High illiteracy in the north due to traditional beliefs
Diare, (N/R), Oct. 28, GNA - Alhaji Mustapha Ali Idris, Northern Regional Minister, has blamed the high illiteracy rate in the region on some of the traditional beliefs and practices of the people. He mentioned infant betrothal and child labour and said some parents also preferred using their children as farm hands or herding cattle instead of sending them to school.
Alhaji Idris said this in an address read for him at an "Annual Week" celebration of the Sociology Students' Association (SOSA) of Ghana at Diare in the Savelugu/Nanton District on Friday. SOSA organised the event in collaboration with the Northern Development Society (NODESO), an NGO under the theme: " Poverty and its impact on the child's education: Education the key to eradicate poverty".
Alhaji Idris said as a result of the high illiteracy rate in the region, poverty had become a major problem saying: "Without education, the eradication of poverty will remain a mirage thus rendering the average person unable to satisfy his basic needs." The Regional Minister said the government had introduced measures such as the school feeding programme and the capitation grant to mitigate the cost of education so that every child of school-going age could access basic education.
He urged the sociology students to reach out to the people and educate them on the importance of education and on the need to send their children to school.
They should also be agents of peace and preach the virtues of patience, understanding and tolerance. He urged the students to accept postings to the rural areas after the completion of their studies to contribute to the development of the country.
He reminded them that 2008 was an election year and entreated them to live above parochial, ethnic and monetary considerations when exercising their right to vote. Alhaji Idris also urged them to educate others to exercise their franchise.
"This will be one of your most instrumental efforts at keeping Ghana on its democratic path. Let us all ensure that democracy thrives in this country".
Mr. Iddrisu Adam, the Deputy Northern Regional Director of Education, said structures had been put in place to ensure the smooth implementation of the new education reforms.
He said the introduction of nursery and kindergarten education were a new phenomenon in the rural areas and urged parents to take advantage of it to send their children to school. Mr Adam gave the assurance that measures were being taken to ensure the full implementation of the school-feeding programme in all basic schools in the rural areas.
He said the Regional Directorate of Education would support the efforts of NGOs that sought to promote the welfare and education of children in the region.
Mr. Moses Yahaya, President of NODESO, launched an Education Development Fund for the Savelugu/Nanton and Mamprusi West districts. SOSA donated exercise books to be distributed to schools. He said the NGO aimed among other things at improving the food security, education and reducing poverty in the Northern Region. He said 33 million cedis had been disbursed to women groups to enhance their businesses, while 500 farmers had been provided with credit facilities to cultivate soya bean and other agriculture products. Mr. Yahaya said NODESO had also mounted a campaign against the felling of economic trees and bush burning and appealed to district assemblies, companies and traditional leaders to assist the NGO to expand its activities to the rural areas.
Mr. Duke Hassan, President of SOSA, said the association was undertaking a research on the effects of poverty on the education of children in the region and measures to address it. He said although statistics continued to show an improvement in the country's economy, this had not reflected significantly in the living conditions of the people especially the rural communities.
Source:
GNA
African Ministerial Committee discuss Union Government in Africa
Accra, Oct. 28, GNA - The second meeting of the African Union (AU) Ministerial Committee started on Saturday 27th October, 2007 at the Accra International Conference Centre to follow up on the implementation of the Accra Declaration of the Union.
The meeting, which ends on Sunday 28th October, 2007, was presided over by President John Agyekum Kufuor, Chairman of the African Union and Mr Akwasi Osei Adjei, Ghana's Minister for Foreign Affairs, Regional Cooperation and NEPAD and Chairman of the African Union Executive Council.
A statement issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said President Kufuor called on participants to be constructive and committed during their deliberations and also work in a spirit of collegiality and frankness.
He explained that the outcome of the meeting to be submitted to the Executive Council would help that Council make appropriate recommendations to the next Ordinary Session of the Assembly of Heads of States and Government.
"A successful execution of the task will undoubtedly assist our principals, the African Union Heads of State and Government to chart a cause that will enhance the prospect and aspiration of achieving the United States of Africa in our lifetime."
Mr Osei Adjei underscored the need to put in context the committee's work vis a vis the objectives of the Union government as stipulated in the Accra Declaration.
He asked the committee members to reflect on the preamble of the declaration, which focused on the need to accelerate the economic and political integration of the continent; the need for collective responses to major global issues and the creation of a common market built on common values.
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GNA
Evening classes to replace video shows at Tafi-Mador
Tafi-Mador (V/R), Oct. 28, GNA- Compulsory evening classes rather than video shows are to become the rule towards curtailing persistently poor performances in Basic Education Certificate Examinations at Tafi-Mador in the Hohoe District.
Togbe Adjah Kofi V, Chief of Tafi-Mador announced this at a durbar to mark this year's youth festival of the chiefs and people of Mador. He said only three out of 17 candidates presented by the local Junior High School (JHS) in last year's Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) passed with the best pupil scoring aggregate 28 in six subjects.
Togbe Adjah Kofi described that performance, as an embarrassment to the community and ought to be addressed to brighten the chances of the pupils to progress academically and secure a good future for themselves and the community.
Togbe Adjah Kofi therefore appealed to youth from the area who, are in tertiary institutions to return home during holidays to inspire and organize vacation classes to help their younger compatriots improve academically.
He commended Friends of the Earth International, a non-governmental organization, for providing the community with a new Junior High School building to replace the dilapidated one built in 1953. Togbe Adjah Kofi appealed to benevolent organizations and stakeholders to help provide a library for the school to encourage pupils to use their free time constructively through reading and research.
Mr. Borazo Agbley, Chairman of the Tafi-Mador Youth Association urged people in the community to get involved in communal works towards accelerated development.
He observed, "unless we change our attitude, we shall not have children of good moral standing to propagate our good names in the future".
Mr Agbley expressed gratitude to all those who helped in the provision of various projects in the community and looked forward for further support in providing facilities, including a computer laboratory and a teachers' residence, among others.
Source:
GNA
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Police foil attempt to send Nigerian girls to Europe for prostitution
Ghanaian police announced on Friday that they foiled an attempt by a human trafficking syndicate in Accra to send 18 Nigerian girls to Europe to work as prostitutes.
The police raid was made possible by the undercover work of a journalist who has been investigating human trafficking for more than eight months.
Once his investigation over, Anas Aremeyaw Anas gave the police a tip-off which led to the arrest of about a dozen suspected traffickers and the rescuing of the girls.
Deputy director general of Criminal Investigations Department, Ken Yeboah, told journalists police had evidence that the girls were first taken to Accra to get Ghanaian passports to travel to Europe.
Several other girls from West African countries such as Benin, Burkina Faso and Togo have already been sent to Europe via Ghana as a transit point, Yeboah added.
Yeboah said investigations were being hampered because the 'rescued' girls are refusing to cooperate, while the police has launched a manhunt to arrest the mastermind behind the traffickers.
Humans For Sale! ‘Dons’ Exposed!
Crusading Guide -- Six teenage girls sit on a bench in front of a house built with wooden scraps and corrugated roofing sheets at Abossey Okai, a suburb of Accra. From time to time, one of them runs her fingers through her hair and bites her finger nails. Another yawns, followed by a deep sigh from the other. But their boredom would soon be eased.
They have already been sold to pimps in Europe. Next week Wednesday they would be gone, ‘smuggled’ through Ghana’s Kotoka International Airport (KIA) to their pimps.The Crusading Guide’s eight month-long investigations have uncovered a complex web of thriving human trafficking business in Ghana where the ‘dons’ lure Nigerian, Togolese, Beninois and Burkinabe young girls and sell them into prostitution in Europe after hiding them at secret locations in the Greater Accra and Central Regions of Ghana.
The places where they are hidden include McCarthy Hill, Abossey Okai Zongo, Bethlehem City, Adom City, Budumburam Refugee Camp, Big Apple among others. The girls, mostly minors, are exploited in different ways and employed to perpetrate criminal activities in Europe. They are also often used in pornographic movie acting.The trafficking of these girls in Ghana has always been shrouded in secrecy for the past years. It however, recently took a dramatic twist as profits soared. The business has been institutionalized as the ‘dons’ now rent apartments and camps to hide the many girls, taking advantage of the lack of enforcement of anti-human trafficking laws.
“In the last few months we have trafficked over one thousand girls mainly from Nigeria and Benin through our Ghana route; the market is very good, the officers understand the business”, said Baba, one of the traffickers who was talking to this reporter disguised as a rich businessman wanting to send some girls to Italy.Most of these girls end up dying while serving their ‘mamas’ (Queen Pimps). Before they set off for the trip, they are made to swear an oath of secrecy in a shrine, where they promise never to reveal their mission to anyone.
Luisa, (not her real name) one of the many girls who was trafficked to Italy through Ghana, told this reporter in Benin City, Nigeria, that most of her friends died in Italy as they engaged in this sex trade.“I used to sleep with over 25 men a day. When I became fed up and decided not to work, my madam in Turin (one of her three bases in Italy) beat me up with a belt. She would also starve me and threaten me with deportation.
A lot of my friends died at the Rome and Milan bases where we used to rotate. We went through a lot of mental torture and physical abuse right from Ghana. The traffickers were sleeping with us at their whim. I was raped several times and have undergone several crude abortions”, she continued. At this stage, Luisa then ran her hand through her hair, bowed and showed a big scar in her scalp.“It was stitched in Milan after Cardozo, one of the foolish men who used to violently rape me, hit my head with a broken bottle’, she narrated at her house in Benin City. Luisa also disclosed how Ghanaian security officials helped her group of 16 girls to cross to Spain, France and Italy.
Luisa’s indictment of Ghanaian security officials is supported by evidence available to the Crusading Guide. Investigations indicated that some security officials at the Kotoka International Airport (KIA) had been doing brisk business by illegally charging fees to allow the trafficked girls to use the country’s airport as transit to their destinations in Europe to carry out their sex trade.Orakwe Arinze, spokesman for the National Agency for the Prohibition of Traffic in Persons (NAPTIP), told this reporter in his Abuja office, Nigeria, that his country was fighting to uproot human trafficking, adding that shelters had been built in the major States in Nigeria where victims are given support and also equipped with skills to move on in life.
Babandede, Director of Investigations for NAPTIP, maintained that his country’s security agencies were on a high alert to weed out traffickers, hence the prosecution of many of them in recent times. ‘We are breaking through their syndicate’, he added.How some Ghanaian security officers help in the sale.At the Kotoka International Airport (KIA), some Ghanaian Immigration officers charge between 1500 and 1000 dollars per girl before they allow traffickers to carry their victims through.
Many of these officers are said to have enriched themselves through this business, which has been nicknamed ‘abacha’. This reporter has obtained video, audio, and still pictures of many immigration officials not only bargaining with him (reporter) on how much money to take, but also explaining how they share the money with some National Security personnel and Aviation Security Officials stationed at the airport. This is a short transcript of what transpired between this reporter and two of the officers.
Immigration officer, Kotoka International Airport, Ghana, discussing a trip with six girls to France and the cost (with reporter disguised as trafficker). Motion picture begins with reporter walking through the bush looking for an immigration official. A tree shows for a while then a hand interrupts the scene as the reporter walks along, billboards of Kotoka International Airport as well as Ghana’s National Flag is shown. Sounds of vehicles and human voices are heard as the reporter keeps moving until he meets the immigration official. At exactly 6mins 23 sec of motion pictures, the conversation begins as follows:
Reporter: I called the boy; he said they are six so how can you reduce the price for us?
Official: But the six, all of them cannot go at the same time, today two, the next three.
Reporter: That’s why we are saying you have to beat the price down.
Official: If all of them go it will backfire.
