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newssplashy · 6 years

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#62Steps: Building a Ghana beyond filth – do your part by cleaning your environment

We are clamouring for a Ghana beyond aid, but it's time to fight for a Ghana beyond filth too....

“Ghana, your beloved country, is free for ever,” Dr. Kwame Nkrumah proclaimed when Ghana finally gained independence from colonial rule. Ever since then, Ghana has indeed been free from a lot of things, but definitely not from filth.

Drive around the various cities and you would realise that apart from corruption, filth is the next singular most debilitating menace that has caused Ghana to be in its current state.

Despite numerous interventions over the last two decades, the situation seems to rather be worsening. So what is the problem? Or, better still, what are the solutions?

READ ALSO: Blame Game: Sanitation Minister blames Zoomlion for filth in Accra

President Akufo-Addo has sought to push the “Ghana Beyond Aid” mantra, which is geared towards getting to a level where the country does not need to borrow to survive.

But how about a “Ghana Beyond Filth” campaign too?

Earlier this year, Street Hygiene Ambassador (SHA), Evangelist Bright Adoboe, observed that a whopping 86% of Ghana’s environment is filled with filth.

As worrying as the situation is, there seems to be no mapped out plan from either government or citizens to help mitigate the menace.

The situation is much more damning when you consider the fact that the structures to lead the reforms are either not functioning properly or totally non-existent.

Statistics from UNCEF indicate that less than 15% of Ghanaian households have handwashing facilities. The findings also indicate that only 15% of Ghanaians have access to improved sanitation, well short of the 2015 goal of 54%. Also, currently, one out of every five Ghanaians has no access to a toilet and defecate in the open.

The Northern parts of the country, in particular, have an open defecation rate of over 70%, whiles the coastal areas in the southern and western parts of the country are no different.

Consequences of a filthy Ghana

A nation that is filled with filth is bound to suffer the consequences. Unfortunately, Ghana is a country that has woefully failed to arrest its issues of sanitation and, as a result, the consequences have been brutal.

READ ALSO: Cleanliness: Zoomlion committed to helping Zongo Development Ministry to keep Zongo communities clean

Figures from UNICEF indicate that about 4,000 Ghanaian children die each year from diarrhea, with an even larger number dying from pneumonia. These are preventable diseases, yet we stand and watch our children, brothers, sisters, friends and other acquaintances die. For how long will we let our sloppy and careless actions take away precious lives?

It is estimated that Ghana loses close to 290 million dollars due to poor sanitation and bad hygiene practices. Part of this money goes into initiating policies to solve the sanitation issues, whiles the other part is used to import drugs and to treat those who have suffered hygiene-related sicknesses.

We might not care today, but gradually we will all feel the effects. These huge sums could have been used for building more schools, constructing more roads or even financing other community projects. However, it has been channeled into waste management, into filth produced and scattered around the country by our own selves. How disheartening!

Everybody must take blame

There is a popular saying in the Ga language that goes like: “To find a solution to something, one must first admit that there is a problem somewhere.” The biggest low among many Ghanaians is the penchant to apportion blame to one another whenever a problem arises.

READ ALSO: Tourism: Filth, animal waste engulfs Paga crocodile pond

However, to tackle the sanitation problem that has blighted the nation since Dr. Kwame Nkrumah announced our independence, there is the need for everyone to take blame.

It is very easy to find certain classes of people exempting themselves from blame but, in truth, every Ghanaian has contributed one way or the other to the rubbish and choked gutters we find all around the cities.

Although much of the blame may go to the market woman, the pure water seller and the food vendor, the office-based banker and the medical doctor can also not be exempted from blame.

When you sit in your car and throw that rubber through the windows, you are guilty; when you walk on the street and spit around, you are guilty; and when you drop that sachet water in a nearby gutter, you are equally guilty.

But until we all begin to take blame and be responsible for our actions, there is no way we can find solutions to our sanitation issues. We must shoulder the blame, then we can react to counter the menace.

What we must do

In the last decade, there have been various policies designed to make sure that Ghana moves from a nation filled with filth to one that glows like a paradise. Quite recently, in 2017, just three months after Akufo-Addo had become president, he pledged that his government will make Accra the cleanest city in Africa.

READ ALSO: Central Region: 'One-trader-one-dustbin' policy initiated in Cape Coast

“The commitment we are making and which I want you all to make with me is that by the time we end our four-year term, Accra is going to be the cleanest city in Africa,” he said.

