THE Gonja Traditional Council has served notice of its intention to contest the Tamale High Court ruling on the Buipe Skin at the Court of Appeal.
This is to enable it to seek justice on the matter in which the court ruled in favour of the Buipewura, Abdulai Jinapor, as the rightful occupant of the skin.
The council contended that it was not satisfied with the ruling, since the Yagbonwura, who is the Paramount Chief for the area, had the sole authority of enskinning and removing chiefs who were not loyal to him.
The council has, therefore, vowed to appeal against the ruling at the Appeals Court after their lawyers have studied details of the ruling.
This was contained in a press statement issued in Tamale on Monday and signed by 11 chiefs including the Yagbonwura.
It would be recalled that the Tamale High Court last week declared as null and void the deskinment of Abdulai Jinapor by the Yagbonwura, Tuntumba Borisa Sulemana Jakpa II, for gross insubordination in May last year.
The Buipewura later challenged the decision by the Yagbonwura, the Traditional Council and its registrar in the court.
Justice Kwame Ansu Gyeabour, who presided over the matter, upheld that the Buipewura could not be deskinned by the defendants because they were not the kingmakers for the skin.
The court also upheld the Buipewura’s argument that he was not given a fair hearing before the supposed deskinment and, therefore, awarded costs and general damages to the tune of GH¢6,400 against the defendants.
At the first ordinary meeting of the council at Damongo on May 13, 2010, an attempt was made to mediate in the case between the Buipewura and one of his alleged antagonists, Monowura Akwasi Piesie, who the former claimed to have deskinned for gross disrespect to his skin.
The mediation talks, however, turned acrimonious leading to heated verbal exchanges between the Buipewura and his loyalists on one side and the Yagbonwura and the other chiefs and their supporters on the other.
The Buipewura was alleged to have subsequently pulled out a gun and fired warning shots, a charge the Buipewura has since denied.
Following this development, the council declared its intention to destool the Buipewura for what they considered as insubordination and gross disrespect to the council members.
In a statement signed by the Yagbonwura and 12 other paramount chiefs of the Gonja Traditional Area at Damongo, the chiefs accused the Buipewura, Jinapor II Abdulai Mahama of “gross disrespect for the King of Gonja and the entire members of the Gonja Traditional Council.”
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
Monday, January 24, 2011
TAMA HOLDS TOWN HALL MEETING (PAGE 29, JAN 24, 2011)
THE Tamale Metropolitan Assembly (TAMA) has held a Town Hall meeting where the mayor, Alhaji Haruna Abdulai Friday, outlined his achievements, spelt out his visions and answered questions bordering on the accelerated development of the metropolis.
The meeting, which was the second of its kind to be held by the assembly, was attended by the general public, members of the assembly, some heads of departments and their officials.
Among the topics discussed were revenue mobilisation, employment generation, water and sanitation and peace and security.
Alhaji Friday indicated that there had been some improvements in the revenue mobilisation drive by the assembly last year.
He said out of the GH¢1500000 cedis targetted for the year, the assembly was able to mobilise.
He further indicated that the total debts inherited before May 2009 was “over GH¢320,000 but we have so far serviced about 90 per cent of the debts.”
The mayor denied a statement that his outfit was not sensitive to the needs of the youth and disclosed that under the National Youth Employment Programme, a total number of 7707 people had been engaged in productive ventures through the eleven modules rolled out by the programme.
The Youth in Agriculture programme had also supported a total of 82 groups with a numerical strength of 1,976 farmers with an interest-free loan to cultivate 3,401 acres of rice, maize and soya beans.
Additionally, some livestock farmers were also given animals to rear and that more farmers would be benefiting from the programme this year.
Alhaji Friday also stated that the assembly had over the last two years extended pipe-borne water and constructed several public toilets to a number of communities and schools in collaboration with its development partners.
Some of the beneficiary communities include Garizegu, Nyanshegu, Taha, Gbalahi and Wovogu.
On the prevailing peace and security in the metropolis, the mayor explained that it was as a result of the effective co-ordination of all security agencies and other stakeholders in the maintenance of law and order.
Task forces had also been established in all the 54 electoral areas in the metropolis with a numerical strength of 1,242 volunteers to give early warning signals to prevent and manage conflicts.
Training and some logistical support had also been offered members of the task force to aid them in their duties. According to the mayor, the task force had so far arrested over 114 suspected criminals during their night patrols and that most of them had since been prosecuted.
