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Iseguri Initiative sensitises students, residents of Yadzo on teenage pregnancy
Residents of Yadzo at the event
Iseguri Initiative, a Kadjebi-based non-governmental organisation, has engaged residents and students of Yadzo D/A Junior High School, especially young girls, on the effects of teenage pregnancy.
The advocacy seeks to end teenage pregnancy in cocoa growing communities in the Kadjebi District.
Speaking at the programme at Yadzo, a farming community in the Kadjebi District of the Oti Region, Mr Raymond Senanu Buami, Project Coordinator, Iseguri
Initiative, said teenage pregnancy according to statistics from health facilities in the district is on the ascendancy, hence the engagement to educate the residents on the act.
He said the effects of teenage pregnancy could be quite devastating and that it could have health risks, emotional, social and financial consequences on the victims.
The Project Co-ordinator said Ahamansu, Dodi-Papase, Kponkpa, Todome, Asato, Gyamonome, among other communities in the Kadjebi District would benefit from the project.
Mr Buami advised parents to take good care of their children, especially the girl-child for their future benefit.
Mr Ngyebekye Nardi Kofi, in-charge of the Radiology Unit at the St. Mary Theresa Catholic Hospital, Dodi-Papase, advised mothers to desist from giving concoctions to their pregnant girls to abort their pregnancies.
He said the act was illegal and had devastating and even life-threating effects on the girls. Mr Ngyebekye said medical complications associated with teenage pregnancy include low birth weight, premature birth, placenta issues, cesarean section, infant mortality and maternal mortality.
He said the adolescent girls are particularly vulnerable to a range of sexual and reproductive health consequences such as pelvic inflammatory diseases, hepatitis B and sexually transmitted infections like HIV/AIDS, gonorrhea and syphilis.
Mr Ngyebekye, who is also a member of Iseguri Initiative, emphasized the need for reproductive and sexual health education for young people to help curb the problem.
Madam Korsitse Adeli, a participant, in an interview with the Ghana News Agency, said the education was appropriate and called for more of such engagements.
She appealed to mothers whose girl-child got pregnant not to abandon them but accept them whole-heartedly and allow them to go back to school after delivery.
The participants identified poverty, poor parental care, peer influence, technology as some of the factors causing teenage pregnancy in the district. -GNA
The family of Ambassador James Victor Gbeho, a distinguished statesman and diplomat, has paid a courtesy call on President John Dramani Mahama. They officially informed him of his passing.
The delegation, representing the Gbeho family, noted that it was culturally and diplomatically important to formally notify the President of the loss before making a public announcement of his death.
Ambassador Gbeho was a towering figure in Ghanaian and international politics. He served in many diplomatic missions, including New York. He was Ghana’s Minister for Foreign Affairs, a Member of Parliament for the Anlo constituency, and President (formerly Executive Secretary) of the ECOWAS Commission.
He was widely respected for his role in regional integration and his contributions to global diplomacy at the United Nations.
President Mahama expressed his condolences and shared reflections on Ambassador Gbeho’s contributions to the country, West Africa and the world.
Funeral details will be announced later.
The Minister for the Interior, Muntaka Mohammed-Mubarak, has revoked all firearm permits in Ghana with immediate effect and announced a new registration process for all gun owners.
The minister made the announcement on Tuesday, June 23, at the information service department saying all individuals who currently hold licences to own firearms or sidearms must undergo a fresh registration process.
“From this afternoon, all permits that have been granted to any individual that you are holding a sidearm or firearm is hereby revoked,” Mr Muntaka said.
He explained that the government had identified gaps in the country’s firearm registration system and needed to introduce stricter measures to improve public safety.
“We are opening the window where everyone will have to come forward again to register or re-register the gun because we’ve changed the procedure,” he stated.
According to him, the government decided not to wait until the end of the year to make the changes because lives could still be saved within the next six months.
The Interior Minister said one of the new requirements would be mandatory mental health screening for applicants seeking firearm licences.
“We’ve seen that people with mental health have already gone through and have the sidearm. Now we are introducing mental health. Before we give you the sidearm, we have to be sure that you have the mental stability to hold the firearms,” he said.
Mr Muntaka also announced that applicants would be required to undergo drug tests before being granted licences.
“We’ve also realised that people who are on drugs are also holding their arms and they are legitimate because it’s been registered. Now you have to go through drug tests to be sure that you are not on drugs before you can hold sidearms,” he added.
The minister said the new measures form part of efforts by the government to tighten firearm control and prevent legally registered weapons from falling into the wrong hands.
He urged all firearm owners to cooperate with the new registration process once details of the exercise are announced.
By: Jacob Aggrey
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