Edward Turkson's Stories

Take stock of all Nkrumah's belongings- Dr Hannah Bisiw

2009-08-27T05:13:00.000-07:00

A DEPUTY Minister for Water Resources, Works and Housing, Dr Hannah Bisiw, has directed the Public Works Department (PWD) Prestige to take stock of all the personal belongings of Dr Kwame Nkrumah which were evacuated to the department during the rehabilitation of Peduase Lodge.
She gave the directive when she embarked on a feasibility tour to identify possible ways of ensuring provision of potable water supply to the lodge and the schools within Aburi and its environs.
Dr Bisiw said that after stocktaking, all the items would be sent to Dr Nkrumah’s Museum, at the Nkrumah Memorial Park, for safe keeping and for posterity.
Apparently, during the rehabilitation of Peduase Lodge three years ago by the previous administration, the items were evacuated to the PWD Prestige.
Asked if the Government intended to put to use the imposing edifice built by the country’s first President, Dr Bisiw replied in the affirmative.
“It is an asset and we have to use it, We spent money to rehabilitate it and so we have to put it to use,” she stated, and gave the assurance that the Government would ensure that the lodge was brought back to its original state.
She, therefore, asked the Head of Works and Housing, Mr Yaw Adu Adjei Siaw, who also had oversight responsibility over the lodge, to also furnish the ministry with the total cost of the rehabilitation.
Dr Bisiw further directed the PWD to desilt choked drainages at the lodge in order to prevent any havoc in case of a heavy downpour.
The odge, which was constructed in 1959 during the reign of Ghana’s first President, Dr Kwame Nkrumah, had since served as a presidential holiday resort.
It served as the residency for President Edward Akufo Addo and President Dr Hilla Limann. It has also served as a place for relaxation for all the country's leaders as well as an venue for important national events and meetings.
In 2006, rehabilitation work by the previous administration on the lodge began after some leakages were detected in the imposing four-storey building which housed a library, a swimming pool and a theatre complex, as well as guard and staff quarters.
A tour round the facility by the press during the visit by Dr Bisiw revealed that almost every part of the building that needed to be restored had been completed, but what the facility lacked was adequate water to fully bring it back to its original status.
The concrete structures and the interior decorations that were damaged had been restored. The terrazzo floors and the granite stones in the bath and the dressing rooms, which, according to reports, were cracked, have also been restored.

Caption: Front view of Peduase Lodge after the rehabilitation work.

Police grab fugitive- faces GH¢238,890 case of embezzlement

2009-08-27T05:01:00.000-07:00

27/8/09
page 3a

THE Divisional Accountant of the Precious Minerals Marketing Company Limited who fled to South Africa after allegedly embezzling GH¢238,890 belonging to the company, has been arrested.
The suspect, Stephen Pagfu, was arrested by the police with the help of Interpol and has been brought back to Ghana for further investigations and prosecution.
He is currently at the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) Headquarters after he was refused bail by the court.
The Managing Director of the company, Mr Darko Damptey, who made this known at the company’s annual general meeting (AGM) in Accra yesterday, said the amount was part of the company’s GH¢1,447,110 accounts receivable for the year 2008.
According to Mr Damptey, Mr Pagfu was an accountant with the Jewellery Department of the company and absconded with the money in 2008.
“We notified the police that also contacted the Interpol in South Africa and they effected his arrest, after which he was repatriated to the country," he stated.
The Chairman of the Board of Directors of the company, Mr Kwabena Kyereh, however, described the company’s performance for the year 2008 as satisfactory despite the adverse impact of the global financial crisis.
The company, according to him, had a total turnover of GH¢35.95 million, far more than GH¢13.31 million registered in 2007, representing an increase of 170 per cent.
Mr Kyereh said the huge turnover was basically due to increased gold export for 2008 and indicated that impressive performance compensated for the reduction in the company’s diamond operations.
He said the company posted a net profit of GH¢501,121.00 in 2008, representing 5.86 per cent over the result of GH¢473,368.00 in 2007.
In all, the export of gold and diamond, as well as jewellery sales for 2008, generated a total foreign exchange of US$197 million, which was repatriated to the country through the Bank of Ghana to support the national economy.
Additionally, he said, the company paid GH¢364,360 to the Government through the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) as Value Added Tax (VAT).
“It also paid GH¢148,150 representing PAYE deduction from staff remuneration and withholding taxes from the supply of goods and services to the company,” he stated, and declared a dividend of GH¢150,000 to be paid to the government, the sole shareholders.
Mr Kyereh gave the assurance that the new board was determined to implement the company’s three-year strategic corporate plan to put the company on the highest pedestal.

Ministry to overhaul Aburi’s boreholes

2009-08-19T10:39:00.000-07:00

THE Ministry of Water Resources, Works and Housing, is to overhaul boreholes which have been abandoned in Aburi for more than a decade to make them functional to solve the perennial water shortage in the district capital.
Beneficiaries of the project would include Aburi Girls and Adonten Senior High Schools, the Peduase Lodge and most parts of Aburi in the Eastern Region.
The Deputy Minister of the sector, Dr Hannah Louisa Bisiw, who undertook a feasibility tour of the boreholes, beneficiary schools, Peduase Lodge and its surrounding communities said one of the numerous boreholes could produce at least 540 gallons of water per minute if properly mechanised.
Dr Bisiw appealed to the Chief of Aburi, Nana Kwesi Djan II, to allow the government to develop the boreholes to ensure the provision of adequate water supply for the beneficiaries.
Dr Bisiw tasked the Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL) to furnish the ministry with a quality control report of the periodic water sampling of the main Aburi Water Reservoir into which all the boreholes would be connected.
She, therefore, urged GWCL to collaborate with McDonnell Contract Mining Limited, a construction firm that was contracted by the Parent-Teacher Association (PTA) of Aburi Senior High School to build mechanised boreholes specifically for the provision of potable water for the school, when the school was faced with water shortages in the 1990s.
Mr Michael Botse-Baidoo, the Planning Engineer of GWCL, who was part of the team, gave the assurance that plans were underway to mechanise the boreholes, while pipes already procured by the company were to be laid very soon.
Nana Djan II, who lauded the initiative, expressed appreciation to the government for embarking on the study to address the perennial water shortage that had affected the Aburi township for decades, particularly during the dry season.

Akordor tops 'em all

2009-08-17T11:02:00.000-07:00

spread lead
17/8/09

Mr Kofi Akordor of the Daily Graphic was last Saturday adjudged the Best Journalist of the Year 2008 at the 14th Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) awards ceremony held in Accra.
The ceremony, which was on the theme, "Media — Promoting Dialogue, Mutual Understanding and National Unity," also saw 36 journalists and media organisations winning awards for their excellent contributions to national development and the media industry.
For his prize, Mr Akordor, who also won the Best Columnist award, would attend a four-week journalism programme at Cardiff University in the United Kingdom (UK) and a four-week familiarisation tour of some media facilities in the UK. He also received a certificate, a plaque and a laptop.
This year’s awards were dominated by the Graphic Communications Group Limited as eight of its reporters swept nine out of the 36 coveted prizes.
They were Kofi Yeboah (Daily Graphic), Best Features - Print; Maurice Quansah (Graphic Sports), the Best Sports Journalist; Rosalind Amoh (Daily Graphic), Best Environment & Sanitation Reporter; Victor Kwawukume (Daily Graphic), Best Rural Reporting; Charles Benoni Okine (Daily Graphic), Best Telecommunications & ICT Reporter.
Others were Samuel Kyei-Boateng (Daily Graphic), Best Crime & Court Reporting, and Kobby Asmah (Daily Graphic), Best Political & Parliamentary Reporting,
Other award winners included Best News Reporting - Radio, Dominic Hlordzi (GBC); Best News Reporting - TV, Loretta Vanderpuije (GTV); Best News Reporting - Print: Kingsley Hope (Ghanaian Times); Best Features - Radio, Kingsley Obeng Kyere (GBC); Best Features - TV, Peggy Ama Donkor (GTV).
The Best Investigative Reporting went to ace journalist Anas Aremeyaw Anas of the New Crusading Guide while Godwin Ofosu Akyeampong of the Ghanaian Times was adjudged the Best Photojournalist with Peggy Ama Donkor of Ghana Broadcasting Corporation (GBC) winning Best Arts/Entertainment & Domestic Tourism Reporter.
Others included the Best Business/Finance & Economic Reporting, Theophilus Yartey (B&FT); and Best Health & Road Safety Reporter, Solomon Jojo Kobina (TV3).
The rest were Best Reporter on Water Issues, Edmund Smith Asante (Ghanaian Observer), Best Reporter on Disability, Loretta Vanderpuije (GTV).
In the media awards, Joy FM Super Morning Show was adjudged the Best Morning Radio Show, while Daily Guide won the Best Layout and Design (newspaper). The Best Rural Radio Station award went to Radio Progress (Wa) with the Best Rural Radio Station (Runner Up) going to Radio Peace (Winneba).
Others were Best Radio – Akan, Radio Peace (Winneba); Best Radio - Dagbani, Diamond FM (Tamale); and Best Radio - Ga, Obonu FM (GBC).
The Public Agenda Newspaper was adjudged the media activist on Human Rights, while GBC was also given an award for Peace-building.
Honorary awards were presented to Dr K. Bonnah Koomson, Cameron Duodu, Gilbert Ayitey, Harriet Tachie-Menson, Kwartei Shang Simpson and Frazer Ofori-Atta.
The awards ceremony, which was held at the Banquet Hall, State House, saw a host of veteran journalists including past GJA executive members and former presidents of the association.
Among them were Mr Kabral Blay-Amihere, Mrs Gifty Afenyi-Dadzie, Ms Ajoa Yeboah-Afari and Mr Edward Ameyibor.

CONSTITUTIONS FACES REVIEW

2009-08-17T10:59:00.000-07:00

Front page
17/8/09

The country’s 1992 Constitution is to undergo a major review, Vice-President John Dramani Mahama has hinted.
Consequently, he said, a constitutional review conference would be held in early 2010 to begin the process of identifying the areas which required amendments.
The Vice-President dropped the hint at the 14th Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) awards held in Accra last Saturday to honour journalists and media organisations for their contributions to the country’s democratic process.
It was on the theme, "Media — Promoting Dialogue, Mutual Understanding and National Unity".
The Vice-President said the 1992 Constitution had served the country well and had been the basis for the significant progress Ghana had made as a nation in democratic governance "but as a living document we would need at certain periods in its life to make amendments to some aspects of it".
He said the review process would be open and transparent and would involve all political stakeholders.
On efforts by the government to put the economy on an even keel, the Vice-President pointed out that the government had been faced with serious challenges with regard to the economy and had, therefore, focused on instituting and monitoring measures to restore stability to pave the way to lay the foundation for economic growth and acceleration.
Those measures, he said, had begun to pay off and the country was witnessing a downturn in the inflation index while relative stability of the cedi had been achieved.
"With the restoration of relative stability of the economy," Mr Mahama said, the government could now focus on other critical issues that required attention.
"This government is determined and capable of delivering on its contract with the people and we are positive that at the end of our term we would have created a better Ghana than we came to meet it," he stated.
The Chairman of the National Media Commission (NMC), Mr Paul Adu-Gyamfi, urged the media to discipline itself by ensuring that it operated within the confines of its code of conduct, ethics and the law.
"We must have the humility to admit that not all has been praiseworthy in the past 60 years," he said, and saluted courageous journalists who through responsible journalism supported the country's struggle for self-determination.
"With democracy on course, the field is broad and wide for the future of journalism and the media in Ghana," he stated, and, therefore, urged journalists to take their destiny into their own hands and demonstrate to the world once again that Africa could do what was right.
The Minister of Information, Mrs Zita Okaikoi, expressed the need for the media to be fair and objective in their reportage, stating that the beauty of the media was to ensure that Ghanaians remained united as a people.
"We should not use the media to destroy what we have built over the years. We should avoid one-sided reportage and endeavour to engage investigative and development journalism," she charged.
In that regard, she gave the assurance that the government would ensure that the media remained independent by passing into law the Freedom of Information Bill.
The Deputy Commissioner of the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ), Ms Anna Bossman, stressed the need to avoid media tyranny, stressing that "we must be accountable to one another and our maker”.
The President of the GJA, Mr Ransford Tetteh, said the success that had been chalked up by the GJA was a collective effort of all journalists and urged the practitioners to promote democracy, neutrality and unity.
He said in spite of the challenges confronting the media, they were still vibrant, and appealed to members of the public to refrain from physically assaulting journalists because they did not agree with a media broadcast or publication.
Mr Tetteh said the abolition of the Criminal Libel and Seditious Law in 2001 had provided greater impetus to free expression and press freedom and commended the public for accepting all those actions that had helped to free and embolden the media to do their work.
He said "we believe that without them we would not have made the progress that we have so far made in democratisation."

75 Ghanaians to study in Chinese varsities

2009-08-12T02:38:00.000-07:00

12/8/09
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THE Government of the People’s Republic of China has awarded scholarships to 75 Ghanaian students to study at universities in China.
Out of the 75 students, 40 have already left for China.
As part of the scholarship programme, most of the students who would offer various courses in Chinese would study the Chinese language for a year, before continuing their programmes of study.
Some of the programmes include Agriculture, Information Communication Technology (ICT), Chemistry, Business Management, Pharmacology, Electric Science & Technology, Finance, Public Administration and Mass Communications.
The Charge D’ Affairs of the Chinese Embassy, Mr Wang Lushan, at a farewell reception for the students in Accra yesterday, emphasised the importance of education to Ghana’s human resource capacity building and development agenda. Hence, he said, the Chinese government’s commitment to providing quality education for the children and the youth in the country.
He also expressed China’s unflinching support for Ghana in the area of education.
“The bilateral co-operation on education under the framework of China-Africa Co-operation Forum has yielded fruitful results,” he remarked, adding that the Government of the People’s Republic of China had also provided short-term training opportunities for about 700 Ghanaian officials, professionals and technicians since 2006.
“We have increased the Chinese government’s scholarship to Ghana from 20 slots in 2006 to 75 this year. We have built three rural model schools in the Greater Accra, Central, and Western regions this year, ” Mr Lushan said.
He pointed out that the Chinese government had also sent two lecturers and some volunteers to teach Chinese languages at the University of Ghana, Legon.
He expressed conviction that the support was in the right direction, as it would increase the human resource capacity of the people of Ghana.
Mr Lushan gave an assurance that China would continue to provide scholarships, training programmes and other forms of educational assistance to Ghana.
He, therefore, encouraged the students to focus on their studies and make friends with the Chinese people in order to be able learn from each other.
“It is my sincere hope that when you graduate from China, you will not only apply what you have learnt in China to build a better Ghana, but would also serve as ambassadors for friends between our two peoples,” he stated.
The Registrar of the Ghana Scholarship Secretariat, Mr Fuseini Lansah, in an address read on his behalf, expressed appreciation to the Government of the People’s Republic of China for its tremendous support to the human resource development of Ghana.
He urged the students to take advantage of the opportunity offered them, to be good ambassadors of Ghana and make the country proud.
According to him, reports reaching the secretariat indicated that most Ghanaians studying abroad were doing better than their counterparts from other countries and attributed this to the quality and strength of the Ghanaian educational system.
Mr Lushan, however, cautioned the students to be law-abiding and return to Ghana when their programmes were over to support the country’s growing economy.
A representative of the students, Mr Halid Mahama, on behalf of his colleagues, expressed appreciation for the opportunity offered them by the Government of the People’s Republic of China to study in that country.
The students were later treated to various Chinese dishes.

Energy Commission endorses PURC’s position— On payment of accumulated bills

2009-08-12T02:36:00.000-07:00

12/8/09
laed back page

THE Energy Commission (EC) has endorsed the directive issued by the Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC) to the general public and all consumers of electricity not to pay accumulated utility bills should service providers fail to bill them for a period of 12 months.
It said the PURC was justified in taking that decision by informing the public not to pay overdue bills. This is because subsection 20 (5) of the Electricity Supply and Distribution (Technical Operation) Rules 2005 (LI 1816) indicates that “a supplier must deliver a bill 12 times in a year at the address of the customer by hand, electronic mail or any other appropriate and convenient means”.
The Executive Secretary of the EC, Mr Alfred Ofosu Ahenkorah, told the Daily Graphic yesterday that “what the PURC is saying is absolutely right", adding that it was part of measures the PURC and the EC had put in place to ensure that service providers offered the best services to consumers.
He said part of the LI 1816 which the PURC quoted was just a small portion of the legislation on issues and delivery bills under electricity billing and, therefore, urged the utility providers, the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) and the Northern Electricity Department (NED) to sit up because Ghanaians expected maximum benefit from their services.
According to him, the two companies had taken Ghanaians for granted for far too long, and it was about time they adhered to regulations on standards and performance under the LI 1816.
He said the expectation of the government as regards adequate service delivery was to also ensure that consumers were offered the best services.
Quoting subsection 20(3) of LI 1816, he said a supplier who contravened rules (1), (2) and 10(c) "commits an offence and is liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding 500 penalty units".
Subsection 20(8) of LI 1816 says “where a supplier fails to bill a customer for a period of 12 months, the supplier cannot recover the cost of that service unless the delay in the billing occurred without negligence on the part of the supplier or due to the customer’s action.”
Commenting on subsection 20(8), Mr Ahenkorah said the probability where the delay could be due to the customer’s action was very low and likely not to happen very often.
He said under the Energy Commission Law, Act 541, 1997, it was the function of the EC to promote and ensure uniformed rules of practice for the transmission of wholesale supply, distribution and sale of electricity and natural gas uniformly throughout the country.
Quoting sections of the Act 541, he said under section 2 (2f), it was the function of the commission to establish and enforce, in consultation with the PURC, standards of performance for public utility companies.
On the rules of practice for electricity and natural gas public utilities, he said the commission should by legislative instrument, prescribe technical and operational rules of practice for electricity and natural gas public utilities licensed under Act 541 and would apply and enforce the provisions uniformly throughout the country.
The executive secretary said based on those regulations, the EC, in 2005, passed the Electricity Supply and Distribution (Technical Operation) Rules 2005 (LI 1816).
He, therefore, urged ECG and the NED to offer periodical checks on regular and pre-paid metres in order to prevent loss of revenues as a result of faulty metres.

Energy Commission to enforce power regulations

2009-08-10T06:21:00.000-07:00

August 10,2009
page 3

THE Energy Commission (EC) has directed the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) and the Northern Electricity Department (NED) to put their operations in order by December 31,2010.
The Commission said it would vigorously ensure that provisions in the Electricity Supply and Distribution (Standards of Performance) Regulations, 2008 (L.I 1935), which comes into effect in 2010, were enforced to ensure that customers enjoyed the best of services.
Failure to satisfy consumers of power with quality services, especially interruption in power supply to consumers, could result in legal action.
The Executive Secretary of the Commission, Mr Alfred Ofosu Ahenkorah, told the Daily Graphic that the purpose of regulations under L.I 1935 was to provide performance benchmarks in the distribution and supply of electricity.
That, according to him, would allow customers to sue utility companies, including the ECG and the NED, for damages as a result of interruption of power supply.
Quoting sub-regulation 4(2) of Interruption of Supply under Reliability of Electricity Supply, he said "a supplier of electricity shall ensure that the cumulative electricity interruption for each customer within an operational year does not exceed six periods”, and that in default the supplier could be sued.
Sub-regulation 4(1) of the regulations, according to him, indicated that interruption within an operational year should not exceed (a) forty-eight hours in a metropolitan or municipal area or an industrial estate; 72 hours in a district capital; and 144 hours in rural areas.
The period of an interruption, he indicated, shall be consistent and commence from the time the customer informed the supplier of the interruption and the interruption should exceed eight hours metropolitan or municipal area or industrial estate; 12 hours in a district capital; and 24 hours in rural areas.
He was, however, quick to add that despite the various sub-regulations, an interruption of power supply to a customer in sub-regulations 4(5) shall not be treated as wrongful where the interruption of the supply was as a result of a major fault or damage to an indispensable equipment in the supplier's distribution system.
Mr Ahenkorah further noted that the interruption would not be treated as wrongful when it was as result of planned maintenance, emergency, supply disconnection, load-shedding or safety of supply as permitted under the Electricity Supply and Distribution (Technical Operation) Rules 2005 (L.I.1816).
Nonetheless, he said sub-regulations 6 stipulated that “where a major outage was due to the negligence of the supplier, subregulations 4(5) shall not apply.
In accordance with those regulations, he said, sub-regulations 4(7) states that” a supplier shall pay into the Energy Fund the sum prescribed in the schedule where the supplier is in breach of the supply interruption limits specified in subsequent subregulations”.

Survey Department to introduce terrestial data collection

2009-08-06T06:45:00.000-07:00

A modern spatial data collection system is to be introduced by the Survey Department to improve efficiency and precision of terrestrial data collection in the country.
The system, Universal Transverse Mercator (UTM)-Grid co-ordinate system, is a universal advanced technological system used in specifying locations on the earth surface.
Prior to the introduction, the existing technical instructions consistent with Ghana National Datum, established by the British in 1936, has been reviewed by the Survey and Mapping Division (SMD) of the Lands Commission to improve the technical instructions for spatial data capture and presentation.
The Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, Alhaji Collins Dauda in an address read on his behalf at the review workshop at Sogakope in the Volta Region, was hopeful that the new technical instructions would serve as a guide for land surveyors, map makers, engineer surveyors, hydrographers, geographers and Land Information System managers and other allied professionals.
“It would also serve as tuition materials for training institutions, thereby ensuring quality and uniformity in surveying and mapping in the country,” he said, adding that the old technical instructions, arising from the quality of surveys done and the number of quack surveyors in the country, largely contributed to reasons why there were so much land litigation in the country.
“Ghana cannot afford to remain behind the rest of the world, as techniques and technology for spatial data capture and presentation has changed over the years,” he said.
Consequently, he asserted that “our guidelines should be comparable to what pertains anywhere in the world but at the same time taking into account our local circumstances”, adding that there was the need to constantly improve local capacities through review programmes.
He expressed the hope that when the draft was finalised it would serve as a good guide for all practitioners in the survey and mapping industry in Ghana and gave the assurance that the ministry would continue to provide the necessary support to ensure improvement in the surveying infrastructure in the country.
“Currently under the Land Administration Project (LAP), five Continuous Operating Receiving Stations (CORS) are being established in Accra, Kumasi, Takoradi, Tamale and Bolgatanga,” he stated.
Additionally, he disclosed that the Terms of Reference for Phase II of the new Geodetic Reference Network was being developed and was expected to be completed during the current phase of the LAP.
The President of the Ghana Institution of Surveyors (GhiS), Mr Kwadwo Osei Asante, in an address read on his behalf, said access to land by prospective investors and local entrepreneurs had been difficult due to several multifaceted problems some of which bordered on the blatant violation of ethics by quack surveyors.
“Standards in every profession are vital to the proper and astute practice of that profession,” he stated, and expressed hope that the new draft would serve as a good working document to regulate the practice of the profession in the country.
Mr Asante was hopeful that the new UTM-Grid or the ITRF 2005 international datum, if introduced, would help to unify all data sets on a common datum to avoid any overlaps and errors with respect to Geodetic and Cadastral surveys.
According to him, with new Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) equipment, data captured could be processed directly into the UTM-Grid co-ordinating system without worry about transformation parameters to move from the international system to the local national grid system.
The acting Director of the SMD, Mr Emmanuel Adjei Mohenu, whose address was also read on his behalf, said the UTM-Grid had become necessary to adopt as a result of the numerous challenges the department had encountered in the past.
Hence, he noted that the African Geodetic Reference Frame (AFREF), which was consistent with the International Terrestrial Reference Frame (ITRF), had compelled the department to adopt the UTM-Grid as the fundamental basis for national and regional three-dimensional reference networks.
The reference frame, he said, would comprise a network of points where precise observation would be taken and used to define a terrestrial reference frame in a best-fit datum over Africa.
Additionally, he said, the AFREF would be based on current satellite positioning technologies and would form the geodetic infrastructure for multinational projects that required precise geo-referencing.
“So far all African countries have their national geodetic reference frame for producing maps and other geo-information products,” he said, and noted that all African countries had also embraced the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) technologies, particularly the Global Positioning System (GPS), in the various geo-information applications, services and products.
He, however, disclosed that currently under the Land Administration Project (LAP) the SMD and the Lands Commission had established a network with new points at approximately 50km apart covering what he called, ‘the Golden Triangle’ with vertices in Accra, Kumasi and Takoradi.
“Within this triangle survey can be done using the UTM-Grid,” he said, indicating that a second phase of the project was underway and would soon be executed throughout the country.

New registration policy for herbal practitioners

2009-07-24T06:36:00.000-07:00

THE Ministry of health (MoH) has launched a policy guideline on the registration and licensing of traditional health practice to promote professionalism and enhance public confidence in traditional healing.
The guidelines are expected to eliminate the high incidence of quackery, charlatanism and unethical practice such as the sale of herbal medicine on passenger vehicles, as well as unsubstantiated claims and preventable deaths.
Through the enforcement of standards for quality service delivery, the Deputy Minister for Health, Dr Benjamin Kumbour, who launched the guidelines in Accra yesterday, said, he was confident that the guidelines would provide useful basis for service provision under the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS).
The registration exercise, according to him, was instituted by a ministerial directive issued by the MoH to the Traditional Medicine Practice Council (TMPC) Secretariat.
He said the regulatory structures had been established to safeguard public health through the protection of practitioners and the citizenry in furtherance of the ministry’s commitment to integrate traditional medicine into the mainstream health delivery system within the context of public-private partnership.
The government’s efforts were also intended to harness the potential of traditional medicine, which Dr Kumbour said had been described as ‘Green Gold’, as a foreign exchange earner and an effective alternative to Western medicine in healthcare provision.
He said traditional medicine had been abused and continued to be exploited, culminating in health hazards, a situation which he said was not peculiar to Ghana but neighbouring countries as well.
That, he expressed, had attracted not only public condemnation or criticism but also loss of public confidence because currently practitioners were mainly self-styled professionals, with a few having qualifications from institutions outside Ghana.
To that effect, he announced that the ministry had also constituted a nine-member panel to assess and, where appropriate, recommend and approve prospective applicants for accreditation as per the rule and regulations.
The Registrar of the TMPC, Mr Korbla Hlortsi-Akakpo, said it was the hope that with the launch, the TMPC Secretariat would be supported to effectively implement the directive in order not to only sustain the interest of the panel members but also achieve the expected outcome.
He also announced that a legislative instrument was in the offing to ban the sale of herbal drugs in passenger vehicles.
A member of the Ghana Federation of Traditional Medicine (GHAFTRAM), Mr Kenneth Danso, was hopeful that the exercise would help eliminate quack practitioners and reduce the use of Western drugs, most of which were suspected to be counterfeit.

Govt ready to bid for Kosmos

2009-07-24T06:24:00.000-07:00

24/7/09

page 29

THE government has declared its intention to bid for the interest of Kosmos Energy in the Jubilee Oil fields, should the company decide to sell its stake.
According to the Public Relations Officer of the Ministry of Energy, Mr Michael Akwasi-Sarpong, although the ministry had not been approached by Kosmos in this respect, the government would not hesitate to bid for either a part or the whole stake of the company, if it resolves to sell.
Mr Akwasi-Sarpong was clarifying the government’s position on the issue in an interview with the Daily Graphic.
The sale of Kosmos Energy’s title in the oil field has become the subject of recent public debate.
Speculations are that Kosmos Energy, with a 30.875 per cent stake in the Jubilee Oil field and 18 per cent in the Deep Water Tano block wants to offload its interest, estimated at $3 billion.
The deadline for an initial bid, according to sources, closed on July 17, 2009, but has been extended for another 30 days.
Some companies that have been cited to have expressed interest in the stake include Chevron Corp., ExxonMobil Corp., Italy’s Eni SpA and Shell.
Mr Akwasi-Sarpong said the Deputy Energy Minister, Mr Kwabena Donkor had categorically expressed government’s interest, and noted that the government would not force any investor out of the industry, but would work with all partners and players provided they complied with all rules and regulations.
He said the government was more interested that partners in the sector retained their stakes in order to create jobs for Ghanaians.
This, he said, was because the government alone could not control large stakes in the sector as other oil producing countries were doing.
“Government wants to ensure that jobs are created for Ghanaians and would be happy if investors with stakes in the Jubilee field stayed to create jobs in the country,” he said.
Kosmos Energy is said to have received funds worth $800 million from two private equity firms, Blackstone and Warburg Pincus and has hired Standard Chartered and Barclays Plc to sell its stake in the Jubilee filed.
The company is also reported to have signed a $750 million loan facility deal with the International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group to fund the development of the discoveries.
The loan facility, reports indicate has a final maturity date up to December, 2015 and include an early-draw tranche of up to US$300 million that Kosmos could access immediately on receipt of government's consent to the security package.
The company has also recieved approval from the government for a phase-one plan of development for the field.
The Jubilee field is one of West Africa's biggest oil strikes in years, stipulated to contain reserves of at least 1.2 billion barrels, with first output scheduled for the second half of 2010.

Population projected to be 25 million

2009-07-22T05:30:00.000-07:00

Front page- 1b

THE Government Statistician, Dr Grace Bediako, has indicated that preparations towards the 2010 Census are far advanced, with 75 per cent of the work completed.
She was optimistic that all preparatory work would be completed before the exercise kicked off on a day to be designated by the President as the Census Night.
Dr Bediako told the Daily Graphic in an interview that so far all the necessary preparatory work in the northern part of the country had been successfully completed, with work in the southern sector on course.
She said at the moment attention was focused on finalising the questionnaires for the exercise and the training of experts to assist in the actual collection of data.
With the 25 million projected population, the Government Statistician said the actual outcome hinged on the mapping of the areas to be covered, adding that the districts and municipal assemblies would be zoned into smaller areas to ensure efficiency during the exercise.
According to her, a Population and Housing Census District Implementation Committee would be inaugurated today to facilitate the exercise and ensure its total success.
Additionally, a strategy to systematically train government officials to work in collaboration with municipal and district assemblies (MDAs) had been put in place.
In all, she said 50,000 people from government agencies would be recruited for the exercise.
The homeless and street dwellers, she said, would be enumerated first on Census Night by officials who would comb the streets and towns to ascertain their population as of that given time.
An Assistant Chief Statistician, Mr Kofi Agyemang-Duah, said after data had been collected from the homeless and street dwellers, they would be presented with certificates of enumeration in order to avoid double counting.
The relevance of the Census Night, he explained, was to ensure that all persons, either Ghanaian or foreigners, within Ghana’s geographical boundary as of 12 midnight of the Census Night would be regarded as being part of the population of Ghana.
On Census night, he said various activities, such as religious activities, the sounding of sirens and church bells, would go on as a signal to residents to inform them of the event.
Mr Agyemang-Duah urged all persons who would either be visiting friends or relatives to leave details of their biological information with their hosts to avoid double counting.
“You will be counted based on where you were at 12 midnight on Census Night,” he stated, and appealed to the media to assist in creating awareness of the exercise in order to minimise the challenges to be confronted during the exercise.

