Give statement on FBI, Scotland Yard Investigations - NDC

Dr Josiah Ayeh, General Secretary of the NDC, on Saturday called on President John Agyekum Kufuor to come out with a statement on the outcome of investigations by the Federal Bureau of Investigations and the Scotland Yard into the serial killings of women in the country.

He made the call at a forum organised by the Takoradi Polytechnic Chapter of the Tertiary Education Institutional Network (TEIN) of the NDC in Takoradi.

Dr Ayeh said he did not understand why the government was dragging its feet in releasing the report of the investigations by the two bodies.

According to Dr Ayeh, it was the NPP government, which first imputed political motives to the murder of the women and for that reason was responsible to make the report known to the public.

Dr Ayeh alleged that the government was practising nepotism in the appointment of top government officials and said if they were not checked could result in widespread corruption, adding that, they must be frowned upon if the country's democracy was to thrive.

Dr Ayeh said the appointment of Justice Acquah, as the Chief Justice was politically motivated because Mrs Justice Cecilia Bamford-Addo, who is the most senior of the Supreme Court judges, should occupy the position.

Mr Haruna Iddrisu, NDC National Youth Organiser, said the party believed in National Reconciliation but was not happy about the way the National Reconciliation Commission was going about its work.

He said the procedures adopted by the Commission was dividing rather than uniting Ghanaians.

The NDC government deconfistication of assets was a gesture of national reconciliation, he noted.

He said the government should not look for scapegoats for the events of the 31st December Revolution and the June 4 uprising, which were national in character and are now part of the country's history.

Dr Ben Kumbuor, MP for Lawra Nandom, said no member of the NDC had any personal agenda against the NPP, adding that, the NDC was democratic and intends to win the 2004 elections through democratic process to continue its social agenda.

Madam Tabitha Quaye, Western Regional Vice-Chairperson of the NDC, said the government had to explain to Ghanaian women why it sidestepped Mrs Bamford-Addo in the appointment of a Chief Justice.

She said the President's action showed that he was paying lip service to gender issues and that the Ministry of Women and Children Affairs was established to destroy the 31st December Women Movement.

Madam Quaye urged the Federation of Women Lawyers to take up the matter and ensure that the right thing was done