Arigu Celebrate, Annual Tingana Festival -West Mamprusi

Arigurana Naa Timaritaba K Anzoni IV.

The Chief and People of the Arigu community in the West Mamprusi District of the Northern Region  has celebrated  their annual   “Tingana Festival” amidst drumming and dancing and the  outdooring of the chief of the area,  Arigurana Naa Timaritaba K Anzoni IV. 

A  Cross section of the youth singing group in Arigu

The Tingana festival is celebrated to mark the harvest of the staple food crop, and to give thanks to God almighty for his blessings, the festival is also meant to thank the gods of the land and ancestors for the protection and guidance of the inhabitants throughout the year. 

These are Sub and Divisional Chiefs sitting down as part of the outdooring celemony 

It is a tradition that is held biennially to afford the chief of Arigu community to be   outdoored during the festival to address his people and the general public on the community’s development status and plans and to wish the people well as the year comes to an end. 

In an address delivered on his behalf during the festival Naa Anzoni IV, admonished the citizens in the area to be weary of evil days that create misunderstandings between families, neighbors and fractions within communities and called on the people of the community to remain united in order to foster development of the individual and the community at large. 

The Chief expressed gratitude to the Municipal Director of Education for posting teachers to augment the teacher deficit in the community. 

He however indicated that, the teacher- pupil ratio in the schools are still not the best and wish that more teachers were posted to the community. 

Naa Anzoni IV appeal to the government to provide classroom blocks accommodate pupils still sitting under trees in his traditional area. 

He urged parents to desist from pushing their girl-child into early marriages, school drop outs and to kayaye but to ensure their wards are retained to complete school. 

Whilst  commending  the community members for their personnel contribution in purchasing furniture and other essential equipment  for the operations of the CHIP compounds, the chief also lauded the efforts of  the Municipal Health Director and staff, the Municipal Chief Executive and the Assembly for their immense contributions in enhancing health delivery in the  Arigu community. 

Touching on Agriculture the Naa Anzoni   indicated that, the people of Arigu and Bisigu are farmers and have a vast and fertile land for both commercial and subsistence farming of various food crops, sheatrees for sheanuts oil extraction and fishing long the White Volta. 

He stated that the community benefited from the fertilizer subsidy under the government flagship program of Planting for Food and Jobs in 2017, 2018 farming season and has paid all their loans. 

He called on the government through the Municipal Director of Agriculture to remember the community in implementing agriculture interventions. 

Naa Anzoni entreated landlords to construct toilet facilities in their homes to help prevent open defecation. 

He therefore called on all citizens in the community and for that matter West Mamprugu to vote yes in the upcoming referendum on the 27^th December 2018, for the creation of the North East Region.

Durbar of Chiefs, Tindanas and Projects Partners of FMNR Held in Talensi

Globally, forest and trees contribute significantly to the very survival of people and the planet.

Literature also has that forest and trees further create the necessary environment for clean air and water as well as conserving biodiversity and responding to climate change. 

Additionally, it is also on records that   Forest acts as sources of food, medicine and fuel for more than a billion people in the world. 

Speaking to the Radio Ghana at   durbar of chiefs held at  the Tongo community   in the Talensi District of the Upper East Region involving  Tindanas( custodians of the land)   and Partners of the Talensi Farmer Managed Natural Regeneration FMNR known as “Tintuug Legbe Tiig” in the local parlance. 

The Project Manager Samuel Abasiba explained that The Farmer Managed Natural Regeneration FMNR is a World Vision International land restoration technique.  

He explained further that the concept  is a low cost land restoration technique that combats poverty and hunger among subsisting farmers by increasing food, timber reproduction and resilience to climate extremes.  

It involves organized re-growth and management of trees and shrubs from felled tree stumps, and sprouting root systems.  

He pointed out that the aim of the project is to improve house hold food security and resilience among the people in the district, through improvement of the environmental conditions using the FMNR concept. 

Mr  Abasiba indicated that, the project has, introduced a number of sound environmental management and Good Agricultural Practices (GAPS), based on available local knowledge and local context to address environmental management issues constraining on-farm food production and post-harvest loses. 

He stated that, the project delivery approach has nurtured the participation of all key stakeholders, community leaders, farmers in the Talensi Distirct and its relevant agencies such as schools, religious bodies, Non-Governmental Organizations NGOs and Community Based Organizations CBOs to constantly review strategies for FMNR, scaling up and adaption to local context. 

