GRi Newsreel 24 – 04 - 2002

Design buildings that are less dependent on electricity

Child sex-tourism up in Central Region

Council of Labour calls for realistic minimum wage

Two charged for assault for enforcing ban on drumming

Africa needs new leadership, new voice - Panellists

Local government officials must sit up - Nkrumah

Quit smoking and win

Man sentenced to death for killing daughter

Cabinet discusses fate of Ghana Institute of Journalism

Ex New Juaben Municipal Chief Executive in prison custody

Gov’t awards Accra-Kumasi road diversion contract to SONITRA

Achirensuahene asked to open defence

Workers day celebration to come off at HO                               

Arnold Prempeh enstooled as Atipimhene of Kumasi

Sekondi Methodist Church to hold 41st synod  

Yendi pupils write BECE exams without any hindrance

Commonwealth officials to visit Pakistan

Speaker off to L'Cote d'voire

 

 

Design buildings that are less dependent on electricity

           

Poano (Ashanti Region) 24 April 2002 - Ghanaian architects have been told to complement the drive towards energy conservation by designing buildings that are less dependent on electricity for illumination.

 

Mr Kofi Poku Adusei, MP for Bekwai who threw the challenge, said the design of most buildings in the country were such that the halls and rooms were dark at all times as they did not allow in enough natural light. Besides, they were not airy and for that matter tended to rely more on electric fans and air conditioners to make them comfortable.

 

Mr Adusei at separate public forums during his tour to interact with people in his constituency spoke of the need for electricity users in the country to adopt energy saving practices to help avert energy crisis.

 

Among communities he toured were Senfi, Poano, Huntado, Amoaful, Asankare, Kokofu, Akyeremade and Sanfo.

GRi../

 

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Child sex-tourism up in Central Region

Cape Coast (Greater Accra) 24 April 2002 - Mr Isaac Edumadze, Central Region Minister, has expressed concern about the upsurge of child sex tourism in the region and called on the region's Committee on Child Protection to help check it.

 

He has also appealed to the Police and the Attorney General's Department to deal expeditiously with defilement, rape and assault cases in the region.

 

Mr Edumadze in a speech read for him at the inauguration of a 25-member Committee on Child Protection at Cape Coast, said parental irresponsibility was the major cause of most cases of child abuse and neglect and that widespread abuse of children were by parents or with their connivance.

 

''No amount of intervention from the government and other bodies can fully address issues of children without the involvement and commitment of civil society including parents and guardians''.

 

Mr Edumadze stressed the need to set up juvenile courts and family tribunals in all districts and for appropriate measures to curb traditional practices that were detrimental to the development of the child.   

 

Mr Daniel Dzakah, Chief Inspector of Police in charge of the Women and Juvenile Unit (WAJU) in Cape Coast, said some parents settled defilement and rape cases at home, adding that sometimes they refused to appear in court thus making prosecution very difficult.

 

He said "delay in the trial of cases of abuse tends to frustrate the victims and I suggest the setting up of special courts to try rape and defilement cases''.

 

He said 51 cases have so far been reported to the unit since it was established four months ago. It included eight defilement cases and that one of the accused persons had been jailed 15 years, while the others were pending. 

 

Mr Anthony Bempong, Regional Director of Social Welfare, said l6,948 cases of child neglect and 66 defilement cases were reported to the Department last year.

GRi../

 

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Council of Labour calls for realistic minimum wage

 

Kade (Eastern Region) 24 April 2002 - The Kwaebibirim District Council of Labour has called on the Tripartite Committee to come out with a realistic minimum wage taking into account the high cost of living and the proposed increase in electricity tariffs.

 

Making the call at its general meeting at Kade in the Eastern Region the council called on the government to always declare the minimum wage before coming out with the annual budget. On the End of Service Benefits (ESB) the council added its voice to the call on the government to reintroduce it.

 

The council expressed regret that even though the previous government abolished ESB in 1991 as a result of what it claimed  "lack of resources or ability to pay" the same government found it expedient to pay benefits to ministers, parliamentarians and other government functionaries at the end of their tenure of office. ''What's sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander".

 

Speaking on: "Retirement; Preparing for the shock," the Eastern Region Principal Industrial Relations Officer of the Health Service Workers Union (HSWU), Mr Reynolds Ofosu Tenkorang said the Trades Union Congress (TUC) considered retirements very important.

 

Mr Tenkorang said the stress of retirement often precipitated serious sickness and even death, especially for those who failed to develop other interests outside their jobs. He, therefore, called on employees to plan towards their retirement well so that they would not lead dejected lives.

