Calm returns to Bawku after Kussasi/Mamprusi clash
Forty die in ethnic clashes at Bawku
Western Records 76,657 under-employed and unemployed
Bilfinger and Berger caught tapping power illegally - ECG
Two Minority MPs on Reconciliation Bill
One party for Nkrumaists by end of year
Bolgatanga (Upper East) 04 December 2001 - Calm has returned to the Bawku Township after the Kussasi and Mamprusi ethnic conflict in which 18 people were officially reported killed and many others injured at the weekend.
This follows the deployment of police and military reinforcements
who intervened to stop the feuding factions from causing further mayhem. The
security agencies have penetrated the respective strong-holds of the two
factions during which a number of arrests were made. The Kusasi’s and
Mamprusi’s have been engaged in running battles using guns and other deadly
weapons after an initial argument over lotto transaction bet.
The Upper East Regional Security Council (REGSEC) on Tuesday morning held an emergency meeting in preparation for the arrival of the Chief of Defence Staff, Lieutenant General Seth Obeng, who was due in Bolgatanga at 1200 hours from where he would fly to Bawku.
Even though, the REGSEC was yet to brief the press, information filtered through indicated that not a single weapon had been fired during the last 24 hours. It said the Police and the Military were in firm control.
Reports from Bawku indicated that health workers at the local Presbyterian Hospital had deserted and the injured would have to be attended to by the military medical team.
Mr Ernest Owusu-Poku, Inspector General of Police, told the Ghana News Agency that some schools in the township have closed down following the clashes. "There is no lawlessness now since most of the inhabitants are staying indoors and everything is under control."
He said the firing and burning of houses has also ceased with police and the military patrolling the township. Meanwhile, GNA reports other sources as saying that most of the youth had deserted the town leaving mainly the elderly, women and children. The source said that the official casualty figures were still 18.
The source said the fact that some of the casualties may be Muslims whose relatives might quickly bury them may delay the tallying of the death toll. Bawku had been likened to Jerusalem where two different groups of people lay claim to the town - Palestinians and the Israelis.
The Mamprusi until the early 1980 were the rulers of Bawku but following persistent clashes it was resolved that the Kusasis, who were the owners of the land should be recognised and the Kusasi Chief Abugrago Azoka II became the Bawku Naba (Chief of Bawku).
Notwithstanding, the arrangement Bawku remained a flash spot with the two ethnic groups clashing over the least of provocations. Just before the 1996 elections a young man allegedly beat up his girl friend, who happened to belong to the other ethnic group.
This episode, which should have normally passed as lovers' quarrel, degenerated into a serious clash during which some kiosks and houses were burnt. When the 1996 election results were declared there was another clash between the two groups. Again after the 2000 elections there was a clash in which several people were killed and property destroyed.
GRi../
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Forty die in ethnic clashes at Bawku
Bawku (Upper East) 04 December 2001 - The death toll in the
ethnic clashes in Bawku has increased to 40. Latest reports say hundreds of
people are fleeing the town to escape the violence which erupted between the
Mamprusi's and the Kusasi's. It is feared that more people are dead and the Regional
Security Council has imposed a dusk to dawn curfew in the area.
There
have been conflicting reports about what might have triggered the violence.
Eyewitnesses however told JOY-FM that the disturbances began last Saturday over
the ownership of a lotto kiosk which seemed to have been amicably settled. The
Kusasi's however woke up on Sunday to find that the disputed lotto kiosk had
been burnt down.
Suspecting
that the act was committed by the Mumprusi's the Kusasi's also burnt down a car
belonging to a Mamprusi and this resulted in sporadic clashes this morning. The
Bawku Township is said to have attracted a heavy Military and Police Presence
for the maintenance of Law and order. the about 30 policemen and a few military
officers in the area were unable to contain the situation and asked for
re-enforcement from Bolgatanga and Tamale. Twenty people – 10 from each faction
– have so far been arrested and are being held at the Upper-West regional
Police Command at Bolgatanga.
The
Director of the Police Public Relations Unit, Superintendent.A. Awuni who
described the situation as serious told JOY- FM that more re-enforcements would
be sent to the area to secure the peace. There has been a long-standing dispute
between the two factions leading to tension between the two ethnic groups. The
most recent clashes between the two sides occurred in which many lives and
property were lost and many families also displaced early in the year 2000.
-Joy
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Sekondi (Western Region) 04 December 2001 - The Western Region recorded 76,657 under-employed and unemployed persons after the national registration exercise, Mrs Olivia Opoku-Adoma, an Economic Planning Officer and Co-ordinator of the registration exercise told the Ghana News Agency (GNA) at Sekondi on Monday.
She said, even though, the exercise was over, Axim, Bibiani, Tarkwa, Half Assini and Shama Ahanta East District Labour Offices were still undertaking a "mopping up" of those who could not register.
