Chiefs, youth of Aflao commend Diamond Cement
Teenage pregnancy on the increase in Ahafo-Ano district
Techiman District bemoans non-repayment of loans
Wa (Upper West) 28 June 2000
Plantation Development Limited, (PDL) a Wa based private cotton company, has dismissed seven of its officers for their involvement in a deal in which they defrauded the company of 178.5 million cedis.
The officers have been given up to the end of this month (June) to pay back the money to the company or face the full rigours of the law.
Mr. Maurice Dery, General Manager of the company, speaking to the Ghana News Agency, named the officers as Messrs Mathias Bellu of Fiam station, Domassa Sapatuo at Kajikperi station, Edmund Naagie also at Fiam and Zakaria Kassim at Sabuli station. who all constituted the then Wa North sector.
He named the rest, who constituted the then Wa Central sector, as Messrs Thompson Bassin Yeligiah at Jang station, Bruno Dozie at Keresi station and Salmon Dorimon-Naa at Cherugu station.
According to Mr Dery, the officers have also confessed to adding objects like stones and pieces of rocks to increase the weight of cottonseed of farmers at the buying centres in addition to inserting ghost names on the pay vouchers of farmers in cotton farming communities.
The General Manager said the seven officers confessed to the allegations levelled against them to a committee set up by the company to investigate their conduct.
Asked why legal actions were not taken against the officers, Mr Dery said the company has given them time to pay and "if after the deadline they do not show up, we shall advise ourselves".
He said they have engaged government auditors to investigate all malpractice and "more heads shall roll here to ensure that all workers are honest and law abiding in the discharge of their duties".
When the Ghana News Agency (GNA) contacted three of the dismissed officers, they refused to comment with the excuse that their lawyers were advising them on the appropriate line of action.
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Accra (Greater Accra) 28 June 2000
The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) on Tuesday said it is in the process of collating information on the first Anti-Corruption Survey initiated by the government and sponsored by the World Bank.
The SFO said results of the survey would enable it to tell the areas of the economy where the searchlight must be thrown in tackling corrupt practices.
Mr Brian Anko Sapati, Acting Executive Director of the SFO, in a telephone interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA) said it is hoped that the process would be over at the end of July and the report out by August.
Mr Sapati explained that the survey was in three phases - the household, enterprise and public official levels.
The SFO boss condemned corruption at all levels and stressed that it is important to equip the SFO with appropriate qualified staff to beef up their role within the constitutional mandate.
In this regard, Mr Sapati said a few prosecutors have been recruited as part of a long-term measure in equipping the SFO.
He said the Ministry of Finance last year released funds, which are being used in the recruitment programme. If this is continued and increased over the next few years, the SFO could have the full complement of staff to combat the increasing demands of modern corrupt practices.
On how the SFO is dealing with the issue of contractors rushing to submit certificates to the Ministry of Finance for payment even where very little or no work has been done, Mr Sapati said: "We are working closely with the Ministry of Finance to monitor projects, which are all being re-assessed."
Mr Sapati said a new format has been developed where certificates are issued upon verification by an established authority before payment is effected.
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Accra (Greater Accra) 28 June 2000
A consignment of more than 2,000 cartons of unwholesome chicken, which is at the heart of a health scare was imported from Belgium in March last year, police said on Tuesday.
Mr Angwubutoge Awuni, Police Public Relations officer, said the 2,003 cartons of chicken sold to the public were declared unwholesome by the government in March last year when it banned the import of poultry products from Belgium after confirmation that such products could cause cancer.
It was during arrangements for its destruction that the consignment found its way into the market through two Environmental Health Officers of the Tema Municipal Assembly (TMA) and sales managers of the importer who sold the consignment to unsuspecting consumers.
The unwholesome chicken was sold in Accra, Ashaiman and Kumasi. Mr Awuni said Kuhnesi Cold Stores, which imported the chicken, was directed to re-export it to Belgium.
He said that since the Cold Store could not re-export the chicken, it approached the TMA Health Office to help in destroying them.
"The importer paid four million cedis to the Health Office and arrangements were made to send the unwholesome chicken to the Kpone site of the TMA for destruction.
"It was not until the officials of TMA and two sales managers of the cold store were arrested that the importer got to know that the unwholesome chicken were being sold to the public."
