GRi Newsreel 15 - 11 - 2002
NDC flagbearership bid closes on 23 November
I was invited by the police-Owusu-Barnafo
Opposing factions in Dagbon should seek
peace - Youth
Two suspects in Dagbon crisis arrested
Late submissions may not be dealt with -
Commission
Metropolitan Assembly to participate in
multilateral training
National best farmer awards day to be held
at Takoradi
German government urged to adopt Volta
Region
Girl-students appeal for life sentence on
rapists
Resourceful Ghanaians advised to invest in
cottage industries
Juvenile justice to stand on its own
Minister says Kwesi Pratt is lying
Ministry negotiating tax relief on diabetic
drugs
Nurses' boss calls on Minister of Health
NDC flagbearership bid closes on 23
November
Prospective candidates should therefore, file their papers by that date, the party said in a statement signed by its general secretary, Dr Josiah Aryeh.
The statement said since the National Executive Council has not changed the date, completed forms of prospective candidates should reach the National Secretariat by the specified time.
So far, two candidates- former vice President John Evans
Atta Mills and former Finance Minister Dr Kwesi Botchwey - have expressed their
desire to be the flagbearer of the party an have been campaigning for votes. A
special delegates congress would be held on 21 December at the
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I was invited by the police-Owusu-Barnafo
Answering questions under cross-examination, the witness, Dr Albert Owusu-Barnafo, disagreed with Johnny Quarshie-Idun, counsel for Hanny Sherry Ayittey, one of the four accused persons, that the police arrested him.
Ayittey, treasurer of the 31st December Women's Movement (DWM), Emmanuel Amuzu Agbodo, former Executive Secretary of the Divestiture Implementation Committee, Ralph Casely-Hayford, a businessman, and Sati Dorcas Ocran, a housewife are being tried by an Accra Fast Track Court (FTC) for their alleged corrupt practices in connection with GREL's privatisation.
They have all pleaded not guilty to various charges, and Justice J.C. Amonno-Monney, Appeal Court Judge, sitting on the case as an additional High Court Judge, had granted each of them a self-recognisance bail.
Continuing with his evidence, Dr Owusu-Barnafo, consultant of Societe Industrielle Plantation Hevea (SIPH), the France-based company with majority shareholding in GREL, told the court that the police detained him for two days, from 17 to 18 April of this year, and granted him bail after he had given written statements.
Dr Owusu-Barnafo disagreed with a suggestion by counsel that his detention, writing of statements, and his being granted bail meant, "arrest by the police". He further disagreed with counsel that the police were investigating how monies were withdrawn from GREL's accounts.
Witness told the court that when the police invited him, they wanted to find out what payments were made, and how they were made. He said it was not correct that while in police custody, he sent Madam Georgina Okaitey, another prosecution witness yet to testify, to Ayittey. Dr Owusu-Barnafo said it was also not true that he wanted Ayittey to corroborate all payments that GREL made to the 31st DWM.
Dr Owusu-Barnafo told the court that even though he met Ayittey at the waiting room at the Police Headquarters, he denied ever asking her to corroborate payments allegedly paid to DWM through her. Witness told the court that in his discussions with Ayittey, he only made it clear to her that he was going to tell the truth about all payments that GREL had made to the Movement.
He disagreed with a suggestion by counsel that if his client (Ayittey) corroborated and supported them (he and the second prosecution witness, Etienne Popeler), they would ensure that SIPH refunded monies "stolen" from GREL's accounts.
On the question of monies paid to Ayittey, Dr Owusu-Barnafo disagreed with a suggestion by counsel that apart from two payments, which Madam Okaitey was present, she did not witness any other payments.
Witness told the court that, for instance, Madam Okaitey saw the 20,000 dollar-cheque, which he presented to Ayittey. "In August 1996, together with Madam Okaitey, we carried ¢25m cash to Ayittey. She saw me carrying the cash in a bag to Ayittey, and later coming out of her sitting room without the bag." The case has been adjourned to Wednesday, November 20 for continuation of cross-examination by counsel.
