Yendi Mediation Team begins deliberations
Co-operate with us to fight indiscipline - Budu-Smith
Accra (Greater Accra) 05 April 2002 - Two persons have been arrested for their alleged involvement in the Yendi clashes, the government said on Thursday. Mr Ferdinand O. Ayim, Special Assistant to the Minister of Information and Presidential Affairs, told the press that the arrests were made on Wednesday night at
Tamale and the suspects were in Police custody.
Mr Ayim, who was briefing the press on the current situation at Yendi and Tamale, said both towns were very calm with maximum co-operation from the people. He said so far, both areas had recorded no violence since the attack was made on the Ya-Na's Palace last week, adding that the Police and the military were in full control.
Mr Ayim stated that the two major factions, the Andani and Abudu royal families had met with President John Agyekum Kufuor and agreed to uphold the peace. He also announced that the Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, Yagbon-Wura Bawa Doshie II, Paramount Chief of Gonja Traditional Area and Nayiri Gamni Muhammadu Abudulai, Paramount Chief of Mamprugu Traditional Area, were meeting with President Kufuor to decide on a framework for peaceful mediation.
He appealed to the media to be circumspect in their reportage, adding; "we need to assure the people that safety and security would prevail in the area". Mr Ayim said any negative report could jeopardise government's efforts to restore peace in the area and this could also affect the food security of the country, since the nation depended largely on the area for its major staples.
He announced that directives had been given to the Northern Regional Co-ordinating Council to underwrite all medical expenses of injured victims of the clashes as well as mortuary fees. He also said the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO) and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) had been called in to assist with the refugee problems at Tamale.
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Accra (Greater Accra) 05 April 2002 - President John Agyekum Kufuor is articipating in the preliminary discussions of the three-member Yendi Mediation Team, which began at the State House in Accra on Thursday.
The team, made up of three prominent traditional rulers, would then begin its deliberations and determine possible solutions to the crisis after which it would have separate meetings with the delegation from the Andani and Abudu gates. They would have another meeting with the Presidential Fact-Finding Team on the Dagbon crisis and finally present their report to government.
The President named the Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, the Nayiri Gamni Muhammadu, paramount chief of the Mamprugu Traditional Area and the Yagbon-Wura, bawa dashie II, papamount Chief of the Gonja Traditional Area, to helpd find a lasting solution to the crisis in the Dagbon Traditional Area. The age-long crisis exploded once more last week leading to the killing of at least 28 people, including the Ya-Na.
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Peace, security vital for development in
northern Ghana.
Navrongo (Upper East) 05 April 2002 - In this golden age of business, it is high time the people of northern Ghana worked towards the restoration of peace and security to promote tourism and attract investors to the area, Professor Anaba Alemna, lecturer at the University of Ghana's Department of Information Studies has said.
Presenting a paper on the topic ''good governance and sustainable development: focus on northern Ghana'' at this year's Northern Easter School currently underway at the Navrongo campus of the University for Development Studies (UDS), Professor Alemna said even though peace and security are important ingredients for good governance and sustainable development, the achievement of these vital ingredients poses a challenge in northern Ghana which, ironically, is the most disadvantaged part of the country.
''The intermittent eruption of both intra-ethnic and inter-ethnic conflicts have been a disturbing phenomenon in northern Ghana during the past 20 years". He said the toll of such conflicts in terms of lives lost, injuries, destruction of property and the loss of vital socio-economic infrastructure has been staggering.
"At the end of it all, scarce national resources have to be channelled into peace-keeping operations." Professor Alemna declared that as far as northern Ghana was concerned, good governance would require the strengthening of civic education, restoring people's confidence in the economy and creating participatory institutions of governance that must be sustainable.
The professor noted that the poverty situation in the north had led to an increase in the inequality gap that already existed between the northern and southern parts of the country. "Poverty and inequality undermine good governance as the poor find it difficult to organise and have their opinions heard", he said.
He added that efforts at redressing the problem must be made collectively by the state, civil society and the private sector since over-reliance on central government has so far proved inadequate.
On educational development, Professor Alemna noted with concern that while some basic schools in the south have either been connected or are getting ready to be connected to the internet, several second-cycle schools in north do not have functional computer laboratories.
Catching up with the development of modern information technology, therefore, presents another challenge facing the north. "If this information gap is not bridged soon, it may lead to negative socio-political consequences", he cautioned.
Professor Alemna further cited sound environmental management and gender consciousness as relevant factors in the pursuit of good governance and sustainable development for northern Ghana.
