Ghanaians Mark Africa Union Day Off Work

The Ministry of the Interior on Thursday reminded the public that, Friday, May 25 is Africa Union Day and a statutory public holiday.

A statement from the Ministry signed by the Minister, Mr Albert Kan Dappah said the holiday should be observed throughout the country.

Freedom of Information law could be expensive if not well-managed

The Freedom of Information Law could prove to be very expensive, if not well-managed, President John Agyekum Kufuor, cautioned in Accra on Wednesday. He said the Government would therefore ensure that adequate ground work had been done before its passage. The Attorney-General, he said, was working out the time-table, the Government needed, to be ready with the law.

President Kufuor was interacting with delegates to the 41st Ordinary Session of the African Commission on Human and People’s Rights at the Castle, Osu. Made up of Human Rights Commissioners of African Union (AU) and representatives of Non-Governmental and Civil Society Organisations, they are in Accra to deliberate on human rights issues confronting the Continent. President Kufuor spoke of the Government’s determination to put in place the necessary institutions and laws to protect the rights of the people, citing the landmark Domestic Violence Law and the repeal of the offensive Criminal Libel Law.

Without respect for human rights, governance cannot be said to be good and this could hamper investment inflows, he added. President Kufuor, who is the Chairman of the AU, said liberated Africa must therefore uphold people’s rights, which “is the basis of democracy.” He counselled that with the opening up of the world, it was important for the Commission to help deepen the awareness of African societies to the dangers that could arise out of the pursuit of sectional rights.

He noted that, the violation of the rights of minority groups, had been the major cause of most of the friction and conflicts on the Continent and said such pitfalls must be avoided. Mrs Salamatta Sawadogo, Chairperson of the Commission and leader of the delegation, praised President Kufuor for his keen interest in the work of the Commission and said; “We know we can depend on your support to implement the mandate given to us.” She said the decision to hold the Session in Accra was taken to share with Ghana the joy of the 50 years of political independence.GNA

Kufuor's meeting with Kadhafi dispel rumour

Ghana and Libya have pledged greater economic co-operation for their mutual benefit with Libya expressing interest in investing in palm and rubber plantations in Ghana. Consequently, the Ghana/Libya Joint Commission for Co-operation would be meeting in June this year in Libya.This was the outcome of bilateral talks between President John Agyekum Kufuor and the Libyan Leader, Colonel Muammar Gaddafi, in Tripoli on Monday.

President Kufuor, accompanied by some senior government officials, was in Tripoli for a day's official visit at the invitation of the Libyan Leader.Mr Andrew Awuni, the Press Secretary and Presidential Spokesperson, told newsmen accompanying the President that the two Heads of State used their meeting, which lasted for over one hour, to discuss co-operation in energy, satellite connectivity and distant education. He said the position of President Kufuor was that economic co-operation was key to the realization of the vision of Union Government of Africa and had been pushing aggressively in this direction.

Mr Awuni said the Libyan Leader said he was more determined to see massive inflow of Libyan investments in Ghana. Already, they are into the hospitality industry in Ghana with investment in the City Hotel in Kumasi.Mr Awuni said the upcoming African Union Summit in Ghana in July and its main agenda, the direction of the Union Government, also came up for discussion.He said President Kufuor updated Colonel Gaddafi on the preparations Ghana was making towards ensuring the success of the Summit.The two Leaders also reviewed the political situation in Zimbabwe and Nigeria.President Kufuor would return to Accra on Tuesday

Cure For HIV/AIDS Found In Ghana/Africa

HIV/AIDS victims can heave a huge sigh of relief since there is now a potent herbal medicine which is reported to be capable of totally curing HIV/AIDS.

"Koankro", the herbal mixture prepared by Mr Kamara Agyapong, Director of Peace Herbal Clinic at Ejisu in Ashanti, has been confirmed by the Clinical Analysis Laboratory of the Department of Biochemistry and Biotechnology of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), as capable and potent in curing HIV/AIDS.

This follows the successful trial tests conducted on two HIV/AIDS positive patients who were put on the herbal preparations by Mr Agyapong two years ago. The tests have confirmed that the two patients are now HIV negative.

The test results which were made available to the Ghana News Agency in Kumasi indicated that, the two patients have been tested negative of both HIV 1 and 2 viruses.

The results, which were released on May 4, this year, show that, the two male patients, aged 39 and 34 now have no HIV virus in their blood cells.

Their negative status has also been confirmed by further test results from the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH) laboratory and Medilab, a private medical laboratory in Kumasi.

A team of researchers from the Biochemistry Department of KNUST had been conducting a series of investigations into the efficacy and potency of the "Koankro" herbal mixture for some years now. They had already confirmed the efficacy of the preparation in the management of HIV/AIDS. The team initially confirmed that after three weeks treatment with "Koankro", there was significant improvement in the haemoglobin content, while the blood counts and weight of victims improved. That made Mr Agyapong to undertake further research to come out with additional 16 preparations, which are administered to the patients at different stages of treatment.

Speaking to the GNA on the test results, Mr Agyapong indicated that there were currently about 20 patients who were at various stages of treatment, adding that, the breakthrough in the test results had provided further impetus to the herbal preparations for the treatment of the disease.

Source:
GNA

Comment By Blog Owner: Isaac TETTEH

Is this one of the many achievements of our nation’s policy on containing the spread of HIV/AIDS? Does the testing of the herbal formula on these two individuals constitute an adequate sampling of the affected population to make a determination on the effectiveness of the drug?Couldn’t the absence of the virus in the blood of the affected persons or carriers be the result of a compromised result, or a misdiagnosis? Testing two people among many others who are HIV/AIDS positive is not proof of finding a cure. Authors of such articles must re-evaluate the harm they inflict on the Ghanaian society by peddling unnecessary excitement and complacency. We have heard these claims one too many and I am not in the least excited about this. I am an optimist, but I will not be jumping out of my skin on this one. We need a bigger sample size, cross-examination of blood samples, detailed analysis/constitutes of the herbal medicine and much more. Lets also look into commercial production capacities and patent rights. Fact is this sounds exciting, but I am going to take this carefully. I hope this turns out to be true, otherwise sorry mr journalist, you just placed an ad that cannot be verified or proven in print and the FDB must do its job.