GRi Newsreel Cocoa Farmers call for well

Sewuam (Western Region) 15 September 2003 - Cocoa farmers in the Aowin-Suaman District of the Western Region have called on the government to streamline the organisation of the mass cocoa spraying exercise to enable it to yield the desired results.

The farmers spoke against what they described at "irresponsibility" on the part of those engaged in the exercise due to the lack of adequate supervision.

Opanin Tetteh Terkpetey, Nkosuohene of Dabiasem and a spokesman for the farmers told the Ghana News Agency at Sewuam near Enchi that, there was frequent shortage of logistics for the exercise as a result of poor organisation and supervision.

As a result, some farmers eager to have their farms sprayed, have been compelled to procure their own insecticides and fuel for spraying machines. Some farmers at Fawokabra and Mile Four have decided to pool their resources to provide the required with logistics for the exercise.

Opanin Terkpetey said this is the time for the maintenance of cocoa farms and therefore, appealed for the supply of needed logistics to make the exercise beneficial to farmers and the country. He commended the Government for instituting the programme, and said it should be well organised so that its laudable objectives would not be defeated.
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Kumasi (Ashanti Region) 15 September 2003 - Admirers and sympathisers of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), have been advised to turn out in their numbers to register when the exercise for registration of voters takes off.

Alhaji Gado Suleimana, NDC Chairman for Asokwa East, who gave the advice said it is only when they register that they could be empowered to vote and bring back the NDC to power, and thereby give meaning to their support and sympathy for the NDC.

Alhaji Suleimana was speaking in an interview on Sunday with the Ghana News Agency (GNA) on the chances of the NDC winning the 2004 elections and the preparations so far made towards the polls in Kumasi.

He said mere declaration of support for the NDC, "when you have no legitimate right to vote, because you have failed to register, is meaningless, hence the need for all supporters to strive to register as voters".

The Constituency Chairman disagreed with a section of the public that most of the people who turned out to participate in the 2 September, peaceful demonstration of the NDC in Kumasi dubbed, "Kafo Didi", were brought in from other regions.

Alhaji Suleiman said, "all those who took part came from only the Ashanti Region." "It may surprise you to know that a number of them were not only NDC members but also included people who were fed up with the NPP harsh economic policies", he stressed.

Alhaji Suleimana commended and lauded the massive turn-out and the peaceful manner in which the demonstration was conducted, and expressed the gratitude of the Asokwa-East and the entire membership of the NDC in the region and those who made the demonstration a success.
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Akim-Oda (Eastern Region) 15 September 2003 - Fire gutted down part of the Akim-Oda market, destroying goods worth several million of cedis. Unconfirmed report indicated that snakes at the scene bit some people in an attempt to help control the fire.

An eyewitness told the Ghana News Agency (GNA) that the fire was spotted raging the market at about 11PM on Saturday and a distress call was made to the Akim-Oda district fire service.

Personnel from the service quickly responded to the call but their initial effort to control the fire was hampered due to the inaccessible nature of the road to the market.

Traders, whose stalls were being razed to the ground, broke down in tears and looked on helplessly. Others whose stalls were not immediately affected and were carting their goods home, suffered another ordeal as thieves took advantage of the situation and stole some of their items.

The fireman at the scene told the GNA that they could only know the cause of the fire after a thorough investigation.
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Accra (Greater Accra) 15 September 2003 - The Inspector-General of Police, Nana Owusu Nsiah, has cautioned Mark Simons, the Leader of La Auditorium Church to be mindful of his religious activities and teachings in order not to cause any social or security problems.

A police statement made available to the Ghana News Agency (GNA) said the IGP said this when he summoned Simons and some of his followers to the Police Headquarters last Friday to ascertain the veracity of media reports about the activities of the Church.

For some time there has been media report on the religious teachings of Simons, who was alleged to have told his followers not to work, marry or send their children to school because the end time is near. Nana Nsiah reminded Simons and all those professing other religious faiths that even though the Constitution permits freedom of religion, there are limitations to this freedom.

