President Kufuor receives special message from Algeria

President John Agyekum Kufuor on Tuesday granted audience to a Special Envoy of his Algerian counterpart, President Abdulaziz Bouteflika, to deliver a message, at the Castle, Osu.

The content of the message was not disclosed but was believed to have centred on bilateral relations between Ghana and Algeria. The Envoy, Mr Ramtane Lamamra, who is the Secretary-General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, conveyed the Algerian leader's appreciation to President Kufuor for his participation and contributions during the recent NEPAD brainstorming summit held in Algiers.

He noted that as Chairman of the African Union (AU), his support and that of his other colleague Heads of State was vital for the successful integration of NEPAD into the AU structure. He said President Bouteflika was looking forward to continuing working with him on that. Responding, President Kufuor said the summit was a good one and that NEPAD should find its rightful position within the AU. He said it was his hope that the Algerian President would attend the July AU summit in Accra and bring his immeasurable influence to bear on the direction of the Union.

President Kufuor stated that the Accra summit would focus on working towards realising the Union of African States. Present was the Foreign Minister, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo.GNA

Youth urged to make use of their educational knowledge

The Minister of Education, Science and Sports (MESS), Paapa Owusu Ankoma on Tuesday urged the country's youth to use the knowledge being acquired at the various educational institutions to transform the nation and enhance development. He said the purpose of education was not only to acquire knowledge but also to make effective use of the knowledge for the benefit of society.

Paapa Ankoma was inaugurating a one billion cedi Library and Information Communication and Technology Centre (ICT) for the Kwahu Ridge Secondary/Technical School (KRISCEC) at Obo-Kwahu. He reminded the youth that they were in the transformation generation and advised them to take advantage of the facilities available to them in the school system to acquire the requisite knowledge for a brighter future.

The minister urged parents to ensure that the huge investment being made in their children's education yielded positive results for them to contribute towards the development of the country. He said the educational reform program, which would commence in September this year would enable students to acquire technical, science and agriculture related skills. The apprenticeship training programme, he said would also enable them to acquire the required skills to become self-employed.

Paapa Ankoma promised to present 10 computers and accessories to the school and advised the students to concentrate on their studies to become responsible citizens. Dr Francis Osafo-Mensah, MP for Mpraeso said the project, which started three years ago was jointly founded by the European Union (EU), the MPs Common Fund, the Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFUND) and the Kwahu South District Assembly. He disclosed that a friend based in Holland also donated 14 computers and their accessories to the library.

Mrs Anita Jackson, Headmistress, said the school with a student population of 850 had only two bungalows for both the headmistress and the senior housemistress, thus affecting effective supervision and discipline. She said girls' population had increased tremendously and appealed for additional dormitory and administration block and the rehabilitation of the Twendurase campus. Mr Abraham Sowah, the District Director of Education said a nation's human resource was its wealth since the human resource personnel would implement all government policies and programmes for the development of the nation.

Nana Yeboah Afare Buagyan II, Obohene, appealed to the Ministry of Education and the Ghana Education Service to rehabilitate infrastructure in the school, which he said was constructed 47 years ago. Mr Alidu Mohammed and Mr Fredrick Ayirebi two old students of the school and Mrs Mary Animwaa, the District Director of Education for Fanteakwa who hails from the town later donated a quantity of assorted books worth millions of cedis to the school library.GNA

Nkoranza citizens sensitised on HIV/AIDS

A total of 143 out of 255 patients screened at the St. Theresa's Hospital at Nkoranza last year tested HIV/AIDS positive. Mr. Hayford Kyere, Nkoranza District HIV/AIDS Monitoring and Evaluation Focal Person, disclosed this when he addressed about 200 hairdressers at a workshop at Nkoranza to create awareness among the people to guard against getting infected.

Fifteen out of the infected died before the end of the year, he said and emphasised that the pandemic was real adding that, people should therefore not deceive themselves that "HIV/AIDS is associated with evil and satanic issues". Mr. Kyere said persons between 45 and 49 years old had a prevalent rate of about five per cent, while it was about 3.6 for between 25 and 29 years old. The rate for those between 15 and 24 years old was 1.9 per cent and between 15-19 years old, bout 0.8 per cent. Mr. Kyere advised the people to be faithful to their sexual partners while the unmarried youth should abstain from sex or use condom to protect themselves.

Mrs. Eva Saku, Nkoranza District Public Health Nurse, urged the people to undertake Voluntary/Counselling and Testing (VCT) to determine their status and pointed out that HIV/AIDS was mostly contracted through sexual intercourse, which accounted for about 80 per cent of infection. Mother to child infection was 15 per cent while other causes such as the use and exchange of common razors was five per cent. Mrs. Elizabeth Dekyi, a Public Health Nurse, expressed concern about how some parents used one toothbrush for all their children and advised them to desist from the unhygienic practice to avoid contracting the pandemic or other communicable diseases.

