President Kufuor delivers 3rd
State of Nation Address
Ghana would not lose her soul - Kufuor
Mills reacts to Kufuor's address
Accra workers want 68 per cent wage rise
No decision on minimum wage
Educate the youth on real essence of Valentine day
Government to develop
fibre optic backbone
Government to
encourage learning of French
Health insurance ready
to be launched this year
Kufuor expresses
regret about Dagbon crisis
President Kufuor
concerned about record keeping
Road levy, tolls to be
scrupulously collected
Kufuor urges all to
support national development agenda
Give meaning to Dr Amu's song
Prez
Kufuor takes trans-historical ride with Old Amu
Kufuor: Establishment
of law and order is gaining root
'I will like to be
Osafo-Maafo's student' - Mills
Ghana has warm
relations with neighbours - Kufuor
Commissioners descend
heavily on witness
Woman yet to know what
killed husband
Volta Queenmothers take lecture in Intestate law
Police trial adjourned
to 19 February
Police Hospital stops
staff from going on leave
Self-discipline will
control HIV/AIDS spread
FBI raids Ghanaian shop in Ohio
President Kufuor delivers 3rd
State of
Highlights of the address were: Infrastructure
Development; Information and Communications Technology, Security; Energy;
Salaries and Wages; Job Creation and Dagbon Crisis.
Others were: Health; Rural Development and
Modernised Agriculture; Foreign Relations; Private Sector and Development
Programmes for the Accra Metropolis.
In the Chamber of Parliament to listen to the
24-page address that took 78 minutes to deliver were Ministers of State,
Members of the Council of State and the Diplomatic Corps, chiefs, politicians,
including the flagbearer of the main opposition, National Democratic Congress
(NDC) Professor John Evans Atta Mills and a section of the public.
President Kufuor said a
President Kufuor said the special initiatives on
salt, oil palm and cotton would take off this year. Already, he said, the
government had sourced $40m, which was being accessed to develop the salt
business.
The high-powered committee appointed to set up the
Oil Palm Initiative has earmarked 100,000 hectares of land to be cultivated
over the next five years. This would double the current national output during
the period, he said. The President announced that talks were far advanced with
a
Forex market
The President stressed the need to improve the
foreign exchange market in the country to reduce its vulnerability to external
shocks. "This will be good for the economic health of the nation and for
market stability and the strength of our currency," he said.
Delivering his third State of the Nation Address to
Parliament, the President said as the government made headway with stabilising
the macroeconomic framework, it had found that all was
not well with the financial and foreign exchange regime. Export proceeds tended
not to be repatriated and were not channelled through the banking system,
President Kufuor said.
Relevant legislation would, therefore, be
introduced to ensure that export proceeds were repatriated and channelled
through the banking system.
President Kufuor said
President Kufuor said as institutions of state
developed and began to function properly, and as government ensured a stable
macroeconomic environment, the private sector must be helped to take advantage
of the opportunities available to flourish.
In this way, more and more jobs would be created in
all sectors of the productive economy. "The President's Special
Initiatives as designed, are intended to do just this kind of stimulation of
enterprise, productivity and jobs creation, both in agriculture and in
processing."
President Kufuor said the factory for the pilot
Cassava Starch Project at Bawjiase in the Central
Region would be commissioned in April. "I hope that as the initiatives
spread around the country, more groups of people will embrace them. Indeed,
numerous groups and individuals have already emerged to emulate the
pioneers."
Under pricing of fuel
President Kufuor identified persistent under
pricing of petroleum products as one of the major problems the economy faces.
He said the persistent under pricing resulted in the Tema Oil Refinery (TOR)
accumulating a debt that currently exceeded the primary capital of the entire
banking system of the country.
"This poses a systemic risk to the whole
banking sector", he said. The president said the need to break away from
this precarious situation informed the recent near 100 per cent hike in
petroleum prices.
He observed that the past year had been full of
challenges making the government to start the first quarter of this year with
many difficult choices to make and equally difficult decisions to take in its
determination to establish a firm foundation to accelerate the economic
transformation of the country.
"This is why after the nation talked about
malfunctioning of the economy for a long time, agonised about the difficult
measures that can fix it for many years, and yet tried to dodge taking the hard
decisions for so long, it is now having to bite the bullet in a last ditch
stance to free the economy for real growth. "Hence the petroleum and
utility price rationalisation and increased and efficient domestic revenue
mobilisation."
President Kufuor said government decided that the
debt should not accumulate further and that the debt should be paid within a
reasonable period and manner that would not cause problems of affordability to
the public.
"Government also decided that the management
of TOR should be made to be more efficient and the industry to be progressively
opened to private sector participation," he added.
"Other changes associated with the increases
in petroleum prices and government reform programme in the sector is the
establishment of a new independent institution that will be responsible for
fixing maximum allowable prices for petroleum products.
"A market-driven formula has been drawn to
guide this institution," President
Kufuor said.
The President's observation of the people's
perception of the fuel price increase is in the statement: "I am heartened
that many Ghanaians have an understanding of the need for these policies and
have been willing to put up with the difficulties. I am aware that peoples'
willingness to endure the current difficulties is a manifestation of their
belief in this government that it will lead the nation out of the difficulties
that have beset her for so long."
President Kufuor said what was left was for the
government to hold the people's trust to influence their attitudinal change for
the better. "They will then share in the vision of the government and be more willing to endure the sacrifices for the positive
change the nation must have."
Professor Mills who listened to the address
attentively is yet to make any public statements on it.
Health insurance
The president said that the Health Insurance Scheme
was ready to be launched nationwide adding that government had decided to
provide the seed money for all the 110 districts. He said experience from the
42 districts that had piloted the scheme showed the need for state intervention
to ensure a basic uniform standard nationwide since all the districts were not
equally endowed.
