Kwesi Botchwey begins
nationwide tour
Kumasi (Ashanti Region)
30 October 2002 - The Asante United Front, a Kumasi based group, has backed
Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, Asantehene's call for the return of Manhyia assets that
were confiscated in the First Republic.
Opanin Kwame Afreh,
Chairman of the Front, urged the older generation of the Convention Peoples
Party (CPP) who were aware of the confiscation of the assets to take the
initiative to help in retrieving them.
He said it was very
embarrassing that the majority of Asantes did not even know about the
confiscation of the Manhyia assets that might include very valuable assets of
Asanteman.
Opanin Afreh, who is
the Ashanti regional chairman of the National Reform Party (NRP), supported
Otumfuo's contention that the crisis that necessitated the confiscation of the assets
at that time no longer existed.
He said since the
nation was going to be reconciled through the setting up of the National
Reconciliation Commission (NRC) the leaders of the CPP should take advantage of
this and help to return the assets.
''It will be in the
interest of the CPP itself since as a political party that will seek the
mandate of the people in 2004, the leadership will, as it were, call on the
Asantehene when they visit Kumasi for their campaigns.''
''He said it will be
embarrassing to them if the Asantehene repeats his call during their visit for
the return of the assets. I therefore urged you to do everything possible to
locate the items before the 2004 campaign takes off.''
Opanin Afreh also
called on the Bank of Ghana (BOG) to assist in locating the items, saying that
since they were kept there, there was every probability that they were still
intact at the bank.
BOG will lose its
credibility should the items be found missing and said the bank should also
facilitate the location of the assets. He appealed to the Asante Kotoko
Society, Kumasi Youngsters Club and the Asante Youth Association (AYA) to
re-organise their associations to become formidable and throw their full weight
behind the Asantehene in his effort at bringing progress to Asanteman and
Ghana.
In a related
development, he has appealed to the family of Osagyefo Dr Kwame Nkrumah and the
leadership of the CPP to have dialogue with the government for a fitting
funeral for the first President.
In his opinion, this
was very important and will hasten the reconciliation process whilst the
request for the body of the first President to be returned to his hometown
Nkroful should be considered.
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Akim Oda (Greater Accra)
30 October 2002- Former Vice President Prof John Atta Mills has said he would
move the country forward with the experience he has and called for total
support from NDC activists to enable him to win the Presidential slot of the
party on 21 December.
He rejected criticism
that "he cannot be his own man" when elected as President and said he
took important decisions on his own when he was the Vice President. Professor
Mills called on NDC supporters to close their ranks to enable the party to regain
power now that the ''ruling NPP government is not able to fulfil its campaign
promises such as the creation of more jobs among others.''
The former Vice
President was addressing Birim North, Akim Swedru and Akim Oda constituencies'
executives of the NDC at Akim Oda on Monday as part of his tour of the Eastern
Region.
He said: "each
and every member should be blamed for the NDC's defeat in the 2000 elections.
Such mistake should not be repeated.'' A special assistant to Professor Mills,
Ludwig Hlodze said governance is a collective responsibility and consultation
is important in running affairs of state.
He appealed to
delegates who would be electing the party's presidential candidate on 21
December not to allow monetary consideration to over ride their judgement.
David Sarpong Boateng, Koforidua Constituency Chairman of NDC, reminded the
executives that for the party to be a force to reckon it would depend on the
decision they would take on 21 December.
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Accra (Greater Accra)
30 October 2002- The Eastern Regional Minister, Dr Francis Osafo-Mensah has
said that the government is pursuing the abolition of the Cash and Carry System
in a phased manner to avoid any undesirable effect on the financing of the
health sector.
To that effect, the
Eastern Regional Health Insurance Secretariat is facilitating the provision of
alternative health care financing system through different types of health
insurance schemes, he said.
So far, about 18
mutual health organisations have been formed under seven categories and are
either operating a scheme or are in their preparatory stage, he added. Dr.
Osafo-Mensah announced this when he took his turn to address the press on
development projects in the Eastern Region in a series of interactions between
Ministers and the press, dubbed: "Meet the Press", in Accra.
He said the seven
categories were districts, religious groups, and school health schemes, 'Awo Pa
Health Schemes', Sub-Urban, Employee Credit and Civil Servants Health schemes.
