streetism in ghana

By Helena Selby

Streetism is one of the commonest societal problems in the world today which is witnessed by both the young and old each passing day. Its prevalence, intensity and visibility has made society to accept it as a part and parcel normal phenomenom of the world. Streetism even though has the tendency of ruing the prospects of a nation; it is barely spoken of unlike domestic violence, HIV/AIDS, epidemic, maternal mortality and human right abuse. Streetism does not occur in private or in secret but it takes place on the very street which commoners, government officials, philanthropists, and leaders use each passing day. Every individual is a witness to streetism but the support that is given to stop its spread is limited. As streetism basically means living on the due to lack of housing accommodation coupled with the difficulty in fending for ones self, the issue of streetism should not be attributed to children living on the street only but adult too who find themselves on the street with problems beyond their strength. Perhaps as streetism is the consequences of domestic violence, HIV/AIDS, epidemic, maternal mortality, poverty and human right abuse having an indepth solution to these societal problems will help in the eradication of streetism.

Streetism and rural dwellers

Rural dwellers have never been satisfied with their standard of living in the rural settlement due to the unfavourable economic situation. Government’s concentration on urban areas in terms of development and refusal to push some of its resource to the rural areas makes like difficult for dweller over there. For some of these dwellers as the main agriculture occupation they depend on is not lucrative enough to take care of the rapid rise in the prices of goods and services it will be better to migrate to the city where they have hope of greener pastures. According to research Over 80% of Ghanaian Farmers are engaged in subsistence farming. Most of them faced with challenges such as lack of capital or labour, lack of access to ready market, unavailability of land and post harvest losses. There are, however, immense potentials and opportunities such as labour, market, land, useful indigenous technologies and farming inputs. Many youth farmers going through the mentioned situation lay down their tool and come to the city without any source of housing accommodation hence end up living on the street till they are able to make enough money to rent a room.

Streetism and forced marriage

Education has not really helped in the eradication of forced marriage in the lives of many girls in Ghana. The fortunate ones are able to escape the trauma of being forced into marriage due to education, those with no kind of education at all are forced into marriage at a very tender age just to solve financial situation at the home or to rescue her family from extreme poverty. For some even in the classroom parents go ahead to arrange marriage regardless of the fact that the education of the girl will go waste. The Ghanaian Times issue of Wednesday March 26th, 2008 reported about the successful termination of a near marriage of a 17year old Junior High School girl in Kumasi, who is preparing for her final year Basic Education Certificate Examination in April. The young girl had been confined for the marriage ceremony planned.

The children's Act defines a child to be under the age of 18 years and the same Act 560, Section 14, sub section one and two say that "no one shall force a child to be betrothed or be subject of any daily transaction to be married". Furthermore the Act 554, 1998' section 109 on forced marriages states that "whoever by duress causes a person to marry against his or her wish shall be guilty of a misdemeanour." Girl who are not willing to adhere to the proposal of the parents and are not fortunate enough to be rescued by this law, turn to run very far away from home to live on the street where no parent will bother them and try to force them into marriage.

What happens next? A child is forced to live home to live on the street. As the girl is not old enough and does not have any profession to take care of herself, she might end up being a whore or begging for financial assistance from men. What happen next? As the man is not willing to always give out his money without gaining nothing he will indirectly ask the girl to come to a compromise with him in terms of sex and financial aid. The girl with no source of income falls in to the intention of the man the man and eventually gets pregnant. The difficult situation then surfaces as the man might not be willing to take paternity of the child making the girl single teenage mother living on the street. The trend of streetism then continues as the mother will have another child living on the street with her.

Streetism and child trafficking

Poverty has rendered many children to live on the street. In Ghana Many children are trafficked for forced labour in agriculture and the fishing industry, for street hawking, forced to beg on the street and as porters. Some parents with good intention for their children give their children out either to a relation or a friend to give them the best life they couldn’t give to their children but these trusted people turn to give these children the worse life that the real parents wouldn’t have given to them. They are engaged into doing menial job which they are never given any financial aid in return. For some parents too, they deliberately due to their own selfish interest give their children out for hiring to do tedious work just like what is happening in the Volta region where by parent give their children out for hiring to fishermen to make them work for them according to the amount they were charged by their guardian/parent. It is estimated that more than 1,000 children are working as slave labourers on fishing boats across the country. Many children who find themselves in such a situation and are unable to bare it , they tend to run away to places where they can be a master of themselves and take charge over the money they make hence making live on the street to trying to fend for themselves. Research indicates that, over 30,000 children are believed to be working as porters, or Kayaye, in Accra alone.

Conclusion

Cambrigde university press: Street children might not be securely lodged in the life-patterns that the middle class impose on young people, but their reward from trying to maintain a minimum standard of living that their parents and governments are unable to provide them is infinitely preferable to living in the absolute poverty that surrounds them. Based on a critique of our current knowledge of the maturation of children, which is informed primarily by Northern mores and ‘scientific’ proofs whose findings derive from this normative framework and feed back into it, this article seeks to explain why we find child streetism so abhorrent and take it for granted that certain norms can, and should, prevail in the South just because they are found in Northern societies.

women:the stronghold of every nation

By Helena Selby

The development of the nation and women having a stronghold in the economy has been one of the greatest priorities of government. It commitment to fulfill both priorities is evidence in its signing and being part of the declaration of the Millennium Development Goals (MDG’s) which is meant to be fulfilled by the year 2015. These goals include the eradication of extreme poverty and hunger, promote gender equality and empower women and develop a global partnership for development. It is very unfortunate that from the look of things the fulfillment of one of these priorities of government leads to the compromising of the fulfillment of the other.

That is to say if government wants women to have a stronghold in the economy then it must be prepared to intensify its ability of fulfilling these MDG’s “ eradication of extreme poverty and hunger, promote gender equality and empower women and develop a global partnership for development”. However the fulfillment of thee goals to empower women in the economy will in a way be to the detriment of the achievement of MDG’s development of a global partnership for development. It will as well lead to the detriment of achieving a spacious, clean and disease free environment in the country.

Women, decongestion and evacuation of traders on the street

Government will indeed achieve one of its priorities at the detriment of another priority if issues be analysed. That is to say majority of women in the country are mostly found in the informal trading sector of the economy and that their involvement in the trading sector is significant for the way forward to their empowerment in the economy and the eradication of extreme poverty and hunger as declared by the MDG’s. However if these goals need to be fulfilled then hawkers and traders on the street will have to be left there for them to continue with their business.

This seems impossible for government as it is important for her to make the environment spacious, clean and disease free to attract investors whom the government develops a global partnership with for development. Government in this case always thinks it wise to eradicate traders and hawkers from the street to make way for a serene environment. Critically analysising issues, government is caught between women empowerment in the economy and the making of the environment spacious, clean and disease free both for the good of the country and for the attraction of investors for development.

Women in the informal sector of the economy

According to International Labour Organization (ILO) the country has a working population of nine million, with women accounting for 51% of the total. The formal sector employs about 13.7% of the labour force aged between 15 and 64, wile the remaining 86.3% work in the informal sector divided between 52% in agriculture and 34.3% in the non-agricultural activities.

