has gone viral showing the faces of three girls believed to be students of University of Ghana being made to crawl in a very inhuman and disgraceful manner as punishment for allegedly stealing panties from the Accra Mall.

This happened as people including men in private security uniforms looked on happily and hooting at the girls in condemnation.
What is not certain is who orchestrated that action and at whose command.

Although some right thinking members of society have spoken against the act, calling for justice to prevail , it baffling to think this can happen in an open a place like the Accra Mall which is considered as the shopping center for the "elite".

How can any civilized society behave in this manner and what happened to the basic principle of the rule of law that says "innocent until proven guilty by a competent court"

If care is not taken, people will end up punishing suspected criminals with sharia law or even burning them alive. This is not the first time an incident of this this nature has popped up on in the media involving students.
In 2011, a petty trader on Legon campus suffered similar fate. The victim who was known as Amina was sexually molested by some students of University of Ghana, Legon.

The wholes incidents was caught on camera by some of the students and later uploaded onto Youtube.
The video capyured how she was surrounded by these students and being subjected to their punishment for allegedly stealing a laptop and unspecified amount of other items.

The video didn't show the faces of her perpetrators but rather exposed her nakedness and how her thighs were being ripped apart as these students took turns in fingering her and touching her in a very humiliating way. After taking thier pound of flesh in that mob instant justice, she was later handed over to the Legon Police station.

The commander in charge in an interview with the press at the time confirmed Amina was brought in half naked.
These incident received public condemnation, at least everyone expected the students to have known better that Ghana is govern by the rule of law.

The attention of the university was brought to the matter which led to a court action for violating and abusing the rights of Amina. After investigations, 13 of the students were arrested and arraigned before court with the of restoring justice as well as serving as a deterrent to others.
Well I hope we are yet to see if indeed people really understand what the rule of law means and the statutes of democracy.

WhatsAPP FOUNDERS, TRUE INSPIRATION

Making headlines in the Technology world today is the $19 billion sale of WhatsApp, to Facebook.
The founders of WhatsApp are $19 billion rich by selling the App to facebook.

what is fascinating about this deal is the guys behind the App. The life stories of these guys are very inspiring. Brian Acton, was rejected by Facebook and Twitter when he applied for job in 2009. His co-founder Jan Koum, a poor U.S Immigrant from Ukraine. He virtually lived in the streets Mountain View and survived on foods tamps.

There is nothing determination can not achieve and it pays to press on towards ones goal even in the face of disappontments and rejection.
WhatsApp might not be that much popular here in America like the way Ghanaians have embraced it. It is widely used by most Ghanaians especially among the youth. The App enables free texting, fast videos and audiuos as well as pictures for the first year then charges $1 for a subscription.
It has over 450 million users.

WHO IS CHECKING THIS...SCHOOL FEEDING PROGRAM.

In the land of the blind, the one-eye man is a king. this was the case of this boy who holds in his hands a ball of banku in what is suppose to be groundnut soup without fish or meat but he commands crowd of other children who were not lucky enough to have a taste of that days meal. His crowd hopes to get a bit of what is in the bowl to satisfy their hunger.

It is break time in Besoso District Assembly (D.A) Primary School in Fantiakwa District in the Eastern Region of Ghana. over 250 primary schools children queue for food. Each child homes to be fed by the school feeding program but unfortunately, only a hand full were served. The menu was Banku and soup. The first 50 plus were privileged to have their food served with a piece of meat. The rest had to eat their banku without any fish or meat and even that is considered being lucky as many could not be served because the food was not enough.

This was not free food or a gesture from a philanthropist trying to do good to these under privileged children, it is the Government funded school feeding program we are talking about.

The school feeding program was meant to feed primary school children in some selected Government school. The intention of the program is to provide a well balance and nutritious meal to children who are believed to be coming from poor homes and are malnourished but what these kids are eating in some of the schools in the name of school feeding, is really bizarre.

Food prepared for these school children are usually made with rotten food stuff which have less market value simply because cooks can not afford the right ingredient due to tight budget.Others also do so just maximize profit for their selfish gains. Soups are often diluted so much that its becomes difficult to differentiate groundnut soup from palm nut soup.

Menus under this program was said to include a well balance diet, to help reduce malnourishment from these less privilege children and to also motivate their interest in school attendance.