On the uptake of FMNR, Abasiba stated that, the project has trained  about One thousand 200 lead farmers in 57 communities on the FMNR technique, who has adopted the practice and have restored seven hundred and 50 hectares of degraded lands and a further One thousand 500 hectares of FMNR on farmlands. 

He said their intervention has help reduce bush fires, increase soil fertility, crops and livestock production, Beekeeping, access to credit value chain development advocacy against expensive funeral. 

The challenges he stressed, still remains bush fires, felling of trees, surface mining and expensive funerals and festivals.

UE/R Workshop on Agriculture Technology Transfer ATT Project Ends-

A Cross Section of participants at the ATT IFDC workshop in Bolgatanga 

Statistics has shown that only 10 percent of farmers in the Upper East, Upper West and Northern Regions of Ghana used certified seed for farming. The remaining 90 percent still rely on the indigenous seed for crop production. Ghana’s Agriculture will not thrive and compete favorably in food production if farmers continue to rely on unimproved seeds for farming. 

Seed is considered key and a basic technology for crop productivity. There is therefore the need to look at ways of increasing technologies that can help bring about improved and sustainable crop production in the Northern sector and for that matter Ghana as a whole. 

It is this in line with this that, the International Fertilizer Development Center, IFDC, implementers of Agriculture Technology Transfer, ATT, has organized a day’s workshop to herald the end of the organization's four year program dubbed ‘‘An End-of-Project Learning Event’'. 

The Project, Agriculture Technology Transfer ATT was established in 2014, in the Northern Regional capital, Tamale, with funding from the USAID and Feed the Future FTF, a US Government’s Global hunger and food security Initiative. 

The project focuses on Agriculture Transformation in the three regions of the north. 

The project which had a five year mandate ends in 31st December, 2018. 

ATT was implemented through The International Fertilizer Development Center, IFDC, a science-based public international organization, working to alleviate global hunger by introducing improved agricultural practices and fertilizer technologies to farmers and linking farmers to markets.

The organization has projects in over 25 countries. 

The workshop brought together researchers, Directors of Agriculture, Representatives of farmer groups, Seed Growers and Processers, Agriculture related Non-Governmental Organizations among others. 

The aim of the workshop was to bring partners together to deliberate on the gains chalked and the legacy to be left behind and how to sustain those legacies, think through, document some of the legacies and find a way of making recommendations to donor agencies, the way forward, the kind of activities they need to put their resources into and the best approaches they need to adopt to get the needed results at the end of the project.

Chief of Party, ATT Project of IFDC, Musah Salifu Taylor in an interview at the workshop

Speaking to Radio Ghana, the Chief of Party, ATT Project of IFDC, Musah Salifu Taylor, indicated that, ATT has been impacting modern Technologies to farmers by way of interventions in the areas of early maturing varieties, good agronomic practices, mechanization, an integrated soil fertility management approach, soil testing and analysis, test kits for farmers to determine soil nutriments level among others. 

Mr. Salifu stated further that since the rainfall parttern is not the best in the Northern parts of the country, all these factors must be considered before a farmer can boast of high productivity.

He said for instance the Obatanpa variety of maize which is 25 years cannot give maximum yield as compared to Sansasema and Wandata which are early fast growing and early maturing, with higher yields. 

Mr. Salifu Stated that, ATT works with SARI a lot in the varietal release, soil fertility area, building their capacity to communicate their findings to the farmers because most at times their findings stay at the institute without getting to the farmers. 

They also strengthen the local implementing partners such as CBOs, to carry the technology to the ground, since ATT does not work directly with the farmers. 

He indicated, the strategy is that, as a project, after five years, is ended the local partners can handle while you are gone. Regarding the five year mandate, working to transform Agriculture in Northern Ghana, Mr. Salifu explained further that ATT have been able to help established about five private seed processing companies, increased the number of farmers that used certified seed from 11 percent to 38 percent, established an Irrigation Dam for SARI, to enable them have three seasons for varietal release. 

The Executive Director of Meta Foundation David Azupogo

The Executive Director of Meta Foundation Agriculture related Non-Governmental Organization David Azupogo a beneficiary of ATT, expressed satisfaction of how his organization has been strengthened by ATT’s assistance. 

