GRi Newsreel 09 05 - 2003
Don't open private colleges without approval
Government will raise standard of education
Ho Poly students call for end to strike
World Red Cross Day marked
Student commits suicide
Vice President pays tribute to Walter Sisulu
Andanis and Abudus quarrel after court sitting
VRA Management defends Chief Executive Officer
Three Lawyers sanctioned by General Legal Council
GLB workers embark on sit-down strike
Conference on Africa's ICT programme opens
National Health Insurance should cover farmers
He never recovered to lead normal life Widow
Help us develop our Free Zones - Aliu
ECG to enhance efficiency
Revenue increases at Fishing Harbour
Don't open private colleges without approval
Accra Greater Accra) 09 May 2003 - The Ghana Education Service (GES) on Thursday warned against the opening of teacher training colleges without approval saying students in such colleges would not be allowed to register for any examination conducted by the University of Cape Coast on behalf of the Ministry of Education and GES.
A statement issued in
It said the Ministry, in consultation with the GES Council,
had produced a document, which spells out how to register such schools. Titled:
"Private Teacher Training Colleges Regulations 2000", it states that
no person shall establish a private
It states that the Minister of Education shall grant
approval for the establishment of a private
The document states that the process of accreditation includes application to the National Accreditation Board (NAB) with copies to the GES Council and the Director-General of the GES, inspection for verification of physical facilities and resources and examination programmes offered by the institution.
The others are report and recommendation to the Minister of Education and approval and authority to advertise for admission of students and commencement of instruction. "The Ministry of Education and the Ghana Education Service wish to remind the general public that private teacher training colleges which have not gone through the process outlined above are not recognised," the statement said.
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Government will raise standard of education
Osei said the Government was, therefore, channelling a lot
of resources to the basic education level to expand access, improve quality of
teaching and learning and also provide infrastructure to secure a sound
foundation for education, a statement from the Ghana High Commission in
He said it was within this context that the Government had initiated steps to ensure that every district would have at least one well-resourced school facility comparable to that of the well-endowed schools.
The High Commissioner made these comments during discussions
with the Mayor of Lambeth, Ms June Fewtrell and
officials of the Local Education Authority to celebrate the mutually beneficial
links between schools in
Osei emphasised that Government would not deviate from its stance and would ensure its vision for the prosperity of the nation through all-embracing sound education for all. He described education as "a ticket out of poverty" and stressed that investment in education was worth pursuing by all Ghanaians.
Osei said he was optimistic that the school links project,
which had been forged by schools in Lambeth and
The Government would continue to encourage such far-reaching
projects, which would contribute towards raising the standard of education in
Ms Fewtrell praised
Meanwhile, the Lambeth Local Education (LEA) is in the
process of donating second hand school furniture, equipment, teaching aids,
books, other resources and computers for schools in the Sekondi-Takoradi
Metropolis and at the
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Ho Poly students call for end to strike
Ho (Volta Region)
Addressing a press conference at Ho on Thursday, Isaac Gatsey, President of the Chapter, appealed to the government to speed up action on the grievances of polytechnic teachers.
"In as much as we understand their feelings and grievances we wish to appeal to POTAG to exercise a little more restraint, suspend the strike action and go back to the lecture halls while negotiations continue," he said.
Gatsey said the entire membership of TESCON of Ho Polytechnic believed that time must be given to the new Minister of State Responsible for Tertiary Education to settle down to enable her to address their grievances. He said the government was committed to the plight of all Ghanaians and was making proactive efforts to address their problems.
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World Red Cross Day marked
"The major challenge facing
Akwaah said this at a press
conference to mark World Red Cross Day in
Akwaah criticised the indiscriminate use of the GRCS emblem and said it was only the Military, specifically the Military Medical Corp that had the authority to use it for any form of identification or activity.
"The emblem is a protected one and offenders shall be liable to a fine or imprisonment," he said. Mrs Theresa Nobiya, Acting Secretary-General of the Society, commended Parliament for bringing issues of the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) to the floor of the House for discussions and called on the Ministry of Health to train volunteers in the management of the disease should it be found in the country.
