NDC says no parliamentary candidates have been endorsed
Media Commission to set up monitoring mechanism
Be honest in settling chieftaincy matters, chiefs told
Organisations donate towards Dormaahene's outdooring
NPP executives asked to help organise polling stations
New Dormaahene holds maiden meeting
Low Family planning coverage in Akwapim North
Programme to train family physicians begins
Headmaster, Students Union deny allegations about Banda School
Mahama calls for transparency in civil service
NDC says no parliamentary candidates have been endorsed
Accra (Greater Accra) 29 July ’99
The National Democratic Congress (NDC) on Wednesday warned regional and constituency party executives to stop endorsing parliamentary candidates for the 2000 parliamentary elections.
A statement issued and signed by Mr Huudu Yahaya, General Secretary, said some regional and constituency executives have been issuing statements on endorsement of parliamentary candidates for the 2000 elections.
The NDC said the statements, some of which have been released to the press, should be deemed to be null and void.
It said the national secretariat of the party would issue directives on the time and guidelines for the selection of parliamentary candidates for the pending elections in accordance with the party's constitution.
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Media Commission to set up monitoring mechanism
Accra (Greater Accra) 29 July ’99
The National Media Commission (NMC) said on Wednesday that there was the need to establish a monitoring mechanism for all state-owned media to deal with all issues without bias.
It said this is to enable the media "to report issues ranging from minor editorial slips to complaints, omissions and commissions, as well as the amount of airtime public service broadcast allocated to political and other identifiable groups to address fact or fiction bias"
Mr Tim Acquah-Hayford, Chairman of the Commission, was briefing the press on the outcome of a two-day roundtable discussion held recently for boards of the State-owned Media and the Commission which was funded by the Friedrich Ebert Foundation.
The Chairman said it was agreed that clear criteria be laid down to make the monitoring system effective.
Mr Acquah-Hayford said participants were concerned about the lack of clarity about where the Boards stand between the NMC and the Ministry of Communications on "reporting responsibilities" .
"Participants felt that the stalemate had in the meantime made it difficult for Boards to plan and operate as efficiently as desirable".
Mr Acquah-Hayford said the main areas of stalemate between the NMC and the government include "the case pending at the Supreme Court to decide who appoints the Chief Executives of the State-owned Media - whether it is the NMC or the President.
The other are the impending divestitures of the State-owned media and the non-passage of legislation to transfer the Ministry of Communications direct oversight responsibilities of state-owned media to the NMC."
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Be honest in settling chieftaincy matters, chiefs told
Cape Coast (Central Region) 29 July ’99
The President of the National House of Chiefs, Odeefuo Boa Amponsem the third, has said that it is only when chiefs are able to settle chieftaincy disputes in an honest and truthful manner that the chieftaincy institution would be living up to expectation.
He therefore called on his colleagues to reduce the unnecessary chieftaincy disputes in the country by being truthful in settling chieftaincy matters.
The President told newsmen in an interview in Cape Coast yesterday that "it is only when members sitting on chieftaincy cases speak the truth that chieftaincy disputes can be reduced".
Odeefuo Boa Amponsem hoped that with the help of his colleagues, he would be able to face the challenges ahead of him.
On reports that the National House of Chiefs rushed in electing him as president instead of waiting for the burial of his predecessor, Odeefuo said those who made the report should be pardoned for their ignorance of the law.
He said it was the National Electoral Commission which convened the meeting of the house for the election according to provisions under the law.
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Organisations donate towards Dormaahene's outdooring
Dormaa-Ahenkro (Brong Ahafo) 29 July ’99
The management of Oti Yeboah Limited, a sawnmill at Abesim, near Sunyani, has presented five million cedis and 12 bottles of schnapps to the Dormaa Traditional Council at Dormaa-Ahenkro.
Mr P.K. Ameyaw, the General Manager and Nana Kwasi Kyeremeh, Atipimhene of Chiraa, making the presentation, said the gifts were to support the out-dooring of Osagyefo Oseadeeyo Agyeman-Badu II, Omanhene of the Dormaa Traditional Area.
Peace has come to stay in the area with the enstoolment of the new omanhene, they said, and called on the people to unite and ensure the development of the area.
Osagyefo Oseadeeyo Agyeman-Badu thanked the management of the sawmill for the kind gesture.
Meanwhile, the Dormaa District Assembly, Mim Timber Company and the Dormaa District Branch of the Ghana Private Roads Transport Union (GPRTU) have
also presented one million cedis each and assorted drinks to the Dormaa Traditional Council.
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NPP executives asked to help organise polling stations
Tarkwa (Western Region) 29 July ’99
Mr Dan Botwe, General Secretary of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), has called on constituency executives of the party to involve themselves in the organisation of polling stations to curb malpractices in the 2000 general elections.
Addressing the Western Regional executive conference of the NPP at Tarkwa, Mr Botwe urged constituency executives to accept the responsibility that go with the organisation of the polling stations and as leaders of the party.
