“CPP poised to elect flagbearer”
Kumasi (Ashanti Region) 16 May 2003 - Dr. Anthony Nsiah Asare, chief administrator of the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH) in Kumasi has warned the public against the tricks of some fake pastors who make unnecessary claims to outwit them.
He described such pastors as tricksters and warned radio stations to screen pastors who, in radio broadcasts, make such unnecessary and misleading claims at the peril of the lives of the members of the public. The Health administrator was reacting to claims by Rev. Ebenezer Adarkwa Yiadom, founder and leader of Ebenezer Worship Center in a radio broadcast in Kumasi recently that surgeons at KATH left an operation knife in the abdomen of an unnamed woman during an operation.
The pastor said following complaints of stomach pains, the woman got healed at Ebenezer Worship Center, after she had been prayed for there. According to a recorded broadcast of the pastor, the knife fell from the woman’s private part after bleeding profusely for days as a result of his prayers.
Dr. Nsiah Asare has challenged Ebenezer Adarkwa Yiadom to produce the woman and the knife in question for identification to enable KATH management quiz the doctor for negligence and cause an investigation into the allegation.
The medical administrator described the pastor as a liar who was only exposing his ignorance of the anatomy of the human body by his unscientific claims. He said complications in surgery are very rare in this age of modern technology. “In fact there are checks and balances because tools are counted before and after an operation and the possibility of a complication after an operation is one out of thousand and even that may happen once in ten years.”
The KATH CEO has advised the public to seek proper medical treatment from the hospitals and not turn to fake pastors and cheats who themselves sneak out for treatment from medical doctors and go back to make weird claims of healing powers.
Nsiah Asare directed all those who choose to seek counselling in life to go to good pastors and teachers like Pastor Mensa Otabil of the International Central Gospel Church fame.
Nsiah said even though he believed in the healing powers of prayers as a born again Christian, claims such as those by the Rev. Adarkwah Yiadom amounted to commercialization of the church in order to make money.
Rev. Ebenezer Yiadom also claimed that another female nurse of the KATH who experienced chronic bleeding after being operated upon for fibroid at the hospital, spent huge sums of money importing drugs from Germany to no avail until she visited the Worship Centre and got healed after taking some anointed oil and being prayed for at the Centre.
The man of God is also claiming he can cure AIDS and has
asked HIV/AIDS patients to come to his church for a cure. According to the
recorded broadcast available to the Chronicle, he intends launching a crusade
against the spread of AIDS. - Chronicle
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Ho (Volta Region) 16 May 2003 – Contrary to speculations that the New Patriotic Party (NPP) has the capacity to win at least six parliamentary seats in the Volta Region which is dubbed the ‘World Bank’ of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), the regional chairman of the NDC, Modestus Ahiable, has stated that it will be a mystery for the NPP to win even a seat.
According to him, as the NDC is now being exposed to the techniques and the political gimmicks of the NPP, “heaven would break loose if the ruling party wins a seat, including even the Akan constituency in the region.
“We would expose their dubious policies in the region. We shall also expose their weaknesses in the formulation and implementation of national policy which is affecting the survival of Ghanaians.”
Ahiable who spoke to the Chronicle in an interview, said the NDC, having realized the mistakes of the past, is going back to the drawing board for internal orientation and strategise to boot the NPP out of power in next year’s general elections.
He warned Rashid Bawa, Member of Parliament (MP) for the Akan constituency, and the deputy minister of Education, to forget the seat, adding that the NDC is currently having five people vying to contest on its ticket while nobody is even interested in the NPP, this he said, confirms that nobody is prepared to be a captain of a sinking seat.
As Chronicle asked to know what strategy the NDC would use to expose the NPP, he whispered to this paper that it would be disbursement of 2001 and 2002 Ketu district assembly common fund as indicated in budgets of both years.
He told this paper that an amount of ¢50m, approved for the rural electrification project in 2001, was diverted to provide streetlights to Agbozume without reference to the district assembly.
Continuing, he said last year, the project description for rural electrification was changed to streetlights project in which 120 lamps were supplied Agbozume with additional ¢150m in the budget statement.
The regional chairman of the NDC argued that the party is now reading between the lines and that the NPP’s abuse of incumbency strategy to capture some seats in the region would become a mirage, saying, “They are only shouting for shouting’s sake.”