Accra drainage plan to change

2009-07-22T05:28:00.000-07:00

IN an effort to check flooding and minimise its damaging effects on lives and property, the government is reviewing the 1992 Accra Strategic Drainage Plan to modernise the drainage system in the national capital.
The plan, which was initiated in 1988 and completed in 1992, was prepared by the Town and Country Planning Department, with support from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).
The Director of the Town and Country Planning Department, Mr Kwadwo Baafour Asare, who disclosed this to the Daily Graphic, said the drainage system in the capital could no longer sustain the growing population in the city and, therefore, needed to be modernised.
The government, he said, was poised to avoid any serious havoc to lives and property during next year’s rainfall rainy season.
“The government is seriously concerned about the poor drainage system in the capital and is prepared to do anything to ensure that we have a very good plan to mitigate flooding,” he said, noting that works to be identified would be completed by the end of this year to prevent a recurrence of the recent disasters.
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Mr Asare suggested that the assemblies could attract developers to other areas of the capital by providing basic essential amenities in those areas.
He said the department, which is part of the Inter-Ministerial Task Force charged to demolish houses on watercourses, was poorly resourced and understaffed.
He attributed the understaffing situation to the existing policy on manpower which prevented the department from engaging personnel for certain key planning activities.
Mr Asare said the department would take advantage of the only option provided under the policy to replace personnel with approval from the Ministry of Finance.
Currently, he said, the department had enough policy or resource planners but lacked settlement planners skilled in planning urban development to prepare layouts and planning schemes.
According to him, the assemblies needed to work jointly with settlement planners to plan good roads and layouts devoid of encroachment to make communities self-sustaining.

Single currency for West Africa feasible

2009-07-17T07:42:00.001-07:00

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THE Government Statistician, Dr Grace Bediako, has observed that the vision of a single currency for West Africa is achievable, despite the strict convergence criteria for member countries.
She is optimistic that this vision will be realised if countries in the sub-region share methods and comparable statistics information and focus on building economic models that will effectively support government policies.
Dr Bediako gave the assurance when she spoke to the Daily Graphic shortly after the opening of a seven-day capacity building workshop on macroeconomic modelling in Accra last Monday
She said models were important inputs for policies to assist government officials to maintain and evaluate the impact of government policies.
“A good understanding of the economic model is critical for us to understand our economic policies,” she noted, and urged countries in the sub-region to foster synergy and co-ordinate data among themselves to better integrate the sub-region.
She advised representatives of member countries present to ensure the harmonisation of their economic modelling concepts, which she said was critical in the integration of the continent.
"It is important for us to meet the criteria of those who are supposed to implement government policies, understand what aggregate they need to feed into these policies," she said, and expressed the conviction that deliberations at the workshop would help participants to make better inputs in their various countries.
Dr Bediako, however, expressed dismay at the inability of statistical services in the sub-region to retain the capacity they had built overtime and called for a common strategy that would help them to retain those capacities or trained personnel.
The ongoing workshop is being organised jointly by the African Capacity Building Foundation (ABCF) and the ECOWAS Statistical Capacity Building Project (ESCAP) of the ECOWAS Commission.
It is to purposely contribute to the establishment of an enabling environment and conditions for ECOWAS members to produce the minimum statistical information needed for decision-making.
Mr Biokou Mathieu Djayeola, a statistician-economist, was hopeful that the workshop would strengthen the capacity of the ECOWAS Commission to help promote statistical harmonisation in member countries.
The major components of the project, he said, were institutional strengthening, research activities, training, dissemination and advocacy.
Under institutional strengthening, Mr Djayeola, who is also a member of the ECOWAS Commission, said the procurement of equipment such as computers and the acquisition of specialised software such as Statistical Analysis Systems (SAS) would benefit member countries in standardisation of data and analysis.
On the expected output or impact of the project, he said a framework would be developed to assist member countries to update their laws and other regulatory instruments, with reference from eight regional research studies that contained new updates of information and policy recommendations from legal and regulatory frameworks.
He disclosed that eight regional training workshops would be organised for about 200 beneficiaries from member countries, while six regional dissemination and advocacy workshops based on research findings and topical themes would as well be organised for about 120 participants.
That, according to Mr Djayeola, was expected to increase the performance of national statistical systems and improve policy-making in member countries.
Additionally, he said the ECOWAS Commission would capitalise on the outcomes of the project to further promote the harmonisation of monetary and trade policies, the lowering of tariffs, elimination of non-tariff barriers and the removal of other impediments to free trade within the community.

Global Economic downturn has affected media houses

2009-07-17T07:38:00.001-07:00

Page 24- July 17,2009

THE recent global economic downturn has affected the operations of companies worldwide, including that of major media houses in the country.
The situation, as explained by the Managing Director of the Graphic Communications Group Limited, Mr Ibrahim Awal, at the company’s 2009 mid-year staff durbar, had impacted heavily on the company’s operations, prompting the management to cut down on cost, particularly on medical incentives for staff.
According to the managing director the cedi had depreciated by about 22 per cent against the US dollar, increasing the cost of operations of the company to over GH¢300,000.
This, he said, could also be attributed to the fact that most of the consumables used by the company were imported.
Currently, he said, the company had spent about GH¢800,000 on repayment of loans for its new press house to Stanbic and Ecobank, as well as on prints for production.
"The global downturn has also affected advertising revenue, and from January to June this year revenue targets have been decreasing badly," he stated, and pointed out that management and staff could mitigate the problem.
"We must work hard, the time some personnel arrive at work is not encouraging, company hours are not being utilised adequately," he said, and added that though Graphic was a profitable company, workers needed to change their attitude to work to make it more profitable.
To that effect, Mr Awal announced that from next year payment of bonus for staff would be based on performance of individual staff.
He also indicated that although the company had about 75 per cent share of total advertisement in the media in the country, unfortunately it had about GH¢230,000 "What we need to do is to reduce waste. We have to leverage our competence and credibility to make money,” he urged, and indicated that, for example, issues of unsold publications were a problem worldwide.
He was, however, hopeful that things would improve soon as the company intended to diversify its operations into the electronic media by next year, with the establishment of a radio station.
Earlier, questions were asked as to why the company had cut down on health incentives for staff, and Mr Awal explained that it was not deliberate to deny staff of those incentives, but management had to resort to that measure as a result of the impact of the global economic crisis on the operations of the company.
The Editor of Daily Graphic, Mr Randsford Tetteh, who also responded to some issues raised about the content of the newspaper, said the editorial team always took into account the sensibility of the reading public, that was why it did not publish just any human interest story with the view of making profit.
“We do not have to follow what others are doing,” he said, but welcomed suggestions from members of staff as to how to derive the desired impact.
The General Services Manager, Mr B. B. Awuah, who is in charge of the construction of the company’s new press house, said although management could not penalise the contractor for the delay, there were provisions in the contract that allowed management to abrogate the contract and ask for damages, a situation he ruled out.
“What we are interested in is to get the work completed,” he said, and gave the assurance that management, together with external consultants, were doing their best to ensure that the project was completed on time for the equipment, which was brought in last year, to be installed.
Long service certificates were presented to some members of staff.

RESIDENTS of VRA resettlements appeal to govt

2009-07-06T01:58:00.000-07:00

RESIDENTS of Volta River Authority (VRA) resettlements in three Kpando districts in the Volta Region have appealed to the government to resettle them, to save them from injustices being perpetrated against them by the Chiefs and people of Kpando Fesi.
The residents from Kpando Fesi, Kpando Bame and Kpando Agbenorhoe were ejected from communities such as Gbefe, Sempeta, Hatukope, Avetikope and Zelevukope to pave way for the construction of the Akosombo Dam.
In 1963, the government acquired lands on behalf of VRA to resettle them.
The Chairman of a Unit Committee in the resettlement area, Mr Kumi Simmons told the Daily Graphic in an interview in Accra today that, a section of the youth of Kpando Fesi had been threatening their lives and creating an atmosphere of insecurity by sporadic firing of guns into the air.
He alleged that the youth appeared to be carrying out the threats of war which were allegedly issued by Togbe Afendza III, chief of Kpando Fesi.
According to Mr Simmons the youth allegedly invaded their communities on June 3, 2009 and repeated their lawless act of firing guns in the air to create fear among members of the communities thereby halting all economic activities.
He said “ since the threats were issued a month ago, we have not being to our farms, our children and women are hungry and we the men are helpless”.
According to him, the situation had created poverty, hunger and insecurity in the three communities, after the Kpando youth destroyed almost every crop on their farms.
“As if not enough, they fell trees on our farms which led to debris filling the only pond we use as a source of water during the dry season”, he complained.
He further alleged that after their farms were destroyed, Togbe Afendza III sent his linguist and one Mr Agorbortu Robert to inform their Headman, Togbui Etsiada that from June 3, 2009 onwards, no settler should go to his or her farms or move anywhere for a month otherwise they would be shot and killed.
He said the government was their last hope since all efforts to have the matter peacefully settled by the VRA, the District Chief Executive, Members of Parliament and the Bureau of National Investigations (BNI) had been to no avail.
“The government should quickly come to our aid, because we believe next time when they come, they will not fire their guns in the air, but rather turn their muzzles on us”, he added and urged the government to intercede to prevent any act of genocide.
Mr Simmons said the residents had been living in the resettlement quarters since the reign of the Togbe Afendza II, who gave the lands to the VRA, 46 years ago, after the payment of huge sums of monies by the government as compensation.
“Since his death and the enthronement of Tobge Afendza III, we have not had peace as he and his elders have imposed certain conditions which are difficult to comply with”, he lamented.
Enumerating the some of the conditions, he said “owners of all newly built houses on any of the compounds of the VRA resettlement quarters were to pay GH¢20 and two bottles of foreign schnapps to the Afendza stool.
“Owners of building that fall outside the quarters but are within the resettlement area are to pay GH¢30, one live ram, and four bottles of schnapps”, he stated.
Additionally, he said, they were compelled to attend communal labour at Fesi Township, whilst residents of the town failed to attend communal labour at the resettlement.
Mr Simmons said they were also not allowed to touch palm and teak trees they had planted on the land and were also not allowed to create any cemetery or bury a corspe in the resettlement without the prior approval from the Chief and his elders.
For record purposes, he said they demanded a written copy of the conditions imposed on them, but surprisingly, Togbe and his elders declined to honour their request
He said they were therefore pleading with the government to intercede before the inevitable happened.

WAR on Piracy- AG wants all hands on deck

2009-07-02T04:28:00.000-07:00

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Counterfeiting, which is said to account for $512 billion of global trade annually, has been a major obstacle to the achievement of the development goals of many countries, including Ghana.
That substantial share of world trade is said to be most pronounced in pharmaceuticals, textiles, automobiles, household appliances, currencies and musical videos and it is responsible for between five and seven per cent of the global trade.
In the case of Ghana, which is severely hit by the phenomenon, making job creation exceedingly difficult, the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Mrs Betty Mould-Iddrisu, yesterday advocated the establishment of a separate Intellectual Property Office to fight piracy and counterfeit products in the country.
Furthermore, she recommended a crusade involving government agencies, the media and the private business sector to fight against all forms of counterfeiting in the country.
Mrs Mould-Iddrisu disclosed this at a forum in Accra as part of activities marking the 50th anniversary of the Ghana Employers Association (GEA).
She expressed the hope that government agencies, such as the Ghana Police Service, the Copyright Office, the Food and Drugs Board (FDB), the Registrar-General’s Department, the Customs, Excise and Preventive Service (CEPS) and the Ghana Standard Board (GSB), would be brought under one umbrella to enforce intellectual property rights, particularly in the textile and pharmaceutical industries.
Speaking on the theme, “Consumer protection against illicit trade and counterfeit goods”, the minister said plans were underway to merge the Industrial Property Section of the Registrar-General’s Department and the Copyright Office to constitute a more effective Intellectual Property Office.
Mrs Mould-Iddrisu said the government would not relent in its efforts at ridding the country of counterfeit and illicit goods and called for the support of all Ghanaians.
She said in order to facilitate information flow, the government would assist CEPS and the police to set up a database on counterfeiting that would be linked to the World Customs Authority and Interpol.
Additionally, she said, the Attorney-General’s Office, the Copyright Office and the Registrar-General’s Department would work in conjunction with the Coalition Against Counterfeit and Illicit Trade (CACIT), an initiative of the GEA, to provide training programmes for the enforcement agencies.
Mrs Mould-Iddrisu said the government intended to propose an increase in fines and the terms of imprisonment for offenders to serve as a deterrent because the low fines and low terms of imprisonment as prescribed by the various statutes on intellectual property right were not deterrent enough.
The President of the GEA, Nana Fredua Agyeman Pambo I, said the theme for the occasion was informed by the negative and devastating impact of the phenomenon, which was harmful to the image and reputation of the country.
He said many industries, particularly the textile industry in Ghana and other West African countries, had collapsed due to counterfeiting, piracy and the infringement of property rights, mostly of imported products from Asia.
In 2004 alone, Nana Pambo said, the World Customs Organisation estimated the global trade in counterfeit products to be $512 billion and noted that counterfeit operators had created a global industry that now rivalled the multinational corporation in speed, reach and sophistication.
He also cited a report by the International Policy Network (IPN), which stated that about 700 people died annually from consuming fake drugs, most of which were said to have originated from China and India.
“The IPN estimates that almost 50 per cent of drugs sold in Ghana, Nigeria, Angola, Burundi and the Congo are fake and substandard, leaving people to unknowingly consume paints, saw dust, cement, talcum powder and other toxic substances,” he added.
He, therefore, called for a national educational and awareness campaign to address the problem posed by counterfeit products, particularly pharmaceuticals.
Nana Pambo suggested that a special collaboration to combat counterfeit medicine could be initiated at the national and regional levels involving stakeholders from the public sector, the health sector, civil society groups, healthcare professionals, manufacturers, distributors and the media.
The Managing Director of the Graphic Communications Group Limited, Mr Ibrahim Awal, who chaired the ceremony, said counterfeiting had serious implications on the country’s development agenda.
He, therefore, urged the media to team up with other stakeholders in fighting the menace, which he believed was badly affecting particularly the private sector.

We haven't issued any permits- Town and Country Planning declares

2009-06-26T07:55:00.000-07:00

THE Town and Country Planning Department says it has not issued any permits for the construction of any of the structures sited on watercourses in parts of Accra.
It has, therefore, asked the inter-ministerial committee set up for the demolition of those structures to investigate whether owners of those property have permits and where they obtained them from.
The Director of the department, Mr Kofi Dankwa Osei, told the Daily Graphic in Accra yesterday that the law should be allowed to work and those found to have issued permits without authority punished accordingly. “I think if anyone is found to have issued permits for people to build on water courses, that person should be used as an example,” he stated.
He was reacting to allegations made by some ministers in the wake of the current floods in Accra that the department might have issued permits that allowed residents to build on watercourses.
Mr Osei explained that it was not the sole responsibility of the department to issue permits, as the public had been made to believe, noting that the authority to do that rested with a technical committee comprising other land administration agencies which made recommendations for the Chief Executive of the metropolitan assembly to approve.
He stressed that under no circumstance would any member of the committee issue permits for applicants to build on watercourses and urged the media not to support residents found culpable by highlighting the agony they would go through when their buildings were demolished.
He said the department would not hesitate to furnish the inter-ministerial task force with documents to assist it in its investigations.
According to him, the fact that the department was poorly resourced did not mean that it should undermine its core functions of planning, controlling and ensuring the sustainable and cost-effective development of human settlements in accordance with sound environmental and planning principles.
He said what the government had to do was spend money on extensive dredging of drains, particularly the Korle Lagoon and the Odaw River.
"These are the major outfills and they should be free enough for water to pass through," he said, pointing out that another major headache for the national capital was the Sodom and Gomorrah settlement.
The Deputy Director of the department, Mrs Doris Tetteh, corroborated the point that the issuance of permits was not the sole responsibility of the department.“It is a comprehensive process and no individual can issue a permit without the knowledge of other members of the Technical Committee,” she stated, and mentioned some members of the committee as representatives of the Department of Urban Roads, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Lands Commission, the Ministry of Water Resources, Works and Housing, the AMA and other stakeholders.
Mrs Tetteh, who was in a meeting with members of the Technical Committee during the interview, said areas such as Fadama, Awoshie, North Kaneshie, Kaneshie and other areas which experienced the recent flooding in Accra that killed seven people had always been flood-prone.
She explained that the population of the capital had increased tremendously and so facilities and infrastructure should also be improved in order to avoid the situation where people became victims of floods.
Mrs Tetteh said it was time to implement the technical decisions and the government had a duty to commit itself to the decision to demolish buildings on watercourses and free the thousands who suffered from the annual ritual of floods in Accra.

Aftermath of Rain Disaster- 45 Houses to go down

2009-06-24T01:24:00.000-07:00

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AN inter-ministerial committee has been formed by the government to identify and demolish all buildings and illegal structures on watercourses to prevent a recurrence of last Friday’s floodsin Accra that claimed seven lives.
The inter-ministerial task force includes representatives of the Ministry of Water Resources, Works and Housing, the Ministry of Local Government, the Ministry of Roads and Highways (Urban Roads) and the Ministry of the Interior and officials from the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO), the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA), the Greater Accra Regional Co-ordinating Council and personnel from the security agencies.
They have up to Friday to submit their report.
It is estimated that more than 45 buildings will be affected.
In August 2007, after a similar disaster in which five people were killed by floods in the western part of Accra, 25 buildings were marked for demolition by NADMO but after three of them had been pulled down, owners of the affected properties sought a court injunction to stop the exercise.
It has been on hold since then but this time the agencies charged with the job have indicated their preparedness to go all the way and demolish all the buildings and illegal structures found to have been constructed on watercourses.
The Greater Accra Regional Minister, Nii Armah Ashietey, who disclosed this after a visit by the leadership of the various authorities to the affected areas and victims of the floods, said after taking inventory of all structures on watercourses, the task force would identify those that had building permits and those that did not have before taking action.
“We will determine whether the Town and Country Planning Department (TCPD) gave them permits to build. If they are covered by permits, we will negotiate with them, but if they are not, we will have to do what is right to save the rest of the members of the community from such disasters,” he said.
In addition to the demolition exercise, the AMA has been charged to clear all silted gutters in the metropolis and make sure that all kiosks and illegal structures along the streets are removed.
Commenting on the corrective measures, the Minister of Roads and Highways, Mr Joe Gidisu, said work on that part of the Kaneshie road where the bitumen was washed away by the rain would be completed for free flow of traffic by today.
He blamed officials of the TCPD who, he said, had not been honest to the country by allowing houses to be built on watercourses.
The Deputy Minister for Local Government, Mr Elvis Afriyie Ankrah, said, “Henceforth, every law that has to do with development will be enforced. We have to do what is right and we will apply the law to the fullest.”
The Deputy Minister of Water Resources, Works and Housing, Dr Hanna Louisa Bisiw, also criticised the issuance of illegal permits by officials of the TCPD.
“Each illegal permit is equal to a life lost. We have to be very responsible to our country,” she said, and described the behaviour of those involved as unpatriotic, considering the amount of money the government had spent to decongest the capital and other flood-prone areas.
The National Co-ordinator of NADMO, Mr Kofi Portuphy, said as of yesterday trucks were loading relief items for distribution to victims and noted that NADMO had set up camps in the affected areas where the items would be distributed, with assistance from the leadership of the various assemblies.
He disclosed that a medical team would visit the affected areas to check any possible outbreak of water-borne diseases.
The Chief Executive of the AMA, Mr Alfred Vanderpiuje, during the tour, warned all victims who were reconstructing their structures along the drains to halt the practice because they were going to be pulled down.
He also said people who parked their vehicles on the road would be prevented from doing so to ease traffic, particularly on the Mallam-Kaneshie highway.
The Greater Accra Regional Police Commander, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCOP) Rose Bio-Atinga, said the police, for their part, would provide security for all affected victims who, she urged, should feel free to contact the police in case of any complaint.

Ministry to embark on massive tree-planting exercise

2009-06-22T01:37:00.000-07:00

THE Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources has announced plans to embark on a massive national tree- planting exercise to halt the depletion of the country’s forest plantation and reserves.
The sector Minister, Alhaji Collins Dauda, who made this known, said the ministry was currently in contact with other stakeholders to tackle the problem.
He described the extent of degradation of the country’s forests as appalling and stressed the need for such an exercise to protect natural resources.
Alhaji Dauda, who made the point during a courtesy call on him by the Bulgarian Ambassador to Ghana, Mr Nedelcho Peneff, said Ghana once had 8.2 million hectares of forest but now it had reduced to about 1.5 million hectares.
“You realise that the extent of degradation is as a result of our own activities and so we have decided that what has been lost must be replaced,” he stated.
He, therefore, asked for support from Bulgaria to deal with the situation which, he said, was badly affecting the pattern of rainfall in the country.
Ghana recently ratified the Voluntary Partnership Agreement (VPA), which requires it to strictly adhere to its own laws. The VPA is a set of standards and guidelines intended for proper forest governance and timber harvest, with the view to ensuring that only legal timber was exported from Ghana to Europe.
Alhaji Dauda said Ghana was currently faced with the challenge of adding value to its mineral resources and, therefore, requested the Bulgarian Ambassador to assist the country to attract investors who were willing to set up refineries in the country.
The courtesy call by the Bulgarian Ambassador was essentially to congratulate the minister on his appointment to that political office and to discuss possible areas of co-operation.
Mr Peneff commended Ghana for its democratic maturity, saying, “Ghana has demonstrated to the world that the culture of democracy is of high standard and should serve as an example to the continent and the rest of the world.”
He recalled the long-standing relations between Ghana and Bulgaria, dating back to 1962 when Ghana’s first President, Osagyefo Dr Kwame Nkrumah, visited that country.
He expressed the hope that the relations would be reactivated, and on that basis extended an invitation to Alhaji Dauda to visit Bulgaria and identify possible areas of co-operation between the two countries.
“We do not need to just exchange documents but take concrete steps that will benefit both countries,” he stated.
Mr Peneff expressed his willingness to help attract investors from Bulgaria to set up refineries in Ghana and urged the minister to furnish him with documents on the country’s total stock of minerals and natural resources for reference.

Constitution must grow with times — Gyandoh

2009-06-19T05:19:00.000-07:00

Professor Emeritus Samuel Otu Gyandoh, a professor of Law at the Temple University School of Law in Philadelphia, USA, has described the Constitution as a living organism which must grow with the times.
“We can adapt the Constitution to changing times by timely amendments, like Act 527 of 1996, and by judiciary interpretation,” he said.
Delivering a lecture to mark the 50th Anniversary celebration of the Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences (GAAS) in Accra on Tuesday, Prof Gyandoh said what “we do not need as a country is another Constitutional Commission, Constitutional Assembly or Committee of Experts to draw up new Constitution for a future Fifth Republic of Ghana".
He said it was not proper for any group of people to claim to have reached the pinnacle of political wisdom to dictate to generations yet unborn.
Speaking on the theme, "Constitutional Review in Ghana", he said there was always room for improvement of the human condition, and was optimistic that a review of relevant portions of the 1992 Constitution would deepen the country's democratisation process.
He also touched on some discrepancies bordering on dual citizenship — article 8 and 9 (5) and indemnity — Act 527, 1996, which he said, had raised unresolved problems of legitimacy for the nation.
On dual citizenship, Prof Gyandoh said citizenship laws should be inclusive and not exclusive, as in a situation where a person with dual citizenship could be a Minister and Member of Parliament but not Secretary to the Cabinet, or Ambassador or Chief of Defence Staff, Inspector-General of Police, Commissioner of Customs, Excise and Preventive Service or the Director of the Immigration Service.
On indemnity, he said the 1992 Constitution should take into account the fact that the era of the Provisional National Defence Council (PNDC) rule was a military rule in order to preserve the spirit and enduring values enshrined in the Constitution.
Professor Mike Oquaye, the Second Deputy Speaker of Parliament, who dilevered the second lecture was also of the view that a review of the 1992 Constitution would deepen and strengthen the country’s democracy.
In his support for a review, he said constitutions were subject to the law of mutations but they should be stable enough to contain the competing forces of instability within the body politic.
He therefore urged Parliament to tighten the screws of the 1992 Constitutional engineering, but however, agreed with maintaining the indemnity clause so that the country could move forward.
He said any change in the Constitution should have specific goals to secure good governance, promote the rule of law and separation of powers.
Prof Oquaye said a review should as well check arbitrariness, secure accountability, ensure human rights and provide a credible electoral system that guaranteed smooth and effective transition of political power.
Additionally, he recommended that a review process should secure effective decentralisation, promote the rights of women, children and the vulnerable groups in the country.
"As we seek to review our Constitution, let us leave no stone unturned. Let us not take anything for granted," he stated and urged Parliament to be as detailed as possible and as imaginative as human vision would allow.
The President of GAAS, Prof Reginald Amonoo, was also optimistic that a review process would enhance the country's democratisation process.
He refereed to a paper that was presented by Prof Joseph R.A. Ayee, Dean, Faculty of Social Studies, University of Ghana, Legon on the topic "Signposts to Healthy Politics in Ghana," which identified what could be done to promote positive politics instead of negative and adversarial politics in Ghana.
According to Prof Amonoo, GAAS and the Friedrich Ebert Stiffing (FES) Foundation had been partnering to promote and strengthen democracy and social justice in Ghana since 1993.
The Resident Director of FES , Ms Kathrin Meissner, described Ghana's transformation to democracy in 1992 as a major turning point.
She commended Ghana for a peaceful election in 2008 and noted that though there were serious challenges that needed to be addressed in the future, the 2008 election was certainly proof of the overall political stability that Ghana had achieved.
Ms Meissner however noted that the relevance of Ghana's Constitution laid in the commitment of the good people of Ghana to it, and pointed out that a review process would create an opportunity and reaffirm the consensus for the country's political system.

Consider benefits for political, high office holders’

2009-06-18T02:00:00.000-07:00

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June 18, 2009

PARLIAMENT must consider issues bordering on emoluments and retirement benefits for political and high office holders in its intended review of the 1992 Constitution.
It has further been urged to consider other provisions including political transitions, the limitation of the legislative authority of Parliament, the conduct of Presidential and Parliamentary elections and others relating to the composition, membership and conditions of service for Commissioners of the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ).
Mr Kwamena Ahwoi, a Principal lecturer at the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA), and Mr Alban K. S. Bagbin, the Majority Leader of Parliament, made the recommendation on Tuesday at the second inaugural lecture to mark the 50th Anniversary celebration of the Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences (GAAS) in Accra,
They spoke on the theme, “Confronting the Challenges of the 1992 Constitution”.
Mr Ahwoi said Article 71 of the Constitution which provided a formula for the determination of salaries, allowances, facilities, privileges, retiring benefits or awards for public office holders, including the President and Vice President, needed to be amended by Parliament if judicial interpretation could not adequately address the challenges associated with it.
He was against the practice where the President appointed a committee to make recommendations for the benefit of the executive and public office holders in line with Article 71 of the Constitution.
He said “should the practice continue, a time will come when there will be a number of ex-Presidents and sets of ex-Parliamentarians all buying from the same market and yet enjoying different retirement benefits or end-of-service benefits”.
He said it was his submission that in interpreting Article 71, a distinction should be drawn between “salaries and allowances” and “retiring benefits and awards”.
Mr Ahwoi said whilst “salaries and allowances” may be determined by each new President, “the retiring benefits and awards should be fixed at all time, with an adjustment formula for inflation and other significant indicators.
For ex-Ministers and ex-Members of Parliament who may be entitled to one-time-end-of-service benefits or ex-gratia payments only, he said the solution may be to fix the quantum in convertible currency such as the US dollar or by way of formula with an in-built inflation factor.
On provisions concerning political transition, he said the experiences of the political transitions of 2001 and 2009 “should teach us that there are vast lacunae in our constitutional arrangements”, which ought to be filled by either constitutional amendment or the exercise of the residual power of Parliament conferred by Article 298.
He therefore agreed with proposals contained in the Institute of Economic Affairs draft “Presidential Transition Bill 2009”.
According to him, the draft bill, proposed among other measures the establishment of an institution that would be responsible for inventory and stock taking of state assets and properties to ensure a smooth and civic handing over of such assets from an outgoing to an incoming administration.
“That is intended to act as a buffer to avoid any dispute between the two parties over all such assets”, he added, and pointed out that the core of the problem related to the short period between Presidential and Parliamentary elections and the date of the inauguration of the new President and Parliament.
To deal with this problem, he said the provision on the period of Parliamentary elections could be amended to allow for a longer period between the Parliamentary elections and the inauguration date of January 7.
Other key areas of the 1992 Constitution he addressed included the concept and practice of the ‘hybrid’ Executive system of government, Decentralisation and Local Government, and the Media and the Right to Rejoinder.
Mr Bagbin, who partly focused his address on the limitations of the legislative authority of Parliament (article 108), said the provision deprived the legislature of one of the most effective mode of exercising control over the use of public funds by the Executive.
“By this prohibition, Parliament is prevented from debating matters that involve expenditure from public funds, the raising of taxation or increases in the rate of taxation on its own initiative without a request from the President”, he emphasised and raised other concerns which he said were inconsistent and therefore called for a review to remove the limitation.
On the appointment of Ministers by the President with the prior approval of Parliament from among members of Parliament or persons qualified to be elected as member of Parliament, except that the majority of Minister shall be appointed from Parliament, the Majority Speaker said experience over the past 16 years had shown that Ministers with Parliament seats tended to find it difficult to effectively combine the two portfolios.
“There is therefore the real challenge of divided attention which is naturally not their making”, he stated and pointed out that the situation was likely to continue for as long as Parliamentary privileges and facilities continued to remain very unattractive as compared with ministerial portfolio.
As a solution, he suggested that the hybrid executive system should be reverted to the Presidential system with complete separation of Parliament from the Executive.
Mr Bagbin also suggested that the condition of service of the Commissioner of CHRAJ, should provide for progression from the status of a justice of the Court of Appeal to a justice of the Supreme Court whilst that of the Deputy Commissioner should be allowed for progression from justice of the High Court to a justice of the Court of Appeal.
He said article 218(e) which prevented the Commission from initiating its own investigation into a matter within its jurisdiction had the effect of dampening the Commission’s initiative to investigate perceived acts of corruption, including the promotion of human rights values, integrity and the rule of law.
To that effect, he urged Parliament to amend article 218 to enable CHRAJ to perform its watchdog role as an independent governance institution.

