Ashanti Today

 A rainstorm that accompanied a heavy downpour yesterday has caused substantial damage to some public second cycle and basic schools in the Ashanti region and disrupted teaching and learning in the process.  In certain cases, an emergency response by the Power Distribution Services, PDS, was what was required to safeguard the lives of both teachers and pupils.  The situation has caused disruption to teaching and learning as well as the domestic life of students.  At the Asanteman Senior High School at Bantama, the badly affected block was one of the Girls’ Dormitories which has its roof ripped off leaving the rooms not only flooded, but uninhabitable, at least for now.  As at about 8.30 am, the occupant students had brought their personal effects and books outside for drying with the hope that, they would be able to salvage some of the items after sunshine.  They also had to resort to other sources of water after supply to go about their chores as the main water s

The Manhyia Palace has justified the celebration of the 20 th anniversary of the enthronement of the current Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu, as the 16 th occupant of the Golden Stool.  Addressing the media at the 2 nd in the series of such events during the commemoration, the Chief Linguist or Akyeamehene of the Asantehene, Nana Nsuoase Poku Agyemang explained that Otumfuo Osei Tutu has achieved a lot not only for Asanteman but Ghana as a whole, since his ascension to the throne in 1999.  Nana Nsuoase Poku Agyemang mentioned for instance, the significant contribution of Otumfuo Osei Tutu in the restoration of lasting peace to the Dagbon traditional area in the Northern region, the construction of the new Kejetia Market complex, formal education, healthcare, water and sanitation as well as the amicable out of court settlement of the numerous chieftaincy and land disputes that undermined the chieftaincy institution before his assumption of traditional leadership.  In addi

The Chief Justice, Justice Sophia Akuffo has urged the youth to make the best of their years learning as much as they can, about as many things as they can.  This way, they will not be ignorant about anything. She gave the advice at the Lady Chief Justice’s Special Mentoring Programme in Kumasi for some selected schools in the Ashanti region.   The Chief Justice’s Mentoring Programme was instituted by Mrs. Justice Theodora Wood in 2007 to expose school pupils to the functions of the Judiciary and instil in them virtues of patriotism and selflessness to country.  The Mentorship programme under the theme, "I Pledge Myself to the Service of Ghana” is to remind and build up the character of the current youthful generation on values of voluntarism, integrity and honesty, love for country as they matured into responsible adults. It was initially held in the Greater Accra region but has now spread to some other regions including Ashanti with the aim to impact more stu

The World Health Organization, WHO, in collaboration with the Ministry of Health and other partners, is to pilot the malaria vaccine in 76 selected districts in the country this year as part of a global strategy towards the malaria elimination agenda.  Ghana is one of three African countries that have volunteered to pilot the vaccine named     RTS, S/AS01.  The Deputy Director of Programmes at the National Malaria Control Programme, James Frimpong who made this known in Kumasi assured that enough mechanisms have been put in place already by the project partners to protect the health and lives of all the people who will be participating in the exercise and therefore appealed for maximum cooperation.  He was addressing participants of a media capacity training workshop in Kumasi.  Selected journalists from the nine regions constituting the northern sector of the country participated in the two-day capacity training course in Malaria to enhance their role in promoting the Ma

The National Service Secretariat has set up an Enforcement Department to undertake a nationwide verification exercise to fish out any eligible Ghanaian who forfeited his or her mandatory National Service but has managed to secure employment.  The exercise is meant also to identify all organizations that have violated the National Service law, Act 426 of 1980 by offering employment to citizens who evaded the National Service. Any one, whether employee or employer found out through the enforcement exercise to have breached the Act shall then be subjected to the full rigours of the law to serve as scape goat to ensure strict compliance henceforth.  The Ashanti Regional Director of the National Service Scheme, Alex Opoku Mensah, made this known in an interview with Ashanti Today  in Kumasi.  The National Service law, Act 426 of 1980 makes it mandatory for every Ghanaian citizen of 18 years of age who has completed a Course of study at any accredited tertiary educational insti

