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.
An inside page headline of the the P & P reads: 'Snake found in a Woman's chop-box'
According to the paper, residents of Onufu Gbortsui, around the main Electricity Corporation of Ghana Plant at Russia, a suburb of Accra, were shocked when reports trickled in that a big snake had been found in the room of a popular porridge seller.
The paper says the snake which was believed to be bigger than an ordinary one was kept in a chop-box in the room of the porridge seller, Awal Amelia, a Burkinabe..
The woman was said to have travelled at the time of the discovery of the reptile.
The paper says, before Amelia traveled, she warned her children not to tamper with the chop-box. But after some few days a bad odour had engulfed the room, the source of which could not be traced.
The children later traced the odour to the chop-box and brought it out and when it was forced it open, a decomposing snake was found inside with a piece of white calico and a pan.
The Independent in a front page story headlined: 'Kufuor Beats Mills in Poll', says that a random survey conducted by Vibe FM Radio Station saw Mr J.A. Kufuor doing so well that if the general elections had been conducted that same day in Accra, he would have beaten the three other aspirants.
According to the paper, a call-in programme hosted by Mr Kwaku Sintim Misa of Vibe FM asked callers who they wanted to be the next President of Ghana.
The paper says about 113 listeners had called in to vote within 50 minutes with Mr Kufuor leading the other three, Prof. John Attah Mills, Dr Edward Mahama and Dr Charles Wereko-Brobby.
According to the breakdown of the results ,Mr Kufour had 70 votes, representing 62%, Prof. Mills with 24 votes or 21%, Dr Mahama had 7 votes representing 6% while Dr Wereko-Brobby had 3 votes representing 2.7% of the 113 votes recorded. Nine of of the voters said they did not see any potential in any of the four candidates so they will not vote while two said they will vote for Goosie Tanoh of the NDC Reform Movement if he should stand.
The papers says when an NPP insider was contacted on the verdict of the polls, he said the party is happy with the verdict of the listerners but said the NPP has to work to consolidate its urban strength and step up its efforts in the countryside where the NDC has some edge.
The Ghanaian Times in a front page screamer: 'ABDUCTION ATTEMPT ABORTED', reports that the a timely warning shot fired by a vigilant private security man, saved 22-year-old Dorothy Ollenu from being stabbed to death by a taxi driver and three other accomplices , two women and a man on the car.
The incident occurred on Saturday, January 9, this year, at a taxi bay opposite the Nima Police Station, midway between the Kwame Nkrumah Circle and Sankara Circle on the Ring Road Central.
Narrating her story, Dorothy who could not remember the registration number of the vehicle, described the car as a Hyundai Pony painted in the standard taxi colours with the inscription 'The Lord is my Shepherd' at the back. She said on boarding the taxi, one of the two women on the car asked her to take the front seat which was empty. She did so and a man later joined the women in the back seat before the driver took off.
Dorothy said the man, whom she had earlier on heard speaking to the women in a Nigerian dialect, pulled her braided hair and asked her to shut -up when she complained. Suddenly, the driver pulled out a pen knife, slashed her skirt, while one of the women covered her mouth with a handkerchief. When she attempted a struggle to free herself, the driver exclaimed: =93Hurry up and do the thing:!=94 One of the women then stabbed her in the right arm and back with a pair of scissors.
Realising the danger in which she was, she bit the driver making him lose control of the steering Swerving the car off the road. On hearing a gun shot, the abductors pushed Dorothy out of the car and sped off before a private security man and a police despatch rider came to the aid of exhausted Dorothy. All efforts to trace the adductors proved futile. Dorothy who sustained some injuries when she was pushed out of the car, was treated and discharged at the Police Hospital in Accra.
'VAT is wrong tax for wrong people in a wrong country at a wrong time' says the Crusading Guide in its front-page banner headline. The paper quotes Professor George Ayittey, an economist and lecturer at the American University, Washington DC as saying when he expressed his view on the re-introduced VAT which replaces the sales tax. Prof. Ayittey described the VAT as a complicated tax system which is often characterised by evasion, even in the developed countries. =93Ours is a young economy and so we do not need VAT=94 the paper reports hin as saying. VAT was proposed by the IMF/World Bank to enable the Government raise more revenue. But as an alternative, the Ghanaian economist advised that the government should be more prudent with its expenditure so that more revenue will be available so there will be not need for VAT.
The Graphic in a lead headline: 'Weija water safe' Declares Adjei-Mensah=94, reports that the Ministry of Works and Housing has assured Ghanaians that the quality of treated water from the Weija Dam in Accra, is wholesome. The paper says the sector minister, Mr Isaac Adjei-Mensah, who gave the assurance, explained that treated water from the Weija Water Works meets World Health Organisation (WHO) standards for human consumption. =93Let me assure consumers that the Ghana Water and Sewerage Corporation treats water with utmost professionalism and there is therefore, no cause for alarm=94, he is quoted as saying. The Graphic says in recent times many Ghanaians have complained about the quality of water from the Densu River, and consequently, a number of residents who depend on treated water from the Densu Dam, have resorted to the use mineral water. The paper says last year, officials of the Ghana Water and Sewerage Corporation said poor drainage systems which direct all solid and liquid waste into river and indiscriminate fishing practices in the river are adversely affecting not only the water but draining the resources of the corporation in terms of acquisition of chemicals for the treatment of water from the river.