The day marks the birthday of Jean Henri Dunant, founder of the Red Cross. It is used to take stock of the achievements of the society and to extend an invitation to the world to join in the on-going humanitarian activity.
The Society, which was established in 1919, started as the
League of Maternal and Child Welfare in 1929 in
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Student commits suicide
Wa (Upper
West)
Briefing the Ghana News Agency on Thursday, Inspector Daniel Dorkpoh, Upper West Regional Police Public Relations Officer, said the body of the deceased, Anthony Enyobangma, a first year student who was on holidays in the village, was on April 25 found with a rope around his neck on an ebony tree in a nearby bush.
He said Cosmos Languom, Assembly member for the Tampoe electoral area reported the incident to the Jirapa Police who visited the scene and removed the body. Inspector Dorkpoh said the police did not suspect any foul play.
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Vice President pays tribute to Walter Sisulu
Speaking at the Residence of Dr Mohane
M. Phologane, South African High Commissioner, at
He expressed the hope that he would find a peaceful and
eternal rest. Dr Phologane said
He said he believed Sisulu would
have a deserved rest, having lived a worthwhile life.
Hackman Owusu-Agyeman,
Minister of the Interior and acting Minister of Foreign Affairs, also signed
the book. Sisulu died Monday night at his
He was engaged in the struggle for multi-racial democracy and was imprisoned for more than 25 years by the White Minority Government. A State funeral has been declared for him, while world leaders, including President John Agyekum Kufuor; UN Secretary-General Kofi-Annan have paid tribute to him.
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Andanis and Abudus quarrel after court sitting
Two women from the two families engaged in a serious squabble in the courtroom soon after the day's sitting. Two men joined in and held each other while their supporters kept on shouting in Dagbani.
A court clerk, who could speak the language, intervened and managed to separate them. When Journalists enquired from him, he said he did not know the cause of the misunderstanding.
Yidana Sugri and Iddrisu Gyanfo, both farmers, who are charged with conspiracy to commit murder and murder, pleaded not guilty and the court presided over by Justice Yaw Appau has refused them bail.
At the sitting Anthony Gyambiby, Principal State Attorney led the Fourth Prosecution Witness, Nantoma Alhassan Andani, National Service Personnel, to give evidence. He said he heard from town that one Ayoma went on air to appeal to the government to impose a curfew on the celebration of the Fire Festival.
Witness said after the news, Ya-Na Yakubu received a letter from the Yendi District Chief Executive (DCE) inviting him to a meeting at the Yendi Police Station. He said the Ya-Na found the meeting to be unusual and, therefore, asked a subordinate to attend.
The Subordinate returned to confirm that a curfew was going
to be imposed in Yendi. Andani
said the Ya-Na then called the Regional Minister's
office but was informed that the Minister had travelled to
The Regional Minister asked the Ya-Na to assure him that the youth in the Dagbon were going to celebrate the Fire Festival peacefully. Witness said the Regional Minister also held a similar meeting with the Abudu's, adding that he heard the people hooting at the Minister. The Minister left after the meeting.
Andani said the following day
there was an information van, which announced that there was going to be a
curfew. While the Witness' was with the Ya-Na, an
Elder at the
The Ya-Na
asked that the matter should be reported to the Police while the victim was
sent to the hospital. Witness said from the
Andani said at their hideout at the Yendi Prison quarters, he saw Gyanfo with one Mahama Acheampong, who was holding "something like a tail". He said Acheampong, who was also dancing was making comments, but he did not hear what he was saying.
Later, Witness said, Amadu, also a Prosecution Witness who was with him, shouted: "That was the king's hand that Yidana was holding," but I did not look at it. Andani stated that from his hideout, he saw two persons pull the body of Ya-Na outside the palace and that people around went to watch.
He added that another person was holding a tyre and a gallon, saying he later saw smoke from the area. Answering question in a cross-examination by Nana Obiri Boahene, counsel for the accused, Witness said he refused to seek refuge at the Police station because he had lost confidence in the Police and Military, adding that the security failed to protect them at the Palace when the late Chief sent for them.