Reporter: That’s why we are saying that you have to beat the price down. So, if they are six how much will you take?
Official: We are doing the thing individually, that’s why I’m saying all of them cannot go one day. If all of them go one day the thing will backfire, are you getting me? All of them would not go one day. So today two will go, the next day three will go.
Reporter: So what do you recommend, is it the Emirate Airline which is the best or?
Official: So far Emirates is the best so if they are ready the first batch can go next week Sunday because Sunday I will be for post-departure. But as for Saturday I would have said it should start on Saturday but Saturday, no Emirates. Emirates don’t fly on Saturdays.
Reporter: They will go on Sunday.
Official: Sunday, Monday that is next week, some people can go next week Sunday. Then the next two weeks, Monday.
Reporter: So beat the price down so that I can come and see you maybe on Monday. $1,500 is expensive.
Official: (Raises his voice). Do you know, do you know how much they take? We are even considering you and you say $1,500 is too much, so if it’s too much how much will you give me?
Reporter: Is $1,000, okay so that the six would be six thousand. I would just collect the money one time (two, two, two).
Officer: (looks into the skies) $6,000 (and then calculates). Okay, $1000 for each.
Another official surfaces Reporter: Chairman, officer, Sir, well done
Official: Den na ekoso (Twi) meaning what is happening?
Reporter: No, I don’t hear. Am a Nigerian man. I wan see you, I use to fly Virgin Nigeria. My sisters want to fly. They want to go to Germany. (Sound is lost interminently). I want to ask can they go from here?
Official: Are you doubting me?
Reporter: As an officer I cannot doubt you.
Official: Me, if you can pay my money am asking I can carry the whole airport to your house. I can carry. Do you want the critical alarm in your house? Chale come on I can do that.
Reporter: I’ll bring it don’t worry.
Official: I shouldn’t worry. Why should I worry, you are coming.
Reporter: Give me your number.
Official: 0242901439.
Reporter: The name is?
Official: Sam.
Reporter: Sammy.
Official: You can call it anything, am Sam.
Reporter: You see we have someone who has been transporting them but the money is too much, we want to change.
Official: How much are they taking, $1000? And you think I will take less than that? I am taking $1500.
Reporter: (sound breaks) My problem is if the visa is genuine. Can you do it?
Official: What’s your problem? Do you have a problem, so come and show it me. Let’s start business.
Reporter: Thank you, okay.
Official: (As he walks away he asks for my name). What’s your name?
Reporter: Uche, I’ll call you.
Official: Don’t fear.
Meanwhile, the child protection, Specialist of the United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF) Ghana, Eric Appiah Okrah, in a telephone conversation congratulated The Crusading Guide newspaper on the story. He added that UNICEF would stand by the security agencies and government to prosecute offenders.
On his part, the Counter Trafficking Field Manager of the International Organisation for Migration, Eric Boakye Piasah, said that human trafficking needs to be combated in Ghana. “We have to nail the perpetrators and their collaborators and push them out of Ghana. My outfit together with others are doing our part. The general public must join to combat this third lucrative crime in the world”.
Dossier on the queen pimps in Italy, Spain and France
While hanging out with the girls from one restaurant to the other and from one Club to the other as part of the investigations, our reporter came across a dossier of phone numbers belonging to both the traffickers and their accomplices. The dossier has been passed on to the various Missions in Ghana to help track the syndicate in the various countries.
Source:
AFP/Crusading Guide
Kufuor leaves for the United Kingdom
Accra, Oct.27, GNA - President John Agyekum Kufuor left Accra on Friday night for the United Kingdom on an official visit. President Kufuor has been invited as an International Guest Speaker at two major gatherings of World Scholars in Oxford, United Kingdom on October 29 and 31.
A release issued and signed by Mr Andrew Awuni, Press Secretary before departure said these are the inauguration of the Association of Black Rhodes Scholars at Exeter College in Oxford and a special session of members of the prestigious Oxford Union that would focus on topical world issues and in particular on Ghana's leadership role in addressing development challenges confronting Africa.
The Oxford Union is noted for hosting influential world personalities with a record of international speakers like Archbishop Desmond Tutu; Mother Teresa; Winston Churchill; Richard Nixon; Ronald Reagan and Jimmy Carter.
Exeter College is President Kufuor's Alma Mater and it has begun a Scholarship Scheme it has named after him. This is open to Ghanaian residents at home who gain admission into the College. The College has started receiving applications for this Scholarship, worth 5,000 pounds sterling annually and tenable yearly from October 2008.
The release said the College instituted the Scheme in collaboration with Clarendon Award and the Kufuor Biographical Project. President Kufuor was seen off by some Ministers of State, Inspector General of Police, Mr Patrick Kwarteng Acheampong and other government officials.
Source:
GNA
CPP govt will revamp agriculture - Akosa
Tarkwa (WR), Oct. 27, GNA - Professor Agyeman Badu Akosa, a flag bearer aspirant of the Convention People's Party (CPP) has stressed the need to boost agriculture to produce enough food for consumption and export in the country.
"Importation of foodstuffs, vegetables and livestock from neighbouring countries would cease when I am elected as the flag bearer of CPP and President," he added.
Addressing newsmen at Tarkwa as part of his three-day tour of the Western Region, Prof. Akosa said a CPP government would guard against post harvest loses by applying science and technology in food preservation.
He pointed out that although rice importation would not stop, the Aveyime Rice Project would be revamped to produce more rice for local consumption.
Prof. Akosa explained that CPP was not a party for the aged but the youth as well and attempts to relegate it to the background in Ghanaian politics it had stood the test of time. He pledged to rekindle the spirit of CPP and called on delegates to the party's congress to vote for him.
Mr Iddi Egala, contesting for the National Chairmanship of the party pledged to make the party strong by building integrity among members, ensure discipline and dedication to the party's constitution to move it forward. Mr K. Bomfeh, contesting for the Youth Organiser said the party was built and run by the youth because relevance of the party to contemporary Ghanaian politics, Africa and the world depended on party's ability to take on the youth.
Source:
GNA
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Dismissed from school for not paying 20 peswas
Pupils of the Holy Rosary Catholic School in Adenta, Accra, are being sacked from their normal classes for not being able to pay 20Gp (¢2,000) meant for extra classes for the pupils, investigations by GO have revealed.
A source, whose ward is in Primary 3 in the same school, had earlier told GO that he later got know he was paying fees for extra classes, when in fact he never gave his ward the money to pay for the extra classes because he felt it wasn’t compulsory.
He explained that his ward complained to him on various occasions that she and some of her mates were sacked a number of times from their classes when normal classes was in progress, for not paying the extra classes fee.
He added that to avoid the shame his ward would use her pocket money to pay for the fees so that she could join her other mates for the normal classes. He further added that his ward gets home the normal time school closes so he does not even believe they take `the so called extra classes.`
He expressed his total disgust for the treatment the children receive because of failure to pay the extra fees. During our investigations, GO spoke to the Headmistress of the school, who was not willing to either deny the facts or accept them. She claimed that the parents agreed to pay for the extra classes because they could not afford to get private extra classes tutors.
She was quite hostile and would not give her name to the reporter. After being asked the same question `why the students were sacked in their normal classes for not paying for the extra classes,` she flared up, saying she was new in the school and didn`t know anything about it.
However, she did not allow any teacher to speak to GO, claiming the teachers were not present when the parents made the decision and that for further information, GO should speak to the parents themselves.
Newsmen found a way to speak to a teacher whose name is withheld; he confirmed the story, saying the primary students have been facing that problem for some time now. He added that he had heard some complaints from the students but would not give out the names of the teachers who are involved for fear of losing his job.
While the reporter was questioning the teacher, word came from the Headmistress` office that the reporter should leave the school because her queries had already been responded to. The reporter was virtually thrown out of the school by some angry teachers. Meanwhile, other attempts to find out from the Catholic Education Unit whether they were aware of the anomaly at the Adental school did not yield any results.
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Source:
G. Observer
Editorial: Trading Off Ghana Airways For GIA
…Was it a wise decision?
NEXT Monday, Oct.29, 2007 will be two years since Ghana International Airline (GIA) took to the skies as the National Carrier.
With only two years in operation, GIA has incured $24 million debt, with an unspecified amounts sunk into its operations by the government.
GIA’s operations, can not be said to be the best as it has of late been characterized by delays and outright flight cancellations which were not communicated to passengers in good time resulting in chaos either at the Kotoka International Airport or Gatwick, London.
It is in this light that “The Ghana Palaver” is taking a look at the Ghana Airways and its successor the Ghana International Airline (GIA) in the last two years.
At the time of its demise, Ghana Airways had a debt of $160 million but had a lot of landed properties spanning across Africa and Europe. It also had its own planes, 3DC10 and 3 DC 9 aircrafts.
The routes an airline has, are very important and there is no doubt that Ghana Airways had numerous lucrative routes which were the envy of many airlines. The former national carrier had London’s Heathrow Airport as its number one route. It also had as part of its European routes, Dusseldorf and Hamburg in Germany and Rome in Italy. For the American route, Ghana Airways had JFK and Baltimore . It had also concluded plans to operate far deeper into USA by adding Atlanta, Georgia to the American routes and also was to add Toronto in Canada.
With Ghana’s history of being the first black African nation, south of the Sahara to gain independence, Ghana Airways was seen in many countries as an African Airline by those countries that did not have their own National Carriers. And so in the West African sub region, Ghana Airways was very dominant in Lome, Coutonou, Lagos, Abidjan, Freetown, Conakry, Monrovia, Banjul, Dakar, Ouagadougou and Bamako and until its demise, was the joy of a lot of passengers in Harare and Johannesburg in Southern Africa. It also had Arab routes, namely Dubai and Beirut.
Ghana Airways had well trained human resources who were rated very high in airline circles and they included the current Ghana International Airline (GIA) Chief Executive Officer ( CEO), Capt (rtd) Joe Boachie, who was alsothe former Director-General of the Ghana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA). He was once a Ghana Airways pilot and retired as a Captain.
The current GIA Acting Head of Flight Operations and chief pilot, Capt. Mills-Lamptey and the Head of Certifications, Capt. Collins Fosu were all Ghana Airways Captains on the DC 10 aircrafts. The GIA Ticketing and Reservations Unit is also manned by former Ghana Airways personnel well versed in their field.
Cabin Service Supervisors of GIA, are pure bred, former Ghana Airways Cabin Crew. As enumerated above, if all these experienced human resource were with Ghana Airways at the peak of the crisis, why didn’t the NPP Government opt for restructuring instead of the outright liquidation?
In the heat of the Ghana Airways crisis, the government of John Agyekum Kufuor promised Ghanaians to deliver a national carrier not later than 29th October, 2007, which is next Monday, two years since GIA took to the skies, flying a leased 160 seater Boeing 757 from Ryan International Airlines, USA at $1.5 million monthly.
As we celebrate two years of GIA, can Ghanaians say they have a full fledged National Airline operating on an Air Operators License? Currently, GIA is not even registered in Ghana as an Airline, what GIA has is Operator’s Licence which is a temporary dispensation and has within one year to be issued with an Air Operator’s Certificate (AOC) for which GIA has been unable to meet the requirements by having her own pilots and cabin crew. As it celebrates it’s second year of operation, GIA’s current debt stock is in excess of $24 million and it is believed if the debt portfolio continues to rise at the current rate, in 15 years time, GIA would have exceeded Ghana Airway’s $160 million mark in excess of $180 million.
So the question “The Ghana Palaver” would like to ask is; if after 40 years in operation and with all its assets, Ghana Airways was saddled with a debt of $160 million and the GIA, with no assets, within 2 years also has $24 million debt, then what has changed? What makes the GIA a better option than Ghana Airways? By its current status, GIA flies leased aircrafts not registered in Ghana and with foreign pilots on behalf of GIA.
