Government to enhance performance of security services
University of Ghana launches 10-year economic plan
Accra (Greater Accra) 31 January 2002 - President John Agyekum Kufuor on Thursday said the Reconciliation Law was not intended to target any particular person or group for persecution.
The government only sought to provide an opportunity for people, who were aggrieved, to air their grievances and for the state to intervene to secure the appropriate redress to reconcile the nation and move it forward in unity and harmony, he said.
The President said: "It was a matter of deep regret to me that there was such acrimony during the debates. Let me state clearly that there is no hidden agenda on my part in the matter of this law."
President Kufuor said this on Tuesday when he delivered his Sessional Address on the State of the Nation to the Second Session of the Third Parliament of the Fourth Republic of Ghana in Accra.
Members of the Council of State, the diplomatic corps, politicians, chiefs, the clergy and Service Commanders were at the Parliament House to listen to the two-hour address read from a 26-paged booklet.
The former President Jerry John Rawlings and his wife Nana Konadu also attended. The Minority group in Parliament on seeing the couple greeted them with cheers to which they responded as they took their seats on the front row of the public gallery.
President Kufuor said the independence of the National Reconciliation Commission in its work would be totally respected by government to ensure that it commanded trust and co-operation across board.
"This is the only way its objective of helping to reconcile the nation can be secured," he said. The President appealed to Parliament and Ghanaians to co-operate with the Commission to discharge its function for the good of all Ghanaians.
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Accra (Greater Accra) 31 January 2002 - The President, John Agyekum Kufuor on Thursday said the necessary studies towards abolishing the cash and carry system have been completed and very soon a systematised approach to fulfilling the policy would be announced by the government.
"Our health as a people needs much to be desired," he said. "This government accepts its responsibility of the health delivery needs of the people. We campaigned on the promise to abolish the cash and carry system within our first term of office, and we shall," he added.
The President who was giving his State of the Nation address to Parliament said a number of health insurance schemes had been initiated on pilot basis and the government was evolving the necessary regulatory measures to ensure the management of the scheme as it matured.
He said the good thing about the current process was that communities, missionary institutions and some private companies had declared their interest to participate in the scheme.
President Kufuor noted that the physical state of some of the country's hospitals and clinics left a lot to be desired and said government would continue to rehabilitate and modernise them to enhance health delivery.
He said the unsustainable rate at which doctors and nurses were leaving the service for greener pastures remained a big problem. "As the economy as a whole improves, and the pay structures become more realistic, job satisfaction will hopefully improve to halt this drain."
In the mean time, the government would do its best to improve the conditions of service for doctors, nurses and para-medical staff, President said.
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Accra (Greater Accra) 31 January 2002 - President John Agyekum Kufuor said on Thursday that the security of the nation and of the individual was paramount and that the government was supporting the specialised agencies - Police, Armed Forces, Prisons and other security agencies to enhance their competence.
He said the government had the duty of reassuring the people that they "can go about their lives without fear for as long as they operate within the law".
In his State of the Nation Address delivered at the beginning of the Second Session of the Third Parliament of the Fourth Republic of Ghana at the Parliament House on Thursday, President Kufuor said the present numerical strength of the Police Service was unacceptable and deplored the quality of their training, their lack of equipment and their poor living conditions.
The Government, he said, had started tackling these problems with a major recruitment drive that commenced this year to raise the number of personnel to an acceptable level to commensurate with the population.
President Kufuor said equipping the Police was also on course and that about 400 vehicles and communications equipment would arrive this year to enable the service perform better. The quality of their training, he went on, was also being improved to restore discipline and loyalty in the profession.
On the Armed Forces, he said that the government was seeking to restore it to its traditional role, saying, "all quasi-political organisations have been banned from the forces and our soldiers are concentrating on being soldiers".
He said there had been a marked improvement in civil/ military relations, especially, with the institution of the "open day" ceremonies, which has demystified the armed forces and helped in the promotion of a better atmosphere between both sides.
President Kufuor said the government was committed to modernise and equip the forces for more efficient service in safeguarding and upholding the sovereignty of the country.
Concerning the Prisons Service, he said new Prisons Council would be inaugurated soon and would be tasked with reviewing the state of affairs to come up with a program of reform. This, he said, was necessary because of the deplorable state of the prisons.
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Accra (Greater Accra) 31 January 2002 - One hundred high occupancy buses ordered by the government for private sector operators would arrive this year to improve the public transportation system.
