I
didn't write anonymous letter- Owusu-Barnafo
Unemployment
contributing to indiscipline-Dan Lartey
Mining industry facing mixed fortunes
Master
biotechnology to add value to country's products
New
sweet potatoes varieties source of vitamin A - Otoo
Minister
speaks on surface mining
Workshop
on Planned Genetic Research conservation opens
Presidential
Commission on AIDS to be set up
Independent
investigation to be conducted into shooting incident
I
didn't write anonymous letter- Owusu-Barnafo
Accra (Greater Accra)
06 November 2002 - Dr Albert Owusu-Barnafo, a prosecution witness on Tuesday
denied ever writing an anonymous letter to Hanny Sherry Ayittey, one of the
four persons standing trial at an Accra Fast Track Court (FTC).
Dr Owusu-Barnafo who
was cross-examined by Johnny Quarshie-Idun, Counsel for Ayittey, however
admitted that a letter he wrote was addressed to Ayittey and the then Ghana
Water and Sewerage Corporation Board of which she (Ayittey) was a member.
After Counsel had
shown both letters to the court and they were admitted into evidence, witness
read them after which he made the denial as being the author of the anonymous
letter titled: "A word to the wise is enough."
Osafo Sampong,
Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) raised an objection to witness authorship
but the trial Judge Justice J.C. Amonoo-Monney, an Appeal Court Judge with
additional responsibility on the case as a High Court Judge overruled the
objection saying that the admission of the document will not be prejudicial to
the case.
Ayittey, treasurer of
the 31st December Women's Movement (DWM), Emmanuel Amuzu Agbodo, former
Executive Secretary of the Divestiture Implementation Committee, Ralph
Casely-Hayford, businessman and Sati Dorcas Ocran, housewife, are being tried
for their alleged involvement in bribery and corruption activities in
connection with the privatisation of the Ghana Rubber Estates Limited (GREL).
They have all pleaded not guilty and each of them is on a self-recognisance
bail.
Dr Owusu-Barnafo,
agent of a South African based electronic company, suppliers of
telecommunication equipment to GWSC told the court that Ayittey forced him to
abandon the company and join Expoma.
Witness said he worked
with Expoma on the instructions of Ayittey but could not tell the court the
exact date. He said "I would have to cross-check with my records to know
exactly when Ayittey asked me to abandon Grinaaker Electronic Systems, the
South African company and work with Expoma.”
Earlier, Dr
Owusu-Barnafo told the court that he, Etienne Popeler, second prosecution
witness and Mrs Georgina Okaitey another prosecution witness yet to testify,
went to Ayittey’s house to present an amount of ˘25m to her. Witness however
said Ayittey led him into her sitting room where he delivered the money.
Asked by Counsel whether
the other two people who accompanied him were present, witness replied in the
negative but said Ayittey's daughter was in the room walking around. The case
has been adjourned to Monday 11 November for continuation.
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Unemployment
contributing to indiscipline-Dan Lartey
Accra (Greater Accra)
06 November 2002 - Dan Lartey, leader of the Great Consolidated
Popular Party (GCPP)
on Tuesday attributed the spate of indiscipline in the country to mass
unemployment and poverty and said "the current campaign against
indiscipline would fail if pragmatic measures were not taken to address those
concerns.
He said the country's
fragile economy corrupt culture and lawless society had direct link with
unemployment and the poverty situation in the country and called for swift
attention to make the campaign against indiscipline achieve the desired
results. "Corruption must be vigorously fought against to change the lives
and attitudes of government officials as a first step of stamping out
indiscipline in Ghana", he told the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in Accra on
Tuesday.
"Corruption is
high, the economy is in shambles, our culture is in jeopardy, no order in the
society and indiscipline is rife. All these put together brings confusion in
the country," he emphasized.
He said
"unemployment generates idleness and if it is that the devil finds work
for the idle hand then one can discern what will be the behaviour of a person
who did not know where his next meal will come from. Again poverty leads to
despondency with its attendant frustrations and it is wondered how a man in
that state could cherish discipline.
"Corruption destroys
objectivity and blinds man to do the right thing and thus one could be sure of
a kind of society we have in the face of unemployment, poverty and
corruption"
He said from the
foregone conclusion if indiscipline, which has eaten into the fabric of the
Ghanaian society was not fought against and eliminated through the current
crusade against wrongdoing was bound to fail.
He said the situation
in the country made it very difficult for some Ghanaians to adjust their lives
doing things decently thereby resorting to armed robbery and other social vices
to survive adding, "society can not thrive on roguery and the survival of
the fittest syndrome."
