Flood Wrecked Northern Ghana

floods in northern Ghana (Central Gonja)

   about 700, 000 people have been displaced by floods following the over flow of Volta river. 800 houses were also submerged and thousands of acres of farmlands and crops were now under water. the government officials led by the Interior Minister Martin Amidu expressed shock about the damage caused by the flood and described as national crisis. the extend of damage the minister said would cost more than the government can bear and however appealed to external agencies and governments to come into their aid. the floods which the officials blamed on climate change resulted in the activities of human and natural causes said time has come for immediate action to deal with effects of climate change. the government agency, the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO) whose officials look helpless are supposed to handle situation of human and natural disasters but is under resourced. the agency that supposed to be independent however fall on the government for assistance which is not forthcoming at times on needs hence the agency is always behind in response to disaster situations.
the officials of NADMO descirbed the situation as worst in 20 years looking at the extensive damages caused. though rains continued to fall regularly the government had not been able to put in place contigent plans to deal with the situation to prevent its recurring. 
 


suspected effects of climate change as people bear the brunt of it

  



17OCT

Assembly women aspirants face socio-cultural challenges

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Francis Npong, Gulinkpegu

The Assembly women aspirants in culturally-torn or segregated society particularly in northern region where women play “shadow role” or neglected and deny opportunity to take part in decision making process and in development are being prepared to face a unique challenges during the upcoming district assemblies’ elections as they face their male counterparts.

With funding support from European Union (EU), under the “Support for Women in Elections, (SWOPE)”, Ghana Developing Communities Association (GDCA), a gender and development sensitive Non-governmental organization has organized ground-breaking community platforms for some women aspirants in the Yendi Municipality not only to disabuse community minds about women in leadership but also to showcase their talents and achievements. The assembly women aspirants in the region are faced with various challenges including financial, socio-cultural and transportation difficulties that impede the campaign activities.

Speaking to the Enquirer in an interview after a durbar of chiefs and people of Gulinkpegu Electoral Area in the Mion Constituency, the field officer of GDCA-SWOPE programme Madam Alhassan Faidatu pointed out that women face unique socio-cultural challenges that prevent them from taking part in decision making processes in society. Women she said are spite in male dominated society of the region, a situation that needs a lot of time, energy, and resource to correct to pave way for women with leadership potentials to vie for both local and national leadership positions.  

“Socio-cultural factors particularly in northern region put off women potentials because women are not allowed to practice their ideas gear towards transformation of society. They are barred by socio-cultural norms to take up leadership positions or to participate development programmes. This however affected physical and spiritual development of women in north Ghana”, she stressed.

Madam Faidatu indicated that women are good and influential leaders and could support the development of the nation when given the chance to participate in decision making processes at local and national levels. The discrimination, marginalization and exclusion of women in local and national platforms were partly responsible for the lack of development in the country, she argued. She said it was against this background that GDCA in collaboration with SWOPE is supporting the course of women and advocating for increase number of assembly women for equal representation of gender in decision making processes saying the disparities in leadership in Ghana was too wide and needed to be closed.

The Yendi Municipal Director of National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) Alhaji Alhassan Sulemana appealed to chiefs and people to desist from criminalizing and attacking women who aspire for a position. He observed that the situation was not encouraging girl child education and women development. He however urged community members to support women to aspire higher position because women were sensitive to development and would be able to move the development of the community forwards when given the chance. The Assembly woman aspirant for Gulinkpegu Electoral Area Ms Adam Habiba who complained of physical and verbal attacks and various accusations that put fears in them promised to champion.

She pleaded with community leaders to ensure a fair play ground for all aspirants including women to the forthcoming district assemblies’ elections. She said the constant intimidation, harassment and physical and verbal attacks from her male counterparts do not promote democracy where respect, responsibility, accountability and community interest is key.

She thanked GDCA for the support and urged her colleagues women not to be deterred by the threats and accusations to declare their interest in the forthcoming district assemblies elections.  

