COVID-19: Ho MP, Benjamin Kpodo donates items and cash to combat coronavirus

As part of measures to combat the coronavirus pandemic,the Member of Parliament(MP) for Ho Central  constituency, Benjamin Komla  Kpodo has donated items and cash to fight against the COVID-19 in the Ho Municipality of the Volta region. 

The MP told ClassFm that, the items worth Ghc150,000.00 and Ghc5,000.00 cash to the Municipal Health Directorate for a purchase of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) for frontline health workers in both private and public health institutions.

The items included 25 veronica buckets, 1,160 pieces of hand sanitizer and 1,100 pieces of liquid soap.

At a short handing over ceremony held at the MPs residence in Ho, he asked the Ho Municipal and Volta Regional Health Directors to quickly share the items to the various hospitals and clinics in the area.

He said, " I also have concerns for the people who are at the frontlines of  health delivery services in the constituency, the nurses the doctors and the lab people so I have also allocated Ghc5,000.00 to the Municipal Directorate, you take the money quickly go and buy Personal Protective Equipment  and distribute across all health centres, whether it is public or private health Centre" He said.

The Volta Regional Health Director, Dr. Dzokoto Sena  who received the items was grateful and thanked the MP.

COVID-19: I'll sack you if you act unprofessional- Volta GIS Boss

The Volta Regional Commander of the Ghana Immigration Service (GIS), Deputy Commissioner, Esq Peter Nantuo has warned the service personnel on the various entry points within the Volta region to adhere to directives or face dismissal.

" if i get any officer at this time, trying to compromise and the unprofessional then that officer will be summary dismissal, if there is evidence, we should set examples by ensuring that the communities in which we are, we are role models for them to cooperate so that by our practice they too will step forward and let us collaborate " he noted.

He made this known during  a brief parade held at the Regional Headquarters in Ho on Tuesday 24, March where he addressed the Media, Sector Commanders and the Volta Regional Minister on the Service's measures taken so far to combat the virus.

The Commander has therefore formed a six member Regional Taskforce, with aims to work day to day between the Service and stakeholders but not to interfere other security agencies.

" as part of our initiative, we have gone ahead to form a regional taskforce, the mandate is not to supersede or challenge any of our sister institutions, is supplementary and complementary taskforce we are going to work hand in hand with the (Municipal and District Security Council)… for the essence of the taskforce like I said is to enable us monitor thongs on a daily basis" he said.

He added that, leaders of  non- Ghanaians community living in Ho Municipality will be sensitize on the way forward saying "tommorow (Wednesday 25, March) we have invited all non-Ghanaians foreign communities in Ho Municipality, their elders, they will be here tommorow and the essence of the meeting is for them to know that, they have partners, those people who will sneak through unapproved routes or otherwise enter the country at this dangerous period, we are not going to compromise or accept that…..so they will come tomorrow morning and I'll let them know this is the issue if they go above some level, I'll take them on"

On the side of the Regional Minister, Dr. Archibald Yao Letsa, he applauded the Service and pledged the government's support. He added that, the boarders are been closed so no Immigration personnel has the authority to open it for anyone to enter or engage in any unlawful act on the various entries.

" the boarders has been closed so the Immigration officer has no right to collect money from anybody to let him in, you must also know that you are also at risk so the money you collect, the money doesn't protect you from getting coronavirus, so at this time let's all sacrifice the selfish interest and fight for the collective interest " he added.

Meanwhile, hundreds of travellers from neighbouring countries, Togo and Benin are stranded at the Aflao border where security agencies are heavily  mounting the border to prevent entry.

Sources revealed that, travelers who are using rural entry points are also facing similar situations.

Churches in Ho obeyed President's directive

Shia Roman Catholic Church was locked as at 8am

Following President Nana Akufo-Addo's recent directives, a temporal ban on church services among other public gatherings as measures to prevent the spread of the deadly Coronavirus (COVID-19), many churches in the Volta region has observed the idea.

A tour in the Volta Regional capital Ho on Sunday, March, 22 2020 saw most churches in the city been locked, with not even a sexton in or around the church premises, while leaders of some the churches who could not stay at home were seen loitering around the church yard, others praying while taking a walk at the church yard.

