The President’s nominee, Archibald Cobbina, has been officially confirmed as the Municipal Chief Executive (MCE) of the Ayawaso Central Municipal Assembly.
In an election held on July 13, Mr. Cobbina received overwhelming support from the assembly members, with all 16 members present voting in favor of his appointment.
The municipal assembly consists of 17 members, with one member absent during the election.
Supervised by George Kwame Amoah, the Greater Accra Regional Director of the Electoral Commission, the election results were confirmed and Mr. Cobbina was declared as the new MCE.
He succeeds Alhaji Mohammed Ababio Quaye, who resigned due to health reasons. Mr. Cobbina, formerly the Greater Accra Regional Director of the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO), now assumes his new role.
During a ceremony to officially welcome Mr. Cobbina to office, the Greater Accra Regional Minister, Henry Quartey, led him in taking the oath of allegiance, office, and secrecy.
Minister Quartey urged the new MCE to uphold respect for opinion leaders, faith-based groups, formal sectors, and all stakeholders in the performance of his duties, emphasizing the sensitivity of the constituency.
He expressed his confidence in Mr. Cobbina’s abilities and pledged to work closely with him to elevate the municipal assembly to greater heights.
In his acceptance speech, Mr. Cobbina expressed gratitude for his confirmation, considering it a testament to the belief that the chiefs and people of the municipality have in his capabilities.
Wednesday’s heavy rainfall has resulted in significant devastation in parts of Ngleshie Amanfro, located in the Ga South Municipality of the Greater Accra Region.
Among the affected areas, Peace Town, a suburb, has been completely cut off due to the relentless downpour.
This morning, Joy News reports that residents, including junior high students currently writing their examinations, are dangerously attempting to cross the flooded areas.
In order to sustain their livelihoods, some individuals commuting to work have been compelled to transport other vulnerable residents across the affected areas.
In some instances, women and children are forced to hold hands to prevent drowning while making this perilous commute.
They have called on the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO) to assist them with a boat and other relief items to aid their survival, as more rains have been forecasted to come.
A three-story building that collapsed inNanakrom in the Adentan Municipality of Accra, on Thursday, May 4, has claimed the life of an individual.
Speaking to the media, the Municipal Chief Executive for the area, Alexander Nii Noi Adumuah said that personnel of theNational Disaster Management Organisation(NADMO) managed to pull out the deceased Friday morning after hours of tracking the victim.
However, one person with injuries and has since been sent to the hospital.
Mr Noi Adumah added that the Police have commenced investigations into the incident.
The latest building collapse comes days after the Supervisor of another three-storey building which collapsed at Adentan in Accra on Monday was arrested by the Police.
The structure, which was under construction, led to the death of one person and also left three other persons with injuries.
The Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia has that reports from the the Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS) indicates that the Kejetia market fire incident was as a result of flames from a trader cooking at the premises.
According to him, while the store owner was cooking, the gas cylinder she was using caught fire and spread to a nearby chemical shop, resulting in the destruction of 33 of the market’s 8,000 stores.
He added that the chemical shop owner amongst others sells combustibles such as carbide, turpentine and gunpowder which exploded.
The Vice President indicated that this was uncovered after a preliminary investigation by the GNFS in collaboration with the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO).
Addressing the traders after inspecting the part ravaged by the fire on March 20, the Vice President expressed his empathy to the affected traders assuring them of government’s support.
“We are here to empathise with you following the fire that gutted the market. We are equally affected by the sad situation, that’s why I’m here today to show my concerns. I was taken around the market by the GNFS, NADMO officials, and they told me that through their investigations, the market caught fire as a result of cooking by one of the traders whose shop was close to a nearby chemical shop, where they sell gunpowder, carbide, turpentine that resulted in the explosion,” the Vice President narrated.
Dr. Bawumia said, “The fire officers told me that the fire was not caused by an electrical fault but the cooking of food by the shop owner inside her shop, that’s where the fire started”.
The board of the new Kejetia Market also known as the Kumasi City Markets Limited on March 19, directed that the facility should be closed for one more week starting Monday, March 20 to allow GNFS to conduct further investigations.
The traders on the other hand have argued that such a move will negatively affect their businesses and have thus vowed to defy the directive.
But the Vice President during his visit said the traders whose shops were not affected could return to the market tomorrow March 21, 2023.
