All set for CPP congress as delegates
trickle in
UTAG agrees to resume lectures on Monday
EC to exhibit Provisional Voters Register
from June 30
Police interrogates
suspect in robbery case
Nana Konadu, Naadu donate medals to two
families
Ga Traditional Council lifts ban on drumming
All set for CPP congress as delegates
trickle in
Accra (Greater Accra) 10 June 2000
Delegates attending Saturday's National Delegates Congress of the Convention People's Party (CPP) have started arriving as finishing touches are being put to the venue - the Central Cafeteria of the University of Ghana.
At 1000 hours on Friday morning when GNA visited the venue, delegates from the various constituencies who had arrived had started registering.
At the Central Cafeteria, the place was being adorned in the party colours of green, red and white while large banners were going up. A giant platform was also being put up.
The party's secretariat has been moved from its usual location at Kanda to the venue of the Congress to facilitate the holding of the Congress and address pertinent logistical and other issues.
There was heavy presence of the police apparently to ensure law and order.
The CPP Congress has been postponed several times because of court injunctions.
In an interview with the GNA, Dr Nii Noi Dowuona, General Secretary of CPP, said about 2,000 delegates, comprising eight each from the 200 constituencies and between eight and nine regional executives from each of the 10 regions as well as invited guests are expected to attend.
Dr Dowuona said the Congress would elect a National Chairman and the flag-bearer for the December presidential election.
Two contestants - Dr Edmund Delle and Dr Abubakar Alhassan - will vie for the position of the National Chairman.
There are four contestants for presidential candidate. They are Alhaji Ibrahim Mahama, Prof. George Hagan, Mr. George Aguddey and Mr. Johnny Hansen.
"These are the people who have submitted all the necessary papers and undergone vetting by the National Executive Council. They constitute the final list of contestants for the various positions", Dr Dowouna said.
He said the Party's National Executive Council Meeting was being held on Friday morning. Issues on the agenda are the approval of sub-committees, discussion and adoption of the report of the congress, party accounts and party manifesto and resolutions.
Meanwhile, Dr Delle says he would participate fully in Saturday's Congress of the party at the University of Ghana, Legon.
Dr Delle, who survived last Monday's air crash at the Kotoka International Airport, said doctors treating him have declared him fit to participate fully in the congress.
A statement signed by Mr. Ona Aryee, Secretary of Dr Delle, urged delegates to the congress to vote for him.
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UTAG agrees to resume lectures on Monday
Accra (Greater Accra) 10 June 2000
The University Teachers Association of Ghana (UTAG), on Friday said normal academic work on all University campuses will resume on Monday, June 12, following successful negotiations on their proposals for increase in their salaries and better working conditions.
A communiqué read by Agyewodin Adu Gyamfi Ampem, Chairman of the Standing Joint Negotiating Committee, to journalists on the outcome of their closed door meeting
said, the Standing Committee of the University Councils and UTAG had agreed to meet from time to time to review the conditions of service for senior members.
The three-paragraph communiqué, which announced the end of the one-week strike was jointly signed by Agyewodin Adu Gyamfia and the President of UTAG, Professor Stephen A. Osei.
The Committee's Chairman, who emphasised that the negotiations were successful, refused to answer questions on details of the agreement and why some UTAG representatives stormed out of the meeting in anger when journalists were invited in.
One of the visibly angry lecturers threatened to destroy a television camera if he was filmed, while another retorted to a question about their action that: "we are not puppets to be stage managed".
Prof. Osei told the journalists that the protest had nothing to do with the negotiations, explaining that the angry members did not want media coverage or attention.
He, however, conceded that UTAG was not completely satisfied with the agreement since not all their demands were met.
"We will consider it as a good beginning and hope that negotiations would continue until all matters pertaining to the welfare of the universities are addressed".
When pressed for details about the outstanding issues and the resolved ones, Prof. Osei refused to comment, but said the implementation of the improved conditions would take retrospective effect from March like the 20 per cent salary increment granted to Civil Servants recently.
