February 13

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News
DAILY HERITAGE, TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2018
WWW.DAILYHERITAGE.COM.GH
UN Secretary General’s
Envoy on Youth visits
Agbogbloshie
BY LOIS DOGBE, GIJ INTERN
AS PART of efforts to develop the
youth in Ghana, the United Nations
(UN) General Secretary’s Envoy on
Youth, Ms Jayathma Wickramanayake
has engaged the youth to solicit their
views on their needs.
During a one-day tour to engage
the youth at the Agbobloshie market,
Ms Wickramanayake had the privilege
to be guided by the United Nations
Population’s Fund representative, Mr
Niyi Ojuolape and Madame Doris
Mawuse Aglobitse, a communications
programme analyst, as well as
Madame Selina Owusu, a gender
programme analyst.
Ms Wickramanayake also paid a
courtesy call on the Canadian High
Commissioner to Ghana, Ms. Heather
Cameron and Mr Isaac Asiamah,
Minister for Youth and Sports.
The Envoy’s visit was in line with
the UN’s agenda in the 2030 roadmap
for Africa, which seeks to mobilise
and to realise potentials.
“I’m here to talk and listen to
young people, take ideas and seek for
solutions and to share with the UN
and the rest of the world, congrats for
the good work that you have being
doing, it’s truly an honour to be here,”
she stated.
The Minister of Youth and Sports
said “unemployment is a threat to
democracy, peace and stability and
that is why in Ghana whatever we do
is about targeting the youth and
unemployment to make sure that there
are programmes that could engage
them in society.
“I’m happy to know that our
young people are engaging in the
‘Planting for Food and Jobs’ initiative
because the land is there and is an
opportunity for us to secure jobs for
our people.
“As a Youth and Sports Ministry,
we are going to build 10 multipurpose
youth centres consisting of an
Information and Communications
Technology (ICT) unit, restaurant,
counseling centre, and multipurpose
sporting facilities, as a Minister for
Youth and Sports I assure you that
your future is being guaranteed.”
On his part, Mr Emmanuel Sin-
Nyet Asigri, Chief Executive Officer
of the National Youth Authority,
under the Ministry disclosed that,
there was a launch of the Digital
Market Programme targeting about
3,000 youth to ensure that “we have
youth who are well vested in ICT who
can develop their own programme and
brand their own businesses and
empower themselves,” he said.
Ms Wickramanayake, upon hearing
this, expressed enthusiasm to aid in
whatever way possible “Africa and
Ghana specifically, have energy and
potential and that opportunity needs
to be used as a positive tool in the
region at large , we hope to use each
other’s expertise to work together to
attain a greater goal,” she said.
Ms Wickramanayake, as part of her
tour visited the Agbogbloshie market,
specifically to see the needs of the
Kayayei’s in the market.
The Kayayei’s had one request to
be granted, the assurance that the
marginalised in society would be
attended to in cases of child marriage,
education, vocational skills and to
acknowledge them in all her
engagements in policy making.
Ms Wickramanayake, who was
touched, promised to keep the people
of Agbogbloshie in mind.
•Ms Jayathma Wickramanayake and Mr Isaac Asiamah, Minister for
Youth and Sports
Pupils carry bamboo to school
PUPILS OF Abertima D/A
Primary School in the
Upper Manya Krobo
District of the Eastern
Region have been asked to
bring bamboo and palm
fronds to school to renovate the
collapsing bamboo-made classrooms.
Announcing to the pupils at
Assembly when the DAILY
HERITAGE visited the school, a
teacher said, "class 3 to 6, you are
bringing bamboos to school. It should
be 12 inches.”
Abertima D/A Primary School,
located near the official residence of
the District Chief Executive for the
area, lacks adequate classroo m block.
The only two-classroom-unit block
in the school was constructed by Plan
International, Ghana for the
Kindergarten pupils.
Pupils of class one to six learn in
bamboo-made shed roofed with palm
fronds.
Teaching and learning is always
disrupted whenever it rains. During
raining season teaching becomes
impossible; also in the dry season, the
high temperatures cause the palm
ZONGO CHIEFS in Ghana have
appealed to the National House of
Chiefs to consider the inclusion of
representatives of Zongo Chiefs into
Regional and National House of
Chiefs.
The Paramount Chief and Leader
of all Zongo Chiefs in Ghana,
Maimartaba Sarkin Zongo Sultan
Alhaji Omar Farouk Saeed believes
their inclusion would help deepen
harmony in the country and bridge
communication gap.
“Zongo chiefs appeal now to the
President of the National House of
Chiefs, Togbe Afede XIV, to
consider, together with other chiefs,
to include Regional Zongo Chiefs
where they are not part of the
traditional chiefs, and at least give two
slots of Zongo representatives into
the National House of Chiefs.”
He said this in Koforidua on
Saturday during the 5th Annual
Conference of National Association
of Zongo Chiefs on the theme
‘Education, the Bedrock of Poverty
Alleviation in the Zongo
Communities.’
