Economic situation precarious - President
3 pupils perish in landslide
‘I buried Akuffo, Acheampong & Afrifa I know their graves’
Rawlings shines in Botswana
CHRAJ threatens court action
GWCL C’ttee of Enquiry inaugurated
Coca Cola, Barclays to go
Days of cheap electricity over
I was not drunk
Prepare to make greater sacrifices
Economic situation precarious - President
Ghana’s commitment to democratic tenets and good governance was the highlight during an interaction with a visiting US Congressional delegation in Accra, writes the state-own Daily Graphic.
The seven-member delegation, led by US House of Representatives Republican Conference Chairman, Mr J.C. Watts Jr. is in the country as part of a four-nation African trip, designed to enhance US relations on the continent and to foster discussion on variety of issues, including democratic rights and economic development.
President J.A. Kufuor, who led the discussions, described Ghana’s economic situation as very deplorable, ascribing it to a legacy of mismanagement and decay.
He said the government is poised to pursue programmes that will strengthen the private sector and enhance national socio-economic development.
President Kufuor noted that despite the precarious situation in which Ghanaians find themselves, they are more than willing to help in creating a just and viable environment for the advancement of the country and appealed to the international community to make the objective realisable.
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3 pupils perish in landslide
The eagerness of five pupils of Keri Local Authority Primary School at Nkwanta in the Volta Region to give themselves a treat on vacation day (Our Day) turned sour, when three of them lost their lives following a landslide in an area where they had gone sand winning to raise money for the celebration.
After school had closed late last Tuesday, the five pupils, without telling anybody, went to the area with their containers to win sand for sale but suddenly, the site caved in on them.
As a result of the persistent sand wining in the area, the topsoil had been hanging perilously and as soon as the children started digging, disaster struck.
The three were pronounced dead when they were brought to the surface from the heaps of sand, which had buried them.
The other two who survived the ordeal, are in critical condition at the Nkwanta Government Hospital said to be responding to treatment, according to the Graphic.
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‘I buried Akuffo, Acheampong & Afrifa I know their graves’
The mystery of where the eight executed generals were buried can be unravelled by a retired first Infantry Battalion Warrant Officer now residing at Koforidua in the Eastern Region, reports the Ghanaian Chronicle, an independent paper.
The long sideburns-wearing hexagenarian broke the news himself when he walked to the paper’s regional bureau on Friday.
“I was the one who went to the Nsawam town to find wawa boards to knock together into what represented their coffins. I buried them and I know exactly where each corpse lies to date because I marked them on the ground and on a wooden board I have since kept with me”, Ex-W.O. Quashie said.
At the time, he said his superior, Captain Odoi-Gyampoh, who is now a Colonel – who should have acted was faint-hearted. “When he saw the pool of blood, he nearly lost consciousness and so I had to take over,” the W.O. explained.
Asked how the widows and the bereaved families could assure themselves beyond doubt that what is given each is the right corpse, he said the hair on each corpse and the skull would remain unrotten. “The other thing is that, I buried each body with its wrist watch, finger ring and boots still on them”.
While in the military, and up to date, the W.O. said, he kept his lips tight on all these details and is convinced he alone is privy to them”.
He was therefore not surprised at all when in 1980 the widows who had gone to the Nsawam Prisons cemetery to find their husbands grave were disappointed to find there was no clue.
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Rawlings shines in Botswana
Ex-President Flt. Lt. J.J. Rawlings was the toast of Botswana after a five day official working visit that ended last Friday with plenty of things to cheer about and platitudes from top of officialdom.
According to the Chronicle, he was in that Southern African country in his capacity as one of the United Nation’s Eminent Persons promoting the cause of International Volunteerism. While there he also took on the mantle of Spokesman for the battle against AIDS that is scouring this tiny rich landlocked country that is being decimated by the AIDS virus, making several visits in town beyond the capital Gaborone.
The private BOTSWANA GUARDIAN of March 30 promoted the visit of the ex-President in endearing terms describing him as ‘Ambassador of Hearts’ who was coming to visit with them as an eminent plenipotentiary of the United Nations.
“The UN has hitched itself to the coat tails of Rawlings counting on his mass appeal on the African circuit to publicise their work gushed,” says The Guardian, usually a critical popular independent paper.
In long distance interview, staff correspondent Ousa, who is a member of the International Volunteerism Association in Gaborone, which worked on the Rawlings’ programme, said that there was a sense of high expectations on the Rawlings’ visit. He affirmed that the former President lived up to his star billing with the engaging talk on AIDS, hunger in Africa, emerging as a very strong advocate for Africa.
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CHRAJ threatens court action
State daily, The Ghanaian Times, says the Western Regional Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ), intends going to court to secure the release of two pregnant women and a nursing mother with a three-week old baby they found in the Female Prison at Tarkwa during an inspection tour.
Also to be affected by CHRAJ’s action are other pregnant women at the Sekondi Prison.
The action is to enable the women to take proper care of their pregnancies and the baby.
Disclosing these to the ‘Times’ last Friday, the Regional Director of the Commission, Mr Richard Quayson said that at both prisons, some of the inmates had been on remand for between three to four years without trial.
He said conditions at the remand sections were appalling adding, “there is congestion. There are no bedding hence the inmates are found lying on the bare floor.”
He noted that the convicted prisoners were usually given better treatment in the prisons than those on remand.
