NPP has firm economic policies in place
Minority asks Attorney General to withdraw
"illegal directives"
University of Ghana fees for 2002 go up
Kumasi Metro Assembly wants increase of
ex-gratia award
Asmah calls for support for women
Ghana needs skilful women in decision-making
positions
Aliu on New Partnership for Africa’s
Development
Government is sensitive to plight of
Ghanaians-Kufuor
National Democratic Congress on tariffs
increases
Swiss Ambassador pays farewell call on
President Kufuor
Vice Chancellor-elect criticises dictatorship
in Security Council
Utility tariff increases untenable –NDC
District Assemblies must ensure food security -
Quarshigah
Ghana Education Service organises seminar for
stakeholders
Court dismisses squatters' application
Kumasi (Ashanti Region) 25 July 2002- The New Patriotic
Party (NPP) has appealed to Ghanaians not to allow themselves to be used by
self-seeking adventures to create confusion in the country.
Mr Sam Cudjoe, Ashanti Regional Secretary of the party, who
made the appeal, said the party had put in place firm economic policies and
programmes which were being pursued systematically to improve the living
standards of the people and the Ghanaian economy as a whole. Mr Cudjoe was
speaking at a news conference in Kumasi on Tuesday as part of activities
marking the 10th anniversary of the party.
He said the government had made tremendous strides at
improving the economy citing stabilisation of the cedi, declining inflation and
dwindling interest rates as well as improvement in the private sector, as
indicators. Mr
Cudjoe said government had also initiated poverty reduction interventions to
improve the standard of living, especially in the rural areas.
The government had further constructed and rehabilitated a
number of roads throughout the country to open up rural areas to improve
economic activities as well as accessibility to marketing centres by rural
farmers.
He said the government had also improved school
infrastructure, embarked on mass cocoa spraying exercise and ensured constant
energy supply in the country. Mr Cudjoe said the 'Positive Change' policy was a process and
urged Ghanaians to be patience for the government to implement its vision.
A leading member of the party, Mr George Ayisi Boateng,
urged the media to encourage the people to evolve new attitudes and perceptions
that would help move the nation forward. He appealed to Ghanaians to shun negative
tendencies and help the government to rebuild the nation.
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Accra (Greater Accra) 25 July 2002- The Minority in
Parliament on Tuesday called on the Attorney General and Minister of Justice to
immediately withdraw what it described as "illegal directives" he
gave to District Chief Executives [DCEs] on the conduct of the District Level
Elections.
The Minority asked the Attorney General, Nana Addo Dankwa
Akufo-Addo to call on the DCEs to halt their current open interference in the
forthcoming assembly elections.
A statement issued in Parliament and signed by the Deputy
Minority Whip, Mr John Tia alleged that the Attorney General had "asserted
that the District Level
Elections have always been partisan." It said as the
law stood now it was illegal to campaign on party lines in the forthcoming
elections."
The statement said the Attorney General was reported to have
encouraged the DCEs to go all out to campaign for candidates, who were inclined
towards the NPP Government's ideology of "Positive Change".
The statement said; "since this exhortation by the
Attorney General, DCEs all over the country have been openly and visibly
campaigning for pro-NPP candidates." It said this "has triggered a
natural response from other parties and political groups who have also started
openly campaigning for their supporters to get elected."
The Minority described the alleged behaviour of the Attorney
- General as "blatant disregard for the law and symptomatic of the NPP's
general disregard for rules and procedure as revealed in the recent audit
report on the Special Projects Fund, where laid down procedures for disbursements
of funds were brazenly disregarded."
The statement congratulated the Electoral Commission (EC)
for disqualifying a candidate, who persisted in displaying a certificate of
honour by the NPP on campaign platform in the Kwabenakwa Electoral Area of
Adansi West District in Ashanti.
Nana Akufo-Addo in statement to the Ghana News Agency said:
"As Attorney General and Minister of Justice, who is entrusted with the
responsibility of upholding and enforcing respect for the Constitution and all
other laws in the land, is committed to discharging those responsibilities to
the best of his ability.
"He, therefore, categorically denies making any of the
statements allegedly attributed to him. "He encouraged the DCEs to endeavour to
ensure that only competent people with proven track record, whom they could
work with to develop their districts, were elected to the District Assemblies
and Unit Committees.
