Varsities to re-open by Oct. 18
New Okyehene outdoored
Doctors to go on strike
Akwasi Agyeman and GPRTU clash
Hunt for serial killers…Police grab 3
NDC agents blow 43bnC
Oti Boateng’s head to roll?..As SFO probes allegations of financial improprieties
Apraku to lose seat
Fireworks expected in Parliament…Row over DCEs and assemblies
Varsities to re-open by Oct. 18
The pick of the Daily Graphic is the story on the re-opening of Ghana’s universities, which were closed down by the authorities following students’ agitation for a downward review of the academic user fees.
The story says arrangements are under way for the re-opening of Ghana’s universities by October 18. The paper quotes a source at the Ministry of Education as disclosing that negotiations are far advanced between the major partners and that agreement would be reached before the end of the week on the main issue of user fees, to pave the way for the re-opening.
According to the source, the consultation process that followed in the wake of the directive by President Jerry Rawlings to the Ministry of Education to have the user fees reviewed downward, has proceeded smoothly between the National Council for Tertiary Education (NCTE) and the major partners with substantial progress.
The Graphic mentions the other social partners are the National Union of Ghana Students (NUGS), Ghana National Union of Polytechnic Students (GNUPS) and the Committee of Vice-Chancellors and Principals.
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New Okyehene outdoored
In a second story, the Graphic reports the outdooring of the new Okyehene, Osagyefuo Amoatia Ofori Panin II. The paper says the Kyebi township, seat of Okyeman, was yesterday thrown into a state of jubilation and merry-making as Osagyefuo Amoatia Ofori Panin II, was outdoored as the 35th chief of the Akyem Abuakwa State.
According to the paper, the usual quiet atmosphere associated with the township, gave way to sheer ecstasy, pomp and pageantry by 1 p.m. when sons and daughters of Okyeman and visitors gathered at the forecourt of the Ofori Panin Fie, the seat of Okyeman’s traditional authority, to participate in the ceremony. Osagyefuo Amoatia Ofori Panin, 47, succeeds his late brother, Osagyefuo Kuntunkununku II, who died on March 17,this year.
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Doctors to go on strike
The Independent says the Rawlings government, which has 15 months to go, seems to be facing one crisis after the other. The paper notes that with the students’ crisis still unresolved, the ‘spin’ doctors of the government are now faced with another crisis.
According to the Independent, the crisis this time is looming at the medical front over government’s decision to militarise some hospitals. The paper says a wide-circulated statement issued by the Ghana Medical Association (GMA) expresses the dissatisfaction of the association and a threat to embark on a strike action by the end of today if their demands are not met.
The doctors are against the militarisation of Ridge Hospital in Accra, and want the government to abandon its policy of militarisation of hospitals. The GMA is also demanding the re-instatement of all ejected health workers including 30 doctors, nurses and other health professionals.
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Akwasi Agyeman and GPRTU clash
The Independent in a second story on its back page, says the Kumasi Metropolitan Chief Executive, Nana Akwasi Agyeman seems to be on a collision course with the Ghana Private Road Transport Union (GPRTU) branches in the metropolis, just a few days after he survived the tension that greeted his alleged involvement in the assault of two individuals.
The paper says that at the centre of the brewing controversy is the construction of a number of stores at the Kejetia Roundabout project site. According to the Independent, although the project was originally aimed at creating a spacious terminal at the site, it has rather turned into stores development, which would hinder vehicular movement.
The paper quotes a source at the Ashanti Regional Secretariat of the GPRTU as saying that the drivers’ union would be demolishing the stores that have been constructed. The source, according to the story, accused Nana Akwasi Agyeman of not speaking the truth when he recently told the media that he had no hand in the construction of the stores.
The Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly is said to be collecting amounts ranging from 4 million cedis to 14 million cedis from interested traders for allocation of the stores.
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Hunt for serial killers…Police grab 3
The Ghanaian Times reports in its lead story that the police have arrested three people in connection with the recent murder of a woman at Adabraka in Accra.
The names of the suspects are being withheld for security reasons. The paper says two taxis, an Opel Kadet, GT 429 Q and a Nissan saloon, GR 7481 Q, which have also been impounded, are believed to have been used by the people .who allegedly murdered the woman, Comfort Boafo, 40.
According to the Times, further police investigations into the case are being stalled because the key informant in the case wants monetary rewards before offering more information. The paper quotes a source close to the Adabraka Police as explaining that due to the recent call on the Ministry of the Interior by the Ghana branch of the Federation of Women Lawyers (FIDA), to set aside 15 million cedis to compensate informants who offer information leading to the unravelling of recent spate of murders of women, informants assume that some money has been given to the investigator to be paid out.
