President To Visit Portugal

The President, Mr. J. A. Kufuor, begins a two-day official visit to Portugal on Monday, March 19, 2007. The visit is at the invitation of the President of Portugal, Mr. Anibal Vacaco Silva.

A statement issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Regional Integration and NEPAD said the President would proceed to Portugal from the United Kingdom at the conclusion of his State visit to that country.It said the visit would accord the two presidents the opportunity to examine ways of strengthening bilateral relations between Ghana and Portugal.

“The two leaders will also deliberate on current African and international issues, including a European Union-African Union (EU-AU) Joint Strategy to develop practical approaches for future partnership between the EU and Africa,” the statement said. Portugal will assume the EU Presidency later this year.
Source:GHP

U-17 ACN: Ghana 0 Nigeria 2

GHANA'S Jubilee BLACK Starlets lost their toughest test in the on going African U-17 championship in Kegue, Togo, today. Having run amok over Eritrea in their last game, the Ghanaians were expected to throw in much to maintain the recent aura of invincibility against their Nigerian counterparts.

But two goals, from the young eaglets, one in each half of the game, dashed the hopes of all Ghanaians. Indeed, the Nigerians appeared more determined for the maximum points.
The Nigerians, like their Ghanaian compatriots, played two games earlier winning all with impressive results. The Nigerians are leading the Group B standings with 9 points ahead of their Ghanaians counterparts.

In the other Group B clash, Burkina Faso, who are yet to fetch a point in the competition would want to vent their venom on bottom-placed, Eritrea at Lome.Today at Kegue competition host, Togo, will seek to make amends in their game against Gabon, while Group leaders Tunisia, battle South Africa in the other Group A match.

Source: Isaac TETTEH

Flagbearer must have the ability to unite the party and nation-Kufuor

London, March 16, GNA - Political experience and the ability to hold together the New Patriotic Party (NPP) should influence the choice of the party's 2008 flagbearer, President Agyekum Kufuor, has counselled.He said, whoever emerged winner in the race to lead the party to the elections should not only be a uniting force to the party but must have the ability to carry along with him majority of Ghanaian voters.

"It is therefore important that even as we exercise our emotion, we should balance it with good judgement."President Kufuor was addressing an international delegates conference of the NPP attended by representatives from the United States (US), Canada and across Europe in London on Friday.The National Chairman, Mr Peter Mac Manu and other national officers, including Madam Ama Busia, a Vice Chairman, joined them. President Kufuor allayed any fears about imposition of a candidate on the party, saying, that was alien to its tradition and that the selection would be done democratically.

He told the conference that the Government has worked to the party's visions and principles of democracy, good governance, respect for human rights and the rule of law and that it was this that was drawing increasing international attention to the country. "We are not a party of convenience nor are we opportunists. We believe in humanity and the common good of our people.

" President Kufuor asked them not to give in to the negative propaganda that the Government was detached from the party, describing that as untrue.He advised the diasporan party supporters to prepare and organise well to win more support for the party, especially so with the passage of the Representation of the People's Amendment Act.
Source:GNA

Going, Going .....

...Power cuts to shut Valco from Friday

The Valco aluminium smelter will shut down indefinitely from Friday, March 16 due to chronic power shortages in the country caused by inadequate power supply from the Akosombo Dam.

"There is no electricity to run the smelter ... We just decided to shut down," Valco chief executive Charles Mensa said on Thursday..
Asked about how long the shutdown would continue, Mensa said: "We don't know really. It is indefinite -- maybe for the rest of the year." The shut down, the 11th in the history of VALCO since its establishment in 1967 will result in declaring majority of the 700 labour force redundant.

The 200,000-ton-a-year smelter is jointly owned by Ghana's government(90%) and US-based aluminium giant Alcoa Inc.(10%). It is currently operating at 30% of its capacity.
Mensa described the latest action as regrettable and a disappointment to those who looked up to VALCO to realize the late President Nkrumah’s dream of industrialization.
He explained that the decision to shut down was voluntary when the company realised the declining level of water in the Akosombo Dam.

Poor rains have led to chronic power outages in Ghana since September last year. The country relies on hydro-generation for about 60 percent of its electricity, with the balance provided by thermal power and imports from neighbouring Ivory Coast.
Mensa said a staff of about 200 will be retained to secure and maintain the plant. The skeleton staff would build an extrusion and rod-mill plants in readiness for power to provide the environment for the country’s industrialization and the creation of jobs.

He said the shut down would offer the management of VALCO the challenge to develop alternative sources of power. In the interim the extrusion and rod-mill would help to produce aluminum doors and windows and transmission lines for electricity.
He said the long term objective of VALCO was to develop a coal fixed power plant to take the smelter plant off the national grid.
Dr Mensa explained that it was expected that it would take VALCO a minimum of 24 months to develop the plant, adding that VALCO was working with an independent power provider to start the construction as early as possible.

He said the plant, which will cost about $400 million to construct, would generate about 500 megawatts of power.
Dr Mensa said to enable VALCO to produce full capacity; the company required about 350 megawatts of power.
He said when VALCO achieved that objective; it would be in a position to give the surplus power to the state to improve the capacity of the national grid by about 150 megawatts.
Asked whether the use of coal to power a big smelter like VALCO was outdated, Dr Mensa discounted that claim and explained that coal was readily available in Enugu, Nigeria and Southern African countries.

He said VALCO could no longer rely on electricity to run the plant, adding that an investment whose raw material was electricity could no longer be predicted.
Dr Mensa said VALCO was better off generating its own power and taking control of its operations.
Source:GHP

Human right problems in Ghana exposed

The 2006 Report on Human Rights Practices released by the United States Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labour has indicated that although the Government of Ghana generally respects human rights and has made significant improvements during the year, there are still problems including incidents of vigilante justice.