President John Agyekum Kufuor in his State of the Nation Address to Parliament on Thursday, said railway shuttle services, which had been revived between Accra and Nsawam would be extended to other communities within the Accra Metropolis and the Tema Municipality.
The address, which highlighted the government's development priorities such as Vigorous Infrastructure Development, Modernised Agriculture, Enhanced Social Services with emphasis on Health and Education, Good Governance and Private Sector Development, was interspersed with shouts of "Hear, Hear" and laughter by a large audience, including Former President Jerry Rawlings and his wife.
Vice President Aliu Mahama, Chief Justice Edward Kwame Wiredu, Ministers of State, Members of the Council of State and the Diplomatic Corps were also in Parliament.
On the situation at the nation's two ports, the President said the government was taking steps to streamline operations and combat the corruption that had frustrated business for a long time.
"Government is also improving the physical state of the ports through private sector participation to make them competitive for global trade," he said. With the dredging of the Tema Port last year, the President said, Burkina Faso and Niger had announced their intention to use it for their international trade.
He said negotiations were ongoing to engage major international container operators to locate at the ports for their operations in the sub-region.
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Accra (Greater Accra) 31 January 2002 - President John Agyekum Kufuor on Thursday asked district assemblies to exercise their revenue raising powers and demand accountability from ex-officio members assigned from the central ministries.
"The decentralisation process that has been in place for more than a decade still has many failings," he said, adding: "The district assemblies do not seem to appreciate the full scope of their power and seem either incapable or unwilling to demand accountability from officials who serve at that level."
This was part of President Kufuor State of the Nation address to Parliament, which highlighted the government's development priorities as Vigorous Infrastructure Development; Modernised Agriculture; Enhanced Social Services with emphasis on Health and Education; Good Governance and Private Sector Development.
A large audience, including Former President Jerry John Rawlings and his wife Nana Konadu Agymang Rawlings, were in the House to listen to the address, which was interrupted with shouts of 'Hear, Hear ' and laughter.
Vice President Aliu Mahama, Chief Justice Edward Kwame Wiredu, Ministers of State, Members of the Council of State and the Diplomatic Corps were also at the Parliament House.
President Kufuor announced that a new Local Government Bill to replace Act 462 would be placed before Parliament to strengthen the workings of local government.
On the disbursement of the Common Fund, the President said the Local Government Ministry would strengthen its monitoring and supervisory authority over the assemblies to ensure efficiency and proper management.
President Kufuor said he had instructed the Sector Minister to ensure that district assemblies developed comprehensive plans aimed at maintaining high levels of environmental sanitation through effective plastic and waste disposal.
"It is the responsibility of the Ministry of Environment and the district assemblies to keep our towns and cities clean." The President said district assemblies would be tasked to enforce regulations that would ensure effective town and country planning as well as orderly development of villages.
He appealed to Ghanaians to keenly contest the district level elections scheduled for July. Ghanaians, he said, should also maintain healthy habits and attitudes to prevent the choking of gutters and littering of towns and cities.
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Accra (Greater Accra) 31 January 2002 - Tertiary education stands on the brink of crisis if a radical approach is not applied to the provision of that level of education in the country, Dr Ishmael Yamson, Chairman of the Governing Council of the University of Ghana, said on Wednesday.
"The facts are stark and sobering," he said. "All indications are that if some resolute action is not taken soon, a social and economic catastrophe of unprecedented proportions is likely to occur," he added.
Dr Yamson was speaking at the launch of the University of Ghana's second 10-year corporate strategic plan to provide a blueprint for strategic leadership and management of the University.
The first strategic plan was launched in 1993 when the university recognised the need to embark on some fundamental and far-reaching innovations to effect change and stimulate growth. This was in recognition to the prevailing economic, social and political conditions in the country and how they were impacting on education in general.
Dr Yamson, who spoke on: "Improving Organisational Performance; The Role of Strategy In The Context of Education"; said the government, which had to date been the main source of the University's financial sources, was itself struggling to define the role that it should play within the sector.
He said demand for tertiary education had increased with the increase in population and the widening realisation that a University degree was essential to the economic realisation of the individual.
The average subvention per student per annum paid by government to the University had decreased from 2,360.74 dollars in the 1991/92 academic-year to 585.60 dollars last academic year.
He said the value of economic staff remuneration had seen constant erosion over the past 25 years and "the result has been a massive brain drain of the best existing and potential academic talents from the system with a demand on retired and sometimes tired professors and lecturers."
