Journalistic Works - News Articles, Features And More of P. ATOGEWE WEDAM

The Acting Upper East Regional Minister Mr.  Frank Adongo Fuseini, has lauded the impact of rural banks in Ghana emphasising that, the concept of rural and community banks has over the decades bridged the yawning gap that hitherto existed between rural and urban financial transactions. Cross Section of the Bank's Shareholders at the AGM  In a speech read on his behalf at the 6 th Annual General Meeting of the Bongo Rural Bank over the weekend, the Minister also observed that, this class of banks had the responsibility of mobilising savings in rural communities, investing some of the savings for good returns and to use the funds to provide credit to micro-enterprises in their operational areas. This the Minister noted, would then trigger the needed growth and development in the local economies. Mr. Fuseini also noted that, rural banks were very critical stakeholders in the successful implementation of government’s flagship programmes such as the “Planting for Foo...

An education intervention project being implemented by Plan International Ghana, christened Reaching and Teaching out-of-school Children [REACH], has commenced in the Bongo District of the Upper East Region with a district-wide enrollment figure of 625 pupils. At a brief ceremony in Atiabiisi-Atanseka to formally welcome about 40 pupils to a REACH teaching facility in the area, a Field Education Officer with Plan Ghana Miss Victoria Bemaalia Vikpeniber, said the Project is a complimentary basic education [CBE] module by her outfit aimed at increasing transition of out-of-school children into the formal primary school system. Field Education Officer of Plan Ghana, Miss Victoria Bemaalia Making a point at the event She disclosed that the Project, being funded by Plan Ghana and another international NGO known as Educate A Child, was also partly funded by the Government of Ghana and targets to enroll a total of 90,000 children of school-going age who have either not attended ...

Some 1,700 families across six districts in the Upper East Region that lost their property including crops and animals as well as those whose houses collapsed during the floods in August and September 2018, have begun receiving relief items from the Ghana Red Cross Society [GRCS]. Speaking on Wednesday in Kologo-Zuo in the Kassena-Nankana Municipality where the distribution of the items started, Secretary General of the GRCS Mr. Samuel Kofi Addo, stated that the relief package was basically non-food items that are meant to help meet the basic daily needs of the victims. He disclosed that each family, averagely made up of six people, was to receive three bars of Key Soap, two mats, two blankets and one plastic bucket with a lid. The Secretary General further disclosed that the affected families were spread across 82 communities in the six districts including the Kassena-Nankana Municipality, the Binduri, Bongo, Builsa North, the Garu and Tempane districts. He added that the Ko...

The Chiefs and people of the Bongo Traditional Area in the Upper East Region climaxed their annual Azambene festival celebrations last weekend, with a call on the people in the area to adopt environmental-friendly practices as well as lend their support to government interventions geared at protecting the environment. Paramount Chief of Bongo, Naba Baba Salifu [Mic in Hand] Giving His Address Paramount Chief of Bongo, Naba Baba Salifu A. Lemyaarum who made the call also revealed that, the Azambene festival is celebrated annually by the chiefs and people of the Bongo Traditional area in remembrance of the journey their great grandfather embarked on from Nalerigu in the East Mamprusi District in the Northern Region to their present location in Upper East several decades ago. But dwelling further on his call on the people to protect the environment, the Chief stated that global warming was real thus the urgent need for all and sundry to take effective measures that can susta...

The Bolgatanga Senior High School [Big Boss] in the Upper East Region, on Tuesday received its prize package from the Upper East Regional Directorate of the National Health Insurance Authority [NHIA] for emerging winners in a national quiz competition in 2016 dubbed “NHIS Brilliant Quiz Competition”. The package included a cheque for 11,000.00 Ghana Cedis, a brand new 43-inch NASCO LED Television set and a trophy. Upper East Regional Director of the NHIA Mr. Sebastian Alagpulinsa who presented the prize to the school’s authorities on its campus, said the cash component of the prize was to primarily assist the school execute any health-related project among other vital needs it may deem necessary. He revealed that Big Boss first won a regional competition from among its peers in 2016 and subsequently, proceeded to a zonal contest in Sunyani where it placed second. He further disclosed that following its sterling performance, the school then represented the Northern Sector ...