When Counsel suggested to him that the DCE failed to go to
When Counsel suggested to Witness
that he sent a letter to one Dr Alhassan indicating
that they were going to capture the Boli-Na dead or
alive to the
Sitting continues on 14 May.
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VRA Management defends Chief Executive Officer
Accra
"His (CEO's) initiatives have enabled the Authority to continue to produce power when VRA's financial resources are severely strained," the Management said in a statement to the press on Thursday.
"The revisions that he brought to the technical departments, the introduction of the Decentralisation and Devolution (D and D) and the linking of bonus payment to performance are very positive actions to successfully manage the Authority," it said.
The Management's reaction is in response to a resolution adopted at a meeting of Executives of the staff groups at Akosombo on 2 May, which said staff had lost faith in the leadership of Dr Wereko-Brobby and the Board.
The Management said it had studied the content of the resolution and noted that the CEO was a high profile political figure and it could not be ruled out that his political opponents might have pursued him to the Authority.
"Dr Wereko-Brobby's political background should be separated from his performance as a Chief Executive," it said. Answering 12 separate points raised in the resolution, the Management explained their position and cleared the CEO.
The statement said Dr Wereko-Brobby assumed office at a time when VRA faced "major and unprecedented challenges" in her finances, a shift from hydro to increased thermal power in the generation mix and the need for expensive crude oil purchases, power system reliability and a change in the political climate.
"The need for changes in the corporate structure and function was both obvious and urgent if the Authority was to forge ahead and remain viable." Changes initiated by Dr Wereko-Brobby were both timely and in the right direction. They have been thoroughly discussed with Management before implementation and have, therefore, been a collective Management action."
The statement said industrial disharmony was not unknown in VRA's history. It said media attacks on the CEO had been based largely on falsehood and inaccuracies and the Authority was currently taking appropriate legal and other actions.
On salary increase, the Management said neither the CEO nor the Senior Management had received any increase. "This assertion is a blatant lie and may be established from the books."
The statement said the decision to replace vehicles was made before the CEO took office. The process of implementation was by open tender, vehicles were purchased to satisfy operational requirements before the purchase of vehicles for the CEO and other members of Management.
It said the Strategic Reserve Project had been implemented to address issues relating to "lake recovery", system stability and increasing supplies to Togo-Benin. The statement said that the price negotiated to supply Togo-Benin was more than enough to implement the project and the negotiations were handled by the Technical Departments.
It said the allegation on demotion and transfers without justifiable cause was false as there had been neither unilateral nor collective Management decision to demote anybody.
On working hours, the statement said the change in the working hours from 35 hours to 40 hours a week was necessary to improve productivity and conform to the working hours in other government institutions and followed processes of consultation.
The statement said under the leadership of Dr Wereko-Brobby, the Management had "eradicated abuse and restored discipline" in the administration of the Staff Provident Fund. "Arrangements have been made to provide technical assistance to enable staff to access their Provident Fund contributions for their building projects."
On fees in VRA schools, the Management said under the previous arrangement, VRA Schools catered for only a fraction of the Authority's staff population. Fees were highly subsidised while staff in other locations struggled with school fees for their children.
It said the new policy responded to government's regulatory and policy requirement that non-core activities were operated on cost recovery basis and addressed the problem of assistance with payment of school fees, which was widespread among staff.
The statement said the CEO had no entrenched position on negotiations adding that there was a Management team handling the negotiations/consultations under the mandate of the VRA Board. However, the process stalled.
It said the CEO showed his commitment to moving the process
forward by inviting the leadership of the
It denied that the CEO was a dictator, tyrant and bully, saying on the contrary, he had introduced a process of Decentralisation and Devolution which allows first, second and third lines of his immediate subordinates to exercise a greater degree of decision-making at their levels.
The Management said the allegation of a spate of resignations was without foundation given the statistics. The Management said there was no basis in the allegation that the CEO had "consistently violated the provisions of the CBA".
"As part of the need to review the structure and functions of the Authority as well as some policies, it has been necessary on occasions for the Chief Executive to judiciously exercise discretionary powers vested in him.
"The exercise of his discretionary powers has always been within the letter and spirit of the CBA (Collective Bargaining Agreement) and the SSA (Senior Staff Association) Conditions of Service."
