Children’s Commission accuses Upper East courts of indifference
Mass lateness to work following Tuesday's attack on America
UN General Assembly postpones special session on children
Government disburses 5.4 billion for social relief
Ministry of Trade denies blackmail tag on Minister
Poverty is main cause of child labour - report
UN Environment Report links land degradation to poverty
Okyenhene launches endowment fund for the blind.
Mob besiege Bolga Police Station for murder suspect
Flags to fly at half-mast for America
Northern Sector to experience heavy rains-NADMO
Accra (Greater Accra) 14 September 2001 - At least four Ghanaians are reported missing in the wake of last Tuesday's terrorist attacks on two major American cities, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Hackman Owusu-Agyemang, announced on Friday.
Receiving the new American Ambassador, Ms Nancy Jo Powell, who called at the ministry to present her open letters of credence, ahead of a presidential ceremony to be held later in the day, the Minister said the government was reviewing the situation and would take a firm decision later on Friday on whether President John Agyekum Kufuor's visit to the United States would come off as planned or not.
President Kufuor was originally scheduled to leave Accra on Friday to visit Washington and Boston with a stopover in the United Kingdom.
In an apparent comment on speculations that some 500 Ghanaians might have died as a result of the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Centre and the Pentagon, Mr Owusu-Agyemang said the figure could not be real since the estimated total casualty rate was now about 5,000. Today’s issue of the Despatch said about 500 Ghanaians were feared dead.
The Minister expressed Ghana's solidarity with the American people in their efforts to hunt down the perpetrators of the barbaric act in order to make the world peaceful.
For example, he said, Ghana would readily co-operate with any Interpol arrangement should there be such a request from the Americans. "We consider the attacks as a strike against humanity and civilization all over the world. We should all solidly rally behind you to defeat terrorism," he told the new Envoy.
The government has directed that all flags should fly at half post on Friday to show a mark of deep respect. "Our resolve to fight terrorism will make everybody safe against these cruel acts like those we've already witnessed in Tanzania and Kenya," Mr Owusu-Agyemang said.
He said last Tuesday's tragedy would not only affect America, but also all other countries, citing a scheduled IMF meeting on Ghana's HIPC cut-off point, which had to be deferred.
Owusu-Agyemang said relations between Ghana and the US have been put in a higher pedestal in the last eight months when the New Patriotic Party (NPP) assumed power.
This culminated in high official exchanges between the two countries such as President Kufuor's meeting with President George Bush and Secretary of State, Collin Powell, as well as the visit to Ghana by the Director of Federal Bureau of Investigations to assist unravel serial killings.
Owusu-Agyemang also briefed the new Envoy on President Kufuor's vision of the "Golden age for business" and his resolve for "Zero tolerance for corruption" to ensure effective utilisation of the taxpayer's money.
Ms Powell said the US could not stand alone in this tragedy and called for worldwide support to wipe out terrorism. "We need to let people understand the cost of these heinous crimes and the need to work together to eliminate them from society," she said, and expressed appreciation for the expression of condolences and solidarity from Ghana in the wake of the attacks.
She lauded Ghana's stride towards becoming a beacon in democracy in Africa and pledged her commitment to build on the good relationship nurtured by her predecessors for the development of good governance.
Ms Powell said, already, Ghana stands out tall in the preference of American investors because of her evolving democracy and rule of law.
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Accra (Greater Accra) 14 September 2001 - President John Agyekum Kufuor leaves Accra tonight for the United Kingdom at the invitation of Prime Minister, Tony Blair.
It will be his first official visit since assuming the helm of affairs in January this year.
Whiles in Britain, the President and six other Heads of States from the African continent would hold discussions with Blair on broad areas of possible UK co-operation with these countries.
The meeting, President Kufuor said, will be held in a very informal atmosphere, and will take place in Blair’s Country home, Chequers.
The discussion will cover economic development, relief from over burden debts, peace and stability on the continent and capital flow among others, according to President Kufuor.