The Minister of the Interior, Nii Okaija Adamafio, recently announced a 50 million-cedi fund as incentive to attract public information leading to the arrest of criminals in any part of Ghana. The monetary reward is part of measures to enhance the fight against armed robbery and other serious crimes.
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NDC agents blow 43bnC
The Guide in a banner headline story, says those behind the Council of Indigenous Business Association (CIBA) loan of 43 billion cedis from the NDC government, certainly have no obligation of paying back the money. According to the paper, the shocking news is that the Registrar-General’s Department cannot locate the files of CIBA.
The Guide says the revelation came out when it tried to obtain information about the directors of CIBA, who between 1995 and 1996, took hold of a colossal sum of 43 billion cedis of the taxpayers’ money. "Having gone through the bureaucratic procedure of applying to the Registrar-General’s Department and paying 5,000 cedis fees, I was eventually told that the files of CIBA cannot be found after a number of ‘go and come", says the paper.
According to the Guide CIBA was made up of artisans and traders associations that were organised as part of political organs for the purposes of the 1996 general elections. The paper says many of leaders of the association, including Mr Vaughan-Williams, a former Deputy Minister, are dead. CIBA, notes the paper, was one source where public funds were channelled into politics under the guise of supporting indigenous businesses in 1995 and 1996. The Guise says three years after the loans were granted, not a cedi has been repaid into state coffers.
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Oti Boateng’s head to roll?..As SFO probes allegations of financial improprieties
In its lead story, the Crusading Guide says Daasebre Oti Boateng, the highly respected and affable Government Chief Statistician, is faced with the real prospect of being asked to proceed on terminal leave pending investigations into financial improprieties that have been uncovered in the Statistical Department.
The story says a source within the corridors of power, has hinted that the government is poised to direct the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) to investigate the financial administration and management practices of Daasebre Oti Boateng and other top officials of the Statistical Department.
The Crusading Guide says the Department had been implicated in financial improprieties running into hundreds of millions of cedis. The source is said to have failed to give material details of the alleged male fiancée but intimated that the SFO will be tasked to authenticate allegations bordering on diversion of pubic funds, abuse of fuel budget and other malpractices.
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Apraku to lose seat
The main story of the Palaver dwells on perceived prospects of Dr Kofi Apraku, Minority Spokesman on Finance and MP for Offinso North, losing his parliamentary seat. According to the story, the NPP Member for Offinso North, Dr Kofi Apraku, is gripped by fear as to his chances in the next elections.
The paper says Dr Apraku’s fear is borne out of the growing discontent among party activists for his failure to deliver on his election promises. Dr Apraku is reported to have been accused of deceit and empty rhetorics for his failure to solve unemployment and other problems of his constituents, as promised during the electioneering campaign.
The paper says sources close to the Offinso North NPP said three years have elapsed but ‘the people are yet to see any change’. According to the source, Dr Apraku boasted of pioneering American investors into the constituency to establish agro-based industries to process their produce for export to help solve the problem of unemployment.
The Palaver quotes the sources as saying that when the constituents sent an ‘SOS’ message to Dr Apraku to find market for their tomatoes, he only commandeered a television camera with a large crew to cover his visit to the constituency under the guise of fighting for their interest. "Up to date, not even a crate of tomatoes found its way to the foreign market as he made us to believe", the paper quotes the sources as saying.
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Fireworks expected in Parliament…Row over DCEs and assemblies
The Statesman visualises that the next meting of Parliament, in about a week’s time, is expected to witness real fireworks, as the Minority counters a Majority bill to review the district assembly system by moving for the direct election of the district chief executives (DCEs)and the abolition of the appointment of 30 per cent of members by the President. The paper says it recently revealed the existence of a Constitutional Amendment Bill by which the government intends to cut the two-thirds majority required for the approval of DCEs to a simple 50 per cent majority. According to the Statesman, the move is suspected to be part of the ruling party’s plan to ease the appointment of its cronies to the position and facilitate its control of the district assemblies. The paper says Nana Akufo Addo, Minority Spokesman for Legal and Constitutional Affairs, expressing the desire of the Minority to counter this move, indicated that an amendment will also be moved to reform the non-partisan nature of the district assemblies into partisan organisations, as exists at the national level. Nana Akufo Addo who was launching a re-organisation plan for the Abuakwa constituency of the NPP at Bunso in the Eastern Region, is reported as stressing the need to "dismantle rapidly the present, so-called non-partisan system", which he described as a ‘fraud’. He is said to have noted that the time has come to acknowledge the very partisan nature of the district assembly system, stressing that the need to "get rid of the deceit and hypocrisy and have an open democratic system in local as well as the national government in Ghana". The Statesman says Nana Akufo Addo pointed out that the appointment by the President of 30 per cent of members of the assemblies and of the DCEs, who all are invariably NDC members and sympathisers, is unjust and undermines probity and accountability in public life.
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