The IGP pointed out that there are laws in the Criminal Code, which prohibit certain activities that are contrary to the public good, and that police will be monitoring the activities of the group to ensure that they conform to acceptable social and legal forms.

However, Simons denied forbidding any of his followers from working, attending school or encouraging them to divorce their spouses.
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Accra (Greater Accra) 15 September 2003 - ECOWAS Chairman President John Kufuor on Monday called for the immediate restoration of constitutional order in Guinea Bissau where the military toppled President Kumaba Yala's government in a coup d'etat early Sunday.

A statement issued to the Ghana News Agency from the ECOWAS Secretariat in Abuja, Nigeria, said President Kufuor was immediately despatching a fact-finding mission of Foreign Ministers of the region and the Executive Secretariat to Guinea-Bissau to investigate Sunday's upturns.

The soldiers, led by the Chief of Staff, General Verissimo Correia Seabre, announced the coup, dismissing the government and setting up a transitional government to include "all national political orientations".

All government ministers have been ordered to report to public buildings in the capital of the former Portuguese colony. In its statement, the ECOWAS Secretariat called on parties involved in that country's political conflict to resolve their differences through dialogue and peaceful means and refrain from any action that would jeopardise public order and security in that country.

ECOWAS also demanded that appropriate measures be taken to secure lives and property. The statement reiterated "ECOWAS' commitment to the democratic process; respect for human rights; rule of law and good governance in its Member States.

It also reiterated ECOWAS' commitment to its various Protocols on democratic governance and the 1999 Algiers Declaration of the African Union, which stipulates that no recognition would be accorded to a government, which comes into power by overthrowing a democratically elected government or through unconstitutional means.

Last November, President Yala dissolved the government, promising new elections but that had been postponed four times since. On Saturday, the body in charge of elections in that country said the President would have to cancel them again.
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Unhygienic food vendors must quit - Health Officer

Accra (Greater Accra) 15 September 2003 - James .C. Aryeetey, Chief Environmental Health Officer of the Accra Metropolitan Public Health Department (AMPHD), on Monday asked food vendors who operate under unhygienic conditions to stop their operations forthwith.

Aryeetey said they have to stop because the practice adversely affected the health of their patrons. Aryeetey said food vendors, who had ever been warned by AMA but refused to quit would be sanctioned when spotted, since there was a law that prevented people from selling anywhere.

In an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA) Aryeetey said AMPHD had a programme on food safety for food vendors and urged them to avail themselves of it. He said under AMPHD had appointed leaders for food vendors in the various electoral areas to train them so that they would in turn assist MPHD to educate their members, adding, " sanitation is a way of life and it should come from all of us".

He urged the media, individuals and non-governmental organisations to help to educate the public on the need to keep their surroundings clean.
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Nandom citizens vote during elections - Deputy A-G

Accra (Greater Accra) 15 September 2003 - A Deputy Attorney General, Ambrose Dery has called on people of the Nandom Traditional Area, who are resident outside, to go home and vote during the 2004 election.

He told a general meeting of the Nandom Youth and Development Association (NYDA) in Accra that they were wasting their votes since the national cake was shared based on the number of people in a district, which was also determined by the number of votes cast in that area.

"I, therefore, urge you to do well to transfer your votes when the voters' register is opened, in numbers lies strength". Dery called on Nandom citizens to wake up and work hard towards the revival and sustenance of their own welfare and the development of the area.

He said the District had generally poor results in the last Basic Education Certificate Examination with aggregate 35 being the best in one of the schools in the area.

Dery called for donation of books to the Nandom Library and assistance to repair 13 computers, which have broken down there. He said preparations were being made for the establishment of an FM station in Nanadom to educate and inform people on issues like health and education.

Benjamin Kunbuor, Member of Parliament (MP) for Lawra/Nandom, said he was using his MP's share of the District Assemblies' Common Fund strictly in accordance with guidelines in undertaking priority development projects on education and health.

He appealed for assistance from non-governmental organisations and well to do citizens from the area to provide the Nandom hospital with beds, beddings and drugs. Kunbuor said some schools in the District needed furniture since pupils either sat or laid on the floor during class hours to write.
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