Scouting principles needed for development
Accra (Greater Accra)
12 March 2003- Kweku Baako Jnr, Editor of the Crusading Guide, on Tuesday said
the 31 December 1981 military coup was a betrayal of the spirit of the 4 June
1979 Uprising.
Baako, giving evidence
at the National Reconciliation Commission (NRC) admitted being part of the June
4 military take-over and said though it was regrettable, it was unavoidable.
He said on hindsight,
Ghanaians would have been better off without all the military take-overs since
independence. He said military interventions in politics messed up their own
integrity, adding that the Chairman of the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council
(AFRC), Flt Lt Jerry Rawlings once admitted that the 1979 coup had destabilized
the economy.
Baako said he
supported the 1979 coup in the hope that it was a process to return the country
to constitutional rule and that no soldier became a serving politician. He
cited Act 62 of the Military Code, the Criminal Code of 1960 and the 1979
Constitution, which, he said, prescribed death for military coup makers and
said he got out of the process because it failed to champion the ideals for
which it came.
Baako said he
wondered why only eight people were executed in 1979 for various offences when
257 names had been submitted. Baako who said he was detained for almost two
years at the 48 Engineer Regiment before he was jailed in various prisons said
there were occasions when people who inflicted torture were intoxicated,
"high", or just abnormal.
He accused Chairman
Rawlings of watching during the torture of one Tata Ofosu at the Osu Castle as
the torture was filmed by one Riyadh. Baako said Sarkodie Addo was shot in the
presence of Jerry Rawlings, then as Chairman of the AFRC. Baako indicated he
was ready to assist the Commission when invited, and would not go further into
other details until he made a petition to the Commission.
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Accra (Greater Accra)
12 March 2003- Kweku Sam Kakraba Baako, alias Kweku Baako Jnr., Editor of the
Crusading Guide, on Tuesday told the National Reconciliation (NRC) in Accra
that he believes Mawuli Goka, accused of treason in the 1980s, was really
tortured before he was tried and executed in 1986.
He was giving evidence
in support of Christian Goka, a brother to the Mawuli at the NRC. Baako told
the Commission those operatives of the Bureau of National Investigations (BNI)
picked him up on 16 June 1986.
After about more than
four hours' stay in the BNI Headquarters, Peter Nanfuri, the BNI Boss and Annor
Kumi threatened that they would "change his sleeping place". He was
then sent to Ussher Fort Prison.
Baako said he was in
the Akuse Ward of the Ussher Fort Prison with Goka, Kyeremeh Djan, Boamah
Gyasi, W. O. Charles Aforo, Private Koomson and Charles Taylor, the current
Liberian President.
Baako said he already
knew Goka and Kyeremeh and they renewed their acquaintances. He said Mawuli
told him of the extreme torture he underwent at the BNI and at one time
attempted masturbation to verify if his torched male organ, slit at the tip
could have an erection.
Kyeremeh, he said,
told him his own flesh was cut and given to him chew as meat. When he refused,
it was given to Mawuli who also refused. Aforo, he said, told him he was
whipped at the back that left marks and added that an inmate told him that
there were mock executions at the BNI in the night.
Baako said Mawuli
once told him that Ex-Regimental Sergeant Major Jack Bebli, now Paul Bebli, led
a group of security men to transfer him and three others from the Police CID
Headquarters to the Commando House at Labone Estate and subjected them to
severe torture.
Bebli denied the
charge of torture under cross-examination, but pleaded for forgiveness if he
had wronged any one. Baako said upon seeing the marks and the level of torture
of his prison colleagues, he told them that they would be executed at the end
of the trial.
Ben Ephson, Editor of
the Dispatch, who was then a reporter with the British Broadcasting Corporation
and West Africa Magazine, told Kyeremeh and Mawuli the same thing three days
later after Kyeremeh had shown him his scars.
Baako spoke of one
Evelyn Djan, who was also picked up by BNI operatives and used as a prosecution
witness during the trial of Mawuli and Kyeremeh, but she ended at the Nsawam
Prisons for four-and-a-half years.
Baako said one
Riyadh, a Lebanese and an associate former President Jerry John Rawlings,
filmed the interrogations and torture. He said: The "President (Rawlings)
had the tendency to recall the films on torture of the ex-detainees."
He said he was
shocked to see that Riyadh was using a car belonging the Gokas. Earlier
Mawuli's brother, Christian, almost in tears, told the Commission that Mawuli
was on holidays from a university in the United Kingdom, where he was reading
Economics, Political Science and Law.
