House still has mandate
Elizabeth Ohene named Public Affairs Advisor
Kufuor promises to promote justice
NPP wins Asutifi seat
NPP demands Bank Accounts
Ministers clean up offices
MP-elect in 576 million cedis deal
Why NDC lost
Minority Leader cautions private media
Theft at GNPC
Kufuor makes history
House still has mandate
Proceedings in Parliament was on Thursday characterised by uproar after the Speaker, Mr Justice D.F. Annan, read a statement from Mr B.J. da Rocha, an Accra legal practitioner, to the effect that Parliament has no authority to pass any new laws, reports the state-owned Daily Graphic.
The statement, according to the paper, generated a heated argument between the majority side, which condemned it as contemptuous and the minority, which saw nothing wrong with it on the grounds that Mr da Rocha, as a citizen of the land, has every right to express his views on national issues.
Mr da Rocha said the House should not pass laws, which will impose any obligation on the state or approve contracts that may not be consistent with the policies of the in-coming administration since that will sabotage the new government.
The outgoing government, he said, was trying to pre-empt the incoming Parliament by passing and approving contracts at this last minute.
The Speaker, who expressed dissatisfaction with the statement, said it is unfortunate that Mr da Rocha should come out with such a statement since the House, by constitutional provision, still has power to carry out with its activities although it will be dissolved next Saturday, January 6.
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Elizabeth Ohene named Public Affairs Advisor
The President-elect, Mr J.A. Kufuor, has appointed Ms Elizabeth Ohene, one-time Editor of the Daily Graphic as his advisor on public affairs.
A release, signed by Mr Jake Obetsebi-Lamptey, Campaign Manager for the President-elect, said Ms Ohene would also be responsible for all statements issued on behalf of the incoming President, the Graphic said.
Ms Ohene, a native of Abutia in the Volta Region, is a product of Mawuli Secondary School and the University of Ghana.
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Kufuor promises to promote justice
The President-elect, Mr John Agyekum Kufuor, has given the assurance that his government will ensure that justice is dispensed by the judiciary without fear or favour.
"My government will play its role with the self-restraint necessary and submit to the rule of law", Mr Kufuor is reported by The Ghanaian Times as having stated when he paid a courtesy call on the Chief Justice, Mr Justice I.K. Abban at his residence in Accra.
He said his government was determined to submit to the rule of law in order to ensure that the nation does not go back to the days when some people were thought to be above the law.
He said any criticism from him or his colleagues of the judiciary will be constructive to make the estate mindful of the huge responsibility expected of it, in the interest of the state's advancement of progress.
"I'll count on you for co-operation and support to enhance respect for humanity, human right, and the rule of law to put the state on a high pedestal, to be attractive to foreign investors as a place where people can come and expect to have justice," he said.
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NPP wins Asutifi seat
Mrs Cecilia Gyan Amoah, 52, on Wednesday, won the parliamentary election for the Asutifi South Constituency on the ticket of the NPP, reports The Times. Her victory brings the party's seats in Parliament to 100.
The election, which should have been held on December 7, was postponed because of the sudden death of her husband, Prof. Philip Kofi Amoah, who was the original candidate. The party selected Mrs Gyan Amoah to contest the election as an honour to her husband.
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NPP demands Bank Accounts
The Evening News says all treasury officers of Ministries, Departments and Agencies have been requested to furnish the NPP transitional team with bank accounts operated by them, cash kept by Ghana Missions abroad on behalf of the Consolidated Fund to facilitate the smooth hand-over to the in-coming Kufuor administration.
Mr Kwadwo Baah-Wiredu, Chartered Accountant and member of the NPP transitional team disclosed to the paper that Financial Administration Decree requires that the handing over statement should include provisional balance sheets as at December 31, 2000, listing of cash balances, the Consolidated Fund, and Local Government balances on all bank accounts held by the 110 District Assemblies throughout the country.
Mr Baah-Wiredu, who is the MP for Asante-Akim North, said records on Government stores involving purchases and statement of undisclosed commitment and liabilities of the state at the end of the year would also have to be made available to the NPP transitional team.
He said so far the transitional team of the outgoing NDC had shown good faith and was co-operating with the NPP side to ensure that all the processes for the hand-over are completed by Saturday.
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Ministers clean up offices
The Evening News in a front-page capture says the unexpected results of both the Presidential and Parliamentary elections in December has completely disorganized most of the out-going Ministers and their deputies as they race against time to beat the January 7 deadline for their stay in office.
The otherwise routine schedule of some Ministers who report for work around 10 am daily has now given way to a surreptitious sneaking into office to clear the backlog of work and ensure a whistle-clean 'behind'.
