Did Rawlings lie? / J.J. did not carry Gen's coffin
December 7 will be yardstick - Asamoah
11 bodies to work towards peaceful polls
Make reasoned, objective choices - President urges electorate
NPP man advises against retaliation
Probe NDC Memo - CPP
Chronicle to the aid of Jerry
Fraud, violence & elections - we are ready - parties say
Top Nkrumaist declares for Mills
Did Rawlings lie? / J.J. did not carry Gen's coffin
The Accra Mail and the Dispatch writes on the rejection by the family of Major General N.A. Odartey-Wellington of the claim by President Jerry John Rawlings that he was one of those who carried the late General’s coffin to its final resting-place.
The army general died on June 4, 1979 fighting the cause of the Supreme Military Council that was overthrown by the junior ranks of the army and brought Rawlings to power.
The two papers carry a statement from one of the army general's sons, Michael, 14 at his father's death, refuting the President's assertion as being "wholly inaccurate".
The denial, which received full publication in both papers, indicated that Michael was present at the burial and testifies of the absence of Flt. Lt. Rawlings.
"I was fourteen years old when our father was buried and was present at the burial. Our family wishes to bring it to the attention of the good people of Ghana that this claim of the President is wholly inaccurate. President Rawlings was not present at the burial of our father and he certainly was not one of the pallbearers and this can be testified to by all who were present during the burial".
President Rawlings had told Queen Mothers from the Ga traditional area that he was one of the pallbearers at the burial of the army officer in what was telecast on Breakfast Show, a GTV morning programme.
Michael's junior brother, Felix, a commentator on the same programme, had days earlier been picked by the security personnel for calling the President a 'con man'.
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December 7 will be yardstick - Asamoah
The Trades Union Congress (TUC) has noted that the conduct of the December 7 elections would be a yardstick with which Africa and the world in general, would judge the level of maturity of Ghana's democratic growth, the Daily Graphic reports in its centrespread.
Mr Kofi Asamoah, Deputy Secretary-General in charge of operations of the union stated, when addressing members of the Upper East Regional Council of Labour at Bolgatanga that the elections would tell whether we are a people who learn from our past experiences or not.
He expressed disappointment that the atmosphere in which the political campaigns are being conducted do not portend well for the peace, security, stability and sustainable growth of the country.
The TUC, he said, has reasons to voice out its concerns about the character of the campaigns because if the conduct and pronouncements of the parties are not checked they can trigger off chaos.
He called on the Electoral Commission to immediately revive the Inter-Party Advisory Committee (IPAC) to help clear the dark clouds, now looming on the political scene.
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11 bodies to work towards peaceful polls
The Graphic reports on its front-page that eleven identifiable bodies last Friday formed a coalition to work towards peaceful elections.
The are the Trades Union Congress (TUC), Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT), the Civil Servants Association of Ghana and Ghana Union of Traders Association.
Others are Ghana Journalists Association (GJA), Christian Council of Ghana, Ghana Association of Polytechnic Students, National Union of Ghana Students (NUGS), Ghana Chamber of Mines and the Ghana Employers Association.
The grouping, known as "Civil Society Coalition", initiated by the TUC is to present a common front on the issue of peace, which it said, is fundamental to the upcoming elections.
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Make reasoned, objective choices - President urges electorate
The Ghanaian Times writes that President Jerry John Rawlings, at the weekend asked the electorate to inform themselves about the country's political past and its effects on the national development in order to make reasoned and objective choices on election day.
Speaking at a gathering of chiefs and people of Somanya in the Eastern Region during their celebration of this year's Kloyoskplemi festival, President Rawlings stated that most of the electorate were too young to remember from personal experience the crushing hardships and economic stagnation of the 1970s and early 80s.
"Even fewer of us are old enough to remember that some politicians, a few of whom are still around, actually opposed our independence, or that until 1992 Constitution established the Fourth Republic, not a single elected government ever concluded its term of office peacefully. This is where we have come from. It is the duty of every voter to inform himself or herself about our political past and the effects it had on our national development.
President Rawlings cautioned voters regarding the forthcoming elections and asked them not to allow themselves to be swayed by the sweet promises of any candidate.
