President Kufuor to stand alone in NPP
Presidential race
Andanis continue to stay away from sitting
Work on Kwame Nkrumah Africa Labour College to begin in December
Remove psychological barriers to maths and science education
Minister expresses concern about absence of agricultural education policy
Commission urges people with complaints to
submit them without delay
Only two file petitions for reconciliation
at Ho
Human rights abuse victims make complaints
to Reconciliation Commission
Three thousand die annually of malaria
Civil Servants welcome End of Service
Benefit restoration
GES emphasises prompt submission of financial reports
President Kufuor to stand alone in NPP
Presidential race
Accra (Greater Accra) 04 September 2002 - President John
Agyekum Kufuor was the only person to have filed his forms to contest the
Presidential slot of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) for the 2004 general
election as at the close of nomination.
Mr Dan Botwe, General Secretary of the party told the GNA that
the President was the only person to have submitted his forms at the close of
the exercise at 1900 hours on Tuesday, 3 September. Nominations were opened on
31 May.
Mr Kufuor submitted his forms at the Party Headquarters in
Accra at 1530 hours. Mr Botwe said President Kufuor's nomination forms would
pass through a vetting process before he became eligible to be elected at a
National Congress to be held in early December.
He said since the President was the only one to have filed
his nomination forms his endorsement, as the Party's Presidential Candidate
would be by acclamation. The General Secretary said the fact that no-one
challenged the President was significant and an indication that the rank and
file of the party were satisfied with his performance since the NPP assumed
power about 20 months ago.
"The willingness of President Kufuor to seek
re-election shows his commitment to multi-party democracy, respect for the
party and the humility he has for Ghanaians," he added.
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Andanis continue to stay away from sitting
Sunyani (Brong Ahafo) 04 September 2002- Five Andani witnesses, who were
scheduled to give evidence before the Wuaku Commission probing into the Yendi
crisis on Tuesday failed to appear, confirming the Andanis resolve not to
attend sittings until they have met President John Agyekum Kufuor.
They are Abdul Razak, Abdulai Sule, Mahama Yakubu, Zakaria
Alhassan and Abdulai Yakubu. The situation compelled the Commission to end the
day's proceedings at exactly 1020 hours after hearing brief evidence from Mr
Mohammed Habib Tijani, Yendi District Chief Executive and the Deputy District
Co-ordinating Director, Mr Seidu Abanga.
A late fax message received from the Dagbon Traditional
Council and signed by nine persons after Monday's sitting indicated that the
Andanis had resolved to stay away from further sittings.
In spite of this development, Mr Justice Isaac Newton Wuaku,
Chairman of the Commission, announced at Tuesday's sitting that the Commission
would go ahead with its proceedings and end its sittings in Sunyani on
Wednesday, 4 September.
Justice Wuaku said the Andanis had complained of "some
obstacles" being placed on their path at the Commission's sittings and
wondered what those obstacles were. Mr Tijani, who is also the Chairman of the
Yendi District Security Committee (DISEC), denied that there was a DISEC
meeting on 18 February this year.
He stated that the allegation by one Abdul Razak, one of the
Andani Witnesses, who failed to appear before the Commission on Tuesday,
"was a figment of his own imagination".
Mr Tijani, who was making his third appearance before the
Commission, said that the DISEC rather held a meeting with leaders of the
Abudus on 15 February and another one with the Andanis on 19 February.
The contents of the minutes of the purported DISEC meeting,
which had already been made available by Razak to the Commission, were,
however, not disclosed to him because of his absence. Mr Tijani was to confront
Razak about the minutes of the purported meeting held on 18 February, if he had
appeared.
He explained that he had known Razak as a SSNIT worker and
an Andani since childhood and that he acted as secretary whenever the district
assembly held a meeting with the Andanis.
Mr Tijani told the Commission in an answer to a question by
Mr Yaw Wiredu-Peprah, Counsel for the Commission, that it was either the
District Co-ordinating Director or the Deputy, who recorded the minutes when
the DISEC held a meeting.
