Mining
law and regulations in the pipeline - Minister
PNC
upset and disappointment at NPP
Time factor important in reconciliation act - P. V. Obeng.
School
"social clubs' exploited by paedophile syndicate - CID
More
deaths recorded in motor accidents in Greater Accra
Tarkwa
(Western Region) 25 February 2002 - Legal and fiscal regulations are being
reviewed to revive interest in the mining sector, Kwadwo Adjei-Darko, Minister
of Mines, said on Thursday. He said it would culminate in a draft mining law
and regulations, which would benefit stakeholders and ensure proper
environmental protection.
Opening a
two-day conference at Tarkwa, under the theme "Mining, the Environment and
Sustainable Development," Mr Adjei-Darko said the draft law and
regulations would be submitted to Cabinet for "fine-tuning" before
being laid in Parliament.
When these
come into force, the sector would move in "a more positive
direction," he said, adding that, the government placed an embargo on
mineral exploration in March 1996, to check the depletion of forest reserves.
Some
companies had spent substantial sums of money and reached advanced stages
before the embargo. "The Ministry of Mines recently permitted those
companies to start undertaking their respective Environmental Impact
Assessments (EIA) in preparation for the grant of mining leases," the
Minister said.
Mr
Adjei-Darko identified salt, as an industrial mineral, which could help
diversify the mineral base of the nation, but had not received the needed
attention. The ministry would collaborate with relevant agencies to establish
land banks along the coast to facilitate salt production, he said adding,
"there is market and resource, what is left is in investment".
GRi../
Send your
comments to viewpoint@ghanareview.com
Bimbilla
(Northern Region) 25 February 2002 - The Peoples National Convention (PNC), on
Sunday, registered its disappointment at what it described as "the
undemocratic action of the NPP towards the PNC parliamentary candidate for the
up-coming by-election for the Bimbilla seat".
In a
statement issued at Bimbilla and signed by Mr. Gabriel Twamang, General
Secretary of the PNC, it said since the party announced the candidature of Mr.
Dominic Ntiwul for the March 15 by-election, he had been subjected to "all
manner of undue influence" by the NPP to get him to step down.
It said,
"Mr. Ntiwul had been driven in air-conditioned Pajeros and Land Cruisers
on several occasions between Bimbilla and Tamale where he had been offered
money promises and other inducements to get him to step down".
The
statement said the NPP's plan was for Mr. Ntiwul to step down at the last
minute to prevent the PNC from fielding a candidate, adding "but the plan
has been exposed by PNC intelligence".
The PNC
said Mr. Ntiwul had even been persuaded to contest on the ticket of the NPP
even though the latter had already announced a candidate. The statement said
"these actions amount to serious subversion of the democratic atmosphere
we seek to consolidate in this country, which the NPP government had promised
to uphold.
These
actions are a threat to our young democracy and it is unfortunate that they are
coming from the party, which had laid so much claim to democratic credentials".
The
maneuvers adopted by the NPP were similar to those of the NDC when it was in
power, "but it must be remembered that those tactics of the NDC earned the
disapproval of democratic forces in Ghana, hence the party's defeat in the 2000
general elections".
"We
take this opportunity to warn the NPP that Ghanaians are watching them if
Bimbilla is an example of things to happen in the 2004 general elections, then
the party would face the wrath of democratic forces in Ghana," the
statement said.
The PNC called
on democratic forces in the country to condemn the actions of the NPP and urged
them to be vigilant to ensure "the people of the Bimbilla constituency
freely choose a member of parliament for themselves".
Meanwhile,
latest information reaching the GRi says Mr Ntiwul has defected to the ruling
NPP as candidate. In another development, the PNC has filed a writ to retrain
Mr Ntiwul from contesting the seat, describing him as a fraudster.
The seat
became vacant with the resignation of Dr. Mohammed Ibn Chambas following his
election as the Executive of Economic Community of West African States
(ECOWAS).
GRi.../
Send your
comments to viewpoint@ghanareview.com
Time factor important in reconciliation act - P. V. Obeng.
Tema
(Greater Accra) 25 February 2002 - Mr Paul Victor Obeng, former Presidential
Adviser on Governmental Affairs in PNDC regime has said the time factor was
vital if people were not to be taken for granted under the National
Reconciliation exercise.
"If
our intention is to reconcile all Ghanaians and not some Ghanaians, then we
have to ensure that whatever time frame is established, should enable all
Ghanaians to seek justice, get justice, rather than only allowing some to
receive justice", he said
Mr Obeng
was contributing to a symposium on; "National Reconciliation - The way
forward" organised by the Tema branch of Kwame Nkrumah University of
Science and Technology (KNUST) Alumni as part of the University's Golden
Jubilee celebration.