On the general health for the nation, the President
said government's policy was to emphasise healthy living rather than the curing
of diseases as a priority of the Health Service. "The ongoing campaigns to
promote exercising, healthy diets, clean environments and disciplined
lifestyles will continue to ensure a healthy population."
He said HIV/AIDS remained the most urgent threat to
the health of the nation.
President Kufuor said though the AIDS Commission
and other health agencies had succeeded in raising the awareness of the disease
to a high level, there was the need to translate this awareness into a change
in behaviour in order to contain the menace.
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Ghana
Delivering his third State of the Nation Address to Parliament,
President Kufuor cited
President Kufuor said government would assist the Accra Metropolitan
Assembly to transform
President Kufuor's address focused on the five
priority areas of the government aimed at accelerating national growth, his
special initiatives to spur the private sector to lift the economy, the Dagbon
Crisis and other key areas of concern to the nation.
The priority areas are Infrastructure Development, Rural Development
Based On Modernizing Agriculture; Enhanced Social
Security With Emphasis On Health And Education, Good Governance and Private
Sector Development.
On what President Kufuor termed as 'Coming to terms with our past' he
recalled some of the proceedings at the National Reconciliation Commission and
said; "The proceedings so far have strengthened my conviction that the
reconciliation process is good for the nation," he said.
"I hope that those who were sceptical about the worth of the
Commission, or had fears about its impartiality, have been won over," he
said, and urged the Commission to speed up the healing process.
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Mills reacts to Kufuor's address
Democratic Congress (NDC) Presidential Candidate on Thursday said the
New Patriotic Party (NPP) was giving an "over-dose medication"
approach to solving the nation's problems.
He said just as a patient would die when he or she was administered with
excessive prescriptions, so would the NPP's
"bite the bullet" approach could kill the people. "Solution to
the nation's problem should not be done in a way to impose excessive hardship,
which could lead to the death of its citizens. Dosage is administered on
correct prescriptions".
Prof Mills was reacting to President John Kufuor's
The NDC members said they were in those attire
because of the grief in which the country had been plunged after the almost 100
percent increase in fuel prices and led their flagbearer out of the House.
Prof Mills said Ghanaians actually needed a change because the positive
change the NPP promised them has turned into "deception and suffering.
Utility and fuel prices have been increased out of proportion leading to untold
hardships with endless promises that remained unfulfilled."
Prof Mills said the NPP government would have now realised that promises
were easier made than fulfilled. He said he was surprised that wages and
salaries determination in the public sector would no longer be subjected to
national debate as the NPP had promised.
"We are now being told that 70 percent of total revenue goes into
emoluments in the public sector."
He said the understanding was that the determination of wages and
salaries would be subjected to national debate. The President in his address
said it was near impossible to have any appreciable increase in salary levels
without dramatic increase in revenue and that salaries
would be increased when the revenue base was expanded.
Prof Mills said he was however, happy that the NPP government was
implementing development projects the NDC initiated and packaged some of which
the President said in his address were to be commissioned soon. He said the NDC
was being accused of doing nothing and yet the Redevelopment Project for Old
Accra, which was a government and UNESCO project and was to be launched this
month, was initiated by the NDC.
He said the admission of the President that there was a gap between the
time the project was announced to begin and the actual time it began was
because of hold-ups of donor inflows the NDC suffered. "It has now fallen
on the NPP government to commission those projects which should have been
commissioned before the new government came to power," Prof Mills added.
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Accra
The decision was after a general meeting of ADCL, which was chaired by
Harry Pieterson, Accra Regional Secretary of the TUC,
to deliberate on the proposed pay increase, in
The council said the hike in petroleum prices had put a burden on
workers and they would not accept ''even a one per cent reduction'' in the
minimum wage the TUC had proposed.
It said initially the council wanted to demand 100 per cent increase but
reverted to the 68 per cent following the intervention of Herbert Aquandah, Head of Organisation of the TUC. ''Mr Aquandah cautioned that care should be taken not to derail
the economy by excessive demand,” they said.
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No decision on minimum wage
Cecilia Bannerman, Minister of Manpower Development and Employment, had
promised workers of the Tema District of Labour who presented a petition to her
after a four-hour demonstration that on Wednesday that the Committee would come
out with a new minimum wage on Thursday.
A source at the Trades Union Congress offices (TUC) in
He said on the other hand, the parties are mindful not to worsen the
plight of workers. He said so far, the TUC is sticking to its figure of 68 per
cent increase from 7,150 cedis. Among those present at the meeting were the
sector Minister, Joe Donkor, Deputy Minister of
Manpower Development and Employment, Kwamena Bartels, Minister of Private
Sector Development, Joyce Wereko-Brobbey, Chief
Executive of the Chamber of Mines, Kwasi Adu-Amankwah, TUC Boss and Napoleon Kpoh,
General Secretary of the Industrial Commercial Workers'
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Educate the youth on real essence of Valentine day
Odeneho Kwaku Appiah, immediate past president of the
Youth in Action, a Network of Youth Groups in
The call, which was contained in a statement issued and signed by Odeneho Appiah on Thursday, said unless the churches and
the FM stations devoted ample time to genuinely enlighten the youth, the
Valentine's day celebration would eventually pose a
threat to the health and good morals of Ghanaians.
He said, instead of the FM stations using their airtime to instil in the
youth virtues and good morals as the Valentine's Day approaches, they rather
resorted to promoting romantic messages, thereby conditioning the minds of the
youth for sexual activities.
Besides, "the promotional messages on Valentine's day also goes to
entice even some married couples to leave their marital homes only to engage in
adulterous activities with their concubines", he added.
Odeneho Appiah therefore, suggested that rather than making their promotional
activities romantic, the FM stations should tailor the Valentine's day messages in such a manner as to instil in the youth a
sense of charity and a strong desire to give out alms to the poor, widows and
the needy.