Mr Seidu Abanga, Deputy Yendi District Co-ordinating
Director, who gave evidence as the 105th Witness said although M. A. Azonko,
the DCD, was present, he (Abanga) took the minutes of the DISEC meetings held
on 15 and 19 February.
He corroborated the DCE's denial that a DISEC meeting was
held on Monday, 18 February. Mr Abanga stated that he had been at post at the
assembly since February 1998 and hails from Bawku in the Upper East Region.
The Witness was discharged after spending about ten
minutes to give evidence since neither the members of the Commission nor the
Counsel for the Abudus, Nana Obiri Boahen, had any questions for him. Sitting
continues on Wednesday.
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Government congratulates new Ghana Broadcasting Corporation
boss
Accra (Greater Accra) 04 September
2002- Government on Monday congratulated Ms Eva Lokko, on her appointment as
the Director-General of the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation (GBC).
A statement signed by Papa Owusu
Ankoma, Acting Minister of Information and Presidential Affairs said," you
are assuming office at a time when GBC, the trial blazer in broadcasting in
Ghana faces enormous challenges that call for innovation, ingenuity and
discipline in Financial and Technical administration"
It however said: "With your
distinguished background and rich experience, I'm confident of your ability to
rise to the occasion and rejuvenate GBC to enable it play its rightful role as
the pioneer in broadcasting."
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Accra (Greater Accra) 04 September
2002- Work on the construction of a Kwame Nkrumah Africa Labour College in
Accra by the Organisation of African Trade Union Unity (OATUU) would begin in
December this year.
The College with a hostel capacity
for 258 students to be built at North Dzorwulu, near Tetteh Quarshie
Roundabout, is named after Ghana's first President because of his onerous
contribution to Pan Africanism and African Renaissance.
Speaking to the Ghana News Agency
(GNA) in Accra on Monday, Mr Hassan A. Sunmonu, Secretary -General of the
OATUU, said the concept for the project was initiated about 15 years ago to
honour Osagyefo Dr Nkrumah. The College to be built on a 3.77 hectares provided
by government would also house the new offices of OATUU.
Mr Sunmonu said the project,
estimated at about seven million dollars include the hostel, an administration
block, two classroom blocks, a 5,000 capacity auditorium, a library, a tennis
court and the OATUU Secretariat. "We need a complex that will virtually
meet our needs in the next 20 years," he said.
On financing of the project, Mr
Sunmonu, said it would be funded mostly by African countries adding that,
"five countries, Libya, Mali, Egypt, Sudan and Algeria have decided to
build some units of the College.
"Libya and Sudan have promised
to build the auditorium and library while Algeria, Mali and Egypt are yet to
select which unit to build." Mr Sunmonu said units of the college would be
named after countries, which built them or after any hero or heroine of that
country.
"The designs and Bill of
Quantities of the project had been submitted to the South African government to
select the unit to build and name it after Former President Nelson
Mandela," he said.
Consultant to the project is the
Modular Group based in Nigeria and comprising Nigerian and Ghanaian
consultants. The group prepared the architectural, engineering, and plumbing
designs and the Bill of Quantities. Mr Sunmono said the construction of the
OATUU Secretariat in Accra began in 1994 and was completed in 1996.
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Remove psychological barriers to maths and
science education
Juaso (Ashanti Region) 04 September 2002 - Mr Alex Kwaku Korankye, Member of
Parliament for Asante-Akim South, has stated that the country's developmental
efforts and poverty reduction strategies would be doomed to failure unless
females who form the majority of the population become more scientifically and
technologically educated.
He said it was for this reason that conscious and
well-co-ordinated efforts should be made to remove all psychological barriers
that inhibit the girl-child in school from pursuing science related programmes.
Mr Korankye was addressing the opening of a week's Science, Technology and
Mathematics Education (STME) clinic for girls in the district at Juaso.
A total of 62 student girls drawn from junior and senior
secondary schools in the area are attending the clinic and it has been designed
to assist break the myth and misconceptions girls have about the sciences.
The MP welcomed the decentralisation of the clinic to the
district level as a step in the right direction since it would afford many
girls the opportunity to be exposed to the STME activities.
