Political
Parties fail to submit audited accounts
University
conducts studies into challenges facing education
The NGO, which
is affiliated to the
Launching the
NGO, William Sampson, its Ghana Team Leader, said Intra-health had worked in
collaboration with Ministry of Health, the Ghana Health Services as well as
other health bodies at the community levels in ensuring effective health
delivery in the country.
He said such
collaborative work spanned from performance improvement and training activities
that benefited a wide variety of health care workers in areas such as family
planning, reproductive health, and safe motherhood.
Sampson said
the NGO was currently expanding its activities to include human capacity
development for health care systems, enhancing the quality of essential
services for reproductive health and family planning, Others areas are maternal
and child health cares as well as health policy and organisational reforms.
Sampson said
the NGO's vision was to be a premier global organisation that would offer
solutions to health care challenges with clear value and measurable results.
Dr Ken Sagoe, Director, Human resources Development Division of
the Ghana Health Service (GHS), said, GHS shared with the NGO the same policies
and mission.
He pledged the GHS's preparedness to work in partnership with the NGO to
provide good quality health. Dr Frank Nyonator,
Director Policy Planning and Monitoring and Evaluation of the GHS urged
Intra-health to extend its support to the community level
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He said he was
detained for seven years without charge or trial. In tears, he prayed the
Commission to let Annor Kumi,
bring him his ring, a "family heritage" he removed from his finger
when he was torturing him at Asutuare. Annor Kumi was a member of a
panel of investigators at the Bureau of National Investigations (BNI) in 1985.
Ex RSM Mensah also wanted to know why no formal charges were
preferred against him, why he was beaten and tortured, why he was arrested
while working with the Mechanical Lloyd Company, thereby cutting short his
employment with the company.
Ex RSM Mensah also said he lost his employment due to
incapacitation, and wondered why the security agencies impounded a vehicle that
belonged the Mechanical Lloyd Ltd. He also prayed the
Commission to find out why he was discharged without reason from the Ghana
Armed Forces.
Now resident at
Teshie, the ex soldier spoke of his role in the
foiling of the abortive coup of
Ex RSM Mensah said Flt Lt Rawlings and his men struck again in the
night of
"I was released from the Army but was
called later in March 1981 after an appeal and transferred to the Military
Intelligence Unit."
Ex RSM Mensah said after
Witness said he
was later transferred to the Ussher Fort Prison where
he was detained for almost one and a half years. After his release, he said he
went on voluntary retirement in 1984 and later took employment with the
Mechanical Lloyd.
On
He said the two
insisted that he went himself to explain his position to the authorities. He
said they took him away, and on the way they said they had received a message
from one Major Pattington's office that he should be
sent the Bureau of National Investigations (BNI).
Ex RSM Mensah said he met a seven-member panel among who were
Chief Inspector Ampadu, Commander Assasie
Gyimah and Annor Kumi. "Chief Inspector Ampadu
asked me where I had been in
Ex RSM Mensah said the panel was not satisfied with his answer,
and insisted that he went there to see Major Sulemana,
formerly the Officer Commanding the Recce Regiment.
He was locked up in the BNI Cells and on 17 March 1985, some people including Annor Kumi, came to call him from
his cell in the night, blindfolded him, put him in sack and sent him into a
bush and tortured him.
"Annor Kumi slapped me twice, I
heard his voice. He used his knees to hit my private parts. I was shouting and crying." Ex RSM Mensah said he was brought back when day was about to
break. The torture episode was repeated on
He said they
put him on the ground and a beat him for the whole night and threatened to kill
him if he did not tell the truth. At this point, he broke into sobs, and said Annor Kumi removed his gold ring,
which his uncle gave him. It was a family treasure and mark of identification,
he said and added "even if there were no one in the family the ring could
be kept in a museum."
RSM Mensah prayed the Commission to compel Annor
Kumi to bring back his ring, and added that he was
prepared to forgive him.
In another
narration, Adolphus Macauley
Essuman, a soldier and a guard of the Presidential
Detail Department from 1966 to 1971, told the NRC that he was arrested on
He said at the
time of his arrest, he was at Simpa. He reported at Dompem Police Station and taken to Tarkwa
Prisons where he was kept in detention for almost two years. Essuman said while in detention his personal belongings
were seized and the District Allocation Committee took his car.