The churches should also go beyond preaching the message from the
pulpits to organising the youth on the Valentine's day to undertake activities
that are charitable in nature including donations to orphanages and the sick.
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Government to develop
fibre optic backbone
This would be
done with existing state assets to reduce cost of communication. This is the
outcome of a committee President John Kufuor appointed to advise him on the
establishment of a communication infrastructure company for the development of
Information Communications Technology (ICT).
President
Kufuor, who was delivering his
To that extent
the President said: "The telephone network is being expanded and the project
to provide telephone facilities, in every town with a senior secondary school
or a training college is on course."
He said he
would soon be commissioning the facilities in Kyebi, Asiakwa, and the expanded Sekondi
Exchange and that in the next three years all the towns earmarked in all the 10
regions of the country would be connected.
"It is to
the good of the nation that more and more young people are taking to the joys
of the computer and the wonders of the Internet." President Kufuor said
the ICT Centre of Excellence that was being built near the State House in
"The
Centre will cater not only for
The President
said, "already, the continuing interests of
international data processing companies, especially from the
President
Kufuor said the government was making energy available, reliable and affordable
for jobs that depended on it. He said that two weeks ago, he signed an
agreement for the construction of the West African Gas Pipeline, a big project
with vast implications for the economies of the four countries that have signed
up for it.
The countries
are
"At the
moment, the country is having to depend on expensive
crude oil imports to fuel thermal plants, which complement the hydro energy
from Akosombo." He said from recent reports,
there was "reason for cautious optimism from the explorations for crude
oil taking place in our offshore waters." President Kufuor said Ghanaians
should keep on praying for it.
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Government to
encourage learning of French
Accra (Greater
Accra) 14 February 2003 - Two training colleges have started training teachers
to teach French in schools as part of the government's policy to encourage the
learning of French- the official language of the country's immediate
neighbours.
These are the
This was
announced by President John Kufuor in his State of the Nation Address to
Parliament on Thursday. He said the mastering of the French language was of
such practical necessity that it should be put on the priority list.
"I can testify
to this myself from the constant embarrassment I come face to face with while I
move around the Sub-Region. There are many times that I wish I could do without
translators. In this era of ECOWAS, I do not wish this handicap on any Ghanaian
child," he said.
President
Kufuor said the pressure on tertiary education was still severe and many young
people who should be able to access university education were unable to do so.
He said government appreciated the role of religious and other institutions that
had moved to fill some of the gap with the establishment of private
universities.
President
Kufuor said the government was keenly aware of the many problems facing the
state universities and was continuously strategising to find the resources to
deal with the crumbling infrastructure, overcrowding, lack of facilities and
the difficult conditions students and lecturers face.
He said:
"Government is endeavouring to modernise and enlarge capacity in the
universities. In the meantime, I appeal to heads of the faculties and students
to make the best out of the limited facilities available."
On educational
infrastructure, President Kufuor said the rural-urban divide in the quality of
schools was real and it undermined the developmental efforts of government.
He said work
had started on the project to upgrade one Senior Secondary School (SSS) in each
district and 30 of them would be completed this year. President Kufuor said
this should help in bridging this divide and would hopefully ease the
intolerable pressure on parents, students and heads of schools during the
annual scramble for places in the well-endowed SSS.
In the
meantime, government was discussing a scheme in which some of the Highly
Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) funds would be used to establish scholarships
for bright students from deprived rural areas to gain admission into the more
established schools, he said.
President
Kufuor said the rehabilitation and construction of classrooms was proceeding
with the urgency that was required and by the middle of this year, every school
child in
He said modest
gains had been made in raising the level of enrolment and retention of the
girls in school adding, "this is an ongoing
crusade which must be embraced by all to be effective".
President
Kufuor said while work on the rehabilitation of the infrastructure of the
schools was gathering momentum, progress was also being made with improving
upon the numbers and quality of teachers as well.
He said the
number of students in teacher training colleges had risen to 8,500 from 6,000
in 2000 and the first batch of students participating in the In-In-Out-In
Teacher Training Scheme was out in the community and their progress was being
monitored keenly.
President
Kufuor said government was not unmindful of the sacrifices inherent in the
teaching profession, adding that within the constraints of the economy,
government was trying to upgrade the conditions of service of teachers
especially those in the rural areas to restore teachers to the respected status
they used to enjoy.
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Health insurance ready
to be launched this year
Accra (Greater
Accra) 14 February 2003 - President John Kufuor said on Thursday that the
Health Insurance Scheme was ready to be launched nationwide adding that
government had decided to provide the seed money for all the 110 districts.
He said
experience from the 42 districts that had piloted the scheme showed the need
for state intervention to ensure a basic uniform standard nationwide since all
the districts were not equally endowed.
President
Kufuor was delivering his third State of the Nation Address to Parliament in
"The
ongoing campaigns to promote exercising, healthy diets, clean environments and
disciplined lifestyles will continue to ensure a healthy population." He
said HIV/AIDS remained the most urgent threat to the health of the nation.
President
Kufuor said though the AIDS Commission and other health agencies had succeeded
in raising the awareness of the disease to a high level, there was the need to
translate this awareness into a change in behaviour in order to contain the
menace.
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Kufuor expresses
regret about Dagbon crisis
The President
in his State of
He commended
Parliament for the co-operation it had given to government in dealing with
"these difficult and delicate issues". "That the Dagbon
Traditional Area should still be under a state of emergency should be a matter
of great concern to all of us."
President
Kufuor said the government was implementing the recommendations in the White
Paper of the Wuaku Commission and it was, therefore,
unacceptable that some sections should adopt entrenched positions against the
due process, without offering credible reasons for their behaviour.
He said the government
had been as transparent and as even-handed as possible in dealing with the
Dagbon issue because its sole aim was to achieve a just peace. "The truth
is oftentimes bitter, but I believe that the way forward in Dagbon, is for all
concerned to exercise maximum restraint and allow due process to work to
establish the truth, however, unpalatable and to proceed to dispense justice
thence.
