Kadjebi (O/R), Dec 20, GNA-The Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection and Partners have adjudged Ms Agnes Afua Obour as the 2022 Best Personality and NGO in the Oti region.
Ms Obour, the Coordinator, Network of Communities in Development (NOCID), a Kadjebi-based Women, Girls’ and Child focused Non-Governmental Organisation received the recognition, first of a kind by the Ministry as part of its 16 Days of Activism.
The Award read inter alia “This is presented to Ms. Agnes Afua Obour, Co-Ordinator, Network of Communities in Development as the Best Personality & NGO in the fight Against Domestic Violence in the Oti Region.”
Ms Obour, presenting the award to Mr. Wilson Kwami Agbanyo, Kadjebi District Chief Executive (DCE) in a short ceremony, urged victims of violence cases to gather courage to report such crimes against them to the Police without any negotiations for redress.
She said the NGO which was formed in 2007 to champion for the rights of women and girls had formed Girls’ Clubs in all the Junior High Schools (JHSs) in the Kadjebi District to help them know their rights and educate their peers accordingly.
Ms Obour said they also helped 50 teen mothers to enroll back to school after being pregnant and delivered and that 21 Female Extension Volunteers were also trained in agriculture for them to train other women on good agricultural practices.
Mr Agbanyo, in receiving the award, congratulated her for the recognition, projecting the district and showcasing it to the whole world.
He said the Assembly members and Chiefs of the District would be informed of her success story.
Mr Alhassan Sulemana, the District Co-ordinating Director, said the award was worth more than millions of Cedis and that it should serve as motivation to do more.
He said such gender mainstreaming was important in the district and needed to be encouraged. Azuma Resources consolidates ties with host communities through cycling
By Philip Tengzu, GNA
Nadowli, (UW/R), Dec. 20, GNA – The Azumah Resources Ghana Limited, a gold mining company in the Upper West Region, is consolidating its existing cordial relationship with its host communities with the introduction of a cycling event for the communities.
The community cycling event was aimed not only to foster unity among the communities and the mining company but to also improve healthy living among young people through sports.
“You know without having a healthy relationship (with the communities) we will not be able to work as a company, so we see that as an opportunity to be able to have cordial relations with our communities and other stakeholders”, Mr Solomon Dery, the Community Relations Officer (CRO) of Azumah Resources Ghana Limited, said.
He was addressing participants of the cycling event and some Heads of Departments in Nadowli in the Nadowli-Kaleo District, after the event, dubbed: “Tour de Charikpong.”
He noted that many people who used bicycles daily did not even know the health benefits of it.
The CRO, therefore, said the mining company had taken it upon itself to promote cycling among the people through the annual cycling event.
“We thought that it is important we whip up that enthusiasm, let people understand that cycling has a lot of benefits.
If you go to other places people leave their vehicles and motorbikes and cycle to their workplaces and cycle back,” he explained.
Mr Dery indicated that the company had secured the necessary documents to commence commercial mining at Kuuchebeboo, a community near Cherikpong in the Nadowli-Kaleo District, and that: “What is outstanding is the funding.”
He added that the company was still prospecting in other parts of the region and expressed hope that, “If we get a similar project like Kuuchebeboo, Azumah Resources can stay here for long and contribute to the economic development in the district and the region at large.”
Mr Dery said that would also lead to the creation of more jobs and business opportunities for the people in the region.
Mr Mumuni Rashid, an Assistant Director at the Nadowli-Kaleo District Assembly, urged the chiefs and people of the Azumah Resources host communities to cooperate with the company to enable it to operate to support the development of the district.
He said: “We cannot continue to fight cooperating organisations in the district. Azumah Resources is supporting the District Assembly a lot and we need to also support them.”
The 8th edition of the cycling event in the Nadowli-Kaleo District saw 169 cyclists, including 43 females from 16 communities in the Nadowli-Kaleo District and Jirapa Municipality participating.
Mr Joseph Dakyea from Dambal and Miss Deborah Dery from Yagah emerged winners of the 20km cycling race, which commenced from Yagah in the Jirapa Municipality and ended at the Nadowli-Kaleo District Assembly and received a 43-inch LED television set each.
The first and second runner-ups of the men and women categories also received 32-inch LED television and mountain bikes each, respectively. Other prizes were Chines bicycles, knapsack sprayers, and mobile phones.
The Nadowli East community also emerged as the overall winner among the communities and was given a cash prize of GH¢2,000.00.
The first runner-up was the Kpazie-Bano community, which also took home Gh¢1,500.00 while the Yagah community came third and also received Gh¢1000.00.
Daniel Agbesi Latsu
