Interpol rescues Ghanaian
kidnapped in Europe
Farmer runs amok, shoots five
people
African-American advocates equal opportunities as compensation for
slavery
Ghanaian scientists condemn
human cloning
Ghana calls for closer
collaboration with Guinea
President
to launch forest programme on Friday
Britain
gives 75 billion cedis grant to Ghana
Interpol rescues Ghanaian kidnapped in Europe
Accra (Greater Accra) 04 September 2001 -
A joint operation by Interpol and the Ghana Police Service in four European
countries has led to the release of a 41-year-old Ghanaian marketing officer
from the clutches of a syndicate operating across Europe.
Mr Godfred Obese Frimpong of Akoko
Goldfields Limited was kidnapped in Amsterdam, the Netherlands while he was on
a business trip last month.
Five people have been arrested in
connection with the incident, including a former Zairean heavyweight boxer, a
Scottish, Charles Johnstone and a West Indian, Dwight B. T. Anderson. The
identities of the other two are yet to be established.
The syndicate operated in the United
Kingdom, Belgium, the Netherlands and France, sources close to Interpol Ghana
said in Accra on Tuesday.
The sources said the kidnappers demanded a
ransom of 200,000 dollars to be provided within 48 hours but they subsequently
agreed on 50,000 pounds to be paid by Akoko Goldfields Limited.
Police said early this year, Anderson who
had a British passport introduced himself to Mr Maxwell Aboagye Frimpong, Chief
Executive of Akoko Goldfields at Abuakwa in the Eastern Region and elder
brother of Godfred, as an investor interested in investing in mining.
He was taken round the concession of the
company in the Kibi-Winneba belt after which he was given a sample of gold
dust, which he took to London.
The source said Anderson returned and
confirmed that it was of good quality and expressed the desire to purchase 50
kilogrammes.
Mr Aboagye Frimpong asked Anderson and his
partner, Johnstone to pay upfront for the consignment. They agreed and offered
to pay with their credit cards but Mr Aboagye Frimpong refused.
The two parties agreed that Mr Obese
Frimpong should fly to Amsterdam for the money while the consignment was being
conveyed to the Netherlands.
Mr Obese Frimpong flew to the Netherlands
and checked in at Ibis Hotel where he was contacted by Anderson and Johnstone.
While, in Amsterdam, Mr Obese Frimpong said he became suspicious of the two men
and phoned his brother in Ghana and informed him.
Mr Aboagye Frimpong had a call from
Anderson demanding a ransom of 200,000 dollars within 48 hours if he wanted to
see his brother alive. After negotiations, the ransom was reduced to 50,000
pounds.
Mr Aboagye Frimpong accordingly informed
Interpol Ghana which contacted their UK, Belgium and Netherlands partners.
Meanwhile, Anderson and Johnstone lured Mr
Obese Frimpong into a four-wheel drive vehicle with the excuse that since their
negotiations had stalled they wanted to purchase an air ticket for Mr Aboagye
Frimpong to join them in Amsterdam.
In the vehicle, he was blindfolded and
gagged and driven to Belgium. The blindfold was taken off when they approached
checkpoints till they got to the Belgium city of Liege. He was tortured while
in the vehicle apparently to keep him quiet.
He was moved around apartments in Liege
under the guidance of a group of Zairians led by the former heavyweight boxer.
The Police said through collaboration with
Interpol the apartment was located. The Belgian police feigned an earthquake
around the apartment and the occupants of the building rushed out.
Some 300 Belgian policemen who had
cordoned off the area arrested all occupants for screening.
Mr Obese Frimpong was then freed and he
identified two of his captors and gave out the registration number of the car
they were using.
The British police who had been tailing
Anderson immediately arrested him in London while French police arrested
Johnstone in Marseilles after he fled Belgium in the vehicle that they used.
Police said the suspects would be tried in the Netherlands.
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Sunyani (Brong Ahafo) 04 September 2001 -
The Brong Ahafo Regional branch of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) has accused
Sunyani-based "Sky FM" radio of acting in bad faith when it hosted
only Mr Johnson Asiedu-Nketiah, NDC Parliamentary Spokesman on Food and
Agriculture last Friday despite an agreement to postpone a programme to discuss
the NPP's seven months in government, to ensure equal representation of both parties.
It said the report by the station to
"Joy FM" in Accra that the Regional Chairman of the NPP mobilised
supporters to lynch Mr Asiedu-Nketiah "is a blatant lie calculated to
discredit the party's reputation as proponents of free speech".