He asked them not to relent in their membership drive, adding that the party would provide the necessary logistics in due course.
Mr Botwe said the NPP would win the 2000 elections if members would work hard enough to transform the goodwill the party is now enjoying among the electorate into reality.
Mr Peter Mac Manu, the regional chairman, said the purpose of the conference was to find out what the various constituencies were doing in terms of membership drive and what problems they were facing preparing towards the 2000 elections.
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New Dormaahene holds maiden meeting
Dormaa-Ahenkro (Brong Ahafo) 29 July ’99
Osagyefo Oseadeeyo Agyemang-Badu II, Omanhene of the Dormaa Traditional area, has listed chieftaincy disputes as the major problem affecting the area's development.
He has therefore pledged to resolve all such disputes to ensure peace and to enhance development.
In his maiden address at the council's meeting at Dormaa-Ahenkro on Tuesday, Osagyefo Oseadeeyo Agyamang-Badu said chieftaincy disputes had seriously affected the development in the area and therefore called on the various factions to unite.
The Omanhene, who is also the President of the Council, particularly mentioned Abesim, Chiraa, Wamfie and Dormaa-Akwamu where chieftaincy disputes exist.
Osagyefo Oseadeeyo Agyemang-Badu pledged to commit the traditional council to work closely with the Ghana Education Service to find solutions to the low standard of education in the area.
Barima Ansu Adjei, Krontihene of the Dormaa Traditional Area, called on the new Omanhene to tackle the chieftaincy problems of the district with all seriousness.
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Tema (Greater Accra) 29 July ’99
Three armed robbers were arrested on Monday afternoon by residents of Sakumono Estates, near Tema, in the act of robbing a resident.
The fourth person, the alleged leader of the group who was armed with a gun and knife, managed to escape arrest. Kwame Antwi, Kwame Boakye and Kwasi Sekyere, were however not lucky.
They have been placed in Police custody pending investigations.
Mr Frederick Sosi, an occupant of the house, told newsmen at the Sakumono Police Station that at about 1.45 p.m. on Monday, while doing his house chores, he saw the four people jump over his wall into the house.
He raised the alarm and some workers working near-by came to the rescue and managed to arrest the three whiles.
Mr Sosi said this is the second in three weeks that robbers have been to the house.
There was no one in the house when the occurred.
When contacted, Mr Joe Dankwa, Tema Regional Police Commander, confirmed the story, and said a 15-year-old boy who alleged that he had been recruited for the first time for the robbery from Agbogbloshie market in Accra, has co-operated with the police in their investigations.
In a related development, Tema police have mounted a search for the arrest of about six armed robbers who attacked two Total Filling stations at Lashibi on the Accra-Ashaiman road. They made away with three million cedis on July 23 at 1.30 a.m. in the first raid.
On the second occasion on the night of July 26, they took away six million cedis from the filling station on the Tema-Aflao road, near Mac Baron Hotel.
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Low Family planning coverage in Akwapim North
Akropong-Akwapim (Eastern Region) 29 July ’99
Despite efforts of government and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to promote reproductive health in the Akwapim North District, family planning coverage in the district is still below 50 per cent.
Records available indicate that, in 1998, only 39.8 per cent of total births in the district occurred at recognised health institutions.
Mr Anthony Gyampoh, Akwapim North District Chief Executive, disclosed this at the opening of a five-day reproductive health advocacy skills workshop for new networks in the Eastern Region at Akropong on Monday.
The workshop, being attended by 25 participants from Akwapim North, Yilo Krobo and Manya Krobo Districts, was organised by the Policy Project, Ghana, an NGO on reproductive health issues, under the theme "Women's health, Nation's health".
Since 1996, the Policy Project, in collaboration with the National Population Council (NPC), district assemblies, NGOs and public institutions, had established four networks on reproductive health in the New Juaben Municipality, Akwapim South, Suhum/Kraboa/Coaltar and Kwaebibirem Districts in the Eastern Region.
To help bridge the gap between awareness and actual implementation, Mr Gyampoh said the Akwapim North District Assembly has tasked the district population officer to liaise with the District Planning Co-ordinating Unit and the NGO Desk Office to devise strategies that would help promote sustainable reproductive health programmes..
Dr (Mrs) Sophia Winful, Akwapim North District Director of Medical Services, said many women have become silent sufferers in what should have been a pleasant and satisfying relationship.
She said loneliness and neglect have made them to take solace in alcohol and hard drugs while others who could not cope with the situation had gone mad.
Many women do not have access to information that would enable them to make valid risk benefit assessment regarding their own health and treatment and called for the establishment of structures to support women.
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Programme to train family physicians begins
Accra (Greater Accra) 29 July ’99
A post-graduate programme to train Ghana's first family physicians has begun at the Narh-Bita hospital in Tema.
The first batch of five doctors are currently undergoing the three-year programme that will make them family physicians or general practitioners (GP), a practice very common in the Western countries.
