MP Attacks Kufuor: Adjaho Responds
Coup fear after Ivory Coast shots
Mills,
Botchwey tango thickens
Reconciliation
Commission happy with public response
Ministry
of Health to equip polyclinics-Baah
Establish
a Commission on the aged- HelpAge
Ports and Harbours Authority purchase cranes to enhance operational efficiency
Drama
in Court as jailed prostitutes wail for leniency
Vaccine
to destroy malaria parasites being developed
Coalition on Water threatens to organise
demonstration
Accra (Greater Accra) 19 September 2002 - Hon. Eddie
Doe Adjaho, MP for Avenor, and Minority Chief Whip, has denied ever attacking
President Kufour. Reacting to a lead story in Wednesday’s issue of the Daily
Guide, captioned "MP Attacks Kufuor", Hon. Adjaho explained that what
he did was to criticise the President's inaugural address to the district
assemblies.
"I have extreme respect for the office of the
President, and if you'll notice, I always precede statements on the floor of
the House with 'His Excellency". According to Adjaho, what he did at
Akatsi after the inauguration of the assembly was to take issue with the
President's address.
Speaking to the Ghana News Agency (GNA) last Tuesday,
Mr. Adjaho noted that the President's inaugural address in which he called for
the introduction of partisanship in the local council elections was
misdirected.
"The appropriate forum is Parliament, through a
Bill or its inclusion in the President's Sessional Address". He held
strongly that the country is not practising a Federal system where powers will
be delegated to the lower structures of democratisation.
In his inaugural address, President Kufuor had opined
that the vexed question of the non-partisan nature of the district assembly
elections must be tackled now. He said it is time the district assembly
elections were made partisan.
"It seems the non-party elections constitute a
huge exercise in self-deception, as it appears the political parties sponsored
candidates unofficially, and I believe it is time it is made official."
Meanwhile, Mr. Kofi Amponsah Bediako, a government spokesman has disagreed with
the stand taken by Hon. Eddie Doe Adjaho.
In a statement to the Daily Guide, Mr. Bediako said
what Adjaho said was not only misguided, but also hypocritical. Read his
comments: "Even though in principle district elections are to be
non-partisan, in practice this is not the case, and Mr. Adjaho is very much
aware of this since we know of certain candidates who were supported by the NDC
in preference to others who were classified as belonging to other political
camps.
"We are very much aware, for example, of the
evaluation of performance conducted by certain political parties in relation to
the recent district elections, an indication that parties had special interest
in candidates of their choice.
"It is in the light of this that we need to take
a second look at the elections as they are now and make it partisan. There is,
therefore, nothing wrong in making the district elections partisan. "Hon.
Adjaho's claim that the district assemblies were not the appropriate fora to
direct the issue is also untenable. This is because the President has the right
to inform the assemblies or Ghanaians about his concerns in relation to the
issue before taking appropriate steps through a Bill to Parliament.
"Hon. Adjaho's confrontation is unnecessary and
reflects a desire on the part of certain political figures to attack the
government on any move it takes to address issues in the country.
"The HIPC initiative by President Kufuor, for
example, was opposed by certain political figures, but the same people have
asked for more of the relief from HIPC for their areas, questioning the basis
for the distribution of the relief. "Government will, however, remain
focused in its desire to address the problems facing the country". -Peace
FM interview
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Abidjan (Ivory Coast) 19 Sept 2002 - Heavy gunfire has
erupted in the Ivory Coast capital on Thursday, news agencies report. A senior
official, who refused to be named, told Reuters the shooting was
"definitely a coup attempt" but there was no independent confirmation.
The official added there had also been gunfire in the
towns of Bouake and Korhogo. The gunfire, both heavy weapons and small arms,
began at about 4 a.m. local time (0400 GMT) in Abidjan, residents told
international news agencies.
Residents told reporters gunfire was first heard near
the paramilitary gendarmerie in the city. Janine Digiovanni, a correspondent
with the UK's Times newspaper, told CNN mortar and gunshots had been heard and
that the streets were deserted of civilians.