 

Mr Tenkorang advised that employees should start what they intended doing after retirement when they attained the age of 50 years. On the forthcoming District Assembly elections he said since it was not partisan organised labour should take keen interest to get more of its members to the assemblies to champion the cause of workers.

 

On the alarming rate of spousal murder in the country, Mr Tenkorang said it was a source of worry to the labour movement and appealed to the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE), religious bodies and organised labour to launch an education campaign against it.

GRi../

 

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Two charged for assault for enforcing ban on drumming

 

Aflao (Volta Region) 24 April 2002 - Kofi Afortude, 35 and Kwaku Dedzo, 38, both farmers who assaulted some members of the Roman Catholic Church at Tsiame, in the Keta District, for allegedly breaking a ban on drumming and noisemaking have been granted two million cedis bail each with one surety by the Aflao Circuit Court.

 

Tsiame Traditional Authorities as a yearly cleansing rite imposed the ban in the area. Afortude and Dedzo pleaded not guilty to the charge of causing harm and are to reappear on 7 May. The court had refused the accused persons bail last week and remanded them in Police custody for further investigations until 23 April 2002.

 

It also refused to grant the request of the elders of Tsiame to settle the case out of court. "There is an assault case and I would not accept any home settlement", Mr Francis Opoku, the Presiding Judge, told the elders.

 

"I would deal with whoever would be guilty severely to serve as a deterrent to the others out there.  I would use them as a scapegoat", he said.

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Africa needs new leadership, new voice - Panellists

 

Accra (Greater Accra) 24 April 2002- Panellist at a four-day conference on; "Africa and the Development Challenges of the 21st Century" on Tuesday said the continent needed new leadership and a new voice to make a case for its development, if the continent were to survive the challenges of the new millennium.

 

One of the panellists, Professor Akilakpa Sawyerr, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Third World Network Africa (TWN-AF), said "unless we get a new voice in Africa and new interest in the international community, we will never make any economic progress in the 21st Century."

 

Prof. Sawyerr argued that 20 years of World Bank and IMF sponsored Structural Adjustment Programs (SAP) in Africa had failed woefully, saying within the same period African leaders also failed their peoples by first accepting the SAP and it diabolic conditionalities.

 

"Leadership on the continent between the 1980s and now has also failed us woefully and the question we really need to deal with is whether the same leaders and the same development partners will really solve our problem."

 

The conference is being jointly organised by TWN-AF and the Council for the Development of Social Research in Africa (CODESRIA) to critically look at and make recommendations on economic development paradigms and policy upon which the development process in Africa should be carried out.

 

About 60 African and foreign scholars, policy makers, government, private sector and civil society representative are attending the conference.

 

Prof. Sawyerr argued that any new development paradigm or policy, which did not consider the issue of responsible leadership, was bound to yield the same results as the SAP, saying that African peoples needed to vigorously charge their leaders to deliver on their political promises if African economies were to experience any revival.

 

"There is no doubt that most of the socio-economic ups and downs African economies have experience over the past 20 years are not only due to adverse international policies but also due to political instability, bad governance and corruption in the rank and file."

 

Prof. Sawyer called for a national, regional and continental discussion on the development challenges facing the continent, saying; "we need to critically examine the popular rhetoric about how Africa could develop to see whether they really offer any better solution against the SAP".

 

This, he said, was necessary to ensure that African economies did not become victims of the same World Bank/IMF adjustment policies under different identities, citing the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Initiative as an example.

 

"Time is apt for us to re-think and restructure our development paradigms based on the needs and aspirations of our peoples and we must do this fast and in collaboration so that we are not overwhelmed by the fast rate at which events are occurring in the new millennium," he advised.

 

Dr Yao Graham, Co-ordinator of TWN-AF, said it was time for African governments to take citizens' voice seriously in considering whether one development paradigm or another was good for the people or not.

 

"African governments cannot keep ignoring the people's voice when, in fact, the people are most victimised by the diabolic conditionalities of the World Bank and IMF policies and assistance," he said.

GRi../

 

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Local government officials must sit up - Nkrumah

 

Accra (Greater Accra) 24 April 2002- Professor Steven A. Nkrumah, Chief Executive

Officer of Telemedia Communications Limited, on Tuesday said despite the substantial resources and efforts devoted to the decentralised administration of the country, not much had been achieved.

 

He said this was due to the widely reported cases of corruption, misapplication and miss-direction of local government funds making government to be hesitant to pump more funds into the sector.

