GJA on threats from South African High
Commissioner
NPP calls for
commission of enquiry into SSNIT operations
Minister urges
private sector support for agriculture
"Leave me alone":
Parliamentary candidate tells opponents
Ga Dangmes, Ewes are not pro-NDC – UGM
Address the over-dependence on foreign
aid—Ankomah
NPP vows to check electoral malpractice
NMC says monitoring media to ensure fair
electoral coverage
GJA on threats from South African High
Commissioner
Accra (Greater Accra) 17 October 2000
The Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) on Monday gave Dr. Magan Mmereki Phologane, the South African High Commissioner to Ghana, seven days to apologise for his "undiplomatic" conduct in connection with the recent events at the launch of the Ghana-South African Business Chamber.
A private bi-weekly, The Dispatch, reported in a front-page story last week that Dr. Phologane told Editor Ben Ephson in a telephone conversation that: "as long as I remain the South African High Commissioner, any journalist who commented on the issue would never have a visa to South Africa".
Ghanaian journalists severely criticised the treatment they received at the launch of the two-nation chamber. According to the Dispatch, the High Commissioner’s comment was in reaction to the criticisms.
The journalists association asked the high commissioner to confirm or deny the reports, which was carried on the front-page of The Dispatch.
Mrs. Gifty Affenyi-Dadzie, GJA President, gave the ultimatum at a press conference held in Accra to state the GJA's position on what it described as demeaning behaviour meted to its members during the event.
The GJA President asked Dr. Phologane to retract his threat to deny visas, saying the association would pursue the issue if the high commissioner fails to respond within seven days.
Mrs. Affenyi-Dadzie said if the report were true, it would seem to suggest that the high commissioner perceives the granting of visa to applicants who have legitimate business in South Africa as a favour.
She said this was unfortunate at a time when the world had become a global village.
The GJA President recalled the extensive mobilisation of international opinion by the media against apartheid, which culminated in the independence of South Africa in 1994.
"Media practitioners effectively mobilised public opinion in support of the liberation struggle and this facilitated the positive role played by the Ghana government in the anti-apartheid struggle," she said.
The GJA said the behaviour exhibited by officials at the launch of the chamber, at which pressmen accredited to cover the event were asked to vacate their seats, was intimidating.
The journalists association said it regretted that although it had issued a press statement condemning the Ghana-South African Business Chamber, organisers of the event had not responded.
The journalists were especially critical of Dr. Felix Frimpong, the chamber's president, and Miss Felicia Frimpong, the chamber's secretary.
The chamber was launched during the recent visit of South African President Thabo Mbeki to Ghana.
The GJA called on editors to put a news blackout on the Ghana-South Africa Business Chamber and all of its affiliated organisations.
Mrs. Affenyi-Dadzie warned individuals and organisations who "think the media in Ghana are mere pushovers" to change their perception and attitudes about the media.
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NPP calls for
commission of enquiry into SSNIT operations
Accra (Greater Accra) 17 October
2000
The New Patriotic Party (NPP) on
Monday called on the government to institute a commission of enquiry into
reports of the Social Security and National Insurance Trust's (SSNIT)
mismanagement of workers' contributions.
It also called on President Jerry
Rawlings to halt plans by the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) to probe the
allegations because SFO investigations are not made public and the
Attorney-general may not take action on it.
Mr. Samuel Odoi-Sykes, National
Chairman of the NPP, told a press conference in Accra that a commission of
enquiry will be preferred in the current circumstances.
"We believe that a commission
of enquiry appointed under the terms of Article 280 of the constitution will
satisfy the concerns of an anxious public and protect SSNIT from a trial by the
media.
"Its proceedings will be in
public and be seen to be transparent and that is crucial for the health of the
Trust and generate the much needed faith in its activities," Mr.
Odoi-Sykes said.
He said the NPP agrees with the
Trust that its affairs and investments are handled in an impartial and holistic
manner.
Mr. Odoi-Sykes said the terms of
reference for the commission of enquiry should cover appropriateness of
management structure, proportion of SSNIT funds used for management,
compensation for employees and remuneration for board members.
"It must also cover SSNIT's
investment portfolio and its conformity to the legislation establishing it, the
availability of information to contributors on their accounts as required by
law and their systems of procurement," Mr. Odoi-Sykes said.
He said SSNIT's funds represent
the largest bloc of resources that could be invested in the Ghanaian economy,
for which reason its efficient and judicious use must be of the greatest
importance to all.
SSNIT manages the pension funds of
about 800,000 workers in the formal sector. It has investments in the real
estate sector, banking, hotel and hospitality industries and holds a large
portfolio on the Ghana stock Exchange.