Climate Change Threatens Agricultural Sector in Africa

The National Coordinator of Northern Rural Growth Programme (NRGP) Mr. Roy Ayariga has stated that the global warming and climate change has potentials to reduce food production and would need strategic measures to keep agricultural sector in developing countries alive.
According to him, food crop production has reduced drastically for the past three years because of unpredicted climatic conditions. “Our scientists are not curtained about the weather. Its just not predictable because of climate change”, he said.
The Coordinator was speaking in an exclusive interview with the Enquirer here in Tamale on food security and climate change how local farmers were coping.
He said it is time the government and agencies step in to assist agricultural sector to prevent it from collapsing. The best way he noted is for the Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs) to facilitate the establishment of rural banks to widen the scope of farmers’ access to financial or loan facilities to expand crop production to ensure food security.

He said that the lack of rural banks particularly in parts of northern region was impeding the progress of NRGP and other government agricultural initiatives aimed to empower local farmers to improve upon production and cope with global warming.“There is need to make frantic efforts to facilitate the establishment of rural banks in each district assembly to help empower farmers to increase crop production”, he said. He explained that NRGP empowered rural farmers over the years now and need to be expanded to cover other rural farmers to increase production.

“Unlike Upper East where almost every district has a rural bank supporting farmers, with exception of only two districts there are no rural banks in northern region and this is hindering the progress of NRGP”, he said. The Coordinator also appealed to the national banks not to shy away from financing agricultural activities which he said is the backbone of the economy of this country. Northern Rural Growth Programme (NRGP), is a $104-million agricultural support project funded by the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), African Development Bank (ADB) and the Government of Ghana and aimed to reduce poverty among farmers in the three northern regions. The NRGP is designed specifically to contribute to the government’s poverty reduction strategies in northern Ghana through commodity value-chain development, rural infrastructural improvement and enhanced financial access or services. Currently farmers in 38 districts in northern, Upper East and West regions including five other districts in parts of Brong Ahafo region were benefiting from NRGP. Before NRGP it was difficult for farmers and famer based organizations to access loans from banks and recognition of this difficulty NRGP had joined forces with rural banks to empower farmers to increase production at the same time helped reduce poverty among them. Mr. Ayariga said lack of rural banks in some districts was making it difficult for farmers at that areas to access NRGP grant facility and that establishing rural banks in these districts would increase the beneficiary famers to achieve the desire result of the programme. He also made a passionate appealed to national banks to expand their services to rural communities to offer farmers opportunity to access financial services to produce more to feed the nation and for export saying agriculture is business and must be seen as such and that until farmers recognized that they could not make meaningful impact.

SDA unveils projects to support government poverty and development initiatives

rancis Npong, Tamale

The North Ghana Mission of the seventh Day Adventist church (SDA) has unveiled two projects, to support the government’s poverty reduction and development initiatives to improve the livelihoods of the people in the region.

The projects which are parts of efforts to bridge the development gap between the north and south is aimed to consciously empower members and non-members alike economically and spiritually.

The projects which include block farm and shear nut processing and marketing is targeting particularly women and unemployed in northern region. Under the block farm efforts are being made to secure large tract of farmland, while plans are advanced to establish a shear nut processing factory.

The projects would be done in collaboration with the ministry of agriculture with funding support from Adventist Relief Agency (ADRA) and is aimed to reduce poverty, improve livelihoods and enhance spiritual growth of their members.

The New president of the Mission Pastor Fred Adjei-Baah who unveiled the projects at a joint church service said that the projects are parts of the mission’s market place evangelism aimed to uplift economic, social and spiritually well being of it members.

The shear-nut processing and marketing and block farm project is an initiative of the mission targeting poor women and unemployed not only in the church but those residing in the north. It is a new tactic aimed to win more souls to Christ and at the same time improve their economic and livelihoods. When taken off, the project intends to engage over thousands of poor and vulnerable women, unemployed youth as part of efforts to reduce youth idleness, minimize conflicts, and reduce drastically amount of money spent on peace keeping and maintaining security in northern region.

Pastor Adjei-Baah indicated that huge amount of money would be devoted to the projects to ensure its successful implementation to achieve the desire result. He stressed that there would not be favors’ on grounds of faith but the desire and ability to achieve result. “There will not be brother and sister in Christ in the implementation of the projects but those who will be willing to work and achieve the desire result”, he said.

