GRi Newsreel 09 - 09 -
2003
Contractor abandons irrigation project at Nante
Deputy Local Government Minister tours Yendi
Aggudey, Mahama still in CPP presidential race - Dowuona
Ministry of Interior makes changes at Prison and Fire Service
Accountant before court for falsification of figures
Youth media appeals to University lecturers
UTAG Executive holding consultations with members
Contractor abandons irrigation project at Nante
Nante (Brong Ahafo) 9 September 2003 - Lack of supervision by Kintampo District Assembly has led to the abandonment of a ¢465m irrigation project at Nante in the district by the contractor, Hersey Investment Limited.
Samuel Effah, former chairman of the unit committee and William Kwame Ofosu, member of the unit committee in the town, said this when they conducted newsmen round the abandoned project site. They said efforts to get the district assembly to terminate the contract have proved futile.
Funded under the Village Infrastructure Project (VIP), the project was awarded to the contractor three years ago and was to be completed within eight months. The project, on completion, will irrigate 50 hectares of land to enable farmers to cultivate vegetables, particularly tomatoes, all year round.
The two community leaders said the delay in the completion of the project has created an unhealthy tension between the assembly and the community.
Effah and Ofosu said work so far done was not up to 30 percent of the project and castigated the contractor for shoddy work on two pumping centres he has constructed. Nana Asamoah Baffour, chief of Nante, said the irrigation facility would offer employment to the youth and appealed to the VIP and the Assembly to as a matter of urgency award the contract to another contractor.
He urged Assemblies to involve communities in the award of contracts.
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Deputy Local Government Minister tours Yendi
Yendi (Greater Accra) 9 September 2003 - The Deputy Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, Capt. Nkrabea Effah Dartey (Rtd) has called on Interim Management Committees (IMC) of the district assemblies to intensify their revenue collection to finance the development of their areas.
He said some of the District Assemblies relied on the District Assembly Common Fund for development, without making efforts to generate local revenue to augment the common fund for development.
Capt. Effah-Dartey, who is also MP for Berekum, made the call when he met a 12-member Interim Management Committee at Yendi as part of his monitoring tour of District Assemblies.
He said there was the need for the Area Councils and Unit Committees to work effectively to initiate development projects in their areas.
Effah Dartey discussed problems hampering the effectiveness of the IMC members. They also assessed the size of the Assemblies' membership to determine whether it should be downsized or the current levels should be maintained.
He expressed surprised about the peaceful atmosphere prevailing in the Yendi area, saying, "when one is outside Yendi there is always rumours that one cannot visit the area because there is no peace."
The Yendi District Chief Executive Mohammed Habib Tijani said the Yendi IMC was very effective and had been meeting once in every month and that apart from monthly meetings, members also met occasionally. He said since the establishment of the IMC, members had held 30 meetings and that the Committee had been preaching peace in the Dagbon area.
He said the Yendi District Assembly IMC is made up of representatives from
both Andani and Abudu Gates. Tijani said the membership of twelve for the
Assembly's IMC was not enough and appealed to the authorities to increase the
number by two more representatives from each area council.
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Aggudey, Mahama still in CPP presidential race - Dowuona
Accra (Greater Accra) 9 September 2003 - The Convention People's Party (CPP) on Monday spiked rumours that two candidates of the party's presidential race have been disqualified, describing it as a campaign of misinformation and disinformation.
In a statement signed by Dr Nii Noi Dowuona, General Secretary, said there is no truth in reports that George Aggudey and Alhaji Ibrahim Mahama are still not in the race for the election scheduled for 20 September.
"The party views this matter with grave concern since no such decision has been taken nor any statement issued on the matter by the party."
The statement said the report "smacks of mischief", as the two aspirants were presented to the Eastern Regional Conference held at Koforidua last weekend.
It urged all contestants to address issues and uphold a great sense of decency in the electioneering campaign to maintain the spirit of comradeship in the party.
The CPP would hold two regional conferences at Cape Coast on September 12 and
Accra on September 13 in preparation for the congress.
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Ministry of Interior makes changes at Prison and Fire Service
Accra (Greater Accra) 9 September 2003 - The Ministry of the Interior on Monday announced changes in the top hierarchy of the Ghana Prisons Services and the Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS). A statement signed by Hackman Owusu-Agyemang, Minister of the Interior, said Richard Kuuire, Director-General of Ghana Prisons Service and Elias Adablanu, Chief Fire Officer, have both been transferred to the Ministry of the Interior as advisers.
