165bnC for Common Fund this year
GES moves to stop 'misfits'…From entering training colleges
Military rampage at Tarkwa
NDC wasted 900mC on rally - Reform Party
Economic crisis is temporary - Asaga
Election tribunals suggested
165bnC for Common Fund this year
The Daily Graphic reports in a front-page story that funds allocated to the 110 assemblies in Ghana since the institution of the District Assemblies' Common Fund, have increased tremendously from 38.402 billion cedis in 1994 to 165 billion cedis this year.
This brings the total allocations made to the assemblies under the scheme, to 583.862 billion cedis since 1994. The Graphic quotes Mr J.W. Ampiah, the Common Fund Administrator as disclosing this when he addressed the second session of the Birim South District Assembly at Akim Oda in the Eastern Region.
Mr Ampiah is said to have announced that this year, a total of 82.250 billion cedis out of a projected 165 billion cedis has been released to cover the first two quarters of the year, adding that allocations for the third quarter will be released in January 2000.
Mr Ampiah is reported as saying that the total amount allocated to the Birim South District from 1994 to 1998 stands at 3.22 billion cedis.
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The Ghanaian Times
GES moves to stop 'misfits'…From entering training colleges
The Ghanaian Times in one of its major stories, reports that with effect from the 2000-2001 academic year, all applicants to teacher training colleges will have to pass an aptitude test in English and Mathematics. Consequently, admission to the colleges would solely be based on the over-all performance of candidates in the examination.
The Times quoting Prof. Christopher Ameyaw-Akumfi, Director-General of the Ghana Education Service (GES), says that the examination would be conducted for the first time in May next year, by the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) on behalf of the Ministry of Education and the GES. Prof. Ameyaw-Akumfi is reported as disclosing this at Cape Coast in the Central Region on Friday, at the closing of the 41st annual conference and workshop of principals of teacher training colleges.
The theme for the two-day conference was: "The teacher in the 21st century". The paper says that Prof. Ameyaw-Akumfi explained that the rationale behind the entrance examination is to select only competent teacher trainees and eliminate the malpractices associated with the admission of people with poor and suspicious grades into the training colleges.
This is against the low academic background of most teacher trainees, resulting in the recent dismissal of over 500 of them by the educational authorities for non-performance.
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Military rampage at Tarkwa
The Public Agenda in its top story, reports that a combined force of soldiers and police on Friday morning went on the rampage at Abontiakoon, near Tarkwa in the Western Region, where police shot and wounded nine persons on December 13, indiscriminately arresting young men and destroying property.
The paper says that as at Friday night, three youth leaders, an assemblyman and the son of another assemblyman had been picked from their homes. The Public Agenda quotes eyewitnesses as saying that those arrested were subjected to severe beating before being sent to Takoradi. It says no one knew their whereabouts as at the time of going to press.
According to the paper, the attack is believed to be in response to a demonstration by the youth on Monday, December 13, against Gold Field Ghana's decision to close down the underground mine, which had served as a source of livelihood for the many unemployed youth in the area. Sources, the Public Agenda says, indicate that the heavily armed security personnel began terrorising the people of the village at dawn on Friday.
The assemblyman for Abontiakoon, Joseph Ali, and a youth leader called Kanga, are said to have picked up around 4 a.m. All the young men sleeping near Ali's house are said to have been beaten by the security personnel.
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The Ghanaian Chronicle
NDC wasted 900mC on rally - Reform Party
A Ghanaian Chronicle front-page story reports the National Reform Party (NRP) as saying that the NDC spent a whooping 900 million cedis to organise its national rally at the 'Kawukudi' Park a week ago. This represented amounts paid to people who attended the rally and monies used to hire buses to ferry people from the regions to Accra.
According to the Reform Party, the NDC's resort to the act of renting crowds to swell up the number of people at its rallies smacks of disrespect for the ordinary Ghanaian, who they (NDC) 'think should always be available at 5,000 cedis per vote (or per rally)'. "Such blatant deceit demonstrates the NDC leadership's essential disrespect for Ghanaians. NDC leaders believe that the ordinary Ghanaian is ignorant, unthinking and, therefore, easily misled", the Chronicle quotes a statement from the Reform Party as saying.
The paper says that reacting to what it termed 'the lies and deceit of the NDC leadership' and particularly, to claims made by Local Government Minister, Mr Kwamena Ahwoi, that the Reform Party would soon return to the fold of the NDC at the rally, the Reform said such peddling of fabrications by the ruling party has brought to the open the image crisis which has enveloped the NDC.
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The Ghanaian Democrat
Economic crisis is temporary - Asaga
The Ghanaian Democrat in its lead story, reports Mr Moses Asaga, a Deputy Minister of Finance as saying that the current economic crisis facing Ghana will persist for only five to six months and the difficulties will subside for the better. Mr Asaga is said to have expressed this optimism when he addressed a forum organised by the Ho Polytechnic branch of the Tertiary Education Institutional Network (TEIN) of the NDC at Ho in the Volta Region. Mr Asaga said that all the necessary measures to arrest the economic situation have been taken and added that all stakeholders within the sector have seen the need to join efforts in that direction.
The Democrat says that the Deputy Minister, recalling past economic crises that the world has experienced, stated that in 1973 and during the period of the Iran-Iraq war, and the end of the 'Operation Desert Storm', some parts of the world, including Ghana, experienced oil shocks and economic uncertainties during which commodity prices were adversely affected. He is quoted that in the 1980s, the South American countries, especially Brazil and Chile, also experienced economic decline as a result of lack of balance of payments.
According to him, as a result of borrowing short-term loans from Western banks and investment in stock exchange, some Asian countries also experienced economic crisis last year. He said in all these crises, the affected governments of the affected countries intervened and did what was expected of them.
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Election tribunals suggested
In its top story, the Evening News reports that a sub-committee of the Inter-Party Advisory Committee (IPAC) has suggested the setting up of election tribunals at various levels to adjudicate on all election petitions within a certain time frame. The sub-committee said that each political party should have a representation on the composition of such tribunals.
The paper quotes a source close to the Electoral Commission as disclosing this in Accra after the committee had presented draft code of conduct for political parties to the Inter-Party Advisory Committee. The Evening News says that the IPAC sub-committee recommended the setting up at the national, regional and constituency levels, of and election co-ordination committee, made up of representatives of all the registered political parties to allay tension that might possibly come about as a result of misunderstanding between contesting parties, and also to settle disputes.
"Election officials must make sure that election results declared are signed by all party agents at counting centres and the Electoral Commission must ensure that party agents get copies of the certified results", the sub-committee is quoted as suggesting.
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