MPs demand urgent action
‘Economy will start showing signs next week’
EC sends questionnaires to political parties
Crisis looms at Legon
“Obed Asamoah is our candidate”
Who orders the killings?
MPs demand urgent action
Members of Parliament (MP) have expressed disgust at the gruesome murder of women in Accra and the inability of the police to find clues to bring the perpetrators to book, reports the Daily Graphic.
The front-page coverage of the daily says Interior Minister, Nii Okaidja Adamafio, in a contribution to discussions in the House, called for urgent action to deal with the serial killings.
The story contained that while some MPs were of the view that it is a well-equipped police, which can deal with the issue, others suggested a closer-police-civilian co-operation to effectively deal with the situation.
Nii Okaidja, according to the paper, said so far 21 women between the ages of 19 and 56 have died under mysterious circumstances and not 23 and 25 as quoted by the media.
He is reported as saying that out of the number, seven bodies have not been identified and that post-mortem has been conducted on 19 of the victims of which pathologist reports have given cause of deaths as strangulation, carbonate poisoning, septicaemia and severe pulmonary congestion.
He reportedly said that the tests indicated that some of the deaths were through natural causes adding however, that post-mortem is yet to be carried out on the two recent victims.
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‘Economy will start showing signs next week’
The Evening News reports that the Vice-President, Prof. J.E.A. Mills, in an address to the Ablekuma Central Constituency of the NDC, has said Ghanaians will, by next week, start feeling the impact of measures put in place by the government to improve the economy.
The paper quotes a GBC radio source as stating that Prof. Mills said that it was erroneous for some people to think that the government was insensitive to the plight of the people, saying the hardships was the result of pressures on the economy.
The story continues that the Vice-President indicated that insinuations and attacks by the opposition groups were only normal in an election year, hence there is no need for supporters of the party to be bothered by them.
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EC sends questionnaires to political parties
The Evening News again reports that the Electoral Commission on Tuesday started sending out questionnaires to all political parties in the country as part of a nationwide assessment of their activities.
The story, also receiving front-page coverage, says that the exercise, expected to end on July 14, 2000 is part of measures to ensure that their operations are in conformity with constitutional provisions and the Political Parties law 2000.
The paper says Mr. Kobina Arkaifie, Greater Accra Regional Director of the EC, told the paper that the assessment is not intended to disrupt party political activities and their administration but to assess their operations and organisational strength.
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Crisis looms at Legon
“The University of Ghana is set to witness a crisis of gigantic proportions, perhaps never witnessed in its history,” says the Independent in a front-page story.
According to the paper the Director of the School of Administration (SOA), of the university, Prof. Steve A. Nkrumah has called the bluff of the Vice Chancellor of the university, Prof. Ivan Addae-Mensah who signed a letter dated July 3 dismissing him from his position.
The paper says the letter which was copied to the Pro-Vice Chancellor, the Registrar and Acting Finance Officer of the university, asked all staff of SOA to refrain from referring matters relating to the school to Prof. Nkrumah while it asked one Dr Kwabena Poku to act as head.
Independent writes however that when it visited the SOA complex on Wednesday, all was calm with Prof. Nkrumah “firmly rooted in his seat”.
“He was preparing to write a letter to his staff to ignore the VC letter until they hear from the University Council,” the story carried.
According to the paper, it was told by Prof. Nkrumah that it was the University Council that appointed him and as such the Vice Chancellor has no right to remove him.
The SOA head is reported as saying that his problems with Prof. Addae-Mensah started on his assumption of office as VC.
He said the VC demanded that the SOA should give up it financial autonomy to the Universtiy but he resisted the idea.
“I refused that because the SOA is a semi-autonomous institution. When the SOA became part of Legon, its financial autonomy was not given up. Addae-Mensah’s aim is to destroy this. He sent people to come and audit our books, but I refused because Government sends auditors to do that every year.” Prof. Nkrumah said.
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“Obed Asamoah is our candidate”
The Crusading Guide says unofficial though credible NDC sources contacted by the paper have intimated that Dr Obed Asamoah, the Attorney-General is the credible candidate to assume the position of a running mate to Prof. John Atta Mills during the December Presidential elections.
According to the paper, the credible sources said, though several candidates qualify for the position of running mate to Mills, Obed stands out among them because of his consistent loyalty and commitment to the ruling party.
The sources furthered said that the endorsement of Obed Asamoah would enhance the NDC’s chances of winning this year’s elections for a third consecutive time.
On the reaction of Northern NDC members who desire to pick the slot, the sources said that for Ghana’s young fledging democracy to grow, the electorate need to elect candidates on factors such as hardwork, loyalty and dedication rather than ethnicity which cannot lead this nation to its expected destination.
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“Jujumen, soothsayers, ‘mallams’ and spiritualists have been called upon to provide their services to society in solving the mysterious murders of women that have gripped the nation’s capital for the past two years, the Accra Mail reports.
The story says this unorthodox approach to forensics was suggested by a number of city dwellers who spoke to the paper on the most recent mystery death, which occurred at Asylum down, a suburb of Accra.
The paper says even though suggestion for the unorthodox approach might in itself sound ridiculous, some concerned citizens said it was the means that is left, more so when the police have failed to find the killers.
According to the paper, a spiritualist that it consulted conceded that the murders were not the workings of a psychopath but a co-ordinated programme of some ambitious personalities to advance certain nefarious interests of theirs.
He is reported as saying that spiritual murders are performed for the purpose of amassing wealth, achieve personal power or to win, seize or hold on to political power among others.
The Accra Mail reports that in its chat with some organisations and citizens, especially women they indicated their willingness for a prayer time to unravel the mystery.
The paper reports that the International Federation of Women Laawyers (FIDA) would soon call for a national day of prayer.
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