She said it was not clear if the gunfire was a coup
attempt or soldiers angry at being demobilsed but added that the presence of
mortar fire indicated some sort of military involvement. There has been no
official statements on state radio and President Laurent Gbagbo was in Italy,
she added. Gbagbo's top aides were holding an emergency meeting to discuss what
their next move should be, Reuters reported.
In 1999, a coup ended Ivory Coast's reputation as a
beacon of relative political and economic stability in the region and brought
General Robert Guei to power. He was swept from power the following year after
street protests against his attempts to rig the general election and prevent
Gbagbo from becoming president.
Guei last week accused Gbagbo's government of mismanagement
and of detaining a number of civilians and soldiers without good reason or any
explanation. Hundreds of people died in the violence and confusion following
the 2000 elections in the country which is split between the largely Muslim
north of former Prime Minister Alassane Ouattara and the more Christian and
animist south.
Western countries and international donors have
applauded moves to defuse political tension in Ivory Coast and Gbagbo's recent
inclusion of ministers from the main opposition in his government. -CNN
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Accra
(Greater Accra) 19 September 2002 - The race for the flagbearership of Ghana's
main opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) hit the homestretch this
week as the yet-to-be announced campaign team of former Finance Minister, Dr.
Kwesi Botchwey went into action to prepare for the formal launch of his bid to run
on the ticket of the party to unseat incumbent president John Kufuor.
At the same
time, defeated election 2000 flagbearer and former vice-president, John Evans
Atta Mills who announced his candidature for the flagbearership last week, also
took matters into his own hands and sought to convince floating opinion leaders
within the party to back his campign, with an all-important visit to party
chairman, Dr. Obed Asamoah mid-day Friday.
Not to be
left behind, defeated NDC chairmanship aspirant, long time Defence Minister and
former member of the NDC Council of Elders, Alhaji Mahama Iddrisu, chose to
hold his cards close to his chest, leaving both the Mills/Botchwey camp
guessing on his action.
Though both
camps are eager for his support, Alhaji Iddrisu has kept insiders wondering
whether he would really run or not. The National Concord quotes him as saying
that he would announce his next line of action in due course.
Close aides
say his decision would be informed by the undertakings of the two lead candidates
and that Alhaji might use his support as a bargaining chip. Despite the subtle
support by former president Rawlings for Mills, the team has a weak support
base in the northern regions where Alhaji Iddrisu is said to be pitting his
strength.
Insiders,
however, say all signals point to a straight contest for the flagbearership
between the Stanford University-trained former vice president Atta Mills and
the Yale University-educated former finance minister, Kwesi Botchwey. The two
lead candidates were mates at the University of Ghana, Legon, and were both
students of party chairman, Dr. Asamoah; National Concord quotes sources as
saying.
Botchwey,
currently a lecturer at the prestigious Ivy League Harvard University is
expected to grace the formal launch of his campaign barely a fortnight from
now, insiders of his campaign team told the National Concord. He is expected in
the country next week.
Incidentally,
Professor Mills, who announced his candidature for the impending primaries last
week, might be out of town when the former finance minister who resigned his
position before he (Mills) became vice-president in 1997 arrives.
Mills left
Accra Monday for a 10-day visit to Canada to wrap up what deep-throat party
apparatchiks say is his last academic engagement at the University of British
Columbia, Canada where he until recently, had a teaching post.
However,
insiders of his campaign team say the trip is also to wind up efforts at
negotiating for campaign funds for both the primaries and elections 2004 and
that he would visit London as well. While Mills has already announced a
campaign team led by Lawra-Nandom MP, Benjamin Kumbuor, Botchwey's arrival is
expected to garrier people in the party who say a Mills candidature offers no
better prospect for the 204 elections.
Already,
members of Botchwey's team, which includes some high-ranking members of
Parliament and a number of party officials presently on the quiet with some
hobnobbing with the Mills team till his arrival, have begun deliberations on
how to win the primaries.
They would
not, however, go on record and are waiting to formally unveil the team on the
arrival of Botchwey, which is set to brighten the race for the flagbearership.
"One member of the campaign team told the Concord late Tuesday that
Botchwey's intent to run on the NDC ticket is in fulfillment of the wind of
democracy blowing through the party and the desire to have strong, principled
and independent leadership.
