Saturday, December 20, 2008 (The Mirror Pg 42)
By Rebecca Kwei
A human rights and gender activist, Nana Oye Lithur, has called on political parties to adopt affirmative action and select women to stand for parliamentary election in their strongholds.
This, she says, will ensure that more women get to parliament and talk about issues affecting women from an informed position and also address them more effectively.
Twenty out of the 103 women who contested the December 7 parliamentary election won, according to the results thus far declared by the Electoral Commission (EC).
The 20 female MPs comprise seven new MPs and 13 who retained their seats. The New Patriotic Party (NPP) has the highest number of 14 followed by the National Democratic Congress (NDC) with five and the Convention People’s Party (CPP), one.
In 2004, 25 women out of a total of 104 female candidates won the parliamentary election.
Nana Lithur says political parties need to take a cue from African National Congress (ANC) in South Africa which took a decision that one third of the 200 names that would be on their party list for parliament will be women.
She noted that since 1951 when elections were conducted in the country, women had not gotten beyond 10 per cent representation in parliament, hence the need for a conscious effort by the political parties to adopt a temporary measure such as affirmative action in order to increase the numbers.
Citing an example, Nana Lithur who is also the Co-ordinator of the Africa Office, Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative, explained that it is “just like what the universities have been doing by dropping the grades so that more girls can enter the tertiary institution.”
On why the number of female parliamentarians had decreased, she said “gender was not a factor for a voter in deciding whether to vote for Party A or B or candidate A or B.”
Rather, she noted that political affiliation, economic situation and the candidate’s ability to solve the electorate’s economic problems and sometimes tribal affiliation were some considerations.
“This means that if a woman does not get to be a candidate in a constituency that is a stronghold of a political party, or if she does not prove that she will be a good leader to address the economic and other concerns of the voters, the fact that she is a woman will not be a crucial factor.”
Another reason she observed was that because of the political system which focuses on getting a winnable candidate, it is difficult for women to be selected and also win seats.
She said women parliamentarians with the potential of winning this time around did not contest because of party wrangling.
On whether the media did not project enough women contesting parliamentary seats, Nana Lithur said the media could have done better knowing that there was a false assumption that there was an even playing field for women and men to stand and be voted for.
“The field is not even. There is money to be sought for campaign, lots of travelling; convincing her family, among others, and so the media should have projected women more than they did and run a media campaign to encourage the electorate to vote for women”, she added.
She appealed to civil society groups to be more assertive and go back to the drawing boards to outline the reasons accounting for the drop in the number of female MPs and work out a more effective strategy to get more women voted for.
Nana Lithur suggested that the lobbying should start with the political parties and affirmative action should be explained further.
Monday, December 22, 2008
Let's support people living with HIV/AIDS
Saturday, December 20, 2008 (The Mirror Pg 34)
From Rebecca Kwei, Koforidua
The Eastern Regional Coordinator of the National AIDS Control Programme, Dr Sampson B. Ofori, has called on Ghanaians to care for and support People Living With HIV and AIDS (PLWHAs) in order for them to live meaningful lives free from ignorance and prejudice.
He noted that PLWHAs were still stigmatised and discriminated against in the country because Ghanaians were still in a denial stage about HIV and AIDS.
Dr Ofori made the call at a day’s workshop to build the capacity of journalists to effectively report on HIV and Antiretroviral Therapy (ART) in Koforidua .
The workshop, which was on the theme ‘Lead, Empower, Deliver-Focus on the link between HIV and Malaria’, was organised by the African Media and Malaria Research Network (AMMREN) with support from the Indepth Network and the Malaria Clinical Trials Alliance (MCTA).
He said it’s been 20 years since the institution of World AIDS Day and that HIV and AIDS have been with us since 1981 but mankind is still battling with the disease.
He said the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) on HIV and AIDS seeks to halt and reverse the spread of the epidemic by 2015 and that required far greater access to HIV prevention services and AIDS treatment, care and support than was currently available.
He noted that the current pace of most national responses was far too slow in reaching all in need of HIV information and services.
“The reality of the situation is that if we do not quickly deliver far more comprehensive prevention programmes and ensure universal access to treatment, care and support for people living with HIV or AIDS we will fail to meet the MDGs,” he said.
