Woman heads WAEC after 62 years

 Dr. Evelyn Kandakai, a Liberian, has been elected the 18th Chairman of the West African Examination Council (WAEC) at the 63rd Annual Meeting of the Council in Lagos, Nigeria.

Dr. Kandakai is the first female to be elected to the position in the 63 year history of the Council. Her election is for a three-year tenure in line with the Council's Convention.

She succeeds Emeritus Professor P. A. I. Obanya of Nigeria, who was elected in March 2012.

A statement from the Public Affairs Unit of WAEC, Ghana, said the 63rd meeting was held from Monday, 23rd to Wednesday, 25th March 2015.

The Council, which is the governing board of WAEC, holds its yearly meeting in rotation among the five member countries - The Gambia, Ghana, Liberia, Nigeria and Sierra Leone.

The scheduled host for the 63rd Annual Meeting was Liberia, but due to the outbreak of the Ebola virus disease in that country, the Council's headquarters undertook all the arrangements for the meeting on behalf of Liberia and shifted the venue to Lagos.

The meeting was hosted in 2014 by the Republic of Sierra Leone and it would be the turn of Ghana to host in 2016 and Nigeria in 2017.

Delegates from the five member countries who attended the three-day meeting were made up of government nominees as well as representatives of the ministries of education, universities, secondary schools and other interest groups.

The meeting also featured the 20th Annual WAEC Endowment Fund Lecture entitled, “What Are We Writing on the Slate: A Holistic Preparation of the Youth”, which was delivered by Augustine Kpehe Ngafuan, Minister of Foreign Affairs, of Liberia.

The statement noted that during the deliberations, Council received reports on the activities of the five country offices in the preceding year and ratified decisions taken on its behalf by the various committees.

The Council also considered the Action Plans presented by the country offices and committees for hitch-free operations in the current year, the statement said.

“Council appreciated the Governments of the member countries for their goodwill, cooperation and assistance to WAEC since inception in 1952 and expressed gratitude to the teachers, officials of the ministries of education, the security agencies and all other stakeholders in the member countries who constantly assisted WAEC to achieve success in its operations and activities, “ it said..

It also commended Management of the various WAEC Offices for implementing effective innovations that had brought improvements in the operations of the examining board.

The statement said the Council expressed deep sorrow over the loss of lives and property in the wake of the Ebola epidemic and activities of insurgents in some member countries, and urged the country offices to remain vigilant and proactive to ensure that candidates were not exposed to any form of danger while sitting for WAEC examinations.

The Council also honoured three candidates with the WAEC International Excellence Award in recognition of their outstanding performance in the May/June 2014 WASSCE.

The candidates, all Ghanaians, were selected from a total of 2,018,497 candidates who sat the examination in the five member countries

They are Master Mickail Hasan (1st Prize), Master Blaykyi Kenyah (2nd Prize) and Master Archibald Henry Enninful (3rd Prize).

The Augustus Bandele Oyediran Award for the Best Candidate in West Africa was also presented to Master Mickail Hasan.

Mr. Eli M. Lumei, a citizen of Liberia also received the prestigious award of Distinguished Friend of Council for his outstanding contribution to the success of the work of WAEC.

NSS personnel in remote areas to receive incentive packages

A Deputy Minister of Education, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa has stated that the Ministry is working to prioritize the employment of National Service Personnel who accept postings to remote areas.

He said the Ministry is designing two incentive packages which would allow the retention of service personnel serving in remote areas and offer them scholarship for further studies.

Mr Ablakwa announced this during a visit to personnel serving in the remote areas of the Abura/Aseibu Kwamanksese and Assin South Districts in the Central Region.

The visit took the Minister and his team to Asuansi D/A A and B Basic and Junior High School (SHS), New Abu St Simons Catholic Basic and New Abu Methodist Basic Schools and the Abakrampa Health Centre in Abura/Aseibu Kwamankese District.

The others were Assin Ochiso D/A Primary School, Hawsodze D/A Primary and JHS, Assin Asamankese T.I. Ahmadiyya Basic and Banchiase T.I Ahmadiyya JHS schools in the Assin South District.

The National Service Scheme (NSS) post an average of 70,000 service personnel to the various institutions across the country every year through a computerise system.

Mr Ablakwa said the posting of service personnel to remote areas was not a punishment but rather an opportunity for them to help develop the human resource of the localities they find themselves.

“The rural parts of Ghana also need development and service personnel are to help in the development process,” he said.

Mr Ablakwa urged the personnel to take advantage of the Ministry’s package to be retained in their various areas of service.

