We were not invited to NPP Congress - NDC
Ghana to host conference of management organisations
Wereko Brobbey appointed acting chief executive of VRA
Kumasi Mayor gives ultimatum to garages
Accra (Greater Accra) 27 August 2001
The National Democratic Congress (NDC) on Monday said it did not attend the National Delegates' Congress of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) last Saturday because it was not invited.
Ekwow Spio-Garbrah, Chairman of NDC Publicity Committee, told journalists that the party would have attended the congress if it had been invited.
"There was no reason why we would not have made an appearance there," Spio-Garbrah said, adding that there was a registry at the NDC headquarters for correspondence, and there was nothing to indicate that there was such invitation.
He described the statement by an NPP official that an invitation was delivered by hand to the NDC and other political parties as unfortunate because there was no invitation.
"It is still unfortunate that there should be a communication mishap." Two parties, the NDC and National Reform Party, did not attend the NPP Congress where national executive officers were elected to steer the affairs of the party for the next three years.
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Nalerigu (Northern Region) 27 August 2001
Cashew farmers in three districts in the Northern and Upper East regions have appealed to the government to find an alternative means of providing them with loans to expand their farms.
They noted that they were not included in the recent African Development Fund (ADF) loan package to cashew farmers in other parts of the country.
Yamtse Michael, Co-ordinator of the Cashew Plantation Development Project (CPDP), made the appeal on behalf of farmers in the Bawku East, Garu/Timpane and East Mamprusi districts.
Michael called for a special package for tree growers, especially in the
Upper East Region to combat desertification. He said the CPDP has 2,000 cashew farmers in the East Mamprusi District alone.
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Kade (Eastern Region) 27 August 2001
Professor Emmanuel Owusu Benoa of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) on Friday urged research scientists to intensify their findings to assist farmers to improve the quality of locally produced rice.
This, he noted, would cut down the high government expenditure on importation of the cereal.
Prof. Benoa, Deputy Director General, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries sector of the CSIR, said this when he addressed more than 100 participants drawn from the Kwaebibirem, Birim North and South Districts in the Eastern Region at a two-day post-harvest training programme at the University of Ghana Agricultural Research Station at Kade.
The participants, who included farmers, district directors of agriculture from the Ministry of Food and Agriculture, agricultural extension agents and research scientists, were taken through practical approaches to reduce the quantitative and qualitative loss of locally produced rice from harvesting to milling.
Prof. Benoa said the country spends more than 100 million dollars on the importation of rice, adding that Ghana is endowed with adequate resources, which stakeholders could utilise to boost the local production of high quality rice.
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Accra (Greater Accra) 27 August 2001
President John Agyekum Kufuor resumed work on Monday after a four-day rest, which he described as "a good break."
"I stayed away for four days and not without work," he told the media at the State house. President Kufuor advised public officials to learn how to take a few days off their busy schedule.
President Kufuor's leave started last Monday and Ms Elizabeth Ohene, Minister of Media Relations, said he was still in touch with his office.
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Accra (Greater Accra) 27 August 2001
Association of Management Organisations of Africa (AMOA) will hold its sixth annual conference in Accra next month as part of its continental drive to transform key areas of the economies of member states.
The three-day conference to be hosted by the Ghana Institute of Management (GIM) will open on September 26, under the theme: "African Renaissance, Action Now."
The Johannesburg-based AMOA was instituted in September 1996 as a continental management grouping to promote management excellence.
Briefing journalists on Monday, Gloria Lamptey, founding member of AMOA and President of GIM, said the conference would feature major topics such as the crises of leadership as an impediment, the current world economic order as a barrier and human resources capacity building.
The conference will attract members from the association's 11-member countries - Ghana, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Mauritius, Kenya, Uganda, Zambia, Malawi, Swaziland, Nigeria and Botswana.
Previous annual conferences were held in South Africa, which hosted it twice, Zimbabwe, Mauritius and Malawi.
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Wereko Brobbey appointed acting chief executive of VRA
Accra
(Greater Accra) 27 August 2001
The appointment of the Chief Executive of the Volta River Authority (VRA), Gilbert Ohene Dokyi, has been terminated. He has been asked to hand over to Government Energy Advisor and chairman of the yet to be inaugurated VRA board, Dr. Charles Wereko-Brobbey.
