GRi Newsreel: Politics & National Development 29-04-99
Ghanaians pay more to feed prisoners
400 graves looted in six months?
Students demonstrate against college authorities
NGO goes to the aid of needy children
Catholic church launches ’150m education endowment fund
Forestry students call for measure to check grazing & mining
Government, World Bank to initiate pension scheme
The demolishing craze -Agro-chemical seller appeals to IGP
Hello! you are about to get through to Juaso
Acquire vocation before travelling overseas:-Ashong
Yugoslavia Embassy celebrates adoption of Constitution
Four envoys present credentials
Mills calls for solution to Great Lakes crises
Government releases 20 million cedis for agriculture
Ghanaians pay more to feed prisoners
Accra (Greater Accra), 29th April 99-
The Ghanaian taxpayer since the beginning of this month, is paying 1,800 cedis a day to feed one prisoner, up from 1,500 cedis previously Professor Patrick Twumasi, Chairman of the Prisons Council, who was speaking at the inauguration of the Greater Accra Regional Prisons Committee, said there are about 8,000 prisoners in the country with 20 per cent of them being on remand.
He told members of the committee to find viable ways of making prisoners productive in order to lower the cost of their maintenance, especially in feeding and rehabilitation of their facilities.
Prof. Twumasi said the government is concerned with the improvement of the existing conditions of prisons, adding that the Prison Council, which was inaugurated in March 1998, has produced a welfare report with the aim of finding ways to improve the prisons.
"We need to find ways and means to decongest our prisons, to improve upon the sanitary conditions and to lower and eradicate health hazards."
He called on members to be dedicated and committed, saying that they need to be provided with logistics that would enable them to function properly.
Prof. Twumasi said society must not only be protected from the activities of criminals but also as far as practicable, such deviants should be helped to reform and become useful citizens.
Mr Amos Buertey, Deputy Greater Accra Regional Minister called for the institution of measures that would ensure proper rehabilitation of ex-convicts.
He said the present system hardens some of the convicts instead of reforming them after serving their prison term.
The 10-member committee is under the chairmanship of Mr Daniel Ohene Agyekum, Greater Accra Regional Minister.
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400 graves looted in six months?
Winneba (Central Region), 29th April, 99-
More than 400 graves at the Winneba public Cemetery have been looted between November 1998 and April this year.
Mr S. W. K. Sunu-Nuquaye, assemblyman for Sankor/Don Bosco Electoral Area, who controls the cemetery, told the Awutu-Effutu-Senya District Assembly at Winneba on Tuesday.
He said last Saturday alone the grave looters dismantled 50 graves and took away everything.
According to Mr Sunu-Nuquaye, no arrest has so far been made since the criminals started their illicit business, and appealed to the assembly to strengthen security at the cemetery.
Meanwhile an electric cable stealing syndicate, which went underground almost a year ago following the arrest and imprisonment of some its members has resurfaced.
The assembly has appealed to communities in the district to form watch-dog committees to assist the police to clamp down on the criminals.
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Students demonstrate against college authorities
Offinso (Ashanti Region) 29 April 99
Students of Offinso Teacher Training College on Tuesday embarked on a demonstration against the college authorities and the Parent-Teacher Association (PTA) over alleged illegal deductions from their monthly allowances.
The students held placards some of which read "We are fed up with unnecessary deductions" and "Yentua, Twumasi Ankrah (the Principal) is destroying the college", chanted war songs and paraded through the principal streets of Offinso.
Led by the college's Students Representative Council (SRC), the students presented a petition to Mr Benjamin Brefoh, the District Chief Executive.
An emergency meeting was organised with SCR leaders and other stakeholders at the DCE's office.
Mr Ernest Boakye, the college prefect and SRC spokesman, said at the meeting that the student's grievances were centred on utility bills.
When the SRC met the college authorities on April 26 on the issue, the Principal, Mr Kwame Twumasi Ankrah told them that the college owed 21 million cedis in water and 11 million cedis in electricity bills from October last year to March this year, he recalled.
As a result, he said, each student was to pay 58,000 cedis from his monthly allowances.
Mr Boakye said when the students interrogated officials of the Ghana Water and Sewerage Corporation (GWSC) who were disconnecting water facilities on the campus, they collaborated the principals claims.
Mr Boakye said the students were again asked to pay a total of 36,000 cedis towards the construction of the college's assembly hall, telephone, PTA dues and general maintenance.
