BRAVO, POLICE ADMINISTRAATION (JULY 30, 2010)

THE directive by the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Mr Paul Tawiah Quaye, to the Police Hospital to extend healthcare services to suspects in police cells across the country is welcome news for which we say, ‘Bravo!’.
According to our front page story yesterday, a medical team from the Public Health Department, led by Dr Iddi Musah, had been formed to immediately offer services to inmates in police cells in the Greater Accra Region.
In an interview with the Daily Graphic in Accra, the Director of Police Public Affairs, Superintendent of Police, Mr Kwesi Ofori, said the police clinics in the regions and districts would also follow suit in their respective locations, adding that where the conditions of suspects were critical, they would be immediately referred to specialists.
This novel initiative of the Police Administration is very commendable and has been necessitated by the poor healthcare conditions in police cells, which are the first port of call for suspects, as well as some remand prisoners.
It is a fact that there are serious sanitation problems in our prisons, not to mention police cells where inmates are made to sleep under inhuman conditions.
Such deplorable conditions where visitors are greeted with obnoxious stench are debasing and go against the fundamental human rights of the inmates. Even persons who have been convicted and sentenced need not be treated this way because they have a right to healthy living.
We should be mindful of the fact that inmates of police cells are mere suspects until they have been tried, convicted and sentenced by a court of competent jurisdiction. Under no circumstance, therefore, must inmates be treated shabbily.
It is our hope that this novelty will be sustained to assist in speedy and efficient justice delivery in this country because reports of suspects being unable to attend court because of sickness is replete in our courts.
There have been reports of situations where sick suspects and, for that matter, inmates have been left to their fate because of the lack of medical facilities. In some instances, relatives of such persons are asked to see to the proper treatment of the inmates just because they seem to have been neglected because the police do not have the resources.
The DAILY GRAPHIC commends this initiative and appeals that it be implemented to the letter so that it does not become a mere public relations gimmick.
Prison and police cell inmates suffer all kinds of ailments and infectious skin disorders partly because of the unhygienic conditions in which they stay and it is sheer providence that there has not been any major outbreak of diseases.
All well-meaning Ghanaians and institutions must embrace this initiative to make it a reality to save lives and create a positive image for our justice delivery system.
Another problem that hinders the system is the lack of vehicles to convey inmates from the prisons and police cells to the courts, a situation which poses serious danger to security personnel and inmates alike.
It is a common to see inmates or suspects being paraded through crowded streets in handcuffs because of the lack of vehicles to convey such persons to court. In other cases, some of them are left to languish in custody for long periods, their cases virtually forgotten.
These are critical issues that must be tackled with urgency and the police need support in order to execute their duties because they are handicapped by the lack of resources.
For now, we say bravo to the Police Administration for coming up with this laudable initiative on the provision of health care.

LET THE CRUSADE CONTINUE (JULY 29, 2010)

PUBLIC outcry against the H1N1 vaccine appears to be mounting, even as the health authorities try to allay the fears of the public.
The Minister of Health, Dr Benjamin Kunbuor, has personally taken up the crusade to convince the public not to entertain any fear about the safety of the vaccine.
The campaign has taken him to the floor of Parliament and other platforms to drum home support for the efforts of health officials to vaccinate people against the H1N1 influenza.
Media reports indicate a certain level of apprehension for the vaccine following some complications attributed to the vaccination.
There was some panic among the population when the H1N1 influenza was reported to have infected some people, including schoolchildren, leading to the closure of certain schools throughout the country.
In the circumstances, the option available to health authorities was to appeal to the World Health Organisation (WHO) for the vaccines, called Pandemrix.
When the vaccines were made available to the health institutions, many people rushed to those facilities for the vaccines to protect themselves against the disease.
It appears that the health professionals were unable to educate the people who trooped to the hospitals on the influenza which was causing illnesses in people.
Furthermore, public education on the influenza and preventive and corrective steps that must be taken have been limited, leaving those in need of help to rely on hearsay.
We think all hope is not lost yet, as media and public concerns have forced the health authorities to step up their actions to obtain the co-operation of the public.
The DAILY GRAPHIC is happy that the Ministry of Health has instructed all health staff involved in the vaccination to follow strictly the inclusion and exclusion criteria and procedures before and after the vaccination.
We call on the health authorities to step up public education on the flu so that the people can take precautionary measures to prevent infection and assure them that even if they are infected, they can act fast to avoid any danger.
Presently, we even wonder if majority of our people know that the symptoms of the flu virus include fever, cough, sore throat, runny nose, body ache, headache, chills and fatigue. It is even said that some people may vomit and have diarrhoea.
The flu can also be spread from person to person through coughing, sneezing or talking to people with the influenza. Sometimes people may become infected by touching something such as a surface or an object with flu viruses on it and then touching their mouths or noses.
The health professionals should advise those who are not eligible for the vaccination not to go for it, while the adverse effects of the vaccination should be made known to those who are vaccinated.
It is also important for health professionals to educate the people on the services they offer. For instance, it is necessary to tell the people to cover their noses and mouths with tissues when they cough or sneeze.
During this period of the flu, it is advisable for people to often wash their hands with soap and water. Indeed, often washing one’s hands will help prevent any infection.
The DAILY GRAPHIC reiterates its call on health professionals to work extra hard in order to gain public acceptance of the vaccines.
The H1N1 will not go away if the people refuse to take the vaccination for fear of its adverse effects.
We need to allay the fears of the people and encourage them to take advantage of the exercise to keep society hale and hearty.
The DAILY GRAPHIC also appeals to the public to co-operate with health officials to ensure the success of the vaccination exercise.