Dr Yamson said the University of Ghana had selected an approach, which had a strong bias toward pragmatism both in the development of the plan and its execution.
He said the approach would be integrative whilst providing the focus for and the context in which all facets of the organisation could develop supportive subordinate plans.
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Ankaful (Central Region) 31 January 2002 - The lack of qualified health personnel in health institutions in the Central Region has been the bane of inadequate health care delivery in that region.
The region needs 40 more medical doctors in addition to the 40 who are already at post and more than a 1,000 registered nurses to beef up the existing 443 nurses who are taking care of a region with an average population of 1.5 million people to make the desired impact on health care delivery.
The region is well noted for its health problems, including high maternal and infant mortality rate, teenage pregnancies, communicable diseases and the HIV/ AIDS pandemic.
Dr. Elias Sory , Regional Director of Health Services made this known to newsmen after addressing the regional annual review conference on 2002 programme of work at Ankaful on Wednesday.
He revealed that lack of other qualified medical personnel including laboratory technicians, pathologists and other technical men to operate hospital equipment such as a mammograph, at key departments of the Central Regional hospital, is an issue of great concern to his administration.
Dr Sory said his administration sometimes buys the off-days of nurses in order to ensure that there are always nurses at posts and in most instances " they are overworked and stretched beyond their limits" and asked how long this could continue.
He expressed concern about the situation at the Assin Fosu hospital where bed occupant is always 100 percent but has only one medical doctor with the District Director of Health Services assisting and the Twifo Praso Hospital which, he said, needed 3 doctors to man it.
The health administrator, underscored the importance of qualified personnel to excellent health care delivery in the country and called for better incentives for them to stay at posts rather than to seek greener pastures elsewhere.
On diseases, he said malaria still tops the lists followed by non-communicable diseases, including hypertension and diabetes with the latter recording about 400 cases in clinics around Cape Coast alone last year.
He again mentioned maternal mortality rate as being high and stressed that his outfit would post the 237 community nurses in the region to the remotest areas in the region to bring health care delivery to all.
Despite all these he said, his administration was able to chalk some success including the measles immunisation programme, which achieved 99 percent coverage.
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Accra (Greater Accra) 31 January 2002 - Alhaj Malik Alhassan Yakubu, Minister of the Interior, on Wednesday insisted that the Peoples' Assembly held at Tamale enjoyed a congenial atmosphere and not violent as was being speculated by the Minority.
Mr Alban Bagbin, the Minority Leader in Parliament, recently held a press conference at which he paraded two men as victims of brutalities when they attempted to ask questions during the assembly held in Tamale earlier in January.
Alhaj Yakubu said: "These people are trying very hard to create the false impression of a breakdown of law and order, insecurity and persecution of political opponents in this country." The Interior Minister was speaking at a press conference organised to debunk allegations of intolerance by the New Patriotic Party (NPP) in the Northern Region.
Flanked by the Prince Andani, Northern Regional Minister, Dr Abdel-Majeed Haroun, Deputy Minister of Food and Agriculture, Mr Rashid Bawa, Deputy Minister of Education and other senior party officials, Alhaji Yakubu said the Minority Leader lied when he attempted to sketch a general picture of deliberate exclusion of National Democratic Congress (NDC) members at the assemblies with a doubtful example from Tamale.
He said while the government would welcome criticism from the opposite side, "it would appear that some people are bent on robbing this country of the culture of political decency that we are all striving hard to inculcate into our young but enviable democracy".
He said in an attempt to paint an acrimonious picture of the Peoples' Assembly, Mr Bagbin sought to link an alleged violence at the assembly to an incident that happened four days after the Assembly, even though, they were two separate scenes.
The Minister said Mr Bagbin was not present at the Peoples' Assembly at Tamale. "It is strange that while Honourable Bagbin was pontificating on truth and honesty at his press conference he could so cleverly cook up a false story like this to give the Peoples' Assembly a bad name."
He said: " We will not be taken back to the era of darkness where lies, mischief and political chicanery reigned; not by anybody and definitely not by a party whose spirit is eternally scarred by the brutality of its own past."
Alhaj Yakubu said four days after the Assembly an NDC group known as "The 64 Bench" organised an all-night rally, which Mr Bagbin attended. He said war-songs; insinuations and insults were blared over loud speakers against the NPP government and on the person of the President of Ghana.
