GRi Newsreel Ghana 04 - 10 - 2001
Organised labour kicks against water privatisation
President Kufuor pledges government's support for farmers
Sixty-nine Ghanaians deported from Libya, Niger
We don't want NDC's demise- Esseku
Introduce party politics into local government - Assemblyman
Ghana hosts International Freedom of Expression Exchange
Bar Association elects new President
CPP Regional Council of Elders inaugurated
Action Forum calls for postponement of NDC Congress if
Highway Authority to build service roads along the motorway -Asafu-Adjei
Ghana to observe African Day as a public holiday
Set up plastic waste management fund- Fobih
Accra (Greater Accra) 04 October 2001-Organised labour on Wednesday objected to government's policy to involve foreign private sector participation in the water delivery system in urban areas, saying the commodity is too essential to be profit driven.
"Water is in every respect basic to life and its provision must be publicly controlled rather that subject to the control of private profiteers, especially multinational companies," the National Labour Forum (NLF) said at a press conference in Accra
The NLF comprises the Trades Union Congress (TUC), Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT), the Civil Servants Association (CSA), Ghana Registered Nurses Association (GRNA) and the Judicial Services Staff Association of Ghana (JUSAG).
Mr Kwasi Adu-Amankwa, TUC Secretary-General, presenting the views on behalf of the NLF acknowledged the government's commitment to the provision of adequate potable water for the rapidly growing urban population.
"However we note that the so-called private sector participation (PSP) has been engineered by the International Financial Institutions (IFIs) who have made the PSP a condition for loans and grants for the water sector.
Mr Adu-Amankwa said the NLF is aware that government hived off the rural water sector from the urban water sector to fulfil a World Bank condition that grants will be given to the water sector only if such rural water is separated from the urban water.
Further to that the country was divided into business zones A and B based on vested interests of foreign companies whose profiteering motive is too clear to ignore.
Mr Adu-Amankwah said those were some of the preparations, which the IFIs and some foreign organisations financed to facilitate the "expansion of markets" to cover the urban water sector and to subject it to the control of foreign companies.
He said: "this conditionality itself is simply driven by ideology. However, the ideological stand that seems to suggest that public organisations are inherently inefficient and that government has no business in business is self-defeating".
Mr Adu-Amankwah said the NLF holds the view that the appropriate role of a responsible government is to ensure the efficient and effective use of resources in both the private and public sectors of the economy.
"It is also the responsibility of government to ensure that economic outcomes are efficient and equitable".
Mr Adu-Amankwah said the majority of the people are poor and any arrangement to subject them to the control of multinational profiteers is bound to deprive them of the most critical service for survival, which is water.
He said under the arrangements, government is to raise 1.1 billion dollars and the multinationals would invest 0.7 billion dollars in the sector.
"If the reason for the PSP arrangement is to encourage investment of private capital in the water sector in Ghana, then we would like to suggest that the sector can be opened to private companies who wish to make new investments in it rather than leasing public assets to foreign companies to come and reap supernormal profits."
Mr Adu-Amankwah said the essence of the Ghana Water Company Limited, as a public owned company could serve as a benchmark for the private operators who would invest in the water sector.
He said the role of city and country planning is essential to the provision of infrastructure that would make delivery of water more easily available and at affordable prices.
Mr Adu-Amankwah urged government to commit itself to creating conditions that would make water accessible to both the rural and urban poor to prevent water-borne and sanitation-related diseases that assail the population.
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Accra (Greater Accra) 04 October 2001-President John Agyekum Kufuor on Wednesday said the government's support to the private sector would include farmers who have contributed immensely to the national economy.
"Government's support to the private sector would include farmers who, as individuals or groups, have contributed tremendously to the national economy."
President Kufuor made the pledge at the Castle, Osu when the government was informed of the death of Nana Akwasi Owusu, Ashanti Regional Chief Farmer for the past 30 years.
The late Nana Owusu, 73, who died on August 12 this year after a short illness, would be buried at Atwima Yabi on Thursday, October 11 and the final funeral rites held at North Suntreso in Kumasi on Saturday, October 13.
President Kufuor said farmers, especially cocoa farmers, have sustained the country's economy and other sectors all these years, with cocoa being the main foreign exchange earner for the country.