"This can by no stretch of imagination be interpreted
to mean "NPP sympathisers" as there are competent people whose
sympathies lie with other political parties. The statement said: "It is
undeniable fact that under the NDC, District Assembly Elections were openly
conducted on a partisan basis in flagrant contravention of the Constitution.
"The NPP administration is, however, committed to
entrenching respect for the rule of law at the very core of the nation's body
politic and the Attorney General as the principal legal adviser to the
Government, will in no way advocate any course of action which will flout the
law." The
statement described the allegations as malicious and intended to score cheap
political points.
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University of Ghana fees for 2002 go up
Accra (Greater Accra) 25 July 2002-Fresh Students entering
the University of Ghana, Legon for the 2002/2003 academic year would pay fees
ranging from ˘867,500 to ˘1,000,000 cedis. A notice from the Office of the Registrar of
the University, indicated that resident fresh students in the Humanities would
pay ˘1,017,500 while resident fresh Science and Agricultural Science students
would pay ˘1,178,500.
Non-resident fresh Humanities students would pay ˘867,500
while non-resident Science and Agricultural Science would pay ˘1,028,500. The notice
further stated that continuing resident Humanities students would pay ˘897,500
while continuing non-resident Humanities students would pay ˘747,500.
Resident continuing Science and Agricultural Science would
pay ˘1,058,500 while their non-resident colleagues would pay ˘980,500. Medical and
Dental Resident Students would pay ˘1,277,000 while their non-resident
colleagues would pay ˘1,127,000.
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Kumasi (Ashanti Region) 25 July 2002- Members of the Kumasi
Metropolitan Assembly (KMA) have suggested that ex-gratia awards for assembly
members should be pegged at between two million and five million cedis and
based on each assembly's ability to pay.
They held that the maximum 600,000 cedis prescribed by the
Minister of Local Government and Rural Development as ex-gratia awards was
"grossly inadequate". This was contained in a resolution adopted by
the members at the last general meeting of the Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly in
Kumasi on Monday.
The resolution said; "because of the taxing nature of
an Assembly Members' work in the various communities, the ceiling of 600,000
cedis ex-gratia award to our members is too meagre for a whole four-year
service to the Local Government Concept".
They said the functions of Assembly members were highly
complementary to and equally demanding as that of Members of Parliament (MPs)
"and yet we are not accorded the same privileges as elected
representatives of the people".
The resolution maintained that most of the work of an
Assembly members was "semi-protocol" that made serious financial
demands on them, adding that elections were also held at high cost to the
candidates without any help from the Ministry of Local Government and Rural
Development.
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Asmah calls for support for women
Accra (Greater Accra) 25 July 2002-Mrs Gladys Asmah,
Minister of Women and Children's Affairs (MOWAC), on Wednesday appealed to
Ghanaians to support and motivate women to play visible roles in
decision-making at both local and national levels. She said women had played significant
roles in local politics and administration since pre-colonial times but their
roles had never been given the needed recognition.
Mrs Asmah, who was speaking at a press conference on the
forthcoming District Assembly Elections, said local government was the closest
and the most accessible level of government to women, which also traditionally
provided services to individual households such as utilities, transport and
schools, where women were seen as the direct users.
"The decisions of local governments, therefore, have a
direct impact on the private lives of women, because they are traditionally
responsible for providing for and caring for the family and the home," she
said.
Mrs Asmah said MOWAC had solicited funds from the Konrad
Adenauer Foundation (KAF), a non-governmental organisation, to help sensitise
aspiring female assembly members, opinion leaders, and the public at large on
the need to promote women in public life. She said a number of workshops, preceded by
rallies, were held in Sunyani, Tamale and Tarkwa to help build the capacity and
assertiveness skills of the candidates.
She urged the candidates not to feel intimidated or shy away
from expressing themselves in any local language of their choice during
assembly sessions, but to speak their minds and ensure that their view were
clearly stated and understood.
Mr Martin Wilde, Resident Representative of KAF, said the
Foundation had conducted research into the background in respect to marital
status, education and language spoken, among other things, of all sitting
Assembly members in the country had already been conducted.
