NDC delegation visits Selormey at Nsawam Prisons
Ashanti will not be safe haven for troublemakers in NDC
Accra (Greater Accra) 27 December 2001- The National Democratic Congress (NDC) on Saturday sent a delegation to visit Victor Selormey, the jailed former Deputy Minister of Finance, at the Nsawam Prisons.
A statement issued in Accra said the delegation went to express the party's solidarity and wish him Merry Christmas. The delegation also took the opportunity to visit Mallam Yussif Issa, former Youth and Sport Minister who is also serving a four-year term for the loss of money meant as per diem for the Black Stars.
It said Selormey and Mallam Issa were "quite hearty and appeared sound in health. "Selormey was jailed by an Accra Fast Track Court for causing the loss of more than 1.2 million dollars to the state in the court computerisation project.
The NDC delegation presented items including rice, cooking oil, fruits and bread worth about 600,000 cedis to the inmates for the Christmas.
The delegation, led by Mr Huudu Yahaya, General Secretary of the NDC, included Mr Ekwow Spio-Garbrah, Mr E.T. Mensah, Nii Adjei-Boye Sekan, Mr Bede Ziedeng, Mr Kofi Attor and Mr Victor Smith.
The party also wished its members and Ghanaians a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
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About 55 births recorded on Christmas Day
in Accra
Accra (Greater Accra) 27 December 2001-Fifty five births were recorded at the major government hospitals in Accra on Christmas day.
The Korle -Bu Teaching Hospital had 36 births out which 16 were males and 20 girls. According a Senior Nursing Sister who wanted to be anonymous nine babies were delivered through caesarean and they were doing well.
Madam Mary Anna Sackefio, Principal Nursing Officer at the Ridge Hospital, said there were 16 births out of which nine were males and seven females. Six of the babies were delivered through caesarean operation and were healthy.
Assistant Superintendent of Police Grace Hermann at the Police Hospital told the Ghana News Agency (GNA) that there was only one male delivered at 0530 hours. At the 37 Military Hospital 2 males were recorded.
In another development, the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) hospital in Kumasi recorded three, two boys and a girl.
While at the Tema General Hospital 10 births were recorded, five males and five females, one of whom was operated upon.
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Accra (Greater Accra) 27 December 2001- The bodies of seven senior military officers executed in the wake of the June 4, 1979 coup will be handed over to their families on Thursday, December 27 for reburial.
A statement issued by the Ghana Armed Forces said the handing over would take place at the Presbyterian Church, 37 Military Hospital, at 9am. It said this would be followed by funeral service and reburial of two Generals at the Military Cemetery, Osu, on the same day.
The Generals and a Colonel were three former heads of state - Lt. Gen. Akwasi Amankwa Afrifa, General Ignatius Kutu Acheampong and General Frederick W.K. Akuffo.
The rest were Major General Emmanuel Utuka, Major General Robert Kotei, Rear Admiral Joy Amedume, Air Vice-Marshal Yaw Boakye and Colonel Roger Felli.
The government earlier this year set up a committee to examine the issue of reburial of the executed officers as part of its reconciliation measures. The graves were located and the bodies were exhumed and sent to the 37 Military Hospital for identification.
A statement issued by Air Marshall M.A. Otu, Chairman of the Committee that looked into the reburial of the Generals, said the families of five of the officers have formally requested to bury their loved ones in their respective hometowns.
They are:
1. Gen. Akuffo - Akropong
2. Gen. Acheampong - Kumasi
3. Gen. Afrifa - Krobo-Ashanti
4. Gen. Utuka - Likpe-Mate
5. Col. Felli - Navrongo
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Kumasi (Ashanti Region) 27 December 2001- Kusasi students have expressed their profound displeasure and disgust about the numerous problems and the recent crisis that engulfed Bawku and called for a more permanent solution to the menace.