In a statement in reaction to the report,
the NPP Regional Secretary, Mr Anthony Kusi, said neither Mr Kwadwo
Yeboah-Fordjour, the regional chairman nor any supporters attacked Mr
Asiedu-Nketiah.
Mr Kusi said having agreed to postpone the
programme to this Friday, so that representatives of both the Majority and
Minority could be available for balanced discussions, the NPP was shocked to
hear that the programme had gone ahead with only the NDC present.
"This was a programme that was
supposed to discuss the seven months of NPP administration and how could the
station go ahead with only one side represented contrary to an agreement we
reached with them".
Mr Kusi said it was perfectly within the
rights of the Regional Chairman to have gone to the studios to refute the
"blatant lies" Mr Asiedu-Nketiah, who is MP for Wenchi West, was
spreading because there was nobody to challenge him.
"Mr Yeboah-Fordjour never stormed the
station. He was freely allowed into the studio and introduced by the host to
state the government's side of the matter".
Mr Kusi said it was the "abusive and
intemperate language" used by Mr Asiedu- Nketiah that attracted people to
converge at the premises of the station but he was never physically attacked.
"We have been appalled by the way the
NDC, with the connivance of Sky FM, has twisted issues to its advantage and we
wish to call on the GJA and the National Media Commission to advise media men
and houses to respect the ethics of the journalism profession".
Meanwhile, Mr Kwame Enin Frimpong, News
Editor of Sky FM, has stated that the station "does not owe the NPP any
apology" as there was nothing wrong in hosting only an NDC representative
on the programme.
He said the station also never promised to
postpone the programme to this week when the NPP could not send a
representative due to the late delivery of the invitation letter.
Mr Frimpong pointed out that it was wrong
for the NPP supporters to have attempted to attack Mr Asiedu-Nketiah since he
was only a guest, adding that if anything at all, they should have sent the
station a protest note.
He said the programme would be continued
next Friday and expressed the hope that this time, the NPP would be
represented.
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Sunyani (Brong Ahafo) 04 September 2001 -
The Brong Ahafo Regional Police Command and the regional leadership of both the
NPP and the NDC on Monday denied that there was a clash between supporters of
the two parties in Sunyani last Friday.
This was in reaction to a report in the
last Saturday's edition of the "Ghanaian Times" newspaper that
supporters of the two parties clashed at the premises of Sky FM local radio
station.
Mr Oppong Nkrumah, NDC Regional Secretary
said Mr Johnson Asiedu-Nketiah,
Member of Parliament (MP) for Wenchi West
was explaining the NDC's stand on national issues in a radio programme.
He said following a reaction from Mr
Kwadwo Yeboah-Fordjour, NPP Regional Chairman who went to the studio to contest
Mr Asiedu-Nketiah's assertions, some people believed to be NPP supporters,
besieged the station.
Mr Nkrumah denied that the NDC mobilised
its members to confront the NPP sympathisers, saying he sent four party drivers
to tell Mr Asiedu-Nketiah to stop contributing to the programme and leave the
station for the sake of peace.
Mr Nkrumah said when he had a reply from
Mr Nketia, "the regional youth organiser, Mr Seidu Mahama, accompanied me
to escort the MP from the station through a back door and nothing
happened".
Alhaji Kwadwo Maama Adam, former Deputy
Regional Minister, appealed to supporters of political parties to tolerate each
other's views in order to promote good governance and to ensure the growth of
democratic culture.
Mr Kwame Twumasi Awuah, Regional Youth
Organiser of the NPP said if there was a clash, "Mr Asiedu-Nketiah would
not have been paraded in an NDC open-van in the vicinity of the radio station
before being taken away".
Superintendent Amadu Salifu, Regional
Crime Officer corroborated the views of the two parties, saying he had detailed
some police officers to the scene to ensure peace and order.
He advised leaders and supporters of
political parties to desist from making inflammatory statements particularly on
radio.
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Farmer runs amok, shoots five people
Sunyani (Brong Ahafo) 04 September 2001 -
A 28-year-old farmer, Kweku Takyi on Sunday ran amok, shot and wounded five
persons and set a taxi ablaze at Tuobodom in the Techiman district.
Takyi who, later attempted to commit
suicide, was arrested in the early hours of Monday at Baafi, near Nkoranza.
Police have charged him with attempted
murder, attempted suicide, illegally possessing firearm and causing damage to a
vehicle and he is be arraigned before court soon.
