First Lady advocates collaboration in DWM activities
Don't let this mission be just a tour - Mahama
Ghana Airways and Ethiopian Airlines sign Agreement
Diplomatic missions asked to be wary of visa applicants
Rawlings holds talks with US trade delegation
More marriages registered in Tema
First Lady advocates collaboration in DWM activities
Accra (Greater Accra), 9th February 2000
Nana Konadu Agyeman Rawlings, First Lady and President of the 31st December Women's Movement (DWM) on Tuesday called for collaboration in efforts to alleviate poverty among women in the country.
"If the living standards of our women folk is improved, it will affect their children and in the long run affect people in communities in which they live".
Nana Konadu made the call at a meeting in Accra with the 21-member US business and trade delegation led by the Reverend Jesse Jackson, the Special US envoy to Africa on democracy.
The First lady outlined a number of projects the DWM has drawn up for implementation but for the lack of funds.
So far the organisation has encouraged women, especially the rural poor on the need to form working groups for income generating activities.
She said most of them are involved in three main activities in the agricultural sector - cocoa, vegetables production and tree planting.
Currently, the DWM has taken over the Nsawam Cannery, a fruit and vegetable-processing factory, to preserve vegetables for use in the lean season and reduce post harvest losses.
The organisation also intends to establish a cocoa-processing factory.
Nana Konadu said as part of efforts to assist the women further, the movement has established day-care centres all over the country.
She, however, said funding is the only hindrance to the implementation of most of the projects and appealed for a partnership with members of the delegation interested in the promotion of women's development.
Members of the delegation pledged 60,000 dollars towards the establishment of three day-care centres.
The Reverend Jesse Jackson advised DWM members to make use of the Internet to forge serious partnerships with their counterparts in the US for exchange of programmes and assistance.
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Don't let this mission be just a tour - Mahama
Accra (Greater Accra), 9th February 2000
Mr. John Mahama, Minster of Communications, on Tuesday asked the visiting American trade and investment delegation to follow-up on the linkages and contacts made with heir Ghanaian counterparts for fruitful ventures to be realised.
"We believe that when you leave here you will continue your negotiations with the partners you have found so that this would not be just another tour," said Mr Mahama when he hosted the delegation to lunch at the Landing Restaurant in Accra.
Mr. Mahama said Ghana would set up a multi-sectoral committee to identify critical and key areas of investment for follow-ups and urged members of the group to access that information at the offices of the Reverend Jesse Jackson who led them.
Rev. Jackson, Chairman of the Rainbow/Push Coalition, is leading a 21-member delegation comprising chief executives and senior-level decision makers from minority-owned businesses in information technology, media and telecommunications to explore business opportunities in the private sector.
Mr Mahama said such partnerships should benefit not only Ghana, but the entire West-African sub-region in line with the objectives of strengthening sub-regional cooperation.
Mr. Kwesi Ahwoi, Chief Executive of the Ghana Investments Promotion Centre, told the delegation to look beyond their fields of specialisation and explore other sectors.
"There are so many opportunities and undiscovered fields in a developing economy such as ours. We are therefore interested in investments in everything that affects the daily lives of our people, from infrastructure to restaurants."
The delegation will leave for Nigeria on Wednesday and then to South Africa.
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Ghana Airways and Ethiopian Airlines sign Agreement
Accra (Greater Accra), 9th February 2000
Ghana and Ethiopia have signed a code-share agreement under which the airlines of the two countries, Ghana Airways and Ethiopian Airlines will promote and develop further, routes between Accra and Addis Ababa for their mutual benefit.
The agreement which was signed in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa by Mr. E.L. Quartey Jnr, Chief Executive of Ghana Airways and Mr. Dicrat Nigstu, Chief Executive of Ethiopian Airlines will kick off on March 28, this year.
A Ghana Airways statement in Accra on Tuesday said the deal was a follow up to a Memorandum of Understanding signed by the two airlines in April, last year to cover broader commercial co-operation between them.
Under the agreement, Ghana Airways and Ethiopian Airlines will jointly operate three flights between Accra and Addis Ababa on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.
Ethiopian Airlines will act as the operating carrier airline with Ghana Airways as the marketing carrier, which will require the full involvement of Ghana Airways Cabin Crew.
Ghana Airways will also open an office in Addis Ababa with the expectation that, the agreement and subsequent pooling of services on designated routes will further improve air services and aviation generally on the continent.
There is already a wealth of experience, running into almost a century of operations as Ghana Airways has been established for over 40 years while the
Ethiopian Airlines has been in existence for the past 54 years and has been flying to Accra since 1960.
