GRi
Press Review 09 – 06 – 2003
Egle Party, PNC merger in dispute
Top civil
servants re-assigned
Dr
Lawrence Tetteh, a renowned international evangelist
based in the
The
occasion was also used to remind the staff of the need to render service
diligently and to respect customers. Present were the new Chief Executive,
Philip Owusu, the former Chief Executive, W. P. Bray,
and the Chairman of the Board of Directors E. R. K. Dwemoh.
In
a message, Dr Tetteh noted that the airline needed
God’s intervention now, more than ever before. “Anything dependent on God
succeeds. We believe that although there are individuals working with the
airline who are capable, they need God’s intervention to take their decisions”,
he said.
He
maintained that for the company to succeed, management and staff needed to
“place God in the centre of all their endeavours.” He urged the staff to change
any unbecoming attitudes towards customers and colleagues and be honest and
humble.
The
evangelist described the transition from the old management to the new as “a
God-ordained one” and hoped that they would be given “a free hand” to operate
within the framework of their terms of service.
Dr Tetteh later presented a silver sword to Owusu and explained that the presentation signified
empowerment. “The task of revamping Ghana Airways requires a man with courage
and power, both spiritually and strategically to undertake the task ahead”, he
explained.
Later
in an interview, the General Manager in charge of Europe, Rodger Allotey, said management had used every strategy humanly
necessary, to revamp the company but failed, hence, the seeking the God’s
intervention.
“The
scriptures say except that Lord builds the house, the labourers labour is in
vain. If we do not invite God into our affairs, nothing we do will succeed.” He
intimated that bigger airlines had gone through the same situation and had
collapsed, adding that the survival of Ghana Airways despite all the problems
was a pointer to the fact that all would be well.
He
echoed the call to workers to shed off their old attitudes to help Ghana
Airways one of the best in the world. He expressed confidence in the new
management and urged staff to help them succeed. – Ghanaians Times
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He
said it is high time that the brain drain problem, which is costing
Dr
Samba, who made the call at the second congregation of the
In
all, about 200 newly qualified medical doctors and dental surgeons passed out
at the ceremony, which was also attended by the ministers of Health, and
Tertiary Education, Dr Kweku Afriyie
and Ms Elizabeth Ohene, respectively.
Dr Fafa Komla Xexemeku
swept the Silas Dodu Prize in Clinical Medicine,
Harry Sawyer prize in Medicine and Therapeutics, Charles Easmon
Prize in Surgery, Smith Kline Beecham Pharmaceuticals Best Student in Clinical
Medicine and the Ghana Medical Association overall student in MB ChB final part
II examinations.
Dr
Samba said WHO is seeking to find out some of the reasons why
He
said it is important for countries which come poaching African doctors to
support the institutions, such as the College of Health Sciences in Ghana and
others elsewhere, that train these doctors to train more so that there will be
a considerable numbers of doctors left to address the health issues of
Africans.
Dr
Samba described the about $12bn spent on malaria annually in Africa as
unfortunate saying if the expects will help control this disease, Africa will
be well off to become a donor to the rest of the world in the future.
The
Chairman of the
“You
can repay them by staying in the country to give them good health care”, he
added, and indicated that “you have a responsibility to uphold the name and
ideals of the university in your professional careers and I encourage you to
remember the college and the university and the to
think of ways to contribute to its development”.
Yamson appealed to the business community to engage the college as
development partners so that the college can generate sufficient income for its
academic programmes and to motivate staff to stay and contribute effectively to
the development of the college, the university and country to reverse the brain
drain of health professionals.
He
also announced that the Faculty of Agriculture and its research stations are
being organised into a college and may, therefore, be the second college of the
university.
Yamson said with this college system, the vice-chancellor will be working
directly with three or four provosts, while the provosts will in turn work with
the deans and directors of the faculties and institutes. This, he said, should
enable the vice-chancellor to invest more time in marketing and attracting
funds for the running of the university.
The
Provost of college of health sciences, Prof A.S. Ayittey,
in his report, called government’s attention to the need to establish the
biomedical institute so as not to destroy completely the health system.
He
said, “We are sounding this warning because we have very few biomedical
scientists left in the system, most of whom will also
be retiring soon.”