Women constitute 77% of the informal sector and engage in both agriculture and non-agricultural activities. Informal trading has been one of the major source of income in the Ghanaian community especially those in the urban areas. There are 1.9 million households operating 2.3 million small business and women operate over 66% of these small businesses.

The majority of the Ghanaian labour force being in the informal sector of the economy indicates that only a few number of the labour force that is those in the formal sector get access to the benefit of social security. This explains that the greater number of women in the informal sector have no guarantee of a secured financial future as they are not covered by social security. According to the Social Security And National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) 2005 10% of the workforce in Ghana mainly those in the formal sector benefits from social security.

Women, decongestion exercise and eradication of hawkers and traders

As a way of creating a serene and congestion free environment, the various metropolitan assemblies have under taken a decongestion exercise to eradicate traders and hawkers from streets. Majority of these assemblies make it a point to provide space for affected victims but for a very few of them, as a result taking away the source of income of the rest of the affected victims.

In this case the government has achieved a good environment at the expense of the livelihood of the people. Affected people have no choice than to sell during the night in order not to be caught by the police for their items to be ceased.

In the mid part of last week it was reported that traders near the Novotel Hotel in Accra have threatened to walk naked to Osu Castle, to petition President Mills against alleged unfair treatment being meted out to them by the City Mayor, Alfred Nii Lantey Vanderpuije. According to the report their action was due to a deadline given to them to evacuate the premises and relocate to the Odawna satellite market. Some of these trader have decided not to leave the premises as the proposed place given tot them is too small to accommodate them, moreover when it rains, the Odaw River overflows its banks, and would make selling very difficult for them. According t the traders they will consider relocating to the proposed center if the city authorities to do a proper survey, and expand the facilities at the new market.

Some of these women are pleading with government to come to their aid since some of them are single parent and have no one to turn to and others claim will be in the grip of the law if they are sacked from their present location as they are working with credited goods and bank loans.

What are the opinions on of some citizens?

What is government suppose to do now? Mr. Sampson Okeyre a building contractor lamented, the decongestion seem to be a good thing as one does not get stressed out when he goes to town. He said traders evacuating the various streets have been one of the wisest decisions that government has made since it has even reduced the number of pick pocket on the streets. It has brought proper ventilation on the environment hence helping to eradicate all kinds of air borne diseases on the environment.

For Mr. Adom Ofori, a businessman he sees those against decongestion exercise and traders evacuation from the street as enemies of progress. He said Ghanaians should try and cooperate as they have always been yearning to get an environment as serene and orderly like that of the Whiteman’s land. He noted that there is no point claiming not to vote for the government in power again as the government’s decision is for the good of the whole nation.

Mrs. Clara Instiful a clerk in one of the banks in the country noted that, it is indeed disturbing for women in particular even though government is doing the right thing. She said women who mostly feel the heat of the economy will find it difficult taking care of the family especially when they are single mothers. According to her if really government has their good at heart, then it should find a way to empathize with them.

Conclusion

It is evident that government is trapped between the Israelites and the red sea; it is up to her to decide on how to give the heart desire of victims of decongestion and traders on the street. If these traders want expansion, then there has to be some kind of expansion. If they want authorities to give a real survey of the place then they ought to do it. They don’t have to solve a situation at the expense of another but give solution to all. Mind you, the plight of these traders might seem to be their plight only but indirectly its consequence is a great burden to the country as a whole. It is up to the government to decide and decide well to make the country a better place for all citizens after all it’s their motherland.

Decongestion exercise: not the only step towards achieving a modernize state

By Helena Selby

The sanitation, cleanliness and congestion free environment has been one of the priorities of almost all the metropolitan assemblies and the government. The existence of such environment will not only bring good health to the citizens but a good name as well to the nation. It has finally come to the realization of the government that irrespective of the consequences it posses on some of the citizens of the country in the process of obtaining a clean and spacious environment they ought to be on the verge of making that dream a reality. As the country is in dare need of investors to bring employment opportunities in the country it has been deemed a necessity to under take the necessary action to make the dream of a good sanitation and congestion free environment come to pass.

In fulfillment of this dream decongestion exercise was the appropriate solution the government decided on which in a case seem to be a good idea. Since the late part of last year, decongestion exercise has been the order of the day in many parts of the major cities in the country. The exercise has been very devastating for many Ghanaian as many properties and livelihood have been destroyed without any form of compensation with the explanation that the destroyed structures are illegal and unauthorized. Some time have passed now, properties and livelihood have been destroyed, a bit of space has been obtained in the metropolis, but the question is, is decongestion really the main solution towards the achievement of good sanitation, clean environment and congestion free environment for the development and attraction of investors in the country or more sensitive issues needs to be attended to. Obviously the attainment of good sanitation and clean environment is not only the matter of decongestion exercise but the ability of the various metropolis to tackle certain sensitive issues like open defecation which is even more an eradicator of investors since it is an eye-saw and even more uncivilized on the part of Ghanaians.

Decongestion exercise and open defecation

The decongestion exercise in some part of the Central Business District in Accra started upon the announcement of the greater Accra Minister Mr. Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa to evict more than 40,000 people from Sodom and Gomorrah a slum in the suburb of Accra within the Central Business District. Upon directives of the minister, the AMA in the late part of last year with the aid of about 280 policemen undertook a demolishing exercise which affected more than 200 unauthorized structures at a slum in Avenor and 1,000 structures along the shores of Korle Gonno, followed by another Danquah Circle and Odorko, not exempting some parts of Kumasi as well.

The first decongestion exercise was also undertaken in Ashaiman. The exercise was not meant only for the demolishing of unauthorized structures around places like the Valco Flat, the night market, lebenen junction and the main transport station but also to get rid of traders and hawkers who sell on the pavement to allow a free flow of traffic. Affected people claimed it was impromptu and have incurred a lot of loss for them as many of their containers containing items were crushed down destroying everything in them.

So far so good decongestion exercise in the various metropolises has proven to be a good idea and supported by many people especially the non affected people. It has made way for space in metropolis; there is now free movement of cars and human without any form of discomfort and struggle.

The decongestion exercise has brought about a bit of the dreams of the government however how are they planning on tackling the issue of open defecation. Open defecation in spite of education on the various media houses and by many NGO’s open defecation is still prevalence in all the ten regions of the country. According to research around 20% of Ghanaians defecate in drains, fields, streams and in the bush and the beaches. Reports of the Ghana Statistical Service Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey report for 2006, in the Upper East Region with about 82% without any form of latrine, followed by the Upper West Region with about 79% and then the Northern Region with about 73%, Eastern Region with 5.5%, Brong Ahafo, 6.4%; Greater Accra, 8.1%; Western, 12.8%; Central, 18.1%; Volta, 13.8%; Northern, 72.9% and Upper West, 78.7%.

Twenty per cent of Ghanaians, representing about six million of the population practice open defecation, because they do not have access to toilet facilities or did not know the health implications. Some citizens complain about their attitude of open defecation as the lack of insufficient toilet facilities in their vicinity.

Many house builders have never made it a point to include toilet facilities in their building but rather even love to use the toilet space for a room to be rented out. Many Ghanaians who live in compound houses without toilet facilities or without no bush nearby turn to defecate into polythen bags and throw in on the roofs of their neighbours or there still they sometimes keeps them in their bin to be disposed when the rubbish truck goes to the neighbourhood.