"This is
the way to restore normalcy and harmony. I, therefore, renew my appeal to the
two sides of the conflict to respect and submit to the law of the land in the
interest of Dagbon and
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President Kufuor
concerned about record keeping
"This
nation has not been very good at keeping records or keeping track of what
happens, when or where," he said. Presenting the State of the Nation
Address to Parliament, President Kufuor said government had, therefore,
approved proposals for a National Identification System (NIS) for
implementation. He said the aim was for all citizens to have a National
Identity Card by the end of next year to smoothen the
conduct of everyday business and social life of the Ghanaian.
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Road levy, tolls to
be scrupulously collected
Accra (Greater
Accra) 14 February 2003- President Agyekum Kufuor on Thursday blamed the over
reliance on donor and multilateral agency support for the delays in road
construction works and said the road development levy and tolling arrangements
would be enforced to generate revenue to reverse the trend.
Delivering his
third State of the nation Address to Parliament, President Kufuor said:
"It is probably worthwhile pointing out that because we have to rely on
donors and other multilateral agencies for almost all the funds for the
development of roads, we are obliged to submit to and observe the varied
procedures their systems require to ensure that their taxpayers' monies are
used efficiently.
"This
invariably leads to the long delays between the headline announcement of the
project and the actual arrival of diggers and tractors on the roads." The
President was speaking on the five priority areas of government, which include:
Infrastructure Development; Rural Development Through
Modernised Agriculture; Enhanced Social Services With Emphasis On Health and
Education; Good Governance and Private Sector Development.
President
Kufuor said this year alone, government would spend an amount of almost ¢2
trillion ($250m) on road construction. Government's component of the amount is
about ¢422bn or 22 per cent.
The President
noted that the daily carnage on the roads was taking a heavy and tragic toll on
Ghanaians and said two members of Parliament had died in motor accidents in the
recent past.
President Kufuor
observed that since there was an urgent need for good roads, it was imperative
that
He urged the
public to maintain the roads after they were built, adding: "This is why
the road development levy and the tolling arrangements are going to be enforced
in earnest by government".
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Kufuor urges all to
support national development agenda
Accra (Greater
Accra) 14 February 2003 - President John Kufuor has called for a concerted
effort at nation building as admonished by the legendary patriot, Dr Ephraim Amu, in his song, "Yen ara asase ni."
He was
emphasizing the government's determination to speed up work on projects under
the five priority areas to accelerate economic growth and prosperity in his State
of the Nation Address to Parliament.
The areas are:
Infrastructure Development; Rural Development Based On
Modernized Agriculture; Enhanced Social Services, With Emphasis On Health And
Education; Good Governance And Private Sector Development.
President
Kufuor said: "Our nation is poised to overcome the distortions that have
bedevilled all attempts to move our economy forward. If we hold our collective
nerves to see us through the current difficulties, I believe the path ahead
will be clearer and smoother."
President
Kufuor also mentioned some activities being pursued under his special
initiatives on garments, cassava, oil palm, salt and other areas, saying they
were geared toward spurring the private sector to lift the nation from
"the quagmire in which the nation had been stuck for 40 years".
He said the
government had to make difficult and harsh decisions to increase petroleum
prices and rationalise prices of utilities to free the economy to flourish for
the benefit of all adding that it was necessary for Ghanaians to adjust their
behavioural patterns accordingly.
Vice President
Aliu Mahama, Chief Justice Edward Kwame Wiredu, Members of the Council of
State, Ministers of State, Members of the Diplomatic Corps, Professor John
Evans Atta Mills, Flagbearer of the National democratic Congress (NDC) and
other dignitaries were in the House to listen to the address.
President
Kufuor, who mentioned several projects being undertaken in the five priority
areas, expressed dissatisfaction about the pace of work. He attributed this to
the inability of the public sector to efficiently respond to the challenges and
gave the assurance that much progress would be made this year.
On
infrastructure, President Kufuor said major construction works on the arterial roads
to
He also
mentioned the Bole - Bamboi road, which, he said,
would link Wenchi in the Brong Ahafo Region to the Northern and Upper West
Regions; Sekondi -Inchaban
and Asankragwa - Enchi
roads in the Western Region. The other one is the Jasikan
-
President
Kufuor said agriculture was being modernised and diversified with the
introduction of the President's Special Initiative on Cassava Starch, Palm Oil
and Forest Plantation programmes.
He said in the
educational sector, about 30 senior secondary schools (SSS) nation-wide had
been upgraded in line with the government's policy of ensuring that each
district had an SSS improved with facilities similar to those in previously
well-endowed schools.
President
Kufuor stressed the need to develop information communication technology (ICT)
infrastructure to link
Other areas
addressed by the President were the friendly relations between
The State of
the Nation Address, a constitutional provision spelt out under Article 61 of
the Constitution, affords the President the opportunity to interact with the
people, present his vision for the year and be accountable to them.
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Give meaning to Dr Amu's song
The President
began his third State of the Nation Address with: "To set the tone for
this report, I recall the memorable words of the song composed by that
remarkable Ghanaian - Ephraim Amu, whose effigy now
graces the new 20,000 cedis note."
And just as the
President said that the Minority shouted that the 20,000 cedis note could only
buy one gallon of petrol. The President unruffled continued Amu
wrote and "we all sing: "Yen ara
asase ni ..." which
translates in part: This is our Land. Land of a priceless heritage, won for us
by our forebears with their blood, sweat and toil. It is now our turn to do our
bit for it."
President
Kufuor said: "This generation of Ghanaians must resolve to contribute its
bit. "The vision is to turn Ghana into a
middle-income country, through the vehicle of a solid macro-economic framework
as targeted in the five priority areas chosen for development and the special
initiatives that will spur the private sector to lift the nation out of the
quagmire in which it has been stuck for the past 40 years, and put it on the
road to achieve its promise of well being and prosperity."