Prof
Ayittey said the strategic plan for the college is
ready to be launched soon and expressed the hope that the college’s mission of
producing highly qualified and competent health professionals and medical
scientists to provide promotive, preventive and
curative services to meet the health needs of the nation and the global
community through world-class excellence in teaching, research and
dissemination of knowledge will be met. – Graphic
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Egle Party, PNC merger in
dispute
It
said “as a fully registered political party, such a major decision, in
accordance with its constitution, can only be taken at a national delegates conference and not by any single individual in any
capacity.”
A
statement issued in
“We
wish to inform the political public of Ghana that Ofori-Atta,
who announced the so-called merger, is not a NEC member and the position he had
assumed as the Chairman of the Council of Elders following the death of Sheik Ibrahim Amartey is only honorary
and advisory which does not bestow on him any legal right or moral authority to
speak for and on behalf of the EGLE Party on any issue whatsoever, let alone to
single-handedly enter into alliances,” he said.
The
statement said for whatever reason he managed to side-step the whole party to
launch one of his characteristic schemes, the NEC wishes to ask all and sundry
to simply ignore the announcement of any merger.
According
to it, the party has decided to hold its national delegates conference by the
end of the year, at which the future of the party, including “our external and
political relations, will constitutionally be discussed and approved”.
The
statement added that the EGLE Party respects the leadership of the PNC and,
indeed, all other political parties and expects that however small the party
may be in terms of numbers, “the leadership of the PNC would equally respect
our constitution and us”. It assured all supporters to remain calm and take
active part in the ongoing grassroots restructuring of the party. – Graphic
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The
companies, Margins Company Limited from
The
new company, Intelligent Card Production Systems, is expected to begin
production in January next year, employing about 50 Ghanaians initially.
Announcing
this at a press conference in
He
said the Danish government, through its private sector development programme,
is supporting the joint venture with grants and concessionary loans of about
$1m.
Baiden said the Supercard Denmark, a Danish
company, develops and markets customised ID and security cards mainly for the
Danish market.
Margins
Company Limited, is among a group of four companies which among others, supply
document creation and presentation, design, printing copying, duplicating and
print finishing services including lamination of ID cards he said.
The
CEO said the two companies signed a memorandum of understanding in March 2002
to investigate the possibility of setting up a joint venture in the country.
He
expressed the hope that the factory, when completed, can produce the base cards
for use under the national identification programme to be managed by the
national identity system organisation which is yet to be created. The benefits
that will accrue to the country will be transfer of technology, employment for
the youth and the use of card in the economy.
Baiden said the company has also set its eyes on the sub-regional market and
beyond to reach other countries on the continent. – Graphic
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Additionally,
he said, there is the need for regulators in the industry to be abreast of
modern technology so as to reduce to the barest minimum the friction between
regulators and operators. Arthur made the call when he paid a familiarisation
visit to three telecommunication companies in
They
include Celltel Limited, operators of Kasapa, Scancom Ghana Limited
operators of Spacefon and Millicom
Ghana Limited, operators of Mobitel rom Buzz. The visit was to afford the new board chairman
the opportunity to interact with management and staff of the companies and know
their activities.
He
was accompanied by the acting Director-General of the NCA, Major (rtd) J. R. K. Tandoh, and Charles
Nuoriyee, the officer in charge of administration at
the NCA.
He
said both regulators and operators need to work together in order to achieve
convergence on divergent opinions, adding that “it is important to co-exist
peacefully.”
Arthur who is also the Managing Director of First Atlantic Merchant Bank,
said he was pleased with the effective competition aimed at bringing down
prices and giving customers the best of service.
He
noted that one area, which needs to be addressed, is the congestion of network
to meet international standards. He said the authority on its part will see to
the regulatory framework, provide a level playing field and create the right
environment for work.
He diclosed that the operators are currently working with
authorisation from the NCA and that the NCA is moving a step further towards
granting them formal licence so that they will know the parameters within which
to operate.
He
gave the assurance that the NCA is independent and will work hard to improve
the operations of the telecommunication industry in the country.
When
he was asked about his views on the industry, Arthur said he was highly
impressed with what he has seen thus far but cautioned, “the
country has a long way to go.” The Managing Director of Celltel,
Robert N. Palitz, said he was pleased with the
independence of the NCA and the authority’s effort to provide a level playing
field for all the competitors.
