Print Media Preview For October 6

THE DAILY GRAPHIC – TUESDAY, 7TH OCTOBER, 2003

1. WE’LL MAKE POSTINGS ATTRACTIVE …VICE-PRESIDENT ASSURES TEACHERS – PGS. 1 & 3

Alhaji Aliu Mahama, Vice-President, has said that the government was making frantic efforts to extend electricity and potable water to rural communities and construct houses there to attract teachers there to work.

According to him, the issue of teachers refusing postings to the rural areas was becoming critical and urged the GNAT to collaborate with the GES to resolve the problem.

He was addressing this year’s National Teachers Awards Day in Kumasi.

It was the ninth awards day since the programme was instituted to honour hardworking teachers.

Mr. Solomon Grantson of Anhwiaa Anglican Primary School in the Western Region, who was adjudged the overall best teacher for the year 2002, received a cheque for ?220 million to put up a house.

The runner-up and the third best received Saloon cars with a year’s comprehensive insurance from the SIC as their prizes.

2. POTAG STRIKE ACTION AVERTED – PGS. 1 & 3

According to the paper, the intended strike action by the Polytechnic Teachers Association of Ghana (POTAG), which should have begun yesterday, had been called off following government’s approval of a new salary structure for the polytechnic lecturers.

The new pay structure, which was announced by the Sector Minister, Mr. Kwadwo Baah-Wiredu in Koforidua, however calmed down tempers on the various polytechnic campuses throughout the country.

According to the paper, the Accra Polytechnic branch of POTAG had lauded the government for approving a new salary structure for the lecturers.

3. FOURTEEN UNIONS BREAK AWAY FROM ICU – PG. 3

The paper reports that, fourteen unions from the financial, commercial and industrial and Commercial Union (ICU) of the TUC have been presented with their bargaining certificate as a new labour union under the name, the Union of Industry, Commerce and Finance Workers (UNICOF).

The member unions are the Ghana Commercial Bank (GCB), SIC, GHACEM, VALCO, Stanchart, Merchant Bank and Reiss and Co.

The rest are: Pens and plastics, Ghana Union Assurance, Ghana Air Pilot Association, ADB and Silver Star Automobile Company.

4. GHANA POST ANNOUNCES NEW RATES – PG. 16

The Management of Ghana Post Company Limited has announced new rates and charges for its products with effect from October 6, 2003.

The basic rate inland postage which formerly cost ?1,000 will now cost ?2,000 while letters going to any part of Africa will now move from ?2,000 to ?4,000.

Letters meant for Europe, America and the rest of the world will now cost ?5,000 instead of ?3,500.

The cost of an aerogramme meant for any part of the world is now ?2,000 instead of ?1,200.

On private letter boxes the rental for a small letter box for individuals has moved up from ?40,000 to ?60,000 per annum.

THE GHANAIAN TIMES – TUESDAY, 7TH OCTOBER, 2003

1. GAEC DENIES NEWSPAPER REPORT – PG. 1

Ghana has denied a publication in the “ Texas Globe”, a newspaper in the US, that its nuclear reactor can manufacture nuclear bombs.

According to Prof. Edmund Osae, acting Director General of the Ghana Atomic Energy Commission (GAEC), the country’s nuclear reactor “does not have the capacity to manufacture nuclear weapons.”

He maintained that the 30-Kilowatt nuclear reactor containing less than one Kilo gramme of uranium was specially constructed for peaceful purposes and was not designed for the manufacture of weapons.

The “Texas Globe” last month, published an article stating that Ghana was among 14 countries whose reactors could produce nuclear bombs.

Prof. Osae noted that the IAEA conducted inspections of the reactor every year and officials of the Agency had no cause to complain about the purposes for which it was being used.

2. PRESIDENT ARRIVES SAFELY – PG. 3

President Kufuor yesterday arrived home after leading a delegation to New York for the 58th Session of the UN General Assembly. He later proceeded to Tokyo, Japan, for the Tokyo International Conference for African Development (TICAD lll).

At the airport to welcome him was Alhaji Aliu Mahama, the Vice-President, Ministers of State and other top ranking government officials and diplomats.

On the President’s entourage were Foreign Minister, Nana Akufo-Addo and Finance Minister, Yaw Osafo-Maafo.

3. THE BLIND PETITION PARLIAMENT – PG. 3

According to the paper, the Ghana Association of the Blind (GAB) has asked Parliament to speed up the passage of the bill for the blind to clearly specify how they are to be cared for in the country.

The association lamented that the blind were being discriminated against because other bills on women and children had been passed while nothing was being done about the needs of the blind.

Mr. Frederick Ofosu, project co-ordinator of the association, was speaking in an interview with the paper in Accra.

