GRi Newsreel Ghana 22 - 12 - 2000
Government
employees get pay rise
J.H. Mensah explains his call for probe into
AFRC/PNDC era
IGP asked to check
the operations of police on night patrol
Rawlings addresses
retired police officers
EC reacts to NDC's allegations on electoral
malpractice
Prof. Mills says a debate with Kufuor is
vital
No conditions attached to minority parties'
support-Kufuor
Pirates attack Nedlloyd
vessel
Elections
Investigations EC winding up investigation of officials
NDC playing other tribes against Ashantis--NPP
Media Commission
warns Editor of Chronicle
Rights body condemns murder of women
Exhibit maturity during election - CHRAJ
Official
Unionists express
solidarity with journalists
Government
employees get pay rise
Accra (Greater Accra) 22 December
2000
The Government on Thursday
announced the adjustment of salaries and wages for its employees in line with
the new minimum daily wage of 4,200 cedis.
This followed an agreement reached
by the Tripartite Committee to adjust the national minimum wage from 2,900
cedis to 4,200 cedis, this year.
Mr. Austin Gamey, a deputy
Minister of Employment and Social Welfare, in an interview with the GNA, said
in view of the pressing demands from the social partners, a supplementary
voucher has been prepared to pay the difference to affected workers before
Christmas. He said arrangements were far advanced to pay workers the difference
by Friday.
"If the difference is not
paid by Friday, everything possible will be done to pay the workers by 29th
December or latest within the first week of January," Mr Gamey said.
He cautioned government workers
not to believe rumours that thegovernment is not prepared to pay the difference
in minimum wage to its social partners.
Mr. J.N.O Ankrah, Director of
Research and Budget, Civil Servants Association, said civil servants hoped the
Controller and Accountant General would process the payment vouchers to pay by
the end of December to ease the financial hardships of workers this Christmas.
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J.H. Mensah explains his call for probe
into AFRC/PNDC era
Sunyani (Eastern Region) 22 December 2000
The Minority Leader, Mr John Henry Mensah, has stated that his recent call for the institution of a parliamentary commission to look into the excesses of the AFRC/PNDC era so that compensation and restitution could be paid by the state to victims has been misunderstood.
He stressed that his proposal, which was made at the re-opening of parliament on December 14, was neither an agenda for vendetta nor machinery for witch-hunting but a "pragmatic proposition to genuinely and perpetually heal the wounds of the past".
Speaking to the Ghana News Agency in Sunyani on Thursday, Mr Mensah said his proposed "Commission on Justice and Peace" is not going to be a political tool for settling scores.
He said it would rather be a bi-partisan body to be made up of members of parliament from all the political parties.
"The fact that I stressed in parliament that this quasi-judicial body will not only give justice to victims of the AFRC/PNDC era but will also grant immunity and better retirement package to President Rawlings should convince all that the commission will not be a tool for vengeance."
Mr Mensah pointed out that whether one likes it or not, there were excesses during the heady days of the revolution and people who were unduly victimised would continue to demand justice no matter how long it takes.
He said the institution of the commission would provide a forum for such aggrieved persons to seek justice and restitution once and for all, adding that it will also save successive governments from yielding to pressure to set up partisan enquiries of their own.
"The country is facing enormous developmental problems so successive governments cannot afford to waste their time raking the past hence the need for such a commission to dispassionately serve justice to deserving victims."
Mr. Mensah described as "wishful thinking" assertions in certain quarters that the establishment of such a commission would only lead to the re-opening of old wounds.
"The wounds created by the excesses of the AFRC/PNDC era have only been suppressed but never healed and it is about time the country boldly confronts its darkest past and deal with it once and for all as we cannot continue to sweep it under the carpet."
On the forthcoming run-off of the presidential election, the minority leader reiterated his claim that the NDC has set in motion a machinery to rig the election by using the excess names on the register hence its submissions that two million of its supporters did not vote due to complacency.
He further alleged that it has come to the notice of the NPP that voting in its strongholds would be deliberately disrupted on December 28 by hired thugs of the NDC so that voters would be scared from casting their ballots.
Mr. Mensah said the NPP, having soundly defeated the NDC in the first round, is even more committed to a peaceful run-off and urged all stakeholders, including the security services and the Electoral Commission, to ensure an event-free election on December 28.
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IGP asked to
check the operations of police on night patrol
Accra (Greater Accra) 22 December
2000
An appeal has been made to Mr.
Peter Nanfuri, Inspector General of Police (IGP) to institute a mechanism to
prevent policemen on night patrol from engaging in criminal activities.