He called on parents, teachers and all stakeholders to
support, guide and encourage the girls to enable them to embrace the challenges
of the fast-paced global scientific and technological advancement.
Dr Lord Justice Gyamfi-Fenteng, the District Chief
Executive, said the impact of the STME, since its introduction in 1987 had been
tremendous and everything should be done to sustain and promote the programme.
He said the science clinic for girls as a developmental
strategy was an initiative every Ghanaian should be proud to support, adding
that, "our desire to achieve a holistic national development demands that
we pay particular attention to the other half of the population that has been
relegated to the background in all life situations".
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Minister expresses concern about absence of
agricultural education policy
Accra (Greater Accra) 04 September 2002- The Minister of Food and Agriculture,
Major Courage Quashigah (Rtd) on Tuesday expressed concern about the lack of an
agricultural education policy for the country saying this has adversely
affected the delivery of agricultural education and training.
He said as a result of its absence, there was no
co-ordination or collaboration among the various national institutions
providing agricultural education and training that has brought about so much
wastage in human, material and financial resources.
Maj. Quashigah said this in an address read on his behalf at
the 17th Annual General Conference and three-day Workshop for
Agricultural Science Teachers Association (ASFAG) in Accra.
Representatives from the regions, basic, second cycle and
tertiary institutions are attending the workshop, which is on the theme:
"Agricultural Education at the Crossroads; A Decade of Reforms,
Achievements, Prospects and the Way Forward."
Maj. Quashigah said the Ministry was so much concerned about
the poor state of agricultural education system and has, therefore, made
provisions in the Agricultural Services Sector Investment Project (AgSSIP) for
the formulation of agricultural education and training policy in Ghana.
He said the development of the policy would enable the MOFA
and the Ministry of Education to strengthen agricultural education and training
at all levels; promote vocational agricultural education and training to
enhance middle level management in agriculture and promote innovativeness
within the system.
Major Quashigah said as agricultural science teachers the
participants have enormous responsibility to ensure that they produced
qualified human resources for the agricultural sector adding that this could
best be achieved if they became conversant with the policies and programmes of
MOFA.
He proposed that there should be a linkage between the
association and the MOFA at the district, regional and national levels and
urged agricultural science teachers at the district levels to work closely with
the agricultural extension agents.
Major Quashigah entreated the participants to deliberate on
issues such as lack of practical training at all levels, lack of funds to run
effective agricultural programmes, students' poor attitude towards agricultural
science, inadequate supply of teaching aids and other equipment, inadequate
qualified agricultural science tutors, lack of motivation and low status of
agriculture in the society.
Mrs Comfort Rose Ametame, Deputy Greater Accra Regional
Director of Education, who opened the conference on behalf of the Minister of
Education, said the way forward for agricultural education laid on total
collaboration and schemes such as the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA)
that must be pursued with all vigour.
She said agricultural education should be broadened to
include avenues for marketing, controlling post harvest losses, food processing
and harnessing of water for crop production and should not only concentrate on
fertilizer applications and projections.
Mrs Ametame expressed regret that agricultural production
had not seen any much change over the years and called on agricultural science
teachers, researchers, extension officers and farmers to improve on their
performances to achieve food sufficiency in the country to attract especially
the youth to the agricultural sector.
Mr Lawrence Adu-Amoah, President of ASTAG, said lack of a
comprehensive agricultural education policy and legal framework had led to
frequent changes in second cycle agricultural education programmes over the
decades as well as the absence of modifications in tertiary agricultural
education.
He proposed a separation of the merger of agriculture and
environment studies with core science to form the new subject called integrated
science, which he said was too loaded for effective teaching and learning at
the senior secondary school level and made students ill equipped in the two
areas.
The association suggested that elective agriculture students
should not offer Core Agriculture and Environmental Studies but to offer only
Core Science and that tertiary agriculture education had not seen modifications
or mounted new courses to reflect the reformed agricultural programme at the
pre-tertiary level.