Mawuli was arrested
by the security agents on 30 October 1985, tried by a public tribunal and
executed in June 1986 for treason. Christian, who said he was a mate of former
President Jerry Rawlings, intimated that so far as he could guess, their family
had made certain remarks against certain people after the 4 June 1979 military
coup. He said that could have brought them into conflict with the Provisional
National Defence Council (PNDC).
Christian said after
the 31 December 1981 coup, one Frank Teddy Amewudi, a friend, who had links
with the military confided in the Goka family and insisted that they fled the
country for their own security.
Christian said they
fled to Togo, but Mawuli returned to Ghana in 1985. He said soon after Mawuli
arrived in Ghana, he was arrested and placed in custody, followed by a trial
and execution.
Christian said
information gathered revealed that Mawuli was tortured. He quoted extensively
from media reports in 2000 and "The Treason Trial of 1986 - Torture and
Revolutionary Injustice", a book written by George Agyekum, the Chairman
of the tribunal that tried his brother. These gave gory details of the torture
of the Ussher Forts detainees at the time.
He prayed the
Commission to help the Goka family locate the remains of his late brother for a
fitting re-burial and funeral. Ex-Superintendent of Police Gabriel Loveridge
Quampah told the Commission of his unlawful and premature dismissal by a newspaper
announcement from the Police Service on a charge of unsatisfactory service.
He told the
Commission of his exploits during his 14 years in the Service and said he was
given only 27,000 cedis as his compensation. Quampah said that he did not apply
to the court for redress at the time because PNDC Law 194 A, barred any court
to rescind a dismissal effected by the then government. He prayed the
Commission to compel the Service to retire him with the rank of Assistant
Commissioner with full benefits. Hearing continues.
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Accra (Greater Accra)
12 March 2003- Ex-Regimental Sergeant Major (RSM) Jack, now Paul, Bebli, on
Tuesday testified for the second time at the National Reconciliation Commission
(NRC) and denied leading a group of people to arrest and torture the late
Mawuli Goka and three others.
His appearance was in
reaction to a testimony by Christian Goka, brother of Mawuli and Kwaku Baako
Jnr., Editor of the Crusading Guide, which mentioned him as leader of a squad
that tortured Goka and others. They had been placed in custody, tried by a
public tribunal and executed for treasonable charges in 1986.
Baako, a Political
Activist and Journalist, was in incarceration at the Ussher Fort Prison together
with the late Goka and other political activists. He had said in his testimony
that Goka told him before his execution that Bebli led the late James Quarshie
of the Forces Reserve Battalion and Tony Gbeho, described as a close associate
of the then Chairman of the Provisional National Defence (PNDC), to remove them
from the Police Headquarters to the Commando House at Labone, where they were
tortured.
Under
cross-examination by Joseph Amui, his counsel, Bebli who claimed amnesia due to
an illness, confirmed knowing Quarshie. However, he denied he ever knew Gbeho,
neither had he ever met or known Mawuli.
The packed audience,
some standing in the warm public gallery, greeted Bebli's answer of "I
cannot remember" to most of the questions with boos and jeers, as he
denied the allegations of torture.
Bebli said he was
suffering from memory loss and was just beginning to regain his memory. He
added that he worked under pressure and needed the forgiveness of everybody he
might have offended in the course of his work.
In the event, the
Most Reverend Charles Palmer-Buckle, a member of the Commission told the
audience that it was possible for a person to forget most of the things that
happened in their lives after suffering from some kinds of diseases.
The Most Rev. Charles
Palmer Buckle said Ghanaians owed it a duty to support Bebli with prayer and
send out serious compassionate vibes to him. He said that there was a tendency
for people perceived as perpetrators not to show remorse if they feared that
they might not be forgiven.
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Accra (Greater Accra)
12 March 2003- The spokesman for the main Ivorian rebel movement, the Patriotic
Movement of Cote d'Ivoire (MPCI) now New Force, Mr Guillaume Soro arrived in
Accra on Tuesday at the head of a four-man delegation, only days after all
players in the Ivorian conflict signed a communiqué that paved the way for the
formation of an interim government.
The purpose of the
visit was not disclosed but it is believed the delegation was in Accra to
confer with President John Agyekum Kufuor on the current political situation
their country.
The parties to the
conflict only last Saturday agreed on the formation of a new government.
President Kufuor at a meeting with the factions on Saturday told them that the
new government to be formed in Cote d'Ivoire must be functional based on mutual
trust.
He said it would be a
very difficult task but said he was hopeful that the parties involved would
focus on the work at hand to lay a solid foundation for the government to work.