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Three Lawyers sanctioned by General Legal Council
Accra (Greater Accra) 09 - The General Legal Council has sanctioned three Lawyers for professional misconduct; suspending two from practising for a period and asking the third to refund money he collected from a client without rendering the service demanded.
The Disciplinary Committee of the Council found the Lawyers: E.A. Quaye, Ray Kakrabah Quarshie and W.H Augustt guilty of professional misconduct.
This is an affirmation of Chief Justice Edward K. Wiredu's promise to the nation that the Council was soon to announce disciplinary measures against some Legal Practitioners, while calling 12 new Lawyers to the Bar about a week ago.
Letters imposing the sanctions, signed by E.A. Owusu-Ansah, Secretary of the Council, have been sent to the affected Lawyers. The letter to Quaye said among other things that the Council enquired into a complaint of professional misconduct brought against him by one D.M. Odei-Birikorang for ill advising and causing him to sign an agreement to his detriment.
It said: "At its meeting held at the Conference Room of the Supreme Court Building on 29th April, 2003, the General Legal Council accepted the recommendation made by the Disciplinary Committee in respect of the above mentioned complaint and decided to suspend you from practising as a Lawyer in this country for a period of twelve months with effect from 29 April 2003, for professional misconduct, in accordance with provisions of the Legal Profession Act, 1960, Act 32 and the Legal Profession (Professional Conduct and Etiquette) Rules, 1969, L.I. 613.
"You are accordingly prohibited from practising as a
Lawyer in
"By copies of this letter all Judges/ Magistrates and
Registrars are informed of your suspension." At the same meeting, the
Council suspended Kakraba-Quarshie from practising
for six months with effect
The letter said: "Miss Bart-Plange's
complaint is that while acting as Solicitor for her you took from TOTAL (GH)
Limited, without her authority and knowledge, 42.75 million cedis
being the cedi equivalent to $25,000 for the estate of Stephanie Bart-Plange, mother of Miss Bart-Plange
in respect of a petrol Filling Station at Ayalolo,
One Wisdom Hozame brought the complaint against Augustt. The Council said: Hozame's complaint was that you took his brief in a motor accident case. The motor accident paralysed his son. You demanded and obtained from him deposit of ’650,000. You did not settle his claim, with the Insurance Company neither did you refund his deposit to him.
And worse still, you have refused to give his brief back to
him." The Council, therefore, ordered Augustt:
"You should refund to the complainant, Wisdom Hozame,
’650,000 you collected from him with interest at the current bank rate from
"You should pay costs of ’2m to the complainant." You should return to the complainant his brief and any other document in your possession.
"You are requested to comply with the orders of the
General Legal Council within a fortnight with effect from the date of this
letter (
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GLB workers embark on sit-down strike
The workers, some of who were wearing red bands on their arms and heads, have also hoisted red flags at the main gate of the Accra Central Library. Speaking to the GNA, Alex Huntley Sackitey, Chairman of the Local Union of the GLB, said they would continue their action until the government gave a positive response.
"As at now the two major libraries in
He said the workers had since April 2002 sent resolutions to government through the Ministry of Education (MoE) to correct their salary structure, but the have received no response.
He said follow-ups were made to the government but to no avail. Sackitey described the salary structure of the GLB as bad saying they were earning lower than librarians at the GES.
He said workers of the GLB were professionals, with their lowest qualification being a Diploma, yet their colleagues at the GES, some of who have only SSS certificates, were receiving higher pay.
Sackitey said in the early 1980s the salary of workers at the GLB was at par with those from Ghana Commercial Bank and Ghana Cocoa Board. However, when the new salary structure was implemented they were placed in the same category as civil servants. Now, they are completely out of that salary structure.
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Conference on Africa 's ICT programme
opens
The conference is being organised by the Massachusetts
Institute of Technology (MIT) Programme on Internet and Telecom Convergence of
the
It forms part of efforts by Africans in the Diaspora to bring governments, business, academia and the development community together to implement a plan to enhance technology innovation on the African continent.