Giving statistics of the HIV and AIDS situation, he said globally 33.2 million people were living with the disease with 22.5 million of them in sub-Saharan Africa.
He said the national HIV prevalence rate was 1.9 per cent in 2007 while there is an estimated 264,481 PWLHAs comprising 110,666 males and 153,815 females.
According to Dr Ofori there were 110 facilities in the country with the capacity to provide ART as of June, this year and the NACP was working hard so that by 2010 every district hospital would be able to provide ART.
The acting New Juaben Municipal Director of Health Services, Mr Samuel Agyemang Boateng, who made a presentation on the "Malaria situation and drug use in Ghana", said malaria kills one million people each year, mainly children under five years while 80 per cent of malaria cases and 90 per cent of deaths were recorded in Africa.
He said in Ghana an average of 7,500 malaria cases were reported each day, and that it was the major cause of death, accounting for 40,000 deaths annually.
He said there was the need for action on the preventive and curative measures of malaria to reduce the incidence of malaria for Ghana to attain the MDGs.
Explaining further, he said one of the MDGs was to achieve universal primary education but malaria was a leading source of illnesses and absenteeism in school-age children and teachers.
Another MDT is to reduce child mortality but malaria was the leading cause of child mortality in endemic areas.
The participants later visited Matthew 25 House in Koforidua, a non-governmental organisation helping those infected with and affected by HIV/AIDS.
The facility provides counselling, skills training, awareness creation and community outreach for PLWHAs in communities and villages in and around Koforidua.
The Director of the house, Rev Fr Alex Bobby Benson, said they took care of about 185 men, women and children infected with or affected by AIDS.
As of now 78 PLWHAs are on ART and the house gives them financial support as well as food items.
Rev Fr Benson said the clients met in the house to interact, encourage one another and share experiences on how best to manage the disease in order to live longer.
He said the clients also engaged in income generating activities such as tie-dye, palm oil and funeral undertakers.
Rev Fr Benson expressed concern that while PLWHA are encouraged to engage in income generating activities, people are hesitant to patronise their goods when they get to know the source.
He appealed for more support for the house since the house's resources are limited.
During interaction with the PLWHAs they appealed to the government to further subsidise ART and also make available food packages for them since the drugs increased their appetite for food.
From Rebecca Kwei, Koforidua
The Eastern Regional Coordinator of the National AIDS Control Programme, Dr Sampson B. Ofori, has called on Ghanaians to care for and support People Living With HIV and AIDS (PLWHAs) in order for them to live meaningful lives free from ignorance and prejudice.
He noted that PLWHAs were still stigmatised and discriminated against in the country because Ghanaians were still in a denial stage about HIV and AIDS.
Dr Ofori made the call at a day’s workshop to build the capacity of journalists to effectively report on HIV and Antiretroviral Therapy (ART) in Koforidua .
The workshop, which was on the theme ‘Lead, Empower, Deliver-Focus on the link between HIV and Malaria’, was organised by the African Media and Malaria Research Network (AMMREN) with support from the Indepth Network and the Malaria Clinical Trials Alliance (MCTA).
He said it’s been 20 years since the institution of World AIDS Day and that HIV and AIDS have been with us since 1981 but mankind is still battling with the disease.
He said the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) on HIV and AIDS seeks to halt and reverse the spread of the epidemic by 2015 and that required far greater access to HIV prevention services and AIDS treatment, care and support than was currently available.
He noted that the current pace of most national responses was far too slow in reaching all in need of HIV information and services.
“The reality of the situation is that if we do not quickly deliver far more comprehensive prevention programmes and ensure universal access to treatment, care and support for people living with HIV or AIDS we will fail to meet the MDGs,” he said.
Giving statistics of the HIV and AIDS situation, he said globally 33.2 million people were living with the disease with 22.5 million of them in sub-Saharan Africa.
He said the national HIV prevalence rate was 1.9 per cent in 2007 while there is an estimated 264,481 PWLHAs comprising 110,666 males and 153,815 females.
