Government gives vehicle to health centre
Tema needs attention to avert disaster –
Fire Officer
Review customary marriage and divorce
registration law
New Board of Directors for Graphic
inaugurated
Poor remuneration accounts for corruption in
Judiciary
Presiding Members kick against withdrawal
of PAF
Ho (Volta Region)
Alhaji Mahama noted that politics was about ensuring the welfare of the people and said the government would not lie to the people since it would be judged by its performance at the end of its tenure.
He said the government could not ensure good governance without the contribution of the region, adding that, his visit was to enable him discuss the concerns of the people with a view to planning to achieve their aspirations.
Alhaji Mahama identified poverty as common enemy, which had to be tackled collectively and said it was belief of the government that politics had to be used to ensure the welfare of the people.
He called on the people of the region to assess the performance of the government within the past years objectively. Togbe Kasa III, Chief of Ho-Ahoe, on behalf of the Council said the people of the traditional area recognised the significant strides made by the government since it assumed power.
He said they were optimistic about the government's goodwill towards the region and urged it to tackle the remaining roads in the Ho-township and to extend the President's Special Initiatives to the area.
Togbe Kasa called on the government to support the
initiative of the traditional area in building a new
He expressed the desire of the traditional council that the work of the National Reconciliation Council would bring lasting reconciliation to the country.
Dr Richard Anane, Minister of Roads and Highways, Alhaji Rashid Bawa, Minister of State Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports and Moses Dani Baah, Deputy Minister of Health are accompanied the Vice-President.
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Tamale (Northern Region)
He said the soldiers, who had accused his father of hoarding cement, searched the house and found 45 bags of cement, which his father had intended to use to undertake extension work on the building. The soldiers, however, sold the cement to the public and took away the proceeds.
The Petitioner said members of the family had to squeeze themselves into the other half of the building since the front wing was destroyed.
He said his father later wrote a letter to a member of the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC) to grant permission to the family to rebuild the house, adding that but at that time, the government was constructing a dual-carriage road in Tamale, which affected the house again.
He said the family received two million cedis as compensation and a parcel of land, on which they managed to build to the window level. However, he said, the Director of the then Northern Regional Lands Commission mobilized some "macho men" to destroy the building at Moshe Zongo and no compensation was paid to the family.
The Witness said: "My Lord, because our house had been demolished we are now like guinea fowls without a home and we cannot, therefore, perform any social functions such as funeral and outdooring."
Madam Mariama Shaibu, a Head-Dye Seller, said soldiers shot her son through the eye killing him instantly during the 1982 Tamale Market fire outbreak.
She said two bags of head-dye and spices that were in her shop also got burnt in the fire and pleaded with the Commission for compensation to enable her to educate her seven children. Hajia Rahaman Amadu, now unemployed, said she was a wholesaler, dealing in assorted soaps in the Tamale old market.
She recounted that in 1982 soldiers met her on her way to the mosque and questioned her whether she had goods in her house and she responded in the affirmative. She said the soldiers took her to the house on their vehicle and packed all the cartons of soap that were kept in there.
She said she was made to sit on top of the soap and was driven to the Aboabo Market where they sold the items to the public at "control price".
Hajia Amadu said: "My Lord, in an attempt by one of the soldiers to open one of the cartons of soap with a knife, the weapon pierced through the carton and stabbed me in the thigh and I bled profusely".
She said she was later sent to the Kamina Barracks in Tamale
where she was shaved and given military drill and molested. "My Lord, I
was beaten till I became unconscious and had to be rushed to the
Asked how much her goods were worth, Hajia Amadu told the Commission that she could not assess the value.
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The ultimatum given to the Liberian Government, Liberians
United For Development and Reconciliation (LURD) and
the Movement For Democracy In Liberia (MODEL) rebels was in reaction to the
escalation of the conflict in contravention of the ceasefire agreement they
signed in
The ultimatum given was given at a 20minute closed-door meeting
between General Abdulsalami Abubakar, ECOWAS Chief Mediator and representatives
of the three factions at the Pool-Side Conference Room of the M-Plaza Hotel in
"There was no reaction from the three groups about the ultimatum," Sonny Ugoh, ECOWAS Spokesman, said during a short interaction with Journalists. Efforts by the Ghana News Agency to get the reaction of the three warring factions proved futile since they all kept to a pledge not to pre-empt their decision.
A Source close to the ECOWAS Secretariat, however, told the
GNA that there was every indication that three
weeks-old talks that were moved from Akosombo in the Eastern Region to
"There is no way the two
rebels groups can halt their attacks on
"President Taylor will also not relinquish power
voluntarily since that is the only way to prevent his arrest and possible trial
by the UN War Crimes Tribunal in
General Abubakar on Wednesday told a press conference in Accra that African Regional Leaders had up to Friday to review the talks in reaction to the degenerating security situation in the war-torn country that had led to major humanitarian catastrophe.
The ceasefire violation had prevented the departure of the
ECOWAS-led Joint Verification Team (JVT) to be deployed to
The JVT also faced problems such as lack of adequate
representation since LURD rebels had not nominated its two representatives to
join the 15-member team that includes representations from the African Union,
UN, International Contact Group on
Over 12 years of conflict in the West African Country had led to the displacement of over 500,000 people amidst reported incidence of human rights abuses.
President Taylor has been quoted as saying he was prepared to continue to fight.
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The report, which covered the month of May (1-31) said the study noted that most reports published both in the print and electronic media did not reflect the "Spirit of Akosombo", Agbeko Azumah of the Media Watch Limited, the organization that compiled the media coverage of the NRC said.
The "Spirit of Akosombo" is a document prepared by the Ghana Journalists Association to guide members covering the proceedings of the NRC.
The media-monitoring project is commissioned by National Media Commission and funded by the United Nations Development Programme, through the National Governance Programme with support from the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung.
In all 14 newspapers, four television stations and 20 radio stations were analysed during the period under review and the Daily Guide took the lead with 20.1 per cent of the total coverage followed by the Evening News with 19.6 per cent with Daily Graphic placing third with 17.6 per cent.
The Ghana Television was said to have continued to lead in terms of amount of airtime devoted to the proceedings with 95.3 per cent followed by the Metro TV and TV3.
Peace FM took the lead with 12.1 per cent for the radio followed by Unique FM and Radio 2 of the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation. The Ghana News Agency published a total of 21 stories during the month under review and all the stories were generally neutral.
The report indicated that most media discussions from radio stations failed to rectify the mistakes made by the print media, which were retracted and this gave a wrong impression about some of the witnesses and some names that were mentioned.
It entreated the media to be conversant with the guidelines associated with the profession and work within the context of the Spirit of Akosombo".
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Accra (Greater Accra) 27 June 2003 - Dr Ruth Perry, 63, former Interim Head of State of Liberia, on Thursday expressed rage about the carnage in her country and associated herself with the numerous calls on the warring factions to cease fire and get back to the negotiating table.
