GRi Newsreel
03 – 10 – 2002
Support Africa's young
democracies for political stability
President Kufuor to visit Japan
Brong Ahafo NDC stays united-
Secretary
General Fulford calls on
President Kufuor
NPP wins Kumawu Constituency
bye-election
Ho Reconciliation Commission
starts investigations into complaints
Twifo Assembly Members warned
against dabbling in chieftaincy
Do not make compensation main
focus - Appiah
Patriarch of Alexandria lays
foundation stone for a Business College
French Ambassador pledges his
govt's readiness to help Ghana
Define roles of Health Service
and the MOH
Japanese Ambassador calls on First
Lady
Kufuor makes a confession
The other
issues, which engaged the attention of the President, were his relationship
with former President J.J Rawlings and the Dagbon crisis.
In a frank
manner, President John Agyekum Kufuor confessed that the widely held view while
his party was in opposition about the size of the then government that it was
large was misplaced. He declared “Since assuming office and having the benefit
of the of the experience in office, I now believe that this criticism was
misplaced.”
President
Kufuor said that it was understandable to worry about the size of government
and the number of ministers because of perceived cost to the state but he
believed that efficacy and efficiency should be the main consideration. His
comment gave rife to speculation that he intended to create new ministries and
thereby appoint new ministers.
On the
much-criticised $1billion IFC loan, the President said a syndication of that
magnitude contained takes several months to put together and to finalise and
also entails great discretion on the part of negotiators.
He assured
that the government has made due diligence to ensure that the Consortium was
made up of serious and reputable entities adding that “at every stage of the negotiations,
the government taken extreme care to ensure that they were fair and above
reproach.”
Touching on
his relationship with the former President, he said to date he was not
appreciative of his (Rawlings) style. He said he expected him to behave in a
way that will be decorous. However, he said “I do not mean any ill-motive all
we want to see is a display of statesmanship. His actions send the wrong
impressions to the world.”
On the
contentious Dagbon crisis the president said the report of the Wuaku Commission
of Enquiry, which is expected to be submitted at the end of the month would
provide requisite leads to actions that would help establish the truth to form
the basis for justice and reconciliation in the area.
He
reiterated that he would choose the time to go to Yendi and purposely to bring
the people together and restore harmony to the Dagbon area.
On the
wider issues, which told the success story of his administration, the President
said contracts have been awarded for all four arterial roads out of
The
President it was not enough to stabilize the macro economic fundamentals but in
addition the government had taken a series of measures to strengthen the
banking system and increase the supply of long term capital now available to
agriculture and industry.
He
announced that as the divestiture programme takes off the government intended
to devote a substantial proportion of the proceeds to build up the supply of
capital available to industry. According to him about $75million would be
received with more coming in the next two years.
President
Kufuor said that since housing was very crucial to many Ghanaians but needed
huge capital outlay his government would announce major new programmes and
policies in next year’s budget to boost the housing sector.
He
disclosed that the Ministry of Private Sector Development has sourced for a
$40million facility to support the President’s new Initiative on salt and palm
oil production for export.
On the
disbursement of benefits from the HIPC Initiative, the President said the government
has been fair and pleaded with people not to play politics with the issue.
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Support
Accra (Greater Accra) 03 October 2002- Dr.
Kwame Addo Kufuor, Minister of Defence on Wednesday said stronger international
support for the growing infant democracies in Africa hold the key to political
stability on the continent.
"A more vigorous support to young
democracies in
Dr. Addo Kufuor said this when General
Carlton Fulford, Commander in Chief of the United States European Command
called on him at his office to discuss further ways of depeening Ghana/US
military trainings relations.
The General's visit has no link with the
political situation in
"If they have any genuine grievance we
will see how they could be met." General Fulford in a brief response said
there existed too much political turmoil in Africa and gave the assurance that
the US government would do all that it could to support growing democracies in
the sub-region.
