Fewer crimes recorded in Central Region during the Yuletide
Accra (Greater Accra) 03 January - Participants at the 53rd Annual New Year School, on Wednesday called on government to increase the minimum wage from 5,500 cedis to 20,000 cedis a day to reflect the current economic realities.
"Wages should also be reviewed at reasonable intervals to have corresponding link with productivity". These recommendations were contained in a 12-page report prepared at the end of the six-day School, organised by the Institute of Adult Education (IAE) at the University of Ghana, Legon.
The theme for the School was "good governance and sustainable national development". The report, which was released on behalf of the participants by Dr Michael Tagoe, Resident Tutor of the Accra Workers College, called for "an efficient and dependable pension scheme to guarantee a decent living".
The participants urged the government to provide policy guidelines to facilitate zero-tolerance for corruption declared by President J.A. Kufuor.
They suggested that Asset Declaration forms for public officers should be easily available on demand while informants on corrupt acts be protected and rewarded.
The government was also urged to re-introduce subsidies on inputs as incentives to farmers while "agriculture, the largest foreign exchange earner should be accorded priority as it deserves".
The report called on the National Media Commission (NMC) to advise the media to intensify political and education programmes to promote peace, tolerance and good governance.
The participants recommended that the Local Government Service Bill should be passed to ensure effective integration of decentralized departments into the Local Government machinery to attract qualified personnel to serve in the districts.
They also called for reintroduction of civic education in schools to inculcate in students, their rights and responsibilities and spirit of patriotism.
On prevention of HIV/AIDS, the government was asked to prevail on stakeholders to maintain a stable price for condoms and make them available at all times.
The School provided a platform for frank and dispassionate discussions for 208 participants at open lectures, study groups forums and plenary sessions.
The participants discussed topics including strategies for poverty reduction, realistic wage policy and good governance.
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Cape Coast (Central Region) 03 January 2002 - The Central Regional Commander of the Motor Traffic and Transport Unit (MTTU), Thomas Tindow on Wednesday said motor accidents in the region reduced from 192 in 2000 to 147 in 2001.
Mr Tindow in an interview attributed the reduction to educational campaigns mounted for drivers. The year 2001 recorded 17 deaths and 208 persons injured in accidents involving 211 vehicles compared to 34 deaths 251 injured in 298 vehicles in 2000.
He said apart from the seminars the MTTU intensified its road safety checks and called on drivers to always go for refresher courses in order to sharpen their skills.
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Kade (Eastern Region) 03 January 2002 - Fire gutted the residence of Mr Kwaku Sarpong, Kade Constituency Chairman of the NPP and destroyed property worth millions of cedis on Friday, December 28, last year.
There was no one in the house when the fire started in the afternoon but an eyewitness said by the time firemen from the Ghana National Fire Service put out the blaze about half of the building had been destroyed. Mr Sarpong had travelled to Accra while his wife and children were out.
He said all their personal belongings were destroyed. A fire service official said the cause of fire could not be immediately determined.
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Cape Coast (Central Region) 03 January 2002 - Central Region recorded only two minor robbery cases during this year's Christmas festivities compared to the numerous stealing, assault and chieftaincy conflicts in the past years.
The Deputy Central Regional Police Commander, Patrick Kwabena Ampewuah told newsmen in an interview that apart from two minor robbery cases reported in the Swedru area, all the other districts had peaceful celebration without any major incident.
Mr Ampewuah attributed the reduced crime wave in the region to effective measures put in place by the Police to combat crime during the period. The measures he said included night patrols, snap road checks and deployment of CID personnel to hotels and other public areas that were prone to criminal activities.
Mr Ampewuah commended the district assemblies in the region for the support they gave to the Police by releasing their vehicles for night patrols and called on individuals and organisations to assist the Police to purchase vehicles to help combat crime in the region.
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Ajumako (Central Region) 03 January 2002 - Mr Kenneth Kwanin Obempong, District Chief Executive (DCE) for Ajumako-Enyan-Essiam has said the government would not pay for shoddy work by any contractor due to the financial situation in the country.
Contractors were, therefore, advised to produce good work to ensure prompt payment, Mr Obempong told about 120 members of the Ajumako-Enyan-Essiam District Contractors Association (AEEDCA) at a get-together at Ajumako on Wednesday.
The DCE said six semi-detached bungalows would be put up for decentralised heads who have for the years been commuting to work as a result of lack of accommodation.
