GRi Newsreel 21 - 05 - 2002
O'Neill arrives in Ghana
Police officers asked to respect the rights of the citizenry
Ghana honours President Konare
Government is creating wrong impression about Rice project - NDC
Mixed reaction towards cancellation of BECE
Main Crop Season of Cocoa ends on 23 May
No vehicle to convey Beckley to court - Prosecution
Armed robbers entitled to equal health care - Short
Informant jailed for deceiving CEPS Commissioner
Ashanti GNAPS directs members not to charge
new tuition fees
Accra (Greater Accra) 21 May 2002- The United States Treasury Secretary, Mr Paul O'Neill arrived in Accra on Tuesday, to begin a four-day official visit to
Ghana. He was accompanied by a 60-member delegation including Mr Paul "Bono" Hewson, a renowned musician and activist campaigning for the cancellation of Third World debts.
Mr O'Neill would hold meetings with President John Agyekum Kufuor and the Government Economic Team and tour the offices of Allied Computer Systems-Business Process Solutions (ACS-BPS), the largest US information technology company in Ghana.
The US Treasury Secretary would inspect African Development Bank funded projects at Jamestown, in Accra, visit an exhibition on USAID and Peace Corps projects and tour Tamale and an Oxfam sponsored project at Wamali.
Mr O'Neill who is on a four-nation African tour would visit South Africa, Uganda and Ethiopia. He was met on arrival by the Senior Minister, Mr J. H. Mensah, Minister of Finance, Mr Yaw Osafo Marfo and Ms Nancy Powell, US Ambassador.
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Police officers asked to respect the rights
of the citizenry
Kumasi (Ashanti Region) 21 May 2002- Mr Ernest Owusu-Poku, Inspector-Genberal of Police (IGP) said on Monday that one of the things the police could do to enhance the new democracy was to respect the rights of every citizen and ensure adequate protection for all.
He said it is for this and other reasons that Police Officers needed to perceive their proper roles in the present democratic dispensation. Mr Owusu-Poku was opening a week's training workshop in Kumasi for 50 Police Community Neighbourhood Watch liaison officers drawn from all the regions in the country. The workshop is to enable the participant to gain generic knowledge and share experiences on the neighbourhood watch concept as an aid to crime prevention.
The IGP explained that the neighbourhood watch committee "essentially concerns crime prevention but more widely and importantly, it involves neighbours working together as a team to make their community a safer place. "The efficacy of preventing crime, the sense of security it instils in residents knowing their homes are being watched by their neighbours and the improved social contacts are the hallmarks of the successful neighbourhood watch concept", he said.
The IGP emphasised that one of the most beneficial effects of the concept was the promotion of better contact and communication between the Police and the community. "It is in the recognition of this partnership that the Police Service continues to be committed to the concept of the neighbourhood watch committee in the fight against crime", the IGP stressed.
Mr Owusu-Poku pointed out that it was against this background that the police administration had decided that the year 2002 be devoted primarily to "encouraging the growth of neighbourhood watch schemes". He urged the participants to embrace the training with all seriousness and work hard to ensure an effective take-off of the scheme.
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Ghana honours President Konare
Accra (Greater Accra) 21 May 2002- President John Agyekum Kufuor on Monday, decorated President Alpha Oumar Konare with the State honour of Companion of the Order of the Star of Ghana (CSG) Honorary Division at a banquet held in honour of the Malian leader in Accra.
The citation read by Mr Hackman Owusu-Agyeman, Minister of Foreign Affairs said he was being honoured in recognition of his outstanding leadership, commitment to the promotion of democracy and economic advancement of Mali and his role in promoting co-operation and integration in West Africa.
It mentioned the valuable contribution of the Malian leader towards "rebuilding international confidence in the ability and willingness of African leaders to practice true democracy, good governance and rule of law".
President Kufuor said Mali had become a symbol of democratic governance and stability under the leadership of President Konare for the past 10 years and commended President Konare for presiding over democratic elections in Mali and was leaving office without "a trace" of moves to overstay his allotted term.
"You have conducted yourself with dignity and flair and your sharp intellect has always been a joy to observe. You have thus definitely earned the status of being designated an Eminent person whose talents would continue to be respected".
President Kufuor said President Konare could be used as a goodwill Ambassador by Africa in its efforts to implement the New Partnership for Development in Africa (NEPAD).
President Konare on behalf of the government and people of Mali also decorated President Kufuor with the Great Cross of the Republic of Mali for his leadership and democratic commitment.
He said the honour was in respect of President Kufuor's fight for African integration and "great friendship for Mali".
