Analyst calls for dispassionate debate on IFC loan
IFC is a consortium of exceptional repute - NPP
Smugglers destroy security lights along Aflao frontier
Ghanaian Journalists to report for American Urban
Radio Networks
Making African Union a reality requires good governance - Owoaje
Educational system blamed for low skilled labour
Mode of education in Africa must be re-examined - Professor
Africa must have a common language - NGO
The rainy season is not over-Meteo
Mounting of platforms for district elections starts at Ho
Women Ministry disburses 6 billion cedis to farmers and fishmongers
Salaries of 35 non-formal education supervisors embargoed
Supreme Court review is a bad signal for investors
Three fishermen injured in crash at Biriwa
More women open savings account-Mrs Asmah
Accra (Greater Accra) 10 July 2002 - The proposed $1 billion loan agreement being sought by the NPP Government from International Finance Consortium (IFC), not the World Bank’s IFC, has continued to generate heated debate in the country as Parliament prepares for a showdown on Thursday 11 July.
So far the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the opposition National Democratic Party (NDC) have traded uncompromising positions, which signalled a similar posture in Parliament when debate begins.
The NPP on Wednesday called a press conference at which it described the NDC’s earlier statement on the loan agreement as “diabolical and narrow-minded” calculated to derail the unprecedented breakthrough by the country in her quest for external financial assistance to boost development effort.
On Monday, the NDC said the proposed loan agreement was fraudulent and a scam nurtured by an unknown group operating along the lines of ‘419’ aimed at fleecing the country of millions of dollars.
While this tense situation persists, Ghana Review International called the World Bank Office in Accra and a reliable source told our correspondent that the Ghana office of the Bank does not have any information on the Consortium which is contracting the said loan for Ghana. “We do not have information about International Finance Consortium in the Ghana Office of the World Bank”, the source said.
According to him, the Accra office only knows about the International Finance Corporation (IFC) an affiliate of the World Bank. When GRi pressed further to speak to the Country Director, he said the new Director was still in Washington and had not yet resumed duty. – GRi desk report
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Accra (Greater Accra) 10 July 2002- The Executive Director of the Centre For Policy Analysis (CEPA) on Wednesday called for a dispassionate discussion, based on knowledge, to ascertain the credibility of the International Finance Consortium (IFC), whose proposed one billion -dollar loan facility to the country has generated public controversy.
Dr. Joseph Abbey, who was speaking to journalists in an interview, in Accra said modern trends in information technology should make it easier for stakeholders, particularly media practitioners, to access the relevant background information that assist Ghanaians to make an informed decision on the credibility or otherwise of the company.
"It should be possible for instance to find out when the IFC was formed, whether it is listed on a stock market or not, its financial status, its directors, balance sheet and credit and other relevant information," he said.
Dr. Abbey said the research could have been conducted and the results forwarded to the appropriate persons such as the Governor of the Central Bank and institutions that have been assigned with the responsibility of protecting the interest of Ghanaians in such matters rather than putting it in the public domain with a political spin on the issue.
"I was very saddened and embarrassed when I heard the way the issue was handled in the media, but I was somehow comforted that, one radio station called the IFC to make some form of investigation," he said.
The National Democratic Congress, at a news conference on Monday called on its members in Parliament to reject the loan, which is before the Finance Committee of the House, describing it as a “scam”.
Dr Abbey said Ghana, as a Heavily Indebted Poor Country (HIPC) seems vulnerable and could, therefore, be taken advantage of by fraudulent organisations that would hold themselves as saviours.
But we need to handle such issues without political biases to be able to seek the supreme interest of all Ghanaians, he said. "I cannot say whether this particular loan is genuine or not but the warning is clear; there are sharks out there. I have met them with their proposals in the various roles I have played for this country and we acted collectively as public spirited people to save the nation," he said, adding that if a mistake should be made it should be a genuine one.
Dr Abbey condemned the politicisation of the issue, saying that only served the emotional and parochial interests of the players.
He said he had some information that indicated that the proposal for the loan facility came up during the previous administration, therefore, it would be prudent for the National Democratic Congress to share information on its experiences with the IFC with Ghanaians to make an informed decision rather than it just issuing a distant warning.
Dr Abbey said the Governor of the Bank of Ghana had the constitutional mandate to reject any deal that he considered dangerous or bad, therefore, he should be entrusted with the ultimate responsibility to decide on the loan.