Lartey said the
"inability of governments to domesticate the country's natural resources
compelled the rural folk to migrate to the cities; a situation that was
creating productive vacuum in the rural areas and thereby leading to depopulate
and disintegrate towns and villages."
He called on all
political leaders to join hands in the fight against poverty, corruption,
unemployment, to make Ghana a home of peace and prosperity.
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Osafo-Maafo
leads team to monetary meeting
Accra (Greater Accra)
06 November 2002 - Finance Minister, Yaw Osafo-Maafo is leading a Government
delegation to the meetings of the Technical Committee of the Governors and
Convergence Council of Ministers of West Africa Monetary Zone (WAMZ) from November
4-8 in Conakry, Guinea.
A statement issued in
Accra on Tuesday said the Minister is the current Chairman of the Convergence
Council of WAMZ. The Council is made up of ministers of Finance,
Trade/Commerce, Foreign Affairs, Integration and Co-operation of countries that
belong to the zone.
It said some of the
issues to be discussed include the implementable timetable for the
establishment of the WAMZ and the achievement of the convergence criteria
necessary for the establishment of a common Central Bank.
The meeting, the
statement said, would end with a summit of Heads of States of member Countries
to consider recommendations of the Council on issues relating to the
establishment of the zone.
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Mining
industry facing mixed fortunes
Accra (Greater Accra)
06 November 2002 - The mining industry in Ghana is facing mixed Fortunes as some
companies are doing well, while others have no choice but fold up and relocate
elsewhere in other African countries.
The Ghana Chamber of
Mines (GCM) has noted that apart from Ashanti Goldfields Company (AGC) Group
and Gold Fields Ghana Limited, which are doing extremely well, most of the
others, are just surviving. This is because the mining industry in Ghana is
faced with declining number of reconnaissance and prospecting activities,
leading to a dwindling number of mining licenses granted in the last few years.
GCM sources told the
Ghana News Agency (GNA) Business Desk that AGC is making it because it has,
among other things, "its tentacles in a host of countries with more
friendly legal mining environments". In its third quarter report, for
instance, the sparkle in Ashanti stood out clearly with its un-audited accounts
showing earnings of ˘22.5m.
Ashanti is also
expanding its three key mines - Gieta in Tanzania, Iduapriem/Teberebie in Ghana
and Siguiri in Guinea. This was a 55 per cent improvement over the
corresponding period last year.
Ashanti having closed
down its surface mining operations in Obuasi is actively pursuing its
operations at Siguiri in Guinea, Freda Rebecca in Zimbabwe, Geita in Tanzania
(which is 50 percent owned) aside what is at Iduapriem, Teberebie and Bibiani
and is making great earnings.
On the flip side, a
number of mining companies have decided to close down due to what they called
the "unfavourable" mining environment in Ghana, Sulemanu Koney,
Director, Analysis Research and Administration of the Chamber said.
The Chamber is also
disturbed about the continued delay in outdooring a new comprehensive mining
code that is reported to be before Cabinet. The GNA Business Desk found that
there is very little exploration going on while the few projects underway are
all on hold. In the exploration sector alone, about 10 companies in exploration
and other mining service areas have been relocated in other countries on the
continent.
They include Ausdril,
Cluff Mining, Drill Sure, Guinea Coast Mining, Stanley Mining, West Africa
Drilling Services, Barnex Prestea and Degussa Huls. This is so because mining
by nature requires on-going exploration to discover ore to replenish what has
been mined.
Koney explained that
if the situation continues, Ghana would only be heading for a bad patch.
"This means that the industry needs to start finding new ore bodies very
soon if future production is not to decline."
Koney said the mining
industry in Ghana requires junior companies at all times to provide services,
conduct more exploration resulting in the opening of new mines across the
country.
Statistics made
available to the GNA indicate that from a high of 62 mining licences issued in
1997, the number dropped sharply to 20 the following year and to only eight
last year. Reconnaissance licenses went from a low of two in 1991 to 42 in 1995
but slumped to 11 in 2001.
Investigations also
revealed that all gold mining companies, for instance, recorded negative output
and growth except Gold Fields Ghana Limited (GFG). Some Chamber members said
mining in Ghana itself is fast losing its attractiveness especially in looking
for new deposits. Ghana recently lost its position on the list of favoured
mining investment destinations.
This, they said, is seriously
stalling growth in the industry, adding that no new mine has been opened since
1996, except the operation of surface mining activities which "only have
10-year life-span."
The Members of the Chamber
who spoke to the GNA Business Desk also said the current situation where zero
rated tax obligations have risen to one per cent and five percent, is driving
some of their colleagues out of business and out of the country.
