Print Media Monitoring for 9th September

DAILY GRAPHIC – TUESDAY, 9TH SEPTEMBER, 2003

1. FRAUD HITS SSB AGAIN…SUSPECT BEFORE COURT – PGS. 1 & 3
According to the paper, barely four days after an Information Technology (IT) specialist of the SSB Bank Limited, Bernard Ofori, was put before court for allegedly manipulating the bank’s software to steal ?1.4 billion, another staff, also an IT systems analyst, has been nabbed for a similar offence involving ?1.1 billion, Cephas Asuo, the second culprit is said to have committed the offence between November and December, 2002 by illegally altering the credit balances of customers’ bank statements.

2. “CHECK NEGATIVE ASPECT OF TOURISM” – PG. 1
The most Rev. Peter Appiah Turkson, President of the Ghana Catholic Bishops Conference, has observed that although the tourism industry was one of the most viable and highest foreign exchange earners for the country, it could do more harm than good if its negative aspect was not well checked by the government.

He said this could affect the country’s economic and the moral lives of the people if not well packaged

He was addressing the national delegates congress of members of the Saint Anthony’s Guild of the Catholic Church at Ho.

He urged the government to provide the necessary logistics for the police and other security agencies, especially the Immigration Service, to closely monitor expatriates before allowing them into the country.

3. CHANGES AT PRISONS, FIRE SERVCE – PG. 16.
According to the paper, the Director General of the Ghana Prisons Service, Mr. Richard Kuuire, is transferred to the Ministry of the Interior as an advisor. Mr. William K. Asiedu, director, has been appointed acting Director-General. The Chief Fire Officer, Mr. Elias Adabianu has also been transferred to the same Ministry as an advisor.

Mr. E.A. Atenga, Deputy Chief Fire Officer, has been appointed Acting Chief Fire Officer. This was contained in an Official statement issued by the Interior Ministry, and signed, by Mr. Hackman Owusu Agyeman, The Sector Minister.

4. PRESIDENT RECEIVES NEW ECOMIL COMMANDER – PG. 16
President Kufuor has received the newly appointed commander of the ECOWAS Mission in Cote d’Ivoire (ECOMIL), Lt. Gen Abdulai Fall at the Castle, Osu, in Accra.

He replaces Lt. Gen Kalilu Fall, also of Senegal, who has been appointed as the new Senegalese Chief of the Defence Staff.

The new commander, accompanied by the outgoing commander, was introduced to President Kufuor by the ECOWAS Special Envoy to Cote d’Ivoire, Mr. Raph Uwechue.

THE GHANAIAN TIMES – TUESDAY, 9TH SEPTEMBER, 2003

1. N.H.I.S. WIDENS …HERBALISTS, OTHERS TO BE LICENSED FOR PROGRAMME – PGS. 1 & 3
The paper reports that, the Traditional and Alternative Medicine Practice (TAMP) Directorate of the Ministry of Health is to screen and give accreditation to traditional medicine practitioners who will operate under the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS).

To end this a database of reputable and standardized practitioners will be created and a legal and reputable framework established.

Mr. Peter Arhin, acting Director of the Directorate, announced this at Koforidua at the end of the Fourth Traditional Medicine Week.

According to him, the programme would also help facilitate the integration of herbal and orthodox medical practice in the health delivery system to complement each other through cross referral of cases for improved health delivery for the people.

2. KNUST ENGINEERS CLOSE TO BREAK THROUGH IN AGRIC – PG. 3
The Department of Mechanical Engineering of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) has initiated a programme to manufacture less expensive solar dryers for the agricultural sector. The dryers, to be outdoored very soon, are designed to assist farmers to dry their produce, especially the perishable crops and thus minimize the country’s high rate of post-harvest losses.

According to the “Technocrat,” the latest Science and Technology magazine of the KNUST, the new technology would enable farmers to obtain better prices for their produce and help to achieve the objectives of some of the President’s Special Initiatives.

The department has also designed and produced a solar lamp for use mainly in the rural parts of the country.

3. SPACEFON HITS BACK AT GT – PG. 8
According to the paper, Mr. Ahmad Farroukh, managing Director of Scancom Limited, operators of Spacefon mobile phone network, has accused Ghana Telecom of using unconventional methods and uncompetitive practices to press for increase in interconnect call rates from its fixed line to mobile phones.

“It is no secret that for the last four days GT has been depriving its customers of this right by suppressing traffic flowing from its network to Spacefon and is continuously frustrating Spacefon customers by deriving them of their right to receive calls.

“By now, the reasons behind such practice are well known and need no explanation, especially, when calls from GT fixed to their mobile one touch do not face such problems,” he said,

He was addressing a news conference in Accra.

According to him, for the last three months GT had through the media, and with the aim of deceiving the public, presented some wrong and irrelevant information attacking Spacefon and blaming it for all GT’s problems.

THE INDEPENDENT – TUESDAY, 9TH SEPTEMBER, 2003

1. YA-NA TO BE BURIED NEXT MONTH SOD CUTTING FOR TEMPORARY PALACE TOMORROW – PG. 1 & BK. PG.
An impeachable source, with corroboration from the Northern Regional Minister, Mr. Ernest Debrah, has disclosed to the paper, that barring any unforeseen hitch, the mortal remains of the King of Dagbon, Ya-Na Yakubu Andani, is expected to be buried next month.

According to the paper, signals picked from interactions with the Northern Regional Minister, however, suggest that the burial of the late King, might be in the last week of October.

This is because the construction of the temporary palace, which is expected to be the internment place of the late Ya-Naa, is expected to take one month.

