Rape victims in Ashanti
prefer compensation to imprisonment
NPP calls for immediate attention to
rescue economy
Aburi Botanical Garden launches 110th
anniversary
GUTA threatens to go on strike
CP selects parliamentary candidate for
Ketu South
A new transport association comes into
being
Rape victims in Ashanti prefer
compensation to imprisonment
Kumasi (Ashanti Region) 20 April 2000
Most victims of rape in the Ashanti Region
prefer compensation from the law courts and tribunals to custodial sentence on
offenders.
Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP)
Comfort Boateng, Head of the Women and Juvenile Unit (WAJU) of the Ghana Police
Service in Ashanti, explained that the victims feel cheated and dehumanised and
prefer compensation as a form of pacification for the abuse of their rights and
dignity.
She was speaking on "Domestic
violence: - The law and its preventive measures", at a seminar organised
by the Ashanti Chapter of the Ghana Committee on Human and Peoples' Rights in Kumasi,
on Tuesday.
About 60 participants from Ashanti,
Brong-Ahafo and Upper East regions attended the seminar, which was under the
theme: "Domestic violence is an abuse of fundamental human rights".
ASP Boateng noted that most women were
ignorant of the laws and regulations protecting them, as well as their rights
as enshrined in the constitution and, therefore, they fail or refuse to report
atrocities meted out to them for redress.
Those who report such cases also at times,
refuse to follow up when they are "seen" at home by the perpetrators
of the crime, she said, adding that this hamper prompt investigations of such
cases. "Some go to the extent of seeing medical officers for unsupported
medical reports."
ASP Boateng said because of societal
attitude and the prestige attached to marriage, some victims of violence would
not like to expose such acts against them and even refuse to attend court in
order not to lose their marriage.
ASP Boateng said since the establishment
of WAJU in the region in July last year, about 135 cases on violence against
women and children, have been recorded and sent to the courts for prosecution.
Eighty cases of defilement, seven cases of
indecent assault, six cases of attempted rape and other minor offences were
also received.
She said most of them have been dealt with
and the offenders sentenced to prison terms, others are pending before the
courts while investigations into some of them continue.
Mrs Doris Dabanka Bekoe, a State Attorney,
spoke on "Domestic violence against women as an impediment to
socio-economic development".
She said the government and women groups
should expose domestic violence through surveys and documentation to create
much awareness about the problem and its effect on the socio-economic
development of the country as regards the role of women in society.
Mrs Bekoe called for a review of the legal
framework such as an unequal inheritance and discriminatory family laws, which
gives room for violence by men. Without such review, domestic violence against
women will continue to be an obstacle to the socio-economic development of
women.
Mrs Rose Owusu Yeboah, vice-chairperson of
the committee in Ashanti, welcoming the participants, said any country that
respects and protects the rights of its citizens creates an enabling
environment that sends the right signal to investors to be part of its
development efforts.
She said it should, therefore, be the
collective efforts of every Ghanaian to pursue this noble idea and objective to
ensure a more humane society where the individual's rights are acknowledged and
respected.
GRi…/
NPP calls for immediate attention to rescue
economy
Accra (Greater Accra Region) 20 April 2000
The New Patriotic Party (NPP) saying the government
has not done anything to calm the current turbulence in the economy, on
Wednesday called for immediate reconvening of Parliament to address the
problems.
The party proposed that the majority leader should
appoint a special bi-partisan committee to assist the Minister of Finance to
work out short-term proposals that would restore confidence in the economy and
particularly, stop the alarming plunge of the cedi.
"The committee should outline proposals that will
reduce corruption and capital flight and propose lasting measures to strengthen
our currency and suggest policies to deal with the economic crisis," the
party's presidential candidate, John Agyekum Kufuor told a packed press
conference in Accra.
He was flanked by leading members of the party,
including its chairman Samuel Odoi-Sykes, Mrs Gladys Asmah, deputy Minority
leader, Dr Kofi Apraku and Mr Hackman Owusu-Agyeman, spokesmen for Finance and
Foreign Affairs, respectively.
Also present were Nana Akuffo Addo, spokesman on Legal
and Constitutional matters, and Mr Samuel Boafo, minority Whip.
Mr Kufuor said in order to reduce pressure on the
cedi, conserve foreign exchange, "and show that we are now prepared to
live within our means," the government should take immediate measures to
ensure that companies comply with the foreign exchange retention regulations.
