Castle Meets NPP Aspirants Today

A crunch meeting is scheduled for this evening, Monday October 15, 2007 between President John Agyekum Kufuor and the 19 odd Presidential candidates at Australia house, Accra to iron out fissures that have emerged in certain issues that could cloud the atmosphere and muddy the process leading up to the December 22, 2007 delegates conference.

The meeting is at the instance of the Council of Elders of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and would feature Mr. Odoi Sykes, Ms. Ama Busia, Nana Awuku, Professor Adzei Bekoe and Mr. Ayeh and a few more high ranking officials of the Council.At the heart of the meeting is the issue of fairness which some of the aspirants believe is skewed and which they believe the president could deploy the huge clout he enjoys within the leadership of the NPP to assuage frayed nerves.

Key among the multiple concerns at the heart of the aspirants is the needling issue of the President and his not-so-subtle support for Mr. Alan John Kwadwo Kyeremanten which is causing concern. Chief as he is known has not helped matters with his 'in-your-face' interview in the Heritage newspaper in which he literally said 'and so what? Is it not you who say that anybody the president supports loses?'While some of the aspirants acknowledge that the President is free to support whom he may, they think that his absence of neutrality in the process may impinge on his standing.

The process which is making the rounds in NPP circles is that a congress which is scheduled for next month to evolve a new set of rules where District Chief Executives could become delegates and vote at the delegates’ congress is disturbing, particularly when the DCEs are supposed to fund the congress in their constituencies.'We have always maintained this format at all previous elections, and we are very happy with that, there is no need to have another congress to elect delegates.'

It is the tinkering of the process which is the source of deepest concern to the aspirants none of who would go on record.'Some of our friends are DCEs and regional Ministers and they visibly tremble when we attempt to visit them at their offices or homes, because they could lose their jobs. Now we all know so we generally do not expose them to this risk at all when we go on tours', noted one aspirant who spoke the mind of most of the aspirants.A huge pall of unease hangs in the air as the aspirants converge at Australia house today.The property in Cantonments was previously owned by the Australian High Commission but fell into disrepair when the mission left Ghana several years ago.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs at the tail end of the NDC administration took over the house and commissioned Messrs Kufuor and Hallal (J &H) contractors at Takoradi to renovate it. It was widely believed that it was going to be the property of FIt Lt. Jerry Rawlings as part of his end of service benefit if Professor Mills had won the last elections.
Source:The Chronicle

Meteors complete double over Amaglug-glug

Ghana's Olympic team, Black Meteors inched closer to the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, courtesy a 3-1 thrashing over their South African counterparts, Amaglug-glug in a Group A qualifier at the El-Wak Sports Stadium on Sunday.
A brace from Udinese striker Asamoah Gyan and another from Greek-based Bernard Kumordzi ensured the Meteors completed a famous double over the South African, after beating them by a similar margin at their backyard in August.
The result takes the Meteors to the apex of the Group with six points, two more than closest rivals Nigeria, with the Amaglug-glug rooted at the bottom with just a point.
The tensioned packed game started on a high note with the Ghanaians, who paraded seven foreign-based players in the starting line up dictating the pace from the onset.
The trio of Kumordzi, Anthony Annan and captain Michael Helegbe had the upper-hand in the midfield battle, which made the Amaglug-glug rear the busier on the opening minutes.
The attacking trio of Nafiu Iddrisu of ASEC Mimosas, Prince Tagoe and Gyan combined beautifully upfront and often became victims of rough play from the likes of Kelvin Sosibo, Thepelo Tshito and Musa Bilankulu. In one of such moves of the Meteors in the 28th minute, Nafiu, who has been in terrific with ASEC in the Ivorian Championship was fouled by his marker close to the penalty area.
Gyan headed home the opener from Helegbe's free-kick to send the thousands of fans into an ecstatic mood with Amaglug-glug goalie Humeleng Khune completely beaten.
The Meteors piled the pressure on their guests and six minutes later Kumordzi doubled the lead just on the edge of the box. The lanky midfielder connected beautifully from Michael Akuffo's cross from the left flank.
Well-built Isaac Vorsah, who was a pillar in the Meteors defence was on hand to foil the attacks of the South Africans on several occasions.
The visitors resumed strongly and succeeded in reducing the deficit in the 56th minute through Edwin Isaacs, who soared above his markers to nod home Bryce Moon's cross from the right flank.
Meteors coach, Cecil Jones Attuquayefio introduced Sampson Cudjoe, Obed Ansah and Kojo Asamoah for Michael Akuffo, Nafiu and Helegbe respectively later in the game and it paid off.
With four minutes to full time, Gyan sealed victory with his second of the day with a curling shot beyond the reach of the Amaglug-glug goalie after rounding off his marker beautifully.
The Meteors will wrap their campaign with the ultimate match on November 18 against Nigeria at the same venue.
The top placed team at the end qualifies for next year's Olympic Games.
Line up: Nii Baah; Michael Akuffo, Isaac Vorsah, Bawah Mumuni, Daniel Addo; Yao Kumordzi Bernard, Michael Helegbe, Anthony Annan; Gyan Asamoah, Nafiu Iddrisu, Prince Tagoe
Table .............P W D L GF GA Pts Ghana .......3 2 0 1 8 5 6 Nigeria .....2 1 1 0 4 3 4 South Africa 3 0 1 2 3 7 1