He stated that, his out fit benefited through capacity building for data management in the office and field, integrated soil fertility management that will help farmers adapt good agronomic practices that could lead to improve yields, access to improved seed and input to farmers and climate change issues among others. 

Sensitization workshop on mobile membership renewal and authentication service NHIS- UER

 

The drudgery of people cueing and sleeping daily at the National Health Insurance Scheme NHIS facilities, in order to get one’s expired card renewed will soon be over. 

Since the establishment of the NHIS 15 years ago, it has been bedeviled with many challenges making its delivery inefficient. 

It is against this backdrop that, the scheme plans to roll out mobile membership renewal and authentication service across the country which will be launched by President Akufo-Addo on 19th December 2018, to help streamline their operational difficulties. 

The service can be access on the short code *929# after the launch.

In connection with this, a team from the Corporate Affairs Directorate of the National Health Insurance Scheme CAD, NHIS has paid a visit to the Upper East Region, as part of a stakeholder’s sensitization on the digital renewal of NHIS membership cards using mobile phones. 

The NHIS teams call on the Upper East Regional Minister Ms Paulina Abayage

The team first paid a courtesy call on the Upper East Regional Minister Ms. Paulina Patience Abayage to brief her on the new innovation which will go a long way to ease congestion at the various NHIS facilities. 

Ms. Abayage lamented that, the plight of people in getting their cards renewed is simply unbearable; especially the poor women and children who commute long distances to the various NHIS facilities only to sleep there counting days in this old season. 

She however expressed hope that, when the e-renewal system is fully implemented, they will heave a sigh of relief. 

This during the sensitization workshop with stakeholders at the office of the Regional NHIS, Bolgatanga

The workshop brought together stakeholders from the Ghana Health Service GHS, Trade Union Congress TUC, the Media, Government Communicators, and National Commission for Civic Education, NCCE, and the Information Services Department. 

In his welcome address, the Director in charge of Membership and Regional Operations, National Health Insurance Scheme NHIS, Ben Kusi indicated that, the e-renewal system so far have been able to capture over 18 million residents in Ghana, including foreigners who came through for a visit on our database, but as at the end of 2017, the active membership stood at 10.57 million. 

Mr. Kusi stated that, the aim of NHIS is to register everybody, working towards achieving Universal Health Coverage, ensuring that everybody in Ghana will have access to healthcare without any financial burden. 

He stressed that, the struggle associated with registration and renewal of membership identification cards will be a thing of the past. 

Mr. Kusi stated that, the NHIS felt the pain of the people and thought that something must be done hence the new innovation the e-renewal. 

He explained further what is required of a member to renew his or her card. 

The Deputy Director, Corporate Affairs Directorate of the National Health Insurance Scheme NHIS, Oswald Essuah-Mensah who took participants through the workshop said that, the system has been successfully piloted in Asuogyaman and West Mamprusi Districts where more than 21 thousand, 500 people renewed their membership using mobile phone. 

He said that, the National Health Insurance Scheme has a four-pronged strategy to reform the Scheme going forward. 

The first strategy is, restructuring the financial model of the scheme whilst the second pertains to moving from manual claim processing to a fully electronic claim management system. 

The third pillar is to enhance clinical audits as well as the internal audit machinery of the scheme whilst the 4th pillar, seeks prosecutorial powers from the Attorney-General’s Department to handle their own cases. 

Mr. Essuah-Mensah said five lawyers have been recruited and trained by the AG as part of the process for the Scheme to prosecute its own cases and that a fiat has been applied for in that regard.

 He called on the stakeholders especially the media, to put the health facilities on check to make sure that they do what is expected of them. 

The benefits of the nationwide roll-out of the new NHIS mobile renewal to members include reduced waiting time, remote renewals and reminders for membership expiry whilst the advantages to NHIA among others range from low operational costs, higher income to reduction in revenue leakages. 

Service providers can also check the validity of cards and then advice clients whose cards are not valid to renew them on the spot for them to receive medical attention. 

The NHIS team paid a courtesy call on Bongo Paramount Chief at his Palace

The team later proceeded to pay homage to the Bongo Paramount Chief Bon-Naba Baba Salifu Atamale Lemyaruum and to also solicit support in sending the message across to the masses. 

Bon-Naba so enthusiastic about the health needs of his people, having received the massage gathered together at his Palace, sub and divisional chiefs, Queen mothers, magazias and elders waiting for the team. 

