The two were part of a group of four female students returning from school to their homes when a Nissan Navara pickup from Atebubu heading to Sunyani, lost control and run over them around the Ejura Agriculture School at about 1:15 pm on Tuesday 13th March ,2018.

The two deceased persons; Iddrisu Maridiya and Shaibu Farisa, both 19 years, died on arrival at the Ejura Government Hospital.

Headmaster of the Ejura Islamic Senior School, Adams Zakaria, who confirmed the incident to Citi News said the two bodies have since been buried according to Islamic rites.

He further indicated that the other two victims are in critical condition.

“I went to the Assembly hall meeting and after the meeting I had a call from one of the students so I picked my car and rushed to the school and when I got there,they [victims] had already been rushed to the hospital but I saw the Navara pick up.I was confused. I could not even find out from them what actually happened. I rushed to the emergency ward where I saw my students lying dead. The other two were in a critical condition,” Mr. Zakaria said.

Meanwhile, the Police have arrested the driver and impounded his vehicle.

Several lives have been lost to road accidents across the country since the beginning of the year 2018.

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By: Hafiz Tijani/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post Two Ejura Islamic SHS students killed in car accident appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

The deceased and his friend were in their dormitory when lightning reportedly struck both of them.

Eastern Regional Police Public Relations Officer, ASP Ebenezer Tetteh who spoke to Citi News, indicated that the families of both students are yet to contact the police.

“Last [Sunday] night around 10:00pm, police had the information that around that same time lightning had struck 2 male students of Ofori Panyin Senior High School in their dormitory. Unfortunately, one student died on the spot and the other student is in a critical condition receiving treatment at the Tafo Community Hospital”.

The remains of the deceased have since been deposited at the Tafo Government Hospital awaiting an autopsy.

The police are making frantic efforts through the headmaster of the school to establish contact with families of both students.

“The body of the student has been deposited at the Tafo government hospital mortuary awaiting autopsy. Even though we know it was thunder that killed him, it is still an unnatural death so we have begun our investigations into it”.

School authorities are however tight-lipped about the incident.

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By: Neil Nii Amatey Kanarku/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post Police investigate death of Ofori Panin SHS student appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

The Regulation, which will determine qualifications procedure into the Ghana School of Law as well as call to the Ghana Bar, has been  met with fierce resistance from the law students and the Coalition for the Reform of Legal Education.

[contextly_sidebar id=”fM4Gw6McUCFMADnm5O4mk3rcX4AlPpIA”]Both groups say the Regulation will constrict legal education in the country.

The Concerned Law Students say they are expecting a positive outcome from their meeting with Parliament’s joint Committee on Subsidiary Legislation and Constitutional, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs held about a week ago.

Convener for the group, Ken Addor Donkor, however told Citi News that they will head to the Supreme Court if Parliament fails them.

“In fact, we are not anticipating any failure by the Committee, but when the unexpected happens, what we will do is that we will get any Member of Parliament to bring a motion against the L.I, and then we will be getting two thirds majority to vote the LI out of Parliament. If that fails, we will head to the Supreme Court for the interpretation of Section 13 of Act 32. “

The resistance

Some legal practitioners have also registered their displeasure about the Legal Profession Regulations 2017 .

The proposed LI among other things, states that the General Legal Council will conduct an entrance exam for the admission of students to the school, and conduct interviews for all applicants who pass the Ghana School of Law Entrance Examination.

The General Legal Council laid the Regulations in Parliament in mid-December 2017, in response to a Supreme Court order for a clear admission procedure into the Ghana School of Law, and call to the Ghana Bar.

Protest from students

The Concerned Law Students had earlier submitted a petition to Parliament against the new LI, describing it as a deliberate attempt by the GLC to frustrate them, something they considered a violation of their rights.