He said his
wife and three children had to abandon their home to seek refuge with her
sister. The Witness said he had lost all his belongings seized at the time
adding that no compensation had been paid to him despite the numerous petitions
he wrote to the then government.
He said he had
a problem with his ribs while in detention because he slept only on a blanket
on the bare floor for a year. Essuman said life
became difficult for him after he was released from prison because he had no
money to take care of his children.
The Witness,
now a farmer, however, said he bore nobody a grudge adding, "by the grace of God I'm moving on with my life".
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Bolgatanga (Upper East)
While some of
the participants said the parties should be assisted with logistics in order to
prevent corruption, others were of the view that physical cash could be given
but the disbursement should be monitored by the Electoral Commission (EC).
The forum,
organised by the EC embraced representatives of the various political parties,
some civil society organisations and members of the Regional Inter-party
Advisory Committee (RIPAC). Dr. K.Afari-Gyan,
Chairman of the EC, who spoke on the theme, "Financing political parties
in Ghana-Challenges and prospects," said the essence of financing
political parties was to create a level ground for all the parties to operate
under equal opportunities.
He said since
some people give money under certain conditions to parties, it influences the
victorious party to satisfy demands of their benefactors to the detriment of
the nation.
Dr Afari-Gyan said some parties are so poor that they cannot
afford to keep their regional and district offices opened after the election
period and thereby have to "go to sleep" until the next election.
This, he said, was not the best, adding that regular campaign and education of
the people by the parties should be on-going in order to keep them informed.
He explained
that it was unacceptable for a non-citizen to directly or indirectly make a
contribution or donation or give a loan to a political party. Mahami Salifu, Regional Minister
noted that the nation had reached a stage where it is necessary to create the
required conditions for sustainable political development, thus funding the
parties would help promote healthy competition and give all the parties a fair
chance.
The
participants discussed, the financial challenges of running political parties,
political parties Act of 2000 (Act 574) and ways of improving political party
financing.
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Afrancho (Ashanti Region)
Dapaah said this during his familiarisation tour in the Kwabre District on Thursday. Speaking at a durbar held in
his honour at Afrancho-Bronkong near Ntribuoho, the Council of State Member said they are aware
of the problems facing Ghanaians but people should be tolerant because the New
Patriotic Party (NPP) government came to meet empty coffers and it is
re-organising things.
"We have sat
down with the President and put down good strategies for the country and that
if the past government has concentrated on good roads, schools and hospitals
people would not have been asking for them."
Dapaah appealed to unit committees, assembly members,
area councils and departmental heads to co-operate to ensure good governance in
the districts. Alhaji Ahmed Akwasi
Yeboah, Kwabre District
Chief Executive, said it behoved unit committees and assembly members to defend
and protect state and community property, especially physical developments on
government lands or areas earmarked for development.
He told the
committees and the assembly members to report any problem above their level to
the district assembly for action to avoid confusion and confusion in the
communities.
The DCE
explained the National Health Insurance Scheme to the people and said the
government was working hard to implement it and therefore it was incumbent for
all to embrace the scheme. Kwabena Abebrese, assembly member for Afrancho,
said chieftaincy and land disputes are the two factors retarding the
development of Bronkong and Afrancho,
the twin towns and that efforts were being made to resolve them.
He expressed
concern about the delay of the tarring of streets in the two towns and called
on the authorities to impress on the contractor to complete the project on
time.
Sampson Adu-Poku, assembly member for Ntribuoho,
called for the rehabilitation of Ntribuoho-Afrancho
road, which is in a deplorable condition. He also called for the establishment
of a primary school for the people of Adomakowaa-Buoho.
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Daniel Kofi Adobor said the company that
was seized in 1982 should be returned to Ohene Kofi, Takoradi-based Timber
Merchant, who is suffering from stroke. Adobor,
unemployed, said Kofi held 51 per cent shares in the
company, and it would be useless if he should die before the company would be
de-confiscated.
"If the
old man should die before the de-confiscation, we might as well forget
it," he said. According to Adobor, the NDC
government put the Company on the divestiture list, "but nobody was
interested and almost everything had broken down."
He said Kofi had a
shock when he went with a team from the Attorney-General's Department to the
site of the company at Apowa in September last year,
and had since last December been suffering from stroke.
