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Sylvia Annor: We’ll institute COVID-19 safety protocols before undertaking registration exercise
The Electoral Commission (EC) has assured the electorate that it will put the necessary safety protocols in place to ensure that they are adequately protected against COVID-19 contraction while undertaking the exercise.
In furtherance of that it indicated that not more than 25 people would be permitted at a registration centre at a given time when the commission begins the mass voter registration exercise for the December polls.
Sylvia Annor, the Communications Director for the Electoral Commission, made the disclosure and noted that the commission was poised to develop a new voters’ roll for the upcoming presidential and parliamentary elections.
“At each point in time we will ensure that we do not have more than 25 persons including the officials at any registration centre, people coming to register will be given hand sanitisers before they enter the registration centre, you need to wear a face mask, without a face mask you cannot enter a registration centre and there will be no crowding at the registration centre, I can assure you,” she said.
Ms Annor reiterated the EC’s position that existing Voter’s ID cards would not be accepted as proof of identity during the registration exercise and insisted that the electorate needed a Ghanaian passport or Ghana card, if for one reason or the other the electorate don’t have any of the two then they have to get two guarantors to guarantee for them.
“We are not using the old voters’ ID card, the voters’ ID card, some people argue, is not a good index for identification, it’s an established fact that the ID card is not a good index for proof of identification,” she maintained.
But the National Democratic Congress (NDC) has alleged that the EC and the National Identification Authority (NIA) are conspiring to suppress votes in the strongholds of the party.
Addressing a news conference recently, Ofosu Ampofo, the National Chairman of the NDC, alleged that the decision of the commission to push for the Ghana card, birth certificate and passport as the primary documents required to register during the voters’ registration exercise was part of a grand scheme to rig the 2020 elections in favour of the New Patriotic Party (NPP).-starrfmonline.com
Medical Doctor and dietician, Dr Bernice Korkor Asare, has urged women to take greater responsibility for their lifestyle choices, particularly their eating habits and levels of physical activity, to help reduce their risk of developing breast cancer.
According to her, although, some breast cancer risk factors, such as family history and certain reproductive factors, may not be within an individual’s control, lifestyle choices offer an opportunity for people to take preventive action.
She made this known during a talk on the topic: “Role of diet in breast cancer prevention” organised by Times Ladies Association of the New Times Corporation, publishers of The Ghanaian Times and The Spectator, in Accra on Thursday.
The event themed “Breast Cancer Awareness- Promoting Early Detection, Healthy Eating and Prevention.” 
She noted that having a risk factor did not automatically mean a person would develop breast cancer, but could increase the likelihood of developing the disease compared with someone without that particular risk factor.
“Having close relatives who have had breast cancer, particularly a mother, sister or daughter, may increase the risk, although not everyone with a family history will develop the disease,” Dr Asare opined. Read More.
By Adizatu K. Munkaila
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A group of compassionate friends from Innovation Gospel Impact last Friday visited the management, teachers and learners of the Street Academy in Accra.
The visit was to interact to get a deeper insight into the operations of the Academy that houses hundreds of street and underprivileged children and find ways to support them.
The team was led by Rev. Dr Isaac Apenteng Yeboah, a former Director for West African Mailbox Club and Director for Prisons Support Foundation, and Rev. Dale Sutherland from Washington DC.
The call, according to the visitors was occasioned by reports about the struggles of the Academy despite the occasional support it enjoys from individuals and some corporate entities.
Briefing them, the Founder and Executive Director of the Academy, Dr Ataa Lartey, thanked them for the concern showed, indicating that “this is a major boost for both teachers and learners; knowing that their plight is known by people outside their premises.”
According Dr Lartey, the Academy had planned to undertake a number of project to enhance teaching and learning and also procure facilities for the children with keen interest in sports but had to shelve those plans for lack of finance.
He told the team that their biggest concerns were the monthly utility bills that takes a toll on their finances.
“We have a piece of land we planned to turn into an astro turf pitch to train the younger ones whose interests lies in making a career out of football, however, we have been unable to commence because there is no money now,” he said.
Dr Lartey expressed gratitude to the teachers who have dedicated their lives to training these children, rather than going for well-paying jobs and hoped that with time, their conditions of engagement would improve.
Moved by the plight of the Academy, the group donated a cash amount of Gh₵3,000 to settle its water bills.
They described as unfortunate the conditions of learners and teachers of the Academy and pledged to continuously support their operations to realize the dream to build a better future for the unfortunate children.
The group offered to support the school with its monthly utility bills, feeding and staff allowance and urged the Academy staff to remain in constant touch with them.
The Street Academy is located at the Accra Art Center and offers brilliant but needy the chance to pursue their educational dreams by enrolling them in public schools with others offered training in sports and cultural activities.
By Spectator Reporter
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