Brong Ahafo Regional Crime Officer,
Superintendent Amadu Salifu said on Tuesday that the victims and the suspect
are on admission at the Techiman Holy Family
Hospital.
Mr Salifu said Takyi, who was armed with a
locally manufactured pistol burst into a communication centre and shot a
customer, 36 year-old trader, Mr Kwaku Badu.
He continued to a nearby drinking bar and
shot another trader, Mr Daniel Agyei before storming into the local Miracle
Revival Church and fired at the congregation, wounding the Pastor, 43 year-old
Yaw Emmanuel, his mother in-law, Madam Rose Owusu, and Mr Isaac Yeboah, a
farmer.
Mr Amadu said the suspect finally set on
fire a taxicab he was driving and bolted.
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African-American advocates equal opportunities as
compensation for slavery
Accra (Greater Accra) 04 September 2001 - The President of the
African-American Association of Ghana, Victoria Cooper has suggested that
Africans be offered equal opportunities as the West to serve as compensation
for crimes of slavery.
According to her, it will be difficult to
quantify reparations for the uncountable number of Africans who were sold into
slavery.
Instead,
it is appropriate for Africans to ask for a levelling of the playing field for
development. Miss Cooper argued that the African situation was far more
complicated than the compensation to the Jewish people for the holocaust, since
the Jewish situation presented a finite number of people, which made it easier
for individuals to be identified from each participating country.
World
Leaders attending the racism conference currently underway in Durban, South
Africa have had divided opinions on whether or not Africa should be compensated
for the atrocities of slavery meted out against Africans. –Joy FM
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Ghanaian scientists
condemn human cloning
Accra (Greater Accra) 04 September 2001 -
Two of Ghana's leading scientists have questioned the relevance of human
cloning to humanity and called for laws to regulate the activities of
"scientists caught up in the new wave of bio-technology revolution".
The Rev Professor Seth Ayettey, Head of
the College of Health Sciences which houses all the health training
institutions in Accra and Dr Stephen Asante-Poku, a Molecular Biologist at the
University Ghana Medical School, both acknowledge the usefulness of scientific
knowledge to advance the cause of medical practice but said there must be
regulations to prevent abuses.
Rev. Prof. Ayettey, who is a minister of
the Presbyterian Church, said the world was witnessing great medical advances,
with the potential to artificially create life and predict a person's
hereditary dispositions before birth.
"There is the need, however, to deal
with the moral and ethical implications of human cloning and bio-technology in
general to uphold the sanctity of life."
Some prominent political and religious
leaders are caught up in argument over announcements by some European
scientists and fertility doctors that they would soon artificially create
replicas of human beings, using the latest technology in molecular biology.
France and Germany recently called on UN
Secretary General Kofi Annan to initiate a debate on drafting a convention
forbidding the cloning of humans for the purpose of reproduction.
Prof Ayettey said: "human cloning has
no relevance to humanity. "Besides, who do we clone? Do we clone more men
or women, famous people with intelligence or beauties and for what
purpose? What is the purpose of
creating copies of one's self? Wouldn't
this create problems of identification?"
Cloning is a scientific process during
which cells of a mature organism or donor's cells nucleus is used to reproduce
an exact image of that donor.
The end result is an artificially created
exact copy of any living being or organism without any sexual activity.
Prof Ayettey said: "even though some
scientists do not believe in God, there is still the problem of the unknown to
deal with. What about the soul of the cloned human being, and what is its
relationship with its maker? And who owns the soul?"
There are arguments that the cloning of human
beings would deprive someone of what makes that person an individual; that is
tampering with the IQ, the physical appearance, the gender and the sexuality of
that individual.
Prof Ayettey said there are: "defects
with even normal birth and since the cloning technique is not yet perfect,
cloned individuals are more likely to have more abnormalities."
Dr Asante-Poku said scientific knowledge
is useful to advance the cause of medical research and practice. "We,
however, need to know how to use such knowledge to avoid abuse in the practice
of medicine. There must be regulations to govern the activities of scientists
involved in molecular biology and bio-tech in general."
Dr Asante-Poku admitted that, "there
are benefits to be derived from these medical advances such as the potential
benefits of gene therapy and pre-natal screening, but there is the need to
govern the use of such technologies.
"For instance, pre-natal screening
makes it possible to predict one's disabilities even before birth and with gene
therapy some diseases such as sickle cells could easily be handled because
defective genes could then be manipulated to treat the disease condition."
However, Dr Asante-Poku said with prenatal
screening, the question may then arise about how parents should deal with the
knowledge of a pregnancy which could result in the birth of a child who could
develop a disease condition."
