Saviour Church commends govt on education

From Edmund Mingle, Osiem

The leadership of the Saviour Church of Ghana has commended the government for the increased investment in the education sector for the benefit of Ghanaian children.

The church believes the increased provision of infrastructure that has expanded access to education, as well as programmes to make education affordable, would help to secure the future of children in the country.

Vice President Amissah-Arthur interacting with
Opanyin Adusei (second from left) and other executives of the church 

Opanyin Abraham Adusei, General Superintendent of the Church, gave the commendation when the Vice President, Paa Kwesi Amissah-Arthur, called on him and the church executives, at their headquarters at Osiem in the Eastern Region on Saturday,.

According to him the church continues to witness the good works of the government in the education, health, agriculture and road sectors, and described the revamping of teaching and health education, as well as the provision of more basic, secondary and tertiary school facilities as laudable.

Opanyin Adusei, who is also the President of the World Cocoa Farmers Organisation, also commended the government for supporting the church’s schools, by assisting in the building of three multi-storey senior high school block as well as the provision of classroom facilities for the church’s nursing training college.

He also thanked the government for the assistance in the establishment of a hospital by the church, and expressed optimism that the partnership between the government and the church would continue to flourish.

“No government has done so much for the church than the present administration,” he said, and declared the support of the church for the government.

The church, which thousands of followers and branches across the country, operates basic and secondary schools, vocational and technical institutes, a health training college, farms and housing scheme for its members with the aim of developing both the spiritual, intellectual and physical well-being of people.

Vice President Amissah-Arthur, who visited the church as part of his three-day campaign tour of the Eastern Region, commended the church for efforts at promoting human resource development.
He lauded the establishment of schools by the church saying it would complement the efforts of the government in making education more accessible and affordable.

To reciprocate that contribution, he gave the assurance that the government would continue to advance the needed assistance to enable the church to undertake more projects for community development.

Trust us to deliver more----Veep

From Edmund Mingle, Larteh

Vice President Kwesi Amissah-Arthur at the weekend joined the chiefs and people of Larteh Akuapem in the Eastern Region, to celebrate their annual Odwira festival, with a call on Ghanaians to trust the government to deliver development.

Vice President Amissah-Arthur exchanging pleasantries
 with Osabarima Asiedu Okoo Ababio III at the Odwira durbar.

According to him, the government remained committed to developing all areas of the economy, and would continue in that line when retained in power.
“Ghanaians are discerning enough to judge the performance of the government”, he said, adding that the essence of governance was development which the government would continue to pursue when given another mandate.

Touting the performance of the government in building a viable socio-economic foundation for the country, Vice-President Amissah-Arthur believed the good performance of the Mahama administration would convince Ghanaians to renew its mandate.
He urged the electorate to be vigilant against deceit and vain promises by politicians, adding that the ruling National Democratic Congress would remain truthful with Ghanaians.
“Our performance is there for all to see. Ghanaians have seen what we have been able to do, and we have told them what we will do in the next four years.
“We will be sincere and we will not make promises that we cannot fulfill,” he stated.
Touching on development projects in Larteh and the Akuapem area in general, he said in spite of the unfavourable voting pattern against the NDC, the government did not discriminate against the area by way of development.
He cited various projects in the roads, water, education, health and trade sectors which have been executed in the area by the government, and urged the people to massively support the government to retain power to do more for them.
Vice President Amissah-Arthur congratulated the chiefs and people of Larteh on the celebration, and promised them more development projects.
Osabarima Asiedu Okoo Ababio III, chief of Larteh, in his welcome address earlier, commended the government for the various development interventions in the area, but called for more.
He particularly appealed for more senior high school blocks and additional social amenities to support the expansion of the economy of the area.

Trainee nurses urged to accept govt decision

From Edmund Mingle, Osiem

The Vice President, Kwesi Amissah-Arthur, has urged trainee nurses to accept government's replacement of their allowances with student loans, in good faith, since the policy is in the national interest.

"The government wants the best for trainee nurses and the nursing profession in general, and will not introduce policies that will harm the trainees.

Vice President Amissah-Arthur addressing the trainee nurses
 at the Saviour Church Nursing Training College

"We are not anti-nurses," he stated adding that the various interventions to boost nursing training and the nursing profession, clearly showed the good intentions of the government.

Vice President Amissah-Arthur said this during an interaction with students of the Saviour Church Nursing Training College at Osiem in the Eastern Region, on Saturday, as part of his campaign tour of the region.

Student nurses continue to clamour for the reinstatement of the abolished nurses’ trainee allowance, indicating that it was difficult to access the loans from the Students' Loan Trust.

But the Vice President urged them to bear with the government and sacrifice a little, since the essence of abolishing of the allowance was to create increased access and enrolment into the nursing training colleges.

He said because the allowance payment regime had created an enrolment quota which restricted the colleges to taking in limited numbers, the government deemed it necessary to remove the allowance so as to expand enrolment.

As part of the replacement of the allowance with the student loan, he said the salaries of nurses had been increased to enable them to comfortably pay off the loans.

In addition, the Vice-President said, the government was investing in more health facilities such as hospitals, polyclinics and Community-Based Health Planning and Services (CHPS) compounds to provide ready jobs for graduating trainee nurses.

"We know that people are opposing it not because we are providing increased access to more people into the colleges, but because they are not getting the allowances," he said.

He commended management of the Saviour Church Nursing Training College for the progress, and gave assurance of government's continued support.

2nd Ghana Three Peak Challenge ends

From Edmund Mingle, Afadjato

This year’s annual Ghana Three Peak Challenge, a mounting climbing exercise to climb the three highest mountains in the country, has been held in the Volta region.

The two-day Challenge, organized by Atuabo Free Port, had 64 participants from seven corporate firms, climbing Mountain Afadjato, Aduadu and Kyabobo mountain, all in the Volta region, within 24 hours.

Afadjato is the highest mountain in Ghana, at an elevation of 885 metres (2,904 ft). The mountain is located in the Agumatsa range near the villages of Liati Wote and Gbledi, in the Volta Region at the border with Togo.

All the participants successfully hit the peaks of Afadjato and its adjoining Aduadu mountain last Friday night, and moved to Nkwanta South at dawn to conquer mount Kyabobo, the second highest peak in Ghana, which is on Ghana’s boundary with Togo, but the climbing was halted due to a misunderstanding among the Shiare community members over the presence of the mountaineers in the area.

Irrespective of that, the team made a substantial climb up Kyabobo, which provides tough experiences for mountain hiking.

The event, which was to promote personal exercising, corporate networking and an appreciation of the countryside, had participating teams from Tullow Ghana, Kosmos Energy, Blue Skies, China Habour, Dun & Bradstreet Credit Bureau, Atuabo Free Port and Bentsi-Enchill law firm.

The strongest team award went to the drivers, in recognition of their professionalism and effort in driving for over 700 kilometers to the base of the mountains to enable the participants to engage in the challenge.

The Best Dressed Team award was clinched by Blue Skies while the Funniest Dressed Team award was presented to Tullow Ghana.

Mr. Steven Gray, Director of Atuabo Free Port, addressing the participants at Shiare at the end of the event, congratulated the participants for the successful climb.

He was happy the second edition of challenge witnessed an increased patronage, and gave the assurance that preparations have already begun for the third edition in November next year.

Nana Obonbo Sewura Lepuwura, Chief of Shiare and Paramount Chief of Akyode Traditional Area, also thanked the organisers for adopting the Kyabobo Mountain as part of the exercise, since he believed that could help in opening up the area for the development.