Mr Awuni said the 42 cartons, which have been retrieved have been destroyed by the TMA. The culprits are still in police custody helping with investigations.
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Obuasi (Ashanti Region) 28 June 2000
Mr J. A. Amanor, Senior Manager of Ashanti Goldfields Company (AGC), has said that the Obuasi goldmines are still viable.
He dismissed speculations by workers of the mines that the gold deposit would be depleted in 15 years time.
Speaking at a farewell party organised at Obuasi at the weekend in honour of Mr James P. Hermiston, an expatriate Diamond Drill Superintendent, Mr Amanor said "let me use this platform to disabuse your minds about the notion that very soon operations at Obuasi mines would be over".
Mr Amanor who is also in charge of the Geology Section of the Company indicated that the Drilling Department has not been closed down and revealed that since 1998 it has been drilling at between 38 and 50 feet level.
The Senior Manager said a programme code-named "New Obuasi" was being pursued, under which they would go as deep as 100 feet to mine.
Mr Amanor said that when the programme is successful, it might have the capability of extending the 'life' of Obuasi underground operations substantially.
He reminded the workers of the low price of gold in the world market and said "the situation calls for the production of quality ounces and that starts from you diamond drill workers".
Mr Samuel Tuffour, the Diamond Drill Department Representative of the Obuasi Mineworkers Union, commended the expatriate for his contribution in the development of the company.
Mr Hermiston was hopeful that the Diamond Drill Department would be provided with the requisite skills and facilities to increase output.
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Accra (Greater Accra) 28 June 2000
Mr Charles Martey-Akrasu Kpabitey, Deputy Minister of Health, on Tuesday said that early exposure of adolescents to sex has very serious repercussion on the economy since the youth comprise nearly one-fifth of the country's population.
He said what was even more alarming and demands attention was issues relating to Sexually Transmitted Infections (STI) including HIV/AIDS and Adolescent Reproductive Health (ARH) issues, which are now very high among the youth.
Mr Kpabitey was launching the Sex Wise Project and a book on Adolescent Reproductive Health entitled "The Sex Wise guide" in Accra.
The project being organised by the Planned Parenthood Association of Ghana (PPAG) in collaboration with the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) would be broadcast on the BBC Radio starting from July seven to August five.
It aims at dispelling myths about sexual and reproductive health and associated guilt and creating awareness of specific sexual and reproductive health issues that are of particular interest and concern to individuals and the community.
It would also inform and educate listeners about the various methods of contraception and the practise of safe sex, respond to listeners' questions and anxiety about sex and give guidelines on sources of further information and advice on ARH issues.
Mr Kpabitey said that the youth need to be given the right information about the human physiology and should have proper understanding about human sexuality and its consequences to make informed decisions.
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Koforidua (Eastern Region) 28 June
2000
The Eastern Regional Minister,
Miss Patience Adow, has called on private sector providers to co-operate with
the Ghana Standards Board (GSB) to improve their quality of goods and services
so as to make them compete favourably on both the local and international
markets.
She said the competitiveness of
the private sector could be achieved if only they intensified and played an
active role by incorporating the practice of metrology, standards, testing and
quality in their operations.
This was contained in a speech red
for her at a day's workshop on "Metrology, Standards, Testing and
Quality" for private sector manufacturers and service providers in
Koforidua on Tuesday.
The workshop, which was under the
theme "Standards and the Quality: Steps Towards a Middle Income Earning
Country Status by the year 2020", was organised by the GSB with support
from the International Development Agency (IDA) of the World Bank.
It attracted 40 participants from
small and medium-scale manufacturers and service industries and aimed at
creating the necessary awareness on standardisation and quality on the
operation to ensure their competitiveness on the market.
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Accra (Greater Accra) 28 June 2000
Ghana will in September this year host a high level summit of African heads of state and governments to ratify the principles agreed on at the Conference on Collaborative Framework to Address Corruption held in Washington last year.
The 25 principles are policy measures aimed at combating corruption in Africa, Mr Brian Anko Sapati, Acting Executive Director of the Serious Fraud Office, told the Ghana News Agency on Wednesday.
He said the Global Coalition for Africa and its partners will be sponsors of the conference. The exact date is yet to be fixed.
Mr Sapati said the principles are to be adopted into a convention similar to those of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation an Development (OECD) and the Organisation of American States.