R/C Church, Ho Asisi Parish was equally empty 

A visit to some of the big churches, the Church of Pentecost Fiave Central,  Fiave Global  Evangelical Church, Evangelical Presbyterian Church, Bankoe, some Roman Catholic Churches including Asisi Parish at Police Depot and Evangelical Presbyterian Church, RTC branch, their premises were very quiet.

Church gate was heavily locked

The usual musical sounds and loud prayers in tongue were not experienced anymore, not even a heavy human traffic around the Ho Central market as it used to be on Sundays when people are commonly seen awaiting taxi or walking to their various churches.

A voyage before midday to some communities, Shia, Tanyigbe, Tokokoe and Nyive within the Ho Municipality, churches were not organized, some residents were seen on the streets not in church outfits.

Church of Pentecost, Fiave Central as at 9am 

Some street preachers in the Municipality have also mounted mobile speakers at vantage points, preaching the gospel and urging believers to be prayerful amidst the situation.

UHAS launches campaign to fight against coronavirus in Ho

The University of Health and Allied Sciences (UHAS) in the Volta region has lunched a public awareness campaign entitled, " Say no to Coronavirus in Ho" with a slogan " Know how to protect yourself " with aim to fighting the pandemic coronavirus within the Ho Municipality.

The Director of Public Affairs of the University, Mrs. Maria Giwira revealed that, the University is well prepared to educate the public on the virus and relevant prevention measures.

Speaking at a Press Conference held on Monday 16, March at the Volta Press Centre, she indicated that UHAS in collaboration with the Ho Teaching Hospital (HTH) in last month, February assembled an emergency meeting to strategise on an emergency preparedness and response plan toward the coronavirus, should any case be recorded in the area.

" out of that meeting, four sup groups were formed all these comprised officials from UHAS and also personnel from the Ho Teaching Hospital, the four groups that were formed included, a Clinical subgroup, a laboratory or diagnostic subgroup, education and training subgroup  and publicity and advocacy subgroup" she said.

These groups are tasked on various roles respectively, and will be working within the University environment as internal target group and Ho Municipality as external targeted group.

The Laboratory Physician Microbiologist and Head of Clinical Group, Dr. Emilie Boakye Yiadom said, " the clinical preparations and laboratory preparation has been in two fold, number one has being to strengthen what is already existing and also try and build up new facilities if possible, so the hospital has designated a ward for isolating suspected cases while we are testing them" she noted.

She further noted that, the two stakeholders, UHAS and HTH,has plans to expand the current facility dedicated for suspected cases when needed.

" they are plans to expand the current facility that we have to be able to take in more people in case in-country transmission also occurs" she said.

In accordance with the Presidential directive, UHAS asked all students to vacate the school's facilities across its campuses and including private affiliated hostels by 3pm of Wednesday, 17 March.

The Volta Regional Chairman of the Ghana Journalists Association, GJA,Volta, Mr. Bells Kafui Kanyi advised journalists to consider the various protective measures while reporting on the development, He encouraged the members to cross check before reporting especially on the COVID-19.

Flood destroys okro farms in Akrofu, farmers appealed for urgent support

A heavy downpour on friday, march 13 in the Volta region have submerged over 70 hectares of okro farms and destroying the crops worth millions of cedis in Akrofu within the Ho Municipality.

The entire farm was washed off by the flood and destroyed the crops which are less than four months to harvest, leaving the affected farmers in dismay and worried situation.

Class FM's visit to the farm on Tuesday, three days after the downpour, saw about 75 hectares of the farm flooded, leaving the greater portions of the crops dying, it leafs turning yellowish while some farmers who could not stay at home sitting on the farm aimlessly.

According to the farmers, most of whom are women indicated that, " it's a loan we've gone for from Weto Rural bank, some took 1,000, some 1,500 cedis, but look at the farm, there is nothing we can do now because it's too late and we cannot redirect the flood" a farmer told Class News.