Ghanaians urged to recognise relevance of Founder’s Day- Dr Jonah

2009-06-17T01:55:00.000-07:00

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June 17, 2009

A POLITICAL Science Lecturer at the University of Ghana, Legon, Dr Kwesi Jonah has urged Ghanaians to recognise the relevance of the intended Founder’s Day celebration to be instituted in the country.
He, therefore, urged the government to also translate the ideas and ideals Nkrumah represented into concrete action.
Dr Jonah made the assertions in an interview with the Daily Graphic in Accra yesterday.
He said the day should be a ceremony where the main achievements of Nkrumah would be highlighted in the media in the form of radio and television discussions, lecturers and symposiums in schools.
Congratulating the government for its intention to institute the Founder’s Day celebration, Dr Jonah suggested to the government to specifically highlight the good things that Nkrumah wanted to achieve and see which of his plans and projects were still relevant today.
“Nkrumah is the only African leader to lead a sub-Saharan African country to independence and that alone is a significant achievement to be celebrated”, he stated.
Dr Jonah stated that with that achievement, Nkrumah became the symbol of hope and the source of inspiration for all liberation movements in Africa.
He said the achievements of Nkrumah were so memorable that “Ghanaians can not afford to forget about him”.
“You cannot discuss the liberation of the African continent without mentioning Nkrumah. They all looked up to him”, he added, and enumerated some African liberation movements that looked up to Nkrumah experience.
“Some of these movements which sought advice from Nkrumah included the South West African People’s Organisation (SWAPO) from Namibia, African National Congress (ANC) from South Africa, the National Liberation Front from Algeria, the Front for the Liberation of Mozambique (FRELIMO) and many other movements which were hosted at the former Students’ Hostel in Accra”, he stated.
According to him, what made the celebration of Nkrumah even more relevant today could be justified considering two important targets Nkrumah outlined to achieve.
“That is the United States of Africa and unity in Ghana, as the country was nearly divided after independence”, he said.
First, Dr Jonah said, Nkrumah struggled for Ghana’s independence after he left the United Gold Coast Convention (UGCC) to form the Convention People’s Party (CPP).
That, he said, made the British realise that the struggle for independence had transcended down from the educated elite to the ordinary people.
“They became conscious of the fact that, someone was now mobilising the ordinary people to fight for independence”, he said.
He stated that because the British had no choice, they had to organise three major elections, in 1951, 1954 and 1956, all of which were swept by the CPP.
Dr Jonah said immediately after independence, Dr Nkrumah discovered that some political parties springing up in the country were based on regions, religion and ethnic groupings.
He said Dr Nkrumah, therefore, passed the “Avoidance of Discrimination Act” which banned the formation of political parties based on those lines apart from nationalistic point of view.
Dr Jonah said details of the Act which had unified Ghana so well leading to the formation of the United Party (UP), a combination of all those smaller parties, could now be found in the Political Parties Act in the 1992 Constitution, where it was indicated that all political parties should be organised on national lines and each should have at least offices in two-thirds of districts in Ghana.
He added that immediately after independence, Dr Nkrumah hit the ground running, realising that Ghana as a tiny West African country could not survive against the powerful colonial super powers, and therefore declared that the independence of Ghana was meaningless unless it was linked with the total liberation of Africa.
In that regard, he said, Nkrumah organised the Conference of Independent African states in Accra in 1958 where together with other African leaders, they discussed how to liberate the continent of colonialism.
Dr Jonah said, after that conference, Dr Nkrumah realised that most of his fellow heads of states were conservatives, because most of them had suggested that the continent could be integrated along functional lines and through regional grouping.
He said Dr Nkrumah believed that Africa needed to develop a strong economy and army to defend itself, but unfortunately, “his peers did not understand him”, and the resultant impact, he said, “politically we are unable to resolve the numerous conflicts and genocide which had been recorded on the continent”.

Two organisations sign partnership agreement

2009-06-11T01:50:00.000-07:00

THE Ghana Telecom University College (GTUC) has signed a partnership agreement with Rising Data Solutions Limited (RDS), a business process outsourcing (BPO) company, to train people and create jobs in the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) industry.
Under the agreement, RDS will provide a curriculum and logistics in the field and train teachers to teach the course at the college, while GTUC would house the classrooms, hardware and teaching personnel for the implementation of the course.
The college will also absorb the class into its official curriculum where students who earn qualifying marks in the course will gain employment with RDS.
The two institutions signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) in Accra yesterday to seal the partnership.
The President of GTUC, Dr Osei K. Darkwa, said the government had identified Information Technology Enabled Service (ITES) and the BPO industry as one of the key industries for the creation of jobs and the provision of marketable skills for the youth for the country to position itself as a destination of choice for outsourcing.
He expressed optimism that the collaboration would equip the students of the college with the requisite skills in areas such as communication and listening, telemarketing, keyboard, time management, computer, customer care, telephone etiquette, accent neutralisation and pronunciation skills.
He indicated that a study conducted in 2006 by an Indian company, Hewitt Associates, with assistance from the World Bank and Information for Development (infoDev) in Ghana, estimated that the sector could create 37,000 jobs by the year 2011, with an added value of US$750 million to the economy.
The Vice-President of GTUC, Dr Robert Baffuor, gave the assurance that the university would continue to provide the platform and build the requisite foundation to place Ghana on the technology map.
The Public Relations Manager of RDS, Mr A. J. Whitman, noted that the partnership was part of RDS’s ongoing campaign to bring more jobs to Ghana via the BPO industry.
“We are proud of this partnership with GTUC because both parties recognise that the private sector cannot grow without the educational sector, and vice versa,” he added.
The Head of Corporate Communication, Vodaphone, Mr Albert Don-Chebe, gave assurance that Vodaphone was strongly behind the deal and commended RDS for having the courage to invest in Ghana, despite the challenges.
The Director of Finance and Administration of the Ministry of Communications, Mr M. B. Alhassan, disclosed that the World Bank and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) were strongly behind Ghana in the development of the BPO industry.
“This emphasises the government’s commitment to the sector,” he indicated, and noted that to further support the sector, the government was putting up a data centre to properly monitor and evaluate its performance.

Develop framework for use of ICT -Health experts urged

2009-06-11T01:48:00.000-07:00

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Vice-President John Dramani Mahama has called on health experts in Africa to develop a framework that will enhance the use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) to make health service accessible to the people, particularly those in the rural areas.
With the advent of mobile telephony, he said simple health messages could be devised and communicated to the people on daily basis.
He said Africa needed such a framework to review its policies and strategies for achieving its major health goals beyond the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
Mr Mahama made the call at the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) Annual Ministerial Review Conference in Accra yesterday.
The two-day conference is being attended by members of the Economic Commission for Africa, African Ministers of Health, and representatives of United Nations (UN) bodies.
Mr Mahama, therefore, called on all the members of ECOSOC to consider the meeting as one that would define how they in Africa would deploy electronic health solution for the sake of their people.
He said there was the need for an African position on the way and manner ICT must be deployed on the continent.
The Vice-President charged them to avoid a situation where solutions were not based on African problems and challenges but rather on other systems which did not have identical challenges.
Mr Mahama said he had seen proposals that aimed at high-end telemedicine technology but which did not take into account the existing human and technical resource at both ends of the set-up, the cost involved, and whether they addressed their priorities.
He said most African countries had regrettably made slow processes in the application of electronic health solutions probably because investments in this area had been misdirected by hard talking technology-oriented vendors who did not understand their circumstances and yet claimed to hold the solutions to their problems.
The Minister of Environment, Science and Technology, Madam-Sherry Ayittey, stressed the need for ICT to be used to improve the healthcare needs of women and children.
She said such technology should also be cost-effective and affordable and urged the government to collaborate with ICT experts to explore the power of the technology for the benefit of all.
The Minister of Health, Dr George Yankey, appealed to health experts to make ehealth a necessary facilitator in healthcare delivery.
The President of ECOSOC, Madam Sylvie Lucas, said the objective of ehealth was to improve primary healthcare delivery.
She urged African governments to seek the opportunity of ICT to advance health care in their countries.
The Assistant Secretary-General of the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Mr Thomas Stelzer, observed that ehealth could be used to address challenges such as lack of infrastructure, heavy disease burden and brain drain, in a comprehensive manner.
It could help scale health care appropriately to each economy and also enable a transformation from disease management to a focus on proactive wellness, he added.

Future Leaders Group assists Aburi Girls

2009-06-11T01:46:00.000-07:00

THE Future Leaders Group (FLG) has donated 100 pieces of choir robes and 20 tambourines worth GH¢2,120 to the Aburi Girls Senior High School at Aburi in the Eastern Region.
The Group has also awarded scholarships to five needy students in the school to encourage them to study hard, despite their financial challenges.
The Chief Executive Officer of FLG, Mr Emmanuel Dei Tumi, who made the presentation on behalf of the group, said the group recognised the importance of religious and moral education in schools, hence their resolve to assist the school with the robes and tambourines.
He said education was not only about acquiring theoretical knowledge, but also about the inculcating morality and the fear of God in students, who in recent times, were being lured into cyber fraud and other deviant activities.
Mr Tumi disclosed that FLG had awarded scholarships to over 200 students in the country, from primary to tertiary level, and intended to increase the number to cover other needy, but intelligent children.
“Very soon, we will establish a scholarship scheme to let them know that they are not alone, and to realise that some of us are here to help them,” he stated, and challenged the students to stay committed to God and their books to achieve the best from their studies.
The Headmistress of the School, Mrs Sylvia Asempa, expressed the school’s appreciation for the items and the scholarships, and said she hoped it would go a long way to boost the morale of the girls and contribute to their Christian values.
“We hope the scholarships will contribute significantly in building firmer foundation for the students and the nation as well,” she added.

Opoku wins second edition of “The Challenge”

2009-06-08T06:31:00.000-07:00

Joseph Opoku, a 26-year-old telecommunications engineer of MTN-Ghana and former student of the University of Mines and Technology, emerged winner of the second edition of “The Challenge” reality television show.
For his prize, Mr Opoku is the beneficiary of a postgraduate scholarship from the University of Westminster worth £40,000, including tuition for a 12-month postgraduate course, fully paid accommodation in an international students hostel, a monthly living allowance, a return ticket to the UK valid for a year and a new laptop.
Upon completion of his course, he is expected to return to Ghana to start work in a lucrative management position with either tiGO or the United Bank of Africa (Ghana) Limited.
The three runners-up were Sandra Barimah, Araba Abakah-Anaman and Anastacia Arko, who are to benefit from scholarships to do postgraduate courses at the Thames University, the London Metropolitan University, both in the United Kingdom, and IPMC in Ghana, respectively.
The event, which was held in Accra on Saturday, saw the six finalists exhibiting quality presentation of ideas and tasks they had accomplished as part of the challenge at previous stages.
The remaining two finalists who went home with consolation prizes and much confidence in themselves are Michael Quaye and Afuma Akosua Gyan.
At the first stage of the final challenge, the finalists were grouped into two teams, with each team identifying and executing a task dubbed the “Social and Economic Impact Task”.
The task, according to the organisers, was supposed to be sustainable and capable of bringing economic benefits to the people.
That stage, which ran throughout the duration of the competition, was won by the JESK Team, which set up a small-scale snail farm for the Frafraha Orphanage in Accra.
The team, which comprised Joseph, Enoch Nii Boi Quaye, an evictee, Sandra and Katherine Attoh, another evictee, donated GH¢1,000 towards the sustainability of the project.
At the second stage of the final challenge, the finalists had to justify why they deserved the ultimate prize in three minutes and it was that nerve-breaking session of the competition that posed the greatest challenge to the finalists.
Each attempted to convince a six-member board why he or she deserved the ultimate prize, but in the end Mr Opoku, whose answer to the question as to how he had made it that far, “Excuses do not work; it is either you have the result or you do not”, came up tops.
In an interview, Mr Opoku commended his colleagues for the part they played to bringing out the best in him.
The Minister for Information, Mrs Zita Okaikoi, commended the organisers and sponsors of the show and said the competition was in line with the government’s policy to enable the youth to develop their full potential and be ready to take up the mantle of leadership of the country.
She expressed the hope that the competition would encourage learning and research among the youth and offer them employment opportunities.

Caption: The six finalists in a group picture after the event. They are (from left to right) Michael K. Quaye, Akosua Afuma Gyan, Sandra S. Barimah, Joseph Opoku, Araba Abakah-Anaman and Anastacia C. Arko.

Ghanaian praised for trust in democracy

2009-06-08T06:30:00.000-07:00

THE Danish Ambassador to Ghana, Mr Stig Barlyng, has commended Ghanaians in general and politicians in particular for exhibiting rare constitutional stamina in the light of the closest result in the 2008 general election.
He recalled that “during the exciting and nail-biting days between the first voting and the last result, Ghanaians rose to the challenge of maintaining trust in democracy”, adding that “Ghana has shown the way, not only to sister nations in the sub-region, but to the rest of the world”.
Mr Barlyng made the commendation during the celebration of the 160th independence/National Constitution Day of Denmark in Accra in remembrance of the 1849 signing of the Danish Constitution which made Denmark a constitutional monarchy.
He said “To Ghanaian politicians, a very slim majority should always be a reminder that political power is illusive. Democracy works best when the majority and minority agree on the fundamentals, and agree to disagree on means of fulfilling the basics”, he stated.
Mr Barlyng stressed “ In democracy, respect for minority was as important as looking for the comfort of the majority”.
He acknowledged the fact that Ghana was confronted with economic challenges as a result of the global economic downturn, but expressed the hope that a solution could be found in the adaptation of new realities in sub-regional, continental and global alliances.
Ghana, he said, would forge ahead by strengthening democracy, decentralisation and good governance”.
The ambassador stated that Denmark had had cordial relations with Ghana for about 400 years, which if observed with “present day eyes”, were problematic, but now was far ahead in the positive direction.
He said celebration of the Danish Constitution was marking democracy with a whole array of freedoms and rights, where one person’s liberties and rights were limited by similar rights and liberties of every other citizen.
“This code is the sacred, simple and basic principle in the law of laws—the Constitution”, he declared, and recounted the various constitutional amendments, which the Danish Constitution had gone through, with a referendum to be held today to rectify the popular female succession of the monarch.
Mr Barlyng expressed the Danish government’s intention to maintain funding for African development irrespective of the economic hardship that also confronted them.
“We are staunch supporters of the international development agenda with focus on strengthening the country-led development as expressed in the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness and the Accra Agenda for Action”, he emphasised.
The Minister of Agriculture, Mr Kwesi Ahwoi, who led the government delegation, also acknowledged the contribution made by Denmark towards the development of Ghana and expressed the government’s determination to build a solid democratic state.
He observed that with support from the Danish International Development Agency (DANIDA), Ghana had been able reduce child mortality rate, malaria and guinea worm infestation in the country.
Mr Ahwoi agreed that those were challenging times that required innovation and alliances with sub-regional, continental and global partners if Ghana was to forge ahead in its development agenda.
He expressed the government’s commitment to the fight against climate change which Denmark was at the forefront.
The minister said it was important to join the fight because any change in climate greatly affected agriculture which was the bedrock of the country.

Petty bribery on the rise

2009-06-07T03:57:00.001-07:00

THE 2009 Global Corruption Barometer (GCB) released by Ghana Integrity Initiative (GII) indicates that petty bribery is on the rise, with the police considered the most frequent recipients in Sub-Saharan Africa.
The report said the number of respondents in Sub-Saharan Africa region who reported paying a bribe in the previous year was much higher than the global average, which was 26 per cent in Sub-Saharan Africa, as against 13 per cent at the global level.
It also revealed that people continued to see political parties as the most corrupt in their countries, whilst the private sector resorted to corruption to shape state policies.
The Executive Secretary of GII Mr Vitus Adaboo Azeem, a local chapter of Transparency International (TI) who released both the global and Ghana report in Accra last Wednesday, called for more civic education to sensitise Ghanaians to the effect of corruption.
“This calls for a change of attitude and a system of democratic practice where all citizens are equal before the law and where meritocracy rules over and above all other considerations”, he stated.
Corruption, he expressed, had a devastating effect not only on individuals but also on the country as a whole, leading to lack of access to quality healthcare, education for children and portable water, with the poor always being the hardest hit.
In Ghana, he said a total of 1, 190 respondents were randomly selected from one municipal capital and one district capital from each of the ten regions in the country.
“The respondents were asked to rank six institutions on their perception of how corrupt they are on a scale of one to five with five being the very corrupt”, he said and emphasised that, “overall public officials or civil service were perceived to be the most corrupt sector in Ghana.
At the global level, the report which was released by TI in Berlin, Germany yesterday revealed that, “people continue to see government as ineffective in the fight against corruption” whilst at the local level, the GII report indicated that 58 per cent of respondents in Ghana felt that government’s efforts at fighting corruption were quite effective.
About half of the respondents at the global level, according to Mr Azeem, had the perception that the private sector and the judiciary were affected by corruption, whilst 43 per cent of interviewees believed that the media was affected by corruption.
The global survey covered a total of 73,132 people in 69 countries around the world, including ten African countries namely, Ghana, Cameroon, Kenya, Liberia, Morocco, Nigeria Senegal, Sierra Leone, Uganda and Zambia.
The report was based on this year’s world-wide public opinion survey of citizens’ views on and experiences on corruption conducted by Transparency International (TI), in the fight against corruption world-wide.
It assessed the extent to which key institutions and public services were perceived to be corrupt, beside measuring public views on government’s efforts to fight corruption.
The Metropolitan Archbishop of Accra, Most Reverend Gabriel Palmer-Buckle, a member of GII urged the media to uphold the integrity of the profession and use its power creatively by balancing stories and not to show partially.
He challenged journalists to join the crusade and respect the rule of law in their endeavours, considering the fact that journalist or the media had been found to be corrupt as well.
“The media should stand up against ‘soli’, to avoid conflict of interest and use the pen for creativity and not for destruction”, he emphasised.
A Senior lecturer at the School of Administration, University of Ghana, Legon, Mr Kwame Gyasi advocated that the fight against corruption ought to be a personal crusade and not left in the hands of the leadership of institutions.
He bemoaned the situation where educated personalities tended to defend those who were guilty of the crime and pointed out that “education is to reform people’s character and not to deform their character”.

‘Formulate national building code’

2009-06-07T03:55:00.000-07:00

THE President of Ghana Institute of Architects (GIA), Mr Osei Kwame Agyeman has proposed the formulation of a national building code to reduce the incidence of fire outbreaks.
The code he said, would complement the National Building Regulations and Legislative Instrument (LI 1630) of 1996 which were intended to ensure the safety of life and property.
Mr Agyeman told the Daily Graphic that most of the measures being adopted by the authorities in urban centres to address challenges of congestion were short-term and would not be able to adequately solve the problems.
He cited the case of Kumasi where the spate of development was far beyond the capacity of the planning authorities and said it would be difficult to manage the metropolis in future unless urgent measures were taken.
Mr Agyeman said the non-enforcement of building regulations in the country presently made it difficult for the authorities to address emergency situations such as fire outbreaks and provide access to healthcare, basic utilities such as water electricity and educational facilities.
“When you create a market that contains commercial goods, structures and people with no access for emergency services and utilities, then you are creating a hazardous environment, which we have been living with on a daily basis,” he added.
Mr Agyeman said the country needed to integrate the planning of socio-economic and infrastructure activities which were features of every human endeavour and called for the establishment of agencies to regulate the building industry and environment.
“Ideally, we should have a planning scheme. By law no development should take place without a legitimate planning scheme,” he stated and attributed majority of the problems or challenges facing the various assemblies to uncontrolled planning which had led to the growth in squatters, crime and social deviants in urban centres.
Mr Agyeman urged planning authorities to be bold and stand by their decision to decongest urban centres and submitted that to salvage the situation in Accra, the transport terminals and market areas at the Central Business District (CBD) for example needed to be permanently relocated.
He said Accra had sprawled and the old concept of trading or human activities converging at CBD was outmoded and needed to be changed.

‘Jurnalists urged to specialise’

2009-06-07T03:53:00.000-07:00

THE Minister of Communications, Mr Haruna Iddrisu has emphasised the need for journalists to specialise in specific fields, using Information and Communication Technology (ICT), in order to make significant contributions to the country’s development.
“You have a wider coverage, what you report has implications within and outside Africa”, he said, noting that, “the world has become a global village and therefore you should be ready to take responsibility of your reportage”.
In that direction, he also sked journalists to be circumspect and non-judgemental in their reportage and at all time and respect laws that protected reputation.
Mr Iddrisu was addressing participants comprised of media personnel at the end of a symposium organised by the African University College (AUCC) in Accra on the theme, “Communication, New Media and Development in Africa”.
The sector Minister, said he considered the theme for the symposium timely as Africa, “asserts itself in the globalised world and launches itself as an active partner of the world information society.
“We need specialise training for up and coming journalist. Specialise training in ICT, particularly in an area to assist government to fight cyber crime, agriculture and the constitution to be able to make significant contributions to the country’s development”, he emphasised.
Mr Iddrisu announced that it was the decision of government to ensure that every district in the country owned a community radio station to balance the disparity across the country.
He admitted that the government’s greatest challenge was how to mainstream ICT and how to make it an enabler through improved connectivity, hinting that currently government was making progress with the e-governance project to link citizens and the government online.
Through that , he believed rural Ghana could make meaningful input in the decision making process and expressed his ministry’s commitment to build a people-centered, inclusive and development-oriented information society, where every one could create, access, utilise and share information and knowledge.
The Acting-Dean, Journalism and Communication at AUCC, Mr Absalom Mutere urged the government that in its pursuits for e-governance, it should also ensure the passage of the Right to Information Bill, as a backdrop, because without that, the project would not yield the expected result.
He also pointed out the importance of ICT infrastructure, if citizens were going to easily access the e-governance facility, particularly at the grassroots level.
The President of Ghana Telecom University College (GTUC), Dr Osei K. Darkwa said the e-governance facility, which he described as “an online version of the off-line government” had the ability to re-organised government machinery.
He said GTUC had a policy where student were given discounts to enable them purchase laptops as a way of entrenching the use of the ICT, and to ensure maximum use the technology, he noted that the University had a wireless network where every student with a password could easily access.
Currently, Mr Darkwa disclosed that the University was in collaboration with Omatek Computers, an ICT company that assembled laptops in Ghana to assist students at the University to also learn how to assemble laptops, and acquire more skill in the application of the technology.
In order to address the problem of cyber fraud in the country, he suggested that because the enforcement agencies lacked adequate tools to clamp down on perpetrators, the government could set up incubator centres where students with brilliant and innovative ideas could be supported in their various projects.
“They need money, and so if they have their own patented products, I believe it will be beneficial to them, thought it will not totally eradicate the problem”, he added.

Caption: The Minister of Communication, Mr Haruna Iddrisu (right), the President of AUCC, Mr Kojo Yankah (middle) and the President of Ghana Telecom University College (GTUC), Dr Osei K. Darkwa, in an interaction at the symposium.

‘Enforce protocol on free movement

2009-06-04T07:18:00.001-07:00

MEMBER countries of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) have been urged to enforce the protocol on free movement of citizens, if they wish to solve the problem of illegal migration of their nationals to Europe and North Africa.
It is estimated that 2,000 West African nationals leave their countries for destinations in Europe and North America annually, often through illegal routes, where some of them perish or end up with shattered dreams.
A World Bank report estimates that 70,000 of Africa’s most qualified people leave each year and the continent spends $4 billion to replace them with expatriate workers.
Many Ghanaians have migrated to other countries, especially in Europe and the Americas, through illegal channels. Some of them, including highly qualified professionals, often find themselves engaged in menial jobs in those countries.
But two civil society organisations, the West African Civil Society Forum (WASCOF) and the Open Society Initiative For West Africa (OSIWA) argue that the enforcement of regulations under the ECOWAS protocol would help solve the problem of young West Africans migrating illegally to Europe, North America, and other African destinations, “where the most inhuman treatment has been their lot”.
At a press conference in Accra, the two organisations identified some of the challenges to the enforcement of the protocol as the absence of adequate mechanisms to control the infiltration of criminals, drugs and small arms and lack of harmonisation between national laws and policies among member countries.
Others included inadequate road infrastructure linking member countries, high prevalence of illiteracy and poverty that placed populations in situations in which travel documents, including birth certificates, were of little importance, the absence of mechanisms for the settlement of complaints of harassment and abuse of human rights of citizens by agents of member states.
Consequently, they said many West African migrants left their home countries without proper documents and enter host countries illegally.
A member of WASCOF, Ms Bashiratu Kamal, expressed regret that the “system of harmonised immigration and emigration documents envisaged by the ECOWAS Council of Ministers in 1992 has not been implemented anywhere, yet at regional level, there is no ECOWAS Summit without an express will to plant the seed of what could be called a borderless West Africa”.
She complained that while members were enjoined to establish national committees to monitor the enforcement of the provision contained in the Protocol, travelling within West Africa was still one of the most painful experiences for community citizens.
Ms Kamal asserted that though many decisions had been taken to reduce the minimum requirements by which a citizen of a member country could enter another member country, those decisions had not yet filtered down to border posts, airports, immigration and customs points.
Mrs Susan Naa Sekyere, the Deputy Public Relations Officer of the Ghana Trades Union Congress (GTUC), urged security agencies charged with ensuring the free movement of people and goods to sit up.
She said there was much talk about Ghana being the gateway to West Africa when there was no free movement within the region.
Mrs Sekyere recounted situations where tomato sellers in the country had to go through hell in their efforts to import tomatoes from neighbouring countries into the country.
An Executive Member of WASCOF, Ms Getrude Adu Yebo, also urged the media to educate the public on their rights as citizens and what pertains in the ECOWAS Protocol.
She also recounted her experience while travelling from Nigeria to Ghana and had to pay exorbitant charges just to cross the borders.
According to her, she reported the conduct of the security agents when she returned to Ghana and she was told by officials that the agents were doing their job.

GII welcomes govt's assurance

2009-06-04T07:16:00.000-07:00

GHANA Integrity Initiative (GII), an anti-corruption organisation, has welcomed the government’s assurance to review the Public Assets Declaration Law and lay before Parliament the Right to Information Bill.
The organisation, however, pointed out that a major challenge or weakness inherent in the review of the Public Assets Declaration Law was a section of the Public Office Holders Liability Bill which sought to empower the Auditor-General to keep information provided by office holders on their assets as confidential.
The Executive Secretary of GII, Mr Vitus Adaboo Azeem, told the Daily Graphic in Accra last Monday, that the section of the bill should be expunged otherwise the purpose of the law or assets declaration could be defeated.
The Public Assets Declaration Law is expected to be repealed by the Public Office Holders Liability Bill which is currently before Parliament.
He said when approved by Parliament, the new law would require all stakeholders to operate under the ambit of its stipulations to ensure that it was not used unduly to smear the image of individuals and organisations.
“Public Office holders should also not unnecessarily withhold information or should not be compelled to release information through court action”, he urged.
He called for the need for adequate sensitisation of the general public so that people’s rights were not abused.
Mr Azeem recalled that after the passage of the Assets Declaration Law in 1998, the Audit Service as an implementing agency failed to provide the regulations until 2007.
“We also made recommendation for amendments to the law because the supposed review is supposed to address the weakness that make it ineffective as an anti-corruption tool”, he said.
He expressed the hope that the review should take into consideration their proposed recommendation.
Among those recommendations, he said, included the need to provide public disclosure, verification by the Auditor-General or an appropriate authority, more frequent disclosure as done in other countries where public officers disclosed their assets yearly or at least after every two years.
The declaration, he said, should be extended to cover the Armed Forces and all other public officers who had in their custody and control public funds and assets.
Mr Azeem also welcomed the government’s assurance to lay before Parliament the Economic and Organised Crime Office Bill by the end of the year, to replace the Serious Fraud Office Law.
He urged the government to provide the necessary resources to the Economic and Organised Crime Office and some amount of independence to allow it to investigate and prosecute, according to its mandate.
Asked what differentiated the Economic and Organised Crime Office Bill from the Serious Fraud Office Law, he explained that the former would give the office the power to cease tainted property or property suspected to have been illegally acquired before proceeding with investigations.

AMA to decongest Accra- ”Soldier Bar“ to go

2009-06-02T08:30:00.000-07:00

THE Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) is to demolish “Soldier Bar”, a popular brothel at the Kwame Nkrumah Circle and other unauthorised structures within its environs in Accra in two weeks time after the necessary cross-checks have been made.
The assembly has also indicated its preparedness to take full responsibility for waste management in the capital, taking on board the supposed 80 per cent of the activities of private waste management companies, in addition to its 20 per cent mandate.
To that effect, the Chief Executive of AMA, Mr Alfred Vanderpuije, has directed the Metropolitan Waste Management Department to clear all the irreparable old trucks and equipment on its compound and make room for new ones.
Speaking to journalists at the end of a tour of parts of Accra on Friday, Mr Vanderpuije said he was in contact with benevolent NGOs outside the country who were willing to help address the deplorable unsanitary conditions in the national capital.
“AMA should be doing 100 per cent of the work and we are going to take full responsibility for waste management in the city,” he stated, and pointed out that AMA was looking at a comprehensive approach that would sustain whatever it would start.
“I would soon meet with mayors of major cities in the world to discuss how they could help us to restore sanity in our cities to appreciable level. But before that, we need to put our house in order," he disclosed, and noted that the AMA would consider this and take a bold decision to eliminate street hawking.
Mr Vanderpuije gave an indication of a massive decongestion exercise in the capital, after a status report by the various heads of department and the AMA Health Directorate had been brought before him for assessment.
Mr Vanderpuije blamed the actions of some authorities at the various centres of the assembly as a contributory factor to the unsanitary conditions in the city.
He mentioned some of the activities at the “Soldier Bar” in particular, and said owners of most drinking spots were operating with licences illegally obtained from AMA officials.
He indicated his resolve to investigate whether the operators had legal approval to operate there, and if yes, he was still going to demolish the structures because the AMA had a responsibility to eliminate those structures under its jurisdiction.
“We will demolish the structures there, not just for the sake of beautification, but for the sake of those children and women whose lives are in danger, considering the environmental conditions under which they operate this illicit sex trade,” he warned.
“Activities there are illegal and we should not allow them to operate.
“We need to rethink that position. The AMA has a responsibility in the elimination of these activities and the sanitation problems in the city. We need to rethink the construction of pavements, particularly at Kaneshie, on the usage of the road as parking area by trotro and taxi drivers”.
The AMA boss also visited the Metro Roads, Accra Metro Sewage, AMA Public Health Department, Accra Metro Health Directorate, the Kaneshie Market, Tema Station, Makola Market, among others.
He described the filth and the stench in the city as an eyesaw.
“The situation in Accra brings tears to my eyes,” he stated, indicating that in almost all the market centres in Accra, trotro and taxi drivers parked indiscriminately on roads and pavements with no regard for authority.

