Private participation in water supply condemned
Berekum drivers to increase fares
Tony Aidoo must learn to be courteous - J. B. Danquah Jnr.
Electoral Commission to hold District/Municipal elections in December
Workers demonstrate for delayed salaries
Navrongo (Upper East) 23 October 2001 - Speakers at a day's forum on the on-going national debate on water delivery, condemned the government's decision to invite the private sector to participate in running the country's water supply system.
They contended that any attempt to do so, would be an infringement on the fundamental human rights of the poor, "because water is life and like the air we breathe, it must not be treated as a luxury commodity".
Presenting a paper on: "The impact of water privatisation on vulnerable groups", the Reverend Dr A.H.K. Abasi, Vice Dean of the Faculty of Integrated Development Studies of the University for Development Studies (UDS) said the government must avoid messing with water privatisation because anything about water is directly connected to life.
Already, the vulnerable have been marginalised by politics and economic pursuit of some selfish individuals, giant companies and governments, he said.
The Dean said the absence of affordable potable water to the vulnerable would invariably compound their problems and affect all other activities including the health of the rural poor which should be paramount to every government.
Dr Abasi said the issue is being motivated by the World Bank, which is under the influence of a few rich companies whose interests are to make profits at the expense of the poor in society.
"It is a prejudiced indoctrination and an insult, that undermines the intelligence of our people and to further say we cannot manage our own resources," he said, and questioned whose advantage it would be to privatise the country's water delivery system.
GRi../
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Sunyani (Brong Ahafo) 23 October 2001 - Drivers plying the Seikwa to Berekum road in the Brong Ahafo Region at the weekend decided to increase fares due to the deplorable state of the road.
"If passengers resist the increase, we will advise ourselves and embark on a strike action to let the government know about our situation".
Mr Joseph Kofi Badu, Seikwa GPRTU Secretary, told the media at Sunyani on Monday that "the road has been neglected for about four years now”.
The road is very narrow and full of potholes. Drivers use two hours to make the 45 minutes journey. The bad condition of the road has also made it difficult for farmers to send their produce to the market centres. Mr Badu, therefore, appealed to the government to intervene to get the road repaired.
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Tony Aidoo must learn to be courteous - J.
B. Danquah Jnr.
Amasaman (Greater Accra) 23 October 2001 - Mr Joseph Boakye Danquah Junior, a son of the late Dr J. B. Danquah, doyen of Ghanaian Politics, has advised Dr Tony Aidoo, Head of the Research Department of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) to be courteous when addressing President John Agyekum Kufuor, Ministers of state and other government officials.
Mr Danquah was reacting to pronouncements made by Dr Aidoo on "Kweku One On One", a GTV programme. In an interview Mr Danquah Jnr said people should not take advantage of the repeal of the Criminal Libel law and "the cool wind blowing in the country" to use insulting and provocative language against members of the government and its functionaries.
He called on Dr Tony Aidoo to produce documentary evidence that President Kufuor stole over a billion cedis to renovate his private residence.
Mr Danquah said if Dr Aidoo failed to do this he should be arrested and charged for insulting behaviour. "In those days of PNDC/NDC rule who dared go to a radio station more so TV to insult the then President Rawlings and the NDC Gurus", he said.
Mr Danquah noted that it was the reckless dissipation of national resources by the NDC regime under ex President Jerry John Rawlings, which has forced the country into the highly Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) initiative.
"Education should normally instil in people, discipline, decorum and courtesy. For such an educated man as Tony Aidoo to come out the way he does is an apology to education."
Mr. Danquah urged the Ghana Journalist Association (GJA) to educate its members on how to handle people like Dr Aidoo now that the criminal libel law has been revoked to reciprocate the gesture of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) government.
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Accra (Greater Accra) 23 October 2001 - The Electoral Commission (EC) on Monday fixed Tuesday, December 11, for the holding of bye-elections to fill vacancies at the metropolitan, municipal and district assemblies in the country.
A statement signed by Mr Kwadwo Sarfo-Kantanka, Deputy Chairman in charge of operations, said a writ of elections has been issued to Returning Officers of the affected areas where vacancies have been created through deaths or resignations of members.
"Notice is hereby given that nomination of candidates shall take place at the offices of the returning officers in the districts concerned on Thursday November 8 and Friday November 9, 2001."
Mr Sarfo-Kantanka explained that each candidate should be nominated on a separate form, proposed and seconded respectively by a registered voter and supported by 18 others from the electoral area. He asked interested candidates to contact the district electoral officers or the returning officers for the nomination forms.