Dr Perry, who headed the transitional government that
ushered in President Charles Taylor's administration in 1997, said in an
interview at M-Plaza in
"What do we want? What is it that is so important that we are fighting for?" she asked. "If it is in the interest of the people then there should be no fighting," she said. Dr Perry is a participant at the three-week-old Peace Talks that have virtually stalled.
The ECOWAS-brokered talks are in ruins after a full-scale fighting between the government and the main rebel group, Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy (LURD) broke out.
The three warring parties - the government, LURD and
Movement for Democracy in Liberia (MODEL) signed the Peace Agreement in
Referring to the mass exodus of people, Dr Perry said: "We have nowhere to go. It is not easy to live in another person's country...." The 12- year-old conflict has already recorded over 500,000 refugees in the West Africa Sub-Region and hopes of resolving the bloody feud seem to be waning.
This has compelled General Abdulsalami Abubakar, the Chief
Mediator of the Peace Talks, to call a press conference in
Dr Perry reminded President Taylor of a pledge he made six
years ago when he became an elected leader of
"We who spoilt it will fix it. That was what he
said." She said basic amenities and social services like water,
electricity and medical care were still absent in her country. "If I have
an opportunity to speak to
Dr Perry also appealed to the two rebel groups, LURD and MODEL to halt the latest hostilities and respect the ceasefire agreement they signed with the Liberian Government.
In the interest of peace, the ex-Head Of State called on the African Union and the UN to take a political decision on the indictment of President Taylor for war crimes, since the action was making the embattled Leader intransigent.
Dr Perry expressed the hope that her suggestions and other
efforts to end the war would prove to be successful to enable her to see a
prosperous
"I believe in the promises of God that a day will come
when
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Akwasi Akoto, National Organiser of the party, said the CPP would resist any attempt by the government to sell the "Golden Basket" of the nation that was established by the Nkrumah government.
Akoto was speaking at the launch of the party's new
membership card during the Ashanti Regional Delegates' Congress on Wednesday in
The congress elected a new Regional Steering Committee to run the affairs of the party from 2003-2007. Akoto spoke against the sale of factories, hotels and other industries established by the Nkrumah regime.
He said such actions had deprived many Ghanaians of their basic right to comfortable livelihood as a result of inaccessibility to many social services due to high tariffs.
Akoto said the CPP chose socialism as an ideology to build and create wealth for the nation and urged members of the party to unite and work hard to capture political power in the 2004 elections. Raleigh Poku, Chairman of the Council of Elders of the party, called on the leadership to explain the aims and objectives of the party to the masses.
Poku said the CPP was committed to ensuring quality and free education, health care and other social services and advised supporters to explain the party's message to the people to enable them to understand and vote for it into power.
Osei Tutu Bonsu was elected unopposed as the Regional Chairman. Other executive members elected were Dr J.A. Amoateng, First Vice-Chairman, Alhaji Abass, Second Vice-Chairman, Kwabena Anin, Secretary and Miss Dorithy Gifty Antwi, Treasurer.
The rest were Osei Yaw, Organiser, F.A. Jantuah, Education Secretary, Madam Afua Sarpong, Women's Organiser and Emmanuel Nabila, Youth Organiser.
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In a statement on behalf of the Authority of the Heads of
State and Governments of the Sub-Region, President Kufuor said the renewed
hostilities had also put in jeopardy the ongoing peace talks in
"The Chairman is extremely concerned by the violations
of the Ceasefire Agreement signed on
The upsurge in fighting had led to the population seeking safety and protection in diplomatic areas and the offices of other international organizations.
President Kufuor expressed regret that since the accord was signed there had been persistent reports of ceasefire breaches, which could not be independently verified, since the Joint Verification Team, stipulated in the Ceasefire Agreement, could not be deployed because of the lack of cooperation of the parties.
The Chairman reaffirmed the provisions of the African Union Declaration on Unconstitutional Changes of Government, adopted in Algiers in July 1999 and the ECOWAS "Protocol on Democracy and Good Governance," which provided that every accession to power must be made through free, fair and transparent elections and that there would be zero tolerance for power obtained or maintained by unconstitutional means.
President Kufuor, therefore, appealed to the Government and the LURD to exercise maximum restraint in the situation and to respect the provisions of the Ceasefire Agreement, without which the Joint Verification Team could not be deployed.
Without a cessation of hostilities, the needed humanitarian
assistance and protection would not be given to the innocent population of
The Chairman reiterated the importance of dialogue rather than recourse to a military option as a means of resolving the conflict and asked the warring parties to engage in political dialogue without which there could be no durable peace.
President Kufuor pledged his support for the ECOWAS Peace
Process for
President Kufuor expressed his appreciation to the UN, AU,
EU and the International Contact Group on
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Launching the newsletter, Mrs Gifty Affenyi- Dadzie, President of Ghana Journalists Association (GJA), said she was confident that the publication would provide the platform for the cross fertilization of ideas among technocrats and serve as the source of motivation to others.
She asked the Newsletter to go beyond just being the mouthpiece of KNUST to become a flagship publication that would engage in the dissemination and sharing of specialized knowledge in science and technology.
Prof Kwesi Andam, Vice Chancellor of KNUST said the publication of the Technocrat was coming at a time when the University was finding ways to become a four star one.
He said toward that end he had made extensive journeys to learn, observe and compare what obtained at other leading universities in the world. Prof Andam said KNUST was putting up a database of all alumni so that they could effectively be informed about progress and needs of the University.
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"As a government with private driven motives it's our
priority to develop the ICT industry to make the country attractive to foreign
investors," he said. Kan-Dapaah made the remarks when communication
specialists from the Commonwealth Technology Organization (CTO) based in
The team, led by Professor David Souter, Chief Executive Officer of CTO, came to study the rate at which telecommunication was extended into the rural areas of most West African communities.
Kan-Dapaah noted that so far the " explosion " in mobile phones in the country was quiet appreciable and that efforts were being made to improve upon the quality of service.
He said the monopoly at Ghana Telecom had been broken to pave way for other private companies to get involved to ensure competition. "This is because more landlines are needed yet the capital inflow from taxes are woefully inadequate, therefore, the need to create enabling environment for private participation".
The Minister noted that efforts were being made to produce a new telecommunication policy since the existing guidelines document did not cover all areas of communication. He gave the assurance that government would assist stakeholders dealing with communication to extend coverage to the rural areas of the country.
Prof Souter said the research findings revealed that there was a great deal of demand in terms of telecommunication in the rural areas. He said the findings had stimulated them as private men and that the necessary steps would be taken to explore the deprived communities.
Prof Souter said because landlines were not available in the rural areas mobile phone system would be established as a pilot investment to examine its profitability.
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He said no amount of excuses and constraints would be enough to absolve the negative perception people have about the Department except through hard work.