Owusu-Ankomah - NPP aspirants are not wasting money

A presidential aspirant of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Paapa Owusu-Ankomah, has said it was not true that presidential aspirants of the party were showing off or wasting money.He said money was "needed to expend ideas" to the people and that "the contest is not about money but about ideas". He also dismissed assertions that the number of the party's aspiring presidential candidates was too large and this would not help delegates to the party congress the opportunity to determine the best of the aspirants.Paapa Owusu-Ankomah said campaigns by the aspirants were rejuvenating the party at all levels. Paapa Owusu-Ankomah, MP for Sekondi, said this when he presented the key to a double-cabin Mahindra Scorpio pick-up to the Central Regional Secretariat of the NPP at a ceremony in Cape Coast."We are all out to strengthen and position the party for the job it has set out to do".The aspiring presidential candidate, who has already donated 10 motorbikes to the secretariat, said he would be adding nine more to be distributed to each of the 19 constituencies in the region.He said there was the need for the party to consolidate the gains it had made as well as strive to increase its support in all parts of the country.He said during his tours of the country, it became evident that the regional and constituency branches of the NPP needed such support to enhance their activities.Paapa Owusu-Ankomah appealed to his colleague aspirants to help improve the party's finances and logistics at the regional and constituency levels to increase its changes of winning the 2008 elections. He said he presented the vehicle to the regional secretariat not just because he was an aspirant but because he had confidence that the region, "which has shown the way forward for the party's future," would maintain the party's 16 seats and win the remaining three in the coming elections. He commended the Central Regional branches and the Western Region for increasing the party's parliamentary seats from three each in 1992 to 16 and 12 respectively in the 2004 elections and said the Central Region was in the lead as a potential stronghold for the party.The Regional Chairman of the party, Mr Ekow Dankwa-Smith, expressed gratitude to the aspirant for the vehicle and gave the assurance that it would be used to step up activities towards the party's victory in the region and called for unity.Source: GNA

President Kufuor asked COPAL to Speak against tariffs on Cocoa Products

President John Agyekum Kufuor on Friday tasked member countries of the Cocoa Producers Alliance (COPAL) to speak against the imposition of tariffs on cocoa products such as cocoa powder and cocoa butter that were exported to the European Countries. In an address read for him at the opening session of the 70th COPAL Council of Ministers meeting in Accra, President Kufuor said value addition was one of the surest ways of ensuring sustainability of the cocoa economy in member countries. He asked the countries to pay attention to harmonization of quality standards among them, payment of remunerative prices to farmers, processing and consumption of more cocoa locally and adherence to good agronomic practices. “If we prioritized these objectives in our respective national development agenda, I believe we would be heading towards fulfilling the dreams of the founding members of the Cocoa Producers’ Alliance and helping to reduce poverty among a large section of the cocoa growing communities in various countries,” he said. Professor George Gyan-Baffour, Deputy Minister of Finance, said government would take measures to eliminate any cases of the worst form of child labour on cocoa farms and also lend support to other stakeholders and partners to eliminate the practice. “We would ask for cooperation and understanding from all consuming countries as we take the necessary measures to tackle these challenges,” he said. Prof. Gyan-Baffour stressed the need to intensify efforts to bring other cocoa producing countries into the fold of COPAL. Currently, out of the 17 African Cocoa Producers only seven are members of COPAL. “It is the hope of Ghana that the secretariat would spare no effort in getting a number of these countries to be members of COPAL. Our alliance would thus become stronger.” Mr Charles Ugwuh, Chairman of the Council of Ministers, urged member countries to target China as a major target because of its enormous potential. “Indeed, it is worthwhile to consider appointing a Specialist or consultant to provide detailed advisory on this as we as other emerging markets.”GNA