Already,
there are concern in the party that despite the pledge to wage clean elections
by the two lead candidates, a recurrence of the acrimonious race for the
chairmanship of the party in April between former president Rawlings and then
candidate (but now chairman) Dr. Obed Asamoah camps, is inevitable. NDC Youth
Organiser, Haruna Iddrisu however says the contest between the leading party
activists would deepen democracy in the NDC".
"Competition
is good. Competition is healthy". But the fear of the unknown and the
possibility of an acrimonious election registered in his voice. "My only
hope is that whoever emerges by the wisdom of congress will have the support of
the entire membership of the party," he prayed, adding, the developments
in the party are very significant in terms of the NDC's commitment to ensure that
every position is contested for.
Fortunately,
none of the contesting camps has started threatening doomsday should it lose
the primaries yet. General Secretary Josiah Aryeh believes it will not come to
that. "We will not crack down the middle".
However,
insiders of his campaign team say the trip is also to wind up efforts at
negotiating for campaign funds for both the primaries and elections 2004 and
that he would visit London as well. While Mills has already announced a
campaign team led by Lawra-Nandom MP, Benjamin Kumbuor, Botchwey's arrival is
expected to garrier people in the party who say a Mills candidature offers no
better prospect for the 204 elections.
Already,
members of Botchwey's team, which includes some high-ranking members of Parliament
and a number of party officials presently on the quiet with some hobnobbing
with the Mills team till his arrival, have begun deliberations on how to win
the primaries.
They would
not, however, go on record and are waiting to formally unveil the team on the
arrival of Botchwey, which is set to brighten the race for the flagbearership.
"One member of the campaign team told the Concord late Tuesday that
Botchwey's intent to run on the NDC ticket is in fulfillment of the wind of
democracy blowing through the party and the desire to have strong, principled
and independent leadership.
Already,
there are concern in the party that despite the pledge to wage clean elections
by the two lead candidates, a recurrence of the acrimonious race for the
chairmanship of the party in April between former president Rawlings and then
candidate (but now chairman) Dr. Obed Asamoah camps, is inevitable. NDC Youth
Organiser, Haruna Iddrisu however says the contest between the leading party
activists would deepen democracy in the NDC".
"Competition
is good. Competition is healthy". But the fear of the unknown and the
possibility of an acrimonious election registered in his voice. "My only
hope is that whoever emerges by the wisdom of congress will have the support of
the entire membership of the party," he prayed, adding, the developments
in the party are very significant in terms of the NDC's commitment to ensure
that every position is contested for.
Fortunately,
none of the contesting camps has started threatening doomsday should it lose
the primaries yet. General Secretary Josiah Aryeh believes it will not come to
that. "We will not crack down the middle".
GRi…/
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Reconciliation
Commission happy with public response
Ho (Volta Region) 19
September 2002 - Mr Justice K. E. Amua-Sekyi, Chairman of the National Reconciliation
Commission (NRC) on Tuesday expressed satisfaction with the response from the
public on the Commission's work, which started two weeks ago.
He said so far about
700 statements had been received from aggrieved persons throughout the country and
expressed the hope that by the end of September the 1000th mark would be hit. Mr
Justice Amu-Sekyi expressed his satisfaction during a visit to the
Volta/Greater Accra Zonal Office at Ho to see progress of work since the
Commission started work on 3 September.
He, said,
notwithstanding the teething problems associated with new organisations, Accra
for instance, received about 30 statements daily adding that Kumasi and
Takoradi offices were also doing well.
He, however,
appealed to people whose human rights have been violated not to wait until the
last hour before rushing to present their cases to the Commission. He said the
process was long and needed to go through researches and investigations and
advised petitioners to come forward as early as possible.
Mr Yao Dey, Zonal
Manager, said work was progressing steadily and that as at Tuesday 54 cases on
seizure of property; ill treatment; unlawful imprisonment and dismissal had
been received. He said radio announcements made by the office had generated
interest in "our operations in the region, leading to more people
reporting daily."
Mr Dey said the
staff of the Zonal Office, had planned to extend their services to the
doorsteps of people in the districts due to the terrain and poor road network
in the Volta Region. He said staff would in addition buttress the process with
public education programmes in order to make inroads in "our work with
effect from next Friday".
