| News Home (Main Page) |  | | LATEST WORLD NEWS | | | | | NEWS ARCHIVE 2009 | | NEWS ARCHIVE 2008 | | NEWS ARCHIVE 2007 | | PHOTO REPORTS | | VIDEO REPORTS | | ARTS in GHANA | | Food & Drinks in Ghana |  | | Africa Cup 2008 | | Ghana Hotels | | Links / Websites | | Ghana Districts | | Ghana Tourism | | Ghana Adinkra | Names in Ghana | | | | * 26.03.2010 | Veep: Government will protect rice and poultry industry * Source: GNA | Accra, March 26, GNA - Vice President John Dramani Mahama on Friday noted that Ghana has a comparative advantage in rice and poultry production and government would strive to promote growth in the two economic ventures. "We cannot ban the importation of rice and poultry because we might be flouting the World Trade Organisation rules, and so what we can do is to protect these industries from outside companies by supporting them to survive in the open market competition," he said.
Vice President Mahama made the observation when a five-member Korean Business delegation paid a courtesy call on him at the Osu Castle, to outline their business plan for Ghana.
A delegation from the Clark Sustainable Resource Development Limited, a Canadian development organisation, Students from Stamford University in the UK and African Global Sister Cities Foundation. He said Ghana was on track in achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) especially the eradication of poverty, which had the potential of making the country self-sufficient and an exporter of food. Vice President Mahama said the provision of equipment such as tractors and irrigation were some of the strategies the government was adopting to increase food production and reduce food importation into the country. He said as part of measures to achieve the MDGs, government would construct about 3,000 classrooms to avoid the use of tree shades for classes in most parts of the country.
Vice President Mahama said decent accommodation, and other good incentives would be provided to teachers who accept postings to the rural and deprived areas of the country.
On the sister city relationship, he advised cities engaged in the friendship to project the Ghanaian culture and values to their friends to re-orient their perception about Africans.
Mr. Ha Young-Je, Korean Vice Minister of Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries said his country would provide training programmes for Ghanaian fisheries officials to strengthen the tuna fishing industry this year.
"Korea will help in the establishment of development model, strengthen support in Ghana's fisheries development and will require active support to Korean fisheries companies in Ghana," he added. Mr. Joe Clark, Chairman of Clark Sustainable Resource Development Limited, said ultra-modern equipment would be imported to undertake the project on the Volta Lake to make it one of the best lake transport system in the world.
"The lake project we are working on in Ghana is the first major project anywhere in the country and its success will serve as a good example to be replicated in the world," he said. | | . | | . | | . | | . | | . | | ______________________ |
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| Latest Ghana News Friday, 26 March 2010 WEEK 12 - 2010 | * Friday, 26 March 2010 | Carl Wilson's Empire Crashes * Source: The Chronicle | The embattled Chairman of the Confiscated Assets Committee, Mr. Carl Wilson, has finally been relieved of his position, following agitations by some members of the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC).
The agitators had demanded for his removal from office, alleging that his bad conduct, as a public officer, was denting the image of the party.
Some irate youth on Thursday locked out national officers at post, and denied them access to their offices, when they stormed the headquarters of the party at Kokomlemle, a suburb of Accra, to register their protest against Mr. Carl Wilson.
The Minister of Information, Mr. John Tia, confirmed the news in a telephone interview with Citi FM, an Accra-based local FM station yesterday.
According to him, President Mills took the decision to sack Carl Wilson some two days ago, following the outcry of some NDC footsoldiers, who alleged several corrupt practices against him.
Koku Anyidoho, Head of Communications at the Presidency, also confirmed Carl Wilson's dismissal, when he was interviewed during Joy FM's mid-day news yesterday.
According to him, the decision by President Mills to relieve Carl Wilson of his post was taken on March 23rd, 2010, and that it was not due to the demands of the irate youth who besieged the party's headquarters to demand his head.
His position, according to Koku Anyidoho, would be taken over by his (Carl Wilson) deputy until further directives from the President. He however did not give detailed reasons for Mr. Wilson's removal by the President.