He said the
past year was full of challenges and government had to start the first quarter
of the New Year with many difficult but necessary decisions. "In the
determination to establish a firm foundation to accelerate the economic
transformation of the country, government has had to take these decisions,
which require that all of us should buy into this vision and make the necessary
adjustments to our patterns of behaviour.
"This is
why after the nation has talked about the malfunctioning of the economy for a
long time, agonized about the difficult measures that can fix it for many years
and yet tried to dodge taking the hard decisions for so long, it is now having
'to bite the bullet' in a last ditch stance to free the economy for real
growth."
President
Kufuor said that was what informed the petroleum and utility price
rationalization to increase efficient domestic revenue mobilization. He said
the nation was poised to overcome the distortions that had bedevilled all
attempts to move the economy forward, adding:" If we hold our collective
nerves to see us through the current difficulties, I believe the path ahead
will be clearer and smoother."
President
Kufuor said the challenge demanded an all-party rally of the people saying:
"I make this appeal not as a Presidential Candidate. If I had my eyes
simply on the goal of winning the next elections scheduled for 2004, my
government would have undoubtedly chosen the easier way out by avoiding the
difficult decisions and continue with business as usual.
"But I
have rejected the easier option. For I am convinced that having taken the harsh
and difficult decisions, which we believe will lead to the fundamental
re-alignment of the economy, the nation will be freed to move on the path of
sound economic transformation".
The President
ended his one-and-a-half hour address saying that if Ghanaians were able to do
those things then "we shall be able to sing with pride and give meaning to
the immortal words of Dr Amu - "Yen ara asase ni"
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Prez Kufuor takes trans-historical ride with Old Amu
Accra (Greater
Accra) 14 February 2003- President John Agyekum Kufuor on Thursday stood tall
in an over-crowded Parliamentary chamber calling Ghanaians to the altar of
patriotism, sacrifice and forbearance as he invoked the spirit of Dr Ephriam Amu.
Old Amu, the musicologist who lived for music and nationalism
would have accompanied the President on any pilgrimage to the land of
patriotism and nationalism.
President
Kufuor had paid his third visit to the house and told members the state of the
nation and how he intends to make it better. His entry was less laborious. His
motorcade streamed in silence, largely drown in the
low sound of the police constabulary that had sandwiched him.
He was out-doored at the entrance of the huge entrance of the
Parliament House falling into the refuge of an anxious smartly dressed guard of
honour mounted by the Ghana Armed Forces.
Dancers and
drummers flowed their bodies flawlessly on the
three-tier staircase that accessed the house and behind the glass doors and
leafy canopies, stood guests and admirers savouring the historical moment.
He wore a
modest black jacket over a black pair of trousers and goose-walked through
sentries who neither blinked nor shook. Inside the Chamber, the panelled walls
still gleamed with the consent of the lightening system. The pillars still bore
the national colours and the weight of the countless diplomats, guests and
security chiefs.
The Speaker's
acre had changed form as it was bare but planted with the Presidential chair
and others to accommodate Vice President Alui Mahama and
Chief Justice Justice Edward K Wiredu.
The mace had
succumbed to the state sword, which rested on a traditional stool taking the
centre stage. Judges of the Supreme Court had strolled in a procession led by a
dutiful page who, jealously guided a miniature of "the scale of
justice"
They were
resplendent in an ash and black cloak dominated by the colour red and aged
wings to match. Former Vice President Prof. Atta Mills sat near a huge space
for the Fontonfrom drums, and admired the creature of
Ghanaian craftsmanship.
Conspicuously
missing was Former President Jerry John Rawlings and his wife, Nana Konadu.
Parliament had had its splendour enhanced by the broad red bands worn by the
Minority that mourned for the fuel price hike.
The Females
amongst them had theirs carefully placed around their necks finding their ends
on their bosom. But in the far end of the chamber swag an empty lonely chair in the
midst of an over flowing chamber.
It once housed
Emmanuel Acheampong, MP for Gomoa East, who crushed
to his death recently. His ghost would not take the silent flight to mingle
with the living alone. Sentuni Achiluwor,
Navrongo Central would certainly join the ythical journey.
One person
whose spirit still hover halls of culture, music, dance and nationalism had
long booked his seat. His effigy adorns the 20,000 cedis-note, popularly called
"one gallon", he composed the all-time most popular patriotic song
"yen ara asaase ni" and he is Old Amu.
President
Kufuor talked about him and the sanctity of
He radiated
with humour as he shared the catcalls, heckling and murmurs from the Minority
who must have their say and the Majority who must have their way. Theresa, the
only woman he had walked to the altar, fixed her bold eyes on the President
never missing the sight of the man she calls her own. The day had to end and so
it did with a deafening throbbing of the Fontonfrom
drums. In the middle of a lash green lawn, an activated fountain spewed water
in defiance of the blazing sun.
GRi.../
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Kufuor: Establishment
of law and order is gaining root
Accra (Greater
Accra) 14 February 2003 - President John Kufuor said on Thursday that the
establishment of law and order was gaining root by the strengthening of the
relevant agencies and empowerment of the courts and other institutions that
oversee civil liberties.
"The
computerisation of the courts is in progress and there are plans to establish a
Fast Track Court in each region to speed up the administration of
justice", he said in his State of the Nation address to Parliament.
The President
said a recruitment drive into the Police Service was in progress. This, he
added, was aimed at increasing Police numbers by 4,000 within the next two
years. This would bring the strength of the service to about 19,000 although it
would still be short of the 50,000 Police personnel that the nation of almost
20 million people should have.
President
Kufuor said the transportation and equipment needs of the Service were being
addressed and this year, some 600 vehicles with communication equipment had been
provided.