Caption: Chief Executive of AMA, Mr Alfred Vanderpuije in spectacles, in the midst of AMA officials during the tour which took him through the streets of Makola, Kaneshie, and Tema Station

Info Bill to be laid before Parliament

2009-05-31T06:11:00.000-07:00

29/5/09
Daily Graphic- Page 3

THE government is set to lay before Parliament the long-awaited Right to Information Bill, in fulfilment of its promise to ensure transparency and accountability in governance.
The Vice-President, Mr John Dramani Mahama, who disclosed this in an address read on his behalf at the opening of a training programme on democracy and governance in Accra yesterday, gave the assurance that the government would place before Parliament “the Economic and Organised Crime Office Bill before the end of the year".
“The President has also indicated his willingness to review the Public Assets Declaration Law to make it more transparent and accessible to the general public, while protecting the right of public office holders who will declare their assets as mandated by the constitution,” he noted.
He said the Economic and Organised Crime Office Bill, when passed into law, would replace the Serious Fraud Office Law.
He said the Economic and Organised Crime Office Bill had been designed to bring on board issues of tax evasion, tax avoidance, electronic base crimes, cross-border crimes, money laundering, human trafficking and other forms of serious fraud.
The Vice-President further disclosed that the government would also pass the Mutual Legal Assistance Bill which would ensure that legal assistance would be provided and received in the areas of investigation and tracing of crimes which began outside the country’s borders but which affected Ghana and those which began in Ghana but affected other countries.
The reason, he said, was that the quest for public accountability had led to dire consequences, including allegations of human rights abuses.
He encouraged the Ghana Anti-Corruption Coalition (GACC) to re-invigorate itself and venture into the area of capacity building for CSOs whose focal activity was anti-corruption and good governance.
Mr Mahama commended the organisers of the seminar, the Marquette University’s Les Aspin Centre for Good Governance, for doing a tremendous job in the training of many Ghanaians, with support from USAID.
Participants in the training programme, which began on May 27, 2009 and ends on June 7, 2009, include 16 government and civil society personnel from Ghana, six from Nigeria and five from Mali.
The goal, according to the Co-ordinator of African Programmes, Les Aspin Centre for Government, Dr Cephas Lerewonu, was to train the participants to understand accountability and good governance systems, as well as the necessary strategies to promote accountability in the public and private sectors.
He said after their training participants would use the experience, knowledge and resources to develop country specific strategies for managing and implementing effective performance and delivery systems.
The US Ambassador to Ghana, Mr Donald G. Teitelbaum, urged the media and Parliament to hold public officials accountable.
To ensure that, he said they would also be training the media in methods and techniques of holding public officers accountable at the macro level and the freedom of the press to access public information.

Cut dependency on developing partners—K.B. Asante

2009-05-26T10:17:00.000-07:00

A RENOWNED diplomat, Dr K.B. Asante has stated that Ghana cannot experience a radical growth unless it cuts its dependency on developing partners.
“We are where we are because we still depend on what the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank tell us. We are not moving forward, how can we move forward when the help being given to us is in actual fact credit to make us stay put,” he said.
Dr Asante was speaking at the first in a series of lectures being organised by the All African Students Union (AASU) to mark the centenary celebration of Ghana’s first President, Osagyefo Dr Kwame Nkrumah.
He said the country’s resolve to turn to developing partners anytime it needed help had “washed” the thinking of Ghanaians as they were made not to think for themselves.
“Right now, our budget is being supported by developing partners and we call that development when the help being given us is to make us dependent on them,” he emphasised, and ridiculed the idea that the country was experiencing an economic growth, when in real terms the economy had not undergone any transformation.
Dr Asante, who served in the Nkrumah-led administration from independence until its overthrow in 1966, observed that Ghana could not succeed by depending on the price of cocoa on the world market, stating that “we cannot put all our eggs in one basket”.
The Coordinator of the Third World Network, Dr Yao Graham, a Pan-African research and advocacy organisation, who spoke on the theme: “Nkrumah at 100: Lessons for African Leadership”, said one of the key lessons from Ghana’s development experience under Nkrumah was linked directly to his commitment to a Pan-African solution to the challenges of under development on the continent.
“Nkrumah’s leadership and rallying role in African affairs went beyond his vision and theorising. Importantly, it included support for national liberation movements. This support embodied a unity of his Pan-Africanism and commitment to anti-colonial independence as a necessary precondition for the continent’s unity and progress”, he stated.
Dr Graham attributed Nkrumah’s commitment to anti-colonial independence to the reason why Nkrumah stepped up with a £10 million to help newly independent Guinea from collapse after France had stripped that country of anything they could carry after it had opted for independence.
To this day, he said, Nkrumah’s detractors in Ghana still pointed to that act of solidarity as exemplary of how he wasted Ghana’s resources on matters he should have not been concerned with.
Dr Graham recounted that during the last six years of Nkrumah’s rule, Nkrumah attempted to transform the colonial economy he inherited from the British and many leaders in his generation—Nyerere in Tanzania, Kaunda in Zambia, and many others, recognised that as a primary task of post colonial economic policy.
The truth, he asserted, was that despite the claims that Nkrumah’s difficulties were because of his socialist policies, Nkrumah was in fact a good pupil of the dominant economic policies and ideas of his day as widely acclaimed by leading thinkers in the West.
“Using existing resources, Nkrumah rapidly expanded education, health and infrastructure. Many of the agro-industrial projects were in their infancy when he was overthrown. He inaugurated the Akosombo hydroeletricity dam, the centre piece of his Volta River project, which he saw as powering Ghana’s industrialisation a month before his overthrown”, he remarked.
Sadly, Dr Graham said even in the face of global crisis, many African governments were looking outward towards their “development partners” rather than exploring the opportunities for deepening regional and continental cooperation and integration.
According to Dr Graham, all those offered important opportunities for a new agenda for economic transformation in Africa, and dared African leaders who were ready to go beyond guaranteeing the sanctity of aid flows.
A lecturer at the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Account (GIMPA), Dr Bright Oduro Kwarteng, who spoke on the theme: “Nkrumah, was he misunderstood?”, debunked all the allegations propagated by the Danquah-Busia tradition against Nkrumah.
“The story must be told, and we are here to tell our story”, he said, stating that before independence, Dr K.A. Busia, the Prime Minister of the Second Republic of Ghana, travelled to the United Kingdom in an attempt to convince the British government to deny Ghana its independence with the excuse that Ghana was not yet ready for independence.
Dr Kwarteng said it was true that Dr J.B. Danquah proposed the name Ghana, and Dr Busia even formed a political party with the name Ghana, but they both opposed the name when Nkrumah chose it as the country’s name after independence merely because they were not the ones declare it.
Recounting the overthrow of Dr Nkrumah, he urged the government to remove the statue of Kotoka from the Kotoka International Airport for his part in the 1966 coup.
“The CIA gave them $13 million dollars to stage the coup”, he alleged, and stated vehemently that “if you do not remove that statue, we will remove it”.
Dr Kwarteng, however, suggested that “Ghana must invest in compulsory education and primary healthcare, exemplary of Nkrumah’s administration, adding that “you cannot have the private sector as the engine of growth, unless you have an efficient public sector”.
“We need to also invest in the public sector to make the private sector flourish. Our planning for the future education must stand tall in the list of priorities. We need to have an educational system that is home grown”, he stressed.

‘Relieving public officials of post is vindictive’

2009-05-26T10:16:00.000-07:00

SOME leading senior public servants have described the decision by public servants to enter into partisan politics as a desecration of the service.
They have also noted that the government’s decision to relieve public officials from post was vindictive.
They have, therefore, called on public servants who wish to engage in partisan politics to strictly adhere to the provisions of the 1992 Constitution regarding their decisions.
Furthermore, they urged the government to ensure that conditions of service of public servants were improved to make political aspirations unattractive to them.
They made references to constitutional frameworks, and scenarios which they felt were derogatory to the good of the Public Service and what they expected of both public servants and the government in separate addresses at the 2009 Annual Public Lecture organised by the Public Services Commission (PSC), in Accra, and urged public servants to refrain from seeking political appointment, and be apolitical to promote the public interest.
The theme for the lecture was: “Re-enforcing Democratic Governance in Ghana: Public Servants and Partisan Politics”.
The Vice Chancellor of the University of Ghana, Legon, Professor Clifford Nii Boi Tagoe, who chaired the forum said the removal of public servants by successive governments without explanation was counter productive, and described the situation as “putting square pegs in round holes”, to the detriment of the country.
Prof Tagoe noted that appointments should rather be based on merit and transparency and not on political patronage and urged the government to respect the contract and neutrality of public servants, “by not asking people to go on leave is a step in the right direction”.
The Chief Justice, Mrs Justice Theodora Georgina Wood, said the signals of public servants interested in engaging in partisan politics was not a healthy sign for the development of the country.
In an address read on her behalf by Justice Jones Dotse, a Justice of the Supreme Court, she called for a purposive approach to the interpretation of the law and enactments that allowed public servants to engage in active politics, a situation she also described as a recipe for disaster.
The Chief Justice, therefore, called on public servants to respect the sanctity of their office and resign if they had any interest in political appointments.
The Chairman of the PSC, Prof S. N. Woode, urged public servants to remain apolitical, neutral and competent in their advisory roles in the implementation of the policies of the government of the day.
Consequently, he said, civil servants should not engage in partisan politics and that the provision of the code of ethics and conduct of the Ghana Civil Service was to insulate them from partisan politics.
Other provisions which banned public servants from engaging in partisan politics, he said, included the Political Parties Act 2000, which banned public officers from canvassing in support of or against a political party or a candidate and Article 94 (3b) of the 1992 Constitution, which debarred certain members of the services from seeking political appointments.
The reason, he indicated, was that when public and civil servants went into partisan politics it led to the loss of public confidence and trust in the services, devalued them, adding that a country in search of a functioning government and good governance could not afford to have the service devalued.
“The service is a conservative institution and it should be allowed to remain conservative”, he said.
A Political Science lecturer at the University of Ghana, Legon, Professor Joseph R Atsu Ayee, who presented a paper in consonance with the theme, said there was a cause to worry over the growing interest of public servants to engage in partisan politics, the constitutional and legal implications, the challenges.
Prof Ayee said the public service and public servants operated within a highly intense political environment but despite the interconnectedness between the service and the government, it was still possible for public servants to remain neutral by following the rules and regulations within which they operated.
He said a survey conducted from 1993 to 2009 reflected a significant increase in the number of public servants engaged in partisan politics without resigning from their positions. He said from a figure of 32 in 1993 the number rose to a total of 235 in 2009.
To address these incoherences, he called for a review of the appointing power of the president, which was often used to build patronage for himself and his party, by streamlining the modalities for appointments.
Prof Ayee advocated an improvement in the service condition of public servants and urged the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) to expedite action on the Code of Conduct for public officers, which it started sometime ago.

Include African youth and students unions — In African unity in deliberations

2009-05-26T10:13:00.000-07:00

SOME student representatives at the University of Ghana, Legon, have called for an inclusion of youth and students unions in Africa in deliberations leading to African unity.
They agreed that the agenda of unity in Africa could not be spearheaded without the output of the youth who constituted the majority of the continent’s population.
The President of the Students Representative Council (SRC) of the university, Mr John Mark Bekui, at a panel discussion with leaders and members of halls at the university, said it was important for the youth across Africa to collectively have a united front to let the world know that they were in support of African unity.
“If the leaders are not going to call on us, we should be considering ways we can impose ourselves on them,” he stated, adding, “If the mountain is not going to come to you, then you have to go to the mountain.”
The discussion was in recognition of the African Union Day, May 25, and how the youth across Africa could contribute in spearheading African unity.
It was facilitated by Wailing youth for a united Africa (WAIYUA), a youth advocacy group, and the Legon SRC.
The discussions focused mainly on whether Africans desired a unitary government, whether it was possible, what and how it could be done, the challenges and the way forward with the active involvement of the youth across the continent.
The President of WAIYUA, Mr Crusader Sampson Babson, said there was no way continental unity could be achieved considering the continuing neglect of youth participation.
He said the formation of a union government was long overdue and that the long awaited union government could only be achieved through the involvement of the youth, student groups and associations.
The President of the Commonwealth Hall, Mr Bernard Oduro Takyi, who agreed with the inclusion of students in deliberations leading to African unity, however, opposed the idea that Africa could develop only through integration.
He said the Organisation of Africa Unity was not successful, hence the AU would also not be successful because the colonial culture and ideologies inculcated in Africans by their colonial masters were still in place.
“We need selfless leadership and a paradigm shift from our way of doing things before we can unite or develop,” he added.
A member of the Akuafo Hall, Mr Clement Amegatse, agreed that the youth needed to be involved in the whole African unity process but stated emphatically that “Africa is not ready to unite” and that until Africa was ready, the whole continent would remain where it was.
He said the leadership of the continent was not committed at all to the cause of African unity, adding, for example, that the former President of Liberia, Charles Taylor, was made to believe that if he relinquished power, he was going to be supported by African leaders, but he was given up to the West and currently standing trial outside Africa — a sign of lack of political commitment to the cause of African unity.
“Consider the Libyan leader, Muammar Gaddafi, who is championing the African unity agenda. Even in his own country how does he treat immigrants?” he asked.
The President of the Mensah Sarbah Hall, Mr Stephen Forson, also agreed with the inclusion of the youth in championing African unity but argued that theoretically Africans were united but they were practically not.
He said until all the conflicts in Africa were resolved, it was going to be very difficult for Africa to unite, stating that it would be possible only if the youth in Africa had one mindset to break what was regarded as barriers to African unity.

CJA calls for speedy prosecution of former officials

2009-05-26T10:12:00.000-07:00

THE Committee for Joint Action (CJA) has urged the Mills administration to fast-track procedures to prosecute all members of the past administration suspected to have involved themselves in corrupt practices after proper investigations.
It further urged President John Evans Atta Mills to honour his campaign promise of probity, accountability and integrity to the good people of Ghana who had been waiting anxiously for five months into his administration.
A leading member of the CJA, Mr Kwesi Pratt Junior, who made the call at a panel discussion yesterday, questioned the delay and hesitation by President Mills to take immediate steps in honouring his promise to Ghanaians.
“We want to see probity, accountability and integrity. President Mills must ensure this. Five months into his office, we are still waiting,” he stated.
He said some corrupt officials were still insisting on the payment of their ex gratia, knowing very well that their drivers and relatives in the villages had no access to potable water and adequate health care.
He said corruption was embedded in the fabric of the Ghanaian society, to the extent that the hierarchy of the Judiciary was believed to be under investigations for corruption.
Mr Pratt, who is also the editor of the Insight newspaper, blamed the hierarchy of the Police Administration for the corruption in the lower ranks of the service, stating that the corruption at the top was a reflection of the break down of the command.
He stated that after eight years of maladministration, ministers of state were proud owners of $300,000 houses and $100,000 cars, adding “All of a sudden they have become multi-millionaires and when we question them about the source of their wealth they ask us why.”
Mr Pratt said if Ghanaians did not sit up and call for probity and accountability, they would not get access to potable water, health care and other basic amenities they were yearning for.
The Executive Secretary of the Ghana Integrity Initiative (GII), Mr Vitus A. Azeem, also urged the government to speed up the passage of the Right to Information Bill, taking into consideration the changes suggested by civil society actors.
He said the law would ensure transparency and accountability and hence serve as an effective anti-corruption tool, while complementing the anti-corruption laws already in existence.
Mr Azeem, in his definition of corruption, said it had been defined leaving many with the impression that it was only people who occupied public offices who were capable of abusing their office or power.
He categorically stated that the definition did not make any allowance for other forms of corrupt activities, including market rigging, insider trading, tax dodging, non-disclosure of conflict of interest and illicit part funding.
According to him, corruption encompassed abuses by government officials such as embezzlement and nepotism, as well as abuses linking public and private actors such as bribery, extortion, influence peddling and fraud.
Mr Azeem described corruption as being pervasive which had to do with motive and opportunity that usually came about when there were weak systems or institutions of accountability, lack of checks and balances, as well as a general state of moral decadence.
He stated that research findings always pointed to the fact that corruption was a serious problem in Ghana, adding that from 1999 to 2008 the Corruption Perception Index (CPI) had pointed to the fact that Ghana was far from winning the fight against corruption as a nation.
Attributing the causes of corruption to lack of political will, Mr Azeem said, “All previous leaders of the country have at least paid ‘lip service’ to its eradication.”
He said in 2001 former President Kufuor declared a zero tolerance for corruption and promised to promulgate a code of conduct to guide political appointees and consequently established an office within the Presidency to monitor it, “yet corruption continued to be attributed to his administration and some of his officials”.
A former General Secretary of the Convention People’s Party (CPP), Professor Nii Noi Dowuona, said the lessons learnt from the 2008 general election should guide politicians not to take Ghanaians for granted and, therefore, urged the political class to sit up.
He stressed the need for the political leadership to rise to the occasion, considering the limited resources of the country, compared to the increasing population and the rate at which the limited resources were being looted.

Ghana’s population to hit 25m by 2010

2009-05-22T02:48:00.000-07:00

Ghana’s population will hit 25 million by the 2010 census, the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) has projected.
The service intends to undertake a census as part of the preparation for the 2012 general election.
Making the announcement in Accra on Thursday, the Head of the GSS, Dr Grace Bediako, said about 50,000 recruits would be engaged to conduct the census.
Dr Bediako was receiving 10 computers presented by the Chinese government as technical support to the GSS for the census.
She said the census required of them to collect the background details of all Ghanaians identified as having been in the country throughout the three weeks duration of the exercise.
Presently, she said, they were at a very important stage, where they were ascertaining people living in designated areas to devise a strategy for their prospective recruits to undertake the exercise.
“We are also preparing questionnaires which we would use to collect basic information about the individuals and also preparing a strategy document for the 50,000 recruits,” she pointed out, noting that the exercise was in fulfilment of Ghana’s obligation as a member of the United Nations Statistical Division under the United Nations Population Programme, which obliged every member country to conduct the exercise every decade.
Ghanaians should expect that when the time was due, people would come around during the three-week period to ask them basic information, Dr Bediako stated, and said it was important for everyone to familiarise themselves with basic details of their relatives.
“We need the actual age of citizens, where they work, and the type of work they do, to be able to estimate population distribution properly,” she noted.
The Chinese Ambassador to Ghana, Mr Yu Wenzhe, who presented the items to the leadership of the service in Accra yesterday, said the exercise involved huge capital and believed that Ghana needed help from its development partners to make the exercise successful.
He said census was the basis for making informed decision by the government for good governance.
Mr Wenzhe expressed the hope that the support offered would make the exercise successful.
The Country Representative of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) thanked the Chinese government for the gesture.

Ghana-China Friendship - Association organises forum

2009-05-22T02:40:00.000-07:00

THE Minister of Food and Agriculture, Mr Kwesi Ahwoi, has urged the Registrar-General’s Department and the Ghana Investment Promotion Council (GIPC) to open up their administrative procedures to create an enabling environment for foreign businesses in Ghana.
The reason, he said, was because Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) attraction had become very competitive and sophisticated and given the global economic meltdown, the FDI terrain was going to be fiercely and more aggressively battled out.
He, therefore, tasked the two authorities to ensure an effective, transparent and predictable regulatory framework devoid of arbitrariness for the domestic markets to be competitive.
Mr Ahwoi was speaking at a public forum organised by the Ghana-China Friendship Association (GHACHIFA) on the theme, “Doing Business in Ghana in a Friendly Way”, at the weekend in Accra.
According to him, the theme fell in line with the government’s quest to deepen the country’s relationship with its development partners in order to increase the benefits from such relationships.
Currently, he said the GIPC Act 478 , Ghana Free Zone Act 1984, the Minerals and Mining Law of 1986 and the Petroleum Law 1984 were being reviewed to deepen the transparency and predictability of these enabling legislation.
He suggested that what Ghana needed to do was to position itself to be able to join the battle and attract its due share of the global investment by creating the right conditions for investment such as opening up the economy,
Mr Ahwoi expressed his ministry’s appreciation at the support it had been receiving from the government of China in the areas like irrigation and rice projects since independence.
He said China was the number one in the League of Nations with 383 registered projects from 1994 to 2008 10 of which were in the agricultural sector.
He, therefore, congratulated Chinese companies who have chosen Ghana as a business destination and appealed to them to venture more in the area of agriculture since China was noted for its potential in agriculture.
The Chinese Ambassador to Ghana, Mr Yu Wenhze, said the GHACHIFA had played a positive role by promoting the friendship between the two countries since its establishment in 1999, stating that his outfit in 2008 alone had issued about 250,000 visas to Ghanaians.
Tracing the friendship between the two countries to the era of Ghana’s first president, Dr Kwame Nkrumah, he said after the Beijing Summit in 2006, the two countries had through their relationship obtained good results in the various fields.
He said considering the volume of trade between the two countries, it had become quite necessary for the citizens to learn the language, culture, customs and practices of each country.
Mr Wenzhe appealed to Ghanaian ministries and authorities to continue improving the business environment in order to attract more foreign cooperation and investment, and challenged Chinese companies to share their business success with the local community.
The President of GHACHIFA, Mr Kojo Amoo-Gottfried, in a brief address, recounted his experience in China as an Ambassador during Dr Kwame Nkrumah’s visit to China in 1966.
He said China had over 22 per cent of the world’s population and was a guarantor to Ghana’s development, adding that “If we have to develop, then we need to do so with a country that supported us in the past, to also support us in the future”.
A State Attorney at the Registrar Generals Department, Mrs Jemimah Oware, who briefed the participants at the forum on guidelines of registering a business in Ghana, urged the investors not to go looking for middlemen to help them but seek assistance from their front office.
She said a major hinderance to their operations was restraining clients who preferred to the use of the back door and added that the department intended to centralise their operations to make it more customer friendly.
She urged businesses to file their annual returns 18 months after their incorporation since if they failed to do that, their names would be deleted from the register and also cautioned investors to sign their own documents and not allow others to sign for them.
“The objects should not be immoral or deceptive to the public, as that goes against the Companies Code”, she added.
The Director of Business Development at GIPC, Mr Ashong Lartey, explained the process of acquiring the right documentation to participants to enable them do credible business in the country
His discussion bordered on regulations and the GIPC Act 478 specifically. He added that the government of Ghana was proud that Ghana had been ranked the best place to do business in West Africa and the 10th in Africa for 2009.

‘Tertiary institutions must stick to original mandate’

2009-05-22T02:39:00.000-07:00

THE Provost of the College of Arts and Social Sciences at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Professor Daniel Buor, has urged tertiary institutions to stick to their original mandates to ensure that graduates are equipped with the requisite employable skills.
He said certain programmes at the universities were not necessary for national development, but only existed in the curricula to satisfy the requirement of providing education in an all-embracing discipline.
Prof. Bour was speaking on the topic “University Education and Acquisition of Employable Skills” at a symposium organised by the Ghana Employers Association (GEA) to mark the association’s 50th anniversary celebration in Accra.
He said the relevance of education for development would not materialise, if the academia and industry did not exist in symbiosis.
Prof. Buor disclosed that the theme for the celebration, “Reshaping Skills Development in Ghana to Promote National Competitiveness”, was very important, considering the calls for the strengthening of capacity, and urged the government to make posession of laptop computers a necessary requirement for students entering tertiary institutions, because tertiary education had become more crucial in this era of globalisation which engendered competition at the global marketplace.
Prof. Buor was of the view that efforts by the government towards achievement of national vision and aspirations and competition at the global market front would be fruitless if aggressive measures were not put in place to develop skills that would be of positive consequences on the job market.
The acting Executive Director of the GEA, Mr Alex Frimpong, spoke on the topic “Skills Development for Accelerated National Growth” and examined the relevance of skills development, employers expectation, the role of the GEA and challenges facing employers.
He said for Ghana to survive in the knowledge economy of the 21st century, there was the need for a national workforce development strategy and programmes for retooling the workforce.
He suggested that the industry and training institutions should have a collective responsibility to forge the needed partnership to develop a demand-driven curriculum that would produce graduates with skills suitable for the industry.
"Encourage lecturers in the country's training institutions to work in industry from time to time to enable them blend theory and practice in the training of students," he stated, and called for the development of competence-based occupational schemes, which would be used by training institutions in reviewing and developing appropriate curriculum for the training of students.
The symposium was to enable stakeholders in academia and industry to examine the background to university education, programmes offered by universities and how relevant those programmes were to national development.
Other speakers examined gender disparity in enrolment and the relevant training for the industry, how significant they were and how the industry could be properly linked to academia.
The symposium was also intended to find solutions to salient areas bordering on skills development to ensure increased national productivity in all sectors of the economy.
The Rector of Accra Polytechnic, Dr Festus Addo Yobo, said as a result of a lack of integration between theory and practice, students found it difficult to even construct their own conceptual knowledge, attributing lack of interest by students in what they studied to the methodology used in teaching them.
He, therefore, advocated a radical transformation in the assessment of students to help them achieve a better understanding of what they learnt, noting that the country was where it was because the right skills for the industry were not yet acquired.

Lands Commission completes inventory on 34 sites

2009-05-22T02:36:00.000-07:00

A THREE-MONTH directive to the Lands Commission to submit an inventory on all public lands in Accra has expired with work completed on only 34 sites out of 634.
The Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, Alhaji Collins Dauda, gave the directive to the Lands Commission to provide within three months an inventory of all lands acquired by the state in the Greater Accra Region and indicating those that had been given out to individuals.
The move was to facilitate the process of returning those that were no longer needed by the state to their original owners.
When the Daily Graphic contacted the Executive Secretary of the Lands Commission, Alhaji Hamidu Ibrahim Baryeh, about the success or otherwise of the minister’s request, he said it was not the sole responsibility of the Commission to take inventory of the lands.
He explained that the Commission was only a participatory agency in the process and directed this reporter to Dr Odame Larbi, the Project Director of Land Administration Project (LAP) .
Dr Larbi disclosed that work on only 34 sites had been completed, with 600 sites still outstanding, and explained that the minister’s directive of stock-taking ought to be preceded by various processes and the procuring of the services of World Bank approved consultants and getting their terms of reference but these were not factored into the ultimatum.
Alluding to the fact that three months was too short a time for the exercise, he spelt out the processes by saying that “after the approval, we advertise for expression of interest by the consultants, after which we evaluate and shortlist the consultants; then undertake data mining at the Lands Commission, Land Valuation and the Survey Department for the preparation of request for proposals”.
Dr Larbi said even before the contract with the consultants would be signed, there had to be negotiations on the whole proposal and submit the results of the negotiations and the draft contract to the World Bank for approval.
According to Dr Larbi, after all this had been done, the seven consultants were put into groups, considering the nature of the project, before the process could begin.

Legon, University of South Florida sign agreement

2009-05-13T10:12:00.000-07:00

THE University of Ghana, Legon has entered into an agreement with the University of South Florida (USF) in the United States of America to strengthen international education and research experiences for both faculty and students.
The areas of collaboration include graduate and faculty training and student exchange programmes.
The primary purpose of this agreement is to provide a general basis within which specific co-operative activities of academic and cultural nature may be implemented involving faculty and students from both institutions.
A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) that sets forth the terms and conditions of the agreement, was signed at a ceremony at the university on Monday.
The agreement was signed on behalf of the University of Ghana by the Vice Chancellor, Professor Clifford Nii Boi Tagoe and on behalf of the USF by Mrs Linda M. Whiterford, an Associate Vice President for Global Strategies.
Prof. Tagoe said a key area of interest to the university was graduate training for the purposes of developing faculties, saying that the issue of faculty development was a major problem, and the only way to keep faculties was to ensure that there were enough funds for training, considering the increasing population of students.
The university require 1,000 additional faculties to balance the student ratio, which he said, on the average, was one faculty to 19 students but was currently running at about one faculty to 39 students, a situation he described as only “scratching the surface”.
Prof. Tagoe attributed the lack of faculties at the university to the massive “brain drain” of faculty staff in the late 70’s and 80’s, where some qualified staff migrated from the country to lecture in different fields other than their own, describing it as “brain in the drain” of academic staff.
The problem, he said, was faced by universities across Africa, and to address it at a meeting of heads of universities last November, some universities which were approached in the USA had come forward to assist in resolving the situation, hence the agreement between the university and the USF.
“The National Council for Tertiary Education has been concerned about the issue and was raising monies to support faculty training but it’s not enough. That is why the agreement between us and the USF is welcome,” he stated, and pointed out that the initiative was an all-embracing agreement that any member of the university with ideas ought to benefit from.
“I have no doubt that this will be successful,” he said, and assured the delegation from USF of the full co-operation of the university’s administration.
The Executive Director of the Centre for Global Solutions at USF, Mrs Betty Castro, said the USF had entered into the agreement with the university because of Ghana’s long-standing relations with the USA and the excellent democratic rule existing in the country.
She said their goal was to create and expand collaborative efforts between universities of Africa and the USA through the Africa Initiative Group at the USF, which had a population of about 46,000 students.
Mrs Castro disclosed that the reason for choosing a university in Ghana was also because six members of their faculty from Ghana had documented the USF’s interest in African universities and they had found the University of Ghana to be number one.

Caption: The Vice Chancellor of the University of Ghana, Prof. Clifford Nii Boi Tagoe (middle), and Mrs Linda M. Whiterford, an Associate Vice President for Global Strategies (left), signing the MoU. Seated next to the Vice Chancellor is the Pro-Vice Chancellor of the University of Ghana, Prof. Kwesi Yankah.

Enterprise Insurance organises AGM

2009-05-08T11:26:00.001-07:00

ENTERPRISE Insurance Company Limited (EICL) has organised its Annual General Meeting for the year ended 2008 and celebrated its AA- rating as an achievement of the company’s 80 years of excellence in the insurance industry.
It was rated AA- by the Global Rating Company in South Africa for having a high claiming ability, and signing up nearly 12,000 new client in 2008.
The company, established in 1924 in the United Kingdom, was the first insurance company to be listed on the Ghana Stock Exchange (GSE) in 1990.
The Chairman of the Company, Mr Trevor Trefgarne in his address, said the company had been investigating the best way to structure the group and its subsidiaries for the future.“We have prepared a presentation on the proposed holding company structure”, he stated and pointed out that the structure was expected to create financial and operational benefits for stakeholders.
Presenting the consolidated result of EICL for the year ended 2008, Mr Trefgarne announced that the group had adopted International Financial Reporting Standards with effect from the 2008 financial year.
The groups financial performance in the year, he said, reflected 20.3 per cent growth in their general business and as well as 52.0 per cent growth of Life Assurance business in their respective revenue generating activities.
The Managing Director of the company, Mr George Otoo, disclosed that there was a significant change in the structure of the insurance industry due to the implementation of the new Insurance Act 724 of 2006.
“By the close of 2008, the market had 19 non-life and 16 life companies, two reinsures and 35 Broking firms”, he stated, and pointed out that the increase in the number of players, particularly in respect of non-life insurers and Broking firms heightened the already intense competition in the industry.
That, according to Mr Otoo, led to further softening of rates as player scrambled for the same insured businesses, which led to premiums been driven very low in the face of escalating claims and other operational expenses.
“In the long run, if this continues, most companies may not be able to build up enough reserves to pay claims” he noted, and pointed out that the strong capital formation would therefore continue to elude the industry as short term results remained the focal point in the industry.
On the company’s operating performance, he said though they recorded a substantial increase in gross premium, high claims frequency and severity greatly affected their overall operating performance.
“Gross premium rose from GH¢16.5 million in 2007 to GH¢19.9 million in 2008, an increase of 20.6 per cent. Net premium income recorded an increase of 13.0 per cent from GH¢7.7 million in 2007 to GH¢8.7 million in 2008”, he stated.
Mr Otoo said the company recorded a total of 11,719 new businesses in 2008 culminating in a premium of GH¢6.7 million, representing 33.8 per cent of total gross premium, an indication of increased sales and market penetration.
He said the year 2008 produced virtually no underwriting profit as claims incurred increased significantly from GH¢2.7 million in 2007 to GH¢4.3 million in 2008.
Nonetheless, he said the company recognised claims payment as its bedrock in their long term survival and profitability and gave the assurance that they would continue to honour genuine claims promptly, however they would continue to review and reset their strategy on the Motor business to address the company’s dwindling profitability in the face of the current intense price competition.
The group wrote a total gross premium of GH¢35 million in 2008, up by 32.2 per cent from 2007 level of GH¢ 26.7 million.