Prof. Kasanga made the call when he visited the Department
in
The Minister urged the staff not to allow setbacks to bog them down as the Department could boast of the best brains in the country in the area of physical development.
He said the time to act and make a difference was now and that any act or legislation, which inhibited the efforts of the workers, should be dealt with under the restructuring exercise currently under way in the Department.
Edward P. Karbo, Director of the Department, said the workers were prepared to bring about a positive change not only in their work but also in the general building and planning administration in the country. He said the Department was in the process of acquiring new machines and tools to ensure improved and quality service delivery.
At the National Secretariat of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), Prof. Kasanga said he had the conviction that Ghanaian scientists had the capacity and skill to spearhead the country's socio-economic transformation.
He said the search for the improvement in the lives of the people would not yield the desired results until scientists were encouraged to spearhead the process. Prof. Kasanga reminded the staff that Ghanaians looked up to the Council to provide the impetus for the rapid and sustainable development of the country.
"You have to accept the challenge and prove to the world that Ghanaian scientists are capable of reversing the misery of poverty, squalor and under-development confronting the majority of the people," he said.
Prof E. Owusu-Bennoah, Acting Director-General of the Council, called for the abolition of the use of the KVIP latrines throughout the country. He said the KVIP was outdated, environmentally unfriendly, cumbersome to operate and posed serious health dangers to communities that used them.
Prof. Owusu-Bennoah said the Bio Sanitation System (BSS), which was being promoted by the CSIR in eleven communities needed to be supported and multiplied throughout the country because it has an added advantage of producing organic fertiliser, methane gas and could also generate power.
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Government gives vehicle to health centre
Dromankese (Brong Ahafo)
Dr Emmanuel Lawrence Anaglate, Nkoranza District Director of the Ghana Health Service (GHS), said the items were meant to enhance the transportation of workers and patients to the Centre.
He said the Government had provided accommodation for patients at the Centre. The Nurse in-charge, Miss Florence Quansah, expressed gratitude to the Nkoranza District Assembly for providing furniture for the centre.
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The vehicles, which were acquired through the Ministry's Revolving Fund, forms part of the government's initiative package to improve upon service conditions of health workers to enable them to discharge their duties effectively.
Moses Dani-Baah, Deputy Minister of Health, who took delivery of the cars, said he majority of the vehicles would be given to health workers in deprived rural communities, particularly the three Northern Regions and the Central Region.
He noted that government had also completed negotiations with other car dealers with a guarantee of five million dollars to purchase about 300 to 400 vehicles for the Ministry.
Dani-Baah said government was determined to pursue with vigour its policy of rehabilitating facilities at the hospitals and also replace outmoded equipment.
He urged health professionals, especially Doctors, to halt several threats of strikes since government was working tirelessly to improve their conditions of service.
Dr Jacob Fofie Siaw of the Wa Regional Hospital, who was the first beneficiary expressed his appreciation to the government and urged government to set up a machinery to speed up the release extra duty allowances of the doctors.
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Tema needs attention to avert disaster –
Fire Officer
Tema (Greater Accra)
''Tema, as an industrial city where various chemicals are used in production, it must be provided with effective modern fire equipment.''
Hughes was addressing firemen from industrial establishments at Tema at a day's seminar on fire prevention. It was organised by the Tema branch of the Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS).
He warned that should fire occur at any of the factories the situation would be disastrous if proper precautionary measures were not taken. Hughes said Tema Oil Refinery (TOR) should have been located away from factories that deal in chemicals and described the situation, as it is now as "dangerous".
He said now that the "Fire Safety Law" is in place his outfit would enforce it to the letter. Hughes said his office had submitted memorandum to the government to give Tema immediate attention and that he had requested for "high sounding siren" that could be used to alert people in event of disaster.
On the frequent fire outbreaks at the Tema Central Market, he said plans were underway to decongest the market to ensure that water hydrants were not tampered with.
Hughes said his outfit needed about 10 fire tenders but has
only two. ''We are grateful to the Volta Aluminium Company (VALCO),
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Koforidua (Eastern Region)
Blood covenant is an age-old practice where lovers inflict cuts on a finger each and then bring the wounded fingers together for the blood from one to mix with the other partner's to signify a promise that they would never break their relationship till death.
Those engaged in the practice believe that the one who would
break the relationship would die prematurely. The
This came to light at a film show and an anti HIV/AIDS talk
organised by the Koforidua branch of the Planned Parenthood Association of
Ghana (PPAG) for students of the
Kweku Boateng, New Juaben Municipal Co-ordinator of the National Youth Council (NYC) told the students that the blood covenants never worked and that students involved in the practice often jilted each other.
He urged them to desist from such practices since it could expose them to the HIV virus. They should rather concentrate on their education and protect themselves from contracting the virus.
The Deputy Eastern Regional Population Officer, Mr. Kofi Agyei-Baafi advised the students to avoid situations that exposed them to sex like watching of pornographic films and pictures and discussing sex with friends.
He urged the students to practice abstinence since condoms could not provide them the protection they required if not used properly.
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Delivering a the keynote lecture to climax the celebration of the ninth Africa Day of Administration" in Accra, Mensah, said the elimination of corruption to reduce poverty and create wealth was not going to happen by accident, and stressed an effective linkage between government and the civil service and other political agents to implement government plans for positive social and economic transformation.
The theme for the weeklong celebration, which started last Monday, was "Strengthening Civil Service Capacity for Sustained Achievement of NEPAD Goals"
Mensah expressed regret about the low morale, excessive bureaucratic tendencies, inadequate tools, indiscipline and corruption among others negative tendencies that had characterized the civil service, and pointed out that the service had lost its position as the employers of the best professionals.
He noted that the aspirations of the nation could not be realised with a demoralized civil service, saying the difficulties of the civil service were formidable. Mensah admitted that the pay of Ghanaian civil and public servant was not good, and pointed out that all aspects of service must be good to attract the best of professionals.
The Senior Minister, who is also responsible for Public Sector Reform and the National Institutional Renewable Programme, stressed the importance of regular and systematic training for civil and public servants, but noted however, that the budget for such training was rather heavily dependent on donor funding.
Dr Kofi Konadu Apraku, Minister for Regional Co-operation and NEPAD, in a speech read for him said for NEPAD to succeed there must be a demonstration of the political will and commitment on the part of political leaders to direct its implementation.
He said strengthening the civil service to attain the goals of NEPAD required political, institutional and technical capacity of civil and public servants. Dr Apraku applauded civil and public servants for operating under difficult circumstances, and said a concerted effort in support of good governance, building effective partnership with the private sector and civil society and pursuing regional co-operation and integration were measures to strengthen the institutional capacity to make NEPAD a truly home grown, owned and managed development vision.
Dr Alex Glover-Quartey, Head of the Civil Service said ghost names, which impacted negatively was being tackled though a review of the Integrated Personnel and Payroll Database Programme.