" We are serving these children out of our own pocket...no one is paying attention to us.For the past four months, we have not been payed, we have been borrowing and purchasing food stuffs on ctredit" one of the cooks told Michael Akrofi, our news reporter who was at the Besoso DA Primary school.

Since the introduction of the school feeding program, several media reports have revealed that due to poor supervision and party-politics, food served to these vulnerable children are not nutritious at all.
there have been reports on how kids are being fed with maggots infected rice or beans and cooks using food coluor in place of tomatoes to prepare Jollof-Rice.

If the Disrict Assemblies are in charge of such programs then whose responsibility is it, to ensure that the proper thing is done? Each year huge amounts are quoted by government in this area so who is keeping these monies meant to feed these poor children?
when we seek for answers then the blame game begins but we keep asking WHO IS CHECKING THIS?

Source; Michael Akrofi, E.R

IT STILL FEELS LIKE A DREAM..

Komla Dumor, Saturday,25th will be exactly a week of your demise. A day we dread to remember. As the news of your passing spread like a wild fire thanks to social media, many of us thought and hoped it was a hoax. I recall receiving post of grieve and condolences on facebook.

My initial reaction like was " oh come on, this cant be true!!!! this is an expensive joke"...to be really convinced I checked on BBC online then a confirmation from your brother and bossom friend Hebert Mensah, the shock, the chills but the reality some how down on me although it was still hard to believe that Komla Dumor who was last seen hosting his TV show focus on Africa the previous Friday has passed on to eternity the following morning in a cardiac arrest.

Since last Saturday I have not been able to come out of the shock and it makes me wonder how those who are really close to him feel.
A Great inspiration for us young journalist. You made those of us in your generation to believe that everything is possible with determination.

For some of us, we will hold on to your trade mark of "professionalism' as we serve mankind in our line of duty.
You played well "Boss Player"

FARE THEE WELL!!!!

KOMLA DUMOR...VERY SHOCKING.!!!!!

From his facebook wall, '' Looking forward to interviewing # South Sudan ex child soldier musician@ Emmanuel JAL on Focus on Africa today at 1730GM,T'
This was posted on Friday at 9:20am. at the time of publishing this story, the post had attracted 205 likes and 323 comments of condolence to Komla who is now deceased.
who would have ever thought he will be dead Saturday morning. He was 41 years old.
Komla Dumor formerly of JoyFm and Anchor of BBC Focus on Africa was confirmed death by a close family source in London. Details of his passing away is yet to be revealed later today by the family.

KOMLA DUMOR AND HERBERT ON JANUARY 12 @ A FAMILY GATHERING

one of Komla's close friends Herbert Mensah Former CEO OF Kumasi Asante Kotoko, who confirmed the death in an interview with Joy News in a tribute said 'My Dearest Friend passed away but two years ago and i realised then that if one so great as Gbegi could be taken away then we are all living at the mercy of God whom we worship and yet in times like this can never understand! My values have changed and my appreciation for the life of others has magnified!

Then in 2013 i lost family and friends! All losses so close to home it was frightening and testing! Death is something we are not prepared for and which even when we suspect it descending on us pray that it moves elsewhere!

The icy hand of death seems to have no bounds. Death strikes irrespective of age, colour, gender or creed and in 2014 it is delivering another torrent of sadness and helplessness to those of us still on earth.

We must be strong or so we are told. We must continue to keep the faith we are taught and yet in death there is nothing left to pray for and we must only continue to survive at death's seeming pleasure and for others we love!

What if?
Why?
And yet we must still keep the faith?
then......

I guess we all die!

