GRi Newsreel 23-02-99

Senya-Beraku (Central Region) 23 Feb.

The Senya-Beraku "Abodo or Ampiam" royal family has asked the government not to give in to pressures from certain communities claiming ownership of the piece of land covering the Iron City Industrial Village, near Kasoa.

Nenyi Kwesi Brankomah, chief of Senya-Abodo, gave the warning when he briefed members of the royal family at Senya-Beraku last Friday to on the latest developments concerning the land.

Nenyi Brankomah said the call followed recent reports that a syndicate comprising representatives of some communities had allegedly issued a circular declaring ownership over the land occupied by artisans of Iron City.

Nenyi Brankomah reminded such false claimants that issues pertaining to the Iron City area land were still pending before the Lands Commission and superior courts, adding that until such time that the case had been effectively dealt with, no one could claim ownership of the land.

He said even though the Senya Abodo royal family has all the necessary legal documents backing its claims to the land, it has decided to wait patiently for the final outcome of the case in the interest of peace and stability.

Accra (Greater Accra) 22 Feb.

Ghana and Nigeria are the leading producers of cannabis (Indian hemp) in West Africa followed by Cote d' Ivoire and Senegal, the International Narcotics Control Board report for 1998, said.

Morocco, however is the leading producer of cannabis in Africa, with three record-breaking harvests since 1996. "Growth is estimated at 60,000 hectares and resin production about 2,000 tonnes for 1998''.

Resin is a glue like substance made from cannabis and sniffed.

The report was released in Accra today by Ms Margaret A. Novicki, Director, United Nations Information Centre UNIC), to launch the International Drug Control day.

She said measured in terms of area of cultivation, reported seizures and abuse, cannabis is the most prevalent drug in African.

The continent ''continues to be a major supplier of cannabis and cannabis resin for Europe.

"The cultivation of cannabis, its trafficking and abuse, remains a major drug control issue throughout the region."

In April last year, the OAU rejected legalising cannabis, the most commonly grown, seized and abused drug in Africa, and asked the UN Drug Control Programme to set up a special plan to eradicate it.

The report said despite a cannabis eradication campaign in Nigeria, there are estimates that cannabis cultivation is being carried out on a larger scale than before.

"Illicit cannabis cultivation sites have recently been destroyed in the Gambia and Togo."

Ms Novicki said illicit cannabis cultivation sites have been discovered in most countries in West Africa.

Large cities and seaports in Africa are increasingly being used for the trans-shipment of heroin from Asia and cocaine from South America.

"The subsequent abuse of such drugs is growing in Africa."

In South Africa, for example, glue sniffing is high among the list of abused substances and it is estimated that nine out of 10 street children are regular abusers.

The report finds that limited availability of reliable data on drug cultivation, production, manufacture, trafficking and abuse, as well as on legislative and other measures taken by governments, is a major constraint when assessing the drug situation in most African countries.

Ms Novicki said several African countries still lack adequate legislation to implement the provisions of those treaties although adherence to international drug control treaties "continues to improve".

The International Narcotics Control Board encourages African states to further develop practical sub-regional and bilateral agreements for mutual legal assistance and co-operation in drug trafficking cases.

The board welcomed the establishment of an "Ecodrug Fund' , an ECOWAS fund for drug control in West Africa, and called on international donors to consider supporting the it.

Mr Kweku Achempong Bonful, deputy Minister of the Interior and chairman of the Narcotics Control Board, who presented a paper on the 'drug situation in Ghana', said the drug prevention programme in the past year, yielded significant results.

He said seizures of cannabis as at December 1998 amounted to 3,490,660 kg as against 1,409,470 kilograms in December, 1997.

"The figure indicates a rise in the quantity of drugs seized in 1998 as compared with that of 1997."

During the same period, 17.655 kilogrammes of heroin was intercepted as against 1.70 kilogrammes in 1997, an increase of 16.955 kilogrames.

In respect of cocaine, 5.3539 kilogrammes were intercepted as at December 1998 as against 6.35 kilogrammes in 1997, a decrease of 0.9960 kilogrammes.

Mr Bonful, however, called for a joint effort by government, communities, Families especially, religious bodies, NGOs and the media towards the combating of drug problems.