NPP denies accusation of harassment of NDC
members
Benyiwa-Doe assures nation of NDC’s co-operation
Nigerian First Lady leaves for home
NPP denies accusation of harassment of NDC
members
Kumasi (Ashanti Region) 19 January 2002 - The Offinso North Constituency of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) has denied accusations that its supporters were intimidating, harassing and beating up members and sympathisers of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) at Akomadan.
Mr Kwasi Appiah-Donkor, NPP Constituency Chairman, said the accusations were not true, adding that, they are "complete fabrication inspired by political mischief".
He told the GNA in Kumasi that on December 31, 2001, the Minister of Trade and Industry, who is the Member of Parliament (MP) for the area, Dr Kofi Konadu Apraku, presented a container load of books, hospital beds, an X-ray machine and four bales of second-hand clothing all valued at about 500 million cedis to support schools and health facilities in the constituency.
The items were presented at a joint durbar of chiefs and people from Akomadan, Nkenkansu and Afrancho. He said just as the materials were going to be handed over, a group of NDC supporters were seen about 50 metres away attempting to hoist their party flag to commemorate the 31st December Revolution.
Mr Appiah-Donkor said to prevent any nasty incident the NDC supporters were advised to put their intended celebration on hold until after the presentation, which they agreed, adding, "the day passed off peacefully".
The Constituency Chairman said on January 7, when a float was organised and a mini-rally was held at Akomadan to climax activities marking the first anniversary of the government, the NDC group again emerged close to the rally ground and started hoisting their party flag and insulting leading members of the NPP.
Mr Appiah-Donkor said some activists of the NPP could not stand the provocation and confronted them resulting in some scuffles.
The case, he said, was reported to the Police and suspects from both sides were invited to give statements, adding, "I am amused at the dishonesty on the part of the NDC to project the NPP as lawless".
The NDC Constituency Chairman for the area, Mr Appiah Kubi at a news conference, recently asked the Police to stop the physical assault, intimidation and harassment of its members by NPP supporters.
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NDC says NPP is discrediting it to cover up
Koforidua (Eastern Region) 19 January 2002 - The Eastern Regional Secretary of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Mr Anthony Gyampoh, has said that the New Patriotic Party's claim that the NDC messed-up the economy and misapplied loans contracted during its tenure was the ruling party's "alibi for non-performance."
He also said the "NPP's claims that the economy was now poised for take-off is a manifestation of the fact the NDC did not mismanaged the economy as being trumpeted by the NPP, since it could not have been possible for the government to repair a discredited economy within a year."
In an interview with the GNA at Koforidua on Thursday, Mr Gyampoh said, "rather than condemning every policy that the NDC implemented during its tenure of office, the NPP should commend the NDC for preparing the "grounds for the proper economic take-off of the country."
Mr Gyampoh was speaking over a wide range of issues affecting the party and the performance of the NDC at the grassroots. According to Mr Gyampoh, contrary to the claims that the NDC messed-up the economy, there are visibly signs that loans that were contracted under the regime "were used to acquire assets the NPP government is now enjoying."
Mr. Gyampoh said granted that the assertions that the NDC left nothing in the state coffers were true, it could not have been possible for the NPP to turn round the economy within one year. "It is because of the work we did that is why the economy is performing", he added.
The NDC Regional Secretary said the NPP was being relentless in its campaign to discredit the NDC because it wanted to use the accusations as "an alibi or non-performance."
He compared the art of governance to a relay race noting, "if the first to third athletes faltered their laps, it could not be possible for fourth to finish it."
On reports that there were some parallel executives in some constituencies in the region, Mr. Gyampoh denied the allegations, explaining that in the run-up to the regional congress, there were problems in some of the districts, but those issues were resolved before the regional congress was held.
On his vision for the party, Mr. Gyampoh stated that he would offer a transparent and fair leadership that taps on the energies of all the people, irrespective of their views and aspiration.
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Accra (Greater Accra) 19 January 2002 - President John Agyekum Kufuor returned home from Freetown, Sierra Leone, where he was the guest of honour at a ceremony marking the completion of disarmament and the end of war in that country.
Hackman Owusu Agyemang, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Jake Obetsebi-Lampty, Minister of Information and Presidential Affairs and the Chief of Defence Staff, Lt. Gen. Seth Obeng, accompanied him.
Briefing journalists on arrival, Owusu-Agyemang said the ceremony also marked the symbolic burning of small arms and weapons as a signal to the entire world that peace had returned to Sierra Leone.
He said leaders of the combatants, including Issa Sesay, interim leader of the Revolutionary United Front (FUR) pledged their commitment to peace. The Foreign Minister said President Kufuor made a passionate appeal for them to sustain the peace and urged the international communities to honour all promises made to Sierra Leone.
He said about 46,700 combatants were disarmed and would be integrated into the regular army and civil society. Elections are due in May. At the airport to welcome the President were the Vice President and some Ministers of state.
