News
Encourage young girls to develop interest in taking up leadership positions
Encouraging young girls to develop interest in taking up leadership positions through mentorship programmes is necessary to set them on the path of holding top positions in the future.
“Educating girls early enough on the relevance of aspiring for higher positions will make them ambitious and willing to take their academics seriously to achieve their dreams.”
Founder of the Leading Ladies Network (LLN), a women’s leadership development organisation, Madam Yawa Hansen-Quao made the assertion yesterday in Accra, during a girls mentorship programme held for pupils from selected schools within the Ga North Municipality.
The mentees were taken through topics including manners and courtesy, suicide prevention, entrepreneurship, voting and leadership in public, savings, investment and career choices.
According to her, girls from disadvantaged backgrounds especially, needed to be paid special attention and motivated enough, to enable them build confidence in themselves and have the belief that no matter their backgrounds, achieving success was possible.
Various researches, she said, had shown that the earlier young girls are exposed to leadership opportunities, the more likely it was for them to run public service positions when they come of age and the more likely it was for them to have the ambition to do extraordinary things.
“Mentorship guides girls to be on the right track, that is why we sometimes hold governance camps to select those interested in a career in public service, all in the quest to prepare them for what that looks like.”
“We take them on excursions to parliament as well, for them to understand the interactions between the legislature, executive and the judiciary, because we believe that will make them develop the interest in running for public offices one day,” she added.
Madam Hansen-Quao revealed that so far, her outfit had impacted more than 5,000 young girls from 32 different Junior High Schools (JHS) in the Ga North Municipality.
She hoped the number would increase to 10,000 by the end of the year.
The Girl Child Education Coordinator of the Ga North Municipality, Madam Christiana Ankrah on her part commended the LLN for their contribution towards promoting girl child education in the country, adding that the various mentorship programmes held within the municipality over the years by the LLN was yielding positive results.
Targeting young girls and coaching them to become successful and responsible adults, she said was a move in the right direction.
In furtherance, she advised the young girls to take their studies seriously and avoid indulging in acts that could mar their future.
A facilitator of the LLN, Mrs Ajoa Bright Tetteh urged the pupils to be entrepreneurially minded while chasing their dreams.
BY RAISSA SAMBOU
News
Judge cautions against multiple sale of lands
A circuit court judge has warned landowners against double sale of land or be ready to face punishment.
Mr Jephthah Appau, the Presiding Judge of the Kwadaso Circuit Court in the Kwadaso Municipality of the Ashanti Region, who gave the warning, said the act was not only worrisome to the buyers, but also created tension and confusion in the society and sometimes, negative impressions about traditional leaders.
Mr. Appau gave the warning when he sat as a relieving judge at the Abuakwa circuit court in the Atwima Nwabiagya South Municipality, during which Oheneyere Nana Ama Takyiwaa, a 51-year-old trader appeared before him on a case involving double sale of land.
He said he had already given the same warning in his court at Kwadaso and that persons charged before him in such cases should be denied bail and placed in lawful custody.
He noted that persons with close relations with traditional rulers sometimes took certain chieftaincy titles upon themselves and sell portions of land to two or more persons without the consent of the chiefs, go into hiding and leave the issues on the shoulders of the chiefs in the affected areas.
This, he said, created unnecessary public attacks and criticisms of traditional authorities and this must, therefore, be stopped.
Mr Appau pointed out that, once you sell a piece of land, it means you are no longer the owner, so selling it for the second time was an act of stealing.
He therefore called for public awareness on the warning and shared the information about the need to stop that act.
Oheneyere Nana Ama Takyiwaa, pleaded not guilty to the charge of conflicting grant of land to two persons and was granted GH₵3,000.00 bail, with two sureties to be justified.
She will reappear on May 2, 2025.
Police Chief Inspector Evans Ayimbisah explained to the court that Oheneyere Takyiwaa sold a piece of land to one Baafour Owusu Ansah for GH₵ 25,000.00 in 2010 and sold same to one Frank Agyei in 2019, at Adwafo near Abuakwa. —GNA
News
Barbarossa Woodwind Quintet entertains pupils of Ringway Estate Basic School
Pupils of the Ringway Estate Basic School, Osu, were on Thursday treated to some selected musical genres by the Barbarossa Woodwind Quintet, a United States Army Europe and Africa (USAREUR) Band with the aim of promoting cultural exchanges.
The live musical performance by the band was to also inspire the creativity of the students, enhance their appreciation to global cultures, and broaden their understanding of music as a universal language.
During the performance by the band through the use of musical instruments such as the flute, bassoon, and the French horn, some of the students displayed their dancing skills, receiving applause from their mates and officials from the United States Embassy in Ghana.
Also, each member of the band took turns to explain to the pupils the origins and meaning of the songs and the importance of the musical instruments they used for their musical performance.
Present at the musical performance were the headmistress and teachers of the school, the Municipal Director of Education of Korle-Klottey, Mr Phillip Aidoo, and other dignitaries.
Speaking to The Spectator in an interview, the leader of the band, Staff Sergeant Osvaldo Corea said the band took pleasure in sharing the universal language of music, especially to the young ones because music impacted positively in their education and their emotional well-being.
“The rest of the world owes a lot to the African continent with all the rhythms and different styles of music. When we came to Ghana, we had the opportunity to give a master class to the members of the national symphony orchestra and also share some musical experiences,” Staff Sgt. Corea pointed out.
He, also, advised individuals who had the passion for music not to give up on their dreams but remain consistent, persistent, and work hard to achieve those dreams.
Staff Sergeant Corea commended Ghanaians for the hospitality and welcoming nature, adding that such attitude had made their stay in the country a memorable one.
For her part, Cultural Affairs Attaché, US Embassy in Ghana, Laneice Brooker explained that the musical performance formed part of the band’s cultural exchange programmes on the sideline of the Africa Land Forces Summit being hosted in Ghana.
Mr Aidoo said the musical performance by the band was instrumental in strengthening the bilateral relationship between Ghana and the US and therefore thanked the US Embassy for its decision to bring the band to the country.
By Benjamin Arcton-Tettey
