Large police presence marks Homowo festival

A large police presence marked the climax of the celebration of this year's Homowo festival of the chief's and people of Ga Mashie in the Greater Accra Region at the week-end. The police personnel from the Rapid Deployment Force, Mounted Squadron, Armoured Car, the Panthers and CID units, with another standby force, barricaded the streets to prevent a possible clash of supporters of different claimant clans to the Gbese stool.Despite the presence of the police to enforce an order to the various royal houses to restrict the sprinkling of the traditional food, kpokpoi, the Chief of the Ga State, Nii Tackie Tawiah II, and some other chiefs went ahead and publicly sprinkled the traditional food as symbol of the Homowo celebration.The celebration was also marked with the beating of drums and the chanting of war songs, as royal entourages and other people, mainly the youth clad in red tee shirts accompanied the chiefs. The regent of the Gbese Stool, Nii Tetteh Ahinakwa performed the sprinkling rite on behalf of Nii Ayibonte II in the Gbese Mantse Palace, as Niibi Ayitey Adjin Ayibonte, who identified himself as stool elder, said Nii Ayibonte was still undergoing the rites for full assumption onto the stool.However, a barricade mounted by the police prevented Nii Okaija III, also a claimant to the stool from going into one of the ruling clan houses, Nii Tetteh Ankamah We to perform the sprinkling rite. Nii Okaija III accused supporters of the Nii Ayibonte for using the police against him and infringing on his right of movement, but the Officer in-Charge of Police Public Relations, Mr Kwasi Ofori said the police had not taken sides and was only preventing a crisscross, which could spark confrontation among the various clans. The Chief of the Ga State, Nii Tackie Tawiah later told journalists that the celebration had been peaceful without violence or any feeling of malice.He said all the various claimants were still "brothers" and they would remain united despite their differences. Nii Tackie denied any order from any quarters to restrict the celebration to the various clan houses without going public. He outlined his vision for the Ga State as improvement of education, employment and skills training for the youth.
Source:GNA

Group pledges financial support for Osafo-Maafo

A group, calling itself Millennium Business Executives, has pledged 50,000 Ghana cedis to support the flagbearership campaign of Mr. Yaw Osafo-Maafo, a New Patriotic Party presidential (NPP), aspirant for the 2008 General Elections. Part of the amount will be used to pay for his nomination fees and the rest for his campaign activities.A press release signed by Mr. Kwabena Acheampong, Executive Secretary of the Group, and issued in Kumasi, said the support was a demonstration of the firm believe of members of the group in the ability of Mr. Osafo-Maafo to lead the NPP to victory in the 2008 Elections and also consolidate the socio-economic gains achieved by the party in the last few years.According to the release, the members of the group, who are sympathizers of the NPP, recognized the immense achievements of Mr. Osafo-Maafo during his tenure as Minister of Finance and Economic Planning and Minister of Education, Science and Sports. It said his sterling performance had been recognized internationally, that was why he was voted as the best Finance Minister in Africa and the second best in the world.This, according to the statement, culminated in Mr Osafo-Marfo's appointment to oversee Liberia's post war economic recovery. It said Ghana needed a person of such calibre with natural leadership qualities to succeed President Kufuor to propel the country's economy to greater heights.The statement urged the party's delegates to analyse critically the contribution of each of the contestants and choose the one who had made significant impact in the government of President Kufuor to lead the party.
Source:GNA