He reiterated the party's position that the government
should abrogate the agreement on the purchase of the presidential jet, saying,
"we need those 23 million dollars elsewhere."
Mr Kufuor said the contract between the Accra
Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) and the Canadian company, Chagnon, to collect
refuse from the city should also be abrogated "because we do not need to
pay 21 million dollars a year to collect Accra's garbage."
He called on
the government to introduce greater transparency into the divestiture process
so as to boost public, as well as, investor confidence in the programme and to
generate more foreign exchange.
Mr Kufuor, who quoted the current dollar rate as more
than 5,000 cedis, castigated the government for its silence in the face of the
unprecedented plunge of the currency, saying they have no idea of what to do.
"We will tell them what to do," he declared
to a prolonged applause from the audience, which included veteran politician
Professor Adu Boahen.
He said he disagreed with the government's attempt to
blame the economic problems on the rise in petroleum prices and the decline in
gold price, saying "the fault is not outside this country, it is inside
Ghana," adding that the long-term cause of the crisis is the mismanagement
of our economy.
"This government has failed to restructure the
economy. After 19 years of sacrifice by the people and so much help from
donors, the NDC has taken us back to the same colonial economy that we had at
independence: We are hewers of wood and drawers of water, producers of primary
commodities only."
Mr Kufuor cited various attempts made by the NPP
leadership as well as its members in Parliament, to help check the sliding of
the economy saying, things did not work due to the "arrogant refusal"
of the government to listen to others.
He said in order to compel the government to listen
now, all facets of the Ghanaian populace should rally behind the NPP and add
their voice to the party's call to restructure the economy.
Mr Kufuor also commented on the role of the Breton
Woods institutions, the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF), in
the management of the Ghanaian economy, and the perceived domination of
Malaysians in the key sectors saying
a government of the NPP would not entirely cut itself
away from consultations with the IMF or the World Bank but it would go to them
when necessary and with its own solutions.
Regarding Malaysia, the NPP presidential candidate
expressed admiration for the Asian country for her leap into development,
saying that he would not blame Malaysian investors for coming to Ghana.
He said he would rather put the blame on the
government for not doing its best to learn how Malaysia, which was at the same
level with Ghana at independence, made it instead of just selling out key
companies to Malaysian companies.
"After all, a wise leader will study how the
Malaysians did it and will not allow them to colonise us," Mr Kufuor said,
after Mr Odoi-Sykes had remarked that "Malaysia is the financial capital
of Ghana."
Nana Akufo Addo and Mrs Asmah stressed the need for
divested state assets to be foremost offered to Ghanaians before others are
invited to take them up.
GRi…/
Aburi Botanical Garden launches 110th
anniversary
Accra (Greater Accra Region) 20 April 2000
The Aburi Botanical Garden in the Eastern Region, is
implementing major reforms including the construction of a multi-purpose
environmental education centre, to enable the garden to play a more purposeful
role in saving plant diversity and promote the development of plant resources.
It is also conducting feasibility studies for the
establishment of a Network of Botanical Gardens in West Africa, out of which a
branch office of the Botanical Garden Conservation International (U.K.) would
be established at Aburi to serve the sub-region.
Launching the 110th anniversary of the Garden, Mr
George Owusu, Chief Parks and Gardens Officer, said when these projects are
completed, they would help the Garden to achieve its goals of training,
conservation, research and raise national interest in the value of native
plants.
He said the Garden has since its establishment in
1890, been solely responsible for the introduction of species of economic value
into agriculture, horticulture and forestry, as well as education of students
of botany.
However, many unproportionate developments, population
explosion and the over exploitation of forest resources have threatened the
survival of species in Tropical Africa.
"Aburi, the only public botanical garden in the
country, has a major role to play if these plants are to be conserved for the
benefit of future generations", Mr Owusu said.
Mr Owusu said Aburi is currently among the 17
botanical gardens tasked to develop policy guidelines for the world's 1,800
botanical gardens, adding, "this is no mean achievement" and urged all public parks, horticultural
nurseries and private gardens to strengthen existing co-operation for their
mutual benefit.
Mrs Cecilia Johnson, Minister of Local Government and
Rural Development, who launched the anniversary, said the garden has provided a
good opportunity for people, especially urban dwellers and tourists, "to
come close to nature thereby enhancing their understanding of economic, cultural
and aesthetic value of plants."
