Retreat…Doctors show the way –Aluta works…
Sabotage…Ohene-Kena learns about dismissal at London talks
Varsity user fees down…Govt slashes 30% off
Students to enjoy fee slash…As govt picks up 5bnC extra cost
Seized cars for 200,000 cedis…To steel companies
Air Ghana’s 8bnC tax evasion…IRS debunks cover up
Miss Ghana’s winning secret exposed
Resurrected!
Retreat…Doctors show the way –Aluta works…
In a one word headline "Retreat", the Independent reports that a major crisis in the health sector has been averted owing to the government’s last minute withdrawal of a policy to militarise Ridge Hospital La and Mamprobi Polyclinics all in Accra.
The paper says the government’s retreat means that the Ghana Medical Association (GMA) has won its battle of resistance against militarisation of some health institutions in Ghana. The Independent recalls that a few weeks ago, the government decided to turn over the hospitals to the military and the police to administer with the explanation that the three hospitals were going to serve as emergency centres to run 24 hours and cater for Ghanaians should there be strike action by doctors and nurses in the civilian hospitals. The GMA, says the paper, spoke strongly against the militarisation policy and matters came to a head when 30 civilian doctors at Ridge Hospital who refused sign up when the military moved in, were dismissed.
The Independent says at an emergency meeting last Friday by the GMA, the doctors stood their ground and gave the government an ultimatum to abandon the militarisation plan by 6.00 p.m. on Tuesday or face a nation-wide strike action.
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Sabotage…Ohene-Kena learns about dismissal at London talks
In a second story, the Independent says Mr Fred Ohene-Kena, until 48 hours ago, the substantive Minister of Mines and Energy, was busy representing Ghana at the on-going merger talks between Lonmin, a mining conglomerate and an offshoot of the famous Lonrho and the Ashanti Goldfields Company (AGC). The paper quoting its London sources says the negotiations had reached a high pitch when somebody called the Minister for a minute.
He had some bad news. "Mr Minister, I have some bad news for you. You have just been relieved of your job. This is what the Ghanaian media have just reported". According to the sources, a shocked Mr Ohene-Kena went back to the negotiations crest-fallen but gave no indication of his fate.
The paper notes that though the announcement released on Tuesday gave no reasons for Mr Ohene-Kena’s sudden dismissal, the state-owned "Daily Graphic" in a report speculates that the Minister’s dismissal could be linked to a statement he made saying that the Ghana government would not object to the proposed merger that would see Lonmin taking over AGC.
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Varsity user fees down…Govt slashes 30% off
Students to enjoy fee slash…As govt picks up 5bnC extra cost
The two national dailies highlight on their front pages the government’s decision to reduce the universities academic facility user fees by 30 per cent. The Daily Graphic reports that the government has reviewed academic user fees downward by 30 per cent of the previous fees announced by the universities for the 1999-2000 academic year.
The Ghanaian Times, on the other hand, says students of the universities and other tertiary institutions in Ghana are to enjoy a 30 per cent rebate on the Academic Facility User Fees announced by the universities. The Times says the full fees will, however, come into effect in the 2000-2001 academic year, while the students are also to continue paying the Residential Facility User Fees of last year.
The Graphic says additionally, the government will pay 5 billion cedis, representing the reductions made to the universities to help them run their normal academic programmes. he government has also approved loans ranging from 800,000 cedis to one million cedis at varying interest rates for students depending on their needs. The loan levels are 800,000 cedis at eight per cent interest, 900,000 cedis at nine per cent interest and one million cedis at 10 per cent interest. It is recalled that the students of the universities boycotted lectures to express their opposition to the new academic user fees, which they described as ‘high’.
The authorities closed down the universities attributing their action to what they perceived as ‘‘violent demonstration destruction of property and intimidation", among other acts. Meanwhile, negotiations are in progress to re-open the universities.
