Disease alert in flood-hit Africa
Some African countries have endured months of flooding
Flood scenes
Severe flooding across Africa has wrecked hundreds of thousands of homes and left many people vulnerable to water-borne diseases, officials say.
SOURCE : BBC - WORLD
Hundreds of thousands affected by Africa floods
LOME (AFP) — Several of Africa's poorest countries are in dire need of assistance due to severe floods that have killed more than 200 people and affected a million in recent weeks, officials warned Friday.
SOURCE : AFP - AFRICA NEWS
Victory for NDC assured - Prof. Mills
Accra, Sept. 16, GNA - Professor John Evans Atta Mills, Flag bearer of the main opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) on Saturday declared that victory for the party in Election 2008 was assured and called for hard work.
"We know that the ground is soften for a landslide victory, but we would not be complacent, we would continue to marshal all human resources and material to empower our foot soldiers and others on the battle field to work hard until we gain total victory," he added. Prof. Mills made the declaration at the first NDC National Fund-raising Dinner Dance in Accra attended by stalwarts of the party including Former First Lady, Nana Konadu Agyeman Rawlings, Former Ministers of State and Members of Parliament.
Others were businessmen and women, NDC National Executives, diplomats, contractors and party activists who were entertained by Jewel Ackah and the Butterfly Six dance band.
The NDC Flag bearer however, cautioned NDC foot soldiers and frontline officers to recognise the enormous task ahead, "as nobody would hand over power on a silver platter...we need to redouble our efforts for victory".
Dr Kwabena Adjei, NDC National Chairman said the party would organise the most cost effective modern strategic campaign that their opponents on the electoral battlefield would be dumbfounded. "We need unity, fortitude, solidarity and a revival of the NDC infectious movement and attraction...all hands must be on deck no sitting on the fence again, we must work together under the big NDC umbrella," he said.
Defending the fund raising drive embarked upon by the party locally and internationally, the NDC Chairman said the party required financial resources to train at least two polling station agents for each of the 21,000 polling stations nationwide.
"Policing of the ballot box at the polling station is paramount, we therefore need well-trained, motivated and empowered polling station agents to protect our interest throughout the elections". Dr Adjei reminded activists and sympathisers of NDC of its theme: "United For Victory" stressing "with the type of unity being exuded by the party, we will not be scared about the funds our opponents are using".
"An extremely united NDC with a focused vision and its message on the need for Ghanaians to vote for a meaningful change would make us victorious," he added.
Source:
GNA
At least four dead as building collapses
Accra, Sept. 16, GNA - At least four people have been confirmed dead on Saturday as a storey building under construction in Accra collapsed on the workers.
The Chief Executive, Coordinator of the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO), Mr Isaac George Amoo, who went to the scene, said five people had been pulled out of the rubble and sent to hospital.
He said the number of people still buried under the ruins was not known and rescue workers made up of NADMO, police and National Fire Service using excavators were working to save those still trapped. The cause of the collapse is not known, but eyewitnesses said the building came down when workers were removing wood that had been use to cast concrete on the first flow of the structure.
"We don't know what happened, but the building just went down as we were working," one worker said.
Mr Amoo said he believed the structure collapsed because of poor quality work and asked the various assemblies to insist on good quality work always.
The Accra Metropolitan Assembly has drawn up a strict code of building regulations following the collapse of a number of buildings under construction in Accra.
Source:
GNA
Akufo-Addo donates to flood victims
Bolgatanga, September 16, GNA - Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Regional Integration and NEPAD, has donated 330 maxi-bags of corn worth more than 100 million cedis to flood victims in the Upper East Region.
The spokesperson for Nana Akufo-Addo's campaign team, Mr. Mustapha Hamid, made the presentation to the Upper East Regional Coordinating Council on Saturday.
Nana Akufo-Addo, who is seeking to be elected as the NPP's presidential candidate for Election 2008, said as brothers and each other's keeper, it became necessary for him to make a personal donation to flood victims in the area.
He said he should have been in the region earlier on a campaign tour but had to postpone it because of the disaster. The Upper East Regional Minister Mr. Alhassan Samari who received the items, thanked Nana Akufo-Addo for the donation. Mr. Samari said it was important for non-governmental organisations and donor agencies to assist the government to cater for the flood victims.
"Government alone cannot assist the flood victims. Other partners in development need to contribute to alleviate the plight of the victims."
Briefing the media after the donation, Mr. Hamid said Nana Akufo-Addo had donated 13 motorcycles to NPP's offices in all the 13 constituencies of the region to enable them to perform their duties effectively and efficiently.
He said the media also owed it as a duty to help project and market a candidate who would be able to run the affairs of the country very well.
Mr. Hamid said Nana Akofo-Addo, a human rights advocate who fought for the repeal of the criminal libel law, deserved to be given the nod to run as NPP's presidential candidate and appealed to party delegates and Ghanaians to support his candidature for the 2008 elections.
Source:
GNA
1,194 students graduate from College of Technology Education
Kumasi, Sept. 16, GNA - A total of 1,194 students of regular, part time and sandwich programmes received certificates at the third congregation of College of Technology Education of University of Education, Winneba (UEW) at Tanoso Campus near Kumasi last weekend. Out of the students, 136 were awarded degrees in Bachelor of Science in Administration, 34 graduates had Bachelor of Business Administration, 469 graduates in Bachelor of Education degrees in Accounting, Management Technology, Vocational and Technical Education and 555 received certificates in Education.
Students of Diploma in Education by distant education in the northern sector received their certificates.
Professor Jophus Anamuah-Mensah, Vice-Chancellor of UEW, called for modern workshops with state-of-the-art equipment to enable the College train and produce more competent technical, business and technology teachers for educational institutions and national development. He announced that the partnership programme between the College and Lulea University of Technology in Sweden last year, had materialized with the commencement of a two-year Master of Science programme in Marketing and Economics on campus to meet the requirement for highly qualified staff in tertiary education.
The Vice-Chancellor said the College would soon establish a student and staff exchange programme with University of East London to build up its capacity and expose students to international programmes. He said the College was developing a training programme to produce professional security trainers and collaborating with Development and Dimensions Limited, a private company to establish a jewellery unit to train artisans in the production and repair of jewellery.
Professor Anamuah-Mensah commended government and management of Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETfund) for their assistance to the College with the provision of infrastructure to enhance its development. He expressed appreciation to the Students' Representative Council for donating 200 plastic chairs and 200 pieces of combined tables and chairs to the College.
Right Reverend Dr Davidstone Buamah, Chairman of UEW Council said it had strategically located in three geographical areas in the country to train competent teachers for pre-tertiary educational institutions. He noted that the three campuses, Winneba, Kumasi and Asante-Mampong had ensured some degree of specialization to achieve the University's mandate and in addition, facilitated its distance education programme.
Professor Steve Sobotie, Principal of the College said it continued to expand its infrastructure, curriculum innovation and intake. He said in 1996 the College had 896 students but now had 4,583 students pursuing courses in master, undergraduate, diploma and certificate programmes.
Source:
GNA
NADMO presents relief items to Upper East
Bolgatanga, Sept. 16, GNA - The Upper East Region on Friday took delivery of a second consignment of relief items from the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO).
The items included blankets, plastic cups, plastic buckets, used clothing and cooking oil.
The Upper East Regional Coordinator of NADMO, Mr. Samuel Anderson Anafo, presented the items to the Upper East Regional Minister, Mr. Alhassan Samari.
Mr. Samari commended NADMO for responding quickly to the appeal the Regional Coordinating Council made and gave the assurance that the items would be distributed fairly and equitably to the vulnerable and the affected people.
Jonmoore International Express, a road haulage company based in Tema, also presented used clothing, 5000 sachets of ORS, 100 pieces of sleeping mats and mosquito coils all worth about 30 million cedis to the disaster victims.
The donation was done through the personal initiative of the Upper East Regional Commander of the Customs, Excise, and Preventive Service (CEPS), Mr. Evans Klutse.
Presenting the items to the Regional Minister, the Head of Transport Operation of Jonmoore International, Mr. Ekow Kwakye Botchway, said his outfit was prepared to be a focal point from where relief items to the flood victims in the three northern regions could be sent since it had the capacity to transport items to the affected areas. Mr. Samari commended Jonmoore International and appealed to other organisations and individuals who would want to transport relief items to the flood victims to do so through Jonmoore International.
Source:
GNA
Editorial: Politics Without Insults
POLITICAL parties in this country have staked their honour and dignity on a code of conduct prepared by them in conjunction with the Electoral Commission and civil society groups, led by the Institute of Economic Affairs, yet they resort to invectives against their opponents.
While the average politician is averse to the commonly held Ghanaian belief that politics is a dirty job, they do not care a hoot in heaping upon their opponents all sorts of insults that they can think of depending on the expectation of their audience at any given time.
The situation is such that the tendency looks as if the surest way to win an election is to list all the weaknesses found in your opponents and top that up with baseless allegations of criminal conduct.
Indeed, the resort to insults and defamation of opponents is more awful within parties when the primaries are on to select a candidate for a political party.
That is why in recent times, some of the aspirants for the flagbearership of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), for instance, have had their names smeared, either through text messages or media reports.
It is against this background that we have taken note of the advice given by Dr Papa Kwesi Nduom, one of the presidential hopefuls of the Convention People’s Party (CPP) that supporters of the party should refrain from the resort to insults and name-calling against their political opponents.
According to Dr Nduom, since parties are built with people and elections are won by numbers, it is important for activists of the party to guard against any indecorous language or the use of language likely to affect the sen sitivities and sensibilities of others.
The first example of the fact that Dr Nduom meant everything he said could be discerned from his admission that it was unfortunate that some of the programmes and projects embarked upon by Osagyefo Dr Kwame Nkrumah could not be continued because of the fact that events have changed in the course of time. He did not blame any subsequent government.
That is recognition of what other governments after Dr Nkrumah have done to move the country forward. That tone is different from those who do not see anything right after the demise of the First Republic, perhaps forgetting the Third Republic involved activists and functionaries of the CPP, even if they came under a different name. This could be because in their attempts to fruitlessly erase the memory of Dr Nkrumah from the country’s history, the military dictators who overthrew the CPP government had the feeling that the name of the CPP could not be mentioned in Ghana.
Our thinking is that it would not be enough for political activists and leaders to admonish their followers not to use foul language against their opponents. They themselves must demonstrate unequivocally that they abhor the use of vulgar language.
Action, it is said, speaks louder than words. Therefore, where candidates rhetorically appeal to their supporters to respect their opponents, but they themselves resort to language that is uncivil, or violent in nature, there is no way that we would have clean orderly and peaceful electioneering. Dr Papa Kwesi Nduom has not only appealed to his supporters to be civil, he himself is using language that is sober and soothing. That is what has been lacking in some of our political leaders. But that is what is mean to respect the code of conduct freely agreed to by all the political parties. Welcome, sober political campaigning and civility.
Source:
Daily Graphic
B/A Minister Urged To Go To Parliament
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Space FM, Adae Boriso-Nsoatre - The Chiefs and people of Adae Boriso near Nsoatre in the Sunyani Municipality have urged the Brong-Ahafo Regional Minister, Mr. Ignatius Baffour Awuah to contest for the Sunyani West parliamentary seat since they solidly support him.
They argue that Mr. Baffour Awuah has exhibited sterling leadership qualities over the years and that they believe as a parliamentarian, he could further develop the constituency.
The people of Adae Boriso said these when the regional minister paid a visit to the area to learn at first hand some of their problems and how best to address them.
It was the first time in many years that a regional minister was visiting the area which is made up of mostly Ga settlers with farming as the major occupation.
The Assembly member for the Kodiakrom Electoral Area, Hon. Stephen Kyere, who spoke on behalf of the Chief of the area, Nii Bobi Oblitei Commey, said ever since Mr. Baffour Awuah became the Sunyani Municipal Chief Executive, through his tenure as Deputy Brong-Ahafo Regional Minister to his present position, he has initiated several development projects which have enhanced the socio-economic standards of many communities in the region.
“Mr. Baffour Awuah has really done a lot for the people of Sunyani and the Brong- Ahafo region and we strongly believe when he enters parliament he would further develop our constituency”, he said.
Hon. Kyere however on behalf of the people, appealed to the regional minister to assist in providing a clinic to facilitate healthcare delivery in the area. He said in emergency cases, patients have to be rushed over five miles to Nsoatre before receiving treatment. “The provision of a clinic would go a long way to save lives”, he stressed.
The assembly member added that another serious problem facing the community is the lack of maternity and labour wards in the area
He said the community midwives are compelled to deliver women in labour in their rooms which poses serious health problems. He therefore made an urgent appeal to the government to address the problem.
Other problems facing the community include the lack of portable drinking water and a market for farm produce.
Hon. Kyere also expressed worry about children refusing to attend school in the area because of poor performance of teachers posted to the area.
He said school children from the area prefer walking long distances to Nsoatre to attend school. He urged the Ghana Education Service (GES) to immediately find a solution to the problem.
The Headmaster of the Presby Primary ‘B’, Mr. Solomon Antipim, appealed to all headmasters at Nsoatre not to admit children from Adae Boriso since that would undermine the work of their colleagues at Adae Boriso.
The headmaster said all teachers at Kwabena Kumi are to be transferred for non performance to serve as a warning to teachers posted to the area to live up to expectation.
The Brong-Ahafo regional minister, Mr. Ignatius Baffour Awuah, pointed out that public officials must frequently interact with the people they are leading. “Public officers must constantly interact with the people they are leading to build a harmonious relationship to enhance development”, he said. Mr. Baffour Awuah commended the chiefs and elders of the area for offering good leadership which has held the people united.
