May 5, 2023 – L' Observateur Burundi

May 5, 2023

Scale up northern development – WB to Government, development partners

The World Bank has urged the government and some development partners to increase economic opportunities, improve infrastructure and strengthen citizens’ socioeconomic well-being in the Northern regions of Ghana.

According to the Bretton Woods Institution, promoting inclusive growth and reducing poverty would stave off terrorist-linked security threats in those parts of the country, and strengthen social cohesion, an important driver of prosperity and stability.

Ghana’s northern frontiers have been exposed to jihadist threats because of the deteriorating security situation in Burkina Faso and Mali, which has made coastal countries the new frontline against armed groups operating in the Sahel.

Even though the country has not experienced jihadist attacks, the government, in partnership with development partners have put in place a development programme and strategic projects that are being implemented by the Ministry of Local Government, Decentralisation and Rural Development in 48 Metropolitan, Municipal District Assemblies, across six regions in the northern part of Ghana.

Beneficiary regions include the Upper West, Upper East, Northern, Savannah, North-East and Oti.

Those interventions are part of a broader Gulf of Guinea Northern Regions Social Cohesion (SOCO) project aimed at improving regional collaboration, and socioeconomic and climate resilience of border-zone communities in the targeted northern regions of the Gulf of Guinea countries, including Ghana, Benin, Cote d’Ivoire, and Togo.

The World Bank, through its International Development Association, is funding the initiative with some US$450 million. Ghana is receiving US$150 million of that amount.

Areas of focus within northern Ghana are local economic development, digital innovations, local governance, social cohesion, climate resilience, addressing conflict and violence and building of local capacity.

At a day’s workshop to facilitate dialogue between the Local Government Ministry and development partners, Madam Agata Pawlowska, Operations Manager, World Bank, noted that needs were expanding across the Gulf of Guinea region.

She said development partners and governments ought to explore joint solutions to address the myriad of threats overlapping the Gulf of Guinea area.

Madam Pawlowska said the northern rural areas in the country lacked access to critical infrastructure and the possibility of spillover conflict could raise insecurity.

‘Only cooperation amongst all of us partners and stakeholders would bring results. Let us explore ways to promote coordinated and integrated development and jobs in northern Ghana,’ she said, adding that the World Bank would continue to work with the Government of Ghana to solve socioeconomic inequalities.

Mr Amin Abdul-Rahaman, Chief Director for the Local Government Ministry, said the SOCO Project Implementation had identified and engaged development partners to execute the interventions.

‘We intend to consolidate the efforts by the government and other stakeholders to make a greater impact,’ he said

Source: Ghana News Agency

May 5, 2023

Wa East District has no secondary healthcare facility – Director

Limited capacity of healthcare facilities in the Wa East District has saddled these facilities with many challenges in rendering quality and timely healthcare services to the about 93,000 residents.

The district currently has 48 health facilities, which are all for primary healthcare, 38 Community-based Health Planning and Services (CHPS) compounds, and 10 health centres.

Dr Pascal Kingsley Mwin, the Wa East District Director of Health Services, said this in Wa in an address to the Upper West Regional Youth Parliament on the status of healthcare and access in the district.

‘What this means is that we cannot provide emergency obstetric and newborn care services in any of the facilities in the district, hence such cases must be referred out of the district amidst the daunting challenge of bad road and poor telecommunication networks in most communities,’ he said.

Dr Mwin said last year alone, a total of 388 cases were referred, out of which half were pregnant women, because of the lack of a secondary healthcare facility in the district.

He said the situation had led to preventable deaths, especially involving pregnant women.

‘A recent case is the one we lost last year in an ambulance to Wa when I personally had to operate on her in an ambulance with a razor blade in an attempt to save the baby midway when the mother died,’ he said.

As part of efforts to mitigate the challenge, they had prioritised setting up a theatre space at the Bulenga Health Centre to enable them to provide theatre services whilst waiting for the upgrading of the facility to a polyclinic status.

Dr Mwin said the structure for the theatre had been identified but much work needed to be done as the glass doors, tiles, air-conditioner, lighting, and ceiling works were yet to be completed and appealed for donor support to complete the project.

‘Getting a polyclinic urgently or a theatre facility will improve service delivery in the district, especially the emergencies, and hence reduce the cost of referral,’ he said.

He expressed the hope that the Agenda 111 district hospital project ongoing at Funsi would soon be completed to reduce the plight of the people in the area.

The doctor-to-patient ratio in the district of 1:93,168, was a big challenge as the district relied on a single medical doctor, he said.

Meanwhile, Dr Sulemana Ewurah Kandia Mahama, the Wa East District Chief Executive, said the Assembly had provided two tricycle ambulances to two health facilities in deprived communities in the district – Hollomuni and Ducie communities – to improve access to healthcare.

Mr James Baba Anabigah, the Speaker of the Upper West Regional Youth Parliament, said he was saddened by the health service situation in the Wa East District, especially the lack of specialists, owing to the lack of accommodation.

The Youth Parliament donated GH?5,000.00 to support the upgrading of the Bulenga Health Facility to a polyclinic status.