Another affected farmer and a mother of 4 children revealed her plights, "it was a struggle we've been through to get the loans from Weto (Rural Bank) for this farm and now we cannot see the benefits of the money, so we're also just around thinking of how to get some other money to repay our debts, we're appealing, begging the government to intervene, we beg the government" she cried out.

The Assemblyman for the area, Hon. Forgive Osbert Komla Segbedeku told Class FM that, the farmers needs a permanent solution to the situation and called on the government and other relevant stakeholders to aid the affected farmers.

" we have about 70 plus acres of land here, it is not a group farm but individual farms and farmers on this farm actually actually access loan from Plan Ghana and Weto Rural Bank to have this farm, and as things stand now, we are pleading with government to actually come to the aid of these farmers to help them go and cultivate a different field to actually help them to offset their loans and then also we need a permanent solution to this flood….. so we want the various stakeholders, Agric extension, the MCE, regional Minister and other stakeholders to come and actually send their technocrats to come and do their feasibility and give us a way ahead so future generations wouldn't suffer this type of canker" He called for.

The affected farmers said, there is no option than to "quickly" cultivate another land for okro or go into another crops to enable them raise profit to settle their debts.

Affected farmers who were on the farm at the time of Class  FM's visit looked worrisome, depressed and could not afford staying at home because of the money they have invested into the farm, they said, this was the first time they experienced such a flood and the future is unpredictable hence they need measures to enable them stay in business.

A National Disaster Management Organisation(NADMO) Officer from the Ho Municipal Assembly, Ms. Lovelace Alorsor said she will send the plights of the victims to her office for the needful approaches and supports.

Bob Coffie constructs speed ramps in Ho

 A humanitarian and business man in Ho, known as Mr. Dusu Bob Coffie, has built two separate speed ramps on the Ho, Kpalime, urban road, aimed to avert car crushing as a result of over speeding on the stretch.

There has been a frequent motorcycle and vehicular accidents on the Ho, Kpalime road, between the Volta Regional Police training school and the Ho Central market due to over speeding and careless driving along the stretch.

Residents and business owners along the strech on several occasions lamented the careless driving on the road, and asked city authorities to build speed ramps or police barrier to calm the phenomenon. This according to Bob Coffie, upon hearing the complaints on Class Media Group's Ho92.5FM's Adanu Morning Show led him to build the ramps, which the relevant authorities says they cannot construct.

According to Bob Coffie, he has observed how often vehicles and motorcycles involve in an accident on the road, especially between the Market and the Police Training School, which is a flat and straight stretch.

He said, he met the authorities of the Ho Municipal Assembly over the phenomenon, after which the Assembly directed him to Urban Roads. He indicated that, the two stakeholders says they cannot immediately respond to his call to build speed ramps on the road.

Mr. Bob Coffie, who is the founder of Freedom Hotel in Ho said, he met his team and decided to build the ramps as part of his social responsibilities. He indicated that, the initial cost of the ramps is Ghc20,000 , but he has spent more than that.

The first phase of the project has been completed under the supervision of the Regional Urban Roads.

The Regional Engineer for Urban Roads, Engineer Gershon Banaman, praised Bob Coffie for such initiative and pledged to make sure the constructor do the exact work.

During work inspection, Bob Coffie, said he is ready to collaborate and contribute with other stakeholders to developing Ho, Volta region and Ghana as a whole. He advised drivers and riders to drive with precautions to safe their lives and lives of others.

Embrace ADR (Mediation) system to solve problems- Judicial Service

Justice of the Court of Appeal and in-charge of Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR), Her Ladyship Justice Irene Charity Larbi, has advised the general public to take advantage of Court connected Mediation mechanism to solve cases.

The Alternative Dispute Resolution was implemented in 2005 by the Court, under Section 72(1) of the Courts Act 1993 (Act 459),  aimed to attend to and quickly resolve minor disputes without resorting to litigation in the Courts, and uses mainly mediation for the resolution of cases.