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Accra (Greater Accra) 10 July 2002- The New Patriotic Party (NPP) on Wednesday described the International Finance Consortium (IFC) as a "Consortium of exceptional repute" which was extending its generous financial facilities to Ghana.
The NPP, therefore, said the description of IFC by the National Democratic Congress (NDC) as faceless international fraudsters and crooks that intend to defraud the nation is baseless and without merit.
Mr. Dan Botwe NPP General Secretary stated this at a press conference in Accra in response to allegations by the NDC over a loan of one billion US dollars from IFC by the government.
The NDC on 8 July 2002 said the loan contraction was a "scam" by international fraudsters and crooks to loot the nation of its scarce resources, although the party supported the objectives of the loan, which sought to enhance rural and infrastructure development. Yet the party maintained that the agreement would rip the country of millions of dollars.
Mr Botwe explained that the loan to be disbursed in three tranches of 350 million dollars each over a three-year period on highly concessionary terms was the “biggest single loan package for any government in the history of the nation”, which he said was a massive vote of confidence in the economic management of the country under President John Agyekum Kufuor.
"The fact that a private institution has agreed to offer a loan of this size to the Ghana Government is a clear recognition of the good performance of the NPP administration and should be lauded instead of being condemned."
He said the loan would be used to provide the impetus to a programme that would aim at improving and developing road networks, mass transportation, air travel, telecommunication and the energy sector in the country.
On NDC's allegation that the government did not take any feasibility study before entering into the agreement, Mr Botwe said that claim was false and explained that the Governor of Bank of Ghana and the Senior Minister, Mr J. H. Mensah conducted separate investigations on the background of IFC and its associates in United States and Europe.
Mr Botwe said the Governor and Minister concluded the final negotiations before the proposals were submitted to the government's Economic Management
Team, which in turn sent its recommendation for Cabinet's approval. He explained that as required by the Constitution, the Minister of Finance placed the agreement before Parliament on Tuesday, 2 July 2002, for consideration and approval.
The General Secretary stated that the Finance Committee invited the Governor, the Senior Minister and a Senior Legal Officer of Bank of Ghana, who discussed the merits of the Agreement as well as answered, questions and issues raised.
Mr. Botwe said, "the government followed all the necessary procedures for getting the transactions off the ground transparently." He said the loan, which was under the infrastructure-lending programme was to speed up and sustain development, stressing that without laying a strong foundation, all talks of strong economic edifice would have little impact.
The NPP also debunked the notion that a Heavily Indebted Poor Country (HIPC) could not borrow, adding, "a HIPC nation can borrow on concessionary terms as the government is doing under the IFC agreement."
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Aflao (Volta Region) 10 July 2002- All security lights erected along the main Ghana-Togo frontier at Aflao have been destroyed by suspected smugglers, plunging the border line into pitch darkness at night.
In addition, residents have turned the security zone and the "no man's land" along the border into farmlands, thereby obstructing customs surveillance on the unofficial crossing points, popularly called 'beats'.
Worried Customs, Excise and Preventive Service (CEPS) officers, who led the Press round the frontiers on Tuesday said their investigations revealed that unknown smugglers and their unscrupulous aides used catapults to throw stones to break the bulbs and the tubes.
It was observed that there was no structure such as tents at the Customs Check Points along the unofficial routes, except wooden benches on which they sit them. This, the officials said, did not only expose them to the weather but also put them at the mercy of criminals.
These routes also lacked access roads for vehicular patrols. Unlike the Togolese side of the border, residential properties were sited very close to the "beats", making it difficult for Customs patrol teams to identify local residents from commuters.
"We are sometimes forced to mingle with the residents. This situation compromises our duty of checking smuggling, as some of them could be aiding smuggling by giving them shelter," one official said
Mr Kow Amissah-Koomson, Assistant Commissioner at the Aflao collection post, described the problems as very worrying and said the CEPS Management law passed in 1993 places the determination of surveillance zones and approval of routes for customs purposes, among other things, in the domain of the CEPS governing board.
Mr Amissah-Koomson said the Aflao sector of CEPS could not eject encroachers on its operational zone. However, the Sector had submitted a situation paper with proposals on the issue to the authorities and has since been expecting a reaction. He said the Sector had plans to fix the lights but was apprehensive about how to protect them against destruction by the criminals.
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Accra (Greater Accra) 10 July 2002- About ten Ghanaian journalists in radio broadcast are to be hired by American Urban Radio Networks, (AURU) to report on events in Ghana under an agreement signed between Ghana's Ambassador's in the United States, Mr Alan Kyerematen and Mr Jerry Lopes, the President of Program Operations and Affiliations of AURU.