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Kumasi
Among the mourners were President John Kufuor, his wife, Theresa, Ministers of State, members of the Council of State and national executives of the New Patriotic Party (NPP).
President Kufuor clad in a 'Kuntunkuni', on arrival
exchanged greetings with the bereaved family before going to the Presidential
dais where security men had a hectic time trying to control the mourners who
surged forward to catch a glimpse of him. He arrived in
Entrance to the stool house was decorated with the colours of Asanteman, yellow, green and black and the body decorated in a white laced cloth had a chief's crown plated with gold, a gold necklace and gold plated swords placed on the sides of the body that lay on a gold-plated bed bedecked with flowers and wreaths.
Burial service would be held in the afternoon at the Saint Peter's Catholic Cathedral before the body would be buried at the Royal Mausoleum at Hemang in the Kwabre District.
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Opposing factions in Dagbon should seek
peace - Youth
"We have chosen this period of Ramadan to make this
appeal to our brothers who are beating the drums of war since it is not in
their interest as Abudus or Andanis or in their collective interest as
Dagombas. Neither is it in our national interest as Ghanaians," Mr Ibrahim
Jabir Suhuyini, the Andani representative of the organization, said during a
press briefing on Thursday in
He urged Dagombas, especially those of Islamic faith, to use
the holy month of Ramadan to preach and practice the need for healing, peace
and unity in Dagbon in particular and
Mr Suhuyini said the people of Dagbon wanted to live in peace adding, "We are from the same stock and want to stay as such, in spite of the unfortunate tragedy in Yendi in March which led to the death of Ya Na and many others."
Mr Alidu Bawa of the Abudu Gate said DAYOP had faith in the government's ability to implement the recommendations made by the Wuaku Commission, which was tasked to investigate the conflict.
"Justice is what we need in
Mr Bawa said coming from a region in need of schools, good drinking water, hospitals and several other modern amenities, the opposing factions had to realize that money being spent on peacekeeping in the region which runs into billions of cedis, could have been used in development projects.
"It is unfortunate that while we in the Northern Region continue to complain about under-development, we, especially those in the south are ourselves frustrating development in our region by inciting violence and conflict," he noted.
He said DAYOP would ensure that nobody used the tragedy of 27 March in Yendi to plunge Dagbon into further backwardness. Mr Karim Naatogmah, Spokesperson of the DAYOP, described as unfortunate, attempts by some people to politicize the crisis.
He said although the crisis is unfortunate the Andani and Abudu Gates were not enemies. Mr Naatogmah said the crisis did not only concern Yendi but could spread to other parts of the country because Dagombas live all over the country.
He therefore, urged the public not to perceive the situation as only involving Yendi and urged members of the public to desist from making statements which could inflame passions in the region.
The organization, which is based in Dagbon and was formed about nine years ago, was re-activated recently to foster peace between the Andani and Abudu Gates of the Dagbon stool.
A chieftaincy dispute between the Andani and Abudu Gates led to violent clashes, which ended in the death of the Ya Na Yakubu Andani II and about 40 others last March.
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Two suspects in Dagbon crisis arrested
Tamale (Northern Region) 15 November 2002- The Security agencies have re-arrested Yidana Sugri and Iddrisu Jahanfo for their alleged role in the murder of Ya-Na Yakubu Andani, the Overlord of Dagbon, on 27 March.
A security source told the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in Tamale
that they were arrested last Friday at Yendi and flown to
The Wuako Commission that probed the Yendi crisis ordered the arrest and prosecution of Iddrisu Jehanfo for his alleged complicity in the murder. He was later released because the commission was said to have acted "ultra vires" in asking for the prosecution.
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Late submissions may not be dealt with -
Commission
Accra (Greater Accra) 15 November 2002- The National Reconciliation Commission (NRC) on Thursday said late submissions might not be dealt with for lack of time and therefore, asked people with complaints and statements on human rights violations to submit their petitions to the Commission now without any further delay.
The Commission said while no deadline had been set for the receipt of statements, the fact of the matter was that the Commission had a time frame within which to complete its work.
