STIGMA HOLDS BACK MENTAL HEALTH IN GHANA
By Jamila Akweley Okertchiri

In 1982, Bernard Akumiah, together with his older brother, built a two-in-one apartment on a plot of land they bought with profits they had made from a business they started.

“My brother brought the capital and I the knowledge and expertise for the business,” says Bernard, 56, and now a user of the psychotropic drugs.

Things started going wrong just a few months after they moved into their new building at Dansoman.

“My brother would go and drink and then come and insult me and mistreat me in front of his friends and people that I am older than,” he says.

Bernard says that his brother’s behavior towards him depressed him.

“It all started when I began to hear sounds like that of what the mosquitoes make in my apartment,” says Bernard. “When I slept I felt like someone was testing my hearing impulse to see if I was alive, so I couldn’t sleep. I would open my eyes and also notice that the light in my room was being regulated, they would dim and brighten, but there was no one in my room.”
He was also hearing some unusual voices, people speaking to him in a language he couldn’t understand.

Fear, Bernard says, was his number one symptom. “If I am in a vehicle and I happen to sit by the door it feels like the door will open and I will fall out of the moving vehicle.”

He notes that he started perceiving everybody was after his life. “As we are sitting down here I would begin to think you are planning to kill me,” he says.

After living with the situation for about six months, he was taken to the psychiatric hospital for treatment.

“At first I didn’t understand myself. I would usually lose my memory, but now I can remember a few things with the medicine I am taking.”

Bernard says he has been to the hospital a couple of times after his admission for review and with the help of his doctors medications; he was able to regain self-consciousness.
“All I do now is to take my medicine at night to enable me sleep,” he says.

Stigmatization

Bernard is now a volunteer at the Mental Health Society of Ghana (MEHSOG), and helps represent the needs and interests of people with mental illnesses. He is still discriminated against.
He says people’s attitudes towards him haven’t changed.

“At first I had a lot of family support, they would even bring me food so I didn’t eat the food prepared at the hospital but when I was discharged, there was something like discrimination.”
He says some of his friends and family would avoid seeing him even though he was not violent.
“When they have grouped and I am coming and they see me they will disperse so when I also see that I do not go near them,” he says.

Bernard says the stigma he encountered from his friends and some family members didn’t help with his recovery.

But with the care and love shown him by his church members and some faithful friends, he was able to endure and undergo a successful treatment period.

Dr. Akwasi Osei, director of the Accra Psychiatric Hospital, says stigmatization of mentally ill people and their caregivers is quite high.

“There is stigmatization about the condition, stigmatization around the person with the condition and stigma is attached to the people who work in the area of mental illness,” Dr. Osei says.

“We don’t have enough mental health personnel all over the country, because of this discrimination people don’t want to enter the field. You need to be really interested in mental health to practice it in Ghana,” he says.

Dr. Osei attributes stigmatization of mentally ill persons to the fear of the unknown.
“People don’t know exactly what mental illness is and what causes it, and if you don’t know what is causing it then they have reason to fear it,” he says, “People assume a person with mental illness is dangerous.”

He says that because people are credulous beings and want to believe something that they don’t know, they turn to associate superstition with mental illness which further sinks in the attitude of stigma.

This, Dr. Osei says, hinders the treatment of the illness as people with that condition would not want to come out openly and seek treatment because of stigma.

Even after patients have been discharged they often don’t come for review because of the stigma.
But the stigma is not as high as it once was, says Dr. Osei. “If it were to be ten years ago and people saw you entering this place, they will assume you have mental illness but that is not the case now.”

He says there is the need for proper systems to be put in place to educate the public about the illness in order to further reduce the stigma and enhance support for mental patients.

Mental Health System in Ghana

There are three mental health facilities in the country that are only located in the southern regions. “Up north, where the bulk of the patients come from, we don’t have any mental health facility,” says Dr. Osei.

The facilities are institutionally based and, according to Dr. Osei, receive insufficient funding from government, the sole financier of the mental healthcare in the country. “Our system for mental healthcare is quite poor,” he says.

The government spends one per cent of its budget on mental health care. Dr. Osei says it should be increased to at least seven per cent.

“Mental health takes about nine per cent of the burden of disease in the country so why should it have only one per cent of the budget?” he asks.

The current situation coupled with lack of practicing psychiatrists, which number 12 in Ghana, and the refusal of family members to come for their relatives after they have been discharged, has over burdened the healthcare system.

The Accra psychiatric hospital used to have 1,200 patients with only 500 beds. That number has been reduced to 800 patients through the hospital’s program to return treated patients back home.

A nurse, who wants to remain anonymous, says that the hospital has a new 72 hour ward where new patients are kept and assessed before making a decision on whether that patient should be admitted or discharged.

Dr. Osei says that although the government bares the cost for the purchase of the medicines, it is expensive, and supplies remain limited. Risperidone Conste, which is taken every two weeks by the patients, costs GH¢150.

“There are no rapid results when it comes to treating mental illness,” says Dr. Osei. “Treatment can take years so when you don’t get rapid results people don’t feel too encouraged and so take their relatives to prayer camps where they are sometimes chained and their human rights abused.”

Dr. Osei also express concern over the remuneration of the workers in the psychiatric hospital taking into consideration the threat of attack they face in their line of duty. “You ask yourself, ‘Do I want to spend the rest of my life in this facility? No, I would rather go to a place that is more homely,” he says.

Eric, a health assistant at one of the wards at the Accra psychiatric hospital, says he was once attacked by one of the patients when he was on duty.

“I was going to the urinal when I realized one of the patients was behind me, when I turned I saw his hands in the air like he wanted to slap me so I dodged and with the help of some other patients, we took him to came and assisted me to take him to circulation and stabilized him.”
He says he was lucky not to have been injured but some other workers who are not fortunate get wounded by attacks from patients. “Working here is dangerous, sometimes you get wounded and if you are not careful things will not be the same for you.”

The health assistant adds that the workers are always on their guard because of the unsuspected that might occur.

“You must be very careful when you are working here,” Eric says.

Mental Health Bill and the Future

Ghana is yet to pass the Mental Health Bill which is part of the group of health bills currently before Parliament.

The Mental Health Bill was first put before Parliament in 2006. It has gone through its first and second readings and is now at the consideration stage.

Sulemana B.B Bening, Principal Health Planner at the Ministry of Health is confident the mental health bill will soon be passed into law.

“For the mental health bill, I can stick out my neck that before the end of the first quarter of the year, the president will assign his signature to it,” Sulemana says.

Humphrey Kofie, executive secretary of MEHSOG, also says the health committee of parliament has assured the society the bill will be passed by the end of March 2012.

Dr. Osei believes it is a major stride for mental health care.

He believes that with the passage of the bill, the current situation of mental health care will be reversed.

“Healthcare will be community oriented instead of institutionalized, a mental health board and a trust to collect funds for mental healthcare will be established, it will also provide the enforcement power to end rights abuse of mental patients and a department for public education to further reduce stigma and train as well as monitor traditional healers will be established,” he notes.