The appointment takes immediate effect. Dr. Wereko-Brobbey has confirmed his new appointment in an interview with Joy FM. Energy Minister, Albert Kan Dapaah, says Dr Wereko-Brobbey has been asked to act as the Chief Executive of the Volta River Authority because the current chief executive, Gilbert Ohene Dokyi’s pension is long overdue.
Speaking in an interview with Joy FM, Dapaah said Ohene-Dokyi has not been
sacked. Ohene Dokyi was one of the few chief executives appointed by the NDC government who were not asked to proceed on leave when the NPP took over power.
A number of committees were formed to investigate the dealings of the VRA but no incriminating findings were made. Dr. Wereko-Brobbey who was Presidential candidate of the United Ghana Movement (UGM) in the December elections has lately doubled as presidential advisor and was recently appointed board chairman of the VRA. Dr. Wereko Brobbey.
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Ghana Water Company to close down car washing bays
Accra
(Greater Accra) 27 August 2001
The Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL) will soon close down all car washing bays in the country after official approval by the Accra Metropolitan Authority and the Environmental Protection Agency.
According to the GWCL, the demand for water in critical areas such as health has increased enormously and the company cannot afford excessive use of water for the washing of cars.
At a meeting with the Public Utilities Regulatory Commission in Accra, the area Chief Manager in charge of operations, at the Ghana Water Company Philip Appiah-Kubi hinted that, the company is currently finding it difficult to disconnect the bay operators because they settle their bills regularly.
This notwithstanding the company will go ahead to demolish these washing bays when they are given the green light. “We do not have enough water for drinking and the activities of washing bays is making supply even more difficult,” he noted.
The establishment of car washing bays has gained popularity in Ghana, especially in the capital towns where there is high concentration of vehicles.
In another development, the Volta River Authority (VRA) has asked the government to expedite action in replacing most of its broken down equipment in order to ensure regular power supply throughout the country.
According to the VRA, a great proportion of the country does not have access to electricity and portable water because its equipment are obsolete and often out of order.
Deputy Chief Executive in charge of Finance and Administration of the VRA, Eric Yankah also disclosed this at a meeting with officials of the Public Utilities Regulatory Commission in Accra.
There has been an upsurge in demand for power supply at both domestic and industrial levels but Mr. Yankah says the VRA is as a matter of agency, putting measures in place to meet the demand.
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Accra (Greater Accra) 27 August 2001
A nine-member Danish Parliamentary Delegation led by Ivor Hansen, Speaker, arrived in Accra on Sunday on a reciprocal visit.
Speaking to newsmen at the Airport, Hansen said the visit is to strengthen the relations between the peoples and the legislatures of the two countries.
While in the country, the Danish team will call on President J.A. Kufuor and the Speaker of Parliament Peter Ala Adjetey.
The delegation will also visit the University of Ghana, Legon, the Akosombo Hydro-Power Station and the Volta Region to inspect Danish sponsored water projects. The delegation will also meet the Ghanaian business community and call on Mr Justice D.F. Annan, former Speaker of Parliament, who had earlier led a parliamentary delegation to Denmark.
Rex Owusu Ansah, clerk of Parliament met the delegation on arrival.
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Accra (Greater Accra) 27 August 2001
The Odorgorno Secondary School land has become a subject of controversy as three factions, including the Chief of Anyaa in Accra, are claiming compensation from the government.
A statement signed on Sunday by Reverend Felix Kwablah, Vice-Chairman of the Old Students Association, said some developers have started putting up structures on a portion of the land.
The association is soliciting funds to construct a wall around the land and promised to take up the matter with the relevant authorities.
It said the old students have pledged their unflinching support to Mrs. Mary Amankwah, the acting headmistress and appealed to the Ghana Education Service (GES) to confirm her as the substantive head.
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Nkawie (Ashanti Region) 27 August 2001
Large quantities of foodstuffs locked up in farms at Nkorang, a farming community near Nkawiepanin in the Atwima District are getting rotten due unavilabity of vehicles to cart them.
Drivers have refused to ply the five-kilometre road due its deplorable state.