He mentioned small-scale gold mining and said much as it had improved the income levels of some of the people in the area, its social and environmental impacts must also be taken into consideration.
On the issue of gender, the professor said it was unfortunate that certain cultural practices and traditions of the north continued to keep women in subjugation even in the 21st century. He called for a review of practices such as female genital mutilation, widowhood rites and some aspects of the dowry system in the area.
He said unless the government combats the scourge of corruption effectively, poverty nation-wide would deepen, human rights abuses would be intensified and democracy would be undermined.
Emphasising that good governance is a prerequisite to sustainable development, professor Alemna tasked participants at the five-day East school to take a critical look at the paradox by which African countries have remained the poorest and highest debtors in spite of their abundant resources.
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Accra (Greater Accra) 05 April 2002 --President John Agyekum Kufuor on Thursday said the government was hopeful to get the best customary and historical advice from the three-member Yendi Mediation Team.
It has become necessary for the government to approach the three prominent traditional rulers in the country to assist it find solution to the sad situation in the Dagbon State, President Kufuor said when he welcomed the Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu the Second, the third member of the Mediation Team at the Castle, Osu.
The other two members are the Naayiiri Gamni Muhammadu, Paramount chief of the Mamprugu Traditional Area and the Yagbon-Wura Bawa Doshie the Second, Paramount Chief of Gonja Traditional Area. President Kufuor expressed his appreciation to the Asantehene for honouring the invitation at a short notice.
He said the other two members of the Team on Wednesday held separate meetings with him at the Castle. President Kufuor said during separate meetings with the factions involved in the conflict at Yendi it was clear they both were desirous to have a peaceful resolution of the problem.
Okyeame Boakye Yam, Asantehene's linguist, said the Asantehene was privileged to be a party to finding a solution to the Dagbon crisis. The Asantehene later had separate consultations with the Nayiri and the Yagbon-Wura in their hotels in Accra.
The maiden meeting of the Mediation Team takes place in the afternoon at the State House after which it would have separate meetings with the delegations of the Andani Gate and the Abudu Gate. The team would later have a meeting with the Presidential Fact-Finding team on the Dagbon crisis after which it would present its report to the government.
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Accra (Greater Accra) 05 April 2002 - Dr Charles Wereko-Brobbey, Chief Executive of the Volta River Authority, has called for the immediate integration of power infrastructure in the West Africa sub-region to enhance electricity supply within the shortest possible time.
Opening a two-day meeting of the Institutional and Technical Working Groups of the proposed ECOWAS sponsored West African Power Pool (WAPP), the VRA boss said this would promote energy security and improve prospects for relatively cheaper source of power for the countries in the region.
The foundations for the Pool, which was established about 30 years ago with the interconnection among Ghana, Benin and Togo, has crumbled because of the lack of sustained maintenance and a weakening commitment to build on it for the economic and social development of the region.
The meeting is to identify and adopt prioritised projects whose implementation would facilitate the optimum realisation and operation of WAPP and agree on a timetable to implement them.
Dr Wereko-Brobbey told the about 100 delegates and development partners attending the meeting that they should regard the problems they encountered in the past as opportunities to strengthen out utility ties.
"The tendency has been to withdraw into our won little boundaries in the mistaken belief that we can isolate, resolve and sustain our national power needs. "That we cannot, is embodied in the creation of ECOWAS to promote the integrated and cohesive development of the economies of our countries," he added.
He urged ECOWAS members to build on the 30 years of interconnections that has extended to Cote d'Ivoire and Burkina Faso through a multitrack approach to meet the current demands for power in the sub-region.
Ms Marie Françoise Nelly, of the World Bank who was also present at the meeting said about 600 million dollars has been earmarked for the Pool out of which 200 million dollars is immediately available for sourcing. She also pledged the Bank's support for the national power reform programme.
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Accra (Greater Accra) 05 April 2002 - A four-day international summit for mayors is scheduled to beheld in New York and Washington DC between April 16 and 19 to share information on safety and security in the face of terrorism in cities.
Mr Solomon Ofei Darko, Chief Executive of the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA), has been invited to the meeting, which would also discuss strategies for revitalisation of the travel and tourism industries and furthermore establish a more permanent alliance among mayors of the world.
The letter of invitation said the sessions of the summit would welcome mayors' insights, ideas and best practices in meeting the challenges of terrorism. The letter said the summit would conclude in New York City where the mayors would visit the site of the World Trade Centre and meet with top city officials, including those in emergency planning and preparedness.