A release from the Public Affairs Secretariat of the
Commission in
The Commission, the release said, was determined to give access to everyone with complaints and the zonal offices had embarked on a programme to reach out to the districts.
The programme had started in the Central Region this week
with a team of officers comprising a Statement Taker, a Public Affairs Officer
and a Counsellor had visited Elmina. The release said similar programmes were
underway in the
It said the six committees - the Judiciary, including the legal profession; Labour and Student Movements, Religious Bodies and Traditional Rulers, Professional Bodies, excluding the Legal profession, Security Services and the Media - set by the Commission to investigate the socio-political context in which human rights violations occurred had commenced their work in earnest.
Chaired by Commissioners, the committees had been inviting experts to make presentations on issues relevant to their task.
The release said educational programmes for various segments
of the Ghanaian society were underway. The
It added that religious bodies, students, labour groups and other public services and the general public had been earmarked for such programmes. As at Wednesday, the NRC had received a total of 2,293 statements and complaints nationwide.
It is to do this by recommending appropriate redress for persons who have suffered any injury, hurt, damage, and grievance or have in any other manner been adversely affected by violations and abuses of their human rights arising from activities or in-activities of public institutions and persons holding public office during periods of unconstitutional government.
The unconstitutional periods named are from
The Commission, which has one year and three months to
submit its report and recommendations to government, may on application by any
person pursue the object of reconciliation in respect of human rights violation
in any other period between
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Metropolitan Assembly to participate in
multilateral training
The programme, which would offer participants the opportunity to share best practices and policies and apply them for institutional reforms in the administration of their various cities, is scheduled for November this year to March 2003.
A statement from the AMA on Thursday explained that the
establishment of the multilateral programme was one of the decisions reached at
the end of a meeting of African-Asia Partnership programme, held in
The programme would cover topics such as solid waste management, air pollution control, and privatisation of garbage collection, awareness raising and environmental education.
The statement said host cities would provide technical assistance and advisory service according to the interest of participating cities to accelerate policy implementation and institutional reform processes for effective and efficient service delivery.
It said each participating city had been tasked to set up a Local Eco-Partnership Committee to lead the process of policy implementation and industrial reforms adding, "these committees are responsible for initiating Local Action Plan (LAP) to put the reform programmes into practice."
"The strategy allows each participating city to design its own action plan based on it's peculiar circumstances so as to link with other on-going programmes," it added.
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National best farmer awards day to be held
at Takoradi
A statement in
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German government urged to adopt
Peki-Blengo (
He also appealed to the German authorities to provide technical assistance for the preparation of a master plan for the economic development of the region.
Mr Owusu-Yeboa was speaking at a durbar to mark the 155th
anniversary of the arrival of the Reverend Lorenz Wolf to the town to start
evangelisation, which crystallised into the founding of the Evangelical
Presbyterian (E. P)
He called for the introduction of the celebration of a German-Ghana week every year, to deepen the cordial relationship between the two countries.
Mr. Owusu-Yeaboa said the work of German missionaries helped in developing the Peki area but expressed regret about the fall in educational standards and the rapid socio-economic decline.
He, therefore, commended the Peki Citizens Union and the Traditional Council for initiating measures to address the problems.
Mr. Bernard Duose, President of the
Dr. Anne Wagner, Head of Consular Section at the German
Embassy in
She said the German government had rehabilitated the
Dr. Wagner advised the Peki Union to liaise with the
appropriate authorities to present its investment proposals for discussion at
meeting to be held between
Togbe Kwadzo Dei XI, Paramount Chief of the Peki Traditional
Area, said the work of German Missionaries at Peki, which started on
Rev. Wolf started a Church and the first formal school at Peki-Blengo and also worked at Keta, Adaklu-Waya and Anyako all in the region as a missionary.
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Girl-students appeal for life sentence on
rapists
Begoro (Eastern Region)
The girls made the appeal at the celebration of Girls' Education Week at Begoro to educate girls the need for education and curb the dropout rate among girls in the district.