The eradication of open defecation and decongestion exercise goes hand in hand as no investor will be willing to invest in a country which is prevalence of open defecation. What will be the guarantee that their health is secured and what will be the probability of the present investors convincing potential investors to come and invest in the country? If the government is really aiming at making Ghana a modernize state then it should not only concentrate on decongestion exercise but sure the supreme court’s banned on the usage will be effected.

According to a news report by the Ghanaian times newspaper in 2008, Supreme Court has banned the use of pan latrines effective July 8, 2008, it will not be until 2013 that they would be completely discarded, as the court gave a period of five years for pan latrines to be phased out in Accra. According to the news report, the Supreme Court instructed the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA), to construct 1,500 water closets and KVIPs within the period as well as arrange subsidies for those who will convert their pan latrines. The court also instructed the AMA to stop granting permits to building plans that do not have adequate provision for WC or KVIP and asked the Assembly to prosecute anyone who engages people to carry human excreta after the period.

Mandate of the metropolitan assemblies

Many metropolitan assemblies with the help of government have succeeded in decongesting the slums and unauthorized structures in the major cities of the country with the aim of modernizing the country. The Executive Officer of the Accra Metropolitan Assembly Dr Alfred Vanderpuije, as his as part of his mandate to modernize Accra considered decongestion exercise as one of the main keys towards that achievement especially as many of the capital is congested with illegal structures. Spelling out his development plan he made it aware that they have come out with a blueprint on a five –year development plan which will have long term and short term objectives with specific benchmarks addressing the issues and the need for development. According to him there is the need to create the environment that is conducive for the socio-economic development of Accra. We need to create that environment, we owe it to the residents of Accra,” Dr Vanderpuije stated.

In as much as it a good initiative by the government to make the major cities grea,t apart from solving the issue of open defecation as part of its achievement of a clean environment, it must as well recognize and put to heart the complains of the people. It is always the talk of the metropolitan assemblies that, the assembly has provided various places for affected persons to relocate but the truth of the issue is that the people complain about the relocated site being very bad for business transactions. The recent decongestion exercise at the vehicle station and the ejection of trader near the Novotel hotel has raised many concerns by traders as many complain that their relocation to Odawna is a big problem since it rains, the Odaw River overflows its banks, and would make selling very difficult for them.

Conclusion

Accra is the capital Ghana and as such it needed to look like a real capital so are the other major cities of the country. The capital of every country is expected to be recognized as a center of excellence not only by citizens only but foreigners who come to visit. It is expected that a capital city be free of any kinds of nuisance that will deter the migration of foreigners and investors in the country for developmental project which will benefit the whole nation. It of clear fact that in achieving this aspiration for the major cities in the country decongestion is not the only solution but the tackling of sensitive issues such as open defecation as well as finding a lasting solution to the affected persons of decongestion exercise. Beside it is the government responsibility not only to make the country develop but as well make the people of the country feel at home.

Air pollution a great health hazard on the Ghanaian environment

By Helena Selby

The short life span of the average Ghanaian citizen has mostly been attributed to various kinds of diseases. Apart from the failure of the people adjusting themselves to good diet and their involvement in motor accidents which causes their early death majority of death in the country is are as a result of many kinds of diseases. According to studies the average Ghanaian lifespan is between the ages of 50 and 60 years. People die before their retirement age making it impossible for them to fully extend their knowledge and experience to the younger generation.

The government spent most of its resources in the prevention and eradication of diseases just to keep the citizens healthy and the labour force progressive. The waging of war by government against diseases in the country is a good initiative towards the achievement of one of the eight Millennium Development Goals (MDG’s) which declares the combating of HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases by the year 2015.

On the verge of the government' combating diseases it must give priority to diseases caused by excessive pollution. Pollution especially air pollution has been one of the major causes of diseases and death in the country. Even though little attention is given to its nature, it is one of the situation which poses threat to health of the many Ghanaians. Air pollution, river pollution and other related pollution has the tendency of damaging the various organs of the human body.

Pollution in Ghana

Pollution on the Ghanaian environment is one thing which is not restricted by law even though there are existing by-laws which fights against it. The metropolitan assemblies which are responsible for the good keeping of the environment have their attention on the clearing of rubbish and the decongestion of slum areas but ignore the act of pollution by the citizens of the country. As it’s not considered an offence to pollute the environment many people tend to pollute the air by indiscriminate burning and smoking irrespective of where they find themselves.

Pollution and burning of e-waste at Abgobgloshie, Accra and effect on children
In the opinion of the United Nations Environmental Programme, 20-50 million tonnes of electronics are discarded each year, with 70% of these products being shipped to the poor countries, including Ghana. These e-waste products are deposited at the Abgobgloshie by people with the intention extracting certain metals and wires from them. The process of extracting these metals and wires, are mostly done with child labour and it involves the breaking apart burning of the products, which end up releasing toxic elements like lead, mercury and brominated flames, to pollute the atmosphere of the surroundings. The burning of these wastes results into water bodies for fishing and drinking to be polluted and what is more, the air in such areas is also being polluted. Who knows what kinds of diseases and illnesses can result from that?
According to SCIENCE DIRECT, a website on health, exposure to lead can have a wide range of effects on a child's development and behaviour. Even when exposed to small amounts of lead levels, children may appear inattentive, hyperactive and irritable.

Children with greater lead levels may also have problems with learning, reading, delayed growth and loss of hearing. At high levels, lead can cause permanent brain damage and even death. Early identification and treatment of lead poisoning, reduces the risk, thus preventing the children from suffering permanent damage. Treatment begins with removal of the child from the sources of the lead, while medications can remove lead from the body. With the rate at which lead has serious consequences on children, it is no wonder children at the Abgobgloshie dumping site tend to over react at the slightest provocation. Moreover the effect of lead on the children has made some of them lose interest in education.

Moreover burning of these electronic waste does not only pollute the air but water bodies as well and as a result has aquatic lives die out making others who fish for their livelihood lose their source of income, especially those in the fishing occupation, with the reason that the degradation of the land has brought about the contamination of the lagoon, resulting in the destruction of marine life.

Pollution, rubbish burning and its effects

Smoking can be considered the as one of the commonest kind of pollution but burning of rubbish on the Ghanaian environment is highly the commonest. Many Ghanaians are addicted to the old way of burning rubbish and toilet papers. The presence of waste trucks has not fully solved the situation as not all communities in the country get access to them; even those who get access to it do not get the chance to meet them due to their work schedules. If view of this many people find burning of their rubbish as the simplest solution to discard it. However little do they know the health risk of this attitude of theirs.

According to research the toxic smoke from open fires comes from burning plastics, treated wood, white paperboard, slick or bleached papers, foam mattresses and furniture foam. Even if a healthy adult does not suffer immediate effects such as headaches or nausea, the damage can be more serious the longer you are exposed to the smoke. The effects can include damage to your lungs, nervous system, kidneys, liver and well as chronic diseases such as bronchitis, emphysema and cancer, which can take many years to develop, can be caused by exposure to smoke and toxins. Moreover children can be at much greater risk, because of their body size; they inhale more air per pound of body mass than do adults, and can absorb a proportionately larger "dose" of toxins.