Climate change is playing a major role in stifling development in the north, and it is for this reason that ActionAid Ghana is recommending the Northern Development Authority (NDA) promote agro-ecology and food sovereignty in northern parts of the country, in order to mitigate the ever-growing threat of agriculture under-productivity and food insecurity.“The vulnerability in the North includes the threat of floods, prolonged droughts, rising temperatures, unreliable rainfall, severe windstorms, and other climate-related emergencies which are already negatively impacting agriculture and threatening productivity and food security,” Justin Bayor of ActionAid said during a presentation at the University for Development Studies’ Harmattan School, on the theme ‘Bridging the Gap between North and South’.
Fatalities due to floods in northern Ghana are reported to be alarmingly high and burdensome and are usually occasioned by spillages from the Bagre Dam in Burkina Faso.
Between 2018 and 2020, 78 people were killed by floods; 23,371 houses collapsed by floods, rendering 100,000 people homeless; and 94,379 acres of farmland were destroyed resulting in food insecurity in northern Ghana, data from the National Disaster Management Organisation indicate.
Equally, the World Food Programme has indicated that at least three out of every 100 households in the north is either severely or moderately food insecure, and the poor nutritional status of children in the North is about double the national average.
More than 70 percent of the northern Ghana population depends on unimodal rain-fed agriculture for their food, income, and livelihoods. The over-dependence on rainfall, declining soil fertility, etc. – coupled with limited access to inputs, has resulted in low agricultural productivity and incomes.
It is estimated that for a period of 7-8 months in the year, most of the North’s agricultural population have no alternative or complementary means of securing their livelihoods – as infrastructure to support off-season agricultural activities is underdeveloped or non-existent.
ActionAid also recommended that government should work swiftly to ensure women’s enhanced and secured access to and control of land and other productive resources, by lobbying and engaging landowners on the economic value it brings to women and their families.
Climate change has become a developmental issue across the world. Government and its development partners need to adopt a holistic approach to mitigate the negative impacts of climate change in northern Ghana.
The Minister of Interior Ambrose Dery has visited the scene of the fire outbreak at Kantamanto in Accra to commiserate with affected traders on behalf of the President.
The Minister toured the scene with the Inspector General of Police and other senior officers of the Ghana Police Service to assess the extent of damage and also interact with the traders.
Meanwhile, Police Officers have been deployed to the scene to prevent possible looting and also direct the movement of persons and vehicles away from the incident scene.
Officials from the National Disaster Management Organisation are also supporting the exercise.
The fire service under the leadership of the chief fire officer is also on the grounds helping with the operation.
“Can you imagine how much money individuals spend on car repairs, how many insurance claims insurers pay because people are displaced, and how much money people spend on medical expenses?” said Acreaty Ghana’s managing partner, Elsie Apau Klu.
According to estimates, flooding costs the economy more than $100 million per year.
According to Acreaty Ghana Limited, a legal and human resource management firm, the losses are calculated taking into consideration loss of lives, loss of man-hours and damage to property, among others.
“Can you envisage the amount of money people use in repairing their vehicles; the amount of insurance claims insurers pays because people are displaced; the money people spend on hospital bills?” said Elsie Apau Klu, Managing Partner at Acreaty Ghana.
Mrs. Apau Klu spoke in Accra during a thought-leadership series on flood management in Ghana, organised by her outfit and Dredge Masters. The event was on the theme ‘Sustainable dredging as a tool for effective city planning and flood prevention’.
Her comments come on the heels of recent floods across various parts of the country, which claimed lives and property worth several millions.
Just last month, 20 people were reported dead in the Upper East Region from flooding. Several farms, animals and other properties were also reported damaged, according to the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO).
In addition to this, seven persons were confirmed dead – including four children in the Ashanti Region in September this year – by NADMO, with property worth millions damaged after a series of heavy downpours.
Meanwhile, this year alone there have been countless incidences of flooding in the Greater Accra Region where the problem is more profound.
“The problem here is that we have not planned our built environment properly; everything comes to halt whenever there is flood and it is not only in Accra that we are experiencing this problem, it is a national issue. So, you can imagine the amount of losses we are making as businesses and an economy at large,” she added.
Mrs. Apau Klu said it is high time serious attention is paid to flooding due to its negative effects on the economy, and revealed that her company will soon commission research to ascertain the amount of work time and how much money is lost by businesses as a result of flooding in the country.
