| HOME | | NEWS ARCHIVE 2009 | | NEWS ARCHIVE 2008 | | NEWS ARCHIVE 2007 | | PHOTO REPORTS | | VIDEO REPORTS | | AUDIO REPORTS | | EDITORIAL | | LATEST WORLD NEWS | | | | ARTS in GHANA | | GET FREE STUFF | | Food & Drinks in Ghana | | Africa Cup 2008 | | Ghana Hotels | | Links / Websites | | Ghana Districts | | Ghana Tourism | | Ghana Classifieds | Names in Ghana | | | | | | * 05.04.2009 | | Bamboo firewood, charcoal programme to be launched in Ghana, Ethiopia | Kumasi, April 5, GNA - The International Network for Bamboo and Rattan (INBAR), in collaboration with the European Union (EU), and other partners will launch the bamboo firewood and charcoal programme in Ghana and Ethiopia on Monday April 6, 2009.
The "Bamboo as sustainable biomass energy: A suitable alternative for firewood and charcoal production in Africa" programme, is a collaborative project between INBAR, EU, the Forestry Research Institute of Ghana (FORIG), Rural Energy Development and Promotion Centre (EREDPC) of Ethiopia, the Federal Micro and Small Enterprises Agency (FeMSEDA) of Ethiopia, the Bamboo and Rattan Development Programme (BARADEP) of Ghana and Nanjing Forestry University of China.
These were contained in a statement signed by Dr Coosje Hoogendoorn, Director General of INBAR, and issued to GNA in Kumasi on Friday. The release said the project is the first of its kind that seeks to develop bamboo firewood and charcoal as an alternative to wood charcoal in the countries that would be expected to benefit from the venture. It said the project aimed at increasing the range of useable bamboos available in Africa establish bamboo charcoal micro and macro enterprises and help governments and civil society organizations to support bamboo firewood and charcoal production and use. The statement said the new bamboo charcoal technologies developed in Asia by INBAR and its partners over the past decade had enormous potential to help reduce deforestation and generate sustainable incomes. It also marked a major step in their application for improved energy security, environment and livelihoods of the people of the bamboo-growing regions in Africa. The statement said the programme would be implemented in Benishangul-Gumuz State, Amhara National Regional State and Southern Nations Nationalities and Peoples Regional State in Ethiopia and Western region of Ghana.
It is expected to attract at least 1,000 enterprises that would produce bamboo charcoal and 30,000 households would be expected to use it. The statement said over 6,000 people were expected to be trained in bamboo cultivation, best bamboo firewood practices and bamboo charcoal production, set up bamboo charcoal technology centres and develop marketing strategies for bamboo charcoal. It said the EU said the programme was in line with its major concern of promoting sustainable and long term development. | | * 03. April 2009 | | 800,000 persons trafficked yearly in West Africa | Accra, April 3, GNA - Ms. Akua Sena Dansua, Minister of Women and Children's Affairs,  on Friday stressed the need for African governments to create an enabling environment for all institutions and stakeholders to play an effective role in the implementation of regional policy on victims of trafficking.
She said strategies for people's empowerment and preventive measures relevant for the success of that policy, among others, deserved particular attention.
Speaking at ECOWAS Ministerial Meeting on the Adoption of the Regional Policy for Protection and Assistance to Victims of Trafficking in Persons in West Africa, she said women and children were the most vulnerable when it came to human trafficking and called for a check to enable them to maximize their full potentials through productive activities.
Ms Dansua said statistics had indicated that between 200,000 and 800,000 people were trafficked yearly in West Africa and urged member states of ECOWAS to demonstrate their commitment beyond words to adequately resource their National Task Forces, yet to be established, to implement the policy. "I am confident that we shall live up to expectation, under the wider context of the united Nations and African Union conventions, treaties and protocols to protect the human rights of our citizens, particularly those of the vulnerable, excluded and disadvantaged in society.
"Let us also remember to review the policy periodically so as to be abreast with the dynamics of human trafficking. We must network more vigorously, research, and share our various national experiences and to benefit from national, regional and also international best practices." Dr Adrienne Diop, ECOWAS Commissioner of Human Development and Gender, said trafficking in persons exacted a high toll on a victim, physically, emotionally and psychologically. She said it also led to the loss of opportunity to develop the life-skills of victims, which were essential to a sustainable livelihood, adding that the consequences to the affected society were equally grave and included the growth and diversification of organized crimes.
Most trafficking groups, she noted, were likely to get involved in other types of organized crimes with proceeds from trafficking in persons.
Those crimes include trafficking in drugs, weapons, smuggling and other fraudulent behaviours.
Dr Diop said trafficking also posed a major threat to society including the demographic destabilization of communities as young people moved out of rural to urban areas. This, she said, contributed to insecurity and instability as the next generations of criminals were produced via the process of trafficking that robbed them of any real opportunities in life. She said measures ECOWAS was taking to combat the scourge include the Adoption in 2001 by heads of states of ECOWAS of the Political Declaration and Plan of Action to Combat Trafficking in 2011. Another is the collaboration between West and Central Africa in adopting the Joint Action to Combat Trafficking in Persons in West and Central Africa in 2006.
The importance of care and assistance to victims, the commissioner said, could not be overemphasized in the combat of trafficking. She added that to neglect the victims would be a negation of the very overarching goals of human security and development which informed the ECOWAS in the area of counter trafficking.
At the end of the three-day meeting, the participants would adopt a regional policy to establish and maintain a supportive and friendly environment where victims of human rights trafficking and explorative/hazardous child labour have equitable access to protection and assistance in the sub-region.
Nigeria's Minister of Justice and Attorney General, Chief Michael Kaase Aondokaa, said the complexities of challenges of human trafficking required urgent and timely intervention that was multi-disciplinary, multi-sectoral, multi-national and multi-national in nature. He said it was therefore commendable that the region was developing a synergy of action to combat the evil phenomenon because no one nation could tackle it alone.
He said Nigeria had responded to challenges of trafficking by criminalizing the phenomenon through enacting a specific law against trafficking in persons, stipulating stiff penalties for offenders as well establishing an agency to implement the Law. Nigeria, he said, had gone to negotiate and enter into bilateral and multi-lateral agreement with different countries for combating trafficking.
He added that the Federal Executive Council of Nigeria had approved both National Plan of Action and the National Policy on the Protection and Assistance to Victims of Human Trafficking in 2008. These inventions, he said, had resulted in dismantling organized criminal groups, assisted over 2,500 victims, with 44 convictions and 62 cases awaiting hearing in various courts in Nigeria. Chief Aondokaa therefore urged all ECOWAS member countries to address the issue of human trafficking with the seriousness it deserves, devoting considerable efforts and resources to rehabilitate victims of trafficking.
Mr Elike Kofi Segbor, UNHCR Regional Representative for West Africa, said research and experience had shown that conflict situation, involuntary displacement and persecution placed displaced people at greater risk of exploitation and abuse.
He said their vulnerability made them easy targets for traffickers in their desperate attempts to find safety and security. ECOWAS, he said, should ensure that its citizens who had been displaced in other countries had security of status and did not have to resort to secondary movement through trafficking or smuggling. UNHCR, he said, would continue to support ECOWAS in developing mechanisms for tackling causes and affects of irregular migration within and outside the sub-region. | | * 02.04.2009 | | Ghana's Foreign policy remains unchanged - Mumuni | Accra, April 2, GNA - Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration Minister Muhammad Mumuni on Thursday assured the Diplomatic Corps that the tenets of Ghana's Foreign policy would remain largely the same. He emphasised that promoting and enhancing bilateral and multilateral cooperation would continue to be key pillars in the country's foreign policy.
Speaking in Accra during an interaction with the Diplomatic Corps, Alhaji Mumuni noted that government was committed to providing an attractive and conducive environment for the smooth functioning of all diplomatic missions and consulates.
He touched on the smooth transition of power from one government to another, the vitality of civil society, a vibrant media coupled with the increasing effective performance of the institutions of state and said these contributed in advancing the cause of good governance. The Minister noted that the National Democratic Congress (NDC) administration believed in good neighbourliness and would continue to place high premium on relations with ECOWAS and African states while furthering the desire to promote friendly relations with all other countries, especially development partners.
"What we refer to as economic diplomacy will continue to occupy a pre-eminent place in Ghana's foreign policy. It requires us to pay greater attention to the promotion of trade, investment and tourism. It also requires us to facilitate investment flows into Ghana particularly towards key sectors such as energy, agriculture and agro-processing, ICT, infrastructural development and the hospitality industry." The pursuit of multilateral cooperation, Alhaji Mumuni said, was no less important for Ghana as a responsible member of the international community adding that Ghana by her membership had the opportunity to influence global decision that affected her interests as well as those of West Africa, Africa and the developing world. Alhaji Mumuni said the pursuit of peace and security would continue to be given high priority in the conduct of Ghana's foreign policy as they were essential for growth and prosperity and noted that it was his conviction that Ghana's internal peace, security and development remained inseparable from that of the sub-region. He expressed his appreciation to the diplomats for their tireless efforts to foster closer cooperation between Ghana and their countries and organizations they represented. Mr Jean-Pierre Gbikpli-Benissan, the Togolese Ambassador and Dean of the Diplomatic Corps, congratulated the Minister and wished him well in his tenure of office. He assured him of their readiness to cooperate with him for stronger relationship between their respective countries and organisations adding that they were also committed to peace and stability in the region.
| | Newspaper women's welfare launched | Accra, April 2, GNA - The Women's Advocate a new newspaper, was on Thursday launched to promote the welfare of women in society. It is also intended to rewrite the history of the Ghanaian woman, highlight the violence that they face and how, despite those challenges, some have risen to influential positions in society.
Ms Akua Sena Dansua, Minister for Women and Children's Affairs, who launched the paper in Accra, called on the publishers to educate women on their roles in nation building.
She said women had been marginalised for far too long and that the paper should help correct such phenomenon.
Ms Dansua urged the publishers not to dedicate the paper to the cause of only urban women but to ensure that issues affecting women in the rural areas were also brought to the fore. She said the paper must be used to engage women at the grassroots in discussions on national issues to enable them to get involved in the national development agenda. Mrs Aku Xornam, Public Relations Officer of the newspaper, said it offered a great opportunity for all women in society because it would educate them on their rights and how to ensure that others did not take undue advantage of them.
She said the paper would institute programmes to give women skills to make them self-sufficient. | Minister Designate apologises to Kufuor | The Deputy Minister designate for Water Resources Works and Housing, Kobby Acheampong has apologized to former president Kufuor for lying about lavish furnishings at his residence.
Somewhere last year, Mr. Acheampong claimed on Joy FM’s Current Affairs Programme, Newsfile, that Mr. Kufuor’s house was furnished at the cost of about $4 million.
According to him, some of the luxury items fitted in the then president’s house included large imported Alsatian dogs, Jacuzzis, and expensive remote control doors.
He vowed an authentic source had given him a document that indicated the lavish furnishing.
