Oil Storage and Transport Companies blames Railway Corporation
NDC constituency chairmen condemn regional secretary
Kufuor greets Bouteflika on Algerian Revolution Day
Accra (Greater Accra) 31 October 2002- President John
Agyekum Kufuor has sent a message of congratulations to his Algerian
counterpart, Abdelaziz Bouteflika on the occasion of the 48th anniversry of the
Algerian Revolution.
The message released by the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs in Accra on Wednesday read: "It is our firm belief that under your
leadership, Algeria will continue to make great strides in her social and
economic development.
"We hope that succeeding anniversaries will
witness a further strengthening of the bonds of friendship and cooperation that
happily exist between our two countries and peoples."
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Kumasi (Ashanti Region) 31 October 2002- The Bulk Oil
Storage and Transport Company Limited (BOST) said the Ghana Railway Corporation
was not co-operating with its plans to rehabilitate the eastern rail line from
Tema to Kumasi for the haulage of petroleum products from the Tema Oil Refinery
(TOR) to Kumasi.
BOST says the rehabilitation of the line would not
only enable it to haul fuel to Kumasi at a cheaper price but will also help to
decongest the TOR. Nana Addo-Dankwa, Okuapemhene and Board chairman of BOST,
said this during a working visit of the board members to the Kumasi Depot.
He said BOST secured a $22m loan from a South African
Bank for the project as far back as January, this year and that work should
have started in March this year so that by the end of the year, about 70
percent of the work would have been completed.
Nana Addo-Dankwa explained that the GRC wanted BOST to
secure the loan and give the money to it to undertake the project. He said
though GRC was the sole body mandated by law to run the railway system in the
country, considering its track record, BOST was not prepared to borrow money
and hand it over to GRC so that in the event of a failure, BOST would be held
responsible for the payment.
The BOST board chairman said a South African group was
ready to assist but BOST wanted to be part of management so that it would
ensure that the South Africans brought their expertise to bear on GRC, adding
that there was no way the company was going to take a loan and hand it over to
GRC.
He said there should be a system whereby profits from
the operations would be shared between BOST and GRC so that BOST can service
the loan. Nana Addo-Dankwa said the rehabilitated rail line will not be used
for hauling only petroleum products but would carry cocoa, timber and
foodstuffs as well.
He said an inland port at Boankra cannot function
without an efficient railway system which would not only serve Ghana but some
countries within the sub-region, adding that the perception that BOST was
delaying the smooth take off of the project was wrong.
Joseph O.K. Addo-Yobo, Managing Director of BOST said
the company had as its core business, to keep six weeks of Strategic Reserves
of Petroleum products for national use.
Addo-Yobo said in the event of a national disaster,
the storage capacity of BOST could last for only one week. It was in this light
that the company had initiated plans for the construction of additional tanks
throughout the country as a means of expanding its depot network to ensure that
nothing disrupted the supply of fuel.
Addo-Yobo said the Kumasi depot, the most modern and
biggest would cater for the northern part of the country's petroleum
requirements and disclosed that additional land had been acquired for the
medium to long-term expansion of the depot.
He said besides the additional tanks to be built for
premium petrol, diesel and kerosene, special tanks would be built for the
storage of gas. Mathias Frank Adjei, Ashanti Regional manager of BOST, who
conducted the board members round the depot, said it was closed for one-and- a
half years for the expansion work, which included the construction of landing
bays, a railway platform and the installation of pumps.
The board members expressed concern about the nearness
of bush to the depot and asked the manager to construct fire belt around the
depot to prevent bush fires before the dry season sets in.
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French ambassador inspects rice farms
Boggu (Northern Region) 31 October 2002- The Acting
Northern Regional Minister, Ernest Debrah has said that the government has
instructed all subvented organizations and institutions dependent on the
Ministry of Finance to purchase locally produced rice.
The policy is expected to end the marketing problems
of locally produced rice. Debrah was addressing farmers of the Lowland Rice
Development Project during an inspection tour of the project by the French
Ambasador, Jean Michel Berrit.
The project, financed by the French government through
the Agence Francaisse de Development (AFD), is being implemented by the
Ministry of Food and Agriculture (Northern Region).
The project manages water systems in valleys involving
the construction of water regulating structures and bunds. Debrah appealed for
the extension of the project to other districts in the region to enable more
farmers and local rice processors benefit from the technologies offered by the
project.
Berrit said the French government would continue to
support the project to sustain rice production in the country. He said the
French government was providing two technical officers to the project.