The parties to the
five-month-old conflict pledged to move forward the process of national
reconciliation under the Marcoussis Agreement signed earlier in the year in
France.
The Accra meeting was
called by President Kufuor to iron out major differences that were holding back
the implementation of the Marcoussis Accord. Under the Accra Communiqué, a
15-member National Security Council would be formed made up of all signatories
to the Marcoussis Agreement.
The membership would
include President Laurent Gbagbo; compromise Prime Minister Seydou Diarra;
representatives of those who signed the Marcoussis Agreement; Armed Forces and
Gendarmerie.
Diarra would submit
nominations to form a national unity government on the basis of the Agreement.
The rebels made a major concession when they dropped their insistence on the
Defence and Interior portfolios. They settled for the Territorial
Administration and Communications. The new government is to be in place by 14
March.
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Manchester (London) 12 March 2003 - A special appeal to raise funds for the procurement of vital tools and gadgets for the Ghana Police Service has been launched in Manchester by the Ghana High Commission.
Under the fund, dubbed “Five Pounds No Balance”, every Ghanaian in the UK would be encouraged to make a voluntary contribution of at least five pounds towards the purchase of the gadgets.
The fund, which would be administered by representatives of the Mission and community associations, is the first in a series of yearly fund-raising projects to be adopted by Ghanaians in the UK.
The scheme was also launched at various events held over the weekend by Ghanaian community associations at Reading, Milton Keynes and in London. Represented at the events were the Deputy High Commissioner, Kwabena Baah-Duodu, Adolphus Arthur, Minister/Head of Chancery, Peter Yankey, Minister/Welfare Consular Affairs and Martin Quansah, Minister (Political and Economic).
A minute silence was observed at the various events in memory of the immense contributions of key stalwarts of Ghana’s Independence struggle especially the Big-Six. H.E. Isaac Osei, Ghana’s envoy in the UK told enthusiastic Ghanaians in Manchester at a Buffet dinner dance held as part of the 46th Independence Anniversary celebration that the special contribution would help supplement Government’s effort aimed at making the Ghana Police one of the best on the continent.
Present at the event were F. Fritz Andoh, Minister Counsellor/Information, Yaw Wilson Obeng, First Secretary (Administration), Lawrence Aniteye, and Mrs. Florence Otoo, chairman and Vice Chairman respectively of the Association and representatives of societies in and around Manchester.
Osei urged Ghanaians to complement the efforts of the Big Six by working hard to ensure that their painstaking efforts would not be in vain. He said “even though we sought and secured the political kingdom, all other things have not been added”. He said under President Kufuor’s leadership, Ghanaians have a real opportunity to work hard, create wealth and enjoy the peace and prosperity our founding fathers envisioned.
He asked all Ghanaians to avoid divisive tendencies, move ahead as one people with a common destiny and strive to leave footprints for the future generations. Osei stressed that the Government of the New Patriotic Party on its part would continue to keep faith with the people as a responsible Government dedicated to ensuring a free society united in its quest for socio-economic advancement.
He pointed out that the broad decisions so far taken by the Government were meant to put the country on a path of progress and prosperity and enable Ghanaians to be masters of their own destinies. The Chairman of the Association Dr. Lawrence Aniteye praised the Mission for regularly keeping in touch with Ghanaians outside London and promised to galvanise support for the appeal fund.
Ghana High Commission London
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The Hague - It could be years before it hears a case, and it faces major opposition from the United States, but the world's first permanent war-crimes court was inaugurated Tuesday with the swearing in of 18 judges, including a well-respected Canadian diplomat who was also elected the court's president.
With Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands and UN Secretary General Kofi Annan looking on, the judges promised one by one to administer justice "impartially and conscientiously."
The seven women and 11 men then took a seat at a long table in the 13th-century Knight's Hall for the inauguration of the International Criminal Court, created to bring justice to those who commit some of the worst abuses of human rights.
Philippe Kirsch, Canada'a ambassador to Sweden, was appointed by the other judges as the court's first president for a term of six years. Two women, Akua Kuenyehia Dean of the Faculty of Law, University of Ghana and Elizabeth Odio Benito of Costa Rica, were installed as vice-presidents.
Presidents, heads of government and foreign ministers were among the 550 guests at the ceremonies, although Washington did not send an official representative. Annan said that after 50 years of debate on what form the court should take, it could now begin work in the interests of peace as a deterrent for future war crimes.
