Identify ringleaders in Tamale clashes - Minister
Absorb Police Schools into the GES - IGP
Planners asked to demarcate places for mechanics
Don't be selective in assisting needy
children - Asmah
Accra, May 15, GNA - The Minister for Women and Children's Affairs, Mrs Gladys Asmah on Thursday appealed to organisations not to be selective in assisting only orphans for the sake of publicity.
They should rather identify children, who needed support for survival, development and protection, she said this in a speech issued to mark the launch of this year's International Day of the Family, which falls on Thursday.
She said religious organisations should support such children by providing them with some of their needs, such as paying their school fees and accepting to accommodate them.
The celebration of the day is an annual event proclaimed by the UN to reflect the importance the international community attaches to the situation of families.
The theme for the celebration in Ghana is: "Community Support For Orphans And Other Children In Difficult Circumstances: The Role Of The Family."
Mrs Asmah said the theme emphasised the need to pay attention, more especially in this era where HIV/AIDS was wreaking havoc on the society and the extended family system seemed to be losing its grip.
She said based on the local theme, the legendary traditional family structure was being brought under the searchlight to see how families could unite in their efforts to offer support to a largely traumatised section of the family; especially HIV/AIDS orphans and children in difficult situations.
Mrs Asmah said all around the world, families had disintegrated with each member being for himself and what used to be the extended family was no more. She said the observance of the day should offer a chance for reflection on the importance of the family in development of all societies around the world.
"We can bring the family together once again by investing in our children and other children in our communities in difficult situations. "Why don't the private investors and manufacturers also take up the challenge of offering free meals a day to children in schools or free shoes and uniforms."
The Minister appealed to all to think seriously about issues such as single motherhood, irresponsible parenthood, child labour, teenage pregnancy, the growing up of orphans with family relations to look up to, HIV orphans and other children in difficult circumstances.
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Accra (Greater Accra) 16 May 2003 - Ghana will be joining other countries to celebrate World Telecommunications Day on Saturday the 17th of this month. The celebration will also mark the founding of the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), which provides assistance to countries to harmonize their national policies, bridge technological differences, and foster interconnectivity of networks across the world.
The theme for the celebration is: ‘‘helping the world’s people to communicate''. But telephone customers in Ghana are unhappy with the poor services provided by operators in the industry six years after the telecoms sector was liberalized.
Telephone users may be celebrating the technological advancement in telecommunications, which comes with great benefits. But in Ghana, telephone users consider themselves worst off in the provision of telecommunication service. It’s over six years now since the telecoms sector was liberalized and far from getting anywhere near the objective set for the industry.
Customers are beginning to despair in the face of inadequate or poor service delivery by operators in the industry. Most telephone users in the country are growing impatient by the day with their service providers over their inability to connect calls from one network to the other.
The problem especially exists between the national operator, Ghana Telecom and the other mobile phone companies. Connecting calls from a Ghana Telecom landline to a mobile phone network such as Spacefon has become a nightmare for most customers.
Some say the blame should be laid at the doorstep of the national telecommunications regulator, the National Communications Authority (NCA), which has continued to remain dormant and insignificant while telecoms providers continue to dish out poor service to their customers, who have no alternatives.
Most customers JOY FM’s news team spoke to wondered about the role of the NCA. However, a source close to the NCA told Joy FM that they are very much aware of the problems that exist between the companies.
According to the source the NCA had preferred that the operators would resolve their technical problems, which include the rates of exchange without the involvement of the regulator. The operators have been given a 15 June deadline to reach a bilateral and multilateral agreement over these issues.
However, if they fail to reach an agreement, the regulator will have to develop a pricing structure for them. It is hoped that with the resignation of the Communications Minister from the chairmanship of the NCA board, which has been hailed as a positive move for the body, a more purposeful action will be taken by the NCA to effectively regulate the sector. – MyJoyOnLine
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Accra (Greater Accra) 16 May 2003 - Gadio Sheikh Titianna, Foreign Minister of Senegal arrived in Accra on Thursday to deliver a special message from the Senegalese President Abdoulaye Wade to President John Agyekum Kufuor.
The message is believed to centre on bilateral issues and the Sub-Region. Briefing newsmen on arrival, Titianna who is leading a four-man delegation to the country said the mission was in furtherance of the cordial relations between the two countries and their Presidents.
He said Senegal hoped to confer with neighbouring countries to compare notes towards preparation for the forthcoming Maputo Summit of the African Union (AU) in July.
Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, Minister of Foreign Affairs and officials of the Foreign Ministry met Titianna on arrival.
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Kumasi (Ashanti Region) 16 May 2003 - witness on Thursday told the National Reconciliation Commission (NRC) in Kumasi that her younger brother became mad after severe torture by a group of soldiers in 1982.
Madam Akosua Adabi said the soldiers used hammer to hit Kwaku Nantwi several times on the head at a military barrier mounted at Mangoase on the Accra-Aflao road.