“I have a source that gave those items to me, listed those items….if he thinks it is otherwise let newsmen to go there, the building is still standing, there facilities are still there… let people go into the house,” Mr. Acheampong demanded.
However, when journalists visited Mr. Kufuor’s residence such opulent furnishing was non-existent as claimed by Mr. Acheampong.
At Mr. Acheampong’s vetting on Wednesday, April 01, 2009, the controversial issue of the furnishing of Mr. Kufuor’s residence took centre stage.
Whiles admitting that his source had misled him, the nominee for Deputy Water Resources Minister was not willing to apologise for failing to do due diligence by checking the authenticity of the information he had.
A member of the Appointments Committee of Parliament, Mr. E.T. Mensah reminded him apologizing for putting out wrong information and tarnishing the former president’s image unjustifiably would do everybody some good.
Mr. Acheampong listened to the advice and duly apologized.
“Mr. Chairman, I am not in the business of not apologizing for my wrongs, in this case I apologise for putting out that information,” he said.
| Chief urges Mills to appoint DCEs without delay | Tamale, April 2, GNA - Alhaji Abdulai Ziblim, Regent of Gukpegu in Tamale, has called on President John Atta Mills to expedite action on the appointment of District Chief Executives (DCEs) to run the affairs of the assemblies.
He said the seeming delay in appointing the DCEs was adversely impacting on the administration of the districts. Alhaji Ziblim said this when Mr. Stephen Sumani Nayina, Northern Regional Minister paid a courtesy call on him to formally introduce himself and his Deputy Mr. Moses Bukari Mabenga to him on Wednesday. The Gukpegu Regent urged the Minister to be steadfast in his work and always stand by the truth in the discharge of his duties. Mr. Nayina said the region was beset with land, ethnic and chieftaincy problems and called for the cooperation of the chiefs in finding solutions to them.
He expressed worry about what he termed the unwillingness of the people in the Tamale metropolis to handover unauthorized weapons in their hands voluntarily as directed by the Regional Security Council, saying this could frustrate peace efforts.
He warned that after the expiry of the stipulated grace period, the security services would have no option but to conduct a massive search and people found to be in illegal possession would face the law. He also warned the youth in the metropolis not to take the law into their hands to commit violent acts, saying the law will deal with them, even if they are supporters of members of the ruling party. "If such acts happened in previous regimes, the government of the National Democratic Congress will not condone it," he added. The Regional Minister paid similar courtesy calls on the Dakpema Mohammed Abdulai Dawuni Chief of Tamale, the Chief Imam of the Tamale Central Mosque, Alhaji Abdul Salam and the Catholic Archbishop of Tamale, the Most Reverend Gregory Kpiebaya and Archbishop Emmanuel Arongo, Anglican Bishop of Tamale.
| | * 01. April 09 | Netherlands to assist Ghana fight "dumping" from Europe | Accra, April 1, GNA - Netherlands government says a recent study it carried has confirmed that a greater chunk of electronic products shipped from Europe to Africa are wastes.
Making this known in Accra, Mr Gerald J.Y Wolters the Dutch Inspector General for International Enforcement Cooperation said: "We have seen in Europe that a lot of goods being exported into Ghana and in Africa are second hand goods which are wastes.
"Waste is a problem and we in Netherlands don't want to export waste into your country," he told Ghana's Minister of Science Environment and Technology, Ms Sherry Ayittey, on Wednesday during a courtesy call on her.
Mr Wolters, who was accompanied by a team of officials from the Netherlands Ministry of Environment, said the visit was to establish a mutual cooperation between the Dutch and Ghana on how best both countries could work to reduce the menace of electronic wastes. "We need to cooperate to check it and we want to know what is acceptable for Ghana so as to monitor the shipment of such products from Europe. "We need information about your legal requirements so to set up a mutually beneficial arrangement to tackle the issue first on a bilateral level and later expand it to cover other countries in Europe," The Dutch Inspector General said.
Ms Ayittey said the situation of e-waste dumping has become a major concern for Ghana and Africa noting that all kinds of products were being brought into the country in the name of charity from Non Governmental Organisations.
She said there was the need to strengthen the various security services at all entry points mentioning specifically the Custom Excise and Preventive Service, the Police, the Clearing Agents and Immigration officials who ought to be sensitized on the matter to effectively wage the war against dumping.
The Minister expressed happiness about Netherlands' interest in the fight against e-waste and dumping and said the government of Ghana was very committed to stemming the menace and therefore welcomed every positive move to tackle it.
Mr Jonathan Allotey, the Executive Director of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced that as part of the collaboration with Netherlands, the Agency would soon conduct an inventory of all e-waste in the country. 1 April 09 | | | | * 31. March 09 | "Volta Region is a potential tourist area" - Minister-designate | Accra, March 31, GNA - Colonel Cyril Roosevelt Necku (Rtd), Deputy Volta Regional Minister-designate has said that the economic potential of the region would be harnessed to create job opportunities and also alleviate the poverty of the people. He said the region has a lot of tourism sites which could be developed into viable ventures to create wealth for the youth and people of the area. Col Necku said this when he appeared before the Appointments Committee of Parliament on Tuesday.
He said he would work in line with the National Democratic Congress' (NDC) manifesto to realize his vision for the people of the Volta Region. The nominee expressed the hope that the various land and chieftaincy disputes which had held back the development of the area would be amicably resolved, and assured the Committee that he would not take sides in the conflicts. Col Necku said in a situation where the conflicts may escalate he would call on the Regional Security Council to maintain peace while a lasting solution to problems are solved. On smuggling, Col Necku said smuggling is not peculiar to the Volta Region alone but at almost all the country's boarders and that he would ensure that the Customs and the regional security agencies are strengthened to curb the menace.
He said there was the need to educate the people of the area about economic implications of allowing people to smuggle petroleum products and other items across the boarders. "Although I have not been given the nod as the Deputy Minister, but as a concerned citizen, I together with the people have been able to impound petroleum products being smuggled out of the country." He said the impounded petroleum products in jerry cans and gallons are in the custody of the police at Aflao.
On the spate of armed robberies on the Accra-Aflao road, the Deputy Minister-designate assured the Committee that all efforts would be made to curb the incidence and suggested the placing of plain cloth military personnel on buses plying the route to deter the robbers. | | ______________________ |
| Please note: Some links may open in a new window! GHANA TELECOM is NOW OFFICIAL GhanaVODAFONE / 15.04.2009 | | * 05. April 2009 | | 10 YEARS ago ... Check the Exchange Rates / Apr 1999 | Go to - WEEK 15 / 2009 | | Alban Babgbin rates Kufuor high | The Majority Leader in Parliament, Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin, has
rated the Kufuor administration highly in the empowerment of Parliament. 
Alban S. K. Bagbin / Picture (c) ghana-net.com & EventPicture.co.uk
He said the Kufuor administration had been of assistance to the institution of Parliament more than any other government that had served under the Fourth Republic.
“Because he (Mr Kufuor) was once an MP, he knows the value of the legislature,” he noted.
Speaking to The Heritage in an interview, the Nadowli West MP also said the weakest link in the democracy of the country is the Legislature.
He said the weakness in Ghana’s multi-party democracy is mainly due to the failure of Government to adequately resource the legislature.
That notwithstanding, the leader of the House says Ghana’s democracy is far more advanced than many developing countries.
Mr Bagbin was, however, quick to add that ex-President Rawlings’s NDC administration deserved lots of commendation for putting the basic structures in place for the legislature.
The late Peter Ala Adjetey is also generally credited with causing massive improvements to be made to the structures of Parliament during his four-year term as Speaker of the Third Parliament of the Fourth Republic.
The Majority Leader expressed views similar to what the late Speaker used to hold, by saying that the people of Ghana expect so much from the institution of Parliament yet invest very little into the welfare of MPs, let alone the institution of Parliament.
Apart from blaming Government for its silence on the Legislature, he said the institution itself had not reached out to the public.
“Many do not know the work we do here (in Parliament). They think we just come here and debate on the floor as they see on TV. People think this is a forum where we just wake up from our houses and come and talk. No! There is more to that,” said Mr Bagbin.
The veteran MP also said, apart from the over-trumpeted issue of the lack of office space for MPs, research assistants and government’s provision of means of transport for MPs, there are other issue that have not yet reached the public.
He cited the issue of some parliamentary committee chairmen and the leadership of the House personally paying some staff of theirs.
“Who in public service takes money out of his pocket to do official work? Nobody gives us money to buy paper or a common pin in running our offices here in Accra or in our constituencies. If we run and crash ourselves and die, then people will come and pretend to be weeping,” he said.
Mr Bagbin also wondered why some public officials take billions home as gratuity, vehicles and others whilst the “little” gratuity for an MP is made a major topic that set up MPs for tongue-lashing.
“Wereko-Brobby worked at the VRA for two years and went home with over two billion cedis; Prof Stephen Adei, the former rector of GIMPA, is taking about ¢1.7 billion home upon retirement, yet the ¢820 million is as if we are taking so much,” the Majority Leader lamented.
Credit to: The Heritage
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| | Another accident on Winneba/Kasoa/Accra road | Winneba, April 5, GNA - Sixteen people were on Saturday treated and discharged at the Winneba Government Hospital following injuries they received when vehicles on which they travelling were involved in an accident near Gomoa Dabanye on the Winneba/Kasoa/Accra.
A source from the Winneba Police Station said that a 207 passenger bus from Elmina to Accra and a KIA truck coming from the opposite side of the road were involved in the accident.
The source said Mr Emmanuel Nyarko, driver of the bus with registration No. GR1859 T and Mr Nelson Adukpo driver of KIA truck No, GW7751X received minor injuries. They are assisting the police in their investigations. > BACK to TOP < | | Mills asked kingmakers of Tumu to find worthy successor | Tumu, April 5, GNA - President John Evans Atta Mills, has asked kingmakers of the Tumu Paramountcy to endeavour to find the right person to succeed the late Gilbert B. Kanton V, Paramount Chief of the Tumu Traditional Area without any acrimony.
"We must not allow Kuoru Kanton's departure to create a setback either in the family or in the Paramountcy and halt development", President Mills advised.
He also urged the people to sustain the peace and united Kuoru Kanton bequeathed them and not to indulge in acts that are likely to bring acrimony and confusion in their search for a successor. President Mills said this in a speech read on his behalf by the Upper West Regional Minister, Mr. Mahmud Khalid who represented the President at the final funeral rites of Kuoru Kanton at Tumu on Saturday.
He said there was the need to have a smooth succession to the skin for the sake of development and progress of the people, noting: "without peace in the paramountcy no meaningful development could be implemented".
President Mills expressed his condolence to the Kanton family and the people of the traditional area and wished them well during the funeral celebrations.
In a tribute, a family member, Mr Richard Babini Kanton described the late Kanton as a kin pin that held the centre firm and stable for the family during his life time.