Dr Osafo-Mensah said the Regional Health Insurance Secretariat was still
helping communities and organisations through advocacy, promotion, education
and technical assistance to extend the scheme to all persons in the region to
ensure that all persons in the region enjoyed better affordable health care.
On health facilities,
Dr. Osafo-Mensah said the government, this year voted a total of ¢1.3b for the
expansion of the Atibie Midwifery Training School and completion of the hostel
for the Nurses Training College (NTC) at Koforidua.
The Midwifery Training
School receives ¢500m, while the NTC gets ¢800m. Other projects to upgrade
health centres to hospitals to offer better services include the completion of
wards at Asesewa Hospital at the cost of 500 million cedis. Under the Health
Fund, construction of a new district hospital at Begoro has also started.
Dr Osafo-Mensah said
at the regional level, major rehabilitation works and refurbishment of the
Koforidua Central Hospital had been intensified and new equipment had been
installed to facilitate the provision of better health care.
He said at the
district level, a number of health-posts and centres were either being
constructed by foreign development partners. These include the construction of
a new centre under the OPEC Fund at a cost of about 490 million and added that
the project was 80 per cent completed.
Three health centres
were also being constructed at Adjena in Asuogyaman, Pokrom in Akuapem South
and Adeiso in West Akyem districts respectively at a total cost of nearly five
billion cedis.
Dr Osafo-Mensah said
under the Health Fund, project approval had been given for the renovation of a
health structure in each district with funding from the World Bank. He added
that 15 health centres at the sub-district level had been selected for
renovation works to be started before the end of the year at a total cost of
778.5 million cedis.
An amount of ¢500m had
also been earmarked for the District Health Management Team office at Kibi. The
Regional Minister spoke on a number of investments in education and said ¢1.24b
had been spent on a 12-unit classroom complex of the Koforidua Polytechnic.
It came to light that
local politics and chieftaincy disputes had negatively affected enrolment and
performance of junior and senior secondary school pupils and students in the
New Abirem area and teachers posted there leave at the least opportunity.
As a long-term measure
to raise the level of educational performance in the area, the Regional
Education Directorate was stepping up training of people and provide them with
skills to handle pre-school children to build a solid foundation for children
before getting to the basic level.
The Regional Minister
appealed to people in the area to unite and smoke the peace pipe to ensure a
peaceful development of education to raise skilled manpower.
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Ho (Volta Region) 30
October 2002- About 537 people at Kedzikope in the Keta district have been
displaced and rendered homeless by high tidal waves, which inundated the area,
about three weeks ago.
About 50 houses have
been submerged in water, while 20 others have been destroyed as a result of the
devastation of the sea waves. Michael Aglah, Keta District Coordinator of the
National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO) told the Ghana News Agency
that similar disasters occurred in June, this year, which rendered about 325
people homeless.
He attributed the
devastation of the tidal waves, which occurred at the eastern side of the
groins, particularly between the sixth and seventh groins at the construction
site of the Keta Sea defence.
Aglah said NADMO
Emergency Rescue Operation and Evacuation team was on site, assisting the
displaced. He said relief items made up of tents, food, blankets, mattresses as
well as plastic plates and cups have already been distributed to the first
batch of victims while assistance was being sought for the second batch. He,
therefore, appealed to individuals, religious, governmental and
non-governmental organisations to come to the aid of the people.
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Accra (Greater Accra)
30 October 2002- The Eastern Regional Minister, Dr Francis Osafo-Mensah has
said that a rehabilitation project to double the supply of water in the
Koforidua municipality and its environs is to take off before the year ends.
When completed, the rehabilitation project, which is to be financed with a
Spanish loan, would put to rest the periodic water shortage problem in the
municipality.
Speaking to the press
in Accra on government's development projects in the Eastern Region since
January 2001, when he took his turn in a series of encounters dubbed: 'Meet the
Press' in Accra, Dr. Osafo-Mensah said the present water supply to the
municipality was woefully inadequate.
The installed capacity
of the treatment plant is one million gallons per day though requirements are
projected at five million gallons to ensure continuous flow of water in all households
and for industrial purposes.
Dr. Osafo-Mensah said
in line with government policy of private participation in the water sector, a
number of private firms had had discussions with the region to take part in the
Koforidua Water Supply Project, in the options of the Build, Own, Operate and
Transfer (BOOT), joint venture with the Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL) or
management of some aspects of the water company's operations.