The statement said William K. Asiedu, a Director of Prisons would replace Kuuire, while E. A. Atenga, Deputy Chief Fire Officer, becomes the Acting Chief Fire Officer.
The changes take immediate effect.
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Accountant before court for falsification of figures
Accra (Greater Accra) 9 September 2003 - A 33-year-old Accountant appeared before a Circuit Court in Accra on Monday charged with falsification of figures. James Ed-Jonathan of Diamond Foods Company Limited faces 10 counts of stealing and forgery of documents.
The Prosecution said he succeeded in stealing ¢33.2m belonging to his employers. Before the accused was put in the dock, his father, Emmanuel Hayibor, rushed to refund ¢27m to the Police.
Ed-Jonathan pleaded not guilty and was admitted to ¢50m bail with two sureties to reappear on 26 September. Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Elizabeth Alormatu told the court chaired by Williewise Kyereme that the company employed the accused on 1 May, last year as an Accountant.
DSP Alormatu said on 14 February, this year the Managing Director detected that the Accountant had forged his signature on the company's letterhead and applied for a German Visa. When he was confronted he apologised, but the Managing Director dismissed him.
The Prosecutor said the complainant later discovered that Ed-Jonathan had forged his signature on two cheques with face value of ¢20m and ¢5m drawn on Agricultural Development Bank, Cedi House, in Accra.
ASP Alormatu said that the Accountant also inflated the company's salary
vouchers for December last year and January this year by ¢2.4m for each month.
According to the Prosecutor the extra ¢2.4m on the salary for February was
noticed and paid back to the company funds because Ed-Jonathan had been sacked
in mid-February.
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Youth media appeals to University lecturers
Accra (Greater Accra) 9 September 2003 - The Media Centre for Youth Development on Monday appealed to the University Teachers Association of Ghana (UTAG) to resume lectures and spare students the agonies they are going through.
A statement in Accra signed by Erasmus Batsa-Kpodjie, Secretary, said the students, parents and most Ghanaians envisaged that with the resumption of negotiations between UTAG and government, the lecturers would have rescinded their decision to continue with the strike.
The statement said the action of the lecturers had brought untold hardships on university students, especially the needy and those who had travelled from the hinterlands to the various campuses.
"Now students are compelled to grapple with the problems of uncertainties, suspense, idling, frustrations and unexpected spending of funds meant for their academic activities and upkeep."
"We are appealing to UTAG members to resume lectures immediately and spare students the agonies and frustrations they are going through, especially now that fruitful negotiations with government are on-going," the statement said.
"We urge both government and UTAG to show commitment and resolve the problem
once and for all".
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UTAG Executive holding consultations with members
Accra (Greater Accra) 9 September 2003 - The National Executive of the University Association of Ghana (UTAG) has began closed-door consultations with members to reach a consensus over the stalemate with the government over improved conditions of service.
An executive member of UTAG at the University of Ghana, Legon, who spoke to the Ghana News Agency (GNA) on Monday, on the condition of anonymity, said members have the mandate to decide the way forward to facilitate the negotiation process that precipitated the industrial action on August 20.
" I cannot tell you what the outcome would be or be pre-emptive over the issue." He explained that the consultations that started last Friday was the inception of the actual negotiations over proposals UTAG presented to government three years ago over improved conditions of service.
"We started the process three years ago and so the issue now is about the proposal we made at that time to address the worsening plight of university teachers since 1994.
"We all want a quick end to this problem so that we can get back to the classroom. Lecturers are more eager to go back to lecture because that is the job we know how to do best."
UTAG is compose of matured members and are, therefore, handling the impasse with the best of wisdom, the Source said. "We would not have registered students during the beginning of the 2003-2004 Academic Year or given orientation to fresh students if we were not matured people."
The source said UTAG is only seeking some fairness in the universal salary structure. UTAG had made it a point that they would only resume work if negotiations on the proposed salary structure for the Association are completed for implementation in January 2004 and a written confirmation of approval from Government to UTAG is made.
In a reaction the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports announced the resumption of the meetings of the Standing Joint Negotiation Committee comprising the Ministry, the Ministry of Finance and UTAG.
A statement issued in Accra and signed by Kwadwo Baah Wiredu, Sector Minister, called on UTAG and the other stakeholders to exercise restraint while efforts were being made to reach a salary structure acceptable to all.
Baah Wiredu told the GNA, in an interview that the crisis would soon be
resolved because the Ministry of Finance had agreed to factor their budget into
the 2004 Budget.
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