However, intelligence gathered by The Chronicle indicates that he is currently under investigation over his dealings with confiscated cars at the Tema Harbour, and would be restored to his position when cleared all the allegations.
Carl Wilson has come under strong criticism in the media, and from the political divide, for allegedly abusing his office, by ordering the sale of confiscated vehicles to his cronies for meager amounts of money, but has ever since denied any wrongdoing, and has challenged his critics to come out with evidence to substantiate their claims.
The Deputy Chief of Staff, Mr. Alex Segbefia, has always jumped to his defense ever since the news came to the fore of the public, insisting that "Carl Wilson is innocent of all the allegations leveled against him."
According to him, the detractors of Carl Wilson were just trying to pull him down with unfounded allegations, because of the excellent job he had been doing. | > BACK to TOP < | No WASSCE In 2010 * Source: The Cocktail | The West African Examination Council will not conduct the May/June 2010 West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) in Ghana.
This is because the current second-year students who started the four-year Senior High School programme will next year be in their third-year and, therefore, cannot be eligible to participate in the examination.
It is only in 2011, when the students will be in the fourth and final year that they will be qualified to write the WASSCE. There will, however, be the November December private candidates WASSCE in 2010.
This was contained in a letter issued by the Ghana Education Service (GES) to heads of senior high schools, outlining the calendar for the 2009-2010 academic year, a copy of which has been made available to the Daily Graphic. “Please, note that there would be no West Africa Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) in May/June 2010. This calendar supersedes any other that has been published,” - the letter signed by a Deputy Director General of GES, Ms Benedicta Naana Biney, said.
According to the calendar, next year’s Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) would be held from April 19 to 23, 2010. It said the first term for the 2009-2010 academic year for basic schools in the country would begin from September 15, 2009 and end on December 17, 2009, adding that pupils would then go on Christmas break from December 18, 2009 to January 11, 2009, the second term from the academic year would begin from January 12, 2010 to April 15, 2010.
Pupils would go on holidays from April 16, 2010 to May 11, 2010 to July 29, 2010. For Senior High Schools, the calendar indicated that the first term for the 2009-2010 academic year starts from September 11, 2009 to December 18, 2009, with holidays slated for December 19, 2009 to January 7, 2010.
The second term, it said, would commence from January 8, 2010 to April 9, 2010 to April 29, 2010. According to the calendar, senior high schools were to resume for the third and final term for the academic year from April 30, 2010 to August 5, 2010.
Meanwhile, the GES says it has taken cognizance of the involvement of a large number of serving teachers currently pursuing the Diploma in Basic Education by distance and sandwich in the Colleges of Education. “In view of this, it has become necessary to synchronize the basic schools academic calendar with that of the Colleges of Education.
By this arrangement, excuses by teachers to vacate classrooms to attend such programmes should therefore not be tolerated,” a letter signed by the Director-General of the GES, Mr. Samuel Bannerman-Mensah, said. | > BACK to TOP < | Government halts payment of emoluments * Source: GNA | Accra, March 26, GNA - Government on Friday confirmed that cheques for additional payments of emoluments to former Ministers of State have been stopped.
This follows the advice from the Auditor-General's Department that it had detected some discrepancies in the computation of the benefits.
A statement issued in Accra by the Deputy Minister of Information, Mr James Agyenim-Boateng explained that the discrepancies arose following a different computation process used by Parliament in paying Members of Parliament (MP) of the last Parliament as opposed to that used by the Office of the President to pay members of the former executive. It said consequently, the Auditor-General's Department had advised that the Bank of Ghana should in the meantime withhold payments pending audit verification.
Government emphasised that all former MPs and ex-Ministers have received payment of their benefits.
"What is at stake is a claim by former Ministers of State that they were underpaid compared to their colleagues in Parliament who were not Ministers," the statement said.
It said payments were made in categories; the first category comprised MPs who were paid End of Service Benefits, Installation Grants and Resettlement Grants by Parliament.