GRi…/
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Ministry
of Health to equip polyclinics-Baah
Accra (Greater
Accra) 19 September 2002 - Mr Moses Dani Baah, Deputy Minister for Health, on
Wednesday said that the ministry would equip Polyclinics in the country with modern
facilities to avoid overcrowding at the major teaching hospitals.
Speaking at the
launch of Glaucoma Awareness Week, Mr Baah stated that the measure was also to
enable the hospitals to cope with the limited facilities. The ministry funded
the Awareness Week, which was under the theme, "Prevent Blindness From
Glaucoma, Check Your Eyes Early."
Mr Baah said
government was making efforts to improve upon facilities at Korle Bu Teaching
Hospital and other major ones in the country. He stated that the government
would waive taxes on Glaucoma drugs adding that the “Cash and Carry” system
would also be replaced by the national health insurance scheme.
Mr Baah observed
that many people due to ignorance, were suffering from Glaucoma, and said there
was the need for regular eye screening. Mr. Harrison Kofi Abutiate, President
of the Glaucoma Association of Ghana, appealed to the ministry to organise more
awareness programmes.
"We expect
extra screening programmes to be carried out nationwide in all government
hospitals in order to detect glaucoma early," he said and appealed to the
government to waive the newly introduced 12.5 per cent Value Added Tax (VAT) on
drugs for treating life-long diseases.
Mr Abutiate appealed
to the government to provide funds for the rehabilitation of the Eye clinic at
Korle Bu. About 100,000,000 people were suspected to be suffering from Glaucoma
through out the world with 20,000,000 persons being established, while
5,000,000 were blind from the disease.
GRi…/
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Establish
a Commission on the aged- HelpAge
Accra (Greater
Accra) 19 September 2002 - Mr Ebenezer Adjetey-Sorsey, Acting Executive
Director of Help Age Ghana, has stressed the need for the establishment of a
National Commission on the Aged to look critically and address issues affecting
elderly people.
He said such a
Commission would ensure the implementation and effective monitoring of issues
affecting aged people as raised in the draft policy on ageing. The proposal is
under consideration by the Ministry of Manpower Development and a number of
collaborators are involved in shaping a document on it for presentation to
Cabinet.
Speaking to the
Ghana News Agency in Accra on this year’s Help Age Week celebrations, which
comes off from 23 September to 01 October Mr. Adjetey-Sorsey said as a result of improved health
facilities and increasing population, the number of people above 60 years had
kept increasing and the Study of Geriatrics - the science and care of old
people should be a major part of the school curricula.
He said the old
people population, which was 381,000 in 1970 shot up to 719,135 in 1984, with
the year 2000 estimates put at 900,000. He said the figures were alarming and
called for urgent action to make old age a comfortable one.
The Help Age Acting
Executive Director said this year's celebration, which would be launched at
Amasaman in the Ga District would focus on the working population to plan ahead
for a better old age and retirement.
Other activities
planned for the week are an excursion, a food fair, a quiz programme, a public
lecture, radio and television discussions and a statement in Parliament. It would be climaxed with the observance of
the UN International Day of the Aged on 01 October.
Mr. Adjetey- Sorsey
called on couples to plan their families well and adequately cater for their
children in order to avoid the repercussions of child neglect in old age. Mr
Adjetey-Sorsey said the Help Age Ghana, which is a non-governmental
organisation, was currently offering services to over 950 elderly people in
Accra through community-based Age Groups.
The Groups, which
are called Zones, consist of about 70 volunteers, who provide services ranging
from home visits, grooming, tiding of the environment, and helping the old
people to the hospital. Mr Adjetey-Sorsey said Help Age Ghana was planning a
survey on the impact of HIV/AIDS on the Aged.
He however, accepted
the fact that the pandemic was exacting psychological and emotional tolls on
the Aged as they stood to lose their financial and social support base from
their children who suffered and died from the disease, and further caring for
orphaned grandchildren.
He called for more
Day Centres for aged and advised working people to maintain ties with the
extended family and nurture good friendship to avoid isolation in advanced
years.
