President Kufuor attends one-week rites of Barima Karikari
Kansawurodo (Western Region) 13 November 2001 - About 100 graves at Kansawurodo and Ketan cemeteries in the Shama Ahanta East Metropolitan area have been looted within two weeks.
The desecrated graves were between 10 and 20 years old, Seth Ecremet, the Metropolitan Environmental Health Officer, told the media on Monday.
Mr Ecremet, who took newsmen round to inspect the graves said, even though, there had been grave looting in the past, none has been on such a large scale. No one had been arrested.
He explained that the situation apart from posing serious health hazards to nearby communities also degraded the environment by leaving several holes and trenches into which unsuspecting mourners, who went to the cemeteries to bury their relatives, could fall.
Mr Ecremet warned all persons involved in the practice to stop since anyone caught would not be spared. In another development, the Takoradi cemetery would soon be closed down due to congestion.
He said as an interim measure, the Kansawurodo cemetery would be used, while arrangements were made to get a permanent cemetery at Mampong, a suburb of Takoradi.
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Kumasi (Ashanti Region) 13 November 2001 - The government of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) had within its 11 months in office, restored hope and vibrancy into the country's economy, Nana Kwame Asante-Frimpong, Member of Parliament (MP) for Kwabre said on Sunday.
He said the indicators showed that the economy, pushed to the brink of virtual collapse by 20 years of bad management by the past administration, had now been given a new lease of life and was showing signs of recovery.
Nana Asante-Frimpong was speaking at the formal inauguration of the Ashanti Regional Women's Wing of the NPP at the Jackson Park in Kumasi.
He said Ghanaians should exercise a little more patience as the government carried through with its carefully planned and well thought out policies and programmes. "We are not going to disappoint you, but lead the nation to real economic growth and prosperity", the MP added.
Mr Lord Commey, National Organiser of the NPP, said the government, would live up to its electoral promise of promoting the welfare of the Ghanaian woman.
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Ashaiman (Greater Accra) 13 November 2001 - The Ashaiman branch of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) has called on the National Executive Committee of the party to work hard to bring back all those who defected from the party.
Mr Alfred Agbesi, Chairman of the Ashaiman Constituency NDC Re-organisation Task Force, noted that so long as defectors remained outside the NDC, "the grassroots will continue to believe that there are cracks in the party and the re-organisation will be taken as a hoax".
He told the Ashaiman Constituency Delegates' Conference of the NDC at which new officers were elected for a two-year term that out of annoyance or disagreement with the leadership style, some NDC members and Provisional National Defence Council (PNDC) operatives left the party and joined or formed other political parties, adding, this was the time to convince them to come back.
Mr Agbesi, a Tema based legal practitioner, called on the national committee of the party to make it obligatory for the constituency leadership to hold office for two years as stipulated in the NDC Constitution, Article 15, sub-section two.
He said members believed that the non-compliance of this provision at the constituency, regional and national levels, was one of the major causes that led to the party's defeat in the 2000 presidential and parliamentary elections.
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Doha (Qatar) 13 November 2001 - A "Third Force Group" comprising some ministers from developing and least-developed countries has emerged at the World Trade Organisation (WTO) Doha Conference and are putting pressure for the inclusion of a dramatic new approach to trade.
The Ministers from Cuba, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Haiti, Honduras, Kenya, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Pakistan, Peru, Senegal, Seri Lanka, Uganda and Zimbabwe are demanding a pro-poor approach on agriculture, which is among the most contentious issues at the conference.
These issues have been brought together in the proposal for a "Development Box". They want measures to protect small-scale farmers in developing countries from floods of subsidised imports from the European Union (EU) and the US to be included in any new trade talks in the Fourth Ministerial Conference in Doha.
Mr Duncan Green, Trade Policy Analyst of Cadfod, a British non-governmental organisation (NGO), who had worked along side developing countries delegations told journalists on Sunday that the rich countries currently spent one billion dollars a day to subsidise farmers, which in turn led to cheap products being dumped on developing countries, destroying the livelihood of farmers.