He said a beautification programme of the Ministries Area was in progress, adding that the Ministries had been asked to landscape their respective premises. Dr Glover-Quartey said his outfit was planning to work out and put modalities to allow the annual civil service awards on a scale similar to that of the Best Farmers or Best Teachers Award which attracted prices ranging from vehicles and cash rather that television sets and other electronic appliances.
Mrs Mary Chinery-Hesse, Vice Chairman of the National Development Planning Commission, chaired the lecture.
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More than 30 policemen dispatched to the town were pelted with stones and other missiles, resulting in four sustaining injuries.
Briefing the GNA about the incident at
He said the faction became infuriated when the case was adjourned to 14 July and threatened to set fire to Nana Ankwanda's palace and some policemen had to be dispatched to the town to ensure law and order.
Ampewuah said reinforcement of 30 more men had to be sent to the town the following day following a tip off that the faction "was bent" on carrying out their threat.
He said no sooner had the reinforcement arrived than a mob of about 500 armed with stones, clubs and cutlasses, charged on them and took one of the policemen captive.
The Regional Commander, said a bus belonging to the service, which conveyed the men to the town had its rear windscreen and side glasses smashed and the police had to fire warning shots and use tear-gas before they could disperse the crowd and rescue their colleague.
He said the Chief and his supporters had fled the town, adding that, no arrests had been made but the police was assessing the situation. Ampewuah expressed concern about chieftaincy disputes in the region.
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Accra (Greater Accra) 27 June 2003 - The Chief Executive of the Volta River Authority, Dr Charle Wereko-Broby on Thursday defended himself of several allegations made against him by workers of the Authority and said what happens next is the prerogative of President John Kufuor.
In a 23-page statement titled: Volta River Authority: What I met and What I did - My tenure as Chief Executive of Volta River Authority traced his stay in the VRA from the Board Chairman, the problems he met, reaction to changes he made, solutions, projects he undertook and their results.
"When I joined the VRA 22 months ago," he wrote, "I made it very clear that I was not in for the long haul. "I saw my tenure as short, eventful and lasting for five years at the most. Clearly, I do not believe that the challenge given me has been completely fulfilled.
"However, I took a decision 15 years ago to return to
Giving details, he said within a space of four months after
his appointment as Chief Executive on
"In a sense, the reaction of staff to the changes being made by what they perceived to be an outsider Chief Executive could be understood, even if the substance of the changes themselves was in the right direction.
"This reaction of the staff to the fundamental changes being made in the Authority was crystallised in the form of a growing spate of unprecedented leakage of official VRA documentation to the public, especially the media and the National Security Agencies.
Dr Wereko-Brobby said he arrived at VRA at the time when the Authority was in the throes of a very deep and challenging period of transition in all of its operations.
"An Institution whose business has been built on production of power from the Akosombo hydro dam now had to face the reality of a significant and growing injection of thermal power into its operations."
He said the onset of thermal generation which costs about 3 to 4 times the cost to produce the traditional hydro power had began to compound and impact significantly on the finances of the Authority and it began to make losses due to the failure of the Authority coupled with the reluctance of Government, to ensure that the Authority was able to recover the full cost of its operations from increment in its tariffs.
"At the time that I took office, the VRA was technically a bankrupt organisation. The cumulative losses from the years 1997 to 2000 amounted to 1,430.4 billion cedis and a projected loss for the year 2001 was estimated at 1,644 billion cedis."
Dr Wereko-Brobby said although VRA operations covered the length and breadth of the country with 41 substations dotted around the country, the level of logistical support that he found at the Authority was woefully inadequate, extremely old and very unreliable.
There was "a very old vehicular fleet which had not been renewed for about a decade." Essential maintenance work, especially on the transmission lines, had been reduced to emergency resolution instead of regular preventive work.
Communication systems were largely obsolete; computers and other information and communication technical equipment were very inadequate.
Dr Wereko-Brobby said he also encountered a situation where staff morale was extremely low because of the long-standing failure to resolve some of the most critical matters of staff welfare.
"Whilst staff morale was low and could, therefore, be expected to have a negative impact on productivity and control of the Authority's resources, I found a situation in the Authority which showed a fundamental weakness in productivity and growing laxity in the application and dedication of many of the staff to their work."
Dr Wereko-Brobby said among the principal areas of deficiency were abuse of the use of the Staff Provident Fund, inordinately high overtime claims, misuse of Authority's vehicles, abuse of procedures on the use of Authority's funds, especially claims for allowances and other financial controls, failure to retire imprest accounts for both domestic and foreign operations and failure to implement the recommendation of audits carried out into various operations of the Authority.
The others were a laxity in the enforcement of disciplinary procedures in the Authority the abuse of the provisions of the leave of absence and the general conditions for the support of staff development and training especially, the breach of bonds by staff trained at the Authority's expense and the absence of any form of procedures for measuring productivity of staff at various levels and accounting for the work that they did for the Authority.
On his management style, Dr Wereko Brobby said the law was that, every decision was reposed in the person of the Chief Executive.
"This state of affairs produced a situation of a very remote 'venerable' Chief Executive' who oversaw the activities of the Authority largely from the hallowed corridors of the 10th floor of the Authority's Head Office."
On technical solutions, he put into effect a programme to repair and restore the generating capacity at the Takoradi Power Company to its full operation in the shortest possible time.
"Immediate and urgent action was taken to improve the reliability of the power supply by the acquisition and installation of essential maintenance equipment and operational changes to the management of the transmission system.
"These changes led to the restoration of the reliability of the system, which translated into a substantial improvement in the quality of power supplied to all consumers.
"The success of this measure is demonstrated by the fact that most Ghanaians now have nearly forgotten about the severe problems that they had with their basic domestic equipment.
"Consistent with the policy to maintain the country's power supply, rather than revert to the traditional practice of systematic and sustained load shedding, the Authority decided to fill the gap between the demand by its customers and the available generating capacity by leasing an Emergency Power Plant (EPP).
"The added objective of leasing the plant was to also
assist in the management of the
Dr Wereko Brobby said unfortunately, whilst the technical merits for the acquisition of the EPP (which later on came to be known as the Strategic Reserve Plant (SRP)), were sound and indeed essential for the success of the continuous power supply, the implementation of the project had been beset by a number of serious technical, operational and contractual problems.
"The result is that the immediate objectives of the Plant have not been successfully met, and a number of serious financial and technical issues remain to be resolved.
"However, the short to medium term usefulness of the
Plant to meeting
On financial solutions, Dr Wereko-Brobby said in November 2001, the Authority prepared and presented a Financial Rescue Plan for the consideration of President Kufuor and the Government.
He said the proposals contained the plan titled "Restoring the Financial Health of the Volta River Authority: Issues and Options" were broadly accepted by the Government and had formed the backbone of actions being taken to address the Authority's financial difficulties.
Dr Wereko-Brobby said the Authority had made successful representations to the Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC) with the result that there have been two major increases in tariffs in August 2002 and March 2003.