For his part, Ing. Wise Ametefe of the Engineering Council said, economically, when there is flood people are unable to go about their normal activities, industries lose materials, transportation systems come to a halt, and people are unable to go to work.
“When you count all these, there is so much money that is lost to flooding. So, the bottom-line is that we are losing as a result of flooding – and we must do something to minimise our losses,” he added
On the way forward, he said there is a need to ensure proper planning with regard to drainage development.
See Also: GTBank records significant growth in profit He also advised people not to dispose of waste indiscriminately, as well as not to cement the entire space within houses or properties.
He mentioned that the Ministry of Works and Housing is currently undertaking a project – the Greater Accra Resilient and Integrated Development Project – with support from the World Bank and the Ministry of Sanitation and Water Resources, which he is optimistic will contribute to reducing the problem.
It also looks at community upgrading, integration, and capacity building.
“When these are all put in place, it is no longer going to be the case that one ministry will develop drains and the one responsible for waste management will not do its job, or the other agencies responsible for removing structures on waterways is not doing its work; everything is going to be integrated,” Ing. Ametefe indicated.
He also said the construction of flood retention centres, or dams, is one of the solutions to curb flooding in the country. Flood retention dams work by reducing the flow of water to urban areas.
Areas like the Ghana Atomic Energy Centre near the University of Ghana in Accra, among others, have been earmarked for the construction of such dams.
The Director-General of the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO), Eric Nana Agyemang-Prempeh, has called on the public to desist from politicising moves to demolish unauthorised structures along waterways.
According to him, the country was sitting on a time bomb with the continuous encroachment and illegal activities around ecological sites and the worst could happen if ‘harsh’ decisions were not taken.
Speaking to journalists at an event to commemorate this year’s International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction in Accra yesterday, Mr Agyeman-Prempeh said a case in point was the recent flooding of communities in the Weija-Gbawe and Ga South constituencies due to the Weija Dam spillage.
“Had it not been for the level of encroachment around the dam and its passageway we wouldn’t have seen this extent of damage. A lot of the buildings there do not have permit yet you go in to demolish and it turns into NPP, NDC.
“Ghana will move forward, we will reduce the flooding’s if we stop politicising everything and allow the District Assemblies to do their work and go all out to demolish all unauthorised structures in our waterways causing floods.”
Touching on the local theme for the commemoration; “Earthquake disaster risk reduction through effective early warning,” the Director-General although Ghana was far away from major earthquake zones in the world, it was prone to earthquake and earth tremor disasters.
He recalled incidences as far back as 1981 and recent earth tremor in 2019 prompting the establishment of a technical committee to propose interventions that would improve Ghana’s earthquake preparedness and response.
Following the adoption of the committee’s report, Mr Agyeman-Prempeh said, eight earthquakes early warning equipment has been installed at vantage locations within the capital including the Weija-Gbawe Municipal Assembly, NADMO Headquarters, Parliament and the Jubilee House.
“The government considers earthquake to be a most serious occurrence that can set us back on our development journey and more importantly militate against safety of our citizens and we are committed to taking all needed measures to avert future disasters,” he said.
The Chief Director of the Ministry for the Interior, Mrs. Adelaide Anno-Kumi, delivering a speech on behalf of the sector minister, underscored the importance of early warning systems to reducing disasters significantly.
While expressing sympathy to recently affected persons of the Weija Dam spillage, Mrs Anno-Kumi stressed the need for the populace to be well-informed on evacuation and disaster management methods to reduce extent of destruction.
The Country Director of United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), Mr Abdourahamane Diallo, gave highlights of a newly produced documentary and educational materials to sensitise the public particularly students, on disasters.
“There is still a lot more that we need to do collectively to ensure that Ghana gets the holistic capacity development that it needs to prepare adequately for an earthquake disaster or any other disaster.”
He thus invited all key stakeholders to explore additional ideas that “can be brought on board to design effective interventions towards disaster risk reduction.”
The Electricity Company of Ghanasays that despite the cash it is losing, it cannot take the chance of restoring power to some flood-affected areas in Ga South.
Speaking on Joy FM’s Midday News, the Accra West Electricity Company of Ghana’s communication officer, Fred Baimbill-Johnson says this is a result of some of ECG’s transformers in the affected districts being submerged in water.
“We have some situations where some of our ground-mounted transformers are in flooded areas so it is difficult to wheel power to the various communities,” he said on Thursday.
