Palestine commends Ghana as it celebrates 13th Anniversary
EGLE party calls for probe into 25,000-dollar gift
Adieso (Eastern Region) 15 November 2001 - Mr. Sallas Mensah, Member of Parliament (MP) for Upper West Akyem on Wednesday criticised the government for contracting loans to the tune of 6.5 trillion cedis within ten months in office.
The MP, who was speaking at the election of executives for the constituency branch of the NDC at Adeiso, said the previous government left behind a debt of 41 trillion cedis.
He described the expenditure on refurbishing ministers' bungalows and the Castle as frivolous and said the government would be held responsible if it failed to fulfil the numerous promises it made to Ghanaians during its electioneering campaign.
He promised to ensure that development projects initiated by the previous government in his constituency were completed to facilitate economic activities.
Officers elected were: Mr. Abudu Sallam, Chairman, Mr George Aryee, Vice Chairman, Ms Doris Toabea, Treasurer, Mr Bruku Owusu, Organiser, Mr Collins Aryee, Secretary and Mr Lawrence Boateng, Propaganda Secretary.
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Kumasi (Ashanti Region) 15 November 2001 - Mr Kofi Asamoah, Deputy Secretary General in charge of operations at the Trades Union Congress (TUC) Ghana, has noted that the Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP), introduced in the country in 1983 has failed.
The SAP, therefore, ought to be entirely reviewed and replaced with a new economic policy centred on Ghanaians as the engine of development prioritising the boosting of Agricultural production and manufacturing industry.
He said the SAP since its introduction had done untold havoc to workers by way of mass retrenchment, job insecurity, blatant abuse of human rights at workplaces, under employment, poor pension and mass unemployment resulting in social insecurity and armed robbery.
Mr Asamoah, who was speaking at the Ashanti Regional Council of Labour meeting being held in Kumasi, on Wednesday said these problems facing workers traced their origins to the rider of globalisation, that was, the World Trade Organisation (WTO), the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
These institutions, he said, had insistently and consistently refused to agree to the inclusion of social clauses in International Labour Organisation's business agreements that ensured respect for workers human rights at the workplace.
The Unionist said globalisation was increasing the gap between the rich and the poor. This was because the policies that drive the globalisation process were largely focussed on the needs of business as demonstrated by the relentless drive to liberalise trade or remove trade barriers, promote privatisation and reduce regulation including protection to workers.
These had had a negative impact on the lives of workers around the world. "Again many poorer nations have been pressurised to orientate their economies towards producing exports and to reduce already inadequate spending on public services such as health and education to repay foreign debt and this forced even more people into a life of poverty and uncertainty", he added.
The TUC, therefore, looked forward to the government to initiate policies in which the worker would have a stake, to address problems of education, health delivery and housing for all people in the country, he stated, adding, "the workers of Ghana are ready to make their contributions to national development as we have done over the years, what we will not accept is to continue to make sacrifices while a few continue to enjoy".
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Accra (Greater Accra) 15 November 2001 - Speakers at a roundtable discussion on the draft Protected Public Interest Disclosure Bill on Wednesday lauded its essence and called for an intensive civic education nation-wide to attract keen public participation in the law.
The forum also suggested the inclusion of the media among institutions to whom disclosure could be made under the proposed legislation, which is also referred to as the 'Whistle Blower' bill.
Institutions mandated by the draft bill to receive disclosures are police officers at a police station, the Attorney General, the Auditor-General, an MP, Serious Fraud Office, Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice and a Chief or head of family of the person making the disclosure.
The roundtable, the final in the series of discussions, was organised by the Institute of Economic Affairs to elicit participants' views towards the preparation of a final document for the consideration of Parliament.
The Bill could be introduced in Parliament by a private individual or by the Executive through the Attorney General.
Mr B.J da Rocha, Senior Fellow of the IEA and Mrs Sabina Ofori-Boateng, Chief State Attorney and Draftsman set the tone for the discussions with an overview of the proposed legislation and the process for its enactment.
Participants included members of the Council of State, all three branches of government, Media, the Bar, statutory bodies, senior public and civil servants, senior military and police officers, and representatives of civil society.
The Bill, initiated as part of efforts to stamp out corruption and other unlawful conduct in the society, provides for the manner in which individuals may disclose information relating to acts of impropriety in both private and public sectors without victimisation.
