The lifeless body of a nine-year-old boy has been found in Jerusalem, a suburb of Tarkwa after he got drowned three days ago in a drain.
The family of Emmanuel Quaicoe had been looking for him since Thursday evening when he was reportedly drowned after a heavy downpour until Saturday morning, November 13, 2021, when he was found in a drain about one kilometre away from where he got drowned.
The Rainwater swept the boy through several culverts and deposited him on a tree in the drain at Jerusalem. According to a family member Samuel Bani, Emmanuel Quaicoe popularly known as Amoonu who is a pupil of Tamso Anglican Primary School was in a company of a friend when he got drowned.
The friend quickly informed the family members who began searching for him. He said “we went through the drain from where he got drowned in search for him but to no avail, only to hear that his body was here’’.
The police have picked the body to the Apinto Government Hospital Mortuary in Tarkwa while investigation goes on.
Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia has slammed persons who have trivialized plans of the government to digitize the economy According to him, a digitised economy is a massive economy.
He indicated that the process should be simple for any Sixth Former to understand. “Ladies and gentleman, the digitised economy is a massive economy,” he stated at the 76th graduation ceremony of the Trinity Theological Seminary, Legon, on Saturday, November 13.
“That should be obvious to anybody who has done Sixth Form Economics and they should understand,” he added. “But if you don’t understand that it is a massive economy, then you shouldn’t blame me.
You should blame your Sixth Form Economics teacher.” He was responding to commits made by his opponents after he had delivered a lecture recently at Ashesi University on the success story of the government’s digitization drive.
The Vice President said “Through digitalisation, we have been able to tackle corruption at the Passport Office,” the Vice President cited. “It used to be very endemic [but] today you can sit at home, apply for your passport a actually be delivered for you at home.”
The National Investigative Bureau (NIB) have nabbed two more persons allegedly involved in the stealing and sale of babies at Atuabo and Half Assini in the Western Region. Komene Nda Kwakye aka John Quashie who was at large and Ayisha Barry were nabbed by NIB and arraigned.
Earlier on four persons, including a retired midwife, allegedly involved in the stealing and sale of babies at Atuabo and Half Assin in the Western Region, were nabbed by the National Investigative Bureau (NIB).
However, when accused persons were put before an Accra Circuit Court, Cynthia Quashie, a private security personnel, was discharged after the charges were amended and substituted. Cynthia Beyeden, a 63-year-old Retired Midwife/ Nurse, Sylvester Quashie, a mason, Ediemu Bozoma, a 55-year-old trader, Komene Nda Kwakye aka John Quarshie and Ayisha Barry appeared before the court today.
Beyeden is facing two counts of child stealing. The rest of the accused persons have been variously held over abetment of crime and conspiracy and hindrance to the inquest. Ayisha Barry is additionally being held over abandonment of Infant. She is said to have abandoned her new born baby at the house of Cynthia Beyeden.
They have all pleaded not guilty. The court presided over by Mrs Evelyn Asamoah admitted the five accused persons to bail in the sum of GHC150,000 each with two sureties each. The court ordered prosecution to file their disclosures by December 7 and adjourned the matter to December 14.
Mr George Asamaning, Counsel for Cynthia, prayed the court to admit his client to bail because she was not a flight risk. According to Mr Asamaning, the charges preferred on his client were bailable. He told the court that his client had been in custody for some time now and she should be admitted to bail.
Mr Yaw Dankwah, who represented three of the accused, Sylvester, Bozoma and Kwakye, said there was nowhere in the laws of Ghana indicating that accused persons should assist police in investigations.
Mr Dankwah said accused should be granted bail as the charges preferred against his clients were flimsy. He said the facts of the Police did not support the charges. Defense Counsel therefore prayed the court to admit his clients to bail since they have people to stand as sureties. Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Fuseini Yakubu opposed to the grant of bail, saying officials of the NIB did not know the place of abode of the accused persons.