Kusi Afiriyie, a member of the local unit committee, said at Nkawie on Thursday that the road is in such a bad state that vehicles no longer ply it.
The farmers have refused to engage in any further economic activities because their produce cannot be carted to the marketing centres.
Afiriyie said persistent appeals to the Atwima District Assembly and the Department of Feeder Roads to help reconstruct the road had fallen on deaf ears.
He has, therefore, reiterated his appeal to the assembly, Member of Parliament for the area, and Department of Feeder Roads to urgently help reconstruct the road, which is virtually abandoned.
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Kumasi (Greater Accra) 27 August 2001
Sampson Kwaku Boafo, Ashanti Regional Minister, on Friday called on artisans at Suame Magazine in Kumasi to exercise maximum restraint while a permanent solution was being sought to their problems.
He said the Magazine was dear to his heart and that he would not allow the association to be torn apart but would assist them to obtain loans to assembly vehicles locally.
Boafo was speaking at a meeting with the artisans in Kumasi following a 24-hour ultimatum given by the Kumasi Metropolitan Chief Executive, Maxwell Kofi Jumah, to close down the secretariat of the Ashanti Regional branch of the Ghana National Association of Garages (GNAG).
Jumah at the meeting with the GNAG on Wednesday said an interim management committee had been put in place to oversee elections to be conducted to pick executives for the GNAG to bring peace and sanity at the Magazine.
Jumah said an audit committee from the Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly would be set up to audit the finances of the Association.
The ultimatum of the MCE did not go down well with the artisans. They therefore petitioned the Regional Minister over the issue.
The artisans maintained that there was no rift at the Magazine to warrant the harsh decision of the Metropolitan Chief Executive.
The Regional Minister assured the artisans that their petition would be sent to the appropriate quarters for permanent solution.
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Ho (Greater Accra) 27 August 2001
Kwasi Owusu-Yeboa, Volta Regional Minister, said on Friday that Eastern Region had been made to take precedence over the Volta Region any time institutional arrangements were made that put the two regions together.
He said: "Whilst we do not want to question the rationale behind such decisions, we do feel that they are not in the best interest of the Volta region."
He cited a recent incident when the Volta Regional Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) office was merged with that of Eastern Region to form a zonal office with its headquarters at Koforidua.
Owusu-Yeboa was speaking at the 20th anniversary celebration and fifth Biennial National Conference of the Association of Anglican Church Choirs at Ho.
He asked whether the Anglican Church in the region was not strong enough to merit the status of a diocese, for which reason it was being merged with that of the Eastern Region to form the Koforidua/Ho Diocese with the seat of the Bishop at Koforidua.
Mr Owusu-Yeboa appealed to the Church to create a separate diocese in Ho to enhance the growth and development of the Volta Region.
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Accra (Greater Accra) 27 August 2001
A survey conducted by the Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) has established that although the majority of Ghanaians are dissatisfied with the activities of the Ghana Police Service they are prepared to help raise the image of the service.
Professor Ansu Kyeremeh, Director of the School of Communications Studies, who conducted the study, said on Thursday that out of the number of respondents 65 per cent said they were prepared to cooperate with the police in the discharge of their duties although they expressed some misgivings about the service.
"This means that two thirds of Ghanaians above 18 years wanted to help the police to protect them," he said.
The survey, which sampled 5,000 respondents, realised that the public perception of the work of the police has not been encouraging as only 18 per cent see them as friends.
It said 24.4 per cent of respondents have relatives in the police service. Prof. Kyeremeh noted that the police had once maltreated some 13 per cent of the respondents.
He said the police through its public relations outfit should help fashion out ways of establishing trust with the public by educating officers better on how to react to the public, both inside and outside the stations.
"Ghanaians want to see the police respecting the constitution and ensuring the fundamental human rights of the citizenry."
He noted that public perception could be swayed through the collective will of personnel to readily change their attitudes to work and adherence to the rule of law.
"People want to see the police using the constitution."
The survey said the majority wanted the police service to be properly funded. About 52.2 per cent wanted adequate vehicles to be provided, 50.5 wanted better equipment, and 45.4 wanted adequate remuneration while 43.8 wanted their service conditions to be reviewed.
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