The second category were MPs who were ministers, who were paid End of Service Benefits by Parliament whilst their Installation Grants and Resettlement Grants were paid by the Office of the President. The third category included ministers who were not MPs, and were paid End of Service Benefits, Installation Grants and Resettlement Grants by the Office of the President.
The statement said there seemed to be a difference in computation between those in the first category as opposed to the other two categories. "Government wishes to assure all interested parties that it will expedite action on the matter, "the statement said. | > BACK to TOP < | Italy to support Ghana's transportation sector * Source: GNA | Accra, March 26, GNA - Mr. Altelo Matteoli, Italian Minister of Infrastructure and Transport, has given the assurance that the Italian Government would support Ghana's efforts at improving infrastructure in the transport sector.
Consequently, a joint technical co-operation team, made up of engineers, technocrats and officials from the two countries would be established to work out the modalities for the support. Mr. Matteoli gave the assurance when Mr. Mike Hammah, Ghana's Minister of Transport, led a delegation to pay courtesy call on him in Rome. A statement issued by the Ministry in Accra on Friday and signed by Mr. Kweku Sersah-Johnson, Public Affairs Director, copied to GNA, said the Ghanaian delegation was in Rome to observe the Italian railway transport system including the designing, construction, management and operations and how Ghana could adopt best practices in the country's quest to modernise the railway sector.
Mr. Matteoli said the facilitation of world trade and globalisation were the direct result of the contribution of transport of all modes and it was important for developing countries to pay critical attention to the development of the transport sector.
Mr. Hammah said the rail system that had been made a flagship and overriding priority policy of the government.
The delegation visited the Rome Metro Railway Head Offices and construction site of a new multi-million dollar underground rail network, the security, automated luggage scanning sections and facilities of the Faumicini airport in Rome as well as the offices of the leading railway engineering and construction firms in Italy | > BACK to TOP < | Minister charges local government officials to strive for internally * Source: | Accra, 26 March, GNA - The Deputy Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, has noted that the District Assemblies' Common Fund cannot address all the developmental needs of the country, hence the need for innovation to improve on internal revenue.
Mr Elvis Afriyie Ankrah who toured Tema Metropolitan Assembly (TMA) and Ledzorkuku-Krowor Municipality on Friday as part of a day's familiarisation tour, entreated the assemblies to pool resources to facilitate development in their localities as indicated in the Local Government Act 462 and the Legislative Instrument establishing the assemblies. He also stressed on the need for the assemblies to promote peace and security, saying: "It is the surest way to create the needed atmosphere to promote wealth creation."
"We need to deliver nothing but development to the people," he stressed. Mr Robert Kempes Ofosuware, Tema Metropolitan Chief Executive, said the assembly expects GHc 5,648,807.00 revenue this year, which is 130 per cent higher than the expected District Assemblies' Common Fund of GHc 2,485,618.00.
"The total revenue generated as at 31 December 2009 in respect to Internally Generated Fund amounted to GHc 4,391,254.38. Mr Ofosuware said the assembly was preparing a four-year Medium Term Development plan (2010-2013).
He inaugurated three Sub-Metropolitan District Councils of the TMA, namely: Tema East, Tema West and Kpone Katamanso. He said the sub-metropolitan councils were expected to generate revenue to implement developmental project and programmes. Mr Ofosuware said the assembly had initiated programmes to remove unauthorised structures and maintain the green belts to beautify the city. He said to beef up law enforcement in the metropolis, 45 potential metro guards are undergoing training at the National Police Training School as part of the recruitment process to increase the number of the personnel. Mr Dan Amartey Mensah Ledzorkuku-Krowor Municipal Chief Executive, said the assembly was renting office apartment, hence the need for government to release money to secure them permanent accommodation. | > BACK to TOP < | EDITORIAL: Recognizing Ghanaians abroad as true “development partners”. * Source: Ghanaian News Canada | History is replete with the movement (exodus) of people around the world for all kinds of reasons. People move from their countries of origin for all kinds of reasons. Apart from those that are forced to leave their countries of origin for safety reasons, most people move for better living and economic conditions. Ghanaians have been no exception to this exodus train. They have been moving around the world seeking greener economic pastures for a long time now. Presently Ghanaians can be found in every corner of the globe from Afghanistan to Zambia, from Australia to Greenland. It is even joked that when the British recaptured the Falklands Islands from Argentina in 1982, they found Ghanaians there.
