N/R:"Operation Calm Life" Highway Patrol Team mercilessly flogs civilian,extort Ghc200

N/R:"Operation Calm Life" Highway Patrol Team mercilessly flogs civilian,extort Ghc200

A civilian has been severely flogged by "Operation Calm Life" highway patrol team plying the Damongo to Sawla road.

The men in black, numbering seven(7) whipped the hell out of the victim, Mohammed Osman after he lamented in silence that the patrol team van was wrongly parked.

He received the lashing of his life until he sustained injuries on his back.The action of the police has since received wide condemnation from the discerning public with many calling for justice to be served the victim.

The incident happened in Damongo township Friday Morning,between the hours of 9am to 10am,when the victim was riding from Canteen,a suburb of Damongo in the West Gonja District of Northern Ghana to his workshop.

Low spirited Mohammed,a well know glass manufacturer in Damongo narrated his ordeal on PAD FM in an interview with Ghanaweb's Ananpansah B Abraham. He explained that on that faithful day, he was on a motorbike to his workshop with one of his workers,Nuhu Rauf,who was the pillion rider.

On reaching a T- junction few meters away from the District CHRAJ office,he noticed that the police patrol van was parked wrongly,almost across the junction with the tendency of causing mischances.Concerned Mohammed spoke in a whisper to his pillion rider that,the police van was wrongly parked considering that the said spot was a narrow junction.

The police who misinterpreted the whispers of Mohammed to mean he was trying to teach them how to park ,commanded him to stop and demanded to know what he was saying.Startled mohammed spurred his way to his workshop.But the infuriated police followed him up to his workshop few meters away from the scene and flogged him to injuries with sizable rods.

Mohammed who spoke in Dagaare said,"Yesterday in the morning,whilst I was returning from Canteen between the hours of 9am and 10am...On reaching the junction were the women sell maize,I notice it would be difficult to negotiate my way through,because a police van was parked at the curve....I told my worker that where the van was parked was not good and if one does not ride carefully,it could led to an accident.We stopped whilst other cyclist manoeuvred their way through a narrow space.I was still pointing my fingers to the wrongly parked car.When the road was a bit clear,I also attempted negotiating my way through the narrow space.The police shouted on me to stop and ask what I was saying from afar.Frightened, I replied that I was not saying 'anything'...I spurred my way through to my workshop"....

"They followed me up to my workshop and and started flogging me with sticks.They ask what I was saying.I told them I was complaining to my friend that the van was not well parked.They ask whether I was the one to teach them the law and how to park.Thay commanded me to remove my safety boot and bungled me to the police station."

He further chronicled that,on getting to the police station,he was detained for almost two hours.The NPP chairman, hon. Nana Kwame and the witness who was the pillion rider,Nuhu Rauf immediately moved to the police station to intervene.
The police explained to the chairman that the victim insulted the police officers, a position he sharply debunked.

After a close door meeting at the police charge office,Gh200 was given to the police officers before Mohammed was released.

Nuhu revealed that the incident,which was witnessed by over 50 people had the police passing comments to the effect that the people of Damongo they have noted are very "stubborn."And that they were aware that,people are hiding under chieftaincy to fuel disturbances in the town...That they the police where waiting for the day such people would try such nonsense of sparking chieftaincy conflict and they would show the people their meter insofar as policing is concerned.

When contacted about the development,the District crime officer,SS Gbeve said the matter has not been brought to his attention.He directed that the station officer should be contacted...The station officer however,declined comments on the matter and indicated that his boss,the District Police Commander was the best person to respond to the matter.
Efforts to get the District police commander to comment on the development at the time of filing this story has since proved fertile.

Mohammed said all he prays for is for the perpetrators to be brought to book to serve as a deterrent to others.
It can be recalled that a business man, Jyimah Ibrahim, popularly known as Kashinteng was brutalised in a similar fashion last three months by some armed military men currently standing police trial in Tamale.

"Operation Calm Life" was launched on Monday February 5 ,2018, in the Northern Region to combat criminal activities.About 300 security personnel were drawn from all the law enforcement agencies for the initiative.

Source:Ananpansah B Abraham

Reviving Communal Labour:Youth of Sabon Zongo in perspective

Reviving Communal Labour:Youth of Sabon Zongo in perspective

....And the youth of Sabon Zongo in the Zongo/Langbonto Electoral Area joined the bandwagon.

