Dr Twum-Baah retracts earlier statement and now says… census 90 % of structures, houses, covered
10 injured in shooting incident at Juaso
GCB to close down 20 branches
Vote for candidates who can deliver
NPP will rescue Ghana from economic mess
NPP to boost transportation
No need to expunge libel laws – Assiseh
Cease making statements on running mate--NDC
I am frustrated
NPP will win over 100 seats
Minister shifts blame
4 Ghanaians Jailed In UK.
Patients can't afford fees at Ho Regional Hospital
Dr Twum-Baah retracts earlier statement and now says… census 90 % of structures, houses, covered
The Daily Graphic reports in its lead story that the National Census Co-ordinator, Dr Kwaku Twum-Baah, has within 24 hours contradicted himself on the outcome of the just-ended National Housing and Population Census.
The report says Dr Twum-Baah, in an earlier statement to the press on Sunday, declared that “90 percent of the total population” had been covered by the exercise.
However in an interview with the Graphic yesterday, he retracted his earlier statement by declaring that “90 percent of structures and houses” were enumerated at the end of the census period on 9 April, says the report.
The report quotes Dr Twum-Baah as describing the earlier statement duly signed by him as misleading, adding “the actual figures could only be determined after the compilation of the census results”.
Dr Twum-Baah, who is also the acting government statistician, is said to have explained that the census covered three areas namely institutional populations comprising hospitals, prisons, police cells, schools, camps etc; floating populations, consisting of markets, lorry parks and shopping areas among others; and household populations.
He said reports reaching the secretariat as at Friday 7April indicated that an average of 95 percent of the institutional populations had been covered, with between 90 to 95 percent of the floating population locations enumerated, and 90 percent of all places where people live having been enumerated, the story added.
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10 injured in shooting incident at Juaso
Another front-page story of the Daily Graphic says that ten people sustained various degrees of gunshot wounds at Juaso in Ashanti Region at the weekend during a shooting incident at a funeral.
The wounded, all in very critical conditions, are on admission at the Agogo Presbyterian Hospital, according to the report which also said the incidence occurred as a result of sporadic firing of firearms, which started shortly after the arrival of Nana Owusu Achaw Prempeh, the chief of the town, at the funeral grounds of Opanin Yaw Koda who died at age 144 years and was considered the oldest man in the village.
The incident is believed to be linked to the town’s chieftaincy dispute, the report added.
The paper says its investigations indicate that Kwasi Kwabi, who was alleged to have fired the first shot wounding nine people in the process and Kwame Ketewa, a former Akwamuhene of the town, are helping the police in their investigations.
Last year, a similar shooting incident occurred at Juaso resulting in the death of a farmer and the burning of the police station in the town, which resulted in the arrest of about 78 people including the chief of the town, Nana Prempeh.
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GCB to close down 20 branches
The Graphic carries another story on the Ghana Commercial Bank’s (GCB) decision to close down 20 of its non-performing branches as part of a major restructuring exercise to enhance the competitiveness of the country’s largest bank.
Under the exercise the bank also intends to reduce its staff strength by 1000 by the end of this year, the report said. GCB presently has 3,201 employees and 139 branches nation-wide.
The paper quotes the Managing Director of the bank as saying “we are presently waiting for the green light from the Bank of Ghana to enable us go ahead with efforts to turn around the fortunes of the bank. The board of directors and management of the bank intends to carry through the gradual and planned down-sizing exercise by the end of this year and we are negotiating with the local union to determine the criteria for the exercise.”
“We have been a sleeping giant for far too long and this is the time to wake up and take our rightful place in the competitive business that we find ourselves in”, the paper quotes him as saying.
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Vote for candidates who can deliver
The evening news in its lead story reports Dr Wereko-Brobby, founder and leader of the United Ghana Movement as saying that the challenges facing the nation is to get somebody who can find solutions to our problems and not one who can only articulate issues at stake.
He is therefore reported to have urged Ghanaians to look out for and vote into power, a qualified person as president and not one who can shout the loudest.
