Monday, April 26, 2010

Support African tobacco farmers

Saturday, April 24, 2010 (The Mirror Pg 34)

By Rebecca Kwei
The Minister of Health, Dr Benjamin Kunbuor, has called for support for tobacco farmers in African countries to enable them to venture into other alternative livelihoods.
In a speech on his behalf, the Health Minister said emerging studies showed that there were a range of alternatives to tobacco growing that were more economically viable and less harmful to farmers’ health and the environment.
Dr Kunbuor made the call at the opening session of the second meeting of the working group on economically sustainable alternatives to tobacco growing in relation to Articles 17 and 18 of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC) in Accra.
The WHO FCTC on tobacco control was developed in response to the globalisation of the tobacco epidemic.
It is the first treaty negotiated under the auspices of the WHO that reaffirms the right of all people to the highest standard of health.
About 30 participants from 18 WHO-member countries are attending the three-day meeting to provide practical guidelines on how to achieve the goals of Articles 17 and 18 which deal with economically sustainable alternatives to tobacco growing and protection of the environment.
Dr Kunbuor noted that many tobacco farmers would like to switch to alternatives, but they often faced challenges such as access to credits, markets, technical assistance, inputs and skills.
He, therefore, expressed the hope that the deliberations at the meeting “will work towards diminishing these barriers, and if protected from interference by the tobacco industry, will assist farmers and other tobacco workers in securing long-term sustainable livelihoods”.
He said the world was waiting for proposals of the working group, since its efforts would impact on the lives of some of the poorest people not only in Africa but around the world.
He said the tobacco industry had for a long time used farmers to slow down ratification and implementation of the WHO FCTC even though the farmers did not really benefit from their hard work and the big profits of the tobacco industry.
The Deputy Director-General of the Ghana Health Service (GHS), Dr Amofah, who chaired the meeting, said the issue of tobacco growing and its products were complex and challenging and there was the need to design effective strategies to overcome them.
He appealed to the participants to devise ways of monitoring the implementation of key decisions in order to be able to measure progress.
The Head of the Convention Secretariat, WHO Framework on Tobacco Control, Dr Haik Nilogosian, said this was the first time a working group meeting was being held in Africa and pledged the secretariat’s support for the success of the meeting.

Raquel — The budding music talent

Saturday, April 24, 2010 (The Mirror Pg 3)