He said what
was left of the company was between 10 and 15 per cent, adding that it was in a
terrible state. Adobor said he had reliable
information that the Attorney -General's Department had finished its work for Subin Timber Company to be returned to his adopted father,
but "unfortunately some interests are working against us".
He said the
Attorney -General's Department told them to expect the release of the company
in December and attributed his adopted father's stroke to the failure to
release the company to him. Adobor appealed to the
Commission to call for the file of the confiscated Subin
Timber Company from the Department for prompt action.
He said
petitions had gone to a number of government personalities including the Vice
President, several ministers and the Government Spokesman, but nothing has been
done. He said Kofi agreed to take ˘5bn, representing
half of the estimated value of the remains of the company, but after visiting
the site, he opted to take back his company instead of the amount.
Adobor said Kofi, who went into
the timber business in 1951, had the business located in
They contracted
$35m loan in the form of equipment and machinery from
Adobor said in 1979, the Company had a concession at Senkyire, near Fosu, which
required the construction of a nine-kilometre road into the concession. He said
it was agreed, between the Company and the chiefs in surrounding villages that
the road should pass through the villages to ease the problem of
transportation, although that would increase the distance from nine to 25 kilometres.
He said despite
paying compensation to the affected farmers, it was reported to the then
government of the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC) that the Company
had destroyed a number of cocoa farms in the process of constructing the road.
Adobor said the Italian partner of the Company, who had
then travelled outside the country, was picked at the Airport for questioning
on the destruction of the farms. Adobor said the
Italian was freed after he explained that the constriction was to help the villages.
Adobor said three hours after the announcement of the
The Italian
partner, who was then on trip outside the country, never came back. He said 10
months later they had a letter signed by the Chairman of the Provisional National
Defence Council, Flight Lieutenant Jerry John Rawlings, confiscating the
company to the State.
He said when
they made efforts to redeem the Company; the security agencies threatened that
"we will have ourselves to blame". Adobor
said he sent a petitioned to the High Court in 1992, but they were advised to
seek assistance from the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice
(CHRAJ). They complied but to no avail.
They Attorney -
General's Department later called for the file, "and since then, we have
been going up and down". Adobor said: "PNDC
shot us, NDC put us in the coffin, the present
Government should not nail us." Commissioner General Emmanuel Alexander Erskine, remarked that it was a great shame not to
appreciate what a number of people were doing to improve the quality of life of
Ghanaians, and gave an assurance to Adobor that the
Commission would certainly follow the matter up.
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The other
contestant in the race Amara Essy,
the Interim Chairperson of the Commission had his candidature to the post
withdrawn by the Ivorian government last Monday and he had accepted the
decision.
The application
by Michel Travoada, former President of Sao Tome and
Two candidates
are vying for the post of a Deputy Chairperson of the Commission; they are
Patrick Kayumba Mazimhaka
of
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Vice President Mahama said Dr Busia was a
"man who lived and died for
"He
dedicated his life to ensure that democracy takes root in
Senior Minister
J. H. Mensah would deliver the maiden lecture at the
Great Hall of the University. Additionally, an endowment fund for a Chair of
Sociology at the University would be launched. An exhibition, fund-raising
dinner dance, Muslim prayers and Christian services would also be held to
commemorate the anniversary.
Dr Busia, born at Wenchi on
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Political Parties fail to submit audited accounts
The New
Patriotic Party (NPP) however, submitted its accounts seven days after the
deadline, the EC said. The parties were to submit their audited accounts to the
EC by June 30, the Director of Public Affairs, Henry W. Okyne,
who told the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in Accra said available records indicate
that the Great Consolidated Popular Party (GCPP), the Convention People's Party
(CPP), National Democratic Congress (NDC) and the Peoples National Convention
have filed up to 2001.
The EGLE, Ghana
Democratic Republican Party (GDRP), Democratic Peoples Party (DPP) and the
National Reform Party (NRP) have never submitted an audited account to the
Commission, whilst the United Ghana Movement (UGM) submitted only for 1999.
The law says:
"A political party shall, within six months from December 31st of each
year, file with the Commission a return indicating the state of its accounts;
the source of its funds and membership dues paid or risk cancellation of its
registration.
"Without
prejudice to any other penalty prescribed by the Act or any other enactment,
where a political party refuses or neglects to comply with the provision or
submits a declaration that is false in any material, the Commission may cancel
its registration."