The GIA’s Air Operator’s Licence is a temporary dispensation and an airline taking advantage of such privilege is required to have under gone certification within a year and be issued with an Air Operator’s Certificte (AOC) which entails the airline in question acquiring its own aircraft registered in its country of nationality i.e. Ghana in the case of GIA with its own pilots and cabin crew.
As of now GIA has no aircraft of its own, it is alleged that the International Air Transport Association (IATA) is through the GCAA mounting pressure on GIA to acquire an AOC or be blacklisted and grounded. GIA, two years in operation, finds itself in a very precarious situation because the 230 seater Boeing 767 leased from Iceland air, registered in Iceland as TF-LLA and painted in Ghanaian colours, has been sold to Virgin Nigeria and has since been delivered to them.
Again, “The Ghana Palaver” would like to question NPP administration’s level of business expertise in the Airline industry and also ask why they chose to trade off a well established and structured Ghana Airways with all its aircrafts, routes and landed property for GIA that has nothing and operates from very expensive rented premises, and leases planes in excess of $1 M/month. Currently, the government has sunk into GIA operations an unspecified amounts of money.
And so, as we remember the crucifixion of Ghana Airways and celebrate GIA’s second anniversary, can we agree with the adage that “Give a dog a bad name and hang it” was the principle behind the liquidation of Ghana Airways?
Source:
Palaver
Ghana Airways vs. GIA
...Could The Value Be The Same? GIA is definitely worse
In the year 2004 when the visionless NPP Government with blatant disregard for a revered national pride chose callously against sound reasoning to liquidate Osagyfo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah’s GHANA AIRWAYS, little did they reckon the ghost of the Ghana Airways they so brutally murdered only three years ago will show up at no other time but in Ghana’s 50th year as a sovereign state to haunt them.
October 29, 2007 marks two dear years since Ghana International Airlines (GIA) took to the skies as National carrier to replace Ghana Airways in a bid to repair the supposed mismanagement that had characterized Ghana Airways at the time. Current developments at GIA aptly find meaning in ace Nigerian writer Chinua Achebe’s “Things fall apart, the centre cannot hold”. It would interest Ghanaians to know that GIA’s current debt stock is in excess of $24 million only within two year of operation. The key factor being the leasing of aircrafts at not less than $1.5 million monthly. So one may ask, if after 40 years in operation, Ghana Airways was saddled with a debt of $160 million and GIA within 2 years has $24 million to contend with, then God help the poor Ghanaian taxpayer. If the GIAdebt portfolio continues to rise at this tempo, in 15 years, GIA would have exceeded Ghana Airways $160 million mark in excess of $180 million.
The million dollar question then is GHANA AIRWAYS AND GIA, could the value be the same? The value as far as GIA is concerned is definitely worse.
After the failure of the Brian Presbury/ Sammy Crabbe administration who were thrown out in a “Rambo” fashion and the abysmal performance of the aged Mr. Azu regime, GIA is gradually but clandestinely being played into the hands of management clearly made up of former Ghana Airways pilots.
The current CEO Capt (rtd) Joe Boachie, a former Director-General of the Ghana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) is a former Ghana Airways pilot retiring as a Captain.
The Acting Head of Flight Operations and chief pilot, Capt. Mills-Lamptey and the Head of Certifications, Capt. Collins Fosu were until the collapse of Ghana Airways Captains on the DC 10 aircrafts. The Ticketing and Reservations Unit is manned by former Ghana Airways personnel well vexed in their field. Cabin Service Supervisors are currently a pure breed of former Ghana Airways Cabin Crew.
A first batch of four former Ghana Airways pilots were sneaked out to Europe for training on the Boeing 767 aircraft as part of the certification process. A second batch also made up of four former Ghana Airways pilots are currently in Europe undergoing training on the Boeing 767 aircraft. If all the human resource enumerated above were within Ghanair at the peak of the crisis, why did the NPP Government not opt for restructuring instead of the outright liquidation of the airline? Capt Joe Boachie no doubt has and uphill task fixing this mess of a situation.
In fulfillment of a knee jerk promise made to Ghanaians to deliver a national carrier not later than 29th October, 2007, GIA took to the skies flying a leased 160 seater Boeing 757 from Ryan International Airlines, USA at $1.5 million monthly. GIA can in its current state not be said to be a full fledged Airline. It operates on an Air Operators License, which is only half way through the process to acquire an Air Operators CERTIFICATE.
By this status, GIA flies leased aircrafts, not registered in Ghana and with foreign pilots on behalf of GIA. This Air Operator’s Licence is usually a temporary dispensation and an airline taking advantage of such privilege is required to have under gone certification within a year and be issued with an Air Operator’s Certificte(AOC)which entails the airline in question acquiring her own aircraft registered in her country of nationality i.e. Ghana in the case of GIA with her own pilots and cabin crew. As of now GIA has no aircraft of her own, it is alleged that the International Air Transport Association (IATA) is through the GCAA mounting pressure on GIA to acquire an AOC or be blacklisted and grounded.
GIA finds itself in a very precarious situation because the 230 seater Boeing 767 leased from Iceland air registered in Iceland as TF-LLA and painted in Ghanaian colours has been purchased by Virgin Nigeria and has since been delivered to them. Iceland replaced the Boeing 767 with a 184 seater Boeing 757 aircraft which survived a near air disaster due to engine failure in Spain. The instances enumerated above speaks volumes. No wonder the World Traveler President John Agyekum Kuffour has never flown GIA. His non patronage of the national carrier only confirms his lack of confidence in an airline he put in place to replace the already established Ghana Airways that only had management problems which were not insurmountable.
It is important to remind Ghanaians that Ghana Airways before it’s demise had 3DC10 aircrafts and 3 DC 9 aircrafts. Needless to mention the numerous lucrative routes: London Heathrow (it’s also important to remind Ghanaians that Ghana Airways operations into London was to the prestigious HEATHROW AIRPORT and not the second class Gatwick Airport into which GIA operates) other routes in Europe were Dusseldorf, Hamburg in Germany, Rome in Italy, JFK and Baltimore in the USA with far advanced plans to operate into Atlanta and Georgia in USA and Toronto in Canada. In the West African subregion Ghana Airways was the dominant airline. The sight of Ghana Airways in Lome, Coutonou, Lagos, Abidjan, Freetown, Conakry, Monrovia, Banjul, Dakar, Ouagadougou and Bamako was a welcome relief to many an anxious passenger who had no national airline to count on.
Harare and Johannesburg in South Africa, Dubai and Beirut were also good routes. Without intending to question the level headedness of the NPP administration, the question still remains why they chose to trade the well established and structured Ghana Airways with all her aircrafts, routes and estates for GIA that has no plane, operates from very expensive rented premises, and leases planes in excess of $1 M/month. Amounts sunk by this Government into GIA remain unclear, however there is no doubt that cash expended on GIA could have rescued Ghana Airways.
Interestingly, the official liquidator, the Registrar General continues to waste the meager amounts realized from the sale of Ghana Airways on frivolous legal tussles. A case in point is the rumpus over the state of Airways Catering Limited (ACL) whilst former Ghana Airways staffs continue to live under severe hardship with their severance benefits unpaid. GIA operations have lately been characterized by delays and outright flight cancellations which are not communicated to passengers in good time resulting in chaos either at the Kotoka International Airport or Gatwick, London.
Ironically the NPP government that seemingly has no clear aviation policy has an Aviation Ministry, a dormant one at that. At a time when the 50 year old Ghana cannot boast of a single commercial aircraft.
The age old saying “Give a dog a bad name so you can hang it was powerfully employed in the crucifixion of Ghana Airways. In the process there was no sympathy from Ghanaians in the government’s bid to kill Ghana Airways. Now with the goings on at GIA, did we go or did we come? Certainly not. GIA, the value is disgusting.
Source:
Palaver
Ghana will struggle to accommodate visiting fans
The eyes of the football world are turning increasingly to Ghana as the countdown continues to the 2008 African Cup of Nations finals.
But as the big kick off fast approaches, the race is on for the Local Organising Committee (LOC) to come up with viable accommodation options in two host cities, Sekondi-Takoradi and Tamale.
Sekondi-Takoradi will stage Group B matches involving Nigeria, Benin, Mali and the Ivory Coast.
Senegal, South Africa, Angola and Tunisia will be based in Tamale as they try to fight their way out of Group D.
But unlike Accra and Kumasi - the two biggest cities in Ghana - getting quality accommodation in Sekondi-Takoradi and Tamale is a challenge at the best of times.
So, when the Nations Cup comes around, demand will exceed supply by a considerable margin and the scrum for accommodation promises to be every bit as intense as the action on the pitch.
And having just come back from a week-long visit to Ghana, I can confidently predict that football tourists will find hotel rooms hard to come by and very expensive, if available at all.
The LOC has accommodation deals in place with most star-rated hotels in the country (including those still being built), but these will cater for teams, officials and sponsors.
Major hotel companies are scrambling to get new hotels open in time for the Nations Cup, but these properties are being built almost exclusively in the capital, Accra.
But as Accra strives to put on its best face, Sekondi-Takoradi and Tamale are facing up to the reality that they do not have sufficient accommodation for their guests.
Ideally, teams would prefer to be housed within striking distance of the stadiums but so grave is the accommodation crisis that two of the teams in Group B, thought to be Benin and Mali, will be forced to stay outside the city.
Thousands of fans are expected to pour into Sekondi-Takoradi for the tournament, especially from neighbouring Ivory Coast, but most are going to find themselves without a roof over their heads.
Although Ghana has pledged a memorable tournament, it is difficult to see how organisers can alleviate the acute accommodation crisis in Sekondi-Takoradi and Tamale.
The chief executive officer of Sekondi-Takoradi, Phillip Kwesi Nkrumah, told BBC Sport that a number of initiatives were being investigated to help ease the crisis, including setting up camp sites.
Nkrumah said: "We have arranged accommodation for the teams but the greatest challenge is to find somewhere to stay for the fans, especially the fans coming from the Ivory Coast."
A worried Nkrumah added that the accommodation crisis is so critical that local schools and hostels may have to be used provide emergency centres of shelter for visitors.
Source:
BBC
Hoteliers asked to expose illegal activities
Ho, Oct. 26, GNA - Mr Kofi Dzamesi, Volta Regional Minister on Thursday called on operators in the hospitality industry not to allow their facilities to be used for illegal activities during forthcoming African Cup soccer tournament to be hosted by Ghana. Mr Dzamesi who was addressing the third National Executive Council meeting of the Ghana Hoteliers Association (GHA) in Ho on Thursday, cautioned that many people would want to take advantage of the tournament to indulge in illegal activities and asked them to remain alert throughout the period.
He urged them to study their clients and report any suspicious characters to security agencies.
"Don't compromise the issue of guest and security, collaborate with security agencies to track down and flash out social misfits for a peaceful celebration", the Minister said. Mr Dzamesi advised hoteliers to feature local dishes prominently on their menu and make them appealing to their guests. Mr Prince Ahiadzro, Volta Regional Chairman of GHA, underscored the importance of eco-tourism and called on the government to pay appreciable attention to the sector for accelerated development. Mr. Martin Mireku, Acting Director of the Ghana Tourist Board, urged the operators to step up service delivery to a higher standard during the tournament so as to promote the country. Nana Agyei Twini, National President of the Ghana Hoteliers Association called on the government to provide the Association with adequate security during the tournament.
Source:
GNA
Food Shortages Follow Drought, Floods
After an initial push to provide food for people affected by drought and heavy flooding in northern Ghana, donor attention on the country is waning even though food shortages persist meaning the situation could get much worse, the Ghanaian government and aid agencies warn.
