News
Rotary Club donates to Tetteh Ocloo State School
The Rotary Club of Tema has donated nose masks and hand sanitisers to Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) candidates of Tetteh Ocloo State School for the Deaf at Adjei-Kojo in the Ashaiman Municipality.
The President of the Club, Mr Seth Otoo Larbi, who made the presentation on behalf of the club, noted that the exercise was necessitated by the humanitarian mandate of the club for the deprived and disadvantaged in society.
He said the club had identified the school for the deaf and other deprived groups in the Ashaiman municipality as those that needed assistance.
Mr Larbi said because nose mask needed laundering after it had been worn all day, school children needed additional ones and that, children should not use the same mask to school two days in a row, hence the gesture.
He said there was nothing more important now than promoting the safety of school children and in doing so, called for a concerted effort to safeguard their safety.
Headteacher of the school, Mr Isaac Arthur, admonished the students to strictly adhere to the COVID-19 safety protocols, and that this must be seen as a new rule they ought to follow to avoid contracting the disease.
He said families needed to complement the efforts of stakeholders and ensure that the COVID-19 protocols were strictly adhered to at home.
Mr Arthur said the task should not be left for only teachers who were not supposed to get within arm’s reach of students because of the need for social distancing.
He advised parents to wear nose masks to serve as an example for their children and guardians to encourage children to wear face mask whenever they were in contact with other members of the household.
From Ken Afedzi, Ajei-Kojo
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
