Prof. Mills calls for legal reforms
billion cedis for development projects in Berekum
Commissioner appeals for public support
Prof. Mills calls for legal reforms
Elmina (Central Region), 5th October 99
Vice-President John Evans Atta Mills on Monday opened a three-day workshop of the legal sector reform programme, and said he hoped that it would come out with bold and pragmatic decisions that would support economic development.
He stressed the need for the workshop to come out with proposals to enable "the wheels of the judicial system to move faster," as well as, provide easy access to legal information and service.
"It is obvious that several laws are outmoded and did not respond appropriately to the needs of our economic development process, particularly in the private sector", Vice-President Mills told the participants made up of senior members of the bench and the bar and government policy makers.
The workshop, under the auspices of the Association of Ghana Industries (AGI), Ghana National Chamber of Commerce and the Ministry of Justice, with financial support from the World Bank, is under the theme "legal reform for private sector development in the next millennium".
It is part of the legal sector reform project to ensure that related institutions respond promptly to the needs of the private sector's economic activities for growth.
Vice-President Mills recalled certain policy measures adopted by the government in the search for economic development and said he regretted that the lack of a responsive legal framework was hampering progress.
Of particular concern to government, Prof Mills said, was the problem suffered by investors over land acquisition, adding that most often, these investors are left with no choice but to fold up.
Related organisations like the Lands Commission and the Land Title Registry should co-ordinate their actions with the view to improving on the situation.
Prof. Mills urged for the efficient application of alternative dispute resolution mechanisms as a way of expediting the resolution of commercial and industrial disputes.
He underscored the important role of the private sector and said that to enhance its lead role, impediments have to be removed or at least minimised.
The legal sector reform programme is expected to strengthen the legal environment to enhance investor confidence and private sector development, he said.
The Vice-President expressed concern about the conditions of the donor institutions, particularly the IMF and the World Bank, which he said lead to undue delays in the implementation of certain vital policies and called for some flexibility by the institutions,
The workshop should examine the role of consumer protection agencies in the country's evolving liberalised economy.
Dr Obed Asamoah, Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, noted that the legal sector sees its national goal as "developing a safe, fair and just society", and that it is its responsibility to develop appropriate policies and strategies, and search for institutional structures with requisite programmes to reach its goal.
He urged participants at the workshop to make a realistic appraisal of the sector's vision for the future as the nation approaches the 21st century.
"This underscores our confidence that an efficient legal system could be an effective attraction for the investor."
They should examine their strategies in the face of challenges posed by the current global economic order, such as the fall in gold and cocoa prices on the world market.
The Minister pointed out that Ghana does not live in isolation and that it is the desire of every nation to have sustained reforms, adding, "we must be able to keep pace with the trend of development and compete favourably on global markets".
In this regard, he said, the country's legal reforms must bear on collaboration and co-operation with the private sector, investment and commercial enterprises, and training and human resource development.
The Minister, described the workshop as encouraging, and said it gave hope for an enhanced capacity building within the legal sector and the creation of the enabling environment for private sector development.
Mr. Kaatii Ofosu-Amaah, Chief Counsel of the World Bank, observed that the role of the legal system in every country, as an integral part of development process could not be downplayed.
"The World Bank, therefore, stands ready to continue to assist in the quest and the pursuance of the objective to have a legal and judicial system, which facilitates the development process in any country".
He said more recently, the President of the World Bank proposed a comprehensive development framework designed to better co-ordinate the efforts of the community, to recognise the holistic nature of development.
Mr. Ofosu-Amaah said the Bank considered the workshop as very important as it provided a forum for further consultation with key stakeholders, to facilitate the development of a strategy and programme of action.
In a welcoming address, the Central Regional Minister, Lt. Col. Charles Agbenaza (rtd) recalled various macro-economic and sectoral reforms introduced by the government to accelerate private sector growth.
He said he hoped that the workshop would develop a reform strategy that would enable the private sector to play its expected role in the country's development.
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1.1 billion cedis for development projects in Berekum
Berekum (Brong Ahafo), 5th October 99
The government has provided 1.1 billion cedis to the Berekum District Assembly to undertake a number of development projects under the public investment projects.
The amount which is besides the district's allocation of the Common Fund, is to fund 26 prtojects, Mrs. Mary Boakye, District Chief Executive, announced at the third ordinary meeting of the assembly at Berekum on Sunday.
She said about 95 per cent of the projects is for improvement in education and the extension of electricity to some communities.
The DCE stressed that although the assembly has been allocated more than 1.3 billion cedis as its share of the Common Fund this year, it has so far received only 174.4 million cedis out of the 328.8 million cedis meant for the first quarter of the allocation.
The assembly's credit approval committee has processed and disbursed 90 million cedis under the poverty alleviation scheme and hoped that the beneficiaries would repay the loan in time to enable others to benefit from it.
She announced that the rehabilitation and capacity expansion project at the Berekum water supply expected to be completed this month, is about 85 per cent complete.
Mrs. Boakye said on completion, the project would increase water supply from the current 900 cubic metres to 2,050 cubic metres per day.
She said she was, however, not happy about the collection of revenue from the assembly's traditional sources, as it had collected only 151 million cedis, representing 35 per cent of the projected yearly revenue target of 430.7 million cedis as at the end of August.
"The assembly's ability to render quality services to the people depends on its financial soundness", she pointed out, and appealed to the members to educate their people on the need to honour their tax obligations.
The Presiding Member of the assembly, Mr. Kofi Adoma called on the assembly to institute a tertiary education endowment fund to assist needy students in the district.
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Commissioner appeals for public support
Accra (Greater Accra), 5th October 99
Mr. William Abuah, Commissioner of the Criminal Investigation Division (C.I.D), Ghana Police Service, on Monday said his men are seriously investigating the recent serial murders in Accra but admitted that they still do not know of the motives of the killers.
Speaking to the media in his office on Monday, Mr. Abuah said different methods were used in the murders making the motives unclear.
The Commissioner said even the relatives of the victims are not willing to give detailed background information about the victims, which could lead to the arrest of suspects.
"Moreover, there is no direct evidence or eye witnesses in all the 19 cases, which have been reported as at September 30". A 20th victim was found in Adabraka last Saturday, October two.
He said all the preliminary steps have been taken. However, it has been difficult to solicit information from the public to supplement the efforts of the Police.
The Commissioner said " the C.I.D investigations are under cover and each case is being treated with the confidence it deserves" adding that the method might have given rise to the notion that nothing was being done.
He said mass arrests do not help in murder cases. "It defeats the purpose since all the cases are not the same and nothing can be achieved by that".
Mr. Abuah appealed to the public to report to the Police any clues, which could lead to the arrest of suspects and advised "the public to be inquisitive, observant and bold enough to question strange persons in their neighbourhood".
He assured informants of their anonymity adding "the situation now calls for co-operation between the Police and the public to come up with concrete evidence to help the police solve these senseless killings."
He cautioned the radio stations to be circumspect about informing the public about criminal cases since this could alert the criminal making it impossible for the Police to arrest him but must rather inform the Police first upon a tip-off.
"The C.I.D, which is a specialised area in crime detection, must be well equipped to be effective in combating crime".
On the issue of encouraging the public to volunteer information through incentives, he said that the public must be educated to hate crime and must not depend on monetary gains before giving information.
He assured the public that there are more Police patrols in the city than before to help curb the situation.
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