Dr. Osei adds that the problem of funding will also be solved once the bill is passed.
“The moment the bill is read, the ministry will make an amendment to create the mental health fund and when this is done, most of the problem will be solved” Sulemana says.
He notes that after the bill is passed it will move to the legislative committee who will work alongside key stakeholders and experts in the field to develop alongside with experts to develop the Legislative Instrument.

However, Humphrey believes if the law is passed without a legislative instrument to enforce it, it might end up like the disability law, which has not been enforced for six years for lack of an LI to implement it.

“The future is the legislative instrument,” he says.

Five years of false hope?
Disabled still struggle after 2006 law
By Jamila Akweley Okertchiri

In 2006, there was hope for the disabled. A new law had been passed guaranteeing free education and training, accessibility to public places and accessible transportation.

However, five years after the passage of the law, disabled persons still cannot access all public places. They cannot get on a vehicle. And they are still discriminated against.

“The challenge we face is that of people thinking or feeling or believing that people with disability do not deserve to live, or to exist,” says Max Vardon, executive secretary of the National Council on Persons with Disability (NCPD).

The Persons with Disability Act (PDA) was supposed to make it possible for the disabled to fully enjoy the rights enshrined in Article 29 of the 1992 Constitution of the republic of Ghana.
It further called for the creation of disability desks at employment centers nationwide, as well as the creation of the NCPD, which is supposed to oversee the implementation of some national programs for disabled people.

However, some stakeholders have yet to implement the provisions, while others are moving at a snail’s pace.

Issues such as discrimination, making public buildings disability friendly, education, and employment, and funding are still pending clarifications and changes.
Discrimination

Section 4 (1) of the act states: “A person shall not discriminate against, exploit or subject a person with disability to abusive or degrading treatment.”
Section 2 of Article 4 of the act also states that employers shall not discriminate against a prospective employee on grounds of disability, unless the disability is relevant to the employment.

Nonetheless, George Amoah, who became physically challenged after suffering a spinal injury in an accident, believes a subtle discrimination still exists against persons with disabilities.
“Persons with disabilities are still discriminated against and categorized in a certain way,” says Amoah. “To a large degree, that’s the mindset of corporate Ghana.”

Amoah also pointed out that employers sometimes turn away qualified disabled persons.

“They don’t have to put it in a rude manner,” he says. “You can see for yourself that you can’t come.”

Discrimination can also happen outside corporate boardrooms. Emmanuel Joseph, paralyzed at age 22, lies on cardboard in Accra’s business district. He begs for alms from passersby.
Joseph lives with his brother but takes care of himself through begging. He starts his business of begging, which earns him approximately GH¢5 per day, from seven in the morning. He goes until sunset.
“Sometimes I get insulted,” he says. “Sometimes people also beat me.”

Mawutor Ablo, deputy director of Policy, Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation at the Ministry of Employment and Social Welfare, however, says there is an ongoing sensitization program to educate the public on the rights of persons with disabilities.

Accessibility to Buildings

Amoah, now an employee at a major bank, says even though he can access his present workplace, his previous place of work was not accessible.

“I had to be carried up the stairs by people, and that was risky for me because you can slip and fall.”

He says a lot of companies cannot afford the investment of making their workplaces accessible.
“You apply for a job, show up and you see it’s all staircases, no lifts. You can’t access the place.”

Isaac Tuggun, another physically challenged person who works as an Advocacy and Monitoring and Evaluation officer of the Ghana Federation of the Disabled (GFD) believes government’s slow pace in addressing issues pertaining to persons with disabilities has contributed to non-implementation of the provisions by stakeholders.

“We are still way behind so far as the implementation of the provisions is concerned,” says Tuggun.

He says the legislative instrument first drafted in 2010, which would give impetus to the implementation of some of the provisions of the Act, is still not ready.

He observes that not all provisions even require the legislative instrument.
“The 10-year moratorium for buildings to become accessible, as well as new ones, does not require the legislative instrument,” says Tuggun.

He notes that new structures are coming up, springing up here and there, with steep stairs and open gutters.

“Are we going to sit down and wait until the last day of the tenth year?” he asks.
Ablo agrees with the accessibility provision of the act.

“Certainly the law makes provisions that all public buildings should be made accessible to persons with disabilities in 10 years (from 2006),” he says.

He says the NCPD secretariat has actually taken that issue on board.

“They’re having discussion with key stakeholders, trying to sensitize them to make buildings accessible,” he says, adding that the ministry has taken the lead. “You can see that we have put up a disability ramp.”

Ablo is however unsure about other government ministries. The Ministry of Social Welfare is the only ministry in Accra Central with a ramp.

“They are all aware of the law. Attention is being drawn to that. But you also have to look at feasibility and whether there is space, I think in time you will see this issue addressed.”

Employment

The Ministry of Employment and Social Welfare has the responsibility of securing employment for persons with disability through the Public Employment Centre.

The act further explains that if the name of a person with disability remains on the job search list for more than two years, the ministry shall give the person appropriate training, provide that person with necessary working tools and assist the person to access loan capital to start a business.

Amoah, who got his present job as a result of an employment fair organized by a non-governmental organization, says his colleagues do not have the same opportunity.

“They don’t at all,” he says.

He notes the lack of jobs poses a difficult challenge.

“They have to depend on family. Some will have to find some menial jobs, and a few of them you see begging. Most of them do jobs that they are way above, but they have to survive.”

Ablo, on the other hand, says government is responsive to disabled job hunters. He says the department of social welfare has worked to train disabled people in vocations.

He says district officers also try to identify disabled people for the community based rehabilitation program.

“They identify some economic action at the various communities in terms of local resources, and then they train some disabled people with local resources so they can sell things in the market and make a living.”

He adds that government has also made provisions for private organizations who recruit people with disabilities.

“They will have some tax based incentives.”

Employers will get a rebate of one per cent of their taxable income for each disabled person they hire.

Education

It is mandatory for parents or guardians of children with disabilities to send them to school, according to the act. If a parent does not send such a child to school, he or she is guilty of a criminal offence.

The government has also agreed to provide free education for persons with disabilities and to establish special schools if such persons are unable to enroll in the formal schools.

In his view, Amoah wants government to be more proactive and create opportunities.

“With education, it has to start right from scratch,” he says. “If the person does not have skills, then they can’t participate in mainstream economic activity.”

Ablo stresses government has made provisions for free education for persons with disability, but Tuggun questions the level at which education is free for persons with disabilities.

“If it’s just the basic level, we are all entitled. So what level is a person with disabilities going to enjoy?”

Fund Allocation for Persons with Disability

In 1993, the Government of Ghana started the District Assembly’s Common Fund (DACF) as part of Ghana’s decentralization agenda.

Government in 2005 pledged two per cent of the DACF for persons with disabilities.
The Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development, Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning, and the administrator of the DACF are the duty-bearers.

The two per cent was to be used in areas including advocacy and awareness-raising on the rights and responsibilities of the disabled, strengthening disabled people through organizational development, training of employable skills and apprenticeship.

Other areas include income generating activities, some educational support for children, students and trainees with disability and provision of technical aids, assistive devices, equipment and registration of NHIS.

