GRi Newsreel 17-03-99

Accra (Greater Accra), 17 March 

Nana Dzewu the third, Headmistress of Saint Theresa's School on Tuesday urged children to cultivate the habit of letter writing and stamp collection.

"Stamp collection leads to letter writing. By constantly writing to pen-pals, we are able to improve our writing skills, not to mention the ability to express ourselves intelligently in the English language".

Nana Dzewu was speaking at a stamp exhibition aimed at rekindling the hobby and art of philately among school children in Accra.

She described as unfortunate, inventions, such as video and computer games which have captured the attention of school children, therefore, eroding this important hobby.

Mrs Jane Asamoah-Broni, head of Philately of the Ghana Post company, said about 40 years ago, stamp collection helped children to know more about people in other countries, their way of life, the types of animals and plants found in that country without visiting those countries.

She said it is for this reason that postal administrations all over the world have decided to revive the art of stamp collection.

"The programme is the first step of the stamp collectors club we want to establish, and we hope to extend it to other preparatory schools, junior and senior secondary schools."

Ms Asamoah-Broni said the reason for choosing children between the ages of 8 and 12 "is because, this age group has already acquired the habit of writing", adding that they also have a sense of maturity which will enable them to appreciate the programme.

Schools participating in the programme are Saint Bernadette, New Hope, Bishop Bowers and Saint Theresa's Schools all in Accra.

Accra (Greater Accra), 17 March -- Workers of the Automative and Technical Services Limited (ATS) yesterday called on the government to institute an Interim Management Committee to run the company. The IMC should not include any of the current management team under Mr E. Nanka-Bruce, Managing Director, whose team has been accused of mal-administration and financial mismanagement.

At a press briefing held on Tuesday, Mr Frank Dean Adjebeng, Personnel Manager, alleged that 34 million cedis withdrawn from the company's account on the authority of the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) to pay workers has not been used for that purpose.

The whereabouts of another 38 million cedis deposited by the Ghana Commercial Bank for the repairs of its vans are not known.

One of the vans with registration number GV 3153 C is parked at the Kwame Nkrumah Avenue branch of the company and the others at its Ringway Workshop.

The vans should have been repaired and delivered by November, last year.

Mr Adjebeng alleged that management owed workers salary arrears from March to June, 1998 and February 1999.

He said workers contribution to the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) was last paid in December 1997. He further alleged that Income Tax remittances are not being paid to government coffers, dud cheques were presented to the Trades Union Congress (TUC) and as a result of management's conduct "there is no money to run the company".

Mr Adjebeng said when the workers seized seven million cedis being proceeds for jobs executed, they were able to generate about 26 million cedis within 10 days out of which part of outstanding electricity bills were defrayed.

He rejected accusations that the company's economic slump is as a result of "strained relations between the workers and management," and said "it is the sum total of people in responsible positions' inability to present the truth for the right decision to be taken."The company has the potential to "re-instate itself as the 'auto-leader' in the country."

Since December 1997, workers and management relations had been strained as a result of accusations and counter accusations. Attempts to get the management to comment on the allegations were unsuccessful as none of them was available.

Accra (Greater Accra), 17 March 

A three-day consultative workshop on the reform programme of the public service, being organised by the government and the world bank, opens at Volta Hotel at Akosombo today, March 17.

About 70 delegates from the Executive wing of government, led by Prof. JohnEvans Atta Mills, the Vice-President, Parliamentarians, the Judiciary, Civil society, the private sector, the Trades Union Congress and the donor community are expected to attend.

Key issues to be considered are the review of the new roles and functions of regulatory agencies and the draft legal framework to enable the Subvented Agencies Reform to be implemented.

Others are the consideration of the list of subvented agencies to be closed, commercialised or restructured to generate income to cover 30-70 per cent of their cost, alternative employment and out-placement programmes to manage any redundancies that may occur.

Accra (Greater Accra), 17 March  

The First Lady, Nana Konadu Agyeman Rawlings on Tuesday called on government to expedite action to finalise the national gender policy document.

The document will give direction to efforts to put gender in the mainstream of national development, she said at the inauguration of the Gender Development Institute (IGD) in Accra.

The Institute seeks to provide quality service by highlighting gender issues for equitable human development through education, training, information and advisory services.

