GRi Newsreel Ghana 25 - 10 - 2000
SSNIT is financially sound -D-G
NDC "rebel" calls on Gbeho to
resign
"Tarzan", Mills clarify issues
Independent candidate refutes rumours of
withdrawal
NDC failed to implement sound economic
policies--Mahama
NDC candidate advises members not to be
distracted by lies
Private press gets big chunk of GJA awards
Volta Region abounds in resources and
attractions
Commonwealth body honours Aidoo, Dodoo
Gbeho: Enlargement of Security Council
should be non-discriminatory
Bring South
African High Commissioner to order – GJA
SSNIT is financially sound -D-G
Accra (Greater Accra) 25 October 2000
Mr. Charles Asare, Director-General of the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) on Tuesday said SSNIT is solid and financially sound despite media allegations of fraud and unwise investments.
He said all required financial reports up to 1999, have been signed by external auditors, and filed with the Minister of Finance as stipulated by law.
"What perhaps might be done is to change the law that will make SSNIT publish its accounts just like all the banks do," he told a crowded press conference in Accra.
Mr. Asare said external actuarial evaluation of the scheme, which is due at the end of this month, is expected to be favourable.
SSNIT, he said, recognises that it is the right of citizens to question its actions but this must be done in a responsible manner devoid of allegations, which lack a sound factual basis and inquiry.
The press conference was intended to set the records straight as to the financial state of SSNIT and to address issues raised in media criticisms of its operations involving alleged fraud and financial impropriety.
Mr. Asare noted that majority of SSNIT's investments are successful, but admitted that a few like Wahome Steel and Bridal Trust, have not performed as expected.
"Unfortunately, given the slanted coverage of certain media houses, the good ones were not mentioned", he said.
He mentioned SSB Bank, Merchant Bank, Labadi Beach Hotel, Golden Beach Hotel and equities on the Ghana Stock Exchange as some of the profitable investments made by the Trust.
Mr. Asare said it is important to let the public know the facts "in order to put things in a truer light and counter-balance the misinformation and slanted view presented by certain members of the media."
Mr. Asare said even though he had a meeting with media personnel from JOY FM, over the issues raised by the radio station, "I realised they had distorted the facts that we had willingly given to them about our investments and some of the issues that were discussed."
Mr. Asare said SSNIT's responsibility is to the stakeholders - contributors and pensioners - adding that it had taken time to meet with all of them to explain the issues raised by the media.
"We have met with the Pensioners Association, TUC and have scheduled meetings with the Employers Association, Ghana National Association of Teachers and Civil Servants Association."
Mr. Asare said SSNIT is not ready to engage in a media trial, as that is inappropriate.
He said the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has begun investigations into the matter and SSNIT is co-operating fully.
He discounted all the allegations about the Ridge Office Complex building, loans, students loan scheme, sale of a house to Mr. Kwame Addo, a member of the SSNIT board, a land at Obuasi and purchase of a car for the Director-General.
"As with any investment there is bound to be problems along the line. But SSNIT is not just watching, we are acting accordingly and wish to assure all contributors that their monies are safe."
Mr. Ato Ampiah Chairman of the SSNIT board, said issues about the Trust must be fully investigated and the truth found before people go out to publish them.
He said SSNIT, like a bank, thrives on the trust of the people whose money it manages. If it is broken wrongly you can imagine what this means to the survival of the scheme."
On the relationship between SSNIT and Crystal Auto Company, Mr. Ampiah said it was purely a commercial business transaction with Merchant Bank Ghana Limited providing the financial back-up for the company.
He said there was no financial lapse or conflict of interest as questioned by the media.
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NDC "rebel" calls on Gbeho to
resign
Accra (Greater Accra) 25 October 2000
Mrs. Esther Agbodo-Nyamalor, independent parliamentary candidate for the Anlo Constituency in the Volta Region, on Tuesday called on Minister of Foreign Affairs James Victor Gbeho to resign his cabinet portfolio or withdraw his candidature.
"It is morally wrong for a cabinet minister to contest a parliamentary seat as an independent candidate and still maintain that position," she said.
Mrs. Agbodo-Nyamalor, an NDC activist who lost the Tema West seat in 1996, said this at a press conference in Accra.
