Commonwealth Finance Ministers meet in London today
Short calls for expansion of Rights Commission membership
Declare health as an 'essential service' – Medical Association
National insurance scheme for Teachers
Media houses urged to invest in staff training
Accra (Greater Accra) 22 July 2002- The Commonwealth Secretary-General, Mr Don McKinnon, would open the Civil Society Consultation meeting with Finance Ministers of the Organisation in London Monday.
A statement available in Accra said the two-day meeting would conclude three months of consultation between civil society organisations of member states facilitated by the Commonwealth Foundation.
Mr McKinnon said the involvement of the civil society was in line with the spirit of the Coolum Declaration adopted by Commonwealth Heads of States and Governments in March this year. The Declaration stressed the need for stronger consultation and collaboration between official and non-governmental organisations in the Commonwealth.
The Secretary-General said that for the first time, citizens of the Commonwealth would make a direct input to the meeting of Finance Ministers on the theme, "Delivering the monetary Consensus," scheduled for London from 24-26 September 2002.
Mrs Garcia Machel, Chairperson of the Commonwealth Foundation and Mr Paul Boateng, British Chief Secretary to the Treasury, would address the opening session.
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Tema (Greater Accra) 22 July 2002- Mr Justice G. K. Acquah, an Appeal Court Judge on Sunday cautioned politicians against making wild and unsubstantiated allegations that might give cause to ambitious military adventurers to attempt to overthrow the government.
"Politicians must endeavour to refrain from inflammatory language likely to destabilize this country and recognise that, no government can achieve absolute perfection in governance, what is required is maturity in the criticism of government, and tolerance in our relationship with each other."
Mr Acquah who was addressing a Military Durbar at Tema Naval Base over the weekend noted that politician's guarded lifestyles and utterances could go a long way in preserving the country's fledging democracy and promote the rule of law.
The Military Durbar, under the theme, "Promoting discipline and the rule of law in our Ghanaian society," was organised by the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) as part of this years Constitution Week celebration, which started on 28 April and official ended on 4 May.
Mr Justice Acquah said, "this country thrives on multiparty democracy, and it is important that politicians recognise their crucial importance in its governance," stressing, "it is not healthy for political parties to make wild and unfounded allegations against their opponents."
According to him said the nation and the individual would enjoy reasonable peace and security if all institutions including the government, play their proper roles in upholding the virtues for which Ghanaians chose constitutional democracy. He cautioned government not to forget that the power to govern emanated from the people, and that such power should be exercised in a positive, fair and proper manner within the rules established by the Constitution.
Mr Justice Acquah also told the officers that, "there must be an end to armed interventions in the governance of this nation," adding that "no individual or group of persons have a right to rule this nation through armed intervention."
The Supreme Court Judge said the authority to rule was vested in the people through their power of voting, and warned that people were now more determined than ever to resist anyone who dared to interrupt the democratic governance.
He also noted that the growth of the nation had been disturbed by the unwarranted military interventions, which according to him had resulted in the country still trailing far behind her contemporaries in economic and social development. Mr Justice Acquah, however, acknowledged that the military had a crucial role to play in sustaining discipline and the rule of law in the country.
He said, "By your training, expertise and competence, you are better placed to resist any adventurer from attempting to overthrow this Constitution. A distinctive virtue of your institution is your high sense of discipline."
Mr Larry Bimi, NCCE Chairman said the commission intended to make the Constitution, become a living document embossed on the minds and hearts of the people for the attainment of democracy and good governance. He said, "Ghanaians need to develop the culture of democracy, the courage to resist violation of their human rights and the tenacity to resist dictatorship in all forms and."
Mr Bimi suggested that the traditional period of confinement to prepare a chief should be adopted to prepare the country's Presidents-elect to understand the dictates of leadership before assuming that role.
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Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly approves 2002
budget
Kumasi (Ashanti Region) 22 July 2002- The Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly (KMA) on Friday approved its estimated budget of 23.4 billion cedis for this year at its sitting in Kumasi. The assembly's estimated total expenditure stood at 23.3 billion cedis and a surplus of 88.4 million cedis. Two areas in the budget, which attracted a lot of debate, were the fees, to be charged for refuse collection and fees to be paid by drivers at the Kejetia lorry park.
The finance and administration sub-committee fixed the fees for the collection of refuse from first class residential areas at 30,000 cedis, that of second class residential areas at 20,000 cedis and third class residential areas at 15,000 cedis. However, after a lengthy debate, the fees were reduced to 20,000 cedis for first class, 15,000 cedis for second class and 10,000 cedis for the third class. Members argued that the economic situation in the country was such that it would be unrealistic to further burden the people with high taxes.
