Over 2,500 Junior Secondary School girls drop out due to pregnancy
University don advocates holistic approach to peace
National Democratic Congress to recapture power in 2004
Lack of effective communication affecting utility services
Workers call for review of medical allowances
Heads urged to sanction non-performing civil servants
Ministry terminates road contracts awarded in January
Media cautioned about reportage on conflicts
Ex-Wenchihene wants to regain status
Ghana is committed to peace in Manor River
area-Aliu
Ho (Volta Region) 24 August 2001
A total of 2,571 Junior Secondary School (JSS) girls in the Ho District became pregnant and dropped out of school between 1999 and July, this year.
Figures collated by the District School Health Education Programme (SHEP) Department and released to the media indicate that 25 girls aged between 10 years and 14 years were made pregnant and 859 of those between 15 years and 19 years found themselves in the same situation and dropped out of school in 1999.
In 2000 the figure for those between 10 years and 14 years went up to 74, while that of those between 15 years to 19 years rose to 1,038.
Figures for January to July this year showed that 11 students between 10 years and 14 years and 564 between 15 years and 19 years had dropped out of school because they became pregnant.
Miss Sitsofe Amegboe, Ho District SHEP Co-ordinator, said that most of the pregnancies occurred in outlying towns and villages.
She said pregnancy among JSS students was particularly common in towns along the Ghana-Togo border.
Miss Amegboe attributed peer group influence, broken homes, inability of parents to meet the needs of their daughters, watching of pornographic films at video centres and the behaviour of parents as some of the causes of the rising incidence of pregnancy among JSS students.
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Accra (Greater Accra) 24 August 2001
A Professor at the University of Pretoria, South Africa, Hussein Solomon, on Thursday said peace making should not be separated from post-war processes of reconstruction, rehabilitation and reconciliation.
Rather, they need to be viewed as parallel processes that are complementary to each other and should be approached in a holistic manner to ensure sustainable peace.
Addressing the closing session of the one-week sub-regional seminar on conflict resolution in Accra, Prof. Solomon said economic development should also be viewed as a conflict preventive measure and should occur at all phases to include prospects for social development.
The seminar under the theme: "Enhancing the Role of Non-State Actors in Conflict resolution", was organised by the Washington-based Africa Centre for Strategic Studies, a US Defence Department-sponsored agency, for policy makers including military chiefs from Africa, Europe and the US.
Prominent among the participants were Ellen Sirleaf Johnson, exiled Liberian opposition leader and a candidate in the post-war presidential election as well as ministers of state from war-torn Sierra Leone, Nigeria and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Prof. Solomon said a more holistic understanding of peace should expand the role civil society plays in conflict situations.
In addition to attempts to secure peace between warring groups, non-state actors should also be involved in structural and non-structural measures in order to arrive at sustainable peace.
These structural measures should include economic reconstruction, reconstruction of the judicial system, health and housing and arms control among others.
Non-state actors, particularly NGOs, he said should to establish increased co-ordination to prevent duplication of functions and to enhance the transfer of skills for a more integrated approach at peacemaking.
''What is needed is a careful consideration of the comparative advantage of each and how to work together more effectively to achieve a more strategic partnership".
Miss Zainab Hawa Bangura, Founder of the Campaign for Good Governance, a Sierra Leone NGO, said to overcome the ongoing violence in Africa, it was necessary for many actors to engage in conflict prevention.
"This means we need to revise, develop new concepts and new tools for addressing what we call internal conflicts or conflicts between people. State centred diplomacy must be complemented by citizen-based diplomacy".
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Ho (Volta Region) 24 August 2001
Enoch Teye Mensah, Member of Parliament (MP) for Ningo-Prampram, said on Thursday that the National Democratic Congress would recapture political power in the 2004 general election.
He said the party was still alive "even more than it was three months before the elections last year".
Mensah, who is the National Youth Organiser of the party, said these when he addressed a youth forum, which was attended by representatives from the 19 constituencies in the Volta Region.
He told the supporters that the realities of life have dawned on the electorate and with the current re-organisation of the party’s structures, a vibrant youth and women's wing would emerge to carry out its propaganda work.
He said the party believed in grassroots politics and advised the youth to work hard to win the 2004 elections.
Steve Akorli, MP for Ho-East, asked the youth to be courageous and ready to take over the leadership of the party in future.
He advised them not to give up hope despite the harassment some party members and supporters were facing because the government was failing to fulfil the numerous promises it made to Ghanaians during the electioneering campaign.
