Deputy Minister lauds journalists
Government brings back mobile cinemas
Committee calls for termination of Apau's appointment
Ghana and Denmark to forge bilateral relations
Accra (Greater Accra) 29 May 2003 - Criminal cases at the High Courts and the Regional Tribunals were on Thursday adjourned indefinitely because State Attorneys were not at court. State Attorneys of the Attorney -General's Department on Tuesday carried out their threat to withdraw their services to back their demand for payment of arrears of allowances due them since the beginning of the year.
Two persons standing trial for the assassination of Ya-Na Yakubu Andani II, Paramount Chief of the Dagbon Traditional Area and the trial of six Police Officers in the May Nine Accra Sports Stadium Disaster and other criminal cases at Justice Yaw Appau's Court were adjourned to Wednesday 4 June.
All other High Courts and Regional Tribunals were virtually empty and Prison Officers, who had escorted remand prisoners to the courts, had to send them back to custody. Justice Appau in a comment said: "Ghanaians don't want to work at all. If we don't work hard, Ghana would not be like what we want."
The Judge noted: "In Africa we seem to be joking, that is why some spend time working lotto, while others frequently attend church services expecting that moneys would come from heaven.
"We Judges have our allowances delayed yet we are working." Justice Appau described the situation as unfortunate and apologised for the inconvenience caused. The State Attorneys said they would stay away from the courts until their demands were met.
They are demanding the shortfall in fuel, clothing and leave allowances. The Minister of Justice and Attorney - General, Papa Owusu-Ankomah described the action as "unfortunate". He said as professionals, they had the responsibility to set good examples adding this was a matter that would be resolved within the Attorney's-General's Department.
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Tema (Greater Accra) 29 May 2003 - Queues have started building up at fuel filling stations in Accra as the strike by fuel tanker drivers to protest the arrest of some of their colleagues in a military/police operation on Saturday begins to bite. The fuel filling stations are either quiet because they do not have supplies or are full of activities, as vehicles had queued up to top up.
Station attendants said they had not received supplies since the weekend. The loading rack at the Tema Oil Refinery (TOR) had been inactive since Tuesday because tanker drivers had withdrawn their services.
Robert Forson, Chief Executive Officer of TOR, told the Ghana News Agency (GNA) that, "the tanker drivers are refusing to be loaded since (Tuesday) morning". He said the Executives of the Tanker Drivers Association have said they were attending to some of their colleagues, who were mistakenly arrested during the military/police operations at the weekend at Ashaiman.
Thirty-five persons, including tanker drivers, were on Tuesday remanded until 3 June by a Tema Circuit Court for illegally dealing in petroleum products at Ashaiman and Tema.
They all pleaded not guilty. Robert Aganiba, Assistant Commissioner of Police, told the court that on May 24, a combined team of the military and police carried out an exercise at some petrol garages during which the accused persons were arrested.
He said some of them were arrested siphoning petrol into drums and jerry cans. Money believed to be proceeds from the illegal business were found on them and five petrol tankers were also intercepted.
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Kumasi (Ashanti Region) 29 May 2003 - The National Democratic Congress (NDC) in Ashanti has accused the New Patriotic Party (NPP) of trying to sabotage its planned march for survival in Kumasi.
NDC accused the party of resorting to threats of violence and physical attacks to intimidate and scare NDC supporters and sympathisers away from the march. These were contained in a statement signed by Emmanuel Nti Fordjour, the Ashanti Regional Chairman.
It said "several members of our party including the regional chairman continue to receive anonymous phone calls threatening us with physical attacks should we go ahead with the protest march."
The statement, therefore, called on the leadership of the NPP in Ashanti to advise its supporters who are bent on creating confusion. The statement said "Ghana remains the only Island of peace and tranquillity in a sub-region engulfed in civil strife and carnage" and called on all to show more sincere and genuine commitment towards the preservation and maintenance of "this enviable status".
This, it said, called for respect for individual rights and freedoms guaranteed by the constitution. The statement appealed to the security agencies to act even-handedly to ensure that all political mischief-makers to disrupt the peaceful march do not have their way.
''No amount of intimidation, threats of physical attacks or even death could force the NDC to chicken out and abandon its planned protest in Kumasi'', the statement said. The NDC called for tolerance among political parties to move democracy forward.
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Accra (Greater Accra) 29 May 2003 - Ghana has firmly established a nation-wide routine immunization against vaccine preventable diseases, such as measles, yellow fever, diphtheria, tetanus, tuberculosis and hepatitis B, with immunization coverage of all antigens reaching over 80 per cent, Moses Dani-Baah, Deputy Minister of Health, announced on Wednesday.
He mentioned the Polio Eradication Initiative, Accelerated Measles Control Programme, Roll Back Malaria Programme and Integrated Management of Childhood Illnesses Initiative as some of the key interventions being implemented nationally to achieve reduction of morbidity and mortality among children under five years.
Dani-Baah said this at the signing ceremony of Exchange of Notes on a Japanese Government Grant of 116 million Yen (about one million dollars) for the procurement of vaccines and other logistics for polio and measles campaign and insecticide treated materials for malaria control programme in Ghana.
