Paul Osei-Tutu in Accra, reviews the Ghanaian press. The stories have not been verified and therefore we cannot vouch for their accuracy.
'Kwesi Botchway speaks Again ' world bank has failed ' blames African dictators' says the front page banner headline of the Chronicle. The paper reports Kwesi Botchway a former finance Minister as having stated that the World Bank supported Economic Recovery programme (ERP) is a failure.
Dr. Botchway is reported as saying that 'foreign experts (used during the ERP) were not always qualified to carry out assignments with the expected degree of efficiency'.
'In many instances' he continues, 'there were no counterparts to the foreign experts and consultants and technical assistance agreements seldom worked towards the phasing out of foreign technical experts'.
He said the most remarkable feature of the bank's technical assistance programmes was their recent failure to utilise African expertise as existed even in these troubled times. A fact which has caused brain drain where such experts migrate to countries where they feel needed.
On measures to solve the problem, the former Finance Minister called for the maintanance of a growth enhancing and stable macro-economic framework that rewards productive activity and creativity.
Another front page story in the Chronicle says 'Assemblymen protest over Akwasi Agyeman's madness'. It says some members of the Subin Sub Metro Council of the Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly have petitioned' the Ashanti Regional Minister to stop the Metropolitan Chief Executive, Nana Akwasi Agyeman from victimising them.
Referring to an earlier petition, the Assembly members said, 'Our petition to you has helped to expose the Metro Chief Executive's vindictive rule. He has sworn to victimise us, the petitioners, and true to his threats of =91showing us where power lies', he has ordered the Waste Management Department not to cart off solid waste in Subin Metro' areas excerpt Kejetia, Aboabo Junction and the Zion, the paper said.
Nana Akwasi Agyemang has been seeing to the effective implementation of his orders by personally' setting areas where garbage should be removed daily.
This action the sub metro members, complained was a complete sabotage to the nation and a direct importation of epidemic.
The Times carries a story which says some students of Bolgatanga Secondary School who were caught cooking a goat meat they had stolen, in the boys dormitory. The nine students, the paper says have been suspended for the meantime and their fate would be decided by the school authority at its next meeting.
The story mentioned leaders of the group as Agulu Adua also known as =91wicked Jesus', Agulu Aloa alias =91wicked Tupack' Dawasa Lawal aka =91Dangeroud chemicals', all SSS two student and Abass Awonbase, a JSS three student. They were said to have stolen the three goats, killed them and were cooking them in buckets when the House Master, Mr. Prosper Bondu, walked in.
The Times also reports that a war between the Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT) and the National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT) over deduction of dues has reached another level.
While some graduate teachers are opposed to their dues going to NAGRAT saying that they are not members, GNAT on the other hand has yielded to pressure and agreed not to collect the dues of NAGRAT members.
'Kwesi Botchway lashes at SAP' is one of the stories carried on the front page of the Weekly Insight.
The story says the former Minister of Finance in the Rawlings regime has described the structural Adjustment Programme (SAP) which he implemented as 'not perfect'.
According to the paper, in an interview, the former Finance Minister said the (SAP) programme tended to focus a little bit on short term and not enough on longer term sustained growth as well as poverty alleviation.
The former Finance Minister however insisted that the programme was not imposed on Ghana by World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
The paper added that Dr. Botchwey said the results of the programme were not entirely satisfactory in many countries, therefore people tended to blame these programme for lack of progress, growth and no significant reduction in poverty levels.
A front page story of the Dispatch reads 'Renovations of stadia cost =A28 Billion-ET'.
According to the paper, the partial renovations that were done at the Accra and Kumasi Stadia cost the country about =A28.4 Billion.
The story says that Accra Sports Stadium took the greater chunk of 4.5 billion whilst Kumasi had =A23.9 billion. Due to financial constraints, the project was scaled down and the original estimate reduced from =A242 billion.
The paper stated that, Mr. E.T. Mensah the youth and Sports Minister disclosed these in an interview with the paper and added that 40,000 seats were ordered at a total cost of $720,000. The sports Minister also revealed that the scoreboards at the two stadia cost over =A23.8 billion.
According to the paper, the Sports Minister also denied that Arab Contractors won the contract because their local representative, Nana Brew Butler, who is also the co-chairman of the local organising committee of the African Under-20 youth Football championship, allegedly influenced the tender process.
The Free Press carries a story of an interesting development that took place in Parliament House last Tuesday.
Under the headline 'Corruption; MP's Trade accusations', the paper reports of the near disruption of proceedings propelled by a statement by the majority parliamentary leader, Hon. Kwabena Adjei.
According to the paper, the majority leader in his contribution to a debate on the President's sessional address declared 'In this house, we lack the policy of political culture we even refuse to know that corruption is epidemic. Society must be vigilant in weeding out corruption'. The said statement was interpreted by Hon. Balado Manu, an NPP member, as an affirmation of corruption in the NDC government, and this led to the trading of accusations.
The majority leader who didn't take kindly to Hon. Balado's statement burst out 'a member of this House on the minority side was found to be corrupt in this Parliament and he came to beg'.
The minority spokesman on foreign affiars, Hon. Huckman Owusu chipping 'which Hon memebr from the other side also used a diplomatic passport and found himself in trouble'.
It was the timely intervention of the first, Deputy speaker, Hon Ken Dzivasa that save the situation.
Under the headline 'EPA warns Golden Tulip' the paper says the EPA has cautioned the Golden Tulip to improve insanitary conditions or face prosecution.
According to the story, the EPA has given the management of the hotel one week to stop discharging raw sewage into drains around the hotel's vicinity or face prosecution.
The EPA further ordered the hotel to install a treatment plant within six months to improve the insanitary conditions that the discharge has created.