Talk about stabilised cedi is false - GNP

It is the dollar which is falling in value with respect to the pound sterling and the Euro that is giving the semblance of stability to the cedi, Mr Kobina Amo-Aidoo, Interim National Chairman of Ghana National Party (GNP),said on Friday. He said the cedi could not be a stabilised currency as long as "we continue to ignore local manufacturing of goods".He said: "We have to change the language 'I sell this; I sell that to I make this I make that", adding that at present Ghanaians imported almost everything including matches and chewing sticks.Mr Amo-Aidoo, therefore, called on Ghanaians to totally reject the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the National Democratic Congress (NDC) in the 2008 elections.Speaking to the GNA in Accra to correct an earlier misreport carried by the Agency, the Interim National Chairman said Ghanaians should by now realize the level of deceit and fake political agenda exhibited by both the NDC and NPP Governments and to take steps to halt the falsehoods being propagated by the two parties."I call on all Ghanaians to totally reject the NPP and their false propaganda designed to attract public attention and remain empty on the ground", he said.Mr Amo-Aidoo cited the implementation of he National Health Insurance Scheme and the Capitation Grant and said majority of Ghanaians were not benefiting from the programmes as were being taunted by the government's propaganda machinery.It said it took almost a year before one could obtain NHIS card while Ghanaian children in private schools were also not enjoying the so-called capitation grant and the school-feeding programme. He said the GNP could not look on unconcerned while the Government propagated falsehoods to the detriment of the people."The kids of Ghana, the children and the youth are the only delicate legacy for this nation and we cannot remain unconcerned as their lives are in very serious danger", he said.The GNP said there was the need for a transparent and decent political administration to provide basic social services to the people and that it was time for the nation to seriously rejuvenate its potentials and develop its resources to enhance the well being of the people. He said the GNP had developed a human centred social policy that would ensure the welfare of the citizenry and appealed to Ghanaians to totally reject both the NPP and NDC and vote for the GNP to ensure total liberation and freedom for the people.
Source:GNA

NPP is the only party that can defeat NDC in 2008 - Nana Akufo-Addo

Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, an aspiring flagbearer of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) has observed that NPP was the only party that could defeat the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and ensured it never returned to power. However, he pointed out that defeating the NDC posed a big challenge to the NPP because it would depend on its message, dynamic leadership and effective organization. Nana Akufo-Addo, former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Regional Integration and NEPAD, made the observation when addressing constituency and polling station executives from four constituencies in Ashanti at Obuasi. He appealed to delegates of the December Congress to vote for a flagbearer who could win the 2008 elections for the party. Nana Akufo-Addo said "NDC was serious and it would not be easy for the NPP in the 2008 elections. Three successive defeats would lead to its collapse therefore, they are really serious. We know NDC very well and their policies, we should not allow them to return to power". He pointed out that the December congress represented the party's future therefore, the delegates should look for a leader with a global vision. "I have all the qualities of that visionary leader and could lead NPP to victory in 2008. Let us be truthful that if indeed NPP wanted a leader for 2008, it is Nana Akufo-Addo," he added. Nana Akufo-Addo denied that he was proud and arrogant, "here I am, very simple and a small man". He said he played a key role in ensuring peace in Liberia and other troubled countries therefore, the assertion that his leadership would bring chaos and divisions in Ghana was not true.GNA

Ghana will introduce Digital broadcasting Next Year

Mr Berifi Apenteng, a media consultant on Wednesday said digital broadcasting would be introduced in the country within the next two years.He was speaking at a consultative forum on public service broadcasting organised by the Ghana Journalists Association (GNA), Friedrich Ebert Stiftung (FES) and the KAB Governance Consult at Lagos Town near Takoradi.The forum was under the theme "Public Service Broadcasting in Ghana, The Way Forward".Mr Apenteng, who is also a honorary member of the GJA, said television and radio sets in use would have to be replaced because they cannot pick up transmission of the digital technology. He said digital broadcasting would make efficient use of the frequency spectrum and make broadcasting cheaper, apart from an increase in the number of broadcasters, there would be more specialised channels. Mr Apenteng said public service broadcasting is crucial for Ghana's development and national unity and the GBC is well placed to transform into a true public service broadcaster. He said the corporation and the National Media Commission should take the lead in this direction and engage the public in discussions on its role and relevance.Mr Appenteng proposed that the GBC be allowed to derive funds from a variety of sources to make it financially independent and free from government pressures.Mr Bright Blewu, General Secretary of the GJA, said the country needs public service broadcasting to nurture its democracy. He said the public should own the public service broadcasting and support it to perform its expected roles.Mr Kwasi Afriyie Badu, Chief Executive Officer of KAB Governance Consult, said as broadcasting is an important tool in the development of nations, a public service broadcasting station should be truly independent of government's economic influence and commercial pressures. Ms Dela Folie, a representative of FES, said the FES would involve itself in activities that would empower the media to strengthen the country's democratic process. 10 Oct. 07
Source:GNA