May 01.05.2012 -Latest GhanaWeb-News

- I will ensure free, fair and transparent

elections in 2012-President Mills
- African Union Hails Kwame Nkrumah In

Addis Ababa
- African Union - History in the making? By

Gamal Nkrumah
- Food Security Ghana More Issues Ghanaians

Should Ask Abou
- NPP Targets Mills’ Persona
- Rawlings has failed his own probity and

accountability test – Bature
- $3bn Chinese loan to help create jobs - Mills
- Water situation to get worse as population

increases
- All 81 people test HIV-negative at Kalba in

the Northern Region

President John Atta Mills says he will “take all necessary constitutional steps to ensure the conduct of free, fair and transparent elections in 2012.

The laws of the land will not be a respecter of status, and will be made to deal decisively with any person who will attempt to push the country into a state of anarchy”, he warned

He was addressing a mammoth crowd of workers on May Day in Sunyani under the theme, “Election 2012: the Role of Workers in Securing Peaceful and Fair Elections”

President Mills noted that, the theme for the Day demonstrated Organised Labour’s anxiety and willingness to contribute to a peaceful, free and fair elections, saying, it was “a source of great encouragement to me, since I am determined, with the help of God to do everything possible to make sure that it is so”.

He emphasized that, it was the collective responsibility of all citizens of Ghana to ensure that the peace that the nation was enjoying was not over-turned by any event and expressed the hope that with the gains chalked, the labour front would not “sit idly by and allow the inordinate desire of certain persons to destroy our dear motherland”.

The President expressed appreciation to organised labour for its co-operation in maintaining the peace of the country through maturity and forbearance in the pursuit of the rights of working people.

Prof. Mills gave assurance that the Government would not abuse the cooperation and patience of the Ghanaian workforce but would use it to quicken the pace in the delivery of their just rewards.

The President said his administration had demonstrated its genuine concern for the protection of the interest of working people by implementing the Single Spine Pay Policy (SSPP), which had more than doubled the government’s wage bill from GH¢2.4 billion to GH¢5.6 billion.

He said currently 99.23 percent of public sector workers had been successfully migrated onto the SSPP structure, adding, the Fair Wages Grievance Review Committee had been set up to hear the cases of those who had genuine grievances whilst negotiations over ‘market premium’ and ‘category 2 and 3’ allowances continued.

The President pledged that the promotion of decent work and enhancing of social protection schemes would continue to be very high on the development agenda of his administration.

He stressed that, his regime would continue to pursue a national development agenda that prioritised the realisation of citizens’ rights and entitlements for the enhancement of the nation’s democratic development.

Mr. Kofi Asamoah, Secretary General of the Ghana Trade Union Congress (TUC), noted that the nation’s democratic dispensation had thrived and earned the country enormous international goodwill, saying the country had benefited immensely from that image and goodwill.

He stated that it was a collective and historic responsibility as a nation to protect the democratic order and the gains that had flowed from it in the last two decades, pledging that Ghanaian workers would play their roles in that pursuit.

Mr Asamoah said organised labour would continue to seek fulfillment of workers’ aspirations, hopes and achievements of their objectives as labour movement through democratic processes and within the framework of a constitutional democracy and their concern for the welfare of Ghanaians, irrespective of ethnic origin, religion, age and gender.

The TUC’s Secretary General expressed the conviction that, it was only by deepening democracy that the aspirations of the people for quality education, access to potable water and healthcare, food security, housing, a living wage and other public goods could be assured.

He stated that globally, the Trade Union Movement was generally recognised as a bastion of democracy and of human rights because it concentrated within the collective and organised will of the working people in whose name and the welfare powers of governance were largely supposed to be exercised.

“Workers and their families form the majority of our society and their interests and well-being, which should be at the heart of the democratisation”, he added.

Mr. Asamoah gave the assurance that organised labour would remain non-partisan as the country organised itself for the presidential and parliamentary elections in December, this year.

He however cautioned that “because we have nowhere to run to in the event of civil strife and political violence, the leadership of TUC will not fail to organise and resist any attempt by any group or person who intended to subvert the current democratic dispensation or threaten the peace and stability enjoyed.

