Amend PNDC Law
1205- Afreh (Jnr)
Ejisu (Ashanti Region)
K. A. Seidu,
Co-ordinator of the Eatwell Practical Rabbitory International project, a non-governmental
organisation concerned with the promotion of good nutrition, at the weekend
gave these advices.
He was addressing students of
the Kumasi Institute of Tropical Agriculture (KITA) and youth from Ejisu Zongo after a clean-up
exercise in the Ejisu township.
They distilled choked gutters, cleared weeds along portion of the Kumasi-Ejisu railway line and planted tree seedlings.
Seidu urged the people to practice
personal hygiene and to under clean-up campaign regularly to promote good
health. The KITA provided logistical support for the exercise, which was
organised by the EPRI in collaboration with the Zongo
Unit Committee.
Dr Noah Owusu-Takyi, Director of KITA, said the Institute had included
community assistance and development in its programme and would continue to
ensure that the people improved upon their sanitary conditions. He said KITA
would assist local communities to plant trees and educate the people on the
essence of environmental cleanliness.
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Miss Theresa Baah,
Headmistress of
Speaking at the celebration of the
re-birth of the
Although female enrolment in
basic education has been increasing, many more boys than girls get admitted to
primary schools. The gap widens in favour of boys as children climb the
education ladder.
Miss Baah
identified some of the factors militating against the education of girls as
geographic isolation and certain cultural practices such as Trokosi,
early marriage, poverty, insufficient infrastructure and the shortage of
teachers and said these combined had formed a complex web around girls.
She therefore, appealed to
GNAT-LAS to help mount a sustained campaign of affirmative and proactive action
to encourage and protect the continued education of the girl-child and any
problem that may threaten their continuous and successful education.
Miss Baah
called on the GNAT-LAS to work consistently and conscientiously hard and avoid
giving excuses to absent themselves from school and asked them to grab the many
chances that existed to further their studies.
"You must take these chances
to advance yourselves so as to become role models for our children and promote
the aims and objectives of the education reform programme."
Mrs Gladys Kwapong,
the Metro Director of Education, told the lady teachers that women were capable
of managing affairs better, when given the chance and therefore, charged all
women to strive to attain higher positions.
She urged women to stop making
excuses so as to stay away from school but must sacrifice and make sure that
they worked like their male counterparts. Miss Victoria Osei, chairperson of
Kumasi Metro GNAT-LAS, said the re-birth of the association followed the
realisation that they were losing a lot by being dormant.
She therefore, urged her
colleagues to get actively involved in all activities that would enhance the
image of the teaching profession and regain the respect the public once had for
teachers.
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Assin (Central Region) 03 March 2003
- Greater number of school children in some primary and Junior Secondary
Schools in the Assin District in the Central Region
either do not attend school or leave before closing anytime there was a funeral
ceremony in the surrounding villages.
This practice, according to
Ebenezer Quao, a teacher of the District Council
(D/C)
On why the children would
abandon school for funerals Quao said the children
have attached a certain kind of interest and importance to the celebration of
funerals in the villages, which has astounded most of the teachers.
He, however, said that some of
the children during funerals were seen helping with the arrangements at funeral
grounds. "This they do sometimes in the presence of their parents and
relatives who attend the ceremonies," he added.
Quao said though currently a quite
number of the children were out of school because they have not paid their
schools fees, he did not believe that the parents and guardians could not
afford the fees.
He said at present the yearly
school fees is less than 15,000, and when one looks at the spending habits of
the men and women during funerals and other occasions in the villages, they
cast dusts into the eyes of the school authorities that they really could not
afford to educate their wards.
One of the children who
confirmed the teacher's assertion said, "I don't like coming to school on
Friday because normally funerals are organised in the village and I have to be
there to see everything."
Asked what he goes there to do,
he said, "we go there to dance and listen to music and we are also given
lots of foods and drinks." Another said, "I sometimes come to school
and when it was time or break time then I leave for the funeral."
