Political parties declare 2007 Action Year

The main political parties on Friday declared the country's Golden Jubilee Year as Action Year to set the pace for Ghana's fifth consecutive general election under the 1992 Fourth Republican Constitution.The parties described Elections 2008 as a crucial period for the electorate to pronounce judgment on the administrations of the two foremost political forces - the main opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) and the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP).

In separate interviews with the Ghana News Agency in Accra on their visions for 2007, NPP, NDC and Convention People's Party (CPP) said 2007 would be used to prepare for Elections 2008.Mr Samuel Ofosu Ampofo, NDC National Organiser, said the Party would use 2007 as an 93operational barometer" on the NPP's quest to retain power at the Castle for another four-year term.

"It will then spur us on to launch a progressive programme to dislocate and chase the elephant from the Castle back to the political bush by democratically taking over the reins of governance of the country once again."We will also attempt to provide evidence to persuade the electorate to incarcerate the ruling NPP into political hell (opposition) for four years with hard labour to learn the rudiments of good governance, tents of democracy and adherence to constitutional order.

"Mr Ofosu Ampofo said the NDC's campaign for Elections 2008 starts immediately after the festive season."We are going to fire on all cylinders ...NDC will not wait for any party to organise its primaries to elect a flagbearer. "We are ready to take over the reins of governance once more and we are not going to wait for any party to go to congress before campaigning starts.

"The NDC has already set high standard for the other political parties to emulate them through a peaceful, transparent and orderly election of its Presidential Candidate at their December 22 Special National Delegates' Congress."We are not going to rest until we capture political power once again in 2008 and march peacefully to occupy the Castle on January 7, 2009 to fulfil the wishes and aspirations of the suffering Ghanaians," he said.

Mr Albert Afaglo, NPP Greater Accra Regional Organiser, noted that the Party had earmarked 2007 to oil its electoral machinery, equip executives at the wards, constituencies, regional and national levels and to build the capacity of foot soldiers.He acknowledged that political tension might build up in 2007 but stressed, "The Party is well prepared for the actions.

"Mr Afaglo said as a party in government it would continue to maintain a strong focus of national governance mainly on local government systems, maintenance of law and order as well as human resource development to ensure the country's rapid development. "No country can progress without sound and quality education, discipline and effective participation in decision-making at the local level.

"Mr Afaglo also urged the media to desist from personality attacks and focus on developmental issues that would project and enhance the quality of life of the people.Dr Edmund Delle, National Chairman and Leader of the CPP, explained that the Party would use the year to mainly organise its structures, resource its officials and organise National Delegates' Congress to elect its presidential candidate and other executives.
Source:GNA

CPP announces programmes for 2007

The Convention People's Party (CPP) on Friday announced its programme of activities for 2007 saying filing of nominations for various positions of its national officers and presidential candidate would open in June.This forms part of activities that the Central Committee (CC) of the Party discussed and adopted at its monthly meeting held on Thursday, December 28.





A statement signed by Professor Nii Noi Dowuona, General Secretary of the CPP, said a vetting committee to be appointed by the CC would vet candidates for the flag bearer position in July. It said the main congress would take place in the second or third week of August with a formal handing over to newly elected officers in September.





The statement named other activities leading to the Third National Party Congress of the CPP as mobilization, registration and meetings of polling station branches, which would commerce in January 2007 and continue throughout the country till March.




It said election of polling station and electoral area executives would be conducted from February to April 2007 while constituency executives would be elected in all the 230 constituencies between April and May 2007.This would pave the way for the election of regional executives in the 10 regions in May and June.




The CPP said in arriving at the activities, it took into consideration the relevant provisions of the Party's Constitution and the tenure of the various local, regional and national branch executives.The CC has directed that selection of parliamentary candidates should form an integral part of the programme of action of sub-committees of the Party.





The statement also announced that a meeting of constituency representatives in the Northern, Upper West and Upper East Regions would be held in Tamale in early January to kick-start the implementation of the organizational blueprint of the Party.In a related development, the Central Committee of the Party said the CPP had decided not to contest the bye-election in the Fomena Constituency scheduled for January 2007.




It said this decision was taken after a critical appraisal of the Party' programme of action. 29 Dec. 06
Source:GNA

Ghaha---2006, What Happend when?

The year 2006 began with a good will message delivered by President John Agyekum Kufuor promising a giant lift-off for the agriculture and other sectors for the year.