Mr. George Domini, a garage owner
at Achimota, who made the appeal through the Ghana News Agency on Thursday,
said night patrol policemen duped him on two occasions.
He said around 0200 hours on
Thursday, four men, three of them in police uniform and the other in a mufti,
came to his garage demanding to inspect the documents of his company.
"They demanded four million
cedis from me if I could not produce the documents", he said.
According to him, he asked the men
to give him some time to contact his brother, a soldier, who is in possession
of the documents.
"As I was contacting my
brother on phone, the four men hurriedly got into their car with registration
number GT 4293 R and sped off.''
Mr. Domini said he recognised one
of the men as a member of the group that duped his brother, Adu Arthur of 1.5
million cedis at the garage two months ago. "I am lucky they could not
succeed this time and I was able to take down their car number."
The Tesano Police confirmed that
Mr Domini has lodged a complaint, which is being investigated.
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Rawlings
addresses retired police officers
Accra (Greater Accra) 22 December
2000
President Jerry John Rawlings on
Thursday acknowledged constraints the Police Service faces in the discharge of
its functions and praised its contribution to the maintenance of law and order.
He said despite immense
difficulties, the police has rendered valuable service to the country and also
won international recognition for professionalism shown in United Nations
peacekeeping duties.
Addressing a meeting of the
National Association of Retired Police Officers (NARPO) at the Police
Headquarters, President Rawlings said the government has done its best to
improve police equipment, logistic support and accommodation.
He said most of the
recommendations of the Archer Commission have been accepted and ''I assure you
that they will be steadily implemented in order to improve morale and
efficiency''.
President Rawlings said without
support from the public the police would find it difficult to solve some of the
crimes in the society and mentioned the killing of women as an example.
''These obscene acts are being
perpetrated by people who live among us. They have neighbours. They come and go
under the eyes of the communities in which they live''.
He said someone must have relevant
and specific information, which can help the police, but so far they are not
coming forward.
President Rawlings told the
retired officers, ''you have the time and the expertise to rally the support of
chiefs, opinion leaders and others in the area where you live in order to
unearth the information which can lead to the arrest of the perpetrators of
these monstrous crimes''.
He said although they are in
retirement, they have the responsibility to bring their expertise and
experience to bear on the nation.
The President spoke about alleged
irregularities during the December 7 election and appealed to the retired
officers to ensure that such incidents are minimised during the presidential
run-off on December 28.
Mr. C.K. Dewornu, a retired
Inspector-General of Police and president of the association, said the killing
of women in Accra is a matter that is of serious concern to members of the
association.
He said nothing can be so
humiliating and embarrassing to any police service, no matter where such a
force is in the world, than dealing with serial killings with no clear motives
established and no information or clues or identity of the killers.
''The process of investigation and
detection of this type of crime can be agonisingly slow and frustrating to
police authorities. This can
justifiably arouse the anger and impatience of both the government and the tax
payer''.
Mr. Dewornu, also a Council of
State member, appealed to the government to equip the police with the necessary
logistics to enable it move out of the present state of ''retroactive policing
into the proactive policing''.
He appealed to the government to
reactivate the Volunteer Police Reserve.
This corps of dedicated civilians
if revived, Mr Dewornu went on, could strengthen police hands especially in
communities where police are thin or non-existent on the ground.
Mr. Dewornu suggested that the
neighbourhood watchdog concept, introduced in the 1980s, must be given official
boost and recognition.
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EC reacts to NDC's allegations on electoral
malpractice
Koforidua (Eastern Region) 22 December 2000
The Eastern Region Director of the Electoral Commission (EC), Mr Charles Addai has denied that the EC colluded with a political party in the conduct of the December 7 general election.
He said allegations by the NDC to that effect and the issuance of "threats" to its staff by the party do not augur well for peaceful elections in next week's presidential run off.
Speaking to the GNA at Koforidua on Thursday Mr Addai said the EC takes a serious view of the threat and asked the regional secretariat of the NDC to withdraw it.
The NDC was reported in the media to have accused presiding officers and polling assistants of the EC in the region of openly directing voters to vote for the NPP.
Mr. Addai admitted that there was some delay in dispatching electoral materials to some polling centres but there was no recorded case of people being prevented from voting because of the late arrival of the materials.
He attributed the delay to the failure of department heads to either release vehicles assigned for the exercise or send them to the right places requested by the EC.
On allegation that the appointment of electoral officials was done in favour of the NPP, Mr Addai said the selection was done publicly, fairly and transparently.
