IGP calls on MTTU to enforce traffic regulations
The strength of society depends on women – FIDA
Sunyani (Brong Ahafo) 19 June 2000
Dr Edward Mahama, leader and
flagbearer of the People's National Convention (PNC) said on Saturday that a
merger between his party and the Convention People's Party is possible.
"Both parties remain the only
two political organisations with genuine claim to the heritage of Dr Kwame
Nkrumah and it will not be out of place if we should merge to win the
forthcoming elections"
Dr Mahama was speaking to newsmen
during the Brong Ahafo Regional Delegates Congress of the party at Sunyani.
Delegates from all the 21
constituencies attended the congress, which saw the election of Mr Awudu
Nelson, a 45 year-old mechanic as the Regional Chairman with Nana Yeboah as
Vice Chairman.
Dr Mahama said that the PNC is
committed to a peaceful election and expressed concern over what he called
"provocative actions" being perpetuated by a particular party he did
not name with the view of precipitating violence.
He cited the example of an
incident at Saboba Chereponi in the Northern Region, in which the District
Chief Executive allegedly organised some soldiers to beat up PNC supporters
under the pretext that they have refused pay tax.
Dr Mahama said that the deplorable
state of the economy and high cost of living should tell Ghanaians that the
present government has failed and should be changed.
"This is a year of change and
Ghanaians must be bold to vote out the present government, which has proved
beyond doubt that it is incapable of solving the country's problems in spite of
the huge resources at its disposal."
Dr Mahama said that the PNC could
turn Ghana into "a comfortable place to live" if it is given power
since its economic blue print - Operation Self Reliance (OSR), has answers to
the economic problems of the country.
"Under OSR, the government of
PNC will introduce subsidies to boost agricultural production and roll out a
red carpet to Ghanaians living abroad to come home with their expertise and
money to help rebuild the country."
Mr Ali Issifu Issah, Second
National Vice Chairman of the party, said that the PNC has men with proven
track record who could transform the country within one year when given the
chance and appealed to the electorate to vote for the party in the December
elections.
He called for fair media coverage
to enable Ghanaians to make informed decisions as to which party has the best
programme.
GRi../
Koforidua (Eastern Region) 19 June 2000
Armed Robbers on Friday night raided a cold store at Koforidua, held the proprietress, workers and some customers hostage, collected all the money they could lay hands on and bolted.
Mrs Comfort Asamoah, Proprietress of Lescon Enterprises, a leading distributor of frozen food products, told the GNA that she had taken a consignment of products earlier in the evening from Tema, which was being discharged for sale, when a man armed with a gun entered the store at about 21:15 hours.
The man, whom she described as tall and stout and spotting a hat, demanded that she handed over all the money she had, or risk being shot dead with the customers present. She said while he was making his demand, two men equally armed with guns followed and forcibly dragged five porters, who were then at the entrance into the store.
Mrs Asamoah said she immediately complied with the demand of the robbers by giving them eight million cedis she had on her and an unspecified amount from the sales made that day.
"The customers, who were many, handed in cash ranging from 400,000 cedis and above over to them and despite our compliance, the robbers suspected we had an additional cash on us and threatened to shoot us if we did not hand them all over", she added.
Mrs Asamoah said after they had given them the money the robbers then asked them to go to a corner of the store while pointing the guns at them and warned some of the women, who wanted to attract attention that they would be killed if they made any noise.
She said one of the robbers aimed a gun at her but fired into the air, which scared her and she rushed into another corner while another robber kept vigilance on the rest.
Mrs Asamoah said she was so scared that she told them to take away everything they wanted but to spare their lives.
One of them, not satisfied, fired another shot, which attracted one of the male workers, who was then in the cold room and was unaware of what was going on. As soon as he stepped out, one of them hit his face with the butt of his gun. Blood started oozing out from his ears, she said, adding that he is being treated at the Koforidua Central Hospital.
Mrs Asamoah said after one of them had thrown away her phone and ransacked a fridge, the robbers, spontaneously firing warning shots, entered a car and sped off followed by a motorbike.
She said she immediately made a report to the Koforidua Central Police Station but they said they could not alert other Police posts because their phone was not working.
When GNA contacted the station to confirm the story, the Commander in charge was not available.
GRi../
Koforidua (Eastern Region) 19 June 2000
Eleven people, who registered during the recent voters' registration exercise have been disqualified by the New Juaben Municipal Registration Review Committee.
They formed part of 23 people against whom complaints were made concerning their eligibility to be registered.
Three of those disqualified engaged in double registration while the remaining eight were found not to be eligible on grounds of age, nationality and locality.
Nana Adjei Tuffour, Krontihene of the New Juaben Traditional area, who is the Chairman of the Committee, told the GNA at Koforidua.
A Constitutional Instrument 12 prescribes that a Registration Review Committee should be set up to deal with all those whose registration would be challenged.
The Committee Members comprised the District Electoral Officer, District Police Commander, an officer from the Ghana Education Service, and Traditional Councils.
He said, some of the culprits registered out of ignorance citing the case of some youth, who registered a month or two before they attained the legal age of 18 years.
Others, he said, clearly knew they had not yet attained the required age or would have attained it after the 2000 general elections were conducted.
