Relatives of 10 Ghanaians in Europe asked to report to foreign ministry
Accra (Greater Accra) 26 June 2000
Common sense and good will, which are available in every neighbourhood, are the weapons needed to fight drug abuse and illicit trafficking, Mr Kofi Annan, UN Secretary-General stated on Monday.
He said with the combined forces of all levels of human endeavour, a headway could be found in the "daunting" anti-drug war.
In a message to mark International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking, Mr Annan said young people need the protection, support and guidance of their parents and communities.
His message was read on his behalf by Mrs Agnes Guimba-Ouedraogo, Acting UNDP Resident Representative, to mark the day under the theme, "Facing reality: denial, corruption and violence".
Mr Annan said the youth "need role models to help them find a positive path - a path without drugs - through the uneasy environment in which we live."
He noted that drug trafficking is fuelled by demand and called for efforts to prevent drug abuse before it starts.
He described the phenomenon as a terrible reality and its denial would lead society down a destructive spiral of corruption and violence.
He said despite an increase in awareness of the drug menace, victory against it is far from certain, adding that the problem knows no boundaries, is not restricted to any social class and is not exclusive to one region.
"Many of the most pressing problems afflicting our societies feed off the drug trade. The huge sums of money generated fuel a culture of corruption and violence."
Mr Annan said violence pervades all parts of the drug problem. "Violence against the authorities, inter-gang violence, violent crime by addicts and violence in the home as the family disintegrates."
He said drug abuse remains an individual tragedy affecting one's health and well-being and destroys one's ability to contribute meaningfully to society.
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Accra (Greater Accra) 26 June 2000
Mr Sam Jones Afari, Principal Officer of Narcotic Control Board (NCB), on Sunday described drug abuse as a time bomb that must be defused by society before it explodes.
If it is allowed to flourish the whole society becomes vulnerable to its adverse effects as addicts make some neighbourhoods and lanes unsafe during certain times of the day.
Mr Afari was speaking at a symposium organised by St Paul's Catholic Church in Accra as part of activities marking this year's International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking, which falls on June 26 every year.
He said people, who are ignorant about the long term effects of hard drugs feel that they can get extra power to solve problems while in actual fact it is the opposite.
"We must know that drug abuse adversely affects the body and its processes, behaviour, feeling and the nervous system."
Mr Afari said, "Indian hemp is grown locally so its abuse would continue to be with us. It is grown in the rural areas packed into fertiliser bags, loaded among charcoal, tomatoes or okra and sent to the cities for sale."
He said while some smoke the hemp others put it into akpeteshie and drink it and thereby indirectly taking the drug.
The Principal Officer said, "some students have had to abandon their education because they fell victims to drug abuse, lost interest in schooling or academic pursuits only to turn into street boys and girls, pick-pockets and bag-snatchers, petty thieves and notorious gangsters in our communities."
Mr Afari called for the adoption of the United Nations' comprehensive multidisciplinary guidelines on drug control, which involves all sectors of the society as well as the NCB.
The guidelines include enforcement of control and preventive measures as well as treatment, rehabilitation and social re-integration.
Dr J. B. Asare, Chief Psychiatrist of the Ministry of Health, spoke on, "The drug Menace and its effects in the millennium".
He said that considering the current increase in the use of drugs particularly among the youth, it is important that something is done to arrest the situation so that they grow to be responsible citizens.
Data available show that the youth constitute 80 per cent of drug related admissions to psychiatric institutions in the country.
Dr Asare said greed, struggle for affluence, societal acceptance and holding wealthy people at higher esteem, will continue to be strong motivating factors for the production and marketing of all types of drugs that can cause dependency and thus its increased use and trafficking.
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Kumasi (Ashanti Region) 26 June 2000
Mr David Henric Yeboah, 43, a Ghanaian businessman based in the United States and aspiring NPP parliamentary candidate for Afigya-Sekyere East constituency, on Saturday said health, education and rural development would be accorded top priority by the party when voted into power.
He bemoaned the lack of employment avenues, potable water, basic infrastructure for education, health, and market for agricultural produce in the rural areas and promised to address the situation.
Speaking to the Ghana News Agency in Kumasi, Mr Yeboah said his first assignment, when elected, would be to ensure improvement in the quality of education and provision of employment avenues for the youth in the constituency.
He was optimistic that he would win the primaries and lead the people to undertake projects to improve their standard of living. Other people contesting for the seat in the primaries are Mr Kwasi Akomea Kyeremateng, the incumbent MP, and Miss Naana Afriyie, a teacher.
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Agona Swedru (Central Region) 26 June 2000
The Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) has interdicted three top officials of its Agona Swedru Area branch for alleged unprofessional behaviour and fraudulent deals.
They are Mr Daniel A. Brown, District Technical Officer, Mr George Arthur, in charge of meters, and Mr Kissi Asiamah, Administrative Officer.
They were found out when the Loss Control Unit Committee (LCUC) set up by the Managing Director of the ECG uncovered the deals on Monday at Agona Swedru.
The three, whose alleged deals have led to a loss of millions of cedis to the ECG, are also to appear before a disciplinary committee.