He said candidates who had adverse issues raised against them during the recruitment process, which was advertised in the national dailies, were dropped when they were found to be true.
He said transfer of voters was effected in line with the procedures that were issued by the EC.
Mr Addai advised the NDC to direct its complaint about poor security at the polling stations to the Regional Police Commander since the EC was not responsible for security arrangements after providing funds for that.
Meanwhile, all the district directors of the EC met at Koforidua on Thursday to review their performance during the last elections and plan for the presidential run off next week.
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Prof. Mills says a debate with Kufuor is
vital
Cape Coast (Central Region) 22 December 2000
The Vice-President and flag bearer of the NDC, Professor John Atta Mills on Thursday emphasised that it is vital that he and Mr Kufuor engage in a debate to enable Ghanaians to judge for themselves which of them is capable of handling the nation's economy.
He said it is imperative for all Ghanaians to question if Mr Kufuor, the NPP presidential candidate, is capable of handling the affairs of the country since he has already started reneging on earlier promises that an NPP government will salvage the economy within days of coming into office.
Prof. Mills made these comments during a phone-in programme on 'Radio Central' in Cape Coast as part of his two-day campaign tour of the region, which began on Wednesday. His tour took him to some communities in the Twifu-Hemang-lower Denkyira district.
The Vice-President said next Thursday's presidential run off is about which of them is more qualified to assume the reins of state and should therefore not be regarded as a battle between his party and the NPP.
He said although he accepts that there is the need for change, "calls for such a change should be beneficial and different from what is happening now".
Prof. Mills said with the vast experience he has gathered as Vice-President he should be the obvious choice of the people.
On calls for him to withdraw from the re-run of the presidential election in view of the huge amount of money involved, he said even if he did, there would still be the need for the voting since Mr Kufuor did not attain the stipulated percentage vote in the first round.
Prof. Mills said the present government has already laid the necessary infrastructure through the provision of good road network and social amenities, adding that his administration would now concentrate on developing the various sectors of the economy.
He made particular mention of his determination to tackle unemployment, develop the agricultural and education sectors and said it is for this reason that the education trust fund and the directory of scholarships for financial assistance have been introduced to cater for the educational needs of the poor.
Prof. Mills urged Ghanaians to ignore promises being made about the provision of free medical care and emphasised that no government can offer free medical services.
He said it is however to eliminate inconveniences associated with the cash and carry system that the government has introduced national health insurance and health endowment schemes to cater for the needs of the poor.
The NDC presidential candidate spoke about plans to improve the road network in the region and within the Cape Coast municipality as well as the construction of an airstrip to enhance the flow of tourists to the region.
He said there are also plans to set up information technology centres to train the youth. He thanked the people for their support and for helping to ensure the peaceful conduct of the December 7 elections and stressed the need for the same commitment for a successful run off.
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No conditions attached to minority parties'
support-Kufuor
Cape Coast (Central Region) 22 December 2000
The NPP presidential candidate Mr John Agyekum Kufuor said on Wednesday that there are no conditions attached to the support by the other minority parties for him in next week's run off presidential election.
Mr. Kufuor was addressing supporters of the NPP and the minority parties at Cape Coast as part of a thank-you visit to the people for voting massively for him and his party during the December 7 elections.
The presidential candidate who earlier made a broadcast over the local FM radio station, was accompanied by the flag bearer of the CPP, Professor George Hagan, the deputy national secretary of the NRP, Ms Emelia Arthur and the regional chairman of the PNC, Mr. Newman Acquah.
He said the support from the minority parties and the public for the NPP is an act of God adding, "the time has come for Ghanaians to do away with tribal politics, and dwell on politics of development".
He said voting in the run off should not be based on tribal or monetary considerations but geared towards seeking the welfare and development of the country.
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Pirates attack
Nedlloyd vessel
Tema (Greater Accra) 22 Dec. 2000
P & O Nedlloyd Parana, a
container vessel on its maiden voyage was attacked by pirates at Tema at dawn
on Thursday and robbed of large quantities of paint valued at millions of
cedis.
Mr Robert Bannerman, Operations
Manager of P & O Nedlloyd Ghana, told newsmen that the ship, which arrived
at Tema, on Wednesday was attacked at about 2 a.m., at the anchorage.
According to the Captain, Mr
Michael Schroeter, five pirates entered the ship while others waited in a
canoe, fitted with an outboard motor.
They took one of the crew hostage
and raided the paint store before speeding away in the canoe. None of the crew
was hurt.
