Editor and suit contest
yield no result at Graphic
Mining tops them all in investment
Botchwey neutralises Mills
influence in Eastern Region
Positive Change? - Akwasi
Agyeman dodges Rawlings
Tema (Greater Accra)
According to the report, 116 payment vouchers (PV) involving ¢239.8m raised by three polyclinics were also not presented for audit. The report did not mention the three polytechnics involved. The validity and genuineness of the transactions involved could, therefore, not be determined by the auditors.
According to the report, various sums of money representing hospital fees, drugs sold and other miscellaneous fees amounting to ¢161.2m were misappropriated by staff of the Ministry of Health (MOH).
Similarly, ¢30.4m could not be accounted for by three employees of the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital and Bimbilla Health Centre. The report noted that items valued at ¢81.3m and fully paid for by five health institutions had not been delivered.
It also revealed that health institutions in the Greater Accra Region purchased drugs worth ¢832.4m from the open market without obtaining non-availability certificates from Central or Regional Medical Stores to establish the non-availability of drugs at the stores.
The situation, the report said, contributed
to the apparent increase in the level of stock by the Central Medical Stores,
which at the end of 1999 amounted to over ¢6bn. It stated that two former
employees of the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority,
Out of the an amount of ¢31.5m drawn from the Breast Cancer Savings Account between November 1998 and April 1999 by the National Council on Women and Development (NCWD), a sum of ¢6.5m is yet to be recovered. Three staff members of the NCWD who were granted loans to purchase means of transport in 1994 and 1997 resigned from the service of NCWD without settling their indebtedness of ¢2.4m.
It noted that a sum of ¢23.3m was spent on
staff end of year party in 1999 while no provision was made in the NCWD 1999
approved budget for that purpose. The staff of Y2K project office also failed
to honour their tax obligation to the state amounting to ¢139.9m. The report
urged management of the affected organisations to take measures to recover the
said amounts. – The Ghanaian Times
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The newsroom at the largest selling daily
newspaper in the country took on a new look on
Six senior officers of the Graphic
Communications Group Limited arrived in designer suits that would make Ozwald
Boateng, the famous Ghanaian designer making waves in
Graphic correspondent in Bolgatanga and Tamale for several years Breda Atta Quayson, News editor Ransford Tetteh, Political Editor A.B.A. Fuseini, Letter to Jomo Columnist George Sydney Abugri, Former Castle Correspondent Kojo Sam and Acting Editor C.S. Buabeng, were reported to be in their best behaviour the whole day.
The six were vying for the vacant editor’s chair, a post that goes with a monthly salary range of between ¢7.2m to ¢8m, according to the recommendations of Brucks Associates, an Accra Management consulting firm contracted by the Graphic to restructure wages of the company.
The perks for occupying the editorial chair includes a fully maintained company car, a company sponsored bungalow and medical care. Two or three weeks before the interview at Graphic, was a sight of various group discussions depending on which of the six candidates staff were supporting.
The six faced an interview panel of Baffour
Agyeman Duah, Associate Executive Director of the Centre for Democracy and
Development, Janet Quarcopoome, Prof Kwame Karikari, Lecturer at the
The Board of Directors headed by Alex Quarmey, proprietor of Radio Ada, which has only one month left on its mandate decided to appoint an editor to replace Elvis Ayeh who has been promoted General Manager in charge of newspapers. The job was open only to employees of Daily Graphic. But after hours of grilling the contestants, the panellists decided the competition needed a wider scope.
Last Thursday, Graphic put up an advertisement inviting applicants from a wider spectrum of journalistic practice in the country, to view for the post. Indications are that the company will not be short on offers.