After briefing him about the e-renewal process via mobile phone, the Bon-Naba took up the lecture with his subjects to the admirations of the team. 

Naba Lemyaruum assured the NHIS that the Bongo Community Radio Station will play a pivotal role in the dissemination process.

U/E, courtesy call on Bawku Naba Abugrago Azoka II - Regional Minister

Zug-Raan Naba  Asigri  Abugrago Azoka II Paramount chief of the Kusug Traditional Area

The Upper Regional Minister has paid a working visit to the Paramount chief of the Kusug Traditional Area Zug-Raan Naba  Asigri  Abugrago Azoka II. 

Her visit was to pay homage and ask for support to enable her carry her development agenda and that of the President’s vision in the region. 

Some of the Sub chiefs under Bawku Naba

In a welcome address,  Naba Abugrago II express gratitude for her appointment and thank His Excellency Nana Addo for asking his daughter to come home and lead the crusade of development in the Upper East Region.

 Naba Abugrago indicated that, her visit coincided with the preparation of the celebration of their annual Samanpiid festival 30^th of  December, 2018 and that an invitation has been sent to  His Excellency the President of the Republic of Ghana Nana Addo Danquah Akuffo Addo to be the Guest of Honour and urged the Minister to support their invitation. 

He stated further that, during Nana Addo’s visit to Bawku, His Excellency assured that work will resume on the Bolgatanga-Bawku-Pulimakom road and the current state of the Bawku Chiefancy Affairs. 

He added that, plans are afoot to formally bring to a close the infamous Bawku conflict by “burying the okro stick”, to bring together the feuding factions to reintegrate for permanent peace to prevail.

 This Naba Abugrago indicated that, the Bawku Inter Ethnic Peace Committee is handling it and that the only problem they complaint of is financial constraints. 

Upper East Regional Minister at Bawku Naba's Palace with her entourage 

The Regional Minister responded that, the invitation letter has since been forwarded to the President, barring any unforeseen circumstances; the feedback will be communicated accordingly. 

She stated that she was happy to be in His Royal Highness Palace, this time round as a Minister, indicating that, her success will depend on His Royal Highness and his subjects support as a whole, saying with pragmatic measures coupled with laudable social intervention, pro- poor policies being rolled out by his Excellency Nana Addo, there is no reason to fail as a region.

 Regarding the Bolga, Bawku Polimakom road, the Minister said it has been awarded on contract and the contractor will soon be on site.

Workshop on Climate Smart Agriculture Action and NDC Implementation Plan

Regional Director of Ministry of Food and Agriculture Francis Enock

 A Climate Smart Agriculture document has been developed since 2015 in Ghana.  As part of the role out plans, there is the need to sensitize key players in the Agriculture sector. 

This will enable them to be abreast with and align them with the content of the document, in order to work within the strategies outlined in the document to make Agriculture climate responsive. 

A cross section of   the Participants at the sensitization workshop in Bolga

It is against this backdrop that, the Ministry of Food and Agriculture with support from the German Development Cooperation GIZ, have organized a day’s sensitization workshop for stakeholders, particularly Department of Agricultural staff, Non Governmental Organization (NGOs), and Civil Society Organization (CSOs) who are into Agriculture. 

Ghana has developed its Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) to Green House Gas Emissions Reduction (GHGER), it is a legally binding document that was reached at the Paris Congress of Parties at the United Nations Framework Conventions of Climate Change UNFCCC, 21^st Conference of Parties COP in Paris. 

At this convention, every country was expected to develop a document indicating how much contributions it will make toward reducing green house emissions, so that globally by 2050, temperatures will not exceed 1.5 degrees. 

As a country, the NDCs have been developed and the sectors captured in it include Agriculture. An implementation plan for the Agriculture component has also been drawn for the NDCs.

Environmental, Land and Water Management Unit Directorate of Crop Service MOFA Kingsly Kwako Amoako

Speaking to Ghana Today, the Environmental, Land and Water Management Unit, Directorate of Crop Services Ministry of Food and Agriculture Kingsly Kwako Amoako indicated that, though there were some actions implemented that tried addressing climate change, there was no national document or strategy that supported those actions. 