According to Dr Ofori there were 110 facilities in the country with the capacity to provide ART as of June, this year and the NACP was working hard so that by 2010 every district hospital would be able to provide ART.
The acting New Juaben Municipal Director of Health Services, Mr Samuel Agyemang Boateng, who made a presentation on the "Malaria situation and drug use in Ghana", said malaria kills one million people each year, mainly children under five years while 80 per cent of malaria cases and 90 per cent of deaths were recorded in Africa.
He said in Ghana an average of 7,500 malaria cases were reported each day, and that it was the major cause of death, accounting for 40,000 deaths annually.
He said there was the need for action on the preventive and curative measures of malaria to reduce the incidence of malaria for Ghana to attain the MDGs.
Explaining further, he said one of the MDGs was to achieve universal primary education but malaria was a leading source of illnesses and absenteeism in school-age children and teachers.
Another MDT is to reduce child mortality but malaria was the leading cause of child mortality in endemic areas.
The participants later visited Matthew 25 House in Koforidua, a non-governmental organisation helping those infected with and affected by HIV/AIDS.
The facility provides counselling, skills training, awareness creation and community outreach for PLWHAs in communities and villages in and around Koforidua.
The Director of the house, Rev Fr Alex Bobby Benson, said they took care of about 185 men, women and children infected with or affected by AIDS.
As of now 78 PLWHAs are on ART and the house gives them financial support as well as food items.
Rev Fr Benson said the clients met in the house to interact, encourage one another and share experiences on how best to manage the disease in order to live longer.
He said the clients also engaged in income generating activities such as tie-dye, palm oil and funeral undertakers.
Rev Fr Benson expressed concern that while PLWHA are encouraged to engage in income generating activities, people are hesitant to patronise their goods when they get to know the source.
He appealed for more support for the house since the house's resources are limited.
During interaction with the PLWHAs they appealed to the government to further subsidise ART and also make available food packages for them since the drugs increased their appetite for food.
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
Concert to support lepers
Saturday, December 6, 2008 (The Mirror Pg 34)
By Rebecca Kwei
Come Friday, December 12, 2008, the Golden Tulip Hotel in Accra will host the National Symphony Orchestra, Winneba Youth Choir and the Holy Family Youth Choir as they sing their hearts out in a Christmas Choral Concert to raise funds for cured lepers.
The Lepers Aid Committee, supported by GUNSA of St Rose’s Senior High School, who are organising the concert, indicates that the funds will be used for the construction of a bungalow/clinic for cured lepers at the Ho Leprosarium. The ticket for the concert costs GH¢5.00.
The Ho Leprosarium, which was established in 1926 by the Basel Missionaries.
Over the years, discharged patients were rejected by their families and with no other alternative home, they came back to settle around the hospital.
According to the chairman of the Lepers Aid Committee, Rev Fr Andrew Campbell, currently, there were about 140 cured lepers living in the seven communities around the hospital.
He said most of the lepers were living in very poor conditions and in dire need of accommodation.
Rev Fr Campbell, therefore, appealed to individuals and organisations to support lepers in order “to put a smile on the face of our forgotten friends”.
He said the bungalow was estimated at GH¢30000 and it will accommodate two cured lepers, a clinic to serve the cured lepers in their communities and a nurse’s quarters.
Another fund raising event, “Flag Day”, will be held on Saturday, December 20, 2008, at the Accra Mall, where volunteers will solicit funds from Christmas shoppers.
By Rebecca Kwei
Come Friday, December 12, 2008, the Golden Tulip Hotel in Accra will host the National Symphony Orchestra, Winneba Youth Choir and the Holy Family Youth Choir as they sing their hearts out in a Christmas Choral Concert to raise funds for cured lepers.
The Lepers Aid Committee, supported by GUNSA of St Rose’s Senior High School, who are organising the concert, indicates that the funds will be used for the construction of a bungalow/clinic for cured lepers at the Ho Leprosarium. The ticket for the concert costs GH¢5.00.
The Ho Leprosarium, which was established in 1926 by the Basel Missionaries.
Over the years, discharged patients were rejected by their families and with no other alternative home, they came back to settle around the hospital.