 

Professor Nkrumah was speaking at a symposium organised by the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development (MLRD) as part of its week's celebration.

 

The symposium on the theme: "The role of District Assembly sub-structures in the decentralisation process," brought together heads of the ministry, chiefs and queenmothers, assembly members and District Chief Executives and the general public.

 

Prof. Nkrumah said by popular perception, the local government system has no answers to the multiple problems facing the people and there was hardly any deep-seated conviction that the system could improve the lot of the citizen.

 

However, the need to bring government closer to the people and to ensure greater participation in governance has made it mandatory for government to focus on the sub-district structures that form the real grassroots institutions for effective decentralisation.

 

He said the sub-structures includes the sub-metro district councils, urban, town, zonal councils and unit committees that fall below three metropolitan assemblies, four municipal assemblies and 110 district assemblies constituting the basic units of local government in Ghana.

 

Official information indicates that there are 34 urban councils, 250 town councils, 826 area councils and 16,000 unit committees with population ranging from 500 to 1000 in rural areas but could go as high as 2000 in urban areas, he added.

 

Prof. Nkrumah said the sub-district bodies, on paper have revenue retention arrangement under which they keep up to 50 per cent revenue collected while the other 50 per cent goes to the District Assemblies.

 

Regarding administrative staffing, he said the sub-districts scarcely have any staffing of their own and could not fulfil their mundane municipal functions.

 

Conflict always ensues between chieftaincy institutions and non-governmental organisations on one hand and local government on the other and this tend to work against the realisation of the purpose of the sub-district structures.

 

Prof. Nkrumah said the sub-district structures were essentially to provide basic needs of the citizenry as spelt out in legislative instrument 1589 and includes the provision of water, electricity, public places of convenience, schools, drainage, market, sanitation, health centres and recreational facilities.

 

He said the current situation indicates that they are neither legislative, taxing nor planning authorities, adding that for them to function, they must be given the needed constitutional backing.

 

Prof. Nkrumah also proposed that the central government should distribute 50 per cent of all revenue it collects among the decentralised government and urged recipients to use the money for the purpose for which they were provided.

 

Mr. Kwadwo Baah-Wiredu Minister of Local Government and Rural Development and Nii Adote Obour, Acting President of the Ga Traditional Council, who co-chaired the programme called for teamwork among officials for the sector to achieve its goals. 

 

Contributors named inadequate credit facilities, unemployment and under- employment and low opportunities for human resource development as some of the causes of poverty in these areas and called for support from all stakeholders to help solve these problems.          

 

Dr. Eugenia Quist, DCE of Akuapen North mentioned single parenthood and high birth rate, physical disability and post harvest losses as underlying factors of poverty in the area.

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Quit smoking and win

 

Accra (Greater Accra) 24 April 2004- Dr Sam Adjei, Deputy Director of the Ghana Health Service, on Tuesday called for a change in lifestyle of Ghanaians, saying it was a key issue in disease prevention and control.

 

He said smoking, dietary habits; drug abuse, indiscriminate sex and sedentary lifestyles were responsible for about 55 per cent of all preventable diseases in the country.

 

Dr Adjei was speaking at the launch of an anti-smoking campaign in Accra. The international campaign, dubbed "Quit and Win 2000" competition, is organised by the World Health Organisation and other collaborators to encourage adult smokers to quit smoking and win attractive cash prizes.

 

The competition is open to everybody aged 18 years and above, who has been a smoker for a year or more.

 

Abstinence would be required from the registrant and from the designated witness, adding that the biochemical urine test to check nicotine content would be used to validate the abstinence claims made.

 

The competition is designed to help create a global solution to a global problem by helping "quitters" reach their goal to quit smoking.

 

Quitters in Ghana are eligible to a range of rewards with the first prize being five million cedis. The second prize is three million cedis, the third prize, one million cedis and the fourth to 10th prizes would be 100,000 cedis each.

 

In addition, a winner has a chance to win 2,500 dollars in the international regional prize draw or 10,000 dollars, which is the top international prize.

 

Dr Adjei said smoking was responsible for some 75 to 80 per cent of chronic respiratory and heart diseases and cancers.

 

He noted that education and the provision of information to the communities were needed to change lifestyles, which were having serious negative impact on health services in the country.

 

Mrs Edith Wellington, a Researcher at the Health Research Unit of the Ghana Health Service, said studies had shown that 75 to 80 per cent of smokers wanted to quit and, therefore, needed specific strategies to help them kick the habit.