She said days after the torture, Nantwi started behaving abnormally and medical tests at a hospital at Pankrono in Kumasi showed blood clot in the brain.
Witness said her brother then aged about 22, who was engaged in leather bag making, was on board a bus from Accra to Aflao when soldiers stopped the bus at the Mangoase barrier.
Of all the passengers on board the bus, only Nantwi was asked to come down by the soldiers. Madam Adabi said during a search in his travelling bag, the soldiers saw a Bible and a hammer and remarked: "Kalabule Pastor".
She said the soldiers then swarmed all over him, slapping, punching and kicking him. They also used the hammer to hit his head. Witness said a Good Samaritan later brought Nantwi back to Kumasi in a bad physical condition. She said she spent all her fortune and sold her properties to get medical treatment for the brother but without success.
Amidst intermittent sobbing, she told the commission that his brother passed away four years after the incident. Madam Yaa Adomah, a trader, narrated how her goods were seized at the Kintampo market and publicly flogged by soldiers after the 1981 coup d'tat.
She said they removed her 'Kaba Short', laid her on a table and used the hook of the belt to lash her on the back as blood oozed. "For five months, I could not sleep on my back", she said and showed to the Commissioners scars left on her back as result of the lashing.
Madam Adomah said the seizure of her goods and the flogging had made her become hypertensive, adding, "the sight of soldiers and policemen scares me".
She told the Commission that as some of the goods she was trading in, including textiles, materials for school uniform and calico were bought on credit, she sold off her properties to pay her creditors.
She therefore, appealed to the NRC to help her get on with her life. Stephen Agyeman-Berko, former Texaco Filling Station Manager at James Town, Accra, said his business and marriage collapsed as a result of the "Rawlings coup".
He said just after the 4 June 1979 uprising, soldiers invaded his filling station with a number of military trucks and unregistered private cars and ordered him to fuel them.
He said he was so frightened on seeing the soldiers that he immediately switched on the operating machine and started filling the tanks of the vehicles.
Agyeman-Berko said he lost a total of "350 gallons of super and 150 gallons of regular" as the soldiers did not make any payment. "Just after this batch of soldiers had hit the road, another batch came and ordered that we fuel their trucks".
He said at that point he explained to them that the tank was empty but they would not take that and insisted that, "I should find every means to get fuel for their vehicles".
Witness said the soldiers asked him to open the tank, which he did and they asked that they should be taken to see the manager. At that time he was only about 22 years and when he told them he was the manager, one of them queried "how can a tiny thing like you own a filling station".
He said he was then given a hefty slap by a woman soldier who was with the group and when he turned to ask why he was slapped, the others joined and subjected him to severe beatings.
Witness said he later reported to the management of Texaco and continued with the business until 1982. He said he had attended a funeral at his hometown, Ejisu, when he heard an announcement on the withdrawal of the 50 cedis notes from circulation.
"The announcement however, said filling stations, drug stores and other institutions were to accept those notes and in my absence the attendants had accepted large volumes of the notes".
He said it totalled 120,000 cedis and he later paid the money at the Barclays Bank and took a pay slip to collect his fuel consignment as was the practice at Texaco.
Agyeman-Berko said it was there that the oil company told him that the government had directed that the money should be used to buy bonds. "I therefore lost my business capital and ended up driving trotro and taxis in Accra.
At the time I deposited the money kerosene sold at ¢1 a gallon and when the bonds were redeemed, it sold at ¢6. He said his wife, who was a former Greater Accra Region Beauty Queen, deserted him and he could not even look after the child he had with her.
Opanin Kofi Jantuah, a Youth Organiser of the defunct National Liberation Movement (NLM), also appeared before the Commission to tell his harrowing experience at the Ussher Fort Prison where he was in detention from 1961-1966.
He said he was shaven with broken bottle, fed on gari mixed with sand and that for three months he was kept in a cell where powerful bulbs had been fixed.
Opanin Jantuah mentioned the late Dr. J.B. Danquah, Joe Appiah, Victor Owusu and Baffour Osei Akoto among some political prisoners he met in detention.
He said a Syrian he was working with and who was taking care of his wife and mother, was deported by the Nkrumah government.
Witness advised the country's youth to always stand by the truth, saying, "the truth will always be victorious". General Emmanuel Erskine (rtd), one of the commissioners, said Ghanaians have to learn as a people to be tolerant of the political views and beliefs of others.
He said it was disgraceful that such callous and inhuman acts were going on even in the 1960's Madam Ama Asantewaah, a Kumasi trader, recounted to the Commission how goods supplied to her by the CFAO were illegally seized in 1984.
She said she was also put before a public tribunal and said she was unjustly sentenced to one month imprisonment and a fine of ¢30,000, which she paid. The NRC ends its public hearing in Kumasi on Friday.