She is contesting the seat with Dr. Gbeho and Squadron Leader Clend Sowu (Rtd), the incumbent MP who was endorsed by the NDC leadership.
She said: "the Anlos are calling for a parliamentarian who would be part of the community and not an absentee one".
As to why she still maintains membership of the NDC, Mrs. Agbodo-Nyamalor said her mission "is a noble one to rescue the parliamentary seat for my party to serve the constituent for accelerated development".
She listed a catalogue of problems inhibiting the development of the constituency, saying the incumbent MP has done his part for the past eight years.
Mrs. Agbodo-Nyamalor said one of her first actions would be to contact the Electoral Commission for a new demarcation of the area to have at least three area councils instead of two.
Other priority areas, she said, would be the construction of bridges, a vocational centre, provision of good quality and adequate health facilities and establishment of micro credit facilities for the informal sector.
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"Tarzan", Mills clarify issues
Accra (Greater Accra) 25 October 2000
Dr. Charles Wereko-Brobby, flagbearer of the United Ghana Movement (UGM), on Tuesday said he was withdrawing comments he made in response to a statement reportedly made by Vice-President John Evans Atta Mills on the economy.
He said in a statement to the media that he decided to withdraw his comments after the Vice-President rang him on Tuesday to clarify what he actually said.
Vice-President Mills was reported to have said that the cedi depreciated by only five per cent between 1997 and at the start of the power crisis.
Dr. Wereko-Brobby, pressed for his comments at a press conference on Monday, told journalists that the Vice-President's statement should not be read as evidence of good financial management, but must rather be seen as confirmation of poor stewardship of the government.
"I went on to say this since the Vice-President has just asked all politicians to tell the truth at all times; he himself should set the example for others to follow."
Dr. Wereko-Brobby said Professor Mills, who is also presidential candidate for the ruling NDC, explained to him over the phone that the crisis period he referred to in his statement was on the onset of the current economic crisis.
The period starts from the decline of cocoa prices and not the start of the power crisis as reported in the media.
"In the light of the Vice-President's clarification, I am very happy to withdraw my own comments entirely and without any reservation," Dr. Wereko-Brobby said.
He also expressed appreciation to the Vice-President for contacting him personally to discuss the issue.
"He took my comment as made in good faith and did not hesitate to get in touch. I am equally happy to make public my assurance that nothing I said was intended to impugn his good name and integrity."
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Independent candidate refutes rumours of
withdrawal
Akwatia (Ashanti Region) 25 October 2000
Miss Mary Adwoa Buabeng, independent candidate for the Akwatia Constituency, has assured her supporters that she has not withdrawn from the forthcoming parliamentary election.
She told newsmen at Akwatia on Tuesday that her detractors have been circulating rumours that she was no longer contesting the seat in order to confuse the electorate.
Miss Buabeng, a teacher, said what might have fuelled the rumour was the fact that she was away for two weeks marking scripts for the Basic Education Certificate Examination at Koforidua.
The independent candidate, who had just returned from a capacity-building workshop for women parliamentary candidates from the Eastern and Volta Regions at Ho, said she was more determined now than ever to wrest the Akwatia seat.
Miss Buabeng, who was the Akwatia Zonal Organiser of the 31st December Women's Movement and a member of the Commission for Human Rights and Administrative Justice, Kade, said she was counting on the support of mostly women voters as well as men who acknowledge her ability to perform creditably.
Miss Buabeng said she decided to vie for the seat because the time had come for women to stand up and match men as equal partners in the march for progress and development.
She noted that since 1951 when the first parliamentarians were elected, the Akwatia Constituency had always been represented by men who received the support of women voters.
She expressed the hope that as the first aspiring woman candidate, both men and women would support her to win.
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NDC failed to implement sound economic
policies--Mahama
Agona Swedru (Central Region) 25 October 2000
Dr Edward Mahama, Presidential Candidate of the People's National Convention (PNC) has accused the National Democratic Congress (NDC) government of not implementing sound and strong economic policies.
He said bad and non-pragmatic policies adopted by the government for nearly two decades have created untold hardship on the average Ghanaian.
Dr Mahama levelled the accusation during a courtesy call on the Omankrado of Agona Swedru Nana Efua Ayipuah I, as part of his campaign tour of the Central Region.
