Ghana and Liberia sign agreement on air transport

Media commission to come out with media policy

Organize presidential debates, lecturer tells media commission 

Scrutinise GIJ lecturers, books - Lecturer

Dutch delegation calls on Minister for Tourism

Ashaiman NPP pick executives

Family taught a lesson in human value

Open more branches in districts - GSB told

Environment preventing food security in Upper East?

200 people rendered homeless by Rainstorm

Accra (Greater Accra), 4^th February 2000

Ghana and Liberia on Friday signed an agreement that will allow passengers on Ghana Airways flights from New York to disembark at the Robertsfield Airport in Monrovia before proceeding to Accra.

Mr. Edward Salia, Minister of Roads and Transport and his Liberian counterpart, Dr Brahimaa Kaba signed a Memorandum of Understanding to this effect in Accra.

Mr. Salia said the measure would save Liberian travellers the inconvenience they previously experienced by disembarking in Accra before continuing their journey back home.

Ghana Airways in the long run intends to acquire the necessary clearance from the Federal Aviation Administration in the United States to enable it to pick Liberian passengers from Monrovia to the United States.

Mr. Salia said the agreement is a practical demonstration of Ghana's commitment to regional integration and its Gateway Programme.

"In the past, countries in the sub-region have paid lip service to regional co-operation and a lot of goals set under ECOWAS have not been achieved. But in the era of globalisation we cannot continue with this attitude.

"That is why the government of Ghana has recently created a cabinet portfolio for regional integration. We have signed a number of agreements with some airlines in line with our ‘liberalised skies’ project which is important to our gateway programme."

Mr. Salia said the liberalised skies project was yielding fruits with foreign airlines, such as British Airways and Swissair, increasing their flight frequencies to Ghana.

The Minister underscored the importance of regional co-operation in the development process and urged African countries to utilise existing infrastructure and facilities in neighbouring countries rather than duplicating them.

"For instance, if a country does not have high demand for lawyers or doctors, it would not be necessary for them to expand their existing facilities for such professionals. They should save money by making use of what others have."

Mr. Salia expressed the government's readiness to support Ghana Airways to be more efficient and reliable.

Dr Kaba praised Ghana for her support to Liberia during the civil war and her reconstruction efforts and appealed for continued assistance.

He said Ghana Airways deserves the opportunity to operate in Liberia since it was the first airline to resume normal scheduled flights to that country after the war.

"Ghana Airways single-handedly provided services to our country during the conflict. I believe it is the first true candidate to be considered for such a service."

Dr Kaba thanked Ghanaians for their invaluable support to Liberians, noting that the devastating impact of the war had left so much work to be done.

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Mr. Tim Acquah-Hayford, Chairman of the National Media Commission (NMC), said on Thursday that the commission would come out with a media policy that would give direction to and regulate media practice in the country.

He was speaking at a roundtable discussion organised by the Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD) on Journalistic Practice and Democratic Ideals.

The discussion was to address problems arising from the practice of journalism in the country so as to ensure fair opportunity for and balanced reporting on all citizens in the media. This is to help the public make informed choices, especially in the forthcoming general elections.

Mr. Acquah-Hayford noted that in the past, the government had defied constitutional provisions and seen itself as the owner of state-owned media, appointing and dismissing directors and editors of such media organisations at will.

The Supreme Court last month ruled that the NMC is the body that has the right to appoint such people.

The NMC Chairman recalled that the government made moves to come out with a national media policy without consulting the NMC.

"This is evidence of the government's determination to wrongfully claim ownership of the state-owned media.

"The government is just a custodian and not the owner of Ghana Television, Ghana News Agency, Graphic Communications Group and New Times Corporation."

Mr. Acquah-Hayford said the NMC hopes that "the government will accept our initiative and proposals for a national media policy in good faith and work with the commission to achieve success in our quest to promote democracy through the media."

He assured the government and the public that with a national media policy in place, there would be fair opportunity in all the media and an improved performance and delivery in the practice of journalism.

Mr. Acquah-Hayford urged all state-owned media houses to give a fair opportunity to all political parties in the forthcoming general elections.

He said the NMC would ensure that no political party is promoted above the other in the state-owned media during this year's campaign.

