Day: January 2, 2024

Mr Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, the Member of Parliament of North Tongu, has hosted 5,000 displaced children and their parents in a New Year Party at Aveyime.

The activities consisted of a medical outreach to take care of the health needs of the victims, while they dined.

There were also fun activities like drama to put smiles on the faces of the victims from the 21 camps after losing their homes, businesses and belongings to the flood.

Mr Ablakwa recounted the traumatic impact of the spillage of the Akosombo Dam on the victims and said it was necessary to entertain them to erase some of those disastrous imprints on their minds.

He said he would continue to support the flood victims in every possible way to restore their hope and happiness.

There were still some victims living in classrooms, he said, and that plans were underway to resettle them as soon as the second phase of the building project was completed.

He, however, lamented the Government’s slowness in focusing and supporting the victims and urged
it gave the needed attention to the people this year and address the compensation issues.

Aside the GHC 220 million allocated in the 2024 Budget to support the flood victims, Mr Ablakwa said Parliament had also approved a contingency vault over a billion Ghana cedis and he would ensure that those funds were used appropriately to restore the livelihoods of the people.

He commended the traditional leaders, members of the Ghana Medical Association and corporate Ghana for their support to the flood victims.

Togbe Hevi VII, the Mankralo of Battor expressed gratitude to the MP for initiating the programme to put smiles on the faces of the victims.

He appealed to the government and corporate organizations to keep supporting the victims.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Mr Alfred Obeng-Boateng, the Member of Parliament (MP) for Bibiani-Anhwiaso-Bekwai and Mr Paul Andoh, the Municipal Chief Executive (MCE) for the area, have paid a courtesy call on members of the Chirano Traditional Council in the Western North Region.

The visit was to extend their fraternal greetings to the chiefs and elders of the Council while strengthening their collaborations to promote development in the area.

Mr Obeng-Boateng, in brief remarks, thanked the chiefs for their support, guidance and blessings throughout the last year, and prayed for tighter collaborations in 2024.

He appealed to the members of the Chirano Traditional Council to act as ambassadors of peace within their respective communities in the run up to the general elections on December 7.

He officially informed the chiefs of his intentions to seek re-election as the MP for the area and asked them for their support and blessings.

Mr Obeng-Boateng mentioned some of the development projects he had initiated in the Chirano Traditiona
l Area, saying he had facilitated the construction of a borehole, renovated the basic school, and provided hospital beds for the health centre in the area.

He stated that he had lobbied for a 54-seater bus for Chirano Community Day School and reshaped the Chirano to Adiembra road, which was in a deplorable state.

According to him, he continued the construction of a 22-kilometre road from Subiri Nkwanta to Etwebo, which was started by the previous MP, and supported the construction of a durbar ground and teachers’ office at Akaaso.

Mr Andoh, for his part, promised to lead the Municipal Assembly to take the necessary actions to resolve some of the infrastructural challenges in the area, including the construction of modern toilet facilities, among others.

The chiefs expressed gratitude to the MP and MCE for the visit and urged them to pay regular visits to the community for fruitful deliberations on developmental issues.

The MP presented a cow and an undisclosed amount of money to the chiefs as a gift for
the Christmas festivities.

Source: Ghana News Agency

The Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection has organised a capacity building workshop on the Child Marriage Information Portal in Accra.

The Portal launched on September 29, 2021, is a one-stop-shop database system on child marriage in Ghana, developed by the Domestic Violence Secretariat under the Gender Ministry in collaboration with United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).

The system readily shares information on child marriage, Sexual and Gender-Based Violence (SGBV) and its related issues in an open source by a press of a button.

This is part of the Secretariat’s commitment to addressing child marriage in the new Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Agenda, under Goal 5- eliminating all harmful practices, such as child early and forced marriage and female genital mutilation, with specific target to eliminate child marriage by 2030.

Ms Saphia Tamimu, Head, Child Marriage Unit, Gender Ministry, said the Portal was expected to help the Ministry to track issues of child marriage.

She said it
was to also enhance the collaborative efforts of the stakeholders the Ministry worked with in the fight against child marriage.

The Portal, the Head, said was intended to provide precise data and information on child marriage in the country and to provide a link for people to report such issues in their communities.

However, publications on the platform have been slow due to inadequate stories received from stakeholders and partners, who work on addressing issues of child marriage.

She said the Portal had had its security certificate installed to improve the system.

An editorial committee was formed to explore strategies to improve content quality and impact on the audience and to also guarantee data was accurate, complete, authentic, and reliable.

Ms Tamimu said poverty and teenage pregnancy were key drivers of child marriage which had adverse effects on the health and education of the girl child.

The Head said the Ministry had put pragmatic strategies and policies in place such as the development of t
he National Strategic Framework on Ending Child Marriage where stakeholders were monitored in ensuring that child marriage was ended.

She said currently it had an updated national plan of action, which guided the stakeholders as to what to do in ending child marriage.

She called on all stakeholders to continually utilise the portal for the desirable result envisaged in meeting the agenda 2030 call to eliminating child marriage.