Subsequently after midnight, some residents, who could not take the disturbances any longer, confronted the group during which a wooden kiosk was destroyed. Alhaji Yakubu said the government was committed to truth and honesty and had by its conduct been promoting decency, truthfulness and tolerance in Ghanaian politics and was trying to exorcise the violence that was liberally democratised in the not too distant past.
He warned of increasing incidents of violence among the NDC fold in the region saying, ''we will not allow anybody to use Tamale or any part of this country, for that matter, as a nest for political violence. "We will not allow anybody to derail our onward march to true democratic governance."
He noted that the Peoples' Assembly was not an NPP forum and should be seen as such, adding that the people were tired of politics of impunity and brutality.
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Accra (Greater Accra) 31 January 2002 - The National Democratic Congress (NDC) caucus in Parliament on Wednesday described the New Patriotic Party (NPP) first year in government as sloppy and buoyed by favourable external economic conditions.
Mr Alban Bagbin, the Minority Leader, said the government had failed and rather compounded the problems of ordinary Ghanaians in spite of the stability of world market prices for cocoa, gold and a slump in crude oil price.
The Minority had organised a conference in Parliament on the eve of the second State of the nation address to be delivered by the President. The group addressed various areas of national life including the economy and the reconciliation process.
Mr Bagbin said government's "hasty" decision to adopt the Highly Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) initiative had led to the withdrawal of a number of loans needed for crucial projects in the country.
He said Japan, one of Ghana's most dependable creditors, no longer offered loans and it is telling on the country's development process. "Despite promises by the Minister of Economic Planning and Regional Integration (Dr Paa Kwesi Ndoom) in Parliament that Ghana will receive debt relief by the close of year 2001 to the tune of between 170 million dollars and 250 million dollars, almost a year on there is no certainty when the decision point will be reached."
He said conditionalities attached to HIPC initiative were adversely affecting the quality of life of the ordinary Ghanaian. "Let us look at what is happening to Argentina and see whether we should still rely heavily of the IMF and World Bank."
Mr Bagbin said: "The full recovery cost for utilities such as electricity and water, no subsidies for agriculture inputs and full cost recovery of fees for social services such as education and medical are as some of the conditionalities."
Despite the President's expensive foreign travels, ostensibly to seek investment, foreign direct investment had fallen steeply and "may hover just around the 100 million-dollar mark from a peak of about 250 million dollars in the late 1990."
He said investors in the construction and mining were fleeing the country because of the high cost of transacting business. On corruption, he said government should not only pursue former ministers and opponents of the regime but look within its self and punish wrongdoing.
"The refusal to probe the Sahara oil deal remains an indictment on the government's commitment to zero tolerance, lack of transparency in the award of the castle renovation contract and the 25,000 dollar Black Star gift saga were overlooked by the government."
Mr Bagbin said the National Reconciliation Act would not bring about a genuine and sincere reconciliation. "The so called 'window of opportunity' option, which has been incorporated in the act is discriminatory and unconstitutional in as much as it creates differential access to justice and relief for the citizens of this country, who should be equal before the law."
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Accra (Greater Accra) 31 January 2002 - Kwame Peprah, former Minister of Finance, charged with conspiracy to commit crime and causing financial loss to the state, on Wednesday told a Fast Track Court in Accra that the charge preferred against him in the Quality Grain trial was wrong.
He said he did not act together with four others, who are also facing similar charges in the trial, to wilfully cause financial loss to the state. The other accused persons are Ibrahim Adams, former Minister of Food and Agriculture, Dr Samuel Dapaah, Dr George Yankey and Nana Ato Dadzie all former senior government officials. They have all denied the charges.
Mr Peprah was giving his evidence in-chief at the court presided over by Mr Justice Kwame Afreh, an Appeal Court Judge, sitting as additional High Court Judge. Led by Kwaku Baah, his attorney, the former Finance Minister said: "I did not wilfully cause financial loss of over three billion cedis to the state as alleged by the prosecution."
When asked by his attorney on allegations that the whole amount for the project was misappropriated by somebody, and the project could not, therefore, go on, Peprah said he learnt about some officers of Quality Grain Company colluding with some officers of the bank to misappropriate funds meant for the project.
Mr Peprah said there was nothing that he could have done to avert the situation, because it would be difficult to see an officer of a bank colluding with others, adding that it was the responsibility of the bank to follow rules.
He agreed with his attorney that if the project had not suffered a three-year setback, it should have started to generate a cash flow to repay money pumped into it. Mr Peprah noted that the previous government could not be faulted for projects of this nature that it undertook, since the government needed to promote the project to stop the importation of rice.
