GRi
Press Review 23 – 06 – 2003
Second ship docks with 542 Liberia returnees
Academic work at University of Ghana in danger
Second ship docks with 542
Sekondi (western Region) 23 June 2003 - A second Ghana Navy ship, GNS Anzone, yesterday berthed at the Sekondi Naval Base, with 542 Ghanaian returnees and nationals of Liberia, Burkina Faso and Cote d’Ivoire on board.
The
passengers, who fled the fighting in
The
ship, which berthed at
After
a brief welcome ceremony, performed on behalf of the Western Regional Minister
by a member of the Regional Co-ordinating Council, Moses Blay,
the returnees and the refugees were sent to a temporary reception camp at the Sekondi Naval Base, where they were registered and screened
by officials from the Immigration Service, the police and other security
agencies.
The
Deputy Regional Co-ordinator of the National Disaster Management Organisation
(NADMO), Ernest Adjei, said the returnees will later
be sent to the Essipong Reception Centre, near Sekondi, where the Ghanaians among them will be provided
with 15 kilogrammes of maize and some high
energy-giving biscuits provided by the World Food Programme to sustain them
till they get to their various homes.
He
said the other nationals will also be provided with food and biscuits. He said
they will later undergo further screening to determine their refugee and other
status.
Adjei further noted that the government has provided buses to send the
Ghanaian returnees to their various homes. Commander Asante
said most passengers on board suffered from seasickness and other minor ailments.
He
said the situation in
The
Regional Police Commander, ACP Ofosu Mensah Gyeabuor, said adequate
security measures have been put in place at the Naval Base and the Essipong Camp.
He
said officials of the Criminal Investigations Department will monitor and take
the fingerprints of the returnees and refugees and analyse them to determine if
they have any criminal records. – Daily Guide
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In
our banner headline story of
In
the same publication, we alleged that Quartey brought
Tim Stevens into the country and established Aviation Solutions Ghana Limited
with the said Tim Stevens. We again alledged that
Aviation Solutions Ghana Limited operated as a subsidiary of Ghana Airways and
Ghana Airways paid the salaries of its staff.
We
alleged also in our publication of
In
our
In
the same publication, we alleged that Quartey went to
the offices of Ghana Airways after his resignation and took away some documents,
as a result of which his passport was seized by the security agencies, the
passport being released to him only after an application by his lawyers to the
Attorney General.
In
this publication, a further allegation was made that after the new government
came to power, Quartey “cunningly tendered in his
resignation and flew out to
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GAG
has also paid ¢4.3bn as royalties for the first quarter of this year. The
managing director of GAG, David Renner, said this when he briefed the Western
Regional Minister, J. B. Aidoo, and the media during
a working visit to the mines. He said the production rate of the company by the
end of 1999 was 2.90 million tonnes per month.
According
to Renner, the acquisition of the Teberebie pits and
the East heap leach infrastructure has added eight more years of production
life to the operations of the mine.
He
said the company has invested $200,000 into studies for a community development
plan to ensure the sustenance of socio-economic life in the area after the
closure of the mine.
Renner
said the project is being sponsored by the Dutch Government. According to the
managing director, monitoring of the operations of GAG is carried out in line
with national and international requirements.
He
said 60 hectares of a tailing dump in the mine has been re-vegetated with
creeping grass and leuceana plants. He noted that the
AGC Group, of which GAG is a member, has corporate objective to certify all its
mines to 15014001 standards by the end of 2004.
Renner
further stated that GAG has an active community relations programme. He said Adieyie village, which is a relocated settlement, has been
provided with two wells fitted with hand pumps, school buildings and furniture.
He said Wangarakrom has also received a 33-seater bus
from GAG to ease the people’s accessibility to Tarkwa.
– Daily
Guide
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Some
chiefs and youth have fiercely kicked against the attempts and have threatened
to forcibly stop their chiefs from making the trip to
The
situation is threatening to boil over, with sections of the chiefs and youth
questioning the rationale behind the move when other ethnic groups with even
more ministers have not done the same.
The
two deputy Ministers are Charles Bintim, Deputy
Northern Regional Minister and John Binam, deputy
Minister for Employment. A leading Kokomba Chief who
spoke to the
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He
said the bills, when passed into law, will also strengthen the capacity of the
central bank and establish the basis for the operation and supervision of
electronic payment, clearing and settlement systems. Dr Acquah
was speaking at the weekend at a seminar organised by the BoG
on the draft banking and payment systems bills.
It
was attended by the Parliamentary Select Committee on Finance, technocrats,
major stakeholders in banking and finance as well as officials of the BoG to enable them to carry out a critical appraisal of the
bills before they are presented to Parliament for approval.
The
governor said the bills are very crucial for the development of the domestic
financial system to make it respond to changes on the financial scene, both
locally and internationally.
“A
vibrant and diversified financial sector with an efficient banking and payments
systems at its core is very essential for economic development,” the governor
stressed.
He
said the bills are necessary to give the Central Bank the appropriate legal
mandate, authority and clear standards with which to discharge its
constitutional mandate to supervise in order to promote economic development.