He said the
Police Service was being invigorated and a training programme was being
redirected to induce a heightened sense of social responsibility among
officers. With the help of the Chinese government, a barracks building scheme
is also underway to address their housing problem, which had long standing.
The President
called for co-operation from all citizens to help the Police transform itself
to serve the society well. President Kufuor commended the Ghana Armed Forces
for helping the Police to curb the menace of armed robbery and during national
emergencies.
He said they
had continued to bring honour to Ghana through their exemplary conduct in
peacekeeping operations they had undertaken in various parts of the troubled
world. The President commended the Forces for the growing sense of
professionalism adding, "I am happy to note that this is going hand in
hand with a lot of physical regeneration as well."
GRi.../
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'I will like to be
Osafo-Maafo's student' - Mills
Accra (Greater
Accra) 14 February 2003 - Professor Evans Atta Mills, National Democratic
Congress (NDC) Presidential Candidate on Thursday said he was prepared to be
the economic student of Yaw Osafo-Maafo, Minister of Finance.
Prof Mills
said: "I am prepared to learn at Osafo-Maafo's
feet so that he should mark my paper, announce the mark and he should not tell
me that he cannot do so because he has no time."
Prof Mills
holds PhD in economics while Osafo-Maafo holds a Degree in Mechanical
Engineering and several certificates in economic management. Prof Mills was
reacting to a question posed to him just after the President John Agyekum
Kufuor had delivered his Third State of the Nation Address to Parliament.
The media
wanted to know from Prof Mills what his reactions were when Osafo-Maafo at a
recent rally described him as an "Aplanke",
(a driver's mate) after he had criticised the Finance Minister's economic
policies on abortive one billion dollar IFC loan.
Prof Mills
said: "I know Osafo-Maafo was under pressure. I sympathise with him I wish
him well and I am not surprised that he called me that name. "You see when
you are under that kind of pressure and you mounted a political platform you
can say what Osafo-Maafo said.
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Ghana has warm relations
with neighbours - Kufuor
Accra (Greater
Accra) 14 February 2003 - Government has pursued its stated policy of good
neighbourliness and the relations with its neighbouring countries were very warm,
President John Agyekum Kufuor said in Accra on Thursday.
Delivering his
third State of the Nation Address to Parliament, President Kufuor said there
was no doubt also that outside the West African Sub-Region, Ghana's image was
soaring once again.
On his recent
election as the Chairman of the economic Community of West Africa States
(ECOWAS), President Kufuor told Parliament and Ghanaians that he was aware of
his first obligation to Ghana and her people.
"But I
also know that Ghanaians are united in the fervent wish that our sub-region
becomes peaceful and sheds its image of instability. The people of Ghana are
very much aware that what affects our neighbours, affects us as well," he
said.
He said:
"I am sure, therefore, that I have all your support in the efforts I make
with other Leaders in the Sub-Region to find solutions to the problems that
plague us. In addition to these efforts, I hope I can count on the prayers of
all Ghanaians for the people of
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Commissioners descend
heavily on witness
Accra (Greater
Accra) 14 February 2003 - Members of the National Reconciliation Commission
(NRC) on Thursday descended heavily on ex-military Corporal Kennedy MacCoy Segbawu for his
involvement in the alleged torture of Madam Yaa Anima
in the wake of the 31st December 1981 coup.
At least six of
the nine members of the Commission expressed their disgust for the treatment
given to Madam Anima at the instance of Segbawu.
Madam Anima had told the Commission how Segbawu
wrongly accused her of being a smuggler, seized 140 half-pieces of wax prints
from her and handed her over to military men at the Gondar
Barracks, where she was tortured mercilessly till she menstruated prematurely.
General
Emmanuel Erskine started by asking Segbawu whether he had served in any peacekeeping force. Segbawu responded that he served in the Middle East. Gen. Erskine then asked Segbawu why
after contributing to bring peace in another man's country he did not do the
same in his own country? All this
while Segbawu had begun to visibly shiver in his
seat.
Mrs Sylvia Boye asked Segbawu whether he had
children. Segbawu's answer elicited a thunderous
mixture of laughter and uproar in the chamber of the Old Parliament House.
Apparently Segbawu knew only three of his children, who were living
with him. But there were so many others he did not know of. Yet he said he took
care of all his children. Mrs Boye, who at that
moment had frowned, told Segbawu: "You denied
someone of taking care of her children but you managed to take care of your own
children."
When Professor
Florence Abena Dolphyne
asked Segbawu whether there was a ban on the sale of
wax prints at the time he arrested Madam Anima for selling wax prints, he
responded in the negative.
She then asked
whether Segbawu had the authority to cause the arrest
of people, who went about their legitimate duties and whether he arrested other
people. Segbawu was silent and the interpreter told
the questioner "My Lord no answer."
When Uborr Balafu Labal
took his turn, he asked what criteria Segbawu used to
determine whether Madam Anima sold the wax prints above the approved price. Segbawu could only say: "The PDC people told me she
was selling at an exorbitant price so I arrested her."
At this stage Uborr Balafu laughed at Segbawu and inquired whether he knew the control prices
himself and Segbawu answered in the negative.
Prof. Henerietta Mensa-Bonsu asked Segbawu whether he arrested Madam Anima for selling at a
high price or for being a smuggler. "I arrested her for selling above the
controlled price but I could also tell that she was a smuggler." He
further stated that in his report to the soldiers at the Gondar
Barracks, he stated that Madam Anima was selling cloth at prices higher than
the stipulated controlled price.
Prof. Mensa-Bonsu asked Segbawu to
plead for forgiveness from Madam Anima and he did that reluctantly. As they
shook hands Madam Anima wept and declared that she had forgiven him.