The youth led by hon.Zomnura Adamu Shaibu the Assembly Man for the area,moved in a combined energy and synergy to clean round the vicinity of a mechanised borehole in the electoral area.

The youth responded promptly to the campaign bearing in mind,the cost of treating diarrheal diseases such as Cholera,and other illness in the range of Typhoid and Dysentery borne out of drinking contaminated water.

The joy in communal toil was unending as the youth chanted sanitation and godliness as they engaged in the communal labour.The vicinity of the machanized borehole was cleared and sprayed and the waterside litters were picked and burnt.

The clean up campaign was aimed at sensitising the local community on the need to keep the environment clean in order to avert diarrheal diseases.

The Assembly Man,hon.Adamu Shaibu who spoke on the sidelines of the exercise emphasized the need for us to revive the seemingly lost spirit of communal labour,adding that,they were motivated by what the youth of Canteen started.He echoed on the need to emulate good examples of others and inculcate the spirit of communal labour in our people.

He further stressed on the need for us as a people to sacrifice our growing spirit of individualism for the spirit of  communism and communal labour.

The youth who joined in the exercise saw it as a complete joy to engage in communal toil, since they were contributing their quota to the development of their community.

It can be recounted that, for the past weeks, the youth of Canteen embarked on series of communal labour and reiterated the need to revive the lost days of communal labour.They encouraged the entire District and beyond on the need to wake up the sleeping days of communal labour.

It is widely held that,Sticks in a bundle are unbreakable and a little rain each day will fill the rivers to overflowing.As Jeff Bridges rightly reiterated,"The way to change the world is through individual responsibility and taking local action in your own community."

Communal labour is when members of a community or an organised group come together to embark on a course of action which inures to the benefit of the entire society.

Partisan politics seem to be a bane on the ability of community members to mobilise such energies for community activities in time past.

Source:Ananpansah AB (Village Writer)

Reviving Communal Labour:NASPA in perspective as they embark on a Cleanup campaign along principle streets of Damongo

Reviving Communal Labour:NASPA in perspective as they embark on a Cleanup campaign along principle streets of Damongo

In an attempt to revive the spirit of communal labour,the West Gonja District branch of the National Service Personnel Association of Ghana (NASPA) in a combined energy moved to clean round the principal streets of Damongo.

The clean up campaign was aimed at sensitising the local community on the need to keep the environment clean in order to avert diarrheal diseases such as Cholera,typhoid and dysentery.

Led by the District president who doubles as the Northern regional secretary of the association,Suburu Kantama,the association believes the power of the community to create health is far greater than any physician, clinic or hospital.

The campaign also saw the District Director of National Service,Mr.Abutu Yahaya joining the exercise together with some employees of Zoomlion.The service personnel were present in their numbers.

Speaking on the sidelines of the activity,the president emphasized the need for us to revive the seemingly lost spirit of communal labour,adding that,the days of always relying on zoomlion and cursing the wind when the streets are not swept and the gutters desilted should be over in the District.

According to him, communism and communal spirit should replace individualism in our today's societies and as personnel, they are ready to join in championing the course in the District.

Most of the personnel who joined in the exercise saw it as a complete joy to engage in communal toil, since they were contributing their quota to the development of the District and country at large.

It can be recounted that, for the past weeks, the youth of Canteen embarked on series of communal labour and reiterated the need to revive the lost days of communal labour.They encouraged the entire District and beyond on the need to wake up the sleeping days of communal labour.

It is widely held that,Sticks in a bundle are unbreakable and a little rain each day will fill the rivers to overflowing.As Jeff Bridges rightly reiterated,"The way to change the world is through individual responsibility and taking local action in your own community."

Communal labour is when members of a community or an organised group come together to embark on a course of action which inures to the benefit of the entire society.

Source:Ananpansah AB (Village Writer)

Part 2 of reviving the spirit of communal labour:Canteen youth in perspective

Part 2 of reviving the spirit of communal labour:Canteen youth in perspective

There is indeed,joy in communal toil, yes!
Our part two (2) of reviving the spirit of communal labour tour took us to the Hospital Junction Drive.That spot,which is a 'T Junction' leading to the West Gonja Hospital and Canteen avenue has been a death trap for years.It has received wide public outcry following the many accidents which have cost lives and damage to property (motorbikes, cars ad infinitum).