But realising the magnitude of the pledge he had made, President Akufo-Addo called on the general public to support and cooperate to make it a reality.

Tackling the filth that has taken over the country is not an easy task – it is no longer a peripheral issue, but one of national concern. Therefore, there is the need for a collaborative effort from both bourgeois and proletariats if we are to make a headway in the fight. Everyone must get involved – politicians and commoners, office workers and traders, parents and children, teachers and students.

Accra can truly become the neatest city in Africa, but it will not become so because the President said it. Action must be taken to back up the talk. For so many years, all we have done is to talk, talk and talk with little action being taken. That must change. And the time is now.

In recent times the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) and other metropolitan and municipal assemblies have taken steps to make sure the littering of the various cities is brought to a halt.

Fines have often been issued to defaulters, however, it has proven not to be enough to serve as deterrent to others. And that is because these fines are too paltry to serve as deterrent to anyone, really.

READ ALSO: Rains: We'll prevent Accra from flooding this year - Atta Akyea

We are often vibrant in enforcing laws when there is an outbreak of a disease or a disaster occurs, yet after a month or two, that sort of vibrant urge to tackle the menace quenches. Perhaps it’s now time for some consistency, time to sustain our efforts. No more should we say ‘oh this place is now better than before so let’s relax the seriousness with which we take our sanitation’. That way, we would gradually and surely turn our cities into the paradise that we dream of.

Time to do your part – clean, clean and clean

Who said Accra cannot become the cleanest city in Africa? With effort, commitment and determination, the capital could be truly transformed, sans filth and littering. We do not have to look very far to see that it is possible. Right across in Uganda, Paul Kagame is leading this sort of transformation and the results are there for all to see.

So why not pick up that broom or that mob or that shovel or that rake and start something. Let’s help to clean our homes and contribute to the cleaning of our cities in every little way we can.

We are crying for a Ghana beyond aid; but how about a Ghana beyond filth too? We can make it happen.

Let’s make it happen!

source https://www.newssplashy.com/2018/07/62steps-building-ghana-beyond-filth-do.html

#News

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vidmidnews · 7 years

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Independent senator Lynn Ruane has posted some screenshots of an incredibly disturbing letter she received in response to her stance on the Eighth Amendment.Ms Ruane is for the repealing of the eighth amendment, and took part in the Citizen's Assembly, wh

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reginaperes157 · 7 years

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Hassan-Rouhani-United-Nations-General-Assembly-New-York-Sept-22-2017

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newssplashy · 6 years

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We are clamouring for a Ghana beyond aid, but it's time to fight for a Ghana beyond filth too....

Drive around the various cities and you would realise that apart from corruption, filth is the next singular most debilitating menace that has caused Ghana to be in its current state.

Despite numerous interventions over the last two decades, the situation seems to rather be worsening. So what is the problem? Or, better still, what are the solutions?

READ ALSO: Blame Game: Sanitation Minister blames Zoomlion for filth in Accra

President Akufo-Addo has sought to push the “Ghana Beyond Aid” mantra, which is geared towards getting to a level where the country does not need to borrow to survive.

But how about a “Ghana Beyond Filth” campaign too?

Earlier this year, Street Hygiene Ambassador (SHA), Evangelist Bright Adoboe, observed that a whopping 86% of Ghana’s environment is filled with filth.

As worrying as the situation is, there seems to be no mapped out plan from either government or citizens to help mitigate the menace.

The situation is much more damning when you consider the fact that the structures to lead the reforms are either not functioning properly or totally non-existent.

The Northern parts of the country, in particular, have an open defecation rate of over 70%, whiles the coastal areas in the southern and western parts of the country are no different.

Consequences of a filthy Ghana

READ ALSO: Cleanliness: Zoomlion committed to helping Zongo Development Ministry to keep Zongo communities clean

Everybody must take blame

READ ALSO: Tourism: Filth, animal waste engulfs Paga crocodile pond

However, to tackle the sanitation problem that has blighted the nation since Dr. Kwame Nkrumah announced our independence, there is the need for everyone to take blame.

Although much of the blame may go to the market woman, the pure water seller and the food vendor, the office-based banker and the medical doctor can also not be exempted from blame.

What we must do

READ ALSO: Central Region: 'One-trader-one-dustbin' policy initiated in Cape Coast

“The commitment we are making and which I want you all to make with me is that by the time we end our four-year term, Accra is going to be the cleanest city in Africa,” he said.