The position given to Rashid Bawa to convince the people in the region is misapplied strategy, he contended, noting that the seat will slip through his fingers. He added that the NDC with its invincibility in the Volta region is not only bent on recapturing power but also win all the lost seats next year.
He said the NDC was in power for eight years but could not capture the Ashanti region in terms of increasing its seats there, despite remarkable developmental efforts achieved in the region. According to him if that is anything to go by, the people of the Volta region will also not be swayed by the development projects of the NPP.
He condemned the NPP government on the way it is disbursing poverty alleviation, women development, social relief, HIPC and GET funds to their advantage. - Chronicle
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Accra (Greater Accra) 16 May 2003 - A survey conducted by the Development Finance International (DFI), the consultancy agency that has been tasked to provide technical assistance to Ghana, indicated that there has been a major deterioration in Ghana’s terms of trade.
The survey, which covered the period 1999 to 2002, also revealed that Ghana’s private sector is highly exposed because private sector external debt stock is about eight to ten per cent of total external debt stock, representing the debt service as 30 to 35 percent.
He said to enable the government to fulfill its commitments to the business community, donors and international organizations; good quality information from the private sector is needed where this is not available from existing official sources.
Disclosing this in a workshop on monitoring capital flows in Ghana, a senior officer of DFI, Nils Bhinda, said that to ensure sustainability after debt relief, Ghana must look at sources of finance rather than depending on donor flows.
He said during the survey it was discovered that Ghana, which is an open economy, relies heavily upon primary commodities, which tend to be vulnerable to price changes.
According to Bhinda, in 2000 when the price of cocoa crashed to a 27-year low and was not compensated for adequately by other exports, and also in 1998 when crude oil price rose threefold, it resulted in inflation, exchange rate depreciation, and slow gross domestic product.
He said that situation affects how investors perceive the investment climate and it would likely affect the decision to invest in the country. He disclosed that as part of the government’s efforts to boost the private investment and private sector led growth including small-scale business development, it has embarked on a number of medium and long-term initiatives in recent times.
Bhinda said to establish a one-stop shop for investors and promote regional development through regional offices, there has been coordination between the ministry of Private Sector Development, the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre and the Investment Advisory Committee.
He noted that the findings of the investor perception indicate a number of strengths and also, a number of areas for improvement that affects the investment decision positively.
He said the survey has succeeded in capturing information that would assist the government to meet international standards in data quality, and provide useful information to decision makers in the country. - Chronicle
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Accra (Greater Accra) 16 May 2003 - Ghana is in danger of complete destruction from people living with HIV/AIDS who deliberately pass them on to their innocent victims. And the injurious practice is taking place in both the general society and in the church.
Dr Anthony Quampah, of the Fevers Unit of the Korle Bu Teaching recalled an instance of a former student of the University of Ghana, who after being diagnosed and confirmed HIV positive, deliberately infected 46 married men and 75 unmarried others as an act of revenge before she died.
The church, he said is perceived as a safe place for Ghanaians to fight the disease, but rather, it is turning out to be the worst place or the last place to seek salvation so far as HIV/AIDS is concerned.
He reported another case of a lady who was recently diagnosed and proven HIV positive but got married to a Pastor of a church. The man only got married to the lady in June last year, whereas the woman had been diagnosed earlier in 2001, as HIV positive. He therefore called on would be couples to go in for HIV tests before marrying to spare themselves from a situation like the Pastor’s.
Dr Quampah regretted that those living with HIV/AIDS at Korle Bu have formed an association and rather resorted to having sex among themselves thus reducing their immune system drastically. - Weekend Heritage
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Accra (Greater Accra) 16 May 2003 - Officials at the Ghana Embassy in Germany have allegedly spent £150,000 in the past five months on two 20-foot containers that cost only £13,000. The containers are now serving as temporary offices of the Embassy. A Ghanaian-born human rights activist in Germany, Anthony Rau says the use of containers became necessary because of on-going renovation of the two-storey Ghana Embassy in Berlin.
Rau however told the ''Weekend Heritage'' newspaper that the Ghana Embassy could have bought the same pair of containers outright for £13,000 but are instead hiring them from a construction company at £1,000 per day.
