Printing of ballot papers begins
Teachers besiege Tamale Police Hq.
NPP dismisses Mills' broad-based govt idea
NUGS, SRC heads clash
Graphic offers 50% rebate to political parties
Atta Mills has gone blind - Wayo
Assiseh goes to court over multi billion empire
How did this national calamity originate?
Thieves invade Arts Centre
Printing of ballot papers begins
The Ghanaian Times in its banner story says the printing of ballot papers for the December 7 elections started in Accra on Tuesday amidst tight security as the Electoral Commission (EC) stepped up preparations for the vote.
The state-owned Ghana Publishing Corporation (GPC) is printing the presidential ballot papers while IKAM, a private printing company, is undertaking those for the parliamentary.
Flt. Lt. F. Adja-Codjoe (Rtd), General Manager (Administration) of GPC told the Ghana News Agency in Accra on Wednesday that the corporation would print 117,096 booklets of ballot papers for the presidential poll.
The order of presidential candidates on the paper would be what was arrived at following a ballot by the political parties. It will bear pictures of the presidential candidates and their party symbols. The same order shall be for that of the parliamentary ballot followed by those of independent candidates.
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Teachers besiege Tamale Police Hq.
In another front-page capture, Times says teachers in the Tamale Municipality and those in the Tolon / Kumbungu District, on Tuesday besieged the Northern Regional Police Headquarters to get their manual pay slips endorsed by a special task force.
The task force, set up by the Ghana Education Service (GES) to rid the service of ghost names, has so far arrested 30 people for either impersonation or using forged results to gain admission into teacher training institutes.
GES director, Professor Christopher Ameyaw-Ekumfi had directed that commercial banks in Tamale should pay salaries of only teachers and other GES staff, whose pay slips had been endorsed by the task force.
The endorsement exercise has brought school activities to a standstill in the Municipality as well as the Tolon / Kumbungu district.
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NPP dismisses Mills' broad-based govt idea
The New Patriotic Party (NPP) has described as hypocritical the proposal by Professor Atta Mills, presidential candidate of the NDC, to form a broad-based government by inviting prominent Ghanaians to join him in the administration of the country, the Evening News reports.
The move, according to the NPP, is aimed at seeking the sympathy of the people in the run-up to the December elections.
It pointed out that almost all those mentioned by Prof. Mills are already advising the government of the NDC, which has failed the people of Ghana totally.
Party publicity officer, Mr. Kwadwo Afari, told the Evening News that it is an open secret to all that Mr. Ishmael A. Yamson, chairman of Unilever Ghana, is an advisor to the government.
He said the NDC sees nothing good and acceptable from the opposition parties and has perpetuated the politics of exclusion, which has eaten deep into the administration of the country.
Mr. Afari described Prof. Mills' intention to invite Mr. Kwame Pianim, an economic consultant and a former guru of the NPP, to assist the government as the highest degree of hypocrisy.
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NUGS, SRC heads clash
The Daily Graphic reports that drama unfolded at a news conference organised by the National Union of Ghana Students (NUGS) when the Students Representative Council (SRC) of the University and the NUGS President contradicted each other on the release of SSNIT loans to students.
The banner story carries that while the SRC president claimed some students had received their loans, the NUGS President denied any such knowledge indicating that it was the delay that prompted the calling of the conference to throw light on students plight and the breakdown of dialogue for the loan's upward review.
The students who threatened an impeachment action against the two bodies executives, became more agitated when the NUGS President could not answer a question posed by the press on the next line of action should SSNIT continue to drag its feet on the release of the loans.
The NUGS executives are said to have escaped through a back door after the news conference in avoidance of the press' desire to inquire into some of the students allegations that their leaders were siding with SSNIT to delay their loans.
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Graphic offers 50% rebate to political parties
The state-owned Graphic Communications Group Limited (GCGL) in a front-page report says it is offering 50 per cent rebate on all political party advertisements carried in its group of newspapers.
