DRONE ATTACK IN ACCRA -Causes Severe Injuries

In the image is Issah Salifu and one of the drones in operation in Ghana

By Duke Nii Amartey Tagoe

A “drone” has attacked and caused severe injuries to 28 years old Issah Salifu, a bartender at the Asabea Spot at Kokomlemle in Accra.

The accident occurred Sunday afternoon on the Hearts Lane adjacent the Old Press Centre in what eyewitnesses described as a frightening incident.

According to Issah, he was walking on the Hearts Lane when he was struck heavily at the back by what he called a “small helicopter”. He fell to the ground and swellings started forming around his face and the limbs.

Issah was immediately rushed to the Cocoa Clinic at Kaneshie but was later referred to the Korle Bu Teaching hospital where doctors subjected him to bouts of injections and a prescription of what he described as expensive medicines.

The owner of the drone whose name has only been given as ‘Sam’ is alleged to have told neighbors around the Hearts Lane, that he is a staff of the Brazilian construction company Queiroz Galvao currently constructing the magnificent overpass at the Kwame Nkrumah Circle.

According to ‘Sam’ he was mandated by the company to put the drone in flight to take pictures of the overpass at a certain distance in the sky, but lost control of the drone a few minutes after it went into flight.

Doctors also prescribed Naklofen duo 75 mg, Salicyclic Acid Ointment and Rubaxin Tablets for Issah.

Naklofen is a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs with analgesic and antipyretic action. It is used for the treatment of all rheumatic diseases and for the alleviation of different types of pain and other pain syndromes in injuries and after other surgical procedures in the kidneys.

“Sometimes when I wake up in the morning I feel a very sharp pain in the area around my backbone and I have difficulties standing for long hours. I hope that my pain will go away after I complete my medication” Issah told this reporter.

A drone is a small aircraft piloted by computers on board or by remote controls on the ground. They are often used for military purposes because they don't put a pilot's life at risk in combat zones. However, with the advancement of technology, drones can now be produced for commercial use.

In North America and in other parts of Europe, where there is the increasing use of the drone, there are guidelines that demand that drones must stay less than 400 feet above the ground and steering a drone over someone's house could be considered a trespassing violation.

A drone can also be used for wide ranging activities including espionage and other activities.  In Ghana, it is beginning to manifest that there isn’t any special regulation for the use of the drone in spite of an upsurge in the use of the unmanned aerial vehicle. A lot more must be done to put in place the necessary legal framework that governs the use of such aerial vehicles to check against abuse.

Editorial

Very Strange

Many strange things are happening in Ghana and sometimes one wonders if they are not being deliberately orchestrated to embarrass the Mahama administration.

On Wednesday, March 2, 2016 the “Ghanaian Times” reported that a Ghana government delegation is being dispatched to the Crans Montana Forum in Dakhla, Morocco.

The report claimed that the forum is being held under the patronage of His Majesty King Mohamed VI of Morocco and that it “is in line with Morroco’s commitment towards promoting regional integration through effective socioeconomic co-operation among African States”.

The declared aim of the Forum must be very strange indeed, considering the fact that Morocco has withdrawn from the African Union.

How can   a country which refuses to participate in the work of the African Union be interested in the integration of African States?

 More importantly, Dakhla is in occupied Western Sahara which Ghana has recognised as a state and has accorded it full diplomatic status.

What will the presence of a Ghana government delegation at such a forum mean? Wouldn’t it undermine Ghana’s commitment to the principle of self-determination for the people of Western Sahara?

In any case all major international organisations, including the African Union have protested against the hosting of the Forum in Dakhla.

Ghana ought to be consistent and end all the strange happenings which portray the country in very bad light

The Debate

President John Mahama

The debate between the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and the New Patriotic Party (NPP) is not sophisticated at all and it woefully fails to address the fundamental problems of the Ghanaian Economy.

Communicators of the two parties are haggling over micro-economic indicators instead of trying to establish why those indicators remained poor for more than 30 years.

 Whose inflation figure was lower than the other is not the issue here.

 Ghanaians need to establish why in the face of abundant natural resources; they are unable to resolve their problems including the lack of access to social services.

In our view, the fundamental problem is that Ghanaian resources are no longer controlled by the people of Ghana.

Marching under the orders of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund, Ghana has embarked upon the reckless path of neo-liberalism and all our major assets have been handed over to multi –national corporations from the colonial metropolis.

Nana Akufo Addo, Opposition Leader

They are exploited solely for the purpose of bloating the bank accounts of businesses in London, Paris, Hamburg and Washington.

The debate needs to be refocused on what can be done to ensure that the people of Ghana control their own resources.

 If this is not done, the debate about micro-economic stability will continue to be completely irrelevant.

WOOOW! WHICH IS TRUE?

Nana Akufo Addo, wake up from thy slumber!

By  Ekow Duncan.

This week, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, the presidential candidate of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) slept again and that is true.

If Nana is truly Ghanaian and lives in Ghana then State of the Nation Addresses may capture the fact that he has been sleeping in very awkward places and at times which may not be altogether convenient.

 He went to the Hall of Physicians and Surgeons to deliver what had been styled as the “True State of the Nation Address” and was captured by the “Daily Post” newspaper sleeping comfortably.

Sleeping in public and at such events cannot always be strange. It is associated with people who work beyond their capabilities. People who are tired and sometimes people whose age is catching up with them.

 At 72 years, sleeping in public is not and cannot be strange for Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo who is struggling to beat the national record if he is elected as President of Ghana in November 2016.

