MAY 20

NO. 100796 MONDAY, MAY 20, 2019
PRICE: GH¢2.00
DAILYHERITAGE.COM.GH
•DSP Emmanuel
Asante
•Shirley Naana Ampem, NDC Eastern
Regional Women Organiser carrying the baby
•
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02
DAILY QUOTE
“It’s Not Whether You
Get Knocked Down, It’s
Whether You Get Up.”
– By Vince Lombardi
CONTENT
ANNIVERSARIES
Eid al-Fitr - Wednesday, 5th June*
Founders' Day - Sunday, 4th August
DAILY HERITAGE MONDAY, MAY 20, 2019
Published by: EIB
Network / Heritage
Communications Ltd.
Managing Editor:
William Asiedu:
0208156974
Acting Editor:
Kweku Gyasi Essel:
0244744973
ISSN: 0855-52307
VOL 7
Location: Meridian
House (Starr FM) Ring
Road. Box AD 676,
Adabraka, Accra,Ghana.
Telephone: +233-0302-
236051, 020-8156974
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Email:
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www.dailyheritage.com.gh
Police Commander clears air
• Over GH¢10,000 allegation
BY PHILIP ANTOH
philip.antoh@dailyheritage.com.gh
THE COMMANDER at the Accra
Railway Police Station, DSP Emmanuel
Ofori Asante, has denied an
allegation levelled against him by
petty traders in the CMB area that
he has taken GH₡10,000.00 from a shop owner
to sack them from operating in the area.
According to DSP Asante, there has not been
any such transaction, explaining that where the
women sell their wares is unsuitable because of
the risk to their lives from vehicular movements.
“Also, the congestion in the area makes emergency
services very difficult to perform. When
there is a fire outbreak the fire service finds it difficult
getting access to the place. The police also
find it difficult to operate in the wake of criminal
acts,” he said.
He also denied the allegation that he collected
GH¢30.00 each from traders he had detained before
releasing them, but maintained that he detained
some traders for selling at unauthorised
place, which is criminal under section 287 of the
Criminal Act of 1960 (Act 29).
He said any time he detained the traders, he
cautioned them and released them, “so I don’t
know where this GH¢30.00 thing is coming
from. I want to say it here that I didn’t take any
money from anybody but our actions were to ensure
sanity in the area.”
DSP Asante, who visited the offices of the
DAILY HERITAGE last Friday in the company
of two of his officers, said “trading activities
in National Investment Bank area prevent
free flow of vehicles, causing human and vehicular
traffic during the prime time of the day, hence
the need to do something about the situation.”
The police commander said the attempt to
evict the traders was a decision taken by the Municipal
security committee, basing the decision on
the havoc created with regard to the risk to lives,
the congestion and the “unimaginable” filth the
traders generated in the area.
DSP Asante said the menace in the Railways
and CMB area is a national social problem but
because some people benefit from it, anyone who
attempts to tackle it becomes an enemy.
He said the traders themselves, buyers, traders
and drivers unions, even politicians who make
political capital out of it against their opponents
and a host of other stakeholders are the beneficiaries,
but was quick to add that “the same stakeholders
must be the ones to help solve the problem”.
He appealed to the DAILY HERITAGE
and other media outlets to use their space to educate
traders in general to respect the rules of not
selling at unauthorised places like pavements.
It would be recalled that on Thursday, April
25, 2019, the DAILY HERITAGE published
a front page story titled ‘CMB traders call for
Railway Police Commander’s head, Accuse him
of constant harassment’. The story contained
traders’ allegations against the commander, to the
extent that DSP Asante had been paid by a shop
owner to evict the traders and that he had also
been using harassment as a weapon to extort
money from them.
NDC adopts son of murdered teacher
FROM KOJO ANSAH, K’DUA
THE EASTERN Regional
Women's Wing of the opposition
National Democratic Congress
(NDC) has commiserated with the
bereaved family of the murdered
teacher of Asiakwa Salvation
Army Basic School.
The NDC entourage to the
house of the bereaved was led by
the Regional Women’s Organizer,
Shirley Naana Ampem, accompanied
by the Regional Vice Chairman,
George Mensah Akpalu,
Regional Organizer, Hackman Kabore,
and some constituency
women organizers.
They donated soft drinks, packs
of bottled water, toiletries, washing
powder, detergents, baby products
and cash to the bereaved family on
Friday.
The party also promised to
support the family to provide a fitting
burial for their late relative.
Shirley Naana Ampem, on behalf
of the party, announced adoption
of and educational
sponsorship for four-year old
Kwadwo Abrokwa Somuah, the
second child of the deceased, from
• Eastern Regional NDC Executive members with the widow and son
basic school to the university.
She told the bereaved family
that the gesture was not to score
political point but to support and
encourage their fellow woman who
had suddenly become a widow due
to a bizarre circumstance that had
ended life of her husband.
She, however, joined calls for
justice to be served while urging
the government to step up efforts
to curb the growing state of insecurity
in the country.
The Head of the bereaved
family, Opanyin Agyare, recounted
the callous circumstance
in which the teacher was killed by
the six former students of the
school, reiterating justice was only
what the family was craving for.
Opanyin Agyare said the family
had slated July 26, 2019 for the
burial of their relative.
George Somuah Bosompem
was the Steward of the Methodist
Church Church and a Religious
and Moral Education and Twi
teacher at the Salvation Army
Basic School.
He was brutalized to death
by six young men for protesting
against the invasion of the school
farms by wee smokers who steal
snails and defaecate in the school.
All six accused persons --
Richard Amaning, 18, Mireku Emmanuel,
19, Philip Kodie, 19, Offei
Frimpong, 19, Ezekiel Boadu, 20,
and Evans Aboagye, 19, have been
remanded in prison custody by the
Kibi District Magistrate Court to
reappear on June 25, 2019.
The accused are facing charges
of conspiracy to commit crime, to
wit, murder and murder .
The late 57-year-old Somuah
Bosompem, described by many as
affable and hardworking, was married
to Adwoa Asieduwaa and
had three children, Charlotte Aduako
Somuah, 18,currently writing
the WASSCE, Kwadwo Somuah
Bosompem, 4, and four-month-old
Abrokwa Somuah.

WWW.DAILYHERITAGE.COM.GH
DAILY HERITAGE MONDAY, MAY 20, 2019
03
No more files
at hospitals
BY PHILIP ANTOH
philip.antoh@dailyheritage.com.gh
THE VICE President,
Dr Mahamudu Bawumia,
has stated that
within the next 18
months, Ghana is
going to experience paperless
healthcare system where information
of patients would be accessed
on the computer.
According to him, the era of
health professionals having to
carry files containing information
of patients would be over when
the country begins full operation
of the Health Management Information
System as part of the digitised
of health records.
Dr Bawumia said the process is
currently being piloted in various
hospitals in the country and after
the piloting is done “we will have
paperless healthcare system where
information of patients can be accessed
on the computer.”
“The system is such that files
can be accessed from one department
to the other while those on
transfer would not have to carry
files to the other hospital but
would be digitised,” he said.
Addressing the Ghana Military
Academy ‘2019 Special Medical Intake
5’ Graduation Parade at the
Adiko Square of the Academy at
Teshie, Dr Bawumia said the government
was expecting the arrival
of 275 ambulances by July this
year, to make treatment of emergency
cases effective.
• As health sector
goes paperless
• Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia presenting an award to one of the recruits
Security
Despite recent security threat in West
Africa, the Vice President assured the public
of the government’s commitment to resourcing
the Ghana Armed Forces to deal
with the emerging security complexities
and threats confronting Ghana.
Dr Bawumia said the role of the Ghana
Armed Forces had become even more profound,
giving the new security threats and
complexities facing Ghana and the entire
West African sub-region today.
“In the face of these emerging security
threats, Ghana can move forward only in
an atmosphere of peace and security and as
a nation, we can only rely on the unflinching
steadfastness of the armed forces in
collaboration with other security agencies
to ensure the security of the nation,” he
stated.
He added that the Akufo Addo-led government
“will continue to ensure that the
Ghana Armed Forces is well equipped and
highly motivated to combat any threat to
the peace and security of our nation”.
“The provision of resources and your
logistic requirements is one of the major
priorities of the President,” the Vice President
said.
Charge
The Vice President charged the recruits
to guard the ‘discipline accolade’ of the
Ghana Armed Forces jealously.
“Let it shape you at all times in order
that your call to service shall continually be
devoted to Ghana. Shy away from all
forms of behaviours that lead you to the
insatiable quest for material wealth as it has
the potential to steer you off your noble
calling," Dr Bawumia stated.
Graduating statistics
In all, 116 officers were commissioned
into the Ghana Armed Forces, with 65 of
them graduated as cadets for the Army, 20
for the Navy, and 31 for the Air Force.
Awards
The Chief of Defence Staff Award
went to Junior Under Officer Jerry
Agustino Ackuaku, the Commandant's
Prize went to Cadet Sergeant Emmanuel
Osafo and the best female award went to
Cadet Corporal Araba Abakah Fordjour.
The Academy
The Ghana Military Academy was established
on April 1, 1960 after years of reliance
on foreign military academies to
commission potential Ghanaian officers for
the Ghana Armed Forces.
The Academy grew out of the Regular
Officers Special Training School, which
was established at MATS, Teshie, in 1953.
This School provided six months’ preparatory
training for selected cadets from the
British West African colonies, namely Nigeria,
The Gold Coast (now Ghana), Sierra
Leone and The Gambia, prior to their
being sent to the UK or other overseas
countries for further officer training and
commissioning.

Inside May 20, 2019.qxp_Layout 1 5/18/19 1:17 PM Page 3
• Callixte Nsabimana is a member of the
National Liberation Front
Rwanda parades captured rebel group spokesperson
THE RWANDA Investigation
Bureau has paraded
before the media a leading
member of a rebel movement.
Callixte Nsabimana,
alias Sankara, who is a
spokesperson for the National
Liberation Front
(FLN), appeared in public
for the first time since he
was captured in Comoros
on 13 April and secretly
handed to Rwandan authorities.
Rwanda accuses Mr
Nsabimana of acts of terrorism
and he faces life
imprisonment, in line with
the country's new law on
terrorism.
Mr Nsabimana did not
speak during his public appearance.
His lawyer said
his client preferred to remain
silent.
Mr Nsabimana has previously
declared war on
the Rwandan government
and has said that the FLN
was responsible for last
year's deadly attacks in
south-west Rwanda.