The Builsa North District office of the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) has completed its second phase of public education campaigns on tax compliance. The campaigns which mainly targeted the informal sector took the NCCE team to major market centres across the district during which several women were reached with the message. This move by the NCCE formed part of the Ghana Revenue Authority’s (GRA) efforts to generate adequate revenues in order to help Government finance the national budget as well as reduce over-reliance on foreign donors for Ghana’s development needs. The Acting District Director of the NCCE, Mr. Jeffrey Adda, disclosed to the ISD that, the GRA after realising through surveys that many Ghanaians and majority of the business community were not captured by the tax net, contracted the NCCE to undertake the public tax education exercise. He further disclosed that, his outfit carried out the first phase of the campaigns in the last quarter of ...

The Naara Rural Bank [NRB], a premier rural bank in the Upper East Region has spent a total of 9,614.00 Ghana Cedis in support of various activities in the education, health and agriculture sectors during the 2016 fiscal year. Board Chairman of the bank, Mr. Kweku Ananga made this known in his report at the bank’s 27 th Annual General Meeting held in Paga over the weekend. He said the gesture formed part of the bank’s corporate social responsibility to the communities whose residents formed the main clientele of the bank and whose deposits, have kept the bank alive through the decades. He added that, such annual financial assistance to the sectors also goes a long way to complement government’s interventions and programmes in those areas. Giving the details, he said GH ₵ 4,434.00 was spent on education while GH₵2,300.00 was used in supporting the health sector. The agriculture sector received support amounting to GH₵2,880.00. Mr. Ananga’s report which centered on the ban...

The Upper East Regional Minister, Mr. Rockson Ayine Bukari has stated that there is no better time than now for the survival and operation of rural banks when the “most business-friendly and people-friendly” government is in charge of the reigns of Ghana. He added that the Nana Addo-led government had already given the clearest indication that the private sector will be the major partner in development and job creation and that every effort will be made to create the enabling environment for the sector to flourish. In a speech read for him by the Upper East Regional Coordinating Director, Alhaji Abdulai Abubakar at the 26 th Annual General Meeting [AGM] of the Naara Rural Bank [NRB] held in Navrongo at the weekend, the Regional Minister further stated that in achieving the goal of making the private sector thrive, government was working hard to restore the macroeconomic stability of the country while moving from taxation to production as a means of expanding Ghana’s economy. He ...

The Upper East Regional Coordinator of the Institute of Social Research and Development [ISRAD] a non-profit local development organisation, Mr. Abdul-Razak Issah has made a passionate appeal to Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies [MMDAs] in Ghana to authorise the timely disbursement of funds under the 0.5 percent allocation of the District Assembly Common Fund which is statutorily earmarked for malaria control activities. Delivering a presentation to some selected stakeholders at Bongo in its series of advocacy meetings dubbed the “ADVOCACY FOR RESOURCES FOR MALARIA STOPPAGE [ARMS] INITIATIVE PROJECT”, Mr. Issah noted that though awareness about the dangers and negative impact of malaria was high among policy makers and the general public, malaria control activities were largely donor funded. He observed that with Ghana’s current middle income status, donor funding was dwindling and therefore thanked the United Kingdom Aid for International Development [UKAID] wh...

The Bongo District chapter of the Ghana Federation for the Disable [GFD] has made a passionate appeal to parents, guardians and custodians of children with disabilities not to hide them or lock them up but rather enroll such children in school or put them in some form of artisanal training so as to secure their future. Chairman of the Federation, Mr. Akalga Samuel Asampana made the appeal on behalf of members at the celebration of the 2016 International Day for People living With Disabilities [PWDs] held this week under the theme “Achieving 17 Goals for The Future We Want”. He emphasised that a child living with disability was not necessarily incapacitated and could be educated or trained to acquire a livelihood or employable skills under the right environment just like any other child. Mr. Asampana therefore called on the Ministry of Education to design a strong legislative instrument to provide the necessary facilities and equipment in each region that will enable perso...