GRi Newsreel 25 - 10 - 99

India pledges genuine development partnership with Ghana

Ho(Volta Region), 25^th October 99

Mr. V. Chaturvedi, of India's National Institute for Small Industry Extension Training, has pledged his country's genuine commitment to help Ghana to develop her small-scale industrial sector.

Mr. Chaturvedi, who is also the head of UNIDO's Technical Bureau for International Industrial Partnership, was speaking at a meeting with officials of the Volta Regional Co-ordinating Council, the Ho District Chief Executive and small scale industrialists at Ho on Sunday as part of his tour of the region to assess the small-scale sector.

He said Ghana has great potentials in the small-scale industrial sector which when developed could project her unto the international market.

Mr. Chaturvedi who is leading a three man Indian technical team said Ghanaians should patronise locally manufactured goods to serve as a source of encouragement to local industrialists.

He said India's stature on the international industrial scene today came as a result of her decision to forego the consumption of foreign goods which enabled her to improve locally made products.

Mr. Chaturvedi said it is in this regard that India is ready to offer its expertise to Ghana to develop and strengthen her competitiveness on the international market.

Captain George Nfodjo, Ho District Chief Executive who welcomed the team on behalf of the Volta Regional Minister Alhaji Seidu Iddi, said the appropriateness of India's technology and expertise and her desire to impart same to Ghana are not in doubt.

He said Ghana therefore stands to gain much from that country in building and consolidating the strength of its industrial base.

Captain Nfodjo assured the team that the Volta region abounds in skills and natural resources which when effectively developed could make her the focus of Ghana's small-scale industrial showpiece.

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90 illegal electricity connections in Volta region every month

Wa (Upper West), 25^th October 99

An average of 90 illegal electricity connections are recorded monthly in the Wa township thereby denying the Volta River Authority (VRA) revenue running into millions of cedis.

Apart from the loss in revenue to the authority, such illegal connections pose danger to life as they are sources of disasters.

Mr. Eric Effah-Donyina, Upper West Area Commercial Manager of Northern Electricity Department of VRA said this when speaking to the Ghana News Agency at Wa at the weekend.

He appealed to residents to volunteer information on such illegal connections since it could create general disaster for the town.

He said the present fine of 50,000 cedis for offenders was too meagre to deter the perpetrators from continuing such irresponsible practices.

Mr. Effa-Donyina said VRA will step up its dawn and night operations to bring all culprits to book.

He said the introduction of a new metering system under which consumers could buy a specific amount of power will discourage such illegal connections in future.

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Mamponghene demands justice

Mampong (Ashanti), 25^th October 99

The Mamponghene, Nana Osei Bonsu the second, has asked the police at Mampong to arrest the upsurge of cases of kidnapping in the area and to bring the perpetrators to book.

The chief expressed his anxiety in a message he sent to the police through a delegation led by Mr. Gyimah Kesse, Registrar of the Asante Mampong Traditional Council.

The Mamponghene prevailed on the Mampong police to hasten their interrogation in a case in which Pastor Emmanuel Larbi, 45, of the Bible Believers Association Church, his wife, Beatrice Serwaa and a church member, Adjei Brown, are alleged to have kidnapped a Junior Secondary school (JSS) girl, Florence Esi, 15, for three days at Tabre a suburb of Jamasi, near Mampong.

They are also alleged to have attempted siphoning her blood. The girl who was said to be returning from an evening crusade when the incident happened told her parents of the ordeal she went through before gaining her freedom from the captors.

She later led police to arrest the three suspects.

In a related development, some lecturers of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) who are members of the church of Pentecost of which the victim, Esi, is a member have called on the police to take immediate action on the issue.

They said those responsible for the act and other kidnapping cases in the area should be tracked down for prosecution.

The District Crime Officer, Mr. A.K. Obu told the GNA in an interview that his outfit is seriously investigating the cases and that the perpetrators would be made to face the law.

Mr. Obu said the alleged kidnappers of Esi have been granted police inquiry bail in consonance with the constitution " but that is not the end of the case as being speculated by the public."

He added that the docket on the case has been sent to the office of the Attorney General for advice.

Mr. Obu appealed to the public to volunteer information on the activities of unscrupulous people in the society.

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Two die, two collapse after eating fried egg

Mampong (Ashanti), 25^th October, 99

Two out four children of the same parents died shortly after they had eaten an egg alleged to have been fried with a toxic palm kernel oil.

Two other children who survived the ordeal were treated and discharged.

The Asante Mampong Police, told the Ghana News Agency that the mother of the children, Madam Yaa Tawiah, 37, a farmer of Akyekesiase, a suburb of Wiamoase, near Mampong, poured the oil used in frying the egg into an empty insecticides container.

The Police said, Madam Tawiah on September 13, 1999 at 8 am prior to her departure to her farm left the children with a tuber of yam, an egg and the oil to be used in the preparation of "ampesi" for their breakfast.

According to the Police, the children collapsed soon after they had eaten the egg and the ampesi, a situation which alarmed the immediate neighbours.

A Police report said the neighbours rushed the children, Kwadwo Nyantakyi, four, and Nana Adwoa Frimpomaa, two, who were in critical condition to Asaman Seventh Day Adventist (SDA) Hospital where they died shortly on arrival.

The surviving two children were treated and discharged at Wiamoase SDA church Hospital.

Police suspect no foul play but blamed the incident on ignorance.

The children have since been buried.

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Anniversary celebration of convention on children's rights launched.

Accra (Greater Accra), 25^th October 99

Dr. Omar Abdi, UNICEF Representative in Ghana, on Monday said respecting the rights of children should not be regarded as an act of charity but as a binding obligation on everyone.

"This means that children's rights can no longer be seen as optional. No one must be allowed to get away with violating or neglecting children's rights."

Dr. Abdi was speaking at a press conference organised by the Ghana National Commission on Children (GNCC) and UNICEF in Accra as part of activities marking the tenth anniversary of the adoption of the Convention on the Rights of the Child by the UN.

He said almost every area of government policy affects children in some way whether directly or indirectly. "But children have no vote or say in the political process.

"It is up to adults to defend children's rights, knowing the terrible cost that society as a whole would pay if it fails to look after them."

November 20, this year, marks the tenth year of the adoption of the convention. Some activities lined up for the celebrations in Ghana include the launch of children's committees in the districts, the launch of the local versions of the convention and the inauguration of the parliamentary advocacy group on children.

Dr. Abdi noted that it is not uncommon to hear people say that the convention is abstract or that it has no relevance to the African or Ghanaian context.

"The real test of the convention and what people make of it, is how it translates into the development of children in Ghana at the end of the day."

Mrs. Alberta Quartey, Chairperson of the GNCC, noted that the extent of child abuse in society suggests that many people do not consider that children have rights and, therefore, these rights are often ignored by several segments of the society.

She said the GNCC is assisting the Women and Juvenile Unit of the Police Service with funding for the cost of medical examination of cases of children who are defiled. She appealed to others in society to help in the funding.

Mrs Quartey said "there is no doubt that enough policies and programmes have been developed to promote child welfare. What is needed is a concerted and well co-ordinated approach at implementation to ensure effective use of scarce resources in child services delivery systems.

"We have a responsibility to ensure that the necessary laws, facilities and regulations are established for protecting and enforcing children's rights."

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