GES takes steps to solve NAGRAT's strike

The Ghana Education Service (GES) said it had taken steps to address all issues raised by the National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT), whose members have been on strike since the beginning of the academic year to press demands for better salaries. In a statement issued in Accra yesterday, GES said it acknowledged the right of a group of workers and teachers to form associations. However, "it is of the view that at all times actions taken by any group should be in conformity with the Labour Laws of the country". GES said under the GES Act and the Labour Act, the Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT) and the Teachers and Educational Workers Union (TEWU) were the only recognized bodies with collective bargaining certificate with the GES. It said GES was now preparing to commence negotiations on the condition of service of teachers.

Greenpeace activists detained in Ivory Coast

Four activists from environmental pressure group Greenpeace were detained in an Estonian port Ivory Coast yesterday when the group mounted a spectacular operation to prevent a ship involved in a toxic waste scandal in west Africa from setting out to sea. Head of foreign and media relations at the Estonian Maritime Administration Tarmo Ots, told AFP that Altogether they have now detained four Greenpeace activists. Earlier, two Greenpeace activists on a motorboat heading for the Probo Koala were detained for violating port rules.

Poliomyelitis still a problem in Nigeria

Nigeria's northern state of Katsina has recorded 141 fresh cases of poliomyelitis this year. The chairman of the state's primary health care development agency, Ahmed Qabasiyu,SAYS that the polio cases were recorded between January and September, with May having the highest number of 38 cases. The number of new cases fell to 25 in June and six in July following the first and second rounds of the newly introduced Immunisation Plus Day (IPD) programme, .

Low turnout at district level elections at New Juaben

Turnout of voters in the District Assembly and Unit Committee elections in the New Juaben Municipality was low, when the Ghana News Agency visited some of the polling centres in the Municipality. According to the polling officials at the Pope John Secondary School "A" polling station as at 1345 hours, only 17 people had cast their votes out of 672 registered voters, while at the "B" polling station, only 20 voters had cast their votes out of 664. Two males were contesting at each of the polling stations. At Kantudu Temporal Boot, 89 voters had cast their voted as at 1100 hours and at the AME Zion Primary School polling station, only 37 people had cast their votes as at 1115 hours, while at the SCCE Electoral Area, 86 votes were cast as at 1130 hours. The Water West Office station at Kantudu Electoral Area recorded 98 votes as at 1140 hours. At Anlo Town Down South polling station, out of 901 registered voters, only 180 people cast their votes as at 1145 hours and at Anlo Town South B, only 150 had cast their votes as at 1150 hours, while at the Kru Town polling station, out of 780 voters, only 150 cast their votes as at 1205 hours.