Topics being discussed include: "Empowering Through Transfer" and "
Michael Best, a Research Scientist with MIT, said some
objectives of the conference included bringing people together to harness the
human resource for technological advancement. He said the conference was also
focusing on sourcing funds to undertake a pilot programme to extend information
communication technology to the rural areas of
Ms Awo Quaison-Sackey,
Chief Executive of AQSolutions, an offshore
applications development and maintenance company in the
Two groups of young Ghanaians, who participated in a competitions aimed at developing business talents for socio-economic development, were each presented with their awards of $1,000 each.
It is "seed money" to help the young people start
a business. It was provided by Ghana New Ventures Competition Incorporated, a
non-profit organisation in the
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National Health Insurance should cover farmers
Adeiso (Eastern Region)
In a four-point resolution passed at the end of a delegates' conference at Adeiso, the branch also asked for inputs for the mass cocoa spraying exercise to be supplied directly to farmers to ensure the effectiveness of the operations.
The resolution advocated the extension of the President's Special Initiative on Cassava to all cassava growing areas while the Poverty Alleviation Fund disbursement should be streamlined to enable needy farmers to obtain credit.
Nana Kweku Tawiah was elected chairman of the 16-member constituency executive with W.K. Tetteh and Emmanuel Aguzey as first and second vice-chairmen respectively.
The election, which was supervised by the Eastern Regional Secretary, Kwabena Apea, also elected Agyemang Teye as secretary, Madam Rita Agyeibea as treasurer, Anthony Adedze, organiser and Mrs. Emma Ansah, women organiser.
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He never recovered to lead normal life Widow
"He was bedridden and had difficulty in speaking when he was released after six months detention at the Sunyani Military Barracks for hoarding," she said. Madam Akosua Serwaa Sakordie denied that her husband was hoarding.
She told the Commission at the public hearing in
Madam Sakordie said they finally sent him to his hometown at Adako-Jachie in the Ejisu-Juaben District, where he died about two years ago. Recounting the incident, she said one afternoon in 1979 a group of six armed soldiers came to the house in a military vehicle in the company of their eldest son Kwadwo Adubofour.
She said Adubofuor identified the father and they pounced on him and started brutalising him. Madam Sarkodire said she attempted going to the rescue of her husband but she was pushed down. One of the soldiers stepped violently on one of her toes with his boot resulting in a cut that eventually deformed the toe.
The soldiers, she said, after that took away all the goods that were in the shop as well as those that were being kept in their house for lack of space in the shop. She stated that Opanyin Sarkodie was sent to the Sunyani Military Barracks where he was shaved and severely beaten.
The incident, she said, led to the collapse of their business and this adversely affected the education of their children as none of the eight children received any formal education.
When Nana Owusu Sekyere alias Nkontonkyi, Chief Linguist at Jamasi, near Asante Manpong, took his turn, he said soldiers used pliers to remove his right middle toe in 1982. He also lost a tooth as they slapped, kicked and punched him.
"I was made to roll on the ground and to frog jump," Nana Sekyere said. The soldiers, he said, carried away all the drugs in his shop at Asante Manpong; 10 bicycles and an unspecified amount of cash and personal effects including the jewellery of his wife.
He said he had since then never worked. When asked by one of the Commissioners how he had been surviving, he sent the crowd in the public gallery laughing when he replied: "God has been feeding me through my wife."
Nana Sekyere said the soldiers
accused him of dealing in drugs, he was not by law
permitted to sell. When Madam Emma Enin, a Trader at Bantama, to her turn she recounted the ordeal she went through
at the hands of some military personnel in
She said she was for three weeks kept at the military barracks and severely beaten adding that she now had a hearing impairment, suffered from chronic headache and waist pains.
Madam Enin said in 1979 she was
trading in rice from the Northern to the Southern part of the country. She said she used to send ladies panties and
priming cream to the North and then buy rice for sale in
She brought 25 bags of rice from the North, disposed of 20 bags and the remainder was kept in the house. Madam Enin said the soldiers accused her of hoarding and subjected her to merciless beatings.
General Emmanuel Erskine, a Commissioner, said it was sometimes difficult to understand how, "our own people could do this their mothers". The Commissioner advised her to continue to have faith in God, who had sustained her since then.