The regional minister appealed to the people to always have patience after they have made requests to the government for development projects. He explained that it takes time to complete formalities to execute projects.
Mr. Baffour Awuah assured the people that he would ensure that they are provided with the needed basic amenities in the shortest possible time to enhance standards of living.
He urged parents to invest the education of their children since quality education is the best legacy parents can give to their children.
“I urge you to take advantage of the Capitation Grant, School Feeding Programme and send your children to school to enable them become useful citizens in the future”, the regional minister said.
He pointed out that parents must also provide maximum protection for their children to enable them realize their full potentials.
On the appeal to run for the Sunyani West parliamentary seat, Mr. Baffour Awuah said “when the time is ripe for me to declare my candidature, I would gladly do so knowing very well that the people of Adae Boriso are solidly behind me”. The Sunyani West seat is currently occupied by Hon. Kwadwo Adjei Darko, who has announced that he would step down in 2008.
A survey by Space FM shows that Mr. Baffour Awuah is a clear favourite for the Sunyani West seat with most of the people giving him their vote because of his charisma.
“The regional minister is very influential and has the people at heart even through his public speech”, said one respondent who sees Mr. Baffour Awuah as a real modern day politician who combines knowledge and humility to hold his people together for development.
Source:
Space FM, Sunyani
Dignitaries fail to turn up at Adaklu Anyigbe festival
Ahunda Boso (V/R), Sept. 16, GNA - All invited guests including government functionaries and prominent chiefs invited by the chiefs and people of Ahunda Boso in the Adaklu Anyigbe District to their second 'Midezor Festival on Saturday did not turn up.
Togbe Asamoah III, chief of the town who did not hide his disappointment at the turn of events when he addressed the people, said politicians should know that it was on the back of the ordinary man that they rode to reach their present positions.
"You must give a little respect to the rural dwellers," he said. The people of Ahunda Boso who originated from Anum Boso in the Eastern Region to settle at their present abode instituted the festival to commemorate the founding of the community and also to raise funds for development projects.
The week long festival was under the theme 'Peace and Unity - the key to sustainable development'. Togbe Asamoah said the community had progressed from a hamlet to its present state due to the diligence of the people who are predominantly farmers.
He said the community was able to undertake a lot of development projects including classroom blocks for the local primary school, potable water and a health centre and appealed to the government to upgrade the centre to a clinic Togbe Asamoah reminded the people that no meaningful development could be attained in an atmosphere of chaos, hatred and division and appealed to all citizens of the area "to come on board to see the vision of the community through".
He said even though the Volta Stone Quarry was situated near the area, the road linking the area to Ho was in a very deplorable state making it difficult for farmers to cart their produce to the marketing centres and appealed to the government to upgrade it. Togbe Asamoah was full of praise for Habitat For Humanity, a non-governmental organisation for putting up 62 houses in the community that were mortgaged to the people.
"Though the people of Adaklu have been cheated in the location of the capital of the Adaklu Anyigbe District, I am appealing to my compatriots to bury their hatchet and rescind their decision not to join the district in order to access development projects", he said.
Source:
GNA
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Floods wreck havoc across Africa -Ghana Hit Hard!
... 20 Killed, 400,000 Homeless
... State of emergency declared in 3 regions
... President Leaves for Canada
SOURCE :GHP ( ghanaweb.com )
Floods: UN Sends Disaster Assessment Team
The United Nations has deployed a six-member disaster assessment and coordination (UNDAC) team to north-eastern Ghana, which has been hit hardest by the floods that have followed a week of torrential rains across West Africa late last month.
Thousands of homes in Ghana's Upper East Region were destroyed after the rains struck, several major bridges have collapsed and large areas of cropland have been destroyed, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported today.
More than 260,000 Ghanaians have been affected, according to Government figures, and the UNDAC team is expected to meet the country's own disaster officials today to coordinate the response.
Already the Government and several non-governmental organizations (NGOs) have begun distributing aid, including food, within the Upper East Region, and helping people displaced by the floods. A particular concern is the potential for an outbreak of waterborne diseases.
Torrential rains struck at least 11 countries in West Africa in the last week of August, OCHA reported, and in total over 500,000 people have been affected. The other countries involved are Burkina Faso, Côte d'Ivoire, the Gambia, Liberia, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Senegal, Sierra Leone and Togo.
Source:
UN News Service
Public Support Flood Victims
Response to the nationwide appeal for relief items and funds in aid of the flood disaster victims in the three northern regions, appears to be steadily gaining momentum.
Ashanti Foam (AshFoam) Company donated 1,160 student mattresses and the Bishop of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, Reverend Clearance Baah Kofi presented 120 bags of rice, 40 bags of sugar, 60 cartons of cooking oil and 110 towels yesterday.
Bishop Kofi said the donation was in consonance with the Bible’s call for the church to ensure the spiritual as well as the material well being of mankind.
Other donors were Mr. Dan Botwe, an NPP presidential aspirant, who presented cash amount of ¢10 million and the Bolgatanga Municipal Assembly, which gave 70 bags of millet, seven bales of blanket and seven bales of used clothing all valued at 50 million cedis
Source:
Times
0nipanua, VRA's medical boat, makes 100th voyage
Akosombo, Sept 15, GNA - The Volta River Authority (VRA) medical boat, 0nipanua, that provide medical services to communities along the Volta Lake that are not accessible by road, made its 100th voyage on Friday.
0nipanua, which was inaugurated on December 14, 1990, also serves as a training centre for medical staff and other health professionals, both Ghanaians and foreigners, in community health care delivery. Speaking at a ceremony to mark the 100th trip of the boat the Deputy Minister of Health, Mr Abraham Odum Dwomo, said services of 0nipanua demonstrated the commitment of the people of Ghana to people affected by the Volta Dam.
He appealed to the medical staff on 0nipanua to educate the communities that they visit on ways of preventing ill health, adopting good nutrition and healthy lifestyles to help reduce incidence of disease and reduce the cost of treatment.
Mr Dwomo, who joined the 100th trip of 0nipanua to the Kojokpo village, appealed to the Asuogyaman District Assembly to provide regular water transport service to the community to enable the school children at the village to cross over to school at Gyakiti.
He also appealed to the district assembly to use the National Youth Employment Programme to train and absorb the salaries of the two teachers teaching at the Kojokpo Kindergarten who are being paid by the community.
The Chief Adviser of the Chief Executive of VRA, Mr Eric Yankah, said 0nipanua represented VRA's commitment to its corporate social responsibility
He said it demonstrated VRA's desire not to limit its activities to power development but also to ensure that VRA created and sustain a healthy and vibrant relationship with the communities in their catchments area, especially those directly affected by its operations. Mr Yankah said the desire of the medical team of VRA to do more was always dampened by the limited resources available to the institution to conduct its outreach programmes and appealed to the Ministry of Health to support the construction of a second boat to supplement the efforts of 0nipanua.
Mr Yankah said the VRA was also looking forward to the day when sick children and their parents would not have to wait for 0nipanua to receive medical attention but would have access to regular health facilities. The Acting Director of Health Services of VRA, Mr John Nkrumah-Mills, said for the first time the trip would include an eye specialist.
Source:
GNA
NPP MP in bigamy web
A matrimonial dispute between the Member of Parliament (MP) for Asikuma-Odoben-Brakwa, Mr P. C. Appiah-Ofori, and his wife, Rebecca, has spilled into the pen following last week's public appearance of a third person in the marriage.
The public twist to the MP's marital affair was triggered by a publication in last Monday's issue of the Daily Graphic, which was illustrated with a picture and a caption of Mr Appiah-Ofori and a woman, described as Mrs Appiah-Ofori.
This attracted a strong reaction, supported by documents, and threat of legal action from Mrs Rebecca Appiah-Ofori, to prove that she (Rebecca) was the legitimate wife and not the woman who stood by the MP when he received an award from some Ghanaians resident abroad.
"My name is Rebecca Appiah-Ofori (Nee Brown), the wife of Hon. P.C. Appiah-Ofori, I have been married to P.C. Appiah-Ofori for 37 years. "The woman beside Hon P.C. Appiah-Ofori in the picture you published in your paper is not the wife of Hon. Appiah-Ofori because I did not attend the programme," she held.
The Daily Graphic, however, learnt that the other woman is indeed a mistress who now lives with the MP in one part of the family house, a storey building at Dome in Accra, while the other part is occupied by Rebecca.
Rebecca said her 37-year-old marriage to Mr Appiah-Ofori had been a happy one blessed with three adult children, a medical doctor, a pharmacist and a lawyer.
However, she said, things turned sour about 10 years ago "when he returned from Nigeria with the woman in the picture and stealthily went to perform the knocking rites" for her.
She said from then on the MP began behaving strangely and "started accusing me of infidelity and other untruths". "It was as if he was under a spell."
She said following the strange behaviour of her husband, she brought in the Methodist Church family pastor, but to no avail.
According to Mrs Appiah-Ofori, when her husband became an MP in 2001, he drove her out of their bedroom into another room in the house. "Soon after, he brought this woman into our home and for over four years, this woman sleeps at my place in my house and in the full glare of everyone.
"I am still married to him by the Marriage Ordinance Cap. 127. Since I realised four years ago that he did not love me, I have continuously urged him to divorce me, but he has refused. I still love him, even though he despises me," she added.
When contacted, Mr Appiah-Ofori acknowledged his marriage to Rebecca, first customarily in 1970 'and under the ordinance 14 years later. ' He said he had not met the woman before their marriage in 1970 when he asked his parents to choose for him a wife from his home town.
Mr Appiah-Ofori noted that a year after, in 1971, he began receiving information from home about the lady's infidelity and later had evidence to that effect and when he cited that to annul the marriage, she pacified him with a ram.
He described the marriage as over, noting that "for almost 11 years we have been living in my house at Dome without any husband-and-wife relationship".
Source:
Daily Graphic
NPP has more to offer - MP
Accra, Sept 15, GNA - The Member of Parliament for Akuapim North, Mr Ransford Daniel Adu, has said the government had turned the economy of the country round against all odds and would do more if given the nod in Election 2008.
He said the government had done "tremendously well" to move the country forward in its quest to attain a middle-income status and was doing more to achieve the millennium development goals by 2015. Mr Adu said this during his visit to Adukrom, the district capital of his constituency in the Eastern Region, and interacted with the people. He said the government was working hard to improve the economy, provide employment for the youth, affordable health care, and security to the people.
Mr Adu said his eight years in office as the MP for the area had seen development projects such as schools, assisting women groups, roads and supporting brilliant but needy students in the area. He said the eight years of the NPP in government had been a time of clearing the system of all cobwebs for the laying of development foundation blocks and it needed another term to be able to finish the good works it had started.
Mr Adu said there would not be "cheap money" in the system as it used to be and "that is what our opponents are complaining about". He advised NPP candidates varying for the presidential slot to contest the 2008 presidential elections "to take it easy and not to be too aggressive".
Mr Adu said attacking each other was not the best way to go about things. "It is a family game".
He appealed to all Ghanaians irrespective of party affiliations to support the good works the government was doing and help build a prosperous nation.
Source:
GNA
Expired pesticides for farmers in the North?
Tamale, Sept. 15, GNA - Cotton farmers in the Northern Region are watching helplessly as their crop waste away because a highly rated pesticide used for spraying their fields turned out to have expired in 2005 and is ineffective against ravaging seed cotton pests. Several hectares of cotton fields in the Tolon/Kumbungu and Savelugu/Nanton districts are slowly being lost to large population of bollworms, aphids and white flies that are eating freely into cotton bolls and deflowering young plants.
Cotton farmers who talked to the GNA said the pesticide Polytrin C was delivered by the Ghana Cotton Company Limited (GCCL). Cotton farmers said crop scientists (entomologists and plant breeders) at the Savannah Agricultural Research Institute at Nyankpala near Tamale have confirmed that the pesticide has expired and is ineffective.
It is unclear who marketed the expired pesticide to the GCCL but samples shown to the GNA indicated that the chemical was manufactured in Cote d'Ivoire by Syngenta Cote d'Ivoire S.A. and distributed by Wienco (GH) Limited.
The pesticide containers have paper stickers bearing March 2008 as the expiry date but underneath the stickers are inkjet embossments on the plastic containers bearing the expiry date of June 2005. Many cotton farmers, especially the younger ones like Munkaila Amadu, owner of a two-hectare cotton farm near Yabzeru in the Tolon/Kumbungu District, told the GNA that they are so disillusioned about the fate of their crop that they have threatened to quit farming and blamed GCCL zonal officers for their plight.
SARI sources told the GNA that for full effect against pests cotton growers are advised to apply a combination of two pesticides, Endonsulfan, which is sprayed at the earliest sign of pest visitation. Polytrin C, which entomologists at SARI describe as one of the most efficacious cotton pesticides on the market, is then sprayed on the crop at two-week intervals.
The farmers said although they noticed the impotency of Polytrin C early enough to avert the destruction of their crop, zonal officers supervising the spraying exercise insisted that the pesticide "is good and is working" and they continued spraying until September when they were asked to "double the dosage."
"We don't know who will pay the extra cost for using more of this medicine (Polytrin C) but our problem is that even after increasing the medicine, it is doing nothing to the worms (bollworms)." "The chemical has started to burn (scorch) the leaves of my crop", said Ibrahim Alhassan , a 27-year-old owner of a two-hectare farm besieged by bollworms in the Tolon area.