"Because of the preceding drought and the end of the planting season, there is an inevitable situation of food insecurity, which is likely to last until the next harvest," the International Federation of the Red Cross (IFRC) wrote in a 9 October appeal.
"It's something that is going to be an ongoing problem... The food supply has to be constant until the region is able to regenerate itself," said Benonita Bismarck, head of operations of the Ghana Red Cross Society.
The three northern regions of Ghana - Upper East, Upper West and Northern Region - are the poorest parts of the West African country and were hard hit by drought earlier this year. When the rains finally came in August and September, they were so strong that homes, crops and livestock were washed away.
The government estimates floods affected 332,600 people.
According to the IFRC, up to 50 percent of staple crops in flood-affected areas have been destroyed or are rotting in the fields. While communities would normally have some ability to cope, the earlier drought means they do not have enough food reserves.
Appeals for funding
According to the UN, preliminary assessments by the Ministry of Food and Agriculture suggest that drought and floods affected 70,500 hectares of farmland, resulting in an estimated loss of 144,000 tonnes of crops, including maize, sorghum, millet, peanuts, yam, cassava and rice.
The World Food Programme (WFP) has launched a three-month emergency operation to provide food to the 75,000 people it considers most vulnerable, but its funding to date is US$3.3 million short - more than half of the funds requested.
The WFP says it plans to assist people - including pregnant women and children under five - until the next harvest, but "most humanitarian agencies have distributed all the food in stock and will need new pledges to continue distribution," it said in a statement.
A UN flash appeal for US$12,410,000 for relief operations in Ghana had been funding to just 22 percent as of 25 October.
The IFRC also appealed for 2.5 million Swiss francs (US$2.1 million) to help 60,000 people in Ghana over the next six months. That appeal - which targets non-food items, shelter, health education, hygiene promotion and emergency management - has been completely funded.
Ability to cope
In the Upper West Region, flooding has been followed by yet another cycle of drought, according to the regional coordinator of the government's National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO).
...Most people are on one meal a day and have been for quite some time because of the drought...
"For the past three weeks, we have not had any rainfall," Timothy Dombo told IRIN. He said food has been distributed, but "that will not be enough for the people to live on until the next planting season [in mid-May or early June]. We will need some support."
Most residents of the northern regions of Ghana are subsistence farmers unable to diversify their income because of poverty. Prices of staples have doubled and not all commodities are available in markets, according to the UN.
"Most [people] are on one meal a day and have been for quite some time because of the drought," said Matthew Minns, project officer with the non-governmental organisation Concern Universal.
"Some of them are coping by selling off livestock or sending their offspring to the major towns in the south of Ghana to work to make money to send home," he said. "Others are doing small scale collection: twigs for firewood and berries."
Nana Akrasi-Sarpong, public relations manager at the Ministry of the Interior, repeated an earlier claim that there is an "imminent famine" in the area.
Malnutrition levels - already the highest in the country - are expected to rise. According to WFP, chronic malnutrition among children ranges from 34 to 48 percent in the Northern Region and acute malnutrition from 8 to 12 percent in the Upper West and Upper East Regions. Twenty percent of pregnant women in the affected regions are malnourished.
"They need dry-season farming. They need to be able to diversify their income sources. They need some way of raising money so they can buy food that they're not going to be able to farm," Minns said.
Distribution problems
The problem of food shortages has been exacerbated by complications in the delivery of food aid, many sources said.
Minns told IRIN district assemblies charged with food distribution "don't have enough money" to distribute to communities quickly and effectively.
Starting 17 October, a delegation from the Ministry of the Interior spent a week in the affected regions to assess reports that food was not getting to the people.
"In some parts of the Northern Region, the [relief items sent by the government] were in the warehouses," Akrasi-Sarpong said.
He said problems with distributing food from the regional to the community level - due to bad roads, accidents and vehicle breakdowns - are being resolved.
Source:
UN Integrated Regional Information Networks
Parents threaten to sue WAEC
Tema, Oct. 26, GNA - Parents of over 200 private candidates who were unable to write Physics paper III due to lack of communication on the time for the examination have threatened to sue West Africa Examination Council (WAEC) for breach of contract.
At a meeting with the affected candidates and officials of WAEC at Tema on Thursday, they decided to petition President John Agyekum Kufour, Ghana Education Service (GES) and sue WAEC if the candidates were not allowed re-write the paper.
Mr Gilbert Ashagbley, a parent told Ghana News Agency (GNA) after the meeting that officials of WAEC asked each of the candidates to submit reasons why they could not participate in the examination on October 18 to the Council.
It is the Council's policy for a candidate to submit reasons for his inability to participate in any scheduled examination for consideration.
Mr Ashagbley said the Council did not give information to the candidates concerning the change in time. On Thursday October 18, this year, candidates writing the November/December 2007 West Africa Senior Secondary School Certificate Examinations (WASSSCE) in Tema Municipality were not allowed to write Physics paper III because the examination started five hours before the scheduled time.
Source:
GNA
VRA, Ministry to address weed problem in Lower Volta Basin
Accra, Oct. 26, GNA - The Volta River Authority (VRA) in collaboration with the Ministry of Water Resources, Works and Housing are in the process of purchasing new dredgers and aquatic weed harvesters to tackle weeds, creeks among others in the Lower Volta Basin.
Mr. Kwame Ampofo Twumasi, Deputy Minister of Energy told Parliament on Friday in an answer to a question by Mr Joe Gidisu (NDC-Central Tongu) about what is being done by the Ministry to ensure that the VRA take responsibility for the degradation of the Lower Volta Basin as a result of the construction of both the Akosombo and the Kpong dams. He said VRA has also carried out extensive studies called the Lower Volta Environmental Impact Studies to map out strategies to address negative environmental impacts. Mr Ampofo Twumasi said already VRA has taken some measures to address environmental degradation issues for the areas, which are not along the main lake, including the Lower Volta Basin. These measures include public health extension services to screen and treat bilharzia, clean weeds at water contact points and check for vector snails while the VRA regularly dredges the estuary to maintain a balance between salty and pure water in order to control some public health problems.
The Minister also answered other questions concerning extension of electricity to some communities in Western, Upper East and Volta Regions.
Source:
GNA
Minister calls for attitude change
Accra, Oct. 26, GNA - Mrs. Oboshie Sai-Cofie, Minister of Information and National Orientation, has stressed the need for a dramatic change of attitude in the entire citizenry for accelerated development.
She said, as Government played a facilitating role in change of behaviour, each individual must also contribute his or her quota to the drive towards change of attitudes.
Mrs. Sai-Cofie was addressing students of Legon Centre for International Affairs (LECIA) on Thursday as part of a series of weekly lectures under the theme: "Citizens Input Towards Attaining Faster Socio-Economic Development".
She described citizens' participation in the country's socio-economic development not only as a constitutional issue, but also as a political right since the 1992 Constitution empowered the people to take the destiny of the nation into their own hands. The Minister said that Government believed the constitution must be the starting point for any discussions on citizens' participation in policy setting and socio-economic development, adding, "citizen participation is an integral part of Ghana's democratic process". She cautioned the people not to take the current democratic dispensation for granted because people fought for it. She argued that this must be sustained through efforts to understand the constitution and also by promoting the various rights and responsibilities that come with it.
Mrs Sai-Cofie said she believed the people would fully participate in socio-economic development of the country if existing mechanisms for ensuring quality of life in respect for all citizens were enforced. The Minister stressed that education and training had played a fundamental role in the country's economic, cultural, social and political development and explained that Government's focus on education was to enable the citizenry to participate meaningfully in policy decisions and implementation.
She pointed out that the Ministry of Information and National Orientation was aware of the key role education played in the implementation of coherent and forceful political system, social, cultural and moral reforms and through which it hoped to achieve positive results on the National Orientation Programme. Touching on gender parity, the Minister noted that women representation was increasing at all levels of Government, including District Councils, Parliament and the Cabinet and called for its inclusion in the school system where confidence and knowledge could be instilled in all children.
Mrs. Sai-Cofie observed that the media constituted the most important channel through which the people could voice out their feelings and noted that, "Ghanaians have enjoyed unprecedented freedom of information and expression over the past six years". She said giant strides had already been made to pass the Freedom of Information Bill into law, and added that other legislations were also being considered to strengthen the public communication sector to make the media even more accessible to the people.
Mrs Sai-Cofie explained that the five pillars of the National Orientation Programme, which addressed much wider concerns, covered every facet of life, and were meant to accelerate development. Mr Kobina Sekyi, a former diplomat, called on Ghanaians to take responsibility for their actions since that was the only way to create a disciplined society.
Source:
GNA
Public urged to support the work of Zoomlion Company
Cape Coast, Oct. 26, GNA - The Central Regional Minister Nana Ato Arthur, on Friday urged members of the public to show appreciation for the work of the staff of Zoomlion (Ghana), a private waste management Company and give them the needed support and respect to enhance sanitation in the cities and towns in which they operate. He said it was unfortunate that some people showed gross disrespect towards the Zoomlion staff when they were performing their official duties to the extent that they nicknamed them as "bola men and women". This he noted did not augur well for their work considering the great jobs they were doing in keeping the cities clean. Nana Arthur made the call at the launch of a "public education campaign on sanitation" at the Tantri Lorry Station in Cape Coast by the Company.
It was in collaboration with the Cape Coast Metropolitan Assembly, the Ghana Private Road Transport Union (GPRTU), Progress Transport Owners Association (PROTOA) and Cooperative Transport Union. A total of 200 litter bins and four mega phones were also presented to the various transport unions to be placed at the various lorry parks in the metropolis to stem the practice of people littering the station indiscriminately.
Nana Arthur commended the company for its efforts in keeping the city clean and pledged the support of the Regional Coordinating Council (RCC).
He urged the various transport unions to take good care of the bins and make maximum use of them. He also urged them to help in educating the public not to throw rubbish from moving vehicles. The Regional Minister warned that anyone who stole or intentionally damaged the bins would be dealt with and urged the various transport unions to closely work with the Zoomlion to ensure clean lorry parks in the metropolis.
Nana Arthur appealed to the people in the Central Region to show gratitude to the government for elevating four districts to municipal assemblies and the Cape Coast Municipal Assembly to a metropolis and urged them to reciprocate the gesture by keeping the environment clean. Ms Mercy Arhin, Cape Coast Metropolitan Chief Executive, underscored the important role the company was playing in keeping the city clean and called on the public to give the company the needed support to enable it do its work effectively.
She commended the company for the initiative and warned people to desist from carrying rubbish from their homes to dump into the bins provided at the stations, suggesting that drivers should provide litterbins in their vehicles to stop people from littering the roads and lorry stations.
Ms Arhin urged the various transport unions to sustain the relationship with Zoomlion and expressed the hope that the campaign would help improve the sanitation situation in the area. Mrs Rhoda Donkor, Central Regional Operations Executive of the company, said lorry parks were the first point of call for all travellers and that with the forthcoming CAN 2008 many tourists and visitors would be boarding vehicles at lorry stations and that it was therefore important to keep them clean. He called on the public and the various transport unions to give the company the needed support to enable it to achieve its aims and objectives.
Source:
GNA
Chop Chop@MInistries: GBC resumes live coverage
The Ghana Broadcasting Corporation (GBC), the nation’s public broadcaster has resumed live broadcast of the public hearings of the Public Accounts Committee of Parliament.
The GBC started live coverage of the hearings when the Committee began sitting but stopped, citing budgetary constraints as the reason.
The station subsequently presented a ¢990 million bill to Parliament for a 10 day coverage. But Parliament said it could not afford the huge cost.