Okyne said most of the political parties have turned a blind eye to the law
and stressed that the practice is dangerous for the growth of democracy in the
country. The law also requires political parties to inform EC about other
sources of funding including contributions or donations in cash or kind and
property, adding that these are constitutional and statutory provisions that
the parties are required to meet and make available to the Commission for
verification.
"The Act
says this shall be supported by a statutory declaration made by the national
treasurer and the national or general secretary of the party''. It allows only
a citizen to contribute in cash or kind to a party without limitation.
Foreigners are not allowed to contribute financially to any political party.
It said any
person or company that contravenes the constitutional provision on funding of
political parties would forfeit such amount to the state.
A non-citizen
found guilty of contravention of the provision shall be deemed to be a
prohibited immigrant and liable to deportation under the Aliens Act. GNA
investigations indicate that most of the parties have not furnished the EC with
their audited account or updated their records on party officials at the
national, regional and district offices though the initial list submitted to
the Commission for registration had changed.
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A release signed
by its leader Dr Edward Mahama said instead of
government divesting its shares in GCB, a Parliamentary Act should extend the
mandate of the Bank to enable it to support off budget transactions of
government and private sector-
It said the PNC
and its Coalition Partner, the Egle Party believe
that the GCB was the bedrock of any modern financial infrastructure of this
country and with the mandate the bank would be able to call upon investors to
invest the products that the GCB guaranteed as a private sector bank.
"The
painfully slow development of our country is for lack of an efficient and very
responsive financial infrastructure for our development," the statement
said.
The release
added that arguments advanced by the NPP Administration were not 'tangible,
convincing or persuasive enough' for the sale of the shares. "After two
years of the HIPC initiative, poverty continues to rise, unemployment is not
relenting and the feeling of helplessness and hopelessness are everywhere', it
said.
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"The democratic history of the
sub-region, coupled with military interventions in politics as well as recent
rebel movements and bad governance are indications that politicians and civil
society are yet to understand and accept the tenets of constitutionalism.
"This
demands that, Civic Educators in
Bimi appealed to governments in the sub-region to strengthen and resource
governance institutions to perform their core functions, which would enhance
and sustain constitutionalism and good governance. He said "consolidation
of democracy which is the yard stick of constitutionalism should be achieved
through empowerment of governance institutions instead of over concentration
and amassing of arms and ammunitions.
"West
African governments should redirect their focus and mentality on security'',
''stressing the best form of security is through public awareness, education
and sensitisation as well as the strict adherence of the tenets of
constitutional democracy.”
Mrs Doris Ocansey, Deputy Chairperson of the Commission applauded the
effort for the establishment of WACEO and said such a body would serve as
pressure a group to contribute to the democratic development of the region.
She said the
sub-region need to develop a common democratic culture and virtues for
politicians, civil society organizations and the military to ensure that
"democracy is entrenched for accelerated development. Mrs Ocansey expressed concern about the multiplicity of rebel
movements, civil disorder, military adventurism, corruption at higher places
and general political intolerance in the sub region.
"These
conditions, she said creates the enabling environment for social disorder and
disruptions to constitutionalism." Dawuda Gallow and Mr Edward Gomez, both GNCCE, Civic Education
Officers told the Ghana News Agency (GNA) that their visit, which was for both
consultation and educational interaction with the NCCE Ghana, has been
fruitful.
They said the
organisational structure of NCCE, its core functions and programmes are wealthy
of emulation and stressed that the two sister institutions would collaborate to
strengthen constitutionalism in the sub-region.
Gallow, who is the leader of the delegation, said GNCCE
would adopt NCCE's programme of sensitising the youth
on the Constitution through civic education clubs. He called for more
collaboration between civic educators within the sub-region especially between
The two bodies
at the end of the meeting agreed that
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Accra (Greater
Accra) 11 July 2003 - Two books on medicinal plants to guide traditional
medicine practitioners in the collection and preservation of plants were on
Thursday, launched with a call for a concerted approach to address the problem
of the depletion of the forests.
Issa Ketekewu, Deputy Minister of Local Government
and Rural Development, made the call in
He said the
activities of traditional medicine practitioners together with the excessive
destruction of the habitat by illegal chain saw operators; bushfires; mining;
charcoal production and agricultural activities had combined to deprive the
forest of medicinal plants.