The health risks associated with burning rubbish come not only from inhalation of the pollutants released into the air but from the consumption of contaminated food when these toxic particles are deposited in water, soil, crops and farms which later is consumed again.

Pollution and smoking

Smoking in public is one of the commonest kinds of pollution in Ghana as it is not considered an offence. Many smokers regardless of the health implication they impose on the people, they smoke where ever they find themselves. As many Ghanaians are not aware of the health risk of catching smoking related diseases, they are not prompted leave the presence of a smoker but rather stay to inhale. According to World Health Organization (WHO) passive or non-smokers are at greater risk of getting lungs cancer heart diseases and even cardiac death. Over 600 studies undertaken by experts’ link passive smoking or the inhalation of tobacco smoke by non smokers, increases the risk of lung cancer, heart diseases and respiratory diseases. The international labour organization estimates also show that 200,000 workers die as a result of exposure to passive smoking in the workplace.

Conclusion

If the Ghanaians want to have a fully sound health, then they must consider ending the habit indiscriminate burning. It is about time citizens and government think of saving money and under taking developmental projects rather than always spending on the eradication of diseases. Many years of independence from the white man should be enough to build developmental projects to support the nation. It is up to the citizens especially to stop the habit of pollution especially air so as to make the nation a safe place to live. The government is not responsible for teaching the people what is right from wrong it is up to them to decide since it is for their own good.

malaria and the wet season

By Helena Selby

Diseases in a country is one of the major constrain to the progress of the economy of the country as the labour force who are the stronghold of the development of the eonomy are the most vulnerable when epidemic strikes. The existence of the diseases goes to the extent of not crippling the labour force of the nation but the future leaders of the nation as well. In Ghana epidemics are normally under control as it is rare case to hear of an epidemic strike in the country, however government in order to make the economy of the nation develop by giving good health to labour force spend lot of money in the prevention of diseases such as malaria. Malaria is one of the commonest diseases in sub-Saharan Africa which Ghana is included.

There is no one in Ghana which not for once or twice has not been infected by malaria before in Ghana as mosquitoes can be found almost in every corner of the country. Its prevalence according to research can be attributed to the whether conditions of the country and the extent t which the people are able to keep their surrounding clean. Even though the infection of malaria is prevalence during all the seasons of the years, it must be noted that its rate of infection increases during the rainy season as mosquitoes which are the main cause of malaria breed more during the rainy season.

As Ghana is already a zone for malaria infection and is now in its rainy season, the country if care is not taken will have an increase in malaria cases which will be a big blow in the health and economic sector of the country. If care is not taken by the people and by the government during this period of the season, the fight against the eradication of malaria will be of no use as government needs to go back to refund its eradication. What are the plans of the people and the government towards this rainy season of malaria increase as everyone is at risk.

Malaria is Ghana

Education on the eradication of malaria has been very useful as the people are being cautious of their way of lives in terms of the prevention of the disease. There has been many ways and means by the people n the government to eradicate malaria from homes and the country as a whole. It is very sad to note that people strive in their effort to do so it is very impossible for them to come into contact with mosquito bites as it can be found all in places unexpected in the country. It has always been the habit of cautious Ghanaians to sleep in mosquito nets to prevent the bite of mosquitoes in the during the night and some aa well make it a point to undergo malaria treatment every now and then just to prevent them from lying on a sick bed and leaving their business idle with no one to take care of it. However despite their effort in the prevention of malaria, the disease at the long run ends up infecting then unexpectedly.

It is very surprising to note that as people try their best to prevent the bite of mosquitoes in their virus homes, they end up being bitten when they go out of the various homes making their prevention course almost a waste. According to one Margareta nsia a student in one of the universities of the countries, as she tries her best to prevent mosquito bites in her home by cleaning up and keeping sleeping in a mosquito net, she end up being bitten by a mosquito when she boards a bus which is popularly known as “trotro” in town. She said many buses in Ghana are the breeding places of mosquitoes, drivers of such buses refuse to clean up their buses at the end of the day but leave it for mosquitoes to breed in them. Regardless of its implication to themselves and the passengers they use it the next day and passengers turn to become the feasting place of these mosquitoes. Individuals in the bus at the end of the day go home with the malaria parasite.

Malaria n the rainy the rainy or wet season in Ghana

Malaria though considered as not dreadful as HIV/AIDS is one of the diseases sweeping way many lives in the country today. In the rainy season the number of mosquitoes increases as they turn to breed more due to the nature of the environment. The nation has always been in bad share in terms of good drainage systems, many parts of the country including the capital lack good drainage system which as a result make way for stagnant waters in many parts of the country. The existence of stagnant waters during the rainy season increases the prevalence of malaria in various home especially those who sleep without mosquito net. Apart from the poor drainage system, the poor hygienic condition observed by people is also a factor.

In one environment where there are no stagnant waters instead of the people making it a point to cultivate the habit of cleanliness they end up keeping their environment dirty by improperly disposing used canned products. Instead of disposing well canned product like tomatoes, milk and fish which are commonly used, they end up littering them on the environment. As result when it rains, the collects into it’s and begins to breed mosquitoes ending up biting them at night. Sometimes too people who have gutters in their vicinity refuse to keep them clean but always wait for government organizations and NGO’ to do the cleaning for them. Some go to the extent of dumping their rubbish in the various gutters which when it does not rain heavy enough to push them away, it collects into a stagnant water and begins to breed mosquitoes.

Malaria in Ghana

Government spends a lot of funds on the eradication of malaria; however its target has still not been reached. A malaria prevalence survey was carried out in young children in northern Ghana, in an area with continuous mortality and morbidity surveillance. There was marked seasonal variation in malaria deaths, reported fevers, parasite rates and mean parasite densities, with parasite rates reaching 85–94% in the wet season. The monthly numbers of malaria deaths were highly correlated with rainfall in the previous 2 months. According to research in the south, the Malaria Index (MI) is 1.6% in urban areas and 22% in rural ones. In the north, the MI for children to be generally 85% but as high as 94% during the rainy season. It has been observed that the MI varies between 22% in May, when transmission is low, and 61% in November, a season of high transmission.

According to Mr. Emmanuel Fiagbey, Country Director of the Voices for Malaria Free Future, Ghana, a Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) Ghana would be unable to achieve the Roll Back Malaria (RBM) target of reducing the disease morbidity and mortality by 50 per cent in 2010. He said malaria still accounted for 19 per cent of deaths of all ages with 22 per cent of the mortality rate among children under five. Ghana adopted the World Health Organisation’s RBM strategy in 2000, and was expected to have reduced malaria deaths to at least 7.5 per cent in all ages and 11 per cent in children under five. Ghana’s malaria morbidity ratio stood at 120 per 1,000 cases for all ages instead of meeting the target of 86 per 1,000. Malaria was also responsible for 35 per cent of morbidity in children under five, which fell short of the RBM target of 23 per cent.

Government’s efforts in malaria eradication

Research indicates that, the government of Ghana has not been reluctant in the fight against the eradication f malaria In April 2004, Ghana modified its national policy regarding the use of antimalarial drugs: chloroquine has

been replaced as a first-line treatment by amodiaquine-artesunate. Parenteral quinine has been kept for the treatment of acute malaria, and sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine is prescribed as an intermittent preventive treatment for pregnant women.