"Human rights problems included deaths resulting from the excessive use of force by police, vigilante justice, harsh and life-threatening prison conditions, police corruption and impunity, arbitrary arrest and detention, prolonged pre-trial detention, infringement on citizens’ privacy rights, forcible dispersal of demonstrations, forced evictions and corruption in all branches of government" are some problems cited by the report which was released on March 6, 2007.

The report, which is annually released by the bureau, also mentioned violence against women and children; female genital mutilation (FGM), societal discrimination against women, persons with disabilities, homosexuals, and persons with HIV/AIDS, trafficking in women and children; ethnic discrimination and politically and ethnically motivated violence; and child labor, including forced child labour.

During the year, the report said the government took significant steps to improve the protection of human rights, including passage of separate pieces of legislation to protect the rights of whistleblowers and persons with disabilities.On respect for human rights, the report said: "there were no reports that the government or its agents committed political killings; however, the use of excessive force by security forces resulted in the deaths of several criminal suspects and other persons during the year.

"It cited the cases of the four persons who were shot and killed by police officers at Dansoman Estates in Accra and the shooting and killing of a 26-year-old man on May 19, 2006 at Kotobabi after mistaking him for one of the robbers they were seeking as some of the human rights violations.The report however noted that "unlike the previous year, there were no reports that some members of the security forces appeared to sanction violence.

"The report did not record any cases of politically motivated disappearances.Freedom of speech and of the press were generally respected by the government, according to the report but stated that opposition parties occasionally complained that state-owned media outlets minimized media coverage of opposition politicians adding that individuals criticized the government publicly without reprisal.It mentioned cases in which some journalists were manhandled in the course of their job.

It for instance mentioned the case in which policemen from Tema, Ada and Kisseih allegedly used excessive force to prevent members of the media from covering a press conference held at Kportsum, near Ada; the attack on a photographer and two journalists working for the Enquirer newspaper at the covering of CHRAJ’s ruling on Dr. Richard Anane, former Minister for Transportation, and the case of two journalists who were barred from a press conference held by the Ghana Ports and Harbors Authority (GPHA) which was allegedly done in retaliation for an article run by the journalists’ newspaper.

The GPHA later apologized to the newspaper."The state-owned media reported extensively on charges of corruption or mismanagement by both current and past government officials. During the year the state-owned media gave some coverage to opposition politicians and printed occasional editorials critical of government policies. The opposition claimed that government media denied it equal access and coverage on numerous occasions.

In practice the state controlled media gave greater exposure to government officials", the report noted.The 2006 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices is released yearly by the US State Department and describes the performance of governments in putting into practice their international commitments on human rights.The report was jointly released on March 6 by U.S Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice and Under Secretary Dobriansky with a Universal Declaration calling upon "every individual and every organ of society to promote respect for these rights and freedoms and by progressive measures, national and international, to secure their universal and effective recognition and observance.
Source:Ghanaian Times

Kufuor at Chatham House

AU is uncomfortable with the situation in Zimbabwe - President Kufuor

African Union (AU) Chairman President John Agyekum Kufuor has described the political situation in Zimbabwe as embarrassing to the Continent. What was happening in that country, he said, was making the AU uncomfortable. President Kufuor was responding to a question on the Union's position on the political intolerance and brutal attacks on the opponents of the Government of President Robert Mugabe, when he addressed members of the Royal Institute of International Affairs, Chatham House, in London on Wednesday.

This comes in the wake of recent horrifying beating and torture of the Zimbabwean Opposition Leader, Morgan Tsvangirai and dozens of his supporters after their arrest at a banned meeting. President Kufuor rejected claims that seek to suggest that the AU has remained unconcerned about Zimbabwean situation, saying, it has all along been making every necessary effort to exercise some influence to help to restore normalcy there. "We want accountable Government. We want multi-party democracy."

The main theme of President Kufuor's address was: "Fifty Years of Ghana's Independence: Prospects and Challenges for Accelerated National Development." He gave a positive assessment of Ghana's economic performance, saying the "indicators point to good prospects for the country's development". The nation, he declared, has entered into a new phase of sustained development and was among the few, listed by the multi-laterals, to likely meet the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

"To us in today's Ghana, we know where we are coming from, where we are now and where we are going. What we demand is committed co-operation and support from all our friends." President Kufuor, who is on a three-day state visit to the United Kingdom (UK), said the Government was determined to maintain strict financial discipline to prevent a relapse to the debt situation that forced it to adopt the Highly Indebted Poor Countries Initiative (HIPC). "The Government would not be sentimental in borrowing. We would go in for money that would be of benefit to the development of the economy."

He pointed out that one of the major challenges the country and the rest of Africa was facing was the frustrations in competing on the international market, citing agricultural subsidies by the wealthy nations and the high tariffs imposed on products from the Continent. "We do not feel the World Trade Organisation (WTO) represents Africa's best interest." President Kufuor had earlier at a breakfast meeting with Leaders of Africa Missions in the UK at the Buckingham Palace, noted that the Doha Development Agenda, which provides for the establishment of rules based on equitable trading system, as representing the hope for improving the lives of the peoples in the Continent and to free them from abject poverty.

The debt burden, inequitable trading relations with the developed countries as well as the rampant conflicts on the Continent have conspired to keep Africa poor and weak. He, however, told the Diplomats that through determination, Africa would be able to resolve many of the seemingly intractable problems, standing in its way to growth and prosperity and which have kept the Continent poor and marginalised. President Kufuor said there was hope for Africa as its new leaders were dedicated to re-directing the Continent's destiny for peace and wealth creation.GNA