He said at the time that he was leaving office, the rice on the farm had been harvested, milled, bagged and was being sold. Under cross-examination by Mr Osafo Sampong, Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), Mr Peprah said the amount that reflected on the charge sheet was the first loan approved by the government to enable the project to continue.
He said he did not believe that there was a loss in the loan, which was secured and, therefore, did not believe in the charge levelled against him. The former Finance Minister stressed that the first loan was used to bring down the necessary equipment, to enhance the smooth take-off of the project.
Mr Peprah said if the prosecution told him that he had caused financial loss to the state, then it was not fair, because the prosecution did not take into consideration other aspects including bank charges before arriving at the three million dollars on count three of the charges preferred against him. Proceedings continue on Thursday.
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Accra (Greater Accra) 31 January 2002 - Professor Alex Kwapong, Chairman of the Council of State, on Wednesday said the ideals which the late Dr Ebenezer Ako-Adjei stood for would inspire the youth to achieve greater heights in the development of the nation.
Dr Ako-Adjei would forever be remembered in the history of Ghana for his good works and contribution towards the country's struggle for independence, he said. Professor Kwapong made the observation when he led members of the Council to call on the family of the late statesman in Accra.
The Council owed it a duty to pay its respects to the late Dr Ako-Adjei and pledged the Council's support for the family during their period of bereavement, he said.
Mrs Theodosa Ako Adjei, 86, Widow, Nii Okai Ako, Head of the Bereaved Family and Nii-Nai Adjei, Family Spokesman and other members of the family were present.
Dr Ebenezer Ako-Adjei, the last of the Big Six, died at the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital on January 14 after a short illness. He was 90. The members signed a book of condolence.
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Accra (Greater Accra) 31 January 2002 - Lieutenant General Emmanuel Erskine, a former Force Commander of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), on Wednesday, called for more search for arms, which might be hidden before elections in Sierra Leone.
He said peacekeeping and disarmament experience in other parts of the world indicates that combatants do not totally disarm even though they might say they had in public. Lt. Gen. Erskine was delivering the inaugural lectures of the Ghana Association of Former International Civil Servants (GAFICS), in Accra. The GAFICS' members numbering over 100 served with agencies of the United Nations, the Commonwealth Secretariat and other Inter-governmental organisations.
Lt. Gen. Erskine noted that true democracy in Sierra Leone depended on the total disarmament, rehabilitation and integration of former combatants into civil society. "Anything short of this would spell the doom of the country," he said and called on the international community not to concentrate on disarmament alone.
Lt Gen Erskine appealed to the international community to focus and provide funds for a resettlement package for the troops of the decade-long civil war. He said the process must be handled with decorum to ensure that the troops "do not run back into the bush after elections as happened in Angola".
A programme to disarm and resettle former rebel fighters in Sierra Leone began in May 2001. More than 47,000 former fighters including child combatants have turned in their weapons and ammunition to the U.N. Mission in Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL)
Under the programme, the former fighters would be trained and helped to return to civil life. The end of the disarmament programme was symbolically marked at a ceremony in the capital, Freetown, on January 18, when some of the weapons collected were destroyed.
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Kumasi (Ashanti Region) 31 January 2002 - One hundred and seventy (170) new cases of HIV/AIDS infections are recorded every month at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH) in Kumasi. In addition, one of every 20 blood donations screened at the hospital contained the virus that caused the disease.
Dr Sampson Antwi of the Hospital announced this at an HIV/AIDS awareness campaign programme organised by the Act Now Against AIDS (GH), a local NGO, for members of the Calvary Believers Church at Suame in Kumasi on Tuesday.
He said the very existence of the current generation was being threatened by the disease and urged churches to intensify their teachings and preaching to get the people especially the youth to refrain from fornication and adultery, which were the major causes of the disease.
Dr Antwi urged churches to mandate prospective marriage couple to go for HIV/AIDS test before marriage.
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Accra (Greater Accra) 31 January 2002 - Mr Osafo Sampong, Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), on Wednesday made changes to the charge sheet in the case at an Accra Fast Track Court (FTC) in which Hanny Sherry Ayittey and three others are standing trial for their alleged involvement in corrupt practices during the divestiture of the Ghana Rubber Estates Limited (GREL).
