President appoints New Director of Immigration
Mining companies asked to exploit mineral resources
Showcasing tourist attractions in Upper West
Lifeline for University of Development Studies
ADB determined to assist Ghana reduce poverty
Anglican Church in Ghana to become Province in 2003
Govt. ready to forge new relationship with Church –Kufuor
Covering the reconciliation process, Journalists learn more
Accra (Greater
Accra) 02 September 2002 - The former Vice President, Professor John Evans
Atta-Mills returned home on Saturday from Canada after completing a year
teaching contract with the University of British Columbia.
Prof. Atta
Mills, who was accompanied by his wife Ernestina Naadu Mills was met on arrival
by executives and hundreds of supporters of the National Democratic Party
amidst drumming and dancing.
They
included the party's General Secretary, Dr. Josiah Aryeh, Minority Chief Whip,
Mr.Doe Adjaho and Mr. J. H. Owusu Acheampong, former Majority Leader. Speaking
shortly after arrival at the Kotoka International Airport, Prof. Mills said
that he had learnt of developments about the NDC while he was away.
The Former
Vice President said, as tradition demanded he would consult party executives
and elders on what transpired during his absence before making any
pronouncements. He thanked the welcoming party for their warm reception and
pledge that he would not disappoint the NDC.
Prof.
Mills said he would soon make a formal statement on whether his would contest
to become flagbearar of the NDC or not. "Competition is healthy, and I
welcome it," Prof. Mills said, adding that whatever campaign he would
embark upon would be guided by civility, decorum and tolerance."
The Former
Vice President indicated that he did not belong to any faction in the party and
that he would soon undertake a nationwide tour to thank the people for their
support and faith in the NDC during the last elections.
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Accra
(Greater Accra) 02 September 2002 - President John Agyekum Kufuor has appointed
Ms Elizabeth Adjei, an Expert in Organisational Development and Immigration
Law, as the Director of the Ghana Immigration Service (GIS).
Ms Adjei,
who holds a Masters Degree in Development Policy from Cornel University in the
United States, was until her appointment the Director of Training and Human
Resource Development at the GIS.
The
President has also promoted John Gray Gadafome Kartey as Deputy Director of
Finance and Administration and Kyereme Oppong Ansu-Gyeabourh, as Deputy Director
for Operations.
A
statement signed by the Chief of Staff, Kwadwo Mpiani said Kodjo Hodari-Okae,
the current Deputy Director of Operations has been transferred to the Free
Zones Board while Mr Percy Amarteifio, Deputy Director, Legal, has been moved
to the Ghana Investment Promotions Centre.
Mr Kartey
was until his appointment an Assistant Director of Immigration, Finance and
Administration while Mr Gyeabour was also Assistant Director Immigration in
Charge of Kotoka International Airport. Mr Kartey is married with four children
while Mr Gyeabour is also married with five children.
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Cape Coast
(Central Region) 02 September 2002 - The District Chief Executive for
Ajumako-Enyan-Essiam District, Kenneth Obempong on Saturday urged mining
companies to exploit mineral resources in the area towards job creation to
improve the standards of living of the people. He said the district abounds in
gold, kaolin, and mica among other mineral deposits and expressed regret that
'galamsey' operators had invaded the area and had destroyed the environment.
Mr
Obempong made the appeal at separate durbars organised by the Asikuma- Odoben-
Brakwa, Abura-Asebu-Kwamankese, and Ajumako- Enyan- Essiam districts in the
central region, at Cape Coast. It was meant to showcase the potentials of those
districts as part of the 'districts day' of the on-going 10-day regional trade
and investment fair, code named 'central fair 2002.
The fair
was under the theme, "harnessing the trade and investment potentials of
the central region for poverty reduction and accelerated development." It
was aimed at assisting the districts to highlight its investment potentials as
a way of wooing investors and to showcase their rich cultural heritage. Mr
Obembong appealed to estate developers to put up more houses for workers and
said the assembly was constructing a 12-unit quarters for the staff of
decentralised departments.
