Headmaster In Trouble Over Nana Akufo Addo

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Category: The NoticeBoard

Created on Tuesday, 23 October 2012 00:00

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Headmaster In Trouble Over Nana Akufo Addo

23 October 2012

The Headmaster of Techiman Senior High School, M.K. Boakye has been queried by the Municipal Director of Education, Godfred Axolu for allowing the flagbearer of the NPP, Nana Akufo-Addo to address the students during his Restore Hope tour of the Brong-Ahafo Region.

After touring the Techiman South constituency on Wednesday October 17, 2012, Nana Akufo-Addo booked an appointment with the students after the close of school to address them.

{sidebar id=12 align=right}The students, who trooped to the venue in their numbers, gave Nana a rousing welcome when he arrived on their campus.

The flagbearer spoke extensively on the free SHS policy and appealed to the staff and students to give their votes to him so as to make his dream of making SHS education free, a reality.

He touched on the Teacher First Policy, promising that when voted into power, his government would make sure each teacher who has been in the system for 10 years is given a house at a place of their choice.

According to Nana Akufo-Addo, if countries like Zimbabwe, Lesotho, Uganda and Kenya could make SHS free for their citizens, he saw no reason why a country like Ghana, which was endowed with cocoa, timber, diamond, gold, manganese, bauxite, oil among others, could not make SHS free.

He also referred to the millions of Ghana Cedis which were dubiously paid out to NDC cronies like Alfred Agbesi Woyome as judgment debts which could have been used to sponsor the free SHS.

A day after the visit, the Municipal Director wrote to the headmaster asking him to explain why he should not be sanctioned for allowing Nana Akufo-Addo to address the students.

Some members of staff, who had a hint of the letter, threatened to lay down their chalks if the MDE sanctioned the headmaster.

Speaking to DAILY GUIDE on the basis of anonymity, a tutor of the school said they were aware the Municipal Director of Education was a dye in the wool supporter of the NDC; hence, his rush to query the headmaster for allowing Nana Akufo-Addo to address the students.

Investigations conducted by DAILY GUIDE indicated that it was the Brong-Ahafo Regional Minister, Kwadwo Nyamekye Marfo who ordered the director to sanction the headmaster for allowing Nana to address the students.

Source: Eric Bawah, Techiman/D-Guide

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Quality free education possible

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Category: The WorkShop

Created on Saturday, 20 October 2012 00:00

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Quality free education possible

The Director of the School of Communications, Dr Margaret Amoakohene has stated at a press conference in Accra that it is very possible to have a quality yet free educational system in Ghana. Dr Amoakohene's remarks were in support of the NPP's Free Senior High School Policy.

Dr. Amoakohene, herself a beneficiary of Nkrumah's free northern educational policy said that cost should not be allowed to be an inhibitor to access quality education, citing examples of functional quality educational systems in the western world.

Dr Amoakohene's remarks were supported by Dr. Zibilim Iddi, Political Science lecturer also at the University of Ghana, who insisted that the free nature of the scheme did not mean that the service provided or its beneficiaries would be cheap, citing the President and First Lady as beneficiaries of free education who were currently in the most prominent positions of Ghanaian society.

Dr Kingsley Nyarko also a lecturer from the University of Ghana, Psychology Department revealed that the Free SHS program recognized the need for investment into diverse programs of study and as such had made provision for Technical and vocational needs of JHS graduates.

These statements were made at a Press Conference held by lecturers in support of the NPP's Free Senior High School policy.

From: Joy News Television/Jennifer-Jayne Asante

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“Why Didn't You Put Up Infrastructure Before Setting Up Two Universities?” – Bawumia Asks NDC

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Category: The WorkShop

Created on Sunday, 21 October 2012 00:00

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“Why Didn't You Put Up Infrastructure Before Setting Up Two Universities?” – Bawumia Asks NDC

21 October 2012

Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, Vice-Presidential candidate of the New Patriotic Party, has questioned why the ruling National Democratic Congress administration did not wait to put up the infrastructure required for a university before setting up two universities if they believed so much in the argument that all infrastructure must be ready before the initiation of the free SHS programme.

{sidebar id=11 align=right}Dr. Bawumia was speaking on the first day of his seven (7) day Upper West tour at a durbar organized in Kperisi in the Wa Central constituency.

After taking his time to explain why free secondary school education is a necessity and can be done, Dr. Bawumia said “When we say we are bringing free quality education to the people of Ghana, the NDC goes around saying we cannot do it, and we ask why?

Their arguments are quite flimsy; they say we cannot do it because there is not sufficient infrastructure. But that argument doesn’t really make sense because at the time Dr. Nkrumah introduced free education in the north, there was only one middle school in the whole of the north; one school. If Nkrumah had gone by the argument of the NDC, we would not have had free education in the north.

