Category: General

The Greater Accra Regional branch of the National Road Safety Authority (NRSA) has recorded 4,876 cases of road crashes and 399 deaths from January to October 2023.

Speaking in an interview with Ghana News Agency at Tema, Mr Ezra Quansah, Assistant Planning Manager, NRSA Greater Accra Region, stated that road accidents occurred because of human errors, with 8,804 vehicles involved.

He added that those injured because of road accidents were 2,776; those involved in pedestrian knockdowns were 866 and out of that, 206 died.

Mr Quansah who spoke to GNA on the sidelines of a road safety workshop for drivers in Tema reiterated that for the crash, injuries, and deaths for commercial vehicles 2,294; 928 people got injured, 94 deaths, and for the private vehicles crashes, there were 5,122, 843 injuries and 134 deaths.

‘For the motorcycle crashes, there were 1,388; 1,005 injured; and 166 deaths,’ he noted.

He highlighted that for all the road crashes, they recorded 70 female deaths and 329 male deaths.

He emphas
ised that the Christmas season was approaching, therefore drivers should ensure safe driving to prevent road accidents and urged them to prevent the use of unapproved lights fixed on vehicles to avoid being punished by the police MTTD and going on long journeys with single drivers.

He appealed to long-distance drivers to be two in a vehicle for four-hour driving intervals to prevent road crashes.

D03 Fifi Oppong, Tema Regional Operations Officer and Safety Officer of the Ghana National Fire Service stated that it was mandatory for every driver to have a fire extinguisher in the car because overheating or electric faults could cause a fire outbreak in the vehicle.

He said the fire extinguishers should be changed either every six months or a year, and the specific fire extinguisher type to be used in a car should be a dry powder type.

He urged the public to call the fire service emergency number 192/112 when there was an accident with people trapped in it.

‘Drivers should avoid drinking alcohol before driv
ing to prevent road accidents during the festive season,’ he advised.

Alhaji Nasiru Abachem, Chief Executive Officer of Finance Company Limited, added that the impact of the road safety lessons on the drivers and motorriders would help them drive safely on the roads.

He advised the drivers to drive carefully, even on a rough road or a titled road, for their safety ahead of the festive season.

Mr Nii Noi Hanson-Nortey, MP for Tema Central, stated that there were challenges faced by the public on road issues, mentioning that ‘our infrastructure deficit is a problem, and after 66 years of independence, it should have been better to have at least had a dual carriageway or three-path highway, especially in the middle belt between Accra, Kumasi, and beyond.’

He appealed to the government to construct good roads in some communities to avoid accidents.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Mr Bright Nyatsikor, the Volta and Oti Public Relations Officer of the National Health Insurance Authority, has been declared winner of the Adaklu Constituency New Patriotic Party Parliamentary Primary in the Volta Region.

He pulled 116 votes, followed closely by Madam Juliana Kpedekpo, Adaklu District Chief Executive, who polled 114 votes, while Mawunyo Aklamanu, had 19 votes.

There were 253 names in the register out of which 250 voted, with three absentees and one rejected ballot.

The election was orderly and peaceful, and supervised by the Adaklu District Office of the Electoral Commission.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Mr Ernest Talikun Njonan Ujan, has been adjudged the 2023 Municipal Best Farmer in the Krachi East Municipality of the Oti Region.

Mr Ujan took home a tricycle, a pair of Wellington boots, two cutlasses and a certificate.

The Municipal Best Farmer, who hails from Pai-Katanga, a suburb of Dambai with 21-years of experience in farming, has several farms dotted around the area, providing employment opportunities to several families in the enclave.

Mr Ujan who is married and blessed with five children, owns acres of land on which 10 were for cultivating yam, seven for cassava, 11 for groundnuts, four and five respectively for rice and teak trees, aside the rearing of cattle, sheep and goats.

He acknowledged the Ministry of Food and Agriculture for instituting the Day to acknowledge the role of farmers in the country.

There were also awards for the Municipal Best crop farmer, Municipal Best livestock farmer, Municipal Best Female farmer, Municipal Best youth farmer, Municipal physically challenged farmer and
Municipal Best Agric-Extension Agent.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Pandemonium broke at the Mataheko Police Station Park in the Ablekuma Central Constituency where the New Patriotic Party (NPP) is conducting parliamentary primary, after delegates abandoned voting and followed someone with a violet bag.

The bag contains small sealed envelopes.

A delegate, who sought anonymity, told the Ghana News Agency that the envelopes contained money for delegates, who voted for a particular aspirant.