Mr Augustine Akaah Enim, a Bachelor of Commerce graduate from University of Cape Coast (UCC) and service personnel at the Abakrampa Health Centre expressed satisfaction to serve the facility after the tenure of his service ends.

Ms Fati Nuhu, also a graduate of UCC Distance Education and service person at Assin- Asamankese T.I Ahmadiyya Basic School said, she is enjoying teaching in the school and would like to be retained.

Ms Sarah Adubah also a graduate of the university posted to New Abu Methodist Basic School said although she would have loved to be retained, her major concern is that she uses more than 60 per cent of her allowance on transport.

The Headmaster of the Assin Asamankese T.I Ahmadiyya School, Mr Adam Saeed Kofi and Mrs Deloris Inkoom, Headmistress of Asuansi D/A (A and B) JHS explained that the major problems facing the service personnel are accommodation and transportation.

The Heads also complained about lack of good structures and the delay of teaching materials as one of the problems facing them in the remote areas.

Mrs Sefa Afua Forson, Senior Medical Assistant at the Abakrampa Health Centre, expressed her willingness to retain Mr Enim, who she said is hardworking, punctual and sociable.

She called on the Service Directorate to send more personnel to her outfit as she needs more staff to cater for the needs of the community.

The Full List Of Winners From The 2015Vodafone Ghana Music Awards(VGMA)

The Full List Of Winners From The 2015Vodafone Ghana Music Awards(VGMA)

Gospel Song Of The Year: Alpha & Omega by Selina Boateng

Highlife Song of the year: Daddy Lumba Yentie Obiaa

Reggae/Dancehall Song Of the Year: Stonebwoy (Baafira)

Afro Pop Song Of The Year: Edem (Koene)

Best Hip Pop Song Of The Year: Pappy Qojo Ft Joey B

HipLife Song Of The Year: Castro ft D-Black

Gospel Artiste Of the Year: No Tribe

Highlife Artiste Of The Year: Daddy Lumba

Hiplife/Hip Pop Artiste Of The Year: Sarkodie

Reggae/Dancehall Artiste Of The Year: Stonebwoy

African Artiste Of The Year: Patoranking

Best Female Vocal Performance: Wiyaala

Best Male Vocal Performance: Joe Mettle

Best Rapper Of The Year: EL

Best Collaboration: Sarkodie ft Castro (Adonai)

Best Group Of The Year: VVIP

Best Music Video: The One by Edem Directed by Gio Of Famous Films

Best Album Of The Year: Edem (Books n Rhymes)

Vodafone Song Of The Year: Sarkodie ft Castro (Adonai)

Best New Artiste Of The Year: MzVee

Artiste Of The Year: Stonebwoy

Gentlelevels.blogspot.com will be posting more updates on the blog from the 2015 VGMA’s. Congratulations!!! to Stonebwoy for winning this award! Hard work indeed really pays!

Western chiefs renew demand for portion of oil revenue

Chiefs from the Western Region at their general meeting in Sekondi have renewed their demand for the 10 per cent share of the oil revenue from the government for development in their respective areas.

They reiterated that the natural product had been discovered in their Region, therefore, it was expedient that they, as the indigenes, benefited from it directly for development.

The chiefs and queen mothers said they were unhappy about the criticisms that met their initial demand for the percentage of the oil revenue and asked the critics if they would not express similar sentiments if the oil was found in their areas.

They noted that their areas, especially the communities along the Jubilee Fields, would be the first to bear the brunt of any disaster that would happen.

The traditional rulers noted that the region abounded in rich natural resources like gold, bauxite, manganese, cocoa and other non-traditional products, yet the development of the Region was woefully inadequate.

They noted that the discoveries of the mineral resource in their areas had left them with only degradation of the environment and pollution of the river bodies thus impacting negatively on the people.

“If we have not benefited largely from the gold, this time around let’s benefit from the oil through the 10 per cent, which we are not demanding for our personal gains but for development,” a chief said, while his colleagues repeated it in their various contributions.

They called on President John Dramani Mahama to fulfill the promise made to them and ensure that they were allocated the requested revenue.

Addressing the chiefs, Mr Paul Evans Aidoo, the Western Regional Minister, impressed on them to use their positions to cease illegal mining in their areas that was devastating the environment.

He said the chiefs in whose areas the illegal mining were taking place were the only people who could support their respective local assemblies to find solutions to this menace, which was impacting negatively on the people and the society at large.

He said posterity would not forgive them and the present generation should we fail to arrest the situation and asked the traditionalists to actively support the government to eliminate this social vice.

Mr Aidoo enumerated the efforts government was making to rehabilitate the deplorable roads in the cities and the hinterland.