Use of indigenous languages imperative for unity, development- Rev Prof Obeng

The Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cape Coast (UCC), Reverend Professor Emmanuel Adow Obeng, on Tuesday announced that the university would within the next two years, establish a school of languages at its faculty of arts, to promote the use of indigenous languages and linguistics to enhance national unity and development.
He referred to the "school of thought" that says that, as part of the educational reforms, basic school pupils should be instructed in the local language to enhance learning, and that two or three Ghanaian languages should also be selected and taught in all schools and be used alongside the English language as national languages.
Rev. Prof. Obeng, who was speaking at the opening of a three-day "Inter-University Conference on the co-existence of languages in West Africa", at the UCC, underscored the important role indigenous languages played in the socio-cultural, economic and political development of a nation.
The conference, which is being attended by about 50 deans of faculties and other members of the academia from the four of the country's five public universities and from universities in Burkina Faso, Togo, Cote d'Ivoire and Nigeria, is aimed at deliberating on linguistics issues confronting the sub-region.
He, however, expressed fears that if some languages were chosen as national languages, some Ghanaians may politicise the issue, with accusations of the marginalisation of other ethnic languages and groups.
The Vice-Chancellor also stressed the need for the nation to take the teaching and learning of French seriously, as Franco-phone countries surround the nation.
Touching on the general situation of the use of indigenous languages to forge unity and development in the sub-region, he said this was proving difficult to achieve, due to the "strong independence" of local languages.
He compared the sub-region to East Africa, where he said countries like Tanzania and Kenya, have succeeded in making Swahili their national languages, and tasked the conference to come out with "concrete proposals" that their respective national authorities, could use to influence their various national agendas, for development.
"Only then, can the time and resources we spend in organizing such meetings can be justified. Only then would we as academics, have contributed to knowledge and for that matter, the advancement of our societies", he declared.
In his address, the Central Regional Minister, Nana Ato Arthur, also underscored the importance of indigenous languages in a nation's advancement and tasked the participants not to depart from the laudable ideas mooted at the 'Inter-governmental Conference in Harare 1997, which sought to support the use of indigenous languages as a means of instruction in schools.
He said this was imperative, as the conference, resulted in a declaration, in which the various countries expressed their commitment to the vision of Africa, by among others, ensuring a continent, where scientific and technological discourse, would be conducted in the national languages as part of cognitive preparation for facing the challenges of the next millennium.
"The co-existence of languages in our part of the world is a must and this conference should enforce the need for our people to continue to live and work in peace, despite our diverse backgrounds and languages", he stressed.
Nana Arthur said Ghana had at the moment done a lot in ensuring this, while languages like Akan, Akuapem, Dagaare, Ga and Nzema, are also being studied at some of the higher institutions of learning.
He emphasized that the work done in the development of these languages, should not be allowed "to go waste, since the benefits to be derived in the use of local languages in the schools "cannot be quantified".
The dean of the Faculty of Arts, Prof. Donwin Kuupole, who presided, also tasked the conference to help formulate effective language policies in the sub-region.
Papers presented at the conference, which was jointly organized by the UCC and the University of Ouagadougou, include 'subtractive multilingualism and capital and sustaining the language development effort'.