ASP Yakubu noted that the NIB would like to conduct a DNA test on Ayisha Barry to ascertain whether she was one of the mothers of the dead babies. 11/15/21, 8:52 AM Western Region illicit baby trade: Two more grabbed, one discharged.
Northern Regional Minister, Alhaji Shani Alhassan, has described the death of nine pupils of the St Lwanga R/C Junior High School in a boat accident in the Saboba District as a national tragedy.
Addressing a gathering to commiserate with the bereaved families, the minister led a government delegation to Saboba to commensurate with bereaved families in Saboba, the minister assured them of support from government in this trying times.
He was accompanied by some officials of the Northern Regional Coordinating, top activists of the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) in the region and the Mayor of Tamale Sule Salifu.
He advised the families against being destructed by the incident although painful.
The regional Minister could not end his speech without shedding tears.
The minister made a donation of 10,000 cedis to the bereaved families on behalf of government.
Jason Ngurbi reacting to the Minister’s visit on behalf of the bereaved families, expressed gratitude to the minister and the delegation for their visit.
He appealed to the minister and government to temper justice with mercy on the suspect since the incident was an act of God.
Meanwhile the suspect, 43 year old headteacher of st Charles Lwanga Junior High School Jashain Emmanuel has been moved to Tamale.
He is expected to appear in court tomorrow Monday November 15.
Scores of Taxi drivers in the Ledzokuku Municipality have described the operation of digital transportation as a threat to the operations of formal transport such as taxi and trotro. “Digital transport– through the means of a smartphone, one orders for transport, which comes with small luxury, is attracting most customers of the taxi business, especially the ladies who used to pick ‘dropping’.
“We would soon be deprived of our jobs and need to find another alternative job to survive on. After several years of working as a taxi driver in this Municipality, I don't know any other job I can opt for," Mr. Nii Laryea told the Ghana News Agency in an interview.
Digital transport started on a large scale in 2016 and has since been accepted as a means for commercial transportation. "Digital Transport drivers have ruined our business ever since they started operating in our country," Mr. Adjei Boye, another Taxi driver told the GNA.
He said this was alarming and called on the government to come to their aid in order for the digital drivers to know their limitations, so that they did not interfere with taxi drivers’ line of work.
Mr Boye, who has been operating from the Taxi Union Station at Teshie Lascala market for the past ten years, claimed that digital transport drivers don't pay either income tax or embossment fee, but taxi drivers do.
Due to the price differences, the taxi drivers appear to be more hit as compared to other commercial transport by the digital transport business. "All the taxi drivers have their AMA embossment license and stickers to serve as an identity for their business," he said. However, Mr Isaac Ashigbui, a Digital Transport Driver, said on the contrary the digital transport services had opened the business and attracted lots of youth who otherwise might not have considered commercial driving as business.
He stated that; "Digital Transport has reduced the rate of unemployment among the youths, and the taxi drivers should not see us as a threat. The Ghanaian transport business is a wide field with more room to accommodate other means of transport".
Unfortunately, the Taxi industry is certainly not happy with the successes of Digital Transport as they see it as a way to close down the taxi business. Nevertheless, passengers seem to be happy about the digital transport service as they believe it was easier since they just have to request it online and it was cheaper than taxi on the average.
The struggle by residents of Kwahu-Nkwatia and its environs to access healthcare will soon be a thing of the past.
This is because the area will soon have a one-stop hospital fully built for them as part of the massive investments
in the healthcare needs of the people.
The man who has conceived the idea says the facility when completed will become a medical tourism centre with specialist consultants who will cover a wide range of specialisms and handle all the health care needs of the people.
Nana Owiredu Wadie I, a winner of last year’s forty under 40 entrepreneur award says the facility will be at the forefront of healthcare delivery in Ghana.
Nana Owiredu Wadie who was recently enstooled the Nkosuohene (development chief) of Kwahu-Nkwatia made the promise at a ceremony to enroll more than a thousand residents on the National Health Insurance Scheme for free.