He said these are some questions that make
it necessary to come out with rules to govern
some of these sophisticated technological advances.
The announcement in 1997 of the birth of a
cloned sheep named Dolly, an exact copy of its mother, sparked world-wide
debate over the moral and medical implications of cloning.
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Ghana calls for closer
collaboration with Guinea
Accra (Greater Accra) 04 September 2001 -
Professor Dominic Fobih, Minister of Environment, Science and Technology on
Tuesday called on Guinea to collaborate with Ghana in technological
development, especially in food preservation for their mutual benefit.
Professor Fobih said Ghana and Guinea
collaborated in the independence struggle and should further strengthen their
ties in the area of technology.
Speaking during a courtesy call on him by
El-Hadj Mamadou Falilou Bah, Guinea
Ambassador, the minister said one area the
two countries could explore was agro-industry since they have similar food
crops.
"We can exchange ideas in research on
preservation and promotion of our indigenous food crops for use by the international
community," he said.
El-Hadj Bah said Guinea always cherished
her relationship with Ghana and would continue to support all her
endeavours.
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Controversy over presidential jet rages on
Accra (Greater Accra) 04 September 2001 - There
seems to be no end in sight for the controversy surrounding the acquisition of
the Gulf Stream III Presidential Jet, by the previous government, which the
Kufuor administration has refused to use.
Following a press conference held in Ho by
the National Democratic Congress during which it disclosed that an official of
HSBC, the bank, which helped the previous government to acquire the
Presidential jet visited the country last July and had discussions with the
leader of government Business, J.H. Mensah about the jet, the controversy seems to have rear its head
again.
The NPP government says the loan agreement
on the financing of the lease of the Gulf Stream Presidential Jet cannot still
be traced. Gallen Limited, the special purpose company incorporated under the
laws of the Cayman Islands for the transaction and its directors have neither
been seen nor heard of. However, in the midst of the confusion and
uncertainties surrounding the lease, the bankers, HSBC Investment Limited have
prepared a draft sales agreement for the return of the aircraft.
But the NDC
has insisted that there is nothing fishy about the acquisition of the Aircraft,
saying that an official of the bankers, HSBC, is now dealing directly with the
Kufuor government.
The Government says it has also entered
into discussions with HSBC Investment Bank to terminate the lease agreement.
The agreement in question is between HSBC Investment Bank PLC, HSBC Bank
Limited (formerly Midland Investment Bank) acting as the bankers, Gallen
Limited, the owner and the Republic of Ghana, the lessee.
Government Spokesperson, Kwabena Agyepong
who made available copies of the draft termination of the lease to reporters
did not rule out the possibility of the government compelling the former
Finance Minister to make documents on the agreement available.
The lease payment due on April 2001
together with part of payment due on October 30, 2000 and associated costs,
total about $2.2 million. Meanwhile, the Minority Chief Whip, Doe Adjaho has
questioned why the government did not cause the arrest of the HSBC official
when he visited Ghana after the NPP had gone public about the improper
acquisition of the aircraft.
He challenged the NPP government to fly
back the jet or use the jet for its intended purposes. Otherwise, he said, the
continuous detention of the jet in Ghana would cause considerable loss to the
state.
In May this year, the government said it will soon be able to dispose off the Jet
without any legal wrangling. This follows the successful acquisition of enough
documentation, which will prepare grounds for the sale of the Jet, the Leader
of Government Business, Mr. J.H. Mensah, had disclosed in an interview with the
Daily Graphic.
He had said the sale has become necessary
because government pays about $1.5 million every six months for the jet which
is hardly used and can carry only 14 passengers.
The purchase of the
Presidential Jet by the former NDC government has been a subject of debate
before and after the NPP government assumed power. Subsequently the NPP
government announced that it will sell the jet which was acquired without
parliamentary approval. There are a lot of unanswered questions about how the jet
was acquired, the purchase agreement, source of purchase, mode of payment and
the lease arrangement.
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Dixcove
(Western Region) 04 September 2001 - A boat carrying 22 fishermen, last Sunday
capsized when it collided with a ship on the high seas at Dixcove in the Ahanta
West District.
Seventeen
of them were rescued but the remaining five, whose names were not given, are
still missing.
The Western
Regional Co-ordinating Council said at Takoradi that a search party has been
organised to look for them.
The Council
appealed to people, especially those living along the coast, to look for
floating bodies and report to the Fisheries Department of the Ministry of Food
and Agriculture (MOFA) or the nearest police station.
