ADRA disburses 225 million cedis to farmers in Northern region
Otumfuo did not caution Asantes against superiority complex - rejoinder
Pension Fund should support long-term investment
Use millennium celebrations to chart positive path - Mills
VRA boss praises Ghana Armed Forces
Cancel Africa's debts - Bishop
Help arrest Owusu, pleads Police
Assin Apimmanin reforms chieftaincy
ADRA disburses 225 million cedis to farmers in Northern region
Tamale, (Northern Region) 15 July '99,
The Adventist, Development and Relief Agency (ADRA), in collaboration with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), has disbursed a total of 225 million cedis in credit to farmers in the Northern region this farming season.
The 2,400 beneficiaries received the facility in the form of improved seeds, tree seedlings and fertiliser under ADRA's food security programme.
Mr Kwame Appiah-Boateng, field project officer of ADRA, disclosed this in Tamale on Wednesday during a refresher training workshop organised for 50 agriculture extension officers drawn from Tolon-Kumbungu, Savelugu-Nanton, West Gonja, East Gonja, Nanumba and Saboba-Chereponi districts.
The workshop discussed basic principles of agro-forestry and crop production, particularly of maize and soya beans.
Mr Appiah-Boateng said, ADRA in collaboration with the Ministry of Food and Agriculture, is facilitating its food security programme through technical assistance on post-harvest management and sound on-farm environmental practicesto farmers.
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Otumfuo did not caution Asantes against superiority complex - rejoinder
Alike-Kope (Volta Region), 15 July '99,
The Volta River Authority (VRA) has stepped up efforts to reclaim lands affected by the construction of the Akosombo Dam to reduce the incidence of bilharzia and other water-borne diseases in the Lower Volta Basin.
VRA has allocated several millions of cedis for the reclamation that is also aimed at improving the lifestyles of communities living along the Volta basin by providing them with alternative income generation activities.
Azakope and Alike-Kope are among the communities that have benefited from the reclamation exercise.
Mr Joe Sutherland, Director of Transport of the VRA, on Wednesday disclosed this when he handed over 250 metres of shoreline reclaimed at Alike-Kope to the South Tongu District Assembly at Alike-Kope in the Volta region.
The exercise, which cost 20 million cedis, has alleviated the sufferings of the community from high tides and reduced the incidence of water-borne diseases like bilharzia created by the Akosombo project.
The 21-day exercise has also culminated in the creation of a beach resort and tourist attraction for the community.
The VRA undertook the exercise in response to an appeal made by Mr Ken Dzirasah, Member of Parliament for the area, and the South Tongu District Assembly in May, this year.
Mr Bennett Dorgbe, Dredging Supervisor, said the VRA has drawn up a comprehensive programme to ensure that the lots of communities affected by the operations of the authority are improved.
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Otumfuo did not caution Asantes against superiority complex - rejoinder
Kumasi, (Ashanti Region) 14 July '99,
The Manhyia Palace has said Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, Asantehene, did not caution Asantes against superiority complex as reported by the Ghana News Agency and published in the 13th July, 1999, issue of the "Ghanaian Times".
A rejoinder dated July 14, and signed by Mr K. O. Boateng, Press Secretary, Manhyia Palace, said, ", nowhere in his admonition did he use words like "Superiority" and "Inferiority", when the Asante Kro Ye Kuo of Madina, near Accra called on him.
"We wish to state that at no time in his interaction with the delegates did the Otumfuo say that.
"Rather what he said was in the form of advice in which he exhorted members of the Kro Ye Kuo to be law-abiding, comport themselves and behave like all other members of the society in which they live."
The Manhyia Palace cautions reporters to endeavour to report on what transpires, whenever Otumfuo sits in conference or meeting, the rejoinder added.
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Pension Fund should support long-term investment
Accra, (Greater Accra) 15 July '99,
Ghana's long term vision of becoming a middle-income country by year 2020, could be elusive if long term funds are not made available to support private sector development.
These funds could be mobilised through pension schemes under appropriate legal and regulatory framework.
This was the consensus at a round-table discussion held in Accra on Wednesday by the Private Enterprise Foundation (PEF).
The discussion, which was on the pension scheme in Ghana, attracted a blend of high level professionals from the private and public sectors.
Chaired by Mr Yeboa Amoa, Managing Director of the Ghana Stock Exchange, the discussion focused on how the pension scheme in Ghana could be opened up for private participation as well as expanding the scope of investment with pension funds.
Mr Charles Asare, Director-General of Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) welcomed the infusion of private participation in pension schemes but was worried about the limited scope of investment for pension funds.
Mr Asare said SSNIT favours the use of pension funds to support long-term private projects but cautioned that managers should also demonstrate their capacity to handle the investment.
He said the level of safety, yield, diversification, liquidity and the social good of community guide SSNIT when investing contributors funds.
SSNIT, he said, would soon reform its investment criteria and strategy to match the changing economic landscape.
"There is the need to reform our strategies to match the framework of a national social protection policy and create ideas to meet the imminent challenges of the times", Mr Asare said.