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Accra (Greater Accra) 16 May 2003 - Prof Kasim Kasanga, Minister of Science and Environment, on Thursday said the protection and management of the environment should not be left to chance but should be managed properly by all for the benefit of posterity.
"We can successfully achieve this if only we changed our attitude towards sound environmental practices," he said at the launch of this year's national tree-planting week at Gbawe, near Accra.
"We want our communities to plant tress by the streets and road-sides for windbreaks and shade. We also want all schools in the country to embark on massive greening of their campuses," the Minister said.
The celebration under the theme: "Trees For Life, Plant More" was initiated last year by President John Agyekum Kufuor as part of the World Environment Day, which would be celebrated on 5 June.
Ghana's celebration would be held at the Akosombo Lorry Park in the Eastern Region. Under this year's tree planting programme, schools and communities in Accra alone would plant about 3,000 trees.
Prof. Kasanga said President Kufuor initiated the tree planting exercise last year to put over 20,000 hectares of Ghana's devastated land under forest cover.
He said in line with the initiative, a pilot tree-planting programme in selected junior and senior secondary schools throughout the country was embarked upon and that field verification visits and monitoring results coming from the regions showed that the programme had been successful.
He said for instance the 210 schools that participated in the programme planted about 73,500 seedlings to cover an estimated area of 150 hectares.
Of this 55,000 constituting about 75 per cent survived and were doing well. "This year we should target an increase of survival rate from 75 per cent to 90 per cent," the Minister said.
He commended all those, who participated in the exercise and said awards would be given to the two best schools and communities, which excelled in the programme.
Prof. Kasanga said other incentives and strong monitoring system to promote and ensure greater participation by schools and communities for higher survival rate of planted seedling would be pursued.
Ms Theresa Amarley Tagoe, Deputy Minster of Lands and Forestry, expressed regret that only 20 per cent of the original forest-cover in Ghana now remained because of mankind's negative practices.
She said undertaking massive tree planting could amend that trend. Ms Tagoe, therefore, called on all to join the exercise, and gave the assurance that the Forest Services Division of the Forestry Commission would give technical assistance to everybody interested in planting trees.
She said a forest plantation development fund that was managed by a Fund Board had been set up to enable government to implement the national forest plantation programme that would help expand the forests.
Ms Tagoe said the fund was not limited to only the private sector and commercial plantation developers but to all including schools, communities, individuals, churches, organisations and public institutions.
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Mampong (Ashanti Region) 16 May 2003 - Miss Edna Kumah, Executive Director of the African Women Lawyers Association (AWLA) has said that merely raising children with a man and residing with him was not enough to qualify a woman as a legitimate wife.
Addressing a day's workshop under the theme, "Mass gender advocacy" at Asante-Mampong, Miss Kumah admonished women who fell within this category to ensure that their marriages were legally contracted to enable them to become heirs of their husbands.
The workshop sought to share information and lobby for gender equality through legislative reforms, public education and advocacy. It was organised by AWLA and sponsored by the Danish International Development Agency (DANIDA) for a cross section of women in the Sekyere West District.
The participants were taken through topics like interstate succession, child maintenance and domestic violence. Miss Kumah implored women to shed their low self-esteem to enable them to compete favourably with their male counterparts in all spheres of life and encouraged them to be abreast with their fundamental human rights, defend and protect them at all times.
Mrs. Lisa Quarshie, a member of AWLA, advised women to report all cases of domestic violence against them to the police to serve as deterrent to their male counterparts and urged parents to ensure that all cases of rape and defilement were not settled out of court.
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Elmina (Central Region) 16 May 2003 - The Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, Kwadwo Adjei-Darko, on Thursday expressed concern about the sanitary conditions in some towns particularly around tourism sites, which does not augur well for the promotion of the industry.
He cautioned people to stop throwing rubbish and defecating along the beaches to promote tourism for the benefit of the country. Adjei-Darko was addressing Assembly Members and Heads of Departments at a meeting to receive a five-member team from Gouda in the Netherlands at the Komenda-Edina-Eguafo-Abrem (KEEA) District Assembly Hall at Elmina.
The Gouda team led by the Mayor of the city, Willie Cornelis, on a five-day visit to the district would visit tourism sites and rural communities to have an insight into the administration of KEEA.
The Minister noted that the relations between the district and Gouda would attract direct investment from the Netherlands to the area and mentioned salt mining and tourism as potential sectors.
He said Ghana would host a twin city conference in July this year to promote partnership among cities mostly in America and Ghana. Isaac Edumadze, Central Regional Minister, stressed the importance of building the relations on honesty, sincerity and truth.
He expressed the hope that the relations between the District and the Dutch city would enable Ghana to find solutions to some of the problems confronting the country and share experiences for the mutual benefit of the two areas.
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Kumasi (Ashanti Region) 16 May 2003 - An appeal has been made to the royal families of the Anlo stool and citizens of the area to be patient and exercise restraint in their utterances to enable those tasked with the screening and nominating a successor to the late Torbuigah Adeladzah II, Paramount Chief of the Anlo Traditional area become a success.