Mr Adu-Amoah said there was no policy for practical work in
agriculture science since very little support was given to schools for
laboratories, stores, farmhouses, basic farm tools and teaching aids while
there were no guidelines as to how practical agriculture should be conducted in
schools.
The association recommended that agricultural graduates from
the Ministry of Agriculture Colleges at Kwadaso, Ejura, Owabi and Pong-Tamale
Veterinary College be recruited to teach at the Junior Secondary Schools
agricultural departments. The National Board for small-scale industries (NBSSI)
and SEDCO publications mounted exhibitions to showcase their agricultural
products.
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Commission urges people with complaints to
submit them without delay
Kumasi (Ashanti Region) 04 September 2002- The public have been urged to submit
or make their complaints early at least by the end of February 2003, for proper
and effective investigations to be made on them.
Professor Florence Abena Dolyphine, a member of the National
Reconciliation Commission, said the earlier complaints were submitted, the
earlier they could be investigated and heard publicly. She made this statement
when the Commission sat at the Freeman College in Kumasi on Tuesday to receive
complaints on human rights abuses from independence up to 1992.
Professor Dolyphine said the Commission had 12 months to
work but stressed that it could be extended to 18 months but people who have
complaints to make should not wait until when the Commission was about to wind
up that they rush to present their cases.
She expressed the hope that "everybody will co-operate
to make the reconciliation process a success, stressing that every hearing
would be videotaped and that sensitive cases will be heard in close
doors". Professor Dolyphine said the Commission had the mandate to invite
people to appear before it and urged those who would appear before it to be
truthful.
She said that facts given at the Commission would not be
used to prosecute anybody in any court. Maulvi Wahab Adam, Member of the Commission
and Head of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Mission in Ghana, said the idea of the
Commission was not to victimise anybody but to "reconstruct our history
and to heal wounds".
He stressed that the Commission was not a judiciary
committee, "we are going to reconstruct our history to heal wounds and
that there was the need for reporters to be circumspect in their
reportage".
Maulvi Adam said reconciliation had taken place in over 21
countries and they all aimed to reconcile the people, unite them to bring about
peace, progress and development. The Kumasi zonal office caters for Ashanti and
Brong Ahafo Regions and by noon, the Commission had received 17 complaints.
When the Ghana News Agency visited the offices of the Commission at Ho at 2pm
on Tuesday, only two people had filed their statements. Mr Yao Dey, Zonal
Manager of NRC, told the Ghana News Agency (GNA) that public announcements
would be made on the two local FM stations in Ho to inform the public whose
human rights were violated from 6 March 1957 to 6 January 1993 to present
statements or petitions to the Commission.
He said a signpost was being made to direct the public to
the new Zonal office, which caters for the Volta and Eastern regions. The GNA
observed during a visit to the zonal office that workers were putting finishing
touches to the office and telephones were yet to be installed.
More than 60 people made statements and complaints on human
rights abuses during periods of unconstitutional regimes in the country to the
National Reconciliation Commission (NRC) in Accra on Tuesday, the first working
day of the Commission.
The complaints were mostly on confiscation of property,
torture and unlawful detention between 1966 and 1985. Mr Justice Kweku Etru
Amua-Sekyi, Chairman of the NRC gave the number of statements and complaints
and their nature to journalists in Accra, after the beginning of the
nation-wide exercise.
As at 1300 hours, Mr Justice Amua-Sekyi described the
turnout in Accra as good and said he had received reports that 23 statements
and complaints had so far been taken in Kumasi.
The NRC was establish by an Act of Parliament, Act 611, to
seek and promote national reconciliation among the people by recommending
appropriate redress for persons, who have suffered any injury, hurt, damage,
grievance or have in any other manner been adversely affected by violations and
abuses of their human rights arising from activities or in-activities of public
institutions and persons holding public office during periods of
unconstitutional government and to provide for related matters.
The unconstitutional periods named are from 24 February 1966 to 21 August 1969; 13th January 1972 to 23rd September 1979; and 31st December 1981 and 6th January 1993. The Commission, which has one year and three months to submit its report and recommendations to government, may on application by any person pursue the object of reconciliation in respect of human rights violation in any other period between 6th March 1957 and 6th January 1993.
