4 perish in Volta Lake
CHRAJ worried about rise in crime
Let's adjust fuel prices
Government won't tolerate troublemakers - Mills
Mills starts campaign 2000 in Busia’s Region
I have no regrets about executions- Rawlings
I may be quitting partisan politics
Gen. A.A Afrifa executed by firing squad on June 26, 1979
4 perish in Volta Lake
The Ghanaian Times under a banner headline story says the bodies of four members of the Evangelistic Presbyterian Church of Ghana (EP), drowned in the Volta Lake last week at Abotoase in the Jasikan District, have been recovered.
The paper quotes Joy FM, an Accra based radio station as saying that the police identified the victims as Madam Agnes Tegetse, 55; Christine Tegetse, 40, both farmers, Soga Mawufemor, 17, and Linda Appiah, both pupils of the Tepa Amanfrom JSS and Pentecost Preparatory Schools.
The story continues that twenty-seven members of the church, led by the Pastor in-charge, Nelson Exor, were returning from a convention on the Kolikorfore Island, when their chartered boat sank after hitting a stump under the water.
The story says the crew of another boat, which was cruising behind them rescued twenty-three of the victims.
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Addressing a durbar of ACDR at Kumas, he noted that even countries like Nigeria that export oil have been hit by the crisis and dismissed opposition contention that the government is incapable of managing the economy.
He is said to have warned the cadres against the efficient propaganda machinery of the opposition, which has been employed to destroy the confidence the people have in the government.
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Government won't tolerate troublemakers - Mills
In another story carried in the centre-spread of the Graphic, Vice-President, Professor John Evans Atta Mills is reported as having stated that the government would not sit down for a small minority of troublemakers to capitalise on the forthcoming general elections to create confusion in the country.
Prof. Mills, according to the Graphic, said during visits to the Asunafo and Asutifi districts of the Brong Ahafo Region that Ghanaians have entrusted power to the government and they expect that it would be used responsibly in the interest of peace, stability and progress.
The Vice-President is reported by the paper to have said that the nation has come a long way from a state of hopelessness to one of great expectations and noted that any act that tend to undermine or reverse the gains would not be in the interest of the people.
He stated that the destiny of the country is linked to the December 8 elections since it would determine the country's progress or otherwise, urging the electorate to make the right decision when the time comes to consolidate the gains so far made.
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The Ghanaian Voice reports that some parties that “exist” only in the pages of the newspapers have panicked over the Electoral Commission’s announcement that parties that do not meet certain requirements will be closed down.
According to the paper, the requirements include opening offices throughout the country, submission of audited accounts and the organisation of party branches in the districts. The paper says that some of these political parties are the vocal ones, accusing the media houses of not allocating equal space and airtime to them when they very well know that they only exist on paper.
The paper states that Dan Botwe the General Secretary of the NPP, has endorsed this move of the Electoral Commission and said that the move was long overdue.
It further states that to cheat the system and thereby qualify to be retained, some political parties are contracting friends and relations to turn part of their residences into offices.
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Mills starts campaign 2000 in Busia’s Region
The executed officers were tried and found guilty by the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC) special courts, on charges of using their positions to amass wealth to the detriment of the nation, the paper recalled, adding that their offences included acquisition or obtaining of bank loans, properties, material promises, favours or advantages whatsoever by abuses or exploits by virtue of their official position in the public service. Additionally, they were found guilty of gross negligence or dishonestly acquiring public property and intentional or reckless dissipation of public property all specified in Section Three of the AFRC Special Courts Decree.
The paper adds that the basis for the selection of the officers to be executed has never been clear-cut. It recalled the National Organiser of the NDC as having said last year on GTV programme, ‘Public Concern’ that the execution of Gen Afrifa was unfortunate. He said he found it extremely difficult to rationalise Afrifa’s execution since he had long retired from the Ghana Armed Forces when the Uprising took place.
