Moves to stabilise the cedi
DCEs won't be elected - Ahwoi
Ex-AFRC member blasts Rawlings
Sam Garba's Reform jumps on NDC…And demands a number of seats
Coup threat is real - Issifu Ali
Ghana Railway to be privatised
Corrupt people, beware
Moves to stabilise the cedi
The Daily Graphic, in its top story, reports that the government is expecting about $180 million from official inflows and credit to help stabilise the cedi by the end of the year. Mr Moses Asaga, A Deputy Minister of Finance, who is quoted as disclosing this in Accra, said as part of the short-term measures to check the depreciation of the cedi, the government has lined up official inflows amounting $80 million and $100 million credit from the foreign banks, otherwise called cocoa financing facility, for the purchase of cocoa.
"We are also counting on remittance from Ghanaians abroad at this time of the year and tourist inflows to contribute to the efforts aimed at stabilising the cedi", he is quoted as saying.
The Graphic says that the Deputy Minister explained that the strong demand for dollars as a result of an increase in crude oil price, which exerted an extra cost of about $150 million on government resources and the seasonal nature of the demand for dollars for importation of Christmas goods, were the reasons for the depreciation of the cedi, which had temporarily stabilised from 1998 to June, this year.
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The Ghanaian Times
DCEs won't be elected - Ahwoi
The Ghanaian Times quoting Mr Kwamena Ahwoi, Minister of Local Government and Rural Development says in a front-page story that the government will not yield to the agitation from some political circles for the election of District Chief Executives (DCEs) instead of their appointment by the President as obtains under the present arrangement. Mr Ahwoi is reported as saying that agreeing to that suggestion is to subvert the Constitution, weakening the centre and ultimately, disintegrating Ghana.
Mr Ahwoi was addressing the first sitting of the second session of the Sunyani District Assembly in the Brong Ahafo Region. "Those who wish for a change in the present system are advised to make it a part of their election manifesto so that if they are ever able to win the elections, they effect the change. The NDC government is not about to initiate such a change", he is reported as saying.
He said for the same reasons, the government would also not give in to proposals that 30% of membership of the district assemblies should not be appointed as is the case now but that, all members should be elected. He added that neither would the government yield to the argument that the district assemblies should be partisan because they are partisan in practice.
The Times says that the Minister stated that Ghanaians, in a free and fair referendum, adopted the Constitution, which contained the present procedure for appointing DCEs. "It is our duty to uphold and defend the Constitution", he said.
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The Crusading Guide
Ex-AFRC member blasts Rawlings
In a front-page story, the Crusading Guide says a former member of the defunct Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC), has described President Jerry Rawlings as a 'betrayer'.
The paper says that the Ex-member, Sergeant Peter Tasiri Azongo, who made this observation during the November 25 "Ya bre mo" demonstration in Accra, maintained that he was taking part in the protest march because "Rawlings has betrayed the cause of the AFRC, which came into power in 1979 to rid the society of corruption and ensure transparency, probity and accountability".
The Crusading Guide says that retired Sergeant Tasiri, who prefers to be addressed as 'Sergeant', was easily spotted at different times during the march with placards hanging around his neck with the bold inscriptions: "Rawlings is a betrayer", "NDC, enough is enough", "J.J. Resign" and "AFRC betrayed".
According to the paper, the former AFRC member lamented the rate at which the social vices the AFRC had tasked itself to eradicate years ago, are being perpetrated under the same person (Rawlings), who was the Chairman of the AFRC.
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Sam Garba's Reform jumps on NDC…And demands a number of seats
In a screaming front-page headline story, the Guide says that the Sam Garba faction of the Reform Movement, which was persuaded to rebel against the Reform Movement of Goosie Tanoh, is taking the NDC to ransom. The paper says Garba's Reform II is demanding a number of seats out of the 133 seats that the NDC controls, for the 2000 elections.
The Guide says the faction, actively supported by one R. S. Addy, a leading cadre and some top members of the NDC at its headquarters, has been asked to search and find constituencies it would want to contest. The 'search and find' team is said to be scouting for seats in spite of the fact that just a few weeks ago, the party headquarters sent forms to its 133 sitting Members of Parliament requesting them to declare their intentions to contest the 2000 elections or otherwise.
The Guide says that only three out of the 133 MPs of the NDC made their intentions clear that they were not coming back. However, the search team of Sam Garba is said to have already located a number of constituencies where it is bent on dislodging the incumbents.
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The Evening News
Coup threat is real - Issifu Ali
The Evening News, in its lead story, reports Alhaji Issifu Ali, co-chairman of the NDC, as cautioning Ghana against treating threats by the so-called "Ghana Armed Liberation Movement", as mere hoax. He is quoted as saying, "if anything at all, it should strengthen our resolve not to lower our guard, but rather whip up the call for internal vigilance to deny our detractors any opportunity to derail the cause".
The paper says in a telephone conversation, Alhaji Ali cited similar circumstances that led to successful coups, including the 31st December, saying that those behind it could be biding their time, to strike at a later date. The Evening News notes that the coup, purported to be the brainchild of the Movement, was to have taken place on Friday, November 26, 1999, but the day passed quietly.
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The Independent
Ghana Railway to be privatised
The Independent reports that Mr Mike Hammah, a Deputy Minister of Roads and Transport, has defended the privatisation of the Ghana Railway Corporation, saying that privatisation should not be seen as a 'dragon' ready to destroy the organisation.
He is said to have assured the workers that privatisation of the corporation would not lead to redundancy. "If anything at all, it would lead to a greater efficiency and employment of more hands", he is quoted as saying. The paper says Mr Hammah was speaking at a send-off party, the first in 35 years, for the out-going managing director and two deputies of the corporation at Takoradi, recently.
It names the out-going managing director as Mr K. Arthur and the deputies as Mr S.K. Agboletey and Mr Raymond Afekey, who are all retiring after 30 years' service. The Deputy Minister is said to have called for collective efforts by the workers, management and board to move the corporation forward.
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The Accra Mail
Corrupt people, beware
In a front-page story, the Accra Mail reports that the international campaign to combat corruption, especially in developing countries, is gathering momentum in Ghana. The paper says that the campaign is manifested in the launch last Monday, of the Ghana Integrity Initiative (GII), a local chapter of Transparency International, whose prime aim is to expose corruption, if not stamp it out completely.
GII, the paper says, also seeks to educate the public about civic rights and duties as provided by the constitution, to give public policy an anti-corruption focus; to press for the reform of the law and the enactment of legislation that would help promote transparency, relax restrictions on media freedoms, control effective enforcement of anti-corruption laws, to provide appropriate for a to enable citizens to take pro-active stance to issues of probity and accountability in public life, and to liaise with international anti-corruption bodies.
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