Earlier in her
statement to the Commission, Madam Anima who wept almost the whole period she
made her statement said her torture, seizure of her property and detention for
two weeks put her in such economic hardship that she almost committed suicide
with her four children.
Madam Anima, who
spotted mourning attire with black scarf to match, told the Commission that she
was in the mourning outfit not because she was bereaved, but to mark the
torture she went through.
She said in
1979 she dealt in flour and textile. But one day after she had bought 440 bags
of floor from the Industrial Area some military men seized them at the
She, therefore,
stopped dealing in flour and decided to concentrate on the sale of textiles.
Madam Anima said after the 31st December Coup, she was trading in
textiles at Nima in Accra when Segbawu, who claimed
to have received reports on her that she dealt in smuggled goods and sold her
wares above the stipulated control price, followed her home.
She said after
giving warning shots, Segbawu entered her room, took
140 half-pieces of wax prints, hired a taxi and took both her and the textiles
to the Gondar Barracks. Madam Anima said Segbawu turned down several pleas by on-lookers to let her
go and take the textiles away. She said he insisted that she was a smuggler and
he was going to deal with her.
She said on
reaching the Gondar Barracks, Segbawu
handed her over to the military men and left. It was then that they started
slapping and beating her. Madam Anima said for two weeks she and other women,
who had been detained, were beaten and made to sweep the streets of
Madam Anima
said in the course of time they were taken to the Border Guards Headquarters
and one tall soldier slapped her and literally pulled off her hair from her
head. She said she was also caned till she menstruated prematurely.
"When I
was released after two weeks, my goods were not given to me and I did not see Segbawu again. But I had my children to feed so I became a
porter moving from village to village, carrying wood and all kinds of things
just to make ends meet.
"I had
four children, whose father died so I was alone. At the moment the ages of my
children range between 25 and 30 years but they had no education so they are
just truck pushers and hawkers," she said. She said she lived with a
chronic headache and partial deafness due to the slaps and beatings.
Bishop Charles
Palmer Buckle said Madam Anima's case was an example of how Ghanaians
maltreated their fellow Ghanaians and not security personnel maltreating
civilians. "It should be clear that the work of the Commission is to bring
to the fore how Ghanaians hurt their fellow Ghanaians and not highlighting
conflicting situations between security personnel and civilians," he said.
GRi.../
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Woman yet to know
what killed husband
What was worse,
the family head of her late husband, Joseph Kwaku Addai, seized all the things he bought for her and drove
her away from the matrimonial home to her hometown, Angelina told the National
Reconciliation Commission on Thursday in
She said she
left the poor baby in the care of her mother and came back to
Angelina, then
19, said she came to
She said she
was pregnant in the course of their relationship and the man married her
customarily. Angelina said on
At about 1730
hours, as she waited for his return, a friend of her husband informed her that
a group of soldiers had picked him at the workplace for questioning at the Gondar Barracks and told her that he would return safely.
She said she
was worried because of stories of atrocities associated with the barracks.
Angelina said she could not sleep, as she was worried of the safety of her
husband. She could not soothe the crying baby, for it was the father's practice
to cuddle it to sleep in the night when it was crying.
Later in the
afternoon the following day, two friends, already aware of her husband's death,
came with a message that her husband had been severely beaten at the Gondar Barracks and was nursing injuries at the 37 Military
Hospital.
They asked her
to prepare some food to be taken to him and she obliged. However, they returned
with empty bowls earlier than she had expected and she wondered if her very
sick husband could have eaten a dish of boiled yam and stew, fufu and soup in no time.
Angelina said
she was left in the dark and as news of her husband's death spread in the
vicinity, neighbours came to the house, and cuddled her baby, but when they saw
no sign that she was mourning, they went away without telling her anything.
A group of
soldiers later came to the house and in the company of her landlady broke the
news of her husband's death to her. They told her that he felt weak in an
exercise they had with him at the Gondar Barracks and
later died.
Angelina said
she did not believe the report that her husband died from internal bleeding, but
the husband's family did not pursue the matter and she did not have money nor
know influential people to take it up.
According to
Angelina, her husband was shaved and one of his ears was missing when his body
was released to the family. On her return from the funeral at Akyem Sekyere, Angelina said her
husband's family members collected the foot machine and other items he bought
for her and left just a few of her belongings tied in a piece of cloth on a
bed.
She said she
alone had to cater for her son, who has now completed
Angelina said
during the era of the National Democratic Congress, a friend of her late husband
advised her to seek compensation but she did not take it up. Members of the
Commission expressed sympathy with her, but indicated that it would have been
better if she had added a copy of the post-mortem report on the death to her
written petition.
General
Emmanuel Erskine described the arrest, detention and
other atrocities without due process of the law as a painful episode in the
history of the nation. Charles Frimpong Awuah Koranteng, a farmer at Nsakyi, on
his part told the Commission of his unlawful dismissal from the then Post and
Telecommunication Corporation (P&T) in 1984.
He said he was
paid a paltry sum of 34,000 cedis as his benefits for 17 years service. Koranteng said a panel of investigators charged him with
negligence of duty for not closing his safe at Kintampo.
He was
interdicted for 15 months and when he was recalled, his salary for the period
was withheld and he was demoted. Later he was affected by an exercise of mass
dismissal of P&T staff.
His petitions
to the then Ombudsman, the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative
Justice (CHRAJ) and the TUC were not successful.
Sitting
continues.
GRi.../
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Volta Queenmothers take lecture in Intestate law
Ho (Volta
Region) 14 February 2003 - Professor Akua Kuenyehia,
Dean of the Faculty of Law, University of Ghana, on Thursday said the practice
of locking out women from the rooms in which they lived with husbands on their
death was a crime under the inheritance laws of Ghana.
She said under
the Intestate Succession Law, spouses had immediate right to the matrimonial
home and household chattels. Prof Kuenyehia was delivering a paper on
"Promoting the Enforcement of the Intestate Succession Law in the Volta
Region; Challenges and Strategies," at a workshop for 30 Queenmothers from the region at Ho.