President Konare said his visit was not only to strengthen relationship between Ghana and Mali but also a testimony of the peace and solidarity existing between Africans.
He stressed the commitment of the two countries to fight for their common interest in Africa and world affairs and commended the government for its efforts to ensure the socio-economic development of Ghana.
President Konare said Ghana and Mali shared common objectives of ensuring good education, food security and improved standard of living for their people.
Apart from talks on private sector co-operation discussions would be held on the democratic process in the two countries, he said, adding that, "We would do everything possible for our people to benefit from this co-operation to be shinning example set by our fore-fathers and work towards an advantageous relationship between us".
President Konare accompanied by Vice President Aliu Mahama would attend a mini-durbar in Kumasi on Tuesday and have audience with Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, Asantehene.
On Wednesday, the Malian leader would meet African Ambassadors, the Malian community and lay a wreath at the Kwame Nkrumah Mausoleum.
President Konare visited Ghana in October last year, during which the two countries reviewed their political relations.
The two countries would look at ways of implementing recommendations of the 10th Session of the Ghana-Mali Permanent Joint Commission for Co-operation held in Bamako last year, which agreed on scientific, technical and commercial co-operation during the visit.
President Konare, 56 was first elected President of the Third Republic of Mali in 1992 and was re-elected in 1997 and has just completed his tenure.
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Government is creating wrong impression
about Rice project - NDC
Accra (Greater Accra) 21 May 2002- Mr Kwaku Baah, a Vice Chairman of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), on Monday said claims by government that four brands of rice which were recently launched in the country, were products of the Kpong Irrigation Project were false. He said although the Kpong Irrigation Project might have grown the rice, it had neither a rice processing plant nor a rice mill.
Mr Baah, who was speaking during a press conference in Accra, said although in all cases the rice was milled at the Quality Grain Project site at Aveyime in the Volta Region, using the company's facilities and equipment, invited guests were told during the launching that the rice was the product of the Kpong Irrigation Project.
Commenting on a documentary that was shown to journalists during the press conference to prove his point, he said the government must have got wind of both the documentary and the press conference and took some measures on them.
Mr Baah said these were a report that participants at a rice production seminar had visited the Aveyime Project site of the Quality Grain Company and others, that American resource officials of the Continental Commodity Trading Company Limited visited the site and were unhappy about allowing the plant and equipment at the sight to go to waste.
"Only yesterday, GBC Unique FM interviewed the Minister of Food and Agriculture, Major Courage Quashigah (rtd) in which he admitted for the first time that the NPP Government had been using the Quality Grain Company equipment and facilities to mill rice for private companies and that it would have been criminal to allow all that sophisticated equipment to go to waste."
Mr Baah criticised the government for "trying its political opponents for a project they claimed had collapsed while they used the facilities of the same project to their political advantage". He said so far as work on the project had been halted, it could not be said that it had resulted in financial loss to the state, since the project was not even being allowed to operate for the cost to be recovered.
Mr Baah said allowing the plant and heavy equipment procured for work on the project to go to waste could equally be described as causing financial loss to the state. He said until the company was allowed to operate to recover the cost of establishing it, it could never be said that it had resulted in a loss of any sort to the state.
Kwame Preprah, former Minister of Finance along with four top government officials are being tried for their alleged roles in the Quality Grain Company Project that the government said led to the loss of more than 20 million dollars to the state.
The rest are Ibrahim Adam, former Minister for Food and Agriculture, Samuel Dapaah, former Chief Director of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture, George Yankey, former Director of the Legal Sector, Private and Financial Institutions Divisions of the Ministry of Finance and Nana Ato Dadzie, former Chief of Staff at the Presidency.
They have all pleaded not guilty to charges of conspiracy and causing financial loss to the state and have been granted self-cognisance bail. About two weeks ago Major Quashigah, Dr Paa Kwesi Nduom, Minister of Economic Planning and Regional Integration and Dr Kofi Konadu Apraku, Minister of Trade and Industry, launched what was labelled the "World Class Rice" produced locally in Ghana - "Afife Number One Rice".
Last Week, Major Quashigah and Mr Kwamena Bartels, Minister for Private Sector Development, launched three more different kinds of high quality locally produced world class rice, namely the "Omo Tuo", "Golden Star" and "Silver Star".
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Mixed reaction towards cancellation of BECE
Koforidua (Eastern Region) 21 May 2002- Stakeholders in education in the New Juaben Municipality have expressed mixed reaction towards the cancellation of the Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) held in April.
While some expressed shock and disappointment others felt relieved about the decision to cancel the examinations due to the reported leakage of the questions to some candidates to the disadvantage of others.
