Hot!
No mental health facility in the Upper West Region
● Mr Illyasu Baba
Absence of mental health facility in the Upper West Region has been identified as one of the major challenges preventing persons with mental health conditions from accessing treatment in the region.
Mental health patients are said to be loitering the streets of major towns in the region after they have been sent away from home for causing one ruckus or the other as a result of not getting the needed care and attention and no alternative places to reside.
This was made known by a Mental Health Advocate and Worker, Mr Illyasu Baba Yussif at Wa in an interview with The Spectator newspaper on the state of mental health in the region.
Mr Illyasu is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of the Bahass Foundation, a non-governmental organisation dedicated to the needs of mental health persons in the Upper West.
His foundation mobilises persons with mental health issues on the streets, give them warm bath, clean shave, after which they are offered new clothes every month to wear.
He lamented that due to absence of a permanent mental health hospital, families of persons with the condition were torn between keeping them at home to create problems or sending them onto the streets.
“If there is a dedicated facility in the region which admits the patients and get them treated, I think some of them would have got better because sometimes it is just about having access to regular medication but this opportunity is absent in the region”, he said.
He stated that due to poverty, some people could not afford to take their relations with mental health conditions to other parts of the country where facilities were available to get catered for.
He was hoping to put up a permanent home for mental health patients but said he would need support from benevolent bodies to do so in order to be able to accommodate the patients and feed them constantly.
“Some people are left to roam the streets because they eventually become nuisance at home and to others, especially in instances where the family resides in rented apartments so they are forced to put them out on the street for the peace of everyone else”, Mr Yussif said.
He said the streets presented harsh conditions to these patients leading to deterioration of their health.
“But they know what I do and they are mostly around my office for food and other assistance, I think most of them have mild cases and would get better with just a little bit of care”, he said.
He used the opportunity to ask for support from benvolent individuals and organisations for his intended purpose and advised the youth to stay away from illicit drugs which could lead to mental problems.
When contacted, the Regional Mental Health Coordinator, Mr Sylvester Basagnia confirmed that the region did not have a mental health hospital but had a unit that was in charge of mental health and epileptic cases at the Municipal Hospital.
He said they could only detain the patients but not admit them for long so acquiring a permanent facility for such persons would be an added advantage for persons with mental health conditions and their families.
From Lydia Darlington Fordjour, Wa
Hot!
GEXIM deepens relations with US EXIM Bank
A management team of the Ghana Export – Import Bank (GEXIM) led by the Acting Chief Executive, Sylvester Mensah met with the leadership of the Export–Import Bank of the United States (US EXIM) on Wednesday April 23, 2025 in Washington DC, United States of America.
The Acting President and Chairman of US EXIM, Mr. James C. Cruse and Vice President, International Relations, Ms. Isabel Galdiz received the GEXIM delegation, which included Deputy CEO for Banking, Mr. Moses Klu Mensah and Head of International Cooperation, Mr. Jonathan Christopher Koney at the headquarters of US EXIM.
The meeting offered the GEXIM team the opportunity to share the strategic direction of the Bank in line with the resetting agenda of the President of the Republic, His Excellency John Dramani Mahama for the repositioning of the Ghanaian economy into an export-led one by providing the requisite investment to Ghanaian businesses.
Mr. James C. Cruse expressed US EXIM’s eagerness to deepen its existing relations with GEXIM and proposed the signing of a new Cooperative Framework Agreement following the expiration of a Memorandum of Understanding signed in 2019 to utilize US EXIM’s medium term loan guarantees to procure machinery by GEXIM for qualified Ghanaian Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs).
Mr.Sylvester Mensah thanked the Acting President and Chairman of US EXIM for hosting the GEXIM delegation and reaffirmed the Ghanaian government’s commitment to strengthening trade and investment between Ghana and its global partners for economic transformation of Ghana with GEXIM playing a pivotal role.
The two teams will be meeting on the sidelines of the 2025 US EXIM Annual Conference on 29th and April 30, 2025 to explore possible areas of collaboration and matching Ghanaian businesses to American companies. The meeting ended with an exchange of gifts.
Hot!
Many SOEs have been used as mere instruments for personal wealth accumulation –Pres.Mahama
President John Dramani Mahama has expressed concern over the misuse of State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) for personal financial gain by individuals in leadership positions.
Speaking during a meeting with Chief Executives of specified entities under the State Interest and Governance Authority (SIGA) on Thursday, March 13, the President directly attributed the dire state of SOEs to their leadership, accusing chief executives, management teams, and governing boards of prioritising personal enrichment over organisational efficiency.
He pointed to bloated budgets, unjustified allowances, and unnecessary expenditures as factors draining public funds while SOEs continue to rely on government bailouts.
“Many SOEs have been used as mere instruments for personal wealth accumulation by appointees. The chief executives, management, and boards of these enterprises are responsible for this situation. Some SOEs have become perennial loss-makers, draining public funds with bloated budgets, unjustified allowances, and unnecessary expenditures while relying on government bailouts as if entitled to them. Many of these entities are at their lowest point in the entire history of the Fourth Republic,” he said.
President Mahama further noted that many SOEs have been plagued by inefficiencies, corruption, and mismanagement, leading to consistent financial losses. He cited the 2023 State Ownership Report by the State Interests and Governance Authority (SIGA), which highlighted systemic inefficiencies and wasteful expenditures within these entities.
He therefore reaffirmed his commitment to reforming under-performing SOEs and ensuring they serve national interests.
He warned that loss-making SOEs will no longer be tolerated and will either be merged, privatised, or closed.
“I will assess you based on your performance. If you do not align with the pace of the reset agenda, you may be asked to step aside. If that adds to the horror movie, so be it,” he added.
Source: Myjoyonline.com
