Day: October 6, 2023

The Nigerian Army has announced the launch of three training exercises across the country to forestall criminality during the Yuletide period.

The Director, Army Public Relations, Brig.- Gen. Onyema Nwachukwu, who briefed newsmen on Friday in Abuja, said the training exercises would hold in the South East, North Central, South-South and South West zones.

Nwachukwu said exercise GOLDEN DAWN III in the South east, ENDURING PEACE III in North Central and STILL WATERS III in the South-south and South-west, would be formally inaugurated by the Chief of Army Staff, Lt.-Gen. Taoreed Lagbaja.

He added that the exercises would eventually dovetail into real time operations.

Nwachukwu explained that the exercises were designed to improve professional competence of troops in tackling the security challenges peculiar to each of the zones.

He said exercise GOLDEN DAWN III in the South East was aimed at tackling armed robbery, kidnapping, cultism, communal clashes and sundry crimes, which were more pronounced in the build up to the yuletide, as many citizens return home.

The Army spokesman said focus would be on intelligence gathering and effective proactive response to criminalities.

“With the exercise, we aim to improve the security in the South-east and ensure safety of the populace during the period,” he added.

Nwachukwu said Exercise ENDURING PEACE III would focus on addressing farmer-herder conflicts, cattle rustling, banditry, kidnapping, ethno-religious conflicts and terrorism in the North Central.

He added that the exercise would equip troops with the necessary skills to combat banditry, including hostage rescue operations, intelligence-driven raids and effective coordination with sister services and agencies.

According to him, Exercise STILL WATERS III taking place in the South-South and South-West would target the menace of cultism, robbery and kidnapping.

“It will also strive to address the challenges of pipeline vandalism and other forms of economic sabotage. The exercise will also focus on securing critical infrastructures.

“During the exercises, troops will be trained on advance surveillance techniques, rapid response tactics and the use of technology to effectively counter pipeline vandalism.

“By conducting this exercise, we aim to curb economic sabotage, protect national assets and ensure a stable environment for economic growth,” he said.

Nwachukwu said that the Nigerian army recognised the importance of collaboration and synergy with security agencies in confronting the country’s security challenges.

In this respect, the army spokesman said they have been working closely with other services and agencies to ensure well coordinated and effective responses to security threats.

He added that they would continue to have joint training exercises and share intelligence.

According to him, the upcoming training exercises will enhance the capabilities of troops, improve synergy with sister services and agencies and the safety and security of the populace. (NAN) (www.nannews.ng)

Source: News Agency of Nigeria

Mr. Kurt Okraku secured 117 votes representing 97.5 per cent during the Elective Congress of the Ghana Football Association (GFA) to retain his position as its President.

Two people voted against him while one delegate abstained from voting.

A total of 124 delegates were expected to vote but 120 actually turned out to vote in the highly anticipated elections held in Tamale on Thursday.

The announcement of the results was greeted with wild cheers and jubilation amongst delegates and Football Administrators in the conference hall where the elections took place.

Mr Okraku walked around the hall in acknowledgement of the cheers and to warm embrace from the delegates.

He was the sole candidate in the elections after his challenger was disqualified on grounds of issues with his nomination forms.

Source: Ghana News Agency

A global report on Hypertension by the World Health Organization (WHO) has shown that 190,000 people died from hypertension in Ghana in 2019.

As of 2022, the estimated number of persons living with hypertension in Ghana, according to the Ghana Health Service (GHS), is 622,849.

Globally, the number of people living with hypertension; blood pressure of greater than 140 mmHg systolic or greater than 90 mmHg diastolic or on a hypertension medication doubled between 1990 and 2019, from 650 million to 1.3 billion.

According to the report, high systolic blood pressure is responsible for more than 10 million deaths

every year, yet. hypertension control programmes remain neglected, under-prioritised and vastly underfunded.

‘High systolic blood pressure greater or less than 110-115 mmHg is the single most important risk factor for early death worldwide, leading to an estimated 10.8 million avoidable deaths every year, and a burden of 235 million years of life lost or lived with a disability annually,’ it said.

The WHO report dubbed: ‘The race against a silent killer’, said high blood pressure killed and the greatest challenge was that many people living with hypertension were unaware and unable to keep it under control.

It said presently, approximately four out of every five people with hypertension were not adequately treated.

The report said hypertension related deaths were preventable through improved treatment and policies that promoted a healthy diet with less sodium, healthy levels of potassium and improved treatment.

The WHO said strengthening hypertension control must be part of every country’s journey towards universal health coverage, based on well-functioning, equitable and resilient health systems, built on a foundation of primary health care.

Hypertension is a serious, chronic medical condition that increases mortality from cardiovascular and kidney diseases.

It occurs when the pressure in blood vessels is too high.

Blood pressure is created by the force of blood pushing against the walls of blood vessels (arteries) as it is pumped by the heart.

The higher the pressure, the harder the heart must pump and the more damage this excess pressure does to many parts of the body, especially the brain, heart and kidneys.

Poor-quality diet high in sodium and low in potassium, overweight and obesity, consumption of alcohol, use of tobacco and physical inactivity have been identified as the main causes of hypertension.