According to the chairman of the Lepers Aid Committee, Rev Fr Andrew Campbell, currently, there were about 140 cured lepers living in the seven communities around the hospital.
He said most of the lepers were living in very poor conditions and in dire need of accommodation.
Rev Fr Campbell, therefore, appealed to individuals and organisations to support lepers in order “to put a smile on the face of our forgotten friends”.
He said the bungalow was estimated at GH¢30000 and it will accommodate two cured lepers, a clinic to serve the cured lepers in their communities and a nurse’s quarters.
Another fund raising event, “Flag Day”, will be held on Saturday, December 20, 2008, at the Accra Mall, where volunteers will solicit funds from Christmas shoppers.
Manual on HIV/AIDS management launched
Saturday, December 6, 2008 (The Mirror Pg 33)
By Rebecca Kwei
The acting Director of the Centre for Tropical Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics, Dr Alex Dodoo, has called for safety monitoring of all facilities providing anti-retroviral therapy (ART) to People Living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) in Ghana.
He said HIV was now considered a chronic disease and patients would be on medication for a long time hence the need to document the side effects of the drugs and how to manage them.
Dr Dodoo was speaking at the launch of a manual titled “Managing ART-Induced Adverse Events in Ghana” in Accra.
The 24-page manual is to assist healthcare workers as well as People Living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) to know the common side effects associated with anti-retroviral drugs (ARVs) in Ghana. It was funded by the Ghana AIDS Commission.
Additionally the manual also provides information on the side effects and how they can be managed with or without medicines.
Dr Dodoo said the benefits of anti-retroviral therapy (ART) in prolonging the lives of PLWHAs have been clearly established.
However, he noted that the benefits could be greatly reduced if patients do not adhere to treatment, adding that several factors including treatment-associated side effects were known to reduce adherence to ARTs.
Giving a background to the manual, he said it was developed following a pilot pharmacovigilance study in Ghana, which documented the most common side effects to ARVs in selected healthcare facilities providing ARTs in Ghana.
The study, which covered the Atua, St Martins, Koforidua Regional Hospital and the Police Hospital, was undertaken from March 2007 to February 2008. It also identified reasons for switching patents from one drug to another.
Some of the reported side effects of ARVs were anaemia, numbness, mild and severe rashes, insomnia, tiredness, pigmentation of the skin and nails, diarrhoea, vomiting and peeling of skin.
Mr Raymond Tetteh, a Specialist Pharmacist and Adherence Counsellor at the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital, said out of the 12,000 HIV patients registered at the hospital only 5,000 were on ART.
The Chief Pharmacist of the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital, Mr James Kyei, who launched the manual, said the issue of side effects discourages some patients from taking their medication.
He commended the team that worked on the manual for a good work done and expressed the hope that it would help all those associated with the management of HIV/AIDS in the various treatment sites.
Mr Kyei said science was dynamic and called for a review of the manual from time to time to enable it meet the challenges of the day.
By Rebecca Kwei
The acting Director of the Centre for Tropical Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics, Dr Alex Dodoo, has called for safety monitoring of all facilities providing anti-retroviral therapy (ART) to People Living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) in Ghana.
He said HIV was now considered a chronic disease and patients would be on medication for a long time hence the need to document the side effects of the drugs and how to manage them.
Dr Dodoo was speaking at the launch of a manual titled “Managing ART-Induced Adverse Events in Ghana” in Accra.
The 24-page manual is to assist healthcare workers as well as People Living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) to know the common side effects associated with anti-retroviral drugs (ARVs) in Ghana. It was funded by the Ghana AIDS Commission.
Additionally the manual also provides information on the side effects and how they can be managed with or without medicines.
Dr Dodoo said the benefits of anti-retroviral therapy (ART) in prolonging the lives of PLWHAs have been clearly established.
However, he noted that the benefits could be greatly reduced if patients do not adhere to treatment, adding that several factors including treatment-associated side effects were known to reduce adherence to ARTs.
Giving a background to the manual, he said it was developed following a pilot pharmacovigilance study in Ghana, which documented the most common side effects to ARVs in selected healthcare facilities providing ARTs in Ghana.