"Substantial progress has been made to restore the Authority's financial credibility with its two major power suppliers, CIE and CMS/TICO. The arrears of $55.6m and $13.2, which were owed to CIE and TICO at the time that I assumed office, were cleared in total by July and December 2002, respectively.
"Unfortunately, the problems with our own generating capacity at Akosombo and Takoradi have resulted in the accumulation of more debts to our power suppliers.
"Arrangements have been made with Barclays Bank to pay off $10m of the TICO debt currently about $19 m. Discussions are also ongoing for a syndicate of Banks to pay off a substantial portion of the CIE debt currently amounting to $32m."
The first phase of a three-year programme to provide fresh vehicles entailed the procurement of 166 vehicles, mainly cross country and double cabin pickups and 75 motor bicycles for the operations of the Authority.
"Vehicles were also procured for management staff covering Directors and Senior Managers, who needed vehicles to carry out essential operations.
"It is therefore a matter of surprise that so much fuss has been made by the Chief Executive's Volvo saloon car, which cost $38,000, when the official vehicle, a BMW top range saloon, for my immediate predecessor cost the Authority $95,000.
"The extent of public interest in VRA's acquisition of vehicles was orchestrated by a section of the staff of the Authority. One, therefore, is entitled to beg the question as to why no similar fuss was made when my predecessor's car cost at least two and a half times more than mine and was purchased four years earlier than mine."
Dr Wereko-Brobby said he also took steps on staff promotions and increments, outstanding vacation leave, staff improvement training initiative, education grant and loan, contract and casual workers, provision of telephone facilities, construction of a JSS Complex at Akuse, housing and transportation allowances and a welfare bus.
He said one would wonder why workers wanted him to leave adding the answer laid in measures he put into place to improve the productivity of work in the Authority and to tighten operational control and efficiency.
These included change of working hours from 35 hours to 40 hours a week, measures on the provident fund, curbing excessive overtime, checking of abuse of vehicles and mismanagement of fuel and misuse of telephones, introduction of greater transparency in procurement and financial discipline and enforcement of disciplinary procedure.
He said he accepted the call by President Kufuor to put my professional expertise to use at the VRA adding: Even though I have dabbled in politics, I considered the challenge as an opportunity to put my expertise and experience to the service of my nation.
"Unfortunately and despite my expressly stated declaration that I have gone on political holiday, it has been difficult for people to separate my work of the last two years from the every day politics of the country.
"This is rather unfortunate as judgement of the merits or otherwise of my tenure as Chief Executive of VRA has more often than not been seen from a political rather than a technical perspective."
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Koforidua (Eastern Region)
The present three month maternity leave split into two makes for six weeks before and after birth, which makes it difficult for women to care and wean their infants properly.
Contributing at a lecture to mark Civil Service Week at Koforidua on Thursday, they also suggested that centres should be attached to the various Ministries for babies of nursing mothers to be breast feed frequently and to save them the exorbitant fees charged by crèches.
Speaking on "The challenges of the career woman in the Civil Service," Mrs Janet Kwapong, Regional Co-ordinator for National Commission on Women and Development (NCWD), noted that women in the Civil Service were faced with both reproductive and productive work.
"Domestic responsibility including child care affect their concentration and output at their workplace," she said and suggested that women in the service should be contacted before transfers to ensure that they did not affect caring for their families. "Sudden transfers bring about divided attention, her marriage is threatened and children's upbringing is jeopardised," she said.
Thomas Nathan Dwirah, Eastern Regional Secretary of the Civil Servants Association, expressed concern about the late arrival of participants at the function, which was about one and half hours late and urged Civil Servants to "forget about the Ghanaian attitude of African punctuality," to set good example.
He blamed some men for contributing to the challenges of career women, adding that, "how do you expect your wife to concentrate at her work place when you make her pregnant after every one and half years". Dwirah advised women to manage their time judiciously so that their role in the home did not affect performance in their organisations.
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It is also ensuring effective supervision of arms given to security personnel and encouraging resolution of conflicts through dialogue rather than the use of arms.
Dr Kwame Addo-Kufuor, Minister for Defence, said the steps were among measures that were being pursued to facilitate the work of the National Commission on Small Arms and Light Weapons.
Dr Addo-Kufuor was speaking at the closing of a three-day
consultative workshop on "
Joseph Akudibillah, Deputy Minister for Defence, read Dr Addo Kufuor's speech at the workshop, which the Foundation for Security and Development in Africa (FOSDA), a non-governmental organisation (NGO), organised jointly with Action Aid another NGO; UNICEF and UNDP and was attended by representatives of 45 civil society organisations.
Dr Addo Kufuor said aside the retrieval of illicit arms in circulation and the continued ban on the import and export of small arms, government had also increased co-operation with other countries in the West Africa Sub-Region to strengthen the relevant laws on trafficking and management of small arms and light weapons.
It is also further co-operating with the United Nations and civil society organisations to effectively implement laws pertaining to the UN Security Council Arms Embargo.
Dr Addo Kufuor said it was an irony that developing nations were buying many of the small arms from the developed countries with their scarce foreign exchange. He questioned the moral and religious justification of the income accrued to partakers in the illicit trade when many lives were lost as a result.
"In spite of this stark reality, and all the various measures and policies put in place, new weapons are being manufactured, new import and export contracts are being initiated and concluded, money is changing hands for new "Small Blood Arms" and light weapons all over the continent."
Dr Addo Kufuor said the illegal local manufacture of small arms, used in the various ethnic conflicts and criminal activities was a major problem for government, and added that it was necessary to engage manufacturers of small arms in a serious dialogue to encourage them to bring their skills in the open, organise, formalise and control their activities.
The dialogue should also encourage collaboration between manufacturers and the security agencies, and also keep very comprehensive registers of those who purchase weapons and establish codes of conduct and behaviour governing those who could have access to weapons.
The Defence Minister announced that government was drafting a bill on firearms and invited civil society to input at the appropriate stage of the process of legislation.
He reiterated government's commitment to ensure that the National Commission on Small Arms was well supported to perform its task as stipulated by the UNPoA.
The Commission would be expected to formulate policies and programmes and ensure the provision of laws, regulations and administrative procedures towards the effective control of the production, export, import, transit and transfer of small arms and light weapons. It would also facilitate the training of security service personnel in modern methods of small arms control.
In a communique, read by Prof Haruna Yakubu, Dean of Students, University of Cape Coast, the participants registered their fears and worries about the conflicts in the country and in the Sub-Region, and called on Government to review legislation on domestic arms to reflect the current security situation.
Government should also take the lead in discussing the control of the proliferation of small arms in the West Africa Sub-Region as well as the African continent, and team up with civil society to resolve and prevent local conflicts.
They also asked government to factor in a gender perspective in conflict prevention, management and resolution processes, and also to facilitate and support gunsmiths to produce alternative non-lethal tools as a source of earning their livelihood.
