Parents urged to help children
with disabilities
Circuit supervisor crushed to
death
Accra
(Greater Accra) 14 March 2000
The
New Patriotic Party (NPP) on Monday, appealed to President Jerry Rawlings to
set up a high-powered investigative team to bring to book perpetrators of the
serial murder of women in the capital.
"The
government must seek assistance from whichever source to ensure that this
growing menace is stamped out from the country once and for all."
A
statement signed by First National Vice Chairman Ama Busia, said following the
discovery of another murdered woman at Mateheko on Sunday. It brings to 20 the
number of women found dead in Accra in less than two years.
The
statement expressed the "shock and dismay" of NPP over the killing of
the woman and extended condolence to the bereaved family.
"This
latest barbaric act in the chain of serial murders, to coincide with the
universal preparation of Women's Day, represents not only daring move but also
demonstrates the growing insecurity of our womenfolk."
Meanwhile,
the Police said on Monday that they are continuing with investigations into the
murder of a woman whose body was found at Mataheko in Accra in the early hours
of Sunday.
A police source at the Odorkor Police
Station said they would have to take their time and arrest the perpetrator or
perpetrators. He described the situation as surprising as the deceased was
found with no bruises on any part of the body.
The source said it is also very difficult
to determine where the woman was murdered.
According to the source at about 0730
hours on Sunday, information reached them about a body found lying between two
houses at Mataheko.
By the time the police arrived at the
scene at 0800 hours a crowd of about 500 people, shouting and sing war songs,
had arrested five young men whom they suspected of involvement in the murder.
This is because they were seen walking about in the area earlier in the day.
The angry residents nearly lynched them but
for the timely intervention of the assemblyman and some members of the watchdog
committee.
The source said in order to save them
from any form of maltreatment, they were locked up in a retired sergeant's
house but they were still not satisfied.
They
started throwing stones on the roof of the house where the suspects were kept
until they were sent to the police station.
Two
of the suspects are 18 years old, two 19 years old and one 20 years old.
Four
of them come from Agona Swedru, with one currently living at Nsawam, while the
fifth who stays at Kasoa has Ghanaian and Liberian parents. They claimed they
met each other at White Bellnight club around Adabraka.
They
are being kept at police stations as investigations continue.
According
to the source, what is happening is being called serial murders because of the
pattern that is emerging as they suspect it could be one person who has
developed a taste for something and is doing it. However, how to get that
person is the problem.
GRi../
Accra (Greater Accra) 14 March 2000
The
Ghana News Agency (GNA) Chapter of the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) has
called on the national executive to come out clearly with who qualifies as a
journalist in order to weed out the numerous
impostors
dragging the image of the profession in the mud.
They suggested that it should recognise
or see only graduates from the Ghana Institute of Journalism (GIJ) and the
School of Communications Studies, University of Ghana, Legon, as journalists,
the Chapter made this call at its first quarterly meeting at the weekend
chaired by Mr Charles Koomson, Chapter Chairman.
It cited several instances where people
went to cover assignments to which they are not invited and harass organisers
of programmes for money.
The meeting said what is happening is not
new and asked the GJA Executive to, as a matter of urgency, fashion a
"fool-proof" means by which this disturbing trend could be halted.
Members described as demeaning and
humiliating the situation where people who are not trained journalists
infiltrate their ranks and bring journalism into disrepute.
Mr Koomson asked all journalists to
alert organisers of the presence of impostors at assignments.
He said even though there are some
problems associated with the issue, everything must be done to ensure that
quacks are eliminated from the system.
Mr Gideon Sackitey, deputy secretary of Grater
Accra GJA, said the Chapter would soon begin updating the list of journalists
at GNA and issue ID cards that must be worn at assignments for easy
identification by organisers.
He, therefore, urged other chapters to
also find other ways or adopt the same means of making their members noticed
and accorded the necessary respect at assignments.
Mr Sackitey urged editors to desist from
assigning non-journalists to cover assignments.
GRi./
Accra (Greater Accra) 14 March 2000
The
Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) on Monday expressed appreciation to the
management and staff of media houses for their elaborate celebration and
coverage of this year's International Women's Day.
During
the celebration, which fell last Wednesday, female journalists took over
production in response to a call by UNESCO to let female journalists take
editorial control to affirm that women makes news.
A statement by Mrs Gifty Affenyi-Dadzie,
President of GJA, said the support and solidarity shown by men in the media for
their female counterparts during the celebration was most gratifying.
