A newly completed sports facility comprising a gymnasium and a sports hall has been inaugurated at the University.

The facility which was constructed by Paa Badu Construction Limited took three years to be completed with a loan from Prudential Bank.

Facility First of its Kind

The Chairman of the Sports and Recreation Committee, Dr. Charles Domfeh in a remark described the facility as “dream come true” saying “it has taken a lot of strenuous efforts to get the project done”.

Dr. Domfeh indicated that the facility was the first of its kind to be put up by any university in the country and added that it would bring a lot of international competitions to the University.

“The project is going to tremendously improve on sporting infrastructure as well as sporting activities and events on our campus”, Dr. Domfeh said.

Appreciation to SRC and Sports Committee

Speaking before the inauguration, Vice-Chancellor, Prof. D. D. Kuupole commended the student body and the Sports and Recreation Committee for their commitment and resilience to have the project executed.

“The students agreed to bill themselves to help pay for the loan, if they had not committed themselves to this noble venture, we could not have come this far”, the Vice-Chancellor added.

“We hope you will continue with such support and collaborate with management in providing the needed facilities for the university”, he stressed.

The Vice Chancellor said the facility was only one component that was ready with the other still under construction and therefore called on the contractors to expedite work on the remaining one.

Maintenance Plan

Prof. Kuupole charged the Sports and Recreation Committee to come up with a maintenance schedule to ensure that facility was always kept in good condition to serve many more clients. “You need to adhere to a good maintenance culture so we can keep it as beautiful as we are seeing now”, he added.

The new project has to be filled with modern indoor sporting facilities and equipment that would give clientele the best of services they can access anywhere.

It was in view of this that the Vice Chancellor called for partnership with others to find the best ways possible to get the place fully equipped.

“There is the need to find a way of equipping this place. If we do not have money, we need to partner someone to make good use of this facility”.

Touching on the importance of exercise, he said, “When you exercise regularly, you keep strong but if you do not you will keep going to the hospital”.  

Present during the inauguration were the Registrar, Mr. John Kofi Nyan, Provost of College of Agriculture and Natural Sciences, Prof. L. K. Sam-Amoah; Provost of College of Humanities and Legal Studies, Prof. Dora Edu-Buandoh; Deputy Registrar, Training and Development, Rev. I. Barfi Sarbeng; Director of Internal Audit, Mr. Emmanuel P. Owusu.

The Directorate of University Health Services (DUHS) has been assessed by a team of health professionals from some health facilities in the Central Region.

The assessment dubbed “Peer Review”, is an initiative of the Central Regional Health Directorate which brings together health professionals from other sister health centers across the region to share experience and learn from best practices.  As part of the peer review, a hosting health facility provides opportunity for professionals from other health centres to learn at first-hand the operations of their staff and equipment used to deliver medical care to clients.

Assessment of UCC Hospital

Preceding the forum, a team of assessors from the Metro Hospital, Dunkwa on-Offin Hospital, Twifo Praso Hospital, Mercy Hospital, Ankaful Leprosarium, Christian Eye Center and the Ewim Polyclinic familiarised themselves with the operations of the facility and inspected its equipment for healthcare delivery. The team assessed the University Hospital on governance, quality assurance, client care, occupational health and safety, emergency services, infrastructure and environment, infection and prevention control and clinical practices.

Quality on University Agenda

Speaking at the closing session of the forum, the Pro-Vice-Chancellor, Prof. K. T. Oduro, who chaired the function, lauded the staff and management of the Hospital for availing themselves to be peer-reviewed by their colleagues from other sister health facilities. He noted that the issue of quality has become high on the University agenda to the extent that UCC had instituted Quality Assurance Department, with the aim of placing the University high in terms of ranking. He charged the University Health Directorate to include self-review into its mode of operation to assess staff and units within the facility.

Punctuality to Work

For his part, the Deputy Regional Health Director, Mr. Stephen Anyomi, advised healthcare workers to be punctual to work.  He called on all regional health facilities to, as a matter of urgency, train the emergency medical team to facilitate reported emergency cases adding that " it is part of our performance appraisal of the facility.''

Feedback on Review

On his part, the Director of UCC Health Services, Dr. Evans Ekanem, praised management and staff of the UCC Hospital for their relentless efforts in delivering good health care to the University Community and the general public. He said the Hospital authorities had taken note of all the concerns raised about the facility and would ensure that they were addressed with dispatch.

UCC is 5th Best Health Facility

The Regional Coordinator for the Peer Review, Mr. Georges Fritz Doe, pointed out that seventeen out of the twenty-one hospitals that had been peer-reviewed, UCC Hospital was the fifth on the league table, with 86.6%. He added that St. Francis Hospital was leading the league table with 95.9%, while Dunkwa-on- Offin Hospital had 92.8%, securing the second position. Our Lady of Grace Hospital (Breman Assikuma) and Mercy Women's Hospital garnered 92.9% and 90.5% to place third and fourth positions respectively.

The event, which was held at the UCC Hospital Conference room, was attended by the Dean of Students Affairs, UCC, Prof. Kwaow Edjah; Chief Inspector Christian Anyiddio of the UCC Police District and Mr. Richard Amponsah Peasah who is the Watch 2IC in charge of Medics of the UCC Fire Service Unit.

The Office of the Dean of Students has organised a two-day orientation for Hall Masters/ Wardens, Senior Hall Tutors and Hall Tutors at the Conference Room of the Students’ Representative Council (SRC) Hostel. The programme was aimed at creating a platform to discuss issues pertaining to management of halls of residence in the University. Topics discussed during the two-day programme were: “The Role of Hall Masters/Warden, Senior Hall Tutors and Hall Tutors” which was presented by a former Vice-Dean of Students, Prof. Daniel Okae-Anti. The Dean of the School of Educational Foundations, Prof. Eric Nyarko-Sampson also led discussion on "Counselling in the Hall/Hostel" whilst the Vice-Dean of Students, Dr. Eugene Darteh facilitated discussions on “Dealing with Illegal Groups in the Hall/Hostel".  

The University of Cape Coast (UCC) has introduced improved varieties of cowpea to some farmers in the Cape Coast Metropolis at a training session at the A. G. Carson Teaching and Research Farms.

During the training session known as Farmers Field Day (FFD), the farmers were given the opportunity to select the best improved cowpea varieties of their choice to be developed for planting in their respective farms.  The training programme was to educate and expose the farmers to cowpea cultivation and the economic benefits of the crop. It was aimed at encouraging farmers to make informed decisions to select cowpeas of their choice on the field.

The FFD forms part of a project being undertaken by a research team involving Scientists from the College of Agriculture and Natural Sciences (UCC) and Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) and the University of Cape Coast.  It is being sponsored by the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture “(ITPGRFA), Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and the University of Cape Coast. Through this project, the Scientists have developed over 22 varieties of cowpea with distinctive features out of which six (6) would soon be released to farmers.

Briefing the farmers before the field work, the Project Manager, Dr. Aaron T. Asare of the Department of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology said cowpea production in the country was very low in spite of the high consumption of the crop in Ghana. He noted that the nutritional value of the crop was very healthy compared to meat adding that “Cowpea is consumed in most homes in Ghana and it is common to find people patronising waakye and gari and beans”. He however expressed worry that most of the cowpea consumed in the country were imported from Burkina Faso and Niger to supplement that of the local market.

Dr. Asare explained that the improved varieties have only eight weeks to mature and will be ready for harvest. He also noted that other varieties of the crop have been developed for the Northern part of the country. He stressed that the cowpea varieties that had been developed were resistant to diseases and drought.