Monday, November 12, 2012

Tamale women farmers get recognition

WOMEN have been deeply involved in various aspects of agriculture, be it land preparation, planting, weeding, harvesting, processing, animal rearing or marketing.
Some of the proud women farmers
In spite of this, they have often not been given due recognition for their contribution to food production, apparently because the men always take the credit for the productivity of their wives and sisters.
It was therefore heart-warming to see a number of women receive awards at this year’s farmers’ day awards ceremony in Tamale, which was held at Kogni.
Mma Hamza Hadija, a beans farmer from Jarigu, a community located off the Tamale-Salaga road, was adjudged the best female farmer in the Tamale metropolis.
Apart from her, four other women were rewarded for beating their male counterparts in the cultivation of some crops and the rearing of livestock.

Friday, October 26, 2012

My life depends on good harvest - groundnut farmer

Afa Alhassan being assisted by mom and auntie to dry his nuts

EACH year between August and October, one can see chains of women carrying sacks and pans filled with freshly harvested groundnuts and walking along dusty or muddy paths in villages in Northern Ghana.
It is that period of the year when groundnut farmers harvest their groundnuts, which were planted earlier in the year.
Groundnut or peanut happens to be one of the most farmed food crops in Northern Ghana due to its health, culinary and economic values.
In 2011, the Ministry of Food Agriculture (MoFA) indicated that the total output of groundnut produced in the three regions of the north accounted for about 80 percent of the nation’s total groundnut production.
In a recent trip to Zokuga, a farming community in the Savelugu/Nanton district of the Northern Region, I met with a 44-year old farmer who has been cultivating groundnut since childhood.

Isreali International Percussionist, Gilad Dobrecky performs in northern Ghana



Gilad in action with local drum
 A DURBAR has been held in Saakuba, a small farming community in the Tolon/Kumbungu district of the Northern Region, in honour of an International percussionist from Israel, Gilad Dobrecky.
Mr Dobrecky, who is considered one of the world’s top 12 percussionists by the JAZZIZ magazine, visited the community courtesy the Embassy of Israel in Ghana and the Paabinaa Meriga Peace Initiative (PAMEPI), a Tamale-based non-governmental organisation.
Using his percussion instruments and local Dagomba drums, Mr Dobrecky produced interesting rhythms and compositions that delighted both the young and old people of Saakuba and nearby villages who had converged at the durbar grounds upon hearing of his arrival.

Tuesday, August 28, 2012

WOMEN RIDING MOTORBIKES WITHOUT HELMETS - a daily occurence in Tamale

TAMALE, the Northern Regional capital, could easily earn the reputation as the motor city of Ghana as the streets of this sprawling northern city is dominated by motorcycles of various kinds.
Unfortunately, wearing of helmets is the exception rather than the norm.
Each day, hundreds of motor riders take to the streets of Tamale meandering their way through chains of vehicles without crush helmets. Among these recalcitrant riders, we have children, youth and adults, many of whom are females.
It is difficult to decipher why a sane person, fully conscious of how crucial, but fragile, the human head is, would pick a motorbike, zoom off like thunderbolt, without a crush helmet for protection.
It is even more difficult to appreciate why women, who are perceived as more conscious of safety, would be riding motorcycles, although admiringly, without any protective gear.

TTH takes healthcare to Sagnarigu community

Some of the residents waiting to receive drugs
THE Tamale Teaching Hospital (TTH) is to intensify its efforts to take healthcare delivery to the doorsteps of communities in the Tamale metropolis and other parts of the Northern Region.
With the aid of its two mobile clinics, the TTH kicked off this initiative on Tuesday, when the mobile clinics made a stop at the Sagnarigu community, a suburb of Tamale.
A large number of people in and around Sagnarigu, many of whom were women and children, headed to the forecourt of the Sagnarigu Chief Palace, where the mobile clinics were stationed.

Saturday, August 11, 2012

When would Tamale Airport become international?


THREE years ago, the Tamale airport, 11 miles from the city centre, was a relatively quiet surrounding. Aside the military flights, just a handful of people were using this airport for domestic flights to Accra.
Today, the story is entirely different. Statistics sourced from airport authorities indicate that, averagely, 4000 passengers use this airport every month.