A statement from Ghana's Embassy in Washington said the agreement, which was AURU's first venture in Africa was to help cultivate a better image of Ghana and Africa in the global American media.
According to the statement, AURU would also rebroadcast Ghanaian music, folklore and other cultural radio documentaries. "There will again be a business link for people with business interest in Ghana to interact with their colleagues and platform created for visiting government ministers and other officials to talk on policy issues when in Washington DC, on one of the highly rated talk show programmes."
The statement asked all interested broadcast journalists to submit resume and professional achievements for selection as correspondents in Ghana through the Ghana Embassy, Washington DC.
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Making African Union a reality requires
good governance - Owoaje
Kumasi (Ashanti Region) 10 July 2002- Mr. Olufemi Owoaje, Deputy Nigerian High Commissioner in Ghana has said that an African Union modelled on the European Union could become a reality if good governance and strengthened solidarity among African leaders were assured.
"The realisation by most African leaders that we are the architects of our own economic and political woes, and that we should start looking for the brighter side of Africa is very commendable", he observed.
Speaking in an interview with the Ghana News Agency, in Kumasi, Mr Owoaje commended Ghana for its determination to move the country forward democratically and commended Ghanaians for comporting themselves in the December 2000 general elections. He called for the sustenance of the cordial relationship between Ghana and Nigeria and said they could draw more pragmatic economic policies to the benefit of the people.
Mr. Owoaje proposed that such policies should be well documented so that they could be the yardsticks for measuring the development of the two countries. He commended President Kufuor for his sense of humility and good leadership skills, adding that African leaders should provide good governance for their people.
Mr. Owoaje called on Nigerian residents in Ghana to live harmoniously with their Ghanaians counterparts in order to sustain the good neighbourliness that existed between the two countries.
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Accra (Greater Accra) 10 July 2002- Mr. Ishmael Yamson, Chairman of UNILEVER Ghana Limited, on Tuesday blamed the shortage of skilled labour in the country on the current educational system and called on government to salvage this as a foremost political task. "Our whole educational system is out of date and uninspiring. It is overwhelmed and under-supported. And the time has come for a dramatic turnover", Mr. Yamson said.
He was speaking in Accra at the launch of the 80th anniversary celebration and a five billion cedis renovation fund for the Wesley College, Kumasi. The anniversary, which would be celebrated in November this year is on the theme: "Come, Let us rekindle the torch."
Mr. Yamson said currently, the nation was faced with an acute shortage of real workforce and this was impacting on productivity and the ability to create wealth. He said: "Tomorrow, it might threaten a lot more. Therefore, the talk about jump-starting the economy should start with education. Nothing would do it more than a higher educated and a higher motivated work force."
He said the right people with the right skills to meet the modern needs of business was a key challenge to the nation, and called on stakeholders to improve the quality of education to compete favourably on the global market.
Government, he noted, must nurture a physical, economic and social environment in which people could discover that they could save themselves. "Promising to do everything for everyone has not worked in the past, it is not working today, and will not work in the future", he added.
Mr Yamson said the Ghanaian populace must strive for a value system that was productive and said that parents students and communities should have a desire to improve their education and living standards themselves. "Indeed a desire to chase a new horizon by themselves, a horizon that motivates people to put their lives in their own hands. Government alone cannot save everyone " he noted.
The Most Reverend Dr Samuel Asante Antwi, Presiding Bishop of the Methodist Conference, launched the anniversary and said the college was the first co-educational institution to be established in the country and has become a real front line for the establishment of Christian upbringing.
The college, he said, lived up to its vision and added that its past students had contributed immensely to the development of the country in all spheres of life. Dr Asante Antwi said it was the vision of Nana Yaw Dabanka, the then Tafohene that the college that was built on the land he had leased would after 100 years, become a fully-fledged Teacher University.
The school was established in 1924 and boasts of past students in the persons of Dr. Kofi Abrefa Busia, first Prime Minister of the second republic, Mr F. L Bartels, the first African Headmaster of Mfantsipim School, Dr. Ben Abdallah, former PNDC Secretary of Education and Culture.
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Agona Swedru (Central Region) 10 July 2002- Ghana National Adventist Association of Students (GNAAS) has launched a 200 million-cedi education endowment fund for the pupils and students in SDA schools in Agona and Gomoa.