They complained that the maximum penalty of 25 years imposed on a rapist was inadequate due to the high rate of rape and defilement.
The District Director of Education, Mr Daniel K. Adu, urged parents to educate and protect their daughters from falling victims to rapists.
Mr Adu said the Fanteakwa District Assembly had instituted scholarship scheme for the best BECE girl-student to pursue a course in a senior secondary school.
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Resourceful Ghanaians advised to invest in
cottage industries
Bishop J.N.K. Boateng, founder of the Gospel Revival Church of Christ, said by this the rich would not only be helping create jobs but would also be complementing government efforts at reducing poverty in the rural areas.
He said this at a one-day workshop organised by the church
for its elders and pastors at
''Such insensitive wealthy people who ignore developments in their hometowns are the first to point accusing fingers at the government for doing little to develop the rural areas.''
He also appealed to old boys of schools who are in positions of trust not to limit their assistance and support to only the tertiary but should equally extend such gestures to their former basic schools.
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Juvenile justice to stand on its own
This, she said, would provide adequate protection to children who come into conflict with the law.
Presenting a paper on "Juvenile Justice Before and After Law Reform" at a day's workshop for police officers of the Women and Juvenile Unit (WAFU) of the Police Service in Accra, Mrs. Appiah said in view of this, the Ministry of Justice has prepared a draft bill on juvenile justice to be laid before parliament shortly.
She said the bill would include the reformatory aspects of juvenile justice to provide comprehensively for judicial process of juveniles.
Mrs Appiah noted that under the proposed bill a language misinterpretation is removed to define a juvenile as a person below 18 years.
"The age of criminal responsibility is at the cornerstone of juvenile justice," she said, adding that the amendment has fixed the age for sexual responsibility at 16 years instead of 12 in the criminal code.
On determination of the age of children, which sometimes poses problems, Mrs Appiah said: "The new provision will stipulate that in the absence of a birth certificate or a baptismal certificate, a certificate signed by a medical practitioner as to the age of a child under 18 years is to be the evidence of that age before a court without proof of signature unless the court otherwise directs.”
The bill, she said, also provides juveniles the right to privacy during investigation of offences, at the trial and at any other stage of cause or matter.
"Any person who releases for publication any information that may lead to the identification of the juvenile offender in the course of investigation or trial commits an offence"
The bill stipulates that a juvenile can be released on self-recognizance or recognizance entered by another person before charged unless the offence is serious.
Mrs. Appiah noted that the rights of juveniles at police stations have been clearly spelt out in the bill and added that methods of dealing with offenders under the bill would, however, remain unchanged.
Juvenile courts, she said, are to deal with cases expeditiously and that if cases are not completed within three months the juvenile is to be discharged and not liable for any further procedure in respect of the same offence.
The major reform provisions in the bill are on the new punishment regime and they stipulate that the detention of juvenile in corrective institutions should be the last resort.
Juveniles are to be detained separately and their associations are to be restricted. Mrs Appiah said the bill provides adequately for the best interest of the juvenile. "The challenge would be the implementation of the bill when enacted."
She stressed that the objectives of the bill would only be attained if stakeholders in juvenile justice take the issue of juveniles mindful of the fact that children of today are the future leaders of tomorrow.
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Minister says Kwesi Pratt is lying
"It is a matter of extreme regret that Mr Pratt should
traumatise the family of the late Gladys Ampadu in such an irresponsible and
cavalier manner," he said in a statement in
"It is a matter of even greater regret that when the truth was told to him, instead of him going back to check his story he rather continues to defend and more widely broadcast the lie," he added.
The Minister was reacting to the insight story, which alleged that a patient died on the operating table at the Ridge hospital because of a power failure.
The Minister attached the official report from the Ghana
Health Service on the death and a statement from the Electricity Company of
The statement said the stand-by generator of the
It said in addition to the stand-by generator, the hospital,
like many others, needed many things. In the case of
The Spanish Government, the Minister said, has been
financing a hospital rehabilitation project following the President's visit to
A generator for the
A report from Professor Agyeman Badu Akosa, Director-General of the Ghana Health Service, stated that no surgery was performed on the patient, neither was there a power outage.