He will also seize the opportunity to meet Ghanaians in the UK. A kind of "Town Hall" meeting has been arranged to afford the President the chance to interact with his kin and kith.
However, the President’s planned trip to the United States of America has been cancelled due to the tragedy, which struck that country on Tuesday.
President Kufuor was originally scheduled to leave Accra on Friday to visit Washington and Boston with a stopover in the UK. He returns to Accra next Friday, September 21.
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Accra (Greater Accra) 14 September 2001 - The Auditor-General's Department has begun the auditing of the accounts of the 31st December Women's Movement, Edward Dua Agyeman, Acting Auditor General said on Thursday.
He told the Ghana News Agency in Accra that under the Constitution any non-governmental organisation (NGO) that benefits from public funding must be audited by the Auditor-General to ascertain whether the public really benefited. The movement benefited from several of such funding.
"The Auditor-General is given the right under article 187 of the Constitution, to audit all public accounts. Public accounts do not only refer to accounts of public institutions and public offices but also public monies given to private institutions, including NGOs, for the benefit of the public generally."
He said between 1992 and 1994 the Chinese government gave the Ghana Government 2.2 million dollars for three selected projects, one of which was the Vocational Technical Training Centre in Accra.
"Though there was no subsidiary agreement to the disbursement of the loan the funds were channelled to the Movement and like all government loans this must be repaid to the Chinese government."
Agyeman said in 1991 an African Development Bank (ADB) loan of 1.88 million dollars was given to the Movement after a government guarantee for the construction of community centres and digging of boreholes. The project, which should have ended in June 2000, was extended to June this year.
Mr Agyeman said in January 2000 during the visit of the Vice Premier of China to Ghana three million Yuan was donated to the Government of Ghana. In February last year the Ministry of Finance allocated 1.5 Yuan of the amount to the Movement to cover cost of fabrics it was importing from China.
The Acting Auditor-General said the movement also benefited from a European Union financing agreement.
After an agreement between the EU and the government, the Movement submitted a project called "Enhancing the Living Standards of Rural Women" at cost of over 250 million cedis, Agyeman said, adding that the movement agreed to provide 46 million cedis while the project was to provide 138 million out of which 70 million has been provided to the Movement.
Mr Agyeman said the movement benefited from huge tax exemptions on duties on equipment, machinery and vehicles. For instance Masai Motors donated a Hearse and Limousine with accessories at the cost of over 27,000 dollars for which the movement applied for exemptions.
Mr Agyeman said in April 1999 China Hainan Corporation for International Economic and Technical Co-operation shipped one Toyota saloon car and two new Toyota pick-ups from Hong Kong to the Movement at the total cost over 41,000 dollars of which another exemption was granted.
In December 1998, 30 computers designed for children was donated by Messrs S. K. Engineering and Construction Company from Korea for which tax exemptions were granted.
The GNA report said it has also seen a letter dated September 4, 1997 written by the National President of the Movement, Nana Konadu Agyeman Rawlings requesting the Auditor-General to periodically audit the accounts of their day care centres.
"I once more want to crave your kind indulgence to request your staff in the regions to periodically audit our major day care centres in their respective regions and oblige us with their reports."
"In this regard, I have requested my Regional Organisers to make the list of all major day care centres in the region available for the attention of your Regional Auditors."
The order by the National Security Adviser for the auditing of the accounts of the movements has triggered an angry response from key members of the Movement, who say he has no right to give such an instruction.
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Accra (Greater Accra) 14 September 2001 – The Government would study the report of the Permanent Negotiation Team on the Northern Conflict and implement the recommendation for peace to prevail in the area.
President John Agyekum Kufuor, who announced this in Accra on Friday, said it was based on the conviction that the chiefs and people of the Konkomba area were determined to live in peace.
President Kufuor was receiving a delegation of Konkomba chiefs and elders at the State House. "It is when you have peace that you can talk of education, agriculture and accessible roads for development."