"There were many considerations that had to be carefully evaluated, in particular, the implications such a court might have for the delicate process of dismantling tyrannies and replacing them with democratic regimes, committed to uphold human rights," Annan said.
"To the survivors, who are also the witnesses, and to the bereaved, we owe a justice that must bring not only retribution, but also healing," he said. "There can be no lasting peace without justice."
The United States and Israel have voiced fears that the court would be misused by their political enemies despite built-in safeguards. The chairman of the organization of member states tried to reassure critics. The court will apply the law equally to all, and "is not the world's crucible for vengeance," said Prince Zeid Al-Hussein of Jordan, who administered the oath to the judges.
The judges were elected from among 43 candidates by the court's 89 member states last month. It was the first public event for the International Criminal Court, which came into existence last July 1 after the 1998 Rome Treaty was ratified.
Former U.S. president Bill Clinton signed the treaty establishing the International Criminal Court, but President George W. Bush has withdrawn U.S. support, fearing the tribunal would be used for politically motivated prosecutions of Americans.
The Bush administration has secured 22 bilateral treaties with countries granting U.S. citizens immunity from arrest warrants issued by the international court. Congress also has adopted legislation empowering the president to use "all means necessary" to free Americans taken into the court's custody - jokingly called the Invasion of The Hague Act.
The court will have jurisdiction to punish war crimes, including genocide, in any country that has ratified the statute, if that country has refused to prosecute suspects itself. Nonparty states can ask the court to intervene, as can the UN Security Council.
"These include mass murder, enslavement, torture and other abhorrent crimes - not only against other nations, but also against their own people." Its jurisdiction is not retroactive, meaning crimes committed before last July cannot be handled by the court. The Security Council also has the power to postpone investigations by up to two years.
With an initial staff of just 62 and no courtroom, it could take years before the court is able to hear its first case. A full-blown investigation and trial would require a staff of several hundred.
Human-rights organizations hailed the court as a message to tyrants that they will be held accountable. Earlier Tuesday, pro-court activists raised the flags of the member states on a beach outside The Hague, each flag surrounded by a metre-high sandbag bunker to symbolize a determination to ward off a U.S. landing.
Benjamin Ferencz, the lead U.S. prosecutor at the post-Second World War Nuremberg trials, lamented that the world still needs a mechanism to prosecute war criminals more than 50 years after the defeat of the Nazis.
In Geneva, the International Committee of the Red Cross said the court "should prove to be a powerful deterrent" to war crimes. The new court is modelled on the temporary tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda. Its rules and procedures will be set out in coming months by the judges and, once elected, the prosecutor.
The member states have been unable to find a consensus candidate for prosecutor. An election may be held next month among a handful of candidates. Possible candidates include Reginald Blanch, chief judge at the New South Wales District Court in Australia and Carla Del Ponte of Switzerland, the chief prosecutor at the Yugoslav war crimes tribunal.
Also on the short list is Louise Arbour, a Supreme Court of Canada judge who as UN chief prosecutor issued an unprecedented indictment against former Yugoslav president Slobodan Milosevic for allegedly violating the laws of war and perpetuating crimes against humanity. Gambian and Argentine candidates have also been named.
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Accra (Greater Accra) 12 March 2003-The youth of the Christ Apostolic Church (CAC) have declared their support for Rev. Dr Annor Yeboah chairman and pastor of the church.
The National Youth leader Rev. Stephen Owusu Jackson made this known at a press briefing on Tuesday. Rev Stephen Jackson Owusu stated that, the youth found it very difficult to understand why the decision to interdict the acting chairman was not communicated to the members of the church first before the press.
He further stated that the youth find the interdiction very unusual and in appropriate in many ways. Rev Owusu Jackson said the youth of the church have lost confidence in the executive members who orchestrated the interdiction and therefore call on them to resign.
He advised the youth to refrain from any conduct likely to disturb the peace in the church. In a related story the interdicted General Secretary of the Christ Apostolic Church International Rev. Dr. Augustine Annor-Yeboah has stated that, he would continue to occupy his position as General Secretary and Acting Chairman of the Church until a proper interpretation of the church’s constitution is done.
Rev Annor Yeboah said on Peace fm on Tuesday that, he was elected to serve for a certain period as the General Secretary, until another round of election is held. He described his interdiction as improper, since the meeting by the Executive Council of the church, was held without his consent as acting chairman of the church board, which is contrary to the constitution.
He said, he was only informed of his interdiction, by pressmen who attended the press conference Monday in Accra, where the current General Secretary Rev. Michael Nimo made the announcement that, Rev. Annor Yeboah had been interdicted from the church from the church. According to Rev. Annor Yeboah, he will pursue the case, since most of the allegations levelled against him were baseless.