The Ambassador called on stakeholders to support the
project to increase the income levels of farmers in the area. The Project
Manager, Emmanuel Tetteh-Bio, announced that the venture was financed with a
2.65 million Euro to increase the production of local rice, which would meet
the quality requirements of the markets and at prices competitive with imported
rice.
The project is also expected to reduce the main
constraints to the development of inland valley rice production and promote an
improved, more intensive but sustainable production system, which would be
economically attractive to farmers.
The manager explained that rice cultivation in the
three Northern Regions is constrained by the absence of water control system
resulting in high risk to the farmers. Some 2,474 farmers in 60 communities who
are participating in the project had cultivated 2,689 acres of rice this year.
Tetteh-Bio said the project had disbursed 2.4 billion
cedis to farmers this year. It has also trained 303 women rice processors and
assisted them with credit to improve their businesses.
Loan recovery for 1999 was 100 percent in 2000 it was
83 percent while 2001 recorded 98 percent. The chief of Boggu, Naa Andani
Sulemana, appealed to the French government to provide them with an irrigation
dam to boost rice production in the area.
He appealed to the government to rehabilitate feeder
roads in the area to facilitate the free movement of goods and people.
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Cape Coast (Central Region) 31 October 2002- Dr Kwesi
Botchwey, an aspiring flag bearer for the National Democratic Congress (NDC)
has declared that he would use his expertise in finance and law to turn the
economy round if he won the contest to lead the party for victory in the next
general elections.
Expressing optimism that the party would elect him in
December, Dr Botchwey observed that although he could have retired on his
income at Harvard University to enjoy the "fruits of his labour", he
could not "while the people suffer and his beloved party stays in
opposition".
He was speaking at Cape Coast when he met
representatives of the various constituencies of the party in the Central
Region. He said the NDC would win the 2004 elections because "Ghanaians
have noticed the difference between the government of the New Patriotic Party
(NPP) and the NDC".
"The electorates are eager to have us back in
government, but it behoves on us to work harder by strengthening the party at
the grassroots and choose a new leader with a vision, who will also respect his
followers", he said, declaring, "there is real war ahead of us".
He said he would ensure that members of the party who
defected return into the fold in addition new enrolments. Dr Botchwey expressed
regret that "some people with a hidden agenda", were wagging a
negative campaign against him to thwart his efforts of helping to build a new
image for the party.
The former Finance Minister pledged to undertake
"a clean campaign devoid of indecency and indiscipline" in order to
protect the image of the NDC, adding that, he was not in the race to divide the
party or go against his contender, Professor John Evans Atta Mills.
Mike Gizo, manager of the Dr Botchwey campaign team,
underscored the need for the party to work hard to win the next elections and
urged all faithful members to unite to ensure victory.
The Regional NDC Secretary, Paul Koomson, appealed to
members to be disciplined and eschew all forms of divisive tendencies, to
enable the party to achieve its objective.
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Accra (Greater Accra) 31 October 2002- The Hilal
Committee of Ghana has stated that the first sighting of the new moon for this
year,s Ramadan is 29 Monday of Sha'ban that is, 4 November 2002.
A statement from National Chief Imam and Ameer in
in-charge of Ahmadiyya Muslim Mission in Ghana and signed by Sheikh M.M. Gedel,
Acting Chairman of the Hilal Committee said if the new moon was sighted
anywhere in Ghana on Monday 4 November fasting by all faithfuls would begin on
the next day, 5 November.
It said however, if the sighting of the new moon
becomes impossible on 4 November which is the 29th day of Sha'ban then 5
November should be counted as 30th day of Sha'ban.
In that case, Wednesday 6 November automatically
becomes the first day of Ramadan. The statement said for the purposes of
effective communication regarding reports about the sighting of the new moon
anywhere, the following telephone numbers should be contacted.
They included 021-248496, 021-244824, 021-221872,
021-303211, 021-679705, 020-8118894, 027-57687 and 027-610754. It also urged
Muslims to report the sighting of the moon in the districts to the Regional
Chief Imams and Regional Missionaries of Ahmadiyya Muslim Mission Ghana for onward
transmission to the secretariat of the Hilal Committee. All Muslims are
encouraged to make it a sacred duty to sight the new moon and report
accordingly.
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Tamale (Northern Region) 31 October 2002- Thomas
Issah, Country Representative of Action on Disability and Development (ADD)
Ghana has appealed to Parliament to consider passing the Disability Bill into
law before the end of the year.