He said the nation is facing serious economic crisis with education, health and agricultural sectors in a total mess.
Dr Mahama said it is particularly shameful that Ghana is still relying on the importation of food when the country abounds in so much potential to be net exporter of food.
He pledged that a PNC government would restore subsidies on some agricultural inputs to make them affordable and accessible to farmers to be able to increase production.
Dr Mahama assured the electorate that the PNC would abolish the cash-and-carry system and replace it with a credible health insurance scheme, which would enjoin all stakeholders to assist Ghanaians to have quality health care delivery.
Nana Efuah Ayipuah, Queen mother of Agona Swedru, asked party activists not to insult their opponents in their campaigns.
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NDC candidate advises members not to be
distracted by lies
Nkoranza (Brong Ahafo Region) 25 October 2000
Mr. Hayford Francis Amoako, NDC parliamentary candidate for Nkoranza has urged the party's supporters not to be distracted by lies being peddled by the opposition to discredit the government.
Addressing a party rally at Nkoranza Kassardjan, Mr. Amoako said the evidence of the government's performance is there for all to see and no amount of misinformation would negate these achievements.
"Consider the present state of our area as compared to the past and you will realise that the NDC has done a lot to enhance the development of this district," he said.
Mr. Amoako said he had contacted a number of NGO's who have assured him of their support and assistance to develop the area.
He therefore called on the people to remain loyal and vote for him to enable him to carry out his laudable plans.
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Private press gets big chunk of GJA awards
Accra (Greater Accra) 25 October 2000
The private press got the bigger share of this year's awards by the Ghana Journalists Association (GNA), claiming eight of the 12 prizes on offer.
A statement signed in Accra on Tuesday by Mrs. Gifty Affenyi-Dadzie, GJA President, said the award winners would be honoured at the ninth Awards/Dinner Nite to be held at the Accra International Conference Centre on Saturday.
The award winners from the state-owned press are Ms Eunice Menka of the Ghana News Agency, Mr. Godfred Blay Gibbah of the Ghanaian Times, and Mr. Daniel Mensah Brande and Mr. Edmund Kofi Yeboah, both of GBC Radio.
Those from the private press are: Ms Isabella Gyau Orhin (Public Agenda), Mr. Richard Keelson (Independent), and Mr. William Nyarko and Mr. A.C. Ohene, both of the Ghanaian Chronicle.
The rest are Mr. Osei Boakye (TV3), Mr. Kweku Baako Jnr. (Crusading Guide) and Mr. F.O. Ayim and Ms Nancy Arthur, both of the Statesman.
The statement said the guest speaker would be Mr. Ishmael Yamson of Unilever Ghana, while Mrs. Frances Ademola, a broadcaster and chairperson of the GJA Ethic and Disciplinary Committee would chair the ceremony.
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Volta Region abounds in resources and
attractions
Ho (Volta Region) 25 October 2000
Mr. Steve Selormey, acting Volta Regional Co-ordinating Director on Monday, said the region abounds in tourist attractions, human, agricultural and mineral resources that need to be harnessed for development.
Mr. Selormey was speaking to a 10-man visiting delegation of the Ghana Armed Forces Command Staff College (GAFCSC) at Ho. The visit forms part of a week-long tour of Kpando, Hohoe, Kadjebi, Kete-Krachi and Keta districts.
"In order to realise our dream, the Volta Regional Co-ordinating Council mapped out priority areas for action and for government support," Mr. Selormey said.
The areas are education, health, a reliable transport and road network, electricity, water and sanitation and income-generating activities.
Mr. Henry Danso, acting Volta Regional Director of the Department of Feeder Roads said 1600 kilometres of the region's 2750 kilometres of road network has been gravelled.
He said the department of Feeder Roads is involved in the general maintenance of roads, regravelling, filling of potholes and the construction of bridges with funds from the government, the road fund and donor agencies
Mr. Kwadwo Aboagye, Director of the Ghana Highway Authority said out of 1600 kilometres trunk roads in the region 1000 kilometres are gravelled while 600 kilometres are paved.
On health, Dr Nii Akwei Addo, acting Director of the Volta Regional Health Services said the region has 259 health centres, made up of seven hospitals, 84 health posts and 77 clinics run by the Ministry of Health, while 11 hospitals and clinics are run by missions and non-governmental organisations.