Between 1996 and 1998, Ayittey and the three, Emmanuel Amuzu Agbodo, former Executive Secretary of the Divestiture Implementation Committee (DIC), Ralph
Casely-Hayford, businessman and Satirieh Dorcas Ocran, housewife, allegedly accepted bribes to influence certain public officials to divest GREL in favour of Societe Industrielle Plantation Herea, a French company.
Ayittey, for instance, allegedly received huge sums of money as presents from Dr Albert Owusu-Banarfo, consultant, to influence GREL's divestiture in favour of the French company. In August 1996, Agbodo was alleged to have received 25 million cedis from Dr Owusu-Banarfo for that same purpose.
In September that same year, Casely-Hayford allegedly accepted bribes totalling 70 million cedis to influence Mr Dan Abodakpi, then Minister of Trade and Industry and DIC Board Member, in divesting GREL.
Ocran was alleged to have acted in collaboration with Ayittey to influence GREL's divestiture. After pleading not guilty to their respective charges of corruption, Mr Justice JC Amonoo-Monney, the trial judge, asked all the four accused persons to remain on their former self-recognisance bail bonds.
Mr Justice Amonoo-Monney, an Appeal Court Judge, sitting on the case as an additional High Court Judge, said in view of the new development, it was expedient to allow defence counsel to study the fresh charge sheet and, therefore, adjourned proceedings to Thursday.
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Gwollu (Upper West) 31 January 2002 - Chiefs in the Upper West Region have been advised to negotiate with their various community members to stop expensive funerals and weddings, which impoverish them and deny their children quality education.
Mrs. Florence Bentie Yeyie Sissala District Chief Executive, who gave the advice also called on the chiefs to use their traditional authorities to stem female genital mutilation and other outmoded cultural practices, which serve as an indictment to humanity.
Addressing the chiefs and people of the Gwollu traditional area during the swearing-in ceremony of a 22-member West Sissala traditional council at Gwollu, the DCE said nothing meaningful could be achieved without financial resources and called on chiefs in the area to assist the assembly to generate more income in terms of taxes and other revenue channels.
She pledged the support of the assembly to chieftaincy affairs and urged them to initiate self-help projects in their traditional areas to attract government's support.
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Accra (Greater Accra) 31 January 2001 - The University of Ghana on Wednesday launched its second 10-year corporate strategic plan to improve working conditions and make careers in the University attractive and worthwhile.
It would also provide the blue print for strategic leadership and management of the University. The University, within its corporate strategic plan intends to establish a learning Resource and Faculty Development Centre to assist members to enhance their instructional and research effectiveness.
It also intends to expand the multi-disciplinary Environmental Sciences Programme to support research activities in integrated water resource management with specific reference to catchments used for urban water supply, integrated coastal zone management and causes of environmental pollution.
The third major project is an expansion of the University's Information Communication Technology (ICT) infrastructure to ensure a cost effective data communication system that would support management information system as well as its distance education schemes.
Nana Oyeeman Wereko Ampem the second, Chancellor of the University of Ghana, who launched the plan, said the plan would cost about 20 million dollars to implement.
He said being the oldest and the best tertiary institution in the country; however, the general congestion on campus was unhealthy, unsafe and unproductive. Student enrolment at the University this academic year stood at more than 15,000 with an infrastructure facility inadequate to keep pace with the high student numbers.
He said it was appropriate to re-examine the disbursement of funds from the Ghana Education Trust Fund, which was not intended to be used as a substitute for government's normal subventions in the education sector.
"I believe the GETFund should be used largely to fund such projects as the Strategic Plan of the University. This is the only way in which the fund can be of lasting benefit to the improvement of education in Ghana."
Oyeeman Wereku Ampem called for the support of government, all alumni, friends, parents, students and the donor community in Ghana and abroad to buy into the plan and raise funds to implement it.
He said this would be done through direct personal approach to potential benefactors. The Chancellor said the university was determined to stay the best in Ghana and was committed to being counted among the elite in Africa.
Professor Ivan Addae-Mensah, Vice Chancellor of the University, said in spite of the successes achieved in the previous plan, the problems identified seven years ago continued to remain.
He said for the University to maintain its traditional role of teaching, research and provision of extension services whilst still serving the public interest, certain facilities must be put in place.
"These include lecture halls, laboratories, equipment, improvement in the telecommunication and greater access to up-to-date information communication technology facilities."
He said the University, had, however, chalked some successes in connecting to the Internet via the VSAT Satellite System and extending their fibre-optic backbone to other sections of the University and sister universities through the VRA fibre-optic network as well as radio.
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