The study, which covered the Atua, St Martins, Koforidua Regional Hospital and the Police Hospital, was undertaken from March 2007 to February 2008. It also identified reasons for switching patents from one drug to another.
Some of the reported side effects of ARVs were anaemia, numbness, mild and severe rashes, insomnia, tiredness, pigmentation of the skin and nails, diarrhoea, vomiting and peeling of skin.
Mr Raymond Tetteh, a Specialist Pharmacist and Adherence Counsellor at the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital, said out of the 12,000 HIV patients registered at the hospital only 5,000 were on ART.
The Chief Pharmacist of the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital, Mr James Kyei, who launched the manual, said the issue of side effects discourages some patients from taking their medication.
He commended the team that worked on the manual for a good work done and expressed the hope that it would help all those associated with the management of HIV/AIDS in the various treatment sites.
Mr Kyei said science was dynamic and called for a review of the manual from time to time to enable it meet the challenges of the day.
Monday, December 1, 2008
Beautiful and smart
Saturday, November 29, 2008 (The Mirror Pg 3)
By Rebecca Kwei
It seems the “barrier” preventing medical students from participating in beauty pageants has been broken.
Until recently, it was almost impossible to find a medical student taking part in any beauty pageant. They were considered to be ‘book worms’ who were too busy to pay attention to non-academic pursuits as beauty pageants.
The myth seems to have been broken, as in the last two years medical students have claimed the crown at major national beauty pageants in the country.
Tamara Aku Dzormeku, a medical student won the Miss Malaika crown which was held at the National Theatre on November 21, 2008.
Twenty-one-year old Tamara followed her predecessor, Laurie Lawson, Miss Malaika Ghana 2007, who is also a medical student.
Interestingly, Tamara and Laurie are friends and both are in their third year at the University of Ghana Medical School.
This year’s Miss Ghana beauty pageant also had two medical students participating.
However, Tamara, does not think the barrier has been completely broken.
“Some lecturers are not in favour of it. It is not because they don’t like beauty pageants but they realise that the course is voluminous and needs more time to study,” she explained to The Mirror in an interview.
Explaining further, she said, “The lecturers are just like parents and they would want you to excel in your subjects. To some extent I understand them.”
Tamara, who is still basking in the joy of winning Miss Malaika 2008, said she lived by the ideology that one needed to maximise the potential he or she had because “He who endowed you with it will ask you to account for it some day.”
Obviously, she used that ideology in the competition which enabled her to come out tops.
For Tamara, “whatever your hands find doing, do it with the best of your ability”.
She said some people entered beauty pageants because they were beautiful but she believed one needed to have an “extra factor” — someone who was innovative and at the same time passionate about the underprivileged in society.
“It is not about just wearing the crown and going about as Miss this or that but also taking up the responsibility that comes along with it,” she said.
Malaika is a Swahili word meaning “my angel” and, according to Tamara, that meant as a Miss Malaika “you are an answer to someone’s prayer. You must be able to go the extra mile to put the smiles on people’s faces and be approachable. I thought about all these before entering the competition”.
Although it had not been a childhood dream to enter a beauty pageant, she said having watched previous episodes of the competition made her to believe that she had something in her to offer.
Additionally, she said, “Laurie was an inspiration. Her participation in the Miss Malaika 2007 edition motivated me to also participate.”
She observed that there were negative perceptions about beauty pageants but encouraged young girls that “whatever comes out of a beauty pageant depends on the individual. It is an opportunity to bring out what you have and help people in your own small way”.
For emerging Miss Malaika Ghana 2008, Tamara received a brand new KIA Cerato saloon car, plus GH¢2,400 and sponsors’ products.
Describing herself as very sociable, outgoing, someone who loves to make friends and share ideas, she said she believed that whatever one set out do by seeking the face of Christ, that person was sure of emerging victorious.
The eloquent and easy-going queen said it was not easy combining school with taking part in the competition but she had learnt to manage her time and that she used the least time she got to study.
She said she also had loyal and supportive friends to keep her informed on anything she might have missed.
Even now that she had won, she had an enormous task of combining her studies with granting interviews, as well as being a malaria youth ambassador, in collaboration with the National Malaria Control Board, she said.
