Roads in Ho and two other towns to be asphalted

Ho Poly - SSNIT flat road

Road networks within three towns in the Volta region  are  to be  given an asphaltic facelift, President Mahama has revealed.

The re-surfacing which will take place before the end of 2016 forms  part of an urban roads improvement project being undertaken by government to improve  the standard of roads in Ho, Hohoe and Keta. 

President Mahama  who disclosed this, during  a courtesy called on the paramount chief of Asogli traditional area, Togbe Afede XIV, in Ho over the weekend, said 25 kilometers of roads have been earmarked for the asphaltic surfacing in Ho as part of the phase of the project. 

“The project is being awarded and very soon the contract will be on site to raise the standards of the roads with asphalt and this will also be done in Keta and Hohoe,” he stated.

The president’s assurance comes on the back sentiments expressed by  residents, which Togbe Afede re-echoed  at the meeting, about the  quality of some roads which were recently resurfaced with bituminous  chipping within the Volta regional capital.

Three killed in gory Ho accident

At least, three persons are reported dead in an accident involving a Benz bus and two taxi cabs in Ho Saturday, afternoon.
The bus with registration number GT 8320 C, according eyewitnesses was descending the Galenkui hill, when it ran into the taxis, one of which was engaging in a u-turn in front of the Goil filling station opposite the OLA SHS 2nd gate, with the other overtaking it.
Eyewitnesses believe the 33 seater bus might have had brake failure resulting in the accident.
Several persons on the bus are said to have sustained various degrees of injury, as it capside on a pavement.

Personnel from the Fire Service and Police service were at the scene to evacuate the victims to the regional hospital in Ho for treatment, as investigation commenced.

Passengers onboard the Benz bus have been identified as members of the Apostles Revelations Society (ARS) church, who were returning from a funeral. 

Source: VoltaOnlinegh/LA

Photos: Vice President keep fit with appointees in Ho

Vice President Kwesi Amissah Arthur and a host of of government ministers and appointees took time off their busy schedules to burn some calories in a health walk in Ho, the Volta regional capital, Saturday morning.

The appointees including the chief of staff, Julius Debrah clad in polo shirts with inscription #Changinglives, #transformingGhana walked through the principal streets of Ho, starting  from the Volta Serene hotel on Kabakaba Hills.

President Mahama reopens refurbished Adomi Bridge

The refurbished Adomi bridge (c) Facebook 

President John Mahama has reopened the rehabilitated Adomi bridge at Atimpoku in the eastern region to commuters, Saturday afternoon.

The 335 metre suspension steel bridge across the Volta river was refurnished at a cost of 12.9 million euros by Bilfinger MCE GmbH of Austria within the period of 20months. 

The rehabilitation saw  the reinforcement of  steel beams  beneath the bridge deck, replacement of the hanger cables holding  the suspended  deck  to the steel arch, replacement of concrete on steel deck with asphalt and the provision pedestrian concrete walkway.

Speaking at the recommissioning ceremony, President Mahama noted that, the rehabilitation became necessary following deep cracks that have developed on  parts of the steel beams as a result of excess weight from overloaded trucks.

He therefore  cautioned  drivers  to adhere to axle load requirement and urged officials of the Ghana highways authority to enforce  the laws by  not allowing overloaded  trucks to access to the bridge, in order to elongate its life span.

Gov't rebuilds Gbi Paramount Chief’s residence

Government has  reconstructed the vandalized residence of the paramount chief of Gbi traditional area, Togbega Gabusu VI in Hohoe. 

The residence, which   was vandalized  by some irate zongo  youth in June, 2012 during a communal clash  with some indigenes of area, was rebuild as part of peace efforts by government through the Volta regional coordinating council.  

The  GHc 254, 000 two bedroom self contain and  three semi-detached chamber and halls were constructed by CW constructions Ltd within a period of 18 months.

At a brief ceremony to handover keys to the walled and gated facility on Tuesday, Director of CW Constructions Limited, Mr William Chidiak told journalists  the facility is ready  for occupation by the chief.

He however said the company will be on standby to rectify any defect which will detected during the initial  period of occupation.

The deputy Volta regional minister, Mr Francis Ganyaglo,  who received the keys to the house, said the completion of the residence will ‘cement the existing peace and tranquility’ currently prevailing in the area.

He commanded the contractor for contributing towards the peace process and urged the zongo community and the indigenes to coexist peacefully.