Torgbui Nyamasodzi IV, the Nugorgbea of Kodzi Dufia of Anlo, who made the appeal said, the royal families in particular should let their patience take the form of genuine co-operation with Dumega Egle, stool father of Torgbuiga Sri of Anlo and the current regent of the Anlo, Francis Nyonyo Agboada.
Torgbui Nyamasodzi was speaking at a meeting of the Adzovia clan of Anlo resident in the Ashanti Region in Kumasi. He said co-operation with the regent, stool father and the traditionalcouncil were vital since "they were charged with the unique responsibility of searching for a rightful heir to the Anlo stool".
Torgbui Nyamasodzi also entreated the kingmakers to ensure that they do their homework properly by critically scrutinising the backgrounds of candidates to enable them to collectively elect an acceptable candidate for the stool.
He said it is only when this is done that the much craved for peace, unity and development could be witnessed in the Anlo traditional area. "Development has eluded our area for far too long and we should not allow chieftaincy disputes to further aggravate our plight", Torgbui Nyamasodzi stressed.
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Accra (Greater Accra) 16 May 2003 - Commonwealth Health Ministers would meet in Geneva on 18 May 2003 to consider a companion document to the Commonwealth Code of Practice for the International Recruitment of Health Workers.
The meeting which was agreed at the last year's Commonwealth Ministers meeting would be attended by representatives of partner UN organisations and Non-governmental organisation working in health.
A statement faxed from the Commonwealth Secretariat in London to the Ghana News Agency on Wednesday said the meeting would be ahead of the World Health Assembly (WHA) and would consider high on the agenda, HIV/AIDS, which was declared a global emergency at the 1999 meeting in Durban South Africa.
It said the pandemic remained a critical factor in the majority of Commonwealth member states affecting the achievement of sustainable development.
Other issues to be discussed include, adolescent health, domestic violence and action in line with the Framework Convention On Tobacco Control, which would be ratified at the WHA.
The statement said the tobacco control discussion would deal with diverse issues such as tobacco advertising and promotion, agricultural diversification, smuggling, taxes and subsidies.
Winston Cox, Commonwealth Deputy Secretary General, would open the meeting, which would be later addressed by Dr. Gro Harlem Brundtland, Director General of World Health Organisation (WHO).
For the first time a roundtable discussion to facilitate interaction among Ministers and Partner organisations would be introduced in addition to the plenary sessions.
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Ho (Volta Region) 16 May 2003 - Workers of the Ghana Highways Authority (GHA) in Ho on Thursday demonstrated for better service conditions.
In a resolution adopted by the Local Senior Staff Association and the Commercial and Building Materials Workers Union (CBMWU) of the Trades Union Congress (TUC), the workers called for the reconvening of the Authority's Joint Standing Negotiation Committee to discuss a review of existing conditions of service, restructuring and upward adjustment of salaries and re-introduction of End of Service Benefits (ESB).
The resolution said the implementation of the Ghana Universal Salary Structure (GUSS) had made workers of the authority worse off. It said Management had refused to co-operate with the Joint Negotiation Team for a long time "giving the excuse that they have not received any mandate for negotiation of wages and salaries."
''As a result of low salaries GHA, workers receive lump sum pension ranging between 1.5m cedis and 5m cedis resolution said.
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Koforidua (Eastern Region) 16 May 2003 - The General Secretary of the General Agricultural Workers Union (GAWU) of the Trade Unions Congress (TUC) Samuel Kangah has called on the Government to rectify the International Labour Organisation (ILO) Convention on health and safety of agricultural workers and farmers.
He further called on the Government to establish extension units of the Cocobod to be able to effectively link with cocoa farmers to increase production.
Kangah who made the call at the Eastern Regional Delegates Conference of GAWU at Koforidua on Thursday, urged the Government to reverse the policy of the sale and monitoring of cocoa inputs from Cocobod to a separate body.
He, however, commended the government for the control of pests and diseases and hoped that the mass spraying exercise of cocoa would be a permanent feature.
Kangah asked the government to take a bold decision as it did in the increase of fuel prices to come out with income policy to remunerate workers with market value salaries to offset some of the financial problems.
The Eastern Regional Secretary of the TUC, Sister Francisca Borkor Bortey called on the members of the TUC to be steadfast in their relationship with the movement.
She cautioned that "the material gains as a unionist is minimal but gains which money cannot buy is in abundance," adding that Ghana's trade unions are noted universally, especially in Africa.
Sister Bortey noted with satisfaction, GAWU's leadership and patriotism, which made them to quickly react to moves by the authorities to release forest reserves for mining purposes.
In an address read for him, the Eastern Regional Director of Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MOFA), J.Y Addokpo mentioned institutional weaknesses, lack of appropriate incentives, infrastructure limitations, input availability and access as some of the problems and constrains militating against agricultural development and food security in Ghana.
