2021, Cocktail of good, bad, wins for Central Region
It was an eventful 2021 for the Central Region recording joyous moments, celebrations and some horrifying incidents. Last December, the region managed to successfully pull off a memorable celebration as it played host to the 37th edition of the National Farmers Day celebrations.
It also managed to keep a relatively accident free Christmas.
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Politics
On the political front, the court case in which the eligibility of the Assin North Member of Parliament is in contention dragged through the whole year.
This was after a resident of Assin North, Mr Michael Ankomah-Nimfah, filed a parliamentary election petition at the Cape Coast High Court in December 2020, challenging the eligibility of Mr James Gyakye Quayson to be a Member of Parliament.
He contended that the MP was not qualified on the basis that at the time he (Quayson) filed his nomination to contest as a parliamentary candidate, he was still a citizen of Canada.
The New Patriotic Party (NPP) government nominated Mrs Justina Marigold Assan as the first woman from the NPP to become the Central Regional Minister.
Mrs Assan embarked on her tour of the region selling her transformation agenda.
Cape Coast MCE
The election of the President's nominee for the post of the Metropolitan Chief Executive for Cape Coast, Mr Ernest Arthur, was fraught with a lot of controversy, accusations and counter accusations in the past year.
Eventually, Mr Arthur filed a defamation suit against the Member of Parliament for Cape Coast South, Mr Kweku Ricketts Hagan, on Tuesday, October 26, 2020 following what he observed as defamatory comments made about him by Mr Ricketts-Hagan after his confirmation as MCE.
Some members of the assembly also challenged Mr Arthur's election in a suit.
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo also embarked on a two-day tour of the region, during which some factories and educational workshops were inaugurated.
ECOWAS meeting
The coastal city of Winneba, capital of the Effutu Municipality, from October 12 to 22, 2021 hosted the Extraordinary Session of the ECOWAS Parliament.
The event followed the successful hosting of the maiden delocalised meeting of the ECOWAS Parliament in Winneba between July 27 and 31, 2021.
Local economy, security
Many businesses in the region were faced with operational challenges during the pandemic as a result of a reduction in production, poor market trends with its resultant loss in jobs and low salaries.
The worst hit was the hospitality industry, which is, to a large extent, the mainstay of the region's economy.
Businesses were starting to pick up towards the end of the year, however.
On the security front, the Central Region had a new regional police command, the Central East Regional Police Command, with its headquarters at Kasoa, to effectively help combat crime as the Central Region Police Command also welcomed a new Police Commander, Deputy Commissioner of Police Mr Kwadwo Antwi Tabi.
Among their successes, the Central Regional Police Command busted nine Burkinabes suspected to be part of a kidnapping syndicate in Cape Coast.
The nine, aged between 19 and 31 years, were said to have entered the country illegally and were said to be working for the Q-Net Network Marketing without working permit.
According to the Deputy Commissioner of Police Mr Tabi, the syndicate lured their victims from neighbouring countries into Ghana with the promise of offering them lucrative jobs.
Drowning incidents
One unfortunate incident that hit the Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS) in the region this year was the tragic death of an officer in the line of duty.
The officer, who was stationed at the Agona West Municipal office of the GNFS, Assistant Station Officer (ASO) Joseph Baidoo, drowned in a 40-feet deep well at Gomoa Obuasi in the Gomoa West District.
The unfortunate incident occurred on Saturday, October 2, 2021, after ASO Baidoo had rescued three persons trapped in the well. A solemn ceremony was held at Ntranoa near Cape Coast to bid him farewell.
Another disaster that hit the region hard and sent chills across the nation was the drowning of 13 adolescents at the Apam beach in the Gomoa West District in March 2021.
Thirteen bodies, including that of two girls and 11 boys, were later retrieved and buried, while two males, Simon Dadzie, 15 and Godfred Apratse were rescued.
Education
The Central Region's oldest university, the University of Cape Coast (UCC), in the year under review, also attained an enviable feat when the 2022 Times Higher Education annual ranking named it as the number one university in the country and best university globally for research influence.
UCC was also ranked as the number one university in West Africa and part of the top five universities in Africa.
Also, the Pro-Vice-Chancellor of the University of Education, Winneba (UEW), Professor Andy Ofori-Birikorang, was appointed as the acting Vice-Chancellor of the university after the expiration of the tenure of Rev. Fr Prof. Anthony Afful-Broni on September 30, 2021.
The Komenda College of Education also began professional development workshop sessions for in-service teachers to enable them to acquire new understanding and instructional skills, after it obtained accreditation from the National Teaching Council to organise professional training sessions for in-service teachers in the country.
The workshops would also focus on creating learning environments that would enable teachers to develop their effectiveness in the classroom and help them build credible portfolios for promotion per the Ghana Education Service’s directive.
Wakanda City
Also of great importance was the launch of the Wakanda City of Return project by the African Diaspora Development Institute (ADDI) and other development partners to create an ultramodern city in Cape Coast.
The city would feature a 1,000-bed capacity teaching hospital, resorts, an African university, five-star hotels, manufacturing plant, parks and green space and a shopping centre, among others.
It is expected to create about 3,000 direct and indirect jobs and open opportunities in Africa and beyond.
The region also played host to some activities as part of last year's PANAFEST and Emancipation Day celebrations at Assin Praso, Assin, Cape Coast and Elmina.
Though the region is home to some major festivals, the traditional area, last year, marked the festival with rituals due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Pragya underaged riders
Also, commercial activities of tricycles, popularly known as pragya or aboboyaa in the Cape Coast Municipality, was reduced to a very minimal level, as the enforcement of a ban on their operations in major areas took effect.
The Cape Coast Metropolitan Security Council at its meeting held on September 15, 2021 agreed on directives regarding tricycle operations in the metropolis.
The directive banned persons below 25 years from operating the tricycles and restricted movement on the Accra-Takoradi highway.
It further indicated that their operations should be between the hours of 6:00am and 5:00pm daily, stressing that persons who failed to comply with the directives would be dealt with.
The DCOP Tabi said the exercise was geared towards clamping down on robbery activities in the region.
On the sports front, the Cape Coast Sports Stadium was host to several international matches including the world cup qualifiers.
The Central Regional Minister, Mrs Assan, at her end-of-year meeting, expressed the hope that the new year would bring the region accelerated growth and prosperity.