Ashanti regional Secretariat of the National Service Scheme, NSS, has projected to export maize to Ghana’s neigbouring countries this year, aside from producing enough to help the School Feeding and Free Senior High School programmes with subsidized produce. T o this end, the NSS is increasing its maize production from the 450 acres last year to 850 this year under the Planting for Food and Jobs initiative.  The Ashanti Regional Director of the NSS, Alex Opoku Mensah, who made this known to Ashanti Today  in Kumasi, disclosed also that, one of the strategies towards realization of the projection will be the adoption of drones in the application of agro-chemicals and fertilizer to reduce direct human intervention.  Mr. Opoku Mensah noted that last year, the NSS harvested about 11 thousand mini bags of maize which were supplied at highly subsidized prices to the School Feeding and Free Senior High School secretariats in the region.  The NSS’ Regional Director said also

The Government has assured second cycle school students to position themselves to take advantage of the numerous employment opportunities being created for graduates.  To benefit from such opportunities however, students must not only pursue tertiary education, but remain focused, committed and determined in the preferred programmes of study while adding more value to themselves to be competitive on the job market.  The Deputy Minister of Education in charge of General Education, Dr. Osei Yaw Adutwum, gave the advice in Kumasi at the opening of this year’s Week-long celebration of the Ashanti Region Students Representative Council. Dr. Osei Yaw Adutwum, said government is creating job opportunities such as the Nation Builders Corps to provide a relief to school graduates, students must also add value to their academic credentials to enhance their employability after school. Formed 22 years ago, the Ashanti Region Students Representatives Council, SRC, is a welfare and

Government as part of the effort to promote Cocoa consumption is supporting the Ghana Cocoa Board to introduce cocoa consumption into the School Feeding Programme.  This year, COCOBOD will run a pilot with a seed fund of 10 million Dollars for about 50 communities nationwide, where it is going to provide free cocoa drinks to one million pupils.  The Senior Public Affairs Officer of the Ghana Cocobod, Benjamin Tei Larweh disclosed this in an interview on Ashanti Today in Kumasi. He explained that the purpose for this initiative is for the children to be exposed to cocoa products at an early age so that their taste for them will increase in years to come.  Mr. Larweh said there is a likelihood for the expansion of the initiative to more pupils next year if the pilot is successful. He advocated the consumption of natural cocoa products especially be the elderly, as they help in the treatment of some diseases.  According to Mr. Larweh, natural cocoa products, aside their

The introduction of formal education into the Kumasi Central Prisons is contributing substantially towards reformation of the inmates to integrate well into the larger society as well as help some of them further their education to the tertiary level.  Some of the Reformation Junior and Senior High School graduates who could not continue with further studies upon their discharge from the Prisons have used the knowledge acquired through the school system in the Prisons to set themselves up in business with some others donating items towards sustenance of the Reformation School in appreciation for the knowledge received while serving their sentences.  These came to the fore in Kumasi at the inauguration of a Library for the Reformation School at the Central Prisons.  The school, established in 2004, is attended by inmates of the Prisons selected through screening for their respective psychological, social and educational needs upon their entry to the Prisons from the law Co

The Minister for Inner Cities and Zongo Development, Alhaj Dr. Mustapha Hamid, on behalf of the government, has presented Cheques of 250 thousand Ghana Cedis to each of the seven bereaved families of persons who were shot dead  as armed robbers at Manso  Nkwanta in the  Amansie West district of  Ashanti region.  The total amount involved is one million 750 thousand Ghana Cedis in accordance with a recommendation by the seven member government Committee which investigated the incident.  The presentation took place at the Asawase in the Asokore Mampong Municipality of Ashanti today, Thursday March 7 .   It will be re-called that the seven young men were killed on July 16, 2018 last year by a team of policemen deployed by the Ashanti regional Police command near Manso Nkwanta in the Amansie West district. They are Abdul Razak Sulley, Oliver Konlan, Abdul-Hannan Basiru, Musah Seidu, Mohammed Bashir Musah, Mohammed Kamil and Baach Bont.  Following agitations raising doubts

The Ghana Agricultural and Rural Development Journalists Association, GARDJA a media agric advocacy organization, is pushing for Ghana cocoa farmers to have a major say in the pricing of cocoa beans on the international market so as to derive benefits that commensurate their toil.  Ghana, currently the world’s second highest producer of the commodity after her neighbour, La Cote d’Ivoir, produced about 880 thousand metric tons of cocoa in the 2017-2018 production year.  Information from the International Cocoa Organization indicate that there were 21 exporting countries of the cocoa in the world at the end of 2018 with most of them in Africa.  However, in the view of GARDJA, the criteria for pricing of cocoa on the international market is not only not transparent but also unfair against the farmers who are the main players in the production value chain.  President of GARDJA, Richmond Frimpong, made the point at Bunso during the 3 rd in a series of the Cocoa Sustainab

