NDC men grab cars
Trouble for Kufuor
Rawlings grabs UN job
Let’s have income policy
Baah-Wiredu put up for Local Govt
UK pledges £55m support for Ghana
NPP advised to keep pre-election promises
Kufuor declares war on corruption
‘We cannot simply forgive and forget’
All the President’s men
The Guide
NDC men grab cars
The Guide says sources at the Vehicle Examination and Licensing Department (VELD) in Accra has hinted that about 4000 government vehicles of all makes have been re-licensed into private names.
The source said that the speed and rush with which the re-licensing took place was not only frightening, but made it appear the country was in crisis with people rushing to move out.
It said not only were the vehicles from the various Ministries but also those that had been given to cronies and personal friends of some top officials of the out gone NDC government, from a pool of government stock vehicles.
The paper recalls a publication in its January 4-10, 2001 edition that alerted the nation about the fleet of Landcruisers that were fleeing the country into neighbouring Cote d'Ivoire.
It said the number of official vehicles that have changed ownership has already raised questions about the job of the Transition Team and what it has done so far.
The Guide reports of concerns in some quarters lately about the prices of the vehicles sold to the outgoing ministers as it has learnt that some cars bought at 70 million cedis or more about two years ago have been rebated to them at as low as 7 million cedis.
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Trouble for Kufuor
Mr J.A. Kufuor, the newly elected President of Ghana, may not enjoy his honeymoon for a long time, indications being that, he may soon be confronted with the first major problems of his administration.
Early indications of trouble, it said, flows from the apparent reluctance of out-gone President Jerry John Rawlings to abandon the presidency and to make it possible for Mr Kufuor to function as Supreme Commander of the Ghana Armed Forces.
Ex-President Rawlings is reported to have pleaded, in his 20th anniversary speech of the 31st December coup in Accra, with the security services to remain loyal to him on account of his being an ex-soldier.
It said, "Mr Rawlings' demand for the loyalty of the armed forces is subversive of the Kufuor presidency and constitutes a major threat to the authority of the President.
Mr Kufuor's problems are not limited to the implied threats of Rawlings but the intelligence services who over the years had operated to protect the NDC and perpetuate Rawlings' rule, the paper said.
It said the national economy is also in tatters and the new administration will not find resources easily to meet its obligations to the masses and that given the fact that the (P)NDC ruled Ghana for close to 20 years and is entrenched in the government machinery, the NPP would have a really hard time in getting matters re-ordered.
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Rawlings grabs UN job
The Public Agenda writes that former President Jerry John Rawlings said on Saturday that he had accepted an invitation from Kofi Annan, UN Secretary-general, to become one of the eminent persons who will promote the spirit of voluntarism this year.
The president, whose reign of a second term ended mid-night on Saturday, said at a farewell parade by the military in his honour that he would be pursuing this task within and outside Ghana.
"I hope the youth, men and women of the Armed Forces, NGOs, religious and social groups will join this endeavour," he had stated, adding that, "when this task takes me to other parts of the world, I want to be able to point to Ghana as a proud example of the voluntary spirit."
President Rawlings is the first past president of Ghana to receive a UN appointment.
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Let’s have income policy
The lead story of the Daily Graphic and The Ghanaian Times focuses on a press conference held by the Trades Union Congress (TUC) on Tuesday to outline its expectations from the government of the NPP.
The Graphic story says the TUC has called on the new government to develop an appropriate income policy to address “the slave wages” being paid to most Ghanaian workers.
It also repeated its call for the re-introduction of the End of Service Benefit (ESB), which was cancelled by the previous administration.
Mr Kwasi Adu Amankwaa, Secretary-General of the TUC, speaking on behalf of the body, said the TUC will re-open negotiations on the daily minimum wage as soon as Ministers of Finance and Employment and Social Welfare are appointed.
He said the TUC welcomes President J.A. Kufuor’s statement to “make dialogue and co-operation with the unionist body and all workers a central feature of the fight to bring economic prosperity to our people.”
The Ghanaian Times on its part says Mr Adu Amankwaa called on the government to institute measures to improve the integrity of the justice delivery system to enable it to function without fear or favour to help in sustaining democracy and also stimulate economic growth.
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Baah-Wiredu put up for Local Govt
The Graphic in another story on its front-page says President J.A. Kufuor on Tuesday nominated Mr Kwadwo Baah-Wiredu, 49, Member of Parliament for Asante Akim North, as Minister for Local Government and Rural Development.
