central university college's community service programme

By Christabel Akoto-Manu                                   central/samba/shared doc

The Central University College as part of its student’s extra-curriculum development every year has sent its second year students to various institutions for their community service programme, to help them gain working and live experience and also help other communities.

In an interview with the Times in Accra on Tuesday, the Head of the community service programme, Reverend Tetteh Djangmah said the Student Community Service Programme is in line with the university’s desire to nurture transformational leaders who make an impact on society.

He said students during their stay are obliged to partake in a community service, which is slated for the semester period between December and January, and June and August annually.

The service, he said, is undertaken over a period of four weeks, adding that the service is in five modules.

He said the first module is the School Teaching Programme, where the students periodically teach and make presentations on non-traditional subjects such as personal hygiene, good study techniques and improving self confidence to school children.

The second , he said , was ‘Individual Monitoring, where students were assigned to locals in the community to befriend and guide school children in order to  encourage them to pursue  tertiary education ,and the third is ‘Home Tutoring ‘,where students are assigned as home tutors to assist school children who have difficulties with their school work.

Under the forth module which is ‘Student Initiative Project’, students are given the opportunity to design and implement their own voluntary projects and partner with other corporate organizations.

 Students, who select the fifth module which is ‘Evangelism/Health Outreach’, organize  or partake in health or Christian programmes.

The Director of the Business Development Centre  of the university , Mr. Yaw Sarpong  said most students partaking in this year’s service were taken to various hospitals including the Tema General Hospital and the Korle   Bu Teaching Hospital, adding that others were also doing theirs in schools, like the Salvation Army A & B Basics schools ,New Horizon School among other schools.

Some students, he noted, were also taken to places like the Accra Sports stadium, orphanages, and the autism centre at kokomlemle, post offices among other organizations.

He said the programme started two years ago and has helped student participating in it very well.

Speaking to the Times, the Heads of the Salvation Army schools, Mr. Eric Frimpong and Madam Philomina Aning Twum commended the university for introducing such a programme and called on other universities to also initiate the programme.

The Educational Coordinator of the New Horizon School, Jocelyn Adobea said the arrival of the students has in a way helped decrease the workload of the staff and she could boldly say that the students have learnt much about caring for children.

A participant of the service, stationed at the Fevers Centre of the Korle Teaching Hospital, Emmanuel Nettey said the service has assisted him to identify some courses of various diseases adding that he could now take the laboratory test of the sick, when asked to.

Ptl solar in Ghana

By Christabel Akoto-Manu    

The Deputy Minister of Environment, Science and Technology, Dr. Omane Boamah has said that working towards per suing solar energy to help meet the energy needs of the country.

He explained that solar energy has an advantage over hydro power because it is renewable.

Dr. Omane said this when the Ptl Solar Company launched its Ghanaian branch and commissioned its showrooms in Accra on Wednesday.

The company’s branch in the country will be primarily selling stand-alone solar energy systems for lighting and power appliances  

He said the presence of the company will help various institutions who will use their products have a continuous supply of electricity especially the hospitals, theatres among others.

Dr. Boamah called on the company to create a cordial relationship with the various educational institutions in the country in order to encourage more students develop interest in courses relating to solar energy.

The Managing Director of Ptl Solar Ghana, Mr. William Asante said that the company stands out as one that has succeeded in creating a model for the provision of solar energy.

“Our clients who use kerosene for lighting have already found out that using  solar energy instead of kerosene does not only give them better light and environment-friendly facility but it also offers them the benefit of making huge savings in the long term” he noted.

He said that Ghana is endowed with enormous solar energy, which spreads across the entire country.

Mr. Asante said that findings of the Energy Ministry revealed that the renewable energy sector’s Daily Solar Irradiation Level (DSIL) ranges from 4KWh/m2, with the highest spreading across the entire Northern belt of the country.

This ,he said, is a good news for the country considering the fact that the Northern belt represents over 60 per cent of the country’s total land mass.

A representative from the company’s headquatres, Prabissh Thomas in his speech said energy has now become headline news, top agenda for governments and a growing concern for everyone.

“Now is the time to commit and contribute to the sustainable development of our communities by developing and commercializing solar energy and related products” he added.

WOMEN INCREASE IN THE JUDICIARY

Christabel Akoto-Manu

An in country report in Ghana on the monitoring of implementation of United Nations Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) 1325 shows that there have been an increase in the appointment of women in the judiciary as at compared to 2004

In the 23 page report, commissioned by the United Nations Development Programme ,the increase is due to structure appointment of judges that ensured adequate female reprensentation .