Ketekewu said such illegal activities had also made these
wild plants become endangered species. Ketekewu said
it was unfortunate that despite the pivotal role played by herbal medicine in
the delivery of primary health care, many practitioners in the field continued
to apply unscientific methods, which relied unacceptably on wild plants for
their basic raw materials.
He urged all
stakeholders to avail themselves of the information provided in the manuals to
enable them to improve upon the quality and standards of their products.
Ketekewu also reminded Association to work hard to rid it
of quack practitioners, who tended to bring the image of the profession into
disrepute. The books, Manual for the Propagation and Cultivation of Medicinal
Plants and A Handbook for the Harvesting, Preparation and Storage of Medicinal
Plants would serve as a guide in the course of their work for quality health
care delivery and conserve the forest as well.
The writing of
the two books was the outcome of a three-year project embarked on by the Aburi Botanical Gardens under the theme: "Conserving
and Cultivating Medicinal Plants in
The project is
to facilitate the cultivation and commercialisation of locally grown medicinal
plants and assist local communities to preserve their natural resources for
sustainable use by all generations.
Moses Dani Baah, Deputy Minister of
Health, called for the running of training programmes for commercial plant
collectors, transporters and small manufacturers who were currently creating
markets for themselves.
George Owusu-Afriyie, Chief Officer of the Department of Parks and
Gardens, said the practice whereby herbal practitioners and distillers peeled
off the bark of trees like the mahogany for bitters and concoctions killed
them.
He said the
practice of herbal practitioners collecting various parts of plants and not
replacing them contributed to the loss of biodiversity. Owusu-Afriyie
advised herbal practitioners and distillers to establish their own nurseries
and farms to help achieve conservation.
Dr Anthony Normeshie, President of GHAFTRAM, urged all traditional
herbal practitioners to take the propagation and harvesting programmes
seriously to enable them to contribute their quota to the development of health
care delivery of the nation.
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Tamale
(Northern Region)
The suspects,
who all pleaded not guilty, were granted five million-cedi bail with one surety
each until 17 July. Solomon K. Atadze, Principal
State Attorney, prosecuting said on 23 April, this year, the Regional Police
Command and the Military had information that some people were causing
disturbances in the municipality.
He said acting
upon the information a combined Police and Military personnel were dispatched
to maintain law and order. The prosecution said when the team arrived at the
scene they saw the accused persons wielding offensive weapons including guns,
clubs, bows and arrows and sticks.
He said because
of their avowed intention to create mayhem, the accused persons did not even
bother to run away on seeing the security personnel. The team
realizing its limited numerical strength, quickly called for reinforcement
after which the accused were rounded up and sent to the police station.
Atadze said even though all the accused persons were
arrested in the act of rioting they denied any involvement in their respective
caution statements to the police. He said police investigations, however,
established overwhelming evidence against the accused persons.
On 23 April,
this year, the youth supporters of the NPP and the NDC rioted in the
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University conducts studies into challenges facing education
Nkoranza (Brong
Ahafo)
Student
delegates have been tasked to visit selected school communities and to bring
out their findings. Peter Abokyi and Emmanuel Kwasi Fianyehia had completed a
week's visit to ten schools in the Nkoranza District
to check teacher enrolment and attendance and also to take a profile of the
District Education Directorate.
The schools
they visited included Dinkra Local Primary, Dompoase Local Primary, Dotobaa
Local Primary, Nkoranza Roman Catholic Primary and Nkwabeng Presbyterian Primary "A" and
"B" schools. The others were Nsugum Local
Primary, Makyinnabre Ahmadiyya
Primary, Nwoase Local Primary, Pinihe
Roman Catholic Primary and
According to
the two student teachers, the District Education profile would enable them find
out areas with low or few teachers and that would pave the way for finding out
the cause of those problems.
Studies had
revealed that teachers continued to leave the Ghana Education Service to join
other departments and there was the need for the government to delve into the
causes of the teachers' actions.
The excise
being undertaken by the University of Cape Coast was
meant to find out whether it was the cause of the lack of job satisfaction.
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Ibrahim Adam a 30 year-old farmer also said he was also
offered a gun to fight against the Abudus. Adam was
testifying in the case in which two persons have been charged with
assassinating Ya-Na Yakubu Andani, Paramount Chief of the Dagbon
Traditional Area.