DAILY GUIDE – TUESDAY, 9TH SEPTEMBER, 2003

1. 38 POLICE CARS DAMAGED – PG. 1

The paper reports that, 38 out of over 600 vehicles acquired for the Ghana Police Service by the government recently, have been damaged through major and minor motor accidents.

ASP David Eklu, Public Relations Director of the service, confirmed this in an interview in Accra.

He explained that all but two of the vehicles have been repaired and are back on the road.

He indicated that the accidents were the results of highway and high speed chase of suspects in the country.

He noted that in one of the accidents, a suspect who was being conveyed to a police station broke the glass in an attempt to abscond, but was apprehended after the vehicle crashed.

According to him, seven drivers were interdicted and investigations were conducted into their performance as drivers of the Service.

They have since been re-instated, but have since been suspended from driving until further notice.

GHANA PALAVER – TUESDAY, 9TH SEPTEMBER, 2003

1. KUFUOR BREAKS ALL –TIME RECORD! – HIS “SECRET” TRIP TO MOROCCO IS THE 71ST IN 30 MONTHS! – PGS. 1 & 6
The paper reports that, President Kufuor sneaked out of town and headed for Morocco two Fridays ago, in order to avoid the Kumasi “Kafuo Didi March for Survival.”

According to the paper, it was totally useless and unproductive private visit of the President, and raised questions for which the people demand answers.

The paper states further that, the complaint now is that the President’s foreign trips are now one too many and have become legendary.

2. DEPUTY INFORMATION MINISTER JOINS THE LIARS – PGS. 1 & 8
The paper says, Deputy Minister of Information, Mr. Asamoah-Boateng, last week joined the growing list of NPP front line liars which already includes President Kufuor (the SSNIT deductions for the NHIS is a loan), Vice –President Aliu Mahama (the Farmers’ Market is not meant to displace Market queens), Finance Minister Yaw Osafo-Maafo (the Budget GETFund figures are fake) and his own Minister Nana Akomea (GETFund collections began in June 2000).

According to the paper, on TV3’s “Asem Sebe” programme, the Deputy Minister gloated over the NPP Government’s alleged success in securing a $30 million loan from the Africa Project Development Facility (APDF) of the IFC to support Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (SMEs), as reported in the Daily Graphic.

THE STATESMAN – TUESDAY, 9TH SEPTEMBER, 2003

KAFO DIDI ? LA NDC DOE ADJAHO KEEPS TWO OFFICIAL HOUSES – PG. 1
According to the paper, Mr. Edward Korbly Doe Adjaho, the Minority Chief Whip and MP for Avenor, has been keeping two official houses.

It stated that, the NDC top man has kept a plush holiday resort, on the account of the State, virtually on the quiet, since 1997. His official residence, as a Parliamentary frontbencher, is on the posh estate near the BNI headquarters, Ridge, Accra, where he lives with his family.

He is also holding on to the keys of House No. B2 Jogis Estate, near the exclusive Trassaco Valley, East Legon.

According to the paper, for a while, he gave the use of that state property to a friend of his, Fred Nutsugah, an Assistant Clerk of Parliament.

But, when Nutsugah left for Canada to pursue an academic course, Doe Adjaho refused to return the East Legon property to the State, using it instead, sparingly, as his holiday base.

THE GHANAIAN CHRONICLE – TUESDAY, 9TH SEPTEMBER, 2003

1. GENETICALLY MODIFIED FOODS ….. GHANA IN A FIX…AS AMERICA, EUROPE TAKE OPPOSING STANDS – PGS. 1 & 3
As the transatlantic dispute over the acceptability of the Genetically Modified (GM) organisms and foods to reduce poverty and hunger in the world hots up, Ghana is torn between siding with the United States, which is promoting it and the European Union (EU), which is against it.

According to the paper, the Scientific Secretary of the Food Research Institute of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), Mr. Robert Yawson, says the country will gain a lot rather than lose in terms of food security if she should embrace GM organisms and foods.

Speaking to the paper, Mr. Yawson, said Ghana’s acceptance of the new technology would reduce poverty and hunger, especially in the Northern part of the country “these foods are very nutritious in terms of vitamins and other ingredients and could withstand pests and other crop diseases.

2. NDC “ FIRE – EATER’ ROCKS NPP – SAYS SUPPORT BASE IS SLIPPING – PGS. 1 & 3
The paper reports that the popularity of the NPP among the electorate had slumped to a record low of 31% from 41% over a period of six months.

This was disclosed by Nana Alex Asamoah, Western Regional Chairman of NDC when he addressed a general meeting of the Effia-Kwesimintsim Constituency of the party in Takoradi during which a new party membership card was launched.

According to the paper, he said the first research, on the popularity of the ruling NPP and the leading opposition party NDC, conducted by the government’s own intelligence network six months ago, the former polled 41% and the later, 42 %.

He states further that he has documentary evidence of the results of the research that he described as “very authentic”.

THE ACCRA DAILY MAIL – TUESDAY, 9TH SEPTEMBER, 2003

AN ADM OPINION …. AFTER THE NDC “DEMO” – PGS. 1 & 7
According to paper’s editorial, the question can be legitimately posed as to why a political party in a functioning democracy would resort to street demonstrations on run-of-the-mill issues of governance.

NDC has adopted street demonstrations as the favoured tool of contributing to the debate on national issues instead of relying on its considerable Parliamentary presence.

According to the paper, the party’s two demonstrations in Accra and Kumasi went well in that, government and security agencies never placed any impediment in its way and supporters of the NPP also stayed away so there were no clashes.

The demonstrations, the paper says, have gone to underscore the fact that Ghana is indeed enjoying the fruits of democracy with all the guaranteed freedoms and NPP is making a good name for itself by entrenching those values with its policy of tolerance for dissent.