This according to Her Ladyship, " the ADR mechanisms is a reliable partner to the traditional justice delivery system and must therefore, be embraced and nurtured for quality justice delivery system, this also helped in reducing the backlog of cases in the Courts…..we encourage you to use ADR instead of litigation which is protracted, which is expensive, which is acrimonious which takes a lot of your time,… this is important because its sustenance is particularly critical in our goal of promoting excellence, speed and efficiency in the judicial administration"

She said this at an ADR Week Lunch ceremony held at the forecourt of the Ho central  market of the Volta  region, aimed to create awareness and school the general public on the operation of the system. She mentioned that, although the current Court system of hearing and ruling cases is good, it has some disadvantages that leads to delaying of justice, since justice delayed is justice denied.

She outlined that, challenges such as language barrier, cost and resources are expensive in the usual Court litigation process, but it takes less to find solutions to cases at the ADR system, hence it's prudent to use it to solve cases such as domestic issues, lands and family disputes while the Courts take charge of felony issues.

"the ADR concept has served as a complement to the traditional Court system in making access to justice cheaper, easier, expedition, non-adversarial and faster for the citizenry" 

Her Ladyship indicated that, between January to December last year, 2019, " 6,209 cases were meditated out of which 3,041 cases were settled, representing a 49% settlement rate" 

She added that, the Mediation process has helped a lot and has a great advantage over the litigation process, " one important benefit of ADR over conventional litigation is Privacy, you can imagine the embarrassment a tenant who has committed no crime has to face in coming to open court to plead for time to vacate premises in such a hostile environment, this is one such example of downship of conventional litigation…. People value highly the privacy ADR provides, this is because when the matter us heard in the open, the media may pick it up and place it in the public domain, this makes the parties involved susceptible to all types of comments and even public ridicule " She noted.

Chairman at the event, and a Mediator at the Volta Regional ADR, Togbe Howusu XII of Ho Dome, praised the implementation of the mechanism and encouraged Ghanaians to make use of the system to avoid huge use of resources to to dealing with minor disputes. 

Currently, the Alternative Dispute Resolution has Secretariat in some 131 Courts in all the initial ten regions across the country with at least five Mediators assigned to each of the Courts.

Banku with okro soup, the indigenous food of the Ewes

THE FOOD

Akple and Fetri-Detsi is a delicacy made from corn powder and Okra-Stew. It's mainly consumed by the inhabitants of the south-eastern part of Ghana; the Ewes. The delicacy’s history can be traced back to the 16th century when the Ewes first settled in Sudan where they named Ketume, which is known today as Khartoum.  

Today, the delicacy is consumed by people from all walks of life; both rural and urban, poor or rich. One in every ten Ghanaian is said to consume the delicacy at least once a week. Also, the delicacy is consumed at social events like parties, wedding receptions and funerals by all tribes. 

PREPARATION PROCESS.

Wondering how it's prepared?  Well, one needs a sizeable quantity of corn powder, fresh okra, fresh leaves, red oil or coconut oil, spices, fish or meat with half pot of water. The water is kept on fire till it reaches a boiling point. The corn powder is mixed with the boiling water and stirred with a cooking paddle until a desired hardness is achieved. As soon as the desired hardness is achieved, it is covered and left on fire for about 8 minutes to be fully cooked. Before serving, the mixture is stirred again to achieve a certain level of viscosity and uniformity. 

The practice is that, while the Akple is cooking, the okra is boiled together with cassava and cocoyam leaves. Usually, the leaves are chopped into smaller pieces and mixed with pepper stew and stirred. Crab, Salmon, smoked fresh water fish etc. are added to the stew. Some people prefer to add smoked snails for its protein efficacy. Spices are added to the stew to make it tasty. ’Dzomi’ (Red Oil) or coconut oil is used in the preparation of the stew.

BENEFITS

It’s a great source of energy since it is carbohydrate based. Some health commentators recommend its consumption to people with diabetes because it could be easily broken down by the digestive system. Unlike Banku, Akple and Okra-stew is lighter on the stomach and digests faster comparatively. While Akple is prepared with only corn powder, Banku is prepared with the mixture of corn dough and cassava dough.

CHALLENGES

The only challenge with this delicacy is that is does not have a longer shelve life. Usually, it is consumed hot just after cooking because it loses its viscosity in matter of minutes. It is not usually consumed cold. However, some people have found innovative ways of tying it up in polythene and keeping it in food warmers. That way, it can be kept up to about twelve hours.