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Accra (Greater Accra)
12 March 2003- Professor Kwesi Andam, Vice- Chancellor of Kwame Nkrumah
University (KNUST), Kumasi; on Tuesday threw a challenge to Librarians to be
innovative to generate income to supplement government subventions.
He said, even though,
the challenge might be difficult the proposition was worth trying and they
should give serious thought to it. Prof Andam, who was speaking at the fourth
presidential inaugural lecture of the Ghana Library Association in Accra, said
due to scarce resources what came to the libraries, was small "because
time is changing and budgets are dwindling".
He told the
Librarians that they had to continue to be relevant in the modern means of
information delivery in view of several opportunities the electronic
information was offering.
"We cannot down
play the fact that the future of our country depends on how well the
generations to come are educated to take our places," he said. Jake
Obetsebe-Lamptey, Minister of Information and Presidential Affairs, whose
speech was read on his behalf by Nana Ohene Ntow, a Government Spokesman on
Finance, said library and archive systems, if properly operated and managed,
had the potential to stem a lot of chieftaincy and conflicts that were being
witnessed today.
He said library and
archival records could corroborate oral history to establish the rightful
owners of land and heirs to stools and skins. The Minister noted that libraries
and archives had a role to play in helping to create a more stable society
based on the accuracy of records preserved and offered by libraries and
archives.
Mrs Helena
Asamoah-Hassan, newly elected president of the Ghana Library Association, in
her inaugural lecture, which was under the theme: "Information: The Oil In
The Wheel Of National Development", said libraries played a major role in
the educational system.
The development of a
strong human resource base and the socio-economic and political progress of
every country could not be laid without a resort to research and reference,
which the libraries offered.
She said to turn out
sound products at every level of education there was the need for the teacher
and the "taught" to have access to resources to enhance their goals.
"A nation which does not take care of its historical information to serve
as pieces of bricks to build upon, may be destroying its future before it is
there," she said.
She said integrating
information communication technology into traditional library services system
was highly desirable. She said, however, that issues like developing the
technological and regulatory infrastructure, connectivity, accessibility,
training and licensing costs and to fit into local information producing
services, would need to be addressed before venturing into it.
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Accra (Greater Accra)
12 March 2003- President John Agyekum Kufuor on Tuesday said the reactivation
of the Bui Dam Project was very vital to the government's development
programme.
He said its
development would augment power supply and provide irrigation facilities to
utilise the agricultural potentials in the northern parts of the country.
However, he said, there was the need to re-package the project to ensure that the
country benefited from its potentials.
President Kufuor made
the observation when the Yagbonwura, Doshie Bawa Abudu I led a delegation from
the Gonja Traditional Area, in the Northern Region to pay a courtesy call on
him at the Castle, Osu.
He said last year,
the project was put on tender but only one firm bid for it and that there was,
therefore, the need to review and re-package the project. President Kufuor said
since the project was initiated during the First Republic with the assistance
of Russia, negotiations were underway to seek more assistance from the Russian
government on the reactivation of the project to make it viable.
"There are vast
lands sprawling around the project area, which are dry during most part of the
year that have no access to irrigation facilities. It is unfortunate the
project is being delayed," he said.
He said for the
creation of a second region for the Northern Region, a feasibility study should
be conducted and the report studied by Cabinet before a decision could be taken.
President Kufuor said
the vast economic, agricultural and tourism potentials of Gonjaland were yet to
be tapped and utilised to make a huge positive difference in the well being of
the Ghanaian.
On rehabilitation of
roads in the area, President Kufuor appealed to the Yagbonwura and the people
to exercise some patience since the initial work had begun and would continue
to ensure that the Fulfoso-Damongo-Sawla road was completed, and also work had
begun on the Bole-Bamboi road to Wa in the Upper West Region.
President Kufuor said
government would take a decision on the re-settlement of the people displaced
during the 1992 and 1994 conflicts in the Kpandai area. He appealed to all
Ghanaians to live in peace and harmony as citizens of the country and whenever
there was any misunderstanding, the law should be sought to seek justice and
peace, adding, "always be tolerant of each other and not resort to
weapons".
President Kufuor
urged the Yagbonwura to endeavour to bring peace to the Dagbon Traditional Area
as the problem had been in existence for a very long time. He said; "it is
in the interest of all Ghanaians that Dagbon would be restored to peace and
harmony".