 

She said the there was the need to encompass systematic and continuous support to smokers to include personal advice delivered by health care professionals and the mass media.

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Man sentenced to death for killing daughter

 

Sunyani (Eastern Region) 24 April 2002- A Sunyani High Court on Tuesday sentenced a 32-year-old farmer, Kwadwo Broni of Mentumi village near Sankore in the Asunafo District to death by hanging when he was found guilty of causing the death of his three-month-old baby girl. A seven-member jury, including three women, unanimously passed a verdict of guilty.

 

Passing sentence, the presiding judge, Mr Justice Paul Baffoe-Bonnie said, "having been found guilty of the offence by persons chosen by you in your own trial, the court convicts you on the charge of murder.  You are sentenced to death by hanging and will be buried at a place designated by the government. May the Lord have mercy on your soul."

 

The condemned farmer has 30 days to appeal against the sentence. The facts of the case were that the mother of the deceased was a second wife to Broni but he refused to accept responsibility for the little girl two weeks after her birth.

 

On 23 May 1998 Broni requested the baby's mother to bring the daughter to him to which she obliged. The accused returned the little girl 20 minutes later to the mother who realised that she had become weak and was also crying.

 

After a careful examination of the little girl, the mother realised that blood was oozing out of the buttocks and when she and a brother confronted the accused as to what he had done to the little girl, he showed them a needle, saying the instrument might have pierced the buttocks accidentally.

 

Not satisfied with his explanation, they reported the matter to the chairman of the village's unit committee, who sent the accused to the Odikro. The baby, however, died the same day and an autopsy conducted on the little girl at the hospital showed that she had been injected with a poisonous chemical. When the syringe and needle were also examined they were found to contain a similar chemical

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Cabinet discusses fate of Ghana Institute of Journalism

 

Accra (Greater Accra) 24 April 2002- Government spokesman, Kwabena Agyepong on Tuesday said cabinet is considering the posting of the Ghana Institute of Journalism (GIJ) from the Ministry of Communications and Technology (MCT) to the Ministry of Education (MOE).

 

Mr. Agyepong, who was interacting with journalists in Accra said the institute has over the years made unheeded appeals to be repositioned to the MOE to benefit from various financial investments into the education sector.

 

This assurance comes in the wake of appeals by the GIJ for government to revamp the institute by providing financial assistance for the institute's land at Okponglo to be developed to accommodate more students. "We think that appeal is justifiable and efforts are being made to ensure that this is done within a short time," he said.

 

He said while discussing the GIJ, government has initiated moves to ensure that the institute benefited from the Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFund). Mr. Agyepong said  whilst government is determined to deliver on its promise, Journalists and the media must ensure that they exercise their democratic rights within the confines of the law. "Government has always been opened for constructive criticism, but citizens must learn to do so with respect and in truth," he said.

 

Mr. Agyepong said government has decided to organise media briefings on Mondays and Tuesdays to prevent Journalists from questioning ministers and government functionaries at random. He urged Journalists to take advantage of the platform created by the government to clarify issues before they are published.

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Ex New Juaben Municipal Chief Executive in prison custody

 

Koforidua (Eastern Region) 24 April 2002- Mr Clement Okyere-Darko, New Juaben Municipal Chief Executive under the National Democratic Congress (NDC) government, was on Tuesday remanded in prison custody when he appeared before a Koforidua Circuit Tribunal charged with defrauding by false pretences.

 

He pleaded not guilty and would reappear on 25 April.  Prosecuting, Police Chief Inspector Theophilus K. Nyadu told the Tribunal that in 1999 Okyere-Darko offered to sell an estate house at Adweso, near Koforidua, to Madam Gifty Ofosuhene, a nursing sister, for 120 million cedis.

 

According to the terms of the sale, Okyere-Darko agreed to release the keys to the house to Madam Ofosuhene on payment of half of the amount. Chief Inspector Nyadu said between November 1999 and June 2000, the Madam Ofosuhene paid 77,750,000 cedis to Okyere-Darko who handed over the keys of the house to her.

 

He said while the complainant was preparing to pack into the house she was told that the house had been sold to another person. When she confronted Okyere-Darko he denied selling the house to anybody.

 

Chief Inspector Nyadu said Madam Ofosuhene reported the case to the Police when she discovered that other people were occupying the house. Okyere-Darko also failed to refund the money to her.

 

Police investigations revealed that Okyere-Darko sold the house for 120 million cedis to another person and left for United States. On 13 April this year the Madina Police arrested Okyere-Darko and handed him over to the Koforidua Police for prosecution.