He
said Kasapa, on its part, will contribute its quota
to the development of the industry and the nation as a whole as well as give
the best value for money.
Palitz said the network operates in
At Scancom Ghana Limited, the Managing Director, Ahmad Farroukh, said the company has invested a lot in technology
to enhance its operations and customer satisfaction. He said the company is
poised at maintaining its current market leadership well into the future. – Graphic
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The
''Ghanaian Voice'' quotes a source as saying that Rawlings has decided to avoid
keeping quiet on issues that bother on the well-being of the citizens of this
country. The source said he has been forced to come out because of the blatant
lies being perpetuated by officialdom.
Last
week, the former President announced that 15 cabinet members of the Kufuor administration were behind the serial killings of
women before the 2000 general elections. He however told JOY FM that he would
only mention the names of those officials at the appropriate time. - Ghanaian
Voice
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Accra
(Greater Accra) 09 June 2003 - Chronicle’s continuing probing into the scandal
ridden $60m GPHA and the award of contract Interbeton
BV has exposed the double standards and lies of the Director General of Ghana
Ports and Harbors Authority (GPHA), Ben Owusu-Mensah and Dr. Richard Annane,
the then Minister for Roads and transport.
Investigations
by the Chronicle has revealed that even the Tender Evaluation Committee of GHPA
which was set up by the Director General to re-evaluate the bid offers following
the disqualification of Interbeton also rejected Interbeton’ offer and declared China Harbour Engineering as
the winner of the tender.
The
final report signed by all the seven-committee members stated that “From the
evaluation, Bidder 2-China Harbour Engineering.
The
committee also noted in their recommendations that they received a memorandum
from Messrs Interbeton seeking to place estimated
values on the works, which it failed to cover under the tender.
“The
Committee has not taken these values into consideration for evaluation since
all bidders had the opportunity of time to prepare a complete bid. For an open
international competitive tender, we consider it improper to accept prices for
the evaluation after the public opening of bid.” The committee stated.
The
seven member committee also noted that the two Dutch companies, Messrs Interbeton and Archirodon offered
Grant Assistance with their offers as Archirodon
-$8,750,000 and Interbeton Archirodon-$8,086,948.
But
the Committee stated that an evaluation of the loan offers indicates that while
Archirodon has provided funds to cover the rest of
their proposal amounting $57,250,000, Interbeton has
provided only up to $9,959,341 and GPHA is expected to fund the remaining part
of the cost from her own resources.
“To
complete the proposal from Interbeton to meet the
project requirements, an estimated amount of $32,233,764.82 will have to be
sourced by GPHA. The committee cannot accurately determine the cost of securing
these additional funds. “This apart, the amount is 80% of the total required by
the lowest evaluated bidder to complete bid offer to execute the works
including contingencies” the report said.
The
Committee concluded that “the committee has determined the bid offer from
Messrs China Harbour Engineering Co. to be best evaluated offer. From the
evaluation of the loan offers, the Committee determines that the loan offer
from
The
GPHA tender Evaluation Committee then recommended that the contract should be
awarded to China Harbour Engineering subject to final negotiation.
The
Tender Committee were made of N. P. Galley, Ag. Director of Port, Tema, R. A. Y Anamoo, Chief
Engineer, Jim Fugar, General Manger Fishing Harbour, Tema, C. Nartey, Chief Internal
Auditor, B. B. K Okutu, Civil Engineer Hqtrs, N.Seshie, Port Civil
Engineer, Tema and J. Attah-Quansah,
Financial Manager, Hqtrs.
Last
year, the GPHA came to a conclusion that there was the need to carry out
extension works at the
After
a final evaluation, the German consultants disqualified
China
Harbour Engineering was declared the winner of the tender with 95.0 marks
followed by Phil & Son with 85.4 marks. Archirodon,
another Dutch company was third with 70.0 marks. Interbeton
was disqualified.
In
their final report, the German consultants stated that Interbeton
“submitted only a part of the contract, the tender was rejected” Following this
disqualification, the Director who claimed that a senior officer of GPHA (whom
he hasn’t been able to name till date) sabotaged Interbeton
by not forwarding all their documents.