Four hundred men and women under the command of 15 officers of the state security services plus contingents of cadet and non cadet from 12 second cycle schools in addition to pupils from 17 public and private basic and special schools drawn from the various Sub Metros of the Kumasi Metropolis were joined by others from voluntary organizations to mount the Ashanti regional Parade at the Jubilee Park at Asem to mark the regional commemoration of the 562 nd  Independent Day.  The contingents, under the command of Captain Allen Akwei Hammond with the Regional Minister, Simon Osei Mensah as the Reviewing Officer, thrilled the large audience with well rehearsed Slow and Quick Time March Past with soothing brass band music by two mass bands of school children and the security services.  Participating children from the Deduako Community Special School and Vocational Centre also entertained the people with their cultural performance attracting a donation of two thousand Ghana Cedi cash

The Ashanti Regional Coordinating Director of the Nation Builders Corps, NABCO, Dennis Kwakwah, has assured employees of NABCO that their Allowance for January this year is ready for payment. However, management wants to clean the payroll of all ineligible staff to ensure that the available funds are not paid to wrong people, especially those already working in other organizations.  Mr. Kwakwah, disclosed that an appreciable number of NABCO personnel are earning incomes from the Forestry Commission, Youth Enterprise Agency and other institutions and could be drawing double stipend if they are retained on NADCO, a practice which is illegal.  Mr. Kwakwah made this known at a forum in Kumasi organised for NABCO personnel the Kumasi Metro. He explained that the grace period for all NABCO personnel to update their informational and uploaded their signed assumption letters will ends of this week after which anyone who does not meet the deadline will be dismissed from the scheme. He

An Asokwa District Court in the Ashanti region has remanded into police custody for two weeks, three accused persons in connection with the shooting incident at the Ashanti regional office of the NDC at Amakom in Kumasi last month.  They will appear again before the court on Monday, the 14 th of this month.  The three are among 12 persons declared wanted by the Police in connection with the incident. The three suspects, Dauda Ibrahim alias ‘Wayo’, 40, Samuel Agyin affectionately called ‘Rock’ 32 and Abdul Ganiyu, alias ‘Petit’ 37 , were arrested after they turned themselves to the Police last Thursday.  They were all charged with Conspiracy to Commit Murder but pleaded not guilty. Their legal Counsel, Evans Amankwaah, asked the Court to exercise its discretionary powers and grant his clients bail. He noted that the accused had shown good faith by voluntarily tendering themselves to the Police when they were declared wanted.  However, the Prosecutor, ACoP Okyere Dar

Mortuary workers in the country have begun an indefinite strike to press home their demand for better working conditions. The industrial action started this morning, Tuesday March 5.  According to the members of the Mortuary Workers Association of Ghana, MOWAG, the Health Ministry has turned a deaf ear to their concerns which include, lack of maintenance of mortuary facilities, denial of their mandated annual leave and a lack of protective working gear.  The strike follows an unsuccessful meeting between the leadership of MOWAG and the Ministry of Health. One of the hardest hit mortuaries in the Ashanti region is the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital in Kumasi where bodies from across the region and even beyond are brought for preservation.  A visit Ashanti Today to the premises of the Pathology Department of the Hospital showed a number of bereaved people already around to collect bodies of their dead relatives. Speaking to Ashanti Today , the patrons, some of who said the

The World Food Programme has provided a 300 metric ton capacity warehouse at Ejura in the Ashanti region, to serve farmer-based organizations and other actors along the maize value chain.  This means participating farmer-based organizations will no longer have to sell their maize immediately especially during bumper season for want of storage space.  The warehouse was constructed by the World Food Programme in collaboration with the Ejura-Sekyedumase Municipal Assembly and Ejura Traditional Authority.  The project is a testament to World Food Programme’s capacity in warehousing, food supply chains and logistics, with the capacity to help position Ghana as a competitive and major player in the grain industry in West Africa.  The warehouse has been fitted with an electric platform weighing scale, 50 kilogramme standard weight, wiki bag stitching machine, sowing thread, rodent bait boxes, a grain moisture content metre and other basic equipment.  The facility will al