There was public outcry against the decision. The Committee for Joint Action (CJA), also had a press conference at which it accused government of influencing the GBC’s decision to halt live coverage of the proceedings.
The Director-General of the GBC Mr. Ampem Darko and the Deputy Minister of Information Mr. Frank Agyekum had both defended the GBC’s decision saying there was no contingency funds available for live coverage of the proceedings.
However, in a quick about turn move, on Friday October 26, 2007, the GBC has resumed live coverage of the sitting.
According to Hon. E. T. Mensah, NDC Member of Parliament for Ningo-Prampram, who is a member of the PAC, when the Director-General appeared before the Committee Thursday, an agreement was reached for a resumption of the live broadcast.
Further live coverage is expected on Monday, October 29.
Source:
JOY ONLINE
Police blames highway robbery on some drivers
Bolgatanga, Oct 26, GNA - Upper East Regional Police Commander, Mr Ofosu Mensah-Gyeabour on Thursday blamed the spate of highway robberies on drivers conniving with gangsters to rob passengers. Speaking at this year's Road Safety Campaign at Bolgatanga, the regional Police chief urged drivers to desist from such practices, warning that connivers would be dealt with drastically. Mr Mensah-Gyeabour appealed to the public to volunteer information on robbers to the police.
The Bolgatanga Municipal District Chief Executive, Mr Isaac Nsoh Amoah, appealed to drivers to have enough rest before starting a journey.
He said some road accidents occurred due to driver fatigue. He also urged cyclists to always wear crash helmets before riding. On their part, driver representatives called on the Road Safety Committee to include transport owners in their education programmes, saying they tended to demand unrealistic daily sales, which most often led to driver anxiety on the road.
Source:
GNA
GT loses one billion cedis through cable thefts
Hohoe, Oct. 26, GNA - The Ghana Telecom Company Limited lost a total of GH=A2 100,000 (one billion cedis) from cable theft in the Region this year.
Mr Paul Evans Amuzu, Volta Regional Manager of the Company who disclosed this at Hohoe on Wednesday said the Company had instituted a reward scheme of GHC 1,000 (10 million cedis) for any information that would lead to the arrest of persons engaged in the act.
Mr Amuzu told the Ghana News Agency at Hohoe in an interview that the cable theft insurgence, which was prevalent in the Ho and Hohoe areas, was thwarting the Company's operational efforts and was depriving its customers of quality access to their product. He said feasibility studies had been completed for GT to expand its operations to all tourists' sites in the Region including the Wli Waterfalls, Afadzato and Tafi Monkey Sanctuary as a boost to the tourism industry.
On bill defaults, Mr Amuzu said customers in the Region owed a total of GH=A2 450,000 (4.5 billion cedis) and appealed to them to pay their bills to enable the company to expand its operations.
Source:
GNA
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Ban on rubber guns still in force - Police
Accra, Oct. 25, GNA - The Accra Regional Police Command on Thursday reminded traders and the public that laws banning the importation of rubber guns still existed and they should therefore ensure its compliance.
A release signed by Inspector Kwaku Dompreh of the Public Affairs Department said reports indicated that some traders still traded in the commodity, which some robbers used in robbing people of their valuables and cars.
"This is because some of these toy rubber guns have been retrieved from recovered vehicles," he added.
It said the Police Command would soon embark on an exercise to inspect all shops in the metropolis and anybody found with such items would be arrested and prosecuted. The statement also called on those who sold sharp objects such as forks, scissors, screwy drivers, cutlasses among others in traffic to stop since they could be arrested.
Source:
GNA
Rate of drug shipment to Ghana becoming worse
Accra, Oct. 24, GNA - Mr. Kwamena Bartels, Minister of the Interior on Wednesday bemoaned the rate at which massive quantities of drugs were being shipped into the country and said government would make the necessary amendments to PNDCL 236 to deal with the current trends. He said the situation was as a result of the increased efforts of Drug Enforcement Agencies in Europe and Latin America to rid their countries of the trade forcing drug cartels to seek alternative routes in Africa.
Mr. Bartels said the government was collaborating with the World Customs Organisation (WCO) and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) to assist to implement the global container control project at the main harbour in Ghana for profiling.
The Minister was speaking at the launch of the Hibiscus anti-drug trafficking campaign in Accra which is being supported by the United Kingdom in collaboration with the Government of Ghana.
"I wish to assure you that we have the political will to implement the provisions of the International Conventions we are signatory to," he said and commended their partners for their support in training and provision of equipment.
Mr Bartels appealed to government's partners to support the Narcotics Control Board with the establishment of Treatment Centres for the treatment and rehabilitation of addicts as a way of rescuing them from the destruction of drugs.
He noted that currently the Psychiatric Hospitals provided treatment for addicts but the stigma attached to them prevented many from seeking early help.
He urged all stakeholders to increase the awareness through education and campaigns since it was only though that, that the country could make progress in the fight against drug abuse and trafficking. Dr. Kim Howells, UK Foreign Office Minister said the United Nations spent about 300 billion dollars a year on drug related cases and that the UK sought to work with countries affected by the drug trade. He said the rate at which West Africa was being used as trans-shipment point was worrying and urged Ghana to combine her efforts with the European Union, the UK, UN, Interpol and other agencies to curb the menace.
Source:
GNA
Court rules on adverts ban of strong liquor on December 5
Accra, Oct. 24, GNA - An Accra Fast Track Court will on December 5 decide on whether to grant or refuse an application for an order of perpetual injunction brought before it by the Ghana Independent Broadcasters Association (GIBA) to restrain the Food and Drugs Board (FDB) from interfering with the airing of advertisements of strong liquors by members of the Association. The court will also give its ruling on whether or not an order to suspend those advertisements given by the Board was unconstitutional and therefore null and void.
The court, presided over by Mrs. Justice Irismay Brown arrived at these decisions on Wednesday after it had listened to oral submissions from counsel on both sides of the matter.
Mr. Shadrack Arhin, Counsel for GIBA, submitted that nowhere in the law was there any authority mandating the Board to impose any sort of suspension of advertisements in respect of strong liquors.
Counsel explained that the prohibition on advertisements as provided in Section 15 of the Food and Drugs Act (PNDC 305B) and its subsequent amendment (Act 523), was in respect of "a drug, cosmetic, device or chemical substance to the general public as a treatment, preventive or cure for a disease, disorder or an abnormal physical state...."
Mr Arhin submitted that the alcoholic beverages that were advertised by GIBA were neither drugs, cosmetics, device or chemical substances, nor did they claim to cure certain diseases. Counsel argued that nowhere in the law was the Board granted the powers to act the way it did by ordering GIBA to refrain from advertisements on strong liquor. Mr Arhin stated that by acting the way it did, the FDB acted ultra vires or unconstitutionally, when it imposed the "temporary ban" on the advertisement of alcoholic beverages.
In her submissions, an Assistant State Attorney, argued that the FDB was mandated by the Law to act the way it did, as the government regulatory agency responsible for ensuring that all foods, drugs, medical devices, cosmetics and household chemicals, were safe, efficacious and of good quality. After hearing submissions from counsel on both sides, Mrs Justice Brown adjourned proceedings to Wednesday, December 5, during which she will rule on the relief being sought by GIBA.
Source:
GNA
Chief Justice steps in Kasapa Case
Citi FM has learnt that the lawyers of Kludjeson International Limited have applied to the Chief Justice to transfer the new action they have brought against Hutchison and Certwell from the High Court to the Fast Track High Court.
Reports also indicate that the Chief Justice has issued instructions transferring the matter to be placed before another judge in Fast Track Court 4.
Checks at the court premises revealed that the matter was not listed before the new judge for today.
The lawyers for Hutchison and Certwell were around the courts, but the lawyers for the Plaintiff who had applied for the transfer were nowhere to be found.
The matter, however, could not be heard, as it turned out from our inquiries because although the Chief Justice has indeed made an order transferring the case, the transfer was yet to be brought to the attention of the court.
Further investigations also revealed that Hutchison and Certwell have filed papers challenging the Plaintiff’s application for injunction to restrain them from selling their shares in Kasapa Telecom, and that in those papers, Hutchison challenges the legal and factual basis of the Plaintiff’s claim that they want to sell shares in Kasapa.
The Defendants have filed another application to dismiss the entire case.
It appears now that in this new action filed by Kludjeson, all parties and interested persons will have to wait for the formal transfer instructions to be issued and then the battle will resume in another courtroom and a different judge.
Source:
Citi FM
Cure rate of Tuberculosis improves in Ghana
Accra, Oct. 25, GNA - The activities of Treatment Supporters of Tuberculosis (TB) has ensured a reduction of defaulters to less than one per cent with the cure rate improving to 84 per cent in the country. Continuous supply of TB drugs has also contributed tremendously to the control of the disease but with a few recalcitrant patients refusing to take their drugs frequently creating resistant strains. Dr George Mensah, Accra Metropolitan Director of Health said this at the opening of a two-day Training Workshop for Treatment Supporters (volunteers) of the TB Voice Network in Accra initiated by Afro Global Alliance.
He explained that whilst in 2003, the cure rate of TB was 54 per cent, the figure in 2007 had improved to 84 per cent, very close to the World Health organisation's rate of 85 per cent.
Dr Mensah lauded the tremendous assistance of the Treatment Supporters to the creation of awareness and prevention of the disease in the various communities and therefore urged the support of both the public and private sectors to ensure the total eradication of the TB disease in the country.
He said the Volunteers have in diverse ways created an enabling environment that had reduced the stigma associated with the disease with many people ready to take their drugs to ensure TB curtailment.
Dr Audrey Forson, Head of Chest Department, Korle Bu Teaching Hospital said there had been positive improvement in measures to control the TB disease with the treatment period shortened from eight to six months whilst the drugs for treatment has been combined to a fixed drug combination to make it easier for users to undergo its frequent usage. She stressed the need for patients who started treatment to be critically observed and assisted to ensure their compliance with the directives to prevent TB bacteria multiplying and attacking different parts of the body.
Dr Forson said the assistance of the volunteers was critical in the fight against the effects of the disease since there is a critical shortage of health personnel in the health sector to help monitor patients' treatment and drug usage.
Dr Forson said there is the need for a concerted effort to embark on a cough hygiene to check coughing, sneezing and spitting to stop TB from infecting and spreading across the spectrum of the society. Chief Austin Obiefuna, Director of Afro Global Alliance on behalf of the Programme Manager of the National Tuberculosis Control Programme, Dr Frank Bonsu said TB is a devastating disease that requires the collective support and involvement of all to help its eradication. He regretted that the issue of the TB disease was growing at an alarming rate with the advent of HIV, especially among the less privileged of the society who due to ignorance, poverty and stigmatisation refused to seek early treatment.
"We don't want to live with TB, we want it to go and so all should get involved in its eradication. TB is not a death sentence". He added. He said TB unlike HIV has a cure and so those with TB should go for early treatment and seek counselling, which is free at all health facilities.
Topics to be discussed include Directly Observed Therapy (DOT) implementation, Overview of TB in Ghana, the role of Treatment Supporters in the fight against TB, Community sensitisation, case detection (referral), defaulter tracing and treatment support.
Source:
GNA
Workshop for Human Trafficking Management Board opens
Ho, Oct. 25, GNA - A workshop on human trafficking is taking place in Ho with a call for a coordinated and vigorous efforts by all countries to help address the global menace.
Mr Daniel Dugan, Deputy Minister of MOWAC, who addressed the workshop, said human trafficking had become a crime that was pervasive and was growing, especially in West Africa.
