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IGEA recommends reduction in taxes on sanitary products in 2024 Budget Statement & Financial Policy

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Investing in Girls Education Africa (IGEA), a not-for-profit organisation operating in parts of the Upper East Region has joined calls for the government to take deliberate actions that would positively affect the price of sanitary products on the Ghanaian market. 

IGEA argued that the 40 percent tax margin on the price of sanitary products makes it a commodity many families in rural families cannot afford. The consequence of the high price of sanitary products, according to IGEA, is monumental. 

When Rusmond Anyinah, the Director for IGEA spoke to A1 Radio’s Mark Smith at the sidelines of a Partners and Review meeting in Paga, the capital of the Kassena Nankana West District, he was visibly disturbed about the government’s inaction on the situation.

“One of the key things we have been advocating, together with other CSOs, is to remind the government that the cost of sanitary pads is very high. It is out of the reach of a lot of girls in rural areas. Even in urban areas, where there are a lot of pockets of poverty, it is above their reach. We are aware, based on data, that the cost of sanitary pads is about 40 percent tax.”

“You would recall that recently we had to go to Parliament to petition the speaker to try to advocate for a reduction in the taxes that are imposed on sanitary products. We were expecting a reduction in the mid-year budget review. That was not done. We are still very hopeful that maybe, in next year’s budget, the government will listen to some of these issues,” he said. 

Mr. Anyinah explained that girls, who cannot afford disposable sanitary pads and do not have access to reusable pads are often discouraged from attending school when they are on their periods. Additionally, girls who would want to be able to afford these sanitary products may be forced to engage in transactional sex. 

Investing in Girls Education Africa (IGEA) was founded in 2019 in the UK and Ghana to promote access to quality education for girls in rural communities. The activities of IGEA are anchored on effective partnerships and cross-sector collaborations. 

Between April 2022 and March 2023, IGEA undertook, mass sensitization of parents on the need to invest in girls education, distribution of sanitary products for school girls and juvenile inmates,  provision of coaching and educational resources to promising rural girls, identification of women and training in the production of reusable sanitary products and kits, facilitate pathways for rural young girls to gain technical skills to aid employability skills and pilot new modules in improving educational outcomes at the basic level. 

Source: A1radioonline.com|101.1MHz|Mark Kwasi Ahumah Smith|Ghana

Gh Blinks takes a swipe at DJ K.I over Dr. Pushkins’ North to South Concert

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Award winning blogger Gh Blinks has taken a swipe at some critics of the just ended North2South experience in Accra. He has criticised attempts to gag others from criticising the event and describing it as a flop.

He has debunked that claim via Facebook saying no one is being stifled of his/her rights to express their opinions “we are not trying to stifle anyone’s right to express their opinions about the recent event. However, we are simply being honest in our assessment” he wrote.

According to Gh Blinks, he believes in people’s right to their opinion but some important questions have to be asked. In his view DJ KI and Joe Elom Dumolga had ideas they could have shared with organisers but failed to do so and later turned to criticise organisers.

“Everyone has the right to their opinion, regardless of their involvement in promoting the event. But we must question the role played by the person you support, who was a media partner. Did he fulfil his role in promoting the event as expected? He had ideas to personally attract larger crowds, so why didn’t he share them with organisers earlier?

Instead, he waited until just three days before the event to criticise the lack of a media tour in the capital. He even prophesied doom or predicted the event’s failure and is now complaining without providing any concrete evidence of it’s failure” he wrote.

Gh Blinks was responding to an earlier Facebook post by DJ KI that no matter how it’s put, the event flopped.

Meanwhile, Ghanaian blogger cum Entertainment Journalist Joe Elom Dumolga has hit hard at organizers of the North2South experience. He said the first half of the concert that took place in Accra over the weekend flopped.

He is of the view that, the acts don’t have the numbers but the situation worse made even worse by the price tag of Ghc75ghc.

“Now some of my Upper East people staged what they called “North2South” concert at Allianz Francaiz with virtually empty seats. All you could see were plenty organizers and billed acts jumping to their songs. You people say I should not call it a flop? How afor call am?”

