Rawlings receives Queen at the Castle
Regional minister takes stuck of damage caused by floods
National house of chiefs congratulates B/A
SDA constructs 92 million cedis school block
DCE frustrates MP on use of Common Fund
Rawlings receives Queen at the Castle
Accra (Greater Accra), 8th November 99
President Jerry John Rawlings and Queen Elizabeth on Monday cracked jokes, exchanged gifts and held private talks at the Castle, Osu.
Accompanied by her husband Prince Philip, the Queen who is in the second of a three-day visit, was greeted at the Castle by President Rawlings and his wife Nana Konadu, both clad in kente.
Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip shook hands with the President and the First Lady and, after exchanging a few pleasantries, President Rawlings showed the Queen some of the main features of the Castle.
He showed the British Monarch the entrance to the slave dungeon and the forecourt of the Castle, which was constructed by the Danes in the 16th century.
The former slave castle changed hands several times since its construction until it finally ended in the hands of the British, Ghana's colonial masters.
Through its doors passed thousands of slaves to Europe and the Americas.
President Rawlings and Queen Elizabeth then moved to the Credentials Hall where they held talks and exchanged gifts.
President Rawlings gave Prince Philip a Kente cloth and Nana Konadu gave the Queen a jewellery box containing gold ornaments.
The Queen gave President Rawlings a 19th Century bronze Arab stallion.
Queen Elizabeth gave Nana Konadu, a beautiful cypher jewellery box she commissioned herself which has the Royal Seal on its lid.
A write-up said the box "is inlaid in Swiss pearl and ripple sycamore, is fully lined in blue amaretta and has brass fittings and a key. The box is individually handcrafted to the highest standards, paying strict attention to detail."
The Queen will later in the evening attend a state banquet at the State House which will draw the curtain on her visit.
She leaves tomorrow for Durban, South Africa, to open the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting opening later in the week.
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Regional minister takes stuck of damage caused by floods
Bolgatanga (Upper East), 8th November 99
Following large-scale devastation caused by floods in the Upper East region during the just-ended rainy season, the regional minister, Alhaji Amidu Sulemana, has called on district assemblies to apply their environmental bye-laws and planning regulations rigidly, to avoid similar disasters in future.
"The damage caused on human settlements, social infrastructure, public health and agriculture, could have been avoided if laid-down regulations had been adhered to'' he contended.
Alhaji Sulemana who was addressing the third meeting of the regional co-ordinating council (RCC) in Bolgatanga, disclosed that more than 1.5 billion cedis would be required to rehabilitate the region's road network which has been extensively eroded by torrential rains.
Also, more than 2,270 houses in the region have been devastated, some completely collapsed, he said, adding that about 84,933 people have been rendered homeless.
The Regional Minister further stated that post-army worm projects of cereal production for the area had decreased from 336,994 metric tonnes, while the floods also caused an outbreak of cholera which registered 11,618 cases with 36 deaths in the Kassena-Mankana and Builsa districts.
Alhaji Sulemana indicated that the embankments of six dams in the region had been demolished by the floods, thereby rendering those dams incapable of storing water.
He urged district assemblies to pay attention to the quality of housing in their areas of jurisdiction.
"With the introduction of the rural housing development component in the disbursement of the district assemblies common fund, it would be necessary for the assemblies to link up with the appropriate institutions like the building and roads research institute to improve the quality of architecture in our district'', he suggested.
The regional minister acknowledged the assistance provided by district assemblies, churches, non-governmental organisations and the National Disaster Management organisation to ameliorate the plight of disaster victims in the region, and thanked the donors for their concern.
He announced that Upper East region has been selected to host the 15th edition of the national farmers day celebration at Bolgatanga on December three this year and urged all to participate actively in the programme.
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Effiduase NPP picks officers
Effiduase (Eastern Region), 8th November 99
The New Juaben North constituency of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) has retained Mr. Agyei Boateng and Mr. Emmanuel Frimpong as the party chairman and vice chairman respectively in a constituency delegates congress.
The members also elected Mr. N.N. Bediako unopposed as the new secretary when the incumbent, Mr. Samuel Obeng failed to stand for the second term.
Other Executive members were - Mr. Mensah Abroampah, treasurer, Baffour Agyekum, youth organiser, Mr. S.T. Nyarnor, organiser and Mrs. Comfort Asante, women's organiser.
The rest were Mr. Felix Duah, third vice chairman, Mr. Samuel Amanor, assistant organiser and Mr. Boakye Yiadom, Assistant Youth organiser.
Addressing the delegates later, the Member of Parliament (MP) for the area, Mr. Hackman Owusu Agyemang, urged the party supporters to work hard in the face of mounting hardships in the country to win the 2000 elections.
He said it was now abundantly clear that, the present government had failed the country and called on all Ghanaians to ensure that government is changed peacefully.
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National house of chiefs congratulates B/A
Sunyani (Brong Ahafo), 8th November 99
The national house of chiefs has sent a congratulatory message to the chiefs and people of Brong Ahafo on the occasion of the 40th anniversary of the creation of the region.