Mr. Berifi Apenteng, General Manager of TV3, reminded media organisations that they are not there to promote some personalities, products and ideas above others.

They are there to present "varied ideas, personalities and products to the public, for them to make informed choices," he said.

Mr. Apenteng said while it is incumbent on all state-owned media to give equal access to political parties, the private media are not under such stringent rules to give equal opportunity.

He explained that some private media, like TV3, have a policy not to be part of the politics of the country so as to protect their investment.

He asked the NMC to expedite action to allay society's fears about access to GTV and Radio Ghana "if we are to promote democracy in this country."

Mrs. Lucy Banini, a Director at Ghana Broadcasting Corporation, said to ensure equal access and democracy in the practice of broadcast journalism, presenters and journalists must be allowed a free hand to decide the content of their programmes without any interference from directors.

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The National Media Commission (NMC) should organise a presidential debate for all flag-bearers of political parties contesting this year's election, a lecturer of the School of Communication Studies of the University of Ghana suggested on Thursday.

Dr Bonah Koomson, who is also member of the NMC, made the call at a roundtable discussion organised by the Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD) on Journalistic Practice and Democratic Ideals.

He noted that but for the defiance of constitutional provisions by the government, the NMC should have had the mandate to organise debates between the presidential candidates to interact with each other and with the public towards every election.

"With this new turn of events following the court ruling in favour of the NMC, it would be in the interest of the public for us to have a presidential debate under the auspices of the NMC to allow all the candidates to air their ideas and be criticised in a single forum."

The Supreme Court last month ruled that the NMC is the body that should appoint directors and editors of the state-owned media.

Dr Koomson said a debate organised by NMC would not only promote fair opportunity in the media to all political parties but it will also allow the public to make informed choices.

He noted that both private and state-owned media organisations have in the past granted unequal access to political parties to the detriment of the masses.

Now, the NMC should serve as a meeting point for all such organisations to agree on what opportunity each party deserves.

Mr. Kwesi Biney, Editor of the Guide, pointed out that the private media thrives on the omissions of the state-owned media.

"If the state-owned media should publish 10 per cent of the wrongs of government, I believe we in the private media will be out of business."

He said media organisations should concentrate more on the needs of society than the selfish interests of personalities and political parties in their reporting.

"Let us condemn the wrongs and promote the rights despite who is involved."

Ms Audrey Gadzekpo, Acting Director of the School of Communication Studies, University of Ghana, condemned the commercialisation of news coverage by some electronic media houses saying that this deprives the public of access to such media.

She said the practice, which prevails mainly on Ghana Television and TV3, is not only unethical but has the potential of promoting only issues and products that have been paid for as against what is news in the journalistic sense.

"There have been times when GTV or TV3 refused to cover newsworthy programmes because the organiser could not pay for the coverage.

"Sometimes they do cover such programmes but never air them because they have not been paid for."

Ms Gadzekpo therefore urged the NMC to institute checks on the practice to ensure fair access to the media.

Mr. Tim Acquah-Hayford, Chairman of the NMC, assured the public that the commission would put measures in place to check excesses in the practice of journalism.

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A lawyer in constitutional law has called for the re-orientation of lecturers and a scrutiny of books in the library of the Ghana Institute of Journalism (GIJ) to ascertain whether they are the source of "undemocratic journalistic practice" in the country.

Mr. Maxwell Opoku-Agyemang, of the University of Ghana, Legon, made the call at a roundtable discussion organised by the Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD) on Journalistic Practice and Democratic Ideals in Accra on Thursday.

He said he recalls that during his student days at GIJ, "our lecturers were Cuban-trained and the books in the library were either from (North) Korea or Cuba."

He said the situation promoted socialist rather than capitalist ideas which are needed to promote democracy in the journalistic practice and the nation as a whole.

Mr. Opoku-Agyemang said the undemocratic manner in which modern day journalists in Ghana practice their profession is evidence of the fact that the socialist books and these lecturers are still at GIJ.

"There is a need for the NMC to, therefore, expedite action to check the background of GIJ lecturers if we are serious about doing away with the undemocratic tendencies in the practice of journalism in this country.