He added that like many parts of the world, the sub-region had witnessed a dramatic expansion in this area over the last 30 years. "The involvement of organized crime has driven this growth and increased the number of regions that suffer its deprivations," he added. The workshop, organized for Human Trafficking Management Board of the Ministry of Women and Children's Affairs (MOWAC) on the Draft National Plan of Action, seeks to finalise actions on the draft for implementation.
Mr Dugan said the movement of trafficked children through and from the sub-region had become complex with the worst affected being women, children, the poorest and least educated.
"This offence is a crime so serious, so pervasive and so dynamic that only coordinated and vigorous efforts of all states will be able to address it successfully," he said.
Mr Dugan said in 2001, ECOWAS states adopted an Initiation Plan of Action to Combat Trafficking in Persons and Ghana was a party. "In this regard, a National Task Force was set up with His Excellency The Vice President as its chairman. The initial plan afforded us the opportunity to address some of the issues in trafficking." He said a feature of the plan of action was the development of national legislation and policies to address trafficking issues such as protection, support, rehabilitation and re-integration of victims. Mr Dugan said the passage of the human trafficking law in 2005 had provided protection to both children and adults against trafficking. The law covers criminalization of the act, complaints and arrest, rescue, rehabilitation and re-integration, establishment of Human Trafficking Fund and Human Traffic Management Board among other things to see to the overall well-being of victims.
He said a comprehensive programme for the dissemination of the Human Trafficking Law 2005 was ongoing among "sending and receiving" communities in the country. Mr Dugan noted that capacity building workshops to inform, consult and involve stakeholders on the implementation process had also been undertaken to empower them to better do the work. He lauded the partnership and support by the UN system such as United Nations Children's Fund for the training. Dr Raymond Atuguba, lecturer at the Faculty of Law, University of Ghana, who spoke on the International Legal Framework, said human trafficking was both a national and international problem with Africa and Asia top on the list.
He observed that there were clearly established routes in Benin, C=F4te d'Ivoire, Gabon, Niger that had been identified and West African countries were trying to address the problem within the framework of ECOWAS.
Dr Atuguba said the Palermo Protocol enjoined all state parties to provide protection to victims, protect privacy, assist in administration and legal processes and accept and facilitate repatriation. The protocol says state parties must ensure that law enforcement agencies exchanged information and strengthened border control mechanisms. Mrs. Marilyn Amponsah-Annan, Director, International Desk for Children of MOWAC, who gave an overview of the situation in Ghana noted that poverty and ignorance were the main factors that allowed parents to give out their children. She noted that strict adherence to some socio-cultural practices also promoted human rights, which could be internal or external and called for enhanced collaboration among NGOs, Ministries, Departments and Agencies and civil society organisaions in networking and mobilizing resources for better programming.
Source:
GNA
Five remanded for possessing narcotic drugs
Ho, Oct. 24, GNA- A Ho Magistrate court presided over by Mr P.D.W. Amedior, today remanded five persons including a woman to re-appear on November 8, this year for possessing narcotic drugs (Indian Hemp). They are Anthony Gaglo, 34, Bismark Ngonu, 25, Moses Azumah, 40, William Mensah, 14, and Yayra Bediako, 20.
Police Inspector Joy Afagbedzi, in charge of Police Public Affairs in the Volta Region who briefed the GNA, said personnel of the Custom Excise and Preventive Service (CEPS) at Asikuma checkpoint in the Eastern Region arrested the suspects on October 14, this year during a routine check on vehicles.
He said the suspects who were travelling from Hohoe to Accra, parcelled the substances suspected to be Indian hemp to look like tubers of yam.
Inspector Afagbedzi said the suspects in their caution statement to the Police admitted ownership of the substance but failed to disclose the source of supply. He said on October 10 this year, CEPS personnel at the same barrier arrested Anita Adzah, 27, and Joana Adzah, 36, with two fertilizer bags containing dried leaves suspected to be Indian hemp. He said the two who are sisters and traders were travelling from Kpeve to Accra with the leaves. Inspector Afagbedzi said they were also remanded by the same court to reappear on November 8 this year.
Source:
GNA
Three arrested for stealing GT cables
Ho, Oct. 24, GNA - Police in Ho have arrested three people suspected of stealing Ghana Telecom cables worth 24 million cedis at Akoefe Avenui near Ho. The suspects are Kudzo Tepe, 22, Raymond Amesu, 22, and Afenyo Drah, 19, all from Akoefe Avenui.
Police Inspector Joy Afagbedzi in charge of Public Affairs in the Volta Region told the Ghana News Agency that on October 12, Togbe Aklamanu Kodzo Dei IV, Chief of Akoefe Avenui, received information that two young men were spotted carrying cables at the outskirt of the town. He said an informant trailed the suspects to their houses where they hid the cables. Inspector Afagbedzi said the chief summoned the two suspects who confessed stealing the cables and led the chief and a search party to retrieve the cables.
He said the two were handed over to the police and investigations led to the arrest of the third suspect, Afenyo Drah, alleged to have climbed the poles to cut the cables.
Source:
GNA
Falling tree kills couple
Gyankobaa (Ash), Oct. 25, GNA - Gyankobaa, a farming community near Ofoase in the Asante-Akim District was on Monday thrown into a state of mourning when a falling tree killed a couple following a strong windstorm. The deceased Obeng Atta, 40 years old and Ama Ketewa, aged 28 were both returning from farm at around 1530 hours when the tragedy occurred. They had no children.
According to Superintendent Francis Oppong, the District Police Commander who briefed the Ghana News Agency, the storm which preceded a heavy downpour completely uprooted the tree and trapped the couple, killing them instantly.
He said a witness who was also returning from farm arrived soon at the scene and reported to the police who in turn conveyed them to the Juaso Hospital Morgue.
Ama Ketewa has been buried after autopsy, whilst the body of the husband has been transferred to the Agogo Presbyterian Hospital Morgue, waiting for his family to conclude arrangements for his burial.
Source:
GNA
Road Safety Commission launches campaign against driver fatigue
Takoradi, Oct. 25, GNA - Mr Thomas Bismark Boakye, Western Regional Coordinator of the National Road Safety Commission (NRSC), on Wednesday launched a campaign against driver fatigue at Takoradi.
In an address, he said tiredness and exhaustion are symptoms of fatigue that contribute to road traffic accidents in the country. Mr Boakye said some drivers underestimate the danger of tiredness while driving and overestimate their own ability of handling the situation.
He said a study carried out by the NRSC in 2006 revealed that tiredness and exhaustion while driving could lead to accidents. Mr Boakye said the main objective of the campaign is to create awareness of fatigue and the risks associated with it while driving. He said the campaign was targeted at commercial drivers, especially long distance bus and heavy-duty vehicle operators.
Mr Victor Adusah-Poku, Western Regional Commander of the Motor Traffic and Transport Unit (MTTU) said the Road Traffic regulations prohibit driving continuously for more than four hours.
He said drivers should get at least eight consecutive hours of rest in 24 hours, calculated from the commencement of the period of driving. Mr Adusah-Poku said causes of fatigue include lack of sleep, many hours on the road, driving at night with passengers asleep, drinking alcohol when feeling tired, eating heavy food before driving, bad road conditions and excessive heat from the engine. He advised drivers to get enough sleep at night, adding that they should rest for at least 30 minutes in between driving for every two hours.
Mr Adusah-Poku asked drivers to ensure that the tyres of their vehicles are in good condition.
Source:
GNA
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EU Blue Card to target African skilled
24/10/2007 - BBC.com
The European Commission has unveiled a Blue Card for skilled immigrants, based on the US Green Card.
The plan would allow suitably qualified people and their families to live and work within the European Union.
The EU says it needs 20m skilled workers over the next two decades, and is very short of expertise in engineering and computer technology.
The scheme, which is more restrictive than the US Green Card, would need the approval of all 27 EU member states.
Correspondents say another aim of the plan is to reverse a current trend under which skilled migrants, mostly from Asia and Africa, emigrate to the US to find work.
'Centralisation too far'
The BBC's Mark Mardell in Brussels says the proposal is controversial and some countries are sure to oppose it.
Critics also fear that Europe's attempt to take the best and leave the rest will only encourage a brain-drain from poorer nations.
The UK, Ireland and Denmark could opt out, but the other EU members will have to take part.
UK ministers say they are studying it, but our correspondent says they are not keen on the card, preferring to develop an Australian-style points system.
Unveiled at the European Parliament in Strasbourg on Tuesday afternoon, the Blue Card would enable holders and their families to live, work and travel within the EU.
To be eligible, new immigrants would need to show a recognised diploma and have at least three years professional experience.
They would also need the offer of a job, for a minimum one-year contract, which could not be filled by an EU citizen.
European Justice Commissioner Franco Frattini said: "This is not an 'open doors' policy."
"If a given member-state needs engineers or doctors, it has to decide how many, and then I will provide a state with a common procedure," he added.
But some politicians in the Netherlands and Germany are hostile and the Austrian government has condemned the plan as "a centralisation too far".
Across Europe there is a real tension between politicians, who know voters are worried about immigration, and businesses demanding graduates from India and China, our correspondent says.
Source: © Reborn Radio Africa ( Germany )
Ghana: Military Coup in Ghana
24/10/2007 - Accra Mail (Accra)
NDC "founder", ex-Flt. Lt. Jerry John Rawlings must definitely have nursed the wish to win the Mo Ibrahim Prize, so must have many retired African heads of state The Mo Ibrahim Prize is meant to reward retired African heads of state for excellence in leadership.
Mr. Rawlings' supporters have been holding him up as African's most exemplary leader in the last decade, but he was not even short listed for the prize.
Rawlings himself has been parading as such, throwing up tantrums and vilifying President Kufuor and his administration on local and international platforms. His tantrums do not seem to have impressed the international community for him to even be considered as a leader worth short listing.
The Mo Ibrahim prize, announced yesterday by a Ghanaian and former UN Secretary General, Mr. Kofi Annan, is worth $5m (£2.5m) over 10 years, and then $200,000 a year went to former Mozambique President Joaquim Chissano.
Mr. Chissano, who is credited with bringing peace to Mozambique, had been seen as a frontrunner for the prize.
Mr. Chissano brought Mozambique from a murderous civil war to peace and progress during his 19 years in office.
Mr. Annan chaired the panel that selected the first winner of the prize.
The judging panel included the former Irish President, Mary Robinson, Finnish President Martti Ahtisaari and head of the Organization of African Unity, Salim Ahmed Sali.
The panel assessed the relative merits of 13 African former heads of state, all of whom left power in the past three years.
Among these at least six took power by staging coups, which presumably ruled them out as contenders.
Announcing the laureate in front of an audience of London's African diplomatic community, civil society representatives and the media, Kofi Annan, the Chair of the Prize Committee, said "President Chissano's achievements in bringing peace, reconciliation, stable democracy and economic progress to his country greatly impressed the committee. So, too, did his decision to step down without seeking the third term the constitution allowed."
Praising his government's economic progress, poverty reduction programmes, infrastructure development and work to tackle HIV/AIDS, Kofi Annan stated that "it is his role in leading Mozambique from conflict to peace and democracy that President Chissano has made his most outstanding contribution."
He also commended President Chissano for his "major contribution outside his country's borders" which included providing "a powerful voice for Africa on the international stage".
Kofi Annan stated that "the Prize celebrates more than just good governance. It celebrates leadership. The ability to formulate a vision and to convince others of that vision; and the skill of giving courage to society to accept difficult changes in order to make possible a longer term aspiration for a better, fairer future."
Mobile phone millionaire Mo Ibrahim is funding the project in the hope it will help improve governments' performance.
The Sudanese businessman also hopes it will increase Africa's self dependence and bring a day when the continent's people no longer need to live on aid.