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Risk assessment of smoked food underway
Accra
(Greater Accra) 04 September 2001 - The Food and Drugs Board has set up a
special committee to conduct health risk assessment of local delicacies of
smoked fish and meat products which have been banned from European Union
countries.
The ban
imposed on smoked foods follows the outbreak of both the Mad Cow and Foot and
Mouth diseases, which affect livestock.
The Chief
Executive of the Board, Mr. T.C. Corquaye who disclosed this explained that
even though a kilo each of both smoked fish and meat products are now allowed
to be imported to EU states, commercial quantities will not be permitted until
the Board is able to build up a credible data base on the safety and
nutritional status of the Ghanaian delicacy to convince EU enforcement
agencies.
The
European Union is demanding comprehensive information on phenol compounds or
smoked food products and health risks involved in its consumption.
Europe has
a popular and fast moving market for African foods such as cereals, tubers as
well as preserved fish and meat. – Joy FM.
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Rawlings consoles despatch rider’s family
Accra
(Greater Accra) 04 September 2001 - Former President Jerry Rawlings has visited
and consoled the wife and family of the late Sergeant Emmanuel K. Owusu, a
presidential despatch rider who died in an accident last Friday.
Sergeant
Owusu, described as one of the experienced and talented dispatch riders was the
outrider of the former President for about fifteen years.
Flight
Lieutenant Rawlings consoled the family and promised to assist the family in
anyway. He also paid his respects to the body of the late dispatch rider at the
37 Military Hospital. Some staff of the former President’s office who have
worked with the deceased described him as hard working, amiable and experienced.
The
deceased, popularly known as ‘burger’ died when his motorbike was hit by a
vehicle that failed to stop in response to sirens announcing the approach of
the President’s convoy.
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Accra
(Greater Accra) 04 September 2001 - Former President Jerry Rawlings and his
vice, John Atta Mills have commended the Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II for
his commitment to the improvement of the lives of ordinary people.
They also
congratulated the Asantehene for his efforts at ensuring that the needy acquire
formal education through the Otumfuo Education Fund. The two were speaking when
the Asantehene paid a courtesy call on President Rawlings at his residence in
Accra.
The visit,
coming a few days after Flt Lt Rawlings paid a similar visit in Kumasi was to
afford the chief an opportunity to see where the former President is staying
and discuss issues of national concern with him.
Professor
Mills commended the Asantehene for his commitment to national development.
The
Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu said, as a former President, Jerry Rawlings has a
lot of experience that must be tapped to enable the present government learn
from the past. Former President Rawlings described the Asantehene as a
cherished friend who is committed to improving the lot of Ghanaians.
He recalled
earlier discussions he has had with the Asantehene on national issues when he
visited Kumasi and welcomed the opportunity to continue discussions. Flt Lt
Rawlings also commended the Asantehene for the establishment of the education
fund, which he says will go a long way to improve the lot of the needy in
society.
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Tamale
(Northern Region) 04 September 2001 -
The National Democratic Congress (NDC) Youth Coalition in Tamale has called for
the amendment of the party's constitution to enable the party to choose its
flag bearer at least two years before elections.
At a
meeting of the Coalition, which is an amalgamation of NDC Youth Wings in the
municipality, its chairman, Mr Yekubu Ziblim said the current arrangement
whereby the presidential candidate was chosen in the election year would not be
helpful since the candidate would not have enough time to market himself and
the party.
Mr Ziblim
called on the party leadership to allow all positions at all levels to be
contested and to do away with "the old-style" of selection and
endorsement of party officials and candidates by so-called popular-acclamation.
He said the
NDC was not against the formation of the National Reconciliation Commission,
but its operation must not be limited to certain military regimes.
It must be
widen to include all political regimes in Ghana since Independence and must cover
ethnic, chieftaincy and other social areas, he said.
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Bolgatanga
(Upper East) 04 September 2001 - Sixteen new High Commissioners and
Ambassadors-designate have paid a day's familiarisation tour of the Upper East
Region to identify investment opportunities there.
The
Regional Minister, Mr Mahami Salifu, who briefed them on the state of the
region's economic, social, cultural and environmental position, received them
in Bolgatanga.
Mr Salifu
said, even though, deprived and economically less endowed, the region has
hardworking and determined people ready to turn their fortunes around.
He urged
the ambassadors-designate to link up the region with investors and the donor
community abroad. "We are a
poverty-prone region but full of hope," he stated.
