News
AJ’s Help The Needy Project donates to widows in Okere District
AJ’s Help The Needy Project has donated assorted food items to widows in Deveme in the Okere District of the country.
It was aimed at supporting the vulnerable women and assuring them of the NGOS’s love and care.
The donated items included bags of rice, oil, boxes of mackerel, biscuits and some soft drinks.
Founder of AJ’s Help The Needy Project, Anita Opoku-Appiah said donating to vulnerable groups, especially widows had been her heart desire due to the stigmatisation and hardship such people face in some communities.
“Women go through a lot and the plight of poor widows is quite enormous. Some of them have challenges of taking good care of their children after their husbands die. This is heartbreaking and the reason we have taken it upon ourselves to support such persons occasionally,” she added.
She also urged the public to desist from taking widows through cruel widowhood rites, which are common in many rural areas.
Wrong accusations of widows, she said, should also not be encouraged.
The widows, receiving the items tanked the NGO for the generous act and hoped for more of such support as often as possible.
The main aim of the AJ’S Help The Needy Project is to make generous donations to the less privileged in the society especially, orphans and widows to help support them make ends meet.
BY RAISSA SAMBOU
News
Craze for x’mas shopping: Crowded markets, low patronage
Vendors of food and other wares associated with the Christmas celebration have expressed surprise at the low patronage despite the increased number of visitors to some of the major markets across the capital.
Four days to the celebration(Christmas), the markets are filled with various products ranging from food, clothing, livestock and many other stuff, but according to the vendors, patrons are doing more ‘window’ shopping.
The Spectator on visits to some of the markets in the capital, notably the Odawna, Makola, Accra Central Business District, New Town and others made similar observations as shoppers crowd them but did little in terms of purchases.
The paper also observed that majority of vendors, originally selling other wares have switched to product related to the festive season.
What it means is that there are a lot more clothes, food and vegetables, livestock and poultry, toys, firecrackers, drinks of different types and many others on display.
The markets have also stretched to the pedestrian pavement, leaving very narrow spaces for commuters to move about freely.
That, in addition to a few of the female vendors dressed in coloured attires to reflect the occasion, has heightened the euphoria, leaving the low sales as the only headache for the vendors.
Speaking with this paper, they sounded very optimistic, believing that sales would improve in the last few days to the yuletide.
According to them, there was the opportunity to sell beyond Christmas as the New Year celebration offers similar opportunity to trade the same wares.
They urged patrons to throng the markets to shop since prices were quite moderate and products affordable for all.
News
Retirement service for Elder John Ackom-Asante,3 others
Retired Deputy Editor of The Spectator, Elder John Ackom-Asante, was last Sunday honoured by the Church of Pentecost Windy Hills District in Kasoa in the Central Region, with a retirement thanksgiving service, after serving for 26 year as an Elder of the church.
He was honoured with a citation and certificate of service along with three other elders who served in the capacity for various years.
Elder Ackom-Asante was baptised at the Darkuman Central Assembly in 1979 and ordained as an Elder in 1997.
The citation read “Your selfless service, zeal, willingness to relate wholeheartedly and your desire to effect change has gone a long way to shape the lives of many people in the church and the nation over the 26 years of your dedication to the service of the Lord.”
Elder Ackom- Asante held many positions at the Darkuman Central Assembly, Obuasi in the Ashanti Region and Tema, serving in various capacities as youth and evangelism ministry leader and marriage counsellor.
He was the founding member of the Darkuman Christian Fellowship, a member of the Greater Accra Christian Fellowship; member of Bible Society of Ghana; founding member Obuasi Chapter Full Gospel Businessmen Fellowship International and founding member of New Times Corporation Christian Fellowship and Chaplain, Methodist University Tema Campus 2009- 2010.
As a professional journalist, Elder Ackom-Asante combined effectively and efficiently his duty as a member and elder of the church and the demands of his profession, with admiration from the church, kith and kin, till his retirement on December
From Alhaji Salifu Abdul-Rahaman, Kasoa
