Assistance to Ramsar Site in Ga District
Isaac Hayes, others raise $400,000…For Ada Centre of Excellence
Man defiles two sisters
6.3 billion cedis tax evasion
Kufuor sounds warning note!
Educational crisis…
Man clubs wife to death…He claimed she turned into tiger at night
Forum of parents to resolve stand-off
Distance Education takes off next year
Assistance to Ramsar Site in Ga District
The Accra Mail carries a story on improvement of environmental and ecological quality on five coastal wetland sites in the Ga District of the Greater Accra Region.
The paper reports that the Coastal Wetlands Management Project (CWMP) since its inception in 1994, has been working to improve the environmental and ecological quality of the five coastal wetland sites, including the Densu Ramsar Site, a birds’ sanctuary.
The Accra Mail says poor sanitary conditions were seen as one of the environmental threats to the value of coastal wetlands and their socio-economic importance to local communities.
To address this, the paper says, the CWMP has provided eight toilets within the wetland communities of the Ga District at a total cost of 210 million cedis. Added to this, a total of 79.289 million cedis has been loaned out to six community groups comprising 70 men and 42 women for micro-economic ventures, particularly farming and fish smoking under the Investment Support Fund, aimed at improving the economic status of the Ramsar Site communities.
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Isaac Hayes, others raise $400,000…For Ada Centre of Excellence
In its lead story, the Graphic Showbz reports that the AfricaAmerican music legend, Isaac Hayes, actor Denzel Washington, Bob Johnson, President of Black Entertainment Television (BET) in collaboration with the World Literacy Crusade, Applied Scholastics International Goldtech, have raised an amount of $400,000 to fund the Nene Katey Ocansey I Technological Centre of Excellence at Ada in the Greater Accra Region.
The paper says the Centre, which has so far trained 1,975 students and 37 teachers, will be inaugurated on September 4, this year. In connection with this, the Graphic Showbiz says Isaac Hayes, who is also known as. Nene Katey Ocansey I, will lead about a 30-member delegation of United States celebrities and other international dignitaries to attend the opening ceremony.
Naa Asie Ocansie, President of Applied Scholastics International Goldtech, who gave the background of the project, is reported as saying that in December, 1992, Isaac Hayes was enstooled as ‘Manoyem Mantse’ (Chief of Development) of the Ada Traditional Area under the stool name of Nene Katey Ocansey I. Shortly after, Nene Ocansey and Naa Asie Ocansey engaged in several speaking programmes and events in the United States, promoting Ghana as a business and tourism destination.
According to the Ghana Showbiz, last August, a delegation made up of teachers and celebrities visite Ghana to embark on educational crusade in Ada and to take part in the ground-breaking ceremony towards the setting up a school that will be a gift of literacy to Ghana, Africa and the word.
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Man defiles two sisters
In an inside page story, the Weekend Chronicle reports that the gathered crowd at the Sekondi Circuit Tribunal in the Western Region, could not help breaking into laughter amidst shouts of "Dr Panie", when a 42-year-old man, who lured two sisters aged 7 and 13 into his room and sexually abused them, was arraigned before the Tribunal.
The paper says the man, Ekow Mensah, alias Egya Tawia, pleaded not guilty to defilement of female under 14 years and was granted a 20 million-cedi bail with one surety. According to the story, the prosecution told the Tribunal chaired by Mr Frederick Miezah Anyimah that the accused person lives in the same vicinity with the girls, who stay with their parents at New Takoradi in the Western Region. Mensah, the prosecution said, lured the innocent girls into his room and had sex with them after which he gave them 500 cedis each and warned them not to disclose the incident to anyone.
Two days after the incident, the girls, out of fear, informed their mother who reported the matter to the police. The children were sent to the Effia-Nkwanta Hospital and the medical report on them indicated that they had been carnally known.
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6.3 billion cedis tax evasion
The Guide in a front page banner headline story says as the nation goes through strike actions and demonstrations in demand for better conditions of service, ‘economic parasites’ are feeding fat through tax evasion.
The paper says one of such illegal parasite who in 1998 evaded duties and taxes to the tune of 5.176 billion cedis, is in the grip of officers of the Customs Excise and Preventive Service (CEPS). The suspect, Godwin Kwashievie-Agbe, is said to have succeeded initially to outwit CEPS with the suspected connivance of personne of the Service, to deny the state of additional revenue of 993.8 million cedis and 179.75 million cedis in 1996 and 1997 respectively.