He, however, said the MOFA's policies and measures towards the attainment of food security are to increase agricultural production to ensure good quality nutritious food.
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Accra (Greater Accra) 16 May 2003 - The 10th anniversary celebration of the International Year of Families would be launched at the United Nations Headquarters in December 2003.
This was contained in a message from the United Nations Secretary General, Busumuru Kofi Annan to mark this year's International Day of Families, which falls on Thursday.
The message issued by the United Nations Information Centre in Accra said governments; civil society groups and others were now preparing to observe the anniversary with the hope to use the occasion to sustain momentum in an area of vital importance for human progress.
Busumuru Annan said it was heartening that preparations for the anniversary commemoration had already witnessed a multitude of national initiatives and creation of institutional arrangements to deal with family issues.
He noted that putting families closer to the centre of the public policy process would require greater political commitment. "The issues involved are at the heart of the social welfare agenda: changes in family structures, demographic aging, the rise of migration, the HIV/AIDS pandemic and globalisation."
Busumuru Annan expressed the hope that leaders would comprehend these links and give these questions the attention and resources they merited.
Non-Governmental organisations, he noted, had been especially active and creative and they would continue to play a crucial role. "As we look ahead for the launch of the celebration, let us all reaffirm our commitment to improving the well-being of families throughout the world," he said.
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Bongo (Upper East) 16 May 2003 - World Vision International (WVI) is building an Information Technology Resource Centre at Bongo to introduce rural children to computer technology. Work on the building is complete and some computers have been bought while the furnishing and other minor provisions are on course.
The National Director of WVI, Sam Asare, made this known on Wednesday at Bongo when he addressed the annual Children's Fun Rally organized by the WVI to entertain parents and children from eight communities in the Bongo District.
The rally, which takes the form of games and fun-fair, aims at bringing parents together with children and their peers to exchange ideas, learn new sports, and improve on their talents. Asare said Bongo has featured high on the agenda of WVI both at the national and international levels.
''WVI's Area Development Programme (ADP) in Bongo has a longer span because of its positive impact and achievement on children and women issues''.
Asare said the information gap between children in rural areas and their counterparts in the urban centres was widening, adding that there was the need to introduce rural kids to the technology.
The Bongo District Co-ordinating Director (DCD), John Bosco Atogiba, mentioned a number of projects undertaken by WVI and said their services have made tremendous impact on the social, economic and cultural lives of the people.
The projects included classrooms, dormitories for the Bongo and Gowrie Secondary Schools, disbursement of nearly 200m cedis as loans to farmers and women's groups while some health, agriculture and educational needs of the people have been catered for by the WVI.
The ADP Director in Bongo, Madam Benedicta Pealore, commended the community members for their co-operation and urged parents to encourage their wards to take up education seriously.
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Ho (volta Region) 16 May 2003 - Kwesi Afriyie Badu, a member of the Ethics Committee of the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA), on Wednesday said the association required public support to enable it to tackle the proliferation of pornography in the media.
Badu was reacting to concerns raised by a female participant at a forum to mark World Press Freedom Day in Ho regarding "explicit sex" materials in the media and their affront to the dignity of women.
He said on a few occasions the Association had caused to be withdrawn from the market, pornographic materials emanating from abroad when the committee's attention was drawn.
''There is a strong market and patronage for such materials across all spectrum of the Ghanaian society, making the task of policing rather daunting,'' he said and called on the public to advise itself on the patronage of such publications.
"The issue borders on morality in which the larger society has a bigger role to play." On vindictiveness in the media, he cited a number of complaints that the GJA was able to settle amicably when aggrieved persons adduced enough evidence to support their complaints.
Regarding professional conduct, Badu said the GJA reserved the power to expel any member who acted unprofessionally and was compelled to do so sometime ago.
Badu said the GJA could, however, not extend its authority to non-members because the media profession, unlike others such as Law, is open worldwide.
He said the GJA had, through refresher courses, the rejuvenation of its ethics committee and exhortations, improved on professionalism among its members.
Explaining the inability of the National Media Commission (NMC) to compel journalists to appear before it, Justice Richard Apaloo, a Ho High court Judge, said the NMC did not have ''the power of compulsion.''
He said while aggrieved persons could resort to the courts in such circumstances it was better in the interest of continued good relations for parties to take advantage of the mediation role of the NMC and similar bodies.
Justice Apaloo said it was in the interest of journalists to respect and take advantage of opportunities for mediation because in countries without such opportunities, aggrieved persons resorted to "Self-help" in addressing their grievances with dire consequences for journalists.
Other concerns raised by participants included poor command of the English language, misleading pictures which do not correspond with stories, featuring the same people in newspaper reviews on radio and television programmes and the limitations of rejoinders in assuaging people who were maligned.
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Accra (Greater Accra) 16 May 2003 - Johnson Iddisah Abudu, a retired Commissioner of Police and Director of Investigations and Research of the National Reconciliation Commission (NRC), is dead, a statement from the family said on Thursday.
