L' Observateur Burundi

The Reverend Father Dr Raphael Mensah, a lecturer and formator at the Saint Peter’s Seminary in Cape Coast, has advised Nana Amihere Blay II, the newly enstooled Chief of A.B. Bokazo, to allow the word of God guide him throughout his reign.

He, therefore, asked the chief to ‘read the ord of God always and never depart from it’.

Rev. Father Mensah gave the advice in a homily at a special thanksgiving service for the newly installed Chief, Nana Blay II, who is a staunch Catholic at the Saint Albert’s Roman Catholic Church at A.B. Bokazo in the Ellembelle District of the Western Region.

In a sermon, on the theme: ‘Blessed Are Those Who Did Not See but Believed,’ Rev Father Mensah said many believers in Christendom listened to the word of God but lacked faith in Him and were not steadfast.

He reminded the chief of the tenets of Catholicism, including regular reading of the bible, saying the rosary and venerating the Holy Cross were spiritual forms of protection, fortitude and guidance.

Most believers in the
Lord’s vineyard kept on backsliding after coming to experience the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ.

He appealed to the chief to abide by the commandments of God and walk in His statutes and ordinances.

The Parish Priest at the Immaculate Conception Parish at Huni-Valley, Very Rev Father Michael Blay-Morkeh, charged believers to exercise strong faith, stay in the Catholic Church and desist from hopping from one church to the other.

He said the power and unction of Jesus Christ, which came on the early disciples in the Church, was still available to those who believed in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Very Rev Father Blay-Morkeh, who is also the Dean of Prestea Deanery, reminded believers that the Holy Mary, mother of the Lord Jesus Christ, continued to intercede on behalf of the church for the remission of sins.

The new Chief of A.B. Bokazo, Nana Amihere Blay, said he would allow God to reign in the affairs of the town and reiterated his call for unity and love to fast-track the development of the area.

The Chi
ef who is one of the elders at the Cincinnati, Ohio branch of the Roman Catholic Church, pledged to purchase choir robes for the church and appealed to citizens in the diaspora to contribute towards the building of a new Catholic Church for the town.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Officials of Eco Restore, together with 40 women, who are into seed nurseries, have undergone a week-long training on grafting of shea seedlings.

The training, held at Walewale, was to educate participants with knowledge on shortening the gestation period of planted shea trees.

It was organised by Eco Restore, an organisation focused on restoring the landscape, in partnership with Bunke Loders Croklaan and a women’s cooperative.

The seedling grafting training included activities under the Green Climate Fund (GCF) funded by Ghana Shea Landscape Emission Reductions Project (GSLERP).

GSLERP is implemented by the Forestry Commission of Ghana (FC), the Global Shea Alliance (GSA) and the Shea Sustainability Initiative (SSI), a component funded by the USAID and implemented by GSA.

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), a GCF accredited entity, oversees management of GSLERP.

As a project, GSLERP seeks to enhance forest carbon stocks across Ghana’s Northern Savannah Zone by addressing deforestation and
forest degradation challenges across the zone.

It is also to promote investment in the shea value chain and empower women.

During the training, participants were engaged in modules on grafting processes, and root stock selection, and they were equipped to identify and harvest good scions.

They were taught to transport and care for scions, graft seedlings as well as care for them after grafting.

Speaking at the closing of the training, Mr Adam Osman Wumbei, Operations Manager at Eco Restore, said the training was necessary in expanding awareness on reducing the gestation period of on-farm planted shea trees.

He said the gesture would be replicated in other communities where the organisation operated, adding other methods of shea propagation would be considered in subsequent trainings.

He mentioned that Eco Restore sought to ensure the preparation of cooperatives under the GSLERP project to champion grafting activities in their respective communities.

Mr Salifu Aminatu, Lead of the Tibora Cooperative and
a nursery worker, said the training had enhanced farmers’ knowledge on getting shea plants to fruit within a shorter period than usual.

He said the demand for shea was on the increase underscoring the need to get more shea fruits fro the market.

Source: Ghana News Agency

The people of Tema Saturday celebrated their annual Kplejoo Festival marked with splendour and colourful displays of singing, drumming and dancing by the Kple groups.

Kplejoo, which is a planting festival, is one of the two festivals celebrated by the people of Tema and precedes the Homowo celebrations.

The festival is the period for the planting of maize where a ban on drumming and noise-making is also enforced to allow for some calmness in the environment for the traditional leaders to reflect and consult the gods for protection and a bumper harvest.

The traditional Kple dance is a preserve of the traditional priests and priestesses who were required to perform within the confines of the shrine houses of the four main gods of Tema.

They stamp their feet rhythmically to the left and right three times, while gradually moving forward amidst singing to extol the gods and recall their protection and ancestral deeds.