Scores of delegates, including the elderly and persons with disability, about an hour into the election, deserted the voting and went after the ‘Manager’ of the bag.

Quickly, a long queue was formed ,with jostling and shoving for the money.

It is not clear, which candidate is giving out the money.

However, the tent under, which the money is being shared has the image of Mr Collins Amoah, one of the four aspirants.

A total of 1,571 delegates are expected to vote to elect one of the four aspirants to represent the Party in the parliamentary election next year.

The aspirants are Mr Jef
ferson, Sackey, a Presidential Staffer, Mr Ebenezer Nartey, a former Member of Parliament, Mr Collins Amoah and Mr Larry Angered Adjei.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Mr. Benjamin Blackie Forson a 60-year-old farmer from Kwahu Adawso, in the Kwahu South Municipality has been adjudged the Best Farmer for the Eastern Region, during the 39th National Farmers’ Day, held at Akyem-Ofoase.

The Regional Best female farmer went to Madam Ama Ohenewa while the best youth farmer went to Michael Eduaezi Ayahlu.

In all 12 farmers in the Eastern Region were recognized and honored for their immense contribution towards Agriculture and food security in the country.

Each of the awardees were presented with a certificate of merit, a Royal motorcycle, a refrigerator, a piece of cloth, organic fertilizers, cutlasses, and weedicides.

Mr. Forson lauded the government for instituting the day to motivate farmers to produce more food and urged all and sundry to get the interest in farming aside their main jobs to promote food sufficiency in the country.

Mr. Seth Kwame Acheampong, Eastern Regional Minister, commended the awardees and all farmers, especially in the region, for their contributio
n to food security in the country.

He encouraged farmers to adopt new farming practices being taught by the extension officers and modern technology for farm management to increase production, reduce costs and improve the quality of products.

The Minister mentioned that governments had allocated GHS1 billion in the 2024 budget with an additional GHS2billlion expected from the Development Bank of Ghana to bolster the agriculture sector.

Mr. Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, Member of Parliament for Ofoase-Ayirebi and Minister of Information commended the government on the 700 million Ghana cedi funds allocated for Planting for Food and Jobs (PFJ) and funds allocated for agriculture infrastructure, fisheries, and the rest.

He said that would undoubtedly improve the socio-economic conditions and living standards of farmers in the country to ensure food security and food for all.

Source: Ghana News Agency

The Chief of Dzodze-Kuli in the Ketu North Municipality, Togbe Avorkliya V, has indicated the readiness of traditional authorities and the Municipal Assembly, to welcome potential investors into the area to enhance socio-economic development.

He said the doors of the traditional leaders and the Assembly were opened for investors and to encourage development and reduce unemployment, and that the traditional leaders were prepared to give land to investors who would come to the area to conduct business.

Togbe Avorkliya V said this when the Ketu North Municipal Assembly took it turn at the Sixth Volta Trade and Investment Fair, to showcase investment and business opportunities within the Municipality.

He said there was an abundance of clay deposits in the Dzodze-Kuli area, which could be exploited to produce ceramic goods, urging the business community to consider investing in and doing business in the municipality.

Mr Dominic Boachie, the Information Officer of the Assembly, said agriculture was the mainsta
y of the Ketu North economy, in which about 61.7 per cent of households in the area were engaged in farming or agric-related activities.

He mentioned some major crops that were cultivated in commercial quantities in the area as rice, maize, cassava, sweet potato and cowpea, and the cassava and maize.

The information officer said, rice was currently changing the local economy due to its increased production and value chain, and it was grown in both valley bottoms and irrigation systems.

Mr Boachie said despite the enormous potential of the region for aquaculture, it had not been fully realised because the majority of fish farming was done on a small scale.

He said the area was suitable for ponds and cited an existing one like the Ohawu Agricultural College, which had both commercial and educational uses.

He noted that despite the area’s abundance of untapped tourist potential, eco-tourism was leading the way.

The municipality offered opportunities for religious, eco and environmental tourism, as well as
tourism focused on ethnic and cultural heritage and agriculture, he said.

The Roman Catholic Church Glothoh at Dzodze-Deme, Sacred Forest at Afife, 14-headed palm tree at Kasu, Adru Forest at Adrume, Adzoatsi and Dekpor Dam, Dzago pond and stream at Ehi-Dzagoto, and Trokosi Shrine at Afife were a few of the tourist attractions in the area, he added.

