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Mildred Siabi-Mensah back from USA, Courtesy of US Embassy    Accra, Nov. 11, GNA – Prof John Nay, a Political Science Lecturer at the University of Illinois, Chicago in the United States, has said the country would continue to implement its existing foreign policy. He said there would not be any real change in foreign policy but the emphasis this time might differ from country to country. Prof Nay said this at a meeting with some African journalists at the University on the topic: “Foreign Policy of the US”.  The meeting was held days after the US election which saw the re-election of President Barack Obama for a second term. He said, “America’s allies will still remain allies” adding the composition of the US Foreign Relations Committee might see some changes and that a new Secretary of State would be appointed to replace Mrs. Hillary Clinton who is, source said, is eyeing the presidency. Mr. Walter Podrazik, a Visiting Professor at the University who spoke on elections and the media, said about 5.8 billion dollars were spent in the US elections with local advertisements accounting for 2.6 billion dollars.     GNA ...

Sandema, Nov. 12, GNA - Government would under the Savannah Accelerated Development Authority (SADA) irrigate 100,000 hectares of land for all season farming in the Builsa North and Builsa South districts. President John Dramani Mahama, who announced this, said the programme would also benefit thousands of farmers along the Sisili and Kulkpong Rivers that flows through the Upper East and West Regions of the country. The President was addressing a rally at Sandema in the Builsa Southm District on Monday, as part of his three-day campaign tour of the Upper East Region. He visited Tongo, Bongo, Kongo, Zanlerigu, Zuarungu, Fumbisi, Navrongo, Chiana and Paga, where he outlined the National Democratic Congress (NDC) manifesto and development plans to the electorate. President Mahama, presidential candidate of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) for Election 2012, said the drifting of farmers and other youth to the southern part of Ghana during the dry season was due to lack of jobs, and hoped that the irrigation of the Sisili-Kulkpong areas would promote agricultural activities and prevent rural-urban migration. He said the irrigation projects would be replicated in the Northern and Upper West regions to stop the perennial North-south migration by the youth for non-existent jobs. At the Navrongo Campus of the University for Development Studies, President Mahama advised the students to ignore the vain promises by some political parties and vote for the NDC that has the potentials of solving their problems. President Mahama said the NDC had always been sensitive to the plight of students, and had established more Senior High Schools and tertiary institutions, and would not renege on that stance to provide quality education at all levels. “Others are going about promising free education, when in actual fact, there are no educational facilities to accommodate those students, but we shall continue to provide the infrastructure for them to enjoy quality education at all levels,” he added. Alhaji Haruna Iddrisu, Minister for Communication, said lies and promises were not enough to win any election, and appealed to NDC members to be truthful and credible in their campaign to attract more electorate. “This election is about credibility, truth and integrity, and I believe that with our performance in the past years, the people will return us into power.” Mr Johnson Asiedu Nketia, General Secretary of the NDC, called on party supporters to remain resolute to enable the NDC to massively win Election 2012.   GNA...

Accra, Nov 12, GNA –The Anglican Diocese of Accra, Church of the Province of West Africa, on Sunday inaugurated the Episcopal Ministry of Right Reverend Dr Daniel Sylvanus Mensah Torto, as the ninth Diocesan Bishop of Accra. Dr Mensah Torto succeeded the Most Reverend Justice Ofei Akrofi as Archbishop and Primate of the Church of the Province of West Africa, following his retirement on October 29, after serving for 16 years. Most Reverend Ofei Akrofi, in his message, advised the new bishop to use spirituality as the tool to do the work that God had entrusted into his hands. He called on other bishops in the Church to welcome him and create space for him to be God’s agent and instrument in building God’s household. Most Reverend Professor Emmanuel Asante, Presiding bishop of Methodist Ghana, said there was the need to re-imagine the future based on hope in God who in Christ came to rescue us from sin and restored us to a new relationship with him. “This means we have to rediscover the mission of Jesus Christ, for we don’t really know Christ till we participate in and live out his mission”. Most Reverend Charles Palmer-Buckle, Metropolitan Catholic Archbishop of Accra, assured the new bishop of God’s continuous presence in the task assigned him. Most Reverend Torto was confirmed as the New Anglican Bishop-Elect   few months ago, who until his election was serving as the Archdeacon of the Accra-East Archdeaconry and the Diocesan Director of Programmes.     GNA   ...

