Cedis
not in short supply
Ghana
honours Kofi Annan
Konadu
move to stop Obed
Don’t
blame judges - Tribunal Chairman
The Crusading Guide Konadu moves to stop Obed's
bid
All-Akan
Presidential ticket not disastrous - Adu Boahen
Daily
Graphic
Cedis
not in short supply
The
daily Graphic reports that the Bank of Ghana (BOG) has not run short of local
currencies and attributed the apparent shortage in some banks to huge
withdrawals by their corporate customers.
It
quotes BOG Governor, Dr Kwabena Duffuor, as saying in an interview that the
Central Bank has adequate local currencies to take care of the needs of
customers.
Dr
Duffuor, said some banks have allowed their customers to withdraw billions over
the counter, which was an improper banking practice that need not be
encouragement.
He
said over a seven-month period, some banks withdrew far in excess of their
deposits with the Central Bank, adding that what was happening in some of the
banks has no connection with any wrong fundamentals
of the monetary and fiscal policies of the economy.
Dr
Duffuor indicated that the fast depreciation of the cedi against the dollar
could be a cause for the panic buying by some corporate companies and customers
of banks who want to make huge payments to their clients can use bankers drafts
if they don not want to issue cheques.
GRi…/
The
Ghanaian Times
Ghana
honours Kofi Annan
Ghana
on Tuesday, conferred the state honour of the Companion of the Order of the
Star of Ghana (Civil Division) on Mr. Kofi Annan, UN Secretary General at a
State Banquet held in his honour in Accra, the Ghanaian Times reports.
The
award was in recognition of Mr. Annan's unwavering efforts and indomitable spirit
towards the achievement of world peace.
President
Jerry John Rawlings decorated the UN boss with the award before a number of
dignitaries, and paid glowing tribute to him.
Times
quotes President Rawlings as stating that Ghana would continue to devote part
of her limited resources to conflict management in Africa with the view to
removing the factors hindering and undermining peace, security, stability and
development.
He
said despite the opportunities offered by globalisation and liberalisation, the
world is confronted with a global society, which condemns the vast majority of
people from the developing world to poverty, hardship and disease.
"Consequently,
the poor of the world, particularly of Africa, have become poorer and are
marginalised and excluded from the benefits of globalisation," President
Rawlings said.
Mr.
Kofi Annan, according to the Times commended Ghana's progress in democracy and
economic development and said the nation was recognised the world over for her
commitment to multi-lateralism.
GRi…/
The
Independent
Konadu
move to stop Obed
The
Independent says its investigations indicate that moves by the First Lady, Nana
Konadu Agyeman Rawlings, to capture the vice-presidential slot of the National
Democratic Congress (NDC) could stall the candidacy of Dr Obed Asamoah, who the
party machinery has almost finished choosing to partner Prof. John Evans Atta
Mills.
In
what appears as a lead story, the paper states party insiders however hint that
any attempt to impose the First Lady on the party would be at a great
cost.
According
to the Independent, its sources indicate that Flt. Lt. Jerry Rawlings, head of
the party, is unhappy about his wife's latest move but has been mute in order
to avoid another Swedru declaration where his open endorsement of Prof. Mills
nearly tore the party apart.
"With
the husband out of the equation, Nana Konadu, one highly placed source said, is
forcing her way to get the ears of whoever has the onerous responsibility to
choose the Veep." The Independent quoted.
The
paper's sources say Konadu's bid which started as a mere rumour is now gaining
currency with her trusted aid Mrs. Cecilia Johnson as the rallying point.
GRi…/
Accra
Mail
Don’t
blame judges - Tribunal Chairman
The
Accra Mail in a front-page coverage says the Chairman of the Central Regional
Tribunal, Nana Justice Baafour Adjei, has asked journalists not to blame judges
for applying the libel laws in the statute books.
He
is reported to have stated during a discussion on the freedom and
responsibility of the media in Accra that judges could not refuse invoking such
laws when anybody, charged with going against them, appears before the courts.
Nana
Baafour Adjei said judges have sworn to uphold the constitution and administer
justice to all without fear or favour. Any cordial relationship that may exist
between the media and the judiciary cannot induce them to circumvent the law
when journalists infringe on them.
He
asked media practitioners to operate within the limits set by their own Code of
Ethics to avoid falling foul of the laws, adding the laws' existence may not be
the wish of judges but they cannot change them.
GRi…/
The
Crusading Guide
All-Akan
Presidential ticket not disastrous - Adu Boahen
Professor
Albert Adu Boahen, the 1992 Presidential candidate of the New Patriotic Party,
has in a front-page story of the Crusading Guide, kicked against the claim by
some people that an all-Akan presidency could be disastrous or suicidal.
Prof.
Adu Boahen in reaction to a publication in the Dispatch, a bi-weekly newspaper,
said "for all practical, geopolitical and ethnological purposes, the Akan
as a single ethnic group, has ceased to exist, and the term is therefore
totally and clearly anachronistic and wrong."
He said
if realistically and in practice, then, the term Akan is clearly an
anachronism, the question of "an all-Akan presidential ticket" does
not surely exist, and that ticket cannot therefore be either disastrous or
suicidal.
Prof.
Adu Boahen, in reference to the 1992 and 1996 elections voting patterns, stated
that they did not support the view of ethnic-based voting, with the exception
of the
"Volta
Region and even there, it was only in its southern part."
GRi…/