 

Mr Isaac Mills, Counsel for Okyere-Darko, offered a cheque for 50 million cedis as part payment of the amount collected by his client from Madam Ofosuhene and pleaded with the tribunal to grant his client bail. The tribunal, however, refused the bail and asked the defence counsel to produce the money at the next sitting of the court.

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Gov’t awards Accra-Kumasi road diversion contract to SONITRA

 

Accra (Greater Accra) 24 April 2002- The Ministry of Roads and Transport on Tuesday signed a contract with SONITRA, a Cote d'Ivoire based company for the construction of the Apedwa to Bonsu road diversion on the Accra - Kumasi highway.

 

The contract is worth 21 billion cedis and foreign component of 10 million dollars. The Sector Minister Mr Kwadwo Adjei-Darko, who signed on behalf of government, said the construction of the 22-kilometre stretch was in fulfilment of President John Agyekum Kufuor's promise that three major roads from the capital to other regions would be reconstructed.

 

The other roads under consideration are those that link the capital to the Eastern, Western and the Northern corridors. He explained that bypassing Kyebi and Potroase would reduce the length of the road by 10 kilometres and make it safe. The road that links Kyebi would be maintained.

 

The project to be funded by the African Development Bank, OPEC Fund and the Ghana Government is expected to be completed in 24 months but Mr Adjei-Darko urged the contractors to "fast track" it to 18 months.

 

The Managing Director of SONITRA, Mr J. C. Kalfa, who signed for his company, pledged that the project could be completed in 20 months, but that would depend on weather conditions.

 

He said the company had started mobilising logistics to start the project by the middle of May. SONITRA has been engaged in road construction in Cote d'Ivoire since 1963 and came to Ghana in 1992.

 

It built the Kanda Highway and the roads in Dansoman and Darkoman all in Accra, the access road to Tema Harbour and the urban roads in Takoradi. Mr Kalfa said SONITRA has built about 300 kilometres of roads in the Ashanti and Volta Regions.

 

It has constructed three major bridges in the Western Region and undertook the civil works at the Aboadze Thermal Plant. It has an average annual turnover of about 50 million dollars.

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Achirensuahene asked to open defence

 

Sunyani (Brong Ahafo) 24 April 2001- Sunyani High Court II has ruled that a prima facie case had been established against Professor Agyewodin Adu Gyamfi Ampem, Omanhene of Acherensua Traditional Area, and ordered him to open his defence.

 

The court, presided over by Mr Justice Paul Baffoe Bonnie, gave the order when the Prosecution on Tuesday tendered a statutory statement to close its case in the murder trial of the Omanhene and adjourned till Monday, April for Agyewodin Ampem to open his defence.

 

The Omanhene is alleged to have shot to death one Nii Atoquaye Quansah while a group of youth were attacking his private residence in Achirensua on 17 April last year.

 

The Prosecutor, Mr Betuuriseeh Cab-Bayuo, Chief State Attorney in Sunyani, called nine prosecution witnesses, including a ballistic expert at the Police Forensic Science Laboratory, Chief Superintendent David Asante-Apeatu.

 

Others were Dr Ernest Amoah Boateng, Senior Medical Officer at the Manhyia Polyclinic in Kumasi, who conducted the autopsy on Quansah at the District Hospital at Tepa in Ashanti and Detective Sergeant Eric Koduah Agyapong of Brong Ahafo Region Police Headquarters in Sunyani, the investigator in the case.

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Workers day celebration to come off at HO

 

Accra (Greater Accra) 24 April 2002- This year's May Day celebrations would take place at Ho, in the Volta Region on Wednesday, 1 May under the theme: "Decent work and Labour Standards - necessary conditions for national development."

 

A release issued by the Public Affairs Department of the Trades Union Congress (TUC) on Tuesday said President John Agyekum Kufuor would deliver the keynote address.

 

Mr Kwesi Adu-Amankwah, Secretary-General of the TUC, would deliver the May Day address at the parade ground. TUC Regional Secretaries at all the regional capitals would read the address. The release said a number of awards would be presented to deserving people both at the national and regional levels.

 

As part of the celebrations, the Sunshine Promotions would stage a play entitled; "The G-Yard People", on 30 April this would be preceded by a candlelight procession through the principal streets of Ho.

 

On Sunday, 28 April a May Day Quiz for some tertiary institutions would be organized at the Teachers' Hall in Accra. In Ghana, May Day is celebrated each year to honour workers, who distinguish themselves and it is marked with parades, speeches and other celebrations.

