News
2 institutions donate to Accra Psychiatric Hospital
The Accra Gye Nyame Lions and Leo Club together with IDonate Ghana on last Saturday donated assorted items to the Children’s ward of the Accra Psychiatric Hospital.
Some of the items included bags of rice, gallons of oil, detergents, disinfectants, buckets of powdered soap, liquid soap, packs of diapers, toilet rolls, scrubbing brushes and other cleaning materials.
Presenting the items, The President of the club, Lion Jennifer Dzikunu, said the donation was part of the national volunteer day which the club observes on September 21 every year alongside IDonate GH.
She said the club was poised to help people and communities in need tacking nine thematic areas including, “childhood cancer, hunger, youth, disaster relief, environment, humanitarian, vision and diabetes.’’
The club focuses on serving humanity and communities that are in need and is the largest humanitarian service organization in the world with 1.4m members in 49,000 local clubs servicing in 200 countries globally.
Receiving the items, the Senior Nursing Officer at the hospital, Bridget Ayatey, thanked the donors and stated that it would go a long way to help them in the discharge of their work.
She also acknowledged that there were 14 patients currently at the children’s ward and had to change diapers of each of the 12 inmates, at least three times a day which made the diapers an important donation.
The Lead Volunteer of IDonate Ghana, Naa Amarley Tagoe, in an interview with The Spectator, stated that the organisation had supported the Accra Psychiatric Hospital Children’s Ward since 2016.
IDonate, is an online-based charity founded in 2014 that supports less fortunate children and those with special needs in public and private institutionalised care.
Naa Amarley said, “we redirected our fundraising efforts to support the hospital,” adding that, “the annual clean-up exercise, meal service, and supply donations have continued for eight years with inspiration from a December 2015 TV3 report highlighting patient neglect during festivities.”
As part of the donation, activities like feeding of inmates and clean up exercises were held as a way of interacting with the inmates and showing support.
By Nii Ayitey Brown
The Majority Chief Whip and Member of Parliament for South Dayi, Rockson-Nelson Dafeamekpor, says Parliament and government officials are working closely with authorities in the Netherlands following the detention of the Member of Parliament for Asante Akyem North, Kwame Ohene Frimpong.
Speaking on the matter on Channel One news yesterday, Mr. Dafeamekpor disclosed that the MP was detained at Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam on Sunday while travelling on a private trip.
According to him, Mr. Frimpong personally informed him about the incident around 5 a.m. on the day of the arrest.
He said the issue was immediately escalated to parliamentary leadership and other state officials for intervention.
Mr. Dafeamekpor explained that the Majority Leader, who was in transit at Heathrow Airport in London at the time, travelled to Schiphol to engage the detained MP and better understand the situation.
He added that the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Ghana’s Ambassador to The Hague, the Attorney General, the Speaker of Parliament and the Clerk to Parliament had all been involved in efforts to address the matter.
According to him, a Ghanaian lawyer based in The Hague and qualified to practise there has also been engaged to represent the MP.
“The lawyer is dealing with the issues, but let me confirm that he is fine,” Mr. Dafeamekpor stated.
He noted that Parliament and the legal team were still waiting for official documents, including an authenticated copy of the arrest warrant and other details from Dutch prosecutors handling the matter.
The South Dayi MP therefore urged the media and the public to avoid speculation until all facts surrounding the case are confirmed.
“We want to urge all the media houses not to be throwing in things that have not been confirmed,” he said.
Mr. Dafeamekpor further explained that Parliament’s involvement was partly because the MP was travelling with a diplomatic passport.
He noted that extradition and detention cases involving political figures are not uncommon internationally, citing examples such as former Chilean leader Augusto Pinochet and Julian Assange.
According to him, authorities are hopeful the matter can be resolved for the MP to return to Ghana safely.
He appealed to the MP’s family, colleagues in Parliament and the public to remain calm while diplomatic and legal processes continue.
By: Jacob Aggrey
Ghana Water Ltd has announced temporary water supply interruptions in several parts of western Accra following technical challenges at the Weija Water Treatment Plant.
In a press release issued on May 13, the company explained that the challenges had affected water production and distribution in some communities.
According to the management of the company, residents in areas including Dansoman, Mamprobi, Mataheko, Laterbiokorshie, Korle Bu, La Paz, MacCarthy Hill, Gbawe, Mallam, Tesano, Darkuman, North Kaneshie, Dome, Achimota, Anyaa and Ablekuma may experience low water pressure and erratic water supply.
Management noted that engineers and technical teams were working to fix the problem and restore normal water supply as soon as possible.
The company advised consumers to store water whenever there is flow in their communities in order to manage the temporary disruption.
It urged essential service providers to contact their Assembly Members or the Ghana Water Ltd Call Centre for assistance.
The company apologized to customers affected by the situation and appealed for calm and cooperation while efforts continue to resolve the challenge.
By: Jacob Aggrey