The statement said he died at the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital in Accra on May 13. According to Abubakar Siddique Boniface, Deputy Minister of Tourism and Beautification of the Capital City and a nephew to the deceased, wake would be kept on Friday 23 May at his residence, Adenta Sakora in Accra.
Burial would take place at the Osu Cemetery on Saturday 24 May 2003.
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Wa (Upper West) 16 May 2003 - Many Community-Based Organizations (CBOs) engaged in HIV/AIDS programmes in the Wa District are reported not to have adhered to the implementation plans of the Ghana AIDS Responsive Fund (GARFUND).
The CBOs are alleged to have misapplied funds to other health related programmes and they do not keep proper records of their programme thereby making it difficult for the District Assembly to monitor their activities.
William Niyuni, Wa District Focal Person on HIV/AIDS, said this during the first quarterly review meeting of CBOs involved in anti HIV/AIDS activities at Wa on Thursday.
About 50 participants from 44 registered CBOs in the district and other personnel engaged in HIV/AIDS education programmes, attended the meeting.
Niyuni warned the participants against embezzlements and misapplication of HIV/AIDS funds. He called for proper co-ordination between implementing agencies to avoid duplication of work and ensure judicious use of resources.
Humphery B. Naabo, Wa District Co-ordinating Director, said the Wa District Assembly this year received 125m cedis from the Ghana AIDS Commission to be disbursed to CBOs that applied for funding in 2002.
He said the Assembly would penalise any CBO that misappropriated the GARFUND and appealed to them to make judicious use of funds released to them.
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Bechem (Brong Ahafo) 16 May 2003 - A round-table conference has been held at Bechem to discuss the effective means of waging a crusade against the spread of the HIV/AIDS menace
The one-day programme organized by the Coalition of Life Preservers, a community-based organization (CBO) in conjunction with the Bechem Traditional Council, was to educate the participants on ways to prevent the spread of the HIV/AIDS.
Addressing the participants, the Omanhene of the Bechem Traditional Council, Nana Fosu Gyeabour Akoto II, expressed the need for Ghanaians to consider the education on HIV/AIDS as a matter of paramount importance.
He said old customs like puberty rite and others that helped to promote morality and self-control among the youth must be revisited.
H.D. Offei-Akoto, the Tano District Director of Health Services, who traced the history of HIV/AIDS and its impact on society spoke against pre-marital sex and reminded married couples of the need to remain faithful to each other.
Nicholas Anane-Adjei, District Chief Executive (DCE) for Tano, condemned some of the advertisements about HIV/AIDS on the television, especially those involving the use of condoms describing such adverts as obscene and culturally not Ghanaian
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Accra (Greater Accra) 16 May 2003 - The UN has announced that a Security Council Mission to seven West African countries including Ghana, which was to have started on Thursday, has been postponed.
A statement from the Office of the UN Resident Coordinator in Ghana e-mailed to the Ghana News Agency (GNA) said new dates for the tour would be announced later.
The United Nations Security Council on Monday said it was sending a Mission to the Sub-Region from 15-23 May to examine prospects for peace in a bid to explore new opportunities for progress towards peace and stability. The Mission's was slated to travel to Nigeria; Ghana; Cote d'Ivoire; Guinea; Liberia; Guinea-Bissau and Sierra Leone.
The Council's President, Munir Akram of Pakistan, said the Mission was to be led by Jeremy Greenstock of the United Kingdom. The team's terms of reference include overall regional as well as specific objectives for the countries to be visited.
Among other things, the Mission would aim to encourage more cooperation among the countries of the Sub-Region and to assess progress towards UN Security Council objectives on the protection of civilians and children affected by armed conflicts.
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Accra (Greater Accra) 16 May 2003 - A retired Supreme Court Judge on Thursday said the passage of environmental laws should be coupled with the provision of structures to support their enforcement.
Justice George E. Aikins, the Judge, said there should be provision of facilities such as litterbins and urinals to assist in compliance with laws on the environment.
The Judge was speaking at a strategic planning workshop on the Environment and Laws organised by the Centre For Environmental Law and Development (CELD), a non-governmental organisation.
Participants attending the workshop are from Tanzania, United Kingdom, United States, The Gambia and Ghana. The workshop was used to launch CELD, which seeks to campaign for the protection of the environment through the enhancement of environmental rights.
Douglas Korsah-Brown, Executive Director of CELD, said access to environmental justice was crucial to sustainable development. He said individuals engaged in mining and other environmental activities were often victims of the law while big mining companies were left to buy their way out of court and justice.
Korsah-Brown said CELD would undertake environmental advocacy and promote the harmonisation of laws within the international legal system.
Prof Kasim Kasanga, Minister of Environment and Science, said the place of laws as tools for addressing environmental problems was now well established.