Source: A1Radioonline.Com|101.1MHZ|Ibrahim Aziz|Bolgatanga|

Bolga: Henma International School hopes to revolutionise basic school education

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The Henma International School, a private institution in Yorogo, a suburb of Bolgatanga Municipality, has communicated its intention to revolutionize basic school education by focusing on practical-based tuition for its students.

At its recent graduation ceremony, held on its premises, the school underscored its commitment to fostering young minds through professional educators and state-of-the-art teaching methods, all while offering affordable tuition fees.

In her address, Madam Dora Kumah, the school’s proprietor, emphasized the significance of practical education for children. She articulated that equipping students with hands-on learning experiences led by proficient teachers is paramount to fostering their cognitive growth.

 “Children are our future, and how and what we will do to shape them for that better future is what we are doing here. And if you look at the tuition fee, we do not take much as compared to others. The reason is that the owner of the school has not been to formal education but deems it prudent to provide for those who would have been like him to have a better future. So, the mission of the school is to shape young minds with professional educators and cutting-edge teaching methods,” Madam Kumah added.

The school’s manager, Martin Abiriya, a retired educationist with a wealth of experience, echoed Madam Kumah’s sentiments. Mr. Abiriya underscored the school’s approach to education involved more than just traditional classroom teaching. 

He said that every term, the school would organize seminars and offer up-to-date courses to its teaching staff, ensuring they remained at the forefront of educational innovation.

“This commitment to professional development would enable the teachers to impart knowledge effectively to the pupils, keeping them engaged and informed.”

He therefore assured parents that the school will continue to shape the future of their wards on practical education, professional development for the educators, and affordable fees for them.

Parents, the primary stakeholders in children’s education, also had positive feedback to share about Henma International School.

John Atanga, a parent praised the school and touted it as the best choice for his child’s education. He mentioned observing significant improvements in his child’s academic and personal growth since enrolling her at the school. 

Source: A1Radioonline.com|101.1Mhz|Moses Apiah|Yorogo|Ghana

Bolgatanga East Health Directorate receives essential medicines, roofing sheets from Silas Amoah

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The Bolgatanga East District Health Directorate has received essential medicines and 8 packets of roofing sheets from the New Patriotic Party (NPP) parliamentary candidate for the area, Mathew Silas Amoah. The roofing sheets will be used to complete the roofing of an administration block that is being constructed through the internally generated funds of the directorate. 

The extended facility will provide much-needed space for administrative staff to work. The facility currently has only 4 rooms that are partitioned to serve as 8 office spaces, a situation Emmanuel Kupuo, the District Health Director said does not ensure privacy and proper work service. When the building is roofed, Mr. Kupuo said it will create a conducive working environment for the administrative staff and improve the overall efficiency of the health facility.

“We started this project on our own from the little resources we were getting and we were able to get to the roofing level, but the strength was no more. So, we wrote to so many people from Bolga East and beyond including Mr. Mathew. Today is our happiest day at the directorate. We’ve been crying and looking for this help and he is one of the few that have responded to our call.”

The District Health Director also thanked the NPP parliamentary candidate for the supply of essential medicines, including medications for high blood pressure (BP) management. 

“We are going to distribute them out immediately to the health facilities so that we can use them to serve, especially the aged. Some of them [aged] come around and if the insurance is not working and when you ask them to go and buy, it becomes a problem,” he stated.

The NPP parliamentary candidate for the Bolgatanga East constituency, Mathew Silas Amoah disclosed that he made the donation as part of his commitment to supporting the development of the health sector in the district. 

“Health is very important to us. This is not the first time that we have responded to a call from the Ghana Health Service. Some months back, we responded to a similar call from Dulugo CHPS, from the ambulance service, and now from the health directorate.”

With the support from friends and well-wishers in procuring the drugs that included the treatment of malaria and other illnesses, Mr. Amoah said it was valued at about Ghc40,000.00. He disclosed an intention to procure an ambulance for the Bolgatanga East constituency to add to the existing ambulance that was donated to the constituency under the government’s ‘1 constituency 1 ambulance’ initiative. 