The Eastern Regional Director of Education, the Reverend Ama Afo Blay, in an interview with the GNA in Koforidua on Monday, said even though the Ghana Education Service (GES) welcomed the "painful but very necessary decision", it was worried about the substantial financial and other variable costs imposed on the nation and stakeholders as well.
The cancellation, according to her, affected 38,650 candidates in the Eastern Region, who sat the examination at 120 centres in the 15 districts. The Kwahu South had the highest number of 4,780 candidates with 16 centres while the Afram Plains had the lowest of 497 candidates and four centres.
Rev Afo Blay said while waiting for further directives from the National Headquarters, she would be convening an emergency meeting with the District Directors of the GES to map out plans to involve the District Education Oversight Committees, parents and teachers in finding a solution to the problem for the re-sitters.
She said no examination centre or school in the region had so far been cited for the leakage yet since investigations were still on going. The Director put the blame on some Ghanaians, who looked for instant satisfaction of their needs without labouring for it, saying while some parents neglected their responsibilities in the upbringing of their children, they were prepared to purchase question papers for them to pass their examinations.
On the psychological effect on the affected candidates, Rev. Afo Blay called on parents and society to teach children the virtues of "suffering to gain and that there were no short-cuts to success." She blamed the situation to the neglect of certain "cultural rites of passage" through which children were made to undergo towards adulthood to prepare them to face the consequences of life through hard work and honesty.
Rev. Afo Blay, who later met with teachers at the Okorase Methodist Junior Senior School (JSS), near Koforidua, called on them to be prepared to seize the opportunity to revise the lessons with their candidates to improve on their standard of readiness for the re-sitting.
The Headteacher of the school, Miss Agatha Adjei, said efforts were being made to convey the information to parents and wards in the neighbourhood for classes to begin by the end of the week. She, however, appealed for the school to be made one of the examination centres in the Akwapim North district instead of having the candidates to travel to Tinkon, over 10 kilometres away, to write the examination in a dilapidated classrooms at the peak of the rainy season in July.
According to her, it costs a candidate 1,600 cedis a day to make the journey for the examination while there was a well-furnished classroom at Okorase. A Parent, Mrs Patricia Osei-Apaw said she felt relieved about the cancellation "because my daughter told me of how some candidates from certain schools felt over-confident of clocking ones after each paper.
"Some of us spent a fortune to pay for the education of our wards so when I heard of the cancellation, I welcomed it but my ward was very disturbed as she would have to go through another round of toil again," she said. A candidate, Miss Vida Akoto, said she felt highly disappointed about the cancellation "because I find it difficult to accept that I shall have to study again for another set of examination soon after a previous one."
Some of the parents urged the authorities to ensure that similar leakages never happen again since it would affect the credibility of the country's certificates outside its borders.
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Main Crop Season of Cocoa ends on 23 May
Accra (Greater Accra) 21 May 2002- The Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) on Monday announced that cocoa purchases of the 2001 and 2002 main crop season would cease at the close of business on Thursday 23 May.
A statement signed by Mr Kwame Sarpong, Chief Executive of COCOBOD said returns on the declared purchases would be accepted up to 1600 hours on Thursday 30 May. This is to assist the Licensed Buying Companies (LBCs) to obtain the final returns from their up-country stations, it said.
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No vehicle to convey Beckley to court -
Prosecution
Accra (Greater Accra) 21 May 2002- The trial of Dr Ram Beckley on Monday took a new turn when the prosecution told the Adjabeng Community Tribunal that the Police had no vehicle to convey the accused to court and asked for adjournment.
However, immediately after the tribunal chaired by Mrs Elizabeth Ankomah obliged and adjourned the case to June 3, the accused was brought to court in a taxicab with one police patrol car escorting him. Accused was, however, sent back to custody.
Superintendent of Police, Mr Patrick Sarpong had told the tribunal: "At the moment there is no vehicle to convey the accused to court". "I have been instructed to take over the case and, therefore, I will need some time to study the docket very well. "I will, therefore, crave the indulgence of the tribunal to adjourn the matter to 3 June" Mr Sarpong said.
Dr Beckley, a private medical practitioner and an occultist, is charged with assaulting and kidnapping a class three pupil. He has pleaded not guilty. Beckley was first arraigned on 15 April and has since been on remand. The Prosecution had earlier told the tribunal that on April 12, Beckley, who was driving along the Gbawe-Mallam Road in Accra, saw a young girl selling vegetables.
The accused pulled up his car near the girl and asked her to join him in the car to his house so that he could purchase some of the vegetables. At Beckley's house, he tied the girl to a tree overnight without water and food, until his stepfather was informed and he raised the alarm.