Mr. Asamoah called on all stakeholders including Government, political parties, electoral commission and the security agencies to ensure peaceful and fair elections in December, emphasising that politics of insults must give way to politics of issues.

Mr. Kwadwo Nyamekye-Marfo, Brong-Ahafo Regional Minister, in a welcoming address, said the choice of Sunyani to mark the occasion was not by accident because the city had of late become the magnet for national conference, congresses, seminars, workshops, meetings and conventions.

According to him, the regional capital offered a true replica of the peace Ghanaians seek as it displays “its beauty, cleanliness, well planned lay outs with well-lit streets”.

The Regional Minister indicated that Brong-Ahafo offered great potential for investment especially in the agricultural sector since “large tracts of unencumbered land” was available for prospective investors to utilize.

Mr. Nyamekye-Marfo noted that because of the government’s pragmatic and good policies coupled with the relative peace in the Region, some investors particularly in the agricultural and mining sectors, had commenced operations in the region.

He invited more investors into the region to provide jobs for the people.

The Regional Minister expressed the hope that workers would take advantage of the establishment of the University of Energy and Natural Resources which will admit its first batch of students in September/October to upgrade themselves.

… But Is The Man At Peace?

By Samwin Banienuba

In January 2012, a bronze statue of Osagyefo Dr Kwame Nkrumah was unveiled amid pomp and
Splendour at the opening of the African Union's new headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

It was in tribute to the architect of the African personality, the commander in chief of continental liberation, the father of African nationalism, and the truest visionary of African unity. Very few statesmen have attempted or achieved so much as Nkrumah did in Africa.

He is the founder of modern day Ghana, the first African country south of the Sahara to achieve independence from colonial rule. He was largely responsible for this historic feat and stands out as an intellectual par excellence, an organisational genius, a political Maradona if you like and a pioneering and iconic Pan-Africanist.

Ghanaians who woke up to independence 55 years ago on 6th March 1957 will forever remember the clarion reminder of their leader that "The Independence of Ghana is meaningless unless it is linked up to the total liberation of Africa". With these messianic words Nkrumah’s vision for the nation and that of the continent became minted both intrinsically and immediately. He was a man in a hurry and he had his work cut out for him. With spontaneous alacrity he set about reconstructing Ghana, helping to liberate the rest of Africa and strategizing to unite the continent.

Nkrumah’s times were the days of the bipolar world when international relations were defined by
Capitalist and Communist democracies or East and West geopolitics. This was an either-or tight rope, for which Nkrumah elected to face forward only; not backward, not east and not west. His ardent believe in alternative development strategies for the ‘third world’ coupled with his conviction that neo-imperial forces remained at work within the established systems conjoined him with others to launch the Non-Aligned Movement in 1961. Today the countries of the Non-Aligned Movement are said to represent nearly two-thirds of the United Nations and some 55% of the world population.

It was however in Africa that the passion of Nkrumah manifested its fullest expression. At independence many leaders of the new emerging nation-states saw nothing wrong with maintaining the European imposed boundaries. With the shadows of their colonial masters still lingering over them or with faculties fettered by assimilation and the trappings of power such leaders felt comfortable in a balkanised Africa, totally impervious to the fact that it was testimony to the covetous and imperial appetite with which Africa had been preyed upon. Nkrumah knew better in typical visionary foresight.

He called his peers to reason and articulated the view that only a united Africa could survive the
conflictual world of interests. In his Class Struggle in Africa he argued that “The community of economic life is the major feature within a nation, and it is the economy which holds together the people living in a territory. It is on this basis that the new Africans recognise themselves as potentially one nation, whose domination is the entire African continent." This was always the foundation of his zealous Pan-African effort and he was instrumental in getting the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) established in 1963 as a vehicle for the unification of Africa and Africans.

In all, 30 nations collectively founded the OAU. In reality very few were persuaded of the need to give up some sovereignty for the sake of continental unity. For Nkrumah, the OAU was far short of the United States of Africa he envisioned. No independent African State had any chance of following an independent course of economic development without been ruined by the former colonial rulers.