He expressed the hope that the summit would create a common platform to arrest corrupt practices all over the continent in view of the cross-border nature of crimes committed these days.
"This will eliminate the problem of non-co-operation by some states due to differences in criminal law procedures."
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Aflao (Volta Region) 28 June 2000
The chiefs, youth and people of Aflao have commended Diamond Cement (Ghana) Limited for its operations saying it has since its establishment employed directly or indirectly more than 400 youth in the district.
In a petition addressed to the District Chief Executive, a copy of which was given to the Ghana News Agency (GNA) on Wednesday, they said: "these youths who were formerly chased by security agencies for infringing the law are now gainfully employed by their standards at Diamond Cement (Gh) Ltd." It was signed by Mr Diamond Mikado and Kwame Mensah.
It said market women and chop-bar operators who either had to wind up their activities or were in debt are now playing their roles in the development of the society.
Ghana Cement Works (GHACEM) is reported to have appealed to the Ministry of Finance to halt the "unfair and prejudicial trading practices" being engaged in by WACEM, a rival cement company operating in Togo.
The Daily Graphic said the cement operation in Togo is under the ownership and management of an Indian consortium and the cement is imported into Ghana under the name Diamond Cement.
It quoted a letter by GHACEM as saying the company, which operates in the industrial free zone of Togo, has breached Ghana's laws and relevant agreements and protocol of ECOWAS in their export of bagged cement into Ghana.
GHACEM, which is the sole cement producer in Ghana, said the government is losing considerable revenue on import duty and tax revenue by allowing the Company to export to Ghana.
However, in their petition, the youths and people of Aflao said since its inception, Diamond Cement Company has paid well over two billion cedis to the VAT Secretariat.
"The introduction of Diamond Cement (Ltd) is in line with the free trade policy being advocated in the spirit of good neighbourliness and the realisation of certain agreements on the ECOWS inter-trade treaty..."
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Tepa (Ashanti Region) 28 June 2000
Teenage pregnancy is on the
increase in the Ahafo-Ano North district of Ashanti, according to statistics
made available by the Ministry of Health.
In 1998, 354 teenage pregnancies
were recorded in the district while in 1999, the figure rose to 365.
The figures were made available by
Miss Elizabeth Danso, Acting District Director of Health Services at a one-day
workshop on adolescent health.
It was organised by the district
health administration for pupils and students in first and second-cycle
institutions, dressmakers and their apprentices drawn from Tepa and its
environs on Monday.
They were educated on health and
socio-economic problems associated with teenage pregnancy, and the need for
preparation by an adolescent towards marriage.
Miss Danso said from January to
march this year, 135 teenage pregnancies have already been recorded and feared
that the situation could reach an alarming proportion if not checked.
She disclosed that the district
health administration has set up a counselling unit for girls adding that the
unit will also visit churches to educate teenagers on early sex.
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Techiman (Brong Ahafo) 28 June
2000
Out of the 323 million cedis
disbursed under the poverty alleviation fund in the Techiman District since
1998, only 12.3 million cedis, representing a meagre 3.8 per cent of the total
loan, has been repaid by beneficiaries.
This leaves an amount of 310
million cedis still outstanding in addition to an accumulated interest of 60
million cedis, Mr Yaw Gyarko, District Chief Executive, disclosed at the
opening of the second ordinary meeting of the second session of the Techiman
District Assembly on Tuesday.
Mr Gyarko expressed grave concern
about the abysmally low repayment rate of loans granted under the scheme and
cautioned that unless a way was found to improve the situation, the purpose of
setting up the fund would be defeated in the district.
"I am, therefore, urging you
members of the assembly to debate the issue critically so that we may find an
antidote to plug the loopholes and shortcomings of the scheme...."
Mr Gyarko said every option,
including legal steps, should be considered to compel beneficiaries to pay up
to save the scheme from collapsing and to allow others too to benefit from it.
The assembly is seriously considering
engaging a business promotion officer to manage its credit schemes by giving
managerial training to beneficiaries and monitoring them to ensure that they
repay loans granted them, the DCE said.
Mr Gyarko was also not happy about
the revenue generation performance of the assembly this year as it could only
collect 20 per cent instead of the 33 per cent of its targeted revenue in the
first quarter of the year.
He said the assembly's revenue
collection committee had been reconstituted and urged assembly members to give
the needed support to rectify the situation.
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