"Indeed, the late Kanton was a unifying force that inspired hope in time of despair. This special quality of yours propelled us through stormy weather successfully with pride and dignity", he said. Similar tributes by his wives and children also described him as a caring and generous person, only to his family but to all manner of persons who came to him for help. Mr. Khalid, on behalf of President Mills presented 15 cartons of soft drinks, 10 bags of rice and two cartons of cooking oil to the bereaved family. The funeral was characterized by traditional mourning and musketry and was witnessed by many people across the country and neighbouring Burkina Faso. > BACK to TOP < | | | | * 04. April 2009 | | "Govt will not rush in appointing District Chief Executive" | Koforidua, April 4, GNA-Mr. Samuel Ofosu-Ampofo, Eastern Regional Minister on Friday says government will not rush in appointing persons for the position of District and Municipal Chief Executives just because of perceptions that it was being slow.
He debunked the perception that government was being too slow stressing that "the President is being meticulous to ensure that credible people who can do the work in line with his vision for a better Ghana were appointed".
Addressing separate meetings of chiefs from the Okereman Council and the Regional House of Muslim Chiefs, he indicated that the NDC having been in power before knows the pitfalls and therefore would not want to repeat mistakes.
He told the chiefs that a committee of high profiled persons had been formed to do the selection interview and were at the final stages of naming the executive by the end of the month and called on all to be patient whiles a thorough screening was done.
Mr Ofosu-Ampofo assured the chiefs that, government would not hesitate to consult them to factor their inputs into the appointments. He urged the chiefs to step up their duties as the traditional authorities in their respective areas to take interest in the activities of the educational and training institutions to ensure that the right things were being done.
The Regional Minister called on the Muslim chiefs, especially, to help remove the perceptions of the Zongo communities by educating their children and people on the need for formal education alongside an Arabic learning.
He disclosed that the Islamic University had agreed to give a quota to students from the Zongo communities in the region for admission as well as scholarship packages from the Sinare Educational Fund and urged them to seize that opportunity.
Mr Ofosu-Ampofo noted for instance that chiefs could be influential in checking unacceptable attitudes of teachers, parents and students in their areas by visiting the schools and using their influence to correct the anomalies in society.
The Okere delegation which was led by the Chief of Adukrom, Nana Otutu Kono III, informed the Minister of their resolve to be the movers of culture and tradition. The Muslim delegation, led by Alhaji Alhassan Umar, President of the Regional House of Chiefs, also thanked the Minister for the insight given them on education and pledged their commitment to erase the negative perception of the Zongo communities. > BACK to TOP < | | Coup d’etat Ahead – Dan Botwe | A former Minister for Information in the NPP administration and member of Parliament for Okere constituency, Hon. Dan Botwe says he has noticed a coup d’etat ahead in the country as indicated by what ex-President J. J. Rawlings has said publicly “things are not moving on in the right direction so action must be taken.”
In an interview with Peace FM, Botwe referred listeners to 1981 when ex president Rawlings organized a coup d’etat against Dr. Hilla Limann after similar complaints just as he is doing to President Mills now. To make his analyses more concrete, Hon. Botwe reminded Ghanaians not to forget that ex-president Rawlings brought Dr. Limann to power, just the way he helped to bring Professor Mills to power.
According to him, this shows that the former President expects people he brings to power to kowtow him, so if president Mills fails, he could use all means to overthrow him like the way he did to former President Limann in 1981.
Dan Botwe was speaking in reaction to former president Rawlings’ statement that President Mills is slow and weak in governing the nation. The former President had also gone further to say that President Mills is not ensuring a dynamic government and was not putting things in their right perspectives.
According to the former President, even some people in the NDC administration were against President Mills’ style of ruling. Expressing his deep fear for the situation, Hon. Botwe appealed to the Christian Council, Muslims and National Peace Council to intervene because “as a person who experienced what happened in 1981, I’m very much afraid.” He added that ex-President Rawlings can do anything for power.
> BACK to TOP < | | Rawlings cautions NDC hierarchy... please scroll down; 31.03. | | Mahama appeals to doctors to stay and serve Ghana | Accra, April 4, GNA - Vice President John Dramani Mahama on Saturday appealed to health workers not to abandon the motherland to its fate but join hands with government to work towards reversing the poor health indicators.
"Do not take your bags and leave, but stay and give back to your nation what it has given to you".
Vice President Mahama was addressing 680 new health professionals, including medical doctors, who graduated from the University of Ghana, Legon, on Saturday.
He said he was worried about high attrition rate of health professionals to other countries that had partly led to a poor ratio of 2.4 health workers per 10,000 persons.
He said failure to achieve this mix in the past was partly responsible for the worrying statistics of neonatal and maternal mortality rates as well as poor life expectancy of 56 years for males and 58 for females. The International Organization for Migration estimates that some 20,000 highly qualified Africa professionals migrate each year to western industrialized nations.
This rate of attrition has adversely affected the health sector in terms of quality of care and equity for many segments of society. Vice President Mahama assured health workers of government's determination to continue to work to improve their conditions of service and remuneration.
To bring about these changes, he appealed to health managers to put in place productivity measures that would make Ghana's health work force more responsive to the needs of society.
In addition, he said, government would work towards reversing the "unacceptable" situation whereby newly qualified doctors and other health professionals are not paid their emoluments several months after they have been engaged by the Ghana Health Service. Vice President Mahama directed heads of health facilities to ensure that they provide incentive packages to personnel who were willing to accept posting to underserved communities. Touching on the future of health education in the country, Vice President Mahama stressed the need to make it more practical, flexible and science based to address the problem of shortage of personnel. > BACK to TOP < | | * 03. April 2009 | | Trinidad & Tobago eyes Ghana’s gas | Trinidad and Tobago, an archipelagic state in the Southern Caribbean, has expressed interest in assisting Ghana to build a vibrant gas and energy sector.
Making this known to journalists on Tuesday in Accra, Victoria Mendez-Charles, Trinidad & Tobago’s High Commissioner to Ghana, said her country’s economy, primarily industrial-based, thrives mainly on the oil and petrochemical industry.
She said her country which is into the production of natural gas, chemicals, steel products and fertiliser, “possesses sizeable oil and gas reserves and its prosperity is linked directly to the petroleum and petrochemicals industry apart from its tourist industry”.
Mentioning the country’s GDP per capita income currently as $14,000, she indicated that Trinidad & Tobago has been operating on fiscal surpluses for the past five years.
“It has been constantly reducing its external debt as a percentage of GDP and also its exchange rate arrangements provide additional flexibility for such a situation.
“GDP has almost tripled from $55 billion in 2001 to $152 billion in 2008. It is projected to rise to over $165 billion in 2009. And this is an incredible performance even by global standards.”
The country’s real GDP was estimated to grow by at least 3.5 percent in 2008 comparable with the average global growth rate. While growth in the energy sector leveled off in fiscal 2008, the non-energy sector continued to register rapid growth.
For the first time in many years, the non-energy sector grew at a faster rate than the energy sector.
Also, growth in its non-energy sector was broad-based, covering construction activity, manufacturing, tourism, wholesale and retail trades and financial services.
The unemployment rate of the country at the end of the second quarter of 2008 stood at 4.2 percent, “unprecedented in our nation’s history and favourably comparable with developed countries such as United States and the United Kingdom. This reflects the creation of more than 75,000 new sustainable jobs since 2002”.
The country’s external accounts have continued to strengthen reflecting the high oil and gas prices. As a result of the above, its external reserves increased to US$8.52 billion - an equivalent of 11 months of import cover.
This excluded the sum of US$2.46 billion currently lodged in the Heritage and Stabilization Fund, which represents more than 10.2 percent of GDP and is considerably higher than the level of its external debt.
Over the years Trinidad & Tobago has been pursuing and engaging Ghana’s government in discussions regarding the establishment of an agreement on economic, scientific and technical cooperation in areas such as agriculture, energy, culture, technology and low cost housing development.
Its government has also expressed a desire to deepen relations with the West Africa sub-region and already entered into discussions with the Ghana Government on the establishment of a bilateral air services agreement (BASA) which will create a platform for airlines to provide a direct service between the Caribbean and West Africa to increase the potential for trade, investment and cultural exchange.
At the 8th Summit of the African Union, Patrick Manning, Prime Minister of Trinidad & Tobago pledged his country’s support for the African continent and offered technical assistance to a number of African countries, including Ghana in the area of gas and energy sector development.
Source: Daily Guide
> BACK to TOP < | | Kufuor deserves no sympathy- NPP secretary | A former constituency secretary of the New Patriotic Party has urged the party’s youth not to rise to the defense of ex-president John Agyakum Kufuor.
According to Haruna Mahama, Mr. Kufuor neglected the youth of the party during his reign as president and do not deserve any sympathy in his torrid days in transition.
Ex-president Kufuor has been in the headlines for all the wrong reasons with some members of the Ga-Dangme youth threatening to eject him from his office accommodation.
The controversy over the Chinery-Hesse committee report which recommended what people describe as lavish ex-gratia for the Ex-president and other former government appointees appears far from over.
In the heat of these challenges, Mahama Haruna said the youth must concentrate on other important things.
Speaking to Citi News on Thursday, Mahama claimed Mr. Kufuor rejected his application for the District Chief Executive for Bole and rather chose an NDC sympathiser.
He lauded President Mills whose appointments have been pervaded by the youth.
In a reaction, John Kumah an NPP activist said Mahama’s comments were not only misguided but “ignorant.”
He said the comments were sour grapes from a rejected DCE and cautioned him against waging a crusade against ex-president Kufuor.
Mr. Kumah stressed such campaign will be detrimental to the ambition of Mahama Haruna who is said to be interested in the position of a National Organiser.
For a president who introduced, National Youth Employment Programme, and Free Education for the youth, Mr. Kumah insists, that president cannot be said to have neglected the youth.
> BACK to TOP < | | | * 02. April 2009 | | Akufo Addo Removed | THE EDWARD Akufo-Addo Circle named after the Second Republic President, near the Togo Embassy at Cantonments in Accra, no longer bears the name of the person it was named after.
 The Akufo-Addo Circle- the MEMORIAL of Edward Akufo Addo (Accra)
DAILY GUIDE can confirm that all four signboards bearing the name of Edward Akufo-Addo, father of Nana Akufo-Addo, 2008 flagbearer of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), was yesterday removed from the Circle for reasons yet to be explained.
Sources said some macho-looking men came to the scene formerly known as Cantonments Roundabout and uprooted the signs.
Eyewitness reports said four muscular men stormed the Circle in a white KIA Pick-up vehicle at noon yesterday and hastily removed and went away with all four signboards bearing the name of Akufo-Addo.
The Circle was constructed under the sponsorship of Ghana Telecom in memory of the late Edward Akufo-Addo who was one of the ‘Big Six’ that led the political struggle for Ghana’s independence. He also became the Chief Justice and later President of the Republic of Ghana in the Second Republic.
Edward Akufo-Addo died at the age of 73 in July 1979.
The Circle was named after Nana Addo’s father following the previous government’s decision to immortalise political figures as well as important personalities in society.
Nana Addo himself has come under attack from operatives of the Atta Mills Administration who have seized two of his cars in two months.
