Nurses demand payment of extra duty allowance
Media Commission settles dispute
NPP says it has a programme for primaries
East Gonja schools achieve 100 per cent increase in enrolment
Upgrade military equipment - Mills
Stop demanding sitting allowance from litigants- Chairman
Achimota JSS students suffer from food poisoning
Lobby group calls for total debt cancellation for Africa
Radio Savannah in Tamale Marks second anniversary
Nurses demand payment of extra duty allowance
Accra (Greater Accra), 17th June 99 –
Mr Samuel Nuamah Donkor, Minister of Health, on Wednesday asked hospital administrators to ensure that modalities for the payment of extra-duty allowances of all health workers are submitted to his office by Thursday, June 17, for processing.
"Government would never be insensitive to the plight of workers," he told nurses who went on a demonstration to press for the payment of their extra-duty allowance.
"Your duty allowances have been approved since January, and one month upon submission of the modalities to the Ministry of Health, they would be forwarded to the Ministry of Finance for payment to be effected".
The Nurses from Korle Bu Teaching Hospital had marched to his office to find out the reasons for the delay of the payment of the allowances, which they said should have received in May.
According to them, the finance officer at Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital told them they were not included in the list to be paid.
The Minister said the problem was the result of the lack of effective communication between leaders of the various health groups and their subordinates.
Mr Nuamah Donkor said on June seven, he met representatives of health professionals and various health groups to discuss issues pertaining to the payment of extra duty allowances to health workers throughout the country.
The leaders, he said, were to submit the completed forms of 30,000 health workers, including doctors, nurses and other para-medics, to the headquarters for processing as a unit and not by the different sections.
Mr Nuamah Donkor said it was wrong for nurses to take to the streets to demand be treated separately, and advised the nurses to always ensure that their problems are resolved through negotiation and dialogue.
Mr Austin Gamey, a Deputy Minister of Employment and Social Welfare, assured the nurses of government's commitment and advised them to work as a team and try as much as possible to channel their problems through the appropriate quarters.
"Your duty allowance would be paid as agreed upon in the resolution signed between your representatives and the Ministry.
"This would take one month after the input forms have been submitted to the Ministry of Finance for processing."
Mr Logosu Amegashie, spokesman for the nurses, thanked the Ministers for explaining the cause of the delay of payment to them.
He promised that they would go back to work, especially when they have learnt that the problem was the result of lack of effective communication between them and their leaders.
Early on Wednesday, a group of nurses from Korle Bu Teaching Hospital besieged the Ministry of Health bearing placards, some of which read: "No money, no work", and "It is time to act now".
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Media Commission settles dispute
Accra (Greater Accra), 17th June 99
The National Media Commission on Wednesday said it has reached an amicable settlement over a complaint lodged by the First lady, Nana Konadu Agyeman Rawlings against the Ghanaian Chronicle, a private newspaper.
In the settlement agreed to by the parties, the Ghanaian Chronicle would carry a retraction of allegations it carried against the First Lady with the same prominence as it had accorded the allegations.
In a statement issued in Accra, the Chairman of the Commission, Mr Tim Acquah-Hayford, explained that the complaint lodged by Nana Konadu arose from allegations made in the 'Baywatch' column of the paper's January 22 to 24 edition.
"The columnist, Dr Asebu Amenfi, alleged, among other things, that Nana Konadu had a row with the late Peter Vaughan-Williams, Founder and Chairman of the Council for Indigenous Business Associations (CIBA)."
He alleged that the row was over "CIBA money, which, Vaughan-Williams had refused to hand-over to the 31st December Womens' Movement (DWM) of which Nana Konadu is President".
The columnist also alleged that for the ''unusual display of obstinacy'' Vaughan-Williams lost his post as Deputy Minister in the National Democratic Congress government.
The statement said the First Lady denied, in her complaint through the Vanderpuye Law Consult, "ever having a row with Vaughan-Williams and demanding any CIBA money for the 31st December Women's Movement".
It said, "she also denied knowledge of the reasons for which Vaughan-Williams ceased to be a Deputy Minister" and demanded ''strict proof of the allegations from the Editor and Publisher of the Ghanaian Chronicle as well as the Columnist of "Baywatch".
The Commission said during its deliberations with the parties concerned, it found that the allegations could not be substantiated.
Consequently, the Editor and Publisher, Nana Kofi Koomson in addition to the retraction of the allegations, agreed to issue an unqualified apology to Nana Konadu and avoid future publication of libellous materials against her.