President Chisssano took office after winning his country's first multi-party elections in 1994. The historic elections were held just two years after he had helped the country end, through negotiations, the 16-year civil war which had devastated Mozambique, left thousands dead and forced many to flee their homes. He led a country whose infrastructure and economy were ruined, its society deeply divided and which suffered from sever natural disasters.
Source: © Reborn Radio Africa ( Germany )
CPP congress is a turning point for the party - Akosa
Sekondi, Oct. 24, GNA - Professor Agyemang Badu Akosa, a Convention Peoples Party (CPP) flag bearer aspirant on Tuesday said the party's congress next month was a turning point in its history not only to determine its fate in the 2008 elections but its future and image. He said the congress was crucial and urged the delegates to elect the person with the right leadership qualities acceptable by the electorate.
Professor Akosa made the observation at a meeting with delegates of the party from Essikado-Kettan, Shama, Sekondi, Takoradi and Effia-Kwesimintsim constituencies and students from Takoradi Polytechnic at Sekondi.
He was accompanied by Alhaji Iddi Imoro Egala who is contesting the party's National Chairmanship, Madam Imoro Ayarna and Mr Kwame Gyantoa both members of Professor Akosa's campaign team. Professor Akosa noted that CPP was the only hope for Ghanaians yearning for a new leadership that had practical answers to the country's myriad problems.
He said when elected as President of Ghana, education and creation of opportunities for youth employment and housing schemes for the people would be among his priorities.
Professor Akosa advised the delegates not to be swayed by money and other considerations but elect the person who had the "pedigree, commitment and ready to die for the country and CPP". Alhaji Egala said the party's congress was a "make or break affair" therefore delegates must elect people who were prepared to sacrifice to build a strong party as leaders.
He said when elected as the National Chairman, he would embark on a massive membership drive to make the party more attractive, strong and dynamic.
Source:
GNA
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Westerhof Predicts Ghana/Nigeria Final
23/10/2007 - Daily Champion (Lagos)
Former Super Eagles coach, Clemens Westerhof has predicted that the Super Eagles and their arch rivals the Black Stars of Ghana will play the final of the 2008 Nations Cup.
The Dutch-born Westerhof who was reviewing last Friday's draws for the Nations Cup said that Nigeria would emerge from group B regarded as the zone of death of the tournament and reach the final provided the Eagles coach are able to work on the weak areas of the team.
Nigeria is grouped alongside Cote'd Ivoire, Mali and Benin Republic.
"There is nothing to be afraid of from this group. Nigeria has a good team and the players are all good and very experienced. That will make the difference, and they will do well in that group," said the coach
Westerhof advised Eagles head coach, Berti Vogts to strengthen his midfield by getting at least two ball winners to complement Mikel John Obi.
"Once Vogts takes care of lose points in the team, I can tell you that Nigeria will meet Ghana in the final on February 10th.
"It will be a good match to watch, but I know Nigeria will be the champions and defeat Ghana in the final," the outspoken Westerhof concluded.
Source: © Reborn Radio Africa ( Germany )
Junior High School pupil defiled by seven colleagues
Accra, Oct. 23, GNA - A 15-year Junior High School pupil has been defiled by seven of her colleagues at Maammobi in Accra leaving her bleeding profusely and crying.
The seven, who embarked on the vicious adventure tagged "Sex Gala", have been arrested by the police and are being kept at the Osu Juvenile Remand Home.
A source at the Domestic Violence and Victims Support Unit (DOVVSU) told the Ghana News Agency on Tuesday that on October 13 the victim went out during a rain to ease herself at a public toilet.
On her way she met the main suspect, her senior in the same school, who forcibly collected the umbrella she was carrying from her and took it home.
On her way back, the victim decided to pass his house to collect the umbrella. And that was where her ordeal started.
When the victim got to the house of the suspect, she was asked to enter the room, but immediately she stepped in, the suspect raised the volume of his tape recorder, pushed her onto his bed and forcibly had sex with her.
Although she shouted for help nobody heard her because of the high volume of the tape recorder.
After the main suspect had had his turn he invited six of his friends who gagged her, held her hands and legs tightly and each had sex with her one after the other.
According to the source, one the friends of the main suspect who was conversing with him before he left with an excuse of attending to a visitor decided to check on him after waiting for a while.
When the witness got to the room he saw the dress of the victim in the hall and when he tried to enter the bedroom, the rest of boys prevented him. He, however, forced his way into the room and saw the victim soaked in blood.
All the suspects fled and the witness led the victim to her house and informed her family of the incident. They in turn reported the matter to the Kotobabi Police who issued a medical form to her to see the doctor.
The suspects were apprehended and sent to the juvenile remand home.
Source:
GNA
Law on wilfully causing financial loss to the state under attack
Accra, Oct 23, GNA - The General Secretaries of four political parties with representation in Parliament, on Tuesday kicked against the law on 'wilfully causing financial loss to the state', saying it was inimical to national reconciliation.
In a joint press statement read on their behalf by Nana Ohene Ntow, General Secretary of the ruling NPP, the group calling themselves the Platform of General Secretaries and Policy Analysts (The Platform) called for the law to be scrapped from the statute book.
"Having been briefed on the history and antecedents as a well as the rationale for the law on 'wilfully causing financial loss to the state' we are convinced that the continued existence of that law on the statute books is inimical to any genuine effort to promote national reconciliation and goodwill among political parties and players in the country," he said.
The call came after weeks of deliberation on the causes and effects of polarisation in the country, under the auspices of the Ghana Political Parties Programme (GPPP), facilitated and sponsored by the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) and the Netherlands Institute for Multiparty Democracy (NIMD).
Nana Ntow noted that beyond the call for that law to be scrapped, the general secretaries of the four parties, comprising, NPP, NDC, CPP and PNC were themselves committed to undertaking the necessary education required to create an appropriate environment that would enable the law to be repealed.
He said the platform agreed that the country was polarised along partisan, ethnic, chieftaincy, ideological, generational, gender and economic lines, adding that on the part of political parties, the general secretaries would ensure that all official party policies, practices, strategies, tactics and speeches were devoid of ethnic sentiments.
They called for the strengthening of the National Peace Council and the establishment of a multi-party National Youth Conference among other things to ensure consistency in the effort to achieve national reconciliation.
Nana Ntow noted that political transition from one government to the other also engaged the attention of the platform considerably, saying that the main concerns had to do with the brevity of the transitional period, the treatment of officials of the outgoing government and investigations into the conduct of previous government. Other transitional issues included end-of-service benefits for the departing political office holders and privileges of former presidents. He said the platform agreed that there was need to allow a reasonably longer period between the declaration of a winner in a presidential election and the actual swearing in of the new president to enable sufficient time for efficient handing over in the event of change from one party to another.
Nana Ntow recalled that it took only four working days for former President Jerry John Rawlings to prepare and hand over power to President John Agyekum Kufuor, saying that, that was not acceptable given that it took at least six months to set up a government.
He noted that some of the issues discussed would require constitutional and legal amendments and therefore called for a National/International Conference on Amendments in 2013 on the 20th anniversary of the constitution to consider proposed amendments to the constitution.
Mr. Johnson Asiedu Nketiah told the Ghana News Agency that beyond the recommendations made in the joint statement the various political parties would discuss the issues raised at their party levels and come up with suggestions to inform a memorandum that would be issued jointly to advice government on which form the process should take.
Those who endorsed the statement included Professor Nii Noi Dowuona, General Secretary of the CPP, Mr. Gabriel Pwamang, for PNC, Mrs. Jean Mensa, IEA and Mr. Jasper Veen from NIMD.
Source:
GNA
Swedruman council calls for termination of roads contract
Agona Swedru, Oct 23, GNA - The Swedruman Council of Chiefs has appealed to the government to terminate the contract for roads rehabilitation in the town because of the contractor's poor performance. Briefing journalists after the council had held a meeting, Nana Ogyebea Badu Ehuren, Saanahene of Agona Swedru and a spokesman for the council, said the council was not happy about the delay and the shoddy work contractor was doing.
He said the project, estimated at 5.2 billion cedis, involved tarring of the Mangoase/Wani, Post Office/Mangoase, PROTOA Station/Mahodwe roads started last year but "has not reached any encouraging stage." Nana Ehuren said the chiefs had complained to Mr Samuel Kweku Obodai, MP for the area, early this year. He said Mr Obodai, also Deputy Central Regional Minister, told them the contractor was financially handicapped and urged them to exercise restraint.
The Saanahene said the chiefs and people of Swedru ''will not wait for election to come before the contractor is forced to complete the project".
He said all Swedru roads had developed potholes, making it difficult for motorists, especially taxis, to commute from one place to another.
Source:
GNA
Idris gives DCEs three days ultimatum
Tamale, Oct. 23, GNA - Alhaji Mustapha Ali Idris, Northern Regional Minister has given District Chief Executives (DCEs) in the Region three days ultimatum to distribute relief items to affected flood victims. He warned that the Northern Regional Coordinating Council (NRCC) would deal with any DCE who would keep relief items in the assembly's stores.
"The items are not for safekeeping but for distribution and should be done within three days on arrival in the district," he added. Alhaji Idris gave the ultimatum in an interview with Ghana News Agency on reports that some relief items had been locked up in some assemblies' stores in the Region.
Some of the affected districts are, Saboba/Chereponi, East and West Gonja.
He pledged to submit a report on their failure to distribute the items within three days to President John Agyekum Kufuor for appropriate action to be taken.
Alhaji Idris noted that the floods had brought untold hardships to the victims who needed the support of everyone to resettle them. "It is unpatriotic for people to receive relief items on behalf of the affected victims and not distributing them".
He urged the National Secretariat of National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO) to be proactive and periodically monitor activities of the assemblies for equitable distribution of relief items. Alhaji Idris appealed to the public to monitor and report to the NRCC of any assembly keeping relief items.
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GNA
Pregnant woman rescued from ritual murder
A 22-year-old pregnant Ghanaian woman, Abena Dansowaa, who was allegedly sold by her boyfriend, Kwabena Boateng, to a Nigerian for ritual purposes, has been rescued by the Lagos State Police.
Confirming this to the Daily Graphic in a telephone interview at Akyem Oda, the Lagos State Commander of the Motor Traffic and Transport Unit (MTTU), Superintendent Alice Awudu, said upon a tip-off, the police stormed the residence of the suspect, John Bull, alias J.B. where some people were performing rituals on Abena after which she was to be murdered.
Throwing more light on the issue in a telephone conversation, Abena said about one-and-a-half months ago, her boyfriend went with her to Lagos with the intention of transacting business with his partners in Nigeria.
She said she did not know that she had been sold to a Lagos businessman when Boateng left her with J.B., after collecting large sums of money in Euro and dollar denominations and absconded, leaving her to her fate.
Abena, who claimed to be a native of Obo-Kwahu, said before leaving for Lagos, she had stayed with Boateng at Adenta in Accra for some time, during which she became pregnant.
She said her Lagos host gave her the assurance that her boyfriend had left for Ghana and would return to Nigeria soon to take her back home.
She thanked God and the Lagos police for rescuing her from imminent death.
Abena gave her father's name as Mr. Kwaku Kissi who resides with her mother, Maame Abena Serwaa, at Kwahu-Praso. Abena, who is seven months pregnant, stated that she was the first born of the five children her parents had.
She said her boyfriend hailed from Boankra in Ashanti and his father was from Asante Juaben.
When the Daily Graphic contacted the victim's father, Mr Kissi, at Kwahu Praso on phone, he said his daughter had been missing for the past two months and all efforts to trace her had proved futile until Supt. Awudu contacted him on phone last Saturday to tell him that she had been found in Lagos.
Mr Kissi said he did not know his daughter's boyfriend until about three months ago when Abena introduced him to her parents at Kwahu Praso, after which Boateng promised to come back to perform the customary marriage rites later on.