Master Henry Amoah,
who is in his final year in JSS said the problem was not with the pupils and
students alone but also some teachers did not come to school at all on funeral
occasions.
He said the children do not like
learning and so anytime there was an occasion in the village they take that as
an opportunity to abandoned school adding, "Our people do like learning,
they only like to play when some us are serious".
GRi.../
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Saltpond (Central Region) 03
March 2003- The Executive Director of the International Education and Exchange
Services (IEES), an NGO, Robert Okyne on Saturday
emphasised that manning of education institutions in the country had become a
complex issue considering the magnitude of deviant behaviour by both students
and teachers.
He therefore, stressed that
there is need for a high calibre of heads, who are
self-disciplined and result-oriented to face such challenges. Okyne was opening a day's workshop on "effective leadership
skills and conflict management in schools" for 55 basic schools heads and
their assistants in the Mfantsiman District.
The workshop aimed at equipping
participants with effective leadership skills and strategies to combat the
numerous acts of indiscipline in schools, took participants through topics,
including "supervision as a leadership responsibility", "areas
of conflict and indiscipline in schools", and "leadership
styles"
The executive director,
observed that students are now confronted with enormous pressures from social,
political, psychological and religious pressures and in the mist of confusion,
resorted to venting their frustration and anger on "all that stand for
right and norm".
It is therefore, imperative he
said, to give all heads and their assistants the needed management training to
help bring the situation under control. He said the Ghana Education Service
(GES), has in this regard mandated the IEES to run series of leadership
training programmes for heads, their assistants and circuit supervisors in all
basic and secondary schools throughout the country to help check the spate of
indiscipline in schools.
He appealed to heads to
establish good relationship with their teachers to motivate and encourage them
to work harder, and also involve student leaders in the decision-making on
issues affecting their welfare.
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Richard Darko, Ashanti Regional
Director of Public Affairs of the Church who disclosed this on Saturday, said
the decision to open the eye centre followed an eye screening exercise
undertaken by the Church in
At a media encounter with the
leadership of the Church, Mr Darko said all the equipment used during the
exercise by the medical team of the Church who came from the United States of
America were left behind in readiness for the opening of the centre.
The encounter was a follow up to
the one, held last two years to brief the media on the mission of the Church
and what it had been able to achieve in the area of building bridges between it
and the communities.
Within this period, Darko said,
the Church had distributed a full container load of books worth about 42
million cedis to some schools in
Darko said the Church, in
collaboration with the Ministry of Health organised a training workshop for
selected medical personnel and Traditional Birth Attendants (TBAs) drawn from Ashanti, Brong-Ahafo, Northern, Upper East
and West regions on maternal and child-birth in Kumasi.
He named the church's three
mission statements were focused on proclaiming the gospel, perfecting the
Saints and redeeming the dead and said it was the belief of the church that
those who had come to Jesus should be retained for Jesus and not allowed to
return to their old ways.
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Accra (Greater Accra) 03 March
2003- The Bureau of National Investigations (BNI) has initiated moves to stem a
plot by the Reverend Dr Augustine Annor-Yeboah,
Acting Chairman of the Christ Apostolic Church International (CACI) to cause
confusion and split the church when his tenure of office comes to an end.
A Security Source told the Ghana
News Agency that a formal complaint had been made against Rev Dr Annor-Yeboah alleging that having realised that the General
Council of the Church did not intend to reappoint him because of misconduct, he held a meeting with some members of the
church to discuss strategies to split the church.
The Source said they were
analysing a tape-recording of the meeting held on February 26, at which
strategies to cause unrest prior to the church's General Council meeting to be
held between 17 and 22 March were discussed.
It said already some of branches
of the church had started sending in letters expressing support for Rev Dr Annor-Yeboah against the General Council. Giving a litany
of the misdeeds of Rev Dr Annor-Yeboah, the Source
said at a consultative meeting he called on 25 January 2002 he accused his
colleagues; the Reverend Michael Nimo, Reverend Percy
Konotey, Reverend S. D. K. Larbie,
Reverend Evans Duku and General Deacon S. Addai-Kusi of being envious of him.