It has a six-member Advisory Committee, with Professor Miranda Greenstreet of the University of Ghana as Chairman and Mrs Lorraine Osei-Mensah, Co-ordinator of the Institute, as Secretary.

Nana Konadu called for the strengthening of collaboration between government and Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) as well as civil society in reaching the goal since government alone cannot carry the entire burden.

Nana Konadu said, through the commitment of institutions such as IGD, the new generation of women, would find it easier to occupy positions of prominence and influence in their organisations and communities.

She said the task is, however, not easy due to current staggering statistics.

More than half of women in Sub-Saharan Africa over 25 years are illiterate and are under represented in key decision-making positions and managerial levels of the economy such as the banks, foreign trade, industry, legislature and judicial systems.

Nana Konadu said she was of the view that investing in women, apart from being fair, is essential to reducing poverty and promoting growth.

She appealed for a change from the culture of "pulling down rather than strengthening,=94 adding =93let us learn to build on what we have - our strengths, institutions, natural resources, ideas, energies, technologies, structures and, most important of all, our human resources especially women and girls."

Mr Kwabena Kyere, Deputy Minister of Education, who chaired the function, said there is a global effort to ensure that women are placed in their rightful positions in society.

This has come from the "lessons we learn from our women who have distinguished themselves in responsible positions.

"The efficiency and competence they display are a source of encouragement for us to do all we can to empower them".

Mrs Elizabeth Akpalu, a Gender Consultant, gave a catalogue of disparities between men and women at all levels of the Ghanaian society and said, though the government has taken measures to improve upon the education of girls, gender inequality should be addressed at the national level.

Mr Wibert Tengey, Chief Executive of the Institute, said it aims at assisting individuals, organisations and institutions with professional expertise through positive gender-sensitive programmes.

This, he said, would be achieved through a range of high quality training and educational services and a database with experiences and strategies which would add value to efforts aimed at promoting gender-awareness programmes.

Accra (Greater Accra), 17 March 

President Jerry John Rawlings said on Tuesday that the government will soon come out with measures to curb illegalities in the fishing industry and called for FAO's assistance. .

He said while some foreign fishing companies poach in Ghanaian waters and, in the process, destroy the nets of local fishermen, others sell at very high prices fish that are rejected in Europe.

"Can you help us deal with the corruption in the fishing industry? We will take our own measures to deal with some of the illegalities but we will need help to police our waters," the President said when Dr Jacques Diouf, FAO Director-General, called on him at the Castle, Osu. Dr Diouf, who is seeking re-election for a second-term, was concluding a three-day official visit during which he held talks with top government officials.

President Rawlings said there are some honest ones among those engaged in the fishing industry "but they are powerless when it comes to dealing with the crooks." "Africa cannot enter the next millennium a hungry continent. We should not blame outsiders alone for some of our ills. We should also take some of the blame."

President Rawlings said in its desire to help Africa improve agriculture, FAO could seek assistance from the Chinese who have proved their competence in Ghana. He said China which has been involved in agriculture in Ghana for so long, has constructed dams for irrigation. Thus, they have the technology and the experience to impart knowledge to Ghanaian farmers.

=93Improving agriculture is tied to resolving conflicts in Africa as well as improving the land tenure system. We have to take a hard look at our land tenure system," President Rawlings said.

Dr Diouf, a Senegalese, said FAO is initiating new policies, including decentralization to make it more effective and thanked Ghana for its support. He said some of these policies are geared towards making Africa self-sufficient in food production. One of these policies is to promote south-south co-operation in agriculture.

Under it, experts in agriculture from other developing countries would be assigned to African countries to assist farmers in the field. "A lot of paper work has already been done. Now is the time to move to the field,".

Mr J.H. Owusu-Acheampong, Minister of Food and Agriculture, said south-south co-operation has worked in Senegal where some Vietnamese experts are helping in rice cultivation.

"Our problems in agriculture revolve around implementation. We need people to work in the field and not in offices," he added.

Accra (Greater Accra), 17 March  

President Jerry John Rawlings on Tuesday appealed to companies to assist in providing some of the amenities needed by Ghana's universities.

He said these companies employ a lot of graduates from the universities and should, therefore, play a role in their education.

