Day: June 11, 2024

The Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) Training Centre, in collaboration with Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories (SEL), USA, has organised a one-day seminar on innovative solutions and ideas.

The seminar held at the ECG Training Centre in Tema was under the International Technical Exchange programme.

It was aimed at improving modern trends in power systems for the electricity distribution sector in the sub-region.

Participants at the seminar included officers of the Ghana Grid Company Limited (GRIDCo), Northen Electricity Distribution Company (NEDCo), ECG, the Volta River Authority (VRA), and the Bui Power Authority.

Experts and professionals at the seminar held discussions on transformer monitoring and control, micro-grid power plant controller applications, as well as powerful computing and software for distribution management.

Other areas covered included the use of travelling waves to locate faults on transmission lines.

Mr. Godfred Mensah, the Director of the ECG Training Centre, in an address, en
couraged participants to take advantage of the seminar and show enthusiasm towards the knowledge to be shared.

Mr. Sthit Sharma, the team leader of SEL, together with his colleagues, took participants through the various topics of discussion.

Participants, during an open session, shared their experiences on the various topics and provided input on the technologies that were discussed to enhance their work.

Source: Ghana News Agency

The Department of Gender has organised a consultative workshop to solicit stakeholders support on child marriage and other harmful socio-cultural practices in the Yunyoo/Nasuan District in the North East Region.

The workshop, with funding from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) was to sensitise, increase awareness and make available information on issues of child marriage and other negative cultural practices that affect the holistic growth and development of women and girls in the area.

It was also aimed at providing the platform to discuss with chiefs, queen mothers, youth groups, Assembly members and other community opinion leaders, the detrimental effects of child marriage and the need to collectively strategise on ways to address its prevalence.

The event brought together about 50 community members including people living with disabilities (PwDs) and other key stakeholders in the district.

Madam Bushira Alhassan, the Acting Northern Regional Director, Department of Gender, said the works
hop formed part of efforts to empower community members to serve as change agents (whistle blowers), using all available platforms to address these harmful practices and cultural norms, which impeded women and girls’ development in the area.

She said it was to solicit the support of community members as well as educate and help create awareness on the benefits of family planning and sexual and reproductive health rights of women and girls.

She used the platform to encourage parents and guardians to prioritise investing in the education and skills development of their children emphasising that parenting was a shared responsibility that required maximum time and resources from both parents.

Mr Iddrisu Sunday, the Northern Regional Director, Department of Children, said harmful cultural practices such as female genital mutilation, child marriage, allegations of witchcraft and banishment of victims from the communities were criminal offences that were punishable by laws of the country.

He said it was sad that
some of these harmful practices like betrothal of young girls and child marriage in some instances, may curtail victims’ education, cause health complications during childbearing and delivery, and facilitate mental health issues due to trauma and stress they went through.

‘This negative impact, therefore, calls for the urgent need for all stakeholders to support end child marriage and other harmful practices in our communities,’ he said.

Mrs Salamatu Mejira, a Midwife at the Yunyoo/Nasuan District Health Directorate, who facilitated the workshop on Sexual and Representative Health Rights (SRHR), expressed worry over the increasing rate of teenage/adolescent pregnancy in the area.

She said the Yunyoo/Nasuan District recorded 247 teenage pregnancies in 2023 whilst 60 other cases were recorded in the first quarter of 2024.

She attributed the surging cases of teenage pregnancies to inadequate SRHR education, poverty, peer pressure, and decline in moral values, which had some devastating effects on adolescents
, including increased risks of HIV and AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases.

Mr Konlan Bitian, the Yunyoo/Nasuan District Chief Executive, said as part of measures to end child marriage in the area, the district had collaborated with the Department of Social Welfare and other community development agents to inaugurate the District Child Protection Committee to help safeguard children against all forms of abuse.

He called on the participants to set the milestone of being ambassadors who would champion the process to end child marriages and teenage pregnancies in the various communities.

Participants during the workshop among other proposals, urged parents to desist from demanding money from their teenagers who were in school and not earning income, saying such development put undue pressure on their children to get into early marriages and other harmful practices that could jeopardise their future.

Source: Ghana News Agency

The Concerned Youth of Keta in the Volta Region has appealed to the Inspector General of Police to launch an investigation into an alleged Police brutality leading to the death of their colleague, who died in Police custody.

This, they said, would enable the Ghanaian people to build greater trust and confidence in the Police within the Municipality.

Mr Fosman Doe, the Convenor of the group, in a press conference at Keta-Deviame, called for swift action against all officers involved in the alleged assault leading to the death of Mr Jerry Kpesenu, a landlord at Keta.