Nyanyanu (C/R), Nov. 12, GNA – Christians have been advised to rest their hope and confidence in God and not to be overwhelmed and be despaired in the wake of global economic crisis, climate change, personal loss, suffering and sickness. Mr Paul Crudass, a representative from the Ghana Branch Office of the Jehovah’s Witnesses, who gave the advice at the weekend at the just-ended three-day annual convention of Jehovah’s Witnesses held at Nyanyanu in the Central Region, said that Almighty God had the power to save Christians from their personal afflictions and persecutions. He called on Christians to constantly remember God’s saving acts in the past and in the present and to fix firmly in their mind, His assurance of saving his people in the “not too distant future.” Mr Crudass said God would soon bring to an end mankind’s suffering and usher his servants into a new system of “world government” ruled by Jesus Christ. The three-day convention was on the theme: “Safeguard Your Heart” and was based on Proverbs 4:23. Activities for the convention included a drama, soliloquies, interviews, demonstrations and symposia designed to help the Witnesses conduct a regular spiritual medical check-up on their figurative heart. Mr Stephen McIntyre, Chairman for the 2012 District Convention and Circuit 53 Circuit Overseer for the Witnesses said there were five reasons the delegates needed to safeguard their figurative heart. He stressed that it was urgent for Christians to safeguard their heart because the imperfect heart was inclined to do what was wrong. Mr McIntyre  added that the heart was treacherous therefore safeguarding it was critical for a better and improved life now and for everlasting life in the future. He said most importantly, safeguarding the heart would be pleasing to Jehovah God. Mr McIntyre explained that the figurative heart referred the “whole inner person, his thinking, inclination, qualities, feelings and deepest innermost emotions of an individual”. A Play entitled “What is True Love?” was staged to enable young ones contemplating marriage to consider seriously the vital steps that would make them consider God first in their choice of marriage mate. It was also to teach the convention delegates successful ways of building a happy family life. Two newly-published brochures: “Good News From God,” and “Who are Doing Jehovah’s Will Today?” were outdoored at the convention. They were produced with the aim of helping the Witnesses to be effective in evangelizing and to help others to love God. Various DVDs for children and others to help the Witnesses to fortify their faith in God were released while 46 new members symbolized their dedication to God through water baptism.     Caption:  Picture 2560: Mr Stephen McIntyre, Chairman for the 2012 District Convention and Circuit 53 Circuit Overseer for the Witnesses speaking at the convention.   GNA ...

Accra , Nov 12, GNA -The Ghana Center for Democratic Development (CDD), in collaboration with the Coalition of Domestic Election Observers (CODEO) and with support from Open Society Initiative West Africa, on Sunday held an open forum for aspiring Members of Parliament within the Adenta Constituency in Accra. The forum which was basically in the form of a debate, sought to offer voters the opportunity to interact with candidates and access their respective levels of confidence. The aspiring Parliamentarians for the constituency who attended the forum were 33-year-old Denis Ofosuapea for the Progressive People's Party(PPP), who is also a Legal Practitioner, Mr. Ashie Moore, 44 years for the National Democratic Congress(NDC), Mohammed Naabaale Iddrisu, a 42 -year- old independent candidate and Mamshie Omar Bawa, 32- year- old Convention People's Party(CPP) candidate. All four candidates were unanimous in promising that when voted as Members of Parliament, they would ensure that basic services such as water provision, sanitation and toilet facilities were made available to the constituents. Other issues they promised to tackle within the constituency were unemployment, education, and land documentation. They also pledged to ensure efficient health care delivery, fight crime such as armed robbery and prostitution, and also combat discrimination against victims of HIV/AIDS.     GNA ...