Tuggun says the allocation was an intervention to mitigate the suffering of persons with disabilities.

He however says most Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assembles (MMDA) have refused to allocate the money on grounds that there are no guidelines for its disbursement.

The act’s provisions established the NCPD, and, in 2010, it helped draft guidelines to improve the DACF situation. The guidelines entailed the setting up of account by the MMDA’s for the two per cent allocation.

But a year later, only two-thirds have set up the account. According to documents obtained by Daily Guide, the minister for Local Government and Rural Development, Honorable Samuel Ofosu Ampofo, in a letter dated September 14, 2011, addressed to the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA), urged all assemblies to implement the provisions in the guidelines and asked for strict compliance with the various sub-headings.

Vardon says the council is aware of the non compliance by the MMDA’s but attributes their indifference to their lack of interest in disability issues.

“The bottom line is that they are not really interested in disability,” he says.

Daily Guide visited the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development to find out the cause of the delays. The PRO refused to process the interview request because it was not delivered in an envelope. He then complained that Daily Guide had not shown up to an unrelated programme some days earlier. When Daily Guide said it would be forced to publish his refusal to process the interview request, he and a colleague began shouting.

Vardon adds that according to the World Health Organization, almost 15 per cent of Ghana’s population is with a disability. He says the two per cent of the fund isn’t enough to address the issues experienced by such a large portion of the population.

He says the council is doing its best to raise the visibility of the issue, but until they have representatives in all the 170 MMDAs there is little they can do to make the assemblies comply with the directives of the local government.

Tuggun says the GFD knows that, as of the third quarter of 2010, there was GH$85,350 in an AMA account. He figures the full 2010 allotment will reach GH¢100,000.

“What we plan to do is make sure this money will be properly utilized, so it will change the lives of persons with disability.”

The AMA says it is working toward assembling the required committee to disburse the funds according to guidelines.

Daniel Dzagbatey, chairperson for the committee set up in Tema to oversee the disbursement of the funds, says the community had received its yearly allocation for the three quarters and has distributed according to the guidelines.

“The amount we have received for the three quarters for the year 2010 is GH¢49,578.42.”
He says the money for the first two quarters was distributed to the 18 physically challenged persons and the deaf.

“We gave each GH¢500 to start up a business or open a shop which was in view of poverty alleviation.”

Blind people have also applied, and the committee is now deliberating on how to disburse funds to them according to the guidelines.

Waiting for Justice Life in and After Remand

By Jamila Akweley Okertchiri

In 2002, Edward Coffie was arrested for car robbery. He was sent to the police headquarters in Accra for interrogation, after which he was taken to the law court for prosecution.

After the prosecution officer presented the case, the judge moved to adjourn, giving Coffie a warrant to stay in remand for two weeks.

Two weeks elapsed, but Coffie did not return to court. He ended up staying in prison for nine years without going to trial.

“The prison officers only told me the police will be coming for me, but they never did,” Coffie says.

A portrait of remand
The 2009 Ghana Prisons Service report showed that out of 39,454 prisoners across the country, 3,709 were on remand, with an average of about 4,000 in daily remand lock-up.

The report also indicated stealing as the most frequent offence, with nearly 4,000 cases, followed by ‘other’ offenses, with over 1,000 cases. Unlawful entry accounted for about 500 cases, and robbery comprised 450 cases.

Furthermore, the account revealed tuberculosis (TB) as the highest cause of death in the prisons, accounting for 30 per cent of deaths, followed by HIV/AIDS, comprising over 13 per cent.

Apart from the above challenges, these suspected criminals on remand may be kept in a separate area demarcated with barbed wires, as was the case in Nsawam, where Coffie was held.

They are not granted the liberty to engage in rehabilitation or reformation activities, and their living condition is nothing to write home about.
“I was not included in the things the real prisoners do,” says Solomon Attoh, who was also in remand at Nsawam for 8 years. He was released May 12th 2011. “I didn’t do anything. I just sat at one place.”

Coffie experienced similar segregation.
“I was not given either a prison attire or uniform,” he says. “The prison officers said I was not a convict, so the clothes I took to the prison was what I wore there.”

Isidore Tufuor, a lawyer and supervisor of the non-governmental Access to Justice programme, which helps remand prisoners access courts, says the problem is one that has bedeviled the prison service.

“A room originally built for about 20 people is now carrying two times the number, sometimes even more,” he says. “One of the things you see when you visit the remand prison is the prisoners degenerating physically, rashes all over, skin diseases. It’s a perennial thing.”

Alhassan Yahyah Seini is the director of Ghana’s Legal Aid Scheme.
“There is a certain discrimination against those who are presumed innocent in the prisons,” he says.

He attributes this to the refusal of prison officers to release remand prisoners when their warrant expires. Convicts, meanwhile, do not stay a day longer than the period given by the courts.

“But a remand prisoner will be kept even though his warrant has elapsed,” he continues. “When it comes to a remand person, he has to justify why he should be released, even though he has no warrant covering him.”

The cause of delay
Although the Constitution of the Republic of Ghana makes provision for arrested persons to have access to lawyers, remand prisoner are often denied this right.
“The people do not have access to lawyers, so quiet often they stay beyond what they should stay,” Seini states.

He further explains that the court has the mandate to convict as well as warrant a person into remand.

“With our crowded courts, if it gets late in the day without all the cases being called, the rest of the cases are left with out a date being fixed,” he says. “So the prosecutors carry their files and go, and that ends the matter.”
The court therefore loses the records, thereby giving no chance for that person to be brought back to court.

These are just a few of the flashpoints of a larger problem.
“It’s attributable to all the stakeholders,” says Tufuor, whose organization has discharged 400 remand prisoners since 2009.

“When it comes to arresting people, they are very swift, but conducting investigation and presenting the person before court for trial, the problem comes up. Test delays and vehicles are not available, so they cannot prosecute. So the person stays in remand.”

Furthermore, evidence is not sent to the attorney general’s department, so the state can’t decide whether or not to prosecute.

“You go to the judges, and they also cannot prosecute if the evidence has not come to the floor.”

In its quest to ensure members are law abiding, society shows public outburst if prison officers dare release somebody who the public thinks is a criminal and who the judge released because the prosecution is not ready.

The issue of legal aid
The Legal Aid Scheme is a body mandated by an act of parliament to provide free legal assistance to those who cannot afford the services of a lawyer.

The system caters for two categories of people: those who find themselves protecting the constitution, and those who need to protect their legal rights but are not capable of assessing legal assistance because of cost.

Legal assistance is therefore the right of every citizen of Ghana, yet its accessibility is a problem.

The scheme employs 14 lawyers nationwide. Both Accra and Kumasi have three. Ho, Sunyani and Tamale have two each. There’s one in both Koforidua and Cape Coast.
As a result of the activities of legal aid, a lot of lapsed warrant has been corrected, says Seini.

“Some who had to be released were released, either on bail or just discharged,” he adds. “The percentage of remand people has fallen form figures from the prisons.”
Albeit, the scheme director says the cases that are handled by the lawyers keep increasing significantly over the years.