These recommendations are targeted both at the family and institutional level.

Conclusion

The race for the eradication of malaria is the responsibility of the whole nation; it will therefore be a wise thing if everyone plays the role expected of them help fight against this disease. By so doing the fund generated to the treatment and eradication of this disease will be channeled to another venture for the betterment of the whole nation.

People with mental illness still await a better treatment

By Helena Selby

The mental disability of an individual is indirect loss of his or her existence in this world as one becomes naïve about his actions and activities concerning his life and the world. Mental illness according to estimates accounts for about 14% of global diseases and in Ghana, World Health Organisation’s (WHO) official figures indicates that about 10% of Ghanaians suffer from mental disorder. The rate of attack rules out the issue of race, culture and religion,that is it affects every individual inconsiderable of ones roots. The rich and poor are not left out, however poor people with mental illness in the developing countries has a higher risk of being deprived of life chances. Victims of such disease in Ghana cannot be left out, considering the country being a developing country, the limited number of psychiatric hospitals and the rate of stigmatization surrounding the disease people with mental illness are indirectly deprived of every basic right in the society.

Mentally disordered

In Ghana and in many part of the world people with mental illness are left alone on the street with relatives note knowing their where about. As if that is not enough people abuse them by throwing stones and other objects at them just to keep them away or to make fun of them. In the case of some mentally ill women, some men take advantage over them by sexually abusing them, even though these mentally disordered people have sex among themselves, it is sad to note that some sane people of the society unduly take advantage over them for some reason only known to them.

The ideology surrounding mental illness in Ghana makes it difficult for people in such situation to find help either from family members or society. The family of a mentally disordered person has the tendency of losing any form of favour from the society as they will be considered bad luck and evil infested family. The young men and women who have reached their prime to get married tend to lose suitors who seek their hands in marriage or accept marriage proposals from such a family. According to many existing tradition in Ghana and across Africa to marry from a family with a trace of mental illness indicate bad luck in one’s marital home or sometimes as it is considered hereditary the possibility of a child inheriting it is there.

In view of this, many families in order not to lose respect or being ridiculed turn to hide the mentally ill person far away from the family and from the society. Many of these mentally ill people live the rest of their lives on the street with no one knowing where they really come from.

Mentally ill and prayer camps

In most cases the mentally disordered individual loses every economic livelihood due to existing condition, as a result family members have to take the responsibility of taking care of every expenses of the individual. As it is expensive to take care of the individual medical bills coupled with feeding the family member in most cases prefer to keep the individual in a prayer camp where there will be no charges or what so ever.

Moreover imagine all the existing psychiatric hospitals located in the southern part of the country, family members have to transport the individual from the northern part of the country to the south by road which takes about 12hours. Some family members who will not want to waste money, time and energy will prefer to live the individual in a prayer camp in the northern part of the country where they reside.

The mentally disordered people are victims of all kinds of abuses even in prayer camps where it is assumed that one can find refuge. May families in order to get rid of the shame and a way of helping prefer to live the mentally in a prayer camp since May families in order to get rid of the shame and a way of helping prefer to live the mentally ill person in a prayer camp since people considers mental illit to be spiritual attack which no medical attention can help them but only prayers. people considers mental illit to be spiritual attack which no medical attention can help them but only prayers.

Treatment of prayer camps

In search of refuge for these almost devastated individuals, family members turn to live them in a den of abuses. According to a research by the commonwealth human rights initiative (CHRI) prayer camps has been a place where the mentally disordered are abused without their knowledge. The research brought to the realization that most of these mentally disordered individuals considered aggressive are chained in rooms for weeks and are denied the right of visitation by any family member. It is believed that, allowing anybody visitation rights makes the inmates vulnerable to further evil spirit attack. According to them all these practices contributes to the expelling of the evil spell cast on the fellow.

Apart from being denied food for weeks as a form of fasting which later on results into stomach ulcer, some inmate a re sometimes striped naked irrespective of the gender, or age to take a “and bathe” at the moment all in the name of casting out evil spirit. According to camps operators, sand bath helps drive the possessive evil spirit away and important in setting inmates from mental sickness.

What is expected of government and society?

In Ghana irrelevant of how mental illness has taken over about 10% of the population government still do not give much attention in making the situation of these people better. Forgetting that they can be useful to the labour force, government still refuse to put its intention toward turning it into reality but always paper work. The long existence of the three psychiatric hospitals has not been increased till date, making medical attention for people with mental illness extremely insufficient. The limited hospitals coupled with bad conditions and laws to protect them make them liable to all kinds of abuse. Government is expected that as plan and laws are made to protect the some section of the population, for instance the enactment of the domestic law and disability law, it as well make it an intention to make the mental bill into a law which will protect people with mental illness. It will be a good thing if government does not only enact this law but as well put it into implementation to prevent it from being dormant like the disability law.

It is about time society make way for education to rule their thought and get rid of beliefs that hinders the basic rights of people. Families of the mentally ill people should discard the notion that mental illness can only be cured in prayer camps so as to prevent victims of such diseases from under going abuse coupled with the trauma they are already into.

The mental health bill

All that these people need is the enactment of the mental health bill into a law. The mental bill is aimed at protecting the right of the mentality ill person. According to a memorandum of the mental health bill the bill has become necessary because the 1972 legislation is out of date and does not accord with the best practice standard for mental health legislation, which is aimed to protect, promote and improve the lives and well being of citizens with mental health.

According to the bill a person with mental disorder is entitled to the fundamental human right and freedom as provided in the constitution. A person with mental disorder is entitled to human and dignified treatment at any time with respect to personal dignity and privacy.

Moreover a person with mental disorder has the right to wear personal clothes whiles in treatment facility and maintain personal belonging subject to space limitations. A person with mental disorder has the right to newspaper information and other media. As the bill has indicated people with mental illness with have the chance to enjoy these right if the mental health bill is enacted into a law.

Conclusion

Even though the bill has not yet passed through parliament to make it a law, society can be of helping hands by giving people with mental illness a chance to enjoy every basic right apportioned to every Ghanaian. The government must quit wasting time of making the dream of these mentally ill people a reality, their situation should deprived them of any national cake as they are also citizens. Who knows, mental illness has no kind of boundary or prevention, everyone is at risk.

remand prisoners: justice delayed justice denied

By Helena selby

Imagine being condemned to jail without trial just because you were pointed out at an Identification parade by a so- called complainant. Imagine committing a misdemeanor and a policeman comes to crab you to jail cells and just forget about you leading to you taken to prison without trail. Imagine committing a bail-able offense which a prosecutor refuses to take you to court for bail to be tried to know your fate but condemned to jail. Imagine the years of your life to be wasted with not unjust reason, the trauma and emotional pain you through, the disappointment you feel in life and in man, the limited desire you have to live and how to start life all over again when fate think positively of you. Imagine waking up every morning in the mist of your fellow inmate but yet feel lonely. Human right seems to be losing its significant in this aspect of people in this case. The of plight remand prisoners increases everyday, people who need to help them get out of the situation sometimes ignore there job as an agent of help to them.

