Mr Abdul Rahaman Ibrahim, GNUTS Coordinating Secretary said the Bolgatanga and Wa Polytechnics, which are also facing challenges of low intake of students should be converted into technical universities to forestall their collapse.

He explained that following the conversion of some of the nation’s polytechnics into technical universities in September 2016, leaving behind the Bolgatanga and Wa Polytechnics, the two institutions are now experiencing a serious decline in enrollment.

Mr Ibrahim made the appeal at a press conference to outline GNUTS’s grievances to government for redress.

Other GNUTS officials at the meeting included Mohammed Kamaru-Deen, Presideent; Bawa Alhassan, Treasurer; Andrews Obeng Tuwmasi, Public Relatiosn Officer; and Ms Sandra Iddrisu Agoli, Women Commissioner.

The rest are Issah Abdul Somed, Research Officer; Alhassan Abdul Mutalib, GNUTS Ambassador; Ernest Addison, Accra Technical University Students Representative Council (SRC) President; and Ms Selina Assane, Accra Technical University SRC Women Commissioner.

–

Source: GNA

The post Low enrolment threatens Wa, Bolga Polytechnics – GNUTS appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

The Anniversary will be on the theme; “Consolidating Our Values through Sense of Unity and Purpose”.

BONABOTO is an association of students in the various tertiary institutions in the country based in Bolgatanga, Nabdam, Bongo and Tongo in the Upper East Region.

The President of the BONABOTO National Tertiary Education Wing of the UDS, Joachim Tizaaba Elbazar, in an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in Bolgatanga, said the anniversary will bring all the students who come from those areas together to discuss issues that would promote development.

He said education, agriculture, roads, and Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) were issues of national concern and the association had started to develop proposals to address them.

While commending the leadership of the association for working towards the progress of the region and the nation as a whole, Mr Elbazar said that the body was developing plans to link up effectively with the BONABOTO Mother Union to achieve accelerated and sustained development in the Upper East Region.

He underscored the need for unity of purpose that would prevent conflicts and promote peace and harmony in the region to ensure smooth development.

Mr Elbazar appealed to the Municipal and District Assemblies, Non-Governmental Organisations, philanthropists and individuals to collaborate with the association to provide the necessary support the region needs.

He said some cultural and social beliefs and practices were very detrimental to the development of the region and called for effective education, sensitisation and advocacy to change the phenomena and promote development.

“Negative cultural practices such as child marriages and teenage pregnancies are among the factors that affect the growth of the region. While some parents withdraw their female children from school for marriage, many of the girls also become pregnant and drop out of school.

“These, we all need to join hands with each other to fight to pave way for rapid development”, he said.

–

Source: GNA

The post UDS BONABOTO to celebrate 10th Anniversary in March appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

The men were apprehended after one of the suspects led a team of policemen to their hideout.

[contextly_sidebar id=”yt0EklS8OJ7ooBnGG5FWQT70pG9HS13I”]Addressing the media on Thursday, the Upper West Regional Police Commander, DCOP Boapeah Okyere, said the police found the suspected narcotic substances after a search of the suspect’s room.

One Hakeem Kasim, 28, was arrested in a residence in a suburb of Wa, after he was caught wrapping some substances suspected to be narcotics drugs.

People found in the house with Hakeem were also arrested.

Hakeem subsequently led police to the room of Constable Nana Amako Donkor who was also arrested, DCOP Boapeah Okyere stated.

DCOP Boapeah Okyere also cautioned the public to beware of persons who come in cunning ways to extort from them.

“The police would like to use this opportunity to caution the public to be wary and careful of such people parading as informants and defrauding high ranking personnel with sugar-coated information. Such people use the success stories of known arrests made elsewhere as their brainchild,” he said.

This arrest follows the Wednesday apprehension of another police officer, Corporal Raymond Amegashie, who is believed to be the leader of a robbery gang that attacked and robbed a supermarket in Nungua in the Greater Accra Region.

Corporal Amegashie, who is with the Tema Police Special Weapons and Tactics Unit (SWAT), was apprehended alongside three other suspects after allegedly attacking and stealing GHc 54,000 from the Asante supermarket.

In other notable instances of police involvement in crime, an interdicted Police Constable, Samuel Asamoah of the Kasoa Police Station, was arrested for his alleged involvement in a GH¢7, 800 robbery at Swedru in September.

Also in September, a Corporal, Effah Kyere Williams Boadu, an officer with the Upper East Regional Arms and Ammunitions Unit of the Ghana Police Service, was arrested for illegally selling firearms to unauthorized persons.

In November, a Police officer and a supervisor at the Tema Motorway toll booth, were arrested in connection with a robbery incident were robbers on motorbikes broke into the toll booth and made away with about GHC 45,000.

