MPs not Father Christmas…
Parliament under scrutiny
Bakers threaten industrial action
NDC presidential race open to all
We’ll relinquish power in 2009 – Issifu Ali
Post-Rawlings drama continues…It will be Mills, Konadu battle
Both the Daily Graphic and the Ghanaian Times give prominence to the public forum organised yesterday by Parliament, as part of its outreach programme to educate members of the public on the work of the legislature.
Daily Graphic
MPs not Father Christmas…
The Daily Graphic in its top story, reports that the Speaker of Parliament, Mr Justice Daniel Francis Annan, has said that the perception of Members of Parliament as "Father Christmas", must end.
The Graphic says that Mr Justice Annan has, therefore, called on the electorate to desist from making unjustifiable financial demands on MPs. The Speaker is said to have noted that apart from inadequate physical infrastructure, which has engaged the attention of the legislators, there are also the pressures brought to bear on individual MPs by their constituents.
He said that if the situation is not checked, "the effect would be the creation of the absentee MP and possibilities of corruption". Mr Justice Annan made the call at the seventh annual Public Forum in Accra yesterday. The forum, under the theme: "Parliament and Good Governance: Year 2000 and beyond", was attended by a cross-section of the public, among whom were the First Lady, Nana Konadu Agyeman-Rawlings, Ministers of State, MPs and diplomats.
The Speaker asked the public to establish linkages with Parliament through their elected representatives by submitting petitions concerning their genuine grievances.
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Parliament under scrutiny
The Ghanaian Times account, which is also the lead story, says that Parliament’s performance over the last year was yesterday brought under public scrutiny at the seventh annual Public Forum in Accra.
The Times says that the public once again had the chance to seek answers to questions like what efforts are being made to resolve the serial murders, sending the work of the legislature to the rural areas, and why Parliament has relinquished its duty in fixing fuel prices?
The paper says that a very moving appeal was made by a pupil of Bishop Girls’ Junior Secondary School in Accra to the Minister of Education to ensure that the backlog of students seeking to enter the universities is cleared to make way for them to also gain admission.
The girl, the paper says, stated that they could only become future leaders if they had the chance to enter the universities. The Times says that on the serial killing, Nii Okaija Adamafio, Minister of the Interior, narrated the difficult task the police face in trying to solve the problem.
He is reported as saying that although the police have not made any headway, the quest was still on for the killers and the law enforcement agencies hope to unravel the mystery surrounding the murders in good time.
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The Crusading Guide
Bakers threaten industrial action
The Crusading Guide in an inside page story, says it appears the incessant industrial actions that characterised the year 1999, would rear their ugly heads again this year, if the powers that be do not take effective measures to alleviate the persistent suffering of Ghanaians.
According to the paper, the looming picture became manifest at an emergency meeting of the Ashanti Regional branch of the Ghana National Bakers’ Association in Kumasi last week.
The regional branch, the paper says, would withdraw bread from the market if flour mill companies in Ghana do not reduce the price of a bag of flour to an appreciable level as a matter of urgency. At the moment a bag of flour is sold at nearly 80,000 cedis instead of 67,000 cedis late last year.
The Crusading Guide quotes Mrs Comfort Akotuah, chairperson of the regional branch of the association as emphasising that the regional branches, numbering over 200, would not rest until the flour mills slashed the price of a bag of flour.
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The Guide
NDC presidential race open to all
In its lead story the Guide says that contrary to the view held by many that Vice-President John Atta mills is the automatic presidential candidate of the NDC, the race for that prestigious position is going to be open to contest.
The papers says that the party’s national delegates’ congress slated for April, this year, to elect the party’s flagbearer, is not going to be limited to an individual. "Anybody who has the courage to present himself or herself for that position would be considered on merit", Mr Vincent Assiseh, press secretary of the party is quoted as dropping this hint in an interview.
He is reported as saying, however, that there would be a lot of consultations to eliminate bitterness and envy among contending candidates. The Guide says that when asked about the interest of the First Lady, Nana Konadu Agyeman-Rawlings in the presidency, Mr Assiseh is said to have replied, "if she so wishes, she can put up her name because nothing stops her".
According to the paper, the First Lady is seriously in the race for the presidential slot of the NDC. The Guide quotes a source as indicating that the ambition of the First Lady is perfectly in line with the elevation of Mrs Cecilia Johnson to Minister of Local Government and Rural Development.
Mrs Johnson is a leading member of the 31st December Women’s Movement and said to be a close confidante of Nana Konadu. The source the paper says, stated that the elevation of Mrs Johnson is meant to turn the internal tables of the party so that the First Lady can have a stronger hold in the constituencies at the lower levels.
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The Evening News
We’ll relinquish power in 2009 – Issifu Ali
In a front-page banner headline story, the Evening News reports that the NDC has stated that it will relinquish power to the opposition in year 2009.
"If we allow them to win power now, they will destroy the good socio-economic and political foundation that had been laid by the NDC government", Alhaji Issifu Ali, national co-chairman of the party is quoted as saying. Alhaji Ali was speaking to the paper in Accra just after the NDC United Kingdom branch had presented a cheque for £12,000 to the party to support its campaign programme towards this year’s elections.
The paper says that the money was realised through fund-raising activities by members of the U.K. branch. According to Alhaji Ali, the NDC would win the next two successive elections before allowing the opposition "to have a feel of how it is like to govern Ghana, and if they fail, we shall come back".
He is quoted as saying, "even I doubt if the opposition can win election in the year 2009, at all, considering the current political terrain in the country".
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Post-Rawlings drama continues…It will be Mills, Konadu battle
The Independent says that by every indication, the man to succeed President Jerry Rawlings when he quits the Castle, the seat of power in Ghana on January 7, 2001, is Evans Atta Mills, the former lecturer and taxman, who was drafted into open NDC politics in 1996.
The paper in a its top story says that President Rawlings had even gone public and endorsed him on several occasions. Fan clubs have been formed to promote his succession and many NDC supporters, high and low, believe he is the ‘anointed heir. According to the Independent, all is not "sewn and cut for a Mills Presidency"…
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