He said it would ensure that further training programmes
were organised for the women, who would be elected so that they could
contribute effectively in decision-making at the local level.
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Kumasi (Ashanti Region) 25 July 2002- Feminist groups and
organisations advocating for a greater representation of women in
decision-making positions have been advised to identify and assist only women
who were skilful and had good academic backgrounds to contest for such
positions.
Mr Opoku-Agyeman Prempeh, Executive President of the Centre
for Moral Education (CEMED), a non-governmental organisation (NGO) with the
sole objective of promoting sound moral values and discipline in society, said
it was only when such decision-making positions were occupied by knowledgeable
women that policies affecting women could be better fashioned out.
Mr Prempeh gave the advice at a leadership seminar organised
by the CEMED for selected women's groups drawn from various local communities
in the Ashanti Region in Kumasi on Tuesday.
He noted that the practice whereby most feminist-oriented
groups resorted to encouraging women to contest in parliamentary, district
assembly and unit committee elections in particular, without due cognisance of
their academic backgrounds, would not salvage women from their present
predicament.
Mr Prempeh observed that even though gender balance in high
offices was crucial for general development, "if the right calibre of
women were not in such positions, the plight of our women folk will even
worsen.
"If women, who have fragile skills or are
semi-literates happened to be part of the national, regional or district
decision-making process, it is most likely that they will not be able to
comprehend issues being discussed regarding their own progress and their male
counterparts will end up making decisions for them", Mr Prempeh said. He suggested
advocating groups to begin to channel a good proportion of their resources into
sponsoring girls' education.
GRi…/
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Aliu on New Partnership for Africa’s
Development
Accra (Greater Accra) 25 July 2002- Vice President Aliu
Mahama on Wednesday said the popular participation and articulation of views,
concerns and interests of the citizenry should be an integral part of the
implementation of New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD) to make
democracy a catalyst for poverty reduction.
Speaking at a ceremony to launch the 2002 Human Development
Report, Vice President Mahama said poverty and human suffering could not be
effectively tackled without the promotion of democracy, good governance and the
development of human resources.
It was in recognition of these factors, he said, that
African leaders formulated NEPAD to create a partnership between the state and
society, adding that NEPAD emphasised how government interrelated with the
governed. "NEPAD cannot succeed if it were implemented in a top down
approach," Vice President Mahama emphasised.
He said the theme of the Human Development report:
"Deepening Democracy in a Fragmented World," was in line with the
government's agenda to champion good economic, political and corporate
governance, which it would pursue relentlessly.
The Human Development Report, published annually by the UNDP
since 1990, assesses the performance of countries and ranks them using life
expectancy at birth, adult literacy rate, per capita income, human resource
development and basic needs such as freedom and dignity as indicators.
Ghana, this year, moved five places up the Human Development
Index from its 133rd position last year, to 129th. Norway is ranked first with
Sierra Leone as the lowest at the 173rd position.
This year's report identifies politics as a key factor in
the attainment of sustainable development and emphasises democratic governance
as an essential tool for the prevention of famine and genocide and for the
creation of conditions necessary for sustainable human development.
Professor Kwadwo Asenso-Okyere, Vice Chancellor-elect of the
University of Ghana, who chaired the ceremony, called on governments and their
development partners to make heavy investments in democracy to ensure effective
checks and balances.
He said though democratic governance was expensive and also
made the decision-making process longer than under totalitarian regimes, its
benefits in the long term surpassed the sacrifices. "It is, indeed,
difficult to argue, that the majority is always wrong and that decisions taken
through consultation and consensus would always fail," he said.
The UNDP out-doored its new logo, which, unlike the previous
one in horizontal form, is in a vertical form with the UN's logo at the top,
followed by the initials UN, and then DP, with the name of the host country
where it is operating at the bottom.
Mrs Eva Lokko, Regional Co-ordinator of Internet Initiative,
explained that the new logo gave it a new image as the development arm of the
world body, relevant to the government it served and its development partners.
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Government is sensitive to plight of
Ghanaians-Kufuor
Accra (Greater Accra) 25 July 2002-President John Agyekum
Kufuor on Wednesday said government was sensitive to the plight of Ghanaians
and was determined to improve their living standards but its efforts were being
thwarted with many problems which should be tackled.