"No section of the Ghanaian population should be
left out in the development agenda of the country," he stressed. Issah
made the appeal at the commissioning of a 190m cedi food-processing centre
funded by the French Embassy to generate income to support the activities of
disabled organisations in the region at Nyohini, a suburb of Tamale on Tuesday.
He called on NGOs, the private sector and district
assemblies to support the activities of the disabled to ensure their economic
emancipation and full participation in mainstream society.
Jean Michel Berrit, French Ambassador, said his
government would continue to support the activities of the disabled to improve
their income levels to restore their social values.
Issah Ketekewu, Deputy Northern Regional Minister,
thanked the French government for the support, saying, "No development is
better than the development of the human resource."
Prince Mahama, Chairman, Centre Committee, appealed to
the French government for materials to fence the premises. He urged the
government to institute a development fund for the disabled to enable them to
contribute their quota to national development.
Berrit also visited the Bagabaga Teacher Training
College where he interacted with the student to find out how they were coping
with their studies. He announced that the French government was supporting the
college with 1.3m Euros to provide school infrastructure and equipment to
enhance the teaching and learning of the French language. 35 students are
studying French at the college.
Ketekewu urged the students to take their French
lessons seriously and appealed to the Embassy to encourage students exchange
programmes between neighbouring West African states.
Some of the students suggested that more emphasis
should be placed on the teaching of oral French at the Senior Secondary School
level, saying that the absence of this had adversely affected their spoken
French.
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Accra (Greater Accra) 31 October 2002- Dr Albert
Owusu-Barnafo, former consultant of the Ghana Rubber Estates Limited (GREL), on
Wednesday told an Accra Fast Track Court that after transferring money into the
foreign account of Hanny Sherry Ayittey, a senior official of the 31 December
Women's Movement, in Austria, he received a Transfer Debit Advice from the
bank.
Dr Owusu-Barnafo, a prosecution witness in the going
trial of Ayittey and three others for their alleged involvement in bribery and
corruption practices towards the divestiture of GREL, told the court that the
original copy of the bank document was, however, sent to Ayittey.
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, allegedly used their positions to influence the
DIC board to enable a French Company to win the bid for the privatisation of
GREL.
All four have pleaded not guilty to various charges of
bribery and corruption, and the trial judge, Justice J. C. Amonoo-Monney, an
Appeal Court Judge with additional responsibility on the case as High Court
Judge, has granted each of them self-recognisance bail.
Led in evidence by Osafo Sampong, Director of Public
Prosecutions, Dr Owusu-Barnafo, 56, told the court that upon the instructions
of Ayittey he transferred 150,000 pounds into her bank account in the Austrian
capital, Vienna, in October 1998.
The witness said he had initial problems with the
information the accused person furnished him with, because his bankers in
Liverpool informed him through a fax message that the information he was using
for the transfer was inaccurate.
The witness told the court that when he received the
information he needed for the transfer from Ayittey through Mrs Georgina
Okaitey, there were some cancellations and alterations on the paper.
When witness tendered in evidence the document, which,
he said, was in the hand writing of Ayittey, her counsel, Johnny Quarshie-Idun,
objected to it. Counsel stated that since it did not emanate from his client,
it would be prejudicial to her if it was tended.
Justice Amonoo-Monney overruled the objection, saying
that since the prosecution had laid enough foundation on the transfer, the
document was relevant and therefore, admissible.
During cross-examination, witness denied ever
preparing a list of beneficiaries of "political payments" made by
GREL, which Etienne Marie Arthur Popeler, its former Managing Director (MD),
and second prosecution witness, earlier tendered in evidence. Dr. Owusu-Barnafo
told the court that he only provided Popeler with information. The case has
been adjourned to Friday 1 November.
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Accra (Greater Accra) 31 October 2002- Dr. Rod Pullen,
British High Commissioner, on Wednesday expressed concern about comments
attributed to Dr. Sam Adjei, Deputy Director of the Ghana Health Services
(GHS), and Mr. Moses Dani Baah, Deputy Minister of Health (MOH) on an
unprecedented move by developed countries, including the United Kingdom, to
recruit health professionals from Ghana.
In a letter to the Minister of Health and copied to
the Press, Dr. Pullen said the comment, which appeared in a section of the
media added that one UK doctor had recruited 90 nurses this year.
It claimed that these nurses had their document
processed within few days "and those who had loans and other financial
commitment got them settled by the UK Health Services to enable them to leave
as soon as possible."