He said malaria, cerebro-spinal meningitis and guinea worm are rife in the region.
Dr Addo said 626 out of 4,091 people were HIV positive in a test conducted between January and August 2000.
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Commonwealth body honours Aidoo, Dodoo
Accra (Greater Accra) 25 October 2000
The Commonwealth Association of Public Administration and Management has elected Dr. Tony Aidoo, Ghana's Deputy Minister of Defence, as one of its directors.
The 51-member association also awarded Ghana's Civil Service a bronze plaque and a certificate of achievement.
The association represents professionals, business people and politicians in Commonwealth countries.
Dr. Aidoo was elected as one of the organisation's 15 directors at its International Awards Programme held on October 15-18 in Cape Town, South Africa.
Dr. Robert Dodoo, Head of the Civil Service, announced the award on Tuesday in Accra.
Ghana's Civil Service was recognised for placing third among 119 entries in the Commonwealth competition.
Entries in the competition were judged on their innovative and effective programmes to improve the quality of life of the people.
Ghana's Civil Service Improvement Programme (CSIP), which is designed to provide better service delivery, was adjudged the best after India and Canada.
Dr. Dodoo praised the government for the support it has given the CSIP over the years.
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Gbeho: Enlargement of Security Council
should be non-discriminatory
Accra (Greater Accra) 25 October 2000
Ghana on Tuesday said the reform and enlargement of the UN Security Council should be done on a non-discriminatory basis.
"The will of the international community as a whole should not continue to be undermined by that of the minority which presently exercises the veto in matters of international peace and security in which all member states have a vested interest."
Mr. Victor Gbeho, Minister of Foreign Affairs, was speaking at a flag-raising ceremony to commemorate the 55th United Nations Day in Accra.
He said the UN Secretary-general's proposals to reform the UN would be incomplete without the reform of the Security Council, which acts on behalf of the entire membership of the UN to maintain international peace and security.
"Its present composition, an outcome of the geo-political consideration of victorious Allied Powers during the Second World War in which the permanent members wielded veto powers, is unfair, unjust and outmoded."
Mr. Gbeho said the pressures for democratisation in the post-cold war era could not be confined to the power relations within states, but needed to be extended among states and within the UN itself, especially the Security Council.
He stated that the UN often falls short of the expectations of both member-states and the people in conflict resolution, especially in Africa.
He said while it is prompt in dealing with conflict situations in some parts of the world, it has displayed an "embarrassing tardiness when it comes to dealing with conflicts in Africa."
Mr. Gbeho, however, applauded the UN for its strenuous efforts to provide the appropriate and dynamic forums for the struggle against colonialism and apartheid.
He reiterated Ghana's commitment to the UN to ensure peace and security among nations in the world.
A statement from Mr. Kofi Annan, UN Secretary-general, which was read by Mr. Alfred Fawundu, UN resident co-ordinator in Ghana, called on national leaders to implement the pledges they made in their declaration in the millennium summit in New York.
He said such pledges would change nothing if they are not followed by action.
The Secretary-general called on national leaders to remember the priorities they set in the declaration when it comes to allocating, among competing needs and demands, resources their people have entrusted to them.
"They need to remember the pledges they made to each other. They need to continue working together and also to work with other partners at home and abroad."
He said the biggest responsibility falls on the leaders themselves and their people in general, who must hold their leaders to millennium pledges to ensure that the declaration is more than "fine words".
Mr. Ebenezer Malcolm, National President of the Ghana United Nations Students and Youth Association (GUNSA), commended the UN for its effort in outlining peaceful settlements and dispatching peacekeeping missions to settle conflicts, especially in the Middle East and other African countries.
He, however, condemned the current outbreak of violence in the Middle East and called for an unconditional ceasefire to allow the two parties to return to the negotiating table.
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Accra (Greater Accra) 25 October 2000
The future of effective peace support operations in Africa depends largely on the creation of a viable capacity to respond rapidly to emerging crisis, the Army Commander, Lieutenant General Joseph Smith, said on Tuesday.
This response should not only be in terms of preventive diplomacy but also in terms of timely deployment of adequate numbers of trained and well equipped personnel to maximise the chances of upholding peace in the wake of ruinous conflicts.
