News
MAMA DZIDOASI, A RISING QUEEN OF SUBSTANCE
At the tender age of 19, while studying Marketing at the then Institute of Professional Studies (now University of Professional Studies, Accra), Ms. Claudia Etornam Kudzi (as she then was) was enstooled Mama Dzidoasi I, Queen of Abansi-Asedukluvi in the Gbi Traditional Area of the Volta Region.
By that title, she is a Sub-Divisional Queen of Gbi Abansi.
The young and beautiful queen completed her course in 2010, obtaining a Bachelor of Science in Marketing and later acquired a degree in law at the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA) at Greenhill, near Accra.
Meanwhile, between studying marketing and law, Mama Dzidoasi was awarded a Diploma in Commonwealth Youth Programme by the University of Ghana, Legon, in 2008.
She is currently pursuing a Barrister-at-Law degree at the Ghana Law School, Makola, in Accra.
Born in Hohoe on November 29, 1986, Mama Dzidoasi, a product of Ho Mawuli School, is now serving her second term as Chairman of the Volta Region Lands Commission.
Even though she considers baking a hobby, she has managed to turn that pastime into a lucrative business and is now the owner of E Cakes Ghana, a baking company with a shop in Accra.
The elegant sub-divisional Gbi Abansi queen is a royal from both the paternal and maternal sides.
Her paternal grandfather, the late Mr. Felix Yao Kudzi was the first Asofoatse of Gbi-Abansi while her maternal great grandfather, Mr. Daniel Zikpi Anyigba was the first Asafoatse of Gbi Kpeme
Mama Dzidoasi is the mother to Golda Klenam Afua-Sampo Dogbatse, who was born in 2014.
The queen is admired and revered for her enormous developmental roles from the day she occupied the stool.
In 2007, for instance, she co-organized a seminar for chiefs and queens of Hohoe Municipal Area as part of the Ghana @50 Celebration.
She successfully solicited support from the Austrian Embassy in Accra, through the Volta Foundation, to build a six-unit environmentally-friendly latrine for the people of Abansi-Adzage Kofe.
Mama Dzidoasi again secured support from Tigo and the Ghana AIDS Commission, and through collaboration with the Ghana Education Service and her office, Dzidoasi Community Development Project, organised an AIDS Day quiz to mark World AIDS Day, for Junior High Schools in the Hohoe municipality in 2012.
In 2019, the queen was a member of the Gbidukorza (Gbi Festival) National Steering Committee and coordinated the Miss Gbi Beauty Contest.
It was all pomp and pageantry when the former board member of the St Theresa’s College of Education, Hohoe, launched the 15th-anniversary celebration at Hohoe on Sunday.
The grand event is slated for mid-2022.
In a chat with The Spectator, Mama Dzidoasi said that supporting communities with library and ICT projects would continue to be part of her prioritised ones.
She announced that GH¢15, 000 had already been raised as seed money for the area’s breast cancer fund project, and pledged to continue to support young women to acquire entrepreneurial skills to make them financially self-reliant.
FROM ALBERTO MARIO NORETTI, HOHOE
The Ghana High Commission in Abuja, Nigeria, is appealing to the public to help trace the relatives or next of kin of Apia Solomon, a Ghanaian national believed to be from Osu, Accra.
According to a public announcement by the High Commission, Mr. Solomon, born on March 6, 1960, in Accra, died on July 5, 2021, from cardiopulmonary failure.
He worked as a temporary civilian staff member at the National Defence College in Nigeria. His remains are currently being kept at the Nigerian Air Force Hospital morgue in Abuja, pending burial arrangements.
The High Commission says efforts to locate his relatives have so far been unsuccessful and is urging anyone with information about his family, friends or next of kin to come forward.
Anyone with relevant information is encouraged to contact the Ghana High Commission in Abuja.
By: Jacob Aggrey
Security consultant Richard Kumadoe has blamed what he describes as flawed recruitment and incomplete background checks for some of the problems facing the Bureau of National Intelligence (BNI).
He has called on the leadership of the BNI to review the backgrounds of officers recruited during specific periods, particularly those who entered the agency under recent recruitment processes.
Speaking on the issue on TV3 yesterday, Mr Kumadoe alleged that some individuals were recruited into the intelligence agency without proper background checks and completed vetting.
“Certain categories of persons were dumped into the BNI, whose backgrounds were not checked, and whose vettings were not completed,” he stated.
He said some of the officers linked to the concerns appeared to have been recruited within the same period, making it necessary for the agency to examine the recruitment records and backgrounds of those who joined during that time.
Mr Kumadoe argued that the problems could be addressed by ensuring that recruitment procedures were properly followed and that all applicants underwent the required checks before being employed.
According to him, when the selection process is flawed, it can lead to problems within the institution.
He blamed the politicisation of security institutions, arguing that appointing people without the necessary intelligence experience and allowing political interests to influence recruitment could undermine their operations.
“When you have a selection procedure that was flawed because you politicised the place, brought in people to come and head the place when they have no business being there, they don’t know anything about being a BNI officer, they are not intelligence officers, and you flood the place with politicians and political artists, then you circumvent the standard procedure and you are going to have some of these problems,” he said.
Mr Kumadoe, however, defended the current leadership of the BNI, arguing that efforts to address longstanding problems within security institutions could bring such issues to light.
He said the leadership should be assessed in the context of the steps it is taking to improve the agency’s operations and uphold professional standards.
Drawing on his own experience in the intelligence field, he said the opportunity to serve under experienced officers had helped him develop the skills and integrity needed to contribute to national security.
By: Jacob Aggrey
