GRi Newsreel 09-02-99

girl-child education in the area.

Mr James Boadi Danquah, the District Chief Executive, said the Fund would be disbursed in the form of bursaries and scholarships to brilliant girls to pursue their educational careers at both the basic and second cycle schools. He was opening a review workshop on the assembly's programme on education for females which was launched last year with the aim of ensuring that girls in the area have access to quality education. This programme is being pursued with support from the Integrated Social Development Centre (ISODEC), a Non-Governmental Organisation.

 Participants at the workshop included teachers, social workers, officers from the District Education Directorate, assembly members, representatives from the National Council on Women and Development (NCWD) and nurses.

Mr Danquah said to help achieve the girl-child education programme, the assembly is focusing on increasing the enrolment rate of girls in schools and to retain them through the creation of an enabling environment for them to pursue their academic work. In addition, he said the assembly is strengthening the Supervisory role of the Circuit Officers of the Ghana Education Service through supplementary fuel allocation to them.

 Cape Coast (Central Region), 9 Feb

 The Convention Party (CP) is not an extension of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Dr Kwesi Nduom, a member of the party's central committee, has said.

Ghanaians must therefore discard the notion that the CP is an extension of the NDC and urged all Nkrumahists to resist any attempts to divide them, Dr. Nduom said at the Central Regional congress of the party which brought together 91 delegates at Cape Coast yesterday.

Professor Mawuse Dake, another member of the party's central committee, said the "NDC is alive only because the CPP had disintegrated." ''Nkrumahists are now poised and determined to win the 2000 general elections to put the nation's economy back on a sound footing''.

He said it is imperative for all members of the party, especially those entrusted with leadership positions, to show commitment and dedication to enable the CP to achieve its goals. 

Dr Abubakar Alhassan, another leading member of the party, accused the NDC of "uncontrolled rape" of the nation's resources and of divesting state owned enterprises without consideration to its future implication on the nation.

 He regretted that the Ghana Sugar Estates Limited (GHASEL) at Komenda, in the region, which provided a source of employment for the youth in that area, "had been allowed to collapse".

  When voted into power, the CP will provide a better quality of life for Ghanaians.

  Professor George Hagan, chairman of the party's sub-committee on education, who presided, cautioned members, particularly those holding executive positions, against allowing themselves to be lured into joining the NDC.

Accra (Greater Accra), 9 Feb.

 Mr Kwasi Ampadu Kissi, Head of Benefits of the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT), said

yesterday that workers of the Trust who take bribes will be sacked. Reacting to allegations that staff at the Claims

department are involved in fraudulent acts of bribery and corruption, he said the position of SSNIT is clearly stated

in its terms of employment documents.

"Our motto is to pay benefits promptly and on time. In a case in where a contributor's claim documents delay due

to technical error could be tolerated. But where it is due to underhand dealings, the authorities will have to act

swiftly in disciplining the defaulting workers to save the image of the Trust and help to retain the public's

confidence.

Mr Isaac Kwadjo Obeng, an ex-Investigations Manager of SSNIT at the Adabraka District Office, had accused staff of

SSNIT of being involved in "fraudulent acts of bribery and corruption."

He also called for a decentralisation of the processing of SSNIT pension claims documents.

Mr Obeng, now 60 and a pensioner, said "even I, a former employee of SSNIT, registered my claim documents at

the SSNIT Adabraka District Office on November 18, 1997, and for fraudulent reasons, I am yet to receive my duly

earned pension benefits."

Mr Ampadu Kissi said the death of the contributor most often gives a whole lot of problems and asked members to

make sure that all necessary names, numbers and addresses are clearly stated.

He said the only time a contributor may be asked to pay money is when he loses his card and for which he pays only 200 cedis.

Accra (Greater Accra), 9 Feb.

The United States Agency for International development (USAID) today granted Ghana eight million dollars for its

Improved Family Health Programme.

The grant forms part of a 20 million-dollar assistance to cover the programme for the next three years. USAID's total

commitment for the programme will amount to 15.2 million dollars with a local component of 5.06 million dollars

by the government.