On the malaria project, Tamara said she hoped to focus on prevention because she believed in the adage that “Prevention is better than cure”.
Born on July 8, 1987 to Benjamin Dzormeku and Stella Dzormeku, Tamara attended Presec Staff School and St Andrews Junior High School. She then continued at Holy Child Senior High School, Cape Coast. She is a native of Keta.
She hopes to specialise in gynaecology.
Tamara said her parents and friends were very proud of her, adding, “I am glad I made them happy.”
She said the mere thought of her parents made her reach for higher heights.
Christabel Ekeh
Christabel Ekeh completed St Mary’s Senior High School in May this year. While waiting at home for her results, she decided to grab the opportunity offered by the Miss Malaika organisers to take part in the competition.
And it paid off. She emerged the first runner-up in the contest. Christabel took home GH¢800 and sponsors’ products.
“Taking part in the competition has really boosted my confidence, improved my ability to articulate my thoughts and given me a lot of exposure,” she told The Mirror.
Christabel said when she was growing up she always wanted to be a beauty queen because she got very excited when she saw beauty queens on television.
She said she was very happy to have come this far because the competition had been very keen and the other contestants had been equally good.
She aspires to be a lawyer in future but for the moment would love to be a presenter on TV as she looks forward to entering the university.
Christabel, whose dad, Paul Ekeh, is a Nigerian, and her mum, Emma Odoom, a Ghanaian, was born on October 16, 1990 in Accra. She attended Santa Maria Complex for her basic and junior high education. She was the entertainment prefect at St Mary’s High School.
“I don’t know the key to success but the key to failure is trying to please everyone” is her favourite saying.
Yvonne Kofigah
Yvonne Eyram Kofigah, who came third in the Miss Malaika 2008, attributes her success to the grace of God.
Although she had confidence of winning, she did not believe she was in the final three because “it was too good to be true”.
According to Yvonne, people were created for a particular reason.
“There are people with good voices; that’s why they are on radio. I believe I’ve been blessed with a beautiful face and figure and also confidence,” she noted.
She entered the Malaika pageant because she believed that pageant was decent and stood out from the other pageants.
For placing third, Yvonne was rewarded with GH¢500 and sponsors’ products.
Yvonne who was born on August 7, 1989 and completed Aburi Girls’ High School last year. Prior to that, she had been at the St Bernadette Soubirous School for her basic education. She would love to be a nurse, for which reason she is preparing to continue her education at the Korle-Bu Nursing Training School.
Her parents are Frank Kofigah and Adeline Kofigah and she hails from Whuti in the Volta Region.
By Rebecca Kwei
It seems the “barrier” preventing medical students from participating in beauty pageants has been broken.
Until recently, it was almost impossible to find a medical student taking part in any beauty pageant. They were considered to be ‘book worms’ who were too busy to pay attention to non-academic pursuits as beauty pageants.
The myth seems to have been broken, as in the last two years medical students have claimed the crown at major national beauty pageants in the country.
Tamara Aku Dzormeku, a medical student won the Miss Malaika crown which was held at the National Theatre on November 21, 2008.
Twenty-one-year old Tamara followed her predecessor, Laurie Lawson, Miss Malaika Ghana 2007, who is also a medical student.
Interestingly, Tamara and Laurie are friends and both are in their third year at the University of Ghana Medical School.
This year’s Miss Ghana beauty pageant also had two medical students participating.
However, Tamara, does not think the barrier has been completely broken.
“Some lecturers are not in favour of it. It is not because they don’t like beauty pageants but they realise that the course is voluminous and needs more time to study,” she explained to The Mirror in an interview.
Explaining further, she said, “The lecturers are just like parents and they would want you to excel in your subjects. To some extent I understand them.”
Tamara, who is still basking in the joy of winning Miss Malaika 2008, said she lived by the ideology that one needed to maximise the potential he or she had because “He who endowed you with it will ask you to account for it some day.”
Obviously, she used that ideology in the competition which enabled her to come out tops.
For Tamara, “whatever your hands find doing, do it with the best of your ability”.
She said some people entered beauty pageants because they were beautiful but she believed one needed to have an “extra factor” — someone who was innovative and at the same time passionate about the underprivileged in society.
