CEPS intercepts cocaine at Tema port
Rawlings appoints new head for Ghana Reinsurance Company
Categorise prisoners, Professor Twumasi
Former Japanese Premier Hashimoto to visit Ghana
Sad end of newly wedded teacher
Dr de-Graft Johnson to be buried on Friday
Germany donates medical equipment to Ghana Armed Forces
Ten districts in B/A, Ashanti to benefit from German assistance
Japan NGO provides water for four communities
Yamson says strikes should be avoided
A book on Cocoa development in West Africa launched
Public services reform must continue for efficiency
CEPS intercepts cocaine at Tema port
Tema (Greater Accra) 27 May '99
The Customs, Excise and Preventive Service (CEPS) and security personnel at Tema harbour have intercepted seven kilograms of a substance believed to be cocaine, concealed in a 20-footer sea container of rice shipped from Surinam, in South America.
Three parcels of the substance estimated at over 100,000 dollars depending on its purity, were found concealed in three of the 400 bags of rice brought in by EMBT Asia.
Investigations conducted by journalists at "Saga Ghana Limited", local agents for EMBT Asia, indicated that the rice was consigned to Karl Hans" Rice Import and Export Company of Accra North.
The ship's manifest named F. O. Lachmann of Sugre Exp. No. 17, N.W. Charlesburgweg, Paramaribo, Surinam as the shipper.
Mr Robert Kwami, Assistant Commissioner of Customs told a press conference at Tema that the container, which arrived at the Port on March 28, was intercepted based on intelligence information.
Mr Kwami said nobody has come forward to claim the rice, which has been placed on the uncleared cargo list (UCL).
This normally applies to goods, which stay in the port for more than 21 days.
Mr Emmanuel Thompson-Addo, Deputy Managing Director for Finance and Administration of SAGA Limited, said nobody has approached the company to clear the rice.
He said the company could not be held responsible since they cannot know that some of the containers are stuffed with drugs.
"The impression that, as a company, we are in active connivance for such crimes is wrong. We are not in any business to ruin this country", Mr Thompson-Addo said.
Mr Thompson-Addo said as a company, Saga does not like what is happening and it is being vigilant since it seems to be giving the company a bad name in Ghana.
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Rawlings appoints new head for Ghana Reinsurance Company
Accra (Greater Accra) 27 May '99
President Jerry Rawlings has appointed Mr Sampson Amoako Nuamah, 50, as Chief Executive of Ghana Reinsurance Company.
A statement issued in Accra on Tuesday by Mr Jimmy Amissah, Secretary to the President, said Mr Nuamah is a Chartered Accountant.
He takes over from Mr Max Cobbinah who is to be reassigned.
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Categorise prisoners, Professor Twumasi
Sunyani (Brong Ahafo) 27 May '99
The Chairman of the Ghana Prison Council, Professor Patrick Twumasi, on Tuesday urged the Prison Administration to consider categorising the Prison population into classes based on the gravity of crime committed.
He said the present situation where all inmates are kept together undermines reformation.
"It is dangerous to group first time offenders and hardened criminals in one place as it would obviously lead the hardened ones influencing, negatively, the first timers," Professor Twumasi said at the inauguration of the Brong Ahafo Regional Prison committee at Sunyani.
He underscored the need for Prison Officers to avoid sadism in the treatment of prisoners.
He said prisoners are human in spite of their incarceration and it is important that they are treated with dignity to facilitate their reformation and successful integration into the society after their terms.
He also called on the Prison Administration to explore and initiate ways of making inmates productive.
The government, conscious of the role skills acquisition could play in helping to rehabilitate prisoners, is taking steps to refurbish all the workshops in the country's Prisons, Prof. Twumasi said.
Professor Twumasi, therefore, urged the Prison Authorities to find Innovative and creative ways of improving prison conditions.
The Prison Service now has a new image and is crucial that the Prison Service and Prisons in the country are run as humanly and productive as Possible, he said. Professor Twumasi deplored the over-crowding conditions in the country's prisons and appealed to the police and the courts to cut down on the number of suspects consigned to remands on petty offences.
Currently, 23 per cent of the 8,000 prison inmates in the country are on remand. If the courts and the police would allow such people out on bail, the prisons would be decongested.
The Regional Minister, Mr Donald Adabre, who is the Chairman of the Regional Prisons Committee, said it is not only criminals who are sent to prison as borne out by the country's political history "where people are imprisoned for their one safety.
"It therefore behoves every Ghanaian, to help make conditions in the country's prisons better as anybody could find himself there".
The Director-General of the Ghana Prison Service, Brigadier Alex Djangmah, admitted that the Service is fraught with problems but said he was hopeful that with the inauguration of the Regional Prison Committees things would change for the better.