The authorities in both
Rwanda and Comoros
have not commented on
the secret extradition of
Mr Nsabimana. But on 30
April Rwanda's foreign
minister admitted that he
was in custody. BBC
DAILY HERITAGE MONDAY, MAY 20, 2019
WWW.DAILYHERITAGE.COM.GH
Poland plans to double jail
terms for paedophiles
POLAND HAS announced
plans to double jail terms
for paedophiles after a documentary
on priest sex
abuse sparked outrage in
the country.
Convicted paedophiles could now
face a maximum sentence of 30 years
or, in the most serious cases, life in
prison.
The documentary includes harrowing
testimonies from victims and has
been viewed more than 18 million
times.
Correspondents say the conservative
government, allied to the Catholic
Church, is scrambling to react.
However the ruling Law and Justice
party says the legal amendments have
been in the works for months. The proposal
will now go to the senate.
The announcement comes 10 days
ahead of the European Parliament elections.
Law and Justice is currently
polling neck-and-neck with the European
Coalition, a collective of opposition
parties.
Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki
said it was the government's "strong
conviction" that suspended sentences
should not apply in cases of paedophilia.
"It is difficult to imagine a more serious
offence than the betrayal of the
trust of the youngest people, those
placed under someone's protection," he
said.
"Therefore, people, who are
guardians in various institutions, including
all secular and Church institutions,
all such persons will have to bear even
more severe penalties."
The documentary "Only Don't Tell
Anyone" includes secret camera footage
of victims confronting priests about
their alleged abuse. Some of the priests
admit to the abuse.
Police have prevented the documentary
from being projected on to the
façade of churches in Warsaw and
Gdansk. BBC
World news in 4 stories
• Ambassador Andreas Guibeb of Namibia pictured in Germany
with the Stone Cross
Germany to return 15th
Century cross to Namibia
•Maternity leave is a
right for working
mothers in many
years in prison
countries
• Riek Machar (l) and Salva Kiir shook hands in their "final final" peace deal last year
• Convicted paedophiles
could face a maximum of 30
• President Abdelaziz Bouteflika has
led Algeria since 1999
A GERMAN museum has
announced that it is returning
to Namibia a
stone cross that was
erected on its coastline by
Portuguese explorers in
the 15th Century.
The cross, which
stands atop a stone pillar,
is one of the few objects
that testify to Portuguese
occupation of the area.
The important navigational
landmark was taken
to Berlin in 1894, at a time
when Germany controlled
what was then the colony
of South-West Africa.
Namibia's ambassador
to Germany hailed the
restitution at a ceremony
in the German Historical
Museum in Berlin.
He said it was important
for the reconstruction
of Namibia's own history.
BBC
President Donald Trump 'does not want war with Iran’
US PRESIDENT Donald Trump
has said he does not want a war
with Iran amid rising tensions between
the two countries, according
to senior officials.
In a meeting on Wednesday the
president told aides he did not
want US pressure to turn into a
conflict.
The US has deployed warships
and planes to the Gulf and withdrawn
diplomatic staff from Iraq
in recent days.
Officials cited threats from Iran
for the moves.
•Tensions have risen between Iran under President Hassan Rouhani
and the US under President Donald Trump
The latest frictions come after
Iran suspended its commitments
under the 2015 international nuclear
deal, and threatened to resume
production of enriched
uranium.
The accord aimed to cut sanctions
on Iran in exchange for an
end to its nuclear programme, but
the US unilaterally withdrew from
the agreement last year and imposed
new sanctions.
Tehran has allegedly placed
missiles on boats in the Persian
Gulf, and US investigators reportedly
believe the country damaged
four tankers off the coast
of the United Arab Emirates -
claims Iran has denied.
But when asked by reporters
on Thursday if the US
was going to war with Iran, Mr
Trump answered: "I hope
not."
The president's National
Security Adviser John Bolton
warned Iran there would be
"hell to pay" if they harmed
the US or its allies last September.
BBC

WWW.DAILYHERITAGE.COM.GH
DAILY HERITAGE MONDAY, MAY 20, 2019
05
Editorial
The law must punish impunity
IMPUNITY IS gradually becoming
a canker in our society, if it has not
already been so. For those unlettered
in law, there seem to be laxity in our
laws or prosecutions and trials
delayed beyond the limits the public
see as normal. There is also the
suspicion that some heavy hands are
manipulating the system.
There are cases the public had
expected their closures but are
persisting for one reason or the
other and only God knows when
they would be disposed of. These are
not only cases in court but also those
before the various regional houses
of chiefs, family heads and other
avenues we can think of.
People have come to certain
conclusions with regard to how
miscreants and certain renowned
personalities in our dear country tell
the whole nation, by their action and
inaction, that they have chosen to
break the law so the rest of us can
go to hell. And they do this with all
the impunity because they see even
worse cases that have not been
punished yet.
What is most disheartening is
when issues are politicised and the
powers that be are dared to carry out
all their threats or decisions.
Politicians tacitly tell the rest of us
that we also can do our own things.
Therefore, even foreigners try to
get some links with people
connected to the corridors of power
such as politicians, officers of the
security services and bigwigs in other
sectors of our economy who could
pull strings in favour of law breakers.
On last Thursday’s edition of
Adom FM’s ‘Fabewoso’ programme
hosted by Captain Smart, he spoke
on phone with one Fatau from
Tumu who was described as the
leader of a Forestry Taskforce and
he spoke about startling things
happening in the forestry sector. For
instance, he questioned how timber
or wood dealers in the country could
fell certain ‘forbidden’ trees and cart
the logs to the local market or for
export, while we have forest guards
in the forests, and the police and
timber taskforce on the roads.
Fatau even said some public
officials could order the sale of
Rosewood to Helen Huang, the
Chinese woman at the centre of the
Rosewood in transit to be exported
to China when the logs were
impounded.
For all we know, there could be
multiples of cases similar to Ms
Huang’s involving foreigners, and we
should not gloss over such other
cases of impunity involving other
foreigners such as black marketing
of currencies. Some of us do not
understand why foreigners would
have the boldness to stand in the
open at Circle, Tudu, Cowlane, in the
vicinity of the Kotoka International
Airport and else in Accra and other
places in the country to sell our cedi.
It is all because they have come to
learn that unlike elsewhere, laws in
Ghana do not bite. This must
change for impunity among both
natives and foreigners to give way for
sanity to reign in the land of our
birth.
NLA trains NABCO recruits
in E-kiosk technology
THE NATIONAL Lottery
Authority (NLA),
in collaboration with
the Nation Builders
Corps (NABCO) secretariat
and overseas experts, has offered
training to about 36 NABCO
recruits on the premises of NLA in
technology transfer and procedures
for assembling the solar-powered E-
Kiosks.
The NLA, due to its commitment
to the Local Content and
Local Participation Law of Ghana,
reached a consensus with the
NABCO secretariat to train the
trainers in the technology for assembling
the E-Kiosks. This was contained
in a released issued by the
head of the Public Relations Unit of
the NLA.
The training of the first batch of
20 trainers started on February 18,
2019 and ended on the February 21,
2019.
After the successful training of
the first batch, Mr Mohammed Yahaya
from Ada was adjudged the
overall best trainer.
Mr Tuffour Nicholas from Sunyani
and Doreen Alaliga Bawa from
Tamale were first and second runners-up
respectively.
The second batch of the training,
involving 16 trainers, also
started from February 25 to February
28, 2019.
After the successful training of
the second batch, Mr Azoteyinne
• The new E-kiosks
Joshua from Bolgatanga was adjudged
overall best trainer. Mr
Atanga Michael Atadena from Bolgatanga
and Mr Twum Maxwell
from Techiman were first and second
runners-up respectively.
The criteria used for the selection
of the best trainers by the training
officials were hard work,
commitment to duty, discipline, efficiency,
effectiveness, smartness and
attention to details.
The NABCO trainers were selected
from all the regions of Ghana
and would be useful in training
other trainees in the E-Kiosk Assembling
Technology Transfer in
their respective regions, cities, districts
and polling stations.
It means that the E-Kiosk assembling
technology transfer would
be decentralised across the country,
thereby creating jobs for the local
economy.
The NABCO trainers said they
were very excited about the training
program and showed demonstrable
competence to transfer the E-kiosk
technology to the yet-to-be recruited
trainees.
They also praised the managements
of the NLA and the
NABCO secretariat for such a wonderful
and pragmatic training initiative
and collaboration.
The training of the NABCO Recruits
on the assembling of the E-
Kiosks has helped to; ensure the
transfer of technology, promote the
exchange of technical competencies,
skills and knowledge acquisition,
create sustainable jobs for the graduates
under the NABCO Programme
and adhere to the Local Content
and Local Participation Law of
Ghana.
The E-Kiosk Concept which is a
Private Sector driven project would
equally partner the Ghana Revenue
Authority, Commercial Banks, One
District One Factory Secretariat,
MMDAS, Insurance Companies,
Ghana Post Company Limited
and other agencies to make revenue
generation and collection convenient
in the country.
The E-kiosk would help to offer
a wide range of services such as
Lottery Products, Banking Services,
Western Union, Moneygram, Mobile
Money Transactions, Payment
of Utility Bills, Payment of DSTV
and GO TV Fees, Courier Services
etc.
The National Lottery Authority
through Private Partnership is expected
to roll out about 40, 000
solar-powered E-kiosks across the
Country.

Inside May 20, 2019.qxp_Layout 1 5/18/19 1:17 PM Page 5
06
Views
DAILY HERITAGE MONDAY, MAY 20, 2019
Indecent dressing debases women
BY ELIZABETH DANSO, STUDENT, GIJ
IN CONTEMPORARY
times, one might have noticed
how most ladies, even
married women, put on
clothes that reveal parts of
their bodies which hitherto
were considered sacred and
therefore forbidden to expose to
the public.
This deviant behaviour in our
society these days is gradually eating
into the moral fibre of our
country, which should not be
condoned.
Years ago, women
were the centre of
morality and decency
and it took
eternity to come
by a Ghanaian
woman
dressed in a
seductive,
sexual or
tempting
way. Today,
it is very uncommon
to
see majority of
women decently
dressed.
Some women
even go to the extent
of taking shots of their
naked bodies and uploading
them on social media, all in their
quest to get more likes, comments
and followers on social
media. Some too walk about
without brazziers just to free
•Indecent dressing debases women
their
nipples to
enable them to pierce through
their dresses. This has made majority
of bloggers to describe
such ladies as 'ashawobrities'.
Due to the influence
these ladies have on social
media, they are
gradually getting some
females to tread this
same path, hence the
emergence of 'slay
queens'.
