GRi Arts & Culture Ghana 16 - 11 - 2000
Chiefs urged to
compile customary laws
Public must be educated on evils of piracy –
IPA
Chiefs urged to
compile customary laws
Ho (Volta Region) 16 November 2000
Lieutenant Colonel Charles
Agbenaza (rtd), Volta regional Minister, on Wednesday urged the Regional House
of Chiefs to help compile customary laws and lines of succession as demanded by
the 1992 Constitution, to avert rival claims to stools in the region.
In a speech read for him at a
meeting of the reconstituted Regional House of Chiefs at Ho, the Regional
Minister said delay in carrying out this constitutional obligation could enable
unqualified persons to lay claim to stools and skins.
"This often results in
conflicts and disputes and undermines peace and development."
Lt. Col. Agbenaza asked the chiefs
to entreat the people to tolerate the views of their political opponents to
ensure a free and fair election next month.
"As chiefs in our
communities, you must employ your skills to maintain and sustain the balance
and ensure that the campaigns are conducted without vilification and
antagonism," he stressed.
Togbe Dagadu the VII, President of
the Volta Regional House of Chiefs called on his colleagues to explore a
mechanism of solving chieftaincy disputes without resorting to the legal
process.
Togbe Dagadu explained that the
withdrawal from Parliament of Legislative Instrument (LI) 1666 on the elevation
of some chiefs to paramountcy was due to legal omissions and not the fault of
the National or Regional House of Chiefs.
He said the House's proposal to
the National House of Chiefs to elevate 41 chiefs from 102 traditional areas in
the region had been approved and forwarded to the Chieftaincy Secretariat.
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Public must be educated on evils of piracy
- IPA
Accra (Greater Accra) 16 November 2000
The President of the International Publishers Association (IPA), Professor Pere Vicens, said on Wednesday that education of the public on the evils of piracy is the only means to curb infringement of copyright laws.
He said if the public understands the negative impact of pirated works on people's creative abilities, they would refrain from the practice.
"Piracy is not only against the author but the local publishing industry. It reduces the urge of authors to develop their fundamental ideas," he said.
Prof. Vicens is in the country in connection with the Ghana International Book Fair 2000. It is his first visit to Africa.
The IPA, which embraces 72 associations of publishers in more than 150 countries, aims at defending the freedom to publish, ensure the free flow of books and promote reading.
Prof. Vicens said because of the negative contribution that piracy makes to the development of the publishing industry, the association attaches importance to its prevention to allow authors to benefit from their labour.
In this connection that the IPA will hold the first copyright conference in Accra in 2002 to draw attention of the world to the evils of the practice and also find ways to prevent it.
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