GRi…/
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Security
exhibition to check crime
Accra (Greater
Accra) 19 September 2002 - Safety and Security Exhibition dubbed "SECUREX
2002" is to be held in Accra on 25 to 28 September 2002 as part of efforts
to check crime and ensure peace and stability. It is under the theme:
"Developing Safety and Security consciousness as an asset for
socio-economic and political stability in the new democratic era of
Africa."
The exhibition, the
first of its kind, is aimed at raising safety and security consciousness of
Ghanaian by way of protecting themselves and assisting security services in
their duty of stamping out crime in the country.
A statement signed
by Mr Ebenezer Sam, Assistant Public Relations Officer of the Ministry of the
Interior in Accra, said the exhibition "is more crucial as Ghana strives
to actualise government's declaration of "Golden Age of Business."
Some of the major
issues to be addressed would include crime combat for socio-economic and
political stability, security reporting, the role of organisations in financial
crime prevention and detection, insurance, and new concepts on protective
security and other topics.
Exhibiters from
financial institutions, insurance companies, information technology outfits,
security firms, and civil aviation agencies are expected to participate.
GRi…/
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Tema (Greater Accra)
19 September 2002 - The Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority (GPHA) has purchased
two new grove mobile cranes at the cost of 436,631 dollars to step up
operational efficiency and increase revenue generation at the Tema Fishing
Harbour.
The new cranes with
a maximum lifting capacity of 25 tonnes each and telescopic boom reach of 29
metres would reduce the workload on the existing aging ones and allow for good
management and maintenance.
Speaking at the
commissioning of the cranes at the fishing harbour on Tuesday, Major (rtd)
Samuel Ntow, General Manager of the Tema Fishing Harbour, said there was the
need to procure the cranes following the low revenue generation from the old
cranes that dropped from 721 million cedis in 1996 to 561 million cedis in
2001.
It, therefore,
became necessary to augment the existing number of cranes to meet pressing
demand in order to increase the carnage revenue and to reduce pressure on the
aging ones. Major Ntow said vessel calls rose from 66 in 1996 to 330 in 2000,
which yielded tuna catch from 38,808 tonnes in 1998 to 40,482 tonnes in 2001.
On the contrary, the
catch of carton fish has reduced drastically from 31, 518 tonnes in 1998 to
12,572 tonnes in 2000 and he attributed it to governmental policies on the
importation of fish. Mr Ben Owusu Mensah, Director General of the GPHA, handed
over the keys to the cranes to the Fishing Harbour Manager.
The Tema Fishing
Harbour Strategic Business Unit (SBU) of the GPHA was set up in 1994 as a
self-financing unit to manage the fishing harbour. The following year, the
outer fishing harbour rehabilitation project was commissioned to expand its
infrastructure base.
Commissioning the
cranes, Mr Samuel Evans Ashong Narh, Tema Municipal Chief Executive (MCE) noted
that the sophistication and highly competitive international trade required the
upgrading of the country's seaports to cope with changing demands of
international practice.
To this end, he
entreated the Management of fishing harbour to look for more opportunities to
continue with the necessary investment to upgrade the place to meet the demands
of its numerous customers. Mr Narh commended the GPHA for its maintenance
culture that had resulted in increased productivity and urged it to continue with
the zeal for increased revenue generation for the nation.
Commenting on the
laid up vessels dotted along the coast, the Mr Narh suggested the formation of
inter-organisational committee comprising representative of all relevant
agencies including traditional chiefs to find lasting solution to the problem. The
committee should look at the possibility of allowing early dumping or beaching
of unserviceable vessels at a cost to the owners.
GRi…/
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Drama
in Court as jailed prostitutes wail for leniency
Accra (Greater
Accra) 19 September 2002 - Sitting at the Osu Community Tribunal ended abruptly
on Wednesday when 18 prostitutes appearing before it broke down in tears after
three month jail term each was imposed on them.
Eight men, who
engaged the services of the prostitutes, were also jailed three months each.
The tribunal declined to a fine sentence of 200,000 cedis each, which the court
said was lenient and affordable and rather imposed a custodial sentence.