Mr. Ganyaglo also charged the police in the area to provide 24 hour surveillance at the residence until the chief relocates to the place. 

Togbega Gabusu who is currently out of town, will be handed over the residence at an official ceremony upon his return. 

Rehabilitated Adomi bridge to be opened to traffic

Adomi Bridge

Motorists who use the Adomi bridge to connect to Accra and other parts of the country will soon heave a sigh of relief, when President Mahama reopens the rehabilitated bridge situated at Atimpoku in the eastern region to vehicular traffic  this weekend.

This follows the completion of an 18 months extensive  rehabilitation works by the  Austrian construction and Engineering  firm, Bilfinger MCE GmbH on the  335metre bridge,  spanning across the Volta river.

The bridge which  connects  the Volta region  to other parts of the country through  the eastern region, was closed down in March 2014, for its  first  major rehabilitation after it was commissioned over  five decades ago.

The  closure  created a lot of inconvenience to   motorists and  travelers moving from the central and northern parts of the Volta region to the national capital, Accra, as they spent long hours waiting   to cross the river with the two ferries provided by the Ghana  Highway Authority at Senchi.

14 perish in gory Hohoe-Jasikan road accident

    File photo 

Some 14 persons are reported  dead in a fatal accident which  occurred on the Hohoe-Jasikan road in the Volta region, Thursday afternoon.

The accident which occurred between Bowiri and Jasikan,  involved an urvan passenger vehicle  traveling from  Jasikan in a head-on collision with a Metro mass transit bus, coming from the Hohoe direction.

According information gathered, almost all the  passengers on board the urvan bus have perished, except a woman and her baby who were  miraculously found alive in the mangled vehicle.

An eyewitness, Foster who arrived at the scene moments after the accident, told Volta Online that, passengers on board the metro mass also sustained various degrees of injury and have rushed to the Jasikan and Hohoe government hospitals for treatment by a team of Police and Fire service personnel, who reported at the scene.

“There are about sixteen people in the urvan and all are feared dead, except a woman and her child. The others in the metro mass sustained various degrees of injuriees and have been taken to the Jasikan and Hohoe hospitals’  the emotionally distraught eyewitness narrated.

The eyewitness, believe that the deplorable and dusty nature of the road might have contributed  to the accident, as visibility on the road  was poor.

Police in the area have since begun investigations into the tragedy.

First year Ho Poly student murdered

Police in Ho are investigating the gruesome murder of a female student of the Ho Polytechnic by an unidentified assailant(s), Monday dawn.

The body of Naomi Kpodzro, a first year HND Fashion student was found in a pool of blood by her mates on Monday dawn at 'Divine Star' - a private female hostel- with knife and gunshot wounds on her body.

She was however pronounced dead at the regional hospital in Ho, where she was rushed for treatment.

An assistant registrar in-charge of Public relations at the Polytechnic, Mr. Isaac Meyir who confirmed the incident,  said the family of the deceased have also been contacted. 

Though, It is unclear what led to the killing,  reports indicate the deceased may have offended a lover.

According to anonymous sources  , a call made to the victim's phone was answered by the suspected killer who asked the caller to let the victim know that, “it's not everyman's money you spend and go for free.”

However, a contrary report  indicated that, the lady might have been a victim of a mistaken identity, whose roommate might have been the actual target.

New Police station commissioned at Sokode-Bagble

As part of efforts to enhance security as well as  maintain law and order within the Ho municipality of the Volta region a new police station has been commissioned in the area.

The facility located at Sokode-Bagble along the Ho-Accra highway, was solely financed by a Ho based businessman and philanthropist, Mr. Joe Ayivor popularly known as ‘Afelotto’.

Speaking at the handing over ceremony, Mr. Ayivor said the increasing incidents of robbery and burglary including recent attacks on fuel service stations  within the area necessitated his intervention. 

According to him, the absence of a police installation  in the area  hinders the early response of the police to crime alerts, and  recounted how  he had to drive several kilometers at night  to Ho to get a police patrol team to respond to a robbery attack on his fuel service station a year ago.

“From Sokode-lokoe to Anyinawase, there is no police post, so all communities within that stretch are in danger in terms of any criminal attacks. That's why I decided to support the communities here.”

The new police station which is the third in the municipality, comprises of a charge office, office for the station officer, male and female cells with modern washrooms. The offices are fully furnished with, computer set, furniture, air-condition, television, refrigerator set, potable water with a reservoir among others.    

