THE THOUGHTS ROOM

THE Young Men Christian Associations (YMCA) Ghana, has launched a new logo which is an embodiment of Africa with the inscription of YMCA and the country’s name. The new logo was launched on the theme: “Empowering young people in Ghana for the African renaissance”. The new logo was adopted during the ninth Ordinary General Meeting and Partnership summit to foster togetherness in all the national movements in Africa. The National President of YMCA, Ghana, Mr Kwame Gyimah-Akwafo, said the new logo took its root from the global operation plan for all YMCAs in the world. “There is the need to build the capacity of the youth and to make them more relevant to the communities in which they operate”, he added. This, he said, was the reason why YMCAs across the African continent deemed it necessary to have a common logo to identify them as one body with one vision that aimed at building the youth mentally, physically and spiritually. Mr Gyimah-Akwafo said the YMCAs achieved their vision through...

The fourth Higher Education Fair has been launched in Accra on the theme, “Mop up: No student left behind”. The fair will be held at the Accra International Conference Centre and the Sunyani Polytechnic from February 17 to 19 and February 24 to 26, 2011, respectively. Initiated in 2008, the fair aims at providing a platform for students, teachers and parents to have direct contact with higher education providers and stakeholders and also enlighten students in particular on the opportunities available to them in institutions of higher learning. The fair, which is jointly organised by I-Texon Ghana, the Ministry of Education and the National Council for Tertiary Education, also aims at engendering communication, promoting growth and finding solutions to the problems faced by students in the selection and placement of applicants in tertiary institutions. Launching it, a Deputy Minister of Education, Dr Joseph S. Annan, lauded the efforts of I-Texon Ghana at ensuring that senior high schoo...

THE Regional Unit Head of the Regional Centres for the Teaching of French (CREF), Mrs Evelyn Annor Nyarko, has appealed to school authorities to allow French teachers to use innovative techniques to teach the language. She said reports reaching CREF indicated that school authorities did not allow French teachers to apply what they learnt at in-service training courses, which included the use of songs, games and story telling to teach the language. Mrs Annor Nyarko made the appeal at the second Regional French Awareness Day celebration held in Accra on the theme: “ Connect with the world. Learn French.” She said CREF was concerned about the future of students and had therefore come out with new methods of teaching French to make it more attractive and interesting to the learner. “With the new methods for teaching the language, which included the use of songs, games and stories, it would encourage the learner to get involved in the oral aspect of the language since it was imperative for ...

The Paediatrc Unit of the Police Hospital last year recorded 0.4 per cent mortality rate as compared to 2009 when the unit recorded 0.2 per cent mortality rate. This indicates that 8 deaths were recorded at the unit in 2010, whilst 3 deaths were recorded in 2009. In 2010, the unit admitted 2018 children which indicated a little over 12 per cent increase in the in take as compared to 2009, when the unit admitted 1800 children. This was made known by the Assistant Commander of Police in charge of the Paediatric Unit, Dr Tetteh-Korboe at a party organised by the unit with support from the Police Ladies Association (POLAS) for children who were on admission at the unit. In an interview with the Daily Graphic, Dr Tetteh-Korboe said during the last quarter of 2010, eight children aged between five days to a maximum of two years were abandoned at the unit and were presently with the Social Welfare Department. She also disclosed that the unit recorded an increase in malaria relate...

The Distict Commander of the Madina Police Station, Chief Superintendent David Eklu has called for the need to build the capacity of the local police by providing them with the appropriate logistics and equipment that would enable them handle investigations to meet the needs of the community. He said, this could be achieved through a true democratic policing strategy in which the District and Local Assemblies if properly funded by the government, would consult with the local police to help them combat crime. In an interview with the Daily Graphic, Chief Superintendent Eklu said if the District Assemblies were properly fund, they would be able to provide them with the needed logistics and equipment, adding that this would go a long way in preventing them from relying solely on the Police Headquarters for support in order to handle sophisticated crime scenes in their various localities. He told the Daily Graphic that the Madina District Command provided law enforcement services for resid...

A section of Ghanaians have expressed the hope that this year will be a year of breakthrough for the Ghanaian economy. Their expectation is grounded on the facts that the economy has been stabilised so far and President John Evans Atta Mills has declared that 2011 will be an action year in which Ghanaians will witness the execution and implementation of promises and plans made by the government. In separate interviews conducted by the Daily Graphic in Accra, a number of residents said an appreciable level of success had been achieved in key areas such as education, health, trade and transportation and expressed the hope that that progress would be maintained and improved upon by the end of the year. A number of public and civil servants who spoke to the Daily Graphic also commended the government for the achievement so far but underscored the need for government officials as well as workers and indeed, the rest of Ghanaians to work harder in the coming years. They also called for vigor...

The Chief Executive Officer of Mon-Tran Ltd., Mr Tony Minkah has said the company would increase its product range by providing an end-to-end Automated Teller Machines (ATM) service to its partner banks by the close of this year. He said in that regard, the company would have a fully compliant vault that would enable them restock ATMs of their partner banks without having access to their safes. Mr Minkah made this known at the commissioning of their new head office that would enable the company expand its business programmes to deliver improved results. He said the company also had plans to establish itself in other countries in the sub-region by the year 2015. He said the company also has plans to expand its brand to Liberia, Togo, Nigeria, Cote d'Ivoire, Sierra Leonne, Zimbabwe, Kenya and South Africa. Mr Minkah also disclosed that the company was partnering with some key world-class brands in order to position itself to contribute to national development especially in the adven...

LIFE is back to normalcy in the central business district (CBD) of Accra, with less human and vehicular traffic after the Christmas festivities. All the roads linking the CBD which were choked with human and vehicular traffic some few days to Christmas are now less busy. Traders have also returned to brisk business with the hope that sales will increase as New Year’s day approaches. The Daily Graphic also observed that most shoppers only asked for the prices of goods, without making any purchases. One shopper, Mary Buabeng, when asked why she could not buy the “ready-made” shoes from the shop where she stood, answered, “The new shoes are more expensive than the used shoes. As it is, the economy has not been friendly to the ordinary people, thereby making it difficult for me to buy new items. So I prefer buying from the second-hand dealers because their items are cheaper.” In an interaction with the shop owner, Agnes Bemah, the Daily Graphic learnt that buyers complained about the price...