The bandwagon to fix that portion of the road which started on a small note,as usual got the Canteen Wura and his subchiefs,and elders of Canteen participating effectively.The outturn was overwhelming and unexpected.All thanks to our revered chiefs/elders and my fellow youth(Canteen Yaara)....
Many thanks to all cash and kind contributors.We have noted your disposition to do good to society and have a special way of thanking you.God richly bless and multiply your benevolence...

Before the start of the communal labour,we had the intention of only one (1) bag of cement, 30Ghc diesel support,1 trip of stones and sand, motorking and tractor support,but the support we received during the process was overwhelming and worth the effort to start...

When next you are negotiating that junction or driving along that stretch/spot,slow down,roll your glasses,tell me the difference then and now, and thank the youth of Canteen later.
The seemingly undulating bridge has been levelled and the submerged gutter resurrected to direct water and liquid waste.The reanimated gutter and bridge would stop any further eroding away of that portion of the road thanks to the youth of Canteen.We nearly lost that portion of the road leading to not less a place,than the only hospital in the District to erosion.

We have not entirely completed the work....The community volunteer who did the masonry work whispered in my ears after the exercise that,we would need not less than 10 bags of cement and at least,a trip of stones to do the stone pitching to secure the trough along the eaves(gutter).

We wish to appeal to the general public particularly,the District assembly,the member of parliament, philanthropist and indeed, anyone who is touched by this spirit to revive communal labour to come to our aid to ensure a completion of what we've started for God, country and community. Next coming Friday is another day.We are out again!

The power of community mobilization and the seemingly lost days of communal labour:
I hearken back to a poem I wrote months ago and a wave of nostalgia swept over me strongly.
The repeated rhymes of the poem were driven by a drunk desire to see a return of the good old days.see: https://mobile.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/features/Tales-of-the-good-old-days-635397... http://ananpansah-ab.blogspot.com/2018/03/tales-of-good-old-days.html?m=1.

When I talk about the good old days in this written account, I mean to say the days of communal labour.
I write of communal labour in a personal coinage as a joint action of community members accomplishing a task for the benefit of the entirety of society.Such labour leads to the achievement of a common goal, thus improving the quality and standard of living of community members and the provision of social amenities.

Today,instead communal labour,we would curse the wind and flood the airwaves with cacophonous chaos over what we call "it is someone's duty".Diminishing marginal returns seem to have set in on the ability of the women to carry water,whilst the men mix mortar and put up the buildings.The politics of coloring development and clothing same in partisan politics is the order of the day.

Individualism has fast substituted communism and communal spirit.
Let's revisit and renew the spirit of communal labour.Canteen youth is clearly showing the way.
I entreat the West Gonja District assembly to localise the now-defunct National Sanitation Day to what I will christen "Communal Labour Day".
Let's identify and set aside a day in every month,where we can mobilise the power of the youth for community work. We look out for special challenges in our individual communities, and move in to fix same.

Sticks in a bundle are unbreakable and a little rain each day will fill the rivers to overflowing.I end with a quote from Jeff Bridges,"The way to change the world is through individual responsibility and taking local action in your own community."
I am a proud Canteen Yaaro!
Shalom!

Source:Ananpansah B Abraham (AB)//Village writer
               (0241129910/0200704844)

No youth association has remained united and focused since the collapse of NSU-Dr.Clement

No youth association has remained united and focused since the collapse of NSU-Dr.Clement

A peace and development expert,Dr.Rev.father Clement Aapegnua has asserted that,since the collapse of the Northern Student's Union(NSU), which existed in the 1969s,no youth association in Northern Ghana has stood United and focused for a long time.

The union in his view,was a very strong and respected youth group present in all secondary schools and institutions of higher learning.The northern and upper regions at the time formed the north.The formidable student front eventually broke down.

He enumerated three issues,thus:politics,chieftaincy and ethnicity as major manacles to the survival of youth associations thereafter.

