EVENTS 2013-2014    UNDER CONSTRUCTION!!!

Sources:

Posts or comments of the BMY Facebook Discussion Group

Evans Atuick; Ghanatta Ayaric and other Bulsa

Bulsa District Homepage

Ghana Homepage / Ghanaweb

BMY/Facebook Discussion Group

The Accra Times

Abbreviations:

APRIDEC:

BMY: Bulubisa Meina Yeri (Home for all Bulsa "children")

CEO: Chief Executive Officer

DCE: District Chief Executive

FM: Frequency Modulation (in radio transmission)

SADA: Savannah Accelerated Development Authority

May 10, 2013

(Bulsa District Homepage) SADA MVP supports schools with furniture

The SADA Millennium Village Project (MVP) has supplied at least two primary schools in the Uwasi electoral area in the Builsa district with some 155 pieces of dual desks to help improve the conditions of teaching and learning in classrooms.

June, 2013

Several meetings of the Bulsa Traditional Council took place to discuss the chieftaincy crisis after the election of July, 2012.

June 8th: Meeting with Mr Sylvester Azantilow and part of his followers; his objection to the election is that the counting of Azagsuk’s followers was conducted only by his supporters.

June 13th: Meeting with Mr. Azagsuk’s group. He reports that the Bolgatanga court allowed him to continue with his reign as substantive chief.

July 21, 2013 

(Bulsa District Homepage) Anthrax outbreak in Builsa North. The Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA)  placed a ban on the slaughter and movement of livestock in the Builsa North District due to an outbreak of Anthrax. (Photos: Evans Atuick)

September 16, 2013 

(Ghana Homepage and The Accra Times) After his first nominee had been rejected by the assembly, President Mahama nominated Mad. Afiuc Elizabeth Jane as the new District Chief Executive (DCE) for Builsa South and she was endorsed by all the 27 members of the Builsa South District Assembly. Prior to her appointment Madam Afiuc served as a government appointee in the assembly. Out of the 13 districts in the Upper East Region, only two are headed by female chief executives. The other one is the DCE of Nabdam District.

September 22, 2013

(Posted by Abaksi Derrick in BMY/Facebook) Musah Lansah, a native of Doninga, a savannaonline reporter, who doubles as a radio host on Tanga radio in Bolgatanga, has been nominated for the ‘radio personality of the year for the Northern sector’. Musah has worked with many FM stations in the past, including Radio Builsa in Sandema.

September 28 - October 12, 2013

October 16, 2013

Lawyer James Agalga (MP for Bulsa North and Deputy Minister for the Interior) initiated a community library project in Wiaga and donated computers and text books to the SHS (Senior High School of Wiaga).

October 19, 2013

November 24-30, 2013  

BMY organized symposia at the following institutions in the two Bulsa districts: Sandema Secondary High School, Sandema Secondary Technical School, Sandema Youth Leadership Training Institute, Wiaga Senior High School and Fumbisi Senior Secondary School. The following BMY resource persons gave talks, shared and exchanged information with the students and young people: Messrs. Evans Atuik, Robert Asekabta, Anthony Akum-Nyemi, Martin Akandawon, Cornelius Adumpo, Frederick Adiak and Miss Simona Apaabey. The topics treated included the following: ‘Power in Unity’, ‘Teenage Pregnancy’, ‘Alcohol and Substance Abuse’ and ‘The Role of the Student in Averting the falling Standards in our Schools’.

December 2, 2013 

Mr Agalga visiting the Kori Dam

Hon. James Agalga (MP) inspected ongoing construction and irrigation work at the new Kori Dam. Similar dams are being constructed at Tankangsa, Zuedema and Siniensi.

Other projects under construction are: a six unit classroom block at Sandema Preparatory School and repairing the  broken-down Chuchuliga town water system.