Entomologists at SARI described bollworms as "the most troubling of seed cotton pests" because if left uncontrolled, "the worms are capable of reducing total farm yield by half or a third". They said the worms usually laid their eggs on young cotton leaves and when they hatched, the larvae would migrate into the flower where they would eat indiscriminately into the boll, causing both flower and boll to drop off the plant.
The scientists said the average pest-controlled field should yield between 2,500 and 3,000 kilogrammes of seed cotton per hectare. They expressed fear, however, that if the high population of pests in the region was not checked, yield per hectare could slump to no more than 1,000 kilogrammes per hectare and this could discourage farmers from venturing into the cotton sector.
They suggested that to forestall a recurrence of "this unfortunate development" next farming season, GCCL must present all inputs meant for cotton fields to SARI well in advance for analysis and clearance before they are applied on farms.
Source:
GNA
Food and Drugs Board is 10 years old
Sunyani, Sept 15, GNA - The Food and Drugs Board has appealed to the mass media to help in developing and sustaining a system of quality assurance for the safety, quality and efficacy of products in the country.
Mr. Joseph Yaw-Bernie Bennie, Ashanti and Brong Ahafo zonal officer of the Board, said public health and safety were "the hinges upon which the door for regulation opens and closes" and thus it was the collective responsibility of all to support the Board.
He was addressing a press conference to launch the 10th anniversary celebration of the establishment of the Board under the theme, Championing Excellence, Safeguarding Public health and Safety: Our Collective Responsibility".
Mr. Bennie said the control and product promotion and advertisement remained "a horn in the flesh" of the Board, and that although advertisement constituted a major source of revenue for most media houses, "consumer health and safety are not sub-sets of revenue generation".
"The Board will continue to dialogue with stakeholders in the communication industry and take stiffer regulatory measures to ensure that information transmitted through advertisement are accurate and consumer-friendly", he said.
He said the Food and Drugs Law, PNDC L305B, had limitations and that attempts had been made by the introduction of key provisions in the Food and Drugs Bill that was being fine-tuned by legal experts. Mr. Bennie said the Board's inadequate staff strength made effective implementation and enforcement of regulatory mandates difficult and the low salaries of the Board's staff, as compared to other staff under the Ministry of Health, had made it difficult to attract qualified persons.
Mr. Bennie said the Board's collaboration with state institutions such as the Customs, Excise and Preventive Service, the police, the local government system, Environmental Protection Agency and the Ghana Standards Board had not been effectively cohesive "due to perceived divergent interests and turf-protectionism".
He said the challenge posed by fake or counterfeit medicine remained a worrisome situation that had been made worse by the rather unfortunate and unprofessional conduct of some professionals. "The country has a long way to go as far as the proper handling of food offered for sale is concerned. The FDB would continue in its training of street-food vendors in basic food hygiene and educate them about the dangers of adulterating food with unapproved additives." He said by 2015 the Board would be operating offices in all the 10 regions and in some districts, by which time its operational structure would have been transformed along the lines of specialized centres as pertained in the United States.
Mr. Emmanuel Fofie, a retired Chief Pharmacist, said the media had a bigger role to collaborate with the Board in sensitising the people on the need for safe food and drugs. He said there was a need for media representation on the Board that needed the support of all to operate effectively.
Source:
GNA
UCC lashes out at fraudulent applications
Cape Coast, Sept 15, GNA - More than 200 applicants seeking admission to the University of Cape Coast (UCC) for the 2007/2008 academic year were turned down due to inconsistencies in their applications.
Some of the applicants had used names that were different from or had additions to the ones on their result slips, others had falsified photocopies of result slips while some failed to submit photocopies of result slips with their applications.
Reverend Professor Emmanuel Adow Obeng, Vice-Chancellor of the UCC, said this at the matriculation of 3,898 fresh students made up of 2,684 males and 1,214 females selected from 14,249 applicants. Some 252 students have also been admitted into graduate programmes as against 220 students last year and 83 students for the Organizational Development (OD) programme.
He said although sworn affidavits were attached to the change of names, they could not be accepted because additions or change of name other than which appears on the result slip rendered the application form invalid.
Additionally, non-submission of photocopies of result slips together with the application form also rendered the application invalid.
Those who submitted falsified photocopies of results slips and challenged the UCC authorities about their rejection were handed over for investigation.
The Vice-Chancellor said this year 115 students, made up 47 first, 55 second and 13 third year students were expelled for poor performance. He said 102 others in second and third years have been asked to repeat their programmes of studies and "redeem themselves before they progress to the next level".
Rev Prof Obeng said he was unhappy that because of poor performance this year's admission of females fell short of the 33.5 percent admitted last year despite the fact that the Joint Academic Board gave consideration to female applicants.
Rev Prof Obeng said it had been the policy of the UCC to increase the percentage of female admission so that in the foreseeable future it would be at par with that of male students.
Rev Prof Obeng reminded students that demonstrations, rallies, assemblies and processions held without permission were offences punishable by dismissal.
He told the students to "display their macho in scoring A's and first class" rather than in the display of negative youthful exuberance. He cautioned them against sexual harassment and that UCC was committed to a working and learning environment free of discrimination or intimidation.
"It therefore abhors any form of sexual harassment that may jeopardize the integrity of the university", he said. Rev Prof Obeng said the UCC had successfully implemented the new residential in-out-out-out policy that aims at accommodation all freshmen on campus.
He said excess beds are given to physically challenged students, core SRC executives and sports men and women, while final year students are expected to ballot for bed spaces.
The Vice-Chancellor said the new residential policy would remain in force until the UCC was able to provide adequate accommodation for all students.
He expressed the hope that this would soon come to fruition with the construction of a 488-room SRC hostel and the scheduled construction of a 60-room and 1,000-bed capacity PSI and GETFund hostels.
Source:
GNA
Entrepreneurs urged to invest in hospitality, entertainment sectors
Accra, Sept 15, GNA - Captain Nkrabeah Effah-Darteh (RTD), former Deputy Minister of the Interior, on Saturday called on private entrepreneurs to invest more in the hospitality and entertainment industry since investment in the sector was not encouraging. He said despite the fact that the venture was lucrative, most districts in the country lacked hospitality and entertainment facilities to provide services to alleviate the tension and stress that people encountered in their daily lives.
Captain Effah-Darteh, who made the call at the opening of Functions Ghana, an event management organisation at Weija, said entertainment was crucial to make life livelier and to provide new energy to begin a new course in life.
"Even the Biblical story of the creation of man depicts the idea that God created man into the Garden of Eden to have all things at ease and to enjoy himself."
The former deputy minister, who is vying for the presidential slot of the NPP for Election 2008, appealed to the government to create more investment funds and strengthen the country's law and order regime in order to maintain a serene atmosphere for the citizenry to celebrate their lives without fear. He said the private sector was the engine of growth hence the need for financial institutions to increase support to the sector, especially the small and medium scale enterprises, to enable them improve the economy.
Mrs Veronica Mensah, Managing Director of Functions Ghana, said the company is a one-stop function stop that provides services relating to the organisation of conferences and other social functions in a stress free environment. " With the increase in socio-economic activities coupled with the population pressure in the city, Functions Ghana guarantees a professional entity where one can celebrate in style and still stay within the budget", she said.
Source:
GNA
Floods Displace 'Nearly 275,000'
Government figures indicate that in northern Ghana flooding has affected more people than in all other West African countries combined, yet the disaster has received little international attention compared to floods elsewhere in the region.
The government's National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO) says floods have affected close to 275,000 people in the Upper East, Upper West and Northern Regions of the country. Parts of the Western Region have also seen flooding. Most of the affected people are displaced, although some are still living in what is left of their homes.
"The magnitude is unbelievable but yet ... nobody is talking about it on the international scene. It's amazing," Benonita Bismarck, head of operations for the Ghana Red Cross, told IRIN.
President John Kufuor has declared all three northern regions disaster zones. According to the Ministry of the Interior, the floods have killed at least 20 people, destroyed bridges linking Ghana to its neighbouring countries, and knocked over or partially destroyed around 20,000 homes.
In the Upper East, Upper West and Northern Regions - which make up about 40 percent of Ghana's landmass - damage is widespread. Thousands of hectares of farmlands have been destroyed. Some villages are accessible only by a 10-km canoe ride, one aid worker said.
In the Upper East Region all eight districts have been hit, said George Isaac Amoo, NADMO national coordinator, who called the area "the most poverty endemic region in the country".
The numbers of people affected are constantly changing, but provisional numbers as of 13 September from NADMO and the Ministry of Interior indicate 227,812 in the Northern Region, 37,429 in the Upper East Region, 7,811 in the Western Region and 473 in the Upper West Region.
But as Amoo pointed out: "The number of victims is rising each passing day."
The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs estimates that aside from Ghana, 204,000 people have been affected by floods in 11 countries across West Africa.
The Ghana Red Cross in the Upper East Region says 22 people have died there and estimates that 90,000 people have been cut off in the Builsa district due to destroyed roads and bridges. Catholic Relief Services (CRS) Ghana found that 11,239 homes were damaged in the Upper East Region, most of them completely destroyed. A UNICEF team estimated that 8,000 to 10,000 people were displaced in six of the region's eight districts.
Causes
Daniel Ayugane has lived in Ghana's Upper East Region since he was born. "I'm 43 years old. I've never seen such a situation," said Ayugane, who heads CRS Ghana.
The heaviest rains fell from 24-29 August, but rains have continued since, government and aid workers said. In Builsa district 113.8 mm of rain fell on 24 August, followed by 120.1mm the next day - "apparently the heaviest rainfall in ten years," Yasmin Ali Haque, representative for the UN Children's Fund in Ghana, told IRIN.
The situation was aggravated by the opening of a dam in neighbouring Burkina Faso, where floods were causing dangerously high water levels, according to the Burkinabé government. On 27 August, the government opened a flood gate of the Bagre dam in the east of the country, releasing water at a force of 900 m3 per second into the White Volta River, which flows into Ghana. Ghanaians living along the Black and White Volta Rivers were hard hit, government officials and aid workers said.
"For security reasons, when the water level started exceeding the accepted level, we had to do that to avoid erosion of the dam and its destruction," said Ouirago Bouda, director of production and transportation of electricity at the national power company that manages the dam, Société Nationale d'Électricité du Burkina (SONABEL). "It could have been worse if the dam did not exist."
Water from the Bagre dam allows people living nearby to irrigate their land during the dry season. It also replenishes levels in Ghana's Akosombo dam, which this year dropped to below minimum levels, causing power outages across the country.
"This is the flipside of the coin: while the populations develop abundant irrigated land because of the water from the Bagre dam, they are also hit by floods when there is lot of rain," Bouda said.
Since 1995, SONABEL and the Ghanaian Volta River Authority have had an agreement permitting Burkina Faso to open its flood gate with two weeks' notice. Burkina gave such notice on 14 August, correspondence between the two countries showed.
"Imminent famine"
Residents in the three affected regions in the north are mostly farmers, who produce food for the entire country, including rice, millet and maize. According to the local newspaper Ghanaian Chronicle, the regions generate an estimated 45 percent of total agricultural produce in Ghana.
Farmers were unable to produce enough crops this year, due to months of drought. Now, with the flood damage, government officials and aid workers warn of serious food shortages, due to the destroyed crops and farmlands. In the Upper East Region alone, 12,220 hectares of farmland had been washed away, according to government figures.
"People's livelihoods have been totally devastated," NADMO's Amoo told IRIN.
The World Food Programme (WFP) says the shortfall in crop production - from the combination of drought and floods - is estimated at 160,000 metric tonnes.
"There is an imminent famine in the area," added Nana Akrasi-Sarpong, public relations manager at the Ministry of the Interior, appealing to the international community for help.
The government says it has set up an emergency task force to plan for future floods, and has already taken "adequate measures" to deal with the expected famine resulting from the flooding, according to the government website.
Still, the Red Cross's Bismarck warned: "We are looking at a major, major disaster in the months to come."
Aid
The displaced people are living in schools, community centres, churches, government buildings or with relatives and friends.
The government, which has sent several delegations to visit the affected areas, has committed 60 billion old Ghanaian cedis (US$6.4 million) for relief items and reconstruction projects, but says it needs much more for food, medication, blankets, mosquito nets, clothing and tents for the displaced people.
The government has set immediate needs at 500 billion old Ghanaian cedis (US$53 million) to be allocated to Upper East Region (45 percent), Northern Region (40 percent), Upper West (5 percent) and Western Region (10 percent), according to WFP.
"The situation is alarming," the Interior Ministry's Akrasi-Sarpong told IRIN. "We need support. Ghana is a developing country. We cannot use our meagre resources to meet the effects of the floods in the three regions."
Aid distribution by the government and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) has begun in the affected regions, but has been concentrated in the Upper East Region. According to the government website President Kufuor has promised the government will deliver relief supplies to the Upper East Region by next week, including 5,000 bags of cement, 500 bundles of roofing sheets and 2,000 bags of rice.
The Red Cross, which is already helping with registration of the displaced, food distribution and education on the dangers of waterborne diseases, has requested funds from the International Federation of the Red Cross for relief items. A coalition of NGOs called the Inter-NGO Consortium has also been meeting to coordinate aid. Several of its members have already delivered aid or committed to doing so, according to the CRS.
The UN is considering the deployment of a disaster management team.