More to benefit from LEAP

2009-05-08T11:03:00.000-07:00

THE Government has initiated moves to extend the Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty (LEAP) programme to parents of 5,000 children in 470 communities of 47 district in cocoa growing areas in Ghana.
The initiative was adopted in conformity with the National Programme for the Elimination of the Worst Forms of Child Labour in Cocoa (NPECLC) in Ghana.
The move, according to the Chief Director for the Ministry of Employment and Social Welfare, Mr Emmanuel A. Akuffo, who made this known at the 7th partners forum on the NPECLC in Accra last Tuesday, was to assist cocoa farmers to properly cater for the education of their children as well as their own socio-economic enhancement.
He said the ministry, in support of the NPECLC, had drawn up two key programmes in areas where poverty was severe, but had realised that the supply of school uniforms alone, for example, was not enough to alleviate poverty in those areas.
To address some of these challenges, he indicated that the ministry had seen the need to extend the LEAP programme to those areas to ensure that the children attended school regularly.
He disclosed that about 54 per cent of children in cocoa producing regions in Ghana, including Western, Ashanti, Brong Ahafo, Central and the Volta regions could neither read nor write.
Mr Akuffo, therefore, called on the National Steering Committee of the NPECLC and its partners, including district assemblies and other non-governmental organisations, to put in place effective monitoring and evaluation mechanisms to mitigate these challenges.
In 2006, the government established the NPECLC under the then Ministry of Manpower, Youth and Employment with a mandate to conduct activities that would reduce and finally eliminate the worst forms of child labour in cocoa growing sectors by 2011.
In pursuant of this goal, the NPECLC and its partners were charged to strengthen the legal framework for dealing with the Worst Forms of Child Labour (WFCL), enhance the knowledge-base of it, and develop interventions to eliminate them.
The National Manager of NPECLC, Mrs Rita Owusu-Amankwah, gave an overview of the existing guidelines and mechanisms for strengthening the activities of partners, their roles and responsibilities and the benefits of compliance with their co-ordination framework.
To strengthen the capacity of partners, she said partners were grouped according to the particular work they were engaged in, in cocoa growing areas.“Working groups will meet separately, in addition to the three annual meetings, and the three thematic working groups identified include child protection, socio-economic enhancement and education,” she stated.
The purpose of the co-ordination, she said, was to ensure that all partners spoke with one voice to avoid distortion of facts, reduce duplication of work and to maximise their resources by identifying intervention gaps.
“Partners, particularly district assemblies, need to make financial contributions to the implementation of interventions in their districts. Partners need to contribute to the capacity building of responsible agencies, and also submit their reports to the NPECLC secretariat on a quarterly basis,” she added.
Dr Daniel Bruce Sarpong, an Executive Member of the Community-Based Child Labour Monitoring System, said under the auspices of NPECLC, they conducted two pilot surveys in six and 15 districts in 2006 and 2007 respectively, as part of the cocoa certification process.
The result of the two surveys, he said, provided them with information to help address some of the challenges on child labour issues in cocoa production in Ghana.
“In the 2007/2008 cocoa season, the survey was scaled up to cover 15 districts from all cocoa growing areas, including the six districts covered during the pilot survey, and that accounted for 60 per cent of the national cocoa production,” he stated and noted that in all, 3,452 children aged between 5 and 17 years were interviewed during the survey.

Review built environment laws

2009-05-08T11:00:00.000-07:00

THE Ghana Institute of Architects (GIA) has urged the government to review all laws governing built environments which have outlived their usefulness to society in order to meet the changing demands of the deteriorating environment.
It said despite the existence and implementation of these laws and regulations, the built environment was fast deteriorating, particularly within the urban centres and a number of rural communities which have experienced population growth.
Among the laws the institute identified included the Town and Country Planning Ordinance (CAP 84) promulgated in 1945 and updated between 1954 and 1960, National Building Regulations (LI 1630), 1996 and the Local Government Act, 1993 (ACT 462), and many other laws, bye-laws and codes which have not seen any major review over the period of time.
The President of the institute, Mr Osei Kwame Agyeman, at a press conference in Accra, said the current situation regarding the built environment in Ghana did not seem to satisfy the tenets of the Ghana Poverty Reduction Strategy- 2 which sought to ensure the provision of basic needs of Ghanaians.
“What is the level of enforcement and how has the enforcement of these regulations been carried out over the years to ensure the benefits of the built environment for sustainable development” he asked, and pointed out that the disregard for planning schemes had further led to the sprawling of uncontrolled development of both the urban and sub-urban areas in the country.
That, he noted, had been characterised by the development of unplanned settlements and slums which had resulted in haphazard infrastructure development, leading to floods and collapse of buildings.
In view of these, Mr Agyeman said, Accra in particular had become a city of lawlessness,resulting in haphazardly sited kiosks, uncontrolled hawking activities and unplanned streets with dirt and filth all over.
“We need to know what is right because sympathising when these issues are raised is a recipe for disaster,” he added.
These developments, according Mr Tony Saar, a member of the institute and a co-ordinator for the Business Sector Advocacy Challenge (BUSAC), which had provided funds for research by the institute, said these developments contributed to the enormous pressure on the distribution of infrastructure services like water, electricity, road networks and poor accessibility.
The situation, he said, had created an upward surge in mixed development which in certain instances had negative impact on health and as well created difficulty for the Ghana Police Service and the Ghana National Fire Service to readily access some areas in time of emergency.
He said given the number of bodies mandated to ensure that the country’s development was monitored, “one is taken aback with the seemingly uncontrolled pattern of development in the country.
He mentioned such regulatory stakeholders to include the district assemblies, the Lands Commission, the Survey Department, the Lands Title Registry Department, the Department of Urban Roads, the Ministry of Water Resources, Works and Housing, the Public Works Department and the professional bodies of the built environment.
To address some of these issues, he said, the institute had sought the support of the BUSAC to undertake a study on the “The Adverse Impact of Non-Enforcement of Building and Development Controls” in areas including the Accra Metropolitan Assembly, the Tema Metropolitan Assembly and Development Corporation, the Cape Coast Metropolitan Assembly, the Awutu Senya District Assembly and the Ga Dangme West District Assembly.
He said the study, in the area of enforcement encouraged the government to institute, a ‘Building Police Force” to ensure that buildings did not commence without permits, and recommended that the force should be trained both formally and informally, with the minimum academic qualification for it to be in tandem with that of the building inspectors stipulated in the National Building Regulation.
“It also encouraged the government to set up an oversight body under the National Development Planning Committee to oversee physical development”, he indicated.
He added that the study further urged the government to improve the capacity of the assemblies to enrich their understanding of building regulation.
Mr Asare tasked the GIA and other sister bodies to bring on board Licensed Building Surveyors/Druaghtsmen into their fold for regulation and supervision.
Mrs Josephine Akoto-Bamfo, a member of the institute, also called for the external training of chiefs, land owners, staff of assemblies and the land sector agencies to enable them to obtain first hand experience on development issues.“There should be harmonisation of the procedures for the building and development control to develop on standard set of regulations for the assemblies to operate with, ” she emphasised.
“It takes boldness to pull down buildings on waterways. We need to leave our emotions behind and focus on the enforcement of regulations, ” she said.
She bemoaned the procedure where officials of the Town and Country Planning Department had to buy base maps from the Survey Department before they could undertake any study, and called for an integration of the socio-economic and physical agenda of the country.

Add sanitation studies in school curricula

2009-05-08T10:54:00.000-07:00

The Accra zonal supervisor of Zoomlion,Mr Robert Coleman,has called on the government to consider including sanitation studies in the educational curriculum, especially at the basic level.
This, he said, would be a great step towards a comprehensive and pragmatic way of addressing the ever increasing spate of sanitation challenges in the country.
Mr Coleman made the call after the company deployed over 400 workers to clean the Independence Square after the May Day celebration last Friday.
He said Zoomlion had achieved a lot in the area of sanitation in the country “but efforts must be made to ensure that the up and coming generation is properly oriented on the issues of sanitation”.
Mr Coleman expressed gratitude to President Mills for his resolve to address sanitation challenges, and added that within his first 100 days, Zoomlion cleared huge backlogs of refuse all over the country.
“Today, we do not have the heaps of refuse we used to see before and Zoomlion is on course to help the president and the entire citizenry to attain a better life by helping to keep the country clean,” he stated.
He said with the company’s heavy trucks and machinery, they would continue to ensure that Ghana was clean.
Mr Coleman called for speed in the development of procedures that would lead to the reintroduction of sanitation officers and the creation of sanitation courts to prosecute people who abused the society and broke sanitation rules.

Museums Board asked to reclaim lands

2009-05-08T10:52:00.000-07:00

THE Minister for Chieftaincy and Culture, Mr Alexander Asum-Ahensan, has asked the Ghana Museums and Monuments Board (GMMB) to take steps to reclaim large tracts of land belonging to the board but are being encroached upon at Tamale, Bolgatanga and Wa.
He described the situation as threatening, adding that “if proper measures are not taken soon, we will lose everything”.
Mr Asum-Ahensan also asked the board to work assiduously to preserve and protect the country’s cultural heritage for posterity.
“Your department is one of the most important ones within the Ministry and Ghana has a lot to preserve and show to the outside world,” he stated, and stressed the need to preserve all artefacts belonging to the country for future generations.
Mr Asum-Ahensan was speaking during a visit to the GMMB and the Museum for Science and Technology in Accra to acquaint himself with the activities of the board and work done so far on the Science Museum which was started 38 years ago.
The minister said the ministry was in the process of forming the Board of Directors for the Museum, but was waiting for stakeholders to nominate their representatives.
He listened to complaints of personnel and some of the challenges they faced in their activities, and assured them of his ministry’s commitment to ensure that their conditions of service were improved.
The acting Director of the GMMB, Mr Joseph Prempeh Maisie, said the board would soon start a process of digitisation of all objects in the country’s museums for easy access to information on them.
“The board is also taking steps to convert all the forts and castles in the country for re-use or link them in a way to the activities of the people within the communities where they are located,” he announced and pointed out that the board was in contact with international partners for books to stuff its library.
He disclosed that the Wa Na’s palace in the Northern Region was also under reconstruction with funds from the partners.
Renovation work at the Cape Coast Castle, he noted, was also ongoing, while work on the Science Museum, which was initiated 38 years ago was nearing completion.
On the activities of GMMB, Mr Maisie said the Museum undertook various exhibitions to depict the history and culture of Ghana and assisted young Ghanaian artists to exhibit their works.
Asked how they obtained their treasures, he said some were bought by the museum, others were intercepted by security agencies at the country’s borders, while others were voluntarily donated to the museum.
According to him the Education Department often organised outreach programmes and lectures in schools and assisted students from tertiary institutions in research on museums in the country.
The Monuments Department, he indicated, saw to the conservation and maintenance of all monuments including the forts.
Among the challenges facing the board, Mr Maisie said, was their inability to re-train and retain professionals.
“Our existing legislature since 1969 is outmoded and needs to be reviewed”, he stated and expressed belief that the review of the law governing the board would enhance their activities.
The officials later visited the Science and Technology Museum where the consultant for the project, Wing Captain Patrick N. Sogbodjor (rtd), took them round the facility.
The team inspected all the three floors of the structure which Capt Sogbodjor said, were about 75 per cent complete but had temporarily come to a halt.
Capt Sogbodjor disclosed that the problem which had resulted in the delay of the project was that funds were released to the contractors once a year.
It also came to light that the roof of the Science Museum had already developed cracks, and was leaking badly, while structures erected by encroachers on the land were also affecting the drainage system there.

Chinese cultural troupe thrills audience

2009-05-08T10:47:00.000-07:00

A SPECTACULAR display of classical Chinese arts and culture by a cultural troupe from the Gansu Province of the People’s Republic of China at the National Theatre in Accra thrilled patrons who thronged the theatre.
The three-day show which kicked off on May 5, 2009 saw members of the troupe exhibiting excellent skills and enthusiasm with acrobatic display, graceful dances, songs, Chinese Kungfu, and magical display.
Though the Ghanaian audience could not comprehend the lyrics of the songs the melodious voices and tones from instruments carried most of them along as they applauded one performance after the other.
Those who spoke to the Daily Graphic after the show expressed their appreciation for the remarkable skills of the Chinese cultural troupe.
The Chinese Ambassador to Ghana, Mr Yu Wenzhe, said before the cultural display that China’s civilisation dated 5000 years ago, and that the Gansu Province was located in the north west of the republic.
The performers, he pointed out, got their inspiration from ancient paintings and sculptures found in grottoes in the Gansu Province which depicted Buddhist stories over 1000 years ago.
He said the visit to Ghana by the troupe was the first of a series of activities to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the People’s Republic of China in Ghana, and hoped that that would be an excellent opportunity for Ghanaians to enjoy Chinese culture.
He said the co-operation that had existed between China and Ghana for the past 50 years had yielded good results in various fields.
“Many Chinese cultural troupes and their Ghanaian counterparts have exchanged visits since 1960, and these visits have enabled the people of our two countries to better understand and learn from each other”, he said, explaining that such cultural exchanges had served to promote co-operation between the two countries.
The Minister for Chieftaincy and Culture, Mr Alexander Asum-Ahensan, recalled the relationship between Ghana and China, which he said dated back to the First Republic.
“Our relationship borders on political, economic and social programmes. Today we are proud to say that the relationship has reached its apogee”, he stated and identified the construction of the National Theatre and the Esi Sutherland Centre at the University of Ghana, Legon, as examples of the co-operation between the two countries.
The visit by the troupe was sponsored by the Ministry of Culture of the People’s Republic of China, the Ministry of Chieftaincy and Culture in Ghana, the Chinese Embassy in Ghana, China Enterprise Chamber of Commerce in Ghana, the Ghana-Chinese Chamber of Commerce and the China State Hualong Construction (Ghana) Limited.

Caption: Pix-1 A group picture of the Gansu Cultural Troupe, with the Minister for Chieftancy and Culture, Mr Alexander Asum-Ahensan (in Batakari), and the Chinese Ambassador to Ghana, Mr Yu Wenzhe (in Suite), in the second row.

Pix-2 A performance of acrobatics and Chinese Kungfu, by the troupe at the National Theatre.

CIMG launches 20th Awards

2009-05-06T02:33:00.000-07:00

THE Chartered Institute of Marketing Ghana (CIMG) has launched its 20th annual marketing performance awards for 2008 with a call on marketing professionals to use their creative ability to sustain the growth of their corporate entities.
The Chief Executive of the Ghana Chamber of Mines, Ms Joyce Aryee, who made the call in Accra, said the challenges arising from the global economic downturn required the ingenuity of professional marketers to help their companies to overcome them.
Ms Aryee, who is also the Marketing Woman for 2007, advised organisations against the tendency to cut down their corporate budgets in the face of the adverse impact of the global economic downturn.
She said the current economic situation was the time for marketing professionals to show the world what they were capable of changing the fortunes of their organisations. “Though its not going to be magic, we have to think through seriously to turn our organisations around,” she said.
As professional marketers, Ms Aryee said, they would be saddled with the problem of cutting down their budgets and yet they would be expected to support the growth of their businesses.
The Managing Director of Unilever Ghana Limited, Mr Charles Cofie, also urged companies not to cut down expenditure, particularly on advertisements and promotional programmes.
He further urged organisations never to compromise on quality though they were being squeezed by the economic crisis.
He said 2009 would demand the best from them, “ a time for visible leadership, and the moment for us to build and communicate our vision and the bold plans we will be putting in place”.
Sharing lessons from Unilever and how to exploit the marketing mix on the theme for the awards, “The Global Economic Downturn- A Case for Marketing Metrics”, Mr Cofie said marketing professionals were needed now more than ever before in view of the global economic downturn.
He argued that marketing professionals would contribute by preparing plans and putting in place mechanisms and targets closer to the market to turn their organisations around without compromising on quality.
The National President of the CIMG, Mrs Josephine Okutu, said the awards scheme had over the years developed into a very significant benchmark with which individuals and corporate organisations rated their performances.
This year’s awards are scheduled to take place on June 27, 2009 at the Banquet Hall of the State House. The number of awards has been increased from 26 to 28.
The two additions are the Marketing Practitioner and the Medical Facility of the Year.
Among the categories of awards are Personalities, Manufacturing/Non Profit Organisations, Services, Media/Activation Programmes, Indigenous Industry, Distribution.
The selection of award winners is based on marketing innovation, technological innovation, level of sophistication, geological???? coverage, societal impact, and outstanding contribution towards national development.
Others include, public image, marketing place success and structure, market share and growth as well as customer service schemes and ecological issues.
Members of the public are expected to make their own nominations for each award category using the stated criteria and provision of brief write ups on the justification of their nominees.
“All companies which may be nominating themselves should send us comprehensive information about the performance of their organisations”, Mrs Okutu added, and tasked the Awards Selection Committee which she inaugurated at the launch to investigate the inputs of all nominations and provide a short list for the Governing Council of CIMG to confirm the final winners.
The Chairperson for the Awards Planning Committee, Mrs Shola Safo-Duodo, outlined the various sponsorship packages which included two expected sponsors for the platinum category with investment of GH¢25,000 or more.
For the gold category, three sponsors are needed, with investment between GH¢20,000 and GH¢25,000 whilst the Silver category for five sponsors, should have investment between GH¢15,000 and GH¢20,000.
The bronze and supporting sponsors, with ten sponsors in each category should have investment equal to or greater than GH¢10,000 and GH¢5,000 respectively.

Recognise the importance of ICT--- Veep tells civil servants

2009-05-05T01:08:00.000-07:00

THE Vice President, Mr John Dramani Mahama has urged Civil Servants to recognise the importance of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) to the service and create an efficient working environment at the workplace.
“We must improve how fast we adopt to technology to create an efficient working environment” he emphasised and charged the leadership of the Civil Servants Association of Ghana (CSAG) to ensure that the use of ICT was improved and effectively incorporated into the activities of the Service.
The Vice President was speaking at the first ever Activist Awards organised by CSAG in Accra, where recipients of the awards were each presented with Laptops in addition to their plaques and other awards.
To those who were no longer in the Service, he said “its is never too late to learn ICT and those of you in the service should utilise the computer, not just for games, but you can also use them to communicate with other users to make your work easier”.
He said the association had fully matured after 40 years of existence and that he had no doubt about the need for government to fast track reforms to put a sense of urgency in the Civil Service as indicated on placards during the May Day celebration.
The Vice President reiterated government’s commitment to do everything possible to bring the Single Spine Salary Structure into operation and announced that the president had directed a committee to look into the structure for implementation.
He gave the assurance that the government would support all the groups that had brought proposals for housing projects before it and disclosed that the government was in touch with a company called Fast-Build which was capable of building a house in four weeks, for public servants.
“We will inspect demonstration of these houses to ensure that they are habitable and put in place special mortgages to allow workers to acquire their own houses”, he said.
The Minister for Employment and Social Welfare, Mr Stephen Amoanor Kwao urged the leadership of the association to keep their members abreast of government policies and programmes towards the country’s development agenda.
He also gave the assurance that the government would keep its promises to them as a partner in governance and would not shed its responsibility to ensure that the Civil Service was on track.
“The use of dialogue and negotiation is highly laudable. We will offer you support in the sensitisation of your members for the facilitation of human resource for national development”, he added.
The President of CSAG, Mr Robertson Allotey said the association had gone through hiccups of growth and development since its inception in 1968.
He said the government could do more for Civil Servants not just in terms of increase in salaries but also in the areas of recognising the value of the services they continue to render to the socio-economic development of the country.
The awards, he said, were for members of the association who have demonstrated positive activism, unfetted spirit of volunteerism, projected the values of the association, efficiency and hard work in the course of their membership with the association.
In all 52 persons were selected for the awards, 31 from the regions at the regional May Day durbar and 21 at the National level.
The award for the Activist of the Year, which was presented by the Vice President went to Mr William E. Kemevor who was presented with a Toshiba Laptop, GH¢2,000, a plaque, a certificate and a cloth of the association.
The first and second runner ups went to Mr Daniel Amamo and Mr James Tiga who received GH¢1,000 and GH¢500 respectively in addition to Toshiba Laptops, plaques, certificates and cloths.
A Special award was given to the Head of the Civil Service, Mr Issaka who is also the Chairman of the Welfare Committee of CSAG, for his long service to the association.

Multiple birth registration affecting population count

2009-05-01T08:21:00.000-07:00

THE Principal Assistant Registrar of the Births & Deaths Registry, Mr Kingsley Asare Addo, has observed that the multiple registration of births is affecting the accurate estimation of the country’s population.
“We do not even know the actual population of the country. What we normally say is that we are about 22 million people and over. But that should not be the case, since we need to know the actual population of the country for development,” he said.
Mr Addo, who made the observation in response to a question at a seminar on child health care in Accra last Tuesday, said the country held a census once in a decade and for one person to be registered twice meant an inflation in the population figure.
“You must register your child once, and that should be done before he or she is one year old. The cost of registration is borne by the government because it is interested in statistics for planning and development,” he noted, and indicated that “the cost of registration of a child after one year will, however, have to be paid by the parents of the child”.
Mr Addo said some parents failed to register the births of their children immediately they were born and did so only when the need for a passport arose.
The practice, he said, should be frowned upon because it made it difficult for the government to plan adequately.
He added that the proper registration of infants had helped particularly the developed countries to develop at the rate they were developing because they knew the actual figures of their population and, therefore, planned accordingly for the provision of social amenities and other basic needs of their people.
He pointed out that the registration of children helped in the estimation of population growth, fertility and mortality rates, as well as other demographic parameters.
The registration of children, Mr Addo added, established their identity, parentage, nationality and protection and also facilitated their enrolment in schools.

No need to panic over swine flu - Dr Sory

2009-04-29T02:04:00.000-07:00

THE Director-General of the Ghana Health Service (GHS), Dr Elias Sory, has urged the public not to panic over media reports of the possibility of the outbreak of Swine influenza.
“People should not panic, this is not an issue to panic over”, he stressed and pointed out that the surveillance system of the health service had been activated at the various ports and airports in the country to screen all visitors and Ghanaians entering or leaving the country.
Speaking to journalists on his way to an emergency committee meeting in Accra yesterday, he said the outbreak of the flu had been over emphasised by the media and therefore urged all Ghanaians not to worry so much about the possible outbreak of the flu.
He said so far no case had been recorded in the country, and expressed the hope that after the emergency committee meeting, concrete steps or measures would be taken to prepare the country for any emergency that may arise.
Dr Sory, said more cases were being reported in Mexico where the flu broke out and in other parts of America and Europe, but gave the assurance that the GHS was on top of the situation and would see to it that the necessary steps were taken to avoid an emergency where people would need to wear masks to cover their mouths and nostrils.
He said the surveillance system was set up during the outbreak of the Avian influenza to deal with any outbreak at the time, and further gave the assurance that the team had the capacity to deal with the situation in the case of any emergency.
He was optimistic that the flu, if detected in the country, would not greatly impact on the provision of health care services in the country because there were enough drugs in the country to deal with the situation, and pointed out that the drugs used against the outbreak of the Avian influenza in the country was also effective against the Swine flu.
The Director-General, on Monday, April 27, 2009 alerted all health personnel over the Swine flu and directed them to step up surveillance over the possible outbreak of the disease in the country.
“We have the structures to deal with any outbreak. All health officials in the regions have been given guidelines to that effect,” he told the Daily Graphic in an interview.
Swine flu is a respiratory disease, caused by influenza type A, which infects pigs. There are many types, and the infection is constantly changing.
Until now, it had not infected humans, but the latest form clearly does, and can be spread from person to person, probably through coughing and sneezing.
Symptoms of swine flu include fever, cough, sore throat, body aches, chills and fatigue.
Although most cases so far reported around the world appear to be mild, about 100 lives have been lost in Mexico.
Cases of the Swine flu have also been found in Canada, the US and in Spain.

Groups in Ga Dangme supporters Vanderpuije

2009-04-27T03:27:00.000-07:00

Various groups in Ga Dangme and supporters of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) have appealed to the government to expedite action leading to the early voting and confirmation of Dr Alfred Okoe Vanderpuije as Municipal Chief Executive of Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA).
The groups which expressed their support for the President’s nominee, however expressed their concern about the deplorable sanitary conditions in the capital as a result of the delay in the election of the Dr Vanderpuije.
The groups included, the Ga Dangme Renaissance Union, the Greater Accra Markets Association, the North American Coordinating Council of NDC and some of Dr Vanderpuije’s colleague teachers at the Accra Teacher Training College.
Addressing a press conference in Accra, the Research and Planning Chairman of Ga Dangme Renaissance Union, Mr Rashad Yasin Ofei Dodoo gave the assurance that with Dr Vanderpuije’s his rich experience as an administrator cum educationalist in the Diaspora and in Ghana,he would certainly live up to the expectations of transforming and modernising the capital.
He said their worry was the delay in the confirmation of Dr Vanderpuije as the Chief Executive because for now, the AMA had come to a standstill and if time was not taken, the city would experience an increase in diseases with the coming of the rains.
According to him, Dr Vanderpuije’s patriotism as a Ghanaian was evident and unquestionable, having worked with city mayors in the Diaspora and his long life experience within the Ghanaian community, contrary to what some people were speculating about him.
“We wish to declare our unequivocal support for Dr Vanderpuije who is a true versatile son of Ga Dangme and a man of the people,” he stated.
The Representative of the Greater Accra Market Association, Madam Mercy Needjan said the association had known Dr Vanderpiuje as an upright man who had contributed to the development of Ghana in diverse ways.“He is known for his communal labour. He is a man of peace and has good relations with market women and men, and was always seeking to promote good standards for our markets,” she stated.
Madam Needjan said the association believed in his knowledge about the management and operations of markets and expressed optimism that when given the nod, he would help improve market facilities in Accra and put in place comprehensive measures to reduce human traffic on the streets.
The members of the North American Coordinating Council of NDC, Mr Tony Amuzu, the Vice- Chairman of the Atlanta Chapter, Mr Kwame Agyeman, Chairman of the Toronto Chapter and Mr Zac Adama, the Council’s Secretary firmly stated their support for the President’s nomination.
“We have known Dr Vanderpuije to be honest, reliable, hardworking, tenacious, truthful, people-oriented, a problem solver and God-fearing,” they said.
They said his capability to work with people could not be underestimated considering his several years of experience, and emphasised that they had confidence in his ability to solve the numerous problems including sanitation, traffic congestion and unemployment that confronted the capital.
“It is our sincere hope that all Assembly members will vote en bloc for Mr Vanderpuije as Mayor for the betterment of Accra,” they added.
The NDC Vice Constituency Chairman of the Odododiodio Constituency, Mr Festus Clifford Bekoe said most members of the constituency have had the privilege to experience the organisational ability of Dr Vanderpuije, who was resident in their community and they were very appreciative of the government’s decision to elect him as the chief executive of AMA.
He refuted allegations purporting that Dr Vanderpuije was not wholly a Ghanaian citizen because he had virtually spent most of his time abroad,saying that to the best of his knowledge Dr Vanderpuije frequently visited the country.
Mr George Commodore, a Former Sub-Metro Chairman who contested the position with Dr Vanderpuije, said he intended to support Dr Vanderpuije because he realised after the vetting that Dr Vanderpuije had good ideas and was far experienced.
“I believe this is not a race or a competition, but an opportunity for us to collectively and in togetherness address the herculean task ahead of us to make a Accra a better place for us,” he stated and urged all and sundry to support Dr Vanderpuije in his quest to make the capital, a city that befits Ghana.

Caption: The Research and Planning Chairman of Ga Dangme Renaissance Union, Mr Rashad Yasin Ofei Dodoo (left) addressing some members of the press at the press conference in Accra.

JATI Board members meet Education minister

2009-04-27T03:23:00.000-07:00

THE Minister for Education, Mr Alex Tetteh-Enyo, has pledged the ministry’s commitment to support high school students benefiting from the Life Education Assurance Programme (LEAP) initiated by Junior Achievers Trust International (JATI).
He expressed the belief that the programme, which was underwritten by the State Insurance Company (SIC), would serve as an early intervention to prevent students from dropping out from second cycle schools.
The minister said this when members of the board of JATI called on him to brief him on the operations of JATI and what they intended to achieve with the support of the ministry.
A Memorandum of Understanding had been signed by JATI and the then Ministry of Education, Science and Sports (MOESS) and the Ghana Education Service (GES) to ensure that the programme was implemented in all second cycle schools on a voluntary basis.
The main objective of the programme was to ensure that a student who was covered under the programme was given entrepreneurial training as well as uninterrupted education should his or her guardian pass away or become totally incapacitated as a result of an accident or illness.
The policy, according to the board members, would pay approved government fees submitted by the school authorities till the student complete the senior high school programme.
Mr Tetteh-Enyo commended them for their efforts in assisting the needy students, particularly orphans, and urged them to expand the programmes from the current 61 schools to cover studenst in other deprived schools.
He was optimistic that if the programme was administered well it would create career awareness in the youth, inculcate in them the need to stay in school as well as produce a new generation of business leaders with practical business experience.
The Deputy Minister of Education, Dr Joseph S. Annan, was of the view that the programme would lessen the pressure on Members of Parliament who were assisting deprived students in their constituencies.
The Board Chairman, Mr John Yaw Amankrah, who briefed the minister about JATI, outlined some of the programmes that were underway, which included a Student Company Achievers Forum, a JATI Business Hall of Fame and a Students Enterprise Fair where students brought their products and services under one platform to market them to the general public.
Other members of the board include the Chief Executive Officer of JATI, Mr Paul C. Yeboah, the Principal of Methodist University College and Chairman of the African Peer Review Mechanism Council, Professor S. K. Adjepong, the Country Director of American Airlines, Mr Ebow Paintsil, the Very Reverend Ama Afo Blay, former Director-General of the GES, a Senior Lecturer at the Ghana School of Law, Mr Opoku Agyemang, and the Deputy Director-General of the Ghana Atomic Energy, Professor Yaw Serfo-Armah.