The assembly asked the Waste management Department to convey the decision of the assembly to the contractors so that they did not contravene the decision. For the fees to be paid by tro-tro and taxi drivers at Kejetia, the fees were reduced from 5,000 cedis per tro-tro to 3,500 cedis and taxis from 3,000 cedis to 2,000 cedis.
The assembly expressed concern about the mode of operations of its task force noting that in spite of the good work it was doing, its mode of operations sometimes left much to be desired, noting that this was giving the assembly and the government a bad name.
The members wondered why the task force carried small axes (tomahawks) and in some cases were masks in their operations and said that attitude was unacceptable and therefore asked the Metropolitan Chief Executive (MCE) to spell out their mode of operations to them.
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Accra (Greater Accra) 22 July 2002- An Accra Circuit Tribunal on Friday said DarshanBipin Shas, an Indian Marketing Consultant who defiled two girls was sentenced to a 14-year jail term and not seven years as reported in the media.
The GNA reports Mr Imoru Ziblim, Chairman of the Tribunal as saying that Shas pleaded guilty to two counts of defilement and was sentenced to seven years on each count to run cumulatively.
The media supported by Child Advocates expressed misgivings about the court's purported ruling that Shas should serve the sentence in his country. "I did not rule that the convict should serve his jail term in India. This is not done anywhere," Mr Ziblim stated.
He said he ruled that Shas, diagnosed to be HIV positive, should serve his sentence in Ghana and deported as soon as practicable because of his health status. The tribunal also asked Shas to compensate the victims with five million cedis each. Two accomplices, Kwabena Amesigah and Jonathan Sowu, charged with abetment of crime, were discharged
On 14 March this year, relatives of the victims, had information that the girls had visited the La beach in Accra where the two accomplices lured them on separate occasions to have sex with Shas for a fee. Shas sent them to Green Leaf Hotel at Osu where he was lodging and had sex with them on two different occasions paying them 150,000 cedis each.
When Amesigah and Sowu were arrested they led the Police to Shas's shop and upon interrogation, the Indian admitted the offence and told the Police that he did not use any protective measure during his sex with the girls. The accused was sent to the Police Hospital for medical examination where he was diagnosed HIV positive.
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Akosombo (Eastern Region) 22 July 2002- The Commission of Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) on Saturday called for a constitutional amendment to expand the membership of the Commission to enable it discharge its duties effectively.
The Commissioner, Mr Emile Short who made the call, sought the expansion of the three-member commission to a minimum of seven, to facilitate its functions as a Human Rights Commission, an Ombudsman's office and Anti-Corruption Agency.
"The framers of the Constitution failed to appreciate that an institution like CHRAJ with a multi-pronged mandate would need more than three full time
Commissioners to handle its extensive functions," he told participants at a review workshop on the Commission at Akosombo in the Eastern Region.
The two-day workshop organised by the Centre For Democratic Development (CDD) in collaboration with the United States Agency for International
Development (USAID) for members of Parliament on the Committee on Constitutional, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs would deliberate on the funding, mandate and jurisdiction of CHRAJ and its relationship with the executive and the legislature.
Mr Short said the CHRAJ contrasted the model in South Africa, Malawi and Uganda where there were different Ombudsman's offices, Human Rights Commissions, and anti-corruption agencies.
He called for urgent measures to bridge the disparity between staff of the Commission and to make it equivalent to institutions such as the Attorney
General's Department, the Serious Fraud Office (SFO), and the Judicial Service.
According to him insufficient funding from central Government has been one of the reasons for the inability of the Commission to make its service delivery more efficient and effective adding that the final budget approved by Parliament for the Commission was invariably not fully disbursed by the Ministry of Finance during the year.
He said the uncompetitive salaries and service conditions of staff of the Commission remain unresolved and have led to a high turnover of personnel, particularly Lawyers. The CHRAJ boss disclosed that between 1994-2001 a total number of 75 resigned.
Mr Short said pegging of the salaries of the Commissioner and Deputy Commissioners to Appeal and High Court Judges respectively was not only limiting, but also rather served as disincentive to staffers.
Mr Short expressed dissatisfaction about the overlapping of operation functions between the Commission and the SFO and urged the government to clarify the mandate of the two organisations to promote efficiency. He also complained about the uncertainty among judges in enforcing the decisions of the commission especially against public officials.