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Seized cars for 200,000 cedis…To steel companies
In a front-page banner, the Guide says over-aged imported vehicles to Ghana after June 1, 1999, have choked the Tema Harbour and it has become difficult to dispose of them. The paper says a total of 184 vehicles as at August ending, literally littered the port, creating congestion and loss of revenue to the state. It says its investigations at the Tema Port indicated that the situation is the result of an Act of Parliament
enacted and gazetted on 8th May, 1998. The Guide says some officers of the Customs Excise and Preventive Service (CEPS, who pleaded anonymity, explained that the law enjoins the CEPS to confiscate all vehicles of 10 years and above to the state effective June 1, 1998. The paper quotes the law thus: "Where any vehicle of more than ten years is forfeited to the state, the vehicle shall be sold to the steel mills as scrap metal for re-cycling under the supervision of the CEPS Commissioner". The law, according to the Customs officers, is difficult to implement because the steel mills are ready to pay even less than 200,000 cedis for a car. They explained that the steel mills only need the few metal components of any vehicle that will serve their needs. According to the
Guide, the steel mills get access to the metal components from garages for less than what CEPS would want to offer for a whole car. In the view of the Customs officers, this has made it difficult to implement the law. They said apart from the economic loss to the state, there is also the moral dimension to the law. They explained that many of the over-aged cars are still far better than many of the vehicles that ply the roads in Ghana, in terms of their environmental friendliness and performance. Besides, they said it is just unfair to confiscate a vehicle with a value of about $4,000 (about 10 million cedis) and sell it for 200,000 cedis to be meted.
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Air Ghana’s 8bnC tax evasion…IRS debunks cover up
The Crusading Guide in a front-page story, says a highly-placed official of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), has debunked allegations of a cover-up in the investigations being conducted by the Service into the 8 billion-dollar evasion racket involving Air Ghana, a private air cargo enterprise with headquarters in Accra.
According to the paper, an IRS to official denied that his outfit had come under any form of pressure to terminate investigations into Air Ghana’s operations and tax obligations as being alleged in some business circles. "There has been any form of pressure, officially or unofficially, on us to stop our work.
We are proceeding steadily and firmly with our job, and sooner than later the public will be made aware of the details of the investigations. There is no cover-up anywhere", the official is reported as saying. According to the paper, following its series of ‘exposures’ of Air Ghana’s propensity to evade tax, the IRS formally wrote to the Crusading Guide to furnish the Service with "all the necessary information regarding your allegations…to enable us to accurately determine the indebtedness of Air Ghana to the state".
The paper says it responded appropriately by making available to the IRS a host of documents reflecting the business operations of Air Ghana over the years, which it had uncovered in the course of its investigation.
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Miss Ghana’s winning secret exposed
Reporting on the just-ended "Miss Ghana ‘99" pageant in Accra, the P & P says the winning secret of the lovely young woman who won the "Miss Ghana ‘99" diadem, is in her name.
The paper says the tall young woman, who is the second daughter of Dr Sam Bugri, a ‘top-shot’ medical doctor, has confessed her secret in an exclusive interview with the P& P. According to the paper, at a simple but very elaborate naming ceremony held 19 years ago, then young Bugri family accepted to perform a ‘Dagomba’ rite, which was to find a winning name for the lovely baby.
The P & P says ‘Sugru’ was eventually chosen and accepted for the child. It says it was determined that the name, which means ‘patience’, would be a vital factor in Mariam’s battles in life. Whenever she is able to restrain herself from very impulsive behaviour and acts with tact and calmness, she would turn out a winner – and she has proved that on several occasions.
The paper notes that in a very honest and frank interview, Miss Mariam Sugru Bugri, spoke passionately about the recent
hullabaloo over her annexation of the national diadem after she had surveyed and conquered all during the Brong Ahafo Regional pageant. According to Mariam, her patience throughout her climb towards the national competition, rewarded her with the ultimate ‘sash and tiara’ with its thrills.
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Resurrected!
Giving an account of a visit by its Managing Editor, Harruna Attah, to a deliverance church service last week, in a front-page lead story, the Accra Mail reports that Mr Harruna Attah witnessed a deliverance (exorcism) service at Macedonia Church, located off the Accra-Nsawam road. According to Harruna Attah, he saw more casting of the devil "abonsam", than what may be considered as ‘prayer’ in the conventional sense of the word.
The story says a lady, who was "raised from the dead", was even at hand to testify at the big congregation with Pastor Philip Ackam Newman, leading them in loud and what may be described as "raucous devotion". Two well-known musicians, Olla Williams and Diana Akiwumi were said to be present to lend their voices to the devotion.
The story says when Harruna Attah saw the petite and beautiful form of Diana Akiwumi swooning and falling to the dusty floor of the church, and Olla Williams’ huge frame gyrating with about half a dozen young men holding him from hurting himself in the event of a fall, he knew he was participating in serious business.
The journalist had become a ‘voyeur’. Members of the congregation were all ‘talking in tongues’ and exhibiting ecstasy. "One man’s prayer is today, another man’s exorcism", Harruna Attah is reported as observing. The story has it that before Pastor Newman began his sermon, he called for all the ‘witches’ in the congregation to come before him…
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