The taskforce christened the “District epidemic preparedness team” is tasked to visit the dormitories and dining halls of all secondary schools in the district to ensure that there is proper ventilation.”

[contextly_sidebar id=”7iWCayD2yvW7GNzoIA9xAnZF4Uy0VTuY”]The taskforce includes health personnel from the district’s health directorate, assembly members and other major stakeholders from the education sector.

The Sagnarigu District Chief Executive, Mariam Iddrisu in a Citi News interview, described the epidemic as a human security threat, hence the move to curtail its widespread in the area.

“Basically, the district epidemic preparedness team is mandated to meet on a quarterly basis or during an outbreak or whenever there is a threat of an outbreak. And currently we have an outbreak following stories from other places.”

As the district that habours the Northern Region’s education ridge enclave, she called for a multifaceted approach in tackling the situation in Saagnarigu.

“We brought ourselves together to discuss and also adopt strategies that we can put in place to ensure that the district is not hard hit by the meningitis outbreak.”

“We agreed that there was the need to carry out health education in all the secondary schools within the district. And then again we also saw that there is the need to alert all hospitals within the district to be in readiness for early treatment so that even if we get an outbreak or a case we will not record deaths. ”

Mariam Iddrisu emphasized that, “As the District Chief Executive I think that the lives of the people are my responsibility so if we can avoid or prevent deaths from early treatment it becomes necessary to alert all hospitals to be in readiness.”

“We also saw the need to alert members of the surveillance team to look out for certain signs and symptoms in their catchment areas.”

The Sagnarigu District Chief Executive disclosed her administration’s preparedness to build sick bays in all second cycle institutions in the district to guarantee the students health.

According to her, the district has enough vaccines to cater for victims of meningitis in case of any outbreak.

Tamale Senior High School (Tamasco), Northern School of Business (NOBISCO), Business Secondary School (BISCO), Tamale Islamic Senior High School as well as tertiary institutions such as the University for Development Studies (UDS), Tamale City campus, Tamale Technical University, Bagabaga and Tamale Colleges of Education and the Northern Regional Education Directorate are in the Sagnarigu district.

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By: Abdul Karim Naatogmah/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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CALID’s Executive Director, Mohammed Awal Sumani Bapio decried the situation at a day’s stakeholders forum organized in collaboration with OXFAM Ghana.

He thereby called for the establishment of more libraries in basic schools to overturn the situation.

According to Mohammed Awal Sumani Bapio, CALID in partnership with OXFAM Ghana conducted research in the Sagnarigu, Sawla-Tuna-Kalba and Kpandai districts on basic school pupils reading skills.

He said a sample size of 925 school children comprising 433 girls and 492 boys from Primary 1 to Junior High School 3 were assessed in 20 Electoral Areas of the Sagnarigu District.

He narrated that the assessment was conducted by volunteers under a project codenamed, “Citizen-Led Assessment: Strengthening Citizens’ Action on Learning and Empowerment (SCALE).”

“The study examined the extent to which every child who is of school age has learned in terms of basic literacy and numeracy skills in order to survive the 21^st century learner space,” Sumani Bapio explained

“The bedrock of real learning lies in the ability to read and understand but when a child in lower and upper primary school as well as JHS cannot read and make meaning out of what they see written on paper or on a chalkboard, then that is very serious.”

“Comparing the Sagnarigu District to the Kpandai and Sawla-Tuna-Kalba Districts, though the former is better than the latter, the study result of the three districts is still nothing to write home about.”

A representative of the Sagnarigu District Education Directorate, Mohammed Fuseini urged parents to get involved in the assessment of their children in school.

Participants at the forum attributed the phenomenon to lack of parents interest in monitoring their children’s performance, poor teacher instructions and government’s failure to provide the requisite learning and teaching materials.

They also cited weak structures of many Parent Teacher Associations and School Management Committees as a major cause.

The participants advocated the independence of the Ghana Education Service devoid of government’s interference.

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By: Abdul Karim Naatogmah/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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All 33 assembly members voted Yes.

She is the first confirmed female DCE out of four among the 26 Metropolitan, Municipal and District Chief Executives in the Northern Region.

The remaining yet to be confirmed female MMDCE nominees, are Hajia Ayishetu Seidu for Savelugu/Nantong, Hajia Amama Shaibu for Tolon and Alele Veronica Heming for the Bole districts.

The Northern Regional Minister, Salifu Saeed, duly inducted Mariam Iddrisu into office. The Sagnarigu DCE thanked the assembly members for giving her the nod and called for deeper collaboration.

She appealed to chiefs, opinion leaders and assembly members, to support her develop the area in line with President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo’s vision.

There was heavy security presence at the assembly premises to avert any untoward situation.

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By: Abdul Karim Naatogmah/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post Sagnarigu DCE nominee confirmed appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

He has served notice that any parents or guardians found practicing child marriage or betrothal would be severely reprimanded.

He thus tasked all his divisional chiefs and elders to support the fight against teenage pregnancy which often leads to child marriage.

Sagnarigu-Naa Yakubu Abdulai’s advocacy followed a Non-Governmental Organization, Songtaba’s alarming report that child marriage was rampant in five districts of the Northern Region.

The report revealed that girls as young as 13 years are being forced to marry against their willpower.