Dr. Kofi Konadu Apraku, and Nana
Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, spokesmen for Finance, and Constitutional and Legal
Affairs respectively, reiterated calls on parliament to exercise its
constitutional powers to initiate investigations into the matter.
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Minister urges
private sector support for agriculture
Cape Coast (Central Region) 17
October 2000
Mr. Jacob Arthur, Central Regional
Minister, on Monday urged the private sector to assist in revamping the
country's agriculture sector.
He said individuals or groups
could provide irrigation facilities, food-processing machinery, silos and other
inputs for farmers at reasonable cost to enable them increase food production.
The Minister made the call in an
address read for him at a forum to mark the 20th World Food Day celebration in
the Central Region, at Cape Coast. The day was on the theme; "A Millennium
free from hunger."
Mr. Arthur observed that
assistance from the private sector, which is regarded as the engine of growth,
would be a vital complement to the government's efforts to enhance food
production.
Mr. Arthur said the Root and Tuber
Improvement Programme (RTIP), the Village Infrastructure Project (VIP), and the
Youth in Agriculture Programme, were some of the measures the government is
taking to build capacity in agricultural production and also to create jobs for
the youth.
He charged agricultural frontline
staff to intensify education on the need for farmers and fishermen to refrain
from bad practices to stem the degradation of the soil and the depletion of
forests and fish resources.
The Minister was not happy about
reports that about 4 per cent of the 70 per cent of the nation's population
currently engaged in agriculture, are infected with HIV/AIDS and said the
disease could affect the vision 2020 programme.
In another development, speakers
at a forum to mark the 20th World Food Day at Ho have advocated the restoration
of agriculture subsidies to make farm inputs affordable to farmers.
The speakers, mainly officials of
the Ministry of Food and Agriculture, the Ghana National Association of Farmers
and Fishermen and agricultural based non-governmental organisations argued that
without the subsidies, it would be impossible especially for small-scale
farmers to produce food on the scale needed to meet the country's food
requirements.
The theme for the day was: "A
millennium free from hunger". Panellists also called for a marketing
scheme that would facilitate the highest returns to farmers, whiles ensuring
easy access to food and at reasonable prices.
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"Leave me
alone": Parliamentary candidate tells opponents
Ho (Volta Region) 17 October 2000
Ms Patience Ameku, Convention
People's Party (CPP) parliamentary candidate for North Tongu, on Sunday advised
her opponents, especially from the National Democratic Congress (NDC), to
engage in constructive campaign that addresses the problems of the constituency
and leave her me alone.
"I would not be intimidated
by the strategy they are using by peddling lies about me that I have stepped down
and that the Electoral Commission has struck my name off the list of
candidates".
Ms Ameku, a former District Chief
Executive for Kadjebi, who was speaking to the Ghana News Agency in Ho, assured
her supporters that she is still in the race.
She asked the electorates to vote
massively for her on December 7, to enable her to continue with the development
programmes started in the constituency by the Nkrumah regime, adding, "the
evidence is there for everyone to see".
The parliamentary candidate said
she would woo investors to the area to tap its rich natural resources like
arable and cattle grazing lands, lime and clay deposits and land banks for
agricultural development and small scale industries, to create jobs and improve
the living standard of the people.
She said despite the area's
massive support for the NDC in two previous elections, "all we have to
show for it now are very bad and inaccessible roads, lack of potable water and
electricity to many communities."
Ms Ameku assured communities
displaced by the construction of the Akosombo Dam including Fordzoku and
Torgorme that "the CPP will ensure that you have your fair share of
development, to make life meaningful."
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Ga Dangmes, Ewes are not pro-NDC – UGM
Ada (Eastern Region) 17 October 2000
Ms. Mabel Marmley Doku, United Ghana Movement (UGM) parliamentary candidate for the Ada constituency, on Monday called on the electorate in the area not to vote on tribal lines in the December elections.
"Do not let tribal sentiments cloud your minds in the decision to vote," she said.
"It is high time we the Ga Dangmes and Ewes prove to Ghanaians that we are not the property of the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) as we are being accused of."
Speaking in an interview with the GNA, Ms. Doku said voters in the area are noted for turning "deaf ears and blind eyes" on all other political parties except the NDC.
She said this attitude is a sure recipe for marginalisation of the area in the sharing of the national cake, should another party win the elections.
"We must not forget that the tables will definitely turn one day," she said.
"I was an active member of the NDC and I know what I am talking about. I decided to pull out because my effort was not being duly recognised," Ms Doku said.
"We need to have a national government and not a tribal one," Ms. Doku said, adding: "the UGM and other political parties have made so much in-roads in the area to ensure that the NDC is not winning this time round."
She called on the electorate to vote more women into parliament to ensure adequate attention to issues affecting women and children.