Ken Addor Donkor, the leader of the group, said the proposed LI was an attempt to kill the dreams of law students.
Exams, interviews barred for Law School

Supreme Court ruling

When the Supreme Court declared the interviews unconstitutional, it said the requirements are in violation of the Legislative Instrument 1296, which gives direction for the mode of admission.

The Justices in delivering their judgment, also indicated that their order should not take retrospective effect, but should be implemented in six months, when admissions for the 2018 academic year begin.

The plaintiff, Professor Kwaku Asare, a United States-based Ghanaian lawyer, went to court in 2015, challenging the legality of the modes of admission used by the Ghana School of Law.

According to him, the number of people who were admitted into the Ghana School of Law was woefully small considering the number of people who possessed LLB.

The Ghana Law School has been criticized for being overly rigid considering that it serves 12 schools providing LLB degrees.

The current training regime limits the intake into the Ghana Law School to under 500 of the about-2000 LLB graduates annually.

In his suit, Professor Kwaku Asare prayed for a declaration that GLC’s imposition of entrance examination and interview requirements for the Professional Law Course violates Articles ll (7) 297 (d) 23, 296 (a) (b) and 18 (2) of the 1992 Constitution.

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By: Sixtus Dong Ullo & Marian Ansah/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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The students were also made to sign a bond to be of good behavior.

[contextly_sidebar id=”Z9IWfKQyR5jjxwEEs6407wZb2m02KqSc”]Parents and guardians of the students have also signed an undertaking after a four-hour meeting with school authorities on Tuesday, January 30, 2018.

The angry students on Sunday, January 22, protested against the headmaster, whom they say has prevented them from partaking in extra curricula activities such as inter-school sports competition, quizzes and entertainment.

Four of the students sustained injuries in the course of the riot. The students vandalized school properties including the vehicle of the headmaster and his apartment.

A five-member committee was set-up by the Ashanti Regional Education Directorate to investigate the cause of the disturbances.

At a meeting with parents on Tuesday, Board Chairman of the school, Stephen Anderson, announced that the District Engineer was directed to assess the damage caused by the students, and that each student was to be levied Ghc 100 to repair the damaged properties.

He also asked parents to sign an undertaking and allow their wards to sign a bond to be of good behavior.

Speaking to Citi News, Mr. Anderson said the parents were complying with the payment process.

“The committee has come out based on the estimate from the District Engineer that every student should pay 100 cedis…Because most of the parents were not aware, the committee has come out that those who have the money should pay and then sign the bond with their wards and leave their children to attend classes. But those who don’t have the money can still sign the bond and pay the money by next week”, he added.

Some parents who paid the levies condemned the action by the students.

The parents who were equally not happy about the incident, appealed to authorities to ensure that they do not occur.

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By: Hafiz Tijani/Citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post Gyamaa Pensan SHS students levied 100 cedis each after rioting appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

The LI, which is expected to be approved in February 2018 to regulate admissions into the Ghana School of Law as well as call to the Ghana Bar, has been fiercely resisted by some law students.

[contextly_sidebar id=”VQBRZQr5OanXg0vFcPindp13foRYe4t5″]The proposed LI among other things, states that the General Legal Council will conduct an entrance exam for the admission of students to the school, and conduct interviews for all applicants who pass the Ghana School of Law Entrance Examination.

The General Legal Council laid the Regulations in Parliament in mid-December 2017, in response to a Supreme Court order for a clear admission procedure into the Ghana School of Law, and call to the Ghana Bar.

But according to Kofi Bentil, who spoke to Citi News before a meeting between law students and Parliament’s Subsidiary Legislation Committee, the proposals by the General Legal Council were against an earlier decision by the Supreme Court.

“We are of the view that the action taken by the General Legal Council constricts the parameters for legal education instead of expanding them, and they have very negative implications on everything… There can never be an overproduction of lawyers, we need lawyers in every area aspect of society, so we don’t know why we would make choices that will effectively constrict legal education…. I don’t think that was intended in the Supreme Court order given to the General Legal Council,” he said.

