GRi Newsreel Ghana 19 - 10 - 2001
Ghana to open 16 new Consulates
Help Africa to retrieve stolen money - Kufuor
African Leaders to fight terrorism under OAU umbrella
Government Ghanaian Voice publication offensive
Government determined to make Ghana West Africa IT hub
2,000 unclaimed passports – Ghana Immigration Service Director
Immigration Service to monitor activities of foreigners - Director
Pensioner collapses in banking hall
Accra (Greater Accra) 19 October 2001- Ghana is to open 16 new honorary consulates in
Sydney, Zurich, Milan, Bangkok, Lubliana, Karachi, Brunei Darussalam, Slovakia and Montreal.
The rest are Kingston, Maastricht, Bamako, Bucharest, Eilat, Casablanca and Libreville, President John Agyekum Kufuor said in a speech read on his behalf at a two-day conference on Ghana Foreign Policy options in Accra on Thursday.
These consulates and other missions abroad have been directed to pay prompt attention to Ghanaians and as much as possible handle consular services within 48 hours.
"I expect to see strategic plans by each Mission to promote trade, tourism and investment. I also expect to see investment or tourists or all the three types of delegations coming from every single country where we have diplomatic presence each year."
President Kufuor said it was his government's determination that Ghana should play its role to make ECOWAS an effective regional bloc and a central organ for the maintenance of peace and security.
"This is why we're vigorously supporting peace efforts in Sierra Leone and within the Mano River area at a great cost to the nation," he said, adding that it was to boost these efforts that his government increased peacekeeping duty allowances to Ghanaian troops serving on such missions.
The conference, organised jointly by Legon Centre for International Affairs (LECIA) and the Foreign Ministry, is aimed at exploring Ghana's foreign policy options and is being attended by some 200 participants mostly serving and retired foreign service officers, members of the academia, politicians and military chiefs.
President Kufuor said while his government continued to value Ghana's membership of the Non-Aligned Movement, its hopes were that the Movement must now be turned into an association for mutual economic assistance and self-advancement and an epitome of south-south co-operation.
"It still remains a collective voice for the weak states and a potential defence bloc for the protection of developing countries."
The United Nations also needs restructuring to reflect current realities of global power, equity and justice, President Kufour said, adding that permanent members of the Security Council must be more representative.
The President said government has decided on a deliberate policy of sponsoring qualified Ghanaians to occupy high positions in international organisations.
He said the necessary consultations and legislation have been set in motion to ensure that qualified Ghanaians could vote at the country's missions abroad.
President Kufuor made reference to his trips abroad and said they were aimed at forging closer co-operation, which have started reaping positive results.
"One of the immediate results of these visits was the decision to open the Ghana/Togo border for 24 hours to help with the implementation of the ECOWAS protocol of free movement of goods and people between our countries.
"Nigeria agreed to supply oil on concessionary terms while Cote d'Ivoire is currently discussing favourable terms of recovering debts owed to it by the Volta River Authority (VRA) arising from electricity exports to Ghana."
GRi…/
Send your comments to viewpoint@ghanareview.com
Accra (Greater Accra) 19 October 2001-President John Agyekum Kufuor on Thursday appealed to developed countries to assist African states to retrieve monies stolen by politicians and kept in their banks.
This could be done in the same way that it has been possible to gain international support for the seizure of funds of terrorist organisations.
President Kufuor said this in a speech read on his behalf at a two-day conference aimed at exploring Ghana's foreign policy options in Accra.
He advocated co-operation among states in the West African Sub-Region to fight cross border crimes and the proliferation of weapons in the area.
"It is regrettable that while poor countries strived to survive social setbacks and unfavourable global trends, their efforts were further hampered by internal conflicts.
"Today, we also see more intra-state conflicts, failed states and inter state wars. Signs of worsening poverty appear everywhere in Africa.
"There is widespread social disintegration, the benefits of globalisation are skewed in favour of rich countries while a new scourge - the AIDS pandemic - is fast ravaging the most productive segment of our population in Africa, thereby reversing the continent's fragile and minimal gains."
The President tasked the conference to come out with proposals that would address these problems.
He said with an efficient foreign policy, Ghana could be transformed into a powerful and great nation and, thereby, assume its rightful place in the comity of nations "where our heads were once held high".
Some 200 participants mostly serving and retired foreign service officers, members from academia, politicians and military chiefs are attending the conference, organised jointly by the Legon Centre for International Affairs (LECIA) and the Foreign Ministry.
GRi…/
Send your comments to viewpoint@ghanareview.com
HIPC to bring $150m into poverty reduction
Ho (Volta Region) 19 October 2001-Dr. Paa Kwesi Nduom, Minister of Economic Planning and Regional Co-operation on Thursday said 150 million dollars to be accrued by December from the Highly Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) initiative would go into the national poverty reduction strategy.