He said, "government is not asleep and insensitive to
the plight of the people but it is beset with a lot of problems that should be
solved". President
Kufuor said this when a six-member delegation from the Standing Committee of
the Central Region House of Chiefs paid a courtesy call on him at the Castle,
Osu.
He said government would need time to solve these problems
but in the meantime, it had taken a comprehensive look at those problems and
would soon come out with relieves to make life bearable for the people.
President Kufuor called for support from all and sundry,
especially the chiefs and said, "we are a government of the people, for
the people, have respect for tradition and would not meddle in chieftaincy
issues".
He said government would encourage private initiative to
invest in agriculture, fishing, the salt industry and the tourism potentials in
the region because there was the need for the people to put the resources
available into meaningful economic ventures to provide employment for the youth
and generate revenue for the stools to rejuvenate the region.
Nana Kwamina Ansah, Omanhene of Eguafo Traditional Area and
Vice-President of the House said the region could no longer boast of its past
glory because of the poor infrastructure, perennial water shortages and the
inability to take advantage of the tourism and agricultural potentials in the
region.
He said the chiefs were ready to make available large tracts
of land for investors and called on the government to establish a canning
factory to utilise the citrus, pineapple and fruits in the region, reactivation
of the Komenda Sugar factory and the establishment of poultry, piggery and
other livestock ventures to create employment for the people.
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Accra (Greater Accra) 25 July 2002-The National Democratic
Congress on Wednesday said it found the government position on the recent
increase in utility tariffs as intriguing and untenable, saying it was an
insult on the sensibilities of Ghanaians.
"Undoubtedly, the increases are part of the efforts of
government to fulfil the HIPC and the World Bank conditionalities," the
party said in a statement signed by Frances Asiam, National Women Organiser.
It quoted a letter purportedly written by the Minister of
Finance to the World Bank Country Director on 31 January 2002, as the source of
its fact. "We therefore, find the attempt by government to pass the buck
to the PURC interesting and an insult on the sensibilities of Ghanaians."
The NDC said its concern stems from the serious implications
that the increases would have on industry, commerce and on particularly workers
ability to cope with the increasing cost of living.
"The ramifications of the increases on income is known
by all -it will drastically reduce the purchasing power of the worker, increase
the cost of production for industry and increase the cost of living for the
ordinary people of this country," it said. The NDC said if government had
no knowledge of the increases, it could use its authority to review the
decision.
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Accra (Greater Accra) 25 July 2002-The out-going Swiss
Ambassador in Ghana, Mr Peter Schweizer on Wednesday paid a farewell call on
President John Agyekum Kufuor at the Castle, Osu.
President Kufuor commended Mr Schweizer for not limiting his
six-year duty tour to diplomatic issues but went out of his way to learn more
about the culture of Ghanaians. He said his efforts paid off well and made
Ghana a beneficiary of assistance offered by the Swiss government to 10 African
countries. "It
also enabled him to have more information on the needs of the people and
provided the needed assistance required to improve their living
standards," he said.
Mr Schweizer said the mission's desire to work closely with
the people afforded it the opportunity to adopt two villages in the country. He
did not name the villages but said one was in the Upper East Region and the
other in the Eastern Region.
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Accra (Greater Accra) 25 July 2002- Professor Kwadwo
Asenso-Okyere, Vice Chancellor-elect of the University of Ghana, Legon on
Wednesday urged the United Nations to pursue reforms that would make the
Security Council democratic in its decision-making process, while it pushes
countries to embrace democratic governance.
Prof. Asenso-Okyere, who presided over a ceremony to launch
the 2002 Human Development Report, said it was ironic for the world body to
move countries to adopt democratic governance as a key instrument to ensuring
peace and development while dictatorship prevailed in its security arm.
"The situation in the Security Council where one
country imposes its will on other members, hijack the Council's agenda and also
throw its decision overboard is untenable and must be improved upon," he
said.
The Human Development Report, published by the UNDP since
1990, assesses the performance of countries and ranks them using life expectancy
at birth, adult literacy rate, per capita income, human resource development
and basic needs such as freedom and dignity as indicators.
This year's report identifies politics as a key factor in
the attainment of sustainable development and emphasises democratic governance
as an essential tool for the prevention of famine, genocide and for the
creation of conditions necessary for sustainable human development.