Caption: (Sixth from left), the Minister for Education, Mr Alex Tetteh-Enyo, next to him from left is the Board Chairman of JATI , Mr John Yaw Amankrah and on his right is the Deputy Minister for Education, Dr Joseph S. Annan, surrounded by some Board Members of JATI in a group picture during the visit.

Its unethical to sell Museum lands in absence of board

2009-04-26T09:30:00.000-07:00

SOME personnel of the Ghana Museums and Monuments Board (GMMB) have described the sale of a land belonging to the Board to a private investor as inappropriate and unethical in the absence of a board of directors.
They said the former Minister for Chieftancy and Culture, Mr Sampson Kwaku Boafo, dissolved the board of directors in April 2007 and since then it had not been reconstituted.
To that effect, they argued that any asset of the GMMB could only be leased by the board of directors, which does not exist, or by the minister.
According to the personnel, the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) had warned the private investor, MNEST Metals Company, to stop work on the land but the warning had gone unheeded, as work on the company’s building was in progress.
“The land is for the government and no one has the right to sell it,” the personnel said and emphasised that those who sold the land had taken undue advantage of the absence of the board of directors to dispose of it.
“No one in the GMMB knows who sold it. We have not been informed about the sale or introduced to the company which bought it. We do not know how much it was sold for because no one has accounted for the sale of the land, which is supposed to be used for the construction of apartments for personnel,” the personnel noted.
The personnel said the private investor had earlier threatened to eject personnel of the GMMB residing in an apartment on the property, if they failed to meet an evacuation deadline.
The personnel said the company was also using water free of charge from the GMMB to construct its office building on the said land, which is behind the GMMB’s offices.
The personnel further disclosed that the Museums and Monuments Board had a seven-member management team of which four knew nothing about the sale of the land to the private investor, whilst the other three members had refused to comment on the sale of the land.
The personnel, however, pointed out that they had reported the sale of the land to the Chief Director of the Ministry, Mrs Emma Lilian Bruce-Lyle, who had so far sent a team to ascertain the truth.

Caption : The front view of the uncompleted building belonging to the private investor.

Job 600 elevators rusting away

2009-04-24T11:02:00.000-07:00

THE Elevators in the abandoned tower block of the State House, popularly called Job 600 are gradually rusting away as a result of its exposure to the environment around its location along the coast in Accra.
The elevators, as well as steel reinforcements, the drainage and roofing systems have virtually turned brown, revealing its deteriorated state.
When the Daily Graphic visited the premises of the building yesterday to assess the building’s current state of firmness, it discovered that contrary to talks of rehabilitation of the building, work had actually long halted and surroundings of the building were overgrown with weeds, and some portions being used as a refuse dumps where pockets of refuse were often burnt.
The complex which was built by Osagyefo Dr Kwame Nkrumah, Ghana’s first president and hosted the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) summit in 1965, under his chairmanship subsequently been earmarked to serve as offices for Members of Parliament pending its refurbishment, which had still not begun.
Recommendations from a report on an assessment of the building’s firmness made by the Mr Addo Abedi , the Managing Director of Twum Boafo and Partners, a civil engineering company, to the leadership of parliament since January 29, 2008 had since not received any attention.
The report indicated that the building when rehabilitated would be solid and could still serve as offices for Parliamentarians but Members of Parliament till date do not have offices they operate from and other office assistants to help them to discharge their duties effectively.
Public Relations Director of Ghana’s Parliament, Mr Jones Kugblenu also told newsmen during the swearing in of the new Parliament in January 2009 that a $25 million Dollar loan had been secured for the rehabilitation of the project, and work would soon begin for completion.
He further noted that preparatory work on the project had been completed with respect to the structural integrity of the building and said actual work was going to commence soon.
The Daily Graphic also found out during the visit that work had since not begun as clothes belonging to squatters in the building were seen hanging in some parts of the building.
Series of interviews conducted with some members of the public after the visit indicated that they were interested about the rehabilitation of the project which they said had so far, since its abandonment, stood the test of time.
Mr Samuel Asante, a self employed business man appealed to the government to ensure that all recommendations and measures adopted to rehabilitate the building were adhered.
“It is such a big building we can not let it rot away”, he stated and pointed out that he had always known about the on-going rehabilitation but had never bothered to find out it was true because of the location”.
He expressed optimism that the rehabilitation and completion of the building would reduce the workload of Members of Parliaments and also enable them to co-ordinate their activities for the total development of the country as a whole.
Mr Ekow Moses, a journalist with the Ghanaian Voice said though the previous administration had attempted to rehabilitate the project it could not do much to complete it as envisaged, pointing out that he believed the building in the next four years can not be completed considering the attention being given to it by government.
“It had become a huge resource left to waste, and parliament instead of concentrating on how to complete and occupy the building are talking about other issues”.
He also attested to the fact the completion of the building would greatly enhance the work of Parliament and Members of Parliament.

Caption: Pix-1 Parts of the ceiling of the elevators in the abandoned tower block of the State House, popularly called Job 600.

Pix-2 Surrounding of the of the buildings overgrown with weeds, with some portions being used as a refuse dumps where pockets of refuse were often burnt.

New vehicle models to ensure driver passenger safety

2009-04-24T10:45:00.000-07:00

As the death toll of road accidents increase in the country, car dealers are introducing onto the markets new models that ensue pedestrian and driver safety in case of accidents.
These vehicles with safety features like Control Technology body and crush proof survival zones, protect the driver and the passenger in case of an impact.
The “Honda City”, one of such vehicles, is soon to be launched in the country.
At a press launch in Accra, the Country Head of the Automobile Division of Stallion Motors, Mr Rockson Johnson, said the front body structure of the new Honda City ensured advanced pedestrian safety features that reduced the impact of a crush on a victim in case of an accident.
He said the car’s unique selling point was its engine, which was the finest in the world and moulded in accordance with changes in recent technology.
“Even in the event of a battery failure, the airbag will still operate” he stated and pointed out that the new vehicle came with an Anti-Lock Braking System with Brake Assist, dual airbags, and pre-tension seatbelts.
Additionally, he said the manufacturers of the new Honda City had taken into consideration all the global concerns on safety, fuel efficiency and conservation of the environment.
The prices of the manual and automatic Honda City, Mr Johnson said, ranged between $21,000 to $23,000, but assured prospective customers that Stallion Motors had liaised with the various banks in the country to assist them in the acquisition of any of the vehicles.
“The Honda City is one of the most successful car brands in the country today and certainly the most desirable sedan in its category” he said, and expressed optimism that with its launch in Ghana, the country would become the largest market for Honda City in the sub-region.

Caption: The Workshop Manager for the Honda Place Ghana Limited, Mr Vinayak Venugopal (second from right) explaining some of the safety features of the new ‘Honda City’ to press men at the launch whilst, the Country Head of the Automobile Division of Stallion Motors, Mr Rockson Johnson (left) looks on.

Its unethical to sell Museum lands in absence of board

2009-04-24T10:35:00.000-07:00

GNFS ordered to audit major markets — To facilitate rescue operations

2009-04-24T10:31:00.000-07:00

THE Interior Minister, Mr Cletus Avoka, has asked the Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS) to undertake an audit of all the major markets in the country to facilitate rescue and safety operations during fire outbreaks.
In addition, he requested the leadership of the service to draw strategic maps of roads and routes leading to accident-prone areas to enable the personnel to avoid delays during rescue operations.
Mr Avoka issued the instructions when he paid a working visit to the headquarters of the GNFS in Accra on Wednesday.
“The days of salvaging situations when the harm had already been done are over”, the Interior Minister told the leaders of the service. He said as officers their professionalism would be measured by their ability to be innovative, proactive and creative in handling the complex issues.
Equally importantly, he said, was the implementation of the Fire Precaution (Premises) Regulations, 2003 (LI 1724), which, he noted, was to ensure that public places in the country were safe.
Mr Avoka said the government was aware of the numerous challenges facing the service and commended the Chief Fire Officer, directors, officers and personnel of the service for their sustained efforts in fire prevention and control, in spite of the inadequate equipment and logistics.
He, however, gave the assurance that the new administration would strive to improve the conditions of the service and the general wellbeing of personnel.
Currently, he said, the government was making efforts to procure fire engines from India and additional equipment, especially turn-table ladders from the United States for their operations.
The Chief Fire Officer, Mr Felix Kwame Ferkah, gave an overview of the status of the service and highlighted some of the challenges of the service.
He said the service was now carving a new name for itself with regards to rescue operations and as a result had expanded its rescue operations to include Road Traffic Collision Extrication.
He said that the service had at its disposal 112 fire engines and indicated that the ideal situation should have been that each of the 136 stations would, at least, have two of the fire engines and an ambulance.
Ferkah said the equipment at their disposal was woefully inadequate for fire fighting and other emergencies.
On their projections for the service, Mr Ferkah said that the service was redrafting their conditions of service, procuring adequate protective clothing for operational fire-fighters, fencing service lands in the regions to protect them from encroachment, and developing those lands to improve residential and office accommodation for personnel.

New GBC board asked to expedite restructuring exercise

2009-04-21T11:12:00.000-07:00

THE National Media Commission (NMC) has asked the new Board of Directors of the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation (GBC) to fashion out a comprehensive programme on how it intends to proceed with the restructuring process of the corporation within the next one month.
Inaugurating the board in Accra yesterday, the Chairman of the commission, Mr Paul Adu-Gyamfi, further tasked the board to inject some transparency in the restructuring process of the corporation.
He said the restructuring process should proceed on non-negotiable principles.
Such principles, he explained, were that GBC would remain a public service broadcaster and would not be divested or commercialised.
Mr Adu-Gyamfi said the NMC shall not permit the victimisation of any staff of GBC in the name of restructuring.
This year, he said, should be the year of action for GBC, a time for action and not words, and added that “the restructuring process must be completed and brought to a full closure”.
“As we welcome the new board to office, it is important to remind them of the Herculean task ahead, since they will be required to turn GBC around.
“Indeed they will be confronted with the job of halting the dwindling image of the corporation,” he stated, and pointed out that at the moment GBC was faced with a poor salary structure, which does not allow it to attract quality staff.
“As I stand before you now, we still do not have documentation on the many things the Ministry of Public Sector Reforms claimed they had done on behalf of GBC in the name of restructuring,” he added, but commended the outgoing board for doing their best to improve the fortunes of the corporation.
The new board is chaired by Professor John Bright K. Aheto, with Mr Edward B. Asare, Mr Yaw Wiredu Pepprah, Ms Vicky Wereko Andoh, Mr Gayheart Mensah, Mr Abdulai Dramani, Mrs Ophelia Ablorh, and the Director-General of GBC, Mr William Ampem-Darko, as members.
The outgoing Board Chairman, Reverend Dr Asante Antwi, in an address on his behalf, said although there were challenges in every organisation, the issue of participation and consultation would be key to the success of GBC.
He expressed gratitude to the Director-General, the management and staff of GBC for their dedication and the zeal with which they co-operated with the board since they assumed office two years ago.
Mr Ampem-Darko acknowledged the efforts and good work of the outgoing board, stating that they had done their best and been able to move the corporation to a better position.
He pledged the management’s commitment to co-operate with the in-coming board and seek their counsel to ensure that GBC rises to the status of some of the best in the world like the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) and the American Broadcasting Corporation (ABC).
The new Board Chairman, Prof. Aheto, on behalf of the nine-member board pledged to revitalise the workforce, operate financially prudent, accountable and sound internal control systems.

Caption: Mr Adu-Gyamfi (right) administering the oath of office to the new board members

Ugandans study Ghana’s procurement system

2009-04-21T06:51:00.000-07:00

A delegation from the Public Procurement and Disposal Authority of Uganda is in the country on a three-day study tour to learn from the experiences of Ghana’s Public Procurement Authority (PPA).
The tour will provide an opportunity for members of the delegation to familiarise themselves with some challenges that have confronted Ghana’s PPA and its successes in the implementation of the Public Procurement Act 2003 (Act 663).
The delegation will be introduced to some initiatives such as the Public Procurement Model of Excellence Toolkit and the inroads being made in the area of Framework Contracting and Sustainable Public Procurement in Ghana.
The Head of the delegation, Mrs Sarah Lubega, attested to the fact that there was a lot to learn from Ghana when it called on a Deputy Minister of Finance, Mr Fiifi Kwetey, to brief him on the essence of the tour.
Asked why the team chose to learn from Ghana’s PPA, she said Ghana, which had a similar system as prevailed in Uganda, had one of the best procurement planning software which was very efficient.
Mrs Lubega said her team saw it expedient to learn from Ghana’s experience and challenges, instead of travelling outside Africa to learn from the experiences of Western countries.
Responding, Mr Kwetey urged the PPA to deepen the process of transparency in the procurement process to ensure the efficient use of public funds.
He gave the assurance that the government would support the PPA to ensure that best practices used around the world were factored into the process to ensure the judicious use of public funds.
The Chief Executive Officer of the PPA, Mr Adjenim Boateng Adjei, said the objective of Ghana’s PPA was to harmonise the process of procurement in the public service to secure judicious, economic and efficient use of public funds to ensure that public procurement was carried out in a fair, transparent and non-discriminatory manner while promoting a competitive local industry.
“The vision of Ghana’s PPA is to ensure a world-class, efficient, transparent, accountable and professionally managed public sector procurement system which enjoys high level of business confidence and ensures consistent attainment of best value for money in the procurement of goods, works and services in support of the national development agenda,” he said.
According to him, the PPA had been able, to a very large extent, achieve most of its targets and goals through a three-year roll out strategic plan which was periodically reviewed in accordance with the target the authority had set to see whether it was on course.

Asantehene sets up charity foundation

2009-04-17T03:37:00.000-07:00

THE Otumfuo Osei Tutu II Charity Foundation, a “Global mouthpiece” for the Asantehene’s charity work in Ghana and Africa, will be officially launched on April 25, 2009 at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) to mark a decade-long reign of his leadership and development.
The idea for the foundation was conceived out of his promise to serve his people in two main ways, education and health development.
Under the foundation, the “Otumfuo Educational Fund” was set up in 1999 to ensure the advancement of education for the benefit of all Ghanaians, as well as the establishment of the Serwah Ampem AIDS Foundation for Children affected and infected with HIV/AIDS.
Recounting the achievements of the foundation so far to members of the media at a press conference in Accra, some executive members of the foundation said it was the vision of Otumfuo that through the foundation Africans would realise their dreams of educational advancement, and that the standard of education across Africa would be kept appreciably high.
The mission of the foundation, they said, was to help stop the decline in the standard of education by supplementing the efforts of the central government in the provision of quality education for all, and to provide the needed care and support for children affected and infected with HIV/AIDS.
An executive member of the foundation, Dr Thomas Agyarko-Poku, attested to the fact that for almost a decade the Otumfuo Education Fund had been working to achieve this goal through the provision of financial aid and material assistance to needy pupils and students, provision of incentive packages for exemplary teachers and educational workers, rehabilitation of educational facilities, supply of school equipment, materials and teaching materials, among others.
Currently, he said, thousands of individuals studying at different educational levels were being supported by the fund, adding that the fund was keen to build a number of libraries equipped with print and online resources, as well as Information and Communication Technology for beneficiary institutions.
Additionally, he said, it was the vision under the Serwah Ampem AIDS Foundation for Children to extend its mandate across Africa, to reach out to even greater number of distressed children across Africa, but sadly, that was not possible in the short term because of lack of requisite financial and other resources.
However, Dr Agyarko-Poku said the foundation had been able to chalk up a lot of successes, with beneficiary institutions including the Ada Secondary School, Wiawso Secondary School, KNUST, Jachie Pramso Secondary School, Afua Kobi Secondary School, Nchiraa Cluster of Schools, Brong Ahafo Presby and Kumasi Wesley Girls High School.
According to him the establishment of the Otumfuo Education Fund, set the pace for other traditional leaders within Ashanti and throughout Ghana to set up similar funds to help their people, adding that through the fund, the image of the Asantehene had been raised both within and outside the country.
Mr Derek Hammond, an executive member of the foundation and also the Managing Director of Evolve Limited, outlined some of the activities earmarked to celebrate the decade-long reign of Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, which include sporting activities where a football match would be organised between a leading premier league club in the United Kingdom and a local premier league team.
Other activities he enumerated included a golf tournament to raise funds for the foundation and a charity concert in November, where a top US or UK artist would be invited to perform.
Otumfuo Osei Tutu II in a message read on his behalf urged all traditional rulers in Ghana and Africa to utilise the abundant influence they possessed in partnering government to deliver social and economic benefits to Africans.
He said the worst injustice they could ever visit on their people was to sit aloof and watch the central government alone to facilitate social development projects.
“At this present-day point in history, when communities are demanding to fully participate in shaping their developmental dreams, it is obligatory on the part of community leaders, traditional and spiritual guides to take their rightful places to provide the expected visionary and transformational leadership for their people,” he stated, and expressed belief that hand in hand they could fulfil the dream of raising an army of leaders and achievers for the African continent.

Accept Presidents nomination — Ashitey

2009-04-15T10:35:00.000-07:00

THE Greater Accra Regional Minister, Nii Armah Ashitey, has urged chiefs and citizens of Accra to accept the District and Municipal Chief Executives who have been nominated by the President.
He said he believed President John Evans Atta Mills had nominated them in good faith.
He said he was confident the DCEs would rise to the task and work diligently to improve on sanitation in the capital.
The Regional Minister was speaking during a courtesy call on him by the Tema Manste, Nii Adjei Kraku II and the Kpone Manste, Nii Tetteh Otu, and their kinsmen.
He said the purpose of the decentralisation process where District and Municipal Chief Executives were appointed was to involve all Ghanaians in the decision-making process.
Mr Ashitey therefore encouraged all aggrieved persons who were not happy about the President’s choice of DCEs for their districts to exercise patience.
He, however, bemoaned the numerous litigation among some chiefs and factions in Accra, pointing out that it made it difficult for the government to address their concerns in order to bring development to the people.
To that effect he admonished all feuding chiefs and factions in the Ga Traditional area to settle all scores and forge ahead in unity as one people.
He also gave the assurance that the government would assist them with subsidies on premix fuel and soft loans for fishermen to improve their trade and fishing activities.
On the issue of sanitation, a major concern to the two chiefs, Mr Ashitey observed that waste management was serious problem that needed to be addressed with a more scientific approach.
“We are not being scientific about the disposal methods”, he stated and charged the Metropolitan Assemblies, both in Tema and Accra to adopt a more scientific and modern approach to address the sanitation challenges in the city.
The Kpone Manste, Nii Tetteh Otu, complained about old cemeteries in the capital being turned into refuse dump by residents, and suggested to the regional minister to assist them to recycle their waste to save their communities from malaria, diarrhoea and other avoidable diseases.
The delegation, after discussions with the minister, poured libation to congratulate the minister for his selection as the Member of Parliament for the Korle Klottey Constituency and as the Greater Accra Regional Minister.

Caption : The Greater Accra Regional Minister, Nii Armah Ashitey(second from left) looks on whilst the Chief Priest of Sakumo pours libation in honour of his appointment as the Regional Minister.

Motorists educated on safe driving

2009-04-14T12:09:00.000-07:00

A Report by the National Road Safety Commission (NRSC) indicates that 18 people died in 209 accidents that occurred on the Accra-Tema Motorway alone from January to March, 2009.
It further showed that 55 people sustained various degrees of injuries and trauma.
A former Motor Traffic and Transport Unit (MTTU) Commander, ACP Victor Tandoh (Retd), made this known in an address on behalf of the Minister of Roads and Highways, Mr Joe Gidisu, at the launch of a Pre-Easter Road Safety Campaign on the Accra-Tema Motorway yesterday.
The campaign was organised by a non-governmental organisation called ‘No More A Soul Foundation’ in collaboration with the NRSC and the Ministry of Roads and Highways.
It was on theme: “You Don’t Deserve to Die on the Road: Enough is Enough”.
ACP Tandoh cautioned drivers to adhere strictly to all road safety regulations as the Easter approached.
“The Easter should be accident-free,” he stated and urged passengers not to compromise with drivers who refused to observe road signs and regulations.
He added that it was the right of passengers to be transported safely to their destination, adding that it was unacceptable for a record number of 209 accidents to occur on a first class road like the Accra-Tema Motorway.
The president of the foundation, Nana Prempeh Adu-Hene, said their objective, which extends beyond the Easter celebrations, was to record a zero-accident during the celebration, a time when most accidents had occurred in the past.
To achieve this, he said, the campaign would be extended to the lorry stations to create awareness of the use of seat belts and other road safety regulations,” he stated.
He said on the eve of Easter, they would organise a give-away campaign for drivers whose passengers would testify on their behalf as having behaved well and observed all the road signs and regulations.

Contractors charged to expedite action on the projects

2009-04-14T12:03:00.000-07:00

THE Minister of Roads and Highways, Mr Joe Gidisu, has charged contractors working on major road projects in Accra to expedite action on the projects.
He said: “We want the best value for our money” and urged the contractors to deliver on their promises to complete the projects within the extended period they had requested for after their initial contract period had expired.
He made the statement when he led a delegation from the ministry to inspect some project sites under the Road Sector Development Programme (RSDP) in Accra.
The sites visited by the minister included the Tetteh-Quarshie Mallam Extension project, the Asafoaste Nettey and Korle Lagoon Roads, which entail the construction of some selected roads in the Central Business District of Accra, and the Alajo Bypass, Transport Terminal Extension and Service Roads dubbed the ‘Achimota Terminal project’.
Mr Gidisu gave the assurance that his ministry would liaise with the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning to ensure that outstanding debts due the contractors were paid to ensure the smooth execution of the projects.
Whilst commending the contractors for work done so far at the different project sites, he acknowledged the fact that most of the projects had halted as a result of the delay in the release of funds to pay the contractors.
Mr Gidisu reminded the contractors that although they were expected to complete the various projects on schedule, they should place more emphasis on quality of the work.
The Project Manager for the Achimota Terminal Project, Mr Kwabena Bempong, gave the assurance that the project, which was supposed to be completed by January this year, was 63 per cent and would be ready by July 2009.
He stated that the terminal had work to be completed on a holding area for vehicles and would serve as a major public transport facility for the Kwame Nkrumah Circle-Achimota road, adding that it would be managed by a private administrator and supervised by the Accra Metropolitan Assembly after completion.
The Project Manager for the Asafoaste Nettey and Korle Lagoon roads, Mr Bu Zhueinq also gave the assurance that the first phase of the projects, which involves the construction of the stretch of bridge on the Korle Lagoon, would be completed by the end of October 2009 whilst the second phase, which has already started, would be completed by September 2009.
He promised that the temporary road linking the High Street through James Town to the Asafoaste Nettey Road would also be opened to traffic by May.
Meanwhile, most members of the Used Car Dealers Association of Ghana whose activities delayed the start of the Tetteh-Quarshie Mallam Extension project have relocated to a parcel of land allocated to them at Amasaman, a suburb of Accra.
The Chairman of the association, Nana Yeboah, gave the assurance that the rest of them would relocate soon.
The Project Manager for the Tetteh-Quarshie Mallam Extension work, Mr Koranteng Yorke, promised that the work would be completed on scheduled considering the fact that the used car dealers were co-operating with them.

Rehabilitation of Nkrumah Memorial Park to cost GH¢563

2009-04-14T12:01:00.000-07:00

AN assessment of the cost of rehabilitation and maintenance needed at the Kwame Nkrumah Memorial Park by the Public Works Department (PWD) indicates that about GH¢563,000 will be needed to restore the facility.
The cost, according to the Chief Director of the Ministry of Chieftancy & Culture, Mrs Emma Lilian Bruce-Lyle who directed the PWD to undertake the assessment, may shoot up before work begins on the facility as a result of the appreciating cost of materials needed for the restoration.
She disclosed that since the present government made no allocation of funds under the ‘Investment Vote’ for the Nkrumah Memorial Park in its budget for the ministry, the cost would be referred to the Office of the President for consideration.
The Minister for Chieftancy and Culture, Mr Alex Asum-Ahensah, had directed the PWD to ascertain the cost of maintenance and repair works at the memorial park following reports that major works needed to be done on the facility which houses the body and personal property of the country’s first President, Dr Kwame Nkrumah.
Some of the items that stand the risk of being destroyed in the event of a downpour are the desk used by the former President at the Flag Staff House, a dressing mirror he used at Lincoln University, collections of his photographs with other prominent world leaders, copies of his books, a stool and walking sticks.
Mrs Bruce-Lyle said areas identified by the PWD for repair and maintenance include the re-wiring of the museum which had not undergone any maintenance works since its establishment.
Additionally, she indicated that the report by the PWD had recommended the replacement of the fountain at the park with a stainless steel system to avoid rust and the provision of a bore-hole to feed the fountain.
She pointed out that the PWD had also recommended the provision of a glass house where two vehicles, a Rolls Royce and a Pontiac used by Dr Nkrumah during the independence celebration in 1957 would be housed.
Apart from these and those identified by the authorities of the park, she said the assessment team had recommended a general rehabilitation of the grounds and all edifices at the park to ensure their sustainability.
In addition, the team had recommended the erection of the busts of Sekou Toure, the first President of Guinea; Dr Kwame Nkrumah and Madibo Keita, the first President of Mali, in recognition of their commitment to the Pan-African ideology and the cordial relationship among the three countries.

Eleven Courts sits at Nsawam Prisons

2009-04-08T02:54:00.000-07:00

ELEVEN Courts sat at the Nsawam Medium Security Prisons yesterday to hear over 300 remand cases, expired warrants and other related cases.
The courts were made up of eight magistrate’s court, two circuit courts and one High Court.
The magistrate’s courts were the Osu, La, Madina, Community Centre, City Engineers, James Town, Amasaman and Adjabeng, whilst the two circuit courts were from the Cocoa Affairs Court.
Mr Justice Clemence Honyenuga, a Justice of the Appeal Court who sat as an additonal High Court Judge was appointed by the Chief Justice, Mrs Justice Georgina T. Wood, to supervise the sitting of the courts on the prison’s premises.
The High Court was mandated to sit in the prisons because some of the cases were murder and rape, which are beyond the jurisdiction of the magistrate’s and circuit courts, while some had to be referred to the Attorney-Generals Department for advice.
The sitting followed a directive by the Chief Justice to the various courts to deal with the cases, which had been the subject of media reports and discussions.
It also came in the wake of the government’s commitment not to subscribe to the selective application of justice in the governance of the country.
Briefing newsmen before the sitting of the courts, a circuit court judge, Justice Mahama Iddrisu, indicated that the purpose of the sitting was to renew the warrant of arrests of prisoners to legalise their stay in custody.
The total number of inmates currently at the Nsawam Prisons is 2,918, which includes 1,711 on remand, 77 condemned, 77 on life sentence and the others on various charges.
A visit round the courts by the Daily Graphic revealed that most of the cases had not been continued because of the inconclusive nature of investigations by the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) of the Ghana Police Service, resulting in some of the prisoners being on remand for up to 15 years.
In one of the hearings at the Amasaman court, further probing by the judge revealed that a murder case involving Osumanu Awuni Kwadwo had been on remand since April 2007 and had been abandoned by the investigator.
Osumanu told the court that he was supposed to appear in court two weeks after the first hearing of his case but his investigator had categorically told him that he was not going to come back and so he should pray to God for a miracle.
The court broke into laught
Godwin Bedi, a 23-year-old inmate, said he was arrested on suspicion of robbery when he was 15 years old and had been on remand for eight years since 2000.
According to him, the investigator who was handling his case was transferred after he appeared only once at the Adjabeng Court and had been on remand since then because no investigator had been assigned to handle his case.

Agric is key to economic self-reliant- Ahwoi

2009-04-08T02:49:00.000-07:00

THE Minister for Food and Agriculture, Mr Kwesi Ahwoi, has given the assurance that the government’s quest to build a self-reliant economy using agriculture as key to its economic policy is achievable.
He said his ministry, apart from the Aveyime Rice Project and other such projects under the Ghana Irrigation Development Authority (GIDA), had initiated a master plan to grow rice all over the country in areas where the crop could be cultivated, taking into consideration quality as its key measure.
Responding to questions on a field excursion to the Aveyime Rice Project which is a joint venture among the government of Ghana, with 30 per cent share, Prairie Texas Limited, with 40 per cent share, and the Development Finance and Holding Company, a subsidiary of the Ghana Commercial Bank, with 30 per cent share, Mr Ahwoi said the Aveyime Rice Project would spearhead the country’s quest to feed itself, thereby ensuring food security for all Ghanaians, and pointed out that the government was very committed to the project.
Together with a delegation from his ministry, the media and some officials of Prairie Volta Limited, the minister visited all the various sites, including the 3,177-acre field under the project which shares borders with the Volta River, a pumping station, the milling facility with 60,000-tonne capacity and eight silos with capacity to store about 15,000 tonnes of paddy rice.
Mr Ahwoi, however, disclosed that the government, in its efforts at making the country self-reliant, was considering the imposition of taxes on imported rice to change the marketing attitude of rice importers and force them to produce local rice.
“The government is looking at using the tariff mechanism to discourage the heavy dependent on rice imports,” he stated, and stressed that the rationale behind that measure was to build on the country’s local rice base using the Aveyime Rice Project and other small-scale irrigation projects under GIDA.
The Chief Operating Officer, Mr John Van-Dyke Mensah, announced that the first harvest from an 80-acre field, which was part of the project’s 3,177 acres, would begin in early June and promised that the company would make sure that its rice was of quality and far cheaper than imported rice to discourage the country’s over-dependence on imported rice.
The prices, he stated, would come down, taking into consideration the minimum wage, to ensure that all Ghanaians were able to afford them.
Presently, he said, the company was awaiting the arrival of an air plane which would spray the crops with chemicals before harvest begins in June and pointed out that if things went well the company would be growing and harvesting all-year round.
Mr Mensah attributed the poor quality of locally produced rice to the cultural practices among farmers, hinting that time and the production process were critical to the final output.
The Managing Director of Prairie Volta Limited, Mr Everett Anderson, explained that the company had planted 16 rice varieties, 10 foreign and six local, on small-scale research plots to identify the suitable varieties and farming procedures.
The results on all the varieties, which matured within 90-100 days after cultivation, he attested, proved successful and that encouraged the company to replicate it on all the acres presently allocated for the project.
Mr Anderson said other equipment, including those designed to work in clayey fields in the rainy season, was expected in the country soon so that production could be undertaken all-year round in order for the company to meet its set targets.
The Deputy Chief Executive of GIDA, Mr Daniel Nyarko Ohene, announced that a feasibility study on the 200,000-hectare Accra Plains would be due by June 2009.
He said out of the 200,000 hectares, 150,000 would be irrigated and the government would apportion it to farmers for the cultivation of various crops, according to its policy.