The displeasure was contained in a five-point resolution adopted and issued by the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) Chapter of the Kusasi Students Union, following an emergency meeting held in Kumasi on Sunday.
Mr Paul Jeremiah Awabigo and Mr Jerry Asana, President and Secretary of the KNUST Chapter of the Kusasi Students Union, respectively signed the resolution.
The Union said: "We see the problems and the recent calamity at Bawku as a politically orchestrated game, geared towards denying the landowners of their right to determine their own affairs within their legitimate land".
As a first step towards enhancing peace in the Bawku area, the KNUST Kusasi Students Union advocated that all the minority ethnic groups including the Mamprusis at Bawku should fully recognise and also pay allegiance to the Bawku Naba Asigri Aburago Azoka II as the Paramount chief of the area.
The resolution said any minority group unwilling to recognise and also pay allegiance to the Bawku Naba should be made to return to their native land.
The Union, however, observed that the recent clashes at Bawku could have been averted: "If the leadership of the Regional Co-ordinating Council (RCC) had heeded to public opinion poll, regarding the President's nominee for the position of the District Chief Executive for Bawku-East District Assembly."
The KNUST Kusasi students union suggested that as a further measure towards guaranteeing peace and consolidating it, it was crucial to unconditionally withdraw the nominee for the DCE position.
The resolution also called for the release of all citizens of Bawku, who were arrested and detained during the clash, "since their detention amounts to infringing on their fundamental human rights".
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Accra (Greater Accra) 27 December 2001- Mrs Gifty Anin Botwe has been appointed the Second in Command of the Criminal Investigations Department of the Service.
Mrs Botwe, who is a Deputy Commissioner of Police, was the Commanding Officer of the Women and Juvenile Unit (WAJU). Her appointment took effect from November 28.
Mr Patrick Kwesi Acheampong, Director CID said in an interview that the appointment was a further proof of the IGP's commitment to ensure that qualified women were elevated to take up responsible positions in the service.
He said Mrs Botwe was the second woman in West Africa to be given a top Police investigations post after Ms Abimbola Jolaade Ojomo, who is Assistant Inspector General of Police and in charge of the "D" Department of the Nigerian Federal Police.
Mr Acheampong said Mrs Botwe joined the service in 1976 and has a Diploma in Education from the University of Cape Coast and Diploma from the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA).
She had served as an instructor at the Police Depot, a Licensing Officer at Tarkoradi, Second in Command at the Motor Transport and Traffic Unit, Accra Region and until her elevation was the Commanding Officer of WAJU.
She had taken courses in traffic Policing, Women in Management, Investigations of Crimes Relating Women and Children in countries like Namibia, South Africa, England, Sweden and India.
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Dodowa (Eastern Region) 27 December 2001- A group of about 17 holidaymakers sustained various degree of injuries, when a vehicle on which they were travelling somersaulted at Dodowa on the Accra-Akosombo road.
One of the victims, who was not seriously injured, said at the 37 Military Hospital that most of the passengers were on admission at the hospital.
She however said four children including a 16-month-old baby boy escaped unhurt. The victim said some few metres to Dodowa a Toyota mini-bus on which they were travelling burst one of its front tyre and somersaulted.
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Ho (Volta Region) 27 December 2001- The Most Reverend Francis Lodonu, Bishop of the Ho Diocese of the Catholic Church, has praised the government for supporting the candidature of Dr Ibn Chambas to become the Executive Secretary of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) saying it was a good sign of love being extended across political divides.
Bishop Lodonu was speaking in an interview with the Ghana News Agency on Christmas Eve concerning the significance of the season to the current social, political and economic circumstances of the country.
Bishop Lodonu said Christmas remained relevant because of its theme of love and goodwill towards all. "Our religion is unique because it preaches that love should be extended to enemies and, therefore, makes Christmas a potent tonic for a country divided by politics," he stated.
He said some amount of elitism was creeping into churches as a result of which certain programmes were targeted at the affluent society to the neglect of the poor.