Unless Africa had a unified policy working at the continental level the state of affairs was unlikely to change. He foresaw an Africa shackled and imperiled without unity. Yet his peers raised eye brows with a yawn when he called for a common market, a common currency and a common defence system for the survival of the continent in those early ‘60s.

Almost to a fault Nkrumah was selfless and dedicated his life entirely to the cause of Africa. He never wasted time in demonstrating that unity was the only guarantee for harnessing the resources of Africa for Africans and bequeathing the wealth of the continent for the benefit of the descendants of Africa. Notwithstanding this unqualified commitment, Nkrumah was overthrown in a coup nine years into his leadership amidst jubilant celebrations by his compatriots. He was accused of being authoritarian and for failing to deliver milk and butter on the tables of Ghanaians.

It was not until the dust settled that it became clear Nkrumah was overthrown because the CIA wanted it so. He was not pro-American enough and was feared to be in the good books of the Soviets. As a man ahead of his times, it was for interferences such as the CIA sponsored coup that Nkrumah sermonized and worked tirelessly for unity, knowing as he did that no African state could chart an independent course of development without falling victim to the caprices of imperial interests. Charles Taylor of Liberia, Laurent Gbagbo of Côte d'Ivoire and Muammar Gaddafi of Libya would hardly disagree from wherever they are today.

With time, Nkrumah’s vision of African unity however saw a significant boost in September 1999 when the Heads of State and Government of the OAU issued the Sirte Declaration “calling for the establishment of an African Union, with a view, inter alia, to accelerating the process of integration in the continent to enable it play its rightful role in the global economy”. While the African Union remains fledgling and palpably unable to get its bearings right it does appear Nkrumah’s unity call is finally beginning to sink in with leadership even if the depth is questionable.

For many Africans and Pan-Africanists in particular, Nkrumah remains the roadmap to any possibility of the continent ever becoming a Great Power in World Affairs, a continent that could be said to have come of age with a capacity and will to stand up for its own. He is the standard torch bearer and the “Man of the Millennium” according to the December 1999 verdict of BBC listeners in Africa.
As if to admit that the voice of the people is truly the voice of God, the African Union finally found it fitting to locate a home in the forecourt of its new headquarters for this illustrious son of Africa by erecting a monument to his memory.
While we are all elated by this recognition accorded Nkrumah at the African Union, "The Greatest African" (the words inscribed on his coffin in Guinea) might still never rest in peace as long as the continent remains balkanized, exploited and impoverished. Africa Must Unite now!

Source: The Citizen Newspaper (thecitizen.news@yahoo.com) +233 27 731 4655

In the previous issue Food Security Ghana (FSG) highlighted the fact that food security is not only a global issue of concern, but indeed an issue that should be high on the agenda when Ghanaians go to the polls in 2012.

In the previous article we touched on the following issues that need clarification by the government of the day:

Food Security v Food Self-sufficiency Government statements and actions leaves an impression that there is not a clear distinction between food security and food self-sufficiency, and that this distorts policies and actions?

Tariffs and Duties Whereas many countries apply duties and tariffs to support consumers, the structure in Ghana seems to be totally insensitive to supply and demand issues?

Food Statistics In the absence of correct statistical information government policies and thus resource allocation may be directed in the wrong direction. In the latest IFPRI (International Food Policy Research Institute) report on Global Food Policy it states that ³decisions based on flawed data can damage economies, harm people¹s well-being, and lead to significant financial losses, so policymakers and voters need realistic and accurate baseline data.²

The accuracy of statistical information in Ghana has been questioned for quite some time, and the question is what is being done about it? Shortages and Surpluses (The Food Balance Sheet) The management of the food balance sheet and policies with regards to this are crucial in securing food security. Dealing with the gaps (shortages and surpluses) for each major food item requires different policies and plans for each with different time frames and this does not seem to be clear at all? Investment - Investment in both agriculture and agricultural research is fundamental to ensuring food security, and the true situation in Ghana is vague.