The Commissioner called for an enabling Act that would empower CHRAJ to initiate investigations on its own and clarify the process for enforcing its decisions by the courts. He said the relationship between CHRAJ and Parliament should be strengthened through a more effective co-ordination.
Dr Kwasi Prempeh, Director of Legal Policy and Governance of CDD called for a legislation to clarify the scope of CHRAJ's human rights jurisdiction. He said the Commission's docket was overloaded with individual wrongful dismissals and other such employee-employer disputes that were contractual rather than human rights cases.
CHRAJ's effectiveness was also undermined by its lack of authority or power to follow-up on its adverse findings in anti-corruption cases. Dr Prempeh said the lack of a common understanding between the CHRAJ and the Attorney-Generals office in prosecutorial discretion was also reducing the effectiveness of the Commission. He proposed that a labour tribunal should be established to relieve CHRAJ of the voluminous labour related complaints.
He suggested the enactment of a Vacancy Act to ensure that some positions, which become vacant on commissions and public services, should be filled within a time limit.
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Accra (Greater Accra) 22 July 2002- The Ghana Medical Association (GMA) on Sunday urged the government to consider declaring health as an "essential service" and give practical meaning to such a declaration.
A statement signed jointly by Dr J. Plange-Rhule, President, and Dr Francis Adu-Ababio Vice President of the GMA also urged the government to expedite action on and conclude negotiation with health professionals for improved remuneration and conditions of service. It said the resolutions were reached at the just ended representative board meeting of the GMA held at Takoradi.
Some issues discussed included, high rate of attrition of all categories of health professionals, effects of their loss on quality health care, public complains against some doctors and the increasing rate of road traffic accident.
The statement urged Parliament to pass the bill for the establishment of the College of Physician and Surgeons in Ghana as soon as they reassemble after the recess. It said the development of a set of guiding principles on ethical practice for all members of the GMA to supplement the code of ethics of the Medical and Dental Council was announced at the meeting.
The statement also called on the Ministry of Roads and Transport, the Ministry of Information, and the Ghana Private Roads and Transport Union, drivers and the general public to take urgent step in ensuring safety on our roads.
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Minister urged to investigate timber quota
allocation
Takoradi (Western Region) 22 July 2002- The Ghana Timber Association (GTA) on Saturday appealed to the Minister of Lands and Forestry, to personally investigate the alleged "indiscriminate" allocation of timber quotas by some officials of the Forestry Commission (FC), to ensure fair play, peace and harmony within the timber industry.
Making the appeal at Takoradi, the National President of the GTA, Mr. John. A. Armah said the appeal to the minister had become necessary in view of a number of complaints from aggrieved members over discrimination against them in the allocation of timber quotas.
Mr. Armah cited for example, a petition sent to the minister this month by Mr. Issa Darko, Managing Director of Darko and Sons Timber Products Limited, based at Asamankese, claiming that he was allocated 1,200 cubic meters quota as compared to over 20,000 cubic meters quota given to Metrostars Wood Products
(MWP) based at Takoradi and the offer of 55,000 cedis per cubic meter to Darko and sons limited by Metreostars for logs purchased.
He pointed out that as a result of the big quotas being given to Lebanese saw millers, they had taken advantage of it and were refusing to buy logs from the Ghanaian Timber Producers. He said those who showed interest also bought the logs at very low prices per cubic meter.
Mr. Armah said apart from the scanty quotas, the Ghanaian timber producer, was expected to provide social amenities to communities in their areas of operation, pay stumpage fees, taxes, pay salaries of employees as well as meet overhead expenses.
Mr. Armah said it was on record that Metrostars alone had by the end of June this year been given 20,000 cubic meters quota and said "if all big saw millers like John Bitar, Samatex, A. G. Timbers, Ghana Primewood, Brim Timbers, Logs and Lumber Limited (LLL) are issued with 20,000 cubic meters each, how many quotas would be left for Ghanaian Timber Producers."
He called for an open market for timber products to sell logs; especially the lesser used and unused tree species if the discrimination of quota allocation could not be stopped.
Mr. Armah said if the GTA members were permitted to sell on the open market, "we would be able to offer between 15 to 20 per cent levy on the selling prices to support the ongoing afforestation project, which the government is developing." "It is our prime necessity to revamp all the degraded forest areas to support the sustainable forest management programme," Mr. Armah added.
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Akosombo (Eastern Region) 22 July 2002- Nana Pra Agyensaim, Member of the Council of State, on Saturday said criticism of institutions under the constitution should be taken in good faith to "fine tune" the country's democratic culture.
