GRi Press Review 06 – 06 - 2003

June 4 holiday will be back

Students loses forearm for theft

“Apply traditional ways to preserve fresh waters”

“Reject NDC propaganda ploys”

Cured lepers trained in soap making

 

 

June 4 holiday will be back

 

Accra (Greater Accra) 06 June 2003 - The non-celebration of 4 June as a public holiday is a temporary setback, ex-President Jerry John Rawlings has said. Addressing a public forum to commemorate the 24th anniversary of the 4 June Uprising in Accra, he urged those who had joined him to "remember this significant turning point in our nation's history" not to despair that it was no longer a public holiday.

 

"I'm glad we've observed a minute’s silence for those who gave their lives. We have gathered here to mark the 24th anniversary of the June 4 uprising and to remember this significant turning point in our nation's history, make no mistake about it, my brothers, we are going through trying times''.

 

"The time will come soon when the celebration of June 4 will be a permanent, national feature of this country", he predicted.

Ex-President Rawlings reiterated his previous statement that God gave President J.A. Kufuor power to demonstrate to the people the difference between the NDC and the NPP.

 

"So when tomorrow comes nobody will open his mouth and say "moko aya nimoko aba", a Ga phrase which can simply be translated as "somebody must go for another person to come". Taflatse, he said "ke moko baaya ni moko babaa sani moni baaba le, ehie better, higher, quality than the one before".

 

This means, should somebody go for the other, the new person must have higher and better qualities than the former. Rawlings also accused the Kufuor administration of employing lies in all its activities.

 

He said, "truth, to them, (the NPP government) is an essential commodity. The founder of the NDC admitted that there were some excesses that they couldn't control during the 4 June uprising".

 

On his part, the NDC presidential candidate for the 2004 general elections, Prof. Evans Atta Mills, accused the NPP government of using the judiciary to intimidate and harass its opponents.

 

He said: "the trio in jail for the quality trial are political prisoners, adding: " Victor Selormey is one, likewise Mallam Yusif Isa who was used as a scapegoat for Kufuor's zero tolerance for corruption thing". - Heritage

 

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Students loses forearm for theft

 

Tashiru Harinu, a student had his right forearm chopped off in a callous display of an instant justice by a palm wine tapper, for allegedly stealing some of the drink from his farm. The suspect, Kwadwo Anorwuo, who was bent on teaching Haruna a lesson was said to have asked the student to choose between death and amputation of his right forearm.

 

Haruna made a passionate plea for mercy but Anorwuo would not be moved. So, without a better option, Haruna reportedly chose the lesser of the two evils – amputation, but pleaded that since he was a student and right-handed too, Anorwuo should ''kindly'' cut off the left forearm instead.

 

But the palm wine tapper insisted on severing the right one and went ahead and exacted his ''pound of flesh''. After that, Anorwuo left the bleeding student to his fate and went into hiding. With blood bleeding profusely from the affected hand, the victim managed amidst pains to walk from the farm to the police station and made a report.

 

He was rushed to the hospital, where he is recuperating. An intensive search by the police led to Anorwuo’s arrest about two weeks ago, but the severed arm could not be traced. The suspect, Kwadwo Anorwuo has been arrested by the police and charged with causing unlawful harm.

 

A police source told the ''Times'' that the victim was engaged by a farmer, Owusu Sekyere to weed his maize farm on 10 May. Whilst weeding, he became hungry and decided to contact the suspect, whose farm was nearby for some food, but he did not meet him. However, he saw the palm wine and decided to ''quaff'' some, but in the process, the suspect arrived and arrested him for stealing the drink. – Ghanaian Times

 

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“Apply traditional ways to preserve fresh waters”

 

Accra (Greater Accra) 06 June 2003 - A Senior Research Scientist of the Water Research Institute (WRI) of the Centre for Scientific Industrial Research (CSIR), Dr Philip Gyau-Boakye, has called for the enforcement of traditional rules and regulations on the conservation of fresh water bodies.

 

He said the absence of taboos, tree planting exercises, environmental education and sustained communal labour, among others, has contributed to the decline in fresh water in the country.

 

Dr Gyau-Boakye made the call when he addressed selected second cycle schools in Accra on Tuesday on the occasion of the World Environment Day and International Year of Fresh Water.

 

The theme for the occasion was: “Water - Two billion people are dying for it, globally”.

 

Dr Gyau-Boakye said the strict observance of traditional rules which abhor the indiscriminate felling of trees and encourage the suspension of fishing or farming activities for some periods, among others, has encouraged the protection of water bodies.

 

He said in 1900, Ghana was covered by 8.2 million hectares of original moist tropical forest which had reduced to 2.1 million by 1998, and stands at 1.4 million hectares in 2003.