Apart from first-time registrants, the exercise targeted the renewal of cards and beneficiaries that needed replacements.
Through the Kabaka Foundation, a non-profit making organisation, the residents also benefitted from a health screening exercise aimed at checking their health status.
They were screened for random blood sugar, cholesterol, hepatitis, and Prostate Specific Antigen (PSA) for men above forty years.
The Executive Director of the Foundation, Dr. Henry Larbi said the exercise which is part of the Foundation’s health financing pillar is to provide healthcare funding for indigenes of Kwahu to meet their basic health care needs.
“It is one of our health programs which is christened the health financing pillar. Basically what we are doing is that as Kabaka Foundation, upon the request of our chairman and founder, Nana Owiredu Wadie who is the Nkosuohene wants to implement this health financing project whereby we will be able to fund the indigenes of Kwahu Nkwatia and the people staying around.
“With this idea, what we intend to do is that we want everybody to have the needed funds through the health insurance scheme to be able to get basic healthcare services at any time,” he explained.
The PRO of the Kwahu East National Health Insurance Authority, Kwesi Gyimah said enrolling on the NHIS reduces the burden of investing hugely in healthcare.
“Financial challenge has been the constraints every now and then when it comes to health services but with the health insurance our people recognise the importance of registering the indigenes amongst us, those who can’t afford to pay we have people coming to renew and register their health insurance for them,” he stated
A pharmacist at the Tetteh Quarshie Memorial Hospital, Dadie Kofi Karikari Buabeng who led a team of health personnel to screen the people urged them to be health conscious by checking their status periodically.
“As a people, we need to be checking our health status from time to time. The earlier you do it the better so that you can identify all the risks factors and attend to them,” he advised
Sunyani is gradually losing hold on its cleanest city in Ghana accolade. A situation that has been largely attributed to residents’ failure to appreciate the need to keep their surroundings clean, though city authorities cannot exonerate themselves from blame.
Sewers in front of residential apartments, stores, and businesses are choked with filth from careless throwing of waste, thereby compromising the health of residents.
A lot more will and desire is required to implement bylaws targeted at improving sanitation with the hope of returning the “Suncity” to its glory days.
That is what Ansu Kumi, Sunyani East Municipal Chief Executive, has assured.
He admits laws have not been implemented as expected, and together with his Management, they would work to ensure the city is rid of dirt.
Ansu Kumi spoke to JoyNews during a clean-up exercise in the Municipality, organized by the Assembly. The exercise saw staff of the Assembly, led by the MCE, political party members, identified groups, and a section of the general public, sweeping, weeding, and desilting the drainages.
“We need to be quite proactive and pragmatic in the implementation of the laws so that the people will be able to get that awareness of at least ensuring their immediate surroundings are clean”.
“People have still not cultivated the sanitation culture in the Municipality. Residents drink water and drop the trash on the floor regardless of whether there is a waste bin or not. This attitude ought to be changed”.
Henceforth, Mr. Kumi said, the Assembly would try to enforce the bylaws and the laws enshrined in the local governance act, as well as the continuous sensitization of the people.
The MCE believes when they are able to achieve and sustain the right behavioral change, it will dovetail into the vision of President Nana Akufo-Addo on sanitation.
“I am still in talks with my Management, and I want them to buy into my vision on the way forward before I roll it out. Hopefully, by the end of November, 2021, we would come out with a clear-cut policy as to how to keep the city clean. And we would consider localizing the clean-up exercise, as long as it would inure to the benefit of the Assembly and the people”, he assured.
Sunyani Municipal Environmental Health Director, Daniel Owusu Korkor, noted that the deeply rooted attitude of most Ghanaians explains the sanitation challenges in the country. He insisted though that Sunyani remains the cleanest city despite the deteriorating sanitation conditions.
“Some of the people who joined us in the cleanup exercise left the trash of the beverage and water we gave to them on the same floor, an indication that a lot more work needs to be done on the mindset of residents on sanitation and the health implications”.