Amansie Limited is
billed to close down by the end of the year. "We believe that these are
worrying signs which the government and society should deal with. We can
confirm that all the gold mining companies for instance are recording negative
output and revenue growth except Gold Fields Ghana Limited."
Gold Fields Ghana
posted a 40 percent increase in production from 376,004 ounces in 2000 to
527,030 ounces last year. Mineral proceeds improved from 105.2 million dollars
to 143.3 million dollars, representing a 36 percent increase.
Koney said Ashanti
Goldfields Company (AGC) suffered a 13 percent drop in production mainly due to
the closure of its surface mines in Obuasi and Ayanfuri. "Consequently,
its production share dropped from 49 percent in 2000 to 45 percent in 2001."
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Master
biotechnology to add value to country's products
Accra (Greater Accra)
05 November 2002 - Major Courage Quashigah (rtd), Minister of Food and
Agriculture, on Tuesday appealed to Ghanaian scientists to apply biotechnology
to add value to primary and secondary products to make them competitive on the
international market.
"It will interest
you to know that biotechnology innovations have made it possible for cocoa
butter substitutes to be produced from diary proteins using micro-organisams.
"He made the appeal when he opened a national roundtable discussion on the
development and application of biotechnology in Ghana.
Biotechnology and
Nuclear Agriculture Research Institute (BNARI) organised the discussion under
the theme; the role of biotechnology in the modernisation of Ghana's
agriculture. It forms part of a series of discussions leading to the
celebration of the 10th anniversary of biotechnology in Ghana in
March next year.
Major Quashigah said
as a developing country, with an agrarian economy, it was imperative that Ghana
intensified its development and application of biotechnology in order to
harness its immense potential.
He commended BNARI on
their vision and efforts in organising the forum at a most critical situation
of the country's development agenda. He said, "new developments in
biotechnology have increased our vulnerability with respect to the exploitation
of our biodiversity, consequently inventions and innovations from publicly
financed research must be effectively protected and managed."
The Minister said
Ghana certainly endorsed science and technology as a critical tool, not only as
a reward for development but as an agent of positive change in its quest for
economic growth and sustainable development and with biotechnology as a
critical part of that process.
He said government has
recognised the critical role biotechnology could play in its poverty reduction
strategy and has appropriately instituted a national coordination committee to
oversee aspects of the safe application of biotechnology.
Major Quashigah said
the ministry would continue to encourage and support programmes and projects targeted
for production, processing, storage, preservation and packaging. He said,
"the first century of the new millennium will not only belong to
information and communication technology but also to biotechnology and its
immense potential to contribute to human and animal health, agriculture and
food production, manufacturing and sustainable development."
Prof Dominic Fobih,
Minister of Environment, Science and Technology, in a speech read for him said
the ministry has developed a national science and technology policy which among
others endorsed the use of innovative and pervasive technologies including
biotechnology as a tool for development.
He said biotechnology
has become a key issue in the international debate on sustainable development.
The Ministry therefore, was developing technical capability to ensure the safe
and environmental sound management of biotechnology in Ghana.
He said in pursuance
of that, the ministry was reconstituting a multidisciplinary national
bio-safety committee charged with the responsibility of developing systems for
an effective and efficient management.
He said Ghana was now
among about 100 countries being assisted by the UN environmental programmes in
conjunction with global environment facility to develop her national bio-safety
framework and help build national capacity in sound management of
biotechnology.
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New
sweet potatoes varieties source of vitamin A - Otoo
Jukwa (Central Region)
06 November 2002- The Crop Research Institute (CRI) on Tuesday, organised a
durbar at Jukwa near Cape Coast to introduce new varieties of sweet potatoes,
it had developed.
The varieties labelled
Sauti, Santom and Tona, Saara and Okumkum, which are rich in vitamin A, were
developed five years ago and has short maturing period. Speaking at the function,
the Director of the Institute, Dr John Otoo, said the problem of vitamin A
deficiency would be drastically reduced if the varieties were cultivated on a
large scale.
He said two of the
varieties, which could be used for industrial purposes, have already been
accepted internationally. Dr Otoo urged the government to help promote the
crop, which he said could be another major source of foreign exchange for the
country.
Mr Issac Edumadze,
Central Regional Minister, commended the Institute for making its research
findings available and urged farmer to reciprocate the gesture by adopting the
crop since it had great potential for the country.
He called on school
authorities to establish sweet potatoes demonstration farms to encourage the
youth and students to go into the cultivation of the crop. Mr Edumadze, urged
district assemblies to assist schools that would cultivate the crop and advised
sweet potatoes farmers to form cooperatives to enable them get credit and ready
market.