Prof. Ewurama Addy...R.I.P

A family source told Accra based radio station, Citi FM that the professor of Biochemistry died Tuesday morning after a short illness.As a resource person for science education programmes in Ghana, Prof Addy became very popular as the host of the Science and Maths quiz  television programme - Brilliant Science and Maths Quiz.She contributed immensely to science education by making the subject interesting to Ghanaians of all ages with her role as the Quiz Mistress of the national weekly science and maths quiz programme, .It is believed that her quiz mistress role inspired many female students to study science.She was 72 years old.Biography Prof. Marian Ewurama Addy was a Professor of Biochemistry. In January 2008 she was appointed President of the Anglican University College of Technology, a newly launched private initiative for higher technical education in Ghana.She is currently Chair of the Policy Committee on Developing Countries (PCDC), a Committee of the International Council for Science, (ICSU), Chair of Ghana’s National Board for Professional and Technicians Examinations (NABPTEX), member of WHO Regional Expert Committee on Traditional Medicine, advisor to the International Foundation for Science, Stockholm, Sweden and Founder and First Executive Secretary of Western Africa Network of Natural Products Research Scientists (WANNPRES), established February 2002.In the seventies, she took leave from the University of Ghana to become the Director of Programmes for the Science Education Programme for Africa (SEPA), a pan African programme for pre-tertiary science education, which was based in Accra Ghana. Her experiences in academia were mainly in teaching biochemistry, both basic and applied, to undergraduate, post-graduate, dental and medical students at the University of Ghana, Legon and at Howard University College of Medicine in Washington DC.Her main area of research was the science of herbal preparations used by Traditional Medical Practitioners, especially their safety, efficacy and how they work. She was a member of the Kwami Committee, a Technical Committee on Polytechnic Education set up by the National Council for Tertiary Education (NCTE), to study and make recommendations that was to guide the NCTE to formulate policy and advise government on polytechnic education.She was also a member of a four-man UNDP Consultancy Team in Ghana set up in 1994 to formulate a National Action Program for Science and Technology Development. Professor Addy was educated at the University of Ghana, where she studied towards a degree in Botany, and at the Pennsylvania State University, where she obtained Masters and Doctorate degrees in biochemistry.As head of unit or department in various institutions, Professor Addy was responsible for initiating projects, running workshops and sourcing for funds for these activities as well as for younger scientists in training. Professor Addy’s interest and extension activities were in bridging the gap between scientific and indigenous knowledge and in the popularisation of science.She was often called upon to be a Resource Person and/or Role Model for programmes in female science education.She was the first Quiz Mistress of the popular weekly televised National Science and Mathematics Quiz programme, primarily aimed at improving the learning of science and mathematics for secondary school students.She hosted the programme for seven years and was responsible for its popularity.  Professor Addy received many awards including: The Millennium Excellence Award for Educational Development at the turn of the millennium; UNESCO Kalinga Prize for the popularization of science in 1999; The Africa-America Institute’s Distinguished Alumna for Excellence in 1998 and Marketing Woman of the Year, in 1995, for marketing Science. 

Source:Graphiconline.com

My Memory of Prof. Addy.

Every Saturday morning between 11 am we all rushed to watch the quiz show " National Brilliant Maths and Science
Quiz"on Ghana Television (GTV) to cheer our favourite secondary school up. In those days, schools which appeared on show was regarded as a top-notch school so it motivated many of us to learn hard in orther to gain admission into such schools.
When maths and science had become a no go area for many students, Prof Ewurama Addy made it more fun and rewarding to learn these core subjects. We didn't watch it just for the fun of it, for some of us we used it as another platform to learn more and also catch up on certain topics we didn't understand in the classroom. Sometimes Prof. Addy's questions as the quiz mistress came up in our exams so wacting the show was more or less like a bonus for passing our maths and science subjects. The show also stregthened quiz competetion among schools at the local level because every school espercially quiz lovers dreamed of making appearance on the show.
Personally I admired Prof.Ewurama Addy for her strictness yet encouraging tone of presentation. As a girl child I remember abandoning my house chores just to catch up.


RIP Prof...I am one of the many lives you impacted

A SSNIT HOSPITAL WINS INTERNATIONAL AWARD.

The Trust Hospital in Accra has received the European Quality Award in recognition of its dedication to quality healthcare delivery and best clinical practices, becoming the first Ghanaian enterprise to be decorated with the prestigious accolade.The award ceremony, which was held in Oxford in the United Kingdom, December, is an annual award to recognize institutions that produce competitive high-quality service with verifiable evidence and success.Institutions are also selected on the basis of statistical data and recommendations from analytical, sociological, research, advertising rating and PR-agencies.General Manager of the Trust Hospital, Dr Darius Kofi Osei, in an exclusive interview with this reporter, said the award is in recognition of the hard work and prudent management put in place to run the facility in recent times.The hospital’s objective to be the best in the country was what helped us in beating our competitors to the award, Dr Kofi Osei added.He said since the redefinition of the role of management, there has been a tremendous improvement in its performance.Dr Kofi Osei intimated that the exceptional contribution of the staff cannot be gloss over.The Trust Hospital, which is one of Ghana’s premium hospitals, has played major role in the expansion of Ghana’s health infrastructure and enhancement of service delivery over the years.The hospital has six clinics strategically positioned in the Greater Accra Region to serve the health needs of patients, especially in the remote areas.The hospital, owned by SSNIT, has operated as a limited liability company since 2012 and it is estimated that an average of 300 patients visit the facility every day.