He announced that an investment forum is to be held in the metropolis to showcase the potential of the area to attract the needed investments for accelerated growth.
“With the relative peace achieved, coupled with the increased internal revenue mobilisation performance of over 100 per cent, high employment opportunities and food security, there has been an increase in commercial activities leading to improved standard of life,” the mayor stated.
He, however, observed that more efforts would be needed to sustain the gains made over the years.
The meeting, which was the second of its kind to be held by the assembly, was attended by the general public, members of the assembly, some heads of departments and their officials.
Among the topics discussed were revenue mobilisation, employment generation, water and sanitation and peace and security.
Alhaji Friday indicated that there had been some improvements in the revenue mobilisation drive by the assembly last year.
He said out of the GH¢1500000 cedis targetted for the year, the assembly was able to mobilise.
He further indicated that the total debts inherited before May 2009 was “over GH¢320,000 but we have so far serviced about 90 per cent of the debts.”
The mayor denied a statement that his outfit was not sensitive to the needs of the youth and disclosed that under the National Youth Employment Programme, a total number of 7707 people had been engaged in productive ventures through the eleven modules rolled out by the programme.
The Youth in Agriculture programme had also supported a total of 82 groups with a numerical strength of 1,976 farmers with an interest-free loan to cultivate 3,401 acres of rice, maize and soya beans.
Additionally, some livestock farmers were also given animals to rear and that more farmers would be benefiting from the programme this year.
Alhaji Friday also stated that the assembly had over the last two years extended pipe-borne water and constructed several public toilets to a number of communities and schools in collaboration with its development partners.
Some of the beneficiary communities include Garizegu, Nyanshegu, Taha, Gbalahi and Wovogu.
On the prevailing peace and security in the metropolis, the mayor explained that it was as a result of the effective co-ordination of all security agencies and other stakeholders in the maintenance of law and order.
Task forces had also been established in all the 54 electoral areas in the metropolis with a numerical strength of 1,242 volunteers to give early warning signals to prevent and manage conflicts.
Training and some logistical support had also been offered members of the task force to aid them in their duties. According to the mayor, the task force had so far arrested over 114 suspected criminals during their night patrols and that most of them had since been prosecuted.
He announced that an investment forum is to be held in the metropolis to showcase the potential of the area to attract the needed investments for accelerated growth.
“With the relative peace achieved, coupled with the increased internal revenue mobilisation performance of over 100 per cent, high employment opportunities and food security, there has been an increase in commercial activities leading to improved standard of life,” the mayor stated.
He, however, observed that more efforts would be needed to sustain the gains made over the years.
ONLY 19 WOMEN GOT THE NOD IN NR ...As assembly members (PAGE 13, JAN 24, 2011)
OUT of the total number of 137 female candidates who contested for the district assembly elections in the Northern Region, only 19 of them were given the mandate to serve in their various assemblies.
The figure reflects a sharp reduction as compared to 38 females who were elected to the assemblies in the last elections in 2006.
There was also a decline in the voter turn-out of 53.1 per cent as against the 56 per cent figure achieved in 2006.
In the Tamale metropolis, for instance, only one woman was voted to the assembly, compared to the 64 elected men. In nine other districts of Bole, East Gonja, Kpandai, Nanumba South, Yendi and Saboba, no female was offered the mandate.
Chereponi, Savelugu/Nanton, East Maprusi and Bunkpurugu also recorded zero per cent for the female candidates.
The West Mamprusi District, however, recorded the highest elected females of five from the 43 electoral areas followed by West Gonja, Nanumba North, Gushiegu, Karaga and Tolon/Kumbungu districts which had two elected members each, respectively.
According to the Northern Regional Director of the Electoral Commission, Mr Sylvester Kanyi, all the 20 districts in the region recorded lower turn-out except the Nanumba North, South, Zabzugu/Tatale, Yendi and Saboba where figures were higher than those in 2006.
The figures for Kpandai and Chereponi for 2006 were not readily available.
While some people in the region have attributed the low turn-out to the inconsistencies in the designated dates for the elections by the EC, others blamed the situation on voter apathy and the unattractive nature of the district assembly concept.
They also claimed that the female candidates may have suffered from stereotyping and the lack of support and resources to compete effectively.