The following are some of the major events for the year 2006 beginning from January:
2nd - Dr Paa Kwesi Nduom, Minister of Public Sector Reform, says new pay scheme underway for the public sector workers3rd 96 Methodist Church marks 170 years in GhanaLiberian legislators inducted in Ghana 96 President Kufuor urges them to cherish the constitutional checks and balancesPatricia Appiagyei becomes first woman Metropolitan Chief Executive of Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly4th - Kwamena Ahwoi, a leading member of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), tells court Jojo Bruce-Quansah, Editor of the Ghana Palaver, told him of an alleged attack on him by assailants5th - Dr Obed Asamoah and three others in the Volta Region quit NDC6th - Petroleum prices go down9th - Investigator tells court that Bruce Quansah was not assaulted10th - Muslims celebrate Eid-Ul-Adha11th - Finance Ministry honours promise to grant amnesty to tax defaultersMedia reports say mayhem looms in Bimbila over Nanumba chieftaincy dispute12th - More

Hussein executed, Iraqi TV stations report

Former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein has been executed, according to two Arabic language media outlets.

Hussein was hanged before dawn on Saturday in Iraq, at about 6 a.m. (10 p.m. Friday ET), the U.S.-backed Al-Hurra television reported.

Al-Arabiya reported that Barzan Hassan, Hussein's half-brother, and Awad Bandar, former chief justice of the Revolutionary Court, were hanged after Hussein.

All three were convicted of killings in the Iraqi town of Dujail nearly 25 years ago.
Earlier, Munir Haddad, a judge on the appeals court that upheld the former dictator's death sentence, and an adviser to Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki each confirmed the paperwork needed for Hussein's execution had been prepared late Friday.

"All the procedures have been completed," Haddad said.
At the same time, a U.S. district judge refused a request to stay the execution.
Attorney Nicholas Gilman said in an application for a restraining order, filed Friday in U.S. District Court in Washington, that a stay would allow Hussein "to be informed of his rights and take whatever action he can and may wish to pursue."

Haddad had called Gilman's filing "rubbish," and said, "It will not delay carrying out the sentence," which he called "final."
Haddad also said there is no need for a presidential decree for the implementation of the execution.

He said once the handover is completed, "the sentence will be carried out swiftly, without any delay. God willing."
Haddad, who will attend the execution, said he received a call from al-Maliki's office asking him and a prosecutor to be ready for it.

Haddad wouldn't disclose the location of the execution and said it won't be broadcast live on TV because of human rights issues.
Meanwhile, Giovanni di Stefano, one of Hussein's defense attorneys, told CNN the U.S. military officially informed him that the former Iraqi dictator has been transferred to Iraqi authorities for his execution and that a "credible source" told him Hussein will be executed "very shortly -- in the next couple of hours."

And di Stefano indicated that the move by lawyers in the U.S. court could mean Hussein is in U.S. military custody now.
"The United States may very well have had a cause to effectively take him back in the event" a judge "grants the temporary restraining order, in which case his life would then be spared at least for a period of time or until such further order of the court," he said.

Giving Hussein to the Iraqis despite a temporary restraining order would be contempt of court, di Stefano said.
Conflicting reports These latest developments come during a day of conflicting reports over whether Hussein was in U.S. or Iraqi custody. Throughout the day, U.S. officials have not wavered in their stance that he remains in U.S. custody.

There has been speculation that Hussein would be executed before Eid Al-Adha -- a holiday period that means Feast of the Sacrifice, celebrated by Muslims around the world at the climax of the hajj pilgrimage to Mecca.
There is a belief that the execution could be soon because the law does not permit executions to be carried out during religious holidays.

Eid begins Saturday for Sunnis and Sunday for Shiites and lasts for four days. Hussein is a Sunni Muslim.
Baha al-Araji, a member of the Iraqi parliament from the Muqtada al-Sadr bloc, said the government is seeking the "opinion of clerics, both Sunni and Shiite, whether they can carry out the death sentence against Saddam on Saturday since it's the start of Eid."

"The clerics would issue a fatwa saying that due to exceptional circumstances the death sentence can be carried out," said al-Araji, whose political movement represents Shiite Muslims.

Sheikh Jalaleddin al-Saghir, who is both a Shiite cleric and a parliament member from the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq, said, "There is absolutely no problem from a religious standpoint to carry out the death sentence at the start of Eid."
Baghdad now is in its regular overnight curfew, and Iraqi and U.S. troops are bracing for protests and violence if an execution occurs.