Notwithstanding the
fact that most women
long to appear in fashionable
clothes that
might boost their confident
level and also
identify them as classy.
Clothes like ‘skinny’, ‘show your
stomach’, ‘bare back’, and
‘Apuskeleke’ as they are referred
to in our local parlance enslave,
demean, devalue and portray
women as whores. Such are patronized
all in the name of
modernity or fashion but this
should not be patronised.
It hurts even more to see how
some married women who are
supposed to inculcate moral values
in their children and other
young girls dressed in clothes that
display sensitive parts of their
bodies as if they are a new product
that is being unveiled. The
most irritating aspect of it is how
they gather the confidence to parade
themselves as
role models.
Forgive me for
being harsh but this
act is irritating, dehumanizing
and a disgrace
to womanhood.
Education is
mostly recognized as
a way of shaping
human behaviour. On
the contrary, most of
our dear ladies in institutions
of higher
learning -- universities,
polytechnics and
even training colleges
-- have the worse
sense of dressing;
their way of dressing
is so despicable. They
go for lectures in
clothes that depict
them like sex workers
trying to entice their clients.
The most ironic aspect of it is
how these half-naked students
complain of being sexually harassed
or raped by male lecturers
and male school mates. If I may
ask, what do they expect?. Men
are certainly not angels so it is
high time women stopped leading
innocent men to the abyss of
hell.
Sometimes one has to close
his or her eyes or sit in shame
when a lady comrade has her
beads and G-strings revealing to
almost everybody in a troski,
upon alighting from or getting on
board a vehicle. Such a pity!
The painful part of it is how
you receive insults from them
when you try correcting them. It
is so ridiculous how most of the
half-naked women desperately
cover their mobile phones instead
of their bodies, which is capable
of making someone sin.
Dressing decently does not
make a woman nerd or less
human but it rather makes people
to accord you great respect. God,
in the fullness of His time and
knowledge, hides all precious resources
beneath the earth. A
woman's body is more precious
than any of those minerals and it
needs to be hidden too.
Cover your bodies as cultured
and disciplined women and you
will be respected.
Remember that nudity cannot
fetch any woman a good and responsible
husband.
The writer is a level 300
student of the Ghana Institute
of Journalism
BY GEORGINA WUNKUMI MABE,
STUDENT, GIJ
GROWING UP in the village
while living with my mum, I realized
that there were certain times
in the month that my mum would
just stay in the room throughout,
sometimes for up to a week. All
she did was to eat, take her bath,
then sleep.
I never understood why until I
got a bit older. It was all because
she was “menstruating”. She was
considered unclean and so she
was not allowed anywhere near
my father until her period was
over. She could not cook, wash or
even touch anything that would
be used by my father or any male
in the house (that was 12 years
ago).
A lot of things have changed
since then but this problem still
exists in some villages in the
Northern Region of Ghana.
Menstruation is not a taboo
Menstruation is a normal
monthly flow of blood and any
adolescent girl could experience
this. Culturally and religiously,
the people of the Northern Region
believe that a menstruating
woman is impure and therefore
cannot mix with other people,
especially males. Thanks to education,
many people are now enlightened
about this condition
but there are people who still
hold this notion, particularly Islamic
and traditional communities.
Girls of school age are the
most affected by this mentality.
They have to stay out of school
throughout their period because
they are stigmatized by boys. The
case is even worse for girls who
live in poor and deprived communities.
They do not have any
knowledge about menstrual hygiene
and do not know how to
manage themselves during their
Some of these girls
use rags to catch the
flow of blood during
their period. They
wash these rags
(sometimes without
soap) and hang them
in the room because
they are too shy to
dry them in the sun.
For girls whose parents
are able to buy
them sanitary towels,
they use just one for
a full day because
they have to manage
it to last the whole
period.
period so that the boys do not
find out. Some do not have access
to hygiene products and in
cases where they even do, they
cannot afford them.
Some of these girls use rags to
catch the flow of blood during
their period. They wash these
rags (sometimes without soap)
and hang them in the room because
they are too shy to dry
them in the sun. For girls whose
parents are able to buy them sanitary
towels, they use just one for a
full day because they have to
manage it to last the whole period.
These practices pose serious
health problems to the girls.
Besides, some schools do not
have facilities that will aid them to
manage this condition properly
while they are in school. In the
case where they stain their clothes
with the blood (which happens
often), they have to go back
home to change and some do not
come back to school.
According to a report
launched by Catholic Relief Services
(CRS), a Christian NGO, in
2016, 95% of girls stay out of
school during their period because
they are shy, and 20% stay
out because their schools do not
have facilities to help them manage
the condition.
With the help of non-governmental
and civil society organizations
like UNICEF, CRS,
NOORSAC and Garls World,
menstrual hygiene is improving in
the Northern Region but more
education and facilities are
needed to get everyone covered,
and to make others, especially
males, know that menstruation is
not a taboo but rather one sure
way to tell that a woman is fruitful..
The writer is a level 300
student of the Ghana Institute
of Journalism

Inside May 20, 2019.qxp_Layout 1 5/18/19 1:17 PM Page 6
5 Things you can do to prevent stroke
• Lower blood pressure
High blood pressure is a huge
factor, doubling or even quadrupling
your stroke risk if it is not
controlled. ‘High blood pressure is
the biggest contributor to the risk
of stroke in both men and women.
• Lose weight
Obesity, as well as the complications
linked to it (including high
blood pressure and diabetes),
raises your odds of having a
stroke. If you're overweight, losing
as little as 10 pounds can have a
real impact on your stroke risk.
• Exercise more
Exercise contributes to losing
weight and lowering blood pressure,
but it also stands on its own
as an independent stroke
reducer.Take a walk around your
neighborhood every morning after
breakfast.
Drink in moderation
Drinking can make you less
likely to have a stroke up to a
point. Studies have shown that if
you have about one drink per day,
your risk may be lower.
WWW.DAILYHERITAGE.COM.GH
DAILY HERITAGE MONDAY, MAY 20, 2019
&Env.
Physician assistants: the major pillars
of primary healthcare in Ghana
BY SAMUEL WIAFE
PRIMARY HEALTH-
CARE (PHC) refers to
‘essential health care’ that
is based on scientifically
sound and socially acceptable
methods and technology,
which make universal health
care accessible to all individuals and
families in a community.
It is through the full participation
of all stakeholders and at a cost that
the community and the country can
afford to maintain at every stage of
their development in the spirit of selfreliance
and self-determination.
This ideal model of healthcare was
adopted during Alma Ata Declaration
in 1978 at Kazakhstan, and became a
core concept of the World Health Organization's
goal of Health for all.
The Alma Ata Conference mobilised
a ‘Primary Healthcare movement’
of professionals and
institutions, governments and civil society
organizations, researchers and
grass-roots organizations that undertook
to tackle the ‘politically, socially
and economically unacceptable’ health
inequalities in all countries
Ultimate goal of
primary healthcare
The ultimate goal of primary
healthcare is the attainment of better
health services for all. It is for this reason
that the World Health Organisation
(WHO) has identified five key
elements for achieving this goal,
namely universal coverage reforms;
service delivery reforms; public policy
reforms; leadership reforms; and increasing
stakeholder participation.
Behind these elements lies a series
of basic principles identified in the
Alma Ata Declaration that should be
formulated in national policies in
order to launch and sustain PHC as
part of a comprehensive health system
and in coordination with other sectors.
The 4th, 5th and 6th portions of
the eight Millennium Development
Goals set in the year 2000 place emphasis
on reducing child mortality, improving
maternal health and
combating HIV/AIDS, malaria and
other diseases.
Therefore in order to achieve this,
a comprehensive healthcare is required
which relies on an adequate number
and distribution of trained physicians,
nurses, allied health professions, community
health workers and others
working as a health team and supported
at the local and referral levels.
(WHO)
Additionally, it requires the commitment
of the government of the
day to infuse into the health system resources
to improve the health of the
citizens in the country.
But how is this achievable if the
government does not have a team of
dedicated work force, who are ready to
serve in their capacity everywhere they
are posted within the country?
With the growing demand for better
health care across the country by
citizens of this country, which has led
to government upon government embarking
on various forms of expansion
at various health facilities, it
seems not to be enough to accommodate
all our patients in the country
leading to congestion and spill over at
the various health facilities, especially
regional and tertiary health institutions.
Ghana, as a country, has chalked
up successes from adopting the PHC
model.
The burden of the community in
having to travel distances to seek
health care and the numerous number
• Physician assistants are the pillars of healthcare in rural communities
of mortalities that occur through these
means have drastically reduced though
not eliminated. This is in spite of the
implementation of the CHPs concepts,
establishment of health centres
and district hospitals, increased training
of health workers, particularly
those who serve at the community and
in rural areas and deployment of logistics
to such hard-to-reach areas for the
initiation of care and to fall on referral
protocols, if necessary. Among the
cadres that work in such deplorable
areas are the Physician Assistants.
Who is Physician
Assistant?
Who is a Physician Assistant (medical)
in Ghana and around the globe?
Formerly called Medical Assistant, A
Physician Assistants (PA) is one
trained by the health training institutions
in the country to bridge the gap
between doctor-patient ratio and to
save the dying who could not reach
the hospitals but yet need urgent care
to survive.
They are trained in community
medicine and health, public health,
surgery and obstetrics and gynaecology
within a period of four years and
practise independently after their internship
at over thousand health centres
across the country and do so
within their scope of practice guarded
by the laws of the country and ethics
of the profession.
They are regulated by the Medical
and Dental Council of Ghana. This
category of workers practise medicine
and dentistry across the globe with
names such as Physician Assistants
(Ghana,USA, UK), Clinical Officers
(Kenya, Tanzania, Zambia, Burkina
Faso) etc.
A Physician Assistant is the subdistrict
head, though unofficially appointed,
and is answerable to the
district director of health services and
manages the health centre, with his or
her headship covering Administration,
Human Resource clinical work, health
promotion, Research & Surveys and
supervision of activities of the CHPS
compounds and Community-based
Volunteers within his catchment area.
From the 1950s up to the adoption
of PHC concept in 1978 and beyond,
the government saw a huge deficit in
the health sector due to the lack of
doctors in the country, which made it
impossible to achieve universal health
coverage and the then sustainable development
goals, now revised to millennium
development goals, hence the
need to train this special work force of
Physician Assistants to intervene in
the collapsing situation and bring
health closer to the people.
Unfortunately, after the Physician
Assistants have been and employed,
everyone including the government,
forgets about them and leave them to
their fate in deplorable facilities with
scarce resources, which most at times
leaves them to improvise but they have
survived and continue to sacrifice their
quota for this country to where it has
reached today. Not being privileged to
have electricity and even reception for
phone calls, the Physician Assistants
manage to deliver.