The publication, he said, quoted the Deputy Minister
of Health as saying they had raised the issue at several international fora but
authorities in the UK seem adamant with the excuse that "we live in a
global village, where there should be no restrictions".
The High Commissioner said he had earlier written to
the Minster's predecessor explaining the position of the British Government on
the recruitment of health care professional.
He added that the British Department of Health issued
guidelines in November 1999 to the British National Health Service concerning
international recruitment of medical professionals.
The guidelines emphasise that, "such recruitment
should take place only when it will have no adverse effect on the recruit's
home healthcare system, and that NHS employers should not actively recruit from
developing countries who are experiencing shortage of their own".
Dr. Pullen noted that in the said letter to the
Minister and in subsequent ones, he asked that details of cases where NHS Trust
had breached the guidelines be forwarded to him, but had received no such
detail or response to his letters.
He said he was therefore, asking for such information
adding, "I would be happy to receive it, and pass it on to the UK
Department of Health for investigation." Dr Pullen noted that The
Statesman of October 30 had called on Britain to fund Ghanaian medical schools.
"As you are aware, the British Government is
already working closely with Ghana on health issues providing development
assistance of some eight million pounds per annum (102 billion cedis) to the
health sector through the Department for International development (DFID).
DFID, he said, was also working with MOH and the GHS
to address the retention of staff in the sector and to support the long-term
human resource strategy, adding that the commitment of the British government
to assisting the development to GHS was clear.
"We fully appreciate the concerns expressed about
the emigration of large numbers of health professionals from Ghana. We share
them. Indeed the retention within Ghana of trained health professional is an
issue that had been identified under our current assistance programme. "I
hope it can be taken forward as appropriate within that forum, in a spirit of
co-operation."
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Bolgatanga (Upper East) 31 October 2002- The French
Ambassador to Ghana, Mr Jean-Michel Berrit, said on Wednesday that his country
would continue to promote sub-regional integration in West Africa.
He said the teaching and promotion of French language
in Ghana was meant to facilitate the process of integration since Francophone
neighbours surround the country. "Understanding and speaking a common
language can foster friendship and good neighbourliness among peoples", he
observed.
Mr Berrit was outlining some of the areas of French
assistance in Ghana, during a courtesy call on the Upper East Regional
Minister, Mr Mahami Salifu, at Bolgatanga. The envoy was in the region for a
three-day official visit during which he would inspect and commission a number
of projects funded by the French government.
Mr Berrit cited agriculture, road construction, urban
development and support for earth architecture as other areas of French
assistance in Ghana. He explained that his visit to the Upper East was part of
an itinerary to acquaint himself with the northern sector of Ghana.
Mr Mahami Salifu said the greatest constraint to the
area's development was the high incidence of unemployment. He attributed the situation
partly to the closure of five manufacturing factories in the region, which used
to offer jobs for a vast majority of the people.
The factories are the Pwalugu Tomato Factory, the
Zuarungu Meat Factory, the Bolgatanga and Bawku Rice Mills and the Vegetable
Oil Mill at Bawku. The Regional Minister appealed to the envoy to use his good
offices to assist in putting some of those plants back in use.
Present at the meeting were, District Chief Executives
from Bolgatanga, Bongo, Builsa, Bawku East and West and Kassena-Nankana. The
Ambassador paid a similar courtesy call on the Bolga-Naba, Martin Abilba III.
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Kumasi (Ashanti Region) 31 October 2002- A Director of
Education has commended the government for the bold and prudent step taken to
decentralise the organisation of the Science, Technology and Methematics
Education (STME) clinics to the district level.
Mrs Gladys Kwapong, the Kumasi metropolitan Director
of Education, who lauded the move said, it had afforded many girls in the
districts the opportunity to also be exposed to the programme and feel that
they could make it to the top in education with respect to science and
technology.
She was speaking at the opening session of a review
workshop organized by the Ghana Education Service (GES) for Regional and
District Co-ordinators of the STME of the northern sector of the country in
Kumasi on Tuesday.
Sixty co-ordinators are attending the workshop,
designed to review the STME and identify areas of weakness of the clinics and
seek solutions to them. "The vision to decentralise the STME clinics to
the district level, even though long over due, we are grateful that it has
eventually taken off", she said.
Mrs. Kwapong observed that when the STME was
instituted in 1987, only 150 girls were invited to the clinic nationwide,
saying, "and for 10 years, the figure ranged between 150 and 250, all
because it was virtually centralised".