"Unless we go back to the library shelves of GIJ and replace the books authored by Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il (of North Korea), Fidel Castro (of Cuba) and Vladimir Illiech Lenin (of the former Soviet Union), we will be fighting a losing game."

Mr Opoku-Agyemang asked the NMC to scrutinise the academic curricula of GIJ to ensure that democratic ideals are injected into them with the view to producing students who would promote democracy in the practice of the profession.

A representative of the British High Commission announced that the British government would send a two-man delegation to Ghana this year to find ways to organise training programmes for Ghanaian journalists in the near future.

He advised Ghanaian journalists to combine their forces and publish dynamic newspapers rather than having so many small private newspapers that only duplicate each other and do not have a big readership.

Mr Ben Ephson, Editor of the Dispatch, an Accra private newspaper, noted that the plurality of the media is a stepping stone towards media democracy.

He asked journalists and presenters to be circumspect in their reporting and presentation saying, "we must understand that the media has the power to either make or break a nation, society or business."

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Accra (Greater Accra) 4 Feb. 2000

A three-man Dutch delegation which is in the country to help redevelop and improve some forts and castles called on the Minister for Tourism, Mr Mike Gizo in Accra, on Thursday.

The delegation is also in the country to evaluate the common cultural heritage between Ghana and the Netherlands.

Mr Gizo lauded the study being undertaken by the Dutch government to link the two cultures and said 95 per cent of forts and Castles in Africa are dotted along the coast of Ghana. The delegation has already visited about 15 castles and forts.

He said tourism is becoming a major industry in the world and this calls for the conservation and preservation of historical monuments.

Mr Peter Van Dun, Policy Staff of the Netherlands Department for Conservation, leader of the delegation, said the study is looking for ways and means of improving the urban structures and the living conditions of the people, especially those in old Accra.

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The Ashaiman branch of the NPP on Wednesday held its congress to elect officers for a three-year term.

Mr Kofi Agyepong was elected unopposed as Chairman with the First and Second Vice-Chairman positions going to Dr. Alex Donkor and Mr Albert Boateng.

Mr Abdulai A. Baba was elected Secretary with Mr Gregory Kwatia as Assistant Secretary.

The rest are Mr James Ackah, Organiser, Mr Twum Barima, Youth Organiser, Mrs Magado Awudu, Women's Organiser, and Alhaji Abubakar Dauda, Treasurer.

Addressing the 71 delegates, Nii Ayite Boafo of the Greater Accra Regional Secretariat of the party, said the battle ahead was not easy.

The National Secretariat is, therefore, putting in place a programme to train polling agents for this year's general elections and urged them to be extra vigilant on the D-day.

Meanwhile, the Greater Accra Secretariat of the party has organised a day's workshop for its 22 constituency Secretaries and Branch Organisers.

Mr Laud Commey, Assistant Regional Secretary, appealed to the participants, especially the Organisers, to exercise maximum restraint in their efforts to win more members for the party.

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Ho (Volta Region) 4 Feb. 2000

A coffin-bearing delegation of mourners and drummers, which called at a clinic to collect the corpse of a family member, allegedly abandoned there, was rather offered the supposed deceased alive.

The delegation from Adaklu Sikaman in the Ho district was at "Akpenamawu" Clinic in Ho, on 1 February to collect the corpse of Mr Kudjoe Goka, who was supposed to have died from strangulated hernia.

Miss Georgina Atieku, a nurse at the clinic who briefed the Ghana News Agency, on Thursday, said Mr Goka 32 was brought to the clinic on 15 January and required emergency surgery.

Two family members, who brought Mr Goka could only pay 5,000 cedis and promised that they were going home to find more money.

She said on the third day an amount of 80,000 cedis out of the 450,000 cedis charged for surgery, drugs and after care was paid by the family.

After waiting for several days without any family member visiting, Mr Goka (patient) advised the Management of the clinic to send a message home that he was dead, as he was sure that would prompt a quick response.

Miss Atieku said on Saturday 29 January a delegation from the family came to pay 300,000 cedis being medical bills in preparation to receiving the corpse.

On Tuesday 1 February, another family delegation accompanied by mourners, drummers, a coffin and an amount of 230,000 cedis being mortuary fee and the remaining medical bills called at the clinic amid drumming and weeping to collect the corpse of Mr Goka, who was offered to them alive.