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Wa (Upper
West) 02 September 2002 - The five District Assemblies in Upper West Region in
collaboration with the Regional Co-ordinating Council and Ghana Tourists Board
would soon come out with a brochure and directory on tourist attractions and
sites in the region to facilitate tourism. Godfred Bayong-Tangu, Wa District
Chief Executive, who made this known at Wa on Saturday, also said plans were
far advanced to publicise such potentials on the Internet to attract tourists
and investors.
He was speaking
at the inauguration of Upper West branch of International Tourist Club (Ghana), whose members would educate the
people on the need to preserve their cultural heritage. Mr Bayong-Tangu called
on the business community to build more hotels and guesthouses to promote
tourism and other economic activities. He said the Wa District Assembly was in
consultation with authorities of Columbus city, U.S.A. to form a twin-city
alliance to enhance educational and cultural development of the district.
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Tamale
(Northern Region) 02 September 2002 - The Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFund)
has this year spent 18 billion cedis towards the provision of infrastructure,
vehicles, office equipment, and students and staff development of the
University for Development Studies (UDS).
Mr Fosuaba
Mensah Banahene, Administrator of the GETFund, announcing this at the
presentation of two 60-seater Tata buses to the UDS in Tamale on Sunday, said
the Board of Trustees of the Fund wanted to make the UDS its baby and develop
it to acceptable standards. He said a university could not be established by
"declaration and intentions alone. It should be supported to grow."
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Accra
(Greater Accra) 02 September 2002 - Bisi Ogunjodi, Vice President of the
African Development Bank (ADB), on Sunday expressed the bank's determination to
assist Ghana to reduce her level of poverty through the ADB's group assisted programmes.
The "ADB will continue to work closely with the Ghana government in
ensuring that poverty is reduce to the barest minimum," he said.
Mr
Ogunjodi said this when he visited the Social Investment Fund (SIF) Girls
Vocational Training Centre, an ADB financed projects in the Ashiedu Keteke
Sub-Metropolitan area to assess the impact and effectiveness of the bank
group's interventions in promoting sustainable development and in fighting
poverty.
He would
also hold consultations with the government on the ADB's assistance programme
and operational activities. Mr Ogunjodi said for the programme to be expanded,
people who were benefiting must demonstrate to those outside that they had been
provided with skills that had made them self-employed.
He said
ADB was proud to support the country but added, the "government needs to
constantly assess the programme in order to develop strategies towards making
it a sustainable.
"Government
and SIF need to fine-tune the programme in order not to just provide the beneficiaries
with skills but also to think of developing a marketing strategy to make them
self dependent for its sustainability." Mr Yaw Osafo-Marfo, Minister of
Finance who accompanied Mr Ogunjodi to the school said it was time that the SIF
commercialised its programme to make it more sustainable and self-reliant.
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Koforidua
(Eastern Region) 02 September 2002 - The Anglican Church in Ghana is to become
a Province by 2003. By this, the church would be independent of the Anglican
Province of West Africa, which comprises Guinea, Gambia, Cameroon, Sierra Leone
and Liberia.
Bishop
Thomas Ampah Bright, Anglican Bishop of Sunyani and the Presiding Bishop of the
Joint Anglican Diocesan Council (JADC) in-charge of men and women's desk,
announced this in a sermon at a mass organised as part of activities of the
seventh Biennial National Conference of the Anglican Women's Fellowship at
Koforidua, on Sunday.
He
reminded the women that, the new status of the church in Ghana after 2003 would
succeed only on hard work and dedication to duty. Bishop Bright urged Ghanaians
to forget about the idea that they could only become rich by travelling to work
outside the country. He said money could be found everywhere including Ghana,
provided the citizenry was prepared to work hard in honesty and dedication.
Bishop
Bright said Ghana had all that it took for its citizens to be rich except good
and honest leaders who would not take things that do not belong to them. He
advised all honest working Christian to pay their taxes to the state, saying,
"even Jesus Christ paid taxes during his time" to help his society to
develop.