Yidana Sugri and Iddrisu Gyanfo, both farmers,
have pleaded not guilty to the charges of conspiracy and murder. They have been
refused bail by the court presided over by Justice Yaw Appau.
Adam, the third
and last Defence Witness, who was led in evidence by Nana Obiri
Boahene, Defence Counsel for Sugri
Gyanfo, told the court that somewhere in January last
year he was digging a foundation in his village near Yendi
when one Bashiru Gyima
visited him.
Defence Witness
said Gyima told him that he had a job for him and
when he enquired about the kind of job, Gyima told
him that he had been asked by Ya-Na Andani to recruit warriors to eliminate the Bolin Lana.
Adam said he and Bashiru went to see the Ya-Na at the
At the Palace,
Adam said Ya-Na Andani
asked him whether Gyima had briefed him about the
job. Adam said the Ya-Na gave them the assurance that
they should not be afraid, as he would take good care of them. Defence Witness
said the Ya-Na gave out a parcel to Bashiru and he received his share after he and others had
been shown a room at the
Adam said on 25
March, last year, he was at the Gbewaa Palace when Ibrahim Mahama, a Legal
Practitioner, paid a visit to the Palace with about 32 men in a Benz bus.
Adam said Mr Mahama informed him and others; "the day has come for
them to perform their assignment," adding that Mahama
Mole, the Chief Farmer, therefore, gave each of them a gun. After receiving the
guns, Witness said one "Red" and Bashiru
climbed unto the top of a mosque situated behind the
At the Palace,
Adam stated that the Mbadugu of the Ya-Na told them that one Zabila's
bicycle had been seized and that he wanted volunteers, who would go and
retrieve it. As a result one Nantoma volunteered to
go for the bicycle and they all picked their guns and started firing towards
the Abudu's, the Witness said.
According to
Adam, the Abudus fled because "we had
sophisticated guns." Whiles firing, Adam said they proceeded to a house
belonging to the Bolin Lana's grandmother and they burnt it with a gallon of
petrol. Adam said later, one Deeba, who was their
leader, was shot dead when he was asked by the Ya-Na
to verify whether the Abudus were reacting.
"When Deeba was shot dead we all took to our
heels. I fled from Yendi," Adam said.
When Adam was
asked why they launched the attack on the Abudus, he
said they wanted to capture the Bolin Lana and behead him as he was performing
the functions of the Ya-Na. Later Defence Witness
said the Police arrested him and was made to appear before the Justice Wuaku Commission.
During a
cross-examination by Mr Anthony Gyambiby, Principal
State Attorney, Adam told the court that he was an Abudu.
He said he was aware of the chieftaincy dispute between the two factions. When
asked why as an Abudu, he was recruited to fight for
the Andanis, Witness said he was to give information
to the Andanis adding that he did so because of the money
that he was offered.
Prosecution:
Why did you not report the matter to the Police?
Defence
Witness: I had sworn an oath.
When asked how
many people died during the conflict, Witness stated that he could not tell as
he had fled the scene. The case was adjourned to Wednesday 16 July, for Defence
Counsel to address the court.
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This, he said,
would help maintain the country's cultural heritage. Acheampong told the GNA in
an interview in Accra on UNESCO's demand for the return of cultural objects
taken away during the Colonial days that the Board in the past had inspectors
at the ports to check the smuggling of authentic artefact by exporters.
However, this
was stopped in 1997 because the Ghana Export Promotion Council claimed they
were worrying exporters. He said in 1970 UNESCO came out with a statement that
all cultural objects that represented the cultural heritage of independent
countries that had been sent out, collected, bought or stolen should be
returned to their places of origin to maintain and enrich the cultural heritage
of those countries.
"Rene
David, a collector of cultural monuments who was touched by the appeal of
UNESCO has brought back 47 cultural objects made up of chieftaincy regalia,
gold objects and terracota figurines from Komaland" he said. Komaland
is in the Northern Region.
Acheampng said the return of the objects is a donation from
Mr David's family to enhance
"Rene
David has also given to the Museum items including, a computer with two
printers, scanner, still and digital camera and has installed a new telephone
system costing $13,000 for their documentation" he said. Acheampong said
he expected that items that had been collected and sent out of the country
would be brought back to tell the complete history of this country.
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Tamale (Greater
Accra) 11 July 2003 - The death has been reported of Nyong-Lana
Abukari Ibrahim, chief of Nyong in the Dagbon Traditional Area
on Saturday 5 July.