The PTA had earlier billed them to purchase a Mercedez Benz bus at a cost of 21 million cedis which broke down within two months and cannot even be traced now , claimed.
Such arbitrary bills and imposition of PTA dues have been a great concern to the students, Mr Boakye said, adding lack of proper accountability and continuous billing of students compelled them to stage the demonstration.
The District Chief Executive promised to set up a committee to investigate their grievances.
Mr Brefoh regretted the demonstration and said "it is however necessary..."
The MP, a member of the college's board of governors, denied knowledge of any wrong doing and said an emergency board meeting will be held to resolve the issue.
The Principal could however not be contacted because he was said to be out of town.
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NGO goes to the aid of needy children
Bolgatanga (Upper East), 29th April 99 --
Comite Help Ghana (CHG), a Holland-based non-governmental organisation (NGO), has donated a cheque for more than 17 million cedis to 50 needy children in the Bolgatanga District to pursue courses in various vocational skills.
It was presented by Dr Kenneth Afari, project consultant of CHG, and received on behalf of the beneficiaries by the Reverend Father Van Den Haute, one of the project managers.
The money would be used to train junior secondary school (jss) drop-outs in carpentry, hairdressing, dressmaking and batik, auto mechanic, and shoe making.
Speaking at the presentation ceremony, the Bolgatanga District Chief Executive, Dr Albert Tenga, said the activities of NGOs in the district have greatly complemented the assembly's efforts at providing some of the essential needs of the people.
He thanked the initiators of the project for extending their services from the South to the Upper East region.
Dr Afari said the tendency of many countries to concentrate development in urban centres had led to the migration of the youth to towns and cities in search of jobs.
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Catholic church launches ’150m education endowment fund
Accra (Greater Accra), 29th April 99
A National Education Forum, which is aimed at placing the country's educational system in the right perspective at the threshold of the new millennium, is to be held in the third quarter of the year.
Mr Kwabena Kyere, Deputy Minister of Education, said the forum would serve as an avenue for all stakeholders to make suggestions, comments and recommendations to help improve the educational system.
He was speaking at the launch of a 150m cedi education endowment fund by the Catholic Archdiocese of Accra.
The fund aims at assisting needy but brilliant children of Catholic parents, and rehabilitate or re-settle school drop-outs.
Mr Kyere stated that the country's annual budget allocation for education is between 30 and 35 per cent, adding that this is one of the highest in the world.
He observed that education is the single most vital element in combating poverty, empowering people, safeguarding children from exploitative labour and sexual exploitation.
It also promotes human rights and democracy, protects the environment, controls population growth and helps to achieve sustainable growth and development.
He said currently there are more than two million children in primary schools as compared to about 1.5 million at the beginning of the Education Reform Programme in 1986.
"Indeed, the FCUBE programme, while conforming to the United Nations Convention on the rights of the child, makes it a constitutional obligation for the government of Ghana to ensure that all children of school-going age are in school by the year 2005."
The deputy minister commended the Catholic Church for its remarkable strides in education, and more particularly for setting up the fund, and urged other religious bodies to institute similar funds for the benefit of needy children of school-going age.
In an address read for him, the Most Reverend Dominic Kodwo Andoh, Archbishop of the Catholic Archdiocese of Accra, pointed out that the most important asset of a nation is the quality of its manpower resources.
Archbishop Andoh, who is chairman of the 11-member Board of Trustees of the Fund, said education is the main instrument for raising and updating the quality of the manpower resources of the country. Investing in education, he said, was imperative.
"Cost-sharing has been long recognised, and it is for this reason and, indeed, to help groom the human person for the great tasks involved in national development that the Church has ever since its mission in Ghana, pre-occupied itself with building schools, hospitals, and vocational centres for the people."
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Wa (Upper West), 29th April 99
All senior officers within the security services and public agencies are required by law to declare their assets within six months of assuming office, Mr A.S.K. Bagbin, Chairman of Parliamentary Select Committee on Legal, Constitutional and Parliamentary Affairs, has stated.
Mr Bagbin said district chief executives, member secretaries of district and metropolitan assemblies, presiding members, members of tender boards and the chairmen of public tribunals should all declare their assets as stipulated under the new Public Office Holders and Assets Declaration Act.
"The law is very wide and covers even inherited properties, shares, bonds and even liabilities," he said at the eighth Parliamentary forum at Wa on Wednesday.
