GRi Press Review Ghana 17 - 11 - 2000

 

The Daily Graphic

I insisted Odartey-Wellington, others get full military burial

Don't make politics vicious - President urges

 

The Ghanaian Times

Avoid foul language - Mahama advises

Constitution needs amendment

 

The Weekend Statesman

NPP hates violence

 

The Evening News

Ultimatum to judges

 

The Dispatch

Let us swear on fetish - Rawlings

 

The Free Press

Contractors, businessmen campaign for NDC

 

The Guide

Teachers to lay down chalk

 

The Ghana Palaver

MOE to issue Scholarship Directory

 

 

The Daily Graphic

I insisted Odartey-Wellington, others get full military burial

 

The President, Flt. Lt. J.J. Rawlings has stated that he certainly remembers attending the burial of several soldiers who fell in the events of June 4, 1979, including that of Col. Joseph Enninful, the Presiding officer of the Military Tribunal which tried him for the May 15 uprising.  

According to a release by the Armed Forces Public Relations Directorate in Accra on Thursday, the President also stated that with the passage of time, his memory of the events could possibly be blurred.

He was speaking in an interview in reaction to the claim by Mr Michael Odartey-Wellington, son of the late Major-General Odartey-Wellington that the President was not among the pallbearers at the burial of his father as he is trying to suggest.

The Major General was killed in the June 4, 1979 revolution.  

The President had reportedly stated during a courtesy call on him by a delegation of Ga Dangbe queenmothers on November 6, at the Castle, Osu, that he was one of the pallbearers at the burial of the late Major General.

President Rawlings said while he may be wrong about carrying the casket of the late Maj-Gen Odartey-Wellington, the point he sought to make was that despite the anger and the ill-feeling of soldiers at that time, he insisted on the Major-General and other officers being given full military burials.

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Don't make politics vicious - President urges

 

The banner story of the Daily Graphic says President Jerry John Rawlings has appealed to the country's politicians to make the practice of politics less vicious, saying Ghana has gone through traumatic times and should not be pushed towards those past experiences. 

He has therefore asked critics of the government not to impute political motives into every government action.

Speaking at an NDC rally at Akorabo, near Suhum in the Eastern Region, he said the government has a responsibility to the people, whether there is an election or not and will, therefore, seek their welfare for as long as its mandate lasts.

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The Ghanaian Times

Avoid foul language - Mahama advises

 

Dr Edward Mahama, the People's National Convention presidential candidate, has advised his supporters to refrain from using abusive language in their campaigns, reports The Ghanaian Times.

He urged them to rather concentrate on educating the electorate on the party's manifesto, which underlined how the party intended governing the country to improve the living standards of the people. 

Addressing a massive regional rally at Wa on Wednesday, Dr Mahama said under a PNC government, fertilizer depots would be built at key farming centres for farmers.

He said all facilities needed to enhance education would be provided while teachers would be well motivated to give of their best.

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Constitution needs amendment

 

President Jerry John Rawlings on Thursday stated that some aspects of the constitution would have to be amended to give Ghanaians more political and economic justice.

He therefore urged Ghanaians to vote massively for the NDC government to enable it to carry out the necessary changes that would benefit all Ghanaians.

President Rawlings did not specify which areas needed change, when he addressed NDC rallies at Asamankese, Coaltar and Nsawam in the Eastern Region, but said that Ghanaians needed a more vibrant judicial system to deal with their problems.

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The Weekend Statesman

NPP hates violence

 

The NPP flagbearer, J.A. Kufuor says the party will conduct its electioneering campaign within the confines of the law, since it abhors violence, the Weekend Statesman reports.

He, however, called on the Electoral Commission (EC) to conduct free and fair elections, the results of which would be acceptable to all contending political parties.

Mr Kufuor who made this statement during a courtesy call on the Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II and the Asanteman Council at the Manhyia Palace, Kumasi, said the NPP would win the elections and bring to Ghanaians the much needed positive change.

He said he was at Kumasi to seek the support and blessings of the Asantehene and Nananom as the NPP embarked on its journey to electoral victory, since power really belongs to chiefs and the people.