The Editor, Mr Ebo Quansah also gave an undertaking to crosscheck all doubtful materials with the office of the First lady before publication.
The Commission expressed its gratitude to the parties involved, especially, the complainant for their co-operation.
It requested others with media complaints to use the platform available at the Commission for the resolution of their grievances.
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NPP says it has a programme for primaries
Accra (Greater Accra), 17th June ’99 –
The New Patriotic Party (NPP) said on Wednesday that it has set the end of September for the completion of the establishment of party structures, after which election of its parliamentary candidates for next year's election would be held.
The deadline affects constituencies, where the NPP has no sitting members of parliament, a statement signed in Accra by Mr S. A. Odoi-Sykes, National Chairman, said.
The statement said the process has been deferred for constituencies, where the NPP has sitting parliamentarians.
"It has never been the party's decision, and it is, therefore, untrue, that the NPP is 'offering automatic choice of contesting on its ticket' to sitting MPs 'without going through the normal election procedure."
The statement, which denied media reports of this offer to siting MPs said the NPP has always maintained that it is democratic and would never cut corners in its practice of democracy.
"It is irksome to the party when individuals attempt to paint it as what it is not.
"The NPP wishes to urge the mass media to heed its warnings about consulting so-called leading members, when there are officers to consult for information."
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East Gonja schools achieve 100 per cent increase in enrolment
Salaga (Northern Region) 17 June '99
There has been a 100 per cent increase in the enrolment of school children in the East Gonja district four years after the education system there almost collapsed, following the 1994 ethnic conflict in parts of the Northern region.
A Deputy Minister of Education, Dr Mohammed Ibn Chambas, disclosed this at Salaga on Tuesday when he began a four-day tour of first and second cycle schools in six districts to ascertain their degree of recovery from the conflict.
The other districts on his itinerary are Yendi, Nanumba, Saboba-Chereponi, Zabzugu/Tatale and Gushiegu/Karaga where he and his entourage, including the Director-General of Education, Professor Christopher Ameyaw-Akumfi, will also learn at first hand the peculiar problems facing school there.
Addressing a meeting of headteachers to start the tour, Dr Chambas said it was a big achievement for the district to recover not only to previous levels but to gain a further increment of 100 per cent.
"We have been receiving good reports about this district and our visit is to ensure that children in this district are not left out in the 21st century by providing them with quality education."
During a courtesy call on the Kpembe-Wura, Alhaji Ibrahim Harruna, the Dr Chambas stressed the need for closer collaboration between traditional authorities and the GES in the provision of quality education.
"Traditional authorities are key players in the educational enterprise. We recognise that, in order to achieve high enrolment and to ensure that teachers who are posted to districts remain, we have to involve our chiefs in the management of our schools."
Dr Chambas assured the Kpembe-wura that the GES would post more teachers to the district in view of the high enrolment recorded.
The Kpembe-Wura assured the GES that perfect peace now prevails in the district and, therefore, the safety of teachers posted to the region is assured.
He appealed to the GES to help rehabilitate the Kpembe primary school which was established in 1937, saying: "it is the cradle of education in this district and there is the need for it to be restored to its former glory".
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Upgrade military equipment - Mills
Bundase (Greater Accra) 17 June '99
Vice-President John Atta Mills on Wednesday reiterated the need to make provision for relevant and up-to-date equipment for the Armed Forces.
It is imperative that the military are ready and able to respond with the necessary human and logistic resources in times of threat to the country's peace and stability, he said.
Vice-President Mills after watching a three-hour demonstration of armament and firepower display at Bundase Range in the Accra plains, said he was impressed by the demonstration, describing the equipment involved as some of the best on the world's military equipment inventory.
The demonstration, watched by dignitaries, including members of the Council of State and the Parliamentary Committee on Defence as well as by military chiefs, was organised by Alvis Vehicles of London and the Ghana Armed Forces.
It involved four major military hardware - SIMBA armoured personnel carriers, SUPACAT all terrain platform vehicles, the amphibious BV 206 and SCORPION 90-mm light tank - all manufactured by Alvis.
The vice-president also expressed his appreciation to the military authorities for improving the operational capacity of the forces to meet the challenges of the coming millennium.
Professor Mills, who chairs the Armed Forces Council, called for a thorough
evaluation of the equipment by the relevant agencies to submit recommendations for government's consideration.
He said the country has enjoyed relative calm and lived in peace with her neighbours.
However, it would be an irresponsible complacency to assume that there is no need to adopt a credible deterrent posture that would send the appropriate signals to any would-be external aggressor.