The Association of Law Students this week petitioned President Nana Akufo-Addo to cause the withdrawal of the controversial Legal Profession Regulations 2017 from Parliament.

Protest from students

A group calling itself the Concerned Law Students had earlier submitted a petition to Parliament against the new LI, describing it as a deliberate attempt by the GLC to frustrate them, something they considered a violation of their rights.

Ken Addor Donkor, the leader of the group, said the proposed LI was an attempt to kill the dreams of law students.

Exams, interviews barred for Law School

When the Supreme Court declared the interviews unconstitutional, it said the requirements are in violation of the Legislative Instrument 1296, which gives direction for the mode of admission.

The Justices in delivering their judgment, also indicated that their order should not take retrospective effect, but should be implemented in six months, when admissions for the 2018 academic year begin.

The plaintiff, Professor Kwaku Asare, a United States-based Ghanaian lawyer, went to court in 2015, challenging the legality of the modes of admission used by the Ghana School of Law.

According to him, the number of people who were admitted into the Ghana School of Law was woefully small considering the number of people who possessed LLB.

The Ghana Law School has been criticized for being overly rigid considering that it serves 12 schools providing LLB degrees.

The current training regime limits the intake into the Ghana Law School to under 500 of the about-2000 LLB graduates annually.

In his suit, Professor Kwaku Asare prayed for a declaration that GLC’s imposition of entrance examination and interview requirements for the Professional Law Course violates Articles ll (7) 297 (d) 23, 296 (a) (b) and 18 (2) of the 1992 Constitution.

–

By: Jonas Nyabor/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post Kofi Bentil kicks against proposed LI for law school admissions appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

The cause of the death is yet to be established.

[contextly_sidebar id=”m0w53ZwhHfcLt5A2Izig6avQ1jomJRBM”]Citi News sources at the Damongo district hospital confirmed the incident but the school authorities have so far remained tight-lipped on the situation there.

The situation has reportedly caused fear and panic among continuing students.

This latest health scare comes on the back of the deaths of four students of Kumasi Academy in the Ashanti Region.

The pandemic strain of influenza type A, H1N1 2009 also known as Swine Flu was detected in some students of the school and is believed to be related to the deaths.

Aside from the four deaths, 32 students have also been hospitalised.

Respiratory samples sent to the Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research also indicated that there was an outbreak of an acute respiratory infection which the Health Ministry has since attributed as the cause of some of the deaths.

The whole student population had to be administered with antibiotics as part of a prophylaxis after which the school was fumigated

However, no definite cause of the student deaths has as yet been declared.

Another school that has had to deal with a health situation in recent days is the Koforidua Technical School, where a second-year science student who passed away over the weekend, was confirmed to have died from Meningitis.

However, health officials in both the Ashanti Region and the Eastern Region have insisted that they have contained the situation schools and have assured the public of their commitment to ensuring the safety of the students.

The Eastern Regional Director of Health Services, Dr. Charity Sarpong told Citi News: “I must say that currently, everything is calm in the school because we have given them the necessary support, they know what to look out for, they also have our contact numbers so that when there is something we will be immediately contacted for the necessary support.”

Addressing the outbreak in KUMACA, the Ashanti Regional Health Director, Dr. Emmanuel Tenkorang, said: “So far so good. Since yesterday there has not been any new case and so far we have 11 students on admission. Three are on admission at the KNUST hospital. Komfo Anokye has one on admission. At Kumasi South hospital, there are five on admission and then Manhyia hospital, two on admission. There has not been any reported new case.”

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By: Abdul Karim Naatogmah/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post Damongo SHS: One student dead, 12 others on admission appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

More than 20 students reportedly collapsed in the school over the weekend, and were rushed to the Nsawam Government Hospital for treatment.