Mr Senanu Agbozo, a Consultant at UNFPA, said the workshop was to enhance editorial collaboration among critical stakeholders for efficient content creation, identify opportunities to improve reader engagement and audience reach and increase stakeholders’ utilisation of the portal.

He said information on the portal were in five main categories; Child Marriage Data/Statistics, Collaborations /Partners, Educational Materials and Guides, Projects and Events, and Published Research.

Mr Agbozo said although child marriage affected both sexes, girls were disproportionately affected.

20
18 UNICEF data indicates that child marriage among girls is highest in Sub-Saharan Africa, where around four in ten young women were married before age 18 and though decreasing globally, still, the total number of girls married in childhood stands at twelve million.

Dr Samson Obed Appiah, Chairman of the Editorial Committee, said contributions of articles to the Portal must be relevant, short, clear and concise, factual and verifiable.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Pastor Joshua Obeng, the Resident Pastor of the Calvary Charismatic Church (CCC) in Kumasi, has urged Ghanaians to embrace year 2024 with decorum and responsibility.

He said year 2024 was an election year in Ghana, and it was important for every individual to be responsible and decorous in all political activities to help strengthen the country’s democracy and peace of the country.

He said politics should be a vehicle through which people expressed their views and opinions on how a state should be governed to improve the lives and wellbeing of the people and not an avenue for fight, divisions and disunity among the people.

Speaking to journalists at the church’s watch night service to usher in the New Year, he said Ghanaians should critically assess the manifestos and policy programmes of the various political parties to help them make informed decisions during the elections.

He said Ghanaians, particularly Christians, should be firm and resolute in examining the policies of political parties to ensure t
hey voted for a government that would promote the development of the country.

Pastor Obeng said it was time Ghanaians pushed for a national development agenda, which all successive governments would continue to use to protect the country’s little resources.

He stressed the need for Christians to always open their hearts and seek God’s intervention in whatever situation they found themselves, adding that they should be patient and wait on the Lord, who was ready to fulfil all their heart desires.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Dr Michael Boadi Nyamekye, General Overseer of The Maker’s House Chapel International, has encouraged Christians to be change agents in 2024. ?

He said though God had spoken of blessings for His people, His word would need?couriers-people who would bring the word into a land of manifestation, and urged believers to be those vessels of positive transformation.

Dr Nyamekye said this during the watch night service of the Church to usher in the New Year.

He asked Christians to become envoys, emissaries, and ambassadors, and avail?themselves for God to channel His divine virtue through them. ?

‘God wants to bring change to Africa, Ghana, your family, your community.

‘May God find you as change agent. Going into 2024, may you be the change agent. May you be?that change.’

He added: ‘When God wants to do mighty things with your life and through your life, you have?to meet it with all preparedness you can muster.’

The Church’s Destiny Arena and the Celebration Centre were all filled to capacity by thousands?of
people from diverse walks of life, who converged to bid farewell to 2023 and welcome the?new year. ?

Members of the congregation, mostly clad in white attires, sang aloud and danced heartily, giving thanks and praise to God for all His?blessings.

Taking his new year message from 2nd Kings Chapter 7: 1- 9, Dr Nyamekye likened?Christians to the four leprous men, who made the choice to change their deplorable situation and?to advance. ?

‘You have to get to a place where you tell yourself this is not where God wants me to be…You?have to get to a place where you tell yourself I am greater, bigger, mightier, better than this?situation.

‘ And the moment you realise that-you don’t take no for an answer. And you don’t settle for?less, but you advance to the places of glory.’

He said serving God was a choice, adding that, Christians needed to make the choice?to serve Him. ?

‘I pray that you choose to serve God, you choose to walk with God, you choose to please God,’?he said. ?

Dr Nyamekye urged Christians to be
mindful of the relationship and interactions they made?regarding matters of destiny.

‘Going into 2024, there are certain associations you have to cut. There are certain people you?don’t need them in your space anymore. ?

‘You have to get people that are more linked to your destiny and would propel you to greatness,?and motivate you for exploits-not people that are going to demotivate you,’ he said. ?

Special prayers were said for the leaders of the country, and for national stability and economic?progress. ?

The Church also prayed for God’s glory, greatness, abundance, protection, transformation, and?guidance. ?

Ms Patience Senu came all the way from Koforidua, in the Eastern Region, to participate in and?tap into the blessings of the 31 Night Service. ?

She said: ‘Today is a transformation night. And we believe God for the glory because glory?comes with so many benefits. When you have the glory of God upon you, it changes things?around you. So things will turn around for us in 2024.’

Mr Daniel Cudjoe
said it was his first time at The Maker’s House Chapel and described the?service as very powerful.

‘It is amazing to begin the year with unlocked doors. We now have to do the needful, to?strengthen the bond with God,’ he added. ?

Ms Evelyn Antwiwaa, a member of the Church, said she hoped for the best in 2024 and that?’God will grant all her needs accordingly.’

Source: Ghana News Agency

Most Reverend John Yaw Afoakwah, Catholic Bishop of the Obuasi Diocese, has charged prison inmates to allow themselves to be transformed by the processes they are going through in the prisons.