Remand prisoners in Ghana

Injustice of remand prisoners is one of the prevailing blows to the democracy of Ghana but yet it is an issue which is barely raised by government. Claiming to be running a democratic nation, defenseless people who find themselves in the grip of the law turn to have their rights being trampled upon. Many people are unlawfully imprisoned, forgetting that they as well have a life to live and be of benefit to the labour force and economy of the country. This trend of injustice of remand prisoners’ worsen each passing day, no wonder the august 2009 report of the Commissioner for the Commission for Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ), for instance, indicates that there are 1,554 remand prisoners at Nsawam Medium Security Prisons alone. This figure constitutes 57% of about 3,000 inmates in the prison built for 717 inmates. Besides, the 1,554 remand prisoners have been in the prison for a period between 3 to 20 years.

Remand prisoners and Politicians

It is obvious that majority of the leaders in the country do not really care about the issue of remand prisoners. Politician which the people often depend on are only after the power and but not conceiving the idea to help the vulnerable people of the society no wonder the way forward of injustice of remand prisoners is never rarely mentioned in their manifestos. All that they ever stress on is gaining economical power for the people which at end are not even able to fulfill. When in power the only thing they deem will be of good name to name is visiting the various prisons with assorted gift which will not able to take care of 20 inmate and after that giving them false hope by putting down some paper work as an intention of rescuing these remand prisoners but the time never comes for it to be implemented.

One should never think for ones that it is impossible to be in the position of a remand prisoner as most of them are victims of circumstance, false witnessing and wrong parade identification. Injustice of remand prisoner is a threat to the society, it is with this cause provisions has been made in the constitution to help helpless victims of the law. The Supreme Law of the Land of Freedom and Justice, 1992 Constitution, at its article 14 guarantee the personal liberties of everyone in the society. Articles 14(2) to (7) are to the effect that the rights of remand prisoners are persistently certificated and established. The has as well made provision that for the above articles to be implemented, article 12(1) has been instituted to mandate the Executive, Legislative and Judiciary and all other organs of government and its agencies of the country.

Remand prisoners’ police

The police have always been considered as civilian friendly and that they are meant to protect the right of the people. This obligation of the police rarely exhibited by them, instead of protecting vulnerable civilians who get themselves in the grip of the law they rather put scare in these civilians. According to report the police do not advise the accused of his rights or the reasons for his arrest in most cases. In many cases, the accused is a mere suspect and there is no clear evidence against him proving his guilt. A person can be accused through hearsay or finger pointing. The “mob” mentality is very present in Ghana. In some cases, someone paid the police to arrest the accused who may well be innocent.

The police investigator will get the statement from the accused and will not necessarily read it back to him before asking him to sign it. This means that the accused is unaware of what the police investigator wrote as his statement and is unaware of what he has signed on to. Sometimes it is read back to him. In some cases, the accused will not read it before signing it. Others read it and either refuse to sign it or sign it against their will.

The report further indicates that it is rare to have a third party present when the accused is giving his statement to the police investigator. In general, the accused is not taken to court for a long period of time after his arrest. Some detainees have reported remaining in a police cell for months before going to court. All of the detainees claimed their innocence and refused to confess except for one accused who confessed to the crime. Police are quick to presume the accused as being guilty rather than to presume his innocence until proved guilty. When beating the accused, the police officers consistently threaten to beat the accused to death or until he confesses.

Conclusion

It was very thoughtful the Ministry of Justice and Attorney General in September,

2007 launched the “Justice for All Programme” to help the congestion and injustice

against remand prisoners in Ghana. This project is meant to undelayed justice for remand

prisoners who have been detained in prison custody without trial. It however, sad to note

that even though this has been instituted government has not made the necessary

provision for its implementation nation wide. From the look of things government is not

really prepared to undertake this project as majority of it resources is channeled to

other project rather than the eradication of injustice against the remand prisoners.

Government and the police force ought to empathise with people who find themselves in

this situation and let justice prevail. Ghana is a country that many nations look up to, so

the government should make sure the motto “ freedom and justice” prevail in all walks of

the nations life.

Air pollution a great health hazard on the Ghanaian environment

By Helena Selby

The short life span of the average Ghanaian citizen has mostly been attributed to various kinds of diseases. Apart from the failure of the people adjusting themselves to good diet and their involvement in motor accidents which causes their early death majority of death in the country is are as a result of many kinds of diseases. According to studies the average Ghanaian lifespan is between the ages of 50 and 60 years. People die before their retirement age making it impossible for them to fully extend their knowledge and experience to the younger generation.

The government spent most of its resources in the prevention and eradication of diseases just to keep the citizens healthy and the labour force progressive. The waging of war by government against diseases in the country is a good initiative towards the achievement of one of the eight Millennium Development Goals (MDG’s) which declares the combating of HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases by the year 2015.

On the verge of the government' combating diseases it must give priority to diseases caused by excessive pollution. Pollution especially air pollution has been one of the major causes of diseases and death in the country. Even though little attention is given to its nature, it is one of the situation which poses threat to health of the many Ghanaians. Air pollution, river pollution and other related pollution has the tendency of damaging the various organs of the human body.

Pollution in Ghana

Pollution on the Ghanaian environment is one thing which is not restricted by law even though there are existing by-laws which fights against it. The metropolitan assemblies which are responsible for the good keeping of the environment have their attention on the clearing of rubbish and the decongestion of slum areas but ignore the act of pollution by the citizens of the country. As it’s not considered an offence to pollute the environment many people tend to pollute the air by indiscriminate burning and smoking irrespective of where they find themselves.

Pollution and burning of e-waste at Abgobgloshie, Accra and effect on children
In the opinion of the United Nations Environmental Programme, 20-50 million tonnes of electronics are discarded each year, with 70% of these products being shipped to the poor countries, including Ghana. These e-waste products are deposited at the Abgobgloshie by people with the intention extracting certain metals and wires from them. The process of extracting these metals and wires, are mostly done with child labour and it involves the breaking apart burning of the products, which end up releasing toxic elements like lead, mercury and brominated flames, to pollute the atmosphere of the surroundings. The burning of these wastes results into water bodies for fishing and drinking to be polluted and what is more, the air in such areas is also being polluted. Who knows what kinds of diseases and illnesses can result from that?
According to SCIENCE DIRECT, a website on health, exposure to lead can have a wide range of effects on a child's development and behaviour. Even when exposed to small amounts of lead levels, children may appear inattentive, hyperactive and irritable.

Children with greater lead levels may also have problems with learning, reading, delayed growth and loss of hearing. At high levels, lead can cause permanent brain damage and even death. Early identification and treatment of lead poisoning, reduces the risk, thus preventing the children from suffering permanent damage. Treatment begins with removal of the child from the sources of the lead, while medications can remove lead from the body. With the rate at which lead has serious consequences on children, it is no wonder children at the Abgobgloshie dumping site tend to over react at the slightest provocation. Moreover the effect of lead on the children has made some of them lose interest in education.

Moreover burning of these electronic waste does not only pollute the air but water bodies as well and as a result has aquatic lives die out making others who fish for their livelihood lose their source of income, especially those in the fishing occupation, with the reason that the degradation of the land has brought about the contamination of the lagoon, resulting in the destruction of marine life.