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NPP man advises against retaliation
Mr Emmanuel Agyei-Boye, the New Patriotic Party parliamentary candidate for Krowor constituency in Accra, has advised the party's supporters not to retaliate any provocative acts that would be unleashed by the party's opponents, reports the Times
Addressing party supporters at a rally at Nungua on Friday, he said such acts were usually aimed at distracting attention of the electorate from assessing the economic difficulties facing the country.
He said the NDC in particular, was aware it had lost the support of many electorates and would do everything to suppress the wish of the people in the December elections. He urged his party supporters not to engage in acts that would tarnish the image of the party.
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Probe NDC Memo - CPP
The Convention People's Party (CPP) is reported by the Ghanaian Chronicle to have called for full-scale investigations into "the vote buying enterprise" of the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) captured in the controversial confidential memorandum allegedly authored by the General Secretary of the NDC, Mr Huudu Yahaya.
The statement issued on Thursday and signed by the party's publicity chairman, Mr Kwesi Pratt Jnr. said, "We find this memorandum very revealing of the dangerous machinations of the National Democratic Congress which could easily erode the credibility of the 2000 elections and plunge the country into chaos".
It suggested that the committee should be headed by a judge of the High Court and empowered to establish the veracity or otherwise of the alleged plans contained in the memorandum.
Members of the committee, they said, should be drawn from civil society organisations like the Trade Union Congress (TUC), the Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT), the Ghana Bar Association (GBA), the Christian Council of Ghana and the Ghana Muslim Representative Council.
Among others, the statement called for the probe to establish the extent to which the state apparatus is involved in the NDC campaign effort and the lawfulness of the NDC's plans to infiltrate organised labour, youth and women’s groups as well as the position.
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Chronicle to the aid of Jerry
The Chronicle in a front-page capture says President Rawlings has never hidden the fact that he has a frosty relationship with the paper, but last week he had to thank the Chronicle for saving him from a potentially explosive and embarrassing situation.
The paper in a story titled, 'Akafia, Awoonor & Co declare war on Anlo State' in its October 31 - Nov 1 edition revealed an intricate plot hatched by some of the President's own men to involve him in a dangerous chieftaincy dispute in Anloga, the traditional capital of the Anlos.
Presidential Staffer, Prof. Awoonor and Chief of Defence Staff, Gen. Ben Akafia with others, reportedly had planned to install one Patrick Agboba as chief of the town during a 'farewell durbar' intended for President Rawlings.
The Head of State, reportedly quizzed Foreign Minister, James Victor Gbeho and Togbui Nyaho Tamakloe, Miafiaga of Anlo, who called on him with the invitation after he showed them a copy of Chronicle.
The President is said to have had access to the paper through his wife.
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Fraud, violence & elections - we are ready - parties say
The Public Agenda says with barely three weeks to go before the millennium elections, the possibility of cheating and violence has raised the volume of accusatory decibels from the country's major political parties with the NDC and the NPP especially encountering each other.
While the parties mean different things when they talk about electoral fraud, dangerous levels of violence have already been seen in Kumasi in the Ashanti Regions and Berekum and Wenchi in Brong Ahafo, among others.
The Agenda says especially ominous was last Thursday's announcement by the Ministry of Interior that it was investigating an allegation that someone has imported ammunitions into the country to create unrest before and after the elections on December 7.
The announcement came in the wake of instances of attacks by so-called machoman and high profile manoeuvres by security personnel.
Minority Leader in Parliament, Mr J.H. Mensah and Reform Party's leading member, Dr David Pessy, cited a recent exercise undertaken by the military in parts of Accra as being part of the ruling government's intimidation tactics during JOY FM’s Frontpage programme.
The paper says despite the expression of fears and attendant confusion, the political parties say they are sure they can work together to prevent fraud during the December 7 elections.
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Top Nkrumaist declares for Mills
A life-long dedicated Nkrumaist, Ex-Lt. A. Owusu-Gyimah has declared support for the NDC Presidential candidate, Prof. John Evans Atta-Mills, states The Independent.
Ex-Lt Owusu-Gyimah who talks about his opposition to the dictatorship of President Rawlings and his involvement in a number of protests with other Nkrumaists, says he however believes that Prof. Mills has shown enough commitment to form a broad-based government.
He said the NDC has proved more sympathetic and pro-active to Nkrumaist heritage more than any other party and expressed fears that an NPP victory will be bad for the Nkrumaist cause.
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