Mr Bagbin, who is also MP for Nadowli North, said forced marriages, customary and ritual servitude, and other acts, which degrade the human person are now "high crimes" punishable by imprisonment under the criminal code.
Mr Kenneth Dzirasah, First Deputy Speaker of Parliament and MP for South Tongu, advised the electorate not to misconstrue the inability of the media to feature contributions by MPs as non- performance.
"There is seniority in parliament, and preference is always given to the front benchers and ranking members of the committee.
"All MPs are doing their best, because much of the work of parliament goes on at the committee level'' he added.
Mr Albert Ken Dapaah, Minority spokesman on Mines and Energy and MP for Afigya Sekyere West, commended the government for extending electricity to the rural areas.
He, however, said the government must do more by raising the income level of the people to enable them pay for the power they consume.
The issues raised by the audience included parliamentary walk-outs, legislative and executive instruments, revoking the mandate of non- performing MPs by their constituents and the disbursement to district assembly members of a share of the common fund as is being done for MPs.
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Forestry students call for measure to check grazing & mining
Bolgatanga (Upper East), 29th April 99
Uncontrolled grazing, illegal mining (galamsey), bushfires, and non-availability of water are major problems hindering afforestation in the Northern and Upper East regions.
The two regions can, however, meet these challenges if farmers use the proper farming methods.
These were made known by final year students of the School of Forestry who have just completed a week's tour of forest plantation areas of the Northern and Upper East regions.
The trip afforded the students the opportunity to acquaint themselves with the vegetation of the regions as well as identify types of tree species which can survive the climate in these areas.
The areas visited included the Mole National Park at Damongo, which has the largest wildlife habitation in northern Ghana, Taimako Gardens, a private herbal plant nursery, and the Yendi Plantation, the biggest of its kind in the North.
Other areas the students visited were afforestation projects in the Bawku, Bolgatanga, and Navrongo as well as the Paga Crocodile pond in the Upper East region.
Mr Prince Neurtey, who spoke on behalf of the students, said that if environmental degradation caused by uncontrolled grazing, bush burning and mining activities were not properly checked, the two regions would be denied regular rainfall, with the resultant negative effect on forests in the area.
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Government, World Bank to initiate pension scheme
Sunyani (Brong Ahafo), 29th April 99
The government and the World Bank have initiated a state pension scheme to cover all category of workers in the country, including those in the informal sector.
A consultant working on the scheme has presented his report to the government for approval, after which the scheme would become operational.
This was disclosed by Mr Kofi Agyarey, Brong Ahafo Regional Manager Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT), at the inauguration of the regional branch of Care Elderly, a non-governmental organisation, at Sunyani on Wednesday.
Mr Agyarey said this is in recognition of the need for the proper care of the aged who, during their active life, contributed to the development of the country.
It would also help provide adequate support to the elderly in view of the gradual break-down of the extended family system, under which care for the aged was the responsibility of the entire family and indeed the whole community.
The Deputy Regional Minister, Alhaji Kwadwo Maama Adam, noted with concern, the "gradual but painful break-down of some of our cherished and time-honoured culture", including the extended family system.
He called on the people to make the comfort and support of the aged their collective responsibility and not to allow foreign cultures to destroy the good cultural norms and values of the country.
Alhaji Adam said the government would continue to create the enabling environment for all stakeholders to contribute their quota towards making life more enjoyable for the aged.
He advised Care Elderly Ghana to create a recreational centre for the aged, where they could meet, converse and play games, while the active members of the family go about their economic activities.
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Yendi (Northern Region), 29th April 99
Ya-Na Yakubu Andani II has appealed to Denmark to share its "long experience in agriculture" with farmers in northern Ghana by taking advantage of the region's "liberal land tenure system" to help develop its vast potentials.
He said investors need not worry about peace and security because they are now guaranteed.
Ya-Na Andani was speaking during a courtesy call on him by the Danish Ambassador to Ghana, Mr Ole Blicher-Olsen, at Yendi on Tuesday.
The ambassador's visit was part of a tour of the region to acquaint himself with Danish-sponsored projects.
Ya-Na Andani observed that people in the North who depend mainly on rain-fed agriculture, are productive only in four months of the year while the rest of the period is virtually wasted.
Such an investment will, therefore, take advantage of the large labour reserve.
Mr Blicher-Olsen said the Danish government is assisting Ghana with 60 million dollars for the road sector in the next five years and hoped the Northern region would benefit from it.