She said those who registered included: hawkers, drivers' mates, drivers, hair dressers and seamstresses, tailors, apprentices, craftsmen and potters. She said the Shama Ahanta East Metropolis recorded 14,427 persons, the highest, while Aowin-Suaman registered 3,350 persons, the lowest in the region. Mrs Opoku-Adomah added that the Bibiani-Anhwiaso-Bekwai and Sefwi Wiawso Districts, registered 6,246 and 6,165 respectively.
GRi../.
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Accra (Greater Accra) 04 December 2001 - The Loss Control Unit of the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) on Monday said it had "unravelled a serious illegal connection at the premises of Bilfinger and Berger Construction firm" during a special exercise mounted by it at Ho and its surrounding villages.
"An examination conducted on their three-phase meter revealed that the meter had been tampered with" a statement issued in Accra and signed by Gloria Dua-Sakyi, Public Relations Manager of ECG said.
"After the discovery ECG granted Bilfinger and Berger Construction a day's grace to meet ECG officials but officials of Bilfinger and Berger refused to honour the appointment. Following this development disconnection was then effected.”
"Officials of Bilfinger and Berger, who did not take kindly to the disconnection reacted by digging a trench in front of ECG's regional office at Ho, making access to ECG's Regional Office impossible.
"The Volta Regional Director of ECG, Mr Daniel Azu then made a formal complaint to the Regional Director, Ghana Highway Authority, who took up the matter and explained ECG's position to Bilfinger and Berger.
"Officials of Bilfinger and Berger agreed to get in touch with ECG officials at Ho after ECG's position was explained to them", the statement said.
"True to their words, an official of Bilfinger and Berger from their Head Office was in Ho to plead for leniency and reduction in the bill."
Bilfinger and Berger have since filled up the trench in front of the ECG Office in Ho. The plea was, however, not granted. The premises of Bilfinger and Berger still remained disconnected.
When the Ghana News Agency contacted Bilfinger and Berger, in Accra, Mr Dieter Schreiber, Commercial Director, denied that they had tampered with the meter.
"How can a company like us manipulate a meter? For what purpose?" He said if there had been any manipulation at all then it might have been before the company took over the rented premises as its office.
Mr Schreiber explained that the three-phase meter was disconnected because ECG said the company had outstanding bills to settle. He said the company then sent copies of receipts to ECG at Ho after, which power was restored, but then only one phase was functioning.
The company then reported the problem to the ECG, which sent another technician to rectify the anomaly. Mr Schreiber said a few days later a team from ECG arrived at the company's premises and disconnected power supply with the reason that their meter had been tampered with.
He said ECG later asked Bilfinger and Berger to pay four million cedis for the restoration of power, which the company refused since they had not tampered with the meter.
On the trench dug in front of the offices of the ECG Regional Office, the Commercial Director said it was done as a prelude to the asphalting of the Ho township roads and that it was normal. He said there was no way the company could dig trenches just to inconvenience people.
GR../
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Prampram (Greater Accra) 04 December 2001 - Two National Democratic Congress (NDC) Members of Parliament said at the weekend that they agreed with the principle of reconciling Ghanaians to promote peace and national development.
They however, said reconciliation means repentance and forgiveness and the process must be broad-based to cover all regimes from 1957 instead of any line being drawn to create division.
Mr Enoch Teye Mensah, MP for Ningo-Prampram and Mrs Anna Tetteh-Kpoder, MP for Awutu-Senya were speaking at the inauguration of Prampram Hairdressers and Beauticians Association at Prampram at the weekend.
Mr Mensah quoted the Bible and said: "God told the prophets to go and reconcile the people, therefore, there is nothing wrong in asking for reconciliation that will bring about togetherness and peace in the country".
However, the argument by others that some people were dead so the process should not start from 1957 did not hold water, he said. He said between 1960-66, about 300 people died or were maimed through bomb throwing at Kulungugu in the Upper East Region and other parts of Accra and Kumasi and such bomb victims would not be catered for if the process started from 1979.
"If one is shepherding the reconciliation bill, one should be reconciliatory and I, therefore, expect that when the Attorney-General goofed, he should have apologised in one sentence to me".
Mr Mensah was referring to his arrest on May 12, 2001 when he was placed in custody for 50 hours, saying that one Alhaji Bature whom he never knew, was also arrested for allegedly conspiring with him.
Mrs Tetteh-Kpoder said if the NPP government meant real reconciliation, then it should not create the impression that now that they were in power they wanted to show Ex-President Jerry John Rawlings and his NDC where power lay.
She explained that the NDC asked for genuine democracy because it realised that it was the people in this country who must decide on who should rule them through the ballot box, a feat Ghana had chalked through the good efforts of Ex-President Rawlings.
Mrs Tetteh-Kpoder said she became nervous when some journalists talked of coups d'etats, saying, apart from the fact that it scared away investors and stalled development, coup was a treasonable offence whose punishment was death.