Lt. Gen. Smith said this when he opened a three-week seminar in Accra on peacekeeping. It is hosted by the government of Ghana and organised by the United Nations Training Assistance Team (UNTAT) of the Department of Peacekeeping Operations of the UN for the Africa Region.
The seminar, which will run from October 23 to November 11 under the auspices of the Ghana Armed Forces (GAF), is aimed at equipping participants with the UN principles, guidelines and techniques of peacekeeping operations.
Forty participants are attending the seminar with six resource persons from the UN Headquarters in New York.
Core subject areas to be covered include ECOWAS/peacekeeping in Africa, UN resolutions and peacekeeping operations mandates, negotiations, mediation and arbitration, disarmament and demobilisation.
Others are cultural sensitivity, human rights, reintegration and the impact of HIV/AIDS on the military.
The seminar will afford officers from the different countries a chance to share experiences and ideas, open future lines of communications for greater inter-regional co-operation and stimulate efforts at bridging the Anglophone and Francophone divide.
This is the 10th UNTAT seminar for Africa and the second time within three years that Ghana is hosting the seminar. The first was the Fourth UNTAT Peacekeeping Seminar held in 1997.
Lt. Gen. Smith noted that the nature of peacekeeping operations (PKO) has changed remarkably during the last few years due to the dramatic change in the nature of conflicts, thereby rendering the traditional peacekeeping obsolete.
"There are now growing demands for a different and tougher approach to peacekeeping than in the past. The very nature of post-cold war conflicts presents peacekeepers new challenges.
"In fact, these conflicts are cruel and protracted; they make no distinction between combatants and civilians, the young and the old and gender."
He noted that since Somalia, the international community has been reluctant to get involved in African conflicts asserting, rightly or wrongly, that international intervention will have limited the potency to deal effectively with the crisis.
The Army Commander said under the situation, Africa has no option than to depend on her own mechanisms for conflict prevention, management and resolution.
The ECOMOG operations in Liberia, he said, was an example of the transition between old and new modes of peacekeeping, which tend to be regionally based.
In these operations, inadequate training of national contingents was observed as one of the challenges to the force's effectiveness in contemporary PKOs.
He said differences in the tactical doctrines between Anglophone and Francophone troops from contributing countries created a near crisis for ECOMOG.
Lt. Gen. Smith said for African contingents to PKOs to work together as part of an effective peacekeeping force, there was the need to enhance standardisation of doctrines, procedures and peacekeeping techniques.
To achieve this aim, he prescribed measures that include evolving common policies, engendering greater consultation and co-operation between the UN and regional organisations.
Other measures are sharing and dissemination of information from previous and on-going missions and the designation of regional centres of excellence to develop and conduct programmes related to demands of PKOs.
The Army Commander expressed the hope that Africa finds a way to end crises and internecine conflicts to ensure the continent's development.
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Bring South
African High Commissioner to order - GJA
Accra (Greater Accra) 25 October
2000
The Ghana Journalists Association
(GJA) on Tuesday petitioned the Foreign Ministry to use its diplomatic ties to
bring the South African High Commissioner to order for his
"undiplomatic" conduct in connection with the recent launch of the
Ghana-South African Business Chamber.
Mrs. Gifty Affenyi-Dadzie,
President of the GJA, said Dr. Magan Mmereki Phologane, after the incident,
called the Editor of the Dispatch "threatening that any journalist who
commented on the issue would never have a visa to South Africa."
She said the association wrote to
the High Commissioner to retract and apologise but up-to-date "we have not
received any acknowledgement from his office".
Mrs. Affenyi-Dadzie said
"this unruly behaviour" of Dr. Phologane undermines the good
relationship between his country and Ghana.
Mr. Victor Gbeho, Foreign
Minister, appealed for restraint and unguarded comments from the media until
they establish what led to the misunderstanding.
"I personally feel a little
saddened that this state of affairs should show its ugly face between us and
one of the countries we cherish so much."
He promised to contact the South
African representative to establish what actually happened and to see how best
to resolve it.
Mr. Gbeho urged the GJA to
disregard the threat and look at the issue as a misunderstanding between two
families.
Ghanaian Journalists who went to
cover the launch of the Ghana-South African Business Chamber during the visit
of South African president Thabo Mbeki were ordered out by the organisers.
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