The Yagbonwura in an
address read on his behalf by Ahmed Ewura, President of Gonjaland Youth
Association, appealed to government to establish a Teacher Training College in
the area.
He explained that
since most of the people lived in remote areas, the establishment of such an
institution would help train teachers, who would accept postings to those
places. The Yagbonwura appealed to government to speed up efforts to reactivate
the Bui dam project and also review the membership of the Bui Dam Development
Board to include some representatives of the Gonja and North Mo Traditional
Areas.
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Accra (Greater Accra)
12 March 2003- Dr Nii Narku Quaynor, Chairman of the Network Computer Systems
(NCS), an Internet Service Provider (ISP), on Tuesday denied allegations of
conflict of interest and illegal financial gains in the operations of his
business.
Speaking at a press
conference in Accra, Dr Quaynor said on the contrary: "I wish to submit
that in my role as the Internet and Software Commissioner of Information,
Communications and Technology (ICT) Taskforce, I will humbly go about my work
developing the strategic thinking that will help narrow the digital
divide."
Referring
specifically to the Ghanaian Chronicle, an Accra private daily newspaper, Dr
Quaynor said a number of publications in the paper in the past few weeks were
false. The Chronicle had published among other things that authorities in the
ICT sector had not regularised Dr Quaynor's "brazen conflict of interest
situation.
It alleged that NCS
had 800 telephone lines from Ghana Telecom (GT) and 60 lines from Westel, the
second largest telecom operator in Ghana; however, Dr Quaynor said NCS had 600
lines from GT and four lines from Westel.
He said all the 600
dial-in telephone lines have been restricted to receive only for more than one
year. The allegation on the use of the 800 phone lines relates to purported
Voice over Internet Protocol (VOIP) activities between GT and NCS for overseas
calls by the use of local landline facilities through the ISPs.
The NCS Chairman
explained that his outfit was interested in VOIP advantages in telephony within
and outside of the country but had no relation with the operation of the system
now.
VOIP cannot be
facilitated on a one-way telephone facility, according to experts. Dr Quaynor
observed that there was the need for the National Communications Authority
(NCA) to establish the required legal framework to enable telecom operators to
reach an agreement with the Internet Service Providers (ISPs) on VOIP services
that would be of more benefit to rural communities.
He said NCS required
about 2,000 lines to satisfy its more than 10,000 registered subscribers. Dr
Quaynor said he was a professional and, therefore, supported the Minister of
Communications and Technology, the government and other African and
international leaders in their efforts to curb the growing digital divide in
Ghana.
He said he owned
shares in G-COM, a telecommunications company among many others. Dr Quaynor
said he had ignored initial publications by the newspaper and had even contacted
the National Media Commission to investigate some of the allegations.
The Editor of the
newspaper had disregarded invitations to substantiate any of the allegations,
Dr Quaynor said, and urged the newspaper and the media in general to rather
support the government and the experts in the effort to bridge the widening
digital divide.
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Accra (Greater Accra)
12 March 2003- Government said on Tuesday that its decision to establish a
National Strategic Food Security Stock had ensured that food prices remained
relatively stable throughout last year.
Major Courage
Quashigah (rtd), Minister of Food and Agriculture, told journalists in Accra on
Tuesday that the stability of maize prices on the market was an indication of
the positive impact the Food Security Stocks Scheme initiated in 2001 had made
on prices of the commodity.
He said in line with
the policy to buy stocks during years of surplus food production, the Ministry supported
private sector operators to store about 220,000 mini bags of Grade Two maize as
a buffer stock in 2001 with the support of the Agricultural Development Bank
under a government guarantee.
The Minister said the
strategic reserves had minimised the incidence of local shortages that were
experienced through maize purchases by foreigners mainly from Burkina Faso. The
policy had also guaranteed a ready market for farmers thus encouraging many of
them to go into maize production. This led to a boost in production last year.
Maj. Quashigah said
the scheme was put in place to counter and respond to widespread hunger that
might arise through natural disasters such as floods, earthquakes, droughts and
crop failure and the unnatural ones like war and civil strife.
Besides, it was to
operate as buffer stock, which when wholly or partially released into the
market would stabilise food prices during a bad season. On his expectation for
2003, the Minister said the actual agriculture production for the year would be
influenced by the rainfall situation during the period and the stability in
input prices, especially fertiliser, labour, farm services, among other things.
"It is very much
hoped that both the rainfall and the general price situation would favour food
production in 2003 and the country can move forward to a third successive year
of favourable food production."