The President said this when he granted audience to Baroness Lynda Chalker, a former British Minister of Overseas Development, now a director of Unilever, the UK multi-national.

''A lot of companies derive benefits from these students when they leave the universities so they should contribute to their training."

President Rawlings spoke about fair competition among enterprises and said this should not degenerate into unfair business practices to the disadvantage of the country.

Baroness Chalker, who led several British delegations to Ghana in the 1980s, said the country has made progress and needs more foreign direct investment.

Accra (Greater Accra), 17 March  

Dr Jacques Diouf, Director-General of the FAO, on Tuesday praised Ghana for her efforts at ensuring food security but said much has to be done to address existing constraints.

"For instance, you need to import about 500,000 metric tonnes of cereal this year, but these could have been grown here under the right conditions."

At a news conference in Accra, Dr Diouf pledged FAO's support to enable Ghana to achieve food security through the FAO's special programme for food security.

He said though his two-day official visit was short, the extensive discussions he held with President Rawlings, the Speaker of Parliament, the Minister of Food and Agriculture and other ministers had given him an insight into the agricultural sector.

"We discussed bilateral, regional and international issues and the specific needs, constraints and the agricultural environment of Ghana. "We talked about how to combat Swine Fever in Africa, the code of conduct for responsible fishing, the land use policy in Ghana, the protection of the forest, the quality and marketing of food, rural-urban migration and others".

Dr Diouf said improving transfer of research results to farmers and linkages between researchers and farmers were also discussed. He commended Ghana for her support to the FAO regional office in Accra and also for supporting his candidature to seek re-election as Africa's candidate to head the world food body. He said Ghana has been selected among 39 of the beneficiary African countries for the Special Programme for Food Security.

The programme responds to urgent need to boost food production in 80 low-income and food deficit countries. The programme, Dr Diouf said "starts with a two to three-year pilot phase with on-farm demonstrations by participating farmers to their fellow farmers on four components.

These are improved water control or small scale irrigation and intensification of sustainable crop production systems through the introduction of widely accessible technologies, including high yielding varieties.

Diversification of production systems including aqua culture, small animals and tree crops are encouraged while obstacles to increased food production are eliminated through participatory approach.

The second phase would build on the achievement of the pilot phase to create the conditions for large-scale replication.

Dr Diouf underscored the importance of the programme to help reduce by half the over 800 million chronically hungry people by the year 2015. "Though an average of about 2,700 calories of food is available to a person a day, which is enough to meet everyone's energy needs, 840 million people,including two million children under the age of five, suffer from chronicunder- nutrition".

According to FAO projections, world food production will have to double more than its present level to feed the 8.3 billion people available.

Answering questions about international trade barriers and tariffs,Dr Diouf said though the world food body plans to discuss "these issues, in addition to subsidies, it is important for developing countries to address marketing problems, transportation and food distribution in their own countries.

Peki-Avetile (Volta Region) 16 March

A 52 million-cedi new police charge office at Peki-Avetile was handed over to Mr Peter Nanfuri, Inspector General of Police (IGP), on Monday.

The project was initiated and funded by the late E.W. Tedeku, a citizen of Peki-Avetile, with support from the community.

Mr Nanfuri asked police officers to be fair and firm in the discharge oftheir duties and not to over-fraternise or compromise their neutrality as law enforcers. The IGP said his administration would flush out " 'all bad nuts', who misconduct themselves, and drag the name of the police service into the mud".

Mr Nanfuri, therefore, cautioned policemen to desist from unlawful detention of suspects, demanding money as a condition for granting bail and engaging in debt collection. "These practices infringe on the rights of the citizen and make them lose confidence in the police," he emphasised.

The IGP warned individuals and communities, who attack police stations and personnel to stop immediately or face the full rigours of the law.

Mr Nanfuri told the people to emulate Mr Tedeku and come to the aid of the police to enable them perform their duties in a more decent and safe environment and stop the over-dependence on the central government's budget.

Togbe Ayim Ameyibor, Adontenhene of Peki Traditional Area, said the community has given a large tract of land to the Police Service to put up police barracks.

The children of the late Tedeku and his widow, Nana Ama Ayim, the second, Queen mother of Peki-Avetile, donated 500,000 cedis towards the running of the charge office with a pledge to provide it with a communications equipment.