The presentation was witnessed by the District Chief Executive for Bolgatanga East, David Amoah as well as representatives from the hospital, the district health directorate, and NPP supporters. The DCE was full of joy saying the gesture goes to confirm the generosity of the parliamentary candidate to improve the living conditions of the constituents.

“If you don’t have good health, you cannot work to feed yourself and talk less to your family. That is why you can see this young man, illustrious, enterprising, dynamic, hardworking contributing his quota. Not because he wants to become an MP alone, but because he wants the people to be alive and healthy. It is not voting time yet, so we will say he is doing it because of elections. He started doing so many things without even conceding the idea to run a political office.”

The DCE entreated the people of Bolgatanga East to look beyond party colours and give Mathew Silas Amoah the mandate electing him in the 2024 general election as Member of Parliament for the area.

Source: A1Radioonline.com|101.1Mhz|Joshua Asaah|Zuarungu|Ghana

World Vision Ghana organises agric market linkage fair at Paga

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World Vision Ghana (WVG) has organised an agriculture market linkage fair in the Kassena-Nankana West District of the Upper East Region for people in the agriculture sector to network and connect with buyers, suppliers, aggregators, and other stakeholders. The fair aimed to promote the growth of the agriculture sector in the district by facilitating the exchange of information and creating business opportunities. 

The event brought together farmers, agribusinesses, input dealers, government officials, and development partners who showcased their products and services. Farmers had the opportunity to learn about new farming techniques, technologies, and market trends. 

   World Vision Ghana’s Acting Regional Operations Manager for the Northern Sector, Sergious Before said his outfit decided to organise the fair to bridge a gap that exists between farmers, input dealers, service providers, processors, and consumers.

“Finding ways to improve value chains is very important for raising smallholders’ incomes. Without farmers being linked to markets they are condemned to produce only for subsistence and we all know that better markets for farmers can lift them out of poverty. To make this leap requires more knowledge, and many actors along the value chain to help supply this crucial ingredient. This agriculture market linkage fair will therefore help promote inclusive and efficient food systems that better integrate smallholder farmers and small and medium agribusinesses into value chains”, he stated.

Mr. Before implored key partners like the district assembly, and other sector players in agribusiness to come together to support the farmers to generate greater structural transformation in families.

The Agriculture Market Linkage Fair 2023 formed part of the Landscape and Environmental Agility across the Nation (LEAN) project that is funded by the European Union. The LEAN project which was launched on May 11, 2021, is implemented in Kassena-Nankana West and Damongo districts by a consortium of 4 local and international NGOs comprising The Rainforest Alliance, World Vision Ghana, Tropenbos Ghana, and EcoCare Ghana and aimed at promoting sustainable land and natural resource management practices in Ghana. 

Joseph Edwin Yelkabong, the LEAN Project Manager with World Vision Ghana speaking to the media said one of the key components of the project is sustainable agriculture, which involves promoting climate-smart farming practices and agroforestry.

“As we speak now, we have about 42 areas that we have designated as our Farmer Managed Natural Regeneration (FMNR) sites that we are working to regenerate naturally. We have also raised seedlings in the last two years and distributed them to farmers. In the Kassena-Nankana West District, for this year alone, we have distributed over 41,000 seedlings of assorted species.”

He mentioned that the project would support smallholder farmers in the above-mentioned district with alternative livelihoods such as beekeeping, ruminants, and simplified cloth weaving machines “to reduce their overly dependent on the environment for fuel wood and charcoal which destroys the environment” 

Mohammed Bukari, the KNW District Agriculture Director described it as worrying that most financial institutions are reluctant to provide loans to agricultural value chain rural entrepreneurs because of the perceived high risk in agricultural production and trading.

He indicated that the Ministry of Food and Agriculture has recognized the challenges and as part of the measures to overcome the challenges of agricultural financing has been implementing programs and projects such as the ‘Planting for Food and Jobs’ ‘ Rearing for Food and Jobs’ ‘One District one warehouse’ among others to help relieve producers of some burden. 