The offer, running till December 31, covers the Daily Graphic, The Mirror, The Graphic Sports, Graphic Showbiz and Junior Graphic.
The company made the announcement after meeting with representatives of the various political parties contesting the December 7 presidential and parliamentary polls in Accra on Wednesday.
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Atta Mills has gone blind - Wayo
The Guide reports on its front-page that hot and new sensation in the opposition front, Mr. Kofi Wayo, has brushed aside Prof. Atta-Mills' prediction of a first round victory for the NDC, carried by Thursday's Evening News, with contempt and said the Vice President must be joking.
Wayo, reacting to Prof. Mills' submission in a Radio Universe, an Accra private FM station, media review programme said the Vice President must either be blind or did not understand what he meant by the first round victory.
"If really the Vice President made that prediction then it is obvious he cannot see what is happening around him or probably did not understand the English he was using."
He emphasised that Prof. Mills should never expect victory when the NDC has been practising 'voodoo economics' resulting in the impoverishment of Ghanaians.
"There are no drugs in the hospitals and the hospitals are in bad state".
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Assiseh goes to court over multi billion empire
The Independent in its lead story says Mr. Vinvent Assiseh, the Press Secretary for the National Democratic Congress (NDC) has filed a libel suit at an Accra High Court over an article in The Independent issue of September 19, 2000 headlined - EIGHT YEAR LUCKY STRIKE - ASSISEH'S MULTI BILLION EMPIRE.
Mr Assiseh’s suit, in which the editor of the paper, the publishers and Mr. Richmond Keelson, Associate Editor are joined, is claiming damages for libel in the newspaper and seeking a perpetual injunction restraining the defendants from publishing similar or other libellous matter about him.
According to the said article, Mr. Assiseh, a social critic and commentator on national issues has within eight years since he entered politics acquired a number of houses and vehicles.
Mr Assiseh in a reaction in the same issue had indicated that the assets were legally acquired.
He had in a rejoinder to the paper published on October 10 not denied ownership of the properties although pointing out some inaccuracies in the paper's story.
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How did this national calamity originate?
A writer, Akyaaba Addai-Sebo, writing in 'The Accra Mail' comments on the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) scandal and says the issue is a national one which should be made to consume the politics of the day.
He said a ruling regime that mismanages pension contributions of workers should not only be voted out but should be made to account for every cedi.
"This is a moral issue and a regime that evokes a future of hopelessness and darkness in the hearts and minds of workers and their families has to be punished".
The radio stations and opposition campaign vans, he said, should be sounding loudly and singing 'we no go sit down make them cheat we everyday'. He stressed the need for workers to wake up to an awaiting bleak future should they retire, be incapacitated or die.
Addai-Sebo states also that the situation is serious and no government should be allowed to survive another election if it cannot account to workers and their families the status of their contributions as of now.
The writer recalls discussion in his presence in Mr Ebo Tawiah, former PNDC member's office in 1982, between Mr Tawiah and the late Akwasi Amoakwa Atta, during which the latter proposed the investment of an accumulated huge SSNIT monies to generate a self-reliant national economy.
"It is most likely that it was this revelation which could have triggered the later state-sponsored assault on the pension funds", Addai-Sebo wrote.
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Thieves invade Arts Centre
The Graphic Showbiz reports that the premises of the Accra Arts Centre, noted for its buoyant artefacts market for tourists has become the haven for drug peddlers, thieves, prostitutes, insane people and illegal immigrants.
The Centre, which is situated in the heart of the city attracts hundreds of expatriates daily, however its openness and vastness has caused the presence there of beggars, hawkers and criminals some of who are using it as residence.
The criminals are reportedly harassing customers to the centre by snatching bags, cameras and other property.
The paper says its investigations reveal that an expatriate was stabbed last month by some gang of thieves and all the money on him were stolen, while strolling to the beach.
A number of traders in the area also indicated that some of their wares are always stolen, right beneath the noses of the Centre's security personnel.
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