It is against this backdrop, Sagnarigu-Naa Yakubu Abdulai has joined forces with Songtaba to end the menace.

Sagnarigu-Naa Yakubu Abdulai condemned the practice when Change Agents under the Girls Advocacy Alliance (GAA) project spearheaded by Songtaba in partnership with Plan International Ghana engaged the Sagnarigu traditional council at his palace.

The retired Diplomat attributed the increasing trend of child marriage to globalisation, saying, “Customs of Dagbon already frowns upon teenage pregnancy.”

He discarded the notion that the surge in child marriage and teenage pregnancy could be entirely blamed on poverty.

Islamic Cleric, Sheik Ilyas Umar implored the Sagnarigu traditional council to intensify their fight against child marriage and commercial sexual exploitation.

Sheikh Umar who teaches Islam at Tamale Senior High School (Tamasco) cited teenage pregnancy major cause of child marriage in the Northern Region.

This, according to him is affecting girl child education and promoting sexual promiscuity.

The Change Agents are a combination of traditional, faith leaders and women leaders “Magazia’s” selected by Songtaba under the GAA project.

The GAA is a five year project that seeks to achieve equal rights and opportunities for girls and young women.

It is being implemented in four districts by Songtaba with support from Plan International Ghana.

The project is rolled out in 40 communities across all four districts of the Northern Region and it has been extended to the Upper West and Eastern Regions.

The project focuses on five thematic areas. These are child marriage, sexual violence and abuse, commercial sexual exploitation of children and child sex tourism as well as access to Technical, Vocational Education Training (TVET) and decent employment opportunities for girls and young women.

It is estimated that the project could help reduce the menace within the stipulated period.

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By: Abdul Karim Naatogmah/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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This was captured in a report on income tax and property rate presented by the CBAG’s Executive Director, Vitus Adaboo Azeem, at a stakeholders meeting in Tamale under the auspices of IBIS-Oxfam Ghana.

He bemoaned the situation and underscored the need for district assemblies to widen their tax network with emphasis on property taxation.

His call comes on the back of government’s decision to reduce the amounts allocated to assemblies through the District Assemblies Common Fund (DACF).

He said the assemblies’ authorities have to discover other sources of revenue mobilization to execute their development agenda.

“The Accra, Kumasi, Takoradi and Tamale Metropolitan Assemblies need to start thinking of how to get enough revenue without waiting for the assemblies’ common fund.”

He admonished entrepreneurs to honor their tax obligations to the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA).

“I am not happy that private people who are fully aware of their tax obligations are invading taxes on the blind sight of both the GRA and the assemblies.”

He charged the Ghana Revenue Authority, the Tamale and the Sagnarigu assemblies to double-up their tax collection system.

He further implored the assemblies to increase their monitoring and supervision on revenue mobilization.

Vitus Azeem tasked the Ghana Revenue Authority and the district assemblies to deepen their advocacy on the new tax law (Act 896).

Country Director of IBIS-Oxfam Ghana, Tijani Hamza, said his outfit supported the CBAG’s survey to help the authorities reinvent the wheel and rake in enough revenue through Internally Generated Funds (IGF).

Hamza Tijani reaffirmed IBIS-Oxfam Ghana’s commitment to promote good governance in the country.

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By: Abdul Karim Naatogmah/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post Tamale, Sagnarigu assemblies record low revenue appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

The CPP’s Alhassan Suhuyini at a news conference chastised the party’s Sagnarigu constituency executives and some traditional authorities’ there for allegedly imposing the assembly woman of the area, Issah Zelia on the constituency as the CPP’s 2016 Parliamentary candidate.

It is against this backdrop that the CPP’s Alhassan Suhuyini has been dragged to the Northern Regional Disciplinary Committee.

The party’s Northern Regional Education Secretary, Nayi Adam Alhassan at a counter news conference in Tamale said Alhassan Suhuyini’s conduct warrants his suspension.

Nayi Adam Alhassan rubbished Alhassan Suhuyini’s allegation and admonished him to render an unqualified apology to his so-called conspirators who have dashed his Parliamentary ambition.

“We want him to take this opportunity to unconditionally apologize to the persons especially the respected eminent traditional authorities and the Sagnarigu party executives who were referred to in Alhassan Suhuyini’s diabolical statement.”

He emphasized that Alhassan Suhuyini acted in contravention of the party’s constitution for which reason he should be sanctioned.

“The pugnacious, anomalous and irresponsible behavior of Alhassan Suhuyini in seeking to criminalize the candidature of Issah Zelia and to dent the hard earned reputation of some eminent persons in the Sagnarigu constituency is highly unacceptable.”

Nayi Adam Alhassan reaffirmed Issah Zelia’s candidature saying, “The Sagnarigu constituency has only one Parliamentary candidate and she is Issah Zelia.”

“As the Assembly Member for the Sagnarigu electoral area, Madam Issah Zelia is the sole aspirant who has satisfied all the requirements to contest the Sagnarigu Parliamentary election on the CPP’s ticket.”

He is optimistic Issah Zelia could wrestle the Sagnarigu seat from the governing National Democratic Congress (NDC) incumbent Member of Parliament, A.B.A Fuseini.

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By: Abdul Karim Naatogmah/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post CPP to suspend its Sagnarigu 2012 parliamentary candidate if… appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.