 He will become the oldest President ever elected in Ghana.

Nana jumped up from his sleep and began pontificating about what he called the true state of the nation address. He went back deep into history and dug up a few promises which were not fulfilled when the New Patriotic Party (NPP) captured power in 2001.

Can you remember that in 1992, the New Patriotic Party promised that if it was elected, it would make sure that District Chief Executives, Municipal and Metro Politian Chief Executives are elected by universal adult Suffrage? 

The NPP won the 2000 elections and stayed in power for eight-long years without fulfilling this promise.

Significantly Nana was part of the Kufuor administration, which made the promise it failed to keep so how can he convince the people of Ghana that this time it will be kept.

First, Nana was not just part of the Kufour administration. He was a most important part as Attorney- General and if the promise was to be kept he had to start the process of constitutional amendments.

What did Nana do to help Kufuor keep this promise? And if he didn’t do anything to help Kufour keep this promise why should he be believed now?

The problem with Nana Addo is that what he says is calculated to win votes for him to become the next president of Ghana.

If something is true and it can’t win votes, it would not be said. And if something is not true and it can win votes it would be said.

 With all the noise about the true state of the nation address, Nana Addo made no comment about the fact that Ghanaian resources are no longer controlled by Ghanaians and that they are exploited solely to enlarge the bank accounts of Multi-national corporations originated from the colonial metropolis.

The fixation with micro-economic stability is not new and is a complete waste of time. The levels of inflation, interest rates and Gross Domestic Product have never really told the full story of the living conditions of the people of Ghana.

 If Nana Addo were paying attention, he would have realized by now that these same noises about micro-economic indicators were made by people like Dr Kwesi Botchwey , Dr Joe Abbey and Jerry John Rawlings  and they didn’t take Ghana anywhere.

The true state of the nation indeed!

WOMEN ARE DYING

Alex Segbefia, Health Minister

Some findings that women are avoiding hospitals because they can’t afford what the hospitals demand of them are troubling indeed.

There is a free maternal health programme in place under which pregnant women are entitled to: exemption from paying NHIS premium; exemption of payment of registration fees; waiving the period between registration and accessing the services; free medical care and medicines during delivery; and free medical services and care for the newborn baby on the mother’s ticket.

But a recent study by SEND-Ghana has revealed that a lot of women who go into labour, especially in the northern regions, avoid health facilities due to illegal fees - a situation that contributes to the rise in maternal mortality.

According to the study, there are a number of hidden or unapproved charges at the various facilities that prevent poor pregnant women from fully enjoying the benefits offered by the policy.

Pregnant women who report to the hospitals are compelled to provide a list of items before being admitted to the health facilities for delivery, but many cannot afford these, thereby forcing them to avoid the hospitals and sometimes unfortunately losing their lives.

Stated one woman who was forced to deliver at home. “It’s not all of us who can get the items demanded by the facilities, and when you do not provide them you are mishandled. In fact, this small girl was delivered at home because my husband could not afford the items requested.”

Most Pretty Gender Minister Oye Lithur

The SEND study shows that at some facilities in the four regions targeted - the Upper West, Upper East, Northern and the Greater Accra Regions -- clients are charged between GHC3 and GHC4 for items such as specimen bottles for laboratory tests, and they also pay for pregnancy test kits.

In Greater Accra, the report noted, facilities charge even higher amounts that range between GHC30 and GHC100 without receipts.

“Clients are often compelled to provide a list of items before being admitted for supervised delivery. This list is displayed at the facility for all pregnant women to provide. A rough estimate of the items runs into hundreds of Ghana cedis,” the report said.

“The disturbing question is how many pregnant women will be able to afford these items considering the level of poverty in the three regions of the north. This is enough to prevent many pregnant women from going to the facility,” Siapha Kamara, CEO of SEND-Ghana, said at the report’s launch in Accra.

“Clients are often compelled to provide a list of items before being admitted for supervised delivery. This list is displayed at the facility for all pregnant women to provide. A rough estimate of the items runs into hundreds of Ghana cedis,” the report said.

“The disturbing question is how many pregnant women will be able to afford these items considering the level of poverty in the three regions of the north. This is enough to prevent many pregnant women from going to the facility,” Siapha Kamara, CEO of SEND-Ghana, said at the report’s launch in Accra.

The SEND’s findings make for uncomfortable reading, but it offers a needed peep into what is happening behind clear good policies. They are unfortunately not the only ones and authorities will do well to explore whatever additional measures would be needed to ensure that access to health is available to all regardless of wealth status.

Editorial

Erdogan’s Visit

The visit of President Erdogan of Turkey to Ghana at this time must be very interesting for different reasons.

First, just before he enplaned for Ghana, he was engaged in a bitter struggle with Journalists in his own country over his refusal, to release a Turkish Journalist from jail on court orders.

Tayyip Erdogan, a vendor of terrorism

Erdogan has publicly stated that he is involved in the illegal act of overthrowing the legitimate government of Syria.

Reports from all credible human rights institutions from around the world, say that his government is systematically abusing the rights of Kurds and his political opponents.

Even the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) has been very reluctant to grant Turkey under Erdogan membership.

The United States of America and other western powers have also openly disagreed with Erdogan and his government on their policies in the Middle East and in the Persian Gulf.

It is indeed strange that in spite of all these facts the Government of Ghana has embraced Erdogan and his regime.

It is our hope that during his stay in Accra, President Mahama will advise his Turkish counterpart to abide by international law and refrain from his subversive activities in the Middle East and the Persian Gulf.

That may be the only useful outcome of this visit.