“In 2008, 6,212 cases were handled by the legal aid scheme across the country; it has since seen an increase by 400 in 2009 and 1000 in 2010.”
As the number of cases increase, the burden on lawyers also raises, and this poses a challenge to the effectiveness of the scheme.

The government introduced the Justice For All programme to decongest the country’s prisons of the large numbers of remand prisoners.

According to a document from the attorney general’s department, in 2009 and 2010 special courts were held to consider the cases of prisoners with expired warrants.

“On 29 July and 1 August 2011, special courts again sat in Nsawan and dealt with 245 cases. Out of these, 71 were discharged, 75 granted bill, and nine convicted. The remaining 90 applications were refused / withdrawn or adjourned to a later date,” the document states.

Remaining Challenges

“It all depends on budget allocations,” says Tufour. “Funds, funds, all the time.”
He believes government priority plays a roll in the lack of equipment the police service needs for swift investigations.

“It takes minutes for somebody to be arrested at the airport with cocaine, but for the prisoner, it takes years. So it is all about priorities.”

The attorney general’s department of the Ministry of Justice is also not properly resourced.

Hans Emmanuel Adde, legal services coordinator of NGO Projects Abroad, thinks the attorney general’s department has become a transient quarters for lawyers.

“They are not being treated as professionals. So a single criminal case passes through half a dozen newly qualified solicitors before it appears on a court list.”
The Legal Aid Scheme also faces shortcomings in the discharge of it’s duties.

“The basic challenge is lack of lawyers,” says Seini. “We have over 1,000 people in prison without warrant and just a few lawyers.”

Government says it will pay legal aid lawyers 20 per cent of the Bar’s standard rate. But the money is not easy to come by. The non-payment of regular fees frustrates the lawyers, as some decide to do it gratis or abort the case altogether.

“We try to employ some lawyers, but certainly the conditions under which lawyers work as public servants is not the thing that many lawyers will want to take.”

The Department of Social Welfare, which oversees some of Ghana’s social security policies, like Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty programme.

When ex-convicts come out from prison, there is no social security policy to help them start life afresh and fit back into the society.

“The social department is not working,” says Tufour. “If you are in prison, and you come out, you have to cope somehow. For those who cannot cope and have not got any friends or any family members, will have to survive through the committing of crimes.”

Attoh has no social support, so he has to earn a living by helping his aunt in her food business.

“My greatest problem now that I am out is a job,” he laments. “I don’t have a job. All I want is to wake up and have a place to go and work to earn some money.”
Although he is coping with the difficulties of a free world, he is tempted to go back into the activities that took him to remand.

“What I am going through now is very difficult and I think that if I don’t restrain myself and contain my hunger, I will go back to those activities that took me to Nsawan.”

The way forward

Seeing the need to fill in the gap and reintegrate these suspected criminals back into society, at least one non-governmental organizations has taken the mantle and started a school of restoration for ex-convicts.

These newcomers in the world they left for years are taken through teachings that will heal their wounded hearts and reconcile them back into society and with their families.

Fraser Ayee Alias Kawawa, an ex-convict released in 2009 after being in prison for robbery and terrorism since 1988, was initially on death row and ultimately pardoned and released. He was in prison when he heard a message that changed his life during a donation by Royal House Chapel.

The church after the visit decided to organize a school of restoration for ex-convicts, and Ayee was among the first batch of students.

“Rev. Sam Korankye Ankrah taught us about forgiveness, responsibility and how to reconcile with our society and family. He bought bicycles for us, the first 10 students, and also gave us GH¢10 from Monday to Friday and clothing in exchange for labor.”

Ayee, now a graduate from the school, has found inner peace and has readjusted back into his society, but others who do not have the same opportunity as Ayee will have to ‘survive’ somehow.

“All we want the government to do is to give us work to do,” Attoh pleads. “If we are given jobs, we will not have any problem and the country will be more peaceful.”

Tafi-Atome Hosts Tourism Day

By Jamila Akweley Okertchiri
THE TAFI-ATOME community in the Hohoe municipality of the Volta region will on September 27 mark World Tourism Day to commemorate the symbiotic relationship between tourism and culture. The day set aside by the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), is aimed at highlighting ways by which tourism could be used as a vehicle to promote peaceful co-existence and mutual trust among people with diverse cultural/ethnic backgrounds and orientations. This year’s celebration is under the theme “Tourism: Linking Cultures.” Prince Boakye-Boateng, Director of Public Relations at the Tourism Ministry said in a statement that regional celebrations will be held nationwide with the national event taking place at the Tafi-Atome Monkey Sanctuary in the Hohoe municipality. Outlining highlights of the event, Boakye-Boateng said they “include a tour of tourist attraction sites with the Kpando/Hohoe circuit on Saturday, September 24. The celebration will be climaxed by a grand durbar at Tafi-Atome on Tuesday, September 27, 2011.” He added that a traditional Gastronomy (food fair), arts and crafts exhibition and cultural performance will also be held to showcase the unique cultural heritage of Ghana. Minister of Tourism, Akua Sena Dansua also in the statement called on corporate Ghana and individuals to support the event. “We invite Ghanaians, especially policy makers, stakeholders in the industry and potential investors to take time off their work schedules to take part in the celebration so as to appreciate the potential benefit of the sector and national economy.” She said the tourism sector contributed GH¢1.8 billion to the national economy, an equivalent of 6.2% of the Gross Domestic Product for the previous year, and if given the needed attention and capital injection, “tourism can become the number one and most sustainable foreign exchange earner for the country.”

AMA Extends Deadline • To Ban Truck Pushing

By Jamila Akweley Okertchiri THE ACCRA Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) has extended the deadline for banning push trucks in the metropolis from September 15 to September 30, 2011. The change in date comes as a result of a request made by executives of the Trucks Pushers and Truck and Scrap Dealers Associations to the AMA during a meeting in Accra. Lawyer Yaw Twumasi Ankrah, legal officer of the assembly, announcing the new date to the truck pushers, said even though the AMA has granted their request by extending the date, it would be the last. “We were going to enforce it from yesterday, but your executives came to us and pleaded for extension of time.” Lawyer Ankrah therefore noted that the enforcement date will start from 1st October, 2011. This he said was to reduce the reports of accidents caused by push trucks. He further announced the registration and issuance of number plates for the trucks. “The AMA will absorb the cost of the number plates but you will pay the business operating tax of GH¢1 per month,” lawyer Ankrah noted. Furthermore, he indicated that the truck pushers had till the end of September 2011 to finish registration as the assembly had so far registered 500 trucks. Reiterating the earlier plans of the AMA, Lawyer Ankrah said the trucks will be allowed to operate in markets areas but not on major streets and ceremonial roads. “Liberation Circle Roads, Nima High way, Oxford Street, Osu, Roman Ridge Round About, through Roman Catholic Cathedral, Trade Union Congress (TUC) to Old Parliament House are also included,” he said. The legal officer of the assembly observed that any truck pusher who fails to abide by the new rules will be cautioned and then fined if the offence is repeated.