[contextly_sidebar id=”HYuv23m9XuEJo7t5B04HS9pFmoh1iSvP”]Following the outbreak of influenza Type 1 at the Kumasi Academy, many feared students in the school might be experiencing same, but health officials in the region have denied any viral infection.

Speaking on Eyewitness News, the Medical Superintendent of Nsawam Government Hospital, Dr. Kofi Ablorh, indicated that the hospital’s investigations had shown that the reported cases were “nothing serious.”

Narrating circumstances that led to students being rushed to the facility, Mr. Ablorh said: “Yesterday [Sunday], in the evening up to this morning [Monday], we have had about 20 students from the St. Martin’s Senior High School. Most of them, about 18 of them came complaining of heartaches and some of them were reported to have collapsed. In fact, we did all investigations and we realized that there was nothing serious. All their vital organs were working. Everything was fine and within few minutes they were discharged. Yesterday [Monday], we had ten of them and this morning [Monday], we had ten.”

Exam phobia might’ve caused Nsawam students’ collapse – Doctor

Dr. Ablorh believes the students’ condition could be as a result of panic attacks ahead of their upcoming examinations.

“We’ve seen a special trend with especially St. Martins. Normally when they are about to start their exams, some of them are found in this condition. We think that exam phobia, something of that sort, but then there is nothing medically about this. It is the normal trend especially with St. Martins. It is something that we have been seeing every year.”

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By: Marian Ansah/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post St. Martin’s students’ collapse ‘nothing serious’ – Doctor appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

A news portal had reported that, the Minister had suggested in an interview with Kumasi-based Nhyira FM, that the deaths might have been caused by Ebola, and not meningitis as reported earlier.

[contextly_sidebar id=”dzBEguIJspjR4meL7e6yQcWqOFRLDDnC”]However speaking in an interview with Citi News, the Minister denied making such claims, saying “It is never true.”

According to him, he only gave the analogy that, people need to wait for results of the test before arriving at conclusions as was the case with the Ebola outbreak.

Four students have died within one week, bringing to eight, the number of students who have passed away this year alone. The situation alarmed parents whose wards are in the school, as they stormed the institution to take them out.

KUMACA deaths: Meningitis ruled out, bacterial infection suspected

As speculation on the possible cause of these cases grow, health officials in the Ashanti Region have ruled out Meningitis as the cause of the recent deaths.

The officials, however suspect a bacterial infection in the school.

Speaking to the Media, the Ashanti Regional Director of the Ghana Health Service (GHS), Dr. Emmanuel Tenkorang, said “we have done all the tests for meningitis. They are negative, so it shows that the condition is not meningitis.”

“We suspect that, most probably, there was an atypical bacterial infection, and that is the reason why we have this crisis. From the pathologist report, we believe there was an infection and most probably, it is a bacterial infection, and because of the fatalities, it is one of the atypical bacteria that we are dealing with,” the doctor added.

Kumasi Academy to close down over ‘mysterious’ student deaths

The Minister also indicated that, the school will be closed down latest by Friday, December 8 to pave way for screening of staff of the school.

This according to the Minister is to ensure that none of them has an ailment that is infectious.

This decision was taken after a meeting with the Ashanti Regional Health Directorate, the Ghana Education Service, and the school’s Parents and Teacher Association.

On the screening and treatment, the Minister said “we will give doses to all the students, teaching staff and non-teaching staff. I am told it is going to be a three-day exercise.”

Mr. Osei Mensah explained that, the screening was necessary to minimize the risk posed by the supposed ‘mysterious’ illness.

“Immediately after the exercise, we will close down the school and ask all the students to go home. The reason why we don’t want to close the school now is that, we don’t want a situation whereby if the disease is infectious and some students have already got the infection, they are going to infect their whole family with it. That will be a serious risk” he said.

Background

Six students have so far been discharged from the KNUST hospital, while 18 others are still on admission.

Four students died earlier in 2017, whilst three died just last week. Another died on Tuesday morning, prompting parents to raise concerns about the safety of their wards in the school.

The Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research is expected to present a report on the cause of deaths on Wednesday. The deaths have so far been suspected to be meningitis-related.

The Minister of Health, Kwaku Agyemang-Manu, has also been summoned to Parliament over the death of students.

The Ashanti Regional Minister, Simon Osei Mensah, who was addressing the school following a meeting with the Regional Security Council on the health crisis, witnessed the collapse of two female students, an incident that saw parents moving helter skelter to rescue their wards.

–
By: Marian Ansah/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post I never attributed KUMACA students’ deaths to Ebola – Minister appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

The Command has tasked the Police Intelligence and Professional Standards Department (PIPS), to investigate the conducts of the officers and submit a report for immediate action.

A released signed by the Ashanti Regional Police Commander, COP Ken Yeboah, and copied to Citi News said police intercepted a video footage of some of its personnel who were seen brutalizing some of the students after they were arrested.

The command has condemned the actions of the officers and described their conduct as “unprofessional” after watching the video.

The Officers on Saturday November 25, 2017, arrested eight students of the KNUST for rioting and causing damage to vehicles around the Baba Yara Sports Stadium.

According to Police, they had information that students from the Kantanga Hall clashed with their counterparts from the Unity Hall during an outdoor event organized by Kumasi-based Luv FM, dubbed “Old School Reunion”.

The students in the ensuing melee pelted stones at one another, causing damage to vehicles and blocking the road, thereby bringing the whole event to a halt.

Eight (8) of the rampaging students were arrested and taken to the Asokwa Divisional Police Command, where they were made to write their caution statements.

They were later granted bail and handed over to the Security Coordinator of the KNUST.

COP Yeboah warned that his outfit will not shield police officers who misconduct themselves in the discharge of their duties.

He appealed to individuals who fell victim or witnessed the act to report to the Command as part of its investigations.

Citi News has learnt that authorities at the KNUST will sanction the students who engaged in the act.
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By: Hafiz Tijani/Citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post Police officers to be sanctioned for brutalizing KNUST students appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

According to them, the students live in constant fear due to the activities of the squatters, who have taken over sections of the school’s land.

[contextly_sidebar id=”LXoSbqyOZCcoYgmCbTJLNXasP7rSrxnq”]Achimota School has been in an unending struggle with private developers, squatters and the Osu Traditional Council over control of parts of the school’s land.

This has resulted in the school heading to the Supreme Court in an attempt to reinstate an injunction secured on the activities of the encroachers.

But in the meantime, students have had to contend with landguards and squatters who threaten their safety.

In the 2016/2017 academic year, five murders were recorded on the school’s premises, whilst the school’s headmistress, Beatrice Adom, stated at the time that prayer groups and beggars had also encroached on the school’s land

The school had sought to allay some of the fears at the time, stating that officials of the BNI had come to the school to assess the situation.

However, the assistant headteacher of the school, Ken Amankwah, admitted that the current security situation at the school was dire, with the students being exposed to all kinds of dangers.

“The students are not safe. At the moment, the western part is being encroached seriously. Somebody is walling the place and taking some of the buildings. We reported to the Board about those issues and the students’ safety is very bad now,” he said whilst addressing a news conference.

“About two weeks ago, after dining, somebody knocked a student [down] with their car. We had to go to the police station, take the student to the hospital and called the parents to come in. At the moment it’s very serious.“

To the Supreme Court

The long-running dispute with the Osu Traditional Council over the lands began dates back to 2011 when some lands belonging to the school were ‘repossessed.’

The Council had taken possession of the lands arguing that, they were not being used for the purposes they were intended for.

However, the Board of the school, with the support of the school’s Old Students Association, secured the injunction and declared their intention to retain their land through all lawful means.

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By: Edwin Kwakofi/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post Achimota School encroachment: Students not safe – Asst. Head appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.