Women lose their farms to biofuel production
Ghanaian small scale farmers, particularly women, are facing displacement from their farm lands. In recent times, the northern parts of Ghana are said to be witnessing an influx of foreign companies engaged in jatropha and sugar-cane plantation for biofuel production. Regrettably, some of these companies that are investing in biofuel production acquire large track of land but only pay the farmers for the portion of the land they utilize, in spite of an existing contract. Current trends in the biofuel production, with major policy thrust globally points to many motivations. Some analysts have reckoned that it has been difficult to estimate the costs and benefits of production of biofuel.The Global Convention on Food Security requires governments to develop and implement national food security plans and to create an international network of local, national, and regional food reserves. Energy crisis and high cost of fossil fuel have given rise to the quest for alternative energy source of biofuel. Sadly, women as social and economic constituencies are often marginalized in most economic policies, even though they are most pinched by such policies. In a developing country such as Ghana, biofuel production entails the use of productive lands and not marginal lands at the expense of food production for food and livelihood security. The use of crops such as maize, soya bean, sugar cane, oil palm, sorghum for biofuel production also have serious implications for food security. It is exactly the areas that women congregate such as agriculture which has long been an important source of income for them, that would be under attack amidst biofuel production craze. Although women dominate in the agriculture sector, which engages over fifty percent of the population directly, only few of them are engaged in cash crop production, which is mostly supported by government to be competitive, compared to food crop which engages majority of women.According to Mr. David Eli of Food Security Policy and Advocacy Network (FoodSPAN) prices of food went up last year because industrialized countries used them to produce fuel to correct the ills of climate change. "People are crying because they don't have their livelihoods concerns being met. There is no policy guideline by government. What will happen to our land, food security in future if we leave our land to the production of jatropha for fuel?", he inquired. In that regard, ActionAid Ghana in collaboration with FoodSPAN is implementing a two year project on biofuel production in Ghana. A study was commissioned to investigate and explore the debate into biofuel production in Ghana and its implications for livelihood and food security of small scale farmers, especially women, and the environment. At a media dissemination workshop in Accra, lead researcher and General Secretary of the General Agricultural Workers Union (GAWU) of TUC, Mr. Kingsley Offei-Nkansah stressed that food security is about accessibility of food to a whole nation, household and every individual, although there are differential access to it. He bemoaned that Africa is largely agricultural, but a net food importer and so must sit up, and wondered what would happen if it let out it lands for fuel production."Biofuel promotion in Africa is largely driven by foreign concerns with foreign interests largely to meet external demands on biofuel."Mr. Offei-Nkansah noted there is no policy framework that guides biofuel development in Ghana. However, he said some institutions including Energy Commission, Energy Ministry, Ministry of Food and Agriculture and Lands Commission have at various times examined biofuel production. He mentioned small holder production, community energy development and large-scale plantation as the three identified models of biofuel of biofuel production. He disclosed the large scale plantation model have serious implications for livelihood and food security of small-scale producers in Ghana, who are mostly women."Destruction of economic tress such as shea-nut and dawadawa trees actually deny community members, especially women their source of livelihood. It also restricts the hitherto extensive traditional rearing of animals in the affected communities."The study revealed that the widespread practice of monoculture biofuel has caused destruction of forest with its effect on biodiversity. It recommends among others a comprehensive policy framework that incorporates the views of all stakeholders, and clearly indicating sectoral linkages need to be put in place by policy makers and the government. With regard to the production models, it proposes that biofuel production should be driven by local of community energy needs, rather than foreign driven or external energy needs. Further, it stated that companies investing in biofuel production in various communities should be compelled by legislation to make full disclosure of their plans for the use of the lands and other resources in order to improve the knowledge of the local communities to make informed decisions.


