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‘Give equal opportunity to the hearing impaired’
Dr. Wisdom Kwadwo Mprah (inset) addressing the congregation
A Senior Lecturer at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Dr. Wisdom Kwadwo Mprah has advocated equal opportunity for the hearing impaired.
According to him, when given equal opportunity, the deaf in society would do better by contributing their quota to the growth and development of the country.
He made these remarks on Sunday, July 2,2023, when he was speaking at the Deaf Awareness Week Celebration of the Nsawam Road Church of Christ Deaf Ministry on the theme; ‘Change-makers in the midst of challenges.’
Dr. Mprah said there was the need to give the deaf the needed support for them to realise their full potential, and urged those who did not see any prospects in people with hearing impairment to refrain from that mentality.
To achieve this, he said, society should be patient and try to understand the hearing impaired, as this would make it easy for them to become useful in whichever field they may find themselves.
He called on various stakeholders in the educational and other sectors to factor the hearing impaired in policy decisions and create an enabling environment for people with such disabilities to thrive.
According to him, the country was behind time when it came to learning aid for the deaf, which did not augur well for the development of people with such needs.
Also, Elder Felix Afran Sam who is the Elder-in-charge of the Deaf Ministry added that “if you look at people with disability, the deaf have a peculiar case in the sense that they do not have the right educational materials to aid their training, from Basic, Junior and Senior High to the tertiary level.”
“Let’s give the deaf equal opportunity as given to the hearing, and they could even do better,” he said
Elder Afran Sam, expressed his appreciation to everyone who contributed to making the week successful.
Ernest Dagbui, The Deacon-In- Charge of the Deaf Ministry, Nsawam Road Church of Christ said, the Deaf Awareness Week started as a day event but at a point, the church recognised the deaf and decided to provide a platform for them.
By Edem Mensah-Tsotorme
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