Ministerial aides said government officials have been in "emergency meeting," and al-Araji confirmed that officials were still debating whether to execute the former Iraqi leader on Saturday.
Gallows in Green Zone Al-Araji said the scaffolding where Hussein is to be hanged is in Baghdad's Green Zone, the center of power for coalition officials.

He said he saw a judge, a cleric and a physician at the site. According to Iraqi law, these people have to be present at the execution.
"These people were told to remain there on standby waiting for orders for the government," al-Araji said.
Al-Araji told CNN that he and other parliament members and government officials have been cleared to attend the hanging.

"I would have wished for this to happen in Sadr City, where he has killed the most people," he said.
If the hanging does occur on Saturday, it will "most likely take place between 6 a.m. and noon," he said. Those hours translate to 10 p.m. Friday and 4 a.m. Saturday in the Eastern United States.
Speaking from Doha, Qatar, Najib al-Nuaimi, one of Hussein's defense attorneys, said Hussein's "fate definitely [is] in the hands of God."

Meeting with half-brothers Another defense lawyer, Badie Aref, told CNN that Hussein met with two of his half-brothers in his cell on Thursday and passed on messages and instructions to his family.
"President Saddam was just bracing for the worst, so he wanted to see his brothers and pass on some messages and instructions to his family," Aref said. The half brothers who visited were Sabawi and Wathban Ibrahim Hassan al-Tikriti, he said.
Another of Hussein's half-brothers, Barzan al-Tikriti, has been sentenced to death and is being held in Iraq under the same charges as Hussein.
Aref said the U.S. soldiers guarding Hussein on Tuesday took away a radio he kept in his cell so he could not hear news reports about his death sentence, which was confirmed that day.
"They did not want him to hear the news from the appeals court upholding the sentence," he said. "They gave him back the radio on Wednesday."
Aref said Saddam found out about the appeals court verdict "a few hours after it was announced."
Crimes against humanity Hussein was convicted on November 5 of crimes against humanity in connection with the killings of 148 people in the rown of Dujail after an attempt on his life.
The dictator was found guilty of murder, torture and forced deportation

Saddam Hussein 'executed in Iraq'

Former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein has been executed by hanging at an unspecified location, reports say.

Iraqi TV said the execution took place just before 0600 local time (0300GMT). It was witnessed by a doctor, lawyer and officials. It was also filmed.

US troops and Iraqi security forces are on high alert for any violent backlash.
Saddam Hussein was sentenced to death by an Iraqi court on 5 November after a year-long trial over the 1982 killings of 148 Shias in the town Dujail.

Ghanaians Asked To Adopt Development Attitude

Mr Mats Karlsson, World Bank Country Director, on Friday appealed to Ghanaian to assume an attitude that is oriented towards speeding up the development process of the country.

He said the opportunity for a faster development was here but there was the need to exhibit an attitude conducive to greater economic development and questioned why in spite of all the economic variables the country was not moving faster.

Mr Karlsson in an interview with the Ghana News Agency said: "All the elements for economic growth are here in the country - financing, political dialogue, the knowledge… why can't we make them gel even more?" The WB Country Director noted as a Ghanaian problem, "doing what we say we are going to do", adding that the issue was also about "moving on quickly with what we know is the best for us".

On the current energy crisis, Mr Karlsson said, the low rains were only a trigger of the energy crisis, whereas the actual reason was sluggishness to energy reforms that had long been envisioned. "But this is solvable, so let's solve it," he said. Mr Karlsson said to attain the target of a middle-income status, speed was part of the solution and the country would not achieve much with the slow implementation of policies, projects and programmes.

He said people in leadership positions, particularly at the grassroots, should not be afraid to make mistakes, which always resulted in them always waiting for decisions from the top. He said people at the grassroots must initiate moves and be prepared to learn from their mistakes, "local leadership should be paramount”.

District Chief Executives, opinion leaders and area council leaders should have attitudinal change that would not accept slow performance," he stated. On the performance of the economy, Mr Karlsson agreed with the Governor of the Bank of Ghana, Mr Paul Acquah that the economy in 2006 had performed well and was also ahead of most of its peers. Mr Karlsson said there were tall and challenging benchmarks that the country could set for itself.

He acknowledged that the year recorded some results that were improvement over previous years of consistent stability. These included downward trends in inflation and interest rates; higher growth rate; higher cocoa production and non-traditional exports; as well as improvement in the basic school enrolment and gender parity. In the 2004/2005 academic calendar, enrolment at the primary level was 3.28 million with a total gross enrolment ratio (GER) of 92.1 per cent.

