Ghana TV News, 01.08.2010 | | | | News 02.08.2010 Upper East Region gets fourth FM Radio Station *Source:GNA | Bolgatanga, August 2, GNA - The Upper East Region has now a fourth Frequency Modulation (FM) Radio Station to serve the increasing population in the Region.
The new FM radio station called "Word FM 88.3" at Zuarungu in the Bolgatanga Municipality has added to "GBC URA Radio", "Style FM" and "Radio A One" in the region.
Launching the new FM Station at the weekend in Zuarungu, the Upper East Deputy Regional Minister, Mrs Lucy Awuni, commended the Management of the FM Station and said the increasing population and urbanization called for an urgent need to provide the state of the art communication gadgets through which the varied audience could be reached.
She said community radio had contributed to the development of communities with messages in local dialects.
Mrs Awuni appealed to the management of the station to adhere to journalistic standards by using the radio responsibly devoid of issues that would promote conflict.
She advised management of the station to engage qualified journalists to ensure professionalism.
The President of the Ghana Journalist Association in the Upper East Region, Mr Erick Amoh, cautioned media practitioners that the law would not spare them if they refused to obey the tenets and code of ethics of the profession.
He reiterated the need for Management of radio stations and other media houses in Accra to engage professionals to represent them in the regions so as to avoid the usual problems caused by reporting in the region especially with regards to conflict.
Rev Peter Awane the initiator of the FM Station explained that his dream to establish the radio started at a younger age when he used to tune his father's radio to Radio Monrovia that did 24 hours preaching.
He said the radio was able to build his Christian faith and made him to become a Reverend Minister and that at that age he realised the radio was a powerful tool for rural community development.
Naba Charles Bob Ayamga, the chief of Zuarungu, said the facility would help transform lives of the people in his community. | News 02.08.2010 Action Aid Ghana trains Journalists in U/E on conflict reporting *Source: GNA | Bolgatanga, Aug 2, GNA - Journalists in the Upper East Region were on Friday, called upon to adopt due diligence and rake up intelligence information, before making any publication or broadcast on the Bawku conflict.
At a workshop to train journalists and broadcasters working in the Region on conflict reporting, organized by Action Aid Ghana, the media practitioners were alerted to the dangers in reporting on the conflict in Bawku and the role they should play to bring peace to the area.
Mr Alhassan Sulemana, a Senior Programme Officer for Education at Actionaid, who called on the media practitioners to operate with decorum in times of conflict, attributed the protraction in the Bawku conflict partly to unsubstantiated reportage from media practitioners and the over liberalization of the airwaves with little checks.
Mr Sulemana noted that the media has a critical role to play in the resolution of conflicts in the region, especially the Bawku conflict, and said many people assume that whatever comes from the media is the truth and that the perception should challenge media practitioners to gather and report information accurately to pre-empt conflicts.
He said the crucial role of the media in conflict situation cannot be undermined, especially considering the magnitude with which reports from the media can influence the psyche of the people directly involved or otherwise, adding that, this informed his outfit to come out with the training.
He said the thematic area with which Actionaid operates lies in human security, by considering conflict, interrelationships, upholding human rights and dignity as well as identifying flash points and drawing the attention of the powers that be to such situations, and promoting peace through education and training of key bodies, such as the media, groups and institutions.
The Upper East Regional chairman of the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA), Mr Eric Kwadjo Amoh, told the participants that the training workshop had come at the right time considering the various measures taken by stakeholders to build and sustain the peace in Bawku and other conflict areas.
He noted that the continuous spate of sparks of the conflict in Bawku could partly be attributed to irresponsible reporting on the part of some media personnel in the region and especially, the way and manner some media houses in Accra are quick to accept callers, who phone in to report from the area.
Mr Amoh advised media houses, especially radio stations, to hire the services of professionals as reporters in the regions and avoid the practice where they depend so much on cheap labour by using the services of people, who have the opportunity to work in radio stations without any journalism background. "Cheap labour for media work dims the reputation of journalism practice in the country", he added.