The Notes were signed and exchanged by the Japanese Ambassador, Ms Kazuko Asai and the UNICEF Country Representative, Ramesh Shrestha in Accra, while Dani-Baah witnessed it.
Dani-Baah said resources required to carry out such health activities were enormous against the background that malaria, measles and other infectious diseases continued to be major causes of morbidity and mortality in children.
He therefore, commended the Japanese Government for its continuous support in the health sector adding, "This support we receive from you has been very crucial in improving the health of the people".
Ms Asai said the grants would enable UNICEF, the main organisation that handles the health exercise, purchased about 2.4 million doses of Oral Polio Vaccines, 950,000 doses of measles vaccine, injection materials and 70,000 insecticide treated bed nets for the malaria control exercise scheduled for October and November this year.
She explained that her government was covering 70 per cent of the cost of Ghana's Sub-National Immunisation Day (SNIDs) while 30 per cent would be borne by other donors such as Rotary International, WHO, and UNICEF.
Ms Asai said the health sector was one of the targeted areas of Japan's assistance to Ghana and the total amount of Grant Aid in that area had now reached more than seven billion Yen (about ¢400bn) since 1977.
She expressed the hope that the support being extended to the people of Ghana would help strengthen the partnership that the two governments enjoyed. Shrestha expressed the hope that with Japan's support, Ghana would be able to maintain at least 80 per cent coverage with routine immunisation activities within the next three years so that supplementary campaigns would not be required.
He expressed regret about drug resistance in malaria treatment and advised that health education and proper sanitary practices must be given priority. "We must therefore ensure that malaria control activities address the issues of proper programme communications aimed at behavioural change with regard to personal hygiene and sanitation," he added.
Shrestha expressed his happiness that current statistics on polio in Ghana was encouraging and said very soon polio would be a thing of the past.
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Obuasi (Ashanti Region) 29 May 2003 - Fifty thousand cocoa farmers are to be introduced to high-technology fertilisers, fungicides and insecticides this cocoa season as part of a pilot scheme to boost cocoa production in the country.
In all 70 hectares of cocoa farms will be used for the scheme this year. Speaking at a farmers' forum at Obuasi in Ashanti, Dr Alex A. Afrifa, a Soil Scientist at the Cocoa Research Institute of Ghana (CRIG) at Akim-Tafo, said should the farmers observe strict agronomic practices after the application of the fertilisers, each hectare would produce 16 bags of cocoa.
Dr Afrifa said the new technology had proved to be effective "but the fertilisers alone cannot assist the farmers to harvest well if they do not clear weeds and spray their farms." He assured the farmers that the government was considering how best they could access the fertilisers at affordable rates.
Andrews Y. Akrofi, Plant Pathologist also at the CRIG, said it was imperative for farmers to ensure that they produce quality cocoa beans. He said one-and-half hectare each of selected cocoa farms would be used in the pilot project and advised the farmers not to concentrate on that alone to the disadvantage of the rest of their farms.
Akrofi was convinced that the farmers would reap back whatever investment they put in the new fertiliser. He advised cocoa farmers to only buy chemicals that have been recommended by CRIG to help maintain the premium the country places on its cocoa.
Joseph K. Boampong, the District Chief Executive (DCE), assured the farmers that the district had taken delivery of several bags of the high technology fertilisers.
During an open forum, the cocoa farmers expressed concern about the high interest rate on loans received from the banks. They also appealed to the government to assist them spray their farms regularly.
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Amakye-Bare (Ashanti Region) 29 May 2003 - The government has released ¢350m to support the Atwima District Health Insurance Scheme. The District Assembly has also voted ¢70m for the scheme. Charles Yeboah, Atwima District Chief Executive (DCE), said this at the launch of the District Malaria Awareness Day at Amakye-Bare in Ashanti.
The theme for the Day was: "Insecticide treated nets and effective malaria treatment for pregnant women and children under five year by 2005".
Yeboah said the assembly would soon open a clinic at Kotokuom in addition to the existing six clinics in the district. He said the assembly had earmarked ¢8m to assist the District Health Management Team (DHMT) to buy a dermatome machine to treat buruli ulcer patients who attend the Nkawie Government Hospital.
Dr P.C. Awuah, Medical Superintendent in-charge of the Nkawie Hospital, said malaria cases formed about 40 percent of diseases reported at the hospital.
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Sunyani (Brong Ahafo) 29 May 2003 - Yaw Adjei-Duffuor, Deputy Brong Ahafo Regional Minister, has lauded journalists in projecting the image of the region and urged them to sustain the spirit.
''Not a day passes without a news item either on the television, on the radio or in the newspapers about the development efforts of the people of the region and for this, I doff my hat to journalists working in the region.''
The Deputy Minister was speaking at a public lecture organized by the Brong Ahafo Regional branch of Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) to commemorate World Press Freedom Day, under the theme, "Ten Years of the Media and Public Accountability".
The well-attended lecture was sponsored by the United Nations Development programme (UNDP) through the National Governance Programme (NGP).