Nana is yet to reply to the unwarranted persecution directed at him and has rather taken a low profile.
As at press time yesterday, his Toyota Land Cruiser cross-country vehicle seized at a mechanic’s workshop was yet to be returned, despite the fact that all documents were presented to the Mills boys at the Castle Annex, where the National Security goons operate from.
NDC serial callers and boys working at the Office of the Vice President were on radio justifying the latest seizure, indicating that Vice President John Mahama and his boss approve the modus operandi of the car-snatching gang.
> BACK to TOP < | | Stampede at the Castle | The National Democratic Congress (NDC) government led by President John Evans Atta Mills has been exposed again. Following the sensational outbursts of former President Jerry John Rawlings that President Mills’ government is moving in the wrong direction with average capacity, it has emerged that major embarrassing scenes have cropped up in the government.
The Vanguard has learnt that J.J. Rawlings has attacked the presence of all sorts of people at the Castle, especially those in the Vice-Presdient John Mahama’s office who have been allocated big vehicles and drawing on the national purse without any meaningful contribution.
It is becoming obvious that President Mills is in great difficulty in submitting his full list of presidential staff to the Council of State and subsequently to parliament because of the large number of operatives at the Castle, most of whom took seats without authorization.
The Vanguard’s investigations indicate that the large number at the Castle will be reduced drastically with key offices being affected. It is also understood that the vehicles received and ‘retrieved’ from former President John Agyekum Kufuor’s administration cannot be accounted for leading to accusations and recriminations from all quarters including party operatives who raised the matter at the Ravico hotel meeting on Monday.
The so-called gang of five is also alleged to have issued commands that the State House should be the centre of power for the Mills administration.
The team led by P.V. Obeng is said to be the force behind President Mills, which has been the most irritating factor in Rawlings’ complaints against Prez. Mills.
Rawlings claims that the P.V. Obeng led group is not credible and believes that the Ahwoi’s, Kwame Peprah and Kojo Tsikata should be distanced room Mills in order for the NDC to pursue the agenda of running Ghana and the NPP down.
Indeed, the feud between Rawlings, Mahama and the P.V. group is so deep-seated that it has become the bitter battle for the soul for the NDC with very major implications for the 2012 elections.
Somehow, it has been agreed that President Mills will not stand for the 2012 elections leading to the major groups looking for a Mills successor even at this early stage of the NDC government.
More revelations indicate a major crisis in the party and government with the poor Presdient being the pawn in the deadly game of ethnic conflict and power struggle.
> BACK to TOP < | Iran considers more assistance to Ghana | Accra, April 2, GNA - Mr. Valiollah Mohammadi, Iranian Ambassador to Ghana, on Thursday pledged Iran's commitment to consider assisting Ghana in the areas of economics, trade and information communication and technology.  IRAN Exhibition at Ghana Trade Fair Centre (c) EventPicture.co.uk
He said Iran was already assisting Ghana in the areas of health, education, culture and rural development and there was the need to deepen the existing relationship.
Mr. Mohammadi made the pledge when he paid a courtesy call on the Minister of Information, Mrs Zita Okaikoi in Accra to congratulate her on her assumption of office and renew collaboration with the government. He noted that the Iranian government had provided ambulances and built hospitals where quality medical services were being rendered.
Iran has also arranged with the Ministry of Health to have one Ghanaian doctor to undergo further training each year in the Asian country for 10 continuous years to enrich the quality of health care professionals and enhance quality health care delivery. In the area of education, Mr Mohammadi said Iran had also given assistance at the tertiary level.
Mr Mohammadi explained that Iran had also signed a memorandum of understanding with the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation to assist it with four million dollars to improve its broadcast from analogue to digital. "This assistance is also to enable the Corporation to offer to Ghanaians and other clients better services," he added. He called on the media to help positively in marketing the two countries and deepen the co-operation that existed between them. Mrs Okaikoi commended the Iranian government for the assistance being given to Ghana and called for her involvement in other areas of development. She assured the Ambassador of Ghana's co-operation to make the services being rendered fruitful. > BACK to TOP < | | Mills Under Fire for Fuel Price Increase | President John Evans Atta Mills' new administration is coming under intense criticism after the Ghana National Petroleum Authority announced an eight percent fuel price increase. The price hike, which goes into effect today, follows global fuel price increases. But the opposition seized the opportunity to accuse President Atta-Mills of reneging on his camping promise. The opposition party said the government's upward adjustment of fuel prices cannot be justified, adding that the government has no right to increase petroleum prices when crude oil prices on the world market are 50 dollars per barrel. But the petroleum authority said the price rise is informed by increases in crude oil prices on the international market.
Editor of the "Daily Dispatch" newspaper, Ben Ephson, tells reporter Peter Clottey that the opposition's accusation is ridiculous.
"In fact, if I was an advisor to the opposition parties, I will just not complain, because elections are over three years away. I will keep quiet and pray that the NDC (ruling National Democratic Congress) makes more mistakes so that my party gets more leverage in terms of support," Ephson noted.
He described as unfortunate an opposition accusation that the ruling party has reneged on its campaign promise of reducing fuel prices.
"Well, what Professor Mills promised was that he was going to reduce taxes on fuel because I think that the increase in fuel prices is one by the National Petroleum Authority (NPA). And Professor Mills, indeed through an act of parliament, reduced the taxes on the petroleum prices," he said.
Ephson said the opposition's accusation is ridiculous.
"What happened is that in the run up to the elections in the second round, the NPP (former New Patriotic Party) government reduced petroleum prices so people seem to be mixing it. But I think that if I were to be the NPP, I will continue to pray that Professor Mills does not keep to his promises because clearly in three and half years time when people are voting, they would be concerned as to whether they have been able to have more access to healthcare, they are more secure, and that they are better off at 2008 than at 2012. But not what has happened three or four months since the NDC came to power," Ephson pointed out.
He said although the new administration has taken off slowly, it is not to blame for the situation it finds itself in.
"So far it has been a bit slow, which is not Professor Mills' fault in terms of the transition. You know, we had a like a Florida in Ghana, and it was within two days that the elections were announced that there was a swearing in. At the end of the day three years down the line, has he (President Atta-Mills) delivered on his promises?" he asked.
Ephson said there is need for the opposition to back off with the incessant criticisms being leveled against President John Atta-Mills, less than four months into his administration.
"I think that the NPP should be careful that in barking so loud, people would say but this man (the president) has been in power for only three months. Give me a break. So if the NPP is not careful, they would cry wolf, and when there is an actual wolf, nobody will believe them. They really have to be careful in their criticisms, and as I keep saying, if I were to be the NPP strategist, I will continue to pray that, and wait two years down the line. I will use it effectively. But I think they care more about Professor Mills political survival than the NPP," Ephson noted.
| Source: Peter Clottey for VOA |
> BACK to TOP < | | Portuphy denies plans to pull down Kufuor's house | Accra, April 2, GNA - Mr Kofi Portuphy, National Coordinator of the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO), on Thursday refuted media reports that he would soon institute court action to pull down the residence of former President John Agyekum Kufuor.
"I don't have any personal vindictiveness against him, even though he removed me from office and never paid me my benefits of which I feel extremely bad. I don't have anything against him," he said. "It is not the duty of Kofi Portuphy to pull down the former president's residence. The power lies with government."
Speaking at a press conference in Accra, Mr. Portuphy said he felt very bad about the developments.
"I never said so and I will not say so. We are all looking for peace," he pointed out.
He admitted mentioning some flood-prone areas near the former president's residence when he addressed a day's workshop for sub-metropolitan assembly directors in Accra last Tuesday. Mr Portuphy said rain water from the Akwapim Range through Madina to Accra was blocked by structures around African Regent Hotel (Hotel Kufuor) and the former president's house thereby causing havoc. Mr Portuphy said there was the need to find alternatives to address flood in and round the residence of the former president. According to him there was the need to build storm drains and put up pillars before putting up the buildings.
The National NADMO Coordinator pointed out that many party activists had flooded the pay roll of the organization.
According to him some of these activists took money for no work done stressing that the attendance book provided proof of that. He said as part of measures to streamline the activities of NADMO, the organization was crosschecking names of these activists to find out whether they were dead or alive and identify the roles they played and train them where necessary.
Mr Portuphy cited the case of one Daniel Nii Amon Hammond who had been employed since October 2002 as Assistant Disaster Officer Grade IV, and had been taking his salary for no work done.
"I know he works with Chronicle and Statesman newspapers, and he has been taking pay since 2002 till date and reported for work whenever a new director was appointed. I have asked that his salary be withheld." He appealed to the media to highlight the challenges facing the country so that it could get assistance to support people.
Mr Portupphy said NADMO was going to intensify public education on climate change and steps that should be taken to avert disaster through its District Risk Management Programmes.
He said NADMO had identified Odorkor, Mateheko and Tesano Police Stations as safe havens that could accommodate disaster victims but expressed regret that all these places had been taken over by accident vehicles. > BACK to TOP < | | Ex-Speaker Hughes collected per diem for wife | .... and allowed wholesale carting of handbags of sale
THE anti-corruption crusader and Member of Parliament (MP) for Odoben-Brakwa Constituency in the Central region, Hon. P. C. Appia-Ofori has flayed his Minority Leader, Hon. Osei Kyei Mensah Bonsu for daring to defend the former Speaker of Parliament, Rt. Hon. Ebenezer Sekyi Hughes over the latter’s conduct in allegedly helping himself to state properties at his official bungalow when exiting office.
The Rt. Hon. Begyina Sekyi Hughes, the former Speaker of the House of Parliament is reported to have vacated his official bungalow with all state properties such as furniture, cutlery and many more items.
Hon. Appiah Ofori, who was incensed about the Minority leader’s defense of the former Speaker over the allegation of looted state properties at his official bungalow, used unprintable words on the Minority leader for daring to defend the beleaguered former Speaker.
The verbal attack was on the morning show programme on Kyzz 89.7 Fm, on Tuesday and hosted by Kwame Malcolm. Even when the host of the programme drew PC. Appiah-Ofori’s attention to the fact that he was using unprintable words on his Minority leader, the anti corruption crusader would not budge but kept on firing unprintable salvo. ‘I don’t condone stupidity, I don’t condone irregularity, I hate people who cover the truth’, spewed Hon. Appiah-Ofori on his Minority Leader.
Consequently, Hon. Appiah Ofori called on the government and the police to take steps to effect the arrest of Sekyi-Hughes to face prosecution, because what the former Speaker had done was tantamount to stealing, which he described as unparliamentarily and unconstitutional.
The Odoben Brakwa Legislator went ahead to tell the host of the programme about how the former Speaker operated in contravention of the regulations of the House. He alleged that the former Speaker embarked on several conferences together with the wife, and collected per diem for her, in the name of Parliament.