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Bolgatanga (Upper East) 05 April 2002 - The Right Reverend Emmanuel Arongo, Anglican Bishop of the Tamale Diocese, on Thursday said only truth, honesty and accurate facts on chieftaincy matters could bring peace to the three Northern Regions. Bishop Arongo noted that chieftaincy in the Upper East, Upper West and Northern Regions was shrouded in falsehood making the area a "ticking time bomb."
He told a special synod of the diocese on the adoption of a drafted constitution of the Anglican Church in Ghana towards the attainment of provincial status by October 23, next year that most people found it difficult to speak the truth about the chieftaincy institution, adding, "a pint of it (truth), could resolve serious issues such as the one that happened in the Dagbon Traditional Area."
He said violent chieftaincy disputes would persist in the three Northern Regions inasmuch as perpetrators of these acts continue to peddle lies to achieve their aim. Bishop Arongo prayed for wisdom for members of the three-member committee, established by President John Agyekum Kufuor to mediate in the Dagbon dispute and advised them to insist on the truth in order to come up with a positive and lasting solution.
He noted, "we leave just the opposite life of Christ, because one of the gifts of life is truthfulness, which we hate, yet without it, there would always be chaos." Synod members from more than six parishes of the diocese, clergy of the Church and diocesan officials attended the event.
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Accra (Greater Accra) 05 April 2002 - The number of arrests of drug couriers at the Kotoka International Airport continues to rise as the Custom, Excise and Preventive Service (CEPS) intensifies efforts to track down those who use the airport as transit point.
CEPS officials this week arrested two more drug couriers at the airport for attempting to smuggle into the country substances suspected to be cocaine and heroine. Two traders, Augustine Asare and Quincy Boakye have been handed over to the Narcotic Control Board for further investigations. The arrest of the two suspects is the fourth in two weeks and the ninth this year.
Asare, who arrived on Ethiopia Airlines from Thailand, was suspected and picked for further questioning and physical examination of his luggage. In the process CEPS detected a stain of glue at the bottom of his bag, which indicated that there was a false compartment.
When it was opened three brown cello-taped envelopes containing substances suspected to be heroine weighing 1,300 grams were found hidden at the base of the bag. Asare told newsmen that he became stranded in Bangkok and, therefore, agreed to carry the substance for a fee of 1,000 dollars.
Boakye arrived with the South African Airlines from Thailand and was also picked up by CEPS officials when they detected that his airline ticket had a different name from the passport he presented at the immigration desk.
Upon interrogation and search, 62 oval shaped pellets wrapped on black polythene suspected to be narcotic drugs weighing 800 grams were found in a new ladies bag in his suitcase. Preliminary test conducted on the substance indicated that it was a mixture of cocaine and heroine.
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Accra (Greater Accra) 05 April 2002 - Sheikh Ibrahim Quaye, Greater Accra Regional Minister, on Thursday said an education campaign on the level of noise making is currently underway in the Accra metropolis to educate the populace on the acceptable level of noise.
The campaign, being undertaken by the Accra Metropolitan Assembly in conjunction with the Police, National Commission on Civic Education and the Environmental Protection Agency, is to pave the way for the enforcement of existing laws and regulations on noise making.
Sheikh Quaye told a press briefing in Accra that to be able to better managed such conflicts, a five-member Permanent Conflict Resolution and Management Committee was set up last year to deal with all conflicts bordering on chieftaincy, land, religion and customary practices.
The Management Committee also put in place a monitoring team comprising the Office of the Regional Co-ordinating Council, the Police, AMA, Religious Bodies and Traditional Authorities which managed to prevent many clashes on excessive noise making.
The Regional Minister said the Management Committee had also met with both the religious bodies and the traditional leaders and briefed them on the AMA's (Abatement of Nuisance) bye-laws and the EPA's ambient noise levels guidelines for them to know the extent to which one is permitted to make noise.
He said the outcome of the meeting with the two sides was "very positive", with the various delegations being "urged to pass on the message to their flock". Sheikh Quaye said the meeting recommended that an appeal should be made to all sections of the public to exercise tolerance since it was the only way of living peacefully in a multi-ethnic society.
It also recommended that inflammatory speeches, writings and comments should be avoided while the law and regulations should be maintained. The meeting said those who took the law into their own hands should be dealt with resolutely. "I endorse the recommendations of the Committee and seek your assistance to carry them out," the Minister said.
"Since the maintenance of the rule of law will be the backbone of conflict management and resolution in this matter of the ban, it is necessary that the public should be aware of the relevant parts of the Criminal Code and AMA Bye-Laws and regulations on noise abatement and nuisance." He appealed to the media to help disseminate information on the laws on noise making and educate the public on the necessity to abide by them.