The paper states that a book written by Colonel Kofi Jackson (rtd) has given a few insights into military rule between 1975 and 1979.
Col. Jackson stated in his book that: “ By 10am (on June 16, 1979), we heard the shocking news that General Acheampong and General Utuka had been executed by firing squard that morning at the Teshie firing range. By lunch time we heard that the bodies of the two Generals had been brought to the Nsawam Prison Condemned Block for burial at the Adoagyiri Cemetary”.
With the second batch of officers executed on 26, he said “the bodies of the five Generals and the Colonel were brought to the Nsawam Prison Condemned Block for burial. The inmate carpenters quickly cut and nailed wawa boards into make-shift coffins for the bodies”.
The paper concludes that a burial party made up of convicted prisoners under the watchful eyes of revolutionary soldiers buried the Generals and the Colonel at the Nsawam Prisons Cemetary at Adoagyiri.
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The Public Agenda reports that hundreds of students from various Senior Secondary Schools (SSS) in the country have been automatically disqualified from writing Senior Secondary School Certificate Exams (SSSCE) due to poverty and parental neglect.
The deadline for registration was on 30th May but Public Agenda gathered that students could still register after paying a 100 percent penalty.
According to the paper, the number of students who will not be able to write their exams constitute ten percent of all final year SSS students in the country. Some schools have asked those students to repeat but a number of them are reluctant and are just hanging about not knowing what their fate would be.
The paper stated that in an interview with Public Agenda, the Vice President of the Council of Heads of Assisted Secondary School (CHASS) Reverend Father Samuel Kofi Batsa said loss of jobs, poverty and irresponsible parents are responsible for the situation.
The paper says however that the Ghana Education Service (GES) is well aware of the problem - Professor Christopher Ameyaw-Akumfi, the Director General of the Ghana Education admitted: “The issue of the payment of registration fees has become an annual problem for the GES and heads of schools, he said.
However, an insider at the Ministry of Education revealed to the paper that the number which failed to register for the exams is higher than 7,000 but some students manage to register with WAEC as private candidates.
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The Ghanaian Chronicle discloses that the American Immigration and Airlines officials got more than they bargained for when they crossed the path of Mrs Rawlings at New York by asking her to go through security checks.
The paper states that she refused to be subjected to such checks that passengers routinely go through while catching a British Airways (BA) flight en-route to London where she was expected to meet with her husband en-route to Japan.
According to the paper, after anxious moments of restrained anger, her bodyguard was allowed to go through security search but the Ghanaian first lady asserted herself. She voluntarily allowed her baggage to be taken off the aircraft as the aircraft was delaying, ostensibly because of the row.
According to the paper Mrs Rawlings was flying British Airways to London and so her flight and departure formalities were as expected handled by the airline. Generally, diplomats are not subjected to searches.
The paper states that the first lady’s office was demanding an apology, and she was expecting it from the very top in the BA hierarchy in London.
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I may be quitting partisan politics
The Ghanaian Chronicle again discloses that after 18 years in the public eye, Nana Konadu Agyemang Rawlings says she has no immediate plans of staying in politics after the December elections.
According to the paper, speaking on an Accra radio station Vibe FM, last Wednesday, she intimated that she had not made up her mind on the exact role she would play politically when President Rawlings leaves office.
The paper notes that the first family have on separate occasion spoken openly about their preparedness to stay in the country after the 2000 elections to contribute their quota in national development.
The first lady, is however reported as saying that she hopes to concentrate her energy and effort in the global crusade for women empowerment, particularly of the Ghanaian woman.
According to the paper when asked how she got into politics, she said she worked her way into it in order for her to influence government policies in favour of women, as policies in the past had not favoured women.
Asked about her relation with the 2nd lady Naadu Mills, she said: “I have no problem with her at all. We have worked very well together when she has the time. I don’t know if she has quit her job. She is working full time with the Ministry of Education as an Educationist, educating our children so she doesn’t have the time” she stated.