He said
objective factors rather than the subjective that must determine the
boundaries, adding, "we have started on a wrong footing by allowing time
to divide us, but we could have made time to be irrelevant".
He said the
South African situation had a time boundary, having regard to their political
and social experiences and, therefore, extended it to their present regime, and
so did Chile.
Mr Obeng
said as; "we want to reconcile and other people refuse to join in the
reconciliation process, this will be a thwarted exercise which will have to be followed up by yet another one
which will cost time and money".
Other
speakers were Mr Abraham Ossei Aidoo, MP for Tema West, Alhaji Mohamed Mumuni,
MP for Kumbugu and the Reverend Mongsignor Jonathan Ankrah, General secretary
of Ghana Catholic Bishop's Conference. The chairman for the function was Nana
Addo Dankwah III, Akwapimhene.
GRi.../
Send your
comments to viewpoint@ghanareview.com
Accra
(Greater Accra) 25 February 2002 - President John Agyekum Kufuor left Accra on
Sunday night to attend the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM)
from March 2 to March 5 in Coolum on the Queens Land Sunshine Coast in
Australia.
The Foreign
Minister, Hackman Owusu-Agyemang, Minister at the Office of the President,
Elizabeth Akua Ohene and Secretary to the President, Mr Daniel K. Osei
accompanied President Kufuor.
The Speaker
of Parliament Mr Peter Ala Adjetey, Minister of Information and Presidential
Affairs, Mr Jake Okanta Obetsebi-Lamptey, Chief of Defence Staff
(CDS), Lieutenant-General
Seth Obeng, Inspector General of Police (IGP), Ernest
Owusu Poku,
other Ministers of State and the British High Commissioner, Dr Rodney Pullen
were at the airport to see President Kufuor off.
The
meeting, under the theme: "The Commonwealth in the 21'st Century:
Continuity and Renewal" would focus on terrorism, good governance and the
global economic downturn.
The
situation in Zimbabwe would also be discussed, Mr Kwbbena Agyapong, Deputy
Government Spokesman, told newsmen at the airport, noting that of late some
members of the association had expressed a lot of misgivings about the
situation in that country.
The ban
imposed on Pakistan was not likely to be lifted, he said, adding that President
Kufuor would make a two-day stopover in Singapore, which is at the invitation
of that country's Prime Minister, Goh Chok Tong, to discuss bilateral issues.
President Kufuor would showcase Ghana with a view to attracting investors into
the country, he said.
The
Commonwealth Heads of Governments Meeting (CHOGM) held every two years,
discusses world and Commonwealth issues, decides on collective policy
initiatives and provides a unique forum for consultation at the highest
governmental level.
This year’s
meeting, which was scheduled for October last year, was postponed following the
'September 11' attacks in the US. Issues to be discussed include the review of
global developments with focus on terrorism, global economic developments and
the promotion of Commonwealth fundamental political values.
Participants
would also deliberate on major activities through, which the Commonwealth would
pursue its agreed objectives on functional co-operation including education,
health, gender equality and issues affecting the youth.
The meeting
would consider the report of the High Level Review Group (HLG), established by
the 'Durban CHOGM' in 1999 to examine all aspects of the operation of the
54-member association to make it more responsive to the needs of member
countries.
The release
said President John Agyekum Kufuor, prior to his participation in the
conference, would pay a two-day visit to Singapore, where he would meet with
Goh Chok Tong, Prime Minister of that country. Their discussions would focus on
bilateral issues with a view to further developing productive and collaborative
relations between Ghana and Singapore.
President
Kufuor would also visit a community club, which exhibits Singapore's
achievements in community development, a tourist facility at Sentosa spotting
the ''Image of Singapore'' and the Ports of Singapore Corporation.
GRi../
Send your
comments to viewpoint@ghanareview.com
Accra
(Greater Accra) 25 February 2002 - The last Sunday of February was an unusual
day and its last hour laborious, historic and spectacular in the political
history of Ghana.
May be the
aged and experienced may have witnessed more profound occasions, the young is
yet to compare tonight's event to others. Parliament sat at mid-night and swore
in its Speaker as the interim President of Ghana.
The Former
Speaker Justice Daniel F. Annan rose to that high office in his time but the
ceremony was very swift and was held in the daytime. Members had to return from
their various outreach duties to witness this rear occasion braving the cold
and deep night to be part of history.