The two-day
workshop, sponsored by GTZ Legal Pluralism and Gender Pilot Project (Family Law
Area) has the theme; "Role of Queenmothers in
the Enforcement of Family Laws in a Plural Legal System; The Case of the Volta
Region".
Prof Kuenyehia
urged the women to stand up to the threats of being harmed by the ghost of
their dead husbands and seek protection under the law, which prescribed
sanctions. She regretted that 17 years after the enactment of PNDC Law 111,
which is the Intestate Succession Law, the law remained a "paper
tiger".
"The law
must be made applicable in our daily lives," she said adding that the
change would not happen overnight but will show results after some persistence.
She said the Law must be made to buttress the good customary practices so that
women and children would not be disinherited in the event of their husband's
death.
Prof Kuenyehia,
who took the workshop participants through the process of writing wills, said
one must not be rich to write a will. Household chattels were also important to
children and dependants to be willed, she said
Mrs Hillary Gbedemah, a Private Legal Practitioner and Human Rights
Activist based in Ho, who was among the resource persons, said often, women who
lost their husbands sat at home expecting others to go through the process of
securing Letters of Administration for their husbands property.
She said the
law gives prominence to spouses in matters of the issuance of Letters of
Administration and that women who lost their husbands and were being bullied by
male members of families could on their own seek the authority from the courts
to legally manage the estates of late husbands.
GRi.../
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Police trial
adjourned to 19 February
They were:
Chief Superintendent of Police Koranteng Mintah, Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Frank Awuah, ASP Faakyi Kumi, ASP B. B. Bakomora, ASP
John Naami and ASP Frank Aryee.
The officers'
pleas were not taken neither were the facts of the case given. However, on
their bills of indictment, each has been charged with 126 counts of
manslaughter. On 6 January an Accra Magistrate court committed the six officers
to stand trial at an Accra High Court.
Their committal
followed their second appearance before an the
Magistrate court after bills of indictment had been served on them to reappear
before the court. At the High Court, the six who lined up in dock in their
smart outfit, received commendation from the trial judge, Justice Yaw Apau.
"The way
you have dressed clearly showed that you are Police Officers," he said.
When sitting resumed the trial judge said he would adjourn the matter to 19
February for the court to empanel jurors and give a firm date for hearing.
The court,
therefore, asked the officers to remain on their bail. Each was granted 20
million cedis with two sureties at the lower court. The Police Administration
had interdicted the six officers following their alleged involvement in a
stampede that resulted in the death of 126 soccer fans after a league match
between Accra Hearts of Oak and Kumasi Asante Kotoko.
However, the
Administration withdrew the interdiction on the grounds that it was no longer
necessary since investigations had been completed. The fans died in a stampede when
Police fired teargas into the stands to control people from throwing plastic
chairs and other objects onto the field of play. President John Agyekum Kufuor
set up the Commission to investigate the incident, which is the worst in
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Police
Hospital
Dr Victor Brakohiapa, Medical Officer-in-Charge of the hospital, told
the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in
He said the
hospital, which is already under staffed, was compelled to refer some of the
new cases beyond its capacity and resources to other health facilities. Dr Brakohiapa said the hospital was managing on the few
medical supplies and budgetary allocation and " therefore, the additional
burden from outside is a problem for us".
When the GNA
called at Korle-Bu, the administrators were at a meeting with the surgeons and
consultants. The strike action started by the junior doctors four days ago is
to demand better conditions of service.
GRi.../
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Self-discipline will
control HIV/AIDS spread
According to
statistics, 80 per cent of HIV/AIDS prevalence in
Dr Godfrey
Kwabena Hanson, an Anaesthetic at the
The lecture
formed part of a series being organised by the Judicial Service with funds from
the Ghana AIDS Commission for the staff of the Service all over the country to
sensitise them on the basics of the disease and its prevention.
Over 100 staff
members attended the lecture, which would be followed by other ones for the
staff of the Cocoa Affairs Court and the other courts at Tema, Amasaman, among other places.
Dr Hanson expressed
regret that with globalisation, customs and traditional values had changed in
most African countries making people, especially the youth, more vulnerable to
the menace of HIV.
He, however,
said with discipline and self-control, people could protect themselves from
acquiring the disease. He also advised men to buy their own razor blades to the
barbering saloons and ensure that used ones were discarded.
Justice George
Kingsley Acquah, a Supreme Court Judge and the officer in charge of the
campaign, said the Service decided to embark on the campaign to educate and
sensitise the workers on the dangers and prevention of the disease.
He said similar
lectures have been organised for heads of department of the Service in
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FBI raids Ghanaian shop in
Ohio
Kwabena
Yeboah, owner of the Berekum African Market on the
city's north side, was angry and confused after the agents and
FBI
spokesman James Turgal said the bureau had a court
order to search the market. He said the order was sealed and declined to give
any more details because the search was part of a federal investigation.
Agents
and police at the store refused to comment, referring questions to Turgal. Yeboah (pictured, left) 39, said the agents did not
take anything from the store, and he did not know what they were looking for.
"Why don't you ask them?" Yeboah said about the agents.
The
small store appeared to be undamaged after the search, with rows of food
untouched and checkout counter undisturbed. Yeboah
said he came to the
Yeboah
said he was out of town when the agents arrived about
After
agents left, Yeboah pulled a truck in front of the store, and he and a friend
unloaded boxes of produce. Donovan Madenwald, who
manages a Rent-A-Center in the same strip mall, said
he has never noticed anything out of the ordinary at the market. He said it
stays "busy enough to create a parking problem for us."
Madenwald did not see the raid. "I saw a guy getting patted down, but I
didn't see any activity," he said. Two police dogs were at the scene, one
from the
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