The Source said the Acting
Chairman accused these five Executives of doing acts to destroy the church. His
accusation against the other Executives was referred to the highest law-making
body of the Church that led to an emergency Synod on
At that meeting there was a
consensus that the Acting Chairman should be impeached for gross misconduct but
a Minister of State intervened. Rev. Dr Annor Yeboah
later went on his knees to beg the Council for forgiveness.
However, after that intervention
Rev Dr Annor-Yeboah continued to cast insinuations
against the other Executives Members anytime he mounted the pulpit and the
Minister's attention was drawn to this unrepentant behaviour and he cautioned
him to stop forthwith.
The Source said Rev. Dr Annor Yeboah during the May 2002 Synod pleaded that he
should be allowed to step down at the end of his tenure since his impeachment
would tarnish the image of the church. The Synod according to the Source then
accepted the proposal of voluntary stepping down so as not to divide the
church.
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Kyebi (Eastern Region) 03 March 2003-
President John Agyekum Kufuor on Saturday joined the chiefs and people of Akyem Abuakwa to hold a grand
durbar in memory of their illustrious son, the late Dr Joseph Boakye Danquah, who died 37 years ago in political
detention.
Dr Danquah,
was among the "Big Six" who were the architects of
The Okyenhene
Osagyefuo Amoatia Ofori Panin, accompanied by the Gyasehene of the traditional area, the Kwabenhene
Osabarima Dakwa Woe, rode
in palanquins through the town amidst traditional drumming and firing of
musketry to the durbar grounds at the forecourt of the Ofori
Paninfie(Palace).
Among the dignitaries who accompanied
President Kufuor included the First Lady, Mrs Theresa Kufuor, the Senior
Minister, J.H. Mensah, the Attorney General and Minister of Justice who is also
the MP for Abuakwa, Nana Akufo-Addo,
the Minister of Communications and Technology, Hon. Felix Owusu Agyepong, the Minister of Trade and Industries, Dr Kofi
Konadu Apraku, the Minister of Local Government and
Rural Development, Hon. Kwadwo Baah-Wiredu and the Eastern Regional Minister,
Dr Francis Osafo-Mensah.
Also in attendance was the Okuapehene and President
of the Eastern Regional House of Chiefs, Oseadeeyo, Addo Dankwa 111 and over a
hundred tourists from the
Addressing the durbar, President
Kufuor paid glowing tribute to Dr Danquah, whom, he said was highly venerated
not only by members of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) for being the initiator of
its political tradition but the government and the entire nation since he
worked tirelessly for its freedom and democratic rule.
He described him as a
philosopher and visionary, who had the welfare of the human person as his
focus, saying, "he championed constitutional
governance, rule of law and private property owning democracy."
President Kufuor regretted that
"those who were short-sighted did not understand him, leading to his being
detained and imprisoned till his death", adding, however, that, "what
he prophesied (about democratic governance) has come true after over three
decades, making Dr Danquah one of the greatest philosophers in the world."
According to President Kufuor,
the nation could not pay tribute to Dr Danquah in kind, in spite of naming a
circle in
He described Kyebi
as the "
Earlier, Osagyefuo
Amoatia Ofori Panin also paid tribute to Dr Danquah's
distinguished contribution towards the independence of the country and
commended President Kufuor for joining the people to honour their
"political mentor".
He lauded the President for his
sense of humility and commitment to tackle the country's difficult
socio-economic conditions. Osagyefuo Ofori Panin stated that if four
of the "Big Six" hailed from the area, then they required a fair
share of the national cake since the area was closely associated with the
tradition of the NPP to the extent that "we are branded opposition in
power".
He asked the government to
embark on a vigorous rural development programme that the NPP's
tradition was noted for and to ensure that poverty was no barrier to the
education and development of the people.
