Bishop Palmer-Buckle calls for better work ethics from graduates
Three Women butchered to death
Provisional results to be ready by July
Accra (Greater Accra) 15 June 2000
The Electoral Commission is to
embark on a nation-wide assessment of the political parties to ensure that
their operations are in conformity with constitutional provisions and the
Political Parties Law (Act 574).
The Act states, among others
things, that all political parties shall establish branches in all the regions
and in addition organise in not less than two-thirds of the districts in each
region.
Mr. David Adeenze Kangah, Deputy
Chairman in-charge of operations, in an interview with the Ghana News Agency
(GNA) in Accra on Wednesday said that the exercise would cover all
constituencies.
He said the commission is
empowered to cancel the registration of a political party on the grounds that
it has refused, neglected or failed to establish or maintain national, regional
and district offices.
There are 10 registered political
parties in the country, but some exist only on paper and do not satisfy the
law.
A GNA investigation shows that
some parties organise only in the media with dormant district and regional
branches.
Some have changed their office
location and postal address without notifying the Commission.
The registered political parties
are the National Democratic Congress (NDC), the New Patriotic Party (NPP), the
Convention Peoples Party (CPP), the Democratic Peoples Party (DPP) and EGLE
Party.
Other are Peoples National
Convention (PNC); the Great Consolidated Popular Party (GCPP), United Ghana
Movement (UGM), Ghana Democratic Republican Party (GDRP), and the National
Reform Party (NRP).
Mr Kangah said that the law also
specifies that a political party shall within six months from December 31st of
each year file with the Electoral Commission a return indicating the state of
its accounts, the source of its funds and membership dues paid.
He said that the commission should
also be informed about contributions or donations in cash or kind, properties
and time of acquisition and audited accounts for the year.
Mr. Kangah said these are
constitutional and statutory provisions that the parties are required to meet
and make available to the commission for verification.
"The Act says this shall be
supported by a statutory declaration made by the national treasurer and the
national or general secretary of the party.
Without prejudice to any other
penalty prescribed by the Act or any other enactment, where a political party
refuses or neglects to comply with the provision or submits a declaration that
is false in any material, the commission may cancel its registration," he
said.
Mr. Kangah said that only a
citizen might contribute in cash or kind to the parties adding that there is no
limitation.
He said that any person or
company, who contravenes the constitutional provision on funding of political
parties, would forfeit to the state any amount, whether in cash or kind.
The party or individual, in whose
custody the amount is, shall pay it to the state. A non-citizen found guilty of
contravention of the provision shall be deemed to be a prohibited immigrant and
liable to deportation under the Aliens Act.
Mr. Kangah, however, noted that
the provisions do not preclude a government of any country or a
non-governmental organisation from providing assistance in cash or kind to the
EC for the collective benefit of registered political parties.
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Kumasi (Ashanti Region) 15 June 2000
The Ashanti Regional Secretariat of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) has condemned what it says is the orchestrated "smear and hate campaign" being waged against the party by sections of the private media.
A press statement issued and signed by Mr Philip Edward Kwabena Antwi, the Regional Chairman, said the complete disregard for professional ethics and the penchant for peddling twisted facts and bare-faced lies to malign the NDC by sections of the media is both nauseating and irritating.
The party was re-acting to a publication in the Ghanaian Voice edition of June 5-11 headlined "Ashanti NDC dodges the press".
That publication sought among other things to ridicule the NDC claiming that it failed to honour an invitation to participate in a recent seminar organised for journalists in the region just to safe itself from embarrassment by what the Voice termed "big time English language questions from journalists".
It also imputed incompetence to the regional leadership of the party. The statement said the party’s inability to attend the seminar was caused by a communication gap, explaining that the organisers changed the venue without informing the party.
This, it said, resulted in a situation where representatives of the NDC selected to participate in the seminar reported to the Christian Village in Kumasi only to be told that the venue has been shifted to Fumesua in the Ejisu-Juaben District.
The statement was emphatic that the party is well focussed and has able, capable and competent hands in the region and that their output would show in the outcome of the December general election.