146 pregnant women tests HIV/AIDS positive

One hundred and forty-six pregnant women out of 4,841, who opted for HIV/AIDS test under the Prevention of Mother to Child Transmission programme in Kumasi were found to be with the virus. Madam Patricia Appiagyei, Kumasi Metropolitan Chief Executive who gave the hint said the three Anti Retroviral Treatment centres operating in the Metropolis, which includes the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital are currently treating about 162 out of 387 patients, who are doing very well.She said this at the opening session of an international course on HIV/AIDS epidemiology with emphasis on children and nutrition in Kumasi on Thursday, which was supported by MASHAV (an Israeli Centre for International Cooperation).The course organized by the Millennium Challenge Initiatives (MCI) in collaboration with the government of Israel, targeted healthcare teams including medical doctors, nurses and nutritionists from public and private health institutions in the metropolis.The course is to build the capacity of the health staff to provide quality care and efficient health services to the people.Madam Appiagyei said she was happy that additional strategies have been put in place to address the HIV menace by the expansion of voluntary and counseling tests centres to include some private and maternity homes and clinics as well as VCT for all pregnant women at anti-natal clinics. The Metropolitan Chief Executives said training on HIV/AIDS for heath teams has been a matter of concern in the world today due to the high rate of infections.She said "it is somewhat encouraging to note that there was a drop in the number of new cases from 3.7 per cent prevalence rate in the first eight months of 2006, to 3.2 per cent for the same period in 2007. The drop in number could be attributed to the fact that strategies adopted to address new infections are effective, which is an encouragement for all stakeholders to press on and not to give up the fight against HIV/AIDS", she addedMadam Tali Tal, Information Department Coordinator for Ghana at the Embassy of Israel said MASHAV stands at the centre of Israel's activities to share her experience and expertise around the world. She said the course was another important step in advancing the cooperation between Israel and Ghana and hoped it would continue to expand for the benefit of the two Nations.Madam Tal said the programme was the latest addition to the list of health programmes between Israel and Ghana.She said the collaboration also involves the establishment and maintenance of a trauma care unit at the Komfo Anokye Hospital as well as the training of trauma emergency medical staff. She said she was looking forward to the completion of a maternity care unit at the Kumasi South Hospital, currently under construction and to facilitate more courses in Israel for medical and Para-Medics in the country.The Information Coordinator indicated that her country actively engaged in agriculture and aquaculture programmes with the Ministries of Agriculture and Fisheries and hoped to launch a programme for organic farming in Ghana very soon. 10 Aug 07
Source:GNA

Why tolerate corruption? - Ghanaians Asked

A Chief State Attorney in charge of the Eastern Region, Mr Anthony Gyambiby, has expressed worry with the Ghanaian society's tolerance for corruption and corruptible practices. Mr Gyambiby said tolerance for corruption in Ghana was so endemic that "society tends to respect the affluent without finding out the background of such people" while ironically, "the diligent, honest but poor people are relegated to the background."Addressing participants at a democracy and good governance workshop in Koforidua on Thursday, Mr Gyambiby called for a new attitude and thinking towards fighting the canker especially one that would question the source of wealth of the affluent in society."By so doing, we will be setting a grand agenda or crusade to promote democracy and good governance so that the needs and aspirations of the poor millions in Ghana will be fulfilled."Mr Gyambiby's views were corroborated by Miss Linda Ofori-Kwafo, Programmes Officer of the Ghana Integrity Initiative, organizers of the workshop, who also faulted society for failing to question how people came by what they had or how they acquired their wealth.In addition to Miss Ofori-Kwafo's submissions, the State Attorney said parties involved in corruption must only be blamed "but we must also seek to understand the structural character of the phenomenon as well as how it is embedded in the relationships among individuals and organizations."Such an undertaking would help in the "launching of a great war against corruption while promoting and nurturing our young democracy."The Chief State Attorney was speaking against the backdrop of the debilitating effects of corruption, especially the attitude of the corrupters to misallocate state resources, foster misguided and unresponsive policies and regulations, lowering of productivity and the exacerbation of poverty.Mr Gyambiby also spoke on the need for the state to enhance the capacity of institutions such as the media and the legislature, given their oversight responsibilities in the fight against corruption to enable them discharge their responsibilities well.He argued that because corruption could lead to the weakening of democratic processes and public order and thus impede development, it was important that the executive arm of government took the lead in combating and preventing it.Miss Ofori-Kwafo called on the government to incorporate into existing laws an elaborate definition of corruption to reflect the internationally accepted definitions of corruption, which clearly criminalizes the offence. She appealed to the government to expedite action on the passage of a credible freedom of information bill to facilitate public access to information about the activities of government, including budgetary allocations, revenues and expenditures and thereby enhance accountability and transparency and increase trust in government. The New Juaben Municipal Chief Executive, Nana Akwasi Adjei Boateng, said the fight against corruption should not be a job for one person or one organization. It should be done with the concerted effort of all stakeholders.Source:GNA