President Kufuor said: "I want to unite the entire country and the most important attribute one should have is his citizenship."
He said: "All Ghanaians are citizens of their motherland and equal among themselves on the motherland, therefore, Konkombas as Ghanaians have rights to the courts to seek redress and should not resort to the use of guns and cutlasses to solve conflicts."
President Kufuor said: "A government, which upholds the rule of law and order, would ensure that there is no violence anywhere in the country but ensure that there is law and order and when the Konkombas resort to the due process of the law, the government would support them in the pursuit of their rights.
"When we have peace and you talk about improvement in the quality of education the government would be in the forefront to give you quality education to bring you at par with other areas in the country."
President Kufuor said for peace to prevail in the country, chiefs and opinion leaders should be mindful of troublemakers in their areas and get rid of them.
Ghana has been a lucky country with many tribes and yet all of them live together and go about their work peacefully without fear unlike other countries where there were conflicts always, he observed.
President Kufuor said it was because of this peaceful co-existence that the Northern conflict appeared strange when it occurred and did not seem Ghanaian. "Now that the conflict is over government would study the report and implement its recommendations for peace to continue to prevail in the area."
President Kufuor said teachers would be encouraged to return to the area and the district assembly would also be assisted to construct basic infrastructure and rehabilitate roads in the area.
He said being an agricultural area, the farmers would be assisted with credit facilities, farming inputs, marketing centres and would be involved in the marketing of their produce for export.
President Kufuor asked Konkombas to support the government to implement its rural development programmes and should not sit on the fence.
Obor Dalafu-Sangulbor, who led the delegation, said it was at State House to congratulate him and inform the government of their problems. The problems were the poor standard of education, inaccessible roads and the implementation of the report on the conflict.
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Accra (Greater Accra) 14 September 2001 - Jake Obetsebi-Lamptery, Minister of Presidential Affairs, on Thursday urged members of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to be vigilant to ensure that cross-border criminal activities did not undermine the socio-economic development of the sub-region.
Opening a one-day seminar organised by the Centre for Democratic Development (CDD) on "Crime and Security in the West African sub-region" in Accra, Obetsebi-Lamptey said crime in one country of the sub-region should be seen as the same in another.
About 60 participants drawn from the Ghana Police Service, Judiciary, Parliament and the Diplomatic Corps, and delegations from Togo and Sierra Leone brainstormed on how to combat rising criminal activities in the sub-region.
Obetsebi-Lamptey, who is also the chief of staff, said the sub-region needed a large market for accelerated economic integration, adding that this should not be undermined by cross-border crimes.
He said it is the duty of the citizens to combat crime because "the criminals live somewhere, sleep and spend their booty in the community".
The Minister called for the support and mobilisation of resources for good governance, which was a check on the breeding of criminals.
Kofi Quantson, Executive Secretary of the Narcotics Control Board, said governments, the judiciary and the law enforcement agencies must rise to the challenge of combating crimes in the region.
"Our enforcement and judicial systems must rise to the challenge and resist the attractive enticements by criminal syndicates that seek to compromise and subvert their resolve.
"Crime poses a serious threat in our sub-region and how we manage it will determine whether we are going to rescue our situation or allow it to engulf us."
Mr Quantson said the people must help to fight crime since "there is no force more potent than a responsible and motivated citizenry determined to fight for its survival".
Madame Suzanne Soukounde, President of the Judicial and Technical sub-committee of Ghana-Togo Boundary Commission, said the identification of criminal activities and giving information to one another in the sub-region would help curb crime.
She said there was need for political will of member states to strengthen their resolve to combat crimes along their borders.
Professor E Boadi-Gyimah, Executive Director of CDD, said rising crime was generating insecurity and posing a threat to the fragile democratic development in the sub-region.
He urged participants to formulate policies that would check crime and promote peace and stability in the region.