"The
Gen. Fulford expressed gratitude to the
government for using
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President Kufuor to visit
Japan
Accra (Greater Accra) 03 October 2002-
President John Agyekum Kufuor is expected to pay a visit to Japan on 20
October, Mrs Kazuko Asai, Japanese Ambassador in Ghana said in Accra on
Tuesday.
Mrs Asai who was speaking to journalists
after a closed door meeting with President Kufuor on the visit at the Castle,
Osu, however, did not give details. She said the discussion centred on the
visit and
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Brong Ahafo NDC stays
united- Secretary
Sunyani (Brong Ahafo)
National Democratic Congress (NDC) has
expressed dismay about an alleged tension in the party in the region over the
successor of the late Alhaji Kwadwo Maama-Adam as Regional Chairman.
A Press statement signed by Mr Mohammed Kwaku
Doku, Regional Secretary of the party in re-action to a publication in a
section of the media, described it as the work of political detractors whose
stock in trade was mischief calculated to sow seeds of discord among the
leadership of the party in the region.
The statement saw in the publication as a
wicked strategy being portrayed by some self-proclaimed Executives of the party
aimed at destroying the kind of peace, unity and co-operation among the
leadership of the party in the region, which the late Alhaji Maama-Adam
nurtured before his untimely death early September this year.
It pointed out that, the NDC had a credible
constitution and laid-down regulations that would be followed to elect an
equally committed and dedicated chairman to continue the good works of its late
chairman.
The party Executives assured members,
supporters, sympathisers and admirers in the region, in particular and the
country as a whole that, the death of their courageous and purposeful late
chairman, though painful, had not dampened the party's fighting spirit.
"His death has rather converted our
weakness to strength, and differences to unity", the statement added. The
detractors were therefore, advised to stop their psychological warfare against
the leadership of the party because such statements or publications are figment
of their own imaginations which would not yield any fruitful results.
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General Fulford calls on
President Kufuor
General Fulford who has completed duty at the
Command based in
He told journalists after the meeting held
behind closed doors that his visit was not in connection with the situation in
Dr Kwame Addo-Kufuor, Minister of Defence
said General Fulford was in Ghana to bid farewell to the government and
officers of the GAF for the tremendous assistance Ghana had offered during his
tenure of office in Germany. He said the government appealed to him for more
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NPP wins Kumawu
Constituency bye-election
Kumawu (Ashanti Region)
Mr Yaw Baah, has won the Kumawu constituency
parliamentary bye-election polling 13,664 votes representing 76.85 percent of
the votes cast.
His closest rival, Mr Richard Martin Osei,
National Democratic Congress (NDC) secured 3,731 votes while Madam Rose Aboagye
(DPP) had 185 with Mr Yaw Opoku Mensah (GCPP) and Mr James Yaw Owusu (PNC)
receiving 124 and 75 votes respectively.
Mr Emmanuel Kwasi Asiamah, the Returning
Officer, who declared the final results of the election, put the voter turnout
at 45.55 percent. He said a total of 17,908 votes were cast and of the number,
17,658 were valid with 250 rejected.
Immediately after the declaration of the
results, the
He said all over the world mid-term elections
are used to judge the performance of governments and that his party's victory
in the bye-election was indicative of the support for the government's policies
by the people.
Mr Botwe noted that the NPP's performance in
the bye-election was higher than it achieved in the 2000 Parliamentary
elections, saying, this showed the popularity of the government with the
people.
The NDC, DPP and GCPP did not show up at the
dining hall of the
The Kumawu parliamentary seat became vacant
following the death of Mr Reo Addai Basoah, the Member of Parliament (MP) on
30July 2002 at the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital.
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Ho Reconciliation
Commission starts investigations into complaints
Ho (Volta Region)
In all 84 complaints, 74 from men and 10 from
women between 33 and 86 years of age had been received by the close of work on
Monday September 30.
A press release issued on Tuesday and signed
by Ms Kafui Aku Gunu, Public Affairs Officer of the Zonal office, said one
investigator would be engaged for each of the five zones in the country to
handle "statements peculiar to the respective localities".