Adjei-Duffuor said journalists were operating under very deplorable conditions and yet had been able to uphold the image of the profession in the region and expressed the hope that the public would appreciate such efforts and offer the needed support and co-operation to them.
He, however, cautioned journalists against practices that could not help in national development. ''Concentrate on bringing out the truth and educate the public on national issues'', he said.
The Deputy Minister advised journalists to avoid sensational stories "that do not help national development in any way because as watchdogs of society, you occupy an enviable position to spearhead the mobilisation of the people for national prosperity."
Dr Bonnah Koomson, Member of the National Media Commission NMC) and the GJA Ethics Committee, said there had been positive changes in the media landscape within the past 10 years.
''Ten years ago there were not as many private radio and television stations and newspapers as we have now. Ten years ago journalists did not enjoy the freedom they are enjoying now in the practice of the profession.''
Dr Koomson, who is a senior lecturer at the University of Ghana, Legon, and currently attached to the Catholic University of Fiapre in Sunyani, however, advised journalists to exercise their "new-found freedom" with circumspection and publish or broadcast truthful stories.
He urged the regional branch of the GJA to help remove "the quacks" from their midst, saying it was not fair or prudent for anyone to practice journalism without going through some sort of credible training. Dr Koomson said the Commission would not tolerate any journalist who would operate contrary to the ethics of the profession.
He appealed to the regional branch to conduct in-service training for young journalists to let them understand that the profession "is not an exploitative one as many people perceive it". Leonard Amengor, Chairman of the regional branch called on members to stand by the truth, be bold, courageous and fearless in publishing the truth.
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Annan calls for political tolerance
Accra (Greater Accra) 29 May 2003 - The Former Speaker of Parliament, Justice Francis Daniel Annan on Wednesday called for a programme of actions based on consultations and consensus among various stakeholders for the realization of political tolerance in the country.
"Even though the constitution under the Directive Principles of State Policies seeks to promote the culture of political tolerance among the people of Ghana, the onus lies with the state to put in place policies and structures that would facilitate the due progress," he said.
Justice Annan said this at a day's roundtable discussion on "Ten Years of Constitutional Rule - Perspectives from Parliament," organized by the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) in Accra.
He said the essence of good governance in a healthy practice of multi-party democracy is based on the ability and willingness to tolerate divergent views and dissenting opinions.
The discussion, which attracted Parliamentarians, politicians, electoral officials, Fellows of IEA, media practitioners, the academia, civil society organisations and the judiciary was to assess the overview of constitutional rules and the functions of Parliament under the new democratic culture.
The former Speaker said Article 34 (1) of the constitution provided a comprehensive identification of primary actors and major elements on the political landscape that should be the focal point for consultation for the realization of political tolerance.
However, the consultation should be extended to chiefs, religious bodies, leaders of industry and labour, women's groups and Civil Society Organisations. Of particular significance in this endeavour would be the inclusion of former holders of high political office, he said.
Justice Annan said the media would have a critical leadership role to play in the national quest to promote a culture of political tolerance among the people.
On the on-going debate on funding political parties, Justice Annan said Article 55 (15) states: "Only a citizen of Ghana may make a contribution or donation to a political party represented in Ghana". He said the Political Parties Act 2000 Act 574 amplifies this. He said the provisions are clear, mandatory and strict to avoid the prospect of foreign based business interest groups or individuals exercising undue influence over any political party and thereby over the domestic politics.
Justice Annan, however, posed the question whether in the absence of any policy of state funding of political parties, they can, on their own mobilize reasonable funding for the basic organization of the party.
He asked whether members' contribution by means of dues or donations or fund-raising activities made any meaningful impression on the ordinary budget of political parties. He also inquired, to what extent political parties were dependent on local big business or wealthy individuals for finances and logistics. The participants called for the re-opening of the debate on the funding of registered political parties.
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Soldiers killed my son - Witness
Accra (Greater Accra) 29 May 2003 - Charles Kwesi Grant, a pensioner at Mamprobi in Accra, on Wednesday told the National Reconciliation Commission (NRC) that a soldier shot and killed his son at the Offices of the Greater Accra Regional
Administration on 15 September 1982.
George Kwabena Grant, his late son, then a secretary with the People's Defence Committee (PDC), paid the price of his life for trying to prevent a soldier from stealing the flour he was in-charge of distributing, he added. Grant said all efforts to trace the soldier who killed his son proved futile as the soldier (Kofi) who informed him about his son's death refused to show him the culprit.
He said he found his son's body at the 37 Military Hospital. Mt Grant said his son was killed exactly two weeks after he stopped a soldier from taking away some flour and other commodities he was distributing at the Trade Fair site.
Grant said he was sure that Flying Officer Tackie, whom the soldier reported the incident to and whom he pleaded with to take good care of his son, had something to do with the killing because of the poor reception he received from him after the incident.
He said a report in the Daily Graphic that stray bullets killed his son was not true because he saw the bullets holes in the door where his son was killed.
Grant said he did not report to the police because "during the revolution, one could not venture to report anything to the police." He said his son left behind a wife and three children but since he was a pensioner, he could not educate them well and pleaded with the commission for assistance.