He also alleged that the renovation has meanwhile been abandoned meaning that the outrageous contract is not going to end anytime soon. ''They (Embassy Personnel) could have stayed in the Bonn office until the completion of the new office in Berlin. This is a disgrace to the Ghana government and we Ghanaians domiciled in Germany'', he bemoaned.
According to Rau, the container has no air conditioner, which makes it difficult for Visa applications to stay in and do business, besides, it can house only six people at a time.
Previous attempts to get the Foreign Ministry to comment on the issue proved futile, as no one was prepared to talk on the issue until the new Minister assumed office. - Weekend Heritage
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Accra (Greater Accra) 16 May 2003 - The Minister of the Interior, Hackman Owusu-Agyeman, has hinted that there has been a major breakthrough in the search for a lasting solution to the Dagbon crisis. He gave the assurance that the possible solutions will be announced in two weeks.
The minister, however, stated that “ there is still a lot of work to be done within the next two weeks to arrive at a solution which could lead to the possible lifting of the current curfew and the state of emergency in the Dagbon area.”
Owusu-Agyeman gave the hint at a meeting with the Northern Regional Security Council (REGSEC) in Tamale on Wednesday.
The Deputy Inspector-General of Police, P. K. Acheampong, and the National Co-ordinator of the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO), Brigadier Joseph Odei, accompanied the minister on a three-day visit to the region.
The Minister observed that whatever happens in Dagbon affects the rest of the country and even if other parts of the country are stable but there is lack of peace in the Northern Region, “then we still have a lot of work to be do”.
The minister therefore appealed to the people to consider themselves as coming from the same family and also heed the advice of the government and all well-meaning groups and individuals to assist in finding a permanent solution to the differences that exist between them.
Owusu-Agyeman expressed the preparedness of the government to do whatever it can to bring peace to Dagbon. He, however, stressed that this objective cannot be realised without the commitment of the people themselves since charity begins at home”.
He cautioned all those behind the perpetration of violence in the area to desist from such unproductive practice. The minister made it clear that the government will not shirk its responsibility of safeguarding the life and property of every citizen.
Owusu-Agyeman commended members of the REGSEC and the various security agencies for their tremendous efforts in ensuing peace in the area. He said that the problem of inadequate logistics impeding the security forces in the smooth discharge of their duties is receiving the attention of the government.
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Accra (Greater Accra) 16 May 2003 - The government is to establish a total of 330 commercially-viable small and medium-scale enterprises (SMEs) in the country within the next four years. The move is aimed at promoting industrial activities and creating jobs at the district level as well as revamping SMEs to make them more competitive, both locally and internationally.
In an interview in Accra yesterday, a Deputy Minister of Trade, Industries and Presidential Initiatives (PSIs), Hajia Alima Mahama, disclosed that a special unit has just been set up at the ministry to facilitate the scheme. Hajia Mahama said each of the 110 districts will have three SMEs within the stipulated period.
She added that all the various districts will be tasked to come up with commercially-viable projects and the government will move in quickly to give all the necessary support. “Each district will be given the chance to choose its own commercially-viable project, while the ministry will provide the funds, expertise and technical assistance,” Hajia Mahama said.
The deputy minister intimated that the ministry has resolved to focus more on SMEs in its bid to involve the larger portion of the population in industrial activities. She said an assessment database to find out the needs, constraints and potentials of SMEs is currently underway.
“First, we are re-orienting all the agencies under the Ministry of Trade, in order to refocus and come up with strategies that will promote industrial growth and cushion the economy,” she explained.
She further explained that the ministry is collaborating
with other stakeholders towards achieving this agenda. Hajia Mahama pointed out
that the ministry is doing this in an attempt to replicate either the PSIs or
the concept to the people in terms of its organisation and procedure. - Graphic
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Accra (Greater Accra) 16 May 2003 - The Minerals Commission has explained that none of the mining firms currently carrying out mineral exploration in a number of forest reserves in the country has been given a mining lease.
It said Cabinet/government agreeing in principle to grant two per cent of the forest reserves for mining operations does not mean a blanket lease because the firms and the government will have to meet stringent legal and environmental conditions and standards before a final decision can be taken.
