Day: December 8, 2023

The Northern Region Muslims Council has donated relief items to flood victims in the Volta and Savannah Regions to help ameliorate their plight.

The items, valued at GHc150,000.00, included 200 bags of maize, 10 bags of rice, 500 tubers of yam, 500 bales of used cloths, and 240 wax prints.

Sheikh Alhassan Abukari Issah, Chairman of Northern Region Muslims Council, who led the presentation in Tamale, said it formed part of their efforts to support the victims.

The recent spillage of the Akosombo Dam led to floods in some communities in the Volta, Greater Accra, and Eastern Regions with those in North Tongu being the worst affected.

Buipe in the Central Gonja District of the Savannah Region was also affected.

Sheikh Issah said, ‘Islam teaches Muslims that human beings are brothers and sisters, and when their fellow human being is in distress, there is the need for the other to offer assistance and solidarity, hence today’s donation.’

He consoled the victims emphasising that the God, who brought the disas
ter upon them, would again shower them with His blessings, adding ‘Sooner than later, this your pain and agony will be a thing of the past.’

He commended all who supported in diverse ways to make the exercise possible and appealed to other international organisations to assist the government find lasting solution to the perennial floods in the affected areas.

Alhaji Shani Alhassan Saibu, Northern Regional Minister, who received the items on behalf of the people, thanked the Northern Region Muslims Council for their kind gesture towards alleviating the plight of the people.

He said the gesture would complement the government’s efforts to bring relief to the affected residents.

Mr Abdallah Salifu, Northern Regional Director, National Disaster Management Organization (NADMO) said the presentation was done at the right time, adding that the organisation was still seeking support for the affected areas.

Mr Nbonwura Mustapha, NADMO Director for Central Gonja District of the Savannah Region, said the impact of
the flood disaster required the support of NGOs and other philanthropists to mitigate the plight of the affected persons, and lauded the Council for the donation.

Source: Ghana News Agency

TUCEE organisation, an educational and counselling NGO based in Ghana, has launched a skill and mental health project for persons with disabilities (PWDs) to integrate them better in the society

The initiative, called the BADA project, was conceived because of a recent community engagement by the organisation in the Ga rural communities and Somanya township, which sought to enhance the mental health of PWDs.

During the engagement, the organisation observed pertinent issues such as loneliness, sexual abuse, and poverty-induced trauma among persons particularly those confined to their homes.

In response to this challenge, the TUCEE Organisation designed a training programme that gave a comprehensive set of skills that empowered PWDs.

The skills include bead making, wig making, soap making, sewing, basic computer skills, videography, photography, counselling training, and mental health support services.

Dr. Cecilia Tutu-Danquah, Founder of the TUCEE organisation, said the project was not limited to skill a
cquisition but also aimed at making meaningful contributions to the realisation of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 1 and 3.

‘We did research, we identified that individuals living with disabilities, especially those who are left at home, are taken undue advantage of. Some go through sexual abuse, defilement amongst others,’ she said.

Dr Tutu-Danquah said: ‘We have come in to build their mental health and also give them skills to take away isolation and to give them livelihood.’

The Sustainable Development Goal one dwells on no poverty before 2030, while the goal three dwells on good health and well-being.

As the Principal of the TUCEE Institute, she said the BADA project’s priority areas were skills provision and mental health services for the attainment of the two SDG goals.

She advocated more support from voluntary facilitators to help train PWDs including financial support for the project.

The event was attended by individuals from faith-based organisations, chieftaincy institutions, professiona
l bodies, other social care facilitators, and beneficiaries.

Nana Appeaa Sarpomaa Kumankuma, the Queen Mother of Akyem-Dwenase, said the isolation of PWDs made them vulnerable and the skills provided them could help reduce their poverty levels

Nana Kwame Asante, a facilitator in charge of counselling and mental health services, said the BADA project was not limited to the acquisition of skills only but also eliminated low self-esteem among PWDs.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Mr Kwasi Adu-Gyan, the Chairman for the Bono East Regional Security Council (BERESEC), has called for an end to the long-standing feud between cattle herdsmen and farmers in the Bono-East Region.

He urged stakeholders, including chiefs, to help find a lasting solution to the problem so that the indiscriminate grazing and destruction of farms by cattle would be halted to pave way for peace in the area.

Mr Adu-Gyan was speaking at the end of year meeting of the Bono-East Regional House of Chiefs at Techiman.

He stressed that immediate decisions needed to be taken to ban people from accepting cattle on their land to destroy people’s farms which is currently threating food production in the region.

He said farmers and the public would applaud the decision of the house to secure the livelihoods of farmers and protect the environment.

The Minister hinted that tension had existed between farmers and cattle herdsmen in the region for many years resulting to casualties from armed attacks on both sides, a situati
on that has caused major setbacks in the development of agriculture in the area.

Mr Adu-Gyan noted that the menace continued to pose security threats in the region since lives and properties were lost through the perennial feud and does not augur well for the peace in the area.

