There are several media reports of infrastructural challenges confronting the initial stages of the programme.

The Deputy Minister, who is also the Member of Parliament for La Dade Kotopon constituency, maintained that government has channeled huge resources to ensure that the programme benefits the populace.

He said “as a broad policy, I think we can all applaud the government for ensuring that it honoured its commitment to transform our education system, and also ensure that we give each child the chance”

Speaking at a ceremony to donate furniture to Labone and St Thomas Aquinas Senior High Schools, Mr Odotei reiterated his commitment to ensuring that schools within his constituency are well-equipped to enhance academic work as well as the welfare of the students.

“Over the years, I have been supporting schools in the La Dade Kotopon constituency.  Today’s gesture to Labone SHS and Aquinas is all part of the assessment we’ve done across the constituency, and we’ve realized that the increased intake as a result of the free Senior High School programme, the desk will go a long way to provide comfort and ensure that students have a congenial atmosphere to study” he added.

He also debunked assertions that the program is bound to fail.

The Mp indicated that, he has initiated various interventions within the constituency to elevate the standards of education.

Some of these include, support to the best teacher award in the constituency, and baseline midterm exams to evaluate performance.

Aside the donation of dual desks to Labone and St Thomas Aquinas Senior High Schools, the MP also presented a state of the art multipurpose photocopier to the prisons headquarters to assist in their official duties.

–

By: Anass S. Seidu/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post Free SHS won’t fail – Vincent Odotei appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

Current president, Kwesi Nyantakyi’s tenure as president ends in 2019 and the 49 year old is not expected to contest for the presidency after serving for 12 years.

Odotei Sowah who is currently serving as Deputy Communications Minister had been widely tipped as the one to succeed Nyantakyi, but Mr. Sowah said he is focused on his governmental role and that he is not interested in running the FA in the near future.

“I’m not interested at all. I’m now helping the President to manage the country as deputy Minister of Communications so I’m very focused on that.”

“I’m just hoping we will find somebody who will take football to the next step after where my good friend Kwesi Nyantakyi has taken it,” he said on Wednesday.

–

By: Daniel Koranteng/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post I won’t contest for GFA presidential slot – Odotei Sowah appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

The Phobians blew away a golden opportunity to win their first league title in seven years after a breathtaking start to the season under Japanese trainer Kenechi Yatsuhashi.

Internal wrangling and power play meant the volatile Japanese trainer was replaced with Portuguese Sergio Traquil who also ended up being replaced by Yaw Preko with barely five games to end the season.

The constant chopping and changing at the technical level meant the Phobians settled for third place instead of winning the ultimate but Odotei Sowah says the fact that the club was in the hunt for the title until the last two games means they are making steps towards rediscovering themselves and will need more time to finish the rediscovery project.

“I disagree with people who say Hearts of Oak is doing badly,” Sowah told Citi fm

“Before I came in Hearts of Oak finished thirteenth this year we finished third.”

“For the first time we have established the Youth team with Auroras doing well and that is down to hard work.”

“In about five years we have managed to bring in one sponsor and that is Goil to sponsor us before that what did we have?.”

“The structure of the club has changed and I have been a managing director since 3rd December 2015 and you cannot build a winsome team in a short period like that we need time.”

“Last season was the first time in some years that Hearts of Oak still had the chance to win the league with two games to go.”

“There are challenges but we are making the right decisions and we will get there.”

–

By:Rahman Osman/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post Odotei Sowah: The Hearts of Oak rebuilding program will take time appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

Mr. Odotei Sowah, who will be looking to unseat the incumbent MP for the area, Nii Amasah Namoale, also said a desired election outcome that would see both him and the NPP Flagbearer, Nana Akufo-Addo triumph in the polls would not affect his efforts in that regard.

