Hot!
Water crisis in Dandafuri: Men struggle to find wives
● One of the non-functioning boreholes
Some men in Dandafuri, a township in the Wa Municipality of the Upper West Region are in a state of unhappiness over their inability to woo and marry women outside their community due to the water crisis in the town.
The community has five boreholes but none of them is functional and women have to travel a long distance to the next community to get water for the home.
This, according to the men the Spectator spoke to, ‘scare’ away prospective wives from other communities who rejects their marriage proposals with the inadequate supply of water as a reason.
“We’re in a difficult situation because of our water problem. When we propose to women outside the community, they refuses outright and would remark that ‘Dandafuri? No way; I cannot come and struggle for water everyday”, Mr Adamu Mahama, a community member told The Spectator newspaper during a community visit.
The Spectator observed that five nonfunctional boreholes were drilled by politicians without due consultation with the community, hence they were sited at areas with low water volumes, making it difficult to access water.
According to the Unit Committee Chairman of the community, Mr Sumaila Idris, most of the boreholes were drilled during the rainy season so much consultation was not done to get a good place to situate them.
He explained that one of the boreholes was even connected to solar but had not been functional in the last five years.
According to Madam Sadia, a woman in the community, they had to endure hours in queues at the only functioning borehole which had also broken down recently due to the pressure on it.
“We have the boreholes but you can pump forever and no water will come out; they are like white elephants because they are not serving their purpose so we mostly depend on rainwater during the rainy season.”
She said”: “even with the functioning one that has broken down, we sometimes go to the pump at 6am and return to the house at 10am.”
This situation, she said, was affecting their wards’ education especially females and younger children because the mothers and the older girls mostly went water hunting and return home late.
“By the time they go to school, it will be quite late because we come home late to prepare the smaller ones for school and the older females also help us to find water before they go to school”, she lamented and said the rainy season had been generous to them and lessoned their burden.
Even at the school, she explained that the absence of water affected good hygiene practices, such that hand washing was a thing of the past because there was no water for that.
The Chief of the community, Abdul Salam Issahaku sent an appeal to benevolent bodies to come and assist the community to fix the existing boreholes by drilling to the water table and become useful for the community.
From Lydia Darlington Fordjour, Dandafuri
Ghana’s First Lady, Lordina Mahama, has made a generous donation to the country’s national female Under-17 and Under-20 teams – Black Maidens and Black Princesses- as they continue preparations for major international assignments.
The donation, made on Friday, May 22, was presented on behalf of the First Lady by the Minister for Gender, Children and Social Protection, Agnes Naa Momo Lartey, at the GFA Technical Centre in Prampram.
The gesture forms part of efforts to motivate and support Ghana’s young female footballers as they prepare to represent the country on the international stage.
The donation included essential food items and toiletries aimed at supporting the welfare and well-being of the players and technical teams.
The donation included cartons of Milo, T-rolls, soft drinks, toiletries, and a range of essential supplies aimed at supporting the welfare of the players, enhancing camp conditions, and easing preparations ahead of their respective assignments.
The Black Maidens are currently engaged in preparations for the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup qualifiers and are set to take on Liberia women’s national under-17 football team in the second-leg encounter in Liberia this weekend.
Meanwhile, the Black Princesses have already secured qualification to the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup after overcoming Uganda in the qualifiers, extending Ghana’s remarkable record to eight consecutive appearances at the tournament.
The donation by the First Lady was expected to boost morale within both camps while reinforcing national support for the young female footballers who continue to make the country proud.
The prosecution has officially rested its case in The Republic v Solomon Asamoah & Another, the high-profile legal battle commonly referred to as the “Sky Train” case.
The Deputy Attorney General Justice Srem Sai announced the development, praising the state’s team of hard-working prosecutors for successfully anchoring the state’s evidence before the High Court.
The criminal trial centers on the former Chief Executive Officer and the former Board Chairman of the Ghana Infrastructure Investment Fund (GIIF).
The duo stands accused of illegally authorizing and paying out US$2 million to a foreign company without obtaining board directives or other mandatory statutory approvals.
State investigators have confirmed that the disbursed millions cannot be found.
Following the closure of the prosecution’s case, the accused persons moved the court for an opportunity to file a submission of no case.
The presiding judge granted the application, ordering the defense to submit their arguments by June 8.
The outcome of the June 8 filings will decide the fate of the trial:
With this, if the judge finds the defense’s submission convincing, the accused will be acquitted and discharged however, If the judge dismisses the submission, the court will order the accused officials to take the stand and explain why they should not face prison sentences.
By Edem Mensah-Tsotorme