December 12, 2013   

Chief Azagsuk Azantilow II was confirmed the new Sandemnaab and Paramount Chief at Sandema on the Durbar grounds. All Bulsa chiefs, except the Chuchuliganaab, many non-Bulsa chiefs and important politicians of the Bulsa districts and from outside, e.g. the President of the Upper Regional House of Chiefs and the Commissioner of the Upper East Region greeted the Sandemnaab. Lawyer Amoak Afoko represented the other contestants of the July election, and Robert Asekabta functioned as the master of ceremonies.

Lawyer Amoak and elders leaving the Royal Palace	Adeenze Kangah	Alhaji Limuna, former Minister of the Upper East Region, currently Northern Regional Minister	Left: Robert Asekabta; right: Naaba Sigri Bewong, president of the Upper East Regional House of Chiefs

December 2013

Pre-Fiok Football Tournament organized by Radio Bulsa and Bulsa football clubs.  Uwasi emerged as champions.

December 18, 2013

Celebration of the Annual Fiok Festival (see photos below)

December 19-21, 2013    

APRIDEC Medical Group, an organization which specialized in undertaking obstetric operations, conducted a three day free medical outreach programme in Sandema. The group works on cases such as the removal of fibroids via of laparotomy, which involves the opening of the abdomen to examine its contents. The leader of the group, Dr. Joseph Yorke, thanked the management and the staff of the Sandema hospital for their support during the outreach programme.

January 3, 2014

Miss Buluk 2014 (by Daniel Jeremy Amoatika)

The Election of Miss Buluk 2014 took place at Conifah Guest House in Sandema. The event was sponsored by Bulsa Community Bank Ltd (BUCOBANK), Good Family Enterprise, No-Hurry-in-Life Enterprise and several individuals.

The first of its kind, the contest was initiated, planned and organized by Daniel Jeremy Amoatika and MOTION CREW, an entertainment oriented group of university graduates and students who feel the need to bring the youth together to share ideas about the challenges facing Buluk, using entertainment and the exchange of information as platform.

Prominent Bulsa who attended the contest included Mr. Thomas Alonsi, a lawyer and former DCE of Bulsa District under the Kufour administration, the manager of BUCOBANK, Mr Issah Awudu Hayatudeen, and a representative of the current Bulsa North DCE, Mr. Bonaventure Adangabey. Judges of the contest were Mr. Simon Ampassa, a journalist with The Accra Times, Mr. Lansah Musah, a journalist and Upper East Regional Correspondent for Radio XYZ FM and Miss Herta Alhassan, an Accra-based Bulsa model.

The contestants were required to identify a major problem in Bulsa and come up with SMART solutions, SMART here standing for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Time-bound.

The following topics were featured and treated by the candidates:

1. Falling standards of education

2. Female genital mutilation

3. Drug abuse

4. Alcoholism

6. Sectionalism (disunity in the district)

7. Widowhood rites

8. Illegal abortions.

Miss Sabiana Asianab from Wiaga won the contest, focusing on "falling standards of education" as her main subject. A symbol of youthfulness and charm, the newly crowned Miss Buluk 2014 finds enthusiastic acceptance among the youth and is expected to assist the district administration in its efforts to improve the quality and standard of education in our districts. She will also be active in promoting entertainment and cultural display programs as well as helping Bulsa firms to market their products. Mr. Bonaventure Adangabey has already sought the assistance of the beauty queen for the propagation of his "One Child, One Tree" project in the area of environmental protection.

January 2014 (taken from Musah Lansah’s BMY Facebook entry of January 24, 2014)

Thanks to the activities of Hon. Bonaventure Adangabey, District Chief Executive (DCE) of Builsa North, Zogsa, a section in Siniensi, now has potable water after its borehole pump was repaired. The village still regrets the absence of a school, health facilities and a road linking it to Sandema.

January 4, 2014

(According to Luther King in BMY/ Facebook) Bulsa Paramount Chief and Sandemnaab Azagsuk AzantilowII issued a ban on the sale of liquor in Bulsa compounds. Currently in nearly every house there is somebody who sells strong alcoholic drinks, and unchecked sales to all kinds of persons including minors often occur. The situation encourages people who are fond of alcohol to drink more since they don’t have to walk the distance to the next bar. The ban certainly will help enforce a similar law prohibiting the sale of strong alcoholic drinks without a licence which had been in force before. 