He
said the bills draws on international best practices in financial regulations
and effective banking supervision as prescribed by the Bank for International
Settlements and the Basel Committee, adding that the new systems will conform
to international practices.
He
was hopeful that “the application of internationally acknowledged standards
under the new Banking Bill will ensure the development of a stronger and more resilient
financial system and secure better economic performance in Ghana.”
Additionally,
the new bills are more comprehensive in scope and will introduce additional
licensing requirements, new initial paid up capital as well as new powers for
the BoG to prevent unauthorised banking activities,
among others.
He
described the bills as forward looking and ones that seek to ensure
acceptability, timeliness, reliability and safety of the payment systems in the
country. – Graphic
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Osafo-Maafo said FIAS was charged to review the policy and institutional framework
and transform the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre [GIPC] into a one-stop
centre for all investors, as envisaged by President John Kufuor.
The
Finance Minister said this in a speech read on his behalf by a Deputy Minister
in the ministry, Agyeman Manu, at a workshop on the
“Cost of Doing Business” and “Administrative Barriers to Investment” in
The
minister said nearly every country has established an investment promotion
agency as part of its strategy to attract foreign direct investment. According
to him, the annual report of the World Association of Investment Promotion
Agencies (WAIPA) for 2002 indicated that 139 countries had set up investment
promotion agencies.
Osafo-Maafo said the framework is meant to provide baseline information or a
database on the formal and informal costs of doing business in
He
said it will review the procedures required for establishing and operating a
business in
He
said for growth to occur, one must make substantial or increased investment of
the right type and level to generate the required growth.
According
to the minister, it is important that the government accords investment
attraction and retention efforts the right level of importance and priority,
adding that it is in this light that the GIPC has come directly under the
President's Office.
The
GIPC quarterly report for the first quarter of 2003 indicates that there is
some flow of investment into the country after the decline in previous years.
This
marginal flow of investment was attributed to the
The
Chief Executive of the GIPC, Kwesi Abeasi, said the question of what to do to attract
investments has engaged the attention of many African countries including
Abeasi agreed that foreign investment attraction has become very
sophisticated and competitive, and stressed that no matter how attractive the
incentives are, if the economic indicators are bad, no investor will come our
way.
From
the survey report presented, the major barriers to local investors are high
interest rate, bank loan regulation, utility connection and service,
telecommunication services, corruption, taxation, and tax administration in
that order.
In
the case of foreign investors, the major barriers or problems are the
unpredictability of utility services, corruption, land acquisition and
administration, local policies and regulations and tax rates.
The survey was conducted by Bruks Associates, in collaboration with FIAS consultants and funded by the World Bank, FIAS, USAID and the Department for International Development (DFID). – Graphic
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Academic work at
The
situation will adversely affect academic activities if the search for their
replacement proves futile. The university has a teaching staff of about 800 and
most of them are around the retiring age.
Prof
Edward Ofori-Sarpong, the Pro-Vice Chancellor,
disclosed these at the 58th Speech and Prize-Giving Day of the
He
explained that the search for new lecturers had become difficult because the
conditions of service for university lecturers in the country were very poor
and discouraging.
The
situation, he noted, was repelling young qualified lecturers from taking up
teaching appointments at the university. To help save the situation, he said
the authorities had held consultations with the President towards arriving at a
solution.
Should
no replacements be found after 30 September, he pointed out that the retirees
would be re-engaged by the university as a temporary measure.
Prof
Ofori-Sarpong called for appropriate interventions to
improve the deplorable conditions under which university lecturers worked and
cautioned that unless that was done, the future of the
university would be bleak.
“The
In
his report, the Headmaster of the school, Samuel Ofori-Adjei,
said the school, which was established in 1941 with six students, now has a
student population of 1,175, made up of 667 boys and 508 girls.
Ofori-Adjei said that out of 330 candidates who sat for the 2002 SSSCE, 66 passed
in eight subjects, 37 in seven subjects, 34 in six subjects, adding that “ 10 students went home empty handed”.
He
appealed to the authorities, institutions and organisations to help complete
the school’s Visual Arts Department, which is at the foundation level, provide
logistics, expand the computer laboratory and library blocks as well as provide
bungalows for the staff.
On
his part, David Mettle of the Ghana Telecommunications Company, who chaired the
function, advised students to be ready to sacrifice in order to achieve their
aim in life in order to contribute to the development of the country.
Prizes
were presented to some deserving students. Ken E. Nsor,
a Mathematics tutor, was given the best teacher award for the meritorious
service he has rendered to the school. – Ghanaian Times
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He
said the electorate voted for the NPP in the 2000 general elections to perform
a certain mandate and added that the government is determined to use the
mandate to better the well-being of the people.
Reacting
to criticisms of some government policies in an interview at Akropong Akuapem, Nana Adi-Ankamah said the government is on course with its
programmes to transform the economy.
He said
the criticisms are unjustified because it is humanly impossible for the
government to repair the damage caused to the economy over decades within the
two-and- half years that the NPP has been in office.