This trend, she noted, deprived many girls of
benefiting from the programme, thereby, making its impact limited to a few.
Mrs. Kwapong also lauded the various district assemblies for not only sharing
in the vision of the STMEs, but also making it a duty to fully sponsor the
organisation of the clinics at the various levels.
Mrs. Sophia Awortwi, National Co-ordinator of the STME
programme, explained that the goal of the STME is not just to make girls
develop an affection for science and technology but above all, help them to
eventually use such skills to contribute meaningfully towards national
development.
She appealed to all stakeholders in education to see
the STMEs as an opportunity to get more girls opting for science and technology
programmes and therefore assist to ensure its sustainability at all levels.
Mrs Theodosia Jackson, Headmistress of the Kwame
Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) Junior Secondary School
(JSS), called on the Co-ordinators to make follow-ups to ensure that girls who
benefit from the STME clinics were actually making use of the skills acquired.
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Accra (Greater Accra) 31 October 2002 - Bidding for
the contract of the much-debated private sector involvement in Ghana's water
sector would be opened March next year, Yaw Barimah, Minister of Works and
Housing, announced on Wednesday.
He said at present, government was evaluating the
bidding document after which parliament's approval would be sought for the
pre-qualification and lease of facilities to be considered.
Speaking at a day's workshop organised by the
Consumers Association of Ghana (CAG) and the Water Sector Restructuring
Secretariat (WSRS) on reforms in the sector, the Minister reiterated
government's commitment to ensure that a greater population of the people have
access to reliable water supply at affordable prices.
"It is not in the interest of government that the
consumer pays much more than he can afford. Government has made it clear that
it is not the Private Operator who will determine the price, but that the
Public Utilities Regulatory Commission would be responsible in consultation
with stakeholders," Barimah said.
He said government's estimated $400m investment in the
privatisation process as against $130m by the private operator, would be mainly
funded by donor support. "This, we have to do by gaining greater donor
confidence". Touching on opposition to private sector involvement in the
sector, Barimah said there has been some element of hypocrisy in the whole
issue.
He mentioned the Trades Union Congress (TUC) as one of
the parties that opposed privatisation, "but yet they are operating a
business of water by engaging in water distribution, making profits. Why can't
they offer it to consumers free of charge?” he asked.
Barimah said the important thing was how best to
ensure that the 41 per cent of the population who do not have access to potable
water have water and how even to sustain the 59 per cent.
Kwamena Longdon of the WSRS, who gave an overview of
the work done so far by government said when the privatisation takes off,
tariffs would be stable. He said there would be equity in the distribution and
cost of water as well as social connections and lifeline tariffs for the poor.
Dr K.B. Asante, a retired diplomat, who chaired the
workshop, urged stakeholders in the water sector and Ghanaians as a whole to
have the confidence that the process would work though he does not believe that
previous reforms in the sector failed on government inability to run the sector.
"It was because the wrong people were put there
to work. Let us not forget that the private operator wants returns and would
not put its money in a bad venture." Questions that were asked, mainly
centred on affordability, reliability and access of the service to the
consumer.
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Accra (Greater Accra) 31 October 2002 - Former Acting
Secretary to the Board of Ghana
National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) on Wednesday
told the Fast Track Court (FTC) in Accra that the Valley Farms Limited deal was
not discussed at any of its meetings.
Daniel Opoku Mensah, who is also former Corporate
Planning Manager of the GNPC, said he could not remember that any issue on the
Valley Farms Limited was discussed at a Board meeting.
Mensah, second prosecution witness in the case in
which Tsatsu Tsikata, former Chief Executive of GNPC, is being tried for
allegedly causing the loss of more than ¢2.3b to the state, said between July
1987 through to July 1990, he did not write any minute on the farm and that
everything that GNPC did with the Valley Farms Limited was not recorded at any
of the Board's meeting.
Tsikata is said to have caused the loss in a
transaction, in which he committed GNPC to guarantee a loan granted Valley
Farms Limited by Caisse Francaise de Developpement (CFD), a French development
aid agency.
The accused is charged with four counts of wilfully
causing financial loss to the state and intentionally misapplying public
property. He has denied the charges and the court, presided over by Mrs Justice
Henrietta Abban, an Appeal Court Judge, sitting with an additional
responsibility as a High Court Judge, admitted him to a ¢700m self-recognisance
bail.