Elvis Afriyie Ankra, Spokesperson of the Youth Forum, said the party was still on the ground and was growing from strength to strength despite efforts by the government to tarnish the image of the party.
He said the party stood for truth and honesty and, therefore, urged them not to be afraid in criticising government policies because "we shall surely win again".
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Accra (Greater Accra) 24 August 2001
The Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC) on Thursday said the utility companies' inability to communicate their programmes to the public and respond quickly to consumer complaints contributed to misunderstanding between them and the public.
It said these lapses gave people a negative perception about the companies.
At a meeting with the companies, consumer associations and the media in
Accra, Mrs Ofori Dufie, Director of Consumer Services at PURC, stressed the need for the companies to improve on customer care to win public confidence and increase revenue.
The meeting was part of PURC's efforts to ensure that the utilities- Volta River Authority (VRA), Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) and Ghana Water
Company Limited (GWCL) - achieved their set targets following the recent upward adjustments of tariffs.
Mrs Dufie said while some of the inefficiencies in service delivery were a direct result of the utilities' inability to charge economic rates, others were from lack of effective communication.
She said the commission had set up a task force to monitor performance and to ensure that the utilities complied with directives on achieving the targets.
Jonathan Ahele Nunoo, Acting Managing Director of GWCL said high population growth without corresponding expansion in water supply systems was the reason for the company's inability to meet customers' demands.
On his part, Eric Yankah, a Deputy Chief Executive of VRA, said it was the responsibility of consumers to pay their bills promptly to enable the utility companies to expand their services.
The Director of Customer Service of ECG, D.B.M. Vukania, said assessing tariffs in compound houses was the biggest challenge facing the company.
According to him, it would cost ECG about 90 million dollars to fix individual meters in these houses.
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Kyebi (Eastern Region) 224 August 2001
Members of the Trades Union Congress (TUC) in the Eastern Region have appealed o the government to review the medical allowances paid to its workers to reflect the present economic situation in the country.
They said the 25,000 cedis being paid to each worker annually was woefully inadequate considering the high cost of drugs and medical treatment at the country's hospitals.
The workers made the appeal at separate educational forums organised by the Eastern Regional branch of the TUC for its members in the Suhum/Kraboa/Coaltar, East Akyem and Akwapim North Districts during the week.
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Ho (Volta Region) 24 August 2001
Seth Adega, Secretary of the Volta Regional Branch of the Civil Servants Association of Ghana (CSAG) has called for stringent measures against non-performing members to redeem the image of the service.
"I challenge all Heads of Departments to be hard on lazy civil servants and take appropriate disciplinary measures against such elements to re-instil the spirit of dedication and commitment to the service", Adega stated at the Regional Delegates Conference at Ho on Thursday.
He said negative attitudes to work by most civil servants has led to low productivity thereby "opening ourselves to public ridicule".
He said the government like any other employer was profit motivated and would not continue to retain any lazy workers to the detriment of the service.
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Assin Foso (Central Region) 24 August 2001
The Ministry of Roads and Highways has within the past eight months, terminated more than 10 road contracts that were awarded by the previous government just before it handed over to the present administration.
They include those for the reconstruction of the Bole-Bamboi, Yendi-Damongo, Asankragwa-Boadie and Twifo-Praso-Dunkwa roads, Kwadwo Adjei-Darko, the sector Minister said on Wednesday when he inspected roads in the Twifo-Hemang-Lower-Denkyira and Assin Districts as part of an inspection tour of roads in the Central Region.
The Ministry, he said, terminated the contracts because some of the contractors did not meet the requirements in the contract bids while others were not captured in the budget.
Adjei-Darko, however, promised that the contracts would be reviewed and re-awarded adding: "The timing was not good since the previous government had only a few days to hand over power when the awards were made."
The Ministry would scale down the number of contracts to be awarded to each contractor to enhance efficiency.
He observed that some of the contractors bid for as many as five contracts at the same time, even though, they did not have enough equipment and personnel.
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Bolgatanga (Upper East) 24 August 2001
Edward Ameyibor, Supervising Chief Editor of the Ghana News Agency has suggested the establishment of a broadcasting regulatory board to monitor programmes, especially of the Frequency Modulation (FM) radio stations.
The board, he said, should have power to renew or suspend the license of the stations based on approved criteria of their output.