The significant thing about the expatriate Ghanaians is that they never forget “home”. In fact the nation’s economy has been sustained and propped up mainly by Ghanaians living outside its shores. Most of the massive building projects and numerous cars, taxis and public buses running in the country were shipped there by Ghanaians living outside the country. In short, Ghanaians living outside its borders have been responsible for providing and propping up critical infrastructures of the country. In building homes for themselves and their families, they take the pressures off the governments in providing this service. Ghanaians living abroad have been acting as the social safety net and welfare agencies for their families at home taking off the pressure and responsibility off the back of the government. Most Ghanaian communities abroad have been contributing massive amounts of money and resources to finance development projects: schools, hospitals, electrification projects and have shipped a lot of educational and medical resources to the country’s institutions.
In spite of all these massive contributions to the nation’s development and stability, Ghanaians living outside the country get little or no recognition for their efforts. At best they will get an occasional acknowledgement from a government official when they need Ghanaians abroad to send in more resources. The military governments of yesteryears in Ghana were openly hostile to Ghanaians living abroad. In fact it was the Rawlings PNDC government that wrote the Constitution that stripped Ghanaians abroad of their citizenship if they took on another, a very narrow, misguided and myopic move. The constitutional governments from the mid 1990s have been pretending that they value the contributions of Ghanaians living abroad. The rhetoric of “recognizing” the contributions of Ghanaians abroad reached fever pitch in the Kufuor (NPP) years. The Kufour government was fond of describing Ghanaians living abroad as “significant development partners” and that the government valued our contributions. But that is where it ended. The views and opinions of Ghanaians abroad do not count in any way in formulating policy in Ghana. At best we are told to contribute resources but “shut up” when it comes to discussing the destiny of the nation.
The present Mills government has also started making the same empty noise about Ghanaians abroad. The new High Commissioner to Canada used the same “important development partners” line in his speech in Ottawa during the celebration of Ghana’s 53rd Independence anniversary. But we have heard all that before. It is time the governments at home in Ghana showed more honesty and sincerity in their dealings with Ghanaians abroad. We have heard the rhetoric over and over. It is time for more concrete action and respect for the contributions Ghanaians abroad make to the development of Ghana.
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_____________________________________________________ ----- | | | Friday, 26 March 2010 | | Carl Wilson's Empire Crashes No WASSCE In 2010 Government halts payment of emoluments Italy to support Ghana's transportation sector Minister charges local government officials to strive for internally EDITORIAL: Recognizing Ghanaians abroad as true “development partners”. 2,290 sexual abuse cases recorded in Ashanti Kwabena Agyepong: Mills Is Not Physically Fit To Travel Veep: Government will protect rice and poultry industry Government Embargoes Ex-Gratia Of 13 Ministers SFO Exposes Kofi Jumah Akufo-Addo is Unattractive; He Cannot Attract Floating Voters Headmistress expresses concern about murder of female teachers Consumers express concern about frequent power outages Immigration Gets ICT Equipment CEPS seize contraband wax prints in chapel Minister appeals to pharmacists to help Ghana achieve MDGs | Your Opinions | Have Your Say!
| Archived News for 2010 | Go to 25.03.2010 | News Page was last modified on Sunday, 28 March 2010 16:43:55 | 
| All about the Ghana Election 2008 | | | | * 26.03.2010 | 2,290 sexual abuse cases recorded in Ashanti * Source: GNA | Kumasi, March 26, GNA - The Domestic Violence and Victim Support Unit of the police service in Ashanti has since its establishment recorded a total of 2,290 sexual abuse cases.
Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP), George Appiah-Sakyi of the Unit, said on the average, 154 cases of defilement is reported to them annually.