Dr Beckley was arrested on Saturday April 13 after Police received a complaint from a parent that her daughter was allegedly abducted by the accused on Friday evening. An angry mob set ablaze his residence and property running into millions of cedis at New Gbawe in Accra.
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Armed robbers entitled to equal health care
- Short
Accra (Greater Accra) 21 May 2002- Medical professionals were on Monday reminded that they had a responsibility to provide equal care to all patients in need regardless of race, colour, nationality, or political belief or for "any improper reason."
Mr Emile Short, Commissioner of the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice, (CHRAJ), said "suspects, even armed robbers and prisoners are entitled to equal health care." He was speaking at a day's seminar on the theme: "Human Rights, Ethics And The Legal Responsibility In The Medical And Dental Profession" in Accra.
It was organised by the Medical and Dental Council and CHRAJ and attended by over 50 health professionals. Mr Short explained that the right to health care, as found in 25 Article of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and in Ghana's Constitution, rested on the notion of survival, which was the most fundamental of all human rights.
He, however, noted that poverty, callousness, inconsideration, rudeness and acts of administrative injustice perpetrated on patients by some hospital personnel had often violated the patients' rights to health care. The Commissioner cautioned health professionals never to "participate, directly or indirectly, in physical or psychological torture."
Citing cases, in which Police suspects were found to have been chained to their hospital beds while on admission, he said, "health professionals must not turn a blind eye to any form of human rights violation by the security forces, such as torturing people to admit being responsible for unsolved crimes..."
Mr Short explained that even though confidentiality required that a doctor must not disclose the medical history of a patient, public interest would, however, require disclosure, where for instance, someone continued to drive despite fits and blackouts "or when someone with HIV/AIDS continues to have unprotected sex and the partner does not know about the infection".
He said no child should also be deprived of any medical treatment by reason of religious belief of parents or guardians, adding that doctors were to be mindful of the constitutional rights of the child, which superseded the parent's religious belief. The Commissioner mentioned hygiene and a safe environment, sufficient knowledge and thoroughness in all aspects of work as being some of the obligations of health professionals in the discharge of their duties.
Nana (Dr) S.K.B. Asante, an international legal consultant and a Member of the Medical and Dental Council, noted that the business of delivering health services was so compelling and engrossing that there was the temptation of glossing over pertinent but troublesome ethical and legal issues.
"Yet medical and dental treatment cannot be meaningfully divorced from ethics, human rights and legal responsibilities, even in our circumstances which are characterised by severe constraints on the resources and facilities available in our health sector."
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Informant jailed for deceiving CEPS
Commissioner
Accra (Greater Accra) 21 May 2002- An Accra Circuit Tribunal on Monday sentenced Kwadwo Boateng, a 30-year-old farmer of Jamasi in the Ashanti Region, to 12 months' imprisonment for volunteering false information to the Commissioner of Customs, Excise and Preventive Service (CEPS).
Boateng pleaded guilty to deceiving a public officer. Police Inspector Alice Yeboah told the tribunal chaired by Mr Kwadwo Owusu that on 8 May, Boateng went to the office of the complainant and booked an appointment that he had information to offer.
She said when Boateng met the CEPS Commissioner and told him that there were five articulated trucks loaded with smuggled goods that were hidden at Nkwanta on the Ashanti-Mampong - Ejura road.
The Prosecutor said that the convict demanded and collected unspecified sums of money from the Commissioner, with the view to facilitating the detection and arrest of the said smugglers. Inspector Yeboah said when Boateng returned from the Ashanti Region the Commissioner detailed two officials from the CEPS to accompany Boateng to the said hideout.
However, when they reached the place, Boateng was unable to point out the exact trucks to them for the officers to effect arrest. She said that the convict managed to move the officers from town to town for three days without any arrest. The CEPS officers became offended that they decided to return to Accra with Boateng. The prosecutor said when they reached Accra and they narrated their ordeal to the Commissioner he handed the convict over to the Police.
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Ashanti GNAPS directs members not to charge
new tuition fees
Kumasi (Ashanti Region) 21 May 2002- The Ashanti region branch of the Ghana National Association of Private Schools (GNAPS) has directed its members not to charge new tuition fees in respect of the admission and preparation of their students for the rescheduled Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE).
The directive was contained in a press statement issued and signed by Nana Paul Kwame Boateng, the Regional Chairman in Kumasi on Monday. The association expressed disgust at the mass cancellation of the BECE and asked that proper security measures be put in place to forestall future leakages of examination papers.
It also drew attention to the need to ensure that the West African Examination Council (WAEC) got its own independent press house for the printing of examination questions.
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