The 13-member committee charged with assisting and advising the Ghana Prison Service to improve conditions of inmates, draws its membership from the Ministry of Health, the Ghana Bar Association and the Attorney-General's Department among other organisations.
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Former Japanese Premier Hashimoto to visit Ghana
Accra (Greater Accra) 27 May '99
The former Prime Minister of Japan, Ryutaro Hashimoto is to pay a three-day official visit to Ghana from Sunday, May 30.
An official statement from the Embassy of Japan in Accra, said the visit is to honour an invitation by President Jerry John Rawlings during an official visit to Japan in December 1997 when Hashimoto was premier.
He will arrive from Nigeria where he will attend the inauguration of President-elect Olusegun Obasanjo.
The statement said Mr Hashimoto, who is now Senior Foreign Policy Adviser to the Prime Minister, will be accompanied by his wife Kumiko and senior officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
He will hold talks with President Rawlings and commission the Sekondi fishing harbour, which was funded by the Japanese government.
Mr Hashimoto will also visit some Japan-funded projects such as the Small-Scale Agriculture Irrigation Promotion Project at Ashaiman, the Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research. He will tour places of historical interest like the Elmina Castle, School of Medical Laboratory Technology at Korle Bu, also known as Noguchi Laboratory, the National Museum and Kwame Nkrumah Mausoleum.
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Sad end of newly wedded teacher
Sunyani (Brong Ahafo) 27 May '99
Exactly nine days after a blissful wedding, a 37-year-old teacher at Sunyani suffered a tragic death when he was knocked down by a bus driven by a driver's mate in the early hours of Tuesday.
The deceased, Mr Daniel Dorkenu, was returning home after seeing off relatives who had come to help him prepare for his wedding when he met his untimely death.
The driver's mate, Kofi Asante, 20, reports said, had only a towel around his waist at the time of the incident and was believed to be returning home after he had gone to drop his girl friend when the accident occurred.
A police source which confirmed the incident in an interview with the Ghana News Agency at Sunyani today, said Mr Dorkenu who is also an elder at the Sunyani Ewe Church of Pentecost had his wedding on the 16th of May at the Sunyani Central Church of Pentecost.
Asante is helping the police in their investigations.
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Dr de-Graft Johnson to be buried on Friday
Accra (Greater Accra) 27 May '99
Dr J.W.S. de-Graft Johnson, a former Vice-President who died in London one month ago, would be buried at Cape Coast on Friday, May 28.
A family delegation formally informed the Vice-President, Professor John Atta Mills at the Castle, Osu, on Wednesday that the body would be laid in state on Thursday at the house of the deceased in Cape Coast. A family spokesman, Mr I.E. de-Graft Johnson, said the body will be laid in state again on Friday morning in the Methodist Church before the burial.
Prof. Mills said as an academician, Dr de-Graft Johnson "did his duty to the nation selflessly."
Mr Nathan Quao, a Presidential Staffer, said as an engineer, Dr de-Graft Johnson contributed immensely to the development of the country.
Dr de-Graft Johnson served as Vice-President from September 1979 to December 1981.
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Germany donates medical equipment to Ghana Armed Forces
Accra (Greater Accra) 27 May '99
Mr Christian Nakonz, German Ambassador in Ghana, on Wednesday presented 28 tons of medical equipment and supplies to the Ghana Armed Forces for use at the 37 military hospital.
The equipment, which also consisted of unused field equipment, included surgical instruments, theatre tables, hospital beds, stretchers and blankets.
The rest are x-ray and dental equipment, ECG, audiographs, laboratory equipment, drugs and disinfectants.
Mr Nakonz said the equipment is no longer needed in the German Army because "the country has changed its defence posture." Germany appreciates the role of the Ghana Armed Forces in nation building as well as within the medical services of the country, he said.
"This means that helping the military is helping the civilian population at the same time."
Mr Nakonz said Ghana's role in peacekeeping in the world would eventually get the attention of political decision makers in Germany.
He said German doctors have been assisting their Ghanaian counterparts at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital and the Cardiothoracic unit of the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital.
A number of paramedical personnel and doctors are also engaged in various church organisations and NGOs, he said.
Dr Tony Aidoo, deputy minister of defence, who received the equipment from Commander Jan Wiedemann, German Defence Attache, said "this wonderful gift is only part of the memorandum of understanding and collaboration between the Ghana Armed Forces and the German Armed Forces."
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Ten districts in B/A, Ashanti to benefit from German assistance
Sunyani (Brong Ahafo) 27 May '99
Ten districts in the Brong Ahafo and Ashanti regions are to benefit from 10 million deutsche marks loan from the German Bank for Reconstruction and Development (KFW).
The loan is for the development and implementation of a sustainable operation and maintenance system for infrastructure in the beneficiary districts.