On the one hand it seems that hopes on foreign grants form a major part of the budget for food and agriculture, while the investment in research is totally inadequate as acknowledged by the government. Other issues that should be raised by the electorate include ³land grabs², agriculture and employment, Land Grabs FSG has reported extensively on the issue of ³land grabs² in Africa, and specifically in Ghana. in Ghana, development agencies have reported that the spread of jatropha is pushing small farmers, and particularly women farmers off their land. Valuable food sources such as shea nut and dawadawa trees have been cleared to make way for plantations.

Some 50 per cent of the Ghanaian population work on the land, mostly growing food for local consumption. One would have expected that a responsible government would establish a commission of enquiry into these allegations, but to date nothing has been done. From statements raised by Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MOFA) top officials and by its inaction it looks as if these land grabs are not only condoned, but indeed welcomed by the government. Ghanaians should demand an answer from the politicians about the current status and more importantly, about policies with regards to these land grabs. Agriculture and Employment A fundamental issue of food security is poverty and unemployment.

The youth segment (people younger than 30) comprises close to 70% of the population of Ghana and most developing nations. It is a large group of people who are ³jobless, hungry and angry². Under the previous government an initiative called NYEP (National Youth Employment Programme) was initiated, and it looks as if this initiative disintegrated when a change of government came about in 2008/09.

The current government introduced the Youth in Agriculture Programme (YIAP), a Government of Ghana (GOG) agricultural sector initiative with an objective of motivating the youth to accept and appreciate farming / food production as a commercial venture, thereby taking up farming as a life-time vocation. Since its introduction the government have made claims of ³miraculous² new employment levels for youth in agriculture, especially on Block Farms. Visits to some of the these government assisted farms by independent journalist however revealed that this was far from the truth, and that most of the farmers were existing farmers who moved to the Block farms.

The YIAP must be lauded. The reporting on its results and impact on youth employment, however, is highly questionable and Ghanaians must insist on the truth. Cost of Imports The cost of imports has a dramatic impact on food security. The higher the cost, the less affordable food becomes and thus the higher food insecurity becomes.

The Ghana Cedi has hit an all-time low at 1.85 to the US Dollar, and predictions are that it will reach 2 in the foreseeable future. Basic and staple foodstuff such as rice and poultry are subject to 70% imports, and the declining value of the Ghana Cedi has a huge impact on the cost of foodstuff to Ghanaians. While the government is fighting a war against imports, the fact is that many agricultural inputs such as capital goods and consumables such as fertilisers are imported. This means that even if Ghana is self-sufficient in these foodstuffs, the cost of production and thus to consumers is rising steadily and at a fast rate. According to Bloomberg, ³while Ghana¹s economy expanded 14.4 percent in 2011 spurred by oil production, demand for dollars by local producers to buy equipment and raw materials has sent the currency tumbling.

Presidential and parliamentary elections scheduled for December are limiting investor inflows on concern of potential violence and increased government spending.² The question Ghanaians should ask is if government could have managed the decline, and if yes, why they did not interfere more aggressively and timely? Ghana 2012 Should Food Security be an issue in the 2012 elections in Ghana? There is little doubt that it should be very high on the agenda. As IFPRI concludes in its latest report on Global Food Policy, ³To develop and implement effective food policies, decisionmakers need resources, institutional capacity, political will, solid evidence, and timely information, among other things.²

The most important according to FSG is political will. The question Ghanaians should ask themselves is if the current or prospective governments really have that will, or whether it is just about power.

FOOD SECURITY GHANA http://foodsecurityghana.com info@foodsecurityghana.com

-With smear campaign

By Francis Xavier Tuokuu

“There is no longer any shred of doubt in the minds of many discerning Ghanaians that the biggest opposition party in the country, the New Patriotic Party (NPP) is hell-bent on winning power by hook or crook”, a Political analyst has observed.

The NPP, according to a political analyst at one of the nation’s top Universities and who wants to remain anonymous, “is working very hard to paint President Mills as evil, a hypocrite and devilish” but this, he says will fail as Ghanaians are a very discerning people.

The reasons are not farfetched, he averred; “after a thorough assessment of the situation pertaining on the ground, they see the integrity and high moral aptitude of President Mills proving by the day to be the undoing of their candidate, Nana Akuffo Addo”

“They have therefore found the least opportunity to find faults with the persona of the president as rather equally responsible for acts of omission or commission of agencies in the discharge of state required duties, and indeed, in some instances, on natural occurrence, such as accidents on the roads, lakes and factories and or the weather...