NDC Primaries: Four MPs tumble, Seven new faces join ticket inVoltaregion.

Four incumbent members of parliament tumbled in the just ended parliamentary primaries of National Democratic Congress in the Volta region. 

They include. Hon. Joe Gidisu, MP for Central Tongu and former minister for roads and highways, who was beaten by Mr. Gabby Hotordze with almost 5000 votes in a three man contest. Hon. Gidisu polled 3,123 votes as against Mr. Hotordze’s  8,088 votes.

In the  North Dayi constituency, Hon. George Loh set the record as a one term MP, as he was toppled by a female aspirant, Joycelyn Tetteh, a student of the University of Cape Coast. She polled 3,037 votes as against Mr. Loh’s 2,207 votes.

Hon. Edem Asimah also suffered defeat in the South Dayi constituency, where he Lawyer  Rockson Defeamekpor, who polled 2,422 votes, as against Mr. Asimah's 1,585 votes.

The 4th causality was the Incumbent MP for Biakoye, Hon. Emmanuel Bandua also lost to Nyanpon Aboagye.

In all, Seven new faces have made their way onto the NDC's ticket for the 2016 general elections. They are include Charles Agbeve for Agortime/Ziope, and Angela Alorwu-Tay (DCE) for Afadjato South.

Below is the list of winners in the NDC primaries in Volta region.

NDC suspends disqualified Ketu South MP aspirant

         Koku Anyidoho, Deputy NDC General Secretary 

The Volta regional branch of the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) has suspended one of the disqualified parliamentary aspirants for the Ketu South constituency Jim Yao Morti.

The party in a statement Wednesday said the decision has become necessary following the “unacceptable” behavior of Yao Morti and his supporters after his disqualification from the upcoming primaries.

Morti is in court seeking to place an injunction on the Saturday primary in the constituency.

According to the writ, he said he met all laid down requirements stated in the NDC’s guidelines for the election, hence could not understand his disqualification.

“Even though no communication has been channeled to the plaintiff directly, the plaintiff got to know that the reason for the delay and actions of some of the executives of the 1st Defendant [Fifi Kwetey] to stall his candidature is to assist the 5th defendant who has lost touch with the constituency,” the writ stated.

The NDC goes to the polls on Saturday to elect its Presidential and parliamentary candidates for the 2016 elections.

Credit: StarrFMonline 

Mahama climax ‘changing lives’ tour in Volta region ahead of primaries

President Mahama will climax his 'changing lives, transforming Ghana' tour with a 2days visit to the Volta region, the 'world bank' of the governing National Democratic Congress. 

As part of the visit which begins today, the president will commission one of the community day Senior High Schools in the Nkwanta South district  and later inspect work on the Hohoe-Pepesu section of the eastern corridor road project at Jasikan.

He will then have a meeting with regional party executives and MMDCEs at the residency in Ho later Wednesday  evening.

President Mahama is also expected to commission the permanent campus of the university of health and allied sciences at Sokode-Lokoe near Ho on Thursday morning, before meeting with members of the Volta regional house of Chiefs.

The visit will be climax with a mammoth rally at the Ho jubilee, where president will address thousands of party supporters in the region ahead of Saturday's presidential and parliamentary primaries of the party.

Disqualified Ketu South NDC aspirant drag party to court

One of the two disqualified aspirants in the National Democratic Congress (NDC) parliamentary race in the Ketu South constituency of the Volta region have drag the party to court over his disqualification.

Mr. Jim Yao Morti, through a suit  at the High court in Accra, is seeking among other reliefs an injunction on the November 21 primaries in the constituency.

According to the writ,  Mr. Morti said he met all laid down requirements stated  in the NDC’s guidelines for the election, hence could not understand his disqualification.

He noted that, a petition brought against him during his vetting about him selling a rented car in Togo was raised during which he “provided satisfactory answers to that effect and even provided the necessary documentation to alleviate the issues raised.”

His vetting was however  referred to the Party’s National Executive Committee (NEC) for redress, but has since had no communication from the party concerning his disqualification or otherwise.

Mr. Morti however believe the action of the NDC national executive committee is breach of his fundamental human rights and an attempt to give the incumbent MP, Mr. Fiifi Kwetey the lee way to contest unopposed. He is therefore praying the court for a perpetual injunction on the parliamentary primaries in the constituency until his name is included on the ballot paper.

“The NEC has not till date, come out with a decision of the his candidature and also not communicated same to him or the general public,” yet has not been cleared for the primaries.