By Rebecca Kwei
WITH a smooth voice, impressive versatility and an elegant pose, Raquel Ammah, a budding music talent believes she has what it takes to bring a new revolution to the Ghanaian music industry.
Raquel presents an exotic style, yet in some of her tracks, she still succeeds in lacing her music with good local vibes.
“My music is evolving, expressive, full of sweet melodies and also talks about real life issues,” she remarked.
The young songbird grew up listening to all kinds of music from highlife, reggae to R&B; her versatility and taste for different music genres comes along with their own challenges. Interestingly, she finds it difficult to describe her genre of music, although admittedly, a soulful singer and writer.
“It is a mixture of everything. It’s hard to say which genre because I can venture into all kinds of genres,” she explained.
Get Wild, is the title of Raquel’s first record, produced in early 2009 and it featured local rap stars, Guru and Sarkodie. Although it was not officially released, a few DJs laid their hands on it and it received a fair amount of air play.
“I could not believe what was happening after the first record. It was really good and getting the right people to hear it opened many other doors for me,” she reminisced.
She is currently working on her single hit titled Odo and the music video which would be released in June. However, she has other hit songs such as Be in love featuring S Konti, This is Me, Minsumobo with JB and Pressure featuring Guru.
Asked how she got into music, Raquel with a smile said, “probably when you ask my mom, she will say I started when I came out of her womb”.
From an early age, Raquel, who says she is very shy, hid her musical talent but would rather write poems, songs and short stories, until one day she performed by singing at her grandparents home.
She wowed with her singing ability and her family, seeing her talent encouraged her which propelled her to perform at talent shows.
At the age of eight, Raquel formed a duo with her sister, Matilda, who was then 10 years.
“We were like a little Mel and Kim of the mid 80s with the hit record “Showing Out (Get fresh at the weekend) performing at various functions” she recalled.
Later on in life, her sister went into acting, while Raquel concentrated on her music.
Raquel, who is in her early twenties, was born to Mark and Dinah Asabea Ammah in London but said she came back home almost every other year for vacation.
She attended West Thames College where she obtained a diploma in Performing Arts and the first person to be awarded a triple distinction in the 2004/2005 academic year.
While in college, she won a talent show twice which was hosted by Richard Blackwood, a popular presenter and DJ of Choice FM in London.
Her first major gig in London was when she opened the 2005 Miss Ghana UK beauty pageant.
She took a little break from music to concentrate on her education when she gained admission to the University of Surrey, Roehampton to study Drama,Theatre and Performing Arts, graduating in 2008.
It was after her university education that she came back for vacation in Ghana again and then one thing led to another — she being invited to perform at shows and recording in the studios such that she decided to stay and concentrate on her music career.
She also competed in ‘Grab the Mic’ a show which sought to hunt for Star’s Brand Ambassador last year where she was the first runner up.
Raquel’s hit release ‘This is Me’ featured in Shirley Frimpong-Manso’s movie — A Sting in a Tale. She also featured on Obrafour’s current album with a track called Tell Me.
Since recording in Ghana, the songstress has been actively featured by a host of talented artist in the Ghana music industry. Raquel has worked with the likes of Quota, Trigmatic, DBlack, EL.., Guru, Saccade, JAB, Rakimilist, Squint (Anansedemz), Edem, Jazzy, Obibini, Jah Seed, BlackSheperd and many more.
Raquel, who is managed by Black Star SR Entertainment, is multi talented — a composer, choreographer, actress, script writer and a drawing artist.
Aside working on her hit single Odo, Raquel is also involved in two theatrical productions. She is a supporting actress in When the Music Stops, which is produced by Playhouse and will roll at the National Theatre on May 7 and 8, 2010.
She is also playing the lead role as Maria in Rogers and Hammerstein’s Sound of Music produced by Bana Rackor Consult, which will also be showing at the National Theatre later in the year.
Raquel is also a good dancer and says she can perform all kinds of dance from street dance to ballet and it is her desire to impact her knowledge of dance to young children in Ghana at a later stage through her own upcoming foundation.
“I wish to teach children the importance of art. There is more meaning to body movements, usage of voice, space, among other things when it comes to art. Every movement in dance is an expression. Every element of art leads to some kind of feeling, expression and emotion” she said.
Consequently, for her social responsibility, Raquel hopes to work with children in the areas of education, health, among others.
She gave a candle light inspirational performance at the Alliance Francaise in support of World AIDS Day 2009 concert.
She conceded that being a female in the music industry was not easy adding, “you have to be humble but firm, loyal and honest about your work. I will not trade my music for anything. Failure is an opportunity in disguise”.
Raquel, a very confident lady with a strong presence on stage in the next five years, is looking at having released at least two albums which will be making waves not only in Ghana but across the globe. She also hopes to travel and put Ghana music on the international scene.

Meet Yvonne — New GhIS President

Saturday, April 24, 2010 (The Mirror Pg 3)