"It demonstrates that they remain
fully committed to equal partnership with their female counterparts at the work
place and to the cause of helping to raise awareness on the need for gender
equity, in the Ghanaian media.
"While
thanking management for their co-operation, the GJA hopes that this unique
gesture would not be short lived."
GRi../
Accra
(Greater Accra) 14 March 2000
The
General Agricultural Workers Union (GAWU) of the Trade Union Congress of Ghana
on Monday joined the International Union of Food and Allied Industries (IUF) to
demand effective international minimum standards on occupational health and
safety in agriculture.
A
statement in Accra signed by its General-Secretary, Mr Samuel Kangah, said the
IUF and its member unions, which include GAWU, are pressing the International
Labour Organisation (ILO) to adopt a convention to help ensure that these
standards are anchored in the international law.
It
said this issue would be at the top of the agenda during the 88th session of
the International Labour Conference to be held in Geneva this year.
The
statement said agriculture employs an estimated 1.3 billion workers
internationally and in Ghana two-third of the labour force.
Despite
this, agriculture is one of the most dangerous sectors in the world of work, in
both industrialised and developing countries, ranking alongside mining and
construction as far as occupational hazards and accidents are concerned.
Statistics
show that over half of the more than 300,000 plus fatal work place accidents in
the world take place in agriculture. More than 250 million workers injured and
over 160 million who fall ill due to workplace hazards and exposures each year
are also recorded in the agricultural sector.
"Agricultural
workers - the women and men in the crop fields, plantations, livestock units
and primary processing facilities suffer high rates of death, injury and
illness. They labour in a rural environment in which there is often no clear
distinction between working and living conditions.
"Agricultural
workers and their families therefore face extra dangers such as regular
exposure to toxic pesticides."
The
statement noted that in Ghana, the situation is further exacerbated by the
continued use of crude methods and practices, indiscriminate use and misuse of
agro-chemicals, which under most of the prevailing conditions, could never be
used with the caution it deserves.
"We
believe that it is in the interest of society as a whole to put an end to the
exclusion of the world's agricultural work force from effective means of
protection on the job.
"That
is why we are calling on the Ghana government, employers and all stakeholders
to support our call for an international Convention and Recommendation on occupational
health and safety in the agricultural sector."
GRi../
Accra (Greater Accra) 14 March 2000
Vice-President
John Atta Mills on Monday said the time has come for Ghanaians to have the
taste for goods produced locally to enable indigenous private business to grow.
He said the country's economy could only
survive the turbulence in the fluctuating world commodity market if Ghanaians
change their attitude towards home-made goods.
Vice-President Mills made the point when
the Reverend Jannie Ngwale, a South African businessman, called on him at the
Castle, Osu.
Rev. Ngwale, owner of a business
conglomerate, is also a Christian, statesman and political activist who was a
key supporter of the empowerment of blacks in South Africa.
He arrived in Ghana last Friday on a
private visit and has expressed interest in assisting to harness the country's
raw materials for local production.
Rev Ngwale has also identified
telecommunication and information technology, energy, as well as agriculture as
potential areas for investment.
Vice-President Mills told him that the
government is reviewing the economy to give it a boost after it suffered
reverses as a result of falling prices of the main cash earners - cocoa and
gold, and high cost of crude oil.
He said another priority area of the
government was to economically empower the
indigenous
business people, especially women in agricultural processing, and welcomed any
genuine assistance that would support such objectives.
Rev. Ngwale was accompanied to the Castle
by Mrs Sherry Ayitey and the Rev. Sam Koranchi Ankrah, General Overseer and
President of International Bible Worship Centre, Accra.
GRi../
Winneba (Central Region) 14 March 2000
A
branch of the Atta Mills Brotherhood Club has been formed at Winneba with Dr.
E. G. A. Don-Arthur as its President and Mr Armah Sekum as Vice-President.
Other officers picked were the Reverend
Eldad Bonney, Secretary, Mr Kojo Appiah-Kubi, Organizer, Mr Joseph Baiden,
Treasurer, and Madam Emma Otoo, Women's Organizer.
In his maiden address, Dr. Don-Arthur
urged Ghanaians to rally firmly behind the NDC government in this year's
presidential and parliamentary elections to enable it to accomplish its
developmental goals.
He referred to the sterling performance
of Professor John Atta Mills since becoming Vice-President and urged all
eligible voters to give him their mandate.