People should not think of doing anything to promote it.
"The bottom line of reconciliation is that we want to live in peace and unity to bring about development, and if we have the goodwill we will achieve it", she added.
The Association elected Miss Esther Tetteh, as President, Miss Patricia Laryea, Vice-President, Miss Elizabeth Annan, Secretary, Miss Esther Ayiam, Treasurer and Miss Alberta Mensah, Organiser.
GRi../
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Wa (Upper West) 04 December 2001 - A year-long discussion by the Nkrumaist forum, comprising the CPP, PNC, the Reform Party and the GCPP has culminated in an agreement to form one formidable party for the four parties of the Nkrumaist tradition.
A manifesto for the new party has been drawn up, while finishing touches are being put to its constitution to be ready within one week, Alhaji Ibrahim Mahama, CPP Presidential running mate in last year's elections, announced at Wa on Sunday.
Addressing a meeting of CPP supporters and activists in the Upper West Region, Alhaji Mahama said after the last general election, the leadership of the four parties after a thorough post-mortem of their performance attributed their poor showing partly to the splinter nature of the Nkrumaist parties, hence the need for them to merge into one formidable party ready for the 2004 elections.
He said although the GCPP had decided to pull out of the merger talks, the doors of the forum were still open for the party to join any time it wished. Alhaji Mahama said after the constitution had been drawn up, it would be put before a congress of the parties under the forum for approval.
At the meeting, Alhaji Mahama inaugurated a seven-member regional re-organisation committee of the CPP, under the Chairmanship of Mr Saasu Bakura.
Inaugurating the committee, Alhaji Mahama said following the party's poor performance in the last elections, it had become necessary for the CPP to re-organise for the 2004 elections.
He therefore charged the committee to work hard to improve the level of support for the party in the region. Alhaji Mahama welcomed the government's proposal for state funding of political parties as a step in the right direction.
GRi../
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Accra (Greater Accra) 04 December 2001 - President John Agyekum Kufuor said on Monday agriculture must be diversified, modernised and made a business venture to attract the youth.
He said the average age of the farmer, which is about 45 years, must be reduced if Ghana was to attain the status of a leading agro-based middle-income country by year 2010.
"Accordingly, the sector will undergo a major transformation in the years ahead to ensure that farming is made more scientific and less dependent on the weather," he said, in a speech read on his behalf at the opening of the first Ghana International Food and Agricultural Trade Fair, dubbed AGRIFEX 2001.
The weeklong fair is being jointly organised by the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MOFA) and the Ghana Trade Fair Company Limited (GTFC) to provide the platform for matchmaking between farmers, researchers and agro-industrialists.
It is also to be a meeting point for ideas and goods, and opportunities for producers, traders, buyers and consumers, with the view to projecting agriculture as a business.
President Kufuor noted that agriculture contributed over 40 per cent of GDP and accounted for about 60 per cent of the country's labour force, saying that the sector was also a major foreign exchange earner.
He said it was therefore the policy of the government, under its vision 2010 programme, to adopt a multi-sectoral approach to the transformation and development of the agricultural sector.
"The development and maintenance of irrigation facilities in the country will receive a boost," he said. He said the government had recently contracted a substantial loan for the road sector and construction and maintenance of feeder roads would receive more attention to ease transportation difficulties in farming communities.
President Kufuor noted that the areas of storage, processing and packaging of agricultural produce were almost missing in the production chain, adding that it was regrettable that very little value was added to agricultural produce.
"Clearly, the industrial sector has not sufficiently explored the investment opportunities being generated by the agricultural sector, hence the low linkage between the two sectors," he said.
He urged industrialists to take advantage of the enabling environment being created by the government to invest in agro-processing and ensure the realisation of the Golden Age of Business in Ghana.
Major Courage Quashigah (RTD), Minister of Food and Agriculture, said the Vision 2010 policy focuses on the construction of "economic feeder roads" to assist farmers and not "political feeder roads" to win votes.
He emphasised the need for farmers to adopt new scientific ways of farming saying that there was the need for research to be demand-driven. The minister said the government's Vision 2010 programme, which was focused on making Ghana the leading agricultural middle-income country in Africa would only be possible if there was an effective link between industry and agriculture.
Mrs Esther Ocloo, a renowned agro-industrialist, who presided, called on the 110 district assemblies to establish youth farms to attract young persons into farming.
She expressed the hope that most of the young unemployed people captured in the unemployment exercise would be encouraged and adequately assisted to take up farming.
Participants of the fair include 112 local crop and fish farmers, researchers, agro-industrialists, traders, input suppliers, service providers and an exhibitor from South Africa. Trade visitors from France, Israel, United Kingdom, India, Cote d'Ivoire and Burkina Faso are expected at the fair.
GRi…/
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