“Even though no communication has been channelled to the plaintiff directly, the plaintiff got to know that the reason for the delay and actions of some of the executives of the 1st Defendant [Fiifi Kwetey] to stall his candidature is to assist the 5th defendant who has lost touch with the constituency,” the writ stated.

UHAS Land owners to demonstrate over unpaid compensation

Individuals, whose lands were taken for the construction of permanent campus for University of Health and Allied Sciences (UHAS) at Sokode-Lokoe near Ho in the Volta region, are up in arms against government for long delay in the payment of their compensations.

Government through an Executive Instrument (EI) compulsorily acquired the lands for the first public university in the region, which was established an Act of Parliament in 2011.

Though the construction of permanent structures on the land, which begun in 2013 have been completed this year, the land owners are yet to be compensated.

To this end, the individuals who have come together under the UHAS land owners association have resolved to demonstrate at the permanent campus on Wednesday, November 18, same day President Mahama is expected to commission the campus.

“We are compelled to demonstrate on Wednesday, November 18 at the university premises to make government and the general public aware of the unfair and illegal treatment of UHAS land owners, with regards to the compensation which we are constitutionally owed,” the group said in a press release on Monday.

Volta NPP suspends two executives for misconduct

The Volta Regional Executive Committee of the NPP have suspended two of its constituency executive in the region.

The decision follows two separate petitions filed against, Godfred Kudalor and Pope Yao Yevoo, organizer and secretary in the Akatsi North and Ketu North constituencies respectively.

The duo who took part in the recent demonstration at the party national headquarters demanding the reinstatement of suspended chairman, Paul Afoko, are said to have made comments deemed to be derogatory of the party in public.

At a regional executive committee meeting on Friday, the two gentlemen were suspended with immediate effect, pending further action by the regional disciplinary committee.

Mr. Enoch Amegbletor, deputy regional communications director of NPP who confirmed suspension of the two party officers news, said they were not suspended because they participated in the demonstration but rather their utterances to section of the media contravenes the party's constitution.

Monsignor Emmanuel Fianu ordained new Catholic Bishop of Ho

 

The ordination and installation of the new Bishop elect for the Catholic diocese of Ho in the Volta region region,Monsignor Emmanuel Fianu is underway at  Jubilee park in Ho.

Monsignor Fianu who is an SVD priest was elected by Pope Francis in July 2015 as the successor to the first Ghanaian Bishop of the then Keta-Ho diocese, and now Ho diocese, Most Rev. Francis Kofi Anane  Lodonu.

Bishop Emeritus, Lodonu was in charge of the Roman Catholic Church in the Volta region for the past four decades and over.

Thousands of Catholic faithfully across the Volta region and the country have thronged the Jubilee park in Ho  to witness this  special event.

Other dignitaries including members of the GHANA Catholic Bishops conference are also in attendance. Traditional leaders including president of the Volta regional house of Chiefs, Togbe Afede XIV and top government officials led by the the Speaker of Ghana's parliament Rt. Hon. Edward Doe Adjaho are also in attendance. 

Togbe Afede XIV (2nd L) flanked to his left by Hon. Helen Ntoso (Volta regional minister)

There are  missionary priests, bishops and other religious from parts of Africa, including Togo, Bennin, Nigeria among others in attendance. The Superior General of the Society of the Divine Word (SVD) at Vatican is also presence to support of his members, who until his appointment, was the Secretary General of the SVD.

The principal consecrator at this ceremony is His Eminnce, Peter Cardinal Appiah Turkson, Archbishop merit us of Cape coast in Ghana and the current President of the Pontifical council for Justice and Peace at the Vatican.

He will be assisted by the Apostolic Nuncio to GHANA, Most Rev. Jean-Marie Speich and Bishop emeritus of Ho Most Rev. Francis Lodonu.

Scroll down for more updates.

15:15GMT: the new bishop of Ho diocese, Most Rev. Emmanuel Fianu addressing the congregants. He expresses gratitude to all and sundry for their well wishes and prayers. Calls for everyone's support in his ministry as the new leader of the Catholic Church in Ho.

Bishop Fianu extols the good works of his immediate predecessor, Bishop emeritus, Francis Lodonu and expressed profound gratitude to him for successfully leading the church in last 40 years and more.

He promise to organize a grand event in the near future to honour the bishop emeritus.