 

Dr Gyau-Boakye expressed concern about the rapid depletion of the forest and called for measures to forestall future negative developments.

 

He mentioned bushfires, poor agricultural practices, illegal use of fire for hunting, surface mining and road construction as some of the factors contributing to the problem.

 

The scientist expressed concern about those human activities that impact negatively on the quality of water resources such as improper way of waste disposal in most communities.

 

He, therefore, called on the people to keep their communities clean and avoid polluting water bodies.

The deputy director of the WRI, Mrs Janet Ofori, said since fresh water is the single most important preserver of life, there is the need to make conscious efforts to protect it.

 

Some of the students who contributed to the discussion called on the CSIR to extend its education campaign to the rural areas. – Graphic

 

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“Reject NDC propaganda ploys”

 

Akyem Abuakwa (Eastern Region) 06 June 2003 - Foreign Minister, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, has assured settler farmers in Akyem Abuakwa and elsewhere in the country that the Kufuor administration has no intention of annexing their farms.

 

He has, therefore, asked such farmers to go about their work since every Ghanaian has the right to stay and work in any part of the country. The minister, who is also the Member of Parliament for Abuakwa, gave the assurance when he toured some communities in his constituency on Sunday to thank the people for voting for the party in the previous elections.

 

The visit, which took him to Anyinasin, Akyem Aboabo and Sokodeguaso, was also to offer him the chance to acquaint himself with the problems facing the people and how best to redress them.

 

Nana Akufo-Addo said the government is committed to national unity and that it was some disgruntled members of the opposition who confused settler farmers on Akan lands just before the previous elections that the NPP would annex such lands when it came to power.

 

He described the claim as a propaganda ploy intended to discredit the NPP and the government and asked the settler farmers to disregard it. “We are going to vote again next year and such disgruntled people will again come with the same trick so tell them that you are still farming at where you were and nobody has asked you to go,” he told the people to a thunderous applause.

 

The minister told the people that although the government inherited a huge debt from the NDC administration, it is doing its best to improve the living standards of the people gradually with the provision of amenities such as water, schools, clinic and roads.

 

He therefore asked the people to be patient and give the government some time to fully develop the communities. The District Chief Executive for East Akyem, E.V. Asihene, who accompanied the minister, gave the assurance that the assembly will continue to support any project initiated by the people.

 

Osabarima Asante Afum, Chief of Anyinasin, Abusua Panyin Kena of Sokodeguaso and the elders of Akyem Aboabo expressed satisfaction about the rate at which development projects are being executed in their areas. They however called on the government to undertake more of such projects to make life worth living in the rural areas. – Graphic

 

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Cured lepers trained in soap making

 

Weija (Greater Accra) 06 June 2003 - Students in Free Enterprise (SIFE), a student movement aimed at reaching out to communities to identify and solve socio-economic problems affecting the Ghanaian community, has trained 17 cured lepers from the Weija Leprosarium in soap making to enable them to earn a living.

 

Reuben Agbewornu, Project Coordinator of SIFE Legon, in an interview said every year SIFE reaches out to the communities in diverse ways of teaching how market economics works, personal financial success and business ethics.

 

This year, the SIFE Legon team of the University of Ghana under took six projects. Lepers in Free Enterprise (LIFE) was one of them. He noted that the project was a way to take the cured lepers off the street and to give them a better standard of living, for disability is not inability.

 

It was also to help them attain some level of dignity and to reintegrate them into society since in labour there is dignity. It was also to challenge the disabled that they can do more than they think they can if only they will believe in themselves.

 

He said the project sought to impart to the inmates the knowledge of soap making and this consisted of three phases. The first phase taught lepers how to make both caked and powdered soap.

 

According to the project coordinator, by the end of this phase, the inmates could not believe how simple it is to make caked and powdered soap being sold around them.

 

Agbewornu noted that to ensure the sustenance of the project, the participants were taken through certain marketing strategies and record keeping principles.

 

In the third phase of the project, SIFE Legon instituted a mutual working scheme for inmates and their dependants who were to market the soap.

 

He said two NGOs, Tulsi Trust and the Lepers AID Committee, are now involved in the marketing of the soap as well. This is to help inmates produce their goods on a large scale and enjoy economies of scale, hence earning huge profits.

 

With financial assistance from the Lepers AID Committee, the cured lepers are able to produce on the average 560 caked soap in a day. The project coordinator concluded that SIFE Legon has awakened the commercial life of inmates of Weija Leprosarium.

 

The potential of these cured lepers have been unravelled, disability truly is not inability. This is a challenge to all the physically challenged to do something for themselves. – Graphic

 

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