The figure reflects a sharp reduction as compared to 38 females who were elected to the assemblies in the last elections in 2006.
There was also a decline in the voter turn-out of 53.1 per cent as against the 56 per cent figure achieved in 2006.
In the Tamale metropolis, for instance, only one woman was voted to the assembly, compared to the 64 elected men. In nine other districts of Bole, East Gonja, Kpandai, Nanumba South, Yendi and Saboba, no female was offered the mandate.
Chereponi, Savelugu/Nanton, East Maprusi and Bunkpurugu also recorded zero per cent for the female candidates.
The West Mamprusi District, however, recorded the highest elected females of five from the 43 electoral areas followed by West Gonja, Nanumba North, Gushiegu, Karaga and Tolon/Kumbungu districts which had two elected members each, respectively.
According to the Northern Regional Director of the Electoral Commission, Mr Sylvester Kanyi, all the 20 districts in the region recorded lower turn-out except the Nanumba North, South, Zabzugu/Tatale, Yendi and Saboba where figures were higher than those in 2006.
The figures for Kpandai and Chereponi for 2006 were not readily available.
While some people in the region have attributed the low turn-out to the inconsistencies in the designated dates for the elections by the EC, others blamed the situation on voter apathy and the unattractive nature of the district assembly concept.
They also claimed that the female candidates may have suffered from stereotyping and the lack of support and resources to compete effectively.
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
MOTOR ACCIDENT CLAIMS SIX LIVES (BACK PAGE, JAN 14, 2011)
Story: Zakaria Alhassan, Tamale.
SIX persons died on the spot while four others sustained injuries when a vehicle in which they were travelling in, veered off and run into an oncoming Articulator truck at Diare, along the Tamale-Bolgatanga highway.
There was however an altercation between the police and the kinsmen and sympathizers of the deceased when the former arrived at the scene to pick the deceased to the Morgue for autopsy.
The crowd blocked the road and compelled the Police to release the bodies that had already been deposited in the Police vehicle to them for early burial according to Islamic tradition.
The four injured persons including the driver of the KIA were nonetheless sent to the Tamale Teaching Hospital where they are currently receiving treatment.
According to the Police PRO, Ebenezer Tetteh, the incident occurred on Wednesday night at about 10pm. The KIA vehicle with the registration number AS 6798 Z in which all the ten victims were travelling in, was carrying foodstuff and animals from Lingbinsi in the West Mamprusi district to Techiman.
While the articulator truck with the registration number AS 1297 G was on its way from Accra to Bolgatanga.
Mr. Tetteh explained that, one of the front tyres of the KIA vehicle burst after hitting a pot hole. The driver thus lost control and veered off onto the lane of the oncoming articulator truck. It braced the truck in the process and somersaulted.
The PRO explained that the police arrived at the scene at about 11 pm and picked the deceased into their vehicle but were prevented from sending them to the TTH morgue by the agitated crowd who insisted that since the people were dead, there was no need for further delays in burying their kinsmen according to Islamic tradition.
“We had to release the bodies and leave the scene at around 1am to prevent any further tension,” Mr. Tetteh intimated.
He however said they were able to identify one Azumah Bawumia a circuit supervisor with the GES and indicated that, “if the people go ahead to burry the bodies without our consent, we would hold him responsible since he led the protest.”
SIX persons died on the spot while four others sustained injuries when a vehicle in which they were travelling in, veered off and run into an oncoming Articulator truck at Diare, along the Tamale-Bolgatanga highway.
There was however an altercation between the police and the kinsmen and sympathizers of the deceased when the former arrived at the scene to pick the deceased to the Morgue for autopsy.
The crowd blocked the road and compelled the Police to release the bodies that had already been deposited in the Police vehicle to them for early burial according to Islamic tradition.
The four injured persons including the driver of the KIA were nonetheless sent to the Tamale Teaching Hospital where they are currently receiving treatment.
According to the Police PRO, Ebenezer Tetteh, the incident occurred on Wednesday night at about 10pm. The KIA vehicle with the registration number AS 6798 Z in which all the ten victims were travelling in, was carrying foodstuff and animals from Lingbinsi in the West Mamprusi district to Techiman.
While the articulator truck with the registration number AS 1297 G was on its way from Accra to Bolgatanga.