Bishop Fianu, in shades, flanked by Apostolic Nuncio (L) and Cardinal Turkson (R)

Pencils of Promise removes schools under tree in Adaklu

Hundreds of school pupils and their teachers in selected basic schools  in the Adaklu district of the Volta region can now carry out  their academic activities in a better and conducive classrooms, thanks to  the benevolence of a non –governmental organization, Pencils of Promise(PoP).

Due to inadequate infrastructure over the years, some of the school were compelled to hold classes under trees and thatch structures,  leaving the pupils and staff at the mercy of the weather. 

A total of seven communities benefited from various units of classroom blocks constructed by the NGO, Pencils of Promise with support from the  district assembly and the MPs common fund, at the cost of GHC  1.8million.

The projects executed within a record time of 4months, according to Mr. Freeman Gobah, country director of PoP, is aimed at boosting educational activities in the  area by increasing school  enrollment in the seven beneficiary communities.

He therefore charged  school  authorities to make good use of the infrastructure in improving academic performance of the pupils. 

A teacher in one of the beneficiary schools at Adaklu-Kpeleho, where the projects were commissioned, Ernestina  Akpe expressed gratitude about the project, saying it will help reduce the high  attrition rate among staff due to poor infrastructure.

“We use to be under sheds and whenever the cloud gathers, we have to earlier. Sometimes too, we get beaten by the rain. .Most  teachers have left [the school]  because of this problem. So we’re grateful this problem have been resolved,” she stated.

One of the thatch structures use fr classroom

UHAS is making steady progress- Prof. Binka

The vice chancellor of the University of health and allied science (UHAS) in the Volta region, Professor Fred Binka has noted that, the university is progressing steadily in delivering on its mandate of training world class health professionals to meet  the country’s healthcare needs.

According to him, the university which is in its third year,  has a seen a “steady but huge increase in the number of applicants who wish pursue their dreams of becoming health professionals.”

“Last year we received 2011 applications for the 2014/2015 academic year and we were only able to offer places and enrolled 458 students. This year the total number of applicants have doubled. We had 4124 applications to which 829 have been enrolled”

Speaking at the  fourth matriculation ceremony of 829 fresh students for the 2015/16 academic at the university’s newly completed permanent campus at Sokode-Lokoe in Ho, Prof. Binka also underscored the impact of the first public funded university in the region, is making on people across the a cross the region through its community service programme and assured the students of wholistic theoretical and practical  training.

President Mahama join Chiefs and People of Ziope to celebrate Agbleza

Torgbui Binah Lawluvi welcoming President Mahama to the festival grounds

Government is to relaunch the Youth in Agriculture programme, under the new Youth Employment Agency (YEA) in order to boost young people's interest in that sector.

According to President John Mahama, the relaunch has become necessary following the restructuring of the then Ghana Youth Employment and Entrepreneurial Agency (GYEEDA) into now Ghana Youth Employment Agency (YEA) backed by an Act of Parliament.

This, he said will ensure the equipping young people with the requisite skills, inputs and machinery to engage in large scale cultivation to meet the high market demand for agricultural produce.

Addressing the Chiefs and people of Ziope traditional area in the Agotime-Ziope district of the Volta region, during their annual Agbleza (farming festival) on Saturday, the President urged the youth in the area to take advantage of the programme to improve their livelihood.

Touching on the 200 community Senior  high schools promised by the NDC government, President Mahama disclosed that, work is currently progressing on 123 out the 200 across the country.

‘We need a generator’-Volta school for the deaf appeals

Imagine not being able to communicate with other persons, whenever power goes off…? This is the situation, in which students of the Volta school for the deaf in Hohoe found themselves, due to their hearing and speech impairment.

Because of the current power crisis, the students who communicate through sign language, can no longer interact in the evenings during power outages, as they unable to see and interpret their own ‘signings’ [gestures] in darkness.

The situation has therefore left with no option than to retire to early bed, since the school also lack a standby generator to remedy the situation.

Headmistress of the school, Madam Diddy Ntim told Volta Online in an interview that, the erratic power situation is adversely affecting school activities in the evenings and appealed to benevolent individuals and organizations to come to their aid.

“We use our eyes to see what we sign, so when the lights are off, everything goes mute, because we cannot communicate in darkness. So we need a standby generator to use in times of light off.. We’ will be grateful if people will support us.”

The school founded in 1971 and solely funded by the government of Ghana, currently has a population of about 400 students.

 Madam Ntim, has therefore asked for public support in terms of food items and sponsorships to complement government’s efforts in educating these children with special needs.