Mrs. Becky Sakyi Hughes was the Treasurer of the Western regional New Patriotic Party and resigned from the position when her husband was appointed Speaker in the last parliament Continuing,
he said the parliamentary planning committee held a conference and budgeted for a total amount of 5.4 billion old cedis, but strangely enough, the total expenditure of the conference eventually turned out to be 11.6 billion old cedis, exceeding c 4.2 billion cedi (old cedis).
What is more, the Speaker presided over the said conference and imported hand bags for sale to each member who attended the said conference, a situation he described as unparliamentarily and frowned upon by the regulations of the House.
Hon Appiah Ofori also noted that the conduct of the Speaker should not be swept under the carpet or covered up. Though the Minority Leader was on the programme, he described the conduct of the former Speaker as not the best, and chided P.C. Appiah-Ofori for always going public with wrong information, and later apologizing.
Earlier, the Minority Leader told the host of Kyzz FM that the Parliamentary Service Committee would sit this week to delve into the conduct of the former Speaker.
There is a widespread sympathy for the former Speaker in Takoradi, where the couple are well known.
Some people, however, blame Rebecca Sekyi Hughes who they describe as having an overbearing influence on him, as the person who cleaned the bungalow.
> BACK to TOP < | * 01. April 2009 | Government would meet the challenges in the housing sector- Abongo | Accra, April 1, GNA - Mr Albert Abongo, Minister of Water Resources, Works and Housing, on Wednesday cut the tape to open a three-day international exhibition on the latest equipment and services in the fields of domestic and industrial building, and general infrastructure development.
He said the provision of decent and affordable housing for Ghanaians has been a serious challenge to government, adding that the housing deficit continues to grow and presently it is estimated to be in excess of 500,000 units.
Mr Abongo said, to arrest the situation, his Ministry is in the process of finalizing the National Housing Policy for Cabinet's consideration and approval by the end of the year. The policy will, among others, provide policy actions tailored to the needs and aspirations of the low income people to make decent housing affordable.
In addition, he said, to increase the housing stock, the government would pursue the completion of its affordable housing projects with the aim of completing about 5,000 units that are under construction in Accra, Kumasi, Tamale and Wa within the year He said government has planned several development projects across the country in the water and housing sector, in its quest to improve the living standards of Ghanaians.
Mr Abongo said for Ghana to achieve the MDG target of 76 per cent population coverage for potable water by 2015, government will require not less than $1.6 billion to rehabilitate and expand it existing water treatment facilities for urban water supply, and also for provision of boreholes for communities and small towns water systems. The Agriculture Development Bank, he said, estimates that to meet the MDG for Water and Sanitation, Africa would need about 50 billion Dollars.
Mr Abongo said the government has established a system of land banks to provide access to land for investors who wants to enter into housing delivery.
Mr S. G. O. Lamptey, former Managing Director of Ghana Water Company Limited, who chaired the function, expressed concern about poor infrastructure, which makes it difficult for the urban masses to get water.
He advocated for the treatment and recycling of waste water from industrial and domestic sources to sustain good water supply. The Water Africa and West Africa Building and Construction event was organized by the ACE Event Management of United Kingdom for the exhibitors drawn from Europe and Africa, including Nigeria and South Africa. > BACK to TOP < | | Police commander warns foreigners | Hohoe, April 1, GNA-Mr Kofi Adei-Akyeampong, Hohoe Divisional Police Commander has warned foreign nationals especially Jamaicans, who are financiers in the cultivation of cannabis in commercial quantities to desist from their nefarious activities or face the rigours of the law.
He said these foreign nationals with their Ghanaian collaborators have cropped large plantations of cannabis extensively in the northern part of the Volta region for both local and international trade and consumption.
Mr Adei-Akyeampong disclosed this to the Ghana News Agency in an interview after a team of Policemen on Tuesday concluded the destruction of the over 80 acres cannabis plantation at Kpota near Akplamafu in the Hohoe Municipality.
Police had to re-mobilize more personnel to destroy the vast plantation after a swoop, which led to the arrest of seven people including a Liberian national, last week and they could only manage to destroy six acres. He said public co-operation in volunteering information on the activities of growers of cannabis in the area has been overwhelming and commended the efforts of members of the public in the search-and-destroy operation.
Mr Adei-Akyeampong said weedicides were sprayed on the plants after slashing, making it unwholesome for consumption and safeguard against people who might want to harvest the stuff from the farms. He said surveillance would be deployed and any person or groups of people found with the commodity would be liable for prosecution and thanked the Hohoe branch of the Ghana Cocobod for making available its spraying guns for the exercise.
Meanwhile, the six suspects who were arrested on March 22, this year, in connection with the cultivation of cannabis at Kpota have been remanded into prison custody by a Hohoe Circuit Court, presided over by Mr Edward Apenkwa.
They were charged with the cultivation of the plant for narcotic purposes contrary to Section 4 sub-section 1 of PNDC Law 236/90. Their plea were not taken and were billed to re-appear on April 17, this year. They are Raphael Atuwo, 35; Wisdom Azameti, 17; Enoch Deti, 15; Kwasi Abror, 14; Samuel Tenu, 14 and Say Sorry, 26, alias Maxwell, the Liberian.
> BACK to TOP < | Newly trained teachers urged to accept postings to remote areas | Cape Coast, April 1, GNA - The Executive Secretary of the National Council for Tertiary Education (NCTE), Mr Paul Effah has urged newly trained teachers to accept postings to any part of the country to justify the resources invested in them by the state. Mr Effah who was addressing the second congregation of the OLA College of Education at Cape Coast, urged the graduates to offer their best towards improving upon the standards of education. In all a total of 350 students graduated. He said the upgrading of teacher training institutions to tertiary status was part of efforts to lay a proper foundation for the country's new educational system.
Mr Effah urged them to teach their students to be creative, innovative and inculcate "self-study" in them while they should be hard working, dedicated and disciplined. The Principal of the College, Reverend Sister Elisabeth Amoako-Arhen urged the graduates to utilize their experience profitably to back the implementation of the educational reforms. She urged them to be worthy ambassadors of the College by exhibiting high sense of professionalism and also further upgrade themselves. > BACK to TOP < | | | | * 31.03.2009 | | Rawlings cautions NDC hierarchy | Former President Rawlings today charged the leadership of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) not to abdicate the responsibility reposed in them by the people of Ghana or risk killing the party.
President Rawlings said ‘usurpers’ with parochial interests, had hijacked the Mills administration hell bent on entrenching their positions on the ruling government.
The former President who was speaking at the National Executive Committee meeting of the party at the Royal Majesty Hotel at Nungua said some of these ‘usurpers who had been hiding in rat roles’ during the heady days of the electoral campaign, had today surfaced to make themselves decision makers.
On the rot left by the New Patriotic Party (NPP), former President Rawlings said the ‘sins’ of the previous administration would not necessarily destroy society. What will destroy society, he intimated is the inability of the NDC to stem the wave of corruption it inherited by not taking drastic actions.
“The NDC’s victory was borne out of the corruption of the NPP but when the new government fails to take action to arrest the situation then society crumbles and corruption becomes of the order of the day,” he said.
Touching again on the people who had reportedly installed themselves at the Presidency, former President Rawlings said some of these people want to destroy the NDC, others want to protect the investment interests of the NPP and a third group are intent on consolidating political and financial power at the expense of the hungry Ghanaians who voted the party into power.
President Rawlings said it was imperative that all members of government recognise the fact that they were not elected as independent candidates but as members of the NDC.
“We should not be seen to be behaving as if we were elected on our individual merits. We were elected on a party platform because of a certain campaign agenda central to the party’s ideals. If we do not consult and act as if we owe no responsibility to the people of this country and the rest of the party structure then we will be killing the party.”
The former President said he was particularly worried that erroneous impressions are being created that he has his men within the current ministerial structure and hence has no reason to complain.
“Stories have been told about how my wife also has about six cronies with major appointments. Let me make it clear to you that we were not consulted on majority of these appointments. And even in situations where there have been any consultations at all no effort has been made to give us feedback if counter opinion has prevailed,” he stated.
Former President Rawlings enjoined all members of the National Executive Committee to voice out their concerns about the manner the country is being governed because criticism was crucial to the success of any leadership. He cited a meeting during his tenure of government when Tsatsu Tsikata took him on after he had criticised the then GNPC boss.
“After the meeting some leading party members came to me pleading on Tsatsu’s behalf and I told them he did the right thing. He had an opinion contrary to mine and he did not hesitate to voice it out. Let us all do the same,” he intimated.
In attendance were all high-ranking members of the party including Vice-President John Dramani Mahama, Chairman Kwabena Adjei, General Secretary Johnson Asiedu Nketia, Majority Leader Alban Bagbin and a host of Ministers and members of Parliament.
KOFI GHANABA
The former President took the opportunity to read out a eulogy he gave at the interment of the late Kofi Ghanaba last Saturday. Ghanaba, the Divine Drummer died on December 22 aged 25. Below is a full text of the ex-President’s tribute.
“Ghanaba was a great man with a great mind. Insightful, artistic and deadly accurate. Ghanaba was a blunt master. Had he lived to see the mess being made of the December victory he probably would have described it as sliding the country into a political depression and equally bluntly I would have said that is why I am still in Accra.
... feeling too embarrassed to go thanking the great people of Ghana. I keep hoping the usurpers would wake up to their shameless and dangerous behaviour. Sadly you are no longer with us to join us find an answer.
Fare thee well the Divine Drummer and give our love and respects to Admiral Owusu Ansah and Captain Huppenbauer and the many other quiet warriors who have lived and died for a change that appears to be favouring the wrong than the right.
Someday we shall also join you but not until our work is done and the change the nation voted for becomes a reality.
> BACK to TOP < | | We will address problems of water provision - Minister | Accra, March 31, GNA - Lack of potable water and access to it across the country have been described as major problems associated with water distribution in the country. To this end, a feasibility study on underground water provision sponsored by the United States government is underway to help solve the problem.
Speaking during a courtesy call on Mr Albert Abongo, Minister of Water Resources, Works and Housing, by Mr Donald Gene Tetelbaum, US Ambassador, the Minister also mentioned housing as another problem being faced by Ghanaians adding that the government was working hard to help address the issue.
Mr Tetelbaum said he found it prudent to introduce himself to the new Minister since there would be a lot of collaboration between them. He congratulated the Minister on his assumption of duty and urged him to work very hard for the benefit of the electorate. > BACK to TOP < | | Sellers at Kasoa traffic light asked to leave to avoid tragedy | Kasoa (C/R), March 31, GNA - The Kasoa District Police Commander, DSP Jordan Quaye, has warned people selling on streets, especially along the main traffic lights of Kasoa, to leave the streets and relocate themselves at places safe for selling. He has also appealed to officials of the District Assembly and market leaders to ensure that all traders, particularly children around such places quit immediately.
