Monitor hits newsstands

"The Monitor", a weekly newspaper to promote the development aspirations of the Western and Central regions, has been launched in Takoradi.

The eight-page weekly with a cover price of 1,000 cedis would hit the newsstands on Mondays and would focus on agriculture, politics, education, business, sports, entertainment and health issues.

Launching it, Mr. Muniru Arafat, Cape Coast Municipal Chief Executive, stressed the importance of the media in the shaping the character and opinion of the people, especially the youth, and urged editors of the paper to live up to expectation by highlighting the problems as well as the achievement of the people of the two regions.

The Western Region, he said, produces the bulk of the country's cocoa, timber and minerals yet it is the least developed. ''I appeal, therefore, to the paper to become the mouthpiece of the region in calling for its fair share of the national wealth.''

Nana Kobina Nketsia, Omanhene of Essikadu, said the appearance of "the Monitor" on the newsstand is an answer to the many calls for such a medium to serve as the mouthpiece of the regions. He appealed to the paper to "feed the people with the right information to enable them to make the right decisions".

Awulae Annor Adjaye the 111, Omanhene of Western Nzema Traditional Area, said, ''development, unity among the people, foreign investment and the welfare of the people, should be the priority of the paper''.

He called on the reading public to patronise the paper to make it financially viable in view of the high cost of newspaper production. Mr Kwesi Mould, a seasoned journalist is the editor of the paper with Mr J. Ahinful-Mensah, as associate editor. The first four copies of the newspaper were sold for two million cedis.