Tamale (Northern Region) 17 March

Circuit supervisors have been urged to pay regular visits to schools in the Tamale municipality to check poor attendance and lateness inherit in the shift system.

Mr San Nasamu Asabigi, deputy Northern Regional Minister, gave the order during visits to schools in the municipality. If pupils attending schools running the 'shift system' go to classes late and the teachers also refuse to attend school, the educational standards would continue fall, he warned.

| Mr Asabigi therefore, called on supervisors of schools to pay regular visits to discipline teachers and pupils, who report to classes late. Having interacted with most of the pupils, he noted that the majority of them cannot read, write or speak English. Mr Asabigi wondered how such pupils could pass their examinations into the senior secondary schools. He asked teachers at the primary level to ensure that they offer effective teaching by improving their teaching techniques.

Accra (Greater Accra), 17 March

Mr J.E.K. Aggrey-Orleans, Ghana's High Commissioner to the United Kingdom, has said that after 42 years of Independence, Ghanaians have had enough celebration and cheering and should now reflect deeply on the destiny of the country, especially on the eve of the millennium.

Mr Aggrey-Orleans said that Ghanaians should realise that they cannot continue to blame anybody for their own under-development, adding, "we have flogged the horse long enough and must now stand up and own up to our own responsibilities".

A statement issued by the office of the High Commissioner in London on Tuesday said Mr Aggrey Orleans said this when he addressed the Friends of Ghana Society at the University of Portsmouth at the weekend to mark the 42nd Independence Anniversary of Ghana.

The High Commissioner reminded members of the society, who are mostly students, that as future leaders they had an important role to play in the development of their country. "Remember that your country is always your country, and you must therefore spare a thought for it because it has done much to make you who you are. You are who you are because you come from Ghana."

Mr Aggrey-Orleans regretted that there had been a considerable decrease in the number of Ghanaian students studying in the UK as a result of the introduction of higher fees for foreign students. He noted that the system has made the UK to lose that international intellectual community which Commonwealth links used to foster in British institutions of higher learning, and among British intellectuals.

Mr Aggrey-Orleans noted that these high fees have been "almost extortionist" and have prevented a lot of people from studying in the UK. He appealed to the University of Portsmouth and Friends of Ghana to explore all avenues of assistance for other African students who genuinely seek to improve their calibre and acquire skills otherwise unavailable to them back at home.

The High Commissioner assured them of the support of the Ghana High Commission and urged them to feel free to come to the Mission with their problems.

The Friends of Ghana Society was formed in 1993 and aims at fostering community spirit and mutual assistance among Ghanaian, other Africans and Friends of Ghana.

Atia (Ashanti Region) 17 March

Farmers in the Ejisu-Juaben district in the Ashanti Region have asked for a reduction in the interest rate on agricultural loans which they described as "high and a disincentive".

They contended that a downward review of the rate will not only make recovery of such loans easier but also motivate more small-scale farmers to go for bank credits to expand their farms.

This was the consensus at the district's farmers forum held at Atia to discuss ways of improving agriculture in the area. It was attended by food crop and livestock farmers, agriculturists, researchers, chiefs, assembly members, representatives of financial institutions and students.

The farmers also called on the banks to relax conditions for the granting of agricultural credits so as to entice the youth into agriculture and thereby solve the unemployment problems facing the country.

Earlier, Miss Rose Oteng, the District Chief Executive, asked chiefs and family heads in the area to make land easily available to young people who show interest in going into farming.

Kumasi (Ashanti), 17 March

The management of Coca-Cola Bottling Company of Ghana has expressed its sympathy and condolences to Asanteman, the royal family and the Kumasi Traditional Council on the death of the Asantehene, Otumfuo Opoku Ware the second.

Mr George Agyei, Executive Manager of the Coca-Cola Ghana, who led a delegation of the company to the Manhyia Palace in Kumasi, presented 80 crates of its products and one carton of schnapps to Asanteman to be used for the burial rites.

The company also presented 20 crates of its products and two bottles of schnapps to the Asantehemaa, Nana Afua Serwaa Kobi Ampem.

Nana Osei Bonsu the second, Mamponghene, who received the items on behalf of the Asanteman, thanked the company for its gesture.