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Govt. ready to forge new relationship with Church –Kufuor
Accra (Greater
Accra) 02 September 2002 - President John Agyekum Kufuor on Sunday, said the
government was ready to develop and forge new relationship with the Church for
the total development of the country. He said the challenges in the country's
present quest for national renewal, reconciliation and the strengthening of the
basic values to draw a collective attention in the path of national efforts
required both physical and spiritual dimensions.
"Therefore,
it is necessary for the Church and the State to strengthen existing
partnerships and even build new ones in order to make a lasting positive impact
in the shortest possible time", he added.
President
Kufuor said this when he unveiled the plaque to dedicate an 800 million cedis chapel
for the Nativity Presbyterian Church at La, a suburb of Accra. The 2,000
capacity stone-claded chapel, which has a close resemblance to the Church of
the Nativity in Israel has an upper auditorium and a basement hall.
The Right
Reverend Dr. Sam Prempeh, Moderator of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian
Church of Ghana, dedicated the chapel for the Church, which was established on
Sunday, 25 September, 1981. President Kufuor said the Church was
well-positioned to foster and nurture a communal spirit out of which
neighbourhood development projects could be realised.
He said
there was an urgent need for all religious institutions to take up a new
challenge of pastoring their membership and the congregations to attain higher
moral, ethical and social values that were needed for the fulfilment of the
spiritual obligations and the rapid advancement of the country.
President
Kufuor said without peace, nobody could inherit and develop the country and
this had placed on all the citizenry, the responsibility to be peacemakers,
build bridges of understanding and reconciliation and working hard to remove
mistrust and the pursuit of sectional interests.
He said
this was the only way to create the necessary conditions for improving the
spiritual and physical lives of the people and urged the congregation to use
the chapel to promote the spiritual and physical progress of the La community
through the teaching and practising of the Christian virtues of love,
co-operation, discipline, sacrifice, forgiveness and peace.
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Swedru (Central
Region) 02 September 2002 - A two-day workshop for journalists on the coverage
of the National Reconciliation Commission (NRC) process ended at Swedru on
Saturday with a call on NRC to ensure the establishment of a press centre at
the Commission.
The 50
journalists from the electronic and print media who attended the workshop said,
such a centre should have facilities such as computers, telephones and
photocopiers, to enable them discharge their duties effectively when the
Commission begins its sitting.
The
workshop, organised by the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) in collaboration
with IBS, with consultancy services provided by KAB Governance Consult,
explained that journalists who would cover the Commission's sittings have
agreed to establish a press corps to enable them to have quick access to
members of the Commission as well as its secretariat.
In this
regard, they would appoint a Dean of the press corps, who would lead them to
achieve a maximum coverage of the sittings, even if sittings close late. Mr.
Berfi Appenteng, Managing Director of the Graphic Communications Group, who was
the moderator for the workshop, called on the journalists to understand the
work of the Commission as media personnel, so that, "we do not mislead the
public", adding "we should subordinate our political interests to
that of the national interest in the work of the NRC."
He urged
journalists to help change the media landscape during the coverage of the NRC
sittings by providing accurate reports to assemble facts that are provided at
the sittings. "This could be achieved if we strengthen our gate keeping
role, display competency and professionalism, stick to the "Spirit of
Akosombo'" which provides the guiding principles for media coverage of the
NRC and above all, make relevant, the GJA code of ethics," he said.
Dr. Audrey
Gadgekpo, Senior Lecturer in Communication Studies, Legon, who spoke on
"ethics and professional challenges," noted that professional
coverage of the Commission's sittings would help Ghanaians build appropriate
human rights in the art of governance in the country. Journalists should,
therefore, allow victims and witnesses who would appear before the Commission
to tell their stories through them (reporters) to the public, and "we
should not be emotional in our reportage." Earlier, the GJA National
Consultative Committee (NCC) had at its meeting given a seal for the adoption
of "the Spirit of Akosombo," a document outlining guidelines for the
coverage the NRC proceedings.
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