Major General Erskine said though law and order had broken down, the military uniform was not a license to commit murder.
"We must make sure the laws of the land always prevail."
Another witness, Noah Obeng, a farmer at Abekoase, near Anyinam, said he lost one eye that was replaced with an artificial one due to the torture he went through in the hands of soldiers that claimed he was hiding Major Okyere Boateng, his brother.
The soldiers said they wanted to arrest Major Okyere Boateng because he was trying to stage a coup. He said they later arrested and killed him adding that the family as at now does not know whether he was buried.
Obeng said he was a driver at the time and had to stop driving because of his lost of sight. When Rev. Father Palmer-Buckle and Maulvi Wahab Adam got down to see the artificial eye he wanted to remove it from its socket so that they could see the hole but they did not allow him. According to him he removed it each night he was going to bed.
He pleaded with the Commission to help look for the body of his late brother as well as to help him find a gainful employment.
Narrating the incident, Obeng said around midnight in July 1983 at Dumfa, soldiers knocked on his door. When he opened it one of the soldiers handcuffed him whilst the rest entered his room to search for Major Okyere. He said when they could not find Major Okyere they put him in their car to a junction at Kyebi where he was severely beaten with belts and sticks by about 20 soldiers.
Obeng said the following day they took him to Asamaman, a village close to Kyebi where the soldiers severely beat him. He added that anyone who enquired about his offence was also beaten. In the vehicle back to Kyebi, he said the soldiers pierced him with needles and slapped him. His eyes were swollen and when he pleaded he wanted to see a doctor they replied that there was no need because he was going to be executed.
Obeng said they locked him up for two weeks but released him after he paid a bribe of ¢100,000 to the DSP in charge. He said the soldiers took away his vehicle, a Bedford SG 9020 from the Royal Motors where it was being repaired as the job card bore Major Okyere's name.
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Accra (Greater Accra) 29 May 2003 - Another witness at the National Reconciliation Commission on Wednesday said he was told by Johnny Dzandu that former President Jerry Rawlings ordered the murder of the three High Court judges and retired Army officer.
Naval Captain Joseph Ampaabeng Kyeremeh, former Commissioner for Cocoa Affairs, said Dzandu made the statement to him while they were both in detention at Nsawam prison.
He said Dzandu told him that Flt. Lt. Rawlings, then Chairman of the erstwhile Provisional National Defence Council (PNDC), popped Champagne when they reported back to him that they had accomplished the task.
Naval Capt. Kyeremeh said he met Amedeka, one of the named killers of the justices and the army Major, and Dzandu at the Nsawam Prisons. He said he prayed with Amedeka and assured him of God giving him a good life in heaven, if not here on earth.
According to Naval Capt. Kyeremeh, he reported at the Air Force Base after radio announcement following the 4 June 1979 coup asking political office holders to report themselves to the nearest police station or military barracks.
He said he was slapped and beaten and then made to face the Preliminary Investigations Team (PIT) at the Air Force Guardroom, which accused him of using his political position to amass wealth.
The former Commissioner said unknown to him, the panel made of Capt. Michel, Capt Korda, and Capt. Okaikoi, winked to someone who was standing behind, who slapped him as the interrogations went ahead.
Naval Capt Kyeremeh said the PIT sentenced him to a life imprisonment, but his sentence was reduced to 20 years when he faced the People's Court at Peduase Lodge. His assets, comprising three cars, three houses and oil palm plantation were confiscated to the state. His bank account was also frozen.
At the People's Court, a screen separated the accused and the panel and he got to know later that one Dedeji served on one of the panels. He said he was sent to Nsawam Prisons, where about 90 senior officers and public office holders were imprisoned. Naval Capt Kyeremeh said he was in the Prisons for four-and-a-half years.
According to the former Commissioner, now resident in Burkina Faso, 500 inmates died within three months due to starvation and a strange disease in 1983. He praised the Catholic Church, for organizing food and relief items for the inmates.
Naval Capt. Kyeremeh said Dr. Blay Miezah, the late business tycoon framed him up, with rumours as having stolen a shipload of cocoa beans. There were also allegations of drugs against him. He expressed his appreciation to God for the establishment of the Commission to clear his name. He said he wished he would hold a press conference to how the ship got missing.
He said his family members lived like beggars when he was in prison and friends had to take care of them. Also, his oil palm farm in Sekondi was destroyed by members of the Committee for the Defence of the Revolution (CDR).
He said the Tema Oil Refinery wanted to give him back his house, which it was occupying at Tema, but the Confiscated Assets Committee will not allow him to take it. He said he had not officially been discharged from the Ghana Armed Forces and was therefore not on pension.
He added that during the Limann Administration they decided to finish paying the arrears owed him, but the 1981 coup happened and he had not received anything from the Ghana Army.
Commissioner General Emmanuel Alexander Erskine said it was a great shame that officers should be subjected to torture. Naval Capt Kyeremeh agreed to the request of Commissioner Charles Palmer-Buckle to furnish the Commission with a memorandum of his conversation with Dzandu and the conditions in the Prisons.