Source: Ghana News Agency

May 5, 2023

Adentan Building Collapse: Owner extended storey without permit – Engineering Council

Preliminary investigation by the Engineering Council of Ghana into the collapse of a three-storey building in the Adentan Municipality has revealed that the owner of the building extended the approved storey without permit.

A team from the Council, on a visit to the disaster scene on Friday, uncovered that the approved permit for the building was two-storey but the ‘owner extended it to three without permit.’

Mr Wise Ametefe, the Registrar of the Council, told the Ghana News Agency on Friday that the Council would commence detailed investigations to establish the cause of the disaster from Tuesday, May 9, 2023.

One person was reported dead on Friday after being trapped in the rubble from the collapsed building situated at Nanakrom in the Adentan Municipality Friday morning.

The tragedy occurred barely a week after a similar three-storey building collapsed at Madina in the Greater Accra Region – which reportedly killed one person and injured three others.

Mr Ametefe said the Council had directed workers at the site not to ‘disturb the composition of the rubbles’ to facilitate smooth investigations.

‘We are going to test the foundation to see whether it is a foundation problem. We will test the concrete and if possible even the reinforcement,’ he said.

Mr Ametefe said the Adentan Municipal Assembly told the Council that they had approved the building but it appeared that the owner developed the structure beyond what was approved.

‘The approved permit was two-storey but the owner extended on his own to the third storey,’ he said.

Mr Ametefe said the outcome of the investigations would establish if there was any foul play to inform possible sanctions.

The Engineering Council, which is under the Ministry of Works and Housing, regulates the practice of engineering and provide for regulated matters to secure the highest professional standards in the practice of the engineering.

Source: Ghana News Agency

May 5, 2023

Disability is not reason for illiteracy

The govenment of Cameroon, together with the Cameroon Baptist Convention health services say they are determined to make education available for all children living with disabilities.

“We are trying to teach teachers to have inclusive skills so they can attend to both children with disabilities and those without. We have equally donated equipments to the GCE board and to other schools,” Prof Tih Pius Mofe, Director of the CBC health service says.

“We have to think about putting in place strategies that will really transform our educational system. We have about 70 schools for inclusive education and we are working together with the Cameroon Baptist health service to give these children living with disabilities a chance at education just like other children,” Pauline Irene Nguene, Minister of social affairs adds.

“I have noticed that most of these children with disabilities are extremely smart and brilliant. We are calling on parents with children having disabilities to send their kids to school. We are trying our best to ensure that they become something in the society and are not forced to stay back at home while others get trained. It is not their making they were born the way they are. We love them too and want the best for them. I have a child with disability and I love him even three times more than the others. I make him feel extremely special. They need it. They get easily traumatized when they see other children doing what they cannot do,” Sophie Njie a CBC worker and a parent explains.

A campaign has been launched by the Ministry of Social Affairs together with the Cameroon Baptist Convention health services to step up the education of children with these disabilities. This campaign was launched in Yaounde this May 05, 2023. The Minister of social affairs, Pauline Irene Nguene says it is time to move from policy to action. She also urged every parent to send their disabled child to school or let them acquire skills.

Source: Cameroon News Agency

May 5, 2023

Angola win 33 medals on second day of zone IV Swimming Championship

Angola’s national team finished Thursday in style the second day of the African Zone IV Championship, which ends on Sunday in Luanda.

Angolan team remain in second place in the overall medal standings, now with nine gold, five silver and the same number of bronze, making a total of 33 over the two days of competition.

Among the gold medals, stands out that obtained by Silvério Manuel (2.54.13), in the 200m breaststroke, relegating silver to Mozambican Mason Cohen (2.45.77) and bronze to Namibian Liam Kinnaird (2.45.71).

Another reference, Marco Furtado, who won gold in the 50m butterfly (29.02), after winning the bronze medal in the 2022 edition, in Zambia.

Marco edged Namibian Lorenzo Esterhuizen in second (29.02) and Mozambican Abdul dos Santos in third (29.72).

In the 200m freestyle, athlete Herinque Mascarenhas beat the competition (1.56.50), after being seconded by Mozambican Kaio Faftine (1.59.54), while Namibian Marco Henning took bronze (1.59.86 ).

Source: Angola Press News Agency (APNA)

May 5, 2023

SADC region central bank governors meet in Luanda

National Bank of Angola (BNA) hosts the 56th meeting of the Committee of Central Bank Governors (CCBG) of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) on 10-12 May, with view to discussing the financial system of region.

The high-level meeting globally foresees to performe analysis of the Financial System of the SADC Region, with stress to the payment systems, banking regulation and supervision, clearing and settlement, states a press note reached ANGOP.

The governors are also expected to discuss the issue of the repatriation of banknotes and coins, the impact of exchange controls on cross-border flows of goods, services and capital, as well as exchanges in training staff.

This initiative of the Committee of Central Bank Governors of SADC also envisages the creation of a database of monetary and financial statistics, an information bank on the structures and policies of central banks and financial markets in the SADC countries.

The CCBG was established in August 1995 as part of the Finance and Investment Sector of SADC. It was established due to the need for a specialised body in SADC to promote and achieve closer co operation among central banks within the Community.

Source: Angola Press News Agency (APNA)