GRi Newsreel (Part 2) 31-03-99

Accra (Greater Accra) 31 March

Vice-President John Atta Mills on Wednesday inaugurated a nine-member Board of Trustees for the National Trust Fund and charged members to give equal attention to street children and those who need education.

"These people need to have access to all services and care just like any one else and, therefore, deserve the special attention of the Board," he told the Board, chaired by Mr Mike Erzan, a retired Corporate Director of Barclays Bank.

The Board, which has Mr Arko Mensah as its Executive Secretary, takes full responsibility of the Fund which had been administered by an interim management Committee for more than one year.

Membership includes Dr Alex Ababio, Member of Parliament for South Dayi, Mrs Emma Banga, a lecturer in health science, University of Cape Coast, Odeefuor Boa-Amponsem, President, Central Regional House of Chiefs and Mr Osei Tutu Prempeh, Auditor-General. The others are Mr Ben Onies Kwashie-Johnson, General Manager, Credit and Customer Services Management of Ghana Telecom and Mr Sakara Abudu, Director of Social Welfare. Two members, Mrs Evelyn Tay and Adnan Fakhry could not turn up for health reasons.

Prof. Mills tasked the Board to re-appraise the current aims, objectives, strategies and functions of the fund in order to improve its structure, capacity and resource base.

The fund was set up 40 years ago as a "community chest" for mobilising money for the disadvantaged. It is also to provide for the social needs of the disadvantaged through social welfare organisations.

Beneficiaries include the Society for the Blind and Ghana Child Care society.

Vice-President Mills said 40 years is enough to take stock of the fund's activities in order to chart a new course. It is therefore, imperative to have a more dynamic and proactive fund ready and prepared to face the challenges of the 21st century.

He urged them to mobilise resources to overhaul the Fund to enable more disadvantaged enter the next millennium with hope and confidence.

Major donors to the fund are Golden Souvenir Lotto Raffle which gives out 60 per cent of its profit to it. According to records, the company has since 1992 made a total donation of 341.48 million cedis to the fund.

It is estimated that Ghana has some 1.8 million people with various types and degrees of disability.

Prof. Mills expressed regret that many of these people are not given the necessary assistance to exercise their rights and participate in national development.

He, therefore, asked the Board to harness their human resources, irrespective of sex, religion and other factors to enable them to contribute their quota effectively. He lauded the equipment scheme started in 1994 and urged the Board to build on it. Under the scheme, 50 people with disabilities who have trained in various skills are selected each year to receive equipment to enable them to be self-employed.

Accra (Greater Accra) 31 March =9299

The New Patriotic Party (NPP) on Wednesday urged Christians to let the Day of Resurrection continue to be a reminder of their responsibility to the world to promote peace and goodwill.

In a message to mark Easter the NPP said it hoped that the sacrifice of Jesus would remind Ghanaian Christians about the sacrifices that have to be made in order to reconcile the country.

It said "as a party with close affinity to the major religious groups, the NPP is very happy to extend its felicitations to the Christian world on the occasion of Easter."

Accra (Greater Accra) 31 March

Mr Daniel Ohene Agyekum, Greater Accra Regional Minister, on Wednesday suggested an urgent review of the use of the district assemblies common fund.

At a meeting of the regional co-ordinating council (RCC) in Accra, Mr Agyekum said the review has become necessary in view of government and public criticism of the way the money is used.

Mr. Agyekum warned those who are responsible for awarding contracts to "sit up and do the right thing before it becomes too late".

He said the RCC would reinforce its monitoring and evaluation capacity of development projects to ensure that the region derives the maximum benefit.

It will also monitor the activities and all monies allocated to district assemblies by government or any other agency to ensure that they are properly accounted for.

On sanitation, the minister urged the Tema and Accra Metropolitan assemblies to intensify their efforts to eradicate the problem.

Other areas the minister touched include chieftaincy and stool land boundaries and appealed to the courts to assist the RCC to settle these matters amicably.

Nkenkansu (Ashanti Region) 31 March 

Mr Philip Kwabena Antwi Ashanti Regional chairman of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), has asked party functionaries to intensify their political campaigns to sustain the goodwill and massive support enjoyed by the party.

There should be no room for complacency, he said, adding, "what is required of all members of the party is steadfastness, discipline, sacrifice and hard work".

