Fetteh Asafo demonstrates against installation of second chief
Ashanti NDC cheers members for successful congress
Two brothers die after eating rat
Annan calls for political commitment to
support peacekeeping.
Accra (Greater Accra) 22 January 2002 - Kofi Annan, Secretary-General of the United Nations, on Monday said it is only with renewed political commitment and increased financial support from member states as well as institutional change, that the United Nations could be able to carry out the critical peacekeeping and other tasks assigned it.
It was for this reason that two years ago, he asked a panel of independent personalities under the chairmanship of Lakhdar Brahimi of Algeria to examine ways of dramatically improving the effectiveness with which the United Nations conducts its peace operations.
Mr Annan said this in message delivered by Mr. Alfred Sallia Fawundu, UN Resident Co-ordinator and UNDP Secretary General on his behalf at the opening of the Parliamentarians for Global Action Regional Seminar on Strengthening United Nations Peace Operations in Accra.
He said the Panel's Report stressed on four major areas where improvements were needed. These included the decision -making process in the Security Council and the kind of mandates it crafts for the UN Secretariat to implement.
The UN system's approach to conflict prevention and peace-building, the support and contributions provided by Member States for UN peace operations and the allocation of resources required to staff adequately the peace and security departments of the secretariat.
Mr Annan said many of the measures form only small part of the overall implementation process since many of the recommendations require legislative approval, action and additional resources from member states and wider support from both civil society and Governments.
He called on the parliamentarians to work for more coherent and far-sighted international strategies and to advocate improvements in the way the Security Council shapes its mandates.
"There is also an acute need for increased support from governments for peace operations once they are mandated, in terms of well-equipped and trained troops, police and civilian personnel as well as more flexible administrative and financial rules".
He said the PGA could also help promote even more effective co-operation between the UN and the regional organisations such as the African Union and ECOWAS.
"As the institutional bridge between the state and civil society and link between the local and the global, you are uniquely well-placed to work for a United Nations that is more effective and more responsive to the needs and aspirations of the people you represent".
Ms Margaret Novichi, Spokesperson and chief of Public Information, for the UN Mission in Sierra Leone delivered remarks on the "UN Peacekeeping: Lessons learned and future challenges" on behalf of Mr Jean-Marie Guehenno, Under-Secretary-General, Department of Peacekeeping Operations.
She said there is no mention of "peacekeeping operations in the UN Charter" nor is there a definition of what peacekeeping entails, criteria for establishing operations or guidelines for how to plan and deploy, however, the instrument of peacekeeping emerged as a creative interpretation of the charter to respond to immediate challenges.
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Kumasi (Ashanti Region) 22 January 2002 -A Former Financial Secretary of the Young Elephants Movement (YEM), the youth wing of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) has called on Mr Haruna Esseku, National Chairman of the party and the National Executive Council to revisit the issue of the movement before things got out of hand.
Mr Fiifi Eshun in a statement issued in Kumasi on Monday suggested that the party be bold to take punitive measures against those members of the movement, who were flouting authority.
Reacting to a publication in one of the private newspapers in which some members of the YEM sought to impugn the integrity of Mr Dan Botwe, General Secretary of the NPP, on a statement he issued on the status of the movement, he said it was not true that Alhaji Kwasi Yeboah financed the movement.
Fiifi Eshun said he was, therefore, in total support of the decision by the NEC to bring the movement under the zonal, constituency, regional to the National ambit of the NPP in accordance with the party's constitution.
The General-Secretary and Mr F. F. Anto, Ashanti Regional Chairman of the party, had done nothing wrong as far as the decision taken by the NEC on the movement was concerned to deserve the insults being heaped on them, he said.
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Akim Swedru (Eastern Region) 22 January 2002 - The Minister of Finance, Yaw Osafo-Maafo has described the National Mobilisation Programme (NMP) as a "drain on government's resources" for which 1.25 billion cedis was being spent monthly on the emolument of its employees for "doing practically nothing".
Mr Osafo-Maafo, told a New Patriotic Party (NPP) rally at Akyem Swedru, that the government's decision to close down the NMP was irrevocable "since there is no legal backing for the organisation".
He reiterated that the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO) had not been abolished, rather it was being re-organised under a new name - National Emergency Relief Programme - to ensure that "competent personnel" manned it.
The Finance Minister said the government's sound economic policies were attracting foreign investors to the country. The Minister of Communication and Technology, Mr Felix Owusu-Agyapong explained that the government's decision not to renew the Ghana Telecom agreement with the present management was to ensure efficiency in the telecommunication industry.
He said the government wanted "competent investors" to take over from the Malaysians so that the "present inefficiency associated with the telecommunication system in the country would be a thing of the past."
Mr Owusu Agyapong, who is also the Member of Parliament (MP) for Akyem Swedru, said that a number of development projects had been earmarked for the constituency this year adding that the government would never indulge in vain promises.