Prof. Mills recalled the northern conflict, saying but for the swift and professional manner the Ghana Armed Forces mobilised to assist the civil authorities to restore calm and maintain peace during the reconciliation period, the situation would have escalated.
Prof. Mills paid tribute to the forces for their achievements on the international scene, particularly at the UN, Regional, and sub-regional peacekeeping missions, and expressed the hope that the forces would be conversant with technologies and challenges that may be posed in the next millennium.
In his remarks, Mr Joseph Darko-Mensah, Minority Spokesman on Defence, described the demonstration as "great".
He said it is his view that the equipment be acquired for the army and the police to enhance their efficiency.
"I will not hesitate to lend my full support to any request that will come to Parliament for the acquisition of these items for our forces."
Mr J. E. Ackah, Chairman of the select committee, said he would support the acquisition of the equipment due to their flexibility.
However, for Ghana, he would want their thorough evaluation to ascertain their durability and cost of maintenance.
The cost of the equipment is not yet known.
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Stop demanding sitting allowance from litigants- Chairman
Gomoa-Amanful (Central Region) 17 June '99
The Reverend Justice Peter Ansah, Chairman of Gomoa-Amanful Unit Committee, has appealed to the Judicial Committee of Gomoa-Assin Traditional Council to stop demanding sitting allowance from parties in dispute.
Rev Ansah alleged that apart from the initial settlement fee charged by the committee, factions in arbitration cases are compelled to pay between 20,000 cedis and 30,000 cedis for every sitting.
He described the practice as unacceptable and called for its abolition to sustain the confidence and trust of the people in traditional courts.
Rev Ansah, who was speaking at a forum for farmers at Gomoa-Amanful on Tuesday, asked the committee to ensure the speedy disposal of cases brought before it, adding that early settlement of chieftaincy and land cases was necessary for development.
He said this would enable the farmers and other people engaged in such matters to conserve funds, energy and time to pursue their agricultural and other ventures.
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Achimota JSS students suffer from food poisoning
Accra (Greater Accra) 17 June '99
Over 100 students of Achimota Primary/JSS allegedly suffered severe stomach upsets on Saturday, June 12.
While the students blamed the sickness on their previous day's supper, the authorities blamed it on "various illnesses".
The students, mostly girls from the JSS, were rushed to the school's hospital, where they were treated and discharged. Twenty-two of them were admitted but were discharged the following day.
On Wednesday morning when GNA went to the school, some of the students who said they had just been discharged confirmed the incident.
They said they had stomach upset and pains, accompanied by vomiting, and attributed the sickness to the previous day's dinner of kenkey and sardine with pepper.
When contacted, Dr Justice A. Hoffman, Senior Medical Officer in charge of Achimota Hospital, dismissed the claims of the students, saying the condition of the students could not have been caused by the food.
He said most of them were diagnosed of various illnesses and cited malaria, headache, acute gastro-enteritis and Upper Respiratory Track Infections (URTI).
Dr Hoffman said two of the students were put on drip but they were later discharged.
He said the illnesses the students complained of were normal ones, but ''the only thing is that they (students) came to the hospital in bulk.''
''Although the house mistresses traced the problem to the food, after treating them it was realised that it had nothing to do with the food.
''There is no cause for alarm; it is just the normal complaints from students''.
Mrs. Charlotte Brew-Graves, Headmistress of the School, said there were over 1,000 students in the boarding house, and they ate the same food together. "Why should only 100 of them be affected if it was food poisoning?'' she asked
Mrs. Brew-Graves said the school doctor warned the authorities about the outbreak of cholera in the surrounding villages early this year, and as a result, she stopped food sellers from coming to the compound.
According to her, due to the size of the school, it is difficult to monitor activities of food vendors, and children manage to buy from these people.
The day in question, for example, there were boiled corn and kenkey sellers on campus, and the ''big girls'' went and bought them, Mrs. Brew-Graves said ''The problem could have come from these sellers''.
''Those girls who bought from these sellers would be found out and the authorities will sanction them to deter others from misbehaving,'' she said.
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Lobby group calls for total debt cancellation for Africa
Accra (Greater Accra) 17 June '99
Jubilee 2000, an international lobby group campaigning for debt relief for developing nations, said in Accra on Wednesday that Africa needs a complete debt wipe-out to break its poverty cycle.
At a press conference in Accra Wednesday, Mr Akoto Ampaw, National Co-ordinator of Jubilee 2000 Africampaign Ghana, said such a move will strengthen Africa's educational and health delivery.
The press conference is to add Ghana's voice to the global call for debt cancellation for the world's poor countries.