Accra, Nov. 12, GNA – Printing of ballot papers for the Presidential and Parliamentary polls started on November 7th amidst tight security as the Electoral Commission (EC) stepped up preparations for the December 7 elections, Ghana News Agency investigation established at the weekend. GNA information indicates the various Publishing Houses engaged for the printing have already completed printing the “Election 2012 Notice of Polls”. On security of the ballot papers and officials involved in the printing, EC Official told the GNA that the Publishing Houses are under strict orders to enforce all printing rules and regulations. According to GNA information representatives of the contesting parties have joined a team of security men from the Bureau of National Investigations, the Police Service, EC and security men from the various Publishing Houses for the exercise. The security team has mounted a 24-hour guard at all the Publishing Houses printing the ballot papers. The Parties have more than one representative at any given time, who is present inside the printing room. Once printing starts for the day no one is allowed in or out of the room. GNA information from the Publishing Houses also indicates that they have adopted a shift system for all personnel involved in the printing. The Officials told the GNA that at the end of every shift the number of ballot papers printed is recorded and endorsed by party representatives and officials. All spoilt ballot papers are burnt in their presence. GNA information indicates that agents of some of the seven political parties contesting Election 2012 have pitched camp at the premises of the printing houses to observe and check every process along the line of printing, checking, arrangement and packaging. The order of presidential candidates on the ballot papers will be what was arrived at following a ballot by the political parties. The presidential candidates will have their photographs and party symbols. The name, picture or symbol of vice presidential candidates will not appear on the presidential ballot paper. The order of the presidential candidates is the National Democratic Congress’ President John Dramani Mahama, will be number one; the second will be Dr Henry Lartey of the Great Consolidated Popular Party (GCPP) whilst Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) occupies the third position. Dr Paa Kwesi Nduom of the Progressive Peoples’ Party (PPP) occupies the fourth position, the United Front Party’s (UFP) Mr Akwasi Adddai Odike, occupies the fifth position and Mr Hassan Ayariga of the Peoples National Convention (PNC) sixth, Dr Michael Abu Sakara Foster of the Convention Peoples Party (CPP) seven and the Independent presidential candidate, Mr Jacob osei Yeboah, takes the eighth position. According to the EC the positions will be the same for parliamentary candidates, with independent candidates coming after candidates of the political parties in alphabetical order.   GNA ...

Accra, Nov.10, GNA – Reverend Kofi Awadzi, Servant Leader of the Lone Voice Ministry, has noted that the church has been turned into “playing ground” rather than what it meant for.     “We see things that are not of Christ in the church,” he stressed.     Rev Awadzi made the observation when he launched his book titled “From Discipleship to Witnessing: How to win yourself to win other souls,” in Accra on Friday.     He said some Christians feel that the mere fact that they are in the four corners of the church meant they are saved.     The 90-page book expressed concern about the way Christian live their lives neglecting the duties of Christ.     He said Christians nowadays want to address their physical needs forgetting the spiritual aspect of their lives.     Rev Awadzi said: “Christians need to re-direct their lives to serving the almighty God.”     The author explained that the book seeks to address the issues of discipleship under Jesus Christ and not of pastors as most Christians thought.     He asked Christians to re-dedicate their lives to God since the end time is at hand.     Rev Dr Hilliard Dela Dogbe, who reviewed the book, commended the author for putting his thought together to impact on the lives of Christians.     He said Christians are now becoming interested in the cosmetics of worshipping God forgetting the bases, adding that witnessing is a Christian obligation every Christian must uphold.   He said being a disciple of God must be based on the knowledge of God and allowing oneself to be molded.   “Christian discipleship must have God as its foundation,” he added. GNA  ...

Accra, Nov. 12, GNA- Lieutenant Commander Vida Arhin of the Ghana Armed Forces Public Relations Directorate, has cautioned the media not to inflate the number of people who died when the Achimota branch of Melcom Shopping Mall collapsed.      She said so far 14 people have perished in the disaster and not 25 as being reported by some media houses.   Lt Cmd Arhin told a press briefing in Accra at the weekend that 68 people have rescued from the rubble alive.   She said the rescue team pulled out two cash safes from the rubble and handed them over to the management of Melcom.   Lt Cmd Arhin said work continued throughout the night with stakeholders making coordinated efforts to remove the debris in order to have access to areas where they suspect there could be human presence.   “As at this morning (Sunday), a considerable amount of the debris has been cleared from the top of the rubble, with several concrete slabs peeled off”, she said.   She said so far 70 per cent of the debris had been cleared and acknowledged the efforts of volunteers and stakeholder organisations for their contributions towards the rescue efforts.   Donations continued to pour in from well meaning individuals and organisations including Kingsby Hotel, which donated 150 packs of cooked rice and nine bottles of water and Alhaji Issah Mohammed, who is the Ofankor-Asafo-Lomnava Zongo Chief who donated 50 bags of sachet water and 300 packs of cooked rice.    A six- storey building which used to house the Mall collapsed on November 7 trapping unspecified number of persons.   GNA...