"The law defines boundaries of human behaviour and in doing so, it establishes parameters regarding man's relationship with his environment," he said, stressing that development should not be at the expense of the environment.
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Accra (Greater Accra) 16 May 2003 - The National Executive Council (NEC) of the Health Services Workers' Union of the Trades Union Congress (TUC) on Thursday said there was the urgent need to reopen negotiations for a better remuneration package for its members to stem the exodus to greener pastures.
This was contained in a resolution released in Accra after a meeting at the Hospitality Centre at Tema. The NEC said this would also encourage other health professionals, who were likely to join their compatriots for greener pastures, to stay and provide health care for the people.
The resolution signed by J.G. Akoto, General Secretary of the Union, urged all health workers to show more love and patriotism by staying in the country to continue to render health care services while the government saw to their conditions of service.
On SARS, it declared support for the government's move to monitor, prevent and also contain any possible outbreak of the disease.
The National Executive Committee renewed the commitment of its members to assist the Ministry of Health, the Ghana Health Service, the Teaching Hospitals and managements at all levels of health care delivery to render improved and efficient health care services to the people.
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Cape Coast (Central Region) 16 May 2003 - A Principal Scientific Officer of the Biotechnology and Nuclear Agriculture Research Institute (BNARI) at Kwabenya in Accra, Prof Josephine Nketsiah-Tabiri, on Wednesday called on government to develop a policy framework to enhance biotechnology in the country. She said if the policy was well formulated, it would enhance agro-processing and food security.
Prof Nketsiah-Tabiri was speaking at a symposium organized by the Faculty of Science of the University of Cape Coast (UCC) in collaboration with the National Coordinating Committee of the United Nations' Environment Programme and the Global Environment Facility (UNEP-GEF) on national safety framework at Cape Coast.
The symposium had the theme "Biotechnology for sustainable national development". It aimed at highlighting some global and local developments in modern biotechnology and harness the technology in an environmentally sound and safe manner.
Prof Nketsiah-Tabiri said biotechnology had played an important role in food processing in the country and mentioned particularly corn-dough and gari processing as examples.
She appealed to those in charge of the President's Special Initiative (PSI) on cassava to use the biotechnology at their disposal to add value to the starch and earn more income.
''Starch, apart from being used in its raw state, can also be processed into sugar, alcohol, glucose, acids and other products through the use of biotechnology.''
She said sugar from starch was about 180 percent sweeter than the sugar produced from other sources and that such sugar could be used in the production of syrups.
Dr Musheibu Mohammed-Alpha also of BNARI who spoke on "enhanced animal industry the role of biotechnology" expressed concern about the low production of animals in the country.
He said for the past six years, the country had not recorded any significant increase in animal production. In 1995 1,123 cattle were produced nationwide with a slight increase to 1,302 in 2000.
Dr Mohammed-Alpha attributed the situation to disease, poor nutrition and the lack of the requisite tools to enhance animal production and called for conservation of genetic diversity to help save the indigenous species that are being eroded due to the introduction of hybrids.
Prof Kobina Yankson, Pro-vice Chancellor of UCC, called for the creation of embryo, semen banks and animal cloning to increase animal production in the country.
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Accra (Greater Accra) 16 May 2003 - The Minister of the Interior, Hackman Owusu-Agyeman has asked the security agencies to improve upon their information gathering system in order to identify all those who were behind the recent disturbances in the Tamale Municipality.
Speaking at Tamale at the start of a three-day visit to Agencies under the Ministry in the Northern and Upper East Regions to review the security situation, he said the security agencies should especially identify the ringleaders of the clash, which left at least four people dead.
A statement in Accra on Thursday signed by Jude Owusu-Senyah, Director of Human Resource Management of the Ministry, said the Minister thanked the security agencies for the professionalism they showed in bringing the situation under control.
He directed the Police to expedite action on the preparation of dockets on those who were arrested during the disturbances for speedy prosecution. He met the Northern Regional Security Committee and visited the Northern Regional Headquarters and barracks of the Ghana Police Service.
Owusu-Agyeman said the government was mindful of the problems being faced by the security agencies in the discharge of their duties in the Region adding that the government was doing all it could to address them.
He praised the traditional authorities for their positive roles in bringing about relative peace in the Dagbon Traditional Area and appealed to the people for support towards finding lasting peace.
Owusu-Agyeman warned that the government would not tolerate any person or groups of persons whose principal goal was to foment trouble in the area. He said the Police should take a second look at the concept of providing barracks accommodation for personnel in view of the high cost to government.
He said he was disappointed at the state of the barracks at Tamale and asked the Regional Commander to submit proposals on its rehabilitation for his consideration.
Owusu-Agyeman appealed to the Police to be objective in the performance of their duties saying they should change their mental attitude to gain the confidence of the population.
The Northern Regional Police Commander, Mr Douglas Asiedu told the Minister when he visited the Northern Regional Headquarters that they had a total strength of 590 personnel although they needed 1,500.