–

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

The post Wa Police officer, 6 others arrested for drug peddling, extortion appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

The campaign, which is an initiative of the Environment and Resource Studies Department of the University, is to among other things, sensitize farmers and the entire residents of the Upper West Region, on the ravaging impact of bush burning on the environment.

Available records at the Upper West regional office of the National Disaster Management Organization (NADMO), indicates that over 200 hectares of maize farms have already been ravaged by bush burning, while about 90% of the region’s forest cover is affected annually by the menace.

Addressing students and various stakeholders at the launch in Wa,the Principal of the Wa Campus of University for Development Studies, Prof Sylvester Galaa, challenged institutions mandated to combat the incidence of bush-fires in the country to review their strategies and come out with more innovative ways of curbing the situation.

He regretted that attempts by state institutions to rid the country of the devastating impact of bush-fires, have over the years not yielded the desired results, as many farmers especially in the northern part of the country, continue to count their losses to bush-fires.

“There is high incidence of bush-fires, and it seems to suggest that the strategies to combat it are not working as expected. Just some few days ago some farmers had to lose their crops and other incidences that were reported, indicating that there is a high increase”.

“This means that, agencies mandated to ensure that the menace is reduced, should review their strategies on how they are tackling the issue. You must begin to look for innovative ways to curb the menace”.

The Professor said the ERSD is changing its teaching and learning strategies by adding community awareness to that of the the classroom in a bid to change attitudes towards issues of climate change.

“It appears to me that the department of environment and resource studies is changing its teaching and leaning strategies about environment awareness creation by adding community awareness strategies to that of the classroom”.

A Marathon event was organized to climax the launch, and prices were given to the best 10 students who ended the race.

–

By: Mahama Latif/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post UDS Wa campus launches anti-bush-fire campaign appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

The Wa circuit court, on Friday, slapped two 25-year jail terms on one Adams Ibrahim, aged 33, who was recently released from prison on May 1, 2017, under the remission system of the Justice For All programme.

The two sentences are to run concurrently.

Adams Ibrahim was found guilty of attempted robbery and causing harm to two students of the Wa campus of the University for Development Studies (UDS).

The judge, Baah Forson Agyapong, said his judgement was “backed by the degree of revulsion felt by law abiding citizens in the Upper West Region for robbery and the prevalence of the illegal act in the Wa municipality in particular.”

He said he also considered “the degree of harm caused to the two victims of the attempted robbery as well as the fact that the accused was known to the law”.

On the evening of July 2, 2017, Kwaku Onyine and Harry Amankwa both final year students of the UDS were in their hostel room studying when the convict, Adams Ibrahim, armed with a cutlass and wearing a face mask together with his accomplice, who is now on the run, forcibly broke into the room.

He said the convict attacked Harry Amankwa and inflicted deep cutlass wounds on him whilst his accomplice positioned himself at the entrance of the room with a shot gun.

In the process, Harry fell and the convict turned to Kwaku Onyine who had sought refuge under his cover cloth and attempted to butcher him.

The two students were rushed to the Upper West regional hospital after which Kwaku Onyine reported the matter to the police.

Later in the night, the convict also went to the regional hospital to seek treatment and the victims who were then on admission at the facility identified him and alerted the police.

Adams Ibrahim was arrested and taken to his house at Sombo, a section of Wa where a face mask stained with blood was retrieved. A blood stained pair of sneakers, jeans trousers and a pullover stained with blood were also retrieved from the convict.

His Honour Baah Forson Agyapong said even though the convict pleaded not guilty, his evidence could not support his innocence; hence the decision to convict him to the 50 years,(25 years each for attempted robbery and causing harm).

–

By Mahama Latif/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post Justice for All beneficiary lands 50-year jail term after robbery appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

The broken down and faulty streetlights can be found on the following streets are: Banja and Wa to Bamahu just to mention a few, and streets that have not been provided with streetlights are Forest Bypass, Pentecost and Puohun Streets; and streets that connect Banja and Pentecost Streets to the St. Andrews R/C Basic School, and that of Wa Technical Institute to the T.I. Ahmadiyya Basic Schools and SSNIT residential area.

Security and safety of residents is a human right and the management of human settlement and ensuring public safety is one of the core functions of the Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs) as stated in the Local Government Act, 2016 (936) Section 12 (3), “Without limiting subsections (1) and (2), a District Assembly shall (e) initiate programmes for the development of basic infrastructure and provide municipal works and services in the district; (f) be responsible for the development, improvement and management of human settlements and the environment in the district; (g) in co-operation with the appropriate national and local security agencies, be responsible for the maintenance of security and public safety in the district”.