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Utility tariff increases untenable –NDC
Accra (Greater Accra) 25 July 2002-The National Democratic
Congress (NDC) on Wednesday said it found the government's position on the
recent increase in utility tariffs as intriguing and untenable, saying it was
an insult to Ghanaians.
"Undoubtedly, the increases are part of the efforts of
government to fulfil the HIPC and the World Bank conditionalities," the
party said in a statement signed by Ms Frances Asiam, National Women Organiser.
It quoted a letter purportedly written by the Minister of
Finance to the World Bank Country Director on 31 January 2002, as the source of
its fact. "We, therefore, find the attempt by government to pass the buck
to the PURC interesting and an insult on the sensibilities of Ghanaians."
The NDC said its concern stemmed from the serious
implications that the increases would have on industry, commerce and on
particularly workers ability to cope with the increasing cost of living.
"The ramifications of the increases on income is known
by all - it will drastically reduce the purchasing power of the worker,
increase the cost of production for industry and increase the cost of living
for the ordinary people of this country," it said. The NDC said if
government had no knowledge of the increases, it could use its authority to
review the decision.
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Tarkwa (Western Region) 25 July 2002-District assemblies
must ensure food security, Major Courage Quarshigah (Rtd), Minister of Food and
Agriculture (MOFA), said on Wednesday.
They should give financial assistance to farmers to enable
them package their produce under hygienic conditions for sale and to create
jobs. Major
Quarshigah was addressing Heads of Departments and senior MOFA staff in the
Wassa West District at Tarkwa, as part of a four-day tour of the Western
Region.
He showed samples of locally produced rice and gari in kilo
packages to them and said the Lower Denkyira District Assembly in the Central
Region, was assisting some palm oil farmers to package their produce for sale in
the Upper West Region.
The private sector should also enter the food processing and
marketing sectors, Major Quarshigah said adding that, the ministry would revive
inland valley rice production in the district to enable the region to regain
its former position as a leading producer.
Mr Albert Kwaku Obbin, MP for Prestea-Huni/Valley, appealed
to the government to give priority attention to roads in the District to ensure
easy evacuation of cocoa and foodstuffs to the marketing centres.
Mr Emmanuel Kwasi Ayensu, District Chief Executive, said
about 200 farmers had benefited from the Poverty Alleviation Fund. At the
meeting were Mrs Eugenia Kusi, MP for Tarkwa-Nsuaem and Mr Stephen
Aidoo-Mensah, 2001 National Best Oil Palm Farmer.
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Hohoe (Volta Region) 25 July 2002-The government has
introduced sponsorship schemes for student trainees in Teacher Training
Colleges to ensure that district assemblies, which sponsored such teachers meet
their demands in school.
Mr Mike Nsowah, Deputy Director of Teacher Education of the
Ministry of Education (MOE) stated this when he presented a paper on
"Improving Initial
Teacher and Education for Effective Teacher Production"
through the In-In-Out Programme, sponsorship scheme and access course at a
one-day seminar organised by the Ghana Education Service (GES) for stakeholders
in education in the Volta Region.
He said the production of teachers would now be "demand
delivery" instead of "supply delivery". Mr Nsowah, therefore, charged district
assemblies to take advantage of the Poverty Reduction Strategy to sponsor
candidates, especially women to training colleges, adding that access courses
for students who could not make the required grades to the training colleges
should be encouraged to serve as role models in schools.
He said an eight-member district sponsorship committee has
been set up in all the 110 districts to advertise locally and in the national
media to attract qualified applicants for sponsorship. The committee would also
recommend incentive packages for sponsored candidates.
Mr Samuel Donkor Gyan, Volta Regional Director of Education,
earlier in an address said would enable the MOE, GES and stakeholders to share
information and exchange views on teacher production for basic schools.
He said the responsibility of ensuring that the learning
achievement of pupils in public school is raised appreciably does not rest only
on MOE/GES but also the shared responsibility of all stakeholders and partners
in education.
Mr Gyan, therefore, called for the need for stakeholders in
education to work with purpose and commitment to enable them to put in place a
good programme for teacher education and training.