Mr Damma Salifu, Programmes Manager for Initiative on Conflict Resolution, who facilitated the training of the media personnel, noted that, the dynamics of conflicts also affect analysis as essential data changes during the conflict.
He reiterated the need for media practitioners to be circumspect in reporting on conflicts, especially the Bawku one, and expressed the hope that, the training they had received would cushion them to do professional presentation in times of conflict.
The media personnel were taken through topics such as causes of conflicts, types of conflicts, escalations and de-escalations in conflicts, the conflict cycle, understanding and analyzing conflicts among others. | | | | | News 01.08.2010 President Mills to tour District Assemblies * Source: GNA | Accra, Aug 1, GNA- President John Evans Atta Mills at the week-end announced that he would soon be visiting all the districts to access the progress of work at the district level.
He gave no date for the tour, but the visits might be unannounced, to give the President a true picture of the situation on the ground.
The tour of the President comes in the wake of reports reaching his office that some Metropolitan, Municipal and District Chief Executives were performing below expectation, and were engaged in acts that tended to draw back the progress Government was making in the governance process.
While commending those doing well, the President was straight in saying that he would not hesitate to sack those who were not performing and are engaged in acts of indiscipline.
Furthermore, "those DCE's and MCE's, who think they are lords onto themselves should be careful because, at the appropriate time the axe may fall where it may be necessary".
President Mills made the announcement in an interaction with Metropolitan, Municipal and District Chief Executives at the Castle, Osu, in Accra.
He minced no words in calling the Chief Executives to make amends, explaining that the number of complaints he received on daily basis about some of them are not encouraging and those few should emulate the good example being set by their colleagues.
"I cannot tolerate indiscipline, I cannot tolerate people who think they are lords onto themselves," President Mills warned.
He said the Regional Ministers and the MMDCEs were his direct representatives at the regional and district levels, adding "your failure will be my failure and your success will be my successes."
President Mills pointed out that, at the end of the day, it is not the performance of the Chief Executives that would be judged, but the entire ruling Government of the National Democratic Congress (NDC).
According to the President, even though there were challenges in some of the districts, in terms of accumulated debt, some of the complaints he had been receiving were not about the debt, but rather that, some of them were not making good use of the resources allocated to them.
President Mills said very soon, government would initiate many development projects, and urged the MMDCEs to involve the party supporters, foot soldiers and especially the women, to be part of these projects.
He said the Minster of Local Government and Rural Development had presented a detailed and comprehensive local government policy and when approved, much of the powers will be at the district, for them to initiate their own development plans.
President Mills decried the unnecessary tension between the MMDCEs and the party hierarchy, and urged them to exercise restraint and have a measure of tolerances to handle some of the problems that party members bring to them.
The President urged them to work with the Regional Ministers and the MPs and stop the petty squabbles, and also not to allow their opponents to divide their ranks.
"There are a lot of successes to be chalked and come 2012 I will lead the NDC to another victory, " President Mills said.
President Mills called on the Chief Executives to prove their mettle to justify the confidence reposed in them as an important part of the governance process and work hard to realise the Better Ghana agenda.
Mr Joseph Yieleh Chireh, Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, said the new decentralisation policy would involve the local people at the grass root level to own their own development.
This, he said would open up the governance process to the grass-root and also encourage mass participation in governance.
He said the Government's Better Ghana programme was beginning to manifest and therefore it behoved on them to work hard to win the confidence of the people to get their votes again come 2012. | Aspiring Assemblyman arrested for fraud * Source:GNA | Agona Swedru, Aug 1, GNA- The Agona Swedru Police on Saturday arrested Mr George Biney Ampiah, an aspiring Assemblyman for Swedru Mahodwe Electoral Area, for allegedly defrauding a Swedru based businessman of GHC 800 under the pretext of offering him a store.
A Police spokesman at the Agona Swedru Divisional Crime Office, said Ampiah, also known as Brebo, approached Mr Kwame Asiamah, businessman some months ago and informed him that he had a store to let out and collected 800 Ghana Cedis of from him after he had expressed interest in the store.