He said the practice had adversely affected the smooth running of administration of the district.
Mr Obempong said special duty checkpoints would be put in place to check and control revenue and resources of the district assembly and called for unity and co-operation.
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Suhum (Eastern Region) 03 January 2002 - Evelyn Mantebea, a 28 year-old divorcee, became mad and committed suicide after the former husband had refused her access to her child.
The body of Mantebea was seen dangling from a tree on Sunday morning by her brother, the Suhum Police told journalists on Wednesday. The Police said a lantern, which she used at night was found under the tree.
Mantebea was married and stayed in Accra with her husband and child but after she was divorced she moved to stay with her parents at Suhum and later suffered some mental illness.
She had been going to the Accra Psychiatric Hospital for treatment and on December 12, during one of her visits, she went to her former matrimonial home but the ex-husband did not allow her to see the child.
When Mantebea returned to Suhum she brooded over the behaviour of the former husband and complained to friends and relatives but nothing was done about her predicament so she decided to end it all, the Police said.
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Accra (Greater Accra) 03 January 2002 - President John Agyekum Kufuor on Wednesday said the government intended to utilise the talents and expertise of Ghanaians serving in international institutions to build the nation. He, therefore, called on such personalities to make their ideas and expertise available to the country.
Speaking to Dr K. Y. Amoako, Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), who paid a courtesy call on him at the Castle, Osu, President Kufuor said the government was ready to work with Dr Amoako and others like him to build the nation.
"It is time the country honours some of you and we are ready to cooperate with you and use your ideas". President Kufuor said Dr Amoako's contributions to the preparatory works in the New Partnership for Development in Africa (NEPAD) would be beneficial not only for the development of Ghana but the West Africa sub region and the entire continent.
Dr Amoako told the President that there were opportunities for Africa because the international community would support countries that ''put their house in order and undertake good and sound economic policies and programmes''.
He said Ghana would benefit from some of the programmes initiated by the international community this year.
Dr Amoako expressed appreciation for the government's policies and programmes and said: " These are positive steps to get the economy right. What I have seen is very encouraging and the general feeling is that you are on the right track".
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Accra (Greater Accra) 03 January 2002 - Mrs Rose Karikari-Annan, Executive Director of the Ghana Employers Association, said on Wednesday that the association was interested in dialogue and consensus building on workers' agitation for the restoration of the End of Service Benefit (ESB) Scheme.
She said the association was not against the restoration of the ESB and had welcomed the appointment of a technical committee to examine all aspects of the issue.
Mrs Karikari- Annan was speaking at a symposium on: "Realistic Wage Policy and Good Governance" at the 53rd Annual New Year School of the Institute of Adult Education going on at the University of Ghana, Legon.
She said any sustainable policy on realistic wages should ensure that the macroeconomic environment was favourable to make investments competitive, viable and productive.
She said a realistic wage would derive from the productivity levels of enterprise and profit-sharing mechanisms by stakeholders.
Mrs Karikari- Annan expressed the readiness of the private sector to collaborate with government and labour to spearhead the search for realistic wages and high level of productivity.
She called for favourable and proactive policies that would engender the creation and sustenance of small and medium enterprises, since they were the potential avenues of employment creation.
Mr Smart Chigabatia, Executive Secretary of the Civil Servants Association, called on the government to adopt "a holistic wage policy to address the strategic imperatives of equity, job content and performance".
Such a policy, he stressed, should be able to provide short, medium and long-term wage targets that would provide social protection to workers to make ends meet.
Mr Chigabatia said for years the levels of wages and salaries of workers had been persistently low and characterized by distortions, disparities and other shortcomings. This situation had led to strikes and other industrial actions and consequent loss of revenue and productivity.
He said good governance should be facilitated by the government through taking cognisance of the legal and constitutional basis of workers economic rights, which had the principle of equity as the central theme.
Mr Kofi Asamoah, Deputy Secretary-General of the Trades Union Congress, in charge of Operations, blamed the low and declining wages mainly on the policies of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, adopted by Ghana.
Another cause, he said, was the fall in the productivity of labour as a result of bad governance and poor economic management.
Mr Asamoah called on the government to initiate an income policy that aims at achieving a realistic level of income for individuals and households and also guarantee a decent living for workers and their families.