Mr Abraham Odoom, DCE
for Twifo-Hemang Lower Denkyira, said Agriculture would remain the priority of
the assembly and said 30 farmers were recently sponsored for training in snail,
grass cutter, prekese and lesy vegetables production in Kumasi.
Mrs Mary Opoku-Asiama,
Regional Director of Agriculture, asked farmers to adopt the crop and increase
production since it had a bright future.
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Minister
speaks on surface mining
Accra (Greater Accra)
06 November 2002-Presidential Affairs and Information Minister, Mr Jake
Obetsebi-Lamptey on Tuesday said with the right kind of technology and
machinery, companies could engage in surface mining and still protect the environment.
Contributing at a
media encounter in Accra on Tuesday on what efforts the Western Regional
Co-ordinating Council was making to reduce the threat of surface mining
(galamsey) to the environment, Mr. Obetsebi- Lampety indicated that government
was not against surface mining.
Its concern, he said,
was the threat of surface mining to the environment, hence its emphasis on
regularisation and the use of the right technology.
Initiated by the
Ministry of Information and Presidential Affairs, the encounter dubbed,
"Meet the Press" was to throw light on government's achievements,
plans and progress of development projects since January 2001. The Brong Ahafo,
Eastern and Central Regions had already had their turns.
Mr Joseph Aidoo, the
Western Regional Minister, who was the prime speaker said operation of
"galamsey" had been a security and health concern adding that their
activities were causing an indiscriminate damage to the environment.
He said he had
discussed with the Minister of Mines to demarcate virgin areas of land with
gold deposits to enable galamsey boys to operate as small scale-scale miners,
adding that the Ministry had given its approval and the RCC had tasked the
Mines Department to identify and map out areas suitable for small-scale mining.
He said under this
programme, leaders of the galamsey boys would be licensed and bonded to ensure
that they operated within the environmental laws so as not to degrade the
environment.
When Mr Aidoo turned
to chieftaincy, and said that the institutions had given the region some of its
anxious moments, bringing laughter among the crowed which included Mrs Gladys
Asmah, Minister for Women and Children's Affairs and MP for Takoradi.
He said disputes
existed in almost every traditional area in the region noted that Dadieso,
Asakragwa, Awudua, Adum Banso, Elubo, Chirano and Sefwi Anwiaso were flashpoint
point areas,
"With tact and
support of the Regional Security Council (REGSEC), my administration has been
able to stand firm against all disturbing storms from the chieftaincy
institution," Mr. Aidoo said.
Mr Aidoo said the
REGSEC initiated a programme to establish a Regional Communication Network to
enhance the operation of the security agencies and with assistance of some
mining companies and banks 41,000 dollars were raised for the procurement of
communication equipment and accessories.
He said security
patrol teams would be hooked to the communication network whose installation
was about to be completed, and when ready, the network would link the mining companies,
particularly those in Tarkwa and the banks in the metropolis to the security
operation room in the regional capital.
Mr. Aidoo expressed
displeasure at the high level of smuggling of cocoa along the border towns to
neighbouring Cote d'Ivoire and said since December 2001, the RCC had arranged a
joint police and military patrol exercise along the Western border to bring the
situation under control.
Government through
COCOBOD was also spending 45 million cedis a month on the border patrol, the
Regional Minister said, and added that to ease the burden, the RCC had launched
the Anti-Cocoa Smuggling Fund, which, he said, had been well-supported by
private cocoa buying companies.
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Workshop
on Planned Genetic Research conservation opens
Bunso (Eastern Region)
06 November 2002- The Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) representative
in Ghana, Mr Anatolio Ndong Mba, has called on all stakeholders to support the
Plant Genetic Research Centre (PGRC) to develop the National Strategic Plan on
Plant Genetic Resources Conservation (PGRC) and use.
He said the
conservation, sustainable utilisation and fair and equitable distribution of
benefits from their use are of international concerns and are imperative. Mr.
Mba said this at the opening of a three-day strategic planning workshop for
Plant Genetic Resources Conservation and use in Ghana at the Bunso Cocoa
College at Bunso being attended by 31 Researchers from Ghana, Kenya and Benin.
It was sponsored by
the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MOFA), Council for Scientific and
Industrial Research (CSIR), the International Plant Genetic Resources Institute
(IPGRI) based in Kenya, and the FAO.
Mr Mba said plant
genetic resources, one of the most fundamental and essentials of all resources
on earth were seriously threatened, adding, "their loss will touch each
and everyone of us and endanger future generations."
