GRi Newsreel 15 - 11 - 99

B/A NPP confirms decision to hold demonstration

Sunyani (Brong Ahafo), 13^th November 99

The Brong Ahafo branch of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) has reiterated that no amount of intimidation would deter it from holding its planned demonstration at Sunyani to protest against the poor handling of the economy by the government.

It said the party and its political allies would remain resolute in their decision to demonstrate despite attempts by the regional leadership of the Progressive Alliance to stop it through veiled threats and intimidation.

This is contained in a statement signed by the Regional Youth Organiser on Friday in reaction to media reports urging for the cancellation of the demonstration.

The news item, which appeared in the November Three edition of an Accra daily, quoted the Brong Ahafo Regional Secretary of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) as saying that "the demonstration is unnecessary and could lead to breach of the peace if carried out".

This is because members of the Progressive Alliance would also undertake massive clean up exercise in the Sunyani town on the day of the demonstration.

The NPP statement noted that it is the constitutional right of every Ghanaian to demonstrate to show his or her displeasure about issues of national and personal concern.

It is for this reason that recently the First Lady and top female government functionaries demonstrated to express their disgust at the unsolved murder cases involving women in Accra.

The statement said demonstrations are not useless as the NDC stated in the said media report, citing that the government was forced to review unpopular and inhuman decisions such as the militarisation of hospitals and university academic user fees, through demonstrations.

"Demonstrations make governments to sit up to do the right thing. We want to make it clear that the demonstration will take place as we will not be intimidated by anybody."

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Manage affairs of Patriots Club with honesty - MP urges

Accra (Greater Accra), 13^th November 99

Nii Adjei-Boye Sekan, Presidential Staffer, on Friday called for a strong and honest leadership to manage the affairs of the Patriots Club of Ghana (PCG) "to perform its duties as the election year approaches".

"As cadres, we need to remind each other of the origin, mission and vision of the club to complement activities of government so as to improve the circumstances of Ghanaians."

He said every leadership is confronted with challenges during its tenure and its ability to respond to such challenges serve as the measure of its rule, adding ''it would be unwise to abandon the cause for which the club was established due to financial and social problems.''

Nii Adjei-Boye was addressing members of the PCG at their national delegate's conference to review past activities and to find solutions to current problems.

The club, established under the National Democratic Congress (NDC) in 1993, is to complement the activities of government in areas like health, agriculture and forestry at the grassroots level.

He said the challenges of the revolutionary decade were different and there is the need to take an orderly and disciplinary approach to issues as early as possible as any delay or procrastination may be disastrous.

Nii Adjei-Boye said problems of unemployment, acquisition of vocational and technical training that can enable the youth to compete in the labour market, lack of funding for tertiary education of the children and dependants and other marketable skills to make them self-reliant, should be found.

He said the uprising of May 15, 1979, the action of June 4, 1979 and the revolution of 31st December, 1981 "are important political events that gave the opportunity to wield political power in the interest of the ordinary people".

Nii Adjei-Boye said the club would create camps early next year in every region, with the view to going in the production of agricultural produce for which a region has comparative advantage.

Mr. Jacob Baba, Deputy General Secretary of the NDC, said the party is at the moment embarking on the re-organisation of its branches, and urged them to help the constituency executives to prepare sufficiently for the year 2000 elections.

Captain Samuel Goka, Eastern Regional Co-ordinator, appealed to the NDC to fulfil all promises made to the club like enlistment into the police, fire and prisons services.

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Participants suggest action programme

Accra (Greater Accra), 13^th November 99

Participants at the just ended seminar on the "Application of climatic data for drought preparedness and Management of sustainable Agriculture" have suggested the establishment of a Commission on Drought and Desertification.

The suggestion is against the background of the impact of drought and desertification on Ghanaians and agricultural production in general.

The Seminar, the first to be held in the country, was jointly organised by The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) under the auspices of the Ministry of Communications to find ways to combat such disasters.

The participants recommended that the MSD be placed within the Ministry of Environment, Science and Technology because of the close working relations between the Ministry, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Water Research Institute (WRI),the Crops Research Institute (CRI) and Forest Research Institute of Ghana (FORIG).

The Ministry, they said, should organise meetings to exchange ideas among professionals, while the Water Resources Commission holds workshop on water resource management.

The participants, drawn from the EPA, Meteorological Department, Ministry of Agriculture, and the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) said the CSIR should hold a national symposium to review the work so far done in Drought and Desertification.

Participants called for re-tooling, updating of studies of the MSD, the provision of data and mounting of demonstrations by the Ministry of Food and Agriculture, CRI, SRI, FORIG and the Irrigation Development Authority to consumers of their products and services.

Closing the seminar, Mr. Ben C. Eghan, Chief Director of the Ministry of Communications, hoped the programme would benefit farmers, fishermen as well as general consumers of produce and products of such agricultural workers.

The importance of meteorology in the nation's socio-economic development cannot be over-emphasised and drought preparedness and sustainable agriculture should be taken seriously, considering that a large area is vulnerable and highly susceptible to drought.

Mr. Eghan said the same area supports populations whose incomes are among the lowest in the country, saying that climatic conditions whether in the form of droughts or floods, have a telling effect "on our agricultural production, especially when we rely so much on weather for production".

He said government will always rely on professionals and experts to alleviate the suffering of the masses as far as the application of climatic data for sustainable agriculture is concerned.

Mr. George K. Mburathi, FAO Deputy Representative for Africa, called on the participants to apply the knowledge acquired to mitigate the effects of drought and optimise agricultural production under various ecological conditions.

He said along with the newly formed National Technical Committee on Drought and Desertification, it is "our responsibility to follow up the implementation of National Action Programmes and bring substantial changes towards sustainable development in institutional and farm levels".

Mr. Mburathi, also the FAO Representative in Ghana, added: "I encourage you to actively work with farmers in order to face this challenge".

He said the FAO would support all efforts and provide guidance and technical assistance, if required, to execute the National Action Programme on drought and desertification.

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