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Over 1500 officials benefit from KOICA Scholarship Programme
Nana Ato Arthur (inset) addressing guests at the event
The Head of Local Government Service, Nana Ato Arthur has commended the Korean government support for Ghana to ensure efficiency in the public sector.
According to him, over 1500 Ghanaian public officials had been trained under the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA), contributing immensely to the growth of the country.
He said this at the recently held KOICA Alumni Association, Ghana (KAAG) seminar in Accra under the theme, ‘KOICA-Ghana Partnership: Impact of the KOICA Scholarship Programme on Public Service Delivery.’
The seminar was aimed at providing the platform for the alumni to share their experiences and lessons that could be translated into public service delivery in Ghana.
“It is crucial to build on the foundation laid by the KOICA Alumni. We need an integrated approach that leverage new skills and ideas. Our goal is to establish a cycle of learning and innovation that supports sustainable local development,” he stated.
This, he said, would be a starting point for a stronger collaboration between international education programmes and local governance.
“Let us ensure that every lesson learnt through the programme directly contributes to building a better Ghana. We commend KOICA for the continuous support in building capacity for public officials particularly the civil and public service staff,” he stressed.
However, he said the integration of these skills had not been without challenges since issues such as limited resources, resistant to change and the need for continuous training had sometimes slowed progress.
On his part, KOICA Ghana Country Director, Mr Dong Hyun Lee congratulated the alumni for the dedication to self-improvement as well as the development of Ghana.
He said equipping public officials with the needed skills to improve service was essential to the development of every country.
“Let us continue to seek for new ways to improve service delivery and support the growth of our respective countries,” he added.
The occasion also saw presentations from alumni Mr David Essuman Mensah and Mr Victor Kofi on the topic, ‘Reforming Ghana’s Public Sector; the Korean Way-Lessons from Korea’ and ‘Using Taxation for development economics-lessons from Korea in the field of work,’ respectively.
By Michael D. Abayateye
Hundreds of street children received a special treat during the Christmas festivities as a result of a collaboration between the management of the La Beach Hotel and the Street Academy in Accra.
It was part of the Hotel’s current arrangement to provide lunch for the children of the Academy every Friday.
Courtesy that partnership, management of the La Beach Hotel feted hundreds of street children housed by the Street Academy, creating a partying moment for the children.
According to officials of the Hotel, the gesture was to let the children feel part of the festivities and not left out.
The children enjoyed delicious meals and snack after which they danced as they enjoyed the moment.
According to the Hotel officials, “the season represents one that every parent gathers their children and shower them with gifts and others to make them happy but sadly, these unfortunate children are left on their own, having no one to care for them.”
“This is an event we intend to make an annual one. Through this, we hope to put some smiles on their faces. It is not proper to leave them on their own.”
The Executive Director of the Academy, Ataa Lartey, expressed gratitude to the management of the hotel, saying that, “this has gone a long way to excite the children and make them feel part of the celebration.”
He said due to the number of children that join around this time of the year, it becomes difficult for the Academy alone to shoulder this responsibility.
“It is not easy to organise such activities alone because it draws a lot of children, that is, those in the Academy and their friends that follow them but with such cooperate supports, we are able to bring them together to share in moments like this,” he told The Spectator.
By Spectator Reporter
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A 30-year-old surrogate mother has delivered a set of quadruplets at The Walking Egg Medical and Fertility Centre at Pokuase in Accra, in a rare surrogacy success that has brought renewed attention to assisted reproductive care in Ghana.
The babies-two boys and two girls- were delivered through a caesarean section in the early hours of Tuesday at 36 weeks and weighed an average 2.5 kilograms each, a weight doctors say was healthy for a multiple pregnancy.
IUI stands for Intrauterine Insemination, a common fertility treatment where healthy sperm are collected, ‘washed’ and concentrated in a lab, and then directly inserted into a woman’s uterus around ovulation using a thin catheter to help sperm reach the egg for fertilisation, often used for unexplained infertility, cervical issues, or mild male factor infertility, and is less invasive than IVF.
Speaking to The Spectator after the surgery, the Medical Director of the Centre, Dr Nana Yaw Osei, said the pregnancy was achieved through Intrauterine Insemination (IUI) and was not planned to result in multiple births.
“With IUI, you introduce prepared sperm into the uterus and have no control over how many eggs fertilized.”
“Unlike IVF, where embryos are formed outside the body and the number transferred can be controlled, this outcome was left entirely to nature,” Dr Osei explained.
He said unlike IVF which could result in multiple babies, this is “possibly the first IUI leading to quadruplets in Ghana.”
He revealed that the surrogacy arrangement was necessary because the intended mother had lost her uterus during surgery to remove fibroids, making it medically impossible for her to carry a pregnancy.
“She had no womb of her own, through no fault of hers,” Dr Osei said, adding that “Surrogacy was the only option available for her to have a biological child.”
When scans later showed that the surrogate was carrying four fetuses, the medical team considered fetal reduction, a procedure sometimes used to reduce risks in multiple pregnancies. However, the option was rejected.
“As a strong Christian, fetal reduction is abortion to me,” Dr Osei said. “After discussions with the intended parents and the surrogate, we all agreed to continue with the pregnancy.”
Despite concerns commonly associated with multiple pregnancies, Dr Osei noted that the surrogate experienced no major complications, and the delivery was smooth. Paediatric assessments conducted after birth confirmed that all four babies are healthy.
Dr Osei again indicated that surrogacy, though still widely misunderstood, is recognised under the Registration of Births and Deaths Act, 2020 (Act 1027).
He urged the public to engage the subject with greater understanding.
“Surrogacy is not about convenience,” he said. “It is about restoring hope to people who have lost the ability to carry a child.”
Describing the moment of delivery, he added, “I was in tears in the theatre. It reminded me why I chose this profession.”
By Esinam Jemima Kuatsinu
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