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Address the over-dependence on foreign
aid—Ankomah
Kumasi (Ashanti Region) 17 October 2000
The Government has been asked to increase its effort to address the problem of the country's over-reliance on foreign donor support for its development.
Mr. Owusu Ankomah, a former presidential aspirant, criticised the situation where foreign inflows have become the lifeline of the economy.
Speaking to newsmen in Kumasi, he said it is unacceptable that Ghana, in the midst of abundant human and natural resources, should find itself in a state where its foreign debt keeps swelling by each passing day.
He pointed out that this would not have been the case if the resources had been effectively and judiciously utilised.
Mr. Ankomah who withdrew his independent candidature, citing impediments by the electoral commission repeated the call on the Government to cut down its spending and remove waste so as to conserve funds to make it less dependent on borrowing.
He also spoke on the need to develop one of the local languages for adoption as a national language.
Mr. Ankomah noted that in the long run, it would cost the nation nothing but rather "we stand to gain", adding, it does not matter which language is adopted.
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NPP vows to check electoral malpractice
Pokukrom (Ashanti Region) 17 October 2000
The New Patriotic Party (NPP), on Monday reiterated its determination to check possible impersonation and any other electoral malpractice in the December 7 general election.
Alhaji Kwasi Yeboah, Ashanti Regional Organiser of the NPP, who said this at the inauguration of a branch of the Young Elephants' club, a youth wing of the party at Pokukrom, added that this time round the party would be more vigilant to prevent a repetition of the kind of fraud, which characterised previous elections.
Alhaji Yeboah said the NDC’s campaign against the NPP that the party will expel aliens when it comes to power, is not true, describing the allegations as a ploy to divert attention from the real issues of mismanagement of the economy by the government.
He said the people have now seen through the NDC's lies and would no longer be swayed by them. Alhaji Yeboah referred to the recent increase in the producer price of cocoa and said it is "one of the subtle tricks by the NDC to win the sympathy of farmers who have been exploited by the government all this while".
Mr. Oti Akenten, Ashanti Regional NPP propaganda secretary, commended Alhaji Yeboah for his foresight in forming the youth wing throughout the country and called on the youth to rally behind the party to ensure victory at the polls.
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NMC says monitoring media to ensure fair
electoral coverage
Accra (Greater Accra) 17 October 2000
The National Media Commission (NMC) says it has initiated the daily monitoring of state-owned and some private media to try to ensure compliance of the constitutional provision on fairness in political reporting for the December elections.
"These provisions are crucial for political reporting in the December elections," said Mr. Tim Acquah-Hayford, Chairman of NMC.
"Due to the importance of the issue, there is a pressing need for proactive and innovative initiatives, which would guarantee fair and balanced coverage by the state-owned media."
Mr. Acquah-Hayford was briefing the press on the commission's Media Monitoring Project in Accra on Monday.
He said if a monitoring report suggests a newspaper or a broadcaster has been unfair, it would be asked to react.
Should the reaction be unsatisfactory, the NMC would ask the media house board to intervene.
"The project will target media houses and political parties and shall investigate matters arising from the content analysis of stakeholders monthly meetings."
The stakeholders are the Friedrich Ebert Foundation (FES), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), National Institutional Renewal Programme (NIRP) and the German government.
Mr. Acquah-Hayford said the monitoring would analyse the content, selection and manner of presentation of news and current affairs on the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation (GBC) TV and radio stations, Ghana News Agency (GNA), the Daily Graphic, Ghanaian Times, Evening News and the Weekly Spectator.
The NMC will also monitor selected private media, print and electronic, to provide a basis for comparison of the performance of the state media.
They are the Ghanaian Chronicle, Public Agenda, the Dispatch, TV3, Joy FM, Peace FM and Garden City radio.
Mr. Acquah-Hayford explained that the project is a pilot programme that will cover all regions except the Eastern and Upper West.
Mr. Yaw Boadu-Ayeboafo, NMC Executive Secretary, said that NMC cannot directly insist on the compliance of fair reporting by the state-owned media, which will amount to interference. But the NMC can achieve fair reporting indirectly through the state-owned media boards, he said.
Mr. Boadu-Ayeboafo acknowledged that the selection of news stories for either print or broadcast is based on the news available. But he appealed to editors to try to have similar number of stories for each political party, adding: "your yardstick should be based on this".
Mr. Peter Schellschmidt, resident director of the FES, said "a well-functioning Media Commission is vital in making the constitutional provisions for free and responsible media work".
He said with Ghana's third consecutive presidential and parliamentary elections "just around the corner", the FES has reservations about the role and attitude of both state-owned and private media.
Mr. Schellschmidt commended the NMC for taking the responsibility for monitoring the state-owned media.
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