From the above, it’s important to bring to the attention of the Wa Municipal Assembly the threat this sad situation is already posing to residents in the neighbourhoods where this situation exists. The situation has made it easy for criminals to break into shops and drinking bars on these streets. This has a negative effect on the livelihoods of these shop owners. It’s a sad situation that businesses of residents suffer from criminal activities as a result of the dereliction of duty on the part of the appropriate authorities. In addition, due to the faulty and damaged state of these streetlights, portions of the streets are dark in the evenings and it has become an opportunity for criminals to operate as they snatch phones and purses from residents from time to time.

Could it be sheer dereliction of duty or unawareness on the part of the responsible department of the Municipal Assembly? On the other hand, is it because there’s an ineffective police patrol in and around the neighbourhoods and the streets of Wa? Whatever the responses to these questions are, one thing needs to be made clear: the Municipal Assembly should work on the damaged streetlights and provide streetlights on streets where there’re none. While the police increase their visibility on the streets at night to forestall burglary and robbery attacks on residents.

Public safety can’t be treated lightly. It’s as important as any other issue. It borders on the safety and security of residents. In fact, to the extent that safety of people and cities feature in the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 11, “make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable”.

In line with making cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable there’s the need to ensure that in the course of solving one developmental challenge, other developmental challenges don’t emerge – otherwise, our societies will move one step forward and then move two steps backward. For instance, one of the causes of the poor state of streetlights in Wa is as a result of the construction works of BothSides, a construction company that laid pipes for the Wa Town Water project late last year; consequently, the cables of the streetlights were dug up and left unburied.

A walk on Banja Street reveals the exposed cables which also become a threat to children, since they may be unaware of the danger it poses to them. It’s only proper that this construction company be called to pay for damages or repair the streetlights that have been damaged in the course of their construction works.

The provision of potable water is as important as safety and security – for potable water as well as safety and security are all human rights. When people are provided with potable water, they also need to be provided with facilities that enhance their safety and security.

All said and done, the consequent threat of the poor state of streetlights as well as the lack of it on various streets in Wa shouldn’t be business as usual, for the provision of streetlights promotes safety of residents at night.

–

By: Alex Blege

The writer is a freelance journalist.

Email:  [email protected]/[email protected]

The post State of streetlights in Wa threatens public safety [Article] appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

According to Mr. Rawlings, such practices were contrary to the values upheld by the NDC, describing them as a “betrayal of the values of June 4,” which are probity, transparency and accountability.

“Nobody is saying don’t make money, make it good and clean; but not some of the ones I know; sickening, that kind of greed and selfishness, look at where it landed us. Or is it because this government is not behaving the way Kufuor did in his time, so we think we are okay? I know what’s going on. I know some of the things they are running into,” he added.

[contextly_sidebar id=”AswKaShJXvGOCf8bWzulxbtQF0iIWnM0″]Former President Rawlings made the remark when he was addressing NDC members in Wa in the Upper West Region on Sunday to mark the 38th-anniversary of June 4 revolution.

He further lamented that, the corruption that bedeviled the NDC when it was in power was about a thousand times more than what warranted the June 4, 1979 uprising, which led to the execution of some Ghanaian leaders.

“Let me remind people that we could not have possibly forgotten that generals were executed in 1979 in the rage and anger because of corruption. The greed, corruption and injustice of today believe it or not are a thousand times more than what these generals were executed for.”

“And if we are unable to restore a fair measure of integrity into our dealings, then the blood of many would have been shared in vain. If we cannot get our cloths off and allow for fresh leadership to emerge then we shall sink even further,” he added.

Rawlings calls for complete overhaul of NDC

The NDC founder also used the opportunity to call for a complete overhaul of the party’s current crop of leaders.

This he said was the only way the party could come back strong for the next election in 2020.

“Not too long ago, I thought we heard the jockeys training the horses were responsible for this disgraceful failure while one of the horses was bold enough to lay the failure at the step of the jockey. For me we lost our masses because we betrayed the values of the June 4^th. However, if this horse jockey business cannot be resolved comprehensively allowing integrity to prevail then let both of them step aside and allow for fresh leaders with solid integrity to provide the needed leadership,” he added.

“…How we can grab so much money and now use it as political weapon to perpetuate and be kingmakers. If I was doing it this way, if any of my colleagues and I were doing it this way would any of them be where they are today? No. we believe in justice and fairness, true democracy,” he added.

–

By: Godwin Akweiteh Allotey/citifmonline.com/Ghana
Follow @AlloteyGodwin

The post Greed, corruption caused NDC’s “disgraceful” defeat – Rawlings appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

According to him, this is the only way the party could come back strong for the next election in 2020.

Speaking at the 38th-anniversary of June 4^th at Wa in the Upper West Region, the former president said there was a need for new leaders with solid integrity to lead the party which he claimed lost “disgracefully” in the December 7, 2016 general election because of greed, corruption and “betrayal of the values of June 4.”

