Christian young men, join Muslim friend and family to celebrate the Eid_uld_ fitr at the end of the month of Ramadan and one of the Christian Young men appealed to both Christians and Muslim leaders to tolerate one another for peaceful coexistence. These young men who are school mate from primary through secondary and university level, have being together since childhood. Again they do not see why there should be any differences, after all we are all Ghanaians, the young men said.
NATIONAL SECURITY MINISTER MEETS WITH CONVENERS OF #FIXTHECOUNTRY CAMPAIGN
The Minister of National Security, Mr. Albert Kan-Dapaah, has met with the conveners of social media campaign dubbed #FixTheCountry. The said meeting was held on Thursday, May 6, 2021. This was made known by the Information Ministry on social media. According to the Information Ministry, the said meeting was to afford the Minister the opportunity to dialogue with the conveners on their concerns. The Information Ministry, in a Twitter post, said: “In acknowledging the healthy conversation that has been started following a social media campaign, #FixTheCountry, the Minister invited the group to explore further dialogue on their concerns.” It further disclosed that Mr. Kan-Dapaah and the conveners agreed to engage in further discussions.
”The conveners, in turn, expressed their pleasure at the invitation and the level of seriousness with which their concerns have been taken by the government. ”
About the group and their planned demonstration
The #FixTheCountry hashtag has been in the social media trends in Ghana for about four days. The hashtag has so far gathered over 600,000 tweets and other engagements on Twitter. It was initially started by some young persons on Twitter, but some celebrities later joined the campaign to hold the government accountable. An online petition which was launched to support the cause has gathered over 3,000 signatures. They planned a demonstration on May 9, 2021, but their request for police protection was turned down. They cited ‘dumsor’, unemployment and poor healthcare systems as proof of successive governments’ mismanagement of the country. “The Command received a letter of notification on Tuesday afternoon of an intended demonstration slated for the 9th of this month. The Regional Command met the convener, who was accompanied by one other person. We told them that we understand their standpoint but then, there [are restrictions] on public gatherings, as such, the Command may not be able to provide the necessary security for the proposed demonstration, Public Relations Officer of the Greater Accra Regional Police Command, DSP Effia Tenge has said.
Street Begging has become one of the major social issues in almost all big cities in Africa, In Ghana, there is a law which states that any person found begging, wondering and placing himself in any premises or place for the purpose of begging may be arrested by the police without warrant and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not more than 50 Ghana Cedis or imprisonment of not more than 3months or even both. However, that did not stop the increase of street beggars across major roads situated in the heart of the country including the ceremonial routes, bridges, streets that includes; East Legon-Shiashie, the main Tetteh Quarshie-Madina, Dansoman Highway, 37 Military Hospital Bus Stop, Abeka Lapaz, Circle Odowna, the Ring Road, Paloma along Kaneshie road among others.
Even though giving alms to the needy is a kind gesture, some residents of Ghana have shown their concerns over the rapid influx of beggars into Ghana. Hajiya Suwaiba Salisu a resident of Accra said it is disheartening to see these beggars because most of them are physically fit. PICTURE
“They even act like they want to collect alms by force. If you tell them that you don’t have money to give them and plead with them to go, some of them will act as if they want to fight you, how does one keep giving beggars money when they have such attitude? They should all be sent back to their countries’’, She added angrily. Muhammad Rabiu Hamisu Bako a resident of Sabon Zango in Accra said the beggars are living in a sympathetic manner as most of them are foreigners without families in Ghana.
“You will see them sleeping on the streets, I am a witness to some who even got kicked by a vehicle and there was no one there to help them. It is sad to see these beggars, some with their children and they get involved in lots of accidents where some of them even lose their lives’’. “Government should do something about this because they come in through the boarders almost every day so, government should do something about it”, He added. Ta Gimba, a mother of 5 who is a beggar along Ring Road said she left her country Niger to come to Ghana to beg. According to her, she lost her husband few years ago and since then things have not been easy for her. “I came here with 3 of my children because it is easier for people to help me when they see my children and it will be easier for me to feed them too. I came to here because I heard that beggars get a lot of money in Ghana’’.
