DAILY GRAPHIC

The Graphic reports in its lead story that the Attorney-General, Dr. Obed Asamoah, has indicated that the ministry will propose for the consideration of Cabinet and Parliament amendments to certain aspects of the Political Parties Law. In the light of current developments, some provisions of the law do not appear to be realistic and therefore need some review to bring them up to date with the current realities on the ground", the Graphic quoted Dr. Asamoah as saying. In a front page story headlined: "The Political Parties Law...A-G calls for review", the Graphic says Dr. Asamoah, who disclosed this in an interview in Accra at the weekend, was commenting on the just-ended public fora mounted by the Electoral Commission (EC) to solicit public views on the Political Parties Law PNDCL 281. The political parties law broadly regulates the conduct and behaviour of political parties in a variety of spheres from the adoption of names and symbols of political parties through regulations on funding and fund-raising to the filing of income and expenditure returns by the parties to the Electoral Commission. GRI

"Police arrest Court Registrar over grant of bail", is the headline of another front page story in the Graphic. The story says a 5-year-old Senior High Court Registrar, Mr. Adu Sarkodee, has been arrested by the Accra Central Police CID for allegedly extorting 120,000 cedis from an accused person before granting him bail. The Graphic says Mr. Sarkodee was arrested last Friday after collecting the money from the wife of Emmanuel Sackey Odametey, an accused person who had then been granted bail by an Accra Circuit Tribunal. Odametey, the Graphic says, was granted bail on Tuesday October 7, but had to remain in custody till Friday October 10, because he could not afford 200,000 cedis being bail money demanded by Sarkodee. Sarkodee is to be arraigned at the court soon after investigations are completed, says the paper. GRI

In another front page story, the Graphic reports that a number of students of the University of Cape Coast had to spend last Friday night at the Junior Common Room and hotels, following their inability to pay their registration fees for the academic year. The fees ranging from 75,000 cedis to 212,000 cedis were announced recently by the university authorities. The Graphic says many of the continuing students who arrived on Friday, the re-opening day, were locked out of their various halls prompting the student leadership to negotiate with the authorities for an amicable settlement of the issue the next day. The paper says both parties have agreed that keys to the halls will be given to the students only when they settle their hall dues ranging between 18,000 cedis and 25,000 cedis, being part of the fees. GRI