Government to pursue wrong doers -AG

Takoradi, July 5,GNA - Papa Owusu Ankomah, Attorney General and Minister of Justice, on Saturday said the Government would continue to pursue those who break the laws of the country and bring them to justice. He was speaking at a forum organised by the Takoradi Polytechnic chapter of Tertiary Education Students Confederacy (TESCON) of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) in Takoradi.

Papa Ankomah said the government's action was not out of malice or revenge but was to ensure that everybody acted according to the constitution. He said nobody, not even the President was above the constitution, which was the supreme legal document of the country. Papa Ankomah said people must take responsibility for their actions and not take solace in political opportunism. He said the right to information was the best means of safeguarding the democracy of the country because democracy thrived on information. Papa Ankomah said it was because of this that the government had decided to enact the right to information bill, which it was hoped would give journalists access to information.

Papa Ankomah said a draft of the bill would be made available to the media and other stakeholders for study and suggestions before it was put before cabinet for approval. He said some people were attempting to divert the attention of the government and the public from the findings of the National Reconciliation Commission (NRC) adding that as bad as this revelations might be, the country must accept its past, which was characterised by human rights violations if it was to move forward in peace and unity. Papa Ankomah said dictatorial governments perpetuated these violations but the government believed that conflict and revenge were the goals to progress. He said the NPP had a democratic tradition which all its members and supporters must recognise and uphold and the party would at all times defend these principles. Papa Ankomah said the NPP also believed in intellectual discussion of the country's problems and the use of persuasion in resolving conflicts.

Mr Joseph Boahene Aidoo, Western Regional Minister, said the mass spraying of cocoa farms and the award of bonuses to cocoa farmers were some of the measures designed by the government to improve the country's cocoa production. He said the government's support for the cocoa sector was not a political ploy to win votes in the next general elections as the opposition was alleging. Mr Aidoo said the National Democratic Congress (NDC) was calling on the government to increase the producer price of cocoa by 75 percent by the year 2004 due to an agreement the previous government signed with the World Bank to steadily increase the producer price of cocoa by 70 percent by the year 2004.

Mr Aidoo said the NPP government had so far increased the producer price of cocoa by 69 percent and hopes to achieve the 70 percent target next year. He said the country's annual cocoa production was about 280 metric tonnes when the government came to power but this had increased to 430 metric tonnes. Mr Aidoo said this was expected to further increase to 500 metric tonnes by next year. He said efforts were far advanced to establish a housing scheme for cocoa farmers and other categories of farmers.

Mr Aidoo said products and students of building technology of the Takoradi Polytechnic would be involved in the mass production of houses especially in the cocoa producing areas. He announced the Agona-Nkwanta-Tarkwa road had been awarded to Taysec Construction Company and work was expected to begin at the end of the month after sod cutting ceremony by the President. Other speakers at the forum included Madam Sophia Horner-Sam, Deputy Regional Minister, Mr Mustapha Hamid, National Youth Organiser and Miss Abena Kwallah, Regional Women Organiser of the NPP.