The last point of call of the ship
from the Far East, was Lome, Togo. The Tema police are investigating the
incident.
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Elections
Investigations EC winding up investigation of officials
Cape Coast (Central Region) 22
December 2000
Investigations into the background
of some officials engaged by the Electoral Commission (EC), in the December 7,
elections would be completed on December 25, Mr Michael Boadu, Cape Coast
Municipal Director of the EC, told the GNA on Thursday.
He said if allegations that the
officials are members of NPP were found to be true, they would be dismissed.
The Central Region Executive of
the NDC alleged at a news conference on December 15, in Cape Coast, that the EC
deliberately engaged NPP activists as Presiding Officers and Polling Assistants
against the Electoral Law.
The EC denied the accusation but
instituted investigations into their background.
Mr Boadu said 938 students among
others have applied to transfer their votes because they would be on holidays
during the December 28 presidential run-off.
He said the needed information
about them would be faxed to the regions and districts of their choice for the
issuance of certificates.
The EC official said, "all is
about set for the presidential run-off. We have ballot boxes and other voting
materials but yet to receive ballot papers and seals for the boxes".
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NDC playing other tribes against
Ashantis--NPP
Kumasi (Ashanti Region) 22 December 2000
The NPP and the alliance of minority parties in the Ashanti Region, said on Wednesday that allegations by the NDC that NPP supporters are attacking Ewes and other people of northern extraction resident in Ashanti are aimed at playing other ethnic groups against Ashantis.
They described the allegations as a "sinister propaganda" to portray the NPP as a purely Ashanti party. A statement in Kumasi by the NPP and other minority parties in the region in reaction to the allegation said wearing of veils is not limited to only Muslims of northern extraction.
The statement said there are many Akan-speaking Muslim women (Asante Nkramo) who also put on veil, but none of them has complained about any NPP supporter pulling their veils as alleged by some NDC fanatics.
It said the NPP and other minority parties have a large number of Muslim women as supporters but none of them has complained of being harassed by anybody.
The statement said some NDC activists have been putting on NPP T-shirts to engage in acts of intimidation and vandalism with the intent of bringing the NPP into disrepute and disaffection.
The NPP and other minority parties assured all Zongo communities, all Muslims and people of other ethnic groups in the region of solidarity with them, saying as Ghanaians they are at liberty to live anywhere in the country without any fear of discrimination or intimidation.
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Media Commission
warns Editor of Chronicle
Accra (Greater Accra) 22 December
2000
The National Media Commission
(NMC) on Thursday warned Mr. Seth Korankye, Editor of the defunct Weekend
Chronicle to comply with the commission's directive to him to apologise to the
First Lady, Nana Konadu Agyeman Rawlings, Amina Rawlings and Yaa Asantewaa
Rawlings for castigating and tarnishing their reputation.
A statement signed by Mr Yaw
Boadu-Ayeboafooh, Executive Secretary of NMC said Mr. Korankye has shown utter disrespect and disregard to the
commission and has persistently refused to appear before it for the settlement
of the issue.
It said if Mr Korankye failed to
appear before it, "the commission will be compelled to take action as it
deems fit and appropriate under the circumstances".
The complaint borders on articles,
which appeared in two editions of the Weekend Chronicle number 23, of Thursday
May 18- Wednesday May 24, 2000 and number 24 of Thursday 25- Wednesday May 31,
2000.
"The articles carried the
portrait of the complainants and members of the family and speculated that the
third complainant, who was unmarried, was pregnant and further imputed that the
second and third complainants were not being properly brought up by their
parents," the statement said.
According to the statement, Nana
Kofi Coomson, a director of the Crusading Media Limited, publishers of the
Weekend Chronicle at the commission's first sitting on the case admitted that
the publications were speculative.
"Mr. Coomson agreed that to
the best of his knowledge the publication was speculative and that none of the
unmarried complainants was pregnant and that the publishers, however, got to
know of the allegation after its publication".
The statement said, " when
they got to know of the facts, the publishers felt that the articles were in
bad taste and therefore decided that a third follow-up be withdrawn and was
accordingly withdrawn."
The commission observed with
dismay that, even after a formal complaint had been lodged with it, in respect
of the two previous publications, Mr Korankye, nevertheless, proceeded to do a
third follow-up article with absolute disregard for the complaint before the
commission.
Based on the above, the commission
has directed Mr Korankye to publish an unqualified apology to the complainants
two times in one of the national dailies and the Ghanaian Chronicle.
The draft of the apology should be
approved by the commission before its publication, and should be issued and
published within one month from the date of this decision.