"Most of the education and health facilities, road network and potable water have been provided through the toil of our ageing cocoa farmers and they need to be commended for their efforts."
He paid tribute to the late Nana Owusu who, he said led farmers in the Ashanti region to contribute their quota to national development.
Nana Amankwatia, Acting Ashanti Regional Chief Farmer and spokesman for the delegation made up of the bereaved family and the Ghana Cocoa, Coffee and Sheanut Farmers Association, presented four bottles of Schnapps to the government.
Nana Erhuma Kpanyinli VI Chief of Awiebo and President of the association commended the government for the mass spraying exercise on cocoa farms which would help increase production.
He said with the exercise the current production level of about 486,000 metric tonnes would be increased to 550,000 metric tonnes by the year 2003.
The late Nana Owusu left behind four wives and 21 children.
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Bolgatanga (Upper East) 04 October 2001-Sixty-nine Ghanaians who set out on a journey to Libya were on Tuesday repatriated home and handed over to the immigration authorities.
The returnees mainly from the Brong Ahafo, Ashanti and Greater Accra regions, got stranded at the Niger-Libya border and the Niger authorities deported them to Burkina Faso where the Ghana Embassy in Ouagadougou arranged their passage to the Paga border in the Upper East Region.
The Regional Coordinating Council (RCC) got them transported to Bolgatanga.
Addressing the deportees on Wednesday, the Regional Minister, Mr. Mahami Salifu said the government would help them to settle and re-organise their lives.
He said youth unemployment is one of the major problems the government is grappling with by initiating concrete measures to provide job avenues.
Mr Salifu cited the introduction of the emergency social relief programme as one of such measures and advised the deportees to organise themselves into groups in their various communities so that they can benefit from the fund.
"Ghana is your home and she needs you more than the place you were struggling to go'', he said, and advised them to refrain from embarking on such perilous voyages in future.
A spokesman for the group, Mr Hayford Donkor from Kumasi, said about 600 other Ghanaians are currently stranded at Droku, a village on the Niger-Libya border, with no money to pay for their passage back home.
He appealed to the Ghana Embassy in Niger through the Regional Minister to arrange for their transportation back home.
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Accra (Greater Accra) 04 October 2001-Mr Haruna Esseku, Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) on Wednesday told his maiden press conference that the party does not seek the demise of the National Democratic Congress (NDC).
He said although, it is determined to win the 2004 elections, it believes that an absolute single party strength showing would ruin the beauty of the country's democracy.
The press conference was called to articulate the vision of the new national executive voted into office five weeks ago.
He asked other parties to organise themselves well and contribute regularly to national debates in order to strengthen democracy in Ghana.
Mr Esseku said the party supports government's determination to pursue the cause of accountability to the hilt.
"We find the NDC's assertion that its members would no longer attend probes as unfortunate. It is purely hypocritical."
He said the view that the government is harassing members of the NDC is short-sighted.
"Government is reviewing what it has taken over and I think it is just asking those who were in charge questions on actions and activities that baffles it."
Mr Esseku said: "Is NDC saying that if a person is found to have stolen state money or found to have misconducted himself or herself, he or she should just be told 'go and sin no more"
The NPP National Chairman said the party does not believe in vengeance but will not depart from the principles of rule of law and good governance.
"I was myself a victim of the revolution. I was detained at the Osu Castle and had my bold head shaved just because some one has said I owed him money. I don't think the NPP is thinking about those abuses. We just want to conduct our affairs in more acceptable ways."
Mr Esseku said NPP would never seek to usurp the power and function of government but rather carry popular views to it.
"The NPP will be the backbone of government, be the eyes and ears and let the government know what the ordinary person feels about its work."
He said: "The party has the capacity to repair the harm done to the country socially, economically and politically during the last 20 years of misdirection."
The conference was attended by other executives including Mr Stephen Ntim, Fist Vice Chairman, Mrs Agnes Okudzeto, second Vice Chairperson and Mr Michael Dugan, treasurer.
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Accra (Greater Accra) 04 October 2001-Mr Ahmed Sadat Awudu, member of the Ayawaso Sub-Metropolitan Assembly on Wednesday urged the government to consider amending the Constitution to introduce party politics into local government administration.
"District Chief Executives (DCEs) and assembly members should be elected on the ticket of political parties to influence political structures at the grassroots," he said.