He said "the Development Box" was exciting and innovative because it was a genuine attempt to make trade laws work for the poor, adding that it responded to what was seen in some 80 countries where the devastation to farmers was caused by the dumping of cheap exports from the North. It also stood in contrast to the empty rhetoric coming from the EU.
This was a genuine Third Force in the WTO, Mr Green said, pointing out that Friends of Development Box asked for the inclusion of the initiative in the draft ministerial report but were ignored. "They have not given up and today promised to redouble their efforts to win recognition for the idea," he said.
Mr Abdul Razak Dawood, Minister of Trade of Pakistan in an interview said "the impact of unfair agricultural trade has been devastating for our small farmers. We have formed the Friends of Development Box as a Third Force in agriculture negotiations and will fight for the Development Box to be a core component of agreement in agriculture, for we need flexibility to take measures to protect our rural poor".
Mr Edward Rugumayo, Minister of Agriculture in Uganda, said the issue was the influx of food imports - the result of unfair practices in the developed countries, which need a two pronged approach, raising tariffs on food imports, while we negotiate with the developed countries for the phased removal of their subsidies.
Sr Hugo Maximiliano Guiliani, Minister of Industry and Commerce of the Dominican Republic, in his contribution said, "this group is essential because it enables our country to be taken into account and exert some influence on agriculture negotiations to achieve the key object of rural development and food security".
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Accra (Greater Accra) 13 November 2001 - An official at the Environment Unit of the African Development Bank (AfDB) on Monday warned African nations not to sacrifice environmental consequences for industrial development, a mistake industrialised nations made in the past.
Mr Oumar Aw said although industrial development was a necessity for Africa; its environmental effects had long-term consequences and should not be sacrificed for financial gain.
He told the opening section of a two-day training workshop for some 30 environmental experts drawn from AfDB member-countries in Africa, who have converged in Accra to discuss the "Nine Industrial Sub-Sector Guidelines" designed by the bank.
The guidelines, initiated in the early 1990's contain important information and directives on sound environmental management and operational practices during the project cycle.
"These are intended to ensure that environmental aspects are considered early enough to reduce pollution problems associated with industrial development," Mr Aw said.
He said in the 1950's and 1960's industrial countries experienced serious pollution problems that reduced the welfare of their peoples and resulted in high clean-up costs.
Mr Aw said even though development did not occur without adverse effects, it was important that stakeholders on all sides of the development paradigm considered the overall impact of their activities. He said the cost of the success stories of newly industrialised countries should remain important lessons for Africa.
Mrs Anna Nyamekye, Deputy Minister of Environment and Science, lauded the AfDB initiative and said a similar programme was being prepared for Ghana in consultation with the Environmental Protection Agency.
She said a monthly environmental quality-monitoring programme that sought to promote self-regulation by industries had also been instituted.
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Tema (Greater Accra) 13 November 2001 - The Police in Tema has arrested four suspected armed robbers who broke into the premises of Ghana Emulsion Company Limited and stole 10 heavy duty tyres and six million cedis on November Four, this year.
The suspects, Dodzi Odunu, alias "Lucky", leader of the gang, Sampana Patrick Ayamba, a driver and one Mohammed are in police custody pending further investigations into the case.
The fourth suspect, Alhaji Kassim Nahana, businessman is alleged to have made an advance payment of 700,000 cedis to Odunu to facilitate the theft and the transportation of the tyres.
Mrs Agnes Sikanartey, Tema Regional Police Commander said the police has also written to the management of Delta Security Service, a private security company at Tema to hand over two security guards of the company, suspected to have conspired with the robbers to commit the crime.
In another development, two out of six armed robbers, who robbed Automotive Springs Company at Kpone, on Sunday, were lynched by a mob. They left behind 10.3 million cedis and 900 US dollars they stole from the company.
The robbers, however, shot and wounded Police Constable Awudu Razak, who, despite running out of ammunition, struggled with two of the robbers, who had the money, until people came to his aid.
Chief Superintendent Agnes Sikanartey told the media that the robbers attacked the company, which manufactures springs for heavy duty vehicles, at about 14:30 hours.