If someone will hear my voice
today as I put it in writing, they should
pat this category of health workers on
the back, motivate and give them the
requisite remunerations for their sacrifices,
for where there is no doctor
there is a Physician Assistant.
Threat
So if there is any threat against this
professional group, who are doing this
tremendous work in the country, then
it should be the concern of all to defend
them because without their efforts
our fathers, mothers, siblings,
uncles, nephews etc living in the rural
areas would either die in an emergency
because of lack of transportation coupled
with our bad roads or even suffer
complications because they could not
reach on time the hospital far away
from their commuinities.
Should this category of workers
not be empowered through career
progression and given other opportunities
to enable them to deliver better
services to the patients they treat every
day? Food for thought.
Physician Assistants are also found
in the consulting rooms of most of
our hospitals treating patients every
day. In Kenya and the other countries
they are also trained to perform caesarean
session and other surgeries as
well. They have gained the name doctor
in their villages where they practise
as some would ridiculously say village
doctor but they are proud of what
they do and proud to be called their
own name as Physician Assistants
(medical).
The country would not have
gained this much without the PHC
concept and would not have gained
same either without Physician Assistants
at the grass roots.

spread_ May 20, 2019.qxp_SHOWBIZ TEMP 5/18/19 1:16 PM Page 1
News
DAILY
Gborbu Wulomo performs
‘Jenten Nishwamor’
• Ahead of Homowo festival
BY MUNTALLA INUSAH
muntalla.inusah@dailyheritage.com
GBORBU WULOMO Shitse Wor-
Lumor Konor Borketey Laweh XXXIII
is calling on the youth and traditional
leaders within the Ga Dangme states to
be circumspect with their utterances,
especially when they borders on
falsehood.
He said the customs and traditions of
the Ga Dangme states had been thrown
away, especially by the younger
generation and such development had
resulted in twisting issues related to the
Ga Dangme customs and traditions.
Numo Gborbu Wulomo sounded this
caution at Nungua after performing the
‘Jenten Nishwamor’ rites, which giving a
pre-Homowo meal to the gods ahead of
the main Homowo festivals across the
Ga Dangme states in July/August.
He called on all the Ga Dangmes to
use the festive season to unite, protect
their culture and plan for development.
“Division amongst us would not
bring development. Let us use this
festive season to protect the Ga Dangme
languages and to unite and plan for the
future. People of Ga Dangme descent,
especially our younger generation, say
whatever they like and do not respect
our traditions. They need to come closer
and learn. They should take caution and
respect the customs and traditions of the
Ga Dangme state.
“If you want to say something, then it
must be the truth. Any persons who
would peddle falsehood would do so at
his/her peril. We don’t want lies. If you
know that what you are saying is not
true, be careful because we will pour
libation against you. Where we are is a
holy place and no one should lie about
us,” Numo Gborbu Wulomo cautioned.
What is Jenten Nishwamor?
The ‘Jenten Nishwamor’ is one of the
pre-Homowo events to present special
kind of meal to the gods in order to
keep them away from the Kpokpoi meal
which is served to celebrants during the
main Homowo festival.
The preparation of the meal is
accompanied by series of customs from
street-to-street and temple-to-temple.
The high priest of Nungua led the
delegation of priest and priestesses to
sprinkle the meal across to the gods.
Interestingly, a person who prepares this
meal does not have to talk in the course
of the preparation; he does communicate
only through signs.
Division amongst us
would not bring
development. Let us
use this festive
season to protect the
Ga Dangme
languages and to
unite and plan for the
future. People of Ga
Dangme descent,
especially our younger
generation, say
whatever they like and
do not respect our
traditions.
•Gborbu Wulomo Shitse Wor-Lumor Konor-Borketey Laweh XXXIII
leading the activities
THE MUCH-
ANTICIPATED
Closed Fishing Season
aimed at replenishing
the fishing stock in the
country has taken off
following a symbolic ceremony at
Winneba to officially close the sea
from May 15 to June 15, 2019.
The official ceremony performed
by the Minister of Fisheries and
Aquaculture Development, Mrs
Elizabeth Afoley Quaye, assisted by
her deputy, also saw officials of the
Fisheries Commission, Chief
Fishermen and fisherfolks throng the
area to witness the symbolic exercise.
Mrs Quaye, in her address to the
people, said the Act that endorses the
Closed Season was passed some 17
years ago and urged the fisher-folks
to strictly adhere to the closed season
THE 15TH edition of Galaxy
International School’s ‘Science and
Makers’ fair has been held with a call on
the students to ask more questions in
order for them to discover new things.
The annual event on the school’s
academic calendar is meant to encourage
the students to put the theories they have
studied in maths and science into practice
and also patronize science-related
activities.
The fair, on the theme ‘Imagine,
Invent and Inspire’, had 70 stands
displaying not only science projects but
also those areas such as Maths, Arts,
French and ICT.
The former Director of the Ghana
Education Service (GES), Prof Micheal
Nsowah, who performed the official
opening ceremony, commended Galaxy
International School for constantly
demystifying the study of science and
maths through such fairs.
“The importance of science in
nation-building cannot be
overemphasised. Any country which
wants to develop must put science at the
core of its education. Galaxy
International School is playing a major
role in trying to create interest in the
teaching of science and also create
interest in students for them to discover
things that can help this nation grow. The
to make it effective.
She said its implementation made
country is now on the road to
industrialisation and we need science to
do it,” he said.
‘Ask more questions’
He however expressed worry about
the rate at which tertiary institution like
the Kwame Nkrumah University of
Science and Technology and the
Polytechnics were paying more attention
to the humanities than the sciences.
“At the SHS, the idea is to get more
science students into the tertiary
institutions, but again that is not the case.
That is why Galaxy International School
has taken the giant step to deal with this.
We need science students who would be
interested in what we produce in this
country.
“We should know why we grow so
many crops but most of them go to
waste. We need students to unearth that
and give us the way forward. I expect
students to ask more questions to know
more about the how and why. If you start
asking questions, you will be able to come
out (sic) with solutions to these
problems,” Prof Nsowah said.
‘Train them young’
Pupils of the school between the ages
of three and sixteen showcased various
science experiments in physics, chemistry,
biology, social sciences and the arts at the
fair.
However, in his welcoming address,
Principal of the secondary division of the
school, Cafer Tepeli, explained that the
HERITAGE, MONDAY, MAY 20, 2019 WWW.DAILYHERITAGE.COM.GH
Historic 1-month ‘closed
fishing season’ underway
BY MUNTALLA INUSAH
muntalla.inusah@dailyheritage.com
it historic and called on fisher-folks to
respect the directives accordingly for
pivot around which science turns the
fortunes of the world revolves around the
outcomes of exhibitions organised for
the students at an early age.
“Science plays an important role in
our lives. It is what will make the world
the best place for all of us and improves
productivity. We all are beneficiaries of
many great inventions which have
changed the way we live. Science can
change our future but the future of our
science lies in the hands of aspiring
young people with great minds. Young
people can innovate and make the world a
better place to be,” he noted.
Mr Tepeli expressed worry over the
seemingly lack of interest of the ordinary
Ghanaian child towards the learning of
science due to the notion that the subject
a successful
closed season.
“We want to
see a very high
level of
compliance
because last year,
we were all here
when the
fishermen
complained that
we hadn’t had
enough
consultation with
them and, so, by
using the word
voluntary, what I
mean is that we
wanted them to
do it out of their
own will.
“The closed
season is a
management
measure that we are implementing
Galaxy Int’l School holds ‘Science and Makers’ fair 2019
BY MUNTALLA INUSAH
muntalla.inusah@dailyheritage.com
•Mrs Elizabeth Afoley Quaye, Minister of Fisheries and Aquaculture Development,
performing a symbolic exercise to mark the closed fishing season at Winneba
•Former Director of the Ghana Education
Service (GES), Prof Micheal Nsowah, who
performed the official opening ceremony
is extremely difficult to comprehend.
“Science is problem-solving and this is
the 15th edition of Science and Makers
fair. Carry out projects that solve
problems of the world. Build a sociocultural
environment and bring people
with common interest to the school and
opportunity to showcase the talent for the
future. Science plays valuable role in our
lives and has done this to create an
enabling environment. Telephone and
internets have all been inventions of
science and it is important to inspire the
young minds to take interest in science,”
he said.
National science fair
Madam Kate Agyei, the mathematics
and science coordinator at the Adentan
and we will need their compliance,
their support, to be able to
implement it fully,” she said.
Background
The ban on fishing announced by
the Ministry of Fisheries and
Aquaculture Development and the
Fisheries Commission took effect
from, May 15, 2019.
The closed season period is aimed
at achieving sustainable fishing and
also helping replenish the depleting
fish stock in the sea sub-sector due to
overexploitation and bad fishing
practices.
The ministry, in consultation with
the various stakeholders, agreed to
impose the ban in two phases for
inshore and artisanal fishers from
May 15 to June 30; and industrial
fishers from August 1 to September
30.
Municipal Assembly who represented the
municipal director of education urged the
students not to leave whatever they study
in the classroom to remain there.
“It is important we don’t leave what
we study in the school in the school. We
will have regional and national science
fair.
The students mounted a variety of
projects from biology, chemistry, physics,
maths and Information Technology,
social sciences and arts through the
research guidance and supervision of
their teachers.
About 50 projects ranging from
biodiversity, basic electronics, chemical
reactions, agriculture, biological systems,
robotics, technology, waste management
geometry and ratio among others were on
display, with the students explaining their
underlying scientific or mathematics
concepts, as well as the impacts on
everyday life to other students, parents,
and participants.
The one-day fair attracted students
from other schools as well as parents who
came to share in the joy of science.
About Galaxy International School
The school was established to provide
an excellent and quality day and boarding
education to children of Ghanaian and
foreign nationals within and outside
Ghana.
It is basically science-oriented with
state-of-the-art teaching and learning
facilities.
Shalom Baptist Women
Fellowship donates
clothing to church
members on Mother’s Day
BY MUNTALLA INUSAH
muntalla.inusah@dailyheritage.com
THE WOMEN Fellowship
of the Evangelical Baptist
Mission of Ghana (Shalom
Baptist) Church at Teshie has
surprised members of the
church with a donation of
various kinds of clothing for
both men and women on
Mother’s Day.
The articles of clothing,
including Kaba-and-sleet,
jackets, shirts, trousers shoes,
and socks, according to the
donors, were meant to send a
message to the church
members that mothers’ role in
providing for the home is
very significance.