He
also stated that he found in his handing over notes from his predecessor that Interbeton had been knocking on the doors of GPHA for
contract before he took office and had promised an ORET Grant.
“I
was surprised that I did not find anything like that in the consultants report.
I don’t blame them because a senior officer sabotaged Interbeton”
the GPHA boss told Chronicle in an interview.
Ben
Owusu-Mensah then threw away the consultants reports
and set up a Tender Evaluation Committee to re-evaluate the bids for the
various companies, this time with the adjusted costs of all the companies.
He
told Chronicle that the tender was handled at five levels, namely “Rhein Rhuhr Engineering
(International Tender), GPHA Tender Committee, GPHA Management, GPHA Board and
Ministry of Roads and Transport”
He
told the Chronicle in an interview secretly recorded by the Chronicle that all
the evaluation reports except that of the German Consultants declared Interbeton’s offer as the lowest and the best.
Meanwhile,
Chronicle investigations revealed that soon after Interbeton
was disqualified by the German Consultants Ben Owusu-Mensah,
Dr. Richard Anane and the Board Chairman of GPHA flew
to Liverpool-UK on the invitation of Interbeton
through their bankers HSBC.
Chronicle
sources at both the GPHA and Ministry of Roads and Transport said it was at
that meeting that the decision was taken to give the contract to Interbeton at all cost. But in an interview with the
Chronicle the GPHA boss denied ever meeting any representative from Interbeton or discussing anything regarding any
renegotiation with Interbeton..
“These
are all lies, we were invited by HSBC, they are the one financing the
containerization of the harbour and that is what went to talk about . They were the ones who invited Interbeton
to participate in that meeting, we didn’t discuss
anything regarding the award of contract to Interbeton.
At that meeting, I did not speak to any official from Interbeton”
the GPHA boss told the Chronicle.
Following
that claim by Ben Owusu Mensah,
Chronicle obtained documents evidence, which confirms beyond doubts that their
trip to
The
letter which was addressed to Dr. Richard Annane and
copied to the GPHA boss stated among other things that “We thank you for the
meeting we had with you and the Right Honorable
Minister of Roads and Transport on Thursday 7 March, 2002 in relation to the
above: Tema Port Quay Extension Works.
“At
the meeting, HSBC and Interbeton confirmed that
financing for their proposal for the quay extension works is available. We also
informed you that the ‘Promise of Cover’ for the loan expires on March 2002 and
that the contract and loan agreement will need to be signed by such date in
order not to loose the financing.”
Egas noted in his letter that in order to qualify for the ORET Grant the
scope of work had to be limited to meet the grant requirements adding that Interbeton’s intentions had always been to obtain an
attractive financing package for GPHA while sources of finance available to
Ghana are severely restricted by the HIPC debt relief process.
“It
is our understanding that the development and extension of the Quaywall represents the highest priority of GPHA and as a
consequence we have focused our attention on ensuring that a functioning quay
is produced for GPHA.”
Insiders
say that this position by Interbeton was incorrect
and that GPHA had not stated anywhere in the tender documents that certain
portions of the contract was a priority than others.
The
Second letter which exposed the GPHA boss and the minister came from HSBC and
J. M. Bailey, Director-Project Export Finance and R.J Hodder,
Assistant Manager-project Export and Finance wrote it.
It
was addressed to Dr. Richard W. Anane, Minister for
Roads and Transport and copied to Ben Owusu-Mensah,
GPHA boss. The Letter was captioned INTERBETON redevelopment of Quaywall NO. at
The
first paragraph of the letter was emphatic: “It was a pleasure to meet you and
the Director General of Ghana Port and Harbours Authority last week to discuss
the bid submitted by Interbeton to redevelop Quaywall No: 2 at Tema Port. We
would like to take this opportunity to confirm that HSBC is prepared to finance
100% of the Quaywall development as specified in the
tender document”
The
HSBC letter also continued to mount pressure on the Minister for Roads and
Transport and the GPHA boss. The last paragraph stated that “As you are aware,
the support from the Dutch authorities expires on
In
the wake of this pressure from HSBC and Interbeton
came a memorandum dated
The
GPHA boss indicated in the Memo that “The Honorable
Minister for Roads and Transport has requested that in view of the fact that
one of the bidder’s (Interbeton) proposal has a time
frame for the utilization of a Grant (31st, March 2002), you convene
immediately and submit your results to him through the Board Chairman on Monday
18th March 2002. He is traveling out of the country
on the evening of
Smarting
under pressure the Tender Committee was forced to submit their report to the
Board Chairman who was among the three member delegation which flew secretly to
meet with Interbeton and HSBC.