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Accra (Greater Accra) 05 April 2002 - Burial took place on Thursday at the Osu Military Cemetery in Accra of the five personnel of the Ghana Armed Forces (GAF) who died in the March 16 helicopter crash in the Atiwa Forest at Segyimase in the Eastern Region.
They were Wing Commander Benjamin Acheampong, the pilot, Flight Lieutenant Seth Lartey, co-pilot, Coporals Emmanuel Akoensi and Joseph Bosomfi, both technicians and Corporal Frederick Adu-Buxton.
A large crowd of mourners and sympathisers, including members of the Council of State, Ministers of State, and a government delegation led by Vice President Aliu Mahama were at the burial service to pay their last respects to the victims whose coffins were draped in the colours of the national flag and laid at the Air Force Base at Burma Camp.
There was also a six-member Togolese military delegation led by their Minister of Defence, Brigadier General Asani Tidjani. As the joint Air Force and Army band played solemn brass band music, four sentry men, traditionally taking care of the bodies, moved in various directions, using their long mini swords to display military antics.
Delivering the sermon after tributes had been read by representatives of the Ghana Armed Forces and the families of the victims, Reverend Venerable John Kwamina Otoo, Chaplain General of the GAF, basing his sermon on John 15:13, praised the gallantry of the servicemen and called on mankind to sacrifice in behalf of others.
He recalled the sympathy expressed by President John Agyekum Kufuor and said the sacrifice of the servicemen was a great one as they died in the course of saving the lives of others.
He said it was worthy that the role of every Ghanaian, especially of people who were faced with numerous risks and dangers, and possibly death, in the discharge of their duties, was recognised and adequately rewarded for the sacrifices they made in the development of the nation.
Venerable Otoo called on people in positions of responsibility to be concerned about their subordinates and treat them with the needed respect. Six pallbearers carried each coffin and marched to the hearses against a background of "Death march in Saul" dirge and wails and sobs by relations of the victims, friends and sympathisers.
Fifteen wreaths were laid at the cemetery after the last post was sounded, followed by a gun salute and a two-minute silence. Mr Jake Obetsebi-Lamptey, Minister of Information and Presidential Affairs, laid one on behalf of the Commander-in-Chief and Government and people of Ghana.
Major Tidjani laid one on behalf of the Government and people of the Republic of Togo, while Lieutenant General S.K. Obeng, Chief of Defence Staff, laid one on behalf of the Ghana Armed Forces. The rest of the wreaths were laid by other regiments within the GAF, wives and relatives of the victims.
To give the personnel a final adieu in flight operations, an air force jet flew over the graveyard, accompanied by a huge noise, when the Minister of Information and Presidential Affairs and the Chief of the Defence Staff were about to lay their wreaths.
The Agusta Bell 412 helicopter, which was tasked to undertake a medical evacuation at Nkawkaw, took off from the Air Force Base at Burma Camp at about 0700 hours with an estimated flight time of between 45 and 50 minutes. It crashed on its return trip to Accra.
Other persons on board the helicopter who also died were Mr Debrah George, another patient and a civilian employee of the Ministry of Defence, and Mr Victor Nyarko, a nurse of the Holy Family Hospital at Nkawkaw.
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Accra (Greater Accra) 05 April 2002 - Mr John Budu-Smith, Acting Director General of the Ghana Education Service (GES), on Thursday appealed to stakeholders in the country's education to co-operate with the service to instil discipline in educational institutions.
"We are appealing to Parent Teacher Associations (PTAs), School Management Committees, old students associations and the public to co-operate with the service in the effort to maintain discipline in our schools" the Ghana News Agency reports Mr Budu-Smith as saying in an interview in Accra.
He expressed concern about indiscipline that had become a major problem in schools and said, the problem would be solved if stakeholders and PTAs teamed up to support the GES to fight the canker.
He said the GES board met with Regional Directors of Education and the Executive Members of the Conference of Heads of Assisted Secondary Schools (CHASS) last week to discuss the causes and effects of the recent spate of student disturbances.
The Acting Director General said some of the problems identified included lack of parental control, drug abuse, poor perception of the teaching profession and poor communication among school administrators, staff and students.
He said to address the problem all heads of educational institutions must adhere strictly to the unified code of discipline and employ established channels of communication to resolve students and staff grievances.
Mr Budu-Smith urged parents not to attack school authorities that try to instil discipline in the child adding that they could also play a leading role in supporting school authorities in the enforcement of discipline in the schools.
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