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The demolishing craze -Agro-chemical seller appeals to IGP
Mampong (Ashanti Region) 29 April 99
Mr Osei Bonsu, an Asante-Mampong Agro-chemicals seller, has appealed to the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Mr Peter Nanfuri over the alleged demolition of his kiosk stocked with agro-chemicals by the Mampong District Assembly.
Mr Bonsu told the GNA at Mampong that the Assembly unlawfully ordered the demolition of the kiosk without his consent on September 11, 1997 and in the process caused damage to his property, which included large quantities of fertilisers, agro-chemicals and grinding stones, among other goods, estimated at five million cedis.
He claimed he lodged a complaint with Mampong police but up to now the police have done nothing about the case.
Mr Bonsu contended that the inaction of the police seems to suggest that some Ghanaians by virtue of their position are above the law.
The demolition of the kiosk, "my main source of income" had brought his children's education to a halt while "my marriage is on the verge of collapse", he said.
Mr Bonsu said he was appealing to the IGP to prevail upon the Mampong police to give the case the needed attention.
When Miss Beatrice Bio, the District Chief Executive was contacted, she denied ever authorising the assembly's workforce to demolish Mr Bonsu's kiosk, adding that the kiosk in question was rather demolished by the Sekyere West District Assembly.
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Hello! you are about to get through to Juaso
Juaso (Ashanti Region) 29 April 99
Ghana Telecom is to provide a telephone exchange with 1,000 direct exchange lines at Juaso in the Asante-Akim South district.
Mr James Boadi Danquah, the District Chief Executive, has said Obogu, Atwedie, Bompata and Asankare are among the communities that would have access to telephone facilities after the completion of the project.
He told the ordinary meeting of the assembly at Juaso that a site for the project had already been prepared.
Mr Danquah said another company, Capital Telecom, has expressed interest to provide the "Wills Telephone System" in the district.
He, however, explained that only communities that enjoy electricity could benefit from the facility because the facility uses electricity.
The District Chief Executive spoke of efforts being made to improve on the road network of the area, saying, the government has voted 583.5 million cedis towards the rehabilitation of the Juaso-Obogu-Nkyesa road.
Contract for the project has been awarded and its completion would significantly improve transportation of foodstuffs to the marketing centres, he said.
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Acquire vocation before travelling overseas:-Ashong
Tema Manhean (Greater Accra) 29 April 99
Madam Beatrice Naa Afieye Ashong, Member of Parliament for Kpone/Katamanso,on Tuesday called on parents to ensure that their children acquire professional skills before travelling outside the country.
When the youth travel outside without vocation, it becomes difficult for them to seek employment, she stated, adding they are therefore tempted to indulge in social vices like prostitution and drug trafficking.
Madam Ashong, the Tema Municipal Organiser of the 31st December Women's Movement, was speaking on "Violence against women/female circumcision" at a forum organised by the Movement for Women, at Tema Manhean on Tuesday.
She noted that "this unfortunate situation tends to create embarrassment for their families, the nation and Ghanaians living outside the country".
Madam Ashong said the movement aims is not only empower women to know their rights and responsibilities but also to educate them on pertinent issues concerning their lives.
It is important for women who are housewives to wake up from their slumber and work to earn some money to improve their lot and not to depend solely on their husbands for their livelihood.
Ms Ashong noted that housewives without any economic activity rather face hardships on the death of their husbands because without economic power, their children become a liability not only for the family but to the nation as well.
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Yugoslavia Embassy celebrates adoption of Constitution
Accra (Greater Accra) 29 April 99
President Jerry Rawlings on Tuesday night called on NATO to cease its bombing campaign in Yugoslavia and find a peaceful means of resolving the problem in the Balkans.
A peaceful resolution of the conflict would avoid creating "a refugee crisis, deaths of innocent people and destruction of Yugoslavia's assets."
This was contained in a speech read on his behalf at a reception organised by the Yugoslav Embassy in Accra to mark the Seventh anniversary of the adoption of their Constitution.
President Rawlings said Ghana is deeply concerned about the escalation of the war and expressed the hope that very soon a diplomatic solution would be found.
On bilateral relations, the President referred to the long-standing bonds of friendship and co-operation between the two countries in several areas.
"We also appreciate the fruitful relationship between Ghana and Yugoslavia in the international arena, especially in the Non-Aligned Movement [NAM] and the UN, where the two countries supported causes in defence of justice, equality, sovereignty and territorial integrity of states."
President Rawlings said both countries have spoken with one voice on various issues affecting developing countries, such as maintenance of peace and stability, defence of rights and independence.
