The visit is in connection with the forthcoming Troop
Contributing Countries Conference (TCC) on UNAMSIL (UN Assistance Mission in
During his stay in
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Cape Coast (Central Region) 10 February 2003- The Centre
for Continuing Education (CCE) of the University of Cape Coast (UCC) is
processing applications for about 500 workers to undertake diploma programmes
in commerce and management studies in October this year.
The vice-chancellor of the university, The Reverend
Professor Emmanuel Adow Obeng, announced this on Saturday at the matriculation
of the second batch of 2,525 teachers, comprising 1,033 females and 1,489 males
to pursue a three year diploma programme in Basic Education by distance
learning at the university.
Last year the centre admitted 750 basic schools teachers.
Professor Obeng said the centre has exceeded its two per cent target set by the
National Council of Tertiary Education (NCTE) and stressed that limited
facilities at the university would make it very difficult to increase its
intake despite growing demand.
The vice chancellor hinted that for the year 2003/2004,
academic year over, 4,000 applications are being processed for admission by the
centre. Professor Adow Obeng said the decision of government to upgrade
teachers training colleges to diploma awarding institutions necessitates the
retraining of the 120,000 certificate "A" Basic school teachers
already in the system, to upgrade their level to diploma status.
He said the UCC has placed distance learning as one of the
priorities of its strategic activities to help produce qualified teachers to
enhance teaching and learning in the country
To maximize the benefits of distance education for the
country, it is necessary to pool resources to develop a focused and
comprehensive programme to meet the national set goals, he said.
"I would therefore, like our centre for continuing
education in collaboration with the National Council for Distance Education to
take a leading role in the co-ordination of the activities of the various
institutions involved in achieving the objective," he said.
He repeated his call on the government to ensure that
students on distance education programmes qualify for student loans and
bursary, adding that the UCC has made representations to the Ministry of
Education on the matter.
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A statement signed on Saturday by Mr Kwesi Okyere Public
Relations Officer of the Auditor General's Department said the appointment took
effect from
An attached profile to the statement said, Mr Agyeman holds
a degree in Business Studies from Middlesex Polytechnic,
He also holds a Certificate of Education from
Agyeman assumed the Acting Auditor General position in
April 2001. He also served as the Deputy Auditor General from July 1987 to
1989. He has also held many other positions including, Programme Coordinator,
European Union Human Resources Development, Ministry of Local Government and
Rural Development.
GRi.../
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Moslems in the Ghana Armed Forces will participate in the
to be held in all the Garrisons after which a sacrifice of ram or cow will be
made to climax the occasion, a statement in Accra said on Saturday.
IT said in Accra Garrison, the prayer would be held at the Al-Aziz
Central Mosque, Burma Camp at
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Gomoa-Ekwamkrom (Central Region)
Kwabena Amissah, Constituency Executive Member of NPP,
sustained injuries and was rushed to the
Justice Asante, Swedru Divisional Police Commander told the
Ghana News Agency at Swedru that the MP and the two others were travelling to
Brofoyedur, to inspect a school project when their vehicle veered off the road
and somersaulted at about
The MP and the Constituency Chairman had also arranged to
address a party meeting at Kwamekrom.
GRi.../
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Wa (Upper West)
They, however, expressed fears that the investors would
make water unaffordable to the people through higher tariffs and called for
stronger regulatory mechanisms to protect them.
This was after they had been taken through a one-hour
briefing, on the water sector-restructuring programme by officials from the
Water Sector Restructuring Secretariat led by Mr Kwamena Longdon.
The forum was the last in a series organised in the
regional capitals by the Secretariat to sensitise the general public on the
programme and obtain their input towards its implementation.
Longdon said an Urban Low Income Group Water Unit (ULIGWU),
had been established by the Ministry of Works and Housing to see to the
interests of consumers.
He said the programme was not a sell-out and stressed that
the ministry would continue to set the water sector policy while the Ghana
Water Company Limited (GWCL) would sere as a "Holding Company" for
the sector.