A release signed by Ms Elizabeth Ohene, Government Spokesperson, said Mr Baah-Wiredu, was educated at the University of Ghana, where he obtained a BSc (Adm), and is a Chartered Accountant by profession.
The Minister designate told the Graphic later that he considers his appointment as an opportunity to serve his nation and the people.
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UK pledges £55m support for Ghana
The British Government would continue its assistances to Ghana with 55 million pounds sterling this year under the Department for International Development Project (DFID), Baroness Amos of Brondesbury, said at a press conference in Accra.
Out of the amount, 30 million pounds would go into development projects aimed at reducing poverty, while 25 million pounds would go directly to support the budget, according to a front-page story in The Times.
Baroness Amos threw light on Britain’s relations with Ghana and the scope of British Development Assistance to the country, and congratulated Ghanaians, President J.A. Kufuor and the NPP for their victory in the last elections.
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NPP advised to keep pre-election promises
The NPP government and President J.A. Kufuor have been urged to endeavour to fulfil most, if not all, the electoral promises they made to the people if he is to sustain confidence of the electorates who voted him into power, reports The Free Press.
Mr Alhassan Humeiru Debally, a staunch Convention People’s Party (CPP) activist expressing the sentiment and said even though the NPP had taken over “empty coffers and over 7 billion dollars debt, the government must nevertheless, work hard to bring meaning into the lives of Ghanaians who are actually suffering as was empahsised in some of the campaign slogans of the NPP.”
Another political observer in Tamale in the Northern Region, Alhaji Sibidow Issahaku of the National Reform Party (NRP) has warned the NPP not to become over complacent with the December 28 run-off but must rather work hard to create employment for those who are totally unemployed, adding that if the party fails to do that, “our thumbs would be more ready to vote them out in 2004.”
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Kufuor declares war on corruption
The Dispatch says its sources have hinted that President J.A. Kufuor intends to publicly declare his assets as an example to his declaration at his inaugural address that he will combat corruption to the point of zero tolerance, during his administration.
Ministers of State and top public officials are also expected to declare their assets and on demand, be made available for public scrutiny.
Mr Jake Obetsebi-Lamptey, Chief of Staff, revealed that the Kufuor administration intends to publish a Code of Ethics, which all Ministers and top public and civil servants will sign and adhere to.
The first angle that the new head may have to tackle, according to the Dispatch, is to make it mandatory for spouses of Ministers and top public officials to also declare their assets.
It said another ideal option is for the President, his Ministers and top public officials to declare their assets each year. Additionally, he could publish the names of all blacklisted contractors.
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‘We cannot simply forgive and forget’
Mr Kwesi Pratt, Publisher of The Insight, a bi-weekly newspaper and a known critic of the Rawlings’ government has said that President Kufuor’s alleged declaration that people should forgive and forget about crimes committed against them by the (P)NDC government defeats the purpose for which some people voted him as president.
“We voted for ‘Asee Ho’ to bring a positive change to this country. We voted for ‘Asee Ho’ so that the bitterness on the hearts of people would be wiped away. We voted for Asee Ho so that victims of such crimes would be freed and be invited to join in the development process,” he said.
Pratt, who was speaking on Peace FM, an Accra private radio, said he was of the opinion that the new government should open investigations into what he termed as crimes by the PNDC government against people “so that we will be able to know which of the perpetrators should be forgiven and which of them should be made to face the law.”
He said investigations have to be open into such crimes adding that, “those who murdered people, those who squandered money, those who forced other people to go into exile and those who engaged in excesses must be investigated so that based on this we can make decisions on whether or not to forgive or prosecute them.”
He stated that some people have suffered very severe consequences as a result of the murder of their fathers and that for such group of people something needed to be done to wipe the bitterness from their hearts.
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All the President’s men
The Chronicle states in its lead story that the biggest problem confronting the President at the moment is with the choice of Ministers.
It said unlike the previous dispensation where chop bar keepers were made Ministers and sufficiently pliant people were passed through vetting, Kufuor is confronted with a huge pool of talent within Parliament from where he is mandated by law to draw most of his Ministers, even if they are deputies.
Chronicle also said that within the ranks of Ghanaians living outside but solid in their support for the party and the President is another base available for tapping.
It said it was out of this base that produced one of the cleverest choices for the position of Director of Public Affairs of the Office of the President, Ms Elizabeth Ohene. The paper lists a host of others who are qualified for other offices.
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