A radio and
television announcement took the message far and near urging all members and
officials to report to the Legislature. The President and the Vice President
were out of the country so the Speaker had to act in line of succession to the
presidency as prescribed by the Constitution.
Mr Peter
Ala Adjetey, resplendent in a black jacket entered the chamber just before
mid-night to take the oath of office administered by the Chief Justice Edward
Kwame Wiredu.
Anxiety
blinded him to the fact that the chair of the Speaker should never be vacant
when Parliament is sitting but he made amends thus satisfying the Majority
Leader Papa Owusu Ankoma.
Mr Adjetey
took his oaths amidst applause from the members and after that walked out of
the Chamber without looking back. He had said that after taking the oath, it
would not be proper for him to preside in House.
Some 36
years ago, the man on the horseback took over the presidency without recourse
to the Constitution. On February 24, 1966, the then President Kwame Nkrumah
went to the Far East on a peace mission to Hanoi, Vietnam without expecting an
unwanted successor, who never allowed him to return home.
President
Kufuor is in Australia to mingle with fellow Heads of Governments of the
Commonwealth with an assurance of a trouble-free return. Water spewed freely
from the two large fountains illuminated by the neon lights planted by the
sidewalks of Parliament.
It beckoned
the curious to the nation's chequered history and offered hope for the future
where the government shall always rest on the will of the ordinary Ghanaian.
GRi../
Send your
comments to viewpoint@ghanareview.com
Accra
(Greater Accra) 25 February 2002 - The Criminal Investigations Department (CID)
on Monday began investigations into a syndicate of "social clubs" in
schools that invite suspected paedophiles from Britain into the country and
lure unsuspecting male students to have sex with them.
The CID
said operators of the clubs, which have the son of an official as a member,
then blackmail these foreigners for a fee of at least 4,000 pounds sterling
else they would report them to the Police.
The Ghana
News Agency reports a reliable source as saying that these clubs operate by
advertising in foreign magazines for pen pals with these paedophiles - people
sexually attracted to children. The source said since the authorities did not
know these persons they enjoyed free movement and posed real danger.
An
advertisement page of "Boyz Magazine", a gay magazine, obtained by
the GNA from sources in London shows Ghanaian boys living in Ghana advertising
to become partners with these paedophiles in London. They sometimes have their
pictures on those pages.
For
instance, one such advertisement read: "24 year-old Ghanaian looking for
black or white man, loves movies, hot correspondence and basketball Box
BC66416".
Another one
reads: "Nice, beautiful black African Ghanaian guy willing to correspond
with men for friendship and possible meet. I am 30 and a driver. Box
BC66314." Another also reads: "Ghanaian, 22 likes the scene, pubs and
clubs, hot sex. WLTM, a reliable person for friendship. Box BC66452."
Yet another
one reads: "Attractive, hot Ghanaian boy, looking for a partner to share
deep love. I enjoy hot photos, letters, travelling, dancing and much more. ALA.
Box BC66561."
The source
noted that some children might be corrupted by coming into contact with these
paedophiles, since the blackmailers would need some kind of evidence to hold
against these men. "There is also the real danger that some children may
be forced to have sex with these men, who would be prepared to pay large
amounts of money for this."
Mrs Gifty
Anin-Botwe, Deputy Director CID, confirmed that the Police were investigating
the matter and warned Ghanaians against advertising in foreign media
specifically targeting paedophiles.
GRi.../
Send your
comments to viewpoint@ghanareview.com
Accra
(Greater Accra) 25 February 2002 - The Greater Accra Region has consistently
recorded more deaths through motor accidents in the country with the toll
jumping from 193 in 2000 to 468 in 2001.
The
national figure, however, was down from 1,212 in 2000 to 1,159 in 2001, the
Motor Traffic and Transport Unit (MTTU)
of the Ghana Police Service, told the Ghana News Agency.
The Acting
Commander of the MTTU, ASP Solomon K. Ntim, who was speaking to GNA on Monday
after a special operation by the unit in Accra, said 21 traffic offenders were
arrested between February 18 and 22 and were sent to court. Twenty of them were
fined a total of eight million cedis, while one was jailed for 16 months.
"Last
year in Greater Accra 1,022 traffic offenders were convicted out of which 30
were imprisoned, 34 served with warning letters and 57 cases are still pending
while the rest paid fines," Mr Ntim said. He said the total revenue
generated from the fines paid by these traffic offenders last year amounted to
about 350 million cedis.
GRi.../
Send your
comments to viewpoint@ghanareview.com