Vetting Cmttee Stays Away From Aliu Mahama

The scheduled, highly anticipated vetting of Vice President Alhaji Aliu Mahama on Tuesday afternoon turned out to be a no show.The vetting committee had appointed 3:00pm to meet and subject Aliu Mahama through the NPP?s vetting process mandatory for all who aspire to be presidential candidate and lead the party to the 2008 presidential elections.He made it to the venue about five minutes ahead of time but to his surprise, no member of the committee was present. Not even the chairman of the Council of State, Prof. Adzei Bekoe was around, and there was also no communication from the party.

The Vice President who looked disappointed told journalists that the incident was one of a few challenges within the party which he hoped would be addressed.But he repeated expressed his love for the party and Ghanaians and said it would not break his resolve to go for the topmost post.A publication in the PUNCH newspaper on Tuesday suggested the Vice President may not have a valid party ID card, one of the key requirements for flagbearer aspirants.Coming after newspaper publications which suggest the Vice President?s nomination papers may have been leaked, his campaign team is suspicions.

Yaw Buabeng Asamoah, a special aide to the Vice President was of the view that whatever ill-intentions anyone harboured against Aliu Mahama, may not be established. He however, maintained that the party has to explain what caused the obvious embarassment before the next scheduled meeting.So far attempts to get explanation from the party leadership have proved futile.A member of the vetting committee told Joy News he had earlier been informed about the postponement but without further explanation.
Source:JOY ONLINE

Use of arms banned in Anloga and environs

The Ministry of Interior has placed a ban on the carrying of arms in and around Anloga in the Volta Region and an Executive Instrument issued to this effect.

Mr. Kwamena Bartels, Interior Minister, announced the measure when he addressed police personnel dispatched to maintain peace at Anloga, following chieftaincy clashes there on Thursday, in which four people including a police constable were killed.

The Minister of Interior was at Anloga together with Mr. Albert Kan Dapaah, Minister of Defence and Mr. Joe Ghartey, the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice to assess the situation on the ground. They were taken round the scenes of the clashes including where the body of the police constable was damped near a lagoon and also visited the injured at the Keta District Hospital.Mr. Bartels on Thursday announced an imposition of a dusk-to-dawn curfew on Anloga as part of measures to put the situation under control.

He commended the police for exercising maximum restraint and acting professionally even though they lost a colleague in the fray. Mr. Bartels reminded the police that the crisis was not over and that they would be required to do their very best to enforce law and order, peace and stability in the area while upholding the rights of peace loving people in the area.Addressing a contingent of soldiers, Mr. Dapaah expressed confidence that they would put their peacekeeping experiences both locally and internationally to good effect at Anloga. He asserted that about 99 percent or more of the people at Anloga and its environs were peaceful and that only a few people were responsible for the trouble there.

Mr. Dapaah assured the soldiers that all the logistics and materials required for their operations would be put at their disposal. Except for Anloga where an atmosphere of apprehension could be felt with most of the people keeping to their homes, life in the surrounding communities appeared undisturbed as people were seen on their vegetable farms along the lagoon on Saturday while others went about their businesses.
Source:GNA

Ghana Must Lead Africa's Change-Akuffo Addo

Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, one of the aspiring candidates vying for the NPP presidential race, believes it is time the world saw a successful African State and Ghana must take the lead in that direction.He said the integration of the sub-region under the Economic Community of West African States should become a critical part of Ghana's national development.

"We must get involved in the construction of a new West African State in particular and an African State in general”, he pointed out.Nana Akufo-Addo was addressing the NPP chapter of the Tertiary Education Students Confederacy of the University for Development Studies, Wa campus, at Wa on Tuesday, as part of his one-day campaign tour of the region.

Earlier on Saturday in Lagos, Nana Akufo-Addo, who met a group of influential Nigerians, including Vice President Jonathan Goodluck, at a social event, spoke of the need for Ghana and Nigeria to take charge in leading the sub-region of some 240 million people onto a plateau of growth, prosperity and security.He told his Lagosian audience that Ghana and Nigeria can do for West Africa what France and Germany did for continental Europe after the Second World War.

The two opposing sides in that war turned around to work together to build what has now become the European Union, through deepening economic integration and allowing the free movement of people, goods and services among member states.Akufo-Addo, a strong believer in an integrated Africa feels Nigeria and Ghana have a great opportunity to make it happen by driving the process within ECOWAS and beyond.He was also delightfully moved and encouraged by the sense of pan-Africanist consciousness that he witnessed in Nigeria.Back in Ghana, he continued the second leg of his national campaign which took him to the three northern regions. At the UDS, he urged students of the universities to get involved in national development and participate actively in the decision-making process to ensure that the right things were done to enhance the overall development of the people.He said for the nation to move forward, it must utilise her raw materials instead of only exporting it and called for the transformation of the economy, especially the industrial sector to provide jobs for the youth. Earlier, Nana Akufo-Addo paid courtesy calls on the Upper West Regional Minister, George Hikah Benson, the Chief Imam, former NPP Regional Chairman, the Yeri-Naa, the Akan Chief and Elders of Jengbeyiri.
Source:Cynthia Uche Addae

Parliament passes Anti-Money Laundering Bill

Parliament on Friday passed the Anti-Money Laundering Bill.The object of the Bill is to prohibit money laundering, establish a Financial Intelligence Centre and provide for related matters. The House after much debate rejected a proposed amendment that stood in the name of Mr Joseph Boahen Aidoo, (NPP-Amenfi East) and Mr Freddie Blay, First Deputy Speaker that sought to summarily convict a person for giving false information against a person in relation to a money laundering transaction.Members indicated that such a clause would stifle the flow of information on the illegal activity.The clause had stated that:" A person who maliciously provides false information against any other person in relation to a money laundering transaction commits an offence and is liable on a summary conviction to a fine of not more that five hundred penalty units or a term of not more than three years or both. 02 Nov 07