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Affum, who pleaded not guilty to fraud and stealing, was ordered by the court to refund ¢17.5m to the complainant, Benjamin Kodwo Turkson, a farmer at Mankessim or in default two years in jail.
Chief Inspector Augustine Amonoo told the Court that Turkson
was introduced to Affum, who had a Healing Camp, sometime in February 2001, as
a Pastor who could assist him to secure a visa to the
He said after negotiating the Pastor agreed that Turkson should make a down payment of $3,000 to enable him secure a visa for him and ¢10.5m, amounting to $1,500, which were honoured.
After receiving the money, Affum collected Turkson's
passport and took him to the Shangri-La hotel in
Convinced, Turkson parted with an additional amount seven million cedis and was asked by Affum to collect the visa at the Prayer camp within four weeks but the Pastor could neither honour his promise nor refund the amount totalling 17.5 million cedis and his passport.
A report was made to the police and Affum was arrested and put before the court, Chief Inspector Amonoo added.
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Review customary marriage and divorce
registration law
It has, therefore, been proposed that all marriage officers should be sworn-in as Commissioners of Oaths, to enable them to sign marriage documents at the registration points.
The advocacy formed part of recommendations of the Family
Law Focal Area (FLFA) of the GTZ Legal Pluralism and Gender Pilot Project, and
presented by Mrs Sheila Minka-Premo, Co-ordinator of the project, at a workshop
held in
The workshop, organised by the FLFA of the GTZ Legal Pluralism and Gender Pilot Project, was aimed at creating a platform for disseminating findings of the pilot project after its implementation.
Sixty participants, made up of traditional rulers,
governmental and non-governmental organisations (NGOs), civil organisations and
religious bodies from
The project, which started in Ashanti and the Volta regions in September 2001 and expected to end in June 2003, was designed to research into Ghana's plural legal system and address gender inequities, by supporting women's rights.
Mrs Minka-Premo said it was the view of the pilot project that a situation whereby only marriage officers of Metropolitan Assemblies "are sworn as Registrars of deeds, while those at the District Assemblies are not, does not entice people enough to register their marriages".
"It is the conviction of the project that the registration process should be decentralised to the community level, preferably the Electoral Area Levels", she added
In an address read for him, Maxwell Kofi Jumah, the Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly Chief Executive (MCE), said he was hopeful that the findings of the project would go a long way to improve the lives of people within the metropolis. Jumah appealed to the GTZ to consider extending the duration of the project rather than folding up by June ending.
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He, therefore, urged all to rise up to the challenge, explore avenues and come out with innovative strategies to address the challenges. He said the rising cost of education, falling standards, deterioration in infrastructure and inability of governments and parents to share the cost have almost become a cliché.
Blay said this at the launch of the "Adisadel College Foundation and Strategic Business Plan" by the members of the Old Students Association of the College and the School's Management Board.
The five-year strategic and business plan, which is for 2003-2007, was formulated to strengthen the school's core academic activities, expand commercial business, re-organise its alumni relations and strengthen its financial base.
The foundation was launched under a corporate structure to formalise a public private partnership between the Ministry of Education and the Adisadel fraternity.
Resources would be mobilised through the foundation to complement government's efforts to maintain the College as a first rate second cycle institution, undertake commercial activities through the introduction of educational products and souvenirs for sale.
Blay, who is an old Boy of the College, praised the
Association and Management of the school for coming out with such a strategic
plan, describing it as a blessed step to helping to shoulder the burden of
education in
"We are setting the pace and blazing a new trail in financing and management of second cycle educational institutions. It is laudable. It is innovative. It is exemplary", he said.
Prof Christopher Ameyaw-Akumfi, Minster of Ports, Harbours and Railways, also an old student of the College, who performed the launch, described education as an "expensive business" that needed a lot of financial investment and commitment.
He urged the Association to help with the successful implementation of the strategic plan through their contributions to the foundation and redeeming of financial pledges.
Kwame Sakyi, President of the Old Boys Association, said 1.5 billion cedis would be put in the foundation as start-up money and that an annual contribution of one billion cedis would be made into an endowment fund by the end of 2003.
He said the Endowment Fund would be increased to five billion cedis by the year 2007 and the Foundation would be paying an annual grant to the College to help it with its programmes.
Justice George Kingsley Acquah, Chief Justice-designate, also an old boy, who chaired the function, said the contribution of the College to the nation since its establishment in 1910 was tremendous.
He, therefore, charged all old boys in the "Spirit of
Adisadel" to continue to help the College to contribute to the
socio-economic development of
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Accra (Greater Accra) 27 June 2003 - The Defence in the case in which two persons are being tried for allegedly murdering Ya-Na Yakubu Andani, Paramount Chief of the Dagbon Traditional Area, on Thursday told an Accra High Court that it would subpoena witnesses to testify.
Nana Obiri Boahene, who did not specify the number of witnesses, however, prayed the court to grant them an adjournment to enable them to produce their witnesses.
The trial judge Justice Yaw Appau obliged and adjourned the matter to Wednesday 9 July. Iddrisu Gyanfo and Yidana Sugri are being charged with conspiracy and murder of Ya-Na, the overlord of Dagbon.
They have pleaded not guilty. Opening his defence, Gyanfo, who was led in evidence by Nana Obiri Boahene, told the court that he was not in Yendi when the conflict broke out.
He denied that he conspired with Sugri to assassinate the Ya-Na. Gyanfo told the court that he did not know the Ya-Na but only heard of his name and saw his photographs. The accused denied that he pierced the head of the late Ya-Na on a spear and handed it over to the Zalanku-Lana Mbadugu in the presence of the Bolin-Lana.
Gyanfo stated that it was untrue that the blood sprinkled on his shirt when he held the severed head of the chief. The accused stated that he was at Mepaasem, a village near Yendi, with his wife and children and he did not hear of the imposition of curfew at Yendi.
He claimed that he did not hear of the death of Ya-Na until he was informed in court. During cross-examination by Anthony Gyambiby, Principal State Attorney, the accused said he was aware of the Abudu and Andani Gates but denied that there was a long dispute between them.
The accused admitted that he knew the
Prosecution: Why do you pass by the palace?
Accused: There is a toilet facility behind the palace and anytime I feel like easing myself, I ride my bicycle to the place.
Prosecution: Are you aware that Sugri lived in Nayirifon, suburb in Yendi?
Gyanfo: I don't know him. I got to know him when we were arrested together. When the Prosecution demanded to know if the accused had been visiting Yendi very often, Gyanfo said he only visited the town on Fridays to pray, to see his wife and also attend funerals and out-doorings.
Gyanfo disagreed with the Prosecution that he did not go back to Mepaasem when confusion erupted in Yendi.
Prosecution: Do you know of some festivals in Yendi?
Gyanfo: Yes, I have witnessed one Damba Festival but it was during the reign of Na-Mohammed.