By Rebecca Kwei
In times past when the surveying profession was mentioned, it was certainly associated with men.
But that is changing now, as more women are taking to what is a largely a male-dominated field.
One of such women is Surveyor Yvonne Odoley Sowah, who has risen through the ranks of the Ghana Institution of Surveyors (GhIS) to become the second female President in the 41-year history of the institute.
She was co-opted into the Divisional Committee of the institution in 1990, then elected on to the Valuation and Estate Surveying Divisional Committee and became the Honorary Secretary of the institution for two terms from 1993 to 1995 and subsequently the Chairperson of the Valuation and Estate Surveying Division for an unprecedented four- term period (2003-2007).
After all that, Ms Sowah became the Vice-President of the GhIS (2008-2009), the Senior Vice-President for 2009-2010 and now the President for the 2010-2011 session.
She sees her election as a humbling experience and of mixed emotions, saying, “Although I expected it to happen, when it happened it was surreal and I had mixed feelings.”
The first woman to head the institution was Surveyor Dr Mrs Matilda Fiadzigbey, a former Administrator at the Office of the Administration of Stool Lands.
Ms Sowah, who was sworn in on February 27, 2010, will serve as President for a one-year term. She took over from Surveyor Kwadwo Osei-Asante
“I originally wanted to read Law but with a quirk of fate I ended up at the University of Science and Technology (now the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) to read Land Economy and I have not regretted,” she told The Mirror in an interview.
She said during her time in the university, there were only two females reading Land Economy, noting that the situation was changing, and although she could not give figures, she said many more women were majoring in that field.
Having been elected as President of the institution, Ms Sowah, who is a Valuation Surveyor and Managing Director of Alpha Property Services Limited, has a tall order which she hopes will make the institution be seen and heard.
“For a long time surveyors in general have been ‘after thoughts’ in the development planning agenda of the country and it is about time that changed because surveyors are very relevant — anything to do with land, sea or air,” she emphasised.
To do that, Ms Sowah said the first thing was to strengthen the secretariat to help deliver quality service to members of the institution so that decisions of the Governing Council were disseminated to all promptly.
Also, it is her desire to ensure that members appreciate the benefits of the institution so that together they can help the institution grow in stature for members’ views to be sought in all matters of national development.
Research is designed to solve a particular existing problem and it is also vital to our everyday decision-making.
So for her, an effective research unit for the institution to help in the provision of effective indices and data for all the services provided by the three divisions of the institution, namely, Quantity Surveying, Land Surveying and Valuation and Estate.
For instance, she said she expected the Valuation and Estate Division to ensure that the valuation format was utilised for the development of a database of information relevant for the mortgage banks, banks in general, the Statistical Service and the Bank of Ghana for establishing housing indices.
“The Quantity Surveying Division is to develop a cost data on construction cost to help the government ascertain whether housing developments are really affordable or not and come up with ways of reducing construction costs,” she explained.
Ms Sowah is also worried about the infiltration of people into the profession.
“Anybody gets up and says ‘I’m a surveyor’ and starts practising. We need to regulate the surveying practice and also set up a place where people can go for redress,” she said.
In pursuance of this, she said the promulgation of the Survey Council and the Real Estate Agency bills which would help sanitise the surveying practice and had taken nearly a decade to be passed would be followed up.
Ms Sowah is the eldest daughter of the late Mr Justice E. N. P. Sowah, a former Chief Justice and Chancellor of the Anglican Archdiocese of Accra, and Mrs Elsie Sowah.
She had her pre-school and primary education at the Ghana International School (GIS) and Achimota Primary.
She gained her GCE ‘O’ and ‘A’ levels from Achimota School, Accra High School and OLA Secondary School, Ho, between 1965 and 1974. She graduated with a BSc (Hons) in Land Economy from KNUST in 1978.
After her university education, Ms Sowah had her national service at the Estate Department of the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) from 1978 to 1979.
She left for Nigeria after her national service and worked with a chartered surveying firm — Epega & Co — as a valuer for six years.
She returned to her motherland in the latter part of 1986 and for two and a half years worked with Property Investments Consultants.
In 1989, together with Edward Dwomoh Appiah as senior partner, she set up Alpha Property Services, of which she was a managing partner till 2007 when it became a limited liability company. Now Alpha Property Services is a wholly female owned company. Her other partner is Mrs Ellen Arthur.
According to Ms Sowah, it had not been easy operating in a male-dominated field, adding, “Being female, you have to go the extra mile so that your male colleagues do not find any fault with your work. But over the years, I have carved a niche in the estate agency field and that has helped me.”
Ms Sowah is blessed with three boys — Paa Kow, who is working in Canada; Desmond, a student at KNUST, and David, who is in 11th Grade.

Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Becca, Ohemaa stand tall at GMA

Saturday, April 17, 2010 (The Mirror Pg 3)

By Rebecca Kwei
Beautiful Becca and ‘spirit-filled’ Ohemaa Mercy were the only women who stood tall at last weekend’s MTN Ghana Music Awards (GMA) held at the Dome of the Accra International Conference Centre.
Becca won the Record of the Year for her song Daa ke Daa and the Best Female Vocal Performance while Ohemaa Mercy took the coveted Gospel Artiste of the Year.
Their performances on the night were also thrilling. Becca’s rendition of her song Daa Ke Daa, which she interlaced with Kojo Antwi’s Mmereka, went down well with the audience.
She was speechless when she received her award but managed to thank all those who have helped her reach this far.
“I’m really excited. I was not expecting it. This shows people are happy with what I’ve been doing. I thank God for everything; my family, friends, fans and my management, EKB Entertainment, for their support” she told The Mirror in a telephone interview.
For Ohemaa Mercy, dressing as ‘Christian soldier’ did the trick for her. She was on ‘fire’ and got the audience to sing Wo Be Ye Kese with her.
It has been a long journey for the two singers and reaching this height has not been easy.
Becca (real name Rebecca Acheampong) has within a short time become a force to reckon with on the music scene. Her poise, confidence, powerful voice and stagecraft put her in a different league.
Becca, who is a Level 200 student studying Projects and Operations Management at Greenhill College in Accra, says it is her passion for music that makes her give her all, whether recording or performing.
Additionally, she notes that she has a great team supporting her — EKB Entertainment Manager, Kiki Banson, who also doubles as the band director and other supporting staff.
Becca’s debut album, Sugar was a hit. She won Record of the Year at the 2008 GMA. Another hit, You Lied to Me featuring Kwabena Kwabena, earned her four other nominations.
Becca featured Hugh Masekela, a renowned musician from South Africa, on her track I Love you. She has also collaborated with Keisha White, a UK R&B star.
In 2008, Becca was nominated in the Kora Awards and Channel O Music Video Awards. She said she was currently working on a new album which would come out soon.
Playing a musical instrument is a plus for any singer and that is why Becca is learning how to play the guitar and keyboards.
Recently, Becca gave a whole new meaning to social responsibility when she successfully raised $100,000 in cash and pledges at her first “Becca Children’s Ball” to enable her register 10,000 children under the National Health Insurance Scheme.
An old student of Wesley Girls High School in Cape Coast, Becca also holds a certificate in Child Care and Education from the Croydon College in London.
Ohemaa Mercy was nominated in four categories for this year’s awards ceremony but managed to win in one. What made her stand out at last Saturday’s awards ceremony was her smart turn-out in military uniform for her performance. Many sometimes see her as a shy woman but she put whatever notions people have about her aside and wowed the crowd with a solid show.
Since 2005 when Ohemaa Mercy released her debut album Adamfo Pa, she has matured on the gospel music scene and has become a household name.
She released Edin Jesus in 2007 and was nominated in eight categories at the 2008 GMA where she managed to grab the Gospel Artiste of the Year, Gospel Album of the Year and Album of the Year awards.
Her latest album Wobeye Kese is making waves across the country.
Ohemaa Mercy, a professional teacher, feels blessed because she can compose and sing as well. “God has given me a talent and I see no other way to use it than to serve in His kingdom to inspire and bring souls into His kingdom, ” she says.
Ohemaa grew up in Koforidua, attended Ghana Secondary School, Koforidua, before enrolling at the S.D.A. Teacher Training College at Asokore. She went to teach at the Koforidua St Peter’s Anglican School but got steeped into gospel music.
She quit teaching when she started getting inundated with requests from across the country for performances. She has, however, set up the Ohemaa Foundation which helps brilliant children through school.