Yaw Barimah, Deputy Minister of the Interior, who chaired the function, called for co-operation and effective collaboration of efforts of governments and law enforcement agencies to ensure that the criminal would not find a comfortable abode and protection in any state.
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Accra (Greater Accra) 14 September 2001 - Professor John Evans Atta Mills, Former Vice-President and Presidential Candidate of the National Democratic Congress for the 2000 elections is to assist the United Nations to establish a new Centre for Human Security that would be affiliated to the University of Peace.
Prof Mills, who has accepted an offer of a Visiting Scholar at the University of British Columbia, would help to promote greater understanding of African development and governance issues and provide North Americans with a different perspective of Africa and the nature of the requirements needed for democracy in Ghana, in particular and Africa in general, to thrive.
Professor Mills, who would also be a Senior Associate at the Liu Centre for the Study of Global Issues, British Columbia, Canada, confirmed his acceptance of the offer at a farewell reception he held for the media and some senior members of the NDC in Accra.
Prof Mills, who leaves on Friday, said he regarded the appointment as a tribute to the positive strides Ghana has made towards democracy. "Coming after my four-year tenure as Vice- President, I see my appointment as a tribute to the tremendous progress Ghana has made on the path to democracy and progress.
"It is also a testimony to the performance of the NDC while it was in power and that the one-year period that I will spend in Canada would be one of reflection, and I hope to tell our story as objectively as possible."
He said in spite of the "intensive anti-NDC propaganda" since his party's defeat, no one could deny that the Ghanaian economy that was in tatters in December 1981 had been transformed under the PNDC/NDC to a dynamic one with a well-developed infrastructure by the time it left office.
"Ghana's economy today is well-poised to take off, such that the policy debates have rightly shifted to the size of the budget deficit, inflation and the exchange rate, and not on the availability of basic foodstuffs, so-called essential commodities, foreign exchange allocations or the length of queues for petrol and all manner of products as we met in 1982."
Prof Mills said despite his absence, he would be more than ever committed to playing a central role in the party's ongoing re-organisation, adding that this commitment to re-energise NDC's return to power should never be in doubt.
"...I fully intend to actively participate in the political life of our dear country... Canada is only a telephone call and a website away from Ghana," he declared and indicated that he would be home to participate in the NDC's biennial congress tentatively scheduled for December this year.
He said North America offers him a unique opportunity to meet and explain the new direction and agenda of the NDC.
"I will brief them on the purpose of the re-organisation exercise and elicit their support for our efforts at renewal, attracting the best and the brightest that Ghana has to offer and to broaden the base of the party.
"The NDC has always been broad based and we should never forgo any opportunity to broaden it even further."
Prof Mills said he would return home "at the earliest opportunity" to complete his nationwide programme to thank party supporters, chiefs, opinion leaders and all Ghanaians for their unflinching support during the last elections.
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Bolgatanga (Upper East) 14 September 2001 - The Ghana National Commission on Children (GNCC) in the Upper East Region on Wednesday expressed concern about what it called, "lack of interest" by the Judiciary in defilement cases.
Ms Mariama Yahaya, Regional Director of GNCC, in an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in Bolgatanga said some defilement cases reported since 1999, were still pending at the courts.
She said that in most instances, the accused were either granted long term bail or the cases were dismissed on the excuse of lack of evidence, showing medical reports and letters of complaints from parents to prove her point.
"After Police investigations, when the State Attorney says it should not go to court, then the case is abandoned," she said.
She noted that when such cases were sent to court, the accused persons hire lawyers to defend them while the complainants, usually poor, were left to their fate.
Ms Yahaya said legal practitioners at the Legal Aid Board, who should be helping the children, rather take on the cases of accused persons for financial gains.
She said the most prominent cases involved a contractor in his early 40's and two nine year-old girls and a Police Officer, who defiled a 10-year-old girl in Bolgatanga.
