Farmers urged to cultivate additional cash crops for export
The First Lady, Mrs Lordina Mahama, has called on farmers to play a crucial role in the country’s effort to expand its export base by cultivating additional cash crops for export.
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She said that would help them to increase their incomes and improve their living conditions, while they also contributed to the development of the economy.
Mrs Mahama made the call at a durbar by the chiefs and people of Sampa, a border town in the Brong Ahafo Region where the Lordina Foundation presented assorted medical equipment and supplies to the Sampa Hospital under the foundation’s nationwide distribution programme to support various health facilities.
Medical supplies
The hospital received medical supplies including hospital beds, theatre beds, mattresses, refrigerators, furniture, wheelchairs, blood pressure devices, bedside tables, syringes, forceps, catheters and a blood sample machine.
Mrs Mahama said Sampa was a major agricultural and commercial centre and its people were known for their great contribution to food and cash crop production which contributed greatly to the growth of the Ghanaian economy.
She said the Lordina Foundation had taken the issue of healthcare delivery very seriously and had been working very hard to promote women and children’s health across the country.
The First Lady said the donation was aimed at complementing the efforts of the government to realise its vision of quality and accessible health care for all citizens as it brought health to the doorstep of Ghanaians through its massive health infrastructure programme.
“It is a duty for all of us as stakeholders to support the health personnel to promote the delivery of quality care in the hospital. We must all, therefore, endeavour to work towards enhancing the work of health professionals in order to improve the safety and quality of health care”, she said.
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Child marriage
The First Lady also drew attention to the worrying issue of child marriage and reiterated her call on parents, traditional and religious leaders to support the End Child Marriage Campaign which was launched in the country last February.
She said there was the need for all to ensure that girls stayed in school and realised their full potential and not to be forced into child marriages before the age of maturity.
She indicated that as a mother, the practice broke her heart but more importantly, it also negatively affected the future of thousands of young girls across Ghana and beyond.
According to Mrs Mahama, records indicated that due to population growth, the devastating results of child marriage were likely to affect an even larger number of girls in Africa in the coming years.
“In Ghana, the prevalence of child marriage is normally fuelled by poverty, deeply rooted cultural norms and traditions that condone the practice, gender inequality, and safety considerations,” she said.
Assistance
Mr Samuel Opoku, the District Director of Health at the Sampa Hospital, thanked Mrs Mahama for the medical items, which he said would go a long way to help provide quality health care for the people in the area.
He appealed for assistance towards the construction of a dormitory for the Sampa Nursing Training College, and the main road in the town.
Nana Kwadwo Masa, the Chief of Sampa, who is also the acting President of the Sampa Traditional Area, commended the government for the various projects being carried out in the area.
The First Lady was accompanied by Mr Eric Opoku, the Brong Ahafo Regional Minister and Mrs Elizabeth Ofosu-Agyare, the Minister of Tourism, Culture and Creative Arts.