According to the paper, Dr Wereko-Brobby said in an interview with it that Ghanaians are now only talking about which party will win the presidential and the parliamentary elections, but not what qualities they expected in the people who will be elected to such high positions.
“It is not how many parliamentarians a party has in parliament, but whether the people representing are qualified to do the job”, he is quoted as saying.
The UGM presidential candidate, who thinks he is the most qualified for the position of president, is said to have claimed that the country has had 20 years of economic decline “and that requires problem solvers that is why I offer alternatives in my presentations”, the paper concludes.
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NPP will rescue Ghana from economic mess
The Greater Accra Regional Secretary of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Nii Ayitey Boafo has said the party is willing to make the necessary sacrifices to ensure that the country is rescued from the deep “economic abyss” into which it has sunk, reports the evening news in another story.
“The only way this can be realised is to win this year’s elections and form the next government to redeem this country from its current economic woes,” Nii Boafo is quoted as saying.
Mr Boafo who was addressing the second in a series of training programmes for polling agents of the party in the Greater Accra Region, asked Ghanaians to vote massively for the party to effect the change they are yearning for.
The workshop, which was under the theme “Agenda 2000: training 10,000 people for a landslide victory,” was said to be attended by 60 participants from six constituencies in Accra.
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NPP to boost transportation
The Statesman quotes presidential hopeful, Mr J.A. Kufuor, to have stated that the post-2000 government of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) will implement an intra-city rail and bus system to facilitate movement and reduce the use of fuel.
The paper says, bemoaning the absence of a well reliable transport system in Accra and other cities, the NPP presidential candidate-elect said that the government under his presidency would ensure a reversal of this trend.
According to the paper, Mr Kufuor said the absence of a mass transport network, especially in Accra, is a contributory factor to the country’s high energy bills and traffic jams on our roads.
At the heart of this policy would be the modernisation of the railway system to provide for express services within the city and places like Tema, Kasoa, Nsawam, Adenta and others, Mr Kufuor is quoted as saying.
Ghana spends an average of $ 5.900 million a year on the purchase of crude oil, according to the report.
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No need to expunge libel laws – Assiseh
The Independent reports in its centre page that the press secretary of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Vincent Assiseh has “attacked” journalists who are pressing for the removal of criminal libel laws from the statute books to redirect their energies somewhere else.
According to the report, Mr Assiseh instead urged journalist to do thorough investigations before they come out with their reports in order not to be caught up with criminal libel.
“Criminal libel is just a piece of legislation, it is absolutely harmless why don’t we cross check our facts so that we don’t go to wake up the harmless piece,” he is said to have added.
Mr Assiseh was speaking at a round table discussion on “freedom of the press and freedom of information” organised by the Friedrich Naumann Foundation (FNF) in Accra last Thursday.
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Cease making statements on running mate--NDC
The Ghana Palaver says the National Consultative Committee of the Progressive Alliance (PA) has stated that the established convention of the PA in selecting a running mate entails among others, broad consultation among the partners in the Alliance.
According to the paper, all party members have therefore been called upon to desist from making statements centred on the choice of a running mate and respect their cherished convention.
The paper says this directive was contained in a statement issued in Accra and signed by the General Secretary of the NDC, Alhaji Hudu Yahaya, after the consultative committee of the PA met on the issue.
According to the statement, the selection of the running mate is considered only after a national delegate's congress has taken a decision on the party's presidential candidate.
It further reminded members and supporters in the Alliance that the position of a running mate is not an elective one.
The paper concludes that the statement made it clear that the National Consultative Committee will not countenance any persons that would seek to distract the attention of the congress from its main objective.
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I am frustrated
The Palaver in another story says the flag bearer of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Mr J A Kufuor has been quoted as saying he is frustrated by the cold reception he has been receiving on his mission to enter the Castle in January 2001.
According to the paper Kufour's frustration was expresses after he under took a campaign tour of some areas in the Western Region.