The Okyenhene
later installed Paxton K. Baker, the Executive Vice President of the One Bet Plazza and the organiser of the Ghana Jazz and Heritage
festival to
Bafour Bediako
later told newsmen that he was committed to support in the realisation of the Okyenhene's crusade against environmental degradation,
HIV/AIDS awareness and education, adding that his organisation would offer 30
scholarships to students from the area annually.
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Speaking at a lecture on
Environmental Sanitation and Domestic Waste Management at the Command's
Headquarters at the Teshie Military Camp, the GOC said, the time has come for
Ghanaians "to change our ways of life and strive to work hard to defend
our dear nation."
The lecture was organised by the
Friends of the Environment (FOE), a Teshie-based non-governmental organisation
(NGO) for personnel of the Command, their families and relatives, to sensitize
them on the hazards of indiscriminate disposal of domestic waste.
Brig Danquah said it was
regrettable to see people littering their very surroundings, and urged soldiers
and their families to tidy up the barracks in order not to fall victims to
avoidable diseases.
He appealed to FOE and other
NGO's in the metropolis to organise more of such lectures for the military, in
order to create the necessary awareness among them to enable them to keep
healthy and clean environment at all times.
Emmanuel Nii
Adjei, President of FOE noted that the indiscriminate manner in which domestic
and other wastes were disposed of in the system was a major contributory factor
to the outbreak of epidemics.
Adjei, therefore, advised
Ghanaians to ensure that waste in the system was properly disposed of to keep
them healthy. Divine Sappor, Kpeshie
District Environmental Health Officer urged people in the metropolis to stop
polluting the environment.
Sappor also stressed the need for the
people to refrain from poor and unsafe hygienic practices. Wisdom Aditsey, Environmental Health Technologist of the Metro Public
Health Department said there was the need for Ghanaians to adopt preventive
measures that would help curb the spread of communicable diseases.
Major Muller Kuure,
Camp Commandant of the Southern Command assured NGO's and other
environment-related organisations of the camp's preparedness to embrace
educative lectures and talks to equip military personnel at the Camp with skills
and knowledge on the environment, in order to lead healthy lives.
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Accra (Greater Accra) 03 March
2003- A Togolese registered Piper PA32 single engine aircraft with registration
marking 5v-TPK, flying from Abidjan enroute Accra to Lome, last Friday around 2.00 pm, crash-landed in a cassava
farm at Gamadzra-Denu near Aflao
in the Volta Region.
A release issued and signed by
Captain Joe Boachie, acting Director General of the
Ghana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA), said a team of officers from the GCAA
and the Ghana Airforce, was dispatched to the crash
area to assist in the search and rescue operation with the assistance of the
District Administration of Ketu-South.
The pilot, a French national and
a female believed to be a Ghanaian and the sole passenger on board survived the
accident unhurt. The release said the accident investigators of the GCAA were
investigating the cause of the accident.
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Amend PNDC
Law 1205- Afreh (Jnr)
Winneba (Central Region)
This, he said, would enable the
Ghana Tourist Board (GTB) to deal effectively with quack drinking bar and
restaurant operators. Afreh (Jnr) said the amendment
of the law would also empower the courts to impose 'formative' fines on
offenders.
Addressing the first
ever-regional congress of the Central Region branch of the association at
Winneba, he said for the GTB to make headway in the tourism industry, laws
governing the industry must be strengthened.
Afreh emphasized the need for
government to provide adequate budgetary allocation for the GTB to make it
effective. Sampson Donkor, Central Regional Director
of the GTB, said the Board would as from April, this year, embark on
nation-wide registration of all drinking bars and restaurants.
According to Donkor,
the move would ensure sanity in the operations of owners to attract more
tourists into the country. David Forster-Forson, the
Executive Director of the Central Region Development Commission, said the
establishment of special credit scheme under which members of NADBOA could be
given loans after saving with the scheme to secure financial support to promote
their businesses.