The committee was expected to submit its findings to the Regional Director of EC for onward submission to the Electoral Commissioner.
Asked whether the political parties did not object to its findings, Nana Tuffour replied, "none could have cause to complain".
GRi../
Accra (Greater Accra) 19 June 2000
A two day Ghana-Nigeria Strategic
Co-operation meeting of Trade and Commerce Ministers opens in Accra on Monday.
Officials from the Customs, Food
and Drugs Board, Ministry of Finance and stakeholders in the private sector
from the two countries would be attending.
The meeting is part of efforts by
the two countries to facilitate the trade liberalisation scheme adopted and
ratified by members of ECOWAS, which is not being implemented efficiently.
A source at the Ministry of Trade
told the Ghana News Agency that top on the agenda is how to push forward
efforts towards the integration of the West Africa sub-region agreed on at the
last ECOWAS Summit in Lome, Togo.
GRi../
Mankessim (Central Region) 19 June
2000
The Abontsindomhene of Abeadze
Traditional Area, Nana Nketia Afful, has commended the University Teachers
Association of Ghana (UTAG), on its decision to organise extra classes to make
up for time lost during its strike for improved condition of service.
He also praised the government for
paying prompt attention to the demands of UTAG members.
Speaking to the Ghana News Agency
at Mankessim in the Central Region on Saturday, Nana Afful said that the
decision to make up for the time lost has set the hearts of many parents at
ease.
He appealed to UTAG and the
government to set up a permanent negotiating team to engage in a dialogue any
time the need arises to forestall breaks in the academic calendar of the
universities.
GRi../
Kasoa (Central Region) 19 June
2000
The Chairman of the Awutu Breaku
Community tribunal, Mr Justice Emmanuel Wilson, has suggested the appointment
of Road Marshals to help the police check reckless driving on the highways.
He said that the limited number of
police personnel and their heavy work load makes it essential to set up such a
task force to operate along side the law enforcing agents.
Justice Wilson was speaking at a
durbar organised by the Ghana Private Road Transport Union and Shell Company
Ghana Limited, at Kasoa on Sunday.
More than 300 drivers and
transport owners attended the function, which was to educate them on road
traffic regulations.
He stressed the importance of the
transport sector to the economy and urged them to promote the industry.
Justice Wilson warned them against
alcoholism and drug abuse adding that, "such habits often lead to
disaster".
GRi..
Koforidua (Eastern Region) 19 June 2000
The Inspector General of Police, Mr Peter Nanfuri, has called on the Motor Traffic and Transport Unit of the Police Service to strictly enforce road traffic regulations to prevent carnage on the roads.
He was speaking at an accident scene at Sansani Amanfro, near Suhum, on the Accra-Kumasi Highway on Friday.
Three passengers, two males, including the driver of one of the vehicles, and a female, died on the spot when a minibus travelling from Accra to Akim Begoro collided with a Neoplan Benz bus, which was travelling from Kumasi to Accra.
The IGP, who was travelling to Accra from Koforidua after presenting medals to Police personnel, expressed concern about the level of indiscipline on the roads, which has led to a number of fatal accidents of late.
Chief Inspector Jonathan Kwame Abban, Public Relations Officer of the Eastern Regional Command of the Police Service, gave the names of the victims as William Offei, 40, driver of the minibus, Paulina Sackey and Yaw Sekyeamah, both 40.
Elizabeth Asabea, 41, died at the Nsawam Government Hospital where all the bodies have been deposited.
Four passengers, Ebenezer Mensah, 23, Baffour Asare, 40, Faustina Gyan, 30, and Ama Animwaa, 40, who were in critical condition, were first treated at the hospital and then transferred to the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital in Accra. Five others are on admission at the Nsawam Hospital.
GRi../
Accra (Greater Accra) 19 June 2000
The International Federation of
Women Lawyers (FIDA) Ghana, on Friday called on governmental and
non-governmental organisations to promote the welfare of women and children
because the well-being of the home and society depends on their strength.
This calls for a review of
legislation and traditional practices that negate their development and
aspiration.
Miss Gloria Ofori-Boadu, Executive
Director of FIDA, said this in an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in
Accra.
She noted that the Federation has
actively been involved in creating awareness among Ghanaians on the problem of
domestic violence, which threatens the foundation of the society.
The FIDA Executive Director
expressed regret that women and children have been brought up to accept the
domination of men.
"In our mentality, there is
no equality among the sexes and on the socio-cultural, religious and economic
ladder, the men rank first followed by women and children."
Miss Ofori-Boadu called for a
change of attitude and reforms that would define and modify social attitudes
and behaviours.
She said "in addition to
legislation, there must be adequate sensitisation of law enforcement
institutions and officers, including the police, prosecutors and the
courts".
The agencies must be assisted to
appreciate the principles and procedures for implementing legislative
provisions adequately, "because the intended effect of the best laws can
be nullified if they are not enforced," she added.
She appealed to Parliament to pass
the proposed Domestic Violence Bill into a law without delay and said that such
a move would be a major step towards the goal of eliminating all forms of
gender discrimination in the country by 2020.
"The proposed Bill is not
against men but perpetrators of all forms of violence aimed at the vulnerable,
be it men against men, women against women, men against women or women against
men and even society against children," she said.
GRi../