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Atia, Lariba show class at 2023 Accra Inter-City Homowo Marathon
Koogo Atia staged an improved show to win the men’s top prize in the 21km event of the Accra Inter City Homowo Marathon held on Friday.
Having been beaten to the slot last year, Atia took nothing for granted.
He gave an early indication as he attempted to break away from the pack but his closest competitors, especially Basit Afful and Ishmael Arthur managed to keep him in eye contact.
But the University of Education, Winneba final year student brought maintained his composure, kept the lead and saved some energy as his pursuers attempted to close up.
But when he mattered most on the final stretch, Atia increased the tempo and left behind Afful and Arthur in second and third places respectively, finishing with an impressive time of 1:07.39.
Atia received a GHȻ10,000 cash prize and qualifies to participate in the Soweto Marathon later in the year.
“I am looking forward to the next challenge of competing on the international stage. I have to prepare very well to make Ghana proud,” he said.
Lariba Zakaat grabbed the same amount of money and silverware after dominating the women’s category to emerge winner.
Just like Atia, she was pushed to her limit by first runner up Anaaba Portia and Ramatu Abdulai, second runner up to the tape.
Winners in the 5km, 10km men’s and women’s races as well as wheelchair race were honoured by the organisers.
Addressing participants after the race, Mr. Henri Senyo Penni, the General Manager of Medivents Consult, organisers of the event said he was satisfied with the turnout and commended the runners for turning up in their numbers.
“First of all, I want to congratulate the winners in the various race categories and hope that will be a motivation for those that didn’t win to train harder to be counted among the winners.
Sponsors of this year’s race include Allied Consortiums, HD Plus, G4S, Serene Insurance, mybet.africa.com, Happy FM, Harmony Haven, Aqua Blue Mineral Water, Indomie, and Dannex Aryton.
This year’s Accra Inter-City Homowo Marathon was organised in partnership with the Ga Traditional Council (GTC) and the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA).
By Spectator Sports Reporter
Madam Sandra Seyram Kpedor, the District Chief Executive (DCE) of Anloga in the Volta Region, has emphasised the importance of parental involvement in children’s education, stating that education is free, but parents need to do more to support their children.
She said parents, teachers, and students must be involved in addressing the challenges facing the district’s education sector, particularly the poor Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) results.
Madam Kpedor outlined some key roles parents should play to promote their children’s education, including providing a conducive learning environment, monitoring their children’s progress, and supporting teachers.
The DCE highlighted some challenges the district faced such as inadequate infrastructure and a shortage of teachers, which have also contributed to the poor BECE results and called on well-to-do parent to help solve the situation through and other supports.
To address the issues, she also announced that plans have been taken to utilise the district’s common fund to implement educational projects, such as constructing school blocks and teachers’ bungalows at Sodzi community, and 2-unit classroom blocks each at Akplorwutorkor and Tegbi-Afedome respectively, among others.
Madam Kpedor also noted that her office had earlier notified the Ministry of Education to deploy more teachers to the area to improve teaching and learning, and encouraged students to work hard and strive for excellence, and work beyond their limit to succeed.
“To my wonderful and beautiful girls, you have to know it clear that women and girls have equal opportunities to compete with men for greater achievements,” she indicated.
The DCE cited her own achievement as a testament to the fact that women can excel in leadership positions, alongside Vice President Nana Jane Opoku-Agyemang, and stressed that girls were no longer limited to domestic roles but can pursue their dreams and become leaders.
Additionally, she mentioned that a meeting was held earlier with assembly members, and other stakeholders to address the district’s educational challenges and improve academic performance.
She promised that the district’s education oversight committee and stakeholders would work together to address the challenges and improve the district’s BECE results and called for parental involvement and support to boost the district’s education sector for children to chase their dreams to become future leaders for the success of the district and the nation.
She urged parents not to leave everything to the government but rather help in the provision of some necessary materials such as textbooks, exercise books, pens, pencils, food, and guidance to children for the successes of young learners. –GNA
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The spokesperson for Dr. Bawumia, Dennis Miracles Aboagye, has criticised the implementation of the NDC government’s No Fee Stress policy, arguing that the programme has failed to deliver on its core promise.
According to him on Starr fm, the policy, which was introduced to ensure stress free payment of fees for level 100 tertiary students, has rather turned into what he described as post stress support.
He explained that students are required to pay their fees first before applying for reimbursement, a situation he believes defeats the purpose of the policy.
He questioned claims by government officials that the policy has been successful and that citizens are happy.
In his view, such claims do not reflect the lived realities of many Ghanaians. He stressed that while some people may appear satisfied, many others continue to struggle.
Dennis Miracles Aboagye pointed to the situation of trained teachers and nurses who have been picketing for nearly six months, demanding employment.
He noted that government responses suggesting it cannot accommodate all of them contradict claims of economic stability.
He further argued that economic indicators such as a stable currency mean little to people who are unable to secure jobs or access promised support.
He observed that telling an unemployed teacher or a struggling student that the cedi has strengthened does not address their immediate challenges.
On the issue of tertiary education, he maintained that no level 100 student benefited from stress free fees in 2025, despite the policy being announced.
He added that in 2026, students have already reported to school without receiving the promised support.
He insisted that asking students to pay fees first and seek reimbursement later amounts to support after hardship, not stress free education.
According to him, this approach goes against what was promised during the policy announcement.
Dennis Miracles Aboagye questioned why a government that presents the economy as strong is unable to fulfil what he described as simple and clear promises.
He added that there is a fundamental problem with the way the economy is being managed and indicated that he is prepared to explain his position further.
By: Jacob Aggrey