For instance, at February last year ,women represented 36.36 per cent of judges in the Supreme court .

The report said there are 19.23 per cent of Justices of Appeal, 17.24 per cent to High court judges, while circuit court has 33.3 per cent of female judges.

There are 35.14 per cent district court magistrate women.

Currently, there are 5,074 women as against 18,699 men in the Ghana Police Service and the sex ratio is approximately 1 female: 4 males .Out of this, there is a total of 131 females in ranks of Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) as against 857 for men.

According to the findings , spearheaded by the Women Peacemakers Programme (WPP)  ,2309 rape cases ,23956 assault cases ,541 criminal abortion cases ,46 compulsory marriages ,25 kidnapping cases ,253 attempted  abortion cases ,298 attempted rape cases and 5927 threatening cases ,were recorded between the 2005 and 2009 as Gender Based Violence .

The results also disclosed that the few females in the military are professionals like doctors ,nurses and pharmacists and the junior rank had higher numbers of women serving auxiliary positions like cooks , cleaners , ward assistants and  drivers .

A total of 389 female Police officers have been sent on peace-keeping missions as against 1,713, which represents 27 .7 per cent participation by women.

The UNSCE and WPP recommends that it is necessary to analyse the gender dimensions of the implementation of peace operations , policies ,legislations and funding in the existing strickencommunities like Alavanyo ,Dagbon ,Bawku among others .

STUDENT AND SALES ASSISTANTS ROB BUSINESSMAN

Christabel Akoto-Manu        

An Accra circuit court presided over by Justice Kyei Baffour, on Tuesday charged a student and two sales assistants with conspiracy and robbery.

The accused Mohammed Yakubu,a.k.a holly ,Denis Nii Sowah  and Jerry Adotey , who pleaded not guilty ,conspired with two others ,at large ,to rob a businessman ,Jadjeed Sihg  of GH9,000 cedis and 33 Nokia cellular phones ,valued at GH6,600.

The prosecutor, Mr. Kofi Blagodzie said the complainant is an expatriate based in the country whiles the second and third accused were sales assistants employed by the complainant.

He said during January this year, the second and third accused persons contacted the first accused person and two others, now at large, and informed them about the poor services at their work place.They then decided to rob the complainant.

On April 24, this year, at about 8am, the first accused and two others went to the complainant’s residence at  Osu and tied up his security personnel in a toilet room .

The first accused and his two accomplices then attacked the complainant in his room at point, demanding his safe keys, which he gave to them.

The accused persons opened the safe and stole GH 9,000 cedis and 33 Nokia cellular phones the complainant had kept in his store room, valued at GH 6,600.

Mr. Sigh managed to escape from the room and raised an alarm, which drew people’s   attention to come to  his aid  and the first accused was arrested .

The two others managed to escape on a motor bike.

The accused  who were not granted bail are to appear before  June 15

MTN 21 DAY Y'ELLO CARE LAUCHED

Chritabel Akoto-Manu                                              SAMBA\ MTN 2

The Mobile Telecommunication Network (MTN) as part of this year 21 Days of Y’ello care, will plant 9000 trees in the country.

The initiative is designed to challenge all MTN employees, business partners and stakeholders to look beyond themselves and reach out with various sustainable   social interventions.

The overall target for the next three weeks is to plant a minimum of 2100 trees within the 21 MTN operating countries.

The staff volunteer will be joined by the various directors of the organization to driven all-out tree planting exercise in collaboration with the Ministry of Lands and Forestry .Environmental Protection Agency, and Zoom Landscape and Beatification.

The Chief Executive Officer of the group, Mr. Michael Ikpoki said the aim of the initiative is to enhance their relationship with the communities they operate in.

He said that the theme”Our Environment, Our Future “was chosen to coincide with the United Nation’s declaration of 2011 as the International Year of Forest to demonstrate their commitment to environmental responsibility.

Apart from growing trees, other programmes for the celebration includes environmental awareness campaigns, clean up exercise along some selected beaches among others projects.

“This year’s Y’ello Care challenges come at a time when the country has experienced drastic depletion from 1.8 million hectares over the last two decades “he said.

Mr. Ikpoki  said that the initiative  has now become a prominent feature in the group’s calendar, and is also one of the group’s flagship Corporate Social Responsibility (CSF) programme   driven by MTN foundation.