"The case of an Immigration Officer, who defiled a 10-year-old girl at the Paga Border Post last year also died a natural death. So did the case of the 14 year-old girl defiled by two young men and a 12 year-old girl defiled by four men, all in Bolgatanga."
Ms Yahaya said women's groups organised a demonstration in 1999 against the indifference and appealed to the authorities to take prompt action against men, who molest women. She urged men to respect the rights of children.
When Mr Samuel Amoah Ashrifie, Chief State Attorney in charge of the Region was contacted, he said some of the cases referred to were prosecuted unsuccessfully at the Regional Tribunal.
He said the Police Officer was acquitted and discharged by the Regional Tribunal, adding: "Incidentally it was the same girl, who was allegedly defiled by the contractor."
Mr Ashrifie said with respect to the Immigration Officer, the medical report indicated that there had been no defilement and it was, therefore, not necessary to pursue the case.
"Is she suggesting that we should send such cases to court to waste the time of the judges when there is no evidence at all to get a conviction?
He said the 14 year-old girl and her parents refused to attend court. "To successfully prosecute rape cases there must be collaboration among the Police, Medical Officers and the victim otherwise, we will be wasting everybody's time," Mr Ashrifie said, adding that it would be unfair to suggest that everything should be left to the Judges even when there was clear evidence that the case was a bad one.
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Bolgatanga (Upper East ) 14 September 2001 - Last Tuesday's terrorist attack on the United States (US) had a toll on attendance to work in most government departments in Bolgatanga.
Many workers turned up late at their various offices on Wednesday morning, the day after the incident. A survey by the Ghana News Agency (GNA) showed that some of the workers had either stayed late into Tuesday night to follow the unfolding horror on television screens or got helplessly glued to their sets on Wednesday morning.
In a number of offices visited on Wednesday, doors were still locked and premises vacant as at 0900 hours- workers normally get to their offices at 0800 hours.
When they eventually trickled in at about 1000 hours, most of the workers spent much of the morning discussing the incident. In an interview some expressed shock and disbelief at Tuesday's attack.
"Until yesterday I would not have believed that anything like this could happen to America," said a clerical officer at the Ministry of Agriculture.
On the streets of Bolgatanga, three out of five people spoken to said they had heard about the attack. They expressed sympathy for the victims and fear about what might happen next.
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Accra (Greater Accra) 14 September 2001 - The United Nations General Assembly has postponed next week's special session on Children because of Tuesday's terrorist attacks on two US cities.
A statement issued from the UN Information Centre received in Accra on Thursday quoted UNICEF's Executive Director, Carol Bellamy as saying: "We are all touched by the event that struck New York and Washington on Tuesday. We strongly support the General Assembly in its decision to postpone the summit on Children.
"The City of New York needs to focus its energies on more urgent matters right now." The statement said the work by UNICEF to help the world's neediest children, would however, continue "with deepened resolve."
The UN Special Session on Children was to have taken place from September 19-21 at the United Nations complex in New York. The summit was to have reviewed global progress for children since 1990 and set new goals for the decade ahead.
It was to have brought together more than 70 heads of state, hundreds of children and thousands of other delegates to New York. Ms Bellamy said: "We regret the awful circumstances that have caused this summit to be postponed...
"...But if this tragedy makes anything clear, it is that creating and defending a world that is fit for children is hard work. On days like today, it seems harder."
The statement said a UN report released earlier in the summer showed that many of the world's goals for children set at the 1990 World Summit for Children had not been fully achieved and that much work remained.
It said the "unfinished business" detailed in that report provided a clear roadmap for moving forward immediately.
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Accra (Greater Accra) 14 September 2001 - The government has so far disbursed about 5.4 billion cedis under the Emergency Social Relief Programme (ESRP) launched in July this year to generate opportunities for the poor in the most depressed districts.
Mr Kwadwo Baah-Wiredu, Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, told a press conference in Accra on Wednesday that the programme had so far assisted over 1,690 people in 11 fishing communities in the Central, Greater Accra and Volta Regions with loans and fishing gear.