The release which put complaints in the Ho
zone under killings, seizure of property, torture and ill treatment said a
process of counseling those thought to be traumatized had started.
It mentioned some of the emotional conditions
for which counseling was being provided to include grieving, revengeful
thoughts, flashbacks, sleeplessness, suicidal thoughts and low self esteem.
"Following the counseling sessions, some are beginning to understand the
need to let go, but it is a process," the statement said.
It noted that while sections of the public
have made comments of encouragement and promised to assist the Commission to
fulfill its mandate of seeking and promoting national reconciliation, some
others have passed comments suggesting that the purpose of the exercise was
being misconstrued,
"The Commission is only a fact-finding
commission that will make recommendations to the President based on thorough
investigations into claims of alleged human rights violations. It is not a court that will try any one as
an accused person", it added.
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Twifo Assembly Members
warned against dabbling in chieftaincy
Twifo-Praso (Central Region)
They should rather cooperate with chiefs to
evolve more strategies to develop their areas. Mr Odoom was opening a five-day
orientation course for the assembly members at Twifo-Praso.
The participants are being educated on
topical issues like "legislation provision for the decentralization
policy", "roles and responsibilities of assembly members" and
"management of the assembly resources".
Reverend Ben Donkor, the presiding member,
advised them to take the course seriously since it was going to prepare them to
be pro-active in the discharge of their duties. He urged them to take active
part and contribute meaningfully to assembly deliberations and help to
implement government policies in their areas.
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He said in nine months this year, just one
organisation in the United Kingdom (UK) had recruited about 90 nurses from
Organised by the Media Network on Health with
support from the World Health Organisation, (WHO), the workshop aims is to
broaden the knowledge and sharpen the skills of the journalists.
It is discussing the role of the WHO in
building the capacity of health reporters, coverage of health issues and the
creation of health desks in the various media houses, among other things.
Dr. Adjei said the precarious situation had
affected the Military and Police hospitals and the situation would even be more
serious as more health workers might leave for greener pastures with easy
travel and relaxation of work requirements of the
Dr. Adjei called for a clarification of the
roles, functions and structure and relationship between the Ghana Health
Service (GHS) and the Ministry of Health (MOH). He said there was a perceived
misunderstanding between the functions of the MOH and the GHS, which was
constraining the effective running of the Ghana Health Service.
Dr. Adjei said despite the autonomous nature
of the GHS, health facilities and the staff of the service, especially those at
the district level were to be managed by the district assemblies under the
Local Government Act.
He said under the requirement, the District
Assemblies would manage polyclinics and the district hospitals. He said the
polyclinics and health institutions in the districts would suffer under the
management of the Assemblies, as many of them did not have strong logistical
and financial bases.
Dr Adjei stressed that there was the need to
foster teamwork at the different levels of the health hierarchy and unify the
health command structure with emphasis on the technical functions, improved
organizational efficiency and improved conditions of service.
Dr. Melville George, World Health
Organisation (WHO) Representative in
He said the challenge to communicate more
effectively had become intensified as the public was extremely diverse,"
making it especially important to make scientific issues, no matter how they
might sound to be understood by everyone."
Dr. George asked health reporters to take
into account the culture and priorities of the people to make their messages
accessible and meaningful. He asked key holders of information on health
matters to make a greater effort to communicate with the media to promote
goodwill and mutual understanding in the new partnership between health and the
media.
Miss Yaa Oforiwah Acquah, Co-ordinator of the
Network regretted that the Ghanaian media had more to do to reduce the impact
of destructive diseases such as HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria and
malnutrition on the people.
She called on Journalists to map out
strategies to effectively communicate health issues, especially to the less
privileged and the poor in society.
"A little broadcast, commentary or write up in the media can save
millions of lives, but we are not doing much, while the millions die, some
through superstition and preventable diseases".