Mr. Tetteh explained that, one of the front tyres of the KIA vehicle burst after hitting a pot hole. The driver thus lost control and veered off onto the lane of the oncoming articulator truck. It braced the truck in the process and somersaulted.
The PRO explained that the police arrived at the scene at about 11 pm and picked the deceased into their vehicle but were prevented from sending them to the TTH morgue by the agitated crowd who insisted that since the people were dead, there was no need for further delays in burying their kinsmen according to Islamic tradition.
“We had to release the bodies and leave the scene at around 1am to prevent any further tension,” Mr. Tetteh intimated.
He however said they were able to identify one Azumah Bawumia a circuit supervisor with the GES and indicated that, “if the people go ahead to burry the bodies without our consent, we would hold him responsible since he led the protest.”
UNIDENTIFIED GROUP ATTACKS COP (PAGE 46, JAN 20, 2011)
A POLICE officer, Sergeant Kwame Atinkorang suffered some internal injuries when he was allegedly attacked by an unidentified youth group in Tamale last Saturday after arresting a motorist for committing a traffic offence.
The officer, who was rushed to the Tamale Teaching Hospital for treatment, only gained consciousness yesterday and is currently responding to treatment. No arrest has been made yet.
According to the Northern Regional Police Public Relations Officer (PRO), Mr Ebenezer Tetteh, the incident occurred around the central business district.
That was after the victim had released a motorist who committed a traffic offence and asked him to report to the police after his motorist licence had been confiscated.
Some unidentified youth later pounced on Sgt Atinkorang and beat him up mercilessly for what could be described as a reprisal attack for the arrest and detention of the attackers’ colleague.
According to the PRO, earlier, a motorist, who was riding without a crash helmet, had been arrested and detained at the Police charge office.
Later, colleagues of the suspect rushed to the charge office and obstructed the work of the police.
In the process, Mr Tetteh said, they acted violently for which reason three of them were also placed in custody.
Upon hearing about the incident, many of their colleagues also besieged the station demanding the immediate release of the four associates.
He said that created a scene that attracted the attention of the Police high command in the region whose intervention ensured sanity.
The PRO stated that Sgt Atinkorang was later attacked in town when he joined his colleagues to continue with the special exercise to clamp down on motor traffic offences in the metropolis.
At the recent encounter with the media, President Atta Mills expressed grave concern over the growing indiscipline on the roads following which the Inspector-General of Police, Mr Paul Tawiah Quaye, ordered his men to undertake the exercise.
The officer, who was rushed to the Tamale Teaching Hospital for treatment, only gained consciousness yesterday and is currently responding to treatment. No arrest has been made yet.
According to the Northern Regional Police Public Relations Officer (PRO), Mr Ebenezer Tetteh, the incident occurred around the central business district.
That was after the victim had released a motorist who committed a traffic offence and asked him to report to the police after his motorist licence had been confiscated.
Some unidentified youth later pounced on Sgt Atinkorang and beat him up mercilessly for what could be described as a reprisal attack for the arrest and detention of the attackers’ colleague.
According to the PRO, earlier, a motorist, who was riding without a crash helmet, had been arrested and detained at the Police charge office.
Later, colleagues of the suspect rushed to the charge office and obstructed the work of the police.
In the process, Mr Tetteh said, they acted violently for which reason three of them were also placed in custody.
Upon hearing about the incident, many of their colleagues also besieged the station demanding the immediate release of the four associates.
He said that created a scene that attracted the attention of the Police high command in the region whose intervention ensured sanity.
The PRO stated that Sgt Atinkorang was later attacked in town when he joined his colleagues to continue with the special exercise to clamp down on motor traffic offences in the metropolis.
At the recent encounter with the media, President Atta Mills expressed grave concern over the growing indiscipline on the roads following which the Inspector-General of Police, Mr Paul Tawiah Quaye, ordered his men to undertake the exercise.
POVERTY REDUCTION PROJECT LAUNCHED ...In Tamale (BACK PAGE, JAN 19, 2011)
THE Social Opportunities Project (SOP) targeted at improving the socio-economic life of the rural poor in the country has commenced in Tamale.
The US$88.6 million project is to provide rural poor households with access to employment and income-earning opportunities, especially during agricultural off-seasons, while rehabilitating productive and social infrastructure such as dams and feeder roads.
The five-year project is being funded by the World Bank through a loan facility.