When
the Tender Evaluation Committee presented their report, the three musketeers
Mr. Ben Owusu Mensah, Dr.
Richard W. Anane and the GPHA Board Chairman their
report and snatched the contract from China Harbour Engineering.
Interbeton was hurriedly declared the winner of the tender and a contract was
signed without going through Parliament for approval. A tax exemption was
hurriedly issued to Interbeton without going through
Parliament for approval.
In
his response to a questionnaire Ben Owusu Mensah stated the tender was handled by the Rhein Rhurr, GPHA Tender
Evaluation Committee, GPHA Management (which is Ben Owusu
Mensah alone), Ministry of Roads and Transport (which
consist of Dr. Richard Anane alone) and GPHA Board (Represented
by the board chairman).
On
that secret trip to
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The
internet, which was introduced into the country more than a decade ago, for
communication, education, entertainment, trade and e-commerce, is now being
used by such criminals for fraudulent activities.
These
scammers buy or steal credit cards and verification numbers from hotel
employees and cashiers of super markets, either in the country or from abroad.
They then go online, place orders and work in partnership with people in the
Chronicle
has even learnt that a group in Nima called “Sakawaa” has been engaging in these fraudulent activities
where they sell credit card numbers to young people in the vicinity. It is
believed that they have several thousands of these numbers, which they either
use to order goods online by themselves or sell them to others. They jubilated over their booty whenever they are successful.
According
to a Yahoo Security Consultant, Russel Southwood, “99.99% purchases from the country are fraud,
and this has shot fraud orders from the country literally above 1000% over last
year’s figure.” He said “ we would consider every
option available to us to reduce or end this problem with
Busyinternet, an internet café in
The
cyber operator of the café, Mark Davies, had received e-mails and phone calls
from e-commerce web sites, law enforcement officials from the
To
stem this, Davies noted that an “authentication system” would be installed
where users would present their identification or credit cards for verification
before being allowed to engage in trade on the “net”.
“But
in the interim, all traffic from here to stores.yahoo.com is blocked” he
stated. This has caught the attention of information technology (IT) experts
who attended a workshop on the topic “Instant Justice for cyber criminals” at Busyinternet in
An
IT specialist, Jimmy Allotey of GCNet,
said the absence of legal framework to ensure that the police are equipped with
sophisticated gadgets and personnel to investigate cyber crimes and accepted
punishment for culprits pose great danger to the country.
“All
the law enforcement officers and security consultants from America and Europe
want to see the police tackle the problem but this would be ineffective in the
current instance because they are not used to dealing with this kind of fraud”
he added.
He
advised the government to enact laws on cyber crime as soon as possible to curb
the surging rate of such crimes originating from
For
his part, ASP Isaac Prah of the Ghana Police Service
said laws against cyber criminals are inadequate as the best the police can do
now is to charge them with fraud.
In
view of this, he echoed the need for enactment of laws on cyber crimes and
equipped the IT unit of the service. ASP Prah asked
cyber operators to report any incident of cyber fraud to the police at all
times.
The
managing director of Busyinternet, Estelle Akofio-Sowah, said the organisation organized the workshop
to sensitize people and the government about the growing rate of cyber crimes,
which had originated from the country some few months ago and the need to enact
laws to curb them.
She
said if drastic measures were not taken about this situation, the future of the
country might be bleak, in terms of international trade and e-commerce and as
result, the country may even be blacklisted. – Chronicle
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Cape
Coast (Central Region) 09 June 2003 – Confusion has erupted in the united front
of the Convention People’s Party (CPP), in the Cape Coast Constituency,
following a protest by some concerned party members over elections held last
month.
A
protest letter signed by the constituency secretary, John Kwansah-Paitoo,
stressed that the elections had brought disunity in the
According
to the protesters, the Regional Chairman, Kwesi Brew,
ignored the protest letter when it was sent to him and went ahead to conduct
the elections, to the disbelief of the members.