Maimartaba Saeed commended
President Nana Akufo-Addo for
fulfilling his promise by creating
Inner Cities and Zongo Development
Ministry. He, however, appealed to
government to include Zongo chiefs
on the Board of the newly
established Zongo Development
Fund.
He also appealed for more
political appointments from the
Zongo communities.
fronds roof to dry easily,
hence pupils are compelled to
bring palm fronds every two
weeks to roof the bamboomade
classrooms.
The dirty, worn out
uniform -looking pupils
reflect the dusty and dirty
environment in which
they access basic
education.
Inadequate teaching
and learning materials has
compounded the
challenges facing the
school.
Teachers in the school
were reluctant to grant
recorded interview for
fear of being victimised
by Ghana Education and
political heads in the
district, however they
expressed worry over the
condition the school
under anonymity.
A six-unit classroom
block started in 2016 had
stalled at foundation level
after the election.
Astroturf not a priority to Zongos-Zongo chiefs
BY KOJO ANSAH
• To renovate classroom
•Pupils of Abertima D/A Primary School
•Alhaji Abubakar Sadique Boniface (M), Minister of Inner Cities and Zongo Development
Also in
attendance
was the
Second Lady,
Mrs Samira
Bawumia and
Minister of
Inner Cities
and Zongo
Development,
Alhaji
Abubakar
Sadique
Boniface.
First
Speaker, Alhaji
Mahamadu
Dendey Maze
Waje IV -
Chief Zongo
of Cape said
the Zongo
communities
are lagging
due to misplaced priority.
He said the Zongo Ministry is
committing the same mistake with the
construction of astroturf in the
Zongos which is not a priority area
for Zongo communities.
However, the Minister of Inner
The state of
educational infrastructure at the basic
education level in the Upper Manya
Krobo District of the Eastern Region
continues to expose government’s
neglect of primary education.
Poor BECE performance
The bad state of schools in the
district is a manifestation of the poor
performance of students in Basic
Education Certificate Examination
(BECE).
The 2016/2017 data obtained in
the Upper Manya Krobo District
indicated that total population in basic
schools was 10,604.
Averagely, only one -third of
candidates who write BECE pass
every year.
In 2016/2017, out of the 786
candidates who wrote the BECE, only
275, 283 and 343 candidates passed
Mathematics, Science and English
respectively.
Out of 475 teachers teaching in
basic schools in the district, 365 are
trained.
Cities and Zongo Development
explained the importance of the
astroturf projects to the development
of Zongo communities.
The Second Speaker, Sheik Abdul
Moomeen Dalhu - Sarkin Zongo of
Tamale, who gave historical
antecedents of Zongo communities
said, Zongo communities have not
received their share of national
development over the years despite
their contribution to national
development.
“Zongo chiefs appeal now
to the President of the
National House of Chiefs,
Togbe Afede XIV, to consider,
together with other chiefs, to
include Regional Zongo
Chiefs where they are not
part of the traditional chiefs,
and at least give two slots of
Zongo representatives into
the National House of
Chiefs.”
•Dr Mahamudu Bawumia and wife, Samira
Samira was my
‘chief nurse’
while on medical
leave – Bawumia
BY KWADWO ANIM
VICE PRESIDENT of the
Republic, Dr Alhaji Mahamudu
Bawumia has showed love to
his wife, Samira Bawumia who
she partly credits for his speedy
recovery after he took ill
recently.
According to him, his wife
who was away with him on
medical leave in the United
Kingdom, played the role of a
‘chief nurse’ and ensured that
he strictly complied with
instructions given to him by his
doctors.
“I want to give thanks to my
lovely wife Samira, though there
were nurses, she was the chief
nurse and she seized all my
phones and made sure I was
resting and not trying to do
anything but rest. So I really
thank her so much, the doctor
said that, you said that the
battle is the Lord’s but today
the Lord has caught up with
you, you have to rest,” Dr
Bawumia told congregants at
the International Central
Gospel Church, Abossey Okai
on Sunday where he attended a
thanksgiving service to thank
God for healing him.
He told the gathering that he
was sure the Hand of God
healed him after he was taken ill
in Ghana a few weeks ago,
necessitating a two-week
medical leave to England.
The Vice President was full
of thanks to both the Christian
and Muslim Communities in
Ghana saying he believes that
he had a special visitation from
God as a result of the many
prayers offered for him and it is
the reason for his state of good
health today.
The Vice President left
Accra to London on January 19,
2018, on the advice of his
physician after being announced
sick. After announcing his
return to work in a Facebook
post on Friday aimed at
expressing his “sincere
gratitude” to Ghanaians for
their prayers and support while
away on medical leave, Dr
Bawumia joined the National
Chief Imam Sheikh Nuhu
Sharubutu to observe the
Friday prayers at the Central
Mosque at Abossey-Okai.
According to
him, his wife who
was away with
him on medical
leave in the
United Kingdom,
played the role of
a ‘chief nurse’
and ensured that
he strictly
complied with
instructions given
to him by his
doctors.