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Kintampo (Brong Ahafo) 15 June 2000
Dr B. I. Koray, President of the Ghana Association of the Blind (GAB), has appealed to Parliament to speed up the promulgation of the National Disabled Persons Bill before it.
He said the speedy passage of the bill would greatly help to uplift the dignity and welfare of the blind and other disabled persons in the country.
Dr Koray made the appeal when he inaugurated the Kintampo Branch of the Association at Kintampo on Tuesday.
The branch is the second to be established in the Brong Ahafo Region after that of Techiman.
He said it was wrong for people to think that the only thing people with disabilities could do is to beg for alms.
He said the fact that one-Dr Danaah and himself, being visually impaired are lawyers shows that with the right training and support, persons with disabilities could lead productive lives.
"I am, therefore, calling on non-governmental organisations and other associations to extend a helping hand to the disabled in the area of training and credit to enable them to realise their full potential".
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Accra (Greater Accra) 15 June 2000
Dr Edmund Delle who lost the contest to become chairman of the Convention People's Party (CPP) has appealed to his supporters to accept the results in good faith.
In a release signed by his Secretary Ona Aryee, Dr Delle asked the supporters not to be downhearted but continue to have faith in the party "which is poised to win the elections on December 8, 2000."
It said Dr Delle would like to assure the supporters of his "loyalty and commitment both to the leaders, ideals and programmes of the party."
Dr Delle lost the position of Chairman of the Party to Dr Abubakar Alhassan last Saturday June 10 by a vote of 745 against 917.
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Akim-Oda (Eastern Region) 15 June 2000
Salifu Issaka, 19, was trapped to death in a pit under a railway line during an illegal mining operation at Akim Oda.
The deceased has since been buried in accordance with the Islam rites after an autopsy at the Akim Oda Government Hospital.
A Police source told the GNA at Akim Oda that, the deceased and two others went to the spot to mine diamond illegally and disregarded a warning that the area was too soft for the activity. When the deceased got trapped in the pit, the others ran away for fear of prosecution.
A passer-by, however, reported the case to the Police. Police say, illegal diamond miners for some time now have extended their operations to the Akim-Wenchi, Akim-Oda railway line with impunity.
Efforts by the Birim South District Security Committee (BISEC) to halt the operations have proved futile.
The situation, he said, was so bad that the government had to spend a lot of money to rehabilitate the place before rail services could resume.
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Sunyani (Brong Ahafo) 15 June 2000
Nana Yaa Gyaukyi, 72, Queenmother of the Dwan Traditional Area in the Brong Ahafo Region has been declared unfit to hold her traditional office following her conviction and sentence for stealing a steel trunk.
The Judicial Committee, of the Regional House of Chiefs, in a judgement given at its sitting at Sunyani said Nana Gyaukyi's conduct and the sentencing by the Atebubu Community Tribunal have brought disgrace to her stool, therefore, she was not fit to occupy it anymore.
The judgement, given by the committee chaired by Krotwiamansa Adjei-Ampofo, Goasohene, followed a petition filed by two persons against the Queenmother after she was sentenced.
The petitioners were Opanyin Yaw Kuma, Head of her family and Nana Opoku Mensah, a kingmaker of the Dwan Queenmother's stool.
Represented by Yaw Wiredu-Peprah, Sunyani based lawyer, the petitioners argued that according to the Chieftaincy Law, Nana Gyaukyi's conduct and sentencing have rendered her unfit to continue to hold office.
The petitioners noted that since she was sentenced to a day's imprisonment on her own plea of guilty in October last year for stealing a trunk belonging to one Kofi Boadum, a farmer at Kwame Danso, she should be declared unfit to hold her office.
"Nana Gyaukyi, by her action, has brought the cherished Queenmother's stool of our traditional area and honourable royal family into great disrepute, embarrassment and ridicule and must be dealt with according to the law".
Based on the evidence adduced, the committee agreed with the submissions of the counsel for the petitioners and declared her unfit to hold her traditional office.
One hundred thousand cedis cost was awarded against her but the committee left her destoolment to the Kingmakers of her traditional area, which it said "have the sole customary right and duty to destool her in the wake of her conviction".