GHANA PALAVER – TUESDAY, 7TH OCTOBER, 2003

1. NPP PLANS TO RIG 2004 POLLS – PGS. 1 & 5

The paper says, with defeat staring in the face, the NPP has laid a plan on table, to rig the 2004 elections.

According to the paper, the rigging plan is in two phases and the phase one plan is to destroy the independence and integrity of the Electoral Commission.

“However, unlike previous years when the Electoral Commission itself, decided to compile a new voters’ Register for 2004 elections, Kufuor’s NPP Government decided that in their time, they were going to issue National Identification Cards out of which the voters’ Register was to be extracted.”

NATIONAL DEMOCRAT – TUESDAY, 7TH OCTOBER, 2003

1. NPP GOV’T IS 419 GOV’T – PGS. 1 & 3

The paper has described the NPP Government as the worst Ghanaian government in the country and a big fraud.

“Like the infamous 419 scam, this government has deceived many Ghanaians with sweet promises only to leave them weeping and gnashing their teeth.”

This comments according to the paper was made by a political activities, Kwaku Nimo of Akuse during a seminar held by the New Democrats club under the theme “A new vision for Ghana.”

Mr. Nimo, the president of the club, told participants that the NPP has failed to honour even one of its promises.

2. THE DEPUTY MINISTER’S SECRET LOVER – PGS. 1 & 3

In spite of the fact that the Deputy Minister of Information, Asamoah Boateng, has denied that he has a girlfriend, the paper says it can authoritatively report that he has another woman in his life besides his wife.

According to the paper, the Deputy Minister says he uses his own car for official duties and has not been paid for the past five months, as such it is difficult to understand why the Deputy Minister gave a young 19 year old girl a ?200m BMW car.

The paper states further that, it has credible reports that indicate that a vast majority of the Ministers in the current government are living far above their means and are engaging in extra marital affairs.

THE EVENING NEWS – MONDAY, 6TH OCTOBER, 2003

1. POVERTY ALLEVIATION FUND SUSPENDED …BOLGATANGA ASSEMBLY ANGRY – PG. 1

According to the paper, the Bolgatanga Municipal Assembly has suspended indefinitely the disbursement of the poverty alleviation fund because of the poor recovery rate.

Mr. Rockson Ayine Bukari, Municipal Chief Executive, disclosed this at the Third Ordinary Meeting of the Fourth Session of the Assembly at Bolgatanga.

He was not happy that the assembly after disbursing ?989,657 million cedis out of the over one billion cedis set aside for poverty alleviation, only 29 million cedis has so far been recovered.

According to him, the poor recovery rate had made assembly suspend the disbursement of the remaining ?374,475,548 million, which is currently sitting in the accounts of the fund.

2. CONTRACTOR, MINISTRY IN TUSSLE OVER DEBT – PG. 1

The paper reports that, a Kumasi-based construction firm, T and K Enterprise Limited, had accused the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of unjustifiably withholding the payment of ?185 million to the company for works executed on the Accra International Conference Centre.

Mr. Thomas Kwabena Braimah, Managing Director of the company, claimed that though the cheque for the money was ready, Mr. Osei Adjei, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, and some officials of the ministry were reluctant to release it to his company.

He said the action of the Deputy Minister and the officials stemmed from a claim by Mrs. Ohemeng, wife of Dr. Ohemeng, chairman of the Chicago (USA) branch of the NPP to the effect that he (Braimah) was indebted to her and that the cheque should not be given to him.

Mrs. Ohemeng, according to Mr. Braimah, had specifically requested the Deputy Minister to ensure that the cheque was not release to him until she arrived from Chicago within the next few weeks.

THE INDEPENDENT – TUESDAY, 7TH OCTOBER, 2003

1. MINISTER ACCUSED OVER ADA SALT – PG. 1 & BK. PG.

The paper says, Mines Minister, Mrs Cecilia Bannerman, has expressed shock that her Ministry’s step to settle the impasse in the Ada Songor salt project has been viewed as an attempt to divide the various clans in the Ada area.

According to the paper, the Mines Minister has also debunked suggestions of the creation of disunity by her ministry of the people of Ada in the Ada salt project Saga, in order to obtain the upper hand and derive maximum benefit from the project.

Reacting to a statement delivered by chairman of the Ada Traditional Council, Nene Abram Akuaku, Mrs. Bannerman explained to the council at Ada that her granting of audience to stakeholders in the Salt project at her office at separate times “was an invitation to dialogue” in order to come up with a lasting solution to the problem in Ada.

She pleaded to all four clans of the Ada area to take government in good faith, calling for unity “to develop something to benefit everyone.”