"The lack of
capacity to conserve and optimally utilise these resources undermines the quest
for food security and sustainable development, for they are essential for
sustainable agricultural production," he said
The FAO representative
said if properly managed, those resources would never be depleted, as there is
no inherent incompatibility between conservation and utilisation.
Professor Alfred
Oteng-Yeboah, Deputy Director-General of CSIR, hoped that the workshop would
further strengthen the CSIR and PGRC to provide partnership to all relevant
stakeholder groups in Ghana to ensure that the Ghanaian PGR is conserved and
sustained.
He expressed the
belief that the outcome of the workshop would prepare the way for the effective
implementation of the international treaty on PGR for food and agriculture in
the country.
Prof. Oteng-Yeboah
tasked the participants to come out with a proper policy direction on the
convergence between agriculture, environment and conservation. "We should
be able to provide strategies between these three sectors so that as we promote
PGR, we do not do so at the expense of any of these sectors," he said.
According to him, the
centre has been operating on very modest resources with an infrastructure that
is meagre and appealed for support for the centre to operate at maximum level.
Dr Samuel
Bennett-Lartey, Head of PGRC at Bunso said to safeguard the plant genetic
resources it should be the collective responsibility of all stakeholders to
sustain and conserve them.
He hoped that at the
end of the workshop the participants would be able to come out with a strategic
plan for the PGR work in Ghana in which all stakeholders would know their
roles.
Dr Bennett-Lartey said
PGRC had worked hard on the conservation and utilisation of these resources,
which, he said, were being threatened by many factors both man-made and
natural.
"If we want to
benefit from these resources now and in the future, then, we should all put our
hands on deck and find ways and means of salvaging our threatened PGR." he
stressed.
Mr Kwesi Atta-Krah,
Regional Director of IPGRI based in Kenya, who gave the overview and objective
of the workshop called for inter-sectoral approach and collaboration toward the
development of a sound strategic plan to conserve the country's plant genetic
resources.
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Presidential
Commission on AIDS to be set up
Kumasi (Ashanti
Region) 06 November 2002- The government will soon set up a Presidential Commission
to effectively tackle the spread of HIV/AIDS in the country, Mr Sampson Kwaku
Boafo, Ashanti Regional Minister has said.
This had become
imperative, if the nation was to realise her vision of enriching her human
resource rather than its depletion by the epidemic.
This was contained in
a speech read on his behalf at the opening of a four-day capacity building
training workshop for selected Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) and
Community Based Organisations (CBOs) in Kumasi on Monday.
The workshop, designed
to sensitize the participants on how best to tackle the HIV/AIDS menace, was
organised by the Ashanti AIDS Initiative Network (ASAN) in collaboration with
the Ghana AIDS Commission.
It was on the theme:
"The Role of ASAN in combating HIV/AIDS/STDs menace in Ashanti". Mr
Boafo noted that the epidemic was so "pervasive and devastating that it
required a multi-sectoral response from all segments of the Ghanaian
society".
With the AIDS epidemic
now surpassing civil strifes as the major killer in Africa, there was the need
to approach it with all the seriousness it deserved, he added. Mr Boafo called
on the public and People Living with AIDS (PLWA), in particular, to collaborate
and support the government in its fight against the disease.
Mr Michael Boamey,
Ashanti Regional Co-ordinator of HIV/AIDS, called for attitudinal change in the
sexual behaviour of Ghanaians, cautioning that everybody was at risk. Mr
Godfred Yaw Boateng, President of ASAN, entreated the participants to
judiciously use funds given to them by the Ghana AIDS Commission since the
money was not "Christmas bonus".
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Independent
investigation to be conducted into shooting incident
Kumasi (Ashanti
Region) 06 November 2002- An independent investigation is to be conducted into
the shooting incident that killed Kwame Kusi and injured Hayford Brenya, both
Asante Kotoko fans after last Sunday's premier league match between Kotoko and
Obuasi Goldfields in Kumasi.
A press release issued
by the Ashanti Regional Co-ordinating Council and signed by Mr M.B. Al-Hassan,
a Deputy Director, said the probe was to establish the facts of the incident.
It called on the
public, the bereaved family and Kotoko fans to remain calm for peace to prevail
in the region and also to enable the club adequately prepare for the finals of
the impending Cup Winners Cup.
The release expressed
the condolence of the Regional Minister, Mr Sampson Kwaku Boafo, to the
bereaved family and wished the injured a speedy recovery. Meanwhile, the
Regional Security Council (REGSEC) is scheduled to meet over the shooting
incident on Thursday, 7 November.
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