Attorney-General orders the re-arrest of five Policemen

The Attorney-General, Mr Joe Ghartey on Tuesday ordered the re-arrest of the five Policemen believed to have knowledge of the missing cocaine on board the vessel MV Benjamin. The five were granted 300 million cedi bail each on Monday by an Accra Circuit court with one surety to be justified after the Prosecution withdrew charges of abetment and substituted it with extortion. They are Detective Sergeant Samuel Amoah; General Sergeant Daniel Nyarko; Detective Lance Corporal Dwamena Yabson; General Sergeant Isaac Asante and General Lance Corporal Peter Bondorin. They pleaded not guilty. Four of the Policemen have since been put into Police custody but the fifth, Detective Sergeant Samuel Amoah is yet to report or be arrested. Mr Ghartey, who is also the Minister of Justice, told the Ghana News Agency that his Office had countermanded the decision of the Chief State Attorney, Mr Cab-Beyuo, who withdrew the abetment charges, adding that fresh charges were to be preferred against the suspects. He said he read about what happened in court in the papers and immediately ordered the re-arrest of the suspects since he believed the Chief State Attorney erred. Mr Ghartey said: "The Prosecutor erred by not consulting his immediate superior or the Attorney-General before his action of changing the charges.” He said for the officers to have escorted Sheriff aka Limping Man, who is said to have offloaded the missing 77 parcels of cocaine at Kpone, near Tema, indicated aiding and abetting. Mr Ghartey said the Policemen in this matter were not by the roadside collecting bribe but assisted the process of the importation of the cocaine. He said it was an error of judgement on the part of Mr Cab-Beyuo since only the Attorney-General had the power to change charges preferred against accused persons. According to the Prosecution, on April 26, 2006, the accused persons stationed at Tema New Town, Community One, Tema and Kpone had information that Sheriff, now at large, was taking delivery of parcels of cocaine at Kpone Beach, near Tema. They were said to have abetted with him to offload the missing 77 parcels of cocaine. The accused persons mobilized themselves to arrest Sheriff. They went and saw the parcels but on the contrary ignored it. The Prosecution said the accused persons went on a ride in Sheriff's vehicle to his residence where they took some money and allowed him to go. The Prosecution said their acts contravened the laws of the State and would lead evidence to prove their case. The missing of the 77 parcels of cocaine had led to extensive investigation and publicity leading to the establishment of the Justice Georgina Wood Committee, which has recently submitted its report. The case has led to some senior police officers being implicated. Some suspects are appearing before an Accra High Court. The Justice Georgina Wood Committee presented its report to Mr Albert Kan-Dapaah, Minister of the Interior at a well attended ceremony at the Ministry of Information and National Orientation in Accra on Friday. The Report, whose content was not disclosed, was to be passed on promptly to the Attorney-General's Department for its comments and advice. The Committee was set up July 4, 2006 to investigate the disappearance of 77 parcels of cocaine from MV Benjamin and an alleged 200,000 dollars bribe paid to Senior Police Officers by a 23-year-old woman, Ms Grace Asibi. Ms Asibi is the girlfriend of a Venezuelan drug fugitive Vasquez Geraldo Duarte David, who is at the centre of the seizure of some 588 kilograms of cocaine from a house at East Legon in Accra. Mr Ghartey said his outfit would study the Report and advise the Government accordingly. "We shall advise and prosecute not persecute without fear, favour, ill-will or hatred towards any person. "We shall do what we have to do in accordance with the law. "Let us all remember the words of the President when he reminded us recently that no one is above the law. "Let us also remember that in our legal jurisprudence everyone is innocent unless proven guilty. For those who we have grounds to believe are guilty, we shall seek to prove this in a court of law." The Committee was charged to determine the actual number of narcotic drug parcels on board the vessel immediately before it was intercepted and whether some of the parcels on board the vessel were removed before it was intercepted. The Committee was to establish when and how the removal happened and recommend the appropriate punishment. The Committee was also to investigate any other issues relating to the loss of narcotics drugs and make recommendations on how to avoid recurrence. The Committee had the additional mandate of investigating the various allegations levelled against some Police Officers with respect to the seizure of a quantity of narcotic drugs at East Legon and to advise on appropriate actions against any person or persons found culpable. In the case of the MV Benjamin, the issue, which took centre stage, was a recording of a conversation relating to the disappearance of the cocaine from the ship at a meeting between some alleged drug dealers in the house of Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Kofi Boakye. The key witnesses in that tape recording, which came to be known as the "Kofi Boakye Tape", were arrested when they came to testify before the Committee. The witnesses included Alhaji Issah Abass,Kwabena Amaning also called Tagor and Kwabena Acheampong.

Electorate shows little interest in elections

Mr. John Henry Mensah, Chairman of National Development Planning Committee on Tuesday joined voters at the workers canteen polling station in Boahenkokor electoral area in Sunyani municipality to exercise his franchise in the municipal assembly elections.
Mr. Mensah, accompanied by Mr. Kwame Twumasi-Awuah, Municipal Chief Executive, went to the centre around 1000 hours after the municipality had experienced two short downpours early in the morning.
A total of 173 out of 879 voters had exercised their franchise as at 10:30 am at the polling centre.
Mr. Mensah before casting his vote had earlier visited some polling stations and interacted with the electorate.
At the Presbyterian JSS, Presbyterian Primary Lower and Presbyterian Office polling centres at Boahenkorkor electoral area 68, 110 and 60 voters out of 560, 765 and 681 voters respectively had cast their votes as at 0900 hours.
A total of 68 valid votes out of 539 eligible voters at Twene Amanfo 1A polling centre, 44 out of 445 at Twene Amanfo IB and 47 out of 458 at Twene Amanfo 2A and 42 out of 462 at Twene Amanfo 2B polling centre at Atoase electoral area had been cast at the time.
At the rural development store 1A centre 80 voters out of 838 had cast their votes while 65 out of 972 registered voters at rural development store 1B had voted and 85 out of 1,072 voters had exercised their franchise at the Bakers Cooperative office.
Many of the Presiding officers attributed the low turnout at the centres to the rainfall and expressed the hope that more of the electorate would turn up during the day to vote.