Drug-related cases soar in Ghana

Drug-related cases soar in Ghana

By Mohammed Awal (awalm19@gmail.com)

Nine thousand nine hundred and twenty four (9,924) drug-related cases were recorded from 2010 to mid-year 2013, the Chairman of Narcotics Control Board (NACOB) Governing Board, Captain Baffour Assasie-Gyimah (Rtd), has disclosed.

Capt. Assasie-Gyimah

These figures were recorded from four hospitals and he noted that the highest figures were recorded in 2012, at three thousand seven hundred and eighty-two (3,782).

Out of this, three thousand six hundred and ninety three (3,693) were male, whereas eighty nine (89) were female, representing 98% and 2% respectively.

He made this shocking revelation on Thursday, during the World Drug Day Celebration, themed: “A message of hope: Drug use disorders are preventable and treatable.”

Measures

Capt. Gyimah (Rtd) noted that NACOB, in partnership with international agencies, such as the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), World Customs Organisation (WCO) and Interpol established the Joint Port Control Unit (JPCU) - a container control programme aimed at assisting Ghana to establish “effective container controls that will serve to prevent drug trafficking.”

Also, with funding from the European Union (EU) and the government of Canada, a project aimed at establishing effective communication and exchange of intelligence among law enforcement agencies and airport operation with seven (7) airports in West Africa and Brazil, to crack down these traffickers known as the Airport Communication Project (AIRCOP), had been recently launched.

 “We have done so much with supply suppression efforts”, said Capt. Gyima (Rtd), assuring that their partners at the National crime Agency of the United Kingdom, the Drug Enforcement Administration of the United States Department of Justice, the French government and a host of others had offered NACOB assistance and promise to continue with their support to the drug enforcement agency to prosecute its agenda of cracking down the drug trafficking syndrome.

“All these maritime projects have so far achieved a lot in thwarting sea-borne drug operations,” he declared.

Lifeline to addicts

NACOB, he revealed, would help drug addicts to abdicate their current predicament by offering them counsel. The Institution he said would roll-out various demand reduction programmes aimed at highlighting the harmful effects of drug use.

“Our Programmes offer a lifeline to those who are already abusing drugs as well as those who intend to abuse illicit drugs.

“We in NACOB know very well that drug addiction is a disease and not necessarily a crime. Addiction is a medical problem that requires medical attention and not legal prosecution for prison confinement. Addicts need our sympathy and not our condemnation,” he emphasized.

Emirates host sports journalists

Emirates host sports journalists

…during Ghana, Portugal clash

By Mohammed Awal (awalm19@gmail.com)

Emirates Airline has treated a group of sports journalists to a special viewing of Ghana’s final group game match against Portugal in the on-going FIFA World Cup in Brazil.

The Country Manager of Emirates Ghana, Hendrik du Preez, who hosted the journalists, said the event was meant to show solidarity for the Black Stars.

Commenting on the match, which the Stars lost 2-1, Hendrik du Preez said the defeat was as result of lack of focus on the field of play by the players.

He told the press that if the Stars had replicated what they did against Germany, “I think things would have been better.”

On the day Ghana lost 2-1. The Portuguese broke the deadlock after 30 minutes when Ghana defender John Boye's wild clearance from Miguel Veloso's cross diverted the ball over goalkeeper Fatawu Dauda and into the net.
In the 57^th minute Ghana grabbed the equaliser through Asamoah Gyan’s carefully guided header making him the highest ever scorer for an African nation at World Cup finals, surpassing the mark of five set by Cameroon's Roger Milla.

However, on 80^th minute Fatawu Dawda’s howler shot Portugal into the lead when he dropped the ball onto the foot of Cristiano Ronaldo to slot the ball into the net.

He said the game - and indeed entire tournament was a reminder of how emirates connect people and places through their “global route network.”

For over 25 years Emirates has committed itself to sponsorship around the world he stated and was the first Airline to be an official Partner of the FIFA World Cup.

 “Emirates Airline’s vast portfolio of international sports and cultural sponsorships is to bring people together to discover, enjoy, and share enriching experiences” he noted.