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Koforidua (Eastern Region) 15 June 2000
The Catholic Bishop of Koforidua, the Right Reverend Charles Palmer-Buckle, has called on graduates of the country's higher institutions to let society benefit from their education through conscientious work ethics.
He asked them to appreciate the contributions made by society in the attainment of their educational status and contribute towards the development of the country.
Bishop Palmer-Buckle was speaking at the inauguration of the Eastern Regional Chapter of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) Alumni Association and the launch of the university's golden jubilee celebrations at Koforidua on Tuesday.
He described education as a double-edged sword, which could be used to promote, life or death, light or darkness in society, depending on how the beneficiary used his or her knowledge.
Bishop Palmer-Buckle reminded the alumni that, with their acquired education and positions in the society, they were capable of contributing a lot towards the development of the people.
The Vice-Chancellor of the KNUST, Professor John S.K. Ayim, announced that a multi-billion-cedi golden jubilee hostel project had been proposed by the Alumni to help ease the acute accommodation problems facing students.
He expressed regret that only 4,000 out of the 9,500 students of the university were accommodated on the campus, adding that the provision of adequate hostels would provide a congenial atmosphere for students to study.
Prof. Ayim said the KNUST had since 1962 turned out about 25,000 graduates and urged them to mobilise resources for the improvement of facilities at the campus.
He charged the six-member interim chapter executive under the chairmanship of Mr F.E. Boateng to bring together all alumni in the region to enable them to contribute towards the achievement of the objectives of the association.
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Bolgatanga (Upper East) 15 June
2000
Three women from Kunyelga, near
Bongo in the Upper East Region were last weekend butchered to death while their
uncle, who tried to rescue them, received cutlass wounds.
One Adaboro Baba, 38, allegedly
used a sharp cutlass to inflict, cuts on the heads and necks of the women,
killing them instantly.
The deceased were Akampa Baba, 67,
Adadare Baba 20, and Atipoka Baba 31, all relatives of Baba
The uncle, Atibira Baba is on
admission at the Bolgatanga Hospital.
Inspector Thomas Agbanyo, Regional
Police Public Relations Officer told the Ghana News Agency in Bolgatanga, that
there was a misunderstanding between the Adaboro and the women, who were
alleged to have complained about his habitual drunkenness.
He said Baba left home to complain
to his uncle about being nagged by the women but was rather admonished by the
uncle.
Baba is said to have gone back
home took a sharp cutlass and started butchering the women as they run and
shout for help.
Adaboro inflicted cutlass wounds
on the hands and legs of Atibira, who went to their rescue, before escaping.
Inspector Agbanyo said Baba was
arrested the following day at a hideout, near the village. He was shot in the
leg during his arrest and is under Police guard at the hospital.
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Accra (Greater Accra) 15 June 2000
Provisional results of the 2000 Housing and Population Census would be available to the public by end of July.
A full preliminary report would, however, not be ready until the end of the year, the Acting Government Statistician and Census Co-ordinator, Dr Kwaku Twum-Baah, told a training workshop for 400 field supervisors and enumerators for the Post Enumeration Survey (PES) in Accra.
The PES, which is the next stage in the census process, involves the re-enumeration of randomly selected areas that had already been covered in the main census. It would begin on Monday, June 26 in 200 selected areas and would last three weeks.
Dr Twum-Baah explained that the aim of the PES is to evaluate the quality of the census with regard to coverage and content and stressed that the PES results were not meant to replace or adjust the data already collected during the main census.
"A good match between census and PES households will help estimate extent of coverage, while internally consistent characteristics of household members will give an indication of the level of accuracy of responses."
Where discrepancy exists between the census and the PES, a reconciliation visit is made to the household to resolve the issue.
Dr Twum-Baah said 100 per cent coverage in a census is unachievable saying, "no where in the world has a census coverage achieved such a result."
However, to instil confidence in the use of the data results, it is necessary to assess and analyse such content errors such as mis-reporting of age and other things.
He said the main objective of the 2000 Population and Housing Census is to provide data on personal, household and community characteristics for development planning and policy formulation.
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