The paper says the NPP flag bearer attributed the low turn out of electorates to listen to him to sabotage and blamed the disruptive campaign waged against him by his opponents.
The crisis in the Volta regional branch of the party and the difficulty in mobilising funds for the Ho congress were the main reasons for the postponement of the party's annual congress, according to the paper.
The paper however says a source has hinted that Kufour's aides are feverishly re-strategizing as to how to woo the electorate and make Kufour attractive to them.
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NPP will win over 100 seats.
This front-page story carried by the Guide says that the New Patriotic Party (NPP) is poised to win over 100 of the 200 seats in parliament come the December general election.
According to the story, the Member of Parliament (MP) for Ablekuma North, Mr Kwamena Bartels says if the elections should be held right away, his party would sweep109seats of the 200 seats to form the government.
The Ablekuma North MP, according to the paper, said the postponement of the party's congress was for strategic reasons. "It was important to see what the NDC will do at Ho during their congress first, and this would inform the NPP's next move".
The paper says, reacting to those he referred to as opponents of Kufour, he said " if the party should go to a national delegates congress today, he would beat all his competitors hands down the same way he did in 1998".
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Minister shifts blame
The Crusading Guide reports that the deputy Minister of Trade and Industry, Mr Peter Peprah has stated that his Ministry has no hand in the collapse of Tema Shipyard and Dry-dock Corporation (TSDC).
According to the paper, the deputy minister made this claim on a current affairs programme on Radio GAR, an Accra based radio station. He is said to have maintained that the Divestiture Implementation Committee divested Tema Shipyard to the Malaysians to put in more investment.
The paper quotes the deputy Minister as saying "his ministry had nothing to do with the collapse of the dry dock but rather the government was responsible for its monitoring".
The paper says when the Director of Ports and Harbour Authority, Kweku Duah was asked about his outfit's contribution to the degradation of the Dry-dock, he asked for a clarification of the term 'degradation'.
Mr Duah, the papers says, stated that his out fit did not lease the Dry-dock, but rather owns part of the land on which the Dock is situated. “…I mean we own part of the land but the dry-dock and those thing belong to Tema Shipyard and Dry-dock, he is said to have explained.
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4 Ghanaians Jailed In UK.
The Ghanaian Times carries a front-page story which says four Ghanaians are serving various prison terms in the United Kingdom {UK}for conspiring to import cocaine from Surinam to UK.
The paper mentions the four as Crosby Kofi Enningful,40, George Roberts,43, David Adeloe and Mrs Bernice Attakora Gyimah. The fifth person, Richard Attakora Gyimah has been arrested and is aiding Police investigations.
Crosby is serving 20 years, Roberts 14 years, while Bernice is serving four and a half years. According to Narcotics Control Board in Accra, the four were part of a drug syndicate, which operated between Holland and UK.
According to the paper their arrest followed an earlier arrest of an Amsterdam based Ghanaian, Benjamin Quaye Mensah who had two kilogrammes of cocain on his body.
Two other Dutch-Ghanaian nationals Ernestina Adasa and Mercy Nkansah were arrested at Corquelles as they were about to travel to the UK.
The paper says after those arrests, investigations led to Crosby as the principal organiser.
It says when the UK customs officers entered the house of another suspect, Bernice Gyimah, she attempted throwing a quantity of the stuff away, however she was arrested and charged with possession with the intent to supply.
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Patients can't afford fees at Ho Regional Hospital.
The Times in another story, reports that due to the high hospital fees at the new regional Hospital at Ho, patronage has become negligible and the facilities grossly under-utilized since the hospital became operational last year.
According to the paper the situation has brought lots of stress on the Ho District Hospital, which charges three times lower than the Regional Hospital.
Sources close to the Ministry of Health at Ho are reported to have disclosed that funds meant for the rehabilitation and stocking of the district hospital were drastically reduced when the regional hospital became operational.
The paper says with a daily average of 300 out-patients and about 200 beds in the wards, the work load on the district hospital has changed, while water and electricity bills totalling more than 100 million cedis cannot be settled.
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