The Guide says Kwashievie-Agbe, who is the Managing Director of Godka Group Limited, thus succeeded in evading over 6.3 billion cedis duties and taxes within a three-year period.
The paper says its investigations at the CEPS Headquarters in Accra showed that Kwashievie-Agbe operates two warehouses under CEPS supervision.
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Kufuor sounds warning note!
In front page screaming headline story the Crusading Guide reports that the Presidential candidate of the NPP, Mr J.A. Kufuor, has unequivocally cautioned that "Ghana is not in that mood of tolerance" which accounts for the seeming peace and stability the country has been enjoying.
The NPP flagbearer is reported as sounding this word of caution in an exclusive interview with the Crusading Guide at his Airport area residence in Accra. The paper says Mr Kufuor intimated that the NPP front was battle-ready for the year 2000 elections and expressed optimism that given the tools by the people, the party would win the polls.
On any electoral fraud during the polls as the previous ones were purported to have been characterised by, Mr Kufuor is reported as saying that it was common knowledge that the Electoral Commissioner himself had asked for money so that every registered voter would be given a photo identity card. "But publicly, the NDC government has not reacted to the request", he is quoted as saying.
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Educational crisis…
The Independent in its lead story recalls that President Jerry Rawlings, at the start of his military regime in January 1982, used to introduce and punctuate his speeches with te refrain – ‘countrymen, workers and fellow students’.
The paper says the worsening crisis at the educational front and President Rawlings’ own ‘U-turn’ in the vision of his own resolution, have put the former revolutionary bedfellows apart as evidenced by the current spate of student unrest in Ghana.
The Independent says the unfolding events could turn out to be just a ‘storm in a tea cup’ and recede to history but it is by every indication, the greatest headache for the Rawlings government.
The story says following a demonstration by Ghanaian students on August 13, this year, the government announced that it was setting up a 3 billion-cedi fund to assist needy students. But the National Union of Ghana Students (NUGS) has rejected the offer as "woefully inadequate in the face of the 13 billion cedis that is the minimum amount Ghanaian universities require to run this year".
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Man clubs wife to death…He claimed she turned into tiger at night
The Ghanaian Times carries a front page human interest story which says a Togolese, Kwashie Gbenyo, 30, who accused his Ghanaian wife of being a witch, yesterday clubbed her to death at their residence at Abossey Okai in Accra.
The story says Kwashie, a carpenter, is in custody at the Kaneshie Police Station while the body of his wife, Ruby Geh, 32, a native of Juapong in the Volta Region, has been deposited at the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital mortuary. The couple are said to have been married for six years.
The Times says according to the landlady, Madam Sarah Akwetey, the suspect claimed that he killed his wife because she was a witch. She said Gbenyo alleged that in the his wife turned into a tiger and he was compelled to club her. He said he hit the ‘tiger’ several times at various parts of the body. Madam Akwetey is reported as saying that Gbenyo also claimed that he had consulted a spiritualist and pastor of an unknown church, who confirmed that his wife was a witch. Gbenyo is expected to be put before court soon after police investigations
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Forum of parents to resolve stand-off
A forum of parents of students of tertiary institutions in Ghana is to be convened in Accra next week to help resolve the present stand-off between the Ministry of Education and the leadership of the National Union of Ghana Students (NUGS) over the payment of the new academic facility user fees, reports the Daily Graphic in a front page story
The paper says the Minister of Education, Mr Ekwow Spio-Garbrah, announced this after an inconclusive meeting between officials of the Ministry and the leadership of NUGS in Accra yesterday.
The Graphic says the meeting which was called at the instance of the Minister to calm the tension that has built up over the introduction of the new fees by the universities, saw both sides sticking to their entrenched positions.
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Distance Education takes off next year
In another story, the Graphic reports that Distance Education Programme at the University of Ghana, Legon, will take off early next year with courses in Political Science, Sociology, Science English and Religious Studies.
The Graphic says materials for the first year (level 100) of the four-year programme are 95 per cent complete, while those for the second year (level 200), are 45 per cent ready. Dr Elorm Dovlo, Co-ordinator of Distance Education at the University is reported as saying that currently, a master-plan is being worked out on the implementation of the programme.
He expressed the hope that the exercise would be seen as national and community-based and not solely for the University. Dr Dovlo was speaking at a public forum on "Distance Education", organised for relevant institutions involved in the programme in Ghana and representatives of the Commonwealth of Learning in Vancouver, Canada.
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