Hot!
No shoes, uniforms for pupils in Natigu, Maana District
● Pupils walk bare footed to school
Photo: Geoffrey Buta
As children in the capital city, well dressed beautifully their well ironed uniforms and sandals join other countries to commemorate this year’s World Children’s Day hundreds of their counterparts who live over 600 kilometres away in the Natigu and Maana District Assemblies in the Karaga District of the Northern Region in tattered or no uniforms and bare-footed struggle to study the same syllabus which their counterparts in the cities study in a comfortable classroom.
A few of them were fortunate to wear uniforms and worn-out sandals as seen in the photograph but these were given to them through benevolence support.
Speaking to Mr. Haruna Sumaila, Headmaster of Natigu District Assembly Primary School said, wearing a uniform is a badge of pride which creates an identity for a school he and it is an important part of being a student.
He said, “uniforms give students a sense of belonging to a particular school and create an identity for the school in the community.”
“Though government try to ensure the realisation of quality education, there is still a lot of work to be done for equality and inclusion of quality of education for every child in the country,” he added.
If this done it will support this year’s world Children’s Day on the theme “ creating a safe and protective environment for children inclusion for every child.”
He further stated that, some of the children were ridiculed by their fellow pupils for not having “nice clothes or shoes”.
He said, lack of basic facilities for these children to access quality education are very poor and deplorable.
“Lack of school building, facilities, human resources to fill the minimum criteria of the school, long-distance between homes and school, lack of educational materials, library facilities and computer laboratory”, are some of the challenges of the children of many school going age face here in the rural communities”, he noted.
Mr. Sumaila narrated how classes from kindergarten to classes two, three, five and six are combined into one classroom due to lack of classroom spaces and inadequate teachers.
The only three classrooms and a teachers’ houses serving the over 100 children was constructed by the community.
Mr. Mosah Kuyo, the chief of Natigu pleaded with the government and organisations to come to the aid of the children to provide quality education for them to be responsible citizens in the future.
From Geoffrey Buta, Natigu
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