The project, code-named "Promotion of District Capitals Two", is to support the government to implement its decentralisation policy by improving upon selected infrastructure in the districts.
The districts to benefit from the project are Atebubu, Kintampo, Nkoranza, Sene, Techiman and Wenchi in Brong Ahafo and Ejura-Sekyedumasi, Offinso, Sekyere East and Sekyere West in Ashanti.
The Brong Ahafo Regional Minister, Mr Donald Adabre, who opened a three-day workshop for 30 participants from the beneficiary districts at Sunyani, on Wednesday, said he was hopeful that the project would help curb the rural-urban drift.
He mentioned that the project would support the provision and improvement of markets, lorry parks, access roads and drainage systems.
The upper limit of financing by the project for a single investment is 800 million cedis, of which the district would be required to provide a 20 per cent matching fund.
Mr Adabre said policy-makers of the beneficiary districts should take advantage of the opportunities to be created under the project.
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Japan NGO provides water for four communities
Amasaman (Greater Accra) 27 May '99
Four Communities in the Obom electoral area, near Amasaman, have been provided with potable water by JACKAI, a Japanese NGO at a cost of 50 million cedis.
The communities of Obom, Obokwashie, Kofi Donkor and Kwabenafio have each been provided with a borehole fixed with a hand pump.
Mr Samuel Duodu, assemblyman for the area, said the beneficiary communities contributed a total of 2.6 million cedis representing five percent of the cost of sinking the boreholes.
With the provision of the facility the people would be relieved of water borne diseases like the guinea worm.
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Yamson says strikes should be avoided
Accra (Greater Accra) 27 May '99
Mr Ishmael Yamson, Chairman of Unilever Ghana Limited, on Wednesday said strikes and threats of strikes should be avoided saying they destabilise the macro-economic environment.
He said when workers' agitation for better conditions of service is dragged into another election year it could spell the doom of the economic environment as happened in 1992.
Speaking at the Annual General Meeting of Unilever Ghana Limited, Mr Yamson said the issue therefore "needs to be tackled firmly and should be managed judiciously, and now."
He said by the end of April 1999, there had been a significant improvement in the control of inflation which had dropped to 10.2 per cent as against 15.7 per cent at the close of 1998 and described it as "quite encouraging."
These developments, coupled with the government's commitment to improve the macro-economic environment, "are strong signals which investors are taking notice of."
He cautioned, however, that the next five years require a strong political will and focus on the current initiatives to sustain improvement in the economy.
Mr Yamson said the fundamentals of the economy are still weak pointing out that the fiscal deficit at 6.3 per cent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is high and unsustainable.
"The domestic debt is high and interest charges on it are high and is currently the second biggest government expenditure item."
Mr Yamson said with trade terms of Ghana's two main export commodities - gold and cocoa - at their weakest, it would require strong internal revenue collection and inflows of official aid and private capital to finance the budget.
Mr Yamson said export earnings are low and volatile and called for the diversification of export commodities, including non-traditional exports.
"We must define clear policy initiatives to encourage and aggressively grow value-added exports.
"This will require making Ghana a low cost production country, improving infrastructure and competitiveness than neighbouring countries, removing the bureaucracy in the public sector, sustaining a regime of low inflation and low interest rate, refining our labour laws and removing the current rigidities."
Mr Yamson said the country needs to rethink its agriculture and education policies. Ghana's labour is becoming increasingly unskilled and expensive and "our tertiary education is in shambles" with the quality of graduates coming out being poor. He said "the root cause is from the poor foundation at the JSS level."
Mr Yamson said Ghana needs a well educated and skilled labour to compete in the global market and achieve set targets.
He said Unilever Ghana would invest 26 billion cedis over the next two years to improve technology and expand capacity.
In 1998, the company invested 10 billion cedis in the business and an additional 15 billion cedis to acquire the National Oil Palm Plantation (NOPP).
He said the company spent over 550 million cedis on social initiatives and paid 43 billion cedis in duties.
On the company's performance, he said turn-over went up from 227.687 billion cedis in 1997 to 248.545 billion cedis in 1998.
Profit before tax was down from 21.841 billion cedis in 1997 to 20.023 billion cedis in 1998 while profit transferred to income surplus account was down from 16.370 billion cedis to 13.091 billion cedis.
Dividend proposed or paid was up at 10.813 billion cedis from nine billion cedis in 1997.
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A book on Cocoa development in West Africa launched
Accra (Greater Accra) 27 May '99
Mr J. H. Owusu-Acheampong, Minister of Food and Agriculture said in Accra on Wednesday that the Cocoa sector still accounts for a very substantial proportion of the economy and must be given the maximum support to sustain the level of growth.
