NORTHERN NPP YOUTH GROUP ROAR OVER JETS PURCHASE

The New Patriotic Party’s Northern Suhudoo Commentators group in Tamale has sent a signal to government that its members and other concerned citizens in the Northern Region will embark on a series of demonstrations if government goes ahead to purchase the proposed five jets for the military. The group described the endless debate on the purchase of the five jets as one of government’s misplaced priorities which should be kicked against by all well meaning Ghanaians. This came to light at a news conference organized at an abandoned US 20 million Dollar Jubilee market at Kukuo in the Tamale metropolis. Fredrick Tahidu, Spokesperson of the group reminded government of the numerous development challenges that have engulfed the people of the three Northern Regions for which reason monies meant to purchase the five jets should be channeled into bridging the yawning gap between the South and the North. He mentioned the Tamale-Kumbungu, Tamale-Salaga, Tamale-Gushegu, Yendi-Bimbila, Yendi-Gushegu and Sawla-Fufulso roads as some of the projects government should execute rather than attempting to buy five jets for the military. Fredrick Tahidu also impressed upon government to inject the jets money into the Savannah Accelerated Development Authority kitty to enable the administrators execute projects captured under SADA.
 

VEEP ANNOUNCES GUINEA WORM-FREE IN GHANA

The Vice President of the Republic of Ghana, John Dramani Mahama has announce at a special ceremony that Ghana has gone 14 months since it reported it last case of guineas worm after a long battle of over 20 years. He said going 14 months without an indigenous case of Guinea worm disease means the nation has passed one incubation cycle and therefore broken transmission of the disease. Mr. Mahama made this announcement at this years mid-year review meeting of the Guinea worm eradication as part of the celebration of the final phase of the disease in the country. The disease subject to external verification which will occur over the next three years, the Ghana Health Service (GHS) now believes that the disease is no longer present in the country. The battle to eliminate the disease has been waged by GHS in collaboration with the Carter Center and many local and international organizations. He also disclosed that a reward package of 200 Ghana cedis will be given to anyone who can produce a verified Guinea worm case calling on Ghanaians to be at the look out for the disease in the year to come culminating from the fact that the disease can also be re-introduced from other countries. He sited War-torn Sudan, Mali and Ethiopia as the most endemic countries in the world. He added that verification of the disease will be done by GHS in conjunction with World Health Organization (WHO). He therefore cautioned Ghanaians, Ghana Health Service and the collaborators against complacency. Dr. Andrew Seidu Korkor in a presentation said the unit will not relent on their efforts in fighting for the total eradication of guinea worm in the country. He was full of excitement saying it is a legacy that has been left behind by celebrating the last phase in the country. He commended Non Governmental Organizations, civil societies, individuals who contributed in their diverse ways to help eradicate the disease in the country.

YOUTH CALLS FOR MORE SECURITY PERSONNEL IN GONJALAND

YOUTH CALLS FOR MORE SECURITY PERSONNEL IN GONJALAND
The Gonjaland Youth Association has appealed to the Inspector General of Police (IGP) to as a matter of urgency post more police personnel to the six districts in the area to help to improve law and order. The Association said the security situation in Gonjaland was disturbing considering the rising number of chieftaincy disputes and the menace of the Fulani herdsmen. It made the appeal in the press release copied to the media in Tamale and signed by its Secretary, Dramani Dari over the weekend. The Association noted that there are only a total of 56 police personnel in all the six districts of Gonjaland and said the situation was worrying considering the numerous flash points in the area. Touching on education, the Association noted that although government had made several interventions to improve upon the quality of education in the area, the standard of education continued to fall and therefore appealed to the government to consider establishing a Teacher Training College in Gonjaland. The Association also appealed to government to increase the budgetary allocation to the Savannah Accelerated Development Authority (SADA) and to fast track its implementation to dispel the notion that Ghanaians are only good at policy formulation but flop in implementation.

