News

LaDMA Qualities for 2022 Department.

LaDMA has achieved a major milestone in its quest for development with the successful qualification for the 2022 Department assessment. This assessment, conducted in September 2022, has given the municipality the green light to access funding for its various developmental projects and programs.

The assessment involved a rigorous evaluation of the municipality’s financial management systems, internal controls, and overall governance practices. The results showed that LaDMA had met all the required standards and had demonstrated a strong commitment to accountability, transparency, and good governance.

This qualification comes as a great boost to the municipality’s efforts to improve the living standards of its residents. With access to funding, LaDMA can now undertake more developmental projects in areas such as education, healthcare, sanitation, and infrastructure.

The MCE, Hon. Solomon Niikoi, expressed his delight at the news, stating that it was a testament to the hard work and dedication of the staff and management of LaDMA. He also assured the residents that the municipality would continue to work tirelessly to provide them with better services and facilities.

With this qualification, LaDMA is well-positioned to continue its developmental agenda and to make significant strides in improving the lives of its residents.

LA DADE-KOTOPON MUNICIPAL ASSEMBLY CELEBRATES 38TH FARMERS DAY

On Friday, 2nd December 2022, the La Dade-Kotopon Municipal Assembly (LaDMA) celebrated the 38th edition of the annual Farmers Day at the forecourt of the Ghana International Trade Fair Center. The theme for this year’s event was “Accelerating Agricultural Development Through Value Addition.”

The celebration was organized to honor farmers and fisherfolk for their contributions to the nation’s food security and agricultural sector growth. LaDMA set up a Farmers’ Day Celebrations Planning Committee with members nominated from various departments to ensure the success of the program. Sub-committees were also created to undertake specific roles, and a report of their activities is attached as an annex to the draft report.

The celebration was graced by about 200 people, including the Member of Parliament, Hon. Rita Odoley Sowah, the Hon. MCE Rev. Solomon Kotey Nikoi, Traditional Leaders, Heads of Clan Houses of La, Religious Leaders, members of the media, dignitaries, security agencies, farmers, fisherfolk, families of farmers and fisherfolk, Hon. Assembly Members, Unit Committee Members, Heads of Department and staff of the Assembly, and the general public.

The celebration began with an opening prayer led by Rev. Daniel Tsumasi Yeboah, the General Overseer-Bible Chapel International Church, followed by the recital of the National Pledge by all present. Lawyer Frank Davies, Esq. was introduced as the Chairman for the occasion, and he accepted the role, expressing gratitude for being chosen among many others.

The Municipal Director of Agriculture welcomed everyone to the function and shared the department’s achievements during the year and projections for the coming year. The overall best farmer for the year 2022 used the opportunity to congratulate his fellow competitors for their hard work towards agriculture within the Municipality. He urged his fellow farmers to make farming lucrative to attract the youth into the sector to achieve the government’s aim of promoting youth in agriculture.

The MCE led the dignitaries to inspect the exhibition stands set up by the farmers in display of foodstuffs and livestock amid musical interlude. In the MCE’s keynote address, he congratulated all farmers, fisherfolk, and other value chain actors for their vital roles in providing food for consumption and raw materials for industry.

The Hon. MCE indicated that, the municipality is shifting focus from primary production to post-harvest handling and processing of agricultural produce, given the high demand for land for other purposes. The municipality is providing trainings and facilitations to encourage farmers to venture into processing and other alternative investments to improve their living conditions.

The celebration was a success, and LaDMA remains committed to supporting farmers, fisherfolk, and other value chain actors in the provision of food security and the growth of the agricultural sector.

NATIONAL SANITATION DAY MARKED IN LA MUNICIPALITY

The La Dade-Kotopon Municipal Assembly (Ladma) on Saturday December 3, 2022 marked the national sanitation day across the ten electoral areas. The assembly over the years has been undertaking the exercise to improve sanitation issues in the municipality.

The assembly members, staff, and community members took part in the exercise. The MCE for LaDMA, Mr Solomon Kotey Nikoi said the monthly sanitation day has come to stay and it is important that members of the municipality keep their environment clean to avoid communicable diseases. He asked the citizenry to value their lives by ensuring that their surroundings are clean.The MCE mentioned that the sanitation officers would arrest and prosecute offenders of the sanitation byelaws.