By the provisions of the bill, an employee can disclose specific wrongdoing of the employer and any victimisation that is suffered as a result would be actionable.
It also provides for reasonable payment to the person making the disclosure in respect of expenses that might have been incurred in the course of the disclosure.
Mr da Rocha explained that the scope of mandated bodies was widened to include chiefs and family heads so as to remove possible inhibitions on the part of persons making the disclosure.
"Many persons, especially, in the rural areas are afraid to go to police or any public official if the person against whom disclosure is made happens to be a big man or woman."
Some participants, however, expressed fears that the protective culture of the Ghanaian society might hinder the effectiveness of action by chiefs and family heads as proposed.
Others also expressed fears about possible delays by the mandated bodies in taking action on disclosures lodged with them and called for specific provisions under the law to compel speedy action on such cases.
Fears were also raised on the type of protection that can be offered people disclosing certain matters deemed highly sensitive and which could put life in danger.
After a lengthy debate on what some contributors perceived as a potential conflict between information under protected disclosure and the Official Secretes Acts, the draftsman explained that the proposed law did not affect information deemed to be an official or state secret.
The view was also expressed that provisions be made in the law to protect personnel of security institutions who would skip their internal chain-of-command process and make disclosures to the mandated bodies from punishment under the regulations of the particular institution.
Most participants, however, disagreed with part of the draft law that seeks to compel whistle blowers to provide their name and other forms of identity before they make any disclosure.
They said such a requirement might scare away people who would want to remain anonymous after reporting wrongdoing.
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Accra (Greater Accra) 15 November 2001 - This year's National Farmers' Day will be held alongside an agricultural fair dubbed Agrifex, Food and Agriculture Minister, Major Courage Quashigah (rtd), announced on Wednesday.
Major Quashigah was speaking at a ceremony, at which eight companies donated items and cash totalling about 58 million cedis towards the Farmers Day, which falls on December 7.
This year's Farmers' Day will be hosted by the Greater Accra Region at the International Trade Fair Centre. Major Quashigah said the best national farmer would take home a three-bedroom house donated by the Agricultural Development Bank to be built at the place of his or her choice.
"The awards are getting more and more attractive year in year out, which means Ghanaians appreciate what farmers and fishermen are doing for the nation," he said, and urged others to donate towards a worthy cause.
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Accra (Greater Accra) 15 November 2001 - The State of Palestine on Wednesday commended President John Agyekum Kufuor and Ghanaians for supporting its struggle for justice and peace and for sending a peacekeeping mission to guarantee a meaningful ceasefire between Israel and Palestine.
A release issued in Accra by the Embassy on the occasion of the 13th anniversary of the declaration of independence, said the step taken by Ghana "will undoubtedly contribute significantly to the achievement of stability in the Middle East". #
It said as Palestine celebrated its anniversary it was imperative to draw the world's attention to acts of genocide being committed against the Palestinian people daily.
"Since the beginning of the Intifada (Uprising) just over a year ago, more than 800 Palestinians have been killed. Amongst the dead have been 200 children, four physicians, six paramedics, three journalists and 32 women.
"Twenty-five persons were killed by Israeli settlers while 93 people were assassinated. Of the 37,000 people who have been injured, 7,500 are children and 1,400 are women."
The release said there were several other human rights abuses of the Palestinian people and reiterated its call for the respect for resolutions passed by the United Nations, including resolutions 242, 338, 425 and 194 on the Palestinian issue.
"All these resolutions affirm the rights of Palestinians to self-determination, a separate state, peace and security and the safe return and integration of refugees."
It called on the international community to live up to its responsibility to protect life and property wherever they may be threatened. "To this end we repeat our call for international observers to protect our people against terror, occupation and ethnic cleansing and to supervise the implementation of a ceasefire."
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NDC will win back power if it heals itself
- Action Forum.
Kumasi (Ashanti Region) 15 November 2001 - The Action Forum of the Ashanti National Democratic Congress (NDC), has said that the NDC would "never see the inside of the Castle walls again if it does not heal itself of the canker created by a few dishonest members high and low".
A statement issued by the Forum and signed by Mr A. K. Mensah, its President, therefore, called on committed party members to give positive expression to what they thought was right and not walk in the shadows of those, who had nothing to offer the party.
