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Shai Hills Resource Reserve — a destination for memorable holiday experience
The tourism industry, just like other sectors, had borne the brunt of the global pandemic with many recreational sites receiving a less significant number of visitors. However, operators are hopeful of an increased turn out this year.
The Shai Hills Resource Reserve located at Doryumu in the Shai Osudoku District in the Greater Accra Region, for instance, used to record about 27,000 to 30,000 visitors annually but that figure had reduced to 16,000 as of December last year.
Mr Prince Anane Agyei, Park Manager of the reserve, who indicated this in an interview with The Spectator, said they had started lots of publicity last year and were expecting more visitors but the lockdown and travel restrictions had affected their plans.
He said the numbers only started improving in the last quarter of 2020 and the facility as of January 2021 was making further progress.
Mr. Agyei projected more patronage by the second quarter of this year, adding that the reserve was adopting other publicity and marketing strategies to attract more local visitors.
He noted that a chunk of visitors to the site were non-Ghanaians which to some extent, accounted for the drop in their figures.
“COVID-19 has taught us that we will have to target more domestic tourism. We need to boost publicity and education on the various sites across the country to attract more people,” he said.
The park manager admitted that lots of Ghanaians did not have enough disposable income hence were reluctant in visiting tourist centres.
Nonetheless, he said, their rates remained affordable and the facility would continue to provide visitors quality and memorable experience.
“Entrance fee for adults range from at least GH25.00 and there are other attractive packages for children, and other groups of individuals,” he said
Background
The Shai Hills Resource Reserve provides an opportunity to experience Wildlife without having to move far away from the capital city, Accra.
The dry evergreen savannah forest with a size of 51km sq. allows tourists to enjoy a unique combination of wildlife, nature and an amazing landscape.
The Reserve, which is one of the 16 Protected Areas, under the Wildlife Division (WD) of the Forestry Commission (FC) is one worth seeing for its natural beauty.
It is a bird haven also with over 150-bird species. The Reserve has a rich cultural history and heritage of the people of Shai who were once occupying the place which has a museum of natural and cultural history with a wide scope of artefacts.
The park has accommodation facilities and tourists are able to explore the various hills and caves in the park by way of adventure.
By Ernest Nutsugah
Madam Sandra Seyram Kpedor, the District Chief Executive (DCE) of Anloga in the Volta Region, has emphasised the importance of parental involvement in children’s education, stating that education is free, but parents need to do more to support their children.
She said parents, teachers, and students must be involved in addressing the challenges facing the district’s education sector, particularly the poor Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) results.
Madam Kpedor outlined some key roles parents should play to promote their children’s education, including providing a conducive learning environment, monitoring their children’s progress, and supporting teachers.
The DCE highlighted some challenges the district faced such as inadequate infrastructure and a shortage of teachers, which have also contributed to the poor BECE results and called on well-to-do parent to help solve the situation through and other supports.
To address the issues, she also announced that plans have been taken to utilise the district’s common fund to implement educational projects, such as constructing school blocks and teachers’ bungalows at Sodzi community, and 2-unit classroom blocks each at Akplorwutorkor and Tegbi-Afedome respectively, among others.
Madam Kpedor also noted that her office had earlier notified the Ministry of Education to deploy more teachers to the area to improve teaching and learning, and encouraged students to work hard and strive for excellence, and work beyond their limit to succeed.
“To my wonderful and beautiful girls, you have to know it clear that women and girls have equal opportunities to compete with men for greater achievements,” she indicated.
The DCE cited her own achievement as a testament to the fact that women can excel in leadership positions, alongside Vice President Nana Jane Opoku-Agyemang, and stressed that girls were no longer limited to domestic roles but can pursue their dreams and become leaders.
Additionally, she mentioned that a meeting was held earlier with assembly members, and other stakeholders to address the district’s educational challenges and improve academic performance.
She promised that the district’s education oversight committee and stakeholders would work together to address the challenges and improve the district’s BECE results and called for parental involvement and support to boost the district’s education sector for children to chase their dreams to become future leaders for the success of the district and the nation.
She urged parents not to leave everything to the government but rather help in the provision of some necessary materials such as textbooks, exercise books, pens, pencils, food, and guidance to children for the successes of young learners. –GNA
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The spokesperson for Dr. Bawumia, Dennis Miracles Aboagye, has criticised the implementation of the NDC government’s No Fee Stress policy, arguing that the programme has failed to deliver on its core promise.
According to him on Starr fm, the policy, which was introduced to ensure stress free payment of fees for level 100 tertiary students, has rather turned into what he described as post stress support.
He explained that students are required to pay their fees first before applying for reimbursement, a situation he believes defeats the purpose of the policy.
He questioned claims by government officials that the policy has been successful and that citizens are happy.
In his view, such claims do not reflect the lived realities of many Ghanaians. He stressed that while some people may appear satisfied, many others continue to struggle.
Dennis Miracles Aboagye pointed to the situation of trained teachers and nurses who have been picketing for nearly six months, demanding employment.
He noted that government responses suggesting it cannot accommodate all of them contradict claims of economic stability.
He further argued that economic indicators such as a stable currency mean little to people who are unable to secure jobs or access promised support.
He observed that telling an unemployed teacher or a struggling student that the cedi has strengthened does not address their immediate challenges.
On the issue of tertiary education, he maintained that no level 100 student benefited from stress free fees in 2025, despite the policy being announced.
He added that in 2026, students have already reported to school without receiving the promised support.
He insisted that asking students to pay fees first and seek reimbursement later amounts to support after hardship, not stress free education.
According to him, this approach goes against what was promised during the policy announcement.
Dennis Miracles Aboagye questioned why a government that presents the economy as strong is unable to fulfil what he described as simple and clear promises.
He added that there is a fundamental problem with the way the economy is being managed and indicated that he is prepared to explain his position further.
By: Jacob Aggrey