The
vast experience Prof. Mills has gained from President Jerry John Rawlings would
spur him on to achieve good results for the nation when given the mandate, Dr.
Don-Arthur said and advised the NDC members, supporters and well-wishers to
close their ranks and fight very hard to win the forthcoming elections.
GRi../
Keta
(Volta Region) 14 March 2000
Nana Konadu Agyeman Rawlings, President of the
31st December Women's Movement has called on the electorate to return the
National Democratic Congress (NDC) to power in this year's Presidential and
Parliamentary elections.
This is necessary to ensure that the processes
of development set in motion by the NDC are pursued for the benefit of the
country, she said.
The First Lady was addressing a durbar of
chiefs and people of the Keta District at Keta on Monday at the start of a
five-day working visit to the Volta Region.
It is evident from the way other political
parties fail to acknowledge the achievements of the NDC that they will not
pursue the same policies of the government even though these policies are in
the best interest of the country, she said.
Nana Konadu said the NDC government has achieved much for the country
and "these achievements are unparalleled in the country's history when measured
with the chaotic economic situation which the government inherited."
She acknowledged that the citizenry are not enjoying the best of
conditions that they desire but said the government is moving the country in a
direction of future prosperity except that external factors are militating
against the progress towards such a goal.
Nana Konadu said the government has its own weaknesses as a human
institution especially given the conduct of some individuals but by and large
the NDC government is one of transparency with a sincere commitment to building
a strong economy to achieve socio-political stability.
Nana
Konadu Agyeman-Rawlings called on communities in the Keta district to respond
positively to the forthcoming population and housing census and not to prevent
anybody from being counted on account of his or her not being a citizen of the
country.
She
also discouraged the people from travelling to their hometowns and regions to
be counted saying that the census is meant to obtain the actual number of
people who live and earn their living where they are resident.
The
First Lady also called on the electorate to cross check their names in the
voters' registers when these are opened to ensure that their names are retained
on the registers.
Those who have attained the age of 18 years should also take advantage
of the opportunity to register and be able to vote in this year's elections.
Togbe Nyaho Tamakloe the fourth, acting president of the Anlo
traditional council, acknowledged the pace of development which has been
achieved in the country through the decentralisation and district assembly
concepts.
He
praised the untiring efforts of the First Lady in promoting the social and
economic empowerment of women in the country and the positive effects these are
having in communities in the district.
Togbe Tamakloe said the traditional council is impressed about
preparations on the ground towards the start of the Keta sea defence project
and expressed the hope that actual construction work will begin very soon.
GRi../
Koforidua (Eastern Region) 14 March 2000
The Koforidua water crisis is now getting worse
due to the long drought that has caused the Densu River, which supplies water
to the municipality to dry up.
All the twenty hydrants in Koforidua are dried
up and in case of any fire outbreak, the Ghana National Fire Service could only
get water at the municipal offices of the Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL).
As a result of the situation, porters who fetch
water for residents at the central park of Koforidua have increased their
charges per drum from six thousand cedis to eight thousand cedis.
Speaking in an interview with the Ghana News
Agency over the weekend, Mr Joseph Gyanpong, New Juaben Municipal Deputy
Manager of the GWC said his company always reserved water, which could always
be released to the Fire Service in times of any fire outbreak.
Mr E.K. Appiah, Eastern Regional Engineer of
the GWC said due to the drying up of River Densu since mid-February, the daily
supply of treated water for residents of Koforidua fell from 1.2 million
gallons to 120,000 gallons a day.
Since Monday, 6 March no water had been treated
at the company’s plant because the water level from the Suhyen spring, on which
the company has been depending, has also fell very low.
Mr Appiah said if it does not rain in the
Koforidua area within the next few days, the situation could get worse.
He said his company was trying to solve the
situation by supplying 40,000 gallons of treated water every day to the
community through ten water tanks, which the company had placed at vantage
points in the Koforidua township.
Each of the tanks, Mr Appiah said, had a capacity
of two thousand gallons and is supplied twice a day by the five water tankers
being used by the company to lift water from the Binso Water Works, about 25
kilometres from Koforidua.
GRi../
Accra (Greater Accra) 14 March
2000
The government of Japan on Tuesday signed an
agreement granting a total of $173,365 (approximately 607
million cedis) to three organisations for the
construction of two school blocks and a clinic in three regions of the country.