Mr Justice Amua-Sekyi described the day as very important in
the work of the Commission and said government had so far released 87,000
dollars, about 700 million cedis out of the budgeted five million dollars to
the Commission.
This, he said, had been used on to purchase some equipment
for the Commission and indicated that more money would be released within the
next two weeks. So far zonal offices have been opened in Kumasi, Takoradi,
Bolgatanga,
Tamale and Ho, Mr Justice Amua-Sekyi said and called on the
victims and perpetrators to come forward with their complaints and statements
as early as possible to enable the Commission to complete its work on schedule.
He said for the moment, the Accra office located temporarily
at the Independence Square would hold half-day sessions from 0830 to 1400 hours
and hold full-day session from 0830 to 1230 hours and 1330 to 1700 hours when
it moved permanently to the Old Parliament House.
The Old Parliament House was originally scheduled to
accommodate the Commission, but rehabilitation works on its chamber and other
offices had made the Commission to temporarily locate at the Independence
Square.
Mr Justice Amua-Sekyi, who was Justice of the Supreme Court
for nine years and served on the bench for a total of 19 years, said the
Commission would soon start public hearing when there was enough complaints and
statements. He said the Commission would move into the Old Parliament House for
its first sitting for public hearing on October if the current rehabilitation
work was completed within a month.
At the zonal office, the complaint maker is registered and
given a file number. The complaint maker then goes to the statement taker for
the statement or the complaint to be taken, after which he or she is given
psychological counselling if it were found necessary.
The Commission has a team of psychologists, headed by Dr
Araba Sefa Dede, a specialist clinical psychologist. An investigation by the
Commissions investigators, comprising retired investigators from the Police
Service and the Bureau of National Investigations, as well as further research
is carried out on the complaints or statements to establish the veracity of the
complaint and bring out more facts, after which the statement or the complaint
maker is notified.
Mr Justice Amua-Sekyi said upon the advice of the
Commission's legal advisors, it would conduct a hearing into the complaint,
dismiss it or may not have the jurisdiction to take further action.
He described the Commission's staff as excellent and urged
the public to have confidence in it and come forward as early as possible to
with their complaints. He said the New York based International Centre of
Transitional Justice was assisting in the training of the Commission's staff to
develop its database.
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Only two file petitions for reconciliation at Ho
Ho (Volta Region) 4 September 2002- Only two persons filed
statements at the Ho Zonal Office of the National Reconciliation Commission
(NRC) as at 1400 hours on Tuesday.
Mr Yao Dey, Zonal Manager of the NRC told the Ghana News
Agency (GNA) that public announcements would be made on the two local FM
stations in Ho to inform the public about persons whose human rights were
violated between 6 March 1957 and 6 January 1993 to present statements or
petitions to the Commission.
He said a signpost was being made to direct the public to
the new Zonal office, which caters for the Volta and Eastern regions. The GNA
observed during a visit to the office that workers were putting finishing
touches to renovation works, while telephone lines were yet to be installed.
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Human rights abuse victims make complaints
to Reconciliation Commission
Accra (Greater Accra) 4 September 2002- A number victims of human rights
violations during periods of unconstitutional regimes in the country began
making statements and complaints to the National Reconciliation Commission
(NRC) when it started work on Tuesday.
At the Independence Square in Accra, more than 60 people had
filed complaints, as at 1pm and in Kumasi, the number was 23. One complainant
was Mr Sammy Nassar, 65, Group Chairman and Managing Director of Ghana Cable
Company Limited, who told his story to the press after making an official
complaint to Commission.
He said in 1983, he was outside the country when he had
information that his personal accounts and four companies were frozen and his
BMW and Volvo cars were also seized from his house.
Mr Nassar, who said he had Lebanese parents but was born a
Ghanaian, said agents of the Bureau of National Investigations (BNI), arrested
him on 8 June 1988, the day he returned to the country and kept him in
detention until 21st May 1992, when he was under intensive care at the Police
Hospital before he was released.