 Picture: (c) ghana-net.com
This was contained in a statement signed by the Kasoa Police Commander and copied to the Ghana News Agency, in Winneba. According to DSP Jordan Quaye, the area is an accident-prone zone because of the high traffic on the road, which links Cape-Coast, Kasoa, Bawjiase, Swedru and Accra, among others. He maintained that the move formed part of "ridding the streets of Kasoa of women, nursing mothers and children as part of a life-saving venture to be embarked upon by the Police in due course". DSP Jordan Quaye appealed to the Department of Social welfare, women's organisations, and sympathizers of children to assist in sensitizing street sellers to leave the place.
> BACK to TOP < | Eastern Region recorded 1,162 road accidents with 245 deaths last year | Nkawkaw, March 31, GNA - Eastern Region Motor Traffic and Transport Unit (MTTU) of Ghana Police Service recorded 1,162 road accidents involving 1,642 vehicles with 245 deaths last year. About 1,625 people received various degrees of injuries while 86 pedestrians were knocked down by vehicles in different parts of the Region. Police Superintendent Sarfo Prempeh, Eastern Regional Commander of MTTU, who announced this said in the first quarter of this year, 65 people had been killed in 380 road accidents involving 433 vehicles with 449 people receiving injuries.
He was speaking at the Eastern Regional launching of this year's road safety campaign at Nkawkaw on Tuesday. Police Superintendent Prempeh called for co-operation among all stakeholders in the transport and road sectors to eliminate indiscipline which had been a major cause of road accidents. He appealed to drivers to co-operate with the police, the various drivers unions and officials of the road safety commission to enforce discipline on the roads to save life and property in the country. Launching the campaign on the theme "Curbing Road Accidents - the Role of Stakeholders," Mr Samuel Ofosu-Ampofo, Eastern Regional Minister, said about 1,600 people were killed through road accidents throughout the country annually out of which 70 per cent of them were bread winners of their families. He said available statistics revealed that over 60 per cent of the accidents were due to over speeding, drunkenness, poor condition of vehicles, over loading, wrongful overtaking, non observance of road signs and fatigue. Mr Ofosu-Ampofo urged Ghanaians to be responsible to safeguard their lives when travelling as passengers and avoid putting pressure on drivers to over speed because they wanted to arrive at their destinations early.
He advised Ghanaians not to politicise the recent road accidents and urged drivers to update their knowledge through workshops to correct their mistakes to avoid accidents on the road. Mr Ofosu-Ampofo advised the drivers' unions not to load "floating drivers" who had not registered with any union to ensure decency on the road. Deputy Commissioner of Police, George Anko Bill, Eastern Regional Police Commander and Chairman of Eastern Regional Road Safety Commission, said human errors were the main cause of accidents on the roads. He appealed to drivers, pedestrians and passengers to co-operate to ensure discipline on the roads to avoid accidents. > READ MORE < | | * 30. March 2009 | | Ex-speaker ready to pay for "stolen" items | Former Speaker, Ebenezer Sekyi Hughes, has told the Minority Leader, Hon Kyei Mensah-Bonsu that he is ready and willing to pay for all items he took away from his official residence if that decision is taken.
Hon Osei Kyei Mensah-Bonsu tells Citi News Mr Hughes expressed his willingness to pay for the items when he spoke with him to enquire why he had stripped his official residence bare.
The Parliamentary Service Board is expected to meet on the matter. The Board would discuss how to retrieve the furnishings and equipment, which, according to Majority Leader Alban Bagbin, amounts to over four billion old cedis.
Rt Hon Ebenezer Begyina Sekyi Hughes, according to Majority Leader, Alban Bagbin stripped bare his official residence leaving only wall unit air conditions and a doormat.
Both Majority and Minority Leaders of Parliament have confirmed to CitiFM that Rt Hon Sekyi House indeed took away virtually everything from his official residence upon leaving office.
The two leaders of the House have also hinted Citi News in separate interviews that all the gym equipment and standby generator may be retrieved from the former Speaker.
He may however have to pay for the other furnishings.
Hon Mensah-Bonsu said it was wrong for the former Speaker to have taken the items away when no inventory had been taken pending a definitive decision by the Board as to whether former speaker's could leave with those items.
> BACK to TOP < | | 160,000 children made orphans through HIV/AIDS | Kintampo(BAR), March 30, GNA - Available statistics collated by Ghana AIDS Commission indicate that about 160,000 children have been made orphans through HIV/AIDS in the country.
Dr Damien Punguyire, Medical Superintendent of Kintampo Municipal Hospital who announced this said about 17,000 children less than 15 years of age were living with the pandemic, whilst 60 per cent of women aged between 15 and 49 years were also infected by the end of 2007.
He was addressing students and staff of Kintampo Rural Health Training School at the 40th Health Week celebration of the school's Students Representative Council (SRC) at the weekend Speaking on the theme, "HIV/AIDS: Its Effects on Women and Children," Dr Punguyire noted that without much care, more people would be infected by the pandemic and more children made orphans within the next five years.
He expressed concern about the prevalence rate of the pandemic among the youth and reproductive age group that when not effectively controlled would adversely affect the economy and national development.
"There is the need for increased education to create more awareness for the people to become cautious about their sexual practices and that would help minimise spread of the pandemic," Dr Punguyire said. He called on teachers to educate and teach HIV/AIDS prevention methods in schools to keep students aware of the pandemic and appealed to people to stop stigmatising victims since it increased the spread. Dr E.T. Adjase, Director of the School, commended past and continuing students and the academic staff for their immense contribution towards the school's growth for the past 40 years.
He expressed appreciation for the efforts of the SRC in initiating some development projects to complement efforts of the management. Dr Adjase announced that management would begin a specialist programme in partnership with Hampshire (NHS) Trust in the United Kingdom to train medical assistants and psychiatrists. Mr Evans Kyere Appiah, out-going President of SRC commended the cordial relationship between the management, academic staff and the student body, which had contributed effectively to the development of the school.
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___________________________________________________________________ | LATEST GHANA NEWS 30.03.2009 - 05.04. 2009 WEEK 14 - 2009 | PLEASE HELP, AND SEND YOUR COMMENTS ABOUT this WEBSITE: Thank you! | | | | * 05. April 2009 - Alban Babgbin rates Kufuor high - Another accident on Winneba/Kasoa/Accra road - Mills asked kingmakers of Tumu to find worthy successor - Bamboo firewood, charcoal programme to be launched in Ghana, Ethiopia - NDC is a party for the people of the North - Alhaji Mahama | * 04. April 2009 - "Govt will not rush in appointing District Chief Executive" - Coup d’etat Ahead – Dan Botwe - Mahama appeals to doctors to stay and serve Ghana - Scientist claims Ghana’s National Anthem - No 'okada' motor-bike taxi service in Ghana | * 03. April 2009 - Trinidad & Tobago eyes Ghana’s gas - Kufuor deserves no sympathy- NPP secretary - 800,000 persons trafficked yearly in West Africa | | * 02. April 2009 - Akufo Addo Removed - Iran considers more assistance to Ghana - Stampede at the Castle - Mills Under Fire for Fuel Price Increase - Portuphy denies plans to pull down Kufuor's house - Ex-Speaker Hughes collected per diem for wife - Ghana's Foreign policy remains unchanged - Mumuni - Kufuor to cough up $350,000 - Three nominee deputy Ministers appear before Vetting Committee - Newspaper women's welfare launched - Minister Designate apologises to Kufuor - Chief urges Mills to appoint DCEs without delay | | * 01. April 2009 - Government would meet the challenges in the housing sector- Abongo - Massive looting at Ministries - Police commander warns foreigners - Newly trained teachers urged to accept postings to remote areas - Netherlands to assist Ghana fight "dumping" from Europe | | * 31 March 2009 - Rawlings cautions NDC hierarchy - We will address problems of water provision - Minister - Sellers at Kasoa traffic light asked to leave to avoid tragedy - About 708 girls defiled nation-wide l ast year - German Embassy, Ministry discuss digital broadcasting - Two Nigerians jailed 10 years for robbery - "Volta Region is a potential tourist area" - Minister-designate - Eastern Region recorded 1,162 road accidents with 245 deaths last year > READ MORE < - Suspected armed robber dies in a shoot-out with the police | * 30. March 2009 - Ex-speaker ready to pay for "stolen" items - 160,000 children made orphans through HIV/AIDS - Too much pressure on Bolgatanga Central Hospital | | | Your REPORT Your STORIES * Your PHOTOS PUBLISH NOW! |  | | All about the Ghana Election 2008 | | |  |  | | | | * 05.04.2009 | NDC is a party for the people of the North - Alhaji Mahama | Han, (UWR), April 5, GNA - Alhaji Iddrisu Mahama, a member of Council of State has stated that the National Democratic Congress (NDC) is a party for the people of the Upper West Region because it has brought a lot of development to them. He said the people would never turn their backs on the NDC but would always reciprocate the good things it had provided them with a massive voting. Alhaji Mahama was speaking at the launch of a bye-election campaign rally at Han in the Jirapa District on Friday. The bye-election has become necessary following the death of Mr. Edward Kojo Salia, Member of Parliament for the constituency. Alhaji Mahama said the provision of electricity and the establishment of the University for Development Studies (UDS) in the North was a testimony to some of the good things the NDC had done for the people.
He urged voters in the constituency to turn out in their numbers and vote massively for the NDC to retain the seat to continue to bring development to the region.
Mr. Yaw Gyan, National Deputy Organiser of the NDC said President John Atta Mills would deliver on all the promises he made to the electorate during his campaign period. He however appealed to Ghanaians to exercise patience for President Mills to put his government machinery in place to set on into work to fulfill the promises.
Mr. Gyan said the provision of free uniform for basic school children and the one time premium for the National Health Insurance would be implemented while the NDC would also continue with all the good policies and programmes of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) to benefit the people. He said government would develop the agricultural potentials of the north through the intervention of the Savannah Accelerated Development Authority to help improve the living conditions of the people.
Mr. Mahmud Khalid, Upper West Regional Minister said a win for the NDC in the bye-election would be the best tribute the people of Jirapa would have given to the late Salia.
He called on NDC supporters to be vigilant and help track down smugglers of petroleum products to neighbouring countries. "The activities of these people had created an artificial shortage of petroleum products in the country.
"These people are out to destroy the image of our great party before Ghanaians and we must not allow them", Mr. Khalid said. Madam Alice Boon, a former member of parliament for Lambussie, said the Jirapa seat was a "sure banker" for the NDC. She said other political parties such as the New Patriotic Party had put in its candidate to contest the bye election as a matter of formality.
"The Jirapa bye election can best be described like a tortoise going into a race with an antelope, and this tells that spectators can make their own conclusions before the election day", Madam Boon pointed out. She appealed to supporters of the other political parties to vote for the NDC to be part of its victory celebration. Alhaji Seidu Jamatutu, Wa Central Constituency Chairman of the NDC expressed regret that the NPP administration did not see any qualified person in the Upper West Region to be appointed as a cabinet minister.
He said there are many reasons why the people of the North would always remember the NDC and nobody should blame them for the love they have for the party.