Mr Awudu, a government appointee, told the Ghana News Agency in an interview that, "We cannot pretend there is no party politics at the local government level, it must be recognised."
The Electoral Commission has fixed June 2002 for the next District Assembly polls, which had been contested in the past without direct participation of political parties.
He said if DCEs and the assembly members are elected on the ticket of political parties, voters would feel closer attachment to office holders who would in turn enjoy stronger mandate and allegiances to their communities."
"The New Patriotic Party (NPP) has over the years led a crusade for politicking at the local government level and this is the time to demonstrate that will."
He said this structure, would form the basis for the grooming of up and coming politicians from the grassroots level.
Mr Awudu noted that young politicians and women find the mainstream political battleground a very difficult terrain to operate and needed the district assemblies as their launch pad.
The introduction of party politics at the level would strengthen the assemblies to give meaning to decentralisation and effective administration at the grassroots and help bridge the gap between local government administration and the central government.
Mr Awudu said the infusion of party politics into local government administration would serve as the necessary incentive to attract more competent personnel to the assemblies.
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Accra (Greater Accra) 04 October 2001-Ghana will next May, host the annual general meeting of the International Freedom of Expression Exchange (IFEX) to be attended by more than 150 journalists from different parts of the world.
The five-day meeting would deliberate on the state of the global media and devise strategies to combat violations of freedom of expression.
Vice President Aliu Mahama said the government would support the organisation of the meeting, when Mr Kabral Blay-Amihere, President of the West African Journalists Association (WAJA), led a delegation to inform him about the meeting.
WAJA is one of the 55 member-organisations of IFEX, formed in Montreal, Canada, in 1992 to oppose violations of freedom of expression, among other rights.
Alhaji Mahama urged the organisers of the meeting to involve government in the planning to ensure its success.
He underscored the importance of the role of the media in fostering national development, strengthening democracy and exposing corruption, which he said were objectives shared by government.
Alhaji Mahama, however, cautioned journalists against writing reports that breed disunity and conflicts.
"What you write about have their meaning, and we do not want to interfere in your editorial activities or make you compromise your position.
"However, you must be professional in your work and ensure that what you write are accurate and would mobilise people for national development."
He advised journalists to eschew arrogance and desists from practices deliberately aimed at hurting others.
Mr Blay-Amihere, who is Ghana's High Commissioner-designate to Sierra Leone, said the Ghana Journalists Association and other media organisations, are implementing programmes that would make journalists self-accounting and self-regulatory.
He commended the government for being the first in Africa to repeal the Criminal Libel Law and said critics of the repeal are enemies of the media.
Mr Blay-Amihere said champions of a free media also appreciate the government's commitment to freedom of expression.
"The selection of Ghana as the venue for the IFEX meeting, six months after this government came to power, was not by accident," he said.
"It is an honour and in recognition of the government's pledge to ensure freedom of expression."
Ghana was chosen over Austria and Azerbaijan.
Ms Elizabeth Ohene, Minister of Media Relations said the international media would feel welcomed in Ghana because the government is not afraid of scrutiny.
Mrs Gifty Affenyi-Dadzie, President of GJA, who accompanied Mr Blay-Amihere, is chairperson of the five-member planning committee of the meeting who were introduced to the Vice President.
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Sunyani (Brong Ahafo Region) 04 October 2001-A Kumasi-based lawyer, Mr Paul Adu-Gyamfi was on Wednesday elected the new National President of Ghana Bar Association (GBA) at the end of their conference in Sunyani.
The conference, held from September 30 to October 3, under the theme: "Corruption, the rule of law and the administration justice."
Mr Adu-Gyamfi polled 121 votes as against 92 by his main challenger, Mr William Ofori Boafo, the outgoing vice President and an Accra-based legal practitioner.
Two other contestants Mr Joseph Ayikoi Otoo got 23 and Mr Bennet Tamakloe had one vote.
The newly elected President told the press in an interview that based on the theme of the conference, his team would work with the resolution of the Association to help rid the country of corruption, ensure the proper application of the rule of law as well as equity in the administration of justice.
Mr Adu-Gyamfi emphasised that as the voice of the voiceless, the Bar has decided to pursue its resolve to get corruption out of the Bench since "a corruptible Bench corrupts the whole nation".