He announced that
negotiations were underway to secure funds to undertake the project of
extracting water from the Volta Lake at Anyaboni to solve the long-term water
supply problem.
Dr. Osafo-Mensah said
out of 340 boreholes and hand-dug wells earmarked for the region, from January
2001 to December 2002, 166 had been completed whilst 174 were underway in 11
Districts. Also, 8,862 existing wells constructed by the donor community had
been rehabilitated.
He said
pre-construction activities had been completed under the Small Town Water
Project. Construction works at Donkorkrom, Asiakwa, Abomosu, Ayirebi, New
Abirem, Aboasi, Aperade, Adeiso and Akroso, which had paid five per cent each
of the total cost were expected to start before the end of this year.
The Eastern Regional
Minister said from January 2001 to date 1,025 out of the targeted 3,000
household latrines had been completed and 500 were also being constructed under
a DANIDA programme for the 11 out of the 15 districts of the region.
At the same time, 128
Kumasi Ventilated Improved Pit (KVIP) toilets were at various stages of
completion and another 200 had been earmarked for four other districts.
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Takoradi (Western
Region) 30 October 2002- The first phase of Ankasa-Nini Suhyien-Tourism project
has been completed. The project was undertaken with European Union (EU)
funding, Jacob Oti Awere, Western Region Manager of the Ghana Tourist Board
(GTB), told the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in Takoradi.
He said the first
phase covered the Ankasa Nature Reserve, which is now opened to visitors. Awere
said facilities at the reserve include nature trails, camp for visitors,
reception centres, solar panels for generation of electricity, boreholes and
environmental friendly toilets.
The second phase of
the project would cover Nini Suhyien and Bia resource reserves. Awere said the
region's tourism development programme aims at conserving cultural and
environmental resources. The programme also has the objective of allowing
communities to benefit directly from tourism projects in their areas.
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Accra (Greater Accra)
30 October 2002 - Professor Aaron Lawson, Head of the Department of Anatomy of
the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital, on Wednesday appealed to Ghanaians to bequeath
their bodies to the Medical School for teaching and research.
In an interview with
the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in Accra, Prof. Lawson said though bequeathing of
bodies is not popular in Ghana and other parts of Africa, there are a number of
benefits to be derived from such donations.
"Bequeathing
one's body to the Medical School has many advantages. Paramount among these are
that you contribute to knowledge and research and also reduce the high cost of
funerals."
He explained that the
source of dead bodies for teaching anatomy in the country was the morgue.
"Unclaimed bodies are sometimes embalmed and given out for teaching.
However, with the increasing number of students, this source is no longer able
to meet the demand," he said.
According to Prof. Lawson,
bequeathing of bodies was the source of supply of dead bodies for the western
world.
Anatomy, he explained,
was a subject, which dealt with the structure of the human body and how various
parts functioned together. There is therefore, the need for students to have
in-depth knowledge of the naked appearance of the human structure.
"A person wishing
to bequeath his body must write to the Medical School declaring his intention.
Since there are legal implications involved, the statement must be duly signed
by an attorney of the High Court of the Republic of Ghana.
"Following a
brief interaction with the Head of the Anatomy Department, he is given an
application form to complete. Copies of these must be sent to the next of kin
and to the head of family," Prof Lawson added.
According to him,
people with certain conditions such as AIDS, tuberculosis and other infectious
diseases would not qualify to bequeath their bodies for medical research.
He said the Medical
School was not under any obligation to compensate the family or relatives of
the deceased financially or otherwise for receipt, use or burial of the corpse.
"A person who bequeaths his or her body to the school may retract the
decision at least before death."
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Apam (Central Region)
30 October 2002 - Apam, the capital of the Gomoa District was on Monday thrown
into confusion and state of insecurity when the chief, Nana Edu Effrim X,
caused a gong-gong to be beaten at dawn informing the people about an imminent
attack on them by the people of Mumford, a nearby town.
Nana Effrim instructed
the people to get their guns, cutlasses, clubs and other missiles, which could
be used for fighting ready for war on Friday and that those who needed gun
powder should contact him.
He further instructed
the people not to travel or go to sea that day but to get ready for a combat.
The chief, however, did not give reasons for the perceived attack.
When the GNA visited
Mumford to ascertain the truth in the allegation, the town was very quiet. Supi
Kweku Abbiw, leader of the Asafo companies said they received the news about
the "intended" attack on the people of Apam with shock and dismay.