Ms Acquah said, although Journalists could
not help eradicate health problems overnight, their little input could make a
difference in society and asked them to create health desks in the media houses
to promote health education. Rev. Kofi Awadzi of the Information Services
Department chaired the function and urged participants to work harder in
promoting health education in the media.
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Do not make compensation
main focus - Appiah
Mr Odeneho Kwaku Appiah, Ashanti Regional
Chairman of the Concerned Citizens Association (CCA), said if victims of
atrocities considered monetary gains as their motive for appearing before the
commission, its objectives might be undermined.
He was speaking at a forum organised by the
Anloga Mercy Club in
He said while victims should be encouraged to
tell the Commission about injustices meted out to them, they should be educate
on the need to forgive and forget such developments. Mr Appiah said:
"forgiveness and forgetfulness should be the principle of victims of such
atrocities, if the objective for establishing the National Reconciliation
Commission is to be fully achieved."
Mr Appiah suggested to the NRC to allow
prisoners, who had grievances to appear before the Commission and said:
"Such people should be made to testify while still in jail to serve their
prison terms." Miss Janet Ofori, secretary to the Club, appealed to
religious bodies to pray and fast on behalf of the commission to enable it to
carry out its mandate efficiently.
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Patriarch of Alexandria
lays foundation stone for a Business College
Larteh-Akuapem (Eastern Region)
Pope and Patriarch of the Greek Orthodox
Church of Alexandria and Africa who is on an eight-day pastoral visit to Ghana,
on Tuesday, laid a foundation stone for a 450 million-cedi school block and a
church for the St. Peter's Business College at Larteh in the Eastern Region.
The project, which is expected to be
completed by June, next year, would provide the school with four classrooms, a
computer room, a staff common room and an office. The Orthodox Christian
Mission Centre of the United States (US) is financing the project.
The College, which was established by the
Greek Orthodox Church in 1966, had been housed in rented premises and at the
moment has a student population of 65. Speaking at the ceremony, His Beatitude
Petros noted that it was only through training that man could live in harmony
with its environment.
He said the Church does not only take care of
the spiritual growth of its members but also has the responsibility for the
material well-being of its members. His Beatitude Petros expressed the hope
that the school would help train people to face life with courage.
His Grace Panteleimon, the Bishop of Ghana
said the Church had offered scholarships to 120 students in the country from
the basic to the tertiary level. The Akuapem North District Chief Executive
(DCE), Dr. Eugenia Dankwa-Quist, called for co-operation between the Church and
the state to work towards the attainment of the spiritual and physical needs of
the people.
She appealed to the Church to support the government
in finding solutions to indiscipline, which, she noted, was "fast eating
into the moral lives of the citizens." Dr Dankwa-Quist assured the Church
of the Assembly's preparedness to support the Church by awarding scholarships
to some of the students of the College.
The Deputy District Director of Education,
Mr. Samuel Odoi Philips, urged the chiefs and people of Larteh to support the
efforts of the Church by visiting the school regularly to assess its progress.
The Lartehene Nana Asiedu Okoo Ababio III,
assured the church of the cooperation of the chiefs and people to offer more
land to the church to expand the school. Mr. L. D. Apraku, a member of the
church, appealed to His Beatitude, to help raise the status of the
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French Ambassador pledges
his govt's readiness to help
Cape Coast (Central Region) 03 October 2002-
The French Ambassador to Ghana, Mr. Jean-Michel Berrit, has pledged his
country's readiness to improve its socio-cultural ties with Ghana, as well as
assist her effectively participate in her regional integration efforts, by
increasing its support in her educational sector, particularly as regards the
teaching of French.
He said it is in this regard that his
country, last year, approved the implementation of a three-year project to
support the training of French teachers at the JSS level, under its 'Priority
Solidarity Fund', and which has facilitated the establishment of two new French
departments at the Wesley College in Kumasi and the Bagabaga Training College
at Tamale.