The Public
Agenda can report authoritatively that Ajoa Yeboah-Afari, one-time Graphic
staffer writing the ‘Thoughts of a Native Daughter Column’, is ready to offer
herself. Ajoa has just concluded a six-year tour of duty with the Commonwealth
Secretariat in
The Agenda sources indicate that a number of local senior journalists with 020 and 024 phone numbers are also queuing for the fat purse Graphic is offering. – Public Agenda
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Boafo, who was launching the Berekum Trade Fair in the Ashanti Region in
The Regional Minister said the government recognises the media as a partner in
development and said it, therefore, expects the media to play that role more
functionally. He stressed the need for Ghanaians to learn to shelve their
political leanings and speak with a common voice when it comes to matters of
national interest, especially development. The minister said the government
believes in the private sector as the main engine of growth of the economy and
will do everything to support it to deliver.
Boafo commended the people of Berekum for initiating the fair and gave the
assurance that they will be supported to ensure that it achieves the desired
results. He called on the organisers of the fair to do everything possible to
entice people from other regions, notably Ashanti to participate in the fair.
The Government Spokesman, Kwabena Agyepong, expressed the hope that the fair
will help improve business in the Berekum area. He said the ‘Golden Age of
Business’ declared by President John Agyekum Kufuor is not just a slogan but a
serious enterprise to help move the nation forward. Agyepong stated that it
will be suicidal for development to be concentrated in the cities, stressing that
the emphasis should be on the districts.
He noted that it is only when the income-generating potentials of the people
are developed that “we can say that the living conditions of the people have
improved”. He Agyepong pointed out that nobody from outside the country has the
capacity to develop the country. “The responsibility rests of the shoulders of
the country”. He stressed the need for the strengthening of internal trade as
it promotes development and called on businessmen to invest in the country.
The Inspector General of Police and the Mawerehene of Berekum, Nana Owusu
Nsiah, commended the Kufuor government for the interest it has shown in the
promotion of business in the country. He gave the assurance that nananom of
Berekum would support the government to change the course of development of the
nation for the better.
The District Chief Executive of Berekum, Kwabena Kyere-Yeboah, said the primary
objective of the fair, which is the brainchild of the Member of Parliament for
the area, Capt Nkrabea Effah-Darteh (rtd), is to expose the economic potential
of the district to the outside world. He expressed the hope that the numerous
potentials of Berekum would attract investment from both local and foreign
investors. Prof. Aba Andam of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and
Technology, chaired the function. – Daily Graphic
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The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Ghana Chamber of Mines, Mrs Joyce
Wereko-Brobby, speaking at a press briefing in Kumasi, indicated that the
sector will continue to be the single most important foreign exchange earner,
contributing approximately 40 per cent of the country’s Gross Domestic Product
(GDP).
She, therefore, called for expedited action on the review of the Minerals and
Mining Law to enable the nation to arrest the sharp decline in investments in
the sector. She said for the past 16 years the law has not seen any major
change, resulting in investments declining from $911 million in 1997 to $231
million in 2001.
The situation, she said, has affected the country’s vision of becoming the hub
of mining activities in the sub-region with relatively new mining countries
such as Mali and Guinea making giant strides in their operations due to the
attractive fiscal and legal mining regimes developed over the years.
Mrs Wereko-Brobby said the mining industry has suffered a cumulative production
decline while the rest of Africa excluding South Africa, registered operational
gains.
She noted that apart from Gold Fields Ghana (GFG) and the Ashanti Goldfields
Company (AGC) that are doing well, all other companies in the country “are
struggling to keep their heads above water” and stressed the need for
prospecting mining firms to be exempted from the payment of the Value Added Tax
(VAT) on their inputs since it is a high-risk activity.
She advocated an increase in royalties that go into infrastructural development
in project communities and stated that there is the need for companies, which
have already made commercial finds in productive forests to proceed to mine the
ore under conditions set in the guidelines developed by the stakeholders.
She also called for the setting up of a long term policy for mining in the productive
forest areas. Mrs Wereko-Brobby further called on chiefs to make judicious use
of royalties from the mining sector adding that if that is done, it will
prevent conflicts between the chiefs and their subjects.