Floods in the Greater Accra Region in June killed six people, according to NADMO. In May, a rainstorm in Tamale, the capital of the Northern Region, destroyed schools, hospitals, homes and government buildings. The government had been sending relief items and construction materials to the thousands of people affected. They were in the process of rebuilding their homes when the latest floods hit, NADMO's Amoo said.
"This has been one very difficult year for the nation," he added.
[ This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations ]
Source:
UN Integrated Regional Information Networks
Teacher orders two kids to lick chalkboard
Dordoekope (V/R), Sept 15, GNA - Parents of two pupils of the Roman Catholic School at Dordoekope in the South Tongu District are angry with a teacher who ordered their children to lick a chalkboard painted only a day before with the blackish substance found in torchlight batteries. Mr Moses Okine, a recruit of the National Youth Employment Programme who was said to have punished the two kids for writing on the chalkboard, has sneaked out of the village.
The incident happened on July 31 and the kids, Doe Adoboli, 11, and Koko Sakyi both in Primary 4, were taken to the Dangme East District Hospital at Ada where they were treated and discharged. Mr Norbert Adoboli, one of the parents, said they found the conduct of the teacher unpleasant.
Mr Joy Bigah, the Headmaster, confirmed the story but said the chalkboard was painted with a non-poisonous preparation supplied to the school by the Ghana Education Service.
Dr Samuel Amoah, Medical Practitioner at the Ada Hospital who attended to the boys said he found the kids medically stable but complained that the teacher failed to bring them back for a review.
Source:
GNA
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Mugabe Must Be Invited To EU-AU Summit -Ghana Gov't
The government of Ghana, which now holds the rotating chair of the African Union, has said President Robert Mugabe should be invited to the European Union-African summit set for December in Lisbon like any other African leader.
Ghanaian Foreign Minister Akwasi Osei Adjei told Reuters “it would not be fair not to invite” an African head of state. “So definitely, the invitation will be issued.”
That declaration came on the heels of a statement by Commonwealth of Nations chief Don McKinnon who said too much was riding on the summit to exclude Mr. Mugabe.
Expressing the opposing viewpoint, Malcolm Rifkind, a former British minister of state for Africa, told the Financial Times recently that to include Mr. Mugabe in the summit would validate the Harare government while humiliating Europe.
Rifkind said that if Mr. Mugabe attended the summit, Zimbabwean state media would characterize this as a triumph. As if to make Rifkind’s point, the state-controlled Herald newspaper on Thursday reported on the statement from McKinnon saying the New Zealander had "admitted that President Mugabe is a hero in Africa."
Political analyst Brian Raftopolous told reporter Blessing Zulu of VOA's Studio 7 for Zimbabwe that the European Union is not speaking with one voice on the matter.
Political analyst Glen Mpani said from Cape Town that Mr Mugabe must be allowed to attend the summit to be told to his face that his policies have ruined the country
Source:
VOA
Cyber fraud: Two nabbed
Two persons believed to have developed fake websites of renowned companies and that of the Ministry of the Interior to defraud foreigners have been arrested by the police.
The suspects, Igbokwe Ogbonna, alias OGB, 42 and Theodocia Buaben, 35, are alleged to have developed the websites of the companies, advertised for recruitment into those organisations and later directed the successful applicants to pay various amounts of dollars into an account for the processing of their resident and work permits by the Ministry of the Interior.
They are currently on police remand pending further investigations, while two of their accomplices are on the police wanted list.
So far, Cal Bank Limited, Ghana International Airlines and Unique Trust Financial Services have reported to the police the creation of fake websites with the names of their directors posted on them.
The Deputy Director-General of the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) of the Ghana Police Service, Deputy Commissioner of Police, (DCOP) Patrick Timbillah, told the Daily Graphic that the suspects had so far collected more than $30,000 from their unsuspecting foreign job seekers.
Narrating how the issue was made public, he said the management of Cal Bank reported to the CID on August 13, 2007 that a recruitment agency had faked their website and that of the Ministry of the Interior and enticed prospective job seekers abroad to work with the bank.
He explained that the complaint by the bank was prompted by enquiries by one of the job seekers who had called to find out more about the job placement.
Mr Timbillah said on September 6, 2007, the police, through its investigations, arrested Theodocia Buaben, who had opened a dollar account with a foreign bank in Ghana to serve as a conduit to receive payments from the prospective job seekers.
Mr Timbillah said Theodocia mentioned Ogbonna as the person who requested her to open the account, because he was expecting some dollars from abroad, which she did for a fee.
He said the police arrested Ogbonna on September 7, 2007 during the course of the investigations.
According to Mr Timbillah, Ogbonna told the police that two other Nigerians resident in Ghana asked him to get a Ghanaian lady to open the account for the receipt of monies from abroad for a 100 percent commission on any amount that was channelled through the account.
He said Ogbonna admitted to receiving about $30,000 through Theodocia's account at the foreign bank.
Mr Timbillah said while the police were investigating the case, the management of Ghana International Airlines and Unique Trust Financial Services also reported the faking of their websites and advertisement for job openings for foreigners to apply for.
He said this new trend would be posted on the Ghana Police Service web site, www.ghanapolice.com to alert prospective job seekers to be wary of the tricks.
He appealed to all foreign missions to caution their citizens at home to be wary of the tricks so they do not fall prey to the fraudsters.
Source:
Daily Graphic
Health fears after Ghana floods
Flooding from torrential rain has devastated large areas of northern Ghana, and left thousands of people vulnerable to waterborne diseases. At least 20 people have died in the floods, which have submerged land which produces food for the entire country.
Almost 400,000 people have lost their homes, a spokeswoman from the Ghana Red Cross told the BBC.
Parts of northern Togo have also been affected and 34,000 people have been displaced there, the government says.
At least 20 Togolese have also been killed, while 101 bridges and 46 schools have been destroyed.
The government says it is sending food aid to the region.
"The situation is dire," said Benonita Bismark, from Ghana's Red Cross Society
She said the situation had been made worse when a dam in neighbouring Burkina Faso was opened, releasing more water into the Volta River, which flows in Ghana.
There have already been some cases of cholera, she told the BBC's Focus on Africa programme.
She said that most of those affected had lived in mud buildings which had collapsed.
Some villages in Ghana can only be reached by canoe, making it difficult to deliver aid.
The Upper East, Upper West and Northern regions have been declared a disaster zone by the government.
Upper East region minister Alhassan Samar said malaria and cholera could take hold and mosquito nets were being handed out.
People are being urged to boil their drinking water.
Source:
BBC
Three bridges in Wa East destroyed by floods
Funsi (U/W), Sept 14, GNA- Three bridges in the Wa East District of the Upper West Region, have been destroyed by floods, making transportation in the area almost impossible.
One of the bridges is on the Funsi-Wa road, linking Funsi, the District capital to Wa, the Upper West regional capital, while the other two bridges are on the Jumo and Yala-Kundungu roads.
Consequently, this had affected socio-economic activities of people in the affected areas as only motorcycles and bicycles operators could risk riding across the remaining portion of the shaky bridges. Mr. George Hikah Benson, Upper West Regional Minister, visited the affected areas immediately he received a distress call from a Catholic nun, who was stranded with other passengers on their way to Wa from Funsi.
The Regional Minister who was accompanied by Mr Robert Ayalingo, the Regional Police Commander, were briefed on the flooding situation by Mr. Joseph Bolibie, the presiding member of the Wa East District Assembly, who is also district director of health services. Mr. Bolibie said the Funsi Health Centre had recorded many cases of diarrhoea among children since the beginning of the flooding. He said the collapse of the Jumo and Yala- Kundungu bridges was also making it difficult for sick persons in the affected areas to attend the health centre.
Pick up vehicles that conveyed the Minister and his entourage was used to evacuate some of the passengers, who were stranded, to the main road from where they took buses to Wa.
Source:
GNA
Coming Soon: 100% Increase in utility tariffs
The Electricity Company of Ghana Ltd (ECG) has proposed between 60 and 100 percent adjustment in to the Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC).
The proposals, if approved by the PURC, would lead to the payment of rates the ECG says will enable it recover full cost of operations.
However, the Chairman of the PURC, Mr Kwame Pianim, and the Executive Secretary, Mr Stephen Adu, while admitting the receipt of proposals for the upward adjustment in tariffs by the EGG, assured Ghanaians that inefficient costs in the generation and distribution of electricity would not be passed on to consumers.
According to Mr Pianim, the country is at a crossroad, where Ghanaians have to choose between the payment of "right tariffs for the sustainability of the energy sector or the payment of rates that would result in the stagnation of the sector and also a retardation in the country's growth."
In a cost and benefit analysis of the two scenarios, Mr Pianim said the energy crisis and subsequent load management programme had cost the country about two percent of its Gross Domestic Products (GDP) and industries about five percent of their output.
He pointed out that each Ghanaian had faced the inconvenience of the situation, the cost of which, if monetised, would be astronomical for all households.
"There is a choice to be made by Ghanaians," he said, and noted that "whether to stick to the inconvenience and cost of the interruptions in power supply we all faced or pay right tariffs with a sustainable and uninterrupted service," he said.
Mr Pianim said the implementation of a full cost-recovery measure would be gradual and not abrupt, while policy directives would be taken to make sure that consumers and service providers both did not lose out.
He mentioned one such policy initiative already being implemented as the importation of the six million Compact Fluorescent Lamps (CFLs) by the government.
He said if the lamps were properly installed and faithfully used by all Ghanaians, most households would have a reduction in the lighting component of their ECG bills.
Mr Pianim said the government alone could no longer invest in the energy sector and the participation of private entrepreneurs required the payment of realistic rates to sustain investors in the sector.
Source:
Daily Graphic
Non-performing NGOs to refund monies
Wa, Sept. 14, GNA - Non-Governmental and Community Based Organizations allocated with funds to fight the spread of HIV/AIDS in Wa Municipality, have been advised to operate within guidelines instituted by Ghana AIDS Commission (GAC) or refund the monies. Alhaji Osman Salifu, Wa Municipal Coordinating Director who gave the warning, said the fight on the spread of the pandemic was a moral duty and not an opportunity for personal gains. He noted that despite the huge financial resources spent on fighting the disease, the rate of infection was on the increase within the municipality.
Alhaji Salifu was addressing a meeting of representatives of organizations engaged in the Anti- HIV campaign in the municipality at Wa on Thursday.
The organisations presented reports on their activities from January to August this year.
Alhaji Salifu announced that in October last year, the Commission released 5,850 Ghana cedis to the assembly for the implementation of anti-HIV activities and an additional 8,000 Ghana cedis in December for two NGOs and five CBOs to implement their programmes. He said the Commission released 5,000 Ghana cedis to the assembly and 8,000 Ghana cedis to some selected NGOs and CBOs to execute their programmes in July this year. Alhaji Zaid Tamimu, Upper West Regional Focal Person on HIV/AIDS said the current prevalence rate of 3.2 in the municipality was above the national average of 2.2 and regional average of 2.6. He attributed it to the refusal of many people in the municipality to accept the use of condom as a protection. Alhaji Tamimu pointed out that government was determined to reduce the prevalence rate in the country and the pandemic from having a devastating effect on socio-economic development in the country, but if the people would not take up the challenge, its objective could not be achieved.
Mr Michael Bayel, Wa Municipal Focal Person on HIV/AIDS said to improve on condom use in the municipality they had started supplying condoms to hotels, drinking bars and restaurants for distribution to their clients.
Source:
GNA
Govt Spent ¢2 trillion To Solve Energy Crisis
THE government has spent over ¢2 trillion to address the energy crisis this year, says Kwadwo Baah-Wiredu, Minister of Finance and Economic Planning.
According to him, the government had to restructure its budget this year to deal with the energy problem, adding that "it took a lot of effort and dedication to address the crisis", which is almost over.
The Minister, opening the third Trade and Industry forum in Accra yesterday, said that while the government acknowledged that the crisis affected businesses, it does not prevent them from meeting their tax obligations.
He reminded them that the crisis brought about difficult choices for the government and businesses which created trade off in the management of budgets.
On the preparation of the national budget, he announced that preparations for the 2008-2010 budget have started and so far policy hearings have been concluded, with technical discussions on the 2008 budget underway.
"We are trying to conform to the budget calender so that we can present it to Parliament by the middle of November," he said.
Giving an outlook of the budget for 2008, which is an election year, he said the government does not intend to spend excessively just for election purposes.
He gave the assurance that fiscal discipline would be exercised, adding that the focus would be on limited but critical and high impact yielding projects in the energy, roads, water and housing sectors.
"I want to assure that even though it will be an election year, the government is resolved to maintain the same discipline we exercised in 2004 since it is not in the national interest to overspend in an election year," he said.
The Minister affirmed government’s commitment towards the provision of the necessary infrastructure, especially in the energy and road sector, and called for the support of all stakeholders.
The forum attended by representatives of trade and business organisations, policy makers and researchers is to create a platform for dialogue towards advancing the trade and industry sectors of the economy.
Organised by the Trade and Industry Ministry, the forum was also to solicit contributions from the private sector into the formulation of the 2008 national budget.
Source:
Times
They wanted me to implicate Rawlings - Quansah
As Radio Gold bounces 4-year old tape into action—— Charles Quansah Speakes
Four years ago, convicted alleged women serial killer Charles Quansah revealed in a secretly-recorded tape message that he was not responsible for the murders of the 34 women who were allegedly killed in the run-up to the 2000 elections. He also denied that he was responsible for the murder of 9 of the women he allegedly confessed to, explaining that after going through excruciating torture, when he was being pressurised to confess to killing 9 of the women, he retorted in typical cheeky Ghanaian fashion: " I killed 90, not 9". That was what eventually became his so-called confession to killing 9 of the women.
