Strikes…Beginning of the end for NDC?
Summit costs Ghana 1.5 billion cedis
Government obeys IMF’s orders
War drums beating in the North?
Barclays Ghana waives fees on transfers and cheque clearing
Daily Graphic, Ghanaian Times & Free Press
Queen Elizabeth to visit Ghana…Arrives in November with Prince Philip
Weekly Insight
Strikes…Beginning of the end for NDC?
IN a front-page headline story, the Weekly Insight says the National Democratic Congress (NDC) has gradually but surely pushed itself into a bind and indications are that the turbulence on the labour front could force the NDC government out of office.
According to the paper, currently. all the major labour movements in Ghana are engaged in a tussle with the government over pay levels and improvements in the conditions of service of their members.
The paper observes that in a relatively short period of four months, Ghana has recorded at least, four major strikes and there are indications that the trend will continue. It mentioned the junior doctors in the public health institutions as the first to go on strike.
They were almost immediately followed by nurses, then members of the Teachers and Educational Workers Union (TEWU) on the campus of the University of Ghana, the paper said, adding that there
Were reports that some members of the Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT) ‘refused to pick up the chalk’. According to the Weekly Insight, the situation has become so bad that the acting Director of the Bureau of National Investigations (BNI), Mr Yaw Donkor, has been directed to do everything possible to avert a full-blown general strike.
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Summit costs Ghana 1.5 billion cedis
The on-going Fifth African-African-American Summit costs Ghana a total of 1.5 billion cedis, the government contributing about 850 million cedis, while the balance of 650 million cedis is being borne by the private sector, says the Dispatch in a front page story.
The paper says the summit which will be officially opened by President Jerry Rawlings today, however, kicked off last Monday with the opening ceremony of the Trade and Investment Exposition by the Vice-President, Prof. John Atta Mills.
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Government obeys IMF’s orders
In another front page story, the Dispatch says the government, in its desire to get the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to grant Ghana’s request for a new three-year Enhanced Structural Adjustment Facility (ESAF), has agreed to abide religiously by a number of directives suggested by the IMF.
The paper quotes part of a letter written by the Finance Minister, Mr Kwame Peprah to the IMP boss, Mr Michel Camdessus, which states: "During the period of the three-year ESAF arrangement, the government will consult with the Managing Director on the adoption of any measures that could be appropriate, at the initiative of the government or whenever the Managing Director requests such a consultation".
The Dispatch says the directives enjoin the government to ‘publish annually, list of guaranteed loans in the budget, ‘obtain cabinet approval of a legal framework for the reform of subvented agencies’, obtain cabinet approval f an alternative employment programme for retrenched workers of subvented agencies’ and conduct a housing and population census next year.
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War drums beating in the North?
The paper in a lead story says, as the relative peace in Northern Ghana appears to gain in consolidation, there are indications that the hard-won peace is becoming fragile.
According to the paper, last week, the Konkomba Youth Association (KOYA), warned of the threat to peace in the region, following what the association claims to be police inaction to attacks on Konkombas at Yendi.
"There are acts of indiscipline, vandalism and threat to the peace we are enjoying in the Northern Region", the paper quotes Mr G.M. Nagbija, General Secretary of KOYA, as saying.
But the Chronicle says the Yendi District Police Command, while not confirming or denying the story, refuted allegations that the Yendi District Chief Executive had accused NPP supporters of stoning a group of Konkombas, who were passing through Yendi to Saboba, during the Easter holidays.
Mr Nagbija is reported as saying that the Easter Convention of the association was nearly marred, when Dagomba youth at Yendi stoned KOYA members who were en route to Saboba without any provocation. According to him, there had been two previous instances this year, when Konkombas had been searched, beaten and some of their luggage stolen at the Yendi lorry park by Dagomba youth.
"These instances have been reported to both the Yendi and Saboba District Chief Executives, the security agencies and the Ya-Na, paramount chief of the Dagombas.
But regrettably, there has not been any instance where a culprit has been brought to book despite the fact that some of these acts were perpetrated to Konkombas in the presence of the Yendi Police", Mr Nagbija is quoted as saying.
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Barclays Ghana waives fees on transfers and cheque clearing
The High Street Journal says in a revolutionary move that will undoubtedly cause consternation in the market, Barclays Bank Ghana, has waived fees on local money transfers and cheque clearing. The paper
notes that this is a big challenge for competitors, since all banks derive good income from the two transactions. The High Street Journal quotes Mr Kobina Quansah, Managing Director of Barclays Ghana as saying that the waiver is a logical consequence of the bank’s technological superiority.
According to him, two year ago, the bank invested heavily in the telecommunication infrastructure which has made Barclays the only nationally networked bank in Ghana.
"This means that a customer can pay in or withdraw money from his account in any Barclays banking hall in Ghana, no matter where the account is domiciled", he is reported as saying. Registration of every transaction is said to take place seven seconds after it is consummated.
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Daily Graphic, Ghanaian Times & Free Press
Queen Elizabeth to visit Ghana…Arrives in November with Prince Philip
Three papers, the Daily Graphic, Ghanaian Times and Free Press, feature the impending visit to Ghana by Queen Elizabeth of Britain.
While the Graphic and the Free Press give a front-page treatment to the story the Times finds a space for the story in an inside page. The Free Press says Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II, accompanied by her husband, Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, arrives in Accra from London on Sunday, November 7, for a tow-day state visit.
The Graphic reports that Queen Elizabeth II of Britain will pay a three-day state visit to Ghana in November, this year. Her husband, Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, will accompany her.
The Graphic quotes a press release from the British High Commission in Accra yesterday as saying the royal couple will arrive in Accra from London n Sunday November 7, and stay till November 9.
The Times’ account has it that Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom will pay a three-day state visit to Ghana from November 7 to nine.
The paper says separate press releases issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the British High Commission in Accra yesterday, said the queen is expected to arrive from London on Sunday, November 7 and stay in Ghana until the morning of Tuesday, November 9.
It says the Duke of Edinburgh, Prince Philip, her husband, will be in her company. From Ghana, the Queen will pay a state visit to South Africa before opening the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Durban. She will also visit Mozambique, the only non-Commonwealth country she has not visited previously, before returning home, the Times says, adding the Queen first visited Ghana in November, 1961.
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