Commissioner Prof. Henrietta Mensa-Bonsu said the politics of calumny had been a problem in the country and asked journalists to guard the press freedom in the country.
Farouk Martin Darko, a farmer at Kwasi Nyarko, near Adeiso in the Eastern Region, said he was a half-brother of Lance Corporal Halidu Giwa who led an abortive coup in June 1983.
Darko said he went to stay with his brother who was then in exile in Cote d'Ivoire. One day, he said, his brother told him he was going on an excursion to Yamoussoukro, but he heard later that Halidu Giwa had been arrested at the border and executed.
Darko prayed the Commission to help Giwa's family find his body for a fitting burial. Another witness, Mrs Olivia Ako-Adjei walked with much difficulty with an aid to the witness seat. She said in 1983, she was a nursing officer at Pantang Hospital and also nursing a baby.
On 22 June 1983, she was waiting in front of the Flagstaff House for a vehicle when a stray bullet hit her forehead. She was rushed to the 37 Military Hospital and was in coma for two weeks. She was hospitalised for six months.
Mrs Ako-Adjei said she was declared 75 per cent disabled with speech impairment, memory deficit and could not move her right hand. The Government of the erstwhile Provisional National Defence Council (PNDC), gave her compensation of ¢200,000. She said the compensation was "woefully inadequate" to cater for herself and her three children.
Mrs Ako-Adjei said the Ministry of Health paid her salary until May 1994 and then redeployed her. She said she wondered why the then Government failed to send her abroad for further treatment when a medical report had made that recommendation but and a military officer in a similar condition was flown out.
Mrs Ako-Adjei prayed the Commission to put her back on the MOH pay roll and all arrears in salary paid her since her redeployment.
In another narration, Madam Botwe said despite the cuts she had on her back as a result of the whipping, the soldiers warned her to continue preparing the kenkey else they would visit and cane her again. This was because they did not want the people to go hungry and then insult them and accuse them of being the cause of the shortage of food.
She said the soldiers distributed all the kenkey free of charge to those who witnessed the beating. Madam Botwe said she saw a doctor at the Nsawam Government Hospital on three occasions in a week, adding that though she was not feeling well, she was forced to continue preparing the kenkey because she was afraid the soldiers would come back if she did not.
She said the soldiers came back again and when they realised she was selling the kenkey at 10 pesewas and her product was considerably bigger than that of other kenkey sellers they left her.
Madam Botwe said she was too scared to make any formal complaint to the police. She said she had five children, the eldest who was 20 years old at the time, adding she could not cater for them as she wanted due to the pain and pleaded with the commission for compensation.
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Accra (Greater Accra) 29 May 2003 - The National Reconciliation Commission (NRC) on Wednesday said the transcript of ex-Corporal Adabuga's evidence has been forwarded to ex-President Jerry John Rawlings for his response.
In an interview with the GNA, Ms Annie Anipa, Public Affairs Manager, said it has been the procedure of the Commission to notify any person against whom a witness levels specific accusation of human rights violations in order to hear his or her side of the story.
Ex-Corporal Adabuga in his evidence last week made a series of allegations against the ex-president including he popping champagne when he was told that the High Court judges had been murdered.
Ms. Anipa who was reacting to the statement made by the legal team of ex-President Rawlings at a press conference on Monday in response to corporal Adabuga's evidence, said though the team has made no formal request to them, the Commission on Tuesday sent the transcript to him because that has been the norm.
Ms Anipa said it now depends on the ex-President and his legal team to respond as early as possible before Corporal Adabuga leaves the country, as the Commission could not hold him for a long time.
Ms Anipa said Corporal Adabuga was granted public hearing because though he requested for a hearing in-camera when he wrote his statement in October 2002, he went ahead to organise a press conference and put all his evidence in the public domain. There was therefore no need to hear him in camera.
"The Commission was not happy with Adabuga's press conference", the NRC Public Affairs Director said. She said the NRC Act allows for private hearings on the grounds that the evidence to be given could affect state security, offend public morality, or by public hearing, the personal security of the witness would be affected.
On the accusation of the Legal Team that NRC did not conduct adequate investigations into matters before calling witnesses, Ms. Anipa asked the Team to explain what it meant by "adequate investigations."
She said the events ex-Corporal Adabuga narrated did occur, and asked: "Who did not know about the December 31, 1979 coup, or the 1981 coup or the jail break in 1983?''
Ms Anipa said it was unfortunate that only during hearings did witnesses give graphic details about events adding that though counsel always tried to redirect them to the main issues, some witnesses insisted on being allowed to pour the pains they had harboured over the years, making it difficult for the commission to stop them.
"Several of (such cases) happened in Kumasi where witnesses gave details that were not included in their statements. "This is because they had lived with the pain for a long time and want an opportunity to take it out of their system by revealing all that they knew."
Ms Anipa said the work of the Commission was victim-centred as it is aimed at healing the wounds of victims. The words of sympathy or encouragement pronounced by members of the Commission were not meant as an acceptance of the witnesses' statement as the truth or intended to ridicule anybody, Ms Anipa added.