Major Quashigah said
to curb the country's continuous reliance on rain-fed agriculture government
was making efforts to rehabilitate available irrigation facilities. In this
direction, he said, an amount of 900 million cedis had been committed towards
the rehabilitation of the Vea and Tono Irrigation Projects in the Upper East
Region.
In addition, 30
million cedis was spent on repairing a broken down valve at Bolgatanga, which
had led to the loss of water enough to irrigate about 50 hectares of land
daily.
The Minister said
government was also studying the Accra Plains Irrigation Project and similar
irrigation schemes in Dawhenya, Afife, Ashaiman and Kpong-Asutuare to ascertain
the viability of the proposed grand project.
Touching on the youth
taking up agriculture as a source of livelihood, Major Quashigah said
government was pursuing various programmes to reduce the drudgery and make
farming technically enjoyable and financially rewarding to attract the youth.
He cited the Village
Infrastructure Project as one of the initiatives that were aimed to concentrate
resources in selected rural communities to encourage the youth to stay in the
rural areas to take up farming.
The Minister said 133
billion cedis of sub-projects that would facilitate agricultural production
were under construction in all the 110 districts. "Physical infrastructure
sub-projects costing an estimated 176 billion cedis in rural water, transport
and post-harvest losses management were at various stages of
implementation."
They included 26 food
storage facilities; five dams; 67 bore holes; 74 hand-dug wells fitted with
pumps and the construction, reshaping and re-gravelling of 105 kilometres of
feeder roads.
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Mamponteng (Ashanti
Region) 12 March 2003- A 48-year-old farmer of Asenua near
Mamponteng in the
Kwabre District on Monday allegedly killed his wife in the bush and committed
suicide by drinking DDT.
A police source at
Mamponteng said Opanin Osei Kwame, the farmer, lived with his wife, Madam Akua
Owusua, 45, together with their six children at Asenua. In the morning of
Monday Opanin Osei Kwame left home for the farm leaving his wife behind to
prepare food to be sent to the farm later.
Later, one of their
sons, Nana Kwame, the source said, joined his father on the farm and together
with some friends weeded the farm. While on the farm, Opanin Osei Kwame told
his son that he was going to fetch water.
The source said not
quite long after Opanin Osei Kwame had left they heard a woman screaming but
they could not locate exactly where the screaming came from. Opanin Osei Kwame
returned later with the water and joined his son and friends to continue with
the weeding.
After working for
sometime Nana Kwame and his friends sought permission from his father to go
home and return the following day to continue with the work.
On their way home
Nana Kwame spotted her mother lying dead in the middle of the path leading to
the farm with her head cut into two and cutlass wounds on her two arms. Nana
Kwame and his friends went back to the farm to report to his father about the
gruesome murder of his mother.
The source said
Opanin Osei Kwame was hesitant at first but eventually accompanied them to see
the body. Nana Kwame spotted some blood stains on his father's trousers and
shoes and accused him of murdering his mother.
Opanin Kwame, the
source said, took offence and tried to strike Nana Kwame with the cutlass but
his son overpowered and disarmed him and made a report to the police. When
police got to the scene they could not locate Opanin Osei Kwame and so they
mounted a search for him with the help of the youth. They found his body under
a tree and half a bottle of water believed to have been mixed with DDT by his
side.
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Bolgatanga (Upper
East) 12 March 2003- The Talensi-Nabdam Association has expressed its
appreciation to the government for giving approval for the creation of the new
Talensi-Nabdam District in the Upper East Region.
''The Association is
overwhelmed by President J.A. Kufuor's bold decision to honour the chiefs and
people of the area with a separate district carved out of the present
Bolgatanga District,'' the association said in a statement.
"We wish to
assure the President that we have resolved to meet his aspirations for creating
the district by co-operating and working hard for the socio-economic
development of the area and the country as a whole."
It said the people of
Talensi and Nabdam constituencies have pledged to accept any location the
government might choose for the citing of the capital of the new district.
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Sekondi (Western
Region) 13 March 2003- Four stone winners including two women died on the spot
when a heap of sand fell on them while they were winning stone at Fijai hills
near Sekondi on Monday.
Eyewitnesses gave
their names as Mustaph Nsor, Osumanu Mumuni, Efua and Theresa who was pregnant.
They said the victims were winning stone after heavy rains when the accident
occurred.
The eyewitnesses said
the victims were taken to the Effia-Nkwanta Regional hospital. Peter Hodgson,
Senior Chemist of the Mines Department, who visited the scene, told the Ghana
News Agency (GNA) that the victims were winning stone illegally.