He said during the period he underwent various forms of
mental torture as he was transferred from one detention camp to another. He
said he was initially kept at the BNI Headquarters, transferred to the BNI
annex, James Fort and Nsawam Medium Security Prisons and back to the James
Fort.
"During the period, I made several petitions to the
then Head of State and the Secretary for the Interior, but all were to no
avail. I was still kept under detention and had to undergo two major surgical
operations before my release," Mr Nassar said.
He said he had several severe bouts of malaria and only his
wife was allowed to see him. "Our only hope was the Bible and we had to
rely on God to see us through", Mr Nassar said calmly, and indicated that
at present he bore no grudge against anyone.
He said he had presented 24 documents to the Commission and
said he believed in the Concept of Reconciliation and lauded the government for
the bold decision to set up the Commission.
Asked if he was expecting any reward or punishment for
the ills he suffered, Mr Nassar answered: "I have only presented my case
and would rely on the Commission's recommendations." Mr Nassar said his
assets, which were frozen, had been de-frozen since August 1992.
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Three thousand die annually of malaria
Wa (Upper West Region) 04 September 2002- About 270 million out of the over 300
million malaria cases reported worldwide annually representing 90 per cent were
from Africa. Out of the number over 3,000 die due to the high rate of
mosquitoes on the continent, Dr Daniel Yayemain, Senior Medical Officer in
charge of Public Health, said at Wa on Tuesday.
Speaking during the launching of insecticide mosquitoes bed
nets, he said focus was eventually shifting from malaria to HIV/AIDS education.
Dr Yayemain said apart from being fatal, malaria could also result in abortions
and premature labour among pregnant women and convulsions, epilepsy and mental
retardation among children.
He called on health workers to step up their educational
programmes on the use of the insecticide bed net since "prevention is
better than cure." Dr Yayemain said malaria accounted for 50 per cent of
deaths among children below five years in the country's health facilities.
Mr Godfred Bayong-Tangu, District Chief Executive, said the
high incidence of malaria in the country, was not only affecting productivity
but also undermining socio-economic development.
He called for concerted efforts for the elimination of
malaria and said, "We cannot think of eradicating malaria without
conscious efforts at keeping our environment clean. We need to be hygienic to
be able to curb this diseases." Mr Tangu said the District Assembly would
procure the bed nets for distribution to the poor and vulnerable.
Dr Edward Gyader, Medical Director of the Wa Regional
Hospital, called on people to invest in the bed nets instead of waiting to
"pay more money anytime you are down with malaria."
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Civil Servants welcome End of Service Benefit restoration
Accra (Greater Accra) 04 September 2002- The Civil Servants
Association of Ghana (CSAG), on Tuesday said it would soon submit proposal to
the Speaker of Parliament for the reintroduction of the Civil Servants Pension
Scheme CAP 30.
Mr Smart Chigabatia, Executive Secretary of CSAG, in an
interview with the GNA praised the reintroduction of the End of Service Benefit
Scheme, saying, "it is in the right direction for the employer to take
care of his employee when he retires from his service.
CSAG support the introduction of the ESB and we would also
not relent in our efforts to fight for the CAP 30, which is our due". Mr
Smart Chigabatia said CSAG and its allies, who are not beneficiaries of the ESB
scheme, would continue to press for the reintroduction of CAP 30.
The National Tripartite Committee, made up of
representatives of government, organised labour and employers, on Monday
recommended the introduction of a new End of Service Benefit (ESB) scheme to
supplement the SSNIT Pension scheme.
The Committee said the scheme, should be agreed upon at the
enterprise level and its terms negotiated in accordance with the principles of
free collective bargaining. The Executive Secretary said the SSNIT pension
scheme could not replace CAP 30, but should only supplement it.
Mr Chigabatia said CSAG would be fair in negotiating for the
restoration of CAP 30, adding that, it would not be appropriate to give civil
servants a flat pension, while the benefits of other government employees were
determined by better formulae.
He said it was discriminatory and unconstitutional for the
government to extend the benefits of CAP 30, which is non-contributory, to only
a section of its employees.