"In the 1969s,the Northern Student's Union, NSU was a very strong and well respected youth group.This front was broken and since then, no youth association in the north has stood united and focused for a long time.Three issue have always threatened a united front;politics, chieftaincy and ethnicity!I dare anyone to show me one youth association or group coming together for development that has survived 10 years!"he lamented.

Commenting on the motion,"the recent ban on charcoal burning in Gonjaland and matters arising" in a parliamentary forum held by Damongo Youth Parliament (DYP),he disclosed that,he became sad when he saw the ban on commercial charcoal burning and logging being linked to the Damongo chieftaincy issues,adding that his spirits fell immediately.He believes upon sober reflection that, conflict entrepreneurs will do whatever it takes to create conflict so they can continue to plunder and loot our natural resources.

He challenged the youth not to allow some few people who are benefiting from these "twin evils" to hold the rest of society to ransom by using chieftaincy and indigeneity to mask their heinous activities.
" Why are a few people benefiting from community property and holding everyone to ransom. Leave chieftaincy out of this. Let us identify those benefiting from this plunder of our natural resources and call then out. Let us not allow them to use chieftaincy and indigeneity to mask their CRIMINAL actives.Do our chiefs really understand the harm that is being caused? Who are their spokes persons?"he charged.

The youth and particularly, DYP according to him are the new generation leaders.And that any blame of leadership failure is squarely on the laps of the youth.
He called on the leadership of Damongo Youth Parliament(DYP), CSOs and NGOs to start thinking of wider forums, talk shows and others for public education and sensitization, and that true leaders take decisions by looking at the past, the present and 50 years from now before embarking on any cause of action. .

Other youth bemoaned the extent to which the recent ban on commercial charcoal burning is fast becoming a traditional and chieftaincy issue.

In a letter sighted by Ghanaweb's northern regional correspondent, a local radio station(PAD FM) has been banned by DISSEC from discussing any chieftaincy related natter in the West Gonja District.

The youth of Damongo recently protested against commercial charcoal burning and rosewood harvesting,prompting the Gonja Traditional Council to issue a letter banning same from the traditional area.
The banning which is in full force now,has since taken a path many describe as "politics of traditional power play".

Source:Ananpansah B Abraham(AB)

Reviving the spirit of communal labour:case study of Canteen youth

Reviving the spirit of communal labour:case study of Canteen youth

....And the youth of Canteen in a usual fashion,moved with synergy in a combined energy to clean round the recently fixed broken-down mechanised borehole.
The bandwagon which started on radio got the Canteen Wura,Nyeribe Wura (youth chief),and several elderly members of the community actively participating in the cleanup campaign.

The community responded promptly to the campaign bearing in mind,the cost of treating diarrheal diseases such as Cholera,and other illness in the range of Typhoid and Dysentery borne out of drinking contaminated water.

There is joy in communal toil, yes!The youth were there in their numbers and within a matter of two (2) hours,it was a done deal and the vicinity of the machanized borehole was as tidy and plain as a white garment.The grasses were cleared and sprayed,the waterside litters were picked and burnt.What else?

"The power of community to create health is far greater than any physician, clinic or hospital,"Mark Herman once remarked.
Indeed,I personally hold the conviction that the impetus for creating change may just be to act locally and take compassionate actions in our communities....

The power of community mobilization and the seemingly lost days of communal labour...
I hearken back to a poem I wrote months ago and a wave of nostalgia swept over me strongly.
The repeated rhymes of the poem were driven by a drunk desire to see a return of the good old days.see: https://mobile.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/features/Tales-of-the-good-old-days-635397... http://ananpansah-ab.blogspot.com/2018/03/tales-of-good-old-days.html?m=1.

When I talk about the good old days in this written account, I mean to say the days of communal labour.And probably,the days sanitation officers(they were called 'Samasama') use to effectively enforce sanitation laws.
I write of communal labour in a personal coinage as a joint action of community members accomplishing a task to the benefit of the entirety of society.Such labour leads to the achievement of a common goal, thus improving the quality and standard of living of community members and the provision of social amenities.

Today,instead communal labour,we would curse the wind and flood the airwaves with cacophonous chaos if what we call Zoomlion fail to sweep the street and desilt the gutters.Diminishing marginal returns seem to have set in on the ability of the women to carry water,whilst the men mix mortar and put up the buildings.The politics of coloring development and clothing same in partisan politics is the order of the day.