Otumfuo Osei Tutu expressed regret that all elected governments since Dr Kwame Nkrumah were booted out of office and said it is heartening to note that Ghanaians were resolved to ensure a peaceful and democratic change of government.

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The Evening News

Ultimatum to judges

 

The Evening News reports that the Chief Justice, Mr I.K. Abban has ordered all Supervising High Court Judges in all regions to ensure that electoral disputes are heard and disposed off within a week.

The Chief Justice's directive was disclosed to the paper in an interview with Mr George Aflah Aryeetey, acting Judicial Secretary in a comment on the call by civil society groups and individuals for the setting up of special courts to handle electoral disputes.

He said the judiciary is not in the position to set up the special courts to handle disputes from the elections in the manner envisaged by the civil groups.

He added however, that the Chief Justice has directed that to ensure that electoral cases are expeditiously determined, the courts were mandated to sit on non-working days including Saturdays.

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The Dispatch

Let us swear on fetish - Rawlings

 

The Dispatch reports that a supposed NDC mammoth rally at Krobo Odumase on Wednesday turned out being attended by mainly children and became an occasion for President Jerry Rawlings to dare the opposition to swear on fetish, the Bible and the Koran as the truth of what all of them say in their speeches.  

The President said if it is a crime for people to take up arms to overthrow a government, it was equally a crime to misinform the electorate to win their votes for power.

He criticised the judiciary for the slow dispensation of justice, citing a case in which it was alleged that his wife, Nana Konadu Agyeman-Rawlings dealt in cocaine, which has dragged on for five years, and over 30 robbery cases in which the suspects have been granted bail.

The rally ground was said to be virtually empty and a futile attempt to get people to the ground led to the gathering of the children.

"By the time that the rally started, the school children in uniform outnumbered the NDC supporters.

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The Free Press

Contractors, businessmen campaign for NDC

 

The Free Press reports that the latest method being adopted by the NDC in its quest for power in the December elections is an invitation to individuals and companies it offered government contracts, to contribute towards its campaign.

The paper says its sources at the Ghana Highways Authority (GHA) revealed that members of the Ghana Association of Contractors who receive various contracts based on party affiliation and suspected to be mostly NDC members are of late becoming very 'generous' to staff of the GHA.

"You must try to vote the NDC to power. Monkey must not work for baboon to chop," the president of the association, Mr Kupualor was quoted to have told the GHA workers.

The source said as a result of the campaign by the contractors for the NDC, the government is not owing any contractor a pesewa as all funds have been released to them for the projects and campaigning, who in turn made significant contributions to the party.  

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The Guide

Teachers to lay down chalk

 

The Guide reports that the Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT) has threatened to go on strike if their grievances are not resolved by the end of November.

"We believe government will address all the issues especially the medical care, supervision, extra duty allowances and other fringe benefits to the heads of second cycle institutions before the end of November 2000 to prevent teachers from withdrawing their services", they said.

A statement read by GNAT national president, K. Amo Darko, explained that the issues are not new demands but rather genuine approved entitlements, which are denied teachers.

He said actual effective teaching and learning in most of the schools are gradually coming to a halt because of the considerable amount of frustrations teachers are facing.

He was optimistic that the Director General of the Ghana Education Service, Prof. Christopher Ameyaw-Ekumfi and GNAT could work together to ensure that all issues are redressed.

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The Ghana Palaver

MOE to issue Scholarship Directory

 

The Ghana Palaver reports that the Ministry of Education (MOE) is compiling a directory of available scholarship schemes in and outside Ghana to enable students to have easy access to them.

Dr Mohammed Ibn Chambas, Deputy Minister of Education, announcing this in Accra said it is to ease the high cost of education on parents and self-financing students, especially at the tertiary level.

He said in compiling the directory, the MOE has taken note of the existing situation where only children of the rich have access to such schemes to the disadvantage of the poor.

He said effective arrangements were underway to ensure that the schemes do not become the exclusive preserve of the rich.

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