January 31, 2014

On behalf of BMY, Evans Akangyelekum Atuick and Cornelius Adumpo donated books including novels and textbooks on Economics to the Sandema district library. The occasion formed part of BMY’s quest to mount and stock up special shelves in the various libraries across Buluk and name these after Bulsa heroes and heroines. The first of these shelves will be named after the first Bulsa female Member of Parliament, Madam Lydia Akanbodiipo (read her portrait in Buluk 7). BMY hopes that with time similar shelves will be stocked in other libraries in the two Bulsa districts.

From left to right: Mathew Abakisi (librarian of Sandema District Library), Evans Atuick and Cornelius Adumpo	A few of the books donated to the library

April 12, 2014,

Paul Afoko, son of Francis Asianaab Afoko, was elected National Chairman of the NPP at a congress held in Tamale, polling 2,032 votes to beat his closest contestant, Stephen Ntim ( 1,500 votes).  See article in this issue: Paul Afoko

April 20, 2014

On Easter Sunday, the Reverend Pastor James Agalic passed away peacefully after a long illness. He will be remembered as a loving father, a remarkable social anthropologist who wrote several articles on Bulsa culture, a respected pastor of the Presbyterian Church and an efficient District Chief Executive ot the Bulsa District.

(We have published a more detailed obituary in this edition of BULUK).

June 9-22, 2014

Accompanied by his Bulsa wife, Sarah Akambasi, and his father, Uhuru Watson, Dr. Marcus Watson from the University of Wyoming in the USA came to Buluk to continue the research he introduced to our readership in BULUK 7. Dr. Watson’s research project is focused on digital media and the impact the media is having on how Bulsa experience communication, relationships, and society. With research assistance from Sarah and Sarah’s brother from Takoradi, Gilbert Ambaba, Dr. Watson interviewed families from urban and rural settings in Sandema and Wiaga to collect information about the use and views of digital media from a diversity of individuals and households. Evans Atuick, who is a regular contributor to BULUK, also joined them on occasion to help with interviews. The research team had success in its project and a great time socializing with many friends who feel more like brothers and sisters. Even Dr. Watson’s father had a marvelous time jogging up and down the Sandema-Wiaga road and greeting everyone he could meet along the way. Dr. Watson has made research findings available to BULUK in the past and will do so again in the near future.

From left to right: Uhuru Watson (Marcus' father), Ma Laadi (Ghanatta's mother), Sarah Akambasi Watson, Dr. Marcus Watson

June 28, 2014 (from a BMY post: Bulaalah Chop Skuul Feez)

A gang of well armed-robbers stormed Fumbisi market in the afternoon on one of their sporadic robbing escapades. Only one business venture popularly known as ''Good Family Enterprise'' was affected. It’s reported that no one was injured but they made away with some of the daily proceeds of the shop.

 July 21-25, 2014

Ms Christiana Akpilima-Atibil, doctoral candidate in Philanthropic Studies at the Indiana University Lilly Family School of  Philanthropy, USA, attended the 11th conference of the International Society for Third Sector Research (ISTR) in Münster (Germany). On this occasion she visited her "sister" Margaret Lariba Arnheim (nee Bawa), and both paid a one-day visit to Dr. Franz Kröger in Lippstadt.

Photo: From left to right: Margaret Lariba Arnheim, Franz Kröger, Christiana Akpilima-Atibil

September 2, 2014

Dr. Prosper Akanbong

Dr. Prosper Akanbong, Acting Chief Executive of Tamale Teaching Hospital, has been confirmed the substantive Chief Executive Officer of Tamale hospital.

 This was announced in Tamale by the Minister of Health, Dr Kwaku Agyemang Mensah who was on working tour of the three northern regions to familiarize himself with measures being taken at hospitals in the area in the event of the Ebola disease spreading to Ghana. Speaking to Joys News after his confirmation, Dr. Akanbong said he was ready to work hard to make the regional hospital one of the best in the country.

