CIDA President tours projects in Upper East
Region
Metcare royal package for Asantehene
980 million projects for Enchi
Accra (Greater Accra), 21 March 2000
The government in collaboration with the International Criminal Investigative Training Assistance Programme (ICITAP), is to train personnel from selected security agencies and some members of the public on how to follow proper protocol at crime scenes to preserve valuable evidence.
The training, which is to begin by the middle of this year, is basically in response to the increasing rate of sophisticated crime in the country, particularly the recent murders at Matahieko and Dansoman.
The murders of 20 women at Matahieko and Dansoman between late last year and early this year have been shrouded in mystery due to lack of concrete evidence and the inability of the police to track down the perpetrators.
Mr Patrick T. McGinnis, Law Enforcement Consultant of ICITAP, said this at the end of the three-day seminar on "national development implications of security and justice."
It was organised by the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA).
The last forum of the seminar was dedicated to discussion on capacity building in law enforcement and security agencies.
Mr McGinnis said the first phase of the training will focus on personnel from the Ghana Police Service and would entail fraud and sex investigations as well as media relations in crime investigations. The second phase will focus on proper protocol at crime scenes.
The final phase would combine members of the public and personnel of other security agencies who are likely to be first respondents to crime scenes before professional investigators arrive.
Mr McGinnis noted that the programme, which is partly being sponsored by the United States Department of Justice (USDJ), is necessary for the Ghanaian society, saying that the situation where first respondents to the crime scene disturb potential evidence is quite rampant in the country.
"I believe the rampant violation of crime scene protocol by members of the public and sometimes police officers, is the cause of the seeming inability of police investigators to track down the perpetrators of the serial murders in parts of Accra."
Mr McGinnis said traditionally, ICITAP has 20 pre-designed protocols for first respondents to a crime scene to follow. "If these protocols are not followed in a complete and orderly fashion, the entire investigation will continue to suffer."
He therefore appealed to members of the public to maintain a level head and desist from emotionalism in the event of crime, which usually causes people to tamper with potential evidence.
This calls for a response by the police to crime scene to prevent lay members of the public from tampering with evidence.
Mr McGinnis, therefore, urged the government to take a critical look at the current capacity level of the police force, in terms of manpower and logistics, with the view to enhancing the ability of the police to respond to crime scenes promptly.
Supt. Kwaku A. Opare-Addo, Assistant Commandant of the Ghana Police Academy (GPA), noted that out 70,000 officers needed to make the police force efficient, "the police service has only 16,000 officers."
He said coupled with lack of logistics and funding, the public maintains a suspicious attitude towards the police, making it difficult to gather eyewitness as well private information from the public on criminals and their activities.
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Zanlerigu (Upper East), 21March 2000
The President of the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), Dr Leonard Good, has commissioned a 56 million-cedi clinic funded by the Agency at Zanlerigu in the Bolgatanga District.
Prior to the construction of the clinic, the people of Zanlerigu and its surrounding areas received their medical care during weekly outreach programmes of the Presbyterian Mobil Health Services, under a Mango Tree.
Serious cases were referred to the Bolgatanga General Hospital and sometimes the patients died before reaching Bolgatanga.
Speaking at a durbar held to commission the project, Dr Good said CIDA has contributed more than 130 billion Canadian dollars in development aid since it started work in Ghana 25 years ago.
He lauded Ghana for its decentralisation programme and said it was a policy, which sought to bring decision-makers closer to the doorsteps of the people.
He said through such an initiative, Canada is convinced that district assemblies in the area would become stronger and more responsive to the needs of the people.
Dr Good said his two-day visit to the region has afforded him the opportunity to learn about the needs of the people at first hand and pledged his country's continued support.
"I have been interacting with villagers, community workers, traditional leaders and government officials to learn about the pressing development issues they face and how better Canada can assist".
The Canadian High Commissioner to Ghana, Mrs Janet Graham, and some officials of the High Commission accompanied Dr Good, who interacted with the chiefs and people of Zanlerigu before the commissioning.
Deputy Minister of Finance, Mr Moses Asaga, who is also the Member of Parliament (MP) for the Nabdam constituency, said Ghana receives more than 25 million Canadian dollars annually from Canada.
Canada was the first country to offer Ghana a debt remission of 90 million Canadian dollars, adding that there is a special grant of 16.2 million Canadian dollars annually for the provision of potable water.
The Bolgatanga District Chief Executive, Dr Albert Tenga, in a welcoming address, noted that assistance received from CIDA for the provision of potable water has contributed greatly to the eradication of guinea worm and other water-borne diseases from the Upper East Region.