Pollution, rubbish burning and its effects

Smoking can be considered the as one of the commonest kind of pollution but burning of rubbish on the Ghanaian environment is highly the commonest. Many Ghanaians are addicted to the old way of burning rubbish and toilet papers. The presence of waste trucks has not fully solved the situation as not all communities in the country get access to them; even those who get access to it do not get the chance to meet them due to their work schedules. If view of this many people find burning of their rubbish as the simplest solution to discard it. However little do they know the health risk of this attitude of theirs.

According to research the toxic smoke from open fires comes from burning plastics, treated wood, white paperboard, slick or bleached papers, foam mattresses and furniture foam. Even if a healthy adult does not suffer immediate effects such as headaches or nausea, the damage can be more serious the longer you are exposed to the smoke. The effects can include damage to your lungs, nervous system, kidneys, liver and well as chronic diseases such as bronchitis, emphysema and cancer, which can take many years to develop, can be caused by exposure to smoke and toxins. Moreover children can be at much greater risk, because of their body size; they inhale more air per pound of body mass than do adults, and can absorb a proportionately larger "dose" of toxins.

The health risks associated with burning rubbish come not only from inhalation of the pollutants released into the air but from the consumption of contaminated food when these toxic particles are deposited in water, soil, crops and farms which later is consumed again.

Pollution and smoking

Smoking in public is one of the commonest kinds of pollution in Ghana as it is not considered an offence. Many smokers regardless of the health implication they impose on the people, they smoke where ever they find themselves. As many Ghanaians are not aware of the health risk of catching smoking related diseases, they are not prompted leave the presence of a smoker but rather stay to inhale. According to World Health Organization (WHO) passive or non-smokers are at greater risk of getting lungs cancer heart diseases and even cardiac death. Over 600 studies undertaken by experts’ link passive smoking or the inhalation of tobacco smoke by non smokers, increases the risk of lung cancer, heart diseases and respiratory diseases. The international labour organization estimates also show that 200,000 workers die as a result of exposure to passive smoking in the workplace.

Conclusion

If the Ghanaians want to have a fully sound health, then they must consider ending the habit indiscriminate burning. It is about time citizens and government think of saving money and under taking developmental projects rather than always spending on the eradication of diseases. Many years of independence from the white man should be enough to build developmental projects to support the nation. It is up to the citizens especially to stop the habit of pollution especially air so as to make the nation a safe place to live. The government is not responsible for teaching the people what is right from wrong it is up to them to decide since it is for their own good.

ritual destruction by heavy rains, who is to be blamed

By Helena selby

Who is to be blamed, Is it the people, the government or nature? Of course no one is prepared to accept the blame as each of them has a reason behind every attitude portrayed. Nature will say it is time for the wet season and that rain is suppose to fall in this part of the world so as to give food to the people and even fill the akosomba dam to give hydro-electrical power. It is then expected of the people and the government to make provision for the decision of nature as certain decision of nature is inevitable besides there is no way the earth will be destroyed by water like during the days of Noah again, biblical words confirms it.. Who is to be blamed? Now that nature is out of the picture, the people will say it’s the government and the government will say, it’s the people. In a nut shell no one is prepared to accept the blame so as to make things right for the nation.

Flooding in Ghana has become a plague in the lives of Ghanaians. It isn’t the first, the second or the third time flood is occuring in the country but almost every year yet no lesson has been taken. Almost every year lives, property and livelihoods are lost and even when not fortunate diseases epidemic strikes. The people have refused to adhere to education town planners who are under the government have in a way refused to do their work. The blame as a result must be put on the people and the government as the people refuses to build at suitable places and the government refusing to improve the drainage system of the country.

Events of flooding

In June 2007 it was reported by the GNA that at least five persons have been confirmed dead and hundreds of residents have been forced out of their houses as floods wreaked havoc in parts of Accra after a downpour. “In the same year 2007 in the north of the country at least 20 people have died and an estimated 400,000 have been affected. Many of them are now homeless. It is feared that outbreaks of diseases such as cholera are likely due to the contamination of the water supply. Homes, schools, crops and livestock have been washed away. Regional Minister, Alhassan Samari, appealled to the public to donate to flood victims, as Mustapha Hamid presents part of Akufo-Addo’s donation of ¢200m worth of relief items to the Upper East and Northern regions.

In June 20, 2009 during the rainy season it was again reported that five people have so far been confirmed dead by the Kaneshie Police, after heavy downpour, which also destroyed property worth millions of Ghana cedis in parts of the Accra Metropolis. The floods also swept a number of cars on the highway leading to motor accidents and serious traffic jam. Some of the vehicles were abandoned by their owners, who walked to safety in the rising volumes of water.

This year june 20 2010 NADMO has confirmed that about 11 people have met their untimely death as a result of the flood. Ashaiman, Lakeside Estate At Ashalley Botwe And Parts Of Afienya, Dawhenya, Tema Newtown, Klagon and Lashibi are the main affected areas. According to Ashaiman Police Crimes Officer, ASP Felix Asare six bodies has been brought out of the flood. Further report indicates that two of the victims were found trapped under the Ashaiman tunnel underneath the Accra-Tema motorway.
Nine more bodies were found in Tema, Kpone and Ashaiman and have since been deposited at the Tema General Hospital morgue and about 3,000 people had their houses submerged by floods in Tema’’.

There has been further reports that parts of the Volta Region, specifically the Ketu South District and parts of the Central Region including Swedru, were hit severely by the floods. At Swedru, two people are reported dead. The death toll in Sunday's torrential rains and floods that followed has risen to 24 following the discovery of 13 more bodies, 12 at Agona Swedru, a town 85 kilometres west of here, and one in the Volta region.

Government and the people’s attitude towards flooding

From every indication the government and the people have not yet learnt their lessons as they have not learnt to prevent the previous occurrences of flooding this year. Looks like in other to make the NADMO useful and productive disasters like the flood need to occur every year. The prevention has rarely been considered but always the cure. It is important for the government to put in place infrastructures like good drainage system to prevent disasters such as this rather than always waiting for it to happen and later going to donate and even ridiculing themselves to call for international support to save a situation that they could have easily prevented. It about time government realizes that donating and paper work solution is not the answer towards the eradication of flood in the country. As the number of death and destruction increases by the year the government should not wait till the number double in size before drastic measures are taken.

According to reports in 2009 Dr.Hannah Bisiw (Deputy Works and Housing Minister) announced that government had allocated $25million to combat flooding in some parts of Accra. Yes, $25 million. However from the look of things the combating of the situation was not good enough

It is very pitiful that many communities in Ghana lack good drainage system, those that have drainage system are either small in size that cannot even hold enough water during the rainy season or they have been choked by either rubbish or sand. This makes it even impossible for these gutters to even protect the people from flood even when it drizzles more or less a heavy rain.

The people are also at fault as they refuse to adhere to education of not building besides water ways as there is the probability of it causing flood. The causes of flood in some part of Ashaiman and Weija is as a result of the people building on water way. It is as well the doing of the people in the sense that, even the limited gutters provided for them is used as a dumping site by them. No one is willing to even clean gutters right in front of their houses as they always deem it the obligation of the government. Many people see it as mere wickedness when the town planners mark their buildings for demolishing. for these people government wants to take over the land which always is not case but sometimes for their own good as the location in question might be a water way or near a river or lake.