Preaching under the topic “fresh people, and fresh oil” Pastor Adjei-Baah said however called on religious bodies to partner the government to bridge the development gap between the north and south, reduce poverty, and minimize hardship on the people up north.

He therefore urged Christians to eschew laziness. “A time has come for Christians to eschew laziness, hatred, and attitudes that repel success and work together as partners to change the economic situation of the country”, he said.

Pastor Adjei-Baah, who has been praised by some church members, is bent on restoring leadership difficulty that befell on the north mission sometimes ago.

He took over from Pastor Adu Sampa whose actions and inactions sparked members protest leading to his removal.

The New spiritual head of SDA according to members is known for his compassion, competency, diligence, good spiritual lifestyle and would help propel the growth of the church in the region.

They however, advised him to desist from acts that denigrate ethnic classes in the church to build a harmonized membership.

They promised to support him restore church and mend cracks that have been created by the previous leadership.

Bushfire Devastates 150 Farmers

Francis Npong, Tamale

One hundred and fifty (150) hectares of rice and mango farms belonging to individual farmers in the West Mampurusi, Savelugu/Nanton and Karaga District have been bent down completely by bush fires.

This includes100 hectare of organic mango plantation at Jangna, and 20 hectares of rice farms at Magnayili and Burugu in Savelugu/Nanton and Karaga District respectively.

These farmers were being supported by Integrated Tamale Fruit Company (ITFC), a subsidiary company of Wienco Ghana Limited, according to the Coordinator of Organic Mango Out growers Association (OMOA), Mr. Ishaku Iddrisu.
Briefing the Enquirer on activities of bushfire in an exclusive interview, the coordinator who lamented the rampant bush burning activities said the situation had left over 200 poor farmers devastated.

The bushfire he alleged was caused by rats’ hunters, cigarette smokers, and some farmers themselves. “The major culprits in bush burning businesses are rats’ hunters whose activities need to be curbed”, he said.

The rice farms he explained got bent because of the inaccessibility of combined harvesters. “Combined harvesters are not available to a chunk of farmers and this always leaves their farms at the mercy of bushfires”, Mr. Iddrisu said.

He said that the association in collaboration with ITFC company though established fire volunteers at each vantage point they were lacking requisite equipment to fight fire. Some of these equipments he said they needed for effective fire fighting include means of transportation, water cans, sprayers and fire extinguishers among others.

He therefore appeal to organizations to support come into the aid of the farmers to help them recover from shocks as a result of their loss.

40% of northerners have no access to drinking water

About 40 per cent of the people living in the northern region have no access to portable drinking water and are vulnerable to water related diseases.

The Northern regional Director of the Community Water and Sanitation Agency (CWSA) Mr. Ofori McCarthy who disclosed this during the regional launch of Ghana Sustainable water supply and sanitation project (SWSP) said the water situation in northern region was very critical and would need collaborative efforts to deal with it to achieve the millennium development goals on water.

The US$75 million Ghana Sustainable water supply and sanitation project is a five year rural water and sanitation improvement project to be financed by the International Development Agency (IDA) of the World Bank to ensure sustainable water flow to rural communities. Out of the amount the Government of Ghana was contributing US$2.43 million to facilitate the expansion, upgrading and servicing of water facilities across the beneficiary communities.

The project would provide 1,200 boreholes, 40 limited mechanized water systems, and 29 full-scale mechanized water supplies in Brong Ahafo, Northern, Upper East, West, Central and Western regions to give people access to portable, clean drinking water.

Mr. McCarthy explained that water was an important resource and that the quality and quantity available would determine the pace of development at a particular place.

He appealed to manage water systems well warning that failure to do so would affect the society greatly.

The northern regional and sanitation Engineer Alhaji Ahmed Ewura explained that geochemical information available indicated that parts of northern region have high fluoride content and that underground water which was so saline that it was affecting the health of the people, the manager indicated.

Mr. Ewura said rain water harvesting technology was possible solution to community water crisis saying the system best fits institutions with limited number of people and usage.

He advocated end of opened defecation that contaminates water resources and appealed to the district assemblies, chiefs and opinion leaders to support the programme to succeed.