The beneficiary communities are James Town, Chorkor, Shama, Axim, Biriwa, Elmina, Agavedzi, Adina, Moree and Komenda.
The women, he said, were each supported with aluminium pans, fish smokers and 700,000 cedis working capital to ensure that they are able to maximise their profits during the fishing season. The loans attract 20 per cent interest, far below the prevailing banking rate. The press conference was called to present to journalists the status of the programme.
President John Agyekum Kufuor launched the 700 billion-cedi three-year initiative to raise food production, incomes and food security among small-scale food crop producers and improve access to quality basic health infrastructure and services.
The World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) are funding the programme. Baah-Wiredu, Chairman of the implementation committee, said about 140 billion cedis would be spent on various projects in the next six months to help alleviate the plight of the people in the deprived communities.
The government, he said, has ordered over 300 outboard motors and 240 million cedis worth of fishing nets for distribution to fishermen in the communities.
He said 20 groups that deal in food at the production centres would be assisted with four billion cedis to bring food items from the farming communities to the markets. "The Mobilisation Agency would also be tasked to move food from farming communities to urban centres," Baah-Wiredu said.
Food production districts to benefit are those in Upper East, Upper West and Northern Regions, Sefwi-Wiawso and Juabeso Bia in the Western Region, Nkwanta in the Volta Region and the Afram Plains area in Eastern and Ashanti Regions and Kintampo, Nkoranza and Atebubu in the Brong Ahafo Region.
The committee, he said, has also bought 323 million cedis worth of emergency food aid half of which has already been delivered to communities in the Upper East Region that were affected by drought and invasion of army worms.
He said 500 small-scale poultry farmers are also to receive three billion cedis to produce broilers for the Christmas season. Baah-Wiredu said the main focus of the programme is to ensure that beneficiaries have the basic inputs and right atmosphere to work during the peak and lean seasons in the fishing or farming communities to enable them to repay the loans.
Dr Paa Kwesi Nduom, Minister of Economic Planning and Regional Integration, who is the Programme Co-ordinator, said the government is using the Agricultural Development Bank and Rural Banks to ensure the smooth running of the programme.
He allayed public fears that the cassava starch project, for which more than six million dollars has been approved, will lead to shortage and hike in the price of cassava.
The cassava species that would be cultivated for the project is different from what is locally produced for consumption, Dr Nduom said, adding that procedures and guidelines for implementation have been distributed to Rural Banks, District Chief Executives, Parliamentarians and the National and District Committees to ensure that only genuine people who need assistance benefit.
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Accra (Greater Accra) 14 September 2001- The Ministry of Trade on Thursday denied claims by a private newspaper that the minister, Dr Kofi Apraku has been involved in blackmail during negotiations for a fishing boat for a businesswoman.
A statement signed by Mrs Rebecca Ackwonu, Public Relations Officer, said the "highly offensive" headline alleging blackmail is not reflected anywhere in the body of the story, the memorandum or minutes of a meeting that the newspaper referred to.
"...This affirms that the story is politically motivated and aims at damaging the minister's reputation. "It is unfortunate that Mr Kofi Coomson should allow himself to be used as a hatchet man in this way."
The statement gave a history of how the minister became involved in helping the businesswoman, Nana Ofei Nkansah in negotiations with a Dutch ship building company, Damen Shipyards. It said Dr Apraku raised the problem when the Dutch Minister of Foreign Trade was in Accra with a business delegation.
The statement said a representative of the Dutch company who was on the Delegation, wanted to know about guaranteeing of loans to the small and medium enterprises and Dr Apraku told him that as the facility had not become operational at the time of the meeting, he would provide him with better information when the proposal was fully developed.
"The Minister's pre-occupation at the meeting at the Damen's offices in the Netherlands therefore was to provide the promised information.
"The Minister's presence in the Netherlands was an official visit and not just to accompany Nana Ofei Nkansah to meet Damens Shipyards as has been alleged. The visit to Damens was just one of the activities on the minister's programme during the visit."