Charles Quansah then made a series of explosive revelations. According to him, one Superintendent Issah, whilst torturing and brutalising him, suggested to him to implicate former President Jerry Rawlings and his wife Nana Konadu Agyeman Rawlings, as the ones who hired him to kill the women. He said Superintendent Issah in typical "good cop, bad cop" fashion later promised to make things easy for him if he implicated the Rawlingses. Charles Quansah insists on the tape that he refused simply because it was not true – he did not know the Rawlingses and the Rawlingses did not know him and he had not been hired by them.
Still exploding with "bombs", Charles Quansah revealed that another police officer, possibly Inspector Onipa (the name is indistinct on the tape) next suggested to him that he should add [Vice President] Aliu Mahama to the list of his hirers, to which he responded that he did not now who Aliu Mahama was. These revelations, which have been known to the Ghana Palaver for 4 years because we have had a copy of the tape in our possession for that length of time, were made public for the first time last Tuesday when Radio Gold played the tape-recording of Charles Quansah’s version of events on its "Sixty Minutes" programme.
According to Radio Gold, it was forced to play the tape because sections of the media had last week out of nowhere put out stories suggesting that Charles Quansah and relatives of his had confessed to his serial killing of the women. It will be recalled that Ghana Palaver came very close to publishing the contents of the tape in August 2003 but stopped short when Nana Akomea, then Minister of Information, announced at a Press Conference that preliminary investigations had implicated the NDC and the NDC Ministers involved in the Quality Grain Affair who were then in prison at Nsawam in the tape-recording.
The NPP Government clearly suspected that a recording of Quansah had been made but did not know who had done it or where the tape was. Consequently, the NDC Ministers and officials, Messrs Kwame Peprah, Ibrahim Adam and Dr. George Yankey, were dispersed to Ho, Kumasi and Koforidua Prisons respectively. Nana Akomea also promised at the August 2003 Press Conference that a final report of the investigations would be released and would show how the NDC and its agents had conspired with Quansah to implicate top NPP officials in the murder of the women. That final report was never released and so we also never published the contents of the tape.
An intelligence analyst contacted by Ghana Palaver explained the sudden upsurge of the Charles Quansah news in the pro-NPP media last week as follows. Concerned over possible defeat at next year’s elections, the NPP needs an excuse to have Charles Quansah executed since it is feared that a living Charles Quansah would "sing" once the NPP was out of power. After all, "dead men tell no tales".
According to the intelligence analyst, after waiting for 4 years without the Quansah tape being put to any use, the NPP must have convinced itself that the existence of the tape was a hoax, and therefore unleashed its guard dogs in the private media with the fabricated stories of alleged confessions of Charles Quansah and his sister. This was to set the stage for President Kufuor to sign the Death Warrant and the Attorney General to sign the Execution Warrant so that Charles Quansah could be legally hanged to silence him permanently. The last thing they expected was for the tape to be sprung on them the way it has been done by Radio Gold, sending all their plans awry. Ghana Palaver today brings to readers flashbacks to its 2003 publications in which we adverted to the existence of the tape and dared Nana Akomea to come out with the final report of the so-called police investigations so that we would also come out with the details of Quansah’s "true confessions". Unfortunately Nana Akomea did not take up the challenge and never released the mythical so-called final report. From next week, we shall begin a serialisation of Charles Quansah’s "true confessions" played on Radio Gold last Tuesday.
Source:
Palaver
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A 28-year-old labourer enrols in basic school
Nkawkaw, Sept. 13, GNA - With determination to obtain formal education, a 28-year-old labourer has been admitted to Primary Five at Nkawkaw Saint Anthony Catholic Primary School in the Kwahu West District.
The labourer, Koudjo Djamesi was among pupils who enrolled in the school during 'My first day at school' programme when the Kwahu West District Director of Education, Mr Seth Koranteng and Kwahu West District Chief Executive, Nana Kofi Kesse visited the school last Tuesday.
Mr Djamesi said, he returned from Togo with his mother after his father's death about a year ago and decided to attend school to obtain basic education certificate and be gainfully employed. He said he would undertake menial work during weekends and holidays to finance his education. Mr Koranteng commended Mr Djamesi for having interest in education and urged him to attend classes regularly and take his lessons seriously to achieve his aim.
Nana Kesse said education was essential towards elimination of poverty, hunger and diseases in the country. He urged parents to take advantage of the capitation grant and school-feeding programme and send their children to school. Golden Jubilee anniversary cups, hats, biscuits, toys and miniature national flags were distributed to Kindergarten children who were admitted to schools in the district.
In another development, the Kwahu South District Director of Education, Mr Abraham Adjetey Sowah and Kwahu South District Chief Executive Nana Onwona Asante also distributed similar items to over 300 Kindergarten children who were admitted to schools at Asakraka, Mpraeso and Abetifi.
Source:
GNA
Gov't Cautioned: Civil revolt as dangerous as coup
KWEKU BAAH Owusu, Western Regional Director of the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) says government officials must begin to think beyond military coups and consider civil revolt as one of the dangerous weapons that could mar the democratic process of Ghana.
He said if all conditions of democracy were not allowed to thrive, its sustenance in Ghana would be questionable. According to him, democracy effectively succeeded only when all other conditions involved in its process achieved their purpose.
Mr. Baah Owusu said this in his presentation at the closing session of a two day workshop organized by the Ghana Integrity Initiative (GII) and supported by the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) here in Takoradi.
He mentioned the lack of effective structures, low level of education, ineffective linkages between central government and local people with high incidence of poverty, among others, as the rudiments of democracy ignored by all governments and leaders of the country. These elements, he noted, if not checked properly by politicians could spell doom for the nation.
He added that he nation should not continue to glorify herself in her democratic progress.
He said politicians currently use money to buy the electorate which to him was very dangerous in a democratic process because the sovereign will of the people and the nation could not be sold to a few people. To this end he advised politicians and the electorate against the buying and selling of votes.
He told the over sixty participants at the workshop that the power that resided in the electorate to vote for leaders to steer the affairs of the country, was indeed one provided for by the Constitution.
This provision he explained indicated that the sovereignty of Ghana resided in the people and nothing according to him was worth more than that so for a few people in society to take advantage of the majority because of lack of knowledge and for their selfish gain, was unfortunate and dangerous.
Mr. Baah advocated for effective social auditing as a concept to help local people at the community level to demand their rights when questioning the performance of leaders who were elected by them as the duty bearers of their local communities.
Such a concept he revealed worked perfectly in Brazil and could provide the people with relevant information on government policies. A concept of that nature, he maintained, would also bring change to our democracy to generate good governance that would provide a platform for local people to determine their own goals, concerns, expectations and values.
He emphasized, “it is the people who should appreciate the changes, challenges and benefits of the system and not government officials saying it”.
He told the participants that if government should initiate a policy that would not be in the interest of the people then it was not a good policy, because it was the same people who would safeguard the policy and not government.
On the executive powers of government which had generated a heated debate recently in the media, after the former Speaker of Parliament, Rt. Hon Peter Ala Adjetey had advocated for the amendment of the 1992 Constitution to reduce the powers of the President, Mr Baah said though it would cost the nation because it would demand a referendum, the suggestion, he noted, could still be implemented if it was in the interest of the nation.
Source:
Chronicle
Audit Service staff challenged to expose corrupt officials
Kumasi, Sept 13, GNA- Mr. Emmanuel Asamoah Owusu-Ansah, Ashanti Regional Minister, challenged staff of the Ghana Audit Service to be vigilant and expose corrupt public officers without fear or favour. He said if they are able to do this, it would prevent greedy officials from diverting funds meant for national development. Mr Owusu-Ansah was addressing a day's workshop for heads of departments and accountants drawn from 15 selected metropolitan, municipal and districts assemblies across the country, in Kumasi on Wednesday. The workshop was organized under the auspices of the Multi-Donor Budget Support Programme of the Audit Service in collaboration with the country's development partners.
It was aimed at building the capacity and sharpening the skills of participants to enable them to work efficiency in the public financial management system.
"Financial improprieties have contributed towards the current state of low per capita income, inadequate provision of socio-economic amenities and the general slow pace of development that confront the nation. " the Regional Minister said. Mr. Owusu-Ansah said the recent audit report of serious misappropriation of funds, regular revelation of ghost names on government payroll as well as financial deals in the public sector were not only worrying but also an impediment to achieving the development goals of the nation.
He asked public officers to discharge their duties honestly towards national development.
Mr. Francis Akwetey, Acting Deputy Auditor-General of the Central Government Audit Department, thanked the country's development partners for assisting in the organization of the workshop, which according to him would help in addressing challenges inherent in financial management in the public sector.
Source:
GNA
Ramadan fasting begins at dawn on September 13
Accra, Sept. 12, GNA - The National Hilal Committee on Wednesday announced the commencement of Ramadan fasting by Muslims throughout the country from the dawn of Thursday, September 13.
A statement issued in Accra by the committee and signed by Sheikh Yunusah Osman Mohammed, Acting Chairman, said the new moon of Ramadan was sighted at Salaga on the evening of Wednesday August 12.
It said the commencement was on the authority of Sheikh Osman Sharubutu, National Chief Imam and Maulvi Wahab Adam, Ameer and Missionary in Charge, Ahmadiyya Muslim Mission of Ghana. The statement wished all Muslims in Ghana and the world a successful Ramadan fasting.
Source:
GNA
Kasoa leads in land disputes in the Central Region
Winneba, C/R, Sept 13, GNA- Mr. Solomon Quarshie Abbam Quaye, Chief Executive of the Awutu-Effutu-Senya District, expressed worry that Kasoa in the district was leading in land disputes in the Central Region.
He explained that the situation was as a result of rapid development taking place in the town and the quest for people to acquire land for settlement.
Mr. Quarshie was speaking at a day's workshop on land use planning and management project towards the development of a comprehensive land use planning and management system, at Winneba on Wednesday. The programme was organised by the Assembly and sponsored by the Nordic Development Fund, an Accra based non-governmental organisation. Assembly members, traditional rulers, heads of department of government agencies and other opinion leaders in the district attended the event.
Mr. Quaye said land disputes created enmity, anxiety among the people, and retarded development and urged land owners to legally dispose off lands to avoid disputes.
He noted that social amenities could not support the population of Kasoa but expressed optimism that if the town is well planned, it would attract investments, businesses and create more jobs. Mr. Alistair Blunt, Project Manager of Nordic Development Fund, said the project, which started in April this year, would be completed in March 2010 to enhance the formulation of settlement plans and management policy.
He appealed to government to formulation a bill on land use planning and management for consideration by Parliament to enhance development in the country.
Mr. Blunt called for comprehensive training and logistical support for town and country planning departments, members of district assembly and land owners to prevent haphazard development taking place in the country.
Source:
GNA
Special Security Camp for Bui
Space FM, Bui- The Brong-Ahafo Regional Minister, Mr. Ignatius Baffour Awuah, has announced that the Regional Security Council is to set up a Special Security Camp at Bui in the Banda Ahenkro Traditional Area to provide security for lives and property .
He said a special force comprising the police and military would be deployed to the area this week for the exercise.
Mr. Baffour Awuah said this during the launching of the Bui Disinfestation Project being executed by Zoomlion Ghana Limited, a private Waste and Sanitation Management Company, the National Secretariat of the Onchocerciasis with funding from the Ministry of Finance, at Bongaase in the Tain District.
The project is aimed at riding the area of black flies and create a congenial atmosphere for workers and residents during and after the construction of the hydro electric dam at Bui, expected to generate about 400 megawatts of electricity for the country.
The regional minister said the siting of the security camp has become very necessary because of the possibility of the migration of certain dubious characters to the area as a result of the construction of the Bui Dam.
He urged the Chiefs and people in the area to support government during the constructional phase of the dam since they are going to the first and direct beneficiaries of the project.
Mr. Baffour Awuah asked businesses and individuals to take advantage of the siting of the dam at Bui and invest in affordable housing for domestic and commercial activities in the area.
The regional minister advised persons recruited for the disinfestation exercise to work diligently so that they could be considered for work when the construction of the dam commences. He commended ZoomLion and the Ministry of Finance for undertaking the project.
Source:
Space FM, Sunyani
Relief items are not for sale - Kufuor warns
Daboya (N/R), Sept. 13, GNA - President John Agyekum Kufuor has warned personnel who would be involved in the distribution of relief items to the flood victims and the beneficiaries against selling the items.
"The relief items are being given to you on humanitarian grounds and it will therefore be against nature and the law for you to commercialise it", he said.
President Kufuor gave the warning on Wednesday when he visited and sympathised with the people of Daboya in the West Gonja District, which has been devastated by recent floods.
Daboya, which is about 30 kilometres from Tamale, has been flooded by the White Volta and completely cut off from the rest of the Northern Region.
Other communities affected by the floods are: Sinsina, Tidowrope and Kpendua, all in the District.
President Kufuor assured the people that relief item such as food, blankets, mattresses, roofing sheets and boards would soon be sent to them.
He said a committee had also been set up at the national level to handle the problems emerging from the floods to alleviate the plight of the people.
Abatuwura Darifu Yakubu, a sub-chief in the Waspei Traditional Area, on behalf of the Waspeiwura, Mumuni Abani, commended President Kufuor for his concern about the plight of the people. He said since the people settled in the area a very long time ago, they had never seen such flooding and they were therefore truly devastated.