Speaking to the DAILY
HERITAGE, Mrs Kate
Akanbek, the president of the
Women Fellowship, thanked
God for the lives of mothers
and urged all women to play
their motherly roles as
required of them.
“We know that it is
mothers who provide to
support the family for benefit
of the children and even if it
is the men who provide the
money, today we want to tell
all members of the church
and the community that
women clothe children.
“We are just telling them
that women provide for the
family as well. We want to tell
all women that the children
God has blessed us with
children, even if they are
children we didn’t produce
ourselves, we have got nieces,
nephews and so many others
in our communities who need
mother figure so we are saying
that they should take up that
responsibility and look after
the children very well. We
should be good role models
for them,” she said.
The head pastor of the
church, Rev Thomas Asiedu,
called on men to appreciate
their wives. According to him,
the role of women in the
community and the church is
symbolic and called for special
recognition for women in all
spheres of life.
The pastor said mothers’
role in managing the home
was special and that the
Mother’s Day message was
about the role mothers’ play
to make our communities
happy places.
“We know that it is
mothers who provide
to support the family
for benefit of the
children and even if it
is the men who
provide the money,
today we want to tell
all members of the
church and the
community that
women clothe
children.
•Mrs Kate Akanbek, the president of the Women
Fellowship inspecting the items while the choir sings

Inside May 20, 2019.qxp_Layout 1 5/18/19 1:17 PM Page 7
17TH
MAY
2019
FRIDAY
CURRENCY PARIS CODE BUYING SELLING
US Dollar USDGHS 5.1300 5.3500
RATES Pound Sterling GBPGHS
6.7372
7.0599
Euro
GBPGHS
5.8308
6.1156
10
DAILY HERITAGE MONDAY, MAY 20, 2019
WWW.DAILYHERITAGE.COM.GH
Inflation for April goes up to 9.5%
BY ROSEMOND BOATENG ADDAI
Rosemond.adjetey@yahoo.com
SCANCOM PLC (“MTN Ghana”)
hosted over 4000 of its shareholders
at its maiden Annual General
Meeting (AGM) following its Initial
Public Offer (IPO) or the “Offer” in May
last year and subsequent listing on the
Ghana Stock Exchange in September 2018.
The Board chairman of Scancom Plc
(“MTN Ghana”), Mr Ishmael Yamson,
opened the session by sharing updates on
the changing dynamics of Ghana’s economy
since the launch of the MTN IPO and how
the company had performed.
He said, “In 2018, our company implemented
strategies aimed at making it more
efficient and resilient to external shocks,
while tightening risk and control measures.
Our priorities at the beginning of the year
were to focus on our customers putting
them at the centre of our operations, ensuring
robust governance of the business and
maintaining high ethical standards.”
This he said, resulted in the posting of a
strong financial performance with profit before
tax increasing by 16.5% to 1.6 billion
while earning per share was GH¢ 0.67.
The chairman also shared updates on
share price performance and the payment of
dividends since the launch and indicated that
THE CONSUMER
Price Index (CPI),
which measures the
change over time in
the general price
level of goods and
services that households acquire
for the purposes of consumption,
in the month of April 2019 slightly
went up to 9.5%.
Briefing the press in Accra, Mr
David Kombat, Acting Deputy
Government Statistician of the
Ghana Statistical Service, said the
year-on-year inflation rate as measured
by CPI went up by 0.2 percentage
point from the 9.3%
recorded in March 2019.
According to him, the rate of
inflation for April 2019 is the percentage
change in CPI over the 12-
month period, from April 2018 to
April 2019.
“The monthly change rate for
April 2019 was 1.1% compared
with the 1.2% recorded for February
2019,” he explained.
For the food and non-alcoholic
beverages group, the Statistician
pointed out that the year-on-year
inflation rate recorded 7.3%,
which is 1.1 percentage points
higher than the rate recorded in
MTN holds AGM
at the end of 2018, Scancom Plc had a market
capitalisation of GH¢ 9.7 billion making
it the third largest listed company on the
Ghana Stock Exchange.
In a review of the company’s performance
in 2018, Mr Selorm Adadevoh, Chief
Executive Officer (CEO) of MTN Ghana,
shared operational highlights of external and
internal events that contributed to the performance
of the company.
He also indicated that aggressive marketing
and sales of products coupled with network
enhancement and expansion activities
resulted in subscriber growth.
The CEO shared details on the financial
performance of the business as well as the
recognition and awards received in the year
2018.
He assured shareholders of MTN’s innovation
and focus on customer experience
to increase business growth and shareholder
value.
He said, “To remain relevance and keep
up the dynamism of the telecommunications
industry, we will continue to innovate,
create and build meaningful relationships
•Scancom Board, CEO and MTN Executive Committee Members (on the high
table) At the recent Annual General Meeting
March 2019.
“Five subgroups of the food
and non-alcoholic beverages group
recorded inflation rates higher
than the group’s average rate of
7.3 %,” he said.
that will improve customer
experience and brighten
lives.”
MTN declared GH¢0.03 dividend per
share.
At the end of the review of the financial
statement and the declaration of dividends,
shareholders voted to re-elect retiring directors,
approve Directors remuneration for
2019 and authorize the fixing of auditors remuneration
for 2019.
Some of the shareholders expressed
their satisfaction with the performance of
the company, congratulating it on working
very hard to increase subscriber numbers,
generate revenue, pay dividend on time and
also make significant contributions to national
development through the payment of
taxes and corporate social investments.
Some industry experts have commended
MTN for the smooth and excellent organisation
and management of the biggest
AGM with almost 5000 shareholders attending
it. The exclusive streaming access given
to those who could not attend physically has
also been highly commended.
MTN Ghana listed on the Ghana Stock
Exchange (GSE) on September 5, 2018 with
the largest number of Ghanaian shareholding
of any listed company on the GSE at
127,826.
By raising GH¢1,146,589,464.75 from
128,152 applicants, the Offer makes history
as the largest primary share offer in the history
of the Ghana Stock Exchange and enables
many Ghanaians from all walks of life
to own a share in one of Ghana’s largest,
most visible and well respected companies.
In attendance at the AGM were dignitaries,
including members of the Scancom
Plc Board, CEO and Executives of MTN,
the Managing Director of the Ghana Stock
Exchange, Mr Kofi Yamoah, CEO of the
Ghana Chamber of Telecommunications,
Mr Kenneth Ashigbey, representatives from
IC Securities and the Central Securities Depository.
For the non-food group,
Mr Kombat said it recorded
a year-on-year inflation rate
of 10.4% in April 2019,
compared to 9.7% recorded
for March 2019.
The Statistician explained
that five subgroups
recorded year-on-year inflation
rates higher than the
group’s average rate of 10.4
%.
He said “clothing and
footwear recorded highest inflation
rate of 14.3% followed by
recreation and culture 14.1%,
transport with 13.2%, furnishings,
household equipment and routine
maintenance with 12.8% and miscellaneous
goods and services subgroup
10.0%.”
“Inflation was lowest in the
health subsector with 5.91%,” he
added.
Mr Kombat pointed out that
the year-on-year inflation rate
ranged from 8.0% for Upper East
region to 11.5% for Upper West
Region.
Four regions, Upper West,
Brong Ahafo, Western and Ashanti
regions, recorded inflation rates
above the national average and
Northern and Eastern regions
recorded the same inflation rate as
the national average of 9.0%.
MTN launches ninth edition of iFest
BY ROSEMOND BOATENG ADDAI
Rosemond.adjetey@yahoo.com
MTN GHANA, the leading
telecommunications company in
the country, has launched its annual
internet festival dubbed i-Fest
to create awareness about the internet
and its benefits to its customers.
The launch of the month-long
festival, which is the ninth edition,
was held in Madina, a suburb of
Accra, to educate customers on
the relevance of internet in their
everyday lives.
Mr Bless Sefenu Agordjo, Senior
Manager, Products and Services,
MTN, explained that the
company had partnered with device
manufacturers who would organise
device bazaar where there
would be discount on prices of
devices.
“We are also doing inspirational
zones where our customers
get to see and experience the
fastest 4G network that we have
and how that can be relevant to
the daily activities they are engaged
in,” he said.
“We’re also encouraging customers
during this month-long activity
to bring their devices to
check whether their devices are
compatible to our 4G+and also
change their SIM that gives them
30 times faster internet speed to
the 3G that they are currently
using,” he added.
The Senior Manager added
that this year, as their main focus
is on customers, the company
would do a lot to educate them on
internet use and give them the experience
of enjoying 4G to boost
their business.
He urged businesses that did
not have MTN fibre to take advantage
of the iFest and buy
Turbo Net which makes the 4G
internet work faster.

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WWW.DAILYHERITAGE.COM.GH
DAILY HERITAGE MONDAY, MAY 20, 2019 11
Views
Do not mind anything that anyone tells you about
anyone else. Judge everyone and everything for
yourself —Henry James
Alas, an inspiring
Ecclesiastic says goodbye
BY JAMES AMOH JNR
THE MORNING sun
had just set in and
bright lights were gradually
replacing the darkness,
albeit gracefully.
The hubbub on the
streets of the capital of the Upper
East Region, Bolgatanga, was getting
unusually louder by the minute with
uncontrolled sobs and wails. “Something
strange must have happened,”
those were the indistinct murmurs of
residents. Others were somewhat incredulous
of what had befallen the region
and the church.
The Right Reverend Dr Jacob Kofi
Ayeebo, Anglican Bishop of Tamale,
had passed on peacefully in his
ADDRO (Anglican Diocesan Development
and Relief Organisation) office
in Bolgatanga.
Professor Kofi Awoonor’s “Songs
of Sorrow”, perhaps set a better pace
for this tragic occurrence when he
said “what is the wailing for? Somebody
is dead, Agosu himself. Alas! A
snake has bitten me, my right arm is
broken, and the tree on which I lean is
fallen.”
To his four children, “February 12,
2019 was the darkest day in our lives;
the day our world turned upside
down, the day we felt thousand stabs
in our hearts, the day we died a million
times, the day we wished never came.”
Ms Hilda Awintoi Ayeebo, his first
born, on behalf of her three siblings,
mourned desperately by saying, “You
were the pillar we leaned on, the one
God ordained on earth to protect us.
You were a role model we looked up
to, the one who was always proud of
us; our one true hero.”
Indeed, just like the widow, Mother
Rita, many have been plunged into illimitable
and immense sadness, learning
of the passing of a man full of
passion and vitality, one who underpinned
an array of interventions integral
to life and general Christian living.