Longdon, however, admitted that tariffs would include a
little profit margin for the partners. "Profit-making is entrenched in the
provisions of the law that established the GWCL in 1965, which stated that the
corporation was either to make profit or break-even", he said.
Captain Victor Ansah, a member of the team, said, since
independence, past governments had not paid adequate attention to the water
sector and that had brought about the present problems.
He said a debt of 400 million dollars was hanging over the
GWCL and the government could not afford to pay and at the same time
rehabilitate water systems to improve supply.
Sahanun Mogtari, Upper West Regional Minister noted that
the problem of inadequate water supply in the Wa township was so acute and
beyond the ability of GWCL to cope with. Community Water and Sanitation Agency
had to relax its operational rules to come to the aid of some suburbs to avert
frequent cholera outbreaks. He observed that many of those who were against the
government's policy on the water sector did not know the details, adding that
the forum was timely.
GRi.../
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Meanwhile, another statement signed by Alhaji Awaisi Bios,
Public Relations Officer of the Office of The National Chief Imam, said the
Chief Imam would lead the Eid Prayer at the
The Chief Imam called on all Regional, District and Zonal
Chief Imams to pray for the President, the Vice-President, the government and
the nation for peace and prosperity. The Chief Imam wished all Muslims a happy
celebration and those on pilgrimage to
GRi.../
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Georgia (United States) 10 February 2003 - Trekking from
Griffin to Ghana, University of Georgia scientists have developed a
protein-packed infant food that is saving the lives of malnourished children.
UGA's Griffin-based Department of Food Science and
Technology collaborated with the University of Ghana-Legon to develop an
easy-to-cook mixture made from the African nation's indigenous crops. The
mixture of cowpeas - known as black-eyed peas in
''In one very poor village there was a particular child who
was identified as being very malnourished, and though she was 3 years old, she
was not walking,'' said Phillips. ''... Now she's up walking around, running,
playing, like a normal child.''
Parents in Ghana traditionally feed their newly weaned
children cereal-based foods that often lead to swollen stomachs and hair loss -
visible signs of malnutrition that are seemingly everywhere, said Phillips. In
fact, malnutrition, which in some cases leads to death, has become so routine
for newly weaned children that the local translation for the word
''malnutrition'' means ''the disease a child gets when a younger child is
born,'' according to Phillips. ''I think that is one of the more striking
definitions that I've ever run into,'' he said. ''It's extremely evocative.''
Phillips' work, in concert with the university in
Kay McWaters, a UGA agriculture research scientist in
Griffin, helped prepare UGA graduate student Yvonne Mensa-Wilmot, a native of
Ghana, to bring the infant food to women in villages throughout Ghana.
Mensa-Wilmot, who has already returned to her native Ghana, roamed the country
polling mothers to make sure they liked the appearance, color and texture of
the food.
''Yes, yes they loved it, and the convenience of it,'' said
McWaters, who noted that preparation of the food, like oatmeal or instant
grits, requires only hot water. ''... It's very gratifying.''
And the fact that the food is easy to prepare is essential
in a country where the women are overworked, added Phillips.
''Women really carry the load in developing countries for
lots of complicated reasons,'' said Phillips. ''Our ideas have been that if we
can alleviate that work, it will help the whole society.''
Professors and students based in Ghana are currently
distributing the food to some villages, and educating folks about the need to
eat protein-rich food. But now the two universities are trying to find
promising entrepreneurs in Ghana, who can set-up small mills and local
cooperatives in order to produce the infant food at a low price. Only then, said
Phillips, will the food spread to all those who need it.
''In order for this to work, we are encouraging small-scale
entrepreneurship,'' said Phillips. ''A little company would be able to produce
this mixture and be able to sell it at an affordable price.'' And for Phillips,
the 20-year journey to bring convenient and healthy foods to Africa has been a
rewarding experience. ''When I started this 20 years ago I'd hardly been out of
the country,'' he said. ''It's been a real eye-opening and life-altering sequence
of events and it is very gratifying on many levels.''