“It is not about just wearing the crown and going about as Miss this or that but also taking up the responsibility that comes along with it,” she said.
Malaika is a Swahili word meaning “my angel” and, according to Tamara, that meant as a Miss Malaika “you are an answer to someone’s prayer. You must be able to go the extra mile to put the smiles on people’s faces and be approachable. I thought about all these before entering the competition”.
Although it had not been a childhood dream to enter a beauty pageant, she said having watched previous episodes of the competition made her to believe that she had something in her to offer.
Additionally, she said, “Laurie was an inspiration. Her participation in the Miss Malaika 2007 edition motivated me to also participate.”
She observed that there were negative perceptions about beauty pageants but encouraged young girls that “whatever comes out of a beauty pageant depends on the individual. It is an opportunity to bring out what you have and help people in your own small way”.
For emerging Miss Malaika Ghana 2008, Tamara received a brand new KIA Cerato saloon car, plus GH¢2,400 and sponsors’ products.
Describing herself as very sociable, outgoing, someone who loves to make friends and share ideas, she said she believed that whatever one set out do by seeking the face of Christ, that person was sure of emerging victorious.
The eloquent and easy-going queen said it was not easy combining school with taking part in the competition but she had learnt to manage her time and that she used the least time she got to study.
She said she also had loyal and supportive friends to keep her informed on anything she might have missed.
Even now that she had won, she had an enormous task of combining her studies with granting interviews, as well as being a malaria youth ambassador, in collaboration with the National Malaria Control Board, she said.
On the malaria project, Tamara said she hoped to focus on prevention because she believed in the adage that “Prevention is better than cure”.
Born on July 8, 1987 to Benjamin Dzormeku and Stella Dzormeku, Tamara attended Presec Staff School and St Andrews Junior High School. She then continued at Holy Child Senior High School, Cape Coast. She is a native of Keta.
She hopes to specialise in gynaecology.
Tamara said her parents and friends were very proud of her, adding, “I am glad I made them happy.”
She said the mere thought of her parents made her reach for higher heights.
Christabel Ekeh
Christabel Ekeh completed St Mary’s Senior High School in May this year. While waiting at home for her results, she decided to grab the opportunity offered by the Miss Malaika organisers to take part in the competition.
And it paid off. She emerged the first runner-up in the contest. Christabel took home GH¢800 and sponsors’ products.
“Taking part in the competition has really boosted my confidence, improved my ability to articulate my thoughts and given me a lot of exposure,” she told The Mirror.
Christabel said when she was growing up she always wanted to be a beauty queen because she got very excited when she saw beauty queens on television.
She said she was very happy to have come this far because the competition had been very keen and the other contestants had been equally good.
She aspires to be a lawyer in future but for the moment would love to be a presenter on TV as she looks forward to entering the university.
Christabel, whose dad, Paul Ekeh, is a Nigerian, and her mum, Emma Odoom, a Ghanaian, was born on October 16, 1990 in Accra. She attended Santa Maria Complex for her basic and junior high education. She was the entertainment prefect at St Mary’s High School.
“I don’t know the key to success but the key to failure is trying to please everyone” is her favourite saying.
Yvonne Kofigah
Yvonne Eyram Kofigah, who came third in the Miss Malaika 2008, attributes her success to the grace of God.
Although she had confidence of winning, she did not believe she was in the final three because “it was too good to be true”.
According to Yvonne, people were created for a particular reason.
“There are people with good voices; that’s why they are on radio. I believe I’ve been blessed with a beautiful face and figure and also confidence,” she noted.
She entered the Malaika pageant because she believed that pageant was decent and stood out from the other pageants.
For placing third, Yvonne was rewarded with GH¢500 and sponsors’ products.
Yvonne who was born on August 7, 1989 and completed Aburi Girls’ High School last year. Prior to that, she had been at the St Bernadette Soubirous School for her basic education. She would love to be a nurse, for which reason she is preparing to continue her education at the Korle-Bu Nursing Training School.
Her parents are Frank Kofigah and Adeline Kofigah and she hails from Whuti in the Volta Region.
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