Ms Christine Churcher, Minister for Primary, Secondary and Girl-Child Education, said in a speech read for her that educating the girl was a positive way to fight hunger, underdevelopment, ignorance and economic deprivation that could lead to teenage pregnancy, diseases and poverty.
Ms Churcher said the unprecedented moral decadence and indiscipline afflicting the youth was of concern to the Ministry of Education and Ghana Education Service and bold steps had been taken to inculcate the right values in children from early childhood. She commended the SDA church members in Agona and Gomoa for their efforts in instilling discipline into their students and urged other churches to emulate them.
Mr Peter W. Droefenu, Agona District Director of Education, said the government could not finance education alone and "that is why there is the need for churches, non-governmental organisations and companies to supplement the efforts being made to enhance the quality of education".
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Accra (Greater Accra) 10 July 2002- Mrs Gladys Asmah, Minister of Women and Children's Affairs, on Tuesday urged media practitioners, especially women, to propagate national goals of mainstreaming gender issues and the protection and proper development of the child.
Speaking at a two-day strategy formulation workshop for media practitioners in Accra, Mrs Asmah said such efforts would go a long way to see women at the forefront of development and would ensure the proper development of children.
The workshop was organised by the Women's Ministry in collaboration with the UN System Gender Programme and the Danish Embassy to update the knowledge of media practitioners on activities of the new Ministry, the challenges it faces and to enable them to deliberate on strategies for promoting gender mainstreaming and the protection of the rights of the child. It was on the theme: "Promoting Gender Mainstreaming and Children's Right Protection in Ghana".
Mrs Asmah urged women to change their attitude towards themselves and be more tolerable of one another to enhance their development in the society. She said: "I am sad about the way women attack themselves by using all sorts of ways to impede on their development. "If we as women do not accept ourselves as equals, how can we look at our men folk in the face and demand equality," the minister observed.
She expressed the hope that the creation of a Ministry for Women would encourage women to look at themselves in a different light, especially the educated ones, to use their education to better the lives of their unfortunate sisters.
Vice President Aliu Mahama, in a speech read for him by Mr Felix Owusu-Adjapong, Minister for Communication and Technology, said the establishment of the Ministry of Women Affairs emphasised the government's recognition for gender equity in national development and the proper protection of the rights of all children in the country.
He said the theme for the workshop should be seen as a measure of the government's preparedness to come to grips with all factors militating against the advancement of women and children.
Vice President Mahama urged the practitioners to use their medium as communicators to work in concert with the Ministry to enable it to achieve its objectives of gender mainstreaming and the protection of the rights of the Ghanaian child.
Mr Alfred Sallia Fawundu, UN Resident Co-ordinator and UNDP Resident Representative said UN member state needed to do much more since significant gender inequalities continued to limit women in realising their full potentials.
He urged the government to ensure adequate institutional capacity to develop and implement policies on gender issues. "This requires basically strengthening institutions and building capacity of stakeholders as well as advocating for change in policy where necessary", Mr Fawundu said.
According to him said the UN System viewed the workshop as strategically important and it was in pursuit of the principles and ideals of all the international conventions on women and gender. He expressed the hope that, the workshop would enable the Ghanaian media to step up its role in promoting gender equality and protection of the rights of the child.
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Accra (Greater Accra) 10 July 2002- Professor Sophia Oluwole, Professor of African Philosophy at the University of Lagos, on Tuesday said uncensored adaptation of Western education, values and practices were retarding the progress of Africa. "Sometimes the adaptations do not fit into the African environment and thus fail to effect real progress,” she noted.
According to her while Western education has had some positive impact on Africa, a lot more could be achieved if Africans began to remould education to suit the socio-cultural environment prevailing on the continent.
Professor Oluwole was speaking on the topic, "Education towards human values," during a four-day African Regional Conference on Youth and Human Values in Accra. She observed that as a result of the Africa's zeal to become western, she turned up to know a lot more about European than African history and yet people "that lack adequate knowledge of themselves cannot make progress," she said.
She said African scientists could make a lot of progress by researching into the work of traditional medicine instead of out rightly labelling them as fakes. Professor Oluwole said it was high time Africans begun to be original in their decisions and practices as the surest way of making real progress.
Ten African countries, including Ghana and about 80 participants, are attending the conference, which ends on 11 July. It is being organised by the African chapter of the International Society for Human Values, a non-governmental organisation.