This comes after scores of residents in the Ga South municipality of the Greater Accra Region were displaced with several others trapped in their homes as Ashalaja, Weija, Oblogo, and Tetegu areas flood.
He explained that the power supply was curtailed due to the flood to ensure the safety of residents and their properties.
“Now we have done that knowing that indeed, once people are not using the power, it means that we are losing some revenue, but at this point in time what is more paramount to us is to make sure that life and property are safe,” he said.
According to ECG, a technical audit of its equipment must be done when the flood subsides to know the extent of damage and when to restore power supply to the affected communities.
However, he stated that power has been restored to the Weija Old Townarea because the water level in that area has receded.
Meanwhile, there is a temporary relief for the residents who were displaced by floods three days ago.
The National Disaster Management Organisation, (NADMO), says the water is receding and is likely to be safe for residents to return home.
But NADMO is warning of more trouble for the people as Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL) continues spillage of the Weija Dam.
The Head of Communication at GWCL, Stanley Martey has already warned residents that the Weija Dam will remain open till the water reaches acceptable levels.
stated, is because some of ECG’s transformers in the affected areas are in the water.
“We have some situations where some of our ground-mounted transformers are in flooded areas so it is difficult to wheel power to the various communities,” he said on Thursday.
This comes after scores of residents in the Ga South municipality of the Greater Accra Region were displaced with several others trapped in their homes as Ashalaja, Weija, Oblogo, and Tetegu areas flood.
He explained that the power supply was curtailed due to the flood to ensure the safety of residents and their properties.“Now we have done that knowing that indeed, once people are not using the power, it means that we are losing some revenue, but at this point in time what is more paramount to us is to make sure that life and property are safe,” he said.
According to ECG, a technical audit of its equipment must be done when the flood subsides to know the extent of damage and when to restore power supply to the affected communities.
However, he stated that power has been restored to the Weija Old Town area because the water level in that area has receded.
Meanwhile, there is a temporary relief for the residents who were displaced by floods three days ago.
But NADMO is warning of more trouble for the people as Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL) continues spillage of the Weija Dam.
The Head of Communication at GWCL, Stanley Martey has already warned residents that the Weija Dam will remain open till the water reaches acceptable levels.
People utilizing other structures, like as containers, kiosks, and some buildings, were compelled to leave and stay with friends and family because they were similarly and partially inundated.
This is the first time in over 50 years that Kyebi has witnessed flooding of this magnitude and it is being attributed to the impact of illegal mining that has impacted the Birim River in Akyem Abuakwa area.
An eyewitness, Francis Kodua, told the Daily Graphic that the rains partially submerged about 37 buildings forcing the dwellers to move out to stay temporarily with friends and relatives at more safe and higher areas.
He said although some houses were submerged, areas seriously affected by the torrential rains were the Kyebi Court, Kyebi Presbyterian College of Education and the Abuakwa State
College
No casualty was recorded, but according to the eye witness, a number of animals such as goats, sheep and fowls were drowned.
He indicated that those affected were living in fear of the rains recurring and therefore, appealed to the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO) for assistance.
The eyewitness said the Abuakwa South Municipal NADMO Coordinator, Police Commander and the Fire Service Commander were all at the scene to assess the situation.
After Silimboma in the Kumbungu Constituency was completely destroyed by the terrible impacts of the torrential rains, the MP for Kumbungu, Alhaj Dr. Hamza Adam, and constituency executives went to the community to examine the extent of the devastation.
Others have had portions of their homes damaged, along with their cattle, clothing, and food supplies.
During the visit, Dr. Hamza Adam made a passionate appeal to the National Disaster Management Organisation(NADMO) to, as a matter of urgency, step in to help alleviate the plight of the residents in all ways possible in these trying moments.
He also bemoaned the inefficiencies of the NADMO largely due to resource constraints and therefore implored the Ministry of Interior to place a premium on the resource allocation to the organisation, which would help them to be proactive in their mandate instead of always being slowly reactive.
A preliminary assessment of the situation could largely be linked to the construction of the Kumbungu-Gbulung road where the contractor has not made sufficient provision for drains, gutters and appropriate bridges to allow for free flow of water.
Dr Hamza Adam, therefore, called on the Ghana Highways Authority and the Contractor to make the necessary engineering adjustments in order to avert future occurrences of this nature.
He again made an appeal to other agencies like NGOs, Philanthropists and individuals to come to the aid of the community with food, clothing, and building materials, among others.
