Akuffo-Addo spends $4000 on live broadcast

Nana Addo Dankwa Akuffo-Addo, is spending US $4000 on his live broadcast on the networks of the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation (GBC).In an unprecedented media blitz by a flagbearership aspirant in the history of party politics in Ghana, Nana Akuffo-Addo will be doing a live broadcast to the whole country on all the about 10 radio stations of the national broadcaster.

Even though his campaign team have refused to say how much the broadcast would cost the former Foreign Minister, Joy News has learnt that the cost is to the tune of some US $4000.He is expected to tell Ghanaians why he wants to be president.The event will be broadcast later on television.Three other candidates, Alan Kyeremanteng, Dr. Addo Kufuor and Prof. Mike Ocquaye are also expected to hold media events to publicize their presidential plans.

60% of old currency notes replaced - BoG

The Bank of Ghana (BoG) on Monday said 60 per cent of the old currency had been withdrawn from circulation and replaced with the new currency.Dr Paul Acquah, Governor of the Central Bank, answering questions from the media during a briefing of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) in Accra after its deliberations last week, said at the start of the exercise in July, about 9.1 trillion cedis was withdrawn and replaced with 5.45 trillion Ghana Cedis.

"This leaves an outstanding of about 3.6 trillion cedis yet to be replaced," he added.It is expected that the outstanding old currency would be completely withdrawn by December, 2007, the date set for the end of the main redenomination exercise.The BoG embarked on the redenomination exercise in July 2007 to reduce the burden of accounting and cutting the risk of carrying large sums of physical cash.Dr Acquah also announced that the Central Bank had divested its interest in the Agricultural Development Bank (ADB) to the Financial Investment Trust, a body that takes into custody government shares for onward investment either to the public or a strategic investor.

Therefore in principle, the divestiture has taken place and the Central Bank has moved on with the process," he explained. He said the idea was to ensure that the BoG, as the regulator of the banking industry, was not seen as a player as well.Dr Acquah said the issue of divestiture and/or acquisition of any Bank by another had to do with the services that the Bank had to offer. Asked what the response should be for the ADB situation, Dr Acquah said: "Whatever action would be taken should be done with the focus that the agricultural sector will be enhanced and the agricultural focus should be maintained in the Bank."Any bank or institution that buys into ADB and dilutes the original intent of the Bank should not be entertained.

"Our main focus as a regulator is to ensure that a real financial industry is developed in the country. Any new Bank that comes into Ghana should be an internationally active Bank as a major criterion and we would consider a Bank with this kind of reputation."Merchant Bank Ghana Limited, Robo Bank of Netherlands and Stanbic Bank of South Africa have expressed interest in taking up the 48 per cent shares that the BoG is disposing of in ADB. Dr Acquah said if the right thing was done within a competitive atmosphere shareholders would have value for money with guaranteed quality service.
Source:GNA

Stop showing disrespect to our Veep

Mr. George Ayisi-Boateng, one of the most loyal stalwarts and defenders of the NPP in the party's World Bank capital of Kumasi has appealed to NPP presidential aspirants and their supporters to stop showing disrespect to "our sitting Vice President".Mr. Ayisi-Boateng has probably defended NPP government policies and personalities on radio programmes in Kumasi than many a sector minister or MCE or DCE.

Speaking to ADM last week in an exclusive telephone interview from his base in Kumasi, he said he had observed with "increasing disquiet and disappointment the way in which some of these aspirants and their supporters are targeting the VP."Without mentioning names, he said "let who the cap fits, wear it."He said he had never hidden his support for the VP "from the beginning, because my conscience and instincts tell me that's the right thing to do and he is the right man at the right time to lead the NPP into another victory.

God did not let the President Kufuor choose him as Vice President for nothing."He said because Alhaji Aliu Mahama is "our sitting Vice President, it does not matter whether he is also a presidential aspirant or not, that office he is still occupying deserves our respect."He said in Ghana's constitutional arrangement, Alhaji Aliu Mahama is Ghana's No 2 all the way to January 7 2009 when he moves to the No. 1 position or makes way for someone else. This entitles him to all the courtesies attached to his office and "above all, the respect and loyalty of all those who say they are genuine NPP supporters."It is an NPP government, he told ADM, that is currently running the affairs of Ghana.