Even more telling was his gift to the
Diocese - a striking new identity.
For a lot more people, it was extremely
startling also that a man full of
life and committed to sharing the
message of Christ in words and deeds,
could be called to a greater service so
soon, leaving a big void to be filled.
Bishop Ayeebo’s enthusiasm was always
contagious and his energy was
never-ending as was his faith which
drew believers closer to him and
through him to God. What an enormous
loss!
Clerical life and works
A man of untainted reputation, he
was credible, energetic and faith-filled
in every aspect of his life, and was influential
as a leader in his mission and
evangelization throughout the diocese.
All those who knew him admired and
appreciated his genuine faith. His
passing is a sense of great loss to the
church, but it is comforting that he is
sharing in the fullness of God’s celestial
love.
Throughout his ministry, many developed
personal and friendly relationship
with him. The unforgettable but
joyful and dedicated way in which he
lived, his generosity of service to the
Diocese, his dedication to the Internal
Province of Ghana as Head of the
Economic Desk and Fund Raising
Desk, and the Anglican Communion
as a whole was, but admirable. His,
was a rather fierce and unparalleled
loyalty to the Church.
Bishop Ayeebo’s purposeful life
and distinguished three decade clerical
career has inspired many and through
his passionate mission – which has a
manifestly wide appeal – will be perpetually
remembered in the annals of
the Anglican Diocese of Tamale.
Many of the fruits of his works are
yet to be realized.
Following his ordination on December
26, 1989, at the St. John’s Anglican
Church in Yelwoko in the
Upper East Region, by the then
Diocesan Bishop of Sunyani and
Tamale, the Rt. Rev’d Joseph Kwabina
Dadson, Bishop Ayeebo laboured tirelessly,
spreading the Gospel of Christ
and improving the lives of the people
in the diocese and beyond. His long
sojourn and administration in Yelwoko,
witnessed the transformation of
the church from a provisional parish
to a full parish status by the diocesan
synod.
His enthronement as the second
Diocesan Bishop, after the retirement
of the Rt. Rev’d Emmanuel Arongo,
on January 22, 2012 at the Cathedral
Church of Bishop Anglionby Memorial
in Tamale, saw the transformation
of the Diocese in diverse ways.
Indeed, he served his faith, his
people and his conscience with determination,
honesty, openness, dignity,
collegiality, and he demonstrated all
these qualities with good humour. An
outstanding trait he had was his ability
to combine mutual respect and trust
in his relationship with the clergy in
the diocese. His disposition – albeit
rare - was that, everyone should have a
spoon in the soup. That was a man
who saw the bigger picture and envisioned
greatness for the diocese of
Tamale.
In all the parishes he ministered,
Bishop Jacob inspired, equipped and
empowered members to live their baptismal
covenant by praying, worshiping
and studying scriptures. Through
his ministry, which influenced and
touched many lives, many more people
were brought into divine ministry.
Instrumentally, and as part of his
vision, he trained and commissioned
several diocesan clergy and catechists
to further exercise their discipleship in
the world. Undoubtedly, no figure in
our generation in the diocese has done
more than what Bishop Ayeebo did.
Whatever he did was with every ounce
of himself, giving out his best, and
that was what many would remember
him for.
The Tamale Diocesan Council of
the Anglican Young’s People Association
(AYPA) remember, with nostalgia,
how he inspired the youth to take
up roles in the service of Christ and
the church which ultimately culminated
in the training of a number of
youth in divine ministry.
His maiden diocesan “1000 youth
conference” in September 2015 on the
theme: “Arise and build: The role of
the youth in the mission of the church
and nation building”, sought to empower
the youth as disciples of Jesus
Christ and draw them to responsibly
participate in the life and mission of
the church and the nation.
“In a clear and tangible way,
Bishop saw love and service to the
youth as service to God. Barely a week
before his passing, he had disclosed, in
a conversation with me, his plans for
the youth and his readiness to organize
an even bigger and spirit-filled
2000 plus youth conference this year”,
Sylvester Ayelgum, Diocesan President
of the AYPA said mournfully,
and added that, “Bishop’s support to
the youth was outstanding in so many
ways and we will miss him dearly.”
Theological education
Due to his never-ending thirst for
the Lord’s work, Bishop Ayeebo abandoned
his ambition to become a mechanical
engineer after secondary
education at the Navrongo Secondary
School, as he worked for the Church
as a catechist for two during which period
he responded to his calling to the
ordained ministry, gaining admission
to the St. Nicholas Theological College
in 1885 and graduating with a Licentiate
of Theology (L.Th) with
distinction.
He was a man of copious knowledge
and intellectual brilliance; his extraordinary
depth of theology was
amazing. He had deep love for the
Bible and his sense and knowledge of
the faith was spell-binding. But along
with all these, he was passionate about
his calling and his teachings dripped
with commitment and conviction.
To fulfill his desire to acquire more
Indeed, just like the widow, Mother Rita, many have been plunged into illimitable
and immense sadness, learning of the passing of a man full of
passion and vitality, one who underpinned an array of interventions integral
to life and general Christian living. Even more telling was his gift to
the Diocese - a striking new identity.
knowledge, Bishop Ayeebo was
awarded a scholarship enabling him to
pursue further studies in Theology at
the Ripton College, Oxford in the
United Kingdom (UK). He further
pursued a Diploma in Counseling at
the Institute of Counseling, Glasgow
in the UK. Again, Bishop Ayeebo was
awarded a scholarship for further academic
studies at the University of
Durham, UK, where he obtained a
Bachelor of Arts Degree in Theology
and Ministry in 1998.
In 2002, he was awarded a Master
of Arts in Mission Studies by the University
of Sheffield in the UK. Besides
these qualifications, and after three
years of intensive research work in
2007, the Rt. Rev. Dr. Jacob Kofi Ayeebo
was conferred a degree, Doctor
of Philosophy (PhD) in Missiology by
the North-West University, South
Africa.
ADDRO undertakings
For a man who believed that ministry
was about service and transformation
of lives, it was unsurprising
that under his dynamic leadership as
the Executive Director of ADDRO,
his immense contribution saw the expansion
of that outfit to ensure the
reduction in poverty, food insecurity,
malnutrition, HIV/AIDS, malaria,
water related diseases and genderbased
discrimination as well as sight
impairment.
His proactive actions and commitment
in transforming lives, upholding
human dignity and justice to all people
was unwavering as he built a strong
partnership with the Episcopal Relief
& Development (ERD), the development
agency of the US-based Episcopal
church, in that regard.
It was unsurprising that he passed
on peacefully in his ADDRO office
where he was gearing up for the day’s
work in transforming the lives not
only in the regions of the north, but
nationwide.
Political activities
He had a strong conviction that
the passive position of some believers
and churches in matters relating to
politics is unreflective of the churches’
mission and task. Thus, Hon. Ayeebo
was actively involved in political activities
and was elected Presiding Member
(PM) of the Bawku District Assembly.
His role in governance as a Member
of the Council of State, an official
body which exists to advise the country’s
President, from February 2009
and January 2017,deserved some commendation.
For him, service to country,
was service to God.
Former President John Dramani
Mahama, in whose presidency Bishop
Ayeebo served as an adviser, signing a
book of condolence to commiserate
with his family in Tamale, described
him as a mentor and counselor.
“Words cannot describe my shock
and sadness at your passing. You were
always a mentor and counselor
throughout my political career. May
God grant you rest and sincerest condolence
to the dear ones you have left
behind,” the Former President said
rather dolefully.
Conclusion
The Diocese and Anglican Communion
is profoundly thankful to God
for your remarkable ministry and leadership.
Your legacy will continue, not
because of you – extraordinary as you
were – but because of what you believed
and taught – TRUTH.
Your family; the Church, the community,
and at home, heartbroken as
they all are, would continue to miss
your love and benignity.
Steadily but surely, it will be dawn
soon and when the dawn breaks on
the day of your interment on May 18,
may God, by his unfailing love, grant
you an entrance into the land of light
and joy in fellowship with the saints,
and may the Church you loved and the
diocese you served diligently, experience
the joy of the resurrection.
The writer is a member of the
Christ the King Anglican Church,
Sakumono, and serves on the Communication
Committee of the Parish

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12
DAILY
News
WWW.DAILYHERITAGE.COM.GH
HERITAGE MONDAY, MAY 20, 2019
Silicon Valley of Ghana set to support
HopeXChange Cancer Centre
BY ERICA ARTHUR
THE SILICON Valley
of Ghana, which
was launched to create
business accelerators
and incubators
that can compete
with tech-companies around the
world, has accepted to support the
new Cancer Sector, HopeXChange
in Kumasi, opened by the new US
Ambassador to Ghana, Stephanie
S. Sullivan, during an Investment
Summit in Kumasi.
According to the Chief Executive
Officer of the Silicon Valley
of Ghana, Dr Thomas Owusu
Mensah, the cancer centre, which
is a state-of-the-art hospital, is the
HopeXChange Cancer Centre. It
has a world class team of experts
in Oncology, including Dr Mario
Capello, the Director of the centre,
Professor Elijah Paintsil, a
Ghanaian Physician in Pediatrics at
Yale University, and others.
Speaking to the DAILY HER-
ITAGE, Dr Mensah, who expressed
much joy for the opening
of the centre, said he was excited
to meet the team, “because as the
Creator of Silicon Valley of
Ghana, I believe the Telemedicine
Program at Silicon Valley will take
this hospital to a whole new level
to provide health care services to
the entire West African Region.
“The Telemedicine program
will have a node at the HopeXechange
medical facility connecting
to the Mayo Clinic in the US,
the Yale Medical School, Medical
Facilities in UK, Germany and
South Africa. I will bring former
US Astronaut Dr Bobby Satcher,
PhD MIT, MD Harvard and
Telemedicine expert for Silicon
Valley Ghana, now at MD Anderson
Oncology Department, to collaborate
with the HopeX Change
Hospital in Telemedicine and Oncology,”
he said.
Dr Mensah said Ambassador
Sullivan had impressed him since
she could speak a few sentences in
Twi, something unheard of concerning
new Ambassadors.
Ambassador Sullivan invited Dr
•US Ambassador to Ghana, Stephanie S. Sullivan
Mensah to tour the facility.
The Ambassador was also invited
as a Guest of Otumfuo to sit
at the Dais, with the Honourable
Otuo Siriboe II, Chairman of
Council of State, Allan Kyerematen,
Minister of Trade and Industries,
and Amoako Atta,
Minister of Roads and Transport,
during Otumfuo’s birthday celebration
in Kumasi.