The Kple festival is also used by the youth groupings who go to town dressed in uniforms and
fanciful attires, waving their flags and singing song composed to serve as a peer review mechanism.

This is used to praise those who engaged in good deeds over the traditional year while naming, shaming, and reprimanding unacceptable behaviours.

The singing and moving around by the teams are said to be done in memory of their forefathers for their sacrifices to the nation by vacating their ancestral village in the old Meridian area to make way for the construction of the harbour.

It is believed that in the process of moving, a man named Ashitey Kp?j?? from Yoryitsoshishi, led the people through chanting and dancing to ease their movement as there was no accessible transport to their new abode.

Nii Adjetey Agbo II, the Tema Mankralo, and the Acting President of the Tema Traditional Council, commended the teams for the display and songs composed to signify the happenings in the country.

He called on the Government and institutions to help provide employment opportunities for the youth of Tema, especially w
hen their forefathers sacrificed their farmlands for the development of industries in the area.

‘The way we have sacrificed, it is just fair that our youth get some jobs to do. Tema gives Ghana about 75 per cent of its revenues, but unfortunately, we don’t derive anything from it,’ he said.

Mr Daniel Titus Glover, the Greater Accra Regional Minister designate, said he would promote the culture of the Ga-Dangme people by drawing attention to the festival to attract both local and international tourists.

Mr Yohane Amarh Ashitey, the Tema Metropolitan Chief Executive and New Patriotic Party (NPP) Tema East Parliamentary Candidate, expressed joy at the increase in the number of youth groups, which showed their understanding and acceptance of the festival.

He said the Assembly had put in place the Kplejoo Lectures and ‘lalakanemo’ (singing), to bring the festival closer to the people, especially for non-indigenes to appreciate it.

Mr Isaac Ashai Odamtten, the Member of Parliament for Tema East and National De
mocratic Congress (NDC) parliamentary candidate, said it was obvious that unemployment was a big issue in the town as it formed the theme for all the songs composed by the groups.

He said the 24-hour economy proposal by the NDC was the best solution to the huge unemployment situation in Ghana.

Source: Ghana News Agency

The Assemblies of God – Glory and Power Centre, Youth Ministry at Kweikuma, in the Sekondi-Takoradi Metropolis has donated some items to the Mercy Home Foundation, an orphanage in the Western Region.

The items included clothes, shoes, bags, rice, oil, gari, water, drinks, and toiletries

The donation formed part of the church’s 2024 mission on the theme: ‘Send the light for growth and expansion,’ and to extend love to the less privileged in society.

Mr Amos Owusu, the President of the Ministry, who handed over the items, said the donation was an inspiration from the Bible, which called for the support of the fatherless and widows

He explained that the donation was made at the Mercy Home Foundation because, during his previous visit to the place in 2023, he saw the need to extend further support to the orphanage.

Mr Owusu said although the orphanage had been in existence for a while, it had received less attention due to lack of publicity and prayed that with the little gesture by the Centre, the world wou
ld get to know about them and extend support.

He commended the management of the home and pledged that the gesture would be extended to other orphanages in the region from time to time.

Other members of the Ministry expressed great joy and satisfaction and prayed for the Ministry’s continuous initiative as they put smiles on the faces of the less privileged in society.

Mr Anthony Jude Mosaic, the caretaker of the Mercy Home Foundation, expressed gratitude for the items.

He said the items would be put to good use for the benefit of the children and widows and appealed to other individuals and organisations to also assist them.

He mentioned that, since the establishment of the foundation over a decade, he has been able to support the children in the areas of formal education and vocational training.

Mr Mosaic called on individuals and stakeholders who had the interest of orphans and widows at heart to help the foundation to keep on raising good and responsible future leaders.

Source: Ghana News Agency

The Ghana Boundary Commission (GhBC) and its counterpart in Burkina Faso have inspected international boundary pillars at Paga, Upper East Region, for first-hand observation on boundary line encroachments.

The visit afforded officials from the two countries the opportunity to brainstorm on how to address the issue of encroachments to prevent any possible boundary problems between the two countries.

At a joint meeting at Paga, prior to the visit, Major General Dr Emmanuel Kotia, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the GhBC, said the Commission was responsible for the demarcation and delimitation of land and maritime boundaries.

He said following several encroachments at the Paga-Burkina Faso border, the Commission took it upon itself to brainstorm with its counterpart from Burkina Faso on how to solve the issue.

‘The problem is that all the buffer zone areas have been encroached and we have built up areas surrounding the boundary pillars which are against international law. So, this is very fundamental, a
nd we need to see how best we can resolve it.

‘As a result of that, we invited our Burkinabe counterparts to come and then we have a first-hand observation. We will walk through and see practically what is happening, and we will be able to see how we could mitigate that problem,’ he said.

He said Burkina Faso had managed to move its border line forward to cover the gap that was created.