He said as a result of the river overflowing its banks the people now had to travel in canoes for over four hours to the other bank to board trucks to Tamale for shopping.
He appealed to President Kufuor to construct a bridge over the Daboya River to fulfil his 2000 campaign promise. In response to the appeal, President Kufuor said the government was sourcing funds for the construction of bridges over the Daboya and Tachali rivers.
Source:
GNA
CEPS destroys unwholesome goods
Accra, Sept. 13, GNA - The Customs, Excise and Preventive Service (CEPS) on Thursday destroyed assorted items worth about 1.3 billion cedis (130,000 GH cedis) deemed not to conform to standards. The items, which consisted of pirated compact disc, pornographic films and materials, pharmaceuticals, cigarettes and aphrodisiacs, were destroyed at the Oblogo Landfill site in Accra. The items were either smuggled into the country or had violated rules on labelling and thus seized by CEPS officials during routine checks at the frontiers.
The total tax element that would have accrued to government, according to CEPS, stood at 1.2 billion cedis (120,000 GH cedis). Officials of the Food and Drugs Board (FDB), Environmental Protection Agency, British American Tobacco and the Accra Metropolitan Assembly were at the scene to ensure the total destruction of the items to prevent scavengers from retrieving them and putting them on the market.
Mr Theophilus Pereira, Chief Collector of CEPS, who supervised the destruction of the items, told newsmen that the move was to ensure that goods that contravened rules, regulations and enactments were destroyed to protect public health.
He said FDB verified the efficacy of the pharmaceuticals declared that some were fake, while others were unregistered or without the proper labelling to identify the manufacturers. The cigarettes were either contraband or had expired. Mr. Pereira assured the public that CEPS would remain vigilant to ensure the public got value for money and not ill health from what they purchased.
Source:
GNA
Ghana urged to stamp out child labour
Sunyani (B/A), Sept 13, GNA - Ghana's cocoa industry would suffer a major setback on the international market if immediate steps are not taken to check the use of child labour in cocoa growing areas. Madam Patience Dapaah, programme officer for the National Programme for the Elimination of Worst Forms of Child Labour, explained at a one-day workshop in Sunyani that some major cocoa trading partners had threatened to stop purchasing Ghana's cocoa because a research had revealed that children of school-going age were used on most of the farms.
The workshop was organized by the national programme under the Ministry of Manpower, Youth and Employment for heads of department, Assembly members and opinion leaders drawn from the Sunyani municipality.
Madam Dapaah disclosed that one of the country's western partners had already stopped purchasing her cocoa, adding, the July 1 cocoa certification 'Harkin-Angel protocol', signed in 2001 that gave the nation up to 2005 to stop the practice had to be extended to July 2008 due to Ghana's efforts through West Africa Cocoa Agriculture Programme (WACAP) to help eliminate the practice.
She said the workshop was to sensitise participants who would in turn pass on the information to the various communities to eliminate all worst forms of child labour, especially in the cocoa sector. The programme officer said a major objective of the workshop was to explore ideas to factor into the Child Rights Act as a form of defence, since children at certain ages could perform light work on cocoa farms to assist their parents.
She called on the government to strengthen the police and the immigration services to enable them to perform their duties well in handling foreigners into the country.
Madam Stella Ofori, a resource person, who gave an overview of the child labour situation in Ghana, noted that some parents exposed their children to hazardous work out of ignorance, poverty and illiteracy and urged the participants to keep surveillance on children.
Source:
GNA
Ghana-Germany intergovernmental negotiations open
Accra, Sept. 13, GNA - The biennial bilateral negotiations on cooperation between Ghana and Germany opened in Accra on Thursday with a promise by the Ghana government to continue to pursue policies that would stabilize the economy and maintain the pace of GDP growth. Mr. Kwadwo Baah-Wiredu, Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, said government would also continue to remain steadfast in its commitment to systematically reduce poverty through the implementation of the Growth and Poverty Reduction Strategy (GPRS) with the ultimate goal of achieving broad-based sustainable and equitable growth. "Over the last three years economic growth has exceeded six per cent," he said, adding that Ghana had been rated the most peaceful nation in Africa, while it had a sovereign credit rating of "B Plus". "It is the fastest reforming nation on the continent and the ninth in the world in terms of the creation of a conducive environment for doing business."
The Minister said Government would remain committed to those policies that had brought the nation this far.
Mr. Baah-Wiredu, praising the Federal Republic of Germany for its support, said it was one of Ghana's key bilateral development partners in terms of volume, quality and diversity of development assistance. "The German government, besides funds made available directly under our bilateral cooperation, has also been contributing significantly towards our development through the European Union and other multilateral agencies."
He said Germany had been one of the advocates for Ghana in several international fora whenever Ghana came up for discussion. Mr. Baah-Wiredu said: "Germany has contributed over one billion Euros for projects in key sectors of the Ghanaian economy in the context of our financial and technical cooperation."
He mentioned some of the notable projects as the rehabilitation of Tema-Akosombo road, the rehabilitation of Tema-Sogakope road, district capital/town project, rural water supply project, water supply in Eastern and Volta Regions and Village Infrastructure Project. "Currently, the focal areas of cooperation between the Government of Ghana and Government of Federal Republic of Germany are agriculture and food security; employment oriented private sector; and democracy, good governance and decentralization."
Mr Baah-Wiredu said the outstanding issues to be discussed included the rural feeder roads and bridges, whose project documents were yet to be submitted to government for processing through parliament, and micro finance, whose draft agreements had already been discussed and forwarded to the German agency involved for incorporation into the final document. Mr Baah-Wiredu expressed the hope that this year's biennial bilateral negotiations would provide the needed support to the key project areas and further broaden and deepen the cordial relations between Ghana and Germany.
Professor George Gyan-Baffour, Deputy Minister, Finance, is leading the Ghanaian delegation, whilst Mr Niels Breyer, Head of Central and West African Division of the German Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), is leading the German delegation.
Mr Bryer said Ghana would continue to be one of the most important partners for German development cooperation in the sub-region. "We will also continue to directly support your budget within the framework of multi-donor budget support," he said. Mr. Breyer said Germany at the last G8 summit announced an increase in the scale of its development cooperation with Africa by 750 million Euros per year from 2008 to 2011.
"This is nearly a doubling of the current volume. This shows clearly that Africa and Ghana's development really matter to us.... in our view the cooperation between our two countries is particularly lively and excellent."
Dr Marius Haas, German Ambassador in Ghana, said the German Government and its people were following closely the heavy flooding in the northern parts of Ghana.
He said under the country's instant emergency reaction funds a commitment of 50,000 Euros was made on Wednesday to government to provide food to displaced persons in Upper East Region.
Source:
GNA
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Food Shortage Predicted
A critical survey conducted by The Chronicle has revealed that the country risks a serious food shortage and a predictable looming hunger coupled with the economic setbacks in the immediate lean season.
The three Northern Regions, which are tagged the major food basket of the country and generate an estimated 45% of total agricultural produce, are undergoing serious natural disasters which are greatly affecting the agricultural sector in all spheres.
After experiencing over six months of draught this year, farms were unable to yield the desired returns. However, the late arrival of the rains, which also resulted in floods, has submerged the replanted crops destroying them completely. The opening of the Bagri Dam in neighbouring Burkina Faso worsened the situation as the White and Black Volta overflowed their banks destroying nearby farms and communities.
According to experts about 69% of leguminous and cereal farms among others were completely destroyed while an uncountable number of animals and birds were either killed or washed away. Some unscrupulous persons have also taken undue advantage of the situation by looting property and driving herds of cattle belonging to residents into neighbouring Burkina Faso in their selfish interest.
In addition, thousands of houses and other valuables have also been destroyed in areas like Sandema, Zebilla Garu, Fumbisi, Tongo, Walewale, Daboya-Overseas, Saboba/Chereponi, Tolon-Kumbungu and Pong Tamale. The cost of damage cannot presently be quantified.
Despite these disastrous circumstances faced by the affected persons, it is reported that no relief has been given, in sharp contrast to earlier claims by the National Disaster Management Organization (NADMO) that there had been an intervention. The roads to some of the places according to investigations are inaccessible, especially in the West Gonja District.
The victims, during a visit to some of the areas, were putting up in school blocks and churches in their communities. The woes of these persons are however likely to worsen if schools reopen and no alternative place is found since torrential rains are still being recorded across the three Northern Regions.
Meanwhile, NADMO under this current regime, The Chronicle can say is doing badly as it has failed in its mandate to provide swift and adequate interventions in cases of disaster.
Considering the level of damage caused by the rains, this paper would deem it imperative to caution or appeal to farmers, individuals, chiefs and political leaders in the North to ensure maximum food security and if possible resist exportation of food to neighboring countries.
On a more serious note, our investigations uncovered that about 92% of the disaster in all the affected communities were as a result of poor settlement of buildings. Apart from building closer to the banks of the Volta Lakes and other rivers, The Chronicle spotted that most of the communities were built without any proper planning especially without drainage systems to facilitate smooth flow of waste water and rainfall.
Source:
Ghanaian Chronicle
Question marks on auctions at Tema Port
Accra, Sept. 12, GNA - Ms. Millicent Kweikor Akpo-Teye, until recently Head of the Auction Unit of the Customs, Excise and Preventive Service (CEPS), on Wednesday said no sanctions were applied to successful bidders who abandoned their containers at the Tema Port. Lack of sanction against such bidders partly explains the congestion at the Tema Port. When bidders do not pay for their bids, the second highest bidder is offered the container or it is re-auctioned. Testifying before the Justice Samuel Glenn Baddoo Committee in Accra, Ms. Akpo-Teye said CEPS did not offer any warranty for quality, quantity and condition of goods in a container after a successful bidder had paid for a container.
The bidder bears any risk for leaving the container in the port. The witness said there had been instances when people had bid for containers but rather abandoned them because they did not find buyers. Also, there were no official records of progressive bid prices. Ms. Akpo-Teye agreed that there had been situations of bedlam when auctioneers ran into crowds of bidders who noisily struggled to mention higher bid prices to outdo their competitors.
According the witness, when a bidder won a bid, the chit for the payment of the container was released immediately or later, but apart from vehicles, no follow- up details as telephone numbers or contacts were taken.
Ms. Akpo-Teye said some bid prices had gone far above the reserved price, which was the price a container had been marked to be sold, citing an instance where a container marked below 200 Ghana cedis had been auctioned for 2,000 Ghana cedis.
Some of this had often been done without recourse to the Customs head office, she said.
Source:
GNA
Three regions declared disaster zones
President J.A. Kufuor yesterday declared the three northern regions- Northern, Upper East and Upper West-devastated by floods, as disaster zones.
He also announced that he has authorised the release of ¢50 billion for immediate disbursement towards the procurement of relief items towards alleviating the plight of the disaster victims.
The President visited the Upper East region to see for himself the extent of devastation caused to lives and property in the Upper East Region.
Between August 24 and 29, torrential rains caused extensive flooding in the Upper East Region and in their wake thousands of hectares of farmland were submerged, bridges and homes destroyed, rendering over 16,000 people homeless.
The President said his decision to declare the three regions disaster zones followed reports submitted by an emergency Cabinet Sub-Committee dispatched to the regions to assess the extent of damage to the areas.
He said he was therefore in the region to visit the affected and afflicted flood victims and to sympathize with them.
He noted with concern that the damage was very extensive adding that the whole country was with them in their time of grief.
President Kufuor said he has dispatched the second consignment of relief items of 5000 bags of sugar, 500 packet of roofing sheets, 2000 bags of rice, 200 bales of blankets, large quantity of cooking oil, plastic basins, bucket and cups, and mosquito nets.
He urged the Regional Minister, Alhassan Samari, to take personal command of the items to ensure that they reach the affected and vulnerable, especially children and women.
The Ghana News Agency also reports from Bolgatanga that President Kufuor said the government in response to the natural disaster had set up an Emergency Taskforce to plan contingencies to forestall future occurrences.
He said the adequate measures had already been taken to deal with the expected famine resulting from the flooding, adding that the government would stand by them and do everything possible to mitigate their suffering.
Mr Samari informed President Kufuor that the situation in the region was critical as the economic activities of the people, the roads, health and education sectors, all suffered serious battering by the floods.
He said economically, important bridges including those linking Bawku-Kulungugu with neighboring Burkina Faso and Garu and Manga were all washed away.
Source:
Ghanaian Times
Epidemic Looms At Nsawam
AN epidemic is looming at Nsawam, a popular bread producing town on the Accra-Kumasi road, as most bread producers there have reportedly refused as required, to cover their bread with polythene bags before sale.
"The colour makes the yam look like that kind of yam (pona) that is considered superior quality," he said.
However, he said many of them have not been cooperative and are still selling the uncovered loaves and coloured fried yam.
He warned that the assembly was in the process of forming a sanitation task force to monitor and arrest producers who failed to abide by the bye-laws.
The sanitation policy dialogue, organised by the Ministry of Local Government & Rural Development and Environment and the Coalition of NGOs in Water and Sanitation, was to create a platform for stakeholders to discuss effective ways of managing sanitation and environment challenges in the country.
It is part of activities preceding the sixth National Sanitation Week which has the theme, "Clean environment, and healthy people".
Mohamed Amin Anta, Tamale Metropolitan Chief Executive, in his presentation noted that any action plan on sanitation required a lot of political will for effective implementation since that area posed a huge challenge to socio-economic development.
He also called for preventive guidelines on sanitation to guard against health risk in communities, adding that there was the need for the assemblies to strengthen their environmental and health units to have the capacity to do better.