A statement issued by UTAG after the meeting said: "Even though the unanimity of opinion of our members was that the latest government offer fell well short of our expectations, we decided to accept it for four main reasons: To avoid causing further hardship to the students, who after all, have been our most vociferous supporters; ensure minimal disruption of academic calendar: to recognise the genuine expressions of sympathy and support from parents and guardians and to honour the setting up of the joint Standing Negotiating Committee of University Councils and UTAG to continue future negotiations on all matters pertaining to the welfare of university lecturers".
The statement said UTAG's ultimate desire was that "a functional Ghana Universities Salary Scheme 'a better GUSS' will become operational in the very near future.
"That is the only way to avoid this cycle of agitation and strikes; it is the only way that the true value of the university teacher would be recognised. We are tired of being lumped together with the analogous institutions".
UTAG thanked the chairman and members of the Standing Committee for the seriousness attached to the bargaining process and the Vice Chancellors and Principal for their advice and patience.
It also thanked National Union of Ghana Students and the Student Representative Councils for their support.
The President of NUGS, Mr. Emmanuel Doomson, told journalists after the meeting that the mood of some of the lecturers suggested that there are still problems.
Mr. Doomson, therefore called on the government to address all the concerns of UTAG to forestall further strike actions that would disrupt the academic calendar.
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EC to exhibit Provisional Voters Register from
June 30
Accra (Greater Accra) 10 June 2000
The Electoral Commission (EC) on Friday said the provisional voters' register would be exhibited throughout the country from June 30 to July 9 at each polling station.
Mr. David Adeenze Kangah, Deputy Chairman (Operations) of EC, in an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA) said the registers will be exhibited at the centres where registrations took place.
This will enable those who registered to ensure that their names and other particulars are correctly recorded before a final roll is prepared.
He said the Commission has prepared for each polling station a provisional register bearing the name, age, sex and voter identification card number of voters.
The register is being displayed to afford all registered voters and the political parties the opportunity to undertake public inspection and scrutiny of the list.
It will also offer all registered voters the opportunity to make sure their names are on the register, make corrections to their personal data, object to names of unqualified persons and know their eventual polling station on Election Day.
After the completion of the exhibition two lists, containing names of persons who made claims for inclusion in the register as well as particulars of those whose inclusion attracted objection, will be displayed at the centres.
Mr. Kangah said changes to the provisional voters' register are to be made only where there is an error or omission in the information about the registered voter.
The exhibition is not intended for major changes to the information, such as name or age.
It is to check omission of vital information or data in the register, missing letter from the name, sex, the age or polling station number.
There could also be discrepancies between the information on the ID card and the content of the register.
Mr. Kangah said registered voters might come to the centre whether they posses a voter ID card or not. They will be assisted to check their names on the register but the Exhibition Officer would not effect any changes to particulars of a voter without the provision of a voter ID card.
He explained that the exhibition process is meant to create a credible and dependable register that would indeed be the basis for the acceptance of election results and prevent disharmony in the social and political affairs of Ghana.
Mr. Kangah said the commission is still in the process of replacing lost ID cards and effecting change of polling stations for people who have moved residence in all the District Offices of the commission.
The steps towards the revision of the current voters register started from May 6 to 15 with the registration of citizens who have turned 18 and older Ghanaians who, for one reason or the other, could not register in the previous registration or revision exercises.
The Commission appealed to all Ghanaians who are interested in the growth of democracy to check their names to ensure that their particulars as provided in the register are accurate.
The EC said on Thursday that additional 1,376,638 names were added to the electoral roll when the revision exercise was carried out last month, bringing the number of eligible voters to 10,838,834.
Officials of the commission have expressed concern about the figure saying the number of registered voters was expected to be about 45 per cent of the population, but it is now more than half.
This could mean the register is bloated of the country's population is more than the estimated 18 million.