Source: http://www.onlineathens.com
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Chicago (United States) 10 February 2003 - Her name is Esi Antobam, and she is being investigated for a scam involving the smuggling of the world's most precious resource: children. But what makes this story so shocking is that Antobam, who is now in federal custody, is the mother of three adopted former Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) wards-Patrick, Isaac and Kojo Beck- who now reside in Ghana, according to sources, and were listed as missing for the first time Friday by the National Centre for Missing and Exploited Children.
The U.S. attorney's office and Immigration and
Naturalization Service officials are trying to determine whether the three
boys, all brothers, were being used in an elaborate smuggling operation which
may have involved the sale or trade of children, sources said. In addition,
Gov. Blagojevich wants to know what happened. "We are still not getting
the kind of information we want," he said. "We are just trying to get
our arms around it right now."
Antobam, who reportedly told her Bolingbrook neighbours she
ran an orphanage in Ghana--and even showed them newspaper clippings about her
enterprise--was first stopped at O'Hare International Airport on March 3, 2002,
trying to smuggle her 4-year-old granddaughter into the country from Ghana,
according to federal affidavits. They were using passports investigators later
determined belonged to a family who once lived in a residence that she owned.
The Illinois Department of Children and Family Services
took custody of the granddaughter, according to the federal affidavits.
DCFS then called the Immigration and Naturalization Service
to take custody of the girl because it was determined that she was not a
The feds now believe that Antobam, who lived in the 300
block of
Most shocking of all is an allegation that Antobam may have
bought a child. In May 2002, a former tenant of Antobam's told INS Special
Agent Liam O'Neill that "Antobam currently has a child living with her
named Quaqoo, and that Antobam told her that she purchased this child."
Investigators then went to Antobam's house and spotted a young boy leaving it.
"When asked his name, the boy responded, 'Quaqoo,'" according to
O'Neill. "When asked if he lived at this residence, the boy responded, 'I
guess so.'"
The feds also interviewed a witness who claims she found
three suitcases in the attic of one of Antobam's residences containing
approximately $100,000 in cash. The affidavits also state that Antobam's Bank
One account in 2001 contained thousands of dollars worth of checks from the
state payable to four different individuals from two different addresses ...
and received over $200,000 from the Illinois Department of Human Services
between January 1998 and 16 September 2002. Word is Antobam applied for
benefits claiming 11 children lived with her.
And here is another shocker. A hearing will be held at the
Will County Juvenile Court in Joliet on Monday on foster care placement for two
other former DCFS children Antobam adopted--in addition to a third child.
"These children are in addition to the three children she adopted who now
reside in Ghana," said a source. Antobam will also appear in federal court
Monday for a status hearing on her felony charge of alien smuggling.
The incident at O'Hare in March involving Antobam's
granddaughter is what sparked a seven-month investigation that led to Antobam
being arrested on Oct. 21 at her Bolingbrook home. When INS agents raided
Antobam's house that day, they said they found a suitcase full of passports in
various names. There were also four illegal aliens--two children and two
adults- in her house. Antobam was found hiding under a large pile of clothes,
they said.
For at least two years, a phalanx of people has been coming
and going at odd hours from Antobam's two-story, gray-sided home, neighbours
say. One neighbour, who didn't want to be identified, said many were children
and some appeared to be less than a year old. The house often was quiet and
seemingly deserted during the day, but would be ablaze with lights and activity
at 2 a.m.
Since last spring, five children appeared to be living
there continuously, three girls and two boys, ranging in age from about 3 to
17, the neighbour said. The children said they were from Ghana and had been
adopted by Antobam, who, according to neighbours, frequently wasn't around. The
children also appeared to be largely unsupervised. "It seemed the kids
would be there by themselves for days," said a neighbour. The question is
... who are these children and where are they now?
Source: http://www.suntimes.com/output/sneed/cst-nws-sneed09.html
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