Mensah, who was led in evidence by Osafo Sampong,
Director of Public Prosecutions, said between July 1987 through July 1990,
Alhaji Iddrisu Mahama was the chairman of the Board of GNPC, after which
Tsikata, who was the Chief Executive became the Board Chairman. According to
witness, the core business of GNPC is "exploration, development,
production and disposal of petroleum products."
Under cross-examination by Major R.S. Agbenoto (rtd),
Counsel for the accused, witness said CFD was involved in the Tano Exploration
Project. He explained that the CFD's work was to drill wells in the Tano Basin
and to test the efficacy of the product.
Witness explained further that as a Corporate Planning
Manager, he knew that there were no experts in the planning department of GNPC,
hence the need to engage experts. Mensah said as a result, the GNPC and CFD
jointly undertook feasibility studies on most of the corporation's exploration
activities.
Witness agreed with counsel that activities of the
GNPC were foreign exchange intensive, but the corporation did not have the
needed funds. When asked if there were enough funds in GNPC coffers, he
declined to comment, saying it is the Finance department that could tell.
He said if Ghana produced oil, its importation would
be reduced. Mensah told the court that GNPC presented its budget to the
Ministry of Fuel and Power, which subsequently becomes part of the national budget.
Witness agreed with counsel that the GNPC had investment in the Valley Farms.
The case was adjourned to Thursday, November 7.
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Accra (Greater Accra) 31 October 2002 - A meeting of
development stakeholders on Wednesday called for rational reform in budgeting
to ensure that the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) are achieved.
The stakeholders made up of representatives from all
the UN agencies in Ghana, donor agencies, and NGO's urged government not to see
the MDG's as a tool for seeking extra budgetary funding, but a means to
redefine development goals and make them more measurable.
They would also discuss the Ghana MDG Country Report
thus refining it to make government make informed choices on meeting targets in
the MDG set out by the UN.
The eight-point Millennium Development Goals aim at
halving extreme poverty and hunger by 2015, achieving universal primary
education by 2005, empowering women and promote equality between women and men
and reduce under-five mortality by two-thirds.
The rest is to achieve maternal mortality by three-quarters,
reverse the spread of diseases, especially HIV/AIDS and malaria, ensure
environmental sustainability and create global partnership for development with
targets for aid, trade and debt relief.
The main premise of the millennium commitments is to
move development from the global to the local level, create the necessary links
between global target setting and national priority setting. It is also to
re-energise a broad political constituency to accelerate progress towards the
goals and generate public awareness, scholarship and debate for action around
the development challenges of the times.
Opening the meeting, Dr Paa Kwesi Ndoum, Minister of
Economic Planning and Regional Integration said, among others that the MDG must
be points for monitoring and evaluating and also challenge implementers of the
plan to work at meeting the goals. He promised that government would make a
poverty reduction strategy paper available in March every year for
incorporation in the annual budget.
Professor Bartholomew Armah, a Senior Research Fellow
at the Institute of Economic Affairs, who dilated on the Ghana Report said work
on the MDG would assist government revise and or set long-term targets for
development.
He said overall, the targets under the MDGs could be
met if appropriate structures are in lace to make development take off firmly.
Prof. Armah called for supportive environment for the goals and urged the donor
community to make funds available on time and in right amounts to carry out
setout development goals.
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Kumasi (Ashanti Region) 31 October 2002 - The National
Democratic Congress chairmen of the 21 constituencies in Ashanti Region who
recently passed a resolution in support of the candidature of Professor John
Atta Mills as the party's presidential candidate for the 2004 elections have
condemned the Regional Secretary, Sly Akakpovie, for making "unfortunate
and baseless" statements on their action.
In a statement signed by Kwame Boateng, chairman of
the Manhyia constituency on behalf of his colleagues and issued in Kumasi on
Wednesday, the chairmen said the Regional Secretary had no "authority
whatsoever and does not have the mandate of the regional executive committee or
any of the constituency chairmen who signed the resolution to do what he did."
The Regional Secretary in a statement last week,
described the action of the constituency chairmen who signed the resolution in
favour of Professor Atta Mills, as a frivolous, preponderous, null and void and
of no effect." The chairmen described the action by Akakpovie as
"tantamount to arrogance".
It said the resolution that was passed at Obuasi and
read on behalf of the chairmen was based on a solemn reflection on the sterling
qualities of Professor Mills, adding that, "it represents the genuine and
sincere expression of support for goodwill towards Professor Atta Mills for
very good reasons".
The statement advised the Regional Secretary to
"desist from usurping the authority of the regional executive committee of
the party, its secretariat or the constituencies".
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