Doctors call on government to review draft single spine salary structure

The Ghana Medical Association (GMA) has rejected the Single Spine Salary Structure (SSSS) on the grounds that it is flawed and lacks a rational scientific basis. The GMA says the SSSS in its current form is unacceptable and has advised government to as a matter of urgency review the structure in the health sector in consultation with all stakeholders before it attempts to implement it. It stated that it is also in the interest of all labour unions to endeavour to discuss all the thorny issues concerning the SSSS before the final implementation. The previous government in line with its policy to institute a SSSS with a proposed start date of January 2009 contracted a consultant to develop an integrated and unified salary structure to instill equity in public salary administration. Although the GMA admits that it was involved in the government?s review process at the initial stages, it denied any involvement that led to placements on the SSSS as contained in the draft document it has sighted. ?Even more was the premature announcement by the previous government of 16-35% salary increment aimed at kick-starting a so-called SSSS, discussions on which were inconclusive,? stated Dr. Emmanuel Adom Winful, President of the GMA at a press briefing in Accra. Expressing the association?s reservations to the final draft of the SSSS, Mr. Winful said that there was a complete distortion of relativities in the health sector to the extent that professionals on the Ghana Universal Salary Structure (GUSS) and later the Health Sector Salary Structure (HSS), now find themselves ranked below others to whom they were previously senior. Also, he said the consultant showed a clear lack of understanding of the basic hierarchies in the health system. ?Rather he /she seem to have given undue credit to the title ?Chief? freely dispensing it to various categories of health professionals. The scale is thus full of ?Chief this, Chief that? without any iota of respect for levels of qualification of job description etc,? he explained. To this end, he said the SSSS seem to reward longevity in service rather than spur ring health professionals on to constantly improve their practice through skills acquisition and constant professional upgrading. Dr. Winful questioned why a medical officer cannot call himself a specialist (irrespective of whatever procedures he/she is capable of) after twenty years of medical practice, but any other category of health professional can aspire to the position of specialist by dint of having marked time at the same place for over twenty years. He assured their members that the GMA is contracting the services of its own technical advisor to further advise the association. The GMA lamented that doctors have still not had any salary reviews since negotiations were first concluded in 2006 in spite of the eroding effects of inflation and in clear breach of their memorandum of understanding. It called on authorities to be proactive to bring to speedy conclusions unresolved issues of 2008 and never to wait until near crisis level before they make a move, as has been the practice. ?The leadership of the GMA has been proactive in bringing all these pertinent matters and others central to improving our health system forward, to the attention of the new minister. It is our hope that the Dr. George Sipa Yankey, Health Minister would address them holistically and with necessary dispatch,? it concluded.

RED ALERT: PEDOPHILES ALL OVER ...552 reported cases of defilement in Accra in 2008

The number of defilement cases in Ghana appears to be increasing, with a reported incident of forced sexual intercourse with a minor appearing almost daily in the media. Expert s say the rampant cases of defilement across the country could pass as pedophilia, when assessed which is being disguised as defilement. The Acting Chief Psychiatrist of the Accra Psychiatric Hospital, Dr. Akwasi Osei told Public Agenda that although pedophilia is against the law in Ghana, it is not treated as such; instead it is treated as defilement. If we really realize that some of these people are actually pedophiles, then the first point of call should be somebody requiring psychiatric treatment, Dr. Osei emphasized.According to Dr. Akwasi Osei, Ghana has overlooked this aspect of sex crimes for far too long and it is important to take it into consideration now. For now, Ghana is only scratching the face of the matter, he sai d.In the first two months of this year, the Domestic Violence and Victim Support Unit of the Ghana Police Service (DOVVSU) reported 77 cases of defilement. March figures have not yet been computed.Last year, the Accra Division of DOVVSU recorded 552 reported cases of defilement, up 81.3 percent from the 449 reported in 2007. In 2008, defilement cases ranked third among all crimes. The Western Regional office of DOVVSU last year recorded a total of 2,071 general cases, 133, or .06 percent, of which were cases of defilement, defined as corrupting the chastity of or debauching, violating or raping.But Eric Appiah Okrah, a child protection specialist at UNICEF in Accra, cautioned that although the number of sexual assaults against children would appear to be on the rise, in reality it may just be that more people are reporting the crime because of increased education on the issue. "As more people get to be aware of this and the consequences on future child development, then the likelihood is that more cases are reported to the police and come into the limelight," Mr. Okrah said, adding that getting people to report the crime in some regions of the country is still an up-hill battle. "It is shrouded in a kind of secrecy. You realize in the rural areas in several quarters that (the topic of) sexuality is a no-go area and so when it happens there is a tendency to treat it in-house within the family because of the stigma and disgrace it could bring to the family."The fact that some perpetrators