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The Youth group under the Navrongo-Bolgatanga Catholic Dioceses has embarked on a Peace Forum Mission in the Upper East region.

The programme is anchored on the theme “Covid-19: Ensuring conflict- Sensitive Response”. It seeks to promote peaceful coexistence within and outside the Diocesan family. The forum is also to mobilise and unite diverse youth groups as well as key state institutions and opinion leaders in various communities in the region.

The Diocesan Youth council stated that a survey that was conducted by the Council points to the fact that the Covid-19 pandemic has negatively affected many young people in communities. According to the survey, the impact of the pandemic on the youth has affected their businesses forcing some of them to engage in bad activities.

Speaking to A1News, Rev. Father, Clement Ajongba who is the Diocesan Youth Chaplain, said, the Diocesan Youth Council finds it necessary to embark on this mission in order to have effective peaceful coexistence among the teeming youth regardless of their political or religious affiliation in the various communities.

“The peace forum is for all youth groups with diverse backgrounds. It is organised by the Diocesan Youth Council and sponsored by CRS Ghana. The essence is to bring young people from diverse backgrounds together to promote peace”.

“The more young people interact with each other, the more they share ideas and the more they see themselves as one. That will bring social cohesion. So the essence is simply to bring young people from diverse backgrounds such as; religious, political and other minority groups together to discuss issues affecting them”

Rev. Father. Ajongba noted that the mission his outfit has embarked on does not in any way discourage youth from belonging to any political party or religious group or any social groups but they are only encouraging the youth to be respectful of the opinion of others.

Opinion leaders, Assembly Members and Heads of Institutions, and leaders of youth groups across the Upper East region who were at the programme were all applauded Diocesan Youth council for the initiative.

According to them, it will go a long way to help foster unity that will lead to the development of the region and beyond.

The Navrongo-Bolgatanga Catholic Diocesan Development Organisation (NABOCADO), has called on the government to ensure timely and regular disbursement of the capitation grants, to promote effective administration of schools.

It said government’s inability to release capitation grants on time and on regular basis over the years, was adversely affecting quality academic work and other activities as schools could not expand development nor provide teaching and learning materials for the students.

It said for the past two years, schools had not received their entitled capitation grants, “the government owes almost all the schools, it has now prioritised and given them in bulk which does not reflect capitation grant as it was supposed to be per head, adding that and this does not meet the needs of the schools.”

This was contained in a communique read by Dr Joseph Ayembilla, the Human Development Coordinator, NABCADO, at the end of a wider stakeholder engagement in Bolgtanga, Upper East Region.

The engagement was part of an advocacy plan being implemented by the Good Governance, Justice and Peace Directorate of NABOCADO, with financial support from the Hungary Helps of Hungary.

The project was aimed at improving access to health and education delivery in North East and Upper East Regions especially schools and health facilities within the diocese.

It attracted stakeholders from health and education in both regions including community health committees and school management committees.

The communique, noted that the project being piloted using the social accountability mechanism in 11 health facilities and 13 schools in the diocese, identified various gaps hindering quality education and health delivery especially in the rural areas.

The communique further revealed that most of the schools did not have adequate infrastructure while other schools were learning under trees and urged the government to expand the infrastructure base of schools to improve upon teaching and learning and increase enrollment.

“On inadequate and timely supply of logistics, we urge the Minister of Education to follow up on his promise on provision of basic but critical logistics such as textbooks.

“We are also asking the management of the Ghana Education Service to ensure equitable posting of teachers and ensure teacher retention,” it added.

On health, the communique stated that apart from inadequate infrastructure deficit that impeded quality health care especially in the rural areas, there was the need for stronger collaboration to ensure that special incentives were designed to motivate health staff to stay and work in rural communities.

It added, “Government must commit to the contractual agreement of three months reimbursement period and ensure regular reimbursement of the National Health Insurance Scheme claims to provide effective and efficient quality health care, prioritising rural health facilities that are without alternatives.”

Navrongo (U/E), Feb. 13, GNA – Most Reverend Alfred Agyenta, the Bishop of the Navrongo-Bolgatanga Diocese of the Catholic Church in the Upper East Region, says the belief among some members of the public that politics and Christianity are incompatible is false.

“There are some people who think that being a Christian and a politician at the same time are two incompatible ways of life. This way of thinking is probably inspired by the common saying that politics is a dirty game.

“The truth of the matter is that, politics is not dirty, rather, it is we, humans, who are dirty, and have made politics dirty. It is we human beings who tainted politics with our greed and selfishness, acrimony and violence,” he said.

The Bishop said this in a sermon at the burial service of the late former Member of Parliament (MP) for the Navrongo Central Constituency, Mr Joseph Kofi Adda, held in Navrongo, in the Kassena-Nankana Municipality.