According to the Police spokesman, when Mr Asiamah later asked the suspect to show him the store for him to start furnishing it, Mr Ampiah started 'playing hide and seek with him'.
The spokesman said about two months ago, Ampiah who is also a lotto seller took the businessman to a certain store at Texaco and the owner of that particular store told Mr Asiamah that the suspect has no store.
According to the Police, Mr Asiamah made several attempts to demand his money back from the suspect, but this proved futile and he reported the matter to the police.
The Police spokesman said the police had to hunt for Ampiah for about two months before he was finally arrested on July 31, this year, upon a tip off.
He said the suspect would be put before the Agona Swedru Circuit Court on Monday August 2, 2010. | | |
_____________________________________________________ ----- | News 02.08.2010 - Upper East Region gets fourth FM Radio Station - Action Aid Ghana trains Journalists in U/E on conflict reporting | _________________________________ | News 01.08.2010 - President Mills to tour District Assemblies - Aspiring Assemblyman arrested... for fraud - Guinea worm likely to be eradicated next year - Veep | News 01.08.2010 Guinea worm likely to be eradicated next year - Veep *Source: GNA | Wa, Aug 1, GNA - Ghana is on the verge of eradicating guinea worm next year, Vice President John Dramani Mahama has announced in Wa.
He said Ghana has recorded only eight reported cases of the disease as at June this year and described the achievement as good news for the country.
He therefore urged all to adhere to the practices that could help in the total eradication of the guinea worm next year.
Vice President Mahama announced this when he officially launched "The Ghana 8 Number Hospitals Project and cut sod for the construction and equipping of a new 160 bed Upper West Regional Hospital in Wa on Saturday.
The Ghana 8 Number Hospitals Project would cost 339 million dollars with a grant element of 36.63 per cent from Euroget De-Invest S.A. of Egypt.
Under the project two regional hospitals, one in the Upper West and the other in Ashanti, as well as six district hospitals would be provided in some regions of the country.
Vice President Mahama said the strategic objective of the project is to create, expand and upgrade capabilities in the health system to fill the service gaps.
Secondly, he said it is also to improve clinical and organisational performance to promote, protect and improve healthcare delivery.
Vice President Mahama said it is expected that the project would address some of the growing health needs of both rural and urban centres, address National Health Insurance Scheme demands, and improve health related millennium development goals with focus on maternal and child health.
He announced that five more Polyclinics would be established in the Upper West Region to provide quality health care services to the people.
Vice President Mahama also announced that the Savannah Accelerated Development Authority's (SADA) Bill had been passed by Parliament and that government was prepared to commit resource for the development of a new road from Wa-Walewale to open up the area to trade and other economic activities.
He commended health workers in the region for working hard under some serious challenges to provide quality healthcare service to the people and urged them to continue with their good work.
Dr. Benjamin Kunbuor, Minister of Health said government was committed to improve quality health care services in such a way that people in both rural and urban centres would have access to equal health care delivery.
He said government was concerned about the deplorable state of some health facilities and was doing everything possible to improve on them soon to enhance healthcare delivery for all.
Dr Kunbuor announced that the Ministry has initiated a policy and plan to complete all uncompleted and abandoned projects in the health sector, aimed to move service delivery to higher level.
He said the Ministry had valued all those uncompleted projects and was working hard to secure a loan to complete them to help increase the coverage and quality of health services for the people to create wealth.
Dr Kunbuor announced that the Ministry of Health in collaboration with the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development as well as the Better Ghana Management Services had initiated a programme to train more than 2,000 Health Promotion Assistants to support educate and create awareness on healthy lifestyle and healthy choices.
The programme would be launched in this August, 2010, after which selected unemployed Environmental Health graduates and Senior High School graduates would be trained to become Health Promotion Assistants.
These Assistants would work with community structures to improve sanitation, personal hygiene and diseases prevention in schools, market places, work places and in the communities, to help reduce disease burden so as to make the health insurance scheme more sustainable. | Your Opinions | Have Your Say!
| Archived News for 2010 | News Page was last modified on Monday, 02 August 2010 16:38:20 | 
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