Call on media to foster unity

2009-04-01T11:14:00.001-07:00

A Deputy Minister for Education, Dr Joseph Annan, has urged journalists to use the power of the media to foster unity among Ghanaians and shy away from tendencies that may polarise the country.
“The media must be used to assist our development efforts,” he said, and challenged all stakeholders to adopt a transformational shift to the pressing needs and aspirations of the country.
The Dr Annan was speaking at the launch of the 50th anniversary of the Ghana Institute of Journalism (GIJ) in Accra yesterday, on the theme: “50 years of Ghana Institute of Journalism: Defining Africa’s Communication Agenda”.
He said the theme for the celebration was in accordance with the vision of Osagyefo Dr Kwame Nkrumah, Ghana’s first president, whose intention to establish the institution was to ensure that Ghana equally rubbed shoulders with the rest of the world.
“This compelled Nkrumah to declare in 1965 that the media should not be used just for entertainment but the vanguard for societal transformation,” he emphasised, and described GIJ as on of the foremost journalism institutions in Africa.
“GIJ since its inception has played a vital role in the country’s international image which is hugely attributed to the media,” he said, and expressed the government’s unflinching commitment to build a harmonious relationship with the media.
Dr Annan observed that a credible media certainly reflected the quality of information processed for public consumption and asked journalists to understand the need for their role in the country’s development agenda in the wider picture.
He, therefore, urged journalists to specialise in specific fields of endeavour to improve the quality and standard of the profession, promising that the government was committed to ensuring that the standard and quality of tertiary education improved tremendously.
The Managing Director of Graphic Communications Group Limited (GCGL), Mr Ibrahim Awal, a past student of the institute, observed that the unique role that the institute had played in the country’s development was immeasurable.
“We need journalists to lead in the development agenda of the country as we move higher as a nation,” he stated, and cautioned journalists that in writing articles, the interest of the nation must be paramount.
He made a pledge that the Graphic Communications Group would support the institute with GH¢10,000 to address some of its challenges.
The acting Rector of GIJ, Mr Kweku Rockson, said the goal of the institute was to provide students with quality tuition with emphasis on research as the basis of the country’s development.
He said although the institute was still constrained in terms of space, with assistance from the GETFund, it hoped to increase the number of student intake yearly.
The institute, he said, had reformed its curriculum to reflect the changes in the communication industry and was committed to playing its role in the country’s young democracy.
An anniversary cloth was launched and a logo unveiled to celebrate the occasion, which ends in October, 2009.
Some of the activities outlined for the celebration are a homecoming health walk, lectures, open day exhibition, fun games, community outreach, a dinner and a thanksgiving service to climax the celebration.

Journalsits urged to focus on behavioural change

2009-03-31T11:31:00.000-07:00

THE Managing Director of the Graphic Communications Group Limited (GCGL), Mr Ibrahim Awal, has urged journalists to write persuasive articles that will change people’s attitudes and behaviour towards HIV/AIDS and the people affected by the pandemic.
He observed that journalists seldom wrote on HIV/AIDS, adding that “the more journalists write on HIV/AIDS, the more they create the much-needed awareness of it in the minds of the general public”.
Mr Awal made the appeal when a two-member delegation from the Ghana Business Coalition Against HIV/AIDS (GBCA) called on him in Accra yesterday. They were Dr Derek Nii Armah Aryee, the Programme Director, and Dr Adriana Ignea, the Programme Officer.
He noted that the GCGL being a corporate entity, staff development was a major priority area, for which reason it continued to provide free health care for its staff, their spouses and a maximum of six children.
That, he said, was aimed at ensuring that the health status of its staff was improved tremendously, pointing out that the company did not discriminate against members of staff who suffered from any kind of disease.
“It is in pursuance of this objective that the company had been collaborating with the GBCA in its activities, to the extent of granting the coalition gratis in the form of adverts, together with the Ghana AIDS Commission, in view of the seriousness the company attaches to the disease,” he said.
He advised other organisations to give support to both the GBCA and the commission in the execution of their respective mandates, adding, “We should not underrate the effect of the disease on the workforce of any organisation, as well as the country’s human resource development.”
Mr Awal expressed the company’s appreciation towards the GBCA’s support to the GCGL’s annual health walk against HIV/AIDS.
Mr Aryee also expressed his appreciation to the company for supporting the GBCA in its campaign against HIV/AIDS since its formation two years ago.
Briefing Mr Awal on the achievements of the coalition so far, the programme director said membership had increased from the initial 500 and was still on the increase.
He said aside from media publicity, the coalition published an annual newsletter to promote its campaign.

Ghanaians confident of future- veep

2009-03-31T11:07:00.000-07:00

THE Vice President, Mr John Dramani Mahama, has observed that the government and people of Ghana are proud of and confident in the future of the country.
“As one of the leading stars of a continent that is rediscovering the path to progress after a long period of underdevelopment, we are well on track in entrenching constitutional rule and multi-party democracy as the safest political security for social and economic progress,” he stated.
The Vice President was speaking at the launch of e-Transact, an international electronic transaction payment platform designed to make financial transactions with banks more secure, easier and faster, either by using a mobile phone, an e-Transact smartcard or on the Internet.
Mr Mahama stressed that the confidence of the government and people of Ghana had proven to be well founded in the past 17 years, and expressed the conviction that the current interest the investor community had in the economy was the result of what the country had been able to achieve collectively as a nation since the adoption of the 1992 Constitution.
He expressed optimism that the use of the e-Transact electronic transaction platform would reduce cash transactions and enhance the creation of credit by the financial sector, as well as reduce the huge capital outlay the country committed into the printing of the currency at the moment.
Mr Mahama gave the assurance that the government would play its part to ensure that the management of e-Transact enhanced their operations in order to meet their goals.
He, therefore, encouraged the management to quickly extend its activities to other parts of the country to enable a larger percentage of the populace to benefit from the speed and efficiency of the electronic transaction system.
The Governor of the Bank of Ghana, Dr Paul Acquah, observed that the financial sector, which has seen a significant degree of transformation, remained reasonably healthy and one of the most vibrant sectors of the economy.
“It has been built on a set of legislation and regulations that have established a framework for the development of a modern banking and financial services industry, “ he said.
Citing the e-zwich payment system as an equally essential effort to create a safe and efficient payment and settlement system infrastructure, Dr Acquah hinted that the Ghana Interbanking Payment and Settlement System (GHIPSS), a branchless banking framework, was being developed with the e-zwich biometrics smartcard as its core.
“It allows us to tap technology to provide a wide range of services and products to the public. It opens access to the unbanked segment of the population, including those who cannot read or write, in the urban, as well as in the rural areas, ” he stated.
To ensure that there was a broad-based participation by users and service providers for the successful development of branchless banking, Dr Acquah urged the management of e-Transact to open up and not have exclusive partners to enable customers to undertake transactions across all platforms.
The Global Chief Executive Officer of e-Transact, Mr Valentine Obi, said e-Transact was a Pan-African organisation with operations in other countries, including Cote d’Ivoire, Nigeria, South Africa, Zimbabwe and The United Kingdom.
Their decision to come Ghana, he said, was based on the enviable position of Ghana on the continent, and after 18 months of operations in the country, they felt vindicated about their confidence in Ghana.
The electronic platform, according to Mr Obi, was designed by Africans for Africa and to take the African payment systems to the next level without having to go through the challenges and difficulties that the Western world had to go through at the beginning of their journey into electronic payment systems.
Mr Obi announced that e-Transact was developing its regional headquarters office complex in Accra, to cater for their operations in the sub-region, and pointed out that the complex would house the e-Transact Global training centre, a data centre and a disaster recovery site for Global e-Transact.

Caption: The Vice President, Mr John Dramani Mahama (right), cuts a tape to unveil a prototype of the new e-Transact smartcard. Looking on (from left) are the Deputy Finance Minister, Mr Seth Terkper, Governor of the Bank of Ghana, Dr Paul Acquah and the Global Chief Executive Officer of the e-Transact, Mr Valentine Obi.

Military High Command urged to liaise with financial institutions for support- Defence Minister

2009-03-31T02:11:00.000-07:00

THE Minister of Defence, Lt Gen Joseph Henry Smith (retd), has urged the Military High Command to liaise with financial institutions and construction companies in their effort to provide adequate accommodation for military personnel.
That, he said, would help decongest the housing systems in military establishments in order to reduce the pressure on particularly young military recruits who were mostly affected.
Lt Gen Smith was speaking during a working visit to units and military establishments within five garrisons in Accra.
The visits, according to the minister, were to enable him to acquaint himself with and ascertain the various challenges faced by the military so that, together with the Military High Command, he would find ways to address them.
Lt Gen Smith also took time to visit some of the housing projects being undertaken by some heads of units and service personnel with their own funds and other housing projects under construction with funds from the Ghana Armed Forces (GAF).
He pledged to ensure that those who constructed apartments with their own funds were re-imbursed by the ministry after completion and also directed contractors who were building housing projects with funds from the GAF to ensure that the buildings were completed by September this year.
The minister observed that there were too many kiosks at the barracks and described the situation as unacceptable.
The Army Commander, Lt Gen Samuel A. Odotei, took the minister round the various units and explained some of the challenges faced by the personnel and how those challenges could be resolved with assistance from the government and the private sector.
Another challenge that was identified, apart from the accommodation problem, was the use and maintenance of vehicles. Apparently, some vehicles were not being used for the appropriate purposes, while others were being strained or overused.
Lt Gen Odotei suggested the decentralisation of vehicles at the various garrisons in the regions to reduce the strain on vehicles which had to travel sometimes from Accra to Tamale and back.

UGBS launches business journal

2009-03-30T10:31:00.000-07:00

A BUSINESS journal, Management and Organisation: A Multidisciplinary Journal of Business, developed by the University of Ghana Business School (UGBS) has been launched in Accra.
The journal which will be published in two volumes, January and June, will be circulated worldwide.
It is international and multidisciplinary in character, and seeks to promote the interplay and nexus between organisational functionality, management practice and economic/national development.
The journal also aims at facilitating greater understanding of organisational and managerial processes and functions and critical firm level challenges facing developing and emerging areas.
It also seeks to publish works that test, advance and develop models, frameworks and concepts in the broad areas of management, organisation, finance, public sector management and decision systems.
Giving a background to the journal, its Editor, Dr Bill Puplampu, who is also a lecturer at the UGBS, said the journal was not entirely new, since the UGBS had a similar publication in the late 1970’s.
He said the school had a journal called The Journal of Management Studies, which died sometime in 2003 and was revised under an entirely new editorial board.
Dr Puplumpu said the journal would periodically accept prescriptive, theoretical and conceptual papers, which present sufficient ground-breaking discourse of theory, models and methodological paradigms, reviews of the literature or practice which lead to new understandings.
The Editor pointed out that the journal sought to pursue a policy of double-blind peer-review, while papaers will vary in length from 5,000 to 7,500 words, but explained that papers outside this range may be considered under special circumstances.
He promised that the editorial team would make sure that the publication was available to the business community and also see to it that a column was reserved for practitioners to also contribute.
Launching the journal, the Pro-Vice Chancellor of the University of Ghana, Professor Kwesi Yankah, said the publication had come at a time when there was a resurgence of research and publishing at the university and commended the editorial board and the UGBS for adding to the stock of journals founded and nurtured by the university.
He said the university considered publications, seminars and conferences as key outlets for knowledge dissemination since they offered opportunities for peer review, assessment and commentary in order to determine one’s standing within a discipline.
To promote that cause, Prof. Yankah disclosed that the university had boosted the budget for research and conferences, and put in place measures to facilitate access to funds by students and expressed the hope that the journal would trigger the delivery of several other journals in the university and beyond.
“This year, the Research Committee has received a record number of applications for research funding, and the university administration having been thus encouraged, has further boosted funding for research for the next academic year”, he stated.
Prof. Yankah said the university would institute an initiative through which students would be able to assess lecturers as part of efforts to improve knowledge construction and its dissemination at the university, saying that the move formed part of measures aimed at improving academic standards as well as the quality of scholars that graduate from the university.
He was optimistic that the measure would additionally encourage research and scholarship and publications within the university so that graduates did not end up as half-baked impostors.
The assessment of lecturers by students, Prof. Yankah said, was a practice that had been standardised in several universities across the world and their decision to formally introduce it at the university was informed by recommendations from a report put together by a Visitation Panel instituted by the University Council.
"To us as a university, knowledge construction and dissemination have been our mainstay", he noted and emphasised that since the establishment of the university in 1948, these have been our major preoccupation,” he stated.
“We disseminate knowledge through teaching and publication, but what is the value of teaching if this is not informed by quality research and inquiry into various aspects of discipline”, he stated and pointed out that the quality of teaching at the university had often been founded on quality research”.
That, he said was the reason why the university ensured that the teaching departments spent 70 per cent of their time teaching, and 30 per cent on research, while the Research Departments spent 30 per cent of their time teaching and 70 per cent on research.
The Managing Director of Cal Bank, Mr Frank Adu, who spoke on the topic “Academic Thinking and Management Issues,” drew the attention of the audience which comprised mainly scholars from the academia, to the fact that graduates from universities often failed to observe certain critical details relevant to the stability of an organisation.
He said his experience with products from the universities revealed that they lacked critical and analytical thinking as well as self motivation, and the application of ethics.
Mr Adu nonetheless agreed that academic thinking and management issues would continue to be relevant because the business community depended on academic thinking for decision making.
The acting Dean of the UGBS, Mr S. Takyi-Asiedu, gave the assurance that the journal would serve as a medium to disseminate research findings from lecturers in the country’s maiden universities and other parts of the world.
He expressed confidence that the journal absolutely met international standards, considering the membership of its editorial board.

Caption: Pix-1 The Pro-Vice Chancellor of the UG, Professor Kwesi Yankah, displaying a copy of the journal, “Management and Organisation: A Multidisciplinary Journal of Business” by the University of Ghana Business School (UGBS).

Pix-2- from left to right, The Editor of the publication, Dr Bill Puplampu, the Acting Dean of UGBS, Mr S. Takyi-Asiedu, the Managing Director of Cal Bank, Mr Frank Adu and the Pro-Vice Chancellor of the UG, Professor Kwesi Yankah after the launch of the journal.

Government will withdraw accreditation- if Private tertiary institutions performing poorly

2009-03-30T02:12:00.000-07:00

THE government will not hesitate to withdraw the accreditation of any private tertiary institution in the country found to be operating below the required standards, the Vice President, Mr John Dramani Mahama, has stated.
He noted that this was in line with the government’s determination not to compromise on the quality of education which was the secret behind the development of any nation.
“It is the people that make up the country. That is why we have to concentrate on eradicating illiteracy and provide opportunities for all our people to be educated,” he said.
The Vice President was speaking at the second graduation and fourth matriculation ceremony of the Regent University College of Science and Technology held in Accra at the Weekend.
Mr Mahama however gave the assurance that the government would continue to collaborate with the private sector in the provision of quality education to eradicate illiteracy because it believed that public institutions of higher education alone could not provide the human resource needs of the country.
He urged all private tertiary institutions in the country to inject into their graduates an entrepreneurial spirit to enable them to set up their own businesses to create employment for others instead of seeing themselves as only fit to be employees.
In all, over 230 students graduated from the university whilst over 500 students were admitted into different programmes, including Bachelor Degree programmes in Accounting and Information Systems, Economic with Computing, Management with Computing, Computer Science and Computing with Education.
The President and Chief Executive of the University, Professor E. Kingsley Kwabena Larbi, paid tribute to all teachers, stating that education was the greatest investment any country could make.
He gave the assurance that the university would work in collaboration with the central government to eradicate illiteracy in situations where students at the lower and tertiary levels could not afford their tuition fees.
Prof. Larbi expressed the belief that democracy could only be entrenched if the majority of the population was educated in order to make informed decisions as to who governs them.
He noted that a major challenge facing the country in the 21st Century was the widening gap between the poor and the rich, which resulted from the lack of adequate education in the rural areas.
To help salvage the situation, Prof. Larbi announced that the Regent University had taken steps to support some children from indigent families in junior and senior high schools in the Eastern Region and intended to extend the support to cover students from other regions.
Additionally, he said the university had established the Regent-Ghana Jubilee Scholarship Fund to support needy students as well as students with great leadership potential in areas consistent with the vision of the university.
Degrees were conferred on graduands from the School of Informatics and Engineering, and the School of Arts and Social Sciences.
In the awards categories, Master Francis Agbewali was adjudged the overall best student in academics and for best character, as well as the best student in the School of Arts and Social Sciences.
The best student in the School of Informatics & Engineering was awarded to Master Emmanuel Asimani whilst the Best Computer Science Student was awarded to Ms Diana Ademola.

Caption: Master Francis Agbewali receiving his award as the overall best student in academics and best character from the Rector of the Pentecost University, Reverend Ohene Kyei.

Girl, 7, killed in accident

2009-03-24T10:34:00.000-07:00

A SEVEN-year-old girl, Vera Naa Larko Laryea, was reported dead after being hit by a BMW saloon car, with registration number GW 8133 R and driven by a police officer, on the First Light-Flamingo road in Accra yesterday.
Vera, according to his brother, Shedrach Laryea, was returning from Sunday School at the Mataheko J.T. Primary School when the accident occurred.
Eyewitnesses at the scene of the accident alleged that the police officer (name withheld by the police), overlooked the traffic light which had turned red and drove through it at top speed, killing Vera instantly.
When contacted, Inspector J. Asherowu of the Kaneshie Divisional Police said he and three others were on patrol when they saw a mob on the verge of attacking the police officer who had hit Vera.
"On reaching the scene, we saw a mob who had gathered around the BMW, the officer and the victim, who lay on the ground. We did not know whether the child was dead or not so as part of our duty to protect the lives of citizens and their property, we had to ward the mob off and when they refused I fired two warning shots to ward them off," he stated.
He explained that after unsuccessful calls for an ambulance from the Kaneshie Police, the patrol team, together with two relatives of Vera’s, took the deceased to the Police Hospital where she was pronounced dead on arrival.
Inspector Asherowu said he and his colleagues returned to the accident scene to move the car to the station but they realised that the mob had deflated its tyres and even wanted to cause further damage to it.
He said they then advised the suspect to report himself at the Kaneshie Police Station and he heeded their advice.
When the Daily Graphic visited the Kaneshie Police Station around midday yesterday, the suspect was behind bars.
The Station Officer at the Kaneshie Motor Traffic and Transport Unit (MTTU), Chief Inspector Samuel Amoani, said the police received a call on the accident and followed up to the scene to ascertain the cause of the accident.
"At the scene, we met some family members of the deceased, spoke with them and also listened to accounts of eyewitnesses at the scene," he said, and added that the police were yet to question the suspect, who would assist them in further investigations.

Caption:
Pix: 1 The BMW saloon car that hit the deceased, killing her instantly.
Pix: 2 An eyewitness (hands stretched) explaining how the accident occurred to the Dansoman District Police Commander, ASP Yartey Tawiah, who was at the scene to find out the cause of the accident.
Next to him is Inspector J. Asherowu of the Kaneshie Divisional Police.

Meet all deadlines on banking regulations- Deputy Minister advices financial institutions

2009-03-23T07:07:00.000-07:00

THE Deputy Minister of Finance Mr Seth Terkper has encouraged banks and all financial institutions to act swiftly in meeting all the regulations and deadlines set by the Bank of Ghana.
He said this would position the country to meet the challenges of the finacial crisis and find solution to the meltdown should it hit the shores of the country.
Speaking at the launch of the first-ever three-day banking fair organised by Stanbic Bank in Accra last Thursday, Mr Terkper said the country was going through some micro-economic instability but the government would adopt the best policies and measures to ensure that the country was placed on a sound footing to promote growth and prosperity in the economy.
“The government is committed to building a vibrant private sector knowing that once that sector is encouraged to grow it will not only expand by creating job opportunities for the people of this country but will also contribute to improving the standard of living our people whilst contributing to our GDP”, he stated.
Mr Terkper commended Stanbic bank for its $100 million facility support for peasant farmers in Ghana and three other African countries to improve productivity, increase income and to alleviate poverty.
He said the fair was timely because it would afford both individuals and the business community the opportunity to experience a more direct and personal discussion of their banking requirements with the bank in order to get the best advice for their financial and business concerns.
“This initiative by Stanbic will also renew confidence in the banking system as an integral intermediary in our financial system,” he added and expressed optimism that the fair could also reduce the low understanding of what banks offered and the inability of banks to tailor their services and products to meet the needs of the public.
Some of the products and services on display at the fair which received high patronage by some members of the media, business executives, and the general public included an Internal banking and mobile top up stand, E-zwich, Investment banking, Personal lending, Transnational and Saving Product, Global Transactional banking and Custody Services.
Guests at the fair had an opportunity to conduct banking businesses, open accounts, and held discussions on vehicle and asset financing as well as received corporate banking solution after the launch of a new product known as ‘new Business online (nBol).
The new product nBol is a single online platform with a single point of entry for clients to perform multiple functions across Africa.
The Managing Director of Stanbic Bank, Mr Alhassan Andani said the bank since its commencement of business in Ghana, had 22 branches and 460 employees.
He said the theme for the fair, “Money Matter” was chosen to demystify banking and to get their services closer to their customers and prospective ones.

Let’s all unite to fight violence against women

2009-03-23T06:54:00.000-07:00

THE Public Information Officer of the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR), Mrs Needa Jehu-Hoyah, has stated that the fight to end violence against women will succeed if both men and women adopt a united effort.
She said the theme for this year’s International Women’s Day celebration, “Women and men: United to end violence against women”, was in consonance with the UNHCR’s mandate for the protection of the rights of refugees, adding, “The pursuit of gender equality through targeted actions of empowering women and girls remains a fundamental aspect of UNHCR’s work.”
Mrs Jehu-Hoyah was speaking on behalf of the UNHCR High Commissioner, Mr Antonio Guterres, at a durbar to honour 480 women, including 30 survivors of domestic and gender violence, trained by the UNHCR in various skills at the Buduburam Refugee Camp in the Central Region.
The durbar was held to climax this year's International Women's Day,
The training formed part of the commission’s efforts to forge peaceful co-existence between refugees and the host communities by organising programmes to enhance the lives of both parties.
The information officer contended that in situations of forced displacement, no one was spared deprivation, stating that violence, particularly sexual and gender-based, was a major characteristic of contemporary conflict.
“We have framed the matter positively, highlighting the role of all of us in promoting human rights and gender equality,” she stated, adding, “It begins with me; it begins with you, it begins with us.”
The Director of the Central Regional Department of Women, Mrs Paulina Abayage, enumerated the types of domestic violence and said they included physical, sexual and psychological violence, as well as non-verbal and economic violence, which she described as a situation where men denied their spouses the opportunities of becoming economically viable.
According to her, domestic violence in the Central Region was on the increase and that the best way to minimise it was through awareness creation and the expression of extreme love for victims.
She also spoke about the crucial role of women in conflict, and citing the Liberian civil war as an example, she said the war in that country would not have degenerated to that extent if women’s role in conflict management had been recognised and utilised appropriately.

Caption : The Head of Women of Glory at the Buduburam Camp, Madam Kebah Freeman (left), receiving a certificate from the Public Information Officer of the UNHCR, Mrs Needa Jehu-Hoyah (middle), for her contribution to the promotion of the welfare of women and growth women associations at the camp. With them (right) is the Repatriation Officer at the camp, Madam Olivia Shannon.

CEIBA Airline makes debut flight to Accra

2009-03-23T06:43:00.000-07:00

CEIBA Intercontinental Airline, an airline from Equatorial Guinea, has started operations in Ghana to provide air services and deepen existing bonds between the two countries.
The move is expected to open up the two countries for increased business as well help connect the West and Central African regions.
The Minister for Roads and Transport, Mr Mike Hammah, said the the inauguration of the flight in Accra that the initiative was timely considering the difficulty of flight connections and limited availability of flights options for travel within the sub-region.
"The government of Ghana believes that the development of the region requires much more attention and integration than has been forthcoming in the past and we consider transportation especially air travel as an essential vehicle to move economic development at a quicker pace", he remarked.
The flight operations are in line with a Memorandum of Understanding between the Ghana Aeronautical and the Equatorial Guinea authorities recently signed for the provision of air services between the two countries.
He said under the terms airlines of the two countries were at liberty to operate air services for both passenger and cargo.
"The two states also concluded and initiated a main text on Bilateral Air Services Agreement (BASA), which now is expected to undergo ratification in the respective countries before the signing of the agreement", Mi Hammah added.
CEIBA Intercontinental is the national airline of Equatorial Guinea which will fly four times from Accra to Malabo via Cotonou and Abudjan and also land in Libreville, Brazaville, Bata and Pointe Noire.
The Chief Executive of CEIBA, Mr Mamadou Jaye, commended Ghanaian and Equatorial Guinean authorities for their swiftness and efficiency in implementing the open skies agreement between the two countries.
The opening of the Ghanaian skies, he acknowledged, would go a long way to boost the expansion efforts of the Equatorial Guinea national carrier which started operations only in 2007.
The relationship between Ghana and that country dates back decades, as Malabo, one of its major cities, was built out of the ancient Island of Francisco Miacias Nguema (Fernando Po), from where Tetteh Quarshie brought cocoa to Ghana that has become an important cash crop for the country.
The airline has dominance in the Central African Republic and is seeking to widen its presence in West Africa, with Accra as its hub within the sub-region.
Many of its nationals, civil servants and professionals of Equatorial Guinea are products of Ghanaian institutions of higher learning and are still coming here to train.
“The economic importance of Ghana in the sub-region as the first Anglophone country we have interactions with is bound to contribute to drawing our countries closer to the realisation of objectives we have set for ourselves,” Mr Mamadou said.

China will fulfil promise to Africa

2009-03-17T09:43:00.000-07:00

THE Government of the People's Republic of China has given the assurance that it will continue to fulfil the promises it made to Africa during the China-Africa Summit in 2006.
China, at the end of the two-day Beijing Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Co-operation, gave a promise to double its aid and trade to Africa to $100 billion by 2010.
The Chinese Ambassador to Ghana, Mr Yu Wenzhe, who gave the assurance when he paid a courtesy call on the Editor of the Daily Graphic, Mr Ransford Tetteh, in Accra yesterday, announced some of the measures undertaken so far to ensure that those promises made in respect of Ghana were fulfilled.
He said the Chinese Embassy was preparing to assist Ghanaians, particularly those in the media, to enrol in exchange programmes in China to learn Chinese, as well as the cultural and socio-economic activities of the people of China.
"I hope that the media in Ghana will have more opportunities to visit China, acquaint themselves with what is going on there and bring back relevant information for publication," he stated, and pointed out that if the two countries were to co-operate in an effective and efficient manner, then "it was essential that the people of both countries understood each other’s culture".
One area of constraint affecting trade between the two countries, according to the Ambassador, was the language barrier, which he said was very crucial if trade relations between the two countries were to improve significantly.
He commended the media in Ghana for their role during the 2008 elections and the transition period, stressing that "everyone was calling for peace and eventually, with the help of the media, everything came out all right".
Mr Wenzhe revealed that as part of the cultural integration programme between the two countries, the biggest news agency in China, the Xinhua News Agency, would soon send some journalists to work in Ghana and report on China-Ghana trade relations.
He expressed optimism that with the support of the media in Ghana, the team from Xinhua would be able to send first-hand information from Ghana to China, and vice versa.
Mr Tetteh, who is also the President of the Ghana Journalists Association, recalled that relations between the two countries dated back to the administration of Ghana's first President, Osagyefo Dr Kwame Nkrumah.
He said he was hopeful that the gesture by the Chinese government to assist media practitioners in Ghana to study in China would yield the desired result of breaking the language barrier to help solve issues that existed as a result of the lack of communication, adding that the difficulty encountered by traders of both countries as a result of the language barrier was not helpful.
Mr Tetteh said Ghanaians and the world at large were amazed at the technological advancement of China during the recent 2008 Olympics held in Beijing and expressed the hope that with China's assistance, Ghana and Africa in general would be able to face the storm of financial crisis facing the world.

Taylor’s trial,new form of colonialism — counsel

2009-03-17T09:41:00.000-07:00

THE lead counsel for the former Liberian President, Charles Taylor, Mr Courtenay Griffiths, has described the International Criminal Court (ICC) as a new form of neo-colonial structure being used by the West to control their former colonies.
He said in reality, “what we are witnessing in the 21st century is the creation of a new form of neo-colonialism — a colonialism by a different means” through the misuse of the International Criminal Law.
Mr Griffiths, who was speaking at a press conference on the status of Taylor’s trial by the ICC at The Hague, Holland, in Accra at the weekend, said it was time for Africans to take charge of their own destiny and not allow the Western powers to dictate to them.
While accepting that Mr Taylor was guilty of some offences against humanity before the period of his indictment, he argued that Mr Taylor’s trial had received very little publicity here in Africa, yet it was the continent which was most affected by the outcome of those proceedings, and asked why Mr Taylor’s trial had not taken place in Africa.
“Why has the African Union (AU) not established its own court to deal with issues which affect Africans in Africa? If a corporal in the American Army cannot be tried in the ICC for war crimes and crimes against humanity, how come an African president can?” he asked.
In his opinion, one reason Mr Taylor’s trial and the trial of other Africans were taken to The Hague was that it was easier to destroy the rights of a people when they were kept in the dark and added that the majority of Africans had no clue as to what was going on in The Hague.
According to him, the world had moved on since Britain’s gunboat policy in the 19th century and because that was not feasible now, the West needed a different means to control their former colonies, saying that one way of doing that was through the ICC.
That, he said, was because it was curious that no one was calling, with equal ferocity, for either former President George Bush or former British Prime Minister Tony Blair to stand trial for the atrocities instigated by them in Iraq.
Likewise, he said, there was a studied silence from the “international community” when it came to the crimes committed so recently by the state of Israel in Gaza, pointing out that impunity only became an issue if the perpetrator was a black African who did not enjoy the backing of the West.
Mr Griffiths recalled that when Mr Taylor was arrested and dragged to The Hague to stand trial, he had warned “that if they came for him in the morning they would come for others at night”, noting that that vision had now come true in the case of the President of Sudan and that the next could be President Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe.
When asked why the press conference in Ghana, he said he had come to the birthplace of Pan-Africanism, in the hope that “we can together rekindle that non-negotiable demand that Africans be treated equally on the global stage”.
“This is a good place to start with politically astute individuals. Accra is a good place because from here the fight could go across. This goes beyond Charles Taylor; let’s not personalise this because he is just being used as a catalyst for the process and if we do not halt this it will engulf us all,” he stated.
He said that was a serious issue that needed to be addressed because almost half a century after supposed independence, “we still allow this to go on”.