Essikado (W/R) Nov. 12 GNA-Mr Joe Ghartey, Member of Parliament (MP) for Essikado-Ketan on Sunday launched his re-election bid to represent the area on the ticket of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) amid music and fanfare.      Speaking at the function, Papa Owusu Ankomah, MP for Sekondi, said the NPP is poised to win the December 7 General Election.      He said support for the party is growing as the election approaches and asked the people to translate their interest in the NPP into votes.      Mr Kwesi Biney, Western Regional first Vice Chairman of the NPP said the party is serious about implementing free Senior High School education when voted into power.     He said there is no reason why the NPP cannot implement free SHS education if the country has been able to implement National Health Insurance Scheme.      Mr Biney said the NPP is pushing for free SHS education so that more people could pursue higher education and technological skills training.   GNA...

Accra, Nov.12, GNA- The National AIDs Control Programme (NACP) had received enough stock of Anti Retroviral (ARVs) to supply Persons Living HIV (PLHIV) for a year, in response to speculations of shortage of the drug since June.       “We experienced shortage of ARVs in June but have now received our consignments at the ports,” Dr Nii Akwei Addo, NACP Programme Manager told the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in an interview in Accra.       He explained that though the consignments are coming in bits, “we hope to receive all the consignments by the middle of this month”.       News reports stated that hospitals especially in the Eastern Region reported shortage of ARVs in June, which threatened the effective treatment of HIV and AIDS.        Dr Addo explained that the importation of the drugs was awarded as contract to six companies who won the competitive bid at a cost of 8.1 million dollars.      He noted that that  there was a target of 15, 058 people with advanced HIV infections to receive ART for 2012 out of which 7, 497 people have been put on the drug as at June.      “As at June, the cumulative number of people with advanced HIV infection receiving ART have been 72,839, of which 69,267 were adults and 3, 572 children. The number of people currently on treatment is 66,504 out of which 63,236 are adults and 3,268 are children.     “There are 166 service delivery points. The alarming shortages are compelling the HIV facilities to ration first line drugs to PLHIV in a bid to prevent a complete shortage of the ARVs,” Dr Addo said.      The NACP Programme Manager said under the new Transitional Funding Mechanism, government had awarded a GH¢6 million, which is a Ministry of Health Budget to DANDAMS, a local anti Retroviral manufacture to produce the ARVs for use.       The move is meant to facilitate preparation towards sustaining the programme after the global fund ends by April next year.       Dr Addo said after April 30, 2013, all new cases would be the sole responsibility of government with the full task of bearing the entire cost.      The Ghana AIDS Commission is supporting NACP with GH¢5.7 million.             Some of the PLHIV the GNA spoke to said their survival depended so much on the ARVs and the persistent interruption was a nightmare.       These concerns were also shared by the National President of Network of Association of PLHIV, Mr Clement Azagwe who said: “If we joke as a country, those of us living with the disease could develop drug resistance and this will potentially undermine our efforts to achieve universal access to treatment.”   GNA...

Accra, Nov. 12, GNA - The Bureau of Internal Affairs (BIA) at the weekend called on the government to put in place mechanism to get first hand information from the public about negative acts that tend to undermine good governance.      A statement issued Mr Heward O. Mills, Coordinating Director of the Bureau in Accra said lack of proper checks and balances of people in authority who act contrary to their administrative responsibilities affect the economy and the quality of life of the people.   BIA is a centre for information gathering on public concerns with the aim of bridging the communication gap between the public and the authorities on issues negatively affecting the citizens.   Mr Mills said information reaching the Bureau, revealed that some medical facilities are refusing to attend to patients wielding the National Health Insurance Card meant to reverse the Cash and Carry system in order to make health care accessible to everyone.   He said such arbitrary decisions by people at the helm of affairs such as school heads who collect illegal fees in blatant disregard of specific instructions by the Ministry of Education are being used as a political tool to discredit the government. Mr Mills said the BIA intends to team up with the public to support the government to fight against acts that undermine the social and economic lifestyles of the people.   “I am therefore calling on members of the public to report irregularities that are likely to affect the national interest to the bureau,” he said.   GNA...