Mrs Lukovic Jovanovic, Yugoslavia's ambassador in Ghana, said more than 1,000 people have been killed with thousands more sustaining injuries since NATO began its bombing raids.
She condemned the bombing of innocent civilians, including refugees, and called on Ghana and other peace-loving nations to support Yugoslavia in finding a solution to the crisis.
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Four envoys present credentials
Accra (Greater Accra) 29 April 99
Vice-President John Atta Mills on Wednesday received letters of accreditation from four new envoys and charged them to strengthen relations between their countries and Ghana.
They are Mr Gregoive Vardakis from Belgium, Mr Ngoni Francis Sengwe from Zimbabwe, Mr Omer Sahinkaya from Turkey and Mr Mohamed Adel Smaoui from Tunisia.
Vice-President Mills told them to work towards enhancing economic co-operation for the development of the people.
Ghana is ready to do business with genuine investors from their countries, he told them.
The envoys lauded Ghana's progress over the years, particularly in the area of constitutional democracy and international peacekeeping.
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Mills calls for solution to Great Lakes crises
Accra (Greater Accra) 29 April 99
Vice-President John Atta Mills on Wednesday called for collective efforts to solve the political crises in the Great Lakes region, particularly in the Democratic Republic of Congo, to make way for the development of the people.
"It is our expectation that together we can work towards restoring durable peace and normalcy to those countries in order to create the requisite atmosphere for sustainable development and progress of our peoples."
Vice-President Mills made these points when the Zimbabwean High Commissioner-designate Ngoni Sengwe, presented his letters of accreditation to him at the State House in Accra.
Prof. Mills said Ghana recognises Zimbabwe's contribution to the search for regional peace and security in that region.
On the situation in Zimbabwe, he said Ghana has followed with keen interest the pragmatic measures taken by that government to ensure sustained economic development and prosperity for the people.
Particularly laudable is the setting up of the National Economic Forum to help tackle issues affecting its development with a view to coming out with effective economic policies, he said.
He also commended Harare's "bold" implementation of the Land Reform Programme in a bid to eradicate poverty and achieve social justice through land redistribution.
On bilateral relations, Prof. Mills recalled the bond of friendship between Ghana and Zimbabwe, saying the two peoples have been drawn together through their common fight against colonialism and imperialism as well as their commitment to peace, stability and progress on the continent.
He urged Mr Sengwe to use his tenure to renew these historical ties and reaffirm that commitment to charting new paths of co-operation for the mutual benefit of their peoples.
Mr Sengwe said his government set up the National Economic Consultative Forum comprising various stakeholders such as government, labour, private and civil society for a just course.
"The Forum would not tolerate the removal of legitimate governments by force," he stressed.
It is in this spirit that Zimbabwe, along with Angola, Namibia and Chad, under the auspices of Southern Africa Development Community, sent troops to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). They were to assist President Laurent Kabila to "repel a foreign-backed rebellion which had threatened the sovereignty and territorial integrity of that country."
"Those who seek to undermine the sovereignty and territorial integrity of others are in violation of international law and principles that govern peaceful relations among states."
Mr Sengwe expressed the hope that recent discussions among states fighting in DRC will result in a cease-fire that will be a step towards finding lasting peace in that country.
He thanked Ghana for its continued support in terms of manpower for Zimbabwean institutions, including telecommunications, health, education and the judiciary.
Ghanaian assistance has also been extended to the defence sector through annual training programmes for airforce and army personnel.
He commended Ghana for its role in the search for global and regional peace, citing peacekeeping missions in Liberia and Sierra Leone.
Mr Sengwe said he would seek ways to increase trade between the two countries which, he said, is not commensurate with the excellent political relations.
Total Zimbabwean exports to Ghana last year was about 22.4 million dollars while Ghanaian exports to that country fetched about 20.6 million dollars.
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Government releases 20 million cedis for agriculture
Winneba (Central Region) 29 April '99
The Government has released 20 million cedis to the Awutu-Effutu-Senya District Assembly for the "Youth in Agriculture"
programme.
Under the programme, youth groups would be given loans to undertake food production, Lieutenant Daniel William Osardu, the District Chief Executive, said at the closing session of the assembly.
Ten youth farming groups at Gyangyanadze, Ponkoakyir,Panim, Bawjiase, Bewuanum, Obrachire, Kasoa and Awutu-Ahintia, have benefited from the scheme.
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