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Kumasi (Ashanti Region) 19 January 2002 - Government appointees have been urged not to pervert justice and cover offenders with their political power. Mr J. K. Manu, a Retired Forester, pointed out that misuse of their political authority could subvert, "the government's declared positive change".
He was talking to the Ghana News Agency in Kumasi about the manner the
Ashanti Regional Minister, Mr S. K. Boafo, was alleged to have intervened in a case involving the illegal felling of timber in a sacred grove at Bonwire in the Ejisu-Juaben District by two chainsaw operators.
Mr Manu said he caused their arrest and the seizure of the lumber sawn by Atta Gyamfi and Alex Kwabena Osei, who unlawfully entered the sacred grove and cut down some timber species.
Mr Manu said they were put before a Kumasi Circuit Tribunal but refused on three occasions to appear before the tribunal. "Just when the tribunal issued a bench warrant for their arrest and the order was to be effected, the Regional Minister intervened".
He said any hope of getting Gyamfi and Osei punished to serve as deterrent was now dashed. When contacted on phone, Mr Boafo expressed surprise about Mr Manu's allegations and denied any wrongdoing.
He said the alleged illegal tree felling occurred about two years ago, adding that, the lumber was for a school project in the town and were used for the roofing of the classroom block of the local Seventh Day Adventist Basic School.
The matter, which had chieftaincy undertone, was resolved about two months ago and said he found it difficult to rationalise why anybody should attempt to draw him into a local chieftaincy problem.
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Accra (Greater Accra) 19 January 2002 - Vice President Aliu Mahama on Friday inaugurated a committee that would identify the constraints that undermined the ability of local contractors and consultants to win international jobs and recommend ways of improving the situation.
The World Bank is assisting the eight-member committee, which has representation from the Ministries of Finance, Roads and Transport, Works and Housing and Local Government and Rural Development. It has one month to present its report.
Alhaji Mahama said improving the capacity of consultants and contractors, who currently are able to win only a small proportion of World Bank and other donor contracts, would enhance job and wealth creation for economic growth.
He noted that inadequate equipment holding, limited government budget for projects resulting in under-utilisation of capacity, lack of well-trained supervisors and non-application of proper management principles in the running of most firms were issues that needed to be addressed.
Alhaji Mahama identified the criteria of meeting a prescribed threshold as one of the major constraints that prevented local contractors from biding for major international contracts.
The World Bank, for instance, required a contractor to have a previous year's turnover of between 100 and 200 per cent higher than the value of the contract it intended to bid for. Local contractors were unable to meet this condition because they did not receive payments for their jobs from the government on time to reflect in their turn over.
Alhaji Mahama said this issue could be addressed by having foreign contractors sub-letting certain components of their projects to their local counterparts. "This practice should be encouraged as a system of mentoring and a means of building local capacity and transferring technology and expertise," he said.
Alhaji Mahama described the construction industry as major part of the private sector, which should be assisted to lead the path of wealth creation, employment opportunities, poverty reduction and the improvement in the living conditions.
Mr Peter Harrold, Country Director of the World Bank, which is the largest development projects financier and contract awarder in Ghana, expressed the bank's support to improve the capacity of local contractors.
"We should know whether the present situation is the result of inadequate training in handling procedures, procedural requirements, language in bidding or limited access to credit so that we find practical solutions to them," he said.
A member of the committee, Dr Kwaku Anyemedu, Head of Legal, Private Sector and Financial Institution Division of the Ministry of Finance, said they were aware of the challenges of their task and would, therefore, work hard to recommended practical solutions to the problems.
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Accra (Greater Accra) 19 January 2002 - Relatives of Mr Baafour Awuah, 56 year-old pauper, who died in December last year and believed to have later bought a coffin for his own burial, on Friday appealed to philanthropists and well wishers to assist them to bury him.
Madam Akua Serwah, Senior Sister of Awuah who is on her maiden visit to the capital from Kumasi, made the appeal through the Ghana News Agency. Mr Awuah, who lived as a squatter at the Kinbu Gardens died at the Ridge Hospital where some friends had sent him for treatment.
Madam Serwah said the last time she saw her brother was about 21 years ago. Mr Awuah was the youngest member of the family of four. The eldest was last heard of 35 years ago and he is believed to be in Sierra Leone and the other sister had been invalid for two years now.
She said on hearing of the death of her brother and the accompanying story, she borrowed 50,000 cedis to make the journey to Accra. Madam Serwah denied that the family heard of Mr Awuah's sickness but abandoned him. She said it would be difficult to bury Mr Awuah at their hometown, Kumawu, because he did not attend funerals there.
Nana Danso and Mr Osei Kwame, friends of the deceased who took him to hospital when he was sick, said that they were yet to find money for the storage of the body and medical bills.
Nana Danso said they would also require assistance in terms of a vehicle to convey the body to the cemetery. "We simply cannot afford a funeral," he said.