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Accra (Greater Accra) 10 July 2002 - The US-Africa faith Mission, a Non Governmental Organisation dedicated to uplifting the poor and the marginalized in Africa has called on African leaders to adopt Swahili as an official African language. This, it said would help nurture the newly launched African Union since the continent was too politically fractured to operate a democracy without a common language.
A statement issued in Accra on Tuesday said Swahili was a good choice and it was already the official language in East Africa. It said most African intellectuals, including Professor Wole Soyinka have advanced reasons why Swahili should be considered a good potential. "We advocate that Swahili be given prominence over French in our schools and institutions of higher learning' it added.
The statement signed by Reverend Seth Tetteh, President of the NGO said so far deliberations of the Heads of States have been limited to politicians and handful of intellectuals whilst the common citizens have been left out of the decision making process. "The struggle, if it is on behalf of the people should include their inputs," it said, adding that a mechanism be involved to bring the voice of the people to bear on the planning of the African Union.
It cautioned the Heads of State of Africa on their heavy reliance on the goodwill of the international community. "Our view is that the solution to the problems of Africa lies within the borders of Africa, not out of it." the statement said.
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Accra (Greater Accra) 10 July 2002- The Meteorological Services Department on Tuesday said that the rainy season was not over and that they were still strong winds carrying moisture favourable for rains. This follows intent rains yesterday afternoon in some parts of northern Accra, notably, Madina and its surrounding areas in the early hours of 1200 hours and 1: 30 hours.
According to Mr. Emos Narh, a meteorologist at the Meteorological office at the airport, though the major rains were subsiding, "the types we are experiencing now are the localised ones". He said this afternoon rains at the Madina and its environs were the conventional rains due to winds blowing over the Akuapim Mountains.
Mr Narh said the major rains in the southern part of Accra normally occur between April to June, after which there is a lull, then the minor rains begin in September to October. He said the northern part of the country has started experiencing its major rainy season, which would get to its peak between August and September.
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Mounting of platforms for district
elections starts at Ho
Agotime-Kpetoe (Volta Region) 10 July 2002- Mr Mohammed Adoquaye, Volta Regional Director of the Electoral Commission (EC), has advised the public to refrain from wearing political party "T" shirts on platforms mounted for District Assembly Election candidates. He said political party paraphernalia of any kind on the platforms would defeat the non-partisan nature of the elections and must not be allowed.
Mr Adoquaye was speaking at the launch of the 2002 District Assembly and Unit Committee election platform mounting in the Ho District at Agotime-Kpetoe.
Five candidates in the electoral area, Miss Cassia Kporku, teacher, Mr James Kofi Agbemavi, farmer, Mr Moses Agbovi, public servant, Mr Bismark Katamani, trader and Mr Gilbert Kpassa, teacher, spoke for five minutes each on their programmes and answered questions from the electorate.
The provision of water, toilet facilities, sanitation, health issues and a new market were the focus of their programmes, while questions were on their capabilities, life style and level of competence. Mr Adoquaye described the platform as "to a large extent devoid of acrimony".
Mr Stephen Dzorkpata, Ho District Returning Officer, reminded candidates to present letters of introduction to their polling agents to be authenticated before July 23 or their agents would be thrown out of the polling stations.
Mr Gideon G.K. Doh, another Returning Officer, said out of the 54 electoral areas in the Ho District, 43 were being contested while 11 candidates had been returned unopposed.
Mr Doe said out of the 143 candidates for the District Assembly Elections in the District, 15 were women. He said out of 263 unit committees in the district, 118 had the exact number of 10 and would require no elections. Mr Doe said 64 units had less than 10 candidates and at 28 units, no nominations had been made. He said of the 2,228 contesting at the unit committee level, 672 were women.
Nene Neur Keteku III, Chief of Agotime-Kpetoe, chaired the function and among those present was Mr Steve Akorli, Member of Parliament for Ho West.
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Awutu Bawjiase (Central Region) 10 July 2002- The Ministry of Women and Children'sAffairs has since August last year, disbursed six billion cedis to women farmers and fishmongers nationwide in a bid to reduce poverty.
Mrs Gladys Asmah, Sector Minister, announced this on Monday when she inaugurated the Bawjiase Area Women's Wing of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) at
Awutu Bawjiase. She said about 800 million cedis was released last month to women farmers in the Central Region to boost their agricultural activities to increase food production.
According to her apart from financial support for the women, 200 gari processing machines have been purchased by the ministry to be distributed to women to process their cassava, adding that out of the number, 25 have been allocated to women in the Central Region. She said each of the 25 machines was to be used by 50 women to process cassava on a large scale to prevent the produce from going to waste and thereby help to alleviate their poverty.