“Hardly does an opportunity present itself than one hears apologists and functionaries of the New Patriotic Party attacking the personality of President Mills. He is either callous, a hypocrite, a thief or ‘nyaatwum’”. He opined.

He recounted many disparaging comments made by NPP officials and sympathizers pouring scorn on the Good Old Professor of Law. “The General Secretary of the NPP, Kwadwo Owusu Afriyie also known in political circles as Sir John described last year’s Easter festivities (under President Mills) as the worse ever experienced by the nation because the country did not witness the usual Good Friday rains in Kumasi.

Unfortunately for Sir John, he said, there was a heavy downpour with thunderstorm in Kumasi and surrounding towns on Good Friday and Holy Saturday this year.

The political analyst added that even if the lights goes off or water fails to flow, the NPP put the blame personally on President Mills, disregarding the fact that the constitution of Ghana has empowered various institutions of state to address issues of that nature.

According to him, NPP National Chairman, Jake Obetsebi-Lamptey was quoted saying President John Atta-Mills is a hypocrite who “pretends to have beliefs, opinions, virtues, qualities and standards that he does not actually have. “Even today that he is being exposed by the embarrassment of the gap between what he says and what he does or is done in his name, the President and his army of praise singers are still trying shamelessly to tell us that he is humble, God fearing, caring, peaceful and incorruptible”.

The Young Patriots, a wing of the NPP also in a release recently said they will continue to expose the serial and pathological hypocrisy of Professor John Atta Mills to the good people of Ghana,

“The President and his party are so paranoid about Nana Akufo Addo…. The Achievements Nana Addo has chalked throughout his life as an astute politician, Statesman; lawyer and UN Security Council chairperson is incomparable to Prez. Mills’s Alchohol-galloping and wife molesting behavior…”

New Patriotic Party (NPP) Member of Parliament (MP) for Asokwa in Kumasi, Maxwell Kofi Jumah, on his part has likened President John Atta Mills to a thief, alleging that the NDC stole the 2008 polls. He stated that President Mills stole the 2008 elections to become the president of Ghana, noting that but for the rigging; Mills couldn’t have been a president.

According to the analyst, President Mills may be taking Obama’s admonishing that Africa should endeavour “to build strong institutions that work” if we are to make any progress in our democratic experiment. This in his opinion seems to suggest that the NPP cannot clearly contend with the level of devolution of powers and responsibility to the institutional levels”.

On the on-going biometric voter registration which has been characterized by violence in some areas, he said the NPP have often repeated that “either he (President Mills) doesn’t have any authority over his own aides or he is deceiving the Ghanaian people when he says he wants a peaceful process. You see no effort being made to bring to book those responsible for the violence, especially in the light of the regrettable statements made by the head of the police service that the police, are allegedly in his words, going to be neutral”.

But the political analyst referred the NPP to what President Mills said “there are some who also think that the President should be directly in charge of enforcement of law. Unfortunately, the President is not a law enforcement officer; the President can’t be a prosecutor. These are not powers which have been conferred on the President”.

According to him, President Mills’ government has achieved single digit inflation consistently for nearly two years which eluded the NPP in eight years. “The successful implementation of the single spine salary structure (SSSS) culminating in increase in the wage bill from 2 billion-to- 5 billion Ghana cedis, various road construction across the country, elimination of schools under trees among others are some of the good works of president Mills”, he added.

He said may be because the NPP have no campaign message for Ghanaians that is why they are doing all they can to equalize president Mills with their candidate, Nana Akuffo Addo’s credibility challenges.

The Managing Editor of the Al Hajj newspaper, Alhaji Iddrisu Bature says former President Jerry Rawlings has failed his much-espoused probity and accountability principles on which the ruling party was formed.

Bature averred that 'Mr. Rawlings’ holier than thou attitude' smacks of double standards because according to him the former president presided over an unaccountable regime.

Alhaji Bature claimed that Mr. Rawlings never had his government's public accounts audited by the audit service and wondered the kind of accountability he [Rawlings] espoused having been adamant to be accountable to Ghanaians as president.