Kumasi, Nov. 12, GNA – The Oforikrom Office of the National Youth Employment Programme (NYEP) in Kumasi has been temporarily closed down for security reasons.   Mr Evans Ablordeppey, NYEP Coordinator, said the decision which was taken on the advice of the police, was to ensure the safety of the workers.   The office would, therefore, commence operation as soon as they are given the go ahead by the police.   The development comes as a stray bullet hit the office at about 1400 hours on Friday. None of the workers got hurt.   Mr. Ablordeppey, who briefed newsmen in Kumasi on Sunday on the issue, called on the workers to remain calm as the police investigate the issue.   The office was said to have been thrown into a state of shock as the stray bullet penetrated the roof of the office, forcing the workers to run helter-skelter.   GNA...

Metsio (GAR), Nov. 12, GNA – Professor Stephen Adei, Former Reactor of the Ghana Institute of Management Public Administration (GIMPA), has called on universities to collaborate with industry to enhance graduate employability.   He said it would also ensure that graduates have the skills and technology to effectively contribute to the workforce with shorter learning aim on the job.   Prof Adei made the call at the African University Day celebration on the theme: “Promoting University-Industry Linkages for Graduate Employability” at Metsio on Monday.   The African University Day was instituted and given international backing as a result of the close links between the African Union and the Association of African Universities (AAU).   Prof Adei said successful university-industry linkage collaboration brought many advantages including provision of new sources of funding with less red-tape than government ones and promotion of innovation and technology transfer.   “Sponsored industrial research provides students and faculty with exposure to real world problems and opportunity to work on intellectually challenging and relevant problem,” he added.   He noted that these types of linkages were often conceived as a three way interaction between universities, government and firms.   The former GIMPA Rector said the universities must go beyond big centres of knowledge and leaning to develop research capacity and become national innovation centres.   He said the government had a role in creating the legislative and enabling climate for patenting, licensing and university-industry technology transfer including giving tax incentives to industry to support such collaboration.   Prof Adei further said the linkages were important but not a panacea to graduate employability.   He said Ghanaian universities had become mainly teaching universities and urgent action was needed to improve on research, adding “l hold the government and public universities more accountable.”      He indicated that a change of mindset in academia was needed to create an atmosphere where both faculty and students would actively see to prepare graduates for the job market   Prof Etienne Ehouan Ehile, Secretary-General of AAU, said the Association was accepted as part of the evolving Pan-African organisations under the general umbrella of the African Union.   He said AAU was the designated lead implementing agency on higher education in the African Union’s Second Decade of Education for Africa from 2006 – 2015.   Through its Quality Assurance Programme, the Association is collaborating with the African Union Commission to promote quality development and assurance in African higher education in all its dimensions.   “The AAU has also been instrumental in building the capacity of member universities through its programmes, notable of which are the Leadership Development Programme,” he noted.   He announced that AAU was in discussion with the World Bank to implement a project on African Centres of Excellence.   Prof Kwesi Yankah, who chaired the function, said private universities played pivotal role in university education and pledged the commitment of private tertiary institutions to improve on the quality of the academic excellence for national development.   GNA...

Accra, Nov 12, GNA – Rescue mission to save lives following the collapse of the six storey Achimota branch of Melcom shopping mall, came to an end today Monday November 12th.   In all 82 people were rescued from the rubble – 68 survived but with various degrees of injuries and 14 people lost their lives.   Addressing the media, Major Jonas Wiafe, Leader of the Rescue team, said 54 people have so far been discharged from the various hospitals while 13 were still on admission. Meanwhile, one Melcom staff is still missing.   Major Wiafe expressed his appreciation to the rescue team comprising the Ghana Armed Forces, the Ghana Police Service, the National Disaster Management Organisation, the Ghana National Fire Service and others for their roles in the rescue mission.   He said the rescue mission had reached ground zero and had cleared 100 percent of the debris.   He said investigations were still on going into the causes of the sudden collapse of the structure and thanked the media for their dedication in reporting the incidence.   GNA...