The Ghana Airways said with this agreement and the one it has with South African Airways, it will reach the farthest points on the continent "using Ghana as a Gateway".
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Diplomatic missions asked to be wary of visa applicants
Accra (Greater Accra), 9th February 2000
Nana Akuoko Sarpong, Chairman of the National Commission on Culture on Tuesday urged diplomatic missions to be wary of groups applying for visas as some of them use dubious letterheads.
He said there is a visa syndicate operating within the country using institutions and names of notable personalities and signatures in their operations.
Nana Akuoko, said in an interview with the Ghana News Agency in Accra that, his attention has been drawn to some of these syndicates using letterheads and personalities of the commission and other professional bodies for their deals.
"My name and forged signature have been used in some instances".
He said embassies must call on professional institutions for verification as to the genuineness of applications to which they have doubts.
Nana Akuoko advised those involved to put an end to the practice as his commission will expose all of them.
He said a committee set up in 1998 to investigate visa deals within the musicians union of Ghana - MUSIGA - has completed its work and the report will be out by the end of the month.
Nana Akuoko however, said the embassies must be careful in their screening exercise so as not to frustrate genuine applicants.
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Rawlings holds talks with US trade delegation
Accra (Greater Accra), 9th February 2000
President Jerry John Rawlings on Tuesday held talks with a 21-member US trade and investment delegation now on a three-day visit as part of a three-nation African tour that includes Nigeria and South Africa.
The delegation is led by the Reverend Jesse Jackson, US Special Envoy for the Promotion of Democracy in Africa, and its African tour is under the theme "Connecting Telecommunications, Technology and Media Markets Through US Minority and African Business Partnerships."
The mission will seek to assist minority business participants by providing enhanced visibility, market access and potential trade and investment opportunities in the telecommunications, technology and media sectors.
"The trip is to engage the African public and private sectors to promote increased competition, privatisation, market access and continued growth," a document on the delegation's mission said.
President Rawlings said political instability in some parts of Africa had, in the past, prompted some foreign investors to make short-term investments in the continent. They made their monies quickly and moved out.
He said this kind of investment is not in the interest of Africa as it undermines the moral fibre of the society and leads to instability. "Thus, when this leads to conflicts in Africa outsiders do not understand."
President Rawlings said now the political landscape is fast changing in Africa as many countries are achieving political stability to attract investors.
"Do not let the opportunity to slip by. We are now ready to stand on our feet. We need a little push to do things more efficiently," he told members of the delegation.
The President, who had visited the US on investment promotion a few times, told members of the delegation most of whom are in the telecommunication industry, "your area is important for us. Information technology is what we need to take off."
Mr. Victor Gbeho, Minister of Foreign Affairs, said investing in Ghana would enable investors to reach the West African market with a population of 230 million.
"We have created an environment which is business friendly. It is the belief of the government that economics must improve the life of people," he said.
Rev. Jackson said the delegation is focussing on telecommunication because the sector is important for the development of the continent, adding that Africa has "missed much of the telecommunications infrastructure."
He said the trip is a fulfilment of promises made by President Bill Clinton during his African tour and follow-up talks with President Rawlings, President Olusegun Obasanjo of Nigeria and President Thabo Mbeki of South Africa.
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More marriages registered in Tema
Tema (Greater Accra), 9th February 2000
The Tema Municipal Assembly (TMA) registered a total of 2,033 marriages last year as against 1,463 recorded in 1998, Mr. Joseph K. Torsu, Tema Municipal Registrar of Marriages has disclosed.
Last year, 1,741 couples married under the ordinance and 292 under the customary law the corresponding figures for 1998 were 1,295 and 168 couples.
Mr Torsu, who was speaking in an interview with the GNA said eight marriages were dissolved in 1999 as against seven in 1998, adding that both marriage registrations and divorces brought in a revenue of seven million cedis to the Assembly.
He called on members of the public, who have complaints against would be couples to register their complaints early to prevent embarrassment created while the registration of marriage is in progress.
He expressed regret about the situation, where people try to stop marriages by pouring soup and water on couples and said that is why provision has been made for the 21 days notice to enable the public to lodge complaints.
If no such complaints are lodged then it is assumed that the marriage is clean and could the contracted without any interference.
Mr. Torsu said marriages of convenience normally result in divorce, explaining that promises made by couples are normally broken thus leading to misunderstanding.
The Marriage Registrar said much as marriages are registered, divorces should also be registered to avoid future problems especially in the payment of alimony and sharing of properties.
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