‘So, there is also the need for us to brainstorm to see how Ghana can also close up that gap so that, we do not open that space for criminals and any unforeseen circumstances in between that gap,’ he said.

The CEO noted that any issue on boundaries must be discussed between the countries involved, saying ‘That is the more important reason the Burkina Faso Boundary Commission is here.’

Colonel Henry Kwaku Badasu, the Director of Operations, GhBC, indicated that the boundary between Ghana and Burkina Faso was approximately 590 kilometres with 287 kilometres of the boundary being river bodies and 303 being land boundary.

‘I
t actually stretches from the Senkase River boundary in the Pusiga District, continuous with land boundary and runs all the way to the Bole District in the Savannah Region, where the boundary with Burkina Faso ends,’ he explained.

The Burkina Faso team, led by Madam Salimata Dabal, the Permanent Secretary of the National Boundary Borders of Burkina Faso, on her part, said efforts had been made over the years to reaffirm the boundary between Ghana and Burkina Faso.

She said some of the boundary pillars were destroyed and residents from both countries at the border encroached on the border line, ‘Once we agree to discuss the issue, we will definitely find solution to the problem.’

Madam Dabal commended the GhBC for involving them in the process, noting that ‘This shows the importance of Boundary Commissions in Ghana and Burkina Faso.’

Mr Laud Ofori Afrifa, the Deputy Comptroller General, Ghana Immigration Service, said the Service was the first line security along the borders and that owners of temporal str
uctures on the Ghana side of the border which directly faced the Burkinabe border post would be destroyed to enable them to create a temporal post opposite their counterpart.

Mr Boniface Gambila, Ghana’s Ambassador to Burkina Faso, said there was the need for peaceful coexistence between Ghana and Burkina Faso with the boundary line dividing the two countries.

‘When we obey the boundary lines, there is peace and harmony. There is international cooperation and bond. So, the bond between us is what we are trying to maintain.

Source: Ghana News Agency

The Graduates and Professionals of Ga-Dangme (GPGD) have held their maiden in-person meeting and forum with a call on Ga-Dangme people to unite and be committed to promoting their interests.

The theme for the meeting was ‘Embracing Unity: Ga-Dangme Graduates and Professionals forge ahead.’

Mr Emmanuel Obodai, the President of the Graduates and Professionals of Ga-Dangme, said the group’s aim was to unite its members to affect the anticipating change by the people over the years. 

Mr Obodai said with over 426 members ranging from those with doctorate to higher national diploma (HND) holders, they had built a workforce pool that could be relied on by sectors of the country.

‘This diverse membership represents a wealth of talent and expertise that we can leverage to drive positive change in our community. Each member brings something valuable to the table, that is, specialised knowledge, professional skills, or a unique perspective,’ he stated.

He said to achieve this, there was a need for a little effort a
nd commitment from members and all Ga-Dangmes, as they had the power to make a tremendous impact and restore their community to its rightful position of prominence and prosperity.

He called on natives in high positions to engage the people actively in employment opportunities and nurture their talent, while urging traditional leaders and politicians of Ga-Dangme descent to change the narrative by supporting their people to acquire higher learning levels and secure decent job opportunities.

Mr Ayikoi Otoo, a former Attorney General and president of the Ga-Dangme Council, commended the graduates for coming together to find solutions to the issues bedeviling the community and position the tribe in its rightful position.

Mr Otoo said unity had been a big problem among Ga-Dangmes both in politics and traditional settings, saying it was worrying to see one community having more than one chief due to disunity among the king makers.

He stressed that ‘it is also worrying us in our politics; we are dividing ourselv
es with it; siblings and relatives are fighting each other because of the political parties they belong to, while they do not get any positions from it.’

Mr Otoo stated when majority of the people were educated, it helped in alleviating some of these problems, and urged the GPGD members to remain as shining examples to others in their communities.

‘When there is unity and one voice among the Ga-Dangmes, they will be a force to be reckoned with, and their opinions will be sought on national issues and beyond,’ he said. 

Nene Ogah Osuagbo I, Chief of Great Ametafor in the Osudoku Traditional Area, chairing the meeting, called for the branding of the culture and traditions of the Ga-Dangme people to attract tourists into the area and turn it into revenue-generating activities.

Nene Osuagbo said branding the culture for tourism is the ultimate for poverty eradication, explaining that now communal resources were no longer in place in the communities as they used to be, therefore the need to consciously create
some.

He encouraged them to engage in politics to the highest level, stating that it is political power that has taken over all the lands of the Ga-Dangmes; therefore, their failure to go into it would deprive their communities of their rightful inheritance.

He said politics and policies were something that people must not run away from, because it was what society dwelt on for decision making in every aspect of life including financial and developmental issues.

Source: Ghana News Agency