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KUMACA alumni in USA builds ultramodern toilet facility for school
Kumasi Academy (KUMACA) Old Students Association of USA has constructed an ultra-modern toilet facility for the school at Asokore Mampong in Kumasi.
Speaking on behalf of the president of the association, Mr. Kwame Boafo, communications director of the association said, the toilet facility was part of the old students’ commitment towards addressing the sanitation problem at the school.
“I am hopeful that this project will go a long way to improve sanitation and add value to your educational lives in this reputable school,” he told the school, adding that, “education is a mutual responsibility and the government alone can’t carry it out, so we’ll do our best to help the school achieve its glories.”
Inset: Students accessing the facility
He said: “We all have a role to play and presenting this project to the school is the right thing to do, so I am urging all the old students in this school to come together to improve the standard of teaching and learning in this school.”
The facility includes 12 toilet cubicles, three wall-mount flush-valve urinals and six hand wash sinks with cabinet.
Mr. Boafo thanked members of the association whose contribution made it possible for the project to be undertaken, particularly Dr. Kwame Bawuah Edusei, an old student and former Ghana’s ambassador to the USA “who was our highest contributor”, calling on members to contribute more towards other projects that were yet to be executed.
The headmaster, Mr. Samuel Gato commended the association for the kind gesture and promised to take good care of the project.
“We are pleading with the government to assist the school with furniture although we have written to the Free SHS Secretariat and the Ghana Education Service, they are yet to come to the rescue of the school.
“Our internal roads are really in a bad state and we are, again, calling on the government to fix our roads for us,” he added.
Dr Theresa Baffour, an advocate for ending violence and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of SAHM SAHW Foundation, has said that society plays a critical and pivotal role in breaking the cycle of domestic violence.
According to her, domestic violence is a major contributor of making women, who are mostly the victims, mentally derailed and unable to engage in economic activities.
She said this when the foundation called on the Ga Mantse, Nii Tackie Teiko Tsuru II, to solicit support for the initiative by the “Strong and Healthy Minds, Strong and Healthy Women” (SAHM SAHW) to combat domestic violence within the Ga State.
The visit was occasioned by the fact that domestic violence cases have become quite prevalent in the Ga communities and is retarding growth.
According to her, the canker was an impediment to national development because the victims were usually tortured and would have to go through series of therapies to return to the right state of mind.
Dr Baffour mentioned that Gender-Based Violence (GBV) places a mental toll on women, and was, therefore, important to break the cycle through comprehensive mental health support, crisis intervention and empowerment programmes in communities with high rates of GBV.
This intervention, she underscored, would help in empowering the denigrated victim of domestic violence to soundly heal, build and thrive.
Dr Baffour added that the initiative would provide holistic, trauma-informed mental health care and advocacy for young women affected by domestic violence.
According to her, the above statement would create safe spaces for healing and equipping them with entrepreneurial skills for renewed hope and empowered life.
The Ga Mantse pledged his support for the laudable initiative to combat domestic violence and also acknowledged the need to address it in the Ga State.
Further endorsement came from Justice Julia Naa-Yarley Adjei Amoah, Chief of Staff at the Office of the Ga Mantse, as she commended the team of SAHM SAHW Foundation for taking a bold step to end the canker in the Greater Accra.
She added that it was a step in the right direction to save vulnerable women from torture, stress and emotional abuse.
By Alfred Nii Arday Ankrah
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Traders have returned to the streets of Accra, occupying pavements and stretches of some roads after the last major decongestion exercise.
The exercise, which was aimed at restoring order in areas like Kingsway, CMB, Rawlings Park, Tudu etc, have now been defeated.
From Kingsway to Rawlings Park, traders display several wares including, footwear, herbal medicines, plastic products, fresh fish, second-hand clothing, and vegetables, among others.
Local Evangelists are also not left out as they scramble for spaces on the streets.
Pedestrians, therefore, find it difficult to move around when shopping, due to the human and vehicular congestion created by the traders.
In an interview with The Spectator, Auntie Abigail, a trader, said her return to the streets was to sell more, and she saw nothing wrong with it.
Hajia, who deals in wholesale items, indicated that they were unable to make sales as their colleagues move to the pavement and since customers don’t want to come inside, they prefer to buy from them.
Meanwhile, the Chief Executive Officer of Accra Metropolitan Assembly, Michael Kpakpo Allotey, has given traders a grace period to go back to their shops.
By Linda Abrefi Wadie
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