Mr. Berrit, made the pledge when he
officially inaugurated a centre for the Alliance Francaise (AF) at
The centre, which is located at the
The Ambassador, noted that
He said Ghana-France cooperation, had been
strengthened by
The Ambassador, said this indicates that
He was happy that the Ghanaian authorities,
as well as civil society, were paying "more and more" attention to
the development of the French language as a tool for development and regional
integration, and said encouraging a greater understanding of French language
and culture should improve the nation's communication with her francophone
neighbours and facilitate sub-regional cooperation.
Mr. Berrit in this regard, described
Cabinet's recent decision to make French a compulsory subject at all levels of
education, as yet another important step for the country, and noted that it is
in this new context, that the Alliance Francaise network, would be geared
towards playing a more significant role in enhancing the Francophone cultural
environment in the country, and urged the management of the centres to create
more programmes with emphasis on the learning of French for "specific
purposes", to meet the needs of the country's development process, to
enable it compete effectively in the global economy.
The Central Regional Minister, Mr. Isaac
Edumadze, also underscored the important role the French language plays in
effective regional integration, particularly as regards the nation's
relationship with her neighbours.
He observed that the centre was being opened
at a time when the teaching and learning of the language had waned, especially
in the educational institutions, but noted that it is heartening that some
educational institutions have made the study of French compulsory and expressed
the hope that the centre would come out with programmes to generate more
interest of the language, particularly among the youth. The Attorney-General
and Minister for Justice, Nana Akufo-Addo, was among the various dignitaries
who were at the occasion.
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Define roles of Health
Service and the MOH
Accra Greater Accra)
Opening a two-day workshop in
While the Act establishing the GHS stipulated
the existence of the Service as an independent autonomous body reporting to the
Minister of Health, the hierarchy within the Health Ministry saw the GHS as an
affiliate.
Organised by the Media Network on Health in
collaboration with the World Health Organisation (WHO), the workshop would
sharpen the skills of journalists and would inaugurate the resuscitated network
of health reporters.
It would also discuss the role of the WHO in
building the capacity of the health reporters, media coverage of health issues,
the creation of health desks, feature writing skills and the vision of the
network.
Dr Adjei said despite the autonomous nature
of the GHS, health facilities and the staff of the service, especially those at
the district level were to be managed by the district assemblies under the
Local Government Act.
He said under the requirement, the district
assemblies would manage polyclinics and the district hospitals. He said the
polyclinics and health institutions in the districts would suffer under the
management of the assemblies, as many of them did not have strong logistical and
financial bases.
Dr Adjei stressed that there was the need to
foster teamwork at the different levels of the health hierarchy and unify the
health command structure with emphasis on the technical functions, improved
organizational efficiency and improved conditions of service.
He raised a serious concern over the mass
exodus of health professionals, mainly in the pursuit of better remunerations
and service conditions and said that between January and September; just one
organisation in the United Kingdom (UK) had recruited about 90 nurses from
Dr Adjei said the situation was a crisis one,
and was getting worse because the
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Japanese Ambassador calls
on First Lady
Mrs. Kufuor said this after the Japanese
Ambassador, Mrs. Kuciko Ascei paid a courtesy call on her and asked her of the
things she would like to engage in to assist her husband in the development of
the country.
Most of the discussions centred on mutual
interest to prepare the First Lady towards President Kufuor's impending trip to
Japan sometime this month since Mrs Kufuor would be accompanying her husband to
Japan.
She expressed interest in going into the
production of shea butter, which would help provide employment for the rural
women. She was hopeful that during her stay in Japan she would be given the
opportunity to visit some of their nurseries and mother and child care
institutions.
Mrs Ascei said she visited the Upper East
Region sometime, this year and was impressed with the way the women were
managing their lives. She said "they have the will to do something for
themselves, especially with shea butter trade but they lacked the financial
capacity and skill". Mrs Ascei said birth rate in Japan was at 1.3 per
cent; as such pre-schools were very few in the country.
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