On the pinnacle of the government, he said, sits President Kufuor and "right after him is Vice President Aliu Mahama; any person, whether in the NPP or NDC who shows disrespect to Aliu is also extending it to Kufuor."He said "when we talk of the Presidency, we are referring to President Kufuor, Vice President Aliu Mahama and all the officials under them."By the same token, he explained, "in the legislature, it is Mr. Sekyi-Hughes, the Speaker of Parliament and his officers and in the Judiciary, Mrs. Georgina Wood, the Chief Justice and her officers."Mr. Ayisi-Boateng said he is particularly "saddened by the fact that Aliu is minding his own business, he has not insulted any aspirant, he does not use foul language, he is a man of a few words and yet they are attacking him so unfairly and viciously." He asked which of them is perfect.

"If we all mean to descend into the gutter, no one will remain standing?He said he is however not surprised because "they must know in their heart of hearts that he is the man to beat, he is the obvious choice of the people, he cuts across the political divide, the man who the NPP, NDC, PNC, CPP and the others would be comfortable with as a president, so they are trying to destroy his chances, not realizing that it is the NPP's chances they are also diminishing." Showing a degree of exasperation, he said, "why cut your nose to spite your face?"He called on the NPP leadership and elders to immediately call to order all "these people who by their blind ambition want to undermine the presidency.

"He asked: "Where is the Code of Ethics they said they have instituted? Who enforces it?"Mr. Ayisi-Boateng, an Ashanti man, has not hidden his support for the Vice President. He has always held to the belief that if the NPP rallies behind the Vice President instead of looking for excuses to dump him, it would set a new image for the often regarded Akanistic party and easily win Election 2008. He told ADM that he hopes the aspirants would not degenerate into "gutter politics, in which case we could as well start preparing to hand over the keys of the new Flagstaff House presidential complex to the NDC."
Source:Accra Mail

U17 WC: Starlets progress to round 16

Starlets progress to round 16 in style Ulsan (SK), Aug. 26, GNA - The National U-17 soccer team, the Black Starlets on Sunday made Ghana proud in Ulsan, South Korea when they played a determined game to defeat "threatening" Colombia to qualify to the next stage of the World U- 17 competition.

Before the game, the Ghanaians were relying on the performance of some weak teams who would place in third positions to qualify into the round of 16 on superior goal aggregate if they failed to beat Columbia. Head coach Sellas Tetteh and his boys had promised Ghanaians of a win, which indeed came their way but their next hurdle is how to beat their next opponents, Brazil to sail through to the quarter-finals. The Starlets came into the match with a lot of determination and were favourites to all the connoseurs in Ulsan including the Korean media who later told the GNA Sports that Ghana could easily eliminate Brazil in their next game.

From the referee's whistle, the Starlets dominated play with accurate man - to - man passes and delicate ball control characteristic of Ghanaian players but failed to translate their numerous chances into more goals.
Sadick Adams and Abeiku Quansah entertained the crowd with their moves as they surged towards the Colombian goal but their opponents did well to defend solidly to prevent any early goals.

On the 16th minute mark, Ishmael Yartey had a glorious opportunity to open scoring but the Colombian keeper Mauricio Acosta was alert to save his side by making a good save.
The Starlets continued to mount pressure and in the 32nd minute, Ransford Osei opened scoring after Quansah had meandered his way through the Colombian defense to cross the ball, which found the hungry and waiting foot of Abeiku who made no mistake to slot in the ball for the opener.

They continued to mount the pressure and earned five corner kicks in the half but they failed to utilise any of them.
The Colombians tried to match the Starlets with their physique and height but they could not redeem the goal for referee Craig Thomas of Scotland to bring the proceedings of the first half to an end after one minute of time added on.
The Colombians came back from the recess with full of fight and seem to out-class the Ghanaians initially but Ransford Osei caused a stir in their camp when he nearly increased the tally with just one minute into the second half.