Former president Rawlings has been very critical of the Mills-led administration due to what he says is the massive corruption that has bedeviled the current crop of government appointees in just three half years.

He said the National Democratic Congress (NDC) government has failed the probity and accountability test - the principles on which the party was founded.

Mr. Rawlings has indicated that it will be difficult for him to stand on a campaign platform of the ruling party and talk about corruption - something he said government has failed to address.

But speaking on Asempa FM’s Ekosii Sen programme Monday, Alhaji Bature warned that the incessant criticisms of government by the former president will force him to open the Pandora box.

He asserted that former president Rawlings has a suit against him at the Commissioner for Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ); because he (Bature) said upon leaving office in 2000, Rawlings failed to deliver the State of the Nation address to give account of his stewardship to the citizenry.

Bature said Mr. Rawlings' critic of the Mills-led administration is misplaced because “under his regime there were corrupt officials”.

“Millions of ordinary Ghanaians have put their trust in the party that formed government. How can one man be toying with the lives of these people. Who is he [Rawlings] that people cannot not look at him and tell him the truth”.

The editor also blamed the Rawlingses for the seeming division in the ruling party and said Mr. Rawlings has shirked his responsibility as the party's founder and is now perusing an individualist agenda.

Bature said Mr. Rawlings compromised his position as NDC founder when he declared support for his wife, Nana Konadu Agyeman-Rawlings against President John Mills in the party’s Sunyani Congress.

The Al Hajj editor observed that those around the Rawlingses, whom he referred to as the ‘latter day saints’, claim to be apostles of probity, accountability and social justice yet they are are rather destroying the legacy of Rawlings.

“If people like us had continued to be with him, he [Rawlings], will not have gone astray”.

Alhaji Bature urged former president Rawlings to reconcile with the truth and allow President Mills to work effectively.

The President of Ghana, John Evans Atta Mills, has assured Ghanaians of more jobs as a move to expand the country’s economy with the arrival of the $3 billion Chinese Development Bank loan.

Speaking at the 2012 May Day celebrations at Sunyani in the Brong Ahafo region, President Mills said the Chinese Exim Bank loan will also be channeled into various sectors of the economy that will eventually lead to human resource development.

“The creation of jobs is one of the four pillars supporting our Better Ghana agenda,” President Mills told a parade of workers. “We also recognise that the private sector should be the engine of growth. I’ll be quick to admit that we have had some challenges, but one should also acknowledge what other contributions we have made.”

President Mills added: “We recognise that there is the need to produce the kind of atmosphere which will enable the private sector to create jobs. We have targeted certain areas and indeed our procurement of the $3bn Chines loan is targeted at sectors which will help create jobs for our people.”

The President reiterated his commitment to ensuring free and fair elections in December. He said the law will deal ruthlessly with anyone wishing to foment trouble during the elections.

“I want to assure you of my determination and with the help of the Almighty God to ensure that our elections are free, fair and transparent. The law will be no respecter of status. It will deal with everybody alike and will make sure that those who decide to break the law are indeed made to face the full rigours of the law,” President Mills pointed out.

The 2012 United Nations report on freshwater resources, the World Water Development Report, has said about four billion people lack access to safe water.

It said the figure could get worse as the global population is likely to reach 9.1 billion in 2050 and 68 per cent of these 9 billion people would live in cities.

The report said in many countries, water availability for agriculture is already limited and it is set to worsen as agriculture needs to increase production to cater for 9 billion people.

It said these issues amongst others would substantially increase water and energy consumption, leading to increased competition for water resources.

It said as well as economic growth, the diets of many people are shifting from predominantly starch-based ones to meat and dairy and these require more water to produce.

The report said producing one kilogramme of rice, for example, requires approximately 3,500 litres of water; one kilogramme of beef requires approximately 15,000 litres.

It said the Asia-Pacific region is home to 60 percent of the world’s population but it has only 36 percent of its water resources.

It further stated that the European and North American populations consume a considerable amount of virtual water embedded in imported food and other products.