He commended the MCE, Ansu Kumi, who has been in office for barely few weeks, for his commitment to helping them get things right in the city.
“I am happy the MCE said he would help us implement the laws. Sometimes when we try to do that, some authorities above stop us, but he has shown some commitment, and we hope it will continue just like what the Greater Accra Regional Minister is doing. We hope some powers above him would not stop him”.
He thanked the MCE for the logistics provided for the successful clean-up exercise.
Wisconsin International University College Ghana has established an all-new ultramodern nursing demonstration laboratory.
The state-of-the-art facility houses human simulated mannequins which would serve as a teaching and learning tool to equip students with relevant skills and knowledge for nursing practice in Ghana.
The nursing demonstration laboratory is an addition to already existing facilities, including Broadcasting Studio, Law Moot Court, IT laboratory, and a recording studio present at the university.
The cutting-edge nursing skills laboratory houses modern simulators among other medical equipment, which are first of their kind on the African continent.
The high fidelity mannequins mimic human emotions and respond to stimuli providing students hands-on skills and understanding of the human body.
President of Wisconsin International University College, Professor Obeng Mireku, appealed to government and traditional authorities involved in policy making to support local initiatives which seek to improve the lives of Ghanaians.
“We can support initiatives such as this by creating an enabling environment that is conducive for institutions to thrive.
“And also resourcing us when possible so that we can create centers of providing excellence which attract international students.
“In doing so, we as Ghanaians will build a healthcare system and train a healthcare workforce that will be the envy of the world and also boost medical tourism as a significant contributor to Ghana’s development,” he said.
Prof. Obeng Mireku further revealed the university hopes to construct a medical school and teaching hospital to produce world-class medical professionals locally.
“Plans are far advanced to establish a world-class medical school and a teaching hospital to serve the Ashanti, middle and northern parts of Ghana on this campus.
“The university is committed to exposing our nursing and midwifery students to best practices in Healthcare and to producing outstanding healthcare professionals to serve Ghana and the world,” he said.
Available data indicate Ghana has an estimated one nurse per a population of 839 patients.
The ratio represents an improvement of WHO’s recommendation of one nurse per 1,000 patients.
However, Nana Hiahene Professor Boakye Agyei Woahene II, who represented the Asantehene, indicated the government must establish a thriving environment to refrain foreigners from poaching these local healthcare professionals abroad.
“We could use more in other areas such as nurse practitioner training and physician assistants who can make up for the short call in physician numbers.
“We can do so much to relieve the burden. There are so many doctors outside our shores than within the shores.
“This is because we are not creating the enabling environment to make people come in and practice in our public institutions or private setups.
“We can’t train nurses and lose them to health centres abroad, who poach our nurses especially when the world was hit by the COVID-19 pandemic.
“This brain drain can be stopped by providing our professionals especially the nurses with the requisite tools to work, giving them continuous development programs and competitive salaries and other incentives.
“Because when we train them we have to think about what they’re going to do after their training so they don’t go for visas and skip town,” he said.
About 3,400 peasant farmers from seven farming communities in the Bole District of the Savannah Region have expressed fear of losing their farm products to deplorable roads following continue heavy downpour in the Bole District.
The affected communities are Kalidu, Dakrupe, Kiblimah, Tuntuma, Bonbir, Cloth and Kontori.
Many of the culverts and bridges at the Kiblimah, Kalidu and Dakrupe roads are always washed away and left with deep potholes in the middle of the roads.
A female peasant farmer in Dakrupe, Salamatu Iddrisu, speaking to JoyNews, said harvesting was good last year, but she is afraid of losing her four-acre Groundnuts and maize farms this year.
“This is the time am supposed to start harvesting, but after the rain, the roads are terrible, and the motor king that carries our goods home cannot pass here again. How can we suffer and just for one rain to destroy all,” she bemoaned.
Confirming the situation on the ground to JoyNews, the Bole District director of the National Disaster Management Organization (NADMO), Kipo Sulemana, said all roads from Seripe to Dakrupe are near total cut off.