Mr Quayson expressed dissatisfaction at the police cells which he described as “horrible and the worse of all places”.
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GWCL C’ttee of Enquiry inaugurated
A five-member Ministerial Committee of enquiry into the operations of the Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL) was inaugurated in Accra on Monday to look into allegations of malpractices of the GWCL.
The Ghanaian Times says these include investigations into procurements that are to last till 113 years.
It has Mr Justice N.Y.B. Adade, a former Supreme Court Judge as chairman, with Sqd Ldr C.M.K. Sowu (rtd) a former MP, Mr Asare Boateng, a Senior Auditor of the Audit Service, Mr S.Y. Anin, a Chief State Attorney of the Ministry of Justice and Mr Frank Kofi Dei of the Ministry of Works and Housing, as members.
The committee’s terms of reference are investigations into the appropriateness and procedures used in the purchase of stocks of the company, investigations into the award and certification of various contracts (foreign/local) and in particular the award of contracts for the supply of meters, overhead tanks.
The rest are investigations into promotions and transfers within the company in the last two years, investigations into the frequent water shortages and methods taken to ameliorate the shortages.
The committee would further investigate the May Day and Water Day celebrations and any other matters incidental and or relevant to the administration of the company.
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Coca Cola, Barclays to go
The government has declared its intention to sell all the shares it owns in Coca Cola Bottling Company, Barclays Bank and other commercial companies for the servicing of the country’s huge internal debt, reports the private-owned Daily Guide.
It is expected that a little over $50 million would be realised from the sale and the money directly used to reduce the domestic debt instead of being used to support the budget.
The Minister of Economic Planning and Regional Integration, Dr Paa Kwesi Nduom, who made this known at a public lecture organised by the Private Enterprise Foundation (PEF) said this has become absolutely necessary because the internal debt situation remains the biggest problem for the government in terms of cost and burden.
Dr Nduom pointed out that the government is really determined to put in place the most prudent fiscal measures to help arrest the situation.
Dr Nduom mentioned debt management, effective fiscal policies, food production and long-term capital for small and medium scale enterprises as the four major areas the government is going to confine itself to in making Ghana the leading agro-industrial and financial country in West Africa.
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Days of cheap electricity over
The Chief Executive of the Volta River Authority (VRA), Gilbert O. Dokyi has again declared that the days of cheap electricity are over and that Ghanaians should accept to pay economic rates, which reflect the true cost of producing and delivering electricity, reports ‘The Statesman’ a private bi-weekly.
In a speech read on his behalf at the commissioning of Community Enhancement Projects (ECP) undertaken by the VRA for three communities in the Shama traditional area at the weekend, Mr Dokyi said the need for economic tariffs is critical if VRA is to generate sufficient funds to continue its importation of fuel, operations and the maintenance required to supply power reliably.
Funds, he said, are also needed to invest in additional facilities to met future demand for power.
The VRA Chief Executive recalled that, prior to the construction of the Takoradi Thermal Plant, power supply in Ghana was primarily from hydroelectric plants, which, although relatively cheap, could be unreliable, as it depends on rainfall and the caprices of nature.
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I was not drunk
The Crusading Guide, an independent bi-weekly, says at long last, former Deputy Defence Minister, Dr Tony Aidoo, has appeared in court to explain his alleged gun-pulling act on James Adayuga – a former security guard with Jerrock Rangers.
Testifying at an Accra Circuit Tribunal, presided over by Mr Ziblim Imoro, Dr. Tony Aidoo vehemently denied that he had taken alcohol on the day he had the confrontation with Adayuga.
Defence Counsel for the accused, Mr Alex Quaynor, had put to him that his breath smelled of alcohol during his encounter with James Adayuga at the Goil filling station.
Dr Aidoo responded that it was a vicious lie, which was only aimed at tarnishing his image.
It will be recalled that Dr. Tony Aidoo not too long ago, was engaged in a media battle with ‘The Crusading Guide’ in connection with his alleged gun-pulling act leading to the arrest of its reporter, Sedi Bansah, who had called him for his reaction to the allegation.
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Prepare to make greater sacrifices
Dr Obed Asamoah, Chairman of the National Re-organisation Committee of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), has asked members to be ready to make greater sacrifices to enhance its chances of re-capturing power in 2004, reports the party’s mouthpiece, the ‘Ghana Palaver’.
Members, he said, would have to explore new and ingenious ways of looking for resources from within their localities to undertake activities because financial assistance from headquarters would not be as forthcoming as it was in the past.
“Those who were prepared to help us whilst we were in power may not be so generous with us now that we are in opposition so we must learn to adapt if we are to stay afloat and re-capture power in four years time”.
Dr Asamoah was speaking at a “re-organisation” meeting at Sunyani at the weekend, attended by delegates from the party’s branches in the Brong Ahafo region and leading functionaries.
He said a dispassionate assessment of the party’s performance in the last elections clearly indicates that lack of greater internal democracy, poor relationship with the private press and infighting cost it the polls.
“As we begin the process of re-organisation, therefore, we must make sure that we thoroughly address all the factors that did us in during the December polls to enable us re-capture power”.
Dr Asamoah urged members and supporters not to be dispirited by the electoral defeat because being the strongest party in opposition, the NDC can bounce back to power if it puts its house in order.
“We can take inspiration from President Matthew Kerekou of Benin who after losing to Nicephore Soglo, has come back to win two successive elections.”
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