Mrs Asmah announced that 15 tomato-processing machines have also been purchased for tomato-growing areas to assist farmers to process and store in order to prevent the commodity from going waste. She said the creation of the ministry by President John Agyekum Kufuor was intended to eradicate hunger, diseases and poverty that had confronted Ghanaian women for more than two decades.
The Minister urged women, who have benefited from the scheme not to think that the monies were gifts, but to re-pay such loans to enable others to benefit from the facility. She urged the women to contest the forthcoming district level elections in order to assist the less privileged members of the society.
Mrs Asmah asked bank managers, who were administering the disbursement of the funds to add some of their profits so that the women could expand their businesses. She urged the women to intensify their political campaign to win more members for the party to enable it to win the 2004 Presidential and Parliamentary elections.
Mr John Agyabeng, Agona District Chief Executive assured the women that the Kufuor administration was committed to alleviate the sufferings of Ghanaian women, and urged them to rally solidly behind the NPP government to ensure good governance.
The DCE cautioned members of the party to tolerate divergent views expressed by members of the opposition, but reject those going round peddling lies about the NPP government, adding that the economy was on course.
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Kumasi (Ashanti Region) 10 July 2002 - Thirty-five Zonal Supervisors of the Non-formal Education Division (NFED) of the Ministry of Education in five districts in
Ashanti have jointly petitioned the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) over the placement of an embargo on their salaries by their respective District Chief Executives (DCEs).
The districts are Ahafo-Ano South, Asante-Akim North, Sekyere East, Afigya-Sekyere and Amansie West. The embargo is believed to have been based on suspicion that the affected supervisors falsified their academic qualifications to obtain salary levels they did not merit leading to financial loss to the state.
In their petition, the supervisors stated that they were employed in 1994 to fill the vacuum created by the withdrawal of the Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT) from the World Bank sponsored Adult Literacy Programme in 1993. They maintained that their appointments were based on merit and performance and after successful interviews.
The supervisors claimed that their upgrading to their various salary levels came after four years of intensive training while in employment, adding that, during the period they neither enjoyed annual leave nor promotions. They said since 1998, they had not been given any incremental jump in respect of their salaries although other public service employees enjoy the facility. For about six months now embargo was placed on their salaries.
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Accra (Greater Accra) 10 July 2002 - The Great Consolidated Popular Party (GCPP) on Tuesday said the Supreme Court's six - five review of the constitutionality of the Fast Track Court was a bad signal for investors and must be condemned in no uncertain terms.
"One of the cardinal bases for measuring the security of a country for investment to thrive is on the justice system, which must be seen to be truly independent from Executive manipulations and interferences in the adjudication of cases," Mr Dan Lartey, the GCPP Leader and Founder, told the Ghana News Agency.
Mr Lartey noted that the circumstances surrounding the appointment of Mr Justice Dixon Kwame Afreh to the Supreme Court and his subsequent empanelling for the review, though legally sound within the letter of the Constitution, was wrong within the morality and spirit of the document.
"This is a clear violation of the concept of Separation of Powers and Independence of the Judiciary as enshrined in the Constitution". The GCPP Leader also cited a case of conflict of interest against Justice Afreh for sitting on the review case after the controversies surrounding his appointment, especially for being a Judge at the Fast Track Court.
Mr Lartey said; "it could best be described as being the referee, the match commissioner and player in a game. This is a judicial miscarriage of justice and a bad precedent for the growth of democracy." He said; "this is reminiscent of the Danquah-Busia tradition, which in 1969 declared: "No Court, No Court" in the infamous 'Republic versus Sala case, which incidentally had President Kufuor as a Junior Minister."
Mr Lartey called on the various arms of government to ensure that the concept of Separation of Powers, Check and Balances, and the Rule of Law were adhered to for the promotion of good governance and sustenance of democracy in the country.
The GCPP Leader noted that his stand was not to condone with nation wreckers but to ensure that the due process of law was adhered to in all circumstances, stressing that the Executive should not in any way to give the least inkling that it was interfering with other arms of government.
The Supreme Court (SC) by a six-five-majority verdict on 26 June reversed its earlier decision on the constitutionality of the Fast Track Court (FTC). The Chief Justice, Mr Justice Edward Kwame Wiredu, Mr Justices George Acquah, Mr Justice Williams Atugubah, Mrs Justice Sophia Akuffo, Mr Justice George Lamptey and Mr Justice Kwame Afreh held the view that the FTC was not alien to the Constitution.