PROMOTION 

I think that the delicacy can be better promoted beyond its current state if conscious efforts are put in place by the Ghana Tourism Development Company GTDC.  Platforms such as this one, food festivals, etc. could serve as some of the main means of promoting the delicacy. Also, celebrities and leaders of the country should be seen eating these local delicacies at official gatherings rather than the foreign cuisines. 

CONCLUSION 

Akple and Okra-stew is easy to prepare and not expensive at all. Everyone  can consumes it. It digests fast and does not leave you with health complications. The more we consume Akple and Okra-stew, the more we are putting money into the pocket of the local farmer which would eventually help grow the local economy. 

Written by Carlos Lorlornyo Atsu (Ghana Institute of Journalism)

UHAS Director of Public Affairs challenges students to be innovative thought leaders

Mrs. Maria B. Gwira, Director of Public Affairs at the University of Health and Allied Sciences, told ‘future health care providers’ on February 25 that “the revolution we seek in the health sector in Ghana will not happen without a deliberate, strategic realignment in perspective on the part of YOU the health care provider.”

The Director of Public Affairs was speaking about “The health care provider as thought leader and change maker” during the launch of the Sixth Students’ Representative Council Week Celebration at the North/Trafalgar Campus of UHAS. She told the auditorium full of students that the imperfect health care system in the country offers the perfect atmosphere for them to be “innovative and solution-oriented” in their approach to the practice of health.

Chronicling her late sister’s unfortunate experience with the health care system, she made a passionate call on students to take the leadership role in the pursuit of their profession by expanding their definition of their ‘care giver’ role to include ‘problem solver’ and ‘advocate of the patient’, whose main goal should be to “bring relief, healing or peace of mind to the patient.”

She also gave them much food for thought by asking: “Knowing what you already knew going onto this career path about the limitations of the health sector, you still went into this field, studied everything UHAS had to offer, and you plan to come out into the world, offering zero new ideas of your own, adding nothing different, and yet expecting that there will somehow be a miraculous change that will offer YOU a more enabling environment than what prevailed before?”

She concluded with a call on all to contribute to the reservoir of knowledge through conducting research, publishing articles, and taking part in public discussions on issues of relevance to their professions, in order to be considered experts in their chosen fields.

Mr. David Adzovie, Director of Human Resource, who chaired the event, inspired the students to strive for greatness because the University of Health and Allied Sciences, although among the youngest public universities in Ghana, has gained prominence in the global arena as a recognized center for the training of health professionals.

Among the invited dignitaries were Mrs. Enyonam Amafugah, Ghana Education Service; Superintendant Anthony Danso, Municipal Commander of the Ghana Police Service; and student leaders from Ho Technical University, Evangelical Presbyterian University College, Amedzofe University College of Education, and National Union of Ghana Students.

Other speakers urged students to be disciplined and focused on their studies, and to be mindful of their actions and activities related to impending elections in December.

Activities marking the weeklong celebration include a health screening, debate competition, sports festival, float, beauty pageant and other entertaining as well as educative events

Source: uhas.edu.gh

Sogakope: Assembly man murdered, wife sustaining injuries

A newly elected assembly member for Sogakope South Electoral area in Sogakope within the South Tongu District of the Volta region, Marcus Mawutor Adzahli has been shot dead by unknown assassins in his private residence. 

Residents indicated that, the attackers made it into the deceased's bedroom, where he was with his wife, they were both stabbed with knife, after which the husband was shot on the head and the wife sustaining multiple injuries.

Eyewitnesses who spoke to Class Media Group's Ho92.5FM

in the Volta region noted that, the incident happened at about 1am on Sunday, March 1, but the widow managed to contact the Police and neighbours after their attackers flee.

The widow later fell into coma and could not give enough details of the attack and currently under medical treatment at the Sogakope district Hospital. 

Eyewitnesses said the widow is at the verge of life and death.

The deceased who was said to be in his 30s has been deposited at the same hospital, while Police has lunched an investigation into the development.