Print Press Review For 15 October

THE DAILY GRAPHIC – WEDNESDAY, 15TH OCTOBER, 2003

1. MIN TO ABSORB FEE INCREASE FOR SENIOR SECONDARY SCHOOLS – PGS. 1 & 3

According to the paper, Cabinet has directed that the increases in fees for SSS should be absorbed by the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning.

The decision followed a request by the Ghana Education Service (GES) for upward adjustment in the payment of school fees.

Official statement issued by the Information Ministry, said the fees had been adjusted from ?1,589,000 per academic year or ?529,000 per term to ?1,672,000 per academic year or ?557,333 per term.

According to the paper, parents, would therefore pay last year’s rate of ?1,279,000 as government’s subsidy rises from ?310,000 per student per year to ?394,000 per student per year.

It said the Cabinet had also taken notice of the various ancillary charges that had tended to swell up the total fees structure of the SSS.

A sub-committee has, therefore, been set up to undertake a review of these fees and charges in order to rationalise them so they do not become an unnecessary burden on parents.

2. SUPREME COURT DISMISSES YANKEY’S BAIL APPLICATION – PG. 3

The paper reports that, the Supreme Court yesterday dismissed an application for bail by George Sipah Yankey, a former Director of the Legal Sector, Private and Financial Institutions Division of the Ministry of Finance, who was convicted for causing financial loss to the state in the Quality Grains Company Saga.

Yankey had filed the application together with Kwame Peprah, a former Minister for Finance, pending the outcome of an appeal against their conviction at the Court of Appeal. The five-member panel, presided over by Mr. Justice William Atugubah, unanimously dismissed the application on the grounds that it lacked merit.

3. GERMAN EMBASSY ANNOUNCES CLOSURE OF VISA SECTION – PG. 21

According to the paper, the Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany, has announced that the Visa section will be closed on October 23-24, 2003, for the installation of a new IT system.

It said, in the following week business may also be restricted until the new system is fully operational.

A statement issued in Accra, said once the new system had been implemented, the embassy would issue new Schengen visa stickers containing a (Passport size) photograph of the bearer of the passport.

During the transitional period both the old and new visa stickers will be used and should be accepted by the immigration authorities.

It said there would also be a change concerning the payment of visa fees.

THE GHANAIAN TIMES – WEDNESDAY, 15TH OCTOBER, 2003

1. SSNIT LOAN MUST COVER DISTANCE EDUCATION – GNAT – PG. 1

The paper reports that, GNAT has asked the government to consider extending the students loan scheme to cover teachers pursuing degree or diploma programmes through the distance education programme while still in the classroom.

It explained that although the government wanted a lot of teachers to pursue the long distance programme, the cost involved was deterring a lot of them from participating.

Mrs. Iren Adanusa, General Secretary of GNAT, announced this in an interview with the GNA in Kumasi.

She mentioned the cost of books and logistics as well as transportation from one campus to the other, as major constraints discouraging people from taking part in the programme.

2. CASH LOST AT ACCIDENT SPOT ….IGP ORDERS INVESTIGATION – PGS. 1 & 3

According to the paper, the Inspector-General of Police, Nana Owusu Nsiah, has directed the Police Monitoring and Inspection Unit (MIU) and CID to take over investigations into an allegation that the Winneba Police have stolen ?42.5 million belonging to an accident victim.

The allegation was made by the children of British couple, Mr. & Mrs. Purgy Rendon Dennis, who died in a motor accident on the Accra-Mankessim road.

They claimed that the police had refused to release foreign currencies and other items found on the deceased at the time of the accident on September 5, 2003.

The two children also accused the police of dragging their feet and frustrating them in their quest for justice.

3. GHANA, TOGO UNITE AGAINST CHILD LABOUR – PG. 3

Ghana and Togo are collaborating in efforts to deal with the problem of child labour, which is said to be assuming alarming proportions in the two countries.

According to the paper, yesterday, participants from the two countries began a two-day workshop to brainstorm on the way forward.

The workshop, organised by the Ghana NGO Coalition on the Right of the Child (GNCRC) was to assess the work, civil societies and government in the West African sub-region had done on the problem.

Mrs. Angela Ofori-Attah, Deputy Minister for Manpower Development and Employment gave the keynote address.

THE ACCRA DAILY MAIL – WEDNESDAY, 15TH OCTOBER, 2003

1. LIBERIA’S NEW LIFE…AS KUFUOR PRESIDES OVER “REBIRTH” AND CHARLES TAYLOR’S WIFE DROPPED IN – PGS. 1 & 3

The paper reports that, President Kufuor and his colleague African Leaders, UN Officials and observers from the International Community yesterday witnessed another promising stage in Liberia’s reconstruction process as the new National Transitional Government of Liberia under Charles Gyude Bryant was sworn in.