The Chief Executive of the Minerals Commission, Ben Aryee, said this in an interview in Accra yesterday in reaction to calls on the government to rescind its decision to grant mining leases in the country’s forest reserves and the ongoing campaign against it.
Spearheading the campaign, the National Coalition of Civil Society Groups Against Mining in Forest Reserves, at a conference on Wednesday 7 May 2003 contended that the country's total forest cover has reduced from 8.2 million hectares to less than 1.6 million hectares and that mining in the reserves will degrade the reserves and worsen the plight of mining communities.
The coalition mentioned the Subri River, the Supuma Shelterbelt, Opon Mansi Forest, Tano-Suraw and Suraw Extension and Cape Three Points, all in the Western Region, the Ajenjua Bepo Forest and the Atiwa Range Forest in the Eastern Region as reserves to be affected by mining activities.
The chief executive said five of the reserves being explored by five mining companies have been visited by the ministers and officials of the Ministries of Lands and Forestry, Environment and Science, and Mines, the Forestry Commission, the Environmental Protection Agency and other relevant institutions to assess the state of the forests and make recommendations whether to grant the lease to mining firms or not.
The five companies fronting to mine in the reserves are Chirano Goldmines Ltd, Satellite Goldfields Ltd, Nevsun/AGC, Birim/AGC and Newmont Ghana Ltd. Aryee said out of these, three have been authorised to submit applications to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Forestry Commission and other institutions related to the granting of mining lease.
When permitted, the companies will operate in Chirano in the Western Region, Kubi in the Ashanti Region, and Ntuanan in the Eastern Region.
He said the companies are expected to carry out feasibility studies, to be examined by the Minerals Commission, adding that the EPA will also vet their environmental impact assessment plans, in line with the law, before mining leases are granted. Aryee pointed out that neither the commission nor the government will by-pass the procedures to issue the permits.
He said the reserves are not in the same class and that each of them will be looked at on its merit, and gave the assurance that “what is not right will not be done”.
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Accra (Greater Accra) 16 May 2003 - The General Secretary of the Convention People’s Party (CPP), Comrade Nii Noi Dowuona, has reiterated that the party will elect a flagbearer to contest the 2004 presidential election. He said the party has also resolved to put up candidates in all the 200 constituencies to contest the next parliamentary election.
Comrade Dowuona said this at Tema New Town where he inaugurated a new office for the Tema East Constituency branch of the party. According to him, the party is in the process of finalising arrangements to hold the second national delegates congress for the election of national executive officers and a flagbearer to lead the party in the next general elections.
The CPP General Secretary told the gathering that 2004 presents the party with the greatest opportunity to assert itself on the country’s political scene by winning the presidential election and wresting a number of parliamentary seats from the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and the New Patriotic Party (NPP).
“The CPP remains the people’s only hope to save the economy from further deterioration and improve their living conditions; therefore, we must work hard from today onwards to capture political power from the NPP in the next polls,” Comrade Dowuona said.
He called on the constituency executive elected at the same ceremony, to intensify its search for a candidate to contest on the ticket of the party in the next parliamentary election.
The executive members are, Nana Koomson, Chairman; Daniel Mensah, First Vice-Chairman; E.K. Quartey, Second Vice-Chairman; M.M. G. Asiedu, Secretary; J.N. Cudjoe, Assistant Secretary; and Samuel Ankrah, Treasurer.
The rest are, Joseph Nii Ofosu, Organiser; J.A Mennsah, Assistant Organiser; Ms Ethel Dei, Women’s Organiser; Ms Juliana Sackitey, Assistant Women’s Organiser; Bright Affum, Youth Organiser; Samuel Otoo, Assistant Youth Organiser; N.K. Affum, Education Secretary.
The Greater Accra Regional Chairman of the party, Comrade Adolf Lutterodt, reminded the newly elected executive members to work hard to swell the ranks of the various wings of the constituency branch.
Present at the ceremony were the acting Regional Secretary, Comrade Jonathan Attoh; Comrade Haywood Dadzie, acting Regional Secretary; Comrade Rose Anang, Regional Women’s Organiser, and comrades Johnny Hansen, N.E.A. Fleischer, F.W.K. Akuffo and Dan Quartey, leading members of the CPP.
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