Surprised at the turn of events the mourners embraced Mr Goka, who the Clinic had dressed in white apparel and smeared with talcum (powder).

Miss Atieku said when asked how they were able to get money to pay the bills, a family member said they had to levy themselves and borrow for the funeral and burial.

Meanwhile Dr A. K. Takyi, proprietor of the clinic who said this is the second of such incident at the clinic, called on relatives of the sick and needy not to abandon such people to their fate only to mobilise resources later to celebrate their death.

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Sunyani (Brong Ahafo) 3 Feb. 2000

Mr Yaw Wiredu-Peprah, a Sunyani lawyer, has appealed to the government to open more district and regional offices of the Ghana Standards Board (GSB) to enable it to effectively check the widespread sale of expired goods.

He said the absence of GSB offices in certain regions has emboldened unscrupulous traders to peddle unwholesome products to consumers, especially those in the rural areas.

Mr Wiredu-Peprah told Ghana News Agency at Sunyani on Thursday that the presence of unwholesome products on the Ghanaian market and their consequent patronage by the largely illiterate population could lead to serious health problems.

"Because of the high illiteracy rate, many Ghanaians, especially those in the rural areas, are unable to read or write and, therefore, find it very difficult to determine whether a product they are buying has expired or not".

It is for this reason that it is imperative for the government to seriously consider opening more offices for the GSB so that it could effectively protect the interest of consumers by ensuring that all unwholesome products are cleared from the local markets.

Mr Wiredu-Peprah recounted several instances where many people had bought products ranging from pharmaceuticals to provisions only to discover later that they had expired.

"Until more offices are opened for GSB to enable its presence to be felt everywhere in the country, consumers will continue to be at the mercy of unscrupulous traders with serious health consequences for the nation".

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Bolgatanga (Upper East), 4^th February 2000

Mr. Edmund Otupiri, Upper East Regional Director of Agriculture, has said although farmers in the region are hard working, the goal of food security would elude them if they do not make conscious efforts to improve upon the environment.

The adoption rate of improved technology by farmers in the area is appreciably high but the attainment of sustainable agricultural production is being hampered by persistent environmental degradation.

"Trees are being felled faster than new ones are planted. Bush burning is on the increase despite the call on all to protect the environment", Mr. Otupiri told the Ghana News Agency in an interview in Bolgatanga on Thursday.

He urged the people to support the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MOFA), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Forestry Department, whose duties include providing the relevant technical advice to regenerate the vegetation.

He said the region's food deficit syndrome could be halted by the provision of dams to promote irrigated farming, adding, "it is with this realisation that the government in collaboration with the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) is placing emphasis on the construction and rehabilitation of dams throughout the region.

Mr. Otupiri appealed to local communities to ensure that the dams are adequately protected and cautioned farmers to refrain from cultivating within the catchment areas of the dams.

"Our northern neighbours like Burkina Faso and Mali are making tremendous strides in protecting their ecosystem, which is yielding fruitful results for them. That is what we should be doing here also by enforcing all the laws on bush burning and environmental protection."

He reiterated MOFA's commitment to the attainment of food security in the region, saying "Agricultural Extension Officers in all the districts are working relentlessly towards the realisation of this objective".

Mr. Otupiri said the armyworm invasion and the floods in the region last year were induced by bad environmental practices.

He, therefore, called on the people to prevent similar disasters in the coming years by desisting from practices that adversely affect the environment.

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Tanfiano Number One (Brong Ahafo) 4 Feb. 2000

The roofs of 12 houses at Tanfiano Number One, a farming community in the Nkoranza district were ripped-off during a rainstorm last week.

The assemblyman for the area, Mr Samuel Adjei and unit committee chairman, Mr Kwaku Num, who conducted the Ghana News Agency round the affected buildings said about 100 people have been displaced.

The cost of damage to property was estimated as about 10 million cedis.

At the zongo area of the town, about 20 houses were affected including the Mosque which collapsed.

Mt Tia Mahama, unit committee member, said about 100 people who have been displaced are putting-up with friends and relatives.

Meanwhile community leaders of the areas have appealed to National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO), the Nkoranza district Assembly and NGOs for assistance.

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