It told all NDC members that the Forum was committed to the qualitative survival of the party as it must prepare for the 2004 elections adding that those who would, therefore, treat the Forum with contempt would find out belatedly that 2004 would be an illusion.
The statement said it was unfortunate for Mr Nti-Fordjour, Ashanti Regional Vice-Chairman of the NDC, to claim that the Forum was unknown to the party in Ashanti and that it was set out to cause division and confusion in the NDC.
It debunked the claim by Mr Nti-Fordjour that the party was very much united with the executive enjoying the confidence of the rank and file and that the party was on course in Ashanti and ready to capture power in 2004.
Action Forum would want to state that anybody who knew the NDC party in Ashanti and still believed in the claims of Mr Nti-Fordjour needed an emergency psychiatric evaluation.
The statement said it was commonly known that the regional executives got terribly disoriented years before the 2000 elections and noted that in spite of the many crimes Mr Nti-Fordjour committed, the party leadership in Accra miscalculated and thought the party could still make it through any elections by ignoring the troubles in Ashanti.
It said by a twist of fate Mr Nti-Fordjour found himself in the leadership of the regional party only to assist in its rape and the dismantling of the party organisation after rendering the cadre corps impotent and pushed to the periphery of party planning and organisation.
The statement said the regional executive then suspended, dismissed and clandestinely demoted those, who Mr Nti-Fordjour and his supporters knew could not manipulate to support "their corrupt practices within the party".
The statement asked Mr Nti-Fordjour to answer questions on the handling of the finances of the party. The Action Forum, therefore, renewed its call on the national secretariat of the party to probe Mr Nti-Fordjour and the Regional Secretariat of the party.
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Yendi (Northern Region) 15 November 2001 - Government would provide credit facilities at affordable rates to farmers, modernise and promote agriculture, President John Agyekum Kufuor announced on Wednesday at Yendi.
President Kufuor, who was addressing a durbar of chiefs and people of Dagbon Traditional Area as part of his tour of the Northern Region, said the government would not pay lip service to agriculture but promote it by making available the necessary inputs, machinery and equipment.
"This is the only way to make agriculture attractive and encourage the youth to take to farming", he said, and repeated his call to chiefs to counsel their people to guard against bushfires in the region.
President Kufuor commended the people for the peace, which now prevailed in the area for real progress and development to continue. "It is a good sign that the government has ushered in good governance for all to live in peace and harmony for the progress of our land."
President Kufuor said the Tamale-Yendi road as well as the Yendi-Accra road through Kadjebi would be rehabilitated. Conditions of service for teachers including introducing them to computer literacy would be undertaken by the government to motivate them to give of their best to improve education in the country.
President Kufuor assured the people that their health problems including lack of medical officers for the district hospital would be addressed.
Mr Mohammed Abibu Tijani, District Chief Executive of Yendi, appealed to the government to revive the Malzeri Agricultural Station to boost agricultural production in the district.
The Ya-Naa Yakubu Andani, Paramount Chief of Dagbon Traditional Area, appealed to government to give recognition to 55 chiefs, who have been elevated to paramount status.
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Accra (Greater Accra) 15 November 2001 - The six Ghana Affiliate of the Public Services International (PSI) on Wednesday urged the World Trade Organisation (WTO) to fully integrate core labour standards into all International Trade Agreements to ensure that foreign investments did not undermine worker's right.
The Affiliate in a resolution to coincide with just ended fourth Ministerial Conference of the WTO held in Doha, Qatar, deplored the WTO's involvement in the general agreement on trade in services (GATS) which was a blatant suppression of the rights of governments to maintain essential services in public administration.
The six Affiliate which are National Unions within the Trades Union Congress (TUC) are the Health Services Workers Union (HSWU), Public Services Workers Union (PSWU), Teachers and Educational Workers Union (TEWU), Local Government Workers Union (LGWU), Public Utility Workers Union (PUWU) and the Construction and Building Materials Workers Union (CBWU).
The resolution supported a sustainable, socially just and democratically accountable trade system in the world. It strongly resolved that basic services such as health, education, water and energy distribution and other utilities should not be subject to international free trade rules.
They condemned the destructive nature of globalisation fired by corporate greed of Multinationals, which was an affront to the fundamental principles and rights at work.
