Gov’t
dreams of 25% inflation
“President
knew of car loan agreement”, says Bagbin
'Expired
drinks on Legon campus?
SFO
investigates schools over fees
GT adopts
Code of Ethics for staff
Panel
members of the various tribunals have called for a national debate on the
proposal by the government to abolish the tribunal system. They said the views
of the bench and the bar alone should not form the basis for a decision on the
matter.
Besides,
they said, the abolition of the tribunal system will not enhance the process of
justice delivery. A spokesman for the panel members said this in an interview
yesterday.
He said,
contrary to the views of the bench and bar, the tribunal system has contributed
significantly to the rapid delivery of justice in the country since its
introduction several years ago.
The
abolition of the system, he said, would result in the piling up of cases in the
traditional courts and, subsequently, delay proceedings and also aggravate the
congestion in the prisons because of numerous remand cases.
The
spokesman described as ridiculous and totally unacceptable the claim by some
members of the bench and the bar that the panel members of tribunals were “low
calibre” personnel, saying, “the panel members include retired career
diplomats, directors in the civil service, journalists, social workers,
teachers and other public officials of high standing. One of the panel members
was, until recently, the head of the African Desk at the headquarters of the
Organisation of African Unity, in Addis Ababa. Is that the person you refer to
as a low calibre man?” he queried.
According
to the spokesman, the tribunal system could not be a drain on the judiciary
because panel members are not paid salaries. He said they earn a sitting
allowance of 10,000 cedis a day in addition to a transport allowance of 8,000
cedis.
“So, a member
who is absent cannot collect his sitting and transport allowances as alleged by
some members of the bar”, he added.
More…/
Research
has shown that the use of chloroquine tablets for the treatment of malaria in
children is more effective than the syrup.
The Malaria
Control Programme Manager, Dr Constance Marfo, who disclosed this, explained
that this is so because it is easier for mothers to give the right dosage to
children.
She said
the research revealed that most mothers have difficulty in deciding on the
right spoon to use when administering the syrup to their children.
Many
children, she said, spill some of the syrup when the unwilling children are
forced to drink it, and it is difficult for mothers to determine mothers the right
quantity to add to make up for what has been spilled.
Dr. Marfo
said with the tablet, all a mother needs to do is to break it into two or four
depending on the weight and age of the child. “This is dissolved in porridge or
even water to make it easier for the child to swallow,” she said.
She said
the mothers used as case studies confirmed that children recover faster from
malaria when they are given the tablet as compared to the syrup.
Dr. Marfo
said the Health Ministry has initiated programmes to educate parents and care
givers, such as teachers, on the correct dosage of chloroquine tablets for
children.
She said
110 District School Health Co-ordinators have already been trained and will
soon be given the needed support by the Ministry of Health to add malaria
treatment to first aid in schools.
More…/
A joint
Police and Military patrol team has arrested a 45-year-old Nigerian, for
allegedly attempting to smuggle quantities of arms and ammunition out of the
country.
Charles
Kele Chuku, allegedly concealed two Pump Action guns, two double-barrelled
guns, and four packets of cartridges in two bales of second-hand clothing when
it was intercepted.
According
to DSP Helena Cobina, Korle-Bu District Police Commander, the team intercepted
a taxi at North Industrial Area at about 10:30 p.m. on Friday, 12 October 2001.
She said
the police who became suspicious of the load in the cab arrested the driver.
Chuku, who was on board claimed ownership of the gods.
The police
said Chuku was asked to produce the waybill covering the goods. He did so but
the patrol team became suspicious and decided to examine the bales. Upon
examination the arms and ammunition were discovered. Chuku, who said he is an
exporter, told the police that he bought the ammunition from a licensed dealer
in Accra.
DSP Cobina
said the suspect had hired the services of the taxi driver to convey the goods
to the Central Lorry Park where he intended to board a vehicle to the Republic
of Togo.
Chuku will
soon be arraigned before court.
GRi…/
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comments to viewpoint@ghanareview.com
A Cape
Coast Court, on Tuesday 16th October 2001 remanded the Ajumako-Enyan-Essiam
Constituency chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) in prison for forgery.
The
accused, James Appiah Mensah, used the name of a banker, Mr. Samuel Dickson
Gyimah, also known as Kofi Anokye, to author the publication of a story in the
‘Ghanaian Chronicle’ on September 20, with the headline “AEE demand probe.”