He was joined by AU Chairman Alpha Konare, President Olusegun Obasanjo and President Thabo Mbeki in Monrovia to welcome the power-sharing government of Gyude Bryant as it took over from the Interim President Moses Zeh Blah who took over from former President Charles Taylor two months ago.

The wife of former President Charles Taylor, Jewel, travelled from Nigeria to attend the ceremony.

THE STATESMAN – WEDNESDAY, 15TH OCTOBER, 2003

TONY AIDOO DEPORTED FROM UK – PG. 1 & BK. PG.

According to the paper, reliable information from Britain’s immigration department, Lunar House, in Croydon, Surrey, is that Dr. Tony Aidoo was recently deported from the country.

The former NDC Deputy Minister for Defence had ostensibly travelled to the United Kingdom to pursue an academic programme in law.

But, he was instructed to leave the British Isles because he had overstayed his visa.

According to the paper, his Ghanaian passport bears the stamp-print of his deportation order.

DAILY GUIDE – WEDNESDAY, 15TH OCTOBER, 2003

I SHALL BEAT NPP WELL WELL - E.T. MENSAH – BK. PG.

The paper reports that, the Member of Parliament (MP) for Ningo/Prampram, Hon. Enoch Teye Mensah, has sent a carefully measured warning to his political opponents to keep off the Ningo/Prampram constituency seat because it is there for his taking once again.

In an exclusive interview with the paper, Hon. E. T. Mensah, who is also former Minister for Youth and Sports, remarked that it is not enough for people to say they are going to take the Ningo/Prampram seat from him without first appraising themselves of the reasons why the constituency has voted on three consecutive occasions since 1992 to elect him as an MP for the area.

THE DAILY DISPATCH – WEDNESDAY, 15TH OCTOBER, 2003

KUFUOR, PLEASE OPEN YOUR EYES, ELSE … - PG. 1 & BK. PG.

The paper says “JAK will have to open his eyes wider than usual, else he will also bare his teeth, whenever he leaves office”.

According to the paper, there are two things that Messrs Kwame Nkrumah, J. A. Ankrah, A. A. Afrifa, K. A. Busia, I K Acheampong, Fred Akuffo, Jerry Rawlings and Hilla Limann had in common. One is obvious, they were all former Heads of state. The other is that they left office and they realized how they had been misled, deceived, deliberately by people they trusted.

This second common trait, the paper says is what the current President Kufuor, is facing.

THE EVENING NEWS – TUESDAY, 14TH OCTOBER, 2003

17 EX-DCEs FOR COURT …. THIS WEEK – PG. 1

The paper reports that, the Attorney-General’s Department has completed investigations into alleged malfeasance of 17 District Chief Executives (DCEs) in the NDC regime.

They will be prosecuted this week. Captain Nkrabea Effah-Dartey (Rtd), Deputy Minister for Local Government and Rural Development, disclosed this at Jasikan in the Volta Region.

He confirmed that all the 17 ex-DCEs had been found to have mismanaged state funds and would face the full rigours of the law.

He cautioned DCEs not to be complacent and that the government would not hesitate to dismiss and prosecute any DCE who engages in malfeasance.

THE GHANAIAN CHRONICLE – WEDNESDAY, 15TH OCTOBER, 2003

1. JJ’S PAL TO SUE GOV’T … ODINGA ODINGA HEADS FOR AN INTERNATIONAL COURT … TALKS ABOUT MENTAL TORTURE DURING DETENTION – PG. 1 & BK. PG.

The paper reports that Odinga Odinga Lumumba, the 60-year-old Belizean pal of Ex-President Rawlings who headed the 1981 rebellion against the Heads of agreement in Belize but was deported late January this year by the government has told his countrymen that he plans to sue the Government of Ghana at an international court for violating his human rights and keeping him as a political prisoner for 18 months.

According to the paper, in a combination of security reports and exclusive interviews the Ex-President told his countrymen that it was because Odinga had been involved with him that he was imprisoned on framed up allegations that he planned to help oust President Kufuor.

2. DOC WARNS ON MENTAL HEALTH DELIVERY – PG. 1 & BK. PG.

The Chief Psychiatrist of the Ministry of Health has warned that Ghana Stands the risk of losing her psychiatry specialists and nurses “if we do not declare mental health, a hazardous and priority area”.

Speaking at the launch of the world Mental Health day, under the theme: “Emotional and Behavioral Disorders of children and adolescents”, Dr. J. B. Asare said the stigma attached to mental illness and psychiatric practice has affected recruitment to the point that the nation is having problems of getting doctors to specialize and also said mental health delivery system in Ghana is in crisis.