Accra (Greater Accra) 29 April 2003 – Plans are underway between the Government and the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) to re-locate the Liberian refugee camp at Buduburam in the Central Region. According to the former acting Minister of Interior, Dr Kwame Addo Kufuor, the shifting of the camp from where it is to an area, remote from the capital city of Accra had become very necessary for security reasons.
He noted that currently the camp, which was set in 1990 to cater for some 8,000 Liberians who fled the civil war in Liberia, currently harbours 30,000 people. The Defence Minister added that the re-location of the camp to a suitable distance from Accra would ensure a total control of the 4,000 suspected combatants by the national security apparatus.
Dr Addo Kufuor pointed out that the shifting of the camp could also ensure the protection of genuine refugees who adhere strictly to the law of the land. He said this during the handing over ceremony at his office at the Ministry of Interior on Tuesday. The former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Hon Hackman Owusu Agyeman, has formally taken over from Dr Addo Kufuor as Minister of Interior.
Receiving the “baton”, Honourable Hackman Owusu Agyeman expressed his appreciation to the then outgoing Interior Minister for the tremendous performance during his two years’ stay in office. He, however, assured him of continued support to provide a stable democratic environment to ensure the total well being of Ghanaians in particular and foreigners in general.
He implored the media to put the interest of Ghana first and assist him to ensure lasting peace at Dagbon. Dr Kwame Addo Kufuor thanked media practitioners and the Security Agencies for the support offered him and hoped the same gesture would be extended to his successor.
He mentioned the Buduburam camp issue, Dagbon crisis, Fulani Herdsmen troubles and rampant land and chieftaincy disputes as some of the problems he faced during his tenure of office. He mentioned Highway robbery and frequent Police cum Military patrols in the cities as some of the achievements chalked.
Dignitaries who witnessed the ceremony included Kwadwo Owusu Afram, outgoing Deputy Minister of Interior, Nana Owusu Nsiah, Inspector General of Police (IGP), Barnes, Chief Director (CD) Interior Ministry. Others were Francis Poku, National Security Co-ordinator, Director, Bureau of National Investigations (BNI) and Senior Police Officers. – The Crusading Guide
Send your comments to viewpoint@ghanareview.com
Sydney (Australia) 29 April 2003 - Australia's Red Back Mining NL, said on Tuesday a study shows it will cost $38m to develop its Chirano gold mine in Ghana using second-hand equipment once a government mining licence is granted. The figure is based on a feasibility study commissioned by the company, which also indicates the lode could yield 130,000 ounces of gold a year for six-and-a-half years at an average cost of $211 an ounce.
Australian Stock Exchange-listed Red Back, which holds 95 percent of the rights to mine the deposit located in a forest preserve in south-western Ghana, has already acquired used milling equipment in Australia, which it plans to ship to the West African nation.
"These alternative development scenarios could see the already robust economics of the Chirano project further improved," Red Back Managing Director Ross Ashton said. Red Back is among a handful of gold miners Ghana hopes to lure with new mining laws that include opening up previously protected forests. Mining contributes about 45 percent of Ghana's foreign exchange earnings and the country already is Africa's second largest gold producer after South Africa.
Ghana's government recently announced it would grant mining leases in its forest preserves to Red Back, Ashanti , Newmont Mining Corp and Satellite/Bogosu Gold. Red Back was expecting its license by the end of this year, allowing it to start mining gold in 2004, Ashton said. The company was also considering listing its shares in either Canada or Britain to help raise mine development funds, Ashton said. - Reuters
Send your comments to viewpoint@ghanareview.com
Accra (Greater Accra) 29 April 2003 - It is quite unusual for toothpaste to become one of the biggest revenue earners for a manufacturing conglomerate like Unilever Ghana Ltd. But that is the current trend in the financial flow of the company. And the reason is that Ghanaians have fallen in love with Unilever’s brands of toothpaste (Close up and pepsodent).
The Director of Finance of Unilever, Emmanuel Idun at a recent interaction with executive members of the Institute of Financial and Economic Journalists (IFEJ) disclosed that Ghana has the highest per capita consumption of toothpaste in West Africa.