{sidebar id=10 align=right}Similarly, this same NDC government which says the children of Ghana should be denied free quality education because there aren’t enough infrastructures, without any infrastructure has set up a university in the Brong Ahafo region and another in the Volta region. If they believed seriously in this argument they are making, why didn’t they wait to build the infrastructure before setting up the universities?” he asked.

Dr. Bawumia reiterated the point that for any nation to progress and become a modern society, certain critical steps need to be taken and this includes educating its people, which he said ought to be prioritized.

He added that this was the reason why the NPP had no apologies for indicating that it would commit whatever resources needed into education to grow Ghana’s human resource base into a competitive one globally.

“Another argument they bring up is that there is no money. And we say to the NDC that if you stop giving our money to Woyome, Construction Pioneers, Waterville etc. and manage the economy well, we can have enough money for free secondary school education because if we can afford to spend 1.4% of GDP (i.e. our total income) on settlement of dubious judgment debts then we can certainly afford to spend 1.3% of GDP to provide free secondary education,” he added.

The NPP Vice-Presidential candidate also took on the government for continuing to trumpet so called achievements which either is non-existent or which as yet do not have any impact in the lives of the people in the North such as the setting up or revamping of factories like the Buipe Shea Nut factory and the Pwalugu Tomato factory.

“How can you claim a shea nut factory which has not produced one ounce of shea butter since it was commissioned to much fanfare some six months ago is impacting positively on the lives of the people of Northern Ghana?” he asked.

“We want real factories and not propaganda factories for the sake of political expediency. We cannot be proud about factories which have not worked 5months after commissioning or factories which have been taken over by goats,” he said.

Source: Communications Directorate, NPP

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Pay Samuel Awuku GH¢10m - Court orders SIC

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Category: Youth News

Created on Saturday, 20 October 2012 00:00

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Pay Samuel Awuku GH¢10m - Court orders SIC

The Accra Fast Track High Court has dismissed an application filed by the State Insurance Company (SIC) Ltd seeking to stay its award of GH¢10 million reparation in general and compensatory damages to Samuel Awuku, an accident victim.

The court, presided over by Mr Justice U.P. Dery, Thursday ruled that the application was incompetent and awarded costs of GH¢500 against the SIC.

That was after counsel for the boy had urged the court not to entertain the application because SIC lacked capacity, since it was not a party to the suit which culminated in the grant of the award.

Sources told graphic.com.gh that immediately after the court’s ruling, some officials of SIC approached lawyers for the little boy, possibly to seek the way forward, but nothing conclusive was arrived at.

{sidebar id=10 align=right}On November 9, 2003 when Awuku was just three years old, he was knocked down by a truck, with registration number UW 853 C, while walking with his mother by the side of the road at Afienya.

His right thigh and part of his mid-section were destroyed in the process and he has had his life ruined through the negligence and recklessness of the driver who ran over him.

Now Awuku is 12 and that gory accident has permanently rendered him sub-human, with doctors declaring him functionally unable to biologically reproduce.

He lost both testicles and scrotum and the skin shaft of his penis and left with an amputated right thigh.

He underwent more than six surgeries at the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital where he had been on admission for about eight months.

He will need a fitting of leg prosthesis, but, for now, he is walking with crutches.

Little Awuku sued the driver and the car owner, Shaibu Sulemana, through his uncle. The driver was prosecuted at the Tema Circuit Court ‘A’, convicted and fined GH¢200 or in default, he would serve two years’ imprisonment.

But when all hope of getting justice seemed to be failing, Awuku received some justice from the Accra Fast Track High Court, which awarded him the reparation of GH¢10 million in general and compensatory damages, GH¢179.30 in medical expenses with interest from July 2004 and costs of GH¢10,000.

Since the driver could not pay the damages, lawyers for Awuku sued the SIC, which insured the truck that was involved in the accident.

This award was challenged by the company as being too excessive and it offered to pay a conditional reparation of GH¢35,000.

In 2008, claims were put in for Little Awuku but that had not been paid and, according to the boy, his incapacitation was made known to SIC when his claims were put in.

But, he said, it had become obvious that SIC was unwilling to pay him any compensation for his injury, hence the instant action against the company.

The SIC entered appearance in the matter and was required by the rules of court to file its defence in the matter.

Rather, the company filed a motion for stay of execution of the judgement against the driver pending appeal of the matter.

According to SIC, the award granted Awuku was manifestly excessive regarding the global award of general and compensatory damages and that it was only fair and just that enforcement of the judgement be stayed pending the appeal.

The company said it was not a party to the suit that culminated in the award and prayed that the court grant a conditional stay of execution in the sum of GH¢35,000 to be paid to the boy pending the appeal.

It said the boy would be unable to refund the money in the likely event that the Court of Appeal varied the damages awarded.

From: Daily Graphic/Ghana

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