It said each person in North America and Europe (excluding former Soviet Union countries) consumes at least 3000 litres per day of virtual water in imported food, compared to 1400 litres per day in Asia and 1100 litres per day in Africa.

The report said various estimates suggests that approximately 3.5 earth-sized planets would be needed to sustain a global population to achieve the current lifestyle of the average European or North American.

It said nearly all Arab countries suffer from water scarcity with water consumption rates exceeding total renewable water supplies.

The report stated that India is growing maize, sugar cane, lentils and rice in countries like Ethiopia, Kenya, Madagascar, Senegal and Mozambique to feed its domestic market, while European`s are seeking 3.9 million hectares of African land to meet their 10 per cent biofuel target by 2015.

It said the amount of water required for biofuel plantations could be particularly devastating to regions such as West Africa, where water is already scarce, given that one litre of ethanol from sugarcane requires 18.4 litres of water and 1.52 square metres of land.

Henceforth drivers whose actions cause accidents resulting in the destruction of life and vehicles belonging to the Ministry of Health will be put on trial, Mr. Alban Bagbin, the Minister of Health, has said.

He said reckless driving on the part of drivers in the Ministry was a major problem and the government would no longer entertain such behaviour from drivers whose actions had caused the nation critical human resource.

“All accidents involving vehicles of the Ministry will be investigated and if it is found out to have been caused by the driver’s negligence due to intake of alcohol and other drugs, the laws of the land will be visited on that driver,” Mr Bagbin said.

He said this when he presented a 33-seater Daewoo bus to the Tumu Midwifery Training School at Tumu on Wednesday, and also lunched the Pneumococcal and Rotavirus Vaccines in the district.

The two new vaccines were being introduced into the routine Expanded Programme on Immunization (EPI) to help reduce morbidity and mortality due to pneumonia and diarrhea among children.

Mr. Bagbin said the government would open more midwifery training schools in the country and the Upper West Region would have two more.

He said the government was doing everything possible to achieve the Millennium Development Goals, especially Goals Four, Five and Six that were being challenged by inadequate health personnel, bringing pressure and stress to bear on the few personnel.

Madam Alijata Sulemana, Sissala East District Chief Executive, said in a speech read on her behalf that, the Sissala East District Assembly had awarded on contract the construction of a 12-unit two storey classroom complex for the midwifery school.

She said local stakeholders were also discharging their responsibilities with dispatch to get the school established and had acquired land for the construction of the school as well as a new district hospital.

She appealed to the government and other development partners to complement the efforts of the assembly to meet the infrastructural needs of the school.

Madam Laadi Kanton, Principal of the school commended the government for providing the school with a bus and appealed for a pick-up vehicle and permanent accommodation for the students who would be admitted this year.

Out of 81 people who were tested for the HIV virus at Kalba, a community in the Sawla-Tuna-Kalba District of the Northern Region, not a single one was found to be a carrier of the virus.

The 81 people aged between 15 and 72 years, were made up of 55 females and 26 males.

Mr. Thomas Bebeh Sennor, Sawla-Tuna-Kalba District Director of Health Services disclosed this during the launch of two new vaccines for children under-five years of age at Kalba on Monday.

He said the HIV sentinel survey focused on pregnant women, adding that having 55 women all testing negative to the virus was good news.

The District Director of Health Services said the two new vaccines known as pneumococcal and Rotavirus vaccines would be given to children under-five, to protect them against pneumonia and diarrhea.

He appealed to the health volunteers to prepare themselves adequately towards the administration of the vaccines for a successful exercise.

Mr. Isaac Dramani Mumuni, Sawla-Tuna-Kalba District Chief Executive (DCE), said the introduction of the two new vaccines was not only to make children stay healthy but was also one giant step that the government was taking towards meeting the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) on Health.

The DCE appealed to the people to become ambassadors of the new vaccines by spreading the message among their family and community members.

He further appealed to them to ensure that their children were protected against any of the two diseases and also to ensure that government investment did not go down the drain.

Kalbawura Saaka Amalia, Chief of Kalba, commended the government and health authorities in the district for their hard work and appealed to his colleague chiefs to help sensitize their community members for a successful vaccination exercise.

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