"The Cocoa industry has so influenced Ghana's economy that many Ghanaians still believe that it is the cocoa industry that can salvage the economy," the Minister said during the launch of a book on cocoa in Accra.
Written by an 80-year old Agricultural Economist, Mr Benjamin Acquaah, the book "Cocoa Development In West Africa - The Early Period With Particular Reference to Ghana," was published by the Ghana Universities Press.
The 187-page book traces the geographical distribution, importance and historical development of cocoa as well as the research into the crop and its diseases.
Mr Owusu-Acheampong said government, mindful of the great influence of cocoa on the economy, has been highly supportive of the industry.
He cited the shift of government policy from subsidy to paying higher producer prices to the farmer and said the new policy will make the industry more profitable to farmers.
"But, I must admit that with the withdrawal of subsidies things appear not to be going well with our cocoa farmers of late.
"There is every evidence that in many cocoa growing areas, farmers are not applying the recommended agronomy practices and this is affecting production adversely," the Minister who is also a cocoa farmer said.
Ghana, once the world's largest producer of cocoa, a position it held for 60 years, experienced a slump in production from a peak of 400,000 tonnes in the 1960s to the lowest level of 150,000 tonnes in the 1980s.
The current level is about 300,000 tonnes.
Cocoa also provides 35 per cent of the country's export earnings and accounts for 12 per cent of the gross domestic product (GDP).
It has directly provided employment to about 14 per cent of the working force.
"Every effort will, therefore, be made to increase cocoa farmers' productivity, maintain cocoa quality and ensure adequate return to investment in cocoa production," Mr Owusu Acheampong said.
The Minister commended the author for documenting his knowledge and rich experience in the cocoa industry for posterity.
He said many advanced countries today have used scholarly ideas, in creating great economic and industrial empires.
"If only five per cent of our educated and experienced members of society are able to put their thoughts on paper, I have no doubt that Ghana's economic and historical development would have gone further," he said.
Mr Acquaah who said, Ghana is yet to exploit the full features of cocoa urged the Cocoa Board to pump more resources into research.
"It is about time we encourage well seasoned agronomists, researchers, economists, agriculturists and more literate people to join the ranks of the cocoa sector."
Mr Acquaah, who joined the Ministry of Agriculture in 1954 as a senior technical officer mentioned at least 18 uses of cocoa including, achohol, floor tiles and beverage drink.
He said as other countries are working hard to explore the full uses of the product, Ghana should strengthen its research units and protect the quality of the crop in order not to be left out.
Cocoa, with the botanical name Theobroma (food of the Gods) also known as Cacao has been in existence for over 4,000 years and has been a commodity of world trade for over 400 years.
According to the book, Cocoa arrived in Europe after the discovery of the New World and through trade spread to Asia, the West Indian Islands and to Africa.
At least about 25 million cedis worth of the book priced at 20,000 cedis was sold at the launch.
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Public services reform must continue for efficiency
Accra (Greater Accra) 27 May '99
The vice-president Prof. John Evans Atta Mills, on Wednesday said that the public services reform process must continue to ensure a lean, cost-effective and responsive public service.
He said although much has been achieved to improve efficiency, a lot still remains to be done.
Prof. Mills was speaking at the second annual Public Services Commission (PSC) lectures under the theme, "Looking ahead into the 21st century: implications for the public services".
"We all have moments of feeling that the new way is more trouble, more difficult and more complicated. But once we break through the barrier of unfamiliarity and become comfortable with the new systems, change begins to pay dividends".
Prof. Mills noted that the positive changes made at the higher levels of the service have not trickled down.
"Businessmen, foreign investors or the general public still observe a lack of urgency and commitment".
He said it was to eliminate the "elitist and authoritarian attitude" of public services that he directed those that charge for their services to display their schedule of fees and publish them by the end of this month.
Professor Alexander Kwapong, former vice-chancellor of the University of Ghana and an education consultant, mentioned good governance, capacity building and globalisation as challenges relevant to the attainment of Ghana's Vision 2020 goals.
"We should build our human and institutional capacities within the framework of good governance to meet the imperative challenges of the global society of the 21st century'', he said.
Prof. Kwapong highlighted the importance of high quality educational system to Ghana's public and private sectors saying every level of the educational system must be transformed specifically in science and technology.
With the advent of constitutional rule, civil society comprising NGOs, political parties, labour unions and religious and professional bodies, also has a greater opportunity to promote development and good governance.
Prof. Kwapong said civil society must promote consensus building to strengthen the foundations of participatory democracy.
"Civil society's role in ensuring good governance will, therefore, require the enhancement of its capacity to understand political, economic and social issues and to articulate these effectively.
This would require the abolition of constraints like "mass poverty, poor education and high rate of illiteracy, ignorance, superstition, high fertility rate, low productivity, lack of information and the absence of a development vision for the people".
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