Mr Antwi was addressing a regional youth seminar organised at Nkenkansu in the Offinso district yesterday for all constituency youth organisers in Ashanti.

The Regional chairman told them to be alert and help expose those who may attempt in subtle ways to create cracks within their ranks. The party has remained a formidable political force due to the strong sense of unity among its members, he said and urged them not to allow self-seekers to infiltrate their ranks.

Mr Anthony Kusi, District Chief Executive for Ahafo-Ano South, predicted a landslide victory for the party in the next elections.

The government's pragmatic socio-economic policies had brought about tremendous improvement in the lives of the people particularly those in the rural communities, he stated, adding, "this is our trump-card".

Mr Yaw Owusu Obimpeh, the Ashanti Regional Youth Organiser, spoke of plans to educate youth organisers on government programmes.

Accra (Greater Accra) 31 March

The Electoral Commission (EC) has gazetted the result of the Ablekuma Central by-election held on March 26 in which Mr Victor Okuley Nortey of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) polled 15,303 votes being 56.63 per cent of valid votes to win the seat.

According to a Gazette notice signed by Dr Kwadwo Afari-Gyan, Chairman of EC circulated to the media on Wednesday, Alhaji Ismail Bawa had 10,495 votes (38.83 per cent) to place second. Mr Solomon Bayugo Sulemani, an independent candidate, had 575 votes (2.13 per cent), Mr Musah Nartey polled 398 per cent (1.17 per cent) while Hajia Fafi Suraju had 254 votes (0.94 per cent).

The by-election was necessitated by the death of the NPP parliamentarian Clement Crabbe.

Sunyani (Brong Ahafo) 31 March

Stress and human depression are the main causes of psychiatric problems among Ghanaian women, Dr C.J. Techie, Brong Ahafo Regional Mental Hospital co-ordinator, has said.

He called on the 31st December Women's Movement, Help Age Ghana and Churches to alleviate the poverty among women and support them in all their economic ventures. Dr Techie was addressing a symposium to mark the International Women's Day which fell on March eight at Sunyani on Tuesday. It was organised by the Brong Ahafo Regional branch of the NCWD.

The symposium on the theme, "Women and Mental health as we enter into the 21st century" was attended by over 1,200 women drawn from all parts of the region. Dr Techie said women have a vital role to play in nation building and therefore appealed to the government to give them moral and material support to enable them pursue their goals.

Mr J.M. Dasanah, the District co-ordinator, said the assembly would support NCWD to uplift the image of women in the district.

Amedzofe (Volta Region) 31 March

The chiefs and people of Amedzofe in the Ho district have started an 18-month programme to establish structures to boost the area's tourism potentials. As part of the programme the community has established a tourism office and a Non-Governmental Organisation called the Amedzofe Tourism Development Planning Council, comprising 20 prominent citizens and representatives of all the four clans in the community.

The council is to oversee strategic planning and funding towards the implementation of the programme. At a meeting of the council at Amedzofe on Saturday, members agreed on plans to rehabilitate some abandoned structures to serve as guest houses while 10 new ones are to be constructed along with restaurants.

Mr Craig Norman, an American Peace Corps volunteer based in Amedzofe, who initiated the programme, said "the community abounds in very unique natural sites which could turn Amedzofe into the number one tourist centre in Ghana if the necessary structures are put in place".

He said apart from being the highest point of human settlement in Ghana, it also has a mild breezy and unpolluted mosquito-free environment and a lush rain-forest which holds special interest and intrigue for ecologically sensitive tourism. In Amedzofe, one can also find Mountain Gemi, the second highest mountain in Ghana with a 12 feet iron cross at its hermit planted in the 1880s by German missionaries in addition to other historical German architectural sites and one of the most beautiful but undiscovered waterfalls in the country.

Mr Norman, who is also the Tourism Development Co-ordinator, said funding for the programme will come through assistance from non-governmental organisations and private local and external investors. This is in line with government's Vision 2020 programme and the Ghana Tourism Development plan which among other things seek to develop tourism from the grassroots and bring its benefits to the communities in order to alleviate poverty, he said.

Mr S.K. Addo, chairman of the council and Mr Joe Adinyira, a member, said the community has wholeheartedly embraced the idea because it has opened "our eyes to the goldmine on which we have been sitting and taken it for granted".

They pledged their support to Mr Norman for the success of the programme but regretted that efforts to get unit committee members of other communities to participate in the programme did not materialise.