Effia(Western Region), 17 March

A town council has been inaugurated for the people of Effia, near Sekondi, with a call on its members to encourage communities to initiate development projects.

Mr. Paul Clement Ayensu, Presiding member of the Shama-Ahanta Metropolitan Assembly, charged the council to address issues and concerns relating to self-help development.

He emphasised the assembly's commitment to a true and enduring democracy, good and participatory governance as well as balanced development.

Mr. Ayensu advised the council to operate along the objectives of the Metropolitan assembly and urged them to educate the people on the need to observe personal hygiene and environmental sanitation.

Mr. Ayensu regretted that places like Sekondi Beach, Diabenekrom, Eshiem, Ntaamakrom, Mpintsim and others have printed their own toll tickets and collect market levies without rendering accounts to the assembly.

"This act is unlawful", he said, and charged the town council to address the situation.

Accra (Greatr Accra), 17 Mar.

The Department of Urban Roads (DUR) and the Contractors Association of Ghana, (CAG) on Wednesday praised the institution of the road fund saying it has been the backbone of their work.

Mr George Godwin Brock, Acting Director of DUR, said the impact of the road fund on urban roads maintenance has been significant since its inception.

Mr Twumasi Mensah, representative of the CAG, said "it has brought a significant improvement in our aggregate turnover."

This was at separate meetings with a six-member Nigerian road sector delegation now on a two-day study tour of the country.

The Nigerians intend establishing a road fund and are in Ghana to familiarise themselves with its impact on road building and maintenance.

Mr Brock said through the road fund, "our maintenance budget has risen from one billion cedis in 1995 to 12 billion cedis this year."

He said 8.5 billion cedis out of that amount is budgeted for routine maintenance and 3.5 billion for periodic maintenance.

Mr Brock said since the DUR started benefiting from the road fund in 1997, it has received 44 billion cedis from the fund, out of which 1.7 billion was used on direct labour in cases of emergency.

"The remaining 42.3 billion cedis was used in hiring private contractors to undertake maintenance jobs".

He said through the road fund, DUR has been able to pave about 1,650 kilometres (km) of urban roads out of the 2,360 km in five cities under its jurisdiction.

"The length of good roads has also increased from 600 km to 1,600km within the past two years," adding that there is still much work to be done since 800 km of paved and unpaved roads still remain poor and about 900 km fair.

Mr Mensah told the Nigerian delegation that the CAG previously had a very weak financial base, but since the inception of the road fund, "our aggregate turnover now stands at about 180 billion cedis". He said the fund does not only support them directly "but also serves as a credible guarantor for us to receive loans from foreign financiers."

Mr Mensah however deplored the situation where "big international contracts seem to remain the right of foreign companies and appealed to the government to give local contractors some political backing to win international contracts".

He said foreign contractors indulge in the practice of sub-letting contracts to each other to ensure their survival over the local ones and suggested that local contractors work in partnerships to win bigger contracts.

"We can also sub-let contracts to our weaker colleagues to ensure their survival and the survival of the association."

The Nigerian delegation toured some major projects of DUR and those of the CAG members in Accra, Tema, Ashaiman and Sakomono.

Otumba M. O. Adesina, leader of the Nigerian delegation, described their tour as an enriching one, saying "we have learnt a lot from your experience and we believe it would enrich our situation back home."

Apam(Central Region), 17 March

District, Municipal and Metropolitan Assemblies have no right to audit accounts of any branch of the Ghana Private Road Transport Union (GPRTU).

It is also wrong for district assemblies to sanction any branch union without reference to the authorities of the mother union, Mr J.K.Nkansah, central regional chairman of the GPRTU said at a meeting at Apam on Tuesday.

Mr Nkansah was commenting on an audit inspection ordered by Mr Kow Anyanful, Gomoa district chief executive into the accounts of the Apam branch of the union.

Mr Anyanful ordered the inspection following protests by some members of the branch union over an alleged embezzlement of funds by their executives.

The inspection report, a copy of which was sent to the regional secretariat, revealed that the executives embezzled more than eight million cedis between May, 1995 to December, 1997.

Because of the impasse, a general election for the branch union scheduled for last Sunday could not be held.