On disputes, the Regional Minister urged the House to ensure that chieftaincy cases were dealt with expeditiously to ensure absolute peace in their areas, since peace was a recipe for fast development.

WHO: Ebola survivors at risk of eye and joint problems

Many Ebola survivors are likely to face further health issues including eye and joint problems, the World Health Organization has warned.

And a recent case may have caught Ebola through sexual contact with someone who had recovered, experts said.

The WHO has decided the crisis still constitutes as a public health emergency of international concern.
But said there had been "real, substantive progress" in the drive to end the outbreak in the last few weeks. Health aftermath

Officials announced they are attempting to set up clinics in Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea to monitor the health consequences Ebola survivors face.

Patients have reported problems with their vision, joints and on-going fatigue.

But Dr Bruce Aylward, assistant director general of the WHO, admitted not much was known about the long-term implications of the virus.

He said the information gathered at these clinics would help the mental and physical health needs of people recovering from the disease.

Experts from the organisation also said a recent Ebola patient was "likely to have been infected following sexual contact involving a survivor some months after his recovery".

Meanwhile reports suggest Liberian medics have been investigating whether a patient may have contracted the disease in this way.

WHO scientists are now considering whether it would be feasible to offer screening to check if the virus is still present in semen 90 days after male survivors have been declared Ebola free.

Current WHO advice says survivors should abstain from or practise safe sex for at least three months following recovery as the virus can linger in these bodily fluids. International spread

At a meeting convened to review whether the WHO should continue to describe the outbreak as an international emergency, Dr Aylward said real progress had been made.

He said the worst-affected countries were on track in clearing the disease, despite the advancing rainy season which had threatened to make logistics harder.

And the WHO said the risks of international spread of the virus were abating.

But Dr Aylward warned numbers were "not at zero by any stretch".

Challenges continue, including new cases that are not on registered lists of known Ebola contacts.

Just 30 confirmed infections were recorded in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone in the previous week.

But the decline in numbers posed a challenge for those developing vaccines and therapies, the WHO warned.

There have been 25,532 cases during this Ebola outbreak and 10,584 deaths.

Top 10 biggest dams

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Russia and Canada have three dams each of the world’s 10 biggest dams, while Africa hosts two, and Egypt and Venezuela have one each. Water-technology.com profiles the 10 biggest dams in the world by reservoir storage capacity.

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1. Kariba Dam, Zimbabwe

Kariba Dam is the world's biggest dam based on water storage capacity. Located at the former Kariwa (Kariba) Gorge, the dam creates Lake Kariba, which has a storage capacity of 185 billion cubic metres of water and a surface area of 5,580km². The Lake Kariba covers a length of 280km and is 32km wide at its widest section.
The double curvature concrete arch dam is owned by Zambezi River Authority and was constructed between 1955 and 1959 by Impresit of Italy. The dam is designed to avert a one in 10,000-year flood event.
The dam is 128m high, 617m in length, and was constructed using 1.036 million cubic metres of concrete. It comprises of two power stations generating a combined 1,470MW of energy, which constitutes approximately 60% of the hydropower outputs for Zambia and Zimbabwe.

2. Bratsk Dam, Russia

Bratsk Dam in Siberia, Russia, ranks as the second biggest dam in the world thanks to its 169.27 billion cubic metres reservoir. The dam impounds the Angara River and the reservoir created by it covers a surface area of 5,540km².
The concrete gravity dam is owned by Irkutskenergo and was constructed from 1954 to 1964 by Bratskgesstroy (formerly Nizhneangargesstroy management).
The dam is 125m high and 1,452m in length, and has a rail line and a highway on its top. The power plant at the dam has an installed capacity of 4,500MW comprising of 18 Francis turbines.

3. Akosombo Dam, Ghana

Akosombo dam, located in Ghana, is the third biggest dam based on water storage capacity. Constructed on the Volta River, the dam creates the 8,500km² Lake Volta, which is the world's biggest reservoir by surface area. The lake impounds a mammoth 144 billion cubic metres of water.
The rock-fill embankment dam has a crest length of about 700m and a height of 134m, and involved 12 million cubic metres of surface excavation. It was constructed from 1961 to 1966 primarily for the purpose of electricity generation, but also provides a livelihood for about 300,000 people through fisheries in the lake.
Volta River Authority owns the dam and IMPREGILO-Italy was the main construction contractor. The power plant at the dam consists of six turbo generator units rated at 128,000kW each.