Sixty two thousand nine hundred and ninety one
dollars (220.5 Million Cedis) was for the construction of a school block with
an exhibition room for Saint Clare Vocational School in Tumu in the Upper West
region.
A
classroom block for the Integrated Community Centre for Employable Skills
(ICCES) at Agomeda in the Greater Accra region will receive 67,708 dollars (237
million cedis) while 42,666 dollars (149.4 million cedis) will be for a community
clinic at Suma Ahenkro in the Brong Ahafo region.
The
three projects are under the 'Grant Assistance for Grassroots Projects (GGP).
The GGP seeks to promote economic and social development in rural communities
through a non-refundable financial scheme to assist organisations or
communities in the implementation of self-help projects at the grassroots
level.
Mr
Shosuke Ito, the Japanese Ambassador, signed on behalf of the Japanese
government while Reverend Sister Bridget Kyere signed on behalf of St. Clare
Vocational Institute with Mr Loveridge Tetteh Nagai, ICCES manager at Agomeda signed for the ICCES.
GRi../
Accra (Greater Accra) 14 March 2000
The Government on Monday appealed to Canada to
assist in efforts at resuscitating the plummeting economy, which it claims was
brought about by the fall in commodity prices and the sharp rise in the cost of
crude oil imports.
Mr
Moses Asaga, Deputy Minister of Finance, said it is the expectation of the
government that, after the last CG meeting in Accra, Canada would come back
with a bold commitment towards alleviating the shortfalls suffered by the
budget as a result of the unfavourable commodity prices.
He
said although Canada has been a steady partner in Ghana's development process,
there has not been any bold commitment from that country at the CG meeting,
which was called by the World Bank and the IMF to mobilise resources to cushion
the shortfalls.
Mr
Asaga made the appeal through Mr Leonard Good, President of the Canadian
International Development Agency (CIDA), when he met with Vice-President John
Evans Atta Mills at the Castle, Osu.
Mr
Good, accompanied by CIDA head of the Gulf of Guinea Archie Book and Canadian
High Commissioner Janet Graham, discussed with Vice-President Mills and other
government officials, Ghana's development and Canadian assistance programme in
Ghana - CIDA's largest in sub-Saharan Africa.
Professor Mills restated the government's
appreciation for Canada's support which, he said, dates back to the days of
structural adjustment, adding that whatever Ghana has achieved today as a
nation goes to the credit of the Canadians.
He
recalled projects undertaken through Canadian assistance and said these helped
to open up deprived areas, particularly the Northern part of the country.
Vice-President Mills urged Mr Good, who was appointed in November, last
year, to work towards closer ties between Ghana and his country to bring
development to the people.
Mr
Good, who is visiting Africa for the first time, will visit a number of
CIDA-funded projects, including water and girl-child education initiatives, and
commission a community health clinic in Zanlerigu in the Upper East Region.
His
visit also coincides with the annual meeting of CIDA's field representatives in
Africa.
Over
55 CIDA delegates from the continent are attending the week-long meeting in
Accra.
GRi../
Kwamang (Ashanti Region) 14 March
2000
An appealed has been made to parents to support
their children with disabilities to discover their talents.
Gone
are the days when people with disabilities were kept in hiding because of one
reason or another, Mr Micheal de Graft Wirekoh, Ashanti Regional chairman of
the Ghana Society of the Physically disabled, said and stressed that the
physically disabled now have important roles to play in nation building.
Mr
Wirekoh was speaking at the inauguration of Sekyere West branch of the society
at Kwamang at the weekend.
The
regional chairman, who is also the assemblyman for Jachie East, expressed
regret that certain organisations do not want to work with people with
disabilities.
He
said such attitudes make it difficult to integrate the disabled into the
society and should therefore be discarded.
Mr
Samuel Akwasi Acheampong, Sekyere West District Chief Executive, said the
government expects everybody to be active participants in the socio-economic
development of the country.
He
called on members of the association to avail themselves of existing
educational facilities provided by the government to improve upon their living
standards.
GRi../
Nkroful (Western Region) 14 March. 2000
Mr. Simon K. Menlah, a 54 year old circuit
supervisor of the Axim District Directorate of Education died on the spot when
the motor cycle he was riding from Nkroful to participate in a teachers' awards
ceremony at Axim, crushed into a tipper truck at Nkroful Junction on Monday.
According to an eye witness reports, the accident occurred when the
truck which was loaded with sand, tried to over take another vehicle.
His
body has been deposited at the Axim Government hospital mortuary.
GRi../