He was hopeful that Canada will remain a genuine partner in Ghana's developmental efforts, and assured CIDA that the facilities provided would be put to good use.
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Kumasi (Ashanti), 21 March 2000
Metropolitan Insurance Company has instituted a health insurance policy, Metcare Royal Package for the Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II.
The comprehensive package will take care of all the health bills of the Asantehene and is renewable every year.
This was disclosed by Mr Daniel Aidoo-Mensah, Chief Executive of the company when he led a delegation from the company to pay a courtesy call and present the policy to the Asantehene at the Manhyia Palace in Kumasi.
Mr Aidoo-Mensah briefed the Asantehene about the activities and programmes of the company since its inception about six years ago and what it has done to assist Ghanaians in the field of insurance.
The Chief Executive said the health insurance scheme, which was launched in Accra about two years ago, would also be launched in the Ashanti region soon as a further boost to the new Health Endowment Fund to be established by the Asantehene.
Otumfuo Osei Tutu thanked the company for the policy and appealed to the company to find means of instituting a similar health insurance policy for the workers and staff at the Manhyia Palace.
The Asantehene asked insurance companies to intensify their education on the various portfolios of insurance to enable the people to appreciate the need to take such policies.
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980 million projects for Enchi
Enchi (Western Region) 21 March 2000
Development projects estimated at 980 million cedis including water supply and post harvest infrastructure are to be undertaken at Enchi under a memorandum of understanding signed between the Aowin-Suaman District Assembly and the Rural Infrastructure Coordinating Unit (RICU) of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MOFA).
Mr. Solomon Appiah, District Chief Executive for Aowin-Suaman disclosed this when speaking on the assembly's rural infrastructure programme at Enchi on Thursday.
He said a site for a satellite market has been cleared in addition to another one at Kwahu while markets at Dadieso and Acquai Allah will be developed to enhance revenue collection.
On the youth in agriculture programme, Mr. Appiah said groups comprising ten young farmers each who benefited from a 20 million cedis credit scheme from the assembly have fully paid back the loan with 10 per cent interest.
On roads, he said six main feeder roads are at various levels of completion.
They include Adonikrom-Motoso, Sewum-Sewum Junction and Dadieso-Kwasuo roads.
Others expected to be tackled this year are New Yakese-Apugya, Papueso junction-Meredane, Anguzu-Mile Four and the Ebikwawkrom-Kweku-Atta roads.
Mr. Solomon Appiah stressed the importance of the Population and Housing Census and asked assembly members, area councillors and public officers to help create public awareness on the exercise.
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Enchi,(Western Region) 21 March 2000
The Aowin-Suaman district director of education, Miss Beatrice Effuen, has recommended that a "modest percentage" of the district assembly's common fund should be set aside to supplement efforts of the central government and non-governmental organisations(NGOS)in promoting girl-child education.
She also recommended stiffer punishment for men who lure school girls into pre-marital sex resulting in teenage pregnancy.
Miss Effuen made these recommendations when she presented a paper at a forum on "issues affecting Girls' Education in the Aowin-Suaman District".
It was organised by the district assembly in conjunction with the Ghana Chapter of the Forum for African Women Educationalists (FAWE) at Enchi on Thursday.
Speaking on "Specific barriers to girl-child education" Miss Effuen cited broken homes, child labour, peer group influence, lack of family planning, the matrilineal system of inheritance, and the high rate of female illiteracy among others as factors militating against girl-child education.
On matrilineal inheritance, she said most parents, notably fathers, feel reluctant to educate their children because "they are perceived to belong to their mothers' family."
Miss Mary Yirenkyi, a retired educationist, expressed FAWE's concern about female under-enrolment in schools in the district.
She said available statistics show that 30 per cent of all children of school going age are not in school and that two-thirds of this figure are girls.
She called for urgent positive action on the issue of girl-child education because the home, the nation and the world at large will benefit if "we make it possible for the girl to acquire a reasonable education."
The Aowin-Suaman district Director of education Mr. Thomas Blay-Armoo, identified factors militating against girl-child education in the district as lack of role models, mental ability, household chores, sexual harassment and the location of schools.
He said most girls do not see any female in their communities who has attained great heights through education to inspire them.
He added that house chores in the morning sometimes makes the girls exhausted " and dries up their interest in going to school."
Mr. Blay-Armoo said in an effort to deal with this situation, a girl child education unit has been set up within the GES with female schedule officers who have been educating parents on the need to send their girls to school.
He said about 450 needy girls in the various villages in the district have been supplied with uniforms, exercise books and pencils to encourage them to stay in school.
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