Nana
Adi-Ankamah, therefore, urged former President
Rawlings to spare the government the frequent detractions to enable it to
concentrate on the task of governance.
He
also urged supporters of the NPP and all well-meaning persons to ignore the
former President and pay particular attention to issues that will move society
forward.
Nana
Adi-Ankamah described the former President’s
pronouncements on the murder of 34 women as diversionary and intended to move
attention from the allegations that have been levelled against him by some
witnesses who appeared before the National Reconciliation Commission (NRC).
He
said all over the world, there are former leaders who have decided to take
backstage in the running of the affairs of state and asked the former President
to take a cue from such leaders.
Nana
Adi-Ankamah said the former President has some
experiences to share with his contemporaries in the sub -region, having been a
head of state for about two decades, adding that he should always preach peace
and raise issues that unite the country.
On
the chances of the NPP in the next general elections, judging from the party’s
inability to fulfil some of its campaign promises, the regional chairman’s
response was that the NPP will secure a landslide victory.
He
alleged that the NDC is aware that it cannot win any genuine election in the
country, hence its attempt to create panic and fear in the period leading to
the polls.
Nana
Adi-Ankamah called on the people to be vigilant and
protect the present democratic dispensation, and cautioned Ghanaians to be wary
of the forces of destabilisation which, in 1981, distracted the government’s
attention from its mandate, resulting in the fall of the PNP regime.
He,
however, gave the assurance that the government will protect the new political
dispensation by ensuring the welfare of the people. – Graphic
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He
cautioned against the dangers of complacency, saying that it is important for all
to carry on along the path of success in order to make everybody happy.
Speaking
at a dinner for members of the Central Region branch of the Tertiary Students
Confederacy (TESCON) of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) in
He
called for refocusing and a greater commitment on the part of all Ghanaians.
The
Vice-President suggested that the thrust of the educational system and the
general orientation of the youth should be changed. “There has to be a
deliberate policy to produce self -confident and self -reliant youth who are
ready to take on the world, with the active support of the government,” he
said.
Alhaji Mahama said the government has given real
and practical meaning to “probity, accountability and integrity” and that
development projects have become more practical and tangible in the communities.
He pointed out that financial constraint is the single most difficult challenge
of the country.
The
Vice-President said money to provide free education at all levels, build and
equip hospitals, provide clean water and construct good and durable roads and
other necessities to improve the standard of living is insufficient.
The
government, he said, is doing its best, given the financial difficulties,
adding that the results and physical record in just two years are good
testimonies and called on the people not to rest on their oars.
The
Minister of Lands and Forestry, Prof Dominic Fobih,
stressed the need for unity, solidarity and commitment among NPP supporters and
Ghanaians in general, saying that if NPP fails, it would be difficult to
salvage
The
Minister for Basic, Secondary and Girl-Child Education and MP for
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Francis’s
mother, Madam Comfort Arthur, told the Graphic that she left her son in the
care of her 14-year-old daughter on Saturday morning to carry out her business.
Madam
Arthur, who sells plantain and cassava, said that on her return home from the
market, she did not see him. When she enquired, her daughter could not tell the
whereabouts of the little boy. She said she searched the entire neighbourhood
but to no avail.
Madam
Arthur said she suspected her son may have drowned when she was told that he
was seen in the company of other boys attempting to swim earlier in the day.
She
said her suspicion was heightened when she discovered the boy’s sandals on the
path leading to the uncovered tank in which he drowned. The tank, which is six
feet deep, was half-full. According to her, she descended into the tank but
could not locate Francis.
Madam
Arthur said not happy with the situation, she went back to the concrete tank
again yesterday morning with her eldest child and found the boy floating face
down on the water.
When
the Graphic contacted Mrs Agnes Osei Agyemang the occupant of the house where the tank is built
she confirmed Madam Arthur’s story. She said the last time she saw the little
boy was on Saturday afternoon. She stated that the little boy had come in the
company of other children to swim.
According
to Mrs Agyeman, she drove them away and warned them
not to use the tank as a swimming pool. Asked what the tank is used for, Mrs Agyemang said it is used to store water for another
building under construction.
Inspector
Bernard Dushie of the Hong-Kong Police Post told the
Graphic that his office supervised the retrieval of the body and deposited it
at the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital Mortuary for
autopsy. – Graphic
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It
has therefore suggested for a fast track approach to the development of rural
communities to stem the rural-urban drift, thereby helping to reduce the impact
of environmental and other social problems in the nation’s capital city,
The
Chief Executive Officer of AMA, Solomon Offei Darko in an interview with “the Ghanaian Voice” newspaper
observed that problems looming in the city stem from the fact that there is
population explosion in Accra.
He
complained that at the moment the population growth rate in the country stands
at 4.2 per cent ad exaggerated that over half a million people coming to
“People
from other parts of the country are now flock into
Meanwhile,
an Urban Planner and Former Director of the
“Now
there are no systematic and sustainable steps taken to achieve urban
development in the country,” she said. – Ghanaian Voice
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