Year in retrospect: Volta Region records mixed bag of activities
The year 2024 saw the inauguration of 83 traditional councils in the Volta Region, adding to the 92 that were already in existence.
With the inaugurations, the name of the Registrar of the Volta Region House of Chiefs (VRHC), Harry Attipoe, became a household one, with his repeated message, ‘Chieftaincy is not politics’, to the chiefs and queens.
Another significant event in the year was the opening of the 20-bed Ho Teaching Hospital Annex (HTH) to enhance service delivery by the facility.
This came with an announcement by the Chief Executive Officer of the HTH, Dr John Tampuori, that endoscopy, neurology, asthma clinic, dietetics, pain management, CT scan, electrocardiogram, oncology and others had been introduced at the hospital.
Last year will also be remembered for the loud call by the President of the VRHC, Togbe Tepre Hodo IV, for the closure of the Ghana Immigration Service (GIS) inland checkpoint at Asikuma, which he said was posing an inconvenience to travellers from the Volta Region, through the Eastern Region, to Accra.
In the same year, 50 chiefs and queens in the Tagba Traditional Area pledged to commit resources and zeal to the crusade to end child marriage in their communities.
The year also saw Ho hosting the 27th annual general meeting of the Ghana Institute of Freight Forwarders (GIFF).
The two-day meeting was on the theme: “Adapting to global trade dynamics – The role of freight forwarders in AfCFTA”.
The Director-General of Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority, Michael A. Luguje, said the AfCFTA held immense promises in trade, not only for Africa but the world at large.
Pre-term mortalities
Also, the year saw the Head of Paediatrics and Child Health Department of the HTH, Dr Selorm Tsrakasu, announcing that mortalities among preterm babied at the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) had been declining at a rather low rate in the past three years.
Meanwhile, World Antimicrobial Resistance Awareness Week was observed in Ho, with a renewed call on the public to abstain from self-medication.
The regional capital was also the venue for the 21st Annual General Meeting of the Ghana Physician Assistants Association (GPAA) in October 2024, where the President of the association, Peter Akudugu Ayamba, said 4,000 qualified Physician Assistants were sitting at home, awaiting recruitment and deployment.
In October 2024, the Seventh Day Adventist Church (SDA) embarked on a GBP 250,000 (GH₵5.2 million) hospital project at Ho-Hopedo in the Ho Municipality.
The 19th National Conference of the Catholic Health Service Trust was also held in Ho on October 17.
The Executive Director of the Trust, Dr Peter Yeboah, at the meeting, said technology in health service was indispensable.
On a relieving note, the Regional Director of Health in charge of Public Health, Dr Senanu Kwesi Djokoto, in November 2024, announced that there was no active case of cholera in the region, contrary to growing public fears.
On a rather emotional side, the outgoing Volta Regional Minister, Dr Archibald Yao Letsa, turned up at the last meeting of the VRHC on December 12, 2024, to bid the members farewell, thanking them for their guidance during his eight-year tenure of office.