An agreement to this effect was singed by Mr Kwame Peprah, Minister of Finance, while Mrs Kathryn Dee

Robinson, US Ambassador to Ghana, initialed for USAID.

The Improved Family Health Programme dubbed "Strategic Objective Number Three", aims at increasing the use

of reproductive health services, including population and family planning, safe motherhood and prevention of HIV

and other Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STDs).

Key players in the programme are the Ministry of Health, National Population Council (NPC) Secretariat, Ghana

Statistical Service (GSS) and Non-Governmental Organisations.

Mr Samuel Nuamah Donkor, Minister of Health, said the programme will support the training of health workers,

provision of quality service, expanding community-level service delivery, raising public awareness and increasing

the involvement of the private sector in the promotion of maternal and child health services.

The ultimate beneficiaries of activities to be funded under the programme will be children under the age of five

and men and women of reproductive age.

It is aimed at decreasing child and maternal deaths, the spread of HIV/AIDS and total fertility due to improved

awareness of access to quality health services.

Mr Nuamah Donkor said the programme will consolidate the gains made under previous programmes and augment

those already in place by improving awareness and providing easy access to family planning and health services.

Mrs Robinson said the grant addresses an essential element of Ghana's development programme, that is, the

health of Ghanaian families. She said the health of Ghanaians directly impacts on the development

of the economy because resources required to build a strong economy are diverted to care for the ill.

"Poor health also limits productivity of individuals and families" because few families can work productively and

invest in the future when the survival of their children is in doubt, the ambassador said.

 Accra (Greater Accra), 9 Feb

 The government was yesterday urged to consider re-hiring retired trained teachers and secondary school leavers

for teaching appointments n schools in rural areas to arrest the falling standards of education there.

Mr Kwesi Sarkwa, a farmer at Adawso, near Mamfe, Said in Accra yesterday that poor performance of pupils in

rural schools cannot be attributed to their teachers ''but must be blamed on inadequate staffing in these schools''.

Mr Sarkwa said aside of the problems facing schools in the rural areas such as poor environment, lack of learning

and teaching materials, staffing is the major issue.

He cited a school -- Asempaneye Local Authority primary school where since September last year, there have been

only three teachers taking charge of six classes.

"Due to this, the performance of pupils at the basic level is very poor. And in spite of this disadvantage, the

children are required to write the same Basic Education Certificate Examinations (BECE) with their colleagues in

the urban areas''.

He said all efforts by the Akwapim North District Assembly to address the issue has proved futile.

As a way out, he said, retired teachers who are anxious to come back to the classroom should be placed on contract and secondary school leavers also should be engaged adding ''teachers from training colleges are not enough to meet the demands of schools in the rural areas''.

Wa (Upper West), 9 Feb.

The Education Development Fund for Muslim Youth (EDMY), a Wa-based Muslim organisation, has launched a five-year plan to promote the education of Muslim children in the region.

The Medium-Term Educational Development Plan will serve as a framework for the operation of the fund in line with government policies on education.

Mr Abdul-Rashid Pelpuo, a member of the Management Board of the fund, told the annual delegates conference of the EDFMY at Wa yesterday that 230 million cedis is expected from donations and membership contributions over the period to finance the plan.

Under the plan, two English-Arabic schools will be rehabilitated while day care centres and other facilities are to be provided to enhance teaching and learning in the schools.

Mr Pelpuo, who is also the Principal of Issa Youth Training Institute, said prizes would be offered to best teachers in English-Arabic schools after a scientific assessment of their output. The fund has already started offering scholarships to needy Muslim students.

An appeal for funds fetched over 400,000 cedis while the first copy of brochure outlining the plan was auctioned for 180,000 cedis.

Accra (Greater Accra), 9 Feb.

The Executive of the Civil Servants Association (CSA) today appealed to its members to withhold their intentions to

embark on industrial action over the implementation of the new salaries and wages policy.

This was contained in a statement issued in Accra yesterday and signed by Alhaji Ziblim Yakubu, National

President of the association.

