News
UCSOND provides PPEs to vulnerable, institutions in Nzemaland
United Civil Society Organisation for National Development (UCSOND) with funding from CARE International has donated Personal Protective Equipments (PPEs) to people with disabilities, female headed households and second cycle institutions in the Nzemaland to fight the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
The items included 60 Veronica buckets and their stands, 500 sanitisers, 900 posters on COVID-19, 60 receptacles, 1,000 nose masks, a quantity of liquid soap and tissue.
UCSOND is operating in the six coastal districts and Wassa Amenfi East all in the Western Region.
The Executive Director of UCSOND, Mr Wisdom Quaiku said the items were mainly for people with disabilities (PWDs), the vulnerable, female headed households and second cycle institutions in the Nzema East municipality, Ellembelle and Jomoro districts.
He said this class of people due to their situations could not get to most of the centres where the PPEs were distributed to the citizens.
The Executive Director noted that since UCSOND was working with PWDs and had a data on them, they could easily reach their locations with the addresses they had.
Mr Quaiku said most of the PWDs were in areas hard to reach and it was the duty of UCSOND with the assistance of NADMO and the assembly members to serve these people to fight the pandemic.
He added that jingles made in Nzema and Fante would be played in the three FM stations and all local community radio stations in the three districts to educate the people on how to follow the protocols laid down by the World Health Organisation and the Ghana Health Service.
He said the 900 posters would be pasted on public notice boards and intersections in all over the districts to remind people that the fight against COVID-19 was ongoing.
The Executive Director appealed to the people to follow the handwashing religiously, keep the social distance and avoid going to public places in order to curb the spread of the pandemic adding, “Don’t politicise the disease because no sickness knows the various political parties.”
The Nzema East Municipal Director of the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO) and a member of the COVID-19 Team, Mr Anthony Ernest Amoah who received the items on behalf of the people thanked UCSOND and CARE International for thinking of the vulnerable.
He said UCSOND had always been a great stakeholder of the assemblies and at this critical time that all Ghanaians were fighting the pandemic, it was good to reach out to the less-privileged.
Mr Amoah told the NGO that the items would reach the people they were meant for so that together we would fight COVID-19.
FROM PETER GBAMBILA, NSEIN
Troubled and anxious citizens in Damongo of the Savannah Region have expressed concerns about the number of young people, believed to be under the age of 18, involved in ‘shisha’ smoking in pubs and drinking spots within the township.
Eyewitnesses say the minors were seen patronising nightlife venues, where Shisha smoking happen in the open.
The situation has sparked renewed public concern over the enforcement of child protection laws and regulations governing the operations of entertainment centres in the municipality and country as a whole.
An eyewitness, who spoke to The Spectator on conditions of anonymity for security reasons, noted that the situation was becoming increasingly common.
“This is not a one-off incident. It is becoming very common, but residents like us cannot openly report or speak about it because our lives will be at risk,” he said.
Under Ghanaian law, minors were prohibited from patronising Shisha.
Public health experts have consistently warned that shisha use exposes users to harmful substances that can negatively affect brain development, respiratory health, and overall well-being, particularly among young people.
The residents believe the alleged incidents point to broader challenges relating to youth supervision, substance abuse, and weak enforcement of existing regulations and have called on municipal authorities, security agencies, and regulatory bodies to intensify monitoring of pubs and entertainment centres to ensure compliance with the law.
In an effort to address the menace, Mr Salisu Be-Awurbi, the Savannah Regional Minister, has led public education campaigns, engaged security agencies, and supported enforcement actions to address the rising use of illicit substances in the region.
Wura Kelly Seidu Boresah I, the Chief of Damongo, has also called on all stakeholders including parents, community leaders, institutions, and young people to actively support efforts to curb drug abuse, warning that the rising consumption of hard drugs poses a serious health threat to the future of the youth in the Savannah Region.
He also cautioned individuals involved in the sale and distribution of illicit drugs to immediately desist from the practice, stressing that offenders will face arrest and prosecution in accordance with the law.
From Geoffrey Buta, Damongo, Savannah Region
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Dr Theresa Baffour, an advocate for ending violence and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of SAHM SAHW Foundation, has said that society plays a critical and pivotal role in breaking the cycle of domestic violence.
According to her, domestic violence is a major contributor of making women, who are mostly the victims, mentally derailed and unable to engage in economic activities.
She said this when the foundation called on the Ga Mantse, Nii Tackie Teiko Tsuru II, to solicit support for the initiative by the “Strong and Healthy Minds, Strong and Healthy Women” (SAHM SAHW) to combat domestic violence within the Ga State.
The visit was occasioned by the fact that domestic violence cases have become quite prevalent in the Ga communities and is retarding growth.
According to her, the canker was an impediment to national development because the victims were usually tortured and would have to go through series of therapies to return to the right state of mind.
Dr Baffour mentioned that Gender-Based Violence (GBV) places a mental toll on women, and was, therefore, important to break the cycle through comprehensive mental health support, crisis intervention and empowerment programmes in communities with high rates of GBV.
This intervention, she underscored, would help in empowering the denigrated victim of domestic violence to soundly heal, build and thrive.
Dr Baffour added that the initiative would provide holistic, trauma-informed mental health care and advocacy for young women affected by domestic violence.
According to her, the above statement would create safe spaces for healing and equipping them with entrepreneurial skills for renewed hope and empowered life.
The Ga Mantse pledged his support for the laudable initiative to combat domestic violence and also acknowledged the need to address it in the Ga State.
Further endorsement came from Justice Julia Naa-Yarley Adjei Amoah, Chief of Staff at the Office of the Ga Mantse, as she commended the team of SAHM SAHW Foundation for taking a bold step to end the canker in the Greater Accra.
She added that it was a step in the right direction to save vulnerable women from torture, stress and emotional abuse.
By Alfred Nii Arday Ankrah
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