Bishop Lodonu however, said structures and programmes of mainline churches were built largely to serve the mass of the people.
He was of the opinion that churches should make greater contributions towards improving basic education in the rural areas rather than taking up university education.
He said moral values in the country were changing for the worst because of the power of the mass media channels to reach the people with corrupting influences faster and more often than the messages of the church.
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Accra (Greater Accra) 27 December 2001- President John Agyekum Kufuor on Monday said Staff at the Castle had a sacred duty to be loyal to any government elected to serve its tenure of office.
"You provide the underpinnings of governments; they come into office in a significant way but you are paid by the taxpayer," he said.
"Therefore you must be loyal to the government elected by the people to serve its tenure of office well for the socio-economic development of the country," he said in an address to Staff of the Castle, Osu, at the President's end-of-year party.
He said the Castle would continue to be the seat of serious government business where policies, budgets and other issues were discussed and made available to the people adding that this seriousness had made it very remote from the people.
President Kufuor said the renovation works at the Castle would be completed soon for his family to live there to balance the image and offer a human touch.
"My family will soon move into the Castle; we want Ghanaians to feel this is the family seat of all, a place where they could seek comfort," he added.
President Kufuor said although the task ahead in the coming year would be difficult and tough, God would provide the renewed strength to overcome them.
Mr Kwadwo Mpiani, Chief of Staff, said the task ahead required a renewed dedication, loyalty and sacrifice in addition to good attitudes. He said efforts would be made to enhance the comfort of the staff next year to enable them to improve on their performance.
President Kufuor presented awards to nine members of Staff made up of eight men and a woman for their dedication and long service. They were Madam Elizabeth Donkor, a cleaner for the past 22 years who had a 20-inch colour television set.
The others were Mr Wassa Kokomba, Supervisor of Stewards who served for 35 years, Mr Seth Tetteh, Assistant Chief Driver, Mr J. Yaw Nyame Chief Driver, Mr D. Norweh, Senior Technical Officer and Mr R. Sakyifea (rpt Sakyifea) Assistant Chief Driver who had a refrigerator each.
The rest were Mr C. Karimu Mensah, Principal Technical Officer (posthumously), Mr P. K. Baniba, Chief Estate Officer and Mr J. B. Ansah, Assistant Chief Driver, who had a 20-inch television set each.
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Accra (Greater Accra) 27 December 2001- Osagyefo Amoatia Ofori Panin, Okyenhene, on Monday reiterated the call to society to be caring and loving to deprived children and the visually impaired to unearth their capabilities in contributing towards the building of the nation.
"Some of us have the ability to think and work and if we fail our children and the visually impaired there will be no country. "Osagyefo Ofori Panin was launching an appeal to raise 20 million cedis at the annual "Gold, Frankincense and Myrrh" musical show organised by the
International Central Gospel Church (ICGC) in Accra to support the Society of the Blind and the Central Aid Educational Scholarship for needy students.
Part of the money realised will go into the one billion cedi fund for the blind set up by the Okyenhene while another part will be used to set up an agricultural training centre, a computer training centre and a Braille library for the blind.
The Okyenhene said: "We the physically strong have the ability to do things for ourselves and we have the responsibility to care for the blind who have not volunteered to be blind. You are either born with it or a disease turns you into a blind person."
However, most blind people such as Steven Wonder, a renowned musician, made it because someone helped them, Osagyefo said, adding, "We can do the same for the blind in our society despite the economic crisis."
The Reverend Dr Mensa Otabil, General Overseer of the ICGC, said the church instituted the annual event to commemorate the presentation of gifts by the wise men at the birth of Jesus Christ.
"For us, Gold, Frankincense and Myrrh as an event, is celebrated on the eve of Christmas, by hosting a musical concert to raise funds to support credible organisations actively involved in human welfare."