"How can we forget a party that has appointed two of our people as cabinet ministers and three others as Council of State members", he asked "What is my and what is ours cannot be said to be the same", Alhaji Jamatutu retorted. | | * 04.04.2009 | Scientist claims Ghana’s National Anthem | A 67-year-old Ghanaian scientist based in Germany has told Asempa News that he is the original author of the Ghana National Anthem.
Dr. Michael Kwame Gbordzoe told Asempa News in an interview that it is his lyrics 'God bless our homeland Ghana', which has been adopted as the National Anthem and wants to be given due recognition.
According to him, the current recognition given to the late Philip Gbeho as author of the national anthem is improper since Dr. Gbeho only composed the song from his (Dr. Gbordzoe’s) lyrics.
Dr. Gbordzoe maintains the anthem authored by Dr. Philip Gbeho is the 'Lift high the flag oh Ghana', which was used for sometime before the nation adopted his, which is God bless our homeland Ghana.
He acknowledged though, Dr. Gbeho’s enormous contribution to music in Ghana when he was Director for Institute of Arts and Culture during Dr. Kwame Nkrumah’s regime, and the National Symphony Orchestra.
Asked why he has since time not claimed his due, Dr. Gbordzoe noted that the tumultuous changes Ghana went through during several military interventions made it difficult for him to pursue the matter.
He also recalled his attempts to ‘right the wrong’ through a former Director of State Protocol, whom he recalled as Blavo, but could not succeed.
He believes the current democratic dispensation makes it appropriate for him to come down to ensure that history is properly documented.
Dr. Gbordzoe who claims to have documentary evidence to prove his claim, has already petitioned President Mills and the Ministry of Justice and Attorney General, as well as the Chieftaincy and Culture Ministry, for proper documentation.
Dr. Gbordzoe who is a Research Scientist at the Institute of Physics, University of Wuerzburg, told Asempa News’ Jerry Tsatro Mordy that he has no intentions of diminishing Dr. Gheho’s contribution but wants history to be documented correctly.
He said apart from getting history properly documented, he is pursuing the matter to inspire creativity among the Ghanaian youth since he composed the lyrics when he was a young boy. He believes if he is duly recognized, it will serve as a motivation for students.
| No 'okada' motor-bike taxi service in Ghana | The Minister of Transport, Mike Hamah, has advised those operating motor bicycle taxi popularly called okada, to desist from the practice as it poses a major danger and threat to the passengers they carry and other road users.
He gave the advice when he visited 'okada' centers in Accra for first-hand information on the operation of such business.
Owing to the increase in vehicular traffic in some parts of Accra, some youths have adopted the use of motor bicycles as taxis, as they are able to meander their way through the vehicles.
Mr. Hamah said the operation of the 'okada' had come to the notice of the ministry and he deemed it necessary to go directly to them to let them know the implications of their activities.
He advised the operators to desist from such practice and explained the dangers involved in using their motor bicycles to carry passengers, most often without crash helmet.
The minister said government was putting measures in place to check and stop any activity on the roads that could cause accidents or inconvenience to other people.
He said that some of the accidents that occurred on the roads could be prevented if some of the drivers adhered to advice and observed road signs and other rules and regulations.
Mr. Hamah directed the National Road Safety Commission (NRSC) to arrange a meeting with the leadership of the 'okada' operators to se how they could engage in alternative ventures other than what they were doing.
Mr. Noble Appiah, Executive Director of the NRSC, said it was unfortunate that some people had resorted to using motor bicycles for commercial purposes without considering the risk associated with such a venture, stressing that it was against the law.
He said the NRSC would sensitize the operators, as well as those who patronize their services, on the high risk involved and put some mechanisms in place to stop the 'okada' activity in the country.
“If they are not stopped now, it will become difficult to stop them later,” he said.
| | * 02.04.2009 | | Kufuor to cough up $350,000 | Secret deal at PMC exposed
... MD Boachie to face sanctions
The Committee of Enquiry, set up by the dissolved Board of Directors of the Precious Minerals Marketing Company (PMMC), has recommended sanctions against the Managing Director (MD), Mr. Peter Boachie, for entering into transactions without the Board’s approval.
According to the report by the Committee, the MD advanced a loan facility of $550,000 to Sian Goldfields Limited (Sian), a company owned by Mr. Ben Kufuor, a cousin of ex-President Kufuor, who is a magnate with major holdings scattered all over the country.
The man, who lives in Takoradi and owns several properties, all in the Western Region, including substantial interests in AT&P and Primewood, never offered any of these as collateral for the loans, but managed to arrange for the Social Security and National and Insurance Trust (SSNIT) to take up significant interests in Primewood.
The report noted that the loan facility to Sian had been executed before the Board was inaugurated, and that the MD, who was then the Director of Finance, was a witness to this agreement, at the time of its execution on December 21, 2000.
However, the MD failed to brief the new Board on this substantial financial commitment, until it was discovered by the Audit and Finance Sub-committee, one year eight months after the expiration of the contract.
“The MD and his management team continued to advance this facility even after the expiration of the agreement, without any notification to, or approval by the board,” the report stressed.
It stated that with the inauguration of the new Board, the MD was duty-bound to properly brief and draw the new Board’s attention to the expired Sian loan facility.
“Management should have obtained approval for all transactions that would be seen to have a financial impact on the company’s operations. The MD’s contention that the contract was a perpetual one, and therefore did not need any intervention by the board is incorrect. Indeed, the agreement had clearly stated that the contract was renewable, and the board had clearly asked management to stop any further payments to Sian, but management made two more advances after that instruction,” the report reiterated.
It stated that the MD acted improperly when he continued to make further advances to Sian after the expiration of the contract.
The Board Chairman, Mr. Stephen Adubofuor, confirmed the report to The Chronicle, adding that they could not implement it because they were currently out of office.
He said Sian had not finished paying the debt, and that the government should make efforts to retrieve the loan, which was state money.
The MD, Peter Boachie, on his part, told this reporter that the deal was juicy because they were going to have a record 10% interest on it. However, somewhere along the line, the mining company was rocked by a serious problem and could not repay the loan.
He indicated that the company was about to pay the total debt, but it encountered a problem, since the company in Canada, Midlands, which had promised them a loan facility was stopped by the Canadian government from transferring the money outside the jurisdiction, due to the economic recession.
“They owe us; they are paying; they are making their best efforts to pay; it is left with about $350, 000,” he added. The committee, which investigated the activities of Buachie, also discovered that an amount of GH¢24,000, as against GH¢10,000, was used to re-wire Diamond House in Accra without any approval from the board.
“The expenditure was above the MD’s spending limit, and he should have sought the board’s approval, given the length of time it took to undertake consultations with the technical subcommittee. The MD should have requested an emergency board approval for this project,” the report stated.
The Committee recommended that the board apply prompt sanctions when such rules or regulations are violated by management, emphasising that the MD’s practice amounted to financial indiscipline.
The Board further discovered that an estate house at Dansoman in Accra was sold by the MD, and payment effected by Agyaba Trading Company, the buyer, before advertisement for the sale of the building appeared in the newspapers. The report continued that the sale was not disclosed to the Board, but was discovered when the Audit and Finance Sub-committee noticed a credit in the financial report, and drew the board’s attention to it
Reacting to the allegations to The Chronicle, Mr. Boachie intimated that the report lacked substance.
Regarding the sale of the Dansoman house, he said, when the Deputy Managing Director for Administration, Mr. Alfred Kotey, was appointed, he rejected the Dansoman official residence, saying that it was below standard, although he (Mr. Boachie) had occupied the building without any qualms.
He said the Chairman of the Board sided with Mr. Kotey, who was his in-law, to sell the renovated building and acquire rental accommodation for Mr. Kotey.
“The building was valued by the AESL at ¢331 million, but we managed to sell it at ¢350 million to one of our gold suppliers. The money was deposited at HFC,” he stressed.
He said in the matter of the rewiring, he used his authorisation as the MD to enable the contractor complete the work, because he was in control, and not the Chairman of the Board.
| | Three nominee deputy Ministers appear before Vetting Committee | Accra, April 2, GNA - Three nominees for the positions of Deputy Ministers of Food and Agriculture, on Thursday appeared before the Appointment Committee of Parliament. They are Dr Alfred Sugri Tia, Nii Amasah Namoale and Mr Yaw Effah-Baafi.
Dr Sugri told the Committee that he was not happy with the way poultry production in the country had decreased and gave the assurance that he would work with the Minister to arrest the situation. He said rather, the importation of frozen chicken from outside was on the increase and this does not auger well for local poultry farmers. He said the situation had come about because the sector was not been given the necessary attention over the years and said that, if given the nod, he would ensure that more extension officers were trained to assist farmers.
Dr Sugri said the mortality rate n the local poultry industry was very high and this also accounted for the low production of chicken products in the country, adding that, attention would be given to the causes of diseases which affected birds.
He urged the youth to go into poultry and livestock farming, which he described as a "lucrative venture", and not to think that poultry was a risky business.
He said all efforts would be made to entice the youth to go into farming, especially guinea fowl production.
Dr Sugri also urged young veterinary doctors to go into private practice so that they could go round the country to assist farmers. Nii Namoale said there was the need to sensitize the youth to go into farming and to clear the notion that farming was a punishment, adding that he would also ensure that children in fishing communities are encouraged to go to school.
"Credit facilities for farmers would be a great incentive for the youth to go into farming".
On subsidy, Nii Namoale said there was a need to subsidize agricultural production indirectly through the marketing companies. Mr Effah-Baafi, who went through the vetting in only seven minutes, said the marketing of farm products was a major problem than the actual farming and that efforts must be made to reverse the situation. He said when there is a glut, marketing of farm products becomes difficult and suggested the processing of farm produce to prevent post harvest losses.
He called for the creation of more farmers centres to assist farmers with improved seeds as well as providing tractors for the farmers. | | * 01.04.2009 | | Massive looting at Ministries | A report commissioned by the Auditor-General, Edward Dua-Agyemang into the books of the various Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) covering the period of the year 2005 has uncovered massive corruption. Based on this, the Committee for Joint Action (CJA) has called on President Mills and his National Democratic Congress (NDC) administration to recoup every pesewa that the nation lost during the NPP era.
At a press conference in Accra yesterday, a Spokesman for the CJA, Duke Tagoe quoted portions of the audit report commissioned by the Auditor-General, Edward Dua-Agyemang, in the year 2006, covering the year 2005 to back their calls for a possible prosecution of any member of the former administration who had dipped his hands into the national coffers and dissipated its resources.
“Though the Kufuor government has been shown the exit through the ballot box, we firmly re-state that officials within the then regime who supervised and in a large measure aided and abetted in the dissipation of state funds should be made to face the full rigours of the law”, he emphasized. He therefore, called on the current administration to review the acquisition of the two Presidential jets and other related deals to ensure that every pesewa lost to the Ghanaian taxpayer is recovered.
The said audit report found evidence of fraud, thieving and disregard for existing procurement laws (Procurement Act 2003) at the various Ministries, Department and Agencies (MDAs). At the Ministry of Tourism and Diasporan Relations, the report noted that accountable imprest of ¢46.3 million were not accounted for on the completion of the assignments for which the amount was given, whilst Valued Added Tax (VAT) receipts amounting to ¢33.2 million were not obtained from three companies for goods purchased.