[contextly_sidebar id=”pShOucndYTf7bDHyrDLtdCs3k7Fdm3Yz”]Aggrieved youth of the La Traditional Area have accused the John Mahama-led government of neglecting Ga-Dangme people and allowing the Ghana Armed forces to illegally acquire their lands.

A group calling itself the Coalition of La Youth Association, organised a press conference on Monday alleging that the Ghana Armed Forces arbitrary destroyed farmlands without providing compensation and stole their lands under the guise of creating buffer zones.

Noting that the La youth would do their best not to antagonise government on Eyewitness News, Mr. Odotei Sowah declared that “we must make sure we are not cheated off our heritage… we must make sure that what is laid out in the constitution in terms of how heritage is managed and appropriated is adhered to strictly.”

He also downplayed suggestions that an NPP government would affect his efforts as he had led the La Youth to retieve the La Pleasure Beach resort, among other lands, from the erstwhile John Kufuor NPP government.

“The proof of the pudding is that we wrestled the La Beach and other lands from the state when Kufuor was in power and I was the president of the La Youth Association, so I have done it before.”

“One thing I will be committed to is to ensure that we take control of our heritage in a proper civilised manner through the rule of law to ensure that what is due us, we get it,” Mr. Odotei Sowah concluded on the matter.

–

By: Delali Adogla-Bessa/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post An NPP gov’t won’t compromise my fight for La lands – Odotei Sowah appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

According to the Legal & Regulatory Affairs Director at Airtel Ghana, Hannah Agbozo, Touching Lives 3 is going to be bigger and more exciting.

“With the help of the general public, we have selected outstanding personalities and groups to reward this season. We believe that by supporting them in their philanthropic ventures, we would in effect be touching the many lives they touch and also making a change as a business”, she explained.

VIDEO: Throw Back – Episode 1 of Airtel Touching Lives, Season 2

Touching Lives 3 will also have a radio edition which will commence immediately after the television series ends. Touching Lives 3 will air on TV for 13 weeks, after which the well packaged radio version will also be aired.

Individuals and corporate bodies interested in supporting the Touching Lives beneficiaries could do so through Airtel Money and a short code which will be announced when the programme airs.

Touching Lives 3 will air on Viasat 1, TV3, Metro TV, GTV, TV Africa, Adom TV, Joy TV, Cine Afrik, Joy News and Hitz TV.

Follow @AirtelGhana for more information.

–

By: Kojo Akoto Boateng/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post All set for Airtel Touching Lives 3 appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

In line with this theme, the company also had a staff and stakeholder premiering of Season Three of its sterling award winning CSR programme, Touching Lives 3, which rewards individuals who are driving and making changes in the lives of others and their communities.

As the headline sponsor of Roverman Production, employees and stakeholders of Airtel Ghana were again treated to the premiering of Roverman Production’s Q3 production and 24th play, ‘Unforgiven’, in commemoration of the Production’s 6th anniversary.

These events took place at the National Theatre in Accra during an Airtel Ghana – Roverman Production programme dubbed ‘Make Your Change Day’ on Friday.

Managing Director of Airtel Ghana, Lucy Quist, explained that Airtel believes strongly in the potential of every Ghanaian to succeed.

“We all carry in us the potential to transform lives through our attitudes and actions. As a brand, Airtel allows its staff, customers and stakeholders to develop and use their potential in ways that go on to impact their families, communities and nation. This is one of the reasons why we at Airtel have grown to become the 4th largest telecommunication company in the world and have the largest footprints in 17 countries across Africa,” she stated.

According to her, Airtel was proud of its partnership with Roverman Productions because of what they stand for and have propagated over the years.

“As a brand, our association with Roverman has been worthwhile – considering the authenticity of Roverman, the unique differentiating characteristics of Uncle Ebo and his team as well as the enormous opportunities and power of potential his plays and productions unleashes. We are proud to be partners in Roverman’s 6th anniversary celebration”, she added.