"We demand that the resources saved from debt cancellation be channelled into and used for human development, particularly in the fields of education and training, health care and housing."
Mr Ampaw noted that a partial debt cancellation framework has been initiated by the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund for Highly Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC).
"But it is not deep enough to lift the debt burden off Africa".
Africa's current external debt stock is estimated around 375 billion dollars, with annual servicing as a percentage to the continent's export earnings of about 35 per cent.
"The simple truth, which the peoples of Ghana, Africa and the rest of the developing world are crying out with their lives, is that the debt burden means desperate want, starvation, disease, illiteracy, political instability and human rights abuse."
Apart from the HIPC initiative, the Group of Seven meeting in Cologne, Germany, last week also proposed a 70 billion debt cancellation for poor nations, while Britain and the United States have agreed on 50 and 70 billion dollars cancellation respectively.
But, Jubilee 2000 said a total debt cancellation by the year 2000 without the conditionalities of the IMF and the World Bank is what Africa and other developing nations need.
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Radio Savannah in Tamale Marks second anniversary
Tamale (Northern Region) 17 June '99
District Assemblies in the Northern Region have pledged financial and material assistance to keep Radio Savannah, the only frequency modulation (FM) station in the region, in business.
Mr San Nasamu Asabigi, Deputy Regional Minster who announced this in Tamale on Tuesday, did not give details of the level of support but it is hoped any form of assistance will help salvage the station from its numerous problems.
Mr Nasamu was addressing a durbar of chiefs and people as part of activities marking the second anniversary of the station, popularly known as RST. The theme for the anniversary is "Radio Savannah, a tool for the development of the Northern Region".
Mr Nasamu said the station, established mainly to help disseminate functional literacy programmes, is an indispensable tool for educating, informing and entertaining the people.
"RST has indeed succeeded in reducing, to an apreciable level, social evils like apathy, ignorance and rumour-mongering through its numerous educational programmes", he said.
He said concurrently the station has generated a lot of public awareness on health issues, the environment and helped people to discover their creative talents, especially in the music industry.
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Accra (Greater Accra) 17 June '99
African governments have been urged to do more to ensure the survival of children who are faced with increasing incidence of violence and abuse.
Speaking at a ceremony in Accra to mark the Day of the African Child, Nana Konadu Agyeman-Rawlings, the First Lady, noted the progress made in protecting the rights of children and said in spite of this achievement, "we need to continue to put a spotlight on the needs of our children because there are many on-going threats to their rights and their very survival".
The day, being celebrated under the theme "Children - agents of change in the new millennium -listen, learn and live", is in remembrance of the June 16 massacre of school children demonstrating against the apartheid system of South Africa in 1976.
Since its first observance in 1991, the day has focused on the plight of children in Africa.
In Ghana, activities marking the occasion will focus on HIV/AIDS and the girl child, a mock parliamentary session, sports and an arts competition.
Nana Konadu mentioned poverty, malnutrition, armed conflict, child mortality and the scourge of HIV/AIDS as some of the areas that need to be seriously tackled.
She said, currently, it is estimated that about 40,000 Ghanaian children are HIV/AIDS positive.
She appealed to parents, teachers and role models to educate children on a daily basis on sensitive issues that affect their well being.
The First Lady's address was read by Mrs. Edith Haizel, Executive Secretary of the 31st December Women's Movement.
Mrs. Ama Benyiwah-Doe, Deputy Minister of Employment and Social Welfare, stressed the need to prepare children to meet the challenges of the next millennium.
This, she said, calls for comprehensive economic policies that would promote their welfare at all levels.
Mrs. Alberta Quartey, Chairperson of the Ghana National Commission on Children (GNCC), said African countries continue to lag behind other regions in immunisation coverage rates, school enrolment and retention, especially for girls, sanitation access and the reduction of maternal mortality.
"The use of children in combat infringes on the rights of children and corrode the social and economic structures that sustain them".
The GNCC will soon establish child welfare committees in 40 districts to ensure that the issues of children are focussed on in the developmental plans of district assemblies.
Mr William Elwood Greaves, Liberian Ambassador and the Dean of the African Diplomatic Corps, urged African governments to focus on developing family and educational structures that will address the needs of children.
Mr Greaves identified child labour and sexual exploitation, especially of the girl child who is lured into the sex trade that cuts across all parts of the continent.
The UNICEF Representative in Ghana, Dr Omar Abdi, said for Ghana to become a middle income country by the year 2020, it has to invest in children and adolescents who will be the workforce of tomorrow.
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