Dr Mensah highlighted that
Otumfuo Osei Tutu II had been
quietly rebuilding Kumasi since his
coronation 20 years ago.
“The Ashanti King has his eyes
set on enhancing the infrastructure
like roads, railway, aviation transportation
in collaboration with the
Government that will make Kumasi,
the Garden City of West
Africa, reaching all Sustainable Development
Goals as we enter the
21st Century.”
The Kumasi Aircraft Maintenance
Facility, the MRO, will create
an Airport City that will attract
Fortune 500 companies like Coca
Cola, Boeing, Airbus, Facebook
and Amazon to have their African
Headquarters in Kumasi. This
project alone will create 400,000
jobs in Kumasi.
It’s time to end conflicts in Chereponi – Akufo-Addo
• Nana Akufo-Addo in a handshake with a chief at the event
PRESIDENT AKUFO-ADDO
has stated that the time has come
for the chiefs and people of
Chereponi to bring to an end the
incidents of conflict and violence
that have plagued the town.
According to President Akufo-
Addo, “the Ghana that we are trying
to build does not have space
for conflict and violence. The
seizure of lands by Konkombas
and Anufors, we should try and
stop those things. People have
been farming for years, they know
who farms on what land. We
should try and bring those kinds
of incidents to a conclusion. I am
appealing through you for peace.
Let peace remain here.”
He stressed that “there are lots
of opportunities in Ghana now,
but these opportunities will not be
there if we continue all these unnecessary
conflicts.”
President Akufo-Addo made
the remarks on Thursday, May 16,
2019, when he addressed a durbar
of the Chiefs and people of
Chereponi, on day one of his twoday
tour of the newly-created
North East Region.
In response to a request from
the Paramount Chief of Chereponi,
Jaminja Malba Yombu, for
the stationing of a permanent security
force in the town, the President
indicated that “I will take it
up with the security chiefs in
Accra, and we will try and find the
solution. The best solution, however,
is that the conflict should
come to an end.”
Touching on the report presented
by the seven-member committee
set up to investigate the
recent violence that erupted in
Chereponi and parts of Saboba
between the Anufors and
Konkombas, the President stated
that the Minister for the Interior
was studying the report, and,
soon, the report would be made
public.
“My presence here today will
be a powerful signal to him (Minister
for the Interior) that there
will be a need to conclude the
process, as well as to accelerate the
police investigation into the latest
incident that has taken place. The
consequences of that settlement
will pervade the entire country, especially
up here in the North,” he
stated.
President Akufo-Addo said he
was excited about the appeal of
the Chereponi Chief for the establishment
of a Girls’ College focused
on the learning of Science
and French.
“It is a sign of your own enlightenment
and progressive nature.
There is the request you have
made for the upgrading of the
polyclinic into a hospital. These
requests must become my personal
responsibility because my
presence here must mean something
for you,” he said.
The President continued, “You
will be hearing from my office directly
on what we can do to bring
these things into fruition. I go all
around the country but it is only
here in Chereponi that I hear a
traditional ruler asking for a Girls’
College biased towards Science
and French. This means that I
cannot forget you.”
President Akufo-Addo told
residents of Chereponi about his
vision of ensuring that Ghana
turn over a new leaf, and apply the
abundant resources the nation has
been blessed with to transform
the country into a nation of prosperity
and progress.
“With the present application
of our resources, our future is
looking very, very bright. We want
to make sure that all the peoples
of Ghana, without exception, participate
in that progress and prosperity
of our nation,” he said.
On Friday, May 17, 2019, President
Akufo-Addo concluded his
tour of the North East Region
with visits to Walewale and
Yagaba.

WWW.DAILYHERITAGE.COM.GH
DAILY HERITAGE MONDAY, MAY 20, 2019
WWW.DAILYHERITAGE.COM.GH
13
2019 Sparkle Day-‘Jingle
Jangle Fair’ for June 9
NEWSDESK REPORT
THE 3RD Edition of the annual
Sparkle Day dance recitals has been
fixed for June 9, 2019. The event is
organised by Vivies Dance Factory,
a dance company made up of passionate,
professionally trained artists striving to
promote arts through education, performance
and entertainment.
The vision of the dance company is “to raise
global champions in the art industry and train
young people to become all rounded and highly
equipped leaders,” according to the organisers.
Its mission is also “to unearth and nurture
talents in young people, to produce world class
performers, build a community of art lovers and
address social issues through performances.
Vivian Boateng, the founder of Vivies Dance
Factory, said, “We teach ballet, African dance,
hiphop, acro dance, contemporary dance and
musical theatre.”
This year, the theme is ‘Jingle Jangle Fair-
Dance to promote love, peace and unity’ and
this, according to Ms Boateng, is to promote
self-love and appreciate, accept who we are as a
people and embrace others no matter their
skin colour or where they come from.
“We are using dance as a tool to foster
unity and love. Our student body is made up
of people from various backgrounds and races.
That is a reflection of our country as a hospitable
nation. We use our recital as an opportunity
to promote global peace and unity through
dance because we teach children from different
countries and backgrounds. That is what Jingle
Jangle Fair is about -- Celebrating ‘inter-culturalism’,”
she explained.
Activities
There will be exciting performances of different
dance genres from African dance to ballet,
hiphop and acro-dance.
Participating are about 300 children aged
three to 16 years from various international
schools, people from outreach programmes and
those who train others in the dance studios.
Background
The annual recital is an incredible opportunity
that harvests a variety of benefits for both
dancers and their families. The parents look forward
to seeing children under stage lights for a
few shining minutes and the audience get the opportunity
to see great talents from children in
Ghana.
According to the organisers, the dance helps
children to be discipline and focused. It also
helps the timid child to gain confidence and the
hyperactive child to channel his or her energy
into something positive. It gives children the ability
to discover who they are and what they can
achieve with their bodies and their minds.
“Dance recitals boost their confidence as
they perform before an audience. It gives them
exposure and a sense of accomplishment. It also
promotes cooperation and teamwork. It builds
new skills and creates lasting memories for both
performers and the audience,” Ms Boateng said.
Sparkle Day is happening at the National
Theatre of Ghana on June 9, 2019 at 3 p.m. It
will be a great place to be with the entire family.
• Flashback: Some of the dance performance from previous edition
About the founder
Vivian Boateng, the founder of Vivies Dance
Factory, is an assistant lecturer at the School of
Performing Arts, University of Ghana, where
she graduated from.
She trained in ballet at Mandy Fourace
Dance Academy, Accra-Ghana and Performing
Arts Studio, Munich-Germany, and has also
trained with various professional ballet instructors
from the UK and USA.
She is an interdisciplinary artiste and loves
acting and dancing.
"Dance is a universal language. It is a tool
that is able to break language barriers and bring
people together in a unique way," she says.
I’ve given the food sector much credibility — Zubaida
BY ERICA ARTHUR
A YOUNG GHANAIAN food blogger
has said that she is using her passion
for Ghanaian food to give the
Ghanaian food sector much credibility.
According to Chief Executive Officer
of Zubzz.com, Zubaida Abdel
Rahman, known simply as Zubaida,
she hails from the Northern Region
but currently lives in Accra and turning
her passion into a business.
She said had provided recommendations,
reviews and food related content
on her blog which had helped to
boost the Ghanaian food tourism.
Speaking to the DAILY HERITAGE,
Zubaida, who calls herself ‘foodie’,
said she believes she has made it easier
for a lot of people now to be interested
in being food bloggers.
“I personally feel like I’ve given
the sector a little bit more credibility
in the general public; by that I mean
I’ve managed to convince a percentage
of Ghanaians that being a blogger
is a little more than just eating and uploading
pictures because you’re bored.
I haven’t yet reached my target of
changing the way most Ghanaians
view social media-related jobs but I’m
going to get there.”
She added that, “My work is centred
around providing information on
where to find specific foods, available
discounts and places to go in Accra. I
also provide people with menus,
which helps them budget before they
visit certain place and information related
to the food sector in Accra, for
example, provides places to find cake
and foreign franchises that operate in
Accra.”
Zubaida started food page
Zubzz.com in May 2018 and has
evolved from a regular food page to
an actual service provider, and she
had organized two themed events on
behalf of some restaurants and
started a campaign aimed at growing
Ghana’s brand as a destination for
Food Tourism.
Experience
Sharing her experience in the food
industry, she said, “I chose the food
industry because I like to eat. I’m one
of those people who have no budget
for food; if it’s good, I’ll buy it. I’ve
been eating out for a very long time,
and every time I went anywhere I
would get a lot of questions about the
place, the food, stuff like that.
“I am and have always been a very
social person, and I have always had a
bit of an audience. Engaging people
on social media is something I do
quite effortlessly, and after a while I
realized my food content was getting
a lot of attention so I figured, these
are the two things I enjoy doing the
most, let me see how best I can combine
them.”
She advised that young people
should make business their passion
because it was her exposure to this
lifestyle that led her to find her passion
as an influencer and food blogger.
• Zubaida Abdel
Rahman, Chief
Executive Officer
of Zubzz.com

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WWW.DAILYHERITAGE.COM.GH
Opinion
DAILY HERITAGE MONDAY, MAY 20, 2019
Achimota New Station shows Ghana road
map to Cleanest-City-in-Africa
BY ELVIS AMOATENG, STUDENT, GIJ
INAUGURATED ON December
17, 2009, the Achimota New Station,
a bus terminal, has been in
operation for about 10 years and is
unarguably the cleanest of all such
facilities in the country. Could we
look at this public facility and its
example as a microcosm of what
we as citizens of this country can
also achieve in terms of clean surroundings?
The people who use the Madina
bus terminal, that of Nkrumah
Circle and the Accra bus terminal
(Tema Station) are all human beings
but the Achimota station is
simply distinct and anybody would
want to know why.
Interacting with the manager of
the facility, Philimon Baidoo, my
team and I learnt that to attain
that status, they used education,
rules and regulations and their enforcement.
Baidoo mentioned that the station
has public address system
which is used to constantly educate
and also caution all those who
use the facility on the need for
cleanliness.
As a nation, we may argue that
we are doing quite well in terms of
education, but ask us if we do
same with regard to laws and sanctions
applicable to the breach of
the law.
The Achimota new station, according
to its management, has
reached its current status because
they just do not have rules and
regulations, but ones which are enforced
with heavy fines. Any driver
who returns from other bus terminals
or trips has a Dumpster right
at their terminals into which they
can dump their rubbish.The enforcers
of the regulations are right
there at the terminals in order to
ensure that the rules and regulations
are not breached. When they
are, the heavy sanctions are applied.