Gyanfo denied further that he was seen at the
When the accused was asked who arrested him, he said he was arrest by Charles.
Prosecution: Who was Charles?
Gyanfo: I don't know whether he was a soldier or a policeman.
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Bawku (Upper East)
School authorities told the GNA on Tuesday that a misunderstanding between a student of BAWSCO and another from BAWTECH at a record dance last Saturday night at the secondary school, had by Monday escalated into the clash.
Meanwhile a curfew from
Ibrahim Atabugum, Assistant Headmaster of BAWSCO said the
fighting started around
He stated that five out of seven male students from the school who sustained injuries and admitted at the Bawku Presbyterian hospital had been discharged leaving Inusah Osman and Yakubu Abdul Rhaman, still on admission.
Atabugum said a Ghana Telecom telephone booth at the school, a borehole, an electric transformer and a number of louvre blades in the Girls' Dormitory and some classrooms were destroyed, but the transformer had been repaired. The Assistant Headmaster stated that seven students from the school and 20 from Bawtech had been detained by the Police to assist in investigations.
Samuel K. Lartey, Acting Principal of BAWTECH, said a number of students from the Institute were admitted at the Hospital but had been discharged leaving one, Ofosu Daniel, who was responding to treatment.
He said but for the timely arrival of the military, the building housing some vital equipment and machines at the Institute would have been destroyed, adding that, the roofing sheet of some workshops were damaged. The structure housing a corn mill was "battered with stones in an attempt to get to the mill," the Acting Principal said.
Both Atabugum and Lartey could not immediately give an estimate of the damage and praised the military personnel for the swift manner they brought the situation under control.
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New Board of Directors for Graphic
inaugurated
Nutifafa Kuenyehia, Chairman of the National Media Commission (NMC), who inaugurated the board, which would be in office for two years, said a new strategy for the Graphic Packaging Limited (GPL) was to extend its reach to other West African countries, move into security printing and position itself to publish about 60 percent of the country's textbooks.
He said in spite of the private radio stations reading the contents of the paper each morning, posing serious challenges to the industry, the Daily Graphic had maintained its leading position as the most authoritative and credible newspaper in the country.
"The Mirror continues its dominance over all the other weeklies." He said provisional turnover for 2002 was 11 percent higher than 2001 and net profit more than 100 percent higher was achieved through controlling production cost.
Members of the new board, with Professor Kwame Gyekye, Head of the Philosophy Department, University of Ghana, Legon, as Chairman include Mike Adjei, a journalist, Nana Amba Eyiaba, a Queenmother and Educationist, Isaac De Graft Johnson, an engineer and Kafui Asem, a journalist and public relations consultant.
The rest are Ebenezer M. Boye, a chartered accountant, Michael Mahama Asigri, a consultant, the Rev. David Dartey, a management consultant and clergyman, and Berifi Apenteng, Managing Director of Graphic.
Kuenyehia said over 20 billion cedis provided from the company's own resources was invested over the last two years in new machines to shift the emphasis from gravure to offset printing.
"The Graphic Communications Group Ltd is indeed a living testimony of a state media enterprise which has achieved positive results following progressive and attainable policies over the years."
He called on the National Communications Authority (NCA) to issue Graphic with the necessary license as soon as possible to enable it to operate FM radio stations on commercial broadcasting basis.
Kuenyehia commended the outgoing board for the high standards they had established to make the newspaper more balanced, objective and critical of issues of national interest erasing the view held by many about the Graphic as a "Government Newspaper".
He cautioned the new board not to attempt to meddle in the day-to-day management of the company but should harness their rich backgrounds, expertise and experience to provide the policy direction for the company.
Alex T. Quarmyne, Chairman of the outgoing Board, said they were grateful for the opportunity to have served the country through Graphic by providing policy direction and support to enable management and staff to do their work and pursue the mission of the organization.
He said this led to the refurbishment of the headquarters, the restructuring of the organization, continuing training and introduction of new technologies.
He urged the new board to which two former members had been retained to exhibit mutual respect and consideration by carefully listening to each other and taking their decisions through consensus.
Prof Gyekye, said they would institute productive policies and measures that would enhance the fortunes of the company and help it to maintain its lead. He thanked the NMC and government for the trust reposed in them adding that they would live up to expectation.
Berifi Apenteng, Managing Director of the Company, expressed his gratitude for the support and efforts of the outgoing board adding that they were extremely valuable leading to the many achievement chalked by the company.
He expressed the hope that the new board with their rich experiences would support and lead the company to the level that would be appreciated by all.
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Poor remuneration accounts for corruption
in Judiciary
Bolgatanga (Upper East)
Justice Paul Puengyii, Upper East Regional Secretary of JUSAG contended that although corruption could not be ruled out completely in the Service, salaries of staff is nothing to write home about.
The disparity in the salary structure in the Service compared to other state organisations must be looked at critically, he said. Puengyii was speaking in an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in Bolgatanga.
He said public perception although not a true reflection of facts, associating corruption with the Judiciary drags the image of the Service into disrepute and erodes the confidence members of the public have in the Judiciary.
Puengyii said with the current computerisation programme underway in the service, especially at the high courts, one expects that such development would be accompanied by motivation of staff to give out their best and not demoralizing comments about the very institution established to bring justice to the people.
He said the Judiciary is not totally corrupt. It is only unfounded allegations people circulate to tarnish the image of the service, he said. He appealed to the public to have confidence in the Judicial Service.
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Mrs Bossman, who chaired a function to mark the UN
International Day in Support of Victims of Torture in
The theme for this year is, "Together Against Torture - Call for Action." Mrs Bossman called for immediate action to be taken to minimise such physical and psychological abuses in society, since man's inhumanity to another seemed to know no bounds.
She said people should be safe in their homes but every single minute would not pass without somebody not being beaten, insulted, intimidated, tortured and urged a collective fight against torture and abuse.
The Coalition of African NGOs Against
Torture, Amnesty International, African Commission of Health and Human Rights
Promoters and Christmerk Foundation held it in collaboration with International
Rehabilitation Council for
J. K. Amoako of the National Reconciliation Commission, said capital punishment must be abolished because it was the most extreme method of torture. He said people should talk openly about its effects adding that if the world wanted to live without torture, a culture of peace and non-violence needed to be nurtured at the grassroots.
He said the media should expose people when caught in such
acts. A Liberia Journalist who was severely tortured in
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She said children's issues, including their rights and maintenance, were development issues that affected a nation's development and should be treated as such. Ms Ofori-Boadu said this at a workshop organized by the Ghana NGO Coalition on the Rights of the Child (GNCRC) and UNICEF for the media.
She said according to the Children's Act, children have the right to life, health, reasonable shelter and education and children should not be denied such rights: "No matter the situation of a child he/she should be maintained," she added.
Ms Ofori-Boadu said failure to provide a child's right was a criminal offence. She said district assemblies were mandated to look at child rights issues in their area since it was not possible for individual parents to build schools and other public facilities for their children.