Mr Eric N. A. Adjei, the Deputy Director-General of SSNIT, explaining further, said the social safety net could be further widened if private participation in other forms of pension schemes were encouraged.
The SSNIT scheme, he said, which is a defined social insurance scheme financed through the partial funding method should not be privatised.
"It will be dangerous for all us if we do so", Mr Adjei warned.
Mr Adjei, therefore, called for a national social policy forum to address issues on social protection in general and social security in particular.
A management consultant, Mr Kodwo Manful identified weak legal framework as an impediment to private participation in social security schemes.
He said the current tax law does not recognise any pension scheme other than the SSNIT scheme.
"...At the moment, the only scheme that has the blessings of government and our tax law is the SSNIT scheme", Mr Manful said and called for the overhauling of tax laws to promote private participation.
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Use millennium celebrations to chart positive path - Mills
Accra, (Greater Accra) 15 July '99,
Vice President Professor John Evans Atta Mills on Wednesday urged nations of the world to use the millennium celebrations as an occasion to analyse the past and chart a more positive path for the period ahead.
The celebrations should go beyond parties, music, fireworks and merrymaking, he said.
"We want to commemorate the event in ways, which will be of lasting benefit to future generations and which will stand as practical reminders of our shared concern for a better future for the people of Ghana, of Africa and the world".
The Vice-President launching the Ghana Millennium Celebration and Unveiling of the Millennium Logo in Accra.
The celebration is under the theme: Peace and Development in A Sustainable Environment.
Prof Mills called on both the private and public sectors to support the planned activities, which include tree planting projects and special millennium community projects.
The others are millennium arts and culture project, religious activities and millennium awards for excellence in various fields of endeavour.
The rest are twinning of cities, towns and villages and educational institutions, lectures and a peace conference.
The end of this millennium and the beginning of a new one on the night of December 31st, 1999, will first be experienced on the Fiji Islands, which is on the international dateline, (Longitude 180 degrees).
Prof Mills said Ghana is honoured to be part of the celebration especially because of her unique position on the globe.
"Ghana may not be able to compete with larger and wealthier nations in extravagant celebration. Nevertheless, Ghana has a unique and very special reason for marking the new millennium.
Longitude 0 degree, or the Greenwich Meridian, runs through the length of our country, from just east of Pusiga, through Yendi, and down to Tema,".
Ghana shares this unique position with Britain, France, Portugal, Algeria, Mali and Burkina Faso.
Prof Mills said the Ghana Millenium Commission (GMC), has a task to plan and co-ordinate comprehensive national programmes to raise funds at home and abroad to give recognition to an event which will not be seen again for many generations.
He said the closing millennium has seen great empires and kingdoms rise and fall as well as human ingenuity and inventiveness.
Ghana experienced slave trade, which tore millions of her kinfolk from her shores, colonialism, triumphed through independence, hopelessness, hardship right to the reawakening of pride and hope.
Commodore Steve Obimpeh, Chairman of the GMC, said some of the special projects include the twining of Tema to the Borough of Greenwich and the University of Ghana and the University of Greenwich.
"Others include a Meridian fair site, recreational park, observatory clock tower and a light house on the meridian rock, rehabilitating and renaming of the Meridian Hotel and a Millennium Polytechnic to be built at Kpone, which will be affiliated to the University of Greenwich".
Cmdr. Obimpeh said the Commission has adopted all national events during the period of celebrations from July 1999 to January 2001 and asked the public and private sectors to offer sponsorship for them.
Chiana-Pio Pe Roland Ayagitam, Paramount Chief of Chiana Traditional Area unveiled the millennium logo.
The logo is a globe showing longitude zero and latitude zero with five doves flying out of Ghana carrying olive twigs.
The olive twigs signify the message of peace and development.
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Accra, (Greater Accra) 15 July '99
Namibian President, Sam Nujoma, said on Wednesday that Africa has many natural resources and it is up to Africans to exploit them to their benefit.
"We will be left behind if we continue to sell our raw materials at a price dictated by others. We, therefore, need to train more scientists and provide them with all the necessary means to help them manufacture these materials."
He said Africa stands to lose if she continues to export her resources in the raw form rather than manufacture and sell finished products.
President Nujoma made these remarks when he spoke to newsmen at the airport on his way home after attending the 36th OAU heads of state summit in Algiers, Algeria.
He said it is important for African leaders to show commitment to the Abuja Treaty that enjoins them to have close links in promoting economic advancement within the various regional groupings.
The Namibian President said there is no reason why Africans cannot move ahead economically and cited the European and Asian-Pacific countries as groups that have made their respective countries economically strong.
On relations between Ghana and Namibia, Dr Nujoma expressed his country's preparedness to trade with Ghana and mentioned fish as a commodity that his country has in abundance and is ready to offer to interested Ghanaians.
On conflicts on the continent, the Namibian leader expressed satisfaction with efforts being made by African heads of state, as well as international bodies, to resolve them.