Mr. Haruna Babbs and Madam Theresa Bossman, executive members of the Nkoranza District Beauticians Association, commended the District HIV/AIDS committee for organizing the workshop to sensitise the youth. The participants were provided with female and male condoms to promote their usage. The workshop attracted Mr. Daniel Agyarko, District Environmental Health Officer, Mr. Nyame Boateng, District Engineer, Mr. Kyere Boateng, Assistant Chief Executive Officer and Mr Ebenezer Amoah, District Planning Officer.GNA

Ghana's Clottey Out-punched Corrales

Joshua Clottey completely dominated Diego Corrales on Saturday night, knocking down the former world champion twice in a unanimous decision in their 10-round welterweight bout.
Clottey (31-2) sent Corrales -- making his debut at 147 pounds after moving up two weight classes -- to the canvas with a left hand to the head late in the ninth round.

Corrales (40-5) got back to his feet, but moments later another left by Clottey sent him reeling in the corner. Corrales survived the ninth but took a bloody left eye into the 10th and final round.
Midway through the 10th, Corrales dodged a Clottey left but stepped into his right and went down again, losing his mouthpiece. The former WBC and WBO lightweight and WBO junior lightweight champion again got back to his feet, but by that point, it was all but over.
Clottey, the No. 4 welterweight contender according to the WBO, won 97-90, 98-89 and 100-87 on the judges' scorecards.

"He was a tough guy, this was a tough fight," Clottey said. "But I knew from the beginning that it was just a matter of time. I knew I would have to break him down."
Corrales said after the fight that he thought Clottey broke his jaw in the fifth round.
"My corner asked me if I wanted to continue, and of course I did," Corrales said. "I have a lot of respect for Clottey. He caught me with two great shots."
The fight was the last of nine on the night in front of a near-capacity crowd at the 2,300-seat Shrine Mosque.

Corrales, Clottey even on the scales

Diego Corrales and Joshua Clottey both weighed in at 149lbs for their welterweight battle on Saturday night in Springfield, Missouri, USA on Showtime.29 year-old Corrales 40-4 (33) from Las Vegas, a three-time world champion, is making his first appearance at welterweight against 30 year-old Clottey 30-2 (20), 1 NC from Ghana.

Showtime will televise the 10-round welterweight bout in the USA at 9pm ET/PT (delayed on the west coast). Gary Shaw Productions and Tony Holden Promotions will promote the event sponsored by the Buffalo Run Casino in Miami, Oklahoma, from The Shrine Mosque in Springfield, Missouri.

NDC condemns attempts to downplay energy crisis

The National Democratic Congress (NDC) on Friday, condemned attempts by the Government and New Patriotic Party (NPP) functionaries to divert discussion on the energy crisis. In a statement in Accra signed by Dr Kwabena Adjei, National Chairman, the NDC said it had observed without surprise attempts by "our opponents" to divert attention from the debilitating energy crisis that the country is saddled with.

The NDC had also taken note of the failure of President John Agyekum Kufuor and the Government "to keep faith with their numerous promises to solve the problem," it said. The Party expressed concern about a section of the media, which it said had taken bits and pieces of "what they might have heard" at the "second Family Meeting" of the NDC on Tuesday, and had added "their diabolical spin to suit their diversionary agenda".

The statement said, "The words, phrases and statement" attributed to certain NDC personalities "emanate more from the figments of their imagination than from what was actually said at the Family Meeting". "The NDC remains more united than ever and is poised for the beckoning 2008 electoral victory", the statement said. The leadership of the party urged NDC members not to be distracted by any vile propaganda until victory in December 2008.GNA

W.Africa's mobile market seen growing 35% in 07

West Africa's mobile phone market rose 58 percent last year and is expected to jump another 35 percent in 2007 thanks to robust competition and a booming Nigerian market, research showed on Thursday.

Informa Telecoms & Media said the number of mobile phone subscribers in West Africa swelled to 49.3 million at the end of 2006, rising faster than in other parts of the continent, where the market grew by 39 percent.
Around 66.6 million West Africans are expected to have a mobile by the end of 2007, the research group said.

Research analyst Thecla Mbongue said the arrival of new operators in Nigeria, Guinea and Ivory Coast had pushed down the price of calls and SIM cards and lured more customers.
The sheer size of Nigeria also drove growth in the region. Africa's most populous country is expected to become the continent's biggest mobile market by the end of 2007 with nearly 40 million subscribers, ahead of South Africa.

"West Africa is expected to continue to sustain a higher growth rate than the average for the continent over the next five years... mainly due to new market entrants," Mbongue said.
Africa's third-ranked operator Celtel, owned by Kuwait's MTC, last year snapped up Nigeria's number three mobile operator and has been investing heavily in rolling out a network there.
Tough competition in Nigeria with the continent's biggest operator MTN has helped cut prices and spur growth.

Demand for mobile phones is spurred in Africa by patchy fixed line infrastructure and tariff cuts, but still only about one in five Africans has a cell phone.
Informa expects mobile penetration on the continent to grow to about 34 percent by the end of 2011.

(Reuters)