Kufuor leads poll
EC allays public fears over ID cards
Three parties reject NPP's proposed voting method
Kakra Essamuah under siege
Govt will set up committee into SSNIT operations - Rawlings
'NPP encouraged petrol smugglers'
EC gives cars to parties
Kufuor on war front
SNNIT comes under more pressure
Kufuor leads poll
The Accra Mail reports that Mr. Kufour, Presidential Candidate of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) has come out tops in a survey conducted by journalists in Accra last week. The Survey was part of an exercise undertaken by the journalists attending a course at the British Council on the Chances of the presidential candidates in Election 2000.
According to the paper, out of the three hundred and sixty people who were sampled in the citywide exercise, Kufour scored 35.1% followed by Atta Mills of theNDC with 15.1%, Professor, Hagan of CPP made an impressive showing of 10.6%.
The rest of the scores were NRP's Goosie Tanoh, 8.8%; Dr. Mahama of PNC, 5.2%; Dr. Wereko-Brobby of UGM, 3.8%, and Dan Lartey of GCPP 1.8%.
8.5% said they did not know, and 9.8% said they would not vote at all.
The area covered by the poll included Tema, Tudu, Adabraka, Weija, among other places. It was carried under the supervision of Graham Jones of CNN and Donald Wintersgill of Thomson Foundation and the journalist were drawn from both state-owned and independent media sectors.
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EC allays public fears over ID cards
The Chairman of the Electoral Commission (EC), Dr. Kwadwo Afari-Gyan, has given the assurance that the replacement of voters' thumb-printed identity cards (ID) with photo IDs would be completed successfully, a week before voting day.
According to a front-page story carried by the Ghanaian Times, he said nobody would be defranchised, provided they were genuinely registered voters, adding that the exercise was on course. "People should not panic; we have enough materials and time", he said.
Reacting to a story carried by the paper on October 18, in which doubts were expressed about the ability of the EC to finish the exercise before the December 7 election, Dr. Afari-Gyan also said there was no need to travel to the district capitals for replacement of ID cards because all polling centers in the constituency had been equipped with enough materials and cameramen for the issuance of the photo ID cards.
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The Daily Graphic
Three parties reject NPP's proposed voting method
The Daily Graphic reports that three political parties contesting the December elections have rejected the new voting method being proposed by the New Patriotic Party (NPP), describing it as a recipe for confusion.
The parties, Convention People's Party (CPP), People's National Convention (PNC) and United Ghana Movement (UGM), said the method would lead to total confusion on election day and spark off a national crisis.
The paper says under the voting method devised by the OAU, polling stations would open from 7 am to 11 am, for voters to check their names in the register, then form queues to vote. Nobody would be allowed to join a queue once the voting begins.
According to the NPP, this would ensure that no one is able to vote at more than one polling station.
According to the Graphic, in separate interviews with the Ghana News Agency (GNA), in Accra at the weekend, representatives of the above parties, Mr. Ramadan National Treasurer of PNC, said such a proposal should have come up earlier at the Inter-Party Advisory Committee (IPAC) meetings, for proper deliberations and not seven weeks before elections.
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Kakra Essamuah under siege
The Ghanaian Voice reports that good father Kakra Essamuah, one of the most accomplished orators of the NPP front who on a good day can turn the tables on his debating opponents with the sheer quality of his argument is now on the NPP's wanted list.
The paper described Kakra as a dyed-in the wool NPP man taking his roots from the Danquah-Busia tradition. In some places, especially in sections of Fante-Land, the name of Kakra Essamuah is synonymous with the NPP.
According to the paper, Kakra finds the NPP’s snail pace movement as a discomfort and launched his own revolution in the party to change the conservative image of his party. The paper claims that he is now seen as a boil in the wrong place by the NPP traditionalist but he still remains in the NPP.
His influence in the party is so crucial that just a single endorsement of Professor John Atta-Mills as a better choice than his party's J. A. Kufour has stirred the hornet's nest, says that paper.
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The Ghana Palaver
Govt will set up committee into SSNIT operations - Rawlings
In a back-page story, The Ghana Palaver says the President, Flt-Lt. J. J. Rawlings has noted the concerns of the major contributors and stake holders to the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) for a restructuring of the organization, adding that the government have proposed to set up a Committee for this purpose.
The paper however says the appointment of this Committee will be made subsequent to the completion of investigations being carried out by the Serious Fraud Office (SFO).
President Rawlings according to the paper said the orchestration of the SSNIT affairs for political purpose is too obvious and therefore urged the SFO to use all legitimate methods to arrive at the truth. “Experts could even be invited to administer lie detector tests to witnesses who will be testifying in the investigations” the President is said to have suggested.
President Rawlings in his first ever comment on the issue, noted efforts being made by the present management under Mr. Charles Asare, Director-General, to correct some anomalies affecting the Trust's operations, and expressed the hope that the SFO investigations and recommendations of the Committee when set up will further help in improving the administration of the Trust.
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'NPP encouraged petrol smugglers'
The Ghanaian Chronicle reports Mr. Moses Asaga, Deputy Minister of Finance, as stating that the crippling petrol shortage, which threatened to undermined the economic base of the country, was the work of the New Patriotic Party (NPP).
Mr. Asaga is reported to have said at a mammoth rally at Tamale that the NPP masterminded the shortage by encouraging smuggling of petroleum products out of the country.
The Deputy Minister said in spite of this and the fact that petroleum products costs were astronomically higher in some of the neighbouring countries, the NDC Government would not increase the cost of fuel in Ghana.
He also has this warning for the people in the North, if the NPP wins "we will run into holes and eat rubbish".
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EC gives cars to parties
The dispatch reports that the Electoral Commission (EC) has presented 34 Niva vehicles to the seven political parties contesting for the December 7 elections.
The gesture by the EC according the Chairman of the Commission, Dr. Afari-Gjan, is to help the political parties to undertake effective political education and explain their manifestoes to the electorates.
He said the distribution is based on the number of parliamentary candidates fielded by each political party. Out of the 34 vehicles given to political parties, only the Eagle and the Democratic Peoples Parties were not given. This the paper claims did not go down well with the General Secretary of the Eagle, Mr. Sam Pee Yalley, who was at the presentation.
He asked the EC to see his party as an independent party in an alliance with the NDC.
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Kufuor on war front
The NPP News reports under a banner headline that Mr. J.A Kufuor, the NPP Presidential Candidate has declared war against people in the society who have taken the country for granted and have been engaging in all forms of social indiscipline to the detriment of the collective well being of Ghanaians.
Ghana, he said, has suffered so much from such indiscipline that "it is time for all to join in the war against social and economic saboteurs" he said, adding "I promise to lead in such a fight to restore the dignity of all Ghanaians.
Mr Kufuor made the declaration while addressing a rally at Yendi as part of his Northern Regional Tour last week.
He expressed regret at the P(NDC) rule for over 19 years, saying Ghana has been mismanaged in such a way that social and economic indiscipline have assumed an alarming proportion with the government committing the greater part of it.
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SNNIT comes under more pressure
The Public Agenda reports that discontent over the management of the Social Security and National Trust (SSNIT) fund following allegations of shady deals and massive fraud have mobilised virtually every identifiable group in the country.
Several groups including the opposition parties, the TUC, businesspersons and even the Director General of the scheme agrees there should be a probe.
Already, the Commission of Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) has announced its decision to investigate the matter and that it is poised to invite interested persons and organisations to furnish it with relevant and useful information for the investigation.
According to a statement issued by the CHRAJ last week said the investigations have become necessary following calls and reports made to its office to do so.
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