Awutu-Akrabong (C/R), March 8, GNA-People in rural areas, particularly the illiterate, have been advised to guard against activities of charlatans who would want to capitalize on their unfortunate situations to dupe them when the change over from the current cedi notes to new ones in July this year.

Even though the exercise has about five more months to become operational, effective mechanisms should be put in place to check such abuses so that they did not rear their ugly heads at all. Mr. Francis Atoh Doughan, Awutu-Effutu-Senya District Co-ordinator of the National Disaster Management Organization (NADMO), gave the advice at the inauguration of a 30-member functional literacy group at Awutu-Akrabong in the Central Region.

Mr. Doughan, who represented the District Chief Executive for Awutu-Effutu-Senya, Solomon Kwashie Abbam-Quaye, also counselled farmers, palm wine tappers, smokers and hunters in the district to ensure proper handling of fire to protect the ecology against bushfires. Mr. Atta Asante-Agyei, Awutu-Effutu-Senya District Director of the Non Formal Education Division of the Ministry of Education (NFED), emphasised the importance of the mass education towards national and community development and advised the illiterate in the district who have not registered with any functional educational group to do so. He outlined the numerous benefits they stand to gain from the various literacy educational activities the NFED had programmed for the people and charged the Akrabong group to strive to bring all illiterate people in and around the village under its fold for them to enjoy the fruits of the NFED.

Madam Hanna Eshun, the District Births and Deaths officer, advised people in the rural communities to endeavour to register the children they produce as well as the deaths that occurred in their respective communities to help the Awutu-Effutu-Senya District Assembly plan its development programmes successfully.