But realising the magnitude of the pledge he had made, President Akufo-Addo called on the general public to support and cooperate to make it a reality.

In recent times the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) and other metropolitan and municipal assemblies have taken steps to make sure the littering of the various cities is brought to a halt.

READ ALSO: Rains: We'll prevent Accra from flooding this year - Atta Akyea

Time to do your part – clean, clean and clean

So why not pick up that broom or that mob or that shovel or that rake and start something. Let’s help to clean our homes and contribute to the cleaning of our cities in every little way we can.

We are crying for a Ghana beyond aid; but how about a Ghana beyond filth too? We can make it happen.

Let’s make it happen!

via NigeriaNews | Latest Nigerian News,Ghana News,News,pulse, and Latest News In Ghana In a Splash

#IFTTT #NigeriaNews | Latest Nigerian News #Ghana News #News #pulse #and Latest News In Ghana In a Splas

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newssplashy · 6 years

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Buhari: 10 things we learnt from president's democracy day speech

Here are the 10 lessons we noted from President Buhari's democracy day address.

President Muhammadu Buhari has just addressed the nation on the occasion of Nigeria’s 19th Democracy Day commemoration.

Here are 10 lessons we drew from a speech that lasted 25 minutes.

1. Buhari says the change the APC promised is well on course

If you thought the APC change agenda has been an illusion, here’s Buhari to placate you.

“This administration came at a time that Nigerians needed Change, the Change we promised and the Change we continue to deliver. We have faced a lot of challenges on this journey and Nigerians have stood by us in achieving the three cardinal points of this administration namely; Security, Corruption and the Economy”.

2. Buhari scores his government high on war against Boko Haram.

According to the president, Boko Haram was almost seizing the entire country before the APC led administration took over in 2015.

“Before this administration came into being 3 years ago, Boko Haram held large areas of land spanning several Local Governments in the North East”, Buhari said.

“Today, the capacity of the insurgents has been degraded leading to the re-establishment of authority of government and the release of captives including, happily, 106 Chibok and 104 Dapchi girls, and over 16,000 other persons held by the Boko Haram”, the president added.

3. Buhari says power supply has improved

The president said, “in the area of power generation, Nigerians from all parts of the country continue to report better power supply and less use of generators. This underscores the effectiveness of the methodical plan to deliver incremental and uninterrupted power supply to our homes, markets, offices and factories.

“The country achieved 5, 222.3 MW representing the highest peak of power generated onto the national grid and delivered to customers in December, 2017.

“With new facilities, repairs and rehabilitations by government and private investors, generation capability now exceeds 7,500 MW”.

4. Buhari says his administration is winning the corruption war

According to the president; “Like I have always said, if we don’t kill corruption, corruption will destroy the country. Three years into this administration, Nigerians and the international community have begun to applaud our policies and determination to fight corruption.

“We are more than ever before determined to win this war, however hard the road is. I therefore appeal to all well-meaning Nigerians to continue to support us in this fight”.

5. Killer herdsmen and their sponsors will be hounded and made to face full wrath of the law

Killer herdsmen have been on a rampage across Nigeria. Buhari says their time is now up.

In the president’s words: “The unfortunate incidences of kidnappings, herdsmen and farmers clashes in several communities which have led to high number of fatalities and loss of properties across the country is being addressed and the identified culprits and their sponsors shall be made to face the full wrath of the law”.

6. Criminal elements and insurgents across the country are in for a rough time

In the words of the nation’s Commander-in-Chief; “This administration is pained over the grievous loss of lives and properties occasioned by the carnage of insurgency and other forms of criminality in the country.

“I wish to assure Nigerians that we will not rest until all criminal elements and their sponsors are brought to justice. Government is boosting the capacity of our security agencies through recruitment of more personnel, training and procurement of modern equipment, enhancement of intelligence gathering as well as boosting their morale in the face of daunting challenges”.

7. Buhari says the economy is doing well

The president said; “The National Bureau of Statistics reports that the economy grew by 1.95% in 1st quarter 2018, which is a good performance when viewed against -0.91 in 1st quarter 2017 and -0.67% in 1st quarter 2016 respectively.

“Our foreign reserve has improved significantly to 47.5 billion USD as of May, 2018 as against 29.6 billion USD in 2015. The inflationary rate has consistently declined every month since January, 2017”.