The statement stressed that when
complains are lodged with the commission, all parties are expected to desist
from further publications about the matter complained of till such time that
the commission had been able to investigate and pronounce on it.
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Sambu (Northern Region) 22 December 2000
Alhaji Ibrahim Alabira CPP Member of Parliament for Mion, has called on the party's supporters "to follow the wind of positive change", which he said, majority of Ghanaians are yearning for and vote massively for Mr J.A. Kufuor, the NPP flag bearer, in the presidential run-off.
He said he supports the call by the national leadership of the CPP to vote for Mr Kufuor, adding that CPP supporters in the Mion constituency have endorsed the call.
Alhaji Alabira, who lost the Mion seat to the NDC parliamentary candidate, made the call at separate meetings with the electorate at Sang, Warivee, Sanson, Tusani, Malzeri and Sambu. .
He called for peace among the electorate and urged them to come out in their numbers to vote for Mr Kufuor in the presidential run-off.
In another development, the Western Region chairman of the CPP, PNC, and NRP on Wednesday pledged their unflinching support for Mr J.A. Kufuor, NPP candidate in the presidential run off election on December 28.
The chairmen, Dr Asuah Kwesi of CPP, Mr Yakubu Tairu of PNC and Mr Samuel Ackah of NRP, made the pledge at a joint Press Conference at Takoradi, attended also by the NPP chairman, Mr Mac Manu.
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Rights body condemns murder of women
Accra (Greater Accra) 22 December 2000
The African Commission of Health and Human Rights Promoters (CAPSDH) on Thursday described as shameful the murder of 30 women within the Greater Accra Region over the last three years.
A statement issued in Accra and signed by Dr. Edmund N. Delle, Managing Director, said it is disgraceful and unacceptable that 30 women have been brutally murdered in the nation's capital.
"They have been deprived of their right to life and their families have been made to endure the unnecessary suffering of their loss."
The Commission therefore called on the police and the government to move with haste to find those responsible and prosecute them.
The statement said there should be no hasty arrests or denial of due process of right for the accused, any of which would invoke an abuse of right, which would allow the guilty party or parties to go free.
"It is highly disturbing that no clear and tangible progress has been made on this case. It must be borne in mind that these crimes are making justice in this case a matter not only of public responsibility but also of gender equality in Ghana."
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Exhibit maturity during election - CHRAJ
Official
Nkoranza, (Brong Ahafo) 22 December 2000
Miss Joyce Nyamadie, Nkoranza District Officer of the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) has added her voice to the appeal to the people to exhibit a high sense of maturity to forestall violent incidents before, during and after the presidential run off.
Speaking to the Ghana News Agency at Nkoranza on Wednesday, she said it behoves Ghanaians to protect the country's image as a peace- loving nation.
She said this and other values nurtured over the years should be jealously guarded at all cost, adding, "we should remain each our brother's keeper, partisan politics should not be allowed to divide us".
Miss Nyamadie called on the leadership of the New Patriotic Party and the National Democratic Congress to be prepared to accept the result of the elections and not to do anything that would plunge the nation into chaos and confusion as happened in some countries in the West Africa sub-region.
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Unionists express
solidarity with journalists
Accra (Greater Accra) 22 December
2000
The Trades Union Congress (TUC) on
Thursday expressed its solidarity with the struggle of the Ghana Journalists
Association (GJA), to protect freedom of speech and workers' rights.
The TUC said it shares the pain of
the "occupational hazards" of journalists and would continue to align
with the rest of civil society to ensure the repeal of laws inimical to press
freedom.
Mr Kwesi Adu-Amakwah,
Secretary-General of the TUC, said this at an end of year get-together for the
TUC hierarchy and members of the GJA dubbed, "Unionists-Journalists
Encounter 2000" in Accra.
The TUC honoured Mr Kwaku Baako
Jnr., Editor-in-Chief of the Crusading Guide and Mr Kofi Arthur, Senior
Reporter of the Public Agenda for their consistency in reporting labour issues
at the ceremony.
Mr. Baako had one million and Mr
Arthur was given 500 thousand cedis while they both received copies of the
"TUC's History and Policies" each.
Mr. Adu-Amankwa described the
arbitrary arrest and harassment of journalists as similar to "the pains
afflicting organised labour" and said 140 trade unionists were killed
whiles protecting workers' rights in 1999 throughout the world.
Mr. Adu-Amankwah said just as
"persecuted journalists" remain courageous in their profession, so
does the TUC intends to expose employers, who abuse the rights of workers.
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