Bishop Agyenta said people had turned the noble profession of politics into a money-making venture and enterprise, giving it a bad name, but “Politics by nature is a divinely ordained profession.”

“Unfortunately, for many people today, politics is a disgusting word, and this is often due to the mistakes, the corruption and inefficiency of some politicians. Politics is a lofty vocation and one of the highest forms of charity,” he said.

He said the commandment to love your neighbour becomes more compelling for politicians who had committed themselves to promote the common good of all.

“True and genuine politics is not possible without the embrace of some transcending values that challenge us to look beyond the immediate interest of election victories,” Bishop Agyenta added.

He said the teachings of Jesus Christ as contained in the beatitudes clearly defined some of the values that should guide politicians in their political career, “Espousing these values inevitably leads to the practice of politics that places the common good of all above everything.

“Blessed are the poor in spirt. This reminds us that politics is not about enriching one self or amassing wealth. It is about having a gallant attitude towards the material goods of this earth, and as leaders, to make sure that no one is left behind in the distribution of these goods.”

He said the late Mr Adda had played his part in politics to the best of his ability, and prayed for the peaceful repose of his soul in the bosom of the Lord, and also prayed to God to comfort his family for the loss.

In a tribute delivered on his behalf President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo acknowledged the contributions of the late former MP and called on all to reflect on his life and contribution to development and democracy in Ghana.

He said Mr Adda’s contribution should serve as a guide for individuals to trend the path of dedication and commitment towards nation building, and embrace the mind-set of nationalism and patriotism in their endeavours.

“Ghana is grateful for your service in various capacities. May the Almighty God keep you safe till we meet again,” President Akufo-Addo said in the tribute.

A Government delegation, led by Vice President Alhaji Dr Mahamudu Bawumia and some Members of Parliament from both the Majority and Minority sides attended the funeral service.

Mr Adda, who was also a former Minister for Aviation, died in October 14, 2021 after a short illness, and was buried in his hometown, Pungu, in the Municipality.

He left behind two children.

Bolgatanga, Jan. 1, GNA – Lack of text books to complement the new curriculum at basic schools is adversely affecting academic work, a survey has revealed.

Teachers complained that the training given them when the new curriculum was introduced two years ago was not enough to understand and interpret the Teacher’s Resource Pack and Leaner’s Resources Pack given to them to teach the children.

It said the materials rather confused most of the teachers and did not help them to impart knowledge to the children as required by the new system.

The study was conducted by the Good Governance, Justice and Peace Directorate of the Navrongo-Bolgatanga Catholic Diocesan Development Organisation (NABOCADO) and made known to the Ghana News Agency on the sidelines of an evaluation exercise held in Bolgatanga in the Upper East Region.

The Organisation therefore appealed to the government to supply the appropriate textbooks to all schools to enhance teaching and learning.

The survey, which had financial support from the Hungary Helps Programme was meant to find out the challenges that affected service delivery in the educational and health sectors in the Diocese (Upper East and North East Regions).

Mr Emmanuel Gazari, the Planning Officer, Catholic Education Unit, NABOCADO, explained that apart from the lack of textbooks, more than 80 per cent of children at the basic level were learning on the bare floor due to furniture deficit.

“The best among all the school we found was four children sitting on one dual desk and the rest had to lie on their stomachs to write and this affects their handwriting, attention, and have other health complication,” he said.

Mr Gazari also noted that the delay in the release of Capitation Grants was having a toll on the administration of the schools and appealed to the government to address the situation.

“When we went round, the teachers told us that they did not receive Capitation Grants since the 2018/2019 academic year until the last quarter of 2021 and since the government has banned the payment of levies by parents, it should find a way to ensure regular flow of the Capitation Grants,” he added.

On health, Mr Peter Akudugu Ayamba, the Coordinator of Primary Health, NABOCADO, said the survey revealed that many health facilities were constrained by infrastructure deficit which was hampering quality health delivery.

He said disbursement of the National Health Insurance Scheme claims was also irregular and called on the government to step up efforts to ensure that claims were paid to promote quality healthcare.

Dr Joseph Ayembilla, the Human Development Coordinator, NABOCADO, said the project dubbed “education and heath infrastructure-Northeast Ghana” was aimed at advocating and collaborating with major stakeholders to improve on equitable and quality education and health which were key to human life.

He said the Catholic Church existed through its works to complement government’s efforts and urged the government to provide the needed infrastructure to boost development.

The evaluation exercise brought together representatives from the Catholic Health Services, Catholic Education Directorate, catholic schools, management committees of catholic schools and community health facilities across the Diocese.

Bolgatanga, Nov 26, GNA-A total of 5,534 girls under 20 years, in the Upper East Region, got pregnant in the first 10 months of 2021, the Catholic Health Service of the Navrongo-Bolgatanga Diocesan Development Organization (NABOCADO) has said.