The statement said the Ministry of Trade had been dealing with the businesswoman for 10 years and in 1998, the ministry wrote on behalf of her company to the Ministry of Finance requesting financial assistance for the purchase of a standard fishing vessel.
It said the meeting with Damens, which mentioned the government’s support for the private sector by way of loan guarantees and the four projects in the fisheries sector for which they had appointed Nana Ofei Nkansah as the agent, did not mention anything about Masai Agency.
"It must be noted that it is the policy of the Government to travel with businessmen and businesswomen whenever the need arises for advocacy purposes.
"The president himself has set the example and the normal thing is for government officials to stay at the same hotel with the businessman or woman that they travel with.
"The assistance offered by the Minister to Nana Ofei Nkansah is available to any businessman or businesswoman who requests such assistance from the Ministry or indeed from any minister in President John Kufuor's team."
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Bolgatanga (Upper East) 14 September 2001 - A report on the status of children in the Bongo and Builsa Districts has identified poverty as the main cause of child labour and begging in the Upper East Region.
Ms Mariama Yahaya, Regional Director, Ghana National Commission on Children (GNCC) told the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in an interview in Bolgatanga on Wednesday after studying the report that the main forms of violation of children's rights in the region were the elopement with girls in the Bongo District, the use of boys as shepherds in the Builsa District and petty trading by minors in the district capitals.
The report, based on data from various district committees on children indicated that elopement was an old traditional practice, which stalls the development of schoolgirls as they were forced to abandon their education.
Ms Yahaya said in the Builsa District, where many families keep cattle and other livestock as their main source of income, two or three boys were required to shepherd the animals to feed daily, as a result do not get the chance to attend school.
She said the report also showed that most of the children who beg for alms were orphans and did so to support themselves and younger siblings. "They have homes and go back to sleep with their relatives," she added.
Ms Yahaya appealed to non-governmental organisations and benevolent agencies to fund programmes designed by the commission to support needy children.
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Sekondi (Western Region) 14 September 2001 - Captain Nkrabea Darteh (rtd), Deputy Minister of Local Government and Rural Development has asked district assemblies to plug loopholes in their financial administration and revenue generation to become self-reliant.
Capt. Darteh who made the call when addressing the Shama-Ahanta East Metropolitan Assembly in Sekondi on Thursday said unless this problem was overcome, district assemblies would not be able to move forward.
He said the assemblies are capable of generating sufficient funds through effective revenue mobilisation to reduce their undue dependence on the common fund.
The fund, which forms five percent of the national revenue, could only be released regularly if the assemblies are able to mobilize appreciable revenue from local sources.
Capt. Darteh said the total revenue being collected by the assemblies is low and asked District Chief Executives to discipline budget and finance officers when they are not doing what is expected of them.
He expressed the hope that the right calibre of people will offer themselves for election in the district level elections in June or July next year.
Mr Phillip Kwesi Nkrumah, Metropolitan Chief Executive spoke of the need to upgrade the road network in the metropolis and to acquire waste disposal trucks.
He said the assembly cannot single-handedly tackle these problems because of its weak financial position and appealed to the ministry for assistance.
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Bolgatanga (Upper East) 14 September 2001 - The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) has observed that no programme to protect the environment would succeed without efforts to alleviate the daily pressures of poverty.
"These pressures leave people little choice but to exploit the resource base to such an extent that they undermine any future well-being for themselves or their children," the UNEP said.
In a statement published in the latest edition of the German bi-monthly "Development Co-operation (D & C)" magazine, UNEP Chief, DR Klaus Topfer noted that there are close linkages between desertification in particular and poverty.
He said, "no long-term strategy to alleviate poverty will succeed in the face of the persistent erosion of the physical resources upon which poor people depend."
According to the "Global Environment Outlook 2000" report (GEO 2000), an estimated 500 million hectares of land have been affected by soil degradation in Africa alone, including 65 per cent of the continent's agricultural land.
