Ama Busia resigns from NPP
AGC top men exposed in visa deals
National Commission on Civic Education in political rumpus
NCCE boss heads ACDR
Kumasi decides today
Freshmen to pay more at Legon
Threats won’t scare us, Forestry Officers say
Ama Busia resigns from NPP
The Ghana Palaver in a front-page story says the virtual disintegration of the NPP is only a matter of time as the First National Vice-Chairman of the party, Madam Ama Busia, has resigned her position.
According to the paper, Madam Ama Busia tendered in her resignation from the NPP with effect from March, this year. The paper says the resignation letter, believed to have been mailed to the National Executive Committee from London, has been kept secret from the rank and file and it is being treated like a secret document.
The Palaver believes that Madam Ama Busia’s resignation confirms the adage that "coming events cast their shadows before them". Her decision to quit, the paper says, is borne out of disagreements over how to raise campaign funds.
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AGC top men exposed in visa deals
In a back page story, the Ghanaian Voice reports that various embassies in Ghana have threatened to revoke any future transaction between them and the management of the Ashanti Goldfields Company (Bibiani) Limited, a subsidiary, following the detection that scores of visas that the company requested to be issued to its senior staff members to enable them to travel abroad, either on annual leave or on course, Were often diverted to their family members or cronies.
According to the Voice, the embassies which have threatened to discard the company in any future visa transaction if the anomalies are not rectified, include the United States, Canada, the Netherlands, Britain and France.
The paper says records available indicate that for sometime now, some senior staff of the company, who qualify for visa to study abroad or proceed on annual leave overseas, have been dubiously outwitting officials at these embassies to issue visas to their family members and friends.
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National Commission on Civic Education in political rumpus. The Independent notes that the positive neutral role expected of the National Commission on Civic Education (NCCE) is now in serious doubt.
The paper in a front-page story, says this followed a political Tussle by the Western Regional Director of the Commission, Mr S.M. Bonyah, to hijack the leadership of the Association for the Defence of the Revolution (ACDR) in the region.
The tussle, the paper says, has now resulted in a court battle. The ACDR is a registered non-governmental organisation which has political leanings towards the ruling NDC. It is made up of former cadres of the defunct Committee for the Defence of the Revolution (CDR).
The Independent quotes a source close to the ACDR in the region as hinting that as a result of the political wrangling between the Western Regional Deputy Minister, Mr S. P. Adamu and the Mr Bonyah, the cadre front in the region is in total confusion.
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NCCE boss heads ACDR
In a centre spread story, the Statesman reports that the Ashanti Regional Director of the National Commission on Civic Education (NCCE), Mr Bempong Marfo, is also currently the regional head of the Association for the Defence of the Revolution (ACDR).
The paper says although, Mr Bempong Marfo’s position as the Regional Director of the Commission precludes him from taking part in active politics, he now heads the regional ACDR, which is an appendage of the NDC. According to the Statesman, all is not well at the front of the ACDR in Ashanti, following a decision of a faction headed by Alhaji Usman Dauda, not to recognise Nii Adjei Boye Sekan as head of the ACDR, following the removal of Mr Sam Garbah.
The paper says so intense is the struggle that early last month, when the ACDR celebrated its day, the two factions held different for a at two separate venues in Kumasi.
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Kumasi decides today
The Guide says that the battle by some assembly members to unseat the Kumasi Metropolitan Chief Executive, Nana Akwasi Agyeman, begins today.
The paper says a letter by 46 of the 90-member assembly is to be read and if a vote of no confidence is secured, then the National Electoral Commission will be notified for ballot on it to be conducted within 21 days. On May 27, 46 members of the assembly petitioned President Jerry Rawlings to take the necessary action to remove Nana Akwasi Agyeman as the Chief Executive of the assembly.
The Guide says the assembly members, who later realised the mistake in applying to the President directly, re-addressed the petition to the Presiding Member of the assembly.
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Freshmen to pay more at Legon
In a screaming front-page headline story, the Daily Graphic reports that students who have been offered admission by the University of Ghana, Legon, for the 1999/2000 academic year, are to pay a 300,000-cedi deposit each.
The paper says a letter of admission dated July 12, and signed by Mrs G. Aboagye-Mensah, on behalf of the Deputy Registrar of Academic Affairs, gave the students up to August 6, to pay the amount into the university’s account with any branch of Barclays Bank.
The letter asked students resident in Accra and Tema to make payments to any branch of the bank in the metropolis.
"The deposit must be paid by Friday August 6. Failure to pay the deposit by the deadline, means you are not taking up the offer and the university will then offer your place to those on the waiting list", the letter said. According to the Graphic, last year, fresh students paid a deposit of 60,000 cedis.
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Threats won’t scare us, Forestry Officers say
Technical officers of the Forestry Department in the Offinso District of Ashanti, say that recent threats to their lives will not deter them from hunting down illegal chainsaw operators, reports the Ghaian Times in its front page.
The paper quotes Mr Walter Gyabaah-Atuoni, the District Forestry Officer as saying "so long as they continue to carry out their illegal timber operations, we will also not relent in our efforts to track them down".
Mr Gyabaah is said to have conceded that the Forestry Officers were disturbed by the recent attempt by two chainsaw operators to murder Mr Kwabena Bissue, a Technical Officer, for challenging their illegal activities in a forest at Anhwerekrom, and veiled threats to the lives of other officers. "We would, however, not give up the fight. Giving up is a defeatist stance", he said.
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