Supt. Awudu, who had known Chief Supt. Ben Atadana, the Oda Divisional Police Commander since the United Nations Mission in East Timor in 2000, contacted him also on telephone to inform him about the plight of the young lady.
When the Daily Graphic contacted Chief Supt. Atadana at Oda, he confirmed the telephone conversation with Supt Awudu, who had assured him that she would pass the information through the INTERPOL process in Nigeria for the young woman to be repatriated to Ghana.
At the moment Abena is in the custody of Supt Awudu, who is taking care of her in Lagos.
Meanwhile, the suspect is helping the Lagos State Police in their investigations while Boateng's whereabouts is unknown.
Source:
Daily Graphic
Two Afghans deported for undesirable conduct
Two Afghans were on Monday arrested at Osu in a joint undercover operation between the Ghana Police Service and the United States of America (USA) Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).
The suspects, who arrived in the country on the same day as tourists, are alleged to be in the country to collect money to import 100 kilogrammes of heroin, worth $1.7 million, from Afghanistan into Ghana.
The arrest of the suspects, Nasrullah Safiullah, alias Yama, and Mohammed Ashraf Mohammed-Omar, followed surveillance mounted on their activities, as well as their conversation recorded over a period of time.
The operation, which involved other US security and intelligence agencies, halted the transaction between the Afghans and their accomplices in their attempt to import 100 kilogrammes of heroin into Ghana.
Supported by the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Mr P.K. Acheampong, the Interior Minister, Mr Kwamena Bartels, announced at a news conference shortly after the arrest of the suspects that they would be deported to the US for similar drug charges.
According to Mr Bartels, the suspects had arranged for the heroin to be re-exported into the US.
"If this first consignment had been successful, more and other illicit drugs would have been brought into the country by the gang and sent out to the United States," he added.
Mr. Bartels said the government considered the suspects as undesirable aliens, hence their immediate deportation to the US.
That, he said, "is in furtherance of an existing treaty between the United States and Ghana".
Source:
Daily Graphic
Civil servants threaten demo over salary deductions
Accra, Oct. 23, GNA - The rank and file of the Civil Servants Association (CSA) are gearing up for a nationwide demonstration to protest against deductions from their salaries at the Controller and Accountant General's Department (CAGD) since April 2007, Mr Smart Chigabatia, Executive Secretary of the CSA, told the GNA on Tuesday. "Affected members of the CSA have already grouped themselves into the Association of Victims of Unauthorised Deductions (AVUD) and are organising the rank and file to stage their protest if their October 2007 salary slips still reflected the unauthorised deductions," he said. The "deductions mess", as they call it, included unauthorised and inexplicable salary deductions, over deductions, refusal of the CAGD to pay authorised deductions meant for the welfare schemes for CSA members and non-payment of civil servants dues deducted from source to the CSA accountant.
A typical Government of Ghana Payslip belonging to one civil servant indicated that out of a monthly salary of 800,000 cedis, inexplicable deductions of at least 63,000 cedis had been made and captured as "Tax on Arrears" or "Tax on Arrears Recovery" without any proper explanation from the CAGD.
Additionally, some workers complained of continuous over-deduction of instalments of loans they had finished paying long ago.
Meanwhile some payslips shown to the GNA did not reflect the authorised deductions such as CSA Welfare Fund Contributions, indicating that the CAGD was not making those deductions, which were meant to fund the CSA supplementary Health Insurance Scheme and hire purchase scheme. Ghana News Agency investigations revealed that nurses, who were not members of the CSA, rather had CSA dues of 100,000 cedis and Ghana Medical Association (GMA) pension fund of over 40,000 cedis deducted from their monthly salaries between June and December 2006.
Investigations also revealed that members of the Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT) were also agitating against deductions of over 60,000 cedis from their monthly salaries as loan repayment.
Mr Chigabatia said since August 2007, the CAGD had deducted CSA dues from source but had refused to deposit the money into the CSA account to help run the association effectively.
"Obviously the Controller and Accountant-General is deliberately frustrating workers because several meetings with him over this issue have led to failed promises on his part," he said.
"We have tried to avoid unrest but it seems they are taking our commitment to dialogue for granted. Now they have to prepare for the inevitable. We cannot hold our members any more," he added.
Mr Chigabatia noted that since the "deduction mess" was discovered in April 2007, the CSA had gone to every extent to use dialogue to seek redress but the CAGD had failed on its several promises to resolve the anomaly.
According to him the CAGD had till date not come up with any tangible explanation as to why they kept making unauthorised deductions but failed to make those they have been authorised to, except to say that the anomaly could have resulted from the change of their computer data system from IPDD1 to IPPD2.
He said the frustration being caused by the deduction was beyond measure given that for the whole of 2007 there had not been any salary increase due to plans to change over from the existing Ghana Universal Salary Scheme to the Single Spine Salary Structure.
Mr Kojo Krakani, Deputy Executive Secretary of the CSA, said currently the CSA welfare account was drained and as a result, Melcom, a major creditor of civil servants, was threatening to take some civil servants to court because there was no money in the welfare account to pay for items they delivered to civil servants.
He said the matter had been duly brought before the Civil Service Council (CSC) and the appropriate government institutions but nobody seemed to listen to workers.
Mr Krakani called on government and the CSC to impress upon the CAG's to treat the matter regarding the deduction with the urgency it deserved to avert the imminent unrest.
"They must stop the unauthorised deductions and over deductions, resume the authorised deductions to help us cushion our workers and also deposit our dues into our account with immediate effect," he said. Mr Krakani noted that as Ghana crossed over from the existing Ghana Universal Salary Structure to the Single Spine Salary Structure, it was necessary to have a clean salary sheet to prevent industrial unrest. Officials at the Controller and Accountant General's Department said those mandated to respond to such matters had either travelled, gone out or were in meetings.
Source:
GNA
Agona Duakwa citizens urged to ensure peace
Agona Duakwa, C/R, Oct 23, GNA- Mr. John Kwesi Agyabeng, the Member of Parliament (MP) for Agona East, has urged the people of Agona Duakwa to ensue peace and unity for the development.
He also asked the elders of the area to settle all chieftaincy disputes to encourage investors to invest in the area and non-governmental organisations to operate there. Mr. Agyabeng was addressing a durbar of chiefs and people of Agona Duakwa to climax their annual Akwambo festival at the weekend. The celebration coincided with the 10th Anniversary celebration of the installation of Nana Kojo Amoakwa V, chief of the town. Mr. Agyabeng urged parents to take advantage of the Capitation Grant and School Feeding Programme and send their children, especially girl-child to school.
Mr. Ben Mensah, District Chief Executive for Agona, assured the people that the Assembly would support communities that would initiate their own projects.
He appealed to citizens resident outside the town to contribute to development to improve the people's living standards. Nana Amoakwa said the town has established 10,000 Ghana cedis educational endowment fund to assist needy but brilliant students complete their education.
He said currently, the fund was sponsoring three beneficiaries, a University student and two other students in senior high schools. Nana Amoakwa commended Captain (rtd) Kwabena Acquah, Managing Director of Air Capitanor Rural Resort, for sponsoring six students to attend senior high school in the town. He also praised the Ghana Commercial Bank for donating 5,000 Ghana cedis towards the development of the town.
Source:
GNA
Kill my 2-year-old girl -Father to Fetish Priest
A 22-year-old man, Kwaku Badu who allegedly sent his two-year-old daughter to a fetish priest to be murdered for rituals to enable him get rich overnight, has been arrested by the Agona Duakwa Police in the Central Region.
Also in police grips is Badu’s 22-year-old friend, Kwabena Atta, who accompanied Badu and the child to the shrine at Kwasi Amoakwa, a village near Agona Duakwa.
Chief Superintendent Christian Tetteh Yohuno of the Agona Swedru Divisional Police Command told the Daily Graphic at Swedru that about four months ago, Badu, a native of Akyem Abenase, near Oda, approached the complainant, Okomfo Agesu Kudorkpo, at Kwasi Amoakwa for spiritual assistance to become rich. He said the fetish priest feigned interest in the request and asked Badu to produce his biological child to be sacrificed for the ritual or pay an amount of GH¢1000 (¢10 million) demanded by his gods who were dwarfs.
According to Chief Supt. Yohuno, Okomfo Agesu said he had been surprised that the suspect, whom he had not known before, approached him for such a sacrifice and, therefore, made a report to the Duakwa Police. He stated that the police advised the priest to insist that Badu bring the child for the sacrifice and Agesu conveyed the message to the suspect. The Divisional Police Commander said about 1p.m. on October 18, this year, when Okomfo Agesu and his family were working on their farm at the village, Badu called him on his cell phone that he (Badu) had brought his daughter for the sacrifice. He stated that Okomfo Agesu returned home at 3p.m. to meet Badu, Atta and the little girl in his house.
Chief Supt. Yohuno said in his bid to cause the arrest of the two suspects, Okomfo Agesu sent for the police and intentionally told his clients that his dwarfs had gone deep into the forest so they should wait for their arrival for the commencement of the rituals. He said after a while the Police arrested the two suspects and sent them to the Duakwa Police Station and later transferred them to the Agona Nyakrom District Police Headquarters for further investigations. According to Chief Supt. Yohuno, on October 19, this year, when he called at the Agona Nyakrom District Police Headquarters on his way to Duakwa, the District Police Commander, Superintendent Henry Amankwatia, briefed him on the incident.
He said during in-depth interrogation, Badu confessed that he had gone to Okomfo Agesu's shrine with his daughter because the girl's mother and her grandmother had been worrying him because he was irresponsible. According to Chief Supt. Yohuno, when the girl's 21-year-old mother, Madam Ama Serwaa, and her mother were brought from Akyem Abenase to the Duakwa Police Station for interrogation, Madam Serwaa said on October 17, this year, Badu had come to her house, in the company of Atta, for the daughter, with the intention of sending her to Akyem Oda to buy her some dresses.
He said Madam Serwaa claimed that she never saw Badu or the daughter again until the police informed her about the nasty incident. Chief Supt. Yohuno stated that the two suspects would be prosecuted at the law court as soon as possible on charges of conspiracy to commit crime, that is, attempted murder.
Source:
Daily Graphic
Bad roads affecting purchases of Cocoa beans in Atwima Mponua
Asepaye (Ash), Oct. 23, GNA- Deplorable road networks in the Atwima Mponua District of Ashanti, is forcing Licensed Produce Buying Companies (LPBC) to abandon cocoa purchases in communities in the district. The situation is so bad that, hundreds of bags of cocoa beans purchased from farmers in the communities have been locked up due to lack of vehicle to transport them to the depots of the companies. Mr Kwaku Owusu Boateng, Unit Committee chairman of Afepaye, a cocoa growing community in the district, who made this known to the Ghana News Agency, said cocoa purchasing clerks have stopped buying their produce due to the bad nature of the road linking the village to depot centres. He said more then 1000 bags of cocoa purchased from farmers in the village were still in the sheds because drivers were refusing to evacuate them due to the deplorable nature of the road leading to the village.
Mr Boateng said even though the government had awarded the road on contract, the contractor had abandoned the project. He said the situation was also affecting the construction of boreholes for communities in the area, where the buruli ulcer disease was common. He said contractors were unable to transport their heavy equipment to the villages due to the bad nature of the roads to construct the boreholes to help prevent the buruli ulcer pandemic.
The Unit Committee chairman said the other alternative of travelling was by a boat on river Offin, but that too had been hampered due to flooding. Nana Kwabena Asiedu, chief of the village appealed to the government to either terminate the contract or put pressure on the contractor to complete the project.
Source:
GNA
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