The good news is that hypertension and its associated complications can be addressed by eating healthy diet low in sodium, maintaining a healthy weight, avoiding alcohol and tobacco with

regular physical activity

Source: Ghana News Agency

Dr Alexander Manu, Senior Lecturer, University of Ghana, School of Public Health, says many maternal deaths in the country are due to excessive bleeding and complications.

Dr Manu said over 19,500 babies were born dead in the year 2020 while 75 per cent of the deaths occurred in the first week of birth.

He noted that the mortality rates recorded were because of challenges pregnant women faced leading to complications.

The Senior Lecturer was speaking at a stakeholder meeting, organised by Centre for Social Justice in collaboration with Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung Ghana, on the theme: ‘Guaranteeing women’s rights to maternity Protection: The Role of stakeholders’.

Dr. Manu disclosed that 50 per cent of pregnant women in the Northern and Volta regions had their babies at home, attributing the situation to transport challenges, poverty, babies coming too early than expected and health facilities that were too far from the people.

He expressed worry that some cultural barriers among families and communities contributed to challenges affecting pregnant women with complications during delivery.

‘ In Ghana, we have made progress in both areas, maternal mortality ratio has fallen from 499 in the year 2000 to 263 in 2020. If you look at the trend, you will be happy and think that we are doing well, but that is over 20 years of achievement, we have just seven years to reach the Sustainable Development Goals ( SDGs) of 70 per 100,000 live births.

‘I am more concerned about the Ghanaian woman who is dying, and if we still cannot protect our women, who give birth to us then where is our humanity?

‘It is not just mothers, who are dying, babies are dying as well. 39,000 and over babies died over the period, thus 2000 to 2020 and over 19,000 of them were dead at the time that they were born,’ he stated.

Dr. Manu said many interventions put in place to change the situation lacked effective coordination and leadership.

He said inequity was also affecting the lives of innocent mothers and their children, explaining that many interventions did not fit into the plans and activities in the protection of mothers and their babies.

Dr Kofi Issah, Director, Family Health Division of the Ghana Health Service, said maternal health interventions could only be efficient and effective in the context of sound policies and stakeholder involvement.

‘We should be able to involve all stakeholders whose activities have a direct effect on the health of mothers, families and communities in the country.

He said: ‘ You will find policies that were formulated ten to fifteen years ago, but lagging effective implementation, we need to evaluate the existing policies and interventions to be able to ensure that such policies would improve the quality of life for mothers and their babies to meet set targets.

Dr Sodzi Sodzi-Tettey, Chairman, Council, Centre for Social Justice (CSJ), a Civil Society Think Tank ,said even though Ghana had made some improvement over the years in the reduction of maternal mortality, the levels were still too high .

‘Pregnancy has become a high risk period, mothers and their babies are going through death, we are using this opportunity to highlight the issue as stakeholders deliberate on the issues and find ways to address the challenges.

Dr Sodzi- Tettey said the CSJ would influence political parties to ensure that policies and interventions were factored in their manifestoes to address maternal mortality issues.

Source: Ghana News Agency

An Accra Circuit Court has issued a bench warrant for the arrest of a woman accused of collecting GHC100,000 from a businessman to secure him a Ghana Cocoa Road Contract.

Mercy Lilina Danquah, 38, after collecting the money allegedly failed to honour her promises.

Danquah, who has been charged with defrauding by false pretenses, failed to turn in court when the case was presented.

The prosecution, led by Inspector Wisdom Alorwu, therefore, applied for a bench warrant for her arrest.

The court presided over by Mrs. Ellen Ofei Ayeh obliged the prosecution’s request.

The matter has been adjourned to October 11, 2023.

The case of the prosecution was that the complainant Bright Asante-Appiah was a businessman residing at East Legon whiles the accused person, Mercy, resided at Batsona.

The prosecution said in May 2021, the complainant approached Renaissance African Group to assist him fund his project.

During the deliberation, the prosecution said it was detected that he (Complainant) was below their minimum funding.

Renaissance African Group, however, introduced the complainant to the accused at the Octagon Towers, who introduced herself as overseeing Ghana Mining Sector Road Rehabilitation Secretariat and that she could assist him secure a Cocoa Road Contract of $10 million.

The prosecution alleged that the accused demanded and collected GHC 100,000 as contract fee under the pretext of securing the complainant with the contract in September 2021.

It said Mercy, after collecting the money, failed to honour her promise, and kept giving exercises to the complainant.

On July 31, 2021, a complaint was lodged at the Adabraka Police Station where the accused person was arrested and during investigation, she admitted receiving the complainant’s money.

The prosecution said the accused person indicated that the money was paid to facilitate the establishment of the said Ghana Mining Sector Road Rehabilitation Secretariat, a new office, to secure the contract for him.

It said investigation, however, established that there was no existence of such Secretariat under the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources as alleged by the accused person.

The prosecution said the Secretariat had also been registered at the Registrar Generals’ Department.

The said office, being used as the Secretariat, located at Octagon Towers in Accra, has been locked following the commencement of the case.

The prosecution said the accused had requested time to refund the amount.

On January 24, 2023, Mercy refunded GHC10,000 and some has been kept as exhibit.

Source: Ghana News Agency