Way forward

Even though educating the people to build on proper location and the government increasing it drainage system is the solution towards the prevention of flood in the country E B Danquah of KWABENG, ATIWA, in Ghana has indication that Ghana will flood again if proper measures are not taken by the government and the people to combat the issue of flood in the country.

According to him open concrete ‘gutters’ have an extraordinarily high tendency to trap rubbish when uncontrolled, and choke up as compared to properly designed buried PVCs interspersed with catchpit manholes. They breed mosquitoes, cause malaria; they are an eyesore and are the least efficient but most expensive surface drainage option. He said it will be appropriate if government ban the construction of open drainage channels or gutters by contractors who delight in doing shoddy works. However must make it obligatory for each building to have a rainwater downpipe linked to a proper roof gutter system. When one has a rainwater downpipe linked to a roof gutter the chaos of the 40% running off the roof to join the 60% which already puts open drains and culverts at its mercy is arrested.

He said once this arrest of 40% of all rain water falling in Accra is made, homeowners have two choices, if you have an underground tank or a well in your house, one can direct the rainwater downpipe into it or channelled into the nearest storm water sewer or ‘gutter’; the most important thing is that that 40% of water falling on roofs is kept under control.

Conclusion

The rain is a good servant but a bad master. It has helped to fill the akosombo dam for electrical power for the people but has also caused great havoc in the lives of the people. Lives, property and livelihoods of people are lost. As the rain becomes stagnant after destruction there is the tendency of mosquitoes breeding leading to the spread of malaria and other disease causative agents which might spread cholera, typhoid and dysentery in affected communities. Crops that the people need to depend on for food are destroyed hence the shortage of food in the country. Roads are destroyed and even the business becomes still hence money is lost.

It amazing how rain can cause the whole of these if it is not controlled. The above mentioned event and situation definitely does not help in the development of the country, it is therefore the responsibility of the people and the government to make things right.

Violence against women still rampant in the northern region of Ghana

By Helena Selby

Why won’t men ever allow women to be? Why wont men allow women to enjoy the solitude and happiness they are entitled to in this world? Everyday campaign against violence against women is sent across the country but men who are the very culprits turn a deaf ear to it. Is it a crime to be a weaker vessel or to be at the service of the stronger ones? When will men begin to treat women fairly and stop their cowardice attitude towards women knowing very well that they can never defend themselves. If men claim to be really men and not only good for making babies, they should prove themselves men enough to take care of all the problems at home and not count on women for support. They should be men enough to train up children and not live it solely into the hands of the woman, they should be able to face their problem and not run for cover for women to cover them when they are in trouble.

The elimination of violence against women in Ghana has been one of the priorities of government. Government has come of with the Domestic Violence Victim Support Unit (DOVVSU) which is a unit in the police force and has tried its best to make some women in Ghana to know their rights. It is however unfortunate that, these rights and campaign against violence against women seem to have not reached the Northern part of the country yet as women there face the most abuse against women in Ghana. Women in the northern part of Ghana are faced with all kinds of abuses due to the people being unaware about right of women, they in a way having the wrong ideas of their religion and culture practices coupled with lack of formal education. Apart from women facing the FGM they as well go through the trauma of being forced into marriage, abused in marriage and in their performance of widowhood rites.

Widowhood rite and violence against women

It is surprising that a man will never be in trouble or be blamed when his wife dies, he is not taking through any humiliating tradition or forced to do anything against his will but for the woman it is the vice versa. Most at times majority of women are blamed for the death of their husbands both by society and their fellow women forgetting they being in a similar situation is inevitable. According to a research done by actionaid Ghana in some of the district of the northern part of Ghana when a woman is widowed she is locked up in a room for about between 4months and one year. She is taken trough the widowhood rite which includes smearing of clay on the woman’s body which is done right after the burial of the husband. After between 3 months and one year the woman is taken to riverside to be washed down sometimes with the husband’s brothers watching. If one survives the clay she is considered innocent of her husband’s death.

The demeaning aspect is that, a woman upon the death of a woman’s husband, she becomes part of the estate of the man so she is inherited by anyone who inherits her husband. When she refuses to be inherited she is sent off from her late husband’s compound without her children, sometimes too if she decides not to marry she is expected to stay single for the rest of her life no matter how young she is. What happens then to a woman like that? Her happiness is shattered and automatically loses her life as she is no longer living her own life but someone else’s.

Economic and violence against women

At last majority of men have in the northern part of Ghana have proven themselves as not men enough, a man is suppose to take care of all the finances of the homes and not boast of being good in bed only. A man is suppose to give respect to the woman and not force the women to engage in all forms of tedious work even in periods of pregnancy. Men there let their wives to do the tedious work on their various farms during their pregnancy period, regardless of their condition; they are being treated as slaves forgetting that, they put these women in such a fragile condition.

Unlike in the south whereby majority of men have an idea as to how men are suppose to behave, men from the northern side have no idea. In the south a man is aware of his obligation to give money to the woman to cater for the domestic aspect of the home including the preparation of meal, however in the north its does not happen that way. A further research of actionaid Ghana indicates that in the north the woman is given specific amount of grain at the end of the harvest season. It is her role as a woman to find ways and means to provide the soup that will be taken with the meal prepared from the grain given to her by the man. In each case the man care less about where she gets the money to support the home as she will be accused of stealing when she try to sell some of the grains to support the home.

In this regard she has to get into any kind of business to support the home. In some part of the northern region too the woman is given an amount of money from the husband as a gift during their marriage ceremony including the gift and money given to her by people who attended the ceremony. At the end of the ceremony, it is expected of her to use the money she got to cater for the family all through the marriage or is sometimes given a piece of land to cultivate to provide food for the home. According to some of these women as they are struggling to put food on the table their husbands will be spending their money on booze and on women.

Force marriage and violence against women

Women are forced into marriage at a tender age sometimes to rescue the family from financial embarrassment. In the northern part of Ghana all that is expected of a man is to identify the woman he wants to be married to and the proposal will be accepted by the family of the woman without the consent of the woman. Upon the refusal of the woman to accept the marriage proposal, she is hold against her will to the man’s homes from that day onwards she becomes the legal asset of the man. As if these men practice monogamy marriage, they sometimes have about two wives but don’t end there, they continue marrying and making the lives of women miserable.

Polygamy is the commonest marriage practice practiced in the northern part of the country men go to the extent of marrying girls about four times their age despite the fact that they have about three wives already. Polygamy is gradually spreading the HIV/AIDS virus among women as the man involved in polygamy marriage has the probability of spreading the virus to about the four women he is married to. In a research by actionaid about a woman whose name has been with held, she was 13 when she was forced by his father to marry her sister’s husband brother, even though he was extremely older than her and considering her being under age, she was tired one day and sent forcibly to the man’s house. After several years of marriage with violence she was infected with the HIV/AIDS by her husband. She is now 24years with three kids’ however up to date she does not know if her children are also HIV positive. Obviously the future and dreams of this woman is shattered as she also has to go through the trauma is stigmatization by society.

Conclusion

Government should not concentrate only on the south in the elimination of violence against women but must intensify its work to the north as well so as to set free these women from these merciless men. Women must be educated well enough not to put their lives at risk all in the name of tradition. It is the responsibly of the women to bring justice to themselves as the men are not willing to stop their atrocities.