The
‘Chronicle’ story asked President J.A. Kufuor and his administration to probe
the Central Regional Minister, Mr. Isaac Edumadze, for allegedly
misappropriating the MPs Common Fund for the Ajumako-Enyan-Essiam Constituency.
The accused
pleaded not guilty to the charge and was remanded by the court, presided over
by Mr. Tom Bentil, until Friday, October 19, 2001.
Chief
Inspector Augustine Amonoo, prosecuting officer, told the court that when the
complainant, Mr Kofi Anokye, saw the publication, he was astonished and
disturbed because his name and address were used as the author.
Consequently,
he reported the matter to the Ajumako Police and during investigations; the
accused was identified as the culprit.
The
prosecutor said it was detected that the accused typed the story at the Vincent
B.A. Consultancy at Mankessim. He was invited to the District Police
Headquarters for questioning. The person who typed the story identified him on
October 3.
More…/
Gov’t
dreams of 25% inflation
Government
is likely to achieve its targeted end-of-period rate of inflation of 25 per
cent for this year. This is because figures released by the Statistical
Services show that inflation at the end of September dropped to 28.3 per cent
from 32.0 per cent in August.
The food
index showed a monthly change of 0.9 per cent and a nine-month average growth
of 1.7 per cent. Economists attributed this development to a good food harvest
due to favourable rains this year that accounted for the slow growth in the
food index.
Sub-groups
in the non-food index recorded were increase in clothing and footwear being 1.4
per cent, housing and utilities 2.0 per cent, household goods 2.1 per cent,
medical expenses 2.9 per cent, transport and communication 1.2 per cent and
recreation 1.8 per cent.
Mr Charles
Adjarsi, an economist noted that these figures and their implications suggest
some level of macro economic stability, which is very desirable and needed. However,
the question some Ghanaians have been asking is whether these figures are a
true reflection of the current situation.
Others are
of the opinion that their supposed effects are not being felt in their pockets
whilst others think that the present phenomenon is nothing new and nothing to
be jubilant about.
Mr Adjarsi
cautioned that the problem with the food component of the Consumer Price Index
(CPI) is, however, still persisting adding that government must take a closer
look at it.
GRi…/
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comments to viewpoint@ghanareview.com
“President
knew of car loan agreement”, says Bagbin
The
Minority Leader in Parliament, Mr. Alban Bagbin has described the President's
stance on the MPs car saga as unfortunate and an indication that there is no
team work in the governance of the country.
"For
the President to claim innocence of this issue is a bad indication about how
the country is being run. If the
Minister of Government Business would go to the extent of hiding such an issue
from the government, then it owe that his cabinet is not clicking well,"
he said.
In an
interview with the paper in Accra at his office on the MPs need to procure new
cars for their official duties, Mr Bagbin noted that this was a normal thing
that should be done since the cars bought for them for the four-year period
depreciate in value.
The
Minority Leader said the issue of the 20,000 dollars for the acquisition of
vehicles was discussed and accepted at the Majority Chief Whip's office where
Mr J.H. Mensah was present for the discussion.
He said the
discussion has been on going since May and that the President was fully aware
because letters were copied to his office and the Minister of Finance. Mr Osafo Maafo who also confirmed that the
maximum money the government could guarantee was the proposed 20,000 dollars.
In a letter
dated September 4, 2001, written and signed by Mr Yaw Osafo Maafo, the Ministry
of Finance approved an inclusive credit ceiling of 20,000 dollars to be granted
each Member of Parliament to purchase a car for official duties under a hire
purchase agreement. This, he noted, was consistent with similar arrangements
made for MPs in 1997.
It went
further to state that each MP will select a vehicle of his/her choice provided
that the cost of Insurance and Freight (CIF) value of such vehicle, together
with taxes and comprehensive insurance cover for the first year does not exceed
the proposed 20,000 dollars.
It spelt
out that "any additional cost over the above 20,000 dollars ceiling for a
vehicle that may be selected by on MP will be paid by the affected MP to the
car company.
Installment
payments for each Member of Parliament will be deducted at source with effect
from the end of September 2001 at the rate of ¢1.2 million per month".
Mr Bagbin
later expressed dismay over the President's outrage for the number of cars Ministers
were using vis-à-vis the cars the MPs are using for their numerous official
duties.
