The Ghanaian Times
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The Ghanaian Times in a front page story headlined 'Tamale businesses face problems
with VAT,' says a random survey it conducted in Tamale indicated that some
business enterprises which have registered to charge the Value Added Tax (VAT), still need
education on the mechanism of the new tax system. The paper quotes the acting manager
of the local Kingsway Store, Mr Achel as saying that even though they had registered,
they did not understand the mechanism for calculating the new tax. Consequently, they
are waiting for the VAT secretariat for such education before collecting the tax. The
Times says four other retail shops also expressed similar sentiments. It however, says
that workers at XiXido Enterprise (My Shop), indicated that things were under control since
they knew the mechanism for working the VAT.
In another front page story, the Times reports that passengers of two vehicles who escaped
death after an accident at the New Times Corporation traffic lights in Accra, ended up
fighting each other in the middle of the road. According to the paper, about 12 passengers
from the two vehicles, a L.T. Benz bus and a Toyota Corona taxi involoved in the
accident, decided to defend their drivers. Each group accusing the other driver of reckless
driving. The Times says for 45 minutes, the passengers held up traffic, preventing other
road users from continuing their journey. The paper says it took other motorists and
pedestrians a hectic time to stop the fighting, which the two drivers had also joined in
The Dispatch
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The Dispatch reports in a front page story that but for Gods intervention, President Jerry
Rawlings could have suffered irreparable medical damage as he pushed his luck last
Thursday (December 31, 1998), when he addressed the security services who had earlier
gone on a route March. According to the Dispatch, President Rawlings was very ill with
malaria and yet stubbonly, tried for over two hours, to present an address which was
sometimes incoherent, unfocused and irrelevant. The paper says one statement
which came out of the mouth of the President was that he had no regrets about the 1979
executions. He is quoted as saying some senior officers were executed but added, 'I
have no regrets about it. We had to take responsibility for it. The point is that the
bigger criminals were around and are still around. You can go and quote me'. The
Dispatch says the President also spent sometime on the fear of some Ghanaians in
using the word revolution. President Rawlings, the paper says, then drifted into how
one or two of his stewards stole some of his drinks and diluted them. He also warned the
security personnel guarding senior government officials to stop being used by criminals,
saying that soon, all such people will be brought to book.
The Public Agenda
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double talks on reformists, says a headline in the inside pages of the Public
Agenda. The accompanying story says the fourth delegates congress of the NDC held at
Sekondi in the Western Region recently, ended with no clear-cut policy on the Reform
Movement except threats to those who dare join the group. The Public Agenda says this
came against the background of the fact that a challenge posed by the group to break away
from the ruling party, was one of the key issues of discussion at the congress.
According to the paper, leaders of the NDC were apparently divided over how to deal with
the reformists. It says while the First Lady, Nana Konadu Agyeman-Rawlings, Dr Tony
Aidoo and some other close associates who are seen as hard-liners, argued for a tougher
line of action, the moderates, including the President himself, opted for a more
accommodating approach. We must be willing to extend a hand of reconciliation
to those whose actions might have infringed party solidarity, The Public Agenda says the
Leader and Founder of the party, asked the leadership to set up more departments at the
NDC Headquarters in Accra and recruit and appoint cadres and activists to leadership
positions. This is a crucial demand by members of the Reform movement, the paper
adds.
The Weekly Insight
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NDC man in 350 million cedis fraud, is the banner headline of the Weekly Insight. The paper says the Castle security is busily investigating an allegation that Donald Charles Coker, who
claims to be an NDC heavyweight, has duped a businesswoman to the tune of 350 million cedis. The Weekly Insight says Coker, who has two aliases, Senyo and Kwesi Nyame, allegedly also claims to be a confident of President Jerry John Rawlings. The paper quotes sources close to the investigation
as saying that Coker befriended Madam Joyce Akyea, a London-based nursing agent and initially asked her for a loan of 10,500 pounds sterling to enable him to complete some projects
he had started in the Volta Region. It says Madam Akyea, impressed by claims that Coker had very
serious contacts in the government and in the NDC, gave him the
loan without hesitation. Later, Coker was alleged to have asked Madam Akyea for
another 5,000 pounds sterling to put finishing touches to the projects. Madam Akyea, the
paper says then faxed an authority note to Coker to withdraw the 5,000 pounds from her account at the High Street branch of the Standard Chartered Bank in Accra. After withdrawing the 5,000
pounds, Coker allegedly used Madam Akyea's original fax to forge another one which
enabled him to withdraw 15,000 pounds. The weekly Insight says Coker is alleged to have
continued to use forged faxes to withdraw monies from the account until the total amount taken from
Madam Akyea's account hit the 89,000 pounds mark. The paper says Madam Akyea
also claimed that she bought a Toyota Land Cruiser and a Mercedes Bent car
for Coker. According to the Weekly Insight, when Coker was picked up by the Castle
Security personnel, he denied Madam Akyea's allegations, claiming that the woman
is his wife. The paper quotes the Castle security as
saying that they are determined to get to the bottom of the matter because of Coker's claim
that he is a confident of President Rawlings and a heavyweight of the NDC.
Daily Graphic
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New Senior Secondary School calendar begins In line with education reform programme, says the Daily Graphic in a banner headline story. The Graphic reports that students
entering senior secondary school (SSS) this month, will write their final certificate examination in June, 2001, instead of November, the same year. In effect, the senior secondary
school academic year will begin in September and end in June from the year 2002. The paper says Dr. Stephen Ayidiya, consultant on Information, Education and Communication of the
Free, Compulsory Universal Basic Education (FCUBE) programme of the Ministry of Education, who disclosed this, said the change would also affect junior secondary school pupils
who would take their final basic education certificate examination (BECE) in April 2001. Dr Ayidiya is quoted as saying the new arrangements are in line with the education
reform programme. He explained that the change of the SSS academic year from September-August to January-December, was not part of the new educational reforms but an emergency
measure taken to avoid the 1990 batch of JSS leavers spending one whole year at home
waiting to enter SSS in September the following year.