We have been dragged into politics by Obed
Rawlings must wash his mouth
EC won't wait for party agents
Grabbed - Man found with 40 thumbprint ID cards
CHRIS FM resumes broadcast
Inusah's madness
Rawlings' accident brings hardship
Quarshigah replies John Mahama
Kufuor Can't Match Mills - First Lady
We have been dragged into politics by Obed
Torgbui Nyaho Tamakloe IV, Dufia of Wuti and Miafiaga of Anlo has blamed Dr Obed Asamoah, the Attorney General (AG) and Minister of Justice for dragging Anlo chiefs into politics, contrary to a clause in the constitution barring the chiefs from participating in politics.
Answering questions from the paper at a press encounter to address recent reports concerning the Anlo Traditional Council, Togbui Nyaho Tamakloe admitted the involvement of Anlo chiefs in politics, saying, "we have been dragged into politics by politicians".
He specifically mentioned the Atorney-General and said a little while ago, he came with a group of NDC people to tell them that they want no change and that the incumbent MP, Clend Sowu should be retained.
Torgbui Nyaho Tamakloe stated, "when I challenged him for attempting to involve us in politics, Dr Asamoah said the Constitution stressed on active involvement of chiefs and not mere involvement."
He had added, "we conferred and replied that as far back as 1996 we had wanted to drop Sowu, but President Rawlings pleaded for him, but now the man we want is Gbeho."
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Rawlings must wash his mouth
President Rawlings has been advised to kindly wash his mouth of foul language first before telling the opposition to do likewise, reports the Guide.
Mr Samuel Odoi-Sykes, NPP National Chairman, speaking at a rally in Accra, said this was because the President, as holder of the highest office on the land, is an embodiment of the national psyche and must therefore respect the office and himself.
He pointed out that President Rawlings' penchant to profusely use foul and 'unrefined' language on platforms is grossly demeaning the office of the presidency.
Mr Odoi-Sykes expressed shock at the recent abusive and inflammatory outbursts of the President at Cape Coast even when the National House of Chiefs and traditional rulers had assembled all political leaders and called on them to refrain from such conduct.
He said for the President to constantly mount platforms and insult everybody using words like fools, brute, nonsense, kwasea and stupid to describe the opposition, public institutions and individuals, is to say the least unheard of in the history of the country.
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EC won't wait for party agents
The Daily Graphic reports that the Electoral Commission (EC) has warned that it will not wait for any political party whose agents are supposed to be present at their designated polling stations when voting starts at 7 a.m. on elections day, December 7.
Mr Lawrence Sarpong, Akuapem North District Electoral Officer, making this known at a one-day workshop on election observation, said although political party agents are allowed to observe the exercise, it is not obligatory on the part of the commission to wait for them before voting begins.
"The absence of a party agent at a polling station, therefore, does not imply that polling cannot proceed," he stressed and advised all party agents to be present at their respective polling stations on schedule.
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Grabbed - Man found with 40 thumbprint ID cards
Police at Yamoransa in the Mfantsiman District of the Central Region have arrested a man who was found in possession of 40 thumbprint ID cards.
The man, Anthony Entsil, allegedly collected the 40 ID cards from some unsuspecting voters in the town on the pretext of helping them to acquire photo ID cards.
Entsil, alias Kobina Ebo, was arrested by some members of the public who became suspicious of him. They later handed him over to the police.
He told the police that he was carrying out the job at the request of some leading members of a political party in the Mfantsiman West Constituency in an attempt to disenfranchise people who are supporting a particular party.
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CHRIS FM resumes broadcast
The Ghanaian Times reports that CHRIS FM, a private radio station at Berekum in the Brong Ahafo Region, which was ordered closed on November 7 by the Regional Security Council (REGSEC), has been re-opened.
The council, which gave the resumption order, explained that it was now satisfied that calm had been restored and peace and order had returned to Berekum and its neighbouring areas.
A press statement read by the council's chairman, Mr Donald Adabre who is the Regional Minister, said REGSEC was convinced that its objective for closing down the station had been achieved.
He said the re-opening of the station was also influenced by appeals from a number of respected bodies including regional executives of the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) and the National Media Commission (NMC).
The Security body also considered the important role that community FM radio stations played in providing information, entertainment and other forms of communication towards the development of their areas of operation.