"I
think that as a country, if we want to develop democracy in Ghana, then we
should not shy away from telling the truth by claiming the alibi of ‘ I’m not
aware of it syndrome,’ ” he exclaimed.
"If
for this time the President is not aware of this, then God save us." Mr
Bagbin further explained that the Speaker of Parliament, Mr Ala Adjetey was
aware of the fact that there were some vehicles that were due MPs.
He said it
was outrageous for the Speaker to deny flatly that the he had no idea on the
acquisition of the vehicles for the leadership of the House.
More…/
'Expired
drinks on Legon campus?
Expired
soft drinks including Fanta Lemon, Coca Cola and Sprite delivered to the
University of Ghana community are being sold and consumed by innocent students.
The
products have either 8/10/01 or 10/10/01 as dates on the cocks while a whole
crate of Mirinda, has no date. With no specific dates of manufacture and
expiry, the inscription BS is written under either of the dates.
Investigations
conducted by the paper have revealed that no soft drink was delivered three
weeks ago while a consignment was delivered on October 10, 2001. Indeed, the
only date on the cocks are either 8/10/01 or 10/10/01, the date of delivery.
While
sellers of the products are ignorant and cannot interpret the inscription BS,
under the date, students and the general university community are completely
confused about the products they enjoy so much.
The paper’s
investigations have also shown that the delivery van that serves the university
community is also responsible for the delivery of products to Achimota, through
the University, Madina and Adenta localities.
GRi…/
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comments to viewpoint@ghanareview.com
SFO
investigates schools over fees
A special
investigative team from the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) is currently making
selective moves on a number of second cycle schools to reconcile strange and
inconsistent parallels in bills issued to students.
The team
would not reveal the names of secondary schools under its lenses, except that
many of them are said to be from the Eastern, Greater Accra and Central
regions.
It is
believed this move was prompted by persistent reports by parents over
inconsistencies in bills of their wards, including suspected fraudulent items.
The paper
gathered that Mfantsiman Girls Secondary School at Saltpond is one of such
schools whose bills have raised eyebrows. A parent working for one of the
United Nations Agencies claims she paid the entire fees for his ward, yet the
bill for the second term included ¢300,000 arrears.
What is
particularly strange about Mfantsiman bills is that, a single item like Maintenance
carries five different figures including (18,500, 10,000, 10,000, 10,000 and 30,000)
cedis without any distinction.
Any
observer is at a loss as to what specifics are under Maintenance. Other issues
of concern are Levies, PTA Dues and Development.
One
identified school on the list charges as high as ¢125,000 as bed-user
fees. Where generators are used, huge
flat bills are imposed on each student per term even though students at most of
the schools sleep in pairs.
There is a
growing nationwide concern of parents, with wards in second cycle institutions
over arbitrary, and sometimes, dubious bills.
Investigations
by the Chronicle point to a possible complicity of some officials of the Ghana
Education Service (GES) who are believed to be shielding these 'azaa' heads of
schools.
More…/
GT
adopts Code of Ethics for staff
Henceforth,
it will be an offence against ethics of the staff of customer service points of
Ghana Telecom (GT) to listen to calls on their mobile phones while attending to
customers.
Customer
service point’s staffs are also banned from chewing a gum while addressing a
customer. Management views this practice as unethical. This follows the
development of a Code of Ethics for the staff by management.
Mr Emmanuel
G. Dziku, General Manager, Marketing and Customer Services Management of GT, disclosed
this development in an exclusive interview in Kumasi. The 40 clause Code of
Ethics was adopted since August, this year.
Mr Dziku
stressed that it was mandatory for all personal mobile phones of staffs at
customer service points to go off during working hours. The adoption of the
code, he said, is in line with the policy of the new Board of Directors to
ensure customer satisfaction for growth.
He
expressed the hope that compliance with the directive would ensure a change in
staff behaviour towards customers and urged customers to co-operate and make
the adopted code work.
According
to him, the effectiveness of the code would be monitored through the provision
of staff assessment forms at the various customer service points.
The general
manager advised customers to deal directly with the customer service points and
not work through intermediaries. This, he said, would help reduce cases of
extortion by unscrupulous persons.
Mr Dziku
also reminded customers to always lodge their complaints with the Customer
Service Points and not the FM stations.
GRi…/
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comments to viewpoint@ghanareivew.com