Robert, a regular user of this
facility and other such facilities like
those of Nkrumah Circle, Madina,
and Mallam Ata said he did not
mind coming to the station and
not being able to buy sachet water
or food while on a bus. He could
buy from the station’s canteen anyway.
He remarkably said if any foreigner
came to the country and
touched base first at the Achimota
station, the one would really have
a good opinion about the country.
When asked if he would ever
be tempted to dump any sachet on
the floor of that station, he
grabbed his bag and pulled out a
sachet from which he had drunk
water to demonstrate that he obviously
would not drop it because he
did not see any such thing left on
the floor, but admitted he would
not think twice about dropping a
sachet on the floor of other bus
terminals. “If you go to Rome,
you do as the Romans do,” he
said.
The new Achimota bus terminal,
as a microcosm of the nation
at large, may be looked at as such
and learnt from, if the Accra-asthe-cleanest-city–in–Africa
goal
can be reached at all. They have
achieved their status as the cleanest
bus terminal by constantly educating
its stakeholders, and
adopting punitive measures against
those who breach the regulations
on sanitation at the facility.
If the government could take
some very bold decisions by enforcing
the laws, including constant
education and actions such
as ridding the highways of hawkers,
preventing production and or
sales of plastic products in the
various bus terminals across the
country, that could perhaps pull
the citizens along?
Undeniably, if Accra is going to
be the cleanest city in Africa, it
may not only be dependent on the
experience of other nations or international
organizations, but also
through taking some very bold decisions
as have been mentioned.
The writer is a level 300 student
of the Ghana Institute of
Journalism
The ‘whom you know’ syndrome kills talent
BY MIRIAM ADJEI-MENSAH,
STUDENT, GIJ
IT IS a harmless 10-letter word
and yet the engine that influences
most of the decisions in businesses,
both public and private,
and invariably fuels the Ghanaian
economy. Ghanaians call it ‘connection’.
Connection simply
means the fact of knowing and
using people in high places to secure
things by any means possible,
fair or foul.
Connection now drives literally
every business in this country:
health sector, banking and finance,
construction, just to mention but
a few. While some will undoubtedly
agree that it has propelled
them into securing better jobs,
majority of individuals/ students
do not share this view. The “unfortunate”
ones keep making
countless representations in the
hope of being given a fair treatment
or opportunity to prove
themselves.
Education in Ghana has over
the years been subjected to
changes in response to the ruling
party’s agenda. In the tertiary institution,
students are given the opportunities
to intern at companies
to provide them with hands-on
experience in their chosen field of
study.
It is, however, disheartening to
note that, if you are not “known”
in some circles, it is impossible to
gain any practical knowledge. This
is one of the most challenging
problems students in the tertiary
institutions and vocational institutes
where majority of their work
is assessed on a practical basis.
A student might graduate with
a first class or second class upper,
but getting a good job becomes a
herculean task unless he or she is
connected to a high-ranking officer
or a person of high repute.
One particular issue students
are currently grappling with is the
number of years of experience expected
of job applicants. This
further compounds an already
tasking problem since some students
are not fortunate enough to
gain any practical experience
throughout the three- or four-year
tenure in school.
The question then is, if some
companies are not willing to teach
these graduates the nitty-gritty of
work in the real world of work,
then in 20 or 30 years, what would
become of these businesses?
In a country where thousands
of students graduate yearly and
join the long train of unemployed
graduates, this connection saga
might deprive more students of
opportunities, people who could
have otherwise contributed their
quota towards national development
as well as earn a living.
The introduction of the Youth
Employment Agency and
NABCO has indeed reduced the
level of unemployment. However,
if some companies would look
past their networking ties, it would
create a pool of varying ideas and
possibly improve upon the quality
of work.
This is not to say that knowing
people in high places is wrong, but
when students or individuals who
deserve a chance are subjected to
biased treatments, then it becomes
a classic case of “each one for
himself and God for us all”.
Some individuals or students
have had to resort to other means
to secure a job, legal and illegal, to
fend for themselves. In Ghana, a
young man above 25 who still depends
on his parents for upkeep is
seen to being less of a man and
Connection now drives literally every business in this country:
health sector, banking and finance, construction, just to
mention but a few. While some will undoubtedly agree that it
has propelled them into securing better jobs, majority of individuals/
students do not share this view. The “unfortunate”
ones keep making countless representations in the
hope of being given a fair treatment or opportunity to prove
themselves.
sometimes pressure from friends,
family and society compels them
to overlook all forms of morality
and just make quick cash.
This is what has resulted in the
overwhelming increase in sports
betting sites all over the country.
With as low as GH¢2 , one can
win as huge an amount as
GH¢1000 or more. In the case of
the women, it has become a highly
debatable topic when they depend
on their feminine wiles to secure a
well-paid job.
While some simply consider it
a means to an end, by indulging in
promiscuous relationships to
climb the corporate ladder, some
choose not to compromise and
sadly this connection cycle never
seems to grind to a halt.
Attaining a first class in Ghana
now is no indication of being employed
in a fortune 500 company;
you have to pray and hope that
someone somewhere would be
considerate enough to employ
you. You could even have the best
and richest of Curriculum Vitaes
(CV), someone would still have to
speak on your behalf.
Unfortunately, sometimes after
securing the job, your “connector”
demands that you split a particular
percentage of your salary for a
stipulated number of months, and
failure to do so might see you
sweating profusely looking for another
job.
As Deepak Chopra once said,
“All great changes are preceded by
chaos”. The road to success is indeed
paved with endless challenges
and storms.
It is your sole decision to either
join the masses and hope the
odds are in your favour, or fall
back on contacts and networks
and watch the magic happen. Both
come at a great cost.
The writer is a level 300 student
of the Ghana Institute of
Journalism

DAILYHERITAGE.COM.GH
Sports
DAILY HERITAGE MONDAY, MAY 20, 2019
15
Ghana to play Namibia, South
Africa in AFCON warm-up
TWO HIGH-PRO-
FILE preparatory
games against
Namibia and
South Africa have
been firmed up for the Black
Stars ahead of the 2019 Africa
Cup of Nations finals, Footy-
Ghana.com can report.
The Ghana FA Normalization
reached the agreements
for both games to be played
during the team’s training
camp in the United Arab Emirates.
Footy-Ghana.com sources
say the games have been tentatively
set to be played on June
6 and 9.
There are also considerations
for one more game
against a local side during the
Dubai training camp. Head
coach Kwasi Appiah is expected
to announce his provisional
squad this week.
The Black Stars will be
heading for the UAE on June 1
where they will hold a comprehensive
three-week camping
before making a short trip into
Egypt for the Afcon.
Ghana, who will be seeking
to end a 37-year wait for a Nations
Cup trophy, are in Group
F where they are billed to face
defending champions
Cameroon, Benin and Guinea-
Bissau.
• The Black Stars of Ghana
Laryea Kingston gets
AFCON job at SuperSport
•Laryea
Kingston
Ronaldo’s Manager
set to leave Juventus
MANAGER MASSIMILIANO Allegri
will leave Serie A champions
Juventus at the end of the season.
The 51-year-old Italian has won the
league title in each of his five seasons
since taking charge in 2014.
Juventus, who signed Cristiano
Ronaldo last summer for £99.2m,
reached the quarter-finals of the
Champions League and Coppa Italia
this season.
Last week Allegri said he was
"amused" at rumours suggesting he
would leave Juventus, Serie A champions
for the past eight seasons.
"I enjoy reading and hearing
everything. Next week I will meet
with the president. We will be speaking
in general terms, as we do every
year. Before Ajax I told him I would
stay."
Allegri's final game will be at
Sampdoria on 26 May.
FORMER BLACK Stars forward,
Laryea Kingston will
work as a pundit for South
African broadcaster SuperSport
for the upcoming African Cup
of Nations in Egypt.
The 39-year-old is expected
to provide expert analysis and
predictions for the African
leading pay TV channel
throughout the tournament.
”I am very happy to join the
team at SuperSport as a pundit
for the AFCON. I am looking
forward to attending the tournament
in Egypt come next
month and share my insights
into the games,” an elated
Laryea Kingston told SportsworldGhana.com
via phone
call.
Kingston, 39, has previously
been engaged in similar roles
for Setanta Sports and Sky
Sports all in the U.K as well as
GTV and TV3 in Ghana.
SuperSport, will thus use the
opportunity to assess the
Ghanaian international during
his one month stint with them
with the hope of offering him a
better contract in future if he
impresses them.
His contract with the South
African-based TV Channel
starts from 21st June 2019 and
ends on 19 July 2019
•Massimiliano
Allegri
Cazorla in Spain
squad for Euro
2020 qualifiers
after 11 operations
FORMER ARSENAL midfielder Santi Cazorla has
been named in the Spain squad for the first time
since 2015 after recovering from 11 operations.
Cazorla, 34, was sidelined for 668 days during a
two-year period in which he had knee, foot and
ankle surgery.
He also suffered from bacteria "eating" eight
centimetres of his ankle tendon.
Spain begin their European 2020 qualifying
campaign in the Faroe Islands on 7 June, before
hosting Sweden on 10 June in Madrid.
Cazorla has scored 14 goals in 77 games for
Spain, the most recent of which was a 2-0 friendly
win against England in November 2015 in which
he scored the second goal.
Having joined Villarreal from Arsenal on a free
transfer in July 2018, he helped them avoid relegation
from La Liga this season. He has scored four
goals and had 10 assists and missed only three of
their 37 league games.
Spain squad for Euro 2020 qualifiers
Goalkeepers: David de Gea (Manchester
United), Kepa Arrizabalaga (Chelsea), Pau Lopez
(Real Betis).
Defenders: Dani Carvajal (Real Madrid), Sergio
Ramos (Real Madrid), Mario Hermoso (Espanyol),
Diego Llorente (Real Sociedad), Inigo Martinez
(Athletic Bilbao), Jordi Alba (Barcelona), Sergi
Roberto (Barcelona), Jose Gaya (Valencia), Jesus
Navas (Sevilla).
Midfielders: Sergio Busquets (Barcelona), Rodrigo
Hernandez (Atletico Madrid), Dani Parejo
(Valencia), Isco (Real Madrid), Fabian Ruiz
(Napoli), Santi Cazorla (Villarreal).
Forwards: Mikel Oyarzabal (Real Sociedad), Rodrigo
Moreno (Valencia), Marco Asensio (Real
Madrid), Iago Aspas (Celta), Alvaro Morata
(Atletico Madrid).