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Inusah's madness
The Independent says its investigations have established that Alhaji Issaka Inusah's defection to the NDC could not be due to the barrage of accusations he levelled against the NPP, but an overriding ambition, which he could not achieve because of his own inadequacies.
He had up to his defection moment exhibited traits of an over ambitious person who will stop at nothing to achieve his aim.
A vice presidential slot promise to Inusah by the NPP in 1996 fizzled out when a brokered alliance gave it to the People's Convention Party's (PCP) Kow Nkensen Arkaah and although he was maintained on the campaign team, he was not pleased by the decision and threatened a pull out.
Inusah had also hoped to be the NPP's national organiser but was beaten narrowly by Major Courage Quarshiegah in polls, while his eyeing of the Ayawaso West Wuogon seat in the 2000 elections was blocked by the party hierarchy who felt that the chance must fall to Mr George Amoo, a victim of robbery in the 1996.
The party's respectable arrangement to automatically hand him his home constituency was rejected by him. Independent says its investigations found out that Alhaji Inusah's insistence to compete at the West Wuogon constituency was a deliberate ploy to get firm grounds for a defection to the NDC.
He kept to the objective of his plucking, accusing the NPP of being undemocratic and discriminatory on NDC platforms, until adverts on GTV by his former divide on his true character caused considerable ripples in his newfound.
A resolve to counter that found Inusah with the accusation that he, together with other NPP chieftains, rigged the Ablekuma Central bye-elections last year.
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Rawlings' accident brings hardship
The Accra Mail reports that commuters to and from Madina, Adenta, East Legon and environs of the Accra-Tema Motorway, have been thrown into a state of siege since Flt. Lt. Rawlings' sleek state-of-the-art luxurious convertible Jag was involved in an accident on the motorway three weeks ago.
The paper says, in a knee jerk reaction, the police clamped down on all 'unauthorised' roads around the motorway and sealed their entrances and exits to the motorway.
A visit by the paper to East Legon, one of the affected areas, indicated that the blocking of the 'unauthorised routes' is creating much hardship to vehicular traffic, thereby adding to more fuel consumption.
It said the sealed 'unauthorised routes' would have to be opened sooner or later to ease traffic flow or the congestion so created will only add to the heightened sense of foreboding surrounding Election 2000.
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Quarshigah replies John Mahama
Major Courage Quarshigah, a former key functionary of the defunct Provisional National Defence Council (PNDC) has described the Minister of Communications, Mr John Mahama, as a "latter day convert," reports the Crusading Guide.
Major Quarshigah is reported to have fumed in a rejoinder to a Daily Graphic story, attributed to the Minister that got to the office of the Crusading Guide on Tuesday.
"As for those who accept to do their dirty works for them, I can warn them to be extremely careful. Mr John Mahama, a latter day convert and Mawuli Adjei of GTV 'Breakfast Show' should find out what General Mensah Wood of blessed memory went through accepting to cause my arrest in the name of the Ghana Army instead of the PNDC," he said.
The Graphic had published that the Ministry of Communications had debunked Major Quarshigah's assertion that he was framed up by the PNDC to get him out of government. He had said this in an interview on an Accra radio station.
Quarshigah, now the national organiser of the NPP, had been cited in Graphic's story that he was involved in three coup plots to topple the government of the PNDC.
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Kufuor Can't Match Mills - First Lady
The First Lady and the President of the 31st December Women's Movement, Nana Konadu Agyemang Rawlings, has said that the truck record of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) presidential candidate Mr. J. A. Kufuor is full of failures and cannot, therefore, match the achievement of Professor Mills, the NDC presidential candidate.
The first lady said Mr. Kufour is not a presidential material and Ghanaians must tell him just that on December 7, the paper reports.
The first lady was addressing a community rally organised by the Greater Accra Regional branch of the 31st December Movement at Sukura, a suburb of Accra.
Substantiating her point, Nana Konadu said Mr. Kufuor felt proud telling people that he is a lawyer, and submitted that several years after qualifying, he should have been able to establish a law chamber.
To add insult to injury, the NPP presidential candidate had never defended any person or a single case in any court of law or anywhere in the country, Nana Konadu added.
The first lady further pointed out that Mr. Kufuor was fired by the Kumasi City Council during the Acheampong regime due to gross inefficiency.
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