She said the establishment of a 50-acre First Aid
Garden funded by Darwin Initiative Project and National Lotteries Charities
Board (U.K.), would enhance the sustainable use and documentation of medicinal
plants in Ghana.
Mrs Johnson said the re-housing of the School of
Horticulture in a new complex at Aburi, would promote botany education and
expressed the hope that the school would soon be affiliated to one of the
universities and upgraded to a diploma awarding institution.
To promote private sector participation in the
development of the garden, a special golden lawn has been established in the
garden where companies, district assemblies, non-governmental organisations and
individuals would be invited to plant cocoa seedlings and economic trees for a
fee of one million cedis and 500,000 cedis respectively.
As part of the celebrations, which is under the theme
'"Botanical Gardens, Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow'', the Department of
Parks and Gardens will organise environmental education for pupils in the
Akwapim Ridge and plant shade trees at the Kanda and La cluster of schools in
Accra.
The highlight of the celebration would be a durbar of
chiefs and the commissioning of the School of Horticulture at the Aburi Gardens
on May 28, 2000.
GRi…/
GUTA threatens to go on strike
Accra (Greater Accra Region) 20 April 2000
The Ghana Union of Traders Association (GUTA) on Wednesday
threatened to close down their shops and go on demonstrations unless the
government takes steps in to stabilise the cedi.
"We will be compelled to hike prices of our goods
if the trend of the depreciation of the cedi against the dollar and other foreign
currencies continues".
Mr Paa Kofi Ansong, Public Relations Officer of GUTA,
told newsmen at a press conference in Accra, on the depreciation of the cedi,
and what the association could do to help resolve the problem.
He said members of the association were not happy
about the falling rate of the cedi and appealed to the government to monitor
the activities of foreign investors since most of them are of dubious and deviate
from their original plan of investment.
Mr Ansong said GUTA would press the government to
ensure that the cedi/dollar exchange rate was brought down from 5,000 cedis to
between 2,500 and 3,000.
"We shall wait and watch the trend, and use every
available channel of negotiations to address the problem. If all these fail, then
we have no choice but to go on strike".
In a five-point resolution, GUTA appealed to the
government to look into the operations of money transfer banks, since some of
their activities are not in the interest of the nation.
GRi…/
CP selects parliamentary candidate for Ketu
South
Aflao (Volta Region) 20 April 2000
The Convention Party (CP) last Saturday selected Mr
Christian Yao Zigah, businessman, as its parliamentary candidate for the Ketu
South constituency to contest the December elections.
Mr Mike Eghan, third national vice-chairman of the
party, who introduced Mr Zigah to delegates attending the constituency
conference announced that a consultative meeting of delegates from the 200
constituencies would be organised soon in Accra to decide on the mode and date
for the party's national congress.
Mr Kwesi Pratt, Junior, chairman of the publicity
committee of the party, advised supporters to embark on a vigorous campaign to
break the front of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) front in the Volta
Region.
Officers elected for the constituency were Alhaji Kojo
Tsikpo-Mensah, chairman, Mr Moses Dogbatse, treasurer and Pastor Francis
Sodzinshie, secretary.
Others were, Mr Moses Abuyah, organiser, Madam Cecilia
Kubutornye, women's organiser, Mr Felix Ayi, youth organiser and Mr Emmanuel
Gaglozu, education secretary.
GRi…/
A new transport association
comes into being
Kumasi (Ashanti Region) 20 April 2000
A new transport association known as Unity Transport
Union which aims at halting the exploitation of the rural people by the
established transport associations, has been formed.
The union, duly registered with the Registrar-General's
Department with its headquarters in Kumasi, has been operating for a year now
on the quiet.
Disclosing this to the Ghana News Agency in Kumasi on
Tuesday, Mr Charles Boamah, treasurer of the union, said they now reach areas
in the rural communities where hitherto, the existing transport associations
were not reaching.
This has eased the transportation problems facing such
communities, more so when the new union's fares are far bellow the present
fares.
Mr Boamah said, so far, the union has about 20
branches in the Ashanti and Brong-Ahafo Regions and named some of the towns
where they have been operating as Aduaben, Ohwim, Asuofua, Amoaman, Nketia and
Ofoase in the Atwima District.
Others are Twabidi in the Ahafo-Ano North District and
Kwapong, Sankore, Abuom and Goaso in the Asunafo District of Brong-Ahafo.
GRi…/