In another development, Sarfo-Kantanka has stated that the Commission has no statutory authority to create districts or demarcate boundaries of districts and their structures such as sub-metropolitan assemblies, urban, zonal, town/area councils and unit committees.
He said what the Commission has statutory responsibility under Article 45 (b) of the Constitution is to demarcate electoral boundaries for both national and local government elections.
He told the Ashanti Regional launching of the sensitisation and consultation programme on demarcation of administrative and electoral boundaries in Kumasi on Monday that the responsibility to create districts or demarcate the boundaries of districts and their sub-structures rest with the President.
He said requests for the creation of districts and sub-structures should, therefore, go to the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development and not the EC.
Mr Sarfo-Kantanka said the Commission intended to review the demarcation of the country into constituencies and electoral areas in line with provisions under Article 47 (5) of the Constitution.
The current constituencies were demarcated in 1992 while the census took place in 2000. The Commission would review the areas of authority of local government bodies and make recommendations if requested by the President.
The Deputy Chairman outlined the criteria for the demarcation of administrative and electoral boundaries and said the planned exercise has become imperative to satisfy legal requirements.
It was also to address the numerous petitions received from traditional authorities, individuals and other interest groups concerning administrative and electoral boundaries and the dynamics of development.
"We also realise that some of the requests and petitions stem from ignorance of the basis for the demarcation exercise. "He mentioned population, geographical or physical features, economic viability, ethnicity and community interest, availability of trained personnel and administrative centre as some of the criteria for the creation of additional districts and sub-structures.
The decision to create additional districts and sub-structures would not be guided by political considerations alone but the state of the economy and the need to avoid unnecessary rivalry, competition and duplication of efforts.
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Accra (Greater Accra) 23 October 2001 - Dr Adolf Lutterodt, a member of National Steering Committee of the Convention People's Party (CPP), on Monday said the party is focused to liberate Ghanaians from economic exploitation and poverty.
"As we liberated Ghana from the domain of colonial manipulation, exploitation and power to become the beacon of the African liberation and model of democracy, so would the 21st century CPP redeem the country from economic exploitation and poverty", Dr Lutterodt said in Accra after a meeting held with a 30-member nucleus of the Greater Accra Council of Patrons to plan the formation of the council.
He said the CPP is "a progressive and dynamic party with deep sense of vision and mission upon which the foundation of the nation was built and holds the key to redeem the country from the socio-economic crises of today".
"It will be unfair for any group of people or persons to turn a blind eye to this historic reality," he said, adding that attempts in the past to wipe out this reality yielded negative results with serious consequences.
Mr Jonathan A. Attoh, acting Regional Secretary, said the establishment of the council of patrons was part of measures to restructure the party.
He advised all members to join hands to rebuild the party so as to win the 2004 elections, adding Ghanaians would not forgive the party if it failed to organise and capture political power in the next general election "as the public is crying and yearning for Nkrumah's CPP to provide solution to the country's numerous problems."
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Tema (Greater Accra) 23 October 2001 - Workers of Obourwe Fisheries Company at Tema on Monday appealed to the government to intervene on their behalf to compel the owner of the Company, Mrs Gladys Brenya to pay their outstanding salaries totalling 371.2 million cedis.
The 131 employees have not been paid for over three years and this has brought untold hardships on them. They said it was only the government that could impress on Mrs Brenya alias Dede to pay their salaries because they have exhausted all avenues to retrieve their money but to no avail.
Mr Kwabena O. Afriyie, General Secretary of the Maritime and Dockworkers Union (MDU), who led the workers to stage a three-hour demonstration, presented a petition to Mr Samuel Evans Ashong Narh, Tema Municipal Chief Executive at his office.
The peaceful demonstration started from the fishing harbour through the principal streets and ended at the Tema Municipal Assembly (TMA).
The petition signed by Mr Ebenezer Kodwo Taylor, secretary of the Tema District Council of the MDU, said as a result of the non-payment of salaries, 15 of the employees have lost their lives while some could not afford to pay their medical bills and children's school fees.
The workers who wore red bands on their heads and wrists bore placards some of which read: "Government save your brothers from untold hardships and broken homes", "Obourwe, respect the law for human rights" and "Obourwe funded political activities".
Mr Narh promised to present the resolution to the appropriate authorities for action and entreated the workers to continue to exercise restraint so that the situation did not escalate.
The fishing crew has stopped work but workers at the other sections such as the security and mechanical are at post but without salaries.
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