When contacted, Mr Anyanful expressed surprise that Mr Nkansah could turn round to accuse him for interfering with the administration of the GPRTU.

He said at a meeting convened at Cape Coast by the deputy regional minister, Nana Jehu-Appiah, to find a solution to the impasse between the protesting members and the executives, which was getting out of hand, he (Anyanful) was asked to order an audit inspection of the accounts of the branch.

Mr Anyanful said Mr Nkansah took active part in the deliberations at that meeting and never objected to the setting up of an audit team.

He said as head of district security committee, he will not sit down, unconcerned "for a group of people parading in the clothes of trade unions to disturb the peace."

Accra (Greater Accra), 17 March

President Jerry John Rawlings today welcomed the American call for a substantial cut in developing countries' debt and said it is a step in the right direction.

He said if the call by United States President Bill Clinton is heeded to, developing countries would have a breather to deal with some of their most pressing needs to avert degeneration.

President Rawlings said this when a delegation from Soka Gakkai International (SGI), a Japanese non-governmental governmental organisation, called on him at the Castle, Osu.

The delegation led by Dr Masami Kita, Deputy Vice-President of SGI, is in the country to represent the President of SGI, Dr Saikaku Ikeda at a ceremony at the University of Ghana, Legon where he would be presented with the keys of the University.

Dr Ikeda, who is a recipient of an honorary doctorate degree from Legon, is being honoured for his immense material support for the university.

President Rawlings said as a result of debt servicing, developing countries have little left for development, thus sowing seeds for conflict which ultimately retard growth.

President Rawlings was grateful to the SGI for the help it has been giving the country over the years and added ''we should sustain it''.

Dr Kita said Soka University appreciated President Rawlings's visit to the university when he was in Japan in 1997 on an official visit. ''We were highly honoured to have conferred an honourary degree on the President''.

Akosombo (Akosombo), 17 March

A strategic document on re-invention and modernisation of the public sector has been approved by Cabinet as the framework for transforming the public service into a more efficient and effective institution.

Vice-President John Evans Atta Mills the opening of the first national workshop on "Reinventing Government" at Akosombo said the document provides for major reforms of central government agencies and local government institutions, programmed implementation of decentralisation reforms of the national policy process and the cabinet system.

The document also deals with subvented agencies' restructuring and re-engineering and enhancement of the strategic partnership between the public sector, the private sector and civil society. It is aimed at redefining the role of the public sector within the context of the country's new democracy and development programme.

"The workshop is to review the new roles and functions of central government agencies, which have been responsible for regulating the Public Administration System.

The role of these agencies have contributed to the rigidities, excessive duplication, weak co-ordination and poor supervision, culminating in the lack of accountability and poor performance of the Public Service".

The workshop is also to provide the needed capacities in terms of structures and organisation, systems and processes, socio-cultural and performance-oriented work values to support the implementation of the new role, the organisers, the National Institutional Renewal Programme (NIRP),said.

The participants include the top hierarchy of government machinery, the Private Enterprises Commission, Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice, the World Bank and Non-Governmental Organisations.

Dr Appiah Koranteng, National Co-ordinator of the National Institutional Renewal Programme, which is charged with the public sector reform, said his oufit has completed detailed functional and institutional analysis of 33 subvented agencies.

He said out of these, at least 25 of them will be part of a pilot programme that will close while subvention will be stopped to at least seven agencies.

Dr Koranteng was addressing the opening session of the first national workshop on "Reinventing Government" at Akosombo on Wednesday.

Eight other agencies will be restructured and re-engineered in addition to all institutes under the Centre for Scientific and Industrial Research, Dr Koranteng said.

Agencies to be commercialised will have a viable mandate but under redefined terms of service delivery.

Dr Koranteng said the workshop has been designed to reach agreement with stakeholders on the list of agencies to be commercialised whose implementation will start this year.

He said programmes will be designed to implement reforms in the remaining 150 or more subvented agencies including those that will continue to be on government subvention in the second phase of the programme.

However, agencies, which do not have valid mandates and need to be closed down will have to be closed down within the early part of the first phase.

He said an alternative employment programme, aimed at managing redundancies that may occur as a result of the restructuring and realignment of the public sector agencies, has been developed.

The conceptual issues and implementation methods will be discussed at the seminar.