John Antwi-Boateng,
Regional Funding Officer of the commission, said training programmes would be
organised for small-scale business operators in the region to improve their
knowledge and skills in business planning, accounting procedures, and marketing
to enable them maximize returns.
The District Chief Executive for
Awutu-Effutu-Senya, Captain Steve Kwamena Armah (Rtd), in a speech read on his behalf, charged drinking bar
operators to pay their taxes regularly and promptly and help in exposing hard
drugs dealers.
All the 10 regional executive
officer, who were elected unopposed by the congress, included Mr Kow Arthur, chairman, E.B. Bonful,
Vice-chairman, J.R. Quainoo, secretary and Mr
Ebenezer Crentsil assistant secretary.
Others were: Maxwell Amo Ghunney, organizer, Kingbert Edvanko, assistant
organizer and Mis Vida Idan,
financial secretary. The rest were: Miss Agnes Steele Dadzie,
treasurer, Madam Theresa Rhule women's organizer and
Madam Joyce Amankwaah, assistant women's organizer.
Arthur on behalf of the executives thanked the congress for the honour done
them and called for cooperation and dedication to enable them
achieve their set goals.
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Mankranso (Ashanti Region) 03 March 2003-
O.K. Amankwaah, Ashanti Regional Vice-Chairman of the
National Democratic Congress (NDC), has urged the party's supporters to
reconcile, remain disciplined and focused and remain united to be strong to
regain power in the 2004 elections.
He said the party was capable of
regaining power because the mistakes that led to its defeat in the 2000
elections had been seriously noted and were being corrected. Amankwaah was addressing about 250 delegates from the
various branches and wards in the Ahafo-Ano South
constituency at a meeting at Mankranso, the first
constituency meeting since the 2000 elections.
The meeting formed part of
strategies to reactivate the party's branches in the constituency, build a
strong campaign team and map out campaign strategies for the 2004 election in
the constituency.
Amankwaah told the delegates that the
election of Professor John Evans Atta Mills as the party's presidential
candidate was borne out of the realisation that he was the only person who
could lead the party to victory and therefore, appealed to all party supporters
to throw their weight behind him.
He commended the members and
supporters of the party in the constituency for their continuous support for
the party and asked them to gird their loins for the 2004 elections, which he
noted, was not going to be easy.
Nana Boakye
Akyeampong, the Ahafo-Ano
South constituency chairman of the NDC, called for peace, unity and stability
in the area and pledged the party's preparedness to contribute towards the
development of the area.
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Worawora (Volta Region)
Kwadwo Baah-Wiredu, Minster of
Local Government and Rural Development (MLGRD) disclosed this in a speech read
for him, at the weekend during the first bi-monthly conclave meeting for
District Chief Executives (DCEs) from the
He said 66.97 billion cedis was
disbursed in January, this year, as part of the first quarter allocation of
2002 DACF, while 265.27 billion cedis and 188.73 billion cedis were disbursed
in 2002 and 2001 respectively.
The Minister said innovative
measures were being adopted to hasten the prompt release and disbursement of
the fund to facilitate development. He implored the DCEs to work with their
Presiding Members (PMs), Members of Parliament (MPs),
Assemblymembers, Chairmen of Committees and other officials
towards the judicious use of funds.
"Take note that these are
public monies, which must and be accounted for", the Minister emphasised.
Baah-Wiredu stressed that PMs be provided with
offices and a secretary to enable them execute programmes and contribute
efficiently as demanded under section 27 of ACT 462.
He urged the DCEs to ensure that
markets, lorry parks and streets were clean and beautified. Kwasi
Owusu-Yeboa, Volta Regional Minister said effective and efficient local
government administration was an indispensable pre-condition for rural poverty
reduction and development.
Samuel Baidu
Kelele, Jasikan DCE said
the assembly would spend 150 million cedis this year to facilitate land
acquisition, procurement and construct irrigation facilities to boost
agriculture.
GRi.../
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