The Regional Minister express worry over the increasing chieftaincy disputes, saying it was not only a threat to the relative peace, but also has the potentials to impede development in the affected areas and called for permeant solutions to end the situation for the sustainability of peace in the region.

He commended the Regional House of Chiefs for the effort made to ensure peaceful resolutions of chieftaincy disputes in the region.

Nana Pimmampim Yaw Kab/adrese, the President for the Bono-East Regional House Chiefs, called for a befitting regional edifice for the house, as the temporal one allocated posed lots of challenges to the day-to-day administration of the house.

Nana Kabrese who is also the paramount chief of the Yeji t
raditional council affirmed the commitment of members of the house, to contribute their effort in resolving the cattle grazing menace by the Fulani herdsmen to restore peace between the farmers and cattle owners in the Region.

He noted that about thirty-seven chieftaincy dispute cases were pending before the house and that necessary adjudicators had been put in place to address them for peace to return to the affected traditional areas

Source: Ghana News Agency

Mr Hudu Karim, the Metropolitan Environmental Analyst has confirmed that 30 graves had been desecrated and looted at the Takoradi Cemetery.

According to him, pieces of materials, among other human remains, were discovered.

Mr Karim told the Ghana News Agency that the cemetery, had been closed for official burial but for ‘future or Life’ graves bought by some living persons for their burials.

He added that the cemetery, lacked Security, aside weeds covering the face of the sacred grounds…’I have gone to inspect the place and you see clothing, pieces of human remain indicating indeed these unscrupulous persons have really cause havoc’.

The Metropolitan Environmental Analyst said previously, what people did were to remove the metal signpost and iron rods used…’but then it has stopped so we are surprised about this new twist’.

‘I will send my man to the place, and we plan to immediately weed the place and we mount surveillance, we will also put a maintenance fee to relatives to rehabilitate, wall and put a
gate to it.’.

Mr Karim was surprised that people were losing moral and spiritual consciousness and could desecrate the dead.

In a related development, the STMA hoped to increase the rate for acquiring space for burial.

The Environmentalist said the only active public cemetery in the STMA was the Ketan Road state cemetery which had space to accommodate the dead for the next five years.

Meanwhile, the assembly had secured a 37-acre land at Eshiem in Preparation for a new public cemetery.

He estimated that annually, between 200 and 300 people were buried aside paupers and unidentified bodies.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Prof. Samuel Marfo, a Professor in Conflict Resolution at the SD Dombo University of Business and Integrated Development Studies (SDD-UBIDS), has urged border communities to foster unity among themselves and guard against divisiveness.

Prof. Marfo who is also a member of the Upper West Regional Peace Council noted that if communities continue to be divided, there was the tendency for any potential terrorist group to take advantage of their vulnerability.

Prof. Marfo who was speaking at a two-day capacity building programme on the Atlantic Corridor Project at Funsi in the Wa East District, noted that ‘once people are able to come together, they will see any external threat as a common enemy, and they will be able to withstand it’.

Titled, ‘Capacity Building Training in Wa East District on Early Warning and Early Response to Prevent Violent Extremism’, is an initiative under the Atlantic Corridor Project being implemented by the National Peace Council with funding support from the United Nations Development
Programme (UNDP) and the Embassy of Denmark in Ghana.

Prof. Marfo stated that conflict was normal but if not well handled, could create deep seated division among people, travel like destruction and undermine the social capital making the people vulnerable.

He said contemporary data indicated clearly that in Africa, Burkina Faso was one of the well-known terrorist’s destinations in the world, adding that there was the need to act by training people living in and around the border communities for them to be able to forecast and pre-empt any potential security threat in their communities.

He said this has been the major focus of the training to sharpen their skills, knowledge and understanding of conflict; the causes or major triggers of conflict and the several factors that turn to divide communities such as religion, and ethnicity.

Mr Emmanuel Danyomah, the Upper Regional Executive Secretary of the National Peace Council, explained that the essence of the programme was to create the awareness and for peop
le to acquire the needed skills to deal with conflict in a more productive manner so that they could continue to co-exist in peace not withstanding their differences.

He further explained that it would also equip participants with initial response skills so that if they were taken unaware, they would be able to reduce the rate of victimization and mitigation.

‘Few months back, there were reports that Fulani people were adopting their own colleagues for ransom, which was an early warning, hence the need to quickly develop the capacity of the people on early warning and early response mechanisms,’ Mr Danyomah said.

According to him, the entire region was vulnerable because of its numerous border communities, which have all the drivers of conflict including youth unemployment, poor social amenities such as bad roads, hospitals, and youth camps.

He said they expect participants to return to their respective communities and be able to practice the knowledge they have acquired during the training on early warni
ng and initial response.

At the end of the programme, participants would develop action plans on two serious issues in their communities and how they planned to resolve it including a budget for support.