Idun said as a result of the high consumption of toothpaste, the Close up brand is the highest market driver in the personal care portfolio of Unilever. He said Pepsodent is also is also holding its own against cheap foreign toothpaste on the market, while frytol and key soap are the market-drivers for the food and home care categories.
“The returns on toothpaste are so good that sometimes I wonder whether Ghanaians have double uses for the product”, says the Director of Finance. Thanks to the IMF/World Bank trade liberalisation policy the local market has been flooded with foreign brands like Anidadent, Ritadent, Polodent, Ciptadent, Friendship, Maxam, Angola, in manner that amounts to dumping.
For Unilever to be making huge profits from Close up and Pepsodent in the face of keen competition from cheap foreign toothpaste is an indication that Ghanaians are really mindful of their oral hygiene.
Unilever’s gains also means that local companies are matching up to international competition. A key ingredient to fighting competition is good packaging and labelling. Idun admits that Unilever spends a large percentage of its overhead costs on packaging materials, a large number of which are imported.
Beating the competition also comes with rising radio and TV advertising costs. Unilever is perhaps the highest spender on advertising in the country at the moment. The cost of advertising is no doubt added to the final price, making local goods very expensive.
Many Ghanaians complement toothpaste with chewing stick. In the rural areas where poverty is so pervasive chewing stick is the only source of oral hygiene. Selling chewing stick across the country has over time become a big time business. Many Ghanaians believe that toothpaste only cleans the surface of the teeth and to fight tobacco stain and remove meat particles one has to use chewing stick. There are real stories of women who have sold chewing stick and educated their children up to tertiary level.
Some have built houses out of the trade, which is still the main preoccupation of many women in the urban centres. These women wake up at dawn to catch travellers at all bus stations in Accra, Kumasi and Sekondi –Takoradi.
Recent information from the Ghana Export Promotion Council shows that export of chewing stick to Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger is growing steadily. Though negligible, earnings from chewing stick and other herbal products add to the growing foreign revenue from non-traditional exports.
In 2003 the non-traditional export sector earned US$400m for the country. But exports of chewing stick and forest products come at a great cost to environmental degradation. Because of the threat of desertification in the countries Ghana exports chewing sticks to they have banned felling of trees. Ghana has therefore become the only supply of chewing stick to these countries. - Public Agenda
Send your comments to viewpoint@ghanareview.com
Accra (Greater Accra) 29 April 2003 - The Concord newspaper says unconfirmed but credible information suggests that one of the NDC’s finest brains on the economy and a frontbencher could tender his resignation from Parliament within the week.
The MP, whose name is being withheld for now, pending contact with him is expected to leave for the US after his resignation with his wife to further his educational career. Efforts to reach him via the phone throughout Sunday failed, forcing the paper to hold on to his identity now. – Concord
Send your comments to viewpoint@ghanareview.com
Accra (Greater Accra) 29 April 2003 - The jubilation over the winner of the Amenfi West by-election was not limited to only NPP supporters. Ironically, some NDC (Botchwey camp) sympathizers took part in the joyous moment when the final results were announced.
In a discreet chat with the Accra Daily Mail (ADM) newspaper, they said ''if he thinks he alone can move the party forward, there we are, six defeats in a row''. The latest electoral defeat has emboldened some vacillating NDC supporters to resolve to take the final move.
In Nima, some 30 die-hard supporters are said to be preparing to leave the party for good. A startling development in the aftermath of the Amenfi West election is the refusal of the National Chairman, Dr Obed Asamoah to talk to the press.
Obed has actually not spoken to the press again since his celebrated outbursts over the anomalies within the NDC which he alleged were responsible for the downturn of the party’s fortunes in recent times. When the ADM called him on his residential telephone number on Friday afternoon, he was rather harsh in his response. ''I am not giving any interview. Have a nice day.''
At the National Headquarters of the party, some of the morose and whingering staff were more concerned about their financial predicament as opposed to the latest electoral defeat of the party.
The headquarters is now a dismembered entity because its functions have now been taken over by three persons, each one operating his own NDC. The Prof has his own staff operating outside the recognized NDC headquarters; Obed Asmoah too has taken the chunk away and so is the Founder who is doing his own thing at his Ridge residence where he holds his amorous meetings and press conferences. – Accra Daily Mail
Send your comments to viewpoint@ghanareview.com