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Arnold Prempeh enstooled as Atipimhene of Kumasi

 

Kumasi (Ashanti Region) 24 April 2002- Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, Asantehene, has advised chiefs to be humble, honest and to give dedicated service to their people. The Asantehene gave the advice when the new Atipimhene of Kumasi, Oheneba Agyeman Badu swore the oath of allegiance to him at the Manhyia Palace in Kumasi on Monday.

 

Oheneba Agyeman Badu, known in private life as Mr Arnold Prempeh, is a former Ashanti Region Chairman of the Ghana Bar Association (GBA) and a son of Asantehene, Otumfuo Sir Osei Agyeman Prempeh II.

 

He is a member of the General Legal Council. Oheneba Agyeman Badu, 59, succeeded his brother, Oheneba Osei Kwame, who died in February this year. Otumfuo Osei Tutu urged him to respect all manner of people and render dedicated service to the Manhyia Palace and Asanteman.

GRi…/

 

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Sekondi Methodist Church to hold 41st synod 

 

Essikadu (Western Region) 24 April 2002- The 41st annual synod of the Sekondi Diocese of the Methodist Church would be opened on Thursday under the theme; " Parenting: Fathering in crisis ".

 

About 60 Reverend Ministers and lay representatives of the church would attend, the Very Reverend Daniel Brace, Assistant Synod Secretary, who was speaking to the Ghana News Agency, said administrative institutions and adoption of Episcopacy by the church would be assessed at the synod.

 

He said the synod would discuss general policy direction on the role of the Church in the society and ensure that education, health and social services were made available to deprived communities in the diocese.

 

Rev Brace said a thorough discussion on HIV/AIDS, alcoholism, drug abuse, prostitution, single parenting, broken marriages and issues relating to the aged, would be paramount at the synod.

 

Synod youth, women and men's rallies would be held on Saturday to define the roles of these groups and adopt appropriate strategies to resolve problems confronting them. Reverend Brace added that the synod would also give direction on the way forward in evangelism and Church planting in the diocese.

GRi…/

 

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Yendi pupils write BECE exams without any hindrance

 

Yendi (Northern Region) 24 April 2000- Out of 806 candidates who registered in the Yendi District for the Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) 792 are writing their papers at Yendi Secondary School and Dagbon State Secondary Technical School, Yendi. The candidates are made up of 577 boys and 215 girls from 16 junior secondary schools. Out of the 14 not present, three are writing the exams in Tamale.

 

The Yendi District Director of Education, Mr Mohammed Imoro, made this known when the Minister for Primary, Secondary and Girl Child Education, Miss Christine Churcher, visited the examination centres. Miss Churcher brought the candidates a message of good will from President John Agyekum Kufuor and wished them success.

 

Some of the candidates she interacted with at the centres said the BECE exams for this year were ''manageable, neither cheap nor difficult". One of the candidates from Nakpachie E.P. JSS, Master Aminu Arafat told the Minister that when needy but brilliant children pass BECE exams they find it difficult to enter SSS due to financial problems. Master Arafat appealed to the government to devise a mechanism to assist them to further their education to also become "big men" in future.

GRi…/

 

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Commonwealth officials to visit Pakistan

 

Accra (Greater Accra) 24 April 2002- Two officials of the Commonwealth Secretariat would visit Pakistan from 24 April to 1 May 2002.

 

Mr. Jon Sheppard, Director of the Political Affairs Division, and Ms. Kishwer Falkner would meet government officials as well as representatives of political parties and civil society groups in Islamabad. This is contained in a release issued by the Communications and Public Affairs Division of the secretariat.

 

It said the visit follows the request made by Heads of Government at the recent Commonwealth summit in Australia that the Secretary General monitor developments in Pakistan in the period leading to the restoration of civilian democratic government.

GRi…/

 

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Speaker off to L'Cote d'voire

 

Accra (Greater Accra) 24 April 2002- The Speaker of Parliament, Mr. Peter Ala Adjetey left Accra on Tuesday for Abidjan at the head of a five-member delegation to attend the state opening of the parliament of L'Cote d'voire.

 

The two-day visit was at the instance of the Speaker of the Parliament of L'Cote d'voire. The delegation includes Mr. Prince Oduro-Manu, Member of Parliament (MP) for Techiman South, and MP for Ayawaso East Dr. Musa Ahmed. The first Deputy Speaker, Freddie Blay and Mr. Ken Tachie, Clerk of Parliament saw the delegation off at the airport.

GRi…/

 

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