Tuesday, April 13, 2010

Prof Binka wins award

Saturday, April 10, 2010 (The Mirror Pg 25)

By Rebecca Kwei
The Dean of the School of Public Health of the University of Ghana, Professor Fred Newton Binka, has been awarded the Ronald Ross Medal for his contribution to research on a wide range of diseases in the tropics.
This is the first time someone from a developing country has received the award. Prof Binka was awarded the medal together with Prof Geoffrey Targett.
The Ronald Ross Medal was instituted in 1997 by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. The medal was set up to commemorate the centenary of Ross’ discovery of the transmission of malaria by the mosquito.
On August 20, 1897, Sir Ronald Ross made the momentous discovery of the malaria parasite in the female anopheline mosquito thus demonstrating that the mosquito was the carrier of malaria. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1902.
“I feel honoured and excited by this award, especially because it is Ronald Ross and my work over the years has been in malaria epidemiology” Prof Binka said at a lunch organised by INDEPTH Network in his honour.
The citation accompanying the award said at a relatively young age, Prof Binka established himself as one of the leading health research scientists in Africa and he has an extraordinary distinguished record of research and service to public health.
According to the citation Prof Binka gained international prominence when he was recruited to be the Epidemiologist and head of field work fo a major trial in northern Ghana to assess the impact that regular supplementation with vitamin A would have on child mortality.
“The results of the trial were striking and of global significance, showing vitamin A supplementation produced a 20 per cent reduction in the all-cause child death rate,” the citation said.
It continued “the results of the trial were highly influential in determining recommendations on vitamin A supplementation globally. Secondly, the excellence of the conduct of this large and complicated trial in a relatively remote location in Ghana, established Fred’s reputation as a field trial investigator.
Thirdly it led to the study site, situated around a small town in northern Ghana, Navrongo, becoming a centre of excellence for demographic surveillance and Fred became the first director of the newly established centre in 1992.
Fourthly, the experience of demographic surveillance in Navrongo was highly influential in the setting up of the INDEPTH Network — a network of around 30 demographic surveillance sites in developing countries of which Fred was the founding Executive Director — a position he occupied for the first decade of its existence.”
According to the citation, Prof Binka’s first activity upon assuming the leadership of the Navrongo Health Research Centre was to conduct one of the key trials showing that insecticide-impregnated bednets reduced all-cause mortality by 20 per cent.
This together with a small number of similar trials conducted elsewhere, has been key to the incorporation of bednet distribution as a major malaria control strategy in Accra.
Prof Binka was a founding member of Mapping Malaria Risk in Africa (MARA Network) and also played a key role in discussions and negotiations that led to the setting up of the European and Developing Countries Clinical Trials Partnership (EDCTP).
Both of these ventures (MARA and EDCTP) have been important initiatives in addressing major health problems in sub-Saharan Africa.
Prof Binka spent 1998 to 2000 working in Geneva with the then newly created Roll Back Malaria Programme and was a member of the core team that developed the vision for the programme.
Despite requests to stay on with the Programme in Geneva, he saw his major contribution as a scientist based in Africa and returned to Ghana in 2000.
Recognising the lack of clinical trial capacity in Africa, Prof Binka was the main force behind the setting up of the Malaria Clinical Trials Alliance (MCTA) of which he is currently the Executive Director.
The MCTA is funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and it is strengthening the capacity of centres in Africa to conduct trials of malaria treatment and vaccines.
More recently, Prof Binka has championed the setting up of the INDEPTH Effectiveness and Safety Studies (INESS) to assess the effectiveness and safety of new anti-malarials as they are introduced into African countries.
Prof Binka also received the British Medical Journal Research Paper of the Year Award for 2010.
Various speakers at the reception including the Director of the Ghana Health Service, Dr Elias Sory, the Programme Manager of National Malaria Control Programme, Dr Constance Bart-Plange described Prof Binka as an inspirational leader, goal getter, kind and one who is able to groom and nurture people to take up responsible positions.
The Executive Director of INDEPTH Network, Dr Osman Sankoh in congratuting Prof Binka said his achievement has again put the INDEPTH Network on the map.