Caption: Nii Armah Ashitey with the members of the Greater Accra House of Chiefs in a group photo.

Postal & Courier Services Membership Increase

By Jamila Akweley Okertchiri THE GHANA Post and Private Courier operators recorded an increase in their membership with the registration of seven new private courier firms. The Postal & Courier Services Regulatory Commission, which made this known, said the registration of the new members brings to 70 the number of registered postal & courier firms in the country. Osabarima Ansah Sasraku III, chairman of the board of commissioners, disclosed this at the 4th annual stakeholders’ forum held for postal & courier operators under the theme: “Empowering the Postal & Courier Operator for Efficient Service Delivery” in Accra. In his remarks, the chairman said the increase in the number of registered operators was as a result of vigorous exercise by the commission to ensure that illegal operators were weeded out. Osabarima Ansah Sasraku III outlining the progress of the commission said a new brochure on the processes of acquiring operating licence by prospective postal and courier firms will soon be made available to operators. He also stated that the commission was in the process of launching an aggressive public education and awareness programme. This is to ensure that the existence and functions of the commission were well known to business people. “That campaign will also be used to educate consumers about their rights and obligations.” The board chairman said once the postal system remained the only cost-effective and easily accessible means of communication particularly for people in rural areas, consumers demanded fast and efficient deliveries and therefore any failure on the part of operator could be detrimental to the interest of consumers. He, however, noted that the commission will impose stiffer sanctions against any person, individual or institution that operated a courier business in any country without licence. “We will continue to engage the police to clamp down all illegal operators as such activities do not only constitute punishable offence under the Act 649; they also deprive the state of substantial revenue.” Emmanuel Arthur, Public Relations & Customer Affairs Manager of the commission, said the commission, as part of its efforts towards efficient postal and courier regulation, will organise a consumers’ fora in a year to solicit views from customers. He said members of the service would from next year pay a fine of GH¢100 if they failed to renew their licences without any official notice to the commission. He added that the commission was therefore working assiduously with government to ensure that the country had a vibrant and efficient postal service.

Caption: The chairman of the board of commissioners in a group photograph

Actis, Laurus Break New Grounds

By Jamila Akweley Okertchiri Actis, a private equity firm, in conjunction with Boston Investment and Laurus Development Partners, has taken the first step in the Ghanaian real estate industry by breaking the ground for the construction of ‘One Airport Square,’ project in Accra. The project, designed by award winning Italian Architect Mario Cucinella, is destined to become the number one corporate and most environmentally friendly complex in the country. The complex, located in Accra’s growing commercial district at the airport city, will comprise nine floors of office space and 2,000 square meters of retail including European-style cafes, shops and bars, serving as a social gathering point for social residents, office workers and visitors.

David Morley, Head of Real Estate at Actis, said the building has specifications such as natural ventilation via the central atrium, rain water recycling and concrete overhangs which prevent over- heating and lower energy consumption. “The floors are raised, parking is ample, floor plates are large and flexible, health and safety is of an international standard,” Morley said. He also stated that the building when completed will enable Ghanaians to work and relax in the heart of the city. Carlo Matta, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) at Laurus, said the building’s unique look was inspired by Ghanaian traditional patterns. He observed that the during the construction, the project will employ over 150 Ghanaian construction workers, adding that it will source more than 40 percent of all materials locally in order to help stimulate the regional economy. Matta also indicated that One Airport Square is a great example of how mixing Ghanaian expertise and international best practices can achieve outstanding results. “We hope this project will set a new standard in the country’s real estate industry.” The building, estimated to cost between $55 and $60 million, is expected to be completed in May 2013.

“Every day, some children die here.”

Inside the Korle Bu children’s Ward Story by Jamila Akweley Okertchiri

Georgina Afum sits confused and helpless as she wipes saliva from her five-year-old son, Gideon Sam, who lies helpless on one of the few beds in the children’s emergency ward of the Korle Bu children’s hospital. His body trembles uncontrollably every few minutes and stops only after discharging saliva from his mouth. Even though the nurses had given him medication, his condition remains unchanged, as he has the seizure every few minutes. “Three days ago his body temperature rose, so I bath him and gave him Para,” she says. “The following day, at about 12 noon, his temperature rose again, so I bath him and gave him Para. He ate and went out to play. But about seven o’clock in the evening, he had convulsion.” She took him to a clinic, was given medication, and then took him home again. But the convulsions persisted. She took him back to the clinic and was referred to Korle Bu, which is a tertiary facility, part of Ghana’s three-tier hospital structure. “The convulsion is now coming continuously,” she says, “and I don’t know what to do.” She says she has National Health Insurance (NHIS), but has not renewed it and will have to pay the hospital. Sickness And Poverty According to Professor Bamenla Goka, Head of Department of Child Health at Korle Bu, sicknesses are common in people with poor backgrounds because of their living conditions. She says poor people are more vulnerable to infections that can damage the organs in the body, like the heart and kidneys. Complicating the picture is the high cost of health care for people without NHIS. They will often try a number of home remedies before taking their child to hospital. “Many of the illnesses we see are related to poverty in one way or the other,” Prof. Goka says, “and because their parents do not have the financial means, they tend to wait and try alternate forms of care because they are afraid of the hospital bills. And when those alternate forms don’t work, then they try to come to the hospital.”

Theresa Mensah is the mother of eight-year-old Christopher Mensah, who is suffering from an unknown ailment. His face is puffy and swollen. “He came home one day from school and I saw that he had rashes on his skin,” his mother says. “So I gave him a painkiller.” She waited two days, and the swelling continued. She took him to a doctor at Boadua, in Asamankese area, and they were transferred to Kade to see another doctor. According to Theresa, who is a farmer from Asamankese, they stayed for three months at the hospital at Kade before they were referred to Korle Bu. “The doctor said the ailment has reached a critical stage,” she says, “and they needed to conduct a test, which the hospital doesn’t have the machine for.” Prof. Goka expressed worry over the amount of time it takes guardians and parents to bring their children to the hospital. She said a lot of children are brought in almost dead because their guardians do not realize how seriously ill they are. “Every day, some children die here,” she says. “Over 80 per cent of the children who die here die within 24 hours of getting here. This we call, ‘brought-in-dead-people.’”