Source:
Times
War on drugs yield results
Operation Westbridge, a collaboration between the governments of Ghana and the United Kingdom (UK) to combat the drug trade, has yielded 69 arrests and £40 million in narcotic seizures since its launch last November.
The haul comprises 244 kilogrammes of cocaine; 1.2 kilogrammes of heroin and 1,148 kilogrammes of cannabis with street values of £37 million, £280,000 and £3.4 million respectively.
The 69 arrests comprised 20 Ghanaians and 49 foreigners, mostly Nigerians, British and Dutch.
Of the arrests, 16 were made in the UK while the rest were made in Ghana.
A Minister of State at the Ministry of the Interior, Nana Obiri Boahen, announced this in Accra on Tuesday at the closing ceremony of a training workshop being part of the Global Container Project.
The United Nations Office on Drug and Crime (UNODC) signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) between it and five of Ghana's security agencies on July 7, this year, for a Joint Port Unit with personnel drawn from the Narcotic Control Board (NACOB), Bureau of National Investigations (BNI), Customs, Excise and Preventive Service (CEPS), the Ghana Police Service and the Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority (GPHA) to profile all containers arriving at the country's ports.
The training programme formed part of the MOU signed with the view to equipping the selected personnel with the requisite skills and technical capabilities to undertake the project.
Ghana is the second country after Senegal to join the Global Container Project to help deal with the scourge of drug trafficking. Nana Obiri Boahen said recent events had put the issues of drug abuse and trafficking at the centre of the debate in the country as one of the real socio-economic plagues which could seriously and negatively affect the very foundation of the country if not tackled holistically.
He said the potential negative effects of the menace had united Ghanaians to wage a war against the problem with the aim of rendering drug abuse and trafficking in the country the most unattractive activity for both Ghanaians and foreigners.
He said the government, the initiator of the drug war, had intensified its efforts and was determined to ensure its success.
"In the prosecution of this war, we have come to the realisation that an adequate response to the drug scourge and its attendant social, economic, health and security challenges is conditioned on a balanced vision, translated into a unitary policy that cannot be achieved unless all national institutions and international community in the field co-ordinate their efforts," he noted.
Source:
Daily Graphic
Phone thieves jailed 8 Years
Kumasi Sept.11, GNA- Two young men aged 19 and 18 have been jailed eight years each by a Kumasi Circuit Court for stealing assorted mobile phones and cash worth 3,100GH=A2 (=A231million) belonging to one Clement Ayitey.
Abubakar Sadik, 19, carpenter and Kwasi Boateng, 18, shoeshine Boy, were charged with conspiracy, unlawful entry and stealing. Their accomplice, Alex Owusu, an auto electrician also 18 was also sentenced to eight years imprisonment in hard labour for dishonestly receiving the phones they stole.
They pleaded guilty and were convicted on their own plea. In addition, the cost of the phones would be paid to the complainant and in default the two would serve a-three- year jail term whilst the latter would serve one year in hard labour. Prosecuting, Police Chief Inspector Comfort Baffour Kyei told the court presided over by Mr. R.M. Kogyapwah, that the complainant, a phone dealer lives at New Suame where his phone shop is located and Sadik alias "JJ" as well as Boateng reside at Tarkwa-Maakro and Race Course respectively.
She said on August 20, this year, at 1200 hours, Sadik and Boateng broke into the shop through the roof and made away with 12 assorted mobile phones worth 1,600GH=A2 (16 Million cedis) plus a cash of 1,500GH=A2 (15million cedis) which was kept in a box at the shop. Chief Inspector Baffour Kyei said they then took the booty to the room of Owusu, a neighbour of Boateng where they shared them. They were arrested after a complaint was lodged at the Suame police station and were charged after investigations.
Source:
GNA
Dirty PoliTRICKS: Plot to undo NPP aspirant
Media men used to publicise smear campaign condemn
A story is anonymously placed on air that a top presidential candidate of the New Patriotic Party who impregnated a female student forced her to remove the pregnancy, in the course of which she lost her life. Her bereaved parents were about to go public with the scandal.
No details of the alleged victim or her family are attached to the rumour. A nameless corpse. But, it comes into the public domain all the same. Some panic; others rejoice. Once again, the chances of the biggest threat to the ambition of 16 others are under threat. The nasty text messages did not work. Surely, this must work!
The targeted politician is contacted. His public denial hits the headlines, first in far away London, even before the veracity or otherwise of the allegation is known. Bingo! It seems the schemers had achieved their aim. Eventually the story turns out to be wholly baseless. But, not before calls are anonymously put through to the media in Ghana to spread the news!
That, readers, is the current state of affairs of Ghana's politics, as 17 ambitious men battle it out for the flagbearership of the governing party. "We got the information that an NPP aspirant had impregnated a student of University of Ghana and that she died at Korle Bu about two weeks ago in an attempt to abort the baby. I told listeners of my station in London that I was investigating the story.
But when I followed the story, I realised that the story is baseless - it's useless. Nothing like that has happened.” The words of Alfred “Oxygen” Kwame Larbi, the Ghanaian-based correspondent for Kasapa FM, a popular pirate station of East London, UK.
Last Thursday, Oxygen had gone on air publicly in London and on the internet to say that he was investigating the alleged death of that nameless victim.
Ernest Owusu Bempah, the host of another radio station in London whose programme was first used to publicise the baseless but potentially damaging story has since warned journalists against being used as conduits for mudslinging: “I think we in the media have to be very, very alert.”
The day before Oxygen’s 'explosive’ story, on September 5, Kweku Baako had been called from Ghana for a live interview on Hot FM, London, on the Scancem bribery scandal when a UK-based serial caller, Kanawu, called into the programme to ‘advise’ the Editor-in-Chief of the Crusading Guide to investigate the alleged death of a student at Korle Bu from aborting the baby of an NPP aspirant.
Interestingly, the scheme was cunningly effected to coincide with Nana Akufo-Addo’s short trip to London last Thursday.
The Hot FM host, Ernest, told The Statesman yesterday that public reaction in the UK has been one of severe anger. "People are very angry for the fact that somebody out there is seeking to defame Nana Akufo-Addo."
Ernest said he had received about three anonymous calls from male and female voices from Ghana in the past two weeks, urging him, who lives in London, to investigate the alleged death in Korle Bu, Accra.
He was told by the anonymous callers, who reached him by his private number, that the NPP aspirant who allegedly impregnated the student and gave her money to abort the foetus was the leading contender, Nana Akufo-Addo.
The callers went as far as to say that the family of the alleged victim were preparing to go public. "They told me the girl was the 16-year-old daughter of a top NPP man."
Ernest, accompanied by the station owner, Van Dyke, PRO of NPP UK/Eire branch, Nana Gyebi, and branch treasurer Eric Agyemang were invited to Nana Akufo-Addo’s hotel suit at the Savoy, Central London, where the aspirant granted them an interview. He denied the story and restated his commitment to run a clean and issues-based campaign.
"My conclusion is that, our democratic dispensation looks like it is taking a new twist where dirty politics is becoming the order of the day," observes Ernest of Hot FM, a radio station very popular with Ghanaians in London.
He adds, "Looking at the NPP flagbearership race, it is getting worse and worse. People are taking advantage of that. That’s why we journalist have to take care."
Ernest said when he persistently got the anonymous calls and got wind of Nana Akufo-Addo’s visit to London, he did the professional thing by interviewing the aspirant who gave him the go ahead to play his denial on air. Right now we want whoever sent the anonymous call to come out."
Ernest, who claimed to have recorded one of the anonymous calls, advises the media "to take out the bad nuts and politicians should be very careful with whom they deal with."
Yesterday, the host of Accra’s Asempa Radio’s afternoon programme, Ken Addy made this remark after listening to the media men involved in the fabricated story: "Where the story emanated from, and those who put it out there have all come out to categorically rubbish the story."
Source:
Statesman
Strengthen ties with foot soldiers -Mac-manu
Sunyani (B/A), Sept. 12, GNA - Mr Peter Mac-Manu, National Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), on Tuesday charged regional and constituency executives of the party to develop and strengthen strong relations with the foot soldiers and work hard to consolidate the gains of the party in 2008 elections.
He challenged them to study the philosophies and ideologies of the party to equip them with the appropriate leadership and communication skills to enhance their propaganda machinery to woo more people into the party for an overwhelming victory next year.
Mr Mac-Manu threw the challenge at a workshop attended by the Brong-Ahafo regional and constituency executives of the party, Members of Parliament and some Ministers of State in Sunyani.
The workshop was the seventh of a strategic review line-up for constituency executives throughout the country.
Mr Mac-Manu explained that the government was committed to ensure that the country's democratic dispensation was nurtured and projected, describing the NPP as one of the best-organized political parties in Africa.
He urged party membership not to focus solely on the NDC in the elections but rather target and consider the "little ones" to ensure a landslide victory.
The National Chairman expressed concern about the unnecessary propaganda being peddled by the NDC that NPP was an Akan based party and stressed the need for the party executives to work firmly to help disabuse people's minds of such a perception.
Mr Lord Commey, National Organiser, advised party members to build an alliance with other political parties, identify their strongholds and penetrate them to capture the 'orphan' constituency seats, which he meant were constituencies won by the NDC.
He called on them to use constructive approach in tackling the diverse problems facing the party and form councils of elders to support them.
Mr Commey reminded the party supporters and sympathizers of the need to remain faithful and loyal to ensure the growth of the party. Mr Kwasi Adu Gyan, Acting Regional Chairman, said the party was poised to capture 22 out of the 24 seats in the Region next year. This, he said, could be achieved when foot soldiers formed a unified front to embark on 'room-to-room' campaign to explain the good and laudable policies of government to the people at the grassroots level.
Mr Gyan mentioned the lack of financial support as the major problem facing the party and appealed to the party hierarchy to come to their aid.
Source:
GNA
Corruption is Killing Ghana -Minister
Mr. Kwesi Blay, the Deputy Western Regional Minister has called on Ghanaians to come together to fight against corruption and also stop people from using state funds to enrich themselves.
He said the crusade had become necessary because Ghana could not always go round with a cup in her hand begging for money to develop the country. "Corruption has to be confronted from all corners because it exists in all facets of the Ghanaian society including government and the private sector", he said.
Mr Blay noted that because of corruption, acceptable norms were not tolerated in most institutions in the country and therefore warned that if the situation was not checked, it would be very difficult for the poor to compete in the society as it would make justice very expensive.
The Minister told the over sixty participants drawn from all sectors of the economy at the workshop that the scourge of corruption was a challenge facing citizens in less developed countries especially, like Ghana.
He however reiterated the commitment of Government to deal with the menace. This commitment, he said, necessitated the enactment of the Public Procurement Law, Financial Administration and Anti-money Laundering Laws to serve as a check on corrupt practices.
He said while these laws were in place, the Commission for Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ), Serious Fraud Office (SFO), the Police and the Office of Accountability were all engaged vigorously in pursuing their mandate to ensure that public office holders did not become corrupt.
Most Rev. Dr. John Martin Darko, Catholic Bishop of the Sekondi-Takoradi Diocese who delivered the keynote address said Ghana, as a nation, could not afford to look the other away when corruption was blatantly being displayed in the open with the excuse that everybody was doing it.
He noted that all Ghanaians had the responsibility of putting both the government and the civil society on their toes to prevent them from indulging in corruption. He called for severe punishment for those who engaged in corruption.
He however noted that punishment of people engaged in corrupt practices as well as education on the menace were among the right ways of dealing with corruption which has dealt a blow to the nation's economy.
"The human factor is what we must tackle now, if we are to save our country from collapse after the Government's efforts to build up our economy and create confidence in our new currency", he said.
According to the Reverend Minister, several institutions in the country were engaged in this practice. He cited the health sector as one area where corrupt practices were going on. While hitting the health workers for this behavior which he described as detrimental to the economy, he unleashed another attack on the Police service, which he noted was fighting to maintain its image.
He observed that the Clergy and civil service were also in one way or the other engaged in corrupt practices in the country. The Programme and Research Officer of Ghana Integrity Initiative, (GII) Mr. Gilbert Sam, appealed to Ghanaians to consider transparency and accountability as the hallmark of good governance to help in the minimization of corruption.
This, he noted, would be possible if Ghanaians ensured that resources belonging to the people were put to proper use. "There is a need for collaboration, coalition building, multi sectored approaches and combined force", he said.
The Western Regional Director of the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE), Mr. Kweku Baah Owusu earlier in his welcome address revealed that the price of corruption could be very painful no matter when and how it is paid.
Source:
Ghanaian Chronicle
Ghana expects to earn one billion dollars export revenue in 2007
Kumasi, Sept.12, GNA - Ghana expects to earn one billion dollars from non-traditional exports this year, Mr Edward Collins Boateng, Executive Secretary of the Ghana Export Promotion Council (GEPC) has said.
He said this would represent a growth of 12.1 percent from 892 million dollars obtained last year.
Mr Boateng was addressing a seminar on export marketing fundamentals for 61 potential exporters, financial institutions, farmers and Small and Medium Enterprises in Kumasi on Wednesday. The three-day seminar was organised to provide participants with skills necessary to sustain international trade business. The GEPC organised it in collaborating with the International Financing Corporation (IFC) and Private Enterprise Partnership for Africa. Mr Boateng noted that international trade was increasingly becoming global and highly competitive as a result of technological advancement, product development, improvement in transport, and communication and information technology.