“The roads if totally cut off, residents of Dakrupe, Kiblimah, Kalidu, Tuntumba, Cloth, Kontori and Bonbir all in the Sonyo Traditional Area of the Bole District would be denied access to health care to the Bole hospital.”
He noted that farm produces from the communities listed above would be locked up; market women would also not buy and sell in the Bole market from the affected communities.
According to him, he had appealed to the Regional office and the Bole District Assembly to find immediate steps in fixing the road as a matter of urgency.
“I’ve also sent caution that if immediate steps are not taken between now to the first week of October, all the roads listed would have been totally cut off and close to an estimated population of 3,400 residents would have been affected.”
When contacted, the Savannah Regional NADMOA Director, Mohammed Tohir, confirmed knowledge of the situation in Bole, adding that the situation will be attended to.
“Yes, I was briefed by the district officer, and we are currently working out things to salvage the situation,” he said.
Huawei Ghana in collaboration with the Rebecca Foundation has begun a digital technologies training in Coding and Financial Technology (Fintech) for Junior High School (JHS) students and women respectively, in rural areas in Ghana.
The training comes as part of efforts to improve the digital literacy skills of children by exposing them to the basic coding skills and programming languages like; HTML, Scratch, and C++ as well as economically empowering women in the Northern, Western and Eastern regions of Ghana to enable them to take advantage of digital technologies to improve their livelihoods.
The pilot of the training which began on 8th November, 2021 at Damongo, in the Northern region, has benefitted 50 traders and 150 Junior High School students from Kurabaso JHS, Jafo JHS, Cathedral JHS, Yabum JHS, Presby JHS, ST. Anne’s JHS, Jakpa JHS, Damongo Girls Model JHS and Canteen JHS.
In a short kickoff meeting, Ghana’s First Lady and founder of Rebecca Foundation, Mrs. Rebecca Akuffo-Addo, commended Huawei for positively partnering the Rebecca Foundation to train more girls and women, especially in digital technologies to bridge the gender gap in ICT.
She mentioned that the Foundation is keen on embarking on activities and initiatives aimed at the socio-economic development of children and women across the country and the partnership with Huawei is in line with this objective.
The Director of Public Relations for Huawei Ghana, Mrs. Jenny Zhou indicated during the meeting that Huawei is passionate about grooming more women in technology and as a result will continue to undertake such programs to positively impact societies.
According to her, the initiative is in line with the 10th anniversary celebration of International Girls in ICT Day and Huawei’s Seeds for the Future- Women in Tech program aimed at stimulating the interest of girls and young women in tech through training, workshops, career guidance and mentorship.
In his remarks, the Municipal Chief Executive of the West Gonja Municipality, Karimu Kusubari commended Huawei Ghana and the Rebecca Foundation for bringing the digital technologies training to their doorstep and for including the district.
He entreated the students to take the training seriously and impact other children with the knowledge earned. He also called on Huawei to expand the training to cover more students in the municipality next year.
In addressing the students, Mr. Katribe Dramani, the Director of Education for the West Gonja Municipality also tasked the students to become ambassadors of ICT and ensure that what they have been taught, is put to good use.
The training is expected to benefit cumulatively, 400 more women and children from Mpohor in the Western Region and Asamankese in
The Eastern region of Ghana and empower students to become the future creators of technology by exploring programming to start building upon their computational thinking skills in their early childhood.
This training comes as part of Huawei’s promise to the President of Ghana, Nana Akuffo Addo to train 10,000 Ghanaians in ICT by 2024.
Hundreds of residents of Kpando Torkor have thronged the streets to protest the deplorable state of the access roads in the Kpando Municipality of the Volta Region.
The residents including motorists are taking part in the demonstration which started at the Kpando Torkor main lorry station.
They will go through the Kpando traffic light and end at the premises of the Municipal Assembly, where a petition would be presented to the President through the Kpando Municipal Chief Executive, Geoffrey Kodzo Badasu.