Initially people thought climate change was an environmental issue so other sectors were not concern, until it dawn on the government of Ghana that it is a developmental issue that affects every facets of the economy; energy, industry, waste management, Agriculture and therefore needed to develop a policy document to guide the actions of the various sectors to be responding to the climatic changes that are being recorded across the world. 

Mr. Amoako stated that, Agriculture was identified as one of the vulnerable areas of climate change and the policy document also identified some high level actions that need to be undertaken, to make Agriculture resilient to climate change. 

He said, the policy document became a tool for all sectors, to develop strategies to operationalized the policy document and to build resilience to climate change. 

For the Agriculture sector, based on the policy, Ghana developed the Climate Smart Agriculture and food security action plan to be implemented from 2016 to 2020. 

This he said Ghana can now boast a strategic document which is backed by a national policy, ensuring that steps are taken to build a resilience of the Agriculture sector to climate change so that there can be food security and poverty reduction. 

Mr. Amoako gave an analytical view regarding government policy vis-a-vie the annual torrential rains and the spillage of the Bagre Dam that goes waste as against the national action plan of Agriculture. 

The Regional Director of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture Upper East Francis Enock said threw more light on the relevance of the workshop and for Agricultural sustenance. 

It is a clearance call that, the existence of man’s correlation and the environment is inseparable. Therefore, when nature is provoked due to man’s actions and in actions, and events and developments seems not in our favor, we must rise up as a country and nationally determined, with alacrity, our quota to help avert mother Ghana from any further damage . 

Frequent Reshuffle of Regional Ministers Retards Development of UER -Naba Bewo-ong

The Paramount Chief Sakoti Traditional Area Naba Sigiri Bewo-ong 

The Paramount Chief of the Sakote Traditional Area in the Nabdam District of the Upper East Region, Naba Sigiri Bewo-ong, has made a passionate appeal to the President of the Republic of Ghana to take a second look at the frequent reshuffling of Regional Ministers. 

According to Naba Bewo-ong, the Upper East Regional Ministers is the hardest hit when it comes   reshuffling of Regional Ministers under the successive governments   thereby retarding the development of the region very seriously. 

The Paramount Chief indicated that, thought they are not against the President’s prerogative powers  to appoint and  reshuffle, petty squabbles and internal party grumblings should not necessitate changing of Ministers tracing it from the days of the PNDC to date and likening it to regional coup d’états. 

Naba Bewo-ong bemoaned that, the reshuffle even takes place without any recourse to the chiefs in the region.  Naba Bewo-ong made the appeal when the new Upper East Regional Minister, Ms. Paulina Abayage paid a courtesy call on him at his palace in Sakoti in the Nabdam District. 

The Paramount Chief, however, expressed gratitude to the President for her elevation Ms Abayage as the new Regional Minister and stressed that it was gratifying to note that, six contracts have been awarded for the construction of One-Dam One-village in the Nabdam District. 

Whilst expressing the hope that the District will soon heave a sigh of relief from the acute water problem, The Paramount Chief indicated that last year about 200 cattle died as result of lack of water. He assured the Regional Minister the Sakoti’s traditional council support her develop the region.  

The Regional Minister said, she was moved by the issues raised the Paramount Chief and that she will get the President informed about his concerns. 

She stated that, she was his daughter and will rely on His Highness wisdom and the traditional   council to develop the Upper East Region.  Ms. 

Abayage emphasized that, as a home based women, she knows her region very well, its value and the plight of the people.  

The  region, she indicated, has  a lot of potentials like basketry and leather works, wonderful tourist sites, beautiful traditions as well as  many ethnic groups  and rich cultural diversities and  co-exit peacefully.  

She reiterated the vision of Nana Addo’s laudable policies of Planting for Food and Jobs, One-village Dam, One-District One-Factory, Rearing for Jobs to be rolled out soon; and called on  the traditional leaders  and subjects to  liaise  strongly with the Ministry  of Trade and Industry to bring home the regions’ its  fair share for her development. 

The Minister story was not different at the Nangodi Paramountcy when she arrived there to pay homage. She explained that. 

The Paramount Chief of Nangodi Traditional Area Naba Kosom Asage Yelzoya

The Paramount Chief of the Nangodi Traditional Area Naba Kosom Asaga Yelzoya was simply elated for her appointment as the first woman Regional Minister, to addition to his District Chief executive DCE also a lady. 

He commended the District Chief Executive for an excellent performance in placing the district in second position.