Sunday, July 22, 2012

From Jinhua to Nanning: A taste of Eastern China

A view of Central Shanghai from the Orienta
Pearl Tower
IT may not be as flashy as Shanghai or as popular as Beijing, but, certainly, Nanning, the capital of the Guangxi Province of China, has a character of its own.
Whilst in Shanghai skyscrapers do the talking, in Nanning, the abundant green vegetation speaks for the city. Almost every corner of this city has been decorated with trees, shrubs and all kinds of green architecture that does not only beautify the city, but gives it a natural and healing effect.
No wonder the people of Nanning prefer to call their city “the green city of China.”
A green park in Nanning
We had the opportunity to spend a number of days in this beautiful city during our recent visit to China for the seminar on “Think Tank for Anglophone Countries” which was organized by the Zhejiang Normal University (ZJNU) with sponsorship from the Ministry of Commerce of the People’s Republic of China (PRC).

Friday, June 8, 2012

Northern Farmers receive 319 Tonnes of Fertilizer

THE Savannah Accelerated Development Authority (SADA) and the Millennium Villages Project (MVP) is distributing 12, 760 bags of fertilizer to farmers in 34 communities in the Northern and Upper East regions.
This is to enable each household in these communities have access to fertilizer in order to increase their yield per acre, record higher earnings and consequently reduce the incidence of poverty in these areas.
The fertilizer, estimated at US$276, 943, was donated to the MVP by one of the world’s largest suppliers of phosphate and potash, Mosaic Crop Nutrition LLC of Florida.


Tuesday, March 13, 2012

Israeli Ambassdor relishes Northern Hospitality


Ambassador Bar-li and Chief Alhassan
ISRAEL’s Ambassador to Ghana, Ms Sharon Barl-li was in the Northern Region last week and one thing she will never forget is the hospitality of the people of the region.
The treatment she received from all the people she met whilst in the region led her to the ultimate conclusion that the hospitality in the north was incomparable.
“I can feel the hospitality of the people and how truly genuine the people are,” she said, at a meeting at the office of the Tamale mayor, Alhaji Abdulai Haruna Friday.


Monday, February 13, 2012

CCFC donates medical equipment to deprived Zogu Clinic


Some of the items
THE Zogu Health Centre, a clinic that serves a number of rural communities in the Savelugu/Nanton district of the Northern Region, has received a quantity of medical equipment to enable it offer healthcare services to the large number of people who depend on it.
The items, which were provided by the Christian Children’s Fund of Canada (CCFC) and its local collaborator, Tuma Kavi, included BP apparatus, thermometers, drip stands, weighing scales, a wheel chair and bed sheets.
Although the clinic is located in Zogu, it also serves inhabitants of other communities, such as Jegong, Saandu, Jegong Kukuo, Zokuga, Tigu and Nyeko.
The clinic is therefore under constant pressure to meet the health needs of the people, particularly in attending to people suffering from malaria and women in labour.
The Daily Graphic learnt that the construction and furnishing of the Zogu Health Centre was funded by the CCFC and commissioned on November 23rd, 2006.
“The CCFC provided this facility to the people of Zogu because it realised that the old building that was being used as a clinic was in a very deplorable state,” the Programme Officer of Tuma Kavi in the Zogu area, Ms Vivian Awabu Sumani, mentioned during the presentation of the medical equipment.
She said her organisation had since then been collaborating with the CCFC to provide logistics to the clinic and also support health promotion activities in the Zogu area.
“We provide support for the immunisation of children against childhood illnesses and the provision of Vitamin A supplements. We also organise periodic de-worming exercises in the area,” she noted.
Officials of the District Health Directorate commended the CCFC and Tuma Kavi for extending support to the Zogu clinic, explaining that the cost of healthcare was too expensive for government alone to bear.
The programmes manager for the CCFC, Mr Paul Twene said the CCFC was working towards improving the welfare of children.
“But children do not leave in isolation, they live in families and communities. That is why we work to improve general living standards in communities by improving access to potable water, healthcare and quality education, as well enhance the capacity of families to make income,” he stated.
(This story was also published in the Daily Graphic of February 13, 2012, page 23)