Dr. Afisah Zakariah is the head of the Policy Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation Directorate of the Ministry of Health. She seems surprised at Prof. Goka’s claim. “This is sad,” she says. “Maybe what we have to do is audit child death so that we actually see what is going on. It is good this has come up if every day we lose a child then we have to sit up.” Dr. Zakariah says there are many policies in place to ensure the health security of children, whether rich or poor. “We give the pregnant women tetanus vaccination because some deliver at home or with a traditional birth assistant,” she says. “So we try to protect them against tetanus, including their babies. And when the children are born, we give the children nine antigens by the time they attain one year.” Those antigens include diphtheria, TB vaccine, polio vaccine, hepatitis B, yellow fever, and measles. She said the ministry plans to introduce vaccines for rotavirus and pneumonia next year. These, she stressed, are free. “The other thing we are struggling with now is malaria,” she adds. “It is endemic here, and we are trying multiple approaches to solve the situation.” She said the ministry promotes insecticide-treated bed nets and combination therapy. They also use an indoor spray that kills mosquito larvae. However, recently studies suggest that treated bed nets are not potent to tame thae mosquitoes. General Challenges In Child Health Although Dr. Zakariah says NHIS covers all of Ghana’s poor people, some residents go without, as did Georgina Afum, who forgot to renew it. Prof. Goka says such situations are common, and parents therefore have to pay for medical treatment. Even for those who have health insurance, services such as MRI scans are not covered. “Now, health care is not free,” says Prof. Goka. “If you don’t pay for the health care yourself, then somebody else is paying for it, either the government or some form of insurance will be paying for it.” Prof. Goka notes that even for those who are paying cash and carry, the fees are highly subsidized. “So the health institutions are not really run on fees that are charged to patients, because they are really far below what is required to provide the direct care that the patient needs and at the same time buy equipment and all that to use for the patients.” According to Prof. Goka, this makes it difficult for individual facilities like Korle-Bu to generate their own revenue through service delivery. She says the hospital endures a shortage of equipment. Sometimes, only one piece of equipment is available throughout the whole hospital, and it will break down a lot because it is overused. She also says patients are occasionally sent outside Korle Bu for tests, which drive costs up further. But Dr. Zakariah says Korle-Bu is just one of many agencies in the Ministry of Health. It has its own chief executive officer, its own financial means, and its own priorities. They manage their resources themselves,” she says. “So they can choose to buy equipment if they want. It depends on the area they want to invest in. We don’t take the money from them. They pay directly. When they take care of the patients, all they do is submit claims to national health insurance authority, which is also an agency under the Ministry of Health, and then they will reimburse them the money.” Dr. Zakariah also says a needs assessment was done with Ghanaian hospitals last year, including Korle-Bu. The assessment has so far produced equipment for hospitals in seven regions, though not yet Greater Accra Region. That, says the Ministry of Health, will come next year. “We definitely cannot do that with cash and carry and NHIS fees that are paid to us,” says Prof. Goka. “So for us to take care of children there has to be additional money for us to take care of the infrastructure and equipment. For example, right now our emergency room is in a very bad state. We know the government is aware of this. But we’ve been waiting for years, and we want a change now.” The Korle Bu Children’s Emergency Unit The emergency unit, which acts as a resuscitation point for every child brought in, is small, dark with very few beds and packed with patients and their parents. “We have lots of problems here,” says a senior nurse who wants to remain anonymous. “When there are emergencies, all hands are on deck. Bring plaster, cotton. You are turning here and there. At the end of the day, when you sit down, you then start feeling pains all over your body. “Sometime when I remove this shoe,” she elaborates, “I cannot even walk home; I just try to take one step at a time like a baby crawling because I have been running too much. When I manage to get home, I can’t sleep. I don’t know why I can’t sleep. I just feel like sleeping but I can’t sleep.” She complains about the way parents treat nurses, saying they don’t understand what goes into health care and they too often complicate the situation by avoiding hospitals. “We are few in this place but we work hard. The parents of the children do not appreciate our work. The public should know that when their child is sick, they should come to the right place.” Despite that aversion, the emergency room is often packed with patients. There can be several to a bed, says the nurse, a reflection of the whole children’s ward, which has 250 beds and runs, according to Prof. Goka, at 120 per cent capacity. “This place is very hectic,” the senior nurse says. “The beds are very few. We need new beds and the place must be expanded. Sometimes, when it comes to epidemic like cholera, we are forced to pile as many as six, sometimes eight, children on two beds because we make sure every child that is brought here gets the first resuscitation treatment before they are sent to the wards.” Whether or not Korle-Bu sets its own priorities, Dr. Zakariah agrees with Prof. Goka on the state of the emergency unit. “The emergency ward is small and crowded,” she says. According to the senior nurse, morale in the emergency unit is ‘zero.’ She goes on at length about the delay of her Single Spine Salary (SSS) transfer, a complaint that Dr. Zakariah says nearly brings tears to her eyes. “We all want higher salaries, but at times we should do a little bit of analysis,” she says, asserting that 95 per cent of the country’s health budget goes to salaries. “Maybe they don’t know the amount that is paid for salaries, but objectively they know that what they take home at the end of the year is much better than what the civil servants take home.” It’s entirely possible, says Dr. Zakariah, that nurses will see their salaries cut when the SSS policy takes effect. Government’s Role The Convention on the Rights of the Child, of which Ghana is a signatory, has a provision guaranteeing health care for children. Children’s health also figures prominently in the United Nations Millennium Development Goals, which Ghana has also signed. Finally, chapter 34 (2) of the Constitution also guarantees the right to good health care. “Children’s health should be given priority,” says Prof. Goka. “It should not all be lumped together with adult problems.” She says if the country has healthy children then actually, “we will have healthy adults and we will spend less on covering adult issues.” She notes that many of the diseases such as, hypertension and diabetes can be traced back to childhood ailments that were not fully treated. “Paying attention to people’s education, housing, food availability, and environmental sanitation will all help to keep people healthy and reduce the need for curative services,” she adds. Dr. Zakariah says the Ministry of Health is very active in Ghana, and that all of its agencies work hard. She takes pride in the country’s battle against guinea worm, which the vice president recently called a categorical success. Even though recent indicates that guinea worms eradication was far from over in the country. She also underscores the country’s success in the fight against HIV/AIDS, saying the prevalence rate is now 1.5 per cent, down from 2.9 in recent years. As for covering MRI scans and similar procedures, she says the NHIS is a creature of tax revenue. “We started by covering almost 95 per cent of the diseases we have,” she says, “and so the load on the insurance is quite heavy, and the majority of the people are in the exempt category: Children below eight years of age, those above 70 years, the very poor in society, pregnant women.” Prof. Goka agrees that NHIS is a powerful tool in the country’s health care system. It should only be improved, she says, never scrapped. “And with that,” she says, “we note that effort has been made to make access for children under the age of 5 easier under the National Health Insurance, and they are the children who are most at risk.” She wants to see children 12 years and under receive the same status. She would also like to see the scope of services covered widened. “We think the that government should subsidize the care of the children in another way, form another source, so that we can actually have the equipment and all that we need to work with,” she says. Dr. Zakariah says the government has a series of programs in place to attract donations and partnerships with third parties, like corporations and NGOs. “That is one of our core mandates,” she says. “Resource mobilization, planning, monitoring and evaluation. And we budget for that. “So we have the government side and the non-government side. We have development partners and other individuals donating things to the health sector of Ghana.”