‘We the concerned and law-abiding youth, both home and abroad, gather here today with heavy hearts to address the barbaric, unprofessional, and inhumane act by some police officers at the Keta Police division.’

He said the untimely death of Mr Kpesenu popularly known as Maya in a police cell called for proper investigations to unravel the actual death of the deceased.

Mr Doe alleged that the deceased was brutally assaulted and manhandled in hi
s residence by the police.

‘A professional invitation to our brother to report himself at the Police station on an issue against him would have saved all pain and grief to us.’

The youth demanded that the IGP immediately interdict the officers in the alleged murder case to pave the way for thorough investigations into the circumstances leading to the death of the deceased.

They demanded that the IGP set up a five-member committee including families of the deceased and a youth representative Keta to aid in the investigation.

They also requested for an independent autopsy to be conducted to ascertain the cause of death.

The youth have given the IGP a seven-day ultimatum to address their grievances and take charge of all funeral arrangements.

The late Kpesenu was allegedly tortured and arrested by the Keta Police on Thursday, June 6, in his residence after a complaint was lodged against him for ceasing tools belonging to an electrician, who visited the premises to fix an air-condition in one of his tenant’
s rooms.

Informational gathered by the Ghana News Agency indicated that the tenant failed to inform the deceased about plans to install an air-condition, whilst a complaint was later lodged leading to his arrest.

The deceased was later pronounced dead in Police custody after an arrest was affected.

However, the Police at Keta are yet to comment on the matter.

The deceased’s body has since been deposited at the Keta Hospital morgue awaiting autopsy.

GNA’s information shows that the current incident brings to four, Police brutality and high-handedness on suspects in their custody in the last 12 months, with similar cases in Akatsi, Ho, and Hohoe, not receiving justice.

Source: Ghana News Agency

The Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) has celebrated World Food Safety Day with Junior High School (JHS) students of the Effiduase Presbyterian A and B School in the New Juaben North Municipality of the Eastern Region.

The students numbering over 300 were educated on Food Safety to promote the purchasing, preparation, and consumption of healthy food to eradicate food-borne illnesses in society.

They were also quizzed on the topic to ascertain their understanding of the knowledge shared with them on food safety out of which 20 students were awarded with a mathematical set each for answering correctly to questions.

Ms Anita Owusu-Kuffour, the Eastern Regional Head of the FDA, said the theme for the 2024 World Food Safety Day Celebration was, ‘Food Safety, Preparing for the Unexpected’.

Students were targeted for the commemoration as they could influence their parents and peers to practice food hygiene when they were equipped with in-depth knowledge of Food Safety, she said.

Ms Owusu-Kuffour said the FDA was m
andated by law to regulate food products in the country by licensing food-producing organizations and vendors to ensure that food sold in the market and various vending places were safe from contamination.

‘For instance, in terms of regulating meat sellers, make sure that we inspect the abattoir or the meat vending place to ensure that the meat is under good condition before giving the sellers license to operate,’ she noted.

Ms Owusu-Kuffour encouraged the students to share the knowledge gained on food safety with their parents and friends to ensure that food-borne illnesses were eradicated from society and the country.

Ms Juliet Adjeiwaa, a Regulatory Officer of the FDA in the Eastern Region in a presentation, said food safety was the assurance that food was safe from production to consumption through proper handling, preparation, and storage.

Using picture displays, she educated the students on food hygiene, proper storage of food, some purchasing tips, proper handling of raw vegetables and animal prote
in foods and some hygienic practices in the kitchen to ensure food safety.

She said usually contaminated foods caused illnesses such as stomach aches, vomiting, stomach upset and other severe health conditions which could not be ignored, and encouraged students to report to health practitioners when they experienced such symptoms, for proper healthcare and treatment.

She stressed the need for students to look out for things like clean environment, quality of food and display stands, bruised produces such as bruised tomatoes, and sellers who ignored personal hygiene practices, when purchasing food items from the market.

‘Do not buy your food products from dirty environments and sellers and avoid bruised products such as tomatoes, ensuring that the quality of food and display stands are clean,’ she advised.

Ms Adjeiwaa further advised students to avoid buying canned foods which were dented and rusty as such products may be contaminated with the metallic component of the can, making them unsafe for use.

She
also encouraged the students to always check the expiry date, name of the product, the ingredients, the manufacturer details, and other writings when purchasing packaged products.

Ms Adjeiwaa said being informed about the details of packaged products could prevent students from purchasing and consuming contaminated foods which often led to food-borne illnesses.

Ms Nana Esi Assan, a JHS two student of the Effiduase Presbyterian ‘B’ School thanked the FDA for educating them on the need to always stay alert when purchasing and consuming food as the unexpected could happen.

Source: Ghana News Agency