He said they did not
obtain licence from the Minerals Commission and permit from the Mines
Department and the site was not approved for stone winning. Hodgson said the
incident, which normally occurs in mining areas, was the first ever in the
Shama-Ahanta Metropolis. He advised stone winners, as well as illegal granite
quarry operators to regularise their activities.
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Accra (Greater Accra)
12 March 2003- Madam Georgina Okaiteye, Member of the 31st December
Women's Movement (DWM), told an Accra Fast Track Court on Tuesday that the
movement received 800 million cedis from Societe Industrielle Plantation Hevea
(SIPH) for assisting it to win the bid for the Ghana Rubber Estates Limited
(GREL).
Testifying under
cross-examination in the GREL divestiture case, Madam Okaiteye said Dr Albert
Owusu-Barnafo, a consultant of GREL, gave her cheque. Four persons are standing
trial in the case in which the 31st DWM allegedly used its influence on the
Divestiture Implementation Committee (DIC) Board to divest GREL to SIPH, a
French company.
The four are alleged
to have involved themselves in bribery and corrupt practices in the course of
GREL's privatisation. They are Hanny Sherry Ayittey, Treasurer of DWM, Emmanuel
Amuzu Agbodo, former Executive Secretary of DIC, Ralph Casely-Hayford, a
Businessman and Sati Dorcas Ocran, a Housewife.
They have all denied
the charges and the trial judge, Justice J. C.Amonoo-Monney, an Appeal Court
Judge with an additional responsibility as a High Court Judge, has granted each
of them a self-recognisance bail.
Madam Okaiteye told
the court that when Dr Owusu-Barnafo handed over the cheques to her, he said it
was SIPH's appreciation to DWM for assisting it to win the bid for GREL.
Witness disagreed
with a suggestion by David Lamptey, counsel for Ayittey, that the face value of
those cheques was 850 million cedis. She disagreed with another suggestion by
counsel that Dr Owusu-Barnafo issued the cheques based on some invoices she
Madam Okaiteye initialled.
Witness told the
court that she could not remember ever signing those invoices, saying, "I
have been signing other documents of that nature." Asked why she did not
put the money straight into the movement's accounts, Madam Okaiteye said that
was not the agreement she reached with Dr Owusu-Barnafo.
Witness said she
first paid the money into her own account and later withdrew it for Dr
Owusu-Barnafo. Witness disagreed with a suggestion by counsel that the face
value of the money when Dr Owusu-Barnafo gave it back to her was now 1.5
billion cedis, and it was never true that she lodged the difference in her Bank
for Housing and Construction (BHC) account. The case has been adjourned to
Wednesday, March 12, for further cross-examination of witness.
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Accra (Greater Accra)
12 March 2003- The Reverend Kofi Awadzi, Assistant Director of the Information
Services Department, on Tuesday urged Scouts in Africa to direct their
activities towards the developmental needs of the continent.
He said the basic
principles of scouting, which laid emphasis on discipline, high morals, service
to others as well as an attitude that sought to make the best of every
situation for both survival and progress were most crucial in solving some of
Africa's problems.
Rev. Awadzi was
speaking at the opening of the first West African Zonal Jamboree of Scouts
being organised jointly by the World Scouts Bureau - Africa Region and the
Ghana Scouts Association.
It is under the
theme: "Growth" and is in commemoration of Africa Scout Day, which
falls on 13 March. Participants from Niger, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Nigeria,
Gabon, the Gambia, Benin, La Cote d'Ivoire, Cape Verde, Burkina Faso and
Togoare attending the four-day jamboree.
Rev. Awadzi said
unlike in the past when scouting enjoyed a lot of popularity, it had been
overwhelmed by changes in the society as a result of modernisation. Rev. Awadzi
said there was the need for the objectives of scouting to be re-tuned to suit
the changing times in order to make the organization relevant, irrespective of
the changing times.
He said since the
attitude in scouting was basically to promote progress, the organisation could
use its principles to promote progress in every sphere of life. Joe Mantey,
National Co-ordinator of the National Youth Council, observed that although
scouting was the largest movement in Africa and also attractive to young
people, "not more than one per cent of the target population is currently
enjoying scouting".
He said Scout
associations throughout Africa would be organising activities geared towards
reaching out to more young people. Mantey said effective communication was most
needed if scouting were to attract and motivate volunteers and professional
leaders to obtain the financial resources that it needed.
He said recognising
the scarcity of resources for Scout programmes opportunities such as the
Founders' Day and the Africa Scout Day would be maximised in raising the
profile of scouting in Africa.
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