The
letter said when the protesters demanded an explanation from him, he said, it
was under instructions ‘from above’ and was, therefore, not personally liable
for the conduct of the elections.
The
concerned party members strongly accused Madam Araba Bentsi-Enchill, the party’s parliamentary candidate in the
2000 general elections, of engaging in some acts that could only benefit
herself and not the party, and of bringing division into the united front of
the new party to foster her own ambition.
The
prostest letter went on to state that about 90 per
cent of the entire membership of the party are embittered about the turn of
events and have, therefore, threatened to leave the party if proper elections
are not held, and demanded to know why out of 17 constituencies in the region
the executive chose to fix a date that would suit only the Cape Coast constituency
to the detriment of the other constituencies.
The
protestors warned: “We cannot sit down to allow majority of the membership to
break away to spell the total collapse of party in the constituency as well as
the region,” and called for the nullification of the results of the elections
for a fresh ones to be held.
As
a result, the protestors called on the leadership of the party to institute
measures to have the problem solved, warning that “otherwise it would one day
wake up to learn that the party has been disintegrated leaving behind only
Madam Araba Bentsi-Enchill
and her few fanatics.”
When
Chronicle contacted Madam Araba Bentsi-Enchill
to comment on the allegations that had been levelled against her, she explained
that before the elections, about four meetings were held and decisions taken by
all parties on the mode for the elections which all present agreed by consensus
and, therefore, she did not know why the few disgruntled elements had turned
round to criticize decisions they themselves were parties to them.
She
accused the secretary, Paitoo, of incompetence,
adding that he had neglected his duties and relied on one A. A. Adongo. Madam Araba Bentsi-Enchill, who is the current constituency chairperson
and a national council member of the party, also accused Nana Antobam Woode and Robert Mensah, who are regular members of
the party, of engaging in machinations to break the party’s united front.
According
to her, it had come to her notice that when the protestors sent their petition
to the national headquarters of the party in Accra, Prof. M. M. Owusu-Ansah of the national secretariat was sent down to
conduct investigations into the so-called allegations but nothing has come out
of it.
When
confronted with allegation that she had diverted ¢3m allegedly sent to her from
the party headquarters to organise the elections, Ms. Bentsi-Enchill
denied emphatically, saying that no amount was brought to her from the national
headquarters.
Pressed
further, she admitted that she personally went round to raise a loan of ¢10m to
acquire a new office for the party, as well as pay other expenses in the
interest of the party and has had to render accounts of the money to the donor.
– Chronicle
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Kumasi (Ashanti Region) 09 June 2003 - A Kumasi
based Non-Governmental Organization, Human Aid Ghana, has initiated programmes
to provide comprehensive medical and material care for lunatics in the Kumasi metropolis. The number of lunatics in
The
NGO has already negotiated with the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital, the Psychiatric Unit of Tafo Poly clinic and the Adom
Clinic at Anwomaso near
Last
February, Human Aid
He
said the large presence of lunatics in the city posed environmental and
security consequences, hence the need for a systematic and pragmatic programme
to rehabilitate and integrate them into society.
Mends
has stated that Human Aid
According
to Director Mends it is possible to rehabilitate and reintegrate mentally ill
persons to live a normal and productive life in society with the advances in
medical sciences.
He
attributed the current situation where the streets are flooded with lunatics to
ignorance and stigmatization, resulting in the deterioration of mentally ill
persons to the extent that lunatics have become an eyesore.
Mends
mentioned the Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly (KMA) and
the Regional Coordinating Council (RCC) as its partners in the provision of
materials for the upkeep of lunatics under the care of Human Aid
He
also commended the named hospital for agreeing to provide psychiatric care for
the lunatics. The director has also expressed gratitude to the GPRTU for
providing vehicles to convey the lunatics to Ankaful
after the KMA had provided fuel for the trip.
Mends
has appealed to individuals and public-spirited organizations to assist his NGO
in a bid to rehabilitate mentally ill persons in the metropolis. - Chronicle
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Thomas
Adom, alias Schemer, expressing his views about the
project as a concerned citizen has said the siting of
the project at Old Tafo would amount to financial
loss to the KMA taking into account KMA’s current
financial capability.