4. Daniel Johnson Dam, Canada

The Daniel Johnson Dam, also known as Manic 5 Dam, impounds the Manicouagan River that creates the Manicouagan Reservoir with a storage capacity of 139.8 billion cubic metres. The reservoir, having a surface area of 1,973km², is the fourth biggest in the world.
The dam is also touted as the world's biggest hollowbody multiple-arch-and-buttress dam. It is 1,310.6m long and 213.97m high, and features 14 buttresses and 13 arches. It was constructed using 2.2 million cubic metres of concrete.
The dam is owned by Hydro-Québec and was constructed from 1959 to 1968. The dam's two power stations feature 12 units with a combined installed capacity of 2,660MW.

5. Guri Dam, Venezuela

Guri, the world's fifth biggest dam, has a storage capacity of 135 billion cubic metres and creates the Guri Lake covering 4,000km². The concrete gravity and embankment dam measures 1,300m in length and 16m in height, and provides for 70% of the country's electricity needs. It is operated by CVG Electrification del Caroni CA (Edelca).
The dam's construction was carried out in two stages, which commenced in 1963 and completed in 1986. The Guri hydropower facility has an installed capacity of more than 10,000MW. A modernisation project for the dam is also currently underway involving ABB as the main contractor.

6. Aswan High Dam, Egypt

The Aswan High Dam, which impounds the River Nile and creates Lake Nasser, is the sixth biggest dam based on water storage capacity. The dam's reservoir, Lake Nasser, has a water storage capacity of 132 billion cubic metres.
The rock-fill dam was designed by Institute Hydroproject of Russia in collaboration with various engineers from Egypt. It was constructed from 1960 to 1968 with an investment of approximately $1bn. The dam's power plant is equipped with 12 Francis turbines with a combined installed capacity of 2,100MW.
The multipurpose dam serves the irrigation needs of both Egypt and Sudan, controls flooding, generates power, and helps in improving navigation across the Nile. It is 111m in height, 3,830m in length, and has a base width of 980m. Its single spillway has a water discharge capacity of 11,000 cubic metres a second.

7. W.A.C Bennett Dam, Canada

W.A.C Bennett Dam, constructed on the Peace River in British Columbia, Canada, creates the Williston lake. The dam ranks as the seventh largest with a storage capacity of approximately 74 billion cubic metres and covers a surface area of 1,773km².
The earth fill embankment dam is operated by B.C Hydro, and has a height of 183m andcrest length of 2,068m. The construction of the dam was commenced in 1961 and completed in 1967.
The power generating station at the dam, known as the G.M. Shrum Generating Station, has an installed capacity of 2,790MW and started generating electricity in 1968.

8. Krasnoyarsk Dam, Russia

The world's eighth biggest dam is the Krasnoyarsk Dam, which impounds the Yenisey River and creates the Krasnoyarskoye reservoir with a storage capacity of 73.3 billion cubic metres. The reservoir covers a surface area of 2,000km² and has a shoreline of approximately 1,560km.
The concrete gravity dam is 124m high, 1,065m in length, and was constructed from1956 to 1972. It is designed with a flood discharge capacity of 20,400m³ per second.
The power station of the dam features 12 units with a combined installed capacity of 6,000MW, used primarily to power aluminium plants owned by RUSAL Company. The water from the reservoir also serves the purpose of irrigation.

9. Zeya Dam, Russia

The Zeya Dam, built on the Zeya River in the Amur Oblast of Russia, north of the Chinese border, creates the Zeya reservoir with a storage capacity of 68.42 billion cubic metres, which is the ninth biggest dam based on reservoir capacity. The reservoir covers a surface area of 2,419km².
The concrete gravity dam has an overall height of 112m, a crest length of 714.2m, and was constructed utilising 2.067 million cubic metres of concrete.
The Zeya Dam is owned by RusHydro and was constructed by Zeyagesstroy and Bureyagesstroy from 1964 to 1975. The dam's power plant comprises of six generating units with a combined installed capacity of 1,290MW. The power plant features the world's first adjustable-blade diagonal-flow turbines.

10. Robert-Bourassa Dam, Canada

The Robert Bourassa Dam impounding the La Grande River in northern Quebec, Canada, creates the Robert-Bourassa Reservoir. It is the world's tenth biggest dam and has a reservoir capacity of 61.7 billion cubic metres covering a surface area of 2,815km².
The embankment dam is 162m high and 2,835m in length, and features a spillway which has a capacity to release17,600m³ of water per second.
The dam is owned by Hydro-Québec and was constructed from 1974 to 1981. The dam's two power plants are fitted with 16 Francis turbines having a combined installed capacity of 5,616MW. Alstom is carrying out a major refurbishment and upgrade of the dam's power stations.