Passing sentence,
the Tribunal Chairman Mr George Nana Donkor said it took a serious view of the
increase of HIV/AIDS pandemic in the country, adding that the sentence was to
serve as deterrent to others. The convicts, whose ages ranged between 14 and 36
years, pleaded guilty to soliciting for immoral acts.
The prostitutes, who
had been remanded in prison custody for a week, looked dejected and stranded,
pleaded with the court for leniency but when the jail sentence was slapped,
their hopes were dashed and they broke down in tears.
Some screamed for
leniency and one whimpered, "we will pay a fine." The police
convinced the tribunal by displaying used and unused condoms retrieved from the
prostitutes cubicles during the swoop as exhibits. The tribunal however,
ordered that a 14 year-old juvenile among them be sent to the Juvenile Court
for sentencing.
Meanwhile the
tribunal has cautioned and discharged two people whom it found out to be
couples but remanded five men into custody after they had pleaded not guilty to
soliciting for immoral act to reappear on 25 September.
Prosecuting Chief
Inspector Christopher Quaicoo told the tribunal that as part of activities to
clamp down on prostitution in the Accra metropolis, the Nima Police organised a
swoop at the Kwame Nkrumah Circle and 34 persons made of 14 men and 20 women
were arrested at a spot known as "Gyaenkuntabo spot" or "Soldier
spot."
During a search at
the spot, used and unused condoms were found in five wooden cubicles while the
male customers who had queued up waiting for their turn to engage in their
activities were rounded up. The police said the owner of the spot was on the
run but frantic efforts to arrest him were in motion.
GRi…/
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Vaccine
to destroy malaria parasites being developed
Accra (Greater
Accra) 19 September 2002 - Prof Isabella Quakyi, Head of the Immunology and
Micro-Biology Department of the School of Public Health, University of Ghana,
on Wednesday said the fight against malaria was enormous and that a
multi-molecular vaccine to combat the parasite at its various developmental
stages was being developed.
Prof Quakyi said the
ability of the parasite to adapt to its environment made it difficult for
scientists to develop the appropriate vaccine to combat it. "There is
however, light at the end of the tunnel however, for the development of the
multi-molecular vaccine," he noted.
Prof Quakyi was
speaking at the opening of the second annual research meeting of the Noguchi
Memorial Institute for Medical Research (NMIMR). The two-day meeting, which is
under the theme; Control of Endemic Diseases - Bridging the Research-Policy
Divide, Special Focus on HIV/AIDS and Malaria, is being attended by about 50
researchers, medical students and policy makers.
Prof Quakyi said it
has been discovered that malaria parasite have local identity, as such African
parasites were different from Asian parasites.
"Government
must therefore, be committed to capacity building in the research sector
through the training of more local research scientists to study the environment
and develop vaccines to combat local parasites," she said. Professor
Agyeman Badu Akosa, Director of Health Service, called for the establishment of
National Medical Research Council (NMRC).
He said such a
council would co-ordinate medical research activities in the country and create
the platform for effective collaboration between policy makers and researchers
to facilitate efforts at combating endemic diseases.
The meeting would
bring to light strides made in the research towards developing vaccines to
combat malaria parasites at the various stages of its development and formulate
strategies on how to inform national policy.
Prof Akosa noted
that it was imperative for national policy to be adequately informed by
reliable medical research, if policies were to adequately address the medical
problems in the country.
This, he said,
called for collaboration between researchers and policy makers to ensure that
the latter had adequate information on medical problems of the country and
formulate appropriate policy to address them.
He said the national
policy as it stood now had made medical research virtually, relegated to the
background as scientific research focused mainly on agriculture, industry,
technology and others. "Discussion about constituting an NMRC is long over
due. It is time we moved from talking to establishing the council", he
said.
Prof Akosa alluded
to the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), saying, "the
name of that council alone showed that very little medical research goes on
there and this does not favour medical research in the country.
"We are
currently studying the example of Nigeria, Kenya and other countries to enable
us to write a paper on the need to establish NMRC soon. Medical research has come of age in Ghana
and it demands consistent public funding."
Prof Akosa said his
outfit intended to make a case for public funded medical research, adding that
the days when researchers waited for funding from overseas before undertaking
research should be a thing of the past.