"Rather the Commissioners make those statements based on whatever happens on the floor during hearings and they are meant to congratulate witnesses as it takes courage to openly confess to have committed an atrocity."
Ms Anipa said it is only natural to express one's sympathy and appreciation to someone who has suffered torture and has come out openly to make it known to the public.
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Bolgatanga (Upper East) 29 May 2003 - Andrew Awuni, Deputy Minister of Information, said at the weekend that the National Information and Communication Technology (ICT) policy currently under discussion would engineer socio-economic development only if it related directly to the vital sectors of production.
He cited agriculture, education, health and telecommunication as some of the areas ICT could be utilized to maximize efficiency adding that in the field of law enforcement, the establishment of databanks and networking the various regional Police departments by ICT would allow for more effective policing.
Awuni was speaking at a meeting between Regional Heads of Departments and members of the National ICT Policy and Plan Development Committee in Bolgatanga.
The meeting was meant to sell the ICT idea to heads of government establishments and to enable them to make an input into the ongoing discussions on a national ICT policy. The Deputy Minister said the public service could benefit effectively from teleconference technology, as heads of departments from the regions would not have to travel to Accra most of the time for meetings.
He said all over the world, economies that continued to prosper were those that were advanced in the information technology industry, adding that it was high time Ghana moved away from being a mere exporter of agricultural produce to a nation that exported knowledge based on ICT.
"The fact that our phone lines easily get disrupted with the slightest rainstorm shows how precarious our position is on the information technology map," he observed, but indicated that there was a strong commitment on the part of Government to lead the nation into a new technological era.
The Chairman of the National ICT Committee, Prof Clement Dzidonu, intimated that his team would recommend the Upper East as one of the two pilot areas in the country for the implementation of an e-governance project on experimental basis, saying the outcome of the project would give an idea as to the impact the ICT programme would have as far as the development of rural communities was concerned.
He said the other pilot area would be selected from an urban setting, and that if the government accepted the proposal the requisite funds would be sourced for the exercise to commence without delay.
Prof Dzidonu urged the Regional Coordinating Council to put together a policy document to provide a basis for the pilot project, and said the document should capture the relevant departments and sectors where ICT would tremendously enhance productivity and accelerate the area's socio-economic development.
The Regional Minister, Mr Mahami Salifu said by recommending the Region for the pilot study, the Committee had thrown a challenge to the administrative authorities but expressed the confidence that "the hardworking people of the Upper East would certainly live up to the challenge".
He tasked the Regional Coordinating Director to form a local committee without delay to commence work on the Regions policy document, involving all the six district assemblies in the area.
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Fante Nyankomase (Central Region) 29 May 2003 - The Fante Nyankomase Traditional Council is to award scholarship to JSS students who obtain aggregate six in their final BECE examinations as from next academic year.
Nana Tsibo Asare II Omanhene of Fante Nyankomase Traditional Area, disclosed this to GNA on Tuesday. He said out of a ¢1bn endowment fund targeted by the Council only ¢77m had been realised and appealed to citizens of the area to pay their monthly contribution of ¢2,400 each to reach the target.
Nana Asare appealed to those living outside to contribute to help raise the standard of education in the area.
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Accra (Greater Accra) 29 May 2003 - The Minister of Information, Nana Akomea, said on Wednesday that the government was prepared to close the rural-urban communication gap through the re-introduction of mobile cinemas.
Nana Akomea, who said this when he commissioned four new mobile cinema vans in Accra, added that the rural areas were totally underserved by the media. The use of the vans to educate, inform, explain government policies and entertain them would make them not to feel cut off.
The vans, which were bought from the Ministry's HIPC allocation, cost 37,000 pounds sterling each. He said the country would be divided into circuits, adding that teams of electronics and television operators would be taken round each district to shoot scenes that affect the people such as education, family planning and elections, among other things, to be edited and shown on the cinema screen to the people.
He said companies like Unilever had expressed interest in the project to also use such opportunity to advertise their products.
This would also help the Ministry to recover some of the cost of the vans. Divine Addo-Dankwa Kwapong, Acting Director, Information Services Department, said the number of vans had been dwindling. He noted that in 1997, ISD had 50 vans but now they were only 20 with the 30 others under repairs.
He said the vans were useful during the colonial days and after independence, especially in helping government in its campaigns and other issues. "We are still expecting more; each region needs to have a van," he added. Barry Senior, Senior Manager of the Agri Visuals, who handed over the keys to the Minister, asked the trainees could fall on the company any time they faced a problem.
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Accra (Greater Accra) 29 May 2003 - Seth Yeboa Bimpong-Buta, former Director, Ghana School of Law has sued the Ghana Legal Council under the chairmanship of Chief Justice Edward Wiredu at the Supreme Court for retiring him prematurely smacking of favouritism, inconsistency and bias.
Bimpong-Buta said the Chief Justice's action of asking him not to resume as the Director of the School after he had returned from a lawful duty and appointing a director in his place "smacks of favouritism, inconsistency, bias and perpetration of injustice.