Tuesday, April 6, 2010

Mimi — Diva with a star approach

Thursday, April 1, 2010 (The Mirror Pg 3)

By Rebecca Kwei
When she entered the Big Brother Africa contest in 2008, Mimi Divalish (real name Wilhelmina Abu-Andani) had one motive — to use the fame she would get out of her participation to launch her music career.
So in less than three weeks after she was evicted from the house, she released her hit single: “Leave Me Alone” featuring 4 x 4.
“I had always wanted to be in showbiz. Music and acting were my options. But looking at the struggle people have to go through before releasing an album, I realised I needed a platform to launch me onto the music scene and that was Big Brother”, she told The Mirror in an interview.
Mimi said she auditioned for Big Brother Africa because she was a big fan of reality shows and wanted to have a feel of it.
Like a fairy tale, although she did not win the ultimate Big Brother prize and received some flak back home about her performance in the house, her musical ambition is paying off and she is one of the fastest growing female secular musicians.
And she has a tattoo (five stars) on the left side of her chest which she says signifies that she is going to be a “huge star”.
Why the name “Mimi Divalish”? Mimi explained that while in the Big Brother house, her fellow housemates referred to her as “Mimilicious Divalicious” because they claimed she acted like a diva.
“I chose Mimi Divalish as my stage name because I felt the Mimilicious Divalicious was too cocky”, she added.
After releasing “Leave Me Alone” which was written by Chase, Mimi followed it with “Tattoo” written by Castro the Destroyer and “DJ” also penned by Chase in 2009 and her album titled “Music In Me” has six tracks.
The music videos for her first three songs have been described by many as “very good” and Mimi agrees: “My videos are the best. We had very good production from Phamous People. “DJ” was shot in Berlin, Germany. Everyone says all three videos are good.”
Mimi, who is in her mid-20s, says she has written her own songs which will be released soon. Her inspiration comes from everything around her and her desire to be very successful in her chosen field.
Although she is versatile and does different genres of music, Mimi says she classifies her music under hiplife. She looks up to Beyonce, Alicia Keys and Lhiza James of Mozambique.
“Their success stories fascinate me. I’ve been listening to them since I was a kid and their rise to fame and continuous success inspires me”, she said.
Mimi was born and bred in Kumasi but hails from Tamale in the Northern Region. After completing Holy Spirit Junior Secondary School, she continued at Aburi Girls where she offered Science and passed out in 1999.
“My parents thought I was smart hence they wanted me to study Science and become a medical doctor but that was not my interest”, she said.
To please her parents, she continued at the University of Cape Coast to study Biological Science, majoring in Chemistry. She graduated in 2006 and had her national service at the Tema Oil Refinery (TOR).
Her love for languages led her to Spain and France to study languages for two years. She speaks Spanish and understands Italian and a little bit of Portuguese. She also speaks Dagbani, Dagaare, Twi, Fante and Hausa.
When she returned to Ghana after her languages course, she worked as the personal assistant to the CEO of an engineering firm for about four months before entering the Big Brother Africa competition.
In the next few years, Mimi says she sees herself taking Africa and the world by storm.
“I want to be the biggest female musician in Africa and the world as a whole. But first I need to work hard to be recognised on the African scene which will ultimately propel me onto the world music stage”, she said with a lot of confidence in her voice.
How does she hope to achieve these? Mimi summarised it in these words “Hard work, perseverance and prayers”.
She said “the future looks bright — better things, better life, hard work and giving back to society”.
According to Mimi she is still in touch with some of her Big Brother housemates — Sheila from Kenya; Uti, Nigeria; Ricco, Angola, and Lucille from Namibia. Sheila and Uti featured in her “Leave Me Alone” music video.
Mimi is the eldest daughter of Jane Abu and Richard Abu-Andani and has two other sisters and a brother. She loves singing, watching reality shows and dancing, and for the guys, she says “I’m single and mingling”.