GET THEM ADMITTED BY ALL MEANS (JULY 28, 2010)

The Ministry of Education yesterday reassured parents of candidates who wrote this year’s Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) that preparations for the admission of first-year senior high school (SHS) students in September this year were on course.
Consequently, there should be no panic or fear, as there would be admissions in September this year for the 2010-2011 academic year.
Ordinarily, this assurance should have put matters to rest and assuage the fears of not only parents and their children but also all Ghanaians concerning the rumours making the rounds that there will be no admissions to SHS next academic year.
But we are worried, and for genuine reasons too. First, we know that September is barely a month away and we fear that the government may not be able to provide the needed infrastructure to cater for the SHS One students who will enter our SHSs this September
At best, some of the new classroom blocks and dormitories have just been started and the likelihood is there that they will not be ready by September when SHSs will reopen for the new academic year.
Second, it is obvious that every school, not some selected schools, needs those facilities to cater for the fresh students. Therefore, if the government has begun construction works in schools that are in high demand, then what will be the fate of those schools which are not in high demand but which must still admit their quota of fresh students in September?
That education is the means to develop the human resource of our country has never been in doubt. That is why the Daily Graphic strongly believes that at this critical period in our history the government must dig deep into its coffers to find the wherewithal to provide the classrooms to cater for the fresh students.
It may have to do this by cutting expenditure to other sectors of the economy or even over-borrowing. Whatever it takes to do this, it will be money well spent on a good project.
However, if we fail to do this and rather end up either suspending SHS One admissions for one year or carrying out partial admissions to some selected schools, the ramification will be with us for a long time to come.
We must also consider the trauma we are likely to put our BECE candidates to and the impact it will have on them and their parents.
The DAILY GRAPHIC would want to seize this opportunity to call for the depolitisation of our educational sector, so that we can have one continuous educational policy, no matter the party in power.
That way, we can, as a country, work with an educational policy for a long time, without having to truncate it when there is a change in government.
We pray that when the bill to restore SHS education to three years is passed, it will stay like that for as long as possible for the country to work with it.
Any moment from now, the results of this year’s BECE will be released and the least we can do to the thousands of would-be SHS One students is give them hope that their toils in JHS will not be in vain.
Let us will ourselves to provide the facilities in ALL SHSs in the country, after which we can pat ourselves on the back for a good work done.

STOP THESE ILLEGAL MINERS (JULY 27, 2010)

THE contribution of mining to our national development efforts is quite phenomenal, as it rakes in a substantial portion of the country's budget.
In spite of the environmental challenges confronting the country, mining continues to offer employment and jobs to a large segment of society at both the formal and informal levels.
It is, however, worrying that despite the potential of this sector to leap-frog our economy (if proper steps are taken to mainstream the industry into our economic agenda), the activities of illegal miners have rather cast a dark shadow on this sector.
The report of illegal mining activities that are endangering the River Ankobra and other water bodies, as reported in the Monday, July 26, 2010 issue of the DAILY GRAPHIC, is disturbing and very irritating, to say the least.
The report that foreigners are at the forefront of this attempt to destroy some of our important water bodies exposes the weakness in our state institutions tasked with the responsibility to regulate the mining sector.
As disturbing as this issue is, and especially coming immediately after media reports about hundreds of illegal miners trapped to death in recent galamsey activities in the Central and Ashanti regions some few weeks ago, one would expect that state institutions would wake up from their deep slumber to start cracking the whip.
The DAILY GRAPHIC would like to ask: How many more of our people should have to die from these illegal activities before the appropriate agencies begin to act?
Throughout the country, the activities of illegal miners can be seen. All our policy makers have done is pay lip service to issues concerning illegal miners.
From the Western, through the Central, Ashanti and Brong Ahafo regions and even the northern part of Ghana, the activities of these illegal miners have polluted water bodies and threatened the livelihood of residents of these localities.
The law on mining is very clear — that individuals and groups can obtain licences and undertake the business of small-scale mining subject to the rules of the game.
However, the inertia shown by the regulators to apply the laws has given these illegal miners a strong conviction to pursue their agenda and damn the consequences. It is no wonder, therefore, that even foreigners have noticed that this is a country where the law remains only in the books.
The DAILY GRAPHIC has, time without number, exposed the harmful activities of illegal miners on the environment. The only response has not gone beyond rhetoric.
It behoves our political leaders to de-politicise the issue of galamsey or illegal mining. The issue has more implications and deals with the livelihood and the very existence of every Ghanaian.
Action, rather than words, is what is needed. The DAILY GRAPHIC is watching with keen interest how the authorities are going to react to this situation.
If we are going to tackle serious national issues with the same lackadaisical attitude, the DAILY GRAPHIC will not hesitate to state that our rich resources will not stimulate growth.