Cell phone thieves nabbed

2009-03-16T10:01:00.000-07:00

THE Nima Police have arrested three suspected mobile phone thieves who were alleged to have stolen over 300 mobile phones and accessories, digital cameras, cam-coders, and a play station (both video gadgets), from a phone dealer at the Tip Toe Lane near the Kwame Nkrumah Circle in Accra.
The suspects who live in Nima are, Adamu Ibrahim alias Kabruso, who allegedly masterminded the operation, and was said to be a roadside mobile phone seller,Nicholas Nimta, alias Horror, a barber and Ibrahim Hamidu also a roadside mobile phone seller.
They were arrested on March 7, 2009, and arraigned on March 10, 2009 and remanded in police custody. They are to reappear before court on March, 26, 2009.
The Nima Divisional Police Commander, Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP), Andrew Angwubatogwe Awuni, who narrated the incident to the Daily Graphic, said the complainant on March 5, 2009 got to his shop at about 7:00a.m. to start business as usual but detected that all items in his shop had been stolen.
ACP Awuni said the complainant had noticed that the thief or thieves had gained entry into his store by cutting through the backside of a wooden shop before his store, and later cutting through the side of his store which was also wooden and making away with all the items.
He said the complainant informed his friends who were also mobile phone dealers to be on the alert.
ACP Awuni said on March 7, 2009 the third accused person, Ibrahim Hamidu sold seven assorted phones at a cost of GH¢350 but the witness who knew Hamidu very well paid GH¢550 for the phones and quickly took the phones to the complainant who identified them as some of his stolen phones.
He said the witness then called Hamidu and reminded him of the over payment and requested that either he returned the balance of GH¢200 or brings more phones to cover the balance.
Consequently, he said Hamidu agreed to bring more phones to the witness, and was arrested in the process.
During interrogation, Hamidu was said to have mentioned the second accused, Nicholas Nimta as his source of supply. The witness informed the police of the information and added that upon his arrest, Nimta initially denied knowledge of the phones, but later admitted and confessed to the crime.
Two mobile phones and all the accessories for the phones and digital cameras including the cam-coders were found during a search conducted at his barbering shop.
??He said Nimta also mentioned the first accused person, Adamu Ibrahim as the person who gave him the phones and all the accessories to sell, and pointed??. When a search was conducted in his Ibrahim room after his arrest, seven pieces of Ipods, one play station, three speakers, four phones and accessories belonging to the complainant were retrieved.
ACP Awuni said Ibrahim also mentioned one Maxwell as the person who gave him the phones and digital cameras to sell but could not lead the police to the said Maxwell.
He said upon further investigations it was found that the second accused person, Nimta had given some of the stolen items to his family members to sell for him.
ACP Awuni said when Nimta was interrogated, he denied all the allegations, but on March, 9 2009 some of his family members gave 22 digital cameras and cam-coders and 20 assorted mobile phones to the complainant, claiming that they were retrieved them from some unidentified persons.
He said the items so far recovered included 40 pieces of assorted mobile phones, 47 pieces of digital cameras, seven pieces of Ipods, one play station and quantities of mobile phones and digital camera accessories. Mr Awuni said investigations were still ongoing to retrieve the remaining items.

Caption: From left to right, Nicholas Nimta, alias Horror, Adamu Ibrahim alias Kabruso, and Ibrahim Hamidu.

GTV on DStv

2009-03-12T11:08:00.001-07:00

GHANA Television (GTV) has been launched on MultiChoice Digital Satellite television (DStv), the continent’s leading satellite television service to offer subscribers in the country quality digital pictures.
This formed part of MultiChoice strategy to enhance DStv’s international status by offering as many African public broadcasters as possible to be on the DStv bouquet and also to further enhance their relationships with local broadcasters.
GTV’s services, which is available on DStv channel 142 (DStv West African bouquet) was made possible through an agreement between MultiChoice Africa and the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation (GBC).
Speaking at the launch yesterday, the General Manager of MultiChoice Ghana, Mr Samuel Baimbill-Johnson, said MultiChoice was committed to the development of the continent and also devoted to promoting and projecting Africa.
“No other company in Africa has invested as much in the creation and delivery of local content. Our sister company M-Net is the lead investor in the development and provision of local content, and are committed to unearthing local talent and building a strong television industry in the markets in which we operate”, he stated.
He said he was confident that the addition of GTV onto the DStv platform in a list of more 60 channels would add more value and viewing pleasure to their subscribers in Ghana.
“With GTV on DStv, viewers in every corner of Ghana can now access the channel with digital quality signal resulting in a much clearer picture”, he stated and pointed out that “as with other broadcasters that are on DStv platform, GTV will be available only to viewers in Ghana for a start.”
Mr Baimbill-Johnson announced that MultiChoice had experienced phenomenal growth over the last 12 months with over 200,000 subscribers signed up for DStv, bringing the total number of DStv subscribers to 2.3 million.
He, however gave the assurance that their commitment to Ghana was in the long-term because Ghana was one of their most important markets.
The Director-General of GBC, Mr William Ampem-Darko, expressed his profound gratitude to MultiChoice for the collaboration.
He was optimistic that the link would uplift the image of GTV and therefore entreated MultiChoice to give GTV a global presence to enable Ghanaians abroad to acquaint themselves with what was going on in the country.
He was however of the view that the collaboration was not a competition but a cooperation that would be beneficial to MultiChoice.

‘Let’s kick out money laundering’

2009-03-12T11:04:00.000-07:00

THE Bank of Ghana (BoG) has charged all banks and financial institutions to adhere strictly to the Anti-Money Laundering Act 2008, in order to deter people and organisations from attempts to transform illegally acquired wealth into clean resources.
The Act gives banks the legal authority to question and report large and suspicious lodgement of funds and suspicious transactions to a money laundering authority to be investigated.
With the passage of the law in response to the current threat of money laundering and terrorist financing across the world, a Financial Intelligence Centre (FIC), is being established by the BoG as provided for by the law to receive and analyse financial information and suspicious transaction for further investigations by law enforcement authorities.
The list of accountable institutions included banks and non-banking institutions, operators of game of chance, dealers of precious metals and stones, auctioneers, lawyers, accountants, real estate company or agent and non-governmental institutions that carried on activities including deposit taking of money, financing of trade, industry, commerce or agriculture, securities portfolio management and dealing in shares, stocks, bonds or other securities.
The Deputy Governor of the Bank of Ghana, Mr Lionel Van Lare Dosoo, who conveyed the directive at a seminar on "Managing the Risk of Money Laundering", emphasised that with the Ghanaian economy increasing integrating into the global financial system, it was imperative that the local financial system adhered to international best practice.
The seminar which was organised by KPMG was attended by stakeholders drawn largely from the banking community.
"Considering the critical nature of foreign investment to a developing economy like ours, it becomes extremely imperative that every efforts is made to ensure that our banks and other financial institutions adhere to strict professional banking practices to help stop these activities," he stated.
He pointed out that "where banks failed to keep a business transaction record, report suspicious transactions or an officer who commits money laundering offence, the Act empowers the FIC to obtain a search warrant to enter any premises belonging to that officer or employee of such institution.”
He disclosed that the law also allowed officials of FIC to search the premises and remove any document, material or other things important for the purpose of the law enforcement agency.
To that effect, he said, banks were also required to develop internal policies, procedures and controls aimed at countering money laundering, noting that those should include designation of compliance officers, adequate screening procedures when hiring employees and an audit function to test compliance with policies and control relating to money laundering activities.
Mr Dosoo said it was expected that the identification, documentation and record keeping of banks would help in surveillance and investigations of movements of large sums of money and monetary instruments.
The deputy governor said the central bank’s "Know Your Customer” policies were also geared towards helping banks to determine customers' true identity, sources of income and business.
The deputy governor expressed hope that the ongoing process of the National Identification Scheme would further enhance customer identification and improve transparency in banker-customer relations.
The BoG was also in close collaboration with the National Security, the Commercial Crime Unit of the Ghana Police Service and all commercial banks on issues relating to money laundering, adding that Ghana had been slated for an Anti-Money Laundering Assessment in April 2009.
Mr Dosoo said the country had also taken steps to observe international treaties and conventions on the subject.
The Head of Corporate Reporting and Investment Banking at the National Banking College (NBC), Nana Otuo Acheampong, said religious bodies had also been cited in the law and should endeavour to adhere to it.
According to him, the inclusion of religious bodies in the list of accountable institutions under the Act was to require religious leaders to also report suspicious donations to the church for investigations by the FIC.
He emphasised that an accountable institution should comply by reporting such suspicions within 24 hours after the knowledge or grounds for suspicion of the transaction.
Nana Acheampong bemoaned the fact that despite the enactment of laws designated to curb money laundering, these evils still take place and were in most cases on the increase.
"The law enforcement agencies all over the world are overwhelmed by the sheer size and sophistication that criminals are now employing to perpetrate their illegal deeds", he stated and indicated that the extent to which money was being laundered globally was estimated to be between $500 billion and $1 trillion.
A Partner of KPMG in charge of Forensic and Africa Head of Anti-Money Laundering Services, Mr Kevin West, stressed the need for complaint officers to be skilled and well trained to ensure that Ghana was not labelled a money laundering entry point to the West African sub-region.
He said although money laundering could not be completely eradicated, it was important to ensure that the country did not become a victim of people who used the country's financial institutions for criminal activities.
Addressing the participants on scenarios captured in the Global Anti-money Laundering Survey conducted in 2007, Mr Kevin said strict compliance to the law was essential for Ghana to keep a clean sheet in the face of the raging menace.

Translate ideas of Nkrumah into action — Kwesi Jonah

2009-03-12T11:02:00.000-07:00

A SENIOR Lecturer at the Department of Political Science of the University of Ghana, Legon, Mr Kwesi Jonah, has petitioned the government to fully translate the ideas of Ghana’s first President, Osagyefo Dr Kwame Nkrumah, into effective action in order to achieve the country’s development agenda.
“Most of his ideas have now found their way into state policies and principles,” he noted, and said the country could only move forward if Dr Nkrumah’s ideas were firmly integrated into the country’s development strategy.
Mr Jonah made the appeal when he addressed an audience at the second public memorial lecture on Dr Nkrumah and his centenary celebration which was held at the Arts Centre in Accra on the theme, "Osagyefo Dr Kwame Nkrumah at 100: Celebrating the Life and Legacies of a Pan-African Legend".
“Because of the foundation Dr Nkrumah laid for us, we can boldly say that we are a solidly united country,” he said, and stressed that Dr Nkrumah’s initiatives were not an end in themselves because years after his death most of his achievements were what most Ghanaians depended and prided themselves on.
“The unity of African countries — USA — was more important to him than Ghana,” he said, adding that Dr Nkrumah was of the view that “even the richest African country could not survive alone politically, economically and socially”, and that was why, during the proclamation of Ghana’s independence, Dr Nkrumah stressed the fact that “‘the independence of Ghana is meaningless unless it is linked with the total liberation of the African continent’,” he said.
He indicated that in the process, Dr Nkrumah discovered that three things needed to be firmly implemented if Africa could ever be united and they were “one currency, one army and one foreign policy”, but Kenneth Kaunda, the then President of Zambia, and other African leaders suggested co-operation along functionary lines and regional unions, which for Dr Nkrumah was not a proactive strategy.
He recounted one of Dr Nkrumah’s legacies, the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), through which Dr Nkrumah tried to bring all independent states not only in Africa but also other parts of the world, particularly those in Asia, to pursue their own objectives other than following the Eastern and Western blocs to achieve their development agenda.
Mr Jonah said though some of the members of the movement openly aligned themselves with either of the blocs, NAM could never be sidelined from Dr Nkrumah’s achievements because it formed a forum for solidarity across the world.
“Dr Nkrumah, by all standards in the world ,was a great person,” he stated, and pointed out that years after his death Africans around the world remembered him for his persistence struggle against colonialism across Africa.
Mr K. B. Asante, a retired diplomat and educationist who was a minister of state in Dr Nkrumah’s government, bemoaned the fact that years after the Kulungugu bombing, no commission of enquiry had been set up to find the culprits behind the attack.
Recounting his experiences with Dr Nkrumah, Mr Asante recalled that as a political science student he once took the opportunity to ask Dr Nkrumah why he wanted a one-party state when he had two-thirds majority in Parliament and Dr Nkrumah made it known to him that though there were talents in the Convention People’s Party (CPP), he wanted to appoint the best and most relevant Ghanaians into positions, hence his resolve to tap into all parties in a one-party state.
He said he did not even have a CPP card and did not refer to himself as an Nkrumahist but Dr Nkrumah believed and trusted in him, adding that that was why Dr Nkrumah appointed Mr J. H. Mensah in his administration.
The President of the Kwame Nkrumah Foundation, Professor Agyeman Badu Akosa, justified the legitimacy of the Preventive Detention Act (PDA) passed in July 1958 by Dr Nkrumah.
He said the Act was justifiable, even if the life of one person was saved, noting that innocent people were killed and maimed during the political tension at that time.
Prof Akosa explained that the Act was in no way different from the ‘Patriotic Act’ and the ‘Terrorism Act’ that had been passed in the United States of America (USA) and the United Kingdom (UK), respectively, but no questions had been raised against the passage of those acts.
The President of the Kwame Nkrumah Memorial Park, Mr Kwaku Manu-Asiamah, said Dr Nkrumah was great among his peers and so his ideas should not be left to die and expressed the belief that efforts at ensuring Nkrumah’s mortality should be the joint commitment of all Africans.
He advised government to negotiate with Panaf Books Limited, the publishers of Dr Nkrumah’s books, to publish the books locally for the benefit of the general public and visitors who visited the park in order to defuse false charges against Africa by Europeans that Africa had no history or philosophy.
On problems associated with the park, he said the museum, a key component of the park, had its roof and floor leaking badly.
“The cracks in the museum floor were hidden for the celebration of Ghana@50 with a carpet. Now the leakage from the floor has exposed our cosmetic attempt to solve the problem once and for all. If you enter the museum today, stains on the carpet will tell an unfriendly story,” he emphasised, and stressed that “Nkrumah was a builder and, therefore, for any building associated with his name to go to ruins is unpardonable”.

Merchant Bank goes to Abbossey Okai

2009-03-12T10:59:00.000-07:00

MERCHANT Bank Ghana Limited has widened its reach, with the opening of another branch at Abbossey Okai in Accra.
The outlet, which brings the bank’s network to 18 branches, will offer services to people in the spare parts market as well as small- and medium-scale enterprises (SMEs).
The acting Managing Director of the bank, Dr Kwame Osei-Owusu, said the presence of Merchant Bank in Abbossey Okai signified an open invitation to the chain of businesses in the area and its environs to deal with it.
He named some of the benefits to customers as the free use of automated teller machines (ATMs), zero deposit account opening, no charges for processing salaries as well as zero charges for withdrawal from personal accounts.
Dr Osei-Owusu said with good collaboration between the bank, the SMEs and business associations, they would together remove many of the barriers facing entrepreneurs in the country, and hence in the Abbossey Okai spare parts market, thus improving their business culture.
"We would not only support and partner you but we would take significant interest in the general development of the capacity of your businesses," he assured.
The Supervising Director of Merchant Bank, Nana Fredua Agyeman Pambuo I, advised staff of the bank to understand and appreciate the concerns of the customers, who mostly operate in the informal sector.
He announced that the bank would collaborate with the Member of Parliament for Ablekuma Central to ensure that a Police Station was sited in the area to provide security for their activities.
The bank said it would open 11 more branches before the end of the year.
The Member of Parliament for the Ablekuma Central, Mr Theophilus Tetteh Chaie, expressed gratitude to the bank for offering to assist in the establishment of a Police Station to beef up security at the Abossey Okai area.

VIASAT 1 launched

2009-03-06T07:20:00.001-08:00

VIASAT 1, a new television channel on Ghana’s TV screens, has been officially launched in Accra with a commitment to deliver quality programmes to viewers and advertisers.
It is owned by Modern Time Group (MTG), a Scandinavian company with coverage in over 29 countries
The Chief Executive Officer of MTG, Ms Laurence Miall d'Aout, said at the launch in Accra yesterday that the group had invested heavily in infrastructure, hinting that both their play-out facilities and transmitter sites were built with state-of-the-art equipment to enable it to provide good picture and sound quality for its audience.
"By doing this, we will drive viewers to the channel and deliver increased returns on investment for our advertisers," she stated, and expressed the belief that its way of doing business would resonate well with the expectations of its advertisers and audience.
"We are a client-focused organisation and we are here to deliver the best entertainment to viewers and first-class services to advertisers," she emphasised.
Ms d'Aout announced that the station intended to set up a transmitter site in the Northern Region, in addition to the ones already in place in the Greater Accra, Ashanti, Central and Western regions to enable it to cover densely populated areas of Ghana.
The station, according to her, had also entered into agreement with some of the biggest African content owners and secured what it believed were the best African movies, series and current affairs programmes.
Ms d'Aout said the company intended to develop good relations with newspapers, magazines and radio stations in Ghana to provide TV viewers with better and more programming information.
The Chief Executive of Viasat 1, Rune Skogeng, disclosed that the station had been awarded the national terrestrial TV licence by the National Communications Authority.
He gave the assurance that the station, with over 22 years’ experience in both radio and television broadcasting, would strictly adhere to international standards.

Ministry to adopt stringent measures to save forests

2009-03-06T07:14:00.000-08:00

THE Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, Alhaji Collins Dauda, has said the ministry will adopt stringent measures to address the problem of deforestation in mining communities in the country.
That, he said, was to ensure that residents of mining communities had sustainable livelihoods.
He gave the assurance when the Australian High Commissioner to Ghana, Mr William Williams, paid a courtesy call on him in Accra.
Alhaji Dauda identified re-afforestation as one of the areas that had not received much attention from the government and promised to carry out programmes to significantly address the phenomenon of deforestation which was fast degrading lands in the country.
“It is true that we need the minerals but the lands are being destroyed, together with the vegetation,” he stated, and indicated that the ministry would ensure that programmes on re-afforestation were effectively implemented to yield the desired results.
He acknowledged the relationship that existed between Ghana and Australia and expressed his readiness to deepen ties between the two countries.
Mr Williams expressed Australia’s commitment to address challenges in the mining sector, in view of the fact that there were some Australian companies operating in the sector.
He said he wanted to see for himself the sort of social responsibility activities that such companies were engaged in as part of measures to ensure sustained livelihoods for residents of those communities.
According to him, after taking stock of problems existing in those communities, he would seek to collaborate with the Minerals Commission and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to figure out how best those problems could be resolved.
Mr Williams invited the minister to a mining conference to be held in Australia in September this year.
The conference, he stated, would focus on Australian companies engaged in mining activities in Africa.

CEPS introduces new system

2009-03-06T07:09:00.000-08:00

THE Customs, Excise and Preventive Service (CEPS) in collaboration with Ghana Community Network Services Limited (GCNet) is to introduce the Ghana Customs Management System II (GCMSII), to enable agents to validate their documents within five minutes before clearing.
The new web-based system, which would facilitate trade between exporters and importers and increase the revenue mobilisation of CEPS, is an amendment of the current manual system being used by CEPS and will be introduced on April 6, 2009.
The Operations Manager of GCNet, Mr Chris Holden, who made this known at a stakeholders meeting in Accra last Tuesday, said the new system would improve the functionality of the operations of CEPS, by enabling agents to forward details of documents to GCNet and they in turn forward that information to CEPS for feedback, all under five minutes.
He explained that after the 'Manifest' (information submitted by the agents) had been declared and approved by CEPS officials online, the agents could then go to the CEPS depot to clear the goods without delays.
Additionally, he said, that would also avoid the falsification of payments actually made by these agents whilst processing or clearing goods for their clients.
Mr Holden said the introduction of the GCMS II was to avoid such abuses and the erroneous impression created about the level of tariffs charged in the clearance of goods through Customs, or the operational status of the current GCMS being used by CEPS.
The Deputy Systems & Database Manager of GCNet, Mr Eliot Ansah, said the meeting with the stakeholders, who were mainly clearing agents, was to help them identify shortfalls and bottlenecks faced by agents in their operations with CEPS and other agencies.
The Principal Collector of the Compliance Unit of CEPS at the Kotoka International Airport, Mr Lawrence Anang, said GCNet had impacted positively on the activities of CEPS.
According to him, the introduction of the system had fully transformed and modernised the operations of CEPS, resulting in increased revenue collection, reduction in clearance time and greater compliance by stakeholders.
In the area of capacity building, he disclosed that GCNet in an ongoing process was training personnel of CEPS in relevance modules of the system, according to their operational requirements.
"The introduction of the new system will enable importers to clear their goods within an hour," he stated, and added that that would also allow them to quickly respond to complaints from clients, and make communication with clients more flexible.

Guinness launches street dance competition

2009-03-02T08:21:00.000-08:00

GUINESS Ghana Breweries Limited (GGBL), has launched its second edition of Malta Guinness Street Dance Africa 2009.
The competition will once again showcase Ghana’s hottest dance talent, the best, vibrant and skilled dancers from across the country, following the runaway success of last year’s competition.
The Marketing Director of GGBL, Ms Ama Okyere, at the launch said, millions watched the televised programmes which showcased dancers from all over Africa, popping, locking and krumping their way to the pan-African final in August.
She recalled that Ghanaian dance stars— 2PUFF and the Nigerian dance crew SOULQUEST — threw down their hottest moves in an energetic dance-off before 2PUFF was crowned Malta Guinness Street Dance champions.
The Marketing Manager of Malta Guiness, Ms Mary Cobbla, said, from Monday, March 2, 2009,each dance crew made up of six people could visit their local recruitment centres where leaflets and demonstration videos would be made available for more information on how to participate in the event.
She added that a series of auditions in each participating country would see dance crews with the best routine entering the national stage of the competition, to compete with each other.
“The smoothest movers and shakers in Ghana will be selected to represent their country at the International Finals in September”, she stated. She promised that for those who thought last year’s show was hot, this year’s show will be even hotter.
She announced that Ghanaian hiphop dance supremo and guru, Slim Buster and some skilled membersof the entertainment industry will be judging this year’s grand final event and Malta Guinness was pulling out all the stops to put on a spectacular show which would be held in Kenya for the first time.
Ms Cobbla disclosed that winners of the Ghana competition would be flown to join counterparts from Nigeria, Cameroun, Tanzania, Kenya, the United States, Europe and Asia for a vibrant contest where only one crew can take the title of Malta Guinness Street Dance International champion.
The competition, she hinted, would truly showcase the best of Ghanaian dance talent to the world.
Additionally, she pointed out that this year’s entrants would enjoy a once-in-a-lifetime experience as they danced their way to fame and fortune ; and that the winning dance crew would take home huge cash prizes, exclusive merchandise, Malta Guinness and a DVD of their performances on stage.
The crew, she said would also have the opportunity to work with Africa’s best dance choreographers and professional stylists.
Aside that, she said Malta Guinness would be treating guests to culinary delights, cool tasting drinks and exclusive give-aways, whilst audience at home would have the chance to cheer on their favourite dance crew as they watch Ghana’s brightest stars begin their path to stardom.

Surveyors raise concerns on achievement of MDGs

2009-03-02T08:13:00.000-08:00

THE achievement of targets for the Millennium Development Goals (MDG’s) may elude the country if the government fails to integrate certain key inputs into its day to day activities, the President of the Ghana Institution of Surveyors (GhIS), Mr Jonathan Allotey Abbosey has observed.
“Looking at the slow rate of implementation of development projects and the provision of some social services, the achievement of the target may elude us by the year 2015”, he stated.
Mr Abbosey was speaking at the 40th Anniversary/Annual General Meeting and the Fourth Annual Surveyors Week of GhIS held in Accra.
He said despite the fact that the MDG’s have been streamlined and domesticated into Ghana’s Growth and Poverty Reduction Strategy (GPRS I & II) the concept still appeared very remote or alien.
He noted further that effort should be made, especially by the Ministries, Department and Agencies to achieve the MDG’s.
Speaking on the theme, “Achievement of the Millennium Development Goals in Ghana- A Reality or a Mirage- The Role of the Surveyor” Mr Abbosey said if the targets of the MDGs were to be attained within the agreed period, then the government needed a well-motivated human resource, efficient cost-effective and transparent land administration system and more importantly, an up-to date geo-spatial data for the planning of development projects.
“Planners require up-to date geo-spatial data to enable them to plan ahead of infrastructure development, if slums and informal settlements are to be controlled to the minimum”, he emphasised and explained that accurate planning schemes could be derived from up-to date maps and plans to facilitate the work of professionals charged with the responsibility of controlling development.
He urged customary land owners with large tracts of land to engage the services of professional surveyors, with the relevant expertise, if even on part time basis, to assist them to manage their lands.
Mr Abbosey, however, gave the assurance that GhIS would continue to collaborate with other professionals to offer cost-effective services to help alleviate poverty, reduce hunger, develop and help maintain infrastructures.
He, therefore, challenged members of the institutions to contribute to the national development agenda by assisting government to implement decisions that would help in achieving the set targets of the MDG’s.
The Chief Executive of the Millennium Development Authority (MiDA), Mr Martin Eson-Benjamin, who chaired the meeting charged members of GhIS to improve the availability of updated information to aid planning and enforce rules and regulations on land surveys and effective planning.
He said the contribution of surveyors to the national development agenda, depicted the importance and relevance of their institution as far as the management of land-based resources, property, construction and environmental issues were concerned.
He said MiDA, based on its goal of “Poverty Reduction through Economic Growth and Agricultural Transformation” sought to improve tenure security for existing land users and to facilitate access to land for commercial crops in the districts under the Millennium Challenge Account (MCA) Ghana programme.
According to him MiDA also intended to rehabilitate and upgrade feeder and trunk roads as well as highways to reduce transportation costs affecting agricultural commerce at sub-regional and regional levels in Ghana.
Mr Eson-Benjamin said he was aware of the inadequacy of Ghana’s land policy and regulatory framework and the underdeveloped land registration system , which he attributed to the large number of land disputes pending before the law courts.
That, he said impacted negatively on the growth and modernisation of the agricultural sector, adding that MiDA saw the sustainability of land reforms as the cornerstone of any successful revolution of Agriculture, of which GhIS had a major part to play.
The choice of theme for the celebration, he said underpinned the institutions effort to accelerate the pace of attaining the MDG’s and also ensuring Ghana’s continued eligibility for the MCA funding.
At the end of the ceremony, 65 surveyors were inducted into the GhIS, while eight survey technicians from various tertiary institutions countrywide were given awards for their excellent performance in their final exams.

Agric needs radical transformation - Esson-Benjamin

2009-02-25T03:55:00.000-08:00

THE Chief Executive of the Millennium Development Authority (MiDA), Mr Martin Eson-Benjamin, has called for a compelling transformation and competitiveness in the country’s agricultural sector.
“If we do not capture this sector, then we have a problem because agriculture is the vehicle of transformation,” he stated, adding that “what we produce must be of quality and comparable anywhere else in the world, either in the sub-region or in external markets”.
Speaking at a workshop for consultants who are bidding for contracts from MiDA in Accra , Mr Eson-Benjamin said the Millennium Challenge Account (MCA) Ghana Compact was the answer to Ghana’s development agenda.
Under the compact, the Government of Ghana received a US$547 million from the United States Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) to support the country’s agricultural transformation programme.
“The programme has three components, including agriculture, transportation and rural development,” he noted, indicating that the goal was to reduce poverty by raising the income of farmers through a private-sector-led and agri-business development.
The programme, he added, focused in increasing the production and productivity of high-value cash and food staple crops and to enhance their competitiveness in both local and international markets.
According to Mr Eson-Benjamin, under the common theme for the Ghana Poverty Reduction Strategy (GPRS I & II) and the Millennium Development Goals (MDG’s), the MCA Ghana Compact was one of the best opportunities Ghana had had since independence to transform the Ghanaian economy, particularly in the rural parts of the country, where at least over 60,000 farmers in 23 countries would be given assistance.
The goal of the compact, he said, was basically to reduce poverty through economic growth by ensuring effective implementation of the three core objectives (agriculture, transportation and rural development) as outlined by MiDA.
Mr Eson-Benjamin attributed one of the key constraints in the agricultural sector to the country’s transportation system, which he said had contributed to the loss in the market value of produce from the sector.
“The poor road system, especially in the rural area, is one of the reasons for the high levels of poverty in Ghana’s rural farming communities,” he added and emphasised that the project sought to reduce the transportation costs, which were affecting agricultural commerce at the sub-regional and regional levels.
The Transportation/Agric Infrastructure Project Manager for MiDA, Mr J. B. Koranteng-Yorke, briefed contractors on the transportation project under the programme, stating that the project sought to remove bottlenecks that hindered increased agricultural production and productivity in the intervention zones, such as the Northern, Southern and Afram Plains zones.
“The objective of the project is to reduce the transportation cost affecting agricultural commerce at the sub-regional and regional levels in order to improve the competitiveness of Ghana’s agricultural producers,” he said.
To ensure this, Koranteng-Yorke revealed that the Tetteh Quarshie Interchange-Mallam Junction would be upgraded, hinting that the work involved the development of the corridor into a three-lane dual carriageway with interchange facilities at Dimple and Mallam Junction.
Aside that, he said two double-ended vehicle/pedestrian ferries would be constructed at landing stages at Adawso and Ekye Amanfrom to allow two ferries to dock at the same time.
“The Floating Dock at Akosombo will also be rehabilitated to enhance the capacity of the Volta Lake Transport Company to do construction, repairs and maintenance of ferries on the lake,” he assured.

3 Grabbed over kidnapping case

2009-02-25T03:47:00.000-08:00

THREE Nigerians have been arrested by the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) of the Ghana Police for allegedly kidnapping a South Korean in Accra.
The three suspects, currently in police custody, demanded a ransom of GH¢200,000 from the victim, whose name was given as Park Don Man.
They were arrested at their hideout at the Buduburam Camp upon a tip-off after the victim had managed to escape through a window on February 20, 2009.
The kidnappers have been identified as Peter Ogbolu, 16, Johnbull Agu, 26, and Kenneth Uku, 22.
The Director-General of the CID, DCOP Frank Adu-Poku, who briefed a a section of the media yesterday on the issue, said the victim, who had been in the country for the past four years and was lodging at the Golden Tulip Hotel, received a telephone call from one Mustapha, a Nigerian, who is on the run.
He said Mustapha asked the victim to meet him for an undisclosed business deal at Lapaz and the victim met him there with nine others.
DCOP Adu-Poku explained that the victim was taken to the Buduburam Camp, where his captors locked him up in a room for two weeks until his escape.
According to him, to coerce the victim to pay the ransom, one of his fingers was chopped off with a glass cutter.
DCOP Adu-Poku warned perpetrators of such acts not to take Ghana’s hospitality for granted but conduct themselves in ways that would not bring disrepute to themselves and their countries.
He gave the assurance that the police would painstakingly investigate the matter, after which the suspects would be arraigned, adding that efforts were being made to capture Mustapha and his accomplices.

Caption: From left to right: Kenneth Uku, 22; Johnbull Agu, 26, and Peter Ogbolu, 16.