travel news review


12 April '99
Ghanaian nurses have crippled the country's health services through industrial action. The strike by junior nurses and other paramedical staff, who began their quest for improved working conditions almost a week ago, has meant that senior nurses and surgeons are carrying the extra load, while emergency wards are struggling to treat outpatients.

19 March '99
As in life, so too in death. Otumfuo Opoku Ware II, King of the Asanti, died on 25 February at the age of 80. The confusion surrounding the announcement of his death mirrors the tensions between tradition and modernity he embodied as the Asantehene, leader of a proud tribal kingdom caught in the confines of the modern nation-state.

The announcement came one week after his passing away, according to tradition, with the presentation of 24 bottles of schnapps to a group of tribal elders. Known privately as Barima Kwaku Adusei, or Jacob Mathew Poku, the occupier of the Golden Stool, he was enstooled in 1970 as the 15th Asantehene. The US Department of State advises of potential unrest in northern Ghana until his successor is chosen.

The disease, transmitted by the black fly, which leaves parasites in the body, can eventually cause blindness and was a serious health concern in many West African countries. As the black fly was most commonly found along riverbanks, many fled these most fertile parts of the country causing major economic problems. The disease is still found in parts of sub-Saharan Africa and Yemen.

14 January '98
The Ghana Wildlife Society, in a bid to attract bird-watching tourists and promote eco-tourism, has commenced building bird observation posts at a number of sites in Ghana. Observation posts will be set up along the Sakumo Lagoon, the Densu Delta and Muni-Pomadze in Winneba and the Songor Lagoon near Ada. Thousands of migratory birds from Scandinavia, Spain, Portugal and Britain flock to Ghana to feed during September and October each year, but many stay for longer when feeding conditions are poor.