A statement signed by its president, Odeefuo Boa Amponsem the third, and read on his behalf at a grand durbar of chiefs at Sunyani on Saturday to climax the celebrations said "on my own behalf and on behalf of the chiefs of Ghana l send my warm felicitations to Nananom and the people of the region.
Odeefuo Boa Amponsem who is also the Denkyirahene hoped the celebrations would be used to take stock of the region's failures at well as its achievements, to bring prosperity to the people.
It said the founding fathers of the region had a vision to make the region great and prosperous through unity and hard work and therefore urged the people to forge ahead to ensure that the toil of their forefathers did not end in vain.
"May the almighty God throw its light of prosperity on the region and her people in the years ahead" the message said.
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SDA constructs 92 million cedis school block
Mamponteng (Ashanti), 8th November 99
A 92 million cedi Primary School block, constructed by the Seventh Day Adventist (SDA) Church at Mamponteng in the Kwabre District, has been commissioned.
Forty-seven million cedis out of the total amount spent on the project came from the contributions of the church members, while Elder Mcneilus of the United States of America (USA) provided the remaining 45 million cedis.
In a speech read for Mr. Kojo Yankah, the out-going Ashanti Regional Minister, he commended the singular effort and sacrifice of Elder Mcneilus who is also funding the construction of 150 primary school blocks throughout the country from his own resources.
The Minister said 37 of such schools are located in the Ashanti Region, with the Kwabre District benefiting from four of such projects, including the school block that was commissioned at Mamponteng.
Mr. Yankah stated that as the state grapples with the load of financing education, especially at the tertiary level it was his hope that more of such interventions would come from churches and individual donors to help achieve the goal of making education accessible to all.
He said the Kwabre District Assembly has committed 453.5 million cedis towards the construction and rehabilitation of school buildings and 100 million cedis for the establishment of a district library at Mamponteng.
Mr. Yankah was, however, not happy about reports of poor performance in schools in the Kwabre District and urged parents, teachers and all stakeholders in children's education to strive at discouraging their wards from being lured into business pursuits at very tender age to the neglect of their education.
Nana Asante Frimpong, Member of Parliament for Kwabre, stressed that it is crucial to place a higher premium on the education of children of this generation, since accelerated development of any nation depends on the quality of training of its human resource.
The MP, therefore, called on schools, especially those established by churches to use such schools as avenues not only for providing academic and technical training to children, but also as a platform to instil sound morals and the fear of God in the children.
Pastor A. P. Mensah, President of the Central Ghana Conference (CGC) of SDA, said the social change and national growth do not lie on only the numerous physical infrastructure and social amenities in the area but more importantly, on the attitude of the citizens to national and communal issues.
Pastor Mensah urged the teachers and parents to support each other in turning out pupils, who would become assets to the community.
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New Walanaa for Takoradi
Takoradi (Western Region), 8th November 99
Alhaji Abdulai Seidu, Chairman of the Takoradi Sub-Metropolitan Council, yesterday urged Ghanaians not to allow politics to divide the nation.
Speaking at the installation of a Chief for the Sekondi-Takoradi Wala Community in Takoradi, Alhaji Seidu said Ghanaians should work together to safeguard the country's hard-won peace without which there cannot be progress and development.
He appealed to the country's opposition parties to rescind their decision to embark on a demonstration later in the month to press home their demands for better living standards and instead find ways of dialoguing with the government.
Mrs. Gladys Asmah, Member of Parliament for Takoradi, said the Walanaa is a hardworking member of the Shama-Ahanta East Metropolitan Assembly who is dedicated to his work and urged the Wala Community to give him every assistance to do his work.
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DCE frustrates MP on use of Common Fund
Kumasi (Ashanti), 8th November 99
Nana Asante Frimpong, Member of Parliament for Kwabre in Ashanti has expressed disappointment at impediments being put in his way by Mr Ernest Opoku Fofie, District Chief Executive on the utilisation of his share of the Common Fund.
He said despite attempts he had made to get money to buy some very basic items for the needy communities in the constituency to complete their projects, the DCE has not released the fund.
Speaking to the press, Nana Frimpong said his request for 22 million cedis to buy 1,000 bags of cement and 50 packets of roofing sheets since April this year, when the prices of the items had not been increased, has fallen on deaf ears.
The MP said after touring his constituency, the common feature in the requests made by the people were cement and roofing sheets to complete their projects.
Based on this, therefore, he said, he wrote to the DCE asking for the release of the amount to purchase those items.
Nana Frimpong said, notwithstanding, the fact that he made it clear that he was not interested in handling the cash and that the assembly should buy the items to be given to the needy communities, the DCE still refused to release the money.
The MP said if he was to fulfil his promise to the constituents, he has either to cut down on the quantity of the items or has to increase the amount, in which case the assembly is the loser since the price of cement has been increased.
He said he has received a letter from the DCE asking him to meet the Executive Committee of the assembly to discuss the issue and wondered what the committee has got to do with the release of his share of the common fund.
Nana Frimpong said the behaviour of the DCE was a deliberate plan to make him unpopular in the eyes of his constituents but said no MP will surrender his authority to a DCE in the use of the Common Fund.
The behaviour of the DCE, he said, was, therefore, depriving the people of progress adding that it was only when the two of them co-operate that the district could be developed.
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