of defilement are arrested several times for the crime has raised concern as to whether the nation is really dealing with pedophiles and Ghana is refusing to name the criminals as such. Pedophilia is defined as an obsession with children as sex objects. Overt acts, including taking sexually explicit photographs, molesting children, and exposing one's genitalia to children are all crimes. Pedophilia is also commonly treated as a mental illness, and the pedophile is often released only to repeat the crimes or escalate the activity to the level of murder.Dr. Osei said Ghana is criminalizing all offences, including defilement, some of which may be a psychiatric condition and not a criminal condition. Dr. Osei explained that since pedophilia is a subconscious personality development or a psychological makeup a person forms as he grow up, perpetrators of defilement need to be assessed to determine if they are really pedophiles. An assessment can include talking to relatives and friends about the persons history, he said. He admits, though, that certainly a good number of defilers found may actually be pedophiles, as pedophilia is just one of the abnormal types of sexual activity. He added that other abnormal sexual activity include a preference for animals, feces, etc. However, Dr. Osei said that others may be defiling under-aged females not for sexual pleasures, but because they have been fed with the wrong information. "Some people think that if you are HIV positive and you go in for a young girl or a virgin, you could be cured. Others also do it just because they want to have an adventure."He added that although it is not impossible, pedophilia is difficult to treat, as such persons need to be taken through a whole kind of behaviour therapy. "Generally, there are lots of loopholes in our system. Unlike developed countries, there are no security psychiatric units within the prisons which provide reformed training and psychiatric treatment." Consequently, he said, such convicts come out of prison only to repeat their crime."Dr. Osei called for a revision of the law so that such people can be assessed. He said it is dangerous for Ghana to be putting a good number of people in prison as criminals while ignoring psychiatric treatment, which is a disservice to the perpetrator and society at large. Proper methods of handling such cases need to be put in place, he said. "The idea is not to imprison the person because he has committed a crime, but we need to revise our laws and deal with it as (a mental illness). The fact is that if you assess and he is found to be a pedophile then you treat him as such." Dr. Osei said he hopes that when the National Identification System becomes operational and the biometric data of the citizenry imputed, it will help Ghana to solve the problem. A source at the Accra office of DOVSSU told Public Agenda that the unit is unable to keep track of perpetrators of defilement after their conviction because there is no mechanism to do so. Complicating the matter is the poor addressing system in the country as a whole. "It makes things difficult because after their release from prison society needs to be aware of their history so they can be alert," said the source, who asked not to be identified.More stringent laws and greater enforcement of those laws, said Mr. OKrah, will discourage pedophile and become a deterrent to the crime.A legal associate at the Centre for Public Interest Law, Mr. Kissi Agyebeng, argued that the issue is not about what to call the sexual deviancy, rather, he said, the most important thing is that there is a law that prohibits pedophilia with a seven-year minimum penalty and 25-year maximum confinement."Although there have been bold attempts by officialdom to deal with the issue, it could be better."Mr. Okrah agrees, adding that overall Ghana is doing a "good" job in addressing the issue of defilement. "We have laws on defilement and rape that are there. Now we have specialized enforcement institutions (DOVVSU, the police anti-human trafficking division) which have a bias for the victim. However, it's one thing establishing such institutions and making laws and it's another thing to provide the resources," he said."The government needs to strengthen the institutional capacity not only in terms of logistics but the human resources, in terms of training, for them to be able to detect the issues. So, when I say that Ghana is doing well, there is a lot of room for improvement."Meanwhile, reports of defilement are reported almost daily in the nation's newspapers.The Daily Guide newspaper reported last month that a 24-year-old fisherman allegedly defiled a 7-year-old girl at New Takoradi in the Western Region. In another report, the newspaper reported that 44-year-old Eric Engman was arrested by Nima Police in Accra for allegedly defiling five girls ranging in age from 6 to 8.And Public Agenda in its Friday edition published a report of a 20-year-old man, Yaw Nyatseh of Sankore, near Kukuom in the Asunafo South district, who was sentenced to 20 years imprisonment in hard labour for defiling two teenagers. Public Agenda also reported that a 24-year-old man was sentenced to seven years imprisonment in hard labour after pleading guilty to a charge of defiling a 10-year-old pupil. In a 2005 United Nations survey of 2,011 women from throughout Ghana, 6 percent of the women said they had been defiled before. Seventy-eight percent of the perpetrators, the women in the survey reported, were either close relatives, acquaintances or family friends.In the same survey, of the 1,035 males who participated, 52 percent said men have sex with very young girls because of weak morals. Fourteen percent thought that men who do that are opportunists, 13 percent said the men lack self respect and 8 percent thought that such men are not normal and may have psychological problems.The survey, "Violence Against Women: The Ghanaian Case," was coordinated by the United Nations' Division for the Advancement of Women.