A statement
from the Karaga-Naa's Palace said the late chief,
aged 102, was the elder brother of the Karaga-Naa Mahama Adam, paramount
chief of Karaga also in the Dagbon
Traditional Area.
He was the
father of Lt-Colonel Abdullai Ibrahim
(rtd), a former Northern Regional Minister and a
former Managing Director of the Ghana Oil Company Limited (GOIL). Nyong-Lana Ibrahim was a veteran
of the Second World War with the rank of a sergeant. On demobilization after
the war he joined the Ghana Police Service in 1947 and retired with the rank of
a sergeant.
The statement
said the seventh day funeral rites of the late chief, who has been buried,
would take place at Nyong on
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It further
called for the review of the National Youth Policy, which it said did not
clearly bring to the fore the developmental needs of the youth. Speaking at a
Press Conference to herald the World Population Day that falls on Friday 11
July, Yaw Perbi, a Youth Advocate, said involving the
youth in the formulation of policies and in making decisions that affected
their well being was very crucial to ensure better results.
He said the
list of direct and indirect contributions of young people towards the progress
of the nation could not be exhausted since they formed the bulk of the working
group of the country.
In view of
their contributions this years' World Population Day had been devoted to the
youth under the theme: "One Billion Adolescents: The Tight To Health, Information And Services."
Perbi said programmes for adolescents had proven most effective when they
secured the full involvement of adolescents in identifying their sexual and
health needs, therefore, stakeholders of sexual and reproductive health should
partner with the youth in designing their programmes.
He said while
about 60 per cent of
Perbi called on government to give education its proper place and priority
instead of lumping it together with youth and sports, which were all broad
departments on their own, so that education would be given the needed attention
and sponsorship for the benefit of the poor in the society.
He stated that
the youth needed to be prepared with adequate knowledge, choices,
opportunities, positive challenges and counselling on reproductive health
issues so that they could live healthy, productive and profitable lives.
Perbi said that in spite of governments effort in
ensuring an enabling environment where young people could exercise their rights
and meet their health needs, other challenges including the absence of youth
delegations in Parliament to press on legislation to protect these rights was
worrying.
Very high
percentage of women worldwide die of complications during pregnancy, childbirth
and unsafe abortions and many more suffer from sexual exploitation and
violence.
He said others
were confounded about their sexuality due to inadequate knowledge and how to
deal with it. "According to WHO reports about half of all people infected
with HIV worldwide are under the age of 25, while 60 per cent of all new
infections are among the ages of 15 and 24", he said.
"Looking
at these figures it is most imperative that something must be done immediately
to prevent our society from being wiped out entirely by HIV/AIDS. We need to
have a voice in the making of decisions concerning us to ensure proper
implementation", he said.
He said the
response of societies to the reproductive health needs of adolescents should,
therefore, be based on information that helped them to attain the level of
maturity required to make responsible decisions.
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Tempane (Upper East) 11 July 2003 - Joseph Akudibilla, Member of Parliament for Garu-Tempane
has donated two 25-inch colour television sets valued at ˘7m to the Tempane Senior Secondary School near Garu,
in the Bawku East District.
Akudibilla, who is also the Deputy Minister of Defence,
announced his intention to provide the school with a generator estimated at
˘12m. He made the presentation at a durbar of chiefs and people of Tempane to welcome the Minister of Education, Youth and
Sports, Kwdwo-Baah Wiredu
who paid a visit to the school as part of a three-day tour of the Upper East
Region recently.
Akudibilla explained that the donation was to enable students
in the school to benefit from the President's Special Initiative on Distance
Learning. "The only way we can develop our community and the nation as a
whole is by educating ourselves," he said.
Akudibilla said both the television sets and the generator
were bought from his share of the MPs Common Fund. He cited the construction of
market stalls at Woriyanga, a clinic at Nagani, the sinking of hand-dug wells in some villages and
the donation of relief items worth about 16 million cedis
to victims of the Bugre conflict as other projects he
had undertaken with his share of the Common Fund.
Wiredu said the government was doing all it could to
provide quality education to all parts of the country and that the only way
parents could reciprocate government's efforts was to send their children to
school.
He advised
students to refrain from drug use and to eschew acts of indiscipline. "The
huge sums of money being invested in education would be a wasteful venture if
students continue to embark on riots and wanton destruction of school
property."