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Gomoa Otsew-Jukwa (Central Region 19 January 2002 - The MP for Gomoa West, Mrs Ama Benyiwa-Doe, has assured Ghanaians that the mandate given to the NDC Parliamentarians would never be used to subvert the nation.
Rather, the Minority Group would utilise the power to keep the New Patriotic Party (NPP) administration on its toes in order to entrench and effectively promote democracy. Mrs Benyinwa-Doe was addressing the chiefs and people of Gomoa Otsew-Jukwa as part of their annual Akwambo festival at Otsew-Jukwa on Friday.
She appealed to NPP followers in the area not to regard her as an enemy of the government, stressing that it was better for the government to have a strong and "level-headed" opposition correct its shortfalls at the right time.
Mrs Benyiwa-Doe expressed regret at the inability of the Ghana Water Company (GWC) to supply the inhabitants in the area with good drinking water for the past 12 months and promised to find out what was the problem.
Mr Yaw Seesi, an opinion leader, advised parents in the area to place a high premium on the education of their children especially the females. He praised workers of the Noguchi Memorial Health Post for their self-less devotion by catering for more than 17 communities including Otsew-Jukwa and Onyadze.
He called for mutual understanding and cooperation among the chiefs and people of the twin-village, Onyadze and Otsew-Jukwa to enable them to maintain the health post.
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Kumasi (Ashanti Region) 19 January 2002 - A Former District Secretary for Afigya Sekyere, Yaw Oppong Kyekyeku has resigned from the National Democratic Congress (NDC) to join the New Patriotic Party (NPP).
In a statement in Kumasi on Friday Mr Oppong Kyekyeku, who was the District Secretary from 1986 to 1993, said his decision to join the NPP was to ensure the "survival of the new political dispensation by carrying out my capacity building exercise for metropolitan, municipal and district assemblies".
The former District Secretary, who describes himself as an educationist, poet, playwright and research writer, was dismissed by the PNDC government in April 1991, on the grounds of "Mental Exhaustion" but made a dramatic comeback in July the same year until his final removal in 1993.
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Brong Ahafo NDC complains of harassment by
NPP
Sunyani (Brong Ahafo) 19 January 2002 - The leadership of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) in Brong Ahafo has called for a harmonious co-existence between members and supporters of the party and the New Patriotic Party (NPP) for national stability and socio economic development.
In a communiqué, the NDC leadership appealed to the leadership of NPP to educate its members, especially the youth, to be advocators and promoters of national peace and stability.
The communiqué, issued at the end of a meeting of the Regional Co-ordinating Committee of the party in Sunyani and signed by its chairman, Alhaji Kwadwo Maama Adam, called on the NPP youth to avoid unwarranted destructive and provocative acts.
The NDC leadership noted with concern alleged harassment, intimidation and violent attacks on the party's functionaries and their properties by NPP supporters in the region.
The communiqué alleged that NPP supporters assaulted one Kwadwo Ntow, alias Zimbo, an NDC supporter at Dormaa Ahenkro and inflicted serious injuries to his head.
It alleged that a motorbike belonging to the party was also violently seized and burnt down by the same group at Dormaa-Ahenkro last year.
The communiqué said the Police were yet to arrest the culprits, for when they attempted, the complainant was again assaulted in the presence of the Policemen, who stood there helpless.
It alleged that NPP supporter attacked a herd of cattle belonging to the NDC Chairman in Kintampo killing 11 of them and maiming six. Their aim, the communiqué said, was to weaken the Chairman financially to make him ineffective.
The communiqué called on the Police Administration in the region to investigate the incidents to bring the culprits to book and also institute measures to prevent the recurrence of such acts of lawlessness.
Meanwhile, when contacted Deputy Superintendent of Police Charles Oduro, Officers in charge of Dormaa District, told the GNA that the alleged attack and assault on Zimboi was reported to the Police but no arrest had been made because he could not identify the culprits.
DSP Oduro, however, said the Police could not tell whether the attackers were NPP supporters since the incident was alleged to have occurred at a meeting of the youth of the town.
On the alleged burning of a motorbike, he said Police did not see anything like that when they went there as those who reported the case refused to tell the Police the whereabouts of the machine.
The DSP said the Regional Police Headquarters and the Dormaa District Chief Executive DCE had been informed of these developments and that investigations were being carried out to identify the culprits. The Police in Kintampo could not be contacted in the case of the cattle.
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Accra (Greater Accra) 19 January 2002 - The First Lady of Nigeria, Mrs. Stella Obasanjo, left Accra on Saturday for home after a week's visit to Ghana. She was seen off at the Kotoka International Airport (KIA), by Mrs Thereza Kufuor, the First Lady and officials of the Nigerian Embassy in Ghana.
While in Accra, Mrs. Obasanjo visited Kumasi, Cape Coast and other places of interest. She also held discussions with Women groups and Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) on issues bordering on women and children.
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