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VRA boss praises Ghana Armed Forces
Accra, (Greater Accra) 14 July '99,
The Chief Director of Volta River Authority, Mr G.O. Dokyi, on Wednesday praised the Ghana Armed Forces for the "able and speedy manner" in which it helped the authority to rectify a ground fault on the high voltage inter- connection line between Ghana and Cote d'Ivoire last month.
In a statement issued in Accra, Mr Dokyi said the VRA was greatly encouraged by the professionalism and the quick deployment of officers and men to support the operations that took place in a "remote and inaccessible part of the Ankassa Game Reserve".
"Your participation was, no doubt, most instrumental in our ability to restore this line, whose integrity is very central to the reliability of the Ghana Power System."
Mr Dokyi said he hoped that relations between them will continue to grow from strength to strength for the mutual benefit of the two institutions in particular and the country in general.
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Cancel Africa's debts - Bishop
Accra, (Greater Accra) 15 July '99,
The Right Reverend Charles Palmer-Buckle, Catholic Bishop of Koforidua, on Wednesday called for the total cancellation of Africa's external debts to give the continent a new lease of life to seek prosperity in the coming millennium.
"It is simple logic that Africa cannot repay the 375 billion dollars it owes to its creditors and that its cancellation would not threaten the economic growth of the creditor nations".
Rt. Rev. Palmer-Buckle was speaking at the outdooring of the Ghana chapter of Jubilee 2000 Africampaign, a Pan African pressure group campaigning for a debt-free Africa.
Over 100 delegates from Asia, Europe, Latin and North America, and Africa would be considering strategies to achieve the goals and objectives of the group from July 14 to July 16.
The Catholic bishop said the next century should be seen as a time for renewal, restoration and the upliftment of human dignity.
" Debt-saddled nations need to be part of this vision."
The Jubilee 2000 concept is based on the Jewish practice in the Christian Holy Writ, where in the 50th year, God commanded that man should remove the yoke of indignity from his fellow man by forgiving debts, restoring ecology and setting slaves free.
Bishop Palmer-Buckle said: "Some may see this as too distant, but the mere act of forgiving debts and sharing gives the human spirit the much needed energy to make it whole."
He said:" Human rights and social justice demand the cancellation of the debt. Africa should be given the chance to reassert itself. The continent is not that doomed".
The bishop argued that the actual money borrowed had long been repaid through debt servicing, unfair terms of trade and exploitation of the continent's resources by the West.
"Besides, most debts were contracted under very unethical terms by people like Mobutu, who ruled like lords and plundered their countries."
He called for massive flow of resources from the West for the reconstruction of Africa, like what it is about to do for Kosovo.
"Never in human history has the world seen so much material wealth and been so poor in the spirit of sharing."
Mr. Tony Akoto-Ampaw, Co-ordinator of the Jubilee Africampaign 2000 Ghana, described the recent G-7 and Russian summit's decision to cancel 70 billion dollars of Africa's external debts as "gesture politics" and called for a total cancellation.
Mr Akoto-Ampaw said democratic forces on the continent would ensure that a post debt-free Africa would not be left in the hands of looters to retard its progress.
"Africa should be given the chance to make its own economic policies that reflect the hopes and aspirations of its people.
"The prescriptions of the IMF and the World Bank rather dehumanise its people."
He traced the history of the call for debt cancellation to the second republic, when Prime Minister Kofi Busia started his policy of "Kafuo didi", which was magnified by General Acheampong's "Yentua! Yentua! slogan.
"We want to channel our energies and resources into human development and true emancipation as a people and not to work and service debts," he said.
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Help arrest Owusu, pleads Police
Koforidua (Eastern Region) 15 July '99
The Eastern Regional Criminal Investigation Department (CID) has mounted an intensive search for one Thomas Owusu for allegedly inflicting cutlass wounds on his wife, Nana Adwoa Ofosua.
A statement from the Regional Police Public Relations directorate said Owusu committed the offence in their farm at Aparpong, near Pankese on June 28, this year.
The statement signed by Chief Inspector J.K. Abban appealed to the public to assist the police on the whereabouts of Owusu.
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Assin Apimmanin reforms chieftaincy
Assin Manso (Central Region) 15 July '99
Barima Kwame Nkyi XII, Omanhene of Assin Apimmanin Traditional Area, plans to create new stools and elevate their status as parts of reforms in the chieftaincy institution in his traditional area.
Nana Barima Nkyi gave the hint during the installation of Nana Abram Osei II, Nifahene of Assin Apimmanin Traditional Area last weekend.
Nana Abram Osei is also the chief of Assin Achiase and headmaster of Assin Asempanaye Senior Secondary School.
The Omanhene advised the new Nifahene to respect his sub-chiefs, elders and have sympathy and patience for his people.
Nana Barima Nkyi said "to become a popular chief is not the length of time on the stool, but what you will leave behind".
Nana Abram Osei, after swearing the great oath of Assin Manso, pledged to support the Omanhene to mobilise the people for development.
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