The agriculture market linkage fair 2023 also included sensitization sessions on topics such as access to finance, value addition, and market dynamics. 

A participant, Frederick Wugaa Awovire from the Banyuno community in the Kassena-Nankana West District lauded World Vision Ghana’s FMNR project saying hitherto the implementation of the project, there were perennial bushfires in the community and farms were destroyed. 

“But they trained fire volunteers and for the past 3 years now, we have not witnessed bushfires in our community and through that, we have seen many tree species and our animals do not go far for grazing”

Another participant, Faustina Banakwoyem from the Batiu community commended the fair saying it provided her with the opportunity to learn, network, and access new markets, ultimately contributing to her overall economic development.

Source: A1Radioonline.com|101.1Mhz|Joshua Asaah|Paga|Ghana

NDC fought corruption with lip service – Andrew Atariwini

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The Deputy communication officer for the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) of the Upper East Region, Andrew Atariwini, has asserted that the National Democratic Congress (NDC), while in government, failed to tackle corruption in the country.

According to Mr. Atariwini, unlike the NDC, the NPP has demonstrated leadership in the fight against corruption by instituting independent institutions that are independent from the manipulation of any Executive.

“We have seen what the special prosecutor office is doing and the empowerment we have given to the Ghana police by resourcing them, and that alone is a testament to our commitment in the fight against corruption”, he stated.

“So  if people come and they have nothing and all they can do is to rely on speculation and unsubstantiated comments of people who are yielding out of anger for their detest of the president or people in government then that is to themselves”, he added.

Mr. Atariwini’s comments were in response to the Upper East Regional Deputy Communication Officer for the NDC, Benjamin Atuasi, who chastised the president and described the office of the special prosecutor as a “white elephant”  over the president’s claim of fighting corruption.

While addressing the 2023 Ghana Bar Conference at Cape Coast on Monday, September 11, President Akufo Addo said “his government has undertaken, arguably, the boldest initiatives since independence to reform and strengthen the capacity of the nation`s institutions to tackle corruption in the public sector”.

Source: A1radioonline.Com|101.1MHz|Gilbert Azeem Tiroog| Bolgatanga 

UE/R: We must protect the sovereignty of EC – NPP Deputy Comms. Officer

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The Deputy Communication Officer for the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) of the Upper East Region, Andrew Atariwini, has indicated that there is the need for the sanity of the Electoral Commission as an independent body to be respected.

Mr. Atariwini noted that the continued comments on the Commission`s decisions by political parties can have dire consequences regarding its independence and have the potential to breed violence.

“We are breeding a very peaceful atmosphere with potential violence because the EC is an independent body that is supposed to officiate the contest between political actors”, he stated.

Mr. Atariwini added that, “if the political actors begin to cast doubts based on their political interests and call the EC names to erode the trust the Ghanaian people should have in the EC, then we are marked for doom.”

He made this assertion when he spoke to Mark Smith on A1 Radio`s Daybreak Upper East show in line with the voter-limited registration and the position of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) on the exercise being held at its District and Municipal offices.

According to him, the NDC, that ignored the Inter Party Advisory Committee (IPAC), where these decisions were made, is now “leading the chant against the EC.”

However, the Upper East Regional Communication Officer of the NDC, Jonathan Abdallah Salifu, disagreed with his assertion.

He argued that the fundamental issue has to do with the fact that a lot of people would be disenfranchised, and the EC has set itself up to be questioned.

He noted that apart from the issue of the network and the difficulty presented to registrants in traveling to the registration centers, the machines in question used by the EC are also posing a challenge, thereby slowing down the process and worsening the plight of registrants.

Meanwhile, the Upper East Regional Director of the Electoral Commission, William Obeng Adarkwah, have acknowledged the challenges confronted by registrants.

“We admit that we know our territory, and we know some of the challenges that could confront a lot of people who would have loved to register,” he stated.

He added that “we will urge opinion leaders, political parties, and anybody so patriotic to assist in certain areas where they think distances are too challenging for prospective registrants to be helped in terms of transport.”