He noted that apart
from the NMIMR, other medical research centres across the country were
virtually incapacitated, and urged the NMIMR to lead the way in capacity
building in the other Research Centres.
GRi…/
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Ashanti
Region records 1,737 new AIDS cases
Kumasi (Ashanti
Region) 19 September 2002 - The Ashanti Region recorded 1,737 new HIV/AIDS
cases between January and June. Out of the number, 1,038 were females while 699
were males.
Mr Michael Boamey,
Ashanti Regional HIV/AIDS Coordinator, announced this at a Regional Population
Advisory Committee meeting in Kumasi. He said out of 52,961 HIV/AIDS cases
recorded in the country last year Ashanti Region recorded 16,069.
The Coordinator
attributed the highest number of AIDS cases recorded because it has 20
screening centres. He noted that about
87 per cent of the population in the Region, were aware of the existence of the
disease.
Mr Boamey announced
that 73 Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) had come together to form an
HIV/AIDS advocacy Network to pool resources to fight the disease.
He appealed to the
media to support the NGOs to curtail the menace.
Mr Diawuo Benneh,
Ashanti Regional Population Officer, commended district assemblies in the
region for their support in the fight against the disease. He appealed to the people, especially the
youth to change their sexual behaviour in order to avoid getting the disease.
Mr Benneh appealed to
NGOs working to curb the disease to use monies given them judiciously in order
to make the necessary impact on the ground.
GRi…/
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Accra (Greater
Accra) 19 September 2002 - Government on Wednesday said it would commence
action on all proposals and scenarios submitted to it by the National
Institutional Renewable Programme (NIRP) for salary improvement from 31 October
this year.
An ultimatum given
in a statement released in Accra and signed by Mr Jake Obetsebi-Lamptey,
Minister of Information, and Presidential Affairs, to the Ministries
Departments and Agencies (MDAs) said work on the exercise was to start on 20
August but had to be extended because some sectors failed to submit the
necessary data.
It therefore,
advised all defaulting MDAs to take note of the extension and submit the
functional review and public sector employee verification forms to the NIRP,
which has already started processing data received so far.
The statement
warned: "MDAs which fail to submit the required information to NIRP by
30th September deadline will therefore, have themselves to blame." Government
issued the statement because it was concerned about the failure of some MDAs to
submit their functional review and public sector employee verification forms to
the NIRP for processing.
Submission of the
forms is to facilitate the development of a comprehensive implementation
programme for salary improvement and enhancement as part of the public sector
pay implementation exercise. The statement said a survey on public-private
sector salaries has already been completed. The survey was to determine the
actual cost of public sector employees in the labour market.
It said a public
sector employee census and functional review exercise to determine the actual
size of the public sector and further eliminate 'ghost names' from pay vouchers
was underway as part of the implementation project. The statement said the
failure of some MDAs, to submit their forms had impeded work on the whole
exercise.
GRi…/
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Sunyani (Brong
Ahafo) 19 September 2002 - Mr John Appiah Boateng, Brong Ahafo Regional Manager
of Ghana Telecom Company Limited, on Tuesday cautioned the public against the
re-selling of the one touch chips at a higher cost to other people. He alleged
that some people buy the chip at the controlled price of 480,000 cedis from the
company and resell to others at as high as one million cedis.
Speaking in an
interview with the Ghana News Agency in Sunyani on the shortage of chips in the
Regional Capital, Mr Boateng said "the situation is not only being
experienced in the region but throughout the country".
He described the
practice as "naked robbery" and warned that the law would deal
accordingly with any one caught in the practice. The Regional Manager said
about 40 per cent of chips so far supplied in the Region "have found
themselves back in Accra, where cell sites are already over loaded, creating
problems for users in the Metropolis".
Mr Boateng said
measures were being taken by the company's management in Accra to stop the
practice and added that supplies would now be made on regional basis and the
chips would preferably be sold to organizations to arrest the flagrant abuse.
He advised people,
who are not in need of the chip, to desist from buying to pave way for others
who need them to be served. "Those who indulge in the practice will never
have the chance of getting a chip from the company since their identities are
computerised in their system," he said.
Consumers in Sunyani
are going through difficult experiences as for sometime now they have not been
able to obtain chips from the Regional Office of Ghana Telecom for their
phones.