Dr. Akanbong is a Bulsa from Doninga, and follows in the footsteps of his father, Mr. Atuidem Akanbong, who was the first Bulsa to head Sandema Health Centre as Chief Medical Office in the 1970s /80s. The news of his promotion was received with pride and joy by many Bulsa who sent him congratulatory messages via Facebook. The editors of Buluk, Journal of Bulsa Culture and Society, wish him a successful career as head of the first Teaching Hospital in North Ghana.

September 5, 2014

A documentary film about the Bulsa Fiok Festival of December 2012 was transmitted on GhanaTV (Gtv). Azagsuk Azantilow II, the Chief of Sandema and Paramount Chief of the Bulsa Traditional Area, is not only the main chairperson of the festival, but also the main speaker in the film. Through his commentary the viewer learns details about the history of the Fiok Festival and of the Bulsa. According to him, Fiok was founded by his father, the late Sandemnaab Azantilow, in 1972 and has since become one of the greatest and best known festivals in North Ghana. Two episodes of Bulsa history are dealt with in detail: the origin of the Atuga-bisa, the descendants of Atuga, the best known among the first ancestors of the Bulsa, and the slave raids by Babatu. Apart from scenes of the festival, for example, war dances, people dressed in old traditional costumes, pictures of the Bulsa chiefs and visitors from other parts of Ghana there is also an interesting presentation about of the Sandema tanggbain Azagsuk, whose name the Sandemnaab himself bears.

Other traditional and political personalities in the two Bulsa districts were interviewed and they contributed valuable information:

Hon. Bonaventure Adangabey, DCE of Bulsa North

Hon. Elizabeth Jane Afiuc, DCE of Bulsa South

Conrad Seidu, presiding member of the Bulsa South Assembly

Paul Afoko, a member of the royal family.

The producer of the 26-minute-film was Abibata Mahama, the production manager Chris Puplampu and the editor Patrick Y. Amegede. In the acknowledgements, at the end of the film, articles of our BULUK Journal (no 7) were recognized as one of the sources for the historical data.

Azagsuk Azantilow II, Sandemnaab and Paramount Chief	From right to left: Daniel Syme, George Abavelim, Bonaventure Adangabey	From right to left: Chiefs of Wiesi, Gbedema, Kanjaga, Fumbisi	Fumbisi Chief	Paul Afoko
War-dancers	War-dancers	Traditional dance (Nagela)	Saba-costumes	Ghana's most beautiful 2013

September 2014

Cleaning-up in the two Districts (From: Vincent Amenuveve:Ensure environmental cleanliness - Bulsa South DCE. In: Daily Graphic: Thursday, 11 September 2014, abridged; photo: Daily Graphic)

The Bulsa South District Assembly in the Upper East Region, in collaboration with the District Health Directorate, have embarked on an intensive clean-up campaign and public education programme on the prevention of the Ebola and cholera diseases in the district.

Led by the District Chief Executive, Madam Elizabeth Afiuc, residents of Fumbisi came out in their numbers to clean the environment and clear choked drains of silt. In a move to revive communal spirit and awareness for environmental cleanliness, promote good sanitation and prevent diseases caused by filth and poor hygienic conditions, the assembly has set aside the first Saturday of every month for cleaning-up exercises. Talking to the correspondent of the Daily Graphic newspaper during the exercise, the DCE announced that the assembly had placed a temporary ban on the sale of bush meat. She urged residents to comply with the directive so as to prevent the possible outbreak of the Ebola disease in the area, a disease linked to bush animals as carriers.

 

September 29, 2014

(Source:  Yaw Williams and Savannaonline.com) Pastor Yaw Akumasi Williams received a donation of the Anita Eskine Vlisco Dream Fund for the primary school located in the Arthur Educational Complex (Wiaga). It consisted of an amount of money for the school building, school materials (books etc.), balls and a small bicycle.