He, therefore, called on District Assemblies (DA) to draw action plans to be abreast with the national strategy to enable them to use the fund for the development of their respective districts.
Dr. Nduom was speaking at the Volta Regional Consultative Seminar on Ghana Poverty Reduction Strategy (GPRS) for representatives from the 12 district assemblies and the District Chief Executives (DCEs) at Ho.
The seminar, which was organised by the National Development Planning Commission (NDPC) was under the theme, "Consensus building for Poverty Reduction in Ghana".
Dr. Nduom reminded the participants that government would not advance monies to any district assembly, which would fail to provide a blue-print of its development programmes.
He said 60 districts including four from the Volta Region would benefit from a pilot programme to consolidate the new integrated approach to poverty reduction.
Dr. Nduom said many multilateral organisations and other donor countries have pledged to write-off 100 percent of the country's debts in December, this year.
He said the government would henceforth; pursue fiscal administration rigidly, in order to overcome the HIPC syndrome.
Dr. Nduom said the GPRS would not duplicate interventions such as the Village Infrastructure Programme (VIP), European Union Micro Projects, which were already being undertaken in the districts but would ensure reduction of excessive administrative expenditure and encourage the private sector to expand.
He said statistics available indicate that 38 percent of the people in the region wee poor and wondered why the situation could be reversed since the region was endowed with human and natural resources such as forests, water bodies and large tracts of fertile farm lands.
Dr. Nduom, therefore, called on governmental and non-governmental organisations, traditional leaders and the private sector to brainstorm on how to empower the people for progress and development.
Professor George Gyan-Baffour, Acting Director-General of the NDPC said the goal of the GPRS is to achieve economic growth and accelerated poverty reduction within a sustained democracy.
He said it would also reduce regional disparities in poverty, enhance access to social services, ameliorate conditions of extreme poverty and strengthen public sector reforms to support the private sector.
Prof. Gyan-Baffour said poverty is a multi-dimensional phenomenon that deprived the physiological, biological, economical and the health status of the people.
He said 40 percent of Ghanaians live above the poverty line while 27 percent also live under extreme poverty.
Prof. Gyan-Baffour said poverty is lowest in Greater Accra with five percent but higher by 69, 84 and 88 percent in the Northern, Upper West and Upper West regions respectively.
GRi…/
Send your comments to viewpoint@ghanareview.com
African Leaders to fight terrorism under
OAU umbrella
Akua Asamani, (GNA Correspondence)
Dakar (Senegal) 19 October 2001-Heads of State and government representatives of 28
African countries on Wednesday rejected a proposal to adopt a new pact against terrorism.
Instead, they declared to fight terrorism under the auspices of the Organization of African Unity (OAU) and the United Nations.
In pursuant of this objective, delegates appealed to all African states to "ratify, as a matter of urgency the OAU Convention on the Prevention and combating of Terrorism and similar UN instruments."
The delegates, who included 10 heads of state, Ghana's Vice President, Aliu Mahama and two other vice presidents, however, commended Senegalese President Abdoulaye Wade for initiating the conference, which, they said, "has enabled African states represented at a very high-level to hold broad consultation and take a common stand against terrorism."
President Wade opened the conference with a proposal for the adoption of a new pact against terrorism to supersede OAU convention on terrorism, which has been ratified by only three countries. The convention will not be effective until it is ratified by at least 15 countries.
However, conference sources said, Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo's intervention, which challenged the lack of mandate of a new pact on African countries, led to the resolve to rather make the 1999 Algiers Convention workable by having countries ratifying it.
The 11-point declaration subsequently urged African countries to take legal, diplomatic, financial and other measures to fight terrorism at national, sub-regional, regional and global levels.
It said the OAU would soon convene an extra ordinary summit to discuss "the progress so far made in Africa in the fight against terrorism and to ensure that the post September 11, 2001 attacks on the U.S and their consequences have the least possible adverse impact on the development of Africa, in particular, the implementation of the New African Initiative."
The delegates said Africa's fight against terrorism would consider all relevant UN resolutions, especially the Security Council Resolutions 1368 of September 12, 2001 and 1373 of September 28, 20001.
They said the OAU summit would further take note of the discussions and proposals of the Dakar meeting for the possible formulation of an additional protocol to the OAU convention, after consultation with state parties.
President Wade, who endorsed the position of the conference, said he was content with the seriousness with which the delegates considered the issue of terrorism, adding that, his main concern was for Africa to fight terrorism with a common front and to do it urgently.