8. Buhari says he’s for young people seeking political offices

As it stands, there’s the age barrier for young people who want to make a difference by going into politics.

A “Not too young to run” bill has been passed by the national assembly and Buhari says he won’t hesitate to sign same when the bill arrives his desk.

The bill was passed by the national assembly in July 2017, with amendments made to Sections 65, 106, 131, 177 of the Constitution.

These amendments seek to reduce the age qualification for president from 40 to 30; governor from 35 to 30; senator from 35 to 30; House of Representatives membership from 30 to 25 and State House of Assembly membership from 30 to 25.

“In few days to come, I will be joined by many promising young Nigerians to sign into law the “Not Too Young to Run” Bill 36”, Buhari promised.

9. Buhari appreciates women and mothers

The president said: “It is pertinent to also make mention of the immeasurable contributions of the Nigerian woman to national development and advancement of democracy, over the last three years.

The government and people appreciate you all as mothers of our great country”.

10. Buhari wants you to behave yourself with elections coming

Here’s an admonition from the nation’s number one citizen: "Let me use this opportunity to urge us all to conduct ourselves, our wards and our constituencies with the utmost sense of fairness, justice and peaceful co-existence such that we will have not only hitch free elections but also a credible and violence free process”.

source http://www.newssplashy.com/2018/05/buhari-10-things-we-learnt-from.html

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newssplashy · 6 years

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Buhari: 5 things Saraki, Dogara told president before his departure

Senate President Saraki and Speaker Dogara held a meeting with President Buhari before he left for the U.S. Here's what they talked about.

Senate President Bukola Saraki and Speaker of the House of Representatives Yakubu Dogara met with President Muhammadu Buhari on the night of Monday, May 7, 2018—just hours before the president took to the skies for another medical vacation.

Here are five things the presiding officers of parliament discussed with the nation’s number one citizen:

1. The police were called barbarians

Dogara laid into the entire police force when they met Buhari.

Don’t take our word for it. Here’s Dogara in his own words:

“Nigeria is a democracy. The police must operate within the ambit of the rule of law and due process. It is unacceptable for the police to continue to operate like a clan of tribesmen, a sort of upgraded barbarians”, Dogara said.

2. Buhari was told that his IGP is a disobedient somebody

Inspector General of Police (IGP) Ibrahim Idris has twice failed to honour senate summons over the arrest of Senator Dino Melaye and other matters the lawmakers aren't pleased about.

When Saraki and Dogara met Buhari, they didn’t fail to tell him how ‘recalcitrant’ Idris has become.

According to Saraki; “We also raised the issue of the non-appearance of the IG at the senate and felt that they must continue to ensure that he continues to apply obedience to the issue of constituted authority.

“We are of great concern that this is not the first time this is happening and that matter needs to be addressed considering the importance of the powers of the constitution that gives investigative powers to us and that there is the need for police to accept that they too are under the constitution and they must obey that.”

3. Lawmakers don’t like the fact that Dino Melaye was wheeled into court

According to Dogara, “A situation where people are wheeled to court, that doesn’t give a good image of our democracy. I have not seen a democracy where people are wheeled to court, they are not in the proper frame of mind and they are forced to undergo trial.

“Whatever it is, even if Dino is pretending as some have said in some section of the media, he cannot pretend forever. He is there, he will not run away, he is a senator and he can be tried any time he is in proper frame of mind”.

4. Buhari considered the national assembly invasion an embarrassment

You know that day when thugs broke into the national assembly and stole the mace? Yeah, Buhari considered that incident an embarrassment, according to the lawmakers.

In Saraki’s words: “We also talked on the issues of concern to us – the invasion of the national assembly, which he showed great concern about and said action would be taken to investigate that.

“Of course, he sees it as an embarrassment to the country and that there will be a proper investigation because it is something that is not just about the national assembly, it is about the country.”

5. They also discussed the 2018 budget

Like you already know, the 2018 budget hasn’t been passed and we are in May.

Saraki said the issue of the non-passage of the budget was on the table as well when they met Buhari.

“He (Buhari) wanted to brief us on his trip to the United States and also the issue of the budget”, Saraki said.

Saraki also told journalists after the meeting that the 2018 budget will be passed before end of next week.

There you have it.

source https://www.newssplashy.com/2018/05/buhari-5-things-saraki-dogara-told.html

#News

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