ACTION, NOT WORDS (JULY 26, 2010)

THE sensitive issue of extra classes for pupils and students has come up again. A Deputy Minister of Education, Mrs Elizabeth Amoah-Tetteh, revisited the issue yesterday when she warned teachers to stop organising what she described as “compulsory extra classes” for pupils and students.
Her reasons were two-fold: One, that the exercise brought untold financial burden on parents and unbearable pressure and stress on the children and, two, that for a number of teachers it was an easy way of making extra money when they could deliver whatever they had to teach within the normal time allotted for the subject.
As far as the records go, this is not the first time (and it may not even be the last) that this matter has engaged public attention. The DAILY GRAPHIC recalls that in April 2009, the Minister of Education, Mr Alex Tettey-Enyo, announced that his ministry would begin issuing circulars that would make it illegal for both public and private schools to organise extra classes. The new directive, he said, would also prescribe punitive measures for teachers who refused to comply.
A year on, however, little or nothing seems to have been done by way of the minister’s directive. Rather, some teachers, as well as students, in the Accra metropolis kicked against the government’s decision to ban extra classes because the ban was not in the best interest of students.
Indeed, the teachers argued that extra classes had become a necessary evil because classes were congested as a result of the lack of structures, thereby seriously compromising the teaching and learning process. What made matters worse, they said, was the syllabus to be covered within the relatively short period.
In fact, the holding of extra classes can be traced back to the period before the introduction of the 1987 educational reforms that brought in the Junior Secondary School (JSS) concept.
Long before that time, students were attending vacation classes, remedial classes and other classes. Today, whether it was a felt need or a created one, the holding of extra classes, vacation classes, remedial classes, pre-senior high school classes, etc has become part and parcel of our educational system.
The Conference of Heads of Assisted Secondary Schools (CHASS), on the other hand, has been of the view that extra classes for students could be very exploitative, as teachers often charge very high fees, and suggested that the issue should be subjected to a national consultative discussion.
Sadly, the matter has since been left on the drawing board, while our officials continue to bemoan the practice at the least opportunity. To say the least, that is not good enough. Nothing will be resolved by the rhetoric.
The DAILY GRAPHIC thinks the way forward is to seize the bull by the horns and streamline the practice. Ultimately, what we must do is take a radical look at the whole educational enterprise.
We need to have the necessary learning and teaching equipment and materials. Buildings alone may not make a school.
We need teachers who are academically good, professionally competent and have the right kind of attitude towards their work. We also need to motivate them. Until we reach that desired goal or get closer to it, extra classes will be with us for some time.
The DAILY GRAPHIC acknowledges that education holds the key to accelerated and sustainable development. Although the ends are competing for scarce national resources, it behoves the authorities to find more innovative ways of mobilising resources to invest in the people.

SANITATION COURTS WELCOME (JULY 24, 2010)

