5 political parties welcome new date, but UGM seeks court interpretation
MP, CHRAJ in paternity row
The Daily Graphic / The Ghanaian Times
Akwaaba - Royal family of Brunei arrives to great reception
More girls study science
Northern Zongo agenda
J.J. urged to scrap military ACDR's
Rawlings has failed
5 political parties welcome new date, but UGM seeks court interpretation
The Evening News says although the change in this year's presidential and parliamentary elections by the Electoral Commission (EC) has attracted mixed public reactions, most of the political parties, except the United Ghana Movement (UGM), appear not to be bothered by the change.
UGM, led by its leader, Dr Charles Wereko-Brobby, is reported to have kicked against the decision saying it has already instructed its solicitors to file a writ before the Supreme Court to seek a true and proper interpretation of the relevant electoral law.
However, Alhaji Huudu Yahaya, General Secretary of the NDC, is reported as saying that any date set by the Electoral Commission, which does not disenfranchise the electorate is an ideal one. The NDC, he said, has no problem with the new date of December 7 so long as it satisfies the country's constitutional requirements.
The paper also quotes an NPP publicity member, Mr Kwadwo Afari, as saying that his party does not see the change in the date affecting its fortunes of winning the elections, adding that the NPP is concerned with the prevention of possible rigging that characterised the 1992 and 1996 elections.
The National Reform Party (NRP's) General Secretary, Mr. Kyeretwie Opoku, told the Evening News that although the party has no qualms about the date, it still holds that the Electoral Commission should seek interpretation from the Supreme Court since it is the only redress in cases of controversy.
The Evening News further reports that Dr Abubakar Al-Hassan, of the CPP indicated his party favouring the change in from December 8 to 7 while Mr. Dan Lartey, flagbearer of the Great Consolidated Popular Party (GCPP) said GCPP had nothing against the new date.
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MP, CHRAJ in paternity row
The Ghanaian Chronicle reports in its led story that Mr. Fuzzy Torbay, MP for Okere Constituency, has been dragged before the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) for failing to accept responsibility and cater for a 16-year-old girl he allegedly fathered some years back.
The petition, Chronicle says, was filed by Sergeant Thomas Adjei of the Ekumfi Otuwm Police Station, in the Central Region, and a maternal uncle of the abandoned girl.
According to the petition, when Fuzzy was informed about the late Miss Juliana Asare’s pregnancy, he accepted responsibility and rented an apartment for her at Adukrom but changed his mind after her delivery on grounds of lack of identifiable paternal features.
She reportedly died two years later as a result of neglect and economic hardship, leaving the baby to the family's care.
Chronicle reports that Fuzzy denied fathering the baby when contacted by CHRAJ and insisted on paternity test for which he paid an amount of five hundred dollars.
He is reported as saying that he had gone into the polygamous relation due to the lack of issue with his first wife but realised Juliana's unfaithfulness after delivery through her own confession.
Juliana, he said left the town due to pressure from rumours that were making the rounds. He is quoted as saying that he would have been happier if the 16-year-old was truly his daughter.
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The Daily Graphic / The Ghanaian Times
Akwaaba - Royal family of Brunei arrives to great reception
The two papers report the arrival in the country on Tuesday of the Sultan of Brunei Dar Ussalam, Her Majesty Raja Isteri and Her Royal Highness Pangiran Isteri, to begin a two-day state visit, at invitation of President Jerry John Rawlings.
According to the papers there was spontaneous applause from the crowd which had gathered at the Kotoka International Airport as early as 8 a.m to give Sultan and his entourage a hilarious welcome when the massive four-engine V8-All Jet with the inscription "Bander Seri Begawan", touched down at 11.55 a.m.
The Sultan is reported by the papers to have been warmly embraced by President Rawlings as he descended the gangway. He was thereafter presented with bouquets and later entreated to some cultural display while a guard of honour was mounted.
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More girls study science
The Graphic carries a centre spread story that says the introduction of the Science, Technology and Mathematics Education (SMTE) programme, under which clinics are organised for girls in junior and senior secondary schools to whip up their interest in the study of science, has facilitated the study of the sciences by girls.
The paper quotes Mr Alex Tettey-Enyo, Deputy Director General of the Ghana Education Service (GES), to have made the disclosure in a keynote address at the second annual SMTE clinic for girls in the Volta Region on Monday.
Mr. Tetey-Enyo is reported as saying that a survey conducted in 25 senior secondary schools in the country to assess the impact of the SMTE revealed that it has made a tremendous impact after three years of its introduction.
The number of girls who studied science-related subjects, according to the survey increased from 217 to 320 in 1996 and further rose to 639 in 1997.