In all, 40 districts are to benefit from the project nation-wide. They include 11 districts from the Northern, six from the Upper West and eight from the Upper West regions.
At a capacity-building workshop for 20 beneficiary districts in Tamale last Tuesday, the outgoing Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, Mr Joseph Yieleh Chireh, explained that the government adopted a National Social Protection Strategy (NSPS) with the aim of protecting the poorest and most vulnerable segment of society.
According to a speech read on his behalf, a number of programmes, such as the Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty (LEAP), the Capitation Grant, School Feeding, distribution of free school uniforms and free maternal care for pregnant women, were all part of the NSPS.
The US$88.6 million project is to provide rural poor households with access to employment and income-earning opportunities, especially during agricultural off-seasons, while rehabilitating productive and social infrastructure such as dams and feeder roads.
The five-year project is being funded by the World Bank through a loan facility.
In all, 40 districts are to benefit from the project nation-wide. They include 11 districts from the Northern, six from the Upper West and eight from the Upper West regions.
At a capacity-building workshop for 20 beneficiary districts in Tamale last Tuesday, the outgoing Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, Mr Joseph Yieleh Chireh, explained that the government adopted a National Social Protection Strategy (NSPS) with the aim of protecting the poorest and most vulnerable segment of society.
According to a speech read on his behalf, a number of programmes, such as the Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty (LEAP), the Capitation Grant, School Feeding, distribution of free school uniforms and free maternal care for pregnant women, were all part of the NSPS.
Monday, January 17, 2011
FIRE DESTROYS RICE FARMS (PAGE 3, JAN 17, 2011)
BUSHFIRES continue to wreak havoc on large tracts of rice farms in the Northern Region, where farmers are saddled with the problem of inadequate machinery for harvest.
By last Saturday, the disaster had struck more than eight rice farms, covering hundreds of hectares, including a 77-hectare farm in Yendi owned by Col (retd) Ibrahim Abdulai, a former Northern Regional Minister.
The other calamity occurred at Kpalkori, where the farmers claimed that the unavailability of combine harvesters for early harvest in the region was a contributory factor to the hazard.
The Kpalkori Farm belongs to members of Northern Youth for Peace and Development, a Tamale-based civil society organisation.
According to the project co-ordinator, Mr Yahaya Abdul-Rauf, the youth cultivated 87 hectares of rice, out of which only 10 hectares was spared by the fire.
He was full of sympathy for the farmers he described as unemployed youth mobilised from various political groups to take advantage of the youth-in-agriculture programme rolled out by the government.
Mr Abdul-Rauf explained that after acquiring the land at Kpalkori, the Ministry of Food and Agriculture supported them with fast-yielding rice seeds which they planted in September.
“Even though the rice was ready for harvest in October, we could not readily get a combine harvester, since there were not enough in the region,” he indicated.
He said members of the association had to contribute to buy fuel and spare parts to fix some broken down combine harvesters, “but unfortunately they all broke down again on the farm”.
Mr Abdul-Rauf, therefore, appealed to the government to come to their aid, since they had exhausted all their resources in their farming venture.
By last Saturday, the disaster had struck more than eight rice farms, covering hundreds of hectares, including a 77-hectare farm in Yendi owned by Col (retd) Ibrahim Abdulai, a former Northern Regional Minister.
The other calamity occurred at Kpalkori, where the farmers claimed that the unavailability of combine harvesters for early harvest in the region was a contributory factor to the hazard.
The Kpalkori Farm belongs to members of Northern Youth for Peace and Development, a Tamale-based civil society organisation.
According to the project co-ordinator, Mr Yahaya Abdul-Rauf, the youth cultivated 87 hectares of rice, out of which only 10 hectares was spared by the fire.
He was full of sympathy for the farmers he described as unemployed youth mobilised from various political groups to take advantage of the youth-in-agriculture programme rolled out by the government.
Mr Abdul-Rauf explained that after acquiring the land at Kpalkori, the Ministry of Food and Agriculture supported them with fast-yielding rice seeds which they planted in September.
“Even though the rice was ready for harvest in October, we could not readily get a combine harvester, since there were not enough in the region,” he indicated.
He said members of the association had to contribute to buy fuel and spare parts to fix some broken down combine harvesters, “but unfortunately they all broke down again on the farm”.
Mr Abdul-Rauf, therefore, appealed to the government to come to their aid, since they had exhausted all their resources in their farming venture.
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