MP Boosts Candidates’ Morale Ahead Of BECE

By Mohammed Awal

THE MEMBER of Parliament (MP) for East-Ayawaso, Naser Mahama Toure has donated educational materials to Junior High Schools (JHS) in the East-Ayawaso constituency in Accra. The items donated were 750 packs of mathematical sets, pens and rulers respectively.

The beneficiary schools were Kanda AMA, Kanda I and 5 JHS, Ring Road JHS, Nima I and 2 JHS, St. Kizito School and Islamic JHS.  Others were Alwaheed JHS, Islamic Training JHS, Kanda International School, Eve Godson School, Nima Presbyterian School and EP JHS.

Presenting the items worth thousands of Ghana Cedis at a ceremony, Mr. Toure said the donation was in line with his vision to “change and transform” the face of Nima and its environs through the provision of quality education. He hinted about the establishment of a scholarship scheme which would be aimed at helping needy but exceptionally brilliant students in his constituency.

Mr. Toure, therefore, advised the students to be discipline and uphold their studies seriously so as to make their parents and the community proud. The officer in charge of the schools in the constituency, Merry Naa Adoley Dodoo said the gesture by the MP would go a long way to “boost the morale” of the students, ahead of their first national assignment. “This gesture,” she said “will really motivate the students to do well”.

It would further ameliorate the situations where students would come to the exams hall gnawing that they have no mathematical sets, pen, this or that, she added. Sandra Bekoe, a student of St. kizito JHS who is also a BECE candidate thanked the MP for his benevolence. “I was overwhelmed by the kind gesture”, she noted.

She called on other benevolent individuals, institutions and corporate bodies to follow the footsteps of the MP, since the gesture done was “worthy of emulation and recommendation.” Wemakor Arnold, also a BECE candidate, said the donation was “timely and critical to their success,” in their impending exams since most of their parents couldn’t afford such basic materials.

Nana, The Annointed One… Says NPP Group

Nana, The Annointed One… Says NPP Group

By Mohammed Awal

A GROUP calling itself Crusaders of Nana Akufo-Addo (CONNA) has pledged to ensure that Nana Akufo-Addo gets 90% of the total votes that will be cast when the New Patriotic Party (NPP) goes to the polls in December this year to elect its flagbearer.

Nana Akuffo-Addo

“Go to the ground, listen to people, and assess the ground. You would hear people saying No Nana, no vote,” the group’s National Co-ordinator, Hopeson Adorye, said  at a news conference in Accra yesterday, to formally unveil the formation of CONAA.

Mr. Adorye said that the successful conclusion of the party’s polling station, constituency, regional and national elections was an indication that the NPP was prepared for victory in 2016.

Uncompromising sense of Unity

Mr. Adorye said there was no way the NPP could rescue Ghanaians from the “hardships, despondency and chaos” that the Mahama and the National Democratic Congress (NDC) government had brought on them without a united front.

Quoting Nana Akufo-Addo, he said: “We must, therefore, be guided and guarded constantly by an uncompromising sense of unity. The unity of the NPP is paramount.”  “The success of the party in promoting democracy, rule of law, an open and free society in Ghana was as a result of unity,” he added

Mr. Adorye urged members of the NPP to desist from negative activities that could derail the party’s quest for power in 2016. “It cannot be done through a fractured party,” he warned.

He said CONNA would not sit aloof and watch some individuals destroy the unity the NPP had enjoyed since its establishment. “All members of the party who had begun casting slurs, trying hard to tear down the reputations of candidates in the upcoming flagbearership contest, would be “crushed and will not survive,” he assured, adding, 

“We will not sit aloof and watch a bunch of greedy bastards destroy the party, all in the name of their parochial interests. We will not attack their candidate, but deal with them in their person.”

He pleaded with all aspirants to rein in their supporters who would engage negative tactics in prosecuting their campaign agenda, further urging the NPP leadership to be up and doing, and crack the whip at any person or group of persons whose aim is to destroy the party.