News
Nadowli Kaleo teens educated on sexual, gender-based violence
A group picture of adolescents and team from UNFPA
Information sharing and education of adolescents on Sexual and Reproduction Health (SRH) at Duong, a community in the Nadowli Kaleo District of the Upper West Region has become effective due to the formation of adolescent health clubs in the area and the provision of a centre for discourse.
Hitherto, the community used to record high incidence of teenage pregnancies, early marriage or cohabitation and school dropout cases, making the community members and leaders worried as they sought for permanent ways to curb the situation.
But with the support of the United Nations Population Fund, (UNFPA) on its 8th Country Project, the Regional Focal Person for Reproductive Health who doubles as queen mother for the area, Pognaa Rosemary Bangzie, mobilised the young people into health clubs to educate them on SRH, Sexual and Gender-Based Violence (SGBV), among others.
The youth were constituted into two in-school and two out-of-school health clubs with each having membership of not less than 50 persons between the ages of 11 and 25 years.
Pognaa Bangzie during a monitoring visit by the UNFPA team to Duong told the Spectator that the groups met once every month to discuss issues that bothered on reproductive health and preventing unwanted pregnancies through abstinence or the use of safe family planning methods.
She said the adolescent health corner was included in the health facility she acquired for the community to accommodate health staff because the youth needed privacy to be able to consult on SRH and get the needed attention.
“This facility was made possible through benevolent persons and the USAID/Office of Transitions Initiative (USAID/ OTI) but we will need more support to furnish the place for use by the staff of the health centre and the youth as well”, she appealed.
A member of the club, 17 years old Ignatius Wienaah stated that with the provision of a permanent adolescent centre for SRH issues, adolescents in the community were better placed to protect their adolescence and pursue their heart felt goals.
A 16-year-old craftsman apprentice, Dorcas Tooresong said through the adolescent health clubs and discussions, she has learnt to abstain from pre-marital sex and also maintain good menstrual hygiene.
She explained that the girls were taken through the use of the reusable sanitary pads and how to keep themselves tidy.
A health worker, Patience Adzaho who has been working with the adolescents at the health corners expressed excitement about the provision of the adolescent corner through the initiative of the queen mother and said it had boost services to adolescents and seen more adolescents patronising the facility.
“They no longer have to mix up with the older people and make them awkward coming to us to discuss their reproductive health needs; this structure provides them with the needed privacy for whatever discussion they want to engage on,” she said.
The National Programme Officer for Gender at the UNFPA, Mr Bawa Faisal commended the community for their dedication to the welfare of young people.
From Lydia Darlington Fordjour, Wa
News
St Louis Catholic Health Centre takes delivery of medical items
In a move to strengthen emergency healthcare delivery in the Adansi Asokwa District, the Fifty 50 Club has donated medical equipment valued at GH¢45,000 to the Saint Louis Catholic Health Centre in Bodwesango.
The donation marked a significant milestone in the Club’s five-year journey of transforming lives through targeted interventions in health, education, and community development.
The equipment, comprising a cardiac monitor, pulse oximeter, two crank beds with accessories, two Ambu bags, and two medication trolleys—would support the establishment of a long-awaited emergency response unit at the facility.
“Emergency care is a basic requirement for every health facility. We’ve struggled to meet this need due to lack of equipment…reaching out to the Fifty 50 Club was a necessary step—and they responded,” said Evans Twumasi Boateng, a Physician Assistant at the hospital
The donation formed part of activities marking the Club’s fifth anniversary. Founded in July 2020 at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Obuasi-based Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) has grown into a formidable force for good, supporting life-saving surgeries, providing scholarships, and empowering artisans.
“We are driven by a mission to impact lives,” said Jacob Edmund-Acquah, President of the Fifty 50 Club. “This donation reflects our commitment to bridging healthcare gaps and uplifting communities.”
In addition to the Bodwesango intervention, the cub recently paid GH¢10,000 in school and hostel fees for a third-year medical student at KNUST. Upcoming projects include support for T.I Ahmadiyya Senior High School in Fomena and the construction of a weighing centre at Kyekyewere Health Centre.
Dr Kwadwo Anim, Executive Director of the AGA Health Foundation and a member of the Club, praised the initiative: “The Fifty 50 Club has made a remarkable difference. Bridging healthcare gaps requires collective effort—government alone cannot do it.”
With 265 contributors drawn from AngloGold Ashanti, its subsidiaries, and other corporate organisations in Ghana and abroad, the Fifty 50 Club pools monthly donations to fund high-impact interventions across healthcare, education, and community development.
From Kingsley E. Hope, Kumasi
News
Nkonya descendants coming home from Diaspora
From the ancestral hills of Nkonya, a global call to remembrance is rising.
This October, the quiet village of Kromo (now Tepo) will become the epicenter of a transcontinental memorial as Ghana and the United States jointly launch African Holocaust Month-a solemn tribute to the millions of African lives lost to the transatlantic slave trade.
Held annually on the second Saturday of October, the ceremony this time will unfold simultaneously in Kromo, Ghana, and Kentucky, USA, with commemorative benches placed facing each other across the Atlantic.
At exactly 4pm Ghana time, libations will be poured, wreaths laid, and names of the departed read aloud—restoring dignity to those whose stories were silenced by history.
But this is more than ritual. It is prophecy fulfilled. Kromo, once a thriving community along the slave route from Salaga, bears the scars of betrayal.
Oral history recounts a tragic moment when slave traders raided the village during a hunting absence, capturing youth aged 16 to 20—including a revered Queen mother and her attendants.
The grief-stricken community relocated, giving birth to present-day Tepo.
For generations, the people of Nkonya prayed that the Queen mother’s descendants would return—not just in body, but in royalty.
That prayer was answered in 2007, when Ur Aua Hehimetu Ra Enkamit, Paramount King of the Ausar Auset Society in Washington, D.C, USA, returned to Nkonya following a DNA test.
He was formerly known as Dr Lee Cook Jr.
A direct descendant of David Cook (e) of Kentucky, his lineage traces back through five generations to Edmon Cooke, whose roots are believed to pass through Kromo.
“This is not just a memorial— it’s a restoration of ancestral ties,” said Ur Aua Enkamit in a chat with The Spectator.
“Kromo is both literal and symbolic. Even if your ancestors didn’t pass through here, it represents every nameless place Africans were captured and marched toward the coast,” he emphasised.
The initiative invites all people of African descent—whether from Ghana, Jamaica, the U.S., or beyond—to participate.
He encouraged families to identify ancestral land for bench placement, submit names of deceased relatives for the reading, coordinate with diaspora kin for simultaneous ceremonies, and arrive in Nkonya before the event.
Benches, he stressed, would be provided in Kromo, with wreaths available upon request. Once placed, families need only return each year with names and offerings.
African Holocaust Month draws inspiration from Ida B. Wells, the pioneering journalist who in 1909 used the term “holocaust” to describe atrocities against African people—decades before its association with World War II.
This October, her words echo across oceans, as descendants reclaim memory, identity, and sacred ground.
From Kingsley E. Hope Kumasi
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