Professor Kwasi Ansu-Kyeremeh, Director of the School of Communications
Studies, Legon, who chaired the function, called on the government to set a deadline for implementation of realistic wage policy and strive to achieve results.
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Cape Coast (Central Region) 03 January 20002 - The National Democratic Congress (NDC) Member of Parliament (MP) for Agona East Constituency, Samuel Adu-Yeboah on Tuesday told supporters of the party that it was doing everything possible to win the year 2004 general election.
Adu-Yeboah was addressing the supporters at an end of year get-together organised by the Cape Coast Constituency of the party at Cape Coast.
He said the NDC being the most well organised party in the country was the only party that had the welfare of the people at heart and asked supporters to remain steadfast, dedicated and committed to the party.
He said the turn out at the function by members and supporters indicated that the party still had a massive support. Mr Adu-Yeboah said, "the NPP has failed to honour its electioneering promises of offering free education, free medical care and creating 100,000 jobs within its first one hundred days in office".
Lawyer Harry Hayford, MP for Abura-Asebu-Kwamankese constituency said, "whether you like it or not NPP is the government in power" and therefore urged the supporters to respect the government and refrain from acts that would soil the good name of the party.
He said the defeat of the party had served them a lesson to prepare adequately to win the 2004 general election and would now allow the electorate to make meaningful decision on future elections.
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Bolgatanga (Upper East) 03 January 2001 - Vice President Aliu Mahama has said the NPP would be ashamed to ask Ghanaians to give it a second mandate to rule, if it failed to fulfil its promises to transform the economy and create wealth.
The government, Alhaji Mahama said, would therefore, pursue sound policies that would alleviate poverty and put money in the pockets of Ghanaians.
He told cross sections of the people at separate meetings at the Bolgatanga and Navrongo last Friday, that the government would constantly seek the views of the people on its policies and their impact with the objective of re-shaping them to make them more beneficial.
"We will not wait until our term is nearly finished before we come to you to seek your votes again. We will interact with you often to know your concerns. The NPP knows shame. I know shame... so we will fulfil our campaign promises".
Alhaji Mahama said although positive economic indicators, such as the drop in inflation, the stabilisation of the cedi and the drop in interest rates, showed that the economy was on the right track, there was still a lot to do to ensure that Ghanaians felt a change in their standard of living.
"We are, therefore, asking for a little patience so that we can deliver. The economic problem we inherited is deep and we need time to address it".
He said the government would this year implement a number of programmes that would create wealth and jobs and urged farmers to prepare to take advantage of the programme to replace about 25 per cent of the malt content of the products of the breweries with locally grown sorghum and maize.
He said the breweries would invest in an out-growers scheme for the production of sorghum and maize and advised them to embrace the project to increase their earnings.
Guinness Ghana alone intends to invest an initial seven billion cedis in an out-grower scheme, in addition to spending 200,000 dollars to provide potable water in 15 districts in the three Northern Regions.
It would also spend 250,000 dollars on fighting Onchocerchiases in these areas.
About 7,500 farmers to be engaged for the project are expected to earn a total 90 billion cedis over a five-year period.
Alhaji Mahama earlier attended the burial of Col Roger Felli, one of the eight senior military officers executed in 1979.
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Somanya (Eastern Region) 03 January 2002 - The Yilo Krobo District Assembly had acquired 40.4 hectares off the Somanya-Dodowa road, to serve as a land bank for prospective investors in the agricultural sector in the district.
Portion of the land would also be used as a refuse collection site to generate compost organic manure for farmers to improve their yields and thereby increase their incomes.
The District Chief Executive, Sub- Lieutenant Christian Tettey (rtd) said in an interview at Somanya that it was part of efforts to boost agriculture in the district.
He said access to land remained a major hindrance to agro-investment in the district, adding that the creation of the land bank was to encourage many more agro-concerns to invest in the area.
He explained that apart from land litigation, the local farmers, especially the youth, did not have access to credit to entice them into agriculture.
The assembly, he said, had, therefore, decided, to offer all such youth groups that would avail themselves of the land bank project credit from the Poverty Alleviation Fund and the necessary farming inputs.
Sub. Lt. Tettey expressed the hope that the implementation of the project would eliminate the constant default in repayment of credits granted under the PAF facility since officials from the assembly could easily re-claim the loans from the beneficiaries operating on land.
He said, 50 million cedis, out of the estimated 150 million cedis on the 50- year leased land had already been paid to the owners.
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