It said laboratory results clearly indicate that the patient did not have typhoid fever and therefore, could not have had typhoid peroration as alleged by Mr Pratt.
The report said the cause of death was Gastroenteritis. It said the patient's out-patient and inpatient records, nurses notes and treatment management sheets are available and so is the medical cause of death certificate.
The report noted that although the theatre records for June 7-8 had gone missing, the theatre recovery notes and written statement taken from all medical staff who attended to the patient and those alleged to have seen and treated her, including those who could have assisted in the possible surgical operation, are available.
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Ministry negotiating tax relief on diabetic
drugs
Accra (Greater Accra) 15 November 2002- Dr Kwaku Afriyie, Minister of Health, on Thursday said the Ministry was negotiating for a tax relief on the local manufacture and importation of anti-diabetic drugs as part of measures to cut down on management of the disease, described as a costly public health epidemic.
He said government had observed with some concern the high costs involved in the management of non-communicable diseases, including diabetes.
In a speech read on his behalf at this year's World Diabetes
Day celebration in
Additionally, he said, the cost was partly also attributable to the current wave of mergers, acquisitions and consolidations involving major multinational pharmaceutical firms.
He said government was responding to this concern and would "continue to promote generic bulk purchasing of insulin and other anti-diabetic drugs to drive down costs."
According to him, the devastating complications of diabetes were imposing a huge burden on the health care services and health budget in general.
"These include blindness, kidney and cardiovascular diseases. Diabetes is a major risk factor for damage to blood vessels, particularly those leading to the heart and brain. Thus diabetes is too deadly and expensive to ignore," he added. Diabetes is condition associated with high blood sugar levels in the body and remains incurable.
This year's celebration, an event organised by the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the International Federation of Diabetes to raise awareness of the disease, is on the theme, "Your Eyes and Diabetes, Don't Lose Sight of the Risk."
The Health Minister said over 40 percent of diabetes cases could be prevented, adding, "the benefits and cost of preventing the onset of diabetes is so low as compared to the huge costs of management."
He explained that the disease was closely linked to obesity, inactivity and stress, among other lifestyles. Dr. Afriyie urged Ghanaians to "cut down on fat. avoid refined foods and sugar...take the habit of exercising more seriously."
"We must go back to our roots. We must eat fresh fruits and vegetables and locally produced foods to live healthier quality lives. Highly processed foods are detrimental to health."
Dr Melville George, WHO Representative in
He said the current figure of 177 million diabetic patients was expected to rise to 300 million in 2025. Dr Kwamena Beecham, President of the Ghana Diabetes Association, said the disease had been given a low-key response by policy makers.
He said most people were not aware that they have the disease, which now accounts for about five to 10 percent of the health budget. He said juvenile diabetes, also known as the type one, was on the increase.
According to Dr Beecham the cost and storage of insulin, importation of glucometre and other equipment posed a threat to the management of both Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes.
He said a database was needed to know the extent of the
prevalence of the disease, which is now pegged at four percent, with some
40,000-recorded cases in
Prof. Agyeman Badu Akosa, Director-General of the Ghana Health Services, cautioned Ghanaians to treat the disease with respect, since it was one disease, which could affect every part of the body due to blood circulation.
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Nurses' boss calls on Minister of Health
She said the problem was not peculiar only to
She said it was the wish of nurses to stay and work in their own countries but problems of low remuneration, housing and other stress-related issues undermined their work, thus the migration.
"It is better for every country to produce its own nursing workforce and provide them with good conditions of service to ensure that they do not leave for greener pastures outside."
Ms Hancock explained that the Council had developed an ethical recruitment policy, which is aimed at checking the mass recruitment of nurses.
She said
Dr Afriyie said government was very worried about the issue and was putting in place a well-structured system to solve the problem. He said there were less than 10,000 nurses working in the country at the moment after producing over 20,000 nurses.
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