A source at the Agona Swedru ECG told the Ghana News Agency that the LCUC members came up with their findings after a national task force of the company reported losses running into millions of cedis through illegal power connections by some top officials for unspecified consumers.
The source said about 80 per cent of consumers in and around the Agona District do not pay electricity bills to the ECG and that the officials manage to collect the moneys through the back door.
The source said the committee found that small-scale industrialists, commercial storekeepers and saw millers colluded with some staff of the company and private electricians to tamper with their meters.
Three months ago, the ECG national task force arrested about 40 customers for having tampered with their meters to void paying bills.
Mr Michael Anobil of the Cape Coast Office of the ECG, in a telephone interview, confirmed the interdiction of the three officials.
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Accra (Accra) 26 June 2000
President Jerry John Rawlings left Accra on Sunday for Geneva, Switzerland, at the head of a four-member delegation to attend the special session of the UN General Assembly on the World Social Summit slated for June 26-30.
First Lady Nana Konadu Agyeman Rawlings, Minister of Foreign Affairs Victor Gbeho, Minister of Employment and Social Welfare Mohammed Mumuni and Dr. Charlotte Abakah, Chairperson of the NCWD, accompanied the president.
Briefing journalists at the Kotoka International Airport, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Joseph Laryea said amidst the heightened concern over social issues such as poverty, employment, and workers' rights in the age of globalisation, the summit would aim at advancing the global social development agenda set up at the 1995 World Summit in Copenhagen, Denmark.
He said countries are expected to suggest and agree upon new initiatives that will enhance efforts to create jobs, reduce poverty and address a wide array of social concerns as well as identify additional innovative and concrete proposals for the millennium.
Mr Gbeho said the five-day conference would be attended by a number of heads of state and would be addressed by UN Secretary General Kofi Annan.
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Tapa-Abotoase (Volta Region) 26 June 2000
The bodies of four members of the EP Church of Ghana who got drowned in the Volta Lake last week at Abotoase in the Jasikan District have been recovered.
The police identified the victims as Madam Agnes Tegetse, 55, Christine Tegetse, 40, both farmers, Soga Maufemor, 17, and Linda Appiah, both pupils of the Tapa Amanfrom JSS and Pentecost Preparatory Schools.
The police told the Ghana News Agency that 23 members of the church who were on the boat were rescued by the crew of another boat which was cruising behind them.
According to Pastor Nelson Exor, in charge of the church at Abotoase, 27 members of the church, led by him, were returning from a three-day convention on the "Kolikorfe" Island when their chartered boat sank after hitting a stump under the water.
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Ziavi-Dzogbe (Volta Region) 26 June 2000
Professor Jonas Kwaku Mawuse Dake, an engineering consultant and a leading member of the Convention Peoples' Party (CPP) who died on April 14, this year, was laid to rest at his hometown, Ziavi-Dzogbe, in the Ho District of the Volta Region on Saturday. He was 67.
The funeral was attended by leading members of the CPP, NDC, UGM, PNC, NPP and officials of the Ghana Football Association.
The CPP delegation was led by its flagbearer Professor George Hagan and his running mate Alhaji Alidu Mahama as well as its national Chairman Alhaji Alhassan Abubakar.
Other dignitaries included Mr Ken Dzirasah, First Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Mr Kofi Ator, Deputy General Secretary of the NDC and MP for HO-Central, Dr. Yves Charles Wereko-Brobby, flagbearer of the UGM, and Mr Akuffo Addo, NPP-MP for Abuakwa.
Alhaji Nurudeen Jawula, Chairman of the GFA, and Mr Ade Coker, Chief Executive of Accra Great Olympics, also attended the funeral. Tributes paid by the CPP, chiefs and people of Ziavi traditional area, the GFA, old Mawuli school mates and family acknowledged Prof. Dake's dedication, commitment, simplicity, intellectual ability and undaunting spirit.
“He abhorred sycophancy, which he considered as the greatest enemy of democracy.
"To his own people, his attributes make him an 'icon'...rare in a small Agrarian community of ours," the tribute from the CPP said.
The GFA said despite his insistence on his views, which brought him into conflict with his colleagues, "surprisingly, he bore none a grudge".
The Right Reverend Japheth Yao Ledo, Moderator of the EP Church, Ghana, said in a sermon that death need not be a source of sorrow to mankind because it is designed by God to usher man into eternity.
He said what is important is that each person, while alive, should strive to carve a life of dedication and commitment to the welfare of others as a Christian obligation.
Rt. Rev. Ledo said testimonies about Prof. Dake gave ample proof to the fact that he did his utmost in the service of humanity.
He said it is only when people see themselves as individuals and live for themselves alone that they pursue lives that bring misery to others.
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Accra (Greater Accra) 26 June 2000
The Foreign Ministry on Monday
asked relatives and acquaintances of 10 Ghanaians who have travelled to Romania
en route to Italy and other European Union countries to report to its legal and
consular bureau section.
They are Agnes Mensah, Felicia
Asiedu, Clement Osei Nyamaa, Matthew Obeng and Josephine Donkor.
The rest are Andrews Gyamfi,
Matthew Osei Bonsu, Samuel Tetteh, Gifty Kuakoe and Glagys Opoku Mensah.
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