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Northern Zongo agenda
The National Savannah Caucus has threatened that any political party that does not select a Northerner as its flagbearer or running mate should not expect any vote from the three Northern Regions or the Zongo communities in the country, reports the Free Press.
The threat, the paper says, was issued in a paper delivered by Alhaji Nuhu Bila, a high court judge at a lecture organised by the National Savanna Caucus in Accra.
He is said to have called for equal opportunities for all Ghanaians to serve in all the administrative wings of government particularly, in the army, police, the judiciary, business, education, research and industries without any prejudice to tribe or ethnic background, emphasising that "herein lies true security, peace and stability."
Alhaji Nuhu revealed that the Savannah was a socio-cultural colossus embracing numerous tribes and ethnic groups with more than a hundred languages and dialects and refuted claims that the three Northern Regions and Zongo communities were separate entities and antagonistic against each other.
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J.J. urged to scrap military ACDR's
The Dispatch writes that an 'informal' study involving 47 officers and 235 other ranks between December 1999 to July 2000 has revealed that about 80.1 per cent of the Ghana Armed Forces (GAF) want their Commander-in-Chief, President Jerry Rawlings and the Military High Command to scrap the existence of the Association of Committees for the Defence of the Revolution (ACDRs) within the GAF.
The research, said to have been conducted at mostly the regional capitals, involved conversation on whether the other political parties should form political groupings or whether ACDRs should be scrapped.
The paper says those that it talked to were executives or active members of the military ACDRs who were of the view that it was useful for a particular era in the country's history but needed to be scraped now.
A senior non-commissioned officer, said to be a dyed-in-the-wool Rawlings loyalist for the past 20-years is quoted to have stated: "We have sent word to our Commander-in-Chief to deal with this issue before he leaves office. We have to avoid the situation whereby the ACDRs may have to be phased out from the military after 2000.
Such an action may create the false impression that attempts are being made to erode his good works. We trust he will be bold enough to deal with the situation before he leaves office in the next few months."
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The Guide reports on it’s front page that His Lordship E. K. Wiredu, acting Chief Justice is finding it difficult to maintain the “Acting Chief Justice” title bestowed on him since the indisposition of the Chief Justice I. K. Abban, which took him to London Hospital last year.
The paper says Justice Wiredu refused to respond to the title when he was invited to address the 39th Annual /1st Biennial Conference of the Methodist Church, on behalf of the judiciary, in Accra.
“I did not come here as a representative of the judiciary rather in my capacity as a member of the Methodist Church and prefer to play a neutral role”, the paper quotes him as saying.
This was after the flagbearers of the United Ghana Movement (UGM) and the Peoples National Convention (PNC), talked about their manifestos.
Justice Wiredu is reported to have revealed that the Chief Justice is quite well and around and therefore he is no longer acting as Chief Justice as indicated earlier.
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The Palaver reports Prof. Mills as saying he would create an office that would be charged with the responsibility of harmonising relations between different political parties when given the mandate to rule.
This office he said, would also work to reconcile differences among the people, adding that consensus building and teamwork would play a large part in his administration, thus making a major plank in the effort at reconciliation.
The Palaver quotes Prof. Mills in an address read on his behalf at a fund raising dinner organised by the Cape Coast Constituency branch of the NDC at Cape Coast that: “We should seek to achieve a nation free of rancour, bitterness, recrimination and vengeance”.
Prof. Mills further said he would make consultation one of his pillars of his administration, listen to all persons with contribution to make to help the country.
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Rawlings has failed
The Weekly Insight recounts a report based on the London based New African Magazine which says after 17 years Ghana’s economy is now flat on it’s back, forcing the government of the Flt-Lt. Rawlings to introduce emergency measures to stop the national currency, the cedi, from further humiliation.
The paper says by mid-May the cedi was down to ˘8,000.00 to the pound, a hefty (160,000% depreciation in 17 years against the British pound.) or ˘5,000.00 to $1.00 (a 133,333% slide in the same period against the US dollar).
In mid 1983, when Ghana got involved with the IMF and World Bank’s Economic Recovery and Structural Adjustment Programmes, the exchange rate was ˘5.00 to 1 pound or ˘3.75 to $1.00, the paper said.
The paper continued that the government, under the IMF/World Bank instructions, allowed the cedi to freely float, but at 160,000% against the pound sterling in May, the government finally mustered enough courage to come in to rescue the cedi.
The new measures according to the paper report included stringent conservation of foreign exchange, discouragement of non-essential imports, improvement in revenue collection and a slash in government expenditure.
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