He said with only three countries ratifying the OAU convention, it became necessary to rekindle Africa's interest in the elimination of terrorism, especially in the wake of the September 11 attacks.
"More than half of members of the OAU are here and this is a very good platform for Africa to present her views on the shaping of the new unfolding world", he said.
President Yoweri Museveni of Uganda commended his Senegalese counterpart for his leadership skills, which he said, culminated in the adoption of the African Initiative and the Africa Union.
The African Initiative, which delegates called for its implementation, deals with planning for Africa as a continent and not on a country basis. It also deals with developing the 750 million populations by providing them with basic education as well as improving the continent's access to US and European markets.
President Museveni said the September 11 attacks had the potential of undermining Africa's efforts to trade with America, which had recently been facilitated by former President Clinton's African Growth Opportunity Act. The Act gives Africa the opportunity to trade with the US without the imposition of quotas and tariffs.
"African can't develop with A10, but trade," he said. "At present Africa's share of agricultural products in global trade is only 13 billion dollars out of the total 1.2 trillion dollars. If Africa can't make money from agriculture, how can she make money"
President Museveni, therefore, stressed the importance of Africa to join global efforts to combat terrorism.
He, however, called for distinction between freedom fighters and terrorists who use violence to achieve their goals.
Freedom fighters, he said, target dictators, oppressors and colonialists with just methods aimed at achieving specific or purposeful goals.
President Museveni said freedom fighters do not attack people who are not involved in their conflicts. But terrorists, he said, kill people without any just cause or purpose.
In an interview, Alhaji Mamama said the declaration reflected Ghana's position that Africa must collectively combat terrorism within the parameters of OAU and UN Nations Conventions.
The Vice President said Ghana would participate in the special OAU summit to facilitate efforts at ratifying the convention and eliminating terrorism.
He said the efforts should not be seen as supporting America to fight her problems, but an action for Africa, which had suffered many terrorist attacks to secure her interest.
Ghana is yet to ratify the OAU Convention but Ministry of Foreign Affairs officials says the issue would be priority attention.
The Vice President was accompanied by Deputy Foreign Minister Alhaji Mustapha Ali Idris, Mr. Annan Cato, Secretary to the Cabinet and other government officials.
Algeria, Benin, Burkina Faso, Mauritania, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea and the Comoros were among countries which attended the conference.
GRi…/
Send your comments to viewpoint@ghanareview.com
Accra (Greater Accra) 19 October 2001-The Government says it considers it dishonest and mischievous a "Ghanaian Voice" story which sought to create the impression that
Dr Tony Aidoo, a former Deputy Minister of Defence, was being harassed for expressing his view on a television programme.
"Whereas we will not respond to every false story in the media, we will not allow this falsehood to pass without comment because it is a deliberate distortion; it is injurious to the media; our democracy and the nation at large," the government said in a press statement on Thursday.
The statement signed by Mr Jake Obetsebi Lamptey, Minister for Presidential Affairs and Information, was also copied to the National Media Commission and Ghana Journalists Association Ethics Committee.
The statement said a letter inviting Dr Aidoo to appear before the security agencies published by the newspaper clearly showed that the invitation was made two clear days before the programme.
"It is, therefore, difficult to understand how anybody could impute that Dr Aidoo was invited by the security agencies because of his remarks on the said television programme."
It said the letter inviting Dr Aidoo clearly stated that he was to assist in "ongoing enquiries".
"The inference, therefore, is that whatever precipitated INTERPOL's (International Police) invitation to Dr Aidoo had been in motion before the television programme," the statement explained.
The statement said while journalists and the media could take full advantage of the "newly found freedom of speech," it would, however, serve the integrity of the profession better if readers and listeners were served with stories credibly obtained, comprehensively investigated and published without malice or mischief.
"We wish to implore the media to desist from distorting the truth in their enthusiasms to build their stories," it added.
GRi…/
Send your comments to viewpoint@ghanareview.com
Accra (Greater Accra) 19 October 2001-President John Agyekum Kufuor on Thursday said government was determined to make Ghana the hub of the provision of Information Technology (IT) facilities in the West Africa Sub-region.
He said this was due to the capabilities, competence and dynamism Ghanaian experts have shown in the field that has been attested and compared to their counterparts’ world-wide.
President Kufuor made this observation when a three-man delegation from the Affiliated Computer Services (ACS)-Business Process Solutions (BPS) based in the US paid a courtesy call on him at the Castle, Osu.
He said the major challenge facing the government was how to move the economy forward, expand it to create more job opportunities for the people to feel happy and secured.
"If the economy is not well managed, the government would have all the brilliant ideas but their implementation would be a problem."
Mr Tom W. Blodgett, President of ACS-BPS, said the visit was to assess the operations of ACS, Ghana, which was their first office to be established in Africa about a year ago and employs about 700 people.
