Enact law to check mishandling of the cedi

The Rev Robert Nelson Adayi, Executive Director of Treds Envitech Limited, an environment management company on Tuesday called on the government to enact a law to deal with the mishandling of the Ghanaian currency.This, he said, would curb the practice where citizens treated the currency with contempt by writing on it, mended it with black cellotape and soiled it with oil, defacing it.

Rev Adayi said this when he met with workers at Asamankese in the Eastern Region to educate them on the new currency and how to handle money. "No country mishandles money like Ghana," he said. "All the foreign currencies used in Ghana are always in good shape because the least defect will render the money useless," he added.He said a law to make tattered and defaced notes illegal tender was a sure way of giving the currency some importance and value.

a"This will put fear into the citizens and even the banks which sometimes issue such notes in the name of legal tender." Rev Adayi noted that with new notes to be introduced in July, it was appropriate for government to set up laws to protect the currencies to avoid spending huge sums on reprinting.He therefore advised the workers to handle the new notes with care and pay attention to the various advertisements in the media to enable them to understand the education campaign. 8 May 07
Source:GNA

Kufuor lauds Toure on Mali election victory

President John Agyekum Kufuor on Monday congratulated the Malian President Amadou Toumani Toure on his re-election for a second term. "I believe it is as much a testimony to the maturity of the country's political and democratic institutions under your presidency, as it is a tribute to your personal commitment to the tenets of democracy and transparency, very much appreciated by Africa and the wider international community at this critical period of the continent's history," President Kufuor said in a letter to President Toure.

A press release signed by Mr Andrew Awuni, Press Secretary to the President and Presidential Spokesman, said as President Kufuor, who is the current Chairman of African Union, prepares to welcome Heads of State to Accra for the forthcoming AU Summit, he believes that the overriding themes of debates, the personal and collective commitment of African leaders to the continent's renaissance would very much determine the destiny of the continent for years to come.

It said President Kufuor also looked forward to deepening the long-standing bilateral relations and expanding the frontiers of cooperation between Ghana and Mali to benefit both countries mutually.GNA

Ghana's New Money

Kufuor to visit South Africa on Sunday

President John Agyekum Kufuor, Chairman of the African Union, leaves Accra for Johannesburg, South Africa, on Sunday to attend the opening of the Seventh Ordinary Session of the Pan-African Parliament (PAF).He is scheduled to address the Parliament, the first time ever, by an AU Chairman.A press release signed by the Press Secretary and Presidential Spokesperson, Mr Andrew Awuni, said the Session would focus on four major issues - Environment and Climate Change, Peace and Security, NEPAD and the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) as well as the Union Government of Africa.

The PAP was established in March 2004 in accordance with Article 17 of the Consultative Act of the AU, as one of its organs provided for in the treaty establishing the African Economic Community signed in Abuja, Nigeria, in 1991.The release said whilst in South Africa, President Kufuor would also hold bilateral talks with his South African counterpart, President Thabo Mbeki and other senior Government Officials. He is expected back home on Wednesday, May 9.
Source:GNA