NDC hijacks FM stations
Kufuor laments poor development in Volta Region
Demilitarise the society…BY declaring a ‘gun amnesty’ – Wereko-Brobby
No NDC card no trading?
P & P Landlord impregnates tenant’s daughter
Nurses refuse to call off strike
Minister consoles vigilante’s family
NDC hijacks FM stations
The Free Press in its lead story says the NDC is reported to have mobilised its supporters to phone-in and rebuff criticisms against the ruling government during discussions on some of the FM stations in Accra.
The paper says the party believes that its opponents are using the anonymity offered by the phone-in system to lash out at the NDC government., therefore whatever means it takes to counter the onslaught is legitimate. According to the Free Press, when an NDC operative was asked whether the supporters who were doing the phone-ins were being offered any financial inducement, he was evasive.
He was quoted as saying: "They are all genuine party supporters who believe that they owe it a duty to defend their own party". "No one has mobilised anyone to reject the lies often told about the NDC. The supporters phone-in at their own expense and on their own volition to play a role expected of a loyal party member", he was reported as saying.
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Kufuor laments poor development in Volta Region
In a front page banner headline story, the Independent reports the Presidential candidate of the NPP, Mr John Agyekum Kufuor as expressing his personal concern and that of his party, about the poor rate of development in the Volta Region.
The paper says Mr Kufuor therefore promised that an NPP government will redress the imbalance and stagnation. It says Mr Kufuor, in the course of his nation-wide travels, lamented the poor state of development in the region, the poor road network which he said made travel in that part of Ghana an agonising experience.
He is said to have blamed the Rawlings government for the stagnation and neglect of infrastructure development in the region. According to the Independent, Mr Kufuor gave the assurance that if voted into power, his government would ensure equitable development throughout Ghana.
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Demilitarise the society…BY declaring a ‘gun amnesty’ – Wereko-Brobby Dr Charles Wereko-Brobby, Presidential candidate of the United Ghana Movement for the year 2000 elections, is reported by the Crusading Guide to have called for the demilitarisation of the Ghanaian society.
He is said to have made the call in the light of the insecure national climate generated by the proliferation of guns in the system and their subsequent abuse, through armed robbery and other unlawful uses.
The paper says Dr Wereko-Brobby, who was contributing to a "Groove FM" programme on arms proliferation in Ghana and the spate of armed robbery, noted that even though there is a law in Ghana that control the possession of arms, its implementation leaves much to be desired.
The Crusading Guide says Dr Wereko-Brobby suggested that the Inspector-General of Police and the Chief of Defence Staff of the Ghana Armed Forces put together a programme "in which we are asking everybody in Ghana – those with licences and those without, over a certain period to surrender their arms to the police and the military".
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No NDC card no trading?
According to the Guide, a dangerous political game is being played on the pavements of the Okaishie business area near Makola in Accra, as to who has the right to sell in that location.
In a front page story, the paper says the fracas between the Young Traders’ Association, an affiliate of the NDC Veranda Boys and Girls Club, and the Ghana Street Vendors Association, has now reached a boiling point that there is need for a quick intervention from the authorities to ease tension and avoid any possible bloodshed.
The Guide says the Young Traders Association, last Monday, made an announcement to all traders doing business in the Metropole street (an area which has been designated for trading) that anyone who did not possess the Veranda Boys and Girls identity card, would not be allowed to trade at the location.
The paper says because of the political support that the Young Traders Association enjoys, it is arrogating to itself the power to determine who should have the right to trade in that part of Accra.
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Landlord impregnates tenant’s daughter
The P & P in an inside page human interest story, says the three year period that an Accra landlord shared love with his tenant’s 18-year-old daughter brought them exquisite happiness.
However, says the paper, the relationship turned sour at the beginning of this year, culminating in a legal battle. According to the P & P, now an Accra Circuit Court will soon hear the case in which the daughter, Maureen Somuah, has filed a suit against Mr Mark Pappoe, 47, for refusing to honour his promise to marry her and for failing to bequeath one of his houses to her. In addition, Pappoe is to pay 15 million cedis as compensation for making her pregnant and thus disrupting her education.
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Nurses refuse to call off strike
The Daily Graphic reports that junior nurses at the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital in Accra, have refused to call off their strike action despite assurances that their extra duty allowances due them from January to July, this year, will be paid by July 28.
The paper in a centre spread story says after a close-door meeting yesterday at the hospital, the nurses rejected the appeal by the acting Director of Nursing Services, Mrs Gladys Addy-Nettey.
They also rejected a letter from the Ministry of Finance assuring them of payment of their allowance on July 28. The Graphic quotes a source close to the meeting as saying that the nurses are still insisting that until they are paid their allowances, they will not resume work.
The paper says as a result of the industrial action by the junior nurses since Monday, some senior Nursing officers are now working around the clock to save lives of patients.
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Minister consoles vigilante’s family
The Minister of Lands and Forestry, Dr Chnristina Amoako-Nuama, has visited Tanomu in the Brong Ahafo Region and consoled the people on the recent murder of a vigilante teacher, Mr Kwasi Antwi, by a group of illegal timber operators, reports the Ghanaian Times in a front page story.
The paper says Dr Amoako-Nuama told the people that "we shall never let them (illegal timber operators) know peace, we shall clamp down on the chainsaw operators".
On July 9, this year, the Times carried a story that a group of illegal operators, unable to cope with the vigilance of a watchdog committee at Tanomu, near Chiraa, murdered the teacher, who is a member of the committee, set up to check illegal timber operations in the area.
According to the story the illegal operators ran over the deceased with a timber truck loaded with three logs, as he and his colleagues questioned one of the gangs at a barrier in the town.
The Times says Dr Amoako-Nuama emphasised that chainsaw operations has been effectively banned in the timber trade, and warned that those found to have violated the order, will be made to pay very prohibitive penalties, including heavy fines as well as face criminal prosecution.
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