Ameyibor, a former President of the Ghana Journalists Association, was delivering a paper on: "The role of the media in conflict resolution" at a UN-sponsored seminar on the Bawku Peace Initiative held at Bolgatanga on Tuesday.
The one-day seminar brought together chiefs, opinion leaders of ethnic groups, religious leaders and representatives of the security agencies and NGOs to discuss the theme: "Fostering a culture of peace and ethnic harmony in Ghana."
Ameyibor said in the absence of such a regulatory body, some of the new radio stations either out of ignorance or incorrect interpretation of press freedom, could commit a blunder that would throw the entire country into turmoil.
Issues of ethnicity, religion, politics and sports are potential sources of conflict because they are full of passion and emotion and therefore need to be handled with tact.
"The way the media report or analyse these situations can pose a big security problem, especially when they make people feel trapped or disadvantaged because of their geographical origins", he said.
He urged the media to build bridges that would bring people and communities together as partners in development rather than tear them apart through the beating of war drums.
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Sunyani (Eastern Region) 24 August 2001
Almost 30 years after he was destooled by the late General Ignatius Kutu Acheampong's regime, Nana Kusi Appea has launched a legal challenge to regain his status as the paramount chief of Wenchi.
Nana Appea has filed a petition at the Judicial Committee of the Brong Ahafo Regional House of Chiefs to that effect.
The petition, filed on August 20, is asking the Committee for a perpetual injunction to restrain the present occupant of the stool, Nana Mbore Bediatuo, from styling himself as Omanhene.
Adducing grounds for his petition, Nana Appea, believed to be in his 80s, said he was first enstooled as Omanhene of Wenchi in 1949 and duly swore the oath of allegiance and loyalty to the people and elders of Wenchi as required by custom and tradition.
He said in the 1960s, the CPP government undertook a mass dismissal of chiefs who were perceived to be anti-CPP and he was affected.
However, after the overthrow of the CPP government, the National Liberation
Council (NLC) re-instated him upon the passage of NLC Decree 112, which reversed the unjustified and uncustomary destoolments.
Nana Appea said after the overthrow of the second republic, Gen Acheampong, for no apparent reason, withdrew his recognition.
"It is as a result of these politically motivated destoolments that Nana Mbore Bediatuo managed to declare himself as Wenchihene without swearing the oath of allegiance with the traditional sword to the people and elders of Wenchi as demanded by custom".
Nana Appea further argued that with the coming into force of the 1992 constitution, "all previous decrees including those that withdrew his recognition as Wenchi Omanhene have been rendered null and void as if they were never passed or existed".
He said Nana Bediatuo was never nominated, selected and enstooled in accordance with custom hence the need for the Judicial Committee to declare him (Nana Appea) as "the only properly and customarily enstooled paramount chief of Wenchi".
"It is for the above reasons that I am praying the Committee to restore my recognition as the only true Omanhene of Wenchi since in reality and in accordance with custom, I was never destooled".
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Accra (Greater Accra) 24 August 2001
Vice President Aliu Mahama on Thursday said Ghana would work towards the achievement of peace in the Mano River area.
Ghana would provide the necessary expertise and support in the electoral process in Sierra Leone "now that there is light at the end of the tunnel", Alhaji Mahama said this when Mr Oluyemi Adeniji, UN Secretary General's Special Representative to Sierra Leone paid a courtesy call on him at the State House in Accra.
Adeniji was in Ghana to brief the government on the recent peace initiatives by the United Nation's Mission in Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL).
The initiatives include disarming the warring factions, freeing child soldiers, returning diamond rich areas under rebel control to UNAMSIL and securing the release of some Revolutionary United Front (RUF) leaders.
Ghana has been a key player in Sierra Leone's peace process and together with Nigeria and Guinea contributes troops to UNAMSIL whose strength stands at 15,000 out of which 6,500 are from West Africa.
Vice President Mahama said there was no way final peace could return to Sierra Leone without taking a critical look at the Manor River Union (MRU) and the role of UNAMSIL.
"Ghana has admired the role UNAMSIL has played in the peace process in Sierra Leone and a Ghanaian contingent is ready to go to Sierra Leone", he added.
Hackman Owusu Agyeman, Minister of Foreign Affairs said the Ghanaian contingent was ready to leave for Sierra Leone when the government was informed about the presence of troops from Pakistan.
Adeniji said UNAMSIL has played a unique role in the peace process because areas of divergent opinions were resolved amicably with its active involvement.
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