The Deputy northern regional minister Mr. Sam Nasamu Asabigi said that water and sanitation delivery has not kept pace with the increase in population putting lives at rural and peri-urban at critical position.

He promised the government’s commitment to delivery quality service and good governance to the people. He was grateful to the World bank for the intervention.

Nine Rat Hunters in Court for Bushfire Offences

The presiding judge of the Tamale Magistrate Court, His Worship Gabriel Mate-Teye has issued a stem warning to politicians, opinion leaders, and chiefs in the Metropolis who for wants of popularity would try to influence judiciary system to desist or face the law.

The judge who was emotional charged issued this warning when nine persons arrested and charged with unlawful and negligently causing damage contrary to section 12 of the 172 Act 29/60 of the criminal code appeared before him to answer these charges brought against them by the officials of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

The nine persons include six juveniles were arrested by the Tamale police somewhere in January 2011 for setting fire to the bush that destroyed a 36 acre cowpea farm at Nyamelga, a farming community on the Salaga road.

Though the pleas of the six juveniles were not taken the court however granted to reappear in court on the 16^th March 2011 to enable the court making arrangement to hear the case of these under aged children in camera as stipulated by the law.

Two of remaining three pleaded guilty to the offence and would be sentenced on the 21^st when they reappear before it.

Before adjoining the case to 16^th and 21^st of this month respectively, the judge, His Worship Gabriel Mate-Teye who commended EPA officials for resisting pressures and influences for bringing the case before the court observed with concerns the negative effects of rampant bushfire in the northern region saying his outfit would deal drastically with any persons brought before it on charges of setting fire to the bush.

The nine accused persons were on hunting expedition at Nyamalga, a community near Tamale metropolis where they allegedly set fire to the bush which subsequently destroyed a 36 acre cowpea farm, according to the prosecutor Inspector Johnson Keremeng.

He said on the 22^nd day of January 2011, the northern regional director of the EPA lodged a complain to the police that some were burning people’s farms in search for rates. The police quickly dispatch a patron team who arrested the suspects at the scene.

Some rates which were tended in court as evidence were retrieved from the accused persons. The police the prosecutor said also retrieved 25 bicycles, and a motor bike which the suspects claimed ownership.

 The judge however adjoined the case to 16^th and 21^st of this month and issued warning to people to desist from acts that turned to influence judiciary system or justice.

Rural water provision:…GDCA rescuescommunities

As water crisis hit rural communities in Northern region, a Non-for-Profit Making Organization, Ghana Developing Community Association (GDCA) has introduced low cost technology to provide water to underprivileged rural dwellers.

The technology which makes use of local materials is part of coping mechanisms to climate change. The organization is currently implementing the programme in Yendi, Karaga and Gushegu where water situation was critical.

Under the technology, simple tools are used to construct or dig river bed wells, and boreholes which are fixed with hand pumps for easy drawing of water. The initiative is part of efforts to meet the Millennium Development Goals on water.

The organization had also introduced “sand damming” to provide water to these communities that were in dire need of the drinking water and for household chores.

The programme Manager of the Community Livelihood Improvement (CLIP) Mr. Illiasu Adam who disclosed this during GDCA- media review meeting said that the practice is done at underprivileged communities in rural Ghana where evidence of climate change and water crisis is obvious.

He explained that the initiative was taken after the organization had deliberated on the government water policy which was realized would not benefit communities with the population less 300.

The programme manager said that there was the need to support these poor communities because the government was concentrating on urban and peri-urban communities in the provision of water to the detriment of rural communities who were without portable drinking water.

He said that the community members are trained to assembled and dismantled pumps fixed on river bed wells to enable them fix them at the time of needs. Pumps are often fixed to river bed wells during dry season and remove when the rains set in whereas clay sacks are used to create blockage of river tributaries to prevent water from run out of the river.

The system, the programme manager which is now been used to irrigate vegetables pointed out that was improving the socio-economic conditions of the people.

The Executive Secretary of the Ghana Developing communities Association (GDCA) Mr. Osman Rahman said the organization was committed to reducing poverty and improving socio-economic conditions of rural dwellers.

He said it was aganst this background that various initiatives are deplored to meet the target of the organization.