Ms Madelon Cabooter, Communication Officer at UNICEF, said the issues of children have been relegated to the background for too long. She urged the media to help educate the society about child rights issues.
Mrs Susan Sabaa, Coordinator of GNCRC, urged Ghanaians to forget about traditional issues and involve children in decision-making. "The best interest of the child should be paramount in any matter concerning children," she said.
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He said most of these materials contained either harsh language or pornography, which could be said to be a contributory factor to the increase in the rate of immorality among the youth and society in general.
The Moderator, who was speaking at a meeting with the Executives of the Ghana Journalists Association, said though the media had the right to freedom of speech, the need to uphold the ethical as well as the moral value of the country must be paramount.
The meeting was also to inform the GJA about activities to commemorate the 175th Anniversary celebrations of the church. Rt Rev Dr. Prempeh expressed concern about the erosion of discipline among society and appealed to Journalists to team up with the church by exhibiting the passion for truth, guided by high journalistic standards, objectivity, accuracy and balance to uproot it.
He further appealed to Journalists to be circumspect in the coverage of religious, ethnic and security matters since such areas were delicate and could easily spark off conflicts and generate instability.
"Like Pastors, you must shepherd the flock, who are vulnerable and give them good leadership, hope where there is hopelessness, comfort and love where there is hatred."
Rev. Dr. Prempeh said the PCG was ready to send Pastors to media houses for short forenoon worships for Journalists who were unable to attend church on Sundays due to their work schedules.
Rev. Dr. Prempeh congratulated the GJA for their new Secretariat, which has modern facilities including a library, a cyber cafe and a conference hall, saying the achievement would facilitate the easy acquisition of information.
He said the PCG anniversary would feature events including a press briefing on activities of the church, exhibition, fun fair, durbar, musical show, book launch and Bible quiz for the youth.
Mrs Gifty Affenyi-Dadzie, President, GJA, said the code of
ethics for the practice of proper journalism had been embodied in the syllabus
of the
"This and many other steps have been taken by the GJA to check the abuse of the power of journalism," she said. She pledged GJA's support to stakeholders to ensure that ethical standards of the media were not compromised.
Yaw Owusu-Addo, Vice President of GJA, said though there was a Censorship Board to check the telecast of pornographic materials, some unscrupulous persons always managed to smuggle some of these materials for broadcasting.
He stated that at the moment there seems to be a poor legal framework for the media to work on, adding that the liberalisation of the airwaves which was done under pressure, left no law to govern it in terms of what types of films and issues were to be broadcast.
Owusu-Addo, however, said there was hope, if the Broadcasting Law was put in place to seal all the loopholes. "It is not necessarily censorship, but asking for what is right, decent and moral to our society," he said.
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Speaking at the second in the series of weekly press briefings instituted by the Ministry, he said the qualification to Chief Justice was not by merit of seniority as was being speculated in certain quarters.
"The Constitution, in Article 128 (4), provides qualification for the appointment onto the Supreme Court, which included a high moral character, proven integrity and at least 15 years standing as lawyer."
He said once a lawyer was qualified to be on the bench the promotion to the position of Chief Justice was entirely the prerogative of the President in consultation with the Council of State as provided by the Constitution.
"Article 144 (1) of the Constitution vested this power in the President," Nana Akomea said. "The issue of seniority may be considered. But at the end it is the President, who in consultation with the Council of State, decides on the nomination."
Nana Akomea said where seniority becomes an issue or contention was in Article 144 (6), "which provides that when the Office of Chief Justice is vacant, or where the Chief Justice for any reason is not able to perform the functions of the office, then the most senior justice at the Supreme Court shall perform the function until a substantive nominee of the President has assumed office, or until the substantive Chief Justice has resumed the functions."
He said it was, therefore, clear that the performance of the functions of the Chief Justice by the most senior justice was an automatic procedure that should not call for any authorization from government.
Nana Akomea said those, who were calling on government to announce or authorize the most senior justice to act a Chief Justice were calling for an unnecessary interference in the normal administrative function of the Judicial Service.
Nana Akomea said Chief Justice Edward Kwame Wiredu's retirement takes effect from 1 July this year and the President has subsequently nominated Justice George Kingsley Acquah to succeed him.
Taking a look into History, Nana Akomea said in the two nominations of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) government, the issue of seniority on the bench was not very important.
"When Justice Sowah retired as Chief Justice, the then government nominated Justice Archer, who was not on the bench at all," he said. Nana Akomea said when Justice Abban was nominated to replace Justice Archer as Chief Justice he was then not the most senior justice at the time.
Touching on the issue of the government not being gender sensitive since the present most senior Judge, Justice Joyce Bamford-Addo, is a woman, Nana Akomea said the government could not be said to be non-supportive of women's advancement since it was the first in the country's history to set up a whole Ministry for Women and Children.
He said under the present government, the positions of
Deputy Inspector General of Police, Commandant of the
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Presiding Members kick against withdrawal
of PAF
Winneba (Central Region)
The Association said the decision would throw overboard various poverty reduction plans the assemblies had already approved in their budgets. This was contained in a resolution adopted at the association's bi-monthly conference at Winneba in the Central Region.
The Presiding Members described the decision by the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development as hasty and that the assemblies were not given enough notice to deliberate on it.
Kwesi Esseku, the host presiding member, expressed the fear that the withdrawal of the poverty reduction scheme might affect the credibility of the district assemblies.
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Torture is a barbaric violation of human dignity and human rights, he said, adding that the torturer seeks to break the will and spirit of his victim. Annan made the call in a message issued by the United Nations Information Centre to mark this year's International Day in Support of Victims of Torture.
The Secretary General said he welcomed the adoption by the General Assembly in December 2002 of the Optional Protocol to the Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment of Punishment.
This establishes a framework that would allow visits by independent international and national bodies to places where persons are deprived of liberty.
Annan said the Protocol would create new possibilities for dialogue with and among national authorities to ensure that the right to be protected from torture was translated into reality.
He, therefore, called upon all States that have not yet done so to ratify the Convention and its Optional Protocol as a concrete step in the struggle to prevent torture.
"Each year on this day, we reaffirm our unbroken will and spirit to stamp out this vile practice, bring the torturer to justice and care for his innocent victims."
Annan said' "the sad truth is that we have a long way to go in stamping out torture. "We sometimes get to hear the testimony of those who have been tortured by regimes, and to see the chambers in which the deeds were done.
"But we should remember that most victims never get to tell the world their stories, and that torture is not confined to one particular region or political system, or to only a few countries."
Annan said as the UN stood for peace and development, it also stood equally for freedom from torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment and for bringing the perpetrators of such grave crimes to justice, he said.
"There is a range of legal and other mechanisms which the United Nations uses in the fight against torture. We must continue to develop new strategies and follow through on those already in place," he said.
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