GUSHEGU DCE VISITS DAILY

GUIDE
Government has reiterated its commitment to partner the media in deepening the democratic credentials of the country through constructive criticisms and upholding the rule of law. It is in the light of this government is calling on media practitioners in the country to serve as agents of transformation in supporting it to achieve its better Ghana agenda which seeks to improve on the lives of the citizenry. Mr. Fuseini Alhassan, District Chief Executive (DCE) for Gushegu who made these remarks during a visit to Daily Guide Tamale office as part of his familiarization with media houses, underscored the importance of media in National Development. The DCE indicated that the current government identified some challenges hampering the development of the industry which include low wages and salaries for many journalists and the need to improve standards and enhance the role of the media as a key partner in development. He stated that the current NDC government will rely on a critical and objective media to assess its performance and deliver the desires of the citizenry to mandate it another term in office. Mr. Fusheini therefore, urged the media to feel free to point out the weaknesses of the government, stressing that there will not be any room for restriction of the media. He stressed the government's resolve to strengthen the existing relationship between it and the media in general and urged media practitioners in the northern region to exhibit professionalism in their work and centre their debate and discussions on policies rather than on personalities. The Northern Sector Manager of Western Publications Limited (WPL) Stephen Zoure, commended the DCE for being the first government appointee to visit its offices since the NDC assumed office about two and half years ago. He indicated that this was a clear manifestation of his quest to deepen his relationship with the media in the region assuring him of Daily Guide’s support in echoing the various developmental programmes of the district. Mr. Zoure however debunked the wrong impression created that the most authoritative Daily Guide newspaper one of the brands of WPL was an NPP paper and appealed to the DCE to help demystify that erroneous impression.

CDD ADVOCATES FOR YOUTH FRIENDLY PROGRAMS

The Centre for Democratic Development (CDD) has advocated for youth friendly programs and the mainstreaming of the youth development initiatives in the planning and development programmes of Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies towards developing good governance and democratic culture among the youth.
The Centre has therefore called on local authorities to strengthen the public relations and complaints units in MMDAs and the office of the Presiding Member (PM) who occupies the critical position of Chairperson of the assembly’s public relations and complaints committee.
This they believe would promote state-society relations and strengthen the feedback mechanisms in the assemblies which play a pivotal role in the decentralization process.
The CDD enumerated this during a day’s decentralization workshop under the theme: Strengthening the role of civil society in decentralization and local governance in Tamale.
Mr. Paul Osei Kufuor Programs Manager of CDD-Ghana, Tamale noted that although decentralization has been a key development goal since the 80s, the process has been problematic.
According to him, its progress over the years has also been burdened with an enduring discrepancy between what governments decentralize by law and in reality.
Depending on the context, this divergence Mr. Kufuor indicated can be explained by the limited resources, the need for attaining economies scale of capacity, constraints, lack of political will and the influence of bureaucratic politics.
He said it was in view of addressing these gaping challenges that a new decentralization policy and action plans had been developed and launched in 2010 under the theme” accelerating decentralization and local governance for national development”.
The new policy framework provides conceptual clarity and relevant reforms on decentralization and local governance within the national development strategy he noted.
In a speech read on his behalf the Mayor of Tamale Alhaji Haruna Friday observed that the concept of decentralization could not be fully described as new, given that it is well over 20 years now since the country began the current process to send governance system down to the local level.
Local governance structures stretching from the central government (represented by the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development MLGRD) down to the Regional Coordinating Council, the Metropolitan/Municipal /District Assemblies (MMDAs) with Unit Committees being the basic units and therefore the “building blocks” of the system was a clear manifestation in this regard. He observed
The structures he explained have been designed to interconnect each other as they have responsibilities whose links can be traced from the ordinary person out there to the highest decision making body in the country.
The MCE however alluded to the fact that the entire system could still be described as new in view of the fact that most of structures are not fully operational for various reasons.
He identified the incomplete operationalisation to the lack of motivation for actors like the Assembly members, the Unit Committee members and staff of the Zonal/Town/Area Councils whose involvement could make the system work.
Madam Sandra Jensen a representative of GIZ partners of CDD underscored the importance of the capacity building workshop reiterating the commitment of the organization to partner in such events in the future.
She briefed participants on the activities of GIZ in collaboration with its partners citing three workshops in Tamale, Wa and Bolgatanga and other related activities an opportunity for the civil society and other stakeholders to learn more about the decentralization policies and activities in Ghana.