Thursday, February 9, 2012

VALENTINE SPIRIT DYING SLOWING IN TAMALE

THE hype of Valentine celebrations in the Tamale metropolis is at its lowest point this year.
Tamale Central Business District
Many people seem to be unaware that Tuesday, February 14, is St Valentine’s Day, and not much has been heard so far in terms of events to mark the day.
“Nobody is talking about Valentine. It is like people have lost interest in it. So if not because you mentioned it, it would have come to pass without I knowing,” Esther Awudu, a Public Relations personnel at the Tamale Teaching Hospital told the Daily Graphic.
Mr Issah Murtala, a presenter on Radio Savannah in Tamale, said he had not come across any announcements on Valentine events, adding that he was not surprised about this development.
St. Valentine (Wikipedia)
“I think that over the years, there have been criticisms that the youth use Valentine celebrations to engage in acts of promiscuity, so this condemnation has dumped the Valentine spirit,” he said, adding that he had even posted a message on his Facebook wall about Valentine, but people were not commenting on it as expected.
Meanwhile, Mohammed Kudus, a dealer in gift cards at the Central Business District, said only two girls had so far come to buy Valentine cards from his shop.
“This year, we brought only a few Valentine cards to sell because last year, sales were poor and we run into losses,” he noted.

Wednesday, February 8, 2012

TAMALE GOES DEAD QUITE - As Black Stars fail to reach AFCON finals


THE streets of Tamale became dead quite this evening as the failure of the Black Stars to make it to the finals of the ongoing Africa Cup of Nations left a bitter pill in the mouths of many Ghanaians in the area.
An aura of despair cast its shadow over the sprawling city as many of the residents could not hide their disappointment.“Boss, it’s bad. I am totally speechless,” Abdul-Wahab Jebreel, a journalist said, adding that this is probably the last time he is going to invest his heart in the Black Stars.
“Never again would I watch Ghana’s match because they always disappoint us at the last minute,” Jebreel stated.
For Mr Mohammed Umar, an accountant at the Graphic Communications Group Limited (GCGL) in Tamale, the defeat was too painful to accept.
“I still do not believe it. We were so close to the final and all of a sudden, pew. A team of no match to our team has kicked us out. How can we accept this,” he lamented.
Indeed, many Ghanaians had harboured high expectations that the Black Stars would qualify to the finale of the 2012 AFCON and lift the cup once again.
All of a sudden, they had to accept the reality that the dream of qualifying to the final and possibly lifting the cup had suddenly evaporated.
What probably caused more anguish to some of these football loving Ghanaians was the repeated failure of Asamoah Gyan to give Ghana victory at the times it matter most.
“Why is it that every time, it is he (Gyan) who fails us? Aaa...ba,” Aisha Issah, the owner of Ayi’s Special Dishes at the Tamale Central Business district complained.
In her opinion, this should be the last tournament of Asamoah Gyan and the other senior places.
“Next time, the coach should send only Dede Ayew and the other young guys,” Aisha suggested, may be confirming the cliché that we have 22 million coaches in Ghana.
Ghana lost by a loan goal to Zambia and by so doing has been relegated to fight for the third or fourth place.

Wednesday, January 25, 2012

REHABILITATING ZUJUNG CEMETRY - A COLLECTIVE RESPONSIBILITY


(Daily Graphic, Jan 24, 2012, page 19)