“Not too long ago, I thought we heard the jockeys training the horses were responsible for this disgraceful failure, while one of the horses was bold enough to lay the failure at the step of the jockey. For me, we lost our masses because we betrayed the values of the June 4^th. However, if this horse jockey business cannot be resolved comprehensively allowing integrity to prevail, then let both of them step aside and allow for fresh leaders with solid integrity to provide the needed leadership,” he added.

“…How we can grab so much money and now use it as political weapon to perpetuate and be kingmakers. If I was doing it this way, if any of my colleagues and I were doing it this way, would any of them be where they are today? No. we believe in justice and fairness, true democracy,” he added.

Asiedu Nketia, others must be kicked out – Victor Smith

Rawlings’ outburst comes on the back of a call by a diplomat in the Mahama administration and a failed parliamentary candidate for Abuakwa North, Victor Smith, who believes that an overhaul of the NDC’s executive structure is non-negotiable following the party’s overwhelming defeat in the 2016 elections.

Speaking on the Point Blank segment of Eyewitness News on May 12, 2017, Mr. Smith emphatically stated that, “we should change the whole guard. We should start with some die-hard selfless people… I think he [Asiedu Nketia] has been there long enough. We should just clean the stables.”

–

By: Godwin Akweiteh Allotey & Latiff Mahama/citifmonline.com/Ghana
Follow @AlloteyGodwin

The post Rawlings calls for complete overhaul of NDC appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

The enskinment was done at a short ceremony when the former president visited the Wa Naa’s Palace as part of activities to mark the commemoration of the 38th-anniversary of June 4th in Wa.

Naa Seidu Braimah, paramount chief of the Guli Traditional area, speaking on behalf the kingmakers after the enskinment, said their decision is in recognition of the invaluable contribution of President Rawlings to the development of the Upper West region.

The chief explained that “We know what you have done for us. You created this region from the then Upper Region when we had only 3 districts. You have since been with us. Even in times of crisis, you never turned your back on us and we think this is the only way to recognize your contribution to our development.”

Explaining the meaning of the “Bagrepie Naa”skin name for Mr. Rawlings, the paramount chief said it is a name given to a spiritual cave where the traditional council goes to seek solutions to their problems in times of need.

Naa Braimah used the occasion to call on all three of Ghana’s former presidents to press upon the police administration and other law enforcement bodies to find the killers of the military captain, Maxwell Mahama.

He said people in the region are very much worried about the increasing spate of lawlessness in the country.

President Rawlings commended the chiefs and people of the Upper West region for their peaceful nature and their role in enhancing Ghana’s democratic development.

“I sincerely hope that you continue this peaceful way as a model to the rest of the country to offer the guidance and the leadership that we so much need as a people”.

Dignitaries who joined the former president include second deputy speaker of Ghana’s parliament Alban Bagbin, Hon. Rashid Pelpuo MP for Wa central and other bigwigs of the main opposition NDC.

–

By: Mahama Latif/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post Kingmakers in Wa honour Rawlings appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

Addressing a large crowd of people at the palace of the Paramount Chief of the Waala Traditional Area, Naa Fuseini Pelpuo IV, the former president said “this should serve as a wake-up call to all of us; to government, the law enforcement agencies, the courts to wake up to our responsibilities in order to prevent this sort of thing from happening again.”

[contextly_sidebar id=”sPipmrczrieze2o0Qx5vMEPWgebaX7qv”]He expressed grave concern about the way criminals are allowed to go off the hook after flouting the law.

“This did not start today. It started quit a few years ago. There are quite a few others before this one but not much has been done.”

The former President man expressed confidence in Ghana’s legal system, but blamed government for failing to crack the whip on perpetrators of crime in the country.

“Had we reacted appropriately as a government, there is no doubt in my mind that this kind of brutal cruel behaviour could have gone on for this long.”

Capt. Mahama, who was deployed to the Denyira-Obuasi community in the Central Region region together with his colleague military officers to wage war on illegal mining, was lynched by residents of the area after they mistook him for an armed robber.

Mr. Rawlings condemned the act, describing it as “uncivilized” and charged the police to speed up investigations into the matter.

“The sooner some ways are found to contain this irresponsibility, the better for all of us,” he added.

He warned that the nation will soon be heading into an abyss if government continues to allow people with unlawful conducts.

The former military leader is in the Upper West region to climax the commemoration of the 38th anniversary of the June 4 revolution and to mark his 70th birthday.

He was met by a crowd that filled up the principal streets of Wa on Saturday to catch a glimpse of him after 8 years of his absence in the region.

–

By: Mahama Latif/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post Capt. Mahama’s death a wake-up call to state institutions – Rawlings appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.