Three other defendants to the suit are Kwaku Ansa-Asare, and Michael Nkansah Okyere, Director and Registrar respectively of the Law School and the Attorney-General and the Minister of Justice, Papa Owusu Ankomah.
Sam Okudzeto and Associates, Sena Chambers, counsel for Bimpong-Buta filed the writ on 22 May this year, and the defendants were served on May 28, the date from which they are to enter their defence within 14 days.
Bimpong-Buta is seeking relief under the law and the Constitution that he had been prematurely retired at the age of 62 instead of 65 years, which as an Appeal Court Judge has to retire on. He said under the Legal Profession Act of 1960 Act 32, neither the Chief Justice, the Chairman of the General Legal Council nor the Council itself "can appoint or purport to appoint any other person as Director" of the School while he has not lawfully gone on retirement.
Bimpong-Buta contended that the appointment of Ansa-Asare as Director of the School should be nullified and should be of no effect "because the said appointment impugns the accrued right of the plaintiff to retire at the age of 65 years under section 8 (1) and (7) of the Transitional Provisions of the Constitution, 1992."
He is therefore, asking the court to restrain the General Legal Council and its Chairman, Chief Justice Wiredu from holding Ansa-Asare out as Director of the School Bimpong-Buta said that Okyere, by 4 February this year, has attained compulsory retirement age of 65 years and his continued stay in office was in contravention of the Constitution.
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Accra (Greater Accra) 29 May 2003 - Vice President Aliu Mahama on behalf the Government on Wednesday expressed the nation's condolence to the Methodist Church on the death of one of its greatest pillars, the Most Rev Thomas Wallace Koomson, saying the nation could not forget the cleric, who served humanity and his Church well.
Vice President Mahama said this remark when a delegation of the Church and the bereaved family, led by the Most Rev Dr Samuel Asante-Antwi, President of the Methodist Conference, called on him at the Castle, Osu, to officially inform the government about the death of the Most Rev. Koomson.
The Most Reverend Koomson, the second African President of the Methodist Conference, from 1966 to 1973, died on 31 March at 96. He will be buried on Friday 30 May, at Cape Coast. Vice President Mahama assured the Church that government would be well represented at the burial.
He paid tribute to the Most Rev Koomson for his role in promoting education in the country, particularly at the Wesley College and Wesley Girls' High School. "Ghana has lost a great man, indeed a great oak tree has fallen," he said, and urged the leadership of the Methodist Church to keep his memory alive by strengthening its role in society.
Dr Asante-Antwi said the Most Rev Koomson led the Church at a turbulent period in the nation's history, but he did his job with distinction. He said there would be no wake-keeping in line with the Church's directive in 1996, to stop wake-keeping.
"We agree with the President's advice to cut down on the time and resources spent on funerals...because we believe that our resources should rather be spent on helping the living," he said. Ato Essuman, Lay President of the Methodist Church, lauded the cordial relations between the State and the Church, saying this should be strengthened to advance the pace of development and improve the moral fabric of society.
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Kumasi (Ashanti Region) 29 May 2003 - The International Ministerial Council of Great Britain has cautioned pastors with dubious lifestyles to change or risk loosing their licenses.
Bishop S.R. Addae, Moderator of the Ghana Chapter of the Council, who gave the caution, said the Council, was worried about the behaviour and lifestyle of some pastors who had strayed from their pastorial ethics in recent times. Bishop Addae was addressing the council's quarterly meeting at the Shilo United Church in Kumasi.
The meeting, which was attended by 700 pastors from the various churches in the Ashanti Region, was to review past activities and highlights of the Council's programmes in Kumasi this year.
Bishop Addae said the Council had issued 465 licenses to ordained pastors who had completed the Shilo Bible College in Kumasi. The Reverend Emmanuel K. Basoah, Director of Ghana Inland Mission, expressed the urgent need for evangelism and missions in Ghana.
He said currently, there were about 14,000 towns and villages in the country without Bible believing churches. Rev Basoah challenged Ghanaian pastors to stop book and cassette launching and move to the rural areas to evangelise to win souls for Christ.
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Accra (Greater Accra) 29 May 2003 - The Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) on Wednesday asked the Ghana Institute of Journalism (GIJ) to terminate the appointment of Timothy Apau, a national service personnel. This was contained in a four-point recommendation made by the Association following an investigation conducted by its Ethics Committee into allegations that Apau led a group of journalists to demand ¢50m bribe from the Kumasi Waste Management Limited (KWML).
The recommendations noted that Apau's relationship with the GIJ was not in the interest of the profession because he was likely to have a bad influence on student journalists hence the need to terminate his appointment.
The allegations, which were published by the Statesman, an Accra Daily, said Apau led a group of environmental journalists to demand the said amount and was headlined, "Journalist demands ¢50m bribe".
The demand for the amount was to enable Apau to "kill the story" involving KWML. A statement in Accra and signed by Bright Blewu, member and liaison of the Ethics Committee of the GJA said the recommendations were based on the findings and conclusions of the investigations.
The statement recommended to the management of the GIJ to streamline its administration to forestall the incidence of individual lecturers making private arrangements to recruit other lecturers in their stead without the express authorization of the management.