The workshop was attended by District Chief Executives,
Presiding Members, Principals of Training Colleges, Parent-Teacher
Associations, School Management Committees, District Directors of Education and Regional Managers of Unit Schools.
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Accra (Greater Accra) 25 July 2002-An Accra High Court on
Wednesday dismissed an application brought before it by squatters of Sodom and
Gomorrah, a suburb of Accra, seeking an order to restrain the Accra
Metropolitan Authority (AMA) from evicting them from the land.
Mr. Justice Yaw Appau, the presiding judge, however, ordered
AMA to grant the squatters a two-week grace period to enable them to organise
themselves and vacate the land peacefully, "before the axe of forcible
eviction falls".
Mr. Justice Appau stated that the squatters, who were the
plaintiffs in the matter, could not
"convince this court that they have a good case against the
defendants for which this court has to exercise its discretion in their
favour."
He said throughout his submissions, Mr, Dominic Ayaine,
counsel for the squatters did not deny the fact that his clients were
"living in an area popularly known and regarded as a habitat for criminals
like armed robbers, prostitutes and other miscreants in the metropolis."
The presiding judge, however, pointed out that the
plaintiffs were not being evicted because of any criminal behaviour, adding,
"the fact is that plaintiffs were not supposed to be at where they are
now." "That
area, which is a water zone sprawling the banks of the Korle Lagoon has not
been earmarked for residential purposes."
Mr. Justice Appau said since most of the plaintiffs invaded
the area without any authority and settled anywhere they liked, and as was
positively stated by their counsel that they were mere squatters and
trespassers, they could not challenge AMA's title to the land they were
occupying unlawfully.
He stated that from counsel's arguments, it became crystal
clear that his clients were not against their eviction per se, but their
concern was that " it should be done in a humane and dignified manner and
not contrary to law and/or their fundamental human rights as enshrined in our
Constitution and other International Conventions."
The presiding judge said with regard to the first contention
by plaintiffs that their planned eviction by AMA was illegal, based on the
project report that was prepared as a guideline for its commencement, such
report did not create any contractual relationship between the squatters and
AMA.
Mr Justice Appau pointed out that if even the squatters were
permitted to occupy the land, that permission was at the mercy of the
landowner, who was at liberty to recover that land as and when needed. "No law
is, therefore, infringed when a licensor or owner of land gives a licensee or a
trespasser an ultimatum to quit the land so occupied within a specified
period."
He queried, "so if the law even allows a licensor to
evict a licensee as and when necessary, then how can the same law assist a
trespasser who is an unlawful or unauthorised occupier by preventing his
eviction by the lawful owner?"
On the question of compensation, the presiding judge
contended that AMA was not bound by law to either re-settle/re-locate the
squatters, or compensate them before evicting them for the intended project to
take off.
Mr. Justice Appau stated that to the best of his knowledge,
compensation "is paid to make amends for any loss or injury to persons or
property or as recompense for some deprivation, citing as an example
compensation to landowners whose properties have been acquired by the State
compulsorily".
He pointed out that he had never known of a situation where
a landowner had been ordered to compensate a trespasser before ejecting him
from his land, and therefore, concluded that AMA was under no obligation to
re-settle or re-locate or compensate the squatters in anyway before evicting
them from their illegal occupations.
Mr Justice Appau pointed out that counsel for the squatters
hit the nail on the head when he submitted that "the court can only make an order for resettlement or
relocation of a people whose property rights have been interfered with by
others or by any natural catastrophe", adding, "but such an order
cannot be made in favour of a wrongdoer."
On the question of infringement on the squatters'
fundamental human rights as submitted by their counsel, the presiding judge
said while admitting that all citizens of Ghana were entitled to those rights
as enshrined in the Constitution, the squatters could not achieve them through
lawlessness, as those rights must be expressed through due process of the law.
He pointed out that the mere eviction of the squatters who
were trespassers, from the land they had trespassed onto, did not in any way
amount to an infringement on their fundamental rights, but admittedly said the
way the eviction may be carried out could constitute an infringement on their
rights as human beings.
In April this year, the Centre for Public Interest Law, a
legal aid and human rights non-governmental organisation filed the suit on
behalf of the squatters. Mr Ben Annan was the defence counsel for AMA. After
the ruling, Mr Ayaine indicated his intention to appeal against it.
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