A visit by the paper to the Ministries area in Accra revealed that while some Ministers and their deputies have given express instructions to receptionists and secretaries not to entertain any visitors, others are perpetually at official wrapping meetings.
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MP-elect in 576 million cedis deal
A center-spread story of 'The Dispatch' said the hope of Mr Jagri Bakari Mohammed, NDC Member of Parliament-elect (MP) for Zabzugu-Tatale in the Northern Region, to be part of the Third Parliament of the Fourth Republic seems threatened for allegedly condoning and conniving with some leading members of the area's District Assembly in shady deals amounting to 576,754,000.
Mr John Jagri Kokpah, the current MP, was reported preparing to file a court suit to restrain the MP-elect from taking part in the inauguration of the new Parliament, scheduled for Sunday, January 7.
Hon. Kokpah told the Dispatch that Mr Mohammed and his conspirators took advantage of the ignorance of the other assembly members and engaged in dubious deals to enrich themselves.
He said the NDC had been aware of the conduct of Mr Mohammed and his accomplices but had taken no action against him.
The outgoing MP said he has taken the matter to the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) and while the Majority Leader in Parliament, Hon. Dr Kwabena Adjei had been informed.
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Why NDC lost
The Public Agenda writes that despite the reasons assigned by political analysts to the fall of the NDC, its sources within the ruling party put blame squarely at the doorstep of the Castle - President Jerry Rawlings and leaders of power blocks in the party.
"They accused the President and his wife, Nana Rawlings of hijacking the party," according to the paper.
Senior party members are said to be now openly acknowledging that the NDC contained a myriad of fractious groups controlled by very powerful people in government.
Some defeated NDC MPs reportedly also campaigned against the Vice President in the run-off for fear that they could be accused if Mills won during the second round in their constituencies.
According to the Agenda, an NDC's intelligence report dating as far back as 1998 indicated clearly that the party would shamefully lose the 2000 elections if it failed to take specific steps to address the concentration of power in the hands of cabals in the party.
The paper says the lack internal democracy was one reason that led the National Reform Party (NRP) to break away from the NDC, a factor which, was recognised by the party in a communiqué signed by its general secretary, Alhaji Huudu Yahaya.
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Minority Leader cautions private media
The Free Press in a back-page story says the out-going Minority Leader, Mr J.H. Mensah, has stated that it would be very unfortunate and shameful, if so-called opposition papers which pranced the activities of the government with eagle eyes sadly turns to behave like what the state media did to the outgoing NDC.
Mr Mensah, was quoted to have aired in a 'Choice FM', an Accra private radio discussion, that it would amount to journalistic capitulation if suddenly the zest with which the private papers put the NDC government on its toes were changed to be pro-NPP by not seeing anything wrong, as the state media has functioned in the past 20 years.
He advised that what Ghanaian journalists should realize was that the 1992 constitution granted 'freedom of speech' and that it was imperative on the media to alert the NPP government in its working with all manner of people.
He reiterated his party's campaign promise to repeal the obnoxious criminal libel law as well as pass the freedom of information act to allow journalists to go about their constitutional duties without fear of favour.
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Theft at GNPC
Officials of the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC), are currently on tenterhooks awaiting the result of a police investigation into the theft of a multimedia computer and its accessories from the premises of the cedi multi-billion oil prospecting company, reveals The Ghanaian Chronicle.
Investigations by the paper corroborated by officials of the firm indicated that the theft occurred during the Christmas holidays and was detected on December 29.
The GNPC authorities reportedly conducted initial investigations into the matter but reported to the Tema Police when its attempt proved futile.
The theft, according to Mr Samuel Boateng, acting head of Public Affairs Department, has however not affected operations of the company since it has back-up systems in place to ensure that no information or data is lost with the theft of any of its computers.
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Kufuor makes history
The Weekend Statesman says Sunday, January 7, 2001 is the day John Agyekum Kufuor will be sworn in as President of the Republic of Ghana.
"That day will go down as one of the most memorable in the annals of the nation, for it will be the first time that one elected government of this nation replaces another elected government which has fully served its constitutionally prescribed time."
Mr Kufour's inauguration, it says, is memorable, coming at a time when President Rawlings at long last appears to have come round to the inevitable - to meet and have dialogue with the very people whom for almost two decades he has called unprintable names and refused to meet.
Kufuor, on his inauguration, becomes the fifth President of the Republic, after Kwame Nkrumah, Edward Akufo-Addo, Hilla Limann and Jerry John Rawlings, and the ninth head of state, when all the military dictators in Ghana's 44-year history are also counted.
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