The National Chairman of the NPP, Mr Haruna Esseku, said the windfall currently being earned by the country from the fall in the world market price of crude oil was being used to service the huge indebtedness of the Tema Oil Refinery (TOR).
The Eastern Regional Minister, Dr Francis-Mensah urged party supporters not to be misled by negative propaganda being peddled by the opponents of the government but to stand solidly behind it.
The General Secretary of the party, Mr Dan Botwe said one positive achievement of the government was that Ghanaians "are now at peace with their neighbouring countries and people do not fear to go to those countries as it used to be in the past."
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Minister says Geological Services
Department to be resourced
Accra (Greater Accra) 21 January 2002- Mr Kwadwo Adjei Darko, Minister of Mines, on Friday said the Geological Survey Department (GSD) would be given resources to carry out its research activities.
"The Geological Survey Department is the soul of the mining industry and frantic effort is been put in place to equip it so that it can carry out its activities to increase productivity in the country," he said.
Mr Darko was addressing staff of the Geological Survey Department during his first visit to the Department in Accra. He said the GSD would be given adequate funding to look for mineral resources of the country.
Mr Darko said the Ministry would be doing a disservice to the nation if it failed to tackle its problems since it had contributed to the discovery of most of the mineral wealth of the country.
The Minister said as a measure to revamping the Department, a new mines law, which sought to make the Department competitive and attractive, had been put before Parliament.
Mr Philip Yaw Oduro Amoako, Acting Director of GSD, said that since the inception of the Department in 1913, it had been able to identify some of the mineral resources the country had been mining.
He said that the hydroelectric potential of the country's waters was identified by the Department and also recommended the building of the Akosombo Dam.
Mr Amoako said apart from providing geological needs, the Department provided information on good sites for heavy construction, engineering works, underground water and geo-tourism.
He appealed to the Minister to help them acquire a standby generator for the Earthquake Unit.
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Kumasi (Ashanti Region) 22 January 2002 - The Ashanti Regional Executive of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) has expressed its appreciation to members, supporters and sympathisers of the party in the region for their maturity and disciplined conduct that made the regional congress of the party both peaceful and a huge success.
This was contained in a press statement issued and signed by the Regional Chairman, Mr Emmanuel Nti-Fordjour in Kumasi. It said with the election of new officers now over what was left was for them to work together, remain unwavering, loyal and dedicated to the cause of the party.
"Let us with common sense of purpose protect the integrity and cohesion of the party", it said, adding, "All genuine members should resolve to shun acts that could lead to confusion and create cracks within the NDC".
The statement noted that through unity, hard work, well-focussed, properly co-ordinated and carefully planned political organisational strategy, the NDC could win back power in the 2004 general election.
It said the input and contribution of all would be needed to enable the party become more vibrant in Ashanti and offer stiff opposition to the New Patriotic Party (NPP), that had over the years maintained a firm hold and dominance over the region.
It also paid tribute to the Regional Re-organisation Committee for the wonderful job done to get the party's structures in shape and functional.
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Enact laws on drumming and noisemaking -
Lecturer
Cape Coast (Central Region) 21 January 2002- A lecturer of the university of Cape Coast (UCC), Mr Kojo Arko Boaham on Monday called on Parliament to enact laws on drumming and noisemaking to help reduce religious confrontation during festivals.
He further called for the education of the public on the effects of noisemaking on human and the environment. Mr Boaham made the call at a forum held in Cape Coast by the Committee on Subsidiary Legislation, Constitutional and Parliamentary Affairs on the customary ban on drumming and noisemaking in the country.
The forum, which was attended by traditional rulers, opinion leaders religious groups and a cross section of the public, was to collate views on the ban on noisemaking and drumming in some parts of the country during their annual festivals.
Mr Boaham urged religious leaders to educate their members on the need to co-exist peacefully with other groups without infringing on their rights, since there was freedom of worship in the country. "You should be able to control noisemaking in the churches and also allow others to practice their religion without any confrontation," he said.
The Reverend Samuel Botchway, Methodist Church, presenting a paper on behalf of the Christian community, called on Parliament to enact laws against hooliganism and the molestation of worshipers.
Parliament, he said, should continue to uphold the constitutional provision of freedom of worship to enhance lasting peace and as well as help maintain the religious harmony that churches enjoyed in the past.
Osabarima Kwesi Atta II, Omanhene of Oguaa Traditional Area, called for peaceful co-existence and respect for each other's views among the various religious groups, adding, " these confrontation occur because there is no understanding among the groups".
Mr Muniru Arafat Nuhu, Cape Coast Municipal Chief Executive, said the assembly would soon pass a bye-law on noisemaking and called on religious groups to educate their congregations on the need to restrict all forms of noise to their premises.
The Chairman of the Committee, Mr Kyei Mensah Bonsu commended the participants for their contribution to the programme and called for peace and unity among the various religious groups.
He called on them to come out with concrete ideas that would help solve the problem facing churches and traditional rulers on noisemaking and drumming during annual festivals.
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