The offenders usually ensnare the innocent young girls with gifts, threats and deception.
ASP Appiah-Sakyi was speaking at the launch of the "Preventive child sexual assault programme", an initiative by an NGO, Light for Children Ghana, to fight the problem of child sex. He raised concern about the situation where some of the victims either kept their ordeal to themselves or delayed in reporting to the police, leading to the lost of vital evidence to aid prosecution. He spoke of plans by the Unit to visit schools to educate pupils and students and help them to become more alert to protect them from being abused.
New DOVVSU offices are also to be opened at Tepa in the Ahafo-Ano North and Tafo-Pankrono in Kumasi, to make their services accessible to all. Dr. Awuzdi Yeboah, Kumasi Metro-Director of the Ghana Health Service, talked about the medical implication of child sexual assault and said victims become traumatized and suffer from headaches, nightmares and phobia. Other effects are abnormal growth and development, infections in the reproductive tract and injury in the vagina, which sometimes narrows the tube for delivery. He said 29 per cent of them also exhibited depression and sexual anxiety. | Kwabena Agyepong: Mills Is Not Physically Fit To Travel * Source: Citifmonline | A former Spokesperson to former President John Agyekum Kufuor, Kwabena Agyepong, says President Mills has failed to attend some critical international assignments outside the country because he is physically not strong enough to embark on such trips.
Kwabena Agyepong told Citi Breakfast Show host Moro Awudu, on Thursday, March 25 that the Vice President had to step in for him and attend several important occasions such as the AU summit because the president’s health could not support him to undergo the strenuous activities involved in such trips.
“How many times has John Mahama been out? A lot of times...Mills can’t do it because he is physically not able to do it and that’s why even important occasions like Africa Union the Vice President had to go...He can’t do the strenuous work that Kufuor had to do” The President’s health has been a major source of concern to many since the electioneering campaign in 2008.
It is recalled that shortly after his nomination as the NDC’s flagbearer for the 2008 elections, NDC’s MP for Lower Manya Krobo, Hon. Teye Nyaunu called for the replacement of then candidate Mills because he thought he was not fit enough to run the race.
At the time of his campaign, the NDC slammed former President Kufuor for embarking on numerous travels while neglecting his duties at home.
Kwabena Agyepong chided the NDC for what he called the hypocritical stance on the matter.
He suggested that President Mills’ inability to travel is not because he wants to keep to a campaign promise of cutting down presidential travels to save cost but rather he is too frail to meet the energy demands of such trips.
“There is no shame about that (that president Mills is sick) we don’t wish ill for anybody...as we speak President Mubarak is undergoing treatment in Saudi Arabia, he is sick. Reagan underwent several operations, why are we being so fetish about the issue?
He alleged that President Mills is benefiting from some state largesse including a parcel of state land at Amasaman.
“Professor Mills cannot tell me that he has not benefited from State largesse by having a plot. The plot at Amasaman, that’s where he is building his house. You should go and ask him whether that is not a state property.” He said
“Today he can look into the eyes of Ghanaians and said that Muntaka is not the only person to have travelled with the girlfriend. The man who is God fearing is now accepting the fact that Ministers can have extra marital activities.”
“Ama Benyiwa Doe and the rest, according to reports in the papers are building mansions within one year. They should not pretend that they are saints and then damage people just to get into office and do worse.” He added.
Meanwhile, the Communications Director to the presidency, Koku Anyidoho, responding to Mr. Agyepong's claims dismissed the assertion that the President is unable to travel because he is unfit.
He told Citi FM's Patrick Ayumu that Mr. Agyepong's claims are unjustified.
"The President was in Abuja. Last year he attended quite a number of international assignments - the climate change conference in Copenghagan, the UN General Assembly, the AU summit in Libya, he was at the Ecowas summit in Abuja, he was in Trinidad and Tobago for the Commonwealth heads of states meeting. We are only in the first quater of this year, and he didn't attend the AU summit in Adiss Ababa and that is enough to draw a conclusion? I don't think that is a justifiable conclusion. He responded
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