Accra, Nov. 12, GNA - The Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration in collaboration with the Regional Centres for Learning on Evaluation Results (CLEAR), on Monday began a training programme on performance budgeting for the public and development sectors.   The five-day programme has brought together representatives from the various ministries and government agencies with the aim to improve a sound macro-fiscal outcome and maintains fiscal sustainability as far as government income and expenditure is concerned.   Dr Marc Robinson, facilitator for the programme, said government budget comprised the allocation and the use resources and associated decisions about how the resources used would be acquired.   He said the budget process include aggregate fiscal policy formulation which determined government overarching objective for the budget deficit, debt and other relevant fiscal aggregate, which should be translated into decision on the levels of revenue and expenditure.   Dr Robinson said budget preparation enactment was another process of budget where government decides how much funding it would provide to which agencies and for which purposes and the budget execution, which refers to the carrying out of the expenditure plan developed in the budget like contracts and expenditure funds.   Dr Robinson said the participants would undergo training courses like performance concepts and indicators in budgeting, performance budgeting, programme budgeting, programme costing, accounting and control and evaluation.   Dr Charles Amoatey, CLEAR Coordinator, said the initiative was spearheaded by the World Bank and development partners, adding that development should focus on results.   Dr Amoatey said over the past two years, the World Bank had identified institutions in to provide capacity building for countries and that GIMPA and Kenyan School of Governance were chosen to host the CLEAR to build its capacity.   He said GIMPA was hosting the training programme as first of its kind in Africa and after that it would be rolled out throughout the public sectors.   Professor Sam Adams, Acting Dean of Business School, GIMPA, said the initiative was welcoming since it would broaden the frontier of capacity building in the public sector development.   Prof Adams said GIMPA believed in excellence in leadership, management and administration and therefore it was their expectation that the participants would finish the programme with a well informed knowledge than they came.   GNA...

Burkina Faso, Oct. 12, GNA - A two-day tripartite meeting of security personnel from Burkina Faso, Togo and Ghana has ended in Kombissiri, Burkina Faso, with a call on countries to strengthen closer tides in dealing with trans-border crime.   It was to develop new perspectives and strategies for practical trans-border cooperation in the area of security, free movement of goods and people, child trafficking, drug smuggling and small arms proliferation.   The three regions, Savanna Region of Togo, Central East Region of Burkina Faso and the Upper East Region of Ghana, have since September 2009 been meeting annually to develop new approaches to effectively fight high banditry, trans-border crimes and ultimately promote cohesion and peaceful coexistence between the three countries.   Speaking at the opening of the meeting at the weekend, Burkinabe Minister of Territorial Administration and Security, Dr Jerome Bougma noted that trans-border crimes such as the proliferation of small arms and weapons in the West African sub-region stifled the socio-economic development of countries.   He said engagements like annual tripartite meetings, offered the three regions the opportunity to deliberate on the way forward in dealing with trans-border crimes such as the proliferation of small arms to further promote integration in the West Africa sub-region.   He said the dangers of illicit proliferation of small arms in the West-African sub-region were enormous and appealed to security agencies in the three countries to collaborate effectively in dealing with the menace.   “Most conflicts in West Africa are facilitated by the illegal importation and exportation of these illegal small arms” he added, and urged countries in West Africa to continue with the collaboration to curb the use of arms in society since it was alarming and posed serious threats to the security.   Mrs Lucy Awuni, Upper East Deputy Regional Minister, who led a delegation of security personnel including officials from the Ghana Police Service, Customs Exercise and Preventive Service (CEPS), Ghana Immigration Service and the Bureau of National Investigations (BNI), expressed optimism that collaboration among the three countries, would be fortified to check trans-boundary crimes and improve trade relations.   She recounted collaboration between security agencies that led to the arrest of criminals seeking refuge in other neighbouring countries, citing the arrest of Kombian, a notorious Ghanaian criminal, in neighbouring Togo.   Mr Allahidi Diallo, Governor of the Central East Region of Burkina Faso and the Governor of the South East Province of Burkina, Madam Tchombiano Maimouna, both expressed gratitude to Ghana and Togo for their concerted efforts and renewed commitment in ensuring that trans-border crimes were reduced to the barest minimum.   The Kassena Nankana Municipal Police Commander, ASP Abdul-Latif Nbonwura in an interview with the GNA said the meeting had enhanced his capacity in the fight against trans-border crimes.   He said the emerging trends of trans-border crimes called for serious attention, adding that the reinforcement of regulations by security agencies from the three countries was the way forward.   He further stated that the movement of livestock, especially cattle had become a threat in recent times, saying “the activities of some Fulani herdsmen pose a serious threat to the security of the country.   “Some of them have fomented trouble in parts of the country with many crop farms devastated by the cattle of these herdsmen”, he stressed.        Such collaboration, he said, would enable security personnel to deal ruthlessly with the complexities of their duties and stem security threats at various borders.   GNA...