In spite of that, eight other officers who were given accountable imprests totaling US $33,300 between January 2004 and March 2005 to undertake various international assignments did not account for them. Contrary to provisions of the Financial Administration Act, it was also realized that an amount of ¢72,210,000 was paid to four firms and one officer of the Ministry but were not recovered by receipts to authenticate the transactions.
At the Ministry of Water Resources, Works and Housing five laptop computers valued at ¢142.5 million could not be accounted for since at the time of the audit they had vanished from the Ministry without any trace whilst at the Foreign Affairs Ministry, it was realized that an amount of US $106, 168 had been misappropriated at Ghana’s Embassy in Cote d’ Ivoire.
It also came to light in the course of the audit that at the Ministry of Education that no official receipt was obtained from the West African Examinations Council for ¢65.9million, being claimed payments of Basic Certificate Examination (BECE) registration fees that had been collected from students, compelling the Auditor-General to comment on “the genuineness of the transaction could, therefore, not be ascertained.”
Furthermore, it was uncovered that the Department of Urban Roads in Kumasi under the Ministry of Transport failed to present payment vouchers totaling ¢13billion that they claimed had been paid to contractors for audit. The propriety of payments of the amount involved could, therefore, not be ascertained.
The Ministry of Trade, Industry, Private Sector Development and Presidential Special Initiatives was said to have spent ¢995, 398, 812 on garments to promote the ‘National Friday Wear Programme’ which officials claimed were distributed for free, however, there was no evidence of the persons or organizations that were given these garments since there was no distribution list to that effect.
At the Finance and Economic Planning Ministry, it was detected that Security agencies including the Ghana Army, Ghana Navy and the Ghana Police Service were indebted to the Customs Excise and Preventive Service (CEPS) to the tune of ¢78.42billion.
The explanation given was that due to the sensitive nature of the work of the Security agencies, it was difficult for CEPS to collect the above stated taxes. That notwithstanding, cheques amounting to ¢17.2billion, issued by three Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) in settlement of petroleum taxes on the lifting of oil from the Tema Oil Refinery (TOR) bounced, whilst no attempt was made to reclaim it
The report also unearthed issues of serious corruption and lack of transparency relating to the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) in which Axis Advertising Agency secured a government contract to monitor and review media campaign and advertisements for the NHIS but for some inexplicable reason, the same contract was awarded to two other companies called Media Touch Production Ltd and Media Plus for fees totalling ¢359, 925, 286.
A financial consultant of the NHIS, Mr. Foster-Folson and the scheme’s Cordinator, Kofi Adusei were reported to have breached financial discipline when they falsely and illegally certified that work contracted to Adams Advertising, totalling ¢2, 271, 204,000 to mount 123 billboards nationwide had been completed.
However, it was later uncovered that only 19 and not 123 billboards were mounted. It also came to light that contrary to the Procurement Act, Adams Advertising did not possess the capacity to undertake the job. Having secured the contract, the company sub-contracted it to another company called Design Display and Publicity (DDP) and thereby made a whooping profit of ¢296, 206, 650.
The report uncovered other serious breaches at the NHIS whilst there were also similar issues bothering on massive looting at the School Feeding Programme in which school enrolment figures were said to have been inflated.
Source:
Charles Takyi-Boadu for Chronicle |
| | * 31.03.2009 | | About 708 girls defiled nation-wide last year | Yamfo (BAR), March 31, GNA - Statistics available at Domestic Violence Victims Support Unit (DVVSU) of Ghana Police Service indicates that 708 girls were defiled nationwide in 2008. Mrs Juliana Amponsah of Department of Women, Ministry of Women and Children's Affairs who announced this said 713 rape cases were recorded within the same period.
She was addressing a durbar at Yamfo in Tano North District of Brong Ahafo Region to mark International Women's Day on Tuesday. It was organised by management of Ahafo project of Newmont Ghana Gold Limited (NGGL).
Mrs Amponsah said 3,881 women suffered non-maintenance last year and urged government to help eliminate all forms of violence against women in the country.
She said poverty, culture, lack of education, power and control over resources were some causes of domestic violence and called for the formation of community watchdogs to check such violence. Mr Joseph Danso, Community Development Superintendent of NGGL, said the company through its gender mainstreaming programme would continue to empower and encourage women within its operational areas to be part of decision making at all levels.
He explained that through the programme women had established a revolving fund to support their businesses. Mr Danso said last month the first batch of beneficiaries of a fund to 10 women with a minimum of GH¢100 each took place and progress report on their activities was encouraging. "Through this programme we have been able to break the myth that mining is an exclusive preserve for men," he added.
| German Embassy, Ministry discuss digital broadcasting | Accra, Mar. 31, GNA - Mrs Sabah Zita Okaikoi, Minister of Information on Tuesday held discussion with the Deputy Head of Mission at the German Embassy on the digital migration of broadcasting equipment in Ghana from analogue to digital.
(c) EventPicture.co.uk - ..Wales (UK) -get set for digital - from 12.August 2009
The digital migration programme is a global call for all countries to transfer existing television and radio transmission device from analogue to digital device by 2015 since digital broadcasting is a more efficient way of transmitting sound and data by turning them into computerized data.
Ghana is one of the first countries that has accepted the challenge to migrate all existing analogue broadcasting equipment, the project has started with the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation.
Mrs Okaikoi said the first phase of the digital migration programme is expected to be completed in June in Accra and Kumasi. Mr Hans Christian Winkler, Deputy Head of Mission, said he was happy that a German Organization was helping Ghana with the processes involved in the digital migration and expressed the hope that with time all media organizations would be involved. He advised that the technicians handling the project would maintain the possibility for people to receive programmes recorded with analogue equipment as well as digital ones.
He said the embassy would be at the service of the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation and pointed out that the embassy had a long standing partnership with the Ghanaian media. Mr Winkler announced that Deutsche Welle, the German broadcasting medium would be partnering media houses especially in the regions to air programmes of interest to the Ghanaian public and noted that a German organization would also sponsor at least one Ghanaian journalist to cover the German elections in September this year.
| Two Nigerians jailed 10 years for robbery | Kumasi, March 31, GNA - Two Nigerians who robbed a trader of GH¢5,890 and a mobile phone have been sentenced to five years imprisonment each by a Kumasi Circuit Court. Monday Egemonu Chima and Ike Chika pleaded not guilty to conspiracy and stealing.
Police Chief Inspector Archibald Fandoh told the court presided over by Mr Amoh Yartey that, on February 2 this year, the complainant, a trader based in Kasoa in Central Region, boarded a Techiman bound bus at the Neoplan station in Accra.
He said the accused also boarded the bus and sat beside the complainant used a razor blade to split the jeans skirt she was wearing, a waist bag and an underwear when she fell asleep shortly after the bus took off and stole her money and mobile phone from her waist and hand bags as well as her underwear.
The prosecution said when the complainant woke up from sleep, the bus had reached Kumasi and realising she had been robbed, raised the alarm and after a search conducted on the passengers, the money, mobile phone and two razor blades were found on the accused persons. He said the driver was ordered to drive the bus to Suame Police Station where a report was made and the accused persons handed over to the police and after investigations charged with the offence. | | Suspected armed robber dies in a shoot-out with the police | Tema, March 31, GNA -- John Kingsley 28, member of a three-man robbery syndicate was on Sunday evening shot by the police when the group attacked filling stations on the Tema-Prampram road. He died when being conveyed to the hospital and the corpse deposited at the Police Hospital morgue in Accra. The three robbers opened fire on the police which was replied by the personnel leading to the death of Kingsley. Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Joshua Dogbeda, Tema Regional Crime Officer told Ghana News Agency on Tuesday that there was a shoot-out between the syndicate and the police during which Kingsley was shot but his accomplices managed to escape. He said that police personnel led by Police Chief Inspector Seth Sewornu, stationed at a vantage point on the Tema-Prampram road after an intelligence source informed the Police Regional Command on the intended robbery of filing stations.
ACP Dogbeda said at about 1825 hours on Sunday, the armed robbers attacked management of Agapet filling station at Dawhenya and ordered the attendants to handover the day's sales and other valuables to them. He said an unspecified amount of mobile phones credit cards which was believed to have been taken from the shop attached to the filling station and GH¢150 were retrieved from the pockets of the deceased and an additional GH¢10 around the scene. | | * 30. March 2009 | Too much pressure on Bolgatanga Central Hospital | Bolgatanga, March 30, GNA - Daily attendance at Bolgatanga Central Hospital has increased following the introduction of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), Dr Aduko Amiah, Medical Director in-charge of the hospital said at the weekend.
Dr Amiah, who was conducting Mr Mark Woyongo, Upper East Regional Minister, round the hospital during a familiarisation visit, said the current daily attendance rate was about 400 patients, with the possibility of a further increase during the rainy season. He said a room at the OPD that was being used for patient's NHIS folders and other documents was full, giving rise to the urgent need for the expansion of facilities at the hospital. Dr Amiah said even though the huge increase in attendance involved genuine cases, there were also indications that the NHIS system was being abused by some people, resulting in the rise in numbers. "The number of medical personnel and nurses has remained relatively low, leading to a lot of pressure and a scary doctor-patient ratio," he said.
Presently, there are five Ghanaian medical personnel and eight Cuban medical staff at the hospital and 80 nurse as against the 250 nurses required. At the Obstetrics and Gynaecology Department, Dr Peter Baffoe, Specialist in-charge, said the incidence of maternal and child mortality had been on a consistent decline at the hospital during the past three years.
He said from 750 deaths per every 100,000 births recorded in 2006, the figure reduced to 500 per 100,000 births in 2007, and further to 360 per 100,000 births in 2008. Dr Baffoe said within Bolgatanga Municipality, the mortality rates had been significantly low but often increased by cases from areas outside Bolgatanga, as the hospital was a major referral centre. He said compared to the past, more women now visited the hospital for anti-natal care as a result of the free maternal health care introduced by government.
Dr Richard Anongura, Specialist Dental Surgeon in-charge of the dental department, said two Community Oral Health Officers (COHO) had been trained to assist in the provision of dental health services, being the only one catering for the Region.
They would man dental centres at Bawku and Sandema. Mr Woyongo called for special incentive package for medical staff working in rural areas to motivate them and entice qualified personnel from other areas to accept postings to the Region. He suggested the introduction of a scheme by which specialists from teaching hospitals could visit the Region periodically to assist. Mr Woyongo commended staff at the hospital for continuing to give of their best in spite of the numerous constraints confronting them, and said government would not relent in its efforts to improve their working conditions.
Naba Sigri Bewong, Paramount Chief of Sakoti Traditional Area, and Chairman of the hospital's Board of Directors, urged Members of Parliament from the Region to practically demonstrate interest in the hospital.
He called on Municipal and District Assemblies in the Region to allocate part of their Common Fund to support the hospital. | |
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