He said, "we don't want dictatorship in governance that was the more reason why we have constitutional bodies like the Commission for Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ), the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) and the Media Commission) to enhance their policing role in democratic rule".
Opening a two-day Review Workshop on CHRAJ at Akosombo on Saturday said the verbal attack on Mr Emile Short, Commissioner of CHRAJ by some politicians for allegedly criticising the government on some of its policies were uncalled for. The Council of State Member reminded politicians that constitutional bodies like CHRAJ were above partisan politics.
"Politicians may come and go but the bodies remain for the development of democracy and their contribution to fine tuning democracy should be paramount". Nana Agyensaim said such bodies should be helped to grow and discharge their duties efficiently, adding that, there was the need for a healthy relationship between them and Parliament.
The workshop was organised by the Centre for Democratic Development (CDD) and sponsored by USAID for members of the Parliamentary Committee on
Constitutional, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs on "Mandate and Jurisdiction of CHRAJ, its funding and relationship with the Executive, Parliament and other
Executive Branches".
Professor Emmanuel Gyimah-Boadi, Executive Director of CDD, said it was aimed at reviewing the operations of CHRAJ and Parliament to enhance their capacity to fight corruption and ensuring accountability in public administration. He expressed the hope that the workshop would produce "inputs that would help advance the cause of development".
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Kumasi (Ashanti Region) 22 July 2002- A total of 107 armed robberies were recorded in the Ashanti Region from February to date this year, Mr George Asiamah, Ashanti Regional Police Commander, announced in Kumasi at the weekend.
He said March peaked the armed robberies in the region, recording as many as 31 cases while February recorded 28 cases with the figure dropping sharply to five cases in April and only two recorded cases in July.
Mr Asiamah, who made this disclosure at the Police WASSA (end of year get-together) organised by the Ashanti Regional Police Administration for police personnel in the region, attributed the drastic reduction to the combined efforts of the police and military.
He said, however, that the success was not without casualties as five armed robbers and a policeman were shot dead. The Regional Police Commander also attributed the success of the joint police and military operations to the support by the Ashanti Regional Security Council (REGSEC).
He said the Timber Task force comprising personnel of the Forestry Service, the police and military, had made tremendous impact and that they had seized large quantities of illegal sawn timber as well as chain saws.
Mr Asiamah, however, warned that his administration would not shield any police or military personnel who would be caught red-handed aiding and abetting illegal chainsaw operators. He said from January to June this year, the police arrested 100 narcotic dealers during swoops while motor traffic accidents increased by 20 percent and attributed this to indiscipline on the roads.
Mr Sampson Kwaku Boafo, Ashanti Regional Minister, reminded them that the war on armed robbers was still on and they must not relax. He stressed the need for discipline in the police service and said they could only succeed in combating crime if they were disciplined and united and also appealed to them to support neighbourhood watch committees.
"You should see these watch committees as allies in the fight against armed robbery and other crimes in the society." Mr Boafo assured the police of government's avowed aim to equip the service and supply them with the necessary logistics and communication gadgets to facilitate their work. He asked them not to hesitate to point out the bad nuts within their midst whose activities were likely to tarnish the good image the police administration wanted to build.
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Improve conditions to curb exodus – Ghana
Medical Association
Takoradi (Western Region) 22 July 2002 - Ghana Medical Association (GMA) has urged the Government to expedite action to conclude negotiation for improved remuneration and conditions of service to help check the exodus of Doctors and other health professionals.
This was contained in a six-point communiqué at the end of the third quarterly Representative Board meeting of GMA at Takoradi from 19-21 July. It expressed concern about the effect of the loss of health professionals on quality healthcare delivery and called on Parliament to pass a bill for the establishment of the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ghana.
The communiqué called on the Ministry of Information, Ghana Private Road Transport union (GPRTU) and other Transport Unions, drivers and the public to take urgent steps to ensure safety on the country's roads, It announced Guiding principles on Ethical Practice for members to supplement the code of Ethics of the Medical and Dental Council in cognisance with numerous public complaints against some Doctors in the course of their duties.
Dr J. Plange-Rhule and Dr Francis Adu-Ababio, President and Vice President respectively signed the communiqué. The theme for the Annual General Conference of the GMA scheduled for Accra from 7-10 November 2002 would be Continuous Quality Improvement in Healthcare.
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Accra (Greater Accra) 22 July 20002- Dogs which have not been vaccinated against rabies after 1 December, 2002, would be arrested and quarantined for fourteen days, after which their fate will be decided if their owners do not recover them.