GRi…/
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Accra (Greater
Accra) 19 September 2002 - The Accra - Tema Metropolitan Area on Tuesday
experienced fuel shortage at some filling stations and attendants blamed it on
delays in supply from the Tema Oil Refinery (TOR).
However, Dr Kobina
Richardson, Acting Chief Executive of TOR, told the Ghana News Agency on
Wednesday that there was no need for panic buying of fuel. When the GNA went
round on Wednesday morning, there were very long queues at the few stations
that were dispensing fuel.
The stations
included the Mobil Filling station on the Ring Road, Total Filling Station at
Arena in Accra Central, Shell and the Total Filling Stations on the 37-Airport
Road and the Mobil Station at the Sakumono Junction, near Tema.
Some drivers, who
had no fuel at all in their vehicles, were seen pushing them towards the pump
area whenever there was a gap in front of them. Most of the other filling
stations visited were, however, empty because the operators had put up notices:
'No Fuel' at their entry points.
Some of the empty
stations were the Mobil Filling Station at Dansoman-Sahara, Shell Station at
the Airport Junction, Mobil Station at the Motorway Roundabout in Tema, Total
and Mobil Filling Stations at Community Two in Tema and the Total Filling
Station in Community Three, Tema.
Frustrated Mr
Roddick Ansumanying Nyarko, a private car owner, told the GNA that he moved
from one fuel station to the other for more than an hour before he managed to
get enough to take him to work.
Dr Richardson told
the Ghana News Agency that owing to some technical problems with the plant at
the Refinery, which was now being put in order, "we have not refined crude
oil for sometime now."
He said TOR had
established Letters of Credit (LCs) for the delivery of fuel products and the
first consignment had arrived was being distributed to the oil marketing
companies. "We now import finished products and LCs have been established
for the supply of more products," he emphasised.
Dr Richardson gave
the assurance that there was no need for panic buying because "we are
going to maintain our fuel supply." When the GNA visited the loading rag
at TOR, many tankers had lined up to load fuel.
GNA investigations
revealed that Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) has been in short supply in Tema
for the past two weeks, however, motorists had not complained of any shortage
of fuel at filling stations in the Municipality.
GRi…/
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Accra (Greater
Accra) 19 September 2002 - The Coalition for Private Sector Participation in
Urban Water Supply (CPSPUWS) on Wednesday threatened to organise the
communities on the fringes of Accra Metropolis to stage a massive demonstration
in support of their cause.
The Coalition made
particular mention of Integrated Social Development Centre (ISODEC), the
Coalition Against Privatisation of Water (CAP of Water) and Mr Adu Amankwah,
General Secretary of the Trades Union Congress (TUC) as organisations and
people, who were bent on confusing the people about the benefit of private
participation in water supply.
Mr Francis Botwey,
Co-ordinator of CPSPUWS, said this at a press briefing in Accra to express the
Coalition's view on recent developments in the water sector with respect to the
government's intention to invite private sector participation to improve water
supply.
He said it was
ironic that CAP of Water which trumpeted the report of a so-called fact finding
team from overseas had turned around to recruit foreign anti-globalisation
activists to tell Ghanaians how they should manage the same system.
Mr Botwey said it
was a matter of regret that Mr Amankwah should be part of this scheme while
workers struggle to buy water at higher prices than those at the top of the
TUC.
The Coalition
accused the TUC Secretary General of managing to lure the various District
Councils of Labour to sign prepared communiqués against the PSP even though
workers of the Public Utilities Workers Union working with the GWCL were
supportive of the water reform process.
He made it clear
that the private sector participation was meant for the urban communities of
Adenta, Ashale Botwe, Sowutuom, Ofankor, Accra New Town, Teshie, Kasoa, Madina,
East Legon and Nii Boye Town where the people do not have access to water and
buy buckets of water at exorbitant prices.
Mr Botwey said the
rural sectors were currently being taken care of with the Community Water and
Sanitation Projects under which communities manage their own water systems.
He said the
government needed about 500 million dollars to restructure the water sector and
that was why private participation was being sought to assist in
re-capitalising the sector to make water more accessible and affordable.
GRi…/
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