He expressed gratitude to the UNDP and the Embassy of Denmark in Ghana for the Atlantic Corridor Project, noting that the project had come to help them realize their objectives in the Wa East District.

Participants were drawn from the security agencies, opinion leaders, chiefs, religious leaders, Assembly members, youth camps, women group leaders, and leaders of the Fulbe communities across Kundugu, Yala, Buffiama, and Funsi.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Dr Eugene Dordoye, Consultant Psychiatrist, Ho Teaching Hospital has drawn a direct linkage between positive mental health condition and measurement of productivity impacting on the economy of any country.

He said globally, countries with higher measurement of productivity are notable for positive mental health situations and it behoved on duty-bearers to set the right mental balance and psyche to drive a healthy growth of economies.

Dr Dordoye, who doubles as Lecturer, University of Health and Allied Sciences (UHAS) disclosed these during a workshop for traditional, Community and Religious Leaders as well as Social and Health workers and related NGOs in Ho.

It was organised by MindFreedom Ghana (MFGh) on the theme, ‘Mental Health Is Total Health.’

He said to become wealthy and prosperous hinges greatly on the welfare of actors in the economy driven by productivity.

He said currently the situation in the country equates one psychiatrist doctor to 400,000 population, which is progressive but far from an
ideal situation, from the one psychiatrist to two million people in the last 15 years.

He said the ideal situation is about one psychiatrist to less than 100,000 population, which is a clarion call to train a lot more to increase the capacity of doctors in general and train more in mental health.

Dr Dordoye said efforts to train many more psychiatrist doctors, psychologists mental health nurses was receiving attention, and they are engaged in lots of advocacies to stem the tide.

He isolated drug abuse or alcohol addiction and drug addiction as well as sexual addiction to be on the ascendancy with alcohol considered a drug, being abused the most in the Volta region, which depicts a countrywide scenario.

He said prescription drugs are also being abused including sickle cell disease opiods, which are posing some mental challenges.

The Consultant said sex addiction and screen dependency, which involves the use of mobile phones, Television, computer, and social media constitute cravings with adult games like
gambling and betting becoming offshoots.

He said gambling and betting frazzle was dangerous and addictive for mental health and described the probability in gaming as no investment comparable to forex trading and an avenue to waste a chunk of youthful brains and potentials.

He said brain-drain could be curbed by training regimes targeted for export like the India and Cuba experiences to rake in the needed foreign exchange the human resources that may accrue and deployed for internal consumption.

‘This will bring out solutions which are practicable and feasible and have a win-win approach so that even when there is drain, we could still have some left to service the country.

The political will, financial capability, and training of health professionals across board is a recipe’ to attain universal health coverage (UHC),’ he added.

Mr Wisdom Kodjo Krakani, a Probation Officer, Department of Social Welfare, Ho Municipal mentioned dementia, bipolar disorder, autism, schizophrenia, depressive and anxiety diso
rders as forms of mental disorder, which may manifest in a variety of conditions that negatively affect mood and behaviour.

He said paramount in the delivery of standard mental health service in Ghana is the Mental Health Act 846, which was?passed by an act of Parliament in 2012, which also enshrines the rights of Persons with mental disorders as follows; non-discrimination, basic human rights, incapacity, and human rights.

‘We must always remember that violating these provisions come with punishments in equal measure but in all things let love lead.’

He said persons with mental disorder, like any other human being, have inalienable right, fundamentally; right to life, fair treatment, protection from harm, protection from torture and degrading treatment.

‘Internationally, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948 and the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disability (UNCRPD) was adopted on 13th December 2006 and Ghana signed onto it in 2007 and committed to affirming full huma
n rights for persons with disability upon ratifying the Convention in 2012.

These international laws speak against maltreatment of Persons with Disabilities which also involves Persons with Mental Disorders,’ he said.

At the national level, Mr Krakani said the Criminal Code of Ghana (Act 29/60), the 1992 Constitution of Ghana, the Disability Act 715 of 2006 among other documents, in parts criminalise the maltreatment of Persons with Disability.

Mr Divine Bosson, Ho Municipal Chief Executive commended the forthrightness of Mind Freedom Ghana for their advocacy on mental health with patients benefiting from the Common fund for rehabilitation and treatment.

He said the Assembly has encouraged the Department of Social Welfare to regularly visit religious establishments including prayer camps to educate them on avoiding abuse of mental victims but seek medical attention.

Mr Dan Taylor, Executive Secretary of MFGh said his outfit has presented 15 projects on rights of mental victims to the United Nations Human
Rights Council, two of which were adopted and 12 receiving recommendation into their reports.

He said challenges such as lack of family and community support, stigma, poor infrastructure, and inability to access social support fund militate against the welfare of people with mental illnesses.

Meanwhile, a community outreach was undertaken at Akoefe, in the Ho Municipality as part of advocacy to sensitise the community members on mental health issues.

Source: Ghana News Agency