He
said the project would not be prudent for the fact that the KMA intends to
develop a bigger and comprehensive Haulage station at Denase
or Aboahia on the Kumasi-Offinso
road later.
The
concerned citizen did not see why the KMA’s Transport
Commission headed by Atta Boafo
should encourage the Old Tafo project which might
have a lesser intake capacity of between 40 and 60 articulated trucks at a
time.
Adom suggested that the KMA should choose the best site for development for
the proposed project instead of the piece-meal approach at the Old Tafo site, which is not economically viable and even
capable of worsening the existing traffic congestion along the Old Tafo road.
According
to Adom, the current situation in La Cote
He
is also concerned about KMA’s silence on the
environmental impact regarding pollution, waste material and health hazards of
the intended project at Old Tafo.
He
argued that apart from the notorious “go-slow”(traffic
jam) on the road nothing was said on the dangers and accident prevention of the
project. Suggesting a choice of the site for the haulage project, Adom preferred the Denase site
and called on the Environmental Protection Association to clear the
appropriateness of the said three sites.
“The
Denase site can contain the said internal and
external security risks,” he argued adding “Denase
satisfies the need to provide jobs for the rural people and help check
migration into
He
has called on the KMA to consider shifting some of its vehicular, market,
employment and security problems to the rural areas.
According
to him the Old Tafo and Aboahia
sites are disqualified in advance in terms of geographical position. The effect
of fuel and oil spillage, leakages and their seeping and drainage towards the Barekese catchment area made the Aboahia project not feasible.
Adom said the topography of Aboahia lands is
susceptible to slant towards the Barekese Dam-the
main source of drinking water for
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Ho
(Volta Region)
The
Free Press newspaper quotes sources as saying that the move has become
necessary because of the way governments treat the development needs of the
region, especially the NPP government.
If
the request is granted, the new state will be called the
The
sources named the refusal of the government to explore the huge mineral
deposits in the region, the rich oil in the
They
also accused the NPP government of tribalistic
tendencies and said there is no reflection of tribal and regional balances in
the administration of the country. A UN law stipulated that there should be a
referendum for the region to decide its future as it joined
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Additionally,
the posting process will, in the near future, be broadened to include assistant
directors, accountants, and secretarial staff at the various ministries,
departments and agencies of the service.
In
an interview, the Head of the Civil Service, Dr Alex Glover-Quartey,
said the move is aimed at enhancing efficiency and effectiveness in the civil
service. He said that the affected officers have been notified and given up to
the end of this month to report at their newly assigned places.
The
Head of the Civil Service explained that most of the affected officials have
been at post for more than a decade and a half, adding that this is
unacceptable and should not be the normal practice. Dr Glover-Quartey stated that the exercise is within the
establishment of the rules and regulations of the Civil Service.
He
explained that postings in the Civil Service constitute one of the most
effective means of ensuring a rational and even distribution of skills, as well
as the acquisition of experience and enhancement of self-development by
officers. This important management tool, he said, appears in recent times to
have been abused and used as a purely punitive measure.
Dr
Glover-Quartey explained that in some cases, quite a
large number of officers, both in the senior and junior grades, have been
allowed to stay at particular stations for unusually long periods while others
have been shifted around between four and five times within six years, this has
impacted negatively on their performance and family life.
He
said most officers who have stayed at particular ministries for a very long
time end up being corrupt and forming networks, which are detrimental to the
development of the country’s economy.
He
noted that the net effect of this practice is that these officers tend to be
ineffective on their jobs and lend themselves to all manner of unwholesome
practices.
Dr
Glover-Quartey said to ensure that postings in the
civil service achieve the primary purpose for which they are made, it has been
decided that the relevant civil service postings policy, which permits a
maximum of four years duty tour at a particular station should be rigidly
enforced.
He
has, therefore, directed heads of ministries, regional co-ordinating directors,
departments and agencies to post out officers who have stayed for more than six
years at their present stations to new ones.
Dr
Glover-Quartey added that copies of the letters
postings instructions should be sent to his office while heads of MDAs ensure that postings are effected
early enough to enable officers to look for schools for their children and
wards. – Graphic
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