Ex Police Sergeant Anthony Kwasi Owusu appealed to the Commission to assist him to get either re-instated or for his retirement benefits to be paid to him. He said he was wrongfully dismissed from the Police Service in 1988 with 32 others.
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Help us develop our Free Zones - Aliu
Vice President Mahama, who
described
He said
The Vice President noted that Ghanaians were already doing brisk business in Saudi Arabia, which has became a household name as a commercial hub, saying that it would, therefore, be easier to establish joint partnerships for business.
The Ghana Free Zones programme introduces the concept of free ports where bureaucratic obstacles and governmental levies do not apply, thereby maximising the utilisation of port facilities by shippers.
The programme, which is private sector driven, also offers enclave and single factory enterprise schemes that are designed to promote processing and manufacturing of goods through the establishment of Export Processing Zones.
JAFZ has more than 2,000 companies with businesses in
manufacturing, industry and other areas. The JAFZ Authority manages Free Zones
in other countries, such as
The Leader of the delegation, Walid Hareb, said the delegation, which represents nine companies, with a turn over of over $1bn each, had held meeting with representatives of Ghanaian companies to explore investment opportunities.
The companies deal in electronics, railways, medical equipment,
oil refinery and other businesses. Jake Obetsebi-Lamptey,
Minister of Tourism and the Modernisation of the
He said
Charles Ampofo, a Ghanaian in the team, who coordinated the visit, said the delegation had been impressed with its reception in the country and it was encouraged to do business and share technical expertise with Ghanaians.
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ECG to enhance efficiency
The changes, which he said, had received the highest priority from the Ministry, are aimed at reducing technical losses. The Energy Minister, on his maiden visit to interact with the Management, Regional Directors and Staff, said the ECG would work under a separate Holding Company to handle the Northern and Southern Sectors.
"Decisions on these had already been taken by the government, what is left at the moment is the implementation." Dr Nduom said the problem with ECG had to do with management and not funding because government had supported the company over the years adding that the Management must live up to their responsibility to deliver.
He said government had sourced for funding amounting to between $13m to $15m to be given to the ECG adding that government was discussing how to shorten the procurement period for the money to come in quickly.
Dr Nduom said the money would be
used to purchase additional thermal plants and prepaid meters to service
specific geographical areas including
"There is nobody to provide answers to the problems of customers on timely basis and not one single area can boast of a satisfactory service by the ECG". Dr Nduom said these projects would be implemented within 12 months.
"My support would go as far as I can see you are delivering good services to the customers'' adding, "remuneration comes with efficiency, hard work and better service delivery".
Fred Asante, Managing Director of ECG, said measures the Company had taken to improve customer service included the opening of more bill paying and complaint centres. He said the Company had installed about 50,000 prepaid meters in the system and had plans to install about 100,000 by the end of the year.
During an open forum, the staff appealed to the Minister to help to curb the interference by politicians in the performance of their duties, especially those among them, who make telephone calls to plead on behalf of customers, whose services were disconnected for non-payment of bills.
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Revenue increases at Fishing
Harbour
Takoradi (Western Region)
From a modest return of ’141.6m between May and December 1999, revenue has improved over 370 percent to ’667.8m in 2002. Some of the sources of revenue include sale of ice blocks, which constitutes 80 to 90 per cent and has remained the major avenue of income at the port.
This was contained in a report by the
Adjei-Sam, who took the journalists round the fishing harbour, said other sources of revenue were port dues, vehicle tolls and pedestrian entry tolls. The report said the 31-stall facility, which was built in 2000 to facilitate the sale of fish by fishermen and fishmongers, is not intensively utilized.
The problem is due "mainly to its location, since it is far from the active fish landing areas of both the new harbour and the old landing beach", he said. Adjei-Sam said efforts are being made to educate and convince the fishermen to use the harbour adding "should this fail after a period of time, management would have to consider the option of allocating the stalls to the other sellers in the harbour market".
The report said the Harbour is providing socio economic assistance to the fishing community around Sekondi-Takoradi Metropolis and about 15,000 people earn their sources of living and sustenance from the facility.
In 1995,
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