He said the lack of office and residential accommodation, transport and communication equipment were the major difficulties they faced.
The National Disaster Management Organisation promised to supply 12 packets of roofing sheets to re-roof a Police building whose roof was blown off recently.
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E/R recorded 176 defilement cases in two
years
Koforidua (Eastern Region) 16 May 2003 - The Women and Juvenile Unit (WAJU) of the Police Service had recorded 176 defilement cases in the Eastern Region since the introduction of WAJU at Koforidua two years ago.
Police Supt Elizabeth Allandu of the Unit who announced this at Koforidua on Wednesday, however said, the frequency with which cases were reported to the unit at it's inception had slowed down but did not give figures to support her claim.
She attributed the reduction in defilement cases to a decline in violence against women and children in the region due to the "high and adequate sentences given to perpetrators by the courts as well as the media coverage given to the trial of such cases."
Supt Allandu was delivering a speech on the levels and trends of violence against women and children in the Eastern Region at a day's seminar organized by the National Population Council (NPC) for the media and the security agencies in the region.
It was under the theme "Men, HIV/AIDS and violence against women and children - the leadership challenge." Supt Allandu said her unit allowed a few of such cases to be settled at home due to family interventions but explained that at times this would depend on the extent of damage caused to the victim "but we don't advise the women to succumb to settlement."
She mentioned some of the problems facing the Unit as lack of telephone facilities to enable victims call the office for prompt assistance as well as a vehicle to arrest perpetrators.
Supt. Allandu said due to financial constraints some victims failed to report cases to the Unit while others were influenced by "valuable considerations" and, therefore, refused to report back to the Unit after being issued with a medical form to attend hospital.
Delivering a paper on the "Role of the media in combating the spread of HIV/AIDS and violence against women and children", an editor of the Ghana News Agency, Edmund Quaynor, said despite the heavy investment in the campaign against HIV/AIDS and violence against women and children, if reported cases are still high then there are problems with the campaign programmes.
He, therefore, advised advocates of the two programmes to engage the services of professional communicators when it comes to fashioning out their communication and information messages so that the desired effect could be achieved.
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Accra (Greater Accra) 16 May 2003 - Nana Stephen Owusu-Nsiah, Inspector General of Police, on Thursday appealed to the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports, to absorb Police Schools into the Ghana Education Service (GES).
This, he said, would enable the Police Service to concentrate on its core statutory role of maintaining law and order. Nana Owusu-Nsiah was speaking at the commissioning of a 100million-cedi library for the Airport Junior Secondary School of the Police Service in Accra.
He promised to provide an additional 50m cedis worth of books to the library, a telephone, fax machine and two computers to the school. The Police Chief said that another school project at the Police Depot would be completed by the end of the year.
Mrs Doris Anatsui, Headmistress of the School, welcomed the commissioning of the library, as hitherto students left the school without experiencing how a library functioned.
She called for the establishment of a computer laboratory for the school since information communication technology had now become the tool for any learning activity.
Mrs Anatsui expressed concern about stray animals from the Mobile Police Barracks, which is situated virtually on the same compound of the school, creating a nuisance during class hours.
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Planners asked to demarcate places for
mechanics
Kumasi (Ashanti Region) 16 May 2003 - Mrs Gladys Kwapong, Kumasi Metropolitan Director of Education, has called on Town and Country planners to demarcate places for mechanics and other satellite professionals squatting on school lands in the metropolis.
She said nobody was against citing workshops near schools but their presence did not promote congenial atmosphere for effective teaching and learning.
Mrs Kwapong was on Wednesday commissioning a library built by the Rotary Club of Kumasi East and the Rotary Clubs of Northumberland of United Kingdom (UK) for the State Boys Junior Secondary School (JSS) at a cost of 20,000 pounds.
The library, which will serve the needs of pupils of cluster of schools in the Suame-Bantama in Kumasi, has over 20,000 books, six computers, office, store and toilet facilities.
''School children need peace to study and it is unfortunate that the mechanics who are over the area from Suame Roundabout to Prempeh College have been a thorn in the flesh of the schools."
She appealed to the headteachers and the staff to assist the directorate to provide security for school property and the maintenance of facilities in the schools. Sampson Kwaku Boafo, Ashanti Regional Minister, said he was hopeful that children in the catchment area would be encouraged to use their time wisely rather than to engage in social vices and wasting precious time at video centres watching pornographic films.
He called on school authorities to ensure that the building was constantly maintained and the books well secured so that the money spent on the project would not be a waste.
Oheneba Adusei Poku, Akyempimhene of Kumasi who represented the Asantehene, commended the Rotary Club for their immense contribution to the development of education in the country.
He said the Asantehene has education as his prime objective and is prepared to support any organisation or philanthropists who are ready to help in that direction. Dr Dick Quinby, representative of Rotary Club of Northumberland, said funds for the project was raised from members in the UK.
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