The five dissenting Judges, who were hitherto in the majority and maintained their earlier decision that FTC was unconstitutional were: Mrs Justice Joyce Bamford Addo, Mr Justice A. K. B. Ampiah, Mr Justice F. Y. Kpegah, Mr Justice E. D. K. Adjabeng and Mr Justice Thoedore Kwame Adzoe.
The court awarded a cost of 10 million cedis against Tsatsu Tsikata, former Chief Executive of the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC), who brought the application, challenging the constitutionality of the FTC. Tsikata was arraigned at the FTC for wilfully causing financial loss of 2.15 billion cedis to the State.
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Three fishermen injured in crash at Biriwa
Biriwa (Central Region) 10 July 2002- Three fishermen from Biriwa in the Central Region sustained head and arm injuries when their canoe hit rocks and capsized as they were returning from a fishing expedition.
The three Kwaku Botwe 26, Kwame Aframoah 30 and Kofi Kakraba 25 were treated and discharged at the Saltpond Hospital but their canoe was destroyed. Kakraba told the GNA that there was darkness when they were returning and the 27-member crew lost their way. "We therefore ran onto rocks a few metres to the shore.''
He said the outboard motor attached to the canoe got disengaged and it took the crew some time to retrieve it but the motor caught fire when it was taken home. Expressing concern about the incident the youth in the town appealed to the assembly member and members of the unit committee to provide light at the shore.
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More women open savings account-Mrs Asmah
Accra (Greater Accra) 10 July 2002- Amount disbursed so far from the Women Development Fund stands at 5.5 billion cedis to 11,294 women farmers. Another 1.4 billion cedis has been released for the purchase of 200 gari processing machines from GRATIS/SASAKAWA for the distribution to eight cassava growing regions.
Mrs Gladys Asmah, Minister of Women and Children's Affairs, on Tuesday announced these at a two-day strategy formulation workshop for media practitioners in Accra. She said 1.2 million women have opened accounts with various banks in the country and have put in almost seven million cedis as savings accounts in anticipation of loans from the Fund.
The workshop was organised by the Women's Ministry in collaboration with the UN System Gender Programme and the Danish Embassy to update the knowledge of media practitioners on activities of the new Ministry, the challenges it is facing and to deliberate on strategies for promoting gender mainstreaming and the protection of the rights of the child.
Mrs Asmah said the launching of the f Fund by the government in December last year to give micro-credit to women farmers, food processors, entrepreneurs and traders to promote and enhance their income generating activities had sensitised a lot of women on the need to savings
She said: "this is the action the Ministry has taken to reduce poverty among the rural and urban poor in the country and also to create wealth". The Minister said with the creation of the Fund, women were now using the banking system to do business.
She said poverty and malnutrition contribute to accelerate the speed of HIV/AIDS, which the Ministry was prepared to fight by preventing and managing its spread amongst women and children. She also announced that a 120 billion cedis has been voted towards a three-year training programme for the unemployed youth, which would start next month.
She noted that she would ensure that young women, boys and girls benefit from the training to be organised in collaboration with the Ministry of Manpower Development and Employment.
GRi…/
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Minister thanks all for smooth BECE
Wa (Upper West) 10 July 2002- Professor Christopher Ameyaw-Akumfi, Minister of Education has expressed the Ministry's gratitude to parents, teachers and all those, who contributed towards the successful conduct of the re-sit Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE).
"It is worthy of note that parents and guardians encouraged their wards to prepare and take the examinations while teachers sacrificed their time to organise classes for their pupils", he said. Professor Ameyaw-Akumfi, who was speaking to newsmen at Wa on Monday, also commended the security agencies for ensuring that the events that culminated in the cancellation of the first examination were not repeated.
To the general public and the mass media, he said their co-operation created a peaceful atmosphere for the smooth re-sit. Professor Ameyaw-Akumfi pledged that the Ministry and the West African Examination Council were putting adequate measures in place to make sure that no such leakage occurred in future.
He said the Senior Secondary School Certificate Examination would begin soon and expressed the hope that the same congenial atmosphere would be created for it to be conducted successfully.
GRi…/
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Okorae (Eastern Region) 10 July 2002 - Traditional authorities have been urged to ban wake-keepings as a way of curbing the increasing HIV/AIDS menace and the incidence of unplanned pregnancies, especially those related to teenagers.