Rev. Otabil said 25 percent of the amount raised would go into the sponsorship of the needy students under the Central Aid Educational Scholarship scheme.
Since the inception of the annual event, funds have been raised to support the International Needs, an NGO engaged in the rehabilitation of liberated Trokosis, the Mammocare, which assists in the prevention and treatment of breast cancer, the Reconstructive Plastic Surgery and Burns Centre and the Cardio-Thoracic Centre all of the Korle-Bu Teaching hospital.
Musical artists including Pastor Joe Bechem, the Reverend John Teye Memorial School Band, the Alabaster Box, the Shepherds and the Philharmonic Choir of the ICGC entertained the congregation to soul searching and inspiring music.
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Kumasi (Ashanti Region) 27 December 2001- The Ashanti Regional Executive of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) has warned that it would never allow Ashanti to become the base and safe haven for those bent on creating confusion within the party.
A press statement signed by Mr Emmanuel Nti-Fordjour, Regional Chairman, said: "We want to serve notice that under no circumstance would this region be made the operational base of people whose political agenda is to foment trouble and divide the NDC's front."
It denounced what it said was the persistent and orchestrated campaign of lies and mudslinging waged by a shadowy group calling itself "The NDC Action Forum" against some leading members of the party
This group claimed to be based in the Ashanti region and has Mr A. K. Mensah as its President and Mr Asamoah Atuahene as the other member.
The statement repeated that both Mr Atuahene and Mr Mensah have been suspended from the NDC for acts of indiscipline and could, therefore, not hold themselves as members of the party.
It said: "We are amazed that some leading members of the party for reasons difficult to rationalise continue to entertain and encourage the two to perpetrate their acts of political mischief."
The statement asked all genuine NDC supporters to isolate the group and to have nothing doing with it. It stated that what the party needed now was internal peace, harmony and a more united front saying: "This is necessary to enable us to stay focussed."
It said acts likely to spark off unnecessary suspicion and wrangling should, therefore, be avoided, if the NDC was to achieve the goal of wresting political power from the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) in 2004.
The Action Forum in a recent press statement raised question marks on the integrity of Dr Obed Asamoah, a leading member of the NDC, demanding among other things that he be made to account for all monies that went to him as the National Treasurer before he could be allowed to contest for the party's National Chairmanship position.
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Kumasi (Ashanti Region) 27 December 2001- Members of the Asokwa-West Constituency of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) have appealed to all constituencies of the party to give priority attention to the identification of the root causes of the recent factionalism within the party and help the National Leadership to flush it out.
They explained that the crave for supremacy by such factions in the party did not augur well for progress of the party, and if not quickly uprooted it could lead to disunity among the rank and file of the NDC.
The appeal was contained in a statement jointly signed by the Asokwa-West Constituency Chairman of the NDC, Mr Alex Sawyer Attivor and the Constituency Secretary, Mr Mustapha Sulemana and issued in Kumasi on Tuesday.
The statement noted that factionalism and the use of divide-and-rule tactics had never been part of the NDC and for that matter the National Executive should initiate more constructive moves for the resolution of all grievances on the quite and pave the way for a more cordial and peaceful national congress of the party.
They advised that the NDC should perceive itself as one big family and not as different groupings under one umbrella, and therefore, focus their attention at coming out with more strategic plans for winning the election in the year 2004.
The Asokwa-West Constituency congratulated Mr Nti Fordjour on his election as the Ashanti Regional Chairman and the new Executives of the NDC in the Ashanti Region.
While assuring the Regional NDC Executives of the fullest support and co-operation of the Asokwa-West constituency, they also asked them to work assiduously to increase the membership of the party in the region and to ensure victory for the party in the next coming general election.
The statement said the Asokwa-West NDC was confident of winning the Parliamentary seat in the year 2004 and urged the Regional Executives of the party to also evolve campaign strategies that would help the other constituencies also to capture the parliamentary seats in their areas.
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