Individualism has fast substituted communism and communal spirit.

Let's revisit and renew the spirit of communal labour.Canteen youth is clearly showing the way.

Sticks in a bundle are unbreakable and a little rain each day will fill the rivers to overflowing.I end with a quote from Jeff Bridges,"The way to change the world is through individual responsibility and taking local action in your own community."

I am a proud Canteen Yaaro!
Shalom!

Source:Ananpansah B Abraham (AB)//Village writer
               (0241129910/0200704844)

MP moves to fix broken-down borehole in Canteen

MP moves to fix broken-down borehole in Canteen

The member of parliament for Damongo constituency,hon. Adam Mutawakilu has moved to the aid of the people of Canteen in the West Gonja District of the Northern Region in a prompt response to a plea by a radio presenter,Ananpansah B Abraham to fix a broken-down mechanized borehole.

The pump of the mechanized borehole which is among the only two boreholes supplying the whole of Canteen and some residents of Damongo township water,got damaged for close to a month today and has since not been fixed.
The radio presenter known in radio circles as 'AB for Short',also a member of the community descended heavily on the managers of the facility during a popular weekly political talk show,'Within the Issues' hosted by himself on Radio Pad 95.1mhz Saturday evening.

He lamented that the situation was visiting untold hardship and pain on the people, especially his mothers and retarding economic activities, adding that he doesn't understand why monies are taken for every pan of water fetched from the facility but when it breaks down, same cannot be used to fix it.The situation according to him,was putting a lot of undue pressure on the only facility now left and causing long queues which irritates his eyes as a concerned community member.
His frustration was not different from one of his panel members,Amidu Abdallah who also revealed a similar situation in his area,Yagbonkura.

The outspoken presenter,recounted that the last time the same facility broke down,it had to take the intervention of a 'white man' through a community person 'uncle Mushe to fix it.He questioned the essence of taking the money and how long such a trend would continue,pleading with listeners and the community to rise to the occasion of tackling such issues devoid of politics,since water has no political colorisation.

The West Gonja District manager of Ghana Water Company(GWC),hon.Atta Zack was raised on the phone line to respond to the issues particularly,the broken down boreholes in Canteen and other parts of the District.
The manager conceded that he was aware of the situation in Canteen and some other two communities including Yagbonkura.
He disclosed on the program in response to a question posed by the host that genuine effort was being made by his office to address the situation.
On accountability,he said contrary to public perception that they were generating a lot of revenue from the sale of the water to the public,the monies they usually receive is nominal and inadequate to fix most of the damages they usually incur.

The MP whose ears are always on the ground with regards to happenings in his constituency got wind of the radio discussion and the plight of the people of Canteen which was topical.He immediately contacted the presenter on Sunday to ascertain the situation,and promised to support the community fix the damaged pump the next day,Monday.
The MP enquired from the District manager to confirm the extent of the damage and how he can support fix the challenge.

The legislator through the local committee managing the two mechanized boreholes in Canteen,opinion and community leaders,his rep and the radio presenter then handed a cash sum of Ghc1000.00 to the District branch of the GWCL to help fix the challenge.
In receiving the money, the District manager thanked the MP, admitting that the amount far exceeded their expectation.Together with the endorsement of his pump attendant,he promised to fix the damaged pump within the next 24 hours.

The chief of Canteen,opinion leaders and the chief Iman who were briefed about the donation,together with the delegation that presented the sum to the District GWCL expressed profound gratitude to the MP for the kind gesture.The community at large is full of praise for the MP.

It can be confirmed that the situation at Yagbonkura has equally been fixed the next day after the radio discussion. There is also currently,a bandwagon by the youth to clean the weedy area around the soon-to-be fixed borehole in Canteen on Friday in the forenoon.

The MP is expected to complete some five(5) mechanized boreholes project he started for communities such as Busunu,Tailorpe,Achubunyor and Sumpini by the end of the year up to the first quarter of 2019.He disclosed in a phone-interview with this writer that,he has secured additional 12 hand pump boreholes for some communities dotted around the constituency under his 'self-initiated mechanized boreholes project' as part of effort to provide clean and adequate water supply to the entire Damongo constituency.

Source:Village Writer (AB)