Monitoring and Management Committees in the Health and Education facilities under the jurisdiction of the Catholic Diocese of Navrongo-Bolgatanga have been trained as part of efforts to ensure community participation and quality service delivery.

The community-level training, under the Good Governance, Justice and Peace Directorate, is to train the committees in 11 health facilities and 20 schools within the diocese.

The project, with funding from the Hungary Helps Programme, is aimed at empowering the committees with knowledge and skills to act as citizens monitoring groups and a linkage between the facilities and their respective communities for effective collaboration and improved service delivery.

Each Committee comprises major stakeholders in the community including the chief, leaders of women and youth groups, assembly members and staff of the facility, among others and they are to monitor, track and demand quality service from the facilities and report to the communities on the happenings at the facilities.

Addressing members of the health committee at St Patrick Health Centre, Wulugu, Mr Joseph Bangu, the Director of Good Governance, Justice and Peace, explained that the Hungary Helps Programme was a collective approach aimed at increasing and strengthening the infrastructure base in health and education and service delivery through advocacy and capacity building.

He said the facility committees training which was a step-down approach would empower the major stakeholders in the various communities to work with the management of the health and school facilities and the beneficiary communities to enhance service delivery and effective collaboration.

The Director explained that the citizens’ monitoring groups would use a scorecard to rank the performance of the facilities, identify service delivery gaps and the results would be used to engage policy makers to address challenges to quality education and healthcare, especially maternal and child health.

“The Committee’s main function will be to periodically come and track the reimbursement of NHIS claims, number of beds, safe deliveries, and state of the structure, among other essential services so that at the end of it we collectively sit down and see how the facility is performing,” he added.

Mr Bangu said the project was on a pilot basis for a year and plans were in place to scale it up to some public institutions and added that the Catholic Church was providing access to health and education opportunities to rural dwellers.
Mr Peter Akudugu Ayamba, the Primary Healthcare Coordinator of the Diocesan Health Services, noted that NABODCADO and its partners had over the years contributed to improving health care delivery within the diocese, especially in rural communities.

“If you look at the location of the health facilities, you would realize that we are not there to compete with Ghana Health Service but we are complementing government’s effort at providing essential services to hard-to-reach communities,” he stated.

Reverend Samuel Ngumah and Mr Theophilus Abolga, facilitators of the training, urged members of the committees to avoid partisan politics and work to enhance the wellbeing of their people.

Mr Bismarck Adu-Agyapong, the Health Promotion Officer, Ghana Health Service, West Mamprusi Municipality lauded NABOCADO and Hungary Helps Programme for the training and said it would build a cordial relationship between members of the communities and the service providers.

Bolgatanga, Oct. 8, GNA – The Navrongo- Bolgatanga Catholic Diocesan Development Organisation (NABOCADO) has begun a three-day workshop to equip its workers with advocacy skills to facilitate the implementation of programmes in Health and Education.

The Navrongo-Bolgatanga Catholic Diocesan Development Office (NABOCADO), has constructed a solar mechanized farm for rural women in Gorogo in the Talensi District of the Upper East Region.

The intervention is to empower rural women by providing them with an alternative livelihood, through irrigation farming, to enhance their income levels and reduce rural-urban migration.

Speaking at the commissioning of the project in Gorogo, NABOCADO’s Human Development Coordinator, Dr. Joseph Ayembilla, described the project as a game-changer and appealed to other investors to support the socio-economic development of women to end poverty.

“The project is targeting the children by empowering their mothers to focus on cultivating local vegetables for improved food security and nutrition. The excess vegetables cultivated would be sold to generate income for the women to provide other basic necessities in the home.

The project covers 18 communities across the diocese and targets 12 communities for the provision of solar mechanized water systems for irrigated vegetable cultivation.

“If women are supported to cultivate vegetables without cost all-year-round, our children will be healthy; their performance will improve, and it will improve the human resource capital of the area,” he said.

Bishop of the Navrongo-Bolgatanga Diocese, Alfred Agyenta, urged the women to eschew negative behaviours and work in synergy to achieve their common goal.

He expressed his gratitude to all donors who supported NABOCADO to provide the solar irrigation equipment and appealed to the women to take proper care of the facilities.

Some women told Citi News the project will help alleviate the poverty in the area.

Diana Zong said, “the benefits from this irrigation farm is that vegetables grown here are organic, and that protects us against diseases and makes us healthy. We can also sell some vegetables to support our children in school and reserve some for the upkeep of the home.”

“Initially, we used to cook dry vegetables which were sometimes tasteless, but with this irrigation farm, we will have fresh vegetables all-year-round to eat and remain healthier than before,” Mrs. Joana stated.