Hamidu Braimah, Headmaster of
the school, mentioned inadequate staff accommodation, the lack of means of
transport and a science laboratory as some of the school's most pressing
problems. He appealed to the government to connect Tempane
to the national electricity grid.
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Ho (Volta
Region)
The ceremony
would be under the patronage of Mr Justice George Acquah,
Chief Justice, a statement signed by Mr I.D. Kumi,
Volta Regional Administrative Officer of the Judicial Service, said on
Thursday.
The statement
said the commissioning of the courts in the 10 regional capitals where the ICT
equipment and recording systems had been installed would facilitate efficient
and fast administration of justice in the country.
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Oyibi (Greater Accra) 11 July 2003 - Ms Gloria Afua
Akuffo, a Deputy Attorney General and Minister for
Justice on Thursday aid despite the disadvantaged position that the average
girl-child is placed, records show that women are making significant progress
in the national and domestic lives.
She said the
call by Women's Groups for "Affirmative Action" in the appointment of
women to leadership positions should be based on the person's ability to
deliver.
Ms Akuffo was opening the First South Conference of the
Women's Ministries of the
She said in
pursuance of this, the appropriate qualitative balance would be given and not
merely to create a "Gender balance" adding, "So that, in
whatever capacity we serve we can rise to the challenge and give a good account
of ourselves", she said.
The theme for
the congress is: "United by the wonder of his grace". The five-day
congress aimed at offering opportunities for women to interact and share common
experiences while setting goals for the future.
About 500
delegates from the Adventists Women from the Central, Greater Accra and the
"While we
strive to do our bit, we must guard against mediocrity", she said. The
Deputy Attorney-General said the exploitation of child labour continues to
disgrace the country and has also been a major contributing factor in creating
the economically disadvantaged groups in the society.
Madam Charlotte
Osei-Agyeman, Women's Ministries Director of the
Church said the
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The Vice
President, said this when a 15-member delegation from the foundation, led by
Nana Kwaku Dapaah II,
Paramount Chief of the Bamboi Traditional Area in the
Northern Region, called on him at the Castle.
The Foundation,
based in
Following a
recent two-week trip of some members of the Foundation, desks and chairs have
been purchased for some basic schools, 25 more pupils have been sponsored to
return to school, increasing the beneficiaries to 75.
The Foundation
has also built a Gari Processing Factory, which
employs about 100 people, provided a basket ball court with equipment, provided
dental health care and completed a sewing and weaving
project. Vice President Mahama praised Nana Dapaah for his initiative in attracting the Foundation to
his village.
He asked the
members of the Foundation, particularly the seven high school graduates, to be advocates of
Kwasi Osei Adjei, Deputy Minister of Foreign
Affairs, said it was remarkable that the delegates had left their affluent
society to make a difference in a less sophisticated one, and tasked them to
correct the negative perception of Africans as lazy people.
"You
should let your friends know that Africans need equal opportunities to rise
from their deprivation," he said. Ms Christine Churcher,
Minister of State for Basic Education and Girl Child Education, urged Nana Dapaah to ensure that girls at Bamboi
enter school and complete at the highest level.
In response,
Nana Dapaah said girls, outnumbered boys as
beneficiaries of the scholarship scheme. He said chiefs had to be more
proactive in sourcing funds to develop their areas and should not be totally
reliant on the Central Government.
Other members
of the delegation who shared their experiences lauded Ghanaians for their
hospitality and friendliness.
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Mamponteng (Ashanti Region)
He has,
therefore, called on supervisors and facilitators of the programme to work
harder to ensure its success in the district.
Alhaji Yeboah
said this when he presented
He commended
the staff and the facilitators for their good work and urged them not to use
the programme for partisan politics but should assist all those who show
interest in it.
Emmanuel Anniboye, the District Director of the National Commission
for Civic Education (NCCE), attributed indiscipline to illiteracy and
ignorance. He said he hoped the officers would do their best to help the people
not only to read and write but also know their civic rights, duties and
responsibilities.
Aikins Abebrese, acting Kwabre District Director of the Programme, told the
facilitators not to politicise the programme but to work as volunteers
committed to the development of the people and the nation.
He expressed
regret that many adults have not identified themselves with the programme and
appealed to community leaders and churches to organise their people to benefit
from it.
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