It said workers in Ho, Accra and Sekondi-Takoradi have already made public their decision to embark on

industrial action in February and March if the new salary policy is not translated into action.

The release said although the National Executive shares the sentiments, frustrations and plight of workers

about the delays in the implementation of the policy, an emergency meeting will be convened this month to

address pertinent issues.

"Specifically, our members should await the outcome of the second round of talks with government that

will set the stage for negotiations scheduled for February 11, this year," the statement said.

The association also called on the Central Management Board and the government to sanction public

institutions that have not yet off-loaded onto the new salary structures and address distortions being carried into the

new salary structure.

Accra (Greater Accra), 9 Feb.

The Ghana Shippers' Council yesterday said it destroyed research work on termites at the site for a new inland port

at Fumesua, near Kumasi, because ''there were no visible signs of an on-going project there''.

Reacting to reports of the destruction of 27 years of research on termites being conducted by the Building

and Road Research Institute of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), Mr. Kofi Mbiah, acting

Chief Executive of the council, said: ''at the time of the clearance, there were no physical structures indicating the

presence of any project' .

"We had no intentions to destroy a research work painfully conducted in the past 27 years,'' he told

newsmen.

The termite site at Fumesua covered an area of about 6,000 acres on which research was being carried out

by the CSIR for almost 30 years.

Mr Kwaku Amoa-Mensah, acting director of BRRI, at a press conference in Kumasi last Thursday, described

the incident as ''an irreparable destruction of the site without any consultation with the institute, the legal

occupants of the land''.

He said the project, established in 1971, served as a source of vital scientific data on the natural resistance of

timbers, plastic pipes, clay bricks and rubberised products against termites and fungi.

The BRRI would need about 160 million cedis to establish another site considering site preparation, termite

mobilisation and preservation, planting of fast growing trees as well as collection, conditioning and positioning of

timber species.

Mr Mbiah said ''there was no visible sign post showing areas where termites were being cultured, otherwise the

area would have been cordoned off as in the case of a shrine, cemetery and other dwelling places on the site.'

"If we were aware, we would have protected the place for the termites, especially, taking into

consideration the importance of the research to the nation."

He said the affected area is inclusive of a 230,000 acre land belonging to the council and had been gazetted

in the Ghana Commercial and Industrial Bulletin number 11A (rpt. 11A) of April 30, 1998.

Mr Mbiah said there had been a series of published notices calling upon all persons or entities interested in the

acquired lands but the Institute did not respond as to the presence of such a Termite Project.

Furthermore, he recalled a publication in the Ghanaian Times of Friday, August 14, 1998 (page 12),

reporting of the commencement of the first phase of the establishment of the Inland Port which also was not

responded to by the Institute.

Mr George Aboagye, Executive Secretary, Ghana Free Zones Board, said the land was acquired by the

board and handed over to the Shippers' Council.

He said discussions have been on-going between the board and the BRRI on the issue, pointing out that the

shippers' council needed only 200 acres of the BRRI's parcel of land to be added to the total acreage of the port.

At one stage, he said the Ministry of Environment, Science and Technology was involved in the

negotiations, adding: ''there should not have been any controversy over this small piece of land at all."

Explaining why the site was chosen, Mr Mbiah said, prior to clearance of the site for the port, feasibility

studies were conducted on three places, namely Ejisu, Ampabame and Boankra, all in the Ashanti region.

Fumesua was selected because of its suitability in terms of the intersection of the Railway line and the main

road to Kumasi, convenience of putting infrastructure -- telephone, electricity-- for easy extension to the port by

investors and Fumesua having an excellent terrain.

Accra (Greater Accra), 9 Feb.

The Civil Servants' Association of Ghana yesterday declared that it will not accept any interim adjustment in

salaries and wages for workers.

It said it will refuse any offer in the form of across-the-board salary increases for workers until the new

salary and wages policy is implemented by the government.

Mr Smart Chigabatia, Executive Secretary, reject the budget statement's claim that "interim adjustment and

salary increases are now perceived as measures to kill real policies".