IF we were all destined to perish on the same day and time, we would not have to worry about how nice or dirty our cemeteries are, after all, making the cemetery neat would not bring any comfort to the dead.
The reality however is that we would die and be buried one after the other, so many of us would have to visit the cemetery on many occasions in our lifetime.
It therefore behoves on us to keep the cemetery in good condition so that each time we lose someone, we would not hesitate to visit the cemetery.
It is also incumbent on us to dignify the cemetery because there lay the remains of people we shared laughter, joy, pain and all manner of emotions with when they were alive.
On one morning, whiles on my way to work, I tuned to one of the local radio stations in Tamale, Zaa Radio, and heard an elderly man speaking about efforts that he and some other persons were making to build a fence wall to protect the Zujung cemetery.
I became interested in what these volunteers were doing, because the Zujung cemetery, located off the Tamale-Kumasi road, is the most popular graveyard in Tamale.
However, the current state of this cemetery leaves much to be desired, especially with regards to sanitation. Some people leaving near to the cemetery have turned it into a toilet and dumpsite.
Structures are being raised very close to the cemetery and, hence, the boundaries of the cemetery are being narrowed gradually. There are also no guidelines to bring orderliness in the digging of graves and so graves are located haphazardly on various portions of the graveyard.
It is surprising that in spite of the poor state of this cemetery, many people, including political and community leaders, go there regularly to bury their loved ones and yet have not made any effort at putting the cemetery in good shape.
So, later in the day, I drove to the cemetery and lo and behold, I saw four people busily putting up a fence wall.
But how much work can four people do on such a big burial site, I asked the leader of the group, 72-year old Baba Kisco and he said with divine providence, he was hopeful they would do the work till finish.
Mr Kisco said in 2009, he noticed that the cemetery was being encroached upon and he was deeply worried because he thought in future, there would not be any more space for burial.
“I began to make announcements in mosques appealing for support for the construction of a fence wall to protect the cemetery. I asked for cement, sand, water, and other items,” he said.
Baba Kisco said the response was slow in coming but as the months rolled into years, and the years went by, he was able to mobilise a number of these items and therefore decided to start the project.
He said in early 2011, he and three others – Abukari Munkaila, Nanumdoo Fuseini and Tahiru Fuseini – moulded 10,000 blocks.
In November that same year, they finally decided to dig the foundation and raise the wall beginning from the Northern side of the entrance to the cemetery. Till date, if you visit the cemetery, you would find them there working feverishly.
Mr Kisco pointed out that although the four of them were physically engaged in the work, they were being supervised by the Chief Imams of Tamale Central Mosque and Afajura Mosque, Alhaji Abdul-Salam and Alhaji Seidu Abubakari Zakaria, respectively.
He said occasionally, somebody would come to join hands and later disappear, explaining that some people fear to work at the cemetery.
Baba Kisco said since the work begun, the support has not been coming consistently.
“Once in a while, somebody would bring us some bags of cement or trips of sand,” he said, adding that he owed so much gratitude to some food vendors in town who have continued to provide them food during the work.
Mr Kisco said he was very optimistic that the work would be executed till finish if they get adequate cement, iron rods, river sand, aggregate, tanks, water, wheel barrow, shovels, pick axe and other construction materials.
I asked the four volunteers if the Tamale Metropolitan Assembly (TaMA) had offered them any form of support and they indicated that the assembly provided part of the construction materials, although the MCE, Alhaji Haruna Friday had not yet visited the project site.
As the conversation with the four people progressed, a group of people brought the remains of a loved one to bury and we joined them to bid farewell to the deceased.
When we returned to the project site, the four people made me understand that the construction of the fence wall was not the only thing they were doing to keep the cemetery in good shape.
“Each year, we come together to weed the grass in the cemetery. We have been doing this since 1997,” Baba Kisco said, adding that the four of them have been doing community service for a long time.
In fact, the four of them were the brains and hands behind the rehabilitation of sanitary facilities at the morgue of the Tamale Teaching Hospital (TTH).
Meanwhile, some casual labourers engaged by the TaMA to undertake burial activities at the cemetery told this paper that they were witnesses to the good work being done by the four volunteers.
One of them, Mr Abdul-Kahad said the construction of the fence wall would not only stop encroachment, but also keep away unscrupulous persons who visit the cemetery to attend to nature’s call and to do illicit activities, like ‘juju’.
When the Daily Graphic spoke to the Public Relations Officer (PRO) of TaMA, Mr Issah Musah, he said the assembly had not shirked its responsibility towards keeping the cemetery in good shape.
“The construction of a fence wall had always been on the drawing board of the assembly, until an individual by name Yaho Yaho galvanised support to commence the project,” the stated.
He said the assembly was collaborating with Yaho Yaho to construct the fence wall.
The reality however remains that when you go to the project site, it is not a contractor or assembly officials who are there constructing or supervising the work. It is Baba Kisco and his team.
It is therefore high time that the assembly and other corporate institutions, politicians, chiefs and other inhabitants contribute their quota towards making the Zujung cemetery a decent place.
For those who have already done so, May Allah bless them abundantly.