Wielding locally manufactured pistols, they tied the two watchmen in separate rooms. They then broke into the company offices and stole the money warning that they would come back. The security men, who managed to free themselves, rushed to the Kpone Police barrier and lodged a complaint.
Three policemen at the barrier sought reinforcement from the Kpone Police Station and were joined by a Constable who was then off-duty.
When the four Policemen reached the company, the robbers had escaped into the bush but the Police pursued them into the bush where they exchanged fire with them.
Before escaping, one of the robbers struggled with one of the Policeman in an attempt to snatch his AK 47 riffle and this resulted in the firing of several shots into a private car, whose owner was assisting the Police. Mrs Sikanartey said Constable Razak, who was shot in the stomach was receiving treatment at the Police Hospital in Accra.
The Police retrieved two locally manufactured pistols from the two lynched robbers, who were yet to be identified, while investigations were going on to arrest the four others, who escaped.
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Gomao-Ngyiresi (Central Region) 13 November 2001 - Madam Efua Attah, Pastor of the Gomoa-Ngyiresi branch of the Twelfth Apostle Church, is helping the Police in their investigation into the circumstances that led to the death a 19 year-old girl.
Sources close to the Police at Ngyiresi told the media on Sunday that the deceased was sent to Madam Attah for healing a couple of weeks ago by her parents.
The sources further said the mother of the deceased whose name was not immediately Known, returned to the healing camp last Thursday just to be told that her daughter had died and was buried behind the Chapel by the pastor with the assistance of some church members.
The woman reported the case to the Police and Madam Attah was arrested. The chief and elders of Gomoa-Ngyiresi have ordered her to leave the town.
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Accra (Greater Accra) 13 November 2001 - Designated registration centres in Accra have been recording increased figures of the unemployed, three days to the official close of the nation-wide exercise to collect data on the jobless, registration officials said on Wednesday.
The Ghana News Agency said its correspondents visiting the centres at Pig Farm, Tudu, New Town, Alajo and Nima, observed long queues of anxious job seekers going through the registration process.
Mrs Celestine Tettey, a registration official at the PIG Farm Lorry Station centre, said she could register about 1,000 people by the close of the exercise on Thursday. She had already registered about 730 people since the exercise started some 10 days ago.
She said most of the job seekers were petty traders, school dropouts, carpenters, dressmakers and drivers. Mr Kingsley Dartey, an official at the Alajo centre, said he needed an extra hand to cope with the influx of people coming to register.
The initial response was poor as people adopted a wait-and-see attitude, but they were now coming out in their numbers following an intensive public education, he said.
Mr Tony Dekpey, one of the three officials at the Nima Social Centre, said about 1,078 people had been registered. Mr Frank Osei, the official at Tudu, said he had registered 765 people but not without difficulty in coping with the anxious long queue.
The government launched the two-week exercise under the auspices of the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Action for Employment Generation to provide data and profiles of the jobless youth to enable it to develop appropriate interventions and to give relevant training.
It is taking place in 360 centres throughout the country, comprising 66 public employment centres of the Labour Department and convenient centres that District Chief Executives had identified.
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Kumasi (Ashanti Region) 13 November 2001 -President John Agyekum Kufuor on Monday attended the one-week funeral rites of Barima Kofi Karikari, Abusuapanin, Head of the Asante Royal Family, at Manhyia, Kumasi.
Alhaji Malik Yakubu Alhassan, Minister of the Interior, Mr Ernest Debrah, Brong Ahafo Regional Minister, Mr Edward Osei Kwaku, Minister for Youth and Sports and Lieutenant-General Joshua Hamidu, National Security Co-ordinator accompanied the President Kufuor.
Kyeame Boakye Yam, one of Asantehene's linguists, on behalf of Otumfuo Ossei Tutu 11, presented a pot-full of palm wine and six bottles of schnapps to the President Kufuor and his entourage as custom demanded.
The President in turn presented a carton of schnapps to the Asantehene and later called on the Asantehemaa, Nana Afua Kobi Serwaah Ampem 11 to express his condolences to her. He presented her with six bottles of assorted drinks. President Kufuor is due to begin a tour of the Northern Region on Tuesday.
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