They also condemned globalisation that undermined the legitimate regulatory role of the State as well as globalisation, which rather helped the rich and severely hurt the poor and increased poverty among women.
The resolution, which was signed by all the General Secretaries of the six National Unions, called for a radical reform in WTO policies to enable member countries to have the equal right to fully participate in the policy framework of the organisation.
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Tamale (Northern Region) 15 November 2001 - The Volta River Authority (VRA) is seeking funding from lending agencies to reinforce the radial line from Kumasi through Sunyani to ensure constant and reliable power supply to Northern Ghana.
Mr Tony Gadzi, Area Manager in charge of Transmission announced this at the 40th anniversary celebration of the VRA in Tamale on Tuesday.
He said the only radial line from Kumasi to Techiman, which serves the north, is unreliable because any problem along the line affects supply to the north.
The anniversary is on the theme "40 years of powering Ghana's development." Mr Gadzi said consumers from the northern sector comprising Northern, Upper East, Upper West and Brong-Ahafo regions owed the VRA about 36 billion cedis.
He said the uneconomic tariffs were inadequate for the VRA to make profit, adding, "this is having a dampening effect on the operations of the authority."
Mr Samuel Agyapong, Commercial Manager, said the VRA would go all out next year to provide all customers with pre-paid metre services to ensure satisfactory delivery.
He asked consumers not to view recent frequent power outages as intentional, saying "they are caused by unplanned disruption along the radial line." He advised health institutions to provide their own standby generators to cater for their power needs during power cuts.
Mr Agyapong said some unscrupulous individuals also vandalise the authority's equipment in some parts of the country resulting in heavy losses and appealed to the public to expose such persons.
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Mankoadze (Central Region) 15 November 2001 - About 150 United States Marines and Navy Personnel on Wednesday made an amphibious landing on the shores of Mankoadze in the Central Region to begin a four-day training programme with their Ghanaian counterparts.
The exercise dubbed - "West African Training Cruise 2002" was aimed at providing humanitarian disaster relief assistance to the people of Mankoadze.
It involved the landing of troops to defeat dissident, who had taken over the area, and extend assistance to the people. One hundred and five officers and men of the Ghana Armed Forces (GAF) made up of 31 from the Navy and 74 from the Army took part in the exercise.
Sub Lieutenant Michael Larbi, of the Directorate of Public Relation of GAF, said the programme, which is organised every two years was a multinational exercise between US and West African troops.
This year, Ghana and Benin were the only two West African countries that opted for the exercise but Benin could not make it. The whole exercise was in four phases.
The first two phases involved the movement of troops in four ships from Sekondi to Mankoadze and the landing and clearing of insurgents on the Mankoadze beach.
The third and the fourth phases would take place on Thursday and would involve the provision of humanitarian relief assistance to the inhabitants and the withdrawal of troops.
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Accra (Greater Accra) 15 November 2001 - The EGLE Party on Wednesday added its voice to calls on the President to institute a full-scale enquiry into the 25,000-dollar gift that was given to officials and players of the Black Stars by a Nigerian politician after the final World Cup qualifying match last July.
A statement signed in Accra by Alhaji Abdul-Rahaman Jamatutu, Vice Chairman of the party, said the description of the largess, as a gift by officials should be ignored.
"It is most regrettable that less than a year of being in office, the NPP government has been caught in such an 'international corruption'. This has cast serious doubts about the sincerity of the government to its concept of 'zero tolerance for corruption'."
Alhaji Jamatutu referred to former Prime Minister Kofi Abrefa Busia's statement that officials should not accept gifts, as they were bribes and said the party agreed with the statement.
"The EGLE Party is indeed concerned about the new found terminology of 'gifts' for 'bribes'...If this trend continues, then no public official can be accused of corruption in the government of Positive Change as virtually all bribes come in the form of gifts."
The Chairman of the Ghana Football Association announced recently that the Governor of River State in Nigeria gave him 25,000 dollars after the World Cup qualifier with Nigeria in Port Harcourt.
He said he declined to accept it but took it when he was told that the Governor always gave gifts to countries that honoured their matches at Port Harcourt.
The news has triggered a public outcry against the officials and footballers as the public said the Black Stars were bribed. Ghana lost the match 3-0 thus giving Nigeria the ticket to Japan/Korea 2002.
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