Krapa (Ash), Nov 12, GNA – Tragedy struck a family at Krapa in the Ejisu Municipality at the weekend when the room in which a two-year-old boy was sleeping caught fire and burnt him to death.   The incident happened at about 2000 hours.   Electricity supply to the area had been interrupted and the mother of little Adu Asem, had left a burning candle in the room as she went out to buy some items from a nearby shop.   An uncle to the deceased, Mr Isaac Prah told the Ghana News Agency (GNA) that while the mother was returning, she saw their three-bedroom apartment engulfed in flames. She raised the alarm and fire fighters were called in.   It took the fire fighters about an hour to put it out and recover the charred body of little Asem.   The Ejisu Police confirmed the incident and said the body had been deposited at the Juaben Government Hospital for autopsy. The Police have launched investigations into the incident.   GNA...

Tema, Nov. 12, GNA – Members of the Tema Methodist Day Senior High School Old Students Association (MEDASSOSA) has embarked on a walk dubbed: “Health Walk for Peace for Election 2012”.   The aim was to sensitize the public within the Tema Metropolis of the need to ensure peaceful election come December 7th 2012.   The walk, which took place at the weekend, formed part of activities lined-up to mark the school’s 30th anniversary celebration next year that would reach its climax in October in 2013.   After the walk, MEDASSOSANs converged at the school’s premises where they jointly organised a blood donation exercise with some members of the Community ‘6’ branch of the Church of Christ.   Speaking at the function, Mr John Asseph, National President of MEDASSOSA said members needed to be healthy before they could cast their votes on December 7, hence the walk.   Mr Aseeph said the blood donation exercise was the modest contribution to the National Blood Service to help save lives.   Mr Benny Ebo Koomson, Deacon of the Church of Christ, said Christians could succeed in evangelisation only if they paid special attention to the physical needs of those they intended to convert.   Mr Koomson, therefore, said it was for that reason that members of the congregation decided to take part in the blood donation exercise.   Mr John Atter Ahadjie, Deputy Chief Donor Recruitment Officer of the National Blood Service at the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital, who supervised the exercise, stressed the basic requirements of every donor as: He or she should be 17 years and above, must not be less than 50 kilogrammes in weight and above all the donor should donate the blood willingly or voluntarily.   At the end of the exercise, a total of 32 donors voluntarily donated to replenish the Korle Bu Blood Bank.   GNA...

Accra, Nov. 12, GNA - The Sports Writers Association of Ghana (SWAG) has consoled the captain of the Senior National team, the Black Stars, Asamoah Gyan, on the tragic death of his mother, Mrs Cecilia Gyan.   A statement issued by the association, described Mrs Gyan’s passing as a heartbreaking event that was least expected and hoped  the family would find the fortitude  to cope with it.   The SWAG said it has noted with great admiration the composure of Asamoah Gyan in particular in the face of the heartbreaking news and expressed the hope that they would get over the trauma associated with it.   ‘’At this moment the whole country is with the family in prayers and will stand by them to see Mrs Gyan off in a befitting manner.   "In the case of Asamoah Gyan in particular, we pray that he comes through this quickly so that he can join his colleagues as they embark on the search for Ghana’s first Nations Cup triumph in 31 years in South Africa next January’’. The statement said.   GNA...