He said the fear of workers is that acceptance of these interim awards will further delay the implementation

of the Price Waterhouse policy on salaries which civil servants find appropriate.

Mr Chigabatia acknowledged that there is still work to be done on the actual implementation process but

said certain inconsistencies in the salary ranges and job placement must be cleared in order to avoid future

problems.

He called for commitment on the part of government, the Central Management Board and other

stakeholders to ensure early and successful execution of the policy.

Mr Chigabatia said there is the urgent need for public education on the import of the new salary structure to

sensitise the populace and to correct misconceptions about the policy.

Wa (Western Region), 9 Feb.

Mr Stephen Kpen, assemblyman for Zampo electoral area in the Lawra district, has appeared before the Wa circuit

court for allegedly threatening to burn down the premises of Eremon Secondary Technical

School.

Kpen, who is facing a two-count charge of offensive conduct and issuing threat of arson, has pleaded not

guilty to the charges. The court, presided over by Mr Gibson Adzagli, granted him one million cedis bail to be

justified.

The case has been adjourned to Friday, February 19.

Giving the facts of the case, the prosecutor, Police Chief Inspector S.S. Kudolo said in November, last year,

Damlar Nyogyang, a resident of Eremon, near Lawra, lodged a complaint with the police that six angry people

from Zambo had destroyed the foundation of his building without any provocation and warned him

against continuing with the project.

Police Chief Inspector Kudolo said because their only vehicle was under repairs, they borrowed an Isuzu

pick-up belonging to Eremon Secondary Technical School and drove to the site.

He said members of the mob resisted arrest and molested the police who were sent to arrest them until a

reinforcement team was sent from Wa to bring the situation under control.

He said while the police were having a dialogue with the elders of the place, the assemblyman allegedly

went to the headmaster and rebuked him for releasing the school's vehicle to the police to effect the arrest of the

gang which demolished Mr Nyogyang's building and threatened to burn down the whole school.

The prosecutor added that when the assemblyman was invited to the police station for interrogation, he

refused to give his statement.

Kumasi (Ashanti), 9 Feb.

Otumfuo Opoku Ware the Second, Asantehene, plans to launch a major programme to reform ''certain

critical areas of Asante customary laws''.

The objective is to help create a more enabling environment for social justice, stability and development of

the Ashanti region.

This was contained in a statement read for him by Nana (Dr) Susubribi Krobea Asante, Omanhene of

Asokore Traditional Area, at a grand durbar organised to showcase paramount chiefs who attended Prempeh

College in Kumasi on Saturday. The Asantehene is a past student of the college.

The durbar, which formed part of activities to mark the Golden Jubilee celebration of the college, was used

to raise funds to expand the college's infrastructure.

The Asantehene said some aspects of Asante funeral customary rites had been reformed, adding that

chieftaincy is about service and development and not "some esoteric ritual exercise''.

''There is no reason why royals with appropriate skills cannot make their respective contributions to their

communities and the nation at large".

Otumfuo Opoku Ware told the new breed of chiefs who have specialised in various fields of human

endeavour to bring fresh insights into the chieftaincy institution and help provide solutions to developmental

problems.

The Asantehene noted that the high academic profile of many people now occupying stools had effectively

assisted to debunk the myth that chieftaincy is the preserve of the illiterate and the unsophisticated.

Otumfuo Opoku Ware expressed appreciation to churches and missionaries for promoting education in the

Ashanti region and pledged his readiness to support efforts at improving conditions in the college.

Mr Yaw Manu-Sarpong, chairman of the Jubilee Planning Committee, said funds raised from the

celebrations would be used to build an additional dormitory to be christened ''Opoku Ware House''.

He said old students of the college were paying flat contributions of 200,000 cedis towards the project and

asked all past students to ensure prompt payment.

Dr Ebenezer Osei Tutu, president of the Prempeh College Old Students Association, expressed the

determination of the past students to see to the physical, academic and moral development of the college

and its students.

Mr Ebenezer Sekyere, the Headmaster, in a welcoming address, said that due to lack of facilities, the

college could admit only 500 out of 1,600 students who applied for admission.