Mr Edward Asare Kumi, a Steward of the Ebenezer Methodist Church at Okorase near Koforidua, who made the appeal, claimed that wake-keepings, rather than being a means to showing compassion to bereaved families and deceased persons had become an avenue of sexual promiscuity, especially by the youth.
Speaking at the launch of an HIV/AIDS campaign by the Koforidua Circuit of the Methodist Church at Okorase on Friday, Mr Kumi therefore, appealed to traditional authorities to ban all wake-keepings and in the process lessen the economic costs of such events on the bereaved families and the social implications for the state.
The campaign, which was sponsored by Ghana AIDS Commission, was also used to inaugurate a 30 member peer counsellors for the Koforidua Circuit to create awareness among members of the church about the scourges of the disease.
He said it is common to find a lot of teenage girls, especially, getting pregnant few days after major funerals because the youth usually take advantage of such occasions to indulge in indiscriminate sex.
The Eastern Regional Director of Education, the Reverend Ama Afo Blay, who is the Eastern Regional Co-ordinator of the Methodist Church HIV/AIDS campaign, said a study conducted by the church in about 20 communities revealed that many people were still ignorant about the existence of the disease.
"This means the message had not gone far and the church has to come in and assist the people already living with HIV/AIDS to live a meaningful life", she added.
The Koforidua Diocesan Superintendent Minister, the Very Rev Michael Bossman, said the Methodist Church was moving into a new phase in combating the disease that would include the provision of information and education for the youth and other vulnerable groups as well as providing care for people already afflicted with the disease.
The Akuapem North District Chief Executive, Dr (Mrs) Eugenia
Quist, asked Ghanaians to show more compassion to HIV patients and urged the
patients to reciprocate this gesture by avoiding infecting other people. The
Okorasehene, Nana Asare Kumi II, who chaired the function asked the youth to
take all pieces of advice and education about the disease seriously. - GNA
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Accra (Greater Accra) 10 July 2002 – Before the current Chief Justice, His Lordship, E. K. Wiredu assumed office, his predecessor, the late Chief Justice I.K. Abban had left a debt of ¢7.7 billion at the Judicial Service as a result of mal administration. Like Rome, which was not built in a day, this alarming debt figure was also accumulated over a period of time under the late Chief Justice’s administration.
What primarily brought about the problem are the extra Financial Administrative powers that the late Chief Justice I K Abban granted to the Acting Chief Supply Officer, Gabriel Daniel. The directive mandated him to conduct all transactions on behalf of the Judicial Service without questioning. This easily boosted his ego, which apparently opened him up to several fictitious deals at the Service.
Though the late Chief Justice’s action sins against Financial Administration Regulations (FAR) L.I 1234 of 1979, he still went ahead to grant those powers. Some of the fraudulent activities detected by this paper which resulted in the huge debt at the Judicial Service, include double payments.
It was for instance discovered that an amount of ¢100m paid to Integrated Electronics included ¢78 million over paid vouchers. It was further observed during the investigations that without due regards to existing regulations and procedures, the Internal Audit department of the Judicial Service headed then by the Acting Chief Internal Auditor, W. K. Nkatia could pass for payment vouchers by the schedule officers.
The late Chief Justice’s directive, contained in a document dated 12/6/95 which strengthened the powers of Mr. Gabriel Daniels reads: The Acting Supply Officer is therefore, directly responsible to the Chief Justice and Judicial Secretary.
This being so, any transactions entered on behalf of the Judicial Service by instructions of any officer not below the rank of A.S. (subject to auditing) provided that transaction is approved by either Judicial Secretary or Chief Justice shall be the duty of the Judicial Secretary and Financial Controllers to look for funds to meet transactions in accordance with current financial status.
This move curtailed all internal financial control mechanisms to permit thorough checks on transactions undertook by Mr. Gabriel Daniel on behalf of the Judicial Service. In one of the mischievous deals, the same model of items was ordered twice for the Judicial Service from Integrated Electronics Service.
The first transaction took place in March 9, 1998 while the second also occurred on December 15, 1998. Further amounts of money were paid to the company when they had not supplied the Service with any items.
The December 1998 Audit Report of the Judicial Service
pointed to serious lapses in the service’s procurement procedures. For
example, the supply section submitted list of items to be purchased for
approval by the Judicial Secretary without prices attached. It also noted that
without due regard to existing regulations and procedures, the Internal Audit
section passed for payment vouchers raised by schedule officers. - Vanguard
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