He said in addition they are seeking assistance to expand their operations to employ about 1,000 people and possibly increase it to about 2,000 in future because of the high calibre of the technicians who are comparable to other offices of the company in the world.
Mr Blodgett said the company, which deals in data processing of clients from their base to other parts of the world, chose Ghana to establish an office because of the stability and the use of one satellite hub from their base. The company has 10 other offices including Mexico, Jamaica and Guatemala.
GRi…/
Send your comments to viewpoint@ghanareview.com
2,000 unclaimed passports – Ghana
Immigration Service Director
Accra (Greater Accra) 19 October 2001-The Ghana Immigration Service (GIS) on Thursday appealed to passport applicants to contact its regional offices for over 2,000
Unclaimed passports nation-wide.
Nana Owusu Nsiah, GIS Director, who announced this at his maiden interaction with media practitioners in Accra, said hindrances to the acquisition of passports have contributed to some applicants giving up.
The meeting was to enable the new GIS boss to outline his vision for the service and streamline its operations to conform to international immigration standards.
He said the focus of his administration would be the adoption of a systematic approach to immigration and related functions in order to maximise efficiency.
Nana Nsiah, who is a Deputy Commissioner of Police, said his administration has introduced changes in the management structure and the overall operations of the service.
To facilitate the process of passport applications, he said, more reception points have been opened at the Greater Accra office where the bulk of applications is received.
He explained that the restructuring would also involve modernisation of the system, including computerisation to facilitate and strengthen control to improve the quality of service to the public.
Nana Nsiah said the new administration would introduce a more flexible, but effective system of control to meet the government's strategic objective of achieving the golden age of business.
The GIS Director also stated that in view of developments in international security following the September 11 terrorist activities in New York and Washington, the service has discussed with Western missions the need for effective collaboration.
He said GIS is seeking technical assistance in skills building, particularly for its personnel at the entry points, intelligence gathering as well as equipping its training schools to improve on their performance.
GRi…/
Send your comments to viewpoint@ghanareview.com
Accra (Greater Accra) 19 October 2001-The Director of Ghana Immigration Service (GIS), Nana Owusu Nsiah on Thursday said the administration has stepped up a system to monitor the activities of foreign nationals to safeguard the security and interest of Ghanaians.
"While we create the enabling environment to attract foreigners into the country the interest of the average Ghanaian must be safeguarded such that he is not maltreated or at a disadvantage in terms of jobs in favour of foreigners," he said.
Nana Nsiah, who is also a Deputy Commissioner of Police, said this at his maiden interaction with media practitioners to outline his vision for the service and streamline its operations to conform to international immigration standards.
He appealed to foreign employers to treat the local employees with dignity and accord them the necessary rights and respect, while employing the media to expose expatriates who maltreat Ghanaians.
He said particular attention would be concentrated on building the capacity of the enforcement units - the unit charged with carrying out inspections of work and other premises - to investigate breaches of immigration laws and misconduct of foreigners.
He explained that the unit would be restructured with personnel, its fleet of vehicle increased and regional offices established to make its impact felt nation wide.
The GIS Director noted that in line with the ECOWAS Protocol on Free Movement of people, a mechanism has been adopted to monitor and establish the numbers of foreigners, their residential address and what they do in the country.
Nana Nsiah acknowledged the presence of a large number of ECOWAS nationals and the suspicion that some of them might have been contributing to the high crime wave in the country.
He said GIS was seeking the co-operation of the Ghana Hoteliers Association to comply with directives to submit the list of foreigners who lodge at their hotels.
He, however, gave the assurance that security and interest of foreigners would be protected and that they would not be unduly harassed.
The programme to register all foreigners, which was aborted because of operational difficulties, would be revisited after intensive public education.
GRi…/
Send your comments to viewpoint@ghanareview.com
Accra (Greater Accra) 19 October 2001-The High Street branch of the Ghana Commercial Bank in Accra on Thursday was the scene of pity when a pensioner who had gone there to cash his 50,000-cedi monthly stipend collapsed and injured his head.
The man believed to be in his 70s who was in a queue for over an hour, fell and banged his head on the floor, sustaining a cut.
Good Samaritans washed the cut with cold water and he was made to lie on a bench by other customers while a sympathetic security man got his money for him.
GNA called management of the bank to find out what arrangements the bank has to ensure the comfort and safety of aged customers, but there was no response.
The GNA learnt that the 18th of every month is known by most of the bank's clients as "pensioners' day".
On this day pensioners, most of them old and feeble, throng the banking hall to take their stipends and spend most of the time standing in long queues.
GRi…/
Send your comments to viewpoint@ghanareview.com