He, therefore, appealed for public support for the completion of an on-going library project that was started

24 years ago, as well as the expansion of other facilities, and infrastructure in the school.

Prempeh College, one of the top quality boys second cycle schools in the country, has within 50 years of its

existence turned out high profile academicians and professionals, nine of whom are now paramount chiefs.

They include Osagyefo Kuntunkununku the Second, Okyenhene and President of the National House of

Chiefs, Nana Osei Bonsu the Second, Mamponghene, Nana Asumadu Sakyi the Second, Kumawuhene, Nana Ofori

Agyeman, Adansihene, and Agyewodin Adu Gyamfi Ampem, Acherensuahene.

The rest are Daasebre Oti Boateng, New Juabenhene, Daasebre Akuamoa Boateng the Second,

Kwahuhene, and Kpeteple Narh Dawutey the Sixth, Konor of Manya Krobo.

 Accra (Greater Accra), 9 Feb.

 A one-week African Food Fair, featuring dishes from four West African countries, opened in Accra last night.

The Fair, which forms part of activities marking this year's Black History Month, will showcase dishes prepared by

chefs from Ghana, Senegal, Benin and Cote d'Ivoire.

It is being organised by Ghana Airways and Novotel under the auspices of the Ministry of Tourism.

Mr Mike Gizo, Minister of Tourism, said with the expected increase in tourism in the next millennium the

professional management skills of chefs will be required to keep the industry dynamic and strong.

He praised African ancestors "who have bequeathed to us the wonderful art of making good food" and said the

occasion should be used "to devise strategies for intra-African trade and business in the food industry."

An exhibition of raw materials and items used in food preparation, handling and preservation are on show as part

of the Fair.

Awutu (Central Region), 9 Feb.

Members of the Awutu Traditional Council have been commended for making the area a "chieftaincy dispute-free

zone".

The Central Regional Minister, Lieutenant Colonel Charles Agbenaza, made the commendation when he

addressed the Awutu Traditional Council at Awutu, after the Omanhene of the area, Abokuadi Whetey Agyemang-

Larbie the second, had briefed him on chieftaincy situation in the Awutu community.

Abokuadi Agyemang-Larbie said for the past 13 years chiefs in the area have not engaged in any serious

chieftaincy problem, adding "we have devised effective means of resolving our deferences for the

sake of peace, stability and development."

He assured the Regional Minister and the government of the council's determination to maintain the laudable

precedence it has set and reiterated his call on the government to ensure the early implementation

the Awutu-Beraku/Obrachire and the Senya-Beraku/Awutu roads rehabilitation projects without any

further delays.

Abokuadi Agyeamang-Larbie expressed concern about the 80,000 Cedis Travelling and Transport (T&T)

expenditure parents in Awutu incur on each student pursuing secondary education at Obrachire, a distance of

about 25 monthly, and appealed to the government to provide Awutu, the traditional capital, a separate Senior

Secondary School. Lt-Col Agbenaza advised communities in the region which are still dabbling in chieftaincy

problems to emulate the Awutu chiefs by initiating moves to resolve such unproductive ventures.

He expressed his appreciation to the Omanhene for being realistic in his comments about the NDC government,

adding "we need people like you who would give praises where it is due and criticise constructively where

criticism is required" to promote democracy in the country.

On his request for the of rehabilitation of Senya-Beraku and Obrachire-Awutu roads, as well as the establishment of

a Senior Secondary School at Awutu, the Regional Minister assured the Omanhene that they would be taken

into serious consideration.

Accompanied by his deputy, Mr H. Q. Jehu-Appiah, and some members of the Central Regional Co-ordinating

Council(CRCC), Lt-Col Agbenaza affirmed his preparedness to operate open government and advised people in the

Region to feel free to approach him with constructive suggestions and ideas that would enhance development.

He, however, cautioned people who have made up their minds to send him anonymous letters and false news

about chiefs, opinion leaders and government officials in their districts to do away with such notions immediately

because they would be exposed and dealt with.