The Gender Parity Index was 0.95. At the junior secondary level, enrolment was 1.12 million with a total GER of 74.7 per cent. Gender Parity Index was 0.94. Mr Karlsson was, however, not impressed with achievements in health and outlined three areas, nutrition, sanitation and early childhood development as key areas to tackle.

"Nutrition levels are very low in a country that can grow virtually everything and this is an attitudinal issue rather than one of income," he observed. He deplored a situation where people littered virtually wherever they walked and called for a major attitudinal change at all levels to deal with the problem of filth.

He said district assemblies, for example, could not pretend they could not find 50 million cedis to construct public places of convenience, as well as provide lavatories and hand-washing facilities for schools in their localities. Although he did not think local assemblies should rely on the Central Government and donor partners for such projects, he said the donor community had completed their framework for such a support and was only waiting for implementation.

He said $62 million had been earmarked for sanitation under the Second Urban Sanitation Project for the provision of drainage, and liquid and solid waste management by the five largest metropolitan and municipal assemblies in Ghana but the project had encountered delays. A total of $10.8 million meant for a sanitary landfill and a liquid waste treatment facility has not been utilised because there is no land to accommodate these facilities.

Mr Karlsson commended efforts by the Ghana@50 Secretariat to make sanitation a key part of the celebrations. He encouraged all Ghanaians to take advantage of it to rid the country of filth during the 50th anniversary and beyond. He also commended religious bodies, who, with the support of the World Bank Ghana Office had established a best practice initiative to use the pulpit to preach to the minds and souls of all to change from the ungodly attitude of littering the environment.

Mr Karlsson said he had learnt a new phrase in Ghana which is "Cleanliness is next to Godliness". He encouraged all to use the Christmas period not only to do soul-searching but make concrete efforts to change their attitudes and get rid of filth forever. On early childhood development, he said it should be given serious consideration if the country was to see quality future leaders in about 25 years.

For the long term, Mr Karlsson proposed two policies on natural resource management; forestry and fisheries, both of which were being depleted. He also recommended that an urban policy should be enacted to engender the right responses to deal with the rate of urbanisation in Ghana.

"The rate at which urbanisation is occurring in the country required clear-cut policies and strong leadership to contain it, else the situation could get out of hand in 20 years," stressed Mr Karlsson. According to the 2000 population and housing census, Accra's population is growing at almost four per cent per annum and higher than the national average of 2.6 per cent, and Kumasi's population is growing at 5.6 per cent.

This means Accra's population will double in 16 years, while Kumasi’s will double in 12 years. Therefore, if these two largest cities do not plan in advance, there will be a catastrophe by the end of the next decade. Mr Karlsson also advised the country to maintain its grips on the macroeconomic achievements, since it had profited from it. "Greater ambition can get us there.”GNA

German Embassy Increases Visa Fees

The Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany has announced an upward adjustment in the fees for application for all short-term visas valid for all Schengen countries beginning from January 1, 2007.

This is the result of the decision by the Council of the European Union to raise the fee for the handling of short-period visa applications.The Schengen countries in Ghana are Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, The Netherlands and the Belgian Visa Office attached to the Embassy of The Netherlands.

From January 1, 2007, 60 euros (about �720,000) will be charged for airport transit visa (Category A), transit visa (Category B) and short-stay visa (1-90 days) instead of the current 35 euros (about �420,000).A release from the German Embassy said national long-stay visa (Category D) fees would, however, remain unchanged.

It said the new visa fees were also to apply in those cases where a particular Schengen mission issued visa on behalf of Schengen partners without resident missions in Ghana, such as when the Danish Mission issued visas on behalf of Norway, Sweden, Finland and Iceland and France for Austria.

The release said the current fee of 35 euros for the processing of visa applications had proved not to be sufficient any more to cover the ever-increasing administrative cost of the issuance of such visas.It added that the problem would be aggravated further with the future introduction of the collection of the visa applicant�s biometrics data (fingerprints, among others).

The release explained that those measures were expected to put an additional financial burden on the Schengen partners� foreign missions for personnel, advance computer systems and other necessary changes to their respective visa sections.

It said, however, that the visa fees might be waived for the following groups of visa applicants, irrespective of their nationality:Children below the age of six years, pupils, students only when applying for student or education-related purposes, teachers who accompany pupils or students on educational journeys or training purposes and scientists who pursue specific research projects in one or more Schengen partner states.
Source:Graphic