The Legal & Regulatory Affairs Director at Airtel Ghana, Hannah Agbozo, stated that Touching Lives 3, which is hitting our television screens from September 5th, 2014 and will run for 13 weeks, was going to be bigger and more exciting.

“With the help of the general public, we have selected outstanding personalities and groups to reward this season. We believe that by supporting them in their philanthropic ventures, we would in effect be touching the many lives they touch and also making a change as a business”, she explained.

She added that because Airtel wanted to support more people through the programme than it has done in the past, Touching Lives 3 will also have a radio edition which will commence immediately after the television series ends. She further explained that the general public could also support individual beneficiaries through Airtel Money and a short code which will be announced when the programme airs.

Earlier in the day, Airtel Ghana in conjunction with Roverman Productions embarked on the first ever ‘Convoy Float’ dubbed the “Audacity Convoy Drive”’ through some principal streets of Accra as they launched their ‘Make your change” campaign.

–

By: Kojo Akoto Boateng/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post Airtel Ghana launches Touching Lives 3 and “Make Your Change” campaign appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

Donations received from staff during the Soak for Charity Campaign will be used to support a project in the areas of Education, Health and ICT nominated by Staff.

Lucy Quist, Managing Director of Airtel Ghana, who had been thrown the challenge by an Airtel employee said: “We have never seen anything like this in the history of employee fund raising. We couldn’t be more thrilled with the level of compassion, generosity and sense of humor that employees are exhibiting as they take part in this impactful viral initiative.”

Before being bathed in ice water she nominated 3 people including the Executive Operations Director of Airtel Africa, Christophe Soulet.

Donald Gwira, Head of Corporate Communications, External Affairs and Corporate Social Responsibility who had already taken the challenge, stated that the activity is aimed at promoting employee engagement in corporate social responsibility and driving their internal  CSR initiative called Make a Difference Day. He explained that employees regardless of where they were located must respond to the challenge within 24 hours. “The rule is very simple – take a bucket of ice water, pour it over your head, record it, throw a challenge to two colleagues and one person outside Airtel Ghana and then post the video on social media” he explained.

Soak for Charity, begun with Avinash Bannerjee, a staff of Airtel Ghana, who chose this activity as his departmental Make A Difference Day (MADD) initiative and challenged Managing Director of Airtel Ghana, Lucy Quist, Luck Ochieng, M- Commerce Director and Isaac Armar, head of High Value in a recorded video. They had 24 hours to respond to his challenge which they have subsequently undertaken.

–

Source: Airtel Ghana

The post Airtel staff begin Soak for Charity initiative appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

Mr. Asare, Managing Director at the Village had this to say about the donation: “We are extremely grateful to Airtel Ghana for thinking about this orphanage as one worthy of support.  The cash and other items will go a long way in easing the financial burden that the orphanage goes through on a daily basis”.

Mrs. Yacoba Amuah, Customer Experience Director at Airtel Ghana said that Airtel Ghana was proud to support the Orphanage, and was grateful to the guardians of the children who were making a difference in their lives through mentoring, and just being there for them during these trying times of their lives.

The donation forms part of Airtel Ghana’s internal CSR staff driven campaign called Make a Difference Day. The initiative encourages its employees to get involved in their local communities by identifying and supporting sustainable projects within their communities or lending a hand towards a charity project which they are passionate about. Make a Difference Day, (MADD) offers a platform for staff to engage in sustainable CSR in the communities where they live while inspiring hope and enhancing people’s quality of life

The Village of Hope cares for 260 children (Orphans and destitutes), with 34 in SHS and 22 in Tertiary institutions.  The remaining are in JHS and Primary or waiting to enter Tertiary Institutions.  The system is based on family communal setting with a mother and father in each home. Guided by the belief that all children should have an equal opportunity to thrive, the Orphanage works to create conditions for vulnerable children so they can realize their full potential in school, work and life.

Source: Airtel Ghana

The post Airtel Ghana donates to the Village of Hope appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.