He said it was important for prison inmates to take away all bitterness and think positively as they continued to focus on the Lord, who was ready to hear and transform them from the present situations for the better.

Most Rev. Afoakwah made the call when he led the church to celebrate the Holy Mass with the inmates and officers of the Ahinsan Prisons Camp, in the Obuasi diocese of the church.

The church presented assorted items such as food, toiletries and clothes to the inmates.

Most Rev. Afoakwah said it was the duty of the church to always visit and pray with the inmates and share the word of God, which was the source of all wisdom and encouragement.

He appealed to them not to lose sight of the word of God but always remained focus and wait on the Lord.

Mr Mathew Kofi Apaw, Officer in-charge of the Ahinsan Pr
isons Camp, thanked the church for its continued support to the inmates of the camp.

Source: Ghana News Agency

The Dormaa Presbyterian Hospital recorded four new babies’ delivery on New Year’s Eve.?

Two of the babies were born in the morning, one in the afternoon, and another one in the evening, Ms. Francisca Pomaa, Senior Staff Mid-wife at the Labour Ward of the Hospital told the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in an interview at Dormaa-Ahenkro, Dormaa Central Municipality of the Bono Region.

Three out of the four babies delivered by spontaneous vaginal delivery (SVD) were in good state of health, whilst one whose mother delivered through caesarean section died afterwards due to a condition called fetal distress (a heart rate beat complications), she said.

Ms. Pomaa explained the mother who lost the baby developed high blood pressure and was referred from a health centre at Danyame, a community in the Municipality.

She emphasised the need for pregnant women to patronise ante-natal services to help early detection and prevention of complications at the point of birth.

Source: Ghana News Agency

The Bechem Government Hospital in the Tano South Municipality of the Ahafo Region recorded low deliveries during the yuletide as only four babies were born between December 24-29, 2023.

The four babies, two males and two females

The youngest mother, 20-year-old Ms. Gladys Adu, unemployed, delivered a bouncing baby boy who weighed 3.5 kilogrammes at birth on the Boxing Day, December 26 at 1243 hours, Madam Vida Ompong, Nursing Manager of the Hospital told the Ghana News Agency in an interview on Monday.

She added Madam Memunatu Issah, aged 43 and the oldest mother delivered a baby girl weighing 2.9 kilogramme at birth at 1039 hours through caesarian session on Friday, December 29, 2023.

The other two births were Spontaneous Vaginal Deliveries (SVD), she said and urged pregnant mothers to regularly attend ante-natal clinics to avoid complications during labour and also to guarantee healthy babies and mothers.

Madam Ompong advised parents to take proper care of their children, especially properly clothing
and dieting them during this dry season against contraction of preventable diseases because ‘Ghana needs all its citizens alive and healthy for national development.’

Source: Ghana News Agency

The Sunyani Teaching Hospital celebrated the arrival of twin baby girls on New Year’s Day, January 1, this year.?

That brought the total number of deliveries at the Hospital to three by mid-day when the Ghana News Agency (GNA) visited the facility as a baby boy was delivered around the time of GNA’s visit.

But on the eve of the New Year, December 31, 2023, the Hospital recorded four births, all of which were baby girls, bringing the total number of births from December 31 to mid-day on January 1 to seven.

Speaking to the GNA, Miss Regina Amankwah Boahemaa, Supervisor at the Obstetrics and Gynecology Department at the Hospital, expressed her joy for the safe deliveries and gave the assurance that the staff were well-prepared to handle any emergency.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Very Reverend Father Monsignor Roger Aboteyuure, a Catholic priest of the Navrongo-Bolgatanga Diocese, has called on the people of Nabdam to unite and rally behind one another to capitalise on the limited resources at their disposal to advance development.

He underscored peace, unity, and education as essential in advancing development, and it was important that the people inhabited them in their quest to improve development.

‘I also urge the youth to desist from indulging in activities that have the tendency to destroy their future, such as drinking alcohol, and rally behind one another to create an environment that will improve their livelihoods,’ he stated.

Monsignor Aboteyuure was speaking at a ceremony in Kongo organised by the chiefs and people of Nabdam under the theme, ‘Monsignor Roger Aboteyuure`s Life Story and Nabdams: The Past, the Present, and the Future’ in his honour for his contribution to the development of the area.

The Monsignor Aboteyuure said for all that he had achieved, for which t
he Nabdam people saw the need to honour him, he gave thanks to the Almighty God and the efforts of the people for making it possible.

‘I sincerely recognise the efforts of the Nabdam people because you made my priesthood lovely and worked for free whenever your services were required, and by the grace of God, you made all these achievements possible,’ he added.

In a speech in his honour, Very Reverend Father Thomas Anamoo, a Catholic Priest, described him as a symbol of unity whose exemplary life has inspired him and many others to become priests.

He urged the people of Nabdam to heed to the call of Monsignor Aboteyuure and be united to champion development for their benefit.

The ceremony was attended by the two paramount chiefs of the land, Naab Yelzoya Kosom Asaga II, the paramount chief of the Nangodi Traditional area, and Naab Sigri Bewong, the paramount chief of the Sakoti Traditional area, among other dignitaries.

Source: Ghana News Agency