Owners of dogs, which would be captured for not being vaccinated, would be required by law to pay a fine of 200,000 cedis before being allowed to vaccinate their dogs and recover away.
These were disclosed by Mr. Solomon Ofei Darko, Chief Executive of the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) at the launch of the AMA 2002 Dog Licence Tags at the La Veterinary clinic in Accra. He said the license tags, which would be valid for one year would cost 15,000 cedis each, would be issued by the AMA when the dog-owner produces a vaccination certificate.
Mr. Darko said statistics show that there has been a steady increase in rabies cases and human deaths in Accra since 1997. In 1997, three deaths were recorded out of 34 cases, while out of 61 cases five deaths were recorded in 1998. There were six deaths out of 53 cases in 1999 while 8 deaths were recorded out of 92 cases in 2000.
He said the launch formed part of an exercise by the AMA, which began two months ago to ensure the effective management of the city through public education and the enforcement of AMA byelaws. The AMA chief Executive cautioned that a monitory team would embark on a house-to-house arrest of dogs, which do not have licences after the deadline.
Dr. Daniel Sackey, Metropolitan Director of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture of the AMA, said although the exercise was being done in Accra alone, it would eventually be carried out within the other regional capitals.
The vaccination fee, which ranges from five to ten thousand cedis, would be carried out at the La veterinary Hospital-La, East Legon Veterinary Centre-East Legon, and the Criskal Veterinary Clinic-Awudome. The rest are Maldavets-Mamprobi, Beach Veterinary Centre-Teshie-Nungua and theMilitary Veterinary Clinic-Cantonments.
The byelaws of the AMA indicate that dog owners obtain licences for their dogs. Rabies is a contagious disease, which mainly affects dogs and could be transmitted to human beings. Infections are mainly carried out through bites from an infected animal or contact with its saliva, especially if it drops on an open wound. Once infected, it is rarely possible for rabies to be cured.
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Tepa (Ashanti Region) 22 July 2002- The Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT) has instituted a 780 million-cedi insurance scheme for its members who are contributors to the Teachers Mutual Fund.
Mr Kingsley Poku Kodua, Ahafo-Ano North District GNAT Secretary, said this on Friday during a Teachers and Educational Workers' Welfare general meeting at
Tepa. He explained that, under the scheme, any member who becomes incapacitated would receive two million cedis, saying in the case of the death of a member, his or her next of kin would receive two million cedis.
The association has started granting loans and helping its members, to acquire household items like television sets, video decks and mattresses. Mr Kodua said the management of the fund would soon introduce a package to assist teachers to acquire building materials to put up their own houses.
Mrs Dora Doris Amaniampong, District Director of Education, appealed to the teachers to join a credit union which has been initiated by the district education office staff. She said this would stop members from contracting bank loans with high interest rates and other commitment fees and prevent, them from falling victims to moneylenders.
She appealed to the teachers to be regular and punctual at school, increase out put of work and prepare adequately before lesson delivery, which, she said, was the benchmark of the teaching profession.
Mrs Amaniampong cautioned teachers who behave unprofessionally to reform since those caught would face the appropriate sanction. During an open forum, the teachers appealed to the government to review the present Social Security Pension Scheme, which they described as woefully inadequate. A seven-member management board was sworn into office to run the affairs of the welfare union for the next four years.
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Tema Manhean (Greater Accra) 22 July 2002- Mr Yaw Boadu Ayeboafo, Executive Secretary of the National Media Commission (NMC), on Friday called for the establishment of training departments within the various media houses to offer constant training for their staff.
He said there was the need for media houses to invest in in-house training of journalists by running orientation courses for them so that they can study the house style to gain skills to ensure improved quality of journalism.
Mr Ayeboafo was speaking at a two-day workshop on Interviewing Skills organised by the Meridian FM Station, the first ever women's station, for its staff at Tema Manhean. It is being jointly organised by the Station and the United States Information Service (USIS).
The Executive Secretary explained that investment in the training of human resource always keeps them on track to do the right things so that the organisation does not come into disrepute. On interviews, he entreated journalists to prepare adequately and arm themselves with enough facts before setting off so that their subjects do not make fun of them. Ms Mary Dashbach, Information Officer of the USIS, urged radio stations to initiate programmes that would encourage democracy and unite the people.
Mrs Diana Heymann-Adu, Managing Director of Meridian FM, explained that the station aims at promoting democracy, development and empowerment of women through popular participation at the grassroots. She said the workers are being subjected to constant training in the various areas of journalism to gain skills to conduct themselves well on the field.
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