Supi Abbiw said it
seemed the chief of Apam had a hidden agenda because two years ago,
"during the celebration of our annual festival, which is observed at the
first weekend of November, Nana Effrim hired a taxi and went round the town
spreading false news that the people of Mumford were preparing to attack them."
Supi Abbiw said
Mumford had a boundary dispute with Apam, which was determined in favour of
Mumford about 10 years ago. "Since the judgement went in our favour, we do
not see what benefit we can derive from that perceived attack," he said.
He appealed to the security
agencies to bring the chief to order since his actions and utterances were
highly provocative. "If Nana Effrim is hungry for a war, he should look
for his opponents elsewhere and not at Mumford, because we know the value of
peace."
Meanwhile the Agona
Swedru Divisional Command of the Police Service has dispatched a team of
policemen to Apam and Mumford to investigate the allegation. The Gomoa District
Chief Executive, Miss Joyce Aidoo, who was out of town before the incident
appealed to the people of Apam not to take the law into their own hands but to
exercise restraint.
She said a report had
been made to the Regional Minister for the necessary action. In a related
development, the leadership of Apam Youth and Development Association (AYODEF)
has expressed concern about the behaviour of their chief and urged him to be
circumspect in handling issues concerning the security of the people.
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Cape Coast (Central
Region) 30 October 2002- A man alleged to be robbing women at the Kotokuraba
Market at knife point, was on Friday remanded in prison custody by the Cape
Coast Community Tribunal.
The plea of Joseph
Eshun, alias Kojo Plywood, a 30 year-old carpenter, described by the police as
a "terrorist," was not taken, and he would reappear on Monday, 11
November.
Chief Inspector Hope
Azasoo told the Tribunal that the police had received several reports of
threats and thefts from the market women against Eshun, adding that, earlier
attempts to arrest him proved futile.
He said between July
and October this year, Eshun allegedly stole items worth more than three
million cedis from the women, mostly at dawn, threatening them with a knife and
a blade.
The Prosecutor said in
the early hours of last Thursday, Eshun went to the market and stole foodstuff,
provisions and plastics wares and threatened an eyewitness, Madam Aba Kyerewa,
with a knife. He said the woman and raised the alarm and a passer-by rushed to
lodge a complaint with the police, leading to his arrest.
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Ho (Volta Region) 30
October 2002 - Police and Military personnel have been despatched to Kitari in
the Nkwanta District of the Volta Region to quell communal fighting which broke
out between Kokombas and Nawuris last Saturday. Four people were reported dead.
Kofi Duku Arthur,
Volta Regional Police Commander, told the GNA on Tuesday that the cause of the
conflict was over ''a petty issue'' resulting in a fight between a Nawuri and a
Konkomba during which the Nawuri died.
He said after the
fight the Konkombas mobilised their people and launched an attack on the
Nawuris. Arthur said the four bodies have been deposited at the government
hospital morgue at Hohoe while two persons who were injured are receiving
treatment at the Nkwanta Hospital.
He said one person has
been arrested in connection with the conflict while police investigations continue.
Meanwhile, the people of Kitari were reported to have fled the settlement in
the wake of the clashes.
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Accra (Greater Accra)
30 October 2002 - James William Wilson, an American businessman and main
promoter in the Valley Farms Project, on Tuesday told an Accra Fast Track Court
that he invested part of his entitlements in the project.
Wilson told the court
that he made the investment in Valley Farms, a limited liability company that
was engaged in rehabilitation of cocoa farms, and the export of cocoa beans.
He said this during
cross-examination in the case in which Tsatsu Tsikata, former Chief Executive
of the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC), is being tried for
allegedly causing a loss of more than ¢2.3b to the state.
The loss is said to
have arisen out of a transaction in which Tsikata allegedly committed GNPC to
guarantee a 5.5m French Francs loan from Caisse Francaise de Development (CFD),
a French Development Aid Agency, for Valley Farms.
Tsikata has pleaded
not guilty to four counts of wilfully causing financial loss to the State, and
intentionally misapplying public property. The trial judge, Mrs Justice
Henrietta Abban, has granted him ¢700m bail in his own recognisance.
Witness agreed with
Major R. S. Agbenoto (retired), counsel for Tsikata, that even in the face of
difficulties, Valley Farms Project was still viable. He said during
investigations into the activities of Valley Farms by both the police and
officials from the Price Waterhouse, the team never visited the company's
farms.