Mr Boachie said the Municipality could also boast of several hotels which provided various services to visitors including those on tourist expeditions.

He said the Assembly’s objective was to improve the standard of living of the people through efficient use of both human and material resources, and therefore appealed to investors to consider the area for doing business.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Mr James Adu, the Bono East Regional Director, Department of Agriculture, has pledged government’s commitment to revamping the Planting for Food and Jobs (PFJ) project to a grade 2.0 level to help farmers increase yield.

The PFJ 2.0 is a new phase of PFJ that would focus on distributing the needed farming logistics including fertilizer free of charge to farmers to enable them to cultivate and achieve the needed results.

Mr Adu said this at the 39th Farmers Day celebration at Kintampo on Friday adding that the programme would ensure food security in the area.

He mentioned that the region had been selected under a project of the World Food Programme called ‘Agribusiness for youth empowerment (AgYE) in Ghana’

This targets young farmers between 18- and 35-years, smallholder farmers, young women in the agricultural value chain, Agrigators and Agro processors and Farmer Based organizations (FBOs).

He urged the youth and smallholder farmers to take advantage of the project and register to empower them to produ
ce more and urged farmers to cooperate with Agricultural Extension Officers (AEAs) to help them acquire the needed farming skills.

Mr. Kwasi Adu-Gyan, the Bono East Regional Minister, reminded the Regional Security Councils of their obligation to support the various farming communities to resolve the ‘cattle menace’, which had been a setback to most agricultural activities

in the area.

He commended farmers for their continued efforts in the production of food and other farming activities for human survival, saying the Government would continue to support them to promote food security.

The Regional Minister entreated stakeholders to reorganize the Bono East Region as the food basket of the country and the backbone for food security.

Nana Ama Penim, Abrah Henemaa of the Nkoranza Traditional Area, took the Best Regional Farmer Award and received a tricycle, agro-chemicals, spraying machine and other agriculture inputs.

Five of the best regional farmers received awards in livestock, crops and acqua culture,
while one agriculture extension agent was also awarded.

The seven districts and four municipalities in the Region presented awards to deserving farmers and workers.

Source: Ghana News Agency

The Forum for Natural Regeneration (FONAR), an environmentally friendly non-governmental organization, has launched school kids and community bushfire awareness and preparedness campaign at Tongo-Balungu primary school in the Talensi District of the Upper East Region.

The 2023/2024 campaign of the organization is to help raise awareness, increase the knowledge of school kids and community members on the impact of bushfire and build effective adult-youth partnership for bushfire prevention and control in their communities.

It formed part of FONAR`s school Kids Farmer Managed Natural Regeneration (FMNR) eco clubs project in partnership with the Ghana National Fire Service which began last year in 15 primary schools across the district with sponsorship from Awaken Trees Foundation, Austria.

The launching of the campaign was held on the theme: ‘Be bushfire ready: Bushfire prevention is everyone’s responsibility.’

Speaking at the launch of the project, Mr Sumaila Saaka, the Executive Director of FONAR, noted
that children and women, who are among the most vulnerable in society, were both victims and often perpetrators of bushfires, while in the lead when it comes to fighting bushfires.

This, he observed, necessitated the launching of the campaign to raise awareness of the risk of bushfires, improve community preparedness, create an understanding of the behaviour of fire and change the risky behaviour in the community.

‘We also want to create awareness that it is the community members` collective and individual responsibility to protect their property and families from the effects of uncontrolled bushfires,’ he added.

Mr Saaka, emphasised that the risk that bushfires posed to people and the environment, especially in the dry savannah regions of northern Ghana, was increasing in recent years due to many factors including climate change.

‘Therefore, for us in FONAR, bushfire prevention and control education are important for children as well as adults.’

He called on the government to adequately resource the Gha
na National Fire Service as the lead agency in the management of bushfires in the country.

Assistant Chief Fire Officer One (ACFO 1) Anthony Gyasi Boateng, Upper East Regional Fire Commander, in a speech read on his behalf said the Service was committed to partnering with FONAR to regenerate and protect the natural environment.

He indicated that the ‘Service in collaboration with FONAR over the years has achieved a milestone together including the training of school children, teachers and community members on the impact of bushfires and ways to control them and pledged to do more to protect the environment.’

Naba Joseph Atiah, the Chief of Tongo-Balungu, while expressing his gratitude to FONAR for the initiative, reechoed the adverse impact of bushfires and called on his people to guard the environment against bushfires to protect their lives and livelihoods.

Source: Ghana News Agency