LaDMA Welcomes MMDA on 2022 Budget Hearing.

LaDMA welcomed five MMDAs from the Greater Accra Region for the presentation of the 2023 composite budget on October 2022. The meeting was well attended, and the atmosphere was cordial as officials discussed various issues relating to the budget.

The meeting was chaired by the MCE of LaDMA, Hon. Solomon Niikoi, who welcomed the MMDAs to the Municipality. He expressed his gratitude to the MMDAs for coming and commended them for their commitment to working together to improve the lives of the people in the region.

The MCE also thanked the staff of LaDMA who worked tirelessly to organize the event and ensure its success. He reiterated the commitment of the Municipality to promoting transparency and accountability in its activities.

During the meeting, various issues were discussed, including revenue generation, infrastructure development, sanitation, and education. The MMDAs were given the opportunity to ask questions and provide feedback on the budget.

Overall, the meeting was a success, and the MMDAs were pleased with the progress made by LaDMA. They expressed their commitment to working together to ensure the development of the region and improve the lives of its people.

STUDENTS EDUCATED ON HIV/AIDS MENACE

The La Dade-Kotopon Municipal Assembly (LaDMA) has taken a step towards educating students on the dangers of HIV/AIDS through a program aimed at raising awareness of the menace. The program, which was organized in collaboration with the Ghana Health Service and the Ghana Education Service, was targeted at students in junior and senior high schools in the municipality.

The program featured educational sessions on the causes and effects of HIV/AIDS, as well as the various ways of preventing the disease. The sessions were interactive and allowed students to ask questions and seek clarifications on any issues related to HIV/AIDS.

Speaking about the initiative, the Municipal Chief Executive of LaDMA, Hon. Solomon Niikoi, noted that the program was part of the municipality’s efforts to promote healthy lifestyles and reduce the prevalence of HIV/AIDS in the municipality. He further emphasized the importance of education and awareness-raising in addressing the issue of HIV/AIDS.

The program was well-received by students and teachers in the municipality, with many expressing appreciation for the efforts of LaDMA and its partners in organizing the program. It is hoped that the program will contribute to the reduction of HIV/AIDS cases in the municipality and promote a healthy and informed society.

LaDMA HOLDS YOUTH PARLIAMENT

The La Dade Kotopon Municipal Assembly (LaDMA) held a youth parliament in November 2022, which aimed to provide a platform for young people to express their views on important issues affecting their communities. The event was attended by students from various schools in the municipality and provided an opportunity for them to engage in constructive dialogue with policymakers and decision-makers.

The theme for the youth parliament was “Youth Participation in Local Governance: The Role of Young People in Promoting Development.” It was aimed at empowering young people to become active citizens and to play an active role in shaping the development of their communities.

During the event, the youth delegates discussed a wide range of issues, including youth unemployment, education, health, sanitation, and security. They also shared their ideas on how to improve the delivery of services to the youth and other vulnerable groups in the municipality.

The youth parliament was a resounding success, and the participants were commended for their insightful contributions and active participation. The LaDMA officials promised to incorporate some of the ideas generated during the event into their policies and programs aimed at promoting youth development in the municipality.

The event also provided an opportunity for the young people to network and build relationships with other youth leaders in the municipality. It is hoped that this will foster collaboration and inspire the youth to work together to address common challenges and contribute to the development of their communities.

In conclusion, the LaDMA youth parliament is a clear demonstration of the Assembly’s commitment to promoting youth participation in local governance and development. It is a step in the right direction, and it is hoped that more initiatives like this will be organized in the future to further empower the youth to become active citizens and agents of change in their communities.

EMPOWERING COMMUNITIES: CHILD PROTECTION EDUCATION AT TENASHIE, RANGOON, AND GHANA POLICE SCHOOLS

As part of its yearly activities, the Department embarked on a child protection sensitization and education campaign in some public schools in La, Ghana. The selected schools visited during the exercise were Tenashie, Rangoon, and Ghana Police School located at Ako-Adjei, Cantonment, and 37-DVLA office, respectively.

The first school visited was Tenashie Basic and Junior High School. On June 1, 2022, the staff of the Department arrived at Tenashie School at about 8:30 am on Wednesday morning. During their worship hours, the children were taken through the child protection activity of “who does what.” During this exercise, the facilitator displayed flashcards of the different professions and asked the pupils to identify which profession was reserved for either male or female genders or unanimous to both genders.

After the activity, the facilitator explained that the moral of the exercise was for children to understand that there are no jobs or professions reserved for a particular gender or sex. Every child has equal opportunity to join or become a professional in any field they have interest in. The staff then engaged the pupils in a balloon game to demonstrate how children are affected by negative social vices such as peer pressure and sexual exploitation. They advised the students not to let down their guard as they climb higher in their educational endeavors. They should protect themselves like a balloon, as their future is like a balloon and can easily burst if they don’t take good care and protect it.

A total of 77 pupils, 32 males and 45 females, and 5 teachers, 3 males and 2 females, were reached at Tenashie School.

The staff of the Department then visited Rangoon School on June 3, 2022, at about 12:00 pm on Friday afternoon. The children were taken through the child protection activity of “who does what.” The facilitators were divided into three, with two staffs going to the upper primary classes and one going to the J.H.S classes to engage the children in various activities on child protection.

In the upper primary classes, the facilitators distributed Zee Cards to the children. The Zee Card tool was used to educate children on their rights and responsibilities as children. Some of the rights and responsibilities discussed were; children have the right to be proud of their heritage and beliefs, and the responsibility to respect the origins and beliefs of others, children have the right to a good education, and the responsibility is to study and respect their teachers, children have the right to make mistakes, and the responsibility to learn from their mistakes.

This helped them to understand that all children have equal rights, hence prohibiting unfair treatments, respecting others in a humane way, and also protecting themselves from violence and abuse and not bullying or harming each other. Pupils from Primary five (5) and six (6) were engaged in a spoon full of life game to depict how children go through life’s challenges (social vices) by holding a spoon of water in their arms and are expected to cross a finish line. The role of the other children was to attack or distract their mates from reaching the finish line with any water left in their spoons. The attackers are considered to be the various social vices such as peer pressure, teenage pregnancies, abuse, and exploitations suffered by children when growing into adulthood.

In the J.H.S classes, the facilitator displayed flashcards of the different professions and asked the pupils to identify which profession was reserved for either male or female genders or unanimous to both genders. After the activity, the facilitator explained that the moral of the exercise was for children to understand that there are no jobs or professions reserved for a particular gender or sex. Every child has equal opportunity to join or become a professional in

 

WOMEN RECEIVED TRAINING IN AGRO PROCESSING

The agriculture department of La Dade-Kotopon Municipal Assembly has trained a number of women’s groups in the processing of various grains, vegetables and fruit juices to help improve the nutritional well-being of their households and to strengthen their income generation capacities.

The training included extensions services through home, field visits organise farmer and staff trainings, and linking farmer based organisations to the needed service providers.

The municipal director of agriculture, Mrs Emelia Monney said that the training has become necessary to empower women in the municipality to contribute into the local economy. She said the initiative would go a long way to change their stories in the years ahead.

Some of the trainees thanked the management for initiative and called for wider publicity to attract a lot of citizenry to get the training. They said when this is done women in the municipality can take good care of their homes.

SAD END OF OUR LAGOONS

The Bible makes it clear how God wanted humanity to take good care of creation. In the Garden of Eden, rivers flowed out to water the garden. The Lord God by His wisdom put the man in the Garden of Eden to take care of it and not to destroy it.

What do we see now in Ghana, apart from galamsayers destroying our forests and water bodies? Let us not lose sight on what is going on in our major towns where there is no gold or diamond to mine. Looking at the coastal areas of Ghana it seems people have lost sight on how our water bodies are being destroyed by unpatriotic Ghanaians and aliens for development.

I would like to limit myself to Greater Accra Region where almost all the Lagoons have been destroyed by developers. The Kpeshie lagoon, Sangoe Lagoon, Mukwe Lagoon, Sakumo Lagoon, the Korley Lagoon, Blekeser Lagoon and Tsemu lagoon all have all been destroyed.

Greediness and mental illness has compelled minority of people to war against water bodies in our beloved country, Ghana. After taking time to tour some of the lagoon sites, I realized that the damage done to the region was huge and if care is not taken, one day the whole region would be consume by floodwaters.

The lagoons, which are to hold on to water whenever it rains, have been developed on. Any time it rains these areas get flooded and monies meant for development has to be channeled there in the form of relief items. The country’s development has delayed because some people in authority do not have the country at heart. Development is a process and not an event, so I wonder why the authorities look on unconcerned to tolerate people to develop those areas at the detriment of the country resources.

The harm that has been cause to the country by building on waterways without permit is unacceptable. I want to find out whether the laws of Ghana were made to decorate our law books or to check and correct wrongdoing, or to favour particular class of people in the country. Minority of the people are enriching themselves at the expense of the majority and the same unpatriotic people turn to blame government, call on government for support to address the mess caused by them.

 Why should we mitigate against our own land? We as citizenry have allowed party politics to destroy us. We call wrong right and right wrong because of politics.The road to stop developers on the catchment areas of the affected lagoons and waterways in the region would not be an easy task, looking at the brains behind the filing and marketing of these lagoon enclaves.

It will take a well-defined sense of commitment to put an end to what is happening on daily basis at the catchment areas of our water bodies. The nation crave for the protection of our water bodies and the forests but the authorities have done too little to wage war against encroachers at the enclave of water bodies. The encroachers hold on to the false belief that they can do whatever they like for their selfish interest because those who are responsible to take action  have sold their integrity to these enemies of the country.

Looking at the way these unpatriotic people operate, one can clearly see that they have the backing from some authorities. I believe that if the various district assemblies are doing their core mandate by demolishing structures on water bodies and waterways on time, it will frighten others to replicate what the others has suffered for. The assemblies should not wait for developers to do more than 0.01 percent of work before pulling down their structures at our water bodies and waterways. The assemblies should collaborate with the military or the police to wage war against unauthorized developers on the water bodies.

The assemblies should surcharge the developers with the cost of demolition. I also urge the assemblies to embark on public education, call for stakeholders meetings, using both the print and the electronic media to give mass education to the populace. Let us as one people defend our water bodies and stop grieving the spirit of the Lord God. The battle is the Lord’s.

 May the Lord bless our Homeland Ghana.

GLOBAL CITIZENSHIP WEEK: PROMOTING UNITY AND COLLABORATION ACROSS BORDERS

Global Citizenship Week is an annual event that aims to encourage individuals to become global citizens and take action to address global challenges. This weeklong celebration is held every year in October and is an opportunity for people around the world to come together to promote unity, collaboration, and a shared responsibility for the world we live in.

The theme for Global Citizenship Week 2022 is “Building Back Better: Achieving a Sustainable Future for All.” This theme emphasizes the need to work together to address the world’s most pressing challenges, including poverty, inequality, climate change, and social injustice. The focus is on promoting sustainability, equity, and inclusivity, and encouraging individuals to take meaningful action to make a positive difference in the world.

Global Citizenship Week is an important opportunity to recognize the interconnectedness of our world and the importance of promoting unity and collaboration across borders. The week’s activities include workshops, discussions, and community events that encourage participants to learn about global issues and take action to address them.

One of the key goals of Global Citizenship Week is to promote education and awareness about global issues. Through educational activities and events, individuals can learn about the challenges facing our world and how they can make a positive impact. By promoting awareness and understanding, Global Citizenship Week aims to inspire individuals to become agents of change in their communities.

In addition to promoting education and awareness, Global Citizenship Week also aims to foster a sense of unity and collaboration across borders. By working together, individuals can achieve greater impact and create lasting change. Through collaborative efforts, individuals can share ideas and resources, build networks, and promote innovation.

Global Citizenship Week is a celebration of our shared responsibility for the world we live in and the importance of working together to address global challenges. It is an opportunity to recognize the interconnectedness of our world and to promote unity and collaboration across borders. By taking action and promoting sustainability, equity, and inclusivity, we can build a brighter, more just, and more sustainable future for all.