Dr Edward Narh, head of the hospital, said the programme follows the accreditation status granted the 20-year-old hospital by the West African College of Physicians.
"This gives the hospital the status of a teaching hospital", Dr Narh said in an interview with the Ghana News Agency on Wednesday.
On completion of their course of study, the doctors will sit a regional examination set by the West African College of Physicians and would be granted a certificate in general medical practice which would entitle them to practise anywhere in West Africa.
Dr Narh said the introduction of the programme, hitherto obtainable only in Europe or America, will make health delivery to the people more effective, accessible and affordable.
"Considering the number of Ghanaian doctors practising as general practitioners in Europe and the Americas, one can confidently say that an effective post-graduate programme for family physicians will go a long way to fill the vacuum created by the absence of such a course."
He said the concept of general medical practice has been with some West African countries such as Nigeria for so many years.
"The concept in Ghana will offer a holistic, comprehensive and continuous medical care for patients."
Dr Narh said the programme would also offer excellent opportunities to specialists in general medical practice and these could in future serve as pre-requisite for private practice.
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Headmaster, Students Union deny allegations about Banda School
Sunyani (Brong Ahafo) 29 July ’99
Authorities of the Banda Senior Secondary School at Banda Ahenkro in Brong Ahafo have stated that problems of school drop-outs, poor enrolment and staffing are not peculiar to the school but a general phenomena affecting schools in the region.
They said while the school has its own problems, including those mentioned, they have nothing to do with chieftaincy disputes as alleged in a recent newspaper publication.
Mr Adiiro Amos, headmaster of the school, and Mr James Anane, member of the Brong-Ahafo Students Union (BASU), Legon branch, were reacting to a publication which also alleged that teachers refuse postings to the school because of a protracted chieftaincy dispute in the area.
They explained in a statement that, the school, which was started by the community in 1993, used to enjoy invaluable services of national service personnel of the former sixth form system.
However, since this was phased out four years later, the services of the students have ceased leaving all academic training to the four permanent staff whose salaries are borne by the community, sometimes with difficulty.
They said the school needs additional teachers but due to financial constraints, this has not been possible and said efforts are being made for the Ministry of Education to take over the school.
Mr Amos and Mr Anane said there are many teachers in primary, junior and senior secondary schools who are non-citizens living and working peacefully in the town and described the allegation that teachers have left the schools due to the said dispute as baseless and a fabrication.
On examinations, they said contrary to the publication, all first batch students took part in the Senior Secondary School Examination conducted by the West African Examination Council.
Some students who qualified to enter the universities but could not enter due to limited vacancies have entered other tertiary institutions as alternatives.
They called on Mr Ebenezer Baffo-Mensah, who claims to be a member of BASU, Cape Coast branch, and originator of the story, to visit Banda to find things out for himself and stop making unsubstantiated statements which tend to demoralise people who are working hard to improve conditions at the school.
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Mahama calls for transparency in civil service
Accra (Greater Accra) 29 July ’99
Mr John Mahama, Minister of Communications, on Wednesday said Ghana's investment drive must go hand in hand with openness and transparency in the civil service, "if we are to achieve our middle income target by year 2020".
Mr Mahama said the private sector must be aware of what goes on in the civil service to ensure the necessary confidence and trust for effective co-operation to realise the goals of the new investment and privatisation drive.
He made the call when he launched a number of service delivery standards brochures for 10 civil service agencies as well as a work code of ethics for the entire Civil Service.
The 10 organisations included Office of the Head of Civil Service, Accra Metropolitan Assembly, Passport Office, Land Title Registry and Vehicle Examination and License Department.
The rest are Rent Control Department, Lands Commission, Town and Country Planning Department and Survey Department.
It was jointly funded by the British and Ghanaian governments under a partnership scheme.
The British government is assisting the Ghana Civil Service (GCS) to improve on its performance and service delivery.
The code is meant to combat negative working habits, cumbersome and time-consuming procedures in the service.
They are also meant to educate the public on what to expect from the GCS.
Mr Mahama noted that lack of transparency, withholding of vital information from the private sector and cumbersome procedures in the service, among other things, militate against the investment drive of the country.
He said transparency in the service is not only necessary for development, but is also "vital to our democratic process".
Mr Mahama urged civil servants to be wary of negative working habits such as lateness, absenteeism, lazing about during working hours, bribery and corruption as well as abuse of office and exploitation of ignorant customers.
"Put efficient and action oriented officers in charge of the implementation of the code and standards to ensure on-the-spot punitive measures against defaulting civil servants."
Dr Robert Dodoo, Head of the GSC, noted that the era of lapses and delays in the operations of the service would no longer be tolerated.
"Cumbersome and time-consuming procedures and lack of transparency are no longer acceptable in this information age characterised by speed and human rights awareness."
He, therefore, urged civil servants to re-orient themselves to the challenges of the new standards and ethics "if you want to secure your place in the service in the next millennium".
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