The national population census carried out early this year is yet to come out with accurate date on Ghana's population.
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Police
interrogates suspect in robbery case
Accra (Greater Accra) 10 June 2000
A 37-year-old man who claims to be
a worker of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is helping the police in
investigations into a robbery case at the Egyptian Ambassador's residence on
May 28 this year.
Mr. Eric Asiedu Boampong, who gave
his name to the police as Ramsia Hayford Awuku, was arrested on Wednesday June
7.
He had posed as a lawyer who was
asking for police bail for six suspects, including two women, arrested by the
Cantonments Police in connection to the same robbery.
Briefing the GNA in Accra on
Wednesday, Mr. Kwaku Dzakpata, Chief Superintendent in charge of Operations,
CID, said the six suspects were referred to the Police CID Headquarters for
investigation.
He said Boampong followed them to
the police headquarters to plead for bail for the six suspects.
During interrogations, two other
lawyers who had also come to plead for bail for the suspects realised through
Boampong's demeanour that he was acting unprofessionally.
He said the two lawyers confronted
the suspect who admitted that he was not a lawyer and has never been to law
school.
Boampong said he has been helping
Mr. Joseph Kwesi Adjei, Chief Legal Officer of the IRS, as a junior lawyer for
over a year now.
Attempts to get Mr. Adjei for
confirmation proved futile. Mr. Boampong in currently in police custody pending
investigations.
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Nana Konadu, Naadu donate medals to two
families
Accra (Greater Accra) 10 June 2000
The First Lady, Nana Konadu Ayeman Rawlings and Mrs. Naadu Mills, wife of the vice-president have donated their June 4 commemorative medals to the families of two service personnel who lost their lives in the uprising.
A statement from the Ghana Armed Forces Public Relations Directorate said that the two women said they felt honoured to be recipients of the medals.
However, they decided in turn to present them to the wives and families of the two service personnel in recognition of their supreme sacrifice in the cause of June four and December 31.
The statement said Nana Konadu has requested that her medal be awarded to the wife of ex-Warrant Officer Sidi Mohammed Iddris of the Field Engineer regiment. It did not say which family would receive Mrs. Mills' medal.
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Ga Traditional Council lifts ban on
drumming
Accra (Greater Accra) 10 June 2000
Nai Wulomo Numo Teteete III, the Chief Priest of the Ga Traditional Council, and Nii Ayitey Agbofu III, Gbese Mantse and Adontenhene of the Ga State, on Thursday jointly performed rituals to lift the month-long ban on drumming and noise making in the Ga Traditional Area.
Soon after the rituals, Nii Tetteh Ankamah We, Gbese Mantse, beat a drum to signify the lifting of the ban.
Nii Tetteh Ankamah We (Gbese Royal Home) is one of the ancestral homes and the ruling house of the Gas where Nii Okaija II, one of the great chiefs of the Gas, was buried.
Led by the Chief linguists, fetish priest and priestess and elders of the royal home, and dancing to the tune of fontomfrom and Colomashie Asafo drums, amidst the firing of musketry, Nii Gbese went to the palace of the Ga Mantse three times to inform him that he had performed the rituals.
The Ga Mantse's palace is the custodian of the drumsticks.
The Gbese Mantse, who is entrusted with the responsibility of performing the rituals, sends drinks a day before the ceremony to the palace before the drum sticks are released to him to perform the rituals.
In an interview with the Ghana News Agency, Numo Teteete said he was happy that this year the ceremony had come to a successful end.
"There was no confrontation with any religious bodies, musical shops and all those affected by the ban. They co-operated with us and we are grateful to all of them. We hope this healthy atmosphere will continue all the time to allow all of us to live in harmony", he said.
Present were Mr. Ishmael Addoquaye Addo, Mayor of Accra, Naa Dede Omadru,
Queenmother of the Ga State, government officials, assemblymen and some members of parliament.
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