MMDAs IGNORING DISBURSEMENT OF DACF

A new study report released by SEND-Ghana, a Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) has shown, that most Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs), have been ignoring guidelines for the disbursement and utilization of the District Assemblies Common Fund (DACF) most especially the 3% share allocated to Persons With Disabilities (PWDs).
According to the report, previously the 3% share for PWDs was transferred as part of the Common Fund into the DACF Accounts for disbursement. But currently, all MMDAs are directed to open a District Disability Fund Account (DDFA) separately and put in place District Disability Fund Management Committees (DDFMCs) to facilitate its operations.
The study found out that these directives have not been complied with by most MMDAs except the Tamale Metropolitan, Yendi Municipality and Savelugu-Nanton District Assemblies had active DDFA.
Titus Segtub, one of the lead researchers gave a highlight of the study at a regional interface meeting with stakeholders at the Northern Regional Coordinating Council.
The research took place in 50 MMDAs in the three Northern Regions –Upper West, Upper East and Northern Regions – and Greater Accra Region in 2010.
The purpose of the study was to bring civil society perspectives to bear on the implementation of the DACF which focused on citizens’ participation, transparency, equity and compliance with implementation guidelines.
According to Mr. Segtub, the objectives of SEND-Ghana in that particular research work was to assess the extent of community participation in DACF sponsored projects and asses the level of awareness and access to information on the DACF by communities.
It was also to assess the degree to which DACF sponsored projects were awarded on contract in line with the national procurement law, he added.
He explained that the three Northern Regions were selected based on the presence of SEND-Ghana and also because of the high incidence of poverty as per the Ghana Living Standards Survey (V) whilst the Greater Accra Region on the other hand was selected based on growing urban poverty noted by GLSS V.
Mr. Segtub who is also a staff of SEND-Ghana added that, District Chief Executives, Coordinating Directors, Presiding Members, Planning Officers and Chairpersons of District Disability Associations were interviewed whereas other information were sourced from Medium Term Development Plans, annual budget estimates and expenditure returns obtained from MMDAs and Administrator of DACF.
The study also revealed that access to the 3% share of the DACF for PWDs from 2003 to 2008 was less than one-third, adding “about 44% of PWDs who accessed the fund expended it on the celebration of the International Day for the Disabled and attendance of meetings”.
The study further revealed that about 50% of community leaders sampled did not belief that MMDAs had effectively used DACF to address their developmental needs.
Meanwhile, Mohammed Mahamud, a Programmes Officer of SEND-Ghana in a statement called on all MMDAs to adhere to the guidelines for the disbursement and utilization of the DACF.
According to him, access to DACF share for PWDs is very limited, adding “though most districts have established the DDFMCs and opened DDAF, as a directive, there is minimal or no transfers of funds at all into those accounts”.
Mr. Mahamud also disclosed that the management of the fund was fraught with misunderstanding between the MMDAs and the PWDs.

GONJALAND YOUTH ASSOCIATION ANGRY OVER FAILED PROMISES

GONJALAND YOUTH ASSOCIATION ANGRY OVER FAILED PROMISES
Leadership of the Gonjaland Youth Association’s National Secretariat says it will advice the people of Gonjaland to boycott political activities during the 2012 campaigns if construction work does not begin on the Damongo-Fufulso Sawla road. The Association warns that all Gonjas will be advised not to grant audience to any political party during the 2012 campaign season if government fails to start construction works on the Damongo-Fufulso Sawla road.
The Association listed the Tamale-Salaga-Kpandai, Domeabra-Mpaha, Kusawgu-Tuluwe, Busunu-Daboya-Mankarigu, Laribanga-Bawena and Laribanga-Mole as some of the major roads in the Gonjaland that needed government’s rapid attention. It therefore declares December 2008 as the stipulated period it expects government to start tarring particularly the Damongo-Fufulso Sawla road which was a major campaign promise in 2008. Dramani Dari, General Secretary to the Gonjaland Youth Association raised these concerns at a news conference in Tamale to express the people of Gonjaland’s displeasure about government’s insensitivity towards alleviating the plight of the Gonjaland. “The deplorable nature of our roads is our major source of worry: indeed the association is not happy about the total neglect of our roads over the years and we are therefore calling on government to as a matter of urgency put in place the necessary mechanisms towards the commencement of work on the listed roads.” “We wish to appeal to the government to as a matter of urgency tar the Fufulso-Sawla road which is so dear to us between now and December or forget it in 2012: honestly Gonjas have compromised lies and deceit from politicians over the years and are no longer prepared to countenance with any political rhetoric, dishonored and unfulfilled promises from particularly the NDC and NPP.”
The Gonjaland Youth Association also reminded the Mills-Mahama led NDC administration of its 2008 campaign promise to create a new region out of the northern region to be named “The Gonjaland region.” It noted that since the NDC assumed power in 2009, not even a single technical committee has been instituted to facilitate the process to set out the parameters toward fulfilling that promise. “What is more worrying is that since Independence Gonjas have never voted %100 for any political party but the dynamics changed during the 2008 general elections during which we voted massively for the NDC and yet we have not been given even a Deputy Ministerial appointment: if this is how the NDC government can appreciate our solidarity for them, then we wait to see its implications in 2012” the statement warned. On education, the association complained about the falling standard of education in Gonjaland and pinpointed the absence of a Teacher Training College in the area as one of the assigned reasons. In view of this worrying situation, the association implored government to consider establishing a Teacher Training College in Gonjaland to help address the problem. The Association described as generally unacceptable the security situation in Gonjaland where the six districts in that part of the northern region can only boast of 56 police personnel. Due to the security lapses, crime wave according to the Association was very high in Gonjaland with particular reference to the activities of Fulani Herdsmen. The Association thus made a passionate appeal to the Inspector General of police to increase the number of police personnel in the area to maintain law and order.