He said: "The task is a challenging one and needs to have a commitment and make a lot of sacrifices."
He the relationship between the Association and the government during his term of office and would be determined by the policies that the government would pursue adding that it had always stood on the side of the people.
Mr Adu-Gyamfi, 55, who lost to Mr Ebo Quashie, out-going President three years ago, was called to the Bar in 1970.
From 1995 to 1998 he was the National Vice-President and also served as the National Secretary from 1990 to 1993.
He is a senior partner of Adu-Gyamfi and Associates in Kumasi.
Nii Osah Mills, Mr Benson Nutsukpui, Mr Peter Raymond Zwennes, Mr Kwesi Cab-Addae and Mrs Mercy Afua Wood were elected unopposed for the positions of Vice President, Secretary, Assistant Secretary, Public Relations Officer and Treasurer in that order.
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Koforidua (Eastern Region) 04 October 2001-The National Chairman of the Convention People's Party (CPP), Dr Abubakr Alhassan has said the party was not against private sector participation in the economy of the country as was being speculated in certain quarters.
The party, he said, rather believes that certain vital economic activities should be controlled by the state to ensure equal access and benefit for all the people in the country.
"It is not possible to standby and leave everything to the private sector", he stressed.
Dr Alhassan was speaking at the inauguration of the Eastern Regional branch of the CPP Council of Elders at Koforidua on Wednesday.
The seven-member executive committee of the Council is under the chairmanship of Nana Bosompim Frempong, Sanaahene of New Juaben Traditional Area.
He said the party's stand against the privatisation of water and other vital basic necessities was to ensure that those facilities were available to the ordinary Ghanaian and not to the few rich, who might want to exploit the people.
Dr Alhassan said the party believed in all shades of human activity and urged Ghanaians to understand the position of the party.
The General secretary of the party, Dr Nii Noi Dowuona said the party would fill candidates in all the 200 constituencies in the country and elect a socialist leader to lead the party in the 2004 elections.
He cautioned members of the party against indiscipline, which he said had troubled the party over the years and urged the elders to work hard to instil discipline in the party.
The Chairman of the Publicity Committee of the party, Mr Kwasi Pratt Junior, catalogued a number of state organisations that had been privatised in the country and said there was the need to stand against the sale of national assets.
He criticised some leaders of the party, who mounted political platforms to campaign for the New Patriotic party (NPP) in the 2000 run-off and said such actions sabotaged the effort of the CPP to win future elections.
Meanwhile, the New Juaben North Constituency Chairman of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Mr Sarfo Kantanka has defected from the party to join the CPP.
He has also resigned all his positions in the NDC with immediate effect.
Mr Kantanka, who was also the former Deputy Eastern Regional Secretary of the NDC, announced his resignation at the inauguration of the Eastern Regional CPP Council of Elders at Koforidua on Wednesday.
He said, he took the decision after carefully following the developments in the unity talks among the various Nkrumaist groups that is currently ongoing.
Mr Kantanka said he was the Eastern Regional Youth Organiser and the Campaign Steering Committee Chairman for the Koforidua constituency during the Peoples National Party (PNP) era in 1979 and described his defection as "a home coming event".
He said he would use his rich experience in politics to win more people for the CPP in the 2004 elections.
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Kumasi (Ashanti Region) 04 October 2001-The Ashanti Action Forum of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) has criticised what it calls "the unguided, unprincipled and undemocratic measures" adopted by the National Re-organisation Committee to rebuild the party.
It said NDC members, supporters and sympathisers in the Ashanti Region shared the concerns of the group.
The Forum said also that even though the committee has been working for months now it has not been able give the party a clear understanding of the options open to it for the 2004 elections.
It accused senior members of the Committee of treating their task as "a personal exercise".
A petition signed by Mr A. K. Mensah, President and Mr Asamoah Atuahene, Coordinator of the Forum in Kumasi to ex-President Jerry Rawlings, life patron of the NDC, urged him to intervene to halt any ugly development that could rear its head as a result of the committee’s behaviour.
The Forum urged the leadership of the party to ask the Re-organisation Committee to submit a comprehensive report of its work to the Political Committee so far.
It said the Committee was given about three months to collate information to enable the Party adopt a strategy for the next general elections and called on it to present its report well before Congress.