POPE FRANCIS NEW RULE ON THE TITLE " MONSIGNOR"

The Secretariate at the holy see has issued a statement explaining the change in practice Pope Francis has instituted regarding the granting of the title of Monsignor.
By a circular letter sent to the world's Nunciatures, the Secretariat informed Bishop Conferences that in the World's Dioceses, the only ecclesiatical title henceforth to be conferred shall be " Caplain of his Holiness" to which the appellation " Monsignor" shall correspond.

The circular further clarifies that the use of the title " Monsignor" in connection with certain major offices -where this is a cultural practice ( Bishop, Vicar General etc ) remains unchanged.
With regards to Roman Curia, no changes have been made either in the title or in the use of the appellation Monsignor, these being connected to the offices entrusted and to the services performed.

The title shall be conferred only upon preist who have reached the age of 65.
It also noted that the rule has no retroactive effect thetefore all those who already bear the title Monsignor will not be affected even if they are below the age 65.

COURT JAILS 2, FOR 35 YEARS IN COCAINE SAGA.

Two members of the drug syndicate who were arrested by the Narcotics Control Board of Ghana and its various agencies late last year on Ghanaian waters for trafficking 414 slabs of cocaine into the country have been sentenced by an Accra High Court to 35 years imprisonment with hard labour.

The two, namely, Miller Ronald O’Neil, 55, a Guyanese and Captain of the Guyanese ship and Seth Grant 43, a Ghanaian and father of three, were convicted on their own plea and sentenced to 20 and 15 years respectively on each of the three counts leveled against them to run concurrently.

The two were part of the of the five persons arrested on MV ATTIYAH, a Guyanese ship.

The 2nd accused person Ronald O’Neil who doubles as the Captain of the ship, MV “ATIYAH, George-Town, told the court that he was aware of the whole syndicate, adding that he was lured into the entire move due to the financial debts and the love for money.

He also narrated to the court, which was presided over by Justice C.J. Hoenyenugah, an Appeal court judge, sitting as an additional High Court judge that  he had been into the drug business before which led to his first incarceration in Holland eighteen years ago when he was a seaman.

The court before pronouncing its final verdict against the two accused who had already pleaded guilty, ordered that a field test be conducted on the 414 slaps of exhibits suspected to be cocaine by Martin Adarkwa Yiadom, Head of Drug, Cosmetic and Forensic Department of the Ghana Standard Authority, which turned out to be positive for narcotic drug.

The trial judge, Justice C.J. Hoenyenugah in his ruling noted that the conviction was necessary considering the gravity of the offense and the reputation of the country therefore leveling three counts against the two accused persons.

The counts were (i) Engaging in criminal conspiracy by trading in narcotic drug business under section 3 (3) & 56 of PNDC Law 236/90; (ii) Importation of Narcotic drug without lawful authority under section 1 (a) of PNDC Law 236/90 and (iii) Possessing Narcotic drugs without lawful authority under section 2 (1) of PNDC Law 236 /90.

Meanwhile, the remaining three accused persons, Perceval Curt, Samuel Mornty and Saint Praimchad, all Guyanese, who were also allegedly involved in the crime and who pleaded not guilty are expected to appear in court on January 10, to stand trial on the alleged offenses leveled against them by the narcotics control Board Investigators.

The trial judge after his judgment ordered for the destruction of 413 slabs of the 414 tendered in as exhibit by officials from the Narcotic Control Board. The one remaining slap left as exhibit for the trial of the remaining three accused persons.

It would be recalled that, on Monday November 19th, 2013, the five were arrested in the Western region aboard a Guyanese ship, “ATIYAH, George-Town” which was carrying 21 bags of substances suspected to be cocaine with a street value of 60 million dollars.

The five first appeared in court on December 23rd where the two pleaded guilty for the counts leveled against them.

The successful interception was ably executed by officials of the Narcotic Control Board (NACOB) and its various security agencies following a tip-off from Ghana’s international security partners when the ship was sailing from Guyana.

Source: NACCOB Communication unit.