Cape Coast (Central Region) 31 March

Property owners in the Cape Coast Municipality owe the Cape Coast Municipal assembly more than 30 million cedis in rates as at the end of last year.

The Municipal Chief Executive (MCE), Ms Naomi Bonney, who announced this at the second ordinary meeting of the assembly, described the situation as "a set-back to the assembly's developmental efforts.

"It is sad that people who refuse to honour their civic obligations are expecting a lot from the assembly", she said.

She indicated the intentions of the assembly to prosecute defaulters to enable the assembly to recover the amount involved for its development projects.

The MCE said the assembly exceeded its revenue target for last year when it collected 246,256 million cedis as against the 237,421 million cedis it targeted.

Ms Bonney said although the amount shows an improvement over the previous year's, the bulk of the money came from market fees, lorry park rates and licenses, while other sources such as property, basic rates and fees paid by business concerns, were "rather low".

The MCE said to help reverse this situation of low revenue collection, the assembly has revised rates and fees upwards and embarked on close supervision of its revenue collectors to ensure that revenue collected are paid to chest promptly.

The assembly has earmarked 10 million cedis as scholarship grants for needy JSS students who excel at the Basic Education Certificate Examination. This year, it would undertake the development of a site for a light industrial area at Mempeasem and construct classroom blocks and additional offices and an assembly hall, she said.

Bolgatanga (Upper East) 31 March

Approval has been given for routine maintenance work on a total of 87.5 kilometres of feeder roads in the Upper East Region this year, Mr Charles Brown Ofasi, the Regional Feeder Roads Engineer has said.

The selected roads which are in various stages of disrepair include the 25 kilometre Sandema-Doninga-Bechuasi roads, the 7.4 kilometre Chuchuliga-Awolasi-Zone "T" roads, the five-kilometre Bolgatanga-Tongo-Tanzuk road and the 12.8 kilometre road linking Zuarungu-Dachio and Zupeliga, all in the Builsa and Bolgatanga Districts.

The rest are the 11.6 kilometre Senibaga and Siise roads, the 17.5 Bugri-Gagbire-Tempane road, and the 8.3 kilometre road serving Zebila, Agatose and Googo, all in the Bawku East and Bawku West Districts.

Mr Ofasi told the Ghana News Agency in Bolgatanga on Tuesday that other feeder roads serving major agricultural areas in the region would be rehabilitated under a package to be financed by the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and the World Food Programme (WFP).

He said major works to be carried out under the Government of Ghana funded roads would include the construction of culverts, refilling of bad spots and creation of drainage systems aimed at improving upon the agricultural and economic activities of the people.

Mr Ofasi said due to budgetary constraints, only about 500 out of the 1,000 network of feeder roads in the region could be rehabilitated this year.

Teshie (Upper East) 31 March

Action Aid Ghana, a British Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) operating in the Bawku West district, is training 230 onion farmers to construct improved structures for storing onions.

Mr Charles Owusu, the programme manager, who took newsmen round the Training centre said farmers were being taught the new technology because they were virtually throwing away their produce.

"A basin of onions at harvesting season sold around 30,000 cedis, while the same quantity would sell between 70,000 cedis after the harvest season", he explained. Action Aid therefore sought the support of Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) and the Manga Agricultural Research Institute to construct a simple and cost-effective storage system for the farmers.

The structure that could easily be constructed with local materials cost a minimum of 40,000 cedis to preserve onions for longer periods. Some of the farmers who were busily constructing their own structures, expressed gratitude to Action Aid for coming to their assistance, saying they would now increase their production since storage is no longer going to be a problem.

Accra (Greater Accra) 31 March

Pastor Philip Owusu-Ansah of the Shaibu branch of the True Christian Life Church, has criticised big companies for sponsoring Beauty contests while they shy away from helping the work of God.

Ghana would achieve its vision 2020 objectives if "we seek the kingdom of God first."

Pastor Owusu-Ansah was preaching at a fund-raising service organised by the branch towards the rehabilitation of the Chapel.

He called on Ghanaians to help propagate the gospel by supporting appeals for funds, stressing that fasting and prayers build one's spirit while the concern shown for the needs of the poor is rewarding.

"I wonder why big companies sponsor certain social functions such as beauty contests and football games with huge sums of money but shy away from helping the work of God."

He called on such companies to donate part of their wealth to support evangelism.