Mr Salifu
identified the Pwalugu Tomato Cannery, the Zuarungu Meat Factory, the
Bolgatanga Rice Mill and the Vegetable Oil Mill at Bawku, as industries, which
could be revived and put to productive use with the injection of the requisite
capital investment.
He noted
that economic activity in the region was mainly agriculture-based and urged the
Envoys to lay emphasis on the areas of processing, preservation and marketing
of produce when soliciting for assistance for the region.
Some
Regional Heads of Departments including Mrs Blandina Batiir, Community Water
and Sanitation Agency (COWASA), Mr Ken Dabuo, Education, Mr Edmund Otupiri,
Agriculture and a representative of the Regional Director of Health Services,
briefed the envoys on their operations.
A spokesman
for the Envoys, Mr George Kumi, said: "To be able to adequately market
Ghana abroad, there is the need for us to tour the regions to acquaint
ourselves with their varied resources and peculiarities."
Mr Kumi
commended the Regional Minister and the Heads of Department for the exhaustive
briefing and gave the assurance that the envoys would keep the needs of the
region in mind when they assume duty.
The Envoys
called on the Bolga-Naba, Martin Abilba III and visited the crafts village in
Bolgatanga, where a variety of straw and leather products were displayed.
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Accra
(Greater Accra) 04 September 2001 - President John Agyekum Kufuor on Monday
called on African countries to ensure that their national planning policies and
programmes on their economies and social issues were reflectively gender
sensitive.
All issues
of gender must become an integral part of the daily process of decision-making
and policy implementation and should no more be an after-thought, he said.
"We
can no longer pay lip-service to gender issues on ceremonial and festive
occasions as it has become fashionable to do in many countries. There must be a
positive change in this direction."
President
Kufuor was opening a weeklong First Caritas Africa Forum under the theme
"Gender and Partnership for Development at the Ghana Institute of
Management and Productivity and Administration (GIMPA) in Accra.
Caritas
International with affiliations in 160 countries, including 45 in Sub-Saharan
Africa is one of the largest confederations of the Catholic Church aid and
social service organizations involved in relief, development and social work
activities.
President
Kufuor said under his administration, Ghana would work to reverse the situation
in Africa and other parts of the world where in spite of the progress made over
the years, in health, work and education, available data still indicated that
many women still experience significant social and economic disadvantages.
"Sometimes,
even cultural and religious inhibitions are used as basis to deny women access
to productive resources such as land, credit and technological know-how. Their
contributions in the field of food production and other vital sectors of the
economy, often, go unrecorded in national statistic."
He asked
the participants to focus on ways of removing socially contrived obstacles and
traditional and religious-based arguments that prevented women from developing
and applying their God-given talents and skills for the benefit of their
countries and communities.
Pope John
Paul, Head of the Catholic Church, in a message read by Archbishop Peter
Turkson, Catholic Archbishop of Cape Coast and President of the Catholic
Bishops' Conference, said the forum was pertinent at a time when the customs
and practices, which deprived women of their rights and the respect due them
were still widespread.
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Sunyani
(Brong Ahafo) 04 September 2001 - President John Agyekum Kufuor would on Friday
launch the national forest plantation development programme at Ayigbe in the
Brong Ahafo Region.
The
programme is aimed at planting about 20,000 hectares of degraded forests per
year throughout the high forest zone of the country.
It is
geared towards job creation, poverty alleviation and reducing the nation's
current wood deficit.
A statement
by the Ministry of Lands, Forestry and Mines on Monday said a mini-exhibition
of local products would be held prior to the launch.
It said the
Ministry had spent 400 million cedis on kick-starting the project, which is
expected to produce 25 million seedlings of wawa, ofram, emire, ceiba,
mahogany, kusia, teak and cedrella.
The
Ministry said the Forestry Commission would make available 500,000 hectares of
degraded land for the project. In
addition, there are more than two million hectares of unproductive agricultural
lands available for plantation development.
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Accra
(Greater Accra) 04 September 2001 - Britain on Monday said she would release
7.5 million pounds (75 billion cedis) to Ghana during the later part of this
year in aid grant.
A statement
from the British High Commission in Accra said the money would be targeted at
the social sectors to assist Ghana in her development.
It said the
release would bring Britain's total value for Ghana's budgetary support to 550
billion cedis (55 million pounds) from October last year to December.
Meanwhile
the High Commission has said a trade mission from Birmingham Chamber of
Commerce and Industry would visit the country from September 14 to 19 to explore
business opportunities.
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