The UNEP says desertification as an issue does not stand in isolation, but is clearly related to changes in climate, biodiversity conservation and the need for sustainable forest and water resources management.
The UN Agency notes that the links between these issues and the socio-economic driving factors that induce them are thus crucial for global environmental management.
It says combating desertification should not be seen only as an environmental issue, but also as a political problem. "The knowledge and technical skills exist to halt the destructive trends in land management. But it is political and economic factors, not scientific research, that will determine whether or not this knowledge and experience accumulates in libraries or is put into practice."
The UNEP is committed to the implementation of the UN Convention to combat Desertification (CCD), the statement said adding that it would continue to support regional action programmes, data assessment, capacity building and the drive to spread information and awareness of the problem.
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Okyenhene launches endowment fund for the
blind.
Accra (Greater Accra) 14 September 2001 - The Okyenhene, Osagyefo Amoatia Ofori Panin will launch an endowment fund on October 1 to raise one billion cedis to support the blind.
The fund is to be used for the establishment of a computer centre and support a training programme for the blind and visually impaired to make them productive.
The launching of the fund named "The GSB Osagyefo Amoatia Ofori Panin Fund" forms part of activities marking the 50th anniversary celebrations of the society under the theme: "Take the blind off the streets."
The Okyenhene is the Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Ghana Society for the Blind (GSB). Other programmes for the celebrations would include a float through some principal streets of Accra, a quiz competition and a fund-raising dinner dance.
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Bolgatanga (Upper East) 14 September 2001 - A 40-year-old "Loading Boy", Bashiru Asongo, was on Wednesday night, murdered in cold blood during a scuffle with a colleague at the Bolgatanga lorry station.
The suspect, Atenga Amah, 37, popularly called "Sakora" who had initially been placed in police custody at the Bolgatanga Central Police Station, was on Thursday morning moved to an unknown place when the charge office was besieged by a mob that sought to avenge Asongo's death.
The police had to fire tear-gas to disperse the rowdy crowd. The Regional Police Public Relations Officer, Inspector Thomas Agbanyo, who briefed the press on the incident, said on Wednesday night the Lorry Station Manager, Mr Patrick Akolgo said he heard Amah repeatedly shouting "I will kill you".
He said Mr Akolgo and a few of his colleagues went to the scene and saw Asongo lying dead in a pool of blood.
Inspector Agbanyo said Amah had fled the scene but a search party later found him and handed him over to the police.
The suspect told the police during interrogation that he was relaxing at the station when Asongo and some other people approached him.
He said Asongo lit what he suspected to be Indian hemp but he advised him to stop smoking because the "big man at the station does not like that."
Amah told the police that Asongo took offence over his advice but he left the scene only to return later to see him sleeping on his mat.
Amah said when he asked him to give him the mat he refused and rather challenged him to a fight in course of which Amah stabbed him with a pair of scissors.
Police investigations continue.
GRi../
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Accra (Greater Accra) 14 September 2001 - The Ghana Government on Thursday directed that all flags should be flown at half-mast on Friday September 14, 2001 from 06.00 hours to 18.00 hours as a mark of respect for those who died in the attack on the United States of America.
A statement by Ms. Elizabeth Ohene, Government Spokesperson and Minister for Media Relations said a number of Ghanaians are also now known to be among the dead.
GRi../
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Accra (Greater Accra) 14 September 2001 - The National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO) on Friday said the northern sector would from now on experience heavy rains until the middle of next month.
A statement in Accra advised communities living in flood prone areas in the three northern regions to monitor water levels and to take the necessary safety precautions to avert disasters bearing in mind the 1999 floods.
It mentioned in particular communities living along the Sissili River and the Black Volta, Red Volta, White Volta and their tributaries.
The statement called on regional, district and municipal disaster management committees in the three regions to educate the public about the impending floods.
GRi../
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