The Colombians pulled a surprise on Ghana when Carlos Rarmos was able to beat the Starlets defense and cross the ball into the 18 yard box, which Christian Nazarith made no mistake to equalise in the 60th minute.
The equalizer gingered the Colombians to make scary moves towards Ghana's goal area but their efforts were always contained by the Ghanaian defense.
The Starlets took control of the match from the 70th minute and used their experience and beautiful game play to get the winning goal in the 84th minute when Ishmael Yartey made no mistake to slot in the ball to create merry making among the Ghanaian fans.

Even though the Starlets had so many scoring chances, they failed to make use of them to increase the tally until the referee brought the proceedings to an end after three minutes of added on time amidst cheers from the Korean fan and the handful of Ghanaians.
Ghana finished second in Group 'F' and would be meeting Brazil who also placed second in Group 'B' on Wednesday, August 29.
Source:Caesar Abagali

Pix From Bui Sod-Cutting Ceremony

I will not call my predecessors names - Mills

Professor John Evans Atta Mills, National Democratic Congress (NDC) Presidential Candidate, on Friday reiterated that when he becomes the president of Ghana with a four-year mandate, he would not waste it on calling the predecessor government and his political opponents names. He told Ghanaians in Atlanta, US that he would spend the time in making positive changes in the lives of Ghanaians and that his foremost vision would be to build a new and united Ghana that would give equal opportunities to all and not skew opportunities in favour of only a selected few. "The laws of the land would work and it would not take Atta Mills to decide how the laws should work so my job would be to focus on giving Ghanaians a meaningful change and restoring hope and confidence in them rather than abusing the mandate I would have been given, by chasing imaginary enemies", the Presidential Candidate said. According to a statement issued on the tour of the US by NDC Presidential candidate for Election 2008, Prof Mills had also brainstormed with the prestigious Horehouse School of Medicine on health delivery and the concept of leadership to students of Bauder College in Atlanta before meeting with Ghanaians and was the guest of the renown Carter Center. He told the Ghanaians, "Our motherland is very much polarized as I speak to you and I am sure even from a distance, you are aware of what I am talking about." "An Atta Mills government would bring all shades of opinion on board and would not ask for one's ethnic origin or one's political affiliation before deciding whether to give the person a hearing or not. "Once you are a Ghanaian and have the ability and potential, the doors would be opened for you to put your shoulders to the wheel for us to develop our nation. Ghana's agenda would be first; and not any political or ethnic agenda." He said he would not engage in vindictive and divisive politics that would see him asking all top civil servants who have served under the Kufuor administration to "proceed on leave and for seven years, keep them at home". "The country invests a lot in training our civil servants and so if we keep sacking them for no apparent reason, we would not only be causing huge financial loss to the state, but it would get to a point where we would not get competent people to work for the nation because they would be afraid of not having a secured tenure," Prof said. On the issue of ROPAL, Professor Mills said as he has said time without number, he had made it clear that the NDC has never, and would never, underestimate the contribution of Ghanaians in the Diaspora towards the development of the country. He said the NDC was "not against the law in principle except that considering the way the NPP government is employing its unacceptable "let the opposition have their say but we would have our way" line of thinking to stampede the process, it portends danger for the country. According to the NDC Presidential Candidate, even back at home, the electoral system has not been perfected and so his party's position was that, the nation must tread cautiously with ROPAL so that, “we don’t wake up one morning to a non-existent country because we are killing each other over questionable election results". Prof. Mills cited the case of the Pru Constituency, where in the last elections, per the first count, the Electoral Officer declared President Kufuor the winner in the presidential race by 1,000 votes but upon the insistence of the constituents that there was no way he could have won in that constituency, a second count proved the people right as he (Atta Mills) was declared winner by a whooping 10,000 votes. "Can you imagine the number of Prus that happened and how such happenings can lead to serious disputes?" the NDC Presidential Candidate asked. He said, "That is why we need to be extremely careful and make sure that all the ground rules have been agreed upon by all before implementing the law because we all know how electoral disputes have been the cause of raging conflicts all over the world and I am very convinced that those of you here want to have a home called Ghana and not wake up to find that you have lost your kith and kin back home because of conflict arising from the votes that you cast here." At the Carter Centre the discussions centred mainly on how the Carter Center, well-known for its role in democratic governance, could continue to "keep an eye" on Ghana and continue to have a stake in the growth of Ghana's democracy. Prof. Mills also thanked the Center for the very vital role it played in helping in the eradication of the guinea worm disease years ago and hoped that even though since 2001 the disease had resurfaced in unacceptable proportions, the Centre would once again lend its needed support to help eliminate the diseases in Ghana. The Cater Centre, represented by the Vice President John Stremlau and David Carrol, Director of the Democracy Programme, lauded the former Vice President of Ghana for his leadership style and promised to keep Ghana on its "tracking system" both in the area of its democratic progression as well as in the area of guinea worm eradication. Prof. Mills entourage comprised Professor Kwaku Danso Boafo of the Morehouse School of Medicine, Dr. Cadman Atta Mills, formerly of the UN and World Bank and brother of the Presidential Candidate, as well as Mr Koku Anyidoho, who is in charge of the communications outfit of Atta Mills.GNA