"We are not adopting this position out of malice. We are aware that if we allow these senior members to pursue this kind of narrow agenda it will not enhance cohesion in the party", the petition said.
The group said if the NDC failed to do this in good time there would be no "intelligent basis" for holding the Congress because it would be a wasteful exercise.
The Action Forum called for the postponement of the Congress from December 21-23 to March 2002 since the date was too close to Christmas.
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Accra (Greater Accra) 04 October 2001-The Ghana Highway Authority (GHA) is to construct service roads along the corridors of the Accra-Tema Motorway to connect settlements.
It would also provide tree fence around the motorway as part of measures to prevent accidents Mr Elvis Asafu-Adjei, Greater Accra Regional Director of Highways, said on Wednesday when he took newsmen on tour of the motorway.
He said the GHA is worried about frequent fatal accidents on the motorway and has since last year provided 49 trenches and blocked 15 unauthorised accesses with boulders at the cost of 147.7 million cedis.
Mr Asafu-Adjei said despite those efforts, 12 new unauthorised access routes have been created along the motorway and it would cost the authority six million cedis to disconnect them.
The GHA is repairing two underpasses at the Ashaiman side of the motorway at the cost of 17 million cedis.
Mr Norbert Quarmor, acting Director of Public Relations, appealed to the Road Fund Board to release funds to reinforce the road task force to help prevent encroachers along the motorway.
He also called for efforts by the press and other related outfits to help in educating the public on the hazards in the use of such unauthorised roads to the motorway.
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Accra (Greater Accra) 04 October 2001-Ghana will observe Africa Day, formerly OAU Day, as a public holiday in a show of attachment and commitment to the spirit and objectives of the union, Foreign Minister Hackman Owusu-Agyemang said on Wednesday.
He said President John Agyekum Kufuor believes that African Day deserves recognition in line with efforts by leaders to work together for the development of their peoples.
However, Parliament will have to ratify the President's proposal to celebrate the day, May 25, as holiday.
Mr Owusu-Agyemang was speaking with a delegation of the Diplomatic Corps, led by Mr Ibrahim Khalil Omar, Ambassador of the State of Palestine, shortly before they went into a closed meeting.
The meeting was to explore new areas of strengthening ties between the government and the Diplomatic Corps.
The Minister paid tribute to members of the Diplomatic Corps saying individually, they have shown good faith with the government in its search for good policies for development.
"They have always shown that they are there for us," he said citing the government's decision to opt for the Highly Indebted Poor Country (HIPC) initiative as one that has received tremendous support from the diplomatic community.
Mr Owusu-Agyemang spoke about President Kufuor's recent trips abroad and said they were aimed at promoting investment and in some cases, good neighbourliness.
He said the President intends to continue with the trips. "There are a few visits to be made again before the end of the year. So far things are working out and we're beginning to see results."
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Accra (Greater Accra) 04 October 2001-Professor Dominic Fobih, Minister of Environment, Science and Technology (MEST) on Wednesday proposed the setting up of a plastic waste management fund to support recycling of plastic waste.
Speaking at a meeting with 18 plastic manufacturing and importing firms located in Accra and Tema, Prof Fobih said an incentive package for plastic waste collection similar to that for metal scraps, should also be considered.
The meeting was to afford the government and the firms an opportunity to discuss the problem of plastic waste and sanitation.
He said plastic waste is still a serious problem in Ghana because the mode of disposal, coupled with its non-degradability, makes its management a complex issue.
It is estimated that plastic waste accounted for about five per cent (290,000 tonnes) of solid waste in Accra in 1995.
He said though previous governments made attempts to evolve mechanisms to manage plastic waste the problem kept worsening.
Prof Fobih attributed this to the high consumption of plastics globally due to their popularity, attractiveness and other advantages over traditional materials such as metals, glass and paper.
He called for the establishment of 10 more recycling plants to be added to the two already operating in Accra to cater for other regions.
The manufacturers agreed that public education through dramas and plays should be stepped up to highlight proper disposable methods.
They also suggested the banning of plastic products of below 20 microns thickness because they are more difficult to recycle.
Two firms, Century Industries and KGM Industries promised to donate 100 dustbins each to MEST to be placed on passenger vehicles and at vantage points.
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