He, therefore, agreed
with a suggestion by counsel that the investigation team obviously did not have
first-hand information about what was happening at the project site.
Witness further agreed
with counsel that GNPC had become a creditor to Valley Farms as a result of the
latter's default in re-paying the loan that the corporation guaranteed for it. Sitting
continues on Wednesday.
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Sunyani (Brong Ahafo
Region) 30 October 2002 - Dan Botwe, General Secretary of the New Patriotic
Party (NPP) on Tuesday, stated that although the party might not be able to win
all the 200 seats in the 2004, it would improve its performance on the 2000
elections.
"We will be able
to make in-roads to strongholds of the NDC and win seats in hitherto considered
no-go areas for the NPP".
Botwe was speaking at
a press conference in Sunyani to round off his four-day visit to some
constituencies in the Brong Ahafo Region where he observed the election of new
party executives. The visit, according to the General Secretary, was also to
inform the rank and file of the party that campaign for the 2004 elections had
begun.
Botwe said the NPP had
started registering new members in certain constituencies especially in the
Volta Region where it faired poorly in 1992, 1996 and the 2000 elections. He
mentioned North Dayi, South Tongu and Biakoye constituencies where some 500 new
members had been registered after the launching of the party's new identity
card.
Botwe accused the NDC
of spreading "falsehood" about the NPP after sensing that it was
going to lose the 2004 elections. He urged officials of the NPP at the Regional
and Constituency levels not to "sit down to let such misinformation take
root before they react."
The General Secretary
described as the misinformation the assertion that NPP was an "ethnic
party." He dismissed reports that an airport project proposed for Nsoatre,
near Sunyani, had been shifted to Kumasi. He charged Regional Executives to
constantly organise workshops to enable constituency officials to inform the
people about government policies and programmes "to enable them to
counteract some of these misinformation being peddled around".
Botwe also called on
them to set targets for the 2004 elections and gave the assurance that the
National Secretariat would provide them with logistics. He stated that the
Dagbon crisis was not a political issue but a traditional one.
Botwe said the
President's travels abroad were necessary and would continue when needed.
"If 55 per cent of resources to develop the country come from outside,
then, it is necessary for the President to visit such areas to cement the
relationship between the country and its resource providers".
He viewed criticisms
about the President's foreign travels as unnecessarily cynical and called on
such critics to point out, which of the trips were unnecessary. Botwe stated:
"The NPP is still on course since it has been able to honour some of its
electoral promises, whilst others are still being tackled".
He assured the
unemployed who registered recently that the government had not forgotten about
them since plans were being made to train them to become self-employed.
On the demand by
Chiefs of Nkroful for the re-burial of Dr Nkrumah's body at his birthplace,
Botwe said "they have the right to make the demand, but this should not be
linked to a supposed promise by the President".
He said he was surprised
that the chiefs made the demand through a press conference since they could
have channeled it through the National House of Chiefs. "I do not see any
political motive behind their request but if there is, then, it would surely
backfire."
Botwe commended the
Brong Ahafo Regional Secretariat of the Party for improving their performance
in the 1996 general election from four seats to 14 in the 2000 and 21 seats in
2004.
He called on officials
and supporters of the party to follow laid-down rules in seeking redress to
grievances. Botwe denied that there was a rift between him and the National
Chairman, Haruna Esseku, pointing out that they might not agree on all issues
but that did not mean "we bear each other a grudge".
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Accra (Greater Accra)
30 October 2002 - Dr Kwesi Botchwey, a contender for the flagbearer of the National
Democratic Congress began his nationwide campaign tour on Tuesday.
A statement signed by
Seth Ofori-Ohene, Press Secretary to his campaign team, said the first trip
would be to the Central Region where he would meet and interact with the
regional party executives, MPs, former MPs and parliamentary candidates. Others
are former District Chief Executives, cadres, youth and women's wings and
tertiary students of the party.
The statement said Dr
Botchwey, former finance minister, would first call on the Nsaba Traditional
Council, Nyakrom Traditional Council, the Omanhene of Oguaa Traditional Council
and the president of the regional House of Chiefs.
It said from the
Central Region, he would go the Western, Northern, Upper East, Upper West,
Brong Ahafo, Ashanti, Eastern and Volta regions, in that order. The trip would
end on 22 November.
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