"We started fighting for the restoration of CAP 30 when
the previous government was in office and we have also alerted the present
government," he said. The Ghana Police, Prisons and Ghana National Fire
Services, were put back on CAP 30 by various Acts between 1985 and 1997, even
though they became beneficiaries of the SSNIT pension Scheme when the CAP 30
was modified to benefit civil servants, who were employed before 1972.
Following the recommendations of the Mills Odoi Commission,
the government of the National Liberation Council (NLC) in 1969, introduced an
option clause to allow civil servants, who were 45 years and beyond to decide
whether they would remain under CAP 30 and contribute five per cent of their
income towards their pension or join the Social Security Provident Fund.
Mr Chigabatia said those, who were less than 45 years, had
no choice but to join Social Security Scheme. During the Provisional National
Defence Council (PNDC) regime, the contributory nature of CAP 30 was abolished,
he said.
Workers, who retired under CAP 30, usually received bigger
pensions than their counterparts on the SSNIT Pension Scheme. Mr Chigabatia
urged civil servants and their allies in the Ghana Registered Nurses
Association, Judicial Service Association of Ghana and the Ghana National
Association of Teachers to support CSAG's cause.
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GES emphasises prompt submission of
financial reports
Kumasi (Ashanti Region) 04 September 2002- Accountants of the Ghana Education
Service (GES) have been urged to devise more effective strategies to ensure
that their accounts books are balanced and their financial reports submitted to
management in good time.
Miss Lydia Osei, Deputy Director-General of the GES, said
this had become crucial because the delays and in some cases non-submission of
financial reports to management of the service, was having a negative impact on
business of the GES.
Miss Osei made the call in Kumasi on Tuesday, at the opening
of a three-day national conference of the Association of Educational
Accountants (AEA) being held under the theme "Effective financial
reporting,"
The conference is being attended by 800 delegates drawn from
all parts of the country as well as observers from various educational
institutions. Topics lined up for discussion include financial management,
financial reporting and basic constitutional rights of a citizen of Ghana.
Miss Osei observed with regret "there have been
occasions when financial support to the service had to be blocked due to delays
in submitting vital returns and this trend must not be allowed to
continue."
"In the near future, the Heavily Indebted Poor
Countries (HIPC) funds may be released to support the existing budget of the
service, and this will therefore demand more up-to-date and honest accountants
to manage such funds," she added.
Miss Osei was not happy about the situation where some
accountants were refusing transfers and cautioned them against that practice,
saying "I wish to stress that transfer of personnel in any organisation is
the prerogative of management, nobody therefore has the right to decide where
he or she wants to go."
Mr J.A.K. Okrah, national chairman of the AEA, commended the
GES for the appointment of a financial controller, which he noted had helped in
instilling financial discipline in the service.
"We members of the AEA wish to pledge our unflinching
support for the financial controller and assure him that we are solidly behind
him and that we shall do everything possible to assist him achieve his set
target in the service", Mr Okrah stated.
The AEA, was, however, not very happy with the way the
non-teaching staff were being treated and therefore appealed to the GES to
create a common platform for both teaching and non-teaching staff in the areas
of "rent-free accommodation and responsibility allowances for departmental
heads".
In an address read for him< Mr Sampson Kwaku Boafo,
Ashanti Regional Minister, stressed the need for accountants in the GES to
sharpen their skills and knowledge in their profession to enable them
judiciously use the huge resources being channelled into supporting education
by the government and other donors.
He cautioned them against any forms of misappropriation
stressing "the zero tolerance for corruption initiated by the NPP
government should not be perceived as a sham, but should be taken very
seriously at all levels of employment."
Earlier in a welcome address, Professor E.Y. Sarfo, Pro Vice
Chancellor of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST),
recalled how some bursars in schools had to lose their jobs and were made to
suffer because they could not account for monies entrusted to them.
Professor Sarfo suggested that to forestall a recurrence,
the GES should employ honest accountants to audit the accounts of the various
educational institutions in the country. The Conference of Heads of Assisted
Secondary Schools (CHASS) and the Association of Auditors delivered fraternal
messages.
GRi…/
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