Source: A1radioonline.Com|101.1MHz|Gilbert Azeem Tiroog|Bolgatanga

EC must revise its decision on limited voter Registration – Abdallah Salifu

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The Upper East Regional Communication Officer of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), Jonathan Abdallah Salifu, has stated that the Electoral Commission (EC) must revise its decision on carrying out the limited voter registration exercise at its district and municipal offices.

According to Mr. Abdallah Salifu, the first two days of the exercise have exposed the very challenges the NDC outlined earlier before the commencement of the exercise.

He said any attempt by the EC to continue with the exercise in its current form would disenfranchise a lot of people.

He revealed this when he spoke to Mark Smith on A1 Radio`s Daybreak Upper East show about the ongoing limited voter registration exercise.

He noted that apart from the issue of network and the difficulty presented to registrants in traveling to the registration centers, the machines in question used by the EC are also posing a challenge.

This he noted is slowing down the process and worsening the plight of registrants.

“In Tempane, for instance, on the first day of registration, there was no show until a few minutes past 2 p.m. because the machines were down completely and they had to go back to Bolga to replace them,” he stated.

He added that “Some complained of network and technical issues, and with this, when someone comes to register and the process is stalled, the person will go away because it is a working day, and people will end up not registering”.

This, he observed, is a deliberate attempt by the EC to disenfranchise people due to the challenges it poses to registrants.

Source: A1radioonline.Com|101.1MHz| Gilbert Azeem Tiroog| Bolgatanga

Kassena-Nankana West: Interference by some opinion leaders hampering fight against teenage pregnancy

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A district public health nurse at the Kassena-Nankana West District, Francis Adipare, has indicated that the interference by some opinion leaders in the prosecution of culprits involved in defilement cases is impeding the fight against teenage pregnancy in the area.

According to him, there have been instances where some opinion leaders involved themselves in cases of rape and defilement of children before courts by instigating an out-of-court settlement, citing family relations and the need for them not to be divided.

This, he bemoaned, not only injures justice but also prevents the culprits from being punished to serve as a deterrent to others, and that is hampering their work in controlling the phenomenon.

He revealed this when he spoke to Mark Smith on A1 Radio`s Daybreak Upper East Show regarding cases of teenage pregnancies in the District.

Mr. Adipare noted that the kind of parenting children receive sometimes also makes them intimately unable to resist advances from men because they have been coached in such a manner that they are unable to object even to things with which they are not pleased.

The public health nurse said though there has been some improvement compared with last year due to the Ghana Health Service’s collaboration with other stakeholders in initiating adolescent health clubs in schools and out of schools to sensitize teenagers about their health, the progress made is still above the national target.

He said the district recorded 15.4 percent of cases of teenage pregnancies in the six months of 2023, which translates to about 220 girls between the ages of 10 and 19 getting pregnant as against 17.7 percent in the same period last year.

Source: A1radioonline.Com|101.1MHz|Gilbert Azeem Tiroog|Kassena-Nankana 

You no get numbers, you go dey charge 75ghc for Accra? – Joe Dumolga to organizers of N2S experience

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Ghanaian blogger cum Entertainment Journalist Joe Elom Dumolga has hit hard at organizers of the North2South experience. He said the first half of the concert that took place in Accra over the weekend flopped.

He is of the view that, the acts don’t have the numbers but the situation worse made even worse by the price tag of Ghc75ghc.

“Now some of my Upper East people staged what they called “North2South” concert at Allianz Francaiz with virtually empty seats. All you could see were plenty organizers and billed acts jumping to their songs. You people say I should not call it a flop? How afor call am?”

“You wey no get numbers, you go dey charge 75ghc for Accra make I come watch Rockcity perform their one hit recorded 10 years ago? Those guys have literally stopped recording!” he wrote via his Facebook handle.

He foresees the same flop show happening in the Upper East Region “the funny thing is, they will bring the same “flop” show to Jocom Golden and ignorantly call it a success. Jocom Golden Hotel has its loyal patrons. The place fills up to the brim every weekend,” he added.

Source: A1Radioonline.Com|101.1MHZ|Ibrahim Aziz|Bolgatanga|

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