She disagreed with the notion that mining has resulted in environmental
degradation and stated that companies that are doing legal mining business
abide by environmental rules and regulations. – Daily Graphic
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Botchwey neutralises Mills
influence in Eastern Region
Koforidua (Eastern Region)
Most of the executives and delegates before last weekend had harboured misconception about Dr Botchwey but after he reached out to them the ideas most had about him seemed quite changed.
The Ghanaian Chronicle observed this when the Kwesi Botchwey campaign train stopped in the Eastern regional capital, Koforidua. Just some two weeks before then when Prof Mills toured the region, most executives and those likely to be delegated to congress openly declared their support for the former vice-President with the Eastern regional chairman, Fred Ohene Kena, championing the move.
But after listening to Kwesi Botchwey, it became difficult for them to declare their stand, with most of them saying, “Congress shall decide.”
Conspicuously absent at the meeting for unexplained reasons was the regional chairman. But some party sources said he absented himself because of the open support he had declared for the former vice President.
Anytime music was provided the women were the first to go on the floor, dancing and cheering Kwesi Botchwey. When he took the floor, it was fantastic. Several young women crowded him as he danced.
Addressing the party members, he credited himself with restoring internal democracy in the NDC by challenging Mills for the nod of the party. He said, his contest for the presidential slot had put to rest the undemocratic culture of unilateral declaration of sole candidates for the NDC.
Dr Botchwey reiterated his warning that 2004 general elections are going to be a tough challenge for the NDC. As a result, he said, the NDC needs to resuscitate all its broken down structures, something he would prove himself capable of spearheading.
He, therefore, urged delegates to next month’s congress to elect a leader who is capable of managing the economy soundly, obviously referring to his own qualities. “I will promote transparency at all levels and end imposition of personalities and forcing of ideas on people,” Botchwey said eloquently- drawing cheers from the delegates in the Eastern Region.
Political pundits have often considered the Eastern Region as the political barometer of the country. Apart from being the third most populous, with 26 constituencies, it is the most cosmopolitan.
It is believed that if the electorate accept you in the Eastern Region, it represents a general acceptance across the country. It is envisaged that whoever eventually wins the hearts of the delegates in the Eastern Region will go a long way towards winning the NDC race at Legon. – The Ghanaian Chronicle
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Positive Change? - Akwasi
Agyeman dodges Rawlings
He avoided an encounter with his former boss and mentor, Jerry Rawlings, at the wake-keeping of the late Baffuor Osei Akoto, senior linguist of the Asantehene.
It all happened when the former President arrived at the forecourt of the deceased’s residence to join sympathisers at the wake-keeping. President John Kufuor has just left the scene and Nana Akwasi Agyeman was happily dancing to kete, a traditional music that was being played.
When ex-President Rawlings’ presence was announced, Nana Agyeman sneaked away, to the surprise of onlookers, to avoid any encounter- with his former mentor. Ex-President Rawlings was just about to be ushered in to express his condolence to the family when Agyeman did the disappearing act.
Last September, Nana Akwasi Agyeman announced his decision to root for his brother, President Kufuor, in election 2004, once his friend Rawlings’ two terms of office as President of Ghana had come to an end.
Even though there was no ‘boom’, the former President did cause quite a stir, as he moved the crowd, who greeted him with the NPP slogan ‘Asee ho’ wherever he moved to. At the St Peter’s Cathedral where a burial service was held for Baffuor Akoto last Thursday, there was an uneasy calm when it was announced that the ex-President wanted to give a speech.
The congregation feared a ‘boom’, but it never came, as Rawlings was eventually stopped from delivering such a speech. “This is no time for political speeches,” the former President was told.
Rawlings, however, paid a short tribute to
the late Baffuor Osei Akoto, shook hands with the Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu
II, before finally taking his seat far from the
Ex-President Rawlings was accompanied by his aide, Victor Smith, former Finance Minister Kwame Peprah, former Ashanti Regional Minister Daniel Ohene Agyekum, and a handful of bodyguards. – The Ghanaian Chronicle
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