“But now I feel disappointed, there is no money. I spent more than 6 days on the road and spent all my money on the boarders because you have to pay your way in at every stop on the boarder. Now I want to go back home, I regret coming here” she added. Over the years lots of people are of the view that some of these beggars are being trafficked into the country and housed in Sabon Zango community a suburb of Accra. However, the chief of Sabon Zango, Alhaji Hamisu Bako refuted this allegation in an interview saying, there are certain People with Disabilities living in the Zango community and it is not fair to categorize them as street beggars.
“There are beggars everywhere, it is untrue to say that Sabon Zongo is the community housing these beggars.The ones here have been living in this Zongo since time immemorial. Some of them are blind, some are deaf, some are crippled and lots of them have one or two things doing that is fetching them money for their upkeep. Though some of them beg, but it is because they do not have any other choice.’’ “As for the ones going round with kids, sleeping on the streets, disturbing the peace and cleanliness of Ghana, the government should find a place to keep them or get their ambassadors to take them back to their countries. Most of them are from Niger, some from Nigeria and other countries. They should be taken back” he added. Sheikh Abdulrahman Tawfiq Kalusey a renowned Islamic cleric from Kumasi, said Islam is a comprehensive religion that has an explanation and a way forward to every societal issue including the menace of street begging. “Begging as a commercial activity is not allowed in Islam, but it is permissible for those who have lost everything they have ever owned in a fire accident or any natural disaster to beg so as to stand back on their feet.” “But the form of begging we see today in our society is not allowed’’. Meanwhile a pastor from Kwabenya, Felix Nze, intimated that begging in Christianity is not forbidden but it is not something good enough to be allowed especially if it is becoming a disturbing issue in the society. This report shown that a large number of the beggars are from Niger and Ghanaians have shown that they do not want them. What should be done to bring an end to street begging in Ghana? That’s is a question for us to discuss another time.
On Sunday 31st July,2022, at West Africa Senior High School at Adenta in the Ga East municipal assembly saw one of the biggest gathering in the area, to inaugurate Sariki (Chief) Alhaji Yussif Iddriss Madingo as the president of Supreme Council of Ga-East Zongo and Tribal chiefs.
Sariki Madingo was the chief for Pantang Abokobi Zongo, the president Madingo is a celebrated real estate developer, philanthropist, humanitarian who has contributed in shaping the life of many in the Zongo not just Ga-East area but Ghana. He has built mosque, schools and housing for the needy in his community.
The Supreme Council of Ga- East Zongo and Tribal Chiefs was formed to create unity,love, develop human resource among people of Zongo the municipality. The council believes the zongo communities in Ghana can do better if the leadership of zongo come togather form developmental alliance to speed the develop drive for zongo peeople. Chiefs from these various community formed the council: Dome, Madina, Taifa, Ashongman, Boi, Ayi Mensa, Bansa, Haatso, Kwabenya, Oyarifa and Pantang and Abokobi being the capital of municipality.
The national chief imam Dr Sheikh Nuhu Osmanu Sharubutu was was the special honour with former RT. honourably speaker of parliament, Prof. Mike Oquaye Senier, MCE of Adenta Municipal Assembly, Hon. Yussif Jajah-MP for Ayawaso North Constuency, and endless chiefs from all walks of life.
The national Chief Imam admonished the gathering: “For us to attain progress, this kind of dialogue will help prevent evil that will come to us and also attract the good for our country.”
He described the peace being enjoyed in the country as a favour of God and said it behoved every citizen, irrespective of his or her religious inclination, to work towards sustaining the gains made so far by living peacefully with one another.
According to Sheikh Sharubutu, tolerating one another was one of the ways of preventing “evil in our respective communities for accelerated development”.
The former RT. honourably speaker of parliament, Prof. Mike Oquaye Senier also touched on the unity, develop and contribution of muslims in shaping the country Ghana. He however praise government free SHS policy.
The Public Utility Workers Union (PUWU) has expressed strong opposition to any plans to privatize the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG). This follows an announcement by Energy Minister-Designate John Jinapor on Monday, January 13, outlining the Mahama administration’s intention to involve the private sector in Ghana’s electricity distribution. As part of this initiative, a seven-member committee is set to be established to explore the privatization process.
However, PUWU has argued that privatizing ECG at this time is not the right solution to the challenges facing the power distribution sector. Timothy Nyame, the General Secretary of PUWU, emphasized the importance of dialogue in resolving the issues at ECG. PUWU has called on the government to prioritize collaboration and internal reforms as alternatives to privatization, which they believe could have adverse implications for workers and the country’s energy sector.
