Mills reacts to Kufuor statements

The National Democratic Congress (NDC) Administration left a lasting legacy for the New Patriotic Party (NPP) to build on, Professor John Evans Atta Mills, NDC Presidential candidate for Election 2008 said on Monday.Prof. Mills was reacting to statements attributed to President John Agyekum Kufuor at the People's Assembly held recently at Sunyani.

He said the peaceful transfer of power from NDC to NPP was something that should be extolled and for which President Kufuor should be grateful.Prof Mills said the mere fact that the NPP Government found money to pay Public and Civil Servants at the end of the month in which it assumed power belied the often made assertion that the NPP Government inherited empty coffers.Prof Mills cited extracts from the NPP Government's 2001 Budget Statement in which the loans that the NDC Government contracted in 2000 were made available to the NPP Government to use saying, the NPP's 2004 Campaign Document: "So Far, so Very Good" showed the projects that the NPP Government executed with the NDC contracted loans.

He said the NDC made huge investments in road construction; in the extension of electricity to all district capitals; in upgrading and establishment of polytechnics in all the 10 regions and two new public universities; in the construction of modern hospitals at Cape Coast, Ho and Sunyani as well as the construction of Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) estates all over the country.

Former Vice President Mills cited the establishment of District Assemblies' Common Fund (DACF); Ghana Education Trust Fund and the Energy Fund among other funds, as concrete evidence of the huge legacy NDC left for the NPP Administration.

He called on President Kufuor to find a way of investigating and reprimanding his appointees, who were perceived to be corrupt, and to stop saying that people should rather provide him with evidence of corruption against them.
Source:GNA

Ga Mantse Funeral---Photo Account

Commercial activities halt as Ga Traditional Area mourns Overlord

Commercial activities came to a standstill in the Accra Metropolis on Saturday as the Ga Traditional Area was mourning their Overlord, Boni Nii Amugi II, who died two years ago. A survey conducted by the Ghana News Agency at Dansoman, Kaneshie, Teshie, Osu, Adabraka and the Central Business District of Accra revealed that almost all shops, markets and drinking spots had been closed, while the normal human and vehicular traffic was absent.



Kwame Abotsi, a driver at the Accra-Tema Station bus terminal said the funeral had affected his business. “I have not made any money today and this is not normal on a Saturday,” he said. Most passengers at the terminal said it took a long time before the “trotro” commuter buses got full to transport them to their destinations. One Emmanuel Fletcher, a retired Civil Servant, said the quietness in Accra on Saturday was not only enjoyable but showed the great respect the people had for Nii Amugi, whose reign was very peaceful.





Some shop owners in the Central Business District, who were interviewed by the GNA in front of their closed shops, said although they were counting their financial losses, it was also good they did not engage in any commercial activity to give an opportunity for criminals to come and loot their goods. Naa Aduquaye, a drinking bar operator at Osu, said she hoped business would pick up in the night so that she could make some money for the day.GNA

Black Stars World Cup Account - Financial Disaster

The Black Stars' sensational World Cup campaign, from the qualification series to the final showdown in Germany, has left in its trail a huge financial disaster.

Beyond the glamour and the fame engendered during the tournament was a huge loss of nearly ¢40 billion purported to have been committed into efforts qualifying for the tournament and participation in Germany 2006.

At a GFA Executive Committee meeting in Accra recently, it was revealed that Ghana's qualification and participation cost the goverment in excess of ¢63 billion.
Graphic Sports investigations have, however, revealed that out of the $4.5 million that FIFA paid to the GFA, $2.5 million had been paid to the Ministry of Education, Science and Sports, with the FA itself settling for an amount of $1.6 million.

The remaining $400,000 allegedly went into the payment of bonuses for the players and officials.
FIFA's own regulations governing the World Cup stipulate that the financial largesse it makes available to participating nations as appearance fees should be paid back to the authorities that commit funds for ensuring qualification and participation, to enable them plough back their funds.

Thus, in Africa where Football Associations are impoverished, the governments which often take the responsibility of sponsoring national teams for their World Cup campaigns largely become the ultimate beneficiaries of FIFA�s world cup appearance fees.Ghana's qualification and appearance at the second round earned the FA a total of 5.5million euros about ($6 million).But out of the amount FIFA made deductions to cover expenses for the upkeep of the contingent whilst in Germany and fines which, sources revealed, came up to a frightening $12,000.

Apart from several yellow cards attracted by the Stars during the tournament, the red card attracted by Asamoah Gyan in the match against the Czech Republic, and the expulsion of Coach Ratomir Dujkovic in the Stars-Brazil game during recess, were said to have contributed immensely to the huge fines.The GFA, according to official sources, entered into an agreement with the Ministry of Education and Sports to pay back all government pre-finances from what it would earn from FIFA.And true to that the FA paid the $2.5million to the Sports Ministry after what sources described as an intense haggle.

Meanwhile, sources at the Executive Committee of the F A claim that after nearly six months after the World Cup, the Executive Committee is yet to be furnished with the financial details of the campaign, resulting in some discordant voices being heard at their last meeting over the disbursment of the funds that accrued from the World Cup without the committee's approval.

The Committee is also said to be demanding full income and expenditure accounts of all monies contributed by corporate institutions, those earned from pre and post- World Cup international friendly matches of the Black Stars and total expenditure on bonuses during the World Cup.But the Emergency Committee of the FA, according to authentic sources assured that an audited account would soon be presented as soon as the auditors completed their work.
Source:Graphic