News
“Free Range” at Avatime SHS … students lack toilets
Students of the Avatime Senior High School (AVASEC) at Vane in the Ho West District of the Volta Region are said to be defecating indiscriminately in the open with impunity, not only on campus but also in the neighbourhoods due to lack of adequate and decent toilets .
This became the subject matter for discussion at the last quarterly meeting of the Congress of Ho West Paramount Chiefs and Queens at Dzolo-Kpuita during the yuletide.
Osie Adza Tekpor VII, President of the congress who touched on the issue, revealed that some of the students dug shallow holes in the open and defecated in them while others did it in polythene bags.
As a result, the campus and the surroundings of the town are strewn with excrement with the accompanying stench, and health risks making life unbearable in the town, which is the traditional capital of the Avatime Traditional Area.
Osie Adza Tekpor said the sordid and soaring trend was not only disgraceful but also an affront to the status of the second cycle institution.
Worse still, he said, the state of affairs coincided with ongoing efforts by the Avatime traditional authorities to woo foreign and local investors to the area to revive potato, apple and grape cultivation, and also perk up the tourism industry at Avatime.
“The nasty scenes and the surroundings filled with repugnant odour would turn away the investors,” the Osie bemoaned.
Meanwhile, Onetsitsie Osei Yawa VIII, Paramount Queen of Avatime sought to know how students of a second cycle institution could be so morally depraved that they threw polythene bags with excrement even into church premises.
“This is horrifying, indeed,” she grieved.
The congress called on the assembly to rise up and address the problem by providing toilets in the school this month, before all the students returned to campus.
Responding, the District Chief Executive (DCE), Mr Ernest Victor Apau gave the assurance that, the problem would be tackled as a matter of priority, not only at AVASEC but also at other senior high schools in the district.
He said that, a water closet project at Kpedze Senior High School was nearing completion.
From Alberto Mario Noretti, Dzolo-Kpuita
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
