Ginseng drinks banned
Telecom cuts police lines…Over 113mC debt
NDC to blame for economic mess
Campaign won't be at expense of development - Rawlings
Don't be deceived by politics of lies J.J.
Private sector wants interest rates at 20.0-25.0% in 2000
Ginseng drinks banned
The Daily Graphic reports that the Food and Drugs Board (FDB) has directed individuals and companies producing and distributing various brands of 'Ginseng' alcoholic beverage to stop their activities immediately. They have also been asked to withdraw all their products from the market and stop distribution of and sale of Ginseng candies at lorry parks and on moving vehicles.
The Graphic, in its top story says Mr Theophilus C. Corquaye, Chief Executive of the FDB, who gave the directive, indicated that the board cannot guarantee the quality, safety and efficacy of the Ginseng products since they have not been approved by the board.
Speaking to journalists in Accra yesterday, Mr Corquaye is reported as saying that the beverages have not gone through the necessary analyses required by law. He appealed to the police, the Ghana Private Road Transport Union (GPRTU), other security agencies, as well as the general public to assist in checking the activities of these companies as they contravene the Food and Drugs Law. Mr Corquaye is said to have further called on the companies to submit the necessary documents including the list of ingredients used in the preparation of their products to the FDB for the required analysis to be carried out.
The Graphic says that some of the conditions that the manufacturers claim that their products address are, sexual weakness, bronchitis, asthma, arthritis, gout, rheumatism, malfunction of the kidney and spleen, palpitation and lost appetite. According to the paper, the beverages are served at most functions and patronised mostly by men, who take them as local viagra.
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Telecom cuts police lines…Over 113mC debt
In its lead story, the Ghanaian Times reports that Ghana Telecom has cut off all the telephone lines of the Ho Police in the Volta Region, for owing 113 million cedis. The amount is said to cover telephone bills of the police for the past three years.
The Times says that as a result of the disconnection, the police have since last Wednesday, not been able to communicate with the outside. "We have lost touch with our informants and this is a very big threat to security, particularly at this time of the year", a police spokesman is quoted as saying. The paper says that the spokesman explained that without telephones, the charge office could not link up with the reserve units for "quick action" in times of emergency. He appealed to the Regional Co-ordinating Council to intervene to have the lines restored while arrangements are made with the Police Administration in Accra, to settle the debt.
The Times says that when it contacted the Regional Co-ordinating Council yesterday, it said it would negotiate with Ghana Telecom for a "grace period" for the police, in the interest of peace and security.
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NDC to blame for economic mess
The Statesman in a front-page lead story, says that consistent efforts by the NDC government to blame Ghana's current economic woes on external forces, are hardly cutting ice with most Ghanaians, who squarely blame the government for the mess.
The paper says that according to the November 1999, Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD) survey on "Popular Attitudes to Democracy and Markets in Ghana", 70.4% of Ghanaians blame the 18-year-old PNDC/NDC regimes of Jerry John Rawlings for their current plight. The Statesman says that 20.5% respondents differed and blamed the problem it on "we the people", 3.4% blamed the IMF/World Bank, while 1% fault the Economic Recovery programme (ERP).
The report, said to be based on a nation-wide survey conducted in July, this year, by the CDD, a non-partisan Accra-based institute with support from the National Science Foundation of the United States, also showed low ratings for the government in its handling of the economy.
The report said "when asked how well the government was handling job creation, nearly 60.8% said the government was doing 'quite badly' or 'very badly'. Even more people (66.0%) felt that the government was doing badly in controlling inflation and reducing economic inequality (narrowing income gaps) (67.5%).
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The Ghana Palaver
Campaign won't be at expense of development - Rawlings
In its lead story, the Ghana Palaver says that contrary to the belief that the NDC is to concentrate all its energy and resources campaigning next year, President Jerry Rawlings has debunked that perception saying, "next year's electioneering campaign will not be done at the expense of national development".
He is quoted as saying that this is not to say that the NDC will not campaign, "the right time will be allocated for that purpose but most of the time would be used towards the upliftment of the well-being of Ghanaians". The paper says that President Rawlings made these remarks at a mammoth NDC rally at the 'Kawukudi' Junction in Accra at the weekend. According to the Palaver, the rally was organised to round off the party's political activities for the year and to correct the misinformation being peddled with regards to the economic situation.
President Rawlings is reported as saying that the strength of the NDC government lies in its truth and that has made it to survive for all these years, adding that this element of truth is absent in the opposition parties for which reason, they make falsehood their best weapon. "If the opposition are to speak the truth, then they would not speak at all because they would have little to talk about", he is quoted as saying.
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The Ghanaian Democrat
Don't be deceived by politics of lies J.J.
The Ghanaian Democrat reports President Jerry Rawlings as calling on Ghanaians to be wary of people, who peddle lies just to destabilise the country. The paper in a front-page story quotes the President as saying that such people are 'good for nothing' and they believe that the only way they can win power from the people is to tell lies to discredit the government.
President Rawlings is said to have given this advice when he addressed a mammoth NDC rally in Accra at the weekend. He is quoted as saying, "The strength of this government lies in our telling the truth. We can't deceive you because you gave us the power and probity and accountability guide every one of us.
That is why we are where we are today". According to the Democrat, the President did not mince words by telling the gathering that there is no government that has done more to entrench freedom of the press.
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High Street Journal
Private sector wants interest rates at 20.0-25.0% in 2000
In a back story, the High Street Journal reports that as part of the measures to create a more stable macro-economic environment for sustained private sector development, the private sector has recommended that the current interest rate of between 30.0-35.0% should be reduced to between 20.0-25.0% in year 2000.
The paper says that the recommendation, contained in the private sector development section of the government's "Comprehensive Development Framework document which was presented at the just-ended 10th Consultative Group Meeting between Ghana and the donor community, gave four indicators, which are recommended for monitoring to assess progress in the private sector.
The indicators include lending or interest rates, rates of inflation, government credit and exports. The private sector is reported as noting that in the past, interest rates had been falling in response to the declining rate of inflation, thus the 46.6% figure in 1997, fell to between 36.0 and 42.2% in 1998. Currently it stands at 34%.
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