Muslims Donate to Save 1 Year Old Bintu

By Jamila Akweley Okertchiri

THE MUSLIM congregation of Dare Salam Mosque situated within the Airport Residential area has donated an estimated GH¢8,000 to Bintu Fatima Ibrahim, a one year ten month old baby, who has a complex hole-in-heart condition.
The donation was to enable Fatima undergo a second operation in order to correct her condition called ‘Tetralogy of Fallot.’
Sheikh Armiya’u, substantive Imam of the Mosque, said the donation was in response to a publication in DAILY GUIDE captioned: “1 Year Old Bintu Needs Help.”
It may be recalled in that publication that Dr. M. Tamatey of the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital’s Cardiothoracic Centre, signed a statement to appeal for funds for Bintu Fatima Ibrahim.
The statement said Bintu had had her first operation and requires a second and final open-heart operation costing GH¢24,000 to correct all the defects.
She was required to pay GH¢12,000 while the Ghana Heart foundation opted to pay 50 percent of the total cost.
Sheikh Armiya’u said the congregation of Dare Salam therefore launched an appeal and dedicated a whole sermon to the plight of Fatima Ibrahim which enabled them raise the money.
He stated that they were happy to associate themselves with a value that is upheld in the month of Ramadan “and that is the value of giving to the poor and needy and being compassionate to the weak.”
He further hoped the token donation will bring relief to the little child.

Doctor Lawrence Sereboe, Cardiothoracic surgeon, at the National Cardiothoracic Center who received the donation thanked the team on behalf of Fatima’s family.
“This will help her have a normal, quality life expectancy so when groups, individuals and benevolent organisations come to the aid of these children then we know that it is an investment in their lives,” he said.
He said the donation will aid in settling the required GH¢12,000 after the Ghana Heart Foundation paid 50 percent of the total cost.
Dr. Sereboe said the amount will cater for the cost of surgery, anesthesia, intensive care and accommodation for Fatima.

Lutheran Church Ordains New Pastor

By Jamila Akweley Okertchiri

THE EVANGELICAL Lutheran Church, Ghana has officially ordained Nicholas Salifu as its pastor in a colorful ceremony held at the St. Paul Lutheran Church, Kanda.
The ordination ceremony performed by the Rt. Rev. Dr. Paul Kofi Fynn, President of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Ghana, was graced by hundreds of people across the country.
The new pastor joins the existing team of pastors at the church in their pastoral ministry as preachers of the Good News.
The Evangelical Lutheran Church is the largest protestant church in the world founded by Martin Luther King Jr. after breaking away from the Catholic Church in 1521.

Rt. Rev. Fynn stressed the need for pastors to be circumspect in their dealings with their members.
He said they should lead exemplary lives using the Bible as their yardstick.
In his acceptance speech, Pastor Nicholas Salifu pledged to preach the gospel in its totality as he shepherds the flock of Christ.
Many well-wishers presented gifts to Pastor Salifu and prayed for God’s guidance and blessing as he embarks on his pastoral journey.
Nicholas Salifu joined the Evangelical Lutheran Church in 1971. In 1978, he was sent to the Lutheran Church Seminary in Nigeria for four years after which he went to the University of Ghana, Legon where he read sociology and religion.
After his first degree, he was sent to Bawku in the Upper East Region where he opened several congregations and translated the catechism into the Kusa language for the people in the region.
Pastor Salifu was then sent to the US to undertake a Master of Divinity programme at the St. Luis Seminary after working for a while in Bawku.

Wisconsin Holds First Graduation

By Jamila Akweley Okertchiri

WISCONSIN INTERNATIONAL University Collage (WIUC) has held its maiden graduation for Forensic & Investigative Psychology and Paralegal Studies.
The ceremony, witnessed 16 participants from different professional backgrounds being awarded certificates for successfully completing a six-week intensive course as well as passing all requisite examinations.
Commenting on the structure of the courses, Vice Chancellor of WIUC, Professor Kaku Sagary Nokoe, said the forensic and investigative psychology course explored the styles and patterns of criminal actions in all the types of offences.
“It also looked at verifiable procedures required for examining materials during investigations,” said Nokoe.
He further observed that contributions made by psychologists to the legal process must have an empirical, systematic and scientific basis hence the introduction of the course.
The vice chancellor furthermore noted that the certificate programme in paralegal studies was to prepare participants to address the key roles of legal assistants.
Consequently, “the course offers a unique mix of legal theory and practical skills applications.”
Justice Isaac Duose, an appeal court judge and chairman of WIUC-GH Council, stated that the new programmes offered by the university from part of a virgin area where people have little or no knowledge, therefore the aim of the certificate courses is to strengthen the capacity of participants.
“Anybody who wants to participate in a profession must have formal training,” he said.
He added that the course content would qualify one for exemption in some United Kingdom, US and Canada based professional programmes in the disciplines.
Justice Duose stressed that while efforts are being made towards accreditation for regular post-graduate programmes for the interim and the first graduands, “they will qualify to progress to our advanced certificate modules which will be of the same 6-week duration or to the Diploma (once accredited).”
He thanked the participants for having faith in Wisconsin and urged them to form an association “and push forward for recognition.”

Graduands in a group photograph with Professor Sagary Nokoe and Board Members of WIUC

India Celebrates 65th Independence Day

By Jamila Akweley Okertchiri

The India High Commissioner to Ghana, Her Excellence Ruchi Ghanashyam together with Indians residing in Ghana have held a flag-raising ceremony to mark India’s 65th Independence Day in Accra.
The ceremony, held at the residence of H. E. Ruchi Ghanashyam, was attended by high-profile Indians from diverse economic and political background.
Reading an address by His Excellency Pratibha Devisingh Patil to the people of India, H. E. Ghanashyam said the anniversary signifies an important day in the history of India.
“This significant day in our nation’s calendar takes us back to the events that made our country a free nation,” she said.
H. E. Ghanashyam said India’s independence was won on the principles of truth and non-violence thus making their freedom struggle exceptional.
“Voices of freedom against oppression and colonial power were encouraged by India’s example.”
She said Indians can therefore be proud to belong to a country that has proved its greatness through values.
H. E. Ghanashyam said the day also provides an opportunity for retrospection “a time to take well thought out measures and to prepare well for the future.”
She said the real strength of a nation is judged not by the challenges it faces but responses to those challenges.
“We, as inheritors of a great legacy, carry a responsibility to stand by truth and justice, to continue to conduct ourselves in a manner that is in consonance with India’s standing.”
She also urged participants to analyze situations and find considered solutions in order to address the challenges they might be facing in a thoughtful manner.
“Our actions today, our decisions today will fashion our tomorrow. A deep sense of responsibility is a call of our time, all citizens have to demonstrate great maturity and self restrain as we deal with our problems,” she stated.
She also stressed the need to focus on education and skill development to build capacity in order to meet the requirements of the nation.
“I call on citizens to work with full commitment and dedication, honesty and integrity and with a sense of pride. If we do this there is much that we can achieve as a nation,” she noted.

Awards were presented to winners, who partook in an essay competition, organized by the High Commission of India in Accra to mark the 150th anniversary of the birth of Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore.
Participants between the ages of 19 and 22 wrote an essay not less than 1000 words on the theme: “How Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore’s vision as reflected in the poem Mind Without Fear relevant in today’s world, particularly Ghana.”
GH¢500, GH¢300, GH¢200 were given to the first, second and third prize winners respectively in addition to books and Digital Video Disc (DVDs).
Certificates of appreciation, books and DVDs were also given to participants as consolation prizes.

