Police smash syndicate…11 robbers arrested
Konotey-Ahulu wins international award
Ghana secures $1.7 billion in pledges…
Afram Plains kids at risk…from childhood killer diseases
Opposition scores moral victory…
Opposition demo to hit the regions
Demo fails to attract
Police smash syndicate…11 robbers arrested
The Daily Graphic reports in its top story that the Police CID Headquarters in Accra, have smashed a syndicate which has robbed a number of warehouses of the Ghana Cocoa, Coffee and Sheanut Farmers’
Association of assorted agricultural inputs valued at tens of millions of cedis.
The story says the syndicate has already robbed the association’s warehouse at Tarkwa in the Western Region, New Tafo in the Eastern Region and Jasikan in the Volta Region. According to the story, 11 people suspected to be members, have so far, been arrested at Mensahkrom, near Agona Swedru in the Central Region.
The Graphic says a cargo truck with registration number AS 680 A, loaded with "Gammalin 20" insecticide, a taxi cab with registration number GR 1168 M, used in the operations, have all been impounded.
Those arrested are named as Seidu Sadik, 60, driver of the truck, Yakubu Seidu, 20, the driver’s mate. Paul Ofori, 39, owner of the tax cab, Yaw Opoku, 21, Osei Kwame, 30, and Kwabena Omane, 20.
The rest are William Amoah, 23, Ernest Oti-waa, 41, watchman, Fatawu Mohammed, 38, Moro Mohammed, 42, and Mohammed Gamiru, 38.
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Konotey-Ahulu wins international award
Dr F.I.D. Konotey-Ahulu, a Ghanaian scientist, has won the 1998 "Third World Academy of Sciences" award in Basic Medical Sciences, reports the Ghanaian Times in a front-page story.
The Times says Dr Konotey-Ahulu received a gold plaque and $10,000 in recognition of his outstanding contribution to knowledge in sickle cell disease and other haemoglobinopathies, and in African Anthropogenetics, as well as for stressing ethical values in generic programmes.
Dr Konotey-Ahulu is said to be the only African, who received an award at the Academy’s seventh general conference held in Dakar, Senegal.
The paper says the Senegalese President, Abdou Diouf presented the award. The Times quotes a release issued in Accra as saying Dr Konotey-Ahulu’s work that earned him the award, was a lecture entitled: "African Anthropogenetics and its contribution to world medicine".
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In a front-page story, the High Street Journal says there were strong indications last week that officials from the Finance Ministry went into the Consultative Group meeting of donors in Accra, with the aim of securing $2 billion for the next two years, to be used for project assistance and balance of payments.
But the paper says that at the end of the day, the government was able to secure about $1.7 billion in commitments and pledges by the donors, quoting World Bank and the Ministry of Finance sources.
The High Street Journal quotes officials sources as saying that last week’s conference concerned itself much with programmes than project assistance, in view of Ghana’s current shaky balance of payments and budgetary position caused by external pressures.
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Afram Plains kids at risk…from childhood killer diseases
The Ghana Chronicle in its lead story, reports that it has been recorded that over 65% of the children on the Dwarf Islands of the Afram Plains in the Eastern Region and Seni Islands in the Brong Ahafo Region, have not been vaccinated against polio, one of the sic childhood killer diseases.
The paper says nearly every child on the over 200 islands maintains very poor dental hygiene and infection of bilharzia among them is very high.
The paper quotes the Eastern Regional Disease Control Officer, Emelia Okine, as disclosing this in an interview after a tour of the islands.
She is reported as saying, "what we realised was that over 65% of the target population, which is 0-5 years, have never been covered by the Expanded Programme on Immunisation (EPI) or the National Immunisation Day exercises".
According to the Chronicle, while the EPI is supposed to be done on a monthly basis in every district through outreach programmes, the National Immunisation Day is done twice a year.
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Opposition scores moral victory…
In a front-page banner, the Ghanaian Voice says the leadership of the Opposition, which organised last Thursday’s "Yabre Mo" demonstration in Accra, have described the event as a political and moral victor.
The Voice says operating under the banner of the Joint Action Committee (JAC), the NPP, CP, PNC, NRP and UGM, braved threats ranging from a counter-demonstration, legal action, violence and appeals to hold the protests march, which was aimed at mobilising against the economic mismanagement of Ghana.
The paper says speakers at the rally to mark the demonstration referred to the climate of fear created by the government to scare people away from participating in the march and indicated that the fact that it took place at all, was a sign of victory for the Opposition and democracy.
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Opposition demo to hit the regions
In a front-page screamer, the Public Agenda reports that the five main minority parties, the NP, NRP, CP, PNC and UGM, organisers of last Thursday’s demonstration in Accra, are planning to organise more protests in the regions.
The paper says that the Joint Action Committee, made up of representatives of the parties, after an appraisal of the event at a meeting on Friday, said they are organising their supporters in the regions and will urge the people there to go through the necessary procedures with the police and other relevant authorities to have an incident-free protests.
"Now that the myth and the fear surrounding demonstrations and mass action are broken, we know that many will feel secure to join in progressive mass action the next time it is called for", the Public Agenda quotes an opposition statement as saying.
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Demo fails to attract
The Ghanaian Democrat says the much anticipated high patronage of the ill-intended anti-government demonstration by the five political opposition parties on the streets of Accra last week, turned out to be a big failure as market women, taxi drivers, GPRTU, street vendors, hawkers, students and the general citizenry, failed to turn p in their numbers.
The Democrat says the NPP-led opposition protest against the government, as intended to draw a lot of the city dwellers onto the streets of Accra to cause commotion and public disaffection towards the government, thus making the government unpopular in the process.
The paper says most of the people, who were expected to come from Tema, Ashaiman, Madina, Nima, Kyebi, Koforidua, Nsawam, all in the Eastern Region, refused to board the many buses dispatched to those places by the opposition to convey them to the city because of what they described as "unconvinced
opposition arguments".
The Democrat says, by and large, those who took part in the demonstration did not get anywhere near the crowd that took part in the 1995 "Kume Preko" protest.
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