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Consumption of forbidden fish leaves three siblings paralysed?
The disabilityof three siblings at Asanteasua at DuayawNkwanta in the Bono Region has become a worry to their parents for the past yearsas all attempts to get them cured had failed.
Though some townfolks had linked their predicament to the consumption of some “forbidden fish” by their parents, their mother, Madam Adjoa Florence has, however, denied the claims.
According to her, she had never consumed any fish her husband caught from a river in the area for the river god called, Apaape, to have cursed her children.
She maintained giving birth to healthy children but a very strange disease attacked three of her children namely, AkwasiAgyei, 27, KwakuAmoah, 18, and AmaHenewaa, 16.
Consumption of fish from the river at Asanteasua is a taboo that is why some people in the villlage had attributed the disability of the three to possible consumption of fish caught from it (river) by their parents.
Their sad state is making life difficult for the parents, especially the mother, as the 81 year old father is having sight and speech problem.
Apart from KwakuAmoah who wobbles with difficulties, the other two have been crawling.
With the exception of AmaHenewaa, who can only mention “Maa” in her effort to call the mother, the other two cannot speak at all.
In a chat with their mother, Adjoa Florence,46, she said that she had given birth to eight children(three boys and five girls) including the three, with the eldest, a male, being 27 years.
According to her, the three were not born with the ailment and it came as a surprise to her how they became paralysed.
She said during pregnancy, she attended antenatal care at the Saint John of God Hospital at DuayawNkwanta and after birth, she took them for weighing and they were very healthy but suddenly they became paralysed,one after the other.
She said she took them to the Hospital where medical experts carried out series of tests on them but to no avail.
They are bathed, fed, among other things by the mother who said the family faced strong stigmatisation from members of the community due to the condition of her children.
She said the community had labelled the plight of the children as a curse and did not want to associate with the family.
Responding to the taboo,madam Florence denied ever fishing from the river, saying she was already aware of such a prohibition.
The husband, Agya Kofi Agyei, could not say anything as he had speech impairment in addition to sight problem, with Madam Florence saying that his plight also came as a surprise to her.
When contacted, Nana OpokuBinsere, the high priest of the river god, alleged the father was the cause of the plight of the children as he ignored several warnings not to fish in the river.
He explained that a visitor who did not have any knowledge about the taboo would be spared for fishing in the river, “but if you know and do it,then the punishment will follow”.
“It is a pity that the children are suffering because of the wrongdoing of the father”, Nana Binsere claimed.
Meanwhile, the mother has appealed to Non-Governmental Organisations such as the World Vision, philanthropists, to come to the aid of the children and help improve their situation.
From Kingsley E.Hope,DuayawNkwanta
The Member of Parliament for Nsawam Adoagyiri, Frank Annoh Dompreh, has expressed concern over delays in the release of the District Assemblies Common Fund, warning that the situation is stalling development across the country.
On his facebook page, he described as a matter of urgent national importance, the Minority Chief Whip pointed to what he sees as a growing crisis of unpaid contractors, abandoned projects, and halted infrastructure works in many districts.
He noted that several communities are grappling with half completed schools, unfinished health facilities, abandoned markets, deteriorating roads, and stalled sanitation projects.
According to him, many contractors who have executed projects for district assemblies have not been paid, forcing some construction firms to demobilise from sites while workers lose their jobs.
He stressed that the District Assemblies Common Fund is not a discretionary allocation but a constitutional requirement under Article 252 of the 1992 Constitution, intended to support development at the local level.
In his view, years of delayed releases and accumulated arrears have weakened district development financing and disrupted projects meant to improve living conditions in communities.
He further argued that some payments made in recent years were largely the settlement of old debts rather than funding for new or ongoing projects, a situation he believes has affected contractor confidence and local economic activity.
He described the issue as more than a budgetary challenge, characterising it as a development emergency and a governance concern.
He therefore urged the appropriate authorities to pay outstanding DACF arrears, settle contractors who have completed their work, and ensure that transfers to districts are automatic and predictable.
He maintained that decentralisation can only succeed when district assemblies receive adequate and timely funding to carry out development projects.
He emphasised that stalled projects directly affect ordinary citizens, since they rely on such infrastructure for education, healthcare, transportation, sanitation, and economic activities.
He called for renewed attention to grassroots development, insisting that national progress should not be concentrated only in major cities but extended to all communities.
By: Jacob Aggrey
Richard Appiah, the footballer who killed two children and stored part of their bodies in a fridge at Abesim in the Bono Region in 2021 has been handed a lifetime sentence.
This was after a five member panel of judges at the Accra High Court returned a verdict of guilty against the convict.
Appiah, 32, also a draughtsman would spend the rest of his life in prison after he was convicted of murder.
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BY MALIK SULLEMANA