"The committee also cautioned editors to be wary of so called investigative stories by persons who were neither stringers nor established freelancers", the statement said and commended the Statesman for cross-checking Apau's allegations against KWML and exposing him.
The committee therefore appealed to members of the public to have the courage to demand press cards or authorised identity cards of persons purporting to be doing investigative stories. The statement noted that the committee's investigations followed complaints received from the Federation of Environmental Journalists, the GIJ and the culprit.
The committee therefore interviewed the parties involved and found out that Apau had acted unethically in collecting an amount of ¢500,000 from the KWML as transport and accommodation though Colonel Jacob Doty, Operations Manager of the company maintained Apau collected ¢1m.
The committee also found out that the allegation of blackmail appeared to have credibility in the context of the approach used by the culprit in the course of his investigations and by the draft story in his own handwriting. Apau is not a member of the FEJ as he claimed, the statement said, and noted that the committee found untenable his claim that he investigated the story with 23 other persons.
It said on the contrary, Apau appeared to have used the number as a leverage for bargaining for a higher reimbursement from the KWML.
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District Assemblies to develop sports
Accra (Greater Accra) 29 May 2003 - The Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport is encouraging District Assemblies to channel part of their common fund into sports development.
Kwadwo Baah Wiredu, the Minister, told Parliament on Wednesday that, "as much as the Ministry would wish to provide all the resources needed for sports development in the district, we are constrained." The Minister who was answering questions in Parliament said the development of sports in the districts was first and foremost the responsibility of the District, Municipal and Metropolitan Assemblies."
He said the Ministry would encourage Assemblies to organise sports associations in a few disciplines in which the district had comparative advantage.
"Districts in Northern Ghana will be encouraged to form Sports Association in the hand games because the height and physique of the people are suitable for playing the game." In another development, the construction of District Directorate of
Education building in the Bongo District has been put on hold due to financial constraints.
Baah-Wiredu said between 1999 and 2002 ¢532.2m was provided for the project but the contractor on site utilised only ¢237.166m.
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Accra (Greater Accra) 29 May 2003 - Ghana's Trade Union Congress and its Danish counterpart are forging a bilateral relationship that would enhance the sharing of expertise to serve their constituents. Kwasi Adu-Amankwaah, Secretary General of the TUC announced the initiative at the end of a joint workshop on Wednesday to discuss the findings and recommendations of a survey sponsored by the Danes on the labour market and trade unions in Ghana.
The survey identified the drive for membership, capacity building and the ability to influence policy decisions as some of the challenges facing Ghana's labour movement.
Adu-Amankwaah said retrenchment in the public sector and the growing number of people entering into the informal sector over the years had led to a decline in the membership of the union.
He said the survey recommended the strengthening of existing structures of the union in order to meet current challenges. The merger of smaller unions to make them viable in negotiating for better condition of service for their members was also considered.
Adu-Amankwaah lauded the recommendation that the TUC should play a proactive role in policy formulation at the national level. He praised the trade union movement in Denmark for undertaking the survey, which would go a long way to improve the performance of Ghana's union.
Joergen Assens, Danish Union's Representative urged the TUC to be assertive in its role in the private sector.
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Judge unhappy about Ghanaian attitude to
work
Accra (Greater Accra) 29 May 2003 - Justice Yaw Appau on Wednesday criticised the Ghanaian attitude to work after adjourning to Wednesday 4 June the case involving the assassination of Ya-Na Yakubu Andani II, Paramount Chief Dagbon Traditional Area.
Justice Appau also adjourned the case of the six Police Officers in the 9 May Accra Sports Stadium Disaster to the same day following the strike action embarked upon by State Attorneys to back their demand for the payment of arrears of allowances due them since the beginning of the year.
Justice Appau in a comment said: "Ghanaians don't want to work at all. If we don't work hard, Ghana would not be like what we want." The Judge noted: "In Africa we seem to be joking, that is why some spend time working lotto, while others frequently attend church services expecting that moneys would come from heaven.
"We judges have our allowances delayed yet we are working." Justice Appau described the situation as unfortunate and apologised for the inconvenience caused.
The State Attorneys said they would stay away from the courts until their demands were met. They are demanding the shortfall in the payment of their fuel, clothing and leave allowances.
The Minister of Justice and Attorney - General, Papa Owusu-Ankomah described the action as "unfortunate". He said as professionals, they had the responsibility to set good examples adding that it was a matter that could be resolved within the Attorney-General's Department.
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Accra (Greater Accra) 29 May 2003 - The African Youth Command (AYC) on Thursday expressed condolences to the government and people of Algeria over the recent earthquake that claimed the lives of over 2,500 people and rendered thousands homeless.
A statement signed by Dr. F.W Akuffo, President of AYC, said it felt devastated and horrified at the disaster at a time when the government and the people of Algeria were just about to find a solution to the violence, which had bedevilled the country.
"The AYC enjoined all able-bodied citizens of Algeria, both at home and abroad to forget the acrimonious past and rise up in unison to meet challenges presented by the recent devastating earthquakes for the fastest reconstruction of the nation of Algeria," the statement said."
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