Work begins on Bui Dam Construction

President John Agyekum Kufuor on Friday cut the sod to mark the start of work on the 622-million-dollar Bui Hydro-Electric Dam Project at Bui in the Brong Ahafo Region. The construction of the Dam, which has been on the drawing board for decades, would add 400 megawatts to the national electricity generation mix on completion.Apart from hydropower generation, the Project has irrigation, fisheries and tourism components and the construction of a nucleus of a metropolis to be called Bui City that is expected to provide impetus to the economic and social transformation of the area.The construction phase is projected to give direct employment to 2,900 Ghanaians.Speaking at the ceremony President Kufuor gave a firm assurance that its implementation would be kept consistent with internationally accepted environmental standards and best practices. A comprehensive environmental monitoring and mitigation plan, he said, had been incorporated in the Project's design to minimize its negative impact.Additionally, the Government would ensure that compensatory plans for resettlement of about 2,000 people, who would be affected by the Project, would draw extensively on experiences from earlier re-settlement schemes undertaken during the construction of the Akosombo and Kpong Hydro-Electric Projects.President Kufuor said the Project, programmed for completion in early 2012, was part of the overall strategy to triple the country's energy supply capacity from the current 2,000 megawatts to 6,000 megawatts by 2015.He called on the nation's engineers, technicians and managers as well as both skilled and unskilled labour to take full advantage of it to help to promote the necessary technology transfer that would enable the country to execute similar projects on its own in the future. Sino-Hydro, Chinese Company, reputed for the construction of China's biggest hydropower dam is constructing the project. President Kufuor spoke of plans to build small dams on the Ankobra, Pra, Tano and the White Volta.He said "to look ahead to the next 30 years, to forestall the current energy shortage problems that currently confront us, and in anticipation of increased population and widespread industrialization, it is hoped that planning ahead for increased energy supply will become part of the national culture".President Kufuor conveyed the country's appreciation to China, which is providing 562 million dollars towards the Project. The remaining 60 million dollars is from the Government of Ghana."The (Bui) Hydro-Energy Project is yet another addition to the list of collaborative ventures," he said.Mr Joseph Kofi Adda, Energy Minister, described the Project as a 'dream that has become a reality'.Mr Kwadwo Baah-Wiredu, Finance Minister, asked the business community to seize the opportunity offered by the Project to create more wealth and jobs.China's Ambassador, Mr Yu Wenzhe said Ghana and his country were both developing and that it was important for them to cooperate and to assist each other in times of need. He said China would continue to support Ghana as well as encourage its entrepreneurs to invest and set up joint-ventures in the country. Mr J.H. Mensah, a Statesman, who presided, said the project was in fulfilment of a promise the Government made to the nation. 24 Aug. 07
Source:GNA