He pointed out that the challenge for exporting companies now should be how to globalise their operations in order to compete favourably in the fast changing international markets. Mr Boateng stated that GEPC has embarked on extensive mango nursery projects at Kpeve, Salaga, Nkonya and Sege to get potential planting materials for mango growers. He said as part of market access programmes, the Council took some 50 Ghanaian exporting companies to various fares in Europe, the United States and West Africa so that they could establish market relations. Mr Boateng said the GEPC was also rolling out more than 500 million cedis this year to support exporters to have access to international exporting companies.
Source:
GNA
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Ghana Health Service to install new data base system
Koforidua, Sept. 11, GNA- The Ghana Health Service (GHS) is installing new data base system to improve on accurate data records for all the districts nationwide.
The scope of the system would initially include the Reproductive and Child Health (RCH) data, Malaria Control Programme (MCP) and EPI. To that end, training workshops had been organized for personnel in the data functioning system in the Eastern and Central regions on how to handle the system to effectively reduce inconsistencies and inaccuracies in the GHS data.
The Deputy Director of the Public Health Division of the GHS, Dr. Patrick Aboagye disclosed this to the GNA in an interview in Koforidua at the opening of the three-day training workshop on Tuesday. He said the rationale behind the project was to move from manual recording of the health data to a more realistic module that would improve upon efficiency and timely presentation of reports from all the districts.
According to Dr. Aboagye, the system would gradually be expanded to embrace all aspects of the GHS data records to free personnel involved in the data work to do other work for the GHS. He said the project, that was being undertaken by Sterling Partners-Ghana would, to a large extent, address the issue of inconsistencies and inaccuracies of data, which, he said was normal in human dealings in the GHS and called on the trainees to take the workshop seriously.
Dr. Aboagye said; "in this time of Information Technology", GHS should not be found lagging behind, adding that, the system would create space since book records would be no more.
The Projects Coordinator of Sterling Partners-Ghana, Mr Lesley Botchway, said the system would have security features that would not be easily manipulated for any personal interest. The trainees would be taken through the system installation, functioning of the system and how to feed the system with the data.
Source:
GNA
Fear grips people of Ada over hearts and stroke cases
Keseve-Ada, (E/R) Sept. 11, GNA - Fear has gripped the people of Ada over heart and stroke related cases caused by consumption of high salinity water.
According to medical experts, one of the major causes of deaths in Ada and its environs are heart related cases due to high salinity water intake.
Dr. Philip Narh of the Dangme East District Hospital who disclosed this to the Ghana News Agency (GNA) at Ada said a greater number of adult deaths in the area were due to hypertension and other heart related diseases.
Dr. Narh said high salinity water consumption reduces ones taste for salt hence more consumption than the body required. According to him about 2.7 per cent of Ada adults are suffering from chronic heart related diseases.
He related this to improper treatment of water by the Ghana Water Company at Ada, adding that the best water for human consumption should be tasteless, odourless and there should not be segmentation and salinity.
Dr. Narh said the water being treated at Keseve near Big Ada has a high concentration of salt, thereby making it bitter. According to Dr. Narh, if this situation was not checked, very soon the majority of the over 130,000 populace of Ada and 14 other towns in South Tongu District would face an outbreak of heart related diseases. When GNA contacted Mr Simon Zaryi, Director of Water and Sewage of Ghana Water Company at Keseve, he said sometime in the year, the salinity in the Volta River at Ada became high due to the high tidal waves of the sea whilst river water level was low.
He said that many factors and research were taken into consideration before locating the water treatment plant at Keseve to supply potable water to areas like Kasseh, Tamatoku, Kadzanya, Big Ada, Ada Foah, Totimekorpey and some 14 villages near Sogakorpey. Meanwhile the chiefs and people of the area have made several appeals to the Ghana Water Company to relocate the treatment plant to Vume where the salinity concentration is less or should forward proposals to the Ministry of Water Resources, Works and Housing to join these areas to the Sege Three District Water Project, which has its treatment plant at Aveyime.
Source:
GNA
Govt to sets aside C5m to support flood victims
Bolgatanga (U/E), Sept. 11, GNA - President John Agyekum Kufuor on Tuesday announced a 5-million-GH-Cedi ( cew Cedis ) support for the three Northern Regions and parts of the Western Region hit by recent flooding.
Out of this 200,000 GH Cedis ( new Cedis) would be used to procure emergency relief items for the victims.
President Kufuor was speaking to newsmen when he arrived in Bolgatanga to show support for the people affected by the floods and to see at first hand the havoc caused.
He declared the Upper East, Upper West and Northern Regions a disaster zone and promised that the Government would deliver to the Upper East by next week, 5,000 bags of cement; 500 bundles of roofing sheets; 2,000 bags of rice and assorted plastic wares among other items. President Kufuor directed the Regional Minister, Mr Alhassan Samari to be personally involved in the distribution of the items to ensure that they got to the real victims.
The floods led to eight deaths in the Upper East region, displaced 16,392 others and destroyed 4,500 houses.
Additionally, it devastated the road network, washing away a number of important bridges and submerged potable water supply systems. President Kufuor said the Government in response to the natural disaster had set up an Emergency Taskforce to plan contingencies to forestall future occurrences.
He said the adequate measures had already been taken to deal with the expected famine resulting from the flooding, adding that the Government would stand by them and do everything possible to mitigate their suffering.
Mr Samari informed President Kufuor that the situation in the Region was critical as the economic activities of the people, the roads, health and education sectors, all suffered serious battering by the floods.
He said economically important bridges including those linking Bawku-Kulungugu with neighbouring Burkina Faso and Garu and Manga were all washed away.
Source:
GNA
Two miners trapped to death
Donkoto (Ash), Sept. 11, GNA - The police at Nyinahin are investigating the circumstances that led to the death of two small-scale miners in a pit at Donkoto in the Atwima-Mponua District of Ashanti. Mohammed Dambie, 39, and Yaw Dansude, 37, both mine workers of 'Ekom Ye Ya' mining company, were said to have suffocated while working in a pit with other colleagues.
The third victim, Abu Sule, 28, who survived the incident, is currently on admission at the Bibiani Government Hospital. Police Detective Chief Inspector David Nkrumah Danso of the Nyinahin Police Station, said on September 1, this year, the deceased persons were among a group of mine workers who went to one of the company's pits to work.
He said while there a machine, which supplied air into the pit, developed a fault and the workers began to suffocate. Chief Inspector Danso said some of the workers managed to escape, but their colleagues in the pit rescued the three victims who had then become unconscious.
The two, however, died while they were being conveyed to the hospital.
Source:
GNA
Ministry solicits health workers' patience
Accra, Sept. 11, GNA - The Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning on Tuesday said it had noticed some irregularities in the revised health service salary structure and appealed to all parties to exercise patience and cooperate with it, as the issues were resolved expeditiously.
A statement signed by Mr Kwaku Kwateng, Government Spokesman on Finance and Economy said the revised structure showed that salary levels of some health workers had been varied to their disadvantage. The statement said the allocation of the health service wage bill in the 2007 Budget was premised on an initial 45,675 workers on the payroll of the Ghana Health Service, but the number had swollen to 51,556.
Further, whereas the revision of the health service salary structure was authorised on the advice that it would cost an extra 240 billion cedis per annum, the implementation of the revised structure would bring at least an extra 428 billion cedis to the national budget. "The Ministry views these irregularities and this unanticipated burden on the national budget with great concern," it said. "While we sympathise with our health workers in their desire to see the revised salary structure implemented, we are of the view that these irregularities must be resolved."
The health workers are demanding that the revised salaries be paid at the end of September.
The health sector has experienced some turbulence with strikes by health workers at various times to push demands for higher salaries.
Source:
GNA
Buying & selling not best for Ghana - Agyepong
A presidential aspirant of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Mr Kwabena Agyei Agyepong, has promised to provide exemplary leadership that will make "business as usual a thing of the past".
"Once in every generation, the thinking and behaviour should change significantly, not only quantitatively, but qualitatively. What we need as a nation now to achieve the Millennium Development Goals and the middle income status of the nation by 2015, is a great leap into the future not small steps", he said.
Mr Agyepong, a former Press Secretary to President J.A. Kufuor was briefing the Daily Graphic after his second nation-wide tour of the 230 constituencies to explain why it was high time the NPP delegates to the December 22 congress voted for a young, dynamic and visionary candidate to lead the party to victory.
He explained that President Kufuor had put the nation on a sound footing that required a leader who would initiate deliberate and proactive measures that would put the "nation on a war footing to drive our developmental agenda forward to catch up with the developed world. It is time for us to inject more vitality, passion and pace into the administration of this beloved nation of ours by working hard, 24 hours a day and seven days a week".
He said he would place much emphasis on agriculture, especially agro processing and would put the commanding height of the economy in the hands of Ghanaians, establishment of industries among others, all through hard work.
The Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST)-trained engineer explained that he would pursue a more progressive agriculture policy that would graduate the country from using the backbreaking hoe and cutlass farming that only produced for the local market to an exporter of added value agricultural products.
He explained that the strategy, apart from giving enough food to the populace and decent rewards for the hardworking farmers, would provide jobs for the teeming youth as well as foreign exchange for the country adding that "the nation has been blessed with adequate fertile land for food production and that his government would make agriculture serve as the basis for economic growth".
He said his government would establish marketing companies similar to the Cocoa Marketing Board to purchase from the farmers and also dialogue with players in the business sector, like the Ghana Chamber of Commerce, the Association of Ghana Industries (AGI), the Ghana Union Traders Association (GUTA), in an effective and proactive manner to add value to the nation's produce for export.
Mr Agyepong, said when such entities were provided with guaranteed and low interest financial assistance, such as the Venture Capital Fund in a form of long-term capital, they would be able to enter into agro-processing as well as other industrial activities.
"There were many in the business sector who had capital which they use to import goods from various countries, if given the nod as president, I will dialogue with and re-orient them to redirect some of their capital into agro-processing businesses to generate wealth and employment and help to improve on the living conditions of the people" he added.
He explained that the successful nations that the country wanted to emulate never made it through buying and selling, therefore, his administration would also ensure that the myriad of bottlenecks, including the severe conditionalities for accessing facilities and unfair competition from outside would not impede the effectiveness of policies that would support the local industries to be competitive on the international market.
Mr Agyepong expressed worry about the bureaucracies and red-tapeism which, he said, was affecting the smooth transaction of businesses by civil and public officials and stressed that he would not waiver to bring the full force of the law on any such officials.
Sounding very optimistic, he said the campaign had been very successful with the grassroots members of the party yearning for a candidate whom they are conversant with, could deliver the seat for the party and move the nation on the path of accelerated development.
Source:
Daily Graphic
Resignations in the army is true
..... Maj. Gen. Odotei confesses
The concerns raised by the Vice President Alhaji Aliu Mahama about the increasing number resignations by officers and men of the security services particularly the Ghana Armed Forces was reiterated by the Chief of Army Staff, Major Gen. Samuel Anum Odotei last week Thursday when he paid a working visit to the 66 Artillery Regiment in Ho.
The Commander’s visit was one of the numerous exercises he has embarked upon to visit all military facilities across the country and interact with personnel and their families to acquaint himself with the problems and challenges confronting the service as well as have first hand information from the troops.
Major General Odotei’s main focus at the 66 Artillery Regiment was to commission an Internet Café constructed by the soldiers through their own resources as part of efforts to equip personnel in Information Communication Technology (ICT) skills and also serve the general public in order to generate income for the unit.
Major General Odotei who spoke to the Media after opening the Internet facility mentioned that there were few retirements, resignations and absenteeism without leave in the Ghana Armed Forces. “If we say its not happening then we are underrating the magnitude of the problem but I believe that is not alarming”.
He continued that some of the soldiers were looking for a means of picking up jobs in other institutions and agencies that offered better remuneration and better conditions of service to improve their living standards.
The Army Commander explained that the resignations were triggered by the opportunities available at the United Nations where the UN employed people and offered them good job remuneration, as the first attraction. “I don’t think we can ever compete with the remuneration that the UN offers to its workers”.
Major General Odotei said the terms and conditions of service should be reviewed “in order to help the Armed Forces Command retain the soldiers because if the brain drain was not properly managed, it would definitely affect the Armed Forces and the security of the country”.
The Chief of Army Staff disclosed that Government was committed to improving the conditions under which the military was working since it was crucial in improving the security and lifting up of the moral of the soldiers.
Major General Odotei revealed that the Armed Forces Command had put in place mechanisms to control the level of resignations and urged the soldiers to continue the good work they were doing to uphold and defend the Constitution while the Command also addressed problems confronting the Military.
Earlier, the Army General called on the Volta Regional Minister Samuel Kofi Dzamesi and his Deputy, Joseph Kwaku Nayan. The Minister acknowledged the crucial role the Military was playing in some of the troubled areas in the Region. Mr. Dzamesi pledged the support of the Volta Regional Coordinating Council to ensure a peaceful environment so as to attract the needed investors to take advantage of the economic potential of the Region and thereby improve their living standards.
The Commanding Officer of the 66 Artillery Regiment, LT Col Emmanuel Kotia reiterated that the Military would be convinced if efforts at improving civil-Military relations for a sustainable environment was intensified since that was key for a good democratic dispensation in Ghana.
The Commanding Officer charged the soldiers and their families to take advantage of the Internet Café to allow a free flow of communication among them during peacekeeping missions abroad.
He mentioned that the Military had embarked on a self-empowered income generation venture such us Block works, Mango Plantation and other relevant services to improve the state of the Military in the barracks.
11.09.2007 /
Source:
Chronicle