GRi's Paul Osei-Tutu in Accra, reviews the Ghanaian press. The stories have not been verified and therefore we cannot vouch for their accuracy.
'Min. must implement policy on land-guards' is a front-page story in the Ghanaian Times. The paper said the chief of Gomoa-Nyanyano, Nana Wiaboh the second has called on the Ministry of Lands and Forestry, to implement the measures it has promised to take in curbing the activities of land-guards. Nyanyano, according to the chiefs, has been the scene of attacks by land-guards from Accra and Kasoa. The story says land-guards have caused many land developers with genuinely acquired plots to lose millions of cedis, while others have lost their lives.
Nana Wiaboh recalled the statement by Mr Richard Donu-Nartey, Deputy Minister of Lands and Forestry, at a seminar on land matters in Accra last week Friday in which he said the government was determined to halt the activities of land-guards. He suggested the establishment of special taskforce to protect stool lands in areas where the activities of land guards were rife, the paper said.
Return to top
The Guide reporting on developments in Ablekuma where two policemen were murdered last Month over a land dispute, has its banner story under the headline; 'Ablekuma again! River guards in action'. The story has it that the village, notorious for activities of land-guards which has claimed a number of lives, has this now hit the headlines for the activities of River-guards which is threatening fishermen along the Densu River at Machingani village a suburb of Ablekuma in the Ga District.
The paper quoting sources at the Odorkor Police said a group of fishermen whose livelihood are being threatened by the river-guards stormed the police station to complain of harassment by the river-guards. The fishermen, who broke away from a larger body, find it impossible to ply their trade because their former employees have hired the river-guards who terrorise and extort monies from them before allowing them to go fishing.
According to the story, fishing nets and other implements of the fishermen have been seized by the group who demanding 300,000 cedis before releasing them.
'Aids Treatment in Sight at Mampong' is another heading of the front page of the paper. The story reads: A project to run treatment trials on the efficacy of herbal drugs from five renowned herbalists on the cure of the dreaded AIDS disease is underway at the Centre for Scientific Research into Plant medicine at Mampong Akropong in the Eastern Region. The project supported by the World Health Organisation will also involve the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital in Kumasi, the St Dominic Hospital at Akwatia and the Nouguchi Memorial Research Centre at the University of Ghana, Legon.
The preparations from the herbalists, whose names were not mentioned, have been applied on patients who have reported initial symptoms of the disease and have proved successful so far, the paper said.
With a banner headline 'JJ Admits Failure' the paper quotes Mr John Agyekum Kufuor, leader of the largest opposition party, New Patriotic Party (NPP), as saying President Jerry John Rawlings' sessional address to Parliament last week, showed a 'deep sense of failure.'
Mr Kufuor, the paper said, condemned President Rawlings' castigation of the Judiciary. =91If the President genuinely wanted to complain about the sort of justice system we have in Ghana, then it would have been better for him to have complained about the Amo and Adotey case where the people of Ayawaso-West Wuogon have been cheated. The NPP is challenging the results of the last Parliamentary elections where their candidate John Amo lost out to the NDC candidate Rebecca Adotey but was later found out that Amo=92s tally was not added up thus leading to his defeat. The case has been in court for the past two years.
In another heading, 'Minority Says No to Blowman Culture in Parliament' the Crusading Guide says the minority group in Parliament are not amused about the wanton display of pugilism that has characterised the administration of President Rawlings from the PNDC era to the NDC era and have cautioned that the phenomenon should not be brought into the Fourth Republic. The warning was sounded in the second Annual Report of the group in Parliament, the paper said adding:
'We do not want the blowman cluture to be imported from the Castle into Parliament. The Speaker has a duty to make it abundantly clear that machomen are not welcome in the House; our debates should not be held under the threat of physical violence.'
Devoting its entire front page to what it terms =91More revelations on Ablekuma Odyssey =96 Kweku Ninja=92s Last Words=92 in which two police officers were killed by land guards from that little Ga township last month, the paper quotes =91I will pick you up tomorrow=92 as the last words uttered by Constable Owusu Sekyere, alias Kweku Ninja, before leaving his spouse, Esther Pampoe on his journey of no return.
In an interview with Esther, the paper recounts how Esther had tried to dissuade Kweku Ninja against developing his plot of land at Ablekuma till later, because of the perception that police officials were corrupt which might lead people think of him as benefiting from a hand out. It says to avoid questioning from Esther, Kweku Ninja had always sneaked out to Ablekuma under false pretences. So when Kweku told Esther on that fateful day that l will pick you up (from work) tomorrow, on the little did she suspect that he was going to check on his land.
'As far as l am concerned, Kweku was not developing his land,' Esther said but added that she grew apprehensive when after about three days he had not heard from him and rumours started coming in that he had been captured and killed at Ablekuma. Her fears were confirmed when six weeks after she last saw her fiance, Kweku Ninja's body was recovered from a dug-out foundation at Ablekuma, with his legs severed, the Independent said.
'There is mistrust between parents and school heads' asserts the Ghana Pavaler in its banner headline. The story quoting the Minister of Education, Mr Ekwow Spio-Garbrah, urged parent to take interest in the children's development to make their selection into Junior Secondary School less cumbersome.
The Minister in an interview with the paper said there seems to be mistrust between parents and school authorities concerning selection of candidates into the SSS system.
'If parents get involved with school authorities during the filling of forms for entry into SSS, they will find out that getting the right kind of school for their children will not be a problem', the paper quoted the Minister as saying.