Photo: Pastor Yaw Williams and Anita Eskine

 

November 1 - December 23, 2014

Fiok Football games

Twelve communities participated in this year's Fiok Football Championship Games. The first round matches (All lay all) were played on 28th and 30th November, and 2nd December, 2014. After the second round matches (knock-out) which took place on the 4th, 6th and 8th December, four teams: Sandema, Kadema, Wiaga and Kanjarga, qualified for the semi-finals from which Kadema and Sandema emerged the winners. The final match between the two teams (Sandema versus Kadema) was played at the Sandema Sports Stadium on 23rd December. Sandema beat Kadema by 5-0 and emerged Fiok champions 2014.

 

November 29, 2014

Chairman of Bucobank Board of Directors, Pascal Ayaric, and officials of the bank at the award ceremony

Until the establishment of The Builsa Community Development Bank in 1996 all private and official financial transactions of the then Bulsa District were done in Navrongo. People had to travel there to make savings or withdraw money. Government employees’ salaries also had to be transported from Navrongo to Sandema by treasurers of the various offices to pay their workers. That security risks were very high in these cases was not to be underestimated. Access to bank loans for business ventures by people living in Bulsaland was also restricted by the absence of a bank in the district. Today, BUCOBANK has not only eliminated these hurdles, but has become a bank that offers excellent services to its customers.

Bank Manager Awudu Hayatudeen and two officials of the bank displaying the award

In acknowledgement of this fact, the bank was adjudged the best Community Development Bank in the Upper East Region (2013) by the Efficiency Monitoring Unit of the ARB Apex Bank for the year 2013 Limited and honoured with an award to that effect. The Citation reads as follows:

"CITATION  -- BEST REGIONAL RURAL BANK OF THE YEAR (UPPER EAST REGION) – 2013

BUILSA COMMUNITY BANK LIMITED

You were established in 1996 with a vision to guarantee financial comfort, confidence and independence for your stakeholders.

You have designed and rolled out an array of products in your catchment areas. Your support at bettering the lives of individuals and businesses in your catchment areas has been rocognised. In recognition of these remarkable achievements at contributing to the rural banking industry, the Association of Rural Banks – Ghana, confers on BUILSA COMMUNITY BANK LIMITED, BEST REGIONAL BANK OF THE YEAR (UPPER EAST REGION) – 2013."

The detailed report of the bank is available in the following link:  http://bucobank.com/chairman'sreport.html

 

December 20, 2014

During the Fiok Festival the "Bulukbisa Cultural Group" (BCG) was inaugurated by Naab Azagsuk Azantilow, Paramount Chief of the Bulsa traditional area. Unlike other groups the leaders of the BCG, with the approval of the Ghana Education Service (G.E.S), select the group members: pupils and students of schools in Buluk, who will benefit from a scholarship scheme up to undergraduate tertiary level.

 

Founders and Members of BCG

 

January 1, 2015

The Motion Crew Second Edition of Miss Buluk 2014 took place on the 1st January in Sandema at Conifah Guest House. The following contestants participated in the contest: Akumasi Augustina Awonle (Nursing student) from Sandema, Atikpelima Francisca Adegbla (student at the University of Development Studies) from Wiaga, Haruna Zakiatu Awontiirin (student of Tamale Polytechnic) from Chuchuliga, Abiisi Mary Akanchalebe (past student of Vitting Secondary) from Gbedema, and Akagre Juliet (student of Sandema Secondary Technical School) from Wiaga.

Akumasi Augustina Awonle won the contest and received a refridgerator as her prize. The first runner up, Abiisi Mary Akanchalebe, received a gas cylinder and a stove. Atikpilema Francisca Adegbla received a rice cooker for her third position.

Honorary awards were given to three people in appreciation of their various contributions to development efforts in Bulsaland: Winston Atigsi-badek Afoko, Evans Atuick and Thomas Karimu Issah.

Miss Buluk Contestants	Miss Buluk 2014	Miss Buluk 2014 with runners up