THE time-tested saying that cleanliness is next to Godliness underlines the fact that one can only be holy and Godly by being clean at all times.
The essence of this saying was not lost on policy makers during the pre-independence and the immediate post-independence eras when town council officers or sanitation officers were visible in all corners of the country to enforce sanitation bye-laws.
Their presence alone was enough to deter anybody from flouting the law on sanitation by ensuring that waste materials were disposed of in good time. Also, the enforcement of the regulations spurred people on to clear the weeds around their surroundings or prevent their domestic animals from straying into town or city centres.
The activities of these public officials were so visible that the maintenance of clean surroundings became part of our socio-cultural way of life and at any given time residents could “saman” (report) their unsanitary neighbours to the elders of the villages for the appropriate sanctions to be applied.
Sadly, as we expand the country's economic frontiers, we grossly overlook the important role sanitation officers play in the daily lives of Ghanaians. The result of that lapse is a country whose cities remain largely unplanned and filthy.
The Daily Graphic, therefore, welcomes the decision by the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) to reintroduce the concept of sanitation courts in the metropolis. Indeed, this is refreshing and we commend the authority for returning to our roots in its efforts to keep the city clean.
Accra, and for that matter the major cities in the country, is engulfed with filth and the situation has overwhelmed the authorities tasked with the responsibility to keep the environment wholesome.
The blame cannot be placed solely at the doorstep of the local authorities because the citizens who dump refuse indiscriminately must be made to answer for their waywardness. The careless abandon with which some residents of the city dump waste indiscriminately cannot be tolerated any longer.
The Daily Graphic is of the view that all resources must be marshalled to help the sanitation courts to take off devoid of the usual bureaucratic tendencies.
This is one project which, if implemented with the zeal with which sanitation issues were pursued in the past, can help transform Accra into a Millennium City. It will also curb the high incidence of dangerous diseases.
We are aware of the efforts being made by Zoomlion to keep our surroundings clean but we also know that very little can be achieved if the people do not change their attitude. These actions will yield the desired results only if the indiscriminate disposal of waste is made a risky business by naming and shaming residents who do that.
An important element to consider is public education which, to a large extent, will help change the attitude and habits of most citizens who have deviated from societal values to engage in counter-productive activities.
The Daily Graphic pledges its support for this programme, as well as any other programme or policy that will make our cities clean.
We only hope this decision does not become one of the many failed projects because of the lack of political will to apply the rules.
The Daily Graphic has confidence in the Chief Executive of the AMA, Mr Alfred Vanderpuije, who, by his actions so far, has demonstrated that the AMA will not compromise on its statutory functions, not even for political advantage.

THIS ROW MUST END (JULY 23, 2010)

THE row between journalists and the security agencies, especially the police, over the invitation extended to two journalists concerning their reportage must have sent shivers down the spine of lovers of press freedom and democracy.
Mr Ato Kwamena Dadzie, the acting News Editor of Joy FM, and Mr Enimil Ashon, Editor of the Ghanaian Times, have been at the centre of this saga; a caution statement has been taken from the former in contravention of the law while the latter had been invited because of a publication in last Wednesday’s issue of the paper.
Chapter 12 of the 1992 Constitution guarantees freedom of expression but that freedom is not absolute as Article 164 places a limitation in the interest of national security, public order and public morality and for the purpose of protecting the reputations, rights and freedoms of others.
However, any move to criminalise free speech reduces the capacity of the press to play its role as a watchdog of society without let or hindrance.
Perhaps, our Constitution recognises this danger and created the National Media Commission (NMC) to adjudicate in such circumstances. Before the repeal of the criminal libel law, some journalists had gone to jail for expressing their opinion on certain national issues.
But even today, there are still some legislations on our statutes that criminalise free speech like the one being evoked by the police in the case of the two journalists.
The DAILY GRAPHIC will not condone irresponsibility on the part of the media in any form but we plead with the authorities to avoid actions that tend to criminalise free speech.
Indeed, some of the issues being complained about by the police are not protected under Chapter 12 of our Constitution and, therefore, we appeal to journalists to exercise circumspection in their reportage.
But again, if we all recognise the crucial role of the media in national development, we may decide to resort to the NMC to seek redress for any irresponsibility on the part of journalists or go to court in a civil action.
The DAILY GRAPHIC acknowledges the crucial role of the media in national development, but we must stress that journalists are also obliged to exercise the freedom guaranteed them by the Constitution with responsibility.
Our Constitution frowns on censorship but journalists can help build a better society if they choose the path of self-regulation in all that they do to avoid hate language and insults that a section of the media have become notorious for in recent times.
Basic journalism lessons admonish journalists to make sure they check and cross-check their sources before going to press, and anytime they are in doubt they should spike their stories rather than publish and be damned.
A journalist who chooses the path of publishing and being damned can be an instant hero depending on the political divide they belong in our politically-charged environment. But in doing so, we must remember that the “crown of martyrdom is not easy to wear”.
We have made tremendous progress in promoting media freedom in the country, and as such journalists and society at large must do everything to protect media freedom to ensure good governance, accountability and transparency.
The irresponsibility by a section of the media has also necessitated the call by some people in society that the NMC be clothed with more powers to deal with errant journalists.
The NMC was not established to clamp down on the media but it has been empowered with enough jurisdiction to protect and promote high journalistic standards and professionalism.
Finally, the DAILY GRAPHIC appeals to the government, security agencies and the society at large to exercise restraint when dealing with media infractions so that in our attempt “to teach” the media a lesson, we do not throw away the baby with the bath water.