Liquidated banks to recover 190b cedis from debtors
Woman dares army's Anyidoho
List of NDC candidates out
News coverage should be relevant to campaigns
Domestic election observers
NDC’s second World Bank collapses
The Ghanaian Times front-page
lead reports that Razak Mohammed, a form three student of the Tamale Secondary
School, has been handed over to the police by the school authorities for
shooting a fellow female student.
According to the story, Razak, 18, shot his mate, Miss Shadatu Abdul Hamid in the knee with a locally manufactured pistol.
The paper says, the victim in a statement to the police, said she was in class studying when the accused came and showe her a locally manufactured pistol which he claims he uses to protect himself.
Shadatu said she regarded the pistol as a toy and Mohammed turned away. However, he turned round and shot her in the knee, apparently to prove to her that it was not a toy.
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Liquidated banks to recover 190b cedis from debtors
The Daily Graphic carries a front-page story in which it says the liquidator of the Bank for Housing and Construction (BHC) and the Ghana Co-operative Bank, has instituted stringent measures to recover about 190billion cedis owed the two liquidated banks by customers.
So far 10billion cedis of the amount have been recovered since the banks were declared insolvent, and investigations have revealed that various processes have been initiated to a recover substantial part of the amount within the next two months.
Among them are, the use of the Serious Fraud Office to recover debts owned to the banks in the aftermath of what has become known as the "A-Life Affair", the use of the Controller and Accountant General's Department to get grants given to public sector workers, and the use of loan contractors to pursue other debtors.
The Graphic says a source close to the liquidator told it that the measures are aimed at ensuring that the loss to the government would be reduced as well as take care of shareholders' interest.
BHC is reportedly owed 120billion cedis at the time of liquidation with 47billion being a spill-over of the "A-Life Affair." So far about eight billion cedis of the mortgage and personal loans have been recovered while in the case of the Co-operative Bank, a total of 80 billion cedis was owed it by debtors out of which two billion has been recovered.
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Woman dares army's Anyidoho
The Ghanaian Chronicle carries a front-page banner story in which it says Major General Henry Kofi Anyidoho, the recently promoted Commander of the Northern Sector of the Ghana Armed Forces, may soon appear before the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) over a land related issue.
The story says the impending battle between Major Anyidoho and Madam Naomi Adei Kotey, a resident of Accra is over a multi-million-cedi worth of land at the plush up-market area of La Bawaleshie (East Legon) in Accra.
Madam Kotey is reported by the Chronicle to have petitioned CHRAJ late last April, to intervene to halt the Army Commander's attempt to seize the land she had duly acquired and registered, as her attempts to develop has been thwarted
the Army Commander.
Madam Kotey claims that her search at Lands Title Registry indicated that the plot in question is not doubly registered and has declared her determination not to succumb to the "shameless and blatant" attempts by Anyidoho to deprive her of her property.
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List of NDC candidates out
Then Evening News reports that the National Democratic Congress (NDC) has released names of parliamentary aspirants for the Eastern Region to contest seven out of the 12 constituencies, which the party lost in the 1996 elections.
It gave the names of the selected candidates as Rear Admiral Ohene Kwapong, former Naval Commander for Attiwa, Mr. Kwadwo Atta-Kra, Presiding member of the Birim South District and Dr Appiah Kubi, a gynaecologist for Akim Swedru.
Also named were Mr. Peter Peprah, Deputy Minister of Trade and Industries for Abetifi, Mr. Mike Acheampong, Deputy Minister of Food and Agriculture, for Mpraeso, Mr. Kwasi Agyare, an educationist for Nkawkaw and Mr. Anthony Gyampoh, District Chief executive for Akuapem North.
The story quotes Mr. J.W.K. Agyekum, Eastern Regional Secretary as saying that the party hierarchy is still working on the nominations for Koforidua, New Juaben North, Kade, Abuakwa and Akuapem South constituencies.
The Weekly Insight reports that there are very strong indications that the empire built by Flt. Lt Rawlings over the last 20 years is just about to collapse.
According to the paper the national economic situation has gotten so bad that the perception of Rawlings as a saviour of the masses has changed radically.
It says that since 1983 when the military junta headed by Rawlings started implementing its Economic Recovery Programme (ERP), the national currency has been cumulatively devalued by more than 25,000 %.
The hallmark of the ERP sponsored by the World Bank and the IMF has been the retrenchment of labour in the public and private sectors, the withdrawal of subsidies on agricultural production and such social services as education and health.
According to the paper over the last few weeks, various sections of the Ghanaian community have been demonstrating their rage against the mismanagement of the national economy with its attendant hardships on the masses.
For the first time in the Ghanaian economy, the Ghana Association of Bakers in Kumasi and the Cloth Sellers Association organised demonstrations to protest against the high cost of goods and services in the country.
In Accra, workers taking part in a May Day match said it all on their placards. Some of the placards read: “ We are tired of the lies," "Enough is enough," "Take home pay can’t take me home" and a host others, the paper said.
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News coverage should be relevant to campaigns
The Ghana Palaver writes that the Executive Secretary of the National Media Commission (NMC) Mr. Boadu-Ayeboafoh last Friday, called on journalists to ensure that their news coverage is relevant to the central issues of the political campaigns that they cover.
Mr. Boadu-Ayeboafoh said it is also important that media houses devote space and attention to programmes of the constitutional bodies set up to enhance the fundamental rights of the people and to secure their participation in national development programmes.
Mr. Ayeboafoh is said to have made the call during the second day of the two-day seminar for journalists in Ashanti on the topic “Constitutional Requirements of the Media on Electioneering Coverage”.
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Domestic election observers
The Dispatch reports on the formation of a coalition of Domestic Election Observers (CODEO), under the auspices of the Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD) and the Frederich Nuamann Foundation (FNF).
According to the paper, at a meeting held last Monday, representatives from about 20 civil society organisations and some religious bodies agreed to form the Coalition to assist in a successful and peaceful conduct of the December general elections.
The objectives of the Coalition include promoting free, fair, transparent and peaceful elections by observing Elections 2000. CODEO also seeks to provide guidelines and training programmes for observers to collect, analyse and verify reports after elections and above all set up structures for the realisation of these objectives.
Among the groups that attended the meeting are the Ahmadiyya Muslim Mission (AMM), Christian Council of Ghana (CCG), Federation of Muslim Council in Ghana (FMC, Ghana Committee on Human and Peoples Right (GCHPR), Ghana Journalist Association (GJA), Ghana National Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GNCCI), Ghana National Association of Teacher (GNAT).
Others are Ghana Registered Midwives Association (GRMA), International Poets, Editors and Novelist (INTERPEN), International Federation of Women Lawyers (FIDA), Non-Violence International, National Union of Ghana Students (NUGS) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC).
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The Free Press reveals that the National Democratic Congress’ (NDC) acclaimed, “second world bank” was smashed last Sunday when thousands of Yilo Krobos defied a heavy down pour to give their unflinching support to the New Patriotic Party (NPP).
According to the paper, for the first time in many years, the enthusiastic Krobos who were hitherto NDC supporters
assembled at the Somanya taxi station the venue for the NPP rally.
Thousands of eligible voters who claimed that they supported the NDC in 1992 and 1996 declared their intention to ignore NDC’s vain promises and test the NPP for the next four years come December 2000 elections.
According to the paper, the Somanya chairman of the NPP, Mr. Nicholas Addai, said the Krobos have come to terms with the late Abraham Lincoln’s maxim that “ you can fool some people some of the time but not all the people all the time” and that they can not be fooled the third time.
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