Environmental Pollution:
Ghana’s E-waste Problem

By Jamila Akweley Okertchiri

Mohammed Suiad sits under the cab of a truck in the heart of Ghana’s biggest scrap yard, Agbogbloshie, with his friends, as he gets ready to burn a bundle of cables he managed to scavenge from discarded electronic gadgets.

After some minutes of joke-cracking, he stands and moves towards a spot where he sets his bundle on fire with the help of foam. Soon fumes from the burning cables engulf the young boy of about 20 years who stands concerned.
Another young scrap worker walks through the thick dark smoke emanating from the burning electronics and cables to ensure his metal is intact.
After several minutes of waiting for the fire to melt the plastic insulator, Iddrissu Inusah cools off the metal with water and collects it into a container.
“We burn the cables to get copper, which we sell for money,” says 19-year-old Iddrissu, who hails from the northern part of Ghana.
“We don’t have a specific amount for which we sell it,” Iddrissu added. “We take whatever the buyers give us, but if it weighs more than 100 kilograms, we get GH¢5.00”
Like Iddrissu, Mohammed earns GH¢5.00, most of which he sends to his parents up north.
Other boys of the same age as Mohammed and Iddrissu also burn wires to get copper in order to earn a living.
These children, together with scrap handlers, work in appalling conditions which constantly expose them and communities nearby to serious health and environmental hazards.
The burning process, in particular, releases toxic substances into the atmosphere, soils and bodies of water. This has serious health consequences, such as acute damage to the lungs as a result of inhalation of fumes from heavy metals, such as lead and cadmium.
“I know the fire is not good for our health,” Mohammed admits, “but, because of the money we get, we continue to stay here. We don’t like it, but we are working like that.”

Like most developing countries, Ghana does not have proper recycling facilities to manage the increasing influx of used electronics that are being imported into the country.
“There are no clear and specific national regulations that define, restrict or prohibit the importation of these ‘second hand equipment termed ‘e-waste’,” says this year’s Ghana E-Waste Country Assessment, written by SBC E-Waste Africa Project, an organization implemented under an international e-waste treaty.
“Given the absence of controls and regulations, e-waste enters the country under the guise of second-hand goods without restriction or detection.”
Thus it has become an open and ready source of employment and point of entry for economic migrants, usually with no education and employable skills.
Michael Bush, a Nigerian in his late twenties, sits under a shed as he sorts out computer chips which he finds across the length and breadth of the country. He has worked as a scrap exporter at Agbogbloshie for five years.
“I export from 500 to 1000 kilograms of computer chips to Germany and United States of America,” says Michael. “When the computer chips are exported to these countries, the valuable metals are extracted through melting of the chips.”
He noted, however, that the business is not lucrative.
“You can suffer to sort out the valuable metals you want, and after shipment you will get about 20% to 40% of the money spent.”

The informal nature of the business has also prevented workers from learning about the associated risks, in order to organize and seek social protection and benefits to improve working conditions.
“I don’t know about any new legislation governing what we do here,” Mohammed says.
Laws and Regulations
The 1992 Constitution of Ghana spells out the fundamentals for the protection of the environment.
Economic Development Act 36 (9) states, “The State shall take appropriate measures needed to protect and safeguard the national environment for posterity; and shall seek co-operation with other states and bodies for the purposes of protecting the wider international environment for mankind.”
Furthermore, clause 10 of the same Act quotes, “The State shall safeguard the health, safety and welfare of all persons in employment, and shall establish the basis for the full deployment of the creative potential of all Ghanaians.”
However, government is yet to pass its own law to restrict the importation of e-waste as well as regulate its disposal.
The Minister of Environment, Science and Technology, Ms. Sherry Ayittey, in recent media reportage has said Parliament is on the verge of passing the Environmental Bill into law. But just like other bills, parliament is processing, the environment bill will have to wait.
Internationally, Ghana has signed onto numerous international agreements related to harmful pollution. Some, like the Vienna Convention on the Protection of the Ozone Layer and the Montreal Protocol of Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer, require the country to make research contributions.
Others, like Rio Declaration on Environment and Development and the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation on Environment and Development, call on Ghana to develop in an environmentally sustainable way.
In 2005, Ghana signed the Basel Convention Control of Transboundary Movement of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposals. The agreement aims at minimizing the generation of hazardous waste, reducing its movement, and ensuring that it is disposed of as close to its origins as possible.
According to SBC E-Waste Africa Project, an organization implemented under the Basel secretariat’s framework, these laws go largely un-enforced.
In 1994, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Act was passed, and the EPA was tasked with prescribing standards and guidelines surrounding toxic waste. The EPA is also responsible for control, generation, treatment, storage, transportation and disposal of industrial waste. Finally, a section of the act gave birth to the Hazardous Chemicals Committee.
Despite multiple phone calls, a letter of information request, and a trip to its headquarters in Accra, EPA communications staff declined to make a source available for interview until well after this story’s deadline.

Job Creation
Self-help Initiative Support Services (SISS), a Ghanaian skills training NGO funded by Comic Relief from the UK, through its Urban Lifeline Project, recruits young people from the scarp yard and slums and gives them training in bead-making, hair-dressing and computer literacy.
Shirazu Yussif, 28, is a beneficiary of last year’s SISS training modules. His life has improved economically as he now holds a set of car keys and a cell phone.

“As soon as I finished my computer classes, I said, ‘What can I do?’ I cannot put it down. I have to achieve something.

“(SISS) brought me two computers, and I put them inside the shop and started lecturing people there.”

Nonetheless, Mohammed and Iddrisssu have not heard of either Yussif or SISS. And they don’t necessarily believe outsiders who come into their community to talk about such opportunities.

“No one has come here with that offer,” says Mohammed. “Even if they come, they don’t tell us the truth. It’s been three years now that some people came to tell us that they will open a company here but they did not return.”

The government, meanwhile, has pledged to assist with skills development. Speaking at a recent conference to explore the employment picture of Agbogbloshie, Asante, Ibrahim Murtala, Deputy National Coordinator with the National Youth Employment Program (NYEP), in charge of communications invited SISS to submit a proposal.

“The NYEP is more than willing to assist once you submit a proposal and that proposal is convincing,” he said. “And I don’t think with the work you are doing, we can’t work together.”

He also outlined a cross-section of programming he said reaches thousands of young Ghanaians.

“Some are given paid internships in government offices, an opportunity that gives them an advantage in a national job market that demands work experience for gainful employment.”

He said others have found work with the police services, while those with more significant educational challenges have been placed with road maintenance crews.

Solutions
“Both past and present governments have shown little interest in improving social conditions in the slum,” said NYEP Program Manager Yaw Asante.

Meanwhile, Ghanaian family structures put an additional strain on the situation. Many young